PokeWar, Vol. 1
The Lost Teacher

Chapter 1: Pilgrims from Johto

Maki Suma had finally caught her break. The usual methods had proven to be fruitless, and she had known they would. She could interview people 'til she was blue in the face, but all she ever got was a name, and not even a surname! Eventually she decided it might be helpful to hire one of those police sketch artists to draw him up— most of the footage captured over the years by onlookers got only glimpses of him; they were all too focused on the strange and mammoth Pokemon (and she couldn't blame them). Once it was completed, she took the photo back to almost every person she interviewed, to confirm if it matched their memories— and let us not forget, she pondered, that meant traveling across six regions of the globe, having already followed whispers and rumors, to track down those who had sighted him all over again.

And even that hadn't been enough, though she had realized that by the time she left Hoenn. What good would it do to bring a picture to all of them? What were they going to do with it? When she returned home to Johto, she knew that finding information about him was no longer enough. All the boss had asked for was a piece on the mysterious trainer who seemed to appear in the footage of almost every sighting of mythical and legendary Pokemon the world over. And despite the somewhat trivial nature of the piece, as Lead Investigatory Journalist for Kotobuki TV, Maki Suma planned to give it her best shot. She turned down the assignment at first. But when Takahashi gave her three seconds to choose between that and traffic duty, well… that wasn't really a choice, was it?

He didn't have a deadline for the piece; it was just another filler that they'd store away for a rainy day. So she was free to work at it at her leisure. Despite it being the better option of the two, she didn't really want to take it seriously. But as she began to go over the footage that the analysts had been able to compile, she became more and more invested. The Cinnabar Labs incident, the battle of the legendary birds at Orange Islands, the Crystal Tower at Greenfield, the sun scorching of Hoenn, the judgement of Michina, and let's not forget the shaking of the Brass Tower in her own Johto. To have tried to sort through all of it— some thirty or so incidents over the past thirty years alone— was nearly impossible.

And if his connection with nearly all of these events weren't enough to convince her, her interviews with the people who saw, met, and knew him were. Each of them said mostly the same thing: he was largely unimpressive, almost silly, at first. Then things got crazy and he stepped into the middle of it and… and somehow, the storms of catastrophe seemed to be quelled. "There was something… different about him," they'd say. Most of them agreed that it had something to do with the way he was with Pokemon. Sure, he was a trainer, but there was something… something more to it than that. Most people who met a legendary Pokemon either fled or collapsed in shock and awe. But not him, no… not him.

And so she had settled on the matter. It wouldn't be enough to simply do a puff piece on this mysterious figure. And neither would information satisfy the enigma surrounding him and the effect he had had on so many people and Pokemon. She needed to find him. And after nearly four months of searching she had nearly given up. Then Koizumi suggested taking the portrait to a forensic geneticist. He'd seen them on TV, he'd said; they could do those aging process predictor thingies (his words) to figure out what he might look like today. And that was an idea, she had decided. The last footage of him that had been captured was dated to nearly fifteen years ago. Guessing by his appearance at the time, he would have to have been about the age she was now, 25 or so. But it was so spotty, it was really hard to tell.

But, she took his advice and while the scientists eventually needed to see the footage for themselves (a pencil portrait was not enough, they said), they were able to produce a picture of what the man might look like today. That— combined with a little bribe she gave a friend who worked at the uten menkyo sentaa— helped her to get a full name. Oddly, while the name she had received from every one of the interviewees was the same, it wasn't the one attached to the ID that matched his portrait. Yamamoto Hisoka, registered to a little hamlet northeast of Cerulean City in Kanto.

So, she took Koizumi and Kobayashi and they boarded the first train for Kanto available. They would arrive in Cerulean, find the first inn or motel they could find, and immediately begin their investigation. The trip only took them half a day or so, arriving at 4PM Kanto Time. They unloaded their meager baggage (Suma didn't given them much time to prepare) and headed for the Cerulean Motel. Upon opening the door to the one-bed room, Kobayashi went in and collapsed on the bed face first. Koizumi slid into the armchair in the corner, running his hands through his hair and dry washing his face.

"No, no, no!" Suma protested. "We don't have time to rest!"

Kobayashi lifted his face from the bed. "Hey lady!" he cried, "We agreed to come with you on this ridiculous trip! We even agreed to sleep on the floor for however long we were here! At least give us a moment to rest."

Koizumi looked up from his hands, "I don't know how you convinced Takahashi to let you do this. He's pretty worried about you, you know."

"We all are," Kobayashi chimed in, putting his face back into the bed as he spoke. "Your obsession with this piece is getting out of hand."

"You guys just don't understand," she said, sitting down on the bed next to Kobayashi where his limp legs were hanging off the edge. "There's something… different about this guy. Do you have any idea how different the world might be if he hadn't…"

"Hadn't what?" Koizumi chided. "We don't even know what this guy did! For all we know, he was just some guy who happened to be around a series of major events. Like the kid in high school who wanted to be in all the yearbook photo's."

Suma glared at the frustrated boom operator, "You know that's not how it is. You saw what he did in all of that footage."

"Yeah, yeah," Koizumi sighed, putting his face back into his hands.

Kobayashi looked up at Suma, a newly formed question in his eye, "Maki, are you… are you even getting paid for this?"

Suma winced at the question. "Um…"

Kobayashi sat up at that, his agitation growing. "Maki," he demanded, "are we even getting paid for this?!"

Suma frowned. "I may be reckless, Mr. Kobayashi, but I'm not a scoundrel!" she retorted. "I wouldn't let you work for me for nothing. I will be writing your checks for this venture."

Koizumi looked up, concern on his face. "Maki, you can't afford that, you barely make more than we do."

"I know, I know," she said, waving off his concern sheepishly. "That's why we're staying in a one-bed room, and you're sleeping on the floor… and we'll only be eating twice a day," she mumbled the last. Kobayashi stared at her blankly, then fell abruptly back into the bed. She laughed, standing up and pulling at the dejected camera man. "Come on," she said. "It's time to get started."

"Ugh, fine," he groaned as he submitted to the small woman's whim. "You're lucky you're pretty, Maki Suma."

She pointed at him as she moved across the room to ready her things. "Watch it Kobayashi Hideki," she said. "I have a boyfriend, you know. And he's even a Pokemon Trainer!"

Kobayashi raised his hands in mock surrender. "Right, whatever you say."

Koizumi chuckled, and Suma stuck her tongue out at both of them before turning and heading for the door.

At their approach, the gyms bouncer raised his hand. "Woah woah," he said. "What's with the camera? And what do you want?"

He stood blocking their entrance, and the three gave each other nervous glances. Suma stepped forward, brushing her hair out of her eyes and attempting to turn her charm up to ten. "Hi there, fella. We're here to look for a Pokemon Trainer." She smiled as coyly as she could, which was probably not very much at all (her boyfriend told her she had flirted like a Psyduck when they first met).

The man gave her a weird look, confirming Ryuji's words. "Well, you're in the right place— this is the Cerulean Pokemon Gym, after all. But why the camera?" he asked again.

"Weeeelll," Suma said, not giving up on the charm, "we're looking for someone in particular. He's very important and we would like to interview him." She winked this time, going for broke.

The man gave her an uncomfortable look at that. "Lady, you're freakin' me out," he said, deflating her confidence. "Just tell me who you're looking for, and I'll bring 'em out."

Suma nodded, discarding the ruse at last. "His name is Yamamoto Hisoka. But I'm told he goes by a different name… Does the name Ash mean anything to you?"

The bouncer's eyes narrowed, and he spoke low. "Where did you hear that name, girl?" Suma took a step back, as the man suddenly took on an intimidating posture. He eyed them scrupulously, then seemed to decide something for himself. "Wait here." He turned around and went inside.

Kobayashi whistled. "Well, he seems nice."

"Maki, this guy doesn't seem too enthused with your inquiry," Koizumi said. "And I doubt whoever he's going in to get is going to be any more thrilled."

"Yeah, I about peed myself when he glared me down," Suma said, fanning herself.

Kobayashi made a face, "Well that's not very lady-like."

"Did you see his muscles tighten under his T-shirt?" Suma went on, ignoring his comment. "That guy got so tense he could've popped a blood vessel!"

Koizumi squinted at her, "Why do I get the feeling this excites you?"

Kobayashi chuckled, "Because it does."

The bouncer suddenly appeared from behind the double doors of the gym, an orange-haired woman behind him. "That's them, boss," the man said, pointing and returning to his post.

The woman approached, a stern look on her face. Once she was close enough, she stopped and studied them the way the bouncer had. Then she turned and with a wave over her shoulder bade them follow, "Come with me," she said.

The three looked at each other quizzically, but followed the woman around the east side of the gym to where a small house sat. The woman took some keys out of the pockets of the shorts she was wearing, unlocked the door and gestured for them to enter. It was a small place, a living room right at the front with a kitchenette off to the left. A small stairway led up to where the bedroom likely shared the little second story with the only bathroom in the house. A television sat against the wall to their right before a simple couch, and a table was before them, half in the living room and half in the kitchen.

They watched as the woman moved over to the kitchenette, grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass, then sat down and began to pour. After a moment she looked at them somewhat frustratedly, "Sit." Their nervousness broken by the sudden speech, they moved to the table and took their places— Suma nearest the woman, Kobayashi at the end of the table opposite the orange-haired woman, and Koizumi opposite Suma (to capture the sound). Kobayashi began to raise his camera when the woman held out her hand, a challenging look in her eye, "No cameras," she said. Kobayashi gave Suma a look, who nodded, and the man lowered his camera with a frown on his face.

Suma turned to the woman, a little notepad in hand, and began her interview. "Can I ask for your name?"

The woman glanced at the notepad, and with a flick of her head to brush the hair out of her face, she said, "Misty."

Suma wrote it down and then gave the woman a closer look. She was perhaps in her early 40's, and she seemed battle-tested, the wisdom of each match showing in her demeanor. Despite that, she was beautiful. Tall with a petite figure, rich orange hair tied in a tail on the left side of her head, deep blue eyes… "You know," Suma remarked, "I've never met a Kantonese woman with orange hair and blue eyes before."

Misty nodded, taking a pull of the wine. "My father was from Hoenn." She waved her hand, seeming impatient, "Look, can we just get to it already?"

Suma glanced at the other two, then nodded. "We came here looking for someone, someone who seems to be connected with most of the major Pokemon related events over the past three decades. We've been able to track his residence to this area, and we wondered if you'd seen or heard of him?"

Misty nodded and chuckled cynically, "Right. Mr. Yamamoto, wasn't it?"

"Well, yes," Suma agreed cautiously, "but I'm to understand he goes by a different name."

Misty stood up and crossed the room, staring out the window in the kitchenette at the mountains beyond. She took another sip of the wine, and spoke the name aloud fearfully, as if it might summon his ghost. "Ash…"

"Yes, Misty," Suma responded, her excitement mounting. "We've come here looking for Ash."

Misty turned at that and said, "Well I'm afraid you've come for nothing, then," she said. "Because, even if I was willing to tell you where he was, he wouldn't want to see you anyway."

"What?" Suma asked. "Why don't you want us to see him? And why wouldn't he—

"You think a man builds a cottage up in the mountains because he's interested in taking visitors?" Misty asked.

Suma nodded gingerly, "Ah, I see. And how long has he been up there?"

Misty sighed, returning to the table and placing the glass next to the bottle before her. "I don't know. It's got to be almost ten years, now."

Suma swallowed nervously as she prepared to ask the next question, "This seems to trouble you, Misty. Can… can I ask why?"

Misty looked up at that, studying Suma closely. "What do you want, girl?"

Suma sighed. "Please, address me with my name, Maki. You may even use my given name if you like— Suma."

Misty shook her head. "Alright. What do you want, Suma?"

Suma took a moment to consider the question before answering. "I want to… I don't know, I want to understand, I guess."

Misty seemed surprised by the answer. "Understand… what?"

Suma absentmindedly put down her notepad as she began to explain— her hands always moved as she spoke. "Look, I've spoken with nearly a hundred people across the world who have known, met, or even just seen this guy. I've puzzled through the core of thirty years' worth of major world incidents, surveyed the effects and changes upon the area and people around them, and all of it— all of it— seems to have ridden on this man's involvement. This man has probably saved the world a couple dozen times, and most certainly has changed people's lives in the process, so…" Suma's face contorted with the emotion she felt. "I want to understand… who he is. And why… why he's stopped."

Misty sat back, her hands over her mouth. "S-stopped what?" she asked.

Suma took a deep breath and blew it out shortly, and shrugged. "Stopped helping, I guess."

Misty closed her eyes, and seemed to fight back tears. Suma haphazardly rummaged through her purse for tissue and handed it to Misty, who took it with thanks and wiped her face a bit. Suma entreated her gently, "Look, I understand if you don't feel comfortable telling me where I can find him. I'm determined to do it, so with or without your help I will find him. But can you," she paused, "can you at least tell me something about him?"

Misty looked at Suma cautiously before answered, "His name is Ash Ketchum, and he was born in Pallet Town, southwest of here. I met him almost thirty years ago, just as he was beginning his journey across Kanto to become a Pokemon Trainer." She stopped and smiled, perhaps considering the next thought, "I was only thirteen… he was ten years old!"

"So I take it you traveled together?" Suma asked, lifting her notepad and resuming her transcription.

Misty nodded. "A group of us, we travelled across several regions for a couple years… I had to stop because I needed to take over this gym for my sisters."

"Were you a part of any of the incidents I mentioned?" Suma asked.

Misty gave Suma a pained look. "Suma, I don't think you really understand what you're talking about. But yes… I was there."

Suma felt her eyebrows jump. "What do you mean?"

Misty took another sip of the wine before her. "The news stations, Kotobuki TV," she pointed at the armband on Suma's right arm, "you guys called them… The 'Cinnabar Labs incident', or the 'Hoenn Draught incident'… but you don't really understand what happened at all."

Suma leaned in at that. "Well, could you help me to understand?"

Misty shook her head. "Everyone agreed that some things were better left out of the news… If people really realized how great these Pokemon's influence over the world was, they'd go nuts."

Suma nodded. "Well, thats neither here nor there, I suppose. What I'm interested in is the man who seemed to solve all of these problems."

Misty laughed. "Ash didn't do all that. I mean, yeah, without him things would have turned out horribly, but…" Misty shook her head. "He's such a klutz, stumbling into trouble and stumbling out of it. He gets so tripped up that the world trips out of it with him."

"I don't understand…" Suma said.

Misty nodded. "He was just being himself," she said with a smile. "Not that he didn't do great things or fight hard to see things go well, but… he was just being who he was."

Suma sat back. "You really care for him, don't you?"

Misty nodded, her eyes becoming distant. "He was… my best friend."

"Was?" Suma asked.

Misty's reverie was broken and she looked back at the reporter. "I haven't seen or spoken to him in nearly ten years."

Suma was surprised to hear this. "What? But doesn't he live just a stone's throw away from you?"

"Like I said," Misty answered, "He isn't really interested in taking visitors. I go up there to drop off supplies for him— some foodstuffs, general household needs, but I don't ever see him."

"So he just lives up there alone?" Suma asked.

Misty shook her head. "No, his wife lives with him."

"Why is he up there, Misty?" Suma asked.

Misty looked away. "Something happened… he lost someone and,... and something innocent in him died. He went up there to mourn them, and it… and then never came down."

Kobayashi spoke up, "I'm surprised his wife would consent to living like a hermit."

Misty shook her head, looking at the man. "She knew him before it happened… loved him before that piece of him was lost. I think she stayed with him because… because no matter how broken the man is, it's still him. She's one of the few who could look past that bitterness and still see his heart."

"Could you?" Suma asked.

Misty nodded. "I mean, I knew him almost as long as she did, but… even those of us closest to him couldn't reach him anymore. No matter how hard we chased, we couldn't catch up. It's hard to outrun a man when he's running from himself."

"I see," Suma said, pausing in her writing.

Koizumi cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt, Maki," he said. "But are we going to get any of this on camera? We did come an awfully long way…"

Suma looked at Kobayashi, who was watching her carefully. After a moment, Suma shook her head. "No, I… I don't think that would be kind." She stood, Kobayashi and Koizumi standing after her. To Misty, she said, "I thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Meeting you only confirms what I had imagined about him— he deeply affects the world around him. I really do believe that people need to know about him, need to consider just what it is that makes him who he is. We need more people like him, Misty."

Misty stood slowly, and after a moment looked Suma in the eye. "I'll take you to see him."

Both Kobayashi and Koizumi became excited, and Suma gestured for them to settle down. She looked back at Misty, "Are you sure?"

Misty nodded. "You're not the only person who has come here looking for him. Most people come because they want to know how to meet legendary Pokemon, so they can capture them. But that's not how Ash did things… never once did he attempt to master any one of them, he respected them too much. But you… you might actually get him to…" Misty stopped and started looking about the room, as if she just remembered something.

Suma started looking around too, "What is it?"

"My phone," Misty said, moving about. "We'll need to warn Ami."

"Ami?" Kobayashi asked.

Misty nodded as she found the phone an began dialing. "His wife." She stood there for a few moments while it rang. When the person at the other end picked up, the muffled voice wasn't clear enough to make out what was being said. "Ami? It's me… yeah I know, I haven't called in a while. Look, I need to come up to the cottage. …Well, there are some people here, a woman from Kotobuki— Ami, Ami, calm down… she's not going to do that. …I know because I've just spent half hour or so talking with her. …Yes I trust her. I think…" she paused, considering her words, "…I think she can help him. …I know, I know, but I wouldn't even consider it if I didn't really believe it— you know that. …I really do, Ami. She's not like the rest. She's… different."

She paused, and the voice on the other end was silent as well. They waited for what felt like minutes, and then Misty breathed a silent sigh of relief. "Ok, then we'll be on our way up right away. …I will— and Ami? Please don't shoot, ok? …" After a moment she hung up and put the phone down. She went over to the closet and pulled out a red backpack, dusting it off. She unzipped it, peeked in for a moment, then closed it and slung it over her back.

She turned to face the group. "You'll want to wear those equipment bags over your shoulders, boys, we've got a long walk ahead of us."

"What do you mean?" Suma asked.

"Well, he does live up in the mountains, after all," Misty said. "We've got a little bit of a hike ahead of us."

Suma nodded. "Ah, ok," she said. She looked at the other two with a grin and snapped her fingers. "You heard her— Kobayashi, Koizumi, suit up!"

Kobayashi raised a finger inquiringly looking to Misty, and asked, "Ah, what was that last bit about shooting?"

Misty pursed her lips as if she were thinking about it, then shrugged and made for the door. Kobayashi and Koizumi both shared nervous glances.