A few days later, Ash, Gary, and Green went to the Silver Conference, to catch the last battles before Ash and Gary actually had to participate.

Of course, Molly wanted to go, and with some begging from Green, for completely non-nefarious purposes that totally didn't involve spoiling Molly, Delia let her go with them. On the way, they also picked up Yellow.

But when they got Yellow, things felt... well, she was definitely quieter than usual. When she looked at Ash, she seemed almost sad, like she was carrying a secret. A lot like how Misty and Brock looked before they eventually spilled the beans.

Speaking of them, Ash tried texting Misty and Brock, but they left him on read. Which, 1: ouch, and 2: they were probably still stressed out about what they had to do.

Anyway, they got there, and Green immediately 'lovingly kidnapped' Molly and Yellow and ran off to get snacks and look for Silver, leaving Ash and Gary to finally go register. Speaking of which, Ash also gave Green Pikachu and Vee to hold onto. Pikachu was way too strong, it wouldn't be a challenge if he participated in this. And Vee... well, they were still in Johto, where Team Rocket was active. They couldn't risk him being revealed yet, so he had to sit this one out.

Anyway, the registration process was quick since they'd done it before and were already pre-registered. Turns out, since the Johto League was smaller and not as popular as Kanto's, instead of starting at the top 32, they were starting in the top 16.

Speaking of which, right now as they spoke, the top 32 was happening. After today's battles, tomorrow was the Gym Leader tournament, and the day after that, the main battles would begin.

After all that, Gary and Ash walked side by side, letting out a sigh.

"So this is it, huh?"

"Yep, this is it, my guy. We're at the League again," Ash said, arms behind his head. "You think it's gonna be harder?"

Gary shrugged. "I dunno. Like, the strong people are stronger, but there are way more weak people."

"Fair," Ash nodded, continuing beside him. "So, who do you think is gonna be the hardest one, besides you and me?"

Gary shrugged again. "I don't know. I haven't really kept up with a lot of them. I think I ran into that Ethan guy once or twice, but other than that, I've got nothing."

"Fair. You never were the best at making friends," Ash said bluntly.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?! I made plenty of friends!" Gary shot back.

"Name one... that I wasn't friends with first," Ash said, crossing his arms.

Gary opened his mouth, then closed it... then opened it again... and stopped. Just as he raised a hand, Ash spoke again.

"No. Your cheerleaders, Daisy, and your girlfriend don't count."

Gary turned red with embarrassment. "Grace isn't my girlfriend!"

Ash smirked. "Never said Grace~. Is there something you wanna say, Gar-bear~?"

Gary turned even redder. "I—y—you—shut up!" he stammered, before storming off. "I'm going to get a seat!"

Ash chuckled and walked off in another direction. He was planning on grabbing some snacks for Molly... and, he guessed, everyone else too. He wandered over to the overpriced snack area, thankfully, he wasn't short on money and probably never would be.

As he waited in line, his eyes caught a certain purple-haired girl fidgeting nervously. She was glancing around like she was lost.

It was Shelly again.

And it looked like she noticed him too.

Scratch that, she definitely noticed him. The moment their eyes met, she stiffened like a Deerling caught in headlights. She looked away, turned back, looked away again, then gave him a tiny, frantic wave with both hands before awkwardly pretending to read the vending machine options.

Ash waved back slowly, unsure if it was just polite or if he didn't want her to combust on the spot.

He stepped out of the line and casually walked toward her, "Hey. Shelly, good to see you."

She froze again, "A-Ash! H-hi! I—um—yes, that's me! You're, you're... here!"

Ash gave her a small smile, "Yup. League time again. You good? You seem more nervous than before."

Shelly nodded way too quickly, then blurted, "I just, I came here with Heather and Cain and then we kind of got separated because Heather wanted to go yell at someone who got our snack order wrong, and Cain said something about flirting with people and now I don't know where I am and I didn't think I'd see you and—"

"Whoa, whoa, it's okay." Ash held up his hands gently, trying not to laugh, "Breathe, Shelly. You're good. I'm glad to see you."

Shelly took a deep breath, "Okay… I… I'm glad to see you too, Ash," she said softly.

Ash smiled and tilted his head, "So since you're here, does that mean you're participating in the League? Is that why you're so nervous?"

Shelly nodded sheepishly, "Yeah… I made it… and I just won my last battle… somehow, so I'm in the top 16 now… and I'm really nervous…"

Ash gave her a dismissive wave, "Don't worry about it. What's stressing gonna do? Just do what I do, bottle it up and use it to completely make your opponent question every moment of their existence."

"…Are you okay?" Shelly asked.

"No, not really," Ash said honestly, with a smile on his face. "But thanks for asking."

Shelly blinked at him, trying to tell if he was joking. She gave a nervous giggle anyway, "W-Well… that's one way to deal with pressure, I guess…"

Ash tilted his head, "It works."

She nodded slowly, fiddling with the hem of her jacket, "I just… I really don't want to mess up. I think Heather thinks I can win. And Cain said if I make the top 8, he'll buy me all the ice cream I can eat, so like… now there's pressure and dessert on the line. Plus… there's Bugsy… you know…"

Ash gave her a little sideways smile, "Yeah, I get it. You don't want to let him down. But hey, you got this far, right? Just the fact that you're here means you're not a failure. You're you, and that's all you have to be."

Shelly looked down and mumbled, "Thanks, Ash…"

Before the moment could stretch too awkwardly, a voice called from across the plaza.

"There you are, Shelly! I leave for five minutes and you vanish like a frightened Jigglypuff!"

Ash turned to see a girl with long pink hair in twin-tails strutting toward them, an annoyed scowl on her face, "Heather, I'm fine!" Shelly called back nervously. "I just—um—I ran into someone!"

Heather stopped a few steps away and narrowed her eyes at Ash, "Oh. You again. Well, I suppose thank you for finding Shelly."

Ash waved his hand, "Hey Heather, good to see you too. I see your scowl hasn't changed, nice to see some consistency."

Heather rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Come on. Cain's flirting with the security guy and probably getting himself banned. We gotta go."

Shelly looked back at Ash, then bowed quickly, "Sorry, I mean, bye! Good luck in the battles!"

Ash gave a casual salute, "Same to you. Top 16, right? I'll see you on the field if it comes to that."

She blushed, "Y-yeah…"

Heather grabbed her wrist and tugged her away, muttering something that Ash couldn't hear, but Shelly did, and she turned red as a tomato.

Ash shook his head and turned to finally get the snacks. After waiting in line for a bit, he felt a slap on his back. When he turned around, he saw Ethan smiling at him, and behind him were Kris, Lyra, Vincent, and Casey.

"Yo! You're here! I was worried for a bit when I didn't see you battling, but I knew you'd make it!" Ethan said, slapping Ash on the back again.

Ash nodded, rubbing the spot where Ethan had smacked him, "Yeah, I'm here. You think I'd miss this?"

"Honestly?" Ethan said, half-laughing. "No. But I was starting to wonder if you were just gonna show up right at the Top 16 like some kinda dramatic anime protagonist."

Ash snorted, "If I did that, Green would probably kill me. She already 'lovingly kidnapped' two people and vanished."

Ethan chuckled and glanced behind him, "Well, good thing you showed up when you did. Would've been weird if I had to fight without you here. I mean—" he shot a smirk over his shoulder at Vincent, "—not everyone here is scary."

Vincent crossed his arms and muttered, "I'm plenty scary. You just never take me seriously…"

Kris rolled her eyes and gave Ash a polite wave, "Hey Ash. Glad you made it. And before you ask, no, I'm not competing in this. Battling was never really my strong suit. I'm just here to cheer on these two idiots," she said, pointing one finger at Ethan, then one at Vincent.

"Hey!" Ethan and Vincent said in unison. But as soon as they realized it, they both shut up about that topic.

Ash chuckled, "No worries. It's good to see you either way. Well, I hope you cheer for me too, having friends in the stands definitely helps."

"Aw, that's sweet," Lyra chirped, suddenly sliding up next to Ash with a grin just a bit too wide, "So I guess I'll be cheering really loud for you then, huh~?"

Ash blinked, "Oh, uh, yeah. Thanks, Lyra."

Lyra beamed. Kris gave her a brief, unreadable side glance, while Vincent looked away, pretending to inspect the snack stall menu. Casey, who had been unusually quiet, was busy comparing hot dog prices like she was scouting for legendary deals.

"Right, so if Kris isn't participating, what about the rest of you? You guys in this?" Ash asked, trying to change the topic.

Lyra immediately looked a bit more sheepish, "I, um… well… I did qualify… but I was already eliminated…"

Casey slightly looked away and glanced down, "I… didn't even qualify. I only had six badges…"

Ash raised an eyebrow, then gave a small smile, "Hey, that's still pretty impressive. Most people don't even make it that far."

Casey puffed her cheeks a bit, clearly frustrated, "Yeah, but I really thought I could do it. I was gonna make it, y'know? For the Electabuzz spirit!"

Ash chuckled and pushed the cap of her hat down over her eyes, "Well, I think the spirit's proud of you. And hey, there's always next time, right?"

Casey yelped and pulled her hat back up, but she didn't look angry. She just looked up at Ash, "Y-yeah. Next time, I'm gonna go all the way!"

"Now that's the spirit," Ethan said, slapping Casey on the back, almost making her fall over. Then he turned to Ash again, "Anyway, yeah, I'm in. Had my last match yesterday, so I'm Top 16. Vincent's in too."

Ash nodded, "Right. Then with you two, that makes five of us I know are participating. Okay," Ash shrugged, "Good enough for me. Anyway, if you guys have nothing to do, wanna grab snacks and go watch the last few battles for today?"

Ethan gave Ash a thumbs-up, "Heck yeah! I was hoping someone would suggest that. I've been craving those Johto-style mochi sticks all day."

Vincent sighed, "You just ate three hot dogs, Ethan."

"Three is a snack," Ethan said, slinging an arm around Vincent's shoulders, who immediately ducked away. "Besides, we're athletes! We need fuel."

Kris facepalmed, "You literally didn't move all morning."

Ash grinned and started walking with the group toward the snack stands and seating area, "C'mon, the last few matches of the top 32 are starting. Maybe we'll see someone cool."

They all began heading toward the seating area, Lyra quickly slipping to Ash's side again with a bright smile, "So, uh, Ash, if we're watching together, you don't mind if I sit next to you, right?"

Ash acted oblivious, "I dunno, I promised my little sister I'd sit next to her."

Lyra pouted, "Well, then can I sit on your other side?"

Ash acted like he was deep in thought, "I dunno, I think I promised Yellow that seat."

Ash grinned at Lyra's playful pout but kept his tone casual, "Sorry, Lyra, but it looks like you're gonna have to fight for that spot. I'm loyal to my friends."

Lyra, not missing a beat, leaned closer and whispered, "Well, maybe I can win you over with some of those mochi sticks you're about to devour."

Ash chuckled, shaking his head, "You'll have to try harder than that~" he said, sticking his tongue out, it was his turn at the counter.

Just as he paid for the snacks for everyone, he heard two familiar voices yelling for him, a guy and a girl. When Ash turned around, he saw two people: Chigusa and Shingo, running toward him like they were racing each other.

Ash's eye twitched as he quickly stepped to the side, dodging them before they could crash into him, since he was carrying all the snacks.

They stumbled but managed to stop in unison. It looked like they both wanted to speak first. As they looked at Ash, they shouted together, "Ash, you're here! Good, I still need to beat you!"

They froze, turned to each other, and glared.

"Excuse me?! I'm the one who should get to battle Ash!" Chigusa said, butting heads with Shingo.

"Oh yeah? Well, I formed an entire battle plan to fight against him and finally found a counter. I deserve a rematch!" Shingo shot back, pushing his head against Chigusa's and holding up his computer, which displayed a file labeled "Ash."

"Oh yeah?! Well me and Hitmontop have been working extremely hard, and Ash even personally trained us for a bit! So I should be the one!" Chigusa replied, and there was visible lightning between them.

Everything seemed to pause as Ethan slowly leaned toward Ash and whispered, "So… what's the deal with these two?"

Ash shrugged, "Their grandfather and dad were both former Elite Four members and rivals, so they taught them they need to hate each other."

"That sounds dumb…" Kris muttered, sighing, as Shingo and Chigusa kept arguing in the background.

"I dunno, I kinda ship it~" Lyra said with a smirk.

Shingo and Chigusa both heard that and turned to Lyra, blushing, "Me?! With this loser?! I'd rather die!!" they said in perfect sync.

Just as they were about to keep arguing over something probably Ash-related, the announcer's voice echoed across the plaza;

"It's time for the next battle! Shingo vs. Chigusa!"

They froze, then glared at each other and both shouted, "FINE!"

Shingo turned back to Ash, "And you better be ready, after I beat her, I'm coming after you, and I'm definitely winning this time!"

Chigusa scoffed, "Please. After I put this idiot in his place, I'LL be the one to come find you, got it? So you better wait for me!"

Ash waved as Chigusa and Shingo ran off toward the stadium entrance, still bickering mid-sprint, "Good luck, you two!" he called. "Try not to faint from mutual rage before the battle even starts!"

Vincent muttered, "That's… gonna be a wild match."

Ash handed out the snacks like he was dealing cards. "Exactly why we're not missing it. Popcorn-worthy drama."

Lyra took her mochi stick with a grin. "Yeah, those two are perfect for each other. Totally ship it."

"You know what? I ship it too," Ash said, nodding his head. "Anyway, I need to get these snacks to my sister. If you guys are coming, better hurry so you can grab a seat."

The group made their way to the seats, finding a decent row that wasn't too high but still gave a good view. Green, Molly, and Yellow were already there, or more accurately, Green was perched casually with a smug grin and a shopping bag full of merch, Molly was surrounded by half-eaten snacks, and Yellow was quietly curled in the corner, her straw hat tilted just enough to shadow her eyes.

"Hey, we brought backup," Ash said as he approached, motioning to the Johto crew.

Molly looked over and waved both hands when she saw Ash. "Big brother! And more friends, nice to meet you!"

"Aww, you're so cute!" Lyra immediately went over to pinch Molly's cheeks. "How many snacks do you want? Scratch that, you deserve all the snacks!"

"Hmm, thanks, but I like the snacks my big brother gets me the most," Molly said happily as she took the one Ash gave her, beaming even as she sat on Green's lap.

Speaking of which, Green smirked and pointed to her other side. "By the way, look who decided to join us!"

Right next to her was Silver, who glanced at the Johto squad, squinted, lingered on Kris for a moment longer, then looked away without saying a word.

"Oh, yo, Silver's here? Nice one, man!" Ethan gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up to Silver, who didn't even look at him.

Green continued, "Yep. Found him brooding. What kind of big sister would I be if I let my little brother go all alone?" she said dramatically, putting a hand to her forehead.

"You sure it wasn't just an excuse to have Molly and Silver in the same place?" Ash asked with a little smirk as he went over and sat on Green's other side, coincidentally, the spot Yellow had saved for him, so he was now between Molly, Green, and Yellow.

"Maybe~" Green said with a grin. "Now pass the snacks. The matches are getting good."

Meanwhile, Ethan and Vincent were going back and forth, arguing over who should sit next to Kris. Kris rolled her eyes, got up, and sat next to Silver. She looked at him and smiled.

"Hi. Good to see you again, Silver."

Silver glanced at her for a moment. "...Hi," he replied, then looked away again.

And to rub salt in the wound, Lyra sat next to Kris too, looking a bit grumpier now that both seats next to Ash were taken. Casey took the final spot on the row.

By the time Ethan and Vincent noticed, it was too late, and they had to take the walk of shame to sit in a different row.

Ash chuckled as he watched them, then turned to Yellow, who was still curled up quietly in the corner. He gently placed a bottle of her favorite drink, honeydew soda, in the cupholder beside her,"For the quiet MVP," he said softly.

Yellow blinked and looked up. "You… remembered I liked this?"

She looked down at the bottle, then up at Ash. Her face was already tinged pink, but now it turned full cherry blossom. She fumbled with the bottle, almost knocking it over before clutching it tight to her chest like a rare treasure.

"I… I didn't think you'd remember," she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

Ash leaned back in his seat, arms stretched behind his head. "Why wouldn't I? It's your favorite. You made me try it once, remember? I hated it." He smirked teasingly. "Tasted like someone melted a salad."

Yellow let out a tiny, squeaky laugh, half embarrassment, half genuine joy. "You spat it out in front of the vendor."

Ash nodded proudly. "Sure did. But you looked so happy drinking it, I figured, eh, might as well suffer for a good memory."

Yellow turned away slightly, hiding behind her straw hat, but her hand reached out and gently touched his sleeve for a second, just a second, before she drew it back. "…Thank you."

Ash gave her a little nudge with his elbow. "Hey, no biggie. You're always there when it counts. I got your back, too." He said as his smile fell a bit, "So, you know you can talk to me. I can see you've got something on your mind."

Yellow looked down at the drink, tracing her finger along the edge of it. "I… I don't know… It's not that I don't want to tell you… it's just… I know you would help me… but I don't know if I want you to help me on this…" Yellow admitted.

Ash frowned and tilted his head. "I see. Well, I won't force you. But remember, you can always talk to me, alright?"

Yellow nodded, and that seemed to help her relax a little. After all, the secret she had… this was something she couldn't let her friends get dragged into. Because now, for the first time in forever, she knew what she wanted to do, even if it hurt her knowing what she had to do.

–

{In the Team Rocket Base}

The Masked Man looked at the GS Ball that his scientists had created, then gripped it. "It's time."

He looked at his scientists and all the vials filled with Ho-Ohtwos and Lugiatwos and nodded. "Good. Prepare to release them tomorrow."

Colress stood by and gave a small bow. "Of course. It shall be done."

But as the Masked Man walked out, Colress had a little smile. He had already performed a few experiments on these clones. Since they were unstable, they would probably die in a week, so he did some testing. Let's just say he had a contingency plan, just in case. He looked forward to seeing how things played out.

Meanwhile, the Masked Man walked out of the lab and went to his office, where his Executives, Carl, Sham, Archer, and D, were standing, waiting on his orders.

He walked to his safe and pulled out the Azure Flute, then went over and handed it to Carl and Sham, "Tomorrow is the day our plans will finally pay off. But if, for some reason, I fail, then you are to ignore all orders and execute Plan 'A.' Understood?"

The Masked Man wasn't asking. He was saying it in a way that almost reprogrammed their mind-control masks. The masks didn't erase the person entirely, Archer, Carl, and Sham kept most of their free will, but this order was different. If their plan was deemed a failure, they would act like robots following a core directive.

The Masked Man didn't even look at them or wait for an answer, He went to his terminal and pressed it, connecting to all the people under his control.

"Everyone. We shall make our move. Tomorrow, we strike. Meet me at Secret Base Delta-043. Coordinates have been sent."

With that, every grunt and admin wearing a mask stopped what they were doing. And like robots, they began walking in unison.

The Masked Man looked at Carl, Sham, Archer, and D and narrowed his eyes, "It's time. Prepare for battle."

—

{Later}

After they left, the base was mostly empty. The people who remained didn't know what to do, so they just went on with their day, except in a corner, where Jay, Enid, Helena, Domino, Sayoko, and Owari were gathered, asking Oakley for help. But the files were too encrypted, even for her.

So, she called in a... let's say favor, though it wasn't exactly that. She called in Arlo, who was now sitting at the computer, hacking it.

"You know, when you said you needed me, this isn't exactly what I expected…" Arlo mumbled.

"Oh hush, you know you love us," Annie said with a sickly sweet smile that made Arlo roll his eyes.

"Whatever. So remind me again what's so important that you're making me stick my neck out for you guys?"

"Oh please, we all know you're one of the Boss's favorites. You won't get punished," Oakley waved her hand dismissively.

Then Owari answered, "Well, we've got a friend who's been acting weird, and we tried to check his file, but it was encrypted. Which was strange."

Arlo raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? All this for that? You don't think maybe he just wanted to keep it private?"

"Maybe," Owari said. "But the problem is, when I checked, a lot more files were set to private. It's weird, like something bigger is going on."

"Right…" Arlo muttered, still thinking it was probably nothing. "Well, whatever. Whoever encrypted this sucks, I'm already done. Let's look before Sierra yells at me," he said, pressing Enter.

The file opened, finally revealing D's status and data. But as soon as the encryption dropped, the contents hit them like a truck:

'D: Captured and Controlled - Custom Mind Control Mask Successfully Attached'

Arlo stared at the screen. "…Well, that's messed up."

The room fell into tense silence. Even Annie stopped smiling.

Oakley leaned in, narrowing her eyes. "Custom Mind Control Mask… That's not standard. In fact, that's not something I've ever heard talked about."

Jay's fists clenched at her sides. "So D was captured and mind controlled?"

Helena stared at the screen. "So… all this time… ever since he had that mask… it wasn't D. He was being controlled…"

Domino sat back, crossing her arms. "This changes a lot."

Jay looked around at everyone, finally voicing what they were all thinking. "If D was taken and turned… who else has been?"

Arlo's fingers were already flying across the keys. "I'm pulling up other files encrypted the same way. Gimme a sec, no, wait. He layered them. Classic trap layering. If I break the wrong one, it wipes the rest."

"Then don't screw up," Oakley said quietly. There was no bite in her voice anymore. She was scared too.

Owari crossed his arms. "So what now? We can't tell the Boss. If we bring this up without proof, and we're wrong, we're toast."

Sayoko was staring at the screen with a crazed look in her eyes. The fact that anyone was telling her D what to do, other than her, made her want to stab something. But she took a breath.

"So, computer boy," she said in a sickly sweet voice, looking at Arlo. "Can't you fix this? Do something." She wasn't asking.

Arlo frowned, then leaned back in the chair, running a hand through his hair. "Look, if I'm gonna do this, I need time. A lot of it. And I need a clean relay, someone outside the system who can bounce our signal if the Masked Man tracks us."

Annie grinned again. "I know a place."

"Of course you do," Arlo muttered. "But I also need you guys to stall when it happens."

"How about the Executives? If we tell them, we can rally some people," Domino suggested.

"Wouldn't work. They wouldn't listen to us," Arlo explained. "As far as I know, the Masked Man took everyone he mind-controlled to the Silver Conference. He's planning something. Maybe we can use that."

Owari raised an eyebrow. "...Wait, isn't the Boss going to be there? Why would he want to be there? As soon as he finds out, won't he call the Rockets to counterattack?"

"No. Because the Masked Man knows he can't. If the Boss calls for an attack, 1. The Masked Man already controls most of the Johto branch; they'd be outnumbered. 2. People would realize someone high up in Team Rocket is there among them, and it would trigger an investigation. 3. If word gets out there's a civil war inside Team Rocket, the League will take advantage of it and wipe us out." Arlo's tone was serious now.

"So we need another way," Jay rubbed his hands together. "Oh, is it time for us to go undercover?!"

As much as they wanted to groan at that… it was probably their best option, If they could just convince some Rockets to go with them, even reluctantly, it could work.

Enid looked down, her mind elsewhere, wondering about something.

—

{At the International Police Base}

Anabel was still reading through the last file D had managed to send before being captured. She could only imagine what he had gone through. Still, thanks to the intel, they had been able to stop a lot of crimes, so much so that she was being recommended for another promotion.

But she hadn't stopped thinking about him. About what happened. Looker was worried about her, but there was nothing he could say to make this feel better.

Anabel kept scrolling, searching for anything, anything, that they might have missed. She knew D was smart. He always thought ahead. Maybe… just maybe, there was something he left behind in his final moments.

She sighed, knowing she was probably just grasping at straws. She didn't even know why she felt this way. She shouldn't. And yet... she did.

She was about to give up when she scrolled down one last time, and something caught her eye.

Each paragraph in the report had one bolded letter.

She immediately sat up straighter.

Pulling out a piece of paper, she began jotting them down. They spelled: Jr wr wkh Vloyhu Frqihuhqfh pb gduolqj

It looked like gibberish, until she realized it was a simple Caesar Cipher. She could decode these in her sleep. Quickly, she translated it: "Go to the Silver Conference, my darling."

Anabel's eyes widened. Even then, even while under threat, D had found a way to get a message to her.

She bit her lip. Maybe… maybe it wasn't too late.

There was only one way to find out. She had to get Looker, and she had to go.

She still didn't know why this was important. But if D had entrusted this to her…Then maybe it was time she started trusting him, too. Even if it was a few months too late.