Aries - AriNonsense - Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (2024)

Chapter 1: Prologue (A Fateful May Day)

Chapter Text

He fell on the mud between the two Psychic types, the wind escaping his lungs as the cool sensation of rock filled his arms, legs and chest. His eyes had only enough blood to open wide in fear, frozen as the crawling cool swallowed his mind. The darkness felt encompassing, momentarily, before a bright light swallowed his vision. He woke up in a grassy field, facing… himself. Dust and bruises covered his mirror image, and his eyes were bright white where the pupils should have been. A Mewtwo floated down before frowning at him, filling the surrounding space with attempts. He saw him facing Pokemon he'd never thought he’d see in his life- Groudon, Kyogre, titans large and people he had never met.

Some he recognised, like Lance. A rock moving towards a great sundial in Kalos- with a light-blue haired man giving a determined expression, calling to a Metagross. A large crack ran along the image, radiating from where the Metagross was as it took a new form. Mewtwo paused, observing the image. The Doppelganger sobbed softly, rubbing his tears as he stared Ash himself down in the eyes.

“I can change this.” The white-eyed boy pointed to him. “You can do it differently. Take Mewtwo’s path, take a path filled with pain, and let it guide you to victory.”

“What do you mean…” Ash muttered, a slight twinge of fear filling his voice. Mewtwo huffed softly before floating down, showing sequences where a Dratini twirls around his legs as a kid. “I mean, you are dead. Ho-Oh could bring you back… or you could take another path.”

“What is this other path?” Ash murmured as he traced the memory. His eyes flickered as a sharp pain shot through his body and the Doppelganger beside him grabbed his wrist. “Pick it! Pick it, and I’m free! Arceus above killed me, and I need to see another thing that isn't white! For 4000 years I have been trapped in this stupid hellhole.”

“Woah.” Ash stepped away. “Calm- calm, calm, ok.”

He glanced at Mewtwo, who shrugged as another Doppelganger ran forward. This one had green eyes- and he saw the memories flick past them like a stop-motion clay animation within the empty expanseless stare. “I’m begging you to free us. Take the path Mewtwo has presented.”

Mewtwo flicked it, splitting the image into 5 orbs. One showed Ash travelling on the back of a Dragonite to a younger Delia. Another showed Ash chattering to Pikachu in the Pokemon language. Another showed him tracing the clone markings on his arms, engraved slightly in the skin like tattoos. Another showed him meeting with Steven, then the last showed an Armaldo with blood on its talons.

“I admit this path is filled with agony, Ash. But you will guide yourself somehow, I’m sure of it. And anyway-”

“I got very lonely.”

Ash stared at the orbs, before holding his palm to it. A part of him wept for the life he was throwing away- Misty, Brock, everyone. People he had cherished, memories he had wanted to see and feel and experience, but it didn't mean anything. The weird duplicates of himself did the same, and the world faded in a resounding blast of sound and shape.

Chapter 2: An April Acquaintancing

Chapter Text

Ash groggily opened his eyes as the ceiling faded into view, the morning light spilling into his bedroom as he glanced outside and saw the sun slowly rising. He glanced down to where his clock should have been, the thing that would wake him up, but instead, all he was able to see was the mangled remains of electronics. His room was torn apart- filled with the remains of tossed figurines on the wall. The window had been cracked open, and the blanket was strewn across the floor. He bit back a sigh and quickly slipped his travelling clothes on- a lightweight jacket, jeans, and a hat he got from the Pokemon Expo for mailing in cereal boxes.

He took a sharp breath and threw the door open, grabbing his bag off the rail as he ran out as quickly as possible. His eyes momentarily watched as Delia waved him goodbye, a strange look across her face. Ash didn’t blame how sad she looked- the love she gave him was something he had never reciprocated in a way he thought fair. But how could he, he reminded himself. The ravenette had no time for chitchat though and headed down the road as fast as he could manage. The twelve-year-old took a sharp intake of air as he finished running to Professor Oak’s lab. Gary was already outside, with his dumb red sports car, and even dumber cheer squad.

“Oh, late are we Ashy-boy?” Gary snickered, tossing a Pokeball into the air. “I mean, I’m not surprised, but here we are. I already have a super cool starter Pokemon, so, I best not leave you waiting for disappointment!”

Ash scowled. “And why would I be disappointed? Are you trying to say I’ll be ungrateful like you?”

Gary looked mildly offended as he leaned against his car, whispering something to the girls in the car who giggled like little children. “Well, see, I’m cool, because all the girls love me. And who likes you?”

“Jeez. Who needs an ego boost that much.” Ash deadpanned, gesturing to the girls behind Gary. They blinked but said nothing, still waving their hands and looking dramatically swooned by Gary and his “coolness.”

“Whatever.” He hopped into the car, waving as Ash heard him distantly call “Smell you later.” He bit down the retaliation in his throat as he pushed open the door to the Pokemon Lab, where Oak stood beside a container for Pokeballs. The room was cluttered as usual, with boxes and books thrown everywhere on the stained white tile floors. The windows were cracked open and a few aides tapped away on their computers in the corners of the room. A distinct smell of disinfectant assaulted his nose.

“Ah, Ash, my boy.” Professor Oak smiled momentarily before his grin vanished a little. “I don’t actually have a standard starter ready for you.”

Ash gaped, deflating a little. “But you are supposed to bring enough-”

Oak shook his head, before fetching a Pokeball with a little lightning bolt inscribed into the top. “Lance only made it required that starter givers have enough Pokemon. Standard Starters aren’t exactly... Common, Ash.” He laughed softly. Oak silently pushed down the thought in his head that demanded the Pikachu be given- a resounding echoing demand that felt filled with a sort of pained cry. That also sounded like Ash himself, but he was not ready to chew through that situation. Ash nodded slowly before Oak passed him the ball with the electric inscribed and a Pokedex in his other.

Ash stared at the technology like it wasn’t real, bonking it against the Pokeball a few times.

“Point it at the Pokeball, and then click- yeah.” Oak held back a fit of chuckles as Ash did as told, and the Pokedex beeped.

“Pikachu, the Mouse Pokemon. Electric Type. This Pikachu is Male. When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could build and cause lightning storms.” The Pokedex chimed. Ash grinned at the information, holding the ball to his heart like it was precious. “Thanks, Professor! I love him already!”

Oak sweatdropped at his enthusiasm, before silently shaking his head. “He.. he’s a little temperamental, Ash, but you seem to be fine with temperamental Pokemon, so. Still, wait until you are in a quieter space to release him.”

Oak pushed down the questions he normally would prod Ash with- ever since he showed up at Pallet he seemed to easily attract Pokemon. Beyond that, Oak swore he would see some of the most dangerous and easily aggravated Pokemon like Magmar or Electabuzz relaxed and easy around him- even his own Dragonite was happy to hang out with him. Territorial monsters like Scyther seemed unbothered by him and short-tempered Primeape barely raised a fist against him. Of course, he had raised the point with Lance, who- had done nothing, as usual.

He could live with that. The man was busy enough to make the concerns of a Pokemon Professor about a slightly weirder child not as important.

“Well, I’ll be going now!” Ash waved as he turned to leave, and Oak passed him five Pokeballs. Ash stared at them like they were almost dirty- but Oak had grown accustomed to the boy's clear disdain for technology in general. He insisted he wouldn’t just catch Pokemon randomly, and that he was going on a journey to be friends with them all.

Oak decided he wasn’t going to question it. Maybe the world needed an Ash Ketchum anyway.

-

Ash took a long breath of exhaustion as he finally reached the outskirts of Pallet, the surrounding area of grass and trees gently filling his senses with an air of calm. He drew Pikachu’s Pokeball, letting out the little mouse who immediately baulked at the sight of him.

“A newbie!” Pikachu chittered. “I’m just trying to have a snack, and I am passed off to a newbie!”

Ash frowned at that. He thought he had made it evidently clear to Oak that he didn’t want Pokemon who were just taken from their lives. He placed the Pokeball on the dirt beside him, keeping his hands on his lap. He remembered what his mother had said about Pikachu- they preferred to have control of a situation when worried or agitated. With the electricity that crackled around the mouse's red cheeks, it wasn't exactly rocket science to assume he was agitated.

“What are you doing? Release me.” Pikachu ordered, pointing at the ball. Ash fidgeted, before looking at the Rattata and Pidgey cheerfully running around the fields. Winds blew along the grass gracefully, and the April morning was truly a beautiful one.

“Sorry.” Ash quietly mumbled. Pikachu stared at Ash for a long moment, before it clicked that Ash hadn’t quite said that in English. It had been a very soft ‘pi’ instead. “I’m Ash.”

Pikapi. Pikachu could work with a name, as he desperately ran through the list of strays he had heard of- but judging by the boy's age, he wouldn’t have ever known the kid. He wasn't the youngest mon, but not as old as the kid in front of him. “A stray?”

Ash nodded.

Strays were frowned upon in Pokemon Society- in the sense, that they proved humans never looked after their own kind. Kangaskhan often had the most, but the boy would have stayed with them if he had truly been a part of a herd. They kept their strays. There were certainly a few horror stories passed around some circles of Kangaskhan kidnapping kids, but Pikachu was never one to doubt the fact they usually were right in those scenarios. Humans could be truly vile, after all. Pikachu was not one to pry though, so he simply threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

“Why become a trainer! Why do any of this? Why keep me?” Pikachu complained to him. Ash tapped the shell of the Pokedex a few times, before staring at Pikachu again.

“Mom said I could see the world if I did. She let me go to a human family even though it was very far away and said this would mean I could get lots of friends... She knows a trainer, apparently.”

Pikachu perked up in interest at that. “What kind?”

“Apparently he’s super strong. Two trainers, in fact... Maybe three... I never met any more than just one. Who I can’t remember.”

Pikachu sighed at that, before climbing onto the kid’s shoulder. “No ball, but I’ll stay because I have a feeling that momma of yours would have my tail if I didn’t. My name is Pinwheel.”

Ash giggled. “Like the forest in Unova.”

Pikachu shocked him at that notion before Ash stood up and travelled. They passed through bushes and fields, and Ash barely gave any wild Pokemon the time of day- although Pikachu knew he just didn’t want to have another Pikachu on his hands- an early route mon subject to the whims of the trainers who passed through because they were unfortunate to choose such a place to live.

Distantly, Pikachu saw a Pidgey flying over, a panicking chirping escaping the bird as she squeaked about - something something Spearow flock something something.

Judging by his trainer's befuddled expression, Pikachu was firmly reminded that the kid was not raised in the area, as every ‘mon and their hatchling knew who the Spearow flock were. The Pidgey clearly had been too weakened to stop them this time, so when Pikachu saw the angry swarm ascend over the hill, he wasn’t surprised. “Run. They don’t listen to Pokemon.”

“Kay,” Ash replied, grabbing his bag to be in a better situation on his back before running down the hill as the Spearow pursued at a very quick pace. A Dragonite soared from above, before diving on the Spearow with a sharp roar. On his back, a man wearing a cape ordered what Ash could faintly hear as a Dragon Pulse.

“Spearow, go feed elsewhere! This isn’t a place for you!” Dragonite barked out. The Spearow squawked indignantly. “And? Don’t tell us what to do!”

Ash facepalmed as the Dragon Pulse cut through the Spearow. Some dove down, deciding the Dragonite was not suitable prey, and straight at what they thought was-

A boy and his Pikachu.

“Pinwheel- use- uh,!” Ash stumbled over the English Language as his Pikachu nodded and leapt from his shoulder to use Thunderbolt on the offending Pokemon. “Thunderbolt, Ash.” Pikachu chittered after he landed. Spearow twitched on the ground, as the Dragonite cleaned up the rest of the Pokemon.

“Kid, are you okay?” Dragonite growled softly, clearly directing the comment to the Pikachu. Ash nodded anyway as the Dragonite’s trainer slid off his back.

“Woah there, Spearow can be nasty- you and your Pikachu are fine, right?” The man laughed boisterously, before idly petting his Dragonite, who made a pleased growl. “Pikachu are pretty temperamental, impressed you got it to follow your orders.”

Pikachu exchanged a glance with Dragonite, before giggling. “It’s a stray. I’m not going to give a stray trouble, because there is a pissed-off mother somewhere and I don’t think I’m interested in finding who they are.”

Dragonite sweatdropped and poked Ash curiously, who blinked and rubbed the Dragonite’s arm gently. “Hello. How are you?”

Dragonite watched how he carefully sounded the words to make it sound like he was just saying “Dragonite.” without causing his trainer to be suspicious. He could respect it if it wasn’t a key concern of his trainer that people were being raised by Pokemon in the first place. Still, the dragon type was not about to interfere with whatever situation he had just stumbled upon.

“I’m well. Oh, that’s a nice spot.”

Ash giggled as he started petting the Dragonite more and his trainer gaped a little before silently nodding to himself. The red-haired trainer didn't seem exactly bothered by the situation, although, a little surprised. Ash stepped away a little to use his Pokedex on the Pokemon.

“Dragonite, the Dragon Pokemon. Dragon/Flying type. This Dragonite is Male. An extremely rarely seen marine Pokémon. Its intelligence is said to match that of humans.”

The trainer watched as Ash shook his head at the dex entry. “Wh- it’s not extremely rare, people just don’t know where to look! Back.. uhm,”

Pikachu slapped him lightly with his tail. “Just say you moved. Humans do that.”

“Before I moved to Pallet, I saw tons allll the time.”

Pikachu facepalmed. This kid was still disgustingly stupid, he reminded himself. “Now he’s going to ask questions.”

Surprisingly, the trainer actually nodded at that, before turning to his Dragonite and softly whispering something to the Pokemon, and then stuffed his hands into his pockets after fixing his spiky-red hair a little. “Well, my name is Lance. Don’t you recognise me?”

Ash shook his head. “I don’t keep up with... Uh, celebrities.”

Lance hummed in amusem*nt, before relaxing and turning to face Dragonite. “Well, why don’t we stay a while then? I don’t get to talk to a lot of people without being chased around with an autograph book.”

-

“So you are a new trainer then?” Lance asked as Ash awkwardly pushed a spoon around the bowl of soup like the action itself was confusing. Lance smiled inwardly at the ineptitude, as he fondly remembered when he himself could barely cook. The man adjusted his cape a little, sitting in a more comfortable form as he brushed back his spiky hair idly.

“What’s your goal?”

Ash fell silent. He didn’t really know where he was taking Pokemon. He just wanted friends, to see the world, but-

“I get it.” Lance cut in before Ash gave a half-hearted response. The older spun a Pokeball in his hand idly. “I didn’t know what I was gonna do with myself. Like, Dragon Master was on the agenda, but-”

“It wasn’t really me.”

Lance placed an arm on Ash’s shoulder. “But then I had a long think, with Dragonite’s help, and we realised where we wanted to go. And- I think,”

He passed Ash the Pokeball. “I think you have a lot of potential to change the world, so I’d like you to accept this Dratini.”

Ash stared at the Dratini’s Pokeball, nodding to himself. Lance stared at the trees before idly rubbing his Dragonite and then releasing a sigh. He wrung his hands together, deciding to ask that plaguing question. “Why did you move from Blackthorn?”

“I- uh,” Ash stammered. “...where?”

He glanced at Pikachu nervously who could only shrug. He glanced at Lance, whose expression momentarily scrutinised him. He then snapped his fingers as if he realised something, with help from Dragonite prodding him a few times.

“Sorry, why did you move from Fusube?” Lance tried again. Ash’s eyes widened and he nodded.

“Well, my mom had to get... somebody else to look after me, so I was sent to Pallet-” Ash laughed it off nervously, but the Lance guy didn’t seem that confused at the statement. He simply clapped his hands and took the finished soup off the fire, pouring a bowl of it for him and Ash as they poured some Pokemon food for Lance’s Pokemon.

A Charizard, an Aerodactyl, a pink Dragonair, a Kingdra and two Dragonites graced the field. They chewed their food as Ash gasped at the Pokemon. The pink Dragonair flew over to him, prodding him with his tail before hugging him.

“Ash!” It chirped, squeezing the boy as Pikachu grumbled from being moved. Lance chuckled in amusem*nt. Ash blinked in surprise as the Pokemon affectionately nudged him over and over.

“I got her recently from the outskirts of Blackthorn. Her name is Rosa.” Lance clarified. Ash’s eyes went wide.

-

“Hey! Rosa, get back here!” He grinned as he ran after the trim pink serpent. He tripped on a pebble as the Dratini turned around quickly, butting him in the chest so he didn’t fall on the rocks. The Pokemon giggled childishly.

-

Lance took notice of the surprise, but by Dragonite’s “don’t say a word expression” Lance let it be.

Rosa finally let Ash go, who flicked her tail and rested around Lance. “I’m super strong now, Ash!”

Ash blinked and smiled, but didn’t say a word. Rosa frowned at that, before flicking her tail and looking at the Pikachu. “Did he forget how to speak?”

“He’s hiding it from your trainer, dimwit.” Pikachu deadpanned.

Rosa opened her mouth and closed it again. “But Lance is safe.”

Pikachu shook his head before hopping onto Ash’s shoulder. He nudged his trainer as he ate the pretty flavourless carrot soup. Rosa huffed in annoyance. “Then get Lance away so I can talk to my little brother!”

Pikachu shrugged helplessly as the older Dragonite beside her shook his head. “Rosa. You know if Lance knows he’s from Blackthorn you’ll get apt opportunity to hang with them.”

Ash sweatdropped at the pseudo-argument, and even Lance was looking a little confused. He gently patted Rosa who immediately moved beside Ash, pushing him over.

“Admittedly, I have never seen Rosa act this way to somebody before..” Lance mumbled, but Ash caught the words. He silently gazed at the Dragonair’s eyes before poking the Dragonair on a very specific spot on her wing-ears, gently petting her. Rosa roared and headbutted him, sending Ash backwards.

“Hey! Why do you still remember that! Erhhggh! Annoying little! You frustrate me so much! Why did I ever feel excited to see you-! Argh!” Rosa grumbled, fluttering around the boy, who simply threw a rock up and let it hit the Dragonair. He snickered as the pink Dragonair got even more frustrated. Lance was about ready to yank the kid back for aggravating his dragons when he realised the anger Rosa had was not really anger.

“I WAS NOT DEFEATED BY A ROCK WHY DO YOU NEVER LET THIS BE '' Rosa groaned, before gently butting Ash on the head. “Miss you, squirt.”

Pikachu made useless pointing motions at the duo when Lance did a similar shrug. “I don’t know. Rosa is a younger Dragonair, but-”

The Dragonair huffed and returned to Lance’s side as he returned the other mon’s. The blue light swallowed her and Lance hummed in acknowledgement.

“Well, I hope to see you excel!” Lance finally laughed, as the sun slowly trekked down the sky. As the sunset grew, a red and rainbow bird graced the clouds through the pink and orange ombre.

Ash stared at the bird as it flew over, cawing out the sky. Lance similarly seemed entranced by the bird.

“The Chosen One has begun his journey. Here is to a new age!” the bird screeched. Lance seemed to understand what the bird had said, judging by how he and Ash exchanged glances when a rainbow feather fell onto Ash’s lap.

“Ho-Oh.” Lance mumbled. “A Rainbow Wing from Ho-Oh.”

Ash watched as Lance stood up, hoisting himself upon his Dragonite and smiling. “Good luck, Ash.. and keep the Rainbow Wing close to your heart.”

Ash nodded, bowing as Lance left. A friend of Rosa was a friend of him, after all.

-

Champion: Official

Lance: Ho-Oh sighting

Steven: Not a Fearow?

Lance: Steven. I saw the bird fly over my head. And give a Rainbow Wing to a trainer.

Wallace: !!

Wallace: That’s unusual.

Cynthia: Aligns with the rumours of a Chosen One, right?

Lance: It did mention that.

Lance: I had already had a fairly strange day. Spearow Flock were causing trouble on Route 1, so I had gone to get rid of the birds.

Lance: A new trainer and his Pikachu helped me.

Cynthia: i feel bad for your ears

Lance: he didn’t recognise me

Cynthia: Were you in-

Lance: In my Champion attire, yes. I’m pretty sure his Pikachu recognised me.

Steven: Ok. So, Pallet area, that’s odd.

Lance: I thought as much, so I thought I’d hang with him for a bit.

Lance: He uses the dex on my Dragonite, and makes the comment that “if you know where to look, they aren’t rare.”

Cynthia: so obviously blackthorn area lived in?

Lance: Yeah. I thought as much- so I asked, why did you move?

Lance: He only recognised it when I used the name the Dragonite gave it.

Steven: Weird, but go on.

Lance: He said that he had to due to his mother.

Lance: Pikachu looked done with it all at that point, so I doubt it was the full truth.

Cynthia: Strange trainer gets Rainbow Wing?

Cynthia: well

Lance: My new dragonair

Lance: The Shiny one

Lance: Adores him

Cynthia: Now that is odd.

Cynthia: Was it like an aura bond or?

Lance: I felt like I was watching siblings.

Steven: Wallace didn’t you see a shiny dratini once?

Wallace: Yes. It was playing with an egg and a young kid.

Lance: Oh?

Wallace: It was odd since the kid was throwing rocks at the Dratini who seemed pretty offended at the notion.

Lance: Rosa got offended when he threw a rock at-

Cynthia: we have now established that rosa and mystery child knew eachother

Lance: mystery child has a rainbow wing too

Lance: but yeah

Steven: Keep an eye on his gym challenge

Lance: if he does it, i will

Steven: ?

Lance: he floundered when i asked him what he wanted to do

Lance: so it’s an if.

Steven: In other news, I’m visiting Kanto soon.

Lance: wonderful another security risk

Steven: -_-

Steven: I’ll tell you if I come across mystery kid

Chapter 3: Misty and Kai

Chapter Text

“Halt! You must provide identification to proceed!” A teal-haired policewoman held her hand out to stop him at the gate area of the city. Ash stared blankly at her, while she relaxed and continued to speak. “Pokemon Thieves have been spotted and we do not want anymore!”

Ash continued to look confusedly at her, while the officer smiled at him and spotted his Pokedex on his belt, pointing at the red square. "May I have that?"

"Uh...Sure?" Ash laughed off the nervousness that bubbled in his chest, fumbling with the device as he passed it to the policewoman who pressed a button on the side. The Pokedex beeped. “I am Dexter. I serve as Ash Ketchum’s official identification and trainer card. If found, please return to Professor Oak.”

The officer scrutinised the Pokedex, before shrugging and handing the red device back to him. “Have a nice time in Viridian City.”

Ash strolled through the city, glancing at Dratini’s Pokeball a few times. He walked to a park area he had found- a few trees and some grass weren't exactly the height of beautiful green areas in the world, but his options were pretty limited. He sat down on one of the cold steel benches that were firmly planted into the dirt and released the small blue dragon type. He pointed his Pokedex at Dratini.

"It is born large to start with. It repeatedly sheds its skin as it steadily grows longer. This Dratini is Male."

"Hello.." Ash waved to the small worm who looked up with a brimming excitement in his eyes. His tail flicked and swayed like a Yamper's might before the Dratini tackled Ash in the chest. Pinwheel hung over Ash's shoulder lazily, chuckling to itself.

"Ash!" The Dratini trilled in excitement. Ash, who had been looking slightly confused for a bit, suddenly snapped his finger in realisation. Of course. If that random (famous, apparently) dragon trainer had caught Rosa- his little brother Kai would have come along for the ride. Probably willingly, if he was to throw any bets on it.

"Kai?" Ash replied. The Dratini gave a vigorous nod to Ash's excitement, as he gently patted Kai on the back before returning his new reunited friend. He still had to go to the local Pokemon Center, of course- something Oak had insisted both he and Gary knew about before they had left for their journeys.

He walked to the building, staring at the doors for a long time. They were shut, with no visible handle. Maybe they were push to open, but normally they labelled that? Ash looked at them, feeling slightly frustrated as he still couldn't quite figure it out.

He wasn't exactly familiar with cities, and his few memories of being in them were of Fusube- or Blackthorn, he reminded himself, where the old-fashioned historical nature of the city meant ordinary doors were far more common, and being around Pallet, and the most modern building was Oak's Lab.

His Pikachu snorted and stepped up to them as they opened automatically, sliding apart to make way for the mouse.

Well, now he just felt plain stupid.

Ash made a small ‘o’ with his face, before walking to the Nurse at the counter. She was all smiles, he noted. Pink hair in two pigtails in a white outfit that he had seen once or twice before when those nurses had strayed from the Pokemon Center. He placed Pikachu onto the tray set out for him, and Kai's pokeball. “Can you look after my Pokemon, please?”

Nurse Joy smiled and nodded as her Chansey lifted the tray carefully. "Your Pokemon will be safe with us!"

He walked over to the seating area. It wasn't anything special- just a few mossy green booths with some coffee tables and magazines on training, battling and the odd one on contests strewn across the cedar tables. He took a long sigh and relaxed as much as he could allow himself to as another trainer sat beside him. She had orange hair tied into a side ponytail and wore a yellow t-shirt under some red suspenders that connected to some denim shorts. Her hair was contorted in a way that suggested, quite plainly, anger.

“Are you...alright?” Ash asked, a smile crossing his face as he looked to face her properly. The girl seemed to snap out of her thoughts, and she stopped looking mad for a moment and looked back at him. “A trainer destroyed my bike, which cost a lot of money.”

Ash paused. “I… but what if you bought a new one?”

“I can’t afford it.”

Ash still looked confused. Money was never something he thought about. While Delia wasn't exactly affluent, they never had to worry about it either. Yet, he tried his best to empathise with the girl. “I mean, I’m sure the trainer in question didn’t mean it! And I bet he would say sorry! And I bet he would help you save up!”

That’s what a Pokemon would do. (Or most, anyway.)

“Not everyone is like that, kid... Anyway, my name is Misty Waterflower.” She introduced. Ash smiled brightly back. “I’m Ash!”

She tried to match the expression the kid had, but it was pretty hard to be quite as enthusiastic as the trainer in front of her. “Nice to meet you, Ash.” She replied.

Misty glanced over when the bell rang to signal for the trainer to pick up their Pokemon. Ash stood up and collected his Pokemon- a Pikachu and a mystery one in a Pokeball. Curiosity bubbled in her, but she held off on asking what was in the Pokeball. Instead, she idly petted the Pikachu who was already vying for her affection.

“Awh, Pinwheel likes you.” Ash grinned. Misty hummed in amusem*nt as her hand was swallowed by soft yellow fur. The rather idyllic moment was quite rudely interrupted when the siren for the building went off.

Smoke billowed from the centre of the room of the Pokemon Center as three silhouettes stood in the middle of it all. Two tall, one very short, appearing to be what looked to be a Meowth.

“Prepare for trouble!” “And make it double!”

The duo posed dramatically. One with short blue hair in a white and red uniform and the other with long pink hair recited a motto. They wore white uniforms with the letter R planted in the centre of the fabric in bright red. Their (quite weird) motto introduced them- Team Rocket.

"We're going to steal all your Pokemon!" Jessie demanded- the pink-haired girl. The blue-haired guy, James, laughed cruelly. "Yes, so hand them over!"

Ash stood up to protect the Centre. Misty did the same- until she remembered her Gym Pokemon were not on her right now. Big yikes, Misty reminded herself, but she reassured herself with the fact that she was still not exactly a slouch of a trainer. She hoped, anyway. The two Rocket grunts only had an Ekans and Koffing anyway.

Not the best trainers.

“Kai! Pinwheel!” Ash tossed the pokeball, releasing the blue dragon. It glanced at Ash, its face furrowing in determination. The Pikachu sparked as it was released. Misty ignored the "what the f*ck, that is a Dratini" thought to release her Staryu. That could wait.

“What! That kid has a super rare Pokemon!” Meowth pointed at the Dratini, who growled. “Get away from my big brother!”

Meowth was used to trainer Pokemon confusing their trainers for familial members, but still, something about the anger bristling off the little dragon type set him off guard. Some species were more inclined to mistake their trainers for family- and the Dratini line was simply not one of those species. It was far more common in Kangaskhan or the Nidoran line, where familial bonds were far more important. The Pikachu sparked in annoyance. “You will have Blackthorn on your asses if you don’t go.”

Meowth shrugged, ignoring the voice in his head that wondered if Pikachu was referring to the Dragons of Johto being annoyed over the Dratini or the trainer. “You don’t scare me, Pikachu.”

“Now! Ekans, use Bite!” “Koffing, Poison Gas!”

Ash winced as he realised he’d have to battle- not just look at them angrily and hope they went away, but ignored his trepidation to face the thieves head-on. “Kai, use Extreme Speed! Pinwheel, use Thunderbolt!”

If this was Rosa’s sibling, it was almost guaranteed the little worm would know the move. Misty’s eyes widened as the Pokemon slithered forward, zipping around the Koffing and slamming into it before it could do anything. The Pikachu released a bolt of lightning and sent the trio flying through the air almost majestically.

And the roof of the Pokemon Centre was down. He hoped he wouldn't get in too much trouble for giving the Viridian Pokemon Centre a new skylight.

Misty called Staryu to use a Water Gun to keep the debris from falling on Dratini, who was able to safely slither away. It excitedly stared at his trainer, chirping, “Did I do it like big sister?”

Ash nodded to the Dratini while Misty sat and processed what exactly just happened before her eyes. Right. He still had a Dratini- a protected species, which was not just rare, but possibly part of a larger scheme. Misty grabbed Ash’s wrist and pulled him over to a corner while Officer Jennys poured in for accounts from the other trainers and Nurse Joy of the events of the criminals invading the Pokemon Centre. Ash opened his mouth but closed it as Misty held up a Cerulean City Badge- a small piece of blue metal shaped in a water droplet.

“I’m a gym leader. Tell me exactly how you got that Dratini, or I will take action.” She whispered. It was possible, after all, it was stolen and Ash had come across somehow. Or an entire other slew of things, she bitterly noted.

“A- a- guy gave it to me on Route 1.” Ash stammered. “He had like, red hair, a cape, I don’t remember his name, he was surprised and stuff I don’t know!”

Misty didn't need his name with that description. She would recognise, even in words, the ridiculous attire of the illustrious Champion and Elite Four member Lance any time. He wasn't exactly the most normal trainer to come across, but it did save her a little bit. She could ask him, after all. The Dratini nudged Ash’s leg affectionately as Misty looked even more confused. “..I can verify that story, so, I’ll travel..with you until I figure it out, okay?”

Ash frantically nodded, clearly distressed by the entire situation. Misty didn't blame him for that and was silently glad he was being cooperative. Pinwheel- his Pikachu, sighed.

“We’re gonna get this a lot, aren’t we Kai?”

The Dratini giggled at that, and Ash bit his tongue to not laugh too. Misty smiled weakly at Ash before it actually hit her.

“Wait. You didn’t recognise-”

Pinwheel slammed a paw over Misty’s mouth before she could finish the sentence, jumping to be on her shoulder instead. “We wanna see how long we can take this. Lance found it funny.”

A bit sad, Pinwheel noted to himself, that he recognised Lance as a Champion before his trainer.

Misty nodded in excitement as Ash gave a deadpan glare at his Pikachu, who stuck out a tongue at him. Ash sat down beside Misty again, who stared at the wall. “You don’t know who I am. You don’t know my sisters.”

Ash shook his head.

“Sheltered childhood? I see... Well, these are my sisters... I guess.” Misty scowled as she opened her Pokenav to show Ash Violet, Daisy and Lily. She didn't know why she was doing this- showing him his sisters, but she shrugged it off. He was a nice person, and he already knew she was the Cerulean Gym Leader. He blinked in confusion at the video of the water show.

“What’s the point.”

Misty gaped. “Wh- you don’t think they are pretty or anything?”

Ash shook his head, after all, his mother had been keen to tell him better than to fall for a pretty face. But also, he couldn't exactly make himself care that much about girls. “Don’t let prettiness dictate your actions. Only your mind can judge a soul.”

“Well.. my mother said don’t let prettiness dictate your actions,” Ash recalled. “Only your mind can judge a soul.”

Misty nodded and decided she quite liked Ash’s mother. “What else does your very wise mother have to say?”

Ash blinked, before humming as he thought of a quote. Kai bounced upwards onto Ash’s neck, wrapping around it like a scarf. Kai chirped. “A reputation is the beginning of a legacy, a legacy is the beginning of a myth, a myth is the beginning of a truth.”

Ash remembered that one well. It was what he had lived by it’s why he never bothered to pay attention to the reputations of those around him. He had never seen it as important as learning the myths of the world, as one day, they may just be the truth. She had been quite insistent that both he and Rosa understood it well, and clearly, his little brother Kai had the same lesson.

It probably had its holes in accuracy, but he couldn't care.

“A reputation is the beginning of a legacy, a legacy is the beginning of a myth, and a myth is the beginning of a truth.” Ash recited. “It means that somebody’s reputation will become their legacy, and then that legacy gets passed around to the point it is a myth, and eventually people will believe the myth to be true... Like how most legendary and mythical Pokemon are dictated by what we know!”

“That’s really innovative,” Misty replied. Her eyes scanned the room as if there was something new in the Pokemon Centre. She stared at Nurse Joy, before standing up and sighing.

“Well, go get a room, and we’ll meet back together in the morning. Deal?” Misty replied. Ash nodded, grabbing a key from Nurse Joy and walking to his room. It was a small little hotel-like room, with a single bed in the middle, a bedside table and a window overlooking the rest of Viridian City. It was quaint and simple, he decided, as he curled up inside the bed.

Pinwheel and Kai fell asleep easily, curled into his side.

-

Kanto - Johto League

Misty- lance

Misty- have you given a dratini to anybody in the last while

Lance- As it happens, yes

Clair- WHAT?

Clair- WHY?

Lance- He was interesting

Lance- Also he seemed a good fit for Rosa’s little brother.

Clair- For Mew’s sake Lance we don’t give dratini out like candy??

Misty- he was very good with it to be fair

Misty- the two are close

Lance- ALREADY?

Misty- maybe hes just one of those weirdos

Misty- with a very wise mom lol

Clair- ??!?!?

Misty- you heard me.

Misty- spitting knowledge

Clair- what kind of knowledge hmm

Misty- “A reputation is the beginning of a legacy, a legacy is the beginning of a myth, a myth is the beginning of a truth.” apparently

Lance- that confirms my “this kid lived in blackthorn area” theory

Clair- then its likely we know him, no?

Lance- wallace saw him once

Misty- i might just travel with him because apparently we have a ton of unanswered questions on him,

Lance- Thank you

Misty- also i think he doesn’t understand automatic doors

Lance- what

Misty- i watched his pikachu show him how they work

Clair- We have automatic doors in Blackthorn..? not many but still

Misty- yeah.

Misty- he reminds me of somebody who i cant place my finger on.

Lance- rosa has been acting up

Misty- your shiny dragonair?

Lance- acting up puts it lightly she has been going zubat-sh*t insane

Morty- bell tower is having another seizure

Morty- hasn’t been this bad since gold

Misty- ?

Lance: Unusual

Chapter 4: A Boastful Pidgeotto!

Chapter Text

“AHEHGHh! A bug!” Misty screeched as she scrambled away from the Caterpie that shuffled along the ground, while Pinwheel snorted in amusem*nt. Ash snickered under his breath as they continued to travel along the path in the forest. It was an old trodden path, with sticks and leaves dusting between the dirt that made a path where so many trainers had walked. They had begun to trek through Viridian Forest, on Misty’s suggestion. Scenic trees cooled them off from the heat of the sun, with little dapples of sunlight painting the grass a soft yellow where it landed. Dew dropped from the old trees while Pokemon played with one another.

A Pidgeotto landed on a branch, staring at the Pikachu, squawking. Misty yelped, reaching for her Staryu as the bird chirped in amusem*nt. “Lunch, are you? Surely you don’t expect this hatchling to be a good trainer?”

Ash scowled at being called a hatchling. He pointed at the bird, poorly enunciating Pidgeotto slowly so Misty didn’t suspect anything. “I am NOT a hatchling!”

Misty watched as he butchered Pidgeotto's name. Instead of saying "pih-jee-oh-toh" it sounded more like "peeh-jeeh-ooouhh-towh".

Pidgeotto stared as the Pikachu giggled. “You didn’t mishear.”

“So a hatchling. Every hatchling says they aren’t a hatchling.” Pidgeotto commented, amusem*nt tinkling in the bird Pokemon's voice. “Any family?”

Pinwheel huffed. “Up north. Fusube area. He has his little brother.”

The Pidgeotto tutted in disappointment, gesturing with her wing at the Pokeballs. He was getting quietly bored of Viridian Forest anyway. The journey, the friends, it would be fun. “Tell him to catch me. He needs a proper Pokemon to keep an eye on him, rat.”

Pinwheel snorted and tapped a Pokeball on the belt after climbing down off Ash’s shoulder. He understood and tossed the Pokeball. It landed on Pidgeotto and dinged after a single shake. Misty spluttered as the Pokedex chimed.

“Pidgeotto. The Bird Pokemon- Normal/Flying Type. Very protective of its sprawling territorial area, this Pokémon will fiercely peck at any intruder. This one is Female.”

Misty pointed at Ash. “You caught. The Pidgeotto- with- what, Pinwheel chatting…at it?”

Ash shrugged. “Maybe she wants to travel?”

He tossed the Pokeball, releasing Pidgeotto who grinned and blew a gust of wind as she flapped her wings with a smile on the beaked Pokemon. She preened at the attention. The tan and crimson bird tried her best to look powerful. “I am Gale! The strongest Pidgeotto in the Viridian Forest!”

Pinwheel rolled his eyes but didn’t comment on anything. Ash clapped in awe at the bird Pokemon, and Misty’s smile twitched a little wider. She couldn’t help but enjoy how excited the guy got over getting a boring Pokemon like a Pidgeotto,

“Well, that settles that!” Misty grinned before a Weedle shuffled over. The little yellow bug tilted his head upwards. “Oh... Gale.. bye..” It mumbled, racing away as Misty screamed “BUG!” at the top of her lungs.

Ash chortled as Misty quivered behind a tree. “I don’t want to see it! Get it away get it away!” Misty stammered frantically. Ash shrugged and didn’t say a word, as at that moment a trainer used a bamboo sword to bring it to Ash’s neck. “Are you a trainer fro-”

Ash grabbed both ends of the sword, and snapped it like a twig, tossing it aside. Curse him for being used to chasing annoying dragon types he considered family around rocks and rubbish terrain. “Are you idiotic! I could’ve been hurt badly!”

The kid- a Camper, Misty noticed, by the look of him, stammered. “B-but I just wanted to battle Pallet trainers a-and”

“It- that was expensive!”

Ash blinked like the word meant nothing to him, before pointing at the remains of the sword. “You don’t need a sword.” Ash replied.

He picked up both halves of the sword as the teachings his mother explained about Farfetch’d rang through his head. “If one loses their leek, you should show them this.”

Ash struck the kid with the sticks and easily downed the Camper and stood over him, with Gale perching on his shoulder chirping. “Good job, nestling. That Camper pissed me off.”

Ash threw the sword on top of the Camper, who numbly left them down and stood up. “Well... I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle! Two vs two!”

Misty stepped in the middle as Ash blinked and stepped backwards. She called out the standard referee stuff for the battle. He guessed he was battling now, and tried to remember what his mother said about it- “Stay calm.” and “Don’t play nice.”

“Gale! I choose you!” Ash called. The bird flew off his shoulder, sending a gust of wind as she did. The Camper sent out a Pinsir, who punched the air a few times as he snarled to intimidate. “Be afraid! I’m strong!”

Gale giggled in amusem*nt, the bird yawning. Ash held the Pokedex to Gale’s Pokeball. "This Pidgeotto is Female. She knows the moves: Sand Attack, Gust, Quick Attack, and Twister."

“Ok! Use Quick Attack!” Ash yelled. The Pinsir stumbled around as Gale darted through the air and slammed into the Pinsir. The trainer yelped. “Use Hyper Beam!”

Ash gaped at the move choice, while Misty facepalmed. Ash then saw the Hyper Beam in question. It sure was one, but it was a weaker yellowish beam with none of the white or red accentations that he had seen in the Dragon's hyperbeams back home, which usually marked a well-trained and powerful beam. And anyway, Pinsir were bet at physical combat! “Uh. Gale, just.. Go behind a tree.”

The bird obliged, and the Hyper Beam was stopped easily by the old oak. Gale dipped over the tree canopy, diving to be in front of her trainer. “What next, nestling!”

“Gust!” Ash replied, and Gale grinned. She sent forth a huge blast of wind on the recovering Pinsir, who landed in the dirt. The trainer returned the Pinsir and sent out a Metapod. Misty facepalmed again.

“Harden!” the trainer called. Ash blinked as Gale co*cked her head. “Nestling, am I facing lunch?”

Ash sighed in exhaustion. “Don’t eat the Metapod, Gale. Catch it in your claws and throw it up to land a Twister.”

The Metapod was thrown into the air by a gleeful Pidgeotto as the draconic twister sent the Metapod into a tree, unconscious. Misty held her hand to Ash. “Ash has knocked out Metapod, leaving him the victor of this battle!” She called. Ash clapped happily as the trainer fumbled for words.

“Great job, Gale!” Ash smiled, returning the Pokemon. Misty sighed in relief until she heard a familiar buzzing noise.

Beedrill.

“AHHHHH!” Misty screeched as Ash grabbed her wrist to pull her along, running down the path as quickly as possible. The Beedrill buzzed after them, but Ash was surprisingly fit for his age. The kid easily outran them, leading them out of the forest as he tripped on a rock and landed, grumbling.

“Oh, I should tell Rosa.” Kai giggled. Misty stared at the Pokemon, whom Pinwheel had released from his Pokeball, mocking and jeering Ash for tripping on the rock, but it was clear to be in good fun.

“uh-” Misty blinked, helping Ash up as the Team Rocket grunts from Viridian hopped out of a hot air balloon.

“Hey! It’s the Dratini Twerp!” Meowth called. Jessie’s eyes widened before she nodded in determination. “Ok! Go, Ekans!” James released his Koffing, silently hitting “record” on a covert body cam his boss had given him. After all, they had a mission here.

-

“Sir! We encountered a trainer with a Dratini and Pikachu!” Jessie saluted as her boss drummed the table. “Interesting. And what do you say about letting me see him?”

“Sir! We will record and find him for you.” James replied. Meowth stayed saluting as the Persian purred smugly.
-

Ash sent the Dratini forward. The little dragon roared. “I know Rosa’s special move!”

Meowth looked confused. He didn’t need to look confused for much longer.

“Oh! Kai, use Ice Beam!” “Pinwheel, Thunderbolt! Gale-” Ash threw the ball as the Pidgeotto snarled at the Meowth, Koffing and Ekans. “Away from the nestling, lunch.”

“Use Twister on them!”

The three attacks sent the three into the air, screaming and holding onto their Pokemon. Misty high-fived Ash, who sighed and sat down on the grass. He didn't want to face the thought that had forced its way into his mind, but with how many run-ins he had already had with trainers and criminals insisting on battles and fights, it was becoming abundantly clear. “I need to train you three.. Don’t I?”

Gale nudged him gently. “Nestling, battling is a way of life. Do the local Gyms. Brock knows me well... He’ll be happy to see me have a good trainer now.”

“Why does Brock know you?” Pinwheel chirped back to the Pidgeotto who puffed out her chest. “Well, I’m a protector of the Pidgey there. My successor was recently announced, so I was suspected to start a journey of my own soon anyway,”

Misty blinked as Ash stood up, holding a fist in the air. “I’m going to challenge Brock! After, After I train my Pokemon a little tomorrow.”

Gale screeched in… pride? “Let's do this, Nestling!”

Kai giggled and nodded and Pikachu pumped a fist to the air similar to his trainer. The four ran down to the Pokemon centre, leaving Misty to play catch-up as she caught her breath. “That- that was sudden, but.. Okay?”

Ash smiled and handed his Pokemon to the nurse, who nodded and after an hour or so, gave them back to Ash. Misty facepalmed as the kid ran straight to the gym. Clearly, his Pokemon had goaded him into the challenge prematurely anyway. The loss could be good for him though, so Misty wasn't exactly interested in interfering.

“Are you ready for this? Pewter Gym awaits!” Brock boomed from the pedestal. He shot a “what the f*ck” expression to Misty, who had already evacuated to the stands. He had no time to dwell on that though. Brock called. “What is your name, Challenger!”

“Ash Ketchum!”

Brock sighed and threw a Pokeball, leaving a Geodude in place.

“This will be a two v two battle between the challenger Ash and Pewter Leader Brock!” A kid, younger than Brock called from the Referee podium. Rocks lined the field and the lights switched on all at once.

“Go! Pinwheel!” Ash called. The Pikachu ran to the field as Brock winced inwardly. “Magnitude!”

“Quick Attack!”

Brock admitted the Quick Attack was a strong one, but it did nothing against his Geodude, who knocked the little mouse out immediately through the shockwaves in the floor, which made quick work of the Pokemon with supereffective damage.

“Pikachu is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your next Pokemon!”

“Gale!” Ash called. Brock perked up at the name of the feisty Pidgeotto, but it facepalmed on seeing the Geodude and the fainted Pikachu in Ash’s arms.

“Nestling- I thought you were going to use Kai.”

Ash blinked. “That- never mind! Gale! Use Twister!”

The Dragon Type attack sent Geodude backwards into a wall, so Brock returned him before impact. The Gym Leader sent out his Onix. The massive rock snake roared as Ash visibly retracted.

-

“Rosa! Look at these rocks!” Ash giggled as he climbed up them. Rosa followed him, the Dratini giggled as she did. Rosa prodded the rock when it started moving. “AHHH! It’s an Onix!” Rosa yelped. Ash hugged Rosa tight and jumped off the Onix, running away. A distant Dragon Pulse downed the Rock Snake Pokemon.

-

“Oh- uh… Gale… Twister!” Ash quivered. Misty blinked and shook her head as she watched the battle. Gale took notice of Ash’s fear, huffing at Onix. “Knock me out. Nestling needs time.”

A Rock Throw, as commanded by Gale, had the bird down for the count.

Brock sighed. “Train your Pokemon some more, and come back. You have potential.”

Ash nodded and returned Gale, swallowing the bile that rose in his throat from the loss.

-

Kanto-Johto League

Brock: you think you’ve seen it all

Brock: until a complete newbie catches a level 22 pokemon

Misty- i think the pokemon caught him

Brock- .

Lance- Somehow I think I know who this is

Brock- he’s doing the gym circuit apparently

Brock- lost to me but oh well

Misty- every trainer starts somewhere

Misty- who won their first battle?

Lance- not i!

-

Chapter 5: Battle: Brock!

Chapter Text

Ash had gotten back to the route earlier than Misty woke up to chat to his Pokemon properly. That would make training easier, he had decided. Sure, Pokemon could understand human speech fairly well, but he was almost certain he could get his ideas across better in the tongue of speech he was more familiar with. He crouched in front of his Pikachu, Dratini and Pidgeotto, staring them down a little as he scrolled through moves in his Pokedex.

“Iron Tail! I remember Momma said Pikachu can learn it through repeatedly trying to split rocks to make dens.” Ash cooed at the Pikachu, gesturing at a boulder. Pinwheel stared at the rock a long time, before nodding in response. “Dad said something like that. I’ll try learn it!”

Pinwheel ran to the rock, striking it with his tail.

Nothing happened.

“Keep trying, Pinwheel!” Ash cried, pumping a fist to the air. He turned his attention to Kai, who was slithering away slowly to avoid being called on. “Kai! Remember Rosa learned Aqua Tail?”

Kai nodded. He remembered how water enveloped his sister's tail, although she wasn’t too great at the move. “She said she imagined an Ice Beam from her tail but not an ice beam… uh, try that?”

Kai grinned and a few droplets of water surrounded the little Dratini’s tail as he tried striking the tree. It shook a small amount. Kai immediately tried again, with a few more droplets surrounding his tail.

Gale grinned at the training, before gliding down to affectionately coo at her nestling. She dropped some Oran and Pecha berries on his lap for him to eat. “Eat up, nestling. Now, what do you want to try to teach me?”

“Momma said she met a Skarmory who could use Steel Wing.” Ash chirped at the Pidgeotto who mulled it over. “I am half Skarmory…” The Pidgeotto deliberated, before gliding down at a tree and slamming into it full force with her wings.

“Ow. I’ll keep trying.”

-

Misty yawned as she walked outside the Pokemon Centre. She wandered down the street to find Ash, when he came running up to her.

“Misty- come come come you have to see this!” He grinned, bouncing on his heels to grab her wrist and pull her along as she blinked away the sleep in her eyes she didn’t know she had. She followed along, to where Ash’s pokemon were waiting patiently.

Had they been out here all morning?

“I wanna face Brock with my new moves I taught them! Come on, come one!” Ash grinned giddily. Misty blinked before shrugging and walking with Ash back to the gym. Pinwheel seemed proud of himself, Gale looked smug and Kai was brimming with joy.

He returned his Pokemon and slammed the doors of the gym open with the excitement of a young boy, and Misty disappeared off to the stands. She watched as Ash huffed and stood on the box.

“This will be a two v-” The referee began again as Brock took his place in the Gym. “Can we use three?” Ash requested.

Brock’s eyes opened a little as he took in the request. “Are you that confident in your training?”

Ash nodded. The referee shrugged. “Three v three, switches allowed battle for the Boulder Badge. Go!”

Brock sent out the Geodude who stared at the Pikachu who was sent out first- again. Brock sighed. “Did you learn nothing? Geodude, Rock Throw!”

“Pinwheel, use Iron Tail!”

“Iron- what?” Brock stumbled over the word as the Pikachu grinned and surrounded it’s tail with metal, slamming into the Geodude, who was thoroughly thrown into the dirt. Brock's pokemon weren't pushovers defensively, but it was still a little much to expect his first badge team to take a move like Iron Tail.

“Pikachu has won. Gym Leader, please send out your next Pokemon!”

“Pinwheel, return!” Ash called, tossing his next Pokeball as Brock sent out an Omanyte. It punched the air with his tentacles as Gale escaped her pokeball. “A snack!”

Ash snickered as Brock blinked at the Pidgeotto. “Alright! Omanyte- Water Gun!”

“Steel Wing!” Ash yelled. Pidgeotto’s wings hardened like steel as the jet of water was easily manoeuvred around by the bird, who slammed into the blue snail-like pokemon at full force. Omanyte was sent flying back.

“Omantye, Icy Wind!” Brock called, throwing a hand out for force. Ash grinned before jumping up. “Now! Pidgeotto- use Gust to send it back!””

The icy wind was thrown back against Omanyte, damaging the Pokemon further as Brock grit his teeth. “Ah, Omanyte! You can do this! Use Rollout!”

Gale screeched as the snail hit him, sending him into a rock.

“Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Challenger, send out your next Pokemon!”

Ash returned Gale and Pinwheel leapt forward, moving across the rocky field. Brock grinned, brushing some dust off his hands as he seemed to forget the stress of being a Gym Leader, if but for a moment. It was clear the kid had put in the work to earn the badge this time. A part of him wondered if the Pidgeotto could have squeaked through the battle the last time- probably- but left it so her trainer would have more experience.

He wouldn't doubt the birds intellect, anyway.

“Ok! Now! Go for it , Omanyte! Keep that Rollout going!” Brock called. Ash grinned as Pinwheel chirped “What next?”

“Use Iron Tail on the rocks!”

Pinwheel slammed his tail into the rocks- nice inanimate targets that he wouldn’t miss, and created a rockier field that Omanyte ran into. The little snail was sent backwards a little, his Rollout now broken. “Now! Thunderbolt”

The electrical bolt slammed into Omanyte, sending the snail into the wall. “Omanyte is unable to battle! Gym Leader- send out your final Pokemon!”

Pinwheel scurried back to Ash’s size as he grabbed the final Pokemon on his belt, taking the time to pant heavily and relax a little, and Misty suddenly became more and more interested in this battle. Brock’s hand drifted to what Misty knew was his Gym Onix, before he switched it and sent out his personal Golem.

“Brock-” The referee, clearly his younger brother began. Brock waved a hand. He was already ready to give the kid the badge, now this was a challenge of seeing how the kid handled a tough opponent he wasn't afraid of.

“Alright! Kai!”

The Dratini whipped his tail as he came out, slithering around the Golem. “Hey! Lance showed me you once!”

“Oh. Hello.” Golem mumbled. Brock grinned as he stared his opponent down. “Let's see how you take this!”

Ash held out a hand as Brock called his first attack. “Sandstorm!”

The field was filled with sand and rocks flying through the air. Ash hummed before nodding, and grinned at Dratini. “Kai! Use Twister against the Sandstorm!”

Draconic energy filled the sandstorm, blowing against the Golem as the Sandstorm whittled down Dratini. Brock tapped his chin thoughtfully, before stomping his foot on the ground. “Lets go! Hit ‘em with a Rock Slide!”

Rocks appeared in the air, falling down over Dratini. Ash clapped his hands together- in excitement.

This was what Gym Battle should be.

“Kai! Extreme Speed through the rocks, like you are scaling a cliff- then use Ice Beam on the battlefield!” Ash yelled.

Kai got the message. He zipped over and around the rocks, in what Brock was deciding was almost artistic. He hit an Ice Beam on the ground.

“Now! Slide on it!”

Brock’s smile grew wider as the little Dratini ran circles around his Golem, and he called for a Rock Polish to speed up. Both Pokemon faced one another.

It was clear he could have won, but he needed that push to really deserve the badge.

“Alright! Earthquake!” Brock shouted. Golem braced itself, while Ash yelled for an Aqua Tail. The little Dragon type encased it’s tail with water, tripping Golem up backwards. The Pokemon shot upwards.

“Finish it with Aqua Tail!”

Brock yelled for Rock Slide.

The Golem was just able to have rocks slam into the Dragon type, sending the Pokemon backwards and unconscious. Ash returned Kai as the referee shouted “Both the Challenger and Brock are on their last Pokemon! This will call it!”

Pinwheel stepped forward.

“Are you ready, Pinwheel?”

The Pikachu giggled. “Born!”

“Earthquake!” Brock demanded. Pikachu leapt onto the rocks after being told to use Quick Attack.

“Now chain with Iron Tail, into Quick Attack- into a Thunderbolt against the sprinkler system!” Ash held a fist out towards the battlefield. Brock called for a Rock Slide, and Pikachu leapt onto the rocks summoned to gain a gravity advantage against Golem, slamming into the Rock type before shooting a beam of electricity to cause the sprinklers to break, spraying water across the field.

“Rock Slide!” Brock smiled again. Rocks sent the Pikachu down, and the little mouse struggled to gain his footing. Ash winced, before he saw Ash say “Pikachu!” almost frantically and with a weird tonality. Not pee-kah-choo. No, it was more of a pih-kaaaaaah,choo.. Brock didn't even know.

“YOU CAN DO THIS!”

Golem looked perplexed momentarily as Pikachu got up.

“Use Thunderbolt!”

The yellow mouse held itself to its feet very slowly, and wobbled slightly as he ruffled his fur. A beam of electricity slammed into the Golem, who coughed out smoke as he was knocked out.

“G-Golem is unable to battle, meaning the challenger has won!” The referee called, a stammer in his voice from the shock.

“You did it Pinwheel!” Ash cheered, running to the field to hug his Pikachu to his chest. Rocks and ice punctured the walls of the Pewter City Gym, the sprinklers and pipes burst, and Brock was happy.

He hadn’t had that much fun in a while.

“Let’s go to the Pokemon Centre. You are very impressive, as a trainer.”

The two sat in the lobby of the Pokemon Centre while his pokemon were healed up. Ash leaned back on the sofa of the booth he was in while Misty clapped.

“Great job on winning your gym battle!” Misty cheered. Brock nodded. “Yeah, it’s clear you have potential.”

He passed Ash the Boulder Badge, who gladly pinned it on the inside of his jacket. Brock sighed. “I’m impressed you took down Golem. That’s one of my actual Pokemon- not a gym Pokemon.”

Ash stared at Brock. “You’re not serious?” He grinned.

Brock nodded. “Omanyte is normally for those with two badges- I was testing how your team would fair. Clearly, your tough.”

“But you needed that push to figure out a strategy!” Brock finished. He grabbed a notepad. “I’m looking to be a Pokemon Breeder- so tell me, what was going through your head?”

Ash hummed, tapping his chin. “Well, Pidgeotto is half-Skarmory, so Steel Wing was easy for her. And in the wild, Pikachu make dens with their tails. It’s only natural they use the move Iron Tail, so they must be naturally inclined to learn it. And Dratini-”

Ash smiled fondly.

“Dratini is from Fu-Blackthorn area.. And that means he’s better at battling in rough terrain!”

Brock nodded in understanding. “You took advantage of your pokemon’s biological and environmental strengths.”

He smiled, before sighing. “I wish I could be a Pokemon Breeder and travel the world, though. My good-for-nothing father hasn’t come back.. So I can’t.”

Misty scowled at that, as if she was equally mad at the man. A man walked over, a sheepish expression painted on his face.

“Actually.. I watched your Gym Battle.. I think you should travel with this young man, Brock. Follow your dreams.. Eh..” The man ripped off a face beard on his face as Brock gaped.

“I- Well, anyway-” Brock immediately started listing off how his different siblings needed to be cared for, and passed what seemed to be gym Pokemon over to his father.

-

Kanto - Johto League

Misty- RIP Pewter Gym

Brock- lets list what got annihilated:

Brock: battlefield is filled with ice, rocks, holes (so many holes) cracks. Walls are beat up and sanded away (and also.. Dragon’d? away). The sprinklers burst. And the walls have holes. The ceiling has a hole. The doors are blown off the hinges. The glass has shattered.

Lance- That’s

Brock- so how did the rematch go, you may ask!

Misty- i love how brock is literally 50% of the damage he bullied his own gym

Lance- IT WAS A FIRST BADGE BATTLE?

Brock- He was very confident so I stepped up my game. Geodude was decimated by an iron tail pikachu

Lance- Oh,

Brock- i sent out an omanyte i normally use for two badge challengers

Lance- oh?

Brock- pidgeotto knocks it around a bit but it has to get finished by the pikachu

Brock- im like really in the battle rn

Misty- HE SENDS OUT GOLEM

Lance- ,

Lance- I am checking the footage

Brock- he sends out a dinky little dratini! Im like, oh, how scary could this thing be

Brock- until i remember its definitely the one you gave but oh well you didnt train it too tough yet

Brock- he twisters my sandstorm so golem is getting dragon d every once in a while-

Brock- he then turns the battlefield into a miniature ice path

Lance- What

Brock- it was ruined

Brock- made it almost impossible for Golem to move

Brock- i finally ko the thing and he sends out pikachu

Lance- pikachu v golem.

Brock- IT THUNDERBOLTS THE PIPES AND USES “SOAK” AND KO’S GOLEM WITH THUNDERBOLT.

Lance- .

Lance- i’m watching the footage

Lance- this is amazing ??

Brock- I’m terrified of the Pikachu

Lance- oh-

-

Chapter 6: Enter Steven!

Chapter Text

The three stood in front of the entrance to Mount Moon. The mountain loomed over them. Bright, white artificial light spilled out from the tunnel's entrance. Brock huffed in clear annoyance and offence at the lanterns- a little modern steel fixture hung on a steel bracket hastily drilled into the wall, lifting one off its hook and slamming it into the cave floor. Misty yelped and jumped backwards.

“I- Why are there lights here!” Misty hissed. “It's bad for wild Pokemon!”

Ash frowned as he squinted into the forcefully lit up darkness. He stared at the shadows looming across the light, his eyes struggling to make out shapes within the space. “I can't see. It burns my eyes, it would be easier in the dark..”

Pinwheel chirped in agreement on his shoulder, nudging him. “I get that.”

A voice from behind approached them as a taller figure in a black and purple suit stared at the artificial lighting with a less than pleased expression. “I would be on a warpath if I saw these in my home region. Let me help you get these down, Brock.”

Ash turned around and blinked blankly at the man. He had light blue hair too, with steel cuffs on the ends of his suit. Misty and Brock exchanged expressions, before awkwardly coughing. “Hello.. uh, Steven.” Brock mumbled.

“Nice to see you?” Misty attempted with a wince, gesturing to Ash vaguely. “Here is our friend-”

Ash smiled.

“Are you three friends? That's awesome!”

Steven gave the two gym leaders a slightly disbelieving expression, before shrugging it off. Misty facepalmed inwardly when Brock began to awkwardly kick the grass. Ash gazed through the tunnel, before a small shadow curled in further. Pinwheel shot in a worried look. “That could be-”

Ash didn’t need to be told twice. He ran down the tunnel as Steven reached to grab him back. He was already around the corner after hurried steps down.

“Wait up!” Misty called. Ash gave a thumbs up around a corner, while Brock just shook his head slowly.

Steven folded his arms, taking a long look at Ash and then at Pikachu.

“Don’t you two think it’s a little odd he reacted after the Pikachu spoke?” Steven mulled in his head, by the lack of expression or change in how the two responded to Ash. Like this was just how this kid acted.

-

“So bright..” A Sandshrew muttered. The little yellow shrew curled into the small amount of shade it had managed to find, along with the other Sandshrew and Sandslash surrounding it. “Too hot..”

Ash crouched down beside the Sandshrew, gently rubbing it on the back and letting it take unsteady breaths. “It's okay. It's okay. I'm gonna get all the light down.”

The Sandshrew perked up, along with the bigger Sandslash. “Stray, is your family here?”

Ash shook his head. The Sandslash visibly soured, the expression on the Pokemon’s face showing clear distaste. Ash winced at the anger on the shrew. The Sandshrew nodded in a determined manner. “Then we will help!”

-

Steven idly drummed his fingers on Metagross when Ash emerged from down the tunnel with what looked to be an entire family of Sandshrew, with a few Sandslash at the top.

“These guys said they'd help!” Ash called. Steven took a long look at the Sandslash- a bigger one in particular that stood slightly in front of Ash, a foot shifted to block him from the others. He gave a tilt of his head to motion for Metagross to start taking out lights, while Brock and Misty manually got rid of them. The Sandshrew and Sandslash did a good job of getting rid of some themselves, and Ash and his Pikachu put in the work too.

Still, Steven couldn’t shake the feeling that something odd was going on with Ash already. He had heard stories of the “strays”. Then he had met Sidney- a barkeeper, who had plenty of stories of a pack of Mightyena who had adopted a kid. He turned to Metagross, who’s eyes flared to life mid-broken light. “What concerns you?”

Steven furrowed his brow as he observed how Ash was continuously surrounded by the Sandshrew, to the point where he had to have Pikachu- Pinwheel shoo some away. He glanced back to Metagross. “Something is odd about that kid.” Steven mentally replied.

“I could ask the Pikachu, relay information back.”

“Possibly.”

Steven raised up his arms as they reached a cavern. Drips came from the ceiling, as the stalactites and stalagmites surrounded them all. He placed a dimmer, golden lantern on the floor. “Let's take a break. Kay?”

Ash nodded and he, Brock and Misty sat down too. The group of Sandslash and Sandshrew panted in exhaustion, poking Ash impatiently who seemed to have relented and poured some water in a bowl for them. Steven glanced at the actions, and poured some of his own water for the Sandslash and Sandshrew, who dipped their heads in gratitude. Metagross buzzed as it floated to converse with the group, taking a second to gesture to its trainer.

“Why are you helping us?” Metagross asked the Sandshrew. Pinwheel frowned slightly at the Pokemon’s question, as it clicked in his head the Pokemon was a Psychic type. And while his trainer was oblivious- he knew Steven was a champion. There was a chance- and a high one that they could have a psychic link.. Steven's eyes flickered over to Metagross, and Metagross's eyes were a slight cyan. Pinwheel scurried over to Steven, but did nothing, pretending to be curious.

“Are you silly?” The lead Sandslash replied. “It’s obvious the Pikachu's trainer was a stray. So far from home, by the look of him. Poor dear.”

Pinwheel's fears were confirmed by Steven's eyes widening too much by the statement. Metagross said nothing, while Steven stared Ash down. Pinwheel ran up to Metagross, who blinked, unimpressed. Steven thought to himself- and to Metagross. “This could end badly.”

“I know your trainer is using you to translate, so, indulge me!” Pinwheel demanded. Metagross's eyes glowed slightly cyan again. A low buzz came from the pokemon. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

Pinwheel soured. “Why do you care? Lance seemed to care too much; what is done is done. It’s not the Pokemon’s fault that you people abandon your kin.”

Steven visibly shrank backwards, but nobody seemed to notice- especially when Misty and Brock turned to say they’d go on ahead. But Steven was now distracted by the new development- and didn't even notice them leave. Steven sighed as he relayed his next message for Metagross. “Why do you think we’re looking into it? We don’t exactly play nice with people who do that. I know Lance is dim-witted, so it’s honestly surprising he didn’t notice anything wrong.”

Pinwheel snickered, but shook his head. “Just play this carefully, Champion.”

Steven stood up.

“Let's get these lights down.” Steven said flatly, as he looked around the eerily quiet cavern as Ash stood up beside him.

Misty and Brock weren't there. Ash turned around slightly quicker in alarm, having been completely engrossed in a conversation with the Sandslash and Sandshrew. The shadow stepped forward, and a Muk escaped a Pokeball along with a Golbat.

“Oh, a Hoennian and a child, what a treat.” The man snorted. He wore a white uniform with a red R on it. “I am rather polite, you know, but taking down all those lights has forced my hand..”

He sighed dramatically, flicking some of his greasy purple hair. “I am Petrel. Goodbye.”

Steven held a hand up to protect Ash as the Golbat swooped forward, and Ash dove under the protective arm to call a Thunderbolt on the bat. Sandshrew ran away as the largest Sandslash remained, snarling as it curled into a ball and slammed into the Golbat. The bat struck Ash with Poison Fang nonetheless.

“Terrible bat! How dare you!” Sandslash snapped. The Golbat snarled. “I exist for the profit of Team Rocket!”

A Psychic attack froze the Muk and a Dratini slammed into Petrel’s Weezing, but was quickly dispatched with a Sludge Bomb. Steven watched as the Dratini was quickly returned, with Ash’s expression growing more and more annoyed as the poison wore through him. Gale then came out.

Steven gripped an Ultra Ball. “Skarmory! Assist!”

The Skarmory shrieked as it flew from its Pokeball, fury bridling in its eyes.

“You imbecile! How dare you attack my nestling!” Gale shrieked, revving up a Steel Wing that collided with, much to Steven's gratitude, Petrel himself. It was obvious the Pokemon this kid trained at least had the sense to worry about the trainer, not the Pokemon themselves. The executive coughed nastily as the attack sent him flying backwards, when the Weezing used Toxic on Ash. He coughed up a storm as Steven’s eyes widened.

Gale screeched and landed a Gust, along with Skarmory using a Steel Wing of her own. Skarmory glanced at Gale, almost surprised by the bird’s ability. Muk was sent into the cave wall with a Meteor Mash as Metagross landed on the cave floor, sending shockwaves through the ground.

Ash lost strength in his knees and fell forward.

Steven yelped in alarm and caught him, grabbing Metagross's arm as the steel behemoth nodded. “Metagross! Teleport-!”

The surroundings vanished in a swirling image that left Ash coughing even worse. Metagross had ended up leaving them outside the cave- Cerulean side. Steven stared at where the Pokemon Centre would be- a three hours or so walk down the road through a branch-filled path with a rocky riverside. Metagross was certainly tired now, although the behemoth refused to show the exhaustion the activities of the day had given him.

Claydol, maybe? Steven then thought of the strain Teleport put on him- let alone somebody under Toxic poisoning. It would be risky- but possibly necessary depending on how fast he could heal the poison effect on the kid. He shoved both thoughts at the back of his head when his thumb caught something cold and viscous drip onto it from where he supported the kids shoulder.

Blood.

His Pidgeotto had disappeared off somewhere and Pinwheel ran to get some healing herbs. He couldn't fault the kid's pokemon's ingenuity, although he pushed a thought that reminded him that he would’ve probably freaked out even more if he wasn’t healed the traditional “pokemon” way. He rested the kid against a rock.

“Nestling, berries.” Pidgeotto chittered gently, placing the Oran berries and Pecha berries she had gathered in Steven's hands. He nodded to the bird and gently fed them to Ash, who slowly opened his eyes. He lifted the injured Dratini up, who was more than happy to curl onto his lap to have the Full Restore.

“...wh..” Ash mumbled. Steven felt something cold being pressed into his palm- a little healing salve created by the Dratini and Pikachu for their trainer. He dabbed it awkwardly onto where Golbat had struck Ash, as the duo nodded to him.

“Kai?” Ash glanced over to where the Dratini perked up. “Kai, you're safe!”

Steven bit down on his tongue to avoid spooking him, despite what Metagross had heard being true. He took a moment to take a sharp breath. “What..happened, is Golbat- is-”

Steven finally took the opportunity to speak. “Ash, I teleported us out with Metagross.”

The look of horror on Ash's face when he turned to look at Steven was stomach dropping. Pinwheel cooed softly to his trainer to try to reassure him, with Gale protectively wrapped her wings around him.

“He knew. Metagross let him know. Psychic pokemon are a pain, especially strong ones.” Pinwheel assured his trainer. Ash couldn't find the strength in him to argue, and instead slumped against the rock. Steven winced at the visible pain the boy was in, and reached for his tent. He started to set up a temporary camp for them both.

-

“Ash?” Misty called. She had finished getting rid of the lights when she realised she had lost him. “Steven?”

“Ash!” Brock echoed. The two exchanged glances, as the rock type trainer looked down to where Rocket Grunts coalesced.

“Let's deal with that first.” Brock replied, firmly. Misty nodded.

-

Ash watched as Steven stirred the pot of bubbling food- some kind of stew he had been told, over the fire. His Pokemon slept peacefully around the camp, with Metagross beeping every so often to stand guard. He curled a little inward as Steven stayed silent, every so often shooting him a worried expression.

The night approached and Ash finally relaxed as he stared at the bowl of food he had been presented with a half hearted smile. He sipped it tentatively.

“Thanks..” Ash mumbled. “You're..nice”

Steven gave a soft expression to Ash's nervousness, before sipping his own soup. “Hey, I won't say a word.”

Ash blinked.

“Nothing. You don't need that right now, right?”

Steven pushed down the thought that reminded him of all the legal tape and police interactions that would have to happen if he did tell anybody, anyway. How long could this kid even last on his own without slipping up in front of the person? If he could catch it, then a trained officer would find it even easier to use the signs Lance had very unhelpfully made mandatory to learn.

Ash gave a shaky sigh as he reached for his jacket to tug on. It, however, was pretty badly mangled by all the attacks. Steven seemed to notice this, shuffling through his own bag. “I have one of Lance's jackets- don't ask why, I think he came over once and left it behind. It might fit.”

Ash slipped the red leather jacket on and pinned the Boulder Badge on the inside of it. It was comfortable and light, and was a little big on him, but Steven had remedied that by folding the ends of the sleeves inwards.

“Perfect.” Steven grinned. He gave a glum look to the mangled jacket. “Don't think there is any fixing that, though.”

Ash shook his head. Steven shrugged.

“Oh well.”

Ash didn't seem to be exactly attached to the jacket anyway, judging by how he mimicked the older's action. Steven then set down his bowl properly, brushing some dust from his shoulders as he saw his phone buzzing. Ash stared at the device in a mix of confusion and interest as Steven picked it up.

“Steven! You said you’d phone when you are outside Mount Moon and I know damn well it doesn’t take this long for you to get out- what gives? You just had to check on the Moon Stone, you said!” A young male snapped on the other side. Ash blinked as a soft Milotic echoed a “you are in biiiig trouble.”

Steven winced at the intensity Wallace held, before he took a breath. Ash’s eyes widened when he remembered something.

-

“Milotic- check out Dratini and the kid! Hey, want this Mystic Water I found? I think Dratini can learn some Water moves… and it’s really pretty- here, I’ll scratch the first letter of my name on the back, so one day, if I see you again, I’ll know who you are.”

“Dra!” The Dratini replied. Ash blinked in confusion.

-

Ash grabbed his bag and immediately ruffling stuff about.

“Wh- who are you with Steven? I thought you were travelling alone.” Wallace demanded. Steven took a breath.

“I ran into issues at Mount Moon, organised crime, and I ended up helping, ok, Wallace, you need to relax, I’m safe-”

“Steven! Don’t brush past this!”

Ash reached into the bag, grabbing a small Mystic Water pendant and throwing it to Steven, who caught it handily and inspected the little thing. A “W” was roughly carved into the back of it, and Steven froze, before, slightly shakily, talking to the person on the phone. “...Did you ever visit Blackthorn? Uh, and happen to give a Mystic Water to anybody?”

“Yeah, why? It was a kid and a Dratini, and-”

Steven shook his head before quietening his voice, a sternness escaping into his voice. “Wallace Mikuri, listen very- f*cking- carefully to me. This kid- certainly the one Lance ran into the other day judging by his Pokemon Roster, and the people he was with, is that kid. Now you keep mentioning you thought you met a stray, now please spare me the damn theatrics-”

Ash watched as Steven held a “sh” to his mouth, when Wallace finally answered. “Understood. I’ll look into covering your shifts as best possible. I’ll get some people to follow this up Hoenn end and check the records for you. Let’s keep Lance out of the picture, since he has a bad way of handling it all.”

“Right.”

Steven hung up the phone, sliding it into his pocket. Pikachu looked warily up- clearly woken up by the call. Ash shrank back when Steven placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to stay with you for now, travel with you, alright? I’m going to ask you a few questions, and we’ll get this sorted..”

Ash nodded, when Steven pressed release on a pokeball. A Claydol floated down.

“I’m going to get Claydol to conduct the interrogation- so he can psychically transmit the information. Is that alright?” Steven asked. “Ideally, I would have a Gardevoir, but I’m unfortunately a little lacking in that department.”

Ash released a breath, smiling at Steven. “It’s.. uh, better than what happened with Molly..”

Steven’s eyes widened a little. “Molly? Molly who? Can I have a second name for that?”

“Tommorow.. I’m tired right now.”

Steven smiled. “Of course, let’s wait.”

-

Kanto - Johto League

Brock- sh*t

Brock- WE LOST HIM

Brock added Steven

Lance- ?

Lance- May I ask?

Steven- Team Rocket in Mt Moon. Had to escape with a Teleport due to Toxic poisoning.

Misty- we only saw grunts

Steven- Yeah, the executive spotted me and was clearly trying to take me out.

Brock- we got rid of the lights but is ash fine

Steven- Yes. I’ll be travelling with him for now.

Lance- And? Are you not following it up? Organised crime is very serious!

Brock- I’ll follow it up if needed :)

Misty- same its cerulean area

Steven- I actually have a different, far more pressing investigation to do, Lance.

Steven- So if you don’t mind, I’d like clearance to check certain files.

Surge- odd

Surge- like trainer / civilian stuff

Steven- Yes

Lance- ???? what the

Clair- im not liking the sound of this

Whitney- WHY IS THE HOENN CHAMPION HERE

Steven- Kanto investigation. It’s my problem due to something Wallace encountered.

Steven- International law :)

Lance- right i’ll let you in

Steven- Appreciated.

Chapter 7: The Road to Cerulean

Chapter Text

Claydol floated in front of Ash, all eyes on him as Steven held his Pokenav out, tapping away at a speed that rivalled Pinwheel's running speed. Pinwheel stood beside Steven to help, giving a reassuring thumbs up with the limited manoeuvrability a Pikachu had. Kai had curled near Ash's leg, nudging him to send a wave of relaxation through his form. The Hoenn Pokemon floated to be at Ash’s eye level, eyes bright cyan.

“Firstly, who is Molly?”

Ash took a weak sigh. Kai perked up for him though, stretching up a little as the Dragon type trilled, “Molly Hale! She’s the Unown’s little girl- very little, I’m her age! 4!”

Ash had heard of Molly’s story- a young girl whose mother had been lost by the neglect and disregard from her father who was never home. It was almost an old wives tale at Professor Oak's lab when a young Unown who came from Johto showed up. He was the centre of attention, and clearly, his story had spread. “Greenfield, Johto.. Her father is busy, Spencer Hale.”

Steven tapped something on his phone as Pinwheel peered over his shoulder at the screen. “I heard of Molly. She’s the Unown's friend.”

Ash wasn't surprised the story had reached Pikachu. Metagross clicked in reply as Steven furrowed his eyebrows.

“Do you remember your human family?” Claydol buzzed again. Ash froze as Kai winced and shrank away. Steven’s look quickly turned to concern when the Pikachu shrugged with little pretext for what the answer was going to be. Ash finally closed his eyes and answered. Kai trilled mournfully.

“Well.. I remember.. Ehr- my friends. Ambertwo and-”

Steven frantically started typing at the "two" part. He glared at the sky for a fleeting moment before gazing for a long time at the Claydol. He was going to be getting a headache at this point, with the names this kid dropped like spare change.

“There was Ambertwo.. Mewtwo, who was like.. Mew, but bigger! And Charmandert-” Ash paused, a few tears brimming in the corner of his eyes as reality hit him. Steven finished typing moments later. Dratini nudged him before Claydol looked to its trainer. “Ash, don’t try to answer! You never told Momma, why tell this man?”

Ash shook his head and held Kai. “Yeah, but he wants to help, and-”

Steven tried his best kind smile on and crouched down in front of Ash, wiping away the tears in the kid's eyes as they opened up in a subtle surprise. He held Ash's shoulder, sighing as he looked aside at the ruffling grass of the route before Cerulean. “What will be happening is I’ll follow you on your Gym Run. I have a feeling something very sinister is going on in Kanto.”

Claydol beeped in response as it was returned, spinning in agreement. Metagross was returned too, while Ash returned Gale and Kai. The familiar sound of a ringtone filled the air

Ash watched as Steven froze, picking up the phone call. He took a long, exhausted breath as he held the phone to his ear, an apologetic smile crossing his face directed towards Ash. He heard the familiar voice of Wallace in the receiver again. This time, instead of annoyance filling the voice, disbelief did. “Steven, I’m checking that report now- did you misspell?”

“No,” Steven replied, monotone. “I did not. That was... quick, for you though.”

“This is- grounds for one investigation, and at least another- like- also, yes I was quick... I was just being sure to act on the information I was getting.” Wallace muttered. “What the hell has Lance been doing?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Steven hissed. His mind could only wander along and wonder what the ILA would do with this information because it was incredibly likely that certain people would be in an incredible amount of trouble. “Because otherwise, I wouldn’t be here, would I?”

Wallace’s silence was loud, before being broken by a scuffle. It finished when Milotic cooed into the microphone, catching Steven off guard. At least the image of a Milotic fighting his trainer for the Pokenav- and succeeding with it wrapped awkwardly in its tail, was an amusing one. “Is the hatchling on the line? Lemme chat! Lemme chat!”

Ash blinked as Steven glanced to Metagross for a translation, who hadn't been paying attention at all. The steel giant made a negative noise before Ash reached for the phone. “I- Milotic was asking for me.”

Steven, surprisingly, nodded and passed the phone over. He fixed the cuffs of his sleeves idly, brushing light blue hairs out of his eyes. The Milotic audibly cheered at the mild interaction, before speaking into the phone over Wallace, who could be heard trying to get the phone back. “Hatchling! Oh, everyone is sooo fussed over you! Which is great! Hoenn is great!”

Ash blinked in surprise at the enthusiasm but sighed. “I’m a little surprised.”

He pushed back the unnerving realisation that settled in him that told him that Milotic was seemingly interested in Ash moving to Hoenn where, from what he knew about most Pokemon, they believed was "safer." Milotic on the other end giggled softly before cooing. “Do you even know who Steven and Wallace are? They always forget to explain that to hatchlings.”

Ash shook his head, replying a soft “no.” The scuffling around on the other side stopped as Wallace seemed more interested in listening to somebody actually fluently communicate with his Pokemon. Ash didn't blame him, it was rather interesting. “Champions! And Lance.. they are all a bit angry at him..”

“Angry?”

Milotic soured audibly in the soft growl the Pokemon managed over the line. Ash was suddenly reminded to never piss off a Milotic. Steven watched Ash carefully while Metagross relayed the translation, its eyes burning the familiar bright blue. “Well, of course! It’s his job to look after the Kanto and Johto regions... And if you lived in Fusube, that means you were right under his nose!”

“But he trains my older sister! How am I supposed to be mad?” Ash hissed back on the line. Silence came from the Milotic before Steven heard an almost inaudible noise of comfort and Ash shook his head, immediately shrinking back. “Sorry, sorry, I-”

Wallace grabbed the phone again. “Pass it back to Steven. Milotic needs to, not- take my stuff!” He snapped at the Pokemon, yet little malice was in his voice, like a father scolding a disobedient hatchling. Ash blinked and passed the phone to Steven, who was taking a long tired sigh.

“Wallace, I should probably get going now. We have to hit Cerulean City.. and possibly do some investigating, depending on what we find.” Steven had a stern undercurrent running through his tone. “I will be doing everything in my power to have some come of this, don’t you worry.”

Wallace hung up, and Steven looked to where Cerulean City poked over the tree line, and Ash followed after him. They were close enough anyway, to warrant Steven stopping still in the route and looking at him. The Steel trainer lost his exhausted expression when looking at Ash, who was smiling and waving to random Ekans and Oddish in the grass, greeting them as Pinwheel gave a sort of shrug to it all.

"You're about to take on the Cerulean Gym, right?" Steven began. Ash yelped as he was mid-conversation with a friendlier Mankey. "Yeah?"

Steven hummed in thought, before releasing Skarmory who screeched in pride. "Well... you should train before a Gym Battle, right? What if we help you?"

Ash sent out Gale, who gazed at her opponent and back at the two boys. If a Pidgeotto could give a maniacal grin- Gale would be. Ash pumped a fist into the air. "You're on!"

-

When they arrived in the city, an Officer Jenny held up her hands around a store- yellow tape blocking access. Her eyes had tired streaks under them as people crowded around her and her Growlithe, who barked to get people away. The people swathed in like a flood anyway. The crowd moved as Steven immediately pushed his way through, facing the Officer Jenny. Ash grabbed Steven’s wrist to not lose the man in the crowd- not that he seemed to get annoyed at that.

The Officer Jenny saluted Steven as he arrived. “Oh- uh- sir, are you looking for a report-” She replied quickly. She did a quick bow. Steven glanced behind her, where other officers and Growlithes examined the premises. “Just give me the jist.”

“Well, we received a robbery report- lots of electrical equipment like vacuums were stolen- and- there’s no camera footage..” Jenny replied. She pointed to officers surrounding a little Rattata who was shrinking away from the Alakazams surrounding it, who only closed in more. "The only witness seems too terrified to give a testimony..”

Ash threw his hands up in the air, quickly de-escalated by Steven holding his wrists down to avoid the officer interpreting him as aggressive. “Of course the Rattata is scared! Rattata is practically coded to run from anything that isn’t a bug! If you throw its natural predator in its face of course it’s not gonna say anything!”

Steven nodded as the Officer Jenny kicked the ground a little ashamedly. “I- uh, admittedly-”

“Give me the Rattata, I’ll interview it personally with my Claydol,” Steven ordered. Ash watched as the officer dipped under the yellow tape and collected the Rattata in her arms, handing the Pokemon to Steven. Who immediately passed him the Rattata.

Ash carefully cradled the Rattata in a way he’d seen the wild Raticate do before as Steven released his Claydol.

“Teleport us to a quiet spot- Claydol,” Steven ordered the Psychic type, who glowed and surrounded the duo with light. After a short, falling sensation, a picturesque clearing surrounded them, leaves falling around them gently. Steven returned Claydol while Ash still tried soothing the terrified Rattata.

“Wait- I thought-” Ash looked where Claydol was before Steven shook his head. “No.. no no. Claydol would have scared him more- I was going to actually ask you.”

The Rattata perked up at that comment as Pinwheel chirped to him “My trainer can speak.”

Steven looked at Ash before looking at the Rattata. “Okay, can you understand me?”

The Rattata looked Steven dead in the eyes, nodding. Without the stress of the Alakazam around him, and the kindness and patience these new trainers showed, it was at a far greater ease than before. Steven smiled. He grabbed his phone, pressed open his notes app and got ready to type. “Alright, Ash, I’ll ask the questions, you translate, alright?”

“Right.”

The light-blue-haired man took a deep breath before beginning his questioning. “How many people were in the building at the time of the crime?”

“Three. A Meowth was there, but it only spoke English.” Rattata responded. Ash looked at Steven, restating it for him. “Uh, three, but one was a Meowth speaking English.”

Steven gave a strange look to Ash before shaking his head and continuing his little interview. “What did they wear? Any key defining features?”

“One was male, with blue hair. The other had pink, and they wore white uniforms with a red thing in the middle.”

Ash relayed the information to Steven. “Well, do you know what time it was?”

Rattata looked befuddled. Ash chuckled to himself, before looking at the Rattata and in English, asking, “How many sectors of the sky were to be covered by the Moon?”

“6.”

“Midnight,” Ash looked back up at Steven. Steven hummed at that, before looking at Pinwheel. “Do Pokemon use a different time management system?”

“Yeah,” Pinwheel replied.

Ash winced. “Admittedly, it took me a while to figure out the human way…”

-

“Wait, you already have the Pokemon’s information about the thieves.” Jenny gaped as Steven passed her his phone and Ash let the Rattata down, who had already scurried away. She scrolled a little on the screen before taking a relaxed breath. “That- that’s a relief, I was starting to sweat a little there. I’ll send the report to La-”

“I’m building a case file right now, so I need the full report too.” Steven cut in. The officer's face dropped visibly, clearly parsing the deeper context for it all quickly. “But- what is the case file-”

“Every Team Rocket report I catch will be on it. I hope you understand.” Steven stepped a little closer as Ash silently moved behind the older man a little. “After all, we wouldn’t want trouble, would we?”

Ash couldn't help but feel intimidated by the cold but sweet tone Steven had taken on. The Jenny was swift to shake her head. “N-no, not at all sir!”

“Now, I’m going to continue this little project of mine,” Steven replied flippantly. He grabbed Ash’s wrist and pulled him through the crowd to the Pokemon Centre, where he let him get his Pokemon healed up. Nurse Joy greeted the two as Steven placed his Pokeballs on the tray.

“I already gave them Full Restores, but you know, it’s dangerous to not double check,” Steven told her. Nurse Joy’s eyes widened at the mention of the very expensive healing item, before passing the tray to Chansey and darting off to the back.

Steven sat down on a chair in the main area, before glancing at Ash as he heard a young boy behind. “I didn’t realise the sisters were giving out Gym badges!”

Steven shared an uncomfortable stare with Ash.

“Yeah. I was so worried too, since Misty is supposed to be tough.. But hooray, the gym leaders are home!” Another replied. Steven shifted ever so slightly before somebody contributed a little. “My team has nothing for Water types..”

Steven twitched, before standing up. Ash followed him to the counter, where he quickly asked the Nurse for a room. The two went up to a room with two twin beds when Steven hissed visibly.

“Idiotic- idiotic! Why could I- How has this ever been allowed to happen? Three trainers are bad enough but- oh my - how many have had this stupid trio give them badges!” Steven complained, pacing back and forth. Ash looked slightly uncomfortable watching the older man rage quietly.

Unless.

“I’m doing the gyms.. So I could go in, and confirm..”

Steven got quite a happy smile on his face as Ash schemed further. “I like how this is going.” Steven fished out an ID, with his occupation printed in nice big letters.

“We’ll sort this out tomorrow,” Steven assured. Ash smiled back at him.

-

Case File KH06: Ash Ketchum

Case Handler: Steven Stone; Wallace Mikuri

Despite being a “KH” case- no Kanto Authorities have permission at this time to access this file.

Name: Ash Ketchum

Age: 12

ILA Number: None currently assigned

Guardian: Delia Ketchum

Pokemon: Pikachu ; Pidgeotto ; Dratini

Information;

Ash Ketchum is what many have termed as a stray based on telepathic inputs provided by Psychic types. Currently- the only one who has shown significant cooperation. Confirmed by my personal Metagross and Wallace’s Milotic, it is obvious the boy has a significant connection to Pokemon based on familial connections. In closed doors- he has mentioned being raised in the Blackthorn Outskirts after being found by his Mother (A Dragonite), sometime after interacting with “Ambertwo” and “Mewtwo” (case files pending.) Case showed significant distress upon communicating about them- indicating a likely traumatic event occurring in relation to them.

Case has been subjected to Toxic Poisoning at the hands of “Petrel” (case file pending) and shows great aptitude as a trainer. Pidgeotto has shown motherly tendencies, while Case has claimed his Dratini (Kai) , and Lance’s Dragonair (Rosa) have a form of sibling bond. Updates to this case pending.

Chapter 8: Cerulean Gym Woes.

Chapter Text

"..Hello." Ash called out into the darkness. White pooled in misty formations at his feet as a soft dripping noise could be heard from a little away. The edges of the images frayed a little as blue stretched along the black, slowly turning it to white in veiny movements.

"...I'm trying, I'm trying..." A voice, deep in nature, replied, echoing a little in the dream. Ash bit back his first, bitter response as the voice continued, detecting the unsaid contempt. "I'm sorry, the nightmares weren't intentional."

"I know. They still happened though."

The other voice fell silent as Ash immediately regretted what he had said. He reached a hand out as he felt the cold steel fall on his palm, then a slightly cooler, rough sensation as his head swirled into another headache- and-

"..You okay?" Steven laughed softly as Ash's eyes flew open. The Pokemon Centre room came into sight as he slowly took it all in. He blinked as Steven seemed to ignore the 03:32 that buzzed from a clock in the corner of the room. Ash slowly nodded.

"'Kay. Get some more sleep then."

Ash smiled.

-

“I challenge the Cerulean Gym to a battle!” Ash declared, opening the doors as the three girls scrolled on their phones, leaning against the walls, barely glancing up before throwing a tear-drop shaped badge at him, which he let fall on the floor. It landed with a loud clatter as it skittered along the tiles.

“Ehm… Actually, Our pokemon are tired from the water shows. And can’t,” The first girl complained. “Yeah, and we can’t handle allll the challengers. So come back later or take that badge..we don’t care.”

Ash raised an eyebrow as he idly pet Pinwheel, who lounged happily over his shoulder. “Send out a Pokemon. If it’s well enough, I’ll battle it. A 4 badge team is fine, just give me a battle!”

The girl rolled her eyes and sent out a single Seel, who clapped his fins together. He looked at the boy in front of him, before giving a happy expression. “Oh! A challenger! Let's battle!”

Pinwheel glared daggers at the Seel. Ash stared at the Pokemon before smiling as sweetly as he could manage at the Gym Leaders. “Ok. Let's battle. That Pokemon can battle.”

“Erm…” The 3rd girl said, picking up the badge on the floor. “Just take it.. Your electric type would win.”

Ash shook his head, slapping her hand away as she once again tried to give him the Cascade Badge. She made a noise that sounded like a whining cat. “Hey! I just want you out of our hair!”

“Do you now?” Steven stepped inside the building as the three exchanged looks. He tugged at his sleeves a little to straighten them before fixing his tie while the girls gave him a befuddled expression. “Ehrm.. who are you.”

Steven raised the identification card he had the night before, and the colour drained from the three girl’s cheeks. The door slammed open as Misty burst through, glancing from Steven to Ash. “Oh- shi-”

“Did you know about this?” Steven asked a little too coolly. Ash stepped a little away from the man, not out of fear, but more to give him a wide berth. Misty shook her head. “No- but I was, well, I’m here now, so it’s fine!”

She laughed nervously as Steven gave a long shake of his head, before raising his voice, facing the trio of older girls. “Ok, let me say this once. In Hoenn, you would be facing prison time for handing out a major gym badge like candy. Not only is it disrespectful to the rich culture of Pokemon battling, and the Ever Grande League- or in this case Indigo, but it also undermines the authority of people like you in the area!”

The three girls winced, before one finally mumbled. “The gym was passed down to us.. We didn’t really want to, uh, become leaders.”

Steven froze before stepping towards Misty, who was starting to slink away. “Then you should have taken up the role.”

“But they bully me! For looking ugly!” She pointed accusingly at the sisters, who floundered up worthless excuses. Steven facepalmed. “Look, I can get a gym leader to come over here and help you get settled or whatever, but just don’t do whatever the Giratina is going on here. My friend is a big fashion nerd- what if I got him to help you out?”

The girl’s eyes all sparkled as they nodded vigorously for Misty. “Yeah! His friend is Wallace! Get advice from him! And then Cerulean will be respected!”

Steven winced as he continued. “But, you three have to act as reliable leaders for Misty as well. It’s clear you hold influence, and you must use that well.”

They shrank, but decided to simply nod along with Steven. “Ok.. that’s fair.” Steven cracked a small smile, before he pointed to Ash. “Ash, you take care of the Pokemon side of things, get those gym pokemon ready. Now, Misty- I'll get you in contact with my friend.”

Misty nodded. Even though she knew they were only agreeing to save themselves from Lance's wrath, which would probably come along down the line eventually.

-

“Wallace, as much as this actually infuriates me, I’m trying to get a Kanto gym up to spec right now.” Steven spoke into the receiver of his phone, as Misty kicked the floor awkwardly. ”Yes, I know it is ridiculous. The gym leader herself is nervous, younger, like Flannery was- so, you know fashion far better than I do- what, what is your call?”

Misty was in awe as Steven sweatdropped as the man on the other end talked his ear off, before Steven finally hung up after a sharp “Yep! That- thank youuuu bye please stop talking-”

Steven facepalmed.

“Ok, so, " he said “lose the side ponytail, you look young with it and we’re trying to look… well, responsible here.”

Misty pulled the ponytail holder out, letting her orange hair fall around her face in a short bob. Steven grabbed a jacket from the plethora of clothes her sisters had laid out, and a matching swimsuit for it as well.

“I sent Wallace a photo, he said you should try this.”

Misty blinked at the choice before shrugging and disappearing to a changing room to try it on. She stepped out again, with some white sandals on as well. She glanced at herself in a mirror.

“Oh- wait, that works.” She mumbled. She smiled, pumping her fist into the air. “The Tomboyish Mermaid is back in action!”

Steven clapped a little.

-

A Seel and a Cloyster. That was the 2nd Badge Team as far as Ash could tell, with the other Pokemon being too weak or too strong to be reasonably used. He facepalmed, before dragging Violet- one of the sisters, he noted, and gesturing to the team.

“Seel is fine, Seel loves the battling more than the shows. Cloyster is the opposite, so you need to find a Pokemon to fill its spot!” Ash clapped his hands as Violet hummed in thought. “Ehm.. maybe..”

She released a Starmie who flipped around. “Ms Violet! Are we battling or doing a show?”

Ash stared at Starmie, before carefully speaking to Violet. “Starmie (Battling) looks ready for both, in my opinion, but Starmie (make it clear) should choose whether Starmie (or show) wants to do battles.”

Starmie shot a Water Gun at Ash.

“I think she wants to battle.” Violet pointed out, with a slight sweat-drop. Ash facepalmed.

“Ms Misty will be a great Gym Leader!” Seel cheered, clapping his fins.

-

“Ok, Daisy- be the referee!” Misty yelled from the platform. A trainer- who Ash had never seen before, stepped up to the podium, glancing around nervously. He looked at Misty, before shaking and grabbing a Pokeball. His friends sat in the stands, yelling down. “Give him the badge! He’ll obviously win!”

Misty struck a far more confident pose than she did normally, shifting her balance and drawing out a Pokeball in a nice fluid motion she had practised more than she had liked to admit.

Daisy yelled across the field, quite easily with how used to announcing things during her water shows. “Challenger Matt versus Leader Misty! Two versus two, switching allowed only by the challenger! This battle is for the Cascade Badge! Battle… begin!”

Matt, a brunette trainer with a light tracksuit on, threw a ball releasing a Magnemite, who floated up from the ball. Misty tossed the ball, releasing Seel who swam through the water easily. Matt grinned.

“Ok! Magnemite, lower its special defense with Metal Sound!” Matt called. Misty grinned. “Ok! Seel- Encore!”

The little Seel pokemon clapped for the Magnemites Metal Sound, which missed anyway. The Magnemite moved to repeat the move as the trainer yelled. “No! Magnemite!”

“Now! Hidden Power!” Misty retaliated. Blue orbs of energy slammed into the Magnemite, who buzzed frantically as it was flown into a wall, unconscious. The trainer gaped and returned the Magnemite.

Daisy held her hand to Misty’s side. “Magnemite is unable to battle!”

“What! Why does the Seel know-” The trainer shook his head, throwing another pokeball. An Ivysaur took the field. “Ok! Razor Leaf!” Matt called.

The Seel was shot with many floating leaves. The weakened Special Defense downed the pokemon, and Misty smiled as she returned it. She threw another Pokeball and the Starmie spun around as it got ready to battle.

The trainer grit his teeth. “Ok! Ivysaur- use Razor Leaf again!”

Misty shook her head. “Dodge and use Confusion!”

The Starmie spun around the leaves and held the Ivysaur in place with Psychic power. It hissed in pain before the trainer called for a Tackle. Misty punched the air. “Now! Head on with Rapid Spin!”

The pokemon spun rapidly and flew against the Ivysaur as it tackled, floating back in front of Misty as the Ivysaur fell into the water.

“Ivysaur is unable to battle! Leader Misty wins!”

The crowd who had come to watch the battle was flabbergasted as Ash stood onto the podium when Matt stepped away. Steven took notes on the battling.

“Next Challenger is Ash Ketchum! 2 v 2, no switching for the Gym Leader. Begin!”

The crowd stuck around as Matt held his head on his palms. Misty grinned, throwing her first Pokeball. Ash grinned and threw his first.

“Gale! Take flight!” Ash called. Misty winced but the Pokeball was already thrown. “Wooper! Let's do this!”

Ash blinked at the Wooper, while Misty pumped her fist in the air to call her first attack. “Icy Wind!”

“Quick Attack Dodge! Chain with the Twister and Steel Wing loop-combo we practiced with our new friend!”

Steven had suggested that, with how frail Gale was. She was a hasty pokemon who loved to get into trouble, and that meant fast-paced commands worked best for her. Ash had come up with the combo, and Steven had gotten Skarmory to help Gale to have the coordination to pull the attack off when they had worked on it.

Gale zipped through the air, narrowly avoiding the super-effective attack to send the swirls of gusty, draconic energy at the Wooper and collide with it from the back. Misty winced before nodding. “Wooper! Icy Wind again!” Misty called.

“Gale! Use a close-quarters Gust!” Ash ordered. The icy wind hit Gale badly, Ash admitted as he saw Gale shriek in pain, but the close-quarters super-effective attack back was too much for the Water Fish pokemon.

“Wooper is unable to battle! Leader Misty, send out your next Pokemon!”

“Golduck, battle time!” Misty called, throwing the pokeball. The Duck pokemon dove into the water immediately, zipping between the different platforms. Gale screeched at the Pokemon, when Ash realised Pidgeotto wouldn’t make it through the battle.

“Gale, use Gust on the water! Blow it away!” Ash yelled. Water was thrown all around the arena, making the pool too empty to swim in. Misty blinked. “Uh, Psychic?”

Thud.

“Pidgeotto is unable to battle! Send out your next Pokemon!” Daisy turned to Ash, who reached out his arm as Pikachu leapt onto the platform. “Lets do this, Pinwheel!”

Pinwheel grinned and cooed mockingly at the Golduck, who dove out the water and landed on the platform. Misty adjusted her footing a little. “Now! Golduck! Water Pulse!”

Ash waited for the Water Pulse to be about finished before snapping to Pinwheel “Electrocute the pulse!”

The water exploded in a shimmering light as Pinwheel shot above the smoke, in a similar way, Steven noted with amusem*nt, he had seen Wallace’s pokemon do. So the kid followed his advice to study Contests.

“Now! Pikachu! Use Iron Tail!” Ash grinned as Misty yelled in alarm. “Golduck! Psychic!”

The Pikachu was too fast though, and slammed firmly into Golduck with his tail surrounded with steel, the rebound sending him backwards through the air as Misty grinned and the Psychic attack held Pinwheel in place.

“Now! Send him up, and dive underwater! Don’t get seen!” Misty called. Golduck threw Pinwheel to the ceiling, with the pokemon giving a sharp cry of pain, before diving below the surface of the water. Ash grit his teeth before he remembered something about water.

“Pinwheel! Use Thunderbolt on the pool! Full power!” Ash yelled. Misty only had time to call for Golduck to escape when a jet of yellow power slammed into the pool, sending crackles through the water. Golduck surfaced moments later- unconscious.

“Golduck is unable to battle! Ash has won this battle and thus has earned the Cascade-”

Daisy was cut off by the wall collapsing.

“Prepare for trouble!” “And make it dou-”

Steven cut them off with a Psychic, holding the two in place with his Metagross. He stood on the shiny pokemon, giving a long glare to the two on top of the odd vacuum. Their eyes widened as Meowth pressed the button, sucking up the water in the pool… and the poolside Seel and Golduck.

Ash tossed a pokeball. “Kai! Time to fight!”

The Dratini flicked its tail before slamming into the Koffing and Ekans released with an Aqua Tail while Metagross held them still with Psychic. The Koffing floated forward and slammed into it and tackled Metagross, startling the Pokemon enough to release the Psychic. Dratini hissed at that, and released a massive Twister, blowing the Team Rocket members out the hole they had created.

“...I think I need to train more.” The first trainer who had challenged- Matt, finally said. Misty glanced over at him, and gave him a cheerful smile.

“You can beat me, just put your mind to it!"

Chapter 9: The Unbeatable A.J!

Chapter Text

"Cerulean is very pretty." The armoured Pokemon floated down, his feet planting themselves down in the middle of nothingness. Ash could only looked out at the slightly blurry image in the middle of the white, glitching a little as the Psychic type beside him struggled to hold up the image in his dream. He was doing part of the work, he supposed. Figuring out how to lucid dream had helped. "But... clearly it is imperfect."

Ash nodded silently, when the Rocket part of his memory of the Cerulean Gym Battle completely glitched apart in boxy and blurry motions in his head, sending a sharp pain. His eyes snapped open.

"Again?" Steven was already beside him, his face smiling down him with a patient concern. Ash didn't say a word- as was customary, and Steven had stopped trying to figure out the why. "Get some more sleep before we travel.. it's still quite late."

"Mhm." Ash mumbled sleepily. "Will do."

He missed the worried glances Steven shot him anyway as he curled back up in his sleeping bag.

-

“So, that’s why I’m thinking the four-move limitation isn’t real.” Ash began as Steven raised an eyebrow in interest. They walked along the wooded route to Vermillion City, surrounded by picturesque trees and rushing streams and tributaries. “Momma used way more than four moves. I think the- the trained Pokemon just only get really good at four at a time.”

Steven hummed, tapping his chin in response. “I suppose so, I haven’t really tried it with Metagross. I should, shouldn’t I? I’m sure Professor Kukui would love the topic to take a stab at.”

“Who?”

“A professor in Alola,” Steven replied. A trainer ran down the path before pointing at Ash. He had a blue shirt on and yellow shorts and wore a cheap suncap. He grinned and raised a Pokeball, throwing the red and white sphere into the air.

“I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle!”

Ash blinked in surprise as Steven rolled his eyes and stood between them both. He gave an apologetic smile, before making a little hand gesture he had made up with Ash back in Cerulean. It had come up in one of their many late-night conversations sparked by both restlessness to create them- when words were too long and the information too important. “I’ll explain my reasoning later.”

Ash smiled as Steven did the standard Referee speech- one one-on-one Pokemon battle. He released Pikachu, who felt a bit bashful zapping the life out of a Rattata who had barely seen a battle, but the trainer just shrugged and returned the little rat, with zero shame about sending his Pokemon out to be slaughtered.

“Wow! You’re really strong, you should try to beat A.J!” The trainer made a grin. “He has an unofficial gym down the road- and!”

That took Steven’s interest and Ash seemed to understand why Steven had him fight the trainer- the after conversation. And the experience, that was important too, but he wasn't exactly strapped for strong trainers to train with. The trainer continued. “His Pokemon are savage! His Sandshrew has never lost a fight in one hundred battles!”

“Has he now?” Steven raised a single eyebrow. This kid sounded like he was teetering on the edge of co*ckiness, and Steven was somewhat interested in knocking the kid down a few pegs. And the unofficial gym thing- what would it even look like? The trainer nodded and ran down the path back to Cerulean as Steven smirked.

“Let’s see this unbeatable A.J.”

-

A sign blinked over the area, indicating a “98” with LEDS. Steven snickered at the sign. “A little tacky, isn’t it.”

Ash nodded as a sharp crack filled the air. He visibly jumped, moving to scurry away quickly. Steven quickly grabbed his wrist, stopping Ash before he ran too far. He pulled himself back while taking deep breaths to try to steady his breathing. Just as he managed to calm down though, a kid stepped forward.

“My next challenger! As soon as I get 100 consecutive wins, I’m going to challenge the league! You two will be next.” A.J. grinned, pushing a hand through his hair. Ash raised an eyebrow, opening up the jacket he had borrowed- a moment that seemed so long ago, where the two steel badges glimmered in the sunlight. “But I’ve beat two gyms already. Pewter and Cerulean!”

“Oh. Loserville and Wimpy-town.” A.J. snorted, raising his nose haughtily. “Of course, you won their badges.”

Steven smiled. “Well, you’ll be glad I am quite a well-known trainer in Hoenn. Is that a challenge for you?”

A.J blinked. “Where?”

Ash held back a snicker while stepping into the battlefield area A.J. led him to. Steven stood between the two, calling for a 1v1 battle in the same authoritative tone he had taken before.

“Ok! Gale, take flight!” Ash threw the ball up, catching it again as the Pidgeotto sent a massive gust of air as she flew up. A.J. grinned and sent out his Sandshrew. Ash gritted his teeth as he tried to think of a strategy. “Gale! Use Gust, then Twister with the Gust- then, fly up to prep for Steel Wing-!”

A.J. punched the air. “Sandshrew! Rollout!”

Ash watched as the Sandshrew took the attacks, barely flinching, and slammed into Pidgeotto, knocking out Gale. Ash returned the Pokemon immediately, staring at the ball as A.J. pressed a clicker, switching the LED to 99.

“Weakling. You said you’d be strong, where did you catch that Pidgeotto? Newbie-land?” A.J teased. Steven held up a hand, shaking his head in obvious disappointment. “Now, you do have to beat me, correct?

Ash stepped to the referee band. Steven motioned for a 1 and a 6.

“This will be a 6 versus 1 battle against A.J. and Steven! Begin!”

A.J.’s mouth dropped. “Y- You think your one Pokemon can defeat six of mine!”

“Did I stutter?”

A.J. shrugged and left Sandshrew to stay out, as Steven tossed the ball, leaving Metagross to land and cause a massive shockwave. The Shiny Metagross glimmered in the sun as A.J.’s face visibly fell at the sight of the pseudo-legendary. “Uh…”

Steven wouldn't normally go for such a move, flexing or showing off strength in such a manner. But he hadn't been sleeping the best the last few days, so he supposed he could forgive his brain for losing some of the logic that he usually cherished so much.

“Sandshrew! Use Dig!” A.J called. Steven blinked. “Psychic. Throw it into the air, then Ice Punch him.”

Metagross glowed, freezing Sandshrew in the air as it flew up, punching it with an icy arm. A.J. returned his Sandshrew, sending out a Butterfree. Steven didn’t say a word. The Psychic threw the Butterfree into the floor. Then the Beedrill. Then the Raticate. Then the Geodude. Then the final Paras.

A.J. stared at the Metagross. “Wh- Who the hell are you?” He pointed at Steven, dropping his whip in shock, who actually gave the boy a kind smile.

“Well, let's leave that so we can talk about your 100 wins thing.” Steven pointed at the LED board. “It’s dumb, you should go on your journey and learn through travelling. I suggest you disregard this loss when it comes to impeding your journey.”

A.J. nodded as Steven crouched down to spray Full Restores (Ash was starting to think the man had an infinite supply) on the kid’s Pokemon. “Second lesson, there is always a stronger trainer, stronger Pokemon, than you. And to treat other people with respect. How you spoke about the local gyms, and about Ash’s Pidgeotto, was frankly uncalled for.”

“I’m sorry..” A.J mumbled. “Maybe I did let the success get to my head a little.”

Steven smiled at A.J. afterwards. He remembered countless trainers who battled with their arrogance- and how even Ash had to be told off from time to time when Steven noticed him getting a little to braggy about his Cerulean Gym win. “Don’t feel bad about the loss either. Name a strong trainer you know.”

A.J. thought for a moment, before gesturing to the direction of Vermillion City. “Surge?”

“Oh, I could easily beat him,” Steven replied. “I’m the Champion of Hoenn.”

“You aren’t serious?” A.J gaped. He bowed and apologised profusely, fear frozen on his face. “I am so so sorry for how I acted!”

Steven looked to Ash, who nodded. “I accept the apology since you said sorry even before Steven told you who he was”

A.J. blinked before pointing to his tent. “Can I show you how I train my Pokemon? I mean, it would be such an honour!”

-

“Let's not have the whip,” Steven ordered, snatching it from A.J. He glanced back at Ash, who seemed to shiver and jump every single time the thing was cracked- it was getting a little worrying, but he pushed that thought away. “Just ask. Pokemon don’t need whips to work hard.”

Ash nodded a little. Steven picked up the brace on the ground, before shaking his head again. “Macho Brace training is ineffective after a while- your Pokemon need field experience.”

A.J blinked.

“So you're saying the... The unofficial gym was a bad idea?”

Steven shrugged. “Depends if you want to be a gym leader. If your eyes are set on the league, working on that first is far- far more important.” Steven then turned to the rest of the tent, before petting a Rattata who had run up to him.

“Also, gyms do tend to be type-specific, though you don’t exactly have to follow that rule. Most Dragon leaders bend them, or some throw in some Pokemon they love.” Steven looked aside in consideration. “And Roxanne uses a Steelix in her 6-badge and personal team, so.”

A.J. looked up and grinned. “I could run a Ground gym?”

He looked around, spotting a single Geodude and his loyal Sandshrew, who sat down by his side. The little shrew rubbed his side a little, while A.J. sweatdropped. “But I’d need to travel and catch more ground types. Hey! Nidorans!”

His Nidorans jumped over as A.J. petted them a little. “A.J.! Are we going somewhere?” one chittered. “Yeah! I’m so excited!”

“They look excited,” Ash replied softly. “Have fun on your journey..”

A.J. punched the air with his fist. “I will! First stop, Diglett Cave.”

Chapter 10: A Star Student

Chapter Text

“I noticed your Metagross used Ice Punch?” Ash asked Steven as they walked away, the older looking over and then down at him before smirking. He held up a blue disc that glowed in the light. “It’s a TM, it can teach Pokemon moves. You hold it to their Pokeball to transfer the information. I have quite a few.”

Ash’s eyes widened with interest. “So did you try putting more than 4 TM moves on Metagross?”

Steven nodded. “And he could still use Meteor Mash and Psychic just fine. Which proves your theory- Pokemon of a certain strength can learn more than 4.”

Ash inspected the TMs Steven had passed him- Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch. They were coloured disc structures with the name engraved along the edge in block capital letters, shimmering in the light. He poked them a few times, before gently poking the older man and handing them back. “Why don’t you get Metagross to use his four fists? And do them all at once?”

“I’m intrigued, what do you mean?” Steven laughed softly as they walked to a point to stop at and camp- a little clearing with a small river running close by. Ash released his three Pokemon while Steven released his 6 on him. Skarmory and Gale raced each other above the treeline, while Kai tried fighting Aggron. Pinwheel zapped Claydol for practising with electricity- Ash noticed how Pinwheel got Claydol to hide or move up and dodge a lot to try practising curving the shot.

“I mean, Metagross has 4 arms. Bruno’s Hitmonchan can do two different elemental punches because that’s what he’s trained to do. I don’t see why Metagross can’t.”

Ash had been exposed to far more clips and videos of the different trainers in the region than he used to be while his Pokemon were training one day, Steven had insisted on it. Steven was starting to love the mentality. “I don’t see why not.”, in the face of an impossibility confirmed by as many Pokemon professors- yet he was starting to get into the idea. The type coverage alone would at least slow Wallace down- until Wallace had a few good conversations with Ash, that was.

And it wasn’t like he was going to hide the techniques he was learning from the case file.

“Sure. Metagross- come over. Meteor Mash in one arm, Fire Punch another, you get the gist.” Steven ordered. The Pokemon buzzed and tried it out but only two attacks worked. He tried it again, and this time, a little of an Ice Punch was forming.

Ash clapped for his Metagross, calling quickly, “You can do this!” to the Pokemon that Steven didn’t understand. Steven wasn’t as bothered as he was initially thinking he was going to be in fact, the light-blue-haired man was quite happy to just not understand Ash 90% of their alone time.

He watched as Ash fetched a few firewood sticks to make a small campfire, enlisting Cradily’s help (much to the grass type’s amusem*nt). He struck a tinder quite easily, moving through the campfire motions easily. Gale flew down with Skarmory, who had both collected many different berries. Ash flicked out the stems in them, mashed them up, and added them to create a sort of berry soup.

Steven stared at the bowl presented to him before silently raising a spoon to sip the mixture- which didn’t taste terrible. It wasn’t what he would eat every day, but judging by Ash’s mixed expression, he wouldn’t either. The Pokemon all adored it, though, and it was clear that Ash’s goal was not to please himself.

“Isn’t it nicer?” Ash commented after a little while. “To not be so separated from your Pokemon?”

Steven glanced at his Skarmory who was using her beak to try to get some more of the soup from the bowl, being shooed away by Claydol. Champion-level pokemon, fighting over… mediocre berry soup. He laughed to himself for a moment before Ash continued. “I know it doesn’t taste great, but my Momma said it was …”

He fell short on the word. Steven ran through a list of what it could be. “Nutritious?”

“What does that mean?” Ash immediately asked. Steven resisted the urge to not facepalm at being reminded the kid was likely to have developmental delays, so instead, just answered the question. “Well, it means it's good for your body? Helps you grow?”

“Yes! That! New-trir-tri-ti.. Ahk, how could anybody pronounce that!”

Steven chuckled to himself about the poor attempt.

-

“Pidgey evolves at Level..” A boy on a treadmill began. Steven and Ash, passing by, stopped dead to stare in utter confusion. Steven rubbed his temples as he pulled out the phone of the only school ex-student he’d ever trust in these cases- Roxanne.

“What’s a -” Ash began before Steven loudly interrupted. Not knowing the levelling system would be incredibly suspicious. “What are you doing?”

The boy frowned and stepped off the treadmill. “Learning about Pokemon.”

Steven gestured around to him. “Then where is the Pidgey?”

“What-” The boy sweatdropped. “I go to a prestigious Pokemon school called the Pokemon Tech.. there isn’t… any Pokemon on campus, ‘cept our own.”

Steven looked extremely tired all of a sudden. “And the levelling system, an outdated ranking system that doesn’t work for a multitude of reasons- most beginning with Pokemon are not machines, except Porygon and a few others?”

“Well, my Weepinbell is Level 21.” The boy replied, matter-of-factly. “What level is your Pokemon?”

Steven nudged Ash to answer that question, taking the time to slip his ID into his easier-to-access pocket and adjust his tie to look a little more presentable. Ash held his Pokedex to Pinwheel’s Pokeball.

“This Pikachu is Level 20.” The Pokedex chimed. Steven held back a sharp “no chance” at that fact. Claydol was starting to sweat at the thing's speed, and no amount of EVs could betray the fact the Pikachu was simply a powerful Pokemon beyond its capabilities.

“Then I should win a battle with you, right?” The boy grinned, sending out his Weepinbell. Ash reluctantly let Pinwheel jump off his shoulder.

“Ok! Weepinbell, use Vine Whip!” The boy yelled. Pinwheel started giggling on the floor at the strength of the Weepinbell, and before Ash said a word, sent out a Thunderbolt that left the Flycatcher Pokemon out cold.

“Well, of course, you didn’t win. That Pikachu battles, your Weepinbell doesn’t.” A snide female voice bragged from behind. “That Pikachu would lose to my Cubone any day.”

Steven raised an eyebrow. “And who are you.”

“Giselle. The top student in this academy’s level.” She held a pointing finger to her chest. An evil grin came onto Steven’s face, as he nodded.

“How many badges would you say you have? At the level of the school course you are at.”

“..Two, why?”

Steven smiled before phoning somebody, saying a few things to the girl on the other end of the phone. He flicked on a button on his Pokenav, and a shrunken-down Pokeball was now in Steven's palm. “Well, then I’ll challenge you with this Pokemon, as fair. It's a loan, and I’ll tell you from whom in a bit!”

“Bring it on!”

-

“This is a one-on-one battle! Begin!” Ash called. The student body of the class had gathered to watch.

“Go!” Steven called, and a Nosepass floated out of the blue light. It gave a lone drone. “Mr Stone, a pleasure to work with you.”

“Cubone! Go!” Giselle yelled, throwing the Pokeball. The Lonely Pokemon thwacked its bone on the ground a few times. Steven nodded as Giselle called her first attack. “Bone Rush!”

“Protect. Rock Tomb. Harden at the end.” Steven rattled off. Giselle yelped as the blue shield protected the Nosepass, before rocks fell all around Cubone, giving the Pokemon a narrow speed advantage it took to boost its defence.

“No! Cubone, Bone Rush again!” Giselle demanded, as the Pokemon clambered out of the rocks to land a hit on the Nosepass, who blinked and shrugged off the attack.

“Now. Nosepass- Rock Tomb.” The rocks surrounded Cubone again, leaving the Lonely Pokemon unconscious. Steven smiled in admiration at the Nosepass. “Huh. Roxanne’s trained you well.”

Giselle frowned. “Who’s Roxanne? Why didn’t you use your own Pokemon anyway?”
Steven returned Nosepass and transferred it back to Roxanne, making a mental note to compliment the Pokemon. “The First Gym leader in Hoenn. That was her Gym Nosepass- and you lost. She has two other Geodudes she uses!” Steven gestured to the Cubone.

“You would have lost. Roxanne, was also a student as you are. She teaches students like you, and she said this entire thing is quite ridiculous. She worked hard and became a gym leader- and unquestionably deserves the position.”

Giselle gulped as the crowd opened their mouths in awe. “Does that-”

“Nah. Brock is certainly weaker than Roxanne, but she also usually takes it easy on challengers,” Steven replied assuringly. “Roxanne drops a Geodude if she thinks the Pokemon would perform better in 2 on 2, she told me.”

It then hit Giselle how casually Steven was chatting about the Gym Leader. “So, are you friends, or what? Who are you.”

“Who’s the Champion of Hoenn?” Steven replied back. Giselle paused for a few moments. “Wallace, right now?”

A student helpfully yelled. “I searched on Porynet, it’s Steven Stone right now!”

Giselle gaped.

“You don’t mean-” She stammered. “Prove it!”

Steven tossed a ball, releasing his Shiny Metagross that had become his ace. Ash watched as the large Pokemon looked around a little confused, grumbling a little as it looked to Ash. “Why does this look like a poorly executed version of Roxanne’s school?”

Steven returned Metagross soon after as Giselle floundered for an excuse, but couldn’t find any. “W- but-”

“You're still a formidable trainer, and undoubtedly your knowledge of Mathematics concerning Pokemon battles is taking you far- but see this battlefield?”

Steven gestured around. “It’s too empty. To excel as a trainer- you need to understand Pokemon. And you gotta work with them daily to learn the intricacies of them.”

Ash watched as Steven stood beside him, crouching to be on his level. “I mean, Ash has managed to still teach me things about my Metagross I would have never thought possible according to science, simply because he decided it didn’t make sense.”

The students nodded in understanding, while one put up a hand. “Is that why everyone says Lance’s Dragonite shouldn’t be the level they are? Or people find wild Pokemon under their evolution level!”

Steven nodded, clapping his hands. “Absolutely! Lance simply trained them to get stronger without worrying about levelling.”

“We should stop doing battle simulators.” One student called- the one who had been running on the treadmill the first time. “Since, even though our Pokemon look good on paper, my Weepinbell lost to a Thunderbolt.”

Steven sweatdropped. “Don’t think that's Weepinbell's fault. Pikachu uses Claydol for a target.”

Ash shrugged.

“Point still stands!”

-

"So... what is Pokemon Maths anyway," Ash asked as they finally returned to their little campsite. Steven leaned back a little in place.

"Well, you know how the Pokedex said Pikachu was level 20," Steven explained, holding his Pokenav to his Metagross's Pokeball, then to his Claydol's.

"This Metagross is Level 78. This Claydol is Level 76."

"Using mathematics, and the average "damage" - a metric determined by the amount of hits a Pokemon can take, you can effectively predict when a Pokemon will faint. It is quite complex but can give the edge in battles and competitive tournaments- especially with rented Pokemon, something more common in Hoenn," Steven babbled, using his hands to gesture around to Ash who was nodding along to the information. Steven finally sighed. "But it isn't everything in a battle. The basics are usually enough."

"I...see?" Ash laughed nervously. He hadn't comprehended half of it. Steven snorted before spotting a stone that Ash passed through his palm. He grabbed the stone that Ash held, staring at it before smiling brightly. "Hey, that's some limestone."

"Lime-what?" Ash blinked. Steven shook his head before turning the small piece of rock around in his palm. "It's a sedimentary rock, formed from the crushed down sediments held together by pressure under the ocean..."

Ash realised he wasn't going to get out of this conversation any time soon. How much could one man know about a rock anyway?

-

Case KH06

Update 02:

Case has successfully broken science- through Metagross. The Pokemon has managed to learn more than the four move quota- use them simultaneously, simply because the case observed it in wild Pokemon. Case helped educate young Kantonian trainers on becoming strong. Case has shown signs of not have being educated on human manners of training pokemon through the more mathematical means. Didn't seem interested in limestone...

(Pokemon Tech has an outdated curriculum. Possible bring up at Eastern meeting?)

Chapter 11: The Hidden Village.

Chapter Text

“We’re lost,” Steven replied flatly. “We’re lost- whatever, we’ll find something eventually..”

Ash shrank a little at Steven’s flippancy before Steven rubbed his hair a little reassuringly. “I mean it. Metagross can teleport me for supplies if we need them. Let’s just enjoy the journey.”

They came across an Oddish playing by a riverbed, sipping the water happily as Pinwheel ran over to wave out the little Pokemon. Steven nudged Ash as the two Pokemon chattered happily.

“Hiya!” The Oddish giggled, before shrinking away seeing the two trainers. “Oh.. you're going to battle me..”

Steven watched as Ash’s eyes widened. “Steven, maybe move back a little?”

He stepped away as Oddish blinked in more confusion. Ash crouched down on the level of Oddish, smiling as best as he could in a friendly manner. “It’s ok, I don’t want to catch you.”

Oddish looked alarmed already, and when a Bulbasaur lept from the foliage, Ash looked alarmed too. The Bulbasaur threw a Vine Whip attack at Ash himself, and Steven ran to catch the kid as he was sent back. Pinwheel crackled with electric fury.

“Hey! That was my trainer, dimwitted Bulbasaur!” Pinwheel snarled. Steven didn’t need to speak Pokemon to know Pinwheel was chewing the starter out. Then a slightly uncomfortable thought reminded him that Bulbasaur were rare.

“He was going to hurt Oddish! All trainers do!” Bulbasaur snapped back. Ash blinked briefly before Steven nodded in understanding as Ash told him what the Bulbasaur said. Steven took a long breath.

“Hey, I train Steel types primarily. I’m not going to be catching Grass Types- unless you count my Cradily I revived.” Steven replied, looking at the Bulbasaur. Ash nodded. “I trust him.”

Bulbasaur’s mouth dropped as the Pokemon looked to Pikachu panicked. “Where’s his mother?”

“Blackthorn. Unless you count Gale, who’s kind of adopted him... She’s a Pidgeotto. I’m like a brother, I guess, Kai is his little brother, and I’m pretty sure the Steven guy views him as a kid.”

Bulbasaur relaxed a little, assured that he wouldn’t have a pissed-off mother Pokemon coming after him. He approached Steven and Ash, who were now sitting down by the riverbed, poking Steven with a Vine Whip. Bulbasaur huffed.

“I don’t know if I trust the Steel guy just yet. Why is he here?” Bulbasaur replied. “Gale could easily look after him.”

Pinwheel snorted. “My trainer is a danger magnet. Steven is very strong, and lets us train a lot!”

“Steven, you should show Bulbasaur that Pokemon who needs experience! Excadrill!” Ash prodded the older, who gave a short smile and tossed the ball up, releasing the drill Pokemon. The mole-like Pokemon beat the metal claws it had together. “Reporting for duty!”

Bulbasaur observed the Excadrill, curiosity ebbing the little Pokemon’s features. “Do you trust your trainer? Would he abandon you guys?”

Excadrill snorted. “Not if his not-a-boyfriend-definitely-a-boyfriend had anything to say about it. Plus, he’s always horrified by the stories.”

Ash chuckled at the Excadrill’s comment, who looked far too smugly at Steven, who pressed fingers to the bridge of his nose.

“I wish I could understand what you just said.”

-
Bulbasaur ended up taking the two back to the village, if not for the Pokemon’s sake, for Melanie’s sake. It was obvious the two were safe- and not every Pokemon would trust their stray around any old human, so it was worth a shot. And anyway, they could keep a close eye on Steven, it was fine.

Melanie watched as Bulbasaur dragged Steven by the wrist with a Vine Whip, and Ash followed behind. She blinked, worrying she was seeing things, until- nope, Bulbasaur was bringing actual people to the Hidden Village. She waved to the guests, but one of them was more horrified than anything as he ran over. Bulbasaur left him be.

“Are all these Pokemon abandoned?” Steven began to speak while Ash ran up to meet him. Melanie blinked in surprise, before nodding. “I mean, some are probably wild, but I look after all of them... It’s a sanctuary.”

Steven looked done with the world as he motioned for Ash to chat with the Pokemon out of Melanie’s earshot. She looked a little more nervous when Steven reached into his pocket to grab his Pokenav.

“Well, now I have you here, is this an official Pokemon Sanctuary?” Steven began, glancing around the tiny, shabby hut. “Ok, dumb question.

Melanie winced at the slight dig before she saw an identification pulled up on the Pokenav screen. She gulped even more. “You aren’t here to shut it down- or licence it- or”

“No. I’m not.. Uh,” Steven paused before Melanie helpfully quipped in with her name. He fished out a couple of bills of money, pressing them into Melanie’s hands. “Here. You’ll need those, and you just need to tell me one thing.”

Melanie nodded, staring at the quite frankly silly amount of money Steven had quite casually given her. “Uhm.. sure…maybe..” Melanie trailed off as Steven tried his best to look a little more approachable.

“You are around Pokemon a lot. What do you know about “strays?” Steven began, before holding up a hand. “And I will not report them.”

Melanie looked sceptical immediately. “I know they are treated equally, usually taught alongside the move lessons most Pokemon give their kin, and are expected to pull their weight, but it's different for each group. Some get textbooks for the kids to learn from. Some don’t.”

Steven tapped something.

“Is there one living here?” He finally asked. Melanie gave a deer-in-the-headlights expression before nodding a tiny amount. She looked around nervously before Steven seemed to catch on quite quickly why the fear was painted on her face.

“I wouldn’t dream of handing you over, Melanie. Do you have a phone, pokenav, anything?” Steven began. She shook her head, and Melanie felt a Pokenav being passed to her. The little device already had Steven’s number registered onto it.

“If.. you’re here, can you tell Lance that his recent policies and changes seem quite.. stray aggressive?” Melanie mumbled. Steven winced as he nodded, opening the case file. “I’m getting on his case about it, do not worry. He doesn’t like the idea, I know it. It threatens his authority.”

“...I see”

-

“So the guy has known for a while?” Bulbasaur commented sourly. “But didn’t do anything, even though he was supposed to.”

Excadrill rolled his eyes as Ash nodded. They sat out in the field of the “Hidden Village” as Bulbasaur had called it, while Weedles and Caterpies crawled on him. He idly petted the bugs and Oddish that had thought him to be trying to catch her. “Yeah, he’s been pleasant. He helps me get better and answers any questions humans think to be dumb!”

“That’s.. Nice.” Bulbasaur muttered. The Pokemon scowled as the boy's Pidgeotto nudged him affectionately before glaring at the Bulbasaur back. “Don’t diss him! Skari is my best friend, and we always race! I’m starting to nearly win, too!”

Ash thought it would be a good idea to not tell Gale that the Skarmory species were pretty slow ordinarily. The Oddish yawned sleepily while the Bulbasaur passed Oran Berries around the group, with help from a Pidgey that Gale had been helping learn how to find them. Excadrill ended up helping Bulbasaur too, clearly having a nice time in the village itself.

“So, you think the Steven guy wants Melanie to be safe?” Bulbasaur finally relented. “No ulterior motives, whatsoever?”

Pinwheel nodded, cooing to soothe Bulbasaur a minute amount. “I mean it! When my trainer has nightmares, he even wakes up every single time to check. Every single time, without fail.”

Ash relaxed when Bulbasaur smiled a tiny amount. It wasn’t much, but Ash could tell Steven had earned Bulbasaur’s respect, which was something.

-

“Prepare for trouble!” .. “And make it double!”

The Rocket Grunts cheered when they found the village. They hadn’t been following Ash per se, but when they spotted the Pokemon Tech and saw how he was there, they decided to tag behind as best as possible. After all, surely the Steven guy would have buggered off by now, as so eloquently put by Meowth. Ash yelped in alarm at the sight of them, throwing a ball to release Kai when a vacuum device switched on behind the Rocket members.

Bulbasaur threw Vine Whips out to little to no avail when Excadrill stood up. “f*ck off, rat.”

Jessie blinked at the Excadrill. “What did the funny drill Pokemon say?”

Meowth winced. “Not family friendly!”

Koffing and Ekans took the field, but before Kai could act, the Excadrill had used Rock Slide and dispatched both poison types without even blinking. It sent an X Scissor and pinned both members to the ground when Steven finally caught up to be outside with Melanie.

“These clowns? Again?” Steven muttered, pressing Claydol’s release. Bulbasaur stared at the powerful Psychic type. “You practised this with Tate and Liza- edit their memories so they don’t remember this place.”

Claydol glowed, spinning as the Rocket Grunts stood up confused for a moment before being teleported away. Steven returned the Claydol and Melanie clapped while Ash returned Kai and Gale.

A part of him silently thanked the fact that neither was very aware of the legal side of things- seeing as editing memories was highly illegal and highly dissuaded in most places. The only reason Tate and Liza even agreed to let his Claydol learn the dangerous technique was because of the amount of travel he did- they both agreed that it was fate and necessary for him to know.

Not assuring in the slightest, on second thought.

“You’re very powerful..” Bulbasaur mumbled. “Maybe you could protect the village instead of me?”

The Excadrill looked down at the Bulbasaur. Ash glanced at Steven, who pointed at Melanie and gave a thumbs up. “I think Bulbasaur wants to go on a journey again and have Excadrill protect the village?”

Steven nodded and wrapped a band around Excadrill’s wrist. It glowed bright purple as it self-tightened around the Pokemon's wrist. “Here. Take this, and then you can get returned and transferred to me anywhere. New Devon Corp tech, so, nobody’ll know.” He smiled and passed Excadrill’s ball to Melanie.

He wasn't going to mention that the technology on his Excadrill's wrist was never planned to be released. Nobody would be here that shouldn't anyway, with Excadrill around. Devon Corp didn't need the swarms of trainers trying to pick up the tech- and anyway, it wasn't even intended for this purpose.

“Look after him.”

Melanie gaped. “Tha- But-”. Steven shook his head with a smile, before gesturing to the five balls- now six, as he pressed a button on his Pokenav. “Excadrill is just a Pokemon I use competitively from time to time. Not a huge hit to my team.”

Excadrill looked mildly offended but nodded. Bulbasaur then approached Ash. “Catch me.”

Ash’s mouth opened and closed in one fluid motion. Bulbasaur rolled his eyes affectionately. “I want to travel with you. Grow stronger. Be the best Venusaur I can be, so I can protect all the lonely Pokemon in the World.”

Ash smiled and rolled a Pokeball over. “Here!”

Bulbasaur smirked. “Call me Narcissus.”

The Bulbasaur headbutted the Pokeball and vanished with blue light. After a short shake, the Pokeball dinged to signify a capture. He grinned and held up the Pokeball excitedly. “I just caught a Bulbasaur!”

Steven smiled.

-

“What do you mean you forgot?” Giovanni asked coolly. When the trio had brought up an entire little hidden village of Pokemon, he had been intrigued, until they admitted they couldn’t remember how they found the place. “Was there a Psychic type?”

“Yes! A Claydol! Because…” James paused, tapping his chin. “I think a trainer was there. Who have we seen recently who would have a Claydol?”

Jessie huffed, holding her head in her hands in frustration. “I don’t know! All I remember about him is an odd-coloured Metagross!”

Giovanni perked up. Claydol and Shiny Metagross were two members of Steven’s team. He held up a picture of the man when Meowth pointed. “Yes! He keeps stopping our schemes! I think we’re following him…. Because his friend has a Dratini!”

Giovanni held down the bitter comment about how expensively useless their schemes tended to be, except for making Lance underestimate Team Rocket heavily. There was a reason the trio were still considered executives- they simply attracted trouble. “Didn’t Petrel have trouble with Steven and a kid?”

That came from James. Petrel nodded in the corner, before shrugging. “They fled. Golbat used Toxic on the kid, and Steven teleported away. Misty and Brock put an end to the operation properly.”

“Keep an eye on Steven and the kid. Something is going on, and it’s clear Steven is working behind Lance’s back here.” Giovanni replied as the two members saluted.

He sat alone in his office, brooding as usual for him nowadays. Memory editing was far from a concern for Giovanni- he understood that some Psychic types knew the technique, but the fact Steven used it on his grunts was another thing. Likely with the knowledge of the legality of it all or the dangers it could have presented. It seemed an interesting issue, in another sense. Steven was normally easily leashed back by his concerns for the law in the first place, but if he was breaking his moral codes?

Well, that would be interesting. The Dratini kid also seemed like an interesting thought experiment. It seemed so similar to another familiar name, another familiar person- and if they were together?

The trio might just be more useful than he thought in this case. He flicked on the old recording from before, staring down the kid as he defended himself through his Pokemon.

“....”

“Ash.”

-

“Who is this Steven guy, Ash, why aren’t you letting me into his head? You know I’m practising really hard right now to get good with my Psychic powers.” Mewtwo protested in the dream. Ash winced, stepping away from the Psychic type clad in the metal-plated armour. He watched as Mewtwo teleported to him, shooting a massive Shadow Ball.

“This armour restricts me, but see! I can move fine now. I can talk to you.” Mewtwo assured him as Ash grabbed onto a plate and started to pull as best as he could. “Steven has two powerful Psychic types, Mewtwo..”

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea,” Ash murmured to himself in the dream as it shifted to a memory- one he knew well. He and Mewtwo watched as the five of them in the memory spun around and played in the sky. Ash bit back another tear. “I miss them, Mewtwo, I do, I swear, but I’m getting stronger. I will be I'll be there for us.”

Mewtwo turned to him, a slight amount of rage coating his face. “Practise more! Train more! Train yourself! Please..”

Mewtwo snarled, shoving Ash back in the dream. Pain rocked through his body as he snapped awake. He immediately woke up Pinwheel shaking him worriedly while Steven was already there.

“You were talking this time, Ash,” Steven replied, a strange expression on his face. Ash froze as Pinwheel hugged him and Steven took his shoulder, a kind smile on his face. “I don’t know who Mewtwo is. But I trust your judgement, and I’ll facilitate its requests as best as I can, alright? Now, I’m having Claydol stay out this time so you rest.”

Ash nodded shakily, as he opened his mouth to find the words just wouldn’t come to him. Claydol floated around beside them as Steven, instead of turning to just sleep in his tent as normal, stayed outside. He grabbed out his Pokenav. “I will be ringing Wallace, though, to scour Kanto records about Mewtwo.”

Ash blinked as Steven finally caught onto the fact he wasn’t speaking at all. Steven smiled to himself, before passing Ash a little textured sphere, with little buttons and switches on it. Ash stared at it before Steven paused ringing Wallace. “Try it. Just, like, fidget with it, alright? Go back in the tent if I’m too loud.”

-

“Ash, why are you so bothered by whips and stuff if the noise of Pokemon battling is fine?” Gary jeered. “I mean, you barely eat anything other than berries. Oran berries aren’t the only food out there.”

“What a weirdo.”

-

Ash silently fidgeted with the ball as he heard the exasperated voice of Wallace on the other end. “Steven, it is 3 am in the morning, what the f*ck.” Wallace groaned. Steven chuckled humourlessly.

“Have you been catching up on the updates- yeah, it’s on one of them.” Steven began. “I need you to scour Kanto records for Mewtwo.”

Wallace audibly ran to a computer, before a sharp sigh cut through the line. “The only thing I have is a report made by Blaine about a failed cloning experiment aimed to duplicate a Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Mew and two kids- both on special request.”

Steven’s jaw clenched. “Any names?”

“Both are presumed dead,” Wallace replied. Steven glanced at Ash, who was just silently shaking his head. “Well. Who were the two people?”

“Blaine reported one as a scientist’s daughter, and the other was to be an heir for... Something. He said his memories suffered irreparable damage after the project.” Wallace finished, before a voice yelled on the other line for Wallace to sleep, who yelled back it was pretty damn important.

Steven mulled it over for a second. “Well, if you want my two cents, Wallace, I think Mewtwo survived. And one of the kids.”

“Kanto is in massive trouble.” Wallace finally said.

Steven gave a sarcastic chuckle. The ILA would be having a field day, at least.

-

Clone Project - > Report by Blaine (6 years ago)

I feel like I have lost almost six years of my life now due to the blurriness onset by the memory loss I now experience, to my knowledge, artificially. Many names are now something I cannot remember- specifically of a project I was asked for help on.

I do recall some of the details of the project- the aims, the outcomes. To create six clones- one of the three starters, one of Mew, two kids. "Mewtwo" seemed to develop, I think, thought I don't know if I ever was allowed to see it. It died however- like all the other clones. One kid- Ambertwo, was made with the DNA of one of the scientists daughters (presumably named Amber). I don't remember the last one's name, to be frank, but he seemed to have the DNA of somebody important, seeing as I heard the word "heir" of the corporation organising the cloning project tossed around. Perhaps the boss had no children and refused to adopt, or something.

I don't remember much else, but I doubt there is much to be concerned about anyway.

-

Chapter 12: Interlude One: Tate and Liza

Chapter Text

"You seem worried, Mr. Mikuri.. what's up?" Liza sat in a meditative pose, fiddling with her white ribbons while Tate brushed Xatu's feathers idly. Wallace leaned back, holding a palm over his forehead. "I mean, it's nothing for you to worry on."

Tate perked up, glancing around Xatu. "Actually, as gym leaders-"

"We have a responsibility to protect people, that includes you!" Liza finished. Tate walked to meet his twin, holding her hand as they did in their gym battles. Wallace laughed softly and shook his head. "I mean, you know it best. Brendan and May would be so handy to have around right now, but of course they are training in what- Kalos?"

"What's up?" Tate chirped. "You do need to tell us more than wishing those strong trainers were here.." Liza finished.

The older man hummed in consideration before looking over at where his Milotic's Pokeball seemed to weigh his hand down, releasing the beautiful Water type. He cooed and nudged his trainer a few times, while Lunatone and Solrock floated to meet the Milotic. Tate and Liza waved to Milotic happily.

"Oh, are you still being all fussed about the hatchling.."Milotic scolded his trainer while bopping him on the head gently. "You know your... "friend" will look after him."

Wallace didn't need to speak Milotic to know what he meant. The context clues were there. Solrock's eyes glowed blue as Tate nodded in understanding. Lunatone glowed in a similar fashion. Liza placed her hands on her hips. "A hatchling? Why are you upset over a baby Pokemon?"

"He's not a Pokemon, Liza." Tate spoke gently. "He's a human! Why else would Wallace be bothered?"

Liza hummed in agreement at that comment, whispering something into Tate's ear before pulling Wallace over to a table. "We'll do a tarot reading for you!"

"...What." Wallace laughed nervously, staring at the deck of cards with imagery of the sun and moon printed on the back. Tate nodded. "So you won't be all worried about the future. We'll do a reading for the friend you are all worried about!"

Wallace stared at the deck.

"...Sure, how- how do you plan on doing it exactly?"

-

"So, we'll pull one card that represent his past, one card of his present, one card of his future, and Tate and I will use our psychic ability to reach out to him. Deal?" Liza explained, shuffling the deck of tarot cards as she closed her eyes and Tate held Wallace's hand. The twins had little candles around the room, incense to apparently "clear the energy", kicked all the Pokemon out and insisted that Wallace followed every instruction.

Liza placed three cards face down on the table, pushing them forward a little. She flipped the first one up- one Wallace was reminded was supposed to represent his past. It depicted a Gengar holding a Scythe, with the word "DEATH" written on it. Tate hummed, staring at the card.

The next card had a Giratina on it with stylized horns- THE DEVIL, apparently, for his present. The final card, when flipped up, depicted Cresselia- THE MOON.

Tate studied the cards, looking to Liza, who seemed to be equally entranced by them. "Death, for his past. Likely suffered great loss, a great ending, a great change and rebirth of some kind.. it could really be a lot, you know. But I would say a great loss hurts him, wounds his soul.." Liza finished, staring at the Gengar.

"The Devil could be reflective of destructive tendencies.. or a temptation. Perhaps he is being tempted to do something he shouldn't be, facing a decision, or is desperate for something or somebody. Maybe he's desperate to meet or being with who he lost. His vices are playing against him." Tate continued. Wallace studied the cards himself, despite not knowing what they meant.

"The Moon means his future is uncertain. Even the cards cannot predict how they will go- his future is changeable and in his palm to be different. He may have to face something, but.. I cannot tell." Liza laughed softly, before bringing the cards back together.

Wallace looked down. Not many answers, but it was clear he would have to help Steven- it didn't come across as positive.

"Don't worry, Mr. Mikuri! You'll be A-OK!" Tate seemed to notice how he was still upset, then, Wallace noted. Liza moved to a box filled to the brim of gemstones they must have collected with Steven sometime, and grabbed a piece of raw amethyst, pressing it into his palm. "Take this!"

"...Thanks?" Wallace laughed nervously.

Chapter 13: Ice Blue and Fire Red

Chapter Text

“What’s that?” Steven pointed to a shadow in front of the sun, creating an effect where he couldn’t tell what was there. Ash shrugged before running over. He stopped dead before a tall rock, where a little Charmander rested on top. Steven came over just as quickly, as Pinwheel started to try to chat to him.

Steven stared at the tail flame of the little orange dinosaur, which looked small, weak and dim. The breaths the Pokemon took were slow and difficult. A pit settled in his stomach. Ash frowned at the small Pokemon.

“Where’s your trainer? Charmanders are too rare to just be out here.” Pinwheel muttered. The Charmander sighed softly. “My trainer told me to wait here... I’m just waiting for him. He'll be here. He'll definitely be here.”

Ash exchanged a deeply discomforted expression with Steven. “I think Charmander’s trainer isn’t coming back… but, hey, there's a Pokemon Centre nearby, so we’ll ask around for him there, deal? What’s his name?”

Ash had heard of one too many stories of loyal Gengar or starters being left behind at places, with their trainers saying how they'll come back and never doing as such. It reminded him of something Mewtwo said in some whirlwind dream sequence along the line. "Humans will always lie to get their way, to use others as the tools and means of success."

And if that tool was broken, it was left behind- the thought made Ash sick in a way he disliked. He pushed back the comparisons, and the negativity, and looked over to his light-bluenette friend. Steven nodded in silent approval of Ash’s decision.

Charmander smiled a little. “Damian.”

Pinwheel waved to the Charmander before Ash and Steven headed to the Pokemon Centre. They walked into the Centre, where people crowded around a taller boy with short blue hair and a pair of sunglasses smirking, tossing an Ultra Ball into the air and catching it again. A co*cky smirk was plastered over the kid's face, and the corners of his mouth twitched up in a way that somehow immediately pissed off Ash.

He had little time to consider that though as the familiar sound of rain filled his ears. He turned to where the door was- where puddles already formed outside as a storm thundered outside.

“It’s raining now..” Ash muttered. “We need to check on that Charmander,-”

Steven wordlessly agreed with that wholeheartedly. As they turned to leave the centre, they heard a jeer from the crowd. “Wow! Damian! You have so many cool Pokemon! I mean, a Beldum? I thought they were protected!!”

“Yup. You know me, I’m just that cool.” The boy with the Ultra Ball grinned, soaking up the praise like a sponge. Another boy frowned. “Where did your Charmander go man?”

“Oh, I left the weakling behind.”

Steven grabbed Ash and ran out of the Pokecenter as quickly as he could manage. They darted around the trees in the rain, tripping on sticks and mud as they slipped about in the storm, with Skari and Gale powering ahead to find the fire type. Ash took sharp breaths while he ran, finally skidding to a stop when he found the Charmander, holding a leaf over his tail as Spearow flew into him and pecked at him.

“Pinwheel! Thunderbolt!” Ash yelled, letting the shock down the Spearow around. Gale and Skari were quickly returned. Steven released Claydol from his Pokeball. The Claydol looked relatively disgruntled by the rain.

“Teleport us to the Pokemon Center,” Steven ordered. The group, including the Charmander that was cradled in Ash’s arms, was whisked away by Claydol. The area around them vanished, leaving them in front of the Pokemon Center. He returned Claydol when Ash ran inside the Center.

“You need to help Charmander, Nurse Joy- also, he is not my Pokemon!” Ash exclaimed frantically, pushing the Pokemon to her. Chansey immediately ran over as Nurse Joy nodded curtly, running to look after the Pokemon. Ash took a long breath of relief before Steven ever so casually walked over to Damian.

“Damian, is it?” Steven looked down at the boy, who by the confused expression, did not recognise him. The blue-haired kid stood up, placing his hands on his hips. “Yeah?”

“I heard you had a Beldum. I wonder if my Metagross knows it?” Steven smiled sweetly. Damian shrugged. Steven released the massive Shiny Metagross which Ash had grown quite familiar with. He was quite a friendly Pokemon, on getting to know him- most of Steven's team were. They certainly matched the trainer's intelligent and kind demeanour, with a threatening streak if somebody really got on their nerves. Damian released the little Beldum, who immediately floated over to Steven.

“Mr Stone! Mr Stone! Oh, it was so horrible, they stole me away and then the kid bought me, and it was so so bad!” Beldum buzzed. Steven kept his cool as best as he could as he looked down at Damian. He didn't even need the translation from Metagross- Ash's shudder told him more than enough. “And how did you get this Beldum?”

“I caught him. In Hoenn.” Damian replied. The Metagross shot a look to Beldum. Steven shrugged, before pointing at Damian. “Beldum, Psychic.”

The Beldum buzzed, floating Damian up into the area, who screamed frantically. He flailed in the air as Steven calmly took Beldum’s Pokeball from the kid's Pokeball belt, turning the sphere around in his palms. “Thank you for returning my Beldum. Did you know you had bought a stolen Pokemon, by any chance? From a protected colony by the Champion of Hoenn no less?”

Steven didn’t care for Damian’s answer, because Claydol had already been released from the Pokeball he was in as he returned Beldum to be able to transfer it back to his father- he’d have to explain that one, for sure. At least the Beldum was safe, he supposed. It wasn't common for them to get pinched, and would probably be a paperwork nightmare for Wallace. He'd probably have to apologise for that one, too. Claydol glowed.

“He was aware.”

Steven grabbed Damian and commanded Metagross to keep him held in the air. Nurse Joy had already run out due to the ruckus. “What the can we stop fighting here?” She stammered. Steven looked over to Nurse Joy, dipping his head in apology as Ash awkwardly stood there.

“Well, Nurse, I apologise. But I also need the CCTV footage.” Steven added flippantly. “As this young boy right here happened to be in possession of a Pokemon belonging to the care of the Ever Grande League. And the Charmander?”

“...The half-dead one?”

“His.”

Nurse Joy ran to the bank and returned with a collection of videotapes of when Damian arrived and when he left, and rang Officer Jenny. Damian was still held in place by Metagross using Psychic, with Steven flicking the metal body of the Pokemon every time it got a little too aggressive.

If Ash noticed Steven taking his dear sweet time with noticing that, he wouldn't say a word.

When Officer Jenny arrived, Steven finally left to check on Ash who was gently pushing Charmander worriedly. Steven placed a reassuring arm on his shoulder.

“Charmander will be alright. Okay?” Steven sighed softly as Ash relaxed a little. The dino chirped at him weakly as Steven dragged Ash up from the chair beside Charmander, pulling him to the rooms in the Pokemon Centre.

The kid needed his rest.

-

“Mewtwo!” Ash called through the darkness, watching the Psychic type appear in his mind, hugging him tightly. The cold steel of the armour on his friend sent shivers down his spine, but he pushed it away to focus on the comfort of his first friend being with him. The Psychic type observed the memories, staring at the Metagross.

“He saved the Beldum, then, because it was stolen? And the Charmander... He must have known by then already when Damian mentioned he had one, that it was stolen and everything, but prioritised the weaker ‘mon.” Mewtwo commented idly. He stared up at the sky, before glancing down to Ash again. “And you have been helping him, then? Save people in the Kanto region.”

Ash nodded. “He lent his Excadrill to a girl to protect some wild Pokemon.”

Mewtwo seemed to consider this as an idea.

"You say Steven is kind and righteous, right? What makes him any different from the other trainers like Damian? What if he is just hiding his true nature, or-" Mewtwo rattled off a few more concerns like a checklist. Ash rolled his eyes before tapping his chin in thought. "I mean, if he was like Damian, he would have just handed me over to Lance as a stray, right?"

Mewtwo shuddered at that idea. Ash had told him long ago what that would have meant for him- what being marked as a "stray" even meant for a young child. There was that one story of a young kid who was caught out, and Lance had said he helped her. In some circles, stories of the highest care being granted for the child were told, but if you asked the Alakazam who raised the kid, it painted a different picture. A cold, white cushioned room, with only the thoughts and nightmares to plague her mind. Training for no reason other than to investigate the potential of being raised around Pokemon.

Lance may not have been a bad person, but the people around him felt it fine to cause those who were saved by Pokemon through a torturous upbringing for the sake of their science.

Mewtwo hated science. Logic always seemed to lead to pain.

Ash sighed and sat down, staring at the stars in one particular memory, glancing back to where Rosa and a young him played.

“Steven says Lance is acting bad. And not looking after his region. What if he’s not looking after Rosa?” Ash murmured. He stared at the younger form of Rosa before an older form of the Pokemon shifted in her place. She looked happy, healthy, and strong, but a darker part of Ash reminded him how easily Rosa could pretend.

"I'm fine. Truly, Ash." Rosa's voice filled his brain in a resounding, traitorous echo. "Frankly, stop thinking about silly old me. Silly old me."

“I could help.” Mewtwo interrupted his dream thoughts. “But you said Lance was strong and valiant, safe, you know?”

Ash curled inwards on the ground on the memory. “Still! I don’t know!”

His thoughts were interrupted when the crack of light revealed that Claydol had joined the dream. Mewtwo readied a Shadow Ball when Ash stood up to block it. Claydol hummed in thought. “Wait! This is Steven’s Claydol!”

“Are you one of the powerful Psychic types I was told about?” Mewtwo perked up and the idea, his tail swishing in mild interest. Claydol spun around. “Yes. I believe so.”

Mewtwo poked it curiously as Claydol sifted through Ash’s memories, with far more care than Mewtwo ordinarily did. Still, Mewtwo held a Shadow Ball ready when Claydol tried to go back, and back, through years upon years of the kid's life. From the beginning. He wasn't allowed. When was the beginning, anyway?

“No! He cannot see those!” Mewtwo ordered sharply. “They.. are painful.”

“You can’t run from the truth, Mewtwo. The past is a scar that will never heal until confronted,” Claydol replied, discontentedly. Ash couldn't help but wonder if Steven would say the same thing. It froze on a memory with Rosa, with Ash poking Kai’s egg playfully, smiling as he held the egg to his heart. Then it shifted to them playing, then them growing up, then Ash being sent to live with Delia.

He remembered those years well. Bullied for being quiet, but Ash couldn't exactly speak the Pokemon language around them. It was constant waiting. And waiting, until he could speak good enough English to do fine. He still had a strange accent- which was always commented on until it managed to finally fade out.

“I hate that woman.” Mewtwo soured as the memories continued.

A Golbat flying, aimed for the heart of one of the strongest trainers. The identity of Petrel was blurred, sharply cracking as Mewtwo screeched. Something- somebody, didn't want Mewtwo to see anything Team Rocket-related. The metal armour sent shockwaves through Mewtwo. Claydol held the black cracks together, barely, as a deep warmth surrounded memories, and Ash looked up from his thoughts.

It shifted to Steven and Ash walking down to Vermillion, pointing at Pidgeys and chatting to Pinwheel or Gale or Narcissus. Mewtwo winced as it breathed heavily in obvious pain, looking at the Claydol like it had betrayed him. It hadn't- Mewtwo knew that. It wanted to help.

Just like Steven was apparently like, Mewtwo supposed.

“...I’m sorry, Claydol.”

Mewtwo pushed the Psychic type out of the memory.

-

Chapter 14: Neptune and Aeris

Chapter Text

Ash woke up to a warm presence near him. Steven looked… worse for wear, to act as an underestimate. Large eyebags traced under his eyes, and Claydol was knocked out on the room’s floor. The man’s suit was covered in burns and his hair was strewn with knots. By the expression Steven gave him, something had happened while he was unconscious.

“... go back to sleep, Ash..it’s okay,” Steven mumbled idly. Ash gave him a worried and unconvinced stare, causing the older to grab his bag and Ash’s, tossing it to him. “Fine. It’s not okay, but let's just get on the road for now. I have to be in Vermillion before the Anne leaves."

Ash didn't know what the Anne was and said as such. Steven took a long breath, before brushing out a few knots in his hair with his fingers as he quietly went down the stairs in the Pokemon Centre. "It's a cruise ship, Ash. Now, let's go pick up Charmander."

"I- what?" Ash laughed nervously. Steven gave him an unimpressed expression as he rang the little steel bell on the counter to get Nurse Joy - or her Chansey on duty. The Chansey padded out, looking up at Ash and Steven, who had already released Metagross for translations.

"It is late. Ms. Joy cannot awake, but seeing as you have a psychic type, I'll cater for you." Chansey chirped. Ash nodded along with Steven.

"We'll be taking the Charmander," Steven explained, pointing at Ash with his thumb. "Well, he will be."

Chansey soured a little, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but, Charmander would still need the legal procedures and such set by the illustrious Dragon Master and his cohorts-"

Steven pressed some fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"Lance and his braindead approach to everything can wait. Let us take Charmander, and we'll leave, and that will be that."

Chansey looked uncomfortably at the wall as if it would give some answers, before reluctantly padding off to collect the small Pokemon, who still looked weak. Ash tapped it on the forehead with a Pokeball, and it swallowed the little mon in a bright blue light. It "dinged" as a successful capture after two shakes. Chansey looked to where, presumably, the Nurse would have been sleeping, before shaking her head. "I could get in lots of trouble for this."

Ash smiled as best as he could, before, in fluent Pokespeech as he rubbed Pinwheel who still sat perched on his shoulder, said, "I think there are bigger things you would have been in trouble for tonight."

Chansey froze. Steven returned Metagross as Chansey started pushing them out of the Pokemon Centre rather frantically. Pinwheel chittered to her a few times before they were thrown back out into the woods into the crisp night air.

They walked along the path when five Squirtles, huddled around what looked to be a pitfall trap, jumped in alarm at spotting the Champion and Ash approaching. They looked to one another, looked at the new people in front of them, and started innocently whistling. Pinwheel jumped forward while the Squirtles struck a defensive posture.

"Hey! Don't come closer or we'll mess you up!" The Squirtle on the far right said, adjusting his circular sunglasses. "We're the Squirtle Squad, and we always win!"

Pinwheel giggled before poking one of the Squirtle playfully. "Yeah, tell the electric mouse how a water type will win! Anyway, what are you doing?"

Pinwheel prodded the edge of the pit curiously.

"We're playing a prank, mousey. On whoever falls in, duh.." The Leader Squirtle- presumably, with the pointed sunglasses he wore, answered. Steven gently tapped Ash, who was nodding along in understanding. He gestured to the absence of Metagross.

"Oh- sorry, they are playing a prank." Ash explained to Steven, who watched the Squirtle look quite alarmed at one another.

"Did he-" One Squirtle began. They swarmed around Ash. "Lucky guess? Lucky guess?"

Pinwheel leapt onto Ash's shoulder, crackling idly with electricity in a protective manner. Steven threw a Pokeball, releasing Skari, who perched beside Ash. "Hey, keep distance you five."

The Squirtle looked to Skari and then to Steven, before dipping their heads and stepping away. They knew better than to mess with what looked to be a giant armoured bird (of death). Pinwheel smiled at the Squirtles.

"Where are your trainers? Or the momma Blastoise? Are you wild?" Skari poked a Squirtle with her talon, who stumbled backwards as the leader of the Squirtles shook his head. "We got none. We were all abandoned, now we are a squad. We look out for one another and that is that!"

Ash winced, relaying the information to Steven.

"Let's..just camp for a bit, alright? I have a headache." Steven said, quite quietly and mutedly in response. His eyes looked slightly glazed over as he almost dizzily stumbled to sit down. The Squirtles looked to each other, visibly concerned for the trainer as Pinwheel started explaining to the crew how to put up a tent.

-

"Why are so many Kanto trainers leaving their partners behind?" Steven looked to the Squirtle who had clambered onto his lap, poking the Steel specialist curiously. The leader of the Squirtles had taken a similar interest into Ash.

The Squirte on Steven's lap hummed in thought, before looking at Metagross and back at the trainer. "It's because they say we are weaker or something."

Metagross glowed cyan as he translated the Squirtle's thoughts to Steven, who was scrolling through Squirtle's move index.

"..Flash Canon, Gyro Ball, Iron Defense, huh... and Hydro Pump. You could kinda fit on my team with the right learnset.." Steven mulled it over in his head. The Squirtle on Steven looked incredibly excited at that idea.

"My dad would love if he heard I went with a Steel User... he's an Aggron!" Squirtle grinned. "I'd looove to be your Pokemon, since you seem cool!"

Steven smiled a little as Skari leaned over to poke the Squirtle with her beak, and lift off the sunglasses he wore. The Squirtle seemed overjoyed as he was swallowed into the Pokeball- one of the many Heavy Balls Steven carried and never used. The Squirtle Squad's leader looked over, and smiled as he turned back to the conversation with Pinwheel.

Steven released the Squirtle again. "I'm Aeris! Aeris! I'm gonna be such a tough Blastoise, you hear?"

The Squirtle Squad leader looked back at Ash, and tapped a Pokeball, as he was swallowed in the warm blue light before being immediately released by the rather startled trainer.

"I'm Neptune- and I will be the strongest Wartortle ever." Squirtle nodded determinedly. Ash sweatdropped at that notion, seeing as it was a Squirtle in front of him. The rest of the Squirtle Squad looked awkwardly at one another, as they watched their two strongest become trainer Pokemon again- (and nobody needed another Squirtle.)

Steven held his Pokenav to the three Squirtles, and they all dinged one by one as their moves came up. "This Squirtle knows Icy Wind, Water Gun, Haze and Substitute.", "This Squirtle knows Dragon Pulse, Protect and Water Gun." , "This Squirtle knows Aqua Ring, Water Gun and Ice Beam."

The Squirtles seemed to be rather proud of their varied movesets, and Steven was reminded once again how accessible TMs were to those with money. He rolled a Pokeball forward for each Squirtle as Ash looked over, rather interested in what he was planning.

"I know an Ice-Type trainer who could use your moves to the best." Steven looked to the Icy Wind Squirtle, who seemed interested by the opportunity and let himself get caught. "And a Dragon type trainer.." ..Ding.

"And my very close friend is a coordinator, so-" Steven looked to the final Squirtle as Skari gently pushed Steven. "He means a boyfriend, that's what he means."

Steven didn't need the translation to start scolding to the amused Skarmory. The final Squirtle let itself be caught, as Steven picked up the three shrunken-down Pokeballs. "Let's get my friends their Squirtles, then."

"Yeah!" Aeris cheered. Neptune lifted his head in pride. Ash yawned.

"Oh.. maybe we should sleep first."

-

"...Oh... hi.." Charmander looked to where Neptune was exclaiming his accomplishments to Kai. Pinwheel waved before Nexum- Steven's Metagross, floated over and looked down on the Charmander. Skari was busy bullying Aeris.

"...um...my name is Pyre," Charmander mumbled. Nexum looked to where Pinwheel approached to shake Pyre's claw. The Charmander shook the Pikachu's hand as their trainers, now it was morning, appeared to be making breakfast of some kind. Pyre had been quite unsure of it all- understandably, in Narcissus's opinion. The Bulbasaur had been mildly ticked off to learn his trainer had whisked the poor Fire type away from the Pokemon Centre, but he could do nothing about it.

Gale perched on top of Nexum, smiling down at Pyre. Narcissus quietly appreciated Gale- she had taken a maternal role for Ash and was probably interested in the same for Pyre- which could help the Charmander quite a lot. The Pidgeotto watched as Charmander seemed to inspect her as a being, while Kai and Neptune bantered happily.

"Ash is a lovely trainer, you'll love it with us. If you don't behave though.." Gale darkened, looking to where Skari turned at the sound of her voice to shoot daggers at Pyre, who shrank away in fright at the notion. He was not interested in being the Pidgeotto's lunch. Claydol floated over, visibly injured still.

"Mesa, what happened to you?" Nexum turned to the Claydol, who seemed to struggle to keep himself afloat. Pyre looked mildly concerned for the Psychic type, poking him. Mesa, the Claydol sighed and rested down on the grass. Pinwheel looked over, nudging Mesa with concern.

"The world order is out of balance, as it was told by the civilisation I lived in once, aeons past," Mesa replied, glowing slightly. Pyre looked interested. "Civilisation? What was it called?"

"...I do not recall," Mesa answered. Nexum huffed. "I have been trying to figure this out."

Pyre looked away, towards the north. "The only ancient civilisation I know about is that Hisui place. Maybe you came from a ruins there? Back when I was on Damian's team, there was a Spiritomb who told stories of Hisui... but he escaped a long time before you came."

"...Hisui, huh." Mesa hummed in a low consideration. Steven looked over to him, tossing a Full Restore to Pinwheel, which was caught by Nexum's psychic and passed to the mouse. Pinwheel carefully used the healing item on Mesa, who was evidently relieved.

-

“Celebi, but I don’t remember-”

“Of course, the time traveller! You must be from the past, or future, and there, you are from the past.. But which past?"

..

“Is this death?”

“I think so.”

..

“It never left you. You never were revived, you were just brought back, forcefully .. that’s cruel. Pokemon are cruel, just like humans?”

“I suppose they are, aren’t they? But not everyone.”

..

“No. Just like humans, they are a scourge that should be erased for the pain they have caused. Only the strong- strong like you, should remain in my perfect world.”

..

-

Chapter 15: So Much To Say (But Not Enough Free Will)

Chapter Text

"Vermillion City!" Ash cheered as they stepped through the streets. It was still fairly early in the morning and light filtered through the buildings nearby. Steven was still quite twitchy, Ash noted, but he had tried to ignore it. His friend pushed a palm through his light blue hair and reached for some Pokeballs.

"Take Metagross, Skarmory and Armaldo for training for your next badge. I need to take care of something, and it's important I bring Aeris and my Claydol." Steven pressed the cold shrunken spheres into Ash's hands, who could only nod a little. Steven had already left though, at a speed that left Pinwheel a little concerned. Ash sighed, looking to Pinwheel.

"Yeah, I get it buddy. You're worried.. like I am." Ash muttered to himself, throwing Gale's Pokeball in the air. Gale flapped and stared down at Ash. "What's wrong?"

"Steven is being a bit weird so I want you to tag along with him, Gale. Just keep him alright, and notify us if something needs to be done." Ash explained to the flying type, who cooed in affirmation and flew off to keep an eye on the Steel-type trainer.

Ash smirked back at Pinwheel. "Okay! Time for training!"

-

Lance felt his stomach twist a little as he entered the meeting spot- a small, unassuming house in the Vermillion Outskirts. The other Eastern Region champions were there, of course, with Diantha acting as a mediator on his request. They had always had these meetings to keep everyone in line on the east and west sides of the world. Steven had gone completely off the radar recently, and for a man who was pretty much the poster child for smiling and acting professional, he had been acting pretty damn contrary to that.

He wore his ordinary cape and red jacket as he watched Cynthia enter and sit down beside Diantha first. She wore her black coat and had her blonde hair covering one-half of her face down to her stomach. She smiled sweetly at Lance, waving politely. Wallace was next, surprising Lance a little before the extravagant man sat down. He wasn't the greatest with his punctuality.

13:40. Ten minutes. Ten minutes late, Steven ended up being, accompanied by a Pidgeotto who definitely wasn't looking through the window. Lance couldn't make the time to point it out though, seeing as Steven was in certainly ... a "state".

Steven practically stumbled into the chair. Dark streaks were under his eyes, and his outfit was covered in burns and dripping wet. Mud coated his boots thickly and dust covered his entire attire. His hair was knotted, and he looked like he had been dragged through the mud on multiple levels. Wallace made an offended squeak as he reached to hold Steven up a little.

“Steven, what the actual f*ck?” Cynthia began. She gestured wildly over to him, before throwing her hands up in genuine frustrated concern. “What the actual f*ck occurred! Are you okay?"

Steven looked at Cynthia and said absolutely nothing as he pulled his chair out and sat down, idly tossing a Heavy Ball between his fingertips. Wallace shot a silent glare at Cynthia but didn't voice anything. Diantha looked kindly at least at Steven, trying to bring up the mood a little.

"Wellllll... I'm sure we all have suggestions and needs to bring up, riiight?" Diantha laughed softly, resting her head on her hands. Cynthia smiled, clapping her hands together as she looked to the group. "Sinnoh has been quite fantastic!"

"Hoenn is doing well, even with Steven on extended leave." Wallace replied soon after. "We're handling everything as we normally would."

"Johto is doing alright right now, but we're facing a few Team Rocket incidents as there seems to be a resurgence of it all." Lance began, sighing with clear exhaustion painted on his face. "I received reports of a so-called stray in the Safari Zone, but the Kangaskhan protecting the kid are very overprotective, so getting the kid to the safe zone is impossible."

"And what would that look like," Steven replied, looking to Lance who shrank back a little. "I- well, see, I'm not really allowed to change it Steven- not without going against all the league people. It's like... an insane asylum, kinda, just to contain them."

"No wonder you don't find any. Has it not occurred to you that they are all simply in hiding?" Steven shot back, a coldness etching its way into his voice. "News travels fast among them, I know that."

Cynthia perked up in interest. "Have you had a chance to talk to one?"

"You could say that," Steven answered. Wallace seemed to nod along- much to Lance's frustration with the fact he already knew. Lance looked at the floor while Cynthia grabbed a sheet of paper with questions scrawled onto it.

"Wait, Steven, can you answer my questions!" Cynthia looked to Steven, who nodded.

"Ok, ok, so, one- do they speak one language of Pokemon like a Pokemon might?" Cynthia asked. Steven shrugged. "Depends. The one I met preferred to speak his mother's language when it came to difficult words but was comfortable in other Pokemon speech."

Wallace now looked interested, as did Diantha. Cynthia continued with her little questionnaire. "So, I heard they sometimes have developmental issues? Is that true!"

"He told me some Pokemon will find textbooks for their kids, but even that doesn't cover everything. I think he said he struggles with maths and some "human" vocabulary." Steven tapped the table anxiously. Wallace tried to keep giving him a nice, patient smile. Cynthia scribbled something down before humming in thought. "Well, here's an interesting question. Did he know anything about other strays?"

"Molly Hale," Steven replied immediately, shooting a glance at Lance. "Is the Unown's friend, in Greenfield, that's what I heard him say. Apparently, the news spread from a trainer caught Pokemon."

"Unown.." Cynthia whispered. "How..old is Molly?"

"Four, I believe."

All eyes in the room fell on Lance, who looked around quite frantically. Deep breaths were shared as they took a break for some coffee, as requested by Diantha.

-

"Pih-dgeoooottto!" The bird cawed frantically at Cynthia, flapping at her face over and over again. She yelped and stepped away from the Pokemon, who finally left her alone enough for her to sip her coffee and release Lucario for translations.

"Master Cynthia, I am to enact your bidding." Lucario bowed. The feisty Pidgeotto calmed down, apparently seeing the opportunity for her words to be translated. Cynthia looked to her as she was nudged by what she had finally discerned as a trainer Pokemon.

"Tell me, tell me, how does Sinnoh treat the strays?" The Pidgeotto chirped as Lucario used his aura- the bond between him and Cynthia, to translate the words. Cynthia looked slightly taken aback, before dropping her voice to a whisper so Lance, who was hounded by his Dragon types, would not hear.

"I.. uh, well, we normally just let them be. It's not our business, y'know?" Cynthia murmured. The Pidgeotto chirped like she had said the right thing, before gesturing to where Steven frantically paced backwards and forwards over his phone ringing to nothingness. A Squirtle poked him nervously.

"I am Gale! The Pidgeotto companion to the one Steven speaks of!" Gale chirped with pride as Cynthia immediately sat up. His story was not only true, then, but suddenly his interest in strays was quite grounded. After all- the Pidgeotto had stalked along the entire meeting, and, if Cynthia's eyesight was not mistaken, had followed him there. Lucario said as much, for her.

"...Yeah, I was ordered to follow. He left Metagross, Skarmory and Armaldo with my trainer, so we were concerned. "

Now that was interesting for Cynthia. She scrawled her phone number on a piece of paper. "Tell him to text me, 'kay?"

Gale nodded and kept the piece of paper firmly in her claws.

-

"So... anything else?" Diantha introduced as they reconverged at the table. Lance nodded, looking to Steven who was dozing off already.

"One- why do you look like you were run over by some Tauros, two, why do you even care about the strays, three, what are you investigating?"

Silence. Steven straightened up. "One, I was with my brand new Squirtle, Aeris, who happened to be abandoned by his trainer.. probably should look into that, Lance."

The Dragon trainer looked away immediately as the stony-eyed man continued his tirade. "And let me be clear, strays are just as human as us. Maybe more, maybe more. And finally, the thing I am investigating- the true centre of this all, is a Pokemon."

Steven stood up, pushing himself up as he fought past the exhaustion that threatened to swallow him whole. It was so heavy, he thought, but he had no time to consider focusing on that anyway. Diantha decided to ask the obvious question. "Well.. what species?"

"Mewtwo."

Lance coughed. Wallace looked around dumbly at the walls, trying to pretend he hadn't been furiously searching for answers. Cynthia looked dead on at Steven, who had released his Claydol. The Pokemon floated a little slower than normal, wavering.

"..You are joking, right?" Lance finally asked. "Blaine said he was sure it died. And those other five clones, whatever."

Steven held back a scoff as his Claydol hummed in response. "I can affirm the existence of Mewtwo, as I have certainly witnessed him. He reaps and steals and snatches, burning and twisting."

"He is vengeful. Hateful, whatever. He may be a Pokemon but the only empathy he has is for those who walked his path." Steven explained while Claydol backed up his words. Cynthia had already had Gale- the Pidgeotto, vouch for Steven before.

He was telling the truth, wasn't he?

Lance appeared discomforted for a moment, before shaking his head. "Steven, if Mewtwo exists- pray tell, how are you sure of its nature?"

"I talked to him. He told me, face to face within a dream." Steven looked to the ceiling. "That is how Mewtwo conversed with me. A dream, memories flickering between my eyes. He is caged, within armour, from what I could see. Yet I could tell it was actual because when I woke up my Claydol was fainted from an attack Mewtwo launched within the dream."

Cynthia thought for a moment. "Lucian said powerful Psychic types can do that. A clone of Mew- I mean, yeah... that's concerning, Lance, you need to look into this."

"I don't believe it's real." Lance finally said. "It is too improbable."

"You mean the three to two hours I sleep every night, interrupted and impossible to have because he plagues my every f*cking thought is fake? The exhaustion I am stuck in, all fake- every single moment I am in is this endless burning headache until I appease his wishes, and only to know that it's all to save myself when Mewtwo decides to finally kill everything as it so wonderfully told me the first time I-" Steven wanted to scream, ramble, but felt his mouth frozen.

"...Don't." The voice in his head snarled. "I am not cruel, you know it. I am correct."

Steven silently walked to the door of the meeting hut place- (he barely knew what it was supposed to be anyway). "...When Mewtwo comes and gets rid of everything it calls weak, which is including you right now Lance, don't blame me."

He left, as Gale watched nervously. The Pidgeotto dived into the meeting room to the stunned silence.

"Pid-geottto!"

-

"Oh, Gale, you returned?" Cynthia co*cked her head curiously. "Do you know anything about Mewtwo?"

Diantha had released Gardevoir to translate for the group. Lance watched as the Pidgeotto began to spread her wings and-

Thud.

He fell backwards as Pidgeotto snatched Rosa's ball- she was glad for all those videos of Lance's team Steven had shown her, to be able to recognise the little squiggly rose drawn into the top of the sphere that marked her pokeball, releasing the Shiny Dragonair. Pidgeotto squawked at the confused Dragonair. "Rosa! Rosa, what do you know about Mewtwo? Please answer, Kai needs to know for his safety."

Rosa at least looked alarmed, while Gardevoir was translating. "He was always a bad discussion point, you know.. for my little brother, anyway. He'd get all sad and stuff- since four of their friends died, I think! It was a cloning experiment, apparently, Ambertwo died, and the Kanto starters there.. but that's all I ever got told."

Rosa flicked her tail as she looked at Lance who was rubbing his head.

"And you! Come on, I told you to loosen up the stray stuff and stuff... I heard that conversation from my Pokeball." She grumbled at her trainer. "My little brother's safety is at stake."

Pidgeotto squeaked.

Gardevoir sweatdropped as she left out a few details in the translation. Lance was still frowning while Gale was preening and fixing her wings despite it all. Lance groaned into the table.

"I'm phoning Gold. I can't deal with this sh*t solo. Maybe ..."

"should I contact Red?" Lance finished.

The Champions looked at one another with the same expression they had when Steven walked out.

Chapter 16: "Will" you look at the Future?

Chapter Text

“You would know, more than anybody else, why it is so important he doesn’t remember, right?”

..

“Fear.”

..

“...Why show me this?”

“Lance embraces his fear. He understood why.”

“But you didn’t. You were to be perfect."
..

“But he never expected that from you. He saw beneath your facade.”

..

“You did it with him, until, until when?”

..

“He tries to teach me empathy, but you aren’t trying to do that.”

“No. I am not." .. "What do you think I’m teaching you?”

“To escape my armour.”

..

-

Three knocks, pause, two knocks. Lance opened the door to the man in the doorway, who bowed and spun that new cane he had recently received in his right hand. He wore his signature black tailcoat, magenta sleeves and leggings, and a masquerade mask that concealed his identity. The Dragon Master let out a relieved sigh at the psychic trainer's presence, who gave him a tilted smile. The hotel in Vermillion had been the best accommodation they could have found, but even then, Lance had found the silence suffocating.

At least Will responded to his messages. Sabrina had gone off the radar- and Lance didn't want to chase the gym leader anymore. The lilac-haired trainer frowned, rapping Lance on the side of his skull gently with his cane.

"Something troubles you. I can tell that one for certainty!" Will cheerfully stated. "So it's not some emergency training that has you bothered."

Lance deadpanned at the Elite Four member, shutting the door behind him as Will gracefully walked through the room. Rosa's ball was thrown half-hazard on the table along with his phone.

"Will. Can Xatu help me with something?" Lance looked up. Will's expression darkened, suitably so. "The future is clouded for a reason. But, if needed, I will assist."

He let out his lead Xatu- the more powerful one, and the weaker one. The two Psychic types stood side by side, as Will bowed to his Pokemon. Lance stood still, examining the Pokemon with a stern expression. Will called them. "Apollo, Phoebe. Lance has requested to seek the future for answers, so please follow his next request."

"Look into Steven's future, you have seen him before, right? What do you see?" Lance asked, trying to ignore the fear that slipped into the slightly hasty way he spoke. Will looked at Lance strangely.

Phoebe and Apollo glowed in synchronisation, freezing in place as the cyan blue filled their eyes. Apollo- the weaker of the two Xatu, opened his eyes rather suddenly, frantically flapping his wings.

"Apo- Mew above, are you alright?" Will ran to try to soothe the Psychic type, who could only give slow nods. Apollo the Xatu dipped his head as Phoebe cooed gently as she seemed to escape her view of the future. The older Xatu bonked Lance gently.

Lance took a long breath. "Is he right? Does Mewtwo exist?"

Will choked on nothing, coughing loudly in startlement as he gave Lance a crazy look. Apollo chirped in affirmation, while Phoebe's feminine, cold and empty telepathic voice spoke and echoed across the space.

"Death, The Devil, The Moon. That is what the Twins decreed." Phoebe began. "I searched amongst the Moon for her answer, but it hurts too much to continue."

Lance looked befuddled, while Will hummed in thought. The "Twins" could mean many different things. But knowing his Xatu, he was certain it was either Olympia's Meowstic's or Tate and Liza. Perhaps Tate and Liza already did a tarot reading? It was an interesting thought he made a mental note to follow up on as soon as his mentor was well enough to do so.

"..Based on that, Will, would you.. call it a stretch to phone him?" Lance held his phone open on the contact. Will read the name and looked away thoughtfully. Phoebe shook her head. Lance sighed and pressed the call button.

.... Rattle, rattle- thud. Lance held back an annoyed sigh at the background noise before the voice finally answered. "...Gold is busy, what is it."

"We actually do need to talk to him. It's very important." Lance replied, a sharpness entering his voice. "And more important than his gambling addiction."

The snort on the other end and the scuffling noises confirmed for Lance and Will they were getting the man they really needed on the phone. "Ahhh, Lance, it has been -forever- since you called me. I don't have any more dragon-type eggs to give you though... So I don't know why you called me."

"Unfortunately that isn't why I called. I'm calling because stuff is going sort of wrong, you could say, and I'm not sure my Pokemon can handle it." Lance explained. Pause.

"Don't sell yourself short, you aren't that bad of a trainer.." the person on the phone replied. Will held back a cough. Lance blinked and then tried the whole explanation again. "Right. There is a Mewtwo about, and it knocked Steven's Claydol out without even being in person."

.

"Sorry?" The person on the other end laughed a little worriedly before the person who had originally picked up the phone made a slightly strangled noise as well. "Is Steven okay?"

"I'm not totally sure. He's been... erratic, as of late, I mean, he nearly passed out when he showed up for the dumb meeting, looked like he had been run over by a Miltank and just straight walked out of the meeting when pressed for information. Then a Pidgeotto showed up and relieved that new Dragonair of mine knew stuff- ugh, I don't know," Lance rambled. The voice on the other end audibly snapped some goggles on, slipped a jacket on and a thud hit a Pokeball.

"I trust it is as serious as you are implying. With all the time nonsense that happened, I don't trust all of that work me and the others put into fixing stuff stuck." The reply came finally as Lance heard some jingling coins. I'll meet you and Will in Vermillion when I can."

"How did you know Will was-"

"You wouldn't have rung me on your own, I know that."

-

“Lieutenant Surge! I challenge you to a Pokemon Battle for the Thunder Badge!” Ash opened the doors dramatically. Surge flicked his eyes over to where Steven stood beside him, taking in the visual information. Steven looked a lot better, that was for sure, and certainly not the man Lance painted him to be. Although whatever that man stress texted was as realistic as a Darkrai nightmare. Steven walked to the stands as Lieutenant Surge’s referee took the middle.

“This will be a one-on-one battle between Lieutenant Surge and-” The referee glanced over to Ash who shook his head when it came to his name. It wasn't that Ash was afraid to say his name- but the fact that Steven was already acting odd was not reassuring to him. He didn't want to push it- especially with Steven asking him to stop introducing himself as much.

Surge held back the insults he’d ordinarily pepper the boy with, instead, just shrugging and releasing his Raichu. The Pikachu climbed off his shoulder and released a Dratini for the kid, who flicked its tail. Surge hummed in thought, before shrugging off the lingering concerns to face the kid properly in a Gym Battle.

Steven could wait.

“Kai! Use Extreme Speed!” Ash called, pumping a fist into the air as Surge grinned. “Stop it with a Thunderbolt, ‘Chu!”

Kai slipped around the Thunderbolt, narrowly, and slammed into Raichu, but little damage was done. “Now!” Surge roared.

Kai was easily scooped into the Raichu’s tail, squeezed and thrown against the dirt. Ash winced every time as Surge called for Thunderbolt. Kai whined as it was electrocuted- and quite intensely so, when it glowed a bright blue in the middle of Raichu’s assault. Kai snarled as Ash cried for it do “do something!” in a frantic cry pretending to call “DRATINI!”

He thought about how he had been with Kai all the way, even when he was forced to move away after the egg had finally hatched. He loved his little sibling with all his heart, and the reunion had only enforced that. The Dratini grew longer, its wings on its head growing longer as it grew elegantly to easily shove Raichu away. Kai floated in front of Ash, as a beautiful Dragonair. Ash grinned. Now it was even.

“CHU! Hit it with a Mega Punch!” Surge yelled as Kai fluidly moved around the punch, releasing a massive Dragon Pulse against the Raichu, sending it backwards. Surge stomped his foot, as the battle became more and more fun for him. “Alright! Chu! Mega Punch, then Thunderbolt combo! Let’s overwhelm it!”

The Pokemon stomped forward and crackled with electricity, using Volt Tackle instead. The Raichu shot up in the air, diving forward at Kai, sending the Dragonair back as Ash nodded.

“Ok! Use Dragon Pulse on the battlefield!” Ash yelled. Kai flew up to the ceiling, reading the purple and white beam, and targeting the floor. Rock and earth flew everywhere, battering Raichu badly. “Now! Extreme Speed!” Ash called. The Pokemon sailed through the air as Surge, excitedly, called to match it with a Volt Tackle. The two Pokemon met in the middle of the air, a battle of power. The glass windows shattered and a resounding crash filled the air.

“Now! Thunderbolt!”

“Dragon Pulse!”

Bang.

The room was filled with a sharp light as the blue serpent was sent flying back opposite to the orange mouse-like Pokemon, who was sent the other way. Kai barely caught itself, struggling to float as Raichu landed with a significant thud into the dirt. The referee tilted his head to check that Raichu was, sure enough, unconscious.

“And Raichu is unable to battle! That means the challenger has won!” The referee called. Surge grinned as Steven practically jumped out of the stands to run over, high-fiving with Ash as he smiled.

Surge passed the Thunder badge over to Ash, smiling brightly. “Good work kid. Here, as a treat, why not go on the SS Anne?”

He passed the two tickets for the illustrious cruise. “That’ll get you to Fuschia.”

Surge didn't mention how he had heard rumours from his contacts in Vermillion that Gold was en route, and he was trying to get them as far away from the trainer as possible. Ash reminded him of Red and Gold, and he knew that was a mistake of a combo to allow happen. And anyway, it was clear Steven needed something to take his head off of whatever Lance was raving about last evening.

And Will, who had recently joined the man in on the crazy-talk this morning.

He smiled, looking at Steven who silently stepped to be between Ash and Surge as he took the tickets from the man. Surge glanced down, before matching Steven’s gaze.

“And I won’t tell Lance who was here. I’ll delete the camera footage.” Surge nodded to Steven, before wincing and bringing a slightly evil grin to his face. “In fact…”

Surge whispered something to Steven, who immediately turned beet red and grabbed Ash’s wrist out of the gym. Surge waved cheerfully, yelling for Steven to “Send your boyfriend my regards!”

-

"You think it's Team Rocket, then? Even though that should be impossible- with the chaos that's happened-" He began. The maroon-haired trainer near him nodded. "Yes. I really think so."

"After all, why would I suddenly remember being told..."

-

Chapter 17: The Unsinkable S.S. Anne.

Chapter Text

A massive cruise liner, painted white with more cabins than Ash could count. The smoke stacks stood proud and tall, and Ash swore he could see a battlefield and a pool on the same boat. It was art and it was gorgeous, and he was going to be on it?

Steven gave a fond smile to Ash who was bouncing on his heels at the idea. They both took the walk to the boat- which they realised was leaving later that same day. No wonder Surge was happy to give them tickets like candy- better than them going to waste. Steven shrugged the thought away as he pulled Ash through the security measures, the checks and the booking process as he finally approached the room the two would be staying in.

“Room” was a polite assessment. It was big- with two entire double beds with a wall separating them into two separate mini areas, with a window side one and a non-window side one, along with an en suite. The bedsheets looked needlessly fancy and pristine, and Steven silently sent a prayer to the cruise staff having to maintain everything.

Ash’s jaw dropped as he saw the bed, and the room, staring at the flat-screen TV and then at the phone.

When was the last time he phoned Delia?

His face fell as he ran to the phone, much to Steven’s interest. He hastily dialled a number, quickly checking a crumpled-up note in his jacket that he must have transferred to the one Steven had given him. The red one- the jacket that Steven had so graciously loaned him a while ago. Steven was already crouched down over a suitcase he had brought with him, pulling out what seemed to be a closet change.

Still. He was still wearing the jacket.

“Hiiii….mom.” Ash mumbled on the phone. Steven immediately recognised the fact it was Delia- and not a Dragonite, by the quite loud English yelling, “ASH KETCHUM YOU HAVE NOT CONTACTED ME SINCE YOU LEFT PALLET TOWN!”

Steven snickered in the corner as Ash put down the phone to complain at him- with a, “Hey! Shut it..” The voice on the other side paused before a less worried laugh came from her. “You have a friend? What’s their name?”

Steven’s eyes widened slightly and Ash opened his mouth to reply. “Uh…” He began. He surely couldn't tell his adoptive mother who he was actually with. Not with the fact Professor Oak practically lived at her house and visa versa. Steven mouthed the word ‘Daigo’ before Ash replied with his actual name. “Daigo.”

“Is he responsible?” The next question came. Ash hummed in consideration, before replying. “Well, he is, but sometimes… you get this feeling he’s thinking of somebody else.. Like a booooo-”

“AND THAT'S ENOUGH CHANGE THE TOPIC!” Steven squeaked into the phone receiver very quickly, much to the bemusem*nt of the lady on the other end. With the speed and alarmed tone, he spoke with- it managed to disguise his (not completely strong, but noticeable) Hoenn accent.

“Well, it seems you are well looked after so I’ll leave you be.” Delia chuckled softly.

Ash hung up the phone as Steven glared daggers at him. “You will destroy my reputation!” He huffed. Ash shrugged before gesturing to his friend's face.

“I think the red on your cheeks is doing that.”

Steven groaned into his palms, before throwing a pile of clothes at Ash. "I thought you needed a wardrobe change. Plus, I think we need to go slightly under the radar."

Ash gave a bemused expression. Steven took a breath, before tapping the table anxiously. "I'm talking to your friend. That- that friend, the one in the dreams? So-"

Oh.

"I trust- yeah, sure, let's do this." Ash laughed nervously. He seriously wasn't interested in contemplating the implications that one sentence had held, in favour of trying on the new outfit.

-

It was a fairly simple outfit, he had come to learn. A light red jacket with a white zipper and short grey sleeves, black fingerless gloves and grey bands, blue jeans and a replacement red hat with a far simpler white semicircle design- less recognisable than the Pokemon Expo hat. Steven's outfit was more extravagant, but that didn't exactly surprise Ash. A white-grey trenchcoat with blue accents, grey boots, and grey gloves, he almost looked like he was going to space.

But he wasn't, of course. Ash supposed he looked different enough to get away with it, and anyway, he was from Hoenn. Barely anybody was going to be recognising him anyway. Steven was already trying to brainstorm codenames for them for when they needed to go by alternate identities.

Which was looking to be more often than Ash would have liked, to be fair. But he was more than tempted to follow Steven on his intuition here, something about having "important people" looking for them didn't make Ash feel exactly comfortable running around spouting off his legal name.

"...Satoshi. That could work, seeing as Daigo is just old Hoennese for Steven. Satoshi would, probably be, how it'd sound in old Hoennese." Steven suggested, moving to grab Ash's pokedex and slip a Pokenav in his hand. "We can sell it. You are from Hoenn, from Littleroot Town, and I'm from Rustboro, it could work. You moved to Kanto after living in Johto for a while.."

"..Still a lot of effort, are you sure people are even interested in finding us?" Ash laughed nervously.

Ring. Ring.

Steven didn't want to answer the phone call, but of course, he had to. "Yes? I am busy."

"...Noww, come on! Shouldn't you lighten up with a ring from an old pal?" The voice spoke. Ash stared at the phone like it was infested with demons. Steven did the same, to be fair, as he took a long breath. "Gold, cut to the chase."

"Tell us where you are. I'm going to nip the problem at the bud, get rid of the Mewtwo because otherwise you-know-whom will throw a fit, and-" Gold was cut off by Steven.

"No."

"What do you mean no?" Gold replied coolly. Ash looked at Steven with an expression that tiptoed on grateful. Steven hummed in thought at his reply, before straightening his sleeves and sighing. "I'm going to catch Mewtwo. You know that?"

"You are a steel trainer."

"I have a Squirtle now, but that's beside the point." Steven laughed. "I'm going to catch Mewtwo."

"You have a death wish." Gold deadpanned.

"Did I suggest otherwise?"

-

Steven took Ash around the ship, pointing out the buffets as they dipped in and out of the many restaurants the cruise had to offer as they tried different exotic food- Steven was sure to point out every Hoenn dish when he spotted any. He spotted the battling field, with different trainers facing off against each other. Ash wasn't keen to join in this time, though. A few forecasts had claimed bad weather, and the idea of his party being out cold in that situation just made him sick in a weird way.

...He couldn't get caught off guard again, even though he never remembered being in that situation anyway.

They stood on the top deck, their bags slung on their shoulders as they watched the ship sail along the beautiful, glittery sea, reflections of the sun shining back up. Clouds moved to cover the sun after a few moments, dark shadowy shapes covering the boat as people looked up. Chatter echoed across the deck as disappointed tourists slunk inside and back to their cabins.

-

The alarm blared on board the ship while people screamed from outside. Steven and Ash sat up from their distracted conversation about rubies and sapphires and their nature, although Ash admittedly was more acting as a wall for Steven to converse at. The door was thrown open as two Rocket Grunts, wearing full black uniforms raised their noses with confidence as they tossed two Pokeballs.

A Drowsee and Hypno appeared side by side as Ash stepped backwards, shock frozen on his face as he fumbled for Pyre’s pokeball, while Steven had already sent out Armaldo. The yellow Psychic types glowed with an eerie energy that set Ash on high alert (this happened the first time, but what was the first time?). The Pokemon scraped his claws along the floor as he slammed into the first Drowzee, breaking out of the lingering Psychic control from the Hypno and using X-Scissor on it, leaving it out cold. The grunts grit their teeth.

One lunged for Ash- aiming to tackle him to the floor, a switchblade in his left hand poorly concealed in his palm.

Pyre looked up. Momentarily, all Pyre could think about was how Ash waited by his bedside for hours, ran into a storm to pull him to safety, and how that - that human had the gall to attack him. The "shy" Charmander was not going to let this slide, he decided to himself. Pyre snarled and let steel coat his claws, slashing the grunt’s throat.

He looked away and reminded himself he needed to wash his hands later. His ears rang painfully loud in his ears as he heard footsteps and ruffling about.

Steven only had time to turn around as the cold, slippery red substance spilt from the man’s throat. The grunt beside him seemed genuinely shocked, his eyes wide with pure fear as he fumbled for his radio, desperately speaking into it. The grunt didn't even know what to say- the Charmander- the everything going on. Reality hit him that just because Lance was lenient, others would not be.

“Ex-executive, man down, man down, he’s dead- he’s- I watched-”

Armaldo punched a hole through the gut of the man with his claw with a devastating Crush Claw, as ordered by Steven behind him. A thud landed on the carpet as Ash still stared out the window. The storm battered the ship left and sideways as it rocked and groaned.

Steven was already dragging him out through the hallways, navigating through the ship. They made it out to the top of the deck again, rain wet and cold against his skin. People screamed and ran away as grunts swarmed the ship, helicopters circling the Anne like it was prey. The lifeboats were shredded apart as the cruel cold ocean waves washed against the side. Steven gripped his partner’s ball a little tighter. He threw up the other five Pokeballs. Ash threw his.

Armaldo barely turned to the other team, before a low growl escaped the Pokemon. “Already tried to off your trainer. Show no mercy.”

The grunts seemed to catch on that the trainers in the centre, surrounded by very protective Pokemon, were actually fighting back. Ash called for attacks, with Pinwheel on his shoulder zapping at the helicopters themselves on Metagross’s back, who had been Mega-Evolved by Steven. Ash saw the strain on the man’s face as the battle wore on. His Pokemon were slowly picked off as he had to dodge more and more direct attacks against himself.

"Watch out!" Steven whipped around as a grunt dived forward to try and take him out. Steven yanked Ash back by the collar, keeping the two practically side-by-side as Steven had finished rambling into his Pokenav uselessly.

One helicopter remained after all was said and done, and Nexum and Pikachu had floated down. People continued to try to get to the remaining lifeboats and figure out the mechanisms. A man spoke into the megaphone- Petrel.

“Now, trainers! Say goodbye to the S.S. Anne. Every ship is unsinkable until it sinks, after all.” He spoke, a snide smile audible. Ash watched as the blue orb floated forward, and a carefully directed beam of energy split the boat in two.

The horrible sound of shrieking metal filled Ash's ears as sparks filled the air and the two halves of the boat groaned and pulled away, slowly becoming swallowed by the ocean. A smoky, acrid smell filled the air and alarmed yells filled the air, distant sobs filled the space and young children cried. Ash couldn't do anything.

"Some Pokemon, please save as many as you can!" Ash futilely called to the sea. He couldn't tell if anybody heard his call, although a few faint responses from Gyarados and a travelling herd of Lapras did happen to echo his call.

He faced Steven, who matched the horrified expression that he did. A few stray shadow balls were aimed at people trying to escape. A few were floated up. The blue orb- the shadow within, turned to look at them.

“YOU SAID YOU WOULD NOT LET THEM ON THE ANNE.” The voice boomed, rage filling it as Steven returned his Pokemon- who were long since unconscious anyway. The ship creaked and continued to sink, while Ash clung uselessly to his unconscious Dragonair. The orb stared at them, then at its fingers. It looked at Steven, then to Ash, then shot a beam through the ship again. More screams. Blood seeped down the boarded deck and the cold waves sloshed against them. The Pokemon frowned before Steven and Ash felt the familiar experience of teleportation. A soft, “The strong deserve to live. You have proven yourselves, again.”

Petrel frantically returned Mewtwo, and the carnage on the boat ended as the stern was swallowed by the ocean.

Chapter 18: Interlude Two: Lance

Chapter Text

"You have 1 new voicemail from the following contact: Steven Stone. Would you like to listen to it?" Lance's phone chimed as he got back to his hotel room in Vermillion, where he, Will and finally Gold were now able to meet up. Gold was lounging on the sofa as he called for Lance to play it. Apparently, Gold had tried to ring Steven but got unnecessarily vague responses and the new discovery that he wanted to catch Mewtwo, which just sounded like a death wish.

Beep. "..Hello, can you hear me alright?" The tired voice of Steven asked on the phone. A wave-like noise crashed, and a scream and the cry of a Golbat followed. "..Ok, ok, I'm on the S.S. Anne. It's sinking, Team Rocket, or whatever.."

Crash. "And you know, some got on the lifeboats. I haven't."

"I'm probably going to be missing when you hear this. Oh well." Beep.

Lance dropped his phone and it clattered along the wood. Will was frozen in place, a hand held over his mouth in shock, while Gold had already gotten atop Togebo and was shaking off whatever they had just heard. Will had finally gotten his act together, bowed, and teleported off to presumably fetch backup.

-

Falkner and Clair tapped their feet impatiently as Lance and Gold glided to meet them. Surge was already giving flasks of warm tea and blankets to people- a few young mothers carrying their children. A herd of Lapras cooed softly while Will's Xatu interrogated them.

"These Lapras said a younger human boy with an incredibly injured Dragonair had called for them to help with the language of a Dragonair, quite frantically. They collected as many as they could, but ran before they saw whatever had attacked the boat." Will explained. Surge blinked before sitting up as some of his assistant gym leaders continued to help the people rescued.

"A kid and his Dratini challenged my gym. He won the badge when his Dratini evolved into a Dragonair. He had .. uh, black hair, zigzag birthmarks.." Surge began. Lance's stomach settled uncomfortably. That was probably Rosa's brother- the Dratini now Dragonair, that had been there. He released the pink serpent. Xatu turned, chirping a few times as his Dragonair flicked her tail in pure, untamed rage.

Clair looked at the Dragonair nervously as she shot off towards the sea. Lance reached out uselessly to the Dragonair as the blue light of evolution surrounded her, leaving a green speck to grow distant. She wrung her hands uncomfortably. "Lance, I think we need to follow her-"

"...Yeah, me too."

Lance tossed a Pokeball, which released his loyal Dragonite and slid onto his back. Clair released her Gyarados, and it lashed her tail in the water. Falkner hopped onto his Pidgeot and screeched while Gold adjusted how he held onto Togebo.

-

The wreckage was just as horrifying as every other part of the nightmare he had found become a reality, Lance decided. Clair was already helping people onto her Gyarados. Lance looked to where Rosa flapped impatiently, staring down at a blue scale bobbing in the water. Falkner had his birds picking up people they could find, but the far more common sight was congealed blood floating on the water's surface, scraps of sharp metal, and the bodies.

Black uniforms. The Red R, with a hole perfectly punched in the centre. Or red marks along the necks dug in slightly. Red poppy bruises along the temples, with blood spilling from them still slightly. People... just dead. Blue in the lips, asphyxiated. Claw marks raked across their chests. People burnt to a crisp, or with large bruises along the sides. The remains of razor leaves along the surface of the ocean.

Or the sight of stabbings. The switchblades in hearts, knives in the head, or gunshots. People blown apart by ghostly energy, innocent people, Lance noted. A massacre held by two sides.

He didn't need to guess who was responsible for the Skarmory feathers left behind.

"This isn't pretty," Gold muttered under his breath. Falkner squeaked and flew off with the survivors he had, and Clair had long since retreated. Will was pretty good at keeping face, but even he looked like he wanted to vomit. Lance couldn't blame him.

He looked at Rosa. She lifted the blue scale and stared into her trainer's eyes. She was swearing vengeance, and Lance knew no amount of taming would halt her path. She let the blue light surround her as a surviving Rocket grunt lifted his hand weakly. Somehow, he had survived everything and looked desperately into Will's masked eyes.

"..Save me, please. I'll tell you everything I know, just please, please, please Champion and Elite Four!" He mumbled. Lance called for his Dragonite to fly down, held out a hand and lifted the grunt onto the back of the Dragonite.

-

"What do you know about the operation," Lance asked the grunt, who had been secured to an interrogation chair. The young guy shrunk back and stammered.

"I- it was to test the capabilities of t-the Pokemon the boss got! W-we didn't expect much resistance and the e-exceutive said that brutal force was rarely taken, but we still carried w-weapons! We were ordered to k-kill important people.." The grunt explained. "All I know is my co-operators were headed to a room, and th-they said one of them had been killed and-"

Lance hummed in thought before stepping across the room, his coat flowing behind him. "Right. So the plan changed, I'm guessing-"

"M-my friends wanted to take as many down with them when they realised the-the guy was just getting rid of his no matter what.."

Lance didn't know what to do with the Rocket grunt in front of him. One one hand, he was incredibly guilty of a multitude of crimes he didn't know the name of.

On the other hand, this was info and an opportunity...

But Lance wasn't that kind of person, so he left the grunt along with the local Chief Officer Jenny of Vermillion City.

-

It would be the seventh time he replayed the message when he pressed the voice message again.

"Hello Wallace. When you're hearing this, news pages may be already be saying I'm dead. But I'm not, and I promise I'll see you soon. I thought I'd try send you this, because I know it'd tear me up if you thought I was gone. I'm alive, and I promise I'll keep in touch with you. I'm going to stay in Kanto for a longer time. And I know it's stressful to not know if I was okay or not, but I promise I will be. The S.S. Anne has sunk, but I am safe for certainty. I have a few injuries, but, they aren't as bad as some. I'm not proud of my choices, but I know Lance will be a justice nut about this anyway, so if I'm in jail, do come visit.

I wish our time wasn't so short, but hey, isn't that life? I really want to see you soon. Don't stop shining. I like to watch your contests with my friend."

Wallace stared at his phone, blinked away the blurriness and replayed the same voice message.

-

Chapter 19: A Fashion Disaster!

Chapter Text

"You alright?" Steven crouched over Ash, who was still blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes. A fuzzy cloth-like sensation filled his head as he blinked away the lights dancing in his eyesight. What had he been doing, exactly- to end up here? They were on a cruise... and?

"..Oh, I'm sorry, yeah, Satoshi, we're gonna go and tour this amusem*nt park. Don't worry too hard about it, alright?" Steven laughed reassuringly. Ash was reminded of the nicknames they had come up with to avoid being tracked down by those looking to hurt them.

Who they were, Ash was still sort of fuzzy on, but he didn't mind. He let Steven pull him up with his free hand, looking around the island where massive robotic Pokemon stomped about and people squealed excitedly on rollercoasters. A part of him wanted to try and figure out the full story, but Steven hadn't done anything to suggest breaking his trust yet, so he presumed it was fine.

Ash felt his stomach grumble rather childishly as Steven stifled a laugh and dragged him through the quiet amusem*nt park. A young lady, maybe in her mid-twenties, with long pink hair, spotted them. She waved them over, presenting what looked like a feast of food. She gave a friendly customer service-y smile while the two collected their food.

Steven paid for it. Ash couldn't quite place the reason why he knew Steven wasn't going to worry about money, but he didn't want to worry about that fact either. He could ask Steven later, figure it out with Mewtwo's help, whatever he needed. He sat a the picnic bench and silently chewed the food, gulping it down hungrily. When had he even eaten last? Clearly not in a while, without how he wolfed down the greasy fries and burgers reminiscent of cheap Unovan food.

"Don't forget to have some water, don't choke here-" Steven snorted, sliding a glass of cool water to his friend. Ash grabbed the glass and slurped it, sighing in relief as the sweet icy hydration filled him. He looked around the Pokemon amusem*nt park curiously.

Giant Venusaur and Charizard, and other incredibly realistic Pokemon trotted around the area. It made him almost uncomfortable. Realistic copies of Pokemon just reminded him of- .. of who? He couldn't remember, but he knew it made him sad.

"It is a bit weird, isn't it? Not my idea of a fun vacation." Steven chipped in, interrupting Ash's thoughts before they could spiral to anywhere meaningful. "My idea is spelunking deep in a cave, studying some gorgeous granite formations..."

Ash held back a snicker. "Delightful."

"I mean it! Don't you think it's so interesting how granite forms? Deep underground, from magma slowly cooling and forming gorgeous crystals, into an incredibly tough rock..." Steven rambled a little as Ash continued to eat, enjoying the accompanying geology lecture. Steven eventually breathed in and out and laughed. "I did ramble a bit.."

"It's fine, truly- it was interesting." Ash chuckled. And it really was, he wasn't lying in saying that. He hadn't ever taught about something as mundane as rocks, and it was a fresh change from everything.

What "everything" meant was a question for an Ash trying to not eat his body's weight in food.

-

"I see your point about his memory. What he doesn't know isn't hurting him, and he doesn't seek to remember it anyway.."

"He'll get it back quickly enough. I don't think my Pokemon did a great job out of empathy."

"That's fine. I understand, I understand this."

-

Steven and Ash had moved on from the Pokemon Land pretty quickly. They arrived in a beautiful little seaside town, Acapulco. They had found out they were on the island of Porta Vista, a fairly remote location near-ish to Vermillion in the way Pacifidlog was near to anywhere. It was almost nostalgic for Steven, the sun beating down on the beaches and the pristine white buildings lining the resort town reminding him of Slateport City in Hoenn. Ash seemed more in awe with the sand, fascinated by every shell they passed and looking and inspecting each colourful lifeform, rubbing his fingers along the grooves and scrapes that made each little one unique.

The sun was so warm. The sea swished and swashed in a familiar rhythm that made his entire body relax. It was peaceful, like a big hug from a fire type, or being with all his Pokemon, Steven decided. Undoubtedly, he knew Ash felt similarly.

They stopped by a little restaurant with rickety letters letting them know it was owned by some guy named Moe. The restaurant wasn't anything particularly special, but with the other option full to the brim with people eating there, choice wasn't available.

"Ah, hello sirs! How can I help you today?" Moe, presumably, greeted them as they sat a little awkwardly at the table. Steven looked left and right, before nodding his head in the direction of the other restaurant.

"Why is that one so busy? In a resort town like this, I'd guess you'd get more customers." Steven pointed out, rather bluntly. Moe shrank down a little as he pulled out a chair to chat with them.

"That restaurant there is owned by my rival, Brutella. She has a lot more money than me, and a lot more hired hands, and I just can't compete. I'm gonna go outta business at this rate, man.." Moe frowned, staring out at the sea. "I miss the sea."

Steven looked thoughtfully back at Ash, who smiled and nodded his head like it was the more obvious thing. "Why not take advantage of that? She's the big restaurant, but you could be the local fisher, the man, the- the..."

He knew the word in Pokemon speech. He couldn't think of it in English. Moe seemed to understand anyway and tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I could.. but I don't have the money anyway."

Ash looked back at Steven, considering what they could even do for Moe. Steven looked over at a wall, where a flyer was badly posted on the wall. A beauty contest. This could be an incredibly cursed plan, Steven decided, but sure. It would be far too suspicious, after all, if Steven just magically paid for his expenses. They could get away with it at places like a once-off meal in an amusem*nt park, but funding a restaurant was a different barrel of Magikarp.

Wallace might get a laugh out of it, and he needed a few more of those.

-

"Remind me again what the f*ck you are wearing?" Ash sweatdropped as Steven awkwardly looked at the botched safety pin job that barely held together the disaster against the fashion icon Wallace he was wearing. He seriously did not suit the outfit Wallace wore, but then again, he didn't think anybody but Wallace could pull off that entire situation.

He winced at how truly ridiculous he looked, but among the competition of "pretty girl number twelve" he did look pretty unique, and, while silly, he did wonder if that would give him an advantage. He idly ran a brush through his hair, and a part of him noted how the back of it graced the middle to the end of his neck now.

-

Ash tried to purge every last memory of the "beauty" contest and did not blame Steven's disgruntlement as they called "Daigo" the winner of the competition for the unique take on the Kantonian competition. It was still money though, and Ash had managed to get around to getting Gale to airdrop some flyers advertising Moe's restaurant on his behalf. They had reconvened at the restaurant, passed along the money and the business was finally picking up.

Ash didn't truly know how to think about it if he were to be honest with himself. He relayed this to Steven over a campfire, as it crackled softly in the woods they had decided to camp out in the night. As part of their "going off the radar, a little", they had both decided to limit how much they stuck around in cities or towns to as little as possible. It made it harder for people to find them, and easier for them to see more of Kanto in a shorter time.

"It's okay to not know how to feel about humans, Satoshi. You were brought up in this weird halfway world where Pokemon were right, humans were wrong." Steven assured him. His Aggron, Lazarus bopped his large metal head in agreement, lazing on the ground. Pinwheel was asleep against the large Pokemon while Kai cooed outwards towards the bay softly, singing happily.

Ash nodded, fiddling idly with the grass as Steven took a breath and dialled a number. It picked up after one ring, and the very excited sound of Wallace's voice filled the air.

"Steven, oh, it's so wonderful to hear from you!" Wallace exclaimed into the phone. Steven gave a short smile, wrapping a hand idly around one of the few gifts he had brought with him to Kanto from the fellow Hoenn Champion.

"I'm just here to say hello. I'm ok, and all, you know. I will say, I do look terrible in your outfit." Steven laughed softly as Wallace reciprocated that joy.

"Photos?"

"yeah, I'll send you the safety pin disaster." Steven rolled his eyes playfully. Ash leaned over to practically push Steven over, who was now propped up by a very amused Aggron, to call into the phone, "He won money with it to help some restaur-rant person."

Wallace fell silent, intrigued by the story. Steven grumbled and pushed Ash off of him and sat up straight again. "Yeah, we helped some guy out. Anywaaay, I have to go!"

Beep. Wallace was happy now. That mattered, that was all that mattered, beyond what was in his near vicinity. Ash was yawning now anyway and had curled up into his sleeping bag to fall beneath the inky expanse of the stars.

-

"No sign, huh?" Will muttered over the gathered Elite Four members at the Indigo Plateau. A few days had finally passed after the initial crisis- the chaos and madness of it all finally blowing over in a manner that gave the Johto and Kanto Elite Four a chance to take more than three bated breaths.

Lorelei was bookkeeping, as usual, as she tapped her pen on the desk. "I mean, if anybody was going to hear from Steven, it's going to be Wallace, right?"

She glanced down at her notes. That had been one of the first things they had tried, but all they got was "Wallace is busy right now. Please contact him later." off of Phoebe.

Wallace? Busy? Lorelei didn't buy it, seeing as how efficient the Hoenn Elite Four were sort of renowned for being. They even did their jobs (that was a lot for most Elite Four, she noted to herself), as much as possible anyway, which meant Wallace being super busy suddenly while still having time to show up in about two times more contests than normal being incredibly unlikely.

And it was a League call anyway, he was genuinely supposed to answer those.

"If you want my theory." Agatha chuckled to herself, in the titled way the old crane always did. "The Hoenn Elite Four are in on it. Loyal bastards, they are."

Gold groaned. "That's a bad comparison, Agatha. I think every single person in this room has dabbled in organised crime."

A few embarrassed expressions were exchanged.

-