And I still don't own either of them.

GXGXGX

"Well, what good is this gonna do us?" Ash grumbled. "We got Drew. Gary's, like, V.P. of Team Light and Misty's, like, V.V.P. Drew doesn't have any status."

"Um, hello, I'm standing right here." Drew crossed his arms, stumbled, and leaned against a tree; being brainwashed can take a lot out of you. "And for your information, I did have a status."

"I thought they couldn't remember anything," Ash whispered to Jaden.

"Well, they sometimes remember some things," Jaden whispered back.

"Let's see how much he remembers," Aster joined in. "Hey, Drew. Exactly how much do you remember?"

"Um…" Drew's face showed immense concentration as he slid down the tree to sit on the ground, still feeling energy-deprived. "I remember…that I was supposed to keep an eye on May and Max…make sure they weren't having any second thoughts."

"Why would they have second thoughts?" Aster questioned.

"Because they aren't part of Team Light. They only do what their dad tells them."

"Th-They're like you, Aster…" Syrus gasped. "At first. But there's so many members…this Team seems to be spreading a lot faster than our Society."

"That's because they're recruiting members from different regions," Drew explained. "It spread from Hoenn—Petalburg City, specifically—to Johto—for May—then onto Kanto, to take over Team Rocket for a home base. I'm not aware that they've reached Sinnoh yet. They brought their top members from Hoenn and Johto to help at the base, but left lesser members to recruit more people. That's about all I remember…" Drew trailed off and closed his eyes. Soon they heard his breathing grow more relaxed and even—he was asleep.

"He's tired," Ash stated.

Aster rolled his eyes. "Really? I thought people slept when they're hyper."

It took all of Ash's willpower to resist retaliating. "Doesn't matter…you guys all managed to catch those Pokémon I told you to catch?" Everyone except Syrus and Atticus nodded. "Great. We'll see how many of you can beat Brock; if you can't beat him, at least, you'll be of no use in taking down TL."

"It would be a lot easier if we had May," Dawn spoke up.

"Well…" Ash mused. "Drew did say she wasn't brainwashed…Aster, you said you were in her position? How'd you get out?"

Aster scowled at the memory. "I found out that the Light of Destruction—or, as I thought at the time, my best friend—was just using me."

"How'd you figure?"

"Well…" Aster thought back to the first time he figured out Sartorius's plot…

FLASHBACK!

Aster stepped out of the main Duel Academy duel arena, where he had just lost to Jaden, who had mysteriously shown up with some new cards moments before Aster was about to duel Alexis Rhodes for the fate of the Slifer Red dorm. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his orange cell phone to try and call Sartorius:

"The number you are trying to reach is not in service," the operator's calm voice rang out over the line. "No further information is available."

Aster pulled the cell phone away from his ear and clicked the button to hang up. "Okay, I need some answers, Sartorius," he mused aloud. "Where are you? And what's this 'Society of Light'?" Aster recalled Chazz as he said this, who had appeared to him before that fateful duel with Jaden…

FLASHBACK WITHIN A FLASHBACK!!

"So, Aster, have you heard?" Chazz grinned cockily. "I'm in the club…the Society of Light…I know Sartorius sent you!"

END FLASHBACK WITHIN A FLASHBACK

"Just how many secrets have you kept?" Aster wondered, still aloud. "How many lies have you told? I'm gonna find out." Aster paused, remembering Sartorius telling him that Jaden was threat. "I have a feeling I know why you're so obsessed with Jaden—he's not a threat to me, he's a threat to you!"

END FLASHBACK

"That's basically it." Aster shrugged. "I realized that there was no way Jaden could be a threat to my career: he was—is—still in school! Plus, he seemed like an okay guy." Aster immediately wished he could have taken that last sentence back.

"Really?! You really think so, Aster?!" Jaden shrieked and hugged Aster. "Aw, thanks, buddy!"

"Jaden…get…off…" Aster groaned as he pried the Slifer off of himself. "Anyway, as I was saying, I realized Sartorius had lied, and what Chazz had told me didn't help his case too much, either."

"So…why hasn't May or Max realized the same thing?" Dawn asked, her voice lined with hopelessness.

"I dunno." Aster shrugged again. "Sartorius was my best friend…but Norman's their father, right? I'm not exactly the expert on the subject of fathers, but I know for a fact that they're higher up on the priority list than best friends. It's strange, though…" Aster shook his head. "They should still be able to see what's going on around them, what with TL. They obviously weren't oblivious to it, since they had Drew checking up on them. How old are they, anyway?"

"May's about my age, fourteen. By now, Max should be eleven. I haven't seen him for a while," Ash replied, somewhat guiltily on the last part.

"Hmm…maybe they're too young to understand…" Aster decided aloud. "Yeah, bet that's it…"

"Hey!" Ash cried indignantly. "That's my age!"

"Oh…sorry…not changing my theory, though," Aster returned stubbornly.

"Bro, you were fifteen when you figured it out," Jaden pointed out.

"And held two different PhDs," Aster retaliated.

"…I didn't know that."

"There're a lot of things you don't know about me, Jay."

"Sorry to interrupt, but has anyone seen Jesse?" Jim suddenly questioned. Everyone was left speechless for a moment at the abruptness of Jim's question before they realized that he was right—Jesse wasn't there.

"Jesse! Where's you go?!" the entire group (except for some people who would very soon be woken up by all the yelling) shouted.

"Aw, man!" Ash groaned. "I can't believe I lost him! Professor Oak's so gonna kill me!"

GXGXGX

Gasp! Jesse disappeared! No way!

This one's kinda short compared to previous chapters…but I have homework still and it's 10:00 night. So…

Later!