Ceasefire

"How do you know he can be trusted?"

They had been bouncing the question off each other for over and hour, and each individual had become more flustered with their ideas disagreeing completely. Placing a cup of tea gently onto the folding table in front, the hum of the air-plane engines around her, Cynthia responded slowly to avoid the attention of the other passengers, "I have battled him many times, and he has sincerity. He is one of our best agents, and he has already supplied more than enough information to us.

"Their operation in Oldale Town would have begun already, and we are still three hours away. For all we know, Hoenn is in utter ruins already." The response came as expected as Cynthia turned to the man next to her, shaking her head with a weary smile. He always had so much doubt about every operation, but that was one of the main reasons he was given the leadership role of the group. They had assembled the world's strongest trainers to fight against the Team Rocket threat, but even with all that, not every individual had wanted to join them for their own reasons. The figure next to her turned towards, his blue eyes bloodshot and full of frustration, as he frowned at her smile. "People are in danger right now, and you are still smiling. Unbelievable."

"The Oldale Town plan will fail. Our best agent is playing his role nicely, and again, all we need is the information and things will return to normal. Don't doubt him, Gary." She tried to comfort him, putting an arm on his arm, but Gary Oak brushed her away feeling utterly useless. He had already missed the chance to confront Team Rocket in Vermillion City, and had managed to get back to the news of Steven Stone perishing under some mysterious power Giovanni had. So many questions were to be asked, but nobody had the answers so far. His journey to discover its secrets had led him nowhere, and with a problem arising in Kalos, his efforts had been diverted into so many areas.

Gary responded, shifting uncomfortably in the chair, "What is the plan when we reach Littleroot Town?"

"Contact our agent and begin to plan out the destruction of the Thieves Guild."

"Is that really what they are calling themselves?" Gary almost cracked a smile, but he forced it away, not wanting Cynthia to see him in a better state. He had led this group of trainers through many issues in the past, but nothing had been as extraordinary and as large than the current situation. Team Rocket may have forced Kanto into their own hands, but they had planned this perfectly for a change, completely contradicting everything they had ever done in the past. However, he had forced mistakes to happen, sometimes doing inhumane things, but that was his job and he would always succeed. Team Rocket had created a group in Hoenn, but their reasoning behind it remained a mystery. Despite the constant focus on catching Blue's son, Gary knew that something else was in the works, but what did Hoenn have that so special? What did Giovanni truly want? The information received had said nothing so far, but the Oldale Ruins remained an interesting case.

Flipping open a small brown file from his carry-on luggage, Cynthia pipped up again seeing the familiar image of the Oldale Ruins, "Despite what people think, there really isn't a monster in there. Prophecies that scare the skin off locals, but the Orb there is rather important."

"The Orb has a lot of special properties that we need to have a look at through our scientists. We have to know why Giovanni wants it." This was already written into the plan, and it was using the resources Team Rocket had against them. Gary knew that no ordinary person, including themselves, could remove the Orb from its place in the Ruins, but Team Rocket could. Giovanni's strange power granted him the ability to do what normal humans couldn't, and this Orb was certainly something he desired. What connection could they possibly have together? Gary wanted to know, and it was these kind of issues that he lost sleep over. Gazing out of the window at the large open sea, he knew that his mind needed rest after everything. He had to learn to trust the people around him, and so he responded in a much calmer tone, "Cynthia...just please make sure we get the information about the Orb."

Cynthia smirked, knowing he was trying his best to remain calm and responded, holding a transceiver in her hand, "That information has just arrived, Gary. Don't worry, Oldale Town won't see destruction today, but I just fear whoever is at ground level may have no idea what is going on."

"Typical amateurs." Gary muttered this under his voice before leaning back against the seat and forced his body take in the powerful waves of sleep. Oldale Town would remain in panic, but Officer Jenny already knew about the plan and that no danger was imminent. However, people had to believe things were wrong, and all he wanted was the information the Thieves Guild had on the orb.

The plane continued to move closer to their destination as the darkening skies around Oldale Town in the distance began to increase fervently as the jet of red light from The Orb continued...

…

Things were not looking good on the ground. Dirt and mud exploded from below Rod's feet as Damon's Pokemon chased after him, firing powerful attacks with no mercy, as he tried to avoid them. Fletchling and Starly were losing altitude again, their wings bruised and hurt, as Rod tried to urge them onwards. The Ruins were now less than a hundred metres away, but every step seemed to get heavier as he took gulps of air. Another roar from Forrest's Steelix in the background died out as the Iron Snake Pokemon fell to the ground, completely defeated with its trainer on the ground breathing heavily. Rod skidded to a stop, returning his two airborne Pokemon for a deserved rest, as he grabbed another Pokeball from his pocket.

Damon appeared behind, his smile shining through the smoke and ash as the energy jet behind them continued to intensify. Rod could feel its heat on his clothes and skin, but he shook it off knowing this battle wasn't done yet. Damon called, as his Mienshao appeared from behind with another Flying Type high above that Rod didn't recognise, "The closer you get to The Orb, Rod, the more tired you will get. Its power is incredible."

Even Damon seemed to be growing steadily exhausted as he wiped beads of sweat away, dripping onto the burnt ground. His Pokemon prepared for another battle as Rod replied, holding his chosen Pokeball out, "Put the orb back, Damon! I don't know why you've done this, but there are innocent people in Oldale Town!"

The opposing trainer listened, his smile disappearing slightly, as his eyes looked to the ground as if in deep thought. To Rod's surprise, Damon returned his Pokemon back to their capsules as they vanished into white energy, disappearing instantly. Stretching out, Damon clicked his fingers and checked the same transceiver he had answered only an hour ago at the Pokemon Centre, before anything had happened. He cracked a smile, acknowledging something before muttering, "The Orb has been returned, and nothing will happen. Aren't you over-reacting a bit?"

Rod felt the heat disappear from his back as he stood up from his fighters stance, and glanced behind at what seemed to be ordinary Ruins. Large rocks erect from the ground, creating a stone oblong around a small platform in the middle. Instantly, Rod saw the glowing orb as it was placed down by two individuals wearing full black clothing. They placed a small device away, signalling Damon who began to walk down the hill past Forrest and Steelix who watched him with death-eyes. Rod, still angry but incredibly confused, called, "Damon! Get back here!"

He began running, disregarding the people behind him moving the opposite direction, Damon was only a few meters down the hill, but Forrest stood up and blocked his path. Rod protesting, trying to push past, but Forrest yelled, pushing him back, "Calm down, Rod! Our Pokemon are hurt, they are the priority. Nobody else needs to get hurt here!"

Damon snickered and waved a hand in parting before calling, "You should listen to him, Rod. Stay out of trouble, or you will get hurt."

Rod fought the anger back as he stopped protesting before dropping to his knees, exhaustion once again hitting his body. He began to feel the bruises on his arms before looking up at a disdain Forrest and asked, "Did you have any idea..."

Shaking his head, Forrest returned his defeated mass of Steelix and replied, "We have to be careful who we trust, Rod. They are a part of Team Rocket, I think we should go see Officer Jenny and tell her what has happened."

Agreeing, Rod began to follow his friend back down the hill, glancing around at the world that had been an inferno only moments ago. Whatever Damon and his group had done, they hadn't left a trace of anything, in fact it was as if the Ruins were completely normal. The Orb had been returned, but why did they cause such chaos only to return things to normal? So many questions left unanswered, but worst of all was that they had been involved once again. They could have simply waited at the Pokemon Centre and been safer, with their Pokemon completely fine, instead of running around battling hard trainers and criminal groups. There seemed to still be nobody around, not even the siren of a Police Car, or the shuffling of the locals, it was just them against the world.

Rod muttered, "Why is there no police, Forrest? Where is everyone?"

There was no response at all as they reached the Pokemon Centre moments later with Nurse Joy sitting at her desk, her make-up dotted with tears, as she looked up and gasped. Their appearance must have been horrendous with the amount of mud and dirt the battles had produced and the energy from the energy beam. Rod could feel pain everywhere on his body, but he walked up, not saying a word, and placed all of his Pokeballs back on the desk like he did the previous night. Although only two of them had been used, he wanted to know they would be safe. Forrest did the same, but Rod kept one Pokeball to his self before they went separate ways. The Pewter City Gym Leader disappeared through the creaking swinging doors to the showers as Rod decided to sit in the lobby, his clothes finally starting to dry.

Nurse Joy wandered across, her Chansey taking their Pokeballs away, "Rod...how did you stop it from happening?"

Shaking his head, Rod gazed at the Pokeball in his hand as it vibrated to his touch, before replying weakly, "They put the Orb back themselves...I don't know what they wanted."

"Who were the people involved?"

Rod hesitated for a minute, but responded, "Damon."

…

Cynthia had made the call as soon as they arrived in the Littleroot Town Pokemon Centre. The information had been gathered from the Thieves Guild attack on the Oldale Ruins, and as she predicted, there was no harm done to the Region at all. A risk that had been to taken to avert the inevitable threat Team Rocket would soon bring to world wide. Local Police had of course been informed of their organisation, and with the well-known Gary Oak leading a team, they agreed to allow the shields around the Ruins to be let go. It took months of discussion, and each day had given Team Rocket much more time, but the Hoenn Government finally understood that there was a more global picture at hand. Flicking her laptop open, Cynthia gazed at the array of figures and diagrams gathered from The Orb at Oldale, her suspicions faltering slightly. There seemed to be something different every time Giovanni targeted something, and here it was again.

Gary Oak wandered over, placing a cup of coffee in front of the Sinnoh Champion, as he leaned against the soft armchair and muttered, "Please tell me some good news came out of this."

"Giovanni knows what to look for...I can tell you that." She frowned, upset with the lack of new information, but there was a very familiar outlook on the graphs and spreadsheets. The power emitted from the Orb had grown sporadically very quickly, like any new energy resource, however this one continued to gain more power from something different. An infinite renewable source that could power anything in the world, and had no weakness, and no way of stopping it. Glancing up at Gary, who looked on with his brown beady eyes, "This power has no weakness at the moment, and Team Rocket are making it public knowledge."

"Explain."

Flipping the laptop over, Cynthia displayed a web page of the current Kanto News, of course take over by Team Rocket completely, and revealed Giovanni. The blurb of an interview appeared underneath where he actively spoke out to Pokemon Trainers alike, presenting a new form of energy to empower their teams. "He is creating an army. An army of trainers with powerful Pokemon, we cannot compete with that."

"How can we not compete? We are the strongest trainers on the planet right now." He couldn't help but smirk thinking of the array of names that were heading to Kanto and Hoenn right now, under his command, and their wealth of success following them. From the Johto Champion of Lance, to the Battle Frontier Pyramid King of Brandon, they were all prepared to stop the onslaught of evil. Cynthia glared back at him as he shook his head confused, why would she need a reason to panic?

"I could barely scratch his Pokemon, they seemed utterly connected to him through a new bond. Not the ones we have gained, but an artificial one." She wiped her eyes, as casually as possible, before continuing, "We lost Steven. He was strong, and very powerful. He was defeated by this power. Take it seriously."

With that final line, she slammed the laptop shut in front of him and walked away as her cooling coffee was left there. Gary watched her, forcing his emotions to not get the better of him, as he leaned back to devise a new plan. This energy had to have origins from somewhere, but the familiarity of it seemed to appear to blur the view. It had the power to control Pokemon, to give a bond with their trainers they may not even want to have, but also gives that person the ability to do unhuman-like things. Cynthia described Giovanni has being able to levitate Pokeballs from his hands, was that part of the power, or just a party trick the Team Rocket leader had undertaken in his down time. Ignoring the obvious, Gary stood up, taking a Pokeball out of his pocket and wandering outside as young trainers ran by with their new Pokemon.

Gazing up into the blue sky, that had hosted a red beam of energy only hours before, he raised his Pokeball and commanded, "Braviary! I need a lift."

He had yet met the client Cynthia had used to undertake this mission, and it was finally time to meet this individual face to face. Gary had always hated having agents who hadn't met, the lack of trust consumed him, and he did not want to lose that trust again. The Valiant Bird Pokemon landed, to the gasp of some nearby onlookers, as it screeched loudly, expanding its red wings for its trainer to hop on. Gary flicked open his transceiver, and checked another email from Professor Oak as he glanced through it again. He had arrived in Kalos, allowing his assistant Tracey to complete the move to Hoenn from the Kanto Region. The frequency of the emails from Kalos had seemed to increase, and now in the back of his mind, minimal connections were already being made. Braviary listened to Gary's instructions before take off into the air with the destination of Petalburg City in mind. Gary would test this trainer, and see his true meaning behind helping them.

Cynthia gazed on from the Pokemon Centre window with a mixture of emotions running in her mind. She knew where Gary was going, but he would not succeed in finding their agent, he was too good. Reading through the mission logs, and the research passed back, a small image appeared of the Oldale Ruins. Zooming in, Cynthia gasped as the face of Rod appeared with his Pokemon as he battled with the Orb behind him.

Cynthia leaned back and muttered with depression in her voice, "Rod...what have you done?"

…

Kalos shifted again in a way nobody had felt in decades, and something had begun to awaken from the darkness below. The Region had been built hurriedly and expanded hugely with researchers claiming it to be special and unique, the region of dreams where youth controlled its future with futuristic ideas and compassion. Professor Oak had ignored all of this hype, his research completely taking control of his minds and feelings. He felt the insecurity in the air, its thickened shape and strange taste lending a hand to the threat at hand. Kalos has become alive, but what was causing this to occur?

Terminus Cave shook once again, only slightly, as Pokemon nearby began to move away instantly, feeling the threat. The Cave hadn't shaken for many years, and little did people know, it would continue to shake into the future...