"What kind of problem?" Ash asked, jolting awake. Pikachu hopped on his shoulder and yawned.
Aurian bit her lip. "Lance just left us a message. We need to get to HQ, now."
"Right," Ash said, shaking his head. "Gallade, take us home."
A sleepy psychic-type popped out of his Pokéball and sent the four barreling through space until their feet hit solid ground.
"Thanks, Gallade. Return."
The patonai set off at a sprint down the hallway, passing multiple night watch members beginning their respective missions.
"What'd you think this is for?" Ash asked.
Aurian shrugged. "Think Lance needs us to take in that bit of script Michael told us about?"
"The two of us for Operation Surskit? Damn, they must be desperate."
Ash and Aurian reached the entrance of Door B and swiped their entry cards. The door rose up and the two darted inside the second they could, continuing their mad dash to Lance's office.
"Captains Ketchum and Borealis," Lance said, standing from behind his desk. "We need you to take a mission. I know it's not a great time for you right now but you're the only ones who can pull this off immediately."
"What happened to Dragonite Squad?" Ash asked.
Lance frowned. "Emergency call to thwart a Magma uprising in Hoenn."
"Salamence Squad?" Aurian sighed.
"Prescheduled and uninterruptible training exercise in the middle of the Unova Desert."
Ash bit his lip. "Gabite Squad?"
"Three are still injured from their last Galactic raid," Lance said, crossing his arms.
"We understand," Aurian said, a slightly suspicious glint flaring in her eyes. "What's the time limit?"
"In and out in less than an hour," Lance said. "Including transport. We can get you to the memorial on New Island and no further. You'll have to get in and out of the compound on your own."
The patonai shot each other slightly alarmed looks.
"Not completely on their own," a voice said. Ash and Aurian whipped around to find Riley entering the room, his hat tipped in a quick greeting.
"Ah. Good to see you, Riley," Lance said. "I trust you've been briefed on the situation?"
The Armada commander clapped his two captains on their shoulders. "Yes. There's no way I'll let you two in on your own. You still need backup no matter how experienced you are. Right, Lance?"
The G-Men commander gave a nervous laugh. "Right. Riley'll be guiding you two through the facility with earpieces. You'll go in standard Rocket scientist disguise with your G-Men combat uniform underneath. Now go change- both your uniforms and your teams. Take poison and earth types but keep one or two core members on your team. Ash, Pikachu needs to stay here."
"Here is the USB that you'll be taking to Rocket," Riley said, handing over a navy and red flash drive. "Don't lose this. Michael and the tech team worked for three days straight on the bug contained in that."
"Aurian, you take it," Ash noted, gingerly passing the key to Aurian, who slipped it onto a chain and dropped it into her shirt collar.
Lance smiled. "You leave in fifteen minutes. Good luck, Captains."
Ash and Aurian saluted and walked out the office.
"It's all up to us," Ash said with a determined look in his eyes.
Aurian grinned. "Time to move. I'll meet you back here in five."
Ash and Aurian stood on the bridge of a boat, shielding themselves from the cold wind currently pushing them faster towards New Island.
Aurian fiddled with the USB stick around her neck. "Okay Riley- what's our plan?"
"You two will wait until I take out the radar transmitters scattered through the water and around the island. Once that's done, you'll launch to shore, sneak in right at the changing of the guard, wreak havoc on their main computer terminal, and get the hell out of there."
"You'll be staying here, then?" Ash asked.
Their commanding officer nodded. "Yes. I'll come find you if anything gets strange but I'll be keeping an eye on your surroundings by reading your auras while you're in the building. If you're in trouble, let me know through Kokani."
Aurian bit her lip. "Yes, sir. We will. We'll both go in with hoods up and no Pokemon unless absolutely necessary."
"Good. We're just outside of their radar range now," Riley said, pulling the boat to a halt. "I'll shut down the first four and we'll move forward, continuing the process until we get to shore. Aurian, could you take the wheel?"
The Sinnoh Sharpshooter nodded and switched seats with Riley, leaving a pout on Ash's face.
"Why don't I get to drive?"
Aurian rolled her eyes. "Remember what happened the last time you drove a boat like this?"
He sighed. "I wrecked it in front of fifteen Plasma grunts."
"And?" Riley muttered, his eyes flaring a bright aura-blue.
"And I paid for it by scrubbing the Armada barracks with my toothbrush. And toothpaste."
"There's a reason the place still smells minty fresh when you walk in," Aurian noted.
Riley held back a chuckle. Ash whacked his patonai's shoulder.
The boat went silent as Riley continued his work.
"First four done. Aurian, move us forward fifty meters."
Aurian started the boat and slipped forward the required distance, staying silent and marveling at the ease in which Riley finished his job.
Soon they were at the banks, the transmitters back online like nothing happened.
"This is where you strike out on your own," Riley said, tossing Ash a package while constructing a sound-proof, invisible aura shield around the three of them.
"What's in here?"
Riley smiled, a motion that threw his moonlit silhouette into greater relief. "Open it."
Ash tore open the package to find a second arrowhead made from Rota crystal. "Riley, I can't thank you enough."
"Fill it up so you don't overload," Riley said. "You can use them as extra aura energy if you're in a pinch. Try not to cause too much damage."
The patonai nodded. "We promise..."
"Dammit, why'd this stupid lab have to be so big?" Ash groaned. The second arrowhead that Riley gave him clinked against the first, already halfway filled. Damn hendo, always getting in the way...
"Can it!" Aurian hissed, adjusting the hat on her disguise. "We're almost there, don't you dare screw this up! One more left turn and we're there."
The two silently crept along the hallways, shorting out security cameras as they went.
The hospital-white hallway ended with a single black door.
"This is it." Aurian said. "Can you sense anyone in there?"
Ash's eyes started burning blue around the edges of his contacts. Four men, three to five Pokéballs each. How long will it take you to free their Pokémon?
Aurian nodded at his use of Kokani. I'll need a minute for each one. What's their position around the room?
He frowned. One directly in front of the door, three speaking to him in front. Not good for us. The three guys would be looking right at us when we bust in.
We need a distraction... Aurian muttered, focusing on her surroundings. There's a series of breakers concealed right around the overhead air vents that we could trip and take out the power to this room but the computer would go out, dead-ending our goal...
Ash grinned. That doesn't mean we can't take out the light bulbs...
Aurian raveled a thin strand of aura and took a peek through the smallest crack in the door.
Main light switch is right through this crack. I can hit it from this distance.
Ash raised an eyebrow. You sure about that?
Oh ye of little faith. They don't call me the Sinnoh Sharpshooter for nothing.
She took a deep breath, pulled her right hand into position, and fired. The strand of aura rocketed through the door crack and collided squarely with the light switch, effectively destroying it and plunging the research room into darkness.
Ash slammed into the black door, blowing it off the hinges with an Earthquake from his Flygon.
Aura Sight from here on out, yeah? he said. See you on the other side.
Ash launched into action with his assembled team of Flygon, Muk, Gengar, and Aurian's Altaria. His patonai took out the security cameras with pinpoint accuracy and considered starting work on releasing the Rockets' Pokemon, but Aurian decided against it. The mission was more important...
Ash plowed through the first man and knocked him out within the first minute of their fight. He took five Pokeballs off of the man's belt and tossed them to Aurian, who added them to her a hidden pocket on her belt.
Damn, this second grunt is tough, Ash groaned, ducking a sideswipe and barely landing a right hook. Should we risk aura?
Aurian shrugged, knowing he could see her action through his sight. They already know we're here, what's the worst thing that could happen?
Good point, Ash said, lighting his fist and sending it square into a third grunt's stomach. We don't do anything halfway.
Aurian squinted at the screen as Ash continued to wail on his opponents and their Pokemon. A steady stream of code flowed across the monitor as she worked her way into the systems.
"Okay, secondary checkpoint done, now to breach the firewall and we're home free..."
Ash tossed three more Pokeballs to Aurian, who couldn't keep an eye on both her work and free the Rocket Pokemon at the same time. Three more Pokeballs went into her belt.
Ash stared in amazement as Aurian blew through the Rocket firewall- something that no one at the League had been able to accomplish since Rocket upgraded their systems seven years ago. The last grunt remaining- the second man he had faced off with earlier, seemed to fight equally well without any light. Ash backflipped away from his strike and mentally asked Flygon to whip up a Sandstorm to throw him off guard.
"Kid's got moves," the grunt said. "Can't last forever, though..."
Ash gritted his teeth and waited for Flygon to attack. Ten seconds later, sand filled the room, getting everywhere- in both layers of Ash's disguise, his ears, his hair.
The grunt blindly fumbled around, looking for Ash.
He fights using his perception of motion, Ash said with a smile. Set multiple things in motion...
And he'll be incapacitated. Great guess, Red, Aurian finished. Hurry up, I'm almost through the firewall!
Ash finished the job with three kicks and a hard punch to the head.
Flygon ceased the Sandstorm and found the three Pokeballs that the last grunt was carrying.
"How close are you?" Ash asked, peeking over his patonai's shoulder.
Aurian entered a six-button sequence and grinned, pulling the USB off of the chain around her neck.
"We're in. Here's Surskit, it should take about two minutes."
The room went oddly quiet...
Ash threw up an invisible shield as a door they didn't spot opened, revealing five Rockets standing in shadow. Aurian yanked the USB from the port the second that the Surskit virus finished downloading.
Hood still up? Ash asked.
Aurian nodded. She knew better than to answer aloud. The Rockets still had no idea that the G-Men had inducted a female member. After all they went through to reach Headquarters before the League could catch them and put them on trial, out of all their missions, after being unmasked once- she had never been connected to the G-Men.
And that was about to change.
Ash put a hand on Aurian's shoulder to calm her down.
"Well, I must say I'm impressed," a voice said, and Aurian felt her stomach drop to her toes.
Crap crap crap crap crap, Ash groaned. This can't be happening!
Giovanni di Angelo stepped out from the shadows, his eyes gleaming and designer suit shining in the low light. "I certainly wasn't expecting intruders to get this far."
Ariana, Archer, Petrel, and Carl stood behind their boss, floored at how young the intruders appeared.
"I know those uniforms..." Archer muttered. "They're G-Men!"
Ash stood straighter, Aurian copying his actions as she kept an eye on the screen.
Fifteen grunts came from behind the boss, carrying all sorts of weapons.
"Looks like we have two little bugs that need to be smushed," Giovanni sneered, crossing his arms. "And I thought the G-Men were above breaking and entering."
Ash and Aurian glanced at each other.
"The back door was unlocked," Ash offered, "so I'd hardly call that breaking, sir."
"I'd like a few answers before we... ah... permanently eliminate you two," Giovanni purred, beginning to pace.
Aurian shrugged.
"Who are you?"
Ash grinned. "You know that. We're G-Men, as you already noticed."
Aurian gulped as the surrounding Rocket Grunts loaded their guns.
There's seventeen of them, counting Giovanni and the admins, and two of us. Any ideas, Red?
Ash gave a mental sigh. We could shield ourselves with aura, destroy the guns with a few flares, drop a smoke bomb... they really left us countless options.
Combine the last two and try a Delta-seven exit? Aurian asked.
Ash smirked. You mean drop everything and run like hell? I'm in.
"And why," Giovanni continued, does your partner not speak, young man?"
"He can't," Ash blurted. "Mute from age eight. There was a rather tragic accident involving a drunk driver and a few extra cars..."
Aurian slowly moved her hand towards her belt while Ash spoke. Damn, he was good at this- not like he had a choice. Their identities would be found out in seconds if she spoke and revealed herself as a female G-Men member.
"... so that's his story. What's yours? Any particular reason why you're hell-bent on conquering the world?" Ash asked.
"Oh, the usual. Power. Influence. Money."
Ash smiled. "And wiping all trace of the Aura Guardians off the face of the earth."
"How..." Giovanni gasped.
The code on the monitor went haywire, transforming into the outline of a Surskit.
Aurian smirked, grabbing two smoke bombs off of her belt and throwing them before the Rockets had time to react. Ash shot ten separate strands of aura into the barrels of the Rockets' guns, destroying the weapons entirely. Aurian aimed over her shoulder and hit the last seven.
"Go go go!" Ash yelled, grabbing Aurian's hand and sprinting through the door they entered through.
The patonai raced through the hallways and barreled up to the surface of New Island, throwing as many obstacles behind them as they could.
Commander! Aurian screamed the second they hit the sand.
Riley zoomed to shore in their boat. "What happened?"
Ash paled as the two climbed in the boat. "Giovanni happened, that's what!"
"My God. You both still have your hoods up, that's a blessing. Come on, we need to bail."
The boat sped away, leaving New Island in the far-off distance.
"Was the mission successful?"
Aurian nodded. "Very. The Surskit Virus implant went on without a flaw. We saw it take over their devices right before I had to detonate a smoke bomb..."
"Smoke bomb?" Riley asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Giovanni started taunting Ri since she was staying silent and he accidentally revealed a crucial piece of information to us. The end goal of Team Rocket is to eliminate all traces of the Aura Guardians," Ash winced.
"We suspected this," Riley sighed. "This isn't good. The entire Guardian race... and we three are the only known ones left. If they take us..."
Aurian bit her lip. "Aura dies forever."
The trio fell to silence.
"What do we do?" Ash asked.
"We talk to Lance," Riley started, "and formulate a plan. Rocket needs to take top priority from here on out. We knew that they were connected to the Andan Alliance, but we had no idea that the Andan Alliance lived on within the modern organization. We'll leave a few regional squadrons out but call everyone home to start operations."
Aurian stayed quiet. "Riley, we recovered the Grunts' Pokemon. What should we do with them?"
"You caught them?"
"No, Ash and I took their Pokeballs. I was considering liberating them once I got back to base and letting them pick their new trainers among those in the Armada. Does that sound good to you?"
The Armada Commander nodded. "That's a beautiful plan, Aurian, and one that I'm sure the Pokemon will appreciate. You can do that before you head back to the Tournament."
Ash and Aurian stood in the Armada headquarters, surrounded by their comrades-in-arms.
"Okay guys, here's the deal. Everyone gets one Pokemon of their choice. The rest will go to new Cadets. Clear?"
The Armada nodded.
Aurian concentrated on each Pokeball before she threw it up into the air, effectively freeing it from its previous owner.
"Holy..." she trailed off.
The last Pokeball contained a Lucario.
The patonai stood in shock as the Lucario opened its crimson eyes.
Where am I? she asked, eying Ash and Aurian.
You're in the Headquarters of the G-Men. My name is Red Aronshu and this is my sworn patonai, Blue Katrian, Ash answered with a slight bow.
Kokani, the Lucario laughed. Oh, it's been ages since I've been able to converse with humans like this!
Aurian smiled. As much as it pains me to ask, are you loyal to Rocket forces?
Hell no! the Lucario exclaimed with a snarl. I'm so incredibly grateful that you two rescued me. Let me work with you. The need for revenge burns within my soul and I sense that the same fire blazes within you both.
Ash nodded. Of course. What is your name, friend?
The Lucario smiled. My mother named me Cassiael, but call me what you will.
Does Cass work? Aurian asked.
Cass nodded. I like it. Who shall I serve?
Ash shrugged. "Aurian, you're the one who freed her."
"Cass, may I have the honor of working with you?" Aurian asked. "If not, I completely understand."
No, no! I'd love to work with a trainer like you, Aurian. Add me to your team.
The female half of the patonai teared up as she tossed an Ultra Ball towards her new teammate. Three shakes later, Cass became an official member of Aurian's team.
"Holy crap," Ash said as Aurian released Cass once again. "We'll be working with a Lucario."
After all the bull that Rocket said about the Aura Guardians, I look forward to trouncing that evil man at three Guardians' sides. Where is your supervisor? I'd like to speak with him.
"Riley," Aurian said with a stunned look. "Right. We'll go find him. Come on, Cass! You'll like him."
This Riley you speak of, Cass asked, what kind of man is he?
"He's got an incredible morality compass," Ash offered, "and he'd do anything for a friend or comrade in need."
I like him already, Cass laughed.
Aurian reached the door and started wailing on it. "Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley, Riley!"
"What?" he asked, opening the door. "Holy mother of God..."
Hello there, Cass said, waving her right paw. I take it that you are Riley?
Riley paled. "My God. Aurian, where did you find her?"
"Cass was Rocket's. Not anymore," Ash answered.
Riley nodded. "Miss, if you'd step into my office, please. I'd like to make sure that you're completely free of Rocket influence before you begin your time with us."
Of course, Cass answered.
"Ash, Aurian- go back to Sinnoh. I'll call you to a meeting point when Cass is ready."
"Are you sure?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. Go. You need sleep."
The patonai released Gallade and warped back to Sinnoh, their heads spinning from both the travel and the things they'd learned.
"Damn, I'm exhausted," Aurian whispered, climbing into her sleeping bag at camp. "What time's your battle tomorrow?"
"Noon. Yours?"
"Noon as well," Aurian said. "No idea who we're fighting again. This could prove to be interesting. Hopefully we won't have to deal with any more psychic types- or Tobias."
"Or each other," Ash added on quietly. "That'd be hell."
"You think that's possible, since we're both battling at the same time?" Aurian asked, eyes wide.
Ash frowned. "God, I hope not. I hate the idea of having to eliminate you from the tourney..."
Aurian smacked her patonai. "I'll ignore that. Anyways, Lance needs both of us here as long as possible- you think he's pulling the strings behind the scenes?"
Ash frowned. "I highly doubt it. Maybe Victini smiles on both of us while we're here. I hope our luck doesn't run out any time soon..."
The patonai fell silent, Ash's snoring filling the clearing and Aurian's steady breathing keeping a quiet pace.
Max rolled over, blissfully unaware of the conversation that just took place.
Brock, on the other hand... he'd seen everything. He was grateful that he could still see fully though it looked like his eyes were completely closed twenty-four seven.
Red and Blue were G-Men, he was sure of it. They'd been away for a good two hours- most likely on some sort of reconnaissance mission. Blue was limping when she got back to the clearing and Red had a few new bruises on his face and limbs, all of which would most likely be gone by morning. Brock thought long and hard about the two that repelled the Plasma grunts from Stadium B. Both of them were aura users, like Ash had been. They were G-Men, and there was a guy and a girl...
How many lady G-Men members could there be? Brock wondered. It couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
Ash woke the next morning to sore shoulders and five splotchy purple bruises on his arms.
"Blue, it's morning," he sighed, shaking Aurian awake.
"Damn, you look bad," she said with a yawn.
He groaned and healed his bruises with an internal pulse of aura. "That's not a good way to greet your best friend."
"What time is it?"
Ash checked his Pokegear. "About nine. Just enough time to grab food, watch a few battles, and check in with our stadiums. The Center should have more information, yeah? Wanna head over?"
"Mhmm," Aurian answered, neatly rolling her sleeping bag back up. "Should we wake those two or no?"
"Leave a note and they'll catch up when they want to," Ash said, pulling his overlong hair into a tiny ponyta-tail. "I really need a haircut."
Aurian laughed. "We can take care of that later. Come on, we're not getting any younger."
Max woke up as the patonai left for the Center.
"Brock... Brock... Brock?"
"I'm up," the Doctor groaned. "What'd I miss?"
"Red and Blue left for the Center," Max said, releasing Ralts and feeding him a few Pokepellets.
Brock nodded. "They left last night."
"Really?" Max asked, eyes wide. "How long were they gone?"
"Two hours. Red's pretty beat-up, Blue looks fine."
The smaller trainer frowned. "You think they went on some sort of mission?"
"I'm certain of it. I haven't the foggiest idea where, though. If we knew that, we'd be one step closer to unmasking those two and figuring out what their real purpose of being here is," Brock said, pulling his backpack over his shoulders. "Let's go find them."
Max bit his lip. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Was I naive for thinking that they were here just to compete?"
"No, you're not. You're young and still new to this. It's gonna take you a while to figure out double intentions," Brock said. "Just like how it took Ash a while to figure it all out."
"Good news- we're not battling each other!" Aurian said with a grin. "Nurse Joy just started passing out today's schedules. Here-"
Ash took the piece of paper from her hand and sighed with relief when he saw his name right below his patonai's.
"You're in Stadium A, I'm in Stadium B," Aurian sighed. "It's kind of a bummer that we won't be able to watch each other today but oh well. They've released opponent names, too..."
"I'm against Ritchie?" Ash asked. "This should be fun. Who are you battling?"
Aurian grit her teeth. "Trip."
"Remind me what you have against him?"
"He beat me in the Unova League and rubbed it in my face for a year. Whipped him in Kanto but he's never let up on it. Time to settle this once and for all..."
even if he doesn't know who I am, Aurian finished in Kokani.
"Oh, is that the schedule?" Max asked, tapping Aurian's shoulder. "Lemme see lemme see lemme see!"
After a huge breakfast and quite a bit of time spent at the outdoor jumbotron set-up, the group divided up to watch the two battle- Max, Misty, and Michael went to watch Ash and Maddy, Brock, and Noah went to watch Aurian.
The patonai waited in twin waiting rooms across the island.
You ready? Ash asked, stretching out his arms.
Aurian grinned. Hell yes! Payback time for the notorious Trip Heights.
Best of luck and see you on the other side, Ash said, walking through his tunnel to face Ritchie- Max right on his tail.
Aurian let the kokani connection go and walked with Maddy out to her arena.
"The round three double battle between Blue Katrian and Trip Heights starts now! Trainers are allowed two Pokemon each, no substitutions. Choose your combatants!"
What I wouldn't give to have Cass on me right now...
"Serperior! Unfezant, go!" Trip yelled, releasing his two choices.
Aurian grinned. "Empoleon and Arcanine, bring the pain!"
Her team came forth with a ground-shaking roar. Trip paled and his hands shook slightly. This battle would be one for the ages...
Ash tried to keep a nonchalant air as he entered the stadium. Max went to his box and flashed his mentor a thumbs up.
Ritchie adjusted his hat and patted Sparky, who still resided on his shoulder.
"Trainers, this round three battle will be three-on-three with no substitutions. Choose your Pokemon!"
Ritchie motioned Sparky off of his shoulder with a grin. "Go, Sparky! Cruise and Zippo, come on out!"
A massive Tyranitar and a Charizard emerged to the roar of the crowd.
"Typhlosion, Pikachu, and Gallade, let's go!" Ash said. His fire-type appeared on the field with a vicious snarl, Pikachu and Gallade close behind.
"Begin!"
Ritchie wasted no time and ordered a Thunder from his starter, followed by a Flame Wheel from Zippo and a Protect from Cruise.
"Redirect Thunder with a Flame Shield," Ash asked. "Pika, Volt Tackle, Gallade, Psychic."
Typhlosion summoned a massive wall of fire and concentrated it right as Sparky's lightning hit the shield, rebounding the attack back at Ritchie. Sparky didn't have time to react before its own attack slammed into him, sending the electric-type flying into a wall. Pikachu slammed into Tyranitar, who roared in pain. Gallade landed a perfect Psychic on Zippo, pinning the dragon's wings to its body.
"You okay, Sparky?"
The tough little Raichu got up and nodded.
"And Red shuts Ritchie's offensive down!" Shauntal cried over the roar of the crowd. "What an incredible defensive play by Kanto's Crimson Menace!"
Ash smirked. Crimson Menace... I like that.
"Quick Attack! Zippo, break free, Cruise, Dark Pulse!"
He can't beat me with strength or defense so he's trying to outrun me. Two can play at this game...
"Pika, Quick Attack as well. Gallade, Close Combat on Sparky, Typhlosion, Eruption on Cruise, take him out!"
Misty paled at Red's command.
"He could've phrased that better," Michael muttered.
Misty nodded. "You think Typhlosion can take Tyranitar out despite the type disadvantage?"
Michael's eyes lit up. "I don't know. This should be interesting, yeah?"
"Begin!" the referee yelled, sprinting to his safe box across the stadium.
Aurian grinned. "Hydro Pump and ExtremeSpeed to Flamethrower!"
Trip raised an eyebrow as both of Aurian's Pokemon reacted in a split second. Empoleon released a powerful blast of water and Arcanine rocketed towards his side, engulfing itself in a stream of flames.
"Serperior, Protect! Unfezant, put out that Arcanine!"
Arcanine charged through Unfezant's Razor Wind, completely unscathed, and made impact with Serperior, shattering the Protect just in time for Empoleon to swoop in for the kill after landing an attack on Unfezant.
"Empoleon, Steel Claw! Arcanine, Thunder Fang!"
Trip grimaced and commanded dodges for both. Unfezant managed to escape. Serperior fell to Empoleon's Metal Claw, returning to its owner's Pokeball within seconds.
"And the Sinnoh Sharpshooter takes down Unfezant in less than thirty-five seconds- a new League record!" Steven said. "I've never seen anything like this!"
Damn right you haven't, Aurian thought with pride over the uproar of the crowd.
A desperate glint entered Trip's eyes. "Unfezant, Brave Bird!"
Aurian nodded. "Arcanine, take it. Empoleon, wait."
The bird of prey rocketed towards the fire dog. Aurian took a deep breath and called her attacks.
"Arcanine, kick Unfezant up and Eruption, Empoleon, Hydro Cannon!"
Arcanine took the hit and maneuvered itself around. Hind legs caught the bird in the belly and launched the poor flying-type thirty feet in the air, where Empoleon successfully landed a Hydro Cannon from a sniper's distance.
Unfezant hit the ground, unconscious, to Trip's despair.
"And the winner of this round three match is Blue Katrian, the Sinnoh Sharpshooter!"
Aurian waved to the crowd after returning her teammates and turned to find Maddy's jaw dropped.
"Blue, how'd you do that?" the little trainer asked. "That was incredible!"
Aurian smiled and patted her trainee's head. "Come on, we should be able to catch the rest of Red's battle if we hurry!"
Trip shook hands with the Sinnoh Sharpshooter and watched, dumbfounded, as she sprinted out of the stadium to watch her best friend battle. He pulled his stopwatch out of his pocket and sighed. She'd completely trounced him in exactly two minutes. His last battle took fifteen and the next one in this stadium didn't start for another twenty.
That Blue Katrian was really something else...
Ash held his breath as Typhlosion fired off one of the most powerful Eruptions he'd ever seen. The flames completely engulfed Cruise, who screamed in pain.
The Crimson Menace winced as Tyranitar hit the ground, unconscious, covered in burn marks.
Ritchie shook his head and withdrew Cruise.
"You've got power, I'll give you that," Ritchie said. "I'm not giving up just yet. Zippo, Blast Burn! Sparky, use Volt Tackle!"
Ash grit his teeth. "Pika, Volt Tackle as well! Gallade, Hi-Jump-Kick! Typhlosion, fall back and rest."
Typhlosion, panting heavily, waited in the back right corner to make his move. Pikachu and Gallade unleashed their offensive.
In the meantime, Aurian and Maddy sprinted to the first screen they could find outside of their Stadium, shoving their way through the crowds to get a better view.
"Look, he's still going!" Maddy said. "A triple battle?"
Aurian raised an eyebrow. "That's unusual."
Not for Ash, she thought. "He dealt with a four on seven last night, I'm not worried at all. He finished his stupid mistake phase after he turned fifteen. Come on, Ash, don't drag this out longer than you need to...
Sparky and Zippo were in bad shape after all the attacks landed. Ritchie's Pokemon were out of breath and struggling to keep up with Ash's well-trained team.
"One more!" Ritchie cried. "Give it all you have!"
If I asked my team to give all they had, this stadium wouldn't be standing, Ash thought with surprise. Still, Ritchie's held on longer than I thought he would. He's pretty good.
Their teams met in a collision of flames, sparks, and psychic attacks, leaving both Sparky and Zippo passed out with Pikachu breathing heavily and Gallade taking a knee.
"The winner of the Round Three battle between Red and Ritchie is Red Aronshu, Kanto's Crimson Menace!"
Ash breathed a sigh of relief as Max ran to meet him.
"Red, that was awesome! I never knew Typhlosion was that powerful!"
"Neither did I," Ash said with a shake of his head. "Everyone, return!"
Three Pokemon returned to their trainer and the pairing went to go find Ritchie.
"Kudos, that was super intense," Ritchie said, his smile starting to fade. "I'm glad I had the chance to battle you."
"And I you," Ash said. "Don't beat yourself up, you put up a great fight."
Ritchie nodded and walked away.
"Damn," Ash muttered, leaving the stadium. "That was hard..."
Max frowned. "Everything all right, Red?"
Ash shook his head. "No. It's hard watching someone as enthusiastic as Ritchie go home looking so defeated. I've definitely been there before..."
"Really?" Max asked. "From the way you just won, I'd have a hard time believing that."
"I've never won a League. Highest I've ever gotten is top four."
Max's eyes widened. "Holy Magikarp! Seriously?"
"That's a story for another time... Blue!" Ash yelled, waving to his patonai.
Ash was caught off guard by a mass of copper hair in his face.
"That was awesome!" Aurian said, hugging him.
Ash moved her hair out of his mouth. "Blech... hello to you, too."
Maddy grinned. "Both the battles I've seen make me want to be a trainer even more now! I can't wait to officially start my journey once I get home!"
"Oh, me too," Max said, a gleam in his eye. "We need another training session!"
"We can make that happen," Ash said, much to the trainees' surprise and excitement. "Tomorrow, for sure."
The group sprinted to Stadium C to make Misty's battle, which she pulled off by the skin of her teeth. Korinna from the Kalos League pushed Misty to the ends of her strategy pool but the youngest Waterflower ended her skirmish with one of the most powerful Hydro Pumps Ash had ever seen.
Michael wasn't so lucky- he went down after a close match with Ash's old Sinnoh nemesis, Nando. Both Michael and Noah decided to stay with their friends until the bitter end.
After a wonderful campfire dinner and bidding their friends goodbye until the next day, Aurian and Ash snuck away to the lake to call their commanders. Max and Brock were both asleep, their snores filling the clearing.
"I hope Cass is okay," Aurian said. "She looked like she'd been through hell and back."
Ash put an arm around her shoulder. "I'm sure she's okay. Come on, let's call Lance."
Aurian plugged in her earbuds and handed one to Ash after punching in Lance's number.
Should we use code? Ash asked.
Aurian nodded. He'll know, so yeah. We shouldn't take any chances.
Lance picked up after the second ring. Riley and Cass peeked over his shoulders.
"Good evening, Cadets."
Ash grinned. "Hey, Uncle L!"
Lance groaned. "Oh, code. Good news is that Cass is ready to join you two."
No Rocket left in me, thank God, Cass piped in. So glad to be rid of those experiments.
"Great to hear. When will that happen?" Aurian asked, making a conscious effort to keep her dialogue as bland as possible. Poor Cass. She'd have to ask her about what Rocket did if the Lucario was up to answering those questions.
"I'm sending Riley to visit Flint tomorrow. He'll introduce himself to you after your battles and slip you Cass' Pokeball when he accidentally drops his backpack," Lance answered. "It's not the cleanest drop we have but I know Blue will want to use Cass as soon as possible."
And I want to get to know you, patonai, as well, Cass added. Riley showed me your battles today and I was in complete and utter shock through both of them. My congratulations for fighting well, comrades.
"Thank you so much," Aurian replied, beaming. "How did our battles look?"
"Normally, I would'be said something about going overkill but Red let the Skitty out of the bag on that one. It's about time you two really cut loose and enjoyed these battles. We're down to forty left in the competition, you two, things are about to get a little hairy. The people left in the GIGT aren't here on accident. Keep your eyes up and keep looking for that Rocket mole. Any ideas on who it could be?"
Ash shook his head. "No, haven't seen them yet. I'll keep an eye out and let you know when I do."
"Good. I will see you tomorrow," Riley said.
Can't wait! Cass added with the Lucario version of a thumbs-up.
Lance nodded. "Goodbye."
The screen went black. Ash closed his Pokegear and nearly fell off the rock he was sitting on when Max popped up in front of him.
"Who ya talking to?" he asked.
Ash sighed. "Arceus, you scared me!"
"That was my Uncle Larry," Aurian continued, not missing a beat. "Apparently a few of my cousin's friends are here and he wanted me to to check on them."
Ash grinned. Uncle Larry? He'd have to tell Lance about this one...
"Oh, okay," Max said, looking deflated. "It's kinda late to be calling people, right?"
"The Katrian Clan isn't your average family. It's late, Max, go to bed. We'll see you tomorrow."
The smallest Maple groaned and trudged off to his sleeping bag.
"Uncle Larry?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.
Aurian groaned and put her head in her hands. "It's the first thing I could come up with, okay?"
"You do realize this is gonna go viral around HQ, right?"
"At least wait until we're done here," Aurian answered. "I'm sure I'll get a wonderful misquote from you, too- it's just a matter of time."
Ash rolled his eyes. "Right. Anyways... what we did last night..."
"Don't remind me," Aurian sighed. "Wasn't expecting a certain someone to pop up."
"Does this change the game?"
Aurian nodded. "I believe so. We'll have to act fast and quick to find that mole. Any ideas on who you think it could be?"
Ash shook his head. "The few people I can picture just don't fit. They'd have to be just as strong as we are but hiding it somehow..."
"Or not," Aurian said. "Tobias."
Ash's stomach dropped to his toes as the two started to walk back to camp.
"It makes sense," Aurian offered. "Overly powerful Darkrai, access to Legendaries that no one in their right mind would ever have a shot at capturing alone. Have you noticed? Most of the Pokemon that he's used so far were once captured by Rocket or one of its affiliates. Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno, Darkrai..."
"I don't like this," Ash said. "But it's our best guess. How would we go about investigating this?"
"Watch who he interacts with," Aurian replied. "We'll get clues from there."
"Looks like we'll be Tobias hunting tomorrow," Ash said with a grin. "If we're gonna do that and stay under the radar, we'll need all the rest we can get. See you in the morning?"
Aurian nodded, climbing into her sleeping bag. "See ya, Red."
Ash smiled as his patonai started snoring a bit. She'd never admit to the habit, but he thought it was kind of cute.
Pikachu curled up on his chest and Ash followed his patonai's example...
(A/N): I'm baaaaaaaaack! Sorry for the super long wait, there's not really an excuse for it. Hope this extra-long chapter made up for everything!
Review response time!
emosewa-13: Thank you so much for your wonderfully kind words and your great advice! I've got plans to work new Pokemon in, just wait and see!
WritingForMuffins: Thank you, friend!
Nightshade1712: It'll be gradual, for sure. More drama that way.
Guest #1: Thank you, friend! It'll happen sooner than you think.
Guest #2: I've got plans for those two. Thank you, new friend!
SwallowTheSun: Goodness, thank you so much! It's been a blast writing Aurian and getting to know her character a bit more. Sorry for making you wait so long and I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations!
Again, thank you all so much. I haven't given you guys a reason to stick with this but I'm so excited to see where Primary leads to. I'm not too sure about when I'll get the next AIAFTP chapter out but it'll be up eventually.
This is PL, signing off! (Man, does it feel good to be back.)