"No, I'm sorry," Antligon thought. Emotions blanketed the flashes of his recent memory of being completely overwhelmed by the Altaria. There was shame for not being able to protect Oracle or Syressa. There was despair for being made felt so weak and helpless. And there was terror from the idea of how powerful that one Pokemon.
The Rangers worked around them silently as they all arrived. Their visual analysis was enough to tell them who needed immediate attention and who was alright. Through the doors a few commands toward others could be heard. But they left the men alone despite Forrest actively bleeding. They must have been familiar with his constitution and may have seen him in similar states before. They would only obey the orders of the Bounty Hunter and Personal Investigator.
Forrest was visibly sad. His stoicism had its limits. He looked over his Pokemon that weren't taken into the infirmary and silently apologized to them all for failing so completely. The fear he'd felt when he engaged the giant (which Vertigo verified to Forrest that he was called "Taurus") turned into shame and regret. Shame that he and his Pokemon weren't nearly as strong as he believed them be. Regret for having slacked on his own training and that of his Pokemon as well as for underestimating the situation as much as he had.
He couldn't see at the moment that they had prepared as best they could with what little information they had. Their response to the situation was what kept them all alive - any other "lesser" trainer or Ranger would have soon been killed. But he couldn't know just how powerful his foes - the foes of Hoenn - were. It would be much later he would realize their power. For now, it would be enough that he knew he nor his Pokemon could stand up to them.
The floating liquid from Veritas formed a sleeve around Forrest's arm and glowed sloftly. It didn't register to him that the wounds were closing and the bleeding had stopped. He didn't notice Damselraed zip toward him to fret over him and try her own Aqua Ring to at least cool him down and clean him of the sweat that covered his body.
"Marionetta," he said. "Go tell my wife that I'm okay and that I'm safe and that I'll be home in a bit."
She was the last one of his party that could teleport, so he relied on her to ease his wife's concerns. She moaned gleefully and nodded. She vanished in heavy black smoke. Forrest took a deep breath which raised his chest that felt unusually heavy. He laid a hand onto his chest to check what caused it. His heart - his nerves were weighing him down.
Forrest's arm was entirely healed but still had thick lines of blood around it. He saw the Master General rush out into the courtyard where they still stood. Forrest remained still and seemingly calm, but only because he had to use all of his willpower to not break down, to not rage and thrash out at everything around him, to not hurt himself as punishment for his failures. He could do that later.
"You're back so soon. What the fuck happened?" the Master General said without any hint of formality.
He ushered them into his office so he could be briefed as to what they had experienced. His expression turned immediately grim as Tristan explained the details rather calmly. Forrest's heart raced - thudded loudly in his chest - at Tristan's demand to receive updates from the Rangers assigned to their families. Luckily for the both of them, the responses were quick and positive. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened or was happening. Everything was normal. Forrest couldn't help but feel the twinge of doubt as paranoid conspiracies filled his mind. But everything else he felt soon quelled those concerns.
The Master General promptly agreed to Tristan's request and encouraged him to learn as much as he could and to use any and all resources that he might need that they could grant him. He then immediately ordered the retreat of each of squads that were sent to the other safehouses and base. If they couldn't get inside, there would be no use in scouting it out since they already knew their locations. At a later date he would order much more powerful and skilled investigation teams to learn what they could from the assumed-rubble they would find.
The Master General shared that he would update the other Grand Rangers of this and for them to heal and clean up and get started on their research. The Master General was obviously disturbed. The Master General was afraid. The leader of the military of the entire country feared the vague images of a person none of them have ever seen and the brief battle with a single other individual. But with the way an Elite Four member and a former Champion and his strongest Bounty Hunter looked after such an encounter, he understood quite plainly how powerful these individuals likely were.
As Tristan opted to go straight to his office, Forrest looked down at his arm and decided he would shower and then visit the infirmary to check on his Pokemon. It felt like a long walk to the gym. He'd only used it a few times since he had his own at home, but he'd personally trained a handful of Rangers, mostly Marines, and so was familiar enough with it. The hallways still buzzed as they had the day before, but with seemingly more organization and purpose.
Forrest pushed open the door to the gym and saw that it was filled with Rangers, which he thought was unusual considering the times he was there, it had 10 patrons at the most. He wondered if they understood a fraction of what he knew and that they were preparing to fight with everything they had. It was some kind of relief, some peace of mind.
"Whoa, Johnson, you okay?" Sergeant Broadson said after he dropped the weights he was working with and walked over to Forrest.
Forrest left his thoughts to address one of the Rangers he'd personally helped train some years ago. Last Forrest saw him was at the Day-care after an egg was stolen but ultimately saved by Haven. Sergeant Broadson was noticeably pumped from working out as vigorously as he must have been. Forrest always noted how small he was when they first started training together and how much he'd grown since then. There was a small amount of pride that was quickly snuffed out by the rest of the emotions he felt.
"Oh, yeah. I'm healed up, just gonna shower to clean off," Forrest said rather flatly.
"Great, I just finished my workout. So, what happened?"
Forrest kept silent. He gestured for Sergeant Broadson to follow him so they could speak privately. The Sergeant registered the seriousness Forrest was displaying and silently obeyed. They undressed and chose a showerhead stand that wasn't being used. They turned on the water and started to wash themselves, but Forrest kept quiet. Sergeant Broadson looked at him expectantly. Eventually Forrest took note of this when he realized he was just standing still under the running water.
"You can't tell this to anyone else, not even your superiors."
Sergeant Broadson froze and curled his brows with a cocked head. "Okay," he said slowly.
"So, this only happened because I had to pick up Halcrow so we could escape."
The Sergeant's expression only grew more exaggerated. Forrest continued, "There's people that go by the names of the zodiac signs. They're horrifically powerful. Tristan - Mr. Aeros and I had to flee even though we were there to take them by surprise if it came to that."
He had started to rub his bloody arm to encourage the blood to run off. Sergeant Broadson kept quiet as Forrest started to lather himself to actually get clean.
"I was so weak. My Pokemon weren't strong enough and it's my fault. If there's actually 12 of them, they can do some real damage. And I'm not strong enough to protect my family or my Pokemon."
It looked as if he was talking to himself - rambling. The thoughts racing through his mind started to leak and he did all he could to contain them and keep himself from spiraling. He shook his head and rinsed himself off quickly to just stand under the running water.
"I'm too weak," he said low and angry.
Vibrating metal sounded loud and short around them. Forrest looked forward and saw his hand against the central column of the showerhead stand. There was a notable indentation around his fist. He pulled it back to look to see what had happened. He saw his knuckles were misshapen and his skin was quickly growing purple. Broken.
"Fuck me," he said quietly in a groan.
He held his hand up to keep himself from using it - to keep from damaging it more. He turned off the water and walked back to grab a towel. He fumbled to dry himself with one hand. He then draped it over his shoulders and sat on the wooden bench in front of the lockers they had put their clothes in. He breathed deeply and slowly. He rested his forearms atop his knees and hung his head down. His head slowly fell into his hands to mask himself - to contain the emotions - to hide them - to show them on his face so no one else could see.
"Guess I gotta train that much harder," Sergeant Broadson bellowed confidently. "You too, Johnson. You look pathetic - feeling defeated so easily. What happened to 'failure is set-up for the next success'?"
Sergeant Broadson slapped Forrest's shoulder blade a couple times then gripped his shoulder. He shook Forrest a couple times with a "come on," but stopped when he heard a quiet sob from within Forrest's hands. So he sat next to him and put his arm around his shoulders.
"You're the strongest man I know. You have to be - you have a lot to prove and a lot to protect," Broadson said quietly. "And if not physically the strongest, you have the strongest will I've ever seen. You've just gotta train yourself and your Pokemon that much harder. You have a goal to reach. So now you can surpass it."
Sergeant Broadson brought his hand up to Forrest's head to push both of theirs together in a tight hug. "And we all fight as one, you're not alone."
Forrest sobbed quietly again and sniffed loudly and sharp. He wiped his face with his hands and forearms and let out a shot embarrassed chuckle. He let Sergeant Broadson pull them both their feet and then turned to hug the man tight in a brief intimate moment between good friends.
"Thanks," Forrest said and sniffed again.
"Fucking nasty, you got snot on me, Johnson," he said with a scoff and laugh. "Gotta shower again 'cause of you. Though you do, too, with that face," he said and pointed and laughed.
"Fuck you, Broadson," Forrest said in a restrained bellowing laugh.
They both returned to the shower to actually relax and make sure they were cleaned off. Broadson shared his sexual exploits with Forrest to maintain the air of levity. Vulgarity usually helped to take his mind off more serious matters. They continued this into the sauna that they decided to enjoy at the last moment. They both drove most people away with their hyper-graphic descriptions and comments and gestures. A few joined in briefly, which helped to lighten Forrest's mood a little more. When they finished, Forrest decided to forgo his own clothes as they were sweaty and, instead, put on ranger panties and a tank top from the cabinet for Rangers to take if they needed. He put his boots back on and left for the infirmary.

It took a while for the two to fly to Fallarbor Town. Lois' Skarmory and Fredrick's Hydreigon weren't known for their speed, but it was certainly faster than Surfing and traveling on foot. They both considered Tristan's warning and were, understandably, concerned. He was the last one of them that could be surprised and they all knew his Pokemon were highly capable. For him to express the level of worry he seemed to got to both of them, and rightfully so.
They agreed they wouldn't engage anyone and would, instead, simply walk around and be present should anything potentially dnagerous occur. But the sleepy town was just that - sleepy. People went about their business quietly and greeted others warmly. Most were slow to recognize that two Elite Four members were walking their streets, but they eventually had a modest level of attention turned toward them. They even asked if anyone had seen or heard anything out of the ordinary recently, and all said "no."
Both of them decided to stop in a cafe for some lunch. They kept their guards up as they chatted about mundane things happening in their lives away from the Elite Four. They got polite waves in their direction but were, otherwise, left alone. The people here seemed to respect privacy and personal space than in other places across Hoenn.
"Hello, Mr. Vant and Ms. Preato. Do you mind?" a woman said and gestured to an unoccupied seat at the table. "How are the two of you doing today? It's quite exciting to see two Elite Four members traveling together and to such a quiet town. What brings you here?"
She looked utterly plain - average. Brown hair and brown eyes. She wore round glasses and casual clothing that were relatively fashionable, but she certainly wasn't trying to call attention to herself.
"Oh, hello," Frederick said. "We're doing well, thank you. We're here just checking up on the refugee camps. The Elite Four is closed down while Mauville is put back together," he said with a smirk.
"Yes, that's right," Lois said to confirm the story. "It looks like the town has been mostly unaffected even with refugees here."
"I learned that this town has plenty of housing that is unoccupied, which seems to help," the woman said.
"Oh, that's good," Lois said. "And what was your name?"
"I apologize," she said through an exhale and with a smile. "I'm Sarah, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, both."
"So you're not from here, then?" Lois asked.
"Oh, no. I'm from - Sinnoh. Jubilife City," she said and giggled at herself for nearly forgetting where she was born. "I sometimes forget since I've been traveling around the world since I was a young teen."
"Your Hoennese is great," Fredrick said with raised brows. "Do you miss speaking your native tongue?" he asked in Sinnohese.
"Not really, no. I enjoy speaking other languages very much," she said in kind.
"You better not be talking about me," Lois said sternly but with a smile.
"Oh, I would never," Sarah said with a bright smile.
"She's can be insecure, sometimes," Fredrick said with a chuckle.
"She doesn't look it," Sarah said with a soft smile at Lois.
"What? What did you say?" she said, almost shouting.
"Just that you're insecure sometimes. Nothing no one doesn't already know," he said wryly.
"Bastard," she said and shook her head with a smirk.
"Well, I must be going. I have prior arrangements I'm going to be late for. I've very much enjoyed meeting the two of you. How serendipitous for me to meet two of this country's Elite Four members at the same time and without having to have to search for them," she said with smile and rose from her seat.
She nodded after Fredrick and Lois gave their farewells and then she left the cafe. Fredrick and Lois finished their food and drinks and simultaneously thought to try to follow the woman. There was no real reason as why they suspected her of anything. She was perfectly pleasant. And she was foreign, which made her behavior not appear odd or out of place.
But they were right. They followed her far from the town, westward and then northward deep into the woods. They managed to keep their distance. But it was unmistakable what they saw through the trees. She stood some distance away from what they both knew to be the safehouse. On either side of the small cabin was a Ninetales and Chandelure performing Flamethrower against the structure that was in the middle of being burnt down to nothing. They stood in amazement for a few moments before they turned to each other and quickly left before they could be noticed. Their hearts raced as they took flight and straight back to the Elite Four Headquarters. Frederick managed to call Tristan on his gauntlet during the flight.

It was a particularly hot day. The air was relatively still which added to the humidity. Jeanne worked the berry crops around the house to keep her mind of her husband risking his life for his family and country. Jerrek was self-sufficient by now, if only because his father was away so often and having three younger siblings meant he felt obligated to ease the burden off his mother as much as he could. Elizabeth played with the Surskit she'd befriended. Shelynn eventually joined them while Rowan stayed with her in the gardens. His hands were always stained brown with dirt. She appreciated how much he enjoyed gardening with her.
She chatted with the Rangers over lunch. She was surprised they helped her with preparing the meal and even mediating the children when they needed mediation. She wondered if they pitied her because of who her husband was. But she decided to not focus on such negativity and simply enjoyed the help - and protection. She appreciated how much they encouraged Jerrek and his interests and how gentle they were to Shelynn and how tolerant they were of Rowan. Elizabeth kept to her own world with her little bug that blew the occasional bubble at her.
Jeanne kept in the house the rest of the day with cleaning and tidying. She found some quiet time to knit the sweater she'd been knitting for the past two years for Forrest. She always prioritized clothing for her children, which got in the way of finishing the project. She felt bad that it'd been so long since she last made something for her husband, but she knew he understood considering how much he left for her to take care of while he was away.
A wide toothy smile glowed yellow upon the completed portion of the sweater. Yellow eyes appeared and Marionetta phased herself through and in front of Jeanne. She hadn't realized how much time had passed and glanced at the clock before she turned back to the ghost doll. Marionetta moaned and croned with her perpetually-wide smile and gestured what Forrest had instructed her. Jeanne sighed heavily and closed her eyes in relief. A small smile formed on her face and she looked back at Marionetta. "Thank you," she said.
She returned back to knitting with a newfound vigor. But soon after Major White entered the house and found her sitting on the couch next to an open window in silence.
"Mrs. Johnson, we just received word that your husband has returned to the Rangers Headquarters in Rustboro," he said.
"I know where the Headquarters is, Major. There's no need to be so formal," she said with a playful smile.
"We have reported that there has been no unusual activity. I wanted to verify with you that there has been no unusual activity."
"I have not seen anything unusual, Major. Thank you," she said with a nod and returned her attention to her knitting.
"Ma'am," he said with a salute and then a bow.
She chuckled to herself and shook her head but continued to knit in peace, both inner and outer, while she had it.

In the case Jonton Fairfax is arrested or killed, enact the following:
Reallocate resources to Southern Island.
Destroy all incriminating evidence.
Aires to oversee destruction of Rustboro Wharf.
Sagittarius to oversee destruction of Fallarbor safehouse.
Capricorn to oversee destruction of Central Desert base.
Taurus to oversee destruction of Fortree Jungle base.
Cancer to oversee destruction of Southern Sea safehouse.

Note: If Jonton Fairfax is arrested by Rangers at a base or safehouse, do not attempt to obstruct any efforts by Rangers in their acquisition of information and resources from that location.

...

Blueprints of Sea Mauville with the note "Scorpio" at the top.
Blueprints of the Ener-Geo Corporation with the note "Sagittarius" at the top.
Blueprints of New Mauville with the note "Gemini" at the top.
Blueprints of Fairfax Hospital, Fairfax Institute, and Fairfax Manor and background checks on all the Fairfax's with the note "Aires" at the top.
Blueprints of Pacifidlog Mills with the note "Cancer" at the top.
Background check on Henrietta James (Mrs. James of the Pokemon Day-Care) with the note "Capricorn" at the top.
Background checks on Mossdeep Space Center and Mossdeep Astronomy Institute personnel (including Leon and Deirdre Aeros) with the note "Pisces" at the top.
Blueprints of the Lilycove Megamall, Lilycove Harbor, and Hoenn Art Institute with the note "Libra" at the top.
Background checks on Prof. Fir's Laboratory assistants (including Herbert Johnson) with the note "Aquarius" at the top.
Blueprints of the Johnson Academy and a background check on Barbara Johnson with the note "Virgo" at the top.
Blueprints of the Elite Four Headquarters and Championship Arena and background checks on Elite Four members (including Tristan Aeros) with the note "Leo" at the top.
Background checks of all Gym Leaders (including Percival Gutermuth) with the note "Taurus" at the top.

...

Aires: Volcanion
Taurus: Diancie
Gemini: Zeraora
Cancer: Cresselia
Leo: Victini
Virgo: Deoxys
Libra: Meloetta
Scorpio: Darkrai
Sagittarius: Shaymin
Capricorn: Celebi
Aquarius: Magearna
Pisces: Jirachi

----------

There was an entire roster of all the names, locations, and appearances of all those that worked under Jonton. Since they were current, it did not include any of the secret agents that Tristan had learned about. There was an entire log of all purchases and sales of black market goods for the past year, complete with dates, times, locations, and names. It was a veritable treasure trove of information that surely the Rangers would be elated to receive. Unfortunately, there was no such specific information regarding the more serious information found before. It was easy to assume they planned to destroy these places and kill these people. It was hard to hope that they weren't so maniacal.

Forrest's jaw seemed to bubble as the muscles flexed and contracted as he listened and looked at what Tristan had discovered. He remained silent, his face was perfectly still, nearly emotionless. It looked as if Forrest was unable to respond to Tristan's question at the end of his monologue. He simply looked into Tristan's eyes for a long moment without blinking. This silent anger was possibly more unnerving than when he'd physically express it. The muscles across his body twitched as if to fight himself from getting up or moving. His skin was reddening on his face and chest. The volcano had been made dormant only a little while ago thanks to Sergeant Broadson. That could all be undone any moment.
Bob B. Jeanne's father. Forrest was very fond of the man despite how much Bob criticized him for getting Jeanne pregnant at 16. Bob was stereotypically protective of his daughter and still very much was. But all that time they spent together to build his cabin made his eyes water. His mom and dad - all their work would be destroyed. Everything they worked for his whole life - gone. There was no relief that Mitchell nor Mrs. Honnings was on the list since he saw Mrs. James was on the list. A tear fell from his eye but his face remained expressionless.
Forrest breathed deep but didn't take his eyes off Tristan. He blinked rapidly and adjusted himself but didn't bother wipe away the tear track on his cheek. He lowered his jaw but words didn't come out until another moment passed.
"I - don't know," Forrest said. His voice was quiet - weak. "We've never been in a situation like this. I trust that he wouldn't send the entire country into a state of emergency, and he'd likely manage to call other country's Rangers to help. Can I talk to him first?"
He felt a little strange sincerely asking for permission from someone he hardly worked with. But he understood enough to know that all of this beyond what he could even imagine. He was neither mentally nor physically prepared for any of this. They were going to destroy the country. With those mythical Pokemon, they would destroy the world. Nihilistic thoughts flashed in his mind. Why bother to try to stop them? They saw how powerful just one of them were. If they were going to destroy the world, what hope did the two of them have at stopping them from succeeding?
But they, alone, certainly could not stop these people. Forrest knew they needed the Rangers and the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four to work together and quietly so as to not send the country into a panic. They didn't have a choice to not trust Dick. They would need to trust the Gym Leaders as well.
A revelation passed through Forrest's mind: they knew; they could tell the others; they could organize; they could strike back before they had the chance to do so. Sure, that Taurus guy would certainly tell that Pisces guy or whatever their chain of command was. But did that truly matter? If they were to follow through with what could be assume from the documents Tristan studied, we would be prepared. They might think they need to change their plan. What if they would just give up on the plan for a while - for years? He'd have so much time to train himself and his Pokemon.
No, that was wishful thinking. They could just as well push their timeline up to "immediately" and strike before either of them had the chance to share what they had learned. Then it wouldn't matter who they trusted and didn't trust since the Hoenn would be on the path of destruction they seemed to want to take. As much as Tristan discovered - Forrest realized how little it seemed to matter. Without times or dates, all they could do was hope they would have the time to prepare.
"We don't have a choice, though," he said after a pregnant pause after asking for permission as all these thoughts flooded his mind. "We don't have the strength to fight against them, the two of us. Even with the other Elite Four members, there's twelve of them. We don't stand a chance. We have to trust the Rangers, the Gym Leaders, and the Elite Four."
His voice quickly changed to deep and authoritative. Forrest was known to be "volatile" with his moods and emotions by those closest to him. Tristan would get to learn that soon enough, if he didn't already figure it out, that is. But his arms remained crossed and he straightened himself in the chair. He'd slowly been slouching through learning all of this and he looked tall again, even sitting down.
"We've got to trust them all," he said eventually and gestured to the television where he'd seen the list of people they had collected information about. "They need to know."
He was absolute in this opinion. The idea that it might be bad or naive didn't even enter his thoughts. He only thought how they deserved to know they were being targeted. It went back to his bounty-hunter process - those with bounties on them knew they had bounties on them. If even criminals got to know they were being targeted, normal innocent civilians certainly deserved to know.

open.spotify.com/track/64ydtFBcPSNvUA…

Forrest stopped breathing. It never crossed his mind that the man he'd worked directly with for years now could be involved in anything these Zodiac people were doing. But Tristan pointed out the obvious evidence in front of them that such was a very real possibility. The rest of Tristan's conspiratorial hypotheses never registered with Forrest as he thought about how betrayed he felt - how betrayed he would feel if this were true.
No. There was no proof other than omission. That couldn't be valid - right? But Tristan was right. Why would every single other key institution and company and person be listed, but nothing and no one related to the Rangers? Even Mrs. James was a target. An elderly lady but not the head of the country's military? It didn't sit well with Forrest. He felt nauseous.
Forrest nodded at Tristan's offer to interrogate Dick together with Ether. They had to. If there was any possibility that this could be true, they had to know. There was some relief that Tristan agreed with his initial opinion, though. And he added a good point - they needed to underestimate themselves while overestimating their enemy. He'd already thought of this himself, but it hit differently being spoken aloud by someone else.
Forrest had to keep his composure. He felt he was losing his temper, his patience, his sanity. But he couldn't release any of this - not yet. When they revealed Dick's role in all of this, then he'd be able to unleash all the rage those emotions built up inside him. He wanted to hold out hope for Tristan to be wrong - but it made too much sense.

----------

They were escorted into the Master General's office. He wasn't in a secret meeting anymore, which was convenient. But the Master General was visibly stressed - frazzled. Papers and files blanketed his desk and voices sounded out of the intercom on his desk that he seemed to ignore.
"Grand Conserve has returned to the Zephyr Base."
"Sentinel Law's team has gathered the information you requested."
"Special Agent Hawly has arrived."
"The Guard Force has set their perimeter around the Wharf."
"Grand Watcher has returned to Lavaridge."
The reports felt like background noise considering everything else that was going on. Ether quickly felt how stressed - panicked - the Master General was feeling. His breathing was quickened and he heart was beating hard in his chest. He didn't acknowledge when the two of them entered his office.
Forrest decided he'd start off with the questioning so Tristan and Ether could focus on reading his mind.
"Master General, Dick, we need to talk."
"Yes, we do," he said plainly. "This is not good - this is not good..."
"Tristan has a list of suspects related to the Mauville Attack for you to look into," Forrest said and gestured for Tristan to hand over that file first.
"Great," he said dismissively and didn't look up to take the file or see who even handed him the file, so it was just set on his desk. "She didn't find a fucking thing - useless bitch," he thought with the image of the Grand Conserve, Regina Kline, handing him a file labled "Project Shadow."
"But you need to tell us what you know about these Zodiac people," Forrest said with an almost frightening level of authority in his voice. The vibrations from his chest could faintly be felt throughout the room.
"Fuck," he thought and froze where he was. He took a few deep breaths and pulled himself back into a neutral tone. "Of course they found out, damn." He looked directly into Forrest's and Tristan's eyes. He then glanced down at Ether and pursed his lips and nodded once. "You're right, I was hiding it from you. I'm sorry that I put you both in that position." His eyes started to turn red and began to well with tears. "Kline has been researching all she could about about them. 'Team Zodiac.' Their leader is 'Pisces.' They're just as if not more powerful than you experienced with 'Taurus.'"
The only images that showed in his mind were the files from which he recalled this information. "That's really all she's been able to find out since he - Pisces - revealed himself to Kline five years ago. She's found nothing fucking else out," he spat.
"Arceus fucking damn it," he growled loudly. "Of course they were fucking involved. So fucking stupid," he continued to reprimand himself. "I'm sorry," he said as he composed himself and looked back up at the pair. "We don't even know what they want or why they formed their 'Team.'"
He shook his head. The memories flashed through his mind about all the times Grand Conserve Kline tried to bring up the topic, which he always waved off. The memories of the times she requested resources to further investigate Team Zodiac, which he always denied due to the always-limited resources they had. The memory of his concern that the Mauville Attack could have actually been the work of Team Zodiac, but was ignored since he'd heard nothing about them for the past two years since Grand Conserve Kline ceased requesting help and resources from him. Another one of his failures as Master General of Hoenn.
"She currently has the file on Team Zodiac," he finally said and pressed the button on the intercom. "Mr. Johnson and Investigator Aeros will be meeting with Grand Conserve Kline at the PI's convenience," he said matter-of-factly and leaned back to the two of them.
The look on Forrest's face struck him. He couldn't understand why Forrest still looked suspicious. "Look, I'm sorry, but that's all I can give you," he said with a shrug. The feeling of defeat exuded strongly from the Master General.
"You don't know anything else. Anything at all? You've never seen any of them before?" Forrest said in a deep and harsh growl.
Dick's brow's curled and his eyes widened as if he was confused and afraid of this response from Forrest. Ether felt this confusion and verified that there were no seals hiding anything within the Master General's mind and that he was actively allowing to see everything he could recall to Ether. There was no hint of deceit or fabrication or even omission. But his face shifted out of fear and fully into confusion.
"What did you find?"
"We know who and what their targets are. You're saying you have no idea," Forrest growled again. It sounded more like an accusation than a question. It took Tristan to rein Forrest in to shift his expectations.
"You do? That's great, but I don't -" he started. "know," he finished the sentence in his mind as it raced to think of possibilities as to what it could have been.
"You're not one of them. None of the Rangers are. None of the bases or this HQ are on any of the lists of targets they have." His voice still growled, but it wasn't nearly as intense as before.
"Really?" Dick said incredulously.
It made no sense to him. How would the Rangers - the military of the entire country - not be on any kind of list or plans they had for whatever it was they were trying to accomplish? Surely he, himself, would be at the top of the list. Grand Conserve Kline should be on the list since their self-proclaimed leader exposed himself to her. Surely what they had was an incomplete list.
"I'm sure they must have plans to deal with the Rangers in another file that you didn't get," he said, still visibly confused. "A file on how to deal with the Rangers would be huge. They couldn't have gotten it with the few files they had. But it's probably destroyed by now so we can't know what they plan to do about us. They could only get a few files. Of course their plans on dealing with the Rangers weren't among them. Or it's with Kline and she's in league with them and they recruited her to dismantle the Rangers from the inside."
These were theoretical thoughts. Again, there was no deception or concealing of thoughts. There were no barriers or blocks. Unless there was an impossibly more sophisticated manner in hiding truths that Ether had never experienced before, the Master General was being honest. He seemed to have no connection to this Team Zodiac. He was just as bewildered that the Rangers wouldn't be in some sort of plan or another.
Dick's eyes widened as the realization hit him. "Oh," he said low and slowly. "This makes me - us - look like we're accomplices. Of course it does," he said to himself and shook his head. "But," he started again and gestured to Ether, "I know less than either of you. I've never seen any of them. I don't know if it's just the twelve of them or if they have hundreds within their ranks."
The shrug he offered was one of defeat. Sure he could tell them the truth that he knew, but even he understood that his truth could be false - implanted, possibly. If he was a sleeper agent, he wouldn't even know. He understood well enough that he - the entire Rangers Organization - were suspects. He breathed deeply and kept quiet as he had no excuses or pleas to offer them.
"Again, I'm sorry," he said softly and shook his head. "I don't have anything else for you." His eyes were sad - almost pathetic. "But I've sent Special Agent Hawley to your office, Aeros, if you'd like to speak with him. If not, just let me know and I'll cancel the meeting."
Forrest stood there with his arms crossed and his chest puffed out. He had never shifted from his aggressive and authoritative stance directly in front of Dick's desk. He stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and his head held straight and his eyes down at the old man. A few more moments passed and he turned to look toward Tristan and Ether with a raised brow so they could verify what he was saying and the thoughts they could find.

open.spotify.com/track/64ydtFBcPSNvUA…

Toward the end of interview with the special agent, the door was unlocked and a woman walked through - a familiar woman. Her long straight black hair and pinched eyes and pale skin were unmistakable. She wore the same style blouse and pants and shoes but in different colors.
"Mr. Aeros, hi," she said with a warm smile without any hint of appearing as if she'd interrupted anything. "It looks like Ms. Shade wants me to work with you more closely. So, what have you found out?" she said and gestured for Forrest to get out of his chair so that she could bring it up to Tristan's desk and sit in it. Of course he complied if only because he was too confused to not surrender his seat to the young woman.
"Uh, who are you?" Forrest asked gruffly as he realized what was happening.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson. I'm Asuna, pleasure," she said and offered her hand to shake his gently, which he did as he looked incredulously at Tristan.