Chapter 3:
Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver
"Jane! It's such a pleasure to see you again," Lorelei remarked in a sweet voice as she pulled her into a friendly hug.
"Yeah, didn't fancy seeing you here," the nineteen-year-old answered, smiling at the beautiful bespectacled woman.
Will, a member of the Elite Four in Johto, whistled. "There must be some major thingy going on for the old man to call all of us in like this."
"Must be," Lorelei agreed as she folded her arms and checked out the entire place.
A grave look crossed Jane's face. "Seems that all the Gym Leaders are pulling vanishing acts, one after another."
Both their eyes widened in shock as Jane's revelation settled over them.
"You don't mean that they were abducted, do you?" Lorelei asked her.
Jane nodded. "That seems to be what everyone claims it to be."
"That is major. I wonder what is going on." An uneasy look crossed Will's face.
Not a moment too soon, the President of the Pokemon League arrived. Jane noticed that her grandpa had lost so much weight since she had last seen him, about a month ago. This perplexing phenomenon must be getting to him, she thought.
"Firstly, let me thank you all for coming at such short notice, I really appreciate it your coming here. As many of you know, there have been several cases of Gym Leaders disappearing all over the three regions, Kanto, Johto and Hoenn. However, there have been many witnesses, which happened to be the official pokemon referees, in charge of those gyms, claiming that they saw a masked boy who controls Mew, the legendary psychic pokemon. That is our prime suspect at the moment but alas, he is still at large."
At this, there were many whispers all around but Jane's blue eyes were still fixed on her grandfather as she waited tolerantly for the murmuring to die down and allow the old man to continue.
"The reason why I urgently requested your presence here is to lend a helping hand to the investigations so that it can flow smoothly. Your main objective is to protect the remaining Gym Leaders and thwart the perpetrator's plans, whatever they may be. Are there any objections against this decision?"
Mr. Goodshow gazed around at his audience which consisted of professional trainers and finally resting on his granddaughter's cerulean ones. Jane nodded and mouthed, "Grandpa, you can count me in."
The man gave her a fleeting smile before his eyes roved over to the rest of them. Just then, Agatha, another member of the Kanto Elite Four, raised her hand.
"Yes, if you would please, Miss Agatha?"
The old woman stood up, leaning against her walking stick. "Just a question. That sonny you were talking about, how in the world can he control a Legendary, much less Mew?"
"We have verification about Mew's destructive power when it destroyed all the Gyms so far."
Agatha nodded. "I see."
Another question was brought up, this time by Lorelei.
"The suspect might not just have an aim to only capture the Gym Leaders themselves. What about pokemon, the legendary ones? Isn't that what he seeks as well since he does have Mew?"
The President nodded his head. "Yes, that did cross my mind once but so far, we know that only Mew is in his possession right now. As you already know, legendary pokemon are elusive and scattered creatures much less, to even capture them is out of the question. How he controls Mew is something we need to confirm. However, there are myths stating that only selected trainers are able to control these said pokemon."
Jane raised her hand as well.
"Yes, Jane?"
"Sorry to disrupt but I wish to confirm something. How many Gym Leaders have gone missing?"
Her grandfather glanced down at the folder in his hand before he answered her question. "In Kanto, reports have shown Brock and Misty. In Johto, so far none but Hoenn, the first to disappear are twin Gym Leaders, Liza and Tate though recent calculations have shown that Liza and Tate are the first to disappear followed by Brock and then Misty."
Suddenly Assistant Joshua came hurrying in, his face drained of color. In his arms, there was a thick stack of papers.
"What's wrong Joshua?" Jane demanded sharply as all eyes turned to him.
Wiping his perspiring face with a handkerchief, he shook his head. "It's getting worse. Already three more has disappeared."
"Who are they?" Mr. Goodshow asked.
"Lieutenant Surge, Sabrina and Blaine."
Location: Cerulean City's Pokemon Centre
"You mean Brock and Misty aren't the only ones to go missing?" Ash questioned after being rudely awakened by Gary who had arrived from Cherrygrove City in the wee hours of the morning.
The other twenty-year-old nodded. "Yeah, the situation seems to be getting out of hand. More Gym Leaders are going to go missing as we speak."
"What are we supposed to do now?"
Gary smirked, resuming his old demeanor once again just like when they used to be battle rivals. Ash still thought of him as a rival now though, that had not changed. "I was hoping you would ask me that question. Gramps told the both of us to head to Silver Town. It seems that trainers are being called in to protect the rest of the Leaders."
Ash nodded quickly. "Yeah, you can definitely count on me."
His Pikachu nodded as well to indicate its agreement.
"We'll just surf our way there with Blastoise."
Just as quickly as it came, Ash's smile vanished. "Oh yeah, before we leave here there's something I think I need to tell you first."
Gary looked expectantly back at him.
"Uh, I have Ho-oh with me."
The researcher blinked as he stared at Ash in confusion.
"What are you talking about, Ash?"
Ash sighed, "Like I said, I have Ho-oh with me. It chose me as its Guardian Trainer. Also, Ho-oh mentioned something about other Guardian Trainers as well."
"Guardian Trainers?" Gary repeated.
His friend nodded again. "Yeah, trainers who are specially chosen by the pokemon to take part in some sort of battle that Ho-oh predicted, I guess. Do you have one?"
Gary shook his head, no.
"Maybe your partner hasn't found you yet," Ash suggested.
Gary shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He hated to admit it but he felt slightly jealous of Ash since he possessed something which Gary knew, lacked, deep in himself. However, putting that envy aside, he knew that Ash was not the sort of person to fib about something as critical as this.
"Well, let's get going then. Blastoise, let's proceed to Silver Town."
Gary called upon his own companion.
During the entire journey there, the researcher had only one thought in his mind. About his own chosen partner in this envisaged battle.
Location: Mossdeep City's Pokemon Centre
"I can't believe this!" Dylan snapped, putting his head in his hands. "What will Aunty Rachel and Uncle Jin say?"
He had yet to visit the twins' parents but he did not have the heart to tell them. He did not want to get them hurt. Lance had done him that very favor.
He knew that something was up to have not only Liza and Tate disappearing but the rest of the Gym Leaders around the regions. Is there any way to stop this criminal?
"Dylan!"
The twenty-year-old looked up when he heard a woman's voice calling his name.
"Aunty Rachel?"
"It's so good to see you again, dear," the blue-haired woman told him warmly as she hugged him.
"We saw you on the news earlier, congratulations Dylan," Jin added, patting his back.
"Yeah thanks, Uncle Jin."
As the four of them took their seats at a recently vacated table, it was Jin that started off the conversation.
"We knew about their disappearance since a week ago."
His wife nodded slowly, trying to keep her tears in check. "We notified the police but their search had turned up nothing. The gym was ruined and everything was so messed up."
Dylan noticed that Rachel had lost weight and her face looked so gaunt and weary with dark circles under her eyes. The smiling aunty he once knew, was gone. Dylan could understand what she, as a mother was going through when her children were threatened. The worst thing was she could not even do anything about it. She was helpless.
Jin placed a comforting arm around her for support.
"The Pokemon League council is looking into it. It seems that the foe we're dealing with is a formidable one. We're unsure of his motives but we are doing all we can to help the police in the investigation," Lance explained.
"I see," Jin answered, nodding.
"Please bring my twins back," Rachel implored.
"Yes. We will, I promise," Lance answered. "We're getting as much people to help out as we can right now."
"Well then, I'll take part as well," Dylan spoke up suddenly.
Everyone turned to him.
"That's a fine idea, why not?" Lance agreed. "We need all the help we can get."
Dylan nodded.
I'll get them back, just you wait, whoever you are…
Location: Silver Town at the foot of Mount Silver
There were several collective gasps around the room at the latest news.
"This guy is moving fastest than we thought," Will remarked. "And the old man has not yet even concluded this meeting."
Lorelei nodded in agreement. "Yes, if we don't act fast, very soon they will all disappear."
Before Jane could said anything, the door of the conference room slammed open. Everyone turned their attention to the latecomers.
"Sorry we're late!"
Jane's eyes widened in astonishment when she saw who it was.
"Gary?" she exclaimed.
Gary's reaction was similar to hers.
"Hey there, Jane!" he replied, grinning.
"Ah yes, greetings to the both of you," Mr. Goodshow said. "I heard about you from Professor Oak."
As soon as they finished exchanging greetings, both Gary and Ash joined Jane who was standing next to Lorelei and Will.
"Ash, this is Jane," Gary motioned towards the pink-haired nineteen-year-old.
Jane gave him, a huge grin and extended her hand, out to him. "Jane here, a pleasure to meet you, Ash."
The two of them did a firm handshake thus sealing their newfound friendship.
"Right then, let's start where I've left of," the President began. "First thing first, some of you are to organize yourself into groups of two by random arrangement. The Elite Four of the respective regions will be designated to each Gym. This will allow you to back each other up in case of a battle. From there, we'll arrange for you to protect each of the remaining Leaders."
The groupings were done automatically. Gary and Ash were to protect Norman of Petalburg City in Hoenn while Jane landed with Lance, to protect Flannery of Lavaridge Town also located in the Hoenn region.
"Sorry about your being temporary solo, Jane," Charles told her once they were alone, after the rest of them had left to their respective destinations that was scattered around the regions.
Jane smiled at her grandfather. "No worries, grandpa. I'll be fine."
The old man gazed at his only granddaughter whom he had raised independently for the past fourteen years ever since her parents had died in a car crash. The girl grew up into a young lady who had not only fulfilled his expectations but had exceeded them as well. It was time to put all of his trust in her to stop this evil at all cost.
"This is a Pokemon Navigator," he replied as he handed her the latest communication device that was invented. "Use this to keep in touch. I've given one to Lance as well. You would be able to correspond with him easily."
Jane nodded and hugged him. "After this is all over, I will come visit you like a granddaughter would do, I promise."
"I know you will keep your promise, Jane. Everyone will be awaiting your return."