Author's note: Well, here we go. The return of the super villain, Giovanni himself.
Ash and Misty walked up the familiar and dusty road of Pallet Town. It was late afternoon, and they walked hand in hand down the sunlight path. Up ahead was Ash's house, which was also where Misty had called home for the past two years, although in reality she had usually been travelling all over the world with Ash and the pair only came home every few months.
The young, celebrated Pallet Town trainer heaved a sigh of relief borne of familiarity. It was always good to come back home with the people he knew and the sights he recognized.
Suddenly Pikachu, who had been riding on Ash's shoulder, leapt to the floor and tensed. His hackles were raised and his ears drawn back. He frowned and glared at the house ahead.
"Pi pi! Pika! Chu! Pika pika!"
"Huh? What's wrong, Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"Pikachu! Pika!"
Misty stopped in her tracks, "That's odd. What do we do?"
Ash stared, "I guess we go on. We got to see my Mom".
They led the way forward, and hesitatingly Pikachu followed. He could sense something was wrong. Something was out of place…
Ash knocked on the door. There was no answer. He looked at Misty and shrugged. He opened the door and they all walked in.
"Mom? I'm home!" Ash called, his voice echoing in the house.
"Mom? Where are you?"
"Ash…" a weak voiced murmured from the direction of the living room.
Ash, Misty and Pikachu ran into the living room and gasped.
Tied to a chair was Ash's mother, with Mr Mine slumped in a corner, bruised and beaten. Delia's face was tear stained and her eyes sore and red. Her right arm was in a bandage.
"Ash…I'm so sorry…"
"Mom! Who did this to you? What's going on?"
"Hello, young Ash", a voice behind them said.
Ash and Misty turned and gasped. Sitting on a chair with a Persian by his feet was a tall, broad man in an amber suit with dark hair and eyes. Giovanni. The supposed dead leader of the disbanded Team Rocket.
They were too shocked to say anything, they just stared. They were rooted to the spot with a combination of awe, terror and rage. Pikachu and Togepi were silent.
"Surprised to see me?" Giovanni smirked.
"But…but how?" Ash stuttered after a moment.
"I survived and escaped. That's all you need to know".
Delia sobbed again, "Ash, I'm sorry. He forced me to do it. That Gengar…"
"Gengar!" Ash turned on Giovanni, "You used psychic attacks to force my mother to talk to me over the phone, didn't you?"
"Clever boy, Ash".
"And what do you want me here for?"
An icy grin spread across Giovanni's face, "I thought that was obvious. It's payback time, Ash Ketchum", his hand went to his Pokéballs by his belt.
Misty moved first. She kicked out and her foot caught Giovanni a blow to the chest. He gasped, winded, but at the same moment Persian lunged forward, claws exposed. Pikachu zapped it with electricity before it could reach Misty, causing it to crash to the floor.
They had precious few seconds before Giovanni and Persian would recover, but they were not wasted. In an instant, Mr Mime had leapt up and untied Delia. Ash and Mr Mime supported her, and they hobbled slowly out of the house, realizing they had no chance but to escape.
Misty followed, backing out the door into the front garden and keeping an eye on Giovanni. The man charged with Persian at his side. She kicked out at Giovanni again, but this time he grabbed her by the foot and held on, twisting her leg. She screamed in pain. He was trying to break her leg.
Ash turned and saw Misty in the gangster's clutches. Giovanni's face was alight with savage pleasure as he twisted her leg, moments away from snapping it.
Still supporting his mother, Ash grabbed a Pokéball and hurled it towards them, yelling, "Charizard, use your flamethrower!"
The large dragon-like Pokémon appeared and snarled warningly at Giovanni and the Persian. Surprised, Giovanni let go of Misty's leg, and she limped away.
Charizard aimed a fountain of flame at the crime lord and his pet, and they leapt aside. Giovanni wasted no time. He reached for his other Pokéballs and Rhydon, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Gengar and Pinsir emerged and faced Charizard.
The flame type glared and beat its chest warningly, flapping its massive wings in an attempt to intimidate the enemy Pokémon. They advanced on him.
Ash was helping Misty and Mr Mime was helping Delia to lumber up the dusty path as far away as possible from Giovanni and his Pokémon. Ash had no idea where they were going, but they had to get away. As long as his Mom and Misty were okay…
He heard a pain-stricken bellow and glanced back to see Charizard collapse to the floor, overwhelmed by the five enemy Pokémon in seconds. He started trying to crawl away from his relentless foes, but Rhydon gripped him by the foot and yanked him back. Nidoking and Nidoqueen began punching him mercilessly. Blood was flowing from several open wounds.
"Charizard, return!" Ash called, terrified for his friend.
The crushed Pokémon disappeared back into its Pokéball in a flash of red light. Giovanni's ferocious minions glared at Ash, then advanced at a run. Their master and his Persian came behind them, striding confidently forward.
Ash grimaced as he led Misty on. They had no hope. He knew from experience that his Pokémon were no match for Giovanni's, especially now that Charizard was wounded. Even Misty's couldn't help tip the balance. They were doomed.
Giovanni could see the look of resigned defeat in Ash's eyes. When loss was accepted, it was only a matter of time before it was inevitable.
The ground between the fleeing friends and the villain suddenly rumbled. Giovanni's Pokémon started and backed up as the path erupted in an explosion of dirt and rocks. A massive, slate-grey Onix reared up, dwarfing Giovanni's followers. It bellowed in warning, and they were so taken aback that they shrank away from it for a moment.
Ash stared. Why was an Onix helping them, and where did it come from?
Giovanni's Pokémon rallied to attack the Onix, but then there was a flash of light and another Pokémon appeared on the scene. An enormous, powerful Golem looked at its enemies, then withdrew its limbs and head into its body and rolled forward, slamming into them with a loud crash. They collapsed to the floor, stunned.
Giovanni fumed. Where did these two powerful Pokémon come from? And how many more of them were there? He had no choice. His slaves were far from out of the fight, but he wasn't willing to gamble anything. There would be another chance.
He recalled his Pokémon except for Persian, and the two of them turned and ran as fast as they could. The Onix and Golem watched him go, growling.
"Wow…um…thanks you two", Ash mumbled, stunned.
The two rocky Pokémon turned to look at him.
"Who do you belong to?" Misty asked.
They moved closer, "Golem. Go. Lem", Golem rumbled.
"They belong to me", a voice said.
"Huh?" Ash turned to see a figure emerge from a bush by the side of the path.
They stared at him for a long time. He was dressed in a green jacket, his hair was black and rugged and his face dark yet smiling.
"Brock!" Misty gasped.
"Hi, guys", he grinned.
"Oh, are we glad to see you!" Ash exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
"I heard you two would be back from your holiday tomorrow so I thought I'd come and say hi. I arrived a day early. It's lucky that I did".
"It sure is", Delia Ketchum said weakly.
Brock nodded, "Onix, Golem, return", he recalled his two Pokémon and went to help Delia, "Are you alright? Wasn't that Giovanni?"
"Yeah, it was", Ash said wearily, "I thought he was dead".
"Come on, let's get inside", Brock suggested, "I don't think he'll be back for a while".
They limped inside, and laid Delia on the couch and eased Misty gently into a chair and rested her leg on a cushion.
"What are we going to do?" Misty mumbled.
There was a knock on the door. Ash looked at Brock, who nodded. Ash went to the door and answered it, ready for the worst.
Fortunately, two familiar figures were at the door. Professor Oak and Tracey Sketchit. Ash sighed in relief and let them in.
"We heard a commotion and came as soon as we could", Oak said curtly, as Ash led them into the living room, "Oh my. What happened?" the Professor asked as he looked at Misty and Delia.
Ash explained as best he could, and then Delia told them all what had happened before, when Giovanni had first arrived and manipulated her into betraying Ash.
"This is bad", Tracey observed, "It sounds like this Giovanni's really out to get you. If he is, you won't be safe until he's behind bars".
"Yes, and I'm afraid neither Misty or Delia are safe either. This gangster is likely to try and use your feelings for your friends and family against you", Oak added.
"Oh…what are we going to do?" Ash muttered, tears welling up in his eyes.
"There's only one solution", Oak said, "And it won't be easy".
"What is it?" Misty asked, rubbing her swollen ankle.
"Ash, you're going to have to disappear. I suggest you head out into the wild and keep moving for a while. If you disappear for long enough, Giovanni will give up looking for you. In the meantime, I'll inform the authorities and let them know that Giovanni is back. Hopefully they'll have caught him before long now his cover is broken".
"That makes sense", Ash nodded slowly.
"I'm going with you", Misty said instantly.
"I'll come too", Brock suggested, "It'll be just like old times".
"And I'll go too!" Tracey said decisively, "I'm not having you three wander around Kanto without me to help you!"
"That's great, you guys", Ash smiled, then he remembered something, "Wait…what about Mom?"
"Ah yes, that's a little trickier", Oak said, closing his eyes, deep in thought, "If you stay here Delia, you'll just become a target for Giovanni".
She managed a nod, "I know. But what can I do?"
"I'll tell you what. You should move to one of the bigger cities for a while. The authorities will help re-house you. You and Mr Mime can be safe, and you won't be a danger to Ash either".
Delia looked at him, and slowly smiled, "Yes, I think you're right Professor. Thank you. I'll go to Celadon City. We should be able to lose them there".
Oak continued to think, "I'll make sure everything's okay here and keep an eye on things. All of you should keep in touch with me so I know everything's alright".
"Professor, what would we do without you?" Ash grinned.
"Well, to start with, you wouldn't have Pikachu", Oak winked, "But for now, Delia and Misty need medical attention. And your Charizard badly needs healing. I'll drive you all to Viridian City as soon as you're ready".
OoOoOoOoOo
A few hours later, and Ash was in the Viridian City Pokémon Centre with Brock, Misty and Tracey. They had already been to the hospital, and Misty had quickly been allowed to leave after a simple check up. Delia was still in there having a cast placed on her, and Oak was looking after her.
Luckily, the Pokémon Centre was relatively quiet. One boy approached and asked Ash for an autograph. Embarrassed, Ash had signed the kid's Pokéball for him.
Nurse Joy entered the waiting room and looked at Ash, "Oh, you're that famous Ash from Pallet Town! Pleased to meet you!"
Ash smiled and shook her hand, "Please, Miss. My Charizard is badly hurt and needs to be looked at".
"Well, let's have a look at it".
Ash unleashed Charizard from its Pokéball. The magnificent, towering creature appeared before Ash, looked at him…and then collapsed to the floor, groaning in pain.
"Argh! Charizard!" Ash knelt down and looked at the wounds on his friend.
"Pika pi! Pika!"
"Oh my! Charizard has certainly seen better days. What on earth happened? Surely you know better than to force your Pokémon to fight until they're this badly hurt!" Nurse Joy scolded Ash.
"It's not like that. We were attacked and he was our only hope. Five Pokémon got him at once".
"Oh…I see. Well, he needs severe medical attention immediately".
Ash recalled the bruised and battered Charizard and handed the Pokéball to Nurse Joy. She led the way into the ward, and Ash and his friends followed. Along the way Ash looked at the Pokémon who were resting in the ward. Pidgeys, Rattatas, Spearows, Caterpies, Weedles…all beginner Pokémon. Charizard would be an interesting addition to the Pokémon Centre.
Nurse Joy exited the ward, followed by her assistant Chansey. They walked down a corridor into a private ward, where there was a large bed for bigger Pokémon. Joy released Charizard from his Pokéball, and it emerged onto the bed, curled up and shivering.
Blood was still oozing from a few vicious cuts. His eyes were closed and the flame on his tail small and flickering. He managed to grumble once in pain and ruffle his wings.
"Charizard, please be okay…" Ash whispered.