Chapter 15
Ash, Lucine, Mark, and Kris are now in Olivine City because Ash gets a threatening letter from Team Volt. Ash says, "Team Volt is filled with hackers... but why did they target Olivine City? I wonder what is the deal with them."
Lucine says, "Did the letter say anything else other than coming to Olivine City?"
"It only shows that they're targetting the Olivine Gym, as the Steel Type Gym Leader Jasmine has been out to Sinnoh for Contest lessons." Ash sighs.
When they get to Olivine Gym they decide to knock on the door. And the ones who open the door are twins with light brown hair.
"Good afternoon, what brings you here to Olivine Gym?" Irena asks.
"We're here because we got a threatening letter from Team Volt." Ash says.
Irena and Ian look at each other before Ian says, "Um... I'm sorry, but you see...why don't you see for yourself?"
The four of them are confused as they enter the gym, only to find two dead grunts on the ground. One has a shot in the chest and the other one seemed to get crushed. The four of them widen their eyes in horror and Ash asks, "Did the two of you do this?"
Ian says, "They try to rob our mother's money, so I managed to have Steelix crush one with his body while Irena shot the other one with the gun."
"But that means both of you are murderers." Mark says. "You do realize that once the police find out, both of you are going to be sent to prison for it, right?"
Irena says, "That's why we called you here, we want to join Team Alpha."
Ash asks, "How did you know our group name? And if you're the one sending us the copy of the threatening letter, that means you also manage to know our contact information..."
Ian says, "We know more than you think, Ash Ketchum. The deceased World Champion."
Kris widens her eyes and says, "Wait, you are that ASH KETCHUM? The one who my cousin speaks highly about?"
Ash sighs and says, "Looks like the secret's out. Yeah, I'm Ash Ketchum. But pardon me, you say your cousin? Did I know her?"
"Her name is Lyra Kotone." Kris says. "She said you guys met in Sinnoh."
"I see." Ash says. "I remember her." He turns to Ian and Irena, "But how did the two of you know about my identity?"
Irena says, "Like Team Volt, we're also hackers, but unlike them, we don't use hacking to do bad things, instead, we hack to gain information for those evil teams."
"As for how we know you're alive, I mean, seriously? The Ash Ketchum who escape death more than 5 times is killed by a Team Rocket bombing? You might have fooled a lot of people, but we're not the ones who got fooled."
"You two are too smart for your own good..." Lucine mutters.
"So the two of you want to join our Team Alpha? Will your mother agree to it?" Ash asks.
Ian and Irena pale a little and they frown, Irena says, "We've been under attack by Team Volt a lot of times, our mother has been quite overprotective of us."
"Yeah. 'Worrying about those teams is the job of us adults, kids like you should continue your studies and stay away from danger.' I mean, seriously? We're college students and we can be categorized as adults, right?"
Ash says, "So the both of you are college students, what kind of subjects are you learning?"
"Pokemon Battling and Engineering of course." Ian says. "We don't seriously need to be present at school because we have computers and distance learning. But staying at home is also boring as we want to stop evil criminals as you do."
"You have been our admiration and hero since the time when you and your Pikachu stop Team Magma and Team Aqua from fighting in Hoenn. We've also watched all of your battles and studied all of them." Irena says.
"You really do have a lot of fans, Ash." Lucine says.
"I know, and sometimes fans are quite annoying." Ash says. "And I guess it is fine, you can come with us. But you will need to find an excuse for your mother so that she won't be worried. I know this might be annoying, but after my mother was killed by Team Rocket, I have been having a lot of regrets because of it."
"We understand." Irena says as she shows two files. "These are what we learn about Team Cipher and Team Volt, the two evil teams active in the Johto Region."
Ash checks out the files and says, "These really help a lot. I'm glad you're able to get this much data without being detected by the teams."
As Ash is reading, he also has Lucine, Kris, and Mark get rid of the bodies on the ground. As he reads, he realizes that Team Cipher is here for Lugia and Ho-oh. They're going to recreate their failed projects: XD001 and XD002.
As for Team Volt, they have been targeting the Legendary Pokemon Zeraora and the goal is to use the computers and electronics to conquer the Johto Region, this is something that makes him sick.
"I'm glad they didn't get Dr. Colress on their side." Ash thinks as he looks at the files of Team Volt.
"So, what do you think?" Irena asks.
"They're great." Ash says. "Both of you are really capable of handling information. I'm happy to have the two of you joining the team. However, there are some things you need to know about our team."
"We know. We're not going to trust PLA or International Police because there are spies in it, we also need to be trained with weapons, and we have to take matters into our own hands." Ian says.
"Good." Ash says, "And both of you specialize in Steel Types, right? It's a good thing that I need a Steel Type Gym Leader and an Elite Four member. I want to know if the two of you are interested?"
"Elite Four? But didn't you already have two sets of Elite Four already?" Irena asks.
"Well yeah, but there are three regions and I will need a third set to make things smoothly." Ash says.
"If that's the case, Irena can become the Elite Four member, she's stronger than me." Ian says.
"Fine by me." Irena shrugs. But just as they hear the sound of the car, Irena and Ian pale and Irena says, "Oh no... Mother is back."
"I see... it's a good thing that we need to talk to your mother alone about some things." Ash says as he heads out of the room to find Mark, Lucine, and Kris. When Jasmine walks into the room, she notices Ash and Team Alpha.
"Who are you people?" Jasmine asks with shock. "Are you Team Volt or Team Cipher?"
Ash says, "We're neither of them. I'm Red Satoshi, you probably heard of me, I won the Grand Festival a few months ago."
Jasmine recognizes him and says, "Oh, pardon me for not recognizing you. But what brings you here to my gym?"
"Ms. Jasmine. I wish our meeting can be considered a secret because I really don't like the extra attention. But I'm actually the Champion of both Kanto and Alola."
This causes her to widen her eyes, "So you're the mysterious Champion that Lance warned us about. Are you perhaps here to challenge the Gym?"
Ash says, "On the contrary, I'm here because I've witnessed your children's strength. I wish to train both of them so one can become a Gym Leader while the other one can become an Elite Four member."
Jasmine can only gasp in shock, and she says, "I'm glad you think so highly about my children, but I have to refuse the offer."
"And what will the reason be?" Ash asks with confusion.
"Two reasons. First, they have studies that they need to finish in college, and I'm concerned if they can balance work and study. The second is that there are more evil organizations around the world, our family has been targeted by Team Volt for a long time."
"I see... however, I don't see the problem with these two reasons. First of all, I'm pretty sure they can balance work and study, they are smart and I've read a lot of their papers and I'm fascinated by them. As for the second one, it is true that there are a lot of organizations around the area, however, we have a lot of extra members who can protect them, and I'll also teach them some protective ways as well. They aren't birds trapped inside the cage after all."
Jasmine sighs as she has to admit that the Champion is right. Jasmine says, "Since you're a Champion of two regions, I guess it will be fine to let you teach them some things. It is just...my husband was murdered by Team Volt and I really don't want to lose more family."
"I promise, I already lose a lot of my family members and I also wish not to lose more." Ash says.
After informing the news of the twins, they are delighted to come with Ash. After some promises to make, both Irena and Ian head into the plane as they head back to the Sevestar Region.
When they get to the Sevestar Region, they are shocked to see so many people training with weapons and Pokemon battles. Ash also introduces the two of them to others, and they are also amazed at their hacking skills.
Kris is also introduced to everyone as they are in awe at the way she captures Pokemon by kicking the Pokeballs, while they're getting along with each other, Ash decides to get some rest as he stays in his room in the castle.
Pikachu walks towards him and asks, "Hey, Ash. Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course." Ash says. "What's the matter?"
Pikachu says, "Well, after watching all the documents from Irena and Ian, I have been wondering... am I as good as your old Pikachu? Or am I not strong enough?"
Ash sighs, "Pikachu, you really don't need to compare yourself to my old Pikachu. I know that both of you are the same species, but you are unique in your own way."
Pikachu frowns, "But what if I didn't meet the same expectations as him?"
"You don't need to worry about that, you always meet my expectations." Ash says while rubbing the ear of Pikachu, causing her to squeal. "My old Pikachu also likes me to touch that part."
"I'm glad." Pikachu says while curling beside Ash and falls asleep.
Ash pets the now sleeping Pikachu and he starts to think about the day when his mother died, when his first Pikachu died, and when he died. He shakes off the thoughts as he has a lot of friends who will fight along with him and he has to make sure he destroys all of the evil organizations, especially Team Rocket.
Here is a new chapter, and as you can see, I usually have David, Elline's brother, as the Steel Type Gym Leader in my other stories, but this time, I decide to replace him with Ian, Jasmine's son, in this fic. And Irena is going to be one of Ash's Elite Four members in the Kanto Region along with Chloe. I hope you like this chapter and we'll be going to Hoenn in the next chapter.