The alarm screamed into Octavia's ears. On instinct, her arm shot out of her bed and attempted to silence the annoyance. She failed to reach the button on her phone twice before succeeding.

Her eyes opened, seeing the early morning sunlight pour into the room from the window above her head. She reached over to her phone and looked at the time displayed.

5:30 am

It was not usual for her to wake up so early, but today was important. Today was the test. She was not about to let herself be late, not after how well she gave the interview yesterday. There was no possible way she would allow this opportunity to slip away.

She sat up in her bed, stretching her arms above her head. Her fingers interlaced, she popped her knuckles one at a time, enjoying the sound and sensation. It was a pastime that she enjoyed causing discomfort for others with.

Quiet stepping next to her brought her attention to the side of her bed. Ace was there. When he noticed Octavia's gaze, he lethargically got to attention, still evidently tired.

"Stand easy, soldier," she said in a husky morning voice, "I didn't mean to wake you up, sorry."

Regardless of his state, the Pawniard saluted her. She smiled.

"Today's the test, Ace. I wonder if I'll do well…" Doubt began clouding her mind. She wasn't even sure what kind of test it would be. Surely it was a written test, right? She hadn't seen any indication that there would be a physical exam. The interviewer only mentioned a test, nothing more. Even then, however, he could have forgotten the details

and if that-

A sudden metal clicking snapped her out of her thoughts.

She looked at the Pawniard. "Thank you, Ace," she said, reaching down from her bed to pat his head.

"Maybe the test won't be so bad. I at least feel somewhat prepared." She pulled the blanket off her. Her legs freed, she swung over the side of her bed. "Who knows? Maybe I'll even 'ace' it."

At that, Ace only stared at her, giving a deadpan expression.

Octavia couldn't help but laugh at her soldier's reaction. "I'm sorry Ace, it was too good of a chance," she said, her laughter tapering off. She stood up, feeling her legs wake up from their rest.

"Let's get ready."

Being early to such an important test appeared to be a mindset that was only present in Octavia.

She sat in the waiting room of the Zuheimer police department, methodically tapping on her lap as she waited for time to pass. The clock on the wall read 7:13 am. And yet, with only slightly more than a quarter hour away from the test, she was the only in the waiting room.

She had chosen a white blouse with a blue dress jacket and white skirt. The interviewer hadn't explicitly stated whether or not to wear formal clothes but she wasn't about to take any risks.

However, she began feeling trepidation as finally others began walking in. None of them were wearing anything close to formal, just simple t-shirts, sweatpants and shorts. She held her poker face steady, but knew how much she stuck out like a sore thumb. The most she could be grateful for was that no one seemed to be giving her much attention for it.

Her glances to the clock became more frequent as time went on. It was partially in anticipation for the test, and partially because she hated to look around only to see someone looking at her.

Soon, her anticipation came to its peak as the clock finally hit 7:30. She waited, ready for Mr. Rexus to introduce himself and give her the test.

And she waited.

7:32

And waited.

7:36

And waited.

7:41

What was happening? Surely, Mr. Rexus would have been on time. She hadn't misremembered the note, right? It clearly stated 7:30.

Looking around, she realized that she wasn't the only one who was aware of it. Those that were sitting alongside her were now standing and conversing with annoyance with each other. Some took their grievances to the receptionist who assured them with little

confidence that Mr. Rexus would be coming soon. Octavia empathized with the receptionist. She knew how hard it was to endure all those voices yelling mean-spirited things when you were just trying to carry on. The angry, nonsensical voices. The deranged speech.

The yelling at her door…

She touched the pokeball on her belt. She wouldn't let out Ace here but to know that he was always with her gave her solace.

It had gotten quieter all of a sudden. Those that were once talking were silent and those who were by the receptionist turned toward the hallway to the rest of the station.

A short man, perhaps only five foot one at most, walked to the center of the waiting room. He was dressed in a gray t-shirt with a black leather jacket over it. The jacket held the Zuheimer police shield where his right breast pocket would be with a small strip of brass above it. The man's short brown hair did little to hide his sullen eyes.

"My name is Maxens Piston, and I am the captain of the Brass Squad of the ZHPD," he said, looking around to assure everyone was paying attention. "I am here today because John Rexus, the person who was supposed to assess you brats has gone off doing who the fuck knows."

His bitter tone had increased near the end, however he hadn't flown off the handle and yelled, which Octavia was grateful for.

He continued, "This internship is to show the police department which one of you has the qualities of a leader. Getting through these tests will grant you the opportunity into the ZHPD, or you can use it as a credit for college. Or maybe you're just doing it because whatever, I don't give a fuck. Evil is upon us or some bullshit… Criminals have been on the rise… Uh… the fuckin' Heyline Mafia, had to fight those bastards too many times…"

Max sighed, stuffing one hand in his jacket pocket. "Alright, look. There was supposed to be this whole fucking speech about the internship but whatever, I'm not the one who was supposed to do it. All you're doing today is a dumb fucking test which barely scratches the surface of the job. Understood?

There were a few murmurs around the people in the waiting room but none spoke out in objection.

"Alright," said Max, "Then get off your asses and let's get this over with."

He led the group down the hallway and throughout the police station. As they did, Octavia noticed the many pictures of officers along the walls, each picture accompanied with two dates on the bottom of their frame. She couldn't get a good look at any of them but she felt it was safe to assume they were the dates of their birth and death.

They turned into a room that was set up like a classroom. Many desks were arranged in a grid with chairs behind them. At the front of the room was a large desk that held a stack of stapled together papers and a box of pencils.

The tests , Octavia thought. They don't look too thick, this shouldn't be a problem.

Max stepped behind the big desk, "Alright you brats, take a test and a pencil and find a seat. Once you're there, you can open your test. Anyone who's cheating will be immediately kicked out and dealt with by me."

Octavia settled into line behind a few others and picked up her test and pencil after some time. On the front it read "Strategic Theory".

She made her way to the back corner seat where she would be the least disturbed. Her hand moved to the corner of the first page and turned it over. It had begun.

The first section was full of short answer questions about scenarios where crucial information to a case is learned. It appeared simple enough, report to the superior officer.

Next question, same thing, report to the superior officer.

Next question, again, report to the superior officer.

The next section was also full of short answer questions but this time it was more strange.

The first question read "Your superior officers cannot be reached. You have a gun. Your Pokémon cannot help you. The criminal is identified and confirmed. He's holding a hostage right in front of you with his gun to the hostage's head. The hostage is young and has tons of life yet to live. The criminal is yelling at you to put the gun down. Do you shoot the criminal, and risk the life of the hostage? Or do you put down the gun?"

The answer left Octavia with a dilemma, which she supposed was the intention. There were no strict rules here. This was a fight for life. A moment where one life could end if she wasn't careful. And if one life had to end…

…it had to be the one that didn't have as much life to live.

"I would shoot the criminal," she wrote firmly.

Octavia stretched her arms behind her head. The test was finished and she felt that it was fairly easy, minus the morally gray questions. And yet she felt a sense of dread. She suspected some of the others felt the same way, although she couldn't easily tell due to many of them still dutifully writing their tests.

She leaned back in her seat and rested a hand on the pokeball on her belt. She would have a good dinner tonight with Ace. Perhaps ramen, his favorite. She imagined his happy face as he was eating it. Although, not on his own. While knives were a utensil, they were not the type you would want to use with ramen. Octavia was scared senseless about him accidentally stabbing himself in his mouth.

She frowned. The idea of Ace getting hurt was one she did not want to come to fruition. It pained her to even think about it. They may play the roles of soldier and commander, but at the end of the day, they were still family. And her foster parents-

"Time's up! If you didn't finish, I don't give a fuck. Hand it in," Max shouted. There was a collective groan by some of the students. "Once it's in, you can go."

She waited for the people in front of her to hand in the tests and file out of the room before she got up and handed in hers. Making sure she still had everything with her, she left the room and Max followed suit.

"Ah, fuck," she heard Max say behind her. "Forgot to tell them all to meet back at 7:30 tomorrow. Fucking hell…" Octavia continued to hear a whispered string of profanities for a good while as they walked down the hall.

As they passed by the pictures of the officers, one caught her attention. She had missed it when they had first passed by it.

The picture was of a man. He had mid-length dark brown hair and green eyes. The name below it read "Lead Piston".

For some reason, it was familiar to her.

"Whatcha lookin' at, kid?" said Max.

She turned to him, "Lead Piston… who was he to you?"

Max furrowed his brow. "Why should I tell that to a brat like you?" he barked.

"It's just…" she looked at the photo again. "I feel like I know him from somewhere but I don't know… I've felt this before, this kind of… connection."

The captain looked at her as if she had two heads.

"What?" she asked.

"You're what, nineteen, twenty years old?" he said, crossing his arms.

"I'm eighteen."

"Eighteen right, so you were born in 2053?"

"No, 2054."

"Then how the hell would you know him?" Max pushed past her and pointed at the dates. The years read "2023 - 2053".

Octavia was confused. She hadn't expected such a life to be cut that short. What had happened to him? And why had she felt such a connection?

"You must have lost some brain cells from that test," Max muttered, walking past her.

She took one last glance at the picture before following.

As they came back through to the waiting room, Max went down another hallway to his own business, leaving Octavia.

She looked at the receptionist she had seen in the morning. The receptionist had her eyes locked on the computer monitor adjacent to her, typing on a keyboard at a chipper pace. There was still one gnawing question in the back of Octavia's mind that she needed answered.

She walked up to the desk. "Um, excuse me miss…" she glanced down at the name tag, "Miss Xinnia, I have a question."

Xinnia turned away from the monitor and put on a warm smile. She had wavy ginger hair and round black eyeglasses. Octavia thought she looked beautiful.

"Yes, how may I help you?" asked Xinnia.

"Do you know where Mr. Rexus is? I was told by my interviewer that he would be the one here today and instead we got Captain Max."

The receptionist looked nervous, "I'm sorry, miss, but I'm afraid I'm not sure where Mr. Rexus is right now. Have you asked Captain Max?"

"He was very… agitated that Mr. Rexus wasn't here. I didn't feel that it was a good idea to push that."

"Ah, that's understandable. It was supposed to be his day off which must have been so painful for him to give up, considering his line of work."

"I see…" Octavia pondered it for a moment. Something was wrong here but she couldn't put a finger on what exactly. First with that picture, and now with Mr. Rexus. What was going on?

"Miss?" Xinnia said.

Octavia shook her head, "Apologies. Thanks for the information, I'll be leaving now."

"Oh! Okay, have a good day!" Xinnia said, going back to typing on the computer.

Octavia turned to the door and walked outside.

Octavia passed by Eclipse tower but was too deep in thought to give it any notice. Countless thoughts took her mind, constantly giving her new questions to ponder about what she had experienced that day.

Who was Lead Piston to her? Why had he died so early? What was this connection to him? Why wasn't Mr. Rexus present for the test? What had been keeping him? "What kind of work was he doing?"

She stopped walking and put a hand against her temple. This line of thought was going nowhere, no matter how much she wanted it to.

She put her hand on the pokeball, paused, then took it off and pointed it to the ground.

One bright flash later, Ace stood at attention.

"Hey, soldier," she said, kneeling down to him. "How's my favorite Pawniard doing?" She put on a facade smile.

Octavia could feel Ace staring right through her. She didn't know how, but he always seemed to know when she was going through a rough patch, even when she attempted to hide it from him.

He took both his knives and pointed them to his face, below his eyes. From there, he drew them upwards at a curved angle, as though drawing a smile on his face.

It didn't take long for Octavia to realize that he was smiling at her.

Her facade smile burned away into a real one and she felt a few tears well up in her eyes. "Thank you, Ace," she said, wiping her eyes. Just as it was her responsibility to look after her soldier, it was his responsibility to do the same for his commander.

Standing back up, she said, "Come on, let's get home." Ace saluted and then began walking alongside her.