"I'm out gramps. Mum said she was making dinner for the both of us tonight. Make sure you actually remember to come home this time." Gary Oak stood up, yawning. "Hopefully tomorrow the twin idiots actually show up to help."

The elder Oak simply smiled and laughed. "They're boys; I know they aren't going to show up most of the time. They want to explore, and I can hardly blame them." The professor joined his grandson, following him towards the door of his lab. "I'm very surprised that you aren't out there with them every day. You're young, have your adventures while you can."

Gary frowned before opening his mouth to speak. Before the words could leave his mouth the door to the lab swung open violently, narrowly missing him. Ash and Jay barrelled into the lab, knocking Gary flat on his ass.

"Oh shit Gary, didn't see you there." Jay mumbled as Ash pulled Gary to his feet. Jay looked straight at the professor, his tone serious. "We found a severely injured pokemon just north of town. It looks like it's trainer was killed by a ranger."

Ash pulled the pin out of his pocket and handed it to the professor. "The trainer had this on his jacket." Oak took the pin and the pokeball, hurrying off to the back of the lab where he kept his medical supplies.

"What kind of pokemon is it? What kind of injuries did it have?" Oak shot off the questions while pulling what little first aid equipment he had on hand. Not even waiting for a response, he shot off another round of orders. "Get it out on the table. Keep it sedated."

Jay piped up nervously. "It's a scyther. Still awake, with a battered exoskeleton. Looked like it was completely broken in places. One of its legs looked like it was barely attached to the body."

Oak shot him a look. "Do we know what inflicted these injuries? That'd go a long way towards healing it." Jay hesitated before pulling the ball out of his pocket. "We were attacked by an alakazam. If I had to guess, it was the ranger's partner."

Oak's face was a mask of determination. "Damnit!" Oak swore loudly. "Psychic attacks cause both physical and mental damage. Be careful, we don't know what state the scyther will be in."

There was only one problem with releasing the scyther from the ball. It was still awake. It immediately started thrashing, attempting to escape from the clutches of the two boys attempting to hold it down. The blades on its arms swung wildly, slicing through the air mere inches from Ash's face.

Oak turned towards the table, filling a syringe with a clear liquid. "Grab its arms. Right where the shoulder connects to the blade. Hold them still." Oak waited a moment as the boys scrambled to secure the pokemon. He then lifted the scyther's head and poked the needle through the thin exoskeleton. Within moments the bug's writhing had slowed and its breathing had calmed. The professor took a deep breath and sighed.

"I know that there are important matters for us to discuss. If the alakazam belonged to the ranger, then we are in grave danger. However, the rebellion and Lance can wait a day." Oak turned back to the surgical tools, still speaking. "I should be finished the operation by sunrise. All of you need to go home and rest. Pack up what supplies you can and get your families ready to leave. Leave everything non-essential." He frowned, raising his voice at the boy's protests. "I won't hear another word. This pokemon needs me at my best if it is to survive the night. All of you need to go home and gather your supplies. I will tell you everything you want to know in the morning."

The three boys saw the futility of arguing with Oak. When the professor set his mind on something it was impossible to dissuade him. They looked at each other, Oak already immersed in his work, and walked out of the lab silently. The door slammed shut behind them.

Gary looked at the two, anger clear on his face. "Are you two fucking kidding me? We spend hours upon hours talking about how we have to keep our heads down and keep out of the Empire's way, and somehow you two manage to find a dead ranger right on our doorstep. Not only that, but it had a psychic partner and you two killed it. I swear you guys have the opposite of a four leaf clover up your asses."

Jay smirked, "You're exaggerating. We aren't that unlucky."

Gary rounded on him, not enjoying the joke. "Every fucking time you leave town something happens. Sometimes it's a minor thing, like letting a rattata follow you back to our food supply. Then there's times like this where you threaten all of us. This is worse than the time you two managed to draw every spearow from here to Viridian City towards us. At least then we didn't have to uproot our entire lives and leave." Not even waiting for a response, he stormed off in the direction of his house.

Jay opened his mouth to shoot a response back but was stopped by a stern look from Ash.

"Don't do it. It'll just piss him off. He's just upset that his whole life just got flipped upside down." Ash said. "Just go home Jay. Go get yourself ready. Like the professor said, we're leaving in the morning."

Jay said nothing. He shook his head and stormed off in the direction of the houses. Ash followed him, leaving the professor in the lab behind.

The old, beat up looking truck shook as it travelled down the rough road. The three women sat under the cover in the back, hiding from the boiling sun. Oak sat at the wheel, staring off into the distance. The three boys sat in the cab with the professor, exchanging quick glances and whispers. They'd been on the road since dawn and the professor had refused to answer any questions, simply telling them to wait until they were under cover. Not one of them had dared to ask him the fate of the scyther, they'd seen the professor after failed operations before.

They simply drove in silence, only breaking silence when Ash's mother came up to the cab to pass out food. "The last of our pidgey breast. We're gonna need to stop to hunt for food soon Samuel." She said as she passed out the food.

Oak nodded, shaken back into reality by Delia Ketchum's arrival. "Thank you Delia. I'll have the boys do that when we stop next." He brought the truck to a standstill. "How's Daisy doing?"

Delia's almost perpetual smile faded. "Not good. She still isn't talking, just crying every now and then. Looks like she's still in shock." She shook her head and sighed. "Gary she is your sister. You're all she has left. Please try to snap her out of it. She won't even eat or drink. If we keep going like this she won't make it to Viridian."

Gary held his head in his hands. "I'll try Ma'am. She'll pull through." Gary smiled back weakly.

Delia smiled back, satisfied with Gary's answer and went back to sit with Jay's mother. The three returned to their conversation about how Pallet's farm had been doing.

Gary looked back at the three, watching them talk as if nothing was wrong. He turned back to face the front and sighed. "I wonder how they do it. We're leaving our home to go flee from an evil empire and they're chatting about how this year's harvest was compared to last year's." He sunk into his seat. "Ignorance is bliss I guess." He said, glaring at his grandfather.

"Ignorance ain't bliss for me." Jay finally piped up. "Professor, you told us that you'd answer any questions we had. We've been driving all damn day and you haven't answered a thing. We all can see you're frustrated. Mew knows the rest of us are." Jay smashed his fist against the side of the truck. "We need to know what happened professor. You need to tell us everything. If you think that we're going to just uproot everything without telling us why then you've got another thing coming old man."

Ash nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't have put it so harshly but I agree with Jay."He said.

The elderly professor swallowed hard, then spoke. "It was a terrible time. People were disappearing, just vanishing from their homes. Protesters were slaughtered in droves. Any sort of resistance was met with brutality. Empress Agatha…"

"She was the last ghost queen right?" Ash interrupted.

"Yes, she was the last of her line. And she was desperate to hang on to whatever power she could." Oak continued. "The rest of her family was killed in the destruction of Lavender City. As far as anyone can tell, they were slaughtered by spirits they were attempting to subdue. So when the call for increased autonomy came from the Lord Flint of Pewter she cracked down, hard. He was taken hostage, along with the Lady of Pewter. When other lords expressed their outrage they were taken prisoner as well. It was a dark time. People needed a hero to believe in."

Gary raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to guess that this is where Lance comes in? Playing the part of the revolutionary hero?" He asked.

Oak smiled. "Got it in one my boy. His betrothed rallied the Johtans while he smuggled himself into Kanto alongside a squadron of elite trainers. They beat back the Empire's forces at every turn. All of Kanto looked up to him. Finally, they assaulted the Indigo Plateau. The Empress' remaining forces were swept away by Lance's dragons and he declared himself Emperor, The Elites were formed out of the squadron of trainers Lance brought with him. For a time, everyone was happy with Lance's rule."

"And that's where Red's rebellion started?" Ash asked.

"Wrong," Oak answered. "People tried peaceful protests first. It ended even worse than it had when Agatha was in power. Lance attacked Cinnabar Island during a peace march. He hit the dormant volcano and caused it to erupt. 3 million people lived on Cinnabar. Every single one of them rose in defiance of his rule. It was a short, bloody war that resulted in the Empire being pushed off the island. So far, the Cinnabareans are the only ones who've managed to hold their own against Lance." Oak sighed, bringing the truck to a halt. "After that, the Empire looked vulnerable for the first time. Two people had the balls to stand up to Lance. A man only known as Red emerged from the Viridian area, rallying the oppressed under his banner. In Johto, the hero named Gold led the resistance."

Jay nodded, satisfied with Oak's story. "And Lance crushed the Johtans in the battle of Blackthorn. Then to ensure that Kanto and Johto could never rally against him, he collapsed the tunnels under the silver mountains and severed the rail lines that travelled between them. When Red finally reached the Indigo Plateau, his army was depleted and demoralized. Without support from the west, the rebels were crushed and scattered to the wind."

Oak smiled. "It looks like someone listens to my history lectures." He brought the truck to a halt. "That is the gist of it. We swapped one tyrant for another." Oak sighed. "It can't be helped. Right now we must focus on finding food. Gary, go tend to your sister. You two, take Blaze and find us something to eat."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Before we do that, I have two more question." When Oak nodded for him to continue he did. "Where do you fit into all this? And where do we? You never actually told us why we had to leave so badly."

Oak's smile faded. "The two questions I hoped not to answer… I suppose a promise is a promise." He cleared his throat and continued. "I was one of Lance's lieutenants. I fought for him, bled for him, watched friends die for him. Then I betrayed him when I saw what he really was."

The boys sat in silence, stunned by the revelation.

"As for why we had to leave… Lance does not know that I am alive and that Ash and Gary exist. That alakazam no doubt got a message out before you killed it. Your remarkable resemblance to two of the greatest threats to Lance's reign will have been noted." The professor stated, almost matter of factly. "You two are the sons of Red and Blue. You are the legacy of the rebellion. My job was to keep you safe until you were ready to take up the mantle of your fathers. For the sake of everyone in Kanto, I hope you're ready."

Well thanks everyone for reading the first chapter. I'm so sorry that this took so long to get up (I went without internet for a month), but on a side note I do have a few chapters stockpiled so it shouldn't be another month long wait for the next one. Thanks for reading, hope everyone enjoys it!