I'm back, everyone! This is the first update of April, and it's a big one. This was a really interesting chapter to write, based off of last chapter's cliffhanger and what would happen next.
Here's a few review responses, then on to the story.
Nutellagirl: Paul and Dawn honestly feel very easy to write about together than any of the over pairings I have planned for this story, and I had a blast writing their interactions together, and thanks a lot for the support.
brad: Yes, I know Snowpoint City is in Sinnoh, not Kanto. That was just a typo from stupidly copy-and-pasting the date headers in earlier chapters.
LadyBlue21: Basically what I said above. It's really fun writing Paul and Dawn in the story, and I'm glad that people really like these interactions.
The Eighteen
Chapter 10
Crisis in Celadon - Part 2
December 7, 2002. Pallet Town, Kanto. Early Morning.
"Lance, this is an emergency! Report!", shouted a voice through Lance's radio, which was on his desk right beside him.
The Indigo Champion, who had fallen asleep on the desk the night before, awoke to the sound of his panicking agents. He shot straight up in his seat, and then instantly regretted that move.
"Are you kidding me!", he hissed once he hit himself on the back of his chair, then grab
Lance soon got himself up and picked up the radio, which he brought to his ear. "This is Lance. What seems to be the problem, agent?", he asked groggily through the radio.
"I'm sorry for waking you up like that, sir, but this is important. Our scanners at the Saffron base just picked up word that Giovanni is heading towards Shamouti Island.", exclaimed the agent through the radio, and Lance shot up in his seat for the second time that morning.
"What the-are you serious? I'll be there as soon as I can. Just keep giving me updates, Agent Dobbs, you understand?", exclaimed the Indigo Champion.
"Yes, sir. Also, we still don't have word from Commander Greene and her team from Celadon. I was worried that-", said the agent, but Lance cut him off in the middle of his sentence as he exited Professor Oak's laboratory.
"Please, her name is Leaf.", huffed Lance, causing a faint stutter from the other side of the radio. "And besides, I know she'll be fine. I trained her exactly for this.", he finished as he climbed onto his Dragonite and started to direct the Pokemon towards the Orange Archipelago.
"Shamouti Island, huh? That's almost off the map, though. Why would Giovanni be over there?", muttered Lance to himself as he flew south to the Orange Islands. The Rocket Boss was obviously planning something that Lance didn't know about, and that was huge because this could be another devastating blow to his administered region after Indigo Plateau was bombed.
His body language didn't exactly show it, but Lance was worried. For himself, his region, and what Giovanni was truly capable of. If Giovanni hadn't even scratched the surface of his power at Indigo, then Lance was absolutely terrified what he could be doing now at Shamouti Island.
Back in Pallet Town, an alarm suddenly started to ring, causing the rest of the Champions to groan as they were slowly awakened from their short sleep.
"Uh… what time is it… ", mumbled Wallace groggily as he got up, but he was still practically asleep on the inside.
Steven found the source of the alarm, and turned it off, and soon discovered that it was his own PokeNav Plus, fresh off the assembly line.
"Sorry guys, it was my PokeNav. I'll try to set it up today so this doesn't happen again.", exclaimed Steven sheepishly, while the others glared at him.
"Thanks sooo much, Steven.", said Cynthia sarcastically, who was also basically half asleep at this point. "Now we're all up, and it's already 2 in the morning.", she finished, as she put her hands on her hips.
"Just wait one second!", exclaimed Diantha, who was normally a quiet and well-mannered person. "Where are Alder and Lance?", she asked, and that made the Champions finally wake up inside.
"Yeah, where are they anyway?", exclaimed Steven as he started to search the room. Unsurprisingly, he discovered Alder happily dozing off on the sofa like nothing had ever happened.
"Uh, guys, I found Alder, but try not to wake him up.", said Steven into the other room, and the Champions stared at each other, as if they were saying "Who even is this guy?"
Suddenly, Cynthia's Poketch started to beep rapidly, and the Sinnoh Champion fumbled to get it and answer the call.
"Cynthia! Giovanni is heading towards Shamouti Island, and Lance already went to face him there. He might need backup, so the Indigo G-Men division told us to call you and notify you of this situation.", exclaimed the holographic image from her Poketch, and the Sinnoh Champion attempted to keep a calm face through this terrifying message.
"Uh, I just have one question. Where's Shamouti Island?", asked Diantha curiously.
Cynthia turned to face her colleague, then responded. "It's a small island located in the Orange Archipelago down south. We better get there quickly, or else we're done for. Let's move out!", exclaimed Cynthia, as she ran out into the Oak Corral, and called out her Garchomp, which she immediately got on.
Steven brought out his Metagross, then Mega Evolved it, and got onto its back and started flying in the air along with Cynthia and her Garchomp, while Wallace brought out his Milotic and started Surfing on the water on its back
Diantha, however, released her Gardevoir and subsequently Mega Evolved it, and the Embrace Pokemon started to charge up a long-distance Teleport while Diantha held on to her Pokemon.
"Wait a minute. Aren't we forgetting Alder?", asked Steven, who was clearly confused.
Cynthia shrugged and turned to face her colleague from Hoenn. "It's best to leave him in Pallet. I think he's more of a danger to us rather than Team Rocket, don't you think?", asked the Sinnoh Champion.
Steven chuckled. "You've got a point there.", he exclaimed as he flew off on his Mega Metagross. He was happy that the other Champions weren't so serious and acting rigorously, because that allowed him to break the determination with some well-timed one-liners, which he felt always lightened the mood of any situation.
Meanwhile, Cynthia ws riding on her Garchomp, quietly discussing the situation in her head. Millions of thoughts were racing around in her head. Why was the Rocket Boss at Shamouti Island? What was he planning to do there? And lastly, what was his endgame plan?
Cynthia spent a few minutes reflecting on those three questions, all while not finding a single answer. She knew there was something special about Shamouti Island, but she couldn't remember what it was, which made her furious.
She was the Sinnoh Champion, the greatest expert in ancient mythology the whole world over! But how could she not remember one single island smack in the middle of the Orange goddamn Islands, who didn't even have an official League?
In the middle of Cynthia's intense thinking session, she found a faint memory of her first year in her mythological studies, about an ancient prophecy about a "Chosen One" that hadn't been fulfilled yet and was said to just be a myth, but she could recall only one line from that prophecy.
And thus the world shall turn to ash.
From then on, a whole lot of memories sprang up from the depths of Cynthia's mind, leaving her with a startling prediction of what Giovanni was going to do on that island.
In the summer of 1998, there was a weather crisis stemming from the water around Shamouti Island that lasted for only about a day or so, but it brought extreme climate change that inspired many conspiracy theorists to believe that the prophecy had been "fulfilled".
Next, Cynthia remembered that while looking at Ash Ketchum's trainer file after she had met him in 2001, she saw that he competed in and won the unofficial Orange League in the summer of '98, right after the 20th Annual Indigo Plateau Pokemon League Conference.
These two recollections slammed together in Cynthia's mind to create a startling conclusion that left the Sinnoh Champion sick to her stomach. Giovanni had already succeeded in wiping out the world's "Chosen One", and now he was heading for more.
December 7, 2002. Unknown Location. Early Morning.
Leaf leaned against the back of the door, and put her head in her hands. This whole operation was in ruins. Herself and her squad was trapped in this room inside the Celadon Rocket Base, and so were a bunch of teenagers rumored to be dead for almost a week, two of which she knew from childhood.
How was she going to get out of this one now? The only thing she knew for sure was that Lance was going to be absolutely furious at her, if she even got out of this place alive.
"Oh… Arceus… ", mumbled Leaf. In these moments, she was beginning to regret all of this. Impulsively joining the G-Men at age 11, training with Lance for the majority of five years, and accepting his promise as mission commander at only 16 years old. She was too young for this, and she had put her squadron and her friends as well in total danger.
"Commander?", came a voice from the other side of the room. Leaf looked up for a moment to see who it was, revealing the source to be one of her team members, then she looked back down. She didn't want to be seen by her subordinates and her friends like this. It would ruin her reputation even more than it already was.
"What is it… Jones?", mumbled Leaf, who was trying her best not to cry.
"I… uh… what's our next step at the moment?", asked the G-Men agent sincerely, while Leaf still sat at the foot of the door.
"Well, we're going to have to get out of here somehow, assuming if we get past the Rockets right outside this door, and if we do, the whole base would be onto us in seconds… there's no hope.", muttered Leaf, whose statement completely deflated everyone's attitude in the room, even the teens, who had just started to get up off the ground.
"Leaf, don't put this all on yourself. We're all in this together.", said Ash, who was trying to comfort his friend, but Leaf didn't listen.
"I'm just a kid… why did I accept this mission in the first place?", mumbled Leaf sadly. She had immediately accepted Lance's offer only a few hours earlier, but now she was extremely regretting this impulsive decision.
"Leaf Greene! Just what do you think you're doing?", came a shout from the other end of the room. Gary had stood up and walked toward his friend, who had lifted her head off the ground.
"You're a G-Men agent, for Arceus's sake! Get up and lead your team!", yelled Gary, and Leaf felt scared, but she knew that Gary wanted her to be back to normal.
Gary faltered for a moment. "The Leaf I knew would get up in an instant! You want to be that fearless leader, right? Then lead!", he shouted, tears flying down his face, and the others felt the same sadness as well.
All the while, Leaf's mind was racing. Even though she was in deep trouble, she had her friends, and her team, and they were always a big help to her throughout her life, and so Leaf put her arms down and smiled.
Leaf got up from the floor, straightened herself out, and held out her hand. "Fine. You want me to lead, don't you?", she said, while Gary looked at her, then he smiled and shook his old friend's hand.
"All right. It's a deal, then.", said Leaf, filled with newfound confidence. She then turned to the door, and looked to the peephole, only to still see the Rockets and their Pokemon right outside.
"We're still surrounded, so we can't try to escape. There could be a hole leading up to the next floor, but the security cameras might catch us there, too.", exclaimed Leaf, while her team nodded.
"We'll stay here and keep the Rockets busy. You still have the detonator?", asked Jones, who was the second-in-command in the squadron. Leaf nodded and pulled out a cube with a few wires coming out of it, and a switch in the center under a protective cover.
Her team saluted her and turned back to the door, ready for any incoming Rockets, while Leaf turned to the teens and sent out her Venusaur.
"Let's try this again. Venusaur, use Razor Leaf, then Vine Whip!", commanded the G-Men Commander, as the Seed Pokemon created another circular hole in the ceiling using Razor Leaf, then brought down the hole with its Vine Whip attack.
"I'll go in last, to make sure you're all safe. Got it?", said Leaf, and the group nodded. Ash readied himself, then jumped into the hole and found a ledge to grab.
He grunted as he pulled himself up into the hole, and once he got his eyes into the ceiling, he could see a system of vents in between this floor and the one above him, then dropped down.
"There's a bunch of vents in the middle of this floor and the one above. Do you think we could climb in there?", asked Ash, while Leaf considered the current situation.
"It may be small, but it's our only chance. We've got to do it.", said Leaf, which led to sighs from the other teens.
"You know, normally I would object to this, but it's either this or we die, so I'm going in.", said Ash as he went into the ceiling hole and started to crawl through the vents.
"I'll fine all of you if I get all dusty!", shouted Barry as he was helped up by Ash, while the others sweatdropped at the scene unfolding in front of them.
Soon after, the rest of the gang climbed into the vents, leaving only Leaf and her team left. The G-Men agent turned to her squadron, and gave one last salute.
"Thanks for being a great help guys. I'll see you on the other side.", exclaimed the commander, and the others responded with a salute of their own towards their leader. Leaf smiled and then climbed into the vent, making sure to put the ceiling cover back in place before crawling behind the other teens.
December 7, 2002. Shamouti Island. Early Morning.
Giovanni felt like cackling on top of his Flygon at the moment. He had already captured Articuno within his new Dark Ball model, and now he had another chance to capture Lugia, the master of the elemental titans.
He saw the Beast of the Sea, focus his attention on him and his Flygon while Moltres and Zapdos were flying past the Rocket helicopter, and watch as Lugia started to charge up a massive Aeroblast.
Giovanni commanded his Flygon to take evasive action, and the Pokemon dodged the beam of aerial energy, all while the island's natives watched in horror.
As Giovanni flew away on the back of his Flygon, he saw a faint speck in the distance that was slowly coming closer. As the Rocket Boss continued to dodge the rounds of Aeroblasts being shot at him, the speck came closer and soon revealed itself to be Lance riding on his Dragonite.
"Arceus! Just what I needed… ", cursed Giovanni, as he attempted to back off from Lugia's attacks, but was stopped by Lance, who went over to him.
"Stop right there, Giovanni! You're under arrest in the name of the G-Men!", exclaimed Lance as he flew on Dragonite towards the Rocket Boss, who was fumbling to take the Dark Ball containing Articuno out of his suit pocket.
"Dragonite, use Light Screen! Trap him inside!", commanded Lance, as the Dragon Pokemon set up a protective barrier that boxed in Giovanni from all sides.
"You're coming with me, Giovanni.", muttered Lance as Dragonite grabbed the Light Screen box that held the Rocket Boss captive along with his Flygon. The Indigo Champion then turned his attention to the Rainbow Rocket helicopter that was being targeted by Moltres and Zapdos, and commanded Dragonite to fly towards the battle.
Lance then felt a surge of recoil on himself and Dragonite, and looked down to see a broken Light Screen, and Giovanni flying away on his Flygon.
"Dragonite, turn back! Get them!", shouted Lance as the Dragon Pokemon made a quick 180 and flew faster toward the escaping Rocket Boss, whose Flygon was charging up a massive Hyper Beam.
Flygon felt another shock of recoil as it let go and released the Hyper Beam, and it almost made Giovanni fall off his Pokemon as a result. He managed to recover and sit back down on its back, and saw the carnage in front of him.
That fully-charged Hyper Beam cut through the sky, much more powerful as the ones used by league-challenging trainers. The destructive force only grazed Moltres and Zapdos, causing the helicopter to veer away as fast as it could, but it did strike Lugia in the side.
Giovanni smiled as Lugia fell and readied another Dark Ball for capture, but he felt a blow on his Flygon's left side, and he managed to see Lance and his Dragonite finishing up a Slam attack as he and Flygon were shot through the sky.
Meanwhile, Lance was going after Giovanni when he heard rushing wind from behind him, and he looked back to see Cynthia and Steven flying up to him on their Garchomp and Metagross, respectively.
"We were thinking you could use a little help up here, huh?", said Steven, while Lance chuckled.
"Yeah, it's been real bad. I don't know where Articuno is, and Lugia just fell onto the shore. Moltres and Zapdos are fighting the helicopter Giovanni took with him, and what else could go wrong?", said Lance, trying to lighten the mood.
"Good to know. Diantha is on the island helping out the natives, and for Alder and Wallace… let's just say we didn't want to disturb their sleep.", said Cynthia sheepishly as she flew off on Garchomp towards the Rocket helicopter.
Lance commanded Dragonite to follow Giovanni, who was falling back, and Steven raced after him on his Metagross. The Rocket Boss was shocked to see two Champions flying toward him at top speed on their Pokemon, and he immediately flew back. He was almost near the elemental islands surrounding Shamouti Island, and far away from when he originally started.
"It's over, Giovanni? Where's Articuno!", shouted Steven, trying to confront the Rocket Boss, who seemingly had nowhere to run. On the other hand, Giovanni cackled madly and brought out a different-looking Pokeball.
"Articuno, you ask? It's right here in this Dark Ball!", shouted Giovanni, and completely startling Lance and Steven. While the two Champions were confused, the Rocket Boss noticed it was his time to strike.
"Flygon, use Dragon Pulse! Wipe them out!", exclaimed Giovanni, as his Flygon unleashed a beam of draconic energy, completely catching Lance and Steven off guard and sending Steven flying off his Pokemon and into the air, while Lance managed to dodge at the last second.
Diantha, who was helping the natives along with her Gardevoir, suddenly heard a gigantic blast from up in the air. She looked up to see two figures fall out of the air and heading straight for the water.
"Now, Gardevoir, use Teleport!", commanded the Kalos Champion, as the Embrace Pokemon channeled some psychic energy and transported itself into the sky.
Gardevoir ended up right near Steven in the air, and grabbed him. Steven felt a jolt as he was grabbed by Gardevoir, and was then transported onto to the ground of Shamouti Island.
"Steven! Oh, thank Arceus you're safe!", exclaimed Diantha, rushing up to him. Steven opened his eyes to see his colleague right in front of him, and shot up in an instant.
"Okay… thanks. But Lance is still out there!", said Steven worriedly, and Diantha's face turned into that of shock and fear.
"Arceus… ", muttered Diantha, as she was standing there and doing nothing, while Steven had maintained his composure and regained the Kalos Champion's attention.
"Come on! We have to do something!", said Steven as he called over his Mega Metagross and hopped on it, leaving Diantha to settle the panicked islanders.
Meanwhile, Lance was still struggling against Giovanni and his Flygon, avoiding any powerful attacks he could. He couldn't let Giovanni get away with Articuno, as he knew from a few years back that if these elemental titans were captured, the weather could be seriously affected as a result.
He could even feel the weather getting warmer although it was December, as the temperature had increased due to the Titan of Ice not keeping the weather in balance.
"Dragonite, use Twister! Finish him off for good!", shouted Lance as Dragonite unleashed a powerful draconic tornado that swept through Giovanni, sending him and Flygon in the midst of a torrential cyclone, holding on for dear life.
As the Twister attack ended, leaving Giovanni down but not out, the Rocket Boss heard a gigantic explosion from his left side, which sent out enormous shock waves that could be seen from all around the area.
Once the shock waves had cleared, Giovanni and Lance turned in the air to see the Team Rocket helicopter that Giovanni had brought with him completely wrecked and falling into the water.
Then, rising out of the destruction came Cynthia on her Garchomp, flying towards Lance, who came to greet her.
"So, what happened over there?", exclaimed Lance jokingly as the Sinnoh Champion flew over to him on Garchomp, both turning their attention to Giovanni.
"Well, I had to do something! What do you think?", asked Cynthia, while Lance shrugged and turned back to the Rocket Boss, who was busy talking to someone on the phone.
"So, only one will do… I see. I'll be there shortly.", muttered Giovanni on the phone, and subsequently shut it off right after. He then looked at Lance and Cynthia, and came up with one last plan.
"You won't be taking Articuno anywhere, not if I'm gone!", cackled Giovanni madly. "Use Hyper Beam!"
Flygon let loose one last destructive beam onto the two Champions, while Giovanni flipped around and flew away, cackling like a madman.
More and more shock waves appeared in the air all around, stretching out for miles. The natives and Diantha looked on in shock and fear as the explosions rocked the sky for miles, and voices rang out among the community.
"What was that last one!" "Who could be doing that?" "What happened to Lugia?" There were voices shouting from many people on the island, and Diantha and Gardevoir were having trouble keeping the villagers from a revolt.
"Now, now, calm down! The G-Men will handle this!", exclaimed Diantha, but her shouts were barely heard compared to the public outcry going on at the moment.
Once the smoke in the air cleared, Lance and Cynthia found themselves unharmed, while Dragonite was keeping a tight Light Screen in front of the two Champions to protect them.
"What the… where's Giovanni?", exclaimed Lance, looking around to find any trace of the Rocket Boss, along with Cynthia, who also seemed confused.
"All I want to know is how we got through that Hyper Beam unharmed!", exclaimed Cynthia, while scouting the area for any traces of Giovanni or his Flygon, while Lance shrugged and noticed something terrifying.
"That doesn't matter! We have other things to take care of!", shouted Lance as he flew over to the island's shore, where Moltres and Zapdos were lying, obviously weak.
"Right!", said Cynthia as she flew over towards the island's shore and followed Lance. Once they reached the shore and solid ground, they went right over to Moltres and Zapdos.
"Don't worry, we'll have you healed in no time… ", said Lance as he gave some Super Potions to Moltres and Zapdos while Cynthia radioed for backup.
"Yes… this is Cynthia. We need medical agents immediately and some large transport vehicles for a Moltres and Zapdos… I'm not kidding. Got it?", exclaimed Cynthia as she hung up her PokeNav and walked towards Lance and Steven, who had flew down and joined the others.
Lance walked toward Lugia, who was also beached on the shore. He began to deliver some Super Potions onto the Beast of the Sea, healing its wounds for the time being.
"You know what, make that an extra-large transport vehicle. There's also a Lugia stranded here. You'll find my coordinates on my PokeNav tracker… I'm not kidding!", said Cynthia, who then continued to talk on her PokeNav.
Suddenly, five figures appeared onto the island's shore, recalling their Pokemon and running up to the Champions.
"Lance? Is that you? We came as soon as we heard!", exclaimed a voice that Lance recognized. Drake, the Orange League Supreme Gym Leader, ran up to him, followed by his Gym Leaders.
"What happened here?", asked Rudy, looking out onto the scene in front of him. "And where's Articuno?"
"Whatever happened here, it's bad. We were only told of an emergency, and nothing else.", said Danny, leaving Steven to provide some details.
"Giovanni struck again. He came for the Legendary birds, and he got one of them. With Articuno gone-", said Steven as he was cut off by Cynthia.
"The balance will shift. The temperature's already getting hotter due to one titan missing. It's just like four years ago.", exclaimed Cynthia as she took off her jacket.
"Four years ago was terrifying… what's going to happen now?", said Cissy, who was full of fear.
The sound of a helicopter rotor began to fly out around the area, catching Lance's attention immediately. However, instead of having to face more of Team Rainbow Rocket, the helicopter revealed itself to be that of the Orange Islands Broadcasting Network.
"Unfortunately, we don't know what he's going to do with Articuno, but we do have a bigger problem right now.", said Lance as he pointed up into the air.
"The media."
December 7, 2002. Unknown Location. Sunrise.
"Can you please move faster! I'm so cramped in here!", shouted Iris inside the vents. The group was forced to crawl single file through the vents if they had any hope of escaping the Rocket Base, as Grunts were crawling the halls, aware of the teens' appearance at the base.
Along with that troubling fact, they were also trying their hardest not to look at the people in front of them's butts, because that was a disturbing thing to stare at while they were in a vent system.
"Tell that to whoever's in the front!", said Drew as he continued to crawl through just like everybody else, besides the extremely cramped space and low visibility.
In the front of the line, everything was normal for Ash, besides the fact that they were crawling through the vents of a Team Rocket base just to escape, until he found a dead end, and stopped short right near it.
This subsequently caused everyone else to bump into each other in the cramped vent, leaving them confused and making noise that could be heard from outside.
"What's going on, Ash?", asked Leaf from the back, making sure to keep her voice down. As she waited for Ash to respond, she heard a sound coming from her G-Men X-Transceiver, so she opened that up and looked at her updates.
"We've hit a dead end, and I don't see anywhere else we could go.", exclaimed Ash, but Leaf was silent. She couldn't stop looking on the article that was on her X-Transceiver screen.
Shamouti Isles Attacked - Articuno Captured
Leaf couldn't believe it. First Giovanni blows up Indigo Plateau, now he has a Legendary. What else could the Rocket Boss be capable of?
After a while, Leaf seemed to snap out of her silence and answer Ash, who had been waiting for a few minutes now. "Well, I don't know where to go. Are you sure you can't see any more ways to go?"
Ash looked straight in front of him for a good minute, trying to find a way through even with the low visibility and low lighting up in the vents, until he found himself closing his eyes, begging to himself that he would find a way out, until something changed.
The formerly pitch-black view of Ash's closed eyes were replaced with blue outlines of what seemed to be people inside the base, and he could make out outlines of trees and plants to the left, signaling fresh air.
As soon as it happened, Ash's eyes shot up, his irises reverberating a blue glow that lit up the wall beside him until it changed back to brown. Ash smiled, knowing that he had finally found a way out.
"We can go left. I don't know why, but we can.", said Ash, and the rest of the group was confused as to why he randomly said to take a left.
"Are you sure? How do you know you're not leading us into another trap?", asked Drew suspiciously.
Ash shrugged. "Just trust me and go left. It's our only way out of here.", he explained as he began to crawl left, into a much wider vent space, and the group reluctantly followed him through.
"Psst! May!", whispered Drew inside the vents. The space was much wider than the previous vents, so people were able to crawl next to each other instead of a single file line.
"Yeah, Drew? What is it?", asked May, who was crawling next to him inside the vent.
"I was just wondering about why Ash said to go left. Do you think he knows what he's doing?", said Drew, trying to get another opinion on his thinking.
May thought for a moment, then answered. "You have to learn to trust him. I traveled with Ash for almost two whole years, and in that time I would have probably died if not for his quick thinking.", she exclaimed.
Drew looked confused for a moment, until he realized that she wasn't kidding. "Wait… you're not serious, are you?", he asked.
"We didn't just do normal Contests and Gym Battles, you know.", said May with a smile, and Drew just looked dumbfounded. It seemed that he really didn't know a lot about May.
"All right. If you say so, May.", exclaimed Drew as he continued to crawl through the vents, along with the rest of the group, trying to find a way out as soon as possible.
December 7, 2002. Pallet Town. Sunrise.
Delia Ketchum opened the windows of her home to welcome in the sunlight. She hadn't been in the best of moods ever since Ash had died, and that was understandable. The only company she got were from Professor Oak and Tracey, who were also grieving.
She then felt a hot breeze come in through the open windows, heating the whole house up. She went to check the heat system she had recently installed with the help of Professor Oak, and to her surprise, it was on the same temperature it had always been since the weather had gotten colder in time for winter.
Delia stepped outside, and the weather felt almost 20 degrees hotter than it was yesterday, and she could see other stepping out of their houses to observe this phenomenon.
Suddenly, Professor Oak ran down from his laboratory, followed by Tracey to meet the crowding villagers, who had gathered up in the town square.
"People of Pallet Town, I bring grave news. The Shamouti Isles have been attacked, and Articuno has been captured.", exclaimed the professor with a grim expression on his face.
The townspeople went into a fury. Voices rang out throughout the crowd, and Professor Oak was trying to get people to calm down.
"Due to Articuno's capture, the weather has been affected, so be warned for rising temperatures over the next few days.", said the professor as he stepped down from the makeshift podium he was standing on.
Delia then walked over to Oak after the commotion had died down. "Will this be like four years ago?", she asked, and the professor thought for a moment before responding.
"Unfortunately, yes. The weather has become unbalanced, and temperatures are already soaring throughout the world.", said the professor, and Delia's face turned grim. It couldn't get any worse, she thought. Not after all that had happened since the start of the month. But could it?
December 7, 2002. Shamouti Island. Morning.
Cynthia looked on as the news helicopters flew away after another huge scoop. The public was going to be at all of their throats now, for how they let Giovanni get away with another heinous crime.
"How? How did we let him get away with it?", asked Luana, who had been silent for most of the time she had been here.
"I might have an answer.", exclaimed Cynthia, and the others turned to listen to her explanation.
"This island has an ancient legend passed on for generations, basically saying that a Chosen One was needed to save Lugia, who would come to help if Articuno, Zapdos, or Moltres were captured.", said Cynthia, but the others looked confused.
"What does some fairytale have to do with anything?", asked Rudy, who didn't understand the purpose of what Cynthia was saying.
"When I was first studying ancient myths, I came across this prophecy, and one line struck me as we were coming over to the island.", said Cynthia.
Lance looked on, eager to hear what the Sinnoh Champion was about to reveal, and so did the others. "What was the line?", asked Steven.
Cynthia paused for a moment, and then delivered. "And thus, the world shall turn to ash."
This left the others even more confused than they were before, and they didn't know what she was going to say next.
"Guess I'll have to try a different option. Do you remember the weather crisis four years ago? The one where Moltres and Zapdos were captured by some collector?", asked Cynthia, and the others nodded.
"Yeah, I had to deal with so many complaints after that. It was terrible.", said Drake, and Cynthia was sure they would know now.
"Well, who won your league four years ago, Drake?", said Cynthia, and at that very moment, in front of the regional champions, the Orange Crew's jaws all dropped.
"You… you can't be serious, can you?", sputtered Danny, who was in shock.
"Unfortunately, I am very serious. Giovanni planned this all along.", exclaimed Cynthia. "He got rid of the Chosen One so he could grab Legendary Pokemon and add to his power."
Steven stepped up towards Cynthia, not knowing what was going on. "Wait a minute. Who is it?", he asked, and the Gym Leaders all turned to Drake to give a response.
Drake stepped up, knowing that from here, everything from here was about to change.
"Ash Ketchum."
December 7, 2002. Unknown Location. Early Morning.
After a while of crawling through more vents, and the conversations that ensued from such crawling through vents, Ash was able to see the grille of the vent cover in front of him.
"Leaf! I found the vent cover!", whispered Ash, but loud enough so that Leaf, who was in the back, could hear him.
"Great! Can you try to open it up?", asked Leaf, and Ash obliged. To his surprise, the vent cover came off extremely easily, and Ash found himself looking at some sort of arcade store.
"What do you see, Ash?", asked Gary. After a long time of crawling, the group was eager to get out and breathe in some fresh air again.
"Well, it's just a bunch of slot machines and arcade games.", exclaimed Ash while looking at the scene.
Leaf smiled. "Great! You can get out of the vent. We're safe now.", she said as Ash immediately fell down on the floor from the vent hole.
After picking himself up, he began to help the others out of the vent, until be noticed a doorway that led down a dark hall that looked suspicious.
Leaf got onto the ground herself as Ash was staring at the doorway, and she noticed his expression. "Oh yeah, that was the way my squad and I came into the base. This game corner is a front for Rocket's operations in Kanto.", explained Leaf.
"Can we just get out of here? I want to breathe fresh air again! Is that too much to ask?", said Dawn beggingly, and when nobody did anything, she just opened the door.
As soon as Dawn stepped out of the Celadon Game Corner, she felt the heat and immediately took off her scarf. Once the others walked outside, they also took off their warm layers usually used for winter.
"It's the middle of December. Why is it so hot out here?", asked Ritchie, and the others seemed to agree with him.
Leaf, however, was thinking to herself, until she came upon an unfortunate conclusion. "This may be one of the side effects… ", she mumbled, but the others caught wind of it.
"Side effects of what?", asked Gary. "Did something happen?"
Leaf sighed, and opened up her X-Transceiver to show the article she had read earlier, and projected it like it was a hologram, similar to a Holo Caster.
As the group read the title, their expressions became that of shock and horror. They couldn't believe what they were reading.
Ash's jaw dropped, as he would never expect this in a million years. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Misty dragging him away from the others.
"Ash, I'm seriously worried. Do you think he could have planned this?", exclaimed Misty, who was grabbing him on the shoulders.
Ash, who didn't seem to get what she was saying, looked confused. "What do you mean?", he asked.
"Giovanni! He must have planned this! He makes the world think that you're dead, then he's able to get Articuno as a result, without you to stop him!", whispered Misty, trying not to draw the attention of the others.
Ash's face showed sudden realization, and he too looked extremely worried. "If that's the case, then this is really bad.", he exclaimed, matching Misty's grim expression.
As Ash and Misty walked back towards the others, they noticed Leaf wasn't with them, and walking back towards the Game Corner.
Ash ran up to Leaf, and Gary soon followed suit, catching up to her before she entered back into the Game Corner.
"Leaf, where are you going? Why are you leaving now?", asked Gary. Leaf turned around and noticed her old friends pleading with her to stay, but she knew what she had to do.
"I need to recover my team, they're still in there. I got you all out of there safely, and now I have to get my team and complete the mission I was assigned. Got it?", exclaimed Leaf, immediately regaining a serious demeanor.
"Fine. We'll go with you, then.", said Ash almost instantly after Leaf gave her reasoning, and the G-Men commander faltered. She knew Ash was always willing to help somebody out, but to willingly go back into a place they had just escaped?
"I'll go too, Leaf.", said Gary as he turned around to face the others, who were going over to find out what was going on.
"Please, come to your senses. I don't want you to get hurt or get recaptured by the Rockets. That's why I'm going in alone, I've been trained for this.", explained Leaf, but the others wouldn't budge.
"You helped us out, it's time we returned the favor.", said May, and the others looked like they had the same idea.
Leaf was awed by this display of comradery by Ash and his friends, who were willing to risk their lives just to save somebody else.
Leaf sighed reluctantly and gave a thumbs up. "Fine. Let's go.", she exclaimed as she walked back into the Game Corner, making sure nobody else was watching, and walked into the doorway, followed by the others.
The group had found more Rocket Grunts to beat up and take their uniforms so that they could be in disguise, and they were seemingly on patrol, but they were actually scouring the halls for Leaf's team.
After turning another corner, the group found themselves looking straight at Domino and Archer, who were leading Leaf's team, all tied up, through the hallways of the base.
"Let's go!", whispered Ash as he ran towards them, but he was stopped by Leaf, who grabbed him on the back.
"Hold it right there. We have to go in slowly before we do this. Okay?", commanded Leaf, and Ash reluctantly nodded.
The group slowly followed Archer and Domino through the base once more, just like how Domino had dragged the group (minus Leaf, of course) to meet with Archer only a few hours earlier.
Suddenly, Archer opened up a locked door with a key card, revealing a long flight of stairs. The group, pretending that they were reinforcement Grunts, followed the Executives up those stairs, which after a while gave way to a long, straight passageway.
"How long is this going to take?", asked Trip worriedly. He was keeping his camera in his pocket, but he hoped it wouldn't fall out to attract attention.
"As long as it needs too. You don't seem to be in any rush, don't you?", said Leaf.
"Okay, fine. Let's do this.", muttered the Unovan trainer as they continued to walk on the passageway, which soon led to a square-shaped room with a large window in the back, which gave a great view of the Kanto Bay.
Leaf realized that this room was on the cliffs of Celadon City, and she was surprised as to how far the Rocket Base stretched underground, as the hidden entrance in the Game Corner was in the middle of the city.
The Grunts set down the gagged G-Men agents while Archer began another monologue. "You know, this is usually where we dump the bodies after the execution process, but with you League spies we figured throwing you out now would be even worse!", laughed Archer manically.
Domino opened the window, and a Grunt grabbed one agent by the neck. The agent tried to make the Grunt let him go, but he was gagged and helpless.
The Grunt was about to throw the agent out of the window, but Leaf reacted quickly, running up and slamming the Grunt in the back, almost sending him out the window.
Archer and Domino responded almost immediately, Archer getting ready to fight while Domino brought out her Black Tulip staff.
"Just what do you think you're doing?", shouted Domino as she charged the disguised Leaf with her staff. Leaf managed to dodge the initial attack and punched the Rocket Elite in the stomach, sending her into the side wall.
"Hmph. You just don't know when to give up, don't you?", taunted Archer as he came closer to Ash and the others, who had started to spread out along the room to take on the Grunts who were stationed there.
"Maybe… or maybe not.", said Ash as he gripped a Pokeball. This was it, and he was going all out.
December 7, 2002. Shamouti Island. Early Morning.
"So, you were the 1998 Festival Maiden?", asked Cynthia.
Immediately after Drake revealed who the Chosen One could have been, Lance, Steven, and Diantha were all in shock, but they kind of understood why. Each one of them had seen Ash excel as a trainer and as a person, helping out anyone in need.
She, along with Lance, Steven, Diantha, and the Orange Crew were staying in the village after helping clean up the situation with the Legendary Birds that morning. Now, they were staying in one of the village's houses, talking to a teenager that looked around sixteen.
"Yeah. I did it for a while, before they gave the position to another girl. My name's Melody, in case I didn't tell you earlier. Nice to meet you.", said Melody.
Melody was trying her best to act normal, but that was a challenge when three regional Champions and the entirety of the Orange Crew was in her house, demanding to know what had happened back in 1998.
"We're sorry for barging in, really, but we really need some answers as to what happened four years ago.", said Lance, but Melody shrugged it off.
"It's honestly no problem. Anyways, it started like any normal Legend Festival should, with fireworks and chanting and explaining how the legend worked, until Ash decided to go to Fire Island immediately after the dinner, instead of going in the morning… ", explained Melody, as she continued to retell the events four years prior.
As the former Festival Maiden was explaining how Ash had managed to stop the three Legendary Birds from rampaging along with Lugia, and the help of Melody, Misty, and Tracey, the Champions and Gym Leaders in the room were surprised. They didn't expect an twelve-year-old boy to be capable of saving the world, but from their experience they knew that Ash had backed up his title as the world's Chosen One.
Once Melody had finished telling her story, Diantha was the first to speak up. "Well, it does make sense. After the Kalos Crisis, I was asking Ash about what had happened at Prism Tower, and he said Lysandre believed he was one of the 'chosen ones' built to lead his new world.", exclaimed the Kalos Champion.
"It also explains how he was managed to stop Team Galactic in Sinnoh. He, along with Dawn Berlitz and Brock Harrison managed to form a bond with our own Lake Guardians, which helped us defeat Cyrus.", said Cynthia.
"Well, he did help me stop a Rocket front in Johto a few years back, and then he helped my undercover mission to stop Aqua and Magma. Heck, I even saw a Kyogre willingly let him onto its back!", exclaimed Lance.
Melody stared in awe as these powerful world leaders exchanged stories about Ash that she never knew about. Since the Orange Islands in general were pretty isolated from the rest of the world, they never got frequently updated on what was going on in other regions, usually settling on a couple news reports a month from travelers.
Cynthia turned towards Melody. "Again, thanks for telling us about this. It will be a big help for us.", she exclaimed.
Melody smiled. "It's really no big deal. I would do it anytime. That was one of the greatest days of my life.", she said.
"And about him dying… I don't buy it. Ash couldn't be killed that easily. Just take that into effect.", exclaimed Melody, sending confusion along the Champions' faces.
"If you say so.", exclaimed Steven as he stood up, along with the other Champions and the Orange Crew, and began to walk towards the door, Melody following suit, until she came across her sister Carol and her friend Maren in the living room as the Champions walked out of the house.
Carol had a suspicious expression on her face, staring at the door and then back to her sister, while Maren looked plain confused.
"Melody? What's going on?", asked Carol suspiciously. Melody sighed and slumped down on the couch. She knew Carol was never going to believe her, but she had to give it a shot.
December 7, 2002. Coast of Kanto Bay. Early Morning.
Ash charged at the Rocket Executive at full speed and completely caught Archer off guard. The executive thought he was going to attack using his fists, but Ash sidestepped and sent out his Charizard instead, to the surprise of Archer.
"Charizard, use Flamethrower!", commanded Ash, as the Flame Pokemon shot a stream of fire at the unsuspecting Executive and his Grunts.
Meanwhile, Leaf had gone towards Domino and was having a duel in hand-to-hand combat, and it looked like Leaf had the upper hand, until Domino shocked her with her electric tulip staff.
Leaf, shakily stood up, still weary from the electric shock, and got ready to attack the Rocket Elite once more.
"Take this!", grunted Leaf as she delivered a spin kick right into Domino's chest, sending her across the room and into some of her Grunts, all crashing onto the floor.
"Leaf! Are you all right?", asked Gary, who had run up to her after punching a charging Rocket Grunt in the stomach. By this time, alarm bells had started to ring all over the base, and since it was the morning shift, a lot more Grunts were bound to be on patrol and investigate what was going on.
"I'm okay… just some electric shocks… ", muttered Leaf as she continued to fight regardless of her pain.
Meanwhile, the others had either sent out their Pokemon to attack the Grunts or were fighting with their fists, and it seemed to be working.
Iris was jumping all across the room, giving unsuspecting grunts a swift kick in the shin whenever she could, while Cilan was using his Pansage to send Bullet Seeds, ricocheting around the small room.
Serena commanded her Braixen to use Flamethrower all across the room, while Clemont was using his exploding inventions to catch Grunts off guard while the others finished them off.
Trip used his camera's flash function to blind the Rockets, and then commanded his Serperior to wrap them up and throw them across the room.
Ritchie used his Butterfree to blow the Grunts into opposite walls, while Drew did the same with his Roserade, as flowers blew around the room, creating a performance worthy of the Grand Festival while beating up Rockets at the same time.
Brock was using his fists instead of his Pokemon, and once he got a good opening, managed to deliver a strong punch into a unsuspecting Grunt's gut.
May, Dawn, Zoey, and Kenny put their Contest strategies, as they used their Pokemon's moves wisely to startle Grunts and keep them away.
Misty moved with grace along with her Gyarados, completely wiping the Rockets with dodges and Hydro Pumps galore.
Paul went charging towards the Rockets, and was doing well for a teenager going up against a bunch of trained lackeys, managing to knock down a few Grunts at a time, while Barry just ran around and tripped Grunts up to let the others finish them off.
Max, however, attempted to hide in the corner for a while, as he didn't really know how to fight, but May ran over to protect her little brother while fending off more Rockets.
Suddenly, there was silence around the room,and the group stopped. When the smoke cleared, most of the Rockets were out cold thanks to the group's efforts, with only Archer, Domino, and a few Grunts remaining, that is, until they collapsed from exhaustion onto the floor.
The gang soon returned their Pokemon and began to relax and catch their breath, thinking that it was over for now.
Ash stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and to take it all in. "Is it… over? Did we… do it?", he huffed as he was bent over.
Misty went over and put her arm on his shoulder, leaning on him. "Yeah… I think so… that was something for sure."
Leaf went right to work untying her team, and removing their gags and restraints, and her squadron all got up okay.
"Thank you, Commander Greene. If you didn't help us out there, we would have been dead for sure.", exclaimed one of her squadmates.
"It was nothing. Just what a true G-Men agent would do.", commented Leaf, as she was looking in her pockets for the mobile detonator, but came up empty.
"Okay guys, this isn't funny. Where's my mobile detonator?", asked Leaf, who was on the verge of panicking.
Suddenly, a voice from the other side of the room rang into the group's ears. "Looking for this?", cackled a bruised, burnt, but very much alive Archer, who was holding Leaf's detonator, which controlled all of the explosives Leaf had set inside the base.
"I don't know how you did this, but either way, you're going down! Go, Sceptile!", said Ash, but he was unable to open Sceptile's Pokeball and send him out to battle. "What's going on now?"
Another set of Grunts began to enter the room, and Archer began to cackle like a madman. "HAHAHAHA! You're powerless to stop us! I've just set up a radio interceptor that prevents your Pokeballs from releasing their Pokemon!"
"And since you seem to always get out of our clutches, I'll set this off and we'll all be gone! I'll be the greatest martyr Team Rocket has ever seen!", he laughed as he held the detonator in his hand, ready to blow.
"I had my doubts, but this guy's completely insane. No doubt about it.", whispered Kenny to Zoey, but Archer unfortunately heard that snippet of their conversation.
"All right. You asked for it!", yelled Archer, as he pressed the detonate button.
BOOM!
Explosions soon began to rock the entirety of the Rocket Base and the ceilings and walls soon began to collapse Pieces of the base began to fall onto the floor, making the others duck for cover.
Ash opened the door for a quick peek at the hallway outside despite the collapsing ceiling and destroyed walls, and he could see that the explosions were very far away, but getting rapidly closer to the room. Luckily, they had a few seconds left due to how far away this room was from the rest of the base.
Ash raced down to the other side of the room, where he had placed his backpack. He knew what he had to do, regardless of the sacrifices he could be making. He zipped open his backpack as fast as he could and rummaged through it until finding what he wanted.
He put Sir Aaron's gloves on his hands and turned around, only to see Archer slam the door and put his back to it, while laughing madly.
"There is no way you can survive this, Ketchum! It's over!", cackled Archer, while Ash stood there, a determined look on his face. He only had a few more seconds until the explosions hit this room, so he turned around to address the group.
"Go! Use any Flying Pokemon you've got and get out of here!", yelled Ash to his friends, along with the G-Men agents. The agents instantly obeyed, calling out their licensed Pidgeots and Fearows and flying out of the building.
Ash's friends, however, waited inside the room, reluctant to leave him behind. Ash knew this would be hard for them, but he needed them to escape.
Ash yelled at them one more time. "Get out! There isn't that much time!", he shouted as he could start to hear the explosions get even more closer.
This brought the group to their senses, and they immediately began to send out their Flying-type Pokemon, and got out of the building on them. Drew was on his Flygon, Trip was on his Tranquil, Paul went onto his Honchkrow, and people who didn't own any Flying Pokemon went onto other people's Pokemon.
Brock, who was riding on Drew's Flygon along with Drew, May, and Max, suddenly noticed Ash start to put his hands out in front of him, and then his eyes shot open once he realized what Ash was wearing on his hands.
From back inside the room, Ash heard Brock's voice come in through the window. "Ash! Don't do it! You could get yourself killed if it doesn't work!", yelled Brock, but Ash ignored it and began to concentrate.
Misty looked on from Iris's Dragonite and saw what Ash was doing, but she didn't know what was going on. Either way, she was panicked and didn't want to lose him, so she yelled into the room.
"Ash, whatever you're doing, stop it! Please, get out!", shouted Misty, and Ash felt the urge to jump out and go on his Charizard, but he knew he couldn't thanks to Archer's Pokeball frequency transmitter.
Ash began to concentrate as hard as he could, closed his eyes, and braced himself for the explosions coming his way. He needed to do this, to stop Archer and whatever Team Rocket was doing in this base, and to stop them from going after him and his friends.
BOOOM!
The flurry of explosions reached the room, and Ash opened his eyes, his whole body now glowing blue. He looked at his hands, which were now glowing bright blue, and thrust them towards the explosions.
A protective Aura barrier formed around the explosions, completely controllable by Ash, but he was weakening. He knew he couldn't hold on to this much power for very long, and he had to release it before he lost control.
"Sorry, Mist.", mumbled Ash as he thrust his hands down, pointing towards the floor. This subsequently caused the Aura barrier Ash had made containing the power of the detonated bombs to fall towards the floor, and the Aura barrier burst as a result.
KA-BOOM!
The biggest explosion yet rocked the cliffs of Celadon City, sending out ginormous shock waves that pushed the others, who had gone far away from the site, another twenty feet in the air.
The last thing Ash felt was hearing and feeling the full force of the detonated bombs burn on his skin, and feeling himself being thrown out of the window like he was shot out of a cannon. He looked up to see the bright blue sky above him, heard a few people yelling his name, and he fell in contentment before everything went black.
Here it is! We've reached the end of the two-part mini arc, but what happens from here? You'll just have to read more to find out! Feel free to review, and I'll see you in the next one!