Here is chapter 4 of this story, thank you all for your reviews on the story so far. I really appreciate every single one of your reviews.
I need a little help guys, I haven't watched the show in ages and need to know a list of all the wild Pokémon Ash has assisted during his travelling days from Kanto to the end of Unova. While I remember some, I know that there are ones that I have missed so I'd appreciate your help. I have already gotten a list from pokefan2003 listing some of the Pokémon Ash has met and helped but he did admit that he wasn't sure about any Unova ones.
As I wrote this chapter and pieces for subsequent ones I realised something, the changes I have made so far mean that the original story wouldn't really work going forward. The main reason being Ash's behaviour, because of the inclusion of Melody there is no way Ash would be such an isolationist like he and Paige were in the original. After you read this chapter go back to the original and you'll see what I mean. So I'm probably going to be looking for another writer doing a betrayal story that would be able to use what I previously wrote while I write this.
In conversations unless otherwise stated this is how you can tell what kind of speech is being used.
'- Poké Speech
"- Human speech
"- Aura/Telepathy
Without further ado let the chapter begin!
"So where are we meeting the Orange Crew?"
"Pummelo Island, I asked them to gather them there so we can all talk in private."
"Anything I should know before I meet them?"
"Not really, things don't change much out here. Just be open and honest with them like you were with me."
Ash nodded knowing that honesty would be the best policy, it had worked with Felina and would no doubt work with them as well since like the professor they were intelligent unlike a lot of people. The pair carried on in silence for a little while until Felina turned around again and she saw that Ash was clearly overthinking his upcoming meeting with the Orange Crew. As a professor Felina knew that overthinking wasn't necessarily a bad thing sometimes but this was not one of those times so she came up with something to distract Ash.
"You know Ash you're still the Champion of the Orange League."
"What?" Ash replied as he snapped out of his thoughts.
"Since you defeated Drake no one else has even come close to replicating what you achieved. Maybe some day you could take up that mantle of Champion, just think about it, Drake, Cissy, Rudy, Danny, Luana and you working together to get the Orange League the respect it deserves."
"Considering my current situation I don't know if that's a particularly good idea."
"I know for now it's not really viable but I'm hoping that you'll be proved innocent however if that's not the case then we'll make up an alterego for you. I know that what's happened has changed you Ash but I know deep down that you want to be involved in pokemon battling after this mess with Team Rocket is dealt with."
Ash stayed silent as he considered what Felina had suggested, it was true that battling was his passion and he couldn't imagine not being able to battle other trainers, plus the idea of joining the Orange Crew and working together to make the Orange League respected and feared was appealing. Despite this he was still concerned, if he was still believed to be guilty then if anyone where to realise who he is there would be repercussions for people who had supported him. After a small internal debte Ash grinned as despite all the risks the battler within him won out and the prospect of being a Champion was just too good to pass up.
"I-I think I'd like that once I'm done with Team Rocket."
"And maybe find yourself a nice young woman to date, someone kind and caring, like Melody for example."
Ash blushed as he thought of the beautiful maiden again, he wasn't quite as obvlivious as people thought, he'd certain wisend up in the romance department over the last year or so. There were a lot of girls he'd met that he'd have described as pretty or cute but none of them held a candle to Melody, everything from her striking red hair to her gorgeous blue eyes was stunning. Ash quickly stopped that line of thought as his hormonal teenage thoughts were starting to run wild. He then started to think of what he knew about Melody and realised that while he found the maiden attractive he knew next to nothing about her.
"I-I barely know her."
"Well you've got plenty of time in the near future. I know you're scared of letting people in again but trust me Ash, that girl will never hurt you in any way."
"O-okay Felina, I'll try."
"That's all I ask." Felina replied with a smile.
A comfortable silence fell over the two as Gyrados continued to swim towards Pummelo Island, silence had always given Ash a sense of peace and it gave him the chance to think over what Felina had said regarding Melody. It was true that he was scared of letting someone else get close, he had made that mistake in the past and had been hurt because of it but Felina had said with certainty that Melody wouldn't hurt him and the professor hadn't steered him wrong yet. Suddenely Pummelo Island appeared on the horizon and Ash quickly started focussing on his upcoming meeting with the Orange Crew.
Meanwhile at the Indigo Plateau a meeting had been called to discuss the attack on Viridian City, the death of Delia Ketchum and any leads they had on the location of Ash Ketchum. Opinion was divided on the innoncene of Ash, many believed he was guilty of the crimes, the evidence certainly pointed to him being the one responsible, they had video footage as well as finding Ash covered in his mothers blood with her dead body in his arms.
There was a minority who disagreed with the general view though, while the evidence was there and was pretty damning there was no clue as to a motive for why Ash would do this. That didn't seem to matter to most people though and they were intent on finding and mprisoning Ash without even considering the fact that the person who attacked Viridian City could have been in disguise.
Lance was the last one to enter the room, he looked around at the members of the Elite 4 of every region, every Champion, Looker and Scott with his Frontier Brains. While the people sat in the groups they came with their were divided opinions amongst the groups. Because of this very little was achieved at these meetings other than a lot of shouting, every vote ended in a tie which then had to be settled by the people next in line, the gym leaders. There was far less division amongst them, almost every gym leader believed that Ash was guilty, what swayed a lot of them was that Misty and Brock, two people who knew Ash better than anyone else there had quickly declared Ash guilty.
The Champions of the other regions all supported Ash, they knew that there was no way he would ever commit such atrocities. The Kanto Elite 4 were in support of Ash, the newest member Sabrina being the most adamant of his innoncence. The Johto Elite 4 were all against Ash and sure of his guilt. The Hoenn Elite 4 was also against Ash apart from Drake who didn't believe the boy he battled would be capable of such a thing. The Sinnoh Elite 4 were split, Bertha and Flint stood with Ash while Aaron and Lucian did not. The Unova Elite 4 were like the Johto Elite 4 certain of Ash's guilt and had already started scouring the Unova region. Finally Scott and his Frontier Brain all supported Ash, especially Anabel who had been surprisingly vocal during every meeting thus far.
The only one who hadn't voiced his side in all of this was Lance who hated his position in all of this. He believed Ash was innocent, there was no way the boy he met and fought alongside would ever do anything like this. The problem was he was the leader of the G-Men and as such could not allow his personal feelings to influence an investigation. Lance had tried to distance himself from this case and focus on the looming threat of Team Rocket but he had basically been forced into getting involved.
"Does anyone have any information regarding the location of Ash Ketchum?" Lance asked immediately quieting the bickering.
There were a ffew nervous glances between a few people and then multiple variations of no being said in response followed by several accusations being made by both side that they were hiding information. As the arguing continued a headache started to form in Lance's skull and not for the first time since Ash's disappearance. After a few minutes of hearing the same argument ebing held again was all it took to expel the last of the Dragon Master's patience.
"Enough!" Lance yelled shocking everyone to silence. "I am sick and tired of your childish bickering. This will be the last meeting I call you all to, any information you find will be given to me and I will provide it to everyone. Now go back to your own regions and find out whatever you can!"
With a dramatic swish of his cape Lance stormed out of the room leaving everyone still there in shock, Lance had always been extremely patient and to see him lose his cool was surprising to say the least. Lance's exit left many in the room feeling a little guilty that they had driven the calm, collected leader of the G-Men to this. Both sides of the debate threw each other a glare, appalled that the other had take the side they had. After a brief standoff everyone left the building both groups hoping that they would find Ash soon before the other side did so.
Notes
I know this was a short chapter, I considered lengthening it but it really wouldn't add anything so I've left it at that.
Thank you all for reading this chapter, please leave a review below telling me what you liked and what I could improve on. I'm also willing to use any ideas you may have.
