A/N: After much deliberation, I decided to do yet ANOTHER redo of my story, this time as a purely Pokemon story. The crossover is not ending, however, and will be updated at the same time as the true story. Please be patient for both (as I now have a 17 hour college work load to keep up with) and I will do what I can when I can!
By the way, here's all the dates and ages again, just in case.
Current Date (in story): Wednesday, January 19, 2007
Ash Ketchum: May 22, 1992 (age 14, going on 15)
Brock Harrison: June 16, 1987 (age 19, going on 20)
Dawn Didier: June 20, 1993 (age 13, going on 14)
James Morgan: March 17, 1983 (age 23, going on 24)
Jessie Matthews: April 8, 1986 (age 20, going on 21)
OCs:
Francis Xavyer: March 25, 1987 (age 19, going on 20)
Aaron Rune: July 21, 1990 (age 16, going on 17)
Temari Uzaku: February 28, 1990 (age 16, going on 17)
Pokémon (C) 1995-2015 Pokémon, Nintendo, GAME FREAK, Creatures
I, the author, make no money from this story! I make no money from my OCs either! Please support the official release and PLEASE ENJOY THE STORY!
Pokémon Platinum: The Prodigal Rocket
Chapter 1: The Brothers of Hoenn! Enter Francis and Aaron !
(-o-) Ash (-o-)
A lot had happened this past month, and I knew that it would change us all in some way. First off, following the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition, Paul put himself higher up on the jerk scale when he gave up on his Chimchar and abandoned him in front of us. Of course, I took him in, and, after some initial drama, he's been able to adjust to our happy lifestyle over Paul's abusive training style. Secondly, at the advice of Zoey, Dawn and I traded our Aipom and Buizel so that Aipom could perform in Contests like she wanted to and that Buizel could battle in Gym Battles like he wanted to. It looked like we were both following what our Pokémon needed instead of what we wanted, which was important for any good Pokémon Trainer.
As we were walking down the road, within mere meters of Solaceon Town, I couldn't help but think that something was missing.
"Hey, guys," I said, stopping suddenly, "doesn't something feel… off to you today?"
"Hmm…" Dawn said, putting a finger to her chin in thought. "I don't feel any different. What made you think that all of a sudden?"
"I think I feel something," Brock nodded, thinking aloud. "What do you think is wrong, Ash?"
"It's like something's supposed to happen right now," I said. "It's almost like a formula or old nerves acting up or something like that."
"Pikapi, Pika Pika Pipikachu Pi! (Ash, we haven't ran into Team Rocket in a month!)" Pikachu said.
"You're right!" I said, snapping my fingers. "We haven't seen head or tail of Team Rocket or any of their Pokémon in a whole month!"
"I noticed that as well," Brock nodded.
"Maybe they finally took a hint and got lost," Dawn shrugged. "Or maybe they all got arrested, serves them right!" Piplup chirped in approval.
"Hey, hold on!" I said, stopping her rant. "Let's not jump to rash conclusions!"
"But if they did, that's a good thing, right?" Dawn asked, puzzled. "They are the bad guys, aren't they?"
"Well," I said, unsure, "after seeing James give up Cacnea, I saw him look… conflicted."
"But why should we care about someone who's clearly trying to steal other people's Pokémon?" Dawn asked, still confused. "Bad guys are all the same, am I right? Once a crook, always a crook!"
"I'm not too sure about that," Brock said, folding his arms. "They may be bad guys, but they're pretty incompetent bad guys. Plus they've helped us out more than once and vice versa."
Just then, Dawn pointed out in front of us. "Hey, look! It's Solaceon Town!"
I turned from my thoughts for a moment and saw the town laid out ahead.
"Awesome!" I cheered. "Let's get to the Pokémon Center and have a great big lunch!" With that, I dashed off, with the others behind me.
"Hey, hold up Ash!" Dawn called out. "Wait for us!"
(-o-)
By the time we got to the Pokémon Center, Brock (after yet another his usual failed attempts to swoon Nurse Joy) was already whipping up a nice batch of Pokémon food for all of our Pokémon. I noticed that Chimchar seemed to enjoy it most of all.
"Looks like you've outdone yourself again, Brocko," I grinned.
"Well, that's nice to hear," Brock blushed.
Suddenly, another Chimchar came up to us from out of nowhere, startling us.
"Whose Chimchar is that?" Dawn asked.
"I don't know," I shook my head.
Pikachu, Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup went up to the new Chimchar to say hello, but before any of us could react, the new Chimchar stole some of my Chimchar's food, along with food form everyone else, and dashed like crazy across the hall, with a trio of angry Pokémon in pursuit. Chimchar, though he was the main victim, did not join the others but simply hung his head in sorrow.
That sight alone was enough for me. "Hey, get back here!" I barked, and ran after it.
"Hey, stop that Chimchar!" someone called out.
I turned around and saw two blonde-haired boys around Brock's age, one clearly older than the other, run after the Chimchar we were chasing after. The older boy had a lanky build with neatly combed-back dark brown hair and thin-framed glasses covering his dark brown eyes, while the other was a shorter and huskier curly-haired blonde with sapphire eyes and a bit of peach fuzz growing on his face.
"I got him!" the shorter one said, and called out a Gardevoir, which held its arms out and stopped the thieving Chimchar with its psychic powers. "Good work, Masami," the boy said, and Gardevoir nodded, smiling, and let the older boy take Chimchar into his arms.
"I told you, Kai," he said, very sternly, "don't take food from other Pokémon! We've got plenty! If you're still hungry, just say something! Whatever you do, don't steal! Now apologize to those Pokémon!"
The Chimchar, who I assumed was named Kai, dipped his head and chattered an apology to the four of our Pokémon, who (with the minor exception of Piplup) forgave him. The boy that I assumed was this Chimchar's Trainer then turned to us.
"I'm so sorry about Kai," he said, bowing reverently. "He's a bit of a handful. I just got him from Professor Rowan about two weeks ago, just after Aaron over there and I arrived here in Sinnoh."
"Hey, it's okay," I said. "No one was hurt, that's the important thing. You know, that's a cool Chimchar you got. He looks pretty strong!"
"He is," the boy nodded, "but he also has a thing for mischief. I'm Francis Xavyer, by the way. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Ash Ketchum," I said. "This is my partner, Pikachu."
"Pika pika!" (Nice to meet you!) Pikachu bowed on my shoulder.
"My name's Dawn Didier," Dawn smiled, "and this is Piplup!" Piplup chirped in salutation.
"I'm Brock Harrison," Brock nodded. "Nice to meet you!"
Just then, the boy gasped in shock. "Your name is Ash Ketchum? As in 'Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in Kanto' Ash Ketchum!?"
"Uh, yeah," I nodded, confused.
"Oh, WOW!" Francis clapped his hands together and grabbed mine. "I can't believe it's really you! Ash Ketchum, up close and in the flesh! I'm one of your biggest fans!"
"Really?" I grinned, happy that I had at least one fan.
"Look, Aaron!" he said, calling his friend with the Gardevoir over, "it's Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"
"Oh, really?" Aaron said, coming over to our side and looking me up and down. "So you're the kid who beat Brandon last summer." He then held his hand out, which I then shook. "I'm Aaron Rune, nice to meet you."
He then curled his lips into a smirk. "You look like a strong guy with a good heart. How about treating Frankie and me over here to a battle?"
Now it was my turn to grin. "If there's one thing I never do, it's turn away a battle! You're on, both of you!"
"I want in on this too!" Brock grinned. "You guys look like a real challenge!"
"Pinch me, I must be dreaming," Francis gawked. "I'm actually going to battle with the Ash Ketchum!"
"Keep staying in fan-boy mode like that and I might pinch you, Frankie," Aaron snapped.
"Right, sorry, Big A," Francis waved, and we went outside to the backyard battlefield.
(-o-)
Francis and I stood at opposite sides of the field, waiting to see who would call out a Pokémon first. Since Brock was battling with me, Dawn was left on the sidelines to referee instead of cheerleading.
"This tag battle between Francis Xavyer and Aaron Rune versus Ash Ketchum and Brock Harrison will now begin!" Dawn said. "Each Trainer uses one Pokémon and when that Pokémon can't battle, you're out! Okay, now for a coin toss to see who goes first!"
"We call tails!" I said.
"Then we'll get heads!" Aaron said.
"And… Coin Toss!" Dawn said, and activated her Pokétch application. "Looks like it's heads!"
"Awesome!" Aaron grinned and called out a Poké Ball. "Pharika, let's get wild!"
"Alright, Mephistis," Francis said, "let's go!"
The Pokémon that Francis and Aaron called out startled Brock and I, as well as Pikachu. Pharika was a very familiar tall cobra-like Pokémon with a face-like hood and Mephistis was an all-too familiar two-headed bag of poison.
"Pharika is an Arbok!" I gasped.
"And Mephistis is a Weezing!" Brock added, equally surprised.
"Arbok and Weezing, huh?" Dawn asked, confused before pulling out her pink Pokédex.
"Arbok, the Cobra Pokémon, and the evolved form of Ekans," the machine read. "This Pokémon has a terrifically strong constricting power. It can even flatten steel oil drums. Once it wraps its body around its foe, escaping is impossible." She then scanned Mephistis. "Weezing, the Poison Gas Pokémon, and the evolved form of Koffing. By diluting its toxic gases with a special process, the highest grade of perfume can be extracted. To Weezing, gases emanating from garbage are the ultimate feast."
"I don't think we've seen an Arbok or a Weezing since…" Brock started.
"Team Rocket's Arbok and Weezing," I finished, nodding.
"What are you waiting for?" Aaron asked, oblivious to Brock's and my shock.
"Uh, right!" I said, and called out Chimchar. "Chimchar, I choose you!"
"Sudowoodo, let's go!" Brock added, and called out his Imitation Pokémon.
"Now," Dawn waved, "let the battle begin!"
"Pharika, use Poison Sting!" Aaron called out, and the Cobra Pokémon shot tons of poisonous needles from her mouth.
"Sludge Bomb, Mephistis!" Francis added. "Let's go!" Mephistis then spat giant globs of poison at our Pokémon.
As they launched their attacks, I could suddenly see Jessie and James in Aaron and Francis' respective places using their Arbok and Weezing. I soon slapped myself, trying to get back into the battle. What's wrong with me? I thought to myself.
"Uh, Chimchar, use Dig to escape!" I cried.
"Sudowoodo, use Mimic on the Dig!" Brock added.
Both Pokémon dug different holes, but only Sudowoodo managed to hit Pharika. Chimchar jumped high but fell well short of hitting Mephistis.
"How'd he miss?" I asked. "Dig has never missed before!"
"That's Mephistis' Ability, Levitate!" Francis replied. "She can't be hit by any Ground-Type move at all, not even from status moves like Sand Attack!"
Pharika and Mephistis both grinned that caused me to think that they looked exactly like Jessie's Arbok and James' Weezing. What is the matter with me? I hissed in my mind. Why am I thinking about them when I should be focused on this battle?
"Hey, Ash, what's up?" Brock asked, sensing my discomfort.
"It's… it's nothing," I waved. "Let's get on the battle! Chimchar, Flamethrower!" Chimchar shot a stream of flame which hit Mephistis directly on the skull and crossbones marking on her chest.
Brock furrowed his brow, but shrugged. "Right, Sudowoodo, use Double-Edge!" Sudowoodo glowed white and slammed into Pharika with devastating force, but suffered no recoil damage due to his Rock Head Ability.
"You okay, Pharika?" Aaron asked, and his Arbok slowly nodded. "Right, use Earthquake!"
"And you use Dark Pulse, Mephistis!" Francis cried, and his Poison Gas Pokémon shot rings of dark energy at our team. The Earthquake knocked Chimchar and Sudowoodo into the air, and the Dark Pulse sent them crashing back down to earth, with spirals in all of their eyes.
"Uh, Chimchar and Sudowoodo can't battle anymore!" Dawn ruled, stunned. "Pharika the Arbok and Mephistis the Weezing… are the winners! This means that the tag battle goes to Francis and Aaron!"
"Oh wow!" Francis gasped. "I actually beat my hero! No surprise, since I am a Hoenn League finalist!"
"Quarter-finalist, Frankie," Aaron corrected as he recalled Pharika. "I'm the finalist here."
Francis face-faulted instantly. "Must you be so insistent, Aaron?" he whimpered as Mephistis was sent back into her Poké Ball.
"And speaking of heroes, you sure know how to pick yours," Aaron huffed. "I figured that anyone who was strong enough to have beaten Brandon would have at least put up a good fight, even with a new team like yours is."
I was too stunned to move. I meet a duo of complete strangers who totally trounce a Gym Leader and a Trainer who's been to four leagues in his whole career, conquered one, beat the Battle Frontier, and make it look like child's play. I looked up at Aaron's smirk, and I saw that his face looked just like Jessie's when she was rubbing a victory in my face. Francis' mix of sadness and happiness was almost exactly like James when he gave Cacnea to Gardenia, and I could not help but hiss at this.
"Well, that was a good battle," I said, sullenly. Chimchar chattered sadly, noticing my displeased tone, but I patted his head and smiled warmly. "Hey, you did okay, buddy. Be proud of yourself."
Francis then cocked his head. "Say, that Chimchar looks… kind of upset for losing one battle."
I looked at him, unsure of how to respond to that. "Well, he's had a tough life before he met me."
"You mean you're not this Chimchar's original Trainer?" Aaron asked, now curious.
Chimchar and I both tensed up, but I nodded. "Yeah, I'm not. We don't normally talk about it openly to other people."
"If it's that uncomfortable to talk about, then please don't tell us," Francis said calmly.
"No, I can't keep it all in, and neither can Chimchar," I said, shaking my head. "Chimchar once belonged to this cold-hearted Trainer named Paul. All that he cares about in battles is having power and using it to crush anyone who gets in his way, and there isn't anything he won't do to get it. Chimchar's not the first one he's abandoned, take it from me. I lost track at five with that Stantler he caught in Bewilder Forest."
"Five!?" Francis and Aaron gasped.
"Want to pull up a stool?" Dawn quipped. "It's quite a tale." Brock nodded in agreement.
"Okay, you got me hooked," Aaron said, going towards the Pokémon Center. "Let's get our team healed up and we can talk about ourselves and our adventures."
(-o-)
Part 2: It's Exposition Time
While Nurse Joy was healing Chimchar and Sudowoodo, we all sat down in the Trainer's lounge to talk about Chimchar.
"I met Paul when I first got here in Sinnoh," I said. "He challenged me to a three-on-three battle, but all that I had was my newly caught Starly and my old Aipom. My Pikachu had been taken by these creeps called Team Rocket, who have been trailing me for the past three years."
"Three years?" Aaron's eyes widened. "How old are you, anyway?"
"I turned 14 a while ago," he replied. "Anyway, he scoffed and turned away, calling me pathetic. He showed me that he caught three Starly, but then released two when all they knew was Tackle. I told him off and said any Pokémon could be stronger if raised properly, but he called me pathetic again and walked away."
"Well, that's rude," Francis frowned.
"Tell me about it," Brock nodded. "I was there with him, you know."
"I did get Pikachu back later on," I continued.
"And that's how he and Brock met me," Dawn commented. "I found Pikachu running from Team Rocket after he escaped from them."
"And after I met Professor Rowan and got my Sinnoh Pokédex, along with these new threads from my mom," I went on, "Paul showed up again and re-issued his challenge, since he saw that I now had three Pokémon."
"And Paul didn't kid around," Dawn said. "His Starly wiped the floor with Ash's Starly, but Chimchar lost to Aipom."
"Didn't Paul's Starly lose?" Francis asked.
"Don't you remember anything I said about Kanto rules?" Aaron asked his friend. "Three-on-three, no substitutions, win or lose, use a new Pokémon in the next battle!"
"Oh yeah," Francis nodded. "So what happened next?"
"Pikachu tied with his Elekid after Elekid absorbed all of Pikachu's electricity and powered up its own attacks!" Dawn said, remembering the battle quite clearly.
"Yowza," Francis whistled. "So it was a draw all around. What did Paul do next?"
"He threw away his final Starly," I said bluntly.
"What!?" Francis gasped, horrified. "But it won! Why would he do that?"
"You wouldn't believe what he said about that," I said, and then narrowed my eyes to look like Paul. "'There's a million Starly stronger than that one. Soon as I find one, I'll grab it.'"
"He said that!?" Aaron growled. "What a little… twerp!"
I quietly whimpered at the mention of that word, and the others picked up on that. "Sorry, that word has an unpleasant history with me."
"How come?" Francis asked.
"Team Rocket calls me and my friends twerps all the time," I explained, "so they kind of ruined that word for us."
"Okay…" Aaron said, furrowing his brow. "So did you ever run into Paul again?"
"There's no getting away from him," I nodded. "First, there was Bewilder Forest where he caught a Stantler, only to release it when it only knew Tackle. He also caught an Ursaring, but he's obviously found it strong enough for him since he's held onto it this long. Then he challenged Cynthia to a battle…"
"Wait, Cynthia?" Aaron asked. "As in, 'the Champion of the Sinnoh League' Cynthia?"
"Yeah," I nodded, "and you can guess how well that went."
"Total annihilation," Aaron and Francis said in unison.
"And his Chimchar got the worst from it," I said. "And I saw that Cynthia took notice of Chimchar being called pathetic, and didn't like it. She also didn't like him not taking his Pokémon to the Pokémon Center after he gave up following his Torterra's loss."
"Okay, now I'm really starting to hate this guy," Francis hissed.
"Then you'll love this next part," Dawn said sarcastically. "Did you see the Hearthome City Tag Battle Tournament on TV?"
"No, we just got in Sinnoh about two weeks ago," Aaron shook his head.
"Almost one whole month ago," I said, "Paul and I were entrants into a Tag Battle Tournament in Hearthome City. I went so I could cope with the frustration that the Gym Leader was not there. Needless to say, Paul and I weren't happy with being paired up with each other. He worked his Chimchar to death the night before our second day, and we took him to the Pokémon Center by force."
"The more I hear about him, the more I hate him," Francis growled.
"We learned that he was treating Chimchar the way he did so that he could unlock a tremendous power inside of him," Brock explained, "and that was how he met Chimchar in the first place. According to Paul Chimchar was chased by a horde of angry Zangoose and they came within inches of killing him, when he was suddenly engulfed in flames and created a raging inferno, destroying everything in his path."
"Whoa," Francis whistled. "That sounds intense."
"Regardless," I said, "Paul was about to take Chimchar out of intensive care that moment, but Nurse Joy ordered to let Chimchar rest." My eyes narrowed as I went on. "Three guesses what happened next."
"Don't tell me…" Aaron started, his expression turning dark.
"You got it," I nodded darkly. "He disobeyed her orders and brought out Chimchar, knowing that his opponent had a Zangoose, the very Pokémon he feared for so long. Ironically, Chimchar was too scared to do anything, and Paul gave up on him." I then stared at the floor, my eyes burning with hate. "He then abandoned Chimchar that night. I took it in, and according to him: 'You deserve each other. You're both pathetic.'"
"Why, I ought to…!" Francis snapped, rolling his sleeves up and balling his fists up. "If I ever meet that smug son of a Seviper, I'll knock his block off six ways back home to Hoenn!"
"Easy, calm down," Aaron said, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I want to cream that creep just as bad as you do, but violence won't solve anything."
"You're from Hoenn?" Brock asked.
"Yeah, he's from Lilycove City," Aaron nodded, "and I'm from Fortree City."
"That's cool," I said. "Anyway, we won the battle, but Paul gave his prize, a Soothe Bell to me. He said he didn't need it or even want it. We then decided to head to Veilstone City, and here we are."
"Well, I hope you kick his butt for all the Pokémon he's hurt, Ash," Francis said, grinning.
"If I may say something off of that unpleasant subject," Aaron said, "I noticed you looked distant during our battle against Pharika and Mephistis."
"Well," I said, "remember what I told you about Team Rocket? They had an Arbok and a Weezing once. Don't know what happened to them, but yesterday was… kind of a mixed moment."
"How so?" the Hoenn brothers asked.
"A few days after the Hearthome Tag Battle," I said, "James from Team Rocket left his Cacnea to the Eterna City Gym Leader Gardenia at her insistence so that it could learn how to use a move called Drain Punch. After I saw just how much James and Cacnea wanted to get stronger, I had to help them out."
"I thought Ash was only helping the bad guys get stronger," Dawn stated, "but this moment really did seem much different from past encounters with Team Rocket. Then again, I've only seen them for a few month or two at best."
"We've actually had a few run-ins before Sinnoh where we've helped them out and they've helped us," Brock said.
"So you don't think that this James is really a bad guy type?" Francis asked.
"Kinda, yeah," I nodded. "It's hard to explain, but I've basically seen why he joined them in the first place, and I kinda don't blame him."
"How do you mean?" Francis asked.
Before I could reply, Nurse Joy came up with Chimchar and Sudowoodo. "Thank you for waiting! Your Chimchar and Sudowoodo are both back to perfect health!"
"Thanks a bunch, Nurse Joy!" I said, and Chimchar hopped onto my shoulder, and I patted his head. Brock also greeted his Sudowoodo, who saluted him back.
"Hey, who is this James guy anyway?" Francis asked. "What does he look like?"
"Well," I said, trying to remember what he looked like, which was surprisingly hard, "he's tall, a bit lanky, neck-length lavender hair, green eyes, and will probably have a Carnivine or a Mime Jr. out and about with him at all times."
At this description, Francis and Aaron looked at each other and their eyes widened in realization.
"Did I say something bad?" I asked, noticing this.
"There's… something you need to see," Francis said.
"It's at the Solaceon Day Care Center," Aaron said, "just down the road."
They got geared up and left the building, leaving the rest of us confused, but then quickly followed the duo to wherever they were going. We followed them a short distance to a small house overlooking a huge and beautiful field where many Pokémon of all shapes and sizes were playing together. The sight of all of this was very refreshing, and we all were amazed at the wonder of this place. I turned around and saw Francis and Aaron knocking at the door.
"Is this the Day Care center?" I asked.
"It is," Francis nodded. "We left some of our Pokémon here, and you'll soon see why we went back."
Just then, the door opened, and a fair-skinned man in his early 20's came out. He was dressed in a green Pokémon Breeder's apron and had a Breeder's shawl covering his full head of lavender hair, which now started to dangle over his eyes. But to me, his most astonishing feature was a Pikachu perched onto his shoulder. At one look at me and my friends, the four of us gasped in shock.
"Twerps!?"
"JAMES?!"
A/N: Sorry for the slight cliffhanger, but I do have work to get done in school. I'm quite behind now, and I NEED to catch up. But please leave me a comment on how I'm handling this and what I can do to improve! I want to make this story my greatest work ever!
-JeremyX signing off!