He was far calmer then he should have been at that moment. Ash lay contently on a bed tossing a tennis ball he had swiped off one of the younger officers in a mesmerising up down, up and down motion.

The champions had moved him to his quarters in the base and had promptly left him alone, except for returning with a change of clothes which he had hastily put on.

He seemed relaxed, uncaring of the room around him, which was nothing more than a bed and an empty dresser. But on the inside he was clawing away at the recent events that had transpired.

He could understand a Pokemon as if it was speaking English, the two girls whose names he now knew were Misty Waterflower and Alyssa Cloud were within the same building as him, and he knew things that he shouldn't have known.

Or should he have?

The ball came down again, catching it he flicked his wrist and the ball soared up above his head before plummeting back into his grasp before repeating the action.

Sinnoh Champion Cynthia Shirona had spoken of a previous meeting between him and her in the past. But he couldn't remember it. But then again he couldn't remember anything from before he had woken up after the Devon Corp assignment.

Well except for these… His eyebrows furrowed as he thought of the correct word. Those… Those… Memory fragments? It could be possible. He was a realist and it would make sense, even though he wasn't all together sure what sense he was trying to understand.

He caught the ball, but did not send it into the air again. What if he had lived those moments before, heard those voices, felt the pain, and seen those people? Had he been lied to? No… Domino would have told him… Or would she have?

He sent the ball back into it's up and down cycle. She had been truthful with him. She had shown him how to protect himself, how to fight, how to manipulate. She had been his friend. Had she? She seemed honest with her actions towards him, at first not so much. But afterwards, yes.

His eyes flickered with uncertainty as he recalled her telling him she didn't know what was wrong with him. He had heard the sliver of falsehood in her answer, as well as the glimmer of a lie in her eye. He was trained to tell when people lied to him, or when they tried to sneak something past him unnoticed.

He caught the ball and examined the light green sphere with white lines running along it. There were still a few uncertainties he had left in his thoughts, but he'd leave those for later.

Sitting up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He eyed the door in the room with curiosity; they had locked him in when he had first been placed in the room. Going up to the door he gripped the knob and twisted.

The door opened.

Hadn't they locked him in? He was a member of Team Rocket who could kill everyone in the building if he wanted to before they even found out he had escaped. They captured him so they could kill him. But they had basically left him to choose his own path.

Either the G-Men had some trust that he wouldn't run or kill, or their security was absolutely terrible. He went with the former, something was not right and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

He started off down the hall in a walk, garnering stares with each step he took. They made no move to stop him though, but they kept their distance. He turned a corner, reading the engravings above each door, he passed the cafeteria, drill rooms, com-center, pretty much every room the Rocket Training facility had until he found his way to the door engraved with Command Center.

He brought on an emotionless expression, he wasn't sure why, but he knew they were in there. Pushing the door open, the room silenced as their gaze set on him.

The Champions, the two girls, the rodent, and a woman with brown hair stood in a semi-circle around a map.

"Ash," Cynthia greeted kindly.

He was thrown off by her greeting but replied, "That is not my name Champion,"

There was a tense pause before she responded, "It's Shay then I suppose?" He grunted in acknowledgement. "What can we do for you?"

He was taken aback by her easy going approach, "I'd like to know when we last met,"

He saw the flash of surprise cross her face at the remark, but she rebounded quickly, "Our last face to face meeting was years ago, when you, Brock and Dawn helped put an end to Team Galactic's plot,"

She paused looking for a sliver of emotion to escape him, but he didn't let on. "I don't remember," He stated finally.

"What about at the Sinnoh League?" She asked curiously.

"The Sinnoh League?" He asked quietly.

She nodded, "That's when this all began,"

"When what began?"

She waved him over, "Stop standing over there all by yourself and come over here, we don't bite," She saw the hesitation in his eyes, "Either come over here or go back to your room. You're smart enough to realize something is up and you've come here for answers. And we will answer your questions but for us to do that you need totrust us,"

No one said a word as they watched the raven haired boy fight an internal debate. But slowly he inched forward tensing with each step until he stood on the opposite side of the table away from the others.

"Now what began at the Sinnoh League?" He finally asked.

Cynthia nodded to Lance, a sign for him to start, "Six years ago you won the Sinnoh League," He saw the denial on Ashs face as soon as he finished the sentence, "You don't believe it,"

Ash nodded, Lance turned to Steven and gestured to the folder he carried. Steven produced a double folded paper before handing it over to the boy. Hesitantly he took it, not removing his gaze from those around him until it was unfolded.

It was a newspaper, with the headline Tournament Terror. The group watched as his auburn eyes scanned the page; they saw him stop at one part and mouth Ash Ketchum silently before continuing reading.

"The League was attacked during the award ceremony, many injuries, few deaths. One being yours, or so we all thought."

He didn't answer right away, "The winner of the League was Ash Ketchum, that is not my name,"

Lances expression hardened, "And what is your name?"

"Shayne,"

"Shayne what?"

Ash opened his mouth to reply, but he didn't have the answer. "Flasoda," Came a quiet voice to his left. His gaze fell on the blond girl, "Your alternate identity was Shay Flasoda,"

He stared at her, not in anger, but in curiosity. The name sounded familiar, that much was true. But how did she know?

"How do you kno-"

What's your name boy?

The group saw his eyes narrow and his body tense.

My uh, my uh name is… Shay…

There was a pause, Shay what? There was another pause followed by what seemed like a slurping sound.

Fluuhssota…

Say that again son.

Flasooda…

Spell it.

F-l-a-s-o-d-a

"Shay?" Lance asked skeptically. Ashs eyes darted around the room seemingly forgetting their existence.

His eyes snapped back to the Dragon Master, confusion filled his eyes before he blinked twice and remembered where he was, "C-Continue… What happened after the… Attack…"

"Only you know,"

His eyes darkened, "What?" He spat anger began to enter his voice. First they were so sure of their answers, but now they didn't have them?

"That's not entirely true," The brown haired woman interrupted quietly.

He turned a scrutinizing eye on her, "Who are you?"

She didn't answer right away, looking away from his gaze, she whispered, "I'm your mother…"

He blinked in confusion, not at all expecting that answer. He opened his mouth to reply but nothing came out. He looked to Cynthia who had the barest trace of a smile on her face, his eyes asked the unspoken question for him, and she tilted her head in acknowledgment.

"I… See…" He replied uncertainly, "And uh, what do you mean that what they said had was not entirely true?"

"You told us about what they- Team Rocket did to you once they kidnapped you at the award ceremony…"

"Tell me…" He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "Tell me what… I told you,"

Delia nodded quietly, and began retelling along with Misty, what they had learned about his time at the Team Rocket Academy. The kidnapping, the torture, the fighting, his escape from the academy, and then the Sinnoh League where he was gunned down.

"You went to the Pokemon center after your match, there, you saw the Rocket who was competing in the League."

"What was his name?"

Misty spoke up, "It wasn't a him, it was a her. You came back to the lodge and after a bit of searching, we found out the Rockets name was…" She trailed off uncertainly.

"The Black Tulip, Domino," Alyssa spat bitterly.

"No." Ash stated defiantly. He shook his head, he wouldn't believe this, "That's a lie, tell me who really did this!"

"We have proof of this Shay," Steven spoke calmly; the reference to The Black Tulip had had an effect on him more than it should have, "And why won't you believe that the Black Tulip was the one who shot you?"

"Because," He growled, "Because I choose not to believe it, if you say there is proof that Domino shot me I want to see it!"

Lance nodded once and started off towards the door, "Come then, I'll pull up the files in the briefing room,"

Ash started after him immediately keeping beside the Dragon Master until they reached a room with a large monitor on the wall in front of an oval table with chairs around it.

The others piled in after catching up with the two, they could sense Ash was against the idea that Domino had been the one to shoot him down, but they had no idea why.

They all sat down except for Ash who stood in front of the blank monitor waiting for the video to roll. Lance flipped open a laptop on the table and began searching through the data base until he came across the file he was looking for.

The monitor blinked to life with a video of the Indigo League, "This was the recording of the Indigo League that was broadcasted worldwide, this takes place minutes before your battle,"

Ash grunted in acknowledgement as the commentator of the League did Trainer bio's for each of the upcoming battlers.

The first was of a blond girl, who Ash instantly recognized as Domino. She no longer wore her Rocket attire, but now a pink and white hat, pink hoodie, and green cargo pants. The commentator spoke over clips of her previous battles about her choice of Pokemon, home town, battling strategies.

He began to tense as he watched the screen flicker to a video of a hooded Trainer. "Her opponent for today's matchup is a mysterious who goes by the name of Shay. His home Region and Town are currently held under wraps, but with the wide variety of Pokemon he has used fan and media speculations are leading to believe he is from the Johto or Sinnoh Regions. His battling strategies are some of the most uncalled for around, he rarely says a word during battle, and after wards he disappears without another word,"

"Well folks it's time to get this match underway, let's send you down to the field to get things started,"

Ash listened uneasily, he could feel the others gaze switching from the monitor and then into his back. All he knew is that if he walked out onto the field, he wouldn't be so sure if returning to Team Rocket would be the best idea.

Time sped by as the introductions to the match were made; Ash was visibly startled to see himself walk out dressed in a Team Rocket uniform. As the battle went on, he paid little attention to the Pokemon battling; instead he focused on the actions and words of himself and Domino.

He was surprised by the brutality shown by Dominos Houndoom, and… His Arcanine. He could hear in his voice though that both he and Domino held back in their attacks. What followed changed his perspective of many things in seconds.

He had called out a Charizard who was unwilling to go along with whatever he had planned, which he realized as soon as he saw his hand shifted to his hip and removed a small knife, was to attempt and take out Domino first before she could hit him.

Obviously that didn't happen.

After some banter back and forth between him and the Charizard it had reluctantly agreed and whipped up a sandstorm which coated the field in a thick coating of dust. It went on for nine seconds before the attack ceased and a feint scream followed by many more could be heard.

His breath caught as he saw that Domino was no longer on the field, while he lay unmoving on his back. He could hear the panic throughout the stadium, nothing happened until a woman, who he realized as… His mother came running out onto the field followed quickly by Misty and then shortly afterwards Alyssa.

The girls blocked his view of himself, but he could see paramedics running with a stretcher over towards him. And then the screen went blank.

"The League cut all broadcasting of the League at that point. Plenty of children watch the League and you had quite the fan base growing, to allow them to watch what took place would possibly scar them in the future,"

Ash was a statue, he remained ominously still and quiet still staring at the blank screen. A minute passed and he spoke quietly, "Is there any other footage?"

Lance nodded to himself, "It depends on what you want to see,"

He turned around his face not portraying any emotion, "Everything, the matches before this, news reports, and newspapers, everything from the… Sinnoh League attack as well. Every detail you have on… Me basically," With that he turned and started for the door, "Bring the information to my room," and then he left.

Cynthia cast a knowing glance to Lance and Steven, "Everything," She stated, "Including the medical files we've recovered."

The champions nodded in acknowledgment and made for the door to start gathering the Intel. Cynthia turned back to the girls and Pikachu, "Leave him alone for a while, he'll have to come to the decision that we are trying to help him on his own." With that, she turned and followed the others out.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Two days had pasted with no sign of Ash. He was holed up in his room examining, watching, analyzing every little detail that had been given to him. He watched his Pokemon League battles from his very first match against a kid named Mandi in the Indigo League six years ago, to crazed news reports about events taking place in the Orange Islands.

But as he continued his search, a slight feeling of remembrance through all the events. His search came to an end on the lone remaining file, flicking it open he removed the single sheet of paper. It was a medical form for the Training facility he was posted at. It was his medical history for the past year, with a short report next to each of the injections.

Quickly getting up from his bed, he folded the paper and left his room. Walking steadily down the hall in search for the blond Champion. He felt he could trust her more than the other Champions, that and she had a calm aura around her.

Ash found his way to her quarters and knocked on the door, it was nearing midnight and assumed she would be there.

There was a pause before the door was opened by the Champion, she gave him a nod and gestured to come in the room, where she closed the door behind him. "What can I do for you Ash?" She asked kindly sitting down on her bed.

He remained standing by the door as he spoke calmly, "Had this been a few months ago, I can gureentee that one or both of us would be dead,"

"But we aren't are we?"

"No," He paused thoughtfully, "I suppose we aren't."

"As much as I don't want to believe all of this, it seems that I have no choice,"

Cynthia shook her head, "We always have a choice, just not always the right one,"

He leaned back against the door and ran a hand through his hair, "Of the two choices I have, one being to stay here, and the other to return to Team Rocket. I'd have to say that… Staying here is the better of the two choices,"

She smiled warmly at his answer, "We were hoping you'd see it that way, otherwise we'd have to hold you here for who knows how long until we work that drug out of your system,"

Ash begun unfolding the sheet of paper and looked to the Champion, "Speaking of drugs, I suppose this is the one you are referring to?" He held the paper up so she could examine it.

"Yes that's the one,"

"And I take it you… Found the one I had on me when I was brought here?"

Cynthia smiled slightly, "We did, do you need it?" She asked curiously.

He opened his mouth to reply, but she continued before he could, "Because if you don't we could possibly have the lab make an antidote for it."

His auburn eyes met her grey in a mutual understanding, "And how long would that take?"

"I don't know, probably no longer than two weeks. The scientists here are very knowledgeable about these things,"

"And what would I be doing in the time it takes to make the antidote?"

"You'll help us, have of the Intel that you read is what you recovered in the time in-between the Sinnoh League and Indigo, we're working towards the same goal. Shutting down Team Rocket,"

He knew this is where his loyalty would be tested, to turn against the only life he knew of for the past year… Or possibly regain another life that he had once lived in exchange for betray-… No, he had been betrayed. By Domino and Giovanni, faking his death so they could use him to… to… What?

"I'll do it," He whispered looking down at the ground, but his dark gaze snapped up startling the Champion, "But on one condition,"

"And that is?" She said slowly.

"When it comes to Giovanni, he's mine."

You could feel the tension in the room as Cynthia thought of her response, "For what?" She asked hesitantly.

"I want answers, I've got plenty of questions now, and if we do get an antidote for… This," He gestured to the paper, "Expect those questions to double, and besides," He smirked coldly, "The G-Men don't kill,"

Cynthia stood up analyzing the ex-Team Rocket member cautiously, but very slowly she extended her hand, "Is this a deal then?"

He looked at the hand before back up to the champion.

"It's a deal,"