"He's heading left on Jade Avenue!"
The slim man with a dark hoodie and basketball shorts had taken off before either Ash or Brendan had a chance to even start apprehending him. Before long, the screech of a car as his partner had climbed in had gotten their attention, temporarily taking their eyes off their suspect. Unfortunately that was all the time he needed to get a head start.
Ash was in full pursuit on his heels as their suspect had decided to head into a farmer's market set up in the middle of the street. No cars were around on the street, although people were everywhere, selling everything from farm fresh vegetables, berries, fruits to homemade pastries.
As he shoved aside a pedestrian on a motor bike, he kicked on the gas and sped down the way without any consent of the people in front. Those who were in his path let out startled screams and quickly moved aside.
Close behind, Ash was losing ground after the new ride and didn't see any other options besides his own car, so he eased his pistol out of his holster and took aim, much to the gasps of the people around.
"He's gonna shoot him!"
Aiming squarely at the retreating biker, his finger began to tighten on the trigger.
Then suddenly as if Arceus knew his intentions and wanted to spare the man, a large cooler suddenly lurched out in front of the bike's path. It impacted dead center, throwing it off balance enough to topple on its right side. The sleek figure of Jewell stepped out from the side moments later, pistol drawn at their crook.
"Nice work Jewell." Ash complimented.
"You lied to us Fred." Ash circled him in their interrogation chamber. The interior had a dark bluish appearance with a polarized glass so that the prisoner would face the back of the room. One of the Jets would enter from behind and then come across the small table in the center.
"I'd never lie to you!"
"You did this morning before you even knew who we were."
"Look I would never had guessed you're some sort of super cop!"
"Oh really?" Ash chided, "What would you have done differently? Why the hell would you have ran off when you could have just called us for help? I mean, we wired you up and put you back to your dealer for a second deal."
"The dealer I met with was different. I've never seen that guy before!"
"Boss," Jewell said into his earpiece, "Got something for ya."
Ash stood up and he glared at Fred, "I'll be back." He menacingly threatened before heading out the door.
"Turns out that Fred was just a runner. CSU just recovered and processed his drug stashes and they discovered a hidden data disc drive that was inside one of the packs. They decrypted the intel on there and it shows details on Sinnoh's Navy plans for their new aircraft launching platform and build site."
"Wait, so this was never about the dope? This was all about the classified location of Sinnoh's new Navy plans?"
"I think so. The dealer was going to take back the drugs that Fred had bought and someone caught onto it and thought he could make a good deal by just getting back the cheaper narcotics while Fred had no idea that there was a chip containing a piece of intel on a classified Sinnoh military project."
"Have they confirmed this?"
"When I made the discovery, the a Sinnoh Admiral informed me that there was a security breach and a sleeper virus was discovered."
Ash nodded, "Jewell inform them that they may have compromised intel on their Naval plans and see what you can find on this new dealer's identity. When you're done, tear his history apart. I want to know everything about this guy down to where he went to high school."
"I'm on it," Jewell turned and began to stride out.
"Oh, and lunch is on me." Ash locked the door to the interrogation room, "Text me all of your orders."
"Okay, so we got flour, butter, milk, chocolate chips. Think that's everything?"
"I don't know." May looked over their shopping list as they cruised down another aisle of the grocery store. A jingle played on the overhead speakers and since it was in the middle of the day, only a few shoppers were seen.
"C'mon May, it was your idea to make blondies instead of cookies! How do you even know if he'll like them?"
When she didn't respond, Dawn looked over her shoulder. May was staring at someone in the far distance, transfixed by whomever it was.
There he was, standing right at the deli counter, speaking with the young employee behind the counter. He handed him a slip of paper and pushed his own cart down the aisle. His glance drifted straight at them and May let out a squeak and quickly hid herself behind another aisle.
"May!" Dawn scolded, "What in Arceus' name are you doing?"
"That's him!"
"Of course that's him! Why don't you go and say hi?"
"I don't him to see me here!"
"That's ridiculous May."
"No it's not."
"Yes it is!" Dawn chided, "You're acting like a kid again who's seeing their crush somewhere else besides school. Go on!" She pushed May out in the open, but her best friend refused to budge. "Say hi or at least strike up a conversation with him like normal people!"
May thought about Dawn's words and thought what bad could possibly come out of it. The least she could do is not visibly shy away from him in public.
Ash thanked the man with a basket full of sandwiches and chip bags before he made his way over to the express checkout lane and was out the door before May even had the chance to call his name.
"You just missed a great opportunity."
"So?" She retorted, "We're going to see him later today to give him the best gift we can." She had no doubt that due to her father's opinion of the man, he had tried to give him a large amount of money in order to force a cut in ties with her.
"A better gift is a sandwich with some head on the side, but this will do." Dawn chuckled perversely.
May felt no regret shoving her best friend against the aisle causing several jars of stacked food to shatter on the floor.
"Glad to see you back," Brendan accepted the bag and began to hand out sandwich orders. He jerked his thumb towards a six wheeler with several long boxes and a stapled packet of paper. "That just came in about ten minutes ago. The delivery person went to grab a coffee and he'll be back."
"You gonna tell us what it is boss?" Jewell asked.
"Sure," Ash waved the shipping guy over and sent him off with the signed forms and took the keys. "We got some new toys."
Flipping open the locks, he removed the lid to see a large foam padding and a piece of metal wrapped in clear plastic covering.
What he pulled out of the box surprised everyone.
Having been used to standard assault rifles with their magazine in front of the trigger, this new rifle had the receiver instead behind, closer to the shoulder. The overall size was shorter in a carbine fashion to provide extra mobility.
The front of the barrel had two sides of rails for an optical and side mounted attachment and the black silvery finish gave it a futuristic appearance. These new weapons were unlike anything they had ever seen before.
"Damn, that looks sick." Zack said, admiring the gun as he accepted his lunch.
"This is the X95 bullpup assault rifle. Chambered for the five five six round and modular accessories to fit different combat environments." He unlocked the other cases and the others had gathered around to view the same weapons. "These are ours and we'll start using them in our next operation."
"What's that one?" Jewell pointed to another box that was a little longer.
"See for yourself."
Taking the key from his outstretched hand, she headed over to the box and popped it open.
Inside was a black painted long barreled rifle with a modifiable rail and several optics. Compared to her previous banged up and used weapon, she felt giddy as a child having a new big toy.
"I heard you like the bolt-action." Ash came up behind her, "Mark twenty one Precision Modular Sniper Rifle. The three three eight Magnum cartridge will take off the hat of a bad guy at nearly fifteen hundred yards. This thing is gorgeous."
"She sure is," Jewell gave him a light hug, "You sure it's not my birthday?"
May felt uneasy as she and Dawn walked into the main entrance of the building were the address had directed them. For a group that did nothing but special operations, this seemed more like an office tenant than a place to plan strikes.
"Excuse me," She timidly asked a woman that was just exiting, "Do you know where we can find Ash Ketchum?"
"Go through the main hallway and take a left. The Jets' headquarters are right there and Lieutenant Ketchum's office is on the left."
"Glad it's all taken care of," Ash pushed the last paper into a folder and set it on his desk, "Now I can finally go home and relax for a moment."
"A moment?" Brendan chuckled, "Should be more like a couple days. I'm surprised you've cleared yourself back to active duty."
"I'm a workaholic, what can I say?"
"That you are not like a human being."
Decker was waiting for Ash's smart assed reply when he looked up and saw him with a rather surprised expression on his face. Looking behind, he saw the source of the unexpected turn of events.
May led the way inside with a rather attractive girl with bluish hair behind. She carried a large rectangular dish covered in silver foil.
"You know," Brendan's surprise turned into a smirk directed at his boss, "I haven't seen you this happy since the press conference."
"Why do you think she's here?"
"Oh I don't know," He sarcastically replied, "Wrong address?"
"Let's go find out." Ash stood up.
"Oh my goodness," Dawn gushed loud enough for only herself and May to hear, "He's even better looking in person. And his friend Brendan is just as hot!"
"Hi May," Ash's smile grew, "I see you had no trouble with the address."
May was a bit frozen with uncertainty of what to do so Dawn gave her a jab with her elbow. What she didn't know was that she had been daydreaming after looking at Ash's athletic shirt that hung loosely on his top and it defined his sculpted build.
"I…uh, brought you something." She took off the cover to reveal a golden brown crust of blondie bars. "I never had you as someone who liked brownies."
"Well I do prefer blondies over brownies."
That won about a hundred points with her. She nailed his sweet tooth on one try. "Does that also go to women? Because I don't fit that. Maybe a blowjob will do so-" She caught herself in mid-sentence and her face turned ruby red. Dawn burst into laughter, making May want to grab her in a headlock and escape before the awkwardness set in. The other man had also heard it and was giving Ash a rather suggestive grin.
"Ash, does this always happen to every country you go?" He gave his partner a pat on the back, "I say it once more; you're a lucky son of a bitch."
"Well," Ash tried to find a way to ease the humiliation she was going through, "Personally I find brownies can be too sweet, so blondies are just right. Especially with chocolate chips."
"Ash," May gestured to Dawn, who had finally died down from her laughing fit, "This is my best friend, Dawn Berlitz."
"Don't worry," He gave another one of his heartwarming grins as he shook her hand, "I only appear scary to pretty women if they're held hostage."
"We know you can't take a reward." May had no doubt that her father had tried to bribe him with a fancy check.
"You're right," Ash set his hands in his pockets, "We can't."
"And we didn't." Brendan finished for him.
When he saw May's face go down, he decided to brighten her mood, "But since blondies are not used in a form of bribery and are not currency, we can certainly accept that as an appreciation gift."
"How is your wound?"
"Ah it's healing," Ash rubbed his side where he had been stabbed, "I got him back though, so we're even."
May giggled.
"You seriously making it like a score?" Brendan asked.
"Well I'll say it's probably a four on the scale of the worst injuries I've received."
"Really?"
"Have you ever fallen two hundred feet down a mudslide?"
May gasped, Ash survived that?
"No and it's probably something you couldn't survive."
"I did," Ash proudly said, "Well I was wearing the Mark two Rhydon class Exoskeleton."
Dawn couldn't help but smile at the banter between the two of them. She had no idea that they were acquainted for only a few weeks, but behaved as if they were best friends for years.
"Oh and while we were here, we wanted to ask if you guys would like to help out at the youth swimming camp later this week? Broadstone holds one every summer for the underprivileged kids to put emphasis on exercise."
May stared blankly at Dawn, knowing she was taking a risky move in asking that.
"What do we need to do?"
"Just show up, teach them how to swim and races and all that," May hesitantly went along, "Mostly have a lot of fun, since everyone does while there."
"I'm down for it," Ash agreed with another signature smile, "Jewell's Navy, so she'll be there too."
"Jewell?" Dawn asked.
"Another member of our team. Both of you will love her."
"Awesome!" May secretly pumped a fist, knowing she would be able to see Ash again, "It's at West Petalburg's Community Center from eleven to three. Although if you're busy and are needed elsewhere, that's okay." She covered her mouth, not wanting to spill those words of discouragement out.
"What are you talking about May?" Ash asked, "Of course at least Jewell and myself will be there."
"Yeah," Brendan chimed in, "Zack and I can handle anything that crops up."
"We can all go out to this new grill place that Zack says is his favorite over by his place. You can meet the rest of the team there."
"Really?" Her eyes lit up, "Thank you so much!" Once again, she was flattered and threw her arms around Ash in gratitude. The reddened cheeks Ash had did not escape Dawn's or Brendan's attention.
"Yeah, c'mon," Ash set the pan of blondies on his deak and looped his arm around her back, "I'll walk both you out."
As he was about to leave, Dawn gave Brendan a rather suggestive look, "So what about you? Need a little special lady in your life?"
He raised an eyebrow in amusement, "I'm married."
It was Ash and May's turn to laugh at Dawn.
Always that one that gets away right Dawn?
Well it's been an interesting week. I had a fun time turning 21. Now able to legally purchase alcohol. No new tattoos, so that's a good thing.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.