Author's Note: Was hoping to have this one out sooner than this, but at least it's finally here-

Chapter 55: Checkmate

Footsteps echoed off the walls. A stifling air of tension hung over all of us—me, Starr and Ajia. Raven and Ender were walking alongside us, and I could not get over how surreal this felt. Some part of my brain couldn't process the fact that we were heading into a meeting with them and not, like, some sort of life-or-death battle. We were in a League office, so it wasn't as if they had the upper hand here. They (probably) couldn't do anything to us. Still, it was awkward and uncomfortable.

Lance had handed us off to a League employee, who led us to a meeting room. The door opened, and everyone—Rocket and chosen alike—funneled inside.

"Please wait here. A representative from the Elite Four will be along shortly," the League employee said before shutting the door.

The silence was biting. We were standing here with the people who'd tried to kill us on multiple occasions. And that was supposed to be okay?

I tried to find something to look at that wasn't the two Rockets. My eyes drifted from the blank TV screen mounted on the far wall to the many office chairs surrounding the meeting table, to a couple of potted plants and a desk calendar on the side table that was set to September 12th. I wasn't sure if that was current—the days since my stay in the medical ward had all sort of blended together.

Most of our Pokémon were waiting outside, but I spied Pichu occasionally peeking out of Ajia's bag. Or at least, who I assumed was Pichu, but very well may have been Mew.

Ender glanced back and forth at our group, looking vaguely amused. "Now now, there's no need for hostility," he said, holding both palms out disarmingly.

Ajia raised an eyebrow. "Really? How many times has your group tried to kill us?"

He shrugged. "Not as though we can do that here."

Starr hadn't said anything since we arrived. She was just leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, fixing her hateful gaze on some particularly offensive spot of carpet.

Ender smirked. "So, Astrid, how's the rebel life treating you?"

"Fuck off."

He put a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Language." Then he sidled over to her. "It's been a while since we've had the chance to chat, hasn't it? Executive to former executive. I can finally say that I understand how hard it is, running the combat unit. The responsibility must have been too much to bear, especially at your age," Ender said dramatically, draping the back of his palm across his forehead. "Really, I try not to speak ill of the boss, but what was he thinking?"

It looked like it was taking Starr's every effort not to punch him in the face.

"I realize we might have our differences now, but… I can't help but wonder if we'd still be standing on the same side, had things gone a little differently. Hard as it may be to believe, I only ever wanted to help."

Starr let out a rough snort. "Yeah, that's a laugh. All you ever did was drop hints that I wasn't fit to be executive while pretending that's not what you were doing."

Ender shook his head. "Just a bit of constructive criticism. Let's be honest, you didn't exactly handle the Ajia situation very well." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the back of a chair as he peered at her. "And we all know how you got your position…"

Starr's fists trembled. I grabbed her arm and said, "Ohhkay, let's just… let's just sit over here," while tugging her over toward a couple of office chairs. Starting a brawl in the middle of a League office was not going to look good on us.

"God, it would be easy to break his nose," Starr muttered under her breath.

"I'm sure it would," I said dully. "Which is exactly why we're not doing that."

I sat myself into a chair while Starr flopped unceremoniously into the one next to me, kicking her boots up on the table.

Ender had taken the seat opposite of us, idly adjusting his gloves. "In any case, it sounds like the League wants all of us to play nice from now on, so let's leave the unpleasantries in the past, shall we?"

"I'm… not sure if that's possible," Ajia said, giving him a skeptical look. "Even if we ignored all the… everything. You should know by now that we're dedicated to saving the legends."

Raven exhaled sharply at her words, but didn't say anything. Ender gave her a knowing look before turning back to face us. "So catching those things is the main point of contention, mm?" he said airily, as if this were new information. "Well, it's not as if that was our idea."

I raised an eyebrow. "If it wasn't Team Rocket's idea, then whose was it?" Was he trying to imply that someone else was responsible for starting the Legendary-catching thing?

Ender put a hand over his mouth like he'd just realized something scandalous. "Oh, this is just delightful. You never told them?" he asked, giving Starr a sly look.

Starr rolled her eyes. "Look, I was never into all that propaganda shit. You two are the nutjobs that actually believed in that."

I glanced between the two of them. "Believed in what?"

Starr glanced away awkwardly.

Ender still had this look like his birthday had come early. "Well then. I suppose it's high time you all learned what this is really about." He put his fingers together. "Do you know why Team Rocket has been capturing the titans?"

"What?" I asked. Why the Rockets had been catching Legendaries? "Literally what other reason is there other than becoming too powerful for anyone to stop you?"

Ender waved a hand dismissively. "I mean yes, obviously the leverage will make our operations easier, make no mistake. But catching them will benefit more than just us in the long run. We can't let that kind of rampant power go unchecked."

There it was again, that excuse. "That doesn't make any—how on earth can you justify everything you've done with them?"

Raven stood bolt upright, almost knocking her chair over. "Because it's worth it to get those damn things under human control," she hissed, slamming a fist against the table.

I gaped at her. "W-what?"

Why did they keep talking like that? Like catching the Legendaries was something they had to do. Something… important. It wasn't. It couldn't be. It was just a power play from a criminal organization… right?

"Of course it's easy for you brats to act like we don't have a reason for doing this," she said, looking absolutely murderous.

Starr rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that crap. Buncha pretentious 'saving humanity' nonsense."

Ajia took a deep breath. "That's why you've been trying to get the Legendaries to look bad on the news, isn't it? So that more people would support your ideals?"

Ender tapped his forehead. "All in the name of spectacle. People have to understand the kind of destruction those monsters are capable of. Then they'll want to see that power contained."

This was all so completely backwards, I could hardly find my voice. "I, you… it's not just spectacle—what about Hoenn!"

"Oh? I suppose you're referring to Sootopolis being gone. Remind me again…"—Ender paused, grin widening—"aren't you the ones that unleashed the primals?"

I recoiled backward in my seat. "Wh—we only did that because you awakened them in the first place!"

Ajia gave him a searching look. "Were you hoping that we'd do that?"

"Truthfully, no," he said, holding both palms up. "We thought the ensuing show of Groudon versus Kyogre would be more than sufficient. But seeing them restored to their true glory—a horrific level of power most people could never conceive of… truly magnificent."

We'd helped them. We'd helped them. We'd—

No. No it would have been worse if we hadn't. Groudon and Kyogre would've been caught. It wasn't for nothing.

"We—the city had been evacuated," I stammered, feeling the blood rush to my face.

Ender clapped his hands together. "Oh, don't get me wrong, you did a fantastic job. Leveraging connections with the Ranger Union and the Hoenn Champion himself? Truly remarkable. But it's honestly naive to think that no one was killed."

Starr slammed a fist to the table. "You caused that whole—!"

"More people would've been killed if it hadn't been for us!" I exclaimed. I was getting too heated. I needed to calm down. But how could he just stand there and say things like that?

Ender shook his head. "Still doesn't change the fact that the entire country saw that kind of raw destruction unleashed," he went on. "They're going to want to see it kept in check. The League already wants to see it kept in check."

I gave him a skeptical glare. "And what makes you think the League is going to trust Rockets with that?"

A wide, sadistic grin spread across his face. "They commissioned us to do it."

I blinked stupidly at him, feeling like the floor had dissolved under me. He was lying. Or I'd misheard him. Or something.

I whirled around in my chair to face Starr. "What is he talking about?"

She glanced away. "That was before I was even born, alright? I don't know the full details."

"But is it true?" I pressed.

She put a hand to her temple. "Maybe? It's not something I ever wanted to think too hard about, okay?" Her face was anxious, annoyed, but not surprised. This wasn't the first she'd heard of the idea. And Ajia… Ajia looked surprised, but focused, like she was piecing things together—like anything about this made sense.

I spun back around to face Ender, my face hot. "What do you mean the League commissioned you? When? Why?"

"Oh, it was long before either of us joined Rocket," Ender said casually, gesturing to himself and Raven. "Twenty years ago, I'd say. Even boss Giovanni hadn't taken command yet. No, it all started because a company called Silph went and made a little ball that could dethrone the gods. Kind of funny to think about, really."

I was speechless.

"Master Balls didn't exist twenty years ago," Ajia said plainly, her voice somehow still measured. "They're a recent invention."

Her words jolted me back into reality. Right, she was right, I was sure of it. There'd been all that public outcry, we'd talked about it in social studies, held mock debates, people had cheered when they were banned commercially…

But then Ender had an answer ready for that, too: "Maybe not in their current form, no—back then, it was just prototypes. But naturally, it was relevant to Rocket's interests. A ball strong enough to capture any Pokémon without fail? Invaluable for acquisitions. But the oh-so-powerful Legendaries couldn't have something like that existing, now could they? Couldn't risk losing that top dog position, eh?"

"Of course they couldn't," Raven muttered viciously.

I stared at them, struggling to piece together the order of events in my mind. Something didn't add up. "I… I thought the Legendary project was a recent thing. Entei was the first."

Ender gave me a sideways glance. "Technically, Latios was the first. I see Shepard kept that little detail under wraps. Isn't he supposed to be close with you lot?"

My face burned. So even the Rockets thought that much. Even they knew about the way he'd used us.

"But you're right that the Legendary project is a recent thing, yes," Ender went on, leaning back in his seat. "Ultimately, none of those attempts twenty years ago were successful. All it really did was sow the seeds of catching the titans as something that could be possible one day. And here we are."

There was still so much I wanted to know, needed to know, combined with the fact that I didn't want to hear it from him, I wanted to hear it from the League. Anything he could say would just be designed to prove his point.

(But would the League's explanation be any better? I wasn't too sure anymore.)

Ajia was still giving Ender a searching look. "What exactly are you hoping will come from this?" she asked. "You guys already caught Rayquaza. Isn't that all the leverage you needed?"

He leered at her. "Not even close. It's only just beginning."

A chill came over me. I didn't like the sound of that at all.

My ears caught the sound of footsteps from the other side of the door. Ender glanced over his shoulder and said, "Ah, I believe they're ready for us."

The door opened, and two people entered. The first was Lorelei, looking a lot less patient than she had the last time we'd seen her. And the second was… him.

Giovanni entered the room, looking slick and professional, as always. Completely in control of the situation, like this was a particularly amusing detour in the middle of his day.

Starr stood bolt upright, staring at him with an expression between outrage and horror, fists shaking. I reached out and grabbed her hand, felt her tense up. Her fingers gripped mine so tightly I was sure they'd go numb. Slowly, I pulled her back into her chair.

"Hello, Astrid," Giovanni said calmly.

Starr's eyes lit up with fury. "That's not my fucking name," she spat through gritted teeth.

Giovanni ignored her and took a seat at the head of the table while Lorelei remained by the door, gripping her arm and staring firmly at the wall.

"I've been busy negotiating with the League. This"—he gestured around the conference room—"is merely to communicate our expectations to you, the ones who have so charitably volunteered as speakers for the legends."

"Tell them yourself," Starr spat.

"Gladly," Giovanni replied, his gaze steely. "Will they be joining us? Or are they too important to lower themselves to a civilized discussion with lesser beings such as humans?"

I squeezed Starr's hand tighter, willing her with every fiber of my being to not say something she'd regret, especially not with Lorelei in the room. Please don't, please don't, please don't…

"I didn't imagine so," Giovanni said, folding his hands in front of himself. "And that's why I'm here to settle this little misunderstanding. You three seem to be operating under the assumption that my organization capturing those beasts won't benefit everyone in the region."

"In what way," Starr laughed.

He gave her a look. "You can't pretend as though you're unaware."

I averted my eyes. Somehow the idea of talking to him was a lot harder than talking to Raven or Ender, even though the latter two had very directly tried to kill me on multiple occasions. Still, it didn't quite feel like they were so far above the rest of us the way that he was. So I tried keeping my eyes on those two instead, but that wasn't a big improvement.

"Let's get right to the point," Giovanni said, casting an expectant look toward Lorelei.

She closed her eyes. "The Department of Pokémon Affairs has reached a decision. The guardians will be expected to prove that they are not a threat—this means making themselves accountable to the League and allowing their powers to be regulated."

"Wait, they've already decided?" I blurted out.

Giovanni turned his gaze to me, and I immediately wished I hadn't said anything. "Did you believe that they were going to solicit the opinions of a handful of children?"

I didn't say anything. Being addressed by him directly made me want to melt into the floor.

Giovanni leaned back in his seat. "That's not to say that I'm not impressed that you managed to curry favor with the legends. Of course, I'm assuming that they simply realized the potential usefulness of human pawns. That's presumably why they saw fit to select children for their army. Not too different from Shepard, in that regard," he said casually, and hearing the chosen pact compared to what Stalker did was like a sudden slap to the face.

Ajia took a deep breath, carefully considering her words. "What happens if the Legendaries don't submit?"

Giovanni eyed her. "They'll be deemed noncompliant and be apprehended accordingly."

"By Team Rocket," she replied flatly.

"I have offered my organization's services to the League, yes," he said, gesturing to himself. "As a token of goodwill, they will of course be given access to the legends' power to ensure protection in the event of an attack." Giovanni turned to face Lorelei. "With your specialty… Articuno, perhaps?"

That he could say that so casually. Gifting a Legendary as a token of goodwill. Lorelei just nodded distantly, her expression difficult to read.

"There's still quite a bit left to hash out," Giovanni went on. "We have a fair number of assets to recover from our rogue Johto branch, for instance. I'm afraid that will be occupying most of my time, though I intend to have forces remain available to assist with any attacks, if need be."

This was unbelievable. It was like nothing we said mattered. Why even have us here if everything had already been decided?

Ajia gave Lorelei an imploring look. "You have to trust me—the Legendaries aren't a threat. This whole mess is Team Rocket's fault."

Lorelei exhaled slowly through her nose. "We can't have another Viridian," she said simply.

My throat clenched up. What happened in Viridian wasn't okay. But that didn't make any of this okay either! And part of me wanted to scream that, but the other half couldn't handle Giovanni's gaze, so the words just died in my throat.

"For too long, mankind has lived under the shadow of implicit threat of destruction at the hands of the so-called legends," Giovanni said, his voice pressing in on me. "It's baked into our very history and way of life. Even the existence of the training pact necessitates the threat of divine retribution." The words were laced with a heavy irony. "So you can quibble all you like over who provoked who, but it will only lead to more incidents like Viridian. No different than when they attacked humanity twenty years ago."

A bewildered "what?" fell out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Giovanni glanced in my direction and my eyes slid away from his. "I was expecting the ambassadors of the gods to be a little more informed on things."

"You're referring to when Silph started developing the Master Ball?" Ajia asked, brow furrowed. "That never should have been allowed in the first place."

Lorelei adjusted her glasses with a sigh. "The Master Ball was intended for use in neutralizing unruly wild Pokémon in a humane manner. It had massive utility in both saving lives and preventing property damage."

"The rangers already do that, and they don't have to break the pact to do it," Ajia cut in, her voice uncharacteristically cold.

Giovanni gave her an amused look. "I suppose you'd say that those who break the pact deserve what's coming to them?"

"That's not it at all."

He closed his eyes, smirking, and the expression was uncannily familiar. "The legends must have believed so. The mere idea of such an equalizer was unacceptable, judging by how swiftly they moved to neutralize the threat."

My chest tightened. So that was it, then—Legendaries had attacked humanity twenty years ago. Trying to convince the League that the legends weren't a threat was a losing battle, and one that had been lost before we'd even been born.

"And that's why the League made a deal with Rockets?" Ajia asked, glancing between the adults.

Giovanni nodded. "Of course, those beasts are rather formidable. Many of our agents never returned from the field. So the project was retired until recently."

Starr folded her arms, glaring at the wall. "In other words, you targeted the Legendaries, knowing it'd fail and get the fallguys killed, and then you'd have an excuse to go after them for real. Real classy."

"This was inevitable," the boss said, as if nothing were more true. "We can't have that kind of power looming over our shoulders."

An inevitable conflict, years in the making. Some part of me still refused to believe that the Legendaries had started it, but then, was I really prepared to know for sure? And… did it even matter at this point?

Lorelei cleared her throat suddenly. "Do you mind if I speak to them alone?"

Giovanni eyed her, his expression difficult to read. She stared right back, her eyes steely.

"I'll make it clear that the decision is final," she added, her tone perfectly neutral.

After several seconds of silence, Giovanni closed his eyes with the faintest trace of an accommodating smile. "Very well."

He calmly stood up and walked out the door, closely followed by Raven and Ender. Once they were gone, it was like I could suddenly breathe again, that overwhelming pressure finally gone.

Lorelei shut the door and turned to us. "I understand that you're upset, but—

"You can't seriously think you can negotiate with him," Starr immediately cut in.

"I'm not any happier with this arrangement than you are," Lorelei said sharply. "I wanted the guardians to be held accountable, not to have to make deals with… with someone like him." Now that I was paying attention, I could see just how exhausted her eyes were behind her glasses.

"But you—you're part of the Elite Four," I said lamely. "Can't you refuse?"

She sighed and shook her head, and I had the feeling that I'd said something incredibly naive. "The Elite Four doesn't make the rules, we just carry them out. It's out of my hands."

"Whose hands is it in?" Ajia asked earnestly. "We'll talk to them. We'll explain what's going on."

Lorelei rubbed her temples. "The department isn't going to reverse their decision just because a handful of teenagers want them to."

"The boss probably paid them all off anyway," Starr grumbled, folding her arms.

"What if the Legendaries spoke to the department directly?" Ajia asked quickly. "There has to be some kind of compromise."

Lorelei gave her a hard look. "Do you believe they'd willingly offer to be held accountable to humans?"

I made eye contact with Ajia, feeling my heart sink even lower. There was no way they'd all agree to that. And judging by Lorelei's face, she'd already known that was the case.

She took a seat near the head of the table—a different seat than the one Giovanni had taken. "This isn't the way I wanted it to happen. But you kids seem convinced that even making the guardians accountable to anyone is a bad thing, and…" She sighed deeply, removing her glasses before giving us a sympathetic look. "Think of the good we could do with access to the legends' power."

"They should have a choice," Ajia said firmly, clasping her hands on the table.

Lorelei gazed at Ajia. "They should have a choice in whether or not they decide to use their great power to save people? And if they decide not to?"

A moment's uncertainty flickered through Ajia's eyes. Then it was gone. "That power belongs to them in the first place. We don't have any right to make that decision."

"And they do?"

"They were born with it," Ajia insisted. "What about Pokémon? They're stronger than humans, but that doesn't mean that they don't get to use their power how they want."

"Pokémon and humans live side by side, as equals," Lorelei said plainly. "The guardians stand alone, higher than either. For eons, we've revered them as the protectors of the world. Now it's easy to see that we could use their power to do so much more. Reverse natural disasters, perform rescues, shape the land in ways that would benefit both humans and Pokémon."

I didn't know how to respond. It wasn't that any of that stuff was bad. It just… it didn't seem right to force…

"This is the situation we're in," Lorelei said, holding both palms up. "I'd prefer for it to not involve that group, but starting a war with them is out of the question. And there will always be people seeking that kind of power."

"None of this would be happening if we just left the legends alone. Can't… can't we just do that?" I asked in a low voice. I wasn't even sure I believed it would help, I just wanted to say something.

"Did you think this conflict was unprecedented?" Lorelei asked, her voice suddenly cold. "Throughout history, wars have been fought to win the favor of legends, to control them, to use them. These recent conflicts here in Kanto aren't even the worst of it. Magma and Aqua in Hoenn. Trying to use the power of the legends. Galactic in Sinnoh. Trying to use the power of the legends. And it's not just our part of the world. Kalos. Unova. Always Legendaries."

"Is that supposed to make it okay to break the training pact, what, just because you feel like it?" Ajia asked, now visibly frustrated.

Lorelei surveyed Ajia closely. "I'm curious… what makes you believe the pact was ever intended to apply to legends?"

I had no idea what to say to that. It wasn't something that had ever crossed my mind. Ajia looked equally taken aback.

Lorelei stood up, pacing in front of the meeting table. "Think about it—the training pact was created to give humans and Pokémon a means to navigate each other' worlds. It's an ancient law that transcends nations and peoples. But the legends live above the laws of either human or Pokémon. They are beholden to no one. They can kill on a whim, and no one can hold them accountable. Why should we accept that as the natural order of things?"

"That… makes it sound like no matter how they use their power, it's wrong of them just to have it," I murmured.

Lorelei sighed, idly running her fingers through the table plant. "Maybe it is." She paused, shaking her head. "Regardless, the Department of Pokémon Affairs has already made their decision. The League is required to carry it out."

"You mean make Team Rocket carry it out so you don't have to get your hands dirty," Starr said with a sneer.

Lorelei's gaze turned icy. "The official stance of the League is that the Legendaries need to ally themselves with humanity or they'll be considered a threat and be apprehended. That's the end of it."

"They already have allied themselves with humanity," I said desperately, already knowing that it wasn't going to help.

Again, the look I received made me feel like I'd come off as unbearably childish.

"Forgive my skepticism, but I don't think we can trust a handful of teenagers with the power to level a city block," Lorelei said dryly.

"Yeah, and the Rockets are that much more trustworthy," Starr scoffed.

Lorelei pinched the bridge of her nose. "I think we're done here." She reached for the door and swung it open.

Starr was the first one out, standing up so roughly that her chair hit the wall before striding out. I followed after her, trying to stand as tall as I could to offset how small I felt. Ajia was the last one out. She lingered at the door, opened her mouth like she had something more to say. But in the end, she just turned and followed us out.