A/N: Thanks for the reviews. First of all, I'd like to clear up some things. JayFan67 thank you for your review; I'm sorry if I didn't make this clear, but Ash is not going to access the Pokemon Storage System which is connected all the way back in Kanto with Professor Oak. There isn't any way too if even if he wanted to, because air waves can't cross the barrier separating Galea from the rest of the world. If he could, he would've called his friends or asked for some Pokemon like his Charizard to help him, which he can't.
Instead, they're going for the network of the Pokemon Storage System independently developed by Selena, and they're going to go ask Ash's associates, aka, Mr. Jennings, if he knows or can catch a Pokemon that can circumvent Freyja's strategy. As Celera mentioned before, there are other ways.
Julie Togepi, thanks for the review, I felt like a friendly battle was something that was needed. After all, that is what Pokemon is about and it seemed to fit in with what I think Ash would've done.
The next day came and Ash had slept far too long. He groggily got up, took whatever breakfast they could muster, and then set out.
They didn't dare fly for fear of being sighted, so they went using paths that Celera knew which were less travelled on. They skirted quite close to Kingshead, which got its name from a rock formation nearby, though Ash still couldn't see the man wearing a crown he was supposed to see when he saw the rock formation, though Pikachu could, apparently.
"We need to be careful," Celera said for the thousandth time. "Freyja largely ignored me because she didn't think I was a threat. For you though, she's probably ordering every corner of the land combed over."
As they approached the base of the mountain where the observatory was located at the peak, they decided to risk flying, though they would be trying to stay as close to the mountain as possible.
"Hey!" Ash said. "I was wondering- if you couldn't beat Freyja, why didn't you just leave and go somewhere else?"
"I maybe could've gone and defeated Marley," Celera said. "But you can't challenge two Gym Leaders at once sadly. I chose Freyja first since I thought she was the weakest, but she was lucky that I didn't have a move that could defeat her. Otherwise, I would've gone and tried to unite Galea, much as you have. And it was better to stay in Freyja's domain anyway, since she seemed least interested in catching me. The other Gym Leaders would've been far less accepting of a fugitive in their domains."
"Oh," Ash said. "I'm not really trying to unite Galea see, I just kind of want to go back. But I kind of got caught up in all this, and thing is that I sort of keep having to go forward with things."
"So if you found a way to go home right now… would you go back?" Celera asked.
Ash glanced at Pikachu. Both of them were thinking the same thing. True, Ash wanted to go back, but was he really going to let Galea sink into more mismanagement at the hands of other people? Or was he going to stick around for more examples of everything a Pokemon battle shouldn't be? Ash's battle with Celera was the only fun one that he had had since he came into Galea, making eliminating fun Pokemon battles another one of the Gym Leader's crimes. Here in Galea, battles were nothing but all-out brawls, with little respect or friendship between the Trainers.
"I don't know anymore," Ash said. "But it doesn't look like something that will happen soon, so there's not much point in worrying about it."
The observatory was not something grand, but it was well-stocked with almost everything even though it was dusty like someone had forgotten to visit it for a long time. "Doesn't anyone come here anymore?" Ash asked.
"There's not much point now that there are no invasions," Celera answered. "See? There's a phone right there, and you should be able to transfer Pokemon."
Ash noticed there was a hollow spot for a Pokeball, which had also been on the other phones that he had seen but never questioned up till now as for what they were for. They looked only slightly different from the similar machines at home though, so it should have been apparent to him pretty quickly what they were for. He really needed to start observing things a bit more.
Ash dialed a number to the headquarters in Cinnamon City, and after being redirected for over three minutes finally he saw Mr. Jennings displayed on the screen.
"Oh thank Arceus," Mr. Jennings cried out. "Sir Ash, I have been worried sick! Sir Gulliver called yesterday saying that you had vanished, and that Lady Freyja wasn't allowing them to investigate further into her domain. My goodness though, but what happened?"
Ash took about ten minutes to explain everything. "So long story short, do you have a Pokemon that can help?"
"Well, yes, though it might take me some time to get one," Mr. Jennings said. "Let's see, oh, there's a Budew that knows Worry Seed, but it is hardly a baby, and I know you don't want to evolve it prematurely. Oh, there is something else though! There is a Starmie that knows Soak! It would change your opponent to the Water type! It isn't very strong though, it was supposed to be a gift for my granddaughter, but I'm sure that Freyja's Pokemon aren't strong either, and anyway you have more need of it than my granddaughter does."
"That sounds good," Celera said. "You could then take it out using a Thunderbolt from your Pikachu. It would be an easy win."
"Just give me fifteen minutes, sir, to have it delivered here," Mr. Jennings said. Until then, Celera and Mr. Jennings mainly exchanged greetings.
"I think I'll give back Skorupi," Ash said. "No offence, but she was never particularly strong." Ash placed his Pokeball on the machine, and it vanished. Kind of like at home, but Ash noticed that the light was slower and frankly didn't look as cool.
However, the Pokemon didn't come for some time. The screen then went black.
"Huh?" Ash asked, worried now. "What just happened?"
A message had come up.
Apologies Trainer, but the Grand Lady Selena, the Seventh Gym Leader has decided to temporarily take the Pokemon Storage System offline. Do not worry, for your Pokemon are currently safe and sound, and once the system is back up, you may take them again. We once again apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Do please take this Quick Ball for the time being as consolation.
"Wait- can she do that?" Ash asked.
"That cunning-" Celera began and called Selena a word that Ash wouldn't have dared to say in front of his mother, or in the presence of an old lady, let alone hear from an old lady. "She must have been listening in on us as we talked to Mr. Jennings! And then she shut the system down when your Pokemon were in mid-transit since she can't do anything else about it!"
"So what can we do?" Ash asked.
"Nothing, just wait for her to restart the thing," Celera said. "This will inconvenience a lot of people, though I'm guessing that is a price that she's willing to pay if it will stop you."
"Why the Quick Ball though?" Ash asked.
"That? Oh, in case you just sent your only Pokemon, you'd be defenseless for some time, so the Quick Ball would most likely help you catch the first Pokemon you saw. It is supposed to be rather foolproof since the only ones who would get a compensatory Quick Ball would be people licensed to have Pokemon and so cannot challenge the Gym Leaders, so the Poke Balls aren't being given to commoners. It's a rather old thing, I guess they forgot to remove it," Celera said. She then frowned. "But if it was coming from Selena's company that manages the Pokemon Storage System, it should've came by now."
The screen however, suddenly turned blue instead of black and a Quick Ball came out painstakingly slowly after several minutes. "Odd," Celera said as Ash absentmindedly took the Quick Ball and pocketed it. "Why did it take so long to come?" But she didn't expound on it.
"We should probably leave," Celera suddenly said. "And we'll think of a better plan next time. Come on! Selena probably knows where we are now! She could inform Freyja!"
"Why did we bother coming then?" Ash asked.
"It was the only way, and I thought we'd be able to get the Pokemon before Selena could get Freyja to send a search party for us and I didn't count on her unplugging the whole system just to take us down," Celera said. "We have to leave quickly."
"But we have to wait for my Pokemon!" Ash said. "What if the system starts and the transfer is compelte?"
"Selena probably won't start it until she's sure you've lost, or won," Celera said. "And anyway, no one can steal a Gym Leader's Pokemon. We can retrieve it later."
As they left, it occurred to Ash that if they were caught before they could hide, or even if they could, contacting Gulliver was their only option now to get a Pokemon across the border to him. And if Lady Freyja caught up to them before Ash got a Pokemon capable of taking her down, well, then all of Galea would once again fall to the Gym Leaders.
Lady Freyja was not in the best of moods. She was currently sucking on some honey cakes when Duke Hamnet walked into her office.
"I told you I didn't want to be disturbed unless it was news of the boy," she growled. "Is it?"
"No, Milday," Duke Hamnet said awkwardly, but hoping that he would not be fired, because this was still important. "Rather, there is a phone call for you from the Gym Leader Selena so I thought-"
"I don't want to talk to her," Freyja said, pouting like a child. "Tell her that I'm not available. Aren't those my standing orders for whenever she calls me?"
"I am aware of that, Milady, but uh, the thing is that she has called twelve times already and says that she has some news of the pretender," Duke Hament said.
Freyja sighed and said, "Fine. I'll talk to her."
The moment Freyja saw Selena, she said, "Did a Porygon dress you? Because your outfit is as bo-ring as if a computer dressed you, like usual."
"And you're dressed like a Mr. Mime in a circus, as usual," Selena retorted. "But I'm not here to talk about your odd fashion choices, though they should be mentioned, but rather that I have found the pretender. He is on the easternmost mountain retreat, trying to contact his comrades for help and trying to get a Pokemon to circumvent your battle strategy."
"You know about it?" Freyja asked, now immediately losing her rather aloof demeanor and becoming visibly impatient and frightened.
"Yes, I heard the boy explain all of it," Selena said. "Quite surprising that you could think of something like that."
"Wait, the boy has a Pokemon that can defeat me?" Freyja asked, now looking even more frightened.
"Not to worry, not to worry, I interrupted his plan by cutting off the power to the Pokemon Storage System during transit," Selena said.
"Wow. You conniving –" Freyja called Selena something that shouldn't be said in respectful conversation.
Selena glared at Freyja. "I just literally won you the whole battle! You could show some gratitude!"
Freyja stuck her tongue out at her. "That's all the gratitude you're going to get from me. And for that matter I know that you're doing this to help you, not me. Well, nice hearing from you. Not."
"Wait! There's something else I-" Selena said but Freyja already cut the phone.
"Hamnet!" Freyja called out. "We have to get to the Eastern Observatory as fast as possible, no, don't get a Drifblim, those things are far too slow, instead get an Altaria or something. We have to catch them before they can escape, or contact any of their associates!"
She was in such a hurry that she hadn't bothered to give a thought about Gulliver and his team, who had been staying at her villa. Aside from making a phone call, they hadn't done much.
But, as it turns out, she didn't have to bother. None of Ash's team realized that Freyja knew where Ash was, or the urgency with which she was going to meet him in battle, or how much Ash needed their help right now.
A/N: And that ends this chapter. Thanks for reading, and do please review if you liked it.