Ok I am SUPER SORRY for the Wait. I have legit had half of this chapter done for like a month lol, adding on to how I was swamped with College and then I got writers block on how I wanted to proceed (as well as Crown Tundra in any free time lol), I have been stuck.
Pikachu was silent as he and the rest of the squad trekked through Viridian Forest, the only sounds being the crunch of footsteps on dead leaves as he remained ahead of the squad. Going back to Pallet Town was going to be one big cluster fuck of a mess for a number of reasons.
Namely that he hadn't even been to the small town since Ash died.
Too lost in thought to properly pay attention to the world around him, he didn't notice that he exited the forest until he stood upon the hill that overlooked Pallet Town. As Pikachu gazed upon the far away visage of the place that he once called home, the mouse felt a chill go through his whole body, as the memoriesbegan assaulting his mind. He remembered the day he first met Ash, as well as the moment that the two first became friends. He also remembered each battle and victory that the two shared and bonded over. Memories began playing in front of his eyes like an old movie, each memory more heartwarming and nostalgia inducing than the last. As Pikachu closed his eyes with a small smile on his face, he allowed himself to relive those more peaceful times, where the only thing on his mind was what would be for lunch that day. Easier times. As Pikachu began to reminisce in those brighter times, other memories began to fill his head.
The cruelty of the traitors.
Ash's tear streaked face as he realized that for once; he truly was alone.
Ash…dead in his arms.
With that last memory pulsing in his brain, Pikachu's eyes snapped open as his face contorted with hatred, his body and fists vibrating in rage. With a roar of outrage and fury towards the sky, electricity erupted from his body as the powerful Thunder lit up the whole hill around him in a bright flash of white.
"Woah holy shit!" Infernape screeched as he leapt backwards, being the closest to the mouse physically before he erupted in rage. Sceptile, Charizard, Snivy and Bayleaf being far enough away to be able to brace themselves against the rage fueled outburst.
As she watched raw electricity scorch the grass underfoot, Bayleaf could only bow her head in sadness. She knew that this would be a difficult mission emotionally for not just Pikachu but for all of them as well. However…
…She couldn't have possibly envisioned that it would be this bad this soon.
And with that thought, the electricity died out, the mouse shaking with what the grass type couldn't determine was either rage or grief before deciding to settle on a mix of the two.
Snivy cautiously walked forwards Pikachu and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" She asked with concern.
The mouse didn't turn towards her, instead opting to focus directly on Pallet Town in the distance. "I'll be fine. The sooner we finish this mission, the sooner we can leave." The mouse hissed coldly before he continued his trek down towards the town; Snivy watching his form getting smaller and smaller before she sighed and followed after him.
About an hour later, the group reached the edge of the town. Pikachu unconsciously shot his gaze towards the Ketchum household, watching for any sign of movement before he turned towards the others. "With it being almost 10:30 at night, we should be able to just sneak towards the ranch covertly. From what I recall, almost nobody is awake this late, so we should use that to our advantage."
Getting a nod of confirmation from the other 5, they made their way across town in the direction of the lab. Once they arrived, Pikachu used his nails to quietly pick the lock before he opened the door, allowing the squad to sneak inside.
Once inside, Pikachu turned towards Sceptile before using his hands in sign language to issue a command silently.
'Knock out Oak and Gary. Oak was like a grandfather to Ash, and Gary was on a research journey all the way in Sinnoh the day of the betrayal. Since they played absolutely no part in what happened here three years ago, we won't kill them, but they cannot be allowed to intervene. Once their downed, return to us here.'
Sceptile nodded and quietly rushed upstairs to deal with the Oaks. As the gecko left, Pikachu and co. quickly made their way to Oak's lab to find his research on this Dynamaxing phenomenon. After finding Oaks encrypted laptop, Snivy got to work, plugging in a flash drive and hacking into the device, downloading all files from the computer before uploading a virus unto the software which destroyed all of Oaks research. All the while, Pikachu was delightfully noting how this was much easier than the Rocket base fiasco in Mahogany Town. Sceptile rushed down the stairs just as the download finished and the data was erased, with Snivy packing up her supplies quietly. Pikachu turned towards Infernape and spoke.
"Destroy the Fire Alarm. No need to have any fire fighters come to the rescue." The fire monkey nodded before rushing off to follow that command, disabling the alarm in the blink of an eye. Pikachu then turned back to the squad and nodded in confirmation before the entire squad shot out the doors like missiles. Before they left, Pikachu ordered Sceptile and Infernape to grab the Oaks.
There was no need to kill them yet.
As they left the lab, Snivy turned towards Pikachu and spoke the question every member of the squad has been dying to ask him. "And what about the rest of Ash's Pokemon?"
Pikachu silently thought to himself for a moment. On one hand, killing them would be everything they deserved and more, not to mention very enjoyable; on the other hand however, giving them to Team Rocket would be a fate worse than death.
Pikachu was torn to be honest. Both ideas sounded quite nice. However there was also the occurring issue of…
He turned towards Snivy and spoke. "I'm going to let you decide what to do about them. Whether they are killed off or sold to Giovanni will be up to you. I have something more…pressing that I need to finally address while I'm here."
Snivy was silent for a moment, registering his words before she spoke in astonishment. "Something more pressing! What's more pressing than Ash's traitor Pokemon?!"
Pikachu was became quiet before he turned away from her and began to stare off in the distance. Snivy briefly bristled at his silence before she followed his gaze…
Directly to the Ketchum Household.
Snivy felt her mouth dry up as she realized exactly what Pikachu would be doing while they were at the Ranch.
Pikachu would be confronting Delia.
Much more pressing indeed.
Snivy turned towards Pikachu and spoke softly with uncertainty in her tone. "Do…do you want one of us to go with you?"
Pikachu sighed before he spoke in resignation. "No. This is something I need to do alone." And with that, Pikachu turned away from the squad and made his way to the Ketchum household.
After a few minutes, he approached the location that was giving him such anxiety. He stared down the front door with trepidation, as if approaching any closer could kill him. He looked towards the stones that lined the path towards the front door before softly approaching them. Using his tail to lift up one of the stone platforms, he spotted a spare key to the household.
Even after all these years, some things never change.
Pikachu plucked the key from the soil and gently lowered the rock back into formation before staring up towards the door again. The mouse closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to stay calm before he walked forwards. He lightly hopped up and latched on to the doorknob with one hand, and with the other inserted the key into the keyhole.
Home Sweet Home his ass.