Max woke to a bright orange sunrise and the irritating grind of his mentors snoring. He groped around for his glasses and nearly blinded himself while sliding them over his ears.

"Ugh, my eyes... Hmm, looks like I'm the only one up at the moment. Misty battles at ten, if I remember. Bet I can sneak off to the Center while they're still asleep," Max muttered.

He scribbled a quick note on a pad of paper.

Hey guys, I'm off to the Center for food. I'll meet you there. -Max

Max left the note on his sleeping bag, and trotted off to the Center.

A Nurse Joy waved a friendly hello as he entered the lab and booted up the same ancient computer he'd used a few days ago. What was Rocket working on? His brain was fuzzy last night when he heard Red and Blue's conversation. Max couldn't grasp the details, but he recalled some sort of experiment…

He tapped his fingers against the edge of the counter while pondering what to type. Max nearly jumped out of his seat when someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

Max turned around at the sound of Misty and Brock's laughter, and found the two of them leaning against a wall by the door. "Rather jumpy, aren't we?"

Max rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm trying to dig up more info on Red and Blue."

"They haven't given us much to go off of," Misty muttered.

"What do we know?" Brock said. "Red's from Kanto, Blue's from Sinnoh. They act like brother and sister even though they're not related. They battle like all hell's cut loose... and they say they're holding back."

"Red's an only child with no father, Blue's parents are divorced and she has a little brother. They're rather touchy about the subject of Darkrai," Misty said.

"Why Darkrai?" Max asked.

Misty twirled a bit of her ponyta-tail. "Red loathes dark-types. Guess one that powerful really unnerved him."

"It's more than a fear," Brock chimed in. "Something's happened to him that's made him so wary of the type. That's no ordinary kind of distrust."

"Did you see them at the bonfire a few nights ago? They seem so... militant. Whenever they're together, one's always watching the horizon, like they're expecting an ambush," Misty said.

Brock sighed. "They're not with Rocket, Cipher, Galactic, Aqua, or Magma, but they work with Lance... does he run anything outside of the Elite Four?"

Max shrugged. "How could he have the time? That could've been something to throw us off track."

"Good point, but let's see where that takes us," Misty said.

"Max, look for leads concerning Rocket activity in Johto over the past few months. It's uncommon for trainers to go back to a region they've already competed in, and Red finished the Silver League six years ago- Blue, three. Maybe they were involved somehow..." Brock trailed off.

Misty tilted her head. "How does Rocket play into this?"

"Those agents that we found piled up against the Center a few nights ago? That was their doing," Brock answered.

"Damn..." Misty trailed off. "Both of them? Blue doesn't look all that strong."

Max looked up from the screen. "Did you see the cut on Red's arm? That's no wound from training."

Misty paused. "Oh! Of all the things to miss! It did seem unusually clean, from what I saw yesterday."

"Red's good at downplaying things," Brock said.

Max's fingers flew across the keys. After a bit of percussive maintenance, the computer brought up a list of news articles about a quelled Rocket uprising out of Mahogany town.

"That one has pictures!" Brock announced. "Try it?"

"On it."

Max flicked through the pictures. Most of them displayed the wreckage left behind during the Rocket's takedown, but the last five were action shots taken by an undercover operative, who had provided the accompanying article. The first showed a Charizard singeing multiple Ariados with no trainers in sight. Photograph number two illustrated a girl punching a Rocket commander, a cerulean light trailing from her hand. In the third, a man ordered an unseen Pokémon to attack. The fourth showed a Gible riding on an Altaria while locked in an intense showdown with a horde of Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat. In the final photograph, a pair of trainers stood back to back, cornered against a half-demolished wall.

"They don't look afraid," Max noted. "Those two should be scared out of their minds."

Misty frowned. "You think that's Red and Blue?"

"Has to be. Look at their eyes," Brock said.

The girl's eyes contained a frantic glint, but Misty saw a sense of quiet power and hard-headed determination through the clear blue. Red was the same, only his crimson irises didn't betray anything Misty didn't know about her enigmatic new acquaintance.

She glanced out the window, and noticed the pair and Michael walk through the Center doors.

"Crap! They're coming! Max, give me the mouse!"

Max surrendered control of the console to his red headed friend, who quickly closed their searches and called her sisters through the videophone.

Daisy picked up on the third ring.

"Hey!" she greeted. "Misty, it's great to see you! Max and Brock too."

Max grinned while pulling on Brock's ear. "Hiya, Daisy! How're things in Cerulean?"

"Just fine, thanks! Mist, you never call during tournaments. What's up?"

She smirked. "Am I not allowed to say hello to my favorite sister?"

"Bribery won't get you anywhere, although you might get out of a few chores once you get home."

Misty laughed. "Make it laundry, and we have a deal."

Blue, Red, and Michael walked into the lab as Daisy tried to protest her way out of Misty's offer.

"Oh! Dais, These are my new friends- Blue from Sinnoh, Michael from Orre, and Red from Kanto."

"Nice to meet you all," Daisy responded.

Red smiled. "Thank you kindly. Hey Max- Noah and Maddy are waiting in the cafeteria. You should probably go catch up with them. Maddy wanted to ask you something about Ralts' movepool."

"Right. Let's go!" Max said, dashing out of the Center. Most everyone followed.

"Misty, don't you want food?" Blue asked.

The gym leader nodded. "Be there in a bit."

The shorter trainer walked out of the door, leaving only Misty and Daisy on the line.

"Blue seems sweet. Michael's attractive. Red seems... dangerous."

Misty sighed. " Do you have to evaluate every boy you meet? Michael's at least five years younger than you are. Red reminds me of someone."

"Oh, sissy. Never pegged you as the bad boy type."

"He's not a bad boy! He's polite and chivalrous and a great battler and..."

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "Be careful. Remember what happened last time?"

"Do you really have to remind me?" Misty half-yelled. The spark vanished from her eyes as her voice softened. "You know how I feel about Ash."

"Allow me to be the wise older sister- I'm not trying to be rude, but it's time for you to move on. It's been three years."

Misty's face turned crimson. "I know!"

The desperation in her voice caught Daisy off guard, and the eldest Cerulean sister was at a loss for words for the first time in a very long time.

"I know, Daisy! I know you think I'm a fool for staying hopeful this long. I know you think he's gone. But... I know he isn't. Something's telling me that he's still out there. I don't care what happened within the last couple of years- I'm not giving up until I see him alive, or...

Daisy paused, fully aware of the unspoken end to Misty's sentence.

"Talk to you later, Dais."

Misty hung up on her sister and ran out of the lab without a second glance, unknowingly passing by an eavesdropping Red.

Ash slid down the wall and sat on the ground, burying his face in his hands. Pikachu stood off to the side, a worried look on his face.

Arceus. I never meant to break Misty's heart, but haven't I broken my own in the process? Coming back here might not have been the best idea. I've had to confront people that I didn't want to think about for three years. But Ri and I are the only ones who even stand a chance of figuring out what's going on here and stopping it, so I really didn't have a choice, didn't I?

I know how Misty feels... but how do I feel about her? What is it that Lance always said... duty before heart? He never said it'd be hard to figure it out! Think of the mission, think of the mission... now to find Aurian.

Ash wandered into the cafeteria to find Aurian facing off with an old coordinator friend that she'd told him about. Everything about his patonai looked stressed.

The girl she was talking to was wearing designer shoes- probably Jimmy Cubchoo, and a dress that looked more expensive than everything he'd ever owned combined. Her teal hair flowed perfectly... too perfectly. And a tiara... seriously?

"Copland?" Aurian laughed, breaking his concentration. "I haven't used that last name for years."

Rebecca pouted. "Why not? It is your last name, isn't it? Your dad's?"

"Why are you being sweet all of a sudden? The last time we spoke, you tried to strangle me and electrocute me within the span of about thirty seconds. I'm done with the coordinator world, Rebecca. I'm done with the frilly dresses and the catfights, done with the fake smiles and having to act like you love everything and everyone. You insulted everything that I stand for, and I'll never be able to forgive you for that. I've found better friends," she motioned towards Ash, who started walking towards her.

"What's wrong with you? We allowed you to hang with us," Rebecca whined. "You should be grateful."

Aurian smirked. "That attitude's gonna bite you in the butt someday. You, Miranda, and Crosby think that you deserve everything that's unfortunate enough to fall in your way. All those Contest victories- they're worth nothing if you don't see the value of the work that you put into them. You're too rich and snobby to see that forcing us to be your friends drove us further away."

"That's not true!" Rebecca protested. "Kelsie still keeps up, and Miranda and Crosby won't ever ditch me!"

"Then where are they now?"

Rebecca was silent for the first time in the six years that Aurian had known her.

"I've struck gold with battling, Kelsie's a great Ranger in Kalos. Why can't you be happy with seeing your friends succeed? You can't bear people not treating you like the center of the universe. I have better things to do than waste my time talking to you, so.. later. Red, you ready to go watch Misty battle?"

Ash nodded. "Am I ever."

"Wait a second! Who's this?" Rebecca protested, stomping her foot.

Aurian winked at Ash, who caught her hint. "I'm her boyfriend. Sorry miss, but we need to go."

Ash offered an arm to his patonai, who took it and let him escort her away.

"Wait for it..." Aurian muttered. "Three... two... one..."

"How did she snag a guy like that! IT'S TOTALLY UNFAIR!" Rebecca shrieked, stomping and sniffling out the front door.

Ash laughed. "Arceus, is that the country club girl?"

"Yep. Now you know why I quit coordinating," Aurian answered. "Couldn't put up with people like that. Rebecca's a time bomb whenever someone beats her- and I did that a lot. She was awful for the first couple of months. Eventually I realized that having someone hate your guts while pretending to be your best friend was all levels of wrong, so I made the fastest possible run through the gym circuit in time for the Sinnoh League."

"It's a shame you dropped out," Ash said. "You weren't half bad."

Aurian released his arm and socked him in the shoulder. "Hey!"

Ash put his hands up. "All I meant by that is that you're a better battler. I should probably go stop her from spouting off that Aurian Copland is here."

"That'd be great. She'll listen to you. Me... not so much," Aurian replied.

Ash smirked. "I'll be right back."

Aurian found Maddy and Noah sitting at a table and sat down next to them.

"Where'd Red go?" Noah asked.

She shrugged. "Said he had to go take care of something. He'll be back soon."

Misty and Brock joined the trio, and they feasted on breakfast until Ash returned, smiling slightly.

"Morning, Red!" Misty said. "You seem unusually happy."

Ash shrugged. "I've got a feeling that things won't stay quiet around here for long. It's only one more day until Round Two, right?"

Max nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to see you and Blue battle again, Red. You've got more tricks up your sleeve! Teach me more!"

"After Misty battles, promise," Ash shrugged. "We'll base whatever we do off of what happens during her battle. No pressure there."

"Speaking of which, I need to go register. See you later," Misty said, pushing her chair in and dashing off to the stadium.

"Where's Michael?" Maddy asked. "Now that I think about it, Noah's not here either."

Ash knew that Michael was probably running surveillance and dragged poor Noah along, but he wasn't sure. He settled for telling the young girl that he didn't know.

After a little more chatting, the group set off towards Stadium C, where they found great seats towards the bottom of the arena.

"Kudos on the awesome seats, Brock!" Max said as he looked out over the battlefield. "How'd you score these?"

Brock smiled. "They give a few of these to every former gym leader for guests during the prelims."

Maddy leaned over the railing. "Is there any chance we'll get hurt from here?"

"Not really, Maddy. It's a water field," Ash noted as the group climbed the stairs. "Misty'll love that."

Brock nodded. "Whoever her opponent is will be in serious trouble once they realize she's a water type gym leader."

Max unfolded the battle guide for the day. "Looks like she's battling some guy named Rudy. Ever heard of him, Red?"

Ash tried his best to hide a grin as he shook his head. "No, I haven't."

Shauntal's enthusiastic greeting and a huge response from the crowd cut off his extended reply. The bookworm was a surprisingly good people person, and she had invited Professor Juniper to narrate alongside of her.

"Please welcome Misty Waterflower, the Gym Leader of Cerulean City and the fourth member of the Sensational Sisters!" Shauntal announced. Ash, Aurian, and the rest of the group yelled as loud as they could when they spotted Misty making her way to the box.

"And now, joining us all the way from the Orange Islands' Trovita Gym- Rudy Hyde!"

The ever-confident Rudy pulled a Pokéball from his belt and winked at Misty, who rolled her eyes.

"There's tension there," Brock remarked. "Haven't seen Misty that irritated in years."

Ash watched as Rudy made the shape of a telephone with his hands in wiggled it in Misty's direction. Her face turned as red as Pikachu's cheeks- and Ash's starter noticed before he did.

"Pika, Pikapi." The electric mouse threw Ash an incriminating look.

"I am not jealous," he whispered back.

"Pikachupi pikaka Pikapi," Pikachu squeaked with a wink.

"Maybe a little..."

Aurian caught Pikachu's hint and started laughing.

"Shut up!" Ash muttered, which only made Pikachu giggle harder.

The patonai and Pikachu accidentally chatted through Shauntal and Professor Juniper's opening narration, and looked back down at the arena as Misty and Rudy released their Pokémon.

Rudy tossed out a Pidgeot.

Misty chuckled and threw out a Pokéball that Ash had never seen before.

A Gyarados shot up out of the water and roared at the Pidgeot, who cowered in fear.

"Since when does Misty have a Gyarados?!" Max asked, eyes wide.

Brock shrugged, dumbfounded. "I don't know. She's always been terrified of them."

"Not anymore," Maddy answered. "Wonder what changed?"

Ash started cheering at the very start of the battle and didn't let up through the first few attacks. Something in him felt... off. He looked down at his hands, and a single blue spark escaped from his pointer finger. More followed, and Ash quickly stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"Ri? Am I about to overflow with Aura?"

His patonai squinted. "Uh, yeah. Can you release a little bit of energy into the railing or something? The two of us can't leave without drawing attention."

"That'll take too long. I need to get out of here, now. I'll be back soon," Ash said.

"Hey guys, I'll be right back. Don't tell Misty I left, all right? Not feeling too great," he said aloud. "Think I ate too much again."

Brock nodded. "We've got your back. Feel better."

"Yeah," Max echoed halfheartedly. "See ya later."

Ash walked out of the box after Pikachu hopped on his shoulder, and took the staircase at a dead sprint into the forest just outside of it. He zigzagged through the trees until he was far enough away from the stadium.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked, quirking his ears.

"I'm fine, just an aura overflow," Ash replied, balling his fists and concentrating energy into them. The spheres he created were at least two feet wide, and he let both of them go into rocks ten feet away from him. His targets exploded, sending a fine powder of dust over Ash and his starter.

"Any better? Kind of..." The sparks slowed down considerably, but they were still flying all over the place.

Wait... why haven't I called Riley? He'll know what to do!

Ash frantically pulled his Pokégear out of his pocket and inputted Riley's number.

The leader of the Armada picked up on the fourth ring. "Red? Is everything all right?"

Ash shook his head. "No. It started, Riley. My kendō is underway."

"Now? How inconvenient..."

"Yeah, and I'm overflowing at the moment," Ash said, motioning towards the sparks escaping from his fingertips. "I've left the stadium in order to get everything under control, but how? Blue's process was never this hard to deal with."

"The later the process starts, the stronger it is. Do you still have the crystal I made you practice your aiming skills with?"

Ash pulled a tiny pendant- a whiteish-transparent arrowhead about two inches long- out from under his shirt. "This old thing?"

"Yes. That can hold a lot of Aura. Try to channel your overflow into the crystal. Hold on to it, afterwards- you can draw on its reserves in a pinch."

Both Ash and Pikachu glanced at the small crystal with renewed memory.

"Duh. Why didn't I remember that?" Ash asked.

Riley smiled. "You never had a reason to."

"Guess that's why you made us wear them," Ash said. "Thanks for that, and I'm sorry if I ever said it looked girly."

Riley laughed. "It works, so it doesn't look girly. Be careful about filling it, though- if it starts to run full, the crystal will glow blue."

"Got it. Thanks, my friend. Hopefully I won't have to call again soon, but..."

"I understand. Talk to you later, Red."

Ash pressed a button, and the screen turned black.

"Okay, how should I do this? Best bet would be to start channeling through three fingers like I did the last time I was here."

A cerulean light flared from the tips of Ash's first three fingers, and aura flowed into the stone. Ash watched in fascination as the arrowhead lifted from his shirt and started to pulsate with energy. He pulled away just as the crystal started to glow with a blue tinge.

"Much better. Pikachu, am I still sparking?"

Pikachu shook his head with a grin as he jumped back into his trainer's shoulder. "Kachu, Pikapi!"

"Great! Maybe we can catch the last bit of Misty's battle!"

The duo sprinted back to the stadium, and arrived back at the stands as Misty's Corsola dealt a finishing blow to Rudy's Hitmonchan.

"And the winner, with one Pokémon lost to three, is Misty of Cerulean City! Congratulations!" Shauntal shouted. The rest of the arena joined in the cheering- Ash included.

"She beat him?" he asked.

Max nodded. "Yep! She ran into a little bit of trouble with Electabuzz when she still had Gyarados out, but she worked her way through it. You feeling any better?"

"Yeah," Ash responded. "A lot, actually. Fresh air works wonders."

Ash felt Max's eyes on the arrowhead, which had escaped from under his shirt while he was running back to catch the last moments of the battle.

"Should we stay for whoever's next, or should we go wander around the island?" Aurian asked.

"I vote we wait for Misty." Brock said. "How about we head back to Red and Blue's campsite for lunch?"

"Deal!" Ash responded. "Let's head back."

The seven reunited by the campfire, which was relit in order to roast hotdogs... but not just any hotdogs. Brock perfected his recipe during his training as a Doctor, and slowly rotated the franks over the flames.

"They're almost done, guys! Just a few more minutes!"

Aurian sighed. "They smell amazing, Brock. Thanks for doing this for us; you really didn't have to."

"I like cooking for people," he replied. "It's rather relaxing."

Ash grinned. "Not when Blue's in the kitchen. She'll burn water if she can."

"That one wasn't my fault! And you, mister, can't cook any better than I do," Aurian responded, poking Ash in the shoulder.

Max laughed. "I've missed eating great food since I started out on my journey... I've wished for Brock's skills many a night. I think Ralts is starting to dislike me for my lack of food skills."

"Totally," Maddy responded. "Ever had a Sitrus berry tart? My mum gave me the perfect recipe before I left, and she told me to try it out whenever I get to Hoenn and see their Berry farms."

"Hate to interrupt the food talk, but lunch is served!" Brock said, brandishing his spatula with a flourish. "Eat up!"

Misty sat close to Red and Blue during the meal, and tried to observe everything she could about the two. Red boasted quiet confidence, something very unusual for a tournament battler. Most of the trainers she met were outspoken and brash, but Red was different.

"What is he hiding?" Misty thought. "It's not like he's killed a man or anything, but he doesn't want me to find out about anything past when he met Blue. Red's not whom he says he is, but there's no way to prove that. This should be interesting to figure out, but can Max, Brock and I really do it?

Blue, however, fit the stereotype for a tourney trainer. She spoke her mind, was brash in everything she did, but wasn't afraid to tell what had happened to make her that way... but was her backstory true? It seemed awfully tragic, but with an almost rehearsed air about it, like the girl had to practice saying it to sink the story in.

They read each others' minds and moved as one whenever no one was looking. Misty was right in her earlier assumption about the pair- while Red was completely focused on devouring the three franks that he had served himself, Blue sat a little apart from the group after she finished her meal, keeping a careful eye on the edge of the forest.

Now or never, Misty thought.

"It's not like someone's gonna come swooping out of the forest and attack us, you know," she said, sitting down next to Blue.

The girl smiled, but the action didn't reach her eyes. "Old habits die hard."

Misty waited patiently as the trainer swept over the birches, sycamores, and oaks once more.

"I got into a pretty bad scuffle with some Plasma grunts when I toured Unova," Blue said. "Some of them tracked me down and tried to attack me when I was camping just outside of Lacunosa Town. I've never dropped my guard since."

"Oh. I didn't know," Misty said. "I'm sorry."

Blue sighed. "It's all right. Not many people do. You can only oppose a Team for so long before they start taking notes, tracking you to see where they can take you out with the least amount of mess to clean up."

"I used to travel a lot, and we- Brock, an old friend, and I- had a trio of Rockets on our tails most days. They just tried to steal our Pokémon, but I understand where you're coming from."

"Thanks, Misty. It's been a while since I've had a girl my age to rant to," Blue replied with a genuine smile. "I do love traveling and hanging out with Red, but there's something to be said about having someone to be girly with and wouldn't dare dream of making fun of you for it."

"You didn't have anyone before Red?"

Blue shrugged. "I tried the coordinator rounds and was shunned from that pretty quickly, so I decided to take the route that few girls do. I was the only female trainer in the Sinnoh League in the year that I ran that circuit. It's not uncommon for there to be hazing once you get out of the serious League regions, if you're a girl trainer."

"Sounds like we're pretty lucky here."

"Yeah, we are. Orre was an eye-opener. Sometimes it's easy to forget that we're pretty well off here. There aren't that many guy coordinators or lady trainers, but they're not gender-segregated anymore."

Misty nodded. "Gotcha. If you ever need to get anything off your chest, I'm here for you."

"You rock, Waterflower. Same for you."

Misty turned and walked back to the main group, a hand over her heart. She felt kind of bad, using Blue's trustworthiness to help the effort to discover more about Red. If only she had been sincere in her statement of loyalty... then Blue would've believed her wholeheartedly.

Aurian smirked as she watched Misty walk away. The redhead was great at playing people, but the Cerulean gym leader failed to realize that Aurian herself knew of Misty's deception. It was a wonderful offer- she might take it up for more trivial things, like boys and training- but Misty would report straight back to Max and Brock with whatever she fed the girl.

The group split off- Max and Maddy went exploring, Brock ran to the Pokémart for a few spare berries, and Misty went back to the Center- for a few free hours, and Aurian decided that a nap sounded rather appealing at the moment. She walked back over to her bedroll, and found Ash stretched out on top of his sleeping bag.

"What'd Misty have to say?"

"She played the empathy card, said I could tell her anything. As much as I wish that could be true..."

Ash nodded. "Gotcha. Can we only trust each other?"

"As much as I hate to answer this... yes," Aurian replied, laying down on top of her aqua and navy striped sleeping bag. "We've got too much at risk. We'll be withdrawn if the mission is compromised, and I don't think Lance would be particularly happy about that."

"Let's not worry about that now," Ash said. "It's a beautiful day for a nap. See you in a few hours?"

"Yeah. See you, patonai."

An uproar of fiery heat and a shockwave of energy blasted through the island, jolting both Ash and Aurian awake from their afternoon-turned-evening naps.

"That's no battle," Aurian muttered. "Last time I felt something that strong was back in Unova with the whole 'awaken the legendary dragon with loud explosions' shebang."

Ash sighed. "No time for humor, Ri. Lance would want us to investigate. I'll check out what's going on through aura sight."

He closed his eyes as the world blossomed into a blue-tinted view. Ash scanned the area around their campsite and found nothing, to his relief. He only stumbled upon trouble once he concentrated on the outside of one of the preliminary stadiums.

"We need to move, there're people attacking a prelims battle from the outside," he said, reaching inside of his duffel bag to find his unmarked combat clothes.

In seconds, both patonai were outfitted in standard charcoal grey G-Men shirts and pants, which were armored with a thin substance engineered to mimic a Rhypherior's scales. Two pairs of soundless combat boots were laced up, and hair was concealed within caps.

"Should we even bother with the night vision goggles?" Aurian asked with a hint of amusement.

Ash shook his head with a silent laugh. "Nah, I think we'll manage without them. Hoods up?"

"Hoods up," Aurian agreed, flipping the material over her head.

The patonai slid carefully out of their campsites, leaving a note to Michael and Max, which illustrated a somewhat accurate alibi of where they ventured off to.

"Ah, memories. Takes me right back to Unova," Aurian laughed.

"We were scared little kids in way over our heads. It was a miracle we were able to pull that victory off," Ash answered with a grin. "Ghetsis never knew what hit him."

"And N finally got to see the world with his own eyes after the castle walls crumbled. That was a victory in itself. Heard he's been tearing up the tournaments in Driftveil. Clay's mad at me for unleashing a terror on his organization," Aurian said.

"You're a sucker for the romantic types," Ash muttered. "Look. Plasma grunts."

"How many?" Aurian asked, reaching for a Pokéball.

Ash squinted through his aura sight. "Ten? Maybe fifteen? How should we approach this?"

"We only use Pokémon if they attack us with them," Aurian said.

One of the grunts saw the two, and pointed in their direction.

"What're you doing here?" one of them asked.

"Easy there," Ash said. "We're just checking things out around here."

Aurian scanned over the stadium wall and found a squad of Electrode in distress. The man in charge of the squad ordered a round of Explosions, and healed his squad in order to repeat the process.

"Ash, that's Pokémon cruelty. We need to stop them."

Ash nodded. "I'm afraid we have to ask you to leave your Electrode with us, since you can't care for them properly."

"Boss' orders," a tall man said. "You have an issue? You take it up with me."

His accomplices- ten of them- charged towards the patonai.

"Well crap," Aurian muttered as she ducked a wild punch and took a hard kick to the ribs. "This isn't good. We can't form swords, they're not using weapo..."

Ash's opponent pulled a dagger. "They are now. Stick to short swords. If you could pull that crossbow trick you did in Johto, that'd be great."

"Arrows to the knee, coming right up!"

Ash produced a bright flash of aura in order to blind his opponents while Aurian threw together her crossbow from a combination of different weapons she carried in her belt. When the grunts came to their senses, the girl loaded three arrows in rapid succession, and fired. The first hit an opponent in the shoulder, the second in the knee, and a third in the foot. Aurian took a running start and threw all of her weight behind a single kick aimed at a stomach. The man she hit flew through the air and landed in the rubble of the stadium wall. The remains of the area he was attacking fell on top of the grunt, and he moved no more.

"Who's next?" she asked, twirling her crossbow on a finger. Ash took advantage of the distraction and took a man down with an elbow to the temple. The rest of the grunts reacted and started attacking with everything they had in them.

Aurian shot her arrows as quickly as she could load them while occasionally getting in a kick. Unfortunately, her luck with the first three shots didn't carry over into the rest of the brawl.

"Dammit, I'm out of ammo! Looks like I'm jumping back in," she said as she swept a grunt's legs out from under him.

Ash turned and saw Max and Brock running towards the all-out brawl.

Great, just what we needed.

"Stay away!" he yelled in between landing a right uppercut and dodging a vicious kick. "It's too dangerous!"

Aurian was cornered between the half-shattered arena wall and her opponent, and she repressed her urge to flee as another man appeared.

"Ash, should we use Aura?"

"It'll intimidate 'em enough to stay away. Let's do it."

Aurian lit her fists in bright blue flame, and walloped the opposing grunt on the cheek. He was sent spiraling away, and she saw her chance. Aurian nailed the grunt with a well-placed kick between the legs, and took her opponent out of the fight with a well-placed blow to the temple, using the force she exerted in the punch to spin to face her next opponent.

"Get 'em, Ri!" Ash cheered as he knocked out one of his opponents. The other stared in shock when Ash's hands exploded with pure blue energy, sending a flare five feet in the air. He quietly sighed in relief as the excess aura from the kendō process burned off.

"You're messing with the wrong duo," Ash growled as he slammed his foot into his opponent's chest. "Rocket's already got the evil monopoly on this event, so why are you here?"

The Plasma grunt pulled himself up from the ground. "Ghetsis wants revenge for destroying his plans and taking his son away from him."

"N needed to get out," Ash muttered. He ducked a high kick and caught the man's ankle, using the momentum left over to swing the grunt into the man that Aurian was fighting. They collapsed in an unmoving heap across the stadium.

"I'll diffuse the Electrode and free them," Aurian said, creeping towards the Pokémon. Ash watched in amazement as she quickly severed their links to their masters. After a few affectionate Explosions, the pack of electric-types rolled off into the wild.

"That was interesting..." Ash pondered. "Why were those grunts here?" He thoroughly searched the grunts' pockets as he tied their wrists and ankles together and to a tree.

Aurian came across an X-Communicator on one, and pocketed it to hack later, and rejoined Ash as she brushed dust off the front of her uniform. "Found some evidence."

"We'll check it out later. Look who saw the whole thing go down."

Max and Brock stared with jaws dropped. Ash motioned them over, and the two immediately complied.

"Who are you?" Max asked, eyes wide.

Aurian flipped a badge out of her pocket. "Pokémon G-Men, at your service."

"But you're a girl!" Brock exclaimed. "And a feisty one, at that..."

She had him lying on the ground in a headlock within three seconds. "Don't test me. Our superiors make exceptions sometimes."

Ash suppressed a laugh. "Braveheart, what do you think we should do with these guys?"

"Call the authorities," she winced as she hopped up off of Brock. "Our authorities."

"Right. You got that under control?" Ash asked, worried for his patonai.

She nodded. "Roger, Shadow. Back in a bit."

Max started grinning. "Man, that was awesome! You were amazing when your hands lit up and you beat off three of those guys at once!"

The look that Ash flashed at him from under the hood cut him off.

"I need you to listen to me, rookie. There's nothing glamorous about what my friend and I do. People get hurt, sometimes killed, sometimes worse. There's more to this world than the happy happy joy world of beginning training, gym badges, and tourney battles. Don't get caught up in it, like I did. Keep your head on, kid."

"They're on their way," Aurian said as she quietly crept back to Ash's side. "Rookie and lover boy, we need to know what you saw, from the beginning."

Max immediately took the chance to tell the story. "We were on our way back from the center and heard explosions."

"Max and I ran over here to find you guys very nearly losing until your hands started glowing blue. I know I've seen that before," Brock said. "What is it?"

Ash shot a quick sideways glance towards Aurian.

"We're part of the Armada, which is a small elite group within the G-Men that's dedicated to using the 'blue' that you saw to keep things under control. We can't say much about it because of obligations to our team."

Max looked disappointed at the lack of information, but didn't press any further. "Is there anything we can do?" he asked.

Ash shook his head. "Nah, you've done all you can by staying out of this. Thanks for the info on what you saw. If you see anything else suspicious, give the number on this card a ring." He took a small business card out of a pouch on his belt and handed it to Brock.

Brock inspected the card. "Pokemon G-Men, emergency law enforcement. Interesting."

"If that's all, we need to take our leave. Thanks for the cooperation. Hope we don't have to see you again, but if we do, you know the process," Aurian finished. "Shadow, let's go."

"Roger that."

The patonai let off identical smoke bombs and vanished, leaving Max and Brock staring at where the hooded vigilantes were standing.

"Holy... did they just do that?" Max asked, coughing.

Brock nodded. "Yeah. Looks like we're in over our heads."

Max's eyes widened. "Way over."

(A/N): Hi, everyone, and I'd like to apologize for the extra long wait. Hope the insanely long chapter made it up for you!

We passed a hundred follows for this story! Thank you so much to everyone who has followed and or favorited- all of you guys mean a lot to me, and any PM or review boosts my confidence in my writing all that much more.

One of the reasons I didn't update sooner was that I lost a friend in a car accident back in December, and subsequently lost my inspiration for writing for a while. Please don't ever drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. My friend and his mom passed on after they were rear-ended by a drunk driver. We're doing all right now, but it's still hard some days. We've left a chair for my friend in our set-up in my band as a tribute.

And about the chapter for the prologue to Primary... that wasn't my best work, and I'm really sorry about that. The first chapter is undergoing heavy revision. I'll post it soon.

Now it's review response time! Thanks to everyone who dropped a comment on Chapter Twelve- you guys rock.

Nightshade1712: I normally don't take OC requests through reviews, but thanks for the offer! Glad you've appreciated the humor so far.

Abhro: Hendō is something I created. I figured that we needed a little more information on the origins of the Guardians, and I figured that they had to go through some sort of a maturity-process thing, right? I can tell you now that Ash's dad IS NOT Giovanni. That's way overdone. The answer to that question will come in time.

BlackMoonNight: Thanks! The plot will start moving a little more quickly now.

Patrick: Thanks! I'm still working on that.

freddycoops: Thank you... I think?

Eclipse Wing: Wow, thank you so much! I've got plans for this Pokeshipping thing that I've started, as you can probably see from the angsty bit earlier in the chapter.

Special thanks to thechinskyguy for putting up with my extended wait and rather awful first drafts. Go drop by his profile and check out 'Vengance'- one heck of a story that'll keep you reading for hours!

Again, I'm really sorry for the extended wait, and thank you again for reading! Drop a review, follow, or favorite if you haven't already- it'd make my day!

PL, signing off!