Pokémon – The Quest's End
A fanfiction by BenRG
Disclaimer
Pokémon, the Pocket Monsters, their human friends and enemies and all the technologies of the Pokémon universe are the property of Nintendo., Creatures Inc. and Game Freak Software. This is a non-profit work for free distribution through the Internet. No breach of copyright intended.
Author's Notes
This is an Alternate Universe story, closely linked to my Original Character story, 'The Journey'. Most of the events of Ash Ketchum's past have occurred as in the canon timeline. However, I have added one or two Pokémon to Ash's team that I feel he needs. I have also taken some liberties with some of the newer Pokémon, due to my unfamiliarity with the Ruby- and Sapphire-version Pokémon.
I don't know what they are going to call May's little brother Masato in the English-language dub of the animé. I have selected the name 'Matt' as being as good as any other.
Censor: PG-13
Continuity: Takes place eight years after Ash began his Journey.
The Story
Chapter 3 – True Lies
Team Rocket were sitting around a hastily-prepared campfire and sipping cups of a tea that Jessie's prized book of herbal remedies promised gave instant relief to all the side-effects of Sleep Powder. They needed it, because right now they had splitting headaches. Bobbi was sitting on the other side of the fire, looking at her parents in a worried and slightly angry way. "Are you gonna be okay?" she asked at last, hugging Wobbuffet a bit tighter. The gumdrop-shaped Pokémon hugged the little girl comfortingly and murmured something in his own language.
Jessie managed a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, dear, it's only Sleep Powder," she replied. "It isn't even as dangerous as Stun Spore."
"Meowth! And it ain't as if dey haven't had woise!" Meowth added. The cat-like Pokémon wasn't showing it, but he had actually been quite scared when he hadn't found his two friends waiting when he had returned to the pitfall trap in the blimp. Fear turned to anger and dismay when he used the blimp's cargo nets to haul up what was at the bottom of the trap and found it was them. He still hadn't quite got over his deep sense of dismay now.
"When was you hurt worse than that?" Bobbi snapped at her parents in a way that James swore was frighteningly reminiscent of her mother.
Jessie was about to tell Bobbi not to worry about it when James, with a laugh, spoke up. "Oh, dear, little Rosebud. Your mother and I have been blasted off by a Thunderbolt from the same boy's Pikachu more times than we can count!" Jessie winced and looked away, horrified by her mate's tactlessness.
"Why?" was the question that Bobbi naturally wanted answered.
Jessie and James looked at each other in a stricken manner. What were they going to tell her? That they were thieves and terrorists? That they ran around the region in Halloween costumes, stealing, intimidating and committing other crimes for a man who wouldn't conceal the contempt that he felt for them? They had been very careful to shield Bobbi from their 'profession', but it was getting more and more difficult. The girl had a quick, inquiring mind and it was getting harder to explain to her why she was different from the other children she met on their infrequent trips to various towns and villages.
Meowth, bless him, had an answer ready. "Ah, ya Ma and Pa just get in lots'a arguments wid da Twoips, Li'l Kitten. Dat's all."
Bobbi blinked at her feline tutor in all things Pokémon and asked the obvious next question. "Why?" A large droplet of sweat appeared at the side of all three adults' faces.
"Because that is the way things are, Bobbi," Jessie said firmly.
"Why?" Bobbi asked again, clearly not satisfied.
"You'll understand when you grow up," Jessie said gently, although it was clear from her expression that she didn't want any more back-talk.
Bobbi picked up on that immediately and shrugged in a careless manner. "Oh," she said and returned to a silent conversation with Jessie's Wobbuffet.
Jessie looked at James, and he saw the shame and self-loathing in her eyes. How many more lies? he asked himself. How many more times would they have to refuse to answer their daughter's questions about who and what they are? And would they be able to face the consequences the day when she learnt the truth?
~*~*~*~
"I have actually told you a lot about your father," Delia told her son, although her mind was obviously very far from her hotel room. There was the light of old, hard memories in her eyes… And a pain that Ash couldn't recall ever having seen before. "You probably even still remember a little about him. You were three-and-a-half years old when you saw him last, after all."
"And then he went off on a Journey and died somewhere out there," Ash finished for her, looking down at his hands, his eyes growing dark and stormy with half-remembered grief. Misty, who was sitting close beside him on the couch, reached over to hold Ash's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. May, at the other end of the couch from Ash, shot her friend a compassionate look. She couldn't ever understand that part of Ash's past, of course. That is probably where Misty, orphaned at only three years of age, had a big advantage over her.
Delia sucked in a deep breath. "That is what I told you," she confirmed. "But that isn't really true, Ash. You were little more than a baby, and I couldn't possibly tell you the truth. Now, I want to do that. Perhaps I should have done so long before today, but I will accept your judgement in this matter."
Ash blinked. "You mean… my father isn't dead?" he blurted, his voice breaking with surprise.
"It depends on how you define the word 'dead', lad," Professor Oak said. "Just because a body keeps moving doesn't mean that the soul lives on."
As Ash tried to process that cryptic comment, his mother took charge again. "You know that your father was a Pokémon trainer, Ash," she said. "He was a good one too, if I am a fair judge, but not spectacularly good. He won a few competitions and was quite highly-ranked in the League for a long time. Nonetheless, he never came close to beating the Elite Four." Delia sighed, choosing and discarding various ways to continue before finally deciding on a path that contained no lies. "I had hoped that he would settle down with me when we were married and give up the nomadic life. When you were born, I thought that I had got my wish. He got a job as an assistant at the Professor's laboratory and didn't seem inclined to ever journey again." The woman sucked in another deep breath before continuing. "However, shortly after your third birthday, he became restless. You might remember that he would go out on long trips onto Route 1 and Route 21, often being away for days. Eventually, he told me that he was going to go on one more journey and become The Pokémon Master. He told me that it was his destiny and that he had been a fool to let himself stagnate for so long."
Ash grimaced, vaguely remembering hearing loud arguments from downstairs as he lay in bed. He remembered hugging his Dragonite plushie, the most prized gift that his father had ever given him, and hiding under the covers, hoping to block out the angry voices of his parents. "I remember…" he whispered.
Delia looked down, feeling the pain and a little shame, all over again. "Maybe I should have been more supportive of him, Ash. Maybe it was wrong for me to demand that he give up his ambition for his family but…" Delia shook her head. "But, damn it! I was pregnant! He was planning to run off and let me face bringing his second child into this world alone, not knowing when or even if he would come back!" Delia shuddered a little and looked her son right in the eyes. "He didn't care, Ash," she said, fury and pain deepening her voice to a snarl. "He told me that nothing was more important to him than getting that title. He said that it was his destiny. He told me that I could accept that or not as I wished; he didn't care. Then…." Delia suddenly sobbed out loud and was surrounded by Ash and Professor Oak. It took the woman several seconds to stop reliving the moment enough so that she could remember it. "He walked away from us, Ash. Away from his wife and his children. He cast off the identity and face of Michael Arthur Ketchum and took on an identity more to his liking. And he still has that identity to this day."
Ash tried to take all this in. He was still holding his mother's hand, so he looked into her pain-filled blue eyes and tried to see if he could see any lies waiting there. "So, my father is still out there, somewhere," he said. "He is living under a false name and he has changed his appearance, but he is still alive." The boy knew that he had a stupid grin on his face. Then his expression turned into a scowl and he looked at his mother accusingly. "Why did you tell me he was dead?" he spat out.
Delia looked at her son and he could see the pain in her eyes. Whatever she was about to say, Ash knew that she wasn't able to lie on this subject, even to herself. "Ash, I have not heard from your father once since he left us that night. He has never contacted us. He has never made an attempt to see you or Bonnie… In fact, I'm not even sure if he knows… or cares… that she exists. He has never given us any financial assistance. Ash, we are dead to him. We aren't a part of his life or his priorities any more. So, it is fitting that he is dead to us too." Delia managed a smile but it was too nearly a sneer for her comfort. "And from the long string of… sluts that he has consorted with according to the press, I don't think that he misses us very much."
"You hate him," May's words were not a question, they were a statement. Everyone stared at the auburn-haired girl in surprise, having briefly forgotten about her presence.
"Yes I do," Delia confirmed, her voice flat and emotionless. "He abandoned me and his son to live or die and he didn't care which it was. I was pregnant with his second child and he didn't care…" Tears were running down Delia's face. "I nearly miscarried Bonnie twice, you know. I was working 10-hour shifts in a factory, packing boxes. It was the only work I could get, but I had to do something to put food on the table…" Delia turned to look at Professor Oak in a loving way. "I would have had to put you both up for adoption if it weren't for Samuel's charity."
Oak smiled in a sad way. "I couldn't turn my back when my former star pupil was in such trouble," he said kindly. "You should have come to me the minute that excrescence walked out on you, Delia."
Delia smiled back before turning back to her son. "Was I right to lie to you for all these years?" she asked rhetorically. "I'll leave that up to you, my son. Just believe this: Everything I did was so that you and Bonnie could be happy. For a long time, that was my only remaining reason for living."
Ash had retreated into himself, scowling thoughtfully. Misty came up and touched his shoulder. Ash looked at her with a grateful smile and turned back to his mother. "Why are you telling me this now?" he asked.
Delia sighed. "Because he is about to become part of your life again in the worst possible way," she said. "Misty, the time has come to tell Ash what happened yesterday after his battle with Master Bruno."
ash looked at Misty questioningly. She seemed reluctant, but Delia had backed her into a corner. "Yesterday, Lance came up to me and asked me… no he demanded that I convince you to drop your challenge to him," she said. Anger quickly overcame reluctance and her voice rose in fury as she continued her story. "He threatened me, Ash! He said he would spread lies in the newspapers about you and me if he didn't do it! He said he would sabotage my application to be named a water-type Master!"
Ash gasped. "The dirty…!" he shook his head. "We've got to go to Mr. Goodshow about this!"
"There is more, Ash," Delia interrupted. "You said that Team Rocket were trying to force you drop your challenge too. It is clear that Lance has hired them, just in case Misty was too strong a personality to succumb to his amateur attempt at blackmail." Ash nodded in agreement as Delia continued. "It seems that the 'great' Pokémon Master isn't sure of his ability to beat you, Ash. However, he isn't going to lose his title easily. After all, he gave up so much to get this far… Including his wife and family!"
All three young people's mouths dropped open. "You mean…?" May blurted out.
"Yes, my dear," Professor Oak said sternly. "Lance Knight, The Pokémon Master for ten years now, is actually Michael Arthur Ketchum, Ash and Bonnie's father."
~*~*~*~
Close to the League Stadium in Indigo Plateau is a large ranch-like building. Here, under 24-hour guard, are kept all the Pokémon belonging to a challenger to the Elite Four or the Pokémon Master. This is to ensure that no possible attempt could be made to sabotage a challenger's team. It also prevents the challenger from using illegal enhancements on his Pokémon in these most difficult and challenging matches.
Ash Ketchum, as was his right, was visiting his Pokémon. He needed advice, and, in his experience, Pokémon had the clearest logical thought processes of any conscious being.
He had forgiven his mother, of course. What else could he have done? She hadn't abandoned him to an uncertain fate, after all. Hell, he even understood why he had lied. It would have broken his heart when he was younger to know that the father that he idolised had run off to fulfil his own selfish ambitions. It hurt now, too. But now he had friends and they could give him the strength to endure. He had just finished telling the story to two of his most powerful Pokémon. "So, what do you think?" he asked.
There was a long pause before Charizard and Salamence slowly uncurled from each other and faced their Trainer. Ash wasn't surprised that the two dragon-type Pokémon had chosen to become mates, but it still awed him to watch them together. [It is different for us,] Charizard said at last, his gruff voice sounding slightly confused. [When a Charmander or a Bagon are mature enough to leave the weyr, it is the end of our association with them.]
[But to abandon a chick when it is still young,] Salamence hissed sibilantly, [worse still to abandon one's mate when she is still gravid… These things are unthinkable to us.] The female dragon/flying-type blinked her shining amber eyes at her Trainer. [Why do you tell us this?]
"I'm not sure," Ash said at last. "I suppose that I wanted your opinion on what I should do next."
[Actually, I think that you want our opinion on whether it is right to hate him,] Pikachu interposed with a quiet laugh.
Charizard snorted and Salamence hissed in amusement. [Hate is such a strong emotion,] Salamence commented. [Would you be surprised to know that we Pokémon rarely feel hate?] Ash was surprised and he said so. [To hate a being means that all your thought and energy is focussed on that one's humiliation and destruction. We frequently resist our enemies or fight for survival, but there is no hatred in that. It is merely a conflict with a rival. It is a cause for determination, not hate.]
[Hate frequently blinds,] Charizard added. [The desire to destroy blinds one to the threats and stratagems of the enemy.]
"So you are saying that hating him would be playing into his hands?" Ash asked.
[No,] Charizard replied. [We are saying that hating him is a waste of energy. Your dam was correct. You are dead to him, so he should be dead to you.]
Ash thanked his Pokémon for their counsel. He then set off for the barn at the centre of the ranch, where his smaller Pokémon were kept and where the League was keeping an eye on his stock of curatives and power-ups. As Ash entered the barn, he was unaware of the fact that he was being watched by unfriendly eyes.
~*~*~*~
"Oh, dis is great!" Meowth said as he looked through his binoculars at the barn. "Da Twoip and most o' his Pokémon all at once. Da Boss'll give us a bonus for dis. Meowth! Maybe I'll even get ta be his Top Cat again!" Meowth turned to James. "Throw da switch Jimmy-boy!"
Much to Meowth's surprise, James didn't throw the switch. "Now," the lavender-haired man said in an uncharacteristically hoarse tone of voice, "let's be sure that we are clear about what we are proposing here. We are going to detonate a blast/incendiary bomb under the barn while the Twerp and about half of his Pokémon are inside."
"Meowth! Yeah! Dat's right! Do it already!"
"It would be murder!" Jessie said, swallowing.
"Whadda we care?" Meowth cried out frantically. "We're da bad guys, remembah? We take out the Twoip like da Boss wants and move on! Pity about dat Pikachu, but ya win some and ya lose some!" Meowth froze in horror as James lowered the safety cover down over the detonator switch and folded away its' aerial. "Whatta you doin'?" he screeched. "Throw da switch!"
Jessie had stood up and was glaring at Meowth. "And how am I supposed to tell my daughter that I'm a murderer?" she stuttered. "How are we supposed to have her respect and love then?"
Meowth was virtually dancing in fury. Why couldn't these two sentimental fools understand? Ash was the enemy! Who cared what happened to him so long as they pleased the Boss? "She don't have to know!" he cried out. "Tink of all the great stuff you will be able to buy wid da bonus the Boss'll give ya!"
"You're disgusting!" James hissed. "I won't give my daughter a gift drenched in someone's blood! Even the Twerp's." Meowth jumped for the detonator only to be met with James' fist. The cat-like Pokémon fell to the ground, shocked. In all the years he had known James, the human male had never used violence against him.
"James, give him the detonator," Jessie declared. "If Meowth is so keen to be a killer, let's leave him to it. I'm leaving."
James gave his lover a strange look before complying and placing the remote control at Meowth's feet. Then he turned and joined her. Meowth picked up the remote and looked at them. "As long as you wear da Boss' colours, you gotta do as he says," he declared, scowling at his two human colleagues.
"Then the time has come for a change of wardrobe," Jessie declared defiantly. "I want Bobbi to be proud of us for what we really are, not for the lies that we tell her!"
Meowth growled. He would deal with them later. First… He extended the aerial and uncovered the detonator switch. Meowth's eyes tracked to the deceptively simple-looking push-button detonation switch. Against his will, he found himself thinking of what the bomb would do. The concussion would kill most of them immediately. But the tougher-skinned Pokémon, like Magcargo and Wartortle, would certainly survive and would be trapped in the collapsed ruins of the building. Worse, the incendiary component of the bomb would create a firestorm, and those still conscious would be slowly burnt alive. Meowth swallowed. "Meowth! It's no good, I can't do it," he said mournfully. "I'm no killer, not in cold blood, anyways." He carefully deactivated the detonator and turned to his friends. "Whadda we do?" he asked plaintively.
"We start living our lives rather than just existing," Jessie replied.
~*~*~*~
Ash was conferring with his most experienced Pokémon about strategies for the next day's match. He was very surprised when, suddenly, there was a loud bellowing noise of over two dozen Tauros (and several other large Pokémon) confronting a sudden threat in their midst.
Without a second thought, Ash raced out into the compound to see, much to his depressed lack of surprise, Team Rocket, standing in the middle of a circle of angry Tauros. Charizard and Salamence were also present, their huge wings interlocked as they glared at their Trainer's sworn enemies. "Team Rocket! What are you doing here?" Ash shouted. Then, he noticed something. Jessie was holding a child to her in a defensive way. The child… she couldn't be much over three years old… was like Jessie in miniature only with short-cropped hair in the same lavender shade of James' hair. Immediately, every other question was forgotten. "Where did you get that little girl?" Ash asked quietly. If those two had kidnapped a child as a hostage, he swore that he would make them sorry that they were ever born!
Jessie, despite her perilous situation, managed a slight smile. "What's the matter, Twerp?" she asked. "Hasn't your mother ever told you about 'the Birds and the Bees'?"
Ash's mouth dropped open. "She's your little girl?" Somehow, Jessie had never struck him as the maternal sort. And, come to think of it, James had never struck him as the paternal sort, but that got him onto uncertain ground and he didn't want to think about it too much.
Jessie managed a slightly embarrassed smile and James puffed out his chest proudly. Jessie put her frightened daughter down and pushed her forward slightly. "Roberta Rae Morgan, I want you to meet Ashton Satoshi Ketchum. Be polite, dear, he is a Master Trainer, you know."
Much to Ash's shock, Jessie and James' little girl took a few uncertain steps forward and then curtsied to him. "Pleased to meet you, Master Ashton," she said in a precise voice.
"Call me Ash," Ash replied automatically, extending a hand to the little girl, who shook it with a pleased expression. He blinked and tried to reset his brain. "She's at least three years old! When…?"
"Why do you think that we vanished for the last year that you were in Houen and the year you came back to Kanto?" James asked. "We couldn't go in public while Jessie was so obviously pregnant, and we wanted Bobbi to be more than an infant before we started chasing you around again."
Pikachu, who was sitting on Ash's shoulder, nipped him on the ear, reminding him of what should be his priority. "What do you want?" Ash asked again.
"We just came to let you know that you'll probably never see us again," Jessie said. "We're quitting Team Rocket and are off to find our true destiny."
Ash had received a lot of shocks over the last few days, so this one rolled off his back without him even blinking. "Oh, okay," he said. "Good luck."
Jessie and James seemed a little disappointed at this lack of reaction. Meowth was barely holding in his laughter. "Anyway," James said, finally overcoming the awkwardness of the moment, "just to let you know that Lance Knight wants your challenge stopped, Ash. I'd be careful if I were you. I don't think that he will stop at anything to keep his title."
"I kind of guessed that," Ash replied. "But thanks for letting me know." Ash raised a hand and, at his unspoken command, the Tauros and the dragons opened a way back to the TR blimp. "You two… You look after yourselves, okay?"
"Don't worry," Jessie replied. "We're good at that."
Ash watched as the blimp took off and soared overhead. Much to his surprise, two white tunics with the red 'R' emblem of Team Rocket came fluttering down from its' car to drop to the dirt. One last time, he heard the familiar refrain: "Team Rocket is blasting off again!" before they blimp faded into the distance.
"So much for the League's '24-hour security'!" Ash said to himself before returning to the barn.
Ash sat down and put Pikachu down on the table in front of him. "Well, now we know," he told his Starter. "Lance… my father… isn't interested in a fair fight. He wants to win and will do anything to do that. So, what do we do?"
[Are you suggesting that we cheat?] Pikachu asked uncertainly.
"No!" Ash was scandalised. "I'd never do that! But we have to think about how we can beat him fairly!"
Pikachu considered that. [We might as well do what you always do: Look at what a Trainer has done before and be ready to counter it.]
"Yeah, the thing is that you can bet that Lance does that too," Ash replied. "He has probably been watching tapes of all my old matches, figuring out my moves." The boy sighed. "He is sure to try something unexpected."
[Well, we can only counter what we know,] Pikachu said with his usual direct logic.
[He uses dragon-types,] Wartortle spoke up from where he was curled up next to his mate, Ivysaur.
Ash nodded. "Yeah, that is why I've taught Ice Punch and Ice Beam to you and Croconaw," he said. "But still, there is more to a dragon-type than its' vulnerability to ice. They learn strong attacking moves too, so I should expect him to start hard and fast."
[Then use accuracy-reducing moves,] Noctowl advised from where he was perched. [Usually, more powerful attacks are less accurate.]
Ash nodded. "That's a start," he said. "A defensive strategy, then?"
Pikachu considered that. [No,] he said at last. [That would be a mistake. Lance would use any hesitation to his advantage. You must find a way to combine a strong attack with a strong defence.] Ash nodded thoughtfully and seemed to go inside himself for a while. Pikachu cleared his throat. [Ash,] he said at last. [There is something that we need to talk about.] Ash looked his friend in the eye. Pikachu had to take a moment to find the resolution to continue. [This is going to be a match like no other,] he said. [You only have this one chance, so you can't afford to blow it.]
Ash cocked his head. "That's true," he said at last. "Strategy and tactics have got to be right, and they've got to be right first time."
[That too,] Pikachu replied. The small electric-type sighed. [There is no easy way to say this,] he said at last. [Why is it that Team Rocket were always trying to steal me?]
"Because you were so strong," Ash said. "Meowth once told me that you could be the strongest Raichu that ever lived." Ash grinned. "I'm happy with you just how you are."
Pikachu smiled and walked over to hug Ash's face. [I'm glad,] he said. [Ash, you will need me to be strong tomorrow. Stronger than I have ever been before.] The small Pokémon looked into his Trainer's eyes and sighed. [What I am saying, is that the time has come for me to return this…] The Pokémon touched the shining blue Everstone on his collar, [and take the other stone that I know you keep in your pack.]
"Pikachu! Do you know what you are saying?" Ash blurted. The electric-type nodded glumly. "You know that this is irreversible," Ash continued. "You let me do this and there is no going back!"
[It is time,] Pikachu said simply. [It is time for me to repay the trust and love you have given me. It is time for me to accept the next step in my life. It is time for me to prove that I love you enough to take the ultimate step for you.]
"I would never ask this of you," Ash said quietly, feeling emotion choking off his words.
[It is I that ask this of you,] Pikachu replied. [This is my choice. Please.]
"Thank you, my friend," Ash replied, and gave his Pikachu, his starter, his best friend, one last embrace.
To be continued…
