"This is it, buddy. We are almost home."
Exhaustion evident in his voice, Ash Ketchum struggled to continue forward and not take a break from walking. His feet ached, the muscles in his legs screamed with each step, and he had not eaten in what felt like days. It had been a long day of traveling for Ash, as Viridian Forest had proved to be peskier than he had remembered, and with a wild Pokémon jumping out in what seemed like every five minutes, Pikachu was not in any better shape than Ash. It had been a couple hours since he had found the exit for the forest, and he laughed inwardly as he remember how many weird looks he had received when he started jumping for joy when he had reached Viridian City. Currently, Ash was on the final stretch of Route 1, and even though he could not see past the surrounding trees, he could practically taste how close he was to home.
Finally breaking free of the seemingly infinite line of trees, Ash and Pikachu found themselves on top of the hill that overlooked Pallet Town. Each took a moment to soak in the view; the sun was slowly retreating behind the horizon of the town, and each of the sun's rays streaked across the sky, painting it with different shades of red and orange that mixed with the sky's natural blue. A few stray clouds danced their way through the rays, their dark shadows complimenting the deep beauty of the sunset.
"You know Pikachu," Ash started. "I have seen this sunset a thousand times, and I could see it a thousand times more, and I would never tire of it."
"Pika," Pikachu said as he nodded in agreement.
Taking only a couple more seconds to look at the horizon, Ash looked at Pikachu and said, "As beautiful as this is, I'm sure mom will have dinner soon, so we should get going."
As the duo made their way down the hill and through the out skirts of Pallet Town, Ash noticed the changes that had occurred while he was gone. A couple new stores had been built, including a Pokémon Center and a PokéMart. With Professor Oak approaching retirement and Gary Oak's decision to move the lab to another location in Kanto, and with the growth that Pallet was experiencing, the town decided that it was time to build their own Pokémon facilities. But other than a few new houses that had popped up across the town, Ash could not see any other major changes since the last time he had been in Pallet.
'This town is really starting to grow,' Ash thought to himself. 'I definitely could see myself starting a family here in a couple years. Now there's something that I never thought I'd say.'
Ash chuckled as he thought of his younger self, and how opposed he had once been to the thought of getting married. Heck, when he first started out on his journey, Ash thought he would be traveling across different regions and catching Pokémon for as long as he lived.
'It really is funny how much one can change in the matter of a few years. How long has it been anyway?...'
Quickly doing the math, Ash figured that it had been eleven years. Eleven whole years. It was hard to believe that it had already been so long since Ash had first started out on his journey. So many adventures, so many battles won, so many lost, so many friends had been made in that eleven year span. He thought of all his achievements, all of his failures, and everything in between. But before Ash could dive further into his reminiscent thoughts, a light shock coursed through his body. Snapping from his stupor, Ash realized that he had just been standing in front of the white picket fence that surrounded the front of his house, and that Pikachu was tired of waiting for Ash to snap out of his day dream.
"Sorry Pikachu, I guess I got carried away in my thoughts," Ash apologetically said to his furry companion.
Pikachu flashed Ash a look of understanding, but a rumbling stomach reminded Pikachu that Ash was keeping him from enjoying a nice hot plate of Ash's mom's home cooking. Pikachu jumped down from his perch atop of Ash's shoulders and made a dash for the door. Almost in response, the door opened just as Pikachu reached the doorstep, and without a moment of hesitation, Pikachu leapt inside. After Pikachu disappeared into the house, a woman, shorter in stature than Ash, but who had a face with strikingly similar features than him, stood out from behind the door. While she was in the process of aging into the second half of her life, at the age of 40, Delia Ketchum still looked almost as young as she did the day that Ash had first left to be a Pokémon trainer.
"And here I was getting worried that coming home had broken my son," Delia said in a loving, yet mocking voice.
Confusion ran through Ash, before he realized that his mother had probably been watching out for Ash's arrival, so she had also probably seen him daze off into his daydream. With a sheepish grin, Ash walked up to his mother and embraced her in a hug.
"Happy to see you too, mom," Ash replied in the best sarcastically sincere tone he could muster. The sarcasm earned him a slight whack on the back of his head, but the sincerity had also earned him an additional squeeze from his mom. Pulling back, but still holding her son by the arms, Delia looked over her son. Ash had managed to grow another inch during his last adventure, putting him almost a full foot taller than she was. His figure had also changed during the trip, as she could feel that firm muscles had replaced most of the soft baby fat that had previously surrounded his frame. The thing that struck her the most though was his face; the baby fat had not only left his frame, it also had left his face. This Ash was certainly different than the one that had left for Sinnoh in what only seemed like a couple days ago. But then she saw Ash's eyes, those deep, auburn colored eyes that still held the same fire, spirit, and free will that Delia had instilled in him as a young child. She smiled inwardly, Ash may have physically changed, and matured mentally, but he would always be her baby.
"My have you grown so much in the past year," Delia complimented, as Ash bashfully looked away.
"Mom," Ash dragged out as his ears reddened in embarrassment. "I haven't changed that much…"
"I'm not saying it as a bad thing, Ash. I am curious though, what happened over your journey that caused these changes? Oh and how are Brock and May doing, did they make it home safely? Did you make any new friends? How about..?"
Before Delia could get carried away, Ash turned his mom around and pushed her in the house.
"Mom, I'll tell you everything about my journey," Ash started. "But first, I'm going to pass out if I don't sit down and eat something.
As she was being pushed inside the house, Delia's demeanor changed to anger, as she yelled, "Is that the only thing I am good for, Ash Ketchum, a hot meal and a place to stay?!"
Ash released a hefty sigh; something's would never change.
Once inside, and out of the way of his mother's wrath, Ash made his way to the living room. In there, he found a surprise, as Pikachu was curled up in the lap of none other than Professor Oak. The Professor fed Pikachu a small treat, getting a happy squeal in response, and looked up to see Ash standing in the walk way.
"Ah, Ash, I had heard you would be home soon, it's great to see you boy," Professor Oak said with a warm smile. Little had changed with Oak since the last time Ash had seen him, the only thing that stood out was that the Professor had apparently ditched his usual lab attire for a more casual look, something that Ash had only seen Oak do on a couple occasions: when he was out on vacation, or when he was not busy with lab work at home, and the professor certainly was not on vacation. Ash's mouth fell open as the realization dawned on him, something that Oak could not help but chuckle at.
"Yes, Ash, I am currently in the process of moving in. You see, your mom and I have known each other for a long time, and you're always gone for such long periods of time, so when she was feeling lonely she would…"
"No!" Ash quickly interrupted, not wanting to risk hearing something that would scar him for the rest of his life. "I understand, you don't have to explain any further! And trust me, I saw this coming, I am more than okay with it!"
Oak was struggling to contain his laughter, as he had purposely stepped over the comfort line to mess with Ash. At the age of 50, Oak had still managed to keep his sense of humor in check. Ash plumped down into one of the empty chairs in the room, sinking deep into it as the aches and pains of traveling slowly started to melt away. The enchanting aroma of dinner gently tickled Ash's nostrils, as Delia carried in a tray with three plates of food into the room. Various meats, cheeses, and crackers lined each plate, and as Delia placed a plate in front of the Professor, laid a plate out for herself, and finally gave Ash a plate, Ash's mouth watered. Only his mother could find a way to make something so simple look and smell so enticing. Ash noticed his plate had a noticeable extra portion on off to the side, and quickly realizing it was for Pikachu, called his furry companion to eat with him.
When everyone was settled and had begun to eat, Ash started to recount his latest adventure to Professor Oak and his mother. Ash had decided to travel Sinnoh for a second time, as he had already been through the other regions a couple of times. Brock and May had accompanied him; Brock had wanted to travel through Sinnoh again, and May had never had the chance to experience the contests in the Sinnoh region outside of the Wallace Cup, so Ash asked them both to travel with him. In little time, Ash obtained the required eight badges, May acquired five ribbons, and Brock even had earned a spot in a Breeders competition. Brock had placed well in the competition, taking home the fifth place trophy out of the hundreds of breeders that had competed. May took place in the Sinnoh Grand Festival, never losing a single battle as she earned the Ribbon Cup and the title of Top Coordinator. Ash had experienced similar success in the Lily of the Valley Conference, capturing his first league title as he rose to the top of the competition. Overall, it had been a very successful and exciting adventure for Ash and his friends.
Finished with his story, Ash then listened to his mother and Oak talk about what had transpired while Ash had been gone. Delia talked about the new additions in Pallet that Ash had noticed on his way into town, small gossip that she had heard, and the rumor that someone of importance was moving into one of the new houses in Pallet. Professor Oak then talked about how he was almost ready to completely enter retirement from being a full time researcher, and that Gary would soon be taking full responsibility of being Kanto's top Pokémon professor. Gary was currently building a lab on the outskirts of Saffron City, something Ash made a mental note of, so he would remember to visit his old rival if he happened to be in the area.
"I think that everyone will soon have to start calling me by my first name, so they don't confuse me with my grandson!" The Professor had joked.
With the plates now being empty except for stray crumbs, and with no more stories left to be shared, Ash, Professor Oak, and Delia decided that it would be a good time to turn in for the night, and with Pikachu already passed out on Ash's lap, the decision was unanimous. Carefully, as to not wake Pikachu, Ash rose out of his seat, and started to make his way towards the stairs when Professor Oak spoke up.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten. Ash, we received a letter about a week ago that Cynthia would be coming to Pallet, and that she would like to meet with you."
Ash was a tad stunned, why would the Champion of Sinnoh want to meet with him? Plus, she had been at all the Lily of the Valley victory parties that he had attended, what did she have to say that she could not have said then?
Noticing the confusion on Ash's face, Professor Oak continued speaking, "The letter said nothing about a reason Ash, so we are just as much in the dark about this as you are."
'Surely Cynthia would not travel all the way from Sinnoh to meet with me if it wasn't important,' Ash thought to himself.
Taking and releasing a deep breath, Ash asked, "So where and when is this meeting?"
Professor Oak quickly responded, "Well, the meeting is supposed to take place at one of the newly finished houses just down the street from here. As for when, the meeting is tomorrow at noon."
Ash groaned, as he had hoped that he would at least have a day to himself to recover from his journey. Regardless, it was not a common practice to blow off a region's Champion, so he knew that he had no choice and that he had to show up to the meeting. Wishing Professor Oak and his mother a good night, Ash quickly retired to his bedroom, placed Pikachu at the foot of his bed, and quickly changed into his nightwear. Ash could tell that tomorrow was going to be a big day, and that he was going to need all the sleep that he could get.
That same night, deep in the core of Mount Coronet, a secret meeting was about to take place. There was a room, which only a select few knew existed, that currently had four shady characters in it. These characters sat in a semi-circle around a large, circular table, with an empty chair located on the opposite side of the table. Silence occupied the room, which none of the four persons appeared to want to evict, except when one decided to take a good look at the other three in the room and noticed a familiar face.
"Archie, is that you? What the hell are you doing here?"
A man, dressed in black with a blue bandana covering his hair, looked up to face the voice. A wide grin spread across his face as he recognized who the voice belonged to.
"If it isn't my old pal Maxie-pad, tell me, how did someone as pathetic as you get invited to this meeting?"
Maxie growled at Archie's pet name for him, and his anger started to boil over as he replied, "I don't know, how did it feel being Kyogre's bitch all those years ago?"
Now Archie's anger was rising uncontrollably, but before it could spill over, a new voice spoke up.
"Could you two please stop your senseless squabbling? Everyone knows that Team Aqua and Team Magma are nothing more than a gathering of complete and utter failures." The voice belonged to a man with brown, neatly cropped hair, and a pair of piercing, black eyes that were currently glaring down upon the bickering duo.
"Oh please, Giovanni," the fourth person said. "Team Rocket has been anything but relevant for the past several years." The slight came from a woman with bright silver hair, and her thin lips were currently wrapped in a cruel smirk. Though short, the insult struck a chord deep inside of Giovanni, but instead of allowing to be consumed by anger, he realized that it would not be smart to further escalate the situation by firing a comeback at Pokémon Hunter J. Unfortunately, Archie did not recognize the infamous Pokémon hunter, and decided to let his arrogance flow.
"A woman?" Archie disdainfully asked. "What kind of nut job thinks that a woman would be able to be of an use to…"
A loud crash interrupted Archie, as in the blink of an eye, J had jumped out her seat, grabbed Archie by the throat and slammed him up against the wall. Terror filled Archie's eyes, realizing too late that his big mouth had scorned the wrong woman. J raised her free hand, and prepared to inflict further pain as she swung it directly towards Archie's face before a hand suddenly and swiftly reached out and grabbed J by the wrist.
"Enough, I will not tolerate this insubordination."
His voice void of any emotion, a fifth person had silently entered the room unbeknownst to any of the other occupants. He released J's wrist and calmly walked to the opposite side of the room, taking a seat in the chair that had been unoccupied all night. J and Archie quietly slipped back into their seats, as they did not want to provoke another response from Cyrus. Judging that he had the group's attention, he started talking.
"Now, I have called each of you here tonight to propose a joint operation between our respective groups. The end goal is not important at this time; there are several phases to my plan that need to be achieved before we can focus on my end game, but in order to get to the point, I need the cooperation of each of your organizations. I know that you four have been keeping a low profile, as I also have been, but I ask that we no longer hide in the shadows. Individually, we are weak, but together, together we can achieve whatever we desire, conquer any obstacle, break the will of all our adversaries."
Letting his last words hang in the air, Cyrus let the full effect of his message sink in. Giovanni and J were each nodding their heads in agreement, which came to no surprise to Cyrus, both were incredibly power hungry. Glancing over at Archie, Cyrus could tell that the leader of Team Aqua would also support his cause, more out of fear than anything else. That just left Maxie, whose mind was full of doubt.
Raising his voice, Maxie asked, "But what happens if we fail? I just recently got Team Magma back to full strength; I'd rather not lose that for an unknown end game."
A corner of Cyrus' mouth lifted, as a rare, but menacing grin surfaced on his normally inexpressive face.
"I do not wish to delve into the specifics of my end game. However, I guess leaving you in the dark won't gain your trust."
Raising his right hand in a fist high above his head, Cyrus looked straight into Archie's eyes, and without so much as blinking, he slammed his fist down, shattering the portion of table beneath it. Madness coursing through every word, Cyrus screamed, "I will end the suffering of the inhabitants of this pathetic world, and cleanse the world of all conflict. The only way to do this is through the complete obliteration of those that wish to promote free spirit, as that is what leads to the strife in this world. And through the ashes, a new world order will be born, and with you four to help maintain order, I will become a god!"
Well, that's chapter one, I really hope you that you have enjoyed reading it. If you liked it, hated it, or are somewhere in between, please please pleaseee submit a review, I really want to improve on my writing and ideas! Anyway, thank you for reading! ~SatoshiUnlimited
