Hello everyone! I'm finally back and uploading a new chapter!
Thank you all so much for waiting! Long story short is that I graduated, have been on the job hunt for something that will actually allow me to actually pay rent without a bunch of roommates while applying to Ph.D. programs since teaching is what I've wanted to do since I was in third grade (enough so that my younger sibling got to play school after coming home from school with me).
Anyways, I hope you're all doing ok and taking care of yourselves as best as you can, cause I know that even that can be difficult.
As for the story, long breaks or writer's block is why notes are a writer's best friend! Cause sometimes you forget your lore and where the plot was heading. I'm currently reviewing all of my notes and thankfully I wasn't off track, though there are some things I'll be fine-tuning once I make a nicer outline that I can reference much more quickly.
Hope you all enjoy and if I don't add anything before then, Happy Halloween!
...Viridian City, Evening...
"Try it again."
"I already did Pikachu and it's still not working."
"Seriously? There's no way you can go letting off an electric attack like that and suddenly not know how to!"
"I still don't know how I did it in the first place Pikachu. Look, if I ever remember I'll be sure to teach it to you, ok?" Ash said with more finality than he had intended, making the red-cheeked Pokémon wince slightly as his more stable psychic abilities flared up in his eyes.
"Fine, just careful with those glow sticks you call eyes in your head we're close enough that I can smell Viridian City."
"That's the best news I've heard all day. Every muscle in my body feels like it got pounded on by a cuebone's bone club," Ash said with a sigh of relief.
"Yep, I can almost taste the takoyaki, the dango, the yakisoba!"
"I'm starting to think you're hallucinating, better get you to the Pokémon center first thing," Ash said, picking up the pace. He had been able to use recover on himself a little after their battle with the fearow and spearow, but he had yet to learn how to use it on anyone else and there was only so much potions could do.
"No, I'm fine! I don't need to see a nurse. You can just use more potions or…wait that doesn't sound good."
While Pikachu's ears picked up the cacophony of sirens, Ash's aura sensitivity allowed him to see the discord of emotions, all long before the city was within view for the both of them. At the entrance to Viridian City, there was a whirlwind of officers directing traffic and trainers, strobing lights on top of emergency vehicles and news crews jabbering on about the previous hours' events.
Ash's heart almost felt like it skipped a beat in his chest, his arms unconsciously tightening around Pikachu thinking, This can't be the Cult's doing. It's not even been one day! Oh please don't close down the league again. It must have been the freak storm or-
Ash was pulled from the rush of fears flooding his mind by a light tapping on his arm, "Pikapi?"
"Ah, sorry…I guess we should find out what's going on right?"
"Pi," Pikachu agreed before they proceeded to investigate the situation.
Thankfully it didn't take long for them to hear bits and pieces of what all the commotion was about as they headed for the Pokémon Center.
"…today Team Rocket…"
"…I can't believe they're back! They had…"
"…And then this huge explosion went off and…"
"…Head Pokémon Nurse Joy says that so far all Pokémon stored at the center are accounted for, however…"
"…All incoming trainers are to check-in at the Budew Drop Inn and wait there for more information. Again all incoming trainers…"
"I guess we're going there instead Pikachu," Ash said, slightly relieved to not hear anything about the Cult, but wondering why Team Rocket was suddenly back in the picture after they were supposed to have been disbanded by the League. Between the Sliph Co. and Goldenrod Radio Tower takeovers, it was hard for Ash to believe there was anyone still willing to join their gang. That and Lance's fondness of having his dragonite use hyperbeam on Team Rocket members to subdue them should have made anyone think twice. This line of thought made Ash hustle on over to the Inn as fast as the detours and other trainers let him, hoping more information would be available by the time he got there.
The Budew Drop Inn was nothing fancy, a five-story high concrete building painted tan and dotted with simple balconies, all geared toward people on a budget or who traveled extensively. Not that this mattered much to Ash, you couldn't be a Pokémon trainer if you weren't willing to camp or make use of the hostel-style accommodations that were standard for Pokémon Centers. More likely the city or the league had picked it as an impromptu meeting place given the Budew Drop Inn was one of their more prominent sponsors through their multiple free trainer lodging sweepstakes. That and what looked like the recent addition of a convention center attached to the inn where a Viridian City police office and a gym trainer were herding the incoming trainers into.
The officer, a woman with teal hair dressed in a crisp navy-blue uniform, was shouting into a megaphone at regular intervals, "…Trainers with Pokémon at near to full health please proceed this way! Trainers with Pokémon that need healing please proceed to the line on the right! Again, please remain calm, trainers with Pokémon…"
Once Ash and Pikachu got close enough for the officer to see them her eyes went wide and she immediately directed them to a line at the far right for emergency services. He internally grimaced at the officer's reaction, making a mental note to check on his appearance more often. It wasn't so much that he cared about looking scruffy, but getting obvious attention like that was not a good way to stay under the radar of the Cult and defeated the whole purpose of taking the old route in the first place.
"Well guess we look worse than I thought Pikachu," Ash said, noticing Pikachu was tensing in his arms.
"Ash, they're sending us over to the pokeball machine," Pikachu growled.
Ash glanced up and saw the Pokecenter mobile healing clinic and the machine that healed or at least stabilized Pokémon while they remained in their Pokeballs, "Uh, well maybe they have a non-Pokeball option?"
"Doubt it with that line," Pikachu replied, his cheeks already sparking as they approach a group of trainers that more likely were the first responders or victims of the incident with how banged up they looked. Though with the raised eyebrows all of them gave the duo as they got in line meant Ash and Pikachu's amount of grime must have even topped them.
Guess I should get a mirror at some point, Ash added to his mental list of things to grab while in Viridian City.
To Ash's surprise, though clearly not Pikachu's, the line moved quickly and didn't take long before they could see the clunky device with its six pokeball sized indents. A chansey nurse would take the trainer's pokeballs, place them in the slot for the machine to pulse a dim light through each one before the chansey handed them back. Ash tried to ignore Pikachu's protests as they stepped up next, but after Pikachu deep-fried Ash and at least three staff members who insisted that he get checked out, they conceded that a super potion and some rest would be adequate. Rest that Ash was eager to grab for himself as the hotel staff finished checking them in, assuring him that his sponsorship would cover the cost, including the buffet.
"Hmmm, maybe we should get something to eat before bed?"
"Pika!" Pikachu started to cheer before wincing.
"Take it easy buddy or you might actually have to get in your pokeball."
"Kachu!" Pikachu quickly retorted while Ash laughed as they made their way to the line for the buffet.
This one was far longer, with the hallway buzzing from a dozen different conversations between trainers and Pokémon alike. Ash and Pikachu were starting to have second thoughts but once they heard one of the hotel staff announce that the buffet was now open, it didn't take them long to speed down to the end of the line. As they were about to shuffle into the dining hall, an odd trio of newcomers bumped into the two of them.
"Hey watch it!" Ash exclaimed, rubbing what was likely the first of many bruises he would find out he now had.
"Don' tell us to watch it twerp! We was walkin' here first!" An odd elderly man that was the shortest and notably hairiest of the three trainers bit back.
Ash was about to start arguing back but a familiar sensation made the hairs on the back of his neck start to rise. He looked up and immediately locked eyes with the tallest of the three trainers, a preppy, college-aged man with his blue-purple hair pulled back into a short ponytail, who showed the same look of confusion that was donned on Ash's face.
Is he…another dark aura user? Ash wondered to himself before the other trainer broke contact and started nervously laughing.
"Ah, we're sorry about gramps! He's always forgetting his manners and where he is, old age and all."
"Huh? What are ya-," the older man started to say before the younger one shoved him roughly forward and hurried off.
"Sorry to disturb you!" He yelled back at Ash, cutting off any chance Ash had to respond or get a look at the third trainer beyond her long braided red hair and borderline-tacky sunglasses.
"That was weird," Ash muttered to himself, wondering if maybe he only imagined the aura.
"I'd say, that old man reeked of meowth," Pikachu said, pinching his nose at the lingering scent, "Almost made me lose my appetite! Let's hurry inside before he has a chance to come back."
"Agreed," Ash replied before heading in with everyone else.
…Later that Evening…
"Ugh, I think I may have eaten too much…," Ash moaned as he pushed their bedroom door open after a click from the key card.
"You wouldn't be saying that if you were forced to eat pokechow," Pikachu huffed before bounding across the carpet and onto the bed.
"There's no way I was gonna let you eat a triple cheeseburger, even if the waiter hadn't stopped you," Ash said, placing his gear on the bench near the door before releasing dreepy from his pokeball, "Come on out dreepy."
With a burst of stars, dreepy formed near the center of the cozy room, stretching out from his long rest, "What'd I miss?"
"A lot! There were police sirens and a storm, a bunch of angry spearow attacked us, course I would have won if it were for this fearow, but that's when and Ashy boy here let loose a massive thunderbolt attack and-"
"Wait, what?! Am, am I-I-I going to have to, fight or-" Dreepy had started trembling and stuttering, prompting Ash to step in.
"Alright Pikachu stop scaring Dreepy. No, it's all over Dreepy, we're in Viridian City but the pokémon center got attacked so we're in a hotel for the night. Oh and here's your din…" Ash reached into his jacket pocket where he had stashed a small bag pokechow for Dreepy from the restaurant to find it hadn't stayed closed and most its contents had spilled out somewhere between their room and the restaurant.
"It wasn't me! I swear! If I were to steal anything it would have been the ketchup!" Pikachu cried out from under the covers on the bed.
"I know it wasn't you Pikachu, you were on my head the whole way complaining about the pokechow," Ash heavily sighed before heading back toward the door, keycard in hand, "I'll head back down to grab another bag for you Dreepy. Just stay in the room, most trainers haven't encountered a ghost pokemon before and we don't need to attract a bunch of attention."
"I won't!" Dreepy chirped back as Ash headed back out.
…A Little While Later…
Unfortunately for Ash, he ended up standing in a rather long line to the restaurant only to be told that they were running low on pokechow and since he had already been in earlier, he would have to purchase it from somewhere else. He could tell it was getting late outside from the deep blues and purples rapidly replacing the vivid orange of the sky and as the city was still on high alert, nighttime meant curfew was fast approaching. However, unlike Pallet Town, Viridian City tended to have a convenience store on every block, if not more than one. It didn't take Ash long to find some pokechow and food for himself in the morning at a 24/7 Mart in case he was tempted to sleep in. Even with the detour down the snack aisle for a couple of limited edition Blocky Sticks, he made it back to the hotel foyer just before the five-minute warning for curfew went out over the city speakers.
With as tired as he was, Ash normally would have headed straight for the nearest elevator and up to his room to finally flop onto the pile of blankets and pillows regardless of whatever protests Pikachu made for ruining his nest. He shuffled toward the elevators with this precise sequence in mind until that sensation returned, scratching at the back of his mind. Ash turned toward where the invisible force pulled at him from, heartbeat quickening, half expecting to see a cultist draped in ghoulish white ready to snatch him. Instead, it was the blue-haired man from earlier, covering a yawn with a monogrammed handkerchief that had seen better days, before noticing Ash staring at him, making both of them cringe outward awkwardly.
Ash lifted his hand to wave, feeling his cheeks flush knowing Pikachu would call him an idiot if he could have read his previous thoughts. He had expected a small wave back or maybe for him to ignore Ash but instead, he approached him, stifling another yawn.
"I was hoping to run into you again. I'm terribly sorry for running off like that earlier, but once my grandfather has his mind set on something it's a bit like…herding meowth."
"Ah don't worry about it, just glad it didn't get out of hand," Ash replied, rubbing the back of his head, trying to ignore that the feeling of aura was certainly stronger with the blue-haired man nearer. Ash wondered if he could tell Ash had it too. It seemed like he could, given his awkward reactions, but then again he could just be the nervous type. So Ash decided to hint at the possibility, figuring having another dark aura user on his journey might be better, especially if they both got to train. He just hoped Agatha wouldn't object, knowing that would likely end him up on her bad side.
"We never got properly introduced earlier, I'm Ash and I'm doing the gym challenge," Ash said sticking out his hand for the other young man to shake.
Instead, he ignored it, not making eye contact, and instead looked more nervous, "Oh, I'm…John. John Smith. I wish I could say I was doing something that exciting, but I'm just in town to visit my grandfather that you met earlier."
Ash decided to ignore John's nervousness, hoping that being casual would maybe help ease the other man's nerves, "Oh, I thought you might be a pokémon trainer too. I finally figured out my pikachu was partly upset since you all smelt strongly of pokémon and thought you wanted to battle."
This had the opposite effect on John that Ash had been hoping for, with him rambling out, "Oh no! None of us have pokémon, we all just wanted to check out the restaurant since my grandfather was hungry and of course it was the only one open in town and my grandfather just thought he could cut right in and must have run into a dozen different pokémon on the way in!"
John laughed nervously and now Ash was wondering if he was actually telling the truth given Pikachu specifically said the grandfather smelt like a meowth rather than a bunch of different pokémon.
Could he have been part of the attack? No, there wouldn't be a reason to hang around here like this with all the cops around, plus being this nervous would make anyone suspicious. Or maybe he's nervous cause he can use aura too. I gotta try to find out!
"My mistake, all the commotion must have made me miss all of the pokémon around. Plus, I'm not known to be all that observant when I'm hungry haha."
This did seem to help put John at ease but before either of them could say anything more the woman with the long braided red hair cut in between them suddenly, pulling John off to the side, if not almost dragging him away exclaiming, "Here you are! I've been looking all over for you! Your grandfather is having another fit and I have no idea how to calm him down!"
John let out an audible, if not overly dramatic gasp, before allowing himself to be dragged away and once again yelling back his apologies to Ash for the rudeness and wishing him well on his journey before they disappeared down the hallway in the opposite direction of him.
"Well, that was weird," Ash muttered to himself, unsure what to make of the whole encounter other than John was more than likely an aura user and wouldn't likely be running afoul of the guardian initiative that Riley had warned him of avoiding given he wasn't a trainer. Bemoaning the lack of a potential traveling companion to train with, Ash finally headed back to his room to clean up, feed Dreepy and sleep in a bed for what he figured would be the last time for a good week before reaching Pewter City.
…The Next Morning…
Just like a prophecy being fulfilled, Ash slept in late the next morning, and by the time he and Pikachu reached the buffet, they were closed and preparing for lunch.
"Well, it's not like I'm missing out on much," Pikachu snarked from on top of Ash's head with a mouth full of pokechow while Ash munched down on some seaweed onigiri that he purchased the night before after leaving the Pokémon center now that it was reopened. Pikachu turned out to be just fine with the super potion and bedrest, though it stop Nurse Joy from giving Ash an earful.
"Oh, then I guess you won't want any this then, right?" Ash said between bites, holding up a package containing a croquet sandwich just out of Pikachu's grasp.
Pikachu immediately scrambled to grab it, spraying chunks of his food all over the place, "No! I didn't mean it! Please anything but more pokechow!"
Ash gave it a quick toss to avoid having Pikachu's half-chewed food all over him which Pikachu gleefully snatched out of the air, unwrapped, and chomped into it with the speed of a quick attack. "Is that a new move? Snack attack?" Ash jokingly asked, but from the happy coos coming from his friend, it was clear Pikachu wasn't listening, however, someone else was.
"I think he might be trying to use the move stockpile from those skwovet-looking cheeks."
Both Ash and Pikachu turned around to see a young man with messy blond hair, gray cargo pants, and a red fitted jacket with blue trim bearing the League's emblem approaching them. It wasn't until Ash noticed the capture styler that he realized the man was a Pokémon Ranger.
"Are you a Pokémon Ranger?!" Ash immediately blurted out to the other man's surprise.
"You're quite observant. Normally I am, but the League needed extra help for its grand reopening. Name's Jack Walker and I'm helping administer the Guardian Initiative test."
Ash could feel his stomach drop at Jack's last few words, remembering what Riley had said, "Oh isn't that the event where you get a free premier ball?" Ash said while trying to think of a way to slip out of this conversation.
"Sure is! And unfortunately, it's the only thing trainers are going to be able to do at the Viridian Gym for a while," Jack explained.
"Why's that?"
"The attack. The gym leader Giovanni has decided to assist the league in investigating, which means they're all tied up with sorting through the red tape. Are you a trainer? All of the trainers should have already gotten this information at breakfast," Jack added with an edge to his voice.
"Oh, I actually slept through breakfast. Got attacked by a flock of spearow on the way here and was pretty banged up."
"Pika, pika," Pikachu confirmed.
"In that case why don't you come with me to the gym! It's optional but we have additional resources for new trainers including additional info on the new routes."
"Ah, well, that's nice of you and all but we're not really interested in it. I really just want to focus on training and earning my master badge!"
"Pi-pikachu!"
Jack looked slightly deflated but gave them a thumbs up and a smile, "Well with that enthusiasm I don't doubt you'll reach your goal. But if you happen to change your mind there will be another chance to take the test before the Elite Four challenge. Good luck on your journey!"
"Thanks! And good luck to you too!" Ash waved back as he took off toward the east exit to the new Route 24 to Neon Town that everyone else was heading toward.
After Jack was out of sight, Ash then took a detour to the north gate for Viridian Forest that certainly seemed much eerier in comparison. As it used to be the main gate for the beginning of the Pokémon League challenge, it was still a tall and imposing arch and columns of solid white granite. However, the years of neglect showed, as it had lost its luster to a thin film of moss, and the occasional pidgey dropping and its state seem to have seeped into surrounding empty buildings around it.
"Well, are you ready for this Pikachu?" Ash asked, wondering if this was really the safest way to go.
"It's either this or deal with Agatha's wrath," Pikachu replied.
"Right, well we better get going then."
…Afternoon, Viridian Forest…
Normally being in the woods wouldn't have bothered Ash, especially given he spent more time in the woods around Pallet Town than he did in Pallet Town growing up. However, even with the spookiness that came from Pallet Town's deep forests, even after the ghoul was gone, Viridian Forest seemed to take that up a couple of notches. For starters, the once well-worn path had now become overgrown with patches of tall grass, young berry trees, and prickly shrubs. Without any human intervention, the trees above them grew out to cover the clearing that had been pruned away. There wouldn't have been any noticeable path at all if it weren't for the pokémon that had made it their own kind of trail in the years past, and of course, if Ash hadn't been able to understand pokémon, he would have been lost long ago without anyone to ask for directions. However, there was one other thing gnawing at the back of Ash's mind.
"Pikachu, are you sure you don't see anyone following us?"
"Not that I can hear, see or smell. I really think you're just overreacting to the forest cause it's a different forest."
"No Pikachu, it's not just the forest."
"Well then use your psychic abilities to feel around for someone else or something like that if you're still concerned."
"Mine doesn't work that way, not unless they're also a psychic or dark aura user. And that's what I'm worried about."
"You mean, like the cult?"
"Yeah, like them."
"I'm pretty sure they would have snatched us up by now, and if not then-pika!"
"Ah!"
As if on command the ground beneath Ash and Pikachu gave way. In a rush of dried grass, sticks, and dirt they landed with a thud at the bottom of a large, and certainly not a natural hole. Pikachu had been tossed from Ash's head and had fallen next to him, his coat in disarray making.
"Pikachu are you ok!"
"I'm fine, just covered in crap, again."
Ash let out a breath, "Thank Arceus, but what kind of Pokemon digs a hole like this?"
Pikachu started sniffing around before wrinkling up his nose, "Ugh, maybe I'm not ok, I swear this whole pit reeks of that old man's meowth."
"I resent that!"
"Huh?" Ash and Pikachu said in union before looking up to see three figures laughing heartily above them.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!"
"Wait, those voices sound familiar," Ash spoke aloud to himself.
"To protect the world from-"
"What are you two numbskulls doin'?!" the smallest of the three figures yelled out before promptly smacking the other two. "You know we ain't on that team no more!"
"Ouch! You're messing up my hair Meowth!" A familiar female voice cried out.
"It's a hard habit to break. You of all people should know!" Said the voice that Ash finally recognized as John Smith from the hotel.
"I'm not a people, I'm a pokémon, and therefore have much higher standards for myself."
"Oh please, you just spent half the morning cleaning yourself with your own tongue!" The female voice yelled to what clearly was a meowth, a talking one at that, that Pikachu had been smelling all along. One that quickly started bickering with the other two over the interrupted motto, while Ash and Pikachu were quickly forgotten.
If Ash wasn't stuck in a hole with a group of people who could, or could not, be members of the cult above them and whom he guessed was responsible for the hole, he would have used this as a moment to practice some of the psychic techniques Sabrina had taught him. However, no matter how idiotic these three looked, he still couldn't take that chance. He would have to take another one instead.
"Hey morons! Are you going to explain why I'm stuck in a hole or not! If not I'd like to get out of here!"
"If we're so stupid why are you the one in the hole!" Meowth yelled down, his ears clearly more attuned to insults than the other two, or more likely because he was a meowth.
"It's not like I put myself here on purpose! So you going to tell me what this is about or not!"
"Pika!"
"That depends, if you answer all our questions honestly, we might forget we ever saw you," the red-haired woman said.
"And in return, you forget you ever saw us," John added.
"If you're that concerned about me knowing you, why did you approach me at the hotel?" Ash yelled up, wishing he wasn't doing this from the bottom of a hole.
"I had to make sure of something," John replied.
"Make sure of what?"
John was about to speak when the women stopped him and replied in his place, "That's none of your concern. The point is we've found you suspicious and once we saw you enter the Viridian Forest it's clear you're not a trainer like you're pretending to be. Now tell us who you're working for!"
"Huh? I'm not working for anybody! I am a trainer and I'm taking the old route! Which is through the Viridian Forest!"
"Liar! I heard you having a conversation with your pikachu and only cult members do that!"
"James! Shut your trap! I'll do the interrogating!"
"And wha' about meowth! You won't see me running with no cult!"
Ash had no idea how to respond to how chaotic this whole conversation had become, but thankfully Pikachu was quicker on the draw for this one.
"Hey chesto berry head, if you can understand me talking then how do we know you're not with the cult!"
As Pikachu expected the blue-haired man, actually named James, yelled back down at him in his defense, "There's no way I'd sell out to those soul-sucking creeps!"
Ash figured it was his chance to finally make some sense of everything, "So you can speak to pokémon and are running from the cult too?"
This finally made the other three shut up, somehow shocked at being found out despite being anything but stealthy about it. Briefly, they withdrew from the edge of the hole, whispering loud enough to be heard, but not understood. They then reappeared, notably calmer but still guarded when the woman spoke for them again, "If you're not with the cult, then why did you ask my friend here a bunch of questions at the hotel late last night after curfew?"
"I just got back from getting more pokechow for my pokémon since the restaurant was all out. I ran into him after sensing…well after sensing his aura and was trying to find out if he was, like me. And I didn't even get to any of those questions!"
The woman looked over at James, with a notable glare that he scooted away from, before turning back to Ash, "Alright, let's say I believe you. If you're really a trainer, why did you take this route instead of the new one with all of the other trainers?"
"Because lots of trainers means the cult is going to be focused on those routes and not this one. It also means more pokémon to catch. Now it's my turn to ask some questions."
The red-haired woman sneered but didn't object.
"So why did you follow me into the Viridian Forest if you thought I was with the cult?" Ash asked.
"Flatter yourself all you want, but we didn't follow you. We've been camping here for quite some time, but after my friend here-"
"You mean James?"
"Grrr...yes, James, here started poking his nose around in things he should have just left alone, we decided it was time to leave, which is when we ran into you."
"Jessie I really don't think he's a threat. He doesn't have that same creepy aura that those goons that took over Team Rocket had and like I said before, he really didn't ask anything odd," James revealed to the dismay of both his companions.
"Wait? Are you saying Team Rocket is working for the cult?"
The three looked to each other, James pleading wordlessly to Jessie, before she hung her head in resignation, "I refuse to have this conversation while yelling down into a hole, it's terrible for my voice. James go grab the ladder."
It didn't take long for Ash to climb up the rope ladder that they tossed down, even with Pikachu on his head. They took him to their camp, which thankfully was far from the hole that they had also set charges to bury itself, and likely Ash with it. What they lacked in interrogation skills, they seemed to make up for in technical ones. Their camp also echoed this, with tech that helped camouflage them from above and a silent perimeter alarm that they had to disengage before proceeding. For second Ash was worried he had just walked right into a trap where the three stooges act was the actual trick, but once they were seated in one of their larger tents, the corkboard at the back laced with tracking data, photos, and a large amalgamation of what looked like classified and hacked data, it seemed to Ash they were serious about whatever their dealings with the cult were.
While James went off to make some tea, Jessie and Meowth laid bare their side of the story. To Ash's surprise they were all former Team Rocket members, and less to his surprise they were part of the intelligence department, rather than fieldwork outside of the setup they had here working communications. After James came back they got into how the cult first showed up. They had offered their boss beyond the lucrative deal to bring back Team Rocket's glory days and a promise that they would be able to start up and expand upon their experimental research that had been the source of their success and demise. James noted that the members has always seemed off to him, but couldn't figure out why, until they noticed that the lower ranks of Team Rocket's members had started to disappear without a trace.
When James had gone to inquire about a subordinate's disappearance that had been working on an assignment for him, the higher-ups refused to acknowledge the disappearance. Not only that but when James went to look up their file in the registry, it had been completely wiped out. At this point, Jessie had experienced this with at least two of her coworkers and a cult member had made inquiries into Meowth's ability to talk and odder still about James, namely how he was with pokemon, while demonstrating their ability to speak to their pokemon. James had never disclosed his ability to understand pokémon with anyone at Team Rocket beyond Jessie and Meowth after a frightful childhood experience, he didn't wish to speak of. It wasn't long afterward that Meowth came running to them and told them what he overheard the other Rocket pokémon talking about experiments on both Team Rocket and cult members before killing them, and that they were excited about James being next. So they grabbed what they could and ran, and had been trying to find out what the cult and Team Rocket were up to since.
Of course, poking around in Team Rocket's affairs sometimes backfired, which is why when Ash started asking James a bunch of questions, even mundane ones, it put them on high alert.
"And so we had to make sure our cover hadn't been blown, again," Jessie finished.
"That and we still don't know why they're so keen on studying…what did you call it?" James asked Ash.
"Oh, it's called dark aura, not cause it's actually bad or dark, just that it got a bad reputation a long time ago. And it lets us talk to pokémon like they're people."
"Which could explain why they also were asking about me too," Meowth added, "So I got a proposal for ya. Since none of us are huntin' down da other, why don't we team up instead? That way if we do run into da Cult or Team Rocket, we actually be able to stand a chance against um."
"That's…not a bad idea Meowth," Jessie pondered.
James nodded his head, "I agree, and given we still don't know what they want with people and Pokémon who can talk to the other it might be an opportunity to investigate."
"It's more than just being able to speak to Pokémon, but no one really knows why they're only targeting trainers and I'm really sure no one knows they're working with Team Rocket," Ash explained, deciding to leave off the powers that came with dark aura for now.
"I'd be surprised if that's the only thing they're doing with the cult if Team Rocket actually still exists anymore," Jessie added, "That attack on the Pokémon Center was anything but Team Rocket's MO. I even sneaked a peek at the Center's communication records from the attack just to be sure. They didn't even touch the pokémon storage system and what they stole were supplies Team Rocket always had in abundance and nothing was worth the risk of reselling."
"Well, why didn't you tell the police? If they're not actually dealing with Team Rocket they need to know!" Ash exclaimed.
"We can't, not without getting tossed in jail ourselves twerp," Jessie huffed, "We may be ex-official Team Rocket, but that doesn't matter to the league."
"Not only that but the autonomous tips I've left have gotten ignored," James said while pulling out an extremely outdated pokegear from his pocket, clicking through its contents before continuing, "At least three of my tips would have stopped supply depot robberies and another likely would have interfered with an attack on a trainer. I even tried to broker a plea bargain at one point but not long after those cult creepers were right on us. So, I'm pretty sure the cult has people who work with the authorities too."
"I still say you're just being paranoid about that because of your-," Jessie added.
"Hush!" James yelped cutting Jessie off who rolled her eyes and shrugged.
Despite being a bit stunned at what Jessie and James had described, Ash debated on how much he could tell them about what Riley, Agatha, and Sabrina had told him, especially given they were also hesitant to tell him everything as too. "Well, I don't know much, but I do know that there is definitely something rotten inside the league and it's from someone we can trust."
"'We?' So does this mean you want to work together?" Meowth asked.
"At least for now and if the cult is lurking around here in the forest at all, it might be safer if we traveled in a group."
"Then it's a deal, at least until we're near a major city. It's almost impossible to keep this purrfect face from attracting undue attention," Meowth said, with his pride practically radiating in sparkles off of him.
"Your face? I think you mean mine. A ravishing rose such as myself can't be expected to shy away from the lights of the crowd," Jessie said, wistfully posing for a paparazzi invisible to all but herself.
"If both of you keep those bloated egos up the only attention and lights we're going to see are the those of the police squad and that's if we're lucky!" James exclaimed, starting what Ash and Pikachu would come to know as only the first of many arguments within the ex-Rocket trio group.
"Uh, is this really a good idea Ash? Cause I'm immediately regretting this decision," Pikachu asked with a grimace.
"They've avoided jail, the cult, and Team Rocket this long, they must be doing something right," Ash said, though it was hard to hide the doubt in his voice.
"Unless they really are spies…are you sure you can't read thoughts?"
Ash half chuckled, half groaned, "With just sensing James's aura, it's a wonder how they ended up with Team Rocket at all in the first place."
"…that naïve?"
"You have no idea, but I bet we're about to both really find out soon."