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"You can't possibly be serious!" Ignatius roared out in protest.

The large, burly Charizard was in his office along with a Blaziken, a Blastoise and a Sceptile. Each of them wore a grim expression on their face as their argument and debate has been going on for hours now since the terrorist attack. Aiden, the blaziken, sided with Joseph, the Sceptile, in this argument. Ignatius was against them and the unknown Blastoise was neutral in his stand.

"What other choice do we have?" demanded the Blaziken. "The Hypno isn't saying anything and even Josie's agents aren't getting anything!"

"Josie..." the Blastoise snickered.

"Shut up." The Sceptile quietly scolded though his own amusement was evident.

"And since when did we give up, huh!?" roared the Charizard. "If the Hypno won't talk then we make him talk!" he said, slamming his fist against his desk causing it to crack under the strong force.

"Careful, Ignatius." Cooed the Sceptile, completely ignoring the serious atmosphere around them. "I just might have to replace that desk of your for the--"

"SHUT UP!" barked out the Charizard causing the Sceptile to supress a chuckle.

"Back to the topic at hand..." The Blaziken sighed. "Torturing the Hypno, as easy as it would be, is a bad idea. We wouldn't want him dead before he gets to say anything."

"And the Hypno seems that he'd gladly choose death over speaking to us." Joseph pointed out with seriousness. "Also, his psychic affinity makes mind reading difficult, and trust me, I've broken into the minds of psychic types. This Hypno's mental barriers are stronger than anything I've ever seen. Even under the dose of thirty four different mind numbing drugs, he--"

"Wait a minute..." Aiden interrupted, holding his hand up. "thirty four mind numbing drugs?"

The Sceptile looked puzzled, as though completely unaware of how unusual what he said was. "Yeah... that thing I did when I asked that we be left alone. I dosed him progressively with drugs trying to get him to talk and or break into his mind."

"Where did you even get those?" asked the Blastoise. "That doesn't even sound legal..."

"Can we please go back to the discussion!?" demanded the Charizard as he sat down, rubbing his forehead in irritation. "Right now, this Hypno is our only lead to what is happening and we can't be certain that we'll be able to capture another. These terrorists, whoever they are, know what they are doing and know how to act carefully. We should consider ourselves lucky that Jason was able to subdue this one before he could get away."

"Why was he after this kid anyway?" the Blastoise asked. "If they were as careful as you guys say, why was some recruit able to capture him?"

"Is this guy serious?" the Sceptile asked with a chuckle, only to be greeted by sighs from the fire types.

"Cut him some slack, Joseph. He just got back from the branch in Iran and he knows little to none about Jason." The Blaziken said.

"This recruit..." Ignatius turned his gaze towards the Blastoise. "...is Aiden's son."

At first, the connection didn't really seem at all special to the Blastoise. So what if this kid was Aiden's son, what would the terrorists want with him? And then facts began surfacing from his memories. "You mean... with that Arkhan Lucario?" His question was greeted with nods from the three. The Blastoise shook his head in disbelief. "No way... so that kid is--"

The Blastoise barely finished his sentence when the Sceptile raised his fingers as he eyed the door. It was a subtle signal that the Blastoise almost missed, but they all knew that it meant that they should be quiet. "Harrison, if you're going to bring Jason with you, at least make him wait somewhere our voices won't reach him." The Sceptile sighed as he walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a Garchomp with a nervous smile and a Riolu with a curious face.

"Sir, I believe he at least deserves to know the truth." Harrison said.

Jason studied the room as fast as he could, feeling that he'd soon be made to go somewhere else. He saw that his father, the head, Joseph and a Blastoise he hasn't seen before. The Charizard appeared irritated, his father and the Blastoise looked grim and the Sceptile, as usual, has his grin.

"Yes, he does deserve to know, I agree. But not right now." The Sceptile said before kneeling down to face Jason eye to eye. "The grownups are talking about serious stuff." He spoke with a smile as though he was speaking to an infant or a child.

Jason couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly at the silliness of the Sceptile's display. "Well... can I help?"

"No." his father sternly scolded. "You will not put yourself into more danger."

"Your father's right." Ignatius said, surprisingly with concern. "These people are dangerous and you are their secondary target. "

"Why?" Jason asked, crossing his arms and eyeing the people, determined to get an answer... until seconds later where he realized what he was doing and how he sounded that his arms dropped to his sides and he slightly clammed up. "I... I'm sorry for my... uh... rudeness."

Different reactions could be seen from each of them. The Charizard let out a groan, clearly irritated at the Riolu. His father is more concerned than anything, juggling the several possible options in his head and seeing which would've been the better. The Blastoise remained quiet throughout the encounter, but he was trying to study the Riolu, judging his character intently.

The Sceptile's reaction was more of sympathy, nodding at the Riolu's request and answering kindly. "I will explain what I can later, I promise. But for now, leave us to plan ahead, m'kay?"

"Alright..." Jason agreed mainly because he probably didn't have much of a say in this, but it was probably better than arguing any further anyway.

The Sceptile glanced at the Garchomp and gave him a small nod. "Alright, come along, Jason." Harrison gestured further down the hall. "Let's go to the cafeteria. I'll go prepare us a snack while we wait for them."

Even though sunrise was still hours away and that most of the staff had been sent home for the time being, somehow, the Garchomp had jurisdiction to go into the cafeteria and prepare them a meal. However, the growl in Jason's stomach kept Jason from arguing or even thinking about that right now as he gladly followed the Garchomp.

The Sceptile watched as the two left and waited until a suitable distance was between them until he closed the door behind him, giving the four of them privacy once more. "Welp, that takes care of them. So, Bernard, what do you think?"

"Hm?" the Blastoise asked, lost in thought that he didn't even notice that the question was directed to him.

"I asked you about what you thought about Jason." Joseph clarified. "Considering this was the first time you've heard of him."

"He's spirited, I'll give him that..." the Blastoise said. "He seems kind, respectful and determined. The first two qualities, I'm assuming, came from his mother." He said with a grin as he looked at Aiden. "'cause I really didn't see those qualities in your youth."

"Hmph, you should've seen how impulsive Natalie was." Aiden said with a chuckle. "Truth be told... most of who Jason is today is thanks to his friend, Damien..." the mention of Jason's friend's name stung the Blaziken, quickly replacing his smile with a frown. "Too bad he's gone now."

"I see..." The Blastoise took in the information and gave it some thought once more.

"Enough about Jason, for now, please." Ignatius slammed his hands, with a little less force, onto the table to get their attention. "What are we going to do with that infernal Hypno?"

"Seeing as you've forgotten our previous suggestion..." Sighed the Blaziken, referring to the idea that he and the Sceptile agreed on together. "Why don't we enlist the help of Arkha's analysts? They may be able to--"

"You know how risky that is." urged the Charizard. "Haven is spread thin with keeping the peace as it is, we can't risk a security breach."

"I have been married to Natalie for about fifteen years now and neither of us has attempted to kill the other." The Blaziken replied sternly.

"But can we expect that the others would be the same way?" Ignatius asked.

"We could always assign a guard for them." Joseph suggested. "Oh, and Ignatius, you can't really use Haven as an excuse considering a representative of Haven himself has agreed to this. If we ask for only one to three Arkhans, there probably won't be too much of a reaction."

The Charizard leaned back against his chair and considered the options. Their argument was reasonable enough, especially the fact that Aiden's wife has been here for all those years and not a single incident has occurred. But the risk... and the incident... With a long sigh, the Charizard gathered his wits as he came to a decision. "Alright, you have my permission." He said. "But I can't guarantee that Arkha would be as reasonable or if they would agree to this as well. Now, you suggested that they be assigned a bodyguard, who would you choose?"

"I'll do it." Aiden announced. "I've been with an Arkhan woman, I don't think the effects should bother me."

"No, I have a different job for you." The Sceptile said, a slight smile creeping on his face. "I have the perfect idea for a bodyguard for them."

"Who?" asked the Blastoise.

"It's a secret~" cooed the Sceptile.

"Ugh..." groaned the Charizard. "Look, as much as I'd love to smash your face in, your plans usually end up working anyway. So, will that be all that we'll be discussing for now?"

"How about Jason?" the Blastoise asked. "Shouldn't he be our next concern considering his background?"

"Speaking of which, I should go ahead and fulfil my promise to him." The Sceptile said as he opened the door and stepped outside. "The three of you may discuss what you wish." He said before closing the door behind him.

"So, what do you plan for Jason?" asked the Blastoise after moments of silence. "A hybrid like him comes around very rarely. Shouldn't we keep him protected?"

"Our _'protection'_wasn't really able to do much about the explosion..." Ignatius pointed out, surprisingly with a hint of sarcasm.

Even the Blaziken was a bit surprised by what the Charizard had said, but he agreed nonetheless. "Besides, he's already protected. Joseph's assigned that Garchomp as his guard, and it seems that the two of them are well acquainted. My biggest concern right now is what the students would be doing."

Ignatius tapped his index finger against the table softly, giving it some thought. "Nothing changes with the recruits." He sternly announced. "They will train until further notice; get stronger as best they can. Soldiers will alternate between patrolling the district and training the recruits. The recruits will stay in pairs, watch over the other and train with each other. Also... the Military District will be in lockdown, effective immediately. We can't risk another attack, not when we're this vulnerable."

"Reasonable enough..." the Blaziken nodded. "Now, if this meeting is adjourned, I should be going." After the Charizard gestured with his hand, signalling his dismissal, he left the room and the two larger pokemon on their own.

The Blaziken walked the quiet halls of the Academy, deep in thought. So many things were happening to fast, and all of them appear to be connected, one way or another... and Aiden feels like he knows how. "Lucius..." he mumbled under his breath as his memory flash to the death of Jason's friend, Damien. He remembered how he ran as fast as his powerful legs can muster but was still too late to arrive in time. At first, he didn't know what he was about to face. All he knew was that his wife was frantic, sensing Jason in peril.

Even when the powerful clap of thunder raised the earth, nearly causing him to trip and smash his face against one of the destroyed houses, Lucius was still the last person he expected to see. Looking back to it, he swore that he hesitated for a second, his mind having trouble processing what was happening before him. But the sight of his son in danger was enough to get his body moving on its own as he engaged Lucius in a heated battle after almost twenty years since their last one.

Now, he regrets giving Lucius the chance to escape. He should've ended him then and there... but he couldn't... both physically, and emotionally. Now, he fears that his old friend is after his son, and he has an army of thugs to do his dirty work for him. He clenched his fist to vent out a bit of tension. He's grown lax over the years and now he was way weaker than his old friend. "Not anymore." He growled softly as a cocktail of emotions welled within him.

If he was going to protect his son, he should set aside thought of retiring. He will not let his age hold him down, he will train, get in shape, and get stronger. This time, he was going to get the job done.