Ash's Just Reward Chapter 42
"Entire sentence." = Normal talking.
"Entire sentence." = Psychic talking.
"Entire sentence." = Powerful being talking.
'Entire sentence.' = Person's thoughts.
Ash stood breathless for a moment, unsure how to react. His throat was dry, devoid of any molecule of moisture, making the few short breaths he was taking feel coarse and uncomfortable. His hands on the other hand were soaked, clammy with sweat and slick to the touch. Something Ash was uncomfortably aware of.
He also couldn't see clearly, his sight now becoming hazy and blurred as he stared blankly ahead. He could just about see the grey outline of the other Mewtwo, the one who triggered the memory's resurgence in his mind, as they move in front of him. He couldn't quite tell what they were doing, but their arms were definitely moving, he was sure of that much.
He was also mildly aware of some voices, though he couldn't hear them very clearly. A few people were talking all at once, drowning each other out, but all being washed away by the haze Ash found himself under, making them all sound like they were submerged and muffled.
The voices in question were the female Mewtwo, Gigalith, and Delia, the last of whom had rushed over as soon as she heard what had been said.
"Ash, sweetie? Are you ok? Say something, please. What did you mean when you said that?" Delia practically cried out, tears beginning to form and fall as she placed her hands on her son's shoulders.
"Ash, buddy?" Gigalith said while nudging him slightly with one of his large legs, "Come on man, snap out of it. Talk to us, so we can help."
While Gigalith and Delia were heavily concerned with Ash's wellbeing, the female Mewtwo was distraught by this development, hovering over the boy unsure of what to do.
"I, I don't know what happened. Is this my fault? Did I bring pain to this boy? What was the memory?" She muttered aloud to herself. She was so lost in thought and confusion, that she missed a presence very much like her own appear next to her.
"What did you do?" A deep voice rumbled next to her, drawing her attention to her identical counterpart, her eyes wide with shock.
"What did I do? What did you do?"
The other Mewtwo frowned, but before he could comment, both of their attentions were brought to the crowd of Pokémon, where a commotion was beginning to build in intensity. In the crowd, multiple Pokémon were trying their best to restrain Charizard, who had tears pouring from his eyes and fire spewing from his mouth.
"I'LL TEAR HIM APART!" He roared, as multiple thick vines wrapped themselves around him, and Meganium, the one who summoned them, planting her feet deep into the ground. Though even with her massive bulk, she soon found herself being slowly dragged forward, unable to fully stop the enraged fire type.
Mewtwo sighed heavily, taking a step forward toward Charizard as Snorlax and Leavanny tried to restrain Charizard further.
"Let him come." Mewtwo commanded, raising a hand toward Charizard, making the dragon-like Pokémon thrash around even more in outrage. "I have handled this ill-tempered lizard's rage once; I will do so again."
The Pokémon restraining Charizard shared a confused look, unsure of whether to comply to the Legendary's request or continue to restrain Charizard. Meganium spared a look toward Ash, hoping that he'd jump in and defuse the situation, but he remained dazed and unaware, his mother's arms wrapped around him as she tried to soothe him and elicit some type of response.
But before they could come to a decision, someone else made it for them, as vine suddenly sprang out toward Mewtwo out of nowhere, wrapping around him rapidly and pinning his arms down and snapping tightly around him.
Off to the side, with angry tears in his eyes, unhindered and unnoticed, stood Bulbasaur, teeth bared and fire in his eyes.
"YOU TOOK HIM FROM US!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, before snapping his vines like a whip, sending Mewtwo flying into the air before careening the vines back toward the ground, smashing Mewtwo into the dirt and sending dirt and rocks flying everywhere.
But Bulbasaur didn't stop there, not giving Mewtwo a second to react, he flung him to the side, smashing him through a tree, sending shards of bark flying as the thick oak was busted apart. He then continued arcing his captive round, smashing through tree after tree, leaving a wake of devastated forestland in his wake before throwing Mewtwo into the ground yet again with a resounding crash.
Before Bulbasaur could continue, a wave of psychic energy bursting forth and disintegrating the vines as Mewtwo floated out of the crater, a few scratches and cuts lingering on his body.
"Unexpected, but I will deal with this as well. I have long been ready to deal with this outcome, but I do what I do with a heavy heart."
Mewtwo went to continue commenting, but he was snapped out of his monologue by a beam of green energy blasting toward him, an attack which Mewtwo just barely managed to catch with his psychic energy. Bulbasaur stood with his feet embedded deep into the ground, and with new vines anchoring him to the ground, as he fired a continuous Solar Beam, the attack not showing any signs of letting up.
"More." Bulbasaur muttered through gritted teeth, before a faint glow began to envelop him, growing more intense as the beam continued. "I need… more!"
But before the glow completely engulfed him, a blue shape crashed into him, wrapping their arms around him and cancelling the attack out as an unintentional side effect.
Bulbasaur, now absent of the glow, started to thrash around in Heracross' arms, who simply tightened his hold as he held Bulbasaur to his chest.
"Calm down, or I will start eating your sap!" He threatened, though Bulbasaur paid it no heed, continuing to thrash around wildly.
Mewtwo hovered in silence, watching the bug type restrain the usually calm tempered grass type with a sad look. He lowered his arm, feeling surprisingly tired and worn by the brief engagement. But before he could begin to untense himself, a bloodcurdling roar echoed out.
Mewtwo had just enough time to raise a barrier of psychic energy before Charizard crashed into him with reckless abandon, sending both of them tumbling to the ground.
Charizard spiralled into the ground, digging up large mounds of dirt and almost crushing a wing completely with his own body. But he quickly recovered, using the momentum of the roll to turn himself upright, before pouncing forward, claws outstretched and coated in energy.
Mewtwo came off much better, only hitting the ground once before catching himself, using his ability to hover to upright himself, before he charged up electrical energy in one his hands, snapping off a Thunderbolt toward Charizard as he charged forward.
The attack hit him straight on, enticing a roar of pain from the fire type, but beyond that he paid it no heed. He continued to plough through the attack and slashed Mewtwo across the chest, leaving a bright red mark on the Legendary's chest.
Growling in annoyance, Mewtwo flung both his hands forward and sent Charizard flying backwards, hitting the ground with enough force to send dirt flying up in a massive plume of dust.
Now breathing heavily, Mewtwo put a hand toward his chest, placing it on his new mark. The attack hadn't done too much damage, barely piercing the skin, but it was more than Mewtwo had expected. Even now, it was sore to the touch, sending small jolts of pain through his chest and making Mewtwo grit his teeth slightly.
But as he hovered there, he noticed a slight current in the air, causing his teeth to tingle. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the lamps that lined the road that went through pallet, which had been idle and off just moments ago, were now sparking on and off in rapid succession, energy coursing through them intensely.
Turning around, back to where everyone was dispersed, there was a single figure standing apart from the group, positioned between the group and Mewtwo himself on a small mound.
And for the first time in his short existence, Mewtwo felt something akin to a cold dread flood through him.
Streaks of lightning were sparking off of the lone yellow mouse, who stood there in a quiet rage as he passively glared at Mewtwo. The yellow electricity was coursing around Pikachu's body rapidly, seemingly coating him in energy as it poured out from his check sacs. But as the amount of energy seemed to increase in intensity, it began to change. The streaks became larger, each individual one being wider than Pikachu's own frame, and the colour began to shift from a bright, vibrant yellow, to a bold, sparking blue. The black stripes on Pikachu's back also began to change, now glowing the same blue as the electricity that was now coursing all around him, distorting and disintegrating the blades of grass around the mouse Pokémon.
With an intense and rage filled roar that Mewtwo did not think could come from one so small, Pikachu launched himself into the air and channelled the energy into one ball before firing.
"FUSION BOLT!"
He then fired all the energy at once, with it being so large that it completely blotted out Pikachu's view, filling Mewtwo's vision with nothing but blue lightning.
In a panic, Mewtwo raised up the strongest barrier he could, but he couldn't do it in time, only managing a partial barrier which absorbed the worse of the blow before shattering completely, leaving Mewtwo to be struck down by the unrelenting attack.
Mewtwo and the attack then crashed into the ground, with the attack exploding with enough force to send a pure wave of force flying out, sending the smaller and unprepared Pokémon in the vicinity sprawling from the strike.
Once the dust settled, Pikachu walked slowly to the massive crater his attack caused, staring down with a slightly crazed look. And at the bottom was Mewtwo, now looking incredibly charred, with black marks dotted across his body. He was on his knees, trying his best to push himself back up, but his arms simply wavered and shook under the weight of his own body.
Before either could do anything more, a voice cut through the tense silence, catching both of their attentions fully.
"That's enough."
Standing there, with a less vacant but still clearly not fully present gaze, was Ash. He walked slowly toward Pikachu and scooped him up into his arms, slowly stroking him in a slow and rhythmic pattern.
"It's ok. I'm ok. Look, I'm not dead, I haven't been for a while. So please Pikachu, calm down."
Pikachu looked up at Ash for a moment, before turning his gaze back toward Mewtwo, though this time devoid of the anger and malice that was present moments before. He looked at Mewtwo appraisingly, before turning his gaze away, leaning into Ash's hand as he stroked his fur, nuzzling into him.
Ash smiled slightly at this, before he turned and focused on Mewtwo. Even with just a brief look, Ash could tell that Mewtwo was unsure of what Ash was going to say, or how he would respond to being kept in the dark like he had been. Mewtwo seemed to be waiting for Ash's response with barely contained dread.
For the first time since Ash had known him, he seemed almost afraid of what was about to be said.
"I know why you did what you did," Ash started with a passive tone, causing Mewtwo to recoil slightly, "but I don't know how to feel about it. I've had near-death experiences since then, some of which might actually count as full on death. But this is different, because I couldn't remember it. Because you made me unable to remember. And I don't know what to think of it."
Ash then turned around and started walking away, but briefly paused before he left Mewtwo's earshot.
"I think I might be able to forgive you. I've forgiven others for much worse, and I know you didn't do it out of malice or to hurt me. But I'll need time. Time to process… everything."
And with that, he continued walking away, leaving Mewtwo alone in the crater, thoughts heavy with lingering regret and doubt.
Mallow stood nervously next to Cynthia as the woman began tending to the unconscious girl that the Ultra Beast had spat out, holding open a med kit for her so she could have easy access to what was inside.
After the fight with the Ultra Beast, everything had calmed down, and everyone was now resting and recovering from the brief scuffle. Lucario, the one who had confronted the Ultra Beast, was now meditating, seemingly unaffected by the blows he took from the crazed beast. The other Pokémon were mostly sitting around Lucario, catching their breath and resting before anything else could unfold.
Tobias, who Mallow couldn't help but notice had done nothing in that situation, had simply excused himself before leaving the house, pulling a tablet from his cloak as he left.
And that left Cynthia and Mallow to tend to the girl who had been within the Ultra Beast.
As Cynthia checked the girl over for physical wounds, Mallow began checking over the girl's appearance. She looked a bit older than Mallow, closer to Ash's age than hers, probably actually in her teens. She had short honey hair which just about reached her chin, and even though it was currently soaked with the leftover gunk from the Ultra Beast's insides, Mallow could tell that it had been cut rather messily, as if she had done it herself.
As Mallow observed her, she caught glimpse of a few Pokéballs on her belt, and her thoughts went back to Ash. While she didn't really know this girl that well, she did know that she had travelled with Ash, and based on what she had seen with Ash's other past friends like Misty and Paul, it was very likely that she was a pretty good battler.
Or at least, much better than she was.
Mallow felt her body sag as this intrusive thought made itself known, as her thoughts began drifting toward her and Steenee. Steenee was her best friend and a great companion, but the two of them made for a poor battling team. While she wasn't terrible at battling, she knew she paled in comparison to the likes of Ash, Kiawe, or Professor Kukui.
And for some reason, that made her feel really insignificant.
"Are you alright?" Cynthia asked, causing Mallow to jump slightly as she was jarred from her thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Mallow replied half-heartedly, causing Cynthia to turn around fully to face her.
"Please don't lie to me, I know when someone's feeling down. So what's wrong? Is this all a bit too much for you?" She asked gently, her tone almost soothing to Mallow, but she couldn't help but feel worse because of this.
"It's just," Mallow started, pausing briefly to find the words before continuing, "I can't help but feel kinda useless. I can deal with everything that's going on, if anything, I'm intrigued to see what happens next. But when I think about it, I can't help but feel like I'm just getting in the way. Ash is such a good battler, and he goes out of his way to make sure that we're alright. But I can't contribute anything, and everyone else seems like they can, especially Ash's other friends. They seem so competent and skilled, like they could fight off powerful Pokémon and trainers singlehandedly, and all I can do is cook."
Cynthia remained silent throughout Mallow's rant, letting the words wash over her. Though as Mallow began to finish her ramblings, she brought a hand to her chin, racking her mind over how best to approach this.
"What's stopping you from being a strong trainer?" She finally settled on, causing Mallow to snap her head round to Cynthia.
"What do you mean?"
"Why can you not be a strong trainer as well? The way you talk about it makes it sound like you've resigned yourself to not being able to get strong, and so you lament over other's strength. Do you honestly think Ash started out that strong?"
Mallow shook her head at this but didn't look convinced either.
"I know he didn't start out that strong, no one does. But I can't be strong like he can. He trains all the time with his Pokémon to make them strong, and I spend all my time trying to be a chef. And don't get me wrong, I do want to be a chef more than anything. But I can't help but also want to be strong like Ash."
Cynthia smiled at this, with an almost cocky smirk, before commenting further.
"Why not be both?"
Mallow looked at Cynthia, slightly taken aback by this and noticeably confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Is there any reason why you can't be a chef who's also a strong battler? Just because you have a dream you want to achieve doesn't mean you have to abandon every other venture available. You can dabble in multiple things."
"I can't!" Mallow replied, seeming almost annoyed by this, "I can't do both. I have to devote all my time to becoming a chef. If I don't, how can I be the best? How can I do well at either if I don't focus on one?"
"Because you're choosing not to." Cynthia cut in, unfazed by Mallow's outburst. "You can do well at whatever you want to, even if its multiple things, so long as you work hard at both. I understand that it may seem daunting, and it certainly won't be easy, but it is possible."
"Prove it." Mallow said suddenly. "Prove that it's possible."
Cynthia just smiled and placed one of her hands gently on Mallow's shoulder.
"The reason why I know it's possible is because I speak from experience. Because I'm not just the Champion of Sinnoh, I'm one of the head archaeologists researching the Legendaries of this region."
Mallow's eyes widened at this, and Cynthia carried on.
"My grandmother was the one who sparked my interest in archaeology and mythology, and made me want to study the Legendaries. She herself spent most of her life studying them, and that inspired me to continue researching the matter. But I also wanted to be a trainer, with a burning passion. When I became a trainer, me and my starter Gible swore that we'd travel the world, finding out more about its ancient history while also getting as strong as we could. I learnt much about the world, but also about battling. And now, here I stand in front of you now, on the forefront of the excavation effort to research the ruins of this here temple dedicated to the Creation Trio, and as the strongest trainer in the region."
"So when I say it's possible, with hard work and determination, it is possible. And if you need help, you can always ask."
And with that, Cynthia turned back toward the girl on the floor, finishing up her check-over, leaving Mallow alone with her thoughts, and the realisation that maybe, just maybe, she could be more than she thought.
N smiled slightly to himself as he stoked the campfire with a tree branch, allowing the small fire to slowly build up.
"You know, I could have that campfire, and this entire forest, ignited in less than a second. You only have to ask." Reshiram commented as he and Zorua watched N dutifully, causing N to chuckle as he continued to stoke the fire idly.
The trio had been making their way out of Unova to try and find Ash when they had gotten side-tracked by a dispute happening between some wild Pokémon. N had taken it upon himself to resolve the issue and had spent the next few hours trying to keep the peace.
Even though the entire thing ended up being resolved rather quickly once Reshiram expressed his frustration, and inadvertently announce his presence to the two groups of Pokémon, and practically scared them into agreeing to a peaceful outcome.
So, with that settled, the trio had decided to call it a night, setting up a campfire and preparing a meal to share. It was hardly the tale of gods and champions, but something about helping out in small ways always helped N feel reassured with his lot in life.
Though Reshiram often felt different. But that was fine. Reshiram rarely agreed with N and was quite honest about it. Typical for the embodiment of Truth.
As they sat around the fire, watching as N kept the last few dying embers alive by moving around what little firewood hadn't yet been burnt entirely, they began to relax. Zorua began to curl in on himself, the majority of his body slowly being covered by his floofy tail. Reshiram began closing his eyes, the flame in his tail slowly dying down to a small ember, leaving N as the only one fully conscious.
Staring into the fire, N found himself reflecting on his past interactions with Ash, and what he had learnt about the boy from Reshiram. While he had found him fascinating in the time they travelled together and interacted, simply because of how well connected he was to his Pokémon, it turned out that this was simply the beginning.
Thanks to Reshiram's connection to the Legendary Council, regularly being updated by Arceus herself, Reshiram knew not only what Ash had done in the past but the big events that he was involved in as they happened. And as the embodiment of Truth, he found it hard to keep this information hidden whenever N so much as casually asked.
So now N knew about how selfless he was, and how much of an impact the boy has had in the world. And he couldn't help but admire him even more, making him keener than ever to find him and thank him. Even though he personally didn't have much of a gift to give him, he still wanted to express his gratitude in some form.
While he mused quietly to himself, he failed to notice as a new presence walked toward their campsite, casually plopping themselves down by the fire. They sat there in content silence, basking in the dim glow of the dying fire briefly before making themselves known to N.
"You're a difficult man to find, Mr Gropius." The man said in a monotone voice, causing N to jump as he was stirred from his thoughts. "And I must ask, which name should I call you by? Mr Gropius seems far too formal for this encounter and calling you by your full name just seems awkward."
N stared at the man, eyes darting from him to the still slumbering Reshiram. Reshiram was not a heavy sleeper, and had quickly woken up in the past whenever someone has tried to hunt down either himself or N. Though he seemed undisturbed by this man's presence, which made N feel somewhat curious. He couldn't have been a threat, or at least not one which Reshiram could detect.
And that would have to do.
Readjusting his hat slightly, N finally responded.
"Just call me N. I much prefer that to my full name."
The man nodded, a small smile on his face as he made the motion. While he remained silent, N finally took the time to take in the man's appearance.
He certainly wasn't from Team Plasma, that was for sure. Instead of the armour stylised robes that they wore, this man donned the attire of a traveller, with clothes that looked worn and battered by hours of walking through forests, cities, and various weather changes. The man was wearing a cream poncho, with a necklace with Pokéballs for beads strung around his neck. He had white trousers which had grass and mud stains galore and multiple rips near the ankle part of the trousers. His hair was wild, with only a scrunchie tying it into a ponytail giving it any sense of control.
A man who N certainly recognised.
"I take it you are Alder. You certainly match the descriptions I've heard of you." N said, causing the man to laugh deeply, not opening his mouth but instead laughing entirely from his chest.
"That would be correct, and I'm glad you already knew that. I hate introductions, never been any good at them. I tend to give off a bad impression." Alder said while pushing his palms onto his crossed knees, as he looked up at N.
"And that means I can cut straight to the point: I require your assistance in finding a boy. A boy I've heard you know rather well: Ash Ketchum."
N immediately tensed up, and this finally stirred Reshiram from his slumber, the flame in his turbo beginning to whirl into life like a jet turbine.
"Why do you want to speak to Ash?" N asked, all friendliness now dropped from his tone, though Alder didn't react to this new harsh tone.
"You misunderstand," he started, "I don't want to speak with him. I simply want to know that he has the necessary protection at hand."
N squinted at him, causing him to run a hand through his wild hair as he turned his gaze back to the dying fire.
"I was recently contacted by the Unovan League," he began explaining grimly, "and according to them, a pair of suited individuals from an organisation called 'ICOP' came asking for me. Apparently, they needed my help, but they had difficulty tracking me down."
He paused for a moment, taking a moment to allow his words to sink in, while N and Reshiram shared a concerned look.
"Now, I'm not one for politics or business, which is why I prefer to only do league work when my involvement is absolutely crucial. And just based on how they've tried to contact me, I have reason to distrust them and cause to question why they need my assistance," he continued solemnly, "but I'm going to return to them and offer my assistance. That way I'll be privy to what they know and what they intend."
N felt a wave of confusion wash over him as the champion said this, quickly glancing over to Reshiram to see if he had detected any trace of a lie. Though when he saw Reshiram stoically watching over the champion, his confusion only amplified.
"I'm sorry that I have to ask, but for what purpose? If you do not trust them, why give them your aid at all?"
"Because it's the only way I'll know for sure why they want to find Ash Ketchum."
A cold wave of dread washed over N, sending goose bumps down N's arm, and causing a slight growl to emit from Reshiram's throat. Though before they could bombard the champion with a wave of questions, he interrupted them with a wave of the hand.
"Before you start, I don't know why they're interested in him. I also don't know why they're looking for him. Which is why I want to align myself with them, so I can try and pry some information out of them. But I also worry for Ash. I don't know who they are or what resources they have, but if they can summon the likes of me, chances are they've done the same in other regions. That is… most concerning."
The champion then turned to N, an incredibly serious look in his eyes as he stared into N's own eyes.
"I know you and Ash are friends. I know that the Legendaries are also fond of him. I'm not as unaware of your actions as you may believe, and I suspect that you have ways of tracking him down, am I right?"
N remained silent, as he knew that last question wasn't directed at him and waited for Reshiram to speak.
"I can." Reshiram said in a quiet voice, his deep voice almost taking Alder by surprise as he spoke for the first time. "Ash is a Chosen One, a champion in his own right. While N is my champion of truth, Ash is one for both Truth and Ideals. While myself and my counterpart Zekrom have our own individual champions, we both recognise him as a representation of what we used to be. Which means that, out of all the Legendaries, the two of us can most easily track him down. We always know where a potential champion awaits choosing."
Alder nodded at this, crossing his arms and rubbing them against each other, as the dying fire finally gave out and allowed the cold of night to set in.
"Very good. While I do what I can with these ICOP people," he said with disgust dripping off the name of the unknown seekers of Ash, "I needed to make sure he was protected. I don't know if I can properly protect him, so I had to make sure someone could. And thankfully, there is."
With that, he pushed against his knees and stood up, slowly turning and walking toward the treeline around their campsite.
"In the morning, I will be with these agents and appraising their motivations. If you do not hear from me, then assume that their intentions are malicious and that they are not to be trusted. If you do hear from me, I will let you know what I have found out. Do not bother trying to contact me, I have ways of contacting you. Good luck, and hopefully when our paths next cross, this issue will have been resolved."
And with that last comment, he disappeared into the treeline, leaving N, Reshiram, and Zorua to sit there in silence, contemplating the champions words. After a few minutes, N spoke up.
"Let's get some rest. In the morning we leave to find Ash, with all the haste we can muster. We must find him before this ICOP do."
A woman in a dirty trench coat began devouring a tin of spaghetti, shovelling it down her throat without giving herself any space to breathe, getting sauce all over her face.
After finishing the tin in record time, she wiped her face with the sleeve of her trench coat before she went to the nearby window of the abandoned shed she had made her temporary home, paranoia causing her to routinely check to ensure she was well and truly alone.
And like always, she was. No one had found her yet.
Good.
Satisfied, she returned to her spot, digging through a small bag and appraising the items inside. There wasn't much, a few more tins of food, a communicator with a shattered screen, and half a bar of soap. Even if she was prudent with how she used these items, they would last more than a few days.
Gritting her teeth in annoyance, she discarded the bag and tried to wrap her trench coat around her body tighter than it already was, a desperate attempt to ward off the constant cold.
How she had fallen so far, she still wasn't sure. She knew how it happened, and even knew the names of the people and Pokémon who had been so instrumental to her downfall. But she didn't know how they had managed to do this to her.
All she did know was that, one day, she would have her revenge.
The only question was how she was going to manage it.
As she sat there seething, she almost missed the faint gust of wind that blew through the shed.
Almost.
In less than a second, she was back on her feet, fists raised defensively and teethed bared aggressively, as she stared at the door where she now knew someone was standing. She waited with bated breath as the door began slowly opening, as she drew her fist back and prepared to strike.
Her hand was stayed however when the door opened more, revealing nothing but a lone Dragonite standing there, a bag slung around its shoulder. The dragon Pokémon stared at her blankly as it pulled a small disk from its bag, placing it gently on the ground before taking a step back.
The disk began humming to life, a faint blue glow emanating from the disk before it unfolded and began projecting an image facing toward the woman.
And to her surprise, it was of a man. A man with an evil smirk as he appraised the woman.
"I must admit, you are a very difficult woman to find. Though that is somewhat reassuring. I was worried that, what with you losing everything you had, you'd have been captured, or maybe even killed. The fact that you've evaded capture for so long proves you're just as resourceful as ever."
The woman glared at this man, taking in his sharp suit and clean-cut face and hair. Clearly this was a well-off individual, and not the kind that became that way through honest means.
After all, men who made an honest living wouldn't be looking for someone like her.
"What do you want?" She said gruffly, lowering her fists and giving the man her harshest glare. Though rather worryingly, he seemed unaffected by it.
"I have need of your services, and of your skills. You've proven yourself to be incredibly competent in the past, and your leadership skills are surprisingly admirable. They're only second to your skills in your chosen trade, a trade I have great interest in."
This caught her attention, but she made a point of not outwardly reacting to it. Rule One of dealing with a client: never let them know you're interested in making a deal. Makes them push harder to secure your services. So instead she remained silent, letting the man continue unimpeded.
"Currently, I am undergoing an expansion of my enterprise, and am creating subsidiaries to manage smaller tasks which help my overall goal. Now, with that in mind, I took an interest in a group you've had dealings with before. However, I've had difficulties finding the one that used to control it; they seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth. Which is both impressive and concerning."
He rubbed his chin while he said the last line, leaving the woman to simply raise an eyebrow at his comment before he continued.
"With that being said, I found myself in an odd predicament. I still want to make use of this group, and I have the resources to help rebuild it. But with the old leader gone, I found myself needing a competent individual to lead this group, and to carry out my commands. Which then led me to… you."
The woman ran her tongue through her mouth, contemplating this, before finally speaking.
"What is it you actually need me to do?"
The man began smiling a toothy grin, placing his hands together as he did.
"I need you to lead the resurrected Team Galactic. I already have their prior equipment, research, and even commanders lined up, a feat which took a lot of resources, I'll have you know, but I lack leadership for them. I do not trust their current commanders to not betray me, so I need someone who holds other loyalties, one who can keep them in line."
"I only hold loyalty to coin." The woman remarked, which the man nodded to.
"I am well aware. And coin is something I have plenty of. So long as you remain loyal to me, and do my bidding, I'll make sure you'll have more coin than you could ever want."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." She replied coyly, as a small smile, the first smile that had graced her face in years, began making itself known.
"I take it your commands will be along the lines of capturing Legendaries for your own use, correct?" She asked, causing the man to nod.
"Like I said, I had need of your particular talents. Not many can capture Legendaries, even with an entire organisation at their back. What do you say?"
"I have one condition," she said suddenly, taking the man aback slightly, "I want revenge on the ones who made me end up like… this." She said with disgust while gesturing to her current outfit, something which made the client smirk.
"I'll leave that to your discretion. So long as you deliver those Legendaries and keep Team Galactic loyal to me, you're free to do to those individuals whatever you please."
"Then I accept." The woman said. Something which made the man very pleased.
"Welcome to Team Rainbow Rocket, Hunter J."
"HALT!" The lead Tauros roared to his herd, causing them to stop dead in his tracks as they broke clear of the treeline.
While travelling across the plains and forests of Kanto, the Tauros had been unable to find any of Ash's other Pokémon and were feeling incredibly frustrated as they continued on their journey. And now, to further add onto this frustration, their stampede was being interrupted by a wall of Exeggutor.
And they seemed angry.
"HEY! WHAT'S THE HOLD UP?" One of the Tauros yelled, though they were ignored by the group of tree-like Pokémon, something that angered the bull Pokémon even further.
"OI! DON'T IGNORE US! Another Tauros yelled, but yet again they were ignored. Eventually, even the patience of the lead Tauros was worn down, as he strutted toward the back of one of the Exeggutor.
And proceeded to use Horn Attack into the back of one of them.
The Exeggutor in question spun round, ready to shout angrily at Tauros. Though the red in his face quickly paled away as he saw the entire herd of Tauros staring back at him with enraged eyes.
"Now that I have your attention," the lead Tauros said in a worryingly calm tone, "can I ask why you're blocking the main road? We're in somewhat of a hurry."
The Exeggutor took a deep gulp, worry flashing through his eyes as he stared at the bull.
"Well, we were dealing with some pests, and only just managed to corner them. We're nearly done, don't worry."
Tauros raised an eyebrow at this, before proceeding to take a peek behind the Exeggutor.
And he saw red.
In the middle of the group of Exeggutor, was two little Pichu's, who both looked bruised and battered, with the Exeggutor trying to fire attacks at them as they darted around.
Enraged by this, he snorted through his nose, and started barking out orders.
"BOYS! WE'VE GOT OURSELVES SOME BULLIES! LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT WE THINK OF BULLIES!"
"OORAH!"
The Tauros then charged forward, and in an extremely one-sided contest, chased away the Exeggutor.
"AND GOOD RIDANCE!" The Tauros herd shouted out, before turning to the two Pichus and checking them over.
"Are you alright?" The lead Tauros asked in a gentle voice, to which the Pichus nodded.
"We're fine. A little sore, but we've been through worse."
"What did you do to aggravate those Exeggutors? I didn't know they could even get that angry." Another Tauros asked, walking up alongside the lead Tauros, while the Pichus began blushing.
"Well, it was all a big misunderstanding you see." The first Pichu said bashfully.
"You see, we didn't realise they were Exeggutors. We were just foraging for food." The second Pichu added, rubbing the back of his head with an embarrassed grin.
"Don't tell me you tried picking their heads." The lead Tauros said in disbelief, and both the Pichus erupted into hysterics.
"We didn't know they were Exeggutors!"
"Yeah, we just thought they were some weird fruit trees! How were we to know that they were easily angered Pokémon!"
The lead Tauros stared levelly at the two, before turning around to the herd. They began discussing in hushed tones amongst themselves, quickly coming to an agreement before the lead Tauros turned back around.
"You two are troublemakers." He said plainly, before bending down and scooping them both up with his horns. "So we've decided to take you two under our wing. We can keep you out of trouble that way, and you won't have to scavenge for food from Exeggutors."
The two Pichus shared a confused look, before massive smiles broke out on their faces and they quickly scampered up into Tauros' mane, getting themselves secured in the thick fur. Content with this, Tauros turned back to the herd.
"WE RIDE!"
And with two new additions, the herd charged off, preparing to finish their journey before beginning their return to Pallet Town, and to re-join Ash at his side.
Hey everyone, TWoS here, and I'm back!
I'm very sorry for not uploading in so long, things have been kinda mental for me at the moment. My country is currently on lockdown, but I still have to go to work, so I've not had a lot of time to do much writing. Between that and the stress of everything that's been going on, I've barely had the time or energy to get this chapter done.
But here we are, eventually. This chapter is very character oriented today, pushing a lot of important character interactions and setting up things going forward. So that was a lot of fun to explore. Mallow is one of the few members of the Alola crew who I haven't set up a proper arc for, and now she's on the path to being a competent battler. That means that her, Mallow, and Lillie are now very much on the way to being big players. Kiawe is already a proper battler, so I'll probably make his arc focused on something else, and that leaves just Sophocles, so that'll be something to look forward to.
We also got N returning, after I started him on a journey to Ash about 8-9 chapters ago. He'll be well on his way now, so look forward to that. Alder also gets some shine as well, something I haven't seen much of in other stories. I find him kinda interesting, being a wandering champion who doesn't really care much about being champion. So I wanted to capture that without making him seem like a complete idiot because, you know, he's still a champion.
And we also get the return of Team Galactic and, rather worryingly, Hunter J. I didn't want to bring Cyrus back because I couldn't find a way to make sense of his return after he basically vanished into a destroyed portal in the anime. So I thought to myself: 'Who in the anime has worked with Team Galactic, has shown they can lead an entire crew, and is capable of capturing powerful Legendaries?' So was there any doubt? With her now leading Team Galactic, Team Rainbow Rocket is now one step closer to their goals.
And of course, we have the main focus of the chapter, the confrontation of Mewtwo. I hope you all like the direction I took it in, since I felt it was the appropriate one for the people and Pokémon involved. It won't end here, and we will see other characters, especially other characters who were directly by it but weren't shown reacting here, react to it in future chapters, but I didn't want to drag it out here. This is just the start of the fallout, and hopefully you all like the way I'm handling it.
Other than that, I'm pretty much done for this chapter. I don't know how long it'll be until I upload another chapter since I'm still working but rest assured: I'm not going anywhere. And thank you as always for the constant support and love. Reading your reviews to this story is always great, and I thank you for taking the time to share your opinions.
Until next time, have a nice one, much love and peace – TWoS.
