Chapter 7: Unexpected Allies

Sorry for taking so long! But I am back on business! Thanks to everyone who commented, cookies for you all, if you hadn't been so great I probably would have sent all this to the trash pile…

Disclaimer: God, no, I don't own the Pokémon Company! You'd have noticed if I did because the anime would be rated 18 + and turned into a yaoi…

Chapter 7: Unexpected Allies

Ash was running with Jaime at his right gasping for his breath and Shelly on his left thanking him for his deed. Behind them were the four Team Aqua grunts.

"I swear that wasn't quite what I had in mind" Jaime panted.

"Trust me, Team Aqua are our allies if they are fighting against Team Magma"

"True enough, the boss will explain everything later, now just follow me!"

Shelly ran in front of them headed straight for Lilycove harbour.

Tabitha looked at his grunts with a murderous expression.

"What do you mean none of you have a fire pokemon?!"

"We just have our Myghtyenas! Anyways aren't you the one who always boasted about an invincible Camerupt?"

Tabitha decided to ignore the last comment, after the battle with the blonde brat his camerupt was still in recovery, and now he was mortally afraid of water, when one of the pokemon doctors suggested putting a moist towel over his forehead so he could relax he had burst into tears.

"Very well then, we shall have to wait for the ice to melt…"

Tabitha was furious, that Ketchum boy was going to pay for this. How dare he interfere in a battle between Team Aqua and Team Magma? Nobody had expected him to call out a freaking Glalie and freeze Team Magma's feet solid.

"Commander?" One of the grunts sheepishly called out Tabitha.

"Yes?"

"What do we report to Maxie?"

Tabitha's legs shook violently, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the cold or of the fear the idea of informing Maxie about his provoked on him.

Shelly guided Ash and Jaime, along with the other team Aqua grunts to an old warehouse and kicked the door open. Without stopping she ran to a tall apparently normal wooden box and whispered something that no-one could hear near its hinges. The door sprang open.

"This is the one of the many doors to our Lilycove Base, please, enter, our boss desires to speak with you"

"And if we don't want to?" Asked Jaime, always critical.

"You don't have to, but after the trouble we have all taken, you two included, to get here, it'd be rather foolish of you"

Jaime liked the answer and smiled, he looked at Ash who nodded and followed Shelly down the stairs inside the fake box.

Ash and Pikachu opened their mouths simultaneously in the exact same gesture expressing the shared emotion, amazement. After a long descent on crude rock stairs, the party was greeted by a modern hall with fashionable glass and steel tables and chairs. Team aqua members were sharing papers, coffees and teleporting elsewhere through the teleport bricks on the far side of the hall. Shelly allowed the duo a few second to quench their eyesight and then went to one of the bricks, she then pressed a few buttons on the wall introducing a code. The brick glowed blue and the team aqua logo appeared on it.

"Aqua leader Archie shall see you both now"

Jaime stepped forwards but doubted before finally stepping on the teleport brick. Sensing his fear Ash put his arm around Jaime's shoulder. Pikachu patted Jaime's neck lightly. Together the two humans and the pokemon stepped into the brick and vanished in a shower of sparks. Shelly smiled with genuine happiness on her face; she had half expected a last minute rebellion, she made a gesture to the rest of the grunts in her team so they could have a break and followed Ash and Jaime into Archie's office.

Archie was waiting for them, dressed in an expensive looking deep blue suit, with a matching bandana with the team aqua "A" proudly on its front, he had an unruly black beard and thick strands came from under the bandana, through his thick eyebrows a glint of pale blue seemed to glow in sincere joy as he saw the two boys appear in front of him. Archie proceeded to strike a match into his pipe as soon as the boys stepped forward and Shelly appeared behind them. Ash and Jaime were amazed at the beauty, Archie's office was downright cool, expensive carpet on the floor, white shiny walls, ancient boat figurines, a crackling fireplace and an amazing arrange of books in white and golden shelves all around the impressive transparent glassy monument that was Archie's table and his glass chair behind. But more amazing then the materials or designs, were the views, the colossal glass window that was right behind Archie's table showed, the sea, in all its splendour. Archie's office was directly in front of a coral reef, and the sea was colourful and vibrant with life and movement.

Both Archie and Shelly respected their guest's awe and thirst of assimilating all they were viewing, but Archie cleared his throat to bring them back to the world when he considered introductions had to be made.

"Ash, Ash, you brave boy, you haven't changed one bit since the time we coincided with Kyogre and Groudon back in the old days when you were still a trainer!" Archie took Ash's hand and shook it vigorously, he then shook one of his fingers with Pikachu while still saluting "You li'l rascal you, still getting this cabin-boy here outta trouble everyday aren't you?" he then took hold of Jaime's hand and shook it energically "And you, we heard of your act back in Viridian, but I am afraid that's all we know of you! Well, that and that you have quite a daring nerve like my friend here and a quick mind to go with it!"

Jaime looked taken aback at the familiarities and stuttered "My name is Jaime Solnoid sir…"

Archie's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to make a comment on this but was interrupted by Ash.

"Aw yeah! Archie! I knew I could trust you guys as soon as I saw team magma! But, what is all this stuff about team rocket, magma and galactic allying? Have you got any clue of what they are up to?"

"Ash! M'boy, quick to the business as usual! Well, that is the reason I had you brought down here"

Shelly spoke up, she was a truly beautiful woman, and now that the her face wasn't strained as it was during the rescue mission like she was smiling and in a relaxed position, she was truly something.

"That's the reason we brought you two here" She explained. "News of Oak getting kidnapped flew all over the world as soon as you contacted Viridian city's officer Mara, and we knew for a fact team Magma allied team Rocket and team Galactic out of personal experience…"

"Aye" Said Archie "The damn fools actually tried to attack me! Shame they bit of more then they could chew!" He laughed openly, somehow managing to balance his pipe in his feet. The smell of expensive English tobacco drifted past Jaime reminding him suddenly of a little detail he had not given thought to for the last few minutes.

"But wait, you guys are criminals too!" He burst out.

Ash stomped on his foot while giving him the "hush!" look; however Archie and Shelly just looked at each other and laughed more.

"Yeah, I suppose we are, in the sense that our work is in a different line from that of the world, but our main purpose is just to protect the oceans, and if the law gets in our way, too bad for it" Shelly explained.

"You see boys, we will stop at nothing, and I mean at nothing to defend the oceans, the few things we respect are pokemon's dignity and humans as well, that's why no matter how much we may steal, you'll never be able to blame team Aqua with a human or pokemon death or mis-treat!" Archie informed the teenagers.

"It was like that with team Magma too, at least since a short while ago, only that they defended the land, but lately, I think that Maxie's lost it completely" He continued

Shelly then took his speech.

"And since we know for sure that he can't be up to no good, and that Oak didn't vanish out of thin air, we abducted you so you could fill us in with data"

Ash looked at the dastardly duo he had in front. They made a splendid team, and they weren't bad people. Had he been asked three years ago, he would have probably sent them to hell, but the proof was in front of him, team Aqua actually wanted to help. Ash looked at Jaime, his initial mistrust had evaporated, and he was looking at Shelly and Archie with some admiration in his eyes. Ash grasped the back of two glass chairs in front of him, offered one to Jaime and then sat down himself comfortably in front of Archie.

He then opened his mouth and started speaking.

"Are you eager about seeing your mates again?" Ash asked while Pikachu was playing with a stray lock of hair coming from under his cap.

Jaime smiled and nodded happily in response.

After telling everything to Archie and Shelly over tea, coke, coffee and brandy he had thanked them both most courteously and guided them personally out of the base after he had made them promise they wouldn't endanger themselves any more unless it was absolutely necessary. Shelly and Matt, the highest ranked Aqua members besides Archie himself where send to Littleroot town and Sandem town to locate and summon the remaining professors. And until they returned with news Jaime and Ash where stuck in Lilycove city for the time being. Being only five in the afternoon Jaime decided to have a look-see in the contest dome to check if his friends where there and Ash, more hyper then usual due to the cokes drank in Archie's office, required no further suggesting. Jaime practically ran the last few steps separating them from the big, glass doors tinted by the twilight's orange glow and pushed one of them with little effort while Ash was panting to catch up. No sooner had Jaime opened the door, a blue and pink bolt, smashed against him, knocking him to the floor.

"Dawn!?" Jaime exclaimed in disbelief, sure enough, pink skirt, white hat, it was Dawn alright and she seemed in a bad mood.

"Oh great! Now you too!? How many freaking rivals am I going to get for this supposed EASY RIBBON!?"

She ran past him towards the Pokémon centre and los herself in the night.

Lukas and Rosendo came out and helped Jaime back on his feet, followed by a pretty brunette and a guy, older then them, with the most gorgeous unruly green hair and dazzling green eyes that Jaime had ever seen, taking his breath away, he was even more shocked when he hear Ash salute them in such familiarity.

"May, Drew! Long time no see! What happened to Dawn?"