On the Road
The group were making good time on their trek to Lavender Town. Ash had decided to switch Pidgeotto for Ivysaur for the time being, and he was training harder than ever after his loss to Arcana. As for Serena, her training has been going well.
Wartortle's evolution saw his and Doduo's friendly rivalry becoming more intense as the bird pokemon was determined to keep up. In addition, Machop took to training with them as well only making their battles that much more heated.
Magnemite was always eager to jump in wherever he was needed, and that always seemed to be with Eevee and Gloom. While those three weren't as battle crazy as the former three, they still grew well enough. Currently, the group was setting up camp.
Brock was brewing tea with Serena who he's been giving cooking lessons to since leaving the city. James had paired his pokemon off for training before diving head long into some new books he'd acquired in Saffron City. Ash was sat on a log while his pokemon were doing their thing.
Flashback Start...
Brock then moved to Ash's side, put an arm around him, and whispered, "Hey Ash."
"Yeah Brock." Ash replied happily.
"I think we need to have a chat." Brock replied seriously.
It was time for the love doctor to do his thing.
"Sure Brock." Ask replied confused. "What's it about?"
"Serena." Brock replied.
"Okay Brock." Ash replied uneasy. "What about Serena?"
"Well, I think she might have feelings..." Brock began.
"Of course, she has feelings Brock." Ash interrupted. "After all, she isn't a robot."
"No Ash." Brock shook his head since this was going to be harder than he thought. "I mean she has certain, special feelings for you."
Ash was confused. "What are you on about?"
"Ash, listen to me carefully." Brock replied. "I'm fairly certain Serena has a crush on you."
Ash was still confused. "A crush? What is that? Hm, didn't mom talk about crushes? Let's see… crushes are a way to describe when one person has special feelings for another. It's like the feelings between a husband and wife, but Serena and I aren't like that, right?"
Thinking on it, he was also best friends with Michael, Brock, and Misty. Despite their different personalities, they were fine, but Serena has always acted differently around him. The most recent examples were the ship and their time at Maiden's Peak.
Ash was still deep in thought over this. "If she has a crush on me, do I have a crush on her? Is that what's causing this tightening in my chest?"
Seeing him deep in thought, Brock knew he had made a dent into his denseness. "Well, I can't be sure…" He added that last bit because Brock didn't want Ash to feel stupid. "…but she does give off all the signs."
"Signs?" Ash questioned. "Like what?"
"Well, she always includes you even if she asked everyone the question. She also wants to be by your side. For instance, whenever we go shopping, unless someone else does it, she drags you along." Brock explained.
"Isn't that something friends do?" Ash asked skeptically.
"Yes, but there's more." Brock replied.
"Like what?" Ash asked with genuine curiosity.
"She blushes a lot; especially when you complement her." Brock stated. "She gets jealous when other girls are around you, and she constantly sings your praises."
"But…" Ash tried to retort but was cut off.
"Look Ash, it isn't really any of my business, but you should figure out your feelings for her." Brock put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I could be completely wrong, but after raising my sisters, it is easy to see the signs. Just think on it for Serena's sake."
Present…
"Hey guys!" Serena shouted as she approached with bowls for poke-food. "Dinner's almost ready!"
This snapped Ash out of his thought process. He looked towards her in awe as the setting sun caused the light to bounce of her skin with her hair blowing in the wind. She looked stunning.
"When did I ever think of anyone like this? Especially a girl!" Ash shook his head as he stood up. "Feelings are so confusing!" Pushing his thoughts aside, he approached her. "Hey, do you need a hand?"
"Thanks Ash." Serena smiled. "I can handle the bowls, but could you get the poke food?"
"Of course." Ash smiled with his signature toothy grin.
Serena blushed as he walked away. "What is up with Ash? He's been out of it since we left Saffron." She sighed. "Why can't I just tell you how I feel?"
Ash heard her say that, but it was so quiet that he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. "What is happening to me?"
Ash went and got the food. In silence, the two of them set out the pokemon food before everyone went on to drink their tea in an unfamiliar silence.
"Hey guys, I almost forgot that I bought these rice balls shortly before we left Saffron." Brock brought out the package. "If you ask me, they'll go great with this tea."
"Thanks Brock!" Everyone declared.
Soon, everyone was enjoying a nice cup of tea with a couple of rice balls. Eventually, Ash offered to go fill their canteens at a stream they passed not too long ago. His mind seemed like it was on something else which worried Serena.
"What is up with Ash." Serena muttered. "I'm really starting to worry about how off he's been lately."
"How so?" Brock asked.
"Since we left Saffron, he's been out of it." Serena replied. "He just stares blankly into space and doesn't seem like himself."
"Well, that's good." Brock smiled.
"What?" Serena asked confused.
"Well, I spoke to Ash for you." Brock explained proudly.
"You did what!" Serena shouted red faced.
Brock gained a massive sweat drop as he was suddenly fearful of her wrath. James wisely choose to wonder off. No matter how much of a friend he considered Brock, the breeder wasn't about to step in the middle of that.
Later…
Ash, Brock, and James were in their sleeping bags already asleep. The reason they hadn't set up tents was because it was so nice out. Serena was still sat by the fire occasionally poking it with a stick. She was clearly upset, and it was because Brock stuck his nose in where it didn't belong.
She sighed as she poked the fire with the stick. "I know Ash wouldn't abandon me if he doesn't return my feelings." She gulped hard. "What if he doesn't return my feelings, and we do end up going our separate ways? Even if we stuck together, would he avoid me every chance he got?"
In the end, Serena's heart knew Ash wouldn't leave her, but her mind kept coming up with all the worst scenarios. She just didn't know what would happen in the coming days.
Lavender Town: Pokemon Center, Day…
Cross, with Litten still by his side because he refused to go inside his pokeball, had circled back around to Lavender Town. There wasn't anything he needed to do, and by all accounts, they should just press on; however, Litten deserved to see his mother's grave.
Before they went into the tower, Cross had decided to check back with Mr. Fuji. He wanted to see if they old man had any worthwhile pokemon the young trainer could add to his team. He hadn't last time, but you never knew. Eventually, the pair arrived at the one floor bungalow.
Mr. Fuji's Place…
Cross walked up to the front door and used the knocker.
After about a minute, he heard a familiar voice behind the door. "Who is it?"
"Reina, it's Cross." Cross stated. "I've come to see if there were any new arrivals that would fit my growing roster."
Cross was confused as he heard multiple door locks being unlocked. After several seconds, the door slowly opened to reveal a girl about his age. She had auburn hair split into pigtails. Her attire was a short sleeved pink shirt, a white skirt ending above her knees, and white shoes.
"Oh, it is you Cross." Reina stated relived.
Cross raised an eyebrow as she seemed rather pale. "Are you okay? You look a little under the weather."
Reina quickly stuck her head out and frantically looked from left to right. "W-would you just c-come in. It's not safe t-to talk out there."
Reina opened the door allowing Cross and Litten to step inside. The place was lite up, but it was extremely plain. The only thing on the walls were windows. There were pokemon: Oddish, Bellsprout, Nidoran, ext, but he noticed that the Cubone and Marowak he'd seen were gone.
"Reina, where is Mr. Fuji?" Cross asked.
"Mr. Fuji..." Tears came to Reina's eyes. "He… he's gone."
"What do you mean?" Cross asked.
"Th-three days ago, a group of weird people invaded the town and entered Pokemon Tower." Reina explained. "It was that night I found Cubone wondering the streets after he and Marowak had gotten out… except Cubone was alone.
"When I brought Cubone here, Mr. Fuji had a gut feeling." Reina explained. "He said..." Tears started to stream down her cheek. "He said those people shot Cubone's mother. Then, he left to confront them at the tower."
Litten had heard everything and was saddened to hear that another had lost their mother as he had. Cross was just livid at not only Marowak's death, but at people invading that tower. Lavender Tower was a place where people could visit the pokemon they lost.
"Why is nobody doing anything?" Cross asked.
"A signal has been transmitted over the whole town. We could call for help if we wanted to." Reina explained. "That is why the town is covered in fog. It has people too scared to leave their homes."
A fire had been lite within Cross. Sure, he was hard on Ash, but that was just how their rivalry was. He was nothing like Team Rocket, and he had no doubt it was them who did this. Anyone who killed a pokemon was pure evil. He would not stand for this.
"Don't cry Reina." Cross used his thumb to wipe away her tears. "My pokemon are tired, so I'm heading to the pokemon center to make sure they're ready. Afterwards, I'm storming that tower, tearing Team Rocket a new one, and bringing Mr. Fuji back."
Reina looked at Cross in awe, but there was still that nagging thought. "What if your too late?"
"They better hope I'm not." Cross declared firmly. "It's bad enough what they've done to Cubone, but if they've taken Mr. Fuji's life, it'll only be ten times worse for them."
With that, Cross left out the door while Reina just stared after him. "He's being so brave by going to save our town."
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
Pokemon Center, Later…
After making it to Lavender Town, the group agreed to stop at the pokemon center before anything else. Sure, their pokemon weren't all that hurt, but it was better safe than sorry. Before they could approach Nurse Joy, they noticed a Litten with a determined expression on his face.
"Whoa, who's that pokemon?" Ash asked.
Serena and he got out their pokedexs:
Litten, the Fire Cat Pokémon. A Fire type. Litten show few emotions and prefer being alone. It takes time to build any level of trust.
"That's a pokemon from the Alola region. Beyond that, it's even one of the starters that's usually given out to new trainers." James commented. "I wonder what a pokemon like that is doing here?"
"Well, if he's in the pokemon center, I'd have to assume he belongs to someone." Brock stated.
"Yes, he does." A familiar voiced declared from behind them.
Everyone turned, and Ash, Serena, and Pikachu immediately recognized Cross.
"Cross?" Ash approached him "What are you doing here?"
"Collecting my pokemon." Cross replied. "My team and I had been doing some serious training; however, I need them now." He walked past them. "We have something important to do in this town."
At that moment, the center's bell went off, and Nurse Joy approached the group with a tray of five pokeballs. "Coss Halter, your pokemon are just fine."
Cross took his pokeballs before Nurse Joy left him.
"So Cross, you got any badges?" Ash asked.
Cross may not be his main rival, but he was still a rival all the same.
Unlike how Cross would normally act, he turned and started to walk away. "Normally, I'd gladly put down your attempt at badge collecting, but I don't have time for this." Litten ran after him indicating that he was the trainer. "I have a job to do."
They left the pokemon center while Serena and Ash shared a look. Cross wasn't acting like himself, and that worried them. They almost immediately chased after him with Brock and James following.
Outside
"Cross, wait up!" Ash shouted.
Cross stopped. "Look, I don't have time for this." He turned to them. "Team Rocket has taken over this town and has based themselves out of Lavender Tower." He clenched his fist. "I need to take them down."
"Team Rocket!" The group exclaimed.
"Yeah, so if you don't mind." Cross replied as he tried to walk away.
"Wait Cross, we want to stop Team Rocket as well!" Ash shouted.
"If you want to help, go around town and make sure no Team Rocket members have strayed away from the tower." Cross instructed. "If you find any, take them down."
"Hold on, you can't charge into the tower by yourself." Ash declared. "You and I may be rivals, but you're also my friend. No way would I let a friend go off by himself."
"I don't need anyone's help." Cross replied bluntly. "I already tore through a Rocket Base in Celadon by myself. You're unneeded and likely to get in my way."
"Well, you can't stop me." Ash retorted.
Cross grunted as he knew how stubborn Ash could be.
"We want to help too." Serena declared.
She, James, and Brock stepped forward.
"Fine." Cross sighed. "You three can scour Lavender Town for any straggling grunts. Since I'm being forced to have a tag along, you can come with me Ash." He stepped up to his rival. "That said, you will follow my lead."
"Cross, you talk as though you know there'll be grunts away from the tower." Brock commented.
"I have my ways." Cross replied simply.
From there, the group split up. Cross, Ash, Litten, and Pikachu headed off towards the tower while Serena, Brock, and James separated to scour the town for any signs of Team Rocket.
Pokemon Tower
Cross and Ash hid in the nearby brush as they saw a Rocket grunt standing out front. Before they even thought of going in there, he'd need to be dealt with first.
"Come on out Magneton." Cross called quietly while releasing the electric type. "Alright Magneton, some bad people have taken over this tower, and were going to take it back. Are you with me?"
Magneton gave a look of determination and an affirmative cry.
"Good. Now I need you to knock that guard out fast and effectively." Cross instructed as he pointed the guard out. "Do you think you can do it?" Magneton gave another, affirmative cry. "Alright, go for it."
Magneton stealthily moved around to the side of the building. When ready, the pokemon tackled into the grunt knocking him to the ground. With him on the ground, the electric type used thunder shock rendering him unconscious.
With their job done, Magneton returned to Cross' side. "Nicely done." He then returned the pokemon before looking at Ash. "Alright, we're moving in."
Ash nodded. "Got it."
Inside
The pair slowly walked around the bottom floor. There were no more people on this floor to the point that it was barren. They soon located the stairs and made their way up them. As they walked up the stairs, a Haunter appeared before flying up to the next level.
On the next level, a thick layer of fog clouded their vision. Ash took out his Charmeleon's pokeball, but Cross stopped him before shaking his head. Using any pokemon in here would take away their element of surprise.
This element of surprise came to a perceived end as someone tapped them on their shoulders. The boys turned to see a Haunter. Ash had flinched and jumped back while Cross simply narrowed his eyes at this ghost type.
"Fire spin, Litten." Cross instructed.
Litten turned around and let loose his fire. As it washed over Haunter, it sent the ghost type reeling back.
"Cross, you shouldn't just attack a pokemon like that!" Ash chided. "If they meant us harm, they wouldn't have tapped us on the shoulder!"
"You agreed to follow my lead, so I don't want to hear it. We do not have time to deal with this because a man is in danger." Cross then turned his attention to the pokemon. "I don't know what your deal is. If you're a wild pokemon, leave us. If you belong to the enemy, prepare to fight."
Cross then pushed Ash forcing him along. Haunter saw the trainers and pokemon disappear into the fog with tears in her eyes. She only wanted to help and maybe pull a joke on them. Was that so wrong? Haunter sadly phased through the floor.
Warehouse
James had been carefully looking for anything out of the ordinary when he noticed the door to a warehouse had been propped open. Normally, this wouldn't be out of the ordinary; however, it was when practically everything else was sealed shut. James walked in hearing familiar voices.
"We need to grab the stored pokeballs." Jessie stated.
"I know, but look at all this food." Meowth tried. "Can't we grab that first?"
"We'll grab it…" Jessie began.
"Jessie! Meowth!" James exclaimed happily.
"James!" Meowth shouted happily.
Jessie was happy to see him to, but between here and Meowth, she was the only one who remembered that James had 'chosen' to 'marry' Jessebelle. No matter how happy they were to see each other, they couldn't ruin that life for him.
"Meowth, don't go near him!" Jessie declared.
Meowth seemed to have realized what he was doing and stopped.
James stopped in confusion. "Jessie?"
"James, you need to leave." Jessie declared. "Being associated with us isn't good for your new image, and your happy life with your wife would be put in jeopardy."
"Wife?" James asked confused. "I'm not married."
"Don't make this harder than it has to be James." Meowth stated.
"Yeah, you're the one who will inherit a fortune and settled down." Jessie declared. "I'm the evil yet beautiful member of Team Rocket while he's the evil cat of this group."
"Wait…" James was putting the pieces together. "Do you actually think I married Jessebelle!?"
He ended up screaming at that thought. Sure, the last time she showed up he ended up handling her, but the thought of Jessebelle still terrified him. Especially the thought of marrying her.
"You two!" James yelled as he wanted to clear the air and ensure he had their attention. "We need to have a talk to clear everything!" Alright, despite how well things turned out, the guy was still a little peeved they left him.
"Unlike back at the mansion, you are going to listen to me without hearing what you want. Also, you will not hear what you want to hear. Before you speak up, you will listen to me as an apology for abandoning me. Am I understood?"
Jessie and Meowth never knew James could be so authoritative. His words certainly worked on them as they even sat on the ground without saying a word. James breathed a sigh of relief as he started down the path of clearing all their misconceptions.
With Serena
Serena had been walking the streets when she heard a pokemon crying out from a nearby alleyway. Figuring that this might be promising, at least the very least she'd help a pokemon, Serena ran to the alleyway.
Once there, she saw a tall, thin man with bright purple hair cut short at the sides and with a large curl on top. He also had a purple beard, eyebrows, and eyes. His attire was a black jumpsuit with yellow-gold lines and a large R on the chest.
"You little runt, my Mr. Fuji disguise was perfect." The man declared. "If you had fallen for it, we wouldn't be here. Now, you have nowhere left to run, and if you turn out half as strong as your mother, you'll have nothing to fear."
Cubone held his club out while seeming utterly terrified.
"Hey!" Serena yelled getting their attention.
The man turned his head only for Cubone to headbutt him in the chest causing the guy to keel over in pain. The ground type then seized its chance running over to Serena and hiding behind her legs. Honestly, he liked his chances with her over the people with R's on their chest.
"Damn, brat." The man managed to stand back up and turned to face them. "Hey girl, give me that pokemon and get lost. I'm already tired of this."
"No way." Serena took out one of her pokeballs. "I know exactly what that R on your outfit means, and Cubone won't be going anywhere with you unless you get through me."
"Fine, have it your way." He grabbed one of his pokeballs. "First, let me tell you just who you are dealing with girly. Name's Petral. I'm one of Team Rocket's Admins, and their master of disguise. If you think you can take me on, try it."
"I'm not afraid of you." Serena declared. "I will protect Cubone from the likes of you."
With Brock
The rock specialist had heard some voices at the park, and that warranted checking out since practically every door was closed as far as he could see. Upon arriving, he saw about five rocket grunts who immediately noticed him.
"Hey, isn't that the gym leader of Pewter City?"
"Yeah, what's he doing all the way out here?"
Since starting this journey with Ash, Serena, and James, they had encountered Team Rocket a couple of times. In the beginning, Brock was hesitant to battle them. Now, he's seen the damage they cause to pokemon, and he couldn't stand for that.
Brock marched out there and sent out his Onix. "My name is Brock Harrison, and I want you out of Lavender Town." He pointed to Onix. "We either battle it out or you can take the easy option and leave now."
"We're not afraid of you."
Each member sent out a pokemon: Rattata, Sandshrew, Gastly, Grimer, and Zubat.
"Alright, let's do this Onix!" Brock declared.
"Onix!" Onix declared.
Inside the Tower
Cross, Ash, Litten, and Pikachu continued up the next few floors only to find no one standing in their way. At one point, Ash vocalized what Cross had been thinking. Was this the right place? As they walked to the second to last floor, they noticed most of the fog was gone.
Then, two Rocket members stepped out. The first was a woman with long, messy white hair, and blue eyes. She wore a dark blue, long sleeved shirt underneath a gray rocket uniform with matching pants.
The other was a muscular guy with blond hair and brown eyes underneath sunglasses. He wore a blue tank top underneath a gray rocket vest with matching pants. While the woman stood there with her arms cross, the guy was smirking ready for a battle.
"Cassidy and Bobby wore black, James and Jessie wore white, and you wear gray." Ash stated. "Alright, do you guys have a motto or something?"
"Kid, we're nowhere near as lame as that." The man stated. "By the way, my name is Attila."
"I am Hun." The woman declared. "You two have stepped into the tower, so it is our responsibility to defeat you."
"Defeat me?" Cross scoffed. "At this time, I've never lost to a Rocket member, and that won't change now. Especially since you rotten people have been separating young pokemon from their parents, kidnapping people, and who knows what else. I will not stand for such activities."
Attila laughed. "Anyone you defeated must not have been all that strong."
"In the end, you'll come to regret challenging us." Hun declared.
"If I had a pokedollar for every one of you who's said that…" Cross shook his head. "Get ready Hun and Attila because I am going to defeat you."
"I'm battling as well Cross, and you can't stop me." Ash declared firmly.
"Join in all you want." Hun stated. "It won't make a difference."
The four of them got ready to battle.
Attila & Hun: These two are Team Rocket Members from Pokemon Chronicles. With the duo of Jessie & James broken up, and James now dealing with his old friend, and Butch & Cassidy having been locked up after the last encounter, I had to search for Team Rocket members of note throughout the various series. In the end, i didn't want to use more than one admin per operation. With Petral here, he filled that slot.
