Hello everybody! It has been a long time since my last update. Unfortunately I had some problems at work and members of my family were in the hospital for COVID 19, which was very difficult for me. The situation has improved and I can write again. I sent my best wishes to all of you.
The night had covered Pallet Town with its blackness. Pidgeys perched on tree branches to rest and a pair of rattata were running through the fields towards their burrows in search of shelter.. In the sky the moon could barely be seen through some thick, darkened clouds. Winter was just around the corner so the weather began to change in the field, the pokemon were preparing for the cold season as well as their inhabitants.
Delia gazed out the kitchen window onto the backyard as she washed the dinner plates. The branches of the trees shook from side to side roughly. For a few days the woman had noticed that the nights were beginning to get cold so she began to make a mental list of things to do before winter arrived. She wanted to have firewood to use the fireplace on freezing snowy days. In addition, she must to protect her small vegetable garden, store some things in the shed to avoid damage by strong winds and snowfall. A little flutter in her stomach brought her out of her thoughts. Her hand caressed her belly gently, she could feel how she was swelling a little more every day. It was the first time she felt her baby move. A loving smile crossed her face. It had been a slight movement, but it was enough to make her feel it presence more real of her than ever. Her face then became concerned at the thought that it would be difficult to carry out those tasks while she is pregnant. She thought Giovanni should be there with her and Ash to support them. She delia decided it would be better to try calling him again later.
While his mother washed the dishes, Ash played in the living room with his pokemon dolls. He and his mother had a fun afternoon watching movies, covered with warm blankets up to their noses and drinking the best hot chocolate in the world in the words of the little boy, this was the one that his mother prepared for him with so much love. The smell of cinnamon and cocoa filled his nostrils when he inhaled with a smile from ear to ear the sweet aroma in his favorite mug, which had the logo of his father's gym badge.
A noise caught Ash's attention as he got up from the ground with his Persian doll in his hands. He listened carefully for a moment. Outside the icy wind that heralded the arrival of a harsh winter was still shaking the trees with force. The little one settled into the living room sofa and curled up into a ball enjoying the feel of the soft blankets on his face. His stuffed Persian was under his arm this was a gift from his father years ago and when he missed him he would hug him tightly. The house was silent and sleep began to invade Giovanni's firstborn when suddenly the doorbell filled the house with its tinkling sound.
A strange chill ran from head to toe his mother who was putting the last plate in the cupboard. Before she could react her son was already running for the door. She had always told Ash that he shouldn't open the door alone, that he should wait for her to be with him. However, he was desperate for a visit from his father so when Delia heard him hurried footsteps running towards the main entrance she also hurried to catch up him.
Little Ash opened the door without stopping, the cold wind hitting his face causing him to narrow his eyes in discomfort. The vision of him accustomed to the bright light of inside home him did not allow him to clearly see something in the blackness of the night. He heard the noise of what sounded like someone shuffling and then a tall, dark figure appeared before him. Confused and terrified he couldn't help but cry out in fear, he threw his arms over his head and took a few steps back from the door. Even with his eyes closed, he heard the sound of something slamming into the ground. Everything had happened very quickly, Delia ran the rest of the way to catch up with her son. She encountered an unexpected and surreal scene. In the middle of the hall was her husband, unconscious and badly injured. Her son was now clinging to the wall whimpering as he looked at his father. That was like a nightmare, Delia did not understand anything and she felt that the ground on which she was now was beginning to move.
Ash ran to his mother and clung to her as tightly as he could, hiding his face against Delia's pink blouse and she gently pushed him away to pay attention to her husband.
"Calm down, Ash" she told him as she knelt in front of her husband. The little boy nodded, pressing his lips together to avoid crying, his chocolate eyes were covered with tears about to overflow.
"Giovanni" she spoke his name as calmly as he could.
She took him by the shoulders and turned him onto his back. He was wearing the black jacket over his shoulders and under it his shirt was fastened around his abdomen like a makeshift bandage. The woman rushed to check the body of her husband for injuries, she was scared to notice that he was bleeding from the right side. Then she took Giovanni's pulse and leaned close to his face to make sure he was breathing which made her feel a bit relieved, but still her anxiety and confusion remained with her. Many questions quickly filled her head.
"Is Daddy okay?" Ash murmured, pulling her out of her trance. The boy was squeezing the bottom of her shirt nervously. He leaned closer and got a better look at her father. The brown-haired woman looked from her son.
"He is just, passed out, don't worry" Delia took her son's hand and squeezed it slightly while giving him a reassuring smile.
While his mother checked his father, Ash closed the door, Delia took the face of her husband in her hands and patted his cheeks, his skin was cold and there were several wounds on his face , chest and arms of him.
"Let's take him to bed, son" The dark-haired little boy nodded. "Hold his feet carefully"
With some effort she lifted the gym leader off the ground, holding him tightly running her hands under his armpits. Ash lifted his father's feet with difficulty, but he didn't give up. Together mother and son dragged the one they did not know was the crime lord to the guest room on the ground floor of his little house on the field. They laid him carefully on the mattress and Ash sat next to him on the bed looking at him with concern.
"Darling, go get clean towels and the first aid kit" said the mother as she rummaged for something in the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed.
The boy nodded quickly and bolted to find what his mother had told him. When Ash left the room Delia used scissors to remove the gnawed and bloody shirt from Giovanni, who was still unconscious. She glanced at the wound on her husband's right side. It had dried blood on the edges, but it looked like it was still bleeding a little. The wound was dirty and extended about two inches horizontally. It did not appear to be very deep, but it urgently needed to be treated quickly and correctly to prevent it from getting infected.
Delia set her husband's black jacket on a nearby chair and tossed the remains of his shirt into the trash can beside the bed. Ash returned with the first aid kit.
"Mom, here's what you asked for" he announced, agitated by the run he had made to his mother's bathroom on the second floor. He laid down some towels on the nightstand and stood silently by the door while his mother pulled out some things from the first aid kit.
Delia looked at her son for a moment that he was visibly worried about his father. So she stood up and went to the boy who looked at her with dismayed eyes. She patted his shoulder gently and gave him a gentle smile.
"Don't worry, Dad will be fine, waits in your room sweety"
The mother lovingly kissed her son's cheek and slowly and carefully pushed him toward the door. Ash smirked in agreement, reassured by Delia's sincere words. His eyes looked at her for a moment longer before he left the room.
Now that her little future trainer had agreed to get out of there she could focus on her husband. Delia stood by the bed looking closely at her husband. The whole thing seemed like a cruel joke. She didn't understand that it could have happened to Giovanni, what could he have been doing? Her heart began to beat uneasily, she for a long time she felt worried and anxious. She sensed that something was wrong with her husband. He never left them for that long, much less cut off communication with them. She put both hands to her face trying to keep her crying from getting over her.
She looked at her husband once more and thought that she couldn't just stand there filling her head with questions that would have no answers now. She took off his shoes and could see some dried mud on them, small pieces of concrete and dried blood that must have been him. The gym leader's shoes that he always wore well polished were now battered and dusty it looked like he had walked for a long time. She put his shoes on the floor along with his socks. And she focused on the wound that she had previously looked at on his side. It was no longer bleeding, Giovanni had done a good job stopping the bleeding from his wound as best he could using his shirt.
As she gently ran her fingers over her husband's battered skin, Delia's heart was beating rapidly and her hands began to tremble. She really wanted to see him and be with him, but not in this way. She impregnated some cotton with antiseptic and rubbed it gently over Giovanni's wound, trying to clean it as well as possible. She would need to suture the wound she thought as she took the needle and thread.
Luckily they had an emergency kit with everything they needed at home. With a son who was always looking for trouble with her adventures, it was an indispensable element for her. When she was sure the wound was clean, she carefully sutured it. She was not an expert suture nurse, but for a long time she had used needle and thread at home, mending Ash's pants that he always damaged from the knees or doing beautiful embroidery for her clothes. When she finished she covered the stitches with gauze and used a moistened towel to clean Giovanni's body.
Delia unbuckled his belt and put the pokeballs in the top drawer of the nightstand. She would have liked to greet Persian, but this was not the time to do so. She searched her husband's pockets where she found his wallet and cell phone that was turned off and had a cracked screen. She then she removed his pants and covered him with some blankets to keep him warm during the night. The woman pulled a chair closer to the bed and she stood there for a long time just looking at her husband. When she was convinced that her husband was fine and that he was only sleeping, she left the guest room.
As she went out into the hall she found Ash sitting against the wall waiting. When she looked at him she couldn't help but feel her heart clench in her chest.
"My love, I told you to go to your room, you can't be here, the floor is freezing" She held out her hand to help him stand up.
"But I wanted to know what's going on" His tone of voice had a mixture of confusion and fear that did not go unnoticed by his mother.
"Everything is fine, Ash" Delia hugged her son, comforting him as only a mother can.
The little boy got lost in the warmth of the embrace and clung tightly to Delia, when he felt calm he separated from her.
"Can I see Daddy now?" He asked hurriedly.
"He keep sleeping, better wait for tomorrow, It is time for you to go to sleep too"
Ash's face turned despondent, but he nodded without pressing further to what his mother was saying. He walked her up the stairs then to go to sleep. The little boy put on his pajamas and got into bed. Delia stroked his tousled dark hair and tenderly kissed his plump cheeks. She wished him good night, turned off the light, and left the room.
As she came downstairs a slight twinge of pain in her belly made her hold tight to the banister. She sighed wearily and gently stroked her small belly. She knew that she had tried hard to put Giovanni to bed and had to rest too, for the sake of her future son or daughter. She had attended some prenatal appointments to take proper medical control of her pregnancy, although she had felt bad for not telling Giovanni about the baby they were now expecting. The doctor had told her that both she and the baby were healthy and that the little one was growing normally. He gave her some vitamins on the last date and ordered her to avoid stress. In addition to eating a balanced diet and avoiding sudden efforts.
Before going to bed Delia picked up the toys that Ash had left scattered throughout the living room. She put away the blankets that were on the couch and made sure everything was in order. She looked out the window as the clouds had disappeared and the moon was shining overhead. However, she did not notice Giovanni's car parked on the side of the street. There was the box that Eric had left in the gym for him.
Morning came for Giovanni with faint rays of sunlight streaming through the window curtains. They looked like tinkling streaks over the head of the bed. The gym leader opened his eyes slowly and heavily as the sight of him adjusted to the shadows in the room. He felt a little dazed and his body was heavy. He tried to sit up, but couldn't. The wound in his side sent him a blast of stabbing pain that caused him to lie down.
"Hell" he growled irritably as he rubbed his face.
He observed what was around him, the furniture, the paintings. He recognized the place quickly as Delia's guest room, he was home he thought with relief. Suddenly everything that happened the day before came to his mind like a good action movie. He was grateful to be alive so he could go find Cipriani and make him pay for what happened. He turned his head to his side and could see his phone and wallet on the nightstand. He reached out with difficulty to reach the phone. He noticed that he was broken and pressed the power button hoping he would still serve.
"Good" he said with relief when the screen lit up, now he could contact his executives when necessary. He had a lot of missed calls from Proton, Petrel, and Ariana.
They would surely be crazy looking everywhere for him. But now he did not want to know anything about them, he trusted that they had followed his orders and were safe. So he frowned and turned off the phone, he would call them when he could get out of that bed.
The door of the room opened and Delia appeared with a tray in her hands when she saw him awake, her face lit up and her heart began to beat excitedly.
"Are you awake Giovanni!" She exclaimed happily as she approached the bed. "You had me worried, I'm glad you're awake"
She left the tray on the nightstand and sat on the bed next to her husband who was looking at her with a silly smile on his face.
"Delia" He spoke her name as if years had passed since the last time he had her in front of him. He took her warm, soft hands between his that were battered and injured. Her warm touch made him feel calm.
The gym leader's wife gently leaned down and tenderly kissed her husband's lips. Giovanni felt that he was in the right place, there was no other place safer for him than next to Delia, so following his agents to Celadon city had not been an option. His place was this.
"What happened to you?" The woman asked, getting up from the bed.
"I can't tell you, not now" Giovanni said calmly without taking his eyes off her.
"Why not? I am your wife, I deserve to know what happens, are you in danger?" Her voice sounded concerned and with a hint of discontent that did not go unnoticed by Giovanni.
"You shouldn't worry, everything is fine. I'll tell you what happened next. Agree?" He said using that fatherly tone of voice that always reassured Delia.
The wife's face softened and she nodded to what Giovanni was saying. She helped the man lean against the back of the bed and put the breakfast tray on his lap. She had the gym leader's favorite buttered toast, fruit, and hot coffee. Delia watched her husband calmly eat. He glanced at her from time to time, avoiding startling her. He knew his words would reassure her but only for a time.
"Is Ash okay?" he asked her after drinking some coffee.
"Yes, he's still sleeping, he got really scared last night" she said, sitting on the chair next to the bed.
"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to give you a hard time"
"Do not worry about it. He will come to see you as soon as he wakes up" She smiled at him placing her arms protectively over her belly without noticing her movements.
"How are you?" Giovanni asked looking at her he could see how Delia tensed.
"I'm fine, just a little tired" she answered, looking away, she didn't want to tell him anything about her pregnancy yet, not being in this situation, "don't worry about my darling, better eat your breakfast I'll go do some things outside I'll come see you in a while"
Giovanni watched her stand up and nodded to what she was saying. Although he sensed that Delia was hiding something from him. He thought that later he could deal with finding out what that was. As he bit into his toast, he looked at his jacket that was on the back of the chair where Delia had previously been sitting. He thinked that his other phone must be there. He hoped she hadn't found it, he didn't want to answer unnecessary questions. After breakfast he left the tray on the bedside table and opened the first drawer of it, he found her pokeball sthere, took one of them and calmly threw it. A lazy Persian appeared wagging his tail, walked to the bed and made a place between his trainer rubbing against him licking his hands and face.
"Nice to see you friend" Giovanni stroked the soft fur of the pokemon, "we're home," he said calmly. "Go and get that jacket for me" He pointed to the garment on the chair, Persian jumped out of bed and brought what his trainer ordered him.
Giovanni rummaged through the inside pockets where he found his family phone, put it in the bottom drawer of the nightstand along with the other phone and his wallet. He placed some books on them so that they would not be easily seen.
Suddenly, the door was opened with a loud noise and a hurried Ash appeared running towards the bed and jumped into the arms of his father who, in pain, welcomed him between them no matter what.
"Daddy..." said the little boy, his voice breaking from crying, "are you okay?" He asked wiping his tears away.
"Easy, Ash, I'm fine, don't worry anymore son"
Giovanni stroked his little son's hair and kissed his forehead lovingly as the Persian looked at them. It seemed to the gym leader that his longtime partner was smiling. Delia arrived a moment later and smiled at the tender scene.
"Ash be careful, Dad has some stitches"
The youngest stepped away carefully and sat in the chair next to the bed without taking his eyes off his father. The Persian jumped out of bed and went to where the boy and licked his face comforting him. Ash gave a small contagious laugh and his mother came over to caress the pokemon as well. Giovanni watched them from the bed, smiling foolishly. That a lightning would split him for being a wretch but his son and his wife soaked him to the bone like a warm feeling he couldn't help feeling. Being home with them always made him feel good.
Looker parked his car on the side of the road on Route 7. He took a map from the glove compartment and a pokeball containing a growlithe which he borrowed from the pokemon unit of the Viridian city police department, where he decided to settle to perform his researchs. The detective glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following him. It was the second time he had come to this place. He had previously received information about a high command of Team Rocket that was prowling the area. Which was weird since those guys never showed up to others. The first time he found nothing. But now he was sure there must be something in there tied to Team Rocket.
As he made his way down a dirt road and tall grass, he watched his surroundings for clues that might have gone unnoticed the first time. The growlithe walked ahead of him, sniffing the road. He suddenly raised his head and started running into a wooded area. Looker ran after the canine pokemon and caught up with him barking near a stream of water that he hadn't looked at the last time. Apparently the rains caused those flows of water that were not there before.
The growlithe barked at some sheets of paper that were being washed away by the current of the water. The detective rushed to take them, although he only reached a couple of them. Following the trail of water he realized that it was going through where before he looked at some huge fallen trees. So he thought that those leaves must have been hidden among the branches of those trees. And they had been swept away when the current of the water reached them.
Looker took one of the sheets that had pictures of some boys playing in what looked like a river on it. There were also photos of a young woman watering a garden. The detective raised a confused eyebrow. Those faces weren't familiar to him. They weren't in any Team Rocket files he had read. Another of the sheets was too wet, and the ink was smeared. He could only decipher a few words like lair, danger, leader, and king which it repeated a few times. That didn't make sense, he thought as he sighed wearily. The other sheets contained more photographs of the dark-haired child, and woman. Looker thought that maybe this had nothing to do with Team Rocket and was more like the work of some crazy stalker, which wasn't very good either.
The growlithe appeared bringing with him a jacket familiar to Looker which he knew was part of the Black Knights uniform.
"Good job boy" he said congratulating the growlithe who waved his tail with joy.
Looker saw that the garment was also wet and seemed to have been in the open for a long time, so he deduced that perhaps it was next to these documents in the branches of the trees. If that was correct then these photos were a clue to something related to Team Rocket and especially the Black Knights. He had to investigate the people in these photographs to find out who they were and what was their relationship with the criminal organization of the red letter.
When he returned to Viridian City, he found the news of the discovery of a Team Rocket lair on the outskirts of the city. However, they had not found anything important as the place was totally destroyed. He left the photographs on his desk at the police station and began searching the database for the faces of that woman and child, but found nothing. He then decided that he should do more field work. He would find these people, even if he had to go from house to house all over Kanto.