Ash, Verity, and Dawn were walking through the forest back from the direction they came. Now that Ash and Verity got their badges, the next stop was obviously Eterna City, but Ash already thought ahead and pointed out that they could make a stop at Floaroma Town to catch a contest that was going to be held there.
Needless to say, as soon as Dawn heard that, she was pumped and led the march happily, while Verity lagged behind from the training Ash forced her and Barry to do. Speaking of which, after the training was done, Barry announced that he was gonna win, then he would catch up to Ash and win their badge first.
And then Lucas told Ash that he was gonna handle directions from now on, which was much more comforting, and Ash believed that way more than what Barry said.
But yeah, that's what led us to right now, where Dawn was so happy she didn't even remember the whole Paul stuff. It had completely left her mind, so much so that when they stopped for lunch, Dawn happily went to baking.
Ash noticed she really liked baking a lot. He tried teaching her to cook one time because she was curious, and she was horrible at it. Not Misty or May-level bad, but way worse than Ash. But baking was one thing that she was great at, which made no sense. Baking was way harder than cooking, but whatever.
And hey, it made sense why over in Masters, her Palentine outfit was a full-on cute baking outfit, which made him think if he should get her a dress like that as a gift one of these days. Eh, maybe on Palentine.
But while Ash was lost in thought and setting up today's lunch, Verity set up the table, and Dawn placed all her baked goods on the table to cool off. Pikachu's exclamation of "Pika!" caused them all to look over.
And when they did, they saw something that left Dawn stunned...in pure excitement, because nuzzling up next to Pikachu was a little Pachirisu, rubbing her electric pouches on Pikachu's.
Dawn immediately got excited at first sight, "Oh my Mew, she's so cute! I have to catch her!" she exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Pikachu was trying to take a step away, but Pachirisu nudged after him. When he took two steps, she took two steps, and she never left his side no matter how much Pikachu tried to run.
Pikachu looked around helplessly and saw Vee sitting on a rock, not doing anything, and he called out, "Pika! [Bro, help me!]"
But Vee did nothing. Then, when Pikachu squinted, he saw Vee was biting his tongue, trying not to laugh.
Meanwhile, over with Dawn, Ash considered helping her out, but nah, where is the fun in that? So he just sat down and enjoyed the show.
Dawn grabbed Piplup's Poké Ball and was gonna throw him out, but then from her belt, another ball opened. Buneary jumped out and stood out in front of Dawn, puffing out her chest and glaring at the Pachirisu.
Buneary looked back at Dawn and punched her little chest, "Buneary! [I'll take care of this rat. How dare she go after my man!]"
Of course, Dawn did not understand what she said. She just thought that Buneary wanted to battle, so she nodded, "Okay, let's do this, Buneary!"
Buneary marched up and pointed at Pachirisu, getting her attention, "Bun-Buneary! [You, get away from my man now!]"
Pachirisu stopped and then looked over as she puffed out her small chest and marched forward, "Pachi! [Your man? I don't see your name on him!]"
They started going back and forth with things that, let's just say, Dawn and Verity were lucky that they didn't understand what they were saying, and Ash had to turn off his Aura halfway through because, oh my lord.
Meanwhile, Pikachu, hearing this, looked around pleadingly, "Pika? [Don't I get a say in this?]" But he was ignored.
And in fact, when he looked over at Vee, he was turned when he saw that Vee was keeled over using [Calm Mind] to try not to laugh, and he was only barely keeping it together.
Then the two little Pokémon began duking it out and scrambling on the ground, rolling all over the place. Verity slowly leaned over to Ash and whispered, "Is...is that even a battle?"
"I don't know anymore," Ash said as Buneary slapped Pachirisu with her ear, only to earn a slap back from Pachirisu's tail.
They both stumbled back, then got up and glared at the other.
Buneary suddenly charged, "BUNEARY! [GET AWAY FROM HIM!]"
Pachirisu charged right back, "PACHIRISU! [MAKE ME!]"
They collided head-on, rolling across the grass in a tiny blur of fur, ears, and tails.
Dawn blinked, "Uh…"
Verity slowly looked toward Ash, "Ash?"
Ash was just enjoying the show while he ate with chopsticks, "Yeah?"
"Are you seriously not going to stop them?"
Ash took another bite, "Nope."
"Wha—but there...that…" Verity pointed at the two Pokémon tumbling on the ground.
"Verity, I have learned two things, and I'm gonna teach you one of them. In situations like these, you sit down and enjoy the show so you don't get dragged into things. So you can either sit down next to me and eat while we watch, or you can stop them, in which case I will lose my entertainment and I'll have to find entertainment elsewhere, if you get what I mean," Ash said in one breath.
Verity did not need more. She turned around, pulled up a chair, grabbed a bowl of rice, and sat right down next to Ash, saying no more. She did not want to be part of that 'entertainment.' She knew better at this point.
Verity quietly ate her rice beside Ash, carefully avoiding eye contact with the battlefield. Meanwhile, Dawn was still completely focused on the fight.
"Come on, Buneary! You can do it!"
"BUNEARY! [I'm going to destroy you!]"
"PACHIRISU! [You wish!]"
The two Pokémon rolled across the grass again, Buneary grabbing Pachirisu by the tail while Pachirisu grabbed one of Buneary's ears.
Pikachu stood a few feet away, staring at the scene with the most exhausted expression he could have, "Pika...[Why is this happening to me?]"
Vee was still sitting on his rock, his eyes squeezed shut as he desperately tried to maintain his [Calm Mind], but his shoulders were shaking from holding back his laughter.
Pikachu looked over at him, "Pika. [You're enjoying this.]"
Vee slowly opened one eye, "Vee...[No…]"
Pikachu narrowed his eyes.
Vee immediately looked away, "Vee...[Maybe a little.]"
Pikachu sighed.
Meanwhile, Buneary finally managed to push Pachirisu away and jumped backward, landing on her feet. She puffed out her chest and pointed dramatically, "Buneary! [You're not taking him from me!]"
Pachirisu stood up and shook herself off before pointing her tail right back at Buneary, "Pachirisu! [Then you're going to have to stop me!]"
The two charged again.
Dawn cheered from the sidelines, "Buneary! Use [Double Slap]!"
Buneary immediately rushed forward, swinging her ears.
Pachirisu ducked under the first strike, then spun around and smacked Buneary with her tail, sending the little rabbit stumbling backward.
Buneary dug her feet into the grass and stopped herself before falling.
Dawn pumped her fist, "That's okay! Try [Quick Attack]!"
Buneary suddenly burst forward and slammed into her, sending both Pokémon tumbling through the grass.
Ash took another bite of rice, "Honestly, I'm impressed."
Verity glanced at him, "By what?"
"Neither of them has actually used a proper attack yet."
Verity looked back at the two Pokémon rolling around, "...That's...how can you even tell that?"
"I have trained for many years to spite everyone to my full potential. I recognize spite from a mile away," Ash said sagely.
Verity stared at him for a moment, then she looked away, sighing, deciding it wasn't worth saying what she wanted to say right now.
Dawn, meanwhile, was still cheering, "Buneary! Get her!"
"Buneary! [GET OFF MY MAN!]"
"Pachirisu! [MAKE ME!]"
Vee finally lost control. He fell backward off the rock, rolling onto the grass while laughing.
Pikachu slowly turned toward him, "Pika. [Glad you're having fun.]"
Vee continued laughing.
Ash kept eating rice and decided something should be done before those two gouged out each other's eyes. He called out to Dawn, "Yo, Dawn, you can use Pikachu again if you want."
Dawn immediately perked up, and her smirk slowly turned toward Pikachu, who flinched and slowly started taking steps back while shaking his head frantically. But it was no use. Dawn quickly grabbed Pikachu and threw him into the middle of the two Pokémon.
Then she raised her arm, "Pikachu, use [Attract]!"
Pikachu rolled in the middle, making the two Pokémon stop and immediately turn to look at him. Pikachu awkwardly raised his hand in a wave. He didn't even wink this time, and it was enough. Both of the small Pokémon turned red and fell over from overstimulation, and Vee in the background just laughed harder.
Dawn pumped her fist and ran over, patting Pikachu's head. Then she grabbed a ball from her belt and tossed it, hitting the little Pachirisu. She got pulled in, then the ball rolled three times before it clicked shut.
Dawn raised her hands in victory, holding up the ball, "I did it! I caught Pachirisu!"
From the side, Ash and Verity gave a respectful clap, and Ash decided he'd let her have this one before she learns the horrors of raising an electric rat, but it doesn't matter too much. After all, he's trying to stall as much as possible.
Speaking of which, he needs to go get a certain Pokémon he promised he'd get for Sinnoh. Plus, she'll be pretty good for the next Gym.
—-
{Back with Ashtwo}
D moved through the route in the cover of night. He had to due to the situation he was going into. He didn't have anything confirmed, but he had a pretty good idea of what he was going to find in there.
But when he saw the Valley Windworks in the distance, he saw something. Even though it was so late, at the front door, there were two girls knocking at the door, an older one around his age and a second one around Molly's, and the older one had a torn-up lab coat in her arms.
D recognized them. They were Marnie and Paige, the young girls, and the daughter of the main electrical engineer of the Valley Windworks, Karsten.
The little one, Paige, kept knocking on the door, "Daddy! Daddy! Where are you?!" she said, with tears in her eyes.
But the older one, Marnie, had her head down and put a hand on Paige, "Paige, we've been here all day. It's getting dark."
"No, I want to see Daddy! Aren't you worried? Look at his coat," Paige said, pointing at the jacket in Marnie's hands, "Drifloon brought it to us. That means Daddy is hurt!"
D froze for a moment as he watched the two girls standing outside the Valley Windworks, but he quickly moved past it. That wasn't his problem right now. He came here to do his own thing and do whatever the heck Giovanni wanted him to find.
But then something caught his attention. He heard something in the air. He looked up quickly, but he didn't see anything in the sky.
But that's only if your view is too narrow, because next, D activated his Aura to check.
And that's when he saw it. In the sky, there was an airship that was cloaked, heading directly toward the Valley Windworks. And if that wasn't bad enough, when D got a better look, he noticed that it was a Hunter J ship.
D's expression immediately changed, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
D immediately looked back toward the two girls.
The older one was still trying to convince the younger girl to leave, "Paige, come on. We have to go."
"No! Daddy is still in there!"
D cursed under his breath. If Hunter J saw those two, that would complicate things because, knowing her, she would either turn them into statues or use them as hostages.
So as the airship was moving towards them, D moved, and before either girl could react, he rushed over and quickly covered both of their mouths.
"Mmph?!"
"Mm?!"
He grabbed them both and pulled them around the side of the building, keeping them hidden behind the wall.
Marnie's eyes widened in panic as she tried to pull away, but D's Meowth crawled up his shoulder and made a shush expression while D quietly said, "Shhh."
Paige stared up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.
"For all of our sake, be quiet, both of you," he whispered. Then he gestured up, and Meowth pointed up to help emphasize it.
Both girls looked up, and at first, they saw nothing, but then, when the airship got close enough, it turned off its cloaking and landed right in the middle of the field.
Immediately, both girls' eyes widened in surprise, and once D made sure they saw it, he slowly pulled his hands back off of their mouths and put a finger on the scarf around where his mouth should be, "Shh."
Both girls nodded quickly.
D peeked around the corner of the building, watching as the airship finished its descent. The engines slowly powered down, and it opened, and from it, henchmen started marching out, followed shortly by none other than the woman of the hour, Hunter J.
"Of all the times..." D muttered under his breath.
Marnie carefully leaned around the corner, trying to get a better look, but D immediately put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back, "Don't," he whispered, "You don't want her seeing you."
Marnie looked confused, "Who is she?"
D glanced toward the ship again, "Someone you really don't want to meet."
Paige nervously grabbed onto Marnie's arm, "Is she gonna hurt Daddy?"
"You don't want me to answer that," D muttered, as he quickly pulled out two small drones and sent them out to get a better look inside the building. He gestured with his head to the two girls to move with him, and seeing as they didn't know what was going on, they didn't have much of a choice.
So quietly, they moved over to the trees where they hid behind them, and D pulled out his tablet and began checking it. When he saw what was going on in there, that confirmed it. Mars was there, standing over Karsten as he was being forced to work by multiple Team Galactic members.
As he was looking, Paige slowly leaned over and saw her dad tied down to a chair and immediately gasped, "Da—" she was about to exclaim, but D quickly covered her mouth again before she could yell out.
"Be quiet! Are you trying to get us caught?" he whispered as loud as he could.
D kept his hand over Paige's mouth for another second before slowly pulling it away.
Paige looked up at him with wide eyes, then whispered, "Sorry…"
D sighed quietly, "It's fine. Just keep your voice down."
Marnie nodded quickly, still staring at the tablet in D's hands, "That's my dad…"
"Yeah," D muttered, looking at the screen, "And those are Team Galactic members."
Marnie's expression hardened, "Team Galactic?"
D nodded, "Yep."
Paige looked between them, "Are they the bad guys?"
"Yes," D said without even having to look at her.
Paige nodded seriously, "Okay."
D let out a breath as he watched the situation. He didn't know if Galactic and Hunter J were working together just yet. He hopes that they weren't and that Hunter J is just here to steal the Pokémon, and then Team Galactic will fight back. That is the best case.
But even if it isn't, D came here to screw over Team Galactic's plans anyway, so why not? Looks like he gets to have some fun. But first, he needs to make sure these two girls don't get in the way.
And on top of that, I think it's about time he gives his darling a little call.
—
{In the Sinnoh branch of Interpol}
Anabel was just getting set up here while Looker had the desk next to her with his arms behind his head. Meanwhile, glued to her side was Miruto, sitting in a swirly chair and kicking her feet, just waiting.
Looker looked over and smirked, "So, how are you feeling now that you have a little 'apprentice'?" he said.
"Its partner, get it right," Anabel sighed as she sat down in another chair, "And I'm still trying to get used to this whole thing."
"Yeah, well, I had to deal with it when I had you, so now it's your problem," Looker said completely shamelessly. He wasn't gonna do more work if he didn't have to.
Meanwhile, Miruto didn't really mind them talking about her while she was right here. If she did, she shouldn't be here. She continued waiting, "So, Ms. Anabel, what's our first mission?!"
"First, just call me Anabel, and second, at the moment we are just getting settled. Being part of the International Police isn't just about missions. Sometimes you're gonna be doing paperwork all day, and other times you're on desk duty," Anabel said, trying to sound wise.
But unfortunately for her, Looker leaned over, "Don't worry. Anabel hated desk duty too," he said, completely shattering the 'cool big sis' vibe Anabel was trying to pull.
Anabel stared at Looker for a moment, then slowly turned toward him with a completely flat expression, "You know, I was trying to sound professional."
Looker shrugged, "And I was trying to make sure you didn't get too full of yourself."
Miruto raised her hand slightly, "Excuse me, but can we please focus on the mission?"
Looker blinked and looked at her, "We don't have a mission yet."
Miruto immediately opened her notebook and started writing something down.
Anabel raised an eyebrow, "What are you writing?"
"Important information."
"What information?"
Miruto looked up completely seriously, "That you two get distracted very easily."
Looker immediately burst out laughing.
Anabel sighed and rubbed her forehead, "We're going to have a long partnership, aren't we?"
"Probably," Miruto said before looking back down at her notebook.
Looker leaned toward Anabel and whispered, "I like her."
"I can hear you," Miruto said without looking up.
Looker grinned, "See? She's perfect."
Anabel sighed again, but before she could respond, she got a message on her computer. While she was in the middle of trying to tell Looker to stop playing around, she looked and immediately stopped when she saw who it was from: D. How did she know? Only one person calls her Darling.
Anabel stared at the message on her computer for a moment, then slowly looked over at Looker.
Looker leaned over slightly, trying to see the screen. The moment he saw the title, his eyebrows shot up. Even though he also remembers how D speaks, every time he sees it, he still can't help but snort.
Anabel glared at him, "Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was thinking something."
"I can see that."
Miruto looked up from her notebook, "Who is it?"
Anabel immediately closed the message, "No one."
Miruto blinked, "You just said it was no one."
"Yes."
"Then why did you close the message?"
"Because I received a private message."
Miruto narrowed her eyes slightly, "From whom?"
Anabel froze for half a second.
Looker immediately jumped in, "Probably someone from the office."
Anabel slowly looked at him.
Looker gave her a subtle thumbs-up.
Miruto stared at the two of them suspiciously, "...Right."
Anabel quickly cleared her throat and pointed toward a stack of paperwork, "Actually, Miruto, could you do me a favor?"
Miruto looked at the paperwork, "What kind of favor?"
"I need you to take these reports over to the records department."
Miruto glanced at the stack, then back at Anabel, "Why?"
"Because I need to look into something here."
Miruto looked at the computer, "Is this related to the message?"
Anabel's eye twitched, "No."
Miruto stared at her.
Anabel stared back.
Looker was desperately trying not to laugh.
Finally, Miruto sighed and stood up from her chair, "Fine."
She picked up the stack of papers and tucked them under her arm, "I'll take these over."
"Thank you," Anabel said with a smile that was just slightly too forced.
Miruto turned around and started walking away, but before she left, she stopped. She looked back at Anabel, "Also…"
Anabel's smile faded slightly.
Miruto pointed toward the computer, "The title said 'To My Darling.'"
Anabel's entire body froze, and Miruto continued, completely serious, "Please keep your romantic life out of the office. It's extremely unprofessional."
Anabel's face immediately went bright red, "W-Wait! It's not—"
Miruto raised one hand, "I don't need to know."
"But—"
"I said I don't need to know."
Miruto walked away, leaving Anabel completely speechless.
Looker waited until Miruto was out of earshot before finally bursting out laughing, "HAHAHAHA! Oh my Arceus!"
Anabel slowly turned toward him, "Stop laughing."
"She thinks you have a secret boyfriend!"
"I know!"
"And apparently you're being unprofessional!"
"Looker!"
Looker wiped a tear from his eye, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just, she's not even wrong from her perspective."
Anabel covered her face with both hands, "This is a disaster."
She pulled her hands down, then checked to make sure no one else was in the room before opening the message up again, "This better be important, or I'm going to kill him."
She opened it and read it, then immediately took a breath, "Okay, it is important. Ima be honest, I was not expecting that."
Looker finally looked over and looked at what she was checking. Now, obviously, what Anabel saw was the message talking about Team Galactic, but Looker saw something else. The messenger talked about Hunter J. That alone made Looker lock in.
"Where?" he said seriously.
Anabel blinked, "Uh, the Valley Windworks?"
Looker got up and grabbed his communicator and spoke into it, "Requesting backup. We have it on good authority that Hunter J has been spotted at the Valley Windworks. I repeat, Hunter J has been spotted at the Valley Windworks."
Anabel blinked owlishly. After all, she was not too familiar with Sinnoh's most-wanted list other than Team Galactic. She had no idea who this Hunter J was, and when Miruto returned, Looker looked at both of them and spoke.
"Looks like you're getting your wish. We are mobilizing now," Looker said, quickly putting his trench coat on and walking toward the door.
Miruto looked confused, then she looked over to Anabel and asked, "What is going on?"
"Someone called Hunter J is aper—" But Anabel didn't get to finish. Her eyes widened.
"Hunter J! We're going after Hunter J?!" she exclaimed.
"Again, who?" Anabel asked.
Miruto looked at her like she was strange, but she could excuse it since, from what she read on Anabel's file, she was Kantonian. She pulled out a notebook, "Hunter J is a Pokémon hunter, but not just that, she is the single most wanted person not associated with any organization. The International Police has been after her for years, but they've never been able to catch her. How do you not know all of this?"
Anabel stared at her, "...Because I was busy dealing with other things?"
Miruto tilted her head, "Like what?"
"Things."
"What things?"
"Important things."
Looker snorted as he walked past them, "Don't worry about it. Anabel has a habit of being completely unaware of anything happening outside of whatever case she's currently working on."
Anabel glared at him, "And you have a habit of being annoying."
"It's a gift."
Miruto quickly flipped through her notebook again, "Anyway, Hunter J is extremely dangerous. She's known for stealing rare Pokémon, selling them to wealthy clients, and taking jobs from anyone who can afford her services. She has also been responsible for multiple incidents involving Pokémon being forcibly captured."
"And we need to move. If we waste time talking here, Hunter J could already be escaping. Hopefully, 'he' stalls her enough for us to get there," Looker said, referring to D, even though he did not say his name for obvious reasons.
Miruto tilted her head, "He? Who is he? Do we have someone undercover working near the Valley Windworks?"
"Uhhhh, it's complicated," Anabel said quickly, coughing into her hand.
"Again, walk and talk," Looker called out as he was already at the door.
"Okay, let's do this." Anabel took a breath and walked after him, with Miruto running shortly behind. Now it was a race against time.