Hi! This is my first fan fic for Fanfiction.net, and it was inspired by
various discussions on Ash's father, and by Father's Day. Hope ya like it!
Oh yeah, and I don't own Pokemon, or any characters in it or anything about
it. I wish I did, but I don't. ^-^
Ties to Family
Ch. 1: The Plan
Two individuals, a girl and a boy, along with a short, furry, white, cat- like pokemon stopped at the end of a long corridor. They stood facing a large, darkened door with a sleepy guard in front of it.
"Jessie," asked the blue haired young man, "What if the Boss fires us?"
"He won't James!" Jessie, the girl with red hair answered, "He just can't!"
"Yeah, sure," said the cat pokemon, trembling, "You just keep tellin' youwself dat..."
The guard at the door seemed to be ignoring them, probably because of lack of sleep. He yawned, and waited for the person who was in the room last to come out. After what seemed like an eternity to Meowth, Jessie, and James, the door began to open. Another young girl and boy pair came stepping out of the room.
The girl, whose pointy blond hair looked like it could poke your eye out, glared at Jessie, her face red with anger.
"This is all your fault!" she began yelling at Jessie, "The Boss would have never been this angry with us if you two hadn't constantly been messing with our schemes! The Breeding Center... the hypnotizing beam... the Daycare... even the experiments with Lugia... all messed up! Because of you two, and those dumb little twerps, we've now been reduced to mere grunts like you!"
Her face was now even redder, and her partner held her back as she finished yelling, whispering to her, "Don't worry Cassidy, someday we'll get back at them..."
Cassidy shut up quickly, but not without a last glare of hatred aimed at Jessie, who reciprocated every feeling.
Jessie had half a mind to go chase after that witch and punch her face in.
James now grabbed onto his partner as she took a step forward, "No Jessie! We can't be late for the Boss!"
Jessie stopped fighting her partner's hold, "Alright, but if we see them in the Team Rocket break room... she's getting green Jell-O slapped in her face, and then I'm going to personally kick her..."
"Ahem," said an ominous figure standing in the doorway.
"Oh Boss, it's you!" said Meowth, attempting to look pleased.
"Hmm..." said Giovanni, raising an eyebrow, "You can come in now."
Jessie and James shot nervous looks at each other. They entered their boss' room, and saw two large chairs, apparently meant for them to sit in.
Giovanni sat down at his desk in his overly large chair, and folded his arms.
"Sit down," he commanded to Jessie and James.
They exchanged even more nervous looks, but knew that it would be worse to refuse a seat than suffer the Boss' wrath sitting down.
Giovanni looked both Jessie and James in the eyes after they sat down, "Butch and Cassidy have told me about the way you meddle in their tasks..."
Jessie gulped, "Uh... well, you see sir, James and I... we... well, just please don't punish us!! It was all James' fault I swear! I had nothing to do with it!"
"What?!" yelled James angrily, "That's not true! You agreed to half the things we did... well, except for the Daycare... that was definitely me..."
"Will you two half-wits shut up for a minute!" Giovanni said, glaring at them with an intense dislike.
He hated having to involve these two idiots with his plans, but it was necessary. There was no way he could hope to get to this troublesome boy, that Butch and Cassidy talked about, without Jessie and James. His dependence on them was almost laughable, but couldn't be helped.
Giovanni chuckled upon seeing their nervous stares as they waited for him to reprimand them. "Oh I'm not going to punish you! I know that the two of you could never intentionally mess anything up even if you tried! Butch and Cassidy are too well-trained to let anything happen to their plans. Besides, the two of you can't even handle the simplest tasks. You even mess up messing up."
Jessie, James, and Meowth all bowed their heads, shameful for the lack of success they had experienced in the past.
James was the first to catch on to what Giovanni had not told them. "Then, why did you ask us here?" he asked timidly with a mild confusion.
"Because, I want to know more about this boy and his friends," Giovanni said, turning his chair around to look out his window to the land below.
"What?" said Jessie, "You want to know about the Twerp?!"
"Yes," said Giovanni, "And about this Pikachu that has ruined four great plans not including the experiments with Mewtwo in Johto, and I want to know why this Pikachu has you two so mesmerized into chasing after it."
"Well," said Jessie, unsure of where to begin, "He comes from Pallet Town. His name is Twer.. er.. Ash Ketchum, his mom's name is Delia, and his dad... well, I don't know anything about him. In fact, the Twerp never really mentions him."
James nodded, "Yeah, and we've never seen him either."
"Interesting," said Giovanni, his back still turned to them. He sat there for a few moments, apparently thinking.
"What do you think James?" Jessie whispered.
"I don't know... Why would the Boss care if the Twerp had a father?" James whispered back.
Giovanni glanced to the assistant in his room. "You, go get a background check on this boy... Ash Ketchum, and his family history. And I want it in a half an hour... or less."
The assistant nodded and quickly left the room, after writing the name down.
"So why do you want to know all of this Boss?" Meowth asked him.
Giovanni smiled, "Because, a pair like Ash and his Pikachu can be a very dangerous thing... when used by the right people." Jessie, James, and Meowth all looked at each other questioningly.
"But," said James, attempting to be brave, "How would you get the Twerp to be evil? He's such a goodie goodie."
Giovanni chuckled darkly, "If what you say is correct about his father... I think a father-son reunion is in store. Except this father wants his aspiring pokemon master to use his abilities for the 'right' reasons."
"He'll never do it!" said Jessie, shaking her head, "I know the Twerp, and he would never do something to hurt pokemon."
"We'll just see how far his pokemon loyalties lie when he meets his father."
"What about his mother? She'll know that you're not his father!" James said.
"Hmm," said Giovanni, thinking to himself, "Well, if he travels on his own without his mother, then his only contact with her is by phone. Perhaps we can arrange for a short-term vacation for her..."
The assistant came walking back in, looking pleased.
Giovanni looked up at her, "Well?"
"Well," the assistant said, "It appears that little Ash Ketchum hasn't seen his father for years. Ever since he was two years old. He probably has very little or no memory of him. Apparently, his father was one of those guys who just can't settle down, and left his family to continue his own pokemon journey. Nobody knows where he is. And Ash and his mom, Delia, never talk about him."
Jessie and James looked at each other with expressions of mild surprise. They were always amazed by how much information the Boss could find out about other people.
Giovanni thought to himself. If there was anything he missed, this whole plan would be worthless.
"What about pictures? He must have seen his father in pictures," Giovanni added.
Jessie and James watched the whole exchange with blank looks on their faces.
The assistant smiled broadly, "Well, that's where this story gets interesting. With a little change in hair style and some makeup, you could actually pass as his twin!"
She held out a small picture of a man with black fluffy hair and a goofy grin.
"My eyes are a bit different," Giovanni pointed out, "But otherwise, it shouldn't be a problem. And a little makeup can take care of that."
He handed the assistant a paper with the name Delia Ketchum on it. "Here, make sure that this woman goes on a lovely vacation to the Orange Islands. Just call her up and say she won some sweepstakes or something. Make sure that she doesn't find her way to a phone."
The assistant nodded and said reassuringly, "Yes sir, I'll make sure that two rocket members follow her."
"Good," replied Giovanni, "And make sure it's not these two... or the two that were just in here. I don't want her dead."
Jessie shook her head, "I still don't see how you could fool him! And even if he was convinced that you were his dad, I just don't think he would want to join an evil empire. His friends wouldn't let him!"
Giovanni turned to the two Rockets in front of him, "I will. I may have to act a little, but you must remember; family ties, my friends, are always tighter than the bonds of friendship..."
"But what if it doesn't work," Jessie said, feeling annoyed that the Boss had taken up the thing they had been trying to accomplish for the past few years.
"Then, I will eliminate him, and steal his pokemon, including that Pikachu."
"Can we do the stealing Pikachu part?" Jessie and James both asked.
"No," said Giovanni sternly, "What do I look like, an idiot? You've spent years trying to capture that rat. Why would you be able to do it now. You two are just going to lead me to him. I will be the one to capture his pokemon; if necessary..."
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Ash sighed as he sat on the bleachers along with a crowd of hundreds of other people; including his best friends, Misty and Brock. Down below the bleachers, a pokemon competition was taking place.
Ash sighed again as a young boy and his Marill won a battle against an old man and his Hitmontop.
Pikachu patted his friend on the back soothingly. "Pika pika Pikapi," he said.
Ash nodded, sensing what Pikachu was saying, "I know, but I'd rather be down there than up here."
"Oh Ash!" said Misty with a tone of irritation, her orange hair glowing brightly in the sun, "You've participated in so many competitions before! Sitting out in just one shouldn't make a difference."
Brock nodded with his squinty eyes, "Yeah, and we tried to get you into it, but, as you remember, they were all full. In fact, I'm surprised we even got into the stadium... this place is packed!"
Misty nodded, "Yeah, you should be thankful for at least getting to see it! Ash? Ash are you listening?!"
Ash's eyes were closed, and he seemed to be sleeping...
"Why you little-" Misty started.
Brock stopped her, "Let him sleep. At least he's not sighing or complaining."
The competition went on into the afternoon, and when it was over, Ash and friends went walking off to congratulate the winner.
"Hey there!" said Ash as he approached the winner, the boy he had seen earlier with his Marill. "You did a great job out there!" he said, "Nice win. Your Marill was great too!"
"Thanks," said the boy blushing with embarrassment, "Well, I'd love to stick around, but I've gotta get home to my family. After all, it is Father's Day, and I'm going to go celebrate with my dad!"
Ash at first looked happy for the boy, but then lowered his head, casting his stare at the ground.
The boy said good-bye to Brock and Misty, then left the stadium.
Misty noticed Ash's inner turmoil. "Ash, are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked, looking concerned.
"It's nothing..." lied Ash, "Let's go back to the Pokemon Center."
"Okay," said Brock, now looking as concerned as Misty, "Are you sure you're okay Ash. You can tell us if something's wrong you know..." He laid a hand on Ash's shoulder.
"I'm fine... really," Ash said, still looking at the ground, "But thanks for your concern guys..."
Ash's thoughts drifted to his father. The father that he never really knew... All the times he could have celebrated with his dad for all of the pokemon competitions he won, all two leagues he had competed in... Ash tried to ignore it, but it became harder to ignore every year. Especially since he was beginning to get older. A father figure right now would be really nice. Professor Oak had always acted as a second father, but it just wasn't... the same.
As the three of them walked back to the center, Brock and Misty lagged behind Ash.
"Brock," said Misty in a low whisper, "Do you think this has to do with Ash's... dad? I mean, I've never seen him like this before."
Brock frowned, "Yeah, it probably does have to do with his dad. Father's Day must have reminded him of the father he never gets to see. But there's not much we can do about it, can we?"
"We can make him feel better by talking to him," argued Misty.
"Well," said Brock, raising an eyebrow, "If you wanna go up to him and remind him more about his father that he never gets to see or hear from, then go ahead."
"No," said Misty, feeling defeated, "I guess not... I just wish that there was something I could do..."
"Togi togi," agreed Togepi.
"Yeah, me too Misty; me too," said Brock, looking ahead to Ash, who was still walking with his head down.
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A/N: Heh, finally finished! So happy. ^^ Anywho, I'd love to have reviews! Even if they're flames (okay, so I was kidding about the flames, but I would like reviews). I hope to have chapter 2 done soon.
Ties to Family
Ch. 1: The Plan
Two individuals, a girl and a boy, along with a short, furry, white, cat- like pokemon stopped at the end of a long corridor. They stood facing a large, darkened door with a sleepy guard in front of it.
"Jessie," asked the blue haired young man, "What if the Boss fires us?"
"He won't James!" Jessie, the girl with red hair answered, "He just can't!"
"Yeah, sure," said the cat pokemon, trembling, "You just keep tellin' youwself dat..."
The guard at the door seemed to be ignoring them, probably because of lack of sleep. He yawned, and waited for the person who was in the room last to come out. After what seemed like an eternity to Meowth, Jessie, and James, the door began to open. Another young girl and boy pair came stepping out of the room.
The girl, whose pointy blond hair looked like it could poke your eye out, glared at Jessie, her face red with anger.
"This is all your fault!" she began yelling at Jessie, "The Boss would have never been this angry with us if you two hadn't constantly been messing with our schemes! The Breeding Center... the hypnotizing beam... the Daycare... even the experiments with Lugia... all messed up! Because of you two, and those dumb little twerps, we've now been reduced to mere grunts like you!"
Her face was now even redder, and her partner held her back as she finished yelling, whispering to her, "Don't worry Cassidy, someday we'll get back at them..."
Cassidy shut up quickly, but not without a last glare of hatred aimed at Jessie, who reciprocated every feeling.
Jessie had half a mind to go chase after that witch and punch her face in.
James now grabbed onto his partner as she took a step forward, "No Jessie! We can't be late for the Boss!"
Jessie stopped fighting her partner's hold, "Alright, but if we see them in the Team Rocket break room... she's getting green Jell-O slapped in her face, and then I'm going to personally kick her..."
"Ahem," said an ominous figure standing in the doorway.
"Oh Boss, it's you!" said Meowth, attempting to look pleased.
"Hmm..." said Giovanni, raising an eyebrow, "You can come in now."
Jessie and James shot nervous looks at each other. They entered their boss' room, and saw two large chairs, apparently meant for them to sit in.
Giovanni sat down at his desk in his overly large chair, and folded his arms.
"Sit down," he commanded to Jessie and James.
They exchanged even more nervous looks, but knew that it would be worse to refuse a seat than suffer the Boss' wrath sitting down.
Giovanni looked both Jessie and James in the eyes after they sat down, "Butch and Cassidy have told me about the way you meddle in their tasks..."
Jessie gulped, "Uh... well, you see sir, James and I... we... well, just please don't punish us!! It was all James' fault I swear! I had nothing to do with it!"
"What?!" yelled James angrily, "That's not true! You agreed to half the things we did... well, except for the Daycare... that was definitely me..."
"Will you two half-wits shut up for a minute!" Giovanni said, glaring at them with an intense dislike.
He hated having to involve these two idiots with his plans, but it was necessary. There was no way he could hope to get to this troublesome boy, that Butch and Cassidy talked about, without Jessie and James. His dependence on them was almost laughable, but couldn't be helped.
Giovanni chuckled upon seeing their nervous stares as they waited for him to reprimand them. "Oh I'm not going to punish you! I know that the two of you could never intentionally mess anything up even if you tried! Butch and Cassidy are too well-trained to let anything happen to their plans. Besides, the two of you can't even handle the simplest tasks. You even mess up messing up."
Jessie, James, and Meowth all bowed their heads, shameful for the lack of success they had experienced in the past.
James was the first to catch on to what Giovanni had not told them. "Then, why did you ask us here?" he asked timidly with a mild confusion.
"Because, I want to know more about this boy and his friends," Giovanni said, turning his chair around to look out his window to the land below.
"What?" said Jessie, "You want to know about the Twerp?!"
"Yes," said Giovanni, "And about this Pikachu that has ruined four great plans not including the experiments with Mewtwo in Johto, and I want to know why this Pikachu has you two so mesmerized into chasing after it."
"Well," said Jessie, unsure of where to begin, "He comes from Pallet Town. His name is Twer.. er.. Ash Ketchum, his mom's name is Delia, and his dad... well, I don't know anything about him. In fact, the Twerp never really mentions him."
James nodded, "Yeah, and we've never seen him either."
"Interesting," said Giovanni, his back still turned to them. He sat there for a few moments, apparently thinking.
"What do you think James?" Jessie whispered.
"I don't know... Why would the Boss care if the Twerp had a father?" James whispered back.
Giovanni glanced to the assistant in his room. "You, go get a background check on this boy... Ash Ketchum, and his family history. And I want it in a half an hour... or less."
The assistant nodded and quickly left the room, after writing the name down.
"So why do you want to know all of this Boss?" Meowth asked him.
Giovanni smiled, "Because, a pair like Ash and his Pikachu can be a very dangerous thing... when used by the right people." Jessie, James, and Meowth all looked at each other questioningly.
"But," said James, attempting to be brave, "How would you get the Twerp to be evil? He's such a goodie goodie."
Giovanni chuckled darkly, "If what you say is correct about his father... I think a father-son reunion is in store. Except this father wants his aspiring pokemon master to use his abilities for the 'right' reasons."
"He'll never do it!" said Jessie, shaking her head, "I know the Twerp, and he would never do something to hurt pokemon."
"We'll just see how far his pokemon loyalties lie when he meets his father."
"What about his mother? She'll know that you're not his father!" James said.
"Hmm," said Giovanni, thinking to himself, "Well, if he travels on his own without his mother, then his only contact with her is by phone. Perhaps we can arrange for a short-term vacation for her..."
The assistant came walking back in, looking pleased.
Giovanni looked up at her, "Well?"
"Well," the assistant said, "It appears that little Ash Ketchum hasn't seen his father for years. Ever since he was two years old. He probably has very little or no memory of him. Apparently, his father was one of those guys who just can't settle down, and left his family to continue his own pokemon journey. Nobody knows where he is. And Ash and his mom, Delia, never talk about him."
Jessie and James looked at each other with expressions of mild surprise. They were always amazed by how much information the Boss could find out about other people.
Giovanni thought to himself. If there was anything he missed, this whole plan would be worthless.
"What about pictures? He must have seen his father in pictures," Giovanni added.
Jessie and James watched the whole exchange with blank looks on their faces.
The assistant smiled broadly, "Well, that's where this story gets interesting. With a little change in hair style and some makeup, you could actually pass as his twin!"
She held out a small picture of a man with black fluffy hair and a goofy grin.
"My eyes are a bit different," Giovanni pointed out, "But otherwise, it shouldn't be a problem. And a little makeup can take care of that."
He handed the assistant a paper with the name Delia Ketchum on it. "Here, make sure that this woman goes on a lovely vacation to the Orange Islands. Just call her up and say she won some sweepstakes or something. Make sure that she doesn't find her way to a phone."
The assistant nodded and said reassuringly, "Yes sir, I'll make sure that two rocket members follow her."
"Good," replied Giovanni, "And make sure it's not these two... or the two that were just in here. I don't want her dead."
Jessie shook her head, "I still don't see how you could fool him! And even if he was convinced that you were his dad, I just don't think he would want to join an evil empire. His friends wouldn't let him!"
Giovanni turned to the two Rockets in front of him, "I will. I may have to act a little, but you must remember; family ties, my friends, are always tighter than the bonds of friendship..."
"But what if it doesn't work," Jessie said, feeling annoyed that the Boss had taken up the thing they had been trying to accomplish for the past few years.
"Then, I will eliminate him, and steal his pokemon, including that Pikachu."
"Can we do the stealing Pikachu part?" Jessie and James both asked.
"No," said Giovanni sternly, "What do I look like, an idiot? You've spent years trying to capture that rat. Why would you be able to do it now. You two are just going to lead me to him. I will be the one to capture his pokemon; if necessary..."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------
Ash sighed as he sat on the bleachers along with a crowd of hundreds of other people; including his best friends, Misty and Brock. Down below the bleachers, a pokemon competition was taking place.
Ash sighed again as a young boy and his Marill won a battle against an old man and his Hitmontop.
Pikachu patted his friend on the back soothingly. "Pika pika Pikapi," he said.
Ash nodded, sensing what Pikachu was saying, "I know, but I'd rather be down there than up here."
"Oh Ash!" said Misty with a tone of irritation, her orange hair glowing brightly in the sun, "You've participated in so many competitions before! Sitting out in just one shouldn't make a difference."
Brock nodded with his squinty eyes, "Yeah, and we tried to get you into it, but, as you remember, they were all full. In fact, I'm surprised we even got into the stadium... this place is packed!"
Misty nodded, "Yeah, you should be thankful for at least getting to see it! Ash? Ash are you listening?!"
Ash's eyes were closed, and he seemed to be sleeping...
"Why you little-" Misty started.
Brock stopped her, "Let him sleep. At least he's not sighing or complaining."
The competition went on into the afternoon, and when it was over, Ash and friends went walking off to congratulate the winner.
"Hey there!" said Ash as he approached the winner, the boy he had seen earlier with his Marill. "You did a great job out there!" he said, "Nice win. Your Marill was great too!"
"Thanks," said the boy blushing with embarrassment, "Well, I'd love to stick around, but I've gotta get home to my family. After all, it is Father's Day, and I'm going to go celebrate with my dad!"
Ash at first looked happy for the boy, but then lowered his head, casting his stare at the ground.
The boy said good-bye to Brock and Misty, then left the stadium.
Misty noticed Ash's inner turmoil. "Ash, are you okay? What's wrong?" she asked, looking concerned.
"It's nothing..." lied Ash, "Let's go back to the Pokemon Center."
"Okay," said Brock, now looking as concerned as Misty, "Are you sure you're okay Ash. You can tell us if something's wrong you know..." He laid a hand on Ash's shoulder.
"I'm fine... really," Ash said, still looking at the ground, "But thanks for your concern guys..."
Ash's thoughts drifted to his father. The father that he never really knew... All the times he could have celebrated with his dad for all of the pokemon competitions he won, all two leagues he had competed in... Ash tried to ignore it, but it became harder to ignore every year. Especially since he was beginning to get older. A father figure right now would be really nice. Professor Oak had always acted as a second father, but it just wasn't... the same.
As the three of them walked back to the center, Brock and Misty lagged behind Ash.
"Brock," said Misty in a low whisper, "Do you think this has to do with Ash's... dad? I mean, I've never seen him like this before."
Brock frowned, "Yeah, it probably does have to do with his dad. Father's Day must have reminded him of the father he never gets to see. But there's not much we can do about it, can we?"
"We can make him feel better by talking to him," argued Misty.
"Well," said Brock, raising an eyebrow, "If you wanna go up to him and remind him more about his father that he never gets to see or hear from, then go ahead."
"No," said Misty, feeling defeated, "I guess not... I just wish that there was something I could do..."
"Togi togi," agreed Togepi.
"Yeah, me too Misty; me too," said Brock, looking ahead to Ash, who was still walking with his head down.
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A/N: Heh, finally finished! So happy. ^^ Anywho, I'd love to have reviews! Even if they're flames (okay, so I was kidding about the flames, but I would like reviews). I hope to have chapter 2 done soon.
