Chapter 25
Initiation
Ash and Harleen's House
It was a quiet, calm night. Nothing could be heard but nature itself. Outside Ash and Harleen's place, some of the bigger Pokemon were sleeping outside while the rest of the Pokemon were in their pokeballs inside the house. Pikachu was up in the bedroom, sleeping in peace. But what about Ash and Harleen? They were downstairs in the living room. It had been 6 months since the Thanagarian invasion happened and the new Watchtower was going to be operational tomorrow. There's only been a handful of criminal activity that Ash and Harleen had to handle due to the lack emergency responses back from the watchtower. Ash and Harleen were just slow dancing in the middle of the room with music in the background. Since they don't know what tomorrow holds, they wanted to spend each second of this time with each other. The music ended.
"Looks like it's finished. Do you want me to start it again?" Ash asked.
"No, I think that's enough dancing for today." Harleen said.
"Okay." Ash said. He then stepped back and gave a courtesy to Harleen. "My lady." Harleen giggled at this.
"Sir." Harleen said, returning the gesture. Ash went over to the sofa and sat down. Harleen also went over and sat down next to him. "You looking forward to tomorrow?"
"Yeah, it be great to see everyone again." Ash said. Unfortunately this was a struggle for Ash to do. Ash tried to see everyone when he can. But due to hero work and everyone doing their own thing, it was impossible for everyone to be together at once.
"I'll be glad that we got more heroes joining the League now. Be less likely to be called in case of emergencies." Harleen said. This was also another case. While Ash and Harleen had time off and wanted to go out, they would often get interrupted and be called back to the League.
"I promise Harleen. All those missed dates we've had, we'll do them as soon as possible." Ash said. Harleen looked at him with a smile.
"You're the best, sweetie." Harleen said. She kissed him on the lips. They were kissing for 3 minutes. Then Ash felt something strange. He felt Harleen trying to take off his top. Ash stopped the kiss and looked at her.
"What are you doing?" Ash asked. Harleen was a bit surprised that he had to ask.
"Well, you know. We've been going well for so long now and we trust each other. I thought it be a good time to take this to the next level." Harleen said. Ash had no idea what she was on about.
"Next level?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, you know. Me, you, in the bed, getting closer." Harleen said, trying her best to make things clear for Ash. He then caught on.
"Oh. Harleen, is it ok if we hold off on that?" Ash asked. Harleen was upset he said that.
"Don't you think I'm attractive?" Harleen asked. Ash knew he done some damage and had to fix this quickly.
"No, it's not that. You are beautiful. It's just we got a big day tomorrow and I am pretty tired as well. So can we do this at a later time?" Ash asked. He heard himself and thought he was a idiot coming up with the lamest excuse. Harleen wasn't happy with what she heard but accepted it anyway.
"Fine." Harleen said as she got up from the sofa and made her way upstairs. Ash was wondering why she was doing that.
"Why are you going upstairs for?" Ash asked. Harleen stopped and looked at him.
"You said you were tired, so we better go to bed. Like you said, we got a big day tomorrow." Harleen said. She then went upstairs. Ash knew he messed up. But this was something that worried him for a long time. He didn't know if he was going to be good enough, and if he was bad, maybe Harleen would leave him. But now Ash was thinking that he probably hurt her more not going through with it. Ash then thought he should head up and get some rest. The Watchtower was going to open tomorrow and everyone is go... Wait a minute, Ash just had an idea. He can ask someone tomorrow about this and he already had someone in mind.
The Next Day
Ash was downstairs, ready to be teleported up to the Watchtower. When Ash got upstairs last night, he saw Harleen in bed asleep. He was hoping to apologise with how everything went. Ash saw Harleen coming down the stairs in her Harley Quinn costume. Harley walked up to Ash.
"Hey, sweetie. Have you got all the Pokemon?" Harley asked.
"I got them." Ash said.
"Good. I'll text Martian, saying we're ready." Harley said. Ash still felt bad about what happened and wanted to talk to her about it quickly.
"Harleen, about last night." Ash said before Harleen cut in.
"Sweetie, don't worry about it. It was probably my fault last night trying to rush things." Harleen said.
"Harleen, it wasn't that. It's..." Harleen interrupted Ash again.
"Don't worry about it Ash." Harleen said. She came up to Ash and kissed him on the cheek. "I still love you sweetie." Ash and Harleen then saw a light surrounding them. "It's time."
Watchtower
Ash and Harley landed on the teleportation pads in the main observation deck. It was a joint League decision to move the teleportation pads into the main observation room for easier access and and quicker despatch. Ash and Harleen looked around and saw everything was upgraded. They looked up on the main station and saw Martian and Tracey at the controls.
"Hey you two." Harleen said.
"Long time, no see." Ash said.
"It's good to see you guys." Tracey said.
"You two better come up here. The new members will be arriving soon." Martian said. Ash and Harleen nodded and made their way up the stairs. When they got to the top, they were greeted by everyone else.
"It's good to see you two made it." Superman said.
"It's great to be back." Ash said. Everyone heard doors opening and saw Batman walking through it.
"Good, you're all here. Has everyone got their job schedules?" Batman asked. Everyone nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks to the secure server you made, finding out ours jobs have become a lot more easier." May said. Dawn looked at Brock.
"Is there going to anymore medical training for me?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah. We're going to work on your stitch work. We might be helping a lot of heroes so we need to be ready." Brock said. Dawn nodded. Kate walked over to Cilan and Mallow.
"I hope you two are ready for a busy day." Kate said.
"Of course. After all this time away from the Watchtower, I'm ready to get to work." Cilan said.
"Me too." Mallow said. Poison Ivy was waiting for the details for the new arrivals.
"So, is everyone expected to make a appearance?" Ivy asked.
"Everyone but one. Green Arrow has been ignoring our calls." Batman said.
"Are you serious?" John asked. Then he started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Clemont asked.
"Picking him up." John said as he teleported away. Ash was looking round, looking for someone.
"Has anyone seen Professor Oak?" Ash asked.
"He's in the lab with Team Rocket." Misty said.
"Thanks." Ash said. He then looked at Harleen. "I'll be right back."
"I'll be right here." Harleen said. Ash then walked out the room. Flash then had a thought.
"Should we call Team Rocket something else?" Flash asked. Ash made it to the lab and opened the door. The lab looked more advanced then ever. Ash knew his friends were going to have a field day in this room. Ash saw Professor Oak at one of the desks. Before Ash walked too far, Team Rocket caught Ash's attention.
"There you are Ash." Ash looked over and saw Team Rocket carrying some motherboards. "It's good to see you back." James said.
"It's good to see you guys as well. What are you guys carrying?" Ash asked.
"Some last minute CPUs we need to install." Jessie said.
"We'll talk to you later twerp. We need to put these in before everyone arrives." Meowth said as Team Rocket left the room. Now Ash was in the lab with Professor Oak alone. Now is the perfect time for him. Ash walked over to Oak.
"Hey Professor." Ash said. Oak looked round and saw Ash.
"Ash, my boy. It's so good to see you." Professor Oak said. "How have you been?"
"I'm doing good Professor." Ash said.
"That's great and how's things between you and Harleen?" Oak asked.
"Yeah, things are doing good. They're good." Ash said. Oak's known Ash for a long time and knew when something was wrong. This was one of those times.
"Ok Ash, what's wrong?" Professor Oak asked.
"Nothing's wrong." Ash said. Professor Oak turned his chair so he was was him.
"Ash, I watched you and Gary grow up together. So I know when there is something wrong. So what is it? Did you and Harleen get into a fight?" Oak asked. Ash sighed before answering.
"No, we didn't fight. It's just that I might have upset her." Ash said.
"Upset her how?" Oak asked.
"Well, last night we were having a night in and we were doing the normal things couples do." Ash said. Professor Oak nodded. "Then after a while, Harleen wanted to take our relationship further." Oak didn't know what he meant.
"What do you mean?" Oak asked. Ash didn't know how to explain it more.
"How to put this. She started to take off my shirt and..." Oak cut Ash off.
"Oh, i see." Oak said.
"And I stopped it from going further." Ash said.
"Why did you do that?" Oak asked.
"If I had to pick one thing, I'd say it's because I was scared. If I did something wrong or if I was bad then she might leave me. Professor, I could really use some advice." Ash said. Oak was surprised at this.
"Ok, how to start? Ash, to be honest, I thought you and Harleen had reached that stage in your relationship already." Professor Oak said. "It's always going to be nerve racking when it's your first time Ash. It's a natural feeling when doing something for the first time. So it should be no different then anything else. Did that help?" Ash knew he tried his best but that wasn't the sort of answer Ash was looking for.
"Yeah it helped. Thank you Professor." Ash said. The monitor in the room came on and Diana was on it.
"Ash, Professor. Please make your way to the observation deck. The new members will start arriving in 5 mins." Diana said before turning the screen off. Professor Oak got up from the chair.
"Well, it's that time." Professor Oak said as he left the room. Ash just stood in place for a while before making a move himself. Soon the Watchtower was filled with heroes that Ash had never seen before. Ash convinced Arthur to join the League part time since he still wanted to protect Atlantis for most of the time. All the new members was down on the floor while everyone else was up on a platform. Ash brought out Mewtwo and Lucario out to join in. Pikachu was up on Ash's shoulder. Harleen was next to Ash, holding his hand. Ash felt relaxed, thinking Harleen didn't held any hard feelings about last night. Superman walked forward and was about to speak.
"Thank you all for coming. You used to work by yourselves, but since you are joining the Justice League, you are now a part of a unit. You never have to work alone again. The Watchtower can be your new home or a place to rest. Though we do not work for the government, we will provide help unless told otherwise. Now I will introduce you to everyone up here. Kate, Cilan and Mallow runs the canteen here." Kate, Cilan and Mallow stepped forward when they heard their names. "Next. Brock and Dawn." Brock and Dawn did the same. "They are our medical staff and will attend to any injured heroes. Clemont, Sophocles, Jessie, James and Meowth are the Watchtowers engineers and will keep the Watchtower running." Everyone mentioned walked forward and some of the heroes were surprised to see a cat up there.
"I'm sorry, is this a joke? They have a cat up there." One hero said. Meowth didn't like that comment.
"This cat's got a lot more brains then you." Meowth said. This really took some heroes by surprise. Superman didn't like that someone thought this was a joke.
"All members will be treated with respect, no matter who you are. Now, Samuel and Gary Oak are the Watchtowers scientists and will be sharing the lab with the engineers." Superman said with both Oaks stepping forward. "Martian and Tracey will be manning the controls, sending heroes to locations where they are needed." Tracey and Martian walked forward. "Misty, May, Iris, Serena, Lillie, Kiawe and Lana will act as runners. So they will be doing jobs wherever they are needed." Everyone walked forward. "You will see two children up here from time to time, Max and Bonnie. They are in school but they are respected members of the League. Harley Quinn, Batgirl and Poison Ivy are second in command. So if none of the founding members are about, they will help."
"I know you said be respectful but I still don't know how to feel working alongside two known villains." One hero said. Ash couldn't believe someone said that. Both Harley and Ivy had proven they were heroes during the invasion. Ash was about to step forward but Harley kept him back. Superman saw Ash's reaction and felt the same. Superman was going to make one thing clear.
"They might have done bad things in the past. But they are now heroes and members of the League. I'm not the only one here in saying that I would trust them with my life now. If anyone still has a problem with this, you can leave now." Superman said. The new heroes looked at each other, seeing if anyone was going to leave. Since no one was leaving, Superman continued. "Now you know the rest of the founding members of the League. We will be about the place, helping out in anyway we can. Although he is a founding member, I need to call on him since there is one strict rule. Ash Ketchum." Ash stepped forward with Lucario and Mewtwo staying next to him. "As you all know, he possesses Pokemon. They are powerful creatures. There is a room on the Watchtower called the Pokemon room. Apart from a few members, the Pokemon room is completely off limits to enter unless told so." Ash thought he'd say the last part of the room.
"For any reason the Watchtower is under attack and get past the Pokemon outside." Ash said.
"Outside?" One of the heroes asked. They looked at the window and saw a large eye looking in. The eye flew away and was revealed to be Rayquaza. The heroes also saw Dialga, Palkia, Deoxys, Lunala and Solgaleo. Ash continued.
"If for any reason any attackers get past them and attacks the Watchtower, the sensors will activate the doors to the Pokemon room. Letting them out to help you guys." Ash said. Diana stepped forward.
"With that being said, welcome to the Justice League." Diana said. When she said that, the heroes started to talk to each other. Ash was about to walk away but Harleen stopped him.
"Ash, are you okay?" Harleen asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Ash asked.
"You were about to confront one of the heroes when they called me and Ivy villains." Harleen said. Ash just looked to the side of him.
"You haven't done anything bad for so long and helped save the world. It just gets on my nerves that people still see you as that. Also that they insulted Ivy as well." Ash said. Poison Ivy walked over to the two.
"That's nice of you to try to defend me Ash but I honestly don't care what people say." Ivy said.
"Yeah, I know I'm a hero and that's all that matters." Harleen said. Ash liked that she said that. As long as she's happy, he's happy. But he still wanted to sort what happened last night.
"Harley, can we talk tonight? I hate how we left things last night after what happened." Ash said.
"Ash, I said were all good. We don't nee..."
"No, we should really talk about it." Ash said.
"Ok sure. We'll talk tonight." Harley said. They forgot Ivy was still with them.
"Problems in the bedroom?" Ivy asked. Ash and Harley looked at Ivy and started blushing from embarrassment. Before anymore embarrassment could be done, John called Ash over.
"Ash, over here." John said. Ash looked over and walked toward John, Martian and Tracey.
"What's going on?" Ash asked.
"There's a very high radiation signature being emitted in a country in Chong Mai." Tracey said.
"Is the level of radiation what needs attention?" Ash asked.
"Only a part of the problem. The main concern is its moving." Martian said.
"What?" John asked. Ash and John looked at the monitor and saw a dot on the screen slowly moving.
"And with the direction it's going, it's going to hit civilised areas within hours." Tracey said. With this information, Ash looked at John.
"We better make a move then." Ash said.
"Agreed." John said. He then looked out to the new heroes and knew who he wanted to join. "Supergirl, Captain Atom, we have a assignment." The heroes heard this and started heading their way. Ash wasn't comfortable with one of the heroes.
"I don't think it be a good idea for me to come along with this mission." Ash said. John looked at him, shocked.
"What? Why are you saying that?" John asked.
"Captain Atom, he's the one that made the comment about Harley and Ivy." Ash said. Now John understood.
"Ash, I could really use your help with this one." John said. Ash groaned.
"Fine, but I'm not talking to Atom until he says sorry to Harley and Ivy." Ash said as he made his way to the Pokemon room before leaving. Ash collected a handful of Pokemon and met John and the others at the hanger.
"Glad to see you made it." John said. This caught the other two heroes attention. Supergirl excitedly ran up to Ash.
"This is unreal. I can't believe I'm meeting the 'cafe boy' in person." Supergirl said. Ash had a deadpanned look on his face before returning back to normal.
"You know I go by Pokemon Master now." Ash said, laughing nervously. "It's nice to meet you Supergirl."
"I can't wait to work alongside you." Supergirl said. Then, Captain Atom walked up to Ash and held his hand out.
"I'm Captain Atom, it be a honour to work alongside you." Captain Atom said. Ash just looked at the hand before walking past him. Captain Atom then looked at John. "What's with him?"
"You insulted his girlfriend by calling her a criminal. Are you that surprised?" John asked. Captain Atom only voiced his opinion. He didn't mean to offend anyone. "After this is over, you two should talk and air things out." John then started walking to one of the javelins. "OK, LETS GO!"
"WAIT UP!" Everyone stopped and looked to see a Robin Hood sort of figure approaching. "If you're going to earth then you can drop me off."
"Who are you?" Ash asked.
"This is Green Arrow, he's based at Star City." John said. He then looked at Green Arrow. "Why don't you use the teleporter? You'll get back a lot more faster."
"I'm not letting that thing mess up my molecules again. I'd rather get a ride back." Green Arrow said.
"We're going to Chong Mai first, we can drop you off after we're done there." John said, walking towards the javelin. Green Arrow didn't have much of a option but followed anyway.
Chong Mai
The javelin was starting to decsend to the ground of Chong Mai. During the journey, John informed everyone that Chong Mai was a third world country and the residents don't take too kindly to outsiders. The javelin touched down and the ramp came down to let the heroes out. Ash, John, Green Arrow, Supergirl and Captain Atom walked out of the javelin and saw the destruction that had happened in the landscape.
"Wasn't expecting this." Captain Atom said.
What happened here?" Supergirl asked.
"That's what we're here to find out." Ash said.
"Let's move and find the cause of this." John said. The heroes walked a mile only seeing more destruction. Ash stopped all of a sudden. The other heroes saw this.
"What's wrong kid?" Green Arrow asked. Ash then shot into action.
"We're being ambushed." Ash said as he brought up a barrier as a missile hits it. Out on impulse, John used his ring to bring up his own barrier. Multiple missiles and bullets were hitting the barriers and Ash and John were struggling keeping them up. Supergirl thought of a way to stop this attack.
"Hold on guys, I'll sort them out." Supergirl said. John was quick to act.
"No. If you do that, you'll start a international incident. We need to talk to the leader." John said. Ash knew if he can get those guns away, then they won't need to hurt anyone. If Flash was there, he would of used his speed to disarm them. But he knew the next best thing. He grabbed a pokeball and opened it. A light came out and Mewtwo appeared.
"Mewtwo, get rid of the weapons." Ash said.
"On it." Mewtwo said. Mewtwo eyes glowed blue and raised his hands. All the weapons glowed and started to float into the air. With the weapons gone, Ash and John brought down their barriers.
"Good work Mewtwo." Ash said.
"Thank you." Mewtwo said. Mewtwo then sensed someone. "Behind you." Ash wiped round and saw a soldier charging him with a knife in his hand. The soldier lunged forward, but Ash sidesteps the attack, making it miss. Ash grabbed the soldiers arm and twisted it, causing the knife to be dropped. Ash then tripped the soldier and held him to the floor.
"That was a stupid move officer." Captain Atom said. Some more officers were approaching the heroes and appeared to be unarmed.
"Everyone stand down now." One of them said. All the soldiers then relaxed. The man then looked at Ash. "You can let him go now, he won't do anything to you." Ash was reluctant about doing it but let go anyway. The ground soldier got up and walked away. "So, we have the famous justice league in our quiet little village."
"Who are you?" Green Arrow asked.
"General Kwan. I'm the leader of this army." General Kwan said.
"So you're the sort of leader that shoots first, ask later." Supergirl said.
"That's enough, Supergirl." John said.
"I am sorry for how my troops acted. We don't do so well with outsiders." General Kwan said. "But you haven't said why you're here at all."
"We saw massive radiation levels in your country and wanted to make sure everything was okay." John said. The heroes saw the General tense up before he relaxed again.
"Oh that? There was a little glitch that happened at the power plant but it's under control now." General Kwan said. But the heroes weren't accepting that fact.
"So you're saying that if we check our systems again, there won't be a strong radioactive signature going in a straight line." Ash said. He didn't like that the General wasn't willing to cooperate with them.
"Yes, it would be gone by now." General Kwan said.
"If..."
"Thank you for coming but we don't need the Justice League's help." General Kwan said with venom in his voice. "Now get out." The heroes just stood there while the army dispersed. What are they to do now?
Javelin
The heroes quickly returned to the Javelin and contacted the Watchtower to see if they were able to process with the mission. But things are not looking good.
"What do you mean there's nothing we can do?" John asked Martian on the screen.
"Chong Mai is a independent country that'snot a part of any other organisations." Martian said.
"What about trading partners? Surely they can help out with the investigation?" Ash asked.
"We're in the process of request their aid. But even that will take at least a month to review the request." Martian said. Everyone knew what was about to be said next. "There's nothing more you can do there. Start the Javelin and return to the Watchtower." With that, the screen went off. Ash and John then turned to the other heroes.
"So that's it? Mission over?" Supergirl asked.
"We're visitors in their land. We need to respect their wishes." Captain Atom said.
"And they made their wishes very clear. We'll drop Green Arrow off at Star City first bef... Where is he?" John asked. The heroes looked round and did see that he was missing.
"He must of gone to a nearby village to see what's going on." Captain Atom said.
"If he gets caught, there's nothing we can do to help him." John said. Ash didn't want anyone to get in trouble. Ash started making his way out the Javelin.
"I'll get him back." Ash said. Ash ran out of the Javelin. Supergirl and Captain Atom were surprised by his sudden action.
"What's he doing?" Captain Atom asked.
"We got to stop him." Supergirl said. Both heroes were about to fly off until Green Lantern stopped them.
"No, wait. It be better if we stayed back and let Ash retrieve Green Arrow by himself." John said. Looking towards Ash's direction, wondering if he did the right thing.
Village
Ash ran for an hour to try to find the Green Arrow. He stopped when he caught sight of a village, but something looked wrong. The villagers, they were running away from the village. Something must be going on down there. Ash grabbed a pokeball and snapped it open.
"Staraptor. I need your help." Ash said. Staraptor appeared and let Ash climb on his back. Ash guided Staraptor closer to the village. As they got closer, Ash saw Green Arrow on the bridge, guiding people away from the village. Why was he doing that for? Staraptor flew close to the bridge and Ash caught Green Arrow's attention. "What are you doing?" Green Arrow turned and looked at them.
"Getting everyone out. Some scouts came to the village and told everyone to evacuate. I don't know what it is since they left straight away after giving the order." Green Arrow said.
"But what's going..." Ash didn't finish as a large crash came from the mountain side. Both the heroes looked at the noise and saw a giant glowing robot emerging. That is bad and they need to get the people out now. Ash jumped on the bridge and grabbed Staraptor's pokeball. "Staraptor, return." Ash then stood opposite Green Arrow, escorting everyone off the bridge. "Come on everyone, we need to move now."
"At this rate, everyone should be off by the time that thing reaches here." Green Arrow said. Then they heard a growling sound behind them. They looked back and saw the robot gathering energy. "That ain't good." The last of the villagers got off the bridge but at that point, the robot had fired a beam and it was heading towards the heroes. Before the energy hit, Green Lantern came in front of them and put up a barrier. The energy hit and barrier and it was already cracking.
"Get out now. It's about to break." John said. Supergirl and Captain Atom appeared and were about to grab Ash and Green Arrow, but the barrier collapsed and the energy hit the bridge and the heroes, causing the bridge to collapse. After a while, Ash, Supergirl, Captain Atom and Green Arrow emerged from the debris and looked around. The robot had disappeared. The bridge was damaged beyond repair and John was missing.
"Green Lantern!" Captain Atom shouted.
"Where are you?" Supergirl asked. They looked for 10 minuites until Green Arrow found him.
"Got him. He's over here." Green Arrow said. All the heroes rushed over and saw the downed hero. He was out cold and badly injured. He needed medical attention.
"Let's head back to the Javelin. We need to treat him now." Ash said. The heroes nodded. Captain Atom bent down and picked John. Supergirl grabbed Ash and Green Arrow and all of them flew back to the Javelin.
Javelin
The heroes returned to the Javelin and put John in the medical bay. Everyone had a quick checkup to see if there were any other injuries, luckily there were just scrapes and bruises. With Ash being the longest serving member of the Justice League, he felt it was his duty to report back the situation. Ash advised the heroes to rest while he made a call back at the Watchtower. Ash pressed a few buttons and saw Martian and Harleen pop up on the screen.
"Hey sweetie, I hope you are coming ba..." Harleen stopped when she saw the state of Ash. "Ash, what happened to you?"
"There was an incident and everyone got hurt, especially John. He's in the medbay unconscious." Ash said. This sounded concerning to the Watchtower group. A whole group of heroes injured. What could of caused this?
"Ash, what happened?" Martian asked. He needed to know the details to know the next step.
"Green Arrow was helping evacuating a village. I was trying to bring him back to the Javelin when a giant robot appeared and destroyed the village. John and the others showed up before the robot hit us with some sort of beam. John was the only one to be seriously hurt." Ash said. This shocked both heroes.
"Giant robot? How didn't anyone know about that?" Harleen asked. Martian didn't know how this was kept secret but he had a thought.
"This isn't good. Judging by the path, the robot was the one given off the radiation signature." Martian said. If that was the case, this is bad.
"What should we do?" Ash asked.
"Im going to see the others up here and decide what to do next. Hopefully with this information, you can stay at Chong Mai to shut down that robot. Don't do anything until I get back." Martian said as he walked off to see the others. Harley looked at Ash and saw he had a worried expression on his face.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Harley asked. Ash knew he couldn't keep anything from Harley and maybe she can with what to do next.
"Its just that while I'm standing here, that robot could be harming a lot more people. I can't just stand around but at the same time I can't do anything about it." Ash said, showing the pain he was feeling. Harley wished that they were together now so she could comfort him. She knew what to say to him.
"Ash, you have always done things by the books and try not to make any mischief. But I think this time, you need to throw the book away." Harley said.
"What do you mean?" Ash asked.
"Go get that robot." Harley said. Ash was shocked by this statement.
"I don't know if..."
"Ash, think about this. If you don't do this now, You'll regret it since you didn't do the right thing." Harley said. Ash knew she was right. He could be stopping that robot now but he had to wait for political actions. Ash smiled at Harley.
"What would I do without you? You're the best." Ash said.
"I know. Good luck out there sweetie. I love you." Harley said as she blew a kiss through the screen. The screen then went blank. Ash turned round and saw the heroes standing at the doorway.
"At least she's making sense." Green Arrow said.
"What are we doing then?" Supergirl asked. Ash slowly got up from the chair and looked at the heroes.
"We're taking down a robot." Ash said.
"You know what, I think I was wrong before." Captain Atom said. Everyone looked at him. "Harley isn't a bad person. She's a good comrade." Ash liked what he said.
"Thank you Captain." Ash said. He then walked past the heroes and towards the exit. "Lets go save everyone."
Open Field
In a land of destruction caused by the robot, a team of scientists were scavenging the area, collecting samples from the ground. There were wearing full hazmat suits in case of radiation. As one of the scientists was grabbing something from the ground, shadows cast over him. He looked up and saw the heroes looking down on him.
"Tell us what you know now." Ash demanded. The scientists stood up and looked at the heroes.
"This does not concern you. We don't need any help from some devils." The scientist said. Supergirl didn't like his attitude, especially at this time. She came towards the scientists and grabbed his suit.
"Listen you, we don't have time for this. Tell us how to shut down that robot or a lot of people deaths will be on your hands." Supergirl was shaking the scientist while saying it. While doing that, the hazmat helmet came off and revealed the scientist's face. She stopped shaking him and saw his face. He had serious burns across his face.
"Liking what you see?" The scientist asked.
"Thats enough." Everyone turned around and saw two scientists approaching them. One of the scientists were holding some rods. "Please let go of him. He won't cause anymore trouble for you." Supergirl was reluctant but pushed the scientists away anyway. The scientists took one last look at the heroes before turning and walking away. All the heroes then looked back at the new arrivals. "I'm sorry for his attitude. Tensions are really high at the moment."
"That's an understatement." Green Arrow said.
"What can you tell us about the robot?" Captain Atom asked.
"It was built to protect us against foreigners that might try to attack our country. We were sure that the program that's in the robot would be perfect, but we were wrong. The robot sees everyone as intruders and will stop at nothing until it has destroyed every living being it sees in sight." The scientist said. A robot that's programmed to go on a killing spree? This was going to be a lot more tougher than they thought. And if thats the case, they have to shut it down.
"Is there a way to shut the robot down? It needs to be stopped." Ash said.
"There is." The scientist said. He then stepped aside and let the other scientist with the rods step forward. "The robots core reactor has an opening in it's chest. If you can get one of these carbon rods into it's reactor, it will shut down. We have tried ourselves. But because of the heat, we are unable the get close enough to shut it down." Captain Atom grabbed the rods. Then Green Arrow took two of the rods. The heroes looked at him.
"Just in case." Green Arrow said. Ash looked at the scientists.
"Thank you for your help." Ash said.
"Just turn the robot off once and for all." The scientist said as they walked away from the heroes. The heroes looked at each other.
"So what's the plan?" Supergirl asked.
"I got an idea but we need to move now before the robot does anymore damage." Ash said. Ash took out a pokeball and snapped it opened. The light dimmed down and Pidgeot appeared. Ash jumped on the back of the Pokemon. Ash then looked at Green Arrow. "Get on." Green Arrow nodded and jumped on the Pokemon. "Lets go." Pidgeot took off with Captain Atom and Supergirl flying beside Pidgeot.
Mountainside
In the distance, the people from the destroyed village are still moving away from the area. They were getting hungry, thirsty and tired. A lot of them didn't have anymore energy to keep moving. Some of the villagers stayed behind to try to keep the people moving, while the rest kept moving, trying to make as much distance as possible. A loud crash was heard and the villagers saw the robot coming from the other side of the mountain. The villagers were now trying to get away as quickly as possible, be it running, walking or crawling. The robot was getting closer each time it took a step towards the villagers. The robot will be with them in less than a minute.
"GO!" Everyone heard a voice then a blinding light. The died down and the villagers were stunned by what they were seeing. It was a giant creature that was squaring up against the robot. Pidgeot with Ash on it's back came into sight of the villagers. "Push it back Groudon." Groudon roared and charged forward, towards the robot. The pokemon's body collided with the steel and knocked it into the mountain. The villagers were so amazed by the scene, they didn't see the heroes near them.
"Everyone, this way." Supergirl said.
"Move it while you have a chance." Green Arrow said. The villagers started following the heroes direction, away from the battle. The was struggling to get up with Groudon holding it down. Captain Atom flew up next to Ash.
"Groudon won't be able to hold it down for long. You need to go now Atom." Ash said.
"Roger." Captain Atom said. He flew towards the giants with the carbon rod ready in his hands. As he got closer, the robot was starting to push Groudon back and knocked it away. Groudon fell to the ground and the robot got back on its feet. Captain Atom arrived at the robots chest and had the rod ready. But because of the heat coming off the robot, Captain Atom couldn't get near enough to put the rod in. The robot saw the hero and it swatted the hero away from it. Captain Atom slammed against a mountain.
"CAPTAIN!" Ash shouted. This caught the attention of the other two heroes. Captain Atom picked himself up and saw something alarming. There was a tear in his suit. He only had a matter of moments before he explodes. Captain Atom took off into the sky, going as fast as he can. After 3 seconds, there was a blast in the sky. No, Captain Atom was dead? The heroes couldn't believe it. Supergirl's emotion got the better of her and she started flying towards the robot.
"No, wait." Green Arrow said. When he saw she was too far away, he grabbed the two carbon rods he had and started to climb to a vantage point. Supergirl reaches the robot and readies her fists.
"Take this." Supergirl said as she punched the robot in the face. The robot was knocked back but didn't fall down. Supergirl was ready to throw another punch, but the robot gave a backhand to Supergirl and hit her into the side of the mountain, taking her out of action. Ash couldn't believe what he saw. The robot had just taken out most of his team and hardly taken any damage at all. The robot started to move again. Ash needed to stop it. He formed multiple aura spheres and threw them at the robot. They hit but bounced back off the robot. Ash needed to do something or this robot would cause unrepairable damage. A roar was heard and the robot looked behind. The robot was hit with a fire blast and lifted off its feet by the force. Groudon was back in action. A red was flared up around Groudon and was ready for round 2. The robot was back up and Ash saw something, a rod. Where did that come from? He then remembered that Green Arrow took two rods. He looked round trying to find him.
"Pidgeot, survey the area. We need to find Green Arrow." Ash said. Pidgeot then started flying around the area at high speed, trying to find the archer. 5 minutes passed and Groudon was trying to keep the robot in place, but because on the damaged ground, there was no traction for Groudons footing. Just then, Ash saw another rod. Ash back tracked the path and saw Green Arrow. He flew over and reached the hero. "There you are, did you just use the last rod?"
"Sort of." Green Arrow said. He pulled one of his arrows out with a rod tied to it. "I snapped the last one in half just in case. It's a good job I did. I can't get a clear shot with that wrestling match." Ash looked back at the scene and saw what he meant. They were moving too much and the core reactor was barely visible. That's it, Ash had a plan.
"Get on Pidgeot, quick." Ash said. Pidgeot landed.
"Why?" Green Arrow asked.
"I'm going to give you that clear shot." Ash said. Green Arrow hopped on Pidgeot and the pokemon took off. They were fast approaching the giants and Ash had Groudons pokeball in his hand. "I'm going to call Groudon back and you take the shot." Green Arrow took aim.
"Ready to go." Green Arrow said. Ash aimed the pokeball and shouted. "RETURN!" A red beam from the ball hit Groudon and it went back into the ball. The robot was wide open. "Do it."
"Eat this." Green Arrow said as he shot the arrow. It was going, going, going, BULLSEYE! The rod entered the robots chest and it stopped moving. The glow form the robot went dim. Its off. Pidgeot just hovered in front of the robot. Ash and Green Arrow looked relived and relaxed. They jumped when the robot jolted and its head came flying off. What happened? They saw Supergirl hovering next to them. Supergirl looked at the two, Ash gave her a thumbs up and she smiled at him. They saved the day.
Watchtower
After the fight with the robot, a recovery team was sent to pick up the injured heroes. Brock was a part of the team and treated the heroes during the trip to the Watchtower. The world now knows what happened in Chong Mai and were being investigated. The heroes reached the Watchtower and Brock finished his examination over the heroes. Ash, Supergirl and Green Arrow only had scrapes and bruises. John had worse injuries and multiple fractured bones. He had to be in a wheelchair for 3 weeks while recovering. But with Captain Atom, Everyone was surprised about what happened.
"He's alive?" Green Arrow asked.
"Yes. During the extraction, the team managed to find his particles and were able to transfer them to a new containment suit." John said. Through the window, a half empty suit on a table was being filled. Captain Atom was alive and he managed to give a thumbs up to let them know he was okay. Green Arrow started to walk away and Ash noticed this.
"You leaving?" Ash asked.
"Yeah. The day really beat everything out of me. I'll see you around." Green Arrow said as he left. Supergirl then looked at John and Ash.
"So, what do you think? I did pretty good for my first day." Supergirl said. John then looked at her with a stern face.
"Your action towards the Chong Mai scientific team could of worsen our relationship with the country and if it wasn't for Ash quick thinking, you could of started an international war. If you do anything like that again, I'll personally see that you are kicked out of the League, regardless who your cousin is." John said. Supergirl looked sad, turned and started to walk away. Ash thought John was a bit hard on her so he gave her words of encouragement.
"Hey Supergirl." Ash said. Supergirl looked at Ash. "You did well today and there's always room for improvement." Supergirl smiled at Ash's words.
"Thanks Ash. Oh Ash, call me Kara." Kara said. She winked at Ash and walked out the room. Ash then looked at John.
"I better get going myself. Harleen would be worried right now." Ash said as he started to walk off. John quickly turned his chair.
"Hang on, I need to have a word with you." John said. Ash stopped and looked at him. "The Professor told me about your situation with Harleen." Ash looked shocked. Why would Oak do that?
"I didn't know that he to..."
"Before the whole Thanagarian incident, when me and Shayera confessed our love. We didn't worry if we were good or bad. We cared for each other and knew we'd still be together afterwards. Ash, Harleen cares for you a lot. She will only be thinking about you when you make that step. You got nothing to worry about." John said. Ash was loss for words. He never saw this side of John before and he felt better hearing all these things. Ash had one question on his mind.
"How do I know if now is the time?" Ash asked.
"Ask yourself this. If you weren't doing so much hero work, would we be having this conversation?" John asked as he wheeled away. Ash didn't think of that. If things were different, Ash wouldn't need this talk.
Ash and Harleen's House
Ash walked into the house and he saw Harleen sitting on the sofa. Harleen saw Ash and immediately sprung from the sofa and ran to Ash.
"Sweetie you're back. Are you ok?" Harleen asked as she hugged Ash.
"Yeah I'm fine, just a few bruises." Ash said.
"That's good. Sit down, I'll get your dinner." Harleen said. But Ash quickly stopped her.
"Could you sit down with me? I need to say something." Ash said. Harleen nodded and both of them sat on the sofa. "I'm sorry about what happened last night."
"Ash, I alrea..."
"I was scared." Ash said. Harleen did not expect that.
"Scared?" Harleen asked.
"I was scared that I was going to be no good and you might have second thoughts about us." Ash said.
"Ash, why would you think of that?" Harleen asked.
"With every that's happened with the Justice League, we haven't had much time to be intimate with each other and wasn't confident with making that move." Ash said. Nothing happened for a while. Out of nowhere, Harleen gave Ash a soft and tender kiss. She parted her lips from his and looked at him.
"You always know what to say. Ash, no matter what, I'll always love you. Because you are you." Harleen said.
"And I love you too. And I promise too make more time for us from now on." Ash said. Harleen needed Ash to know something.
"Ash, I'm happy for us to do the hero work for now. But I don't want to do this forever. Hero or villain. I want us to have a normal life, get married, have kids, grow old, all of it." Harleen said. Ash wasn't expecting this from her. Yet again, Ash said he was going to cut back on hero duties. Could he leave it all soon?
"Ok, I'll make this promise to you. Mewtwo said a great evil is still coming. So, once we have defeated the evil. I will walk if you want to walk too." Ash said. Harleen couldn't believe he just said that.
"Are you being serious?" Harleen asked.
"100%" Ash said. Ash leaned in and kissed Harleen deeply. They kissed for 5 minutes before Ash started pulling her closer. Harleen broke the kiss.
"What are you doing?" Harleen asked.
"I'm not scared anymore." Ash said. Harleen smiled and kissed Ash again. Harleen removed Ash shirt and vice versa. They continued throughout the night. Reaching a new level in their relationship.
Next Chapter, we take another trip to the Pokemon World and something big happens. Next Time: For The Man Who Has Everything.