108-111

The New Normal – 6-1 – The Hunt Begins

I had a lot of time to think while I was flying over to Hoenn on Port. Namely, what did I think the goal of Team Rocket was when they made this attack on Devon Corp? Drake had said that he felt that there was more to this than just some random attack, and I agreed wholeheartedly with his analysis.

Team Rocket wouldn't have dragged themselves out of hiding for no reason, after all. They had to be planning something. And I suspected that what they were planning had to do with the specific files that they stole from Devon Corp.

But from canon, I didn't remember anything about Devon Corp that was relevant to them. In fact, they weren't even IN Hoenn. Only Team Magma and Aqua were. And regarding the latter two teams, I know in the games they stole the submarine parts for their underwater expedition from Devon Corp, so perhaps this was what they were going for again? Was that it?

I let the thought sit in my head for the entire journey through as I tried to come up with a better explanation, but in the end the whole exercise was just a huge waste of time. Without knowing more from the facts, my internal explanations were no better than just random guesses.

Therefore, I tried to keep my calm as I waited out the rest of the journey to Hoenn. After a couple hours of exhaustive flying, Port valiantly delivered me to Rustboro City, where I saw many different people rushing about urgently. From Jennys to Joys, it was a whole debacle.

With a thankful pat to Port, I withdrew him to his Premier Ball and allowed him to rest. He had done very well today. And just as I put away his Premier Ball, a few Jennys immediately mobbed me.

"Elite John, thank you for coming over so quickly. Elite Drake has asked me to escort you to him." She said in a rushed manner, her faced lined with exhaustion and stress that only highlighted the seriousness of the situation. Not wanting to cause her any further trouble, I simply nodded and allowed her to escort me to the Devon Corp building.

As the building drew near, I frowned as I bared witness to the damage. In truth, it was far from as bad as it could've been. There was no fire or smoke, meaning that the property damage was probably limited to just internal damage. If it wasn't for the large police cordon surrounding Devon Corp, you would be hard pressed to find out that the building had been recently attacked unless you looked really closely.

Eventually, I found Drake standing there with a grim mien. Joseph Stone was standing next to him with a similarly unhappy expression. At least their eyes brightened as I made my approach.

"Ah, John! Great of you to come here so quickly." Joseph greeted with a small smile, "You have my thanks for your timely assistance."

"It's nothing, Joseph. I'm just happy to help. I'm sorry for your loss." I replied, trying to put as much sincerity as I could into my voice.

"Don't worry about it. It could've been far worse." He waved me off easily, but I could tell that he was inwardly quite concerned about this whole incident. "I got enough worrying from Steven. He almost took the next ship back here to check up on me; but I convinced him otherwise."

I nodded just as Drake gave his own greetings, which was far less joyous.

"Thank fuck you're here John, this isn't my speciality." Drake said to me with his signature roughness. "They're still digging through the files now to see what went missing. You came at a good time; they should be done pretty soon."

"I see." I nodded, idly staring at the building, "And what of the injured? You mentioned that before."

Joseph spoke up, "A couple of my employees that were on the floor were pretty heavily roughed up, but the Nurse Joys have assured me that there isn't anything fatal." He frowned, some anger leaking into his tone, "I already offered them huge bonuses for their bravery. I hope it sees them through."

I saw Drake's mouth curl upwards for a brief moment before it quickly disappeared back into a grimace, "In a way, we got lucky that Team Rocket got a bit too fist-happy when in there. Otherwise, the Hoenn League might really be able to shove all this under the rug."

I gave Drake a curious look, "Is it really that bad? Is the Hoenn League really looking to try to cover up something like this?"

Drake nearly snarled, "Yes, though using the term 'cover-up' might not be fully accurate. Otherwise, Joseph over here would definitely make a ruckus that they won't be able to silence."

He shook his head, "No, it's more like they'll designate this whole incident as a lone event, and so there will be no need to mobilize anything more than the standard Hoenn Police." He explained, "No disrespect to the Jennys, but they alone won't be able to uncover anything without more direct action from higher up."

"And this is where me trying to stay politically neutral has bit me in the ass." Joseph sighed, "Devon Corp might be one of the largest businesses in Hoenn, but most of that money is reinvested into science and R&D. Not politics. We don't have the political influence that others might have in our position."

"It's not all bad, though." Drake continued, putting his hands into his pockets, "Wallace is firmly on my side, and he's given me unofficial authority to hunt down Team Rocket. He's also given you official permission for you to be here and help out, and the Hoenn committee won't be able to revoke that. But if we aggravate the public too much with our actions, then the Hoenn League might forcefully step in and shut us down. It's why the other Elite Four aren't here, their presence would signal a massive escalation and the committee don't want that."

"So…basically what you're saying is that we need to hunt down Team Rocket WITHOUT risking widespread panic?" I confirmed, getting two nods in response. My face quickly turned into a frown; I thought the Hoenn League would have a more proactive response to this. This was far too half-hearted.

But then again, I could see why the politicians were so eager to bury this incident. Any kind of unrest looked bad for them and harmed their chances of re-election. It was a decision born from selfishness, but it was far too common of a sight.

Drake must have saw the expression on my face because he patted me on the shoulder, "Don't feel too down by this. I'm fucking pissed too, but I've come to expect such stupidity from politicians. We just have to make use of what we have and work around them. Fortunately, most of them are idiots, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Joseph nodded, "Indeed. And I was just telling Drake before you arrived here that we've already figured how they got in."

"How?" I asked, my eyes narrowing as I listened intently.

"One of our employees was a turncoat and simply let them in through the employee-only entrance." Joseph said, his face slowly morphing into one of rictus fury. "I never expected one of my employees would stoop so low as to support terrorists, but I suppose a company-wide inspection might be necessary after this. I must have gotten lax with the hiring procedures. THAT, or HR is going to have some very serious explaining to do."

That was a side to the usually joyful Joseph that wasn't commonly seen, but I returned my focus to the matter at hand, "Where is this employee now?"

"Gone in the fucking wind." Drake growled, "Must have left with his criminal pals of his. The coward. But we do know who he is. He's called Tabitha, and was a scientist working at the company."

My eyes widened in recognition as I heard the name. Tabitha. An admin of Team Magma. Suddenly, the puzzle pieces were starting to come together. Team Magma must have recruited the remains of Team Rocket, likely under Proton, and used their outfits to disguise the existence of their own team.

It was a cunning plan. After all, who would suspect a Team known for their acts of terrorism and Pokémon thievery to suddenly be planning to terraform the world using a Legendary? No wonder many suspected this to be an act of corporate espionage, it was a reasonable fit for Team Rocket's previous money-driven actions.

But I, and I suspected Drake as well, knew better. If this really was a Magma operation, then the files MUST have something to do with the Legendaries of Hoenn. I couldn't think of any other reason why they would reveal themselves like this otherwise.

A sting of guilt ran through me as well. Did my actions accidentally cause this to happen? Was I responsible for this attack taking place? But then, as quick as it came, I quickly shook those thoughts away. Blaming myself for something out of my control was not productive. At least not now, I could berate myself for these mistakes later.

For now, I tried to wrack my brain for what I remembered of Team Magma's actions from canon.

"You're thinking hard, John." Drake suddenly spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. "Something you figured out?"

"Maybe…" I said unsurely, "I think I have an idea. But I have to see what files are missing before I say anything else."

"Then let's go." Joseph declared, walking forwards into the building. "The Jennys must have had enough time by now. I'm not going to waste any more time standing around; this is MY building damn it. I'll bring you to the files myself."

We quickly followed Joseph into the building. Some gave us curious looks, but none barred our way. We swiftly made our way to where the files were being stored, and I looked around to survey the damage as Joseph and Drake addressed the Jennys.

I think I saw marks of what was likely a Pokémon battle, but the battle must have been either over quickly or utterly one-sided. Filing cabinets were smashed and knocked over, and the entire room in general was trashed as Team Rockets must have scrambled for the paperwork. Considering they had insider access, the fact that they couldn't IMMEDIATELY find what they were looking for meant that the files they were searching for were likely very important.

That only added to my theory of what the true goal of Team Magma was.

I turned to ask Joseph a question, "How high of a rank was Tabitha at your company? What level of security access did he have?"

He rubbed his chin as he pondered the question, "From his employee file, he was just some middling scientist. One of many that we employ, so he wouldn't have high level access to many important files. But what was concerning was that Tabitha was not a recent hire. He was someone who had stuck it out at the firm for many years."

"Very odd for a long-time employee to defect like that." Drake commented, "Any sign that held grievances against your company?"

"Not that I know of." Joseph responded, "I like to think that my company's policy for employees is fair and reasonable. If he had worked here for as long as he did, he should have been due for a promotion any time soon now. But you make a good point, I'll speak to his supervisor to see if he knows anything else."

"Good. You do that." Drake said, before turning to the Jennys. "Hey! Did you go through the record for the most important files? I'm fucking sure that that those files were their target."

One of the Jennys nodded before bringing out a record of said files to Joseph, who casually passed it over to us. Apparently, Joseph didn't care about accidentally revealing company secrets to us. Which was a nice show of trust.

The three of us silently inspected the list. Immediately, one item caught my eye. It was an old piece of research into the functionality of the Red and Blue Orbs, and their supposed properties to be able to control Legendaries.

"There!" I shouted, pointing to the Orb research. "That's what they were looking for."

"…The Red and Blue Orb research? Why would they go for that? It says here that the project was deemed to have gone nowhere." Joseph questioned with a frown as he looked over the notes. "Wouldn't they go for something like my fossil research machine? It's far more valuable. In fact, I'm surprised they didn't even touch it."

I shook my head, "Monetarily, you're right. But these are terrorists. What they value can be completely different to what we value."

"And what's so important about the Orbs?" Drake asked, equally as confused. "Sure, they're culturally significant. But I don't think terrorists care much about cultural significance unless it can earn them a lot of money."

Because they were the key to controlling Legendaries! Is what I screamed in my mind. But I had absolutely no way of proving that, not without bringing up far more questions that I did not want to answer. I frowned; my gut was yelling that this was what Team Rocket was going for, but how would I prove it to these two?

And then, almost like I had been struck by divine inspiration, the bullshit just started to flow out of my mouth.

"Back in Olivine, when I arrested the leader of the Team Rocket cell that was trying to escape, he mentioned that the leader of Team Rocket was a very power-hungry man, who wanted to rule the world." I explained, "I didn't think much of it at the time, but he also mentioned about how the leader of Team Rocket believed that there was power in Legends. And how acquiring such power would give him the ability to rule the world."

Drake snorted, but not in disbelief, "That's fucking stupid. They're just orbs. Culturally significant maybe, but not much else."

"And don't the records say that the project was a failure?" Joseph interjected, "What use do they have of notes that went nowhere?"

"No, look here." I pointed, "The project was cancelled due to a lack of funding and interest, not because it was proven that the Orbs were not of importance. And by the looks of it, they've done extensive research into it before it got cancelled."

"…And since the leader of Team Rocket is apparently obsessed with the power of Legends, he would have wanted something to confirm his delusions." Drake finished for me, his head tilted in careful thought.

"Exactly." I nodded, "And now that they have the notes in hand, it is very likely that they will target the Orbs next."

"…But they'll never get away with stealing such priceless cultural artifacts." Joseph stated with a frown, "They'd have to know that the Hoenn League would be forced to respond if they did."

"You're right. But trying to understand the reasonings of a deluded fool will get us nowhere." Drake exclaimed, "So far, John's theory is the only lead that we have on their future actions. Admittedly, I still have doubts about this, but I've been at this crime scene for long enough and still don't have any better ideas. Still, it doesn't matter what Team Rocket are planning to do after they take the Orbs, we need to be there to stop them."

He turned to me, "Are you sure about this theory? It's a lot to bank on."

I met his stare with one of my own, trying to project the surety that I felt from my gut. "It is."

Drake's eyes searched mine for a moment, and I could feel his eyes boring deeply into mine. It took some time, but eventually he nodded, "Good. Then we have a plan. I'll speak to Wallace. Thank Arceus you were here to think through this shit, John, because I wouldn't have been able to." He then reached for his phone to dial up Wallace.

"Wallace, it's Drake." He said into his phone, "…Yes, we think we've figured it out…we believe it's to do with the Orbs…yes…ok…I'll put him on now." He then switched his phone to speaker mode and brought it closer to me.

"…Hello? Can you hear me, John?" Wallace's effeminate voice came crackling through the speakers, but luckily remained audible enough for a conversation.

"Yes, I can. How can I help you, Champion Wallace?" I asked politely.

"Please, no need for the pleasantries. We here in Hoenn all share our sincerest appreciation for your timely assistance." He replied pleasantly, "I heard about your theory from Drake, and he assures me that you're confident with it. Is that right?"

"I am." I confirmed. "Targeting the Orbs makes the most sense for them." I then went through a summary of what I had just explained to Drake and Joseph.

"Good. Then, with my position as Champion, I will grant you both the authority to pursue and capture Team Rocket before they can achieve their objectives." He stated, "I will give you authority over the Hoenn Police for you to use. Feel free to include them in your planning."

"Thank you." I replied, "That would be most helpful."

He chucked bitterly, "Don't thank me just yet. Drake might have told you this, but the committee aren't exactly happy with pursuing this much further. While I can pressure them with my own influence, I cannot authorize a full region-wide manhunt. That means no breaking into houses, no collateral damage, no doing anything that might cause the public to panic."

"However, if you DO manage to successfully capture a few Team Rocket grunts, then I think I'll be able to persuade the committee to be more lenient on your actions." Wallace added, "Capturing a few grunts would go a long way in painting your actions as justified."

I shared a look with Drake before saying, "We understand. We'll keep it in mind."

"Marvellous! Otherwise, Champion or not, this single incident wasn't enough to rile up public opinion enough to warrant such large-scale actions like you did in Indigo." He reminded with a slight warning, "The committee here might be able to convince the public that you and Drake's actions were overly aggressive and reckless. So please try to minimize damage as much as possible."

"Understood. We'll do our best to keep the damage to a fucking minimum." Drake growled, "And thanks for the support, Wallace. I'll buy you a drink later. The good stuff."

"Hahaha! I'll be glad for it." He laughed melodically, "In the meanwhile, I'll be back here playing damage control as best I can. Anyways, good luck boys, I look forward to the good news." He then hung up.

"…I couldn't help but overhear that." Joseph said as he approached us, "So you have your marching orders?"

"We do." Drake replied gruffly, "It isn't ideal, but better than I was hoping for. Come, John, let us share our findings with the Hoenn Police so we can start coordinating together."

We then parted ways with Joseph, but only after exchanging a promise to find Team Rocket and punish them for their crimes. In return, if we proved successful, then Joseph promised that I would be 'suitably rewarded', whatever that meant.

After that, we headed over to the temporary command tent that the Jennys had set up and begun explaining our observations to them.

Fortunately, it seemed like my reputation preceded me. Being known for being one of the principal reasons for why Team Rocket was driven out of Indigo gave a certain weight to my words. That, coupled with the fact that my theory was better than the random guesses they were previously thrown out, and it didn't take long for them to be brought on board as well.

This just left us to decide what we were going to do in the future. While we wouldn't be putting all our eggs in one basket, we unanimously agreed to set up a trap for Team Rocket, but we differed on how we would execute it.

The Jennys initially suggested ramping up the protection for the Orbs, but that was quickly shot down. Drake and I didn't think that Team Rocket was suicidal enough to target something that was obviously going to be heavily guarded. Plus, it would give away the fact that we had cottoned on to their plans, which would just give them the opportunity to slink away back into the shadows.

No, we had to bait them into launching an operation, where we could then catch them in the act and interrogate the captives for further leads. We all knew that preventing them from stealing the Orbs was only the first step in eradicating Team Rocket; we also had to target their main bases and the source of their manpower and funding.

We were also going to be tracking the money to see if we can find anything from there, but I wasn't too hopeful about our chances on that.

However, the Jenny's opposed such a plan, saying that it put too much of the public at risk. They ideally didn't want a fight at all; and thought prevention was the best way forward. In turn, we disagreed, thinking that a trap was the best way in order to obtain information.

Thus, after a heavy back-and-forth discussion, a plan finally came into place. We agreed that if Team Rocket were to ever launch an attack, it would be very similar to the attack at Devon Corp; a precision strike consisting of a small group of grunts. Speed was likely the key for their success, so they wouldn't bother trying to overwhelm us with pure numbers.

That gave us an opportunity. If we could somehow hold off the initial assault until reinforcements could arrive, then cut off their attempts to escape, then mopping them up would be easy.

Hence, the plan was to replace all 4 of the usual patrolling Jennys at Mt. Pyre with their elite counterparts, since we felt that this number was just low enough to not arose any suspicion. They would be fielding their strongest Pokémon in hopes to buy as much time as possible. And, to reinforce them, I would be entrusting a heavily vetted Nurse Joy, which was a common sight at Mt. Pyre, with Klee.

Klee would be disguising herself as a 'regular' Blissey, the ones usually assigned to Nurse Joys. If Team Rocket did strike, she was under orders to buy as much time as possible to fend off Team Rocket from stealing the Orb and escaping. It was a high-risk role, but she agreed with the plan. Plus, none of our other Pokémon could reasonably be disguised in this way.

In the meanwhile, Drake and I would make ourselves visible actively running around Hoenn, pretending to be searching for them. That should give them the confidence to launch the operation and also minimize the chances of them launching other operations in other areas.

It was a risky plan, and a lot of it came down to my prediction being right and the Jenny's and Klee's ability to hold off Team Rocket for enough time for us to arrive, but it was the best that we could come up with.

Just in case my prediction was wrong though, the rest of the Hoenn Police would be engaged in regular patrols as was standard procedure.

The issue now was that we didn't know when the operation was going to be launched. It could be in the next hour, or the next week. So, we had to maintain a state of alertness for a long period of time.

Still, we didn't have any better plans, so we spent the next several minutes or hours trying to refine the plan and locating a Nurse Joy that we could unequivocally trust with Klee. Eventually, we did find one, and I might have accidentally intimidated her when I gave her Klee's Premier Ball. Whoops.

With that out of the way, the meeting was about to wrap up, and I was about to leave the room with Drake before I heard all of the Jennys' phones pinging simultaneously. They all went to look at it before a look of horror etched itself on their faces.

"Sirs, you need to check the news." One Jenny told us firmly with a frown.

With a sense of dread coursing through my veins, I went to check the Pokénet, and my eyes widened with alarm as I read the first news article I saw.

"Silph Co responsible for the attack at Devon Corp?! Porygon information stolen from Devon Corp?!"

"Fuck." Drake uttered, which I wholeheartedly agreed with.

This might turn into quite the shitshow.

The New Normal – 6-2 – Orb-ital Warfare

As soon as I read the title of the news report, my mind began whirling a mile a minute as I tried to process the consequences. I didn't believe for a moment that Silph Co. would be behind such an attack; it would be far too daring and out of character for them. Nor would they bother trying to steal the Porygon research; it wasn't THAT valuable to them and I'm pretty sure they had some access to it already anyways.

But the Porygon research WAS valuable to the evil teams, since being able to produce Porygon would always be valuable.

Putting the pieces together showed that this was likely all just a smokescreen for Team Rocket. I could only hope the public to be smart enough to figure out that out for themselves, though I wasn't going to stay very optimistic on that. Worse, the accusations against Silph Co. also threatened to drag Indigo's reputation through the mud as well, shattering our newfound attempts to rebuild our relations with them.

According to the news report, an anonymous whistleblower pointed fingers towards Silph Co having received the Porygon information that was just stolen from Devon Corp and that they were their backer. Obviously, that evidence was a plant, but the news agencies were still doing what they do best, stirring up drama and making things generally difficult for everyone.

I cursed their callousness. Didn't they know that this was exactly what Team Rocket wanted? Or did they simply not care, so long as they got the views that they wanted?

I shook off those thoughts. I could continue cursing the news agencies later. Right now, I had to do something about this before Indigo got dragged in the mud alongside Silph Co. I feared that, if this situation isn't handled quickly and effectively, I might be withdrawn from Hoenn and barred from helping out with the investigation.

That would be bad enough, but Indigo CANNOT afford to damage our relations with Hoenn any further. It would risk them threatening to break off relations entirely, which would be utterly disastrous. And a huge win for Team Rocket and Team Magma, who I suspect were behind this ploy in the first place.

Thus, I racked my brain for ways to solve this. I needed someone who could properly dispel such accusations within Silph Co yet be trusted enough amongst the community that their word would be trusted.

Suddenly, a person came to mind. And I let out a laugh tinged with bitter irony. Drake gave me a weird look at that.

"Something funny?" He asked with a frown.

I shook my head, quickly calming myself down. "No, no. Just a humorous thought. Sorry, I shouldn't have laughed in such a situation. But I do need to make a phone call."

"You got a plan? Cuz this is going to be a fucking mess for both of us if we don't deal with it right now." He said, and I simply nodded to him as I dialled up a number.

"Giovanni speaking." Giovanni's smooth voice came through the phone, but oddly enough, it sounded a little breathless.

"Giovanni, it's John. Did you see the news recently?" I asked.

"No, I've been a bit preoccupied recently." He said, and was it me or did I hear a hint of embarrassment in his voice? "Is there something wrong?"

"Yes. And I might need your help. Or in fact, Indigo might need your help." I said, trying to convey the seriousness of the situation through my tone.

"Oh? That doesn't sound good. Right then, give me a second." I heard some shuffling, whispering, and then the sound of a door closing. I didn't know what was going on, but now wasn't the time to ask. "Right, I'm ready. What's going on?"

"Look at the news. Apparently, an 'anonymous whistleblower' just announced that one of the directors at Silph Co has just received some of the information regarding the Porygon and their evolution process that was just stolen from Devon Corp. AND that they hired Team Rocket to do it." I explained.

"Silph Co!?" He asked, astonished, "Impossible. They would never dare to do something like that, not without telling me– I mean, I'm on the board of directors too, and I never would have voted in favour of that. Nor did I hear anything about it. WHICH director was it?!" His fury was palpable, even through the phone.

I was fairly certain that Giovanni was far more than just a simple director at Silph Co. In fact, I'm confident that he was basically the puppet master behind the whole company. But I didn't voice that out loud. No need to reveal more than I needed to.

"No idea, they never said. And I agree that it's a ridiculous accusation." I concurred, "But the issue is that the news agencies are running wild with the accusations, like they always do. Soon enough, the whole of Indigo and Hoenn are going to know about it, and people are going to get very upset very quickly."

"Hmm…I can definitely see that happening." Giovanni agreed, and I could hear the gears turning in his head. "Damn, I really picked a bad time to slack on the news…I assume you want to counteract such statements as quickly as possible?"

"Yes, because I'm almost certain that this is a ploy by Team Rocket to distract us." I replied firmly, "While we're all running around like fools trying to deal with the fallout, they're going to use that as a distraction to launch their real operation."

"Yes, all very sensible." He stated, sounding like he had thought of using a similar plan before and was very familiar with it. I put that thought aside for now.

"And even if Silph Co releases a statement denying the claims, no one's really going to believe them. It's going to sound like they're just trying to deflect the blame." I continued, "They're going to need someone trustworthy to clear their name."

"You mean someone like me?" He assumed, and I hummed in affirmation. That seemed to cause Giovanni to break out in laughter, one very similar to the one I had earlier.

"…I never thought the day would come where I would be the one to clear Silph Co's name rather than the other way round." He remarked wryly. I stayed silent at that, but inwardly I agreed with his thoughts. It WAS quite strange.

"Damn. Right then, I can see the urgency. Leave it to me, I'll deal with it." He declared with conviction, "You're right in that Indigo can't afford the damage that might be caused if we don't clamp down on such accusations right away. And I personally would prefer Silph Co to remain untarnished. So you have my support."

"May I ask how you'd deal with this?" I asked politely.

"Best not to." He stated firmly, as if it was an order. "What I CAN do is assure you that I'll do my best to solve this problem without having anything show up on the news. This will be handled quietly and internally. But I will do everything I can to ensure that Silph Co's name is cleared, and the ploy exposed as a lie."

I hummed, understanding what he was implying. I didn't approve of such methods…but I wasn't going to complain about it now. Not when we needed this framing attempt to be stopped as soon as possible. In the end, I voiced my agreement.

"Good, then I'll get on that right away." He said curtly, a tinge of urgency in his voice. "I'll let you know how things go. Keep up the good work John, speak soon." We exchanged farewells and then hung up the phone.

I put away my phone and walked back to where Drake was, who had recently just finished up with a phone call as well. He spoke up as I approached.

"Good news?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Probably. I called up Gym Leader Giovanni who has connections to Silph Co. He promised to deal with the rumours." I told him, leaving out HOW he was going to do it.

"Excellent." Drake replied with a firm nod, "I just got off the phone with Wallace again. He's been on the phone with Lance, assuring him that this was all a plot and that we weren't going to do anything. Lance seemed reassured but urged a quick resolution. I hope you have this handled."

I nodded, but inwardly I was still a bit unsettled. I had totally forgot about Lance's possible response with this; I was just glad that he was staying calm.

"Then are we sticking to the plan to trap them?" I asked, putting any of my doubts aside.

"Yes. Let's get the fuckers." Drake replied with a smile full of teeth.

==========

​(Rocket Grunt POV)

He was a simple grunt of Team Rocket, though if he pulled off this mission then he was unlikely to remain a mere grunt for much longer. He had been due for a promotion for a long while, and this was the chance to earn it.

He and his team were discretely making their way through the graveyard that was Mt. Pyre. It had been a few days since that other team successfully acquired the files from Devon Corp, and apparently the bosses were satisfied with what they found out, because he and his team were now deployed to acquire the two Orbs.

They were disguised as your typical grieving trainer travelling as a large group of friends, pretending to pay their respects to a fallen Pokémon. Inwardly, he snorted at the idea of ever doing something like this; Pokémon were useful, but he could never see himself ever mourning their loss.

After all, who would mourn a tool when it breaks? That just reeked of weakness.

Still, his internal thoughts aside, he and his small team of about a dozen grunts had to be very careful as they climbed the many floors of Mt. Pyre. They couldn't afford to get caught before they had even reached their goal. While he and his teammates had been through rigorous training in preparation for this operation, it had been drilled into him that surprise was their biggest factor to succeed. Blowing their cover now would doom them.

They could not afford to spend too much time tangling with the Hoenn Police or else the Elite Four would arrive. And then they would be screwed, training or not.

It was why the bosses spent so much time and effort preparing the distraction. He had heard on the news about the huge drama that 'Silph Co's conspiracy' had kicked up, and how that had led to the possible straining of Indigo-Hoenn relations. Truthfully, he didn't care about any of that. All he and his bosses were concerned about was whether the Hoenn League would be too busy dealing with the fallout for them to realize their true plan at securing the Orbs.

They had already sent in a few forward scouts yesterday to make sure there wasn't a sudden increase in security, and the scouts all said that there were no changes.

He did hear a few concerned whispers about how the distraction wasn't working as well as they had expected but looking at the lack of new or additional patrols here at Mt. Pyre, they probably bought enough time for this mission to be a success. That, or the idiots in the League weren't smart enough to figure out their plan. He didn't care either way; he'd leave it to the bosses to do the bigger picture thinking. That's what they were good for, after all.

He took a discrete look around to check for any nearby Jennys and nearly tripped over a grieving trainer, a young kid bawling his eyes out in front of a tombstone. Fortunately, he stopped himself just in time and walked around the pathetic kid, plastering an apologetic smile on his face. In reality, he was holding back the urge to curse at the boy for almost drawing attention to himself. He had to restrain himself from kicking the kid into the very tombstone that he was crying at.

As he reached the stairs ascending upwards to the next floor, he had to force down the panic and surprise that he felt as a Jenny walked down the steps, his veins turning cold as ice. Technically, they had yet to do anything wrong; yet the very presence of a Jenny, and the danger of breaking their cover, greatly rattled him. It took all of his willpower to keep a straight face, and he hoped to Arceus that he had drilled enough of a sense of discipline into his fellow grunts standing next to him that they would not break under the pressure.

As if sensing his nervousness, the Jenny paused and gave them a considering look. He tried to give off a reassuring smile, but if he could react, he would have scowled as the Jenny took in his appearance. In order to avoid suspicion, he and his team weren't allowed to wear full face coverings, so his face was completely exposed to the world. He hoped that this wouldn't bite him in the ass later.

He could feel her eyes boring into his, as if she was trying to drill a hole into his very soul to ferret out his deepest secrets. His heart felt like it was beating out of his chest, and he prayed that she couldn't hear the loud thumps of his heart. In a moment of weakness, images flashed through his head where the Jenny would expose their identity and catch them, and he had to force himself not to bite down on his lip reflexively.

After what felt like an eternity later, the Jenny gave a small nod to their group before walking off. Without looking back, he quickly walked up the stairs before letting out a sigh of relief as soon as he was sure that the Jenny couldn't hear him.

"That was too close." One of his fellow grunts whispered to him, and he had to agree. They were still a few floors from the summit, so they couldn't afford to have their cover blown now.

He took a moment to recollect himself before he continued making his way up Mt. Pyre. Fortunately, there were no other close encounters with the Jenny's, and progress was smooth. It only took them a short while before they reached the summit. They were in the home stretch now.

As soon as he made his way outside onto the summit, he was immediately blasted by the howling wind and cursed. The winds meant that their prepared smoke bombs would be ineffective as the smoke would be quickly dispersed by the wind.

But there was nothing he could do about it, so instead he and his team performed one final check through of their Pokéballs in preparation for the inevitable fight. They had gotten lucky to not have been discovered so far, but there was no chance he could simply walk out with the Orbs without a fight.

He sent a quick message to command to check on where the Elite Four were. After a few seconds, he got a response saying that Drake's Altaria was spotted over at Mt. Chimney, while John's Mantine was spotted near Mauville. He let out a sigh of relief as his luck; that meant that he had more time than he had expected before their arrival, hopefully enough time for him to escape and reach the backup teams.

After making sure they were all ready, they proceeded up the summit at a steady pace. They walked past many a grave as they continued to get closer to where the Orbs were being displayed. But then, his luck eventually came to an end as a Jenny called up to them.

"Hey! Could you come over here for a minute?" She ordered, calling them to her. Next to her was a fearsome Arcanine, looking far scarier than the ones that he saw in his briefings. He reflexively stepped backwards, recognizing this was not the usual Arcanine deployed by the Jennys. This was something far stronger.

Time seemed to slow for him as he pondered his choices. Did he think he could trick the Jenny into letting him pass? But even if he did, how much time would that buy before he and his team eventually got exposed? Did he want to risk getting close, without his Pokémon, to a deadly Arcanine that could maul him in an instant?

No, he realized that the jig was up, and that the time for stealth was over. Making up his mind, he let out a sharp whistle, signalling to his team that it was time to fight. The Arcanine immediately made a beeline towards him, but he already had released all of his Pokémon out on to the field.

White lights flashed all around him as his team released all of their Pokémon simultaneously. A small horde of Golbat, Mightyena, Dustox, Weezing, Claydol, and Hypno suddenly surrounded him. These Pokémon were specifically chosen and trained for this operation in order to quickly suppress their foes and buy time for the team to escape.

His team appeared just in time as Arcanine slammed straight into one of them, putting their Extreme Speed to good use. But like they had practiced, they quickly made use of their significant numbers advantage to pile on and beat down the lone Arcanine. A quick Psychic from a few Claydol broke its charge before it was immediately pounced upon by a pack of Mightyena. Taking advantage of the chaos, a Hypno fired off repeated pulses of Hypnosis before the Arcanine was finally removed from the fight.

Despite quickly dealing with the Arcanine, he knew there was no time to waste. Securing the Orb and escaping had to be their first priority before the reinforcements arrived. Already, he could see the Jenny barking orders into her radio, and he knew it was a matter of time before their numbers advantage would be flipped around.

So, like they had planned, his team rushed forwards with their Pokémon. The Jenny quickly released a few more Pokémon, including a few more Arcanine and a Meganium of all things. One of his team members immediately diverted his Pokémon to deal with the new threat, and the rest of them continued moving forwards, running up a flight of stairs.

As he got to the top, he could see in the distance the two pedestals that held the two Orbs. They were so close!

Of course, his elation was immediately ruined as he saw more Jennys rushing over with their Pokémon. Oddly enough, a Nurse Joy was joining them with her Blissey. He guessed that, when you were desperate enough, you had to throw everything at the problem. He would have sneered, but there wasn't enough time for that.

He knew that this was likely the last line of defense before they could take the Orb. If they could just deal with these busybodies quickly, then they could escape with their prize before the Elite Four arrived.

"Take them down! Rush them!" He commanded, his tone urgent and filled with adrenaline. His fellow grunts let out a yell of their own and ordered their Pokémon to charge forwards to meet the Jenny's head on. Their Pokémon might be inferior to theirs, but they still held a significant number advantage on them. If he could defeat the Jenny's piecemeal, then their victory should be in the-

Suddenly, a huge pressure started pressing down on him, and he instantly collapsed to his knees. His joints felt like they were about to be crushed from the sudden pressure, and his neck nearly snapped as he hit the ground. As he struggled against the force to raise his head to look around, he found that his team and their Pokémon were all in a similar state.

Taking advantage of their sudden inability to fight, the Jennys went fully on the offensive as powerful attacks were unleashed with wild abandon. Instantly, multiple torrents of flames scorched his Pokémon as the Arcanine released their Flamethrowers simultaneously. The battle was bathed in a sea of flames, and his Pokémon writhed in pain as they quickly burnt up in the pulsating heat. He realized he needed to do SOMETHING before they would all be defeated!

His eyes frantically searched around to find the source of the sudden pressure when he suddenly locked eyes with the Blissey, realizing that they were glowing a powerful pink as they channelled a Gravity. Recognition coursed through him, and he could feel the fear starting to surge through his veins.

This wasn't an ordinary Blissey at all! This was JOHN's Blissey! What the fuck was it doing here?!

Still, fighting against an Elite Four Pokémon or not, he was in too deep to stop now. Plus, he figured that even such a powerful Blissey would not be able to suppress so many Pokémon at the same time. If they could disable it first, then they would be given free reign once again.

Luckily, his Pokémon must have been thinking the same thing, as their small group of Claydol immediately fired off repeated blasts of Psychic towards the Blissey. Blissey instantly formed a Light Screen in front of it to protect it from the blasts, but their Hypno quickly joined in as well, and they eventually overwhelmed and shattered the Light Screen and blasted the Blissey backwards, cancelling the Gravity.

With the Gravity finally nullified, his other Pokémon finally regained their mobility and dove back into the fight. A couple of Sludge Bombs from their Weezings detonated on the enemy Arcanine, interrupting their Flamethrowers. The Jennys tried to retaliate as they sent their Arcanines forwards, charging them in with Extreme Speed as they looked to maul his Weezing. He tried to order his Mightyena to intercept, but they were busy dealing with the Meganium, who had been slapping them around with large and thorny roots that it had grown.

The fight quickly descended into a disorderly brawl, and he was barely able to remain in command as he ordered his team to make full use of their enormous numbers advantage and slowly encircle the Jennys and pick their Pokémon apart one by one.

To his great frustration, the Jennys were putting up a much tougher fight than they were anticipating, and their Pokémon were clearly far more well-trained and powerful than the usual fare. A huge part of that frustration came from John's damned Blissey, who continuously forced back his Pokémon as it fired off wave after wave of Psychic, Shadow Balls, and Thunderbolts, all the while endlessly healing up any of the Jennys injured Pokémon.

The fucking Blissey was single-handedly stalling their efforts.

They WERE winning, but he was growing increasingly worried that they were rapidly running out of time. He didn't know how much time had passed, but his gut was screaming to him that he had to end the fight NOW before it was too late.

And yet these stupid Jennys and their Pokémon refused to fall. That annoying Blissey, despite all the punishment sent its way, refused to go down and still was able to maintain healing up its allies. And his lesser trained Pokémon were slowly being worn down, their numbers gradually dwindling as the barrage of attacks continued to take out more of their number.

But they continued to make progress, and as a lucky Air Slash from one of their Golbats landed a critical hit on one of their last few Arcanine's, knocking it out before Blissey could heal them, the tide was began shifting in their favour.

However, just as he could taste the victory, a thunderous roar filled the skies as a large shadow enveloped the summit. Dread immediately filled his veins as he realized that too much time had passed, and that the reinforcements had successfully made their way here.

He dared to look up, and he saw the rapidly falling figure of John's Ursaluna descending from the sky like a meteor from space. Panic immediately set in.

"SCATTER!" He shouted to his team, "I'm going for the Orb! Join me or distract them! QUICK QUICK QUICK!"

To their credit, his team were swift to respond to his commands, and he was joined by a fellow grunt as they frantically rushed to the Orbs. Behind him, he could hear the signature sounds of rocks shattering as the Ursaluna immediately dominated the battle with its geokinesis. Rocks were ripped out of the ground and he could hear his Pokémon crying out in pain as they were impaled upon a landslide of rocks.

Panic immediately filled in his mind; his training long forgotten. He had seen the footage of John's battle at Olivine, and he was absolutely certain that he and his team stood no chance against his, better training or not. Still, a tiny part of his mind, the one that clung to hope, believed that he could still make it out if he could just fly off and scatter into the crowds, orb in tow.

But just as he thought that, another thunderous roar boomed out from the skies, this one so deafeningly loud that he instinctively stopped to cover his ears. This time, he didn't even bother wasting time looking up as he continued his single-minded charge towards the Orbs. He was barely a couple feet away before a terrifying blue beast landed in front of him, and he found himself staring face to face with Drake's Salamence.

Possibly out of desperation, his fellow grunt and his Claydol fired off an Ice Beam at the Salamence, only to be met with a searing vortex of flames that quickly engulfed the lone Claydol and swiftly burning it into unconsciousness.

Drake merely stared at them with an unimpressed look, raising a lone eyebrow as if daring them to make another move. Despite not saying a word, his eyes stared at them with such anger that it seemed to match the wrath coming out in torrential waves from his Salamence. He could feel his face rapidly paling as something warm filled his pants.

Knowing that the fight was lost, he was about to raise his arms up in surrender before he was blasted face first into the ground from a Psychic. As his consciousness slowly started to fade, he caught a glimpse of the Blissey walking up to him, an uncharacteristic look of anger on its face with its eyes glowing a powerful pink.

And then another impact slammed into the back of his head, and he passed out before he even hit the ground.

"…Yes, thank you…I am glad to hear that…yes, we can finalize those discussions soon…yes, speak to you later. Thank you." Lance put down the phone and let out a relieved breath; it seems like his efforts at bringing Sinnoh on board were finally bearing fruit. They had finally given confirmation that, within a certain timeframe, they would be opening their borders. He supposed he would get any further details from Elite Bertha soon.

Though Lance couldn't be sure if it was his attempts at diplomacy that was the tipping factor; he was aware of the growing internal strife within Sinnoh where the public was pushing for the opening of their borders. He suspected the real reason for their sudden desire to open up their borders were more to cater to their public opinion rather than his own actions.

No matter, so long as the borders got open, then that was all Lance truly cared about. Accomplishing a feat like that would be a great milestone and demonstrate to Indigo that he was working hard to be an effective and successful Champion.

A big win was something that he felt was needed considering the turmoil surrounding the Gyms and the attack at Devon Corp. Suddenly feeling the urge to check up on the former, he quickly went through some of the paperwork on his desk and retrieved the reports that he had about the current status of the Indigo Gyms.

That was the thing about being Champion, it was all about dealing with one problem after another and trying to stop the entire region from suddenly bursting into flames. No wonder Pryce was such a grouch after so many years of running this.

At least he had kept good council to support him that was willing to tell him what they truly thought. If he was surrounded by only those yes-men in the Committee, then he truly believed that he might turned out like Pryce. He shuddered at the thought.

But reading through the document in front of him allowed him to relax slightly. It detailed that the Gyms were mostly running smoothly. When he first became Champion, it had been a great shock to find out that the Gyms hadn't been doing nearly as well as he thought they were. And he knew that, even if blamed Pryce for his negligence for the Gyms' poor running, he knew that the public would still end up blaming HIM if the situation wasn't quickly resolved.

He was glad that the bigger concerns had mostly been laid to rest. Pewter City remained the most problematic of the Gyms, but Agatha had a firm hand on it. Or, like the report was suggesting, Agatha was practically on a vacation while she had her apprentice Karen doing all the work on her behalf. At least Karen seemed up to the task; even if the report labelled her as "competent yet overworked".

Before, Lance would have scoffed at her laziness. But now, as he settled into his position as Champion, he envied Agatha's ability to delegate so shamelessly. If he could throw everything at Clair without being fed to one of his own Dragonites, he would have.

Surprisingly, with Pewter City under new, and competent management, it was the Johto Gyms that were currently more of a cause for concern for Lance. The status of Olivine's Gym was still mostly up in the air, but they had appointed a new successor who should hopefully be able to tackle the problems with a new perspective.

Then came the report about the Mahogany Gym, and how Pryce was installed as its new Gym Leader. Initially, Lance had received a few reports about how difficult Pryce was to work with. Knowing what working with Pryce was like, he had fully expected those. With how Pryce had been Champion for so many years, becoming a Gym Leader was quite the step down. It was an entirely new environment for the ex-Champion, and Pryce was likely very unused to it.

However, the more recent reports that Lance had received revealed a different picture. After the initial rocky stages of settling in, Pryce seemed to have calmed down and become more accepting of his new position. He was probably still an ass, but so long as he could maintain this new 'positive' attitude, coupled with his impressive reputation as an ex-Champion, Lance could cautiously say that the Mahogany Gym was in safe hands.

After skimming through a few more reports, he let out a satisfied smile as he put them all down. It appeared like, at least temporarily, Indigo wasn't suffering from any noticeable internal issues at the moment. Which was good, because this gave him time to focus on developing their foreign relations, which was badly needed considering the recent events with the resurgence of Team Rocket.

Speaking of Team Rocket, he felt like now was finally the time to start pushing through his long-stated ambition of establishing an International Police force. After all, what better time to create such an institution when there was an immediate need for international cooperation to deal with an international terrorist threat?

Despite this thought, Lance felt a bit scummy for taking advantage of such a scenario to push through a political agenda, especially when it seemed like he was playing politics while lives were at real risk. At least John was over there doing good work. He wished him all the luck with capturing those criminals.

A part of him had wanted to rush over to Devon Corp to personally aid Hoenn with their struggles, but he couldn't just put down the responsibilities as Champion to do so. It was unfortunate, but this was one of those times where he would have preferred the freedom of the Elite Four over the responsibilities and powers of being Champion.

Shaking himself out of his introspection, he grabbed a nearby notepad and started jotting down a few ideas he had about how he would start implementing the creation of the Indigo Police. He had previous plans of course, but those would likely have to be scrapped considering the unusual circumstances that they were in.

After a few minutes of jotting everything down, he folded the page and left a reminder to call John about it later. He wanted to have a better idea on the current status of Hoenn, and the last thing Lance wanted to do would be to accidentally push too hard on an idea and unintentionally isolate the region even further. Especially not with the suspicions that were currently being levied against Silph Co.

Lance was sure those were bogus, but he knew that Gym Leader Giovanni was tasked with officially investigating the 'claims'. As far as he saw, Giovanni was doing good work to make use of his reputation to shield the company from the worst of the consequences while the investigation continued, buying time for the company and temporarily keeping a lid on any public outrage. He could only hope that it was enough; he really didn't need more problems.

With that done, Lance slumped into his chair and massaged his head with his fingers as he checked the time. He groaned when he saw that he was still in the early hours of the afternoon. A further sigh came out of him as he realized that it meant that he still had half a day of meetings to sit through.

Sometimes, he really did regret challenging Pryce for his position. He really wasn't that suited to dealing with the monotony of paperwork that accompanied his new position. But then he thought about all the positive changes that he did, and all the prestige that came with it. He comforted himself with the fact that, if Pryce was still at the helm, it was almost guaranteed that he would have muddled through their new relations with Sinnoh and may have failed to maintain healthy relations with Hoenn. That would have been disastrous. And indeed, a few newspapers had recognized and praised his actions.

His achievements were what made dealing with the paperwork worth it. And he still let out the occasional smile as he saw the title of 'Champion' in front of his name. He had yearned for the position for so long – it was only right that he enjoyed it.

And it was why he felt that his most important decision, ever since becoming Champion, was to get the Elite Four more actively involved in providing him with advice and interacting with the Committee. They all had great ideas, but more importantly, kept him honest and grounded so that he wouldn't turn out like Pryce did.

Then his thoughts were broken as someone knocked on his door. He let out an "enter", and his secretary carefully walked in, balancing another tower of reports in their hands that he was going to have to go through.

And he immediately took everything back. He hated this.

The New Normal – 6-3 – Q&A Session

As soon as I got the notification that the raid was taking place, I rushed out of my hiding spot in Lilycove and jumped onto Zephyr's back as we rapidly made our way to Mt Pyre. I knew that Drake was doing the same from Sootopolis City.

When planning the trap, both Drake and I realized that we would be the ultimate deciding factors in halting the operation, and our swift arrival was vital to the plan's success. Thus, we also knew that Team Rocket would not launch their operation unless they were confident that we couldn't interfere with their operation in time. It would be idiotic otherwise.

But the both of us were very conspicuous individuals, and we couldn't be certain if they had informants scattered around Hoenn informing them of our location. Furthermore, if we ventured too far away from Mt. Pyre in order to bait them into attacking, we risked not being able to respond in time and letting them get away with the Orbs.

However, Drake actually came up with a clever plan. He said that, when in the air, recognition revolved around the Pokémon, rather than the trainer. For example, if one of the Team Rocket informants saw Drake's Altaria flying around Mt. Chimney, then they would assume that Drake was at Mt. Chimney as well.

With that in mind, Drake came up with the simple, yet effective, plan of having our signature and recognisable mounts flying around Hoenn far away from Mt. Pyre. Then, Drake and I would squirrel away somewhere where Team Rocket couldn't find us, while also remaining close to Mt. Pyre, so that we could respond quickly.

That was why I found myself hiding out in a cave in Lilycove, where in canon Team Magma or Aqua used as their base. Evidently, they hadn't moved into here yet, because the entire cave was empty barring a few wild Pokémon. Still, it made for a convenient hiding place.

And now, I suddenly got pinged that Drake was on his way. The trap was sprung. I quickly took off as well, hopefully arriving in a few minutes, which should be quick enough to capture Team Rocket before they could escape.

Just as I thought that, my radio sprang to life, "This is Jenny, the back-up team is in position. The exits are all monitored, and the anti-Teleportation field set around the perimeter."

"Understood. ETA 4 minutes until my arrival. Any news on the battle?" Drake asked.

"This is Joy. I'm currently hiding near the edges of the battle, and Team Rocket seems to have been temporarily halted in their advance. But I'm not sure if this stalemate can be maintained." The Nurse Joy who had been charged with Klee reported.

"We hear you." I responded, "I can see Mt. Pyre in the distance, just give me a few minutes more."

"Hurry!" She replied urgently, "Your Blissey is doing much to hold them back, but she's growing tired!"

I grimaced and pushed Zephyr to fly even faster. Despite the seriousness of the situation, I took deep breaths to keep myself calm. There was no time for inner doubts; I had a duty to perform.

Team Rocket will fall. And this operation would prove to be the beginning of the end for them.

Zephyr let out a squawk to inform me that we were moments away from arriving at the summit of Mt. Pyre. I could just make out a number of moving dots in the distance which were undoubtedly where the battle was taking place.

I spoke into the radio, "This is John. I'm about to arrive. Less than a minute."

Drake spoke up through the radio as well, "Drake here. I'm just a minute behind John. We're nearly there."

As we drew even closer, to the point where I could see the battles and clashes taking place below us, I clutched Vordt's Premier Ball tightly in my hand. And as soon as we flew over the top of the fighting, I released Vordt into the air.

His large figure rapidly descended out of the sky like a falling meteor, before eventually slamming into the ground with an audible crack and boom. Vordt immediately dominated the battlefield by ripping out large chunks of rocks and fired them in huge devastating volleys that quickly decimated ranks of Team Rocket's Pokémon.

To the grunts' credit, their Pokémon swiftly retaliated with a barrage of Ice Beam from their Claydol. But Vordt was made from far sturdier stuff than that, and rushed straight towards the Claydol, throwing himself straight into the fight. The Claydol didn't stand a chance, and Vordt was on a rampage as he smashed his way through all of the grunts' Pokémon with an onslaught of Night Slashes and Hammer Arms.

I took this opportunity to fly down from behind them and released Luna and Smough to join in the fight, encircling the grunts and preventing them from escaping. I didn't give the chance to react, and my reinforcements instantly began blasting them down, rapidly thinning out their numbers. Many of the grunts, realizing their imminent doom, suddenly threw themselves on the ground in surrender, not wanting to take a Psychic to the face.

And then, as if to rub salt on the wound, a thunderous roar shook the skies as Drake's Salamence made his appearance. And with that, even the foolhardiest of grunts must have realized that it was over.

With Drake's arrival, rounding up the remaining grunts was just a matter of clean-up, where we quickly but ruthlessly suppressed and knocked out all of their Pokémon. Of course, just for safety purposes, I had Luna knock out all of the grunts with a light Psychic blast to ensure that they didn't have any clever ideas.

As soon as the last grunt went down, one of the Jenny's who had been part of the initial patrol at Mt. Pyre, despite the tiredness and exhaustion lined her face, started barking out orders on her radio, "This is Jenny. The grunts have all been subdued. I want the back-up team doing a large sweep of the perimeter to clear up any escaping grunts and to capture their extraction team. We know they had one."

She got a round of affirmatives back, and continued, "Anyone that we have spare, make your way over here with more handcuffs. Arrest them all, and as planned, we're holding them at Sootopolis."

The Jenny's all began rushing around to arrest all of the unconscious Team Rocket grunts, and I carefully took a step back and allowed them to do their work. Now that I could actually count the number of fallen grunts and their Pokémon, I frowned as I observed the grunts' Pokémon. As I feared, it was pretty obvious that their Pokémon were more trained and more developed than what I had faced back in Indigo. That was a concerning development.

It showed that the evil teams were becoming far more organized. So even though we were successful in our operations here today, we couldn't afford to slack off and give the evil teams time to build and continue training up their troops. We needed to strike hard and fast.

The sounds of huge thumping footsteps from behind me pulled me from my thoughts. I turned around to see Drake approaching me, followed by his signature Salamence, who seemed pleased by this victory.

"John, good work today." He patted me on the shoulder, a small smile breaking out on his lips. "Thank Arceus they decided to strike sooner rather than later. I would have gone mad if I had to stay hidden for any longer."

I shot him a wry smile, "True. I didn't like having to hide out in a cave any more than you did. I really should have picked a better hiding spot." And I probably smelled something nasty. Being deprived of Klee and Mantine meant that I had no Pokémon that could use Water moves on hand. So I hadn't showered since a few days ago. Ew.

"At least this operation was a success. It made the suffering worth it." I joked, getting a small chuckle from Drake.

"That's true enough." But then his face turned serious as he turned his gaze towards the grunts, "Damn these terrorists. We got lucky that with the collateral damage. It would be a very bad look if we had accidentally torn up the graves of some of these fallen Pokémon. Not that we had a choice otherwise."

I winced; I was careful, but clearly not careful enough. Drake must have saw the look in my eyes because he waved me off, "It's no fault of yours John. Team Rocket decided the battlefield, not us. It's just another crime that we can pin down towards them."

I hummed, trying to not be affected by this, "So what happens with them now? We're obviously going to question them, right?"

Drake nodded, "Of course. This is only the beginning, after all. Let's hope these grunts will be able to provide significant leads for us to follow. We probably only have a short window of time before news of their failure spreads. So we must act fast."

I agreed, time was of the essence. Then, a thought popped into my mind that I voiced, "Are we allowed to use psychic interrogation techniques?" I asked, my voice lowering to a whisper.

Psychic interrogation techniques were, in a sense, a technical term for ripping the information straight out of their minds. It was definitely not a pleasant process and could sometimes do significant harm to the victim, occasionally leaving them completely comatose. That was rare, but the probability of permanent damage was why, generally, it was illegal to perform. The only exception to this was against direct threats against the League, which included terrorists.

In Indigo, Team Rocket WERE labelled as terrorists due to the widespread harm that they caused with their previous actions. But here in Hoenn, they hadn't made that distinction yet because they had mostly gone into hiding. Without this label, we couldn't actually employ such tactics on them.

Drake shrugged, "That's not up to me. I'll be speaking to Wallace after this to see if we can finally get the committee to see the threat that Team Rocket poses." He grimaced, "Especially with all this new training. It speaks of further backing and resources. That's greatly concerning."

I nodded, not knowing what to think. On the one hand, I was uncomfortable with being so blasé about forcefully ripping information out of their minds. On the other hand, I could see the necessity and I knew better than anyone what the threat these evil teams posed to the world. They MUST be stopped.

In a way, I was fortunate that the decision was left out of my hands. I could tell myself that I wasn't responsible for the decision.

=============

​It took some time, but eventually we had all the grunts properly cuffed and transported to Sootopolis, where they would be held for questioning. The Jennys chose to hold them at Sootopolis because it was one of the hardest cities to escape from, since you practically had to be flown out of there. Teleportation would work too, but you had to have a very powerful Teleporter to teleport out of Sootopolis in one jump.

Unfortunately, Drake got back to me and informed me that, despite telling Wallace about our successes, the Committee was still unwilling to label Team Rocket as an outright terrorist group just yet.

Apparently, Wallace told Drake that the Committee didn't want the situation to escalate any further and labelling the so-called 'diminished' Team Rocket as a terrorist group, especially after their recent loss, would be far too premature and would 'cause widespread panic'. And already, considering how loud and eye-catching our capture operation was, I was certain that the news agencies would have picked up on something happening and would do their utmost to find out what was going on.

Which meant that it was only a matter of time before Team Rocket found out about their failure, if they hadn't already.

Still, it wasn't all bad news. With our success, the Committee was more willing to give us a free hand at disposing of the Team Rocket threat. Thus, they wouldn't be shutting us down anytime soon, which was a silver lining. An unquestionable success made them look better, after all.

Furthermore, to get around the restriction of not being able to employ psychic techniques, Drake had requested for me to ask Lance if it would be okay if we transferred some of the prisoners from Hoenn to Indigo after they had done questioning them with more mundane methods.

Which was why I found myself on a call with Lance, looking to seek his approval.

"Lance speaking." He picked up.

"Lance, it's John." I greeted, "Not sure if you heard, but the operation was a success. We defended the Orbs and had the grunts all arrested. They're waiting in holding cells now."

"Fantastic news." He cheered, "Glad those scumbags are being put away. But what do you need me for?"

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Hoenn hasn't actually labelled Team Rocket to be a terrorist group yet." I explained, "And despite our efforts, they still aren't willing to slap that label on them. Which means we can't employ Psychic interrogation techniques."

"Ah. I understand." He muttered, "I guess you want to bring them over here so that we can interrogate them psychically?" His voice took on a bit of an edge to it. I guessed that he was still rather furious about Team Rocket's actions in Indigo.

"I do." I replied, "I think that it would help speed up the investigation."

"Done." He said instantly, "Send them over whenever. We'd be ready to pick them up."

"…Actually, now that you're here, I have something to propose as well." He added, "I was thinking that this would be a great opportunity to kickstart the International Police idea. If I could talk Wallace into agreeing with it, what would you think of having some more assistance?"

I stopped to think about his proposal for a moment. I certainly wouldn't mind the manpower, but I needed to know more, "What kind of people would you be sending over? And how many? Would I be responsible for them?" I asked.

"In order, just a handful of candidates that I had already pre-picked in advance. They're very professional, and certainly have the skills. I assure you that you won't be disappointed." He responded, "And no, you wouldn't be responsible for them. If Wallace gives permission, Lorelei will be overseeing them. She specifically requested this, after all."

"Lorelei? That's surprising." I commented. But after I thought about it for a bit, I realized it was actually quite reasonable. I knew that Lorelei was trying to angle herself as incorruptible to distinguish herself from Pryce, so managing something like this would be right up her alley.

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I continued, "And no, I don't mind. This seems like a good opportunity to finally get those plans of yours in place. I'm sure you've been waiting a long time for the chance." I joked.

He chuckled, "True enough. But I do hope that I didn't need to take advantage of such circumstances." I could sense him frowning, "Anyways, thanks John. I'll let you know if Wallace agrees. Keep up the good work and I wish you luck."

After he hung up the call, I relayed the information back to Drake, who nodded. "Huh, it WOULD be interesting to finally meet another Elite Four member from Indigo. Anyways, we can discuss this another time. Let's not waste any more time. I think they're starting in on the questioning."

I silently followed him as we made our way to the holding cells, where the prisoners were brought in one by one to be questioned. It took some time for the Jennys to properly secure them and separate them from their Pokémon before they could begin their questioning.

The questioning process was…difficult. After observing for a little while, I could split up the prisoners into two groups. The first group consisted of the mercenary types, those who were doing crime for the payday, and nothing else. These guys were annoying to deal with, because they only looked out for themselves and were doing everything they could to avoid a lighter sentence, but they were at least willing to negotiate and feed us the occasional morsel of information.

On the other hand, there was the other group. The true fanatics. These were completely and utterly unwilling to even give out the slightest hint of information. They were truly devoted to the cause, and no amount of persuasion could steer them off their course. Without psychic interrogation, we would never be able to get anything out of them.

Fortunately, there were far more of the former group than the latter, but the existence of these fanatics confirmed something horrifying for me.

At first, I had suspected that Team Rocket had probably joined up with Team Magma, since Tabitha was a Team Magma admin in canon and here had been the one to let Team Rocket into Devon Corp to steal the files.

However, as I listened to the fanatical ravings of the prisoners, I realized that my assumptions were wrong. I had expected to hear statements regarding the "expansion of land" or "terraforming the ocean", but instead all they rambled about was the "remaking of the world".

…I did not like the sound of that. A sneaking suspicion started forming in my mind, and my gut was screaming at me that something was wrong. That something was happening outside of my initial expectations. I needed to know more.

Without even thinking about it, I made my way into the interrogation room. I heard Drake ask me what I was doing, but I ignored it as I sat myself opposite of one of the fanatical grunts.

He immediately began rambling and let out a slew of insults. I ignored all those and asked the question I wanted to ask.

"Why do you want to remake the world?" I said as I stared deeply into his eyes, trying to take in every detail.

My question seemed to have taken him aback for a moment, before he formed a wide, slightly crazed smile, "The world is corrupt and impure. Humanity has made many irreversible mistakes. They have polluted the ocean, ripping away the habitats of many Pokémon. No, in order for Pokémon to flourish, the world must be remade anew, where the oceans will be reformed and purified, cleansed of all its impurities. It will be a perfect utopia." He said as if he was reciting the words that he had fanatically devoted himself to.

He didn't eve need to finish his words, and my heart had already sunk as the horror set in. This wasn't a Team Magma grunt. This was a Team AQUA grunt! And worse, that meant that Team Magma and Team Aqua were likely working together now, for a different goal than the one they were aiming for in canon.

But then what was Tabitha doing working with grunts from Team Aqua? Unless Tabitha had somehow switched loyalties and joined Team Aqua, but I didn't see that happening. I was fairly confident in his canonical loyalty towards Maxie and didn't think that he would somehow switch Teams like this. As a result, I thought it was very likely that Team Aqua and Team Magma had, for whatever reason, chosen to combine their forces for a shared goal.

"And how do you plan to accomplish that?" I asked, shoving down my instinctive horror as I steeled myself and faced down this madman once again. I needed more answers.

The man only sneered at me, "Our plans are not for the unfaithful to know. Just know that you are standing on the wrong side of history! When the world is remade, you will only be able to lament your decisions in life, your blindness and inability to see what a better world would be! The endless possibilities awaiting us..."

I tuned the guy out as he continued his mad ramblings; he clearly wasn't going to give me anything more that I could use. Instead, I chose to focus on what I knew. I knew that, in canon, both teams either wanted to awaken Groudon or Kyogre to terraform the world to their liking. Which was why I was confident that they had been aiming for the Orbs to awaken them. It was also why them joining forces together was such a surprise for me, as their original goals were mutually exclusive from one another.

But now, these claims of 'remaking the world' implies that they had a different plan in mind. They were no longer satisfied with mass terraforming, but they wanted to reshape the world itself.

My eyes narrowed as I remembered the only evil team that had wanted this as a goal.

Team Galactic.