The Eighteen

Chapter 8


December 5, 2002. Pallet Town. Evening.

"Clair? Any updates as of now?", asked Lance.

He was talking to the Blackthorn Gym Leader to ask if the teens had reached Dragon's Den yet, and he had filtered in a private server so nobody could trace this significant phone call.

"Sorry, but nothing so far. I have been guarding Dragon's Den for the past few days, and there's no sign of those kids coming anytime. Either they're extremely lost, or they went in another direction.", answered Clair on the videophone.

"I see. I hope they're okay.", responded Lance as he disconnected from the call. He was hoping that these teens would make it to Dragon's Den, and then he would be able to drop the lying act and destroy the conspiracy along with Team Rainbow Rocket, or whatever it was.

Now, he didn't know if these kids had died on the road or were still alive, so this complicated Lance's plans a lot.

He went back up to the guest room in the lab that the Champions had made their personal headquarters for a short time, and opened the door to see his colleagues at work.

"I just got off a call with Clair. The kids haven't shown up at Dragon's Den at all, and I don't know where they could have gone.", exclaimed Lance.

'I think they'll be fine. These kids have traveled before, and they probably know when to stay out of trouble. We should focus our efforts on this Team Rainbow Rocket business, now with the League Challenge postponed.", said Steven.

"You're right, Steven. Now, let's get to work.", continued Cynthia.


December 5, 2002. Northern Kanto. Evening.

"Pika-chu?"

Ash turned to face his starter. "Yeah, what's up, Pikachu?"

As the group had set up shop for the night, Ash and Pikachu were relaxing under the night sky. Everyone else had gone inside their tents since it got really cold at night, but Ash didn't mind the cool breeze and decided to stay outside for a bit.

"Pikachu… Mew did give me Sir Aaron's gloves… what do you think I should do with them?", asked Ash.

Pikachu just shrugged and made some hand motions, almost signaling Ash to figure it out himself.

"Uh… why do I even ask…", mumbled Ash in laughter, while Pikachu smiled.

Ash reached into his backpack and brought out the gloves, really studying them for the first time. They were navy blue with golden lines etched around the gloves, and a azure blue crystal in the center of both gloves.

"Mew did say I would need them… what does Mew want me to do with them, though?", explained Ash to himself.

As Ash held the gloves in his hand, a blue aura started to form around his hands, and he gasped in fear. Pikachu noticed this and rushed over to his trainer, and shook Ash, which made him drop the ancient gloves.

"All right, this is going nowhere. Let's just go to bed, Pikachu.", muttered Ash, as he put the gloves back in his backpack and stood up, but his hands were still glowing a little

"Pika… ", said Pikachu as he and his trainer walked back to their tent, Ash's hands in his pockets, and sat down in their sleeping bag.

"Ash… could you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep… ", mumbled Misty in her sleeping bag. Ash smiled and lied down.

"Sorry, Mist. I was just thinking about stuff… ", muttered Ash to himself as he went to sleep, but Misty managed to hear him, and smiled as she went back to sleep for the night.

Ash awoke the next morning to find blue sparks coming off his hands again, and quickly hid them in his pockets before exiting the tent, only to find everyone eating breakfast already.

"Seriously, guys! Why didn't you wake me up earlier!", complained Ash, while the group turned to stare at him.

"The early bird gets the worm, Ashy-boy! Or in this case, the breakfast!", teased Gary while Ash rolled his eyes.

"You've got to admit, he's got you there.", explained Drew as he gave Gary a fist bump, while Ash sighed and went to eat some food that Brock and Cilan had saved for him.

"So, where are we heading out today?", asked Iris.

"Well, now that we're back in civilization, I can finally get a signal from my Pokegear, and it looks like we're headed for Mt Moon.", exclaimed Brock.

"Really? I heard it's one of Kanto's greatest landmarks!", exclaimed Trip, taking out his camera.

"Yeah, I've always wanted to go there!", said Clemont.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going?"", exclaimed Barry. The others nodded and started to set off.

The group left their camping spot for the night and started to trek towards the mountain, and they chose to take the route upwards instead of the winding cave paths.

"Didn't we think about taking this path last time, Brock?", asked Ash.

Brock shrugged. "I think we were, but we got sidetracked by that swarm of Zubat, if I remember correctly."

"You've been here before?", asked Serena.

"Yeah, I've travelled here a few times before, including on my first journey.", exclaimed Ash.

"Well, I've never been here, but at least I get to see this view!", said Gary.

Ritchie raised an eyebrow. "Gary, you traveled Kanto at the same time as Ash, right? Then how come you didn't go here?"

"I can explain that. He was too busy with his red sports car and his cheerleaders, right?", snarked Misty.

Gary sighed and hung his head. "All right, can we just get back to walking?", he muttered as he stormed off. The others continued to trek up the path until they reached a clearing.

"Well, we made it. The Mt. Moon Observatory!", exclaimed Brock, as the others immediately went and crashed down on a bench.

"Thank… Arceus… we made it… ", mumbled Clemont as he stretched his aching legs on the bench.

"Come on, Clemont! We need to relax too!", yelled Dawn as she pushed the Gym Leader off the bench and sat down on it.

After a short break to eat lunch and relax, the group walked around the observatory. The views were amazing, and the food was even better.

"Come on, Gary, let's get going!", exclaimed Ash, who was still eating his food after everyone else had finished.

"Do you realize we're in a public place? Don't cause us any more trouble by yelling my name out to the whole area!", whispered Gary as he reluctantly stood up with his food.

"Sorry, let's just get going already.", mumbled Ash as he walked out of the food court.

As he looked around the area, he saw his friends all around the place, admiring the views and taking pictures.

Ash walked up to the railing and was marveled at the sight. He could see the whole region from here, and he could even make out some of the islands down south.

Suddenly, Ash froze, and he gripped onto the railing in fear, knuckles turning white.

"Pikapi?", exclaimed Pikachu, who was on Ash's shoulder, surprised by his trainer's instant change in expression.

Misty was walking over to the railing and saw Ash standing motionless, and Pikachu motioning for somebody to come over.

She ran over to Ash, and shook him a few times. "Ash, what's wrong?", she said, trying not to attract any more attention.

The rest of the gang soon noticed Ash motionless and Misty trying to move him, and they all ran over to him.

"Ash! Ash, are you okay?", exclaimed Brock in fear.

Then, Ash suddenly let go of the railing, making him and the others fall to the ground. Once they got up, they resumed their discussion about what was going on.

"Ash, were you okay back there?", asked Ritchie.

"Sorry… I just… I hadn't been up so high since Prism Tower… ", mumbled Ash. Serena and Clemont immediately understood and went up to their friend.

"Ash, that's in the past now. The only thing you can do is to move forward.", exclaimed Clemont.

Serena was about to say something, but was interrupted by Paul.

"I'm sorry, but could someone please explain what's going on?", he asked irritably, and the others turned to stare at him. Clemont was about to continue, but Ash waved him off.

"Well, the Kalos League ended two weeks ago, and I got in second place. During the awards ceremony, this group called Team Flare attacked Lumiose City with red vines by using a corrupted Zygarde… the winner's ceremony had just ended, but then we heard explosions and investigated… and next thing I know, I'm at the top of Prism Tower.", exclaimed Ash.

"And… Lysandre, whom I had met earlier before the final match… he was holding me hostage to use for Team Flare's goals. He said he was trying to destroy the world and create a new one with the help of his 'chosen ones', and he believed I was one of them."

Misty gasped in shock at this last statement, but nobody seemed to notice, as they were all focused on Ash's explanation.

"He wanted the… the power of my bond with Greninja… and so he tried to take it by using a… a beam… and it hurt. I felt like something was being ripped apart from me, and I couldn't survive without it.", continued Ash, while the others stared in shock.

"I heard about that… gramps told me of a situation in Kalos, but I thought you were going to be safe. I had no idea… ", exclaimed Gary.

"Cyrus wanted to destroy the world and replace it with a new one… but this guy went way too far, that's for sure!", said Dawn.

"Hey, Ash? Sorry about making you talk about that… I had no idea… ", exclaimed Paul.

"It's fine, Paul. I needed to get that off my chest.", exclaimed Ash,who was back to his normal cheerful self in a matter of seconds.

"You said that he wanted the power of your bond with your Greninja… did that bond cause that form change you pulled off at the Kalos League?", asked Max.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it was some rumored transformation that hadn't happened for hundreds of years, and I was able to pull it off."

"Really? How does it work?", exclaimed Misty, who always was interested to hear about new Water Pokemon.

"Well, supposedly Greninja and I were totally in sync, and that meant that were able to do that, and it feels so weird. I could see what Greninja was seeing, and feel the pain that he felt in battle.", explained Ash.

The whole group winced once Ash finished his sentence, and the raven-haired trainer new he had to elaborate.

"Yeah, it was tough getting it under control. I even passed out in the middle of a battle a few times.", explained Ash.

"Well, good thing you managed to master it, or else you would have passed out in the middle of the Kalos League.", exclaimed Brock.

"Where is your Greninja now, Ash?", asked May.

"Well, I had to leave him in Kalos, because of some after-effects of Team Flare's attack, and only him and the Zygarde Cores could stop that.", exclaimed Ash sadly.

"I'm sure you'll get to see him again!", said Cilan as the group walked back to the visitor center.

As they were walking towards the visitor center, the ground started to shake, and the group stopped in its tracks.

"Uh… do any of you know what's going on?", asked Barry in desperation.

"I'm afraid not!", shouted Drew as the ground began to crack and make massive fissures below. The visitor center building was sinking, and the railing behind them was tilting down the ledge of the mountain.

"What the hell!", shouted Trip as the ground underneath the group gave way and crumbled and sent the group falling into the mountain. As a result, the whole top observatory area was destroyed due to the fissure, and buildings were falling into the mountain caves.

"AAAAAHH!", shouted Max as he hung onto his sister for dear life. The rest of the gang was scared for their lives, as they might not survive this fall.

The group braced for impact, and was about to hit the ground at full speed until they felt a wave of whiplash pull them up in midair, then they were lightly dropped onto the ground.

"What was that?", asked Paul. The gang looked over to see an Umbreon stand on the floor, eyes glowing blue.

"Thanks, Umbreon! You really saved us there!", exclaimed Gary as he went over to his Pokemon.

"I didn't know your Umbreon was that strong, Gary!", exclaimed Ash as he dusted himself off.

"How about we start to find our way out of here!", yelled Iris in exasperation. The others turned to stare at her, and she sighed and walked away, while the others followed.

The group kept walking until they came across a series of voices talking to each other. Ash hid behind a rock and signaled the others to go hide as well while the voices were talking.

"Come on, Meowth! Now you just blew up an entire mountain! What was that for!", exclaimed a high-pitched female voice.

Ash's eyes widened and he turned to stare at the others, who also were in shock.

"Well, I thought I could excavate the place for some more Pokemon fossils!", shouted another familiar voice.

"So what! Now the G-Men will be right on our tail!", said a third voice, also familiar to the group.

"Aren't those people the ones who followed you around, Ash?", asked Drew.

"Yeah, they've been doing it for ages. Wonder why they're here, though.", explained Ash.

As he peeked out from the rock, he saw the trio in black uniforms dragging a crate of Pokemon fossils through the cave, and soon disappeared once they exited the cave.

The gang ran out to see where the trio went, only to see their Meowth Balloon fly into the sky, hurling a crate underneath it.

"Why were Team Rocket after Pokemon fossils?", asked Clemont suspiciously.

Ash shrugged. "I have no idea." He was about to step forward until a swarm of people suddenly surrounded the area.

The group was startled to see a makeshift news crew set up in seconds, while making sure their disguises were intact.

"Hi, I'm Sydney from the Kanto News Network, to bring you all a breaking story! The famous Mt. Moon has been blown up by a mysterious force! We have some witnesses who were here to tell the tale. Now tell me, what did you see out there?", asked the reporter, turning her mic to Ash.

"Uh, my name is Tom Ato, and-", said Ash, but was interrupted by Misty sighing and holding her head in her hands.

"Sorry about that. I was at the Mt. Moon Upper Observatory with my friends over here, and we were having a good time until the ground suddenly split open, making us and the observatory around us collapse into the mountain.", explained Ash.

"Then, we were trying to find our way out, until we saw two people in black uniforms and a Pokemon walk out with what seemed to be Pokemon fossils.", finished the raven-haired boy.

The reporter took the microphone back to Ash and turned to the camera.

"Well, there you have it, folks! This attack on one of Kanto's most historical places might have been on purpose, but what could it mean! Is the whole region under threat? Now, back to you all in our main studio.", exclaimed the reporter.

The news crew packed up in a matter of seconds and drove off, and it was almost like they never even showed up in the first place.

"Seriously, Ash? Why did you choose that name, out of all the things that came to mind?", exclaimed Misty, who was sighing to herself.

"I had to think of something on the spot! And besides, it was a better name than Caesar Salad.", exclaimed Ash, while pointing a finger towards Brock.

"Caesar Salad? What kind of name is that?", asked Kenny in laughter, while Brock mentally sighed.

"Whatever. Now, can we please get out of here. I don't want to be near collapsing mountains ever again.", exclaimed Brock as he began to walk in front of the group, while the others followed suit.


December 6, 2002. Pallet Town. Late Morning.

"What do you mean, an explosion!", yelled Lance into the phone.

The Champions had just caught wind of what had happened on Mt. Moon, and they were not happy.

"Send some agents over to deal with the situation, pronto.", exclaimed the Indigo Champion as he slammed the phone back into the receiver.

Lance walked back to the room to face the other champions, who were waiting for an update.

"There's been an explosion in Mt. Moon, supposedly caused by Rockets.", exclaimed Lance grimly.

The others had expressions of shock on their faces after hearing this report.

"Arceus.", exclaimed Steven. His mouth was wide open in shock.

"What's Giovanni trying to do here? First he blows up Indigo Plateau with some shadow, and then he blows up a mountain?", said Wallace in confusion.

"I don't know. We just have to stand our ground and send agents across the region. Maybe they could help us find out what the Rockets are planning.", said Lance.

"Lance is right. We should focus on what Giovanni is doing now and try to stop it instead of trying to figure out his whole plan.", exclaimed Cynthia.

"I just hope we can stop him.", mumbled Diantha to herself, but luckily nobody else noticed.


December 6, 2002. Northern Kanto. Afternoon.

Ash and the gang had been traveling for a while after the incident on Mt. Moon, and they decided to settle down and take a lunch break.

"Okay, lunch is served!", exclaimed Brock as he brought out plates of food along with Cilan.

"All right! I'm starving for some good food!", exclaimed Ash while he got his food.

Misty sweatdropped as Ash gulped down his food in seconds. "Ash, you only ate a few hours ago!"

"Yeah, so what?", said Ash as he continued to eat his food as fast as possible.

"Just leave him be, Misty! If a guy wants to eat, let him eat!", exclaimed Drew.

"That's what I'm talking about!", said Ash with his mouth completely full while the others stared at him.

Suddenly, the group heard footsteps nearby, and everyone looked at each other worriedly.

"Man, what is that good smell?", said a voice out in the woods, and Ash, Misty, and Brock immediately stiffened up.

After hearing some more footsteps, the group quickly put on their disguises and tried to move out as quickly as possible, until someone stopped straight into the clearing.

A girl with long purple hair and a yellow and black striped jacket stood in the middle of the area, staring at the people right in front of her.

"Ah! Sorry about that!", yelled the girl as she looked at the others. "I didn't mean to get into your place like that."

A disguised Drew stepped up. "It's all right, but why did you show up in the first place?"

"I don't know, I just smelled some food and decided to investigate.", answered the girl, who brought out her hand.

"My name's Casey, the biggest Electabuzz fan on the planet!", exclaimed the girl enthusiastically.

Unfortunately, nobody responded to her greeting, as they were trying not to accidentally reveal their identities to her.

"Okay, so no happy campers, huh? I'll just leave, then.", exclaimed Casey as she turned around and walked off, but not before whirling back around.

Casey's sudden motion made all of the others flinch in horror, especially Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu.

"Wait a second… you three do look really familiar… but I just can't place it.", murmured Casey, and the whole group tensed, ready to leave as fast as they could.

"I must be seeing things, it's probably nothing. I'll see you around, I guess.", said Casey as she left, and the group felt relieved immediately.

As Casey was walking away, her mind was buzzing with thoughts.

"Could it be them?... Well, one of them had a Pikachu… I need to find out more.", she muttered as she started to trek to Cerulean City.


"Well, that was close.", muttered Gary as he sat down on the ground.

Paul grunted. "You can say that again.", he mumbled as he turned to face Ash. "Where do you know that girl from anyway?"

"I ran into her a few times with Misty and Brock, and she absolutely loves the Electabuzz for whatever reason.", exclaimed Ash, who rolled his eyes.

"Are you serious? The Starmie have been on a hot streak lately! Four titles in five years!", exclaimed Misty.

"Yeah, well they haven't won in two years, while the Machamps won it all last year!", said Gary.

"How about we quit talking about baseball and figure out where we're going next?", asked Iris.

"Well, we could take this route all the way to Cerulean, or-", answered Brock, but he was cut off.

"No! We're not going there, I would be recognized instantly!", shouted Misty, while the others turned to look at her.

"Why not? It's not a bad idea… ", asked Kenny in confusion.

Ash spoke up. "Misty's the Cerulean Gym Leader, so that might be a problem for us.", he said, and the others nodded in understanding.

"As I was saying, we could also take a more uncharted path down to Route 7, which could take us away from Cerulean.", continued Brock.

"That's perfect, Brock. I say we head there right now!", exclaimed Misty enthusiastically.

The group agreed and changed course onto uncharted territory heading south, and the wide path soon turned into a dense forest.


"And it looks like we're heading into dangerous areas on May's Expeditions… ", murmured the Coordinator to herself, while the others were staring at her.

Gary turned to Ash, who was talking to Pikachu at the moment, and pointed towards May.

"Does she do this all the time?", asked Gary, and Ash looked up and cracked a smile.

"Unfortunately, yes.", exclaimed Ash, while Gary sighed and walked away.

"Tell me about it! She was driving me crazy when we were in Johto and Sinnoh!", exclaimed Drew in exasperation.

"I feel bad for you, man. She drove Brock and I insane during our Hoenn travels.", exclaimed Ash.

As the group kept walking through the forest, they noticed that it was starting to get foggy and the visibility had gone down a lot.

"I can't see a thing in here!", exclaimed Misty, who was starting to get nervous.

Ash went up to his friend and put a hand on her shoulder. "Misty, you'll be fine. Just trust me.", he exclaimed, while Misty's face turned red.

Then, the fog started to get even thicker, and the teens found themselves with nowhere to run.

"What do we do? There's no way out!", exclaimed Ritchie.

Suddenly, a blue streak whipped past the teens, clearing a path in front of them, then stopped for what seemed like a millisecond to them, and was revealed as a quadrupedal figure with rippling water surrounding it, but the rest was covered in shadow.

To Misty, however, the blue image appeared clearer and more defined, and she could not believe what she was seeing.

The Suicune stared at the Gym Leader intensely, and the Legendary Pokemon's body language was enough to tell Misty not to tell anyone of what she was seeing.

Then, almost as it had never been there in the first place, Suicune ran off, leaving a shocked Misty and the others totally confused.

"What… was that thing?", asked Ash in confusion, and it seemed like even Pikachu was at a loss for words as well.

"I have no idea… ", mumbled Gary, who was also in shock.

Misty was silent throughout the others' conversation, equally shocked along with the others, but she was not going to tell the others that what only she saw.


December 6, 2002. Cerulean City. Late Afternoon.

Casey walked into the gates of Cerulean, and immediately looked for a Pokemon Center to heal her injured Electivire, which had gotten hurt in a battle against a Camper on Route 4.

"Hi, can I please heal my Pokemon?", asked Casey as she handed her Poke Balls onto the counter.

Nurse Joy nodded and collected the Poke Balls, and walked into the healing room. Casey then went to the newspaper stacks, and quickly found that day's edition of the Kanto Chronicle, the region-wide newspaper company.

After finding the sports section and reading about the Electabuzz losing for the fifth straight game, Casey put the paper down and sighed. When was her team ever going to win?

Then, a boy around her age came down and sat down next to her. "Hey, I couldn't help but see that you were wearing an Electabuzz jersey. I'm a Starmie fan, personally.", exclaimed the boy.

"Casey Smith, from New Bark Town. What's your name?", she asked the boy as she brought out her hand.

"I'm Johnny, from Viridian City. What are you here for? The gym's closed because of the whole postponement thing from Lance, so now my League season is done for.", answered the boy.

"Yeah, I'm here for a few reasons. I was friends with the latest Gym Leader, and I was also going to challenge the Gym before the season was cancelled.", exclaimed Casey.

Johnny checked his watch, then got his bag on his shoulder "It was nice meeting you, but I have to go. See ya around!.", exclaimed the boy as he went up to the counter to pick up his Pokemon.

Casey waited in the lobby for her Pokemon to be healed, casually watching videos on her PokeNav, until she spotted three tall figures walk into the Pokemon Center.

Casey stood up and walked towards the three Sensational Sisters, who noticed her coming. Daisy remembered her from the whole Team Rocket incident a few years back, and went towards her.

"Casey, isn't it? Did you want to talk to us?", asked Daisy while Lily and Violet looked on.

Casey nodded. "Yeah, because I noticed a bunch of people in the woods a few hours ago, and they all either had hoods or sunglasses covering their faces. I noticed one of them did have some orange hair, but it was hidden under her hood."

The sisters shot straight up. "Do you really think it could be Misty and those other kids?", asked Lily in wonder.

"I don't know, but I just wanted to tell you about it. Keep an eye out for suspicious people covering their faces, all right?", exclaimed the baseball fanatic.

"We got it, Casey.", said Violet.

Casey nodded, and ran off to collect her fully healed Pokemon, and went upstairs to the trainer rooms afterward, leaving the Sensational Sisters discussing amongst themselves in the lobby.

"Do you really think Misty could be alive? Casey did mention that they could be heading this way.", said Daisy.

"I'm not sure, but it's something to think about. We'll just have to wait and see if these people do go into the city.", exclaimed Lily.

Violet looked at her two sisters. "Even if our sister is alive or not, we are the acting Gym Leaders, and we should probably call Lance and tell him about this."

"You're right. Let's go right now!", exclaimed Daisy, and the three models ran across the city towards the Gym as fast as they could, ready to alert Lance of their newfound evidence.


Sorry if this chapter was a little short, as I was in sort of a rush. I might not be able to upload for around a month due to an injury, but I will try to update frequently once I return. Feel free to review, and I'll see you in the next one!