Two months had passed since the incident in Mala's Spine.
The Adele Region had gone quiet after that night. Team Rocket had pulled out. Giovanni and his grunts who had stood on that battlefield were gone without a trace. No arrests. No public statements. They had simply ceased to exist in the region, as if they had never come at all.
The Pokemon League and Caesar had started appearing in public more frequently in those two months, maintaining damage control over the incident.
And the sight of the Champion standing for the region did more than words could.
Team Xycle continued its operations in a more slower rhythm, recalibrating after the losses they had taken.
However, wherever they went, one trainer kept following them.
It was Trainer Shan Mercall.
He fought every operative he found and he won every time. He was a growing headache for the organization, and Martin is not happy about it.
***
The farmland sat at the edge of a quiet valley. A well-cared house with a wide land for farming.
Elias sat on the porch, his right hand wrapped around a cup of tea, his gaze far away from behind his glasses. The stump of his left arm rested against his side, still bandaged, still aching in a way that no doctors could fully address.
Krookodile lay in the grass a few meters away, eyes half-open, watching him. Its pokeball was gone. Destroyed in the chaos at Mala's Spine, but it didn't seem to mind. It slept where it pleased and came when Elias moved. The bond between them needed no mechanism.
The door behind him opened.
Anne stepped out with a bowl of rice and set it beside his tea without a word. She sat on the step below him, pulling her knees to her chest.
"How are you?" She asked.
"Okay."
"You say that everyday."
Elias looked at her, then stood up, and sat beside her.
"Listen, Anne I... I'm sorry." He said, lowering his head. "I could not give you what you wanted."
Anne went silent.
The word sat between them and neither moved to fill it.
She looked down at her hands. Elias watched the ground. Krookodile shifted its weight and went still again.
Then, a low rumble rolled from the far end of the dirt road.
Krookodile was on its feet before either of them could react. It moved in front of Elias, low and wide, its jaws parted.
Down the road, a black truck with a green X on its door came to a slow stop at the edge of the farmland.
The back door of the truck opened.
Sarah stepped out, a white coat hugged her frame, her posture the same as it always was. She scanned the land once, her eyes landing on them.
She crossed the distance between them.
"You look better than the last time I saw you." She said, looking at his arm first, then she met his eyes.
"Commander Sarah." Elias straightened up.
Sarah stopped a few steps away, ignoring his greeting. Her gaze moved briefly to Anne.
"I won't stay long. Martin wanted me to give Elias this in person."
She reached into her coat and held out a slim sealed envelope.
Elias did not take it right away. He looked at it, then at her face.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Why don't you read it?"
Elias took the envelope.
He turned it over once, then broke the seal with his thumb. Inside was a single folded sheet. He opened it.
Elias.
Two months is long enough.
I am writing to offer you something, because I believe you have earned it.
I want you to lead a squad.
When you return to headquarters, you will be given access to the full roster below the Commander rank. Everyone is available. Take who you need. Build what you think is right.
I will fill you in for your mission when you make it back here.
Martin.
Elias folded the letter and held it at his side.
He did not speak for a moment. He looked out past the fence, past the edge of the farmland, where the valley ran wide and quiet.
Anne had been watching him read, but she said nothing.
Sarah stood with her hands clasped behind her back, waiting.
"A squad." Elias said finally. He looked down at the letter once more, then at the stump of his left arm. "I don't think I have what it takes anymore, commander."
Anne shifted from where she was standing, glancing between them.
"Wait. What does the Boss actually want? Leading a squad is a big ask. Especially for someone who just lost his arm." She said.
Sarah turned her gaze towards her.
"I don't know the details. But If you want answers, come back with me. The Boss will fill you in himself."
Silence settled over the porch. Krookodile stood at the edge of the grass, its eyes moving between all three of them.
Elias looked down at the letter one more time.
He folded it and slipped it into his shirt pocket.
"Anne..." He murmured. "Please, help me get ready."
Anne stared at him for a moment before turning inside.
Elias followed after her without saying a word.
Krookodile settled back into the grass without being told. Its eyes closed.
It took twenty minutes.
Anne came out first. She wore the leather jacket over a pink dress, and carried a small travel bag.
Elias came out after her. He wore a plain dark shirt, his glasses on, his posture the same as it always was. His coat was draped over his shoulder, and carried the mask in his right arm. Two pokeballs hang on his belt. Alpha Scraggy's, and Staravia's.
Anne looked at him.
"Is that all?"
Elias nodded without a word.
Sarah had already moved back towards the truck.
The back door was now facing them, and she was standing beside it.
Elias stepped down from the porch. He crossed the grass and stopped in front of Krookodile. The pokemon opened one eye.
He crouched.
Krookodile raised its head and let Elias rest his right hand briefly against the side of its jaw. A low sound came from its throat.
Then Elias stood, walked to the truck, and got in.
Krookodile followed after him.
Anne picked up her bag, glanced once at the house, and followed.
Inside the truck, Elias and Anne sat beside each other. Krookodile was between them on the floor, its back pressed against the bench, tail curled around its feet. Sarah sat across from them, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes moving between them.
The engine started. The truck rolled forward, the farmland retreating behind the small rear window.
For a while, no one spoke.
Then Sarah tilted her head.
"Earlier, when I stepped out of the truck, I felt intense atmosphere looming before you two." She said. "Are you two fighting?"
Anne's eyes went wide. Then her brows pulled together and she pouted, crossing her arms.
"We can't hide anything from you, huh?" She said, turning her head to the side.
Sarah looked at her.
Anne sighed, then lifted her gaze back to Sarah.
"We are fighting..." She said. "Well, it's not exactly a fight. Elias, tell her will ya?"
Elias nodded and turned his attention to Sarah.
"I suck at baking." He simply said. "I ruined the cake I've been making for her birthday."
Sarah looked at him.
The silence stretched for a moment.
Then she let out a slow breath through her nose.
"I see..." She simply replied.
The truck kept moving after the conversation concluded. It took three whole hours before they finally made it to Metrolink City.
The city came into view slowly. The truck moved through the main gate and into the outer districts, and stopped in front of a building.
It was the abandoned warehouse, but it looks different now.
The building no longer looked like the shell it used to be. The outer walls had been replastered and repainted a clean grey. New signage above the entrance read "Helios Industrial Supply." Two security cameras were mounted above the main door, their lenses tracking the lot.
To anyone walking past, it was just another warehouse.
The truck pulled into the underground lot through a side ramp. The gate sealed behind them with a low hydraulic sound.
Sarah stepped out first. Elias and Anne followed. Krookodile moved close to Elias's side.
The freight elevator was still the same. Wider now, with a new steel panel beside the door. Sarah pressed her palm flat against it. A soft tone, and the doors slid apart.
They rode down in silence.
When the doors opened, Elias saw it.
The headquarters had doubled. The old layout was still there beneath it, but everything above it had grown. The corridors were wider. The workstations were new, each one with a clean monitor and a dedicated terminal. Overhead lighting ran in long white strips down the ceiling. The maps on the walls were updated, each places marked in precise detail.
Operatives moved through the space in pairs, heads down, focused. None of them stopped to stare. But a few glanced up when they passed.
Anne walked close beside Elias, taking in the same things he was.
"It changed." She said, low enough for just him.
Elias said nothing.
Sarah led them through two checkpoint doors and into the inner corridor. At the end of it was the central command, its blast doors already open.
Martin stood at the far end of the room, his back to them, facing the main display.
Another man was seated in the other side of the room. It was John Wellingham.
He was seated on a sofa, arms over the armrest, feet on the table, and his posture seemed relaxed despite the heavy atmosphere in the room.
He turned his head towards them when they entered the room.
"Yo." He greeted, raising two fingers by his temple.
Elias looked at him.
John hadn't changed much. Same posture. Same loose energy. Only the hair was different, falling now across half his face like he'd stopped caring about it somewhere between Mala's Spine and here.
Martin turned from the display.
His eyes moved to Elias first, then to Anne, then back.
"Elias." He said.
"Boss." Elias responded.
Martin nodded slowly. He glanced at Anne, then at John, before returning his attention to Elias.
"Should we start?" He asked. "Or you have something to ask me."
The words landed in the space between them.
Elias's expression didn't change, but something shifted behind his glasses. A subtle tension.
He stood perfectly still for a long moment. Then he spoke:
"I do."
Martin moved to the side of the room, closer to the window that looked out over the main operations floor. His reflection ghosted over the glass.
"Go ahead."
Elias took a breath.
"The building where you found me. Where you pulled me out. There was someone else in that room." Elias paused, looking for any signs of recognition in Martin's reflection from the glass.
There was nothing.
"My mother was there too. Why didn't you save her?"
Martin didn't flinch. He didn't look away. But for a fraction of a second, something passed behind his eyes.
"So you're starting to remember." He said, turning his attention to Elias. "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this from you."
He met Elias's gaze.
"Your mother was already gone when I found you. And based on my observation, her lower body was under the rubble. It would take much longer to get her out, and the building was collapsing. So, I made a choice."
The words sat between them, heavy and immovable.
"And that choice is me." Elias stood motionless.
His fist was clenched tight, blood seeping from his palm.
"Yes. That choice was you." Martin said quietly.