It never felt so good to do absolutely nothing. Just a month ago he would have been thrown into situations that would have kept him on high alert, cautious at all times, never lowering his guard for a second so that no one could see through his clever disguise.

He had spent over ten years of his life building credibility and raising his standing in that wretched organization, but now it was all over. All of his hard work paid off, but he couldn't help but feel robbed of what he had worked for.

In all of his years working as a double agent, he had a plan for every situation he would come across, and for every plan there were dozens of back-up plans. For the first time in a long while, Cypher realized that he had no plans. He had plans for the immediate future of course, but he had become so immersed in his work that he had never thought of any long term plans for his life.

With a sigh, Cypher rolled out of his hammock and nimbly landed on his feet. Taking a deep breath, he scanned the clearing behind his home. Every morning at sunrise Cypher would let out his team. It was a routine and a promise that he had kept ever since he had returned home.

During his time undercover, he was never allowed to show that he had a bond with his Pokemon. To those bastards Pokemon were just tools. He didn't have to worry about that anymore now that he was back home. His Pokemon were probably happier and healthier than they'd ever been. Even now, they were all visibly enjoying themselves and for that Cypher was elated.

He wished he could join them, but he still had business to take care of regarding a possible job in town to start making steady income to support himself and his team. He started walking towards the back door to his house watching all of his partners have fun.

Lola was running up and down near the edge of the clearing while Mage was lounging in the shade of a tree off near the edge of the surrounding forest watching her do her endurance training. While Mage was nowhere near as fast as Lola, he made up for it with raw firepower. Where Lola might use agility to get out of a jam, he would simply blast his way out.

Meanwhile, Demetrius was curled up in a ball napping on top of the table on the patio near where Cypher was heading. Demetrius never really did care to much about being social with his comrades. His relationships with them were more about showing mutual respect for each other rather than trying to make close bonds. While an interesting approach, it was understandable to Cypher. In the same way that Demetrius needed to earn respect from his teammates, he had to work his way up the totem pole while undercover. Now that he thought about it, maybe that was where Demetrius had gotten that idea.

Anyways, Cypher spotted Shane and Corona off in the distance, who were just getting out of the pond towards the back of the property and were heading towards the rest of the gang near the edge of the clearing. Those two were damn near inseparable. It was probably since they were both water types, so there was probably some sort of a kinship between the two of them. Shane, was always a bit slower than the rest, but Corona always waited up for him to make him feel more at ease.

A lone figure made its way down the road, dripping with sweat. The pony paused to pull something out of their makeshift sack that contained their only belongings. It was a tomato, one they received while performing on the streets of Manehattan in an attempt to make money. The passing ponies thought it would be more fun to give her something other than bits, but at least she was prepared for a scenario like that.

Trixie had dealt with plenty of flying tomatoes before she hit rock bottom, but she never would have thought that she'd be eating one of the juicy projectiles. She had caught a couple tomatoes in her levitation and took off down the street, risking being hit by more. Of course there were some professional tomato tossers that still hit her as she ducked into an alley to escape from her hecklers.

Even though she dropped her superior attitude while performing, ponies, no matter where she went, still remembered her previous attempts at entertaining them with magic. Of course she still put on shows, hoping that ponies would give her a second chance, but she had stopped making money long ago. She had been barely scraping by for the past couple months, finding scraps in the trash and traveling by the cover of night.

Trixie dropped to the dirt, not from physical exhaustion, but emotional exhaustion. Never had trixie thought she'd resort to eating the very tools the hecklers used to let her know she wasn't wanted there, to let her know she wasn't wanted or appreciated. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she asked herself what she was doing with her life. She dragged herself over to a tree to rest against. She slowly munched on the rest of her tomato before she drifted off to the dreams of a better place.

She muttered in a state between her dreams and reality, "Trixie doesn't deserve this. Trixie's better than this... no I'm not... I do deserve this..."

Cypher had seen all of his team except for one Pokemon, Mia. She was acting a bit odd lately. Either hanging out around Deme or just sulking off by herself. Normally, she would be bouncing off the walls, trying to keep up with Lola, or rolling in the grass near his hammock. He'd have to deal with her later because he had bigger issues to deal with in the coming days. His brother Cole was out adventuring by himself for all he knew and Cypher needed to know what his plans were if he wasn't coming back home anytime soon. He didn't even know where to start looking for him and he didn't have his number because he couldn't risk his little brother being kidnapped and tortured in an effort to get information from him if he were caught while undercover. Sure, he knew he was paranoid, but that paranoia kept him alive and sane... to a degree.

He sighed, deep in thought about his brother's possible whereabouts, when something came up from behind him on his right side and nudged his hand playfully with its nose. He turned to see who it was, but he already had a pretty good idea. They both stopped walking and he turned around and squatted so he could meet her eye level. The immediate response to his acknowledgement of her presence was a tilt of the head and a wagging tail.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better Mia." He placed his hand behind her ears and started scratching. "It takes a load off my chest to see you back to your usual antics." She started kicking her back leg as a reflex to his petting.

After a few more seconds of pure bliss for Mia, he stopped mid-scratch and stood up to full height. Mia only sat there looking up at him expectantly as he brushed off his shirt and pants briefly.

"As much as I'd love to stay out here with you guys all day, I need to go inside and start making some phone calls. You're welcome to join me if you want though." Mia joyfully vocalized and got off of her haunches. She trotted ahead of him and went in the general direction of the house.

Not wanting to be left behind, Cypher sauntered after her, enjoying the gentle breeze. It would probably be the last he'd see of the outdoors until morning. He would probably be busy calling all of the Pokémon Centers in every region, trying to find where his brother had been most recently. That was going to take a while. Maybe he could split it into two days instead of trying to fit it all into one afternoon...

Mia was pacing back and forth, waiting impatiently for him to open the back door. He chuckled inwardly and looked over to the drowsy Deme, who probably woke up because of all the noise Mia was making in her stupor. Cypher nodded to him and reached a hand out to him in acknowledgment as he passed a good five feet away from him. Deme turned and bowed his head reverently and went back to glaring at Mia. Mia only turned her head up at him and stopped her pacing as Cypher approached the door. He promptly unlocked it and they both went inside. Deme sat there a while longer, yawned, got up, stretched his legs, and went back to sleep.

“Rest now my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”

They all went to sleep.

Author's Note

I don't know when the next chapter will decide to slap me across the face, but I was thinking about trying for next week. Hopefully I can at least keep a pattern of one chapter every ten days, but weekly would be ideal for both myself and you, the readers.

Assuming you'll all have these questions:
Yes, zeus gave me the go ahead.
No, I didn't have time to find a editor, proofreader, or anything of that sort so if you don't mind, help me out in the comments.
That being said, if you would like to offer your services as a (possibly) permanent editor for the grueling duration of this approximately 20 chapter side-fic, then be my guest if not, I'll scour the depths of Tartarus for someone who's up to the task.
Yes, you will find out who his Pokemon are... some, relatively soon... others, not so much.
Let's make a guessing game of it; let me know who you think each one is.