Chapter 3:

NOVEMBER XXXX, ORACLE STATION.

The early morning air feels warm as the sound of Kricketot and Kricketune drown out the silence. David shifts slightly on his bed, lack of sleep evident by the dark circles under his eyes. Looking at the holographic alarm clock on his bedside table, David was met by a very dim blue projection. Four thirty-five, shifting back to look at the ceiling his mind started to wander. Memories of his family started to crowd his mind.

David was the youngest of three and living with two older sisters wasn't the easiest thing to do. His mother was a pokemon trainer but hung that title up to breed starter pokemon for the local professors and researchers. David's father was a contract builder before retiring to help mum with the pokemon breeding program. Both of his sisters went off on their own journey one aiming to become the Hoenn champion and the other to be the world's best pokemon coordinator. With no interest in those types of dreams and the limited options of jobs that involved owning a pokemon, David joined the military to the dismay of his parents. Basic training was hell on earth but he was able to meet some interesting people, many from other regions but all sharing the same form of background.

Wanting to push his abilities, David signed himself up for medical training. The training for which was relaxed but thorough, it didn't say on the registration that it would also include training to diagnose and heal pokemon. David excelled, passing both the human-based medical training as well as pokemon medical training with perfect marks. However, this didn't leave David satisfied, he continued to push himself further and further. Unbeknownst to him, David started to break records in his training; hand to hand combat to marksmanship, David mastered every technique in the book.

This seemed to catch the eye of the higher-ups as he was quickly pulled from the regular training regiment and added into the special forces. The training was amped up, every day a new challenge, it made basic training look like a walk in the park. However, it was everything David was looking for. Being pushed to the very limit, it was the only way that made him feel accomplished. He completed it with flying colours and was given the combat vector of 'S' - Hyper Lethal. A title that prior to earning, only three soldiers apparently shared. The next thing David knew he was told to pack his gear and get on a VTOL to Oracle Station.

'Damn it's been nearly a year since I just up and left, I wonder how they are doing.' Moving to the side of the bed and sitting up, David continued to lament about the grounds of which he left home. Both of his parents had there own views on what he should do as soon as he left school. His mother being an ex-pokemon trainer thought that he should attempt the pokemon league challenge, his father just wanted him to have a stable job going as far as offering to employ him to raise and train the pokemon that were from the breeding program. It was because of this David had grown to distance himself from pokemon, granted it wasn't that he hated them it was just, complicated.

The day he left was the result of an argument, he didn't want to become a pokemon trainer but his parents didn't understand that. Pokemon are the lifeblood of this world, they were everywhere you went and nearly everything was based around them. In this world, if you didn't have a pokemon you were a nobody. David wanted to prove that mentality wrong and joining the military was the first step. Knowing that the SRT division involved rescuing pokemon wasn't a problem for David, in fact, he looks at it as a chance to prove that you can be somebody important without a pokemon. That not all problems need a pokemon to fix them.

Taking a last look at the clock, four forty. 'Skipped going to the gym yesterday due to all the commotion over getting the implants, I really shouldn't let that become a habit.' Getting up off the bed David headed to his chest of drawers, pulling open one he was greeted with fresh and neatly folded clothes. Shifting through them carefully not to crease the other clothes, he selects a grey t-shirt with PLSRT embossed in black on the top rear section of the shirt. 'These are new, I remember putting these things away. I just don't remember receiving them.' Setting down the shirt on his bed, he opened one of the lower drawers and rummaged around a bit pulling out a pair of training shorts. Unlike the shirt, these were completely black.

After getting changed and putting his old clothes into a hamper that he designated for laundry, David grabbed a small red towel and headed for the door. The hallways were empty, the hum of the overhead lights was the only sound. 'It's still too early for people to be up yet, best hurry down to the gym then. If I can get my workout in before everyone gets up that would be a bonus. I have a feeling that today will be a busy day.' David started to navigate the labyrinth of the barracks he started to get an uneasy feeling in his stomach. An icy chill washed over him, the feeling crept over every inch of his body getting worse hallway he entered. It was as if something was watching him, following him.

David rounded one more corner before stopping dead in his tracks and moving back towards the corner of the hallway he just came down. The paranoia of being followed flooded his mind, peering around the corner he hoped to catch a glimpse of his would-be stalker. 'Probably just a Ghost type pokemon loitering around trying to creep out others.' The hallway was empty, no sign of a ghost type pokemon anywhere.

At the other end of the hallway, however, the smallest amount of movement, something he would have probably missed if it wasn't due to his increase in ocular power. A black ear with a glowing blue stripe flickering at a corner at the opposite end of the hallway. 'Midnight, Oh sweet Mew. Is she stalking me, first the staring now this.' After one to two minutes of watching and keeping an eye on the flickering ear in the distance, it moved off.

'Ok so as soon as I get the chance I'm going to have a word with Lucy about this. Seriously does she not like me or something?' Moving off again towards the gym, David quickened his pace. Arriving at mettle dual sliding door with a sign. 'Human gym. Gee, thank you for specifying.' Moving closer to the door, he expected it to slide open instead it didn't even budge. Confused David touched the door looking for a leaver or something that would grant him access, his eyes came to rest on a terminal on the right-hand side of the door.

"Fuck." A flash of his Pokedex sitting on his bedside table appeared in his mind. 'Oh for the love of Ho-Oh, why the hell would you need to scan into a gym. This is a military base.'

David was brought back to reality by the sounds of a stifled giggle, turning around he was met with Lucy sporting a smug grin. "I really would have thought that Samuel would tell you to take your pokedex with you everywhere."

"He didn't, really should have though."

Sauntering over to the terminal, Lucy tapped her wrist mounted pokedex causing the terminal to flash green and the doors to slide open. "Well guess I'll let you in then, but next time you'll be left standing outside," she smirked as David thanked her.

The gym was fairly standard in regards to gyms on the other military bases David had been to, the main studio was split into three sections. On the right-hand side of the room was the cardio section, it consisted of a number of treadmills, spin bikes, rowing machines and even a few stair climbers. The centre floor was a weight training area, mostly consisting of dumbbells, a few bench presses and room for free weights. The last area was for specialised training, it seemed to be split between upper body and lower body machines.

"So what do you start with?"

"Normally I start on the treadmill to get warmed up, then it's over to weights." David started to make his way over to the cardio section.

"Oh, that seems like a fairly simple routine." Lucy started to smirk again as she followed suit.

Hopping up onto one of the treadmills David watched as she took one of the adjacent treadmills. "To most, it probably is, however, my warm-up is a little bit tougher." David set down his towel on one of the handles of the treadmill before clipping on the safety peg. Lucy, on the other hand, was ahead of David, she already started up her treadmill and was beginning to jog before moving into a run at her set.

As David set the pace he wanted to run at, the machine lurched to life. Slowly the belts pace quickened, going from a fast walk to a jog to a fast-paced run. Finally, it reached Davids preferred running pace.

"Don't you think you're going to burn yourself out at that speed?" Lucy said looking over at Davids control panel at his set pace.

"During training, I built my way up to this pace. Anything slower and I don't feel like I'm actually putting in an effort." David smirked as he looked over to her. 'Should I bring up the midnight issue?' Looking back ahead to the control panel David continued to ponder. "How did you and Midnight meet? I mean a shiny Pokemon like her is pretty dam rare, hell she is the first shiny I've ever seen."

"Hatched her from an egg, on my sixth birthday my parents gave it to me." Lucy huffed as she kept pace, "They didn't know what type of pokemon it even was, seems a friend of my dads who works at the local daycare centre came across it one day and no trainer wanted it so he gave it to my Dad."

It was David's turn to start huffing, keeping up the pace was his own challenge. "Heh… Lucky you. So wait why did you call her Midnight, or did you only start calling her that when she evolved into Umbreon?"

"I called her Midnight because she hatched at midnight."

"Oh… Cool." David looked up slightly, moving back into thought.

"Speaking of Midnight, She wasn't in my room when I got up this morning. Normally she's there to irritate me into getting up so she can take my spot on the bed while I'm down at the gym." It was Lucy's turn to look up in thought.

"I… I actually saw her on my way down. She was acting kinda… Odd." David looked over to Lucy who met his gaze.

"Oh… Odd how." Lucy razed her eyebrow. "Was she in like a trance-like state or…"

"More standoffish, she stalked me down a few hallways." David kept his eyes on Lucy awaiting her reaction.

Lucy was the first to break eye contact by looking back to her control panel. The hum of both treadmills and the heavy breathing of the two using them were the only sounds in the empty gym as Lucy remained silent in thought.

'Oh shit, I probably could have phrased that better. She probably thinks I'm a freak now for thinking that her pokemon was stalking me.' Davids' brain started to shift into panic mode before Lucy piped up again.

"Oh, I think I know what it is, She must be approaching her heat cycle." The giddiness in her voice causing David to wince as the memory of a certain purple haired doctor came to mind.

"Umm… Her heat cycle. Why would that…" Davids mind shifted back into overdrive as Lucy's little outburst only raised more questions.

Lucy giggled at Davids reaction before eyeing him up and down whilst he was in thought. "Don't worry only thinking out loud, I'll have a talk with her when I see her. After all, I bet all her staring has got you a little unnerved huh?"

Lucy hit a small button on her console causing the pace of the treadmill to drop slowly, David followed suit by hitting the same button on his own console. Both treadmills pace started to drop slowly signalling the end of their warm-up. Both Lucy and David followed the pace of the machines moved from a run to a jog, a walk, to a final stop.

"You noticed that too… Why do you think she was staring at me yesterday." Sweat slowly trickled down his brow. His eyelashes failed to stop the salty droplets assaulting his eyes, the stinging sensation causing him to rub his eyes softly before reaching for his towel and wiping the remaining sweat from his face. "Does she not trust me?"

Hoping off the treadmill and drying her own face Lucy remained silent before turning to face him. "While it is true that Umbreon tend to have a critical point of view when interacting with new people, Midnight is an exception."

"Still doesn't explain the staring yesterday though." David moved off in the direction of the specialised training area, Lucy following suit.

"That was because she was worried about you, we all were. Even Soren... though he probably wouldn't admit it. We definitely weren't expecting you to turn golden eyed."

Continuing on, David hopped up onto a leg press machine, set the weight and began his first set. Looking over to his right he saw that Lucy had settled on using the pull-up bar. Watching her, David noted on her figure. Lucy wasn't very muscular looking but the way she was able to get her chest over the pull bar told him that she was very physically fit.

When Lucy looked over her shoulder David quickly looked to back at the leg press, he was redder than a tomato berry. "Is there any reason why you are so worried about if Midnight likes you or not." Lucy huffed as she slowly lifted her self to the bar this time holding herself there, paused.

"I don't have the greatest track record with pokemon," grunting slightly David pushed the leg press platform back to its apex before slowly allowing it to slide back towards him. "I grew up around them but never formed any form of bond with them, my parents tried pushing me into becoming a trainer so in response I left and joined the military."

"Didn't really answer the question on why you care if Midnight likes you."

"Cogs in a machine won't turn smoothly if they don't link correctly. It's the same for a squad or fireteam, if all members trust each other then they perform better."

With one final grunt Lucy pulled herself over the bar and held the position once again before dropping back to the gym floor with a thud and turning to face David.

"So you think if she doesn't like you, that I won't like you."

"Essentially yes," panting David made a final push of his own sliding the leg press platform to its apex and holding it there as he looked at an approaching Lucy, who was slowly padding down her face with her towel. Allowing the platform to slide back down and locking into position, this signalled to David that it was safe to get off the machine.

"Just so you know, there is nothing Midnight could say or do to make me like or hate someone and that includes new recruits to my squad, " Lucy smirked placing her towel around her shoulders. "Though it does help if she likes you. Only a little bit tho."

Standing up Davids' legs felt like jelly as he gave them a light stretch before turning to wipe down the machine that he was using. "Every bit helps then."

Looking down at her wrist mounted Pokedex Lucy recoiled, slightly. "Mew above, have we seriously been here for that long."

"Wait, what's wrong?" David turned to face her with a confused look on his face.

"We should head back to our rooms and get freshened up, there's a meeting at eleven and all members of shadow squad need to be in attendance. If we leave now we might be able to snag something at the mess before heading over."

"First I've heard about it, is it really that important?" David lifts his own towel and patted the sweat from his brow before draping it over his shoulder.

"I'm not one hundred percent on what its about but I do know that we definitely shouldn't be late to it, Colonel Flint is one hell of a taskmaster when it comes to tardiness."

David nodded in understanding, vivid memories of his commanding officers dishing out harsh punishments to late or absent recruits washed through his mind like a torrent. Turning to head out the pair walk in relative silence as Lucy checked messages on her Pokedex.

"Alright, then I guess I'll meet you outside of the Administration building, Oh and don't worry about Midnight. I'll have a word with her." With a quick wave, Lucy started walking down the hall back to her own room.

Taking her advice to mind, David started walking back to his own bunk. The twist and turns of the barracks starting to grow on him. The hallways were no longer barren, a mixture of human personal and groups of pokemon could be seen in the hallways he passed. Commonly personal would be found with one pokemon but the more David paid attention he saw personal with three or more pokemon. Throughout basic training, it wasn't unheard of for a commanding officer to have a pokemon but for normal personal, it was next to forbidden.

Reaching his room David pulled a small latch on the door where a door handle would be. Clicking back into place the door slid open with a woosh. 'Thank Arceus, the door didn't lock when I went out.' he mentally sighed in relief. Stepping through the doorway, David beelined it straight for the bathroom.

A quick shower and a change of close later David headed back to the door again before stopping suddenly and checking his pockets. ' Damit almost walked out without it again.' David mentally facepalmed as he wandered over to his bedside table and grabbed the small red Pokedex. Walking back towards the door David glanced at the small device, the small screen showing the time.

"Ten minutes to eleven, crap. Don't think I'll have time to grab some grub, I'd better head straight for admin." Locking the door behind him, David broke out into a jog. Hallway after hallway passed till he arrived at the exit to the observation walkway.

'Dammit, I can't be late for this meeting.' The simple jog was gone as it morphed into a mad dash, on the walkway the world just flew past him. With most of the base up and about David was forced to dodge and weave through the myriad of researchers, military personnel and pokemon that were out on the walkway trying to get to either the mess or their assignments. It wasn't long before he reached the main observation platform however this was short lived as he jumped over a bench and beeline it down the gangway towards the administration building. Not breaking his stride he came up upon another short gangway leading to the two big glass doors that would let him access the building.

Standing outside was Lucy as well as a very nervous looking Midnight. 'Why is… Questions for later' His thoughts were interrupted by Lucy as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Took your time. Meetings about to start." Smirking Lucy turns and beckons for him to follow, Midnight sticking close to her. Giving David a nervous look before turning away a small blush on her cheeks.

Walking into the building was like walking into a business centre, all around we're desk working soldiers all intent on getting as much done as they can. a number of them carried around data pads walking the halls of the building like robots, knowing exactly where they were going but still focused on the datapads in front of them.

"Dose Administration really need such a big building?" David asked as he followed Lucy down the twisting corridor, interrupting the sound of hard boots on polished floors.

"No... they are only the bottom two floors of the building, it's mostly filled with accountants, administration assists, teachers, lawyers etcetera… The middle floors are dedicated to ordnance, logistic those that manage the base's supplies and such. Top floors are for Deployment, the armoury, tactics room and of course the helli pads for dust off." Stopping in front of an elevator she taps her pokedex on a terminal causing it to light up before turning back to David. "Meetings taking place in the tactics room so no doubt it's going to be about our next assignment."

"I see…" Stopping just short of her. "My first deployment with shadow squad…"

"Baptism by fire." She snickers. "If you don't do well you'll be reassigned. But with your record, I reckon you'll do just fine."

"You've read my record?" David turned to her in surprise.

"Yep," She smiles back. "Quite the reputation you have. Piqued my interest when Sam said he had handpicked a new recruit for the team and after reading your record I can see why he picked you."

The trio stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds before a loud ding notified them on the arrival of the elevator. Quickly the doors opened and they piled in, tapping her dex on a terminal inside the lift the doors shut and the lift hummed to life.

"I heard we will be having a special guest to this meeting today too," Lucy said idly.

"Hmmm? A special guest?" Confusion etched on his face as he looked over to Lucy.

"Yep. The Hoenn champion. Apparently, he has some information about the next mission." Shifting her arms behind her head she shifts her neck causing it to let out an audible crack.

"Oh… What was his name again…?" Scratching his face in thought, "Stone wasn't it…."

"Steven, Steven Stone. You were halfway there." Lucy giggles. A secondary giggle emanates from the shiny Umbreon, David looks down towards her as she lifts a paw to stifle her giggling.

"Have you met him before?" David's focus returned to Lucy.

"Steven? Yes, a few times. He normally comes in when there is a very rare pokemon in danger or if it involves pokemon being smuggled in from other regions." giving David a casual glance before shifting her gase to the floor indicator.

"Rare pokemon? As in legendary?" David followed her gase to read that they were just passing the third floor."

"No… Rare as in unique, highly sort after or endangered species." Finishing her sentence a loud ding can be heard as the door of the elevator opens allowing the trio to exit.

Stepping out David was taken aback, instead of dropping them in a hallway the elevator dropped them right into a well-lit lecture hall esque meeting room. Walking down the front of the room the others were already resting comfortably in their seats. Soren and Alice sat beside each other in the front row, Soren looking relatively board as Alice was expressionless as she looked back to see us approach a smile forming on her lips as we got closer. They both were in casual getup with Soren wearing a white t-shirt and black cargo pants whilst Alice wore a grey shirt with matching grey sweatpants. Out at the front was a Samuel in a black military standard shirt and coat with A multicam tac pants with two cargo pockets either side. Standing next to him was a man that David had only seen in magazines, with light steel blue eyes and hair he looked like a very strong and capable trainer just by his gase alone. He wore a black dress suit with steel cuffs, definitely dressing to impress.

"Ah just in time," Samuel smiled nodding to the approaching pair reaching the front Lucy took a seat next to the others, Midnight hoping up into her lap and curling up into it. "Find the place alright Lance Corporal?"

"Only thanks to Lucy sir." Smiling David relaxes his stance before returning his gaze to the new guest. With a cough, the guest steps forward looking David up and down.

"Well… Haven't seen you before." Extending his arm the man holds his hand out, a slight jingle coming from the steel cuffs. "Steven Stone, Current Hoenn region champion and avid geologist. It's nice to meet you Lance Corporal um…? "

"David, David Kanter" Raising his own arm David gives Stevens hand a firm shake.

"Kanter? … Why does that name sound… familiar." Stevens' hand goes to his chin as he ponders in thought. "Wait… you wouldn't be related to Kimberly Kanter would you?"

"Oh… Seems my elder sister is making a name for herself.." David shook his head and let out a sigh.

Steven let out a laugh. "Oh yes, she is. Making great progress in the pokemon gym challenge. I believe she just completed the challenge at Fortree City."

"Well… glad to hear she's doing well.." responding in a monotone voice David turned and joined the others in the front row of the hall, taking a seat next to Lucy and midnight and crossing one leg over his knee.

"Ummm… Right anyway with everyone now present, we can start the debrief for your next mission." Stepping back next to Samuel, Stevin digs around in his pocket pulling out a small remote.

Clicking a button the lights dim in the room as a projector hums to life, a blueprint of a building is flashed up onto a screen at the front of the hall. It was a multilayer blueprint, fairly detailed. The layout resembled a warehouse of some sort, floor by floor David starts to memorise and note its layout. Another cough from steven cases him to return his attention to the Hoenn champion.

"Last week spies form the international police discovered a smuggler's den at the Slateport City docks. Form the intel that they had gathered it seems they are using one of the warehouses as a base of operations, shipping stolen and captured pokemon from other regions and storing them for sale or further shipping." there was a brief pause before the image being projected was replaced with an image of a big cargo ship docked at what could be assumed as Slateports docks. "Along with the blueprints, the IP was able to get ahold of a personal list as well as manifest of all pokemon that are currently in the facility. The… List may shock some of you."

Another pause and click of the remote pulls up an extensive list of pokemon. Some that David had known about but quite a number that he had not. On the list were ones that had stars next to there names, confused David raised his hand.

"Hmmm? Yes, Lance Corporal?" Steven looked over to David an eyebrow raised.

"The stars… Why do some of them have stars next to their species tags?" Bluntly David leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at steven awaiting the answer.

This time it was Samuel to step forward. "The stars Represent Shiny or albino pokemon. Pokemon like Midnight." gesturing to the Umbreon still curled up in Lucy's lap.

"Yes. Shiny pokemon are big on the black market as they are collectable pokemon. Also… a lot of breeders will try to get shiny pokemon in the belief that they will have a better chance of obtaining new shiny pokemon from it." Interjecting, Steven put his hand to his chin. "However, research from top breeders proved that mating 2 shiny pokemon will not give you any greater chance of receiving a shiny offspring… Anyway, we are off topic." Shaking his head again and clicking his remote one final time, causing the slides to shut off and the lights to return to there full brightness.

"Soo… tis just a knockout opp then sir?" Piped up Soren, "Breach, capture ta personnel fur processin' an' free th' pokemon?"

"Yep Just another blow through opp." Smiled Samuel.

"Then why is Steven here?" Questioned a curious Alice.

"I'm here because there are Two pokemon on the manifest that are classed as endangered pokemon. The first being a Zorua and the other being its mother a Zoroark." Steven nodded, "Both are from Unova and have only been recently added to the endangered species list."

"So we need to make sure that they are not harmed was we conduct our raid…" I sigh escaped from Lucy, softly stroking Midnight in her lap, "Doesn't sound like too much of a problem."

Samuel folded his arms, looking over us. "In any case, we have to keep it in mind. We don't want them moving or hurting either of them if there is and we lose them command will kick up quite the shit storm." A grim look falling over his face, "Don't think that will help our public image either. So we are doing this by the book. You all should receive an email with the mission brief and each of your roles. We are to conduct the opp in two days so today read over your roles, memorise them. Tomorrow we will run a dummy opp in the training field before we set out. We'll be hitting them in the dark so adjusts your sleep schedule. Got it? "

Shadow Squad in unison "Sir, yes sir."

"Good. you're dismissed." Samuel turned and walked back over to Steven as the others begin to stand and prepare to head out. Midnight hops from Lucy's lap, brushing up against Davids legs as he hoped from his seat.

Alice gave a yawn as she began to make her way to the lift, Soren close behind her. Looking to we head after them, David took one last glance at Samuel and Steven as they began to discuss something. Reaching the others they strike up a conversation, normal idle chat to break the ice as we waited for the elevator to arrive. With a small ding, the doors slide open and we pile in. I look at Lucy who has a smug smile on her face.

Raising an eyebrow I cross my arms. "What?"

The others go quiet and look over to us as my question only seemed to amuse Lucy. She looks down to midnight before looking back to me. Midnight at this point was hiding behind her leg, her tail between her legs and a blush on her cheeks.

"David I want to ask a favour from you," She hummed in a cheery voice as the other returned to their own conversation about certain pokemon that were on the list.

Leaning back on the wall of the elevator David hesitated for a second before asking. "What type of favour…?"

Not a big one really," Lucy hummed. "I'm going to be out for the rest of the day, making requests and getting clearance for useful things for the upcoming op. Was wondering if you would keep Midnight company if she accompanied me all day she won't be too happy."

Staying silent, David shifted his view from Lucy to the now heavily blushing Umbreon. Her rings now fully lit emphasising her emotion. After a few more seconds he decided to finally break his silence.

"Sure. I'd be happy to look after her while you do what you need to do" Hearing this Midnight perked up, a smile forming on her lips as he stared at him with joy in her eyes.

Another ding cased the group to snap out of their conversations as the doors open again and peeling out and making there way to the lobby.

"Whelp, I best head over to the labs. Mercy needs my help with something and I'd best not keep her waiting." Alice shrugged as the group walked out of the admin building stopping in the foyer of the that leads to the walkway.
"Hmmm, Think I might just head tae mah room. Catch up oan some sleep... Was working on some reports early this morning and didn't sleep a wink." yawned Soren as he rested his arms behind his head.

Saying their goodbyes the pair split off and headed off to their destinations, leaving the trio behind.

"I'll leave you two to do what you need to do, I probably see you both tomorrow" Lucy turned, giving David a wink as she did. Leaving a stunned and confused David and a giggling Midnight. As soon as She is out of sight, midnight walks over and nuzzles against Davids' leg causing him to look down at her.

"Well… Guess I'm looking after you for the night…" Smiling David crouches down and gives her a pet, stroking her jet black fur.

Giggling midnight looks back and gives him a wink. "Look after me well."

Hopping up onto his shoulder she gives him a happy nuzzle. Smiling David stands, keeping balance in hope that she doesn't fall from his shoulder before heading off to the walkway with midnight in tow.