The Eighteen

Chapter 4

December 1, 2002. Unknown Location. Midnight.

"Are you sure this is going to work? We've already gave it one dose, and that was more than enough. Are you sure you're not overdoing this?", came the response of a local scientist. The hired scientists were in charge of maintaining and taking care of the subject when it wasn't on missions.

"No matter. At least we have the doses anyway. It's a good thing that our assets from Orre were able to supply us with these.", came the voice of a man hidden in shadow. Said man turned around to face his special council, who were also hidden away from the light.

"Are you sure you'll be able to control it now? The doses might make the subject unstable, according to the data.", said a nasally voice from the other side of the room.

"I second that. What if it loses control and sets itself free? Then we'll have a monster on our hands, and no way to use it anymore!" This voice seemed rather gruff and raspy, but the source was hidden from view as well. The man looked around the room to see if anyone else would continue the debate, but nobody else on the council said anything

Giovanni smiled. These two council members were usually the ones to be on opposite sides of an issue, immediately resorting to fight each other to see which one was right, but now they were finally agreeing on an issue. That was good towards his plans, as if his council could be unified and accepting of his plans, then that would be a giant step towards the whole world unified under him and his council's reign.

But there was one thing that he and the rest of the council members were on the same terms with. He was going to succeed this time around, and he would have to use all his assets to control and use the Blinding One to assume ultimate power.

December 2, 2002. Pallet Town. Morning.

Ash slowly opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. After the events that made up yesterday's dinner, Ash, Gary, and Tracey started planning on a list of people that Ash was willing to bring to Indigo Plateau to keep them safe from these incidents, if he was ever a factor. Besides adding Gary, Ash had come up with a number of other people to bring to Indigo.

Gary Oak - Pallet Town, Kanto

Max Maple - Petalburg City, Hoenn

Dawn Berlitz - Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh

Iris Stevens - Opelucid City, Unova

Cilan Griffith - Striaton City, Unova

Serena Paschall - Vaniville Town, Kalos

Clemont Liscio - Lumiose City, Kalos

Paul Rebolledo - Veilstone City, Sinnoh

Barry Lee - Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh

Ritchie Jayne - Frodomar City, Kanto

Trip McGonnigal - Nuvema Town, Unova

Kenny Hudson - Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh

After finding out from Lance that Brock, Misty, May, Drew, Harley, Solidad, and even Zoey were reported to the Indigo Plateau, Ash had made his list from there. He had thought about writing down people such as Sawyer or Alain, but he decided that he couldn't put everyone he knew on this list, or else Lance would have trouble tracking everyone down, which he didn't want either.

"Hey, Ash. You up already?"

Ash turned around and climbed down from his bed to face Gary, who had just walked into the room. "Yeah, are you ready?"

"You bet I am." Gary and Ash walked downstairs to the Ketchum's living room, where Mimey was already up, cooking breakfast.

"I don't know about this, Gary. I was looking to settle down around here for a while before I went on another journey, and now I'm dragged into another adventure because bad guys are out for me because of revenge? I don't know what to do, man." Ash was clearly distraught about this whole situation, and he showed that in his words. He didn't know if he wanted to follow through with this, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter, either.

"Don't worry about it, Ashy-boy. We already got into this mess, and we're going to get out of it together.", exclaimed Gary. Ash's spirits lifted once he said this.

"Sure thing, man.", said Ash as he wolfed down his breakfast, while everyone else in the room just sweatdropped at the sight. After Ash and Gary finished their breakfast and went to the Lab to pick up their Pokemon and finalize some handouts and paperwork. Gary chose to take Blastoise, Umbreon, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, Arcanine, and Electivire to Indigo Plateau, while Ash took Pikachu, Sceptile, Infernape, Krookodile, Staraptor, and Heracross with him as well. After waiting until the designated time, Ash and Gary stood outside while Lance arrived on his Dragonite to pick up Ash and Gary.

"Ash, please stay safe. I don't want you getting hurt!", said Mrs. Ketchum.

"That goes for you too, Gary! Be safe!", exclaimed Professor Oak.

The two Pallet Town natives nodded and climbed up onto Dragonite's back along with Lance, as they took off towards Indigo Plateau.

December 2, 2002. Twinleaf Town. Late Morning.

Dawn was relaxing inside her room, until the doorbell rang. As her mother was in Jubilife City for an interview with Jubilife TV, Dawn had to stay at home. She ran downstairs to answer the door, and was subsequently greeted by a stern man in a black uniform.

"...Hello?...How can I help you?", asked Dawn, who was startled by the seriousness of the man standing on her doorstep.

"Dawn Berlitz, I presume?", asked the man. He showed no change in expression when Dawn looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah… that's me. What's going on?"

"Just get into the car, it's for your own good. Don't worry about your mother, she has already been alerted of this.", exclaimed the man.

"Okay…", muttered Dawn as she opened the car door, and was even more surprised to see Barry, Kenny, and even Paul already inside. After regaining her composure, she smiled and sat down. Once the car started to move, the four people began to talk amongst one another.

"So, do you know what any of this is about? It seems really strange that somebody would to this.", said Dawn. Barry looked up with a wild grin on his face, probably ready to spout out some theory he found online about this.

"I told you, this has to do with what happened in Pewter and Snowpoint! I told you they were connected in some way! I knew it!", shouted Barry. Dawn and Kenny fell over anime style once Barry was done explaining his theory.

"Yeah, Barry… whatever you say… ", mumbled Kenny as he sighed to himself.

Paul, who had been silent for the whole ride, decided to speak up. "I don't know what's going on, but you don't have to be so annoying about it.", he said as he looked down. He began to murmure under his breath, but only one word could be made out. "Pathetic."

A while later, the car stopped, and the teens walked out to see Canalave Airport in front of them. The man who had escorted them to the car walked in front of them.

"Come on, we don't have all day. We're going to Kanto."

December 2, 2002. Nuvema Town. Late Morning.

Trip walked out of his house and towards Professor Juniper's laboratory down the street. He was looking forward to seeing his other Pokemon that were at the laboratory, and getting to spend time with his Pokemon as well. As he walked down the road leading to the lab, he was stopped by a man with sunglasses and a black uniform on. Trip stared at the man, with a confused expression on his face. Then, the man started to speak.

"Trip McGonnigal?"

Trip was confused as to why this man knew his name at first, yet he still nodded his head. He did have a number of questions, though. Who was this guy? And how did he know his name? Was he some kind of stalker or something? Trip didn't know what to think.

"Please, come with me. It's for your own good.", repeated the man.

Trip was definitely feeling a little skeptical after this. This man randomly shows up, asks him to come with him, and now he's saying it's for his own good? Man, that guy must be crazy.

After Trip didn't oblige, the man started to get serious. "Listen, kid. If you want to be targeted by an evil syndicate, then keep going. If you want your butt to be saved, then come with me. Alright?"

Trip stared at the man. If what he was saying was true, and that he would be targeted by somebody, then he would go with the man because he wanted to save his skin. "Okay, fine. I'll go, but do you know where you're taking me?", he asked, as he and the man began to walk behind the car.

"We're taking you and your friends to the Indigo Plateau, in Kanto, for your safety. Don't worry, your parents have been alerted of this occurrence.", said the man.

'The boonies?', Trip thought to himself. 'Now I know that Mom and Dad will be worried.' As he opened the car door, he was even more shocked to find a purple-haired girl and a green-haired boy sitting down. Two people that he recognized.

"Iris? Cilan? What are you doing here?"

December 2, 2002. Pacifidlog Town. Afternoon.

Serena stood in the Pacifidlog Town Pokemon Center, waiting for her Pokemon to be healed. Even though it had been 3 days since she arrived in Hoenn, she had already taken a boat from Slateport City to Pacifidlog Town, where a Pokemon Contest would be held. After winning her first ribbon earlier that morning, she decided to relax for the rest of the day and to enjoy the island's sights.

Then, the sound of the automatic door opening rang throughout the lobby, as a boy came into the Pokemon Center, completely exhausted.

"Missed… the boat… help… ", stammered the boy as he placed his Pokemon onto the healing counter. Nurse Joy was shocked by that, to say the least. "Okay, your Pokemon will be healed in about an hour. We hope to see you again." The boy then collapsed onto the couch, with complete exhaustion on his face. Serena walked up to the boy, with worry all over her face.

"Are you okay? You seem really tired.", commented Serena, as the boy looked up to acknowledge her.

"Yeah, I'll live. I was trying to catch a boat to island this morning, but I missed it, so then I had to surf on the back of my Wailmer to get there.", said the boy. "I'm Max. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Serena. I got here a few days ago myself. I just won the contest this morning, and now I'm just trying to relax for the rest of the day.", exclaimed Serena.

"Oh, you won the contest? My sister's a coordinator, and she even won a contest here a few years back. It was her last ribbon before the Grand Festival, even.", said Max. Serena perked up at this, as she was surprised that Max knew so much about contests, even though he looked like a rookie trainer.

"Yeah, I got to travel with my sister and a few other friends a few years ago. My sister did contests, while my friend collected Gym badges.", exclaimed Max. Serena's eyes widened at this. Gym Badges? Isn't that what Ash did? Serena shook her head and focused on the conversation, as a lot of people collected Gym Badges, it wasn't just Ash. All of a sudden, a woman with sunglasses and a black uniform walked over to them.

"Max Maple, Serena Paschall, I presume?", said the woman. Serena and Max looked over at the woman, and were surprised that she knew their names.

Suddenly, recognition came to Serena's mind. Maple was the last name of the famous Coordinator called the Princess of Hoenn, May Maple, which Palermo had told her about on the plane to Hoenn. Now, she meets her brother out of nowhere, and then this woman shows up suddenly knowing their names? Something wasn't right here.

"Please, come with me. It's for your safety." Serena and Max stared at the woman, with confusion on their faces. Then, Max stood up, grabbed his Pokemon from the counter, and went with the woman.

"I don't know what this is either, but I better come if I want to find out.", said Max. Serena followed his example by taking her Pokemon back from Nurse Joy and walking out of the Pokemon Center with Max and the woman.

After walking onto the island docks, the woman gestured them to board a small black speedboat with a cover on. Serena and Max walked into the main cabin to find another boy who was older than them sitting on the bench. He had brown hair, but a blue and yellow cap covered most of it. He also was wearing a short-sleeved jacket and jeans with a vest on top. He looked up to see two new faces, and so he stood up and brought out his hand.

"Hi there. I'm Ritchie, nice to meet you."

December 2, 2002. Indigo Plateau. Afternoon.

Ash sat down on the couch of the living room, along with everyone else at the time. May was talking with her Contest rivals, along with Dawn and Zoey, about contests and how far they had gotten in this contest season. Brock was busy trying to flirt with League officers, but to no avail. Paul was sitting in the corner, away from everything else, and Gary was discussing research topics with Iris, Cilan, and Trip. Dawn left the Coordinators' discussion to talk with Paul for a little, and after a moment of being by himself, Misty came and sat down next to Ash on the couch.

"Ash, are you okay?", asked Misty politely. Ash turned to face her, with a slight smile on his face.

"I'll be fine. It's just weird, you know, that a bunch of bad guys would be after me and everybody else, y'know?" He sighed, and looked back down. Misty's heart thundered in her chest. She had always liked Ash, but the only problem was that he was too dense to notice any hints that she might have been giving.

"I'm sure we'll all be okay, Ash. I know you want to protect your friends, but sometimes things like this happen, and we just have to live with it.", said Misty. She tried hard to hide her blush, but an inevitable red appeared on her cheeks.

Ash looked back at her, his heart beating loudly. "Thanks, Misty. That sure means a lot." he blushed without noticing and smiled, and he started to talk about his Kalos journey with Misty. She seemed really intrigued as to what Ash did during his sixth adventure.

Meanwhile, Brock, who was back after attempting to talk to anyone of the female League Agents, was looking at Ash and Misty talking amongst one another. He sighed to himself. 'Man, she really does still like him after six years. I just hope he can take a hint.', thought Brock to himself.

All of a sudden, another agent walked into the large room, followed by three kids. Clemont, who had just arrived a while earlier, was the first to notice. He turned around and immediately recognized the honey-blond Pokemon Performer behind the agent.

The agent soon spoke up. "Alright, these are the last of them. Everyone is here now." He then left, leaving the three newcomers to stare in shock at what they saw.

"May!", shouted Max as he ran up to his older sister, who wrapped him in a hug.

"Hey Ritchie, how's it going?", said Brock, as he walked up to him with his hand outstretched. Ritchie smiled and shook his hand.

Serena couldn't believe what she was seeing. Not only was May Maple here, so were a bunch of other Coordinators that Palermo had told her about. Drew Hayden, Harley Rannells, Dawn Berlitz, and even Zoey Johnson were all there, in the same room. She then looked around to see who else was there, until her eyes laid on one raven-haired boy on the couch.

"Ash? Is that you?"

Ash turned around to notice Serena staring right at him, her eyes wide in surprise. He stood up and said, "Yeah, I'm here. Nice to see you all got here safely." At hearing this, Serena smiled and ran up to hug Ash, who was startled at her actions. Misty, however, became very angry at this, and was clearly seen trying not to cause an outburst.

Clemont, seeing the commotion, walked up to Brock, who was looking at the scene with a stern face. "Man, so this Misty girl really likes Ash, huh?" Brock turned around and continued the conversation. "Oh, you have no idea how. I traveled with them for two years, and I always knew she liked him, but he was just so dense he never noticed."

Clemont sighed and faced Brock again. "I traveled with Ash, Serena, and my sister Bonnie in Kalos just now. I think that Serena really has a crush on Ash, but he was always dense to notice her hints now."

Brock sighed to himself and began to mumble. "I guess some things never change. Now there's some major trouble here, and I'm not sure if Ash even knows what's going on either."

"You got that right.", exclaimed the Kalosian native.

"Oh! Who are you?", exclaimed Serena, finally noticing Misty on the couch after talking to Ash for a bit.

"I'm Misty. Nice to meet you too.", she said. She was trying her hardest not to freak out right now, especially since this girl obviously liked Ash too. Meanwhile, Ash went up to talk to Ritchie, who had just arrived here.

"Looks like there's trouble in paradise, huh?", asked Ritchie, with a smile on his face. Ash, who was confused by what his friend said, could only think of one response. "What do you mean?"

Ritchie sighed and walked away. "Oh, you'll figure it out soon enough, Ash.", he said as he walked back over to the couch.

A while later, after everyone had introduced themselves to one another, they were relaxing in the room. That is, until Lance and surprisingly Cynthia walked into the room.

"I see that you have gotten to know one another?", said Lance curiously. "Good, now onto business. We have reason to believe that some evil syndicate is on our backs, and their target is you, Ash." Everyone in the room who didn't know that already gasped, shock clearly evident on their faces. "We all know that Ash has experiences with teams such as Galactic and Flare, and this syndicate might be out for revenge on the boy who helped take them down."

Ash looked visibly disturbed at this. "But why get my friends involved at all? These people should have just gone after me when I was alone, then they would have a much easier job."

Lance understood what Ash was trying to say, and he countered with his explanation. "If these people had gone after you when you were alone, then your friends would obviously try and rescue you, so maybe they tried to take out your friends first, then move on to you."

"Oh… I never thought of it that way… ", murmured Ash sadly. Cynthia noticed his and his friends' distress and continued the conversation.

"So that's exactly why we brought you here to Indigo Plateau. You'll be safe while you're here, protected by the League and the G-Men.", exclaimed the Sinnoh Champion.

Ash and his friends perked up at that sentence. They were glad that they could be safe from this syndicate if they stayed here, and that's what Lance was planning on doing for them.

"Now, should I show you all your rooms?", said Lance. The teenagers nodded their heads, excited to find where they were going to sleep. Lance walked out of the room, along with the teenagers.

After the teens the Champions had left the room, one G-Men agent walked into the guest room. She took off her cap to let her bright blond hair curl out.

The agent picked up her custom-made communicator and pressed a button. "This is 009 to HQ. They're all at Indigo.", she said as she waited for a response from the other end. She looked around to see if any more agents were nearby, then returned her focus to the communicator.

"Good. I will send the subject over soon, presumably when they won't expect it.", said the voice. The woman smiled at this. "You got it, Boss.", she said as she closed off the call and put the communicator, which had a small RR engraved onto it, into her jacket.

Domino smiled. These teens had stopped her and her organization for too long, and it was time to make them pay for what they did.

"Woah, this thing's huge!", exclaimed Ash as he looked into his room, which he was sharing with Brock and Misty. There was one full-size bed, and a pull-out couch in the living room. Brock, sensing an opportunity, decided to make a decision.

"Okay, how about I'll take the couch, while you two go sleep in the king-size bed. What do you say?", said Brock as he placed his bags onto the couch. Misty shot a smile at Brock before saying, "Okay!", and dragged Ash over to the bed and put their stuff on it.

After unpacking their bags and settling down for the night, Misty decided to walk out onto the balcony of the room. The view from Indigo Plateau was magnificent, and she could see parts of the Northern Mountains, which separated Kanto and Johto from Sinnoh in the north, and the grasslands of Johto far below. As she heard the sound of the sliding door open, she looked behind her to see Ash walk up next to her on the balcony.

"Hey, Misty.", said Ash. He could feel his heart thunder underneath his rib cage, but he didn't know why.

"Hey, Ash." After pausing for a moment, she continued the conversation. "To be honest, I'm worried too. About the gym… about our families… about us…" Misty's voice became quieter as she continued on, making that last part unable for Ash to hear.

"Misty, I know I'm worried too. Worried about my mom, my life, and even my friends. Including you, Misty. Misty's face went a deep red, and she smiled at him. Even though Ash was too dense for his own good, he could cheer anyone up with his inspirational moments.

"Thanks, Ash. That really means a lot.", said Misty. Ash's face turned a deep red without him noticing, and Misty smiled on the inside. 'Maybe he really does like me back. Too bad he's just too dense to notice it.', thought Misty to herself.

"You're welcome. I'll stay inside for now.", said Ash as he walked back inside the room. Brock smiled at this, as it seemed as if they really did enjoy each other's company, Ash included.

Misty sighed and looked out the window. The sun was just starting to go down, and the sky was now a bright orange. It looked absolutely beautiful. Soon after, her thoughts drifted to the raven-haired boy she was now sharing a room with. She had known Ash since she was ten, and now, six years later, she finally had the courage to tell him that she liked him. She knew she could do it, and she was planning on it.

April 1, 1997. Route 1. Afternoon.

"Hey, I got a bite! And it's a big one!", shouted ten year-old Misty Williams, as she was fishing on the river on Route 1. She had left the Cerulean City Gym a few months ago to train on her own, and to be honest, it hadn't been going very well. She didn't have many Pokemon on her, and they kept getting hurt when she battled much stronger trainers. But when she pulled out her fishing rod, and a boy came flying out of the water, her whole life was going to change.

"AAAAHH! They're coming back! Run!", shouted the boy. Misty looked towards the waterfall, and she saw a giant Spearow flock coming closer. Just what did this kid do to get them angry? The boy, much to her surprise, climbed onto her bike, placed his Pikachu in the basket, and started to pedal.

"Hey-Wait! That's my bike!", shouted Misty. The boy looked back at her, and said one sentence that would send her across three regions with this kid.

"I'm borrowing this. I'll give it back someday!", he shouted as be pedaled away into the open field. Misty cringed to herself, as now she was going to have to walk to Viridian City!

March 28, 1999. Viridian City Outskirts. Sunset.

"Ash… will I… see you again?", asked Misty desperately. After traveling around with Ash for two years, she had come to terms that she liked him, but he was too dense to notice that, unfortunately. But since she had to go back to the Gym, it was now or never. She couldn't tell him now, it was already too late for that. But she had one last chance, and that was if she was going to see her best friend again.

Ash nodded his head. "Yes. You will, Misty."

After saying their goodbyes, the trio all went their separate ways, with Ash going to Pallet Town, Brock to see his family in Pewter City, and Misty, who was going to have to take care of the Cerulean Gym while her sisters were away. After that one last question, Misty now knew what she should do. She would wait for a chance to see her best friend again, when they were both older, and then tell him. Who knows, he might even like her back!

"All right, Ash Ketchum. Now I finally know how you feel about me."

December 2, 2002. Indigo Plateau. Evening.

As she was walking back inside, she could have sworn she saw Serena giving her a death stare in her peripheral vision from one of the other room balconies. 'What's her problem?', she thought to herself as she closed the sliding door behind her.

May was sitting on the bed, flipping through the TV channels. There just wasn't any good shows on right now, and she was swamped trying to find some good networks. After giving up, she laid down on her bed until Drew came and sat down next to her.

"Hey.", said Drew. Despite Solidad's pestering, he really did like May, and he had ever since he met her on Slateport Beach back in the summer of 1999. After seeing May compete in her first Pokemon Contest that day, he knew that she had potential, and that potential made her grow a huge rivalry with the green-haired Coordinator.

"Uhh… hi, Drew.", said May, a blush visible on her face. Drew smiled on the inside. He liked May's optimistic attitude because it was so different from his own, and yet when she became emotional, he couldn't help but like her even more.

"I remember what you said earlier, Drew. About how they might be keeping us there against our will, you know. I don't know if they are doing that or not, either way I'm worried. What if some bad guys come and attack us? What are we going to do?", said May, who had an afraid expression on her face.

Drew smiled and replied. "I was just pointing something out before, and we didn't know that we could have been targeted by some evil team when I said that. I'm sure we'll be fine. I mean, we'll be more safe here than if we stayed in Snowpoint City." In his head, Drew finished his explanation, which was 'And if we were attacked, then I'll protect you.' May looked relieved by what the green-haired Coordinator said, and stood up from the bed.

"Thank you, Drew.", May said, as she went into the kitchen to grab a snack.

"No problem at all."

December 2, 2002. Unknown Location. Night.

Giovanni turned back to the five other members of his council, who were all ready for another meeting. He began the session by explaining that the subject had been given another dose of the unknown serum which he got from Orre, and explained that it was ready for a larger-scale mission. The council members expressed their gratitude at the news, and soon Giovanni was ready to deliver the greatest report that the team had had yet.

"I have received word from one of my undercover Elites. The teens are at Indigo. All of them, in fact.", explained Giovanni. "I believe a large-scale attack on that poor Champion's headquarters would be sufficient, given that our subject has now been powered up twice now."

"That would be a great idea. If this works, then our only opposition will be gone, and then we can set our plans into motion." This voice was deep and menacing, and the man who said it shared those same characteristics.

"Yes, it would be excellent.", a man said with a British accent. The newest member of this council did not choose to speak up, as he still was new to the whole plan. When Giovanni had bailed him out of prison after he barely survived 100% Zygarde's Core Enforcer attack, the other council members had been planning this for a while beforehand. Now, Lysandre was up to date and ready to execute their plan with the rest of his council members.

"Very well. We shall attack in the morning. They'll all be up and not knowing what will be happening, while we take control and wipe them out!", Giovanni was shouting by the end of his speech, with an insane grin on his face.

Tomorrow, they would alert the world to their presence. Team Rainbow Rocket was here, and they would not stop until the world was theirs, with the help of the Blinding One.

Hey, the story's actually progressing! I'm sorry if this chapter had too much emotional moments, but I have to throw in character development somewhere! Don't worry though, the next chapter will be chock-full of action, so tune in to find out! Feel free to review, and I'll see you in the next one!