Hey everyone, Ramune here!
I hope y'all are doing well, staying safe and warm with some mittens, and that this year is in some way a little bit better.
I originally wanted to have this be longer, but it felt like it was at a natural chapter break. This one should be more interesting than the last chapter and I can promise you that the next chapter is the start of the journey! Thank you for waiting through all the world-building chapters!
Chapter 8: Old Bones
…Saffron City, Saffron City Gym…
Teleporting was by no means an unfamiliar experience for Ash. Besides the first time when mew rescued him from the ghoul in the woods, Professor Oak had occasionally over the past year called in an abra teleport to send him on errands, mostly to other Pokémon professors to pick up research materials and papers that were considered too time-sensitive for the diminished pidgey mail service, and too confidential for email or other mediated communication methods. He didn't understand how Pokémon research could be too sensitive for technology, but not too sensitive to give a fifteen-year-old without a Pokémon trainer's license to transport, but he wasn't eager to question a free trip out of tiny Pallet Town.
It hadn't been pleasant, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable. To get to Celadon City via teleportation he would have to go through several abra relays like catching more than one bus to travel from one side of Celadon City to the other. It was normal to feel a flash of cold and some disorientation when the psychic energy zapped the human body from one place to another, a phenomenon that even the top Pokémon researchers couldn't explain, except maybe Bill and his transport system. This trip however was on a whole different level.
Ash had heard once that early teleporting techniques felt like being stretched infinitely, and intense vertigo, but they said nothing about the pain. Not only was he cold, it was a ravenous cold trying to eat him alive. Stuck in a pitch-black sensory void that was intent on pulling him apart as a faint voice said "Play with me," over and over like a broken voice box in a Kanto Marie plastic doll. It was supposed to be instantaneous, but this, whether it was the pain, freaky whispers, or endless dark, made him feel as if he had been dragged into a night terror. He begged Arceus to make it stop just as eerie red started to swirl into the void, reminding him of the ghoul that night, before a burst of warm light hit him and he crumbled onto an unfamiliar cold stone floor.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu cried out, running over to Ash who was still in a daze, breathing heavily.
"My word child! Have you lost your mind?" he heard Agatha burst.
"It was a calculated risk," a cold voice he didn't recognize replied.
"Calculated? There was no need! Sabrina, you of all people know how risky it is to teleport dark aura wielders with energy used from legendary domains!"
"I thought Riley had already explained the situation, had he not?" Sabrina replied keeping her calm, cool tone.
"Unfortunately, I was only able to tell them, of Giovanni's appointment, as gym leader," Riley added, through heavy breaths like Ash who was still too dizzy to look up at where they were.
"I shall fill her in then. Follow when you are both able," Sabrina replied, followed by the soft click of heels on stone and the muttering of an extremely angry Agatha.
"How are you doing Ash? Can you speak?" Riley asked he knelt next to him.
"…Yeah…that was…"
"Rough?" Riley finished.
"Yeah, really rough."
"It normally is for those with dark aura, worse if you're not expecting it."
Ash felt the vertigo start to subside slowly looked up to see where exactly it was they had been teleported to so urgently. The room wasn't extremely bright, mostly lit by torchlight that flickered from stone dishes around the large room. He could tell it was the main battlefield in a Pokémon gym, the turf a ruddy brown, while surrounded by blue marble and stone pillars. The only gym he knew that looked like this was the one in Saffron City after it was televised by the League News Network that the gym had been reopened after a two-year hiatus.
"Are we in Saffron City?" Ash asked, wanting to be sure he wasn't just experiencing side effects from whatever had happened.
"Yes, in the city gym where we won't be monitored," Riley replied, which Ash couldn't help but notice wasn't looking so well either.
"Monitored?"
"Yes, unfortunately, Lance and Agatha have something of a history around their views of dark aura users. And Giovanni's appointment is only adding fuel to that fire."
Ash was taken aback, "What does the Champion Lance and Giovanni have to do with anything?"
"The G-Men. Before meeting with you and Agatha, Sabrina brought me over here and told me the news about Giovanni and that she had been tracking an uptick in G-Men activity around Kanto, including Pallet Town. She didn't want our meeting to be tracked so she used her own abilities to teleport us," Riley explained.
"But, teleporting has never felt like this before. Is it because a person did it? And what did Giovanni and Lance do?"
Riley laughed lightly, "Not exactly, it's fine for Agatha and Pikachu, but not so much for us because of our aura. Sabrina is also a dark aura and it's what makes her a powerful psychic. But since she uses power from other legendary domains, other dark aura users who don't share the same domains tend to get a negative reaction, which can be dangerous if they're the opposite type of your own. As for Lance and Giovanni, their families are notorious for…violently disliking dark aura users. The Guardian Initiative is supposed to help fix this, but with Giovanni in charge of the first gym that's supposed to identify potential future aura guardians, I'm afraid it will end up replicating the mistakes of the past rather than fix them."
"Why can't you just tell Lance that Giovanni can't be the gym leader or move it to a different gym?"
"I wish it were that simple Ash, but with the new gym leader appointment already happening so close to the start of the season, it's unlikely anyone in the league will allow another switch until after the Elite Four challenge concludes."
Ash frowned, "So the teleportation, does that mean your aura is weak to psychic types?"
Riley shook his head, "No, not psychic, it's weak to dragon types."
"Dragon types?"
"She's secretive about which legendary Pokémon, but I'd place my bets on it being either Latias or Latios, who are both psychic and dragon. It looks like it was a similar experience for you."
"Yeah, one I don't want to go through ever again," Ash groaned with a shiver down his spine.
"I'll see about asking her to allow one of her alakazmas to transport you back to Pallet. It might be more uncomfortable than an abra, but it should be a decent mix of security and lack of dark aura interference."
"It'd better be, cause I'm not sure I can survive another trip from Sabrina," Ash exasperated.
Riley chuckled, "With practice and training I'm sure you'd recover. I know it helps when I have to make multiple trips in a single day. Are you ready to rejoin Agatha and Sabrina?"
Ash's mouth hung open at hearing Riley had made this trip more than once today but was not ready to hear about the kind of training he would be facing in the future to do that and only responded to Riley's question, "I think so, is there at least going to be lunch?"
Riley laughed, and offered his hand to Ash, helping him back to his feet now that that vertigo was mostly gone, "Agatha mentioned you had a healthy appetite. I'm sure we can work something out."
"Pika, pi pika?" Pikachu asked Ash, requesting pokepuffs and ketchup.
"I'm sure Sabrina has pokepuffs or poffins, but I can't say she will have ketchup Pikachu," Riley replied to Pikachu's surprise, finally dawning on Ash that he wasn't the only one who could speak to Pokémon now.
"Pika pi, pika, pika chu pi! Pikachuuu!" Pikachu exclaimed, meaning, "He can understand me just like you! I have more people to feed me!"
Feeling a little lighter and less uncertain, Ash smiled and followed Riley toward a door at the back of the gym where Agatha and Sabrina could be heard already deep in debate.
"And what if you were wrong? Visions can be misinterpreted, even if they come from a legendary Pokémon!" Agatha questioned Sabrina who seemed unfazed by the older women's complaints.
"The vision was relatively recent for a soon to happen event, which as now passed, the risk of inaccuracies was negligible," Sabrina replied with a calm that goaded on Agatha's anger.
"That's not the point! The point is-" Agatha started before Riley cleared his throat to announce their presence.
"Are we interrupting anything?" Riley asked.
During the brief pause, Ash took in the room they had just entered. Compared to the battlefield's imposing emptiness and stone columns, what Ash took to be Sabrina's office was exceptionally cozy. While still made of the same stone and marble outside, there were a number of plush cushions set around traditionally low tables made of pinewood with bamboo inlays in a simple floral pattern of sakura blossoms, partly covered up by the tea kettle that Sabrina picked up to pour additional cups of tea for the two that had walked in. Around them were the same warm fires only placed behind traditional Kanto shoji screens that made Ash wonder how the place hadn't been reduced to, well ash. He decided to pick a cushion with embroidered abra silhouettes while Pikachu bounced over to the one next to him.
Agatha attempted to reply but Sabrina skillfully cut her off, "No, we were just finishing. I've requested lunch and one of my Pokémon should be here with it shortly, until then please take a seat so we may discuss how to go about Ash's training."
"Training? I thought I was already doing that?" Ash asked.
"What I taught you were the basics of controlling and masking your aura, to actually use the powers of the domains will take far more time," Agatha replied stiffly.
"More time? I thought I was learning everything I would need for my journey?"
"Well, thanks to Sabrina's…insight, it seems you're connected to more than one domain, including a domain that Sabrina is also connected to. And unfortunately, it's psychic, which is notorious for, expressing itself even when unwanted, and you will need to set some time aside to train with it, even if it means delaying your journey a bit longer," Agatha replied again, sympathy lacing her words.
"Delay again?! No way! I already know how to mask it, I don't need to know how to use it! All I want to do is earn my master badge and-" Ash started to rant before Riley interrupted him.
"Ash it's not that simple. With other domains that would normally be possible, but because there are so many legendary psychic-type Pokémon there's an overabundance of that ambient dark aura in the environment, and it's extremely reactive. It takes very little to activate its abilities, which are incredibly obvious to any onlookers, including the G-Men."
Ash clenched his hands in his lap, trying to listen to Riley and then Agatha as they lectured him on the importance of learning how to use a power he didn't even want. They went on about how would only be a little more time, but a year to Ash was a year too long. He was already three weeks behind Gary who had already started catching Pokémon for his team, while Ash had only just qualified for trainer's license and hadn't even gotten a Pokeball for Pikachu yet. And they still wanted him to wait. Ash felt his face start to heat up, his insides churning as they continued to talk about him as if he wasn't there, saying he was vulnerable, discussing if he should train outside Kanto before Ash couldn't take it any longer. He shot up out of his seat to his feet, causing the tea set to rattle as he did.
"What about what I want to do?! I'm not a kid anymore! I've been waiting five years to start my Pokémon journey! I've been training five years for it! I'm not gonna give it up again because you all see me as some sort of weak link that needs to be protected! I don't need to know how to use aura! I just want to go on my journey and earn my master badge!"
Stunned silence permeated the room as Ash waited for the rest of them to respond. The first one who spoke up was Pikachu with a nervous, "Pika-pi?" that came from his left.
Ash turned to respond to Pikachu but instead of being down on the floor, Pikachu was gripping the cushion he had been perched on which was now levitating near Ash's head, along with several cushions, the tea set and tea bobbing around in lumpy bubbles over their heads. He looked over to Sabrina to demand that she put Pikachu down but quickly notice she didn't have the telltale glowing eyes that she was using her powers. He looked back to Pikachu who sheepishly pointed down at his tightly clenched fists giving off the signature blue of psychic energy.
"Waah!" Ash yelled, attempting to shake it off, allowing all the levitating objects to clatter onto the floor, save for Pikachu who Ash promptly caught before they both fell into a heap. Tea splattered everywhere, including all over Agatha who couldn't have looked more annoyed if she tried. Riley tried to hide his snickering, while Sabrina calmly summoned a kadabra, wordlessly requested cleaning supplies along with their meal. Agatha glared at Riley hearing his mild laughter, which he masked with a practiced smile.
"What, just happened?" Ash asked, ignoring the sneaking suspicion he already knew the answer.
"What just happened was why you need training," Agatha replied bluntly, "So we can give you proper guidance before you access any more new 'tricks.'"
Kadabra teleported next to Agatha setting stacks of steamed and dry towels on the table near her before teleporting everyone's food onto the table. Pikachu bounded up onto the table, gleefully uncapping the ketchup bottle to drown the pokepuffs in the condiment. Ash settled himself back at the table, noticeably light-headed, and began to eat, bracing himself for what the adults had to say.
Riley took over for Agatha while she cleaned, "So, do you understand our insistence at prioritizing your training over your Pokémon journey?"
Of course, I'm not an idiot, Ash thought but said nothing to those around him.
Looking around at the mess he knew he wouldn't have a clue how to explain that away to complete strangers, or glowing hands with no psychic type Pokémon to be a scapegoat. But he couldn't keep falling behind Gary and all the other trainers.
Every chance he got, Gary would rub it in while ignoring that he had been given every advantage in the world. The last thing that snob needed was more ammunition. He didn't want his mom to tell him "I told you so" or say all of this was why she tried to keep him from Pokémon and stuck in tiny, old, boring Pallet Town.
Wait, did my mom know about this? Ash thought, not knowing if that was a question he wanted to be answered.
Agatha interpreted his silence as denial and huffed, pouring more tea and glancing at the wristwatch that she shook loose from under her sleeve. Riley seemed to think the same, sighing and finishing up what was left of his lunch. Pikachu was indifferent, cuddling the now empty bottle of ketchup like it was a plushie.
Maybe it would be better to ask Agatha to take away the dark aura, then I wouldn't have to deal with any of this, Ash thought.
"Why do you want to be normal Ash?"
"Huh?"
"Normal, to be like all the other trainers."
"I'd think that'd be obvious," Ash replied, not wanting to get into this conversation with a psychic, already certain she had read his thoughts.
"I'm still curious to know, without reading your mind, and I'd appreciate it if you'd enlighten me," Sabrina said warmly.
Ash really didn't see the point of explaining to someone who obviously had already read why he'd want to go back to living a normal life instead of the mess he was in, but he decided to humor her.
"Well for starters Gary would have one less thing to gloat about and I might actually stand a chance to catch up. And I wouldn't be worried about some ghouls attacking me and my team the whole way. And no more hiding I can talk to Pokémon! I love talking to them but if it's gonna end up endangering Pikachu and Dreepy, even if they said they'd fight alongside me anyways…I still don't want that to happen. It would be, easier, and I don't want to worry about anyone dying."
Sabrina didn't react, though Ash caught Riley looking solemn while Agatha looked away, before Sabrina replied, "How do you know giving up your aura will make it less likely anyone will die and not more likely?"
"Uh because I wouldn't be hunted by psycho Giratina cultists maybe?" Ash said rolling his eyes.
"But they would still be hunting others," Sabrina replied coolly.
"Well, yeah, but my team one is one less."
"One less hunted and one less equipped to stop them from hunting others."
Ash felt his chest tighten, not liking where this conversation was headed.
"Ash, it's normal to be scared. To want an easy life, to focus on your own goals and ambitions, but to do that without thinking of others in the process, comes with a high price. What you do for others is just as important as what you do for yourself, even if you have nothing to gain immediately, if at all. But ultimately, it's that altruism that brings stability to this world. It's a responsibility for everyone who calls this planet home, but the more people that ignore that responsibility and leave others to pick it up, the more unstable our society becomes, which gives groups like the Cult or even Team Rocket, more ways to destroy all that we hold dear."
"Which is exactly why we even got to this point," Agatha interjected, "The current age of decline began one hundred and fifty years ago when the greed of humans overwhelmed Ho-Oh when they burnt down the original Tin Tower in a brazen attempt to steal its power. And even though the tower has been restored, the source of the problem, mankind's decaying hearts, has not."
"It's not like I'm trying to be selfish, I just…I just don't want to get left behind again," Ash said, which brought a thoughtful look to Riley's eyes.
"There might be a way for you to train and go on your journey," Riley said.
"Really?" Ash said while Agatha lifted a brow.
"Without drawing the Cult's attention or passing through the Viridian Gym?" Agatha asked.
"It's a tad dated, but Ash can take the old gym route that goes to the north through Pewter City before going south to the other older gyms. The older gyms are more challenging for new trainers, but it means Ash will be less likely to encounter other trainers, the Cult and the G-Men who have all been on the more populous routes," Riley explained.
"That…could work. Brock is by no means an easy gym leader to win a badge from early on, but I'm certain he'll be more accommodating given how little traffic it has received since the increased age limit was put in place," Agatha said, with a twinkle in her eye.
"What gyms does the old route go through?" Ash asked, daring to feel hopeful.
"It only passes through eight of the eighteen league-approved gyms in Kanto," Riley explained, "…sharing Vermillion City, Celadon City, Saffron City, and Viridian City with the commonly taken route. The north path was originally blocked off to new trainers due to the attacks, along with several other gyms in more rural areas before they were able to provide more security, but they haven't been able to attract as many league challengers since the initial restrictions. As a result, they started specializing in high leveled battles or in training mono-type specialists rather than dual types like many of the newer gyms."
"In other words, you might not earn as many badges as the rest of the trainers, but your skill level as a trainer will be infinitely higher," Agatha summarized, "And the isolation of these gyms and paths will give you plenty of opportunities to practice your aura abilities without interference. That is if you can handle the challenge they pose, and my grandson's gloating over having more badges than you."
"Of course I can!" Ash exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table, waking Pikachu from his nap, "I said I was gonna become a Pokémon master and earn my master badge, and if that means taking on the tougher gyms then I'll do it!"
"I'd say it's settled then. And I'm sure you will have some ideas about training in these remote areas," Riley said addressing Sabrina.
"It might be easier if the actual lessons take place at my gym and afterward Ash can practice until the next lesson. Teleporting him here will be far easier now that we know we have a domain in common," Sabrina replied.
"Wait, can't we do this without the teleporting?" Ash asked, to which Sabrina replied with a small smile saying,
"Nope."
…Viridian City, Viridian City Gym…
It hadn't been long since the gym had been occupied, but already the space felt as though it had aged to the man who walked in. That wasn't to say it was unkempt, its earthy battlefield and warm stone walls looked like they were in better shape than during his previous tenure as Gym Leader. Of course, Giovanni knew that was more than likely a failing on his part, as his own personal business kept him busy and the people he had employed to take care of the place in absence weren't always the quality that the League demanded. For his business, however, they were more than qualified for the task, the less qualified they were, the easy they were to dispose of.
The light that filtered in from the skylight above waned as clouds rolled in, almost as if the powers-at-be knew he was back right under the league's nose. Not only that, but Lance himself had placed him in charge of the first gym to roll out the Guardian Initiative.
"Absolute fools," he muttered to himself at the thought as he proceeded to walk further in, making his way to his old office.
Lance had been easy to manipulate. Between knowing that Blue would never accept direct interference in the way he ran the gym, especially for thinly veiled military purposes, and exploiting the Blackthorn's long history with his own family, it was simply a matter of getting Lance to flinch first. Acting as the weary old man who simply wanted to enjoy retirement would put negotiations in his favor after declining Lance's first offer. And of course, limiting the pool of potential gym leaders, such as offering extended funding to Amarillo for her research and keeping his errant son Silver hands' full with tracking down the illegal Pokémon battle rings based in Ryme City, careful to conceal his own tracks from him.
Reflecting back, Giovanni thought it was maybe not so much easy, but easier in comparison to his next task. Giovanni pulled out a small black thumb drive with an embossed "R" as he entered his old office. Everything was the same right down to the old oak desk, light green paint and stone tiles comprising the floor. He was filled momentarily with a sense of nostalgia for what he considered were his prime years with the league. Or almost prime years. Luckily for him, he had installed a custom wireless relay shortly before vacating the position of gym leader to replace the manual code he would type into a hidden panel that was located in the wall behind the desk.
Giovanni lifted up the thumb drive, pressing lightly on the "R" causing it to glow red, and watched as the hidden door was slowly pulled inwards by aging gears and then slid to the side with a hefty click. He then proceeded through the new opening, walking down the barely lit corridor, the power from the generator still in startup mode, with a swelling of pride at seeing it untouched, the dust, cobwebs and faint mildew smell all indicators of its long-lasting secrecy, even from the nosey G-Men and the hag's pernicious ghosts. At the bottom of the stairs, previously dug out by his powerful team of ground Pokémon along with the cavern, waited his true office, with plastic covering the secretary's desk, chair, and filing cabinets, the final gate before someone would be allowed to meet with him.
Giovanni strode forward, flinging the plastic covering off with a whoosh and scattering of dust through the damp earthy air, and quickly located the keypad embedded where he typed in the restart code that would unlock the door to his office. With the final digit entered the Rocket Team base came to life with the whirling of air duct fans and hum from outdated computer servers that he made a mental note to update. He could hear the faint click of his office door unlock and quietly slide into its resting place on the other side of the wall. For a second he felt pain at knowing we would be entering this office alone, his Persian had long since passed of old age, but another member on his new team could fill that place if he could forego one of the few sentiments he still clung to. That sentiment was hardly enough to cause him more than a brief private pause before entering his office, with his actual prized belongings still in their places.
From stolen artifacts from the Ruins of Alph, Pokemopolis, Pokelantis, even the closely guarded Cameran Palace and Celestic Ruins, to ancient fossils of Pokémon that even most Pokémon experts still had no idea existed, were on full display around his office. It always comforted him that there was nowhere that could escape from Team Rocket's reach. He thought this as he pulled out a small parcel from the inner pocket of his gray-black business jacket.
The parcel had been part of his payment to return as gym leader and adhere to the directives of the Guardian Initiative, allowing Lance complete control over the project's implementation in the gym with no interference beyond basic matters such as times of access and placement in the physical gym. Giving overall authority to Lance over the project wouldn't have been wise, lest he find a discarded Rocket communication device or walk in when he was in his base rather than his "office."
He gently slipped out the parcel's contents and marveled at the dull gray rock, coated in a layer of clay as it rested uneasily in the palm of his hand as if the ancient bone could still sense his intentions with its historic, but powerful psychic energy. Power that would soon be his to command.
"I've waited a long time for this," Giovanni thought out loud in a manner that would have someone believe that another being was in the room, "But not even a god among Pokémon is beyond my grasp. And you will not escape me again, Mew."