"Wow..." Marina said breathlessly, still enamored by the bright, practically glowing hall. "Wow, is right," Jimmy agreed, breathing in the strong scent of roses.
"Really Drew? Your dad owns...this place?" Dawn gaped in awe, spinning around like a five-year old on her first day of school.
"Andrew!" Mr. Hayden called out, black circles surrounding his purple eyes, and he looked like he was running on pure caffeine. "You guys made it."
Drew stiffened at his father's voice, and his jade green eyes, turned cold and empty.
May gave him a concerned nudge, and tapped his shoulder. "Drew?"
"Nothing," he muttered tightly, clenching his fists. His mouth was pulled in a line, expression hard.
The Eevee Sisters shared looks. Why was Drew so mad? And why wouldn't they have made it?
Only the boys knew the reason Drew hated Mr. Hayden, and they understood, because they suffered from similar situations.
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Gary's father died years ago, and his mother had abandoned him, leaving him with his grandfather, who was a curious, wise old man. He was rich though, through his research and different breakthroughs. His daughter, was Delia Oak, who later married Daniel Ketchum.
Gary resented his mother, and thought of her as a coward, but loved his aunt and grandfather. He disliked his uncle, and had a normal, brother-type relationship with Ash. Though, when he met the rest of the to-be Eevee Brothers, they all clicked, as disorganized and scattered they were.
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Ash's parents, Daniel and Delia Ketchum, were the only heirs to the fortune from Professor Oak, Gary's grandfather. Daniel Ketchum though, was already extremely rich, and had been a nice, gentle, kind gentleman when Delia and Daniel first met. But once he inherited his parents' companies, he became a workaholic, never stopping in for dinner, staying late hours and waking up early...the list went on. So Ash and Delia's relationships with Mr. Ketchum, slowly deteriorated. He couldn't even find time for his son's golden birthday. What father does that?
So Ash, most of the time, simply pretended that his dad didn't exist. Daniel Ketchum made it pretty easy too, as he was nearly never at home anyways.
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Jimmy...well, his family was complicated. His dad had a brain hemorrhage at age thirty two, when Jimmy was only seven years old, and Charlie, his older brother, only nine. He was hospitalized, and though the Kentas were extremely rich, and had nearly the whole medical world at their disposal, things went wrong, and at the ripe age of thirty three, Mr. Kenta, had lost his sense of hearing, smell, had slurred speech, poor eyesight, slow movements, and was practically paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors said he would never walk again.
Of course, his family stood by his side. His wife took over the few large companies that the family owned, and became the CEO, and owner, of all three. But Mrs. Annick Kenta, was an extraordinary woman. The Kalosian woman managed her job, her duty as a mother, and wife, her family needs, and her social life as well. She found time and love for both of her sons, and loved them with all her heart.
She never saw her husband as a liability, though many times Thomas had told Annick, to just let him stay at a senior daycare or something, or a handicapped daycare. Something. But she refused. She created programs, invited doctors to their home...she did everything in her power, to make her husband as comfortable as he could be.
With all that going on, Annick still found time for Chuck and Jimmy, helping them with school work, hand-making dinners and packed lunches, and tucking them in, long after the two complained that they were 'too old to be tucked in!'.
Jimmy loved both of his parents, and his older brother as well, and in his mind, he was lucky out of the six heirs. Because he, grew up with a love-filled childhood, and fond memories, even with his father. Some of the others...their families were more broken than his. They don't really even have families.
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Calem loved his sister. With all his heart. She was seven years older than him, and married to a man called Nathan. Charlotte was basically his mother growing up, helping him with homework, daily living, and everything Mr. Charbonneau threw at him. She defended him, and tried to protect him from the type of world he was born into.
Serena had been his neighbor, and the two had been childhood friends, Serena being to only kid who accept the 'snobby rich kid'. Calem was quiet, and rarely went out, but when he did, it was reporters that looked for him, not his friends, and he disliked the attention.
He went on his Pokemon journey a year before Serena, on his own, and met to rest of what would become the Eevee Brothers.
Mr. Charbonneau was not a workaholic really. After his wife died, he simply...tuned out the world. He ran his businesses and hoped the best for his children, but he was practically incapable of raising his children. He drank often, but wasn't an alcoholic. He did no illegal things, or anything of the sort. He just...emptied himself of his own mind and presence. He hoped that Jimmy would take after his position after Charlotte married Nathan, a middle-class man, and absolutely refused to help the man who couldn't pull himself together, and be there for his children.
But Mr. Charbonneau disliked Serena a lot, because Serena's parents were also in high the business world, and they didn't like Mr. Charbonneau and what he stood for. They believed that he should have been there for little Calem and young Charlotte. They were friends with the royal family, and they used that to protect Serena and Calem's friendship.
So, of course, Nicholas Charbonneau didn't want the cheaters' child to ruin his son.
Calem wanted to shout in his face. 'Well...here's some news for you. You ruined your son more than Serena ever would!'
Calem was quiet, and smart, good with the PokeWeb and other mechanical related things. He hid his ability from his father though, who owned the electrical and mechanical companies in Kalos. Of course, Calem didn't want the father who didn't care enough about him, to know that he was excellent at his field.
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So...Paul.
Peter Shinji, was yes, his father. Peter was more or less, a more worrisome Reggie. Not really built for pressure, and any of that shit. He tried really hard though, and made a great effort. But he just wasn't cut out for it. So he more owned a lot of stock, and the banks, rather than managing. That went to his wife, Kaylyn.
Kaylyn Shinji was fierce woman, who talked back, and lead without fear. She ruled the household, and her word was law. Reggie and Peter just moved with the flow, and as Paul would say, 'weak-minded'.
Paul loved his mother, and his mother was just as affectionate, but Peter...he stayed away from Paul. Simply because he was different from other children. He was his own son!
But no, that was too scary and intimidating for Peter, so he just stuck with Reggie, and stayed far away from Paul. So of course Paul was going to hate and resent his father. Mr. Shinji wouldn't even give him a chance to prove himself, and be his real self. It was just a big game of stay-away to Mr. Shinji.
Yes, his family was rich, but because of Mr. Shinji's attitude towards his son, family time was broken and there was no love shared between the pair.
Reggie tried to make up for the lost love, but he was Paul's brother, who reminded Paul bitterly, like a slap in the face, what he should be, and would never be, so he could never be right for his own damn father. Paul wasn't the type to hold grudges against someone because of someone else though, so he treated Reggie fine, though he preferred to just be alone.
Of course, Kaylyn always took Paul's side, and never did anything threatening to Paul, so Paul was absolutely fine with his mom. But his father? The less he saw him, the better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drew.
Now here was where we started all this. His family, was similar to Ash's. His mom was loving, caring, and work-at-home. His dad was a cold, workaholic that wanted to create his children into perfect images of himself, so that he'd have two heirs, legible for the job.
Drew...did NOT want the job. He wanted to be an agent, and before that, a coordinator. Of course, all those were banned. Christian Hayden never made time for his family, yet expected them to waste their time on him. He never showed any respect really, acting like they were just objects. Another part of his property. Then demanded that Drew, Rose, and Jennifer respect him.
Of course Jennifer and Christian had married for love, none of that arranged marriage shit. But still, they grew apart when Christian lost interest in keeping his wife happy. He became less warm, cold even, and started running out of time, only time for work. When Mrs. Jennifer Hayden brought it up, he got mad, and hit her. Repeatedly. And it went on. Perhaps, if it wasn't for the baby girl Jennifer found out she was four month pregnant with, maybe she would have never filled out those divorce papers, and got out of there.
Jennifer wasn't helpless. In fact, she herself was an imposing, wealthy, intelligent woman. So she fought. The Haydens soon divorced, and the pair argued in court who would take custody of poor nine-year old Drew.
Drew had been so mad at his daddy, who he had looked up to, as a child, and didn't understand why his dad would hit his mom.
When he was at school, lots of kids 'liked' him, simply because he was rich, and wealthy. But those who weren't blind to the money factor, made fun of him for his family troubles, his mom, his unborn little sister...he had it hard. No one accepted him, and treated him bad, and those who were his 'friends'...none of them really cared.
Not only that, but even as a young child, he had the pressure from his father to be the best and prepare himself for the future of imposing businessmen, and the world of serious, diplomatic stress. Drew didn't want that job. He had wanted to be a coordinator, then an agent. And so he wished that his mother would win custody over him.
And Jennifer eventually did, but only partial. She had him for eleven months of the year, and his dad had him for one. So Mr. Hayden still was a hovering shadow over him, and still held him in a tight grip. It wasn't until his Pokemon journey, till he let up.
His dad treated Rose like a mistake and a piece of property. And he wanted Drew to be like him as well. But Drew loved his mom and sister. He wasn't about to abandon them. Still, up into that day, Mr. Hayden pushed for Drew's loyalty and respect.
When he went on his journey, he met the other heirs, and they understood him. All of them. Drew finally found people who understood him, so of course, when the group of boys decided to join the EIA, agreeing with Cynthia's offer, Drew immediately joined, without hesitation.
And Drew hated his father, and everything he stood for. While some fell into depression and self-harm, Drew turned to anger. He pushed all his hatred against his father inside him, and sealed that part of him off. But times when things were really bad...it got hard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I heard, that there was-" Mr. Hayden began.
"DREW!" a little girl's voice squealed loudly, the sound echoing around the large room, and bouncing on the walls. Drew looked like he was ready to cry.
"Rose!" he cried out, frantically searching the colorful cloths, and maze of food laden tables, for her.
A white blur shot past Mr. Hayden and launched herself into Drew's open arms. "Drew!" she squealed again, wrapping her arms tightly around her brother's waist.
"Rose," Drew murmured, nuzzling the top of her head and chuckling to himself. "Rosie! I've missed you! How have you been, flower?"
"Great! Super! Awe-some! Incredible! And oh! I learned a new word! Mag-ni-fi-cent!?" Rose jumped eagerly, hopping on the ground, leaping a few inches off the ground. "Good girl!" Drew praised, holding out his palm for a high-five. Rose smacked it as hard as she could, and the elated girl squealed loudly again. "I've missed you Dew!"
"Don't use that name..." Drew groaned, moaning into his hands.
"But why?" Rose asked, tilting her head cutely.
The girls couldn't resist, and they all 'awwed', even Misty.
"Don't be rude Rosemary, how old are you?" Mr. Hayden said stiffly. Drew straightened as well, his seven-year old sister held in his arms easily. His eyes held no mercy "Don't talk to Rose like," he snapped.
"And you don't talk to me like that!" Mr. Hayden snapped back.
Drew tightened his grip on Rose. He took an evident deep breath, but bit back his anger as Gary placed a calming hand on his shoulder, and May looked at him with curious concern.
"Here," Mr. Hayden said tightly, handing red, white, and blue Pokeball to Drew. "Volcarona. Take her. Protect her. I promised her safety."
Drew hesitantly accepted the ball, and slipped into his hidden belt.
Drew turned away from his father, and back to his friends.
"This is my little sister, Rose Hayden. Say hi Rose," Drew grinned bitter-sweetly, still bitter about his dad, but showing the much talked about Rose to his friends made Drew glad.
"Hi! I'm Rose!" Rose bounced easily out of Drew's arms and landed with a 'thump' onto the ground, and ran around the agents. "Who you?" Rose questioned, poking at Leaf's forest green dress with brown leaves branching off.
"I'm Leaf, Rose!" Leaf laughed, reaching out to tug on one of her pigtails. Rose gave her a toothy grin, and held up a tiny hand. "High-five!"
Leaf smacked it lightly, and smiled at the seven-year old. Rose hopped along, poking at Gary and Paul, frowning and complaining loudly when Paul stared unblinkingly at her. "You. Don't. Move!" Rose huffed, punching Paul with her tiny fists with every word. Paul raised an eyebrow at Drew, who laughed and bent down to pick Rose up. "That's Paul, Rose. He's always like that. You can leave him alone."
"Hey Rose," May said softly, staring into her wide purple eyes, and eyed her vibrant red hair. She smiled at the pure white, flowery dress. "Remember me?"
Rose tilted her head. "...huh?...Oh! May? Ms. May?"
Drew nearly dropped Rose when Rose widened her eyes, cheered loudly, and leaped towards May. "MS. MAY!"
May looked just as surprised, and bent down to receive the tackling hug. "How're you? Ihaven'tseenyou! Yourbusy! Youareneveronthenewsanymore! NomorecoordinatinglikeDrew! Oh, Imissyou!" Rose said really fast, jumping up and down.
May let out a nervous laugh, and reached down to pick her up. "Well, I joined the EIA Rose, just like your big brother."
"E. I. A." Rose huffed, folding her arms grumpily and turning her head to the side in a pout, glaring at Drew. "You didn't tell me Miss May was in the EIA with you!"
"Oh..." Drew trailed off. "I didn't know you knew uh...Ms. May."
"Oh! I do!" Rose said happily, cheerful once again. "Miss Ashley and Miss Lydia didn't like me, because of something you did Dew! And so, me and Mommy were in vacation in Kalos, and Miss May was there for her fried...uh...Serena! And...hm, well, Miss Ashley first saw me, and started pointing. I thought she was rude, because Mommy says to never point! So I walked up to her, and said, 'Don't point! It's not nice!'. She started laughing really hard and her face twisted up into a scrunchy weird face. Then Miss Lydia came along and asked if I was Drew's sister. And I am! So I said, 'Yeah, that's me!'. She did that weird scrunchy thing too! Then she called out her big Emboar, and Miss Ashley called out big meany looking Garchomp! Not like Miss Cynthia's! They started walking towards me, and then the Misses started laughing! I didn't know what was going on! But Miss May and her Blaziken saved me! Fire spin and whoom!" Rose explained, complete with hand motions. She hit her left hand hard into her right, resulting in a loud smacking noise. "They ran away. She took me to a cafe, and found Mommy!"
Drew gave May a pointed look when Rose explained this, his eyes furious with unanswered questions. "So then, later, I went to contests with Nanny when Mommy were at conferences! And I saw Miss May often!"
May gave Rose another grin. "Alright, that's enough. Why don't you say hi to my other friends! That's Serena, the one I was visiting..." May's voice faded a bit as she led Rose towards the awe-struck girls.
"So..." Gary prompted.
"I did NOT know that my little sister had such an intimate relationship with May," Drew muttered.
Gary raised his eyebrows at that, and smirked. When Drew saw the smirk, he groaned and waited for it. "Intimate?"
Pervert. Dirty-minded. Ugh, would Gary ever change?
"Yes, intimate. Close, good-standard, well maintained...relationship. Yes," Drew snapped back. Gary just stood there, and continued smirking. "What?!" Drew exclaimed, annoyed.
Drew and Gary stood together, watching May go around with a joyous Rose, introducing everyone to her, and the smiles that everyone had. Even Paul.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy felt the world tilt when he heard the familiar baritone.
"Chuck," he breathed as he crushed his brother into a tight embrace.
"Jimmy!" Charlie's delighted face grinned, as he wrapped his large arms around his little bro.
"Dude! Where have you been? I haven't see you in months!" Jimmy laughed, leaning back to take in his older brother.
Charlie's light brown, nearly bronze colored hair glinted in the bright lights of the chandeliers. His blue eyes were happy and looked the same as when they were children. He had gotten broader in the shoulders, and his hair was a inch or two longer than before. Other wise, he looked the same.
"Where's mom? How's dad?" Jimmy asked impatiently, very eager.
"Hey!" Charlie laughed. "Slow down there bro. Mom's late. Her flight was cancelled. Dad's good. He's almost drinking perfectly himself again."
"Hey Jimmy, this your brother?" Gary asked, walking up with Leaf, Drew and May.
Guests had started to arrive, so of course, the pairs had to get together. Leaf and Calem had done the classic, hide equipment in a bathroom stall, and protect everything by locking the bathroom door. But they could monitor everything they hid in the bathrooms from what they had on themselves.
"Duh, he said, 'Chuck'! I've only known Jimmy for like...well, three years, but still! Even I know that his brother's name is Charlie, or as Jimmy calls him, Chuck," Leaf grumbled.
"How do you know? I don't need to know this stuff!"Gary complained. Leaf narrowed her eyes in a glare, burning holes into Gary's head.
"Oh don't be so glum!" Gary pleaded jokingly.
"You're insufferable! You arrogant ass!" Leaf screamed with frustration.
"Are they usually like this?" Charlie sighed, rubbing at his temples.
"Ha," Jimmy snorted. "That's what everyone says. Unfortunately yes. You haven't even met May and Drew yet. Yes, we're a messed up group. But we're a good team. Also, don't tell anyone here we're agents."
"Mission?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, keep a secret Chuck?" Jimmy asked. "And if you hear gunshots, and explosions, get people out, and yourself."
Charlie turned to stare his brother seriously in the eye. "Is it safe?"
"It should be," Jimmy amended. "But it might not be. So promise?"
"I promise." Chuck nodded.
"Hey! So that's my friend Leaf, and that's her date Gary, I'm May, and this is Drew, my uh..." May wrinkled up her nose in disgust. "..date," she practically spat.
"May! Help!" Leaf tugged Gary towards the four. Marina walked over with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries, for May.
"Here," Marina smiled, and extracted Leaf's extremely tight grip on Gary's forearm. May shot Marina a thankful grin, and snake her arm out of Drew's to munch on her strawberry's. Marina looped her arm through Jimmy's and shot Leaf a warning look. "Serena says not cross her tonight. And I don't think she wants you to be screaming."
"He's so annoying! Make him stop!" Leaf moaned.
"I know some ways you could shut me up," Gary said suggestively, grinning slyly.
Leaf shot him another death glare, took a deep breath, and promptly pretended he wasn't there.
"Hey, I know that you like the lady, but that is not how you win a proper girl like her over," Charlie laughed, patting Gary lightly on the back. Gary glared at him, and muttered something.
"Right Leaf?" Chuck asked.
"Yes! Thank you!" Leaf exclaimed.
Gary muttered something else incomprehensible, and his eyes turned darker with fury, but he stayed silent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stop it Ash! You eat way too much!" Misty snapped, glaring as Ash stuffed another bite-sized brownie into his mouth. "Hwhat?" Ash mumbled, giving Misty a grumpy glare.
Pikachu sighed, they couldn't even focus on the mini-mission. Especially Ash. He gave a sympathetic look towards Misty.
May flounced over, grinning, though it was forced, and her eyes looked panicked. "I do NOT know how to deal with famous people!"
Misty snorted, "Girl, you are a famous person." Ash nodded his agreement.
"Okay," May breathed deeply, composing herself. "I'm going to go back there. Calem's talking with his family. Drew's off giving V to Soli and Harley. I'm gonna bring everyone together, and over here. It's so much better to keep track of them."
May ran away then, as fast as she could on her heels.
"Ash. Son."
Ash froze, and gulped down his mouthful of chips and spun on his heels, bouncing nervously. "Uh..mom? Grandpa?"
Misty stared with an open mouth, her eyes full of shock. "Ash...this is your...family?"
"Yeah!" Ash said cheerfully, though it looked fake, and kinda forced when Ash's eyes swept over his father, but quickly moved onto his grandfather. Ash reached out and gave his mother a large hug, joyously muttering little nothings. Then he hugged Professor Oak, who smiled and asked where Gary was. Ash motioned vaguely in Gary's direction, and told him that May was bringing them over there.
When Ash came to his dad, he walked right past him, and next to Misty again. "Uh, mom, grandpa, this is Misty, she's a friend," Ash introduced.
Mrs. Ketchum smiled a cozy smile, and reached out for a hug. Misty looked super out of place, like fish out of water, and shyly gave Ash's mother a hug.
The group continued talking, Ash's family getting to know Misty better, while Ash's father stood to the side, the only problem in this perfect picture.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey," Charlotte said breathlessly, pulling along an extremely tall man. "Douceur!"
"Char," Calem grinned wildly, pulling Serena after him to meet his sister. "Wait up!" Dawn yelped, trotting after the pair with a reluctant Paul after them.
Reggie, Mr. and Mrs. Shinji was after Charlotte and Nathan, a trailing Mr. Charbonneau after them. No wonder Paul was so reluctant.
Charlotte embraced her little brother, ruffling his perfect hair, and grinned.
Reggie offered Paul a cheery smile, and Paul gave an awkward half-smile back. Mrs. Shinji went up to Paul, and hugged him tight, fussing over him about the last few months he had been away from home. Mr. Shinji stood stoically away from the family, shifting uneasily on his feet, leaning further and further away from his reuniting family. Dawn gave him a disapproving frown.
Charlotte and Calem talked eagerly, and Serena jumped right in, Charlotte hugging her tightly. They conversed in French, Nathan chipping in once in a while. Mr. Charbonneau felt awkward, and went to stand next to Mr. Shinji. The two started talking business in hushed voices.
When the families were done familiarizing, Paul introduced his parents to Calem's.
Mr. Charbonneau shyly handed the Cryogonal Pokeball to Calem, and the four agents shared urgent looks. They had to get the Volcarona and Cryogonal on lock down.
Calem stepped away from the conversing crowd, Serena nodding to let him know that everything was okay over there.
"Hey. Grass? You there? Psychique talking," Calem whispered quietly, his hand slipping into his right pocket to click on his earpiece. Static crackled for a second. Calem saw Leaf detach herself and drift over to Ash and Misty, her mouth moving, but her words unclear. Than his earpiece crackled again.
"Hey Psychique. How's the C? We have V, and Herbe is getting it secured. You? Grass speaking."
"Yep, I've got C. Where's Herbe taking it?" Calem asked, moving quickly towards the bathroom areas.
"S and H. They're going back to the Base with them, it's most secure spot in the city. S and H are by exit six. Grass," Leaf mumbled, motioning, pretending to be talking to Misty.
"Hey," a new voice interrupted. "V is secure. We need C, NOW. There are two suspects. Ice? Herbe talking," Drew's calm voice traveled through the comms units. Now it was just Gary and May talking with Drew's dad and Rose.
"Yep, the teen that is pretending to be grumpy over by the cocktail table, and the man with the purple glasses talking with Ambassador Landon. Ice," May said.
May picked up Rose, and motioned for Mr. Hayden, Jimmy, Marina, Gary, and Jimmy's family to follow, and started trekking over to Serena, Dawn, Paul, his family, and Calem's family.
Calem quickly walked over, Leaf joining them.
"I've got to go get C on lock down. Get everyone to safety if things get bad. I'll be back. Pretend everything is normal. Leaf'll tell you the rest. I gotta go. Serena?" Calem said quickly, and held out his elbow like a gentleman. Serena shot a smile at her childhood friend, and took his elbow.
May shot them a 'GO!' look, and then started dragging the group towards Ash, his family, Gary's family, and Misty.
Serena's heels clicked against the granite and marble, as they made their way through the guests, observing and swiftly making their way to the two agents. Soon Solidad's bright pink hair, and Harley's purple hair came into view. The two were sipping cocktails with Drew, who had his hands shoved into his pockets, looking awkward.
Solidad seemed to be the cautious one, glancing around and subtly staring at the guests that looked suspicious, reporting to Leaf, so that she could place trackers on them.
Pokemon was allowed in this party, and Leaf's Ivysaur was so small and adorable, it weaved through the crowd, innocently brushing against suspected guests, placing trackers on them for Leaf.
Team Eevee made sure not to bring out any of their Eeveelutions, because that would be too obvious.
Harley acted tipsy, but it was obvious to an experienced agent, that he was simply acting. He was busy teasing Drew about something that made him flush and harrumph unhappily.
Calem quickly made his way over, sticking to the shadowy parts of the room, while Serena held the dogs at bay. She flitted from businessman to government official, all who wanted to talk to the Kalos heir, who had disappeared from the public, and rarely showed up.
You had to have level eight clearance for them to allow you to know the real identities of agents, or the agents gave permission. So even the ambassadors, and other mayors and governors had no idea where the boys all disappeared off to for many months of the year.
"Hey. I've got C," Calem said breathlessly, palming the Pokeball and handing it to Solidad. Solidad grinned at him, and ruffled his hair. Solidad's eyes darted backwards towards the mingling guests. She leaned in, and whispered into his ear.
"Duck."
Calem immediately followed Solidad's directions, ducking low, and rolling, even with his expensive, yet flexible suit. He stood up as he noticed that an angry man from Unova was throwing food at him.
"What the hell?" Calem yelled, motioning over some security.
"Your bitch of a girlfriend refuses to let us talk to you! We deserve answers! If your father refuses to tell us where you go off to, we can only assume the worst! So are you going to tell the truth? Are you guys illegal drug dealers!?" the man yelled back.
Calem stared at him, then snorted. "Why would we be drug dealers? Nah, we do something else, that we are forbidden from telling the public. So..bye bye! And next time you call 'Rena a bitch, your face is going to be beaten in. I don't care who, or how important you are."
Serena grinned at that, and left the crowd to stand by Calem.
Solidad waved to them, and Harley gave them a two finger salute. Drew pushed off the wall to join the two. They stood together and watched Solidad and Harley leave.
But three burly looking men crossed in front of them, smirking and halting the pair. Drew tensed as if wanting to take off, to help them. Serena placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, motioning for him to stop for a moment. She gestured towards the scene again.
Solidad seemed almost to be flirting with them, at least to the inexperienced eye. But the three of them could tell that she was really inching forward, towards the best places to jab a sedative needle. Harley was playing along, stepping in, in a taunting, yet playful way. But, fast as a snake, the two shared affirmative looks before their hands darted out, shoving needles into the muscular mens' arms. Their shocked eyes fluttered backwards as the collapsed.
Harley quietly dragged them to the edge of the room, shadows and dancing lights concealing them. The pair left then, silently and unnoticeably.
"Ready?" Serena prompted motioning towards the now large group conversing over by the edge of the snack tables. "Yeah," Calem nodded, taking Serena's hand into his again. Her cheeks became redder than before, her blush not covering it up.
Drew smirked, flicked his perfectly done hair, and strolled off ahead of them, eager to get back to the others.
Calem and Serena walked nervously, almost awkwardly. But surely that was wrong? They were best friends!
"Come on Rena," Calem motioned for them to speed up, as Drew had already reached the others.
"V and C on the move?" Leaf asked, pulling a device, that was about the size of a phone, and typing furiously.
The families continued talking while the agents gathered around Leaf. Calem pulled out another earpiece, connected with Lucian, and plugged it's code into his own phone-like electronic.
"Shit, we're in trouble."
Leaf's green eyes glinted dangerously in the bright lights, her mouth set in a grim line. "Fourteen of the guests Ivysaur has tagged, have gathered. Another ten over by the fountain, and more, everywhere! There's over fifty! And my sensors...they have weapons, and Pokemon built for destruction. Time to go guys. Get your families out."
Calem nodded, agreeing. "Yes, they definitely have guns." He stared down at his screen, typing furiously. "Fuck! Leaf! Now! Get them out now!"
May immediately darted into action, motioning towards Paul. He nodded his assent.
"Calem, Leaf, Dawn, Jimmy, evacuate the building. Me, Paul, Misty, Ash, Marina, Gary, Serena and Drew will go and slow 'em down. Keep in constant contact through comms. Leaf and Calem? That depends on you guys. Do not shoot unless you are sure. I will not have civilians dying on us today, understand? And when it's verified? Shoot to kill, not to injure. Do you guys understand?" May ordered.
Paul nodded. "It's time for action. No more games, or anything of that sort. It's live or die. No more acting, as part of the guests. If you have to, use your badge. Get people out, fast. And like May said, shoot to kill. We can't afford to let Team Solaceon loose. Calem, call Lucian. Get Cynthia to bring backup. We can't take on more than fifty, and we need more agents."
"Got it," Calem said, giving the OK sign. He stepped off to the side, and quickly talked into the recorder.
"Ready? This is what we're built for. It's the hardest mission yet. And this mini-mission is harder than most of our hardest mini-missions. This is the ultimate mission. Let's have a great start, and finish it fast. Okay?" May urged.
"Yeah, let's do this," Dawn nodded, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder. Misty and Ash shared looks, and looked at Paul as well. "We're ready to take down agents. We're ready kill if we have to," Misty said.
"Yes," Ash said seriously, his brown eyes holding fear, yet honest determination and bravery. He cracked his knuckles, and swung his arms a couple times. "Let's go."
Everyone nodded.
"Go," May shoved the four agents charged with getting civilians out, towards the nearby exits. "Talk through your comms!"
The four took off, towards exit four, and quickly opened the doors, ushering people out. Confused and panicked citizens glared and demanded answers. All the EIA agents would say, was that there was going to be a terrorists attack, and if they didn't get out, they would die.
After that, most of them left willingly. Back to their cars and their homes. Leaving and surrounding the nearby streets. After the first few shots were fired, and something exploded, the crowd became crazed, racing for the nearest doors.
Police started arriving, but were held at bay, as this was a case under the EIA. EIA agents arrived as well, joining the fray and protecting the innocents. As soon as the last, able-to-walk innocent was out of the building, they joined in as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAM!
A gun went off. May shot Serena a look. She pulled out her bow, twisted her quiver on to her back, and took off towards the boxes up high. Drew followed, and gave a quick nod towards May as he left.
Suddenly May saw the woman with the bloody bullet hole in her head.
"Fuck!" May shouted, her voice reverberating in every agent of Team Eevee's ears. "They're shooting to kill! No holding back! If you can't knock out! Kill! Ice's orders!"
"Glace agrees!" Paul said.
"Got it! Water understands!"
"Fire does too!"
"Feu accepts."
"Psychique gets it."
"Fairy."
"Sombre."
"Herbe."
"Psychic."
"Grass."
"Électrique understands! Let's go! AIM TO KILL!" Ash pretty much cheered, leaping at one of the flagged groups.
Misty, Ash, and Paul all drew swords and daggers, jumping right towards the group of Team Solaceon agents. Misty sliced through them, leaving them bloody and wounded, unable to help, while Paul emotionlessly, broke their necks, or when they tried to fight him, kill them however necessary. Ash was was more trying to protect the others from flying projectiles and knocking out, or killing he agents that were wreaking the most havoc.
Everyone's Pokemon were out, many had multiple and all agents, good and bad, were shouting orders and moves, furiously trying to gain ground.
"Frenzy Plant!" Paul yelled, his Torterra wrapping thick, veiny vines around multiple of Team Solaceon's grunts Pokemon.
"Gyarados! Hydro Pump! Corsola! Spike Canon!" Misty called. "Vaporeon! Dodge that Toxic Spikes and Aqua Tail!"
"Pikachu! Volt Tackle! Jolteon, Shock Wave on the Simipour!" Ash grunted his hand did an uppercut on a near by Team Solaceon grunt.
Just when the group seemed to be defeated, and surrounded, EIA agents flooded in, Jimmy, Dawn, Leaf, and Calem joining the fight, though Leaf and Calem seemed to be trying to keep all agents in touch.
May saw Aaron's fists flying, his sword in one hand, his semi-automatic pistol in one hand, firing at the large Pokemon or huge grunts.
May, flew through the mess of people, her wrist to elbow length knives flickering like fire back and forth, slitting ones through, slipping between ribs, doing whatever was necessary.
Gary Dawn, Jimmy, and Marina were slipping through the crowd, to flexible and blending right in with the fighting. They were targeting the leader of the groups, protecting those who needed it, and getting the injured agents to safety.
Suddenly, May's vision zeroed in on a pink haired grunt, who's fist knocked right into Solidad's head.
"NO!" Her voice screamed, echoing. Harley spun around, hand reaching to catch her, and his legs sweeping under the unsuspecting agent.
BAM! The grunt's gun went off, so close to Solidad. Then the blood bloomed on Solidad's pink dress, darkening.
Hilda and N, who were fighting close to Harley, darted forward, warding off the rest of the grunts.
May tore through enemy agents in her way, cutting through them, moving like a deer, zig-zagging. "SOLIDAD!"