[h2][u][b][center]Zephyr Base - Sootopolis City[/center][/b][/u][/h2][quote]Grand Conserve Kline tilted her head slightly at the first request. "[i]Yes,[/i]" she thought to have him continue. She pulled in her lips at the second request. "[i]They're not,[/i]" she thought as she nodded slowly. She nodded twice quickly and moved to take a file out of her desk at the last request.
	The image of her memory of their meeting 5 years ago appeared once again. Her voice was heard over the image as she thought about what she remembered he'd told her. At the same time, she addressed Tristan's points in reverse order.
	"It's perfectly fine, Investigator Aeros. We're well beyond protocol at the moment."
	She placed the file onto the desk and opened it. It was a black file with "PROJECT SHADOW" typed in bold on the front. It was a relatively thin file. Most of the pages appeared to be loose lined paper with her own handwriting making up most, if not all, of the text. Her mind sped through the theories she had crafted which involved Team Zodiac managing to summon the Pokemon League and Rangers to somehow convince them to enact his ideals and the complete destruction of the entire world, among others. She closed the file as she seemed to grow nauseous from her own thoughts and slid it forward for Tristan to take from her.
	"My understanding is that Pisces had already recruited those he was going to recruit: the 11 other Team Zodiac members. He gave no hint to amassing a large organization or converting the population to his ideals. I think he believes that will occur organically."
	She was still very calm outwardly. But her heart raced and pounded in her chest a bit more vigorously than when they had entered. It was impressive how composed she could remain despite understanding the imminent danger the entire counter was currently in.
	"I cannot speak as to the 'how' he went about recruiting the 11 other members he suggested, though. And, unfortunately, I have only met with Pisces that one time in my office here five years ago."
	The image of the memory appeared once more. The same as the other three times. The room looked nearly exactly the same as it was in this moment. She also looked nearly-identical to her own memory. He appeared relatively the same as they had seen before, but noticeably younger - clean shaven and evenly short hair. His cheeks and jaw were a bit rounder than they had seen before. He was likely only in his late twenties now if he was in his early twenties during this memory of Kline's.
	"All I know is that he was a young man with a Gorebyss and Huntail. He spoke about purifying the world in its relationship between humans, Pokemon, and nature. I remember him mentioning that our reliance and use of technology would lead to the destruction of the world, and he was going to do everything in his power to prevent that from happening. I tried to ask him what made him think the world would end if we continued on as we were, but he was awfully vague and essentially just repeated himself."
	"[i]Life is a cycle. Civilizations have risen to great power only to crumble soon after they reach their peak.[/i]"
	The voice was notably not her own. She seemed to be able to recall the timbre of his voice quite accurately. It was a medium and smooth tenor that as handsome as he appeared in his navy suit that he seemed to still wear back then.
	"I recorded what I could remember of the conversation in there. The rest of those documents are my own musings as to what he possibly meant. I also tried to determine how he came to such beliefs and opinions and philosophies. But since the Master General denied all of my requests for resources to look into this - into him and this Team Zodiac - further, that is all I have on the subject."
	She looked down at her hands that she had weaved together soon after she provided the file to Tristan. She breathed deeply in what felt like disappointment. She was disappointed in herself for not discovering more and disappointed in Dick for not providing her resources, as much as she understood his situation.
	More interesting than her honest admissions, as far as Ether could tell, was the utter lack of any hint of any memory regarding the meeting they all knew she had with Pisces three years ago near Lilycove. There was no flash of an image or a short thought regarding that interaction. This was notably strange alongside her obvious effort in recalling all she could for the Investigator. She was actively trying to not hide anything, yet a memory they both knew she should have was nowhere to be found.[/quote]

[h2][u][b][center]Forrest Johnson Residence - Verdandale Forest[/center][/b][/u][/h2][quote][center]https://open.spotify.com/track/7a1HxZnmLBIbbxWDMq0WVf?si=6c342a391d5f42bb[/center]
	Major White felt it unwise for him to be in the basement. He should have been walking the perimeter of the property to know about any potential dangers as soon as possible. But Lieutenant Multis and her Indeedee convinced him to supervise Jerrek as he exercised. The Indeedee kept psychic communications between the three of them, so he felt marginally more comfortable to indulge the boy.
	"Are we in trouble?"
	Jerrek's naturally high voice that he tried to force down took Major White by surprise. He snapped out of his concentration and looked over to the boy with his mouth slightly open and blinked twice. He paused for a moment as he watched Jerrek stretch his legs.
	"No," he said with slightly furrowed brows. "No. No. Nothing like that. No," he added as he managed to transition from a panicked to a more relaxed tone.
	"Then why are you guys here?"
	The Major's brows drew together and his jaw dropped slightly once again. He blinked a few times. He was relieved he didn't have to answer right away.
	"And why is Mom so sad?"
	His heart skipped. Mrs. Johnson looked fine - normal this morning. What made him think she was sad?
	"Is Dad in trouble with you guys?"
	"Oh," he said with a relieved but still-nervous chuckle. "No, your dad's not in trouble."
	"[i]He's risking his life for our country.[/i]"
	"But why do you say that - about your mother?" he asked both because he was intrigued but to also in an attempt to further Jerrek from the topic.
	"Well, Mom's usually quieter in the morning. When she talks that much, she's scared or mad about something."
	"She's just being a gracious host to both Lieutenant Multis and I," he lied.
	"Yeah, that makes sense," Jerrek said and seemed disappointed that he was wrong. "Do you know where Dad went?" Jerrek asked as he thought about how his father left before any of them woke up. It was strange since Forrest usually said good-bye to all of them before he went off on one of his "jobs."
	"No, I don't, son," he said with a slow shake of his head and a mask of sympathy over his face. "I'm sorry."
	Jerrek transitioned from stretching his legs to stretching his groin and had moved to his torso. Major White was intrigued how seriously this young boy took his physicality. He thought how he didn't even step into a gym until he enlisted into the Rangers at 18. This boy had seemingly made this home gym where he spent most of his time. It intrigued Major White to the point of him asking a question he didn't intend or expect to ask.
	"You really like exercising, huh?"
	"It's okay," Jerrek said with a strange amount of apathy in his voice.
	The Major pulled his brows together and tilted his head. "Well, you should be doing fun stuff like playing with your siblings."
	Why was this kid working like a professional athlete if he didn't find it fun?
	"Dad's not here, so I have to catch up to him so I can protect everyone."
	The Major's heart skipped again and chills ran down his body. That was not a healthy thought for such a young boy to have, he knew that much. He didn't have children of his own because he knew he'd be away from them so often. He could intimately imagine how heartbroken he, himself, would feel if he had a son who had the same thought. It verified to him that he shouldn't seek out having children of his own.
	"That's why we're here, bud," he said as he fought tears from welling in his eyes. He softened his voice if only because he felt it would break. "You should go out and play with your siblings."
	He put a hand on the boy's shoulder that he was stretching. Jerrek looked back at him with his own sympathetic eyes and pulled a corner of his lip into his cheek. The only thing the Major could do was plead with his eyes.
	"That's okay, I don't mind."
	"[i]You don't mind? What does that even mean?[/i]" 
	"And I kind of view this as spending time with my dad."
	 An Icicle Spear pierced through is chest. It was wholesome that Forrest's eldest son took after his father's apparent passion of fitness, if only out of a sense of obligation. It was heartbreaking to consider that Jerrek's dedication seemed to come from a place of feeling abandoned and that he had to fill the role his father left vacant while away on missions.
	"Okay," he said as the cold feeling of utter defeat washed over and pierced through him.
	"So, what are you working on today?" he eventually said as he composed himself - distracted himself from feeling the rush of emotions he felt inappropriate to reveal in front of a young boy. He looked over to a rather large dry-erase poster on the wall. The top said "DAD" and had tables and charts of different exercises and records. He looked around until he found the one that said "JERREK" and walked closer to it to read it more carefully.
	"Just Tuesday," Jerrek said plainly with a shrug.
	The Major saw how intensive each day was scheduled. He watched in awe at the tenacity and strength this young boy possessed. He, of course, worried Jerrek would hurt himself, which was why Jeanne told him to supervise Jerrek in the first place. But Jerrek's form was perfect and he seemed to understand how best to reach his limit but not overextend himself. He could tell Forrest was at least home often enough to coach Jerrek rather diligently while Jerrek took the discipline so seriously for a 10-year-old.[center]----------[/center]
	Elizabeth sat on the branch and closed her eyes as she felt the Surskit crawl over her. She giggled when its little legs tickled her. She let it walk over her hands and arms. It sat on her head and blew small bubbles into the air that popped in front of her face that made her flinch. She opened her eyes and started to pop the bubbles.
	"Indeed," the Indeedee said long and in a low alto. "[i]It's not safe up there, Elizabeth. Please come down before you accidentally fall.[/i]"
	She groaned loud and threw her head back which made the Surskit fly from her head and fall to the ground. But the bug was so small and light that it seemed to harmlessly float down.
	"Oh no!" Elizabeth yelled with a gasp and rushed to lower herself down the tree.
	She didn't freeze when she noticed how high up she actually was. She had to be careful but quick to make sure the Surskit was okay - that she didn't hurt it. She didn't pay any attention to the Indeedee that watched as she raced down the tree and prepared to levitate the girl down should she slip.
	She quickly reached the ground and proceeded to rush around and comb through the long grass to find the Surskit.
	"Where are you? Are you okay?" she yelled out in a panic that sounded relatively exaggerated.
	She shrieked which made the Indeedee panic and rush over. Lieutenant Multis even heard and started to search for Elizabeth.
	"What happened?" she shouted at a distance.
	They heard laughter and looked over to Elizabeth who was now rolling around and laughing boisterously. The Surskit had hid from her and surprised her with a Bubble, it seemed. The two took a deep breath looked at each other in relief. 
	"[i]We're going to have to keep a close eye on this one,[/i]" Lieutenant Multis thought.
	"[i]I will,[/i]" the Indeedee thought back.[center]----------[/center]
	"Don't stress too much about her. She's going to hurt herself - does it at least once a day. The record is 5 times in a day," Jeanne said with a light chuckle.
	She didn't look up as she picked lum berries while Shelynn was on her back and picked berries above her head. They soon filled the basket so Jeanne grabbed it and rose to bring it inside. Shelynn clung to her back like a Pansage on a Simisage - like it was natural and expected.
	"I wanna get that one!" Rowan shouted gleefully at Lieutenant Multis as he jumped and pointed at a sizeable bunch of cheri berries.
	"Those aren't ripe yet, hon," Jeanne said. She walked over with Shelynn on her back to turn the branch with the berries around to show how green they were on the other side.
	"Look, these are ripe," she said and pointed to a cluster on the tree next to it.
	Lieutenant Multis picked Rowan up under his arms and put him on her shoulder. She made sure to hold the basket up for him so he could toss the berries in as he carefully picked them.
	"You don't need to do that," Jeanne said quietly to the Lieutenant when she noticed the Lieutenant's apparent lack of enthusiasm for tending to the children.
	"No, it's alright. I enjoy it," she said with a straight face.
	Jeanne realized the Lieutenant was just naturally calm in her emotions which made her look unenthused or even stern. So she apologized and left to clean and preserve the berries in the house. The Lieutenant joined them about ten minutes later in the kitchen.
	Jeanne instinctively looked out the window as if to look for someone or something.
	"She's fine. Indeedee is still with her," the Lieutenant said as she intuited that Jeanne was searching for Elizabeth.
	"Oh, good," she said with a smile. "That's good. Although, will you get in trouble for not focusing on - whatever it is you're 'supposed' to do?" she asked in a sense that she understood that the Rangers weren't here to babysit - they were supposed to be keeping on guard or acting as security or patrolling the area or something.
	"We've got it covered. The Major's Ursaring is stalking the area."
	"Oh, that reminds me, is that stream too far away? I feel bad we only have the small kiddie pool for him."
	"If it is, neither of them have complained about it," the Lieutenant said flatly as she ran the berries under the faucet in the sink.
	"Well, I hope you know how very grateful I am to have all of you here and how much I appreciate you both being so great with the kids," Jeanne said while she smiled to herself.
	"Yes, Mrs. Johnson. You've mentioned it several times now," she said with the slightest hint of humor she was capable of. "But we're happy to do it. The Major has worked with Mr. Johnson before and personally requested to be posted here. And he picked me because he knew that Indeedee and I would enjoy working with you."
	"Oh, is that so? I'll have to get him to tell me what my husband is like away from home," Jeanne said wryly. "I'm sure he's as naughty as you, Shelly," she said and pinched Shelynn's cheek which made her squeal with giggles.
	"I'm a good girl!" she said in protest to her mother's accusation.
	"Of course you are, sweetheart," Jeanne said and squeezed the girl in a tight hug. "But you get your mischievousness from your father, little girl," she added and ruffled Shelynn's hair.
	"What's 'mishvissniss'?" Shelynn asked.
	"It means that you go looking to get yourself into trouble," Jeanne said and continued to tease her daughter. "You go into the woods where we tell you not to go alone. You climb trees and can't get back down. And yesterday I had to hose you off outside 'cause you were covered mud!"
	The two shared laughs and giggles as they canned the berries they had collected. Rowan seemed undisturbed as he worked diligently to clean his basket of berries as gently as he could. It was the most focused the Lieutenant had seen the little boy since they arrived. She was silently impressed.
	"Hey Mom. What's for lunch?" Jerrek said as he entered the kitchen from the basement door. Major White followed behind him. Both were shirtless and looked recently wet.
	"There's sandwiches in the fridge," Jeanne said with a shallow smile and gestured her head toward the refrigerator. "Looks like he worked you hard, Major," she added wryly.
	"The boy's got stamina, I'll give him that," Major White said and grinned as he clasped Jerrek's shoulder and shook him a little. "Got me to push myself more than I usually do," he added with a chuckle.
	"Come on, let's go eat by the river with your Ursaring," Jerrek said as he turned around to the Major with some containers and cans.
	Jerrek weaved through to the other side of the kitchen with unexpected finesse - like he'd learned the skill of dodging many people in a tight space. He grabbed a medium-sized cooler and moved back to the Major so they could put in what Jerrek had taken from the fridge. 
	"I wanna go too!" Rowan cried.
	"No whining, hon," she said as she looked into the boy's eyes.
	"Yeah, we'll go swimming after!" Jerrek said with a childish enthusiasm that took Major White by surprise.
	"And tell your sister to come in for lunch if you see her," Jeanne added as Jerrek continued to fill the cooler while the Major held it up for him.
	"Okay," he said passively. "Come on!" he said and waved at Rowan who jumped and raced out through the front door.
	Rowan left the strainer of berries in the sink with the water running. Lieutenant Multis continued where  Rowan had left off.[center]----------[/center]
	"Do you eat at the river often?" Major White asked the boys as they ran around the woods near him in a lax game of tag.
	"Yeah, all the time when Dad's home," Jerrek said as he dodged Rowan's hand with a feint.
	"Your mom doesn't like it?"
	"No, she makes a wait a long time before letting us swim."
	"Well that doesn't mean she doesn't like it. She's just making sure you're safe."
	"But Dad let's us eat [i]in[/i] the river while we swim. He does it with us," Jerrek said through a quick huff as he recovered from a short sprint.
	Rowan leapt out of the bush next to Jerrek and tackled him. Jerrek let them both fall to the ground and roll around as they wrestled each other a bit.
	"Yeah, we just float around and eat," Rowan said through gasps.
	"See? Watch," Jerrek said as they reached the river.
	Jerrek and Rowan took off the rest of their clothes. Jerrek took the cooler from the Major and waded with it into the river. He placed it against some rocks so that it would float in the water but not down the river. He opened it and took out a container for both himself and Rowan. They each then found a root at the edge of the river to hook their foot around so they could float on their backs. They put the containers on their chests and ate the sandwiches as they floated.
	The Major's heart raced a bit as they rushed to do something their mother obviously wouldn't approve of. But he watched as they calmed down and ate in peace. So he brought his finger and thumb up to the corners of his lips and whistled loud and sharp. He then followed the boys' lead of undressing and finding a place to float in the river as he ate a sandwich on his chest.
	He kept a vigilant eye on both of the boys the whole time. He positioned himself downstream from both of them and was prepared to sacrifice the sandwich in order to save either of them at any moment. The river was rather deep, enough so that Rowan couldn't touch the bottom. But they both seemed like they were strong and confident swimmers. But even he knew overconfidence had killed many a Marine Ranger. So he had to make sure they didn't grow too boisterous.
	A low huff and growl sounded above the Major. He looked up to see Ursaring's head looking down upon him. "Come on in," he said with a half-chewed bite of sandwich in his mouth and through a smile.
	The Ursaring huffed louder and turned to walk away, it seemed. The Major shrugged and turned his attention back onto the boys and finished his sandwich. He then got up to wade back to the cooler to grab a drink.
	When he reached Rowan, he watched in silent amusement as his Ursaring gingerly walked into the river. So that's what he was doing. The Major smirked and turned to look at Rowan who had finished his sandwich and had started to return back to the cooler. The Major took the container to allow Rowan to rush toward the cooler but not before he squealed and tried to share his excitement with the Ursaring for being able to swim with an Ursaring.
	The bear seemed disinterested in that level of excitement. So Rowan soon abandoned his brief playing and got another sandwich and started to eat it as he held onto a rock near the cooler. Once the Major made it to the cooler, he was surprised to see that all the cans were beers and that there were bottles of water underneath. Jerrek's foresight impressed the Major as he opened and sipped one of the beers. He sat in the water close to Rowan as the boy ate. Jerrek was back for seconds, himself, and he stood in the shallowest part of the river that reached just above his knees.
	Jerrek watched the Ursaring silently. The bear slowly submerged himself to then only bring his head above water enough to breath. He looked straight upriver and seemed to pretend that none of them were there. The Major found it amusing.
	"You said you're Search and Rescue, right?" Jerrek eventually asked.
	Rowan swam away and directly toward the Ursaring which forced the Major to keep his attention there.
	"That's right. I'm currently assigned to Foretree Jungle."
	The Ursaring huffed as Rowan poked and prodded to beg the bear to pay attention to him and play.
	"Dad said people aren't allowed to hike through there."
	"Most of it, yes. The most central area is technically off-limits. But people will break the law to do the impossible. And all of it is really dangerous, anyway."
	"So no one's hiked through all of it before?"
	"I think there's a few people who've claimed to have done so, but there's no proof. And I don't mean it's literally impossible. It's just really dangerous and you shouldn't try to hike it in the first place."
	"What's the most dangerous thing in there?"
	"It's a toss-up between the Pokemon and the terrain, really. The trees make the ground unstable and prone to rock slides. The elevation changes so quickly, too. There's a lot of sheer cliffs that you have to go up and down. And then the Pokemon there aren't too afraid of humans and most will see us as prey or threats even though they've never seen one before."
	"What's the strongest Pokemon you've had to fight off?"
	"It was an Aggron. Fucking terrifying. I don't know how we made it out alive," he shook his head and lingered a look onto his Ursaring's face. "Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have cursed."
	Jerrek giggled to himself. "Dad swears around us all the time, especially when we're not around Mom. He just says we can't swear ourselves until we learn what they mean."
	Jerrek paused a moment. "What does that mean, anyway?"
	The Major scoffed. "Nice try, kid," he said and pushed Jerrek's arm so he'd stumble, but didn't expect the boy to trip and fall into the water.
	The Major rushed down to him to make sure he was okay, but he got a face full of water. Jerrek splashed the Major a few more times and then yelled taunts through laughter as he swam away. The Major laughed to himself and growled as he pounced into the water to chase Jerrek around. Jerrek wiggled out of his grip a few times before he felt a weight on his back that pushed him under the water. Rowan wrapped himself tight around the Major, so the Major had to muscle the boy off him to then swing and throw him as far as he could into a deeper portion of the river. Rowan shrieked but was quickly silenced by a splash as he sank into the water. The Major watched to make sure Rowan would come back up, but he felt arms wrap up around him from under his own. He hadn't actually felt how strong Jerrek but was still surprised despite having exercised with him. Jerrek almost managed to trip the Major forward, which was also unexpected. But he stiffened his body as if he was holding off an adult and looked over to where Rowan should have been.
	"Where is he?" the Major said through a heavy exhale.
	"What?" Jerrek said through gritted teeth as he playfully tried to wrestle a grown adult as best he could.
	The Major dove forward and pushed through Jerrek's arms as he tried to hold on. Jerrek soon released him as he swam hard, which ended up with his kicking Jerrek in the shin and then the chest. He tried his best to make out the shapes in the murky water. He soon saw the form of Rowan in front of a dark mass. His heart skipped and he swam as fast as he could. He then saw Rowan shoot straight up out of the water. He quickly stood to see what was happening.
	Rowan laughed and kicked his feet out as he sat atop the Major's Ursaring's head. Ursaring appeared a bit better humored as the bear then leaned to fall backward to drop them both back into the water. He shook his head and sighed.
	"Ow, that really hurt," he heard Jerrek whine behind him.
	"Oh, yeah. Sorry," the Major said and moved to attend to Jerrek after he glanced back to make sure Rowan was safe with Ursaring.
	Jerrek sat in a shallow portion of the river where sand had collected to make a kind of platform. He held his shin and looked at it a couple times while he rubbed his chest.
	"Did I break anything?" the Major said and gently took Jerrek's hands away from himself.
	A spot on his right breast looked slightly red and there was no visible damage to the shin. He knew the redness on the chest was only due to Jerrek rubbing it hard.
	"You're okay, bud. Just sit here for a bit. I'm sorry, I panicked."
	"You could'a just told me," Jerrek said in a lesser whine.
	"I did but I didn't explain myself. Still, I'm here to protect you guys. If anything were to happen to any of you, your Dad would kill me," he said with a huff of a laugh.
	He thought how Forrest likely wouldn't actually kill him, but he'd feel entirely guilty and would give his own life as compensation - punishment - for failing his friend.
	"But did you notice how I just stood still and wasn't paying attention to you?"
	"Uh, yeah," Jerrek said with a curled face and genuine curiosity.
	"That's a sign that the other person isn't playing with you and you should stop what you're doing."
	The Major's eyes turned sad - sympathetic. He pulled in a corner of his mouth. "But I'm sorry I hurt you. Are you okay?" he asked and looked over his chest and shin once more to see if there was any unusual swelling or bruising skin that could indicate a broken bone or blood vessels, as unlikely as that was.
	"Yeah, I'm fine," Jerrek said in a pout and pushed the Major away.
	Jerrek got up and walked out of the river and kept going.
	"Hey, calm it down, bud," the Major bellowed out through their splashing and Rowan's screeching. "I'm going to be over there," he said and pointed behind him in the direction Jerrek had gone. "You're in charge of our clothes, big guy."
	He knew how ironic, or potentially counterproductive, that might be. But this would be a chance for the boy to prove to the Major that he could be responsible about clothing.
	"Okay," Rowan called out and waved his hand.
	"Not too rough," the Major added and rose a brow at his Ursaring.
	The bear huffed and splashed Rowan while he kept eye-contact with his Ranger. The Major tilted his head down as a warning. The Ursaring rolled his eyes and then rolled his body down into the water. He let Rowan climb over him but didn't encourage too much rough-housing. So the Major turned to follow wherever Jerrek had gone after he took the cooler so that it wouldn't get lost or damaged.
	Jerrek found a small clearing among the trees and laid on the tall grass to help dry himself off. The Major sat up next to him and took out a beer and sipped on it for a bit in silence. He heard Jerrek roll his head away to face the other direction, but didn't say anything for a while. They could still hear the occasional screech or shout from Rowan, which at least let the Major know Rowan was alive.
	He finished the beer and crushed the can between his hands in front of his chest. He took out the last beer and opened it and started to drink. This gave him enough time to make some realizations about why Jerrek reacted the way he did.
	"Hey, man. I'm sorry for bringing up your dad. It must be hard that he's away so much."
	"I hate him," Jerrek spat.
	"Hey, now. Don't say that. You don't mean it."
	Jerrek pouted silently and didn't respond.
	"He's on a very important mission, you know. He's out there trying to save the world."
	"Yeah, right. I'm not 6. I'm not stupid."
	"Come on, that's not cool. Don't talk about your brother like that."
	"How can he not care?"
	"I'm sure he cares. He just has a different relationship with your dad than you do."
	"That doesn't make any sense. We're both his sons," he said and turned to face the Major as he engaged in the conversation.
	"Sure, that's true. But you're four years older than him. You're the firstborn. You're his oldest son. I'm sure you do your best to fill his role when he's not here, right?"
	"Yeah," Jerrek said through a pout of realization that the Major was making sense.
	"You've had four more years to spend with your dad than Rowan has. And it seems like Rowan is usually in the gardens with your mom. I bet you spend a lot of time in the gym, right?"
	"Yeah," Jerrek said with the same voice.
	"Your dad has a passion for fitness. But it sounds like you do it because you feel you have to - 'cause your dad's not around to offer his strength to your family. Is that right?"
	"Yeah," Jerrek said in a voice that relented any skepticism that the Major didn't understand what he was feeling.
	"That's what's known as resentment. You're mad that you have to fill your dad's shoes when he's not here. And when he's not here for such a long time, you get tired, right? It's pretty exhausting, huh?"
	"Mhm," Jerrek hummed with a nod.
	"I can't imagine how proud he is of you. How much work you put into filling his place, to taking on his responsibilities. Your siblings probably look to you to protect them. They probably rely on you more than you know."
	"They don't care about me. Liz hates me. They know I'm no good at being Dad," he said and fell back into a pout full of sadness.
	"I [i]know[/i] that's not true," the Major said as he fought to keep back tears. "They probably resent him for not being around, too. And because you're trying to fill his role, they're taking it out on you since they can't take it out on your dad. And when he [i]is[/i] home, you all probably forget about it because you're excited he's around. Right?"
	"Really?"
	"Yeah," the Major said low and quietly. "My dad died when I was a few years older than you. I was the oldest of the three of us kids. I worked my ass off to be as strong as my dad. I had to take care of them most of the time while my mom worked all the time to stay in our house and to keep food around. I stopped being a child because I had to be my dad. My brother and sister treated me like shit for a while. But when we became adults, we made up and realized that we were grieving for my dad in our own ways."
	Silence hovered around them for a while. The Major fought to compose himself while Jerrek worked to understand what he was saying.
	"Your dad's not dead, though. He's coming back. But that doesn't make it any less painful. It's like he [i]chose[/i] to leave you. I can't imagine how that feels."
	"It - fucking hurts," Jerrek said as he fought through sobs and gripped the skin on his chest as if he was trying to reach his heart to keep it from beating so hard that it would burst out of his chest.
	"I know, bud. It's okay," the Major said and and gripped Jerrek's shoulder.
	Jerrek threw himself into the Major's chest and hugged him tight. Jerrek crawled onto him as if to try to get into him, to become him. Perhaps he was similar enough in physicality that he just wanted so badly to embrace his own father but was so desperate that he resorted to embracing a man he'd only known for two days. It probably helped that he was physically similar to Forrest. Jerrek sobbed hard into the Major's chest. He felt the boy's face burn against his skin. He felt his own tears burn in his eyes and down his cheeks. He reciprocated the boy's embrace. He rested a cheek atop Jerrek's head and and even squeezed a little harder than Jerrek was able to. He had no children of his own, but he related to the boy like no else could. He knew what he would have wanted from his own father during the hardest times of his life, and so he made sure to give that to Jerrek. His heart broke to see that he wasn't the only one to go through the same hardships he had to as a kid. 
	It felt like a long time before Jerrek stopped sobbing. He sniffed hard a few times into the Major's chest and then loosened his hold around the Major. Jerrek pushed himself up against the Major's shoulders - against the shoulders of an adult - the kind of person who should be the one carrying the burden this 10-year-old boy carried. The Major wondered if Forrest was aware of his kid's feelings toward his work - toward his absence.
	"Thanks Major," Jerrek said. His voice was small and wasn't being forced down to imitate depth of tone.
	"Anytime, bud," the Major said with a single nod and pulled lips.
	Jerrek looked over when they heard a distant shriek. That's right - Rowan was probably still in the river playing with the Major's Ursaring.
	"You wanna go back in?" the Major asked as he looked up at the boy.
	"No," he said with some more strength in his voice. "We should get back to the house before mom thinks we died out here."
	"Good idea," the Major said through a chuckle and pushed himself up to return to the river. 
	It took some convincing to get Rowan out of the river. Ursaring made sure to shake himself off right next to Rowan when they got out of the river together, which made the boy shriek and laugh. Rowan ran toward the clearing which left the Major to gather their clothes. He chuckled to himself for believing a 6-year-old wouldn't forget the task he was assigned.
	Rowan ran around in the tall grass for a bit until he found a place he could fall onto and take a quick nap in the sun, as much as he didn't mean to fall asleep. The Major wondered if this was way Rowan's skin was so dark - because he'd sleep in the sun. 
	Ursaring rolled around a bit in the grass to dry off as much as he could before he left the three to continue walking the perimeter of the property. Jerrek laid next to the Major as they chatted more about the Rangers and more of the Major's life growing up.[center]----------[/center]
	"Mr. Johnson, good evening. I'm Major Stephen White," he said with a casual salute. "Is Mrs. Johnson in?"
	"Oh, well it's my pleasure, Major. Yes, she is. Would you like to come in?" Mr. Johnson asked with some hesitation.
	"I [i]do[/i] need to speak with the both of you. It's rather urgent," he said without a hint of urgency.
	"Um, okay," Mr. Johnson said with pinched brows. "Please, take a seat wherever. May I get you some coffee?"
	"That would be wonderful, thank you," he said with a flat face and sat in one of the armchairs.
	It wasn't long until Mrs. Johnson entered the room with a cup of coffee that she placed down on the coffee table in front of the Major.
	"So we have company. It's a pleasure to have you here, Major. What can we do for you?"
	She sat down on the sofa as Mr. Johnson entered the room with coffee for both himself and his wife. He sat next to her and took a sip of his coffee and kept it in his hands. The Major waited for the two of them to settle.
	"I'm here on behalf of the Master General, himself. He's ordered that the two of you be transferred to your son's residence so he and the Rangers already stationed there, including myself, can protect you."
	Confusion and disbelief fell onto both their faces. They looked at each other and then back to the Major. "I'm sorry, but what is the reason for this?" Mr. Johnson asked.
	"Of course," he started and shifted in his seat which showed the only physical discomfort he felt being the one that had to have this conversation with his friend's parents. "We've gathered intelligence that placed both of you in a great deal of danger."
	He paused a moment before he continued. He wanted to choose his words carefully as to not frighten them more than necessary. "There is a terrorist organization that is not confirmed connected to the Mauville Attack. Information has been gathered that suggests the both of you, specifically, are targets of theirs. We do not know what exactly this means. But we, the Rangers as a whole, are taking every precaution to protect those that this group appears to show interest in."
	The two sat silently as their confusion and disbelief only grew the more he explained the situation. "It's been decided that it would be best if you were to stay at your son's residence so that he, Lieutenant Maltis, and I can protect you as best we can. It's certainly not ideal with the children, but with our resources stretched so thin as we work to protect their other alleged targets, it is the most secure thing we can do at the moment."
	"And we don't have an option?" Mr. Johnson asked.
	"Unfortunately, if you decline, we cannot offer you any security resources."
	"What do you know about this organization?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
	"All we know is that they are horrifically powerful and there are at least 12 of them. More information is currently being sought and we will update you as soon as we know anything."
	"Is Forrest a target, too?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
	"He was not present in the files we acquired. We do not believe your son to be a target, no."
	"And what makes you believe we are targets?" Mr. Johnson asked.
	"They have background checks on the both of you. They appear accurate according to our own records, though they are about 3 years old. They also managed to acquire blueprints of both the Johnson Academy as well as Prof. Fir's Laboratory."
	"I don't understand-" Mrs. Johnson began.
	"We don't quite understand, either. We just know that these are very powerful individuals who, if truly linked to the Mauville Attack, are capable of causing massive destruction and death in a moment and without remorse. The best we can do is speculate as to their motives, intentions, and plans. In the end, the Master General has decided this course of action for the two of you, specifically."
	"Wait, who else are targets?" Mr. Johnson asked.
	"Everyone at the Laboratory," he started with a nod at Mr. Johnson, "then the others include Mrs. James, all of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four members, and the Fairfax family. They have acquired blueprints of every major energy factory across Hoenn as well as key historical and cultural sites throughout the country."
	"That's-" Mrs. Johnson started again, but found it difficult to form the words.
	"I assume we are to leave as soon as possible," Mr. Johnson asked after he saw how much his wife was struggling.
	"Yes, tonight so that we can make it to your son's residence before the morning."
	"But what about the Academy?" Mrs. Johnson managed.
	"There will be Rangers assigned to notify key personnel of your absences tomorrow. They will not be told anything I have just told you. And we require you don't speak of this to anyone else. This includes friends and relatives. Because we know so little, it would be counterproductive to alert the masses and cause a hysteria while we figure out our next steps."
	"I understand, thank you," Mr. Johnson said.
	"Is Forrest home?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
	"He is currently away but is expected back this evening after dinner time at the latest."
	"Does he know-?" she asked.
	"Yes, he has been made aware of the situation," he said to obscure the truth as much as possible as it wasn't his place to expose his friend to his parents.
	"Thank you, Major. We'll quickly pack some clothes so we can head out soon," Mr. Johnson said and quickly got up and left the room.
	Mrs. Johnson sat in a daze. She was as still as a painting save her shallow breathing. She slowly took off her reading glasses and placed them onto the coffee table along with her mug. 
	"Mrs. Johnson. It is imperative that we relocate you as soon as possible," he said.
	She snapped out of her daze and blinked a few times as she focused upon the Major's face. He looked as calm as he had when he'd arrived. It almost enraged her that he didn't seem to care, but she realized that it was likely his job to be as calm as possible. "Yes, of course," she finally said and shook her head.
	She quickly went into their bedroom but struggled to actually pack clothing instead of standing still in front of the suitcase. "Barb, come on. What do you want to wear tomorrow?" he asked as he hastily folded her nightgown and other sleepwear and put it into her suitcase.
	"Oh, um," she said and shook her head and walked over to the closet. 
	She grabbed the shoulder of a hanger with a blouse but she couldn't find the strength to lift it. Her husband grabbed it out of her hand and put it into the suitcase. He ended up having to finish packing for her as she continued to digest everything they had just learned.
	"Come on, hon," he said but she didn't respond. "Bard, we need to go," he said more forcefully.
	She snapped out of the daze that had recaptured her. She saw he was carrying both their suitcases at the bedroom door. She shook her head and followed him back into the living room where Major White was standing at attention to lead them to Forrest's house. The Major wordlessly took the suitcases from Mr. Johnson and led them out of the house. Mr. Johnson struggled to lock the door behind them, but soon managed. Their long hike to their son's house would last until midnight if they didn't move quickly. But there was a small sense of relief when they saw the Ursaring also accompany them on their hike.[/quote]