PoKéMoN

Avenger – by Ben Russell-Gough

Legal Disclaimer

Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters and their human friends and enemies are all the sole copyright and trademark property of Nintendo Entertainment, Game Freak Software and 4 Kids Productions. No breach of any copyright or legal property is intended.

Author's Notes

This is my first Pokémon fic. I still don't know all the monsters or the moves, so please forgive me if I get something glaringly wrong. I can only base my work on the little I've seen of the cartoon.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all the other Fanfiction.NET authors for providing plenty of information, feedback and honest advice. It has made my work much better and more satisfying to read, I think. Special thanks must go to Charles 'Rocketboy' Reilly, Wind, Chuchino, Joshua Falken and Catalina Storm for their invaluable detailed feedback.

Text in [squared-off brackets] is translated Pokémon talk

Text in Italics but not in quotes indicates thought or telepathic communication

Text in bold is a mobile 'phone text message

This is an Alternate Universe fic.

Ages: Ash is 17; Misty has just turned 19; Brock is 25; Jessie and James are both 24; Richie is 17; Duplicia is 18; Sabrina is 20; Lance is 16; Joy is 29.

Censor: R (Equivalent to UK '15' Certificate)

Content Warning: Swearing, implied sexual activity & extreme violence

Book 2 – Team Rocket Strikes Back

What has gone before…

It is a time of struggle, with the heroic young Trainers of Team Thunderbolt engaged in a bitter blood feud with the dark forces of Team Rocket. At stake is not only the fate of these heroes, but also the fate of the whole world.

His friends have just freed Ash Ketchum, the leader of Team Thunderbolt, from captivity. Now on the way home to Pallet Town to recuperate from the injuries inflicted on him by Team Rocket's sadistic torturers, Ash finds that the reach of his evil father, Giovanni diRocketti was long and his vengeance a thing most terrible to behold…

***

Together Misty and Ash ran down the hill from the laboratories to a small house in the suburbs.

Ash realised that the house in which he spent his entire childhood was the only one in the entire town that was largely intact. Although it had been broken into, its' windows broken and its contents smashed, it had not been burnt. Ash strode through the door, not knowing if the building was safe and not caring. "Mom!" he shouted. "Mom! Where are you? Mister Mime, are you here?"

Suddenly Raichu uttered a loud shriek that caught Ash's entire attention. Mr. Mime was lying in the centre of the shattered living room. Around him were the corpses of a Quilava, a Geodude and a Vulpix. The little psi-type had been shot through the head with a large-calibre pistol. Ash found a corner to in which he could be sick. When he managed to stand up again, he saw something on the far wall of the living room that chilled his blood.

Someone had painted four names on the wall: 'Samuel Oak,' 'Delilah Ketchum,' 'Joy Burke' and 'Maxine 'Duplicia' Simmonds.' The first three had a blood-red tick painted against them, the fourth a skull and crossbones. "Oh God no… why?" Ash blurted.

"Ash… God, I'm sorry," Misty was saying, weeping helplessly.

Ash barely heard her. All he knew was that his mother, one of his friends and the man who had been a father to him for his entire conscious existence were gone… taken by Team Rocket. Ash started to scream. He forced his way past Misty and out of the house. Misty stumbled after him, not sure what he was going to do, but terrified at the look of insane anger on her lover's face.

Outside, Ash tilted his head to the heavens and roared his fury and pain in a single despairing cry. As Misty looked on, suddenly the flame in the buildings opposite Ash's house roared higher and brighter, as if in response to Ash's torment. Suddenly, the flames flashed upwards into a huge eagle made entirely of flame. "MOLTRESSSS!" the blazing bird screamed.

The huge Legendary Bird dropped to the ground in front of Ash. What service do you require of me, Chosen One? Moltres asked silently. Ash's eyes were wild and unseeing, his face was twisted with elemental fury and Misty, much to her horror, saw only death in his brown eyes.

"Take me to the forest," Ash ordered. "Find me a Team Rocket agent to kill!"

"Ash, wait!" Misty suddenly shouted, running forward. Without a single glance at her or Raichu, Ash urged Moltres into the air. The Legendary Bird screamed in defiance as it sensed the Chosen One's fury and leapt into the skies. Misty slowed to a halt and watched as Moltres disappeared to the south east, now a flaming arrow of vengeance against the blackened sky.

***

It didn't take Misty long to find Ash. Moltres was almost 150 feet from wingtip to wingtip. Even on the ground, the Legendary Bird's flames lit up his surroundings for miles. As Dragonite circled towards the clearing where the God of Fire stood, Misty saw one of Team Rocket's armoured ground transports lying on its' side. The vehicle was painted like an Arcanine, like all of its' type, but the rear of this vehicle was a puddle of slag, melted by the intense heat of Moltres' Fire Blast attack.

As Misty's mount circled closer, the girl from Cerulean City saw her lover. He was holding a white-uniformed Team Rocket agent by the lapels of his tunic and was smashing his fist into his face again and again and again. On the verge of panic, Misty commanded Dragonite to land. She leapt from the dragon's back and ran towards Ash.

"Stop it, Ash," she screamed, "you'll kill him!"

Ash swung around to face Misty, his face pale and blank, his eyes staring, filled with hate and anger. "Get out of here Misty," he snarled. "Get out or watch me kill this piece of shit the way his kind have killed my friends and neighbours!"

"NO!" Misty shouted, grabbing Ash by the arm. "Don't do it, Ash. Please, you'll be no better than them!"

Ash didn't even look at Misty. He was much stronger than she was, and he shrugged her hands off without any real effort. Misty hit the ground with a grunt of discomfort and surprise, tears starting in her eyes. In all the years they had known each other the one thing he had never done was hit her.

As Misty looked on in horror, Ash cocked his fist and punched the Rocket again. The man's face was already a mask of blood; Misty couldn't even tell what his skin colour was. Ash dropped him to the ground and drew his survival knife from his belt. With almost supernatural calm, he tilted the man's head back and poised the serrated blade against the man's carotid artery. "Last chance, scum," Ash said, his voice strangely friendly and helpful. "Where have your friends taken my mother?"

The man wasn't conscious and, given the amount of damage Ash had done to his face, it was unlikely he could have made an intelligible reply if he was conscious. Ash shrugged easily. "Your choice," he remarked. He raised the knife and prepared to slash the Rocket' throat open like he was a thanksgiving turkey.

"Ash, NO!" Misty screamed at the top of her voice. Ash's head snapped around to face her again. "Please don't do this, Ash," she begged, tears streaming down her face. "Please, you'll destroy everything good you've ever done if you let yourself do this!"

"They… they took away my Mom," Ash said, his voice calm and distant. "I've got to find her, Misty. I don't care what it takes to do that…"

"Ash, don't you understand that this is what they want?" she pleaded. "To turn you into a killer… to destroy your honour and your soul?" Ash looked at her in confusion and a sudden inspiration suddenly struck Misty. She would have been pleased if it were not the truth. "You do this and you'll be just like him… you'll become your father."

Ash sucked in a breath in what sounded suspiciously like a sob. He looked at his knife as if he had never seen it before. With a scream that sounded like a sob, he threw it away from him. He dropped the unconscious Rocket and backed away from him. "I… I don't know what to do, Misty," he said at last. "I can't think straight… I can't do anything."

Misty suddenly felt strangely angry with him. "Damn it, Ash, stop being so selfish!" she shouted. "You aren't the only person suffering here! Team Rocket has wiped out whole families! Brock is going mad thinking about what might happen to Joy!" Misty drew in a deep breath and tried to calm down. "We'll make them pay, Ash," she promised, "but we can't just go on a rampage. Look, Jessie has found a DVD that might have a ransom demand on it. We'll watch it and decide on our next move."

Ash closed his eyes and tried to regain control of himself. He was only partially successful. However, he knew that Misty was right and he was wrong… as usual. "I don't know if I can survive this, Misty," he said.

"That's what friends are for," Misty said gently, her voice quiet and afraid. Ash suddenly lunged forward and hugged her with bone-crushing strength. Misty hugged him back, and where their cheeks were pressed together, their tears of pain and grief mingled.

As Misty held Ash in her arms, she remembered the terrifying blankness of his expression when he was about to murder that Rocket. Is this how it began with Giovanni? she asked herself. How far can you push a good man? How much pain, degradation and horror must he have to endure before he cannot take anymore, and the slash of a knife or the roar of a gunshot offers a solution that would make the world so… clean? Misty suddenly shook her head. Ash wasn't his father and he would never be his father. He was a good man, dedicated to justice, honour and love; he would never decay into a monster, obsessed with killing and power. Then, with a sudden chilling certainty, she realised that this is what people might have said about Joseph Oak twenty years ago… before he became Giovanni diRocketti.

Misty swallowed her fear. Ash would not become another Giovanni; she would ensure that much… she hoped. Sabrina's vision saw them together, about to launch a final conquest of the world. Nono, it won't be that way, she swore to herself. "Come on," she said aloud, gently detaching Ash's arms and turning him back towards his patiently waiting Pokémon. "I'll take you home."

Misty led Ash away from the broken Rockets and their destroyed vehicle. After a few moments, Moltres and Dragonite rose away from the clearing and slowly flew off back towards Pallet Town.

And now the continuation…

Chapter 6 – The Face of the Betrayer

Misty was hovering again, Richie decided sourly.

Of course, he could well understand her concern and her impatience. Things were, after all, pretty bad all told. Around them, Pallet Town lay in ruins. One of Team Thunderbolt was at the mercy of their sworn enemies in Team Rocket. The Thunderbolts' leader, Ash Ketchum, seemed to be hovering on the edge of insanity. Of course, after seeing his hometown destroyed and learning that Team Rocket had captured and taken his mother and the man who was effectively a father to him to who knows where, who could blame him?

The other members of Team Thunderbolt were all sitting around the small living room of Ash's violated family home. Jessie and James were sitting close together along with their friend Meowth, talking quietly. James had gone through a rough patch earlier. Both he and Jessie didn't seem so much angry as they were tired. Lance was comforting Sabrina, who, now she was actually in the town, was suffering from feeling the psychic agony of the town's collective aura being so badly savaged. Duplicia and Misty were trying to comfort Brock, who had been in tears as he considered the likely fate of his one-time lover, Joy Burke, now captured by Team Rocket. Everyone except Brock and Joy themselves knew that the two of them were still in love, and this catastrophe had finally revealed that truth to Brock. Richie just hoped that it wasn't too late for the pair of them.

Things were not hopeless yet, but a lot depended on Richie getting the damaged DVD player and TV set working again. With some relief, Richie watched the yellow lights on his voltage-testing wand, indicating that the home entertainment system was powering up. "Guys, I think I've got it," Richie called.

Ash looked up and, for a split second, he caught Richie's eye. Richie had to look away immediately. Whatever it was he could see in Ash's eyes, it wasn't pretty; indeed it was the stuff of nightmares.

As Brock, Jessie, James, Meowth, Sabrina, Lance and Duplicia crowded around the TV set, Ash remained slumped at the bottom of the stairs. He had been sitting there since Misty had brought him back from the forest where he fled after learning of the day's disasters.

Misty hadn't told any of the others that Ash had been on the verge of murdering some hapless Team Rocket agent when she found him. She hoped that a little time to think would have helped her lover regain his calm. It wasn't looking like her hopes had been realised.

"Ash," she said gently. "We're ready to play that DVD the Rockets left behind."

Ash physically started and looked up at Misty, his eyes filled with anger, pain and despair. Instinctively, Misty took a step back and Ash reached out to grab her hand before she could move away from him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay," he said after looking up at her with a cold, lifeless smile, "let's see what they have to say."

Misty noted how the other Thunderbolts moved aside as Ash walked into the room. Misty swallowed dryly. Ash had never been one to inspire fear in his friends before today. Suddenly, however, everyone was reacting to him as if he was an unexploded bomb or something. Misty prayed devoutly to whoever might be listening that Ash wouldn't fall as his accursed father, Giovanni diRocketti, had fallen.

As Ash passed Sabrina, he felt the psychic woman's mind reaching out to him, trying to comfort him. What she sensed, the coldness and agony thrashing around in his mind, terrified her. She unconsciously moved closer to her boyfriend, Lance, trying to absorb a little warmth from his good-natured soul.

Ash stood right in front of Richie. "Well?" he asked.

"I've got it working as well as it is going to get Ash," Richie replied. "We're ready to play the disc." Ash nodded once and sat stiffly on the edge of a battered and scarred coffee table. Richie inserted the DVD into the jerry-rigged player and pressed the 'play' button.

The TV screen showed static for a second before a backlit figure appeared, sitting at a desk. The man was wearing a stone-coloured Team Rocket uniform. Although you couldn't see his face, the fact that he was stroking a smug-looking Persian told Jessie, James and Meowth who this was immediately. Ash knew him straight away from the voice and image shown him during his time as Team Rocket's unwilling guest not to long ago. "Giovanni," Ash said, his voice emotionless.

"Greetings, Team Thunderbolt," Giovanni said in a taunting tone of voice. "And especially greetings to you, my son. By now, of course, you would have seen my agents… handiwork. I hope that this has demonstrated to you all the utter futility of your attempts to defeat me?"

"It demonstrates that your thugs perform better when they are fighting unarmed civilians," Richie said with a snort.

"I arranged this little show for one reason," Giovanni continued. "And that was to demonstrate that I could crush your pitiful little band at any time that I choose." The image of Giovanni closed his free hand into a fist and waved it at the camera. "However, I have been impressed by your strength and skill. And, wherever possible, I prefer to work with strength, rather than against it." Giovanni settled back and began to stroke Persian again. "You are the first group to seriously threaten Team Rocket's dominance over human society in almost two decades, and I think that this proves something. It proves that you are not sheep like most of the pitiful populace of our world, but masters and leaders. That means that your place is at my side."

There was consternation around the living room of the Ketchum home. "Is that psychotic inviting us to join Team Rocket?" Duplicia blurted in disbelief.

"He's crazy if he thinks we will ever join the people who could do this to a town of innocent people," Richie snapped angrily.

"He's holding the cards for now, though," Brock said unhappily, fidgeting as he considered what Joy (and Delilah and Professor Oak, of course) might be going through.

Giovanni had paused, no doubt anticipating the furore that his statement would have provoked. Ash could sense the man's smug smile and had to restrain a desire to kick in the TV set's tube. "Quiet," he said. "There's more."

"You will have learnt by now that your comrades, Joy Burke and Maxine Simmonds are both in the protective custody of Team Rocket, along with my traitorous ex-wife and brother. They will remain in our protective custody for the next fourteen days. If you have not delivered yourselves to my headquarters facility on Black Island in that time…" Giovanni chuckled darkly. "Well, you are a group of intelligent young people, I'm sure that you can imagine what will happen if you do not appear."

Ash's expression was cold, as if he were carved out of stone. Misty reached up to touch his knee. Ash grabbed her hand and squeezed it hard. "I'm here, Ash," she whispered.

"I know," Ash whispered back before continuing in a normal tone. "Obviously this was recorded before the attack, or he wouldn't have mentioned Duplicia being in his 'protective custody.'" Ash shook his head. "That bastard is smug and overconfident. We can use that to our advantage."

The other Thunderbolts looked at Ash with a little surprise at hearing him say they had an advantage; however their expressions were showing a little more defiance than before. Misty held down a proud smile; it was incredible how easily Ash was managing to motivate his friends.

"I assure you that I have no interest in revenge," Giovanni was continuing. "Those incompetents you so easily overthrew have already proven that they are unworthy of the Cause. I would go so far as to suggest that you have done me a great service by exposing their weakness and disposing of them so neatly."

"Now that is insulting," Misty snorted, making Ash laugh, if a little hollowly.

"So all of you can be assured of places of power in the service of Team Rocket," Giovanni said, his voice pleasant. "Especially you, my son. You can be assured that as my heir, you will have all the power and the privilege that you could need. And don't concern yourself about my 'guests.' As much as it pains me, I assure you that your two friends and my… kin…" and Giovanni had to bite out that last word as if it tasted bad, "will go unharmed if you co-operate."

There was a long pause, as Giovanni looked at the camera, still stroking Persian. "There is one last point I should make," he said at last. "Jessie and James, I will not insult your intelligence by suggesting that the amnesty I am willing to extend to your colleagues applies to you. You were once Team Rocket my naïve young friends and you know the price of betrayal. I cannot make an exception for anyone, or I might give my agents the idea that they can betray me at will. If you are sensible and surrender yourself with the others, I can at least promise that your punishment will be swift and utterly painless."

Jessie swallowed and moved closer to James, whose face darkened with murderous anger. Meowth snarled. "Don't do us no favours, mistah," his hissed. "We ain't gonna surrendah to you!"

"I am sure you intend to help them escape my son," Giovanni continued jocularly. "Don't bother. If they do not present themselves along with the rest of your band, I will see to it that your mother and my brother suffer all the torments that Butch and Cassidy made you endure… and worse." Ash tensed, remembering the torture; and maybe only Misty saw the pain and torment in his eyes. "You know it's odd, Jessie," Giovanni continued in a thoughtful tone of voice. "How mother and daughter are going to have the same fate. I had to kill Miyamoto for her treason, and now I am going to do the same to you." He sighed and laughed darkly. "I always seem to have trouble with my children. You are a traitor and I have had to go to all this trouble to convince my son to behave!"

"No…" Jessie whispered, half standing. "No… you aren't my father… YOU AREN'T!"

"Jessie," James stood and tried to grab her, "he's lying to try to upset us…" Jessie shrugged James' arm off her shoulder. She was frozen as she watched Giovanni's shadowy face and listened to his gloating voice, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Your mother's end was painless, daughter," Giovanni chuckled. "If you surrender, I will see to it that it is the same for you. If not… well I always wondered if you would taste the same as your mother."

"That… animal!" Sabrina hissed.

"No… it isn't…" Jessie was sobbing now, trembling as if she were having a fit. She suddenly turned and fled from the house with a scream of "NO!"

"Jessie!" James and Meowth chased off after the redheaded woman.

"Remember, Ash, you have fourteen days. I want all eight of you on Black Island by then. You know what the price your loved ones will pay if you decide to…" Ash snarled and finally succumbed to a base instinct by kicking out the TV set's tube.

"You shit," Ash snapped. "I'll do the same to your face soon enough!" He was about to rush out of the door and find someone to fight when Misty grabbed his arm. Ash touched her hand and closed his eyes, breathing hard and trying to conquer his hatred. Stay calm man, he told himself. Don't lose control of your anger. The others need you. It was very hard, though. Since the moment Ash had seen his violated home, he had wanted nothing more than to go and kill every Team Rocket agent he could find. Giovanni's gloating words was making it harder and harder to resist this temptation.

There was a long silence as the Thunderbolts considered "What… what do we do?" Brock asked, hunched in on himself.

"We are not going to surrender," Misty declared. "That is out of the question, isn't it, Ash?" Misty looked at Ash, who was pacing restlessly, a fierce expression on his face. "Isn't it?" she asked again.

"Of course," Ash said with a wave of a hand. "Don't worry, Mist. There's no chance I would even consider us handing ourselves over to that demon. I wouldn't trust him to honour a cheque, let alone his promises that he won't try to take revenge on us." Ash looked at the open door for a moment. "And there is no chance that I will hand over my… my kin… to his concept of 'justice.'" Ash shook his head and suddenly sat down heavily. The weight on his shoulders was getting a little too heavy, and the pain and anguish he felt was making thinking hard.

"What are we going to do then?" Lance said. "He said he'll kill Joy, Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak if we don't surrender by then."

"There is only one thing we can do," Ash said, scowling at nothing. "We are going to free the hostages. Then we will make him pay for everything he has done!"

***

"Jessie… Meowth! Are youse okay?" Jessie was standing on the high bluffs over a small sandy cove south east of Pallet Town. Once, a long time ago, they had fought a battle with Ash and Misty here, a battle that temporarily blinded Ash and left Jessie almost dead from drowning. It was strange that they should have come from the worst of enemies to the closest of friends. Now this had happened, and Giovanni had made his revelation.

"Jessie…?"

"Go away, Meowth," Jessie said, trying to make her tone as forbidding as possible. "You too, James."

"No," James replied, making Jessie smile slightly. Once her 'angry voice' would have terrified James, but he had come so far recently; and so much of that he owed to Ash. "I won't leave you alone while you are suffering," her lover continued.

Jessie tried to draw in a deep breath, but it shuddered and threatened to turn into a sob. "It's… horrible," she said at last. "All my life, I've looked up to Mama… tried to live a life that would be worthy of her courage in dying while trying to catch Mew." James nodded encouragingly. "Now I learn that it was all a lie. That the Boss killed her for some kind of betrayal! That her death meant nothing!" Jessie began to cry. She covered her face and had to resist the temptation to throw herself off the sixty-foot cliffs in the hope of finding peace. "And if that meant nothing, then it means everything I've done in my life is based on a lie, that everything I've ever done is nothing! That I am NOTHING!"

"Jessie!" James shouted, interrupting her flow of pain. "Listen to me, Jessie," he said firmly, "you are not 'nothing.'" James stepped forward. He swung Jessie around and grabbed her shoulders. "Damn your mother, you are strong, loving, courageous and a fine trainer. This is what you have achieved on your own without anyone." James pulled her closer and looked into her eyes. "Jessie, it isn't your mother I fell in love with but you," he said gently. "You helped me to recover from what happened to my family. You are the one who taught me to love again after Jessibelle."

Jessie looked up into James' green eyes, confusion and torment written in every line of her face. "But my mother was killed by that… monster…" she said at last. "She died as a condemned traitor!"

"A traitor to Team Rocket," James reminded her, "just like you and me." James smiled wickedly. "It looks like we are in fine company." James sucked in a breath and tried a risky tack. "I also think that she would be very proud that her little girl is following her example by fighting against Team Rocket as hard as she did."

Jessie looked shocked at first, but as she considered it, she realised that James was right. She leaned forward and embraced him. "Thank you for being here, James," she said quietly.

"I am always here for you, my rose," he replied. "Actually, I thought that learning that Ash was your half-brother was what made your run like that!"

Jessie giggled. "God, yes, you're right," she said with a gasp. "If Giovanni is my… father… God what a horrible thought… that means that Ash and I are family! I'm related to the Twerp!" She shook her head. "How will I ever live it down?"

"Well, youse inherited a lot o'yah mudder's qualities, Jess," Meowth suggested with a grin. "Dat makes all da difference!"

"Oh, I don't know," Jessie said primly. "According to Professor Oak, my father is a superb Pokémon Trainer. That would explain my skill and natural brilliance."

There was a horrified pause from James and Meowth before all three started laughing.

Wise Meowth noted a look of fear in Jessie's eyes, though. What if she had inherited something from Giovanni? For instance, he had a weakness of the soul that made him turn evil. Jessie herself was notorious for her temper and her cruelty when provoked. Meowth nudged her hand. "Youse'll never turn into a monster like him," he assured her.

Jessie nodded gratefully. "I'm afraid for Ash," she said after a moment. "This is the sort of thing that could break him and send him down his… our father's path." Jessie released James. "I should go to help him."

"Misty can handle that," James said with a tone of certainty. "You know, you're handling the fact you and him might be kin very well."

Jessie shrugged and shook her head. "I can't explain it," she said at last. "From the moment I saw him for the first time in Viridian City's Pokémon Centre, I knew… somehow I've always known."

James gave Jessie a puzzled look as she walked off back towards the smouldering ruins of Pallet Town.

***

Misty found Ash sitting on the 'Terrace,' a small relaxation spot that he and Brock had built on top of the house's garage five long years ago. Like the rest of the house, Team Rocket had vandalised it violently and carelessly. The potted plants had all been thrown to the ground and the hanging sun lounger had been knocked from one of its' supports, making it lean over drunkenly at a steep angle.

Ash had somehow contrived to sit on the damaged lounger and was watching the sun set over the ruins of his hometown. He could just see the Red Cross tent city that had sprung up in the ruined town square. Already the UN Governing Committee had announced ambitious plans to rebuild the devastated town into a beautiful model town with the best facilities and infrastructure of any town on Earth. However, Ash knew that it would never be the same for anyone ever again.

Raichu sat next to him, trying to comfort his Trainer. It was a good effort, but Ash felt far from comfort tonight. He tickled his oldest and most loyal friend with a gentle smile.

Ash felt tears winding down his cheeks as he watched the sun set through the drifting smoke. He used to love watching the sunset from the Terrace; it helped him relax and think. Now it only reminded him of his responsibilities, his failures, and the terrible price that innocents would pay if he failed again.

"Ash," Misty called gently.

"Hello, Misty," he said. He waved at the battered lounger. "I'd ask you to join me but…"

Misty walked over and sat on his lap, surprising him. "And I accept," she said with an impish smile. She gave her lover a quick kiss before continuing in a more serious tone. "Don't do it Ash," she said. Ash gave her a confused look. "Don't die inside," she continued. "I… I still love you and I still need you. If you let this turn you into another Giovanni, not only will you be giving your father the victory, but you will destroy me too."

"I don't ever want to hurt you," Ash said. "But Misty, I can feel all the blackness and hate squirming around inside me. I'm afraid of what might happen if I lose control even for a second." Ash sighed and buried his face against Misty's neck, hiding his face in her long ginger hair. "It all hurts so much," he continued.

"Everyone has been hurt by this," Misty said firmly. She turned around and took Ash's head in her hands. "You mustn't let it drag you down. Do something positive. The people of the town are going to rebuild, and turn this disaster into a rebirth. You should learn from that."

"No matter how much you build over them, the scars will always remain," Ash said darkly, frowning out at nothing.

"Of course," Misty agreed, "but they will be buried under what is good."

"'Good?' I'm not sure that you can get anything good out of something like this, Misty," Ash said.

"Damn you," Misty hissed. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and do something!" Ash reared back in surprise. Misty stood up and poked him hard in the chest. "You're the Chosen One, Ash Ketchum! You have powers and skills beyond anything anyone else has. Stop moping around and use them! We're on a deadline, you know!"

Ash suddenly exploded and pushed Misty away. She fell to the floor with a grunt of surprise and pain. "I know you stupid bitch!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "I can feel the seconds ticking away!"

"Then start acting instead of sitting around, feeling sorry for yourself!" Misty shouted back, too angry to be frightened.

Ash strode over and stood over Misty. He grabbed her by the shoulders and began to shake her. "And what am I supposed to do?" he shouted. "Mom, the Professor are gone who knows where! How can I help them if I don't even know where they are?"

"Then find them," Misty screamed into his face. "You've got all these contacts from all those years on the road, so use them!"

There was a long pause. Suddenly Ash saw how he was holding Misty, how the flesh of her shoulders had gone white. Doubtless, she would have a fine crop of bruises in the morning. He suddenly groaned in shame and hugged her. "Misty, God I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt you… don't leave me, I couldn't survive without you."

Misty hugged him back. "There is nothing to forgive, my love," she said. "You are angry and afraid and your hurt is spilling out. But Ash, you don't have to face this alone. You have allies, you know. Let us help you."

[Yes, let us help,] Raichu said, running forward and placing a paw on his friend's leg. [You only have to ask and all your Pokémon would die for you. Use our love and our strength when your strength falters.]

Ash sagged and sat down on the concrete floor. Misty did not release him and held him close, virtually laying her head in his lap. "I asked Sabrina," Ash said at last. "She was able to confirm that they are alive. She even managed to touch my Mom's mind and reassure her, but they don't know where they are either."

A depressed silence followed that statement. After a moment, Misty spoke. "There must be someone who knows something," she said quietly.

"The Team Rocket agents who took them there, of course," Ash said. He laughed bitterly. "But who knows who or where they are? Unless you want me to hunt down every agent in the Kanto region one-by-one and make every one of them talk…"

Misty shivered at the thought of Ash going on a rampage. She knew he was capable of such a feat, but the cost would be his soul. "Don't talk like that," she said. "That isn't an option."

"It is something I'll keep as a last resort," Ash said, the dark tone of his voice making her shiver.

"Please don't fall, Ash," she said, shooting Raichu a worried look. "I don't want to go through what your mother went through."

Ash wasn't listening. "Sabrina's vision spoke of a betrayal," he said at last. "There is one person who links all this together, Misty. There is one person who betrayed me to Team Rocket, and I bet he was behind this horror too."

"How?" Misty asked.

"The Defence Grid, remember?" Ash said. His voice was getting louder as he realised how right his suppositions seemed. "Team Rocket couldn't have gained this level of surprise if someone hadn't turned it off just before their attack was due to start."

"You mean, someone betrayed you and then betrayed the entire town?" Misty was horrified. "Who would do that?"

"It would have to be someone Professor Oak trusted," Ash said. "Someone that he would let into the most secure part of his laboratories without question. Someone who had the opportunity in both cases: To put me in the right place and time to Team Rocket to capture me, and be here in Pallet to turn off the Defence Grid before the attack. Someone we both trusted, who was on the spot at both cases… and someone who isn't among the dead or the refugees tonight."

"Ash…" Misty said in horror, "are you suggesting maybe Duplicia or Joy…?"

"No, no," Ash said, squeezing Misty's hands. "No, neither of them could have arranged my capture. Duplicia was too badly hurt in the attack for it to be a ruse. It is just possible to imagine Joy being involved, but she doesn't know enough about the Laboratories to find where Professor Oak had the controls for the Defence Grid. Besides, they both hate Team Rocket with all their soul. There is nothing you could do to either of them to make them co-operate with them." Ash was thoughtful. "It would have to be someone with something to gain. Someone who didn't care what it took to get at me…" Suddenly Ash tensed. "No," he said. "I can't believe it. I won't believe it."

"Who?" Misty said.

"I don't want to say it," Ash said.

"Ash," Misty said, trying to sound reasonable. "I can help…"

"No, I won't say it," Ash said stubbornly. "I won't utter these suspicions to anyone. I've got to have some proof. Please leave me."

"Ash," Misty said uncertainly, sitting up.

"Go!" Ash hissed. Then he modulated his voice. "Please Misty… This is something I have to do alone."

[Please listen to him, Misty,] Raichu said after looking his Trainer in the eyes. [You know he would never ask something like this unless it was necessary.]

Misty was worried; no, she was terrified about what Ash was about to do. However, she trusted him and loved him. She owed him this much.

After Misty left the Terrace, Ash got out his mobile 'phone and turned it on. "Please God, let me be wrong," he said. "Let this be a slanderous mistake." He dialled a number for Viridian City and waited.

"Viridian City Earth Gym, this is Reception. Can I help you?" asked a pleasant voice.

"Can you put me through to the Gym Leader, please," Ash said.

"I'm sorry, sir," the receptionist said. "The Gym Leader isn't accepting any calls right now. After what happened to his hometown…"

"Listen," Ash interrupted. "Tell Gary that it is Ash Ketchum. Tell him that it is about what happened to Pallet Town. Tell him I think I can help his grandpa, but I'll need his help."

"Sir, the Gym Leader was very clear…" the receptionist said uncertainly.

"Put me through," Ash said. He grinned a little to himself. "Tell him: 'You'd better talk to me, Oak, or I'll see that the Press find out about what you and your Cheerleaders were doing that afternoon in Goldenrod City.'"

Ash had to grin a little at Raichu's mischievous giggle as he recalled that day too.

***

Next day, Gary and Ash were sitting in a bar called the 'Drunken Ditto,' near the Gym in Viridian City. Gary looked as nervous as hell, Ash thought. He imagined that looked nervous too. The clock stood at thirteen days and counting… He stroked Raichu, who was sitting on the table, needing his friends' strength and reassurance more than ever.

Gary looked down and had to take a long pull of his whiskey to steady his nerves. Gary had been greatly disturbed by the questions Ash asked during their telephone conversation last night. He didn't know what was going on, but he felt a strange prescient dread as he looked into his cousin's brown eyes. After five minutes, he felt able to talk. "So… uh… what's this about me and the Cheerleaders?" Gary said nervously.

Ash laughed. "Only that Misty and me walked into your room and found the five of you in bed together," Ash said with a dirty laugh. Gary went bright red. "Don't worry, Gary," Ash said with an evil grin. "I know that it was only a fancy. You'll never two-time your Arcanine. She means too much to you."

"Ash, that is disgusting," Gary said with a slight laugh. "As if!"

"You would be surprised the number of very senior trainers who have gone that far, Gary," Ash said with a slight smile. "More than a few of the Gym Leaders have a 'favourite' Pokémon, if you get my drift."

Gary grimaced. Was it his imagination, or did Ash's Raichu shoot him a seductive wink? "You won't find me among them, Ash," he said. "I intend to keep my relationship with Arcanine strictly professional!" Ash laughed when he heard that.

"So… uh… what was it you were babbling to my receptionist about helping Grandpa?" he asked. Ash drew in a deep breath. His conversation with Gary last night had given him the proof that he sought. However, he had to know for sure. He had to hear unequivocal proof.

"I think I know how to find where the Rockets took him," Ash announced. "But it won't be easy. We'll have to outwit what is probably the smartest man in Kanto. He was able to get into your grandfather's and my confidence and hide his treacherous nature for years before he went through with his betrayal."

Gary nodded thoughtfully. "So who is he?" he asked. Perhaps there was a tension in his voice, but that was understandable.

Ash shook his head. "Are you sure you want to know?" He asked.

"Hey, why would you have come to me if you didn't need my help?" Gary asked. "Mine and Arcanine's," he added with a wicked laugh.

Ash grinned and bowed, acknowledging the taunt. "I came because I knew I could trust you, Gary," Ash said. "People say bad things about you, but I know that your heart is too open, simple and honest to contain betrayal. You would never think of committing the same acts as he has. Even if you did, I would know at once."

"Hey, you think?" Gary asked uneasily.

"Of course," Ash said with a puzzled frown. "Gary, are you forgetting all the times I've beaten you in a Pokémon battle? I know your moves and I know how you think. You could never pull the wool over my eyes. I know your heart."

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think," Gary snapped, suddenly looking angry. "I may have some secrets that you don't know about, man!"

"Maybe," Ash said with just a hint of a sneer, "but even if you do, and I seriously doubt that, I doubt you could pull off something of this scale. It is way out of your league. Whoever did this was a brilliant strategic mind while you…" Ash shrugged and laughed dryly. "Gary, it barely occurred to you to use your Rhydon or your Golem when I used Pikachu, Magneton or Flaafy in the League!"

Gary jumped to his feet. "Don't push it, man," he hissed angrily. Now his pride was reacting. He hated it when anyone wrote him off, but for Ash to do that was infuriating.

"Oh come on, Gary," Ash continued relentlessly. "When will you figure out that I am better than you? I have you all worked out."

Gary thrust his finger in Ash's face. His blood boiled in his ears as his cousin's words brought all the embarrassment, anger and shame of the last few weeks racing to the surface at once. Gary couldn't think straight. "It shows how much you know, man," he almost shouted. "This 'finest mind in Kanto' you talk about? The 'brilliant strategic mind' that made it possible for Team Rocket to capture you and then destroy our hometown? He is closer by than you think!"

Ash smirked. "I don't think so somehow," he said. "He is too smart to hang around. Besides, his kind are too cowardly to wait for the consequences of their acts to catch up with them."

"I am no coward!" Gary shouted. "I am not scared of you or your dumb friends, Ash. I am better than you and by doing this I have proved it!"

"You don't have the guts to do anything on this scale," Ash said, sneering in contempt.

"That shows how little you know, dumb ass!" Gary shouted. The other patrons of the 'Drunken Ditto' turned around to look. Gary didn't notice. Ash's clear contempt made his anger and hatred run out of all control. He forgot the need for secrecy, he forgot that Ash would want revenge, indeed he forgot everything except his need to wipe Ash's sneer off his face. He continued, his voice rising to a scream, louder than it had ever been before. "Everyone said that I was a failure, that I should learn to be more like you if I wanted to be a success! Well I showed them! I beat you, Ash. I out-thought you and out-fought you! I PROVED THAT I AM BETTER THAN YOU! I AM THE ONE WHO BETRAYED YOU, AND I AM THE ONE WHO MADE it POSSIBLE FOR TEAM ROCKET TO CONQUER PALLET TOWN!"

"I know," Ash said gently, surprising Gary with the disappointment and grief in his voice. "The only question is… why?"

Gary stopped dead, suddenly realising what he had said. He reached for a Pokéball, but before he could pull it from his belt, Ash's Meganium dived from under the next table along. She looped her vine whips around Gary's arms, pinning them and lifting him off the ground. [You are a very bad man,] she hissed. [You hurt my Ashy!]

Ash was suddenly a little worried. When she was a Chikorita, Meganium had a big crush on him, and two evolutions had not changed her feelings about him one bit. She was angry enough about the Rockets capturing and hurting Ash to injure Gary in revenge. "Go easy, Meganium," he warned.

Misty, Jessie and James suddenly appeared. Jessie and James pulled off Gary's Pokébelt as Misty handcuffed him, deliberately closing the bracelets too hard, making the Earth Gym Leader hiss in pain.

"You… you can't do this…" Gary said, fear colouring his voice. "Nothing I said is actionable! None of it will stand up in court!"

"You aren't going to go before any court, you dumb Twerp," James sneered.

"Although, you may wish that you were," Jessie concluded with a carnivorous smile.

Gary looked on in terror as Ash walked up to him. "You have caused a lot of suffering for some reason, Gary," Ash announced. "So don't expect any favours from Team Thunderbolt."

[No indeed,] Raichu hissed, electricity crackling around his cheek-pads, [you can only expect punishment!] That was a threat that Meganium endorsed wholeheartedly.

"Get… get off of me," Gary said. Suddenly he started shouting. "HELP! Someone call the Police, they're trying to kidnap…"

"Oh boy, Togetic, use Hypnosis," Misty said, rolling her eyes.

[Sleep tight, you bad man,] Togetic chirped. The little psychic-type's eyes glowed and Gary slumped forwards, unconscious.

"Fraternity initiation rite," Ash explained to the stunned patrons of the bar with a broad, guileless smile. "He'll be okay."

"Well, we've got him," Jessie said. "Now what?"

"We get him to tell us who took charge of my Mom, the Professor and Joy," Ash said. He saw Misty's look and nodded. "Oh he knows, all right," he said. "Gary likes to gloat far too much for his own good. You can be sure he was there to sneer as the Rockets led them away. Once we know who to find, we'll get them and they will tell us where they took their hostages."

***

Delilah Ketchum was worried, and not about what her psychopathic ex-husband might do to her either. She was afraid of him, of course, but most of terror came from uncertainty. Delilah felt fairly sure about what Joe would do to her. He would probably rape her a few times (and maybe let some of his minions in on the fun) and then have her tortured to death. Oh, he would probably video it for Ash's benefit too. Somehow, already knowing took a lot of the torment out of the situation. There was only the pain of knowing that her son would almost certainly see her utter humiliation and her death.

No, she was really worried about Sam Oak. He had fought pretty hard when Team Rocket attacked his laboratories. They hadn't bothered to be gentle with him and had given him a very severe concussion. Right now, he was slipping in and out of consciousness and suffering from continual nosebleeds. Delilah was caring for him as best as she could. She had screamed and hollered for about fifteen minutes until one of the guards had handed her a field medical kit and told her to shut up. Right now, Delilah was fairly confident that Sam would recover. The unfortunate fact of the situation, however, was that she was probably nursing him back to health for his execution.

Delilah was also worried about poor Joy Burke. A gang of Dan'in fighters, who were all male and of a rather brutal demeanour, had taken the younger woman from the cell about half an hour ago. Delilah didn't want to imagine what the poor woman might be going through…

Suddenly the cell door burst open and Joy was practically thrown inside. "Get in there you rabid bitch!" a male voice shouted. The door slammed shut and Delilah heard the keys turn in the lock.

"Joy?" she asked gently. Joy looked up. There were dried tears on her cheeks, her blouse and jeans were torn in a way that indicated someone had roughly stripped her, and her left eye was bruised and reddened. "Joy, oh my poor dear, they didn't… did they…?"

Joy managed a shaky smile. "They tried," she said. She paused, coughed and spat out blood. "I thrashed around, bit anything that came within range and kicked three of them in the balls." Joy grinned in a disturbingly feral way. "I gave better than I got, Delilah, never fear. One of those bastards is only genetically a male now!"

Delilah swallowed dryly and wondered idly if the blood Joy had just spat out was her blood. She shook her head and helped the other woman onto the cell's other bed. Her training as a nurse allowed her to determine that Joy's ribs and groin were badly bruised and there was the danger of internal bleeding. "Just rest, Joy," Delilah counselled. "I'm sure Ash is moving heaven and Earth to help us,"

"Yeah," Joy said. She groaned as a broken rib moved around a bit. "I worry about Brock. He must be going mad with worry. I… he…" Joy trailed off, shaking her head.

"You still care for him," Delilah said, not turning from her ministrations. "You have never stopped loving him for one moment."

"Not once," Joy admitted. Tears began to form in the former Pokémon nurse's eyes. "Now it is too late for both of us."

"I won't accept that," Delilah snapped, putting aside her own pessimistic fears in a desire to keep the other woman strong. "Don't give up hope, Joy." Delilah leaned in close. "Sabrina touched my mind while you were out 'entertaining,'" Delilah revealed in a discreet murmur. "Ash is looking for us. Have faith in my son."

"He can do wonders," Joy replied, "but can he do the impossible, Delilah?"

Delilah smiled. "'Impossible,' Joy?" she said with a slight smile. "My son doesn't understand the meaning of the word!"

***

Gary groaned as his brain reset itself after Togetic's attack. For some reason he couldn't move his arms… Oh… shit!

"Look who's come around," Lance Hook, Ash's tame Fighting-type master called.

James Weston stuck his head around the corner of the door to the room where Gary was lying. "Okay, get him on his feet," James ordered in a cool tone. "Ash wants a word with him."

***

"Oh… God…" Joy Anderson said. Mewtwo rolled off his lover and she rolled over to look at him in the eye. "Are you practising on someone without telling me?" she asked as soon as she got her breath back.

I would never betray your love, the genetically engineered psychic-type Pokémon assured her in a firm tone of voice. I simply… ah… explore your dreams. I then apply those subconscious desires to our time together.

Joy went bright red. "Are you telling me that what you did was based on something I dreamt?" she blurted out.

She felt Mewtwo's psychic laughter in her mind. Did it not please you?

"God, yes, but I can't believe…" She shook her head. "Can… can you do it again?"

Mewtwo laughed silently once again and reached towards the one human who meant more to him than anything else in the universe. Suddenly he stopped dead, hearing something that only a psychic could hear. Wait… he said. Do you hear that?

"Hear… hear what?" Joy asked, swallowing her disappointment and her anger at the sudden interruption.

Listen, Mewtwo instructed quietly. Joy lay back on their big circular bed, drew in a deep breath and did as he instructed. Mewtwo always insisted that all humans had immense psychic potential that something prevented them from utilising, either upbringing or some ancient superstitious fear. He had been training Joy patiently and hard to utilise her potential. After three years, she had reached the point where she could 'receive' a psychic communication rather than have it imposed on her mind by the 'sender.' Even now, she was nothing compared to him, and even compared to most human psychics like Sabrina von Daimen.

As Joy allowed her conscious senses to drift and fade, she 'felt' something on the very edge of her perceptions. It was dark, red and powerful with everything violent and dangerous that existed in the human heart. Near it, weaker but just as filled with potential, was something blue and alive with love and caring. The two were connected somehow, and Joy could sense the blue soothing the red and helping it transcend the darkness. What is it? she asked, unaware that she was 'pathing for the first time in her life.

It is the Chosen Ones, Mewtwo replied gently. Feel the pain and the anguish. Ash Ketchum is now as close to the Dark Side as he is ever likely to get. Notice the power of the link between him and Misty Waterflower.

Yes… Joy replied. It is more than just the bond of love… they truly are one somehow. It is almost as if she is holding him to the light. He is her strength, and she is his humanity, just as you told me before.

Hey, have I ever been wrong? Mewtwo asked, cocking a brow.

"Never, love," Joy said. "That was incredible Mewtwo. What is happening with them that makes them transmit so powerfully?"

They have found the Betrayer, Mewtwo told his lover. They have only a limited time in which to extract the information they need from the foul one's heart. The psi-type drew in a deep breath. Soon, very soon, I will have to intervene once again. Mewtwo returned to the here-and-now. By the way, when did you learn to 'send' telepathically?

"But I can't…" Joy protested and then stopped, a look of amazement crossing her pale face. "I… I did didn't I… I was so focussed on the power within…" She grinned and then gasped. Then she leaned forward to hug Mewtwo. I… I think that I prefer it this way, she told him. The prejudice that using telepathy made you less human didn't worry her. She had seen enough of humanity's seedier side as a Pokémon nurse not to have any particular need for humanity.

It is a more efficient method of communication, Mewtwo agreed, and it allows us to keep talking, even when we are busy with something else. That latter comment was transmitted even though his rough feline tongue was now entirely busy in another task altogether.

***

Near the centre of the ruins of Pallet Town was a fairly intact building that had once been an office/warehouse complex. With its' thick concrete walls, large storage space, T2 and ISDN communications lines (still intact) and highly secure commercial power system, it was perfect for other uses. With the destruction of Professor Oak's research centre, the Thunderbolts had adopted it as their new base of operations, which Lance (with inappropriate levity) had christened 'The Gang Hut.'

Inside an area that was apparently some kind of engineering lab before the Team Rocket sack of Pallet Town, Ash Ketchum paced restlessly as Misty and Raichu looked on worriedly. "Ash," she said, "calm down. We're going as fast as possible."

Ash paused, sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't Misty," he said in a low tone. "I can't stop hearing the clock ticking."

Misty was about to reply when Sabrina and Duplicia walked in. "Ash," Duplicia announced, "Gary has woken up."

"Good," Ash said.

"He had this around his neck," Duplicia continued, throwing something to Ash. Ash caught the necklace mid-air. The pendant was a blood-red stylised capital letter 'R.' "Jessie said that only Team Rocket undercover agents wear that symbol," Duplicia continued. Raichu saw the necklace and recognised its' import; the electric-type hissed angrily.

Ash snorted. "Well that is a disappointment, but not a particularly big surprise." He turned to Sabrina. "Sabrina, have you been able to find anything out?"

"Not as much as I hoped," Sabrina said unhappily, only too aware of the red turmoil in Ash's soul that had caught Mewtwo and Joy's attention over 10,000 miles away. "Gary has a very strong will and a very disciplined mind. I haven't been able to find anything relevant to who took charge of our friends. I doubt I could do that without a forced deep scan, which would probably render him mindless by the time I found the information we need."

Misty swallowed, repulsed by the thought of reducing Gary to a vegetable. To her horror, Ash didn't seem as affected. "Well, we'll keep that option available as a last resort," he said. "Have you discovered anything?"

"Yes," Sabrina said. "He is the Betrayer. His entire conscious and sub-conscious thought processes are dominated by feelings of guilt about what happened to Pallet Town and triumph at beating you and his grandfather in a battle of wits."

"So he's proud is he?" Ash asked, his face an icy, metallic mask. "Well, we'll see if I can reach him. Bring him in."

"Ash, remember the difference between light and dark," Misty warned quietly. Ash waved her off with an expression that he hoped would be reassuring.

Richie and Lance very nearly carried Gary into the room. The man was resisting as best as he could, thrashing wildly and trying to kick their legs from under them. "You won't get away with this, Ash," he screamed at his cousin. "I am a Gym Leader; important people. You can't just kidnap me and expect to get away with it! I have rights!"

"Rights?" Misty asked in horror. "You have been party to a massacre Gary. You are a vile criminal and you expect us to care about your rights?"

"Besides," Ash said with a nasty smile, "no one knows you've been kidnapped. You have 'gone into seclusion' in 'grief' at what happened to your hometown." Gary gaped when he heard that, then snapped his mouth shut, shooting Ash a venomous stare.

Ash smirked dangerously. "Richie, loop his 'cuffs through the overhead pipe," Ash instructed. Richie was surprised at that order, but did what he was told. In seconds, Gary was hanging from an overhead drainpipe or something similar. The tips of his feet were barely touching the ground. He looked very uncomfortable, but he tried to look defiant as Ash looked him in the eye.

"So, what is first, Ash?" he asked, trying to be mocking. "The bamboo slivers or the thumbscrews?"

"Gary," Ash said gently, "I won't give you that satisfaction." Gary looked surprised. "We have twelve days to save the lives of three people who are very important to me, Gary," Ash continued. "My mother, your grandfather and a woman who has only ever cared about helping others. But if we are to do that, we need to know something that only you know. Who took them from Pallet Town? And, if you know, where did they take them?"

Gary sneered in reply. "You must be demented if you think I will help you, man," he said.

"Gary," Ash said, more firmly and angrily this time, "I won't bother to appeal to your better nature, because I don't think you have one. So I will just appeal to your self-interest. We already know enough to secure a conviction in court. If you don't co-operate, we'll hand you over to the SPs, and you can think this one over for the next six months in The Anvil, waiting for the trial that will ensure you spend the rest of your life there."

That was a weak bluff, Ash knew, and Gary saw through it immediately. "Yeah, and while I'm still awaiting my remand hearing, your mommy, Gramps and the pathetic squint-eye's squeeze will be dying in a Rocket torture chamber somewhere," Gary said. He snorted in amusement. "Don't make me laugh."

Ash tensed at Gary's cheerful acceptance of the three hostages' deaths. His fists closed spasmodically and he took a single step forward towards his cousin. "Gary, don't you understand that their deaths will be on your conscience? You've already loaded so many sins onto your soul, but these will be big ones!"

"Ash, don't you understand that I don't care?" Gary taunted in a singsong tone of voice.

"Jesus, Gary, what are you made of?" Misty said in disbelief.

"Why, Gary?" Ash asked.

"What?" Gary was surprised by this question.

"Why did you do it?" Ash asked again. "What was so important that you had to hand me over to Team Rocket? What was so important that you had to betray your whole hometown to them?"

Gary smiled in a very sick way. "Well… there was the money of course," Gary admitted. "Your old man pays well for services rendered, Ashy-boy! Have you ever thought of switching sides on economic grounds?"

"Money?" Misty said in horror.

"You said you wanted to get free of your grandfather's charity," Ash recalled. "Was that it?" Contempt leaked into his tone. "Are you really that shallow and pathetic?"

"Oh no," Gary said, snarling at the insult Ash had offered him. "No there was more than that, Ash." Gary drew in a deep breath, his eyes glittering with hate, before he continued. "Do you know what it is like to be me, Ash?" he asked. "All my life, I have fought for other people's approval. First my parents, then my grandfather, and later the people who watch the Pokémon League. I have tried harder, studied harder and trained harder than anyone else! I have fought all my life to be the very best that has ever been. And tell me, who is the youngest person ever to win the Indigo League? Who was the youngest Supreme Champion in history? You, my lazy no-account mutant freak of a cousin, that's who! A guy who doesn't even know how to properly train a Pokémon, but who through a trick gene can somehow bond with them on a level that no other Trainer can match! You wiped the floor with me every time we met, Ash-boy, and I'll never forgive you for that."

"That's it?" Ash said in disbelief. "All because I have performed better than you in the League?"

"NO, DAMN YOU!" Gary shouted. "It is because all my life, I have had you rubbed in my face, time and time again. If it wasn't my parents, it was May, or Grandfather, or even your mom, Ash. 'Gary, you are a fine Trainer, but you just don't understand Pokémon.'" Gary said, modulating his tone to make it clear it was something that had been said to him time and time again. "'Look at Ash, he gets to know them as friends and they fight all the harder for him!' Bullshit!" Gary's face was pale and sweaty now. "You have stolen my life, Ash," he said angrily. "You have stolen everything that should have been mine! Well, I got you back didn't I? And when your Mom, Gramps and Joy go to Hell, it will be because of me! And when your old man's assassins finally cut you down, it will be because of me! And everyone will know that GARY OAK was the better man!"

"You pitiful slime," Ash said at last, his voice dripping with contempt and a barely concealed violence. "You don't even know how small you really are!" He walked over and took Gary's jaw in his hand and forced him to look in his eyes. "It isn't too late for you Gary," he said. "You should abandon this childish desire for revenge. I mean, for God's sake, nothing I or the others have done justifies this!" Ash paused and ran a shaking hand through his hair before continuing. "But first you have to tell us who took our friends and kin so we can save them!"

"Never," Gary said. "I will burn in Hell first! And I want you to know something: I hope that your friends and family die in torment at your old man's hands. I hope they die screaming and cursing you for not coming to save them. And I will laugh when Giovanni sends you an unedited video of the whole event!" Gary laughed; a high, demented sound. He was unaware of the growing look of animal hatred on Ash's face. "I especially hope that he gets your mom to scream for him, Ash," he continued. "I think she's hot, and I bet that a slut like her enjoys the gang-bangs that the Rockets lay on for their lady guests!"

"You… MOTHER-FUCKER!" Ash screamed. He saw red, literally. The punch came from nowhere and struck Gary's nose so hard that it simply exploded as it flattened out. Blood splashed out into Ash's eyes and for a few seconds he was blind.

"Jesus, Ash," Misty gasped.

[Ash, he can't talk if he's dead!] Raichu shouted from where he was standing in a corner.

Ash didn't hear either his lover or his best friend. He grabbed Gary's shirt, feeling a primitive joy at the agony and terror on his enemy's face. "Who took them, Gary?" he shouted. "NAMES! PLACES!"

"Up… yours…" Gary gasped around the blood streaming down his face.

Ash went berserk. The first blow smashed Gary's left cheekbone. The second, a low punch, broke a rib. The third blow snapped Gary's jawbone like a twig and sent blood and smashed teeth flying across the room. The fourth buckled his breastbone and made it impossible for him to breathe easily. Ash was screaming out his hatred and hitting Gary again and again.

"Ash, stop it, you'll kill him!" Misty screamed.

Several pairs of hands grabbed Ash and dragged him away from the bleeding wreckage of Gary Oak, who had already dropped into the comforting void of unconsciousness. "You bet that I'll kill him!" Ash yelled maniacally. "Let go of me you traitorous bastards! Let go!" Ash's flailing left arm caught Misty with a blow that sent her tumbling to the ground with a surprised cry of pain.

There was a sudden deathly silence and Ash went utterly limp. "M… Misty?" he said. He looked down to where Misty was trying to get her senses back. A trickle of blood ran from the side of her mouth. "Oh, God, Misty… what have I done?" Ash's appalled gaze turned to where Gary hung, now resembling more a tender slab of meat than his proud cousin. "Gary…? Gary, please say something… No… NO!" Ash began to struggle more violently than ever. Jessie, James, Sabrina, Duplicia and Lance all grabbed him hard, trying to hold him down. "Get off of me," he shouted. "Raichu, get them off!"

[Ash, calm down!] Raichu begged, running over to his Trainer.

Suddenly, Ash reached down and activated a Pokéball. "Meganium, I choose you!" Ash's ultra-loyal plant-type materialised. "Get them off me!" Ash shouted.

Before anyone could react, a cloud of stun spores enveloped the Thunderbolts. Misty saw the flash of two recall lasers. When the cloud of choking spores was gone, Ash, Raichu and Meganium were both missing. "Ash…?" Misty said looking around. "Ash… ASH COME BACK!" Misty suddenly fled through the open emergency exit door and into the maze of ruins that was once Pallet Town.

"Misty!" Lance shouted. "Come back!" He turned back to the other Thunderbolts. "We should go after them!"

"No," James interrupted, grabbing Lance by his shoulder. "I think this is something that they will have to work out for themselves." Lance drew in a deep breath, about to protest, then nodded. After all, James knew them far better than he did. "Until they get back, we'd better make sure that Mr. Oak doesn't die on us," James continued in an ironic tone of voice. "A dead prisoner is worth nothing."

As they cut Gary down and began to work on his injuries, Jessie caught herself looking out of the door. Ash, brother, she thought, I hope Misty is enough to help you. I couldn't take losing another of my family to hate.

Hopelessly lost in the maze of demolished buildings, Misty fell to her knees and began to weep. "Ash…" she whispered, desperately hoping that her breaking heart could send her call to her lover. "Ash, please come back…"

To be continued…