Chapter 14: Double Agents

I couldn't figure out how to feel about the fact that I was surrounded by three experimental Pokémon willing to help me find and rescue Chibi. On the one hand, three new powerful Pokémon as allies was undeniably reassuring. On the other hand, the fact that Razors was the friendliest of the lot wasn't exactly comforting.

Flygon kept tilting his long neck to look at me from different angles, sizing me up. "*So, uh, what's your deal, Rocket? How'd you get all buddy-buddy with Eight?*"

I folded my arms. "I'm not a real Rocket, and number nine was stolen from me, so I'm trying to get him back."

"*Wait, you're the one who stole him?*" he asked. I nodded, and the bug-eyed dragon gave a swish of his tail fan. "*Well, aren't we lucky? We've been graced by the presence of Nine's rescuer.*"

"*Shitty rescuer if he just ended up back here anyway,*" Absol added.

I bristled. But at the same time, I didn't feel like arguing. Not with experimental Pokémon whose good side I really wanted to stay on. My eyes couldn't help tracing the obsidian blade running along the left side of her face… but no. It was no use thinking of all the things they could do to me, and besides—they needed me. I could walk around the base freely—they couldn't.

"So… you two are also experiments, right? What were you mixed with?" I asked.

Flygon gave me a puzzled look. "*Huh? We're experiments all right, but we're not hybrids. We're clones.*"

I blinked. "Clones?"

"*Copies of other Pokémon,*" Absol clarified. "*Though I believe all of the clones that came after us were modified or enhanced in some way.*"

The emerald dragon turned his head sharply toward her. "*Hey. Just because we're copies doesn't mean we're not stronger than the Pokémon we were copied from.*"

"*No, actually, it kind of does,*" she muttered dully.

If it wasn't crazy enough that Team Rocket had created genetically modified hybrids, turns out they'd been making clones too? And these were just the regular clones—there were also super clones? This mission just got weirder and weirder.

"*Let's focus on our task,*" Razors cut in. "*Do you know the layout of this base?*"

"I've got a map here," I offered, pulling out my R-com.

The two clones moved in close to look at it, and I couldn't help flinching a bit. I didn't really want to get any closer to either of them than necessary.

"*So we're here? That means take a left, a right, go that way… and it should be down this hallway,*" Flygon said, pointing a claw at a point on the map. "*It's usually full of humans though.*"

Razors nodded. "*I'll have to be careful. If an experiment handler shows up, they could easily take control of me again.*" A chill ran down my spine. I hadn't considered that.

"*Right, right, so we'll be the muscle if it comes to that, yeah?*" Flygon said dismissively.

"If we even have to fight," I pointed out. "With how late it is, I should be able to just walk in and grab him."

Absol snorted. "*You must be new here.*"

"*Wonder how long it'll take for that optimism to get crushed,*" Flygon added, leering.

I scowled at them. Come on, I'd gotten this far without being discovered. They had to realize that much.

"So if that's all, then I should recall you now. You'd kind of be spotted instantly," I said flatly.

The two clones hesitated, throwing skeptical glances at Razors. "*I don't like this. Even if she did steal Nine from them,*" Flygon said, his wings buzzing with agitation.

"You don't think this is a trap?" I said exasperatedly. "It should be obvious I'm not a Rocket."

"*That's not it—competency is the concern,*" Absol said, her face completely deadpan.

I closed my eyes and exhaled through my nose, trying my best not to let their comments get to me. Even if they did have a point.

Razors ignored their concerns. "*This is our best option, both for freeing Nine and escaping from this place,*" he said firmly.

They both stared at him for some time, flickers of anxiety and uncertainty crossing their features, before finally—

"*Alright, you're the boss here. You better be right about this,*" Flygon said with a defeated tone. He tapped a claw against the button of his Pokéball and dissolved in a beam of red light. Absol followed suit right after him.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and pocketed the two Pokéballs before walking over and picking up Razors' ball from where I'd dropped it earlier. The Scyther nodded, and I recalled him.

Next thing I knew, I had slumped into the nearest chair, letting out a huge sigh of relief. That had gone way, way differently than I thought it would. But not in a bad way. It could have gone a lot worse.

I sat there for some time, letting my heart rate settle back to normal. Even after the immediate danger with Razors had passed, the entire conversation hadn't stopped feeling tense. Especially with the new experiments who didn't exactly seem too keen on helping a human. Still, selfishness had to win out in the end—I mean, I was helping them too, right? Either way, I couldn't keep thinking about that. I had to keep going with the mission. Mainly because the sooner I finished it, the sooner I could get out of here. And I really didn't want to spend any more time here than I had to.

With that, I forced myself out of the chair in one swift motion and took another look at my R-com to remember where my destination was. On the other side of the floor, apparently. Great. Time to get going, then.

It didn't matter that I was in uniform and technically had all the permissions to be here—it was impossible to shake the feeling that I'd be in big trouble if I was spotted. Of course, slinking around like a suspect and checking the coast at each corner was arguably more noticeable than just walking around like I was supposed to be here. But it made me feel better, at least trying to avoid running into anyone. Besides, a random kid grunt still had no business being in the experimental division at this time of night. So stealth was definitely not pointless. Yeah.

I glanced at my communicator. Looked like I was getting close. And sure enough, the sign on the door ahead of me read, "Legendary control testing facility." This was it.

I crept closer to the door, keeping my back to the same wall. Almost there… I reached the edge of the door and slowly craned my head up to peek over the edge of the window.

The room was empty.

Pfft, of course it was. What was I so worried about? I shouldn't have let the experiments get to me. I tapped my ID to the card scanner, feeling more than a bit self-satisfied as I walked in. The lights automatically flipped on when I entered, revealing a large computer lab with at least a dozen workstations. Half of them were in sleep mode, so this place had probably been in use recently. The usual giant monitors covered the walls, and what would have been the few bits of open wall space had spreadsheets pinned up all over the place. I took a closer look at one and it seemed to be some kind of Pokémon energy level chart. Or something to that effect, anyway.

Alright, I'd gotten here without any trouble. I pulled out the experiments' Pokéballs, both because they deserved to know and also because I kind of wanted to rub it in their faces. The three of them appeared in a flash of white light, scanning the room apprehensively but then relaxing upon seeing that the coast was clear.

"*Huh, you weren't kidding when you said you could do it,*" Flygon said, fixing his red-lensed eyes on me. "*I dunno what kind of magic you pulled to get in here without tripping an alarm, but keep at it.*" Holy crap, a compliment. Now that felt unreal.

Razors glanced around, his face the same neutral as it had been, but his movements anxious. "*We need to find Chibi.*"

Right, where was he? I whirled around, scanning all the machinery until my eyes fell on a black Pokéball housed within a glass chamber hooked up to one of the computers. There were no other Pokéballs within sight.

"This has to be him," I said, reaching forward and flipping the glass open before removing the ball. An angry beeping suddenly rang out from the nearest computer. I nearly jumped a foot in the air. What the hell? Why had—I froze, feeling my face go numb. Flashing violently on the screen were the words: "Unauthorized Experiment Removal. Admin Clearance Required."

"*Nice job,*" Absol said flatly.

What? No, not now. Not after things were finally going right! I practically threw myself into the chair, yanking the keyboard toward myself and hammering on it. A login prompt appeared. I punched in my ID, feeling like an idiot. Password… I didn't have a password. Trying to guess anything to put there wouldn't even make sense. And trying to guess the admin password was useless without an ID. What was I supposed to do?!

"*Fix it!*" Flygon cried.

"I don't know how!" I yelled back. They couldn't read what it said—they had no idea I couldn't do anything about it. Without a card scanner, I had no way of getting access to anything. And I'd only gotten access because of… Stalker! Like lightning, I whipped my R-com from my pocket and flipped through my contacts, searching for his name. He'd know what to do. He'd be able to fix this.

I froze. The sound of footsteps… right outside. If anyone saw me here, I was done for. Without thinking, I dropped to the floor under the desk just as the door suddenly burst open. Holy crap, that was too close for comfort. I wormed my way around, hoping to get a look at what was going on. A pair of officers stood at the door, Pokéballs at the ready, but they froze in their tracks upon seeing three experiments who were very much not supposed to be here.

"What the hell?" one of them blurted out. "How—"

Flygon flipped the closest table straight at the door, sending a wave of electronics flying around the room, crashing into monitors. Both Rockets jumped back out the door to avoid the cascade of sparks shooting through the air, right before Absol leaped over the fallen table, her body melting into shadow. Panicked footsteps and shouting echoed through the doorway, and then—

Flashing lights! And a blaring alarm out of nowhere. What now?! Several seconds later, Absol strolled back through the door, looking nowhere near as concerned by this as she should have been.

"*I could have got them before they triggered the alarm if this idiot hadn't scared them off,*" the dark-type said, fixing her crimson eyes on Flygon with an annoyed stare. The latter rolled his eyes and smacked her with his tail fan.

"*What now?*" Razors asked, calmly turning to me.

'What now?' How could he ask that like it was such a simple question?! What to do. What to do. Could I just recall the experiments? And be discovered standing here in the middle of a trashed room with no other possible culprit? Maybe if I wanted to be an instant suspect. As it stood right now, I had to keep up the appearance of a Rocket at all cost. That was my only chance on getting out.

"*In case you hadn't noticed, now is the time to be doing something,*" Absol said.

I bristled at her tone. But she was right, I couldn't freeze up. Not now, dammit. Not after all my training. Had to get away from here. I vaulted over the table in front of me and dodge-stepped around all the ruined computers, aiming for the door. If we got out of here in time, we could find a place to hide, and—

"Not that way!" I shouted, jumping back from the door like it was on fire. Another squad of Rockets was already racing down the hallway toward us. "We need another path!"

"*Don't gotta ask twice!*" Flygon exclaimed, turning around and charging up a pulsing ball of violet energy in his mouth. The bug-dragon waited until it was as big as he could handle, then blasted out a writhing shockwave of dragonfire at the opposite wall, tearing a gaping hole through it with a loud crash.

I stared at the wreckage, speechless with shock. Had he seriously just done that?

"*The hybrids never had me along on their escape attempts, otherwise they would've made it for sure,*" the bug-eyed dragon said proudly. He vibrated his wings and shot through the hole, shortly followed by Absol. Razors paused just long enough to tilt his head in a "come on" gesture before following the two clones. I sighed and pocketed Chibi's Pokéball. No turning back now.

The experiments sprinted down the hallway ahead of me, and the moving walkways had been deactivated, so I had to fight to keep up. But then… did I really want to catch up? Wouldn't it look better if I was chasing them instead of running with them?

"Stop right there!" I yelled with as Rocket-like a tone as I could manage. Hopefully that would sell the act harder.

Footsteps behind me. Apparently the Rockets had already discovered the convenient hole we'd left behind. Which meant I definitely wouldn't get a chance to recall the experiments now. Not until we managed to get out of sight and—

"Out of the way, grunt!" a Rocket behind me shouted.

Crap. Something told me I did not want to ignore the order. I threw myself to the ground right before the high-pitched whistle of tranquilizer darts tore through the air. Ahead of me, Absol whirled around and raised a shimmering Protect around herself at the last second, causing the darts to ping uselessly off the barrier. And then more Rockets appeared at the end of the hall. This was impossible. We were trapped.

Flygon shot forward and launched a spurt of dragonfire at the second group of Rockets, forcing them to release their Pokémon immediately to block the attack. The pause that followed seemed to last forever—both clones looked at Razors imploringly, and then he made eye contact with me. I stared back at his deep blue eyes that betrayed no emotion whatsoever. And then, without warning, the mantis shot forward too fast to see, flying straight over the scattered Rockets ahead of us. I caught a glimpse of a green blur rounding the corner at the end of the hall, and then he was gone. Flygon and Absol glanced back at each other and nodded before they both melted into shadow, slipping under the Rocket lineup, reappearing on the other side, and rounding the corner.

I stared, unable to work through what I'd just seen. I kept blinking, expecting I'd just imagined it or something. They'd left me behind? Had that seriously just happened? Why? I'd trusted them.

Except… my cover hadn't been blown. None of the Rockets were charging toward me, weapons at the ready. They were just… standing around, arguing, completely oblivious to my presence. Maybe being left behind was a good thing. And Razors had known that. That final look he gave me… he knew our only chance was to split up. But how would I find them again?

I was vaguely aware of one of the officers now shouting at me to join one of the other squads to help locate the experiments. Fine by me. I mumbled something that hopefully sounded like an affirmation before pulling myself to my feet and wandering over to stand next to a few other grunts, trying my best to give off 'don't talk to me' vibes. I didn't plan on sticking with them long. The first chance I got, I slipped away from the rest of the squad and wandered off in the opposite direction. There were Rockets scattered all over the floor by now—no one was going to notice a random grunt off on their own.

First things first—I had to know what had happened to Chibi. It couldn't wait, especially now that I'd lost the others. I would probably need his help getting to them… if he was capable of it. In my quest to find a secluded place to talk to him, I basically just walked in circles until I located an empty hallway, then ducked inside the closest storage room I could find. I found myself in a dingy concrete room lined with shelves containing practically everything—old machinery, Pokémon enhancements, ammo, you name it. This would work. I grabbed the black Pokéball from my pocket and then, as a bit of an afterthought, grabbed my other two Pokéballs as well. Just… something felt comforting about having Swift and Firestorm by my side when I finally saw Chibi again. Mainly because I was afraid of what I would find.

I let out those two first. The Charmeleon and Pidgeotto materialized in front of me, tense at first, but then relaxing when they saw that the coast was clear.

Firestorm's eyes immediately fell on the black Pokéball in my hand. "*You got him?*"

I nodded wordlessly. Swift must have noticed the hesitation in my expression, because he asked, "*Is he alright?*"

"We're about to find out." I shakily held out the black Pokéball and opened it. The burst of light took the shape of a small, yellow-furred rodent lying on the floor. Pointed head feathers, no cheek markings—it was definitely him. He wasn't moving.

"…Chibi?" I asked hesitantly. Nothing happened.

I clenched my fists, a knot starting to form in my stomach. What had they done to him? I repeated his name, and this time the hybrid's ears twitched. Several seconds passed, and then finally: "*That name… how do you know…?*"

I let out a sigh of relief. "It's me, Jade. Can you stand?"

The Pikachu very slowly pulled his arms under his body, struggling to lift his upper body from the floor. At the same time, he turned to face me. His eyes had a dull and distant look, heavily glazed over. They hadn't succeeded in taking his mind… had they? The fact that he'd said anything at all seemed to disprove that, but still…

"Can you understand me?" I asked cautiously, not sure I wanted an answer. Either way, I didn't get one. Chibi just collapsed back to the ground, breathing heavily, his eyes wide and staring.

My heart sank. I turned helplessly toward Swift and Firestorm. The latter walked over and crouched low next to the hybrid's crumpled form, poking him with a single claw.

"I don't think that's going to—" Before I could finish, the Charmeleon had gone and touched Chibi with his tail flame. The Pikachu sprang into the air with a pained cry, clutching the scorched fur on his back.

I shot the fire lizard an incredulous glare. "Really, Firestorm?"

"*You wanted him to react,*" he mumbled defensively. Whatever, that wasn't important right now. I snapped my attention back to Chibi, who blinked a few times and jerked his head around frantically as though he'd just come out of a trance. Suddenly, his eyes snapped onto me in disbelief. His mouth fell open.

"*You? It's really you?*" The hybrid stared at me for several seconds before collapsing against my knee, muttering, "*It's too late. There's no hope now… I wasn't strong enough. I should've fought harder… it's all my fault.*" He buried his face against the fabric of my jeans, continuously mumbling, "*It's all over…*"

I recoiled slightly, completely unprepared for this kind of reaction. I'd never seen him like this before. How was I supposed to deal with it?

"Er… it's okay," I said awkwardly. "What happened? What did they do?"

He didn't answer. He just kept shaking his head and making a strangled sobbing noise.

I gave Swift and Firestorm another pleading look. Firestorm just responded with a clueless shrug. But Swift slowly walked forward and rested his head on the Pikachu's back.

"*Try to calm down,*" the Pidgeotto said. "*We have to leave this place. Are you out of power?*"

The experiment stared up at us with a look of crazed desperation. "*Ha, I wish. I can feel it, I've charged up some since I was taken off the machine. It's not much, but it already hurts. It was kind of nice being hooked up to that thing. No pain, for the first time in so long.*"

I gaped at him. "What?"

Without warning, Chibi's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell forward flat on his face. I stared at him miserably. That wasn't exactly how I'd hoped our reunion would go. I had come here to help him… I just hoped that he wasn't beyond help.

"I'm not sure what to do now," I said to no one in particular.

Firestorm folded his arms. "*You can't just recall him and leave?*"

I sighed. "That would be nice, but… I haven't finished Stalker's mission. And what about the other experiments?"

Swift tilted his head. "*Other experiments?*"

"I got help from Razors and two clones."

Firestorm gaped at me. "*Razors? The mad Scyther from the plane? Seriously?*"

"He's not mad anymore, he was being controlled back then," I explained.

"*What?*" The Charmeleon's face scrunched up with incredulous skepticism. "*How did you figure that out?*"

"I… talked with him," I said, immediately realizing how that made it sound worse.

"*That was really stupid.*"

I groaned. "Whether it was stupid or not"—and it was, it definitely was—"he helped me get this far and we had a deal."

"*Then you should honor that deal,*" Swift said firmly. Firestorm gave the Pidgeotto a sideways glance.

"Thank you," I said exasperatedly, just happy to be done with the topic. "Now come on. I'm gonna go find them." I was just about to reach into my pocket for their Pokéballs… but then I paused. Why did I suddenly get the feeling we were being watched?

"Heya, kiddo. What do you think you're doing in our base, huh?"

My blood ran cold. The voice was right behind me.

In an instant, I leaped up from where I'd been sitting and whirled around to see a Rocket standing there—a slender girl with pale skin, long, curly hair, and a pointed face, currently fixing me with a devilish grin. How long had she been there? How did none of us notice her walk in?!

My eyes fell on the red stripes on her boots and gloves—officer rank. And really young for an officer. Like, right at the age limit young. Which pretty much meant one thing—she was a powerful trainer.

"Firestorm, Smokescreen!" I called out. No way I was gonna fight her if I didn't have to.

"Not a chance!" the Rocket yelled, and a dark green lizard shot out of nowhere, punching Firestorm square in the jaw right as he inhaled for the Smokescreen. The Charmeleon recoiled backward, coughing and sputtering as the opposing lizard backflipped away before he could counterattack. It landed nimbly in front of the Rocket, bouncing lightly on its hind legs and leering at us with bright yellow eyes.

Fine then, if she wanted a fight, she'd get one. My eyes traced the leaves on its head, arms, and rear—a grass-type, most likely. Both my Pokémon had the advantage against a grass-type, so if they could tag-team the lizard with both close and long-range moves, it'd be screwed.

"Firestorm, Ember! Swift, Aerial Ace!" I ordered.

"Dodge 'em, Grovyle," the Rocket said playfully.

Growling, Firestorm shot out a flurry of red-hot flares at the green lizard, who leaped aside at the last second with a smirk on its face. Behind it, Swift shot downward like a bullet, beak glowing white. Grovyle spun around, its eyes going wide for a split-second right before launching itself out of the way. No chance! Swift pulled out of the dive the instant Grovyle leaped, then followed up with a blindingly fast down-up strike, clean across the lizard's back.

All right! I knew it couldn't dodge the Aerial Ace! But then the grass-type spun around in midair and… grabbed hold of Swift's talon? What? Grovyle drew back a forearm and its leaves lit up with green energy, extending into long blades right before slashing Swift's underside. The Pidgeotto cried out and kicked his legs to shake the reptile free, but it had already jumped down to avoid more embers from Firestorm.

Dammit—it knew it couldn't dodge the Aerial Ace so it took the attack and went for the immediate follow-up. The same technique I'd learned from Stalker.

"Swift, pull back and go for Gust; Firestorm, get in close and use Fire Fang!" Firestorm could take hits better and Swift had better aim—they needed to switch roles.

Firestorm opened his mouth wide, fangs glowing like hot iron, and lunged forward at the grass lizard, who immediately jumped up and clung to one of the topmost supply shelves, out of reach. It stuck its tongue out at the Charmeleon, but then was forced to cling tighter as a sudden burst of wind whipped all the air in the room into a swirling vortex. Swift hovered in the center, adding more power to the frenzied winds, knocking scattered objects off the shelves while Firestorm attempted to climb up and reach his opponent.

I held my hair tight against the wind and squinted at the action as my eyes dried out. I saw Firestorm lose his grip and drop to the ground. Saw the Rocket observing the battle with a carefree expression. And her Grovyle still leaping around like a madman. Why was it just running away?! I thought we were the ones trying to escape! If it was going to keep doing that, then could I just make a break for it?

And then Firestorm suddenly dropped to all fours, eyes wide and limbs trembling. The fire lizard coughed a few times, his tail flame rapidly dimming.

"What?!" I exclaimed, throwing a glance at Swift. The Pidgeotto had landed on one of the shelves, clutching it with quivering talons.

"Lucky me! They're both poisoned!" the Rocket sang.

Poisoned?! When had the Grovyle used any poison attacks? I shot hurried glances between the two of them—sure enough, both Firestorm's jaw and Swift's legs had a sickly purple tone. But how?

I had pecha berries—I could heal their poison. But by now the Grovyle was advancing on me, blades lit. I jumped back from where I was standing, then suddenly found myself pressed up against the wall, both the Rocket and the Grovyle between me and my Pokémon, both of whom were struggling to stay standing. All while the Rocket kept leering at me with a devilish grin.

"You're part of that rebel team that started up recently, aren't you?" she asked. "Sneaking into our base, messing with our plans… I bet the executives will be pretty happy with me for catching you."

Oh hell no—she knew I wasn't just some random thief, but part of the Rebellion?! What else did she know about us?

And then she burst into a fit of laughter out of nowhere. I stared stupidly at her, unable to process what had just happened. She was… laughing? Why?

"Oh man! You should see the look on your face! It's freaking gold, I swear!" she cried, doubling over. Even her Grovyle was laughing now.

I stood pressed up against the wall, my breathing heavy and my heart pounding at a million beats a minute. What the hell kind of game was she playing?

"I… don't get it," I said finally.

She took a few seconds to wipe her eyes and get her laughter under control before saying, "Come on, it's not obvious? I'm just screwing with you. I'm not gonna turn you in, dumbass."

I blinked, my head starting to hurt. "You're—you're not?"

"No, but could you imagine? You'd be totally dead if I were anyone else!"

I stared blankly. "What's your deal?"

The Rocket giggled slightly before standing up straight. "Alright, alright—your team leader's an old friend from when I was a newbie on the force. He asked me to join his resistance, and I had to decline, but I agreed to help out where I could with the new rebel team."

What? Was that true, or just another trick? "So… you're also trying to stop Team Rocket, or—?"

"Leeeet's not get ahead of ourselves," she cut in. "I'm just trying to stop the Legendary project, and if that ends up causing a bit of chaos with the higher-ups, then all the better. Things have gotten a little boring around here with most of the other double agents gone."

I tilted my head. "So you're… a Rocket who's against Team Rocket's main goal?"

With a dark grin, she said, "This wasn't always Team Rocket's main goal, you know. It started as nothing more than just a Pokémon crime gang." It was bizarre hearing her nonchalant tone. "Course, that was long before I joined," the Rocket continued. "Ya see, for a long time, the whole Legendary conquest deal wasn't out in the open. Sure, the executives knew about it, but it wasn't until recently that the team was openly pushed towards that goal. That's when I started having second thoughts."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'm not looking to be a part of some Legendary war—screw that," she replied with a scoff. "So if I get to keep my position, screw with the higher-ups, and throw a wrench in that crazy-ass scheme, then that sounds pretty good to me. Besides, it's not like you guys are aiming to completely destroy the team, not that you could even if you wanted."

I didn't really know what to say to that. Nothing about this girl made any sense at all.

"So then why did you join Team Rocket in the first place?"

"Because it's fun," she said simply, curling a lock of hair around her finger. "I wanted to get stronger, have some power, and make easy money doing it. Simple as that. I follow orders, do 'em well, and when I was old enough, I got promoted to officer. You prob'ly noticed, but I'm also a qualified experiment handler." I hadn't noticed. I hadn't exactly seen enough Grovyle to know what was different about hers. Unless it had something to do with magically poisoning my Pokémon without using any poison moves.

"I always did feel kinda bad for the experiments—that's why I offered to train two of 'em. So fortunately for you, I want to help the ones that got loose." Her face split into a grin. "Call it a common interest." An endless list of Team Rocket activities to object to, and testing on experiments was somehow the only thing that registered. Okay.

"What's your point in telling me all this?" I asked, folding my arms.

"My point? Not everyone's satisfied with the direction Team Rocket is going in these days. The fact that your rebel team even exists is proof of that."

"So if you're gonna help, then help," I said, unable to shake the feeling that I was still being toyed with. That this entire conversation was a game somehow. "Do you know where the experiments are?"

"Not at the moment," she said in a singsong tone. "But I could probably find out."

I groaned. "Alright, then text me when you do," I said, holding out my R-com. She shrugged and pressed a few buttons on hers before holding it out. The lights blinked a few times as the two devices swapped info, then my screen displayed a message that I had added Stracion Decora to my contacts. I looked back at her face and was met with yet another trollish grin. It didn't exactly make me feel any better about all of this.

"I get the feeling you just wanna watch me make a mess of things."

She snorted. "That's true. Anyway, you're good to go, yeah? Cause I should be getting back to the others."

Good to go? Seriously? With Chibi out cold and both my Pokémon poisoned? "I… don't exactly have any Pokémon to battle with."

Stracion leaned over to get a look at look at the unconscious Pikachu lying behind me, as well as the Charmeleon and Pidgeotto who had been watching her very carefully this whole time, the former giving her a nasty glare.

"Right… you should probably wake up number nine. Try this." She pulled a revive out of the pouch hanging from her belt. "Suppose I owe you an antidote too, while we're at it. Sorry to say, I'm fresh out."

"Yeah, you… really didn't need to poison them," I said flatly.

Stracion shrugged and tossed me the revive. "Nope, I really didn't. Laters." She gave a quick wave before running off.

I just kind of stared at the doorway after she had gone, still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. I'd been cornered by a double agent whose only real agenda seemed to be causing discord. And she was willing to help me… kind of. If poisoning my Pokémon for no real reason was helping.

Firestorm scowled at where she had left. "*I don't like her.*"

"Not too sure how I feel about her myself," I admitted.

"*Likable or not… I do not believe she lied to us,*" Swift said, turning to face me. "*And you will need her help to find the others.*" He was right.

I sighed and pulled some pecha berries from the pouch on my belt. "Here, I've got these at least… sorry I couldn't give 'em to you sooner." I waited for them to finish eating before I recalled them, then refocused my attention on Chibi. He was still lying in a crumpled heap, breathing irregularly. Well, here goes nothing… I knelt down and cracked the shell of the revive crystal to activate it before gently holding it against his forehead. Then I waited. It wouldn't take long to react with his energy signature and wake him up, but time had slowed to a crawl, and the suspense was agonizing.

And then the Pikachu's eyes snapped open.

"Chibi!" I exclaimed, feeling my spirits instantly lift.

The hybrid blinked at me a few times before slowly pushing himself into an upright position. "*Nnn… what's going on…? My head feels like it's in a vice,*" he said, rubbing a paw over his face.

I clenched my teeth. "You were practically delusional earlier. How are you doing now?"

Chibi paused. "*I… I don't remember that. Everything feels hazy.*" He shook his head as though trying to clear it before looking up at me intently. "*How did you find me? And… why?*"

I smiled weakly. "I met up with Razors and two other experiments. They led me to—"

"*Razors?*" he gasped incredulously, his mouth hanging open. "*How—what… Razors?*"

"He… was being held in a containment unit. I guess they borrowed him from Tyson so they could do tests on him or something," I answered. From what Razors had said, it was obvious that at one time they had to be fairly close. Which made Chibi's blind rage during the plane incident all the stranger. Hadn't he tried to kill Razors?

Chibi stared at the wall, eyes wide with a tortured expression. "*It's been so long. I'd… after he was taken from me, I'd lost hope. I took him for dead, so having to constantly fight his mindless shell… at the time, it seemed better if he actually were dead. But now…*" It was really weird to see him looking so… vulnerable.

"They're loose in the base right now," I pointed out. "If we find them, we can all escape, and then he'll finally be free."

Chibi nodded distantly, his expression inscrutable. Again, he asked, "*Why did you come here for me?*"

"Why? What does that mean? You think I'd let them keep testing on you if I knew there was anything I could do about it? I never forgave myself for letting them take you that night."

The hybrid raised an eyebrow and surveyed me intensely. "*Don't try to pretend we had some deep trainer-Pokémon bond. Why risk yourself for me?*"

"You… saved my life that night." It was all I could bring myself to say.

A long pause followed. Finally, his expression softened somewhat. He seemed to consider the matter settled, because he then asked, "*So, who were the others?*"

"An Absol and Flygon," I replied.

Realization spread across his face. "*Twenty-four and Twenty-five… *"

I tilted my head. "Why do the experiments call each other by numbers?"

"*It's what the Rockets always called us,*" the Pikachu said simply. "*Of course… Razors and I did have specific names that we used around each other. The head experiment handler heard us once and jokingly referred to Razors by his nickname for a while, but then it stuck.*"

Huh… I guess that made sense.

I jumped at a sudden buzzing against my leg—oh right, it was just my R-com. Which meant I'd hopefully just gotten a text from Stracion? Sure enough, the message read: "Experiments last seen in D block on B2. Better go now before everyone else gets there!"

Chibi tilted his head at me. "*What is it?*"

I pocketed the R-com. "We've gotta go now. I need to find the others as soon as I can, and I might need your—" Wait. I'd just been assuming that Chibi was going to come with me… just because I'd found him again. But had he ever really been on my team to begin with? Sure, he'd stayed with me during Vermilion, but he had even admitted that was only because he didn't know what to do with himself yet.

I took a deep breath. "I might need your help saving the others. Will you come with me?"

The Pikachu blinked, looking taken aback. Then something like realization crossed his face. "*I'd forgotten how many stupid questions you like to ask. Yes, I'm with you.*"