Aurian opened her eyes to find herself in Cameran Palace. She'd never been, but Ash had showed her pictures of the castle's many rooms and important aura artifacts. It felt like Aurian's soul pulled her in the direction of the palace whenever she was in that area of Kanto, but she'd never been able to convince Riley and Lance to let the aura-wielding G-Men take a field trip.

She looked down. The floor she stood on was embossed with the Guardian crest- the same symbol on Riley's hat surrounded by three concentric circles with the Oath inside.

"Aurian," a voice said, filled with regret and sorrow.

The younger patonai formed a sphere of aura in her hand and held it, ready to aim and fire at a moment's notice. "Who's there?"

"Stand down," the voice said, revealing the shadow of a tall man. "Not the best way to speak to your father."

Aurian paled and let the aura sphere dissolve. "You can't be serious. Seventeen years after you waltz out of my life without a second glance, you decide to jump back in during a dream? You could've tracked me down somehow, figured out some sort of meeting place, anything but this, you coward!"

Bright blue eyes blinked into existence. "It's more complicated than that, Aurian. I'm not in a position to speak with you in reality at the moment, so dream-speak must suffice."

The girl sighed, tucking a stray strand of copper hair behind her ear. "I'm not happy about this, but it is nice to finally meet you... almost. Forgive me for my earlier accusations. I have questions."

"I might not be able to answer all of them, but I'll do my best."

Aurian frowned. "Is my mother still alive?"

"As far as I know, yes," the voice responded, blue eyes blinking. "I haven't seen her in a very long time but I know she still lives. I'd feel it if she passed on."

Aura could be a strange thing, Aurian mused. Though it was impossible to communicate directly with a non-wielder through Kokani, Guardians could form bonds with both humans and Pokemon that let the wielder keep an eye on their well-being. It was a unique trait to the Guardians and the Guardians alone, and couldn't be replicated through any kind of science.

"So you're at least a Guardian," Aurian said, relieved to finally have discovered at least a portion of her past. "Why did you leave?"

The voice sighed. "I was caught in a war, Aurian. Your mother and I had two days to come up with a plan to save you, your brother, and everyone else in my battalion. God, I didn't want to leave you two but I had no choice. We had to separate ourselves and you- raising two aura-born children in the same location would've drawn unneeded attention."

"Matt?" Aurian asked.

"You don't know?" the voice asked, alarmed. "Dearest, you have another brother. Lordy. I thought she'd tell you..."

"Another? Who is he?" Aurian cried.

"You'll find out soon enough, Aurian Lillian Borealis. Daughter, I wish I could tell you how proud I am of you in person, but that is an impossibility."

"Is this the last I'll hear from you?" Aurian asked, stretching her arms.

The voice laughed. "I certainly hope not. Stay safe."

Everything went to black and she fell...

Ash woke up immediately after he heard Aurian gasp for air. After checking his surroundings to make sure that they were alone, he ran to his patonai.

"You okay?" he asked, immediately putting an arm around his best friend.

She shook her head. "I don't know anymore, Red. My father just spoke to me in a dream."

"Holy crap," Ash said. "What'd you see?"

"He said my mom's still alive. And I have another brother," she said, wiping a tear out of the corner of her eye. "Ash, do you know what this means?"

"There might be another person out there with an aura line," Ash said, eyes widening. "Did he give you any information? A name, a description, anything?"

Aurian shrugged. "I'd assume that he's older, but I couldn't glean any information out of Father other than the fact that he has eyes like mine."

"Eyes like yours..." Ash trailed off, remembering the piercing blue eyes that haunted his own dreams. "Aurian, were they aura blue?"

"Yeah... wait, you've seen them too?"

"My father popped up in a dream about three days ago," Ash said. "He had aura blue eyes just like yours..."

The two of them fell silent.

"I promise I'll do all that I can to help you find your family, Ri," Ash started, taking her hand. "Remember when we had Oak look into those DNA tests for us back when we fled from Sinnoh the first time?"

"He told us the results were inconclusive," Aurian said. "How would we get any more information out of this?"

Ash frowned. "We could do a re-analysis. They've added the entire populations of Kalos and Unova since they've joined the Pokemon League. Who knows? We might find a match."

"We'd have to contact Oak somehow without blowing any of this up," Aurian sighed.

"Back to HQ?" Ash asked.

Aurian nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan. The Commanders need to know about this new discovery, too, but we need to get our schedules for the day and see what kind of battle situations we have. To the Center?"

"To the Center," Ash said, pulling his patonai up and starting towards the Center.

"If we do end up finding this brother of mine," Aurian started, "I hope he has a good heart and treats his Pokemon well. Correction- if I do have a brother, I want him to be a lot like you."

Ash blushed and nodded. "Thank you. No matter how this plays out, I'll still consider you a sister. We're patonai, it's in our job description. I'll still support you, yeah?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Red. Let's go get our schedules."

The doors opened, revealing a flurry of activity and excited trainers. One of the Joys waved the patonai over.

"Congratulations on your battles yesterday! Here are your schedules. There's a social planned on the third floor that starts in a few minutes if you'd like to come. We'll have breakfast foods!"

"That sounds wonderful!" Ash exclaimed, blatantly ignoring Aurian's mental groan. "Come on, Blue! We have new people to meet after we look over these schedules."

"Sounds good to me," Aurian said. "Thank you, Joy!"

The patonai took the first table they could find and unfurled their schedules.

"I'm battling Misty," Aurian said with a groan. "Dammit, I didn't want that to happen. Who're you up against?"

"You shouldn't complain," Ash replied. "I'm up against Nando. He's fantastic and I'm getting real worried."

Aurian sighed as she looked at the list of names in the top 40. So many incredible trainers were eliminated yesterday, but there were quite a few remaining who could be the Rocket mole.

Tobias Langley was their leading suspect. Aurian's gut feelings were generally accurate, but what if he wasn't working alone?

"Trying to track down the mole?" Ash asked under his breath.

Aurian nodded. "I still think Tobias is our top contender, but we haven't seen him at all outside of his battles. Where does he slink off to?"

"Who else... could it be Touko?" Ash asked.

Aurian shook her head. "I don't think so. When I battled alongside her in Unova, she hated the idea of anyone forcing Pokemon to do things against their will. Rocket definitely falls into that category. That mole is probably someone we'd look over the first time."

"We'll get a better glimpse of everyone at the social," Ash said. "That might give us a lead. And you'll get Cass!"

Aurian grinned. "True! I can't wait to get to know her."

"Same," Ash replied. "Shall we head over?"

The patonai linked arms and walked towards the VIP suites on the third floor.

"Welcome to the inaugural Top 40 social! You've all fought incredibly hard to get here so please enjoy a morning off, on us," Shauntal said. "Enjoy yourselves, and I can't wait to see what happens next!"

Aurian grinned. How much do you wanna bet that Lance set this up so we could spy?

If he did, we shouldn't waste this chance. Time to be social for a change, yeah? Ash said. "Come on, meeting new people can be fun!"

Ash patted his patonai on the shoulder and immediately went to find new friends.

"Excuse me," a voice started, "Are you Blue Katrian?"

"Yes. And you have to be Touko White."

Touko nodded, pushing her long brown ponytail off of her shoulders and adjusting her baseball cap. "That's me, all right. Thought I'd congratulate you on that victory yesterday- never thought I'd see Cynthia's League record for fastest defeat shattered."

"Thank you," Aurian laughed, "and I've had a bone to pick with Trip for a very long time, so that felt incredible. He probably doesn't remember wiping the floor with me during the Unova Regionals we both competed in a few years back."

"You've given him a reason to remember you now," Touko said. "Want to go find the other girls? We've got to stick together in tournaments like this."

Aurian nodded, remembering Paul's remarks before her first battle of the Tournament. "Believe me, I know. How many of us are there?"

"Five, I think, including you and I," Touko sighed. "You, me, Misty Waterflower, Anabel Harkinian, and Faith Sorenson."

"That can't be it," Aurian exclaimed, running off a list of names on her fingers. "Just five? Out of the entire six regions, only five girls make it into the Top 40? That's screwed up."

"That's what happens when battling is portrayed as an exclusively male career," a new voice said.

Touko smiled. "Faith! So nice for you to join us."

The newcomer nodded, flipping a bit of deep red hair out of her amber eyes. "Damn contests, always trying to make themselves seem so much better than traditional battles just because attacks are pretty and shiny."

Aurian bit her lip. "I've done both- depending on where you jump in, the Contest vibes can be either uplifting or toxic. The Contest Association isn't necessarily all bad, but it's not all that great, either."

"Neither is the Pokemon League," Misty said, joining the circle. "They haven't done much in terms of gender equalization, either. Sure, we have our role models- Cynthia, Lorelei, Phoebe, Shauntal, Caitlin, Diana, but things stagnate after that."

Anabel perked up at their conversation and hurriedly joined in. "The Battle Frontier's worse than both. Half of the Brains are ladies but all the attention goes to the guys."

"Maybe that's why we're still here," Aurian noted. "We're the strongest women in the Six Regions- shouldn't we use this opportunity to make younger girls feel more welcome in the gym and tournament circuit?"

Touko nodded. "I like the way you think, Katrian, but how should we go about this?"

"We have the platform, so why don't we set something up to talk to the trainees and younger lady trainers that are here? It's already such a hard world to nudge your way into, it gets three times harder when you wear a skirt and heels," Faith sighed, clicking her stilettos together.

"Shauntal'd be the one to talk to about that," Misty said. "We should all go propose the idea! It'd look a whole lot better with a unified front."

"Good point," Anabel said. "Come on, let's head over!"

Aurian looked up to find Ash speaking with Lance, Riley, Cynthia, and Nando, of all people. Shauntal stood a little off to the side, nibbling on a strawberry-banana muffin.

"Hey, Shauntal!" Touko said with a friendly wave.

"Hello, ladies! Enjoying the social?" the ghost-specialist asked.

Aurian nodded. "We are! We had a question for you..."

Ash watched quietly as Aurian and the other lady trainers proposed their plans for a Girl's Forum on how to find success in the battling world. Aurian was a genius. The way she put forward their ideas was so well-thought-out that Shauntal couldn't say no.

"I'll have to keep an eye on her," Cynthia said with an amused smile. "She'd make a great addition to the Sinnoh Elite Four whenever an opening pops up."

Lance shook his head. "Don't lay your claim on everyone, Cynth! Everyone here would make a fine Elite... especially anyone in that group."

Ash tried not to glow with pride. His aura reserves were starting to overflow, but he was pretty sure he could make it through the social without sparking.

Nando turned over his shoulder and spotted a familiar face. "Tobias! Come be social!"

The legendary trainer mock-grumbled as he joined Ash's circle. "I'm coming, bug man. How have you been?"

"I've been fantastic. I miss my Contests so I'm looking forward to jumping back into those whenever the GIGT finishes up. Tobias, have you met Red Aronshu?"

Green eyes narrowed. "I don't believe I have. Wonderful to meet you, Red, I've heard nothing but brilliant things about you."

"Likewise, sir," Ash said, shaking Tobias' hand. "Your perfect reputation precedes you."

Tobias laughed. "God, that's not something you hear every day. You're good friends with a certain Miss Katrian, correct?"

"Yes," Ash answered, wary of the sudden change of subject. There was something in Tobias' eyes that he couldn't get a read on...

"I've also heard incredible things about her. Tell me, how did you two meet?"

Ash bit his lip. "It'd be easier if Blue told the story, to be completely honest. She remembers it better than I do. Hey, Blue, get over here!"

The younger patonai rolled her eyes and nudged Ash's shoulder. "What's up?"

"Tobias wanted to know how we met. You tell it better than I do," Ash said.

Aurian nodded, careful to censor the story in just the right places to avoid any and all suspicion. "It's a dreadfully long story for another time, but I can tell the abridged version! Red here was getting his rear handed to him in a street battle outside of Canalave. Granted, it was pretty unfair, so I thought I'd jump in and give him a hand. We both made it out and have stuck with each other ever since."

"It's been, what, almost four and a half years now?" Ash asked, extending the number to avoid any contradictions.

His patonai nodded. "We hit halfway on the fifteenth of next month."

"Seems rather unlike you to lose in a street battle," Tobias noted with a frown.

Ash laughed. "I was in rough shape four years ago. It's been a long, hard road to get here but I wouldn't have it any other way."

The conversation turned to menial things after that, Ash noted. It'd been a while since he'd been so social with so many people, but he found himself enjoying the intermingling. While HQ was home, he missed meeting new people and getting to know them. Aurian was a bit less of a social butterfly but she was right at home, as well.

Soon the social ended and the trainers moved to reunite with their trainees. Riley caught the trio on their way out and started a brief conversation about the state of the ruins in Sinnoh, which both had visited.

"All I hope we can do is gather a strong group of trainers to help repair the ruins..." Riley trailed off, accidentally spilling the contents of his bag across the floor.

"Goodness!" Aurian cried, quickly taking Cass' Pokeball in her hand and hiding it up her sleeve. "That was unexpected. Here, let us help..."

Ash half-gathered up Riley's things and half kept an eye on his surroundings. No one gave a second glance at the three trainers.

"We'll be in touch, right?" Ash asked. "We'd love to help with the ruins project."

Riley nodded. "Does tonight after your battles sound good?"

"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Riley! We'll probably see you around," Aurian answered, steering Ash away from the conversation.

You're practically glowing! she exclaimed. Fill up that second arrowhead, yeah?

Ash groaned. Yeah, yeah, I'll take care of that after lunch but before our evening battles. Can't wait to battle under the big lights!

Max ran up to meet the two, Maddy close on his tail. "Who was that you were talking to?"

"New acquaintance," Aurian said. "His name is Riley and he needs a bit of help restoring the Iron Island Ruins. We might not be able to help immediately but we promised him we'd get over there as soon as we could."

Ash nodded. "Yeah. It's a shame that Galactic destroyed them, they were beautiful once. Come on, we need to get food before our battles."

"We still need that Master Class you've been promising us," Max groaned as the four walked towards the cafeteria.

Aurian sighed. "We know, we know! It's coming, we promise. Red and I are planning on incorporating strategies we've seen in the Tournament in this one so it's taking a bit longer. Right?"

Ash accidentally choked on a bit of food. "Right! Tomorrow for sure. We want to hear things that you two have learned from watching all the battles you've seen, not just ours. Start making a list so you can ask questions."

The two trainees nodded.

Max stayed silent for the rest of the meal, keeping a careful eye on Red. The more he watched the Kanto trainer, the more he acted like, spoke like, and moved like Ash. Hell, they looked like the same person from the back. Something wasn't adding up. There had to be some sort of disconnect that he missed.

He'd have to talk to Brock and Misty about this. They'd probably have better ideas about how to handle this.

Maddy sighed, watching Max sink further into his thoughts. The boy was stubborn as a brick but she knew he was right. He'd told her all about this Ash Ketchum he was friends with a few years back- and told her his conspiracy theories. She loved her mentors- yes, Red too- but agreed with Max that something felt slightly off. The two cut themselves off from their own stories, weren't really fans of interacting with other people all that much, were so incredibly powerful...

"You okay, Maddy?" Blue asked, obviously worried for her trainee.

Maddy nodded. "Yep! Just trying to come up with questions like you asked us to. Right, Max?"

"Huh?" Max asked.

Maddy rolled her eyes. "Really? Come on, did a Musha get a hold of you? We've got work to do!"

Red smiled at her comparison. "Blue and I battle right after each other again today, so you're in for a double treat. I'm not particularly looking forward to facing off against Nando, though..."

"Why not?" Max asked. "At this point, I'm pretty sure you can do anything, Red."

Red laughed. "I appreciate your support, Max, but this is gonna be a hell of a ride. Nando's a contest guy as well as a battler- there's no way to describe his strategy other than "outside the box". None of us have any idea what he'll come up with and he's notorious for his unpredictability."

"You're just as strong as he is," Maddy added. "And I have no doubt that you'll come up with something. Blue, who are you battling?"

The older girl sighed. "Misty."

"Really?" Max questioned. "Out of the thirty-eight other people still in this thing, they put you against Misty?"

"Better Misty than Red," Blue said with a wink. "Wouldn't want to destroy any stadiums, would we?"

Red grinned. "Don't say that, you'll give our trainees the wrong idea. Would you two like to observe the first couple of Top 40 battles?"

The four trainers stood three rows up from the battle floor, with Max and Maddy excitedly munching on cotton candy and popcorn.

Aurian stole a piece from Maddy and grinned. "Who's up first?"

"Looks like it's Tobias versus Harrison," Ash said, repressing his excitement and dread at seeing one of his favorite battlers go head to head with the man who made him lose everything. "This will be interesting."

"Yeah," Max added. "Didn't Harrison win the Johto League a few years back?"

Aurian nodded. "Yep, that's the man."

"I'm gonna slip to the bathroom before this starts, I'll be right back," Ash said, noting Aurian's eye on his steadily rising aura levels. "Blue, keep an eye on those two, okay? Don't want them causing any trouble."

Ash slipped off to the nearest exit and locked himself in so no one would watch him. Before he took the second arrowhead out from under his shirt, he swept the area for bugs and raised an eyebrow in surprise when he found one embedded behind a mirror.

Unusual, he noted. Guess I'll have to stay quiet on this one.

Ash unhooked the necklace and placed the arrowhead in his right hand. A familiar blue wound its way out from his heart to the arrowhead, which started to glow about two minutes in to the process. He sighed in relief as his excess aura compacted itself into the arrowhead.

His relief was short-lived. Something pulled at his consciousness and he let his aura take him to the source. Outside of Stadium B, a mass of people started to congregate, their auras betraying their malevolence.

Crap, Ash sighed, tucking the arrowhead back under his shirt and running out the door. Didn't look like any of the G-Men were going to combat that, looks like it's up to Ri and I...

He sprinted back to his seat to find Harrison down by two, fighting his hardest against that damn Darkrai. Brock and Misty had taken the seats on Aurian's left and the doctor waved at Ash as he took his seat. Ash took a closer look at the Darkrai and entered aura sight to find something he never expected.

Tobias' Darkrai was a Shadow Pokemon.

Ash held back a groan as he watched the twisted black aura grow ever larger as the dark-type trapped Harrison's starter in its void. He'd only seen a Shadow that powerful once, and he had a terrible feeling that Lugia would pale in comparison to this.

Ri, he called. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?

Aurian nodded. "Damn. I thought Harrison really had a shot at this, Red..."

"Me too. Something isn't sitting right with me about that Darkrai."

Max frowned. "How so? Does it look like it's been binging on Rare Candies?"

"No, that's definitely not it. Rare Candy Pokemon often turn out as glass cannons- tons of attack power but weak defenses. This Darkrai is different," Brock said.

Ash crossed his arms. "I have my suspicions but I need help from a friend to confirm this. Blue, we need to go find Michael now."

Brock tilted his head. "What's going on, you two?"

"Nothing, we just need Michael to confirm something for us. We'll be back in a bit, we promise," Ash said. "Maddy, Max- keep taking notes, okay?"

The trainees nodded, a bit crestfallen. "Okay."

The patonai left the stadium seating. Max looked over his shoulder and sighed.

"That certainly didn't sound like nothing. Something's up, Misty. Any idea what's going on?"

The redhead shook her head. "No. Brock, anything on your end?"

"I have two ideas. The first is this. Michael comes from Orre, right?"

Maddy nodded. "Yeah."

"Orre is known for having the first and only documented outbreak of Shadow Pokemon," Brock said, watching the Darkrai annihilate Harrison's Typhlosion. "Michael was right in the thick of that with a device meant to distinguish between the auras of Shadow Pokemon and normal Pokemon."

"Michael still has his device on him," Misty said, crossing her arms.

Max paled. "Darkrai's.. a..."

"Shadow Pokemon? I don't know, I can't see auras like a certain friend of ours," Brock said. "But that's all we have to go on right now and it's our best bet. Max, once we get out of here, I need you to start doing research on Tobias. Find out where he's been, how long he's been there, what team members he picked up."

"That still doesn't explain why Red and Blue bailed so suddenly," Maddy interjected.

Brock sighed. "We know that they're with the G-Men, right? The only reason they'd leave would be because of some sort of disturbance caused by an opposition. We also know that the G-Men, Galactic, Plasma, Cipher, and the Rockets have been going at it for about three years now. Red and Blue met about three years ago."

Max frowned. "You don't think that's a coincidence, do you?"

"No, I don't. Something caused by one of those teams forced those two into the G-Men," Brock said. "It'd have to be something big and completely crazy for Lance to even consider it. Those two couldn't have been more than fourteen when they joined. I'm not completely sure if that's legal."

"The G-Men run a sort of witness protection program," Misty whispered, head in her hands.

Brock's eyes widened. "No way. You don't think..."

"We're kind of lost here," Max interjected, a hand intertwined with Maddy's. "If you're comfortable, could you please fill us in?"

Misty nodded. "It's not a story for a stadium. Come on, let's go back to the campsite..."

"I felt you freak out when you left to fill your arrowhead, what'd you see?" Aurian asked, stretching her arms.

Ash sighed. "Plasma, Galactic, and Rocket working together."

"Damn it all!" Aurian hissed. "Are you serious?"

"I'm about ninety percent sure. Come on, we need to stop whatever they're doing as soon as possible. Do we have time to change into uniforms?"

Aurian nodded as they turned left into deep forest. "If we keep this pace, yes. We'd just have to make it quick..."

"Or we could use what we have in the bottom of our packs..." Ash said with a wink.

"Those are prototypes," Aurian sighed. "Would our commander approve?"

"We don't have another option. This'll double-count as Stephen's field test."

Aurian pulled her backpack around her shoulder and dug through it, pulling out a neatly-folded navy blue uniform. Ash did the same and the two continued their mad-dash towards the combined Teams.

"These feel awesome," Ash said, slipping the prototype shirt over his head.

Aurian groaned. "What are you, seven? We're not supposed to evaluate them based on feel. Come on, finish the deal, we need to move."

"No need to gripe," Ash replied, wrangling the rest of the uniform into presentable shape and pulling the hood over his head. "You okay?"

Aurian shook her head. "I can feel what's coming and I don't like it at all, Shadow."

"What're you feeling?"

She closed her eyes and pulled her hood over her head, completely dependent on aura sight to keep going. "Twelve Galactics, seven Plasmas, fourteen Rockets. That's more than we've fought in the past two weeks combined. What do we do?"

"We call for backup," Ash said, pulling his Pokegear out of his back pocket, inserting and hitting the fourth speed-dial button.

"Shadow and Braveheart here. Guys, we're in deep trouble and need a hand. Pi, Gamma, and Redact have combined for an operation on the island, Stadium B. Respond if you can help us out."

"Michael, reporting in. Give a coordinate and I can be there in five."

"This is Riley. I have a lock on your location and I'm on my way. In the meantime, stay still and quiet. A surprise ambush is our best bet for success."

"Copy that," Aurian whispered. "Anyone else?"

"Hiori here. On my way over, Captains. Don't do anything rash."

Ash nodded. "Staying put. Commander, fill us in on strategy once you get..."

I'm here, Riley said, crossing his arms and joining the patonai. What's the situation?

Twelve Galactics, seven Plasmas, fourteen Rockets. We can't do this on our own, Commander, Aurian said. I think I sense a bit of Red Chain on three of the Galactics.

Riley squinted, his eyes glowing. As much as I hate to say it, I think you're right, Captain. We'll have to be careful with those three.

Aurian sighed. She'd really wanted to let Cass wreak a bit of havoc on the Teams, but that'd have to wait. Putting the Lucario in a battle with Red Chain variants involved would be a terrible idea. The last time any of the Guardians had come into contact with the chain, she very nearly died, Ash almost lost a hand trying to cut her free, and Riley... seeing the shape he was in after the two of them barely made it out alive from their first extended mission was horrifying enough.

Wise thinking on your end, Cass said. We'll battle together at a later time.

Got a lock on Hiori and Michael's location. What now, Commander? Ash asked.

Riley frowned. They're in a semi-circular shape around some sort of device. My best idea is to quietly let out your Pokemon now, form a circle around the semi-circle, and charge. They'll be caught off guard and we can capture as many as possible.

"Understood," Aurian said, pulling Ash's Pokegear out of his hands and giving her Armada comrades the new information. Both the lieutenants rogered back and the Sinnoh Sharpshooter sighed in relief when she felt twenty-five new auras join their side.

Everyone in position? Riley asked, pulling his hood up over his head, leaving only his eyes showing from the shadows.

The patonai nodded, readying themselves for a hard fight.

Ash took off his second arrowhead and tossed it to Aurian.

I don't have use for another one of these. Use it if things get wacky to keep yourself safe, Ash said. I know you're worried about those Red Chain fragments. I promise we'll get out of this one unscathed.

Aurian nodded and hooked the arrowhead around her neck, the pendant swinging back and forth. Thank you, Ash. This means more than you know.

Riley raised a hand, waiting for the perfect moment to strike...

"The G-Men run a witness protection program?" Max asked.

Misty nodded. "They do. I've been in it once and it was one of the most terrifying things that's ever happened to me."

"Scarier than Lugia, the Unown, losing Celebi, and what happened with Latios?" Brock asked. He'd never heard anything other than quick remarks from the redhead about the time she spent away from Kanto on her own.

"Combined. Back when Rocket tried to take over the Indigo League, shortly after Ash went missing, the Cerulean Gym was attacked by Rocket Executives because of the information I'd gained about their organization while traveling through Johto and Kanto. Brock and I had seen exactly how they took Mahogany Town, what happened with Mewtwo at the lake, so many other things," Misty said, "they decided I was a variable that needed to be eliminated."

Max gasped. "No!"

"As the gym was being attacked, Lance appeared out of nowhere and told me about my options. One- go with him to G-Men headquarters, where I'd be assigned a new location until the Rocket mess cleared up. Two- take shelter in the League. Three- fight off the Rockets myself and hold down the fort. I was a new gym leader, my team wasn't nearly as strong as it is now, so I took Lance up on his first offer."

"How long were you gone?" Maddy asked.

Brock ran through the math on his fingers. "Three weeks, right? June 24th through July 17th."

"Right," Misty replied. "I went to Hoenn for those days and spent the entire three weeks a nervous wreck. When Lance called me home, the gym was in shambles. That's why we had to rebuild, Max, not because of a fire. Rocket destroyed the facility looking for evidence that I knew more than I led them on to believe."

A realization hit Max like a wall of bricks. "You don't think they were looking for Ash, do you?"

Misty bit her lip. "Honestly? I never considered that, but it makes perfect sense. Ash went missing on June 15th. If I'm remembering correctly, Lily of the Valley Island suffered a swarm of Rockets three days after that."

"Ms. Ketchum told me a crew of Inter-Regional Police Officers searched her house on the 17th," Brock said. "That fits the timeline. Suppose we're in Rocket's shoes and the kid we've tried so hard to find and recruit just vanished, leaving no trace of where he's gone other than a criminal warrant put out by the League. What do you do next?"

"You search where he goes most often," Maddy said, "and use clues picked up there to track the elusive Ash Ketchum down."

Brock nodded. "Exactly. They checked the Lily of the Valley Stadium, the safehouses in Sinnoh, the major cities in Johto, and the gyms in Kanto, starting with his best friends'."

"After a while, everything just kind of stopped," Misty said. "Rockets disappeared faster than Ash did, Kanto regained its peace and kept going like nothing ever happened. Why did Rocket withdraw, though? Did they find some sort of information on what happened to Ash?"

"It wouldn't be likely," Brock said. "If, for some reason, they'd gotten more intel, they would've gone after it immediately."

Max put his hand up. "Guys, I have a theory, if you'd like to hear it."

"Shoot," Misty said. "It's more than we have to go on right now."

"Okay, here's what I've been thinking. Something goes wrong at the Sinnoh League and Ash is forced to flee with his team. He makes it back home without detection. Lance turns up and tells Ash about the G-Men's witness protection program. Ash, not seeing any other viable options, goes with Lance and vanishes without a trace for three years. He meets Blue at some point and they start working together, leading to the two of them popping up here at the GIGT with new names, eyes, and identities to fend off some sort of threat that hasn't been made public yet," Max said.

Brock bit his lip. "That sounds scarily accurate based on what we've seen. We'd be betting a lot on Red actually being Ash, though..."

"You've seen him battle," Misty said, crossing her arms, "how could he not be? I'm convinced."

"The issue is figuring out how to confront him about it..." Brock said, staring off into the forest.

Riley's hand came down exactly at the moment that the Teams broke into the stadium walls and all hell broke loose. Five G-Men agents and twenty-five Pokemon shot out from the trees, completely encapsulating the Teams.

Ash took on a Plasma member first, Aurian's Arcanine right beside him. The man fought bravely but couldn't hold his ground in the face of Arcanine's fire. Ash took him out with a sharp right hook and a pinch behind the neck.

Riley and Hiori teamed up to take down the Galactics with the Red Chain. Hiori moved in alongside his Drifblim to create just enough of a distraction for his Tangrowth to snatch the fragments away for testing in the G-Men labs. Riley kept pressure off of Hiori's team, moving so quickly he became a navy blur against the silhouettes of the trees.

Aurian took perimeter work with Michael, making sure that none of their opponents got away. Espeon hypnotized as many grunts as he could, taking them out with admirable speed.

She winced at the power of the Red Chain fragments and prayed that no one in possession of the relics knew how to use them properly. If they did... well, she didn't want to think about the results. She threw a nasty uppercut and knocked a man to the ground. Michael covered her back with a kick that sent another grunt sprawling across the grass.

"Tangrowth, go!" Hiori yelled. "Drifblim, Smoke Screen!"

Ash flickered into aura sight and watched with baited breath as the grass-type deftly extracted the first fragment of Red Chain. The bit of ancient material glowed an ominous crimson, pulling on his reserves and his strength.

Contain it! Ash yelled through kokani, visibly wincing at the pull of the Red Chain. Hiori, we're starting to feel its influence!

Hiori pulled a small envelope from his pocket and dropped the Red Chain within the reinforced walls. Michael slipped into the Smoke Screen and nabbed the second fragment off of a woman's bracelet, taking her down to her knees with a vicious kick. Riley snatched the third from a man who was trying to flee the battlefield and return to a base.

Ash returned to work, steadily knocking his opponents down until he and Aurian stared at the last Rocket- a man not five years older than they- who stood before the patonai with a curious absence of fear.

"Good work, Armada," Riley said. "Now, for the conscious one..."

The Rocket gulped. "What do you want?"

"Answers," Riley growled, sparks flying off of his hands. "Why did you willingly put forty-thousand people in danger? If that wall had come all the way down, the largest section of seats in the stadium would've come with it."

The grunt laughed, something that threw the Armada completely off guard. "You'll never know, G-Men. Perhaps we came to test you."

Aurian bit her lip to disguise her surprise.

"That's why you brought the Red Chain, right?" Ash asked. "So you could gauge our reactions."

The grunt nodded once, pulling a knife out from under his uniform. "We know what you are now, izveldhana. Your days are numbered. the Andan Alliance will come for you and everyone you hold dear."

With one last cry, the Rocket launched the knife at Ash, who blocked it with a field of aura so quickly built and reinforced that the dagger melted upon contact with the blue shield.

"Wrong answer," Riley said, knocking the man out. "Come on, let's find out a way to get all these people back to headquarters."

Aurian stood slightly off to the side, her arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"You okay?" Ash asked.

His patonai nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Just some bad memories from Sinnoh. I'll manage, I promise. Did he really have to call us izveldhana?"

Ash took Aurian's hand. "That was a bit too far. Come on, we need to finish sorting this out."

Riley assessed the damage they'd created. "Hiori, take the Red Chain fragments back to the Lab for testing. We need Steven to look at these and tell us if they're true fragments or very well-made copies. Michael, call the Jennies and tell them what's gone down here. They'll need to bring two prison transport trucks to hold all of these people. Shadow and Braveheart, start working on collecting their Pokeballs. We'll need to ask the Pokemon about all that they've seen."

"Got it, boss," Hiori said with a salute. His Drifblim picked him up and the two vanished with a soft pop.

Michael waved from across the way and pulled his P*DA out of his pocket. "Hello, Officer Jennies? This is the G-Men, Armada Division. We've had an incident and have successfully neutralized thirty-three members of three criminal organizations at the Global Invitational Grand Tournament. Our location is..."

"Looks like we've got fifty-one Pokeballs," Ash said, finishing up the collection process. "Commander, do you want these?"

Riley nodded. "Yes, please."

"Commander, we have something we need to tell you," Aurian said.

"Go for it," Riley said. "We need to meet the Jennies here to help get these guys away from the civilians they nearly hurt."

"My father spoke to me in a dream last night. Not my adoptive, but my biological. I'm about ninety-nine percent certain the contact was made through aura lines."

Riley's eyes widened. "That's fantastic! What did he tell you?"

"My mom's still alive and I have another- older- brother that can also use aura," she said, a grin stretching across her face. "That means there could be another potential Guardian out there, Commander."

"Now that is fantastic news. We'll discuss this later and do what we can to bring you and your family back together, Braveheart. As for you two- go back and change for your battles. I'll be watching."

The patonai saluted and ran off towards the other stadium.

"Commander?" Michael asked, lowering his hood. "That last man called the patonai... what was it... izveldhana? What does that mean?"

Riley sighed. "Izveldhana is an old word, one from the time that the Guardians still protected this world. The best translation of it is one of cursed blood or parentage. It was the ultimate insult to those with aura in their veins. What they told me was right- if Rockets use that word freely, their ultimate goal must be to wipe out all traces of the Guardians as well as dominate the world. We need to hurry and shut this threat down."

"Yes sir," Michael said, pondering the new word. Cursed blood certainly was an interesting way to refer to the Guardianship. Most people who wielded aura died young- Sir Aaron and his brothers, the first Guardian, Gabriel, Riley's own father- but those involved never saw what they could do as a burden. From what Michael had seen, the three Guardians he knew loved what they did with every fiber of their being and were the best people he'd ever met.

Why was Rocket so intent on destroying the Guardian record?

"We're pushing it," Aurian said, shaking her hair loose from its braid. "How's your team?"

Ash frowned. "They're okay. I think I'll do a bit of aura healing on them before we head in. How're you holding up?"

"I'm all right," Aurian replied. "I've been better. My team's still in good shape. Do you want your second arrowhead back to heal them?"

"Nah, you keep that. I gave it to you for a reason."

Aurian smiled. "Thanks for taking care of me back there."

"That's my job," Ash said with a thumbs-up. "I know you'd do the same for me if we ended up in a battle with another psychic legion."

"Heal your team, we're almost back to the stadium," Aurian said.

Ash nodded and summoned a wave of blue from his pendant, which he used to surround each of his team members' Pokeballs. Within seconds, he felt their energy reserves return to normal and released his power.

"We've got fifteen, I bet the trainees are waiting for us outside the stadium," Aurian said. "Look, I think that's Max and Maddy over there!"

The patonai slowed their pace to a walk and met the trainees on the path to the green rooms.

"Everything okay?" Max asked, shifting his glasses further up his nose.

Ash nodded. "It is now. Come on, we've got battles to win!"

Max stayed a little behind the three other members of his group as they entered the massive stadium, the roar of the crowd threatening to drown out his thoughts.

Something had happened while Red and Blue were gone. He was acting just a bit more protective of her than normal and both were scanning the horizon every few seconds. Max crossed his fingers and hoped that he'd come up with the perfect thing to ask Red to prove he was Ash in the next few days, otherwise he'd lose his chance. The tournament wouldn't go on for that much longer- maybe a week at most- and then everyone'd go their separate ways.

He was determined to do what the League could not and bring his friend home.

(A/N): Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for reading C16 of Primary! It's review response time-

thechinskyguy: Kinda wanted to make this one a surprise. Thanks for the kind words, friend!

moderator: I've got plans for that glitch.

emosewa-13: Don't worry, the battles will definitely get harder from here on out. The mole will be uncovered soon enough. Thank you so much for your awesome review!

Lovelikeido: Thank you for your review, but I can already tell you that Ash and Aurian will remain friends through the entirety of this fic. It is indeed possible for a boy and a girl to not pursue a relationship solely because they've been friends for so long. As for Ash's haircut... it might happen.

Thank you all and don't forget to leave a review! Tell me what you like, what you don't, what I can improve!

PL, signing off!