"Volk, take a break."

"I can't." Jas can only watch helplessly as her husband continued to do what he had used to do when he was still a Gym Leader. "The big day is on June 16. Today's May 28- oh, it's past midnight already? May 29. We are running on a really tight schedule. I have to complete as much as I can."

"You really shouldn't have agreed." She sighed as she sat beside him on the sofa. The entire living room had been converted to his workspace. The walls which the sofa is facing now have numerous electronic screens mounting on it, each showing a different thing, be it diagrams, charts, graphs, individual profiles, and many other things that she doesn't understand.

"Yeah, I really shouldn't." Volkner replied with a dramatic sigh. "What possessed me to agree to let those stinky old men use my garage? What happened to our reserve being our own personal haven? I sincerely regret letting those old coots set up their lab in my precious garage of all things."

"That is what you are concerned about right now?"

She knows that he was complaining for the sake of complaining. He loves to give others the impression of what is in his own words, him being "a selfish asshole". She doesn't like it when he dons such a mask in front of others because she knows how big his heart can be, but being a "selfish asshole" is probably the only way he ever knew to protect himself from burning himself out because he is always giving more and more until he has nothing left in him to give.

She had seen him on the brink of burning out once. She really doesn't want to see her husband in that state ever again but it seems that as usual, she is helpless in stopping it. For some reason the world always needs the Sun of Sunyshore, like it cannot function without his presence even for a short while.

"No. Not really." Jasmine watched as her husband watched the numerous screens with a look of intense concentration. "I'm not worried about the Rockets. I'm more worried about the Government."

"The Government? Why?"

"Look." Volkner pointed to one of the numerous screens up on the wall. "I just found out something about Indigo that Jarvis told me the informant didn't dig up. We even checked through the whole lot of data twice."

Jasmine looked up to where her husband was pointing. A secret and highly confidential document was displayed on the screen. On the cover page were the big words 'PROJECT ILLUSION' on it.

"Project Illusion?"

"Call me paranoid, Jas, but I don't trust anyone other than you and Flint at this point. Don't you find it weird? How an 'informant' suddenly just appeared out of the blue from nowhere and so generously gave and warned Indigo what she needs right when she needs it the most? At a point where we all have just enough time to prepare. No more, no less? Such perfect timing means that this is deliberate. It has to be."

"And so…?" Jasmine let her words trailed off in uncertainty, not really getting what her husband is insinuating.

"Yes, on first glance, we should feel lucky that there is someone like that working for our side. But if that is the case, why doesn't he or she show themselves? There must be a reason. And think about it, this informant got so much dirt on not only Team Rocket, but also on Kain. Who is Kain again? He is the Indigo President. We all know that old coot is paranoid as hell, even more so than me, so how on the bloody earth did this informant guy do what we cannot?"

"But, it's obvious that whoever this informant is, it must be an undercover agent." Jasmine rationalised. "They are spies. They are good at what they do, right? Is it so farfetched to think that what he did was impossible?"

Volkner shook his head.

"It doesn't work that way, Jas. I had worked with many undercover agents back then. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially when trying to get your hands on quality information like these. It will definitely take years, at least. What Lance received is definitely more than a decade worth of information. Lance brushed it off aside and chalked it up as a stroke of good luck, that we have a good samaritan working for our side, but I don't believe in coincidences."

Volkner then turned to face her.

"Didn't you hear what Lance said? The information appeared on his table batch by batch delivered personally via hard drive, the old school way, meaning to say, there's no way to track where it comes from because it's not sent through the internet. The informant purposely chose not to send the information through the internet because he doesn't want to be tracked down no matter how slim the chances are. And then somehow even Lance could never catch this guy in the act even when he stationed himself in the office 24/7. How on earth is that possible? Why does this informant not want us to know his or her identity? That guy or guys friggin infiltrated the Indigo HQ every single day for almost an entire week just to deliver hard drives and place it on Lance's table."

"How hard is it to infiltrate a place like HQ?"

"I can't say for sure about Indigo's, but I had infiltrated Sinnoh HQ before when I was pissed with Ashley and wanted a private face-to-face talk. Trust me, it wasn't easy. If I did not have priority clearance and access as a Gym Leader I wouldn't have made it to her office undetected and I was a Gym Leader. So who is this informant? How did this person infiltrate the Indigo HQ without any form of clearance undetected and leave no trace behind? Information is a crucial key to winning any battles. Indigo cannot afford to be blindsided again. No matter how I think about it there must be an explanation behind the impossibility of whatever we see here. There is a third party at play here and we need to know who this third party is."

Jasmine frowned as she tried to think deeper. Her husband did bring up a valid point. Who is this informant? Why is there another third party and if so, what are their goals?

"It's not exactly a matter of trust anymore, Jas. Indigo is lacking in many areas, that is for certain. I cannot rely on what they already know and give me because it will be very myopic of us to do so. We need the full picture if we are to plan a counterattack. Jarvis and I, we both checked the entire dump of information and we broadly classified it into two categories based on what we found. Kain, and Team Rocket. Guess which group has more dirt?"

"I would say Team Rocket, but going by your tone, it's Kain."

"Exactly. Kain." Volkner let out a frustrated grunt as he ran a hand through his hair. "Funny, right? The informant came to warn us of Team Rocket's plans yet there is more information on Kain than Team Rocket? Not like the information he had on Team Rocket is little, it's honestly a lot more than what I had discovered about Team Galactic in that two years in Sinnoh, but why is it that the information that informant has on Kain is way more than what he has on Team Rocket by such a considerable margin? That made me believe in one thing, that this informant has to be working for Kain. Only then would anyone have access to so much confidential information about that senile old fart."

"What?"

"Our mystery guy has to be working for Kain. It's the only thing that made sense no matter how I thought about it." Volkner insisted. "It will explain everything. How he so easily infiltrated Indigo HQ in the first place, why he absolutely doesn't want his identity to be exposed because he fears of being silenced by Kain, why he had so much more dirt on Kain than on Team Rocket, because he works for Kain and he knows just how much dirt that old fart had accumulated. I believe that Kain has a very capable underground agent working for him that has successfully infiltrated Team Rocket of all places and this guy is Lance's informant. This informant is double crossing Kain and Team Rocket by ratting them both to Lance. Either that, or making use of all this dirt he dug up to start a three-way war between the Rockets, Government, and the League for his own gains. I really hope we are not looking at the second scenario here."

Jasmine opened her mouth to retort, only to find that she could not think of anything to argue against her husband's logic. It does make sense.

"If that's true, then why is he doing this?"

"I have no idea." Volkner frowned before pointing back to the screen which displayed the highly confidential document of Project Illusion. "So, I decided to do my own digging since the League is obviously so incapable. This is what I found."

"Volk." Jasmine had to make a conscious effort to not strangle her husband when she realised just what her husband had just done. "You cannot just order Jarvis to hack into Indigo-"

"I already did that." Volkner waved it off. "And I'm glad I did. Do you want to see what I saw? Jarvis, minimise all windows except for the one on Project Illusion. Put everything about it on the screens."

On command, the numerous files and windows on screen rearranged themselves, allowing the couple to really see what Project Illusion is about. Jasmine quickly read the files and her eyes widened in growing realisation upon understanding what it is about.

"T-This…"

"Horrible, isn't it?" Volkner commented quietly. "I couldn't believe my eyes too. 359 children, all abducted from their homes at a young age and brainwashed through Hypnosis to be Kain's perfect spies and soldiers. To create his own secret army of spies that obeys him and only him, that is what Project Illusion really is."

"359 children." Jasmine had to forcibly calm herself as she digested the news. "359."

"And according to this file, 358 are already marked as dead. Which means, if this is to be believed, there is one more of them roaming about working for Kain. That's not all. You know the entire dump of files the informant had on Kain? It has everything that Jarvis can dig out about Kain from Indigo's database except for Project Illusion."

"Jarvis can do all of that alone?"

"Under normal circumstances, no, but Jarvis told me that somehow there was a recent breach in security in the database. It's a work only made possible because the hack was done from both inside and outside at the same time, meaning to say, someone from within had helped. Someone with high and almost absolute clearance in the Indigo HQ that somehow, even Jarvis cannot track or pinpoint, which means that the insider is very likely a close aide of Kain to even possess that kind of clearance level. That breach was what Jarvis exploited to get what I wanted him to get, or at least that was what Jarvis reported to me when all is said and done. That means someone or someones had hacked into the database even before we did, and very recently too. Project Illusion is not even the most classified or guarded file in there. The informant had dug out more damning and heavily guarded information about Kain by himself and yet only the information about Project Illusion was not given to Lance. That means that the informant very likely knows about the existence of Project Illusion, but for some reason doesn't want Lance to know about Project Illusion and like I said earlier, I don't believe in coincidences."

"You mean that this mysterious informant is part of Project Illusion." Jasmine clarified. "The only sole survivor of it."

"That's what I mean." Volkner shrugged. "Kain's agent is working against him somehow, even with Hypnosis in place to solidify his loyalty to that senile fart. Knowing that old coot, he probably did something that made the agent hold a grudge or sorts even in that brainwashed state. Just how fucked up Kain is for that to happen?"

Volkner then pressed a few buttons on his wireless keyboard to bring up several pages he had obviously marked as important.

"You know what's even more damning? Many of the 359 children are abducted from prominent families. It's like Kain is obsessed with the children's pedigree or something. Maybe he believes that if the child comes from capable parents they will be equally capable too. Let me show you an example."

The profile of one operative was singled out by Volkner and enlarged for her to see clearly.

Operative Number: 2043

Code Name: Pikachu

Known given birth name: Jane Green Oak

Place of abduction: Azalea Town

Date of abduction: Year 509, February 22nd

Method of abduction: Taken from family after inciting a stampede of wild rhyhorns living in the area to run through the town. Operative's memory was subsequently modified. Operative family members believed operative to be dead since the body was never found.

Cause of death: Killed in front of Rocket group as a show of warning after cover was blown. Death confirmed by partner, Operative 2046.

Age at the point of death: 16

Misc: Operative was found to be in possession of a houndour and gastly at point of abduction, whose memories were also altered when they were also brought along during the abduction process.

"Oak?!" Jasmine cannot help but exclaim the moment she read the name of Operative 2043.

"Surprised, huh? I was the same." Volkner said in a grim tone. "Jarvis helped me to check too by flipping through some very old news articles. Professor Oak did lose his son, daughter-in-law, and a granddaughter to a rhyhorn stampede at Azalea many years ago. Only his granddaughter's body wasn't found. His son and daughter-in-law's pokemon also happened to be a houndour and a gastly and they were never seen again. The details matched to a T. The Oaks are not the only family he abducted children from. You can see the rest for yourself. You should recognise some of these families."

"This guy-" Jasmine had to take deep breaths in order not to blow her top. It takes a lot for her to get mad and yet she is feeling mad right now. This is what their country's President is doing behind everybody's backs?

To make things worse, knowing Kain, she knows Project Illusion is definitely not the worst that he has done.

"Funnily enough, I only have 358 profiles here and all 358 are already pronounced dead." Volkner's musings brought her out of her thoughts. "One is missing, the one on Operative 2046, which so happens to be the designated partner of 2043, Professor Oak's granddaughter. It's like that page was taken out on purpose. Jarvis had tried to trace and reproduce the deleted page but he didn't succeed. The only thing he found out is that this page was deleted on the same day when the security breach happened."

"So who and why, right?" Jasmine asked. "If the informant really was the one that breached the security of Indigo's database without anyone finding out, and if he really is Kain's agent and is part of Project Illusion, then from the looks of things, this informant is this unknown Operative 2046. He also deleted the very page that documented his identity for some reason. He doesn't want anyone to find out who he really is."

"And there you have it, Detective Mrs Tide."

"Volk, please. This is serious. Now is not the time for jokes."

"We found our missing third party." Volkner continued. "But the problem is, what is the agenda of this third party in giving us this huge chunk of information? Is he really that noble in wanting us to stop Team Rocket from conquering Johto, or what? I doubt it's that simple, Jas. This 2046 is aiming for something as well. He has his own goal. That missing page on him might or might not be what we need to find out about his motivations. In any case, I've reached a dead end on this matter."

"But isn't Operative 2046 brainwashed by Kain via Hypnosis?"

"Maybe it wasn't as effective. Maybe the effect wore off. Maybe the effects can be fought back against through sheer will. Maybe he broke out of it. I don't know." Volkner admitted. "I really hope that this 2046 is not using us and Team Rocket to advance his own goals to plan something even more sinister. If not, we may be in bigger trouble."

"If the enemy of an enemy is a friend, then at least he's not on Kain's side nor on the Rocket's. That's something, right?"

"If this guy ends up becoming our enemy then he's very dangerous. This 2046 not only is one of Kain's best agents that breached Indigo HQ and sneaked into Lance's office multiple times, he or she also has decades worth of dirt on Kain and also on Team Rocket. Not just any type of information, Jas. It's the type that you can only get your hands on if you are a core member of their organisation. This 2046 has detailed information on some of Team Rocket's Executives. He has to have infiltrated very deep within the Rockets to get that kind of information. To be able to do that meant that this operative had probably participated in many of Team Rocket's operations as one of them, playing the part of a criminal for at least a decade from what I can see about Project Illusion. Officially, that 2046 has to be a Rocket, and probably a very good and dangerous one too to worm his way into their inner circle to get detailed information on some of the Executives."

"We need to tell Lance about this." Jasmine spoke up after digesting what her husband just told her. "Indigo cannot afford to be blindsided again."

"Plan to do that first thing tomorrow morning." Volkner agreed. "Alright, enough about that for now. "Looker had really gone and done it. He had really recruited the people he needed to create his little world-saving boyband. Why don't I show you who my fellow cute colleagues will be? I told Looker to bring them here tomorrow to have our very first meetup."

"Please behave yourself when working with them." Jasmine sighed, knowing how her husband has a tendency to rile people up just because he feels like it.

"No promises." Her husband replied with a cheeky grin as he brought up the corresponding files regarding the interpol that he will be working with for this period of time. "You know Looker, so I shan't introduce him. Hmmm, ah, why don't I start from the short stack? Remember Vel?"

"You are giving them nicknames already?"

"Why not? It helps with team bonding." Volkner shrugged. "Besides, seeing their reactions will be fun."

The picture of a young little girl was brought up on screen.

"Velda Vera. Thirteen years old. Heiress to Vera Farm. Runner up of the most recent Ever Grande Conference. Played a crucial role by making the counterattacks on Team Magma and Team Aqua possible on two separate occasions through accurately deducing the location of the bases of operations after the attack on Lilycove and also on the Battle Frontier. Thanks to that, Hoenn is a lot safer now. She's a Generalist and has eighteen different pokemon that is registered as hers."

"Generalist? And eighteen pokemon? That's a lot. Can she manage them all properly?"

"I saw how she interacted with her team, she's doing more than fine in that department." Volkner reassured her. "Guess growing up in a pokemon farm had done wonders for her to learn how to properly manage and take care of a large group of pokemon even before she became a trainer. She's one of the few child geniuses that the Hoenn League is keeping an eye on, because she's one of the most likely candidates that might prove to have the potential to be the next Steven Stone."

"You seem to have a soft spot for her."

"Let's just say that we both found out that we are more alike than we cared to admit." Volkner answered after a few seconds of silence. "She also learnt how to use Magnet Rise without me teaching her to. Granted, Wattson coached her, but it's still impressive. You should meet her someday, Jas. I think you will like her a lot."

With a few taps of the keyboard, Volkner brought up the personal particulars of another individual.

"Shannon Juniper. Eighteen years old. Niece of Cedric Juniper and also a Pokemon Researcher. Her background is pretty much normal but her contributions are not. She's still young but yet she already made a groundbreaking discovery regarding Pokemon Evolution through the use of evolutionary stones. You really should read her research papers one day, Jas, you won't regret it."

"I will when I have the time." She said with a smile, filing away the names of Velda Vera and Shannon Juniper in her mind, knowing that whoever caught her husband's eye must be special.

"Then there's this person who I have no idea what to think about. Nova Labelle, same age as you at twenty six years old, niece of Lysandre. You know who Lysandre is, right?"

"The man who owns Lysandre Labs, creators of the holo caster. Who doesn't know him?"

"That one." Volkner mentioned while scratching his chin with a finger. "It says here that she is a historian who has a knack for finding out the truths behind myths and legends which honestly, doesn't sound like she can contribute much to the interpol at first, but on second thought…"

"If Legendaries and Mythicals are somehow involved in the prophecy, the interpol might need her skills to find the truth behind certain myths and folktales." Jasmine completed her husband's speculation.

"That's what I think too. She might really be who we need to learn more about the elusive Legendary Birds because if what I suspected is true, Team Rocket already knows their exact location and how to summon them here, just lacking the means to catch them all this while."

"That's… a little scary to think about. We already have an unknown Mewtwo to deal with."

"So we better hurry on our end." Volkner added. "Now, for the most interesting pair."

The profiles of two different individuals were brought up this time.

"Akamu and Marianne Kahale. A husband and wife pair but of course we are the better husband and wife pair. Both are ex PWL agents who used to work under Looker before resigning from their positions eight years ago. Akamu is a Faller. You know what they are?"

"You told me about them many years ago when we first met. Something about… wormholes?"

"Ultra Wormholes." Volkner gently corrected her before continuing to speak. "I never saw one during my journey to Alola back then, but my team and I did stumble across an Ultra Beast. Fun times."

"So, Faller?"

"People who were somehow absorbed into these Ultra Wormholes and then came out of it after who-knows-how-long. The thing is, whatever that happened to them in the wormholes makes them incapable of remembering about their past before they got sucked into the wormholes. Think of it as Ultra Wormhole causing the victims to suffer from amnesia. The mysterious thing is that because they had been into these wormholes, Fallers constantly emit a mysterious energy that attracts the bloodthirsty Ultra Beasts to them, and I had told you how powerful these things are. Unless you are on the level of a Gym Leader, there's no chance you can beat those things back alone."

"So he lives a life on the run, I take it?"

"Mostly." Volkner nodded his head. "There are ways to hide a Faller's presence, that's where his wife came in."

Volkner then gestured to the profile of Marianne Kahale.

"Akamu's wife, Marianne Kahale, although it is stated that many people simply call her Mary. She is an inventor and also the last member of the Kahale Tribe. She's a true genius in every sense of the word. Foldable Space Technology? She was the one who perfected it for commercial use."

"Wait." Jasmine sat upright upon hearing that. "If that's the case, why isn't she more well-known? This is the first time I'm hearing her name."

"She chose not to claim credit for it as far as I know. Said something about the purpose of inventions is for the betterment of mankind, not for individual glory." Volkner pointed to a section of Mary's profile with a finger. "Quite noble on her part. The world needs more people like her and less like me."

"Volk, you had given more than enough to Sinnoh and to the world. You cannot just keep giving and giving without stop like how you did in Sinnoh. Take a break."

"I know that I'm now a selfish asshole." Volkner shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "I'm not afraid to admit that, but the truth is, the world also needs more selfless people like Mary. We were talking about the shitty life Fallers have to lead, right? She invented something to help them, the Faller Cloaking Device. It's what help kept Akamu alive all these years."

"What's a Faller Cloaking Device?"

"As its name suggests, it hides Fallers from Ultra Beasts. The motivation behind her inventing something like that was to hide her husband using what I could tell from the information Looker gave me and ironically, it was what led to the couple tendering in their resignation."

Jasmine looked at her husband in curiosity, prompting him to continue.

"The one and only Faller Cloaking Device in the world is the only thing that is protecting and hiding Akamu from the Ultra Beasts. It was entrusted into the care of the Alola branch of the PWL but it had been suspected to be tampered with by an unknown party that the PWL failed to detect and catch even till today. What do you think happened after that?"

"That means the Ultra Beasts…" Jasmine's eyes widened in horror at the thought of such a thing happening.

"They found Akamu, who lives with Mary's tribe." Volkner affirmed with a serious nod. "A Guzzlord appeared in the middle of the night and killed almost everyone there. It's why Mary is the only Kahale left. Only three people survived. Her, Akamu, and their adoptive little brother. Things became a lot more… I wouldn't say interesting because this is a tragedy, but the development is kind of surprising. You know Team Skull?"

"I do." Jasmine nodded her head in confirmation.

"Their little brother ran away from home after that incident and eventually became the leader of Team Skull. Akamu was badly injured and frankly, I have no idea how he came out alive from facing a Guzzlord alone. Mary was pregnant at the time and she miscarried because of her injuries. Not only that, she could never conceive again. To make things worse, she was paralysed from the waist down for years until she was finally able to walk again only very recently, but her legs had never fully healed."

"It's horrible." Jasmine whispered in shock. "If that happened to me, I…"

"And it won't happen to you." Volkner told her with a hint of fierce protectiveness. "Right, let's not think about bad things and instead let's gossip about others. We were talking about Mary earlier, weren't we? You know who her father is?"

"No."

"Marcus Asier Vermont. Remember that old space project, Space Shuttle Columbia? He was one of the key members of it."

"Oh, that."

"And then he became a member of SKIP from what Lance told me he found out from Blaine and the others."

"I wasn't expecting that development." Jasmine replied. "Does Mary know? About her father's involvement with SKIP?"

"I doubt so, but we will see tomorrow." Volkner said before releasing a tired sigh. Spotting her husband's fatigue, Jasmine simply helped massage his shoulders to help him relax a little.

"Ahh… Jas, have I ever told you how glad I am to have such a beautiful, smart, understanding, and loving woman like you as my wife?"

"You just did." She said smugly. "Where's my reward?"

"You scored yourself a handsome, dashing, powerful, loving, and a masterchef of a husband. The one and only and also the best in the world. What other reward would you want?"

"That's it? No reward? I'm changing my mind then. Don't think I forgot about that stunt you did with Rain Dance earlier this afternoon. You have one minute to try and convince me why you shouldn't sleep on the couch tonight."

"I'm good in bed too?"

"Volk." She warned, already knowing where this is heading to. "Focus on your work."

"You were the one who said to take a break."

"You were the one who said you are on a tight deadline." She retorted before standing up to head towards the kitchen. "I will make some tea for you. Don't overwork yourself too hard, you are not getting any younger."

"Excuse me, my beautiful wife, your handsome husband is still in his prime and as dashing as ever."

"Yes, yes, you are. Whatever you say."

"You know what, Jas? Why don't we really do it?"

"Do what?"

"Elope together, go to Orre, conquer the entire region with just the both of us and build ourselves an empire. I will be King and you will be Queen and our children will be princes and princesses. The national decree will be to slack around all day long. Sounds like a win-win situation to me."

"Desertion is a crime that automatically sentences you to capital punishment."

"But if nobody catches us, then there is no punishment. Wasn't that what you said the other night?"

"Learning to appreciate my wisdom now, aren't you?" She gave him a smug look while preparing tea using the gracidea flowers they planted in a garden within the West Forest. "See? Never doubt the words of your wife. She knows what's best."

"Aye, this humble subject is absolutely sorry for doing so. Forgive me, your majesty?"

"Yes, you are forgiven. Now go back and do your work. Since you've already agreed to help Lance, might as well finish it as soon as possible so that we can go back to our ordinary lives."

Volkner did an exaggerated bow that got her laughing out loud, lifting her spirits up again like how he always did for her.

"As you wish, milady."

Pokemon and trainer list:

Volkner Tide: Ex Gym Leader of Sunyshore, Electric Specialist

Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Tie for First Place with Flint in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Electric Specialist, The Sun of Sunyshore, The Yellow Flash

Pokemon Team:

1. Electivire (Franky), male

2. Luxray (Simba), male

3. Jolteon (Jo), female

4. Magnezone (ISpy), genderless

5. Gallade (Myst), male

6. Rhyperior (Tec), male

7. Probopass (North), female

8. Gyarados (Puddle), male

9. Raichu (Squeaky), female

10. Pachirisu (Scrat), male

11. Heliolisk (Bask), male

12. Ampharos (Fluffy), female

13. Vikavolt (Vik), female

14. Eelektross (Whirr), male

15. Lanturn (Glowy), female

16. Rotom (Prime), genderless

17. Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless

18. Alolan Golem, (Toss), male

19. Electrode (Boomer), genderless