Ash and Brock got to the cave, walking in while pulling along their two Pupitar, stubborn, heavy Pupitar.
"This would be a lot easier," Brock grunted, "if Pupitar had legs."
"Or if they didn't weigh, like, three Rhydon," Ash muttered, giving his a tug. His Pupitar made a deep gronk sound in response, possibly in amusement. Pikachu walked alongside them, ears flicking with curiosity as Vee found a nice rock to lay down on.
"Hey, you're the one who said we needed to do a proper evolution training session," Brock said, wiping his forehead.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you were the one who said, 'Let's do it the classic way, no shortcuts.'"
"Because it's tradition!" Brock insisted. "...And I really only know this way. My dad only taught me this method, and, well, he has a Tyranitar, so that's the only thing I can base it off."
"Wait, your dad has a Tyranitar? Since when?" Ash asked as they pulled the two Pupitar in.
"Eh, apparently it was his starter. At least that's what he tells me," Brock shrugged.
"Really? I mean, he started with a Larvitar and you started with an Onix? And you got lucky, didn't you take the Pokémon you caught and give them to your siblings as starters?"
Brock raised a finger. "That's... a really good point…" he said, lowering his finger. "I mean, I love Onix, or well, I guess Steelix now, but yeah, Onix are found in Mt. Moon. He wouldn't have even needed to look hard."
"Yikes. Well, as much as I'd love to keep talking about how lousy a father your old man is, can we get back to our original plan?"
You know, any other son would probably try to defend their dad from what Ash just said... Brock wasn't one of them.
"Yeah, alright. I have the notes here, we can start," he said.
Ash peeked over Brock's shoulder, looking at the notebook that listed what they were going to do. "Wow, that is convoluted. Are you sure this is the only way?"
"Well, in my defense—do you know any famous trainer with a Tyranitar?" Brock asked.
Ash raised a finger, then lowered it as he started thinking. "Actually… no. Off the top of my head, I don't know anyone." Yeah, Ash couldn't remember one. Gary didn't have one yet, and he wasn't even sure if Alain had started training. There was that one random guy he fought in the Indigo League... but he forgot his name.
"Lance might have one, but I doubt he puts too much effort into it," Ash added. That was the only person who might have one.
"Yeah, training a Tyranitar is completely different," Brock said, nodding. After all, he was the expert here. "Dragon-type training is more… let's say, focused on speed and strength. Tyranitar, and Rock-types in general, don't rely on speed."
"I'm surprised you know that, actually," Ash said. "The only Dragon and Rock-type I can think of is Tyrantrum. And that's an extinct Pokémon."
Brock flicked his hair back. "Of course. As a breeder-in-training, I have to know all I can about all types. Just because Rock-types are my specialty doesn't mean anything, I do lots of research."
Ash, Pikachu, Vee, and the Pupitar brothers all looked at each other with the driest expressions imaginable.
"…You follow Clair on Pidgey, don't you?" Ash said.
"Hey… it's not just because she looks beautiful!" Brock said defensively.
"I never said it was for another reason…" Ash replied, shooting him the flattest look imaginable.
Pikachu covered his mouth like he was holding in a snicker. Vee snorted. One of the Pupitar made a low rumbling hrrrrrk, which may or may not have been laughter.
Brock sighed, looking like he deflated a little. "Yeah, I guess you've got me there. Fine. Let's just start. How about we—"
Brock was cut off when they heard the sound of something hitting a rock, followed by someone's voice:
"Come on, work harder! Don't you want to evolve?"
Brock and Ash peeked around a corner of the cave wall, and there, at the center of the cavern, was a familiar boy with red hair. Silver. Next to him was his Shiny Pupitar, deep in training.
Ash smiled and stepped forward. "Yo! Silver! So you're the one making all that noise. Good to see you, man."
Silver flinched mid-command, turning sharply. His eyes widened when he saw Ash, and then he awkwardly raised a hand in greeting, as if unsure what to do with it.
"Uh… hey, Ash. Nice weather we're having?"
Ash blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Dude… we're in a cave."
"Oh. Right." Silver cleared his throat. "Nice… rocks around?"
Ash tried, and failed, to hold back a laugh. "Man, you know you don't have to try that hard with me."
"Right… yeah, sorry," Silver muttered, scratching the side of his face. "I just, I thought I was getting better at this. Talking. Not sounding like… well, you know."
"Yeah, I know," Ash said, walking up and giving him a light tap on the shoulder. "But hey, you're making progress. I've seen you smile twice. That's like a personal record."
Silver raised a finger, then stopped. "That's… fair."
Ash chuckled, then looked over at his Pupitar. "Hey, looks like that Larvitar evolved. Nice."
"Oh yeah. I've been training him to get ready for the next step, but I'm having some trouble," Silver said, crossing his arms.
"Right. Well, if you want, don't know if you noticed, but me and Brocko over there both have Pupitar. We're planning to do the same thing. Wanna join?" Ash offered.
"Really? I mean… won't I just be a bother?" Silver asked.
"Don't worry about it," Brock said, walking up. "Besides, the more of us there are, the better we can train together."
"I… well, I suppose if it's okay, I have no reason to say no," Silver said.
"Dude, just say it as it is, you wanna hang out~" Ash said teasingly.
"Hmph." Silver looked away, but he didn't deny it.
"Alright! Here's the plan," Brock said, clapping his hands as he pulled out his notes. "Since there's three of us, we should be able to get out of here before dinner."
—
{With Ashtwo}
Ash was finally in the meeting room. He sat near the front, staring at the board in front of him. He was an Executive here now, it made sense to be close to the action.
As he looked around, he spotted a few familiar faces. One of them was Namba, seated up front, annoyingly close. Ash sighed. A part of him wished he didn't have to deal with that waste of oxygen, but there was no point in complaining.
Then his eyes locked onto someone else. Someone who made him bite his tongue.
Colress.
Him again.
He was here. Of course he was here. Colress was a far bigger threat than most of what the Masked Man was doing, but Ash couldn't make a move right now. Not yet.
Up at the front stood the Masked Man himself. On either side of him were Carl and Sham. And off to one corner, face still covered, was Archer.
The Masked Man didn't waste time. After all, most of the people in this room were completely mind-controlled to obey, there was no point in delaying.
"All of you, listen up," the Masked Man said, voice cold. "My plans are going smoothly. Everything is falling into place. And if all goes well, I'll have everything back."
He reached down to a box next to him and pulled out a shining object, the Silver Wing.
"Dr. Namba gathered this after returning from his mission. Although some of our operatives were taken in, it doesn't matter. They were expendable anyway."
From the side, Dr. Namba raised his voice. "It's Namba, oh wait, you got it right... uh, well anyway, yes, but what are you going to use that for?"
"Wait a moment. I'm not done," the Masked Man said simply, shooting a side-eye at Namba that made him sit down without another word.
Then the Masked Man reached into the box and pulled out something else, a Rainbow Wing.
"It's about time I reveal the true purpose of the attack on Olivine City," he began. "During the attack, while Johto's attention was focused on repairing the city, we infiltrated Ecruteak and stole the Rainbow Wing."
"We replaced it with a fake, and they were too foolish to notice the difference," the Masked Man said with clear disdain. "We might not have the legendary Ho-Oh and Lugia… but we can create the next best thing: clones of them."
Colress took over from there, adjusting his glasses. "Yes. Thanks to recent advances, and drawing from data on the Zapmolcuno project and the original Mewtwo project, we can now create the clones you require."
"Yes. The ones from four years ago were a mistake," the Masked Man added coldly. "This time, we'll make them better. How long will it take?"
"Oh, if you're asking for a perfected clone, on par with Mewtwo? Two years. And that's assuming no complications," Colress replied, casual as ever.
The Masked Man's voice dropped lower, darker. "That takes too long. I need them within three months. The League and Gym Leader tournament will begin by then, and that will be the best time to strike."
Colress sighed, brushing a hand through his hair. "Three months won't be enough. But if you insist, I believe I could replicate 20% of their power each."
"That will be enough," the Masked Man said with a nod. After all, even 20% of Ho-Oh or Lugia's power would be more than enough to defeat most Gym Leaders in one-on-one battles. And frankly, he didn't need them to win, just to cause chaos.
Colress closed his eyes. "Very well. It shall be done." He turned and walked out of the room without another word.
Meanwhile, the Masked Man faced the rest of the room. "All of you, be ready. In three months, you better be prepared to strike."
No one spoke. They simply saluted in perfect obedience.
And D… he did too, keeping his movements as robotic and empty as possible, while his eyes scanned the room.
Without a word, the grunts wearing masks began to file out. But D was called to the front, and he obeyed, walking forward with a bored look in his eyes.
"Agent D," Sham greeted him, as the Masked Man turned and started to walk away. "You are too weak at the moment, so you'll be given time. But the Boss would like you out of the base for the next month. Make up a personal mission or something. I don't care."
D nodded. "It shall be done. Farewell," he said, turning to leave.
But he knew, if they wanted him out of the base, it was because of Giovanni. He had caught Giovanni's attention, and the Masked Man couldn't risk losing control of the one weapon he had invested so many resources into.
Still… that didn't mean he was going to just sit around and take it.
He already had a plan. And the pieces were in place.
He walked out of the room without a sound.
A quick look around showed that his group had already left. Good. That made things easier. He just needed to collect a few things, then he'd leave.
Maybe… it was finally time to actually start trying.
—-
Meanwhile, back inside the room, the Masked Man returned to his desk.
There was a reason this meeting had felt so abrupt, so forced. After all, all that just to say one thing? It could've been a message. A video. Even just a file drop.
And you'd be right, it could have been.
But he didn't want it to be.
And why… well, that reason would be revealed later.
He held the Rainbow Wing and the Silver Wing in his hands. The Rainbow Wing still shimmered faintly, refracting light like living color.
Because despite everything… The Masked Man genuinely believed what he was doing was for the greater good.
Yes, it might seem hard to believe, but he genuinely didn't see his goals as selfish desires. So in a sense, he was pure-hearted.
Don't misunderstand, he wasn't being chosen as a Rainbow Hero. This just meant the feather wasn't being corrupted.
He pushed those thoughts aside for now as he sat at his desk and opened his messages. It was time for his secret meeting. Secret in the sense that the Big Boss didn't know about it. He pressed the call button.
The screen flickered, and then appeared an old bald man with glasses. Next to him were two men: one with red hair, the other with blue.
Greevil, and his sons, Ardos and Eldes.
The Masked Man looked at the screen. "Greevil…"
Greevil sat there a moment, staring down at him. "Hello there. I see you still don't trust us enough to meet face-to-face."
"I don't let anyone see my face. That is my decision," the Masked Man replied coldly. "Now. I believe we needed to discuss our plan."
Greevil shook his head slowly. "No, actually. It seems the deal has changed."
The Masked Man's expression was unreadable. But under the mask, he narrowed his eyes.
"And what are you talking about? We had a deal."
"No, I don't believe so," Greevil said, voice still calm. "It seems one of my Admins was captured in your territory. I want him back."
"You mean that overgrown ape, Gorigan?" the Masked Man replied. Of course he knew. He kept tabs on Johto at all times. And what Gorigan did… had made headlines. "He got himself into this mess. He can get himself out."
"That's not how this works," Greevil said, and then opened his eyes.
Bright yellow, hypnotic, spiral-like irises stared into the screen, unblinking.
"It is part of your obligations."
"With all due respect, I don't care about Cipher or your so-called legacy. That deal was made under Madam Boss. She was overthrown. I don't have to honor anything she agreed to."
Greevil didn't flinch. In fact, he smiled, a slow, knowing smile that made even the unflinching Masked Man sit a little straighter.
"Is that so?" Greevil said softly. "Then you'll be interested to know that your base's coordinates have already been sold to a buyer who doesn't care about your little revolutions… or your mask. You may want to double-check your satellite feeds."
The Masked Man's fingers curled slightly. He leaned forward, voice icy. "You're bluffing."
"Watch your tongue when you talk to the Grand Master," Ardos snapped, his tone sharp with fury.
Eldes spoke next, eerily polite, calm as ever. "No bluff. You had a deal, even if you believe changing power absolves you of old promises. Cipher is no longer just a shadow in the past. And we don't ask twice."
The Masked Man grit his teeth behind the mask as Greevil closed his eyes again.
"Well," Greevil said, "you said you had three months. So, if all goes well, I'll have my Admin back. If not… then I suppose our deal is off."
And with that, the call cut off, without even giving the Masked Man a chance to respond.
He took a breath, an angry one.
The truth was… this wasn't about Gorigan. Not really.
This was Greevil testing him. Seeing if he could still push the Masked Man around. Seeing if he'd follow orders when told, and not screw it up.
In any other situation, he could do it. Getting a Team Rocket member out of jail? Easy enough to explain.
But breaking out a Cipher Admin?
That would raise questions.
Dangerous ones.
Secret deals would come to light.
Investigations would begin.
The worst part was, if it were up to him, he'd cut ties with Cipher entirely. Wipe them out if he had to.
Currently, Cipher's operations in Orre were minimal and quiet, a whisper of what they used to be. After their downfall ten years ago, when Madam Boss was still in control, they had lost everything.
But now… he was the one stuck dealing with it. Like a child forced to pay off a parent's debt.
It was annoying. Convoluted. And worst of all, he couldn't say no.
And Greevil knew that.
Sure, he couldn't leak the deals without endangering Cipher's own fragile position… but he could keep pushing. Testing. Forcing the Masked Man to comply.
After all, even if Team Rocket was strong enough to destroy Cipher's remnants, 1. He couldn't move without Giovanni noticing, and 2. Even if Giovanni approved, the exposure would leave them vulnerable to capture, they would lose more than they gain
It was a game he couldn't win. But it didn't matter. Because if his plan worked… none of this would matter. Not Cipher. Not Giovanni. Not even Greevil
But as he sat back in his chair, there was a little small robot that was made from the parts from the Iron Jugulis robot, listening in from the ventilation.
And connected to it on the other side of the Base, was Ash, listening in, as he smiled, looks like things are going to be easier for him after all, oh how he loves it when a plan comes together