...Hi. Guess what?
THIS THING IS FINISHED.
I know, right? I can't believe it either. I will be posting the whole thing (5 more chapters, ~45,000 words) over the next couple days. ...Well. I intend to post it pretty much all at once, but I know how this site can be. But it will be up very, very soon.
I'll post a longer author's note at the end, but for now: this is for all you people who have been tossing reviews into the abyss over the last couple years. Without that guilt eating away at me, this never would have been finished. So I hope at least some of you still want to read it, and I hope you're not disappointed with the result. (Or not too disappointed, anyway. Realistic expectations and all.)
As always, let me know if you catch any weird formatting things or other errors. This thing's way too long to read over again.
x
"human AND pokemon speech"
—telepathy—
.: Chapter 10 :.
Voices
The rising sun waits for no one, and it had the audacity to rise on time the next morning despite the wretched state of the entire clan plus one giant bird. The pikachu had pretty much fallen asleep where they stood after they finished singing, and the middle of a large clearing isn't exactly the best place to hide from the sun. As was his luck, Ash was on the worst side of the sleeping pikachu pile, and was one of the first to be woken. He groaned, which came out as more of an annoyed squeak, and attempted to burrow into his own fur. Unsurprisingly, that did not work. His own fur even worked against him, as the bright yellow shone when touched by the sun and reflected the light right into his poor eyes. Ash gave in and sat up, feeling betrayed.
His eyes felt slightly sticky and his head wasn't liking the sun so much, so he decided to get out of it. When he tried to move he upset the small form beside him, but it only squeaked and curled into a tighter ball. Ash shrugged and spied Pidgeot by the trees. In the shade. Ash was at the bird's side in moments.
However, his initial plan of waking his friend seemed needlessly cruel now that he was in the shade too. It was a lot cooler beneath the trees, and the grass was still damp…but Pidgeot was very warm, and her feathers were very soft, especially beneath her wings.
When Ash woke next he was greeted by a giant alien eye right in his face. He jolted backwards but only succeeded in burying himself further in down and sending a wing crashing down on him. Instinct alone got him out of the feathery darkness and out into the air where he could comfortably cough out the rest of the feathers from his mouth. When he finally stopped feeling suffocated and had wiped his tongue on his tail for good measure, Ash looked up to face two very large and very amused eyes.
"…What time is it?" Not the best question, Ash admitted, but he had just woken up. The uselessness of the query was proven when Pidgeot merely tilted one eye up to the sky to find the answer.
"Just past midday,"she said, humour brightening her naturally gentle voice. Ash groaned.
"Oh man, we need to get moving…ugh." Ash shook his head and the white tuft of down fell off his nose and drifted down to the ground. He felt so tired…maybe he went a little overboard with the food and…stuff last night. He squinted up at Pidgeot. "Why are you so happy?" The bird blinked, fluffed her feathers, and then settled down again as they slowly fell back into their proper places.
"We haven't spent this much time together in a very long time," was her quiet reply. "It's good to see you again, Ash." Ash blinked, and blamed the wetness in his eyes totally on the feathers. Stupid, scratchy feathers.
"I really am sorry, Pidgeot." And he was. Pidgeot had been with him since the beginning, almost as long as Pikachu, and had always given him her absolute best. He had depended on her in so many desperate situations, and she had always pulled through for him. Yet he had never realized how much his actions had hurt her when he decided to 'let her go'. Just like Pikachu. Of course, his best friend had been a lot more vocal about the problem, which was likely the only reason she was still with him. Ash was beginning to sense a disturbing pattern here. He hadn't abandoned anyone else, had he?
But Pidgeot had said they would be alright now, and so they would be. If he had anything to say about it, they would be.
Pidgeot nuzzled him reassuringly, as if sensing his thoughts. Instinctively Ash nuzzled her back. And yawned.
"Chuuu!"
Ash jumped as the electricity struck him the second he moved away from Pidgeot. But instead of the pain he expected, he was filled with sudden energy, another four hours of sleep condensed into a few seconds of light and sound. It was as if last night had never happened. Now perky and alert, maybe even a bit hyper, Ash turned to face his best friend. Who was looking a bit peaky.
"Thanks,"Ash said, "but are you sure you didn't give me too much?" Pikachu shook her head tiredly and moved towards him. Ash met her halfway and, guided by some strange race memory, pressed their cheeks together. Current danced to life where their cheeks touched, and together they managed to balance the energy evenly between them. Unfortunately, this meant that when they broke apart Ash was still feeling a bit drowsy, but at least Pikachu seemed to be in the same state of partial awareness. And he still felt better than before.
"Thanks," he repeated for good measure and got a lick in return.
"You're welcome," Pikachu said, her tone oddly soft. Ash stared. "Don't eat so many sweets next time." Ash forced a laugh.
"I never knew apples could taste so good!" he tried. "And it's a shame to let a good beedrill hive go to waste…" He trailed off. Pikachu had the strangest expression in her eyes…
"Ash," Pidgeot interrupted. She seemed almost…apologetic. Ash unconsciously tilted his head slightly in his confusion. "You said we had to get moving?"
"Right," he agreed. "Right. Uh, we should say goodbye to Chi and the others first."
Pidgeot gave one majestic flap and straightened up to her full height. "Then I'll take you to them. Come."And then she bowed, one wing sweeping out and then spreading flat out on the ground to provide a ramp of sorts. Ash and Pikachu exchanged an awed look, and did as told.
The clan wasn't prone to long goodbyes, possibly because they didn't often have occasion to say them. Theirs was made even briefer by Ash's declaration that they would be back very soon, a promise which puzzled even Pikachu for a time. In her defense, she was rather preoccupied. Nevertheless, Chi called the clan together to say goodbye properly, and Pidgeot was seen off by the entire pikachu herd. Fortunately Pidgeot was trained well enough to dodge the more enthusiastic goodbyes, and all three of them escaped the clearing in one piece.
The return trip took no time at all, and soon they were setting down in the forest just outside Pallet. Ash got the hint and jumped off Pidgeot to change, wincing as his bag settled on his shoulders again. Granted, it had gotten a lot lighter during the trip, but he had gotten used to not wearing it, and even empty containers could be heavy en masse. But his hat was back on his head, Pikachu was on his shoulder, and everything was back to normal.
Well, not quite. Pidgeot bowed again, and with a grin that threatened to split his face Ash climbed back on. Pidgeot took to the sky again and with a few powerful flaps they broke through the treetops. A few seconds later they cleared the forest, sailing across the open fields towards Oak's lab. When they could clearly see the lab before them, Pidgeot gave a screeching call, the sound of triumphant return. Her cry was answered by a smaller, lower screech and a rumbling roar, and two winged forms sped to meet them. Ash's smile went up by several watts as he called greetings to Charizard and Noctowl, who turned to flank them the rest of the way back.
Of course, with Charizard nothing was that smooth. Ash caught the dragon giving him a playful look – by anyone else's standards it would qualify as sadistic – and, although knowing quite well that the look usually meant his own doom, Ash was feeling too cheerful to resist. He gave Charizard a tiny nod, and then had a split second to react as the dragon flared his wings with a leathery snap and dropped behind the group. Ash pressed gently but firmly on Pidgeot's neck and the bird immediately dropped into a sharp dive, avoiding the jet of flame that suddenly singed the air where she'd been. Noctowl, close enough to feel the heat, squawked and wheeled away, feathers ruffled indignantly.
But Charizard was not one to give up easily, and soon a full fire fight had developed in the sky over Professor Oak's laboratory. People wandered out of buildings and stopped in the middle of the road to watch, and Ash was careful to keep Pidgeot at a high altitude so Charizard wouldn't scorch anyone or anything down below. The dragon may have been trained in precision control, but he didn't usually care to use it. Pidgeot, under Ash's direction, used the wind as a shield and alternately blew away and dodged the fire. Her attacks were strong and fast, but she was hampered by the constant need to avoid flame. At some point Noctowl decided to join in the fray directly and began harrying Charizard with short, quick attacks, using his speed and small size to keep him out of harm's way. Recognizing a kindred spirit, Pikachu abandoned her place at Ash's side and dropped onto Noctowl, helping the owl in much the same way Ash was helping Pidgeot. The addition of Noctowl and Pikachu quickly put Charizard on the defensive, and when the pair began experimenting with midair electric shocks the big dragon seemed to decide he'd had enough. He roared, wheeled, shot an enormous gout of flame toward Noctowl and Pikachu, and then while they were distracted shot towards Pidgeot and Ash. At Ash's command the great bird dropped, but Charizard had expected that and dropped with them. And then Ash was airborne in the hanging sense, his backpack caught in Charizard's claws.
Three startled cries sounded behind them, and Ash twisted awkwardly to see the others in hot pursuit. But Charizard just gave a challenging roar and sped up, streaking towards the lab's field. Ash couldn't blame the dragon's confidence; they both knew that no one would risk hurting Ash to get him back, and everyone knew that Charizard would never seriously harm his trainer; a few burns here and there were just part of the job, and were signs of affection on par with Pikachu's shocks. Most pokemon seemed to forget occasionally that their trainers were human and therefore weak; good trainers learned to expect that.
Nevertheless, hanging there was reminding Ash of what had happened the last time he had been grabbed by Charizard, and he was more than a little worried about his bag. Through further awkward contortions Ash managed to grab the dragon's leg and haul himself upright. Charizard slowed and used his head to help Ash clamber up, until his trainer was seated more comfortably on his back. Pidgeot and Noctowl caught up to them but predictably left Charizard alone after a few light pecks. The three landed in Oak's yard peacefully enough, and Ash swung off Charizard's back, hugged the dragon around the neck, and took a moment to marvel at the fact that he was still alive.
"You sure know how to make an entrance, don't you Ashy-boy?"
Ash just grinned and rubbed Pidgeot's beak, causing the bird's eyes to close in pleasure. "Charizard just wanted to have some fun," he said, not even trying to excuse himself. Pikachu leapt back up to his shoulder and gave him a playful spark.
"I'm glad it never wants to 'have fun' with me then," Gary retorted, hands on his hips. "So where've you been?" Ash blinked. The rest of his pokemon – his co-conspirators – were gathering behind Gary, and most looked impatient. Ash looked away, rubbed the back of his neck, and looked back. Nope, still there.
"With the wild pikachu clan," he answered finally. Cluing in that something was going on behind him, Gary turned around and found four more of Ash's pokemon and one random persian watching him with suspiciously innocent expressions. Well, except for the persian, who seemed to be considering him for lunch. He narrowed his eyes at Ash.
"I got a very strange call from Brock while you were gone," Gary drawled. "He was going on about two pikachu, or something like that. And he didn't sound all that surprised when he heard you weren't around. I don't suppose you know anything about that?" Ash gulped, and heard the noise echoed in miniature near his ear.
"Why would I know about a phone call Brock made to you?" Ash tried, knowing he looked guilty but helpless to do anything about it. "You know I haven't seen him in years."
"Right." Gary paused, considering his friend. "Ash, you know you can trust me with anything, right? No matter what's going on?"
Ash sighed and took a step forward. "Yeah, I know. Look, it's kind of complicated right now, but…I think I actually could use your help. You're better with technical stuff. But just…let me clear some things with these guys first, okay? You might find it a little hard to follow along."
"Fair enough," Gary agreed with a glance at Pikachu. Ash let his assumption stand; it would be too much to explain right now that Ash didn't even need a translator anymore. And wow, he really was doing a terrible job at keeping this thing a secret. Seven of his pokemon knew, plus the persian, plus Chi apparently, and Brock, and soon Gary. But he couldn't help it; these were his friends. He trusted them with his life, and he would never have gotten to be the Master without their help and support. Celebi was a fool if she thought he'd be able to do this without them. So maybe he didn't know Chi all that well and the persian was more like an enemy than a friend, but trust had to start somewhere. It wasn't like the persian was going to go telling all her human friends about Ash, or anything. Plus, she was here now, which had to be a good sign. So it was cool.
"So does that mean I need to make myself scarce?" Gary's question brought Ash back from his circular thoughts, and after a moment he nodded. Gary turned to leave.
"Wait," Ash blurted, an idea suddenly flashing into his mind. "Do you know who that persian belongs to?" He waved vaguely behind Gary.
"No," his friend admitted, "but I can find out. I think it's been here for a while though. You gonna try to trade for it?"
"Yeah, something like that. It'd be great if you could find them for me."
"Sure thing. I'll even get Gramps to set up a connection if you'll tell what's going on," he made a loose gesture that encompassed the small circle of pokemon and then spiralled up to imply the world as a whole, "here. You're into something big Ash, I can tell, and I want in."
"I will," Ash promised. Gary nodded.
"I'll be in the lab." Gary waved as he walked away and called back over his shoulder, "Catch ya later!"
Ash and Pikachu waited until he was a safe distance away, and then the entire troupe headed into the forest that bordered the field. As soon as he was sure the trees were screening him from view, Ash transformed. From his now familiar height of one foot four, he straightened and tried to look leader-like.
"Reports?"
His pokemon exchanged looks.
"Ash, seriously, you need to work on that," Squirtle informed him, stepping to his side. The tiny turtle took a deep breath, shoved out his chest, put his hands on his hips…and the glasses came out. Ash stared and privately wondered how much space was in that shell. "See that? Now that's what an inspiring leader looks like. I bet you're glad I'm on your side."
Ash grinned. "I really, really am," he agreed. "But seriously guys, what did you see?"
"It doesn't look good," Squirtle answered, swivelling to face Ash fully. He tilted his head to inspect the pikachu over his glasses. "Well, for us I guess it is good, actually. They won't be hard to convince."
"No matter where we went the reports were the same," Noctowl confirmed. "Pokemon are being ill-treated everywhere, especially by new trainers. A big problem seems to be pokeballs – they're becoming too good, allowing trainers to catch pokemon that they really shouldn't have. The pokemon are unhappy and rebellious but they're stuck. Businesses too – they use their money to buy the best balls possible, and then go and snap up whole clans."
"Like the Power Plant," Ash murmured. Noctowl nodded and gave him a calculating look. When the bird nodded at him again without prompting, Ash realized that his vague plan had just been approved. Ash nodded back and tried to pretend that he hadn't just been stunned by his pokemon's display of intelligence.
"Families are being torn apart, children orphaned because trainers only want their stronger parents," Bulbasaur continued. "Most won't survive on their own. And the parents wind up at factories where they're treated like machine parts. Or they get caught by a trainer who either doesn't deserve their obedience or will discard them as soon he finds someone better."
"It's really scary," Cyndaquil concluded with a shiver. Ash beckoned to her, and Pikachu shuffled over to make room as the shrew tucked herself into Ash's side.
"Well I guess Celebi was right," he said, surveying his friends, his allies. "We do need to do something." Ash took a deep breath. "And I think I know just where to start."
And so the plan slowly took shape and transformed from a vague notion swimming the dimmer recesses of Ash's mind to a fully-fledged plan, complete with backups and contingencies and reason. They were far from working out the inevitable kinks, but Ash had always had a talent for thinking on his feet, and confidence was his friend. The thought that they would fail never even occurred to him because really, he had a plan this time. He usually acted without thinking and was still able to pull himself out in one piece, so this time victory had to be assured.
They were just trying – and failing – to come up with a suitable starting signal when Ash started hearing voices. Well, just the one voice really, but it most definitely did not belong to any of his friends.
-Ash?- the voice said. A moment later it repeated itself, with more confidence. Ash whirled around, trying unsuccessfully to locate the source, and conversation gradually died around him as the other pokemon became aware of the sudden increase in their 'leader's' level of insanity.
Finally Pikachu detected a slight movement to her left and called his attention to it with a loud 'Pika!'. Despite not knowing what it was and the high probability that his secret was a step closer to becoming public knowledge, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't crazy.
A tiny purple something was coming at them out of the trees, but it didn't take Ash long to realize there was something very wrong with it. Its shape was recognizable enough, if a little on the small size: a purple cat-like creature with a forked tail, huge tufted ears and a red gem on the center of its forehead; an espeon. But it didn't seem to be quite real. The pokemon was slightly blurred around the edges, and its body kept flickering between varying degrees of transparency although its purple eyes remained solid and eerily focused on Ash throughout.
"Uh, hi?" Ash tried. The purple eyes brightened and the ghostly espeon pranced up to him. To Ash's surprise the creature was actually smaller than him, ears exempted on both sides; for an espeon it truly was tiny.
-Hi!- chirped the voice from before. –You're Ash, right?- Though its mouth hadn't moved, Ash was sure the espeon was the speaker. A quick glance at the expressions of his friends revealed that they could hear it too. –I'm S'tek, but everyone just calls me Tek. I can help.-
"…Right," Ash agreed warily. The back and forth fading was starting to hurt his eyes. "You're, uh…flickering." The purple eyes went impossibly wide.
-I am? Whoops!- The espeon closed his eyes briefly, and when they opened again his body was completely solid, light purple paws planted firmly on the ground and sleek fur shining even in the dim half-light. –Sorry about that. My body likes to follow my mind sometimes when I do psychic stuff. Teach said it could dangerous so I'm trying to stop, but I was concentrating so hard that I forgot. You were really hard to find.-
"You were looking for me?" Ash asked. Everyone else seemed content to let him do the talking for now, at least until he screwed up unbearably.
-Yep! I heard you! You were really quiet though, so I had to listen really carefully and not make any noise. It was really hard. I bet not even Teach would've been able to do it.- Tek fluffed out his little chest in a motion that reminded Ash more of an eevee than any espeons he had ever known. How old was this kitten?
"You were listening, were you?" the persian rumbled unexpectedly. "Didn't your mother ever tell you it's not polite to eavesdrop?"
-Oh no, no, I wasn't listening to words,- Tek retorted, looking at the persian as if she was completely dense. –Just the voice. And it's a really weird one too. It's like…two voices at once, but over top of each other and kind of blending and saying the same things. One's like a human's, kind of bland and shallow but different, almost like a human psychic but…older and…more solid? The other is deep and green and soft and yellow and sounds like thunder and wind through forests. Quiet thunder.- A long silence followed. Finally Squirtle heaved a sigh.
"Is anyone following this at all?" he asked of the group at large. Noctowl fluffed his feathers and gave a quiet hoot.
"I believe I may have an idea," he said slowly. "Many members of my species have rudimentary psychic abilities. I think Tek is trying to tell us that Ash is transmitting telepathically somehow while he talks; and that apparently he has a very strange way of doing it."
"But…that's impossible," Ash stuttered. "I'm not psychic!"
"Celebi," Pikachu volunteered. "It's her. Tek says you sound like a human – which makes sense – and the yellow and thunder are obviously for Red. But the green and the wind…that has to be Celebi. We can probably blame her for the 'old' sense too."
"Yes," Noctowl said, nodding. "She had to give you something to allow you to change…perhaps she gave you some of her own psychic energy, temporarily. And if this espeon can detect it…then maybe you can use it."
-You have lots of work to do,- Tek advised, sitting. The two forks of his tail began to twine around each other in serpentine motions. –You're messy and all over the place and anyone who's listening can hear you. But I can help. Until you get better I can shield you, if you let me stay close. And I can teach you to mind-speak!-
"Mind-speak?" Ash repeated. "You mean telepathy?"
-Isn't that what I said?-
"Why?" Bulbasaur asked. "Why do you want to help so much? Why did you come here? Aren't your parents worried about you?" The tips of Tek's tail stiffened and began to vibrate and the kitten shuffled his feet, ears drooping pitifully.
-I was curious,- came the quiet reply, -and I thought that if I could help maybe you would let me stay. I lost mom and dad a long time ago, and Teach had to leave. I don't want to be alone anymore.—
"Hey, it's okay, of course you can stay with us, for as long as you want," Ash hastened to reassure him. A light cough from Pikachu slowed him down. "Oh, uh, but we are kind of busy right now…"
-That's okay!—Tek brushed it off, ears pricking again and tail relaxing a bit, but still quivering. –I'll just follow you. I can take care of myself, I promise. You'll be glad to have me along.- Tek fluffed his chest fur again, tiny nose thrusting into the air. Ash heard Pikachu squeak beside him, and suspected her of quashing a maternal instinct of some sort.
"Well guys? What do you think?" Ash's inquiry provoked much exchanging of glances, and finally some voiced opinions. The persian was first.
"He is too young," was her judgment. "Your mission will be the most dangerous and important of all; it is inadvisable to allow someone so weak and inexperienced to go. One childish mistake could cause the whole plan to collapse."
-I'm not weak!—
"But if he does not go, our plans will be delayed considerably while we wait for Ash to master his telepathic skills, whatever they may be," Noctowl rebutted, "unless we can think of another way to signal. I assume that's what S'Tek has in mind. Furthermore, not just any eevee can evolve into an espeon. For this one to have managed the evolution at such a young age suggests a significant amount of power. Inexperienced he may be, but weak he is not."
"Cyn thinks if he wants to come, he should come!" Cyndaquil added. "This is about everyone, and anyone who wants to help should be able to!"
"Kid seems smart enough," Squirtle offered.
"If he wants to try, let him," Charizard huffed, expelling a puff of smoke as he did.
"We'll need all the help we can get," Bulbasaur grumbled.
"This does affect us all," Bayleef commented softly as Ash's gaze swept to her beside Bulbasaur. "If he still wants to help when he understands what's going on, he has every right to."
And finally, Pidgeot murmured, "No one likes to be alone." That cinched it for Ash. But still, he had to get one last opinion.
"Pikachu? You think we should let him in?" His best friend turned to him, black eyes unreadable. Ash opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but before any sound came out her eyes flicked away from him and a thunderbolt was hurtling over his head directly toward little Tek. Impossibly, the tiny espeon was prepared, and Pikachu's electricity met a strong rainbow stream of psychic energy. There was a small explosion in midair, and when Ash's eyes recovered from the flash he saw both combatants standing unharmed. He was stunned. Even reserved as that bolt undoubtedly was, it had still come from Pikachu; matching it would've been no easy task, especially for someone so young.
"He can take care of himself," Pikachu nodded. "He'll be fine." Tek preened at the praise, though his paw shook a bit as he cleaned his ear.
"Alright then," Ash announced, "everyone seems to agree. Tek, welcome aboard." Tek's eyes lit up and he leapt to his feet, cleaning forgotten. The gem on his forehead flashed blindingly.
-Thank you, thank you!- he cheered, darting at Ash and proceeding to rub happily against him. His tiny chest rumbled with purrs. –You won't regret it, I promise! I'll teach you everything I know, and I won't let anything get past me!-
"I'm sure you won't," Ash agreed, laughing as his body vibrated with the force of the little furball's purrs. Cyndaquil leaned on his other side, but instead of feeling crushed and sandwiched he just felt safe and warm, surrounded by friends. But the sun had been steadily setting during their conversation, and now twilight was well under way. Ash yawned and stood up, dislodging his two furry burdens. "We still have some things to discuss, but I think they can wait until tomorrow," he suggested. "Me and Pikachu need sleep." Pikachu obediently added her own small yawn to Ash's statement.
The group dispersed quickly after that, and as he watched his friends leave Ash comforted himself with the knowledge that he would see them the next morning. Tek refused to leave, apparently afraid that Ash would disappear if he wasn't watching, and the two pikachu reluctantly allowed him to stay. Before they left the woods Ash transformed – the process becoming a little less dramatic and a little more like a high-speed evolution every time he did it. Tek didn't seem the least fazed by the human now standing in front of him, although he did mention that Ash's voice had become much more boring.
Human, pikachu, and espeon set out for Ash's house, and it didn't take long for Ash to decide that the kitten was far too much of a hazard on the ground, butting against and weaving through Ash's legs as he was, and scooped him into his arms as the easiest solution. Tek resumed purring immediately at this, and seemed perfectly content to watch the world go by from the safety of Ash's arms. Looking up at the tiny espeon's shining, vulnerable eyes, Pikachu couldn't be jealous.
Before long all three were tucked into bed, Pikachu curled into her customary position over Ash's heart and Tek nestled around his neck. The Master felt slightly suffocated, but as neither Tek nor Pikachu could be moved he was forced to adapt. He could somehow sense the espeon's tiredness as if it was rolling off the tiny being in waves, and it was infectious. Despite the suffocation and a constant, strange buzzing sound, Ash drifted off to sleep. But although the pokemon trainer didn't notice it, the espeon's tail vibrated all through the night and into the morning, never ceasing its quiet buzz. If anything had tried to enter or exit the room, Tek would've known, and he would've been ready.
(o^. ^o)-/
Ash woke the next morning to fur in his mouth, purple in his eyes, and his mother's voice in his ears. He groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as both his companions tumbled off of him and onto the rest of the bed. Pikachu rewarded him with a curt shock for the rude awakening, but had to settle for a glare when Ash only twitched a little before yawning.
"Ash!" his mother's voice floated up to him. "Ash, are you awake?"
"Yeah, mom."
"Well get up then! Gary's here to talk with you, he says it's urgent!" Ash's laugh at his mother's insistence immediately turned into a wince when he realized exactly why Gary would want to talk to him. The conversation would never have been an easy one, but now he would get to deal with an annoyed, stood up Gary on top of it all.
"This isn't gonna be fun, Pikachu," he muttered to his best friend. "I wish you could help."
"Chu," she agreed softly, giving his leg a pat. Despite her sympathy, Ash suspected she was just fine with the current situation.
When he finally stumbled downstairs, Pikachu and Tek at his heels, Gary was waiting for him and his Mom was nowhere in sight. Gary spoke first and completely derailed whatever had been about to fall out of Ash's mouth.
"Gramps has that persian's trainer on the line," he announced. "I can tell you weren't expecting it, so I guess it's a surprise to you that some people keep their promises." He ended with a sneer, and Ash was forcefully reminded of their intense rivalry days. Ash sighed and decided to just avoid the entire thing for a minute more.
"Mom," he called and gathered Tek into his arms. He followed his mother's answering call into the kitchen. Pikachu, he noted, stayed behind to…entertain Gary? He hoped that was it, anyways. With any luck she would ease his bad mood and make him a bit easier to deal with. In the kitchen he found his mother chopping away at some sort of vegetable, no doubt determined to cook a feast for dinner. He smiled and placed the tiny espeon beside her cutting board. Startled, she looked up and came out of her cooking-place. "Mom, I was wondering if you could watch this little guy for me today."
"Is that an espeon?" Delia Ketchum asked. "When did you get an espeon?"
"Just yesterday actually. It was kind of an accident."
"They're always kind of accidents with you, Ash," she teased. Ash muttered a bit but made no real protest – after all, she was his mom. "Of course I'll look after him for you. Does he have a name?"
"Yeah – it's Tek."
"Interesting name. You didn't think of it, did you?" She laughed at Ash's conflicted expression and returned to her happy cooking-place. "I'm sure he'll get along great with Mimey, he'll be no trouble."
"Thanks mom," Ash smiled. He turned to leave.
-Ash!—
Ash stopped and half turned back. Thankfully his mother didn't seem to have noticed anything and was still happily chopping away. Tek, however, was leaning precariously towards Ash, tiny claws scrabbling on the edge of the countertop, and looked ready to jump or fall at any moment.
"Hey, calm down," Ash tried, hands outstretched. "I'll only be gone for a couple hours. This is my house, you'll be safe here."
-But, but if you leave you might not come back!—
"I will, I promise," Ash said in his best determined voice. "I said you could come, and I meant it – I'm not going to abandon you. Besides, I think my mom might kill me if I missed dinner. I'll come back, really." The panic dimmed in Tek's eyes, and he relaxed to a more stable position on the counter. His tail buzzed for a moment and then was still.
-Your voice says you mean it. So I'm gonna trust you. Okay?- Ash nodded, recognizing the mingled threat and plea in the statement.
"Okay," he agreed, and stepped forward to ruffle a velvety ear. "See you soon, kiddo." Dodging an odd look from his mother, Ash escaped the kitchen.
The scene that greeted him was much better than he had dared to expect. Pikachu had gotten Gary to sit on the couch rather than pace, and had somehow convinced him to scratch her. Of course, after he had given in once, she had him. Ash could see him smiling as Pikachu made her happy, appreciative coos to her ear being rubbed just so. Ash grinned at the sight; no one, no matter how foul the mood, could resist his best friend when she really tried. A strange, unpleasant feeling niggled him as he watched, but he couldn't place it so he just grinned through it.
"Gary," he prompted, and the other immediately coughed and straightened. "I'm ready to go when you are." Undaunted, Pikachu butted her head against Gary's hand and was rewarded with an absentminded scratch as he rose.
"Well let's get going then," he grumbled, though Ash could tell it was mostly for show now. "I've spent enough time waiting around for you, Ashy."
Ash just kept grinning, and Gary turned away towards the door rather than continue to face off. But when Ash fell into step behind Gary and Pikachu leapt to Gary's (much higher) shoulder rather than his own, he felt his grin dim. The unpleasant feeling got stronger, and he called without thinking.
"Pikachu."
Gary didn't break stride but Pikachu turned to look at him, obviously confused. Her hesitation caused his non-grin to evolve into a frown, and then it was his turn to be confused as her face completely lit up.
"Pikapi!" she cried and jumped straight at him, forcing him to catch her in his arms and finally drawing Gary's attention. Seemingly discontent with a shoulder perch now, Pikachu burrowed into his chest, forcing him to hold her closer, and tucked her head underneath his chin with a happy 'chaa'. Even though he couldn't see her eyes Ash could feel her beaming, and although he was at a complete loss about what had made her so happy he wasn't going to mess with it. Besides, the position was reminding him of the moon song with the wild pikachu, which was a nice thing to be reminded of. And the strange unpleasant feeling was gone, also a definite plus.
"You've really got some explaining to do," Gary noted, arms crossed and head shaking. "…Or at least I hope you do." With that cryptic remark Gary turned and continued toward the lab, leaving a bemused Ash not even able to share his confusion with the still-snuggling Pikachu.
When they reached the lab Gary immediately showed him to a video-phone and left him in peace. Surprised but grateful, Ash sat down in front of the screen and switched it on while Pikachu settled more comfortably in his lap. A pokemon center flickered into view, apparently empty.
"Hello?" Ash tried, leaning forward as if to peer around the corner of the screen. Predictably, this didn't help.
"Oh!" another voice said soon enough, and brunet man slid into view. He was older than Ash, in his thirties perhaps. His hair was spiked, darkening at the ends, and his tanned face was creased with laugh lines. A single silver stud glimmered in his ear, and the denim jacket that hung from his shoulders was well worn. A leather thong decorated with small pokeballs hung from his neck, and Ash suspected they were real. Ash liked him already.
"Hello, um…"
"Eric Shaw, but Eric's fine. And may I just say what an honour it is to meet you, Mr. Ketchum."
"Thank you," Ash replied automatically, well used to this sort of thing but liking the way Eric had phrased it. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. And please, call me Ash." A paw jabbed him in the stomach, and he took the hint. "And this is Pikachu."
"Sure thing, Ash," the man grinned back. "And of course I know Pikachu – an honour as well, little lady. Now, I'd love to help you, but I'm afraid the Professor was a mite vague…"
"I guess that's my fault," Ash confessed. "I wanted to ask you about a persian you've left with Professor Oak."
"A persian," Eric repeated, and frowned in thought. "A persian…oh, yes, that one. I caught it because a woman had seen it preying on her pidgey."
"So…you haven't trained her at all?"
"No, I don't believe so. To be honest I thought it—she would be happy at Oak's. And the woman was quite worked up about it – removing the persian seemed the best solution."
"I've no doubt," Ash managed, feeling Pikachu tense a little in his lap. The man had good intentions, that much was obvious, but the persian had had a right to live there as well. And if what she said was true, she had left a family behind. "If that's the case, would you be willing to give her to me?"
"You want her?" Eric's eyebrows rose. "She's not any different from any other wild persian you could find, not particularly strong or anything. A little nasty, actually. You could probably catch a better one yourself."
"I like her," Ash replied, admirably keeping his calm. Eric was a good guy, really, he could tell – but trying on a pokemon's skin had made it hard to tolerate any kind of dismissive attitude towards them, however slight and well-meaning. Eric wasn't at fault; he was just quoting the mainstream view. "And she seems to get along with my pokemon." Well, at least she hadn't outright attacked anyone yet.
"If you're sure," Eric shrugged. "Go ahead."
"I'm sure. Thank you."
"Not a problem," Eric said, looking bemused. "I bet you'll turn her into something amazing anyway."
"I'll do my best," Ash grinned back, and the connection winked out. He stood up, ready to call for Oak, when a computer started beeping across the room. With a last glance to make sure no one else was around, he went over to investigate and found a pokeball materializing. The screen beside the transporter displayed both his and Eric's trainer information, with an arrow flashing between them signifying a transfer. Ash could only conclude that Eric's skills with a computer far surpassed his own.
He grabbed the ball and immediately the computer let out an angry sounding beep and displayed a warning in block red letters: POKEBALL EMPTY. PLEASE VERIFY CORRECT MATCH. Ash shrugged and looked at Pikachu, who had finally moved to his shoulder.
"You think Gary will be very angry if we just go do one more thing?"
"Pikapi," she sighed fondly, shaking her head. Nevertheless, she jumped down to the floor and beat him out of the lab.
Finding pokemon in the grassy fields of the lab was never an easy task, and Ash had never been much good at it. The tall grass pretty much eliminated any help Pikachu could give, so Ash was on his own. Or so he thought.
"Pikapi!"
Ash dashed toward the cry without hesitation, startled that he hadn't noticed Pikachu wandering so far away. She was completely hidden by the tall grass but another familiar, curled tail rose high above the blades.
"Persian, return," Ash said calmly, and the pokeball sucked up the persian in a flash of red light. Pikachu poked her head above the grass and waved.
"She tried to attack you, didn't she," Ash deadpanned. "So much for getting along with my pokemon."
"Pi cha."
"Only a little? You can't attack someone a little; either she did or she didn't."
"Pi…pika kachu. Piii, pika pi pikachu cha…pika."
"What?!" Ash exploded. "She attacked you before? When? Why didn't you tell me? And how does that make it okay?" Pikachu shrunk into the grass and Ash had to step closer to keep her in view.
"Pika…" she stalled, rubbing the back of her neck in an unconscious imitation of Ash. "Pi pikachu, pika chu pichu." Ash's eyes widened.
"She gave you that funny idea about us not being equal," he realized. "I should be angry just for that. And you should have told me."
"Pika," Pikachu agreed easily before mounting her own defense. "Pikachu pika?"
"What would I have done differently? Well I wouldn't have been so welcoming, that's for sure. Let her know we don't tolerate attacks like that. I wouldn't have trusted her either, wouldn't have…shown her…" Ash floundered at Pikachu's disbelieving look. "Well I wouldn't have!"
"Pikapi," Pikachu said seriously. "Pikachu pi pika?"
"Of course I know you can take of yourself! But—"
"Pikachu Pikapi," Pikachu interrupted and jumped to his shoulder. "Pika pikachu kachu, pi?"
"I know," Ash grumbled. "Allies are good. I just…you…" He sighed, defeated. "You should have told me."
"Pika," she comforted, gave his cheek a pat, and easily dodged the hand that tried to grab her in retaliation.
"Well at least we know it works," Ash muttered. "Persian, come out!"
The cat appeared and was already snarling at him when the glow faded. Ash waited for Pikachu to translate, his initial anger fading as he watched the prickly feline. He was much better at staying angry at people – something in him just crumbled whenever he was faced with a pokemon in need of help.
"I'm sorry. Sienne?" he said eventually. "You never told us your name. And I'm sorry for using your ball like that, but you were attacking my friend." He knelt and held out a hand for the persian's inspection. "Since you didn't seem to like your old one too much, I'm your trainer now. You're free to go if you want, but we could really use your help. So what do you say, truce?" The persian regarded him for a long, dissectible moment, and very slowly walked over and sniffed his hand. She gave a short series of meow-growls which Pikachu translated.
"I'm sorry you find this form more 'objectionable', but I have to be careful not to change where people could see," Ash explained. "And you didn't answer my question. Will you join us, Sienne? It's your choice." A strangely vulnerable light came into the persian's eyes. In one jagged motion she butted her head against Ash's outstretched hand, curled her tail around his leg, emitted a noise that sounded suspiciously like a tiny purr, and vanished into the grass. Ash turned baffled eyes to Pikachu.
"Was that a yes?" Pikachu tilted her head in confusion but gave a hesitant nod. Ash shrugged and reluctantly headed back to the lab.
Gary was still nowhere to be seen when they got back, but Ash couldn't in good conscience avoid him for any longer. They set out to find him, doing their best not to get lost or break anything along the way. After wandering aimlessly for what Ash was sure was at least an hour but in reality was probably more like ten minutes, they found an umbreon lazing in the morning sun that streamed through one of the lab's large windows. Pikachu immediately leapt to the ground and gave it a poke.
The creature jumped to its feet, hissing, and Pikachu collapsed to the ground in a fit of laughter. Ash just watched the scene silently, suspecting that Pikachu had put an unnecessary amount of electricity into that poke.
A few minutes passed before Pikachu stopped laughing and the umbreon stopped cleaning itself and glaring – well, cleaning itself anyway, it continued to glare – but Pikachu eventually got to asking the black pokemon where its trainer was. Ash surprised himself with how disappointed he was that he couldn't understand Umbreon, but he tried to content himself with listening to Pikachu's half.
This of course meant that when they bid farewell to Gary's disgruntled pokemon, Pikachu was the only one who knew where they were going, and therefore got to lead. And so it was she who first came into contact with the bizarre force field.
Instead of pushing her back like most sensible barriers would, this one just froze her in place, one paw still in the air. Only when Ash had grabbed her and lifted her away did she start to move, slowly recovering.
"Gary!" Ash yelled without hesitation. "What the hell!" A spiky brown head poked around the wall.
"Oh, Ash," Gary muttered, not really sounding all that apologetic. "Sorry about that. One minute." He disappeared again, but didn't lower the barrier to let them in like Ash expected. Instead he reappeared a moment later and stepped through the barrier himself like it was just air. "Sensitive stuff in there, can't have just anyone poking around. You know how it is," he concluded with an airy wave.
"You knew that was going to happen," Ash accused. "That's why you went and hid in there in the first place."
"Of course not! I would never do that to you, Ashy-boy." Ash's glare never wavered. Honestly, the guy wasn't even trying. Pikachu grumbled something from his arms.
"Oh come on," Ash rejoined, giving Gary up as lost. "You started that one. Are you really so surprised it got its revenge?" Pikachu gave him a look that clearly said Hypocrite, but subsided.
"Now," Gary said, crossing his arms, "are you finally going to tell me your little secret? Or are we going to swarm around each other for a few more days like passive aggressive beedrills?"
"The strangeness of that metaphor aside," Ash muttered, "why else would I be here? We need to go somewhere private though."
Gary nodded. "Your house?"
"Guess it's gonna have to be. Hopefully Mom will be out."
She was, as it happened. A note was waiting for him on the fridge, informing him that she went out to get more ingredients and that she had taken Mimey and Tek with her so he wasn't to worry. Also, he was warned not to touch the thing that was baking in the oven unless it happened to catch fire, in which case he was encouraged to use the fire extinguisher beside the fridge and remove it. And just because Gary had been there when Ash drew that stupid squirtle picture did not excuse its continued place of honour on the fridge.
Ash wandered further into the kitchen to make tea while Gary laughed at both note and drawing; after all, even if some people didn't know how to be proper guests, his mother had trained him to be a proper host. Eventually Gary trailed after him, mirth still sparkling in his eyes. At least his bad mood seemed to be gone. Small blessings, Ash grumbled to himself.
"I'd forgotten how much you had your heart set on Squirtle," Gary jibed. "Bet it really bothered you when I got it instead, huh?"
"Pikachu's worth a hundred squirtles," Ash responded automatically, putting the kettle on.
"Pika," Pikachu agreed with a decisive, nose-in-the-air nod. Ash smiled at her.
"And you have your own now, so I guess that's fine," Gary continued. "But I know you would've chosen Squirtle if you had the chance. Just…I was the last out, if you remember." Gary coughed. "Not that I would've chosen any differently, mind you."
"Of course not," Ash agreed, but couldn't keep the smile off his face at the indirect confession. For all their hard spots, he and Gary had never really stopped being friends. The water boiled and Ash filled both their cups, placing them on a tray along with milk and sugar and spoons.
"Who's Tek?" Gary asked as Ash trooped back to the living room with the tray.
"A new friend," Ash answered vaguely. He placed the tray on the coffee table and slumped back on the couch with Pikachu, who obligingly moved to sit beside him. Gary settled on the chair opposite.
"Uh huh. A pokemon friend?"
"Um, yes."
"One that also has trouble with balls?"
"You could say that," Ash hedged. At Gary's sceptical look, Ash sighed and admitted, "He's an espeon." While not actually explaining anything, that should at least distract Gary until he had the whole story.
"An eevee evolution! Look out, Ashy-boy's moving up in the world!"
"Shut up," Ash muttered. Deciding his tea was ready, he removed the bag and stirred in some milk and sugar. Silence reigned for a while as Gary did the same. After testing the temperature Ash offered Pikachu a sip – she couldn't finish a whole cup so she just shared Ash's. "Look, do you want to hear it or not?"
"Oh no, do tell," Gary said, leaning back in his chair.
So Ash told. He started with the real version of what had happened on the mountain, which he though Gary took amazingly well. Then he continued with everything else, skimming over his capture – which Gary would just have too much fun with – and their visit to the wild clan, which Ash himself was still trying to make sense of. Practically everything else spilled out, and Gary took it all well. Ash narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"How much of that did you already know?"
"Know? Not much," Gary admitted. "Guessed? Most of it. Well, not that you're out to save the pokemon of the world from the evil human overlords, obviously, but some of the other stuff. You weren't completely forthcoming with Gramps, I knew that, and I got a very strange call from Brock a couple of weeks ago about another pikachu." Ash winced. "And then of course you had that strange conspiracy meeting with your pokemon." Gary shrugged. "It wasn't that hard to figure out something was going on."
"For you, maybe," Ash grumbled. "Hopefully not for anyone else."
"Probably not," Gary agreed. "Not everyone's as sharp witted as me. Now, do I get a demonstration?"
"Not like you need it," Ash said and glanced at Pikachu, who edged away from him. Suddenly the room got very windy, the Pokemon Master began to glow, and Gary had to take decisive action to prevent his tea from scalding him. When the wind died down, a small black-cheeked pikachu was sitting in Ash's place, looking calm and totally unruffled.
"Overly dramatic," Gary drawled, with a critical look at Ash. "And you got the cheeks wrong." Ash glared.
"The transformation is changing, Pikapi," Pikachu added more helpfully. "It's getting faster, and there's a lot less wind. We can see you now, and you're not as bright – it's like you're evolving."
"Huh," Ash said, taking that in. He could see Gary frowning at them out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn't exactly in a position to translate so he ignored the irritating brunet for now. "Maybe I'm getting better at it."
"Chu," Pikachu agreed. "Then that might mean the wind is just excess energy. If you can focus more, maybe you can get rid of it completely."
"And give myself more extra psychic energy to use on my own too," Ash finished. "I'll work on it." Gary was blatantly fidgeting at this point, so Ash closed his eyes and initiated the change, trying to focus even more and cut down on the energy used. Pikachu gave him a small thumbs-up when he opened his eyes again, so he assumed he had been at least partially successful.
"Seriously, what's with the cheeks?" were the first words out of Gary's mouth.
Ash made a face. "When Celebi changed me the first time, we…weren't exactly on the same page. I resisted, messed it up a bit."
Gary's eyebrows went up. "So that could've gone a lot worse, I take it," he said. "Lucky." Gary crossed his arms. "Now this is all very interesting, but I thought you said you needed my help with something?"
"I do," Ash grinned. "How much do you know about the Cerulean Power Plant?"
(o^. ^o)
At some point during their discussion Gary had dragged Ash back over to the lab, where he had access to blueprints and schematics aplenty. So many in fact that Ash couldn't quite believe it was all legal, but when he mentioned this to Gary the researcher brushed him off with some comment about lax security and just giving people access, and Ash decided it would be easier on the whole to claim ignorance. When he finally returned to his house it was late afternoon, his bag was packed with charts, maps and diagrams, and he had a new appreciation for just how complicated a power plant had to be.
His mother had returned sometime while he was off at the lab, but had ensconced herself once more in her kitchen with Mr. Mime and could only spare him a distracted greeting when he opened the door. Tek immediately abandoned his ball of string when they entered and it hit the floor of the living room with a soft thud, hinting that the espeon had been occupied with more than simple kittenish play. Not wanting to waste any time, Ash took Pikachu and Tek back up to his room and the espeon proceeded to poke and prod at Ash mentally to figure out what kind of signal might work. Pikachu dozed through it at first, but eventually abandoned the tiresome pair completely to go help out Ash's mother in the kitchen. And so she became the perfect target when Ash and Tek had finally figured out what to do.
Pikachu was peacefully chopping carrots with a surgically sharp Iron Tail and thinking rather firmly of nothing in particular when Ash's voice came out of nowhere. It startled her so much that her tail lost its glow and slammed painfully into the carrot, losing so badly in the confrontation with the hard vegetable that it didn't even make a dent.
—Could you do me a favour?— Ash's oblivious, disembodied voice continued. —I need you to think of something – anything, the more random the better – and just try to picture it in your head as clearly as you can. Okay?—
Pikachu tried to send back 'why?' but no reply came and so she figured that this was a one-way sort of thing. So, with a sigh and a lick to her abused tail, she did as asked.
—Ketchup?— Ash sent, and Pikachu could clearly hear the note of laughter in his not-voice. —I should've guessed. Okay, can you try it again, with something else? It's really important to make sure this works. Tek said I wouldn't be able to pick up pure thoughts from non-telepaths, but images are apparently easier to project.—
Pikachu did, a few times, and Ash correctly guessed them all, from the bird bath in the backyard to the moon on their last night with the wild clan. There was a bit of a pause on Ash's side as he identified that last one, but since he gave the correct date even though Pikachu was fairly certain the full moon always looked pretty much the same, she declared it a win. At some point during her blank staring Delia quietly took the half-chopped carrots away, wisely not trying to 'wake up' Pikachu. Delia was observant enough to know something strange was going on, wise and trusting enough not to ask questions when the information wasn't volunteered, and practical enough to realize that dinner still needed to get done somehow. Fortunately, that made it much easier for Pikachu to escape with a simple apology when Ash requested that she go further afield to test his range.
They established a sort of yes-no system while Pikachu travelled, which enabled them to hold a conversation of sorts as long as Ash was willing to do most of the talking. It was Ash's idea, as it had to be – but it was Pikachu who came up with the coin: silver with a pikachu-head on one side for 'yes' and a thunderbolt on the other for 'no'. Feeling a bit put upon, Pikachu refused to go more than a few minutes outside Pallet, but Ash's abilities still seemed to be working at top efficiency even though Pikachu's focus was starting to wear thin. She did, however, encounter Pidgeot on the way back, and through a patchy explanation was able to recruit the bird as a range-tester. After a longer, confused picture-word exchange with Ash, the pokemon trainer finally clued in to the new plan and was able to latch on to Pidgeot's image easily enough. Pikachu headed back while the bird took wing, and while her images were blurrier than Pikachu's had been, Ash had no trouble picking up the basic idea even as Pidgeot reached Celadon.
Dinner was excellent, of course, and Delia insisted on inviting Professor Oak and Gary over as well, since she had made way too much food for the two of them. Pikachu and Tek got their own plates, and Pikachu cheerfully gave up her usual high chair to Tek and sat on Ash instead. Ash ate around Pikachu and watched his mother and Oak chatter away in between regular check-ins with Pidgeot, and it wasn't long before Gary realized something was up.
"What are you up to now?" Gary hissed after Ash had eaten no more than two bites, and accompanied it with an elbow to his stomach. Ash was inspired.
—Checking in with Pidgeot,— Ash sent, and had the pleasure of seeing Gary jump so badly that he dropped his fork. While Gary tried to make sure no one had noticed and generally acted shifty, Ash explained, —I'm testing how far this works. Pidgeot's sending me images of where she is every few minutes so I'll know when I start to lose her.— Ash paused, tilting his head. —She's…just leaving Saffron now.—
A moment of silence passed on their side of the table while Gary stared hard at Ash and Ash tried to figure out what was wrong with him. Finally Ash understood and laughed, saying out loud, "It's kind of a one-way thing. But if you concentrate really hard on a picture, I might get that." Gary closed his eyes, and Ash focused on his friend just like Tek had taught him. Immediately he was confronted by a surprisingly clear image of himself bowing deeply to Gary, who was standing smugly with his arms crossed and gaggles of cheerleaders on either side. Ash's eyes snapped open.
"Gary!"
"What?" Gary asked, the picture of calm innocence as he speared a potato with his fork. "You wouldn't have thought of that yourself, right?" Ash gave his 'rival' his fiercest glare as said rival chewed nonchalantly on the potato.
—Was it clear?— Ash blinked at Tek, who continued to devour a piece of breaded fish despite having just 'spoken' to Ash seemingly at random. It was a moment longer before Ash put it all together.
—You were listening?— he sent back finally. Tek flicked a glance in his direction.
—You're still not shielding,— the tiny espeon replied. —Since I'm the one shielding you, 'course I can hear you. What'd you expect?—
—Um. Privacy?—
—Then you're gonna have to work harder. —
Ash grimaced at the smug expression on the tiny purple face. —Brat. —
—Uh-huh, sure, but was it clear?—
—Was what clear, — Ash deadpanned back, reaching around Pikachu to grab a roll.
—The brown-haired human's picture.— Tek elaborated, and Ash could hear his voice taking on that slow tone of voice people use to talk to the especially dimwitted. How quickly they grow up, Ash grumbled to himself.
—Yeah, I guess so,— Ash sent. —Not as clear as Pikachu's, but still clear…better than Pidgeot's…Pidgeot!— Quickly Ash focused on the bird and immediately received an image of purplish hills and a tall stone tower, all shrouded with a vague, nearly indefinable feeling of uncertainty. He could almost hear her questioning chirps. Ash took a moment to place the image in Lavender, marvel at the fact that his range apparently reached that far, and then hastily sent a message to Pidgeot telling her to come back. A few seconds later he got an image of the countryside surrounding Lavender, and assumed Pidgeot had understood.
—Sloppy,— Tek's light voice chimed in his mind, and Ash brought himself out of his vacant stare to level a glare at the kitten. Why did so many of the people and pokemon he associated with insist on making fun of him?
—I'm new at this, alright? And anyways, why did you want to know whether it was clear?—
—Sorry. I always forget that it's not this easy for everyone.— With apparent great strength of will, the espeon drew away from the fish still on his plate to look fully at Ash. —I thought it might be easier for you with another human, but I guess not. For you maybe only the relationship matters.—
—Oh. So I should get clearer images from close friends?—
Tek didn't nod so much as Ash got a mental idea of agreement. —The…connection seems the most important. It's weird…Teach always said the most important things were distance and power. But you only use part of your voice when you focus, the…old part mostly…so maybe you're just different?—
—Maybe,— Ash agreed easily, not one to ponder long on matters outside his ken. —But right now, I would love it if you would shut up so I can eat. —
Tek looked puzzled. —But you don't need your mouth to talk, so why—
—Tek,— Ash hissed. A moment later he regretted his harshness as the kitten's eyes widened but he did go quiet, so the goal was still accomplished and Ash could focus on the delicious food. Well, in between Gary's prodding anyway. The researcher wanted – nay, needed – to know anything and everything about Ash's new ability, and while the trainer attempted to answer all of his friend's questions, the conversation just left them both with more unanswered questions than they'd had before. All in all not terribly productive, and Pikachu was wise enough to stay out of it.
When dinner – including post-meal pleasantries – was finally over, Ash and Pikachu slipped out to meet with the others for the final time. Ash felt they had wasted enough time already simply figuring out what to do, so now that they finally had a viable plan they needed to act. In that vein, they were all set to leave tomorrow; they were just waiting to be told where they were going. Ash had been mulling it over all day, but Tek's new insight into how his 'voice' worked had provided him with enough extra constraint to settle on a reasonable plan. Since he needed to have a close relationship with the pokemon in order to reliably get their signal, he wanted to have one of his oldest pokemon in every group – namely Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard or Pidgeot. From there it was a simple matter of pairing them up with the remaining four in such a way that each group could function, and then matching the strengths of each pair with the target areas they had already decided on. It was a bit like a battle, at this point – a double battle perhaps. He had his strategy, now he just had to choose the right pokemon for the situation according to their strengths. Simple.
"Everyone, listen up," Ash the pikachu announced when they had all gathered. Despite his appearance, he was using the same tone he normally reserved for pre-battle strategizing, and everyone immediately gave him their full attention. Even the persian, who had not been conditioned like the others to know that particular tone, seemed to be listening closely. Pikachu, standing closest to Ash, was watching as intently as the rest, but there was something deeper, something like pride in her eyes as she took in the serious expressions all around her.
"I've given it a lot of thought, and I've decided on who will be going where," Ash continued, taking the attention for granted. "There's not a lot of us and we have a lot of ground to cover, so you'll be going in pairs. I've chosen teams that I think will work well together, but in some cases it might take a bit of effort. I know I can trust all of you to do your best, no matter who you're stuck with. We all know how important this is." Ash's eyes rested on Bulbasaur for a moment and his mouth quirked up in a small, subtle apology. The grass pokemon closed his eyes for a moment, as if asking for strength, and Ash did his best to swallow his laugh.
"Right. First, Charizard and Cyndaquil. You two will be going the farthest, all the way to the Safari Zone near Fuchsia. Your job is the destruction of certain areas of the Safari zone; the pokeball storage facilities, bait production, electric fence generators and the like. Anything that helps trainers catch the pokemon in the Zone or restricts their freedom. Once you start, don't worry about being subtle, but do be careful; stay together, and gather some allies in the area if you can. Think you can manage it?" Cyndaquil answered with a determined squeak, and Charizard roared loudly enough to shake the ground. Ash took that as a yes.
"Good. Squirtle, Noctowl, you'll be doing the exact opposite. I want you to go to Celadon, where they have the central Pokemart and pokeball factory. Your mission will be to steal, destroy or somehow sabotage as much pokemon catching equipment as you can. I'll let you decide what else that includes besides pokeballs, but of course leave all the medicine alone. Gather allies and spread the word in the rest of the city, if you can, but do it quietly. You need to be stealthy above all else. The buildings will probably have generators and security even when the power goes down, so be careful." Noctowl and Squirtle nodded, and Ash smiled at them. With Squirtle's…unique experience and Noctowl's smarts, they were by far the best pair for the job.
"Bulbasaur and Sienne. You get to be the warmongers. You'll be going to Vermillion, and you're to gather as many allies as you can, both from within the city and the wild around it. The gym leader there, Lt. Surge, likes to wipe the floor with his challengers and he doesn't care if that means badly hurting their pokemon. Unless he's had a change of heart recently, there should still be quite a few bitter trainers and pokemon hanging around there. See if you can stir up something, and leave with as many as you can when the power goes down. Maybe you can take the ferry," Ash added with a grin, and got an answering but much more evil grin from Sienne. He didn't fully trust the cat, but Bulbasaur was the most level-headed and stable of all his pokemon. If anyone could keep her in line, he could. Usefully, his cynicism also made it less likely that she'd try to kill him, and their combined cynicism would do wonders for gathering allies.
"Finally, Pidgeot and Bayleef, I want you two to go to Saffron. You'll be doing a bit of both jobs. It's a big city with a tough gym, so there should be enough pokemon around for you to try to spread the word. There's also a big shopping district there, so once the power goes down you'll need to destroy what you can there as well.
"In addition to that, Pidgeot and Charizard will be responsible for getting everyone where they need to be. Squirtle will be fine with Noctowl, but Bulbasaur, Sienne, Cyndaquil and Bayleef will need transportation. Also, whoever wants to help will need a way to get back here after…"
"I'll contact my flock before I leave," Pidgeot volunteered. "They should be able to help with small pokemon at least."
Ash nodded gratefully. "Thank you. Pikachu and Tek will be coming with me, but we'll also be needing transport. Pidgeot?"
The great bird chirped.
"Okay," Ash agreed. "I think that's all. Oh. All the pokemon centers have backup generators so they should be fine for a few hours, but if you notice a problem don't hesitate to help out. The lives of pokemon in need still come before the success of your mission, whatever it might be. Okay?"
"Um, Ash," Cyndaquil began, "what about Johto? That is, Kanto's big and all, and we have enough trouble here, but can't they just get more pokeballs shipped in from Johto?"
Ash shook his head, ears tilting back. "They can, but I'm hoping they won't. Not that it really matters; they'll be able to get electricity from Johto too, but that's not the point. We can't destroy all the pokeballs in the world and we're not trying to – we just need to send a message. We need to get everyone to agree that the balls are a bad idea. That's the only way this will work. But we need to get their attention first, and try to stop them making more in the meantime. And if it's between Kanto or Johto, well, the League is still here. If we can win here, Johto should follow."
When he was finished Ash glanced over at Pikachu to make sure he had covered everything. She had been surprisingly quiet throughout, but she gave him a small smile when his eyes found her. He saw such pride and pure belief in her eyes that, had it been anyone else, Ash would've felt uncomfortable. As it was, he just smiled back. She was there if he needed her, but they both knew he still had to be the leader here.
"Alright then, I think we're done," Ash concluded. "I'll contact each group telepathically when my end's ready. Good luck to you all, and be careful. We leave tomorrow!"
A chorus of ten very different calls answered him, plus one jet of flame as Charizard expressed his enthusiasm. Ash knew it would look strange, and that it was risky, but he couldn't resist sending a thunderbolt of his own up into the sky alongside Charizard's fire. After that chaos ensued as everyone joined in. Fire, electricity, water, leaves, wind and psybeams mixed to form a column of whirling sound and colour. But as chaotic as it all was, one small stream of electricity stretched out above the rest, falling to sparks just before it touched the edge of the waning moon. Ash grinned and, without taking his eyes away from the beautiful mess his friends had created, touched his tail to Pikachu's.
Electricity disappeared from the sky for a moment, only to erupt a second later in ribbons of searing blue energy. The electricity coiled around the rest of the column, spiralling up and around until it reached the top and changed course. The sparkling blue electricity shot straight up into the sky, flashing past the point where Pikachu's energy alone had burned out, and bathed the moon in light.