"Everyone's here, let's get started," Riley swapped his PokeGear for an ancient clipboard. "Earpieces?"
Hiori held up his comms device. "Even if we wanted to ignore you, we couldn't."
"Please tune to channel seven, frequency three-five-alpha-Zebstrika-nine," Riley avoided eye contact with Hiori.
Aurian elbowed her brother. "As opposed to frequency three-five-alpha-Zebstrika-eight, where you can hear Dragonite Reserve making fart jokes through the entire raid."
Misty bit her lip to keep from bursting into laughter, fiddling with the dial on the side of her earpiece.
Riley gave an exasperated sigh. "Pocket knife."
The corps held up their equipment.
"Mawile 580-A and ammo?"
Everyone except the patonai held up a small pistol.
"Good. Smoke grenades? Pocket knives? Houndour 450-C?"
The corps held up their equipment.
"Skuntank 60?"
Mack cradled his sniper rifle. "You really think I'd go anywhere without my baby?"
"Moving on," Riley groaned, smacking himself in the forehead with his clipboard. "Crystal reserves?"
The patonai held up their arrowheads, glowing with extra power.
"Other assorted personal weapons?"
The division partnered off to finish equipment check, the low thrum of an upcoming deployment running like electricity through the room.
"Transportation is a school bus," Riley tossed his clipboard to Wes, who stowed it in the appropriate location.
Eusine raised a hand. "Is Lance trying to humiliate the Armada by giving us a yellow dog? We're not kids on a field trip!"
"We can't send four divisions of the world's largest peacekeeping corps to the same spot on Mt. Silver, in a supposed ambush, without a few disguises," Hiori shrugged.
Ash nodded. "Last I heard from N, Dragonite Reserve's splitting into five-man teams and using ten plumber's vans. Could be worse."
"Besides, who expects a paramilitary raid to use a school bus?" Aurian asked. "Far less threatening."
Riley crossed his arms. "No further questions?"
The corps shook their heads.
"Armada," their commander called, "move out!"
Seventeen Armada members walked to the hangar and piled onto the school bus in question. While Ash and Aurian occupied a seat, Misty and Brock piled in the adjacent bench, all others claiming their own rows.
"Any advice for us rookies?" Brock asked, fidgeting with the edge of his sleeves.
Wes clapped Brock on the shoulder. "None of us did. Ash and Aurian will lead you well. Listen when they speak, move when Riley tells you to move. Y'all have firearm experience?"
Misty sighed. "Gun training is mandated for all Gym Leaders. League thinks we should be able to protect our gym and everyone in it during a worst-case scenario."
"Ever used one for real?" Sam leaned in.
"Right after Dad left and I took over the gym," Brock nodded. "There was a break-in, the guy was armed. It all happened before I could think about it."
"This will be different," Riley climbed in the driver's seat. "Everyone we'll face today will try to kill on sight. They'll be lethal; we'll be faster."
"And invisible," a huge grin lit up Aurian's face.
"So unfair. How come you get to do all the cool stuff?" Eusine pouted.
Ash shrugged. "Comes with the territory. What they don't tell you about being an Aura Guardian is that there's a chance that your worst mortal enemies are all working together, one of them time-traveled specifically to hunt you down, and they all want to kill you."
"Not in a nice way, either. But yeah, invisibility and being a human flashlight is a great plus," Aurian grinned.
Misty gave her an incredulous look. "Define 'in a nice way'."
"Enough," Riley groaned. "We're closing in on the entry gate for Mount Silver National Park, that's our cue to start pre-mission."
The bus snapped into silence, Armada members stretching out previous injuries and reviewing deployment plans in hushed tones.
"Ready?" Ash whispered.
Aurian nodded, pulling a small sphere of aura into her right hand. Ash copied the motion, the patonai transferring their auras into each other.
"Feels normal," Ash said. "Weapons check?"
The patonai rapidly formed and reformed daggers, small throwing knives, and other tools based on calls from the other.
"All good," Aurian settled back into her seat, eyes fading. "Do you think we should sleep?"
Misty motioned towards Brock, who snored away in his seat. "He's already on top of that. I think he passed out when you started your aura checks."
Ash laughed, Misty's heart skipping a beat in response. "Some things never change."
"How long until we officially deploy?" Misty's eyes went wide.
"Probably about fifteen until we park, and it's a thirty-minute hike to the official launch point… or however long it takes Mack to haul himself up Mount Silver," Ash called.
"I'd like to see you climb a mile with extra sniper gear," Mack huffed. "That's a bad look for you, Ketchum."
The corps quieted down as the bus rolled through the national park checkpoint, Riley navigating the vehicle through switchbacks until they arrived in a deserted parking lot.
"Check your gear and follow me," he said, shouldering his backpack and raising his hood.
Seventeen Armada members copied his actions and left the bus, filing one-by-one into the hazy path towards the mountain.
Fifty minutes later, the patonai stood in position, hiding behind a pair of massive pine trees. A foreboding silence hung over the west side of Mount Silver- no Pokemon called to each other, no Pidgey flew overhead, no Caterpie squealed.
"As always, it's just us," Aurian smiled.
Ash chuckled. "Riley knows better than to shake up a good thing. The faster we can take the first tower, the better."
"...also, the safer we can be while we take the first tower, the better," she said. "Ash, this mission is different. We have so many people relying on us coming back alive. Promise me you won't do anything mind-blowingly foolish tonight?"
"Ri-"
"No, I'm serious," she crossed her arms. "We can't afford reckless action today. Don't go crashing a boat on me."
"Only if you don't kamikaze your Spiritomb again."
"We both know that Madrigal volunteered. Promise?" Aurian extended a pinky.
Ash copied the motion. "I promise."
Before Aurian could reply, Mack's voice crackled in their ears.
"All right, Captains, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear," Ash answered. "What's the plan?"
"If you're in the right position, you should see seven security cameras facing out from the west wall. Riley wants all of them gone at once, it'll look like a power outage."
Aurian pinpointed the camera lenses before responding. "Understood."
Ash took a deep breath and fired seven strands of aura. Glass shattered in rapid succession, blue sparks fizzling out as they worked deeper into the circuitry.
The patonai blinked out of existence before sprinting forward, picking their way through the underbrush towards an entrance guarded by two men with a swirling vine over their hearts, rifles in hand.
"Boss sure did make a big deal about tonight," one man groaned, leaning back against the wall. "You think the G-Men will show?"
The second man shrugged. "No clue, Clyde. My gut says there's no way they could have tracked our location so fast after that fancy-schmancy Gala dinner went off the rails, but we both know I've been wrong before."
Ash struck first, an invisible fist to the side throwing the second man off-balance.
"What was that for, Rick?"
"That wasn't me!" Clyde protested, a sweeping kick from Aurian tossing him to the ground.
Their argument ceased as the patonai knocked the two guards out, dragging their bodies into nearby bushes.
Ash swiped an ID card and opened the back door. "How kind of them to let us in."
"What gentlemen," she snorted, scanning the interior of the building with aura sight before rocketing up the stairs. "Come on, three minutes until they know we're here!"
A crew of replacement guards stood on a landing halfway up, more engrossed in their coffee than their surroundings. The patonai blew past them, a slight ripple in the air drawing a slight side-eye from one man before he returned to his conversation.
Riley's voice came over the comms units. "Excellent progress. The control room should be the room on your right at the top of the staircase. Scan for agents before entering, all orders will come through kokani from here on out."
"One step ahead of you," Ash muttered, right hand on the door. "Five agents inside."
Aurian squinted. "Great. Shadow, who do you want to take?"
"You get the two at the computers, I'll handle the rest."
Ash threw the door open, five operatives dressed in a combination of Team uniforms jumping at the noise.
"Ariana never mentioned that this place was haunted," the Rocket muttered, a Houndoom and a Scrafty appearing at her side.
A Plasma grunt rolled his eyes. "Colress told us that all the weird drafts are from the rock-type Pokemon moving things around."
"That doesn't sound scientifically feasible," a second Rocket said.
Aurian chuckled. "We're not rock-types, that's for sure."
For two minutes, chaos reigned. Ash released Floatzel and Glaceon, who took care of the grunts' Pokemon. Aurian went head-to-head with two grunts and knocked them out cold, switching her focus to the control system.
"Any chance you could speed that up?" Ash yelled, ducking a wild swing.
She dodged a rogue Dark Pulse and typed, fingers flying over the keyboards. "Working on it!"
"Work faster!" he took a kick to the knee, rolling on contact with the ground.
Aurian's Cottonee appeared at her side. "Toooooooooooon?"
"Sleep Powder, please!" she motioned towards the two grunts moving to corner her brother. "If you hit Shadow, no Leppa berries for a month."
Cottonee stuck her tongue out and zoomed into the fray, silver powder spewing from either side of her ears. Thirty seconds later, the two grunts passed out, chainsaw-like snores filling the room.
"Thanks for the save," Ash grunted, healing a cut on his cheek with a flash of aura. "How're we looking?"
She glanced between the screen and the door. "If the unconscious guards at the door didn't tip them off, the noise here will. Hang tight."
Code flew across the screen, dull green light casting a sickly glow on her face as she typed. Aurian slammed the enter button, sparks flying off her hands and into any open ports on the system. All screens glowed aura blue before dying with a pop, all power to the first tower flickering out within seconds.
"First tower is ours," Ash radioed in, popping back into view. "Send in Garchomp!"
"Excellent! We're making good progress on Tower Two," Wes called back, the sting of gunfire echoing through the earpiece.
Riley grunted in response. "Encountered a little more resistance than you. Any direction towards MissingNO?"
"Not yet, working on it," Aurian shook her head.
"Hold steady until a team from Dragonite Reserve relieves you, then come find us. We could use all the help we could get-"
Ash and Aurian looked up to find five members of Dragonite Reserve cresting the stairs, bounding into the control room with bright eyes.
"Lieutenant Rosas, here to relieve you of lookout," a smaller man saluted, short of breath.
Ash returned the action. "Thank you. Stay safe."
The patonai sprinted back down the staircase, nearly knocking an ascending grunt down an entire level.
He pulled a pistol, hands shaking. "You shouldn't be here."
Aurian knocked the man's gun out of his grasp with a blast of aura, then shrugged.
"Our turn," Ash clutched the grunt's collar. "Would you mind giving us directions to your Research department? Preferably wherever MissingNO is held, but we're not picky."
The man struggled, Ash's grip not budging. "Give me one reason why I should trust you, G-Men scum."
"Because a plea agreement would have been a nice peace offering, don't you think?" Ash traded a devilish look with his patonai. "But that's only for folks who are cooperative."
The grunt put his hands up. "I'm listening."
"Now you are," Ash muttered.
"Research is in the basement of the second tower. Look for Room A113, take the staircase hidden behind the big closet," he said.
Aurian flashed a thumbs-up, then knocked the man out.
"Damn, you're having all the fun," Ash pouted.
Aurian crossed her arms. "I'm the Fun-Killer. It's in my job description."
"Mind if I steal your job title when we make it to Research?" Ash tied a yellow ribbon to the man's wrist before continuing down the staircase.
"The more the merrier," Aurian fell in line behind her brother, watching his back while they descended further into the belly of the complex.
Ash and Aurian collided with the rest of the Armada in Room A113, shocked and slightly surprised at the sight of Riley and Brock pulling a closet door off its hinges. Wes and Misty stood guard over five unconscious grunts, tied up and neatly deposited in a corner.
"You know, we really need to start carrying screwdrivers," Hiori deadpanned.
Riley knocked the door loose, a tunnel descending underneath the storage closet holding a dark, twisted staircase. Brock and Aurian tossed the wood aside.
"Into the catacombs?" Ash asked, right hand ablaze with an aura sphere.
Eusine shivered. "Can we not call them catacombs?"
"What term tickles your fancy? Would you prefer mildly sketchy spooky underground murder tunnel?" Ash raised an eyebrow.
"We don't explicitly know that any murders happened," Eusine muttered.
Riley failed to fight back a smile. "Let's take variation B of Gabite formation, lights-out. Patonai, you're out front."
"Gladly!" Aurian hopped over the wreckage of the closet door, eyes on fire as she and her brother descended. The rest of the division followed close on their heels, pokeballs and pistols drawn.
The staircase creaked on every fourth step, the spiral so tight it was almost dizzying. Wild Golbat and Zubat flew over their heads, their cries bouncing off the slick stone walls.
"Approaching the bottom, Alpha Delta Six once we contact," Ash called, the Armada wordlessly spreading out in a chevron as they proceeded down the hallway.
Movement at the other end of the tunnel revealed a team from Dragonite Reserve, led by a familiar figure.
"Thank goodness you're here," N flashed the Armada a thumbs-up, "I feared we'd have to turn back before too long."
Aurian nudged her friend. "Glad you're along for the ride. Commander, what's next?"
Riley frowned at the white door before them, a sequence of black runes marking the frame.
"I'm assuming that's not good," Misty said. "What language is that?"
Ash brushed a finger against the indentations. "These are Guardian runes, but there's no reason why they'd use these. Hang on, I can probably translate in a minute or two-"
"No need. The door reads 'abandon all hope, ye who enter here'," Riley turned to face his division. "Fitting for a room of atrocities and experiments. I believe we will find our targets in this room. Shadow, Braveheart, take down the door."
Aurian cracked her knuckles. "Traditional way or our style?"
"Twenty bucks and free pizza for everyone if you obliterate the door," Hiori said, the squadron shaking with suppressed laughter.
"For the sake of making a statement, I will allow it…. just this once. For the record," Riley groaned, "I'm considering firing all of you for shenanigans."
"Love you too," Aurian muttered, prepping the door for her patonai. Ash paced as far back as the hallway would allow, shaking out his shoulders before his sister gave him the all-clear.
Ash sprinted down the hall, slamming the aura-charged heel of his shoe into the weak metal next to the lock. The door splintered under the force and exploded off its hinges, peppering the room with debris and shrapnel.
All occupants inside coughed and scrambled for safety as the Armada and Dragonite Reserve entered the room, pokeballs and weapons drawn.
The combined Armada and Dragonite Reserve fanned out around the patonai and Riley, creating a barricade in front of the exit. Ash's gaze roved between his sister, his team, and the various stations set up in the Research room. Several cubicles held PCs, lab tables towards the back sheltered notebooks left half-open, papers littered the floor.
"Whoever they evacuated left in a hurry," Aurian noted, pokeballs in both hands.
Charon Van Meter stepped forward, walking stick clacking against the cold tile floor. "G-Men. My thanks for upending all of our communications and for ruining a perfectly good door."
"I'm assuming that was your work?" Faith joined Charon, motioning to the wielders.
Ash shrugged. "Guilty as charged, Miss Sorenson."
"Speaking of true names," Tobias prowled towards the patonai, crimson cowl exchanged for black with signature swirling vines, "I must give you proper acknowledgment for discerning Faith and I's identities. Even with the careful steps we took, you saw right through us."
Ash shrugged. "No one has legitimate business in that forest at three in the morning, but we appreciate your high praise."
Faith crossed her arms. "You're not the only ones who've been paying attention. There's a pair of trainers back at the Invitational that trouble is drawn to like a magnet. They fight like Champions… Tobias, wouldn't you say that it looks like they have live combat experience?"
"Absolutely. Your suspicion is proven by how they react under duress- flawlessly and with the welfare of others in mind. Sickening."
"Oh, here's the kicker," Faith cracked her knuckles, "I'm about ninety-five percent sure they can communicate non-verbally with their Pokemon. No issues. Our empaths and psychics haven't picked up any readings from them, so that leaves one option-"
"Aura," they finished together, Darkrai appearing at Tobias' side.
Riley took a step forward. "You neglect to mention that almost anyone can communicate non-verbally with practice. Some use hand signs, some form such a bond with their teammates that words are no longer necessary."
"No," Tobias started, then paused. "This is different. They are different. I may not be able to use aura the way you three can, but I can still feel its effects. The world is brighter around you both… right, Red? Blue?"
The patonai made eye contact, nodded, and dropped their hoods.
"Congratulations, you solved the riddle!" Ash's eyes caught fire.
Faith took a step back. "Before we're at each other's throats, there's something I want to know. Sure is unusual for kids your age to wind up in the G-Men, right? Especially a girl who looks so similar to a certain missing persons report filed about three and a half years ago."
All color vanished from Aurian's face.
"Especially when you consider that Saturn clearly recognized Blue here before the G-Men took him into custody. A most unusual timeline," Tobias cleared his throat. "Charon, wouldn't you say that lines up perfectly with his failed aura and Red Chain experiments three years ago?"
Charon nodded. "Perfectly. What a shame that the subject was pulled from the study before we could complete it, by… Red, wasn't it?"
And I could have sworn that I killed you in the forest all those years ago, Ketchum," Tobias snarled. "What does it take to make you stay down?"
Ash shook his head. "For the record, all of you are terrible at making sure the people you try to kill stay dead."
"Now it's our turn to return the favor," Aurian's hands erupted into indigo flames. "G-Men, forward!"
Riley eliminated five security cameras in one go before releasing a Tyranitar and his Lucario. "Go!"
Faith leaped forward, her Red Chain pocket knife aimed for Aurian's throat. The younger patonai blocked Faith's blow with a wall of aura, then swept the agent's feet out from under her.
"Hidden weapons?" An aura-blue knife materialized in Ash's grip. "Two can play that game."
Hiori caught Aurian as she tripped, spinning her back onto her feet and dodging a second strike from Faith. "More Red Chain? Really rude, you know!"
Misty barely had a chance to release her team before the Undeniable and the Crimson Menace jumped into combat, moving so quickly their silhouettes blurred. Their Pokemon clashed on the sidelines, three Lucario ganging up on Darkrai.
"Some fight, right?" Brock stood back-to-back with Misty, his Sudowoodo demolishing a scientist's Porygon.
Misty sent Corsola forward, Rock Slide eliminating Faith's Staraptor. "Now that's an understatement!"
On the other side of the room, Riley, Wes, Eusine, and Michael dove through grunts, clearing a path. Eusine's Feraligatr blasted four Zubat aside with a massive Hydro Pump before turning back and giving a thumbs-up.
"Chaos, the lot of this," Eusine said. "Commander, are we clear?"
Riley's gaze locked on the Darkrai, who dodged three Aura Spheres and fired a Dark Void towards two of the Lucario.
"Now or never. I hope Steven's theory works," Riley charged a highly concentrated ball of aura in both hands, energy crackling on the inside of the sphere. He inhaled, then let both spheres loose, aiming at Darkrai's back.
Both spheres slammed into the dark-type, Darkrai roaring in pain as a thin sheen of blue covered his body. A millisecond later, the Pokemon's pitch-black aura streamed seven feet high, the edges tinged with green.
"What have you done?" Tobias cried, lunging towards Ash.
Ash took the brunt of the punch and rolled back. "You really think we missed the fact that all your Pokemon are illegal Shadows?"
"Wes, Michael, go!" Riley yelled.
The two Orre trainers activated their Snag Machines, two pitch-black Pokeballs flying into the fray. Wes' hit Faith's Machamp, who surrendered immediately. Michael's pokeball spun towards Darkrai.
Tobias screamed as Darkrai vanished, the brawl stunned into silence as the pokeball trembled.
One shake- Charon snapped his walking stick in half.
Two shakes- Misty took Brock's hand, trembling so terribly she couldn't stay still.
Three shakes- Tobias sprinted through the chaos, hand reaching towards something on his belt—
And clicked. Michael dove for the pokeball, hand closing around it just as Tobias pulled a pistol from its holster.
The bullet hit Michael's leg before either of the patonai could react. The younger trainer yelped in pain, crawling away from the epicenter. The Shadow Ball bounced against the floor and rolled, Misty and Hiori taking off after it.
"You sick son of a-" Ash knocked the pistol out of Tobias' hands and held him to the floor.
Aurian slid under three Thunderbolts, two water attacks, and a furious Psywave to meet a bloodied Michael. Riley and Sam ducked in seconds later, the commander tossing an aura shield up.
"Sam, this doesn't look good," Aurian called.
The older trainer knelt at Michael's side. "Yep, I'm seeing bone. He needs to evacuate. Now."
"Hell no!" Michael protested, hand plastered against his wound. "Aura me up and give me a Heal Pulse, I can keep going!"
Aurian looked back to her Commander. "Do I try?"
"Is the bullet still in there?"
"Affirmative," Sam said, tearing a bandage. "I'm calling for medics and doing a patch job. We need you alive, Michael."
Aurian gripped Michael's hand, hard. "Don't go dying on us."
"Only if you and your dingbat Zubat of a brother don't go dying on me, either."
"I'll see what we can do," she squeezed once before darting back into combat, her Empoleon and Arcanine decimating the last two members of Faith's team. Wes Snagged them seconds later.
Ash tossed his sister the Shadow ball. "Can you free Darkrai?"
"I think we have bigger problems to deal with," Aurian took a step back.
Tobias launched five more Pokeballs. Regice, Salamence, Heatran, Latios, and Deoxys appeared, eyes dark.
"Raise hell, for all I care," he cackled, gaze maniacal.
Faith shook her head. "You'll kill us all!"
"We never needed you for this plan," Tobias wrenched the knife out of her hands and twirled it, red edge glinting in the fluorescent light. "What should we do with you, hmm?"
She backed away, amber eyes wide. "We're allies, remember?"
"If you're weak enough to let the Orre interlopers steal your team, you're worthless to us!" Tobias brought the knife down, catching his partner in the arm.
Aurian charged, drawing him away from his target. The younger patonai faced her brother's foe with surprising ferocity, her team running toe to toe with his.
"Let's make a deal," Ash pulled Faith from the fight and set her against a wall. "I'm willing to negotiate a plea bargain."
She raised an eyebrow.
"He's clearly off his rocker," Ash motioned towards a raging Tobias. "Probably a menace to the public, especially in this state. Not to mention he tried to kill me and all—"
"Deal," Faith shook on it. "What next?"
"Get outside with your hands up," Ash tied a yellow ribbon around both her wrists, then handcuffed her. "Garchomp will handle it from there."
Faith nodded as Ash tied a temporary tourniquet around her arm. "You and your team can call check, that's fine. Just know that the King has further plans up his sleeve."
"Nothing we can't handle," Ash smirked.
Aurian threw him a quick look of affirmation before taking a huge hit, careening into a side wall.
"Welcome to chaos," she pulled Ash down to avoid a Razor Wind from Latios, aimed for Empoleon's heart. Azul dodged, the attack instead knocking Deoxys back in range.
Deoxys passed out from a combination attack from Dragonair and Charizard, Wes moving in for the Snag.
"Charizard, Roll into Eruption!" Ash Ketchum cried, eyes frantic.
"Dragonair, follow his lead. Thunderbolt!"
Regice went down, a failed Protect marking the end of its reign of icy terror. The Legendary skidded across the floor, spiraling into a wall. Wes snagged Regice, then tossed the ball to Riley for safekeeping.
Latios fired off a Zen Headbutt, narrowly missing Pikachu. The little electric-type fired back with the strongest Thunder he could summon, frying the daylights out of the dual-type. Hiori's Tangrowth finished the job, a double Poison Jab giving Wes the opening he needed.
Pikachu and Empoleon dashed through the rubble towards a host of enemies, lightning cracking and tidal waves forming.
"I think they're enjoying that a bit too much," Ash muttered. "I swear I can hear Pikachu doing his best imitation of an evil laugh..."
A tiny cackle rose above the clamor, catching the patonai off guard.
Aurian laughed. "If I was in their position, I would too-" she pulled Ash to the ground. "Incoming!"
Salamence zoomed over their heads, releasing a deadly Dragon Pulse. It took five Armada pokemon to take him down, the disastrous cocktail of attacks just enough to knock Salamence out.
Tobias watched in horror as his perfect team shattered beneath the pressure generated by the patonai's Pokemon. That Pikachu was a force of nature, the Empoleon incredibly agile for its size, the Charizard brutally strong, the Dragonair graceful and deadly all at once. He hated to admit that their prowess was equal to his own, but there was something there that he couldn't put his finger on.
He'd seen his share of good trainers, but none like Ash Ketchum and Aurian Copland. Perhaps what they had was perfect teamwork, hearts beating simultaneously and thoughts echoing in unison. Maybe it was love, something his shrunken heart couldn't comprehend.
Perhaps desperation within deep affection was more powerful than any miracle serum that Charon produced.
The snag-machine man captured Heatran and what was left of Tobias' heart snapped in two, falling to the whirlwind of chaos raging within the Undeniable's mind.
Ash intercepted Tobias before the man could lay a murderous hand on Wes.
"You're done," Ash sent a single spark of aura into Tobias' ear canal, the man screaming as aura contacted his brain. He dispatched the older trainer and passed him off to a waiting extraction unit.
The patonai reunited in the middle of the Research room and took stock of their surroundings.
"We're almost there!" Aurian grinned, eyes bright and face smudged with a combination of dirt, soot, and blood.
"Are you now?" a new voice called, a hidden door bursting open. Rocket and Rebel League grunts flooded in, fresh reinforcements against the weary G-Men.
Giovanni entered the room, a pure white pokeball in his left hand. "Checkmate."
(A/N): Hello, y'all! Thank you so much for reading C29 of Primary Intentions! Please leave a review, if you'd like! If you're new, welcome! Special thanks, as always, to thechinskyguy for being a spectacular beta reader and for all the sassy comments in the margins.
If my guesses are correct, I think we may have anywhere from four to six more chapters before Primary Intentions comes to a close. It's been an unbelievable ten months- what an honor to share the ride with you all.
Have a great rest of your day!