The Journey Continues
Chapter 21
Reunions and Rockets
Kanto Region – Undisclosed Location
James watched as the Grunts loaded the last of the boxes onto the cargo plane. Not too long ago, it was a task that he would've been doing himself. Now that he was an Admin of Team Rocket, James was in control of Grunts posted under him. His two partners, Jessie and Meowth, also had authority over the lowly Grunts. The periwinkle-haired man snorted to himself. There was something demoralizing about being ordered around by a talking cat that was hardly a foot and a half tall.
Speaking of the devils, James' Admin partners arrived in the hangar at that very moment. The sliding doors opened to reveal the magenta-haired Rocketeer and the Cat Scratch Pokémon, both wearing stone cold expressions. Like James, Jessie now wore a black Team Rocket uniform, signifying their newfound status to any onlookers. Meowth, however, didn't wear a uniform. The Cat Scratch Pokémon went as naked as the day he was born, but he wasn't any lower on the command tree than his two human partners.
"Good morning, chaps." James greeted as his fellow Admins reached within earshot, "We're almost ready to leave."
"Good." Jessie answered, "Giovanni wants us in the air as soon as possible. He's stationed an operative at the new Coronet Base to run things until we arrive."
A Grunt arrived next to the gathered Admins, standing stiffly upright with his arms packed tightly against his sides. "The last of the cargo has been loaded, sir!" the Grunt reported robotically, "All systems are go for your flight to Sinnoh!"
"Good." Jessie replied, smiling in her unsettling way.
Meowth chimed in, "Now, scram!" The Scratch Cat had taken to his new authority quite well, making a point to order around the human Grunts. His inflated sense of superiority that had come with his ability to speak human speech had only grown larger with their promotion.
The Grunt brought up a hand to his Team Rocket-issued cap, performing a salute. "Yes, sir!" he answered agreeably, showing no sense of discontent that a Pokémon one-fourth his size was giving him orders. With that, the Grunt and his gathered co-workers who had helped with the loading shuffled away and out of the hangar. Now left alone, the three Rocket Admins exchanged glances to each other and then walked to the plane, casually climbing up the ramp into the cargo hold. The cargo ramp closed automatically as the plane's three passengers entered, and they headed toward the cockpit. For this trip, the three Admins would have to fly themselves to the Sinnoh Region and begin startups for the new base, hidden in the forested throngs of Mt. Coronet. Sometime after that, they would have nearly one hundred Grunts transferred to their operation, and would be given a full budget to use on recruiting homegrown Sinnoh residents to join the criminal organization.
The three Admins took their seats in the cockpit. James sat in the co-pilot slot, Jessie sat in the pilot's chair, and Meowth sat in a smaller chair in between and just slightly behind them, forming a triangle between the three. Each Admin put on their headsets and at Jessie's prompting, the engines roared to life. The array of computers in front of them booted up and displayed countless amounts of data, running preliminary checks and registering green lights on all systems.
Jessie propelled the cargo plane forward, eventually escaping the hangar and throttling at full speed ahead, taking to the clear skies of Kanto.
"Nice day." James muttered as the plane ascended into the air. From the window of the cockpit, visibility was perfect, and directly in front of the three Rocket Admins was the mountain range that divided Kanto and Johto. As always, the titanic Mt. Silver dwarfed the rest of its mountain brethren. The sight of the huge mountain stirred thoughts within James that he hadn't thought about in quite some time. More precisely, since the Magnet Train Station in Saffron City.
"Say, chums, what do you think the twerps are up to?" James asked aloud, catching the attention of both Meowth and Jessie.
Jessie gave a very matter-of-fact answer. "The last report from Giovanni's agents still places the Pallet Town twerp on Mt. Silver up ahead. We don't quite know where the twerpette is, but perhaps they suffered a breakup!"
James frowned as Meowth laughed. Jessie continued, "Anyway, it isn't our business to wonder about them anymore. We have new assignments now."
"I know, but still." James interjected, "You don't even wonder about them?"
Meowth butted in, "Y'know, James is right. Those twerps have been a big part of our lives for da lass two years, da twerp and his Pikachu for da last six years. Sure, we'll be real busy for a while. But who knows, once we take over da Sinnoh Region, and then the whole woy-uld, I'd betcha we'll see 'em again, but this time we'll be da ones in charge!"
"Ooh, I do like the sound of that." James agreed.
"In any case, we have bigger things to be worried about." Jessie responded flatly, not bothering to acknowledge Meowth's words, "If we're lucky, we never have to deal with the twerp's Pikachu again."
Silence fell over the three Admins as Jessie started to turn the plane, curving the aircraft in the relative direction of the Sinnoh Region.
Johto Region – Olivine City
"Hey…Dawn…"
The blue-haired Coordinator stalled, trying to process everything.
Ash was back.
"Dawn?" Ash called out, shaking her out of her trance, "Is everything ok?"
Dawn's vision cleared and she settled again on Ash. Her best friend had finally come back, and her reeling mind finally settled on her response.
"Ash…" Dawn finally said, his name escaping her lips like a breath of fresh air. She stepped forward gently, and Ash did the same, grinning from ear to ear. The two Trainers surged forward, and Dawn's hand ever so slowly came up. Ash seemed to notice that her hand was going up, and he raised his hand up as well, anticipating a high-five. Finally, they reached each other, and Dawn made her move.
SLAP!
Ash dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, vibrating the ground as he hit the floor. His hand immediately went to his cheek, feeling out the new, stinging pain in his cheek. Groaning, he pulled his hand away from his cheek, uncovering a nice big red spot. May stood speechless, her jaw hitting the floor.
"Ow…I guess I kind of deserved that, huh?" Ash groaned, sitting up with his legs thrown out in front of him. Dawn stood above him, seeing red and nothing else.
"You're damn right you did!" Dawn spat, "Don't you ever up and leave again!"
"Dawn, calm down—"
"No!" Dawn interrupted, "I will not calm down, Ash Ketchum. We were supposed to travel together again, and you totally bailed on me and May! If you actually expect me to—"
In a split-second, suddenly Ash was on her, wrapping his arms around her in a hug. Immediately, Dawn felt the new muscle that he had built during his time away. It was strangely comforting, and Dawn's rage started to melt away. Meanwhile, Ash was taking in Dawn's scent, finally content to be back with her again. May smiled at the sight, the gears in her head turning mischievously.
"I'm sorry." Ash whispered to Dawn, "I promise, I'm here to stay now."
"I'm sorry too." Dawn muttered back, "I overreacted…"
"No…you didn't." Ash disagreed, "I deserved every bit of that and probably more."
With everything that needed to be said between the two now said, Ash and Dawn pulled apart, both freshly smiling. "So this is your fifth Ribbon, huh Dawn?"
"Yep! I'm finally eligible for the Grand Festival!"
"I guess I picked the right time to come back, then. Now, can I have my high-five?" Ash asked, raising his hand prematurely. Dawn didn't hesitate, immediately surging forward and watching as her hand collided with Ash's. It had been too long since they'd exchanged their signature high-five, and the feeling felt good.
May butted in next, "Well, if we're all good with each other, I say we head on out to Goldenrod City for the Grand Festival. We've got two weeks to get there!"
"No need to worry, now that Ash is back we'll make it there in half the time!" Dawn teased Ash in response. The trio laughed and left the dressing room, escaping into the hallway and then heading out into the crisp air of Olivine City. Almost immediately, May and Dawn pointed Ash to a café by the docks, and the promise of food was more than enough to drag Ash into the establishment.
As soon as the meal arrived on the table, Ash dove in, scarfing down the fresh food with wild abandon and sparing no expense. Dawn and May watched with surprise as the Trainer cleaned his plate before the two had even started to eat their own orders. Ash pushed the empty plate away from him and then sagged in his chair, releasing a satisfied sigh as he palmed his belly.
"Well, he may be bigger and have longer hair, but he's definitely still Ash…" May commented absentmindedly, sighing at the Trainer's eating habits. She calmly cut a piece of her own food from the whole and then ate it, and Dawn followed suit, eating much more humanely while Ash grinned, satisfied with his meal. Suddenly, he let out an enormous belch that lingered for several seconds. Dawn shriveled her expression in disgust.
"Ash! Gross!"
"What, Dawn?" Ash defended, "I haven't eaten since breakfast!"
Hearing the sincere ridiculousness of Ash's argument and knowing that she wouldn't win if she dragged on, Dawn groaned and went back to eating her food. May decided to break the ice from that point forward, beginning to talk as she finished the second bite of her meal.
"So, the Grand Festival is in Goldenrod City in two weeks." May explained, "We'll want to get a move on if we want to have some spare time to train."
"Well then let's finish up here real quick and get moving." Dawn agreed.
Ash spoke up, much more nervously, "If you girls don't mind, I feel like I could use a haircut. My hair's really grown out, if you haven't noticed."
"Oh, we've noticed." Dawn sputtered in response, giggling for a moment, "May, do we have time?"
"Yeah, that shouldn't take long. And while Ash is doing that I can call my family about the Grand Festival!" May decided. Immediately, she started to eat faster, taking less time to enjoy the food in order to hopefully speed along their errands. Within minutes, both she and Dawn were finished, and after paying for their meals, headed out. Ash disappeared into a barbershop while Dawn and May ran to the Pokémon Center, hoping to call relatives and exchange Pokémon.
Dawn was talking with Nurse Joy when May returned from her phone call, and the Hoenn-born Coordinator appeared rather happy. "May, you okay?" Dawn asked quickly.
"Oh, yeah, Dawn, I'm great. I just got off the phone with my mom and dad and Max, and they said they'd decided to fly to Johto to watch the Grand Festival in two weeks!"
"That's awesome! I'll get to meet your family!"
"And now that Ash is back, I have a feeling Max is going to be real excited to challenge him to a battle." May pondered, grinning stupidly, "I just know Ash will be up to it. Max hasn't stopped thinking of that promise since the day we all split up."
"Speaking of Ash, we should probably head back to find him. He's probably almost done with his haircut."
"Good idea. So, Dawn, what do you think of Ash's new…physique?"
"…What?" Dawn asked, an unwelcome warmth starting to rise to her cheeks.
"Oh, come on, I could see you checking him out just a little bit at lunch." May teased, winking and poking the blue-haired Coordinator on the shoulder, "I'm smart enough to pick up on those things. Now, answer the question."
Dawn's cheeks burned now, and she instinctively moved to cover her face out of embarrassment. "Okay, okay, you got me, May. It's…nice…you can tell that he really worked hard up there on Mt. Silver."
Dawn and May avoided the topic after that in order to keep from embarrassing Dawn further. They started to talk about the Grand Festival until Ash turned up in their field of vision, walking out of the barbershop he'd entered some time earlier. The Pallet Town native saw them as well and ran over to them, meeting them halfway.
Ash's hair was a tad shorter than it had been when he'd disappeared into the shop. His neck had been trimmed by an inch or two and he'd thinned out the overall growth of the hair. Now, he looked as he had several months ago, with only the slightest hints of growth in it. In a day or two, it would be as if his hair had never grown out. The look fit well with his new physique, much better than the raven mullet he had sported on his return.
"Hey guys." Ash greeted, "Are we ready to go?"
"All set!" Dawn answered.
The trio started to walk out of Olivine City, talking and laughing on their way out of the city and onto Route 38. Immediately, a dirt path bordered by fresh green grass stretched outward for miles, lined by trees on each end. Ash gasped, awestruck, as he took in the view. It looked just like any other Route in the Region, but to Ash, it was like Heaven. The gentle breeze around them caused the bunched blades of grass to shift back and forth like ocean waves, creating a scene of tranquility one wouldn't expect to find just a matter of minutes from the city.
"Ash, you okay?" Dawn asked, tapping the larger Trainer on the shoulder, "You zoned out there."
Ash blinked a few times and escaped his musing. "Oh, yeah, sorry. It's just…been awhile…since I've seen so much grass. There isn't much of that up on the mountain…a lot more rock and snow everywhere."
Dawn and May shrugged and the group started walking down the road, chatting it up at times until May broke the news about her family's upcoming trip to Johto.
"So, Ash. I talked to my parents and Max before we left." May started, immediately catching the Trainer's attention at the mention of the younger boy. "They decided to come out to Goldenrod for the Grand Festival, and Max is coming along!"
"No way, really?" Ash answered with happy surprise, "That means I can finally battle Max!"
"Funny, he said the same thing on the phone! He was going on and on about how he couldn't wait to battle you." May agreed, "He's been keeping me updated on his travels. He's got four badges now, and since his next stop was going to be the Petalburg Gym, he came back home to challenge my dad. My dad beat him in their first match, so he was really down until I told him about you."
"That's awesome. Good for Max." Ash answered with pride, "That kid has the makings of a great Trainer, and I know a thing or two about losing. It sucks."
Almost as soon as Ash finished his sentence, Dawn noticed an all-too-familiar figure shortly up ahead. A youth with slick jet-black hair stood off to the side of the road, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. A Kadabra stood in front of the youth, heeding his commands. The psychic-type looked raggedy and a little beaten up, but made a point to obey its Trainer's orders.
"Kadabra, uproot the tree with Psychic!"
Kadabra threw out its arms; a spoon clenched in its claws, and summoned a pinkish aura around a nearby tree off to the side of the road. Kadabra pulled up its arm slowly, motioning to rip the tree from the ground, but the stalwart tree wouldn't budge. Kadabra tried again, but the tree still would not come uprooted.
The black-haired Trainer grumbled loudly and told Kadabra to stop, steam practically coming out of his ears. "Kadabra, you weakling!" the Trainer snapped, "This is exactly why we lost today: because you weren't strong enough! I knew I was making a mistake by putting you in the final match. I should've used one of my actual strong Pokémon!"
Ash, Dawn, and May all heard the Trainer's tirade, and immediately Ash surged forward to confront the vindictive Trainer. The crunching of grass led the black-haired Trainer to hear him coming, and immediately he turned around, glaring at Ash. The Pallet native came to a stop and simply stood, furiously watching the Trainer. Dawn and May caught up, and both of them grimaced.
"I knew it." Dawn muttered, "Jacen."
"Dawn." Jacen sneered back, showing virtually no emotion.
"You're that Trainer Dawn fought in the finals." Ash growled, "The one who always tries to knock out his opponent's Pokémon."
"Yeah, and what do you want? Can't you see I'm busy training here?" Jacen spat, leering at Ash. Ash's face twisted and he became very upset.
"Except you're not training Kadabra, you're abusing it!" Ash snapped back, "How can you expect a Pokémon to become strong if all you do is put it down and make it feel weak?"
Jacen didn't look happy at all with the newcomer's rant, gritting his teeth and grumbling back, "What does it matter? Pokémon only get strong when they're put in tough situations. My other Pokémon understand this. Kadabra does not, and I lost today because of that."
Ash brought up a clenched fist and held it suspended in the air between him and Jacen, "You ever thought that maybe you aren't training it right? That maybe Kadabra needs to be shown compassion so that it can be strong for you?"
Ash felt the power of his Aura well up inside him. His heartbeat thumped with a little extra oomph, pulsing with the energy of life. In response, Ash took in a deep breath, exhaling with a much more calm demeanor than he'd inhaled with. The power within started to fade away, heeding its owner's command to retreat back into the depths of his being. Riley had told him that he wasn't supposed to use Aura for offense without being provoked first, and Ash intended to hold that lesson. Besides, he had no idea how a Trainer like Jacen might react to Ash using Aura. Would he panic and lash out like the people of Riley's hometown? There was no way of knowing.
Ash looked back up at Jacen, who watched him with a puzzled glare. "Just…think on it." Ash offered, "Think about Kadabra's needs before your own. Any Pokémon can be strong; it's just a matter of learning a Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses to overcome its shortcomings."
Jacen snorted and shook his head condescendingly. "You're pathetic." Jacen spat, "I'll see you at the Grand Festival, Dawn, May…and I'm going to defeat both of you. Just you wait."
The Trainer called Jacen then turned to walk away, motioning to the disoriented psychic-type. "Kadabra. Let's go." Jacen snarled. The Psi Pokémon still stalled as Jacen started to walk away, glancing up at Ash and holding its stare for a few seconds before turning and trotting after its Trainer, loyally following as Jacen stormed down the Route.
"What a jerk." Dawn grumbled. Ash simply watched as Jacen walked away, gritting his teeth. Not since Paul had anyone called him pathetic. Not to mention the fact that Ash had become insurmountably stronger during his time away. Pathetic was the last thing he was.
"Some people will just never understand, it seems." Ash lamented, still watching Jacen walk away, "What's his deal, anyway?"
"Couldn't tell you." May joined in, "He still competes in Contests, despite clearly not being a Coordinator."
"Maybe he's like Nando." Ash suggested, "Nando wanted to earn Gym Badges and win Ribbons."
"That's one twisted Nando, then. At least Nando took pride in actually Coordinating with his Pokémon." Dawn answered, briefly thinking about the Pokémon Bard, "We should get going."
The trio started heading down Route 38, never seeing Jacen again despite the aggressive Trainer having been only a moment ahead of them. Ecruteak City waited at the end of this Route, with Goldenrod City being a ways south. The clock was ticking, and the Johto Grand Festival was just around the corner.
Sinnoh Region – Mt. Coronet, unknown location
The cargo plane's cloaking device collapsed. Mt. Coronet cast an eerie shadow over the Sinnoh Region despite night having fallen long ago, standing as a dark silhouette shrouded in mystery despite all of the advancements that the people below it had made over so many centuries.
The pilot and co-pilot of the cargo plane stared at a rapidly flashing red and green light. An endless plain of trees stabbed upward beneath them, though the freestanding mountain that divided the Region dwarfed them. The flashing lights up ahead signified the end of the cargo plane's journey. In a smaller chair behind the two pilots, a bipedal cat snored, blissfully unaware of the impending landing.
The bold red R on the two pilots' black uniforms said all that anyone would need to know…at least in the Kanto Region. Team Rocket was virtually unheard of in the Sinnoh Region. The two pilots—and the snoozing cat behind them—would be responsible for erasing that narrative.
The radar inside the plane reported no buildings ahead. Jessie and James cocked their heads. They'd been given next to no information about the new Coronet Base other than its location, and had been expecting a building somewhere, but according to the system, there was nothing in sight for miles. Now they had a whole new set of questions. Suddenly, the headset Jessie wore crackled to life in her ear as noise poured through it. A single voice began speaking.
"Aircraft, you are entering private airspace. State your business or you will be shot down."
Jessie smiled at the military-style professionalism the speaker spoke with, but knew it was nothing more than an act. The magenta-haired Admin brought the microphone to her lips, answering in an almost unnervingly silky voice.
"This is Eris-1, requesting permission to land. We bring a package requiring signage."
There was no response from the speaker on the other line of the headset. Instead, floodlights flicked on up ahead, revealing a huge steel door built into the side of the mountain, hidden by the darkness. As Jessie and James wiped away the impressed expression on their faces, the large bay door ahead of them scrolled open, retracted downward by an unseen machine. The floodlights on the door went out and smaller lights began lighting in the tunnel revealed by the door. Jessie and James both smiled. Their destination was just ahead of them. Jessie all but killed the throttle and the cargo plane gently eased into the tunnel, sinking into the uncharted insides of Mt. Coronet. The noise of the bay door reclosing behind the plane could be heard as Jessie gently navigated the cargo plane through the odd tunnel, hovering above the ground and following the lights. Shortly after, the tunnel opened up into a huge hangar.
Jessie and James worked together to carefully land the plane in the center of the hangar. Both Admins sighed with relief that their trip was finally over. It had taken quite some time to reach Sinnoh, and they all knew they could use a nice warm bed for the night.
Jessie and James put away their equipment with haste and stood up from their sights, making to leave the cockpit. In the smaller middle chair, Meowth continued to snooze. Jessie gritted her teeth and clapped loudly next to his air, instantly waking the cat and making him shout in terror as his hairs stood on end. Meowth looked around in countless different directions in the next full second, realizing that it was only Jessie after frantically searching for intruders.
"Wake up." Jessie grunted, "We're here."
Meowth looked up at her, puzzled, before remembering the rest of the day and immediately unclipping his seat belt before hopping out of his chair. The Scratch Cat Pokémon thumped to the ground and followed his fellow Admins to the cargo ramp at the back of the plane, which opened as they walked toward it. Several boxes of cargo sat on either side of the trio, secured to the metal floor of the plane by mesh nets and bolts.
The cargo ramp hit the floor of the hangar and Jessie, James, and Meowth all walked out into the light simultaneously. They each squinted for a moment, trying to adjust to the grey light that lit the hangar of Team Rocket's new Coronet Base. About a dozen steps in front of them stood three people, forming a triangle. Two people in white garments bearing the signature 'R' of Team Rocket stood behind a smaller, wrinkled old man with sagging eyes and round, red glasses. The man had a very unique hairdo consisting of pale purple locks forming a truly indescribable pattern on the back half of his head, leaving the front half completely devoid of any hair.
At the same time, all three of the new Rocket Admins immediately recognized the man with purple hair. The only real difference in his current outfit versus his previous one was the replacement of the gold 'G' with a red 'R' in the middle of the shirt underneath his lab coat.
Their contact was a former member of Team Galactic, and a very high-ranking member at that.
The three Rocket Admins stood, awestruck, as the purple-haired man and two Grunts approached them, halting a handful of feet away. The Grunts stood solemnly while the old man took another step forward, smiling as best as his wrinkled face would allow. The voice that parted his lips was gravely and scratchy.
"Welcome, Jessie, James, and…Meowth, correct?" the man greeted, doing his best to sound truly sincere, "I would imagine that you remember me from your last visit to Mt. Coronet, but I'll start with an introduction anyhow. My name is Charon, former head scientist and commander of Team Galactic, and I have been assigned to assist you in Team Rocket's endeavors in the Sinnoh Region."
Charon smiled again, the creepiness rolling off of him in waves. It was clear he had mastered the art of intimidation, despite being a crotchety old man well beyond his youth. The red-lensed glasses glinted in the unnatural lighting, adding to his unnerving demeanor. The former Galactic scientist parted his lips and spoke again.
"It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the new Coronet Base."
So, Ash has officially reunited with Dawn and May, our favorite crooks have met Charon, and the Johto Grand Festival is almost here. In the next chapter, a long-awaited battle between two characters will be held, so look forward to that! Please let me know what you thought about this chapter in a review at the bottom, and I'll get the next update out this weekend!