When The World Ends
Chapter Nine – Arceus' Plea
Agatha had been a part of the Elite Four for a very long time. She had seen the fall of the old way of doing things and the subsequent rise of a better way. She got to see the league work side-by-side with the rest of the government in peace. She got to see it slowly change again, becoming more secretive, more like it used to be under the guise of a new and free institute. She saw the fall of Team Rocket many years ago, after the loss of Madame Boss, the only name the old woman had ever given them.
Agatha never thought she'd see such a swift and quick take-over.
Gunshots rang out, screams and shouts echoing through the halls of the Indigo Plateau. Still, she did not run to save herself. No, instead she calmly headed to a sealed room, only stopping to look out the window as Moltres flew by, unleashing a torrent of fire down on the people below. Continuing on her way to the room, she turned on a computer, putting in half a dozen complicated passwords. The old woman found what she was looking for, and went to work.
"Gen gengar," her Pokémon said as he stared at the door.
"It's alright. I'll be done soon," she replied simply. Agatha typed wildly, using the mouse to drag and drop different things. She opened another program, waiting for it to load before hitting the 'record' button. "Lance, if you are seeing this, I am dead. I have transferred all of your Pokémon as well as the other Elites and top ranking trainers. I will not say where in case someone else accesses this. I do not know who our friends are anymore. You should know though. I do not know what will happen, but I know you can pull through once again." She stopped recording and sent the video along a secure line. Once all the transfers were done, she logged off the system and turned off the computer. "Arbok, destroy all of the computers in here."
"Bok!" The poison-type lashed out, powerful jaws destroying the one she had been using before going on a small rampage around the room.
"Bat cro cro!" Her Crobat called out to her.
"Let them come," she replied simply, holding her cane in front of her. "They may take my soul away, but they will not take these Pokémon."
"Gengar gen gengar gar." The old woman looked up briefly, understanding. Her Pokémon would not leave her. They had been together for so long, and no matter what she said or did, they would stay together. All of her Pokémon stared at her with the same determined expressions.
The door flew open and a young woman walked into the room, her blonde hair bouncing around her face. "Ah, Agatha, there you are!"
"I know you. They call you Black Tulip." The woman smirked. "If you think I plan on coming quietly with you, you're quite wrong."
"If you want to die, that's fine with me. One less thing to worry about."
"I have lived a long life. Long enough to know that you will not win." Agatha lifted her head.
"We've already won," Domino, also known as Black Tulip, answered.
"No. You lost the second you involved the legendary Pokémon," the old woman nodded her head. "Now do as you will. You may kill me, but I will drag your soul to hell on the way." Then her ghost and poison Pokémon attacked.
...
Delia jumped as the door flew open, and Leaf was on her feet, ready to fight whoever came through. Her stance faltered a bit and she stared with surprise at who she saw. "Mom? What the hell are you doing?"
"Go outside, get in the car. I already have your things packed. You as well, Gary." She walked into the room and looked at the others. "The league is extracting everyone from this house. Yes, Gary, your grandfather is there."
"Extracting? What the hell is going on?" Meyer demanded as he stood to his full height.
Leaf actually had to admit that she was impressed with the way her mother didn't seem at all phased. Meyer Liscio was a big man, and was quite intimidating when he wanted to be. His kids, so sweet and soft-spoken, must have gotten it from their mother.
"No time." She motioned towards the stairs. "Get your things. We're leaving in five minutes." She looked around at the door. "You two, get your things."
Ash and Misty came inside, both looking highly alarmed. Leaf wanted to talk to them, to ask if Misty was okay after that horrible announcement that Giovanni made, but they both just ran upstairs, not questioning her mother's orders.
"Ash?" Delia called out to her son, but he didn't answer. She looked around at Amanda and asked, "What's going on?"
"No time," the woman repeated sternly. "If we don't go now, there's a chance that everyone here could be in grave danger. Now is not the time to argue. Lance is waiting."
"Lance?" Clemont spoke up, blue eyes flashing with alarm. "The Kanto Champion? He's here?" He almost cringed back under Green's stern expression.
"Get your bags," Delia said suddenly, frowning a little bit. "We'll go."
"Mom?" Serena looked up at Grace, waiting to see if she would agree with the woman or not. Lips pressed together, her mother nodded, and Serena took off towards the basement to grab both of their bags. Clemont and Bonnie didn't even bother asking their father, they just ran up the stairs after their friend left.
"Amanda," Delia asked, her voice a bit fearful. "At least tell me, does this have to do with Cerulean? Or why they took Ash?"
"Yes, and every minute spent talking or arguing is a minute lost." She turned her eyes away. "And you know as well as I do what minutes can mean, Yellow."
Leaf looked over at Gary, raising an eyebrow and mouthing, "Yellow?" He shrugged, looking just as lost as she felt. They didn't argue with the woman as she led them out to the car, but her urgency was startling when contrasted to the quiet, peaceful streets of Pallet Town. It sounded like she was expecting the apocalypse, when in reality, there was nothing.
Still, there were black cars lined on the road, and they were ushered into one of them where Professor Oak and Tracey were waiting. They climbed into the back of the SUV, though Gary was quick to lean over to look at the other two passengers.
"Gramps! What happened to your shirt? What's going on?"
Leaf leaned forward and gasped when she saw the blood that was smeared on his shirt. She could tell it wasn't his, nor was it Tracey's, but it was still a lot. Whoever that came from, if it was only one person, probably didn't live to tell the tale of what happened.
"I suppose that's the real question we're all wondering, what's going on?" Professor Oak said, his voice low and tired. "What is this world coming to?"
Gary and Leaf exchanged uncomfortable looks, but sat back in their seats as the man in the driver's spot started the vehicle. Looking around, she watched as Clemont, Bonnie, their father and Delia were ushered into one car, though the brunette only went with them when her son nodded his head and waved to her. Ash, Misty, Serena and her mother all went into yet another one. Moments later, the entire caravan started moving.
"Where are we going?" Leaf wondered, more to herself than anything else. "And why are we the only ones going? If something's wrong, aren't they in danger too?"
"Huh," Gary looked out the tinted window, watching as they zoomed down the narrow roads, by houses with small children playing. He frowned and lowered his voice, "Maybe if there is something wrong, us being as far away from them as we can will keep them safe."
The teenage girl wasn't sure what the boy was thinking of exactly, but for a brief moment, all she could picture was the piercing red eyes that belonged to Giratina. Her stomach clenched uncomfortably. On the television, Giovanni had said that the legendary Pokémon were on his side, and they both knew very well that legendary Pokémon tended to find Ash. If Team Rocket wanted him, it was only a matter of time before they showed up. Leaf wasn't sure if that's what Gary was getting at, but if it was, she could understand.
The unsettling thing was that she was pretty sure neither Team Rocket nor the Pokémon League truly knew about Ash's entanglement with the legendary Pokémon. If that was the case, then they were being toted off for a completely different reason.
Turning around, Leaf looked back as Pallet Town faded out of view. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what was happening or why it was, but she had a sick feeling that whatever it was had just barely begun.
...
"They tried to take the Pokémon?" Serena was twisting around in her seat, looking back at Ash and Misty with wide eyes. "And they were... agents of some sort?"
"G-Men," Ash answered his friend as Pikachu nodded in agreement. "Apparently they weren't though. They were Team Rocket grunts the entire time."
"Do you think there are more like that?" The blonde cast a look over her shoulder at the woman driving the car, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Not here." Ash spoke with such certainty that it honestly surprised her a little bit. Still, she chose to trust him. Sometimes he was wrong, but he generally had pretty good instincts for who to trust or who to avoid.
Nodding her head, Serena turned her attention to Misty, who had been incredibly silent. They hadn't known each other for very long, but she already knew that the redhead was anything but shy. The blonde knew why she was so quiet, of course, but it was still a bit strange. Something small and unpleasant tugged in Serena's chest as she watched Misty lean a bit against Ash, her shoulder pressing against his. She felt a little stupid at the bit of jealousy, especially in these circumstances, but there was nothing she could do about her own feelings.
The teenager cast a quick glance at her mother, who was keeping her eyes firmly ahead of them, though she was obviously listening in. Serena wet her lips a bit and then looked around again. "Hey, Misty?" She spoke hesitantly, drawing the older girl's attention to her. "It might not mean much coming from me, but that guy on the TV, he's just an... an ass! Don't let what he said get to you." She nodded her head, short hair bobbing with her. "It's not true."
Misty stared at her for a moment, and Serena felt like she had said something wrong or overstepped her boundaries. She opened her mouth to apologize when the redhead smiled. "Thanks. It does mean something."
The blonde closed her eyes as a smile spread across her face, a smile that quickly vanished as the car suddenly jerked. She flew into her mother, who glared at the driver. "What are you doing?"
"Sorry, change of plans and we were about to miss the road," the woman driving said.
"Change of plans?" Grace asked, reaching out and grabbing Serena's hand as her eyes narrowed.
"We're not going to the Indigo Plateau."
"The only thing down this road is Johto though," Ash said with a frown before glancing at Misty. "I'm right, right?"
"Yes," Misty shook her head in a brief moment of amusement before it was replaced with a serious frown. "He's right though."
"Yes, I know, we're going to Johto."
"What? Why?"
The woman looked into the rearview mirror briefly, dark violet eyes serious. "Because there is no more Indigo Plateau."
...
If someone were to stop Clemont and ask him what was going on, he wouldn't have the faintest idea, and that didn't really sit very well with him. He took pride in his intelligence, his ability to see how pieces were fitting together to make a larger object work, but from a kidnapping to traveling to Kanto to the destruction of a city to suddenly fleeing a seemingly peaceful town, he was hardly able to tell up from down.
His father was annoyed, his sister was scared but kept on a brave face, and he just settled on being perplexed. A quick glance at Mrs. Ketchum surprised him, because while her fists clenched onto her skirt, there was an almost resigned look on her face. "Are you okay, Mrs. Ketchum?" Clemont wasn't sure what urged him to speak up, but it startled both him and the woman he was talking to.
"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," she smiled at him, the same warm smile that Ash would always use. It faded a bit and she looked out the windshield in the front. "I just...I thought this was over years ago. After Misty died and then John and Hillary years later..."
"Misty?" Clemont was pretty sure that he saw Misty get into the other car with Ash and Serena earlier, so she definitely wasn't dead.
"Not that Misty, another one." She shook her head. "Don't mind me. A worried woman's musing."
The blond teenager highly doubted that, but decided not to push the issue. Ash or even Misty might be able to shed some light on the topic.
Instead, he looked out the window, trying to make sense of the world that was shooting by them. The bespectacled boy was positive that they were going much faster than any speed limit recommended, and it didn't seem like anyone had any intentions of slowing down. Earlier, they had quickly gone a different direction, but their driver offered no answers. He just kept going.
Finally, after what felt like hours of high-speed racing, they began to slow down, starting to go up instead. Clemont blinked with surprise, because they didn't really appear to be anywhere. There were no buildings, just a massive mountainside. "Where are we?"
"The Silver Mountain Range," Delia answered, looking out the window and pointing. "You see that, over there? That's Mt. Silver. Towards the bottom on the west side, that's where the Silver Conference is held. To the east is Kanto. Mt. Silver is split almost perfectly in two between the two regions."
"Woah," Bonnie whispered, moving so she could see better. "That's cool. I want to climb it!"
"Maybe one day, kiddo," Meyer said, ruffling his daughter's hair. "Isn't that where the Pokémon Master is said to live?"
"So the stories say."
They weren't actually driving up the mountains, but rather around twisted roads that were almost hidden within the trees and shadows. Bonnie twisted around in her seat to look back at Clemont, her eyes going wide. "Where do you think we're going?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted, and he didn't like it at all. What he did know was that the Indigo Plateau was northwest of Pallet Town, and judging from the path they took earlier, they were probably heading farther west. That didn't really make sense to him, because that would imply that they were heading into Johto. Though he supposed Lance did have the jurisdiction in both regions.
Making sure that the driver wasn't paying attention to them (not that he should have been, considering he was driving), Clemont slipped his cellphone out of the pocket of his overalls. He quickly went to the messaging app and typed out, 'do you know what's going on'.
Serena's reply came back quicker than he expected. 'Yeah. We're going to some city in Johto.'
'Why?'
'Not really sure, but from the sounds of it, I think Indigo might have been attacked too.'
Clemont leaned back in his seat, staring at the roof of the SUV as he took a deep breath. Whatever they had gotten themselves into, it just seemed to be getting worse and worse.
...
"Ash."
The teenager wasn't quite sure when he nodded off, but at the sound of his name, his brown eyes snapped open. He winced at how bright and oddly blurry the world around him looked, rubbing at his eyes a bit. When he looked up again, it was still just as bright and blurry, like everything around him was glowing. It felt strange. That was when he realized that he was dreaming.
Standing up, he looked around, waiting for something to happen. There was a sudden rush of wind that brushed his messy hair against his face, and the boy turned around. Almost instantly, anger rushed through him. Most people would have been in awe or honoured at the fact that Arceus appeared before them, but Ash just wanted to throw something at the Pokémon.
"Why?" He demanded before Arceus could say anything. "Why did Manaphy do it? Why did Giovanni say all the legendaries are on his side? What did we do wrong?" He paused as a horrid thought welled up in him. When he spoke next, his voice came out as almost a squeak. "Was it something I did?"
"No," Arceus' voice was soft and soothing. "No, this is no fault of yours. Nor the innocent people who are already lost." The Pokémon shook his head. "Not everything is as it seems. The crisis that you face goes far beyond what any of you realize. It goes beyond your group of friends, beyond the political struggle that has been raging on in secret for many years now." His red and green eyes looked towards Ash, and the teenager felt like the Pokémon was staring into his soul. Maybe he was. "The enemy has gained allies in more places than you think. Your leagues, your politics, they mean nothing. I would not interfere with such a struggle, because that is unfortunately what people do."
"Then why are you here?"
"I once told you that your destiny was your own to choose, and it still is, but I must ask something of you. Something I never wanted to ask a Chosen One before. I need you to help me."
"Help you?" Ash's stomach twisted uncomfortably.
"The danger that approaches is greater than you can imagine now, and I can stop it, but I cannot do it alone. I need something, something that I made inaccessible to myself, should I have been guided by the wrong intentions." Arceus lowered his head. "You yourself have witnessed how I too can be blind. This time, I am not. I cannot reverse what has happened, you know as well as I that the past cannot be changed, but I can prevent such horrid things from happening in the future with your help."
"Yes," he nodded his head quickly. "I'll help." If he could stop the legendary Pokémon from attacking, if he could stop people from dying, of course he would help. It wasn't even really a choice to him.
"It is a big task." Three very familiar, glass orbs appeared in front of Ash, hovering within arm's reach. "You recognize these, yes?"
"Yeah." He reached out, touching the pale blue sphere. "The treasures of Fire, Ice and Lightning Islands."
"They are so much more than that." Arceus moved closer and nodded at them. "Did you not wonder why they never broke? Or why the power within was revealed to only you?"
"I thought it was reacting to my Aura," he admitted, but it never really occurred to him while running from island to island, avoiding angry legendary Pokémon, a psycho trying to capture them, and nearly drowning in the process of stopping it all, why the spheres didn't shatter with everything that happened.
"They were, but they were also reacting to just you. You see, these orbs are special. I made them myself. Within them, contains the very essence of what humans have come to call Pokémon-types."
"The...essence?"
"That is the simplest way I can explain it. What they truly are cannot be comprehended by mortal beings." The orbs slowly started moving around Ash in a circle, and he jerked his arm back with surprise as others appeared along with them. "Those are only three of them."
"Why are you showing me this?" The trainer asked, looking at them all. If they were all designed to represent a type, then it didn't take a genius to realize that there were eighteen of them.
"I need you to find these for me and bring them back to the beginning."
"What?" He looked at Arceus, confusion rushing through him. "All of them? Well... where... what?"
"I told you it was a big job. Each one is protected by a legendary Pokémon. If they, a Pokémon, or any person takes them, the orbs will eventually disappear back to their homes. The legendary Pokémon can retrieve them and bring them back, but they cannot remove them. Only you can."
"Because I'm the Chosen One."
"Yes."
"Where do I even start looking?" Ash met Arceus' eyes. "Shamouti Island? That's pretty far from where I am right now."
"No. I do not know where the legendary Pokémon have hidden them, but I do know where the path to finding them begins. Go to the Ilex Forest, to Celebi's shrine, to begin the journey. The occurrences within your political system may seem like the priority at the moment over this, but this is the only answer that will save everyone."
"The only..." Ash trailed off, closing his eyes. Arceus was right, it did seem like what was happening with the Pokémon League was much more important than running after some orbs, but with the legendary Pokémon attacking, he could already see how things were much bigger than any of them realized. "Ilex Forest..." His eyes snapped open, his hand curling into a fist. "I'll do it. I'll find them. But what do you mean by bring them back to the beginning?"
"You will understand when the time comes. Thank you, Ash Ketchum."
Ash had so many more questions, but he could already feel his mind getting fuzzy as the image around him began to blur before it faded into darkness.
...
They drove and drove, and by the time they reached their destination in Blackthorn City, the sky was dark. No one was given an explanation as to what was happening or what was going to happen, they were just shown into the gym where a slightly confused Clair apologized to them for not having a place for them to sleep, but offered her living area for them to use with their sleeping bags.
Misty hadn't slept all that much, the sick feeling in her stomach still coursing through her. She hadn't been able to eat the food that was offered to her earlier, though she desperately tried to force a little bit down, if only because of the worry on Ash and Delia's faces. She might have been able to ignore everyone else, but not them.
She set her sleeping bag very close to her boyfriend's that night, half tempted to get him to unzip his so they could curl up together on that while using hers as a blanket. They had done it before. With so many people around them though, Misty stayed in her own and just stayed close. It was this proximity that woke her up as he started to twitch and move. Pikachu woke up as well, crawling out of the sleeping bag and staring at Ash with worry.
Misty pushed herself up and looked at him, watching as his face contorted and he rolled a bit. She reached out, touching his arm and shook gently. "Ash?" She jerked back a bit, startled at how quickly his eyes snapped open, Pikachu mirroring her movement. Ash Ketchum was a lot of things, but a light sleeper was not one of them. If he woke up on his own, that was one thing, but trying to wake him up when he didn't want to be was near impossible.
Ash's eyes darted around before he jerked up, breathing in and out deeply. Misty moved into a kneeling position and put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I... I need a bit of air," Ash said with a sigh. He smiled at her and pet Pikachu's head, crawling out of his sleeping bag. "I'm just going to go outside for a few minutes. I'll be back. Pikachu, stay with Misty, okay?" He nodded at his Pokémon and then pressed his lips to her forehead before getting up completely and walking away.
Misty exchanged confused looks with Pikachu, and they were both quick to scramble up. The Pokémon jumped up onto her shoulder, and they moved to the door that Ash left open, peering outside. The boy didn't go far, just staring up at the sky with his back towards them.
The redhead jumped when a warm hand gently landed on her shoulder. She looked around and found Delia, who smiled at her and said, "Stay here." Misty nodded, just watching as she walked out towards her son. She didn't leave though, choosing to watch instead.
"Ash?" Delia called out softly as she approached her son. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled a little bit before looking back up at the sky. It was completely clear and calm, like nothing was wrong in the world. "I saw you get up. Did you have a nightmare?"
"No, I just..." Ash looked down. "Mom, I haven't been very honest with you about something. About me. And I... there's something I need to do but..." He shrugged.
"But you need to go," his mother finished, resignation in her voice.
"I'm sorry."
"No, don't be sorry." Delia reached up, brushing his hair out of his face. "I always knew you were special. Every mother says that, but I really did know. You've always been different, and not just because of your Aura." She took a deep breath and blinked her eyes rapidly. "If you need to go, I won't stop you. I'll be here, rooting for you every step of the way like I always do." She closed the distance between them, hugging her son tightly.
Misty had to look away as she saw tears streaking down the woman's cheeks. She hugged herself, and for a brief moment, she wondered what her own mother would have been like. She didn't really remember the woman, but from what Daisy told her, she was the affectionate type. Though she probably wouldn't have understood this.
The redhead looked up as Delia came back inside. The woman wiped her tears away before reaching out and hugging Misty. She was a bit surprised but embraced the woman back. "Be careful, sweetie." Delia let go, took a few steps back, reaching out to scratch Pikachu behind the ear briefly, and turned to walk away.
At first, Misty didn't understand what she meant, and a quick glance at Pikachu told her that he had no idea either, but then she looked at Ash's figure and understood. Walking outside, Misty slid her hand into his without saying a word, Pikachu scampering from her shoulder to his.
"Nothing I say will stop you from coming, will it?" He asked her.
"Not a thing," Misty confirmed with a nod of her head, squeezing his hand tightly. "You're going to tell me what's going on, and we're going to come up with a plan." A yawn escaped her lips and she stared up at him with an embarrassed expression. "In the morning?"
A small smile appeared on Ash's face and he nodded his head. "In the morning." He moved back towards the interior of the gym, gently pulling her along behind him. A bit of movement caught Misty's eyes, and in the dim light, she saw Leaf close her eyes quickly. There was little doubt in the redhead's mind that their friend had heard them.
That was something else that they could deal with in the morning.
...
From the moment they came to Blackthorn City, Leaf had been suspicious. It wasn't that she was an overly paranoid person, but something didn't sit right with her. If something had happened at the Indigo Plateau, Lance didn't seem all that worried about it.
The news report that they saw the next morning made her stomach drop. There was no mistaking the three legendary birds for something else as they viciously attacked Indigo Plateau in the video that none of the newscasters could apparently turn off. Rocket grunts were swarming into the building, picking off people who tried to flee.
It was a message, she knew that much. A message that absolutely no one was safe. A nail in the coffin after the attack on Cerulean City.
For so long, Leaf had been lost in her life. She became a trainer at the age of ten along with Gary, Ash and poor Joey, but she hadn't really known what to do with herself. Joey had his breakdown, Gary and Ash continued to pursue competitive battling, but she kind of just wandered, making friends with Pokémon and helping Professor Oak out from time to time. Then Gary turned to research and a small part of her was reminded that they were young, that they had time to make up their minds. She thought that she might want to do research and was very interested in poison Pokémon, but meeting Ash, Misty, Brock and Dawn in Sinnoh led her on a different path. Something inside of her was ignited after that adventure, and she finally ventured into the world of competitive battling. It was frustrating, and exhausting at times, but Leaf finally felt like she was somewhere that she belonged.
It was a selfish thing, but the knowledge that it was being ripped away from her made her want to do something rather than just get carted around.
That was why she kept an eye on Ash and Misty. The brunette knew what she heard the night before, she just needed to wait for a good moment to bring it up.
The adults left the room (she didn't count Tracey), and Leaf pounced on the moment. She whipped around, put her hands on her hips and said, "What were you talking about last night, about leaving?"
Gary, Clemont, Serena, Tracey and Bonnie all turned their attention towards Ash, looking at him with different forms of surprise and curiosity.
Ash himself seemed taken back before he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You heard that, huh?"
"Yeah. So what's up?"
He shifted uncomfortably and looked around at his friends from Kalos. "I haven't been entirely honest with you guys about something. Something kind of big."
"You never told them?" Gary interrupted before any of them could say anything. "Wait, which something are you talking about? Your Aura? Or being the Chosen One? Cause if it's something outside of those, then you really have some explaining to do."
"Thank you, Gary," he deadpanned in return.
"I'm sorry, what?" Serena asked, settling an argument before it could even start. "Aura? Chosen One? What?"
"I've heard of Aura," Clemont supplied, staring at Ash oddly. "It's an incredibly rare gift that very, very few people in the world have. They can basically manipulate an energy called Aura. The most common form of this can be found in the attack Aura Sphere, which many Pokémon can use. Are you telling us that you can do that?" He sounded almost affronted by this knowledge.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I don't tell anyone but the people who have seen it," Ash admitted, holding his hand out. A small, glowing sphere appeared above his hand.
"Woah!" Bonnie leaned in closer, reaching out to touch it. The sphere vanished and she pulled her hand back, shaking it. "Tingly. That's really cool though."
Ash smiled at her a bit and nodded. "It is. It's dangerous though. That's why I didn't say anything. It's also why I didn't say anything about... well... you guys have seen how legendary Pokémon kind of appear around us, right?" All three nodded. "Yeah that happens a lot with me, because apparently I'm some Chosen One or at least that's what they call it now. It's... kind of... it's my job to protect them, and to protect everyone from them." He looked down and shrugged.
"Protect everyone from them?" Serena whispered, her eyes glancing towards the television that was still playing.
Ash followed her gaze and nodded his head, quickly looking back. "I had a dream last night. Well, not a dream. There's something I need to do. I need to find something. Well, more than just one thing. If I can, then I might be able to stop this." He motioned towards the television again. "He said that this was going to get worse. That people alone aren't going to be enough to stop this. I don't know if he's right, but I have to try. I have to do something."
That was something Leaf could appreciate. She nodded her head and said, "What do you have to find? Do you have any idea where we need to go?"
"The Ilex forest is the first sp-... wait... we?" The brown-eyed boy looked at her with confusion.
"Yeah, we." She nodded her head. "I heard Misty say that she was going with you last night, but you know you attract trouble like it's no one's business. So I'm coming too, and don't even think about saying no." Leaf crossed her arms in front of her. "I can't just sit around here either."
"I'm coming too," Gary piped up. "I was with you when we met 'him' the first time, so I'm coming this time too. Besides, out of everyone here, no one knows as much about ancient Pokémon and the folklore that goes with it than I do."
"So am I." Bonnie looked up at Clemont with surprise. "What? I have a lot of inventions that might help with whatever this is." He looked around towards Ash, blue eyes determined. "You told me once that what makes people strong is their friends, and I don't think I can just sit around here while you guys are out there."
"Clemont..." Ash mumbled.
"I want to come!" Bonnie said, clasping her hands into fists. "You know I can keep up."
"No," Clemont shot down quickly. "No. Not this time. You're going to stay here with dad and Serena and—."
"Not me," Serena interrupted. She had been staring at the television and looked back towards them, face set and eyes fierce. "I'm coming with you guys too."
Bonnie opened her mouth to protest, but Tracey, who had been sitting silently during the entire exchange along with Misty, suddenly spoke up, "It's okay Bonnie, I'm going to stay here too." He looked at Ash seriously. "I was just thinking, you need a way to stay in touch with what's going on here. That can be me. There's a function in the Pokédex that lets you send memos. It helps with adding information from trainers. I can send you memos back and it's not nearly as traceable as emails or anything. I'll just set it up so they come to me and not Professor Oak."
"You can do that?" Misty asked him, her face scrunching with confusion.
"Technically it's illegal to make them come to me," Tracey admitted with a shrug. "I don't mind. Don't forget, I was on Shamouti with you guys. I remember how important this type of thing can be." He looked at Bonnie. "You can help me. They might say things in front of you that they won't in front of me."
"So, we'll be like spies?"
"Exactly!"
Bonnie slowly nodded her head and turned back to her brother. She grabbed his hands and shook them fiercely. "You gotta promise you'll come back though, okay? That means you can't lag behind everyone else. You'll just have to suck it up, okay? Even if it's running."
"I promise," Clemont assured his sister. "I'll have Ash and Serena and everyone else. You be safe and listen to Tracey."
Bonnie nodded her head resolutely. "When are you guys going?"
They all looked around at Ash, who frowned in response. "Clemont, Serena, your parents might try to stop us. Same with your mom, Leaf, and Professor Oak too. Plus I'm not sure Lance really wants us out of his sight. So we'll have to sneak out when they won't notice us and just go."
"We'll pack up now," Gary said, hands on his hips. "Get everything ready but keep it hidden. There will be more people on lookout tonight, but we should go when it's dark. Less chance of them tracking us."
"Ria and I can make sure that we don't run into anyone," Ash assured him.
"Then we'll go tonight," Leaf said with a firm nod of her head. She wasn't sure exactly what they were supposed to be doing, but it was better than sitting around and watching the world fall apart.
...
Note
As you can see, this isn't so much a war as it is a take-over. You can probably also see where I'm going with this now.
You can probably see down below that this chapter was looked through by two people. I just want to say thank you to CLAVUS for everything you've done and I hope things are going okay!
A huge thank you goes to EchidnaPower, who agreed to help me out with this story and be my Beta Reader. Name sounds familiar? It should. They have an amazing story that brings Misty into DP and they've rewritten quite a few of the episodes. Fun fact, that story, AAML: Diamond and Pearl version was one of the influences that prompted me to write The Mystery of Aura in the first place. So yes, you should check out that story too!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and who offered to help me! You have no idea how much I appreciate how amazing you guys are. Seriously, you're all so supportive and awesome! This includes: RightHandofPalpatine, JediMasterDraco, cidneha, UEG nastykiller, Aaml mania, StarTrail, MaxKnight1010101, EchidnaPower, ultimateCCC, Kasumi96, amandaalb4, thor94, ArmorOfGeddon, Phoenix Keeper Avalon, Great, and Volcanic Panic.
A few of you commented about how May must be handling what happened. I guess you'll have to wait and see!
If you have any questions or want to talk about anything, don't hesitate to send them here or on either one of my tumblrs. I'm making it so people can ask anonymous questions on the TRYC blog again after the incident this morning. I'll be labelling things as 'TRYC spoilers' there for now on since people tend to be able to get quite a bit out of me when they get me talking.
Again, thank you so much!
Til next time,
Written by: Skylight Sparkle
Edited by: CLAVUS & EchidnaPower