I reported to EDGE the very next morning.

To the public's knowledge, there are five different military bases throughout Unova that EDGE forces can be found in for the respective five different teams of EDGE, but EDGE also has secret military bases hidden from view to be used for reasons that cannot be disclosed to the public. The different teams from EDGE do work regularly with each other on joint missions so even if they are often located at different places of Unova away from each other, the members do work with other operatives from the other teams from time to time.

As luck would have it, I am assigned to the Black Sight and Black Sight's headquarters is located at Nimbasa itself, which makes things very convenient for me. A woman in her mid thirties with shoulder length silver hair was the one who received me when I finally reported to the Nimbasa headquarters after passing through the stringent checks I have to go through in order to enter a military base.

"Megan Lawrence, Black Sight Commander and also Team Captain of Black Sight Alpha Team. It's nice to have you with us, Jacob. I've heard a bit about you from Miguel and co."

"Jacob Myers, please take care of me," I shook the hand she offered and soon, I was led into a private meeting room as she handed several things to me.

"Your uniform and combat suit along with other things you will need. I was informed by Edgelord that you entered into EDGE through the recommendation of the Dandolos family- Don't think I can't see your lips twitching, young man. Yes, the codename for the EDGE Commander is Edgelord, every generation of EDGE Commander will have to take up that name, deal with it. I'm warning you, laugh at his codename in his presence and Edgelord will strangle you personally, I can guarantee it."

"That's certainly an… interesting revelation," I cannot help but comment as I gave the uniform and combat suit a lookover. Urgh, combat suits. Glad Team Rocket was never a fan of these cheesy things.

"I was told that you have a dark inclination. Frankly, that's a rare ability to have, and the only other two dark inclined we have belongs to the other teams. Okay, first things first, I need to get you up to speed before I fill you in with the mundane stuff. As you would already know, EDGE is made up of five different teams and each team is divided into three smaller ones: Alpha, Beta, and Omega. I am the overall commander of Black Sight team and also the Team Captain of Black Sight Alpha Team. Black Sight is usually based in Nimbasa to defend the central and southern regions of Unova. Black Sight Beta and Omega teams are usually with us, but they are currently assigned to other bases and you won't be seeing them for quite some time until they finish with whatever missions they had been assigned to. For now, it is just Black Sight Alpha assisting the local police force in Nimbasa, clear so far?"

"Crystal."

"Good. As you would have already noticed, we share the space together with other USF units in this military base we are in. We have our own building, which is this one where we are currently in, but the other buildings in this base belong to them so don't enter the wrong building. Black Sight is not very well-liked by the other USF units for reasons I'm sure you would already know. In any case, we try to coexist with them peacefully, but if any fools from the other units want to try anything funny with you simply because they see you wearing our EDGE uniform, you have my implicit permission to give them hell as long as you don't do anything... irreversible. Clear?"

"Clear."

"Now, I was told that you are given special privileges by Edgelord himself and he told me to not ask you why. Fine, I'm not going to ask, but do let me know in advance as early as possible if you are not going to be able to join us for any operations so that I would have time to make necessary adjustments. I would have liked to assess you personally but I trust Miguel when he says that you are much more capable than him and even possibly me, so I will just leave it as it is for now. Miguel is the Vice Captain of Black Sight Alpha, by the way, just in case you don't already know."

"I will do my best not to increase your workload," I promised my new team captain and commander before deciding to come clean with her. "As for the reason why I was allowed these special privileges, I don't mind sharing it with you. I was not planning on hiding the reason from the team either. My name is Jacob Myers, but that is not my real name. That name is a fake identity that I am currently going by and I am not planning to disclose my real name to anyone here. What I can let you and the team know is that I am a Dandolos."

"A Dandolos, I should have guessed when they were the ones to recommend you. Okay, I understand now," Megan's eyes widened a fraction when she finally understood the special treatment that I was given. "Your secret is safe with us, I assure you. We will not treat you any differently just as we hope you will not treat us any different. In Black Sight, we always have each other's backs. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Including you, we now have six operatives in Black Sight Alpha. I need you to know that while we are capable enough to handle ourselves in any fight we might find ourselves in, Black Sight is not a combat oriented team, that role goes to other teams like Red Touch. What we often find ourselves in are usually information gathering, conducting raids or sabotage and the kind of trainers that we have here reflects that accordingly. Beta and Omega are very specialised in information gathering and that was why they had been sent out of here to deal with the current Plasma problem, but they are not as skilled when it comes to battles. This is why they have us, the Alpha team, because we possess a stronger firepower and our job is to provide Beta and Omega with the backup should they need it, especially when it comes to helping to extract our fellow Black Sight members from whatever dangerous espionage missions they might be in. Alpha team is more specialised in conducting raids, sabotages and even the occasional rescues but even then, we avoid direct combat unless strictly necessary. The operation you were working with Miguel and co was a bit of an anomaly from what we usually do, I need you to understand that."

Frankly, that explains why Zoe and Reed were so inexperienced when it came to battles. It wasn't their forte in the first place. Still, that also goes to show just how elite EDGE is, because even their least powerful frontline combatants are still extremely skilled. Zoe and Miguel are totally capable enough to rival some of Indigo's best STAR operatives in terms of combat capabilities alone and that is not even their area of expertise.

"I understand."

"Good. You will soon realise that we use a lot of acronyms here. Like how Black Sight is referred to as BS, Black Sight Alpha is BSA, Black Sight Beta is BSB, so on and so forth. Other EDGE teams like Red Touch, for example, are known as RT, their Alpha team is called RTA, Beta RTB… you can extrapolate the rest yourself. This is something you will have to get used to quickly. When our team is working together your codename will be BSA6, which means that you are the sixth man in Black Sight Alpha. Mine is BSA1, Miguel's is BSA2, Patricia BSA3, Zoe BSA4, and Reed BSA5. Just to let you know in advance, sometimes our codenames might change temporarily if we are involved in a joint operation with other forces or units, as it had when you first worked with Miguel and the other two. Any questions for me?"

"None for the moment."

"Good, then let's go. I will introduce you to the team."

"Woah, you are the new guy?! Oh man, that's great! What finally made you decide to join us? Hey Reed, look who's here!"

A familiar mop of turquoise green hair poked from around the corner of the room upon Zoe's exclamation and the skinny boy recognised me on sight.

"J-Jacob?"

"Hi," I greeted as my eyes gave a quick sweeping glance at the office space which I was told that Black Sight operatives usually use to do their admin work or to simply chill together when they were not sent out on missions. About two thirds of the office tables were unoccupied, which corresponded to what Megan said about the Beta and Omega team being sent out for missions and would not be returning anytime soon. Those empty tables probably belonged to them. I spotted Miguel leaving his table and walking in my direction the moment he heard that there was a commotion near the door and like Reed, recognised me immediately too.

"Oh, you made it! Haha, now this is a surprise! Welcome to the team, Jacob! Hey Patricia, the new guy's here, and he's the one we told you about in our last deployment!"

I heard a lethargic yawn sounding out from one of the office cubicles as a tired looking woman rolled out of it sitting on her office chair. She just looked perpetually tired from how she was slumping on her chair and her wavy light blue hair messily splayed all around her.

"The one with the dark ability? That's him?"

"Yeah, it's him," Reed nodded as he excitedly pointed at me.

"Patricia, attire," Megan reminded the only other member I had not yet been introduced to with a frown on her face. Patricia let out a loud groan at the reminder but still slowly stood up, taking her time to tie her messy hair up properly and adjusted her uniform so that she now looked somewhat presentable like a proper soldier. She then walked towards me while lethargically dragging her feet before extending a hand towards me.

"Patricia Lowe, or you can just call me Pat if you want. Water inclined."

"Jacob Myers, Dark."

"Heard you are really powerful?"

"Not to the extent that you might think, but enough," I replied vaguely as we finally released our hands from each other and I realised that my palm indeed felt a little more damp after shaking hands with her, and I'm sure she wasn't having sweaty palms.

"I am the weatherman here, just saying, or like how I always like to introduce myself to others, I'm the human version of a swampert. I can sense storms before they come, a very useful ability when it comes to keeping my laundry dry from the rain," Patricia introduced herself with a lazy smile on her face. "Too bad I never managed to get a swampert on my team though, or it would be perfect."

"She's water inclined, but somehow she's not a very good swimmer," Reed added from the side, only to be swatted by Patricia on the back of his head for his unnecessary remark.

"Hush, you. You are a bug inclined and I don't see you clinging onto trees to sip on tree saps or spinning webs in the corner of the room. Okay, if we are done with the self-introduction here, I will just head back to my table and continue with my nap-"

"You've been napping the entire day yesterday," Zoe stated matter-of-factly.

"We don't have anything to do now, so why not nap the day away?"

"Patricia's perpetually tired but don't let that fool you, she's very reliable out on the field," Miguel said with a laugh as his cinccino sat itself on his broad shoulders and waved me a cutesy hello. "Not the strongest fighter, definitely, but you can always count on her to get our backs. If all else fails, we always have the commander and her ability is simply amazing. Isn't that right, Cap?"

"The two times I had to undergo surgery to give birth to my children I had no choice but to do it via C-section due to complications, and the poor surgeons almost had to use a chainsaw to even try putting a scratch on me. Fun times," Megan said with a grin on her face as her experienced eyes looked towards where I was hiding my dagger underneath my coat. Somehow, I wasn't even surprised that she noticed it. "Mind if I borrow that?"

I pulled out my concealed dagger and handed it over to Megan, curious to see what her ability entails. She sliced the dagger across her palm, extremely hard, and yet not a drop of blood was spilled when she showed me her palm. Only after she tried slashing at her palm a few more times was there a faint pinkish line that was visible on her palm.

"You are a nightmare for any surgeon," I agreed with Megan's assessment of her capabilities and was now totally convinced that maybe something equivalent to a chainsaw was what is needed to cut her abnormally tough skin. Now that I had a closer look, her palms are smooth and unblemished, not even having a single callous on them. That is not normal because there's no way a soldier's hands should look that smooth under usual circumstances. This is also probably something attributed to her ability. By my guess, she is either rock or steel inclined.

"Unfortunately. I still have work to do, so I will return to my office. You guys go and chill and get to know each other while you guys still have the time, whatever, I don't really care. Just don't create any trouble for me and I won't create any for you, you guys know the drill. Oh, and someone might want to volunteer to show Jacob where the bunks are if he chooses to stay in. I will leave this up to you, Miguel," Megan instructed us before taking her leave.

"You can choose whether you want to stay in or out?" Reed looked at me in disbelief and confusion and I simply shrugged.

"I wasn't planning on hiding it from you guys and Megan already knows, but do keep this a secret just among us in the Alpha team. Jacob isn't my real name and I am not going to disclose what my real name is either, but I am a Dandolos. My duties as a Dandolos comes first and foremost, not EDGE, which was why I was granted special privileges approved by Edgelord himself."

Edgelord. Still makes me want to laugh sometimes just by thinking about that stupid name. I pity the poor fool who took up the position of Edge Commander because I would rather kill myself than to be called that.

"D-Dandolos?" Reed immediately took a few steps backwards, his face paling into a sheet of white. Zoe was looking at me in shock with her jaws hanging. Miguel seemed to be taking the surprise well, but even Patricia had decided this to be something shocking enough to lift her head up from the table where she was resting her head on to try and catch a nap.

"Yeah, the scary scary people that deal with the not so legal stuff that usually involves a lot of blood," I casually explained with an unsettling grin while idly twirling the dagger that Megan had returned to me before she left. "You guys should have at least heard about Leticia, she's my cousin."

"There's no one in Unova who hasn't heard about her," Zoe shuddered and scrunched up her face before realising that her reactions were probably not very polite. "Sorry, but… it's Leticia Dandolos, and the whole Unova knows she's scary as hell."

"Well, she says that I'm scarier than she is. We haven't agreed on who's the scarier one," I continued speaking and I knew that my words had the desired effect when Reed looked as if he's about to faint anytime soon and even Patricia didn't look like she's feeling sleepy anymore.

"In any case," I decided to stop messing with my future colleagues - be nice, Jayce, the annoying model said- and swiftly slotted my dagger back into its holster with habitual ease. "If anyone is going to fear me it's not you guys, but our enemies. Unless, of course, you are bored enough to try and cross me for the fun of it. I can promise you that there are secrets that I can never tell you guys simply because I am a Dandolos, but trust me when I say that you don't need to treat me any differently from anyone else in the team. You can trust me with your backs, just like what we did back in that operation with all the crazy wall punching."

"Ooh, the scary mysterious emo guy, the girls dig that," Patricia let out a low whistle and the tension in the room immediately dissipated when she said so. "Just curious, you still single?"

"Why, you want to try dating me? I will give you ten out of ten for courage."

"Who, me? Nah, I'm already happily attached and probably will soon start making my way towards the tomb of all love known as marriage. I'm asking on behalf of Zoe, girl's still single but has no success in looking for a boyfriend. Hey Zoe, there you have it, a single and available hottie!"

"Patricia!" Zoe shrieked in embarrassment with her face quickly turning a shade of bright red. The only response she received from Patricia was her unrepentant laughter.

"Every guy Zoe tried dating, she always, somehow, managed to accidentally scare them off with her superstrength. There's this one time she tried dating a guy from Beta but she screwed it up so badly that the guy transferred over to White Sound and was never to be seen by us again. Still avoiding her like the plague, last we heard. I'm betting that at this rate, nobody will ever date her and she will die a virgin. So far, I'm still winning the bet," Reed stood close and whispered to me as if telling me the darkest secret of the team. I simply let out a silent huff, amused by the team's dynamics. Yeap, I should be able to fit in here perfectly. This slight insanity is what I'm most comfortable with.

"I HEARD THAT, REED!"

"I'm off!" Reed squeaked to me and wasted no time dashing out of the office before Zoe could get her hands on the boy. By the time I looked out of the window the boy had already started climbing up the walls of the building with his hands and feet using his ability. Huh, so he is this world's version of spiderman? This is my first time seeing his ability in action.

"Kid's right, you know. At this rate you will die a virgin," Patricia let out a loud exaggerated yawn as she said so. "Poor girl, never knowing the pleasures of having a man inside you… I'm worried for you, my dear Zoe."

"Your worries are unneeded," Zoe gritted through her teeth, face turning even redder than realistically possible.

"Maybe if you ask Jacob nicely he can show you-"

"PATRICIA!"

"-a whole new world-"

"SHUT IT!"

"-and finally make a woman out of you?"

"Are they always like this?" I asked Miguel as the two women continued their argument and tried my best to ignore the very explicit contents of their conversation, with Patricia easily riling Zoe up and pressing each and every button there was to be pressed while Zoe tried to shut Patricia up to no avail.

"Oh you haven't seen anything. They are usually much, much, worse," Miguel chuckled as even his cinccino snickered at the description. "Don't worry, they will be fine after a while and after Zoe lets out all her steam onto the punching bags in the gym room below. Oh, that's right, you will need a tour around the place, I need to show you all the weird rooms that we have. How about we get started while the girls sort out their problems?"

"Fine by me, Vice Cap."

"Just call me Miguel. Honestly, from what I saw the last time you are much better than me in almost every aspect. If you want you can take the Vice Captain role, no biggie. I'm always down for some chillin."

"And deal with that?" I pointed to the two squabbling women behind us. "No thanks."

Miguel laughed at my remark as we both exited the office.

"Understandable."

Miguel showed me around the building which Black Sight occupied in the military base we were stationed at. There is no gender distinction in bunking arrangements in EDGE as I soon found out, probably due to our relatively small numbers in the first place, and even if I wasn't planning on staying in unless I really have to in the first place it's still something good to know. After that, I changed into the crisp and new uniform that I was given since I am now officially a military personnel and thus, is subjected to the rules and laws of the place. It feels surreal to be actually wearing a proper uniform when all my life I had been running away from people in uniforms. Funny how life works out sometimes.

We fed our pokemon when it was nearing lunchtime. There is a designated feeding spot for our pokemon in our building and it is a good chance for them to familiarise themselves with each other. As for us trainers, we left our pokemon to their own devices at the feeding spots as we headed to the cookhouse to have lunch together as a team.

Megan wasn't able to join us as she's stuck in a meeting that will last for quite a while, or so I heard, so it was just the five of us. The only pokemon who followed me were Grumpy, who doesn't need to eat much due to his small size and was more interested in the cookhouse food that humans eat than the pokemon food we are feeding our pokemon, and Spiritomb, who doesn't really need to rely on physical sustenance in the first place due to him being a ghost. Grumpy simply rode on my shoulder and spiritomb hid in my shadows while I followed the team to the cookhouse.

It was only when I was in the cookhouse eating lunch together with the rest of my team did I realise how… distinct we were.

Our team occupied just one small table in the cookhouse, yet nobody from other units in the USF chose to sit at the adjacent tables near us the moment they saw us wearing the unique uniform that only soldiers from EDGE are allowed to wear. We were being given a very wide berth. They went out of their way to avoid us and some did not even bother to be subtle at how they were observing us or purposely drop some derogatory remarks while passing by. Reed had said that the ostracisation against Ability Holders is a very real problem even in the USF and even Megan had hinted at it when she was initiating me into the team, but I never knew just how bad it really is until now.

"It's really bad, right? Don't let it ruin your day, you will get used to it soon enough," Patricia said while slowly munching on her food. "It's not without its upsides though, just look around us. So many free seats, no squeezing with the crowd, the air around us is always fresh."

"That's a positive way to look at it. There was never such a problem in Indigo, so this is new for me too," I replied as I too, ignored the stares and murmurs directed our way like how Patricia had done.

"Have you met people like us in Indigo before?" Patricia asked in curiosity, catching the attention of everyone present.

"Only a very small handful. One of the closer ones that I once knew personally had a very similar ability to Zoe," I gestured to the female fighter with a slight jerk of my chin. "But his is much more destructive."

"Woah, he must be very powerful."

"He was," I agreed with Reed's statement as my mind wandered back to the person that I once knew while passing over a piece of lettuce for Grumpy to nibble on, briefly recalling the fate that befell my fellow comrade from Project Illusion a long time ago and added, "but not infallible."

Our conversation was promptly interrupted when a huge palm loudly slammed on the table right next to where my plate was. My gaze traced the muscular arm upwards, spotting a large bicep whose size probably rivals the size of my thigh along the way and my gaze soon landed upon an unfamiliar face. The habit cultivated from my old profession automatically kicked in as I quickly pieced out what I can observe about this man who was obviously here to stir some shit.

This guy is from another USF unit judging from his uniform. He has too much muscles to the point of it being decorative and had obviously skipped leg day. Judging from the rank on his uniform, he probably has been here for at least a few years, but not long enough for him to be anyone too important. He's probably the type to be very particular about his image and most likely, places a lot of emphasis on his masculinity.

Observation done, I turned my attention back to my meal. My assessment of him? He's barely a threat. Am I annoyed? Yes. What would I do if it were the old me? Do something such that I wouldn't need to see his face again and when that happens, usually it involves something about needing to find a secluded place to bury a mutilated corpse so that it would never be discovered.

But that little heart-to-heart talk with that annoying woman that night taught me something. She raised a really good point that my father had been subtly hinting at me too. I'm no longer the Rocket's Exterminator, there is no longer a need to go back being the Rocket's Exterminator and thus, no need to keep living with the assumption that I cannot trust anybody if I want to survive because I now have people that I know will always be there for me, my very own family, even if they are a cranky and abnormal bunch. That annoying woman told me that since I now have everything that I once hoped I have, I should change for the better. To try and be nice, as she would always put it.

Fine then, I will be nice. I can possess the patience of a saint when I really want to; it's a needed quality for any undercover agent.

"Can I help you?" I asked without skipping a beat nor were there any fluctuations in my voice as I continued with my meal without even looking in his direction. I had seen my fair share of such scuffles during my time in Team Rocket where senior members just love to haze the younger ones. I was on the receiving end of it ever since I was a child although everyone who I came across soon learnt to never mess with me despite my much smaller size and seemingly weaker appearance. Without exception, those that never learnt their lesson eventually met a fate much worse than death. It was how I cemented my position within Team Rocket and commanded feared respect from the organisation. I needed to be able to do at least that to ensure my survival in that backstabbing hellhole.

I never really did understand the mentality of those people who chose to act like this buffoon did. Culture of toxic masculinity? Maybe it is a psychological product from their self-abasement? Maybe they feel a rush of sick satisfaction from bullying people weaker and lower than them in the organisational structure? Till date, I don't understand the reason why certain people love to pull this shit and I probably never will.

Still, I cannot conceal the small smile on my face as memories of my time as a Rocket resurfaced in my mind. Weirdly enough, I actually recall my time there fondly despite it being my living hell for close to two decades. I can still remember how I started off from the lowest of the low as a grunt, eventually working my way up to be a squad leader, then team leader, then team captain, and all of a sudden I'm an elite officer until Giovanni scouted me out and made me his Executive.

Any greener or less experienced person might freak out or immediately tense up in a fight or flight response upon being suddenly confronted by a seemingly much more menacing and stronger stranger. A convenient example would be Reed, who had reflexively tried to reduce his presence from how his body had curled up and had shifted away from the direction of the unknown man in obvious fear. However, such a lame intimidation tactic is never going to work on me. I had seen my fair share of much scarier shit during my time as a Rocket so if this unknown man thinks that being so much bigger than me in size and slamming the table is going to scare me into submission, he has another thing coming.

"New guy, eh?" The man growled in a low voice, probably to sound intimidating. I really couldn't be bothered to reply. My food really was much more interesting compared to him even though I couldn't taste for shit. The man really should count his lucky stars that this isn't Team Rocket because I wouldn't have bothered to waste my time and patience on a guy like him. The moment he slammed his palm on the table I would have immediately stabbed my dagger right into it and nailed his palm down so firmly he wouldn't have extracted it out without losing a few fingers. I'm the best undercover operative in Indigo and a Rocket Executive. I'm trained and excelled in various unspeakable things conducted in the most inhumane methods. Even without a pokemon, I'm far from helpless. I still have many ways to easily take his life without breaking a sweat in this disadvantageous position.

Alas, I'm supposed to turn over a new leaf now that I'm no longer Plague but instead, an Unovan soldier that is supposed to uphold the values of a soldier. Besides, I do want to try to change, to kick the habits that are no longer needed now that I am trying to leave my past as the Rocket's Exterminator behind and start over as Jayce Dandolos. As that annoying woman always told me, be nice. I'm forcing myself to keep repeating those two words like a mantra in order to prevent myself from slipping back into my old habits.

Be nice, be nice, be nice.

"Piss off, Lukas, nobody is in the mood to entertain you today," Zoe replied in a very unfriendly tone with her arms crossed, still sitting in her seat. Everyone at the table had paused their meals. This Lukas idiot was having a glaring showdown with Zoe, Reed was obviously scared out of his wits, Miguel and Patricia were as cool as a cucumber even if it's obvious that they were annoyed by this turn of events, while I simply carried on with my meal like nothing is happening even if I am obviously the reason why the idiot is confronting our table in this lame manner.

From the looks of it, this is definitely not the first time such a thing happened to Alpha team. The people around us were also starting to be attracted by the commotion as more and more people either gathered around or were observing us from afar to see how this would turn out. However, it was obvious that there was nobody who was planning to come to our aid.

"Let's see… Jacob. Never heard of him before," Lukas mentioned as he lowered his head to take a good look at the name tag sewn on the right side of my uniform at the top of where the chest pocket is, his face at a close enough distance away from mine to be considered as an infringement of personal space.

"Congrats, your eyesight is still working perfectly fine," I said as I popped a piece of lettuce into my mouth, enjoying the cool crunchiness of the vegetable.

"Don't be a smart alec with me, you freak," Lukas hissed and I could feel his warm breath brushing across my face. I simply stared at him, unimpressed, making sure to not appear weak or giving Lukas the impression that I can be easily pushed around. I know very well how such people tick. They only bully those that they think are weaker than them but turn into whimpering cowards immediately when somebody stronger than them comes along to put them in place. They are the type to ask for a mile the moment you give them an inch so the best way to deal with such people, from my past experiences, is to not budge at all. You cannot afford to appear weak or the situation will just escalate.

"What? You mute? Is that a part of your ability?" Lukas questioned as he tried to lightly slap the side of my face in an act of intimidation only for Grumpy to hiss loudly at him in warning, discouraging Lukas from really following through the act. That still does not stop him from trying to taunt us.

"You don't want to do this, Lukas. Remember how the script went the last time?" Zoe warned while loudly cracking her knuckles as more and more people gathered around the area. It seemed that whatever Zoe mentioned did leave a lasting impression on Lukas because he took a step backwards, but it still wasn't enough to get him to back off and leave us alone entirely.

"So, he's a good friend of ours?" I asked Miguel as if there wasn't an imminent fight going to break out anytime soon. Judging from the way he shrugged, Miguel didn't seem to be too affected by Lukas' act either.

"Unfortunately, a very good friend."

"How many other good friends do we have? Do we have a best friend?"

"This is the best friend." Miguel rolled his eyes and gave a brief glance at Lukas' direction, telling me all I needed to know.

"Best friend? I like that phrase. Let's be best friends," Lukas grinned as he too, began to crack his knuckles and not-so-subtly flexing his biceps while doing so. There were people gathering behind Lukas as well, probably his supporters who were also here to create trouble for us like Lukas was doing.

Lukas suddenly moved forward and slung his huge arm around my shoulder, the sudden movement causing everyone sitting at the table except for me to immediately stand up as if a fight was about to break out right this instant. The entire cookhouse had gone silent immediately when Lukas slung his arm around my shoulders, fully expecting a fight to go down.

The moment Lukas made a move I had to actually quickly lightly tap my left foot in a short specific rhythm to signal spiritomb and Grumpy to stand down before they could maim him in their attempt to defend me from what they perceive as a threat to my well-being. I can excuse Lukas not realising that there was a vengeful ghost hiding in my shadow, but Grumpy was clearly visible. To act so threateningly to a trainer when their pokemon is just right beside them, while he himself is without any pokemon by his side? Yes, Grumpy might not look like a threat since he is a pikachu but "weak" pokemon or not, what Lukas did was just asking to be killed and was plain stupid. Any pokemon, no matter how weak they look, are all equally dangerous to humans when turned hostile. At the end of the day, the human body is pathetically weak when compared to any pokemon.

It's a wonder how he survived that long in the USF with that level of IQ. There are exceptions to the law of natural selection, I see. Be nice, Jayce, be nice. Just tolerate this little shit for a little longer and it will be over. Nothing will need to be broken. Be nice, be nice.

"Hey, best friend, let's get to know each other a little better," Lukas spoke into my ear with a loud audible whisper that I'm sure the whole cookhouse was able to hear loud and clear. The tension was so thick that anything could possibly trigger a huge brawl with Alpha team against everyone else in the cookhouse and here I am, looking so completely unbothered as I continued with my lunch without any sense of anxiousness.

Really, does the USF not teach their soldiers how to properly conduct an act of intimidation? Back in Team Rocket even the lowest grunt in my division would fare better than him in scaring the shit out of someone. The USF really needs to revise their curriculum. Yeah, that sounds like something to bring up to my old man soon.

"Sure, what do you like to know? I'm saying this upfront, my bank account number and password are off limits. Other than that? Ask away," I replied while loudly chewing on my new favourite food, lettuce, since the crunchiness offsets my disability in my sense of taste and thus, made eating an enjoyable affair to me once more. Why do I not try eating lettuce sooner?

Lukas let out a roar of laughter in this otherwise eerily silent cookhouse after hearing my answer.

"I like you, you are an interesting one. How many badges do you even have? I'm Elite level, just saying."

"Hmm, better than me, at least. I'm a one badge trainer," I gave a casual reply while taking a sip from my mug. There was a surge of increase in volume as people around us began to murmur, slipping glances between me and the pikachu beside me.

"One badge?! No wonder I didn't recognise your name, you are just a freaking nobody!" Lukas howled in laughter as his arm lightly squeezed and applied a slight bit more pressure around my neck in another "subtle" act of intimidation. "Hey everyone, a one badge trainer! EDGE, the best of the best, has a one badge trainer!"

Lukas' supporters openly guffawed and more people joined in. I could tell that Miguel and Zoe were about to step in but a silent look from me persuaded them to let me handle this for now.

"Elite trainer? You must be very skilled. What placing did you get in the tournament?"

"Twenty first," Lukas smugly replied. "Oh don't worry little guy, everybody starts somewhere. Hey if you need help just come and find me, I can give you all the help that you need. Isn't that right, boys?"

There were hoots of shouts and jeers from around us as people continued their mocking. I really could care less about their opinions, but I do wish to avoid being involved in a fight on my first day here and I do hope to not implicate Alpha team into troubles that arises because of me.

Be nice, Jayce, be nice. As tempting as the idea is this is not Team Rocket, murdering this idiot is prohibited.

"Why, thank you. Out of curiosity, what's your specialisation?"

"Fighting. You?" Lukas proudly declared as he flexed his uselessly large biceps once again, causing discomfort around my airway for a short second because his arm was still slung around me in a chokehold position.

"Dark."

"Dark?" Lukas was confused for a brief moment when he looked at Grumpy before looking back at me. "Hah, dark? You have a pikachu!"

"Look at his face, doesn't he just look all dark and grumpy?" I pointed at Grumpy with my fork and offered Grumpy another piece of lettuce, which he snatched from my hand and proceeded to loudly snack on it. He never did take his eyes off Lukas, still cautious about him and what he may possibly do to me despite my silent order to stay his hand.

"HAH! Man, I never thought I would live to see this day! A one badge trainer in EDGE who cannot tell a dark type from an electric type! Oh man, oh man, this is fucking hilarious! Hey freak, what other jokes are you gonna tell us boys? Come on, share it! Wait, now that I think about it, what kind of… ability do you have? Wait wait wait, don't tell me just yet, let me guess… From my experience, whatever stands out most is probably what your ability is about, like that bug boy over there and his skinny arms, that bitch and her fists. Let's see now… Oh, your eyes. Your freaky little eyes that probably disgusted the shit out of your mama the moment you were born, that has to be it. Why are you suddenly so quiet? Ah, I'm right, aren't I? Hah! Too easy."

Outwardly, my facial expression was as calm as I had always been. Inwardly, I truly entertained the thought of murder for a fraction of a second before I squashed it back down. I've been told by my family that I do greatly resemble my mother who I've never met, especially my eyes. Even Jane had complimented from time to time how pretty my eyes looked when she was still alive. My eyes had always been the most distinguishing feature on my face and this bastard actually dared to speak an insult that strung my eyes and my mother together in a single sentence.

Oh it would be so quick, so swift, so easy to kill him. I have a thousand and one ways to make him die a slow and painful death using nothing but the fork in my hand.

"Lukas, stop it. If this continues it won't end well for everyone and you know it," Miguel finally couldn't tolerate this any longer as he stepped up and stared at Lukas in the face without backing down. Miguel was large enough but Lukas was taller than him by at least one entire head, that was just how huge the idiot is.

"Oh, if it isn't good ol' Miguel. Yeah, it sure didn't end well the last time, I remember that very well. Your puny normal types, poof, gone. I didn't even break a sweat. Supersoldiers my ass. You guys are nothing special without your abilities. You abnormal freaks are fucking weak trainers."

"Weak? Let's test this out, shall we?" Patricia coolly suggested with a deadly calm voice, stepping up as well.

"This is going to be so fun," Zoe agreed and began to rotate her arms and several guys immediately took a few steps backwards upon seeing her doing so.

"Things are going to be fun," I voiced my agreement as well, trying to squash my urge to outright murder this bastard that dared to insult my mother, before asking a totally unrelated question.

"Hey, Lukas, was it?"

"What do you want, freakshow?"

"I've been living abroad my entire life so there's a lot of things that I'm not familiar with in Unova. I'm just curious, among everyone currently in this cookhouse, where would you rank your skills as a trainer?"

"If I say that I'm number two nobody dares to claim that they are number one," Lukas boasted. "If you want to learn how to be the best, one badge, you come and learn from me. Maybe if you please me enough I may just ignore whatever freaky shit you can do with your ability and let you be my underling, how about that?"

Another round of mocking laughter rang out from the people around us.

"I see. Twenty-first place, right? So, I assume that you are in a combat oriented unit? The best of the best, maybe?"

"No shit. I'm the best there is in my company, and I beat all of them solo," Lukas pointed to every single member in Alpha and judging from their silence, was probably a fact. Lukas might not be that bright, but he probably still is a capable trainer. We may be a part of EDGE, one of the most elite units of Unova's military but Megan had emphasised that at the end of the day, Black Sight is not a combat-oriented team. I'm not surprised that Miguel and co lost to Lukas in a pokemon battle, someone who was specifically trained to be a specialised combatant.

Even so, even if Lukas might be considered as a capable trainer by the USF's standards, but by my standards? Bah. For crying out loud, what's there to be proud of for finishing in twenty-first place?

"So if anyone beats you solo, they become the new best of the best? What if I beat you? Would that make you my underling?"

"What did I just hear?" Lukas growled and tried to choke me further in that useless chokehold as he leaned his head down close enough within my grabbing distance, daring me to repeat myself.

"Come on, say it. Say it, freakshow. Say it to my face one more-"

Lukas had bent down, his head now being extremely close to mine where I was still sitting on my seat, and that was the opportunity I was waiting for.

In one swift motion, I yanked on his ear and painfully used my fork to stab a pressure point on Lukas' arm, forcing him to yell in pain and his arm to momentarily lose all sense of motor control which allowed me to easily slip out of his grasp from the surprise. A few more swift painful stabs from my fork on the nerve clusters on his legs caused him to temporarily lose all strength and fall forward, his nose crashing onto the edge of the table along the way with a loud crack. I violently kicked him on the back of his head as I made it greet the floor with a warm welcome and by the time everyone around us had finally reacted and realised that something had happened, my right foot was already pressing heavily down on his head, preventing him from getting up as I crouched down and rested my entire body weight on my right foot, my fork pressed painfully against his neck.

"This is where your jugular vein is," I spoke in the slowest and calmest voice that I only used when I'm truly pissed, the tip of my fork tracing his neck at the area I know where the jugular is. "Well, technically, there are three jugular veins: external, internal, and anterior, but in our line of work we don't really need to care which jugular it is since slicing one open is enough to get the job done. Oh, please don't try to move, I'm not done yet. May I kindly remind you that a fork is actually sharp enough to pierce the neck when enough force is applied? You don't need an ability to do that, I can push a hole into your jugular faster than you can throw me off and trust me, I've tried. Oh, I've tried."

Nobody dared to move, nobody dared to even breathe a sound. No sane person will dare to provoke a madman when a life is at stake.

"Let's reintroduce ourselves again, best friend," I tauntingly whispered into his ear at a volume that was audible to all in the now silent cookhouse. "I am a one badge trainer that had been living abroad in Kanto my entire life and only just returned home to Unova recently. Have you ever been to Kanto? Visit the place, do some sightseeing? It's nothing like Unova, nothing. You Unovans think the Plasma problem here is bad? You entitled little shits wail your guts out every single day complaining that you guys are constantly suffering the worst the world has to offer. What the hell do you think you guys are? The stars of some third-rate tragedy show? You haven't seen the real shit, the kind of shit Kanto had been through under Team Rocket and the Rockets had been terrorising the place for more than two decades until they were finally dead and gone. You want to know what it's like to live in one of the most lawless regions in the world? I lived there my whole life and I'm more than happy to tell you all about it. Do you know how we greet each other over there in Kanto? Especially towards our best friends?"

My fork pressed even harder against Lukas' neck, causing him to tense up but at the same time, too scared stiff to try and make any sudden movements for fear that what I said was true, that I could stab a hole in his jugular before he could even move a finger. A coward like him who never had to risk his life for real would never dare to take that risk. At this point, he's truly convinced that I'm so mad that I can and I will murder him, consequences be damned, and he's not willing to risk betting his life against the machinations of a madman.

Unlike that stupid try-hard intimidation act he did earlier, this is how one should strike fear in their enemies.

"In Kanto, this is how we greet our best friends, and I had so many best friends that I lost count on how many I've greeted. Aren't you just curious about where they are now? Aren't you?" I looked up slightly and my gaze did a slow sweep of the people around me, clearly unnerving them with how I am staring at them. "Aren't you all? Aren't you all? Come on, ask me, I'm dying to share! Weren't we all trying to make friends earlier? ASK ME! ASK ME!"

I laughed. I purposely started it out as a silent chuckle before letting it get gradually louder in volume until it became a fully blown howling of insane laughter.

"You think being an Elite trainer in Unova makes you the hot stuff? Hey, guess what? This is what a Kanto one badge trainer is capable of, friend," I bent down and purred into Lukas' ear just a few centimetres apart. "Oh, my one and only badge wasn't the Pewter one. I think I should let you know about this cos, you know, we were trying to get to know each other a little better. The one and only badge I earned, it was the Earth Badge. Viridian's Earth Badge. You know who the Gym Leader of Viridian was, right? The Rocket Boss, ring any bells? I knew him personally. Genuinely nice fellow, that guy, always so polite and well-mannered, always has wonderful things to teach and share and always so damn patient even towards an ingrate like me. Couldn't tell he's the head honcho of the Rockets at all until I woke up one fine day and read the damn news. Do you know what he taught me?"

A pungent smell assaulted my sense of smell and I looked down, spotting the yellowish liquid leaking out of his pants and pooling in between his trembling legs. Had to shift myself a little so as not to come into contact with it.

"I could never forget what he taught me when we first got acquainted. He taught me that when push comes to shove, someone has to do the right thing, whatever it takes," I cooed and relished in the fear I could taste emitting from this idiot. "And hey, he may have been the Rocket Boss, the bad guy, but his words do make sense, doesn't it? And I'm doing the right thing now by doing the world a favour and making you my newest best friend!"

I swiftly stabbed the fork down at the floor just a mere inch away from his eyes, using enough strength to just slightly crack the tile beneath and I'm glad to see that this skill of mine had not yet rusted. Lukas couldn't stifle his pitiful whimpering by this point, clearly too intimidated by me.

"Honestly, I wanted to try and learn how to stop stirring shit, be a nice guy for once and take things slow. I just wanted things to end peacefully but someone just couldn't take a damn hint. I really wanted to start a new leaf after I returned home, you know, greet people with a smile and a polite handshake instead of pushing stabby pointy things into each other's bodies. But hey, if any of you guys want to experience the true Kanto culture which I was raised in, by all means, make friends with me. I love making friends and I'm very good at it."

I giggled maniacally, taking absolute delight in seeing the fear being permanently etched in Lukas' mind, knowing that he will now remember this day for the rest of his life.

"You said something about my mother. You know what the thugs in Kanto always told me? That I never had any manners, that I definitely wasn't taught any by my mother and it's all true. I never had a mother to teach me what was right and wrong and when I finally knew that I had one she was already dead six feet under along with my younger brother who was buried another six feet deeper. But you know what my old man told me? He said I have her eyes, and that I look a lot like her. Freaky eyes, you said? You want to say that to my face again? Say it, I dare you, say it. Come on, weren't you so full of bravado earlier? Say it. SAY IT!"

That fool didn't even dare to breathe the wrong way.

I slowly stood back up to my full height, my gaze slowly doing another slow sweep. Nobody here dared to meet their eyes with my own, and with every slow step I took forward they took another two steps backwards. I'd always thought that I'm great at concealment and it had long since been a habit of mine to remove my presence from everyone's attention using any means necessary but this time, at this moment, I had enough. I had enough of concealing myself. This time, I will show the world that I am not just feared as the Rocket's Exterminator, but also as Jayce Dandolos.

"Allow me to reintroduce myself, fellow comrades. I am an Unovan that has been living in Kanto for the past twenty-two years of my life, one of the most lawless regions in the world. I don't give a flying fuck about your stupid paranoia and whatever grievances you have with us Ability Holders but if you want a fight, you will have a fight. I'm the best at what I do but what I do isn't very nice. Fights to the death is the only thing I knew in my entire life and I can guarantee you, I excel in it. Freak, bastard, whatever. I usually don't give a damn about how you insult me because I just really can't be bothered but bring my family into this, we are going to be best friends immediately. Like how Lukas and I are best buds now, pals for life, my first friend in Unova. You want to join him, be my guest."

A loud familiar roar could be heard in the distance and I knew my true friends had finally arrived. Dark types are sensitive to everything in the negative aspect. The years we spent together, the hardships we shared; we are so familiar and attuned with each other that I'm sure they can sense the foul mood that I'm in from where they are even from a few blocks away. The cookhouse rioted the moment they spotted hydreigon trying to barge his way in like the clumsy oaf he is but a quick audible shush from me miraculously ceased all noise and movements as I put a finger to my lips.

"Hush now, comrades, hydreigon is a really jumpy boy. He loves moving targets. Don't move, don't even breathe a sound, I cannot guarantee you that he won't mistake you as prey because it is now his feeding time and he's hungry," I playfully warned as the rest of my smaller sized pokemon started to gather around me, having ran here the moment they sensed that something wasn't quite right with my mental state.

"Oh, one more thing," I purposefully thickened the tension and hydreigon roared when he sensed my silent fury.

"The woman my best friend insulted, my mother, she's actually kind of a public figure. And oh, I never did properly introduce my name to everyone here, did I? Can't be best friends with everyone if none of you know my name. I really did not want to do this because I didn't want to be treated differently but hey, if we really want to be best friends there shouldn't be any lies between us. That's basic etiquette."

I slowly knelt back down to look at Lukas, lightly poking at his cheek with my now dented fork.

"My name isn't Jacob, that's simply an alias. My true name, best friend, is Jayce Dandolos. Son to Grimsley Dandolos and Gladys Dandolos, older brother to the Hero of Lacunosa Asher Dandolos, a descendent of the Dagger of the Five Weapons and the next head of the Dandolos family that would be shouldering the responsibility of protecting the region and your useless ungrateful asses. You would do well to burn it into that useless brain of yours, best friend, because the next time we meet… heh."

I gave Lukas my most sadistic grin, leaving my words unfinished and hanging in the air. I slowly stood back up, dropping the useless fork and turned to walk out of the cookhouse with slow unhurried steps. Everyone shuffled out of my way as I slowly made my way to the exit and I could hear the footsteps of my fellow comrades from Alpha following behind me.

I finally reached hydreigon as I patted him on the head with a hand for a job well done. Hydreigon's three heads purred in unison at my touch before taking another look at the crowd in the cookhouse. He let loose another loud roar and this time, everyone scattered.

Rocket's Exterminator, Plague, Operative 2046, none of that exists anymore. They died when they lost in their battle against Giovanni. Now, I go by another identity that I will live by.

Jayce Dandolos, that's who I am now.

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