Ash's POV

It was almost creepy how easily I was able to leave Neptune's office and make my way to my assigned room. I wasted no time in retrieving my backpack and immediately started connecting to my secure line with Director Falon. I scrambled to my closet to pull out a Team Galactic jumpsuit and was desperately trying to pull it on when the connection finally went through.

"Agent Ketchum! Are you alright?"

Just at that moment, my feet got twisted in the fabric of the idiotic jumpsuit and I crashed onto my side. Barely holding back a curse, I pushed myself to my feet and stood in front of the communication device as I continued to pull on the jumpsuit.

"For now, yes," I responded curtly, finally getting my arms through the sleeves and zipping up the jumpsuit all the way to my neck.

"We received a message from the International Police saying your cover may have been blown and Detective Aryan was going in to help you," Director Falon said with her usual monotone. 

I stopped midway through rummaging through my backpack of personal belongings to gape at the screen. "He what?!" I yelped. "I thought he was looking after Serena?"

"His choice has been made. I need you to tell me what is going on," Director Falon demanded firmly.

Clenching my hands into fists I told her as succinctly as I could everything Neptune told me about her plan and her contingency plan to make sure no one could replicate her insane "remodeling" of the world. Director Falon let out a world-weary sigh as I explained how I decided to act without consulting her first, but to my shock, she didn't scold me.

"Very well. We have four teams of agents stationed around Mount Coronet awaiting instructions to support you. Neptune will be on high alert though. Is there any way for you to open an entrance for them?" Director Falon asked as I pulled the false bottom from my backpack and began clipping my team onto the pokeball holders built into the jumpsuit.

"I'll do my best. I'm going to confront Neptune after that though," I announced firmly as I clipped my familiar team onto my belt. I left Pikachu's pokeball in my backpack and gently pressed Tigrice's pokeball where his normally went. Pikachu would never go into the pokeball anyway so it wouldn't matter if I had his pokeball easily accessible.

"Agent Ketchum that is not a good plan," Director Falon retorted sternly.

Not even listening at this point, I scooped up the communication device and rushed over to the sink. I dunked my head underneath the tap and ran water over my head for a minute before rubbing the gel out of it. Once I could feel my hair loosening from the spikes the IIA stylist had taught me how to do, I felt as if I was beginning to slough off the months that I'd been forced to pretend to be Satoshi Killian. Pulling my head back, I shook it around, causing Pikachu to yelp and scold me when I ended up sending a spray of water at him.

"Agent Ketchum, you should rendezvous with our teams. Wait for backup. Agent Ketchum, can you hear me?"

Director Falon's tone was moving from unemotional to frustrated as I continued to ignore her. I grabbed a towel and swiftly rubbed it against my hair, causing it to fall into the normal craziness that I always tamed with a ballcap. I had a cap in my backpack, but I chose not to wear one for now. I would need to be somewhat recognizable when I got to the control room for the entrances after all.

"I hear you, Director Falon," I responded absently as I grabbed the communication device and moved toward the door of my room. "And you can put it on record that you advised me against it."

Director Falon blinked mutely for a moment before her lips twisted into a small scowl.

"Agent Ketchum, I ORDER you to wait for backup," she stated with steel in her voice. I looked directly into the screen on the device though and met her eyes with mine.

"There may not be time to wait around, Director Falon. I'm going back after I open the entrances and you can't stop me," I refuted firmly, feeling freer than I had in months.

"Of all the idiotic blockheads..."

"Doors will be open within five minutes. All of them," I interrupted, feeling my lips quirk up in a sheepish grin at having made the robotic Director Falon finally show some emotion. "I'll hold her off until the backup gets through. And remind them about the blow darts in the doors that lead to headquarters!"

With that, I disconnected and stuffed the device into my backpack. I flung it on and Pikachu immediately jumped up to take his usual spot on my shoulder. I then took a deep breath and moved into the hallway. As far as I knew there was no loudspeaker system built into the mountain, so even if Neptune had sent someone after me I doubted that anyone who hadn't been in the room when I let loose Tigrice would know that I was no longer part of her inner circle.

Just as I predicted, no one questioned me as I walked down the halls. I made it to the control room where someone was always on duty monitoring the entrances and on the ready to allow anyone with the password through. The hallway with the monitoring room was practically empty, which was perfect for me. Stopping a foot from the door, I took a second to jog in place and get my blood pumping before I dashed to the door and burst through.

The familiar figure of Drake jumping in his seat and whipping around to look at me with panic in his expression nearly made me break character and laugh. I held it back though and rushed over to him.

"Drake! You gotta open the entranceways. Now!" I demanded through a gasp, pretending as if I had run all the way here.

Drake's eyes widened and his jaw slackened for a moment before he choked out an incredulous, "What?!"

"There was an explosion down in headquarters and the tunnels are going to be filled with noxious smoke soon!" I lied desperately, reaching out and grabbing him by the shoulders. "Neptune sent me down to open the entrances before we all suffocate to death!"

"Smoke? Neptune? Suffocate? What?"

I had to try my utmost to not roll my eyes at him. Drake was a nice guy, but he definitely was not quick on the draw. However, that would hopefully work in my favor right now.

"We need to ventilate the mountain or else we're all going to die," I said, laying it on thick while keeping it as simple as possible for him. "Now open the doors!"

Drake jumped at my sudden yell and immediately swiveled toward the controls. I watched him furiously type in a few commands and then held his hand over a large dial. His hand paused though and he looked over at me with obvious discomfort.

"We're... not supposed to do this Satoshi. Are you sure Neptune told you to open ALL of the doors?" he asked with obvious trepidation.

"Do you want me to bring her with me to tell you herself?" I asked with exasperation. 

Drake's face went pale and his hand covered the dial immediately. Before it moved though he paused again and looked over his shoulder at me.

"Do... you think we could call her or something? I really don't..."

Before he could finish his protest my fist lashed out, hitting him in the side of the eye, and half a second later I kicked out at him. The force of my kick shot him and his rolling chair backward until he smacked against the wall and then crashed forward, the chair on top of him. I winced slightly when he didn't move from where he had crashed onto the ground, but I turned away from him for a moment and grabbed the dial Drake had almost turned. My eyes widened as I turned it and suddenly on the many display screens, I could see all of the secret entrances opening all at once.

I knew that this was not going to go unnoticed for long, so I turned away from the monitors and jogged over to Drake. Taking a second to make sure he was still breathing, I let out a sigh of relief before moving the chair off of him and slipping my arms under his shoulders. As quietly as I could, I dragged Drake out of the control room and deposited him next to the door; just in case he woke up and tried to reverse what I had done.

I reached towards the door handle and was about to close the door when my eyes slid over to the monitors briefly. My entire body froze and I stared at one of the monitors where two familiar figures were inspecting the open doorway that was located at the bottom of the mountain under the jet hangar entrance. One of the girls looked up nervously, unintentionally looking right into the camera and I recognized her familiar blue eyes.

"Crap," I breathed out.

"Pipi chu!" Pikachu gasped, obviously having noticed the same thing I had and I grunted.

Pulling the door shut, I chose one of the pokeballs on my hip and couldn't help but grin widely when the familiar form of my Infernape materialized in front of me. He let out a cheeky grin as well but glanced down at the unconscious man next to me and immediately his expression sobered.

"Can you weld this door shut?" I asked Infernape, foregoing the happy reunion I wanted to give him but really didn't have time for.

"Infern!" he agreed firmly before turning towards the metal door. I watched with satisfaction as he puckered his lips and let out a super-concentrated stream of a flamethrower that glowed blue from the intensity of its heat towards the door.

All of my main team had gone through special training during our time with the IIA in order to not only help with battles but also help with infiltration and other espionage tactics. Infernape, for example, learned to control his flamethrower so finely that he could actually melt metal and create an opening for me if needed. I stood back and admired his work as the metal became red hot underneath his flamethrower's intense heat and the doorway and the door began to weld together. Infernape even melted the metal door handle for good measure.

Once he was finished I gave him a high five before returning him to his pokeball. Pikachu pointed toward the jet hangar and I knew exactly what he had in mind.

"Let's go make sure the girls don't get themselves in trouble," I said firmly, reaching into my backpack and pulling out my ball cap. I pressed it firmly onto my head, tugging the rim down to try and shield my face before bursting into a run as I headed for the entrance where I had seen Serena and Bree at.

Serena's POV

"Bree, are you sure about this?" I whispered after her as she walked boldly through the gaping hole in the mountainside that had once looked like a perfectly solid sheet of rock.

"We needed a way in, and we got it," Bree said over her shoulder as she looked around for anyone on the other side of the opening. She turned to face me though and I was surprised at the serious expression on her face. "You can still back out, Serena. Just wait on the edge of the forest if you feel uncomfortable."

I immediately frowned and marched towards her. Bree shook her head with a small smile at the corner of her lips. She shrugged in acceptance and then pointed at the metal ring hooked to my belt loop.

"Remember your promise," Bree warned in a very parental way.

I rolled my eyes but didn't argue as I selected Absol's pokeball and released him. He let out one of his customary rumbles but I was surprised when he narrowed his red eyes and sidled up next to me, standing protectively with his ribs pressed against my leg.

"I don't know exactly what we're walking into, so I expect you to take care of her, Absol," Bree said firmly as she looked at Absol.

I opened my mouth to argue about Bree going overboard, but Absol circled my legs once before giving a firm nod of understanding. The protective gesture was too adorable for me to argue that I was pretty sure I could take care of myself, so I just stayed silent.

Bree led us down the hallway that seemed fairly empty. I had no idea where we were supposed to go to find Aryan and Satoshi and I was wondering if one of my pokemon might have the ability to sense them somehow when a noise caught my attention. Bree froze as we both listened to the sound of panicked voices coming from ahead of us. I saw Bree reaching for one of her pokeballs but she gestured for me to keep following her.

Gulping past a lump in my throat, I followed after her, grateful for the warmth of Absol's fur brushing against my legs. The voices seemed to be coming in our direction but a little ahead of us the path split into three paths so I had no idea which hallway they were coming down. I licked my lips nervously, wondering if we would look out of place enough for whoever was coming to be suspicious.

We were getting closer and closer to where the path divided into three and I could tell that Bree was trying to make a split-second decision on which way to go. I paused in the center of the three hallways, trying to determine which way the voices were coming from. Suddenly though an arm wrapped around my waist and I was yanked off my feet and spun around towards the hallway on my left.

"Yipe!" I yelped in fright, finding myself being spun around so quickly I didn't even know how to react.

Before I could yell for help or even think to lash out at my attacker though, the arm dropped from my waist and I was spun around until my back was against the wall. I looked up, getting ready to scream, but the sound died in my throat as my eyes widened. An incredibly familiar person was in front of me, but instead of the spiky hair I was accustomed to, his black hair was mostly covered with a ball cap pulled down to shield his face and the rest of his hair was sticking out in crazy chunks out past his ears and down his neck.

Satoshi winced when Absol barrelled into his hip silently but with an accusatory look on his face. It was obvious he recognized him from that time we were trapped by a blizzard, but it was also obvious he was not pleased that I had been snatched from his side so easily. I could hardly spare Absol a thought though as I looked up at Satoshi and saw his cinnamon brown eyes that I had recognized all those months ago belonging to my childhood friend Ash... But Satoshi said he didn't know Ash or me... but... Aryan did say he was undercover...

"Is that Satoshi?" Bree asked, jogging over to us with a heavy scowl on her face and a very familiar yellow pokemon on her shoulder. I assumed he stopped her from pulling a pokemon out when Satoshi grabbed me and now he gave me a small wave from her shoulder. Satoshi tilted his cap up slightly and gave her a goofy grin.

"Who else?" he asked lightly, but he hadn't moved from his spot only inches in front of me and with a casual arm pressed against the wall next to my head. "Some grunts are coming from that hallway, get behind me and act like we're having a conversation."

"We can just take them out," Bree retorted with a scoff. 

Pikachu shook his little head on her shoulder though. Satoshi reached out and grabbed her wrist, forcefully pulling her over to stand next to me before he tilted his body to shield us at least partially from view.

"Let them go past first. I don't want anyone to run back and tell them two outsiders got in," Satoshi explained quietly. Bree blinked at this but didn't seem to have anything to argue against so she leaned against the wall casually and nodded.

"So what brings you here, Satoshi?" Bree asked while keeping her voice pleasant and even. I was still frozen from the fact that Satoshi had yet to back away from me and my own brain warring within me about how similar Satoshi looked to Ash now that his hair was down.

"Just trying to keep you girls out of trouble," Satoshi replied in an equally pleasant voice.

I stiffened when I heard the voices getting louder, but Absol leaned his furry shoulder against my thigh and I instantly felt calmer. I peeked past Satoshi's arm and saw two people hurry past us wearing the same jumpsuit with a large G stamped on the chest as Satoshi was wearing, not even giving us a second glance.

Satoshi immediately straightened up, retreating from in front of me and walking silently away from us. I peeked around the corner of the hallway and gasped when Satoshi called out to them. Both of the guys whirled around, looking relieved to see him. But before either of them could say anything Satoshi lashed out, hitting both of them so quickly I barely saw his arm move. Both of the grunts crumpled to the ground without a sound and I pressed my hand to my mouth to keep back a gasp of shock.

Pikachu jumped from Bree's shoulder at that moment and bounded over to his trainer as Satoshi reached for one of the six pokeballs he had strapped to his belt. I blinked, never having seen Satoshi with any pokemon besides Pikachu, and felt my mouth drop open when a fully evolved Sceptile the same size as me materialized next to him. Pikachu greeted the new addition warmly, hugging his entire body around one of Sceptile's legs. The green reptilian pokemon gave Pikachu a wide grin but immediately gave his attention to Satoshi when he clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Think your Leech Seed is strong enough to hold these guys up on the ceiling?" Satoshi asked calmly while pointing up.

"Sceptile scep," the pokemon replied with a scoff as if he was offended that Satoshi even asked.

My mouth dropped open when the pokemon grabbed one of the unconscious guys and tossed him up into the air as if he weighed less than a feather. Sceptile then fired three glowing seeds the size of my fist at the soaring body. Vines spread between the seeds and snagged the body, propelling it further up to the ceiling where the seeds somehow implanted themselves into the rocky ceiling and spread their vines around their victim, holding him fast.

"Now that is not something I have seen before," Bree remarked with obvious admiration in her tone as she walked past me and went over to Satoshi. I quickly followed after her, resting a hand on the thick fur at the back of Absol's neck since he was walking so closely by my side.

"Sceptile is the best," Satoshi said with obvious pride on his face as his pokemon sent the other unconscious grunt sailing through the air to be trapped on the ceiling. "But you two should get out of here. Now."

My eyelids blinked rapidly at the sudden seriousness in Satoshi's tone and I frowned lightly. Bree folded her arms stubbornly though and glared balefully at him.

"Not until we find Aryan. Then we can all get out of this creepy dungeon," Bree insisted with a frown at our surroundings.

Honestly, I was a little more disturbed that Satoshi had just casually knocked two guys unconscious and then had his pokemon tie them to the ceiling rather than being in the heart of a mountain. But I wondered if maybe she was feeling claustrophobic.

"Ugh, Aryan really did come after me?" Satoshi asked with a heavy frown at Bree which she echoed.

"Yes. Spewing some ridiculousness about being a hero and fixing his mistake," Bree said before she bit her lip. Her worry for him was almost palpable and I automatically reached out and patted her arm soothingly. "His Salamence held onto the bottom of your jet. You didn't see him, did you?"

"He what?" Satoshi asked, the alarm in his tone causing a spike of anxiety to go through me. Satoshi let out a sigh and shook his head before patting his Sceptile in a silent thanks and returning him. Pikachu jumped up to his normal spot on his shoulder and I was surprised when Satoshi waved his hand at us in a gesture to follow him.

"We can come?" I asked, feeling extremely silly for the obvious hope in my voice.

"I'd rather you stick with me than wander around by yourselves. Things are going to get pretty crazy in the next ten minutes," Satoshi stated with a slight grimace. He glanced over his shoulder at us though and frowned. "Hmmm. I should've taken those guys' jumpsuits to give you. Just follow my lead and keep your heads down."

It was almost disturbing to see Satoshi walking through the labyrinth of tunnels with obvious ease. Whenever we ran into anyone Satoshi either hid Bree and me or greeted them casually. It wasn't hard to notice that everyone he greeted looked at Satoshi with varying degrees of admiration.

He really was lying about being a security guard, I thought, surprised at how disappointed that made me feel. I couldn't blame him though. Aryan obviously trusted him and he was a detective, so I would trust him too. Although after all this was over and we were safe again I was going to make sure he explained why he had been lying to me this whole time.

I noticed that the further we got to wherever Satoshi was leading us though, the tenser the mood seemed. Less people were paying attention to us as we walked by, and I caught snippets of conversations where people were asking why the doors had been opened and if the 'plan' was going to start soon.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when he turned into an empty hallway and a male voice called out loudly for Satoshi. Remembering Satoshi's words, I ducked my head down and slid around to hide a little behind him. He turned around and surprise was evident in his expression.

"Marcus, what's wrong?" Satoshi asked. 

I stiffened, wondering if Satoshi would knock this grunt unconscious too. However, Satoshi seemed almost relaxed when the grunt ran past Bree and me without a second glance and skidded to stand in front of Satoshi while he panted as if he had been searching for Satoshi for hours.

"Something happened to Drake! All of the secret entrances are wide open and the door to the control room is completely sealed shut so no one can get in. We need your help before Neptune finds out and gets mad!" The boy that Satoshi had called Marcus was just a little shorter than Satoshi with dark blue eyes and short black hair. After his emotionally charged plea though he paused and leaned slightly to the side. I blinked when our eyes met and I bit my lip when his eyes widened slightly.

"Wait, who are these two?" Marcus asked, momentarily distracted from his panicked state from before.

Absol let out a threatening growl from next to me which made the boy flinch, but to my surprise, Satoshi stepped forward and placed both hands on his shoulders. The rumbling in Absol's chest lessened slightly and both Bree and I waited silently as we watched the unexpected scene in front of us.

"Marcus, I need you to listen to me," Satoshi said firmly but quietly. Marcus's surprisingly long eyelashes fluttered over his eyes in confusion but he nodded silently. "These two are my friends. I don't have time to explain everything, but I'm the one that opened the doors."

"Huh?" Marcus exhaled in utter bewilderment. I almost felt sorry for him, but I was a little bit happy to see that Satoshi had apparently made at least one friend among these crazy people. I hoped he could get through to him.

"I'm actually a member of a government agency that is on its way right now to put a stop to Neptune and her crazy plan to wipe out the world. I opened the doors so they could come in and help me take down Neptune."

Hearing Satoshi's confirmation of what Aryan told me left me feeling way more relieved than I had expected. I felt bad for Marcus though since he looked like someone just stole his favorite toy right from his hands and he had no idea what to do now.

"You're a good guy, Marcus," Satoshi said firmly, taking one hand off his shoulder and forming a fist before gently tapping his knuckles against Marcus's chest above his heart. "You care for your pokemon and you have what it takes to be a great pokemon trainer. Right here. You don't need some fake new world to succeed."

"But..." Marcus protested, seeming as if he were struggling with the very meaning of life. I thought it was sweet that he hadn't immediately dashed off to tattle on Satoshi though.

"Look, I'm sorry," Satoshi said quietly, once again gripping Marcus by the shoulders. "But please trust me on this. Neptune is way crazier and more evil than you could even imagine. You should get out of here while you can."

"What? No way! I wanna help you," Marcus retorted defiantly, squaring his shoulders and shucking off his indecision from moments ago. Satoshi blinked in surprise and I could see him cock one eyebrow up.

"You do?" he asked somewhat incredulously, but Marcus nodded adamantly.

"Yeah. I don't really get what's going on, but you've believed in me from day one, Satoshi. And you totally saved me the other day in the forest. If you're against Neptune then I want to be on your side," Marcus declared firmly.

"I like this kid," Bree suddenly interjected, walking over and standing by Satoshi's side. Marcus flinched slightly, obviously having forgotten we were there again, and his entire face turned red as he realized we heard his little speech.

"Alright. Can you tell people the doors are open because of a gas leak or something? And when my colleagues get here could you tell them I'm in the headquarters in the production lab area?" Satoshi asked after only a second of inner deliberation.

"Production lab?" Marcus repeated questioningly but Satoshi waved it away.

"No time to explain, can you do that?" Satoshi asked urgently.

"Sure thing!" Marcus agreed immediately, but then his eyes slid over to me and Bree. "Uh, who are they again?"

"Friends," Satoshi answered simply before shooing him on his way.

The rest of the trip up the mountain to where the jet hangar was went pretty well. Satoshi knew all kinds of shortcuts and backways from what I could tell and he kept us pretty far away from whoever else was inside the mountain. I followed after him silently, feeling both excited and anxious to have infiltrated an evil organization's hideout and being guided around by the guy I had been trying not to fall in love with for months now.

I let out a surprised squeak when a hand suddenly wrapped around my own. Blinking down at my hand tucked neatly inside Satoshi's bigger one, I looked up at him and saw him toss me an easy smile over his shoulder. He didn't say anything though, just pulled on my hand gently to prompt me to move a little faster. My eyes fell down to our joined hands and I was shocked at how calm the simple touch made me. Smiling gently to myself, I squeezed his hand a little and I tucked my lips between my teeth to hide my grin when he answered with a squeeze of his own.

Everything is going to be okay, I thought to myself as my confidence began to rise. I've got Satoshi, Bree, and all of my pokemon with me. We'll find Aryan, help Satoshi stop Neptune, then go back to our lives like normal. It'll be okay.

A/N Hey everyone. Thanks for your continued support of this story! I really appreciate your patience and interest in this story <3