Ash wasn't sure how much time had slipped away when Lance knocked on their door, the racket scaring him upright. Pikachu nearly flew off his pillow, a Thunderbolt primed.

"Hey buddy, it's okay," Ash flipped the lights on, Aurian letting out a groan of protest.

She rubbed at her eyes. "Geez, that was brutal."

"Up and at 'em, Overhead's ready to see you!" Lance called.

Aurian tugged her hair into a presentable state and joined Ash at the door, the two trainers following Lance further into the base.

After a ten-minute marathon of twists and turns, Lance led the pair down a long hallway and through a set of double doors.

Ash fought to keep his jaw from dropping as he took in the sight of several of his childhood and early-journey heroes gathered around a U-shaped table.

"Ash Ketchum and Aurian Copland, this is the Overhead Counsel," Lance motioned towards the men with a sweep of his hand. "The G-Men wouldn't be the G-Men without their advice and expertise. Before we begin our discussion, I wanted to give everyone a chance to introduce themselves."

"Wallace Eichler, Research," the Champion smiled.

"Steven Stone, Technology," he looked up from his tablet and waved.

A tall, reedy man donning a yellow scarf stood. "Grimsley Bannister, Dragonite Reserve Commander."

"Drake Hayman, Salamence Division Commander," the Elite Four member said, tilting his cap.

"Drayden Dartmouth, Haxorus Division Commander."

Ash leaned closer to Aurian. "Who's he?"

"Unova Gym Leader," she breathed back. "A good one."

"Harrison David, Colonel."

"Flint Peralta, Garchomp Division Commander," Flint flashed both trainers a thumbs-up.

An older man with twin streaks of silver along his temples gave a curt nod. "Koga Abe, Operations and Logistics."

"Riley Hawthorne, Armada Division Commander," he said, quiet voice carrying farther than Ash expected. Riley offered a slight bow to both trainers before returning to his seat.

Ash swore he saw a split-second flash of blue in the last man's eyes before he rose, towering over Flint and Koga.

"And that's everyone. Overhead is comprised of the ten highest-ranked members of the G-Men, who are responsible for guiding the direction and intentions of the organization. I've called them together now to discuss the proposal I extended to you both," Lance said, turning away from Ash and Aurian to face Overhead.

"Overhead, these are desperate times. Desperate measures are called for. Due to false charges and character defamation from the League, I motion to offer temporary Witness Protection to Ash and Aurian both.."

Thoughtful nods followed Lance's statement.

"The League seems like they're pretty serious about this," Flint said, "how long are we keeping them?"

"No longer than two years or until successful application for and approval of membership into the G-Men," Lance finished, the room erupting as he finished his sentence.

Grimsley raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely not!" Koga stood, placing both hands on the table.

"Lance, are you mad?" Drayden asked, shaking his head. "They are children!"

Aurian held Ash's wrist in a vice grip to keep him from speaking, the other trainer frozen with his mouth half-open.

Lance raised a hand, all protests dying away in an instant.

"I hope you would give your Commander General a chance to explain himself before denying an opportunity so vehemently."

All of Overhead except for Koga and Riley shrunk back, murmuring their assent.

"If I know you," Riley said, "there's good reason for this. You wouldn't disregard tradition unless you felt it was necessary."

"Right," Lance sighed. "It took the League five days to release an arrest order for Giovanni after he was outed as the Viridian Gym Leader; these two got four hours, tops. I've never seen the League move this aggressively. I've known Ash for three years now. His character has always been outstanding. Aurian and I only met yesterday, but she put herself directly in harm's way to save Ash from Team Galactic."

Titters filled the room, whispers rising and rushing like a wave breaking over Ash's head.

Harrison gave Ash an encouraging glance.

"If I recall, some of our own divisions expressed trepidation about fighting Mars head-on. Ash and Aurian did it with no tactical support, no backup, and half their Pokemon exhausted– and succeeded. I know this is an unprecedented, and frankly, unpopular move, but we need more of that kind of spirit around here," Lance said, eyes bright.

"Additionally, Galactic wouldn't have acted the way they did if these two weren't a threat," he motioned to the two trainers.

Ash surveyed the room. Koga wore a glare that rivaled his Arbok's, Flint's expression hovered between enraged and heartbroken, Wallace shook his head, Harrison let out a hearty sigh, and Riley Hawthorne was curiously unreadable.

Lance continued on, arms swept wide. "And if you are concerned about age, or gender," he nodded towards Aurian, who stood taller in defiance, "I would like to remind you that our corps motto includes the phrase 'justice and opportunity for all'. This is our chance to put that into practice."

Wallace raised a hand. "What's the anticipated timeline?"

"They've been approved for Witness Protection. If you'd like to try for membership, we'd need to do that soon," Lance looked at the younger trainers. "It tends to be a lengthy process."

Aurian squeezed Ash's hand. "Let's do it."

"I'm in," Ash said.

Lance smiled. "Excellent. Phase One begins this evening, with Two and Three to follow if they are successful. All in favor of extending a membership trial to Ash Ketchum and Aurian Copland?"

Flint's hand flew up, closely followed by Grimsley, Harrison, Steven, Wallace, and Riley.

Drayden looked towards the younger trainers. "Did you truly fight Mars?"

"We did," Ash said. "It was close. I never want to see her Purugly again."

"We probably won't, considering what we did to it," Aurian muttered.

Drayden's hand went up.

"We don't have anything to lose," Drake shrugged, hand raised. "Let's give them a try."

Koga leaned in. "Half the men that apply for membership don't make it past the first round, another thirty-five percent don't make it past the second. Why do you believe you'll be any different?"

"We might not be," Ash blurted before he could think, "but that won't stop us. The odds are bad. I get it. But we'll work as hard as we can to prove ourselves."

Pikachu nodded, flashing a tiny thumbs-up to Overhead.

Aurian nodded. "This is our only chance. We won't let you down."

"Well, you have decent enough League records…" Koga trailed off.

Lance bit his lip. "Koga, your vote?"

"Remember, Lance, this does not need to be unanimous."

"The motion passes. Combat evaluation begins at eight PM sharp tonight. Do not be late," Lance said. "Welcome to the Trials, Cadets Ketchum and Copland. We look forward to seeing what you can do."

Aurian raised a hand. "Do we need to bring anything?"

"Your best Pokemon and your best brain cells," Flint flashed a grin. "Stage One is a combat eval."

"Cadets, someone will meet you at your quarters at 7:45 to walk you to the evaluation location. You are dismissed," Lance nodded.

Aurian gave Ash a panicked look. "Should we salute?"

"No idea," Ash said. "Better safe than sorry?"

The newly minted Cadets did their best to salute, drawing a chuckle from the seasoned G-Men in the room.

"We'll talk form later, but the effort is appreciated," Lance couldn't help but smile.

Ash and Aurian left the room, double doors slamming shut behind them.

"Now what?" Ash fell back against the cool stone wall behind him. "Do we even know how to get back to our bunkers? How will they tell us where we need to go?"

Aurian put a hand on his shoulder. "One step at a time, Ketchum. Atticus always said not to borrow trouble before you need it."

"Geez, I wish someone had told me that before I chased Celebi into the past. And ticked off Lawrence III before he fused the birds. And angered a pirate enough to destroy an underwater temple and almost kill Manaphy."

"Okay, you have to fill me in on all this when we get the chance," Aurian's eyebrows traveled halfway up her forehead.

Ash grinned, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. "Oh, that's just the start. You have no idea how crazy my journey's been."

"Pikakachu-ka."

"And I'd say the same. I think we'll have plenty of time to swap the rest of our stories over the next few weeks."

"That sounds nice. Should we go straight until we run into a dead-end?"

Aurian shrugged. "Better than any plan I have. Let's go!"

"This could be our first test, you know," Ash waved his fingers. "How long does it take the new Cadets to make it back to their quarters? More than fifteen minutes and we're cut?"

"I don't think Lance is that harsh."

"But Koga is."

"Koga needs to not be a Mareanie."

Ash bit back a laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen him smile. Not even when Janine won his Gym Leader position."

"How much do you want to bet he's watching us on the cameras right now, hoping we get hopelessly lost?" Aurian asked.

Ash stopped at a split in the path. "Twenty PokeBucks?"

"Deal. Left or right?"

"I think we came from the left, which means we probably need to go right."

"Please tell me how that makes any sense."

"I'm terrible with directions, so if we go the opposite way that I think we did, we'll be okay."

Pikachu poked Ash's cheek with his tail. "Chukapi!"

"You're no help either," Ash groaned.

"We're bound to find something if we wander," Aurian said. "Lead the way, Cadet Ketchum."

The duo took off at a moderate clip down the halls, their footsteps echoing through the stone arches overhead. Ash and Aurian passed numerous men in different stages of dress, ranging from full formal uniforms to sweatpants embossed with the G-Men logo on the leg.

"Left here, then a right…" Ash traced the route in his head. "Oh, crap."

Aurian groaned. "You're lost, aren't you?"

"Temporarily."

"Great, we're doomed."

"Not to interrupt, but I think I might be able to help," an unfamiliar voice said.

A tall man, maybe nineteen at the oldest, approached Ash and Aurian. Spiky brown bangs framed a curious face and bright hazel eyes, the remainder of his hair caught in a miniature ponytail sticking out of his head.

"We'd greatly appreciate that, thanks," Aurian gave the newcomer a winning smile.

He nodded. "Of course! New cadets, right?"

The duo nodded.

"It's nice to meet you! Name's Hiori Kai," the uniformed man saluted. "I'm a sergeant here with the G-Men, Armada Division."

Aurian shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Hiori. Lance kinda mentioned it in our meeting with Overhead, but what does each division do?"

"Geez, you've already met with Overhead?" Hiori whistled.

"That's not normal?" Aurian asked.

Hiori shook his head. "What the hell kind of trouble are you in?"

"One murderous Darkrai, one ticked-off trainer, and two fishy warrants from the League?" Ash said with a shrug. "It's complicated."

Hiori's nose wrinkled. "And you're, what, sixteen?"

"Fifteen and fourteen," Ash motioned towards his new friend. "Anyways, Divisions!"

"Right, uh, the divisions," Hiori's eyes went wide. "There are five combat and three civilian. Dragonite Reserve, Salamence, Garchomp, and Haxorus are all standard combat. The Armada is the fifth combat division, but we're a mix of combat and specialists. Our captain has some extra tricks up his sleeve, we have two explosives specialists, a sniper, a water-type specialist, and a Pokemon Mythologist, to boot."

Aurian grinned, following Hiori's long steps through the hallways. "That's pretty cool."

"For the civilian groups, we have Research, Technology, and Operations. Those folks don't see combat unless we're desperate, but they're fantastic to have around," Hiori nodded.

"If we pass our membership trial, do we get to pick where we go, or are we assigned?" Ash asked.

Hiori shrugged. "In normal circumstances, you don't meet Overhead until they finalize your division assignment. If you're interested in specializing in something, the Armada will probably take you. If not, they'll probably give you to one of the other groups. I'm not even sure if they'll let you into combat, considering how young you are. Can you fight?"

"With Pokemon, absolutely," Ash said.

"Good to know."

"Lance said we start Phase One tonight," Aurian frowned. "As someone who's done this before, what can you tell us?"

"You're going to make mistakes. Stupid ones. Expect the unexpected, and watch your back. Find your best team now, and not while you're walking in. Combat assessments here are no joke," Hiori finished.

Ash paled. "Good to know."

"Where were you headed, anyway?" Hiori asked.

"Back to our rooms. Lance hasn't shown us the base yet, so we didn't think we could go exploring," Aurian said. "Not to mention that this one keeps getting us lost."

"Yeah yeah, I'm bad with directions. Yay."

Hiori snorted, despite himself. "My commander would probably give me the okay to give you both a tour. I bet you'd appreciate being a little less lost."

"Thank you," Aurian sighed, drawing a laugh from both new friends.

Hiori pulled a PokeGear from his pocket, his commander answering three rings later. "Hey, I have the two Budews with me. Would Lance mind if I gave them the tour?"

Ash frowned at Aurian. "Budews?"

She shrugged.

"Yeah. Okay, sounds like a plan. I'll make sure they get time to strategize. Thanks, Riley!"

Hiori hung up. "Great! You're with me for the next bit. Might see if I can recruit some friends to help out with the areas I don't visit much. Anywhere you'd like to see first? The main atrium, the mess hall, the coffee stand–"

"Coffee?" Aurian crossed her fingers.

"Aren't you too young for caffeine?"

"Don't ask us how we survived the last forty-eight hours," she raised a hand.

Hiori shook his head, tiny ponytail bobbing. "Will wonders never cease. We're pretty close to the main atrium, so we'll swing that way and hit the coffee stand on our way to Research. Cool?"

"Sounds awesome, thanks," Ash crossed his arms. "Why'd you call us Budews?"

"Slang for new recruits. The old folks used to say Magikarps, but Lance put a stop to that real fast once he took over last year. Felt kinda derogatory, you know? You wouldn't be here if someone on Overhead didn't believe in you, which is the opposite of a Magikarp. No one believes in them."

Aurian paused. "Wait, Lance has only been in charge for a year?"

"It's been a hell of a year for him, couldn't have picked a worse time to take up the mantle," Hiori scanned a badge at an automatic door, which slid open. "Welcome to the main atrium."

Ash and Aurian ran to the edge of the balcony and looked down eight stories into a massive lobby on the ground floor. Men and Pokemon alike scattered in all different directions, some wearing scrubs, some wearing full uniforms, most wearing neither. The ceiling consisted of a massive geode, sunlight reflecting through a dendritic blue agate half-exposed from the stone overhead.

"This is beautiful," Aurian breathed. "I thought we were underground?"

"All of the heavy security branches are buried as far in the mountain range as we can get them," Hiori nodded. "The men who built HQ knew that we all needed some form of sunlight, so this was a compromise. We have a network of psychic Pokemon who keep up illusions and Trick Rooms over the ceiling to make sure no one can find us."

Ash's jaw dropped open.

"That was my reaction, too!" Hiori motioned towards a staircase. "Level Eight is mostly Koga's security team and conference rooms. Overhead likes to change up where they meet so they aren't easily traceable. Level Seven is reserved for Garchomp and Dragonite Reserve, they're the largest divisions. Six is for operations, logistics, and storage. Five is for Research and Tech, Four is medbay and Armada, Three is more bunkers for Haxorus and Salamence, and it's all business for the rest of the levels."

"Are we supposed to remember all of this?" Aurian asked, doing her best not to trip down the staircase.

"Eventually!" Hiori grinned. "Everyone panics for about three weeks, then you'll be fine."

Ash groaned. "Great, I'm doomed."

"I'll send you a sympathy card," Aurian said.

Hiori snorted. "You're quite the pair. What's the story here? Childhood friends? Rivals? Gym challenge buddies destined for something more?"

"We met two days ago," Aurian grinned, thoroughly enjoying the look on Hiori's face, "so… new friends?"

"You bicker like siblings."

Ash flashed a thumbs-up. "We'll take that as a compliment. But yeah, we met outside of Sunyshore in a street fight. Now we're here."

"I imagine we'll get more of the story as we go on, but you said this has been a hard year for Lance?" Aurian asked.

"Arceus, you have no idea," Hiori groaned. "Our last Commander General had to step down due to sudden medical issues. Lance was promoted straight into the beginnings of all that mess with Galactic, in addition to further fun activities concerning Team Rocket and the remnants of Magma and Aqua."

Ash whistled.

"Yeah, it's been an interesting few months, for sure. I think Lance's done a good job with a crappy set of cards to play."

"How long have you been here?" Ash asked.

"One year as of last week! Wouldn't trade it for the world."

They leveled out on the ground floor, Hiori leading the way to a free-standing coffee shop tucked into a nook in the cavern.

"Did you join normally or were you a witness protection person?" Aurian paid for her lavender latte and thanked the barista.

Hiori laughed, an iced coffee sliding his way on the counter. "Uh, that's a great question. I'm neither, I guess? Before I joined up, I kinda had my own vigilante thing going in Sinnoh. You know what it's like to see something dreadfully wrong and try to fix it even though you have no idea what to do or what's going on?"

Ash and Aurian both nodded.

"That was me with Galactic. Tracked their movements, stopped some petty crimes. Managed to rescue my sister and take down Io with a few friends. That caught our old commander's attention. I was invited to enlist, Riley called dibs, the rest is history."

"The commanders can pick you?" Aurian asked.

Hiori passed Ash his order. "Yep. Sometimes it gets pretty heated. Riley still holds a grudge against Grimsley for claiming one of our last recruits. But, to be fair, they were rivals in their trainer days, so it really wasn't that much of a surprise."

"Got it, good to know," Ash took a sip. "Wow, this is really good."

"Ryan and Bart keep an entire military base caffeinated, we wouldn't've hired them otherwise," Hiori waved to his friends and ushered the younger trainers down a smaller hall. "And as great as the coffee stand is, there's far more of HQ that I need to show you."

Hiori gave Ash and Aurian a flying tour of the G-Men's headquarters. They oohed and aahed over the state-of-the-art equipment in Research and Technology, admired the assembly hall and the cafeteria, ate lunch with Hiori and Sam, one of his friends from the Armada, and got thoroughly lost in the first floor's winding hallways.

"I'm sure whoever your future division commander is will give you a better tour than this, but I hope you at least know where the important things are now," Hiori said.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "You're talking like we've already passed the membership trials."

"You don't think you will?" Hiori crossed his arms. "If you take on Phase One with no confidence or belief, you'll be out faster than you teleported in here. I've seen it happen. And I know I'm still new around here, but I have a good gut feeling about you two. You need anything else before I take you back to your bunker?"

Aurian shook her head. "No, I don't think so. You really didn't have to do this, thank you so much."

"No trouble at all. Sam did it for me when I was a Budew, so I'm glad I can return the favor. Now, tell me what floor we're on and how to get back."

Ash's face lit up. "Second floor, because we just passed Conference Room Eleven and I think it's stupid that the conference room numbers don't match the floors. Back to the atrium, up the elevator, and take the hallway on the side of the ceiling that has the most light. Third door on the left."

"I think we need to go play the lottery," Aurian grinned. "With that kind of luck, we could make a million off the Veilstone Casino."

Hiori held the elevator door for the younger trainers. "Here's hoping your luck carries over into tonight! You'll be great. I don't think I can give you my PokeGear number until you're officially members, but you know where to find the Armada's main room if you have questions or need anything. One of us is normally in there!"

Ash and Aurian waved goodbye as the elevator vanished back into the subfloors, then vanished back into their room.

"I'm really glad we ran into Hiori," Aurian smiled. "If things go our way, he'll be a good friend."

"When things go our way. I think Hiori's right, we need to start acting like we have a chance," Ash said. "Also, before I forget, thank you for keeping me in line back when we met with Overhead. If I'd been in there alone, I probably would have run my mouth and said something incredibly stupid."

She chuckled. "Boys. I got you. From the way Hiori was talking back there, it sounds like we really need to think through how we're going to handle Phase One. Want to strategize?"

"Hang on, we should probably change into what the other guys were wearing out there," Ash fished athletic shorts and a "PROPERTY OF THE G-MEN" t-shirt out of his chest of drawers. "I bet they're expecting us to show up like this."

Five minutes later, the duo settled in on the floor, a paper and purple pen in Aurian's hand.

She tugged at the G-Men standard issue t-shirt. "This feels like sandpaper and cardboard had an Egg."

"At least they let us keep our shoes," Ash muttered. "Better than nothing."

"I bet they make all the Cadets wear the old stuff and upgrade us when we actually become members."

Aurian gulped. "Right. Want to talk teams?"

"I bet the League's watching our Professors, so we can't switch out. We might need to plan with what we have," Ash sighed. "What's your team make-up?"

"You met Empoleon, Altaria, and Staraptor two days ago," Aurian smiled. "I also have a Luxray, a Chandelure, and a Cottonee. There are a few more back at Rowan's, but I'm confident in who I have with me."

Ash wrinkled his nose. "An unevolved Cottonee?"

"She's my secret weapon for Double Battles, you'll see. What about you?"

"I've got a pretty good crew at Professor Oak's. Right now, I have Pika, Staraptor, Muk, Totodile, Torterra, and Glalie."

Aurian tapped her pen against her leg. "Okay. Let's see what we have."

She sketched out a rough diagram of their teams. "Looks like we're pretty good on type coverage. Do you have any tricks for fighting dark types? That's the only type we don't have an immediate counter for."

"Pika and I normally just electrocute everything and say our prayers," Ash said.

"Oh Arceus, you're one of those trainers."

"Excuse you, I have strategies! Like my Counter Shield, patent pending!"

Aurian rolled her eyes. "If they do make us fight together, we need some form of a plan. If anything takes us out of the running for membership, I don't want it to be combined bad decisions."

"Fine, fine, okay. I'm sorry. I promise I want to take this seriously!" Ash said. "But where do we even begin when we have no idea what's going to happen?"

"I think that might be one of the things they're testing in Phase One," Aurian trailed off, eyes wide.

"That… that makes a lot of sense. What next?"

Purple dots bled across Aurian's leg as her pen continued to bounce. "Double battles pairs. Tell me about your team."

"Pika can work with pretty much anyone," Ash fist-bumped his starter. "Glalie's pretty intense, Totodile is a class clown, Torterra just wants to get his work done, Staraptor likes to hit hard and fast, Muk… well, Muk is Muk."

"Meaning?"

"Muk likes to smother me whenever he's out of his Pokeball. Repeatedly."

"Please tell me this wasn't the team you beat Darkrai with."

"Oh, absolutely not. I swapped Pokemon before I left the Island so we could at least have a fighting chance of surviving. They seem pretty dysfunctional," Ash chuckled at Aurian's eye roll, "but they're good. Half that team got me to the top 32 in Johto as a second-year trainer."

Aurian nodded, pen scribbling. "If we want to put up a fight, we need to figure out who's going to take the lead. I think it might be better for me to follow you instead of the other way around."

"So you're strategizing to not strategize?"

"Not quite?" Aurian grimaced. "You're the most instinct-driven trainer I've ever met. Normally, for someone like me who's big on planning everything, you'd be a nightmare to work with. But when we have no idea what or who we're going to stare down in half an hour, your unpredictability is our best bet."

She paused. "I have no idea how to explain it, but my brain can read your specific brand of chaos. I can't predict what you're going to do, but I can work with it.. I think that's how we beat Mars back outside of Sunyshore. Are you okay with this?"

"Sounds like a plan," Ash drew a smiley-face on the corner of her plans.

Aurian laughed. "Thanks for defacing my property."

Ash and Aurian worked through movesets and ideas for another fifteen minutes before a knock on the door startled them out of their thoughts.

"Cadets, let's go!" Hiori half-yelled. "Time for Phase One!"

"Ready?" Ash asked.

Aurian laughed. "I think we're about to find out."

(A/N): Hello, and thank you for reading C5 of Light in the Aftermath! My apologies for the delay- I have a ton of very exciting (and time-consuming) things coming up in my personal life in addition to entering my busiest season of the year with work, so updates are going to be a little slower and more inconsistent from here on out. Thank you in advance for your patience!

If you enjoyed what you read, please let me know! Leave a review, tell a friend, and don't forget to follow! Hope all y'all have a fantastic rest of your day. See you on the flip side!