Chapter 6: A World In Danger

Ash kicked out the grid and jumped down onto the floor. He had entered the room May was in before, as he checked out the mysterious stones on the shelves, glowing slightly in many different colours. Knowing that he has to continue downward, Ash was about to open the door when he suddenly heard metal bend inside the air-vent, as Ash peaked inside, hoping to see what it was. Suddenly he saw Pikachu´s silhouette in the dark.

- Pikachu, you're alright! How did you escape buddy? Nevermind, come on and follow me, we have to get to the lower levels to be able to destroy some kind power reactors in order to stop Giovanni and Team Rocket!

With a deafening screech, Pikachu charged forward and tackled Ash with such force that Ash flew right onto the shelves containing the stones. Ash barely recovered when Pikachu jumped right onto his chest and unleashed an unbelievably strong Thunderbolt. As Pikachu wouldn't let go of Ash, usually used to electric attacks, began to shriek in pain, as he begged Pikachu to stop or else he would get badly hurt.

- PIKACHU; STOP IT! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU?! IT'S ME, ASH! YOU HAVE TO STOP RIGHT NOW OR I'LL GET SERIOUSLY HURT! PLEASE LISTEN TO ME! STOP!

Enraged with fury and anger, Pikachu continued to unleash its deadly Thunderbolts onto Ash, now beginning to shake due to the massive damage he endured. Ash began to faint, as he tried to stay awake:

- Pikachu… stop….. I have to go… Giovanni…. Has planned something… something awful… and…. I have to stop him… before it's too late. Please help me… I need you… Pikachu….Misty…Unown…

Ash couldn't take it anymore, as he fainted and fell onto the floor. Pikachu grinned, as it went out to find Giovanni and reveal Ash's location. Suddenly the lights flickered, as the stones began to glow slightly.

Butch and Cassidy stood on a landing platform, as several large helicopters landed. Hundreds of grunts came out and headed straight for the battle down below, as scientists escorted Moltres, Articuno, and other legendary Pokemon into HQ for use of the Memory Retrieval Program. Suddenly Namba came out of a helicopter, as he then went towards Butch and Cassidy, holding something. He had Jirachi.

- Giovanni has waited a long time for this, now it's up to you two to make it happen. Jirachi is still sealed inside this rock. We need to use Max Taylor to summon forth Jirachi out, and then wait and see.

- Got it, me and Cassidy will make sure everything goes as planned. I'll take the Pokemon, while Cassidy goes and find the boy. We'll meet you in the lab afterwards and begin the process, Professor.

- Alright, but we have to be extremely cautious: Giovanni informed me just minutes ago that the gymleader girl had died, and with Ash Ketchum free somewhere in HQ… we really have to watch our back.

- Don't worry too much Professor, Giovanni has sent out someone special to deal with Ash Ketchum. As for the girl, what happened is unfortunate, but Giovanni has spared us punishment… for now.

- She's right, we did what we had to do back then, but something went wrong. We just want to go on and continue our duty and service toward Team Rocket. We'd do anything to make it right again.

- Yes, me and my crew of doctors did everything we could for the girl, but despite everything we still lost her…. It saddens me not only that we couldn't extract more memories from her, but also because she apparently was someone that Giovanni had a special interest in… he didn't mention much of it, and I didn't ask too much, only that she was very important and had something to do with the Unown…

Giovanni got a call, informing him that the reinforcements had arrived, and that the Legendary Pokemon are on route to the lab to get brainwashed. Giovanni was about to go when Delia stopped him.

- What happened back then? What suicide? Please Gio, stay and tell me, if something happened that triggered all this. Tell me, I need to know to be able to understand you. Please, stay here with me.

- As much as I want you to understand, I have other matters to attend to. But I promise, once everything is settled down a bit, I'll return here and tell you everything you want to know. Goodbye dear.

Giovanni then called for Max, as the door opened and Max came out. Delia went into the room to check on May, who was resting. Delia injected May with the syringe. May immediately reacted to it, as she began to shake violently as the content took effect on her. Delia, worried of what was happening to her, wanted to tell Giovanni, but he had already left with Max. Delia held May's hand, trying to comfort her.

May tried to say something, but she was in no condition to be able to talk. Delia, not knowing what to do, checked the room for anything that could help. She then noticed that a wall had a crack in it, as she reached in with her hand. She triggered a switch, as the wall opened up and revealed a monitor room. Delia entered the room, as she got shocked by what she saw on a monitor. She saw Ash, unconscious and hurt.

Ritchie tumbled down, as he recalled Sparky and gathered his Pokeballs onto his chest, minimizing the risk of crushing them when hitting the ground, and then closed his eyes, hoping for no pain. Suddenly he heard a familiar screech, as something flew right out of a nearby river right towards him. He fell onto it, and as Ritchie opened his eyes he couldn't believe what just had happened, what had saved him:

The Beast of the Sea, Lugia, had come to his aid. It quickly flew straight up and escorted Ritchie to his destination. Ritchie jumped off and thanked Lugia, as he then ran towards a nearby hangar room.

With Ritchie safe, Charizard focused on protecting Lance, as Dragonite fired off the Hyperbeam. Despite being a Legendary Pokemon, Zapdos took a direct hit and got severely weakened, but still didn't give up. Knowing that it can't fight both Dragonite and Charizard, Zapdos let out a screech and called out for backup. Articuno and Moltres appeared, as the Legendary birds charged towards them.

Charizard, knowing that Dragonite is needed more, took a direct hit from both Articuno and Zapdos, while Dragonite took a sever burn from Moltres. But the tide had turned in their favor: Help has come.

More police helicopters had arrived, with more men and Pokemon to keep Team Rocket at bay. A massive army of Pokemon clashed, as both side got many injuries and losses. Oak and his Dragonite tried to keep Jessie away from Brock and the police force as long as possible, as the Team Rocket grunts began to get pushed back all the way to the main gate. Jesse then called out for her secret weapon, as she gave the signal:

Some hangar doors opened, as some familiar Pokemon were seen. Oak was shocked, and told some of the police force to stand back. It was Ash's Pokemon, they had been brainwashed. They quickly went right into the police force, using their most fearsome and powerful attacks to put an end to the never-ending battle. Still keeping an eye out for James, Brock realized that everything just got worse.

The mysterious stones´s glow began to increase in intensity, as Ash still was unconscious. Suddenly the stones began to move, as they began to glow in all possible colors, as they moved towards Ash. They then entered his body, as Ash woke up in terrifying pain, as if someone had ripped out his organs. Ash shrieked, as he tried to endure the pain, but it intensified to more he came into contact with the stones. Despite his efforts to keep the stones away from him, Ash collapsed onto the floor and eventually fainted due to all the pain. Minutes passed by, as the whole room was emptied: All the stones had come in contact with him and entered his body. Suddenly the lights in the room flickered even more, as it then broke, as the emergency lights were activated inside the room. Ash was still on the floor, when suddenly his body began to slowly glow.

Butch and Cassidy, headed toward the lab with Max, when they suddenly encountered Pikachu, telling Max that Ash is nearby. Not letting the opportunity pass them by, all three of them rushed to the storage room. Namba then called them, telling them to hurry up and come to the lab when ready, as Jirachi still was cased in its shell. They then reached the storage room and entered the code to unlock the door. It didn't work.

Giovanni, sitting on his chair, watched the battle on the monitor, smirked as he saw the destructive force of all the legendary Pokemon and Ash's Pokemon. Suddenly the elevator doors opened. It was Pikachu.

- Well well… I finally get to meet you personally… I have heard a lot about you, and what you're capable off… soon you'll be put to the test and show me that your worthy to lead our Pokemon in battle.

Pikachu smirked, as the brainwash effectively had worked flawlessly. Pikachu looked up upon its new master, when it suddenly saw Persian. Just with a gaze, Pikachu effectively scared away Persian from Giovanni.

- Now there… I know that Namba has effectively succeeded with his Fury and Anger project… but you need to learn to obey as well… save your anger and fury for another time… my Persian is not your enemy.

Pikachu acknowledged, as it then stood next to his chair, standing guard and getting attention from its new master. Persian, not taking the risk, kept a distance from them, as it sobbed and layed down on the floor, watching as Giovanni treated Pikachu as his new, personal pet. An alarm was triggered, as Giovanni then left Persian alone, and took Pikachu with him and entered the elevator.

Delia saw on the monitor what had happened to Ash, as she had tried to find someway to talk to him. While she was looking for a way to communicate with him the monitor had flickered, and as she looked onto the monitor she couldn't see Ash anymore, he had vanished. She then looked for a first aid kit or something similar, as May, in her state of mind, began to hallucinate. Suddenly the elevator arrived, as the doors opened.

It was Ash. With a strange glow around him, he calmly stepped out of the elevator and went to May, as he put her hand on her chest. Her chest glowed intensively, as she calmed down and began to recover from her ordeal. May opened her eyes, and as she saw him she tried to say something, but before she could Ash walked towards the elevator and left them. May called out for Delia, who rushed to her aid immediately.

- May, I couldn't find anything useful to use nor a way to communicate with Gio. Hold on until someone comes here and helps you, don't leave us like this, I need your help to get out of here and help Ash!

- I'm alright…. I don't know what happened…. but someone was beside me… someone put a hand on me and somehow saved me. It's strange, but it feels like I knew who it was. Didn't you see?

- Someone was here? Who was it May? Try to remember, maybe that person will come back for us, maybe the police have managed to enter HQ and are scouting ahead, looking for Giovanni.

- I saw it, but it glowed so intense that I couldn't see who it was. But it feels like I know this person. I then heard a voice in my head, telling me something I didn't quite understand what it means…

Suddenly the elevator moved again, as Delia helped May up, ready to take a risk and flee into it and escape. The elevator got closer, and closer, as Delia continued to talk alongside May.

- What did your hear? Are you sure that you weren't hallucinating due to whatever content the syringe had, since you were in such a bad condition?

- ´´ When the sky burns, take shelter in your heart, and protect those you love´´. Maybe I'm just talking nonsense, but I have a bad feeling that something is about to happen…

The doors opened, and just as they tried to run into the elevator a mighty Thunderbolt hit May, enough to make her faint. She fell to the ground, as Delia looked into the elevator, horrified. Pikachu was in Giovanni's arms, as it thought that they were about to hurt him, so it protected its master. Giovanni let Pikachu go, as it kept an eye on May and Delia, as Delia picked her up and put her on the bed. Giovanni got closer.

-Apparently the lights in a storage room were destroyed, so I'm just giving you a quick visit and go to a nearby monitor room to see what the problem is. Step aside dear, Pikachu is still defensive.

- I saw Ash Gio! He was unconscious and badly hurt, and now he disappeared! Please, we have to find him before anything else happens to him. Please let me go, I beg you. You don't need me here.

- Oh my, don't worry darling. Pikachu just gave him an enough powerful Thunderbolt to make sure that he won't be in a state to run off again. Butch and Cassidy are already at the door, trying to open it.

He then checked May, as he noticed that she began to wake up. He told Pikachu stand down, as Pikachu followed orders and let its guard down. May woke up, as she then kept a distance from Giovanni.

-. You're a horrible man for doing this to me! Leave my brother alone, he's too young to be a part of this whole thing! And I almost died because of what syringe you gave Delia!

- Calm down, try to rest or you'll end up with a sedative. Your brother is fine, all I need from him is his cooperation and memory. As for the syringe, it is rare to get such a violent reaction, and I apologize for that.

- But why did you do this to Pikachu? It has never hurt you in any way Gio! And now Ash is somewhere out there, hurt and probably fighting for his life, out looking for us. You have to let me go find him!

- Simple dear: Once my plan unfolds, the whole world will use all possible resources and ways to stop me. So I need something to make sure that will never happen. Once I unleash Pikachu and demonstrate its unbelievable power, no one would dare to challenge me. And with Legendary Pokemon on my side, there is no chance that I can be stopped. And I do need you dear, because I still love you Delia, and I need you by my side because I want you to understand why I'm doing this, why everything that has happened since we meet hasn't been just coincidences, but more like a series of predestined events ever since it all began:

I'm not a bad man as the world claims me to be, I just have dreams and goals the rest of the world don't agree on. Shortly after my father's suicide my mother got into a severe depression, and after several years of being kept in an institution she was released after successful treatment. I took care of her business as well as Team Rocket, but it was when she returned home that I fully realized everything: My father was murdered Delia, his suicide was fabricated by the police, and was probably assassinated by the same man who killed my father. I'm sorry to say this Delia, but blood is unfortunately on my hands. I killed the murderer myself.

Lugia tried to separate the Legendary Birds from each other, attacking them one by one, as Charizard continued to protect Lance by battling Moltres, while Zapdos still battled Lance and his Dragonite. Articuno clashed with Lugia, as Brock had arrived at the entrance to HQ. He summoned forth Steelix and broke through the main gate, as the police went inside along with their Pokemon. Despite being powerful, Ash's Pokemon couldn't stop the police invasion nor hold them back any longer. Jesse ordered the grunts to pursue the police when she suddenly saw James: Disoriented, hurt and with amnesia, he went inside HQ in an effort to try find Jesse.

Brock saw Jesse go after James, but before he could stop her a large outcry was heard. Despite battling Moltres, Charizard had done a nasty trick and aimed his Fire Blast towards Articuno, as it got a direct hit and fell to the ground. Before Articuno could rise up, Lugia took the opportunity and used Aeroblast. Upon impact, the Aeroblast broke Articuno´s wings, as it crawled on the ground, in severe pain and a very weak state.

Ritchie was deep inside HQ, as he silently walked the empty corridors in search of Ash and May. Suddenly he saw Butch and Cassidy, alongside with Max, trying to open the door to the storage room.

- I don't get it Cassy, I've tried every password and run diagnostics several times, but the damn door won't open! Oh well, you go and take the boy to Namba, I'll see if I open it before the Ketchum kid wakes up.

- Alright, but just in case, if the kid is conscious, use Sableye and give him a good knockout with Shadowball. But this time make it a small one… we did a serious mistake, now we have to learn from it.

Cassidy left with Max, as Butch continued to work on opening the door. Butch then called forth Sableye and told it to use Shadowball. Just as the Shadowball hit the door and broke it apart, Ritchie called for Sparky and told it to unleash a Thunderbolt on Sableye and Butch. It got a direct hit, as Butch and Sableye were immobilized by the attack. Ritchie then entered the room, as he saw Ash on the floor. Sparky guarded the door.

- Oh my god Ash! Are you alright, talk to me! What happened in here, it looks like a very powerful electric blast has occurred. Come on, get up, we need your help, the police are inside HQ, they're here to help!

Ash woke up, as he tried to stand up, when suddenly he noticed that he had no injuries from his previous encounter with Pikachu. He had miraculously recovered, as Ritchie then helped him up.

- Ritchie, how did you get here? Nevermind, I have to go down to the lower levels and get to the engineering bay and destroy the reactors, Giovanni is about to do something awful…

Max and Cassidy entered the lab, as Dr Yung greeted them.. Namba had managed to get Jirachi out of its shell, but as soon as it got out Jirachi tried to return to it. Dr Yung then put wires onto Jirachi and Max aswell.

- Excellent. Now young man, that Jirachi is wired to the Synergy Energizer, I want you to go back and remember the day when you encountered Jirachi for the first time. But then try to imagine the event the Giovanni described to you: Your thoughts will be projected onto Jirachi, and only then will I be able to fully get into its mind. It will believe that it opens its true eye and try to gain energy from the comet, but in reality it will aim directly onto the Synergy Energizer. When all that energy is stored, I will focus and unleash it at the coordinates that Giovanni had derived after Namba had deciphered some Unown symbols far off in the Johto region.

- Great, do what you have to, I´ll go back to see what´s keeping Butch soo long, and we´ll join Jesse and keep the police away from the lab, atleast long enough for you to do your job. Max, it´s time. Do it.

Max focused, as Jirachi was tricked into believing what Max projected: Jirachi relived the day they meet, and as Butler´s machine ordered Jirachi to connect to the comet, the Synergy Energizer got hit and gathered all the energy Jirachi had stored inside its body. As Jirachi was drained of all the energy, Yung then went to a advanced computer and commenced the procedure, as the energy reactors at the engineering bay began to channel the energy back to the Synergy Energizer and then back again, increasing the energy amount 3 times each time. Yung stared in amazement, as a energy meter showed unbelievable amount of stored energy.

- Oh my… that´s right…. suck out every ounce of energy from Jirachi… and when we have enough… Giovanni will make sure that it comes to good use… this will make his long deprived dreams come true…

Giovanni continued to talk to Delia, when he suddenly was informed that it had begun. The police had broken through, despite Jesse leading the grunts in an effort to keep them away as long as possible. Giovanni then understood what he had to do. He quickly pushed aside Delia and grabbed May, as he told Pikachu to enter the elevator. Delia tried to stand up and stop him but it was too late: They had taken the elevator down.

Delia tried to recall the elevator, when she suddenly got an idea. She rushed to the monitor room, as she saw inside the elevator: Giovanni had taken May hostage, as she suddenly heard his voice in some speakers:

- I´m quite disappointed, I thought the police would be here sooner, soon enough to have a slight chance of stopping me. But it´s too late for them. Just in case, I´ll have her as a shield should I have a unexpected encounter with them. But don´t worry dear, I´ll send someone to get you shortly. I´m sorry I had to end our little moment so sudden, but I just got informed that this is it. It is time to put my plan in motion.

- Gio, stop! Leave her out of this, if anything happens to her I´ll never forgive you! Isn´t it enough that Misty suffered because of you, now you´re risking May´s life aswell! Please you have to let her go!

The screen suddenly shut down, as Giovanni remotely severed the connection. Delia checked for other ways to communicate and escape, but it was no use. Suddenly the elevator went back up. Delia was afraid.

The elevator doors opened, as Ash and Ritchie stepped out. Relieved that Ash was still alive and alright, she hugged him and cried, afraid that something had happened to him earlier. Ash then stepped back.

- Mom… everything that has happened… its all connected. Come on, we have to get out of here before someone finds us. Have you seen May or Max, or Giovanni? Where did he go, is he nearby?

- He just left. Ash… he has May, and was headed down with the elevator. Due to everything he has told me, I fear that something awful is about to happen Ash. You have to stop him before it gets any worse.

- I will. I promise, I may not have been able to save Misty… but I won´t let anything happen to May. Ritchie, take my Mom out of her and find Brock, and tell him to get to a lab or engineeting bay, that's were Giovanni will be. I may not have my Pokemon with me, but I´ll find a way to save May and stop him before it too late. Giovanni leaves me no choice: He has caused so much pain and suffering, and it´s up to me to finally end it.

- Ash don´t! Don´t harm him! Despite everything that's happened, and the man he has become… Ash, there´s something you should know... I have known Giovanni before… even before you were born. He lived in Pallet Town, and that's the first time I meet him. What I´m trying to say is… I loved him… and a part of him still does. Ash… I don´t know how to say this to you properly… but I have to tell you. He is your father…

Giovanni entered the lab, as May was pushed aside. Seeing Max wired up, May rushed to his aid, only to be knocked unconscious by Pikachu´s Thunderbolt. Giovanni then carried and strapped her onto a board.

- Here she is Dr Yung. Use her memories aswell, and create the most gruesome memory possible: Her fear, anger and sorrow, combined with Jirachi, will make sure we get every bit energy stored in the Pokemon.

Dr Yung nodded, as he started up the Memory Retrieval Program. May immediately was imagining horrible hallucinations, as Jirachi tapped into that energy. Butch and Cassidy then came to the lab.

- Sir, the police are nearby, we have to go before we get caught! Besides, the Kethcum kid is loose somewhere, and I´d rather no bump into him nor anyone else! We have to get going right now!

­- Calm down Butch. Relax, it is over… for them. In just a few seconds, I´ll show you what this is all about, why the world should not have interfered. My name, Giovanni Mortegio, will be remembered forever…