Author's Note: Giovanni's story different from Ashura's version in that his emphasis is on different aspects of the incident.
"I told your father he would regret it, and the next day he did," Giovanni said, a malicious smile on his face.
The understatement of the century, Ashura snorted to himself. He began thinking back...
Dead.
They were dead.
Killed by his monster of a brother.
He had known Mark for a long time, ever since they were little. Mark Oak, the son of Agatha and Samuel Oak, had set off on his Pokémon journey with Shura and their mutual friend Stormy Waterflower. Mark had chosen Bulbasaur as his starter Pokémon, and Stormy, who absolutely loved Water-Types, chose Squirtle. The trio had all made it to the Pokémon League at a young age. Stormy and Mark had failed in battle earlier on than Ashura did, though. Ashura had gotten to the last round before he had failed. They didn't let it get them down, however. They had gone traveling to other places to seek Pokémon battles. Giovanni had been right about one thing: Ashura was a Pokémon prodigy. His failure at the Pokémon League had been through no fault of his own; it was because of an illness he had picked up from a trainer's Raticate that had muddled his thinking. He hadn't been up to battling, but he had refused to drop out.
Ashura Ketchum won many matches and cups on his journey with his friends. Stormy won nearly all of the Water competitions he competed in, and Mark usually won in battles that tested power. At the tender age of sixteen, Ashura became the Pokémon League Champion. He defended his title and continued traveling with Stormy and Mark. When Stormy was seventeen, he met a girl named Rose in Cerulean City who loved Water-Types just as much as he had, and she had then traveled along with the trio of boys.
At eighteen, Stormy and Rose married and left the group, settling down and starting a Water Pokémon Gym in Cerulean City. Mark and Ashura had continued traveling together, and they were joined a few months later by a woman named Rahalia. When, at 25, Ashura's parents died in a mysterious accident, Rahalia and Mark had accompanied him to Pallet Town for the funeral. It was in Pallet Town that Ashura met his future bride, a young woman named Delia who had just moved to Pallet Town. A year later, Ashura and Delia, and Mark and Rahalia had a joint wedding, both couples settling down in the town of Pallet.
Rahalia and Mark started their family with a daughter named May and then a son named Gary, and Ashura continued defending his title as he and Delia started their family of three with the birth of Ash around the time that Gary was born. Stormy and Rose had been far ahead of them, however; they'd already had four girls.
Ashura Ketchum had been very close to Rahalia and Mark, and the deaths of Mark and Rahalia came as a stunning blow to him. It was fortunate that Samuel, Agatha, May, and Gary had not been killed, too, just as it was fortunate that Samuel and Agatha agreed to take care of May and Gary, raising the latter to be a good Pokémon trainer like Mark wanted him to be. Ashura and Delia had their hands full enough with Ash, and they would not have been up to taking care of another child.
Still, Shura felt like he had a gaping hole in his heart, a hole he knew was caused by his brother.
Giovanni had killed two people just because Ashura wouldn't do what he said.
A week later, Ashura had still held back on giving the Houndour to his son, and when Giovanni came back to his home, he had a feeling that his time was almost up.
"I told you that you would regret it," Giovanni said softly to Ashura. The latter had told his wife nothing of what Giovanni had said to him the week before.
Ashura couldn't speak. He just trembled.
"I hate to give threats," Giovanni said with a sarcastic smile, "but if you do not join Team Rocket, then I shall kill your beautiful wife and take and raise your precious son. Do you understand what I am saying?"
Fists clenched, Ashura Ketchum nodded slowly. "I...I understand. Give me a few hours, and then I'll—" he cut off, choked.
"Come to Viridian City," Giovanni instructed. "Meet me at the Gym." And then he disappeared out the door.
Ashura snapped himself out of it.
"You see, Ash," Giovanni was saying to Ash, "Shura finally came to understand that nobody can refuse me."
It dawned on Ash suddenly. Shura was Ash's father...The boy moved his gaze from his father to Flamekist, who was standing quietly by Shura's side, avoiding the young trainer's eyes. Things made a little more sense to Ash now. He had always wondered what had happened to Gary's parents.
"What do you want from me?" Ash asked softly.
"I saw your battle in the Pokémon League," Giovanni said. "You battled quite well and probably would have won if it hadn't been for those half-wits Jessie and James."
Ash looked at him sharply.
"Yes, I know your Pokémon were tired. You might have been able to win had they been fully rested...What is it I want?...Ash, I want you to become a member of Team Rocket."
Ashura closed his eyes, pained. He had tried to stop this proposal from happening, but Giovanni would have none of it.
"He's only a boy," Ashura had insisted.
"A boy who possesses great potential," Giovanni had returned. "I saw how he fought in the Pokémon League..." The man's evil eyes flashed. "Do you dare to question me? I can just as easily kill the boy and his mother. Would you prefer that? Your son and wife to die? Or would you prefer your son come and work for me
Shura clenched his fists. Why did it have to be this way?
Ash's eyes widened as what Giovanni said tried to sink in. It was too much information too fast. Him? A member of Team Rocket?
Quickly, to buy time, Ash asked, "How come she's here?" He looked at Flamekist.
Giovanni smiled, looking down at the canine. He bent down and gently stroked her.
She stiffened, but she did not move.
"Ah, Houndour," Giovanni said, smiling. "Merely a pawn in a master's game."
Ash's mouth gaped open, and he stared at the guilty-looking Fire- and Dark-Type.
"You see," Giovanni said, "she—" He cut off, his eyes having moved elsewhere. "How did they get in here?" he inquired, looking straight at Misty, Brock, and all of their and Ash's Pokémon (excluding the ones left with Professor Oak).
Misty looked around quickly for her guide, but it had disappeared. So she answered, "That's for us to know and you to find out."
"Well, now that you're here Misty Waterflower—" Giovanni saw the flash of surprise in her eyes, "yes, I know your name." He gesticulated at the man standing silently beside him. "This man, Ash's father, knew your parents quite well...In fact," Giovanni's sinister expression grew in malice, "it was he that killed them."