Für Führer und Reich
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. After reading this far you can see why.
Delilah Ketchum frowned as she regarded the stern faced newscaster droning on in his monotone about the tragedy that had just befallen the Middle East. It had been news for almost a half hour now and the blast radius had now extended from where Tel Aviv once stood to past the Iranian border. The nations of Iraq, Kuwait, Cyprus were added to those completely wiped out. Parts of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Libya, Turkey and Greece including the entire Island of Crete were also victims of the blast. There were no communications out of the affected area so the death tools were presently unknown. Assuming that in the wake of a multi thousand-degree steam cloud mortality was total estimates were ranging at between 200 and 250 million.
The full magnitude of the tragedy was more than Delilah Ketchum could or wanted to understand. She had tried to stop watching the television and busy herself with some other task but she kept returning watching in some morbid fascination. Much to her relief the videophone rang giving her something else to do.
"Hello." She said into the receiver.
"Mom," a crying Misty wept on the other end, "Ash is dead!"
Delilah froze with shock. "Dead! What happened?"
"He called from New York last night and said he was going to Lebanon on business. Nothing is left alive over there." Misty began to sob uncontrollably again.
At that moment Delilah just couldn't believe that her only child was one of the statistics that had been reported on the television. "Misty maybe he didn't make it over there, we don't know yet."
"Then why hasn't he called! Why hasn't he let us know he is all right?" she started crying again.
"I don't know, Misty. I just don't know." Delilah tried to reassure her daughter-in-law as much as she tried to reassure herself.
Professor Samuel Oak was entering some pokémon data into his computer as he paid scant attention to the television playing some banal daytime talk show. Only a small earthquake momentarily stopped him as he went about his work. Even when there was a breaking news flash Professor Oak didn't bother to look up he had seen enough of man's inhumanity to man and desired not to hear anymore about it.
The words 'meteor impact', however, had jolted him to pay attention to the TV and he got up from the chair to stand in front of the screen. Professor Oak listened intently and from the descriptions given of the crater he judged the size of the meteor to be within 3-5 kilometers in diameter. Yet life went on without a care outside of the Middle East. About now a massive dust cloud should have been circling the planet causing the sun to be blocked out for months and a crash in the global temperature at least a quarter of the planet should have be incinerated instantly. A meteor that large could easily have disrupted the Earth's core causing a flip in the planet's magnetic field destroying modern electronic society in one fell swoop. There should have been massive Earth tremors and volcanic eruptions not the inconsequential little ones that happened something wasn't right this could not have been a meteor strike. What he knew it to be was even worse.
He had heard of it spoken in hushed whispers many years ago when he was just a boy. His father would told him that he was making a super weapon that would win World War Two for Japan and its allies and that they would need to go on a long trip to do it. At that time his family name was Okkido and he lived in Japan he was only four years old and had just lost his mother to American bombing raids though at the time he did not understand the loss he believed that she had just gone on a long trip and would come back eventually. He did understand that his country was fighting 'bad people' and that right now the bad people were winning but that his father would stop them.
He and his father left Japan by a submarine landed in pro Axis Iraq and took a train through Turkey and the Balkans until they reached Poland. There they meet with the German Scientists who needed their Japanese counterpart for his knowledge of pokémon.
For over a year they labored on the pokémon desperately racing against time. Their location changed several times to escape the advancing Red Army, from Poland to Dresden then to a mountain stronghold in Bohemia. It was there that the news came of Hitler's death and that there was no more need to work on the project without her master the pokémon would be nothing more than an enlarged dragonite and no use as a weapon against the Allies.
At that point the scientists made decisions that would decide their fates either surrender to the Allies or risk fleeing. Many scientists decided to flee some actually made it to sanctuary in South America the rest decided to surrender to the Western Allies to escape the advancing Red Army. Dr. Okkido was with this group he and several others kept the pokémon embryo hoping it might be used as a bargaining chip and they made their way through the front lines to the American headquarters where the bemused guards didn't know what to make of what landed in their laps. Higher ranking officers, however, did know what to make of it and they seized the pokémon and immediately cleared all the scientists and their dependents to be transported to the United States.
Many of the Scientists received name changes including Dr. Okkido and his son who got the new family name Oak and were set up with new lives in California even though during the duration of the war, which was to last for the next few months, they were not allowed to set foot anywhere near the west coast of the country. Despite these indignities the now Dr Oak worked diligently for his new country until his death. His son Samuel Oak, on the other hand, completed his education in pokémon research then returned to Japan.
Now history was coming full circle the creature he had last seen so long ago was back and more powerful than those scientists had ever envisioned it should be. He had heard rumors from the old group from time to time that the pokémon rather than having been destroyed was taken out to do her new master's bidding. Professor Oak dismissed these claims he couldn't believe that anyone would be as foolish to use the pokémon for anything let alone as a weapon. Worst still was when cloning was finally certified as being capable of producing a viable organism. If someone remade her master then the world would be made to suffer immense tragedy because of a lust for power of a few greedy individuals.
Professor Oak was taken out of his self pitying revelry when his videophone began ringing he picked it up, "hello"
"Sam it's Delilah."
"Oh hello Delilah Do you need anything?" like a roll in the sack Professor Oak though to himself.
"Have you been watching the news?"
Professor Oak satisfied smile faded, "Yes unfortunately it's a terrible tragedy." Professor Oak debated whether or not to tell Delilah he didn't think it was a meteor.
"I'm afraid Ash may have been a victim." Delilah's eyes began to tear up.
"How, why?" Professor Oak was shocked at this revelation.
"Misty called a little while ago and said that Ash went to Lebanon on business for the Pokémon Leagues and that he hasn't called."
Professor Oak was a bit sickened by the though of trying to hit on Ash's mom right after her only son was vaporized in a fireball. He then realized that if Ash were over there and then there was a devastating blast. "He must have had the pokémon," Professor Oak said to himself.
"What did you say Sam?"
"Oh nothing."
"Misty wants to go to New York to see the Leagues Chairman She asked me to come along I wondered if you would be able to come with me."
'Seeing the chairman is precisely what I want to do' Professor Oak thought to himself. "Yes Delilah I can come with you."
The light on Bill's lighthouse was now more a nostalgic decoration rather than a useful feature for guiding ships that were mostly run by auto navigation. The main function was to insure that GPS data for the ships was accurate and to provide tourist revenue to the nearby village. The small village was about to get some new tourists for out of nowhere a gigantic pokémon materialized on the beach. Around her several people were scattered about many in shock from being dropped from a significant height for the second time in a day. "We have got to get better about landings!" Kurt shouted to no one in particular as he spit out some sand, "Where are we."
"My lighthouse," Bill stated as he looked up towards it right now longing to go home and forget he was ever part of this madness.
"So we're in Japan, great." Kurt did not sound happy about his current predicament. "We'll have to walk this thing back to South America."
"Sir," the head scientist began, "she's not going to go anywhere." He pointed to Adolf who lay motionless on the beach.
"What the Hell is wrong with him?" Kurt got up and walked over to the scientist attending the prone form of the clone.
"He's out, it could be permanent." The scientist continued to check the clone's vital signs.
"How are we going to get this thing back to South America without its master?"
"How about we use him?" One of Kurt's subordinates yanked Ash to his feet. "He's the ranking Pokémon Master of the world. He should be able to control it." Ash scowled at him but said nothing. "He even has this." The subordinate took the master ball and tossed it to Kurt.
Kurt studied the master ball then smiled at Ash. "The way I see it you can help us out or you can die right on this spot."
"Not much of a choice you give me." Ash said sarcastically.
"Your choice Mr. Ketchum."
"Kill me."
Kurt was taken aback by Ash's decision. "Stupid choice Mr. Ketchum." Kurt pulled out his pistol and placed the barrel between Ash's eyes.
"Go ahead you still won't get that thing back in the ball. And how long do you think you will last before someone says something about a hundred meter tall pokémon in their backyard?"
Kurt pulled the trigger; nothing happened. "Damn thing," Kurt was immediately set with a new idea if the stick wouldn't work try a carrot, "Consider yourself lucky Mr. Ketchum you may be spared by some oxidation but we are near a population center it won't be too long before the Japanese Self Defense Forces decide to give 'Godzilla' here a greeting. She may be strong but she's not indestructible especially with her master unconscious. Of course you'd just stand by and let her be blown to pieces."
Ash shot Kurt the most disgusted look he could but still he couldn't let an innocent pokémon be killed even if its master ordered it to destroy millions of people. "All right I will recall it back into the ball." Ash held up the master ball, "Return," the giant pokémon disappeared into the ball that Kurt grabbed from Ash's hand as if it were a nuclear hot button. "You don't have the slightest idea what you have there, do you?"
"A pokémon." Kurt said back.
"You can't control her. Do you know how long she'll stay in that ball?"
Kurt smirked, "Who cares?"
"You will when she pops out of that ball in an airplane." Ash gave Kurt a hard glance.
One of Kurt's subordinates came up to him. "Perhaps we should hold on to him for a while just in case he," the subordinate motioned to the still unconscious clone, "doesn't wake up."
"We need a phone to call for one of the jets to come and get us." The group trudged off to the lighthouse.
The group holed up in Bill's lighthouse. The television was tuned to a news channel that was boldly declaring that a meteor had struck the planet in the vicinity of Tel Aviv. A large number of communications satellites were knocked out by the electromagnetic pulse and communications around the globe were disrupted so when a heavily shielded spy satellite began to beam images back the newscasters scrambled to be the first to get pictures on the air. The pictures showed a large circular area of the planet where it was now the middle of the night normally there would have been large amounts of lights where cities were but they were dark as if nothing were there at all. The news program showed a composite image of what the area would have looked like normally and there were large numbers of lights up the Nile River, along the Mediterranean coast, up and down the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, along both Saudi coasts, The Eastern Libyan coast, throughout Anatolian Turkey, Southern Greece, Crete and Cyprus they were all gone no lights whatsoever. All this was due to a meteor according to the news.
Everyone in the room knew of course that it was just a cover story and that they alone were responsible the two subordinates of Kurt were in high spirits though one of them still maintained a close watch on Ash who was tied up and sitting on a couch not looking pleased at all. Kurt had been on the phone constantly since they got to the lighthouse and was hidden away in another room. Adolf the clone was still unconscious lying on a couch being tended by the man in the lab coat. Bill the only person there Ash knew sat away from everyone else looking as if he were ill.
Ash remembered the last time he was at Bill's lighthouse. He was looking to use the phone so he could ask Professor Oak about his krabby. Bill had told them that he was in search of the most rare of all pokémon. That night Bill, Ash, Misty and Brock stood atop the lighthouse as Bill told of a extremely rare pokémon that he had heard once before and that he was trying to find again. Ash thought back to that day and a chill went through him that was the pokémon Bill was trying to find: that pokémon that was locked in the basement of the UN, that pokémon that just destroyed the State of Israel.
Ash could not believe Bill would work willingly with these people but if he were tempted with the thought of getting to see rare and unusual pokémon he may never have known what he was supporting until now.
"A plane is on its way gentlemen." Kurt informed his men, "We shall be back at base within 24 hours."
Bill stood up to speak to Kurt. "Sir I do appreciate you allowing me to witness this fantastic pokémon but I should stay here at my lighthouse. Of course if you ever need me for anything you will know where to find me."
"No I don't think so," Kurt grabbed Bill, "We are going to need your expertise in the future."
Bill gulped, "y-yes sir."
"Good," Kurt left Bill and walked over to the scientist attending the clone, "How is it?"
The scientist looked up to Kurt, "He needs a doctor."
"We will be back in South America within a day you will attend to him then."
"He may be dead by then!"
"Then you won't have to worry." Kurt turned away from the scientist towards Ash. "I suppose we are going to need you in the near future."
"Gee it's nice to be wanted." Ash said sarcastically.
"You have skills that we need Mr. Ketchum you will not be harmed if you cooperate."
"Just like you buddy Mohammed? You kind of left him there to get boiled after he wasn't of use to you anymore."
"That was accidental though in the grand scheme of things it was for the better. We had no idea that Axis was this powerful she surpassed anything we were told to expect. She was said to be strong enough to take out army groups and bomber formations not entire countries. I'm sure if Mohammed had survived he would have blamed us for destroying 200 million Moslems and that would not have been a pretty sight now would it?"
"I guess if the ends justify the means." Ash said still being sarcastic.
"I'm glad you see our point," now it was Kurt's turn at sarcasm.
The plane ride to South America was extremely tense at least for Ash. Every moment he wondered whether or not the pokémon was going to pop out of the master ball and expand to full size effectively destroying the small jet aircraft they were in. Kurt hadn't trusted him enough to let Axis out fearing that Ash would not put her back in the ball. So they crossed the pacific with no problems they were now over the Andes Mountains heading for their base. Ash partly hoped that Axis would come out of the pokéball destroy the plane and everyone in it but there was another part of him that didn't want her to there was a part of him that wanted to live, to live at any cost. It was easy to be brave and boldly declare what you were willing to die for when that very death was not staring you in the face. Only the very brave and very foolhardy, Ash was not sure if those should really be separate, sacrificed themselves for what they believed in and Ash now understood why ordinary men can commit extraordinary crimes; they wanted to live.
Ash looked over to Bill he could sense that Bill felt the same way he didn't like what he had gotten himself into but wasn't sure how to extricate himself. Bill had been with them for seven months Ash knew Bill was smarter than him and if he were not able to escape there was no escape. The only way to leave the organization was feet first; the only way out was self-sacrifice.
Ashes looked out the plane's window again the Andes Mountains were now behind them. The terrain had changed to grassland and would soon give way to tropical jungle where they would land on an improved airstrip paid for by gold smuggled out of the collapsing Third Reich over sixty years prior. When the plane touched down on the runway Ash breathed a sigh of relief, he had survived.
End Chapter Three