Jack stumbled into Vermillion City, his bandages were still wrapped tightly around his bruised ribs and the bleeding from the removed IV had finally ceased thanks to several free First Aid kits he managed to nab as he left the Pokemon Center in Cerulean. Eff's Pokeball was gripped firmly in Jack's right hand in fear of losing it and condemning the Pokemon to either live in it forever, or fall into someone else's hands.

The new trainer wobbled into the center of the city and fell to his knees beside the Poke Mart, taking a moment to gather himself as he racked his brain trying to figure out where Lappe could have gone. For the time being, he decided to buy a few more potions from the convenience store and check up on the news. There always was the possibility that they were finally reporting on the bombing. Maybe… maybe he could finally find out if there were any survivors or not.

To his surprise however, when he entered the mart and glanced up to the single television in the furthest corner of the room he saw a face which seemed to be vaguely familiar. A title bar flashed against the bottom of the screen with three names which corresponded to the three teenagers displayed.

"Hey, can you turn that up for me? I think I know those people from somewhere."

The store clerk nodded and obliged, pulling a long pole from behind the register which he used to press the volume up button on the control panel a total of six times. "We lost the remote a few months ago. The manager's just too cheap to buy a new one… or a new TV… this thing is hella dated now."

"Following up on our report from yesterday, we've seen some amazing and possibly terrifying new information for you all. We've learned the identity of the third child who had abandoned his home in the Sevii islands earlier this week; Eridian Haschwalth. The name may be familiar to some as the grandson of Jugo Haschwalth - a scientist who rose to fame in the last five years. This means that we now know all three identities of the runaway children, as well as the families which they belong to. And if you were tuned in to the broadcast last night, you should be aware that one of those families has already publicly taken action."

Jack droned out the clerk as he listened in on the reporters, slowly growing closer to the tv as he did so. The longer he stared, the more that he knew for certain that he had met at least two of the people pictured. Jennabel Fue, Jackson Grand, and a third who he'd not been introduced to whose name seemed to be Eridian Haschwalth. Why was the media so caught up on these three kids when so many others had just lost their lives in such an awful act of terrorism? The longer that the cover-up went on, the more aggravated that Jack grew. Just when were the Elite Four going to step up and say something about what happened? Two dots on the map… gone in an instant and not even the slightest peep had come up pertaining to it.

"For those of you who weren't with us last night, we'd like to replay what footage we were able to capture in our interview with the parents of Jackson Grand."

The screen cut to a segment which had a rotating image in the upper right corner which labeled the footage as a replay. In the footage, a man and woman sat on a sofa across from a female reporter. The man's eyes were glazed over and he was staring off into the distance in a daze while his wife sobbed, wiping her face every so often with a Lapras-print handkerchief.

"So tell us, Lorelei; why do you think that your son ran away from home? Do you have any idea where he might be or what he might be getting up to?"

The woman who was presumably this Lorelei person sniffed several times and then blew her nose in between hiccups as she tried to gather herself. "I-I'm not sure." She sneezed into the Lapras-print cloth once more before balling it up in her fist. "I never could tell if anything was wrong but I… it's possible that it's all our fault for not letting him become a trainer."

"I'm sure that a child with parents as well known and powerful as the two of you would only ever have dreams of becoming a trainer themselves. It's easy to see how he might have gotten upset and run off then."

Lorelei nodded her head as a tear streamed down her cheek. "Yes… it's so plain to see, isn't it? Me and Garet have just been so busy… sometimes it's hard, yeah, but… I never thought it would go this far… Jackson he… he even went so far as to take those with him… there's no telling what he'll do now… he's still too naive to take on that heavy a burden."

As Lorelei spoke, the man next to her rose to his feet and reached behind the sofa, pulling up an old trunk with a small amount of effort. After lifting it fully over the sofa, he placed the case on the table in front of him and snapped it open, pulling from it an H-shaped vest with six black Pokeballs strapped to the front of it. "If he took those, then there's nothing else we can do. I never thought I'd have to pull this persona back out, not after you saved me from that life…" The man looked at the camera, closed his eyes, turned, and bowed to Lorelei as he pulled the mask up from its place in the case and held it up to her.

"Garet… I…" Lorelei paused, clenching her fist as the color drained from her face. "I never thought you'd have to pull it out again either… but if it's for the sake of stopping our son, then it must be done. What he has now is much too powerful for the level of skill that he possesses." The woman quickly rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around Garet. "Become the iron ma-"

As she spoke those final words the broadcast was promptly cut off and returned to the reporter who'd been speaking before the video went up. "There's still no information as to what is in the possession of Jackson Grand, but by the actions of his parents - ex-Elite Four member Lorelei, and ex-Team Rocket Executive Garet Grand - it seems to be quite dangerous. Authorities are urging anyone who comes in contact with any of the three children to be extremely cautious and to report sightings immediately to the nearest Officer Jenny. Alerts have also started going out regarding the 'revival' of ex-Rocket Executive Garet Grand. Despite his numerous crimes having been waived in the past due to his help in locating Giovanni and shutting down the last remnants of Team Rocket, police are warning anyone who comes across him to be extremely wary and to not engage with him no matter wh-"

The broadcast was cut short as the screen turned to static before promptly being replaced with the FKPR logo and a shadowy image of Mewtwo. It was the same call to arms that always appeared at random intervals, but its sudden appearance caused anger to instantly surge through Jack. It was if the Republic were taunting him, saying that even though they'd done something so horrible they could continue on with their agenda regardless. It was sickening, to say the least.

Jack quickly rushed out the door, ignoring the clerk as he wished him a good evening. The boy was so angry, that he'd just been staring at his feet intently as he trudged along, paying no attention to his surroundings whatsoever. He was so set on staring at his feet in fact, that when he bumped into the elderly gentleman who was frankly built like a brick wall, he played it off as if he had actually just run into a building instead of a building.

"You serious, kid?"

Jack waved his hand at the man and continued on his merry way. Or, he would have… if it weren't for the fact that the elderly man who was quite frankly built like a brick wall, also had a grip like a Kingler. In an instant, the boy was pinned to the ground and had been put into an extremely tight arm lock.

"You gonna say you're sorry, or what? Have some manners, kid."

"The fuck are you? Get the hell off of me you geezer! I've had enough of you old fuckers here lately! Just let me go! Get off my fuckin' arm!"

"Watch your mouth, worm." The elderly man tensed his legs and pulled slightly on Jack's arm, causing the boy to scream out in agonizing pain.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! You're going to rip it out! Please! I'm sorry! Please don't do this!"

"Tch." The elderly man released his grip and turned around before doing a kip-up. "All you kids these days just really lack any spunk. Pushovers. The lot of you. That's what peacetime will do to you though, I suppose."

Jack rolled over, holding his shoulder as he fought back tears. "Who the hell do you think you are old man?"

"Me? I don't want to be that guy, but surely you know who I am? I mean, you are in my city after all."

"Then you're-"

"Lieutenant Surge." The man smiled, holding out a hand to Jack. "I heard a lot about you from the other leaders before me, but I almost didn't recognize you without your friend. Sounds like you've been giving the kids a run for their money… but don't think your cheap tricks and tactics will work against me. I actually fought in a war. I hardened my mind and my body on the battlefield. All of my tactics and Pokemon are at the highest of levels… of course, they had to be. Otherwise, I'd not be here now. That's war, after all. Pokemon are the only thing that really got me through that war… so I know a little bit about what you're going through now… but…"

Jack looked up the towering man and then back at his own feet. "...Lappe is… he's… well… we had a falling out and now I don't really know where he is..."

"Huh, well that kind of sucks but at least you've got another one there in your hand, right?"

Jack looked down at Eff's Pokeball and shuddered. "No, he's not… it's not what you're thinking is what I want to say…"

"So… it's not your Pokemon? You didn't capture or trade for it?"

Jack shook his head. "No, I mean… I did catch it, but… Jack is the only one I want to fight for me… I don't want to involve others in what we have to do."

"Hmm. Very noble. Let me tell you something, Jack. Family is-"

"Spare me." A new voice came from some ways behind Jack and Surge. The two slowly turned to face the newcomer as they closed the distance between them. "Family is nothing. All that matters is strong Pokemon and stronger trainers. Pokemon are just tools to do our bidding, and family is just an excuse to have and accept your own weaknesses. Pokemon were created to be used by us humans by a Pokemon God. Even that God has been restrained, captured and used throughout history to do the bidding of man. Pokemon are an existence so far beneath us that it sickens me to hear you say such things."

"And you… you are?" Surge slowly crossed his arms and stared down the new boy in front of him.

"Nobody that'll matter to you… but Jack… I have a sort of grudge with him, I suppose. See, he stole something from me that he shouldn't have. And so now, I've stolen something from him that I shouldn't have." A smile spread across the boy's face as he came into Jack's line of sight.

"J-Jackson. You… what are you talking about?"

"Well, Jack… why don't you just take a look?"

- meanwhile -

Diglett's Cave

Roughly Ten Minutes Prior

"I have to get stronger!" Lappe panted as the Diglett and Dugtrio relentlessly circled around and attacked him, popping in and out of view as they dug more tunnels. The Croconaw fired off a lazy water attack, striking, and knocking out one of the Diglett as it resurfaced. Lappe started leaping from side-to-side as more and more clones of himself appeared. The opposing Pokemon were all completely caught off guard, and were even more so confused when each apparition formed a long chunk of ice out of seemingly nothing. "I'll just smash you all with one strike!" Lappe grabbed the pole of ice and dug his claw into it before swinging it around his body, causing it to smash against a number of the Diglett which sent them flying back off into their holes.

Lappe breathed heavily as he fell to a knee, his eyes surveying the tunnel. It seemed that for now, every enemy had been dealt with. At long last, he was getting used to his new body. It had seemed weird at first, but now he was getting back to the speed that he used to know - meanwhile, his power continued to grow at an incredible rate.

"This can't be it though… that Timburr… it was too strong, much too powerful for me… even now I…"

"Heyyy, don't worry about it my man! You're plenty strong as you are now!"

Lappe's eyes widened as he spun around to face the direction that the voice was coming from, only to be met with a black ball to his face. A black light shot forth from it, blinding him completely and knocking him unconscious.

"Or, at least as strong as you'll be able to get on your own. But don't worry, with these you'll feel so much more powerful than you ever thought possible. Just you wait and see…"