Hi there! When I thought the story could end, I got sick. But I'm already home so I can continue my normal life. Leave your comments I always read them.

Looker was in the small room of the apartment he rented in Viridian City. It was a simple place with a small bedroom, a bathroom, and a not-so-large space that doubled as a living room, dining room, and now his office as well. The walls were a light brown color that Looker hated from day one and it also had a regular-size window that let him see the street where he parked his car. It wasn't the most impressive place in town, but he didn't need so many luxuries, just a place to sleep while he worked on the Team Rocket case.

He kept trying to figure out who the people were in the photographs he found on Route 7, but he hadn't had so much luck with it. After scanning the photos and asking a police department technician to try to improve the images; he made some announcements that he passed on to other detectives asking them to check if these people were related to other cases. This also did not work well, which was beginning to exasperate the gray-eyed detective. The women and boys in the pictures seemed to simply not exist.

He had been working on old case reports for three days and phoning anyone who could help in recognizing the faces in his ads. He needed a break so he took everything he had on his desk from Viridian's police department and took it to his apartment, where he also already had a pile of documents that he had brought previously, file boxes and other things from the Team Rocket case.

The little round table in the apartment was a mess among all the documents scattered on it that Looker had been going through. The empty boxes of Chinese food that he devoured as condemned a few hours ago, and the glasses that he wear to read were also somewhere on the table. A half empty can of beer of a very poor quality in Looker's words was on an old adventure book that the detective always carried with him since he was a high school student.

The television was on, but Looker was not paying attention to what was happening on it. He used to just leave it on to listen to something and not feel alone in that place. The credits for the film that had just ended were coming to an end. The detective leaned back in the uncomfortable wooden chair, swinging fearlessly on its hind legs. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned as sleep began to settle in him. He rubbed his face with one hand and looked at the clock on the wall, he realized it was almost midnight, he had been sitting in that damn chair for too many hours.

Deciding that it was best to go to bed for the moment, he sat up, dropping the front legs of the chair against the old carpet on the floor. He took the remote control to turn off the television, and was about to do so when he realized that he had started another program. It was a local channel so they used to broadcast news from the city, they followed interesting events that happened during the week in Viridian and they broadcast their soccer team games.

A sympathetic blonde-haired girl reporter was on screen interviewing well-known pokemon researcher Professor Samuel Oak. They were outside the city radio building, this was a place Looker had passed on his way to the police department on a few occasions to evade Viridian's traffic during the morning rush hour. The detective turned up the volume and paid attention to what they were saying.

"So professor, is it true that a new radio program will start?"

"Yes" the man replied, smiling, "It will be a space for research, but we will also share pokemon poetry"

"Sir you are an eminence in research and you are also a great poet"

"I don't like to brag, but I'm really not that bad with poetry", the researcher joked with a hand behind the back of his neck.

A brown-haired boy waited patiently next to the professor. The camera focused on him and the reporter asked.

"This little boy, is his grandson Gary, right?", Said the woman excited.

"That's right, this is my grandson", the researcher replied proudly as he put a hand on the shoulder of the boy who had a face of childish annoyance.

"Gary, do you also want to be a great pokemon researcher like your grandfather one day?"

The boy frowned and responded by pointing at the camera with his index finger.

"Of course not. That's boring! You are seeing the future champion of Kanto!", A nervous laugh settled on the woman reporter and the professor rolled his eyes.

"Well that's fantastic, you've already heard friends, remember this face", the woman concluded, returning her attention to the professor.

Looker felt that he knew this boy with such an intense personality. He turned and rummaged through the papers on the table. He took one of the photographs and placed it next to the television comparing the boy who had just announced that he would be the future champion of the region. The detective's face lit up with excitement and all the fatigue and desire to go to bed disappeared. He turned off the television, sat down again, and turned on his laptop. He started typing in a hurry, wanting to get as much information as possible about Professor Oak and his grandson Gary. If he could knew where to find them he could know who the woman and the other dark-haired boy were and thus perhaps he could unravel this mystery that the Black Knights and Team Rocket were.

In Pallet Town the mornings were always quiet. The sun appeared to announce to its inhabitants that a new day in the field was about to begin, the pokemon began to move through the nearby forests and meadows. A light morning breeze was wagging the branches in the trees and a doduo was singing somewhere in town. In the little white house that at times seemed like a fairytale to Giovanni, the morning announced its arrival with some light beams of lights streaming through the curtains of the main room.

Delia was a country-raised woman used to waking up even before the sun showed its first rays of light. Starting work early was always the best. However, this morning she caught up with her still in bed. She could hear the singing of the pidgeys outside and also feel her husband's large, warm hands encircling her waist. It had been a long time since she woke up this way, and she loved it. Feeling Giovanni hugging her under their covers, listening to his rhythmic and relaxed breathing. She felt how her nostrils were flooded with the pleasant and peculiar fragrance of the gym leader.

The day before, they spent a quiet day in family, after returning from Professor Oak's house they had lunch together. Ash spent as long as he wanted talking to his father about the gym and the leader's pokemon. Delia joined them later to watch some family movies. Dinner was as joyous as on many other occasions when Giovanni visited them. Creating happy family moments for Ash was a priority for Delia and when her husband could be at the house they didn't waste time to have a good time the three of them together. After dinner Ash still wanted to be with his father and continue talking together. But Delia sent him to take a bath to go to bed, promising that the next day they could even have more time together. Giovanni had spent three days in the downstairs guest room and after saying good night to Ash along with Delia, he was finally able to take a bath and sleep next to his wife in the main room.

Delia stir into her husband's arms so she could see him face to face. She looked at him carefully, he looked tired. Some of his straight dark hair covered his face and she carefully brushed them away. He had thin eyebrows, and a straight nose. She couldn't help but take his face in her hands. She adored that man. Giovanni frowned, then slowly opened his eyes. A slight smile crossed his face, the first thing he looked at when he woke up had been Delia. She kissed his lips lightly.

"Good morning my love"

"Good morning", he answered, pulling her closer to his body.

Delia always liked seeing Giovanni wake up. She used to thought his tousled hair from him in the morning was a sultry side that no one but her could enjoy. The gym leader's young wife had always loved seeing him like this, so simple, being just her husband.

"I'd better get up, it's a little late"

"Honey, the sun has barely risen, you better stay with me for a while", he replied as buried his face in her neck, kissing her.

"Ash must be awake by now…" She pushed him gently away from her.

"Leave the boy, he must be watching television, nothing will happen to him..."

Giovanni wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled her onto the bed to put her against the mattress. His hands cupped her face and he kissed her lips urgently. She did not resist and her arms wrapped around his neck demanding more from his mouth. The night before, she fell asleep she barely touched the bed and he was awake most of the night feeling restless. Just listening to his wife's breathing while he couldn't sleep because his head was full of unpleasant thoughts. He would have liked to wake her up so that she would accompany him with her kisses and caresses, but he thought that Delia had already done too much taking care of him those days and surely she was very tired.

"It's been a long time since I could kiss you like that", Giovanni told her against her lips.

"I've missed you so much these months…", Delia whispered as she kissed his earlobe.

Giovanni's hands began to move across her hips, climbing under the top of his wife's pajamas, she shuddered at the contact of his warm skin. Delia claimed her husband's mouth hard again. Giovanni felt the slight swelling in his woman's belly and was about to say something when she pulled away from him as if he burned her. The gym leader looked at her in confusion and she looked at him sitting from the edge of the bed. Since Giovanni appeared badly wounded at the door of their house, Delia knew that they must have this conversation, but with everything that happened those days there had been no opportunity. He didn't even notice Delia wearing slightly baggy clothes and an apron.

The gym leader's face was pale, after his head will start to assamble the pieces that this puzzle. He flopped back against the mattress again and put a hand to his face.

"Are we waiting again?", Giovanni's face had a small flush on the cheeks that made Delia want to kiss him again.

"Yes honey", she answered him as calmly as she could.

"How long are you?" The gym leader asked calmly again.

She got up to go take a shower.

"Just a couple of months, I wanted to tell you a long time ago… But you don't…"

"I didn't come back", her husband interrupted, she nodded. Giovanni got out of bed. "I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"I am", she murmured against her husband's chest. "I feel better now that you know"

He nodded and released her to watch her go to the bathroom. When the door closed he sat down heavily on the bed. He still felt in shock, he had to get out of there now. He couldn't endanger his family more.

During breakfast Ash noticed the air of tension between his parents. They both acted strange since they came down that morning. He was watching cartoons on television when his father appeared and greeted him as usual, but he seemed distracted. His mother looked tired and she prepared breakfast in silence, which did not seem normal. She was always singing, chatting, or humming as she moved around the kitchen.

The dark-haired little boy drank some from his glass of milk and then glanced at his father who was eating in silence.

"Can I see your pokemons after breakfast?", The boy asked with bright eyes.

"Sure Ash", replied his father that he still seemed to be thinking about something important.

"Ash after helping your father with the pokemon, go to the professor's house, to see how Gary is doing, okay?"

The little boy looked at his mother curiously, whenever his father was at home visiting his mother asked him not to go out, as it was very important to spend time with the family. This seemed very strange to Ash and he thought that maybe they wanted to have some time alone to talk about whatever was happening so that the bubble of happiness that enveloped them yesterday would have disappeared.

"Okay, Mom"

"I'll make some snacks for you to take to Gary and his grandfather", Delia said as she smiled at her son.

When they finished breakfast, Ash helped his mother clean the table and then went out with his father to the backyard where the gym leader threw all the pokeballs that he was carrying with him to free his fellow pokemon.

"Come on! Everyone come out!"

The little boy's eyes flashed with excitement as Rhydon, Dugtrio, Nidoqueen, Persian, Nidoking, and Rhyhorn came out of their pokeballs. Ash rushed over to fetch the plates of food and water that he and his father had prepared in the kitchen earlier. The boy was amazed watching how his father shared with his pokemon that they looked happy to be next to him. He also wanted to be a trainer so he could share with the pokemon.

Ash walked over to Rhydon to refill his plate of food. His father walked over to them and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Do you like Rhydon?" Giovanni asked as he smiled at Ash.

"Yes Dad, he's a fantastic partner"

"That's true, son, besides being a strong pokemon he's a great partner, he has helped me win many battles in the gym"

"I already want to be a pokemon trainer like your dad", Ash had his hands in fists in front of his chest with excitement.

"Soon you will be able to be one, but before that happens you must prepare yourself. Do you know what is most important to be a good trainer? You have to..."

His little son with chocolate eyes like his adored wife was watching him carefully. Then Giovanni felt a pang that went through his chest, he didn't have the face to talk about it. Not when he long ago stopped thinking like a trainer and started using his pokemon as tools to achieve the goals he set for himself as Team Rocket leader, gym leader or businessman in city. Ash waited patiently when he looked his father deny with the face, in a movement that Giovanni made without thinking, and that the minor took as a proposal to answer for him.

"I think the most important thing is to be his friend", said the boy and his father looked at him in surprise.

The words of his son reminded Giovanni when he himself was a child with dreams and hopes. When he played in the gardens of his huge house near the beach accompanied by some pokemon from his mother. He recalled the hours he spent training with Meowth to get him to evolve into Persian. He was moved when the images of that day came to his memory. Ash was an incredible child and not because he was his son, since he thought that the boy was like Delia a small ray of light in the vast darkness that the world could be. Giovanni had been like Ash when he was a child, but things changed over the years. He had committed heinous acts of which he asked heaven his son will never find out.

After feeding the pokemon, the gym leader dedicated himself to cleaning the pokeballs of each of them very well and placed them back in their place on the belt that he always carried with him.

"Take this, son", He put the belt in the boy's hands and shook his hair. "Do me a favor, take them to my room for me"

The boy raised his face to see his father smile at him and nodded hurriedly. Giovanni watched him run toward the house. When he was sure that Ash would not return he took one of the folding yard chairs and began to search through his pockets for his phone.

As the screen lit up when turning on Giovanni wished he had a cigarette, even though he never smoked when he was home. Delia believed that he had left it when Ash was born and that was at least for a while until the stress again made him drop again.

The screen began to fill with all the notifications of calls and missed messages during the time it was turned off and tucked in a locked drawer. His executives had days worried about their boss who they believed was dead. Giovanni pressed the speed dial icon and waited a bit impatiently on the line.

"Proton" His calm voice heard firmly.

"Sir! Where is? Is okay?", He asked in a rush as he ran from his office to Blaine's lab where his partners Petrel and Ariana were.

"I'm fine, is everyone in Celadon City already?"

Proton made some hand gestures for his companions to come closer and activated the loudspeaker so they could hear the crime lord as well.

"That's right sir, except Archer", He paused. "He returned to Viridian after yours disappearance..."

Giovanni thought it might be beneficial to his escape from Pallet Town if he could contact Archer later.

"I understand, how's Blaine going with his investigation?"

"All is going well, there are just a few setbacks," Proton cleared his throat, imagining his boss's annoyed face on the other end of the line. Giovanni squeezed the phone with strength.

"Listen Proton later I will contact you again to pick me up, I will give you my location ... We will see you soon"

"Wait a moment sir, wait…", The call ended and the only thing Proton and his companions heard was the sound of the phone without a line.

"What do we do now?", Petrel asked as he sat back in his executive chair.

"We have to go find the boss", the redhead answered as she pointed to the phone in Proton's hands who had just issued a notification with Giovanni's location.

Proton looked at the screen and then at his companions with a confused face. He raised the screen so that they too watching.

"The boss is in Pallet Town"

Ariana arched a visibly confused brow. Petrel crossed his arms and took the device from his partner's hands.

"Archer is close. I'll send it to him to go get the boss"

"But what is he doing in that little town in the middle of nowhere?", Proton wondered.

"Who knows", Petrel replied with a shrug.

"Don't worry about that now we have work here", The woman she took the documents that were on her desk, but paid little attention to them because she was as intrigued as the other executives about Giovanni.

"Mom, are you okay?", Ash's childish face was drawn with concern.

He ran into his parents' room to leave the pokeballs as Giovanni requested him, but upon entering he found his mother sitting on the edge of the bed with her hands covering her face, which alarmed him. Her mother raised her face and smiled at him.

"Hi baby, don't worry, I'm fine", The boy put the pokeballs on the bedside table and sat next to his mother who looked a little pale.

As she folded clothes she suddenly felt dizzy and in an attempt to wait for it to pass she covered her face with her hands. She thought that she would no longer have sickness and dizziness, but it seemed they would still bother her a little more.

"Are you sure mommy?", Ash asked again, insistently.

"Yes my love", She caressed hischeek. "Where's your father?"

"He's still in the yard"

"Please call him Ash, I must change his bandages"

"Okey mom"

The dark-haired boy jumped out of bed and ran out of the room. Delia got up a little dizzy still and went to the bathroom to get some hot water that she would need to clean Giovanni's wound.

When Ash walked through the back door of the house he stood still looking at his father who had just finished a call. He was a few meters from Giovanni that he had a face of total annoyance that Ash had never seen before he wondered what would have happened to make him upset like that. His father had his arms crossed in front of his chest and gave off a heavy aura that made Ash fear his father something he had never felt before. He cautiously he moved close enough to be heard clearly.

"Daddy?", He murmured in a timid tone of voice.

The gym leader turned on his feet to look at his son who was now watching him with some caution. He softened his face and smirked, he didn't like that Ash saw him upset.

"What happed Ash?"

"Mom says she wants to change your bandages", he answered a little intimidated, while he rubbed his arm, the one that had been fractured a few months ago.

"Okay, thanks Ash"

Giovanni took a few steps towards his son, put a hand on the boy's head, ruffling his hair, and then Ash watched him enter the house. The crime lord went upstairs, thinking that he didn't have any more time. He would say goodbye to Delia and Ash and disappear that very day. He hoped Proton had done what he thought and sent the coordinates to Archer.

Giovanni entered the room where Delia was waiting for him, already ready with what was necessary to change his bandages. He sat on the bed and watched her preparing the new gauze and bandages.

"You feel good?"

Delia blinked in surprise. It was the same question her son had asked her as soon as he saw her. She went to her husband and kissed his cheek.

"Yes honey, I'm fine"

"You look a little pale", The man began to unbutton the pale blue shirt he was wearing.

"Don't worry Giovanni"

"When it comes to you, I always do it, Delia"

She began to remove the old gauze from his husband. She clean the wound with warm water and he shuddered.

"It must have been difficult for you during this time"

"I began to think that I would never see you again and that you would not come home", she confessed without looking into his eyes.

"It was not my intention that this will happen like this"

"So, can you tell me now how you ended up like this?"

The crime lord felt a chill run down his spine. He knew she deserved to know the truth, but he couldn't help but be afraid of what she might think of him.

"It's complicated Delia, I can't tell you now"

"Don't you think that as your wife I deserve to know what's going on with you?" She demanded to him.

Giovanni turned his face silently so as not to meet her eyes. Delia knew then that she couldn't make him speak. She ended of changing his bandages and sat down next to Giovanni on the bed. He started buttoning his shirt.

"Thank you Delia", he told her as she leaned against his shoulder. "I'll leave today..."

"Good" The woman stood up and began to pick up the things with which she changed Giovanni's bandages without saying another word, two could play that game of silence.

"I don't know when we'll meet again..."

"It doesn't matter, we'll be fine. Don't worry for us"

The gym leader could distinguish sadness and annoyance in his wife's tone of voice. He approached her and wrapped his arms around her. Delia rested her face against his chest and she began to cry. She would be lying if she said that didn't hurt that he left they. That they will not look at each other. The years had passed and the two of them couldn't make up for lost time if they continued like this. Delia used to cry when she thought of Giovanni, but she had chosen that life and she thought she couldn't complain now.

Suddenly they heard a clangor on the ground floor, both reacted immediately and left the room. When they got to the stairs they saw fire that was beginning to spread through the walls of the ground floor.

"Ash", Delia yelled, scared for the safety of her son and ran down the stairs.

"Wait", Giovanni followed her when he couldn't reach her.

No one understood what was happening. Outside the house had been surrounded by Cipriani's men who were ready to enter after throwing some explosives. Ash was reading an old Indigo Plateau Conference magazine on the small kitchen table when the first explosive detonated in the front of the house. The noise stunned him and his heart pounded with fear. Ash crawled under the table and covered his ears with his hands. A second round of explosives was dropped on the house, causing the wood to crack and the place to fill with smoke. Giovanni took Delia by the shoulders of her and pushed her towards the ground covering his with her body.

"Hell", he yelled as the ceiling began to creak above them. "Stay here I'll go get Ash"

The man pointed to the guest room, Delia hurried to go there. The little wooden house was rapidly catching fire and filling with smoke. Giovanni could hear the voices of the Black Knights outside. Upon reaching the kitchen he looked at Ash sitting under the table with a terrified face as he covered his ears and kept his eyes closed. The entire kitchen was covered in smoke and some flames were beginning to cover the walls. The gym leader ran over to his son.

"Come on Ash, let's go", he said, holding out his hand.

The little boy was stunned, but when he saw his father he quickly hung on to his arms. Giovanni hurried back, dodging the falling wood burning up and ran into the guest room. He put his little one on the floor and ran to the bedroom door.

"Ash!", The woman cried out in concern and hugged her son against her body. "Are you okey honey?"

Delia took her son's face in her hands and checked that he was okay. Giovanni was standing under the door frame, looking toward the front of the house. His face was sweating and his hands were shaking so he clenched them into fists in an attempt to stay calm. It was too late, he thought, Leo Cipriano had found him. Surely he knew about Ash and Delia, now he could not leave them, he would have to take them with him and reveal secrets for which he was not ready yet.