A/N: Long time no see folks! Sorry for the huge delay, real life got in the way. Yeah, I misspelled Greninja instead of Frogadier, something I almost did this chapter too. I keep thinking of it as Ash's Greninja so that happens a lot...
Ash was munching on some jelly beans as his Pokemon ran around him.
He had to admit it was a nice day by the beach with the sky not having a single cloud to mar it, and his Pokemon were getting along with each other pretty well too.
His Pikachu then straddled up to him and pointed to the jelly beans.
"Oh, you want one too?" Ash asked. "Here," he said and handed his Pikachu a green jelly bean.
"Not the green one, the blue one," Pikachu said. "I don't like the green ones."
"Really?" Ash said. "I don't like them either."
"Who doesn't like green jelly beans?" his Frogadier asked.
"I like all of them," his Charmander added.
And it was then that it hit Ash.
"Wait- you guys can talk!" he exclaimed.
"Sure we can- Pokemon can always talk to other Pokemon," Charmander said.
Ash wasn't sure what was going on so he crept over to a nearby puddle and saw his reflection in it.
He had turned into a Clefairy- just like Bill!
"How did this happen?" Ash screamed and then Nurse Joy's word's echoed: Ash, we don't know if Pokerus is transmissible to humans or not.
"I've become a Pokemon now!" Ash realized.
Suddenly, Brock, Misty, and Serena showed up. "Hey, where's Ash?" Brock asked.
"I don't know, but look, there's a weird Pokemon right there," Misty said.
"Guys, it's me, Ash!" Ash said but apparently the other three couldn't understand what he was saying.
"Let's catch it!" Serena said.
Ash tried running away, but then a Fennekin popped out and challenged him to a fight.
"Don't worry," Serena said. "You and I are going to be together forever!"
"No!" Ash screamed. "I don't want to be trapped inside a small space and be forced to obey commands!"
And with that, Ash's eyes snapped open and he took a good look around his surroundings.
He checked his hands first of all and saw that they were indeed, human hands. That had all been a bad dream. There was some faint light coming from the window, so it meant that it was a bit past sunrise. Brock was snoring away though, and even Ash didn't find 'sleeping like a rock' puns funny anymore to describe Brock while he was in dreamland anymore.
Ash decided to get dressed. It was then that he remembered the events of the past day. Once he had agreed to go and escort Giovanni through Diglett Tunnel, his dad had said that they'd leave next morning sharp and so the other three had glared at him angrily and decided to make the most of the rest of the day by hanging out at the beach.
Ash got breakfast out of the way and as his friends joined him he noticed that Misty and Brock were still pretty cool towards him… not enough to be overtly noticeable but enough so that even Ash could tell. Selena seemed to be the only one who didn't think that this trip was going to be a waste of time.
"Come on guys, I know that you don't want to go along with this but I already said yes so we might as well make a small detour, how about that?" Ash said.
None of the others responded so it looked like they were going to give him the silent treatment for the most part.
Giovanni arrived at the entrance ten minutes after they had. He was still introducing himself as Professor Gregor though and he was wearing a white lab coat like Professor Oak and had a small suitcase.
There were the usual introductions with Professor Gregor apologizing for all the inconvenience and them acting like it was no deal.
They entered the tunnel and got to know that it was pretty dark, but far more oppressing than the surrounding darkness was the deafening silence as none of them had anything to say.
Needless to point out, it got very awkward very fast.
"Hey look, a Diglett," Ash pointed out as he saw one.
"Oh," Serena said.
"Yeah," Brock said.
"That's a Diglett," Misty said.
"Pika pii pii," Pikachu said.
"Mmmhmm," Giovanni said.
And it lapsed back into silence after that.
"So, what exactly does your work involve?" Ash asked ten minutes later when it became far too uncomfortable for his taste.
"Oh, I work on studying Pokemon evolution very broadly speaking," Giovanni said.
"You mean like a Charmander turning into Charizard sort of thing?" Ash asked.
"Oh no, sorry, most people confuse the proper terms. What you and most commoners call 'Pokemon evolution' is in truth really just 'Pokemon metamorphosis' really," Giovanni said. "A Charmander turns into a Charmeleon and then a Charizard- now that's just happening to a single Pokemon and it is an irreversible change occurring during its normal life cycle- which is truly called metamorphosis, or it should be at least. When I talk of evolution, I talk about a phenomenon that deals with a large-scale changes in Pokemon species."
It was clear that no one besides him had understood very well what Giovanni was talking about, so he delved further.
"Well, let me try explaining it the best that I can without this turning into a university lecture," Giovanni said. "Let's start with the beginning here- you all may be very aware of the fact that Mew has long since been considered the ancestor of all Pokemon?"
"Yeah," they all echoed.
"But it is also said that Arceus was the one who created the universe, and Arceus is still a Pokemon," Giovanni said. "And this only means that there is a blatant contradiction in there somewhere. Now, regardless of which view you choose to hold, there remains the fact that regardless of who came first- how did the other Pokemon species emerge from them? What would a 'Pokemon tree of life' look like? Now, of course, we haven't done enough fossil research to find out- but I believe given that there's enough evidence that some Pokemon species are more recent than others that not all of them were created at the same time. Instead, there were a few species in the beginning which then gradually diversified to give us all that we see today. Now tell me, which Pokemon type has the most species?"
"Water?" Misty asked.
"Normal," Serena said.
"Normal followed by Water, yes, now that is correct." Giovanni said. "Now, this is what we believe from 'evolution.' If there is a Pokemon species, then its main aim in life is to eat, breathe, and breed, and with resources always being limited, the Pokemon which are better in fighting off each other or competing for resources will be the ones that survive. Given this, it only follows that since Arceus is a Normal type Pokemon- well, that would make Normal type Pokemon the first Pokemon type to exist if Arceus created them 'in his own image' as they say, and we can see that all around us. Normal type Pokemon greatly outnumber any other Pokemon type by a huge margin- and they are found everywhere. Such a huge distribution would usually make one think- perhaps they're so numerous because they had more time than other types to grow and thrive and develop into species. Plus, they have very few type disadvantages and no advantage, implying that there were no other types at the time for the Normal type to have an advantage against. On the other hand, Mew, a Psychic type doesn't have such a strong claim to the throne given that there are so few Psychic type Pokemon around."
"So, Mew isn't the ancestor of all Pokemon?" Brock asked.
"Well, everything like that is always up for debate, as you can well understand, with everyone saying and quoting something else, but yes, that's where it leads me too," Giovanni said. "I think that Mew is somehow related to Ditto, given its ability to Transform much like Ditto does. So anyway, that is a simplified version of what Pokemon evolution deals with, questions like asking why they're so many Water Pokemon or why Kanto has so many Poison types- where did Steel, Dark, and Fairy types suddenly spring out from and why some Pokemon are only found in some specific areas. If you're wondering about what I'm working on right now though, it's answering one of those questions: just why are there so many Poison type Pokemon in Kanto compared to the other regions of the world?"
"Do you have an answer yet?" Ash asked. He had to admit that his dad actually seemed to know what he was saying- though it was entirely possible that it was all just nonsense and he was trying to stall- though for what, Ash didn't know. Ash still hadn't figured out just what this whole trip was really supposed to be about.
"Well, I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that there's a huge advantage to being a Poison type," Giovanni said. "In any battle if you can poison your enemy, well, you can wait for your prey to die on its own without trying to kill it. It's an excellent tool for defense and most Pokemon would rather flee than risk a fight with a Poison type Pokemon. But beyond that though, I think that the main reason that there are so many Poison type Pokemon around is that the Poison type offers protection from being poisoned- so as more and more Poison type Pokemon spring up all across the world it became more important to be a Poison type to be protected from poison and so on and so forth."
"Oh," Ash said. "Yeah, I guess that'd make sense."
"Oh, of course I think it does," Giovanni said. "But it is necessary that there is evidence to back it up, sadly common sense doesn't get you far and can be very wrong at times. I mean, you extend the same thing to Fire types or Electric types thanks to burn and paralysis, but there aren't that many of them around." He then paused and said, "There's a light up ahead in the tunnel. It's far too early for us to have reached Pewter City yet, but I think that we can explore a bit of what's outside."
The tunnel led out into a small field and there was Viridian Forest visible far away in the distance. They had come far, but not far enough.
"Why don't we stop for lunch?" Brock said. "I don't think we'll get another opportunity like this."
"Yeah, first we'll have to gather firewood I guess," Misty said.
"Okay, so let's split up," Brock said. "I'll gather some nice berries that I hear grow around this area- it really helps add some spice to what I plan to make. I guess everyone else needs to gather firewood then."
"Okay," Serena and Misty said and ran off in the same direction before glaring at each other and running off in separate directions. Brock on the other hand wandered off more slowly.
Ash didn't move though as he noticed that for the first time in a while, both he and his father were alone.
"So, would you mind telling me what all of this is about?" Ash asked.
"Oh, to be perfectly honest I was on my way through town and decided to drop you a visit," Giovanni said. "There's a lot that I'd like to discuss with you Ash, but the thing remains that we don't have that much time alone, and I do not think that you're just ready enough yet to have all the secrets of the Rocket empire just handed over to you on a silver platter. Oh, and don't take that the wrong way, I have to say that you've been doing a marvelous job up till now. Though I have to say a lot of it is thanks to Jessie and James working as your PR managers, you've developed quite a reputation for yourself. But first of all, you should hand over that Porygon that you've had on hand for far to long."
Ash handed the Porygon over.
"Ah, marvelous what mankind can accomplish. Let me tell you something, boy, all of those hippies who wander about talking about the 'power of nature' are deluded- as mankind has only scraped the surface of its true potential," Giovanni said. "Like this Pokemon here."
Ash shrugged. He wasn't sure where he stood on the side of that debate.
"So, you put a whole lot of thought into this whole 'professor' act," Ash said. "I really couldn't tell you apart from someone like Professor Oak."
"Who said I was acting?" Giovanni asked. "I will have you know, that I really have done by PhD in Pokemon evolutionary biology and those theories I told you were actually my own."
"Really?" Ash asked.
"Here's a word of advice," Giovanni said. "Whenever you want to disguise yourself, make sure that it's a role that you can play convincingly. And the only roles that you can play convincingly are those that you are. Don't disguise yourself as a nurse, or a waiter, unless you really are one. It's a problem I see with all the new Rocket grunts who don't know how to maintain cover properly."
"So… what's the next job?" Ash asked.
"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Giovanni asked.
"What's the next mission?" Ash asked.
"Oh, please, Ash, I think you've already accomplished enough for now. You're just thirteen right now, you need to go around and start enjoying yourself at this point of time," Giovanni said. "Yes, you'll grow up to be a leader of Team Rocket, but there are several years- or ideally, decades before that will ever happen. I sure wouldn't want you to end up like Silver. I gave him full control of a legion and look at how he's turning out- oh, he's doing his work fine but he's developed some extracurricular activities on the side. Did you know that he's decided to go and collect the Johto gym badges? Apparently he thinks he's managed to do it secretly without me knowing, but I suppose ignorance has always been bliss."
"The Kanto and Johto league are together now, huh?" Ash asked.
"Yes, I don't know what's gotten into them," Giovanni said. "Who knows Ash, perhaps if you go far enough you'll face Silver one day. That said, I don't think that there will be many more missions for you- I was pleasantly surprised that you managed to get through these many this far. And speaking of extracurricular activities, what hobbies do you have Ash? I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to know you too well, but I mean to say that while Pokemon battling is fine and all, surely there's something else you want to do? If nothing, just in case you ever need to disguise yourself."
"Well, there's skateboarding," Ash said.
"Oh well, you might find a talent in time. Like perhaps Coding or something along those lines. Something useful...but with that said, I do happen to have two pieces of advice for you. The first is that you and your friends should stay away from the S. S. Anne as is possible."
"The cruise ship at Vermillion City?" Ash asked.
"The very one," Giovanni said. "We're pulling a large operation on that cruise liner, and it would be best if you don't get caught in the crossfire. As long as you aren't on the ship, no one will ever be able to blame you for not stopping what will happen. And my second piece of advice is regarding your Frogadier, the one that I gifted you. How have the two of you been getting along?"
"Pretty good, why?" Ash asked.
"Well, the thing is that Frogadier is very important- and not only for its rumored special power. I was looking for a Froakie from the very beginning for you," Giovanni said.
"Why?" Ash asked.
"Well then, Ash, I know very well that you've managed to get your hands on a Charmander. And while I'm very well aware that it's every boy's dream to soar the skies on a Charizard, do be sure to take very good care of your Frogadier," Giovanni said. "Whatever I said in the tunnel, Ash, wasn't just nonsense for you to take in one year and out the other. I've already told you that Poison type Pokemon somehow, someway, a few million years ago became kings of Kanto, but there is more to the story than that, and something that is very important for you to understand. Somewhere along the line, about the same time that humans began to walk the earth, a new type of Pokemon called the Psychic type appeared. And they were able to brutally challenge any and all Poison types that stood in their way. I once fought a Trainer who used only Psychic type Pokemon and I was defeated… I didn't stand a chance. The only things that can stand up to the Psychic type, or at least the only ones within Kanto, are Ghost types, but they too are Poison types and have a weakness to Psychic types. And that's where our story gets interesting and goes to the emergence of the Steel and Dark types- which emerged almost exactly at the same time. They have a single thing in common- resistance to Psychic attacks. But it is impossible to find a Dark type Pokemon native to Kanto, and as such, even until this day, you will see that Psychich Pokemon dominate competitive battling here within Kanto."
"So, you gave me Froakie since you thought it would help me beat Psychic Pokemon?" Ash asked.
"Not any kind of Psychic Pokemon," Giovanni said. His face then turned hard as he said, "There is a certain… enemy and a Dark type would be extremely useful in case the time ever comes- though I think it is unlikely- that you'll have to face it."
"Huh?" Ash asked. "What kind of-" Ash paused and whipped his head around- Misty and Serena were fast approaching.
And Brock was not far behind.
"Hey," Misty said. "Did you just sit here Ash while we did all the work?" She dumped a large bundle of firewood on the ground.
"Uh, well-" Ash said.
"Truth be told, Ash and I got talking and we were so caught up in it that we completely forgot," Giovanni said, rubbing the back of his neck and appearing far more jovial than he normally was. "It appears we really made a mistake there Ash, looks like we'll have to do something to make up for it, huh?"
"Nah, it's okay," Misty sighed.
A/N: Thanks for reading. On a side note, I wasn't sure what sort of side job you might take up in the Pokemon Universe given that there's so few really.
Do review if you liked!