Humble Beginnings
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon.
Chapter 3: Big City Blues
As Ash and Dawn continued their journey to Jubilife City and Dawn's first Pokémon Contest Ash couldn't help but notice that his traveling companion seemed even more excited than usual; in a way he was just as excited as she was as he'd never been in a big city. He'd stayed on the boat when it stopped at Cinnabar Island on the way to Sinnoh since he didn't want to go out without a Pokémon that would protect him. Normally he would have just thought it had to do with the fact that she was going to make her Contest debut in Jubilife and they were almost there, but she kept counting her money over and over again like it was going to disappear. "Hey, Dawn, why do you keep counting your money? Is there an entrance fee for Pokémon Contests or something?" He asked. It was kind of important for him to know. Entering Pokémon based competitions was absolutely free in Kanto so long as you met the requirements. If things were different in Sinnoh he would be in real trouble when it came time to compete in the Pokémon League.
Dawn shook her head. "It's nothing like that, entering Contests is free as long as you register. I just want to make sure I have enough money to buy a Pokétch." She mist have noted the confusion on his face because she continued. "It's a must have for any Top Coordinator. Don't they have Pokétchs in Kanto?"
"I'm sorry, Dawn, but I've never heard of a Pokétch. They must be a Sinnoh only thing." Ash said.
"Oh, it's short for Pokémon Watch, they're really useful for Trainers because they have a bunch of cool apps, and like I said, all the Top Coordinators have them. Here, I'll show you a picture of one." Dawn said.
Dawn pulled out a magazine and turned to a certain page before handing it to him. He saw a girl with light blue hair. The magazine said her name was Marina and that she was a Top Coordinator, but Ash wasn't interested in that. Given that he knew it was a watch it didn't take him long to find the Pokétch. He said the first thing that came to his mind. "It's pink."
"They make a blue model for boys, Ash." Dawn said rolling her eyes. Her protest in this case was gentle unlike when he voiced his opinion on other things he considered girly. "I wasn't expecting you to wear a pink watch, Ash, it was just the only picture of a Pokétch that I have on me. I really think you should get one though, it'll probably come in handy at some point."
"Well, you're the expert on Pokétches here, Dawn, if you think I should get one then I don't see any reason not to." Ash said. They continued walking on what the map told them was the route to Jubilife City, just enjoying nature and each other's company. That is until a rather annoying trilling noise reached Ash's ears. He tried to ignore it at first, but it just kept going, his frustration was made all the worse by the fact that Dawn didn't seem at all bothered by the noise. "Okay, what is making that sound?"
His complaint shook Dawn out of her reverie. "Oh, it's just a Starly, we have them all over Sinnoh. Their cries are annoying, but you've grown up hearing them all your life you learn to tune them out I guess." She said.
Ash pulled out his Pokédex so he could look up Starly, it didn't take long. "Starly, the Starling Pokémon. Starly normally travels in a flock, but when alone, it is hard to notice." The robotic voice of Dexter chimed.
"It looks like it's the Sinnoh version of the Pidgey we have back in Kanto." Ash mused.
"This one sounds like it's been separated from its flock, it shouldn't give us any trouble." Dawn said.
"I'm going to catch it!" Ash declared.
"Are you sure you want to try and catch Starly, Ash, it's a Flying-type. If Pikachu was obeying you it wouldn't be a big deal, but Burmy will be at a serious disadvantage. Maybe you should try catching something else first." Dawn said.
"You caught Shinx with Piplup, and you were at a type disadvantage. This isn't any worse than that. Besides, I have to prove to myself that I can do this. You helped me catch Burmy, and I grateful for that, but I need to catch a Pokémon on my own and there's no time like the present."
Dawn nodded. "I understand. Good luck."
"Burmy, come on out!" Ash threw the Pokéball containing the Bagworm Pokémon and released her. She seemed to know why she had been called out and readied herself for battle. "Starly, we challenge you!" That definitely got the Starling Pokémon's attention as it came blasting out from the treeline, eager for a battle. It immediately began flapping its wings, unleashing a powerful gust of wind. Just from the fact that the wind wasn't hurting Burmy he deduced that the move was Whirlwind and not Gust.
Of course while Whirlwind didn't do damage it did have a rather unwelcome side effect in the form of blowing Burmy's cloak away Ash groaned internally as he watched his Pokémon take her mind off the battle at hand in order to reassemble her cloak. Not again! The situation was made all the worse by the fact that Starly was coming in for an actual attack. There was no way Burmy was going to put her cloak back together by the time Starly got within striking range, and she wasn't going to listen to any commands until she had her cloak back.
Ash did the only thing he could think of. He dove towards Burmy, scooping her up in his arms, shielding his Pokémon with his own body. He gritted his teeth against the pain as his arms took the full force of Starly's Wing Attack. Burmy managed to wiggle her way out of his grip, and construct a new cloak while Starly was occupied with attacking him. Hopefully now, they could actually battle Starly.
Starly immediately went back on the offensive by using Quick Attack. The Starling Pokémon charged forward at blinding speeds, a white streak trailing behind it. Ash knew that Burmy was nowhere near fast enough to dodge, but he wasn't about to let her take damage if he could help it.
"Burmy, use Protect!" As ordered. Burmy conjured the green spherical force field, and Starly plowed right into it. The Starling Pokémon seemed dazed from the impact. That didn't really surprise Ash though, he imagined it was a lot like falling from something tall, the sudden stop could do a lot of damage. "Use Tackle, Burmy!" Burmy complied, thrusting her body at Starly, sending it skidding back a few feet.
To the Starling Pokémon's credit, it gathered its wits quickly and was ready for round two. "Ash, look out, I think Starly is getting ready to use Whirlwind again!" Dawn called. He knew that she was probably right, Starly had seen how taking away Burmy's cloak took her mind off the battle. Why wouldn't it use a working tactic twice?
"Use Protect!" Ash ordered the Whirlwind came as expected, but this time Protect shielding Burmy, and her cloak from the strong winds. That was good, it meant that Burmy was still focused on the battle, but they had another problem. Starly was much more mobile than Burmy was by virtue of being a Flying-type so it was going to be difficult to land attacks when the opponent could move in all three dimensions. He would have to come up with something to neutralize Starly's mobility advantage, or they had no chance of winning this battle.
Starly was angling itself for another attack. Ash wracked his brain for anything that could turn this battle around, they'd been lucky so far, but that luck could run out at any moment. It was then that he remembered the battle they'd had with Dawn and Piplup, maybe something like that would work here... Starly came screaming toward Burmy with a Quick Attack. "Burmy, jump on top of Starly!" Ash ordered. Burmy was quick to follow his orders, her sudden weight on its back driving Starly to the ground. "Now use Bug Bite!"
Burmy's fangs glowed with Bug-type energy and she sank them into the nape of Starly's neck. The Starling Pokémon struggled valiantly, but Burmy was simply to heaving to shake off. Not wanting to torture the poor Pokémon Ash threw a Pokéball.
Starly was converted into energy and placed inside the Pokéball. It shook once, twice, three times, but ultimately it stopped shaking and made the deep chiming sound that indicated the Pokémon had been caught. Ash rushed over and excitedly picked up the Pokéball. "I caught a Starly!" He said before calling Burmy back onto her Pokéball. He quickly used his Pokédex to check out his newly caught Starly. He found out that it was male and that it used every move it currently knew in the battle.
"Congratulations, Ash!" Dawn said, putting her had out for a high five that Ash was more than happy to give her. "I'm sorry I doubted you."
"Don't worry about it, Dawn, I said the same kind of things when you battled Shinx." Ash reassured her. "Though this battle has taught me one thing."
"What's that?" Dawn asked.
"I need to teach Burmy to battle without her cloak, her fussiness about it has put us into a tight spot on more than one occasion."
"I can see why, you'd want to do that, but it won't be easy. As you've seen, Burmy value their cloaks above all else. Getting her to focus on a battle without one may be near impossible.
"I know that, but the opponents we'll be battling will likely know that too. That's why it's so important that we do this, it's a glaring weakness and overcoming it will give us a serious edge."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
"Well, we should get moving, Jubilife City isn't that far away, and you need to register for your first Contest, and I need to register for the Pokémon League."
The first thing Ash and Dawn did when they arrived in Jubilife City was head to the Pokémon Center. The reasons for this were twofold. The first was to get Ash's newly caught Starly checked out, and the second one was that Pokémon Centers were where you registered for Pokémon Contests and the Pokémon League. After registering for the Sinnoh Contest circuit and setting her Pokémon up with some food Dawn called home on the Pokémon Center's video phone.
It didn't take long for her mother to answer. Johanna smiled when she saw her daughter's face. "Hello Dawn, I see you've made it to Jubilife City. I'm glad you called, I was starting to get worried about you." She said.
"I'm sorry, Mom, I know I should have called sooner, probably after I got my starter in Sandgem Town, but I got a little overexcited. I promise that I'll keep in touch better in the future, but I'm okay, no need to worry." Dawn said sputtering in embarrassment.
"When you say there's no need to worry is exactly when I worry the most." Johanna teased. "So you got your first Pokémon okay?"
"It was quite the adventure actually." Dawn said before recounting how she had met Piplup.
"Oh my, that does sound like quite the adventure. Have you caught any Pokémon yet?"
"Yeah, I caught a Shinx, hold on, I'll call over my Pokémon so you can meet them. They're eating right now." Dawn looked over to see that Shinx was balancing a piece of Pokémon food on her nose in an effort to impress Ash's Pikachu, who seemed entirely disinterested, but then again Pikachu seemed disinterested I just about everything, so that wasn't really a surprise. She wasn't sure how she felt about her Shinx having such an obvious crush on a Pokémon as unruly as Pikachu, but I the end she figured there wasn't much she could do about it. She called Shinx and Piplup over so that she could introduce them to her mom.
"Those are some very nice looking Pokémon you have there, sweetie." Johanna said, "I hope you're remembering everything I taught you about Pokémon care."
"Of course I am, Mom, no need to worry." Dawn replied.
"And what do I do when you tell me not to worry?" Her mother retorted.
"Don't start that." Dawn said with a sigh, "Anyway, I've been training hard with my Pokémon and I've already thought of some really cool ways to show off their moves. It helps that Ash has been helping me train for the battle portion of Contests too."
"Ash?" Johanna asked.
"Oh, that's right, you haven't met Ash yet." Dawn slumped a little, slightly depressed by her own forgetfulness. "Hey, Ash, come over here for a second please. I want you to meet my mom." Ash quickly made his way over to the videophone.
"Hello, you must be Dawn's mom, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the Kanto region." Ash said.
"Hello, Ash, you can call me Johanna. Since you came all the way from Kanto, I would guess that you've been a Trainer for a while, right? I do hope Dawn hasn't caused too much trouble for you."
"Actually no, I'm just starting out, just like Dawn, I came to Sinnoh right away because I heard about all the cool Pokémon that live in this region. Dawn hasn't caused me any trouble at all, actually I owe her a lot. She helped me capture my first Pokémon since my starter doesn't like to listen to me."
"I see, so, Ash, do you want to be a Pokémon Coordinator like Dawn?" Johanna asked.
"Nah, my dream is to win the Pokémon League and become a Pokémon Master." Ash said.
"Interesting, how did you two end up traveling together with such different goals?" Johanna asked.
"Professor Rowan suggested that we stick together since we're both rookies; he thought we'd both be safer that way, and I'm glad he did. Ash and I are learning a lot from each other." Dawn said.
Johanna nodded. "That makes sense. Thank you for looking out for my daughter, Ash."
"It's really no problem, Johanna. Like I said, she's helped me out just as much, if not more." Ash said.
"Well, you should probably call home and let your family know that you're okay too, Ash." Johanna said.
"Yeah, you're probably right, my mom's probably worried sick and waiting by the phone. It was nice meeting you." Ash said. Dawn said a quick goodbye to her mother so Ash could have the videophone to call Pallet Town. It did take long for a brown haired woman that Dawn could only assume was Ash's mother to answer.
"Ash Ketchum, it's about time you called. Do you know how worried I've been? I didn't even know if you made it to Sinnoh in one piece or not." Yeah, that was definitely Ash's mother.
"I'm sorry, Mom, I meant to call you when I got to Sandgem Town, but I got a little distracted. I promise to call more often from now on."
"You'd better, young man." His mother admonished, "Still, to think you made it this far so quickly at the beginning of your journey. Your father would be so proud. You're the apple of his eye you know. I hope you've been remembering to change your-" She stopped suddenly, seemingly noticing Dawn for the first time. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm embarrassing you in front of your friend."
"Hello, Mrs. Ketchum, I'm Dawn Berlitz from Twinleaf Town here in Sinnoh." Dawn said.
"Hello, Dawn, you can just call me Delia. I take it you're a Pokémon Trainer too?"
"Yes, ma'am. Though I'm more interested in Contest battles than Gyms. My dream is to become a Top Coordinator like my mother. I met Ash in Sandgem Town shortly after I got my first Pokémon. Professor Rowan said we should travel together and we've been having a lot of fun." Dawn said.
"Well thank you for looking after my little boy, Dawn. It's just good to hear from you, Ash. Just don't make me worry like that again." Ash and Delia said there goodbyes and just as he ad Dawn were about to leave another call came in from Pallet Town.
The gray haired man on the other side of the line was one Dawn recognized instantly from television as Professor Oak, he read a lot of Pokémon poetry. "Well, Ash, your mother told me you made it to Jubilife City and I thought I would check in on you; I heard from Professor Rowan that you made it to Sinnoh safely, but you left Sandgem Town before I could get into contact with you. I don't suppose you've had any luck with that Pikachu I gave you?" Oak asked.
"I'm afraid not, Professor, Pikachu is as stubborn as ever, but I'm still trying. I'm sure I'll win him over eventually." Ash said.
"It's good that you haven't given up. Some Pokémon are more difficult than others, but a good Trainer will learn how to deal with any kind of Pokémon." Oak said. "Which reminds me, I bet Gary one million Pokédollars that you would catch a Pokémon before you got to Jubilife City. He had nob faith in you, but I did."
Ash smirked. "Well, you can tell Gary to pay up. I've actually caught two Pokémon. Though to be fair I don't know that one of them should really count, since Dawn had to help me because Pikachu won't listen to me." Ash suddenly looked panicked, "Oh where are my manners? Professor Oak, this is Dawn Berlitz from Twinleaf Town; she's just starting out like me, we met at Professor Rowan's lab. Dawn this is Professor Oak."
"It's an honor to meet you, sir." Dawn said.
"And it's a pleasure to meet you, Dawn. I'm always happy to meet beginning Trainers." Oak said.
"Forgive, me, but you really love Pokémon poetry, don't you?" Dawn asked.
"Why yes, I do." Oak said with a smile.
"Does that mean you know all the Pokémon poets?" Dawn asked.
"Dawn, I don't think you get it, Professor Oak is a real professor, just like Professor Rowan." Ash said.
"Then why do I always see him on TV reciting poetry?" Dawn asked.
"Perhaps I've been spending too much time on my hobby and not enough on my work." Oak mused. "At any rate, I'm happy to hear that you're doing so well, Ash, and even happier to hear that you found someone to travel with. I'm sure that you and Dawn will learn a lot from each other. I'm afraid I must go, I have a lot of work to do. It was nice talking to you both."
Now that their phone calls were finally over Ash and Dawn recalled their Pokémon and left the Pokémon Center. They had already reserved rooms, so they had a place to stay, but Dawn was determined that she wasn't going to end this day without a Pokétch. Unfortunately that seemed like it was going to be more difficult than she thought. There were plenty of Pokétch shops in Jubilife, they were a very popular item after all, but no matter where they went they story was the same. There were simply no Pokétches to be had.
After hours of combing the city, Dawn sat down on a bench outside one such shop, with Ash joining her. She knew that he wasn't nearly as invested in getting a Pokétch as she was, so he was much less torn up about the current situation. "It just doesn't make sense. Everyone knows that Pokétches are popular, how can no one in Jubilife not have any to sell?" Dawn asked the air.
"The story we heard from everyone was the same. They just haven't been getting their regular shipments, Dawn, and the shipments they have been getting have been much smaller than normal." Ash said.
"That makes even less sense." Dawn declared. "The Pokétch company is based right here in Jubilife, the stores shouldn't be having any issues getting supplied."
"I guess." Ash said. He seemed distracted. In fact, his eyes seemed to be tracking something.
"What's wrong, Ash?" Dawn asked.
"You see that guy there in the brown coat? He's acting shady, ad I've seen him outside of every Pokétch shop we visited." Ash said. Now that he'd pointed her out to her it wasn't hard for Dawn to find the man in question. Ash was right, there was something shady about him.
"Do you think he know something about the missing Pokétches?" She asked.
"There's only one way to find out." Ash said. He called after the man who only quickened his pace. Well, if that wasn't suspicious Dawn didn't know what was. Ash quickly took off after the man, any attempt to speak to him being flat out ignored. Eventually Ash managed to tackle the man to the ground.
"Do you know anything about the missing Pokétches?" Dawn demanded as Ash let the man up.
"Yes I do, but I didn't steal them, if that's what you're thinking." The man said.
"And why should we believe you?" Ash asked.
"Because I'm a member of the International Police." The man said, pulling a badge out of his coat. "I ignored you because it's part of my mission to avoid unnecessary contact, but now that we're speakig you may call me by my code name, Looker."
"Alright, Looker, do you know anything about the missing Pokétches?" Dawn asked.
"As it just so happens, I do, and I would be happy to tell two observant young Trainers such as yourselves all about it if you will follow me back to where I'm staying." Looker said. Dawn didn't see much choice, this was the only lead she had on where to get a Pokétch, besides Looker was a police officer, not someone dangerous, and she'd have Ash with her, just in case.
Looker lead the two Trainers who had cornered him back to the small apartment he was renting here in Jubilife City. He was using it as a base of operations for his investigation into Team Galactic. True, Jubilife was far from a central location in Sinnoh, but it was the information hub of the region, if there was any information to be had about Team Galactic it would pass through here.
"There really isn't much to this place, you would think a member of the international police would be able to afford a better place to stay." The boy, Ash said.
"It's rundown nature is exactly what makes it perfect for me. No one would think to look for a member of the international police in a place like this." Looker said.
"Whatever you say." Ash muttered. Looker just ignored the comment.
"Now I believe you wanted to know where all the Pokétches are going, correct?" He asked.
"That's right, I was really excited to get my Pokétch, but all the shops said they never got their shipments." The girl, Dawn said.
"That doesn't surprise me. The shipments are being hijacked by a group of Pokétch smugglers. You see, Pokétches aren't supposed to be sold outside the Sinnoh region. These smugglers are making a pretty penny by selling them on the black market in other regions. The Pokétch Company has taken steps to try and make their shipment trucks less appealing targets, namely less merchandise per load and random shipment times, but it's really hurting their business." Looker said.
"If you know all of this, why don't you go to the local police so they can help you shut down the smuggling ring?" Dawn asked.
"Stopping the smuggling ring isn't my real mission here in Sinnoh. Revealing my presence to the local authorities could compromise my true mission. If I'm going to stop these Pokétch smugglers then I will need help from less than official sources. That's where you too come in." Looker explained.
"Us?" Ash asked incredulously.
"Yes, I would like you to help me catch these Pokétch smugglers and take the credit for it so that my cover isn't blown." Looker said.
"Of course we want to stop these thieves, but we're just rookie Trainers, wouldn't this be too dangerous for us?" Dawn asked.
"I wouldn't worry about that. I highly doubt that these criminals are skilled Trainers, and I'll be there to watch your back." Looker said.
"I'm up for it, it sounds like it would make great training!" Ash exclaimed.
"That's the spirit!" Looker said.
"Well, I'm not about to let Ash run off on his own, Professor Rowan would kill me." Dawn said.
"Good, it just so happens that I know that a new shipment of Pokétches is being sent out today, and I'm sure our friends will want to steal it." Looker said. A few hours later, Looker, Ash, and Dawn were waiting outside the Pokétch Company headquarters for the truck carrying the new shipment of Pokétches to leave. Once it did, they followed it closely. So when the truck was ambushed by a half dozen Golbat on an alley street they saw the whole thing. Ash moved to stop the hijackers who appeared after the Golbat, but Looker stopped him. "We need to wait until they take the shipment back to their leader. That way we can shut down the whole operation at once. Just send your Starly out to tail the truck, we'll follow at a distance so as to not arouse suspicion."
Ash nodded and did as he was told. The trio continued to follow the criminals as they left Jubilife City via Route 218, heading toward Canalave City. That made sense really, Canalave was a port city, if you wanted to smuggle something out of Sinnoh, that was the place to do it. So he was slightly surprised that the truck stopped long before they actually reached Canalave, a large boat was waiting for them on the coast. They probably want to avoid port authority. A man in a fine purple suit stepped off the boat, looking none too pleased, Looker could only assume he was the leader of his little smuggling ring.
"This one better have merchandise, my customers are getting restless." He said.
"Don't worry boss, we checked the back. There's plenty of Pokétches for us to sell to the highest bidder in there." One of his subordinates said.
"Then let's get it cracked open and load them on to the boat." The boss said. "Go, Machamp!" The four armed Superpower Pokémon, grabbed a hold of the steel doors on the back of the truck and ripped them off.
"Now! Give up, International Police!" Looker said, sending out his Croagunk letting it and Ash's Starly rush forward.
"Use Wing Attack!" Ash commanded.
"Poison Jab, Croagunk!" Looker ordered. The two Pokémon rushed Machamp, but it simply caught Ash's Starly in midair and used it as a shield to block Croagunk's Poison Jab.
"What are you just standing around for? We're under attack!" The smuggler boss shouted. His cronies responded by sending out their six Golbats. That effectively took Ash's Starly out of the fight with Machamp since it now had to contest the skies. So it was rally down to him Croagunk to take it down.
"Dawn, I want you to use your Pokémon to help Starly." Looker said. The girl nodded.
"Piplup, use Bubble Beam to knock those Golbat out of the sky! Shinx, finish them off with Spark!" She called as she threw their Pokéballs.
Looker couldn't pay much attention to that part of the battle, he had to focus on dealing with the Machamp, which was quite enough to keep his hands full. To be honest, he wasn't even sure if he could win this battle without help.
"Use Karate Chop, Machamp!" The smuggler boss called. Machamp's hands glowed white and it aimed to hit Croagunk with a force that could slice boulders in half.
"Dodge it, Croagunk!" Looker shouted. The Toxic Mouth Pokémon dodged Machamp's attacks gracefully, the larger Fighting type wasn't exactly known for its dexterity. The smuggler boss was getting frustrated, but at the same time, it was clear that Croagunk was, slowing down, he couldn't dodge attacks forever.
"Use Cross Chop!" The smuggler boss ordered. Machamp crossed its once again glowing arms and then brought them down on the tired Croagunk, causing the Toxic Mouth Pokémon to sink into the ground slightly.
"Use Revenge, Croagunk!" Looker called. Croagunk's entire body glowed orange momentarily and then he struck Machamp in the chest with his fist casing the other Pokémon to stumble back a few steps and clutch the offended area in pain. Damage had been doe, but it was clear that Machamp wasn't going to go down any time soon. Looker took the moment to see how Ash and Dawn were doing. Thanks to the combied efforts of their Pokémon they had managed to take down two of the Golbats and do quite a number on the third, but it was obvious that the battle was wearing on them.
The smugglers were pushing Ash and Dawn's Pokémon closer to Machamp. It looked like a this wasn't going to end well for them. That was until a new voice cut into the battle. "Piplup, use Whirlpool." Suddenly a large whirlpool swept up the Smugglers' still active Pokémon, doing damage and knocking them all out. The humans present, as well as Ash, Dawn and Looker's Pokémon turned their attention to where the order had come from to see a brown haired girl in a blue shirt and gray pants about the same age as Ash and Dawn with a Piplup by her side. Looker had seen this girl before in pictures at the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia's house. "Verity?" He asked.
"A friend of my mother's, I presume?" She asked. "There's no need to thank me. All the noise interrupted my training for the Jubilife Contest. I just wanted it to stop. You might want to get to arresting these guys though." With that Verity and her Piplup left the scene. With their Pokémon out of the picture, arresting the smugglers was merely a formality. After turning them into the local police who promised to keep his involvement in the matter a secret from everyone except his superiors, and making sure that Ash and Dawn were rewarded in the form of free Pokétches from the returned merchandise Looker readied himself for a call from Lance. He was quite certain that his boss would not be happy about this...
Lance sighed as he listened to Looker's story of the events that had transpired just outside Jubilife City on Route 218. Looker was a good agent, there was no denying that, but he did tend to get a bit sidetracked at times. It didn't help that what had gone down was rather high profile, even if Looker had managed to keep his involvement a secret. "What the hell were you thinking? We sent you to Sinnoh to monitor Team Galactic's activities, not bring down Pokétch smuggling rings. You're incredibly fortunate that you didn't alert your targets to your presence." He said.
"I know my mission sir, but I'm also a member of the International Police, I couldn't just sit and do nothing while a major crime ring was operating in my jurisdiction. I'll take whatever punishment you wish to give me, but I still feel like I did the right thing." Looker said.
"I'm not saying that it was wrong to shut down the smuggling ring. I appreciate your dedication to enforcing the law, Looker, it's what makes you a good officer. So there won't be any punishment, I just ask that in the future you weigh the importance of what you are planning to do before going off mission." The Kanto Champion said.
"I'm sorry to report that I haven't been able to get any information on what Team Galactic is planning to do exactly. I will continue to investigate and give you periodic reports." Looker said.
"I'm sure you will, if the rumors we heard about what Cyrus wants to do are even remotely true, he needs to be stopped. We can't let him meddle with the power of the Creation Trio, the results would be catastrophic, possibly even more catastrophic than what we're trying to prevent. Plus it's likely that we will need to call for the aid of the Creation Trio ourselves in the coming battle."
"I know how important this is, Lance, no one wants us to be ready to face the Ultra Beasts again more than I do. I've seen firsthand the kind of destruction they can cause. Never again." The pain in Looker's eyes was palpable, and Lance could sear that the seasoned lawman was shaking. The threat of the Ultra Beasts had been brought to his attention well after the incident ten years ago had concluded, but he'd heard the stories of what had been lost.
"I've doubted your resolve. I just wish that Nanu shared your enthusiasm for the mission. It's like pulling teeth getting that man to do anything." Lance said.
"We were all damaged by what happened ten years ago. No one came out the same. This is just Nanu's way of coping with the pain. Try to be patient with him." Looker replied.
Lance nodded. "I understand, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. We need everyone on top of their game, we have no idea when the Ultra Beasts will be back."
"Speaking of our mission, I just met a couple of rookie Trainers who could be an asset to us down the line. Their names are Ash Ketchum and Dawn Berlitz. They helped me take down that smuggling ring." Berlitz, that name rung a bell, wasn't that the last name of a Sinnoh Top Coordinator, Johanna? If this Dawn was a relative of hers, probably a daughter, she might indeed be worth scouting.
"I trust your judgment, Looker, there are very few people who know about as much about what the Ultra Beasts are capable of as you do. If you think these kids might have what it takes then I'm inclined to believe you. That said, I don't want to send unprepared children into battle. Monitor their progress and if they continue to excel like you think they will we'll recruit them.
"I understand. There's one other thing about the smuggling ring incident I thought you should know: Cynthia's daughter was also there fighting them. I didn't even know she was in the city, she showed up on her own. Do you think we should let Cynthia know?"
Lance turned pale. "Absolutely not! They don't get along and I don't need an angry Sinnoh Champion yelling at me for putting her kid in danger, especially when it's not our fault. So just keep that quiet, understand?
"Yes sir, I understand completely." Looker said before signing off.
Sorry for the wait, first it was writer's block, then I had to reset my computer to the factory settings and lost the progress I did have. Not that I'm making excuses, I wish it hadn't taken this long. I will do my best to make sure future chapters come out in a more timely matter. That said, we should probably discuss the changes that took place in this chapter because I feel that transparency about these things is important.
First I'm sure you guys noticed major omissions from our main characters' Pokémon roster. Namely the omission of Dawn's Buneary and Pachirisu, and Ash's Turtwig. The omission of Pachirisu was simply because I already gave Dawn an Electric-type in Shinx. The lack of Buneary is another matter entirely. They only met Dawn's Buneary because Aipom stole Ash's hat and the ensuing events caused Pikachu to be nearly run over by Officer Jenny, no Aipom (and a Pikachu that wouldn't care about the hat at this point) means no Buneary for Dawn, but I've given Shinx a mix of Buneary and Pachirisu's traits to make up for it. The same kind of thinking applies to Ash's Turtwig, the only met it because of a scuffle with Team Rocket, Team Rocket isn't here so no Turtwig. I still gave Ash a Starly because no matter the universe an Ash without the regional bird just seems wrong.
The early meeting of Looker is a simple one to explain. When it comes to Team Galactic stuff I'm following the games instead of the anime for the most part because I feel the games did it better. Plus, it means more interaction with Cynthia, which is a big plus considering it ties closely into what I consider the biggest and likely to be the most controversial change I made this chapter.
The inclusion of Verity from Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You. I intend for Verity to be Dawn's main rival throughout Sinnoh. I chose her because she's sort of a mirror of Dawn, which will cause Dawn to develop a lot. Both having famous mothers, Johanna for Dawn, and Cynthia being commonly accepted as Verity's mother. Verity's relationship with Cynthia is much more rocky than Dawn's with Johanna, something that will play into Verity's character arc. Expect their rivalry to be much more antagonistic than the canon one with Zoey.
Speaking of which, Zoey will not appear in this story. That's the controversial part I mentioned, as I know Zoey is popular. I don't hate her by any means, she just doesn't check the boxes for Dawn's rival given where I want to take things. I understand if people hate me for this. Verity's inclusion also spurred one minor change, in order to prevent an over-saturation of the Piplup line Kenny will start with a Chimchar here as Dawn, Kenny, Barry and Verity would all have members of that line..
So I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review. Even if it is just eviscerating me for removing Zoey or any of the other changes I made. Don't expect any major payoff for the Ultra Beast plot for a long while, Ash and Dawn have a lot of growing to do before they are ready for that. Still, I wanted to show that I have a plan for where this is going.
Also, it is with great sorrow that we must mourn the passing of a certain Charmander in this universe. Time is still marching on in Kanto and without Ash there to save him... Of course that's one of many changes that have come from this course of action. Ash and Dawn have already missed out on meeting characters like Nando because without Team Rocket they didn't have to keep backtracking to meet up with each other like in canon, so they're actually making better travel time here. Of course, I'm not going to wipe away every episode, but taking things like that into account, a lot of fillerish episodes may get cut. Things like Contests will realign us with the canon timeline though.
Also one final note, I'm considering making a collection of side stories that detail what effects Ash's different travel path has had on various characters that he would have interacted with, at least the big ones, rivals, traveling companions etc. Please let me know if this is something you guys would be interested in. It would be its own fic so as not to break up the flow of this one.