Chapter 12: On the defensive

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NOW – ALOLA

Faba had Ash.

Faba had Ash – and Ash didn't know he was the man who had just betrayed him.

Kukui had no idea which floor they had taken with the elevator, but he was pretty sure it had moved upwards. He sprinted for the stairs, everything else he'd been doing forgotten, and took them up two at a time. He paused at every floor to check if the elevator was stopped there, but he already had a feeling they had probably gone to the very top. The roof.

Kukui wasn't in a bad shape physically, but he was exhausted and sweating and out of breath once he finally cleared the fifteen or so floors and reached the door for the rooftop terrace. Hesitated for a second.

And then he forced himself not to think, but to do, and pushed the door open. Sunlight hit him, and the salty ocean wind almost blew the cap off his head, but he just walked forward, determined to make sure today would not be the day he lost Ash. Not to Faba, and not to anyone else either.

He couldn't see anyone immediately, but the terrace went all the way around the building so Kukui steeled his racing heart and started to go around it.

Once he reached the north side, he saw them.

Faba, with his back turned to him and a phone pressed against his ear. Pikachu, stuck inside a little electricity-proof ball on the floor, its furious voice muffled.

And Ash, suspended in air by Faba's Alakazam using psychic.

"What do you want from us?" Ash was shouting. "Let us go!"

He stilled when he noticed Kukui standing behind Faba. "Professor", he said, surprised.

Kukui was already forming a plan in his mind. Ash wasn't held very far up from the floor, so Kukui would just have to distract Alakazam for a second for it to drop him, and then, if necessary, Kukui would challenge Faba to a battle and Ash would be able to get himself and Pikachu to safety.

"What did you say?" Faba asked Ash, lowering his phone, and Kukui acted.

Throwing a poke ball, he ordered, "Incineroar, use throat chop on Alakazam!"

Incineroar charged into action. Unfortunately, Faba had had a second to react, so he was already turning around and shouting, "Alakazam, teleport!"

Incineroar missed as Alakazam moved into a new location, and it stumbled, confused. Ash yelped as he fell, Alakazam's psychic interrupted, and for a moment he just sat there on the floor, staring up at Kukui with a startled expression. He looked unharmed otherwise, so Kukui focused back on Faba and his annoying psychic type.

"Focus, Incineroar. Use throat chop again!"

He had to be careful – in close quarter, unmonitored battle situations such as this many of Incineroar's moves could be dangerous to bystanders, and he couldn't risk hurting Ash accidentally.

Faba wasn't focusing on Alakazam anymore. He threw another poke ball, calling out, "Hypno, stop the kid."

Incineroar's attack connected, and Alakazam was thrown back. Kukui had a second to look and saw that Ash was on his feet again, had started running towards Pikachu, but Faba's Hypno caught him with psychic again and lifted him up, immobile.

"Let me… go!" Ash yelled, struggling against it.

"Faba, stop this", Kukui demanded. "It's not too late to come to your senses and end this!"

Faba just stared at him, glasses reflecting the afternoon sun, and ordered Alakazam forward. "Alakazam, use shadow ball!" He stepped back. "Sorry, Professor, but it is", he said. "I've made my decisions."

"Bulk up, Incineroar", Kukui said, and Incineroar did, enduring the attack right after. "But it's not", he said, tried to catch Faba's eye. "We can help you. We can get you out of it, together. Whatever it is you're involved in! Do you really want Ash to get hurt because of - what? Money?"

Faba scoffed. "You cannot help me. Hypno, move him up and forward. Alakazam, use shadow ball again."

Kukui gritted his teeth. "Incineroar, use darkest lariat on them both!"

"I wouldn't, if I were you", Faba said, just as Kukui noticed.

"Stop!" he yelled, horrified. "Incineroar, stop!"

Incineroar, confused, stopped mid spin and stumbled around. It was then thrown on its butt by Alakazam's attack and looked up at Kukui with a miffed expression. Kukui ignored it. His heart was in his throat, body frozen in sudden fear.

No. No no no.

"Faba", he rasped. "Please just let him go."

Faba, smiling victoriously, glanced at where Ash was now hanging, well of the building's edge, at least fifteen floors up from the lower deck. If Hypno dropped him, he would be gone. There would be no surviving that fall.

Not Ash. Not like this-

Pikachu was losing its mind in the trap it was still stuck in, clawing at the walls and yelling Ash's name. Ash, instead, was ghostly silent, looking down into the death drop, and then back up at Kukui and Faba, face pale and unreadable.

"Faba-" Kukui tried, but Faba raised his hand.

"No, you listen to me now", he said, his smile stretching manically. "Admit your defeat, Professor." He spread his hands. "You always looked down on me. All of you did. But look at me now!"

"He's just a kid", Kukui pleaded. "Please, Faba, there has to be another way."

Faba shrugged. "He made a fool of me plenty of times. Meddled with things that were none of his business. Ruined my reputation." Faba scoffed, annoyed. "My point is, he's no innocent."

"Professor Kukui", Ash called, the wind almost catching his voice completely and whisking it away. Kukui strained to hear him. "Don't worry about me. You should go warn the others as soon as you can!"

"One wrong move and he drops", Faba warned, before Kukui had time to react. His pulse thundered in his ears. He wasn't about to leave Ash, obviously, but he also had no way to protect him like this. He gritted his teeth and stayed still.

Kukui was pretty sure Faba was bluffing anyways, playing time until Team Enigma arrived. He wouldn't actually kill Ash just like that, right? Right?

But Faba wasn't all there either, Kukui noted. He seemed a bit crazed, a bit out of control. Kukui had no idea what the man was planning to do next. If even he knew what he was going to do next.

"They will respect me now", Faba said, arms spread wide. "You all will respect me now!"

Kukui grimaced. This wasn't good. Really, really wasn't good.

"Faba, look", he said. Desperate, now. "I'm not gonna do anything. I'll- I'll recall Incineroar and sit down, and you can take all my poke balls. I promise. I promise I won't stop you or go against you. Just bring Ash back from that edge, alright? That's all I ask."

"Professor Kukui, you can't let him take your pokemon!" Ash shouted, and Kukui wanted to scream. "He'll give them to pokemon hunters, and they'll be taken away!"

Kukui closed his eyes briefly. It was clear Ash caring more about the safety of his pokemon than himself wasn't a new development in his character.

"I have an even better idea", Faba grinned. He bent down to go through his bag and pulled out a pair of reinforced handcuffs. Probably meant for pokemon, but would work well for holding humans, too. He threw them at Kukui, who caught them reflexively. "Go on, put those on. After that, maybe I'll consider helping your boy."

Kukui stared at him. Faba tilted his head. "And that Incineroar. Call it back first."

Kukui fumbled for his poke balls, and only when he held Incineroar's did he realize how badly his hands were shaking. "Incineroar", he said, voice tight, and the pokemon looked at him, a growl rumbling deep in its chest. "Return."

When that was done, he looked down at the cuffs. Heavy and metallic, they would completely immobilize his arms. If he put them on and Faba decided he wouldn't bring Ash back to a safer area, there wouldn't be anything Kukui could do about it. It was a risk.

A massive risk Kukui didn't know whether he could take.

The unfortunate part was – in the end, he didn't have to. Almost in slow motion Kukui watched as Faba, already feeling victorious, spun around cackling like a maniac – and stumbled straight into Hypno.

And Hypno, its focus breaking, dropped Ash over the edge of the building.

For a fraction of a second, time stood still.

And then Kukui was running, sprinting past Faba who stood there shocked, stumbling over his feet as he reached the edge of the terrace. "Ash!" he screamed. "Ash!"

Behind him, Faba mumbled, "I- I didn't mean-"

At first, Kukui couldn't see Ash anywhere. Not falling to his death, not lying there on the lower deck mangled and broken, nowhere. And then-

"Professor!" Ash said, floating up to him. He was being carried by Naganadel, which he must've released from its ball while falling – because of course, how silly of Kukui to not think of that – and he was grinning, bright and exhilarated. "I told you I'd be fine!"

Kukui's knees went weak. He leaned against the railing, breathing out long and hard.

"You're okay", he said shakily. "You're- you're fine."

"Yeah", Ash nodded sunnily. "I had time to make a plan in case I got dropped so I wasn't really worried." He looked past Kukui and frowned. "Anyway, we probably shouldn't let him leave, right?"

Kukui spun around on his heels.

Faba was slowly backing off, eyes wide behind his glasses, and Kukui decided he'd had enough. He threw a poke ball.

"Incineroar, use blast burn!" Kukui yelled, releasing it and taking out another poke ball right after, "Braviary, use rock slide!"

The pokemon worked quickly and in perfect harmony, damaging both Alakazam and Hypno before Faba had any time to react. The explosion of flames and residue engulfed the space between them, giving Kukui a second of spare time.

"Ash", he said over his shoulder. "I'll hold him off. Now is your chance to help Pikachu!"

"Right!" Ash agreed, and Naganadel flew over and dropped him near Pikachu's cage – safely behind Kukui and on solid ground – and for the first time since Kukui came up to the roof he felt like he could focus.

"Alakazam, use miracle eye on Incineroar!" Faba ordered. "Hypno, use hypnosis on it!"

Alakazam's eyes glowed as it locked eyes with Incineroar, leaving Incineroar vulnerable to Alakazam and Hypno's psychic attacks. Hypno, right after, started swaying, its pendulum swinging gently as it cast a hypnotic spell upon Incineroar. Kukui grimaced as Incineroar stumbled, falling shortly asleep.

Faba was planning to go down fighting, it seemed.

Well, Kukui could deal with that.

"Now, Braviary - use sky drop on Hypno!"

Braviary swooped down with precision, clutching Hypno in its talons and soaring into the sky. Hypno struggled, but it was momentarily incapacitated, unable to retaliate.

Faba made a face. "Alakazam, use shadow ball and try to hit Braviary!"

"Don't let it hit you, Braviary", Kukui ordered. "Dodge around and drop Hypno on Alakazam!" He quickly looked at Incineroar, still sluggishly lying on the ground. "You okay, Incineroar? Can you get up?"

Incineroar grunted, slowly standing up again. Meanwhile, Braviary dodged everything that was thrown at it and then spun around, charging towards Alakazam. When it was close, it let go of Hypno and it crashed into Alakazam, sending them both stumbling on the terrace floor.

"Good work", Kukui said. "Incineroar, now, let's finish them off. Use darkest lariat!"

Incineroar charged, its hands covered in fire and spinning with powerful force.

Faba wringed his hands as both his pokemon were still picking themselves up from the floor. "Alakazam, teleport!" he ordered hastily, and just in time Alakazam got out of the way of Incineroar's attack. Hypno, though, was hit hard by it, and stayed down. Faba gritted his teeth. "Dammit! Alakazam, shadow ball!"

Alakazam had teleported behind Incineroar, and in a last-ditch effort, it gathered its remaining strength, attacking with shadow ball. The powerful attack took Incineroar by surprise, and it stumbled forward, strength faltering.

Luckily, though, Braviary was still undamaged, circling safely in the air.

"Braviary, use brave bird! Give it all you've got!" Kukui ordered. Braviary took up a little altitude before shrieking defiantly and charging forward, slamming into Alakazam at full force.

The psychic pokemon crashed to the ground and didn't get up.

It was over.

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THEN - SINNOH

Ash didn't go down easily. He never did.

"You little shit, stop…!"

Someone was holding him down, heavy hands on his shoulders, pressing him down onto a stretcher, and he lashed out, the heel of his hand hitting something hard. He wished it was the man's face.

"Goddamnit kid, stay put!"

Ash struggled with all he got, but his every move was sluggish, and he couldn't get his eyes all the way open. Still, he kicked with his legs until someone sat on them, their full weight crushing him into the bed.

"How's he this awake already?"

Ash curled his fingers into a fist – at least he though he managed to – and punched up with a satisfying crunch.

"Ah, you bastard! Help me hold his hands, would you?"

Ash, teeth bared, tried to pull his arms against his chest, but there was another person now, grabbing each of his wrists and pulling them apart above him. A woman, considerable strength in her arms, and Ash's drugged body was no match to it.

Ash growled, then, a deep guttural sound. "Wait-"

"Alright, you got the straps ready?"

Twisting with his whole body, Ash panted, "Don't-"

"Relax, brat", the person holding his wrists said calmly, though her grip tightened almost unbearably. "This is for your own good."

Reality was slipping from Ash's meager grasp.

"Please don't", he whispered, but he wasn't sure if he had spoken out loud anymore.

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He woke up to the sounds of machines beeping around him.

It wasn't the first time he'd woken up after getting strapped down to the stretcher, but it was the first time he felt like he could finally stay awake. He'd already gathered he was in some kinda private lab or a hospital room, lying down secured onto a gurney. Worrying his lip, he stared up at the gray ceiling of the room, trying to remain calm. Hunter J really had gotten the best of them this time. He wondered how Max and Tobias were doing, if they were strapped down like this as well or if they were together somewhere. If they were safe.

And, of course, he also wondered where Lucario and Pikachu were. But he tried to not think about that too much just yet.

His heart rate must've jumped high enough, because an alert started ringing, louder than any of the other sounds in the room. It didn't take long before someone stuck their head through the doorway, noticed he was awake and then disappeared just as quickly.

"The kid's awake!" Ash could hear him hollering, the sound echoing down the hallway.

Ash swallowed thickly, his throat feeling parched. He quickly took note of his current state of being. His head was giving him the most trouble - he still felt slightly off, his brain sloshing around in his skull and eyes heavy and dry. His shoulders and back felt sore and he thought if he stood up too quickly, he might throw up.

His wrists and ankles were secured to the sides of the gurney with thick leather straps, though the ones on his legs had enough give that he could move them around a bit. He pushed himself into a sitting position and pulled one of his knees up, restless.

After maybe ten minutes – Ash kinda lost track of time a couple of times – the door opened again, and Hunter J walked in.

"Good morning, Ash", she snarked, coming to stand at the end of Ash's bed.

Ash eyed her. "What do y-" He had to stop to clear his throat. His voice was almost gone, barely above a whisper. He tried again. "What do you want? Where are Max and Tobias?"

Hunter J tilted her head. "They are all okay, for now." Hunter X folded her arms behind her back. "You really did a number on Dirk, though. Punched him right in the eye – twice."

Ash swallowed. "Dirk?"

"Oh, right", Hunter J smiled, and there was something cruel hidden behind her features. "You probably didn't catch his name earlier, but that was the young man you met with at the pokemon center yesterday. You demonstrated your impressive aura abilities on him, remember?"

Oh, Ash thought, eyes widening as realization dawned on him. Pointy-nose.

He was the one who spread the news about Lucario and him, and caused the attack on the center? The guy Ash sent flying across half a room with a random uncontrolled burst of aura? The guy who at most got a lecture from Kellyn and then was sent on his merry way? That guy?

Ash felt like such an idiot for completely forgetting about him.

Hunter J was watching him closely, no doubt seeing him go through at least three different emotions in a span of seconds. "Well, I see you do remember him", she remarked. "Also noticed you didn't try to deny having aura abilities. A rare gift, that is."

Ash just stared at her. Cleared his throat again. "What d'you want? From us?"

He tapped the fingers of his left hand anxiously. He was kinda in a hurry to save Mew from the other bad guys, to be perfectly clear. He really didn't have time for this other evil hunter and her – probably grand, surely very important – plans of revenge and infamy, of whatever it was that she was after.

Hunter J, though, was in no hurry. "You're awfully curious, aren't you brat. Well, mainly I was after you and the lucario, and those I got. Your little friends though… well. I suppose I'll figure something out." She narrowed her eyes then, sharp, calculating. "Tell me this, Ash. What is your history with Team Enigma?"

Ash startled, taken aback by the question at first. His answer, though, literally died in his throat as his voice only came out as a hoarse wheeze, his mouth feeling like sandpaper. He tried to lift his hand to his burning throat, but the cuff on his wrist caught and clattered obnoxiously against the railing. Ash winced, grimacing in frustration.

Hunter J's brow raised a touch. "Right. We found out the sleeping gas we used causes severe soreness of throat for humans. We also had to dose you again with another sedative, since you were flailing around like a little bitch earlier. That's why we stuck you in here and not with your friends."

She clearly didn't mind that Ash couldn't (and wasn't even attempting to) reply, since without further comment she stepped forward and started undoing the cuff on his right wrist. Once it was free, she handed him a cup of lukewarm water. "Go on", she ordered. "We don't have all day."

Ash sipped the water greedily. Meanwhile, Hunter J undid the rest of the cuffs around his wrist and ankles.

"Recommend not doing any sudden moves", she said. "I'm sure plenty of buyers out there would be interested in a pikachu as powerful and lively as yours. Keep that in mind before you do something you might regret."

It was an odd and a uselessly convoluted way, in Ash's opinion, to say that unless Ash did exactly as he was told, he would never see his pokemon again. That Ash was a prisoner and Pikachu, and the others were held as hostages to keep him in line.

"Right", Hunter J said as she was done. "You feel like talking, yet?"

"Mayb-" Ash cleared his throat. "Maybe."

After every sip, he felt better. His throat was no longer on fire, only inflamed and terribly hoarse. He could probably talk.

Hunter J rolled her eyes. "You better be. So, let's continue where we left off." She sat down on one of the chairs next to the bed, and bluntly asked, "How did a brat like you end up working for Team Enigma?"

"What? I didn't!" Ash yelped. "I'm not part of them or any team or anything. I promise!"

J scoffed. "Right. You said you knew me from before. When did that happen?"

Crap. Ash tried to not make a face. He hazarded, "Um… a couple of years ago?"

He only got a nod and a, "And where was this? Which region?"

"Uh", said Ash. "Here in Sinnoh?"

"Are you from Sinnoh, Ash?"

"No, I'm-" Ash stopped, biting his lip. "I'm just- I'm just a normal kid from Kanto. Please, I'd really like to see my friends now. I gotta make sure they're okay. Could I see them even for a minute at least?"

Hunter J's eyes narrowed minutely. "You see, I happen to have no recollection of you", she said, completely ignoring him. "Also, I know I've never gone after anyone with a pikachu before because pikachu are typically not very interesting to hunters of my caliber.

"So I think you're lying, Ash", Hunter J said neutrally. "I think the fact that you knew Summers was suspicious enough, but you seem to also personally know Tobias – who is, as I'm sure you're well aware, quite notorious a member of Team Enigma. In addition to all that, you also have powerful aura and you're clearly trained to handle high-stress situations. So no, I don't believe you are an ordinary kid. I just haven't yet figured out what you are, exactly."

Ash didn't know what to say. What he even could say.

"So let me ask you again", Hunter J said. "When and from who did you learn about my plans to catch Mew? Who do you work for?"

Ash shook his head slowly. "I don't-" he started, stunned. "I'm sorry, I really don't know what to tell you. I'm not anything special, anyone special, or whatever you think I am. I was just traveling with my friends when all this happened, really."

Hunter J's lips twisted into an ugly frown. "Oh, and you just happened to sneak into my aircraft", she snarled, leaning towards Ash, "steal part of my cargo and jump out of the plane with no parachute and survive – just minutes before Team Enigma shot my plane out of the sky and stole the Mew we had been tracking for months. Just a normal day for you, hm?"

"I- I couldn't let you take Lucario", Ash said weakly.

"Most of my very expensive gear got destroyed in that crash", Hunter J snarled. "Including the device that I use to petrify pokemon. Half of my crew are injured and out of commission. My client will come after my neck all the way from Galar if I don't deliver them that Mew, and soon."

Ash bit his lip. This sucked. Everything about this sucked.

He had never wished more he was back in sunny Alola with Professor Kukui and all his friends. Where all he would worry about was schoolwork and beating the Island Challenges. Even his Championship victory felt so far away now, even though it had only been a couple of days since then.

"So if you work for Team Enigma", Hunter J continued. "And were part of their plan to track and destroy us for that Mew, well. I don't forgive very easily."

Ash leaned back, helpless. "I already told you I'm not. You gotta believe me!"

At once, Hunter J stood up, her chair scraping against the floor. "We'll see about that, I guess", she said, looming over Ash. "Because you're going to help me get Mew back."

Ash stared up at her.

What a mess. What a terrible, horrible mess this had turned out to be.

"Okay", he told the hunter, feeling too exhausted to argue. "Okay, I'll do it, help you, whatever. Just, um… could I please see Max, and Pikachu, and Tobias first? Before we go? Please?"

Hunter J rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Come on, then. Let's go see your friends."

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It was… not what Ash had been expecting.

After leaving the med bay, they walked down a few short hallways, their steps echoing around them from the empty walls. Despite Hunter J still limping slightly, she moved with a surprisingly swift pace. Ash kept silent – and not just because of his sore throat. Hunter J wasn't dragging him along forcibly like a prisoner, but it was quite obvious Ash didn't have much say in the matter of whether he wanted to go or not.

He trudged along behind the woman, following her down two sets of stairs and a long corridor, leading them eventually at a heavy, steel door. Hunter J pushed it open and stepped aside. "In", she said sharply.

Ash did as he was told and looked around. The large warehouse hall was lined with shelves, many of which were filled with the petrified forms of variety of pokemon. Ash felt sick to his stomach.

"What're you gonna do with all of them?" he asked breathlessly.

Hunter J glanced at him sideways. "Do you really want to know?"

Ash glared at her sideways. "It's not right to hunt them like this", he said, steadier now.

Hunter J scoffed, ushering him forward. "It's reality. This, right here, is what the whole pokemon business is built on. Or did you really think everyone goes out into the wild to catch their own?"

"I-" Ash stuttered, "Yes?"

Hunter J yanked on Ash's arm as he rounded a tight corner. Ash bared his teeth as pain shot through his sore shoulder and stumbled after her. "Well, sorry to break it to you, but that's not how it goes in the real world", J said bluntly. "If a spoiled little brat in the city wants their own, let's say, a shiny persian, you can be damn sure their dear mama isn't going into the woods to catch them one. No, they pay their local distributor who then provides them with the pokemon in question. And people like me – we do the dirty work behind the scenes to keep all of this going."

Anger flared within Ash. "Why?" he asked. "Why do you do it?"

Hunter J stopped them in front of a heavy door. "Why?" she repeated in a mocking tone, as she fished out a key ring. "Money, obviously."

There was a glimmer in her eyes as he said it. Ash shivered.

Hunter J opened the door. "In you go. We'll be back for you in the morning."

With a rough hand between his shoulder blades, she pushed Ash inside so that he almost fell straight onto his nose, and slammed the door shut behind him.

There was a moment of silence as Ash got his balance and attempted to figure out where he'd ended up this time.

And then, "Ash!"

It was Max. Ash had a second to look up and see a flurry of black hair barreling towards him, and then Max was there, wrapping his arms around his waist and squeezing.

"Oof-" Ash coughed as the wind got knocked out of him. "Max!" He put his hands on the boy's shoulders and pushed him back a bit. "You're okay!"

For a moment, Max didn't say anything. He hugged Ash tighter for a second longer and then let go, stepping back and schooling his face to a more neutral expression.

"Obviously", he said, but the hoarseness of his voice betrayed him. It revealed the same stark emotions that were written all over his face; he looked utterly exhausted, and frightened, and miserable. And young – so, so young.

"And you?" a voice asked, and that's when Ash realized Tobias was also in the room, sitting in the back corner and gazing at him intensely. "Are you alright? They only told us you were being monitored after you had an adverse reaction to the sedative, but it's been a few hours already. We were starting to think something else had happened."

A reaction. Ash could still taste the bitter tang of the drug on the back of his tongue. "Didn't have a reaction", Ash huffed, miffed. Paused to think, since he didn't want to concern his friends. "I woke up too early, so they had to drug me again. I only woke up like half an hour ago."

Tobias's lips twisted unhappily. "That's nasty. Though I suppose the reason you woke up quicker than expected might be because of the strong aura you possess. Aura, among other things, has healing properties and tends to react strongly to situations where its user is in danger."

Ash tried to conceal his surprise. "Yeah, maybe."

He recognized both of those to be true, for sure. People always told him how strangely fast he healed. How easily he survived and recovered from incidents that should have been nearly fatal. And with Lucario, he'd certainly started to experience those strong reactions, as well.

"You're okay though, right?" Max asked uneasily. "Your voice sounds pretty awful, y'know."

"It's just 'cause of the drugs", Ash said, rubbing his sore throat. "Or so she said. I'm fine otherwise."

He observed the tiny space they were in. It looked kinda like a back office or a control room, though stripped of any furniture, with a barred, dusty window on the same wall as the locked, heavy door. "What's this place, anyway?"

There were a few blankets and pillows on the floor, one of which Tobias was sitting on. Besides them three, there was no one else. Their pokemon – Pikachu and Lucario included – had been taken somewhere else.

"Dunno", Max said. "We woke up here some time ago. Someone came by to bring us water and told us you'd be here soon."

"And our pokemon?" Ash asked.

Tobias scoffed at that, and Ash turned to look at him more closely. The older trainer was sitting down, shoulders slumped and his usually neat blue hair frizzy and unkept. The fringe that always went over his left eye was swept more aside, and Ash could see a white edge of a scar under it. Tobias's demeanor was defiant, but Ash could see and sense his exhaustion clearly as day.

"Somewhere 'safe' apparently", Tobias said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Though I wouldn't trust these people to be honest about anything."

"Man", Ash said, brow furrowing, "they better be safe or I'm not gonna do anything for these people, no matter what they do or say. I'll make sure of that."

Tobias looked up, surprised.

"They asked you to do something for them?" he asked. "Like what?"

"I dunno", Ash sighed. "To help them get Mew back, somehow?"

Tobias stood up abruptly, staring at him.

"What?"

"I mean…" Ash waved his hand around. Attempted to start from the beginning. "The thing is, Hunter J thinks that maybe I work for Team Enigma 'cause I know you and 'cause I 'stole' Lucario from her right before her aircraft went down." He shrugged weakly. "I guess? So she wants me to prove that I'm not part of it by helping her get Mew back."

"She thinks that you're-" Tobias began, before frowning. "Now hold on a minute. What do you mean, you stole Lucario from Hunter J? From her aircraft?"

There was something very intimidating about Tobias in that moment. The look in his eye was piercing and he stood at his full height facing Ash, both hands curled into loose fists at his sides. Ash raised his hands in front of him placatingly.

"I didn't know about any of this in advance, I promise", he hurried to say. "Me and Max and the others – sure we helped Mew and Lucario before any of this happened, but getting involved afterwards was an accident!"

Max snorted, and both Ash and Tobias whipped around to look at him.

"I don't think it was an accident how you climbed onto that plane as it took off", Max said, rolling his eyes. "You know we had to watch you hang on for dear life as it rose into the sky and flew away. You were pretty lucky you didn't die!"

Ash sucked in a breath and gave him a warning look. "Max-"

Max shook his head. "No, actually, I think we should talk about this. I don't care if you're from the future – even if in the future you're an Olympic gymnast or whatever, that was still an insane thing to do! The scars you have on your shoulder… Man, I dunno. It sure didn't look like you didn't wanna get involved."

Ash's heart was pounding. He whispered, "Max, he- he doesn't know."

Max frowned. "Know what?" He glanced at Tobias, and Ash could see the moment it clicked. His eyes widened. "…Oh."

"What do you mean", Tobias said, evenly, "that he's from the future?"