Aurian opened her eyes to find herself in the throne room of Cameran Palace, deep in the kingdom of Rota. She'd never had the opportunity to go to the palace itself, but loved Rota with all her heart after visiting with Ash and Riley at the beginning of her time with the G-Men. They'd ventured to the Tree of Beginning to gather Rota Crystal to create the arrowheads that hung quarter-full around her neck, an experience she never wanted to take for granted.
Every part of her felt more alive in Rota, the ancestral home of the Aura Guardians, and this proved to be true in her dreams, too. The floor Aurian stood on was embossed with the Guardian crest- the same symbol found on Sir Aaron's hat surrounded by three thin concentric circles, text in a lost language between the rings.
"Aurian," a voice said, filled with regret and sorrow.
The younger patonai turned, aura sphere readied in one hand and pokeball in the other. "Who's there?"
"Stand down, my child," a tall man stepped forward, completely encased in shadow. "Not the best way to speak to your father."
All blood drained from her face, the sphere in her hand fizzling out of existence with an underwhelming pop. "Shit."
"I do not blame your hesitation," the voice said, aura-blue eyes blinking into existence. "Please forgive my intrusion into your dreams, daughter, but I needed to speak with you."
"Sure picked a hell of a time to jump back into my life," Aurian snarked, glare like daggers."Seventeen years of no contact and this is it? Where the hell were you when the divorce happened and Ben was all I had? Where were you when everything fell to pieces?"
She struggled not to cry as her voice cracked. "Why did you leave?"
"We were caught in a war, Aurian," the voice began. "Your mother and I had two days to come up with a plan to save you, your brother, and my battalion. I didn't want to leave but I had no choice. We had to separate ourselves- and you two, by extension, since raising two aura-born children in the same location would have drawn unwanted attention."
Aurian frowned, silence weighing on her heart.
"All will become clear in its time," the voice answered. "Aurian Lillian Borealis, I wish I could tell you how proud I am of you in person, but… well, this must do for now."
Aurian grinned, relieved to have uncovered a chunk of her past. "If we're communicating like this, then you have to be a Guardian, right?"
"Indeed."
"God, I have so many questions for you," Aurian blurted, tucking a spare strand of hair behind her ear.
The voice laughed. "I truly admire your curiosity but I am afraid we are out of time."
"Is this the last I'll hear from you?" Aurian asked.
"I certainly hope not. Stay safe, daughter."
Everything turned to black, the floor fading out of existence as Aurian fell…
Across the island, Brock and Misty sat in the back row of the Center's computer lab, keys clacking away as they dug through old articles from the Johto News Network.
"Not with a Team, my ass," Brock muttered, scrolling through a PokePedia current events timeline. "Hang on, this looks promising…"
"Okay, we know what their last League competitions were," Brock scribbled on a sticky note, "and we haven't the slightest clue what exactly they did between then and now."
Misty shook her head. "I'll admit, most of this year's been a blur, with prepping for the Renegade Rounds and all. Did anything major happen in Johto that they could have been involved in?"
Brock clicked twice, bringing up a page on a quelled Rocket uprising out of Mahogany Town two months prior. Most of the accompanying photos detailed the destruction left behind but the last five were action shots, taken by an International Police agent.
The first showed a Charizard mid-Flamethrower, roasting multiple Ariados with no trainers in sight. The second caught a girl in an unknown uniform punching a Rocket commander, a blue light flaring from her fist. In the third, five men stood against a canyon wall, ground littered with unconscious Pokemon. The fourth showed a Dragonair joining Charizard in the air, two attacks combining into something sinister. In the final photograph, a pair of trainers stood back to back, cornered by Psychic-types against a half-demolished wall.
"They don't look afraid," Misty said, taking the mouse from Brock and zooming in on their faces. "Those two should be scared out of their minds."
Brock nodded. "Absolutely, but look closer. Check out their eyes."
"You think that's Red and Blue?"
"Well, the colors match," Brock said, flipping back and forth between images. "The thing I can't crack is what the blue flash is here. Maybe Blue's psychic?"
"Even then," Misty started, "Psychic powers normally manifest out of the eyes, not the hands. Think back to when we met Mewtwo…"
"I'm curious if any of their Pokemon match," Brock pulled up the League database in two windows and entering both Red and Blue's names.
Misty peeked over his shoulder as the results loaded.
"Hmm…" Brock trailed off, turning his sticky note over. "No matches on Red's end."
"That we know of! He may be saving that Charizard as an Unlisted, keep that in mind," Misty said.
"The same Charizard popped up in Orre, too," Brock scrolled through the rest of Red's data. "There's not that much here that we don't already know."
Misty drummed her fingers against the keys. "I mean, it's not like the League databases are the paragon of information on your competitors, but it's nice to know. Anything on Blue?"
"We have a match! Dragonair's on her opening roster. What else do we know?" Brock asked.
"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," Misty said, resting her chin in her hands.
Brock sighed, crumpling the sticky note before speaking. "Did you notice Red's reaction to that Darkrai yesterday?"
"Fear like that's pretty reasonable in any case," Misty shivered.
"No, it's… it's something deeper. This is personal. What else do we possibly have on them?"
Misty paused, thinking back to their impromptu island tour, the scent of Red's sweatshirt burned into her memory. "Brock, Red has some serious scars."
"...you know this how?" Brock raised his eyebrows.
"It's not like that! Red offered me his sweatshirt when I forgot my jacket my first night on the Island, and I noticed when his shirt rode up," Misty blurted, face bright red.
Brock tapped his fingers against the counter. "Now that you mention it, I think I've seen some weird marks on Blue's arms whenever her sleeves move around. They're always keeping watch, never let their guard down-"
"Crap, that's them!" Misty interrupted, motioning towards a familiar group of heads coming their way. She pulled up the video chat function and slammed her sister's number in.
Daisy Waterflower picked up on the second ring, blonde hair sopping wet and a huge smile on her face.
"Hey, Misty, it's great to see you! Brock too."
"Things going okay in Cerulean?" Brock asked.
"Just fine, thanks! Mist, it's not like you to call during tournaments. What's up?"
"Am I not allowed to surprise-call my favorite sister?"
"Flattery won't get you anywhere… but it may get you out of extra chores when you get home," Daisy pulled away from the camera for a second. "For the record, Violet and Lily say they're going to attack you with water guns when you least expect it because of that first part."
"A risk I'm willing to take," Misty chuckled, "so long as you take over laundry duty for a month once I get back."
Blue, Red, Michael, and the trainees entered the lab as Daisy attempted to protest her way out of Misty's proposal.
"Oh! Daisy, these are all my new friends- would you like to meet them?"
"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine!"
Misty went down the line, squeezing more and more friends into the frame until Michael fell over, pushed out of view by Noah attempting to poke his head in to wave hello.
"Nice to meet you all," Daisy said once the gang finished their introductions. "Thanks for taking such good care of my baby sister."
"Oh, she's a troublemaker, all right," Red grinned, suppressing a laugh at Misty's flustered expression. "Not a problem."
Blue crossed her arms. "Misty, have you eaten yet?"
"Go on ahead, I'll catch up," Misty waved everyone out of the lab. "Be there in a bit!"
Daisy waited for Misty to turn back to the camera before speaking again.
"They seem like good people. What's going on between you and Red?"
"Nothing!" Misty squeaked, cheeks pink. "Well, ah, nothing major."
"Oh, sissy, I never pegged you as the bad boy type. I can see it now, Red swooping in on a motorcycle to sweep you off your feet, riding off into the sunset…"
Misty's heart sank. "You remember what happened last time. I have to be careful."
"Mist, I love you to death and you know that. It's been what, three years since he vanished? If Ash wanted to be found, he would've left clues, hints, something, anything for you to find."
"Don't remind me!" Misty half-yelled, voice trembling. "... it's been three and a half, but who's counting?"
"I know how hard this is for you," Daisy said, looking away from the camera, "but… don't you think this may be the universe telling you that it's time and that it's okay to move on? I mean, it's not every day that a man as fine as Red shows up in your life!"
"You do realize he's about six years younger than you, right?"
"Anyways. You never know…"
"Daisy, I know you think I'm a fool for staying hopeful this long. I know you think he's gone, but… in my heart, I know he isn't. Something's telling me that Ash is still out there. I don't care what actually happened after the Sinnoh League; I'm not giving up until I see him alive until… until…"
Daisy paused, fully aware of the unspoken end to Misty's sentence.
"Talk to you later, Dais."
Misty hung up on her sister and left the lab without a second glance, unknowingly passing an eavesdropping Red.
Ash slid down the wall, burying his face in his hands.
Pikachu sat to the side, a worried look on his face. "Pikapi?"
Ash thought back to the night he lent Misty his sweatshirt and the gentle blush that covered her face when he made the offer, then even further to the years of adventures they shared before he left for Hoenn.
To the week everything went to hell, where he begged Lance to make one last phone call before destroying his old PokeGear.
He never anticipated that Misty would return the feelings he shoved down as deep as he could. The old Ash was long gone, buried in the ashes of his reputation and better left undisturbed. But if Misty found herself gravitating towards Red…
Ash picked Pikachu up, patted his head, and took off towards the Center cafeteria, lost in thought.
"What'd I miss?" he asked, finding his friends standing outside the cafeteria.
Aurian groaned. "Dishwasher's broken, so they're shut down until the spare part gets here. Trying to think of another place to take everyone, but my brain's bluescreening…"
"Tacos?" Michael offered with a shrug.
"Nothing against tacos, but I have a better idea," Misty said. "From what I've heard, WhataTauros opened here specifically for this tournament-"
Misty's suggestion was cut off by an excited squeal from Aurian, shocking all assembled into silence.
"... come on, it's my home region burger joint! It's legally required to bleed orange and white whenever WhataTauros is brought up," Aurian shrugged. "Come on, let's go change your burger-loving lives."
"While we walk, what were you up to this morning?" Brock asked.
Maddie grinned. "We had another training session!"
"Man, I'm so glad I get to learn from three mentors instead of just one!" Max added. "Don't get me wrong, Red is fantastic, but I've picked up a lot from Michael and Blue, too!"
Noah nodded. "Absolutely. Oshawott and I keep getting stronger by the day!"
Halfway across the Island, a rumble shook the ground underneath the gang's feet.
"Was that from one of the Stadiums?" Misty asked, eyes wide.
Ash paused, surveying a throng of trainers running back towards the Center. "I've got a bad feeling about this. Maddie, Noah, Max, get behind us."
The younger trainers did as told, backing up and letting Ash and Aurian take the lead.
They crossed a small hill to find chaos- the side of Stadium C was blown wide open, a swarm of people donning white-hooded uniforms sprinting around. Pokemon popped out of their pokeballs, fleeing into the surrounding woods.
"Plasma," Aurian breathed. "God, no."
"You know those people?" Max asked, eyebrow raised.
Ash bit his lip. "Peripherally? They're bad news. Michael, take the trainees and Pikachu back to the Center. I think they'll be safest there."
"You got it," Michael saluted, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder. "What will you do?"
Aurian paused. "It doesn't look like any of the Jennies are here yet, so we may see how we can help. We'll be careful, promised."
"Misty? Brock?" Ash asked.
Another shockwave of energy rocked the ground, sending everyone lurching forward.
"We'll keep our distance on this one," Brock said, Misty nodding in agreement. "Let's get back to the Center before this gets weirder."
Ash and Aurian waited for the rest of their group to turn tail and sprint back to safety before ducking into the woods, checking over their shoulders as they went.
"Can you see what's going on?" Aurian panted, pausing next to a huge fir tree.
Ash slipped into aura sight, eyes glowing. "They're stealing Pokemon! Crap! If we move fast enough, we can probably shut them down without backup."
"What are we waiting for?" Aurian fished her combat uniform out of her backpack.
In seconds, the patonai donned charcoal grey uniforms reinforced with shed Bastiodon skin, the Armada logo embossed on their left shoulders and hoods covering their heads.
"I'm digging this," Aurian grinned as they darted through the trees, closing in on Stadium C. "Takes you right back to Unova, doesn't it?"
Ash stifled a laugh. "Ghetsis never knew what hit him. How many are we up against?"
This time, Aurian's eyes glowed blue. "Ten, fifteen? What's our plan?"
"We only use Pokemon if they attack with them. Hand-to-hand, disable as fast as we can without drawing extra attention."
"Should we…" Aurian trailed off, lighting her fist in blue flame.
Ash paused, a painfully familiar heartburn feeling reappearing in the back of his throat. "We may not have a choice, especially if there are more of them. Let's go!"
The patonai rocketed out of the trees, each silencing a Plasma grunt, dragging their unconscious bodies into the forest before continuing on. In the distance, another Plasma member ordered a team of Electrode to Explosion before reviving them and repeating the process.
"Ash, that's Pokemon cruelty. We now have full legal permission to get involved here," Aurian hissed, sneaking around the edge of the fray. "I'm on it. The sooner they're gone-"
"The easier time we'll have. Go!"
Ash stepped out of the cover of the forest, whistling a jaunty tune.
"Happy Monday, what's going on here?" Ash asked, twelve pairs of Plasma eyes locking on the unfamiliar trainer before them.
Their leader, a brawny man with bright blue hair, shrugged. "Not much, just business as usual. We should ask the same of you, G-Men runt…"
Five Plasma members charged at once. Ash exhaled, intending to light his hands with aura before countering their attack. Instead, a circle of blue fire erupted around him, scaring the Plasma grunts off their feet.
"What the hell?" Aurian winced, knocking another woman out before seizing the worn-out Electrodes' pokeballs. "None of that is 'staying under the radar'!"
Ash grunted, ducking a wild swing. "Trust me!"
"Roger," Aurian said, motioning for the Electrode to stand back before jumping back into the fray.
"What're you taking our Electrode for?" the Plasma leader asked. "They weren't hurting nobody…"
"You're ignoring the fact that they were hurting themselves on your orders," Ash countered, slamming into the man with an aura-charged kick.
The other man careened into a tree.
Ash turned over his shoulder just as Aurian took a hard kick to the ribs, crashing into the ground before rolling upward, hands erupting into flames.
"Bad idea," Ash called, internally cheering his patonai on as she plowed through four Grunts. "You're messing with the wrong duo. Rocket's got the evil monopoly on this event covered, so why are you here?"
The leader pulled himself up and charged, Ash doing everything he could to block the punches. "Our dear leader isn't too happy with how you pulled his son out from under his nose. Ghetsis sends his regards."
"And N sends his," Ash slammed his foot on top of the other man's instep before driving him to the ground in a headlock. "As do the rest of us."
Aurian made quick work of the remaining Plasma members, leaving Ash to take care of their leader. Two minutes later, the patonai stood in the shadows of the decimated side wall to Stadium C.
"It looks like most of the damage is cosmetic, thank God," Ash breathed. "Braveheart, that could've been really bad."
"I'll say," Aurian muttered. "You search their pockets, I'll take care of the Electrode?"
"Done and done."
Aurian pulled away and motioned for the Electrode to gather around. "All right, you eight, we have options. Would you like to head back to the wild or serve someone new?"
The Electrode traded cautious glances, then looked into the woods.
"Say no more," Aurian patted one of their heads. "Do forgive me for this, but I don't think an island is the best place for you. Would you mind staying in your pokeballs a little longer while we get you to the best place we can?"
A few affectionate Explosions later, Aurian sent the eight Electrode to base with a note to Brendan, who maintained the storage systems.
"Do we know who's battling in this stadium?" Ash asked, motioning his partner over to help him check pockets.
Aurian pulled an X-Communicator from the leader's pocket and flipped it around, showing a livestream of Tobias decimating his second-round opponent.
"Huh. The more you know," Ash muttered. "We'll get that to HQ as soon as we can."
Aurian tapped on Ash's shoulder twice, then spun him around to face a shell-shocked Brock and Misty.
Ash motioned them over, the pair complying.
"Who are you?" Misty asked, eyes wide.
Aurian flipped a badge out of her pocket.
"Pokemon G-Men, at your service. If you don't mind me asking… how much of that did you see?" Ash asked, copying his partner and showing an identical badge.
"All of it," Brock shook his head. "I don't recognize those uniforms, what's going on here?"
Aurian pocketed the X-Communicator and switched to sign language. "Team Plasma, from Unova, up to no good. They normally don't steal Pokemon, so I'm curious what piqued their interest…"
Brock and Misty looked helplessly at Ash, who recapped what Aurian said.
"Thanks," Misty muttered.
"Braveheart, would you mind handling clean-up?"
Aurian retreated into the hole in the stadium wall to call Riley.
"I'll admit, I'm a little lost. I've heard of the G-Men but haven't really seen much of you until now," Brock needled, hoping for answers.
Ash smiled, motion hidden by the shadows of his hood. "For good reason. We normally don't show unless things get sticky."
Aurian rejoined the conversation, pulling a miniature notebook and pen from a pocket on her belt, then motioning for Brock and Misty to speak.
"From the beginning, right?" Brock asked, reassured by the silent agent nodding their head. "All right. Misty and I were on our way to WhataTauros with some friends for lunch, then we felt a few unusual vibrations. That wasn't you two, was it?"
Ash didn't need to look at his partner to know the withering look she shot Brock.
"... anyways, we split up. Half of us went back to the Center, half of us came here to see what was going on. Thought about offering help but it seemed like you had it under control," Brock continued. "Especially once all that blue fire came around."
Misty nodded. "Thank you, by the way, I don't want to know what would have happened had you not shown up in the nick of time."
"I swear I've seen that blue fire before," Brock trailed off. "What's it called?"
"We can't go giving all our secrets away now, can we? Don't think our supervisors would appreciate that," Ash passed Brock and Misty both a small business card. "If you see anything suspicious for the rest of the tournament, call the number on the back."
Brock turned it over, snapping a picture of the number. "Good to know."
"One more thing to keep in mind," Ash raised a pointer finger, "We," he motioned back and forth from Aurian to himself, "were never here."
Misty nodded, breathless.
"I believe that's all… I hope we don't run into each other any time soon," Ash muttered. "Braveheart, we good?"
Aurian flashed a thumbs-up.
The patonai let off identical smoke bombs and vanished, leaving Misty and Brock coughing as the air cleared.
Brock shook his head, Jennies rushing onto the scene to take the Plasma members into custody. "Looks like we're in over our heads."
"Way over," Misty said, taking in the sudden silence…
"Was the smoke exit overkill?" Aurian asked, wincing as she sat down at their campsite.
Ash, newly dressed in civilian clothes, exited his tent and sat next to his partner. "Maybe? The look on Brock's face was totally worth it, though."
"For sure. You okay?" Aurian said.
Ash nodded. "Just a few bruises here and there. You, however, are pretty hurt."
Aurian shrugged, then winced. "Took a hard hit to the ribs. Probably either a bad bruise or a hairline fracture, but it hurts like hell."
"Want me to heal it for you?"
She narrowed her eyes, hand over her ribs. "You still have excess aura left over?"
"I didn't realize it until I accidentally set the ground on fire, but I was about this close," Ash held his pointer finger and thumb about three millimeters apart, "to overflowing. I had the weird heartburn right before we started the party back there."
Aurian shook her head. "Looks like you're producing far more aura than I ever did during my hendo. Honestly, I'm jealous! Please help, I'm not sure I can heal all of this on my own in one go."
Ash dropped into aura sight, focusing on the area under Aurian's hand.
"Yep, you're right- three fractures. Going in now."
Aurian bit down on a handkerchief as her patonai's aura filled the hairline cracks and solidified, accelerating the process of her bones knitting back together. A few minutes later, Ash pulled away, a sheen of sweat covering his forehead.
"You're set!"
"Thanks," Aurian patted his hand twice. "I owe you one."
"My Armada Exam leg break took way more out of me."
"That," Aurian shuddered, "was nasty, and you know I'm not normally squeamish around combat injuries. I'm still amazed you managed to splint it with nothing but aura while fighting on."
"Wasn't as bad as Lily of the Valley," Ash said, lifting the edge of his shirt. Four jagged scars, one smaller than the rest, slashed across his chest in an elongated claw mark, a permanent reminder of a night he'd rather forget.
Aurian's gaze turned soft. "You're shaking. Use the arrowheads, we can't have you fainting on me."
"Yes, mom," Ash muttered, drawing on his reserves.
"Remember, it's my sworn duty to keep an eye on you," Aurian pulled the collar of her shirt aside to reveal the Guardian crest over her heart. "I've got your back through eternity and beyond."
Ash grinned. "Never pegged the Guardians as tattoo people, but I'm not complaining. It's nice to have a reminder that we're part of something greater than ourselves."
"Still, we've got to be careful. If we ever run into opponents of the Guardians and they see this…" Aurian trailed off, shivering in a sudden mid-afternoon breeze. "That's how most of the Old Guardians were killed off. All the Rebel League had to do during the Great War was check for the Crest and then bam! Instant execution orders. We know how it ended, but I'd sure like to know how that whole catastrophe started."
Ash lay back on the grass, hands under his head. "We'd need a Celebi to go back and see with our own eyes, and that's like asking for ten miracles."
"Can't you call on the bond you made with your Celebi back in Johto all those years ago and… poof?" Aurian asked. "Time travel on demand?"
"It's not like that and you know it! Maybe Riley will dig something up in his research, that's far more likely."
"Speaking of research," Aurian trailed off, "I have a gut feeling that Brock and Misty weren't in that lab just to call Daisy this morning. If they're truly suspicious- which they are- what they saw today won't help us in the long run."
Ash nodded. "Like we needed more to deal with. Rocket, Galactic, Plasma, some amateur sleuthing, interrogations- we're earning every dollar of our overtime pay."
"As much as I'd love to keep hashing this out, we should really head back. I bet the trainees are worried about us," Aurian said, pulling her best friend to his feet.
The patonai walked in the direction of the Center, blissfully unaware of a similar conversation happening across the Island…
(A/N): Thanks for sticking around for C11! Special thanks to thechinskyguys as always for his fantastic advice. Hope you have a lovely rest of your day!