Ash, Gary, and Green each took one of the three trains and got on the move. Their plan was to take down each of the Team Cipher bases after a quick heal from Yellow.
Now, Ash wanted to do all of this in 24 hours, because even though he said they had around 2 days, that was more of a general thing. It was 2 days until they realized that the main factory stopped producing Shadow Serum, and Ash could cut off the communication from the one place.
However, like it was said before, there were like what, 10 bases across Orre, and Ash could not hack all of them at once. They were too far apart, so when they got into a base, they would have to take them down fast before anyone could send communications to another that would lead back to the main base.
Was it convoluted? Yes. Was that going to stop them? No.
So with Green and Gary connecting their Aura readers to an earpiece for Ash, they took off on the train.
Ash leaned back in his seat, one arm resting on the window as the lights of the tunnels streaked by. He tapped the small communicator in his ear, "Radio check."
Gary's voice came through first, "Loud and clear."
Then Green's, "Yep. Unfortunately, I can still hear Gary."
"I heard that."
"I wanted you to."
Ash chuckled, "Good, everyone's connected."
He brought up the holographic map on his Rotom Phone. Three blue dots moved across the sprawling underground rail system, while dozens of red markers representing Cipher facilities blinked throughout Orre.
"Alright, quick reminder. Gary, Green, you two are cleaning up the smaller bases. Don't get distracted, we don't have the time to play around."
Green snorted, "That's rich coming from you."
Gary crossed his arms in his own train car, "What's your ETA to Research and Development?"
Ash zoomed in on the map, "About forty-five minutes."
Green whistled, "That's farther than I thought."
"Yeah." Ash nodded, "The R&D facility is almost isolated from the rest of the network."
Ash watched the tracks split apart, "Actually...there are two smaller stations between me and the main facility."
Green immediately spoke, "Please tell me you're not."
Ash smiled, "I absolutely am."
Gary pinched the bridge of his nose, "You literally just told us not to get distracted."
"Hey, I'm multitasking. Besides, it helps you guys. I take down 2, and there are still 8 left for you two. It's fiiiiine."
"No fair, Ash," Green huffed.
Gary rolled his eyes, "Uh, you're just saying that because you want the loot."
"Nuh uh, I also want their Shadow Pokémon," Green said proudly.
"Right, well ignoring that, it's on the way, so I kinda have to get them," Ash explained, "But it won't take long, then I can get to the big one."
"And once we take down everything, we can go after the big guys," Green snapped her fingers excitedly, "I'm looking forward to this."
"Remember, I call dibs on that Nascour guy," Gary reminded.
"Fine, fine, you can have him," Green sighed, "Hm, is there any other interesting people in Cipher? If not, I guess I can beat up that Evice. Apparently, he used to be the mayor, he must have some goodies."
"Sure, do whatever you want," Ash responded, "By the way, Gary, you're pulling up on your first base. Green, 10 minutes until you get to yours," he said while looking at the blue dots he had on the map.
"Alright, I'll get ready. I've got a spare uniform from one of those guys. Might be a bit big, but it'll do."
"You should have said something. I would have adjusted one for you like I did for Ashy," Green said a little too cheerfully.
"You know what? I'm not going to honor that with a response. I'm hanging up now," Gary said as he disconnected from his line.
"Party pooper…" Green muttered as she hung up next.
So Ash looked forward, smirking. Looks like it was time to have some fun.
—
{5 Hours Later}
Ash was walking through the main Research Base, as Metagross and Salamence were cleaning house, taking down all the Shadow Pokémon that the Cipher grunts were throwing at him.
He didn't even need to Mega Evolve them. They were just doing this in base form, and any grunts that thought, "Well, if they can't beat Ash's Pokémon, maybe beating up the 12-year-old would be better," learned real quick that Ash was way stronger than he should be.
Anyway, the main reason it took so long was because the 2 bases he dealt with took like an hour each to catch all the grunts, send the Shadow Pokémon for purification, then check all of the bases for any extra stuff just in case. Then there was the hour-long travel, and when he finally got here to this base, he spent some time hacking everything, making sure communications could not be sent out since this place was much bigger.
And once he was here, this wasn't a case where his win condition was just to beat everyone up. He genuinely had to go through every single computer and have Porygon help him hack everything, including evidence of Cipher's actions here in Orre.
It was about now Ash was grateful that he already beat Snattle and Gorigan last year. It really made all of this much easier knowing that Cipher was 2 admins down, especially since he knew his general strength compared to back then.
Back when he fought Gorigan, he only slightly struggled since he was handicapped. Now Ash was multiple times stronger than he was back then.
But anyway, that wasn't really relevant right now. Right now, he was still kinda trying to beat up everyone in this base and collect the Shadow Pokémon.
As he finished another hallway, he finally started walking up to reach the final floor. There he saw more people waiting for him, but there was one specifically leading the group.
It was Gonzap, standing there while he crossed his arms and smiled when he saw Ash, "Gwaahahah! Long time no see, eh? You're not gonna break my heart and tell me you've forgotten my face, are you now?"
"Hard to say I have after the last time we saw each other," Ash shrugged.
"Listen kid, I'm willing to forgive you for what you did to me on the train. I don't blame you, I did deceive you," Gonzap explained, "But I have a deal for you. Let's team up."
"Team up…really?" Ash asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah kid, but not for Cipher. It's for us, Team Snagem," he said, gesturing to the Cipher agents behind him, "We only joined Cipher to recognize and wait for the perfect time to destroy them and retake Orre."
"We're both after the same thing, the destruction of Cipher, so why don't you join us, and we'll smash Cipher together, then Orre will be ours to do with as we please!" Gonzap said with a smirk.
Ash looked at Gonzap for a few seconds before letting out a small laugh, "No."
Gonzap blinked, "No?"
Ash shrugged, "No."
"You ain't even gonna think about it?"
"I did." Ash tapped the side of his head, "It took about half a second."
Gonzap frowned, "Kid, did ya hear anything I just said?"
"Yeah, I did," Ash explained shortly. Then he crossed his arms, "I also know about Team Snagem, and I know you're no saints either. Sure, you're not as bad as Cipher, but you're still thieves and criminals nonetheless."
Gonzap's grin didn't fade, "So? That's how Orre works."
"Maybe it used to." Ash shrugged, "Not anymore."
Gonzap barked out a laugh, "Kid, you're funny."
"I'm serious."
"You think once Cipher falls everything's gonna become sunshine and rainbows?" Gonzap spread his arms, "Someone's gotta run this place."
Ash nodded, "Yeah, it just isn't going to be you."
The smile immediately disappeared, "That's your answer?"
"Pretty much."
Gonzap sighed dramatically before scratching the back of his head, "What a waste."
He reached up and adjusted his coat, "I was hoping you'd be smarter than that kid. Together we could crush Cipher easily."
"But I guess this is how it has to be."
He slowly reached behind his back before pulling out a massive Snag Machine, far larger than the one Ash wore, "Guess there ain't much left to talk about."
Ash glanced at it, "Compensating for something?"
Several Snagem members immediately snorted.
Gonzap slowly looked back at them, "Really?"
The laughter instantly stopped.
Ash smiled innocently, "I mean, yours is like three times bigger than mine."
"It needs to be!"
"Does it?"
"YES!"
Ash nodded thoughtfully, "Whatever helps you sleep at night."
Gonzap's eye twitched, "...Kid."
"Hm?"
"I'm gonna enjoy beatin' that smart mouth off your face."
"You aren't the first to try, and you won't be the last."
Ash snapped his fingers as Metagross and Salamence flew up from behind him and flew forward to start the battle.
—
{Meanwhile}
Green had just finished taking down her 3rd base. After tying everyone up so Ash could deal with them later, she quickly collected all the loot before jumping back onto her train and heading toward her 4th and final base.
When she arrived, she stepped out carrying a crate of empty Poké Balls, casually walking between the Cipher grunts since she was still wearing the uniform and helmet.
She walked past a few grunts carrying crates full of actual Poké Balls, and they didn't even question her.
"Hey."
"Morning."
"Morning."
It was almost insulting how easy it was. Green continued deeper into the base, doing what she always did first: activating her Aura reader to scan the area. She quickly found the number of Cipher grunts inside. This place was much larger than the previous bases, meaning it was probably some kind of major hub.
Not that it mattered. Once she had the information, she continued walking around, scouting the place out. She needed to take everyone down before they could send a message back to the main base, and she also needed to find their communication systems and destroy them.
Eventually, she found exactly what she was looking for, including the supposed leader of the base. A larger man wearing a much more decorated Cipher uniform, someone named Exol. He was sitting at the main network terminal, with a microphone connected to the entire base's speaker system.
From what Green could tell, he was higher ranked than a normal Grunt but lower than an Admin. Perfect. That gave her the opening she needed.
As she walked into the room, Exol looked up, clearly about to yell at her to get back to work, but before he could, Green flicked her belt and threw two Poké Balls onto the ground, "Get 'em, girls!"
The two Poké Balls opened, releasing her Nidoqueen and Granbull. Both immediately charged forward. Granbull tackled Exol to the ground, holding him down, while Nidoqueen wrapped her arms around the other grunts in the room, trapping them in a crushing bear hug so they couldn't reach their Poké Balls.
Green smiled, and in one smooth motion, she pulled off the Cipher helmet and tossed it aside. Her brown hair fell free as a grin spread across her face, "Sup."
Exol's eyes widened.
"YOU-"
"CATCH HER!"
"IT'S THE INTRUDER!"
Several Cipher grunts immediately tried to reach for their Poké Balls, but thanks to Nidoqueen keeping them trapped, it was useless.
Green ignored all of them. Instead, she casually sprinted straight toward the microphone connected to the base-wide speaker system.
"Hey!" Exol shouted from underneath Granbull, "Get away from-"
Too late. Green reached the microphone, flicked another Poké Ball into the air, and caught it with a smile, "Your turn."
The Poké Ball burst open, and Wigglytuff happily jumped out, landing in the chair Exol had been sitting in.
Green immediately shoved both index fingers into her ears, "Give us a concert, [Sing]."
Wigglytuff immediately looked excited as she grabbed the microphone and began singing, "Wiggggglyyyyyyyyy..."
The microphone amplified the song throughout the entire facility. Every hallway, every storage room, every corner of the base was filled with Wigglytuff's voice. Not a single grunt was safe.
The Cipher grunts inside the room blinked.
"Huh?"
"What's..."
Slowly, their eyelids began getting heavier. One grunt in the back yawned, another swayed where he stood, and someone dropped their Poké Ball before collapsing face first onto the floor.
One after another, the Cipher grunts began falling over and falling asleep.
Exol fought against it with everything he had, "N-No...stay...awake..." His words became slurred.
Granbull and Nidoqueen were affected too, but the moment they started getting sleepy, they bit down on the Lum Berries they had been carrying in their mouths. The effect disappeared almost instantly, and they got right back up.
Granbull looked down at Exol before casually smacking him across the forehead, knocking him out cold.
Green peeked over her shoulder while keeping her fingers firmly in her ears, "Wow, you go girl!"
She would have given Wigglytuff a thumbs up, but she couldn't risk taking her fingers away or she would fall asleep too.
Wigglytuff continued singing until Green pushed the microphone away with her leg. Once Wigglytuff stopped, Green finally removed her fingers from her ears and pointed toward the sleeping Cipher grunts, "I think they didn't like your performance~"
Wigglytuff looked back and saw all the Cipher grunts sleeping. She immediately puffed up angrily, and Green slowly pulled out a marker. Wigglytuff took it without even looking and marched over toward the sleeping grunts to start drawing on their faces.
Green laughed, slapping her knee, "Man, it's almost too easy."
She grinned before sitting in the chair and starting to type commands into the system, stealing everything valuable from the base. Meanwhile, she whistled toward Granbull and Nidoqueen, telling them to search the base, collect all the Cipher agents, and not forget the loot.
Granbull and Nidoqueen looked at each other helplessly and sighed before walking out of the room. They really couldn't help that their trainer was like this.
Meanwhile, Green wondered if the boys were having things as easy as she was.
–
{Meanwhile}
Gary stepped off his train, arriving at the 4th and final stop. He adjusted his Cipher disguise and walked toward the base. Just one more, and then they could regroup and plan the final attack against the main base.
However, when he entered, something immediately felt wrong. It was quiet, too quiet. He didn't see any Cipher Grunts anywhere, which was strange.
Gary continued walking through the base, checking rooms and looking around. Eventually, he found a door that had been blocked off, but that was nothing a little force couldn't solve. He hit the door three times before it broke open.
And behind it, he found all of the Cipher agents already tied up. Before Gary could even process what he was seeing, he suddenly heard music.
"Dun dun da-dun...dun dun da-dun..."
Gary slowly turned toward the sound.
The music grew louder, and then around the corner appeared a massive afro. Followed by a sparkling white suit.
Then the man himself moonwalked perfectly into view without missing a single beat, "Fuhohohoho!"
Miror B. spread both arms dramatically while continuing to glide across the floor. Behind him, Trudly and Folly each carried enormous boomboxes on their shoulders while several Miror B. Peons danced behind them in perfect synchronization.
Gary just stared, "...What the f-"
Miror B. spun gracefully before pointing dramatically at him, "Ah! My, my! If it isn't another darling child!" He placed one hand over his chest, "And here I thought I was about to enjoy a lovely cleanup all by my fabulous self!"
Gary looked around the room again, "...You did this?"
Miror B. gasped dramatically, "Oh, don't sound so surprised! My gorgeous Team Miror may appreciate style, rhythm, and impeccable fashion..." He struck another pose, "...but we also know how to tie exceptionally good knots."
Behind him, one of the tied-up Cipher grunts groaned, "I hate this guy..."
Miror B. immediately spun toward him, "Oh? Did someone say something?"
He snapped his fingers, one of his Peons walked over and tightened the ropes. The grunt whimpered.
"There." Miror B. smiled warmly, "Now you can suffer in silence."
Gary slowly rubbed his forehead, "Who are you?"
Miror B. gasped so loudly that even Trudly looked surprised, "Who-" He pointed at himself, "-am-" Another dramatic spin, "-I?!"
The music suddenly stopped.
Miror B. slowly lowered his sunglasses, "My darling child..." he whispered dramatically, "...that wound cuts deeper than any Pokémon attack."
Trudly wiped away an imaginary tear, "So tragic..."
Folly nodded, "The youth these days..."
Miror B. suddenly pointed toward the sky, "I am the one!"
Another pose, "The only!"
And another, "The spectacular!"
He threw glitter into the air from seemingly nowhere, "Miror B!"
The music immediately resumed, and several Peons applauded enthusiastically.
Gary blinked, "Still doesn't answer who you are."
Miror B.'s smile twitched, "...Fuhohoho..."
He took a deep breath, "I am the founder of the magnificent Team Miror! A connoisseur of dancing! A collector of beautiful Pokémon! A visionary whose rhythm shall one day unite the world!"
Gary looked around, "...Right."
Miror B. nodded proudly, "Exactly!"
Gary folded his arms, "And why exactly are you attacking Cipher?"
Miror B. looked genuinely offended, "Attacking?" He gasped, "Perish the thought! I simply happened to arrive and discovered these horribly dressed villains occupying a perfectly lovely base."
He gestured toward the unconscious Cipher agents, "So naturally..." He smiled brightly, "I evicted them."
Gary looked at the dozens of tied-up grunts, "By force."
"Oh, absolutely."
Gary was silent for several seconds before he shrugged, "Fair enough."
Miror B. walked closer before leaning in conspiratorially, "You see, darling..." He lowered his voice, "Cipher had the audacity..." He dramatically pointed a finger upward, "...to collapse before I could steal all of their Shadow Pokémon."
Gary stared, "That's your complaint?"
"Of course!" Miror B. threw both hands into the air, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is starting your own evil organization these days? Competition is dreadful!"
Behind him, Trudly nodded sympathetically, "The economy's rough."
"It really is," Folly agreed.
Miror B. sighed dramatically, "I finally left Cipher to pursue my dreams..." He placed a hand over his heart, "...and then those unimaginative fools started losing every single battle!"
Gary blinked, "You're upset because they're incompetent?"
"Oh, immensely."
Gary let out a long, exhausted sigh, "...You know what?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I really don't care."
Miror B. blinked behind his sunglasses, "Fuhohoho? Darling?"
"I've been fighting Cipher for the last five hours." Gary gestured vaguely around the room, "I've infiltrated four bases, arrested who knows how many grunts, and I've still got a bigger operation waiting for me." He pointed toward Miror B, "So whatever weird dancing thing you've got going on? Fine."
Miror B.'s smile widened.
"You want this base?" Gary continued, "Keep it."
Miror B. gasped dramatically.
"You want to throw a dance party? You want to redecorate it with disco balls? Go for it."
Miror B. clasped both hands together, "Now you're speaking my language, darling!"
"I don't care." Gary folded his arms, "But I can't let you keep the Shadow Pokémon."
Miror B.'s smile faded only slightly.
"My friends and I are taking Cipher down by tomorrow."
"T-t-t-tomorrow?" Miror B. repeated.
"We're on a time limit." Gary looked him directly in the eyes, "So here's the deal."
"You can stay here, you can keep this base, dance until your feet fall off, you can even repaint the walls hot pink if you want. I don't care."
Miror B.'s eyes sparkled at that last part.
"But every Shadow Pokémon goes with me, and I'm not negotiating that. They are going to be sent for purification, then released into the wild safely. So are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"
Miror B. slowly adjusted his sunglasses, "Hmmmmm..." He began pacing in a slow circle, "Fuhohohoho..."
He stopped and looked at Gary, "My darling child..." He placed a hand over his heart, "You truly wound me."
Gary blinked.
"You think..." Miror B. sniffed dramatically, "...that I would deny adorable Pokémon their chance to dance?"
Gary raised an eyebrow. This was not what he expected.
Miror B. suddenly threw both arms into the air, "Perish the thought!" He spun elegantly on one foot, "I may aspire to own every Pokémon in the world one glorious day..." Another spin, "...but only healthy Pokémon!"
He pointed dramatically toward one crate filled with Shadow Poké Balls, "Those poor darlings aren't dancing." His shoulders slumped, "They don't smile, they don't sway, they don't groove."
He shook his head mournfully, "It's frightfully depressing."
Behind him, Trudly nodded solemnly, "They're terrible dancers."
Folly sighed, "They don't even clap."
Miror B. looked genuinely offended, "What sort of Team Miror would we be if we forced Pokémon to dance without rhythm in their hearts?"
Gary stared at him for several long seconds, "...That's...actually better than I expected, I'm going to be honest. I was ready to beat you all up."
"Fuhohoho!" Miror B. laughed proudly, "I am a villain of culture!"
Gary wasn't convinced that statement helped his case.
Miror B. gracefully walked over before extending one perfectly gloved hand, "Take them."
Miror B. smiled, "I have no interest in borrowing another organization's mistakes." He flicked his wrist dramatically, "When those darling creatures are smiling once more..." His grin grew wider, "...then I shall simply steal them fairly."
Gary blinked, "You just admitted that."
"Honesty is the foundation of any healthy relationship."
Trudly nodded, "It builds trust."
Folly gave Gary a thumbs-up.
Gary just sighed, "I appreciate the honesty...I think."
Miror B. suddenly clapped twice, "My boys!"
"Yes, boss!"
"Release every one of our darling guests."
At once, the Team Miror Peons hurried toward the crates and carried them, dropping them in front of Gary. Gary looked at the balls, then took some Snag Balls and transferred them over, then teleported them to the lab for purification.
Miror B. watched with an almost disappointed smile, "So many beautiful Pokémon..." He sighed dramatically, "...and not one of them is joining my posse today."
Gary finished sending the last Shadow Pokémon to Professor Krane, "Thanks."
Miror B. waved dismissively, "Think nothing of it, darling."
He suddenly leaned forward, "But..."
Gary already knew he wasn't going to like whatever came next.
"When all those lovely Pokémon are purified..." Miror B.'s grin stretched from ear to ear, "...would you be so kind as to tell them Team Miror is accepting applications?"
Gary stared at him, "...No? I'm absolutely not doing that."
Miror B. sighed dramatically, "You drive a hard bargain. Fine, we will simply find them on our own!"
Gary turned toward the exit, "I've got stuff to finish."
Miror B. snapped his fingers, "Then go! Dance your way to victory!"
Gary didn't even look back, "I don't dance."
Miror B. looked genuinely horrified, "You..." He pointed after Gary in complete disbelief, "...don't dance?"
Gary raised one hand without turning around, "No."
Miror B. stood frozen. Trudly slowly looked toward Folly. Folly looked back. The two of them quietly walked over and gently placed a comforting hand on Miror B.'s shoulder.
Miror B. lowered his head, "The poor child..." A single dramatic tear rolled down his cheek, "...Someone has truly failed his education."
Then his eyes shot open, "No, this will not stand!" He clapped.
Then his Miror Grunts quickly blocked the hallway as they held up the boombox and started playing the music again.
Miror B. stood across from Gary, tapping his foot, "I will show you how to dance! Come, let us dance the dance of life!"
Miror B. threw out two Poké Balls, letting out his two Ludicolo, who immediately began dancing to the beat.
Gary's eye twitched as he sighed into his hand, then went to his Poké Ball belt, "Guess we're doing this..."
—
Back to Ash, he finished taking down the former Team Snagem members, including tying up Gonzap and taking away his Poké Balls. He tied them up nicely, then walked over them, going toward the last room in this facility.
When he opened the door, he saw the person he was expecting. It was Lovrina again. She was looking out of the window, and she didn't even look back. She already knew.
"So it's you…dummy," Lovrina muttered.
Ash walked in and closed the door behind him, "Lovrina, you know why I'm here, don't you?"
Lovrina let out a small sigh, "Yeah…"
"So you also know you can't beat me," Ash continued.
"I know," Lovrina said slowly again as she sighed, "But you also know I can't just let you do this…"
"And why not?"
"The Grand Master has my brother Naps," Lovrina said with a sigh, "So I have to try," she said, turning back to look at him, allowing him to see her conflicted expression.
"Hm, I see. Well, for what it's worth, I'll probably save him on the way," Ash explained.
Lovrina let out a small chuckle at that, "You probably will…" she muttered, "You know…I didn't tell you thank you for carrying me out of the desert. Not even the other members of Cipher would have done that for me. They would have left me for dead."
Lovrina let out a humorless chuckle, "Especially Wes. He would have told me I was weak and that Cipher was better off without me. I spent most of my time in Cipher crushing on him, and he won't even look at me. Must be sad, huh?"
Ash didn't say anything as Lovrina slowly grabbed a Poké Ball and looked at it, "You know…you're way too nice. You shouldn't be as nice as you are. People can take advantage of you…like me."
"When you carried me out of the desert, all that was in my head was how I was going to betray you and leave you to die. I don't even know when I stopped thinking like that, and yet you never dropped me even once," she muttered.
Before the battle started, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a keycard. Then she 'accidentally' dropped it and kicked it to Ash's feet, "Oops, I managed to get a Master Key. When you get to the main base, that will unlock any door,"
Then she held up her Poké Ball, "And if anyone asks, tell them I gave you hell, even if it's not true."
Ash sighed helplessly and gave her a helpless smile, whistling over Metagross to float next to him, "Alright, let's do this quickly."
Lovrina gave a humorless smile, "I wish we met earlier, under different circumstances. Then maybe we could have been friends…"
—
Once everything was over, Ash, Gary, and Green regrouped back at the lighthouse. They all had teleporting Pokémon, so it wasn't a problem.
Green pushed the lighthouse lab doors open first, still carrying a crate filled with confiscated Poké Balls over one shoulder, and on the other was a bag full of other loot, "We're baaaack!"
The entire lab looked up. Professor Krane nearly dropped the clipboard in his hands, "You're back already?!"
Michael blinked, "Already?"
Ash walked in behind her carrying two more crates, while Gary slowly dragged himself through the doorway looking like life itself had personally offended him.
Professor Lily looked between the three of them, "You all look very different."
Green grinned, "I had fun."
Gary pointed at her without looking up, "She absolutely did."
Ash set the crates down beside the purification machines before stretching his shoulders, "How'd everything go here?"
Yellow immediately hurried over, "Good!" She smiled brightly, "Professor Krane and Professor Lily have been purifying Shadow Pokémon nonstop."
Rui nodded, "We've almost finished everyone you sent."
Professor Krane sucked in air quickly and gave Rui a small shake of his head. He rubbed the back of his neck, "You may have overestimated how many purification chambers we actually have."
Ash looked over at the seemingly endless rows of Poké Balls stacked around the laboratory, "Yeah."
"There are currently…" Professor Lily checked a clipboard, "...three hundred and twelve Pokémon waiting to be purified."
"Yikes," Ash muttered.
Professor Krane laughed tiredly, "That was my reaction too."
Michael pointed toward another corner of the lab where Jovi was happily putting stickers on newly purified Poké Balls, "And she's been helping."
Jovi proudly held up a sheet of stickers, "The happy stickers make them heal faster!"
Professor Lily smiled awkwardly, but she didn't say anything about her daughter.
Ash smiled, "Good enough."
Yellow walked over to Gary, tilting her head, "Are you okay?"
"No," Gary said, "I just fought some dance-obsessed weirdo that made me dance with him…"
Ash looked over, "Sure it wasn't just Tierno?"
"No, but Tierno would probably see that guy as his idol…" Gary muttered.
Michael laughed, "Only in Orre."
Gary finally collapsed into one of the chairs, "I'm never speaking to another man with an afro again."
Jovi tilted her head, "What's an afro?"
"Errr…it's a choice of hairstyle of all time," Michael said, patting his sister, "Don't worry about it."
"Right, so anyway, the sample you sent me of the Shadow Serum," Professor Krane quickly changed the subject, "I've been researching it, and I believe that I may be able to create an anti-Shadow Serum. From what I've seen, Shadow Pokémon have been appearing in the wild."
Lily nodded and continued, "We believe Cipher was dumping the leftover Serum into the lakes, and when Pokémon drank from them, they became Shadow Pokémon. There is no telling how many there are. Usually, this would not be a problem, but because of the government trying to reintroduce Pokémon into the environment, that's what caused these problems."
"So our best bet is to make that and then dump it in the water and hope for the best?" Green clarified.
"Yeah, pretty much," Michael nodded.
"Good enough for me. That's not why we're here." Ash got everyone's attention, "I got a Master Key, so we have a way in, but once we start, there is no turning back. We end this tonight, after we catch our breaths."
Rui nodded, but then she gulped and walked up to them, "Please, I want to go too. I have to. I…I need to find out what happened with Wes, why he joined Cipher. Please, I'll try my best to not be a burden. Just let me go with you."
Yellow saw it, and she also stepped up, "Me too. I want to help. I can still help heal your Pokémon when we're in there if you need it, but I can't sit here and do nothing. I don't want to be the same helpless person I used to be. I can help. I'm strong too!"
Ash, Green, and Gary looked at each other and sighed,
"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Ash asked, and both girls shook their heads in unison.
Gary scratched the back of his head and looked over at Ash and Green, "Up to you guys."
Green sighed, "Fine. I know that stubborn look better than anyone."
"Alright, fine," Ash sighed, "But we need to get ready for it. We strike at midnight, so we have a few hours to prepare."
Just as Green was going to pump her fist, suddenly her stomach growled slightly. She looked down and scratched the back of her head.
"Guess we should eat something, huh?"
Yellow perked up, then quickly ran off. A moment later, she came back and handed each of them a small lunch box, while Chuchu waddled up, giving Pikachu and Vee one too.
"I made food while you were gone," Yellow said with a smile, "It's not as good as Ash's, but I tried my best!"
Green's eyes lit up, "Yellow, you're the best."
Yellow giggled, "I figured you'd forget to eat."
"We did," Gary admitted.
Ash accepted his lunch with a smile, "Thanks, Yellow."
Yellow looked proud as she put her hands on her hips, a slight blush appearing on her face from the praise.