We were kept waiting for quite a while, but reinforcements did reach us in the end and assisted us in apprehending and moving the fallen Plasmas off into the vehicles where they will be shipped and locked behind bars. Trying to transport all of Plasma's fallen pokemon was another problem too but that's none of my business. My job here is technically completed.

"I should have guessed that this was your idea. Goodness, who else would be crazy enough to punch through all of the walls in one straight line?! Of course it's you!"

"Hey, at least appreciate the fact that I helped you arrest so many Plasmas. They would have escaped otherwise," I argued as Elesa and I ventured a little further down the long underground tunnel after she caught up to us, leaving the cleanup to the reinforcements. Elesa had told me that my aunt was still back there at the pokemart overseeing the cleanup on that end, which had allowed Elesa to come over the moment she wasn't needed there.

"I don't think we will be able to finish mapping the place. We will have to call in the pros," I pointed out when we saw that there was another long stretch ahead after we made a turn. I wasn't even including the other paths that forked out from the main one that we are currently using.

"Agreed. We head back and get the USF to handle this, this is not my area of expertise either," Elesa conceded as we turned and headed back to where we came from. "Drats, I will have to report this to Alder and co, this is a very big security problem we found."

"Team Plasma couldn't have possibly dug this without anybody knowing. Somebody- No, somebodies high up there had definitely been helping to hide this from the League and the Government. Have fun flushing the traitors out."

"Don't remind me, I don't want to think about it," Elesa said as she hopped onto the back of her zebstrika and extended a hand to me. "Want to hitch a ride? There's space for two."

"Why thank you, my fair lady," I thanked her with a mocking bow and before she could retract her offer, leapt onto the zebstrika's back as well, sitting right behind her. I recalled most of my pokemon except for honchkrow, who could fly overhead, spiritomb, who can simply dwell in my shadow, and Grumpy, who can perch on my head and dislike being recalled into his pokeball in the first place.

"If I have a needle and thread on me right now I will sew that mouth of yours shut. Hold on tight," Elesa told me before her zebstrika broke out into a steady gallop, the speed of its sprint forcing me to hold tightly onto Elesa's waist lest I want to suffer from a nasty fall.

I only realised just how far we had punched our way through after seeing the time it took for Elesa's zebstrika to bring us back to where we first started. I now have a newfound appreciation for Zoe and her fighting types' stamina to be able to create such a straight path over such a huge distance. She is a monster in her own right because I remembered her personally taking part in the wall punching. Ability Holders really are something else, no wonder people of the old feared them if this is the kind of value they can bring onto the battlefield.

"Glad to see that both of you are safe," my aunt greeted us the moment we returned, surrounded by a team of fire types. The only exception on her team is the watchog, but it doesn't seem to be much of a battler but rather, a pokemon trained to play a supportive role.

"I will get you up to speed later about that underground tunnel, but things are a lot more serious than we thought, we need to inform Alder about our findings immediately," Elesa said with a grim voice. "Can I also trouble you to mobilise and get more manpower over? The current numbers we have will not be enough to cordon the entire area off."

"I will see it done. You go do what you need to do, sweetie, leave the things here to us," Giselle reassured Elesa and the Gym Leader walked off after obtaining the reassurance she needed, leaving me alone with my aunt.

"So how was your first experience working as a Dandolos? Fun?" My aunt inquired when she was sure that we were out of the earshot of everybody else. I let out a silent laugh.

"Had to prevent a girl from walking down a path that will lead her to an early death and I had to give her some advice. Other than that, it felt a little weird doing the chasing with the law on my side, I'm usually the one doing the escaping with the law against me. It's not a bad thing, I like that change."

"But I guess your experiences were what allowed us to discover that secret passage in the first place. Who knows what else we would have missed if you didn't take part in today's operation," my aunt chuckled as she walked over to the supervising commander and left him with a few words before we both made our way out, leaving things back into the capable hands of the USF and the police force. I also conveniently used the opportunity to return the helmet I borrowed from the police force.

"Anything else I can help with?"

"None for now, darling, I'm planning to head back home myself and leave the cleanup to whoever will be dispatched over. If you don't mind, stay in Nimbasa for a little longer and help to take care of Elesa for us, will you? That girl has the tendency to overwork herself sometimes. We will let you know again if we need your help. Now that I saw for myself what you are really capable of there might be some things that you are suited to help the family with. You worked with a few EDGE operatives earlier, didn't you? Our family has frequent dealings with them due to our usual work. Familiarising yourself with them will be beneficial to you in the long run."

"Thanks for the advice."

"You are welcomed, darling. You head back too and take a good rest. I have to go, take care of yourself."

We parted and I decided to stroll back to Elesa's place, probably would have to get lunch from somewhere on the way back since it's already late afternoon by the time we exited from the pokemart hideout. Come to think about it, Elesa's clothes that I had sent for washing should be ready for collection by now, I might as well make a detour to collect them too. The things I have to do for that annoying woman.

Then again, I'm freeloading off her without needing to pay rent and such so maybe this is the least I can help with. Now, if only Alder can come to a decision if he wants to give the green light about the plan I proposed in trying to get in touch with the core members of Team Plasma, that would be great.

Argh, then again, bureaucracy really is the bane of efficiency. I never faced this problem when I was Executive Plague of Team Rocket and come to think about it, maybe there's a very good reason why criminal organisations tend to be a lot more efficient than the League in their work.

Hmm, I may really have stumbled onto something right there.

After I collected Elesa's washed clothes, bought some lunch for me and my pokemon, returned back, took a quick shower and had our meals, another hour or two had passed. I then found myself staring at my phone within the living room, thinking over Elesa's words that she told me during our talk last night. It hurts my ego to admit it, but she's right. I'm just running away from everything, not appreciating the things that I finally have after so long.

I scrolled through the contact list and my thumb hovered over the screen for a few seconds when I finally reached the name of the person I was planning to call. I quelled the hesitation I had and finally hit the call button.

I wasn't kept waiting for long.

"Son?"

"Hey Dad," I greeted and for a moment my mind was blank, unsure of how to continue the conversation. "Uhm, afternoon."

"Afternoon. Anything the matter?"

"Just…" I took in a deep breath, released it, and decided to just man the fuck up and finally try and be the fillial son that I am supposed to be. My father had suffered enough and I am all he has left.

"I… Well, Elesa and I had a talk last night, one of those heart-to-heart ones. We talked about… a little of our own pasts, our problems, the traumatising events, those kinds of things, and I decided that she was right, that I'm just running away from the things that I need to face eventually. Then I realised I couldn't remember when was the last time I even called you, even for just five minutes. I… Sorry, I wasn't a good son."

"I wasn't a good father either. Not to you," I heard my father's reply over the phone after a few seconds of silence. "You don't owe me anything, son. Never had, and never will. If anything, I owe you everything. I'm just grateful that you are still alive, thankful that you are willing to come back and still acknowledge me as your old man. I'm content, son, I won't ask for more."

"I don't think this is a matter of who owes who," I corrected my father. "Family, love, it's all so foreign to me, but I think I will try adapting to it. Try giving you a five minute call everyday, for starters. Maybe try shopping for those weird novels with Amelia from time to time, try understanding all the complicated legal jargon with Mikhail, taste test some of Lexus' cooking even if I can't taste for shit, not get poisoned or stabbed by Leticia when she's pissed, help aunt Giselle with another raid, go fishing with uncle Gavin, those kinds of things. Maybe it's time I start seeing myself as a Dandolos for real and give things a try."

"Whenever you are ready, son, no need to push yourself. We all know how hard this must be for you, to try and completely change the way you live," My father encouraged me and for some reason I can imagine him having a smile on his face. "I heard from Leticia that you decided to eventually take on my role?"

"Someone has to do that eventually, and Leticia wasn't exactly willing for reasons I'm sure you knew of."

"Frankly, your willingness to do so sure does take a lot off my mind," My father replied, "but there's no rush in learning what you need to learn. I'm planning to live for at least another thirty years, mind you, so go and enjoy life as you should be doing at your age. Your aunts and uncles and I are there for a reason, to get you kids to live the lives that you want to, to experience and do stupid things that you should be doing at your age. We are your safety net, never forget that."

"Good, cos I do some very stupid things myself from time to time. Might need you to catch me when that happens."

"Will be there when you need it. How's Elesa?"

"Fine as far as I could see, but obviously very worried and irritated by what we had just discovered. I believe you will know about it soon. Guess that's more work for you to do."

"Oh great, overtime, I'm over the moon. Maybe I should retire from the Elite Four and take it easy after we get rid of the Plasmas, I'm really not getting any younger."

"Are you busy with work right now?"

"I'm always busy. Well, I'm usually not that busy but that changed after the Plasmas happened. Things will be much better after we remove them and I will finally have the time to kick back and relax a little. I will also then be able to share some of the family's workload that I had no choice but to hand off to Leticia and then she can finally rest too. Poor girl has been running herself ragged for me and the family and the other children are still a little too young to be of much help to her. They are not ready yet."

"You are at the League right now?"

"Yeah, I was in a meeting with the other Elite Fours and Alder until you called. From what you just told me, that meeting will probably prolong itself for another few hours and I'm not looking forward to it at all."

"Uh… and you just left in the middle of a meeting with Alder…?"

"Eh, who cares? My son finally decides to give me a call, everything else can wait. I'm sure Alder will understand."

"Alder…" I fell into deep thought before asking once more. "Since we are on this topic, has he approved of-"

"Your plan to go undercover? About that… It's complicated. The nature of this assignment is extremely high risk, high reward, and we are all feeling fifty-fifty about this even if we know what you are capable of and what role you played in bringing Team Rocket down. The fossil that you said you need to gain the Plasma's trust in order to go undercover, that's not any ordinary fossil, son. It's not just an entirely new species of pokemon we discovered, our latest findings confirmed that pokemon was indeed a mythical level ancient pokemon. That is not something that we can just afford to hand out and use as bait for an operation that we don't even know will work, because in the worst case scenario that the Plasmas were able to revive it, and we all know that it is now possible to capture and control mythicals and legendaries thanks to the shit that went down at Olivine… You understand, right?"

"It's really a fossil of a mythical pokemon? Now I've really seen it all," I cannot help but let out a sigh. I knew the fossil had to be invaluable and of the speculations surrounding it that there's a chance that it was once a mythical pokemon, but I never thought it would really be those of a mythical pokemon since the odds of that occurring are astronomically low. But everything finally made sense with that revelation, especially about why Alder was taking so long to come to a decision.

"I will ask Alder about his opinion about your plan again, then we will work things out from there. Anyway, don't fret too much about it. Remember, son, you are no longer a solo undercover operative working for a bastard like Kain. You don't need to work alone any longer. You have the entire family with you now, so learn how to depend on us because we are capable enough to stand by your side. I know habits don't change overnight, I'm not expecting to see an immediate improvement because I understand how difficult it must be for you to try and change your way of living, I just need you to remind yourself that you now have people that you can depend on. Unova doesn't need you to go back being the Rocket's Exterminator to save herself; we have the Thirteen Pillars and the Five Weapons for this very reason. Let us earn our paycheck."

"If that is the case and if Alder is taking too long to come to a decision, maybe I should just go back to Lacunosa and help Leticia out with managing the family's affairs."

"It's entirely your choice, just come back if Alder takes too long. Or maybe assist Elesa in whatever she has to do, or if you want to find something else to do, find something new to strive for in life that doesn't involve too much killing and gore, go ahead. It's fine if you have no clue on what to do now, take your time to slowly search, I'm sure you will find it eventually."

I cannot help but smile. For once, I genuinely find myself accepting my identity as Jayce Dandolos, son to Grimsley Dandolos who is the best father in the world.

"Hey Dad?"

"I'm listening."

"I'm glad I made this call."

There were another few seconds of silence over the phone.

"Me too, son. Me too."

"I told you we would soon be fired from our job for being too good at it, but I never thought it would be this soon."

For once, Grumpy agreed with me. Somehow or another Elesa's gym trainers had managed to find a permanent replacement for whoever had quit after I had shown him his place. Thus, I was immediately fired by a much too gleeful Elesa. It was a day of celebration for the trainers who were intending on challenging the Nimbasa City Gym Challenge in the future when the news leaked out to the Unova trainer community, or so I was told by the other gym trainers who meant it as a joke.

It's been a few days since we made the big discovery on just how extensive an underground network Team Plasma had built under Unova without anyone the wiser. Last I heard, the Unova League was far from finished in mapping out the entire labyrinth, that's just how dire the development is. Elesa had been running herself ragged the entire week her gym was closed for "investigations". I did try helping her, but I was unable to do much due to the lack of security clearance that Jacob Myers definitely doesn't have unless I want to use my identity as Jayce Dandolos, something that I'm not keen on doing for the moment just in case I need to go undercover once more at a moment's notice.

I don't wish to idle my time away while waiting for instructions, so in whatever free time I had I simply teleported back to Lacunosa to continue teaching Iris the art of pokemon battles, the simplified version of what I was trying to show Zoe that day and also racking my brains on how to modify it to suit Iris' needs since my original version was largely tailored to command dark types, not dragons. What I am showing and passing down to Iris are my own secrets, secrets that I will never reveal even to my family or my father. These are secrets that can never be revealed to anyone for anyone who truly understands how I command my pokemon and what each of my self-invented gestures mean can easily use it against me and that will lead me to my death.

I guess a part of me had long since seen and accepted Iris as my student even without me realising myself to make this decision to teach her everything I know. Iris picks up whatever I teach her extremely quickly, her talent and genius in this field really shines through even at her current age. I wouldn't be surprised if she eventually becomes a future Pillar of Unova and if I dare to dream, maybe even beat Steven Stone's record to become the youngest Champion ever recorded in PWL's history.

Now that would be exciting, especially if I were to be the teacher to a future Champion. Think about it, one of the worst terrorists to ever grace this planet being a teacher to a Champion, how ironic would that be?

The chemistry between Iris and haxorus is astonishing. She told me that they had known each other for quite a while when they were still objects to be auctioned off at the auction house where I bought her from, so that may be a reason why they meshed so incredibly well together. Still, I believe the combination of her ability and her own talent plays a much larger role in their progress. Already, Iris' haxorus was already starting to be able to give even hydreigon problems under Iris' commands and that was a really scary realisation to make. I don't know what Iris' actual age is and she doesn't know either, but she couldn't be anything older than five.

"Hey Champ, you are doing it again," I reminded Iris and lightly knocked her on the top of her head with my knuckle, using the name of endearment I thought up for her because to me, she really is a champ in the making. My interruption succeeded in bringing her out of her tunnel vision that she always slips into from her adrenaline rush in the heat of the battle.

This is Iris' main problem whenever she engages herself in a battle. Personally, I have a suspicion that this is a trait that being a dragon type Ability Holder possesses from what I read about the historical descriptions of Nicholas Harlow. He was well-known as a reckless berserker on the battlefield and some of the records I dug out in my family's archives suggested that he might even have the ability to amplify the rage of his dragons, effectively drawing out all of their power in one explosive burst to be unleashed on the battlefield. Dragons are so feared not only because of the relatively fewer natural counters in terms of pokemon typing, but because their rampages cannot be stopped the moment they succumb to their rage. The only ways to stop them when that happens is overwhelming them with an even greater power or to kill them directly, and both are extremely difficult to achieve when dragon types are already naturally born to be the apex of all pokemon species.

If that is so, I'm unsure if I should allow Iris to go along with the flow and heed her instincts to go wild, or to teach her how to remain calm no matter the pressure she is under like how I taught myself. I am conflicted, because I understand what works for me might not work for her. Iris is one of a kind in this era and there will be things she has to eventually figure out on her own, because she simply is that unique.

"Heehee, sorry," Iris rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly with an equally sheepish smile. Haxorus and hydreigon took a short break from duking it out in my family's training grounds, satisfied with the workout that they were given. I haven't seen Iris in a few days and already, her speech had improved to the point that she could talk in proper sentences almost the entire time. I'm starting to believe that she really might possess a higher IQ than the whole family combined. If there is anyone that the word "genius" can properly describe, it's Iris.

"Lately, I've been thinking if we should do the opposite instead, to let the adrenaline build up and see how it really affects you and haxorus, but at the same time I'm also very worried what it may do to you if you really do lose your mind like dragons can do. I don't want you to go insane."

"Um, Hypnosis me if that happens?"

"Your mind is still growing as a child, it's not yet fixed like adults' minds are. The mind is a delicate thing, Champ, I don't know what the mixture of Hypnosis and a dragon-induced rage will do to your mind," I patiently reminded her about the dangers of Hypnosis and a dragon's rage just in case she has this misconception that Hypnosis can solve every single mind-related problem. Which, in a way, was true while I was doing my work as the Rocket's Exterminator but she doesn't need to know that.

"Just remember to be careful when you feel yourself slipping off again. I observed that whenever Haxy is starting to get angry you get angry too, and whenever you feel calm he feels calm too. Your emotions bounce off and affect each other both ways so you both need to be in control of yourselves to not accidentally harm each other, do you understand what I am trying to say?"

"Try not to get too angry. Always be in control of myself."

"As long as you understand," I ruffled her hair and fell deeper into thought as I theorised the extent of her ability on a deeper level based on what I know about dragon types.

"Do you know that there are certain species of pokemon that are not dragon types but yet behave as if they are one? Scientists speculate that they might have had dragons as their ancestors from long ago and there is strong evidence supporting it, so I've been thinking: Can your ability extend to such pokemon too? Charizard? Gyarados? Tyranitar? Maybe even pokemon like lapras if we stretched it even further? They do have traces of dragon type DNA in them."

"I don't even know what these pokemon are. What do they look like?" Iris asked excitedly and I simply used my phone to search and showed her a few pictures from what I found on the internet. Her excitement and curiosity only grew.

"Can I get one of those?"

"I thought you wanted a druddigon?"

"On top of a druddigon!"

"Now that's being greedy. You are not even of the legal age to be owning a pokemon like Haxy in the first place. What we are doing is technically illegal."

"You never cared about illegal. Liar liar pants on fire!"

"As your guardian, kind of guardian, I have a duty to at least teach you the right things before turning a blind eye to whatever rules you choose to break later on in life."

"But I really want one! A druddigon and a lapras, pleeeeeassse?"

"No means no. A druddigon is the best compromise you are going to get, Champ, assuming you passed my test."

"But I really want a lapras, look! It's so beautiful and cute!" Iris excitedly showed me the pictures of a baby lapras she had found through the internet using my phone.

"Oh great, of all the pokemon you want you just have to choose the rarest one, don't you? Do you know how rare a lapras is? They are an endangered species."

"Rarer than a haxorus?"

"Much, much, rarer."

"Then I really really want one now!"

I sighed and massaged the side of my head with a knuckle. Where on earth am I going to find myself a lapras for her in Unova? Yes, there are sightings of wild lapras in this region but these areas where they were sighted are being designated as nature reserves and heavily monitored by the Rangers. Catching them is prohibited in these areas. Even back in Indigo where their species are more frequently found, trying to accurately locate a lapras was hard enough even for me.

Wait, my family now has dealings with the Hoenn family that my other fellow reincarnator is born into, don't we? The Veras, they specialise in pokemon breeding and have been doing so even before Hoenn was founded. If anyone could possibly get me a lapras it would be people like them.

I would have to pay a big price though, because while the grudge between us has been buried that Velda girl obviously likes me as much as I like her, which isn't much.

The things I do for my little champ.

"If you and Haxy can last for more than ten minutes in a battle against hydreigon without using any verbal cues, I will get you a druddigon and try to find you a lapras. Keyword being try, because lapras are really rare and the only person who I know that might know where to get one doesn't like me a whole lot."

"Ten minutes?!" Iris groaned and dramatically slumped and fell in my direction, forcing me to lift an arm to catch her before she really fell face first onto the ground.

"Ten minutes, Champ. No less."

"Too loooong," Iris groaned and refused to stand up on her own two feet, stubbornly leaning on me like a boneless wet limp noodle.

"Ten minutes or no deal."

"It will take me and Haxy ten years to learn how to last ten minutes against you and Drei," Iris pouted, still refusing to remove herself from me until I budge and give into her demands.

"That's an exaggeration and you know it."

"Awww, fine. Ten minutes, ten minutes… There goes my lapras…" Iris finally stood back up again but still won't stop indulging herself in her melodramatic gestures as she hugged her haxorus and began to mock weep. "No lapras, Haxy, no lapras. Maybe it would be faster to hunt for one ourselves? Shall we go hunting? We totally should. Yes, we totally should."

"Hey, no illegal poaching."

"Rules are for fools~" Iris childishly stuck her tongue out at me and I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Who taught you that? Lexus?"

"Uh huh. He always says that when he helps me sneak in sweets and stuff when the adults are not looking. Don't tell anyone I told you that though, it was supposed to be a secret so keep it in your heart. Shhhhh. Lexus didn't give me sweets when I'm not supposed to eat them. It is NOT LEXUS. NOT LEXUS. IT IS NOT LEXUS."

"Yeah, I will keep that secret. I will keep it," I nodded in disagreement with what I am truly thinking, knowing very well that I had reminded my younger cousin time and time again to not let Iris exceed her daily sugar intake, knowing just how addicted she is to that stuff.

"Liar liar pants on fire. I know you won't, you don't follow rules."

"And you still outed Lexus knowing that? This concerns your favourite sweets."

"He accidentally stepped on my deino plush and somehow tore it into two just yesterday. No amount of sweets can pay for that."

"Huh, I'm not sure if I am supposed to be impressed at your attempt at manipulation or to fear your pettiness. You spent too much time with Leticia."

"She taught me to tell you about Lexus if I want my revenge for my deino plush."

"Oh, now that makes sense. This is similar to what I know once happened to Lexus when he also tore Let's toys when he was younger."

"So what are you gonna do to him?" Iris asked curiously as she climbed up to ride on haxorus.

"Aunt Giselle keeps complaining to me all day that he is a jobless school dropout that does nothing but cook and sleep the entire day. I'm thinking of playing my part of being her thoughtful nephew and help ease her worries by letting Lex be a useful member of society for once."

"So he's in trouble?"

"How can you say that, Champ? I'm training him to be a Dandolos."

"Oh, training, training," Iris gave slow and exaggerated nods to show that she is following. "I think this will be good for Lexus, like very very good for him. I will give you a thumbs up! No, two thumbs up! Hey Haxy, give us two thumbs up too! FOUR THUMBS UP!"

"Seriously though, cut down on your sweets, it's not good for your health. Also, eat your vegetables. Don't think I didn't notice how you tried passing on your veggies to umbreon during lunch just now and lied to me that you had already eaten them."

"Aw maaaaaaan, I thought we hid it very well," Iris whined and shook her head childishly from side to side when she realised that she wasn't as sneaky as she thought she was.

"You are a thousand years too early to be fooling me, Champ. Try harder next time."

"But I hate veggies! They are so yucky!"

"I don't care, eat them or I will force it into your mouth."

"Urgh, what did Let teach me about how to win arguments against adults that one time... Ah, child abuse! This is child abuse!"

"On the contrary, eating veggies is for your own good to keep you healthy, so this is far from abuse. Your accusation is invalid and is thus rejected. Any objections on this matter that you might raise from here onwards will not be accepted. Eat your veggies."

"Jaaaaayce!"

"Eat, your, veggies."

Name: Jayce Dandolos

Age: 22

Pokemon Team:

1. Ninetales, female

2. Exeggutor, male

3. Weavile, male

4. Honchkrow, female

5. Umbreon, male

6. Hydreigon, male

7. Drapion, female

8. Zoroark, male

9. Bisharp, male

10. Shiftry, male

11. Porygon-Z, (Nosy), genderless

12. Greninja, male

13. Spiritomb, male

14. Pikachu, (Grumpy), male

Name: Elesa Euclid

Age: 23

Pokemon Team:

1. Zebstrika (Dazzle)

2. Emolga (Mimi)

3. Emolga (Nana)

4. Ampharos

5. Galvantula

6. Eelektross

7. Stunfisk

8. Luxray

9. Dedenne

10. Alolan Raichu

11. Jolteon