Epic fail on my end for meeting my first deadline. I will meet mine next Saturday for sure, so expect the next chapter on the 17th. I got lazy and distracted with the Wisconsin and LSU game, ON WISCONSIN!

Chapter Rating: T

Last Time: Domino informed Giovanni of the insider threat within Team Rocket after their heist on Silph Co was sabotaged by a traitor. Ash and Red had another battle with the former finally beating Blastoise with the help of Fearow and Muk.

Bold- PA Systems/Message Bulletins

Bold Italic- Radio/TV/Pokedex Descriptions

Italic-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks/Legendary Pokémon Speaking

Ash was not really a morning person, even if it gave him the chance to wake up and train. Getting up before the crack of dawn was too early for him.

"Rise and shine, Ash! It's time to train!" Joel's voice boomed.

His brown eyes cracked open and shifted just a bit to see his father standing at the base of his bed with his hands on his hips. A wide grin was on his face. He groaned and buried his face back into his pillow.

"What time is it?" He grumbled.

His father's response was quick and enthusiastic.

"About four-thirty."

"Come back when the sun's up. I'm not getting out of bed yet," he said.

"I'll give you five more minutes. If you're not up by then, I'll force you out."

He said nothing and remained silent as his father's footsteps grew faint and the door to his room closed. There was no telling what his dad would do to jolt him from bed, but he did not want to find out. A long sigh escaped him and he sat up in his bed, rubbing the crust from his eyes. He did another look at the clock and the big red letters that shone back read four-thirty. He then looked to the window. The sun had yet to rise.

"This training better be good," he said as he climbed out of bed.

He was quick to dress himself and secure his Poké Balls to his belt. Pikachu climbed up to assume his usual perch on his shoulder and let out a long yawn.

The door opened again and Joel popped his head in once more, a smirk dancing on his lips.

"Good man. Come on, let's go. Ritchie's waiting for us."

Ash blinked and followed his father out of his room. The two of them stayed silent as they continued their trek to the elevator and to the hotel lobby. Out of the corner of his eye, Ash took in Joel's state of dress. The man was wearing athletic attire that suggested a possible aerobic workout.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened. They stepped out into the lobby and spotted Ritchie in the center of it with Sparky perched on his shoulder. He looked no better than Ash did. The sleep was still evident on his face if the half-lidded gaze was anything to go off of.

"So, what's this training that we're doing?" Ash rubbed his eyes again.

"I figured it'd be good for us to spend time together as a family. Now when I say training, I don't just mean just battling or testing your pokémon," said Joel.

"There's more to training than that?"

"Yes. If you're pokémon are going to be strong, it's your job as a trainer to hold a similar standard. So before we start with that, we'll begin our day with a good run.

The two brothers looked at one another and then back at their father who still had a large grin on his face. The man was not kidding.

"I think you two should change to more suitable clothes. I'll be waiting outside," he said before exiting the lobby.

Ash and Ritchie turned to each other and then looked back to the hotel entrance.

"This'll be fun." He turned to go for the elevator.

"Hopefully." Ritchie followed close behind.

Ash and Ritchie were panting heavily, their faces sweating profusely as they tried to keep up with their father who was almost half a block ahead of them. It would have been comical to anyone witnessing the early morning exercise between a father and his two sons. Instead of the teenagers beating the old man, it was the opposite.

The sun was just starting to crest over the mountains to the east. The cool air would soon be gone and replaced with the hot, humid July weather that made it almost unbearable to run. It would be too heavy and slow them down even more than they were currently moving.

"Come on! Are you seriously gonna' let your old man beat you?" Joel hollered back to them.

Neither of them said a thing and their legs extended further with each stride. While they ran, Pikachu and Sparky were running beside them. They were faring better than they were, but the exhaustion was starting to show on their faces.

"How far have we run?" Ash asked his brother.

"I think we're going on six miles now." Ritchie gasped back.

"Oh man, this is crazy. I'm not sure how much further I can run."

Ritchie only nodded in agreement and let out a loud cough as he tried to regain his breath. Up ahead Joel veered left and continued his run along a large, open prairie. Their run had led them out of the city and into the countryside where some of the farms were. The smell of fertilizer was in the air and a light fog rested over the fields.

Relief finally came for the two boys when they saw Joel slow to a stop beside a large field. Just beside the field was a large lake. The campgrounds around the lake were abandoned and gave them plenty of room to continue their morning training.

Ash stumbled across the marked finish and hunched over. He was not one for running long periods of time. Three miles was his limit, but six? That was just torture. He stood upright and felt the air sting his nostrils as he took a deep breath.

"You two gotta' be faster than that," Joel said as he walked over to them.

"We're not exactly the best runners, Dad," said Ritchie.

"Neither am I, but I still beat you. So that's something we'll work on."

Joel rolled his shoulders and made his way to the field. His hand trailed down to his belt and he plucked one of the Poké Balls from it. It grew in his hand and he tossed it up and down. He wound his arm back and let the ball fly. It snapped open a second later and his Charizard emerged with a loud roar that echoed around the abandoned field.

"So, what are we doing?" Ash asked.

"You both have your pokémon, right?" Joel answered.

"Yeah."

"Let them out. This morning workout won't involve battling, but strength and conditioning drills. I do this with my team all the time and because of that, we're one of the best."

Joel then released his last five pokémon to start stretching out as they prepared for the workout. Five additional snaps came and five more pokémon took shape beside Charizard being Electivire, Gyarados, Steelix, Hypno, and Shiftry. His entire team looked strong and ready to work.

Although their father only spent five years with each of them, they could see the devotion he had to his team. It was the very same team he had when he was a kid and all of them had grown with him. With age came experience and there was no doubt in the boys' minds that their father was indeed one of the strongest trainers to still be in the game.

Snapping back to attention, both of them released the pokémon they had on their person. In front of Ritchie was Sparky, Zippo, Cruise, Rose, Happy, and Milotic. In front of Ash was Pikachu, Muk, Fearow, Gabite, Ivysaur, and Wartortle.

"Great! Let's get this show on the road!" Joel clapped.

Joel was quick to explain the goal of the workout. Each pokémon would be paired up with another one from someone else's team. They would practice their strengthening drills by pushing each other or grappling one another. The small match would end after two minutes and they would be forced to find a new partner to test their strength against another.

Round after round, each pokémon on the field went at it and they were not called to stop until all of them battled each other at least once. At the end, both Ash and Ritchie could see that their pokémon were winded and trying to recollect their composure after the testy workout. Their father's pokémon was still up and moving as if hardly fazed by the skirmishes.

Then came the speed drills. Their pokémon were pushed hard. One by one each pokémon from Ash and Ritchie's team were sent down a one hundred yard line to dodge attacks from all of Joel's pokémon. Some were successful in their dodges and some were not. For Ash, Pikachu and Fearow took the win on avoiding damage from the ruthless gauntlet whereas Ritchie had Sparky and Zippo get by unscathed. The rest of their teams were not as fortunate.

The rest of their teams took solid hits and were knocked out of the exercise, but they managed to hold out well at the end of the day against seasoned pokémon who had more experience than them and that was a good take away for both brothers.

"Alright, that's enough! Recall your pokémon!" Joel called out to them.

Ritchie spared a glance at his watch as he returned each of his pokémon to their respective balls. They started their training at four-thirty that morning and it was almost eight o'clock. A good three and a half hours of training from their father woke them up and filled them with energy to go about their day.

"What's next, Joel?" Ash asked.

"Before we head back let's just sit and relax for a bit. We'll need the energy to run back after all." Joel beckoned them to the table.

Ash and Ritchie sat down at the picnic table with their father with the former folding his arms and resting his head, closing his eyes. The sleep that threatened to overcome him was strong and he was close to giving in to it.

For a minute, no one said anything. The three of them sat there silently enjoying each other's company and listening to the birds chirping. The sunlight brought a comforting warmth to them as it continued its ascension into the sky.

"So, have either of you found a date to that Poképalooza dance yet?" Joel asked with a smirk.

Both Ash and Ritchie stiffened at the question and turned their gazes away from their father. Neither of them had asked a girl to the dance yet, and neither of them were in a hurry to do so. It had nothing to do with the fact they did not want to ask a girl, but more along the lines of being unsure of how to do so. All of those teasing gestures that Ritchie hit Ash with in regards to Misty were now laughable on his end since he had no girl in mind. At least not yet.

"Your silence says it all." Joel sighed.

"Oh? Do you have a better idea, Dad?" Ritchie folded his arms.

"Yeah. I suggest you find your stones and go ask the girl that catches your eye. You don't want to show up stag."

Joel turned to face Ash and Ritchie, his gaze more playful than earlier. The smirk spread across his lips as he looked at his sons and then cupped his chin.

"What about you, Ash? Did you ask that Cerulean gym leader to go with you yet?"

Ash's head shot up from the table, his face beat red from embarrassment, much to the enjoyment of Ritchie who avoided the first round of onslaught from Joel. He opened his mouth to try and respond, but no words came out.

"Who said I was going to ask her?" He challenged weakly.

"Well, your face says otherwise." His father pointed at him. "Second, your mother told me what the two of you have been through together and you're good friends. It'd be stupid of you not to ask her to the dance. She's cute."

The raven haired teen swallowed at his father's words. He really had no pithy comeback for the man.

"It's not that I don't want to ask her. I'm just afraid to," he admitted.

"Why are you afraid to ask her?" Ritchie piped in with a raised brow. "I mean, you faced hostile legendries, but you can't ask a girl to the dance?"

"This is different!"

It was a valid point and almost laughable. Ash buried his face in his hands and let out a sigh. He had no trouble diving headfirst into life threatening situations, but girls was a new turf altogether. When he was younger he never took much of an interest in girls since he was more focused with reaching his goal of becoming a Pokémon Master.

He was not sure when it started to happen, but he had become more aware of girls than he had before. Not to the level that Brock had been at, but it was there. If his reunion with Misty back in Cerulean City was any indicator, he was unsure of how to go further with it. Seeing the girl again after so long filled him with happiness and he was happy to be spending time with her again. But there was a lingering doubt in his head that scared him.

"I just don't want to ruin what we have with each other." He scratched the back of his head. "Say I ask her to the dance and something goes wrong?"

Although the fear of losing his relationship with Misty was real and was the only thing keeping him from asking her, she was the only girl he could picture taking take to that dance.

"Ash, I know where you're coming from and understand that you don't want to ruin your friendship with Misty, but let me tell you this," said Joel. "You'll never know until you try, and it can be one of your biggest regrets years down the road. But if what your mother told me about you two is true, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

He turned his gaze back to his father.

"How can you say that so easily?" He asked.

"Because I've been in a similar situation before with both of your mothers." Joel looked between him and Ritchie. "I know the choices I made were far from good and that I am not the most model father, but I would do them again because you two are the best thing that's happened to me."

Their father's confession surprised them quite a bit. While it provided good teasing material down the road since men weren't supposed to share their feelings like that, it truly meant a lot to the two of them.

"The biggest thing I will hit you with is this," Joel continued with a small smile. "If there is a girl you like and she puts up with all the dumb shit you do and is willing to stick by you after all of that, she's a keeper. Case and point, your mothers. Ritchie, while Emily and I won't be getting back together, she lets me be a part of your life. And Ash, while your mother and I probably won't get married anytime soon, she is willing to give me one last chance and still be a part of your lives."

Ash blinked and his brow furrowed. His mind began to wander back to his conversation with Red the night before. His counterpart had told him to consult his father with the dilemma and he did so. The answer was strikingly similar to what Red told him.

"If you find a girl that goes the distance for you that Blue did for me, hold on to her and don't let her go."

The words danced in his head again and he silently pondered them. Everything that Red and Joel told him about women was similar. With what they said, Misty was the only girl that fit that bill like a glove. Granted May and Dawn had traveled with him and put up with a lot of stupid things he did, he could not say they came close to what Misty did.

From the beginning, the feisty redhead had been by his side. She saved him from almost drowning on his first day as a trainer, although unintentionally. She pestered him about destroying her bike and said she would never forgive him, but continued traveling with him despite what she said. The girl gave him pointers after he failed his battles and would encourage him in her own way to give him confidence. Even though they had a lot of nasty fights they still made up at the end of the day.

To add to that, although it took a long while for him to realize it, she was the only girl that spiked any form of jealousy in him if she showed affection to someone else, yet she still chose to stay by him each time.

"Did that help in any way?" Joel asked.

"Yeah… I think it did," he said with a nod.

"Good! Now that our chick-flick moment is over, let's head back!"

He and Ritchie groaned and got to their feet. Their father was already jogging back to the road and they trailed behind, their legs screaming in protest.

Domino set her bag and Scott's down on the empty seats of the plane. She was feeling more relaxed than earlier. She was clean, well-rested, and ready to take the first flight to the Sevii Islands.

Her team's first target was Moltres and it was time to move in after the scout teams gave the confirmation that the legendary bird was no longer in the vicinity of the Orange Islands. Now it was believed to be atop of Mount Ember. It would be a challenge for her and her team, but she had no doubt that she could pull off capturing the legendary with careful coordination.

"You got everything?" Came Scott's voice.

"Yup." She chirped back. "You have the medical supplies?"

She got her answer when her partner jiggled a small bag in his hand before setting it by their bags. Her eyes took in Scott's form and she grimaced just a bit. He was recovering from the serious injuries he sustained the night before. The way he moved showed the discomfort he had. Each one was ginger and stiff as if he was trying everything he could to not irritate them.

A small knot formed in Domino's stomach when she heard him hiss a bit. She did feel bad for dragging him out of the medical center just so she could have him as backup for potential insiders, but at the same time it filled her with safety. There was no one she would trust more to watch her back than the man beside her. To add to that, she could use his help with capturing Moltres since it would be no easy feat, even though they now had the Master Balls to do it.

"Domino," Scott said.

"Hmm?" She perked up.

"Why did you want me to come with you? You know I'm not going to be of much use in my state."

Domino smirked playfully and took a step towards him. Her gesture made him take a slight step back so he could look down at her.

"We're partners and I don't want anyone else helping me do this unless it's you." She smiled up at him.

Her little flirt was acted upon by her partner who took a step closer to her.

"I'm tempted to call you a liar," he whispered. "So tell me the real reason why."

The smirk on her face fell into a frown and she averted her eyes. She was adamant in her belief she wanted Scott because of the protection and the capture of Moltres. There was nothing else besides that, right? They were partners, friends, but he still made a point. Was it truly because she wanted his protection and help, or was it something else that she was not seeing? If things went wrong, it was possible she could get him killed out of selfishness.

"It's like I said," she began after finding her voice, turning her eyes to look up at his. "I want you with me because you are the only one who can help me make this happen."

She took a step back and found herself against the wall. The gap between them was now closed again. Her partner put an arm on the wall to block her only means of escape and leaned forward just a bit. Her throat tightened and she could feel her heart speed up a bit.

"I don't believe you," he answered back. "If you don't tell me the real reason why, I'll ask Giovanni to put me back in medical and you can do this on your own."

Her frown got tighter. She had known him long enough to know that his threats were true and that he would willingly go back to medical despite the fact he hated being cooped up inside. Her fists clenched and unclenched as she stared up into his green orbs.

"Because I need you," she said. "After last night, I don't know who I can trust. If something like that happened again, not only could I bite it, but it would make everything we worked for pointless."

The silence hung between the two of them. She felt honest with herself on her answer, but that thought graced her head again. Was there another reason why she wanted him with her? She was broken from her thoughts when his face inched closer to hers, his lips just inches from hers.

"Now why couldn't you have just said that?" He asked, a smirk spreading across his face.

Her eyes widened just a bit and her face flushed. Was that all just a ruse to rile her up? She blinked and felt her fists tighten once more. To add to that, he used his own flirtation to get back at her from her tease. The closeness of his face to hers had made her blood burn and her heart beat faster than before. She never had a relationship in her life, always being focused on the mission. This new feeling scared her and excited her at the same time, but it had nothing on the anger swelling inside of her.

"Y-you…" She growled out shaking with anger.

"What?" He rose a brow noticing her state.

"You freaking jerk!"

Her fist burrowed itself into his stomach and his eyes bugged out of his head. Her quick reaction made her feel victorious, but it backfired the second she remembered the condition he was in. She dropped to her knees to gently pick him up after he entered a sputtering fit.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

The boy only waved it aside, not trusting his mouth to speak, whether it was a profanity ready to fly out or to keep his pain hidden, she did not know. She helped him into the seat and made sure he was comfortable before grabbing the medical bag.

"You know, if this is how you treat your patients, I'll take my chances without the medical aid," he said with a small chuckle.

"Just shut up," she said, her face heating up from embarrassment.

Her eyes did a quick once over on his chest to make sure he didn't tear the stitches open. Not seeing any blood, she packed the gauze away and set the bag in the vacant seat. She then sat beside him and they waited silently as the rest of their team started filing in to the plane to prepare for takeoff.

The plane fired to life and began to roll to the end of the runway. Some of the team resorted to shutting their eyes to sleep for the long flight while others opted to read a book or maintain their gear. The plane sped up as it soared down the runway and the nose pulled off the ground as it took to the air.

"Did Giovanni say how long he might be in custody with the cops?" Scott asked.

"No." She shook her head. "But he's got a lot of them under his payroll, so I can't imagine he'd be in for long."

"Good point."

Her partner leaned back in his seat and tried to get comfortable to not agitate his wounds. She watched his eyes close as he tried to let sleep take him.

"Hey, Scott?" She whispered.

"Hmm?" He grunted back.

"Thanks."

His response was a gentle nudge with his elbow.

Gentle keystrokes echoed around the quiet office. Wes Dekker had been at it once again. Ever since Derek and Chris brought back the DSM containing the files they managed to download off of Giovanni's computer, he spent hours upon hours analyzing them. One read through after the next and dozens of notes being made on the boards surrounding his office.

All the files that they managed to recover were incomplete. Half of them contained maps. Another group contained coordinates and photos of different land formations ranging from islands to areas within different regions around the seas.

Wes sighed and rubbed his eyes, grabbing his energy drink and taking a large gulp. His all night shift was starting to get the better of him now and he was ready to make his way to the coffee machine where the early morning crowd would be gathering.

"Break time." He got to his feet.

He finished the last of his energy drink and left his office. His fingertips soothed the bags under his eyes as the sharp light hit them. He was barely paying attention to where he was going, his mind having gone on autopilot and guided him to the familiar meeting spot of the G-Men employees.

He rounded the corner and could see a small crowd chatting as they nursed their cups of steaming coffee. The smell of hazelnut met his nose and made him perk up just a bit. Maybe the scalding beverage would help him wake up and find the missing piece.

"Hey, cut the chatter and get back to work. I still need some of those encrypted files we got from Team Rocket cracked," he said.

His staff members slowly dispersed and made their way back to their desks to carry on with their designated tasks. Once he was sure they were gone, he grabbed the pot of coffee and poured himself the last of it. He opened a pack of sugar and spread it out inside before bringing the cup to his lips. He flinched just a bit when the searing beverage graced his tongue and burned the back of his throat.

The heat was enough to make his eyes shoot open and he let out a sigh as he leaned against the table.

"Good morning, Wes." Lance greeted, stopping by the table.

"Morning." He grunted back.

"When was the last time you slept? You know you're no good if you work long shifts."

He looked to the ceiling trying to recall when his shift started the night before.

"When did we have our last meeting?" He turned to his boss.

"Five, yesterday afternoon." Lance began to brew another cup. "Take a nap when you finish that coffee. I'm sure you can't even think straight right now."

"Sir, I'm fine. Really."

Lance shook his head and crossed his arms.

"Wes, I'm serious. I appreciate you putting in the extra work to try and crack those files that Fiers and Moore brought back, but how's that affecting you? More importantly, how is Rui doing?"

Wes flinched. He hardly spent time with his girlfriend since he was given the order to analyze the files from the DSM. The few nights he actually made it back from HQ he was so tired he rarely spoke to her. He would just arrive home, eat whatever she had cooked or picked up on the way home from work, shower, and then it was lights out. Each time he did that, Rui had not said a word to bring it to his attention, but he knew better than to think she wasn't affected by his late nights.

"I know this isn't doing your relationship any wonders, so don't try to lie," said Lance, pouring his fresh cup of coffee.

"She hasn't brought it up, but I know she wants to." He sighed.

"I see. Well, here's the deal. You go back to your office, get some sleep, put in half a shift tonight, then I want you to take the rest of the week off."

His head snapped up and he opened his mouth to protest, but a firm look from the Dragon Master made him think otherwise. His boss was not one to tolerate any form of back sass.

"Have I made myself clear?" Lance asked.

"Yes, sir." Wes nodded with a sigh.

"Good. Now, get some sleep."

Lance turned on his heel and made his way back to his office. He, too, turned and began his trek to the office that had become his second home. He rubbed his eyes, not paying much attention to his path since it was embedded in his mind.

"Wes, do you have a second?" One of his members asked him.

"If it's quick," he said with a yawn.

His feet stopped him just outside the cubicle and he cast his tired eyes inside. The analyst in the chair dragged the mouse on his computer to the first open window and then moved it to the next four one by one.

"Sir, I think I have something here," he said.

"I'm listening." Wes leaned on the cubicle.

"Take a look at this. This has been mentioned dozens of times through the files we got."

Each individual window had the highlighted word "Stardust." Seeing this made the senior analyst blink and narrow his eyes. He was familiar with the material itself. It was a lucky find for anyone who got their hands on it. The rare material was offered a high price by vendors across every region and could turn a poor man into a rich man within seconds. What did not make sense was why Giovanni seemed interested in it.

The man had numerous ways of keeping himself wealthy with his biggest pieces being his casino in Celadon City and his black market deals with low time thugs. He had made a killing on those two alone and it was keeping him out of custody from the police, practically making him untouchable.

"What does something like stardust have to do with this?" Wes asked.

"Right, sorry." The analyst chuckled lightly. "Well, this was mentioned in at least half of the files we cracked. I don't think it's talking about the material itself, but it's a word containing a hidden meaning."

"I'm listening."

"Each time stardust was mentioned, it pertained to a criminal act. These files were on days Team Rocket as a group conducted a particular crime. I crossed these dates over with past news events and at least three of them took place within the past month."

Wes blinked, now very interested with the sharp find.

"What crimes did these get associated with in the news?" He knelt by the chair.

"There's no consistency with the crimes. One was a prison break, the next was a robbery attempt at the Pewter City Smithsonian, and the last one just took place about twelve hours ago in Saffron City with Silph Co being robbed."

A small smile formed on his lips and he quickly turned his attention to the side monitor. He turned it on and switched to the TV function, switching it to the closest news station. Sure enough there was a headliner that confirmed what his analyst said. "Silph Co Heist Leaves Five Dead and Fifteen In Custody." This was just what he needed, and now that they had a possible lead, they would be able to act on it.

"Good find. Keep searching and let me know if you find anything else. I gotta' go tell Lance about this." He clapped his worker on the shoulder.

With newfound life, Wes swiftly got to his feet and zoomed to Lance's office. He stopped outside the door and knocked three times. His boss gave him permission to enter and he strode into the room a second later.

He registered the old colonel Greg Fiers and gave him a nod of recognition before turning his eyes back to the dragon master.

"Why are you still up?" Lance shook his head.

"I was going to bed, but one of my analysts found something on those files," he said.

"Really? What was it?"

"A lot files have the term stardust symbolizing a handful of down low jobs that Team Rocket has carried out and plan to act on. We have confirmed three of them with the latest one being the heist on Silph Co last night."

The smirk on his face grew when Lance's eyes went wide as saucers before settling back down. The Dragon Master leaned back in his chair, his face pensive. He then cast a look to Greg who gave a curt nod with a smirk of his own.

"Okay. I want your analysts to sift through all those files and get a timeline in place so we can track everything. If that Silph Co heist that happened last night was mentioned, it's possible more future acts of theirs can be traced. We have the chance to finally grab this guy with evidence and I don't want to lose it," said Lance.

"Got it!" Wes was about to depart the office.

"One more thing, Wes."

"Sir?"

"Go to bed!"

Ash, Ritchie, Pikachu and Sparky trudged into the dining room and plopped down beside Paul and Barry who had been chatting.

"Wow, what happened to you guys?" Barry asked with a raised brow.

"Dad's a maniac," Ritchie answered back. "Anything good for breakfast?"

Paul jerked his thumb back towards the long table that had a large banquet. Everything was there ranging from bacon, eggs, pancakes, and more. The sight made the two brothers drool before bolting to fill their plates with as much as they could hold.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" Ash sat down.

"TV. Barry was asking if I watched the news at all this morning," said Paul.

"Did you?"

"No, but I spent a lot of time watching Rick and Morty last night."

"Is it funny?"

Paul turned his gaze to him, his face completely void of emotion.

"No."

"Oh. Then why did you…" Ash began to reply.

"It's hilarious. Its humor clicks perfectly with me."

Paul returned to eating his eggs making Barry shake his head. The blonde then turned to Ash and Ritchie with a more serious expression.

"Look at the TV behind you. This has been a story going on since early this morning," he said.

The two of them turned to look at the TV. The news came back from commercial break and transitioned to the lead anchor. The ticker at the bottom was giving small updates pertaining to the top story that was in big bold lettering. "Silph Co Heist Leaves Five Dead and Fifteen In Custody." With the news now back, the four of them focused on the breaking story for updates.

"We have an updated report on the Silph Co Heist. Police have confirmed that those that were taken into custody earlier were in fact part of Team Rocket. Silph Co has yet to release information pertaining to what was stolen, but we expect to hear something within the next hour from the president."

Ash's brow creased in thought and he leaned back in his seat. He had his fair share of run ins with Team Rocket, but for as long as he could remember, they were never focused on a successful business like Silph Co. He had always faced the infamous trio that he was accustomed with and they were very incompetent to begin with. For Team Rocket to pull off something this big, it was eerily similar to the Team Rocket from Red's universe. They were competent, strong, and violent.

He was unsure whether those that were reportedly dead were from Team Rocket or innocent people in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it definitely painted them in a new light. Whatever they were aiming to do, it was big and only time would tell just what would happen.

"Crazy, huh?" Barry asked.

"No kidding." Ritchie nodded in agreement.

Silence fell between the four of them, but it did not last for long.

"So, what are you guys doing the rest of the day?" Paul set his fork down.

"I'm going to try and find a date to that dance," Barry said coolly.

"Good luck with that."

Barry sent a glare at Paul who shrugged him off.

"I bet I can get a date by the end of the day! I don't see any of you guys trying!" He retorted.

"I wouldn't say that," Ritchie said with smirk before glancing at Ash. "Ash has a girl in mind."

If looks could kill, Ritchie would have been dead ten times over. The glare that Ash gave him was capable of making heat from the sun feel like ice.

"You too?" Paul rose a brow.

"I know I could use that time to do training, but there's no need to spend every minute doing it," he said.

"That's the last thing I expected to hear from you. Hopefully that's not cockiness."

"I'm not cocky, just confident. Besides, this is kind of a personal thing I need to figure out."

Paul hummed under his breath and leaned back in his chair.

"You don't plan on going to the dance, do you?" Barry asked with a sly grin.

"It crossed my mind, but I probably won't go." Paul shook his head.

"I think you're a chicken. You probably couldn't get a date if you tried."

If there was one thing that the three of them knew, it was that Paul despised being called a chicken, much less being told he could not do something. The teen looked at the blonde with a firm scowl. The look in his eye was one of determination and there was only one possible outcome with that taunt he was hit with.

"Please. I'd get a date to the dance sooner than you," Paul replied with a sneer.

"Then prove it, chicken boy!" Barry smirked back.

That did it. A low growl escaped Paul's lips and his jaw clenched tightly as he sat upright.

"You're on!" He got to his feet.

"Well, count us in too," said Ritchie. "Before this day's done, we'll have our dates sorted out. Deal?"

Barry nodded and put his hand out. Paul followed suit and rested his on top of Barry's. Ritchie put his on next and Ash wrapped it up by putting his on last. The four of them then threw their hands in the air and made their way to the lobby. The challenge was set and by the end of the day, the clear winners would have giant smiles on their faces while the losers had frowns and had to deal with humiliation. Simple as that.

There we go. Sorry again for missing the deadline. That was laziness on my end. Anyway, like I said, I have the update schedule planned out and now I plan to have the next update out next Saturday.

Statements:

1.) Bi-Weekly updates from here on out. Next update is September 17th.

OCs Featured in the Chapter: None!

Story Shout Outs:

"Traveler" by The Straight Elf (Recently updated 6/16/16)

"Pokémon Unova Adventure: A New Generation" by El Torro (Recently updated 8/15/2016)

"The Pokémon World League" by The Fan Fiction Writer (Recently updated 08/28/2016)