Pokemon: Secrets of the Stars

By Mystical Star

A Kitty-Chan Production

Disclaimer: Mystic owns none of Pokemon, she's not that talented to come up with 250 little monsters that run around and make each other faint, nor is she smart enough to figure out how to create the game, draw the comic, or animate the TV series. There goes my self-esteem -.-;

Author's Notes: Well, among the many things she does not own, Mystic DOES own Misao, Hiroko, Amaya, Maplewood City, Maplewood City's Gym, and the new characters that are yet to come. HA! So there!

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Part II-Secrets

Saturday, the day after chapter one, 10:00 AM Johto time

Ash, refreshed from his night's rest, stepped outside the Trainer's House at the Maplewood City's Gym Complex. Pikachu, who had perched himself on his master's head, sighed contentedly. "Chaaaaa."

"What a great sleep, huh Pikachu?" Ash asked, stretching his arms. "Pika-chu!" The little electric rodent affirmed cheerily. The door behind them opened.

"Good morning, Ash!" Came Misty's voice. The black-haired trainer turned and smiled. "'Morning, Misty." He greeted. Brock appeared in the doorway behind Misty.

"Good morning everyone," Brock said, stepping out of the doorway. Suddenly, an intercom system came on and began to speak.

"Good morning, Maplewood City Gym! Today at the Training Center there will be sessions lead by the gym leaders from ten-thirty until noon. The shrine is open all day today for those who would like to visit. The gym will be open from half-past noon until six tonight. If you're not planning on doing anything at the gym complex, there are lots of other places to visit in Maplewood, so don't miss a thing!" Said the announcer.

"So, Ash, are you going to go to a session?" Misty asked. "No way, I'm going to the gym!" Ash pulled his cap backwards just as he'd normally do in a battle before throwing a Pokeball.

"Bad move," Brock shook his head. Ash looked at Brock and frowned. "Why's it such a bad move?" He inquired.

"Well, they just announced that the gym leaders hold the sessions, right? So then, if you go to a session that deals with Pokemon battle, then the leader will more than likely share strategies with you, making it easier to battle that person." The Pewter Gym leader explained, holding his chin in his index finger and thumb. Ash shrugged.

"I guess so," He muttered. "Great! We can all go to one together! I want to get some advice in raising Togepi." Misty said, hoisting her baby Pokemon high into the air, making it squirm with delight. "Togey-priiii!"

"Alrighty then! Let's get going!" Brock said. And with that, the three headed across the gym grounds to the Training Center.

Maplewood City Gym Training Center

Ash, Misty, and Brock walked into the Training Center into its registration area. At the head of the room was a desk with two women sitting there behind computer screens. Hiroko was talking to one of them. Brock, upon seeing the women, lost himself-again. The dark-complected trainer raced up to the desk and leaned over the side until he was right in the women's face.

"H-h-hi! I'm Brock, a Pokemon breeder, and who are you? You must be a model in your spare time, you're so lovely!" He flattered.

"Hello, uh, you must be here for the breeding session, would you like to sign up?" The secretary asked, leaning back a little. Misty grabbed the back of Brock's shirt collar and pulled. "Down boy!" She growled.

"Ah, good morning my friends!" Hiroko greeted. "Good morning!" The three said in unison. "The leaders shall be coming soon, I'd like you to meet them all." The elder lady said, looking towards the doors. As if on cue, boy walked through the door who didn't look like he was even ten yet. He had fiery red hair and was wearing what looked to be a training uniform for martial arts.

"This is Hinoko Ray, the youngest of the gym leaders. He became a trainer at age seven." Hiroko explained. The boy, who had joined Hiroko by this time, bowed respectfully.

"But I thought you had to be ten to start training," Ash pondered aloud. "My parents really wanted me to be a trainer because they saw talent in me for raising Pokemon. My father lied about my age to get me going. It's one of the things I'm not really proud of." Ray explained.

Next, a young woman walked in with pink hair and lavender eyes. She was wearing a green skirt and sleeveless green shirt with a white vest that was a little less that knee-length. The girl waved at Ray and Hiroko and walked over to them. Brock nearly went crazy; luckily, Misty still had him by the collar.

"And this is Kari Aurora, she came here when she was ten after being in an orphanage for most of her life." The elder lady said. The woman waved and winked at the three.

"Nice to meet you!" Aurora chimed cheerfully, shaking Ash, Misty and Brock's hands, Brock nearly having heart failure. Next in were two little girls who appeared to be nine-year-old twins. Both girls had orange hair, a little lighter than Misty's, and had blue eyes. They each wore the same blue skirt and white top. The only way to tell either apart was by the color of the broach on their bows, one wore a pink one and the other wore a green one.

"These two are Takada Mari and Takada Marie. Their parents could not afford to keep them both, so they gave the girls to us. Mari and Marie are as one leader, they think as one, like most twins do." Hiroko introduced. "Konnichiwa!" They said in unison, bowing.

The next to join Hiroko and the gym leaders was a young boy who looked to be Ash's age. He had blue hair and green eyes. The boy looked a little shy. "Ah, this is young Gaven Miller, who came to us from the United States. He is our honor student." Hiroko smiled at the boy as she introduced him. Gaven grew slightly red in the cheeks and smiled.

"Hi," Gaven said timidly. Then a young man who appeared to be Brock's age strutted in. He had light brown hair and deep blue eyes. He wore a brown sweater and jeans. "This is Rex Tyrano, who also comes from the United States." The elderly lady introduced. Rex smiled and nodded. Suddenly, a girl who appeared to be Aurora's age came bursting through the doors, looking worried.

"Oh! I'm sorry if I'm late! I set my alarm clock wrong again and I fell down the stairs and--ACK!" The girl fell to the ground, tripping on her own two feet. She had blue fluffy hair pulled back into a ponytail and light purple eyes. She wore a pink sleeveless shirt and short blue jean shorts. Hiroko chuckled. "This is Nako Sayori," The elderly lady said as Gaven helped the girl up.

"Hiya!" Sayori waved after she had gotten up, a sweatdrop on her forehead. The next to walk into the room were a boy who looked about Ash's age and a girl who looked to be in her late teens. "And these two are Kotsuma Seiya and Kotsuma Midori, brother and sister." Hiroko motioned to the boy and girl.

"I like bugs! See, I just caught this one outside, wanna see?" Seiya asked, thrusting a jar with a gigantic caterpillar in Misty's face. The orange-haired girl nearly hit the ceiling in terror. "AAAHH a BUG! I hate bugs!" Misty cried. Seiya's sister snatched the jar from his hands.

"Stop that!" She demanded, glaring at her brother, "I'm sorry about that. I'm Midori, nice to meet you!" Midori said, shaking Misty's hand.

Mari walked over to Hiroko and pulled on her dress. "Hiroko-sama, I saw Severina come in, but where'd she go?" The small child asked. The elderly woman frowned. "Oh Severina, honestly, come out!" Hiroko looked about the room, but there was no one to be found except the eight gym leaders, Hiroko, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu. Suddenly, Brock ran over to a dark corner of the room behind the registration desk and pulled a girl out from behind a plant. The young woman had long dark purple hair that went down to her waist. She had jungle green eyes and an orange headband about her forehead. She was wearing black baggy jeans and a black short-sleeved shirt with a silver star in the middle.

"Hey! What the heck? Let go of me!" The girl snapped as the dark-complected breeder unveiled her hiding spot. "Severina! Why in the world were you hiding?" Hiroko demanded, but before there was an answer, Mari and Marie glomped onto Severina, whose head sported a large sweatdrop. "Think about it." Severina muttered.

"Ash, Misty, Brock, this is Nekomo Severina," Hiroko introduced as the dark clothed leader stumbled over to the crowed, the twins dragging behind her. There was the sound of the glass doors behind them opening and closing and a familiar voice giggled.

"Hi everybody!" Ash turned to see Amaya standing in the doorway with Misao behind her. Amaya was wearing a baby blue sweater and a short lavender skirt. Misao smiled and waved from behind her friend.

"Hello," She greeted. Hiroko turned to Ash and his friends. "And I know you've already met Amaya and Misao, they are gym leaders also." The elderly woman said.

"You're a gym leader?!" Ash exclaimed, pointing to Misao. The dark-haired girl giggled a little. "Well, I suppose I didn't exactly come out and say it, but, yes, I am," Amaya's friend said.

"Wow, that's cool! You must be a really great trainer to be a leader in a gym that's only had five winners!" Misty said. Misao blushed.

"You guys," Amaya gasped, turning to her gym leader comrades, "that's Makoto Ketchum's son!" she said, pointing to Ash.

"WOW!" Sayori exclaimed in a ditzy voice. "Really? Oh, awesome!" She continued to rave. Ash blushed and pulled his cap down over his eyes. The other gym leaders began to talk amongst themselves, rather intrigued with Ash's presence.

"Alright, alright, children! There will be more time for talk, but you have to begin your sessions in ten minutes, hurry, get to your rooms!" Hiroko prompted. "Today, Ray, Sayori, Gaven, and Misao are teaching, alright?" Hiroko said as the gym leaders scattered.

"I'm going to Sayori's class!" Brock swooned. Misty gave him a strange look. "Well, I'm going to Misao's class, I bet she has some great advice on raising Pokemon." She said. "Yeah, me too!" Ash added. "Uh, Brock, you'd better come with us. The last thing we need is a screaming lady." Misty decided, pulling her friend along with her by the ear. "Hey! Ow! Oo! Ouch! Ee! Not the ear!"

Training Center Session Room Two, 10:30 AM

Misao stood at the front of the room with her Espeon sitting at her side. The room was fairly large and had a garden planted around the perimeter of the room making it seem more like the outdoors than a classroom. The twenty or so trainers that had assembled in the room sat on the ground, quietly talking amongst themselves. Promptly at 10:30, Misao stepped forward.

"Hello fellow trainers, I am Mizushinu Misao, the Pisces trainer of this gym. If you would, please each take one of your Pokemon out of its Pokeball." The gym leader asked. The trainers stood and each took a Pokeball their belts and tossed them to the ground. The sound of Pokeballs popping open filled the air as Ash sat and watched since Pikachu was already out of it's ball as Misty sent out her Starmie and Brock sent out Vulpix.

"As you all know, each Pokemon has a special power," Misao began as soon as each trainer was seated again. "A Pokemon's power flows from its heart and soul and when the Pokemon learns how to use it, the Pokemon learns attacks." The Pisces gym leader knelt on the ground and began to pet her Espeon on the head.

"When a Pokemon and its trainer bond, that power is shared by both, this enables you and your Pokemon to battle as one and draw strength from each other. This is the best way to battle." Misao explained, scratching Espeon's chin.

"Bonding with your Pokemon does not mean spoiling it, it means teaching it a way that a mother would teach her child. Do the best thing for your Pokemon, reward it if it's good, and punish it if it's bad. Praise it if you know it's done it's best in a battle, even if it doesn't come out on top. You must show your Pokemon that you are capable of caring for it just as if you were its parent. Most of all, respect your Pokemon. These creatures are not things, they each have a heart, soul, and mind of their own." Misao continued as her Espeon licked her cheek. The gym leader giggled a little. One trainer raised his hand. The red-haired girl nodded at the boy who had a Raticate sitting in his lap.

"Why do we have to bond with our Pokemon in order for it to obey us? Don't they just automatically assume that we run the show?" He asked. Misao smirked.

"Let's say that you're baseball player on a team and your coach shows no skills that are useful to helping you improve your game. Would you trust him?"

"No."

"So who would be the reason for the team losing every game?"

"The coach, I guess."

"So why is it not the same with Pokemon?"

The boy grew silent and pondered that thought for a minute, and another, and then Misao continued on with her lecture. "I'd like you all to spend the rest of the lecture time befriending recently captured Pokemon or a Pokemon who seems reluctant to listen to you, I'll be walking around if you have any questions." She decided.

"Hey, Pikachu, is it okay if I work with Sniper instead of you for now? I'd like to get to know him a little." Ash asked his little electric friend. Pikachu smiled and nodded its head, "Pi-Pikachu!" Ash smiled. "Thanks buddy!" Ash took the Pokeball on his belt that contained his father's prized Pokemon and tossed it to the ground and Sniper appeared. Ash knelt down to the ground and petted the Pokemon on its head.

"Sniper, I know my dad told you to listen to me, but I want you to listen to me because you want to, not because Dad told you to. I don't want to take advantage of a command like that, it's not fair. I want to be your friend." Ash said, looking into the Pokemon's eyes. Sniper wagged his tail.

"Doom!" Sniper barked, as if to say, "I want to be your friend too!" Ash smiled widely.

"Instead of training for now, why don't we play a little?" The young trainer suggested. Sniper wagged his tail even faster and barked. "Okay then, Come and get my hat off my head!" Ash challenged, taking his hat off of his head and waving it in the air. The Houndoom barked and began to chase his new trainer around the room.

Aurora, who had just entered the room to see how her friend was doing, watched Ash curiously. Misao walked up to her comrade.

"He is definitely a good trainer." The pink-haired earth trainer said, crossing her arms. Misao nodded. "He will be a great one someday." The red-haired trainer added, looking down on her Espeon, which had followed her over to the corner of the room.

Azeala Town, Team Rocket Outpost...

Domino, 009*, or which ever you prefer, stood next to Giovanni, going over the surveillance tapes from Maplewood. The blonde crossed her arms and sighed she'd seen these tapes thousands of times, and now she was bored.

Giovanni, while looking over some footage taken by the gym, had to do a double take. "Wait a minute," He said. Domino snapped back to attention and stopped the tape. "What?" She asked.

"Rewind a little and identify that boy," Giovanni said as his underling began to rewind. 009 pushed the pause button just as a boy with an elderly woman walked into view of the hidden camera. The boy was wearing a red cap, a blue vest, and jeans. He had a Pikachu on his shoulders. The woman, Giovanni recognized in that instant.

"It's her!" He gasped. "Her who?" Domino inquired. "Heh, an important figure in that gym, and that boy..." Giovanni tapped his foot for a second recalling the image of ten years ago when he and the beginnings of Team Rocket tired to infiltrate the Maplewood Gym.

"Well, Makoto, looks like you'll have a higher price to pay that just your life," The Team Rocket Executive chuckled to himself.

"Boss?" Domino looked at Giovanni with a gazillion questions in her head. Giovanni shook his head and cleared his mind of the thoughts from that day, setting his sites on the future.

"Never mind, show me the battle plans." The executive said. Domino nodded and inserted a small floppy disk into the video player. A map of Maplewood City appeared. The Black Tulip pulled a small laser pointer out of her pocket.

"We have Rocket Special Ops. everywhere in the city undercover. They've spotted some rare Pokemon at the Temple of Mew, such as Chansey and Clefeable. I believe that a report came in that there were some Ampharos there too." Domino reported.

"Splendid," Giovanni chuckled.

"From looking over all of the reports, the best plan of attack would be to surround the city in the forest and enter during the night, if we're carrying out the original plan." Domino explained. Giovanni nodded. "Commence second stage of Operation Star." He commanded.

Domino reached for a walkie-talkie on her belt and pushed a button. "009 to 034, 034 do you copy?"

"034, I copy,"

"Commence phase two,"

"Gotcha, moving Special Ops. into position."

Giovanni cackled under his breath. "009, there are two extra things to add to this operation." He said. Domino raised an eyebrow.

"Sir?"

"You are going to capture that boy and bring him to me." Giovanni pointed to the screen with the boy on it. "And what's the other?" Domino asked.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Giovanni laughed maniacally as he petted his Persian.

Maplewood City Gym Building, 12:20 PM

Ash stood outside the Gym Building, staring at it with Pikachu on his shoulder and Misty and Brock behind him. "Are you ready, Pikachu?" The young trainer asked, looking at his electric friend. The little electric mouse's cheeks sparked. "Pika!"

"I can't wait to see you lose!" Misty taunted as always. "Oh? Well if you can do so much better, why don't you challenge the gym yourself?!" Ash shot back. "Because, I don't need to prove I'm a great Pokemon trainer, I already am one!" The orange-haired girl laughed. "Togey-priiii!" Her baby Pokemon obviously agreed. Ash growled to himself and pushed the door to the gym open and ran to the registration desk where there was a young man at a computer.

"Are you planning on challenging the gym today?" The man asked. "You bet!" Ash said. "Name please." The secretary asked.

"Ash Ketchum, from Pallet Town!" Ash declared. The man typed something into the computer and then the doors behind the desk opened. "Go ahead, and good luck!" He said. Ash nodded and smiled to the secretary as he walked through the door, Misty and Brock behind him.

The three walked into a room with fake geysers going off everywhere. In the middle of the room, there was an arena with rocks scattered in it and at the other side of the arena, stood Ray sitting cross-legged.

"Welcome, Ash Ketchum. Aries is the sign of fire, burning brightly in the sky. My Pokemon shall scorch all competition with the power of the Aries star!" Ray declared as he stood. Ash smirked.

"Fire Pokemon, huh?" He mumbled to himself, reaching to his belt for the Pokeball that contained Totodile. Ray chucked his first Pokemon into battle.

"Charizard, I call on you!"

"Totodile, I choose you!"

Next Time: Ash takes on the Maplewood City gym, will he claim his father's title, or is he bound for failure? And what's going on with Team Rocket? We already know what they want to do, but what does Giovanni want with Ash? Will Jessie and James screw up the mission, or will the blast off again? All this and more in the next chapter!

Notes:

*Domino, The Black Tulip, or 009, is a Team Rocket Special Operative. She was in the movie Mewtwo Returns.