Ten
The salt spray of the ocean was refreshing to the man. It had been awhile since he'd been on the water. He had missed it.
He smiled as he leaned on the railing. The wind flapped his jacket around him and ruffled his navy hair. Below, the gray waves of the sea sloshed against the boat. It was cold and stormy, out at sea, but the closer they got to the mainland, the more the atmosphere looked like summer.
"Mr. Maple, sir," called a voice, and the man turned to see one of the crew standing attentively. He saluted, looking extremely professional in his uniform. "The captain wanted me to inform you that we will be docking in two hours, sir."
"Excellent," replied Mr. Maple.
The uniformed man saluted again, his expression now embarrassed. "S-sir," he began, "it's not often we have someone as high ranking as a Gym Leader on board, and since I am not eligible to become a Trainer, I was wondering if…"
Mr. Maple laughed. "You want to see my Pokemon?" he asked.
"If that's alright with you, sir," the man replied.
With a smile, Mr. Maple produced a pokeball from his coat. "Go, Slaking," he said, and he tossed the ball in the air.
From the beam of red light, a great brown beast appeared. Dark, tired circles adorned its eyes, and the creature gave an enormous yawn.
"He doesn't do much," said Mr. Maple, giving the thing a pat on the head, "but he can be fierce when he wants to be."
"Wow," breathed the seaman.
Mr. Maple looked towards where the mainland would soon be in sight. "He'll be hard to hide once I get home," he stated. "My family won't enjoy having him around. I'll have to leave him at the Company. The Professor should care for him."
The sailor's countenance was confused. "Your family isn't in the Company?"
With a sad smile, Mr. Maple shook his head. "I could never drag them into it. They would hate me. That's why I work at the Hoenn branch. It's one hell of a commute, but it's worth it." He returned his Slaking without emotion. "Two hours, you said?"
The sailor straightened up. "Yes sir," he confirmed.
"Good," stated Mr. Maple. "I'm going to take a nap."
"What's the matter with him?" asked Paul, nodding to Ash.
Drew set down his magazine and glanced at the boy. "Oh," he said without interest. Ash was lying on the table, staring at the ceiling with a kind of dazed expression on his face. Drew went back to his reading. "He's been like that ever since last night."
"Why? What happened last night?" inquired Gary. He was standing at his lab table, fiddling with some sort of contraption that his grandfather had given him.
The green haired man shrugged. "All we did was go on a date."
At this, Gary dropped his screwdriver. "You?" he scoffed. "And Ash? Went on a date?"
"No, you idiot, we took girls with us," snapped Drew. "Misty and May. We went out to dinner."
Paul's eyes went wide. "Are you crazy?" he exclaimed.
"Slightly," Drew admitted.
"Ash is star struck!" cried the assassin. "Look at him. How am I supposed to train him now that he's smitten with some tomboy?"
"I'm not smitten!" Ash called, casting them a glare. "I don't even like Misty! She's annoying, and mean, and loud."
"And pretty, and funny, and totally into you," replied Drew, his voice dripping sarcasm. "But hey, whatever floats your boat, man."
Ash merely glared at him and reverted back to watching the ceiling.
Paul shook his head. "Get up," he ordered.
"Me?" Ash asked.
"Yes, you, now up. We're going to do some training." Paul left the room in a brisk fashion. Ash stared after him for a moment before scrambling up and following. Drew and Gary were left alone in the room.
Gary hesitated. "So… you went on a date with May?"
"I did," replied Drew.
The researcher paused again. "Did you take Fabio?"
"Can it, Oak."
Paul eyed the stopwatch in his hands and growled. "Not fast enough," he said.
Ash came stumbling up to him, panting. "What do you mean?" he gasped. "That was a quarter mile in under a one thirty!"
"And mine is under a one twenty," Paul snapped. He pointed sternly. "Again!"
Ash, however, stood up straight and looked him firmly in the eye. "If yours is under a minute twenty, then prove it," he demanded.
"I don't need to prove anything to you," replied his superior.
"Then I don't need to run," Ash reasoned smugly.
Paul scowled. "I have a certain ball of magma that says otherwise," he said. "Would you like to argue with him?"
With a look to rival Paul's usual expression, Ash went over to the starting line again. "Last time," he said to the assassin.
Shaking his head, Paul clicked the stopwatch. "Whatever." He need his secret weapon ready by the start of summer, and time was ticking. "We're doing stealth after this!" he called after Ash.
May looked up at the clock. It was nearly five. Smiling, she threw her grease rag down and hurried to the office in the shop.
"Mr. Simms?" she called, poking her head in.
The sleeping teacher jumped into consciousness. "May!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. He calmed down slightly, and rearranged a few papers on his desk for the sake of it. "Are you… are you leaving?" he asked.
"Yep," she said. "See you on Monday!"
"O-okay," he replied. He shook his head, embarrassed at having been asleep, and began organizing his desktop.
May raced out into the parking lot excitedly. Her scarlet car was waiting for her, resting in its spot faithfully. Granted, her three friends hadn't been happy at the idea of walking to Dawn's, but May had more important things going on today.
She stepped into the driver's seat, wishing the car roof could be pulled down. It was such a fabulous day, and it seemed criminal to breathe air conditioning over fresh air. With a sigh, May started rolling down all the windows. It was nothing close to a convertible, but it was all she had.
With the summer wind flowing through her car, May vroomed out of the parking lot. There wasn't much traffic going by the school, and the girl did not feel guilty about speeding on a day like this.
Still, it felt like an eternity before she pulled up in her driveway. She saw the garage door was open, with her mother inside. "Mom!" she called, locking the doors. "Is he here yet?"
Caroline, May's mother, was getting something out of the freezer they kept in the garage. "Not yet, honey, but he will be."
May gave a groan of frustration. "He said he'd be here by five!" she whined.
Her mother lifted a package of beef from the depths of the freezer. "Well," she began, "this just gives me more time to prepare dinner. Want to help?"
With a shrug, May followed her into the house.
Inside was a scene the brunette had become extremely familiar with. The sliding glass door leading to the backyard was open slightly, allowing the summer air to waft inside. The blue couch rested in front of the television, as pristine as ever. Under her bare feet, the rug was fluffy and thick, and extremely clean. Across the room, a boy with navy blue hair sat in front of a computer.
"Max, don't you think you should do something more productive with your time?" May called as she walked past him into the kitchen.
"This is productive," he argued without looking away from the screen. "I'm learning about DNA transcription and playing WOW at the same time."
May rolled her eyes. "Impressive." She began removing spices from the cabinet. "Dad should be home soon."
"I know," he replied. He adjusted his glasses and kept playing. "He's later than usual."
"Who's late?"
The two spun around with a synchronized gasp. "DAD!" they cried, and they ran to him, attacking him with hugs as if they were little children.
The navy haired man grinned, embracing his two children. "Hey kids!" he greeted enthusiastically. "Didja miss me?"
"Do you really need to ask?" Max replied, fixing his glasses.
"Look!" exclaimed May. She brandished some paper with evident excitement. "I won tickets to see that one movie in a radio contest! We can all go without having that awkward leftover ticket!"
"And remember that competition I told you about over the phone?" Max said. "Well, I won! My robot got first!"
"Slow down!" cried their father. "Where's your mother?"
"Norman!" cried Caroline, rushing into the room. "Oh my goodness, darling, I missed you so much! How was the trip?"
Norman smiled and kissed his wife. "It was all wonderful, sweetheart, and I missed you too. And I've got great news."
His family huddled around eagerly.
"I've been transferred!" he practically shouted.
The Maples cheered, making the ceiling fan overhead quake slightly. "Finally!" Caroline said gratefully.
"Now we'll see you every day," stated May, looking thrilled.
"Forget this dinner," laughed their mother. "We're going out to eat."
As everyone raced to Norman's sleek Volvo, he lagged behind. From his pockets he produced a gleaming red and white ball. "Later, Slaking," he murmured to it, and he dropped it in a vase that was sitting on the dresser.
"Hurry up, Dad!" yelled Max.
"Coming!" Mr. Maple replied. Tomorrow, he was to meet the newest recruit of the Company, and begin helping with training.
He'd been told the boy had a Pikachu.
Flint and Paul stood side by side, watching Ash and Pikachu practice. "Why are you here?" growled the purple haired man.
Flint snickered. "You looked lonely."
Paul merely glared in response.
"Don't you know me well enough by now?" Flint asked. When Paul remained silent, Flint resigned. "Fine. We want your team to take a break from missions so you can prep for Ash's final assessment."
"It's not that important," Paul retorted.
"This one is," Flint argued. "You guys get to make Riley proud and steal from Dr. Richardson himself."
This made Paul flinch. "Why him? What are we stealing?" he inquired, his tone betraying his nerves.
"This." Flint flicked his wrist, and a paper was suddenly in his hands.
"What a wonderful trick," Paul snapped. He went to snatch it from him, but Flint was faster. "Now what is it?"
Flint smirked. "You heard that war broke out between Germany and France, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, this little device right here—," Flint flashed him the photo again, "will decide whether or not our lovely country gets involved."
The assassin narrowed his eyes. "I don't understand," he said slowly.
"It's a weapon," explained Flint, no longer playing games. "A weapon devised by Richardson that he intends to launch on his own country. It will kill thousands of people, and the blame will be put on Germany, naturally. Therefore, we will be at war with a country that didn't even attack us."
"It won't work unless Germany has a chance against us," Paul snapped. "Attacking us is like a suicide mission."
"But they do," murmured Flint. "Didn't you hear? Spain, Hungary, and even the UK got dragged into it, and they're on Germany's side. We can't fight Britain."
"How the hell did England get into this?" cried Paul.
Flint frowned. "I think it had something to do with them owing the Germans an insane amount of money. And, let's face it, no one likes America. There's a possibility that the Germans will want to bring us into the war on France's side, just so they can destroy the both of us."
"And in a war against the U.S., almost every country will jump to Germany's defense if there's a chance of us losing," Paul said with realization. He stared at the image of the weapon. "Holy shit. We can't let that happen."
The redhead nodded. "And you know what happens to the Company in the event of war, right?"
Paul nodded solemnly. "All the Gym Leaders are called out to do espionage."
"Someone wants to bring the Company down," Flint said. He watched as Ash shouted something to Pikachu, who in turn created an electric pulse so powerful it lit up the entire arena. "He needs to be ready soon." He began walking away. "Call up your team, and whatever you do, don't fail."
Silently, Paul watched him go, a look of anger on his face. He did not fail. He was the best assassin the Sinnoh branch had to offer. He did not fail.
As Ash made his way up to the briefing room, Fantina stopped him. Her presence caused the air to go cold and chills to run up his spine, but Ash forced himself to be still.
"Ah, cheri, remember that blank check you wanted me to run?" she said airily.
Ash blinked. "Yeah, what were the results?"
Fantina gestured to the ghost hovering behind her. "Haunter was able to pick up that oui, he had indeed been blanked, but…" She trailed off.
"But?" Ash prompted, motioning for her to go on.
"Regrettably, it was an incredibly strong blank, and we could not get past it," she finished. "I am sorry, cheri, but I did my best."
A look of disappointment came over the young assassin. "Damn. Well, I suppose there's nothing we can do. All blanks wear off eventually, right?"
Fantina's expression was uncertain. "More or less," she said.
Ash grinned. "It should be fine then. I gotta go. Paul is a-calling." He began trekking up the hall. "See ya, Fantina!" he shouted.
She waved with elegance as he disappeared around the corner. "Come, Haunter," she cooed. "Candice invited us to play that dancing video game."
Ash continued up the hallway, lollygagging. His training had been extremely progressive today. Pikachu had been having trouble learning, but abruptly, something had given way and the mouse had unlocked an insanely powerful electric move. Ash felt he and his little partner deserved a rest.
Of course, Paul had other ideas.
"At the beginning of summer," he began, pacing before them as if he were a war general, "we will perform the most important mission of our lives."
"Operation: Model Boat," Drew snickered.
"No," Paul said, and his voice had such a tone that Drew fell silent, even his smile fading. His team waited with bated breath as Paul paused, uncertain as to how to tell them. "We're stealing from Dr. Kurt Richardson."
Gary, who had been taking a drink from his water bottle, choked. "S-sorry?" he managed.
"Who's Dr. Richardson?" Ash wondered.
The scientist of the group looked at Ash with an appalled countenance. "You don't know?" Gary gasped.
Ash was suddenly aware of how everyone was staring at him, and shrunk down in his chair. "It's not like it's common knowledge or anything!" he snapped.
"He's considered the smartest man in the country," Drew told him. "He is, in the most literal of terms, a genius."
"Why would we steal from someone so pristine?" Gary wondered, gazing at Paul.
Paul sighed and handed him the picture Flint had shown him. "This," he began, "is a weapon that will soon be responsible for thousands of deaths if we don't steal it."
The three crowded around the photo, eager to catch a glimpse of the weapon.
"Whoa," said Ash, eyes wide. "It's like something out of Halo."
"Truly a work of genius," Gary remarked.
Drew raised an eyebrow. "What does it do?"
Everyone paused. "What does it… do?" Paul repeated.
"Yeah. How does it kill people?" Drew rephrased.
The three looked at their leader expectantly. Paul sighed. "Flint!" he called as he exited the room.
Ash and Gary were sitting in one of the labs, on top of the table. School had yet to start, and both of them were trying to understand why they had arrived at the wretched place so early.
"So!" Ash began awkwardly, trying to start a conversation. "How goes it?"
Gary blinked blearily. "How goes it? What, are we in the eighteenth century now?"
"Fine!" snapped the younger boy. "What's up, Gary?"
"Nothing much," replied the scientist.
Ash rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You're a lot of fun to talk to, you know that?" he told him sarcastically.
Gary shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "Are you going to ask Misty out?" he asked.
To Gary's surprise, Ash became defensive. "Why would I ask her out? That's crazy! What gave you that idea? Is Drew spreading rumors?"
"Jeez, Ashy boy, I just asked if you were gonna ask her out!" Gary exclaimed.
Ash fell silent, unable to think of a retort. Another awkward quiet passed between them, until finally the raven haired boy spoke. "What about you and Leaf?"
"I suggest you put a sock in it before I call Drew over to kick your ass," Gary said calmly.
"I heard my name!" called a voice, and Leaf entered the room.
Ash smirked and dropped off the table. "See ya," he said to Gary, clapping him on the knee. "I've got some grammar worksheet for Marks to do." And with that, he left.
Timidly, Leaf approached Gary, smiling slightly. "So," she began, looking everywhere but Gary, "Misty's party is coming up and I was wondering if, well, you know, you'd like to come with me again because… because I had a lot of fun last time and I just think it'd be really nice if you'd come so… will you come?"
Gary hopped off the table. Leaf blushed under his gaze, rearranging her grip on her binder as he looked at her. "Yeah!" he said enthusiastically. "I—I'd love to come with you. It'd be really, really…" He trailed off, suddenly realizing just how close he was to her. "Fun," he finished softly. Almost instinctually, Gary placed his arm around her waist, drawing her ever closer. His other hand went to stroke her hair, and he found himself leaning down.
It almost scared him when their lips met. He'd never expected this to actually happen. It was the sort of thing he'd only dreamed about, only wished for. And yet here they were, he and Leaf, pressing their lips together in a soft, much wanted kiss…
A crude ringing noise caused them to jump apart. The bell had rung, and the halls were buzzing with activity as students bustled to get to class. Leaf took a deep breath and attempted to cool her heated face. "Well," she gasped, "I… suppose I'd better go to Lit class."
Gary blinked. "Oh yeah. Forgot." His lips were still tingling with life. "I—I'll see you later, I guess."
Leaf smiled nervously as she headed out the door. A sense of dread was just starting to creep into Gary—what if she hadn't wanted to kiss?—when Leaf popped back in. "I think May and all the others can live without me for one afternoon," she told him. "Are you doing anything today?"
Immediately, Gary brightened. "I've got a few personal days left at work," he said happily.
She smirked, her face thrilled. "See you then," she said with a wink, and then she was gone.
May's jaw had hit the floor a few minutes ago and still had not closed. This only made Leaf blush even more. "Stop it," she mumbled.
"But this is big news!" she exclaimed, slamming her hand down on her Literature book. They had a work day in Literature, which basically meant gossip hour. The entire classroom was chatting, everyone too caught up in their own conversations to hear anyone else's. "I mean, what will the others say?"
"For God's sake, don't tell them!" Leaf cried quietly. May had gotten her phone out, prepared to text. Her face fell at Leaf's words. "I'll tell them myself."
May sighed disappointedly and put her phone away. "Fine. But if they don't know by the end of the day, I'm putting it on Facebook."
Leaf shook her head and attempted to answer the questions before her. "Oh," she added, "I almost forgot. I'm… going on a date tonight, I suppose, so I won't be riding with you guys."
The girl could practically hear her friend's jaw hit the desk. May had her phone out again in a heartbeat. "You gotta let me tell them this!" she insisted.
"No!" Leaf hissed. "I'll do it, I promise. Just… drop it for now, okay?"
May pouted. "But why? This is like, the biggest thing since Dawn's first boyfriend!" She paused. "Whoa. Dawn's the only one of us to have a boyfriend."
"No, Misty had that date with… what was his name?" Leaf wondered, snapping her fingers as she fought to remember.
"Rudy!" they stated together. The two broke down in fits of giggles as they remembered Rudy.
"He was such a weirdo," May laughed.
Leaf smiled before facing her Literature book with a grimace. "Okay, we really need to do this," she said firmly.
"Aw, you're no fun," complained her friend. May grabbed her pencil and began staring at the paper in front of her. A whole minute passed before she tossed the pencil away. "This isn't happening."
"Nope," agreed Leaf, bouncing her pen across the desk.
Paul stormed into his office. Granted, it was a small, rather unimpressive office, but it was his, and it always made him feel important to storm into it. If only it were big enough for a secretary…
The moment Paul closed the door, he saw the man sitting politely in the guest chair. He was turned around in an effort to see Paul enter the office. "Who are you?" Paul demanded.
"I'm Norman," the man stated, standing up and extending his hand. "I'm the new Gym Leader for the Sinnoh branch."
Paul, however, did not acknowledge Norman's hand, and instead met his cheerful expression with the signature Paul look. "Oh," he said. "The transfer."
Norman smiled nervously. "Yes, that's me. I'm also the newest member of your team."
At this, Paul let out a laugh. "That's funny, really. But I'm not accepting any new members now," he explained, as if this were totally ridiculous. Paul made to go to his seat, only to be stopped by Norman.
"I don't think you understand," Norman said slowly. His voice had gone soft and dangerous. "I'm here to help you execute your next mission. And to assess the Ketchum boy."
Paul's amused look went icy in a heartbeat. "I don't need help," he growled.
"That's not for you to decide," Norman replied.
Paul glared up at the taller man. "You're from Hoenn, right?" Paul asked. "I've been there. It's unorganized, and Steven—."
"Steven Stone is a fantastic Champion," Norman interrupted. "His Skarmory and Metagross are some of the most powerful Pokemon in the Company, and without him we never would have developed the Enigma Stone."
Paul waited until he had finished before picking up where he'd left off. "Steven," he began, this time in a harsher tone, "spends too much time with his Pokemon and not enough with the Trainers. He's distant from the people in his branch, so it all runs amok. We do things differently here. The Gym Leaders don't have all the power. Some of the Battle Trainers can decide what happens on their team." He paused. "I am one of them. And I don't want you here."
"But I do."
It took all of Paul's control not to shoot Flint. "Are you fucking kidding me," he huffed.
Flint entered the tiny office, making it uncomfortably crowded in the small space. "Norman is one of the best Gym Leaders in the whole company," he said to Paul, who looked away angrily. "I want him to help get Ash ready for the big mission at the beginning of summer."
Paul let out a frustrated sigh. "Fine," he said forcefully. He refused to meet anyone's eyes, his pride injured and stubborn streak broken. "Now get out of my office."
Flint and Norman exchanged amused expressions. "Office," Norman chuckled, and the two left.
*AN: Holy cow, I had ROMANCE in this chapter! Yay for 2 AM romance writing! Boo not being a chapter ahead of my updates! Anyways, thank you for clicking, reading, and reviewing. Don't expect a speedy update, cuz I gotta write the darn chapter. Usually I've got like four chapters of leeway but not anymore. Well, that's all. Bye.*