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Jason gave it a moment to think of the questions he'd like answered... but of course, he got the obvious one out of the way. "You're not American, are you?"

"What do you mean?" Harrison asked coyly, a small grin forming on his face.

"You can manage an American accent, I'll give you that. But I heard a faint difference whenever you're just about to sip your coffee." Jason said. "In fact, I wouldn't have picked it up earlier if I hadn't used my aura."

"Oh. And what accent did you pick up?" asked the Garchomp.

"Hm..." the Riolu gave it a moment of thought. "If I had to guess... you're English... or British... whatever you call it."

The Garchomp let out a chuckle, impressed by the Riolu's intuition. "Impressive. But, to clarify things: I wasn't lying about my father's forge. It was something passed down from my family for generations originating from the medieval Avalon, and trust me, the name hasn't really changed for centuries. It was originally owned by my uncle, my father's brother, while our family lived in England." Garchomp paused and cleared his throat. The next sentences that he spoke were now said with his true, English accent. "And when my uncle died of illness, Avalon requested that my father run the forge and metalworks."

"And while he worked here, what of you and your family?" Jason asked.

"We stayed in England, as per father's request." Harrison answered. "Of course, with Joseph recruiting me and all, I ended up being here anyway..."

"And your father?" Jason asked though his curiosity was slowly replaced by regret and sadness when the Garchomp remained silent with a grim expression. "I'm sorry..."

The Garchomp shook his head. "Not your fault. Anyway, any other questions?"

"Why fake an American accent?" Jason asked. "It's not like we discriminate the English here or anything."

The Garchomp let out a soft chuckle as the answer came to him. "Nothing really, I have no actual reason for using an American accent other than for the purpose of my amusement."

"I see. Am I allowed to ask more questions?"

"Of course." The Garchomp replied with a friendly smile. "The night is still young. And, if you don't mind, may I suggest your next topic?"

"What would that be?"

"Try asking about my relations with Joseph." The Garchomp suggested. "Or perhaps about the agency."

"I didn't really think that you'd be open about those topics..." Jason nervously chuckled.

"I'm allowed to share very little, yes." The Garchomp nodded. "However, you may just be lucky and ask questions that I can answer."

"Okay then..." Jason's mind danced with excitement around the idea of having the chance to interview an agent of some organization. "What agency do you work for?" Jason asked.

"Hm..." Harrison gave it some thought. "Well, we aren't really an agency that works for a country or government if that's what you think. We are a group of people dedicated to keeping the peace between Avalon and Arkha. And we've been at it for thousands of years, only a few years younger that the first Avalonians and Arkhans."

The Garchomp paused and stifled an amused chuckle as the thought came to mind. "And as you know, none of your 'nations' have really modernized your names. In fact, neither has ours. Can you imagine... heh heh... Avalon and Arkha... sounds really ye olde doesn't it? Then again, our benefactors would really rather we respect tradition."

Jason remained silent as much as he wanted to interrupt. It seemed that Harrison had trailed off from his original question. Then again, he's at least getting additional information about the history he's surprised they weren't taught.

"Anyway, with that being said, my group is called Haven, the peace keeper between your two nations."

"Why would we need a peace keeper?" Jason asked. "I mean... I know Avalon and Arkha are petty rivals and all but secret peace keepers... really?"

"I believe that Joseph is in charge of explaining that."

Jason let Harrison's statement simmer in his mind for a moment... until he remembered why the Sceptile promised to meet with him in the first place. "It's that downside thing... isn't it?" he asked with a grim expression.

"Yes..." Harrison nodded. "It is almost the universal guarantee: everything has a price."

"Almost?"

"Hey, for all we know the future would invent something so amazing and without a whiff of backlash." Harrison said with a chuckle. "Alright, I'll go ahead and assume your next set of questions and answer them right now: No, I am not allowed to tell you who the other agents are. Yes, maintaining the peace between Avalon and Arkha is the only goal that Haven has. No, the benefactors I mentioned to you before aren't at all human. They are the gods that granted us these gifts in the first place. No, I won't tell you who the gods are, I'll leave that to Joseph. Are my guesses correct so far?"

Jason couldn't help but feel amused at how casual the Garchomp was with him. It almost reminded him of how Joseph responded. "Well... yes..." Jason let out a much more relaxed sigh, feeling that these adults weren't ones that demanded respect. "Also, are you all so casual?"

"Not all of us." Harrison stifled a laugh. "It just so happens that Joseph was the one that mentored me and urged me to just be myself. And admittedly, his jovial attitude rubbed off on me a bit."

"If it means anything, I actually like how you two are so casual about things." Jason smiled at the older pokemon and leaned back. "It at least eases the tension of having to talk to some of the superiors."

Harrison nodded and chuckled. "Yes, but don't get used to it. Know that very few of Avalon's men are gifted with this kind of humor."

"Note taken." The Riolu smiled and let out a sigh. "What's happening?"

"Beg pardon?"

"That's my next question..." Jason said, his enthusiasm drained and masked by a shadow of uncertainty. "What's happening? How come I was the target of an illusionist one night and suddenly a bombing the morning after? Unless those two events are completely unrelated and I'm just jumping to conclusions..."

"You aren't wrong in assuming that those two events are connected, I'll give you that." the Garchomp replied. "We believe that the Hypno you helped apprehend is responsible for your 'incident' but his interrogation isn't really going as smoothly as we hoped. And as for 'what's happening'... we're not really sure ourselves. All we know is that someone is targeting Avalon and whoever they are, they're operating unnoticed."

"Is Arkha experiencing anything relatively similar?" Jason asked.

"Hmph." Harrison snickered. "Only a fool would think they can operate undetected in Arkha. And the people who attacked us are obviously not idiots."

"If that were the case, then why won't Avalon and Arkha join forces against these terrorists?" Jason asked. "I mean... a combination of brain and brawn is ideal right?"

"You know, considering how long your two nations have been established, you aren't the first to have suggested that." the Garchomp said as he turned his gaze towards the construction site. "As logical as that is, the risk is greater than its advantages..."

"What is this risk anyway?" Jason demanded, a little upset but maintained the calm tone in his voice.

Harrison remained silent afterwards. As much as his next answer would've been 'Joseph had promised to tell you that.', he knew that that would only upset the Riolu. He gave his options some thought, and once his mind was set, he couldn't help but let out a sigh as he stood up. "Alright, c'mon..."

"Where are we going?" Jason asked though he stood up regardless.

"To fulfil Joseph's promise." The Garchomp replied. "He did tell you to 'meet him tomorrow' right? Well, since it IS technically 'tomorrow', I'm going to bring you to him right now."

"Oh, uh, sure... thanks."

The duo walked through the streets of Avalon in total silence. Whatever talkativeness or even joy in the Garchomp was replaced by an atmosphere of seriousness and tension and Jason could feel it clearly. Jason followed the Garchomp's lead and did not question why the Garchomp had brought them through the blast site when there were other routes and this place clearly gave the Garchomp chills. For what reason though, Jason couldn't say.

As much as Jason wanted to take a peek into the Garchomp's thinking, find out what was making him uneasy, but he hesitated. His hesitation was due to different reasons, mainly for respect of another's privacy and secondarily because of the secrecy of his agency. Joseph is a Sceptile yet he can somehow sense even the slightest trace of Jason's aura and supress his thoughts. Jason was worried that maybe all of their agents were like that, and that Harrison has a limit to his friendliness.

His eyes darted from left to right, eyeing his surrounding with curiosity. As a kid, he always loved watching the construction workers move the earth, concrete and steel necessary for the building. Now, he got the chance to see it up close... though with all he's seen in battles, though little they may be, he wasn't as enthusiastic about the construction workers as he thought he would be.

However, something did catch his eye. From a distance, he could see a Treecko, his friend, Leaf, moving through the debris, occasionally looking glancing back. 'He's checking to see if he's being followed...' Jason thought. 'But where is he going?'

"Best you don't mind him." Harrison said, startling the Riolu a bit. Jason was beginning to wonder if psychic capabilities were a requirement for these people seeing as the only two agents he knows seem to have them.

"Is he an agent as well?" Jason asked though he had an idea of what Harrison's answer would be.

"I'll leave that to your imagination."

'I knew it.'

Jason decided to leave the topic alone for now. Perhaps he'd try later with the Sceptile seeing as he was the Garchomp's superior. But... his mind already began making analogies and assumptions... Leaf was a Treecko... Joseph was a Sceptile... as silly as it would be to assume that the two are blood related due to their specie, something about the Idea clung on to Jason. But... Leaf's dad was reported as KIA... unless...

He shook his head and dismissed that thought... for now. Right now, he focused on his meeting with Joseph later, learn more about Avalon's history... and maybe why it was kept hidden from them.