Ash toweled his hair dry and felt genuinely good about the morning.
Ten draws, one black-tier item. Tekkai, one of the Rokushiki's six core techniques. The principle was straightforward, spreading power evenly through the body until the skin reached the density of forged steel, capable of turning aside blades and conventional firearms without damage.
He ran through the logic of it while he dressed. His own physical conditioning already put him well beyond normal human durability, but durability that required conscious effort was different from durability that was simply there. Tekkai would close that gap.
It'll still hurt, he noted privately. Just won't break anything.
Good enough.
"You're up early," he said, stepping out of the bathroom.
Sabrina was already dressed, silver hair loose, looking out the window at the canal below with a cup of tea in her hand. She glanced back at him.
"I want to meet Latios and Latias properly. So I'm coming with you today."
Ash looked at her for a moment, then nodded. "Noon. The main square."
"I know." She turned back to the window. "I heard you agree to it last night."
...
Alto Mare Port, same morning
The grunt kept his eyes forward and his voice low. "Sir Archer, this operation falls under Lady Ariana's jurisdiction. Why come personally?"
The man standing at the prow of the docked vessel had dark green hair cut close and neat, and the kind of bearing that came from either exceptional breeding or exceptional violence. Possibly both. He didn't look at the grunt when he answered.
"Don't ask questions that aren't your business. Do what you're told."
The grunt bent at the waist immediately. "Understood. My apologies."
Archer, Team Rocket's top-ranked executive and the only person within the organisation who genuinely believed he could one day replace Giovanni, clasped his hands behind his back and looked out across the waterways of Alto Mare.
He hadn't come here for Ariana's mission. He hadn't come here for Giovanni at all.
He'd come here for something he'd spent years tracking through ancient ruins and incomplete historical records, a source of power that predated Team Rocket, predated the modern Pokémon League, predated almost everything currently standing. He'd found it recently. Or rather, found where it was.
Getting it without Giovanni noticing was the challenge.
"Report," he said to the two men behind him.
Kenji, captain of his A-team and one of two people Archer trusted with anything resembling honesty, stepped forward. He handed over a small envelope of photographs without comment.
Archer opened it.
His green eyes contracted.
"How is he here." It wasn't quite a question. He looked at Ryota, captain of the B-team. "Your surveillance team confirmed he returned to Kanto."
Ryota stood rigid. "They did, sir. The confirmation was solid. He departed Blackthorn City and the trail went cold in Kanto. We had no indication he would redirect here."
Archer looked at the photograph again, Ash Ketchum in a canal-side square, Pikachu on his shoulder, completely unaware of the camera, and dropped it on the deck.
"He has spatial techniques," he said, more to himself. "Of course the trail went cold." He exhaled slowly through his nose. "And Annie and Oakley?"
Kenji's expression said everything before he spoke. "Last confirmed sighting was yesterday evening, sir. No contact since."
Archer was quiet for a long moment.
"He has them," he said flatly.
Neither Kenji nor Ryota argued with that assessment.
"Sir..." Kenji started carefully. "Should we notify Lady Ariana?"
"No." Archer turned away from the water. "We're not here on Ariana's behalf and I'd prefer Giovanni not know we're in the same city as Ash Ketchum until I have what I came for." He looked at Ryota. "Tell me you brought the replica."
Ryota nodded and gestured to one of the men behind him, who stepped forward carrying a slim case.
"Good." Archer took it without opening it. "The original needs to be replaced before anyone notices the substitution. That's the entire operation. Clean, quiet, no confrontation." He paused. "Ash Ketchum being here complicates that considerably, which means I need him occupied."
Kenji looked at him carefully. "You want us to engage him, sir?"
"I want you to slow him down," Archer said. "There's a difference." He looked at both of them steadily. "You've both served me well. So I'll be direct with you. What I'm taking from this city will make Giovanni's current resources look trivial. And once I have it, the question of who runs Team Rocket answers itself."
Kenji and Ryota stared at their boss.
"I understand if that changes your calculation," Archer said simply. "But if you're with me, I need Ash Ketchum looking the other direction for the next six hours."
The two captains exchanged a look.
Then they both turned back to Archer and nodded.