Chapter 2: To Intervene

"A-are you close?" Ryuji stuttered into the phone.

"Mhm, I'll probably be there in fifteen or twenty minutes," Suma answered. "I can't talk long though, honey, I'm driving."

"R-right, sorry," Ryuji said. "I just wanted to see where you were."

Suma was quiet for a moment. "Is everything ok, Ryuji? You sound a little… I don't know, upset."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, trying to sound more settled than he felt. "I'm just nervous, I guess."

He could almost hear her smile through the phone, and he was glad she chose not to rib him about actually being nervous this time. "It'll be fine, honey. They really appreciate you letting us host the meeting at your place, it's going to be much easier for all of them to get there since it's so expensive to stay in the city."

He couldn't stop himself from grinning a little. "Well, I'm glad I can help, I guess. I don't know how much more I'll be able to do."

Suma chuckled. "Ryuji, if he thinks I can make a difference in this, there's no way you can't— you've been training Pokemon for almost ten years, and I've only had eight months."

He nodded, mostly for himself— not like she could see it. "Ok. Is everyone else on their way?"

"Yes, they should be there soon," she said. "I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah," he said. "I love you."

Another audible grin that put him a little more at ease. "I love you too, Ryuji."

He hung up, then moved out of his bedroom towards the living room. It wasn't the biggest of places— the front door opened to a living room that doubled as a dining room, with a table in the back corner on the right where he ate his dinners. A couch divided the living/dining room from the little kitchenette on the left behind it, and a small hallway at the back led to the little bathroom on the left and his bedroom on the right. It was enough for him, and the occasional friend or two he'd have over now and again. He was a little nervous about cramming six more people in here, and then a little more so about about everything else that was going on...

But he was determined to learn as much as he could about all of this. He'd already seen what the Alpha Machine could do, attended the many exhibitions promoting it and saw many battles where it was use. And yes, it did often turn the tables in ways that impressed him, but he also knew Pokemon well enough to see that something was off about them when they were under it's influence. He already didn't like it, and Ketchum's words about it and about the Alpha Corp. would have been enough to take his distaste for the whole thing and turn it into revulsion and alarm. But when he learned that the danger had even come upon Suma... that drove it home just enough to convict him about the whole thing. There was too much at stake for him not to get involved now.

A knock at the door broke his thoughts, and he crossed the room to open it. Outside stood two of the women from last week, Dawn and May. They smiled and greeted him, and he invited them inside. "Can I get you ladies anything to drink?" he asked.

Dawn shook her head, "No, but thank you for offering."

May grinned, "That Suma was right, he is a good host."

He chuckled nervously and smiled, "Uh, thanks I guess." Both women laughed as they seated themselves at the couch, and he closed the door and pulled a chair from the dining table to sit across from them. "So," he began, "I guess we didn't really get to introduce ourselves last week, things got so serious. My name's Himura Ryuji."

Dawn smiled and stuck out her hand, "I'm Dawn Bellamy," she said. Ryuji leaned forward and took her hand awkwardly— he found the greeting favored by the southern regions to be somewhat uncomfortable. But, far be it from him to be unsociable (he'd never hear the end of it from Suma).

May reached out her hand as well, "And I'm May Maple." Ryuji took it politely, and was glad that little part of it was over. She grinned again, "So, we've heard all about you from your lady— she thinks you're pretty keen."

Ryuji scratched his head and laughed a little, "Oh, is that what she said? I'm pretty keen, huh?"

Dawn laughed at May, "You're showing your age, May."

May frowned and swatted Dawn on the arm, "Oh, stop it, you're only three years younger than I am." She looked back to Ryuji. "She told us to have you tell us how the two of you met."

Ryuji felt his eyebrows jump, "What? She's been back and forth from the city for a week to visit you, why didn't she tell you?"

May crossed her arms and sat back expectantly. "She said you were the one who told it best."

Ryuji sighed, "Oh, did she now?" She only said that because she knew it made him uncomfortable to tell the story because of how personal it was and right now she was probably having a good chortle at his expense and he was going to pinch that daggum woman when she got here. He nodded. "Sure, well, I suppose she also told you to pester me until I told you?"

May laughed, "She did, actually, yes."

Dawn gave Ryuji a mock sympathetic look and shoved May a little, "Aw, don't torture the poor man, May."

May made a sassy face at her, "Hey, I want to hear the story."

Ryuji shook his head, "It's fine, I'll tell it." Both women gave him their attention. "Two years ago, I was working for the Goldenrod Pokemon Gym. My coworkers dared me to challenge the gym leader to a battle, just to see what would happen. So I did."

"What happened?" May asked.

Ryuji shrugged, "Well, I won."

"Oh, neat," May said. "So, where does Suma come into the picture?"

"Well, she was still working for her most recent employer, Kotobuki TV," he replied. "I guess the match was kind of a big deal in the city, people were talking about it a lot; some unknown kid beats the Gym Leader on his first try. So, her boss had her come down to the gym and interview me for their daily news program."

Dawn smiled, "Oh, thats cute. So, what, did you go find her later and ask her on a date?"

Ryuji laughed, embarrassment beginning to spark in his gut. "Well, no, not later."

"Oh?" she said. "Well, what then?"

"Well, I kind of asked her…" he paused, "I kind of asked her mid-interview."

Both women took a moment to process what he said, then began to fight growing grins. "O-oh," Dawn replied. "And I assume they edited that out later?"

Embarrassment was now a flame. "Um, well, no," he said, staring holes into the floor. "The interview was live, so… they really couldn't edit, you know… a live feed…" he trailed off. And now neither woman could contain themselves any longer and burst out laughing. And this is why he dreaded telling this story, because this was always how people reacted.

Dawn covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter, "Oh, I'm sorry, Ryuji. That's just… quite a story." May was still inconsolable, almost off the couch at this point rolling with laughter. Dawn seemed to take pity on him and moved the conversation along a little bit, "So, what motivated you to ask her?"

He smiled a little, surprised by the question. "No one's ever asked me that before," he wondered aloud. Dawn smiled at him, and he chuckled nervously as he did his best to explain, "I don't know, I guess it was the way she listened to me."

"How do you mean?" Dawn asked.

He shrugged. "Well, she asked me a lot of questions you know, for the interview. She had a bunch written down so that she could guide the interview as best she could. But… well, she didn't end up using most of them, actually. She started with asking me what I liked most about training Pokemon, and then how I thought I might have been able to win the battle and… well, the conversation was just really natural. And she had this look in her eye when she listened."

Dawn smiled knowingly, "What kind of look?"

He felt his face heat a little. "Like she really wanted to hear what I was going to say."

May grinned at that, "Now that's about the sweetest thing I've heard all day. Oh, my goodness… I'm glad we made you tell that story."

Dawn smiled too, "Yes. It's not too often these days you hear about young people being captivated by something in each other the way you two were."

May shoved Dawn playfully, "Your Sinnoan blood is showing, Dawn!"

Dawn blushed a little and put a hand on her cheek, embarrassed. "Ah, that was a little too poetic, wasn't it?" she said with a laugh.

Another knock at the door caught their attention, and Ryuji rose to get it. He greeted his next guest, Brock, and invited him inside. "Ah, can I get you anything to drink, Mr. Lee?" he asked.

Brock smiled. "Brock will do just fine, my friend!" he said enthusiastically, pulling Ryuji into a very tight hug. Kantonese really don't have boundaries, Ryuji wondered to himself. "And yes," Brock said, "I'd love a beer, if you have any."

Ryuji shut the door behind the man as he entered and joined the women on the couch and grinned. "Now you're speaking my language," he said to Brock. "What'll it be?"

Brock played a little with the stubble on his chin. "Well, I hear you Johtoans are famous for your summer lagers," he said, "and seeing that it's summer time, I'd enjoy trying one of those if you have any!"

Ryuji snapped his fingers, "I sure do! I think I'll join you, matter of fact." He ran over to his fridge, pulled out two of the Cherry Blossom beers, and returned to his seat with the others, handing the second one to Brock.

Brock examined the beer with curiosity before opening it and taking a sip, and a look of surprise came over his face. "Woah! It's so… airy! Very sweet, too."

Ryuji nodded as he took a sip. "Yeah, it get's pretty hot up here in Johto during the summers, so we tend to favor a more refreshing taste than anything."

Brock nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. I definitely didn't dress appropriately for the weather up here." He took another sip of his beer, then looked at Ryuji, "So, Ryuji was it?" Ryuji nodded and Brock added, "You're a trainer, I hear?"

He nodded, "I am."

"What kind of Pokemon do you favor?" Brock asked.

"Well," Ryuji said, wiping away some of the beer that had dripped from his chin, "I'm a fan of the more… intimidating ones, you could say. Dragons and mammoth monsters, I guess. I'm currently training a Dragonair— pushing for that evolution!— a Tyranitar, and a Steelix."

Brock's brow leapt, "A small team!"

Ryuji nodded, "Yeah, I find it keeps the team tighter over all."

Brock sat back with a smile, "I agree, I run a small team myself, actually have a Steelix myself. So, how do you make your living? Do you compete, or something else?"

Ryuji took a sip of his beer and then answered, "Well, I got my start working for the Goldenrod Gym, but about a year ago I started my own business and left my former employer."

Brock smiled, "Ah, another entrepreneur! I like that. What do you do, then?"

Ryuji nodded, glad to find someone who could relate with him. "I'm still training Pokemon, obviously. But now I run a private business where I help new trainers kind of… get their start, I guess. Basically, I teach new trainers how to train their Pokemon."

Brock grinned and looked at both of the women seated next to him, "Well, isn't that a coincidence?"

Ryuji felt his eyebrows jump up. "Why do you say that?"

Brock gestured to May and Dawn, "Well, that's basically how Ash met these two. He mentored them as trainers for a time."

Ryuji sat back, finally understanding something a little better. "Kind of like he's doing for Suma, huh?"

Brock nodded, "Right, exactly. Ash has a unique style, and people with a sharp eye for training take notice of it."

Ryuji was about to say something when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It was Suma— she had just sent him a text saying they'd be there in a minute or two. He stood and said, "Ah, Suma will be here with Ash in a minute." They didn't have to wait long, as she pulled up very shortly after he got the text message. Suma and Ash made their way inside, and Ryuji pulled two more chairs from his dining table and put them next to his.

As everyone was getting seated, Dawn said, "Ash? Where are the others?"

Ash gave her something of a guarded look, "Uh, Misty is running an errand."

Dawn shook her head. "You know that's not what I meant."

Ash nodded, and after a moment said, "I couldn't speak with them myself..."

Dawn frowned, and Suma looked at Ash, "Who are they talking about?"

Brock answered for him, "Hilbert, Rosalind, Kalem and Hibiki. Champions of Unova, Kalos, and Johto."

"They were invited, too?" Ryuji wondered aloud.

Brock nodded, a little sadness in his eyes. "Misty and I are just a couple of Ash's old friends… but all of the others were once his pupils," he said, and glancing at Suma, "Just like you are now." Ryuji looked at Ash with a newfound sense of wonder, This guy has trained every champion from over the past twenty-five years…

"Well, did they say?" May prodded.

Ash sighed and shook his head. "Misty talked with them several times, but they wouldn't be reasoned with."

Dawn's brow furrowed, "I don't understand, why didn't you just talk with them? You're probably the person who would be best able to convince them of the danger they're in."

"My home burned down, and when the authorities searched the place not only did they find several dead bodies on the grounds outside," he explained, "but the found the burned up remains of Takahashi inside, assuming him to be the man that lived there all along. The only reason I'm not being pursued as a murder suspect is because the world thinks I'm dead. If I had spoken with them, who knows what risk it would have exposed me to... or the rest of you, for that matter." Several of their eyes fell and some shoulders sagged in grief. Ash held up his hands in a supplicating gesture. "Look, I'm just as troubled by all this as you are. Even more so by the decisions of our friends, but... well, they've made their decision. They won't be reasoned with, and it really isn't clear why," he finished. And with a shake of his head he said, "I think it's best if we just… move on with this meeting." Everyone nodded, and Ash proceeded, "So, we're all agreed that something needs to be done. Misty is out gathering some intel for us right now, but she'll probably be here within the hour. In the meantime, we need to figure out how to come at this thing."

May leaned forward, "Well, I mean it's pretty clear isn't it? We have to stop them from making any more of these machines."

Ash nodded. "Right, I agree with that, only…"

"Only what?" May prodded.

"Only there are already several factories the world over already making them," Brock finished for him. "It's not like we can just shut down one factory and be done with it. And even if we did somehow shut them all down, I doubt they would just call it quits." Everyone took a deep breath at that.

Dawn shrugged, "I don't really suppose that changes things, though. It certainly makes them more difficult, but that is what must be done."

Suma interjected, "I don't suppose we know where any of these factories are located, or how many there actually are?"

"Not all of them," Ash answered. "Thankfully, some countries refused to manufacture them once rumors about the casualties during testing surfaced, so there are actually only five or so regions where Alpha Corp. could acquire licenses to build factories. On top of that, they are apparently extremely difficult to make, so there are probably less then you might imagine."

"How many exactly?" Suma prodded again.

"I don't know," Ash said, shaking his head. "They've been very secretive about it— under claims that they're safeguarding company secrets and things like that."

"And what about the other thing?" May added. "The stuff about… about taking control of the legendary Pokemon? How are we supposed to come up against that?"

"It does sound a bit incredible," Brock commented.

"If I'm not mistaken," Dawn mused, "the psyches of most legendary Pokemon are much more complex than others of their species."

Ash nodded, "Thats right. Actually, their minds are colossal even to a human being."

"And what's more," Dawn continued, "I've also heard that these machines are unpredictable where psychic Pokemon are concerned. The early prototypes had either no affect, or even killed the psychic Pokemon."

May's brow leapt, "Why didn't they mention that in the interview?"

Dawn shrugged. "Bad press, probably."

May shook her head, "Well, no wonder people rioted. Is that still a problem?"

Dawn shook her head. "No, the Alpha Corporation says that there are no longer any possibilities of adverse effect on psychic Pokemon. It just… works, or it doesn't."

May had a hopeful look in her eye, "So, is it possible that these machines will just… not work on the legendary Pokemon?"

Suma shook her head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

All eyes went to Suma. "What do you mean?" May asked. Ryuji wondered the same thing.

Seeming a little nervous, she began. "When I entered my first battle, it was because I had to. I had captured an Abra, meaning to learn a little from Ash about how he did what he did. You heard about Takahashi," she said, wrestling with a little emotion. Ryuji took her hand, hoping to calm her nerves, and she smiled at him and seemed to relax a little. She continued, "I was able to stop him because Abra and I joined our minds— we got the device away from him, destroyed it, and that was that. But while Abra— well, Kedabra now— while we were of one mind, I could see and understand things the way he does."

"So, it doesn't quite work the way they say it does, I take it?" Dawn concluded.

Suma shook her head. "It's not really just their brain waves or whatever, sound frequencies and all that. I mean, yeah, their brains are a part of it all. But there's more to it than that. It's like the machine steps into some place inside them and removes them entirely."

Dawn wore a troubled look. "Hm...," she hummed at the thought.

Suma nodded, frowning a little. "I'm sorry, I know it's confusing. Kedabra doesn't really have better words for it than that. The last time we encountered Pokemon under the influence of the machine, all he could do was look at me with these really sad eyes and say, 'Thats not even them anymore'." Another congregational deep breath. Suma went on with a shrug, "I don't know— it's like there's something inside them that's taken out of the picture entirely, something that makes them tick."

Brock's eyes widened a little, "You mean… like a soul?"

Concern washed over her features, but she nodded. "Yes. Like a soul."

Suddenly the front door burst open and in came Misty, dragging some half-crazed little man in a white lab coat behind her. She slammed the door shut behind her and then threw the man on the floor in the middle of the circle. He collapsed in a heap and then began to attempt to scramble to his feet, but a swift kick to the ribs from Misty leveled him and put him on his side again. She stood over him and stared him down, and once she seemed confident he wasn't going anywhere, she gave Ash a nod.

Ash gave everyone, though clearly startled, what must have been a try for a reassuring look. "Misty has been away most of the past week tracking our guest here— a Mr. Honda, if I am correct?"

The man started to grumble, but another kick in the ribs had him choking on his own spittle. Ash winced, as did the others, and Ryuji felt a wave of discomfort wash over him. "Answer the man," Misty growled.

After a moment, the man nodded. "I am Honda."

"Honda here," Ash said, "is a technician at the factory here in Goldenrod."

Misty grinned, "Oh, he's a little more than that. Tell 'em, Honda." The man grumbled a little more, but she seized him with a venomous grip on his hair, "I said tell 'em, Honda."

Ryuji felt his discomfort begin to shift a little in his gut. "Do you have to do that?"

She looked at him with a hard look in her eye. "These people, kid? They'll murder your gran'babies just as soon as sell you a computer. There isn't room for playing nice with these guys."

"I'll talk, just let go of me!" the man gasped. Misty complied— albeit a little violently, and Ryuji couldn't help but study Misty carefully as she retreated to the corner of the room. After panting and collecting himself a little, Honda began to explain himself, "I'm an administrator at Alpha Corp. I have worked directly under…" he glanced nervously around at the group, "under Noboru, for several years."

Misty grinned at Ash again, "He knows some pretty interesting things."

Ash gave her a disapproving look, and at that she backed off a bit. He looked at Honda and asked, "Can you tell us how the machine works?"

Honda chuckled with a shake of his head, "Not really. I mean, even if I wanted to, I don't really understand it completely. No one really has the full picture, at least no one anyone knows about."

Ash continued, "What can you tell us?"

"Well, it doesn't work the way they say it does," the man said. And when no one looked surprised, he went on, "I don't know much about how it does what it does to Pokemon. But as for the machine itself, it certainly doesn't run on batteries or anything like that."

Ash leaned forward, "What do you mean?"

The man pulled himself up from the floor and sat cross legged, wincing as he did. "It's powered by some… substance of some kind. It's so classified that the only people who know about it aren't even allowed to have a name for it."

May had an incredulous look on her face, "If it's so classified, how do you know about it?"

The man sighed. "Because I'm the one in charge of overseeing it's transport from the facility where it's made to the factories that build the machines."

"They can't synthesize it in house at the factories?" Ash asked.

The man shook his head, "They can't synthesize it period. It's harvested from... somewhere. They have a facility nearby where they salvage and prepare it."

Ash sat back, pleased with what he was hearing. "Do you know where this facility is?"

Honda nodded. "Apart from Noboru and the people who actually work there, I am the only one."

"And what would happen," Ash posed, "say, if someone disabled this facility, destroyed it even?"

Honda seemed to think about it, "Well,… this stuff is apparently really hard to harvest, and it's in limited supply if what I've heard is right... if someone destroyed this facility, I suppose it could remove the machine from the market entirely."

Murmurs spread throughout the group, but Ash caught on to something Honda had said, "Limited? Does that mean… does that mean that eventually they will run out anyway?"

The man nodded nervously. "If what I heard is correct, then yes."

"That's not all," Misty chimed in from the corner of the room where she was standing. "Tell him about the special shipment." Honda glared at the woman, and she began to cross the room again, presumably to hit the man. But Ryuji had had enough. He stood and put himself between Honda and Misty. She stared daggers into him, "You don't seem to understand what's at stake, here, kid."

"Touch him again," Ryuji said, his discomfort now fully anger, "and I'll put my fist through your teeth." And she was taken aback at that, and that was good because he meant it to startle her. This whole being open and honest with his feelings thing was definitely seeming to work out for him. "I've punched a disobedient and angry Steelix in the face because he was about to level a house with people in it— you think being a woman makes you special? What you're doing to this man is wrong, and it's sick, and I don't care if the stakes are world domination or somebody's hurt feelings. You want to save the world from these people? Then don't stoop to their level."

His words definitely struck a nerve, as her eyes were clouded with emotion. But instead of saying anything, she turned on her heel, crossed the room and went out the front door, slamming it behind her. Honda behind him practically groveled, "Th-thank you."

Ryuji glared down at the man. "Whatever it is that's pushed her to where she is right now, I imagine that you people have something to do with it. And if whatever your boss is up to actually works out for him, the world is going to be full of angry, grief-ridden people— people drunken senseless with pain, just like she is now." He knelt to look the man in the eye, "You think you'll be exempt because you played for the 'winning team'?"

Honda couldn't look him in the eye, and seemed to debate with himself internally. Then he shook his head and spoke, "The shipment she talked about. There's a special shipment being sent right now to meet him… Noboru. He's going to attempt to use the machine on a legendary Pokemon, and he's going to need a good deal of the stuff for it to work."

"Where is it going?" Ash asked.

Honda looked over at Ash, "Kanto. Cerulean City."

Brock said to Ash, "You know about a legendary in Cerulean?"

Ash sighed, and after a moment shook his head. "No. But we're going to have to intercept him anyway."