Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Well. Uh.
Whoops.
It's been a very long while, hasn't it? Somehow the first university term always seems to mess with my writing… Alongside standard writer's block, and another little problem I've had in regard to the story's shipping.
See, as I said before, I always planned on having Ash end up with someone. I wanted to make it ambiguous early on as to who it was, so I left hints of attraction around a number of characters, but I had a clear idea of where I was going.
And then the last few months happened.
Put simply, I've switched ships. I've switched ships hard. In such a way that I'd find I feel it would impact the quality of my writing if I were to continue the story as I had planned. So, instead, I've altered this chapter and the subsequent flow of the story rather significantly from what it would have been (or at least those aspects that would have been influenced by shipping). I don't plan on revealing what I switched to or from for a little while, or exactly where the romance in this story will go – I'll probably do it in a future author's note or maybe in my final story notes, but suffice to say that this chapter should clear up Ash's (and a few other character's…) feelings somewhat.
Will I need to go back and edit past chapters to keep the story coherent? I'm taking a good look to be sure, but I don't think quite think so. Maybe a sentence or two at most; if so, I'll mention it in an author's note. I don't particularly want to either way, but I think I was sufficiently vague before to allow for most possibilities. After this chapter, it would have been difficult to make a significant change in direction, so I think I've been lucky in that regard.
So, again, apologies for the delay and the story about-face, but it shouldn't make too much difference to the plot in the long run, given that it's an adventure fic first – romance was probably below several other categories in importance anyway.
Thanks as always for reviewing, Agent of Fire!
And it's good to hear that you're getting into the story, Isaac! Don't worry, you won't have long at all to find out what happened after the end of chapter 23… and aye, I can't deny my love for cliff-hangers!
Chronologically, this chapter is set the day after chapter 24.
…Also, I heartily recommend the anime Fairy Tail. It's a great show to spend your time procrastinating over…
Hell, on a similar note, I've been watching…
Tenkai Knights, Jormungand, TMNT, Ben 10 Omniverse, B-daman Crossfire, Monsuno and Kaijudo. Watch 'em all, if you have time!
Ash eased open the door of the spare room of his house, taking care to do it quietly. The room was so superfluous to his and his mom's needs that it had not seen use as anything but storage for many years. He could still smell those years of underuse, even despite his mom's efforts to give the place a thorough clean. Some of the grime could simply no longer be wiped away.
The room had, after all, become necessary but a few days before.
It was dark, but he didn't go straight for the light. He let his eyes adjust to the gloom instead, not wanting to disturb the room's occupant.
Slowly, his vision returned. He left the door ajar, letting a sliver of light into the room, and walked softly to the edge of the bed to stare down at the person laying on it.
"Cilan." Ash sighed at last, taking in the full appearance of his friend – or, at least what he could see that wasn't hidden underneath the covers. The former gym leader was dressed in his own pyjamas, but what struck Ash immediately was the pattern of stitches across to the left of his temple and the large dressing on the left side of his neck.
Cilan was sleeping, and Ash let him stay that way. He stood by the bed and stared sadly at Cilan for a few minutes before returning to the just-about open door and shutting it behind him as he exited the room.
They had made extraordinarily good time back to Kanto after hearing the news. There had certainly been no question at all about whether they would be going back. It helped that Hoenn was fairly close to his home region, but Wallace had them on a plane within a matter of hours. It was a long flight – though again, not as long as from, say, Unova – but they suffered no delays on the way.
Ash found himself unable to sleep throughout the entire journey, and instead simply stared out of the plane window, brooding. Hilda was out like a light once they were in the air, but thankfully had not snored at all. May had drifted off after the first hour next to him; as for Cynthia, she had been sitting on the row behind, and he had no idea how she had been.
His initial feelings had been of shock and horror as Wallace had described the blast in Kanto that had caught three of his friends, then deep concern tempered by the knowledge that all three were stable and had been moved back to his house to recover upon being released from hospital. It had been considered a safer place than keeping them in the hospital, if Team Rocket were in fact desperately out for blood. Their injuries had been sudden and worthy of emergency attention, but not life-threatening.
Iris… Dawn… Cilan…
Team Rocket's first bomb had spared Brock and Lance, who had made it outside of the building before it went off. Cilan, Dawn and Iris hadn't been so lucky, but they too had almost exited the warehouse when the blast had occurred.
On the plane, Ash had felt a certain numbness setting into him as his mind scrambled to process what it had learned. They had all jumped into one of Cynthia's SUVs the second they were off the plane, and Ash had been the first to get out and sprint up the front garden once they had driven up to his house.
"Still sleeping, huh?" Iris met him as he exited Cilan's temporary room. She was limping and also had various scratches and scrapes healing across her exposed skin, but she was at least able to walk. Ash nodded, and she went on. "Give him some time. He'll be up giving us a lecture before you know it."
Pikachu had been waiting at the door, and now took the opportunity to jump back up on his trainer's shoulder. It was obvious though that the electric-type shared in the undercurrent of melancholy running through the house.
All of their Pokémon did.
"No doubt. How're you doing?"
Iris rubbed her left elbow and winced.
"Better." She replied. "And at least I'm not stuck in bed like the others."
"And… Dragonite?" He asked tentatively. She sighed.
"He's the same. He's got a long road ahead of him…" It had been Dragonite in particular who had sensed that something was wrong and had pushed them forward in the last few seconds of the strike, sparing them from some of the worst of it, but also taking the brunt of the blast himself.
They had walked as they talked; back down the stairs onto the first floor floor towards Ash's room and its current occupant, Dawn. Her condition was better than Cilan's, and she was certainly more animated than he, but on the doctor's advice they agreed that she should rest to recover her strength with few periods of movement throughout the days. She also had quite a bit of damage to heal from, though fortunately nothing permanent.
The blue-haired coordinator looked up and smiled as they entered the room, pausing in the midst of her catch-up talk with May to greet them again. Hilda sat apart from the conversation, half-listening. Misty and Brock were apparently downstairs helping with chores.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself." Dawn winked and he returned the smile. "How's Cilan?"
"Still out of it." Ash sighed. "Good to see you're getting your strength back though."
She nodded.
"They said I shouldn't try to walk on it for a while." She gestured to her leg, hidden by the covers and sheets. He knew it had been burned in the explosion, but she'd been lucky that it hadn't been anything more serious. "But I might try it tomorrow."
"Be careful." He said seriously. Dawn looked round at May and they both giggled. "What?"
"Nothin'. Your concern's just funny, that's all."
"And why's it funny?" He asked crossly. More giggling. He huffed.
I suppose this is a good sign…
"There aren't any words, Lance." To say that Cynthia was angry would have been putting it mildly. Indeed, she was far beyond simple rage at this point. It was a reaction fuelled by frustration, grief, and a very, very clear sense of vindication.
Moreover, this was not the first time she had started along this route of argument. She had been cycling through several ever since she had arrived and made it into the same room as the Kanto champion, which had been quite soon after they had touched down from their Hoenn flight.
"I know." The other champion muttered back. He hung his head down almost onto his knees, his hair masking the back of his cape.
They were sat in Oak's living room again, drinking tea provided by Tracey, who excused himself almost immediately afterwards, eager to escape the imminent battlezone.
Well, Oak and Lance were sat down. Cynthia was just pacing about.
Oak, for his part, remained silent. He had nothing to add to Cynthia's rants, having thrown around most of the same arguments in the preceding days himself.
It was all clearly weighing heavily on Lance. His eyes were bloodshot and heavily shadowed – he clearly hadn't slept a wink since the incident. His hair was unkempt, his eyes unfocused, his complexion pale.
"I warned you. I. Warned. You. I told you not to drag them into this!"
"The youngest among them is sixteen, Brock's even older… They knew what they were getting-" A dwindling spark of defiance briefly sparked up inside Lance. Big mistake.
"EXACTLY! THEY'RE SIXTEEN!" Cynthia thundered. "AND YOU WALKED THEM RIGHT INTO A TRAP!"
"We've both gotten them involved in some dangerous situations before… Like the Lake of Rage incident, or Spear Pillar… Even Cameron said a few kids around their age were involved in the attack on the last Plasma base…"
The blonde was having none of it.
"They were caught up in events." She hissed. "We didn't invite them. They wouldn't have even known about this had you not proposed it to them!"
A brief pause. Silence permeated the room as Cynthia took several deep breaths, trying to calm down.
"…You're right." Lance croaked at last. "You're absolutely right…"
Cynthia half sighed, half growled, and went to go on, but caught Oak's eye and stopped herself.
"We're not done here." She hissed as she drew herself up and swept from the room. Lance didn't even look up to watch her go.
Oak moved to follow.
"I have nothing more to add to that." He muttered as he left the room, leaving Lance alone to mull over his actions in silence.
"Have you guys seen Hilda?" Ash asked as he walked downstairs towards the kitchen, Iris and May behind him. They had decided, as they had with Cilan, to give Dawn a chance to get some rest.
Misty turned at his enquiry and nodded.
"I think she went out back to help Mr. Mime with some of the gardening while we were doing all this. Delia's still out at the nursery." She waved a hand over the diminishing pile of dishes that she and Brock were steadily working through.
"Ooh, ooh, I'll go help!" Iris half-skipped, half-sprinted out towards the garden.
"…Weird."
Ash shrugged and suppressed a smirk. One slight silver lining to the cloud of returning to find three of his friends injured was getting to introduce everybody to Hilda and May – the former in particular knew nothing personally of Ash's friends except those she had seen on television, and seemed to have something of a reverence for Misty as a result. May, of course, already knew Brock, Dawn, Misty and Tracey, but it was nice to introduce her to his Unovan friends as well. Not that Cilan's been conscious yet for it… He forced such dark thoughts out of his mind.
"You do know why she wants to cosy up to Hilda though, right?" Brock put in. May and Misty had no clue, and said so, but Ash saw it.
"Oh. Dragons…"
"Right. And who's the biggest dragon-type around here?"
"Ah…" You could practically see the light bulb spark into life above the other's heads.
Zekrom had been a bit of an awkward subject for the few hours that they had been there. It had spread pretty fast across the house that Hilda was its trainer, though no-one had talked to her about it and she hadn't brought it up.
All of Ash's friends had encountered legendary Pokémon while travelling with him, of course. They all knew how powerful they were.
So what kind of person would it take to persuade one to fight alongside them?
"What's up, then?"
"Huh?"
"You were asking for Hilda." Misty elaborating, setting the tea towel down as she finished her last plate and dropping down at the table in front of them. Brock looked set to join her moments later.
"Oh, right. Well, I was just going to visit all my Pokémon-" Pikachu punctuated Ash's words with a quick generation of current sparking at its cheeks, eager to show its enthusiasm for the prospect. "-at Oak's lab and I was wondering if she wanted to come along and see them too."
Brock and Misty exchanged a glance.
"She could be a while." Misty replied uneasily. "Why don't you go ahead and we'll send her to catch up? She can't really miss the lab, and she won't get lost if she knocks."
"Yeah!" May butted in quickly, grabbing Ash's arm. "She'll catch up. Don't worry, Ash, I'll keep you company! And you can show me all of the Pokémon you caught in Unova!"
"Uh, sure." Ash mumbled as May led him out; he wasn't quite being dragged, but it wasn't too far off. "See you guys later." He called over his shoulder, and they waved him off.
They waited just about a minute, continuing as they had before, then quickly fixed each other with a stare.
"Guess we can't talk to May now. She got out too quickly before we could stop her."
"Then we'll just have to stick to Hilda for now." Misty resolved. "Dawn's already had this talk. Iris won't need it. We've almost tied up all the ends."
"Yeah." Brock raised a fist into the air. "Let Operation: Heartbreaker commence!"
"…No. We are so not calling it that."
The delivery truck made its way down Pallet Town's main road at a reasonable speed. It wasn't a particularly nice day, but it wasn't exactly awful either. The clouds were threatening rain, but the odd spot of sun shone through the occasional gap in the cover from above.
The truck was in no hurry, but things never were around these quiet suburbs. You could get to know people around here. You had the time. It seemed to slow down, if anything.
Everyone knew the driver, for instance. The driver had worked the route for fifteen years.
He'd been a Team Rocket agent for twenty. Not that any of his professional friends knew.
He had two lives. The life of a well-mannered, quiet, unassuming deliveryman on the one hand, always punctual, always eager to please…
And the life of a ruthless, conniving, veteran Team Rocket commander on the other. And unlike what he would normally carry, he was currently hiding about ten or so men and women in the back of his truck.
And he wasn't the only one to be doing so.
He knew that all over the region the same situation was playing out. They'd all received a set of orders, clear and to the point, but also optimistic and full of risk.
It was time for Team Rocket to strike at last, to depart the darkness and the shadows and strike a hammer blow against the arrogant "Pokémon league" that sought to deny the right of the strong to rule.
That sums up Team Rocket's view on life pretty well, he thought, humming as he pulling the truck sharply around a bend. He heard some grumbling in the back, but silencing it by slamming his fist on its side into the metal behind him. The strong thrive. The strong succeed. Only the strong can gain.
And his group wasn't the only one en route to this location, either. They were starting to build up something of a convoy now, of three trucks – no, four. It was a narrow road so they were forced to proceed in single file, but they were in no hurry. They had plenty of time until h-hour. He'd heard rumours that there was an extremely high priority target at their destination, but his commanders knew about that. If he was lucky he and his men would find out before engaging, not after.
There had also been rumours floating around that the fabled Assassin squad, shrouded in legend even inside Team Rocket, had been deployed against the problem.
He wondered whether they could even be in one of the trucks to his rear or his front.
Best not to think about that. But he knew that his superiors would never send such an overwhelming display of force for anything other than a mission of destruction. And this was far more force than they usually used.
He almost felt sorry for the poor sods at the end of the line.
Almost.
"Sooooooo… When can I see him?"
"Uh. Later."
"Aww, but why not now?" Iris pouted, following Hilda back inside. The champion didn't know what to make of the other girl; she'd heard from Ash that Iris was a fairly strong trainer and apparently liked to tease him about being a kid at every opportunity she could.
And she also liked dragon-type Pokémon. She apparently really liked dragons.
Hilda didn't want to snap at her; not after what she'd been through already. She hadn't known Cilan or Iris before their injuries, and had only known vaguely Dawn from the coverage of the Sinnoh League, but she felt sorry for them all of the same.
No. It was more than that.
She was really starting to feel part of the group now, and being part of the group meant grieving, too.
"Later. I promise." She whispered absent-mindedly, pushing open the Ketchum family's back door and taking her boots off before heading inside. The work hadn't been difficult, but it felt good to help out.
Iris harrumphed a little at being denied, but accepted it at last and decided to stay out and enjoy the sunshine while it still showed through the clouds.
Hilda finished switching over her footwear, replaced her cap, tidied her hair a little and stretched out, enjoying the cracks of compressed air escaping the joints as she limbered up. She reached down to her side and stroked the closest Poké ball to her waist, which glowed softly and shook a little in response.
Smiling, she walked back into the kitchen, quickly surmising that only the would-be Pokémon doctor of the group remained, finishing the last few chores; specifically mopping the floor.
"Hey, Brock," She started, and he turned to face her. "Is Ash around? He promised me earlier that I could see all of his Pokémon while I was here."
"Yeah, he's… upstairs." Brock replied, returning to his work with a rather vicious swipe at some difficult-to-shift dirt.
"Uh, thanks."
It was still quite surreal meeting Brock and Misty in person, when for much of her life Hilda had seen them on TV supporting Ash from the bench or the stands. Almost as surreal as meeting Ash for the first time in that tunnel… And saving him… She stifled a giggle.
She ascended the stairs slowly; there was no particular hurry. She checked the bathrooms first, but they were all empty. The unused bedroom was similarly Ash-less.
She knocked tentatively at the door of the bedroom Dawn was sleeping in; the light was off, but it was ajar. Receiving no acknowledge, and a little confused now, she pushed it open and tiptoed inside.
She could just about make out Dawn, silhouetted on the bed by the small amount of light streaming through the window. She took another few steps into the room, making certain that Ash hadn't gone into Cilan's room again, but no, his door was closed. Brock must've been mistaken, she decided, and turned to quietly leave.
The door slammed shut behind her.
Her hand went to her belt immediately, groping in the dark for one of the balls and running an analysis of the situation through her head. Zekrom's too big. Mandibuzz's still not happy. It'll have to be Galv or Yuna…
Someone flicked the light switch one.
She shielded her eyes as they slowly adjusted to the brightness. When they did so, she found Misty standing in front of her, her face locked into a grim countenance.
"Hello, Hilda. We need to talk."
"It's been good to see Brock, Misty and Tracey again, I guess. It's been a few years…" May stretched her arms above her head. Tracey had let them through the lab and into the Pokémon enclosure, and they were walking down the path to see Ash's Pokémon all together. Pikachu was running ahead, scouting around for any of the roamers and directing them into the forest to meet them there.
"Yeah." Ash replied. "It was such a coincidence that I found you in that tunnel, though… I'm not sure they quite believed it when I told them."
"Aww, come on, Ash." She giggled. "It wasn't luck. It was fate!"
"Heh, maybe. I'm certainly not complaining."
"Me neither." They had reached the forest now. The shade blanketed them comfortingly from the overhead sun.
Now's my chance. I don't want to upset him or surprise him after what happened to the others, but I won't get another shot. Now I can finally tell him how I feel…
Leader peered down at the two as they entered the treeline below and grimaced. It was hard to believe that one child could disrupt an organisation like Team Rocket so badly, so many times, but Giovanni had seemed so very serious when he had described the boy that it wasn't really worth questioning.
Ash Ketchum was a threat and had to be dealt with. One way or another.
And he was isolated here, away from his friends. Sure, he had his Pokémon, but the might of Assassin would prevail. Their vengeance would come too swiftly to be averted.
He signalled discreetly to the others in the team, similarly hanging or clutching to branches in the forest. It was just a matter of waiting for the signal…
And when that signal came, Assassin would be ready.
"There was no need to be so hard on him."
"I feel a lot better now, though." Cynthia muttered, folding her arms. Tracey had hooked up Oak's television to the internet, through which they were now streaming a direct link to Hoenn's Pokémon league HQ – and Wallace.
"Maybe you do... for now." He said, steepling his fingers together. "But you won't for long. Lance is your friend, Cynthia, and he regrets his mistake immensely. I very much doubt he will do anything of the sort again, and I also doubt he will ever truly forgive himself. But do not let yourself hate him, or you will be the one with the regrets."
She saw the wisdom of those words, as much as her anger made her want to deny them.
"Perhaps."
He nodded. He could see she'd gotten the point.
"Moving on, then. I informed Cameron and Steven of the escalation of the situation in Kanto. Steven sends his apologies and wishes the injured well. He is currently working with Archie and Maxie on a number of exercises around Hoenn's south coast, and apologises for being unable to render any assistance at this time."
That's hardly his fault. We didn't even ask for any… Wait…
"And Cameron?" She raised an eyebrow.
"…He said much the same to begin with, but made the point that Unova has been quiet since the last of Team Plasma's bases were cleared, and that he has little to do."
"So he's on his way to Kanto?"
"He didn't quite say… but most likely, yes."
"Well, if he must…" She sighed. "Anything else?"
"Just one thing." He looked apologetic. It was remarkably difficult to tell with Wallace, who often seemed cheerful even when he was sad, but she could see it now. "Yesterday I received a request for information from the… Sinnoh league."
Ah.
"They wanted to know where you are. I'm sorry."
"Well, they had to find out some time." She grimaced. "Don't tell me." She cut him off as he started to speak again. "I'll find out what they've got to say one thee trouble in Kanto is over."
He nodded.
"Very well. Oh, and one last thing, I-"
The screen sparked and faded to black.
The overhead light flickered off.
Cynthia blinked, confused, and opened the curtains. Light streamed in; it was only the middle of the afternoon.
She heard Tracey calling to Professor Oak at the top of the house, asking if he'd lost power, too.
She suddenly had a very bad feeling that something was wrong. Very wrong indeed.
They had the house surrounded. That had been the easy part; drive the two trucks up to it, pile out without being seen and get in position. Now it was time for the hard part.
They had four enemies to take out, if the intel was good. Two champions, but they could deal with one easily enough. They had a plan for him, anyway. There would be no reinforcements; they had a strong cordon in place, and the power had been cut to prevent communication to the outside world.
That left three. They outnumbered them three to one, but it would still be a challenge. They all knew of the Sinnoh champion's prowess, and only a fool would underestimate Professor Oak.
But for the glory of Team Rocket, and the new world that they would build, they would not fail.
At the pre-arranged time, at the commander's signal, the first breaching team let out their Pokémon and made ready.
Three.
Two.
One.
Breach!
The leading Golem brought its fists down on the door. The lock cracked under the immense pressure and gave away. It swung open, and the team swung through.
They nearly got lucky straight away. They found a green-haired kid in the entrance hall, busying himself with dusting ornaments and paintings. One of their targets.
He yelped as they burst through, but his reflexes saved him. He ducked around a corner as their Pokémon unleashed bursts of flame, water and poison gas, destroying – as it happened – what he had been attempting to clean.
His brief escape didn't matter. The fools had nowhere to run.
"Y'know, I think we've adopted this as our little meeting place." Ash said as they walked down the forest path. Pikachu was nowhere to be seen, but it would surely be waiting. "It's out of the way, shaded, near a stream…"
"That's cute. I remember the first time I came here; your Tauros practically ran you down!"
"They still do that." He chuckled. "But they're getting better."
They walked for another thirty seconds, and May realised they had to be nearly there. She wouldn't get another chance to be alone with Ash like this. It was now or never…
"Ash, listen, I've got something to tell you." She stopped in her tracks, and he turned, puzzled.
"What's up?"
"Well, you see…" Say it! She took a deep breath in…
And lost it as he bundled her over.
She only realised he'd done it as she hit the floor and he covered her with his body.
"Ash Ketchum, what on earth are you doing?" She shouted shrilly, indignation overcoming shock for the moment. "Let me up this instant!"
"Saw… something." Ash grunted, staggering to his feet. Then they heard the crash.
Three of the nearest trees around them crashed to the ground, cut clean through the middle.
Okay, woah. That was close. But what actually caused it-
The brunette had no time to think; only a blast of warm air as warning before Ash pulled her out of the way and a gout of flame burst into the area where they had been laying a moment before. He pulled her up and dragged her off into the cover of the forest. They could hear the rustling of tree limbs above, the fluttering of wings and the stomping of footsteps on the ground with them.
They were being pursued.
"What IS going on?"
"I think we're under attack." He deadpanned.
"Why can't life just be boring for once?"
"Who even are these guys?" Tracey cried as he and Oak barrelled up the stairs to the top level. Their assailants were right behind them, decked out in mark less black, but they could buy themselves some time. The professor could be surprisingly quick when he had to be, that was for sure.
"If I had to hazard a guess…" The older man panted as they locked the door behind them. Shouting voices could be heard following them up. "I would point to those who planted the bomb in Goldenrod…"
Team Rocket…
"If so, they've really gotten bold." A female voice cut across the room.
"Cynthia." Oak sighed in relief as they turned to find two champions in the room, and all present relaxed a little. "At least fortune finds us all together."
"We're surrounded." Lance put in. The sudden course of events seemed to have snapped him out of his depression a little, and the adrenaline was bringing his natural instincts back to the fore. Oak could tell he'd been scanning the room, looking for ways out, defensive locations and the like.
"But not outgunned." Cynthia added, and smiled a little. "Let's get some payback for our friends."
They didn't have much time at all to prepare, but hopefully they wouldn't need it.
The door shook a little, but held. For the moment.
"Let's." Oak agreed.
"Garchomp, battle dance!"
"Dragonite!"
"Scyther, you're up!"
Lance concluded with his own Dragonite. The Pokémon formed a wall in front of their trainers.
"Safeguard Kanto." Lance whispered, closing his eyes.
The door took another impact and smashed open.
If the four had been expecting some kind of immediate attack, they were disappointed.
"Champion Lance!" A voice called out from the darkness in the doorway. It was rough, clipped with a slight accent, but not hard to understand.
Silence rang out for a moment.
"I'm here." Lance called out in response at last. "What is the meaning of this?"
"It doesn't matter. You have more important places to be than here."
Well, this was certainly odd.
"What do you mean?"
"What if I were to say that this attack is only one part of our plan? That we have something bigger planned for the whole region."
"I'd be confused as to why you were telling me this, but I wouldn't be surprised." The champion replied angrily. "Get to the point."
"Throw your mind back to Goldenrod."
That raised Cynthia's hackles, and she had to bite back an angry attack order. It wouldn't do to destabilise the situation.
"What of it?"
"Didn't you ever wonder at how convenient it was that you discovered information about our base when you visited the city?"
"What? I travelled there because of your plans. Because…" He continued hesitantly, unable to face Cynthia. "Because you attacked my friends."
"Wrong. You were prompted. You weren't our target, and we knew you were in the Goldenrod area first. How could we have known that you would be there at that time?"
It clicked.
"You have a mole."
"Just the one?" There was a slight snigger, perfectly timed.
"Get. To. The. Point."
"Very well." Arguing with a voice without being able to identify its owner made the situation doubly disconcerting. "I'll give you the whole truth, but you asked for it. What would you say to the suggestion that we have agents planted across every aspect of society; if we were to make the claim that fully a tenth of the populations of the Indigo regions have some connection to Team Rocket's operations?"
It was a dark question. It hung in the air as they contemplated the terrible picture it painted.
"I wouldn't believe you." Lance spat.
Hearty laughter broke out, and then was suddenly silenced. There were many of the enemy waiting out in that dark corridor.
And then things got worse.
"What if I were to say that that went double, no, triple, for the Indigo League?"
More deathly silence.
"No." Lance whispered.
"Yes."
"It's a trick! A trap! It's just a lie!" Tracey cried out. "Don't believe them!"
More laughter. And then a parting shot…
"Can you take that chance, champion?"
The voice seemed to fade off at the end, as if it were withdrawing.
"Tracey's right. It's a lie." Cynthia stared down at the blackness, feeling nothing but contempt for those who threatened them here. "We need to deal with this now, and quickly. They could be in danger back at Ash's house, even with Hilda. And what if Ash and May get cut off?"
"Then let's be quick about this." Oak agreed. "What say you, Lance…? Lance?"
The champion of Kanto was no longer with them. He was standing by the window.
A pause. He wouldn't meet their gaze.
The realisation of what he was about to do hit Cynthia like a punch to the gut. The betrayal stung even as she struggled to deny it.
"No."
"Dragonite, come." He spoke glumly, opening the curtains fully, then the windows. The sunlight streamed in and warmed the room considerably, at odds with the dark mood that was about to be visited on the place.
"W-what are you doing?" Tracey hadn't twigged it yet, but Oak had, and he had no words.
"Garu?" Dragonite looked around, confused, but eventually moved to stand by its trainer. Their defensive line seemed a whole lot weaker.
"I'm sorry." He said, climbing onto Dragonite's back.
"NO! NO, LANCE!" Cynthia screamed. Much of her earlier composure had fled at this betrayal; what had been a crisis was now something much worse. "It's a lie! You can't leave just us!"
"I can't take the chance."
"…"And they shall protect the innocent above all, for they are servants of the regions and will abide by nothing less than the highest codes of morality and honour."" Oak recited solemnly, and Lance turned to look at him, his face an anguished mess, a single tear dripping from his eyes.
The champion's code.
"You would do the same."
"I'm not sure I would."
"… Then I beg that you forgive me, old friend, for I must."
And with that, he was gone.
Dragonite blazed out of the window and darted off to the north-east, with no interference from those below. Lance was gone in the time it took them to blink.
A moment passed. Great humour erupted around and outside the house, a multitude of men and women rejoicing in the knowledge that their task had just become quite a lot easier.
"What do we do now?" Tracey asked quietly, shaking slightly at the magnitude of what had just occurred. "Professor? Cynthia?"
The blonde champion clenched her fist. The resolve, the defiance, came flooding back. She was back in control again.
"We hold. We defeat these scum. And we never give up!"
And it's finally over! This has been the hardest chapter of Venatus to write thus far, and I don't think it's my best; it's certainly quite heavy on dialogue over the description. Tell me what you think; I might end up re-writing it a little at some point in the future, albeit with no changes to the course of events.
Also, this is the last time I'm including an MTG chapter quote. I might think of something different to use instead for future chapters, but we'll see…
First the insult, then the injury.
Desertion, Sixth Edition