The jeep rumbled over rough terrain as the sun dipped behind the mountains, casting long shadows across the dense forest. Inside, the air was tense, not from fear, but the kind of tension that came when too many personalities were forced into one space that shouldn't be together
Sayoko drove in silence, her eyes focused, mouth tight. Owari sat in the back now, pulling up maps on a tablet and pointing out ridges and passes that could hide movement.
Behind him, Helena was eyeing the map again while Domino leaned against the window, arms crossed in a silent sulk. Jay fidgeted with his wristband nervously, while Enid just stared outside, legs bouncing in restrained agitation. Jay tried, and failed, to spark casual conversation.
Owari broke the silence first. "Alright. Here's what we've got. Satellite scans picked up strange readings in the western ranges, heat spikes and magnetic interference. Too structured to be natural, too erratic to be normal tech. That's where we're headed."
"So just a bunch of static and vibes?" Enid grunted. "Amazing. Definitely worth dragging all of us out here."
"Well, we've done weirder things," Domino shrugged. "Remember that weird base where we all almost died?"
Sayoko spoke, still looking at the forest they were driving through. "Now isn't the time for reminiscing. What we know, we have already told you."
"Right… and that's not much," Enid rolled her eyes.
"Hmm. Weird name, right?" Jay added, putting his arms behind his head. "Meteor? Sounds like they're into space cults or something."
"Do we have room to talk? We go by Team Rocket," Ash said simply.
Jay raised a finger, paused, then nodded. "...You know what, fair."
"I don't care what they're called," Enid muttered. "As long as we get this over with. I've got better things to do."
Ash kept his gaze ahead. He didn't show anything, but deep inside, his mind raced. Team Meteor. Solaris. The orphanage incident. The PULSE machines. All of it.
"Five minutes to the drop point," Sayoko announced, snapping Ash out of his thoughts. "After that, we move on foot. Low visibility. No lights unless absolutely necessary."
Owari looked up from the map. "The path splits once we hit the old ranger station. We'll check for signs of movement there. Keep your comms open. And we stick together unless we need to split."
Ash just crossed his arms, his face, as always, hidden behind the scarf. He had to think of a way to stop things. He had no idea what was going to happen, or how. For all he knew, they might already be doing all that terrorism. But since Solaris was still in power, things might not be too late. It all depended on what he learned.
Helena looked over her shoulder toward Ash. "You're being quiet."
Ash didn't respond right away. "No point speculating without facts."
Jay grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "Oh come on, D. That's half the fun of a recon mission, guessing what crazy stuff we're walking into. Evil weather machine? Hidden temple? Giant Pokémon made of plasma?"
Enid groaned. "You're going to jinx it."
"It's already jinxed," Domino muttered. "We're walking in blind."
Sayoko spoke again, calm but sharp. "We don't need to know who they are to do our job. We go in, observe, and get out. No battles unless we're compromised. And if we can determine they're useful, then we offer Team Rocket's support."
The jeep slowed as the path narrowed, dirt giving way to gravel and roots. Sayoko eventually pulled them off to a small clearing, half-hidden by undergrowth. Birds scattered from the trees at the sound of the engine cutting off.
"This is where we go on foot," Sayoko announced.
"We can split. It'd be faster, as long as you guys keep comms open," Owari suggested, crossing his arms.
"Hmm, good idea. Very well, I'll take D, and Owari, you take the other three," Sayoko said immediately. She wasn't asking.
Helena raised her hand. "I—um, wouldn't it be better if one more... y-you know, for even numbers and all?"
Sayoko narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists until her knuckles turned white. Thankfully, she wore gloves, so no one saw. "Well, maybe tell me, if you four fought together, would you be as strong as D is?"
Jay, Enid, Helena, and Domino all looked like they'd just bitten into a lemon. Jay rubbed his forehead. "Why do you have to do us like that…?"
"But she has a point," Owari said, arms still crossed. "I don't know how strong he's gotten, but the last time I fought with him, he already had the strength to match a regular admin."
"You know, why are you guys talking like I'm not here?" Ash asked in a flat tone, arms crossed.
"Fair enough, I guess. Well, like I said, you guys take that area, we'll go to the side~" Sayoko said with an overly sweet smile, like she wasn't holding back the urge to strangle Helena right then and there. The worst part? She liked Helena. But if she was going to get in the way, then...
"Let's just go. We can talk more when we regroup," Ash said, cutting through the tension. He walked over and grabbed Sayoko's wrist, dragging her away.
Sayoko flinched and scoffed, pretending she wasn't enjoying every second of it. "Fine. Just let me go. I don't need your dirty hands touching me," she muttered, though she made no effort to pull away.
Owari watched, surprised. The last person he saw grab Sayoko's hand, lost it. This was the same Sayoko who once sent a grunt on a two-week mission to the Arctic, just for smiling at her.
The rest of the group stood in silence as Ash and Sayoko disappeared into the treeline, shadows swallowing them quickly. Domino let out a slow whistle.
"Well. That's one way to make an exit."
Owari rolled his eyes and turned to the others. "Let's move. We'll sweep northeast. Stick to the ridgelines, and watch for traps or unusual terrain shifts. If you see anything even slightly off, don't touch it unless I say so."
They continued through a forest that felt eerily quiet. Not even the bugs made a sound. Enid muttered something about cursed trees. Helena stayed close, checking her wrist comm every few steps.
Eventually, they found something, the so-called abandoned ranger station. The group crept around to get a better view, and just as they got close, two figures jumped out from the trees, surrounding them. One guy and one girl, both wearing black robes.
"Sorry, but you lot are getting a little too close. We're going to have to ask you to leave," the boy said, reaching for his Pokéball belt.
"Our orders were clear. No one gets past here, private property and all that," the girl added, holding a Pokéball.
Owari frowned and stepped forward, holding out a hand. "I'll take care of this. Try getting into contact with the others. We found them, and it looks like they found us." He reached for two Pokéballs.
"Right."
The boy looked offended. "Hey, don't ignore us, we're important!"
"No. In fact, can you shut up, please? It's better when you do," the girl replied immediately.
"Oof, that's rough, bro," Jay said as the boy looked like he wanted to fall to his knees, but he shook his head and stood tall.
"Whatever! I'll just show you!" he shouted, throwing out his Pokéball.
"Screaming doesn't make you cool," the girl sighed, tossing hers as well.
From the two Pokéballs emerged Day and Night Lycanroc, both growling low. Owari didn't flinch as he eyed them.
"Not bad. But is that supposed to scare me? Please." He tossed out his own Pokéballs, releasing two Crobat.
Meanwhile, the others were trying to reach D and Sayoko, but something was jamming the signal, not completely, just enough to make it agonizingly slow.
Jay furiously tapped his comms unit. "This is ridiculous. Either they're too far out, or someone's actively blocking us."
Helena hesitated, staring at the jammed signal bar on her wrist. "This isn't random," she said quietly. "There's something in the area… this place hums… like it remembers."
Jay blinked at her, half creeped out. "That's the creepiest thing you've ever said. Jeez, I swear I forgot you were a Hex Maniac."
Enid bit her lip, glancing up at the two Crobat circling overhead like twin shadows. "Try the analog fallback."
That made the other three freeze and look at her suspiciously.
"Since when do you say good ideas?" Domino asked, arms crossed.
"You sure we didn't trade her out for a Ditto…?" Jay added.
"Wha—shut up, you stupid side characters, and just do it!" Enid snapped through gritted teeth. How dare they make fun of the main character?
Jay nodded like everything was normal again. "There she is. I almost thought she fixed herself," he said, turning back to his communicator.
—
{Meanwhile, with Ash and Sayoko}
They walked through the forest in silence. Sayoko seemed unusually content. Who knew what things were going on inside her head?
She trailed just behind him, a small smile twitching at the corner of her lips, not quite soft, not quite sinister. Her eyes never left his back.
"So…" she finally broke the silence, her voice almost playful. "Are you really going to keep pretending you don't notice?"
Ash didn't stop walking. "Notice what?"
Sayoko tilted her head. "You're always watching the horizon. Acting like nothing gets to you. But I've seen you look back. I've seen when you hesitate." She stepped closer, her smile growing. "You keep trying to carry everything alone. It's adorable."
Ash stopped at a ridge, resting one hand against a tree trunk. "We don't have time for this, Sayoko."
"Oh, we never have time, do we?" she said with a quiet laugh. "It's always mission this, target that. But you didn't flinch when I said I was coming with you. You even dragged me off by the wrist… You can't tell me that meant nothing."
He didn't turn around. "Why would I care about there being an argument? You're right, I am stronger than them. That's why I preferred working alone, before you assigned Helena as my 'sidekick.'"
Sayoko sighed. "Yeah… unfortunate, really," she said aloud, But in her head, she added 'If only I could make you my sidekick instead. Only mine.'
Ash didn't turn to look at her as he placed a hand on a tree and knocked on it, "So focus. There's a non-zero chance we could die out here, depending on what these Team Meteor guys are doing."
Sayoko smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes as she thought 'I am focused. I'm always focused. You know what I want. And I don't mind waiting.'
Suddenly, Ash looked at her. "This tree is fake."
Sayoko blinked, pulled from her thoughts. "Wait, what now?" She reached out and rubbed the bark, and he was right. It felt hollow, but not in a normal way. It was hard to describe.
The best way they could explain it was that it felt too normal, unnaturally so. No small chips in the wood, no chunks of bark falling off. It was too perfect.
Sayoko crouched beside him, placing her ear to the trunk. She frowned, "It's… humming...It's part of something."
Ash nodded and reached into his coat, pulling out one of the devices he'd been building using Paradox Pokémon parts, specifically from the Iron Jugulis. They resembled small drones, and he sent them out to scout the area.
Sayoko raised an eyebrow, watching Ash deploy the gadgets. It wasn't the first time she'd seen drones, she just assumed he bought them from the tech shop back at base.
"So what are you thinking? Secret passageway? Underground base?" she asked, crossing her arms. "You know these creepy cults love their underground bases."
"You do realize most of our bases are also underground," Ash said, eyes focused on his monitor, "Also, I think I found something, it's a—"
A sudden chirp from Ash's comm interrupted him, followed by harsh static.
Then Helena's voice broke through, grainy and strained, "...Owari... ambush... jamming... need—"
Signal lost.
Ash stood up. "That's our cue. Looks like they might already know we're here."
"Typical…" Sayoko muttered, less annoyed about being found, more disappointed that her alone time with D was being cut short.
"Let's go," Ash said, already moving. Sayoko followed, keeping pace surprisingly well, especially considering she was in high heels. Ash briefly wondered how she wasn't twisting her ankles.
—
By the time they reached the others, Ash and Sayoko found Owari standing by the entrance to the abandoned ranger base. The rest of the team sat nearby. The two Meteor grunts were defeated, tied up, and locked inside the building.
"Status?" Ash asked, his voice flat.
Owari turned, arms crossed. "They weren't tough. Just loud. And badly trained. Whatever they were guarding isn't important enough to warrant their best."
"Or maybe they're just meant to distract anyone who comes close," Sayoko said. "There's a good chance if we continue down this path, we won't find anything. D found a fake tree on our side, it's more likely that's where the real operation is."
"Right. Well, the guy was an idiot, but the girl looked like she at least knew what she was doing. We tried asking questions, but the guy's too stupid and the girl's too stubborn," Domino added.
"Yeah, I even offered to hold their hand, and they didn't take it," Enid huffed. "They should be honored I even offered."
"Well… we could torture the information out of them," Sayoko suggested immediately.
"Hey, look, I like creepy stuff as much as the next girl," Helena said, raising a hand, "but isn't that a bit much?"
Jay nodded. "Yeah, I mean, they look like they're our age. Isn't that... too far?"
Ash sighed. "Looks like I have no choice. I'll deal with this. Are they separated?"
"Yeah," Owari replied. "One good thing about this ranger base, it's got interrogation rooms. They're in different cells. But what are you gonna do?"
"Something I promised myself I wouldn't," Ash said, tightening his scarf around his face, "Take me there before I change my mind."
Helena guided him through the narrow halls and pointed at one of the doors. "She's in there."
Ash handed her Meowth, who blinked in confusion. "Hold onto this. And I'm sorry for what you're about to see."
He stepped in and shut the door behind him.
Inside, the girl sat casually at the table, fingers tapping a rhythm against the metal. She glanced up.
"Oh great, another one. What's your deal?"
Ash didn't speak right away, "what's your name?" he asked evenly.
She smirked. "Hmph. Why would I tell you that? I go by Eclipse. My idiot partner out there? Aster. And that's all you're getting."
Ash sighed. "We can do this the easy way… or I can do something I'm really going to regret."
"Oh, pain for you?" Eclipse leaned forward mockingly. "Let's go with option two. What are you gonna do, torture me? Do your worst."
Ash shook his head. "Oh no… but it is going to be torture. For me."
Before Eclipse could ask what the hell he meant, Ash took a step forward. Scarf high over his face. Voice dipping low.
"Hey~" he purred, subtly lacing his tone with Aura, "Whatcha doin'?"
Eclipse blinked, startled by the sudden shift. "U-uh… sitting?" she stammered.
"Oh yeah?" Ash said, leaning closer. "Not where you should be~."
It hit her like a Focus Blast to the face. She reeled slightly. "O-oh… wow."
Ash grabbed a chair and pulled it right next to hers. "You don't mind if I cop a squat, do ya~?"
He sat, way too close, radiating practiced ease and velvety menace. Eclipse looked like her brain was about to crash.
Ash leaned in, voice a slow, smooth whisper. "You know, I've met a lot of people in this line of work. But you… You've got something different about you. Makes you very interesting~."
Eclipse's face turned red. Her former smugness evaporated under the unexpected pressure of whatever this was. She glanced toward the one-way glass in alarm.
"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked, her voice cracked
Ash smiled faintly beneath his scarf, "Just getting to know you. That's what this is about, right? Information. And you strike me as someone smart. Smarter than that loudmouth Aster."
"I-I am! I'm the brains!" she blurted out, then instantly regretted it.
"That's good. I like a girl who loves to learn." Ash leaned just a hair closer. "Because I'm a guy who loves to teach~."
Eclipse.exe has stopped responding.
"I-I-um—um—um—"
Ash chuckled softly, voice like warm syrup. "Hope you're ready~ 'cause I've got a big syllabus… and a loooong semester ahead of me."
Eclipse's face was flushed nearly crimson now. She squirmed in her chair, tugging at the sleeves of her black uniform, "Y-you're messing with me," she stammered, trying to look anywhere but directly at him.
Ash tilted his head slightly, an amused glint in his eyes. "Oh, I'm doing a lot more than that, darling~."
Her breath hitched. "Wh-why are you doing this?"
Ash leaned forward, his voice dropping to a velvet whisper. "Because I need answers. And you…" His lips curved slightly under the scarf. "You're going to help me, aren't you?"
Eclipse's hands gripped the edge of the table. She tried to concentrate, but her voice cracked again. "I-I… I'm not afraid of you!" she said as she brought her hand up, trying to Push Ash back.
Ash smirked as he caught her hand in his, but instead of closing his grip, he moved his fingers slowly up and down along hers, "Come on, don't you want this to be over? Wouldn't it feel so good to let it all out~?"
"U-uh, i-I…" Eclipse stuttered as she felt Ash stroking her hand. She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from admitting it felt good, but Ash could tell.
"That's a good girl~." His voice lilted softly, drawing out every syllable like a purr.
And that did it. Eclipse looked like she was about to melt, and let's just say, she started spilling everything as fast as she could.
—-
After a few moments, Ash walked out of the room, having gotten all the info they needed. As he stepped out, he immediately noticed everyone looking at him with a blush on their faces.
"What was that?" Owari asked.
"I told you I didn't want to do that. Let's just say… I might have been trained to be a honeytrap when I was in the military, since I wasn't particularly involved in combat." Ash used a big brain move called lying
Jay however looked at Ash and looked excited, "But bro, you called her a good girl, jeez, talk to me like that, give me that praise buff!"
"Oh, you want me to? Alright," Ash said, unconsciously slipping back into a slightly playful tone as he lowered his voice again. "Oh, you're such a good boy~."
"Yes I am!" Jay said, like he'd just won the lottery, raising his hands into the air. "Let's gooo!"
"This is stupid," Enid said, crossing her arms and looking away. The other girls nodded… they totally didn't secretly also want to hear D call them that. Nope, totally not.
And Sayoko was totally not thinking about stabbing Eclipse for getting flirted on
Ash sighed, slipping back into character. "Okay, well, we can let them out or something, but we have what we need. There's nothing in this direction, they're just here to make people think there is. But there's a secret lab, and the boss is over by the mountain, the one that's volcanic."
Owari nodded, "This is different then, if we know the boss, then it will be better if me and Sayoko go there directly, and you 5 go to the lab,"
Sayoko looked like she was immediately going to protest, but unfortunately, logic beat her mind, and she bit her tongue, cursing under her breath.
Ash nodded, "Right, we'll go, and we'll try to meet up as soon as we can, good luck,"