"It all started five years ago, after a training stint on Mount Silver."
Flashback
"I was cutting through Celadon City, sleeping in the Pokémon Center when an explosion rocked the Center. Nurse Joy initiated a lock down to ensure no Pokeballs would be stolen. I had gotten dressed and ran out my door and into the main entrance area with my Pokémon behind me."
"So Ketchum. Here you are and that wretch Pikachu that those bumbling fools coveted for so long. Wasting copious amounts of money and resources trying to capture that rat," Giovanni's voice was dripping with venom. Ash gave a hard glare.
"What do you want?"
Giovanni sneered and smirked at Ash, "you see young boy, I know what you have been doing. You've been disrupting my organizations doings and foiling our plots all over the world. It seems recently you've been doing this very deliberately. I'm here to offer a compromise."
Ash softened his gaze by a little bit. "What's your offer?"
"A full battle. Six on six. No substitutions by either side. If you win against me, I'll disband Team Rocket once and for all."
Ash narrowed his eyes. "And what if I lose?"
Giovanni walked towards Ash. "All of your Pokémon, and you will become my top agent. I offer you also a choice to just join me now, keep your Pokémon. If you and I worked together, then there is nothing that could stop us! I know of your accomplishments, Ketchum, and nothing would make me more satiated than if you were to accept. However, if you do wish to battle, meet me at the top of the Silph Co. building in thirty minutes. The choice is yours."
Giovanni clicked a button and a smoke screen was deployed. Ash coughed and ran for clear air as did his Pokémon.
After settling down for a few minutes, he looked at his team. They were ready for sure, Mount Silver has catapulted their progress further than expectations. They were all fully evolved too, rugged and worn by the extreme weather and battling they had done.
"What do you guys say? One battle to finish off Team Rocket?"
Everyone gave some sort of yes.
"So it was decided. We would all go to Silph Co. and defeat Giovanni. What happened next, no one had planned."
Ash arrived at the top of the big building in Celadon City. The wind was blowing his messy hair further into a state of chaos, while Giovanni stood with his back to him.
"You know Ash, I formed Team Rocket thirty years ago, I was just about your age. I felt strong, and with my Rhydon we gathered friends and formed a group bent to conquer the world. It all rides on this moment right here, this battle. This whole network, this global scale I have created with my own hands, rides on tonight. I've kept my eye on you for several years now, ever since you defeated those babbling fools at my gym in Viridian. I'm ready, I will win and Team Rocket will prevail!" Giovanni tossed a Pokeball and a Nidoqueen appeared.
"Snorlax let's go!" Ash yelled as he released his normal type Pokémon. For a moment, not one of any of the figures moved. The air was still and there seemed to be some sort of peace between the adversaries, both were okay with how this was going to go, how it was going to end.
"Nidoqueen, use Focus Punch!"
The poison type began forming powerful energy in her fist, which began glowing a red energy. "Snorlax, be ready for this!"
Nidoqueen charged forward, ready to strike, "Snorlax dodge and use Ice Punch!" With incredible athleticism, the normal type dodged and delivered an icy fist the head of Nidoqueen. She fell in defeat after one attack.
"Hmm interesting. My Nidoqueen is powerful, but it seems you have surpassed that. Your training must have been rigorous and ruthless to be able to pull of something like that."
Giovanni returned his fallen Pokémon. "It only gets harder from here. Golem, let's go!"
The rock type emerged and landed on the roof with a loud crash with several cracks forming on the floor.
"Snorlax, Heavy Slam!"
"Golem quickly use Roll Out!"
Snorlax formed itself into a tight, metallic ball and hurdles himself towards Golem, who was spinning at high speeds and both were headed straight for each other.
"Golem quickly use Stone Edge!" The Rock type uncurled itself and dodged Snorlax's attack, launching a volley of sharpened stones at Snorlax.
"Now use Hyper Beam!"
"Snorlax use Hyper Beam as well!"
The two Pokémon launched beams of orange, concentrated energy at each other, which caused a large explosion on the roof of the Silph Company. The battle was only just beginning.
'Giovanni, as much as I despised that man, he was a good trainer. He could have certainly given atleast the weakest Elite Four member a run for their money.' Ash paused in his story. 'There was a moment I was scared I was going to lose.'
The battle was nearing its end. Ash was down to two Pokémon while Giovanni was down to his last, but it was his ace in the hole: Rhyperior.
"I'm surprised that you've backed me into a corner like this Ash. However, I have my strongest Pokémon, the first Pokémon I ever caught, in this Pokeball. This is where your test begins!" Giovanni tosses the ball and out came the Rhyperior, sending out a deafening roar.
Ash grimaced a little bit. His Flareon was on the end of its rope too, and against a Rhyperior none the less.
"Flareon use Superpower!"
Flareon glowed an orange color and charged at Rhyperior. "Use Hammer Arm!"
Rhyperior simply side stepped the fire type and swung a glowing arm down on Flareon, instantly knocking her out.
Ash sighed and returned Flareon. "Thank you so much, you did great." Giovanni and Rhyperior smirked at him.
Ash looked at his opponent. Rain had started to fall, which made the rock type flinch a bit but other than that everything was the same. Night had fallen and the occasional flash of lightning would show the damage done to the roof of the Silph Co.
"You know, I'm surprised at your strength level. I suppose you are with mine as well. I'm also surprised you accepted my battle request instead of calling the authorities. Do you trust me that much Ash? Do you really think I'll keep more word, or that since I'm a con man I'll just swindle you out of your end of the deal?"
Ash merely kept a straight face. "I know you'll keep your word." His eyes got dark and his tone deepened. "I'll force you to keep your end of the deal Giovanni, one way or the other."
His last Pokémon came out, his Sceptile. He knew Solarbeam was essentially obsolete now, but he had other moves planned.
"My Pokémon and I have grown closer to each other, our bonds getting deeper with every cut and bruise, every time we bleed we all bleed together. I'm not the same kid from years past. I'm different. We are different. You underestimated me and my Pokémon. Your Rhyperior stands no chance against my Sceptile. Even before our training, he defeated a legendary Pokémon. I will admit, you surprised me Giovanni. Your strength is admirable and you could have done great things if you had not gotten into trouble with Team Rocket."
Giovanni seemed to take a step back, but regained his composure. This kid certainly could have been an orator long ago. "Ash, I chose my path. I would not change it, it's how it was supposed to go. It was my destiny, and it seems your destiny is intertwined with mine Ketchum. And it all bends on tonight. This is the final stand between us. The fate of you and Team Rocket is in the balance. Let's do it! Bring it Ash Ketchum!"
Ash looked up, and Giovanni could have sworn his eyes were blue. "You asked for it Giovanni. Sceptile, hear my call and unleash your aura, Mega Evolve!" Ash pressed the Key Stone that was in the bill of his hat, which was unnoticed by Giovanni until now. The Sceptilite around the grass types neck glowed.
Sceptile's eyes glowed green as energy flowed into him. He grew in size, his tail getting bigger and longer, and the colors on his back ranging from yellow to red. The bulbs on his back grew bigger and the blades on his arm also grew in size.
"Use Leaf Blade!"
Mega-Sceptile surged forward with incredible speed and slashed Rhyperior with two glowing green blades. The rock type roared in pain and stepped back, falling onto one knee.
"Hmph. I did not expect that. However, it won't stop us. Rhyperior, Use Rock Wrecker!"
Rhyperior summoned rocks between its hands, forming a very large boulder that it launched at Sceptile.
"Dodge it and use Dragon Pulse!"
Mega-Sceptile ran around the boulder and launched an orb of teal, draconic energy. Rhyperior roared at Sceptile but everyone paused when they heard cracking. Rhyperior's Rock Wrecker had landed on the roof and crashed through, which caused major cracks on the roof. They could feel the boulder fall through all of the floors as waves of vibrations were sent out from each floor.
"Giovanni...what did you do?" The battle seemed to be on pause.
"I didn't do anything." Giovanni was speaking the truth this time, as he did not want that to happen.
Ash walked closer to him, the rain coming down in buckets. "Can that thing knock down this building?"
Giovanni scoffed, "I would personally be surprised. This is a large building and as powerful and strong my Rhyperior is, I don't think one attack could do that."
The four figures on the roof watched the cracks spread. "The roof is going to cave in," Ash simply stated.
It seemed that the attack also triggered the alarm on the Silph Co, as sirens could be heard approaching.
'This is where things turned for the worst I'm afraid' Ash spoke to Paul. 'With the police coming and the building beginning to crumble, there was not much we could do.'
The two returned their Pokémon. The building shook. They could hear a helicopter approaching.
"What do we do?" Ash called out in the storm. Giovanni flashed a smirk. "I'm afraid this is where we last see each other, for a while atleast. We will battle again to determine how things will go."
Giovanni ran towards the edge and jumped off, calling out his Honchkrow to fly away. However, he failed to remember that his Honchkrow had been defeated in battle and was still recovering, so when the bird came out it just hovered weakly before falling in the sky. Ash looked over to the two figures, who were now illuminated by the police's lights, plummeting towards the ground. Ash called out Charizard to catch the two.
There was quite a bit of distance between the human and Pokémon, and unfortunately Charizard could only catch Honchkrow. Ash looked away from the edge, Charizard came back up with the fainted Honchkrow in his hands. The building was shaking more.
"Thank you Charizard. Carry him back to Lavender Town. Alakazam," he released the Psychic Type. "Let's go to Lavender Town." He put his hand on the shoulder of the psychic type, and they disappeared in a blink. Charizard went under the cover of the night to Lavender town. The police were focused on getting the remains of Giovanni.
I'm Lavender Town, Ash has Honchkrow healed at the Pokémon center. "Nurse Joy, the trainer to this Pokémon is no longer with us." He explained to the nurse. She gave a somber look. "Don't worry Ash. He'll stay here in Lavender town with us. A little fitting, don't you think?" She said trying to lighten the mood. Ash chuckled at this. "Thank you Nurse Joy. I trust he will be taken care of here." Nurse Joy healed the rest of his Pokémon and bud Ash farewell.
Ash walked out of the center. Ash realized he didn't have his hat on anymore. It clicked that it must've fell off at the roof of the Silph Company. Luckily he had a spare in his backpack that also had a key stone in it. Hey, when you're a trainer that gets into bad situations, it's always good to have back ups. Unfortunately however, he only had two made. So this one would have to last.
Ash has taken a walk by himself, just to clear his head of what had happened a few hours ago. Dawn was starting to break out in the Kanto region. Adrenaline was still pumping through his veins. He walked until he eventually found himself in Vermillion city. The sun was beginning to set. His adrenaline had worn off a long time ago, but he kept pushing. He walked into the center and saw the news.
"It seems that also Ash Ketchum, the Pride of Pallet Town, has disappeared after the conflict in Celadon City. The top three floors of the Silph Company are destroyed, and with Giovanni found dead and the only thing remaining of Ash Ketchum is his hat, he has been presumed missing or dead. Any information would be helpful."
Ash stared at the screen. It hadn't even been a day, and he was already presumed dead or missing? "Stupid media over embellishing everything," he muttered to himself.
He paused then, realizing something.
"You know, I could restart. I could change everything. Go off grid, train until there is no more training to be done."
Ash left the center. His new plan was definitely rash, but he decided he earned it. It'll be some rest and relaxation mixed with battling and training. He called out Alakazam. "Let's go to Pallet buddy. You're doing great, I'll be sure to feed you extra later. We have a couple things to do."
After sneakily getting all of his Pokémon, Ash was looking at maps of the region. "No where far, I'd like to have a general idea of where we are. Not Hoenn, not Sinnoh either. Kalos and Unova are out of the question."
His eyes were scanning the map, as were Pikachu's. He had been resting in Ash's backpack since the battle with Giovanni's Persian. His eyes were on Johto and Kanto, neighboring regions.
"What about there?" He pointed to Tohjo Falls. It was in between the two regions, and it was out of range of a lot of technology and of people's way. Many just took a boat or flew to Johto instead of taking the route between the regions.
Pikachu nodded in approval. Ash grinned. His backpack full of Pokeballs, he was ready. To Tohjo Falls they went.
End of Ash's story
Paul simply blinked at Ash. "That was you that battled Giovanni?"
Ash simply nodded.
"And the Honchkrow that watches Pokémon Tower in Lavender town, that was once Giovanni's?"
Ash nodded again. "Everything I said is true Paul. That's what happened."
Paul simply nodded at Ash. He paused for about five minutes as there was a heavy silence. Paul processed everything. "Well, you know everyone is going to lose their mind when they realize you're back. You know that, right? I understand why you chose to go dark, especially after what happened at Celadon City, but not everyone will. But I'll try my best to be on your side Ketchum."
"Thank you Paul, i appreciate it. I have an alias that I'm going by until the later rounds. Also, I already called my mother and told her. She's the only one who knows. As do you and the Battle Frontier. Except.."
Paul grinned, "Except Annabell, of course."
Ash simply nudged Paul. "Yeah not yet. I figured I'll tell her someway."
A silence fell between the two.
Ash broke the silence. "You wanna grab some food?"
"Sure, I know a place around here that has some killer burgers."
Ash simply grinned as the two left the café to go grab a meal.
An: Heavy stuff, yeah. That's what happened. Ash has his canon Pokémon but some new ones as well, we have seen with Flareon and Alakazam. I'm thinking of eventually making this an Ability Shipping story, because I love fluff and it'll add some more plot development and everything. Plus I just love Ash and Anabell together. Oh well, we shall see. Hopefully y'all enjoy it!