Here's Chapter 28! In May's Crush, the main plot thread had already been solved by this point, and here, things are just now getting interesting! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
"Team Rocket!" Ash cried out from across the field, his eyes burning with anger. "You'll pay! You'll pay dearly for what you've done to May and Pikachu!"
"We can't beat the twerp!" James fell back in fear, Mime Jr. cowering behind the bluish-purple hair on his head.
"At least he doesn't have Pikachu…" Meowth swallowed hard.
"C-c'mon, you two!" Jessie tried to inspire confidence in them while her own knees chattered. "We can take a single twerp, right?"
Ash raised his right hand into the air and snapped his fingers sharply, causing the Rockets to recoil in fear. The ground in front of the Pallet trainer opened up, and on a raised platform, sat his Charizard. The mighty Pokémon flapped his wings and huffed out a short breath of intense flames, causing the air to get very hot around Jessie, James, and the Pokémon.
"This… could be bad…" James swallowed as he reached for a Pokéball.
"First and foremost," May sat with Aipom and Pikachu on opposing shoulders, trying to make herself as intimidating as Ash himself would be in this situation, "what have you done with Ash?"
"Zeroth, and preformost," Scott smiled, reaching into his pocket, keeping his cool under this pressure, "here's your bandana back."
Embarrassment flashed brightly over the girl's face as she reached her hand up and took the bandana back from him. She tied it around her head sloppily, wanting to save face and return to questioning.
"And now, first and foremost, I don't have any idea where he is," Scott answered. "I'm not even sure why he was taken."
"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" May shouted, quickly losing face to the owner of the Battle Frontier.
"I mean what I mean," he shrugged. "I didn't order anyone to take him anywhere, so your guess is as good as mine."
"But they were your Frontier Brains who took him!" May yelled again. "Why don't you know?"
"May," Scott rubbed his ear, "could you please keep it down? I may wear sunglasses, but I'm not deaf."
May huffed out a "Fine," to the man. "But you better tell me what you know."
"I'll tell you why I don't know," Scott chuckled, "just calm down." The man leaned back in his chair, raising the foot rest as the chair creaked and scratched, due to its old parts and rusted joints. "I run the Battle Frontier, and it was even my idea to create it, but I'm not really the owner."
"What?" May's jaw dropped. "After all this time, you're not even the owner? What happened? If it was your idea, how did you lose control?"
Scott sat up under May's barrage of questions. "Slow down, May, and I'll tell you the entire story," he sighed, motioning for her to calm herself.
The purple haired Salon Maiden was feeling quite conflicted as she trudged down the halls of the base that 'Evergreen' called Brandon, Ash, and herself to.
On one hand, with May out of the picture for good, and Ash away from everyone he truly trusted, she could spend time with him, helping him cope, and, if she was really lucky, move one with his love life. After all, she thought to herself, he can't keep doting on a dead girl, can he?
That's when she sighed. But he is, she reminded herself, leaning against a wall. Every night for the past four nights, she has snuck into Ash's room after the trainer had fallen asleep, and each night, she used her powers to read his sleeping mind. She infiltrated the boy's dreams, but could never manifest herself in them. She would either have to be an observer, or take on the 'role' of someone else in those dreams.
However, that girl was always there. Even death could not break the love he felt for that girl (and his Pikachu, but Anabel never really paid attention to him). He would see them in his dreams, and he'd talk to them like they were still alive. That girl would always be so cheerful, and carefree. She would giggle at him, play with his hair, and even wrestle with him.
Anabel watched these dreams with mixed feelings. She almost enjoyed watching them interact, and learned a great deal about how Ash saw this girl. At the same time, watching her shower him with affection tied her stomach up in knots. She was brutally jealous of this girl, who from beyond the grave, still held his heart in her hand.
After watching for a long time, the dream would eventually begin drawing to a close. It was easy for Anabel to tell when. It would be when everything else begins fading away, other than those two. They would be absorbed in each other's features, and then they'd draw closer. The girl would purse her lips and close her eyes.
That's when Anabel would take on a role. She would put herself in that girl's shoes. In that girl's body.
She would feel his warm, loving lips against her own. It was different than when she forced herself on him, those days ago. He was resilient, immobile, and cold. In the dreams, when he kissed the girl, his passion burned forth. She felt the fire in him, his unyielding love for this girl. It awakened something in her, and she wanted to remain like that for as long as she could. But when both of them opened their eyes, Anabel saw the girl's reflection in the apple of his eye, not her own.
Anabel would then stop watching, leave the room, and run down the hall as fast as she could toward her room. She would slip in as quietly as she could, and lock the door behind her. When she was sure she was alone, she would sit down, curl into a ball, and weep.
She did this for the past four nights.
Wiping the budding tears from her eyes, she resumed her jog to the arena on the top floor, where her Boss and Ash were having a battle to test his newfound strength.
"A few years ago," Scott told his tale to May and all the Pokémon in the room, "I had decided that I would finally pursue my dream."
"And your dream was…?" May interrupted, her finger on her chin.
"You know how there are many exciting battles held during Pokémon League Competitions, right?" Scott asked.
"Yeah," May nodded. "Some of the best battles I've ever seen Ash in were in the Hoenn League."
"Normal battles are hardly as entertaining as those at League Competitions," Scott said. "My dream was to have a place were Pokémon battles on par with those in every Pokémon League would happen daily. A place where the greatest trainers from around the world would gather for the toughest battles any of them would ever have."
"That sounds really awesome," May said. "Anabel told me a bit about it a while ago. She said that you had planned to buy an island in the Hoenn Region, and all the facilities would have been really close to each other."
Scott nodded. "It was to be a Battling Theme Park. However, I ran into a large problem when trying to make my dream come true. It was back when I had six of my seven Brains, and we were still a rather small time operation…"
"Where's my paycheck, Scott?" Greta slammed her fists onto the wooden desk in the corner of Scott's tiny home.
"And mine!" Tucker stepped up behind her. "I didn't take this job to work for free, you know!"
"Hey, chill out," A man about Scott's age pushed his gloved hand out in front of the other Brains. Under his large hat sat intelligent eyes, watching Greta and Tucker's every move. "Why does it always come back to money with you three?"
"Go back to the junkyard, Mr. Fixit," Greta shouted at him. "I need money if I'm ever going start my Fighting Pokémon Dojo!"
"And I need money if I'm ever going to be able to show off my finesse in front of a huge crowd," Tucker said. "Dome Stadiums don't just build themselves."
An elderly man sat in the corner. His eyes were squinted and seemed shut as he sipped his tea. "And here I thought that patience was still a virtue," he said.
"Old timer," Lucy stepped in, "While I disagree with they're methods, they do have a point. You can't run anything in this world without the funds."
"Lucy," the man in the large, red hat and lab coat turned to her, "not you, too?"
"Noland, you know as well as I do that without the funds, the Battle Frontier will never get off the ground," Lucy responded, her eyes closed.
"That may be true," the old man responded again, pulling gently on his beard, "but from my estimates, we're close to having the island. After that, we'd just need to take out a few more loans on things, and we can have our Battle Frontier."
"How do you figure that, Spenser," Tucker rolled his eyes. "There is no money in the coffers at all."
"Well, if we all take out loans, I'm sure we'll be able to fill the coffers to the brim, wouldn't you say?" Spenser smiled, leaning on his staff.
"You've gotta be joking!" Greta slammed her fists on Scott's desk. "I barely own anything! I'm not going to take out loans on the small stuff I have left!"
Scott pulled at his collar, feeling the pressure. "I'm sure a way we can do this without having to resort to loans," he swallowed his fear and hid it behind a chuckle.
"You better, by Saturday, or I quit!" Tucker turned from the large man in the loud shirt.
"Same here!" Greta agreed.
Suddenly, the cracked door slammed shut, and footsteps were heard dashing down the hall.
Silence hung in the air for a moment. "That was probably young Anabel," Spenser said. He turned to Greta. "You probably scared her with your harsh words, and then she fled when she thought you would see her." He then cracked a smile on his wrinkled face. "She holds you in high regard, you know."
A blush creeped over Greta's face. "Sh-shut up, old man," she huffed. Then the blonde girl dashed out of the room, and down the hall in the direction of the footsteps.
"When they said that, it was Monday," Scott explained to the girl who was completely absorbed into his story. "I had to come up with a way to satisfy them…"
"So how did you do it?" May asked. "How did you convince them to stay?"
"Pika?" Pikachu was also curious, and acted as the mouthpiece for all the Pokémon in the room.
"I was desperate," Scott said. "I was at the end of my rope, and after getting so close, getting so many powerful trainers together, I wasn't about to let my dream slip away… So I made the worst mistake of my life… I contacted a criminal organization, and asked for funding."
"You mean…?" May's eyes widened.
"Pipikachu?" he twitched his ears.
Scott nodded. "I ended up getting an audience with Giovanni, the Boss of Team Rocket."
"So let me see if I understand you, Mr. Scott," A man in a large chair sat, petting his long cat Pokémon. "You want my organization to fund this "Battle Frontier" of yours?"
"More of a loan, actually," Scott sat on the his knees on the ground. "I promise that I'd pay you back as soon as I got the money. It's just that no banks will lend me anything to get started on."
"That's because this idea of yours is high risk," The Rocket Boss replied, petting his Pokémon. "It's quite likely that I'd never see that money again."
"And I understand how your organization works," Scott bowed, quivering behind his sunglasses in the dark room. "I'll do whatever you want if I can't pay up. Just don't hurt the people I've already got to join me in my idea. I've come to you because I have no other options."
Giovanni smiled at the large, groveling man.. "I actually like this idea. It could be very beneficial to my organization, Mr. Scott. I'll help you out, but there are a few conditions."
"Conditions?" May blinked. "What kind of conditions?"
"The first one was something that I was more willing to do," Scott sighed. "This man's organization would become the owners of the Battle Frontier. I would simply be left in charge of its operation."
"And the second?" May asked, half guessing that there was a second.
"I had to accept one of this man's operatives as one of my Frontier Brains."
"Scott, this is Brandon," Giovanni introduced them. "He's one of my field agents, and an expert on ancient Pokémon."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Brandon," Scott held out his hand.
"The pleasure is all mine," Brandon smiled, keeping his arms crossed.
Scott held his hand in the air for a moment longer, but then dropped it to his side. "Well, it's nice to have you on board," he forced a smile, not getting a good gut feeling from the green coated archeologist.
"It's good to be on board," Brandon echoed.
"Well, yes…" Giovanni interrupted. "In any case, there are other things that need to change about the Battle Frontier."
"Such as…?" Scott asked, not liking the direction the conversation was taking.
"Giovanni told me that he wanted the Battle Frontier located in Kanto, not in Hoenn," Scott explained. "Supposedly so he could keep a better eye on it. But I know now that he's been using my Brains to commit crimes."
"Well, some seemed more willing than others," May noted, Pikachu nodding in agreement.
"He probably tempted them with something they wanted," Scott sighed. "They may be great battlers, but many of them don't have the most sterling characters."
"Tell me about it," May huffed. "Anabel was always getting jealous of me for having Ash."
Scott nodded. "I've noticed all these changes as the years have gone on," he continued. "Tucker was easily the first to 'go bad', as it were. Followed by Lucy, then Greta. Anabel was always one of the good ones, like Noland or Spencer. But after her encounter with Ash, I could tell something had changed."
"What about Brandon?" May asked. "I mean, was he always a bad person, even from the beginning?"
"That's one of the stranger parts," Scott leaned back in his chair. "Brandon never seemed to deviate from his reaserch. He was always looking for those Ancient Pokémon."
"Maybe Brandon isn't a bad guy after all," May remained hopeful. "Maybe he just got roped into Team Rocket like you've been?"
"But the fact remains that he's still a Frontier Brain," Scott reminded her, "and all of the Frontier Brains here in the Sevii Islands are loyal to Giovanni, not me."
May nodded. "And Giovanni's made them do really bad stuff here! Like kidnapping all those people on One Island, hijacking the Pokémon Contest on Four Island, and kidnapping Ash!"
Scott smiled. "I'm aware of what's been going on." He stood up from his chair and beckoned May over to the corner he trodded towards. After getting Skitty and Cyndaquil to move, he blew the dust off of a large piece of electrical equipment.
"What's that?" May asked between coughs.
"This is what I've been using to listen to the communications between the Frontier Brains," Scott said. "It's the same signal I use to contact them using my personal transceiver, but they've blocked my signal. Here, let's listen in and see if anyone's talking."
Scott flipped a thin, metal switch on the box, and it sprung to life. Many tiny, green and red lights lit up across the machine, each dependant on if their particular switch was in the 'on' or 'off' position. Scott unplugged a pair of headphones that was attached to the machine, allowing it to use its built in speakers..
The sound was grainy and slightly distorted by static, but the voices were clear to make out. May and Scott stood in silence as the voices conversed, not knowing they could be heard.
"..so I'm on my way now," Greta's voice played over the machine.
"Good," Lucy responded. "I may need someone to run interference."
"Oh yeah?" Greta replied again. "And just what're you doin'?"
"I've got Brock and his friend helping me look for the Sapphire," the Pike Queen responded.
"Oh, barf," Greta hacked over the connection. "I don't wanna hear about your boyfriend, okay?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Lucy sighed. "But he was very insistent that he help me in anyway that he could. His little friend was more skeptical, but I was able to convince her that we'd be stopping 'big bad Scott and Team Rocket' from getting their hands on them."
"Kids are really easy to trick, huh?" Greta giggled for a moment.
"You're barely older than Ash is," Lucy stated, starting to get annoyed. "On that note, how is he doing?"
"He's fine," Greta huffed as May's face lit up with glee.
"Ash is alive!" May squealed.
"…and Anabel is watching after him since his girlfriend and Pikachu are dead," Greta continued.
May's jubilation was cut short.
"Really?" Lucy gasped. "Are you sure?"
"The Boss's Delibird caught it all on tape," Greta replied. "Those bumblers that follow Ash around shot her boat with a rocket launcher, blowing them to smithereens. They haven't seen any trace of 'em."
"Oh dear…" Lucy whispered. "I better not let Brock hear about that…"
"Isn't he supposed to be looking for the Sapphire, anyway?" Greta asked.
"Well, we're looking through this place called Dotted Hole. The door sealed behind us, and the only things written are in Braille, so we're lost. I think we're making headway, though. I just need you to stand guard."
"And were's Tucker?" Greta asked. "Brandon said that he sent him to you."
"Tucker's following behind us," Lucy whispered quietly, to prevent from being overheard. "But far enough away to not get the attention of Brock or this girl."
"Alright," Greta was getting bored of talking to Lucy. "I'm on my way now. I should be at Dotted Hole in a little bit."
Scott abruptly cut off the machine. "What was that for?" May stomped. "I know they were going to say something else about Ash!"
"We don't have time," Scott said. "We can't let them get that Sapphire."
"Why's it so important?" May asked.
"Do you know about Pokémon Network Machines?" Scott asked.
"Well, a bit…" May frowned. "A man named Celio was working on one when Ash and I arrived on One Island. He sent us to get the Ruby from the Volcano, but Tucker beat us to it."
"Network Machines need huge gemstones to function. The signal is amplified by the vibrations of the gemstones that allow it to connect to other Communications Networks around the world," Scott explained. "I've been listing to this thing since I returned home after meeting the two of you in Pallet. I know that Giovanni wants a Network Machine of his very own, to allow him to tighten his grip on the Sevii Islands. And he already has a Ruby that will work…"
"I..If he gets the Sapphire, what will that mean?" May asked.
"It means that he'll be able to transfer the Pokémon from any other region to right here, and with all the Pokémon an organization like Team Rocket has, we'll never be able to defeat them," Scott responded grimly
"And since they have Ash, that means that if we don't beat them, we'll never get him back!" May jumped into action. "Did you pay attention, everyone?" she asked the Pokémon. "Ash is in trouble, and the only way to save him will be to get that Sapphire before the bad guys do!"
All the Pokémon called out in agreement with May.
Holding one Pokéball between each finger and one in the palm of each hand, she recalled all of the Pokémon except Pikachu into their Pokéballs. Dropping the balls back into her pack, she turned to Pikachu. "Are you ready for this adventure?" she asked.
"Pika pika!" he responded. "Pikachu-kachu pika pika Pikapi pikachu!"
"We better get going, May," Scott said. "We'll need to move fast."
"'We'?" May blinked. "Why do you want to come along?"
"Well, besides the fact that I live here, and know my way around," he smiled, causing May's head to fall to the side in embarrassment, "I feel responsible for getting Ash in this mess, so I want to help as much as I can."
May held her fingers up to her eye in a square shape. "With this new ally, May's Detective Agency continues on the trail of the thieves. Will they be able to stop them from claiming the Sapphire and save May's handsome boyfriend, or will the forces of evil prevail?" she asked a nonexistence audience.
Scott called form outside home. "May, hurry up!"
Flushed with embarrassment, May took off out the door, following Scott down a trail that lead out of town, and towards what appeared to be a canyon.
I bet your wondering how Team Rocket is faring against Ash. Well, I was gonna include that in this chapter, but it would have run even longer. I'll definately show what's happening to our favorite Rocket Gang next time! Until then, get Pokémon!
