(AN) Welcome back, guys! Now, before we get to the second act of the story, here's a few, short chapters regarding the past. I feel like the past isn't too shined upon and our characters need more backstory, so, enjoy~

Arc Intermission

Chapter 15: 700 years ago.

Jebediah

Beep beep beep.

"Ugh, morning already…? I pushed myself upright and stared around my room, waiting for my eyes to focus. Seven-thirty am, the time I always got up at for work. I climbed out of bed and hit my alarm clock, silencing the damn thing before it made my head explode. The carpet was nice and warm under my bare feet, even if the rest of the room was a bit chilly due to the late October morning. My room was simple, blue wallpaper and white carpet, a double bed with two bedside tables and a tv on the wall opposite the bed. It was cozy enough for me.

With a yawn, I did some stretches and cracked my joints, opening my blue blinds to let in some sunlight, only to be blinded by the sun reflecting off the chrome skyscrapers of Vigrade. Just the average morning routine, I supposed. Changing out of my pyjamas, I put on my Virtue Lab Security armour on, (minus the mask) and left my room with another yawn, holding my mask and helmet under my armpit. Something about the faceless appearance and the grey armour we wore unnerved me. Why appear so intimidating when we were supposed to be virtuous?

Whatever the case, I was almost immediately greeted by our riolu pet hugging me as I left the room to the hall. I laughed and crouched down somewhat. Had to admit, the girl was growing fast, she came up to my chest, almost five foot now. Bro must've been feeding her right, she was damn near a lucario now.

"Heya, girl!" I scratched the bipedal dog's cheeks and chuckled to myself. She was an adorable little pooch. "You needing fed?"

"D-don't worry, Jeb, I already did," From the bathroom emerged my little half-brother, short little guy, near golden hair with brown eyes. Five years younger than me. On his face he wore his expression of permanent worry. Barely came up to my shoulder. He tugged on his white shirt uncomfortably. "Vacuumed it down like usual…"

"Thanks, Matt," I gave my brother a smile and ruffled his hair teasingly. All he could do was give a weak smile and he nervously hung out by me. I always felt a bit bad for him, shortest boy of the Wolfe pack, not nearly as big as me or Dad. Always told he needed to grow a spine. Regardless, he was my little bro. "Anything for breakfast?"

"Just the usual, cereal and stuff…" he shrugged with his usual sad eyes, a slight grin on his face as Lady stopped hugging me in favour of holding his hand tightly. Heck, she was older than him, she might have well been his new mom seeing as his was always busy. "Aww, Lady…"

I could only sigh sadly as the riolu led my brother to his room, clearly wanting to sleep in and cuddle more, I could tell. She was lazy and he couldn't say no to her. I hoped one day, my little brother would come out of his shell. Making my way down the hall, I entered the indoor balcony/dining area, where I saw my little sister, Matt's older twin sister. She flicked her ebony hair out of the way as she played with a makeup mirror, squinting at the bright sunlight that crept its way through the huge window. Her brown eyes met mine and she gave a gentle smile.

"Morning, bro," She greeted quietly and placed her mirror down. Always a tad more sociable than Matt was. But still a bit...odd. "See sleepyhead?"

"Yeah, Matt, going back to bed with the dog," I gazed out the window longingly, feeling particularly grim this morning. I sat next to my twin sister as she fiddled with her hands, unsure what to even say. I yawned and gazed at the nearby calendar. "the 21st of september, just two months and a day until your sixteenth, thought of anything you want?"

"Uhm…" Lucy twiddled her thumbs awkwardly while thinking long and hard. She then flicked in realisation and pulled out a magazine, flipping through its pages and showing it to me. She got to the desired page and happily showed to me. It showed a model posing with a gardevoir in a beautiful crimson floral dress. It was certainly stylish enough for Lucy. "This one! I'd look amazing in this one!"

I whistled and stared at the price.

"Two-hundred dollars, huh?" I chuckled and took note of the dress and where to order it. "I swear, between that game console for him and your dress, you two have spent more of my paycheck than I have! You two are lucky I don't have anything to buy."

I debated on ruffling her hair, but thought better of it.

"Well," I shrugged and stood up, wanting to grab a quick bite before heading out to work. "If you too are good, I might consider it."

Immediately, I was met with a side cuddle from my sister. I couldn't help but chuckle and hugged her back, enjoying the stars in her eyes.

"R-really, Jeb?"

"Yup," I smirked and let go of her, standing up and cracking my neck, about to head off to the kitchen for a bite. "Anything for my 'precious' siblings—"

"Jeb!" A booming voice called from downstairs. Looked like I wasn't eating this morning. I peered over the edge and saw my dad in full armour, staring back at me from behind a blue visor. Dad looked at Lucy and I before beckoning me down with two fingers. "C'mon! We'll be late! Bring the dog, the science boys need her!"

I just nodded subserviently and put my mask on, looking down at Lucy sadly. She gave me a sympathetic look as all my humanity went out the window, replaced by a rigid soldier. I straightened my back and marched over to Matt/Lucy's room. My mask was uncomfortable and tight, stuffy as all heck. I could hear myself breathing heavily because of the respirator. Inside the room, Matt was casually in bed, reading a book on military strategy with a sleepy riolu under his arm. She cuddled into him with a cozy expression. My brother looked up at me with a sad, lonely expression; an expression that usually broke my heart. I was his big brother, it was my responsibility to see him safe, but...Ugh, stupid work.

"D-do you need to take Lady?" He mumbled and put his book down.

"Unfortunately, yeah…" I sighed with a muffled voice and squatted by his bedside, struggling to watch as he nudged the riolu awake. She looked confused, which just broke my heart even further. "C'mon Lady, we going walkies?"

Upon saying the 'W' word, she sprung to her feet and was wagging her tail like all mad, clearly booming with excitement. She jumped up at me with excited eyes.

"H-have a good day, Jeb…" Matt mumbled and buried his face in his pillow. I shook my head and stood up, retrieving her lead from Matt's bedside table. Clipping it onto her collar, I turned to my upset brother.

"Just hang in there, OK? You've got your sister for company, plenty of food in the fridge and pantry," I spoke as soft as I could with this stuffy mask on. I smiled at him, though he couldn't see it. "I'll grab you some stuff from V-Mart, if you like."

"Just something chocolatey, please…" He gave me a meek grin and played with one of his blue earrings. "O-oh...and can you ask Mom when she's coming home next when you're at work? It's been a couple of weeks...I kinda miss her…the phone calls aren't enough..."

"Can do, Matthew," I nodded and left the room, slowly closing the door behind me. "Back at 6."

Dad and I left our lavish apartment building into the cool morning breeze of September. The Sun hung midway up the cloudless azure sky, blocked somewhat by the colossal mountain that stood proudly over Vigrade. Living in the Shadow of Mount Cosma was always intimidating, especially with the statue of The Moon Lord Algaloe, glory to his soul. The streets were always busy in the morning as folks commuted to work. Kids ran to school, office workers drove to their work and the bird-masked Luminaries preached the word of the Grand Luminary, our glorious leader. I also noticed a few elderly people walking their Pokemon too.

"V-Mart! For all your shopping needs!" Virtue Corporation adverts played over the city-wide radios, coaxing people to buy their products, which was strange, considering they owned practically every company in the finance sector. It was odd, but considering I worked for them, I decided not to ask too many questions. "Fresh food, all the latest fashion! All at wonderfully affordable prices!"

I smiled to myself, knowing full well these 'affordable prices' were practically free with my Virtue Discount Card.

Our riolu pet walked very handsomely on her lead, a big smile on her muzzle and with a tail held high, not so much as a peep coming from her as we passed strangers on the street. Which was good, her status as a riolu made her turn heads, seeing as she was outstandingly rare and pricey. I had to admit, Matt and Lucy did a great job training her. She skipped on ahead as I tried to keep a brisk pace, but the long, marching strides of my 6'5 dad were hard to keep up with.

"Keep up, Jeb. You're a soldier, you need to march in step!" Dad barked from up front, his pace a very quick march. How a man so huge and bulky could always move so swiftly was beyond me. I gulped and sped up as best I could, though making sure Lady's little legs weren't getting overworked. People moved out of the way of my father out of respect of his uniform and job. Always seemed more like a snow-plow to me. "And I don't particularly want to miss the train to work. I've been late enough times because of your slow starts."

Dad's tone was harsh, as sharp as a bisharp's blade and as piercing as a bullet. Even from behind his glowing visor, I could sense his glare as he looked over his shoulder at me. I just lowered my head and tried my best to catch up with him.

"Y-yes, Dad…" I gulped, catching a slip up. "Yessir, Commander Wolfe."

"Good," Dad cooed in delight as we got ever closer to the cable car station, swinging his stun-baton around by its lanyard and whistling a tune, his other hand near his holster. I couldn't wait to have a firearm of my own one day, but a rookie like me was only allowed a baton. His mood seemed to sour as he stopped whistling. "Ugh, hear what those pokemon-interbreeding bastards down south have been up do?"

"The Solar Empire?" I tilted my head as we walked together, staring aimlessly at the monster of a mountain before me, basking in its radiance. Even the Virtue Corp's HQ, the tallest building on the planet paled in comparison. "No, what have they been up to?"

"Bastards are now letting in our traitors," He grunted and shook his head angrily. "Traitors are probably telling those hippies everything they know about us, hmph. Even their little bitch of a princess is telling everyone it's someone's right to live where they choose. Nonsense, probably why they're so far behind in technology, spent too much time in bed with those animals if you ask me, ha!"

I just smiled and nodded, too afraid to air my own opinions about our sister nation. It wasn't my place to argue with him. He seemed to be satisfied with my silence, as his mood lightened somewhat. I sighed silently and stared at my feet, longing to be less submissive to someone like him.

Once we arrived at the cable car station, we showed the man behind the desk our Virtue-Cards and were pointed towards a private, heavily guarded train. The troops donned in matching armour to Dad and I saluted respectfully as we passed them. This platform was extremely lavish and grand, murals of our lunar god everywhere as well as his symbol, the Blue Rhombus of Gaia. The blue murals and stained glass paired with the white marble was always pleasing to the eye. Even the train itself was fancy and well decorated; every passenger either a troop clad in grey or a professor clad in white. The guards bantered amongst themselves while the scientists looked like they didn't particularly want to be here. I received a nasty glare or two as I petted the riolu sat next to me, her lead held tightly so she didn't run off anywhere.

"Now departing from Algaloe's Vestibule station to Mount Cosma Lab station," The automated intercom spoke as the train started moving north to the mountain. "Please stay seated at all times and hold onto any belongings, The Virtue Corporation is not responsible and will not be held liable to any lost luggage."

I mouthed along to the message, hearing it again for the umpteenth time this month. It was tiring to say the least. I sighed and peered out of the window as the chrome skyscrapers of Vigrade grew distant, replaced by the rough and rocky foothills at the base of the mountain so holy. It only took about fifteen minutes of travel before we hit the west end of the mountain, the sun completely blocked from view. I just looked on distantly as the train rocked and bumped along its journey. In the distance, I saw the vast concrete wall of our borders, seventy metres tall and guarded at every inch. I knew there was so much this planet had to offer, we were in the dead centre of this continent, why we weren't allowed out of these walls was beyond me. It was tragic, I saw the full map of this planet via satellite, but for all twenty-one years of my life, I was cooped up inside of the walls, living a quiet, if sometimes mundane life. I let myself smile sadly, I'd start singing about 'wanting more' if I was a character from the cheesy cartoons my siblings loved to watch. I shook my head and pet Lady again, even if it was just visiting the Solar Empire one day, I wanted to see the world beyond these walls.

After roughly forty minutes of traveling, we could no longer see the light of day as the train pulled into a large cave in the side of Mount Cosma. The interior lights turned on as the cavern was vast and pitch black. I felt the riolu beside me fearfully quiver, grabbing and tugging on my sleeve. I pulled her into a side hug, feeling slightly unnerved too. I always hated this part of the journey. We came to a stop at a huge circular vault door that slowly crept open with a screech, revealing the high tech lab entrance within. The train pulled in slowly as the vault door shut behind it.

"Now arriving at Mount Cosma Laboratory," the announcer said in what sounded to me like a more eerie tone. I was probably hearing things. "Please hand in any unauthorised communication devices to the main reception, failure to do so will result in immediate termination and prosecution."

Even as someone that followed every rule of this place to an absolute, I always feared the consequences of breaking even a single one. I stood up and held Lady's lead tight, slowly exiting the train to the cold, sterile metal entrance to the Lab. My boots echoed on the floor below as we walked over to the gaurds: who immediately began patting us down. Their cohorts wielded SMGs and stared coldly at us.

"Commander James Wolfe, .45 semiautomatic pistol, flashlight, stun baton and radio, forty-six years old, one hundred and ninety-five centimetres," the guard spoke in a robotic tone to his buddy as he inspected my dad. Next he patted me down. "Private Jebediah Wolfe, stun baton, flashlight and radio, caretaker of this riolu, twenty-one years old, one-hundred and eighty-seven centimetres."

He mumbled into the radio and nodded.

"Alright, both of you are authorised, go on, keep the dog on a tight lead."

We silently passed the guards and entered the cold halls of the lab, following the green lines on the floor to the BioChemistry sector, where we were apparently needed. Guards and scientists roamed the halls, fully armed or with test tubes and other scientific equipment; the humming of machinery adding an unsettling background noise. I shuddered as not even the occasional potted plant here or there was of any comfort. I even saw a few Luminaries discussing things with the scientists. Why priests were allowed here was beyond me. But I dared not speak up, I was just a lowly guard. I heard Lady pining and practically hugging my leg as we proceeded through the labs. Dad didn't seem to be bothered by any of this lab stuff.

We followed the green line for at least 5 minutes before we got to the BioChem Lab door. It opened as soon as the cameras outside of it looked at us. We were immediately met with a large control room with windows on every wall looking into several test chambers of different wild environments. One jungle, one completely submerged under water, one frozen and one a fiery hellscape. Instead of the usual shirts and ties under their lab coats, they wore tight fitting green jumpsuits. They looked back at us for a brief comment before returning to their work.

"Ah, you're here," one of the scientists spoke up, too busy gazing into the Hydrodome to even turn around. She looked very interested in the Pokemon inside. She turned to we approached her, her blonde ponytail a mess and wearing her goggles around her neck, clearly lacking sleep. Penny Wolfe, Dad's wife, my half-brother/sister's mom. My step mom. Never had the nerve to call her that. She knelt and stroked Lady's forehead gently, taking the lead from me, never smiling. The then gazed up at us with cold eyes. "Good, our Aura experiments can continue, thank you."

She was blunt and uncaring as she looked back at the water types. Never did like the fact she was experimenting on poor Lady, however, she didn't seem too upset by the experiments.

"How're they going?" Dad tilted his head while looking at his short wife and the riolu. "Well, I hope?"

"Slowly but steadily, Project 0-3 has reacted well to it, I'm noting advanced intelligence within the water types," Penny adjusted her glasses while typing on some control panel, dispensing food to the water types. "Harnessing the life force of the planet is no easy feat however, we've barely managed to make a vile of physical aura, let alone enough for our Project—"

She silenced herself and looked toward me.

"I don't think you should be here," she scowled somewhat and looked to the Biodome door. "Make yourself useful, Jebediah, one of our projects, 0-5 is refusing to eat from the dispensers, I want you to see what's wrong with her, she's even staying out of the camera's line of sight. I'm concerned she's getting more and more intelligent by the day."

My heart started beating hard and I tried to stammer a response, but she sighed and caught on.

"If you're so concerned, don't be," she opened a drawer and threw me some sort of high tech pistol at me, which I barely caught. "It's a tranquilizer gun, I'm not arming you with an actual firearm, we don't want our projects harmed now do we?"

"Wh-what pokemon is she…?" I gulped and examined the magazine of the gun, six darts in total. Great, hopefully she wasn't a steel type. "Just so I know…"

"You'll know when you see her," She led me to an airlock by the Biodome window, ushering me inside. Several hazmat suits were in the room, but I figured my armour would protect me, I had a respirator on, after all. "Just have a look around for her and confirm her location, make sure she's alive, at the very least."

I couldn't even respond as the metal door shut behind her, followed by the sprinklers spraying me down. Wonderful. I heard the doors behind me open, exposing me to the humid Biodome. I meekly stepped out into the huge artificial jungle, clutching my dart gun tightly in both hands. Visibility was low due to the thick foliage and my mask. I cringed as I stepped in some pretty thick mud as I tried exploring. I saw the observation window to my left, I was being watched by the scientists; not so much as a glance given by my dad or step-mom. I shuddered and continued onward. I was glad I was the older brother, I doubted Matt or Lucy could handle a job like this.

The area was teeming with Pokemon life, mostly the kinds unsuited for extreme environments. I noted buizels playing in the ponds and rivers, seedots casually hanging from branches and paras scurrying around. This wasn't so bad...That thought was immediately gone as a skorupi tried climbing up my leg. My whole body was plunged into shivers as I kicked it off. I hated bugs! After suffering a minor heart attack, I pressed on. After a couple more minutes of wandering, I bumped into a colossal grass Pokemon, a tropius. It towered over me majestically while eating some leaves off a tall tree. Its eyes opened and it craned its long neck down to look at me curiously. Its head was as large as my torso. Immediately feeling intimidated, I lowered my head somewhat to show submission. Instead of turning aggressive, it just sniffed me and poked me with its muzzle. It seemed friendly enough.

I gently brought my hand up for the tropius to sniff, which it did. I then stroked its chin slowly, noting the strange scaly texture of its body. The tree-like Pokemon cooed happily and angled their head into my hand. Once it was satisfied, it offered me one of the bananas on their neck for me. I took it, not wanting to offend. It was a colossal banana. Come to think of it, this tropius was much larger than the norm, they were supposed to be a maximum of 7'0" from what I've seen on documentaries. Strange.

After examining the huge fruit, I noted strange footprints in the mud; huge talons that dwarved my boots when I compared my feet to theirs. I was taken aback. I hadn't seen any bird Pokemon in this entire area, let alone one with feet that big. Could it have been Project 0-5's?

I carefully followed them to a nearby river, where it looked like this Pokemon walked through. I just barely noticed the footprints on the other side. I raised my gun and unclipped my stun baton from my belt, holding the weapons high to avoid damaging them. I waded through the water, attracting the attention of the buizels from earlier. They swam around me while chattering and squeaking in their buizel language. I had to admit, they were awfully cute. If my hands weren't so full, I definitely would've petted them. One I reached the other side, they hung around the riverbed for me. Sighing in defeat, I knelt down and stroked one behind the ears gently. It cooed happily and squeaked in such a way that it made its friends line up behind it. Good heavens.

After petting the third or forth buizel, something in the foliage moved and I suddenly felt like I was being watched. Even the buizels seemed to be spooked and fled the area. This must've been our missing project. I slowly turned around and pointed my dart gun in the general direction of the sound, shivering somewhat; hoping the drugs they put in these things would knock 0-5 out. I noticed a ruined piece of brown equipment on the floor, clearly clawed to shreds. I shone my flashlight around at what almost seemed like a mask before shining it up at the source of the noise.

I held my ground, knees shaking and breath short. From the foliage emerged a large quadruped Pokemon with white fur and what appeared to be talons for front legs and paws for back legs. She had a sharp metallic beak and some kind of fin on her head. She was no Pokemon I had ever seen, she was some sort of chimera. I almost knew right away what this creature was.

"Pr-project 0-5?" I quietly asked her while aiming my weapon. She squinted and looked around, probably for cameras. Once she was certain she wasn't being watched, she approached me slowly. "H-hey! Keep your distance!"

She squinted at me and kept approaching, I tried to pull the trigger, but was too frozen. She began circling me curiously.

"Are...are you...a human?"

Was I insane…? Did she just…?! Impossible. I just held my breath. Her voice was awfully smooth and low, not nearly as beastly as her body would suggest.

"Well? Are you?" 0-5 pressed me with a curious, if suspicious expression; her voice soft and quiet, barely a whisper. How she could even speak to me was a question that needed hours to explain. "I have seen humans in their yellow skins...but never grey."

She was likely speaking about the hazmat suits and my combat armour. I gulped and looked around, she looked dangerous, but, she asked me a simple question. I felt obligated to answer her out of politeness.

"Erm...I'm human, yes…" I nodded, taking in the absurdity of the situation. I twiddled my thumbs after sheathing my gun. "D-do they know you can speak?"

I pointed behind me curiously, towards the general direction of the control room, eliciting a nervous look from 0-5, she poked around at the shards of broken equipment with her talon.

"N-no...I don't think they have even realised I broke my mask, yet…" She was clearly nervous and uncomfortable about something. "That's why I've been staying away from those wall eyes…mainly the ones near where the food comes from…"

I noted her intelligence, not only did she realise that the cameras were in fact watching her, but she specifically knew all the blind spots too. I was impressed, but felt pity, she looked hungry. I looked at the jumbo banana the tropius from earlier gave me and nodded, knowing what to do. I peeled it and knelt down, offering it to her.

"H-here," I gulped. "I've got some food for you."

She just looked at me suspiciously.

"H-hey now, it's not poisonous, here!" I inhaled removed my gas mask and helmet, taking a small nibble of the huge banana. It was flavourful and utterly delicious, very sweet! I needed to get myself a tropius. After showing her it was good, she meekly approached me and took the banana from me, trying it herself while staring at my face as I tried to put my braid back in place to put my helmet back on. "It good?"

"Was...was that a mask you were wearing too…?" She poked at my discarded equipment curiously while sniffing at the banana. She began nibbling on it gently; enjoying the flavour, then practically inhaling it. I giggled at her behaviour, she was rather cute, in a strange scientific way. "Why do you have a tail coming from your head?"

"My braid?" I held the long, black braid gently, poking at the blue beads that kept it together. She nodded. "Oh, this! This is to signify I'm a man in my culture."

"I see…" she still stared me down with intrigue. "You...you should probably go back to your kind…"

She shot me a concerned gaze as strange, mechanical parts on her flashed purple.

"I sense concern…coming from them…" she turned away from me sadly. "I...I'll be right here as always...it was nice to speak to a human…"

I sighed sadly and watched her climb up onto a rock. Must've been rough being cooped up in here all day with nobody to talk to.

"Ah geez…" I pushed my braid into my collar and placed my mask back on. "How did you learn to speak, anyway?"

"...all 'Pokemon' can speak, it's just your language is too different to immediately understand...we're all this intelligent…"

My heart froze as I backed away. They...could all speak…? But...we were keeping them as...my vision blurred and swirled as I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, likely in realisation as her eyes widened and she jumped away, probably to hide. I think the humidity of this place was getting to me...or was it the realisation that Pokemon were more human than we thought? I fell backwards, but I felt a large human hand catch me by the collar and push me upright. I looked up dizzily and saw someone in the same armour as dad but with a bright red visor staring down at me and dragging me out of there. 0-5 must have seen him coming.

"What were you doing, boy?!" The black ops soldier demanded. I recognised his voice as my own uncle's almost immediately, my dad's younger brother. He dragged me into the airlock and helped me to my feet. "You're supposed to spend minimal time in there!"

He scolded me but wrapped his arm around my shoulder to keep me upright. Once the airlock opened, Uncle Adio immediately caught the attention of all the scientists in the room.

"Sparky," Penny bluntly began while scanning my uncle-her own brother in law. "Didn't we have a talk about using Strike Team Alpha's access door to the Biodome too much—?"

"Did you not realise that your own step-son was in the test chamber for too long?" The Black Operator was obviously upset, but kept his cool. "He could've been exposed to a multitude of things, pheromones, a stray poison type's spores, the P-Virus. I'm taking him to medical."

"You worry far too much, bro," James approached just little brother and loomed over the elite virtue agent without his helmet, trying to intimidate him. Surprisingly, my uncle held his ground. How dad could try intimidating his own brother was beyond me. I thought about my little brother for a moment, only wanting to protect him. "Jeb is twenty-one now, he can handle himself after all he's—"

"He's your son, but that doesn't disregard the fact I'm a senior researcher too and he was exposed to many different biological agents, this was irresponsible of you all to just let him in with no prior warning," My uncle simply responded, turning on his heels and taking me out of the room, MP5 in hand. His pace, much like dad's was a brisk march. I looked back and saw my step-mom barely acknowledging the situation and my dad just glaring at his brother. "Can you walk, private Wolfe?"

"Y-yeah, I think so…" I slowly followed him into the hallway, feeling slightly betrayed my own dad didn't seem to care that much. Only my riolu pet seemed to be upset I was leaving, as she was pining. It hurt to just leave like this. As I walked with Strike Team Alpha's leader, I bit my lip. What would have happened if I told him about my encounter with Project 0-5. My uncle was an understanding man, but...well. He still was a scientist. "I-I'll be alright, right?"

"Affirmative," he nodded and scanned around, leading me past the medical bay and down the hall even further. The guards gave us strange looks, but decided not to speak out of respect for Commander Wolfe. After a while of walking through the labs, we eventually got to the military barracks and entered S.T.A's base. Once the door was locked behind us, Uncle Adio placed his hands on my shoulders and peered at me through his burning red visor. "You've seen Silvally speak, haven't you?"

"S-Silv-who?"

"Project 0-5, I've been documenting her for months, against the eyes of the other researchers, before you ask," he explained smoothly and matter of fact-ly. I rarely ever got to see Uncle Wolfe, but here he was, casually explaining this to me. "It's because they'd likely exterminate her if they deemed her too intelligent. You could've compromised my research if you told them…I apologise for tranquilizing you. I know you're a good kid, will you keep this between us?"

I just gulped and nodded. He tranquilized me? That explained the weakness. My uncle just nodded and sighed.

"Secondly, do you have a love for Pokemon?"

"W-wha? Of course I do! They're our partners and friends…" I meekly responded, feeling majorly intimidated by the Black Ops leader. At least I knew what was going through Dad's head and he didn't casually tranquilize me.

"Good. Because you now know things the other scientists don't know yet, will keep this between us and love Pokemon," Adio held a hand out for me. "I want to invite you into Strike Team Alpha. You certainly have the heart for it."

My heart froze.

"Strike Team...Alpha? Are you serious?!" I couldn't contain my excitement. They were local heroes in the news, brave soldiers that went beyond the walls. and I was being offered a job with them?! My heart sunk though. "But I don't have the training and my little siblings need me…"

"Don't worry. We can train you and some of our...operatives can keep an eye on them. Jebediah. What you've seen today cannot be unseen, that is clear. Instead of keeping an eye on you so you don't tell, I want you to join us so you can be aware of what's on the outside," he continued to offer me his outstretched hand. I debated for a moment. He was offering the freedom I so desired, but...I was afraid for my brother and sister. Would they be alright without me? I bit my lip. I just wanted to be the best brother I could for them. I swallowed my fear and shook my uncle's hand. I could probably bail if I needed to, vowing never to tell the other researchers. Other than Dad, Matt, Lucy and I, he was the only other Wolfe left standing. "I'm glad we can agree on this. Let me introduce you to the team, training begins immediately, going scouting in a few days."

He began leading me deeper into the S.T.A compound coldly. I was excited but nervous, these guys were heroes! And I was one of them now.

"S-so, uh," I tapped my fingers together. "W-what's my codename going to be…?"

"Pup," He simply responded, not even looking back at me. "I thought it was fitting. After all. You're a Wolfe, too. And a rookie. Expect teasing."

Pup.

Pup.

Why did everyone have a habit of underestimating me…?

Matt

"Tensions between the Lunar Republic and Solar Empire continue to rise as of recent, the trade embargo set forth by his radiance, The Grand Luminary supposedly stirring conflict within the Solar Princess. Princess Margot has yet to comment publicly on the matter." The news droned on about political stuff I had no idea about, why Lucy always watched this was beyond me. I just sat and the table, peering out of the window to the evening city. Even after school and with my sister, I simply felt...lonely. Things felt empty without Lady. I peered up at Mount Cosma, wanting a bit more in life. I was nearly sixteen, maybe I could have found my way when I braided my hair and became a man. I sighed bitterly and still awaited the phone call from Mom. "The Grand Luminary states it was a simple matter of heresy, refusing to trade with those who marry pokemon."

I blew my fringe out of my eyes and just stared blankly at my phone, as I had been doing for the past hour. My ebony haired sister joined me, looking just as fed up.

"Anything?"

"Not yet, no," I shook my head and played with my hair, peering over to the rosemary bush we had planted earlier in the month. It was growing well. "She's usually pretty late though, she does have to work hard to ensure we live in this place, I guess…"

I looked around the luxurious apartment, enjoying the lavish lifestyle somewhat.

"I guess, yeah…" Lucy grunted and blew her hair out of her face before looking back at the TV, where it showed footage of the Solar Empire. I felt a bit envious of the lush jungle they lived in. Compared to our flatlands, they were exotic. It then panned to the Solar Princess, a tall, ginger girl, no older than us petting a Jangmo-o surrounded by other happy pokemon. She seemed happy too. "Look at her, lucky. Imagine living in a society with Pokemon like that sounds lovely."

"I guess, yeah," I smiled. I always loved Pokemon, pity we never got to see the big ones often. "Sounds liberating.

The news continued its speech as my sister and I desperately awaited a message from Mom…

"Tensions on the border have also mounted, soldiers have been spotted staring each other down from across the badlands with bitter intent. Hopefully, these tensions will ease soon. More at seven, stay virtuous, everyone. This has been the Virtue News at Five."

End of Chapter...