Showdown

by MeepMeep7913

Delia Ketchum died before she could even see her son go on his journey - or the legendary she helped make abduct Ash briefly. Her death was merely the prelude to a sequence of events and challenges that Ash would battle through on his journey with the help of Oak, Lance and others. All before Red helped plunge Kanto into civil war against the Team Rocket insurgency.

15. Chapter 14 - Viridian

Ash flicked open the Pokegear as he sat on the bed, observing Paul leave the room with his hands in his pockets to undoubtedly was heading down to the cafeteria to get breakfast, and would wait for him there. Dialling Professor Oak's number, Ash figured it was about time he called his adoptive father.

After just a couple of pulsing tones in his ear, the aged voice came on the line. "Ash, my boy! How are you?"

"Hey, Mr Oak." Ash greeted back. "I'm fine. I'm currently in the Viridian Pokemon Centre."

"I assume you stayed the night then?" Oak asked, receiving an affirmation from Ash. "That's good. You must've spent the night on Route one then, I assume you probably got caught up battling or something. I heard from Gary, he breezed right through the route and reached Viridian yesterday as a matter of fact."

"Yeah, well, not all of us have his priorities." Ash spoke in response.

"Very true." Oak remarked. "You're going about it a better way, anyhow. You're gaining more experience and skills by taking your time, as well as opportunity like seeing more Pokemon! I will have to warn Gary about that. You know what they say, slow and steady wins the race."

"You've said that before, Mr Oak." Ash grumbled.

"It's a saying I'll stand behind, though." Oak countered. "You'll need all the experience you can get if you wish to win the Indigo League within just a year of starting your journey."

Ash talked with Professor Oak for a further ten minutes before Oak remembered he had something else to attend to.

"Sorry, Ash, I've got to run." Oak apologised. "But - oh, do be sure to check out the department store whilst you're there! They're the best place for items like TMs and such, remember those?"

"Yes, Mr Oak." Ash affirmed. "I remember your lessons."

"Good, good." Oak remarked. "They may be pricey, but they can be worth it! Anyway, bye now Ash! And good luck with Pewter - be sure to call me after your battle there!"

"Will do, Mr Oak." Ash responded. "Goodbye."

Putting down the phone, Ash tucked away the Pokegear before getting up and gatehring his bits - preparing to join Paul downstairs.

VIRIDIAN CITY CENTRE.

Ash and Paul sat within a small café on the corner of one of the more reclusive side streets within Viridian City. It had taken a fair while to travel from the Pokemon Centre out to a quieter section of the large city centre, but Ash had been adamant - and Paul had quietly just followed.

Now, they were sat a small table in the quiet café, having just ordered their food and now sitting quietly. Ash took in the surroundings, adjusting his mask slightly in an idle motion as he saw that the place really was empty - apart from them, there was just a couple of probable workers in for a coffee before starting a day shift. The owner at the counter looked grumpy and bored, suggesting that this was a normal occurrence - making the trainer wander how the place generated enough money to stay open. However, when Ash glanced back to Paul who had his hands clasped on the table and staring at them, brooding, he thought of these circumstances.

It was obvious that this meant something deeper to Paul than a natural curiosity of something that defied the social norms. That nature of the circumstances also highlighted how strange this was - this wasn't just something that 'defied' social norms, but was considered an outright abomination to everything that society currently stood for. No such thing as war, combat or terrorism had been experienced in over 105 years - a whole century.

Gun crime was basically unheard of, and the only places people really heard of these things was in the national guard or a school history class. It wasn't something that would even grace your mind in most circumstances.

Which was what made Ash wander why on Earth Paul was so interested in finding out more. Normally, someone would've either heeded what Ash had said or he would've had to have gotten his father involved to shut them up. But Paul wanted to know more.

Ash was broken out from his thoughts by the café staff member coming over and depositing their drinks in front of them. A coffee was placed in front of Paul as Ash had simply gone with a glass of water, a plate of buttered toast put down in between them. As the staff member moved off, Ash glanced to Paul and saw that his brooding had also been broken - so he picked up a piece of toast and began eating as he awaited the first question.

"So, Ketchum." Paul began after a minute's silence in sipping the coffee, leaving the toast untouched. "Shall we get to what we came here for?"

"Indeed." Ash agreed with him. "But I want you to be 100% sure about this before we do get into this. Once you get into this, you're involved. And there are people out there that would make you quiet just for such involvement."

Paul was quiet for a moment, before nodding. "I've gone a few years of my life wondering about a few of these things, Ketchum. I think I'll have those answers now."

Ash nodded as he shifted back into his chair, getting comfortable as he spoke. "We both want answers - granted, you more than me, but I do wonder why you would want to pry into something like this. Perhaps you'd like to go first then?"

Paul looked to Ash over his coffee as he drank from it, before conceding and nodding. "It's to do with my brother." Paul began as he put his coffee down.

"Your brother." Ash repeated, thinking back to what they had been talking about over the past day and a half. "You mentioned him in passing. Your brother is a Pokemon breeder, right? You left all of your Pokemon but your starter with him from Sinnoh."

"Correct." Paul confirmed. "My brother is called Reggie, and he used to be a Pokemon trainer too - he quit after losing at the last step in he battle frontier. But that's not what's important here - what matters here is what he was when he was a trainer for six years." Paul paused as he thought on the matter, Ash listening intently for him to continue. "Have you ever heard of the G-men?"

"The unofficial name for the international government task force?" Ash stated. "Yes, I've heard of it."

Paul grunted, not so surprised at Ash's answer given the circumstances - but Ash felt differently, given how he was surprised that Paul had heard of it. But he let Paul continue to explain. "Right, well Reggie was one such G-man." The purple-haired trainer revealed, making Ash look interested. "He was recruited roughly ten years ago when after a couple of years of good wins and skills with his Pokemon, they wanted him to join them as an agent to help uphold international laws on his travels. And he did."

Ash considered that during the break in the conversation, and then responded. "He found something, didn't he? That's why you're interested in knowing more, because you have an inkling of the situation."

Paul raised an eyebrow at the deduction Ash had produced, but nonetheless nodded in affirmation. "He stopped a couple of team rocket criminals when he was travelling throughout Johto that suggested they were up to something more than just Pokemon thievery - things like running operations in front companies, and the rest of it." Paul stated, before frowning. "There was something much more to it than just further criminal activities than usual, but my brother never told me. Needless to say, when he presented it to his superiors, there was an investigation."

"And how did that turn out?" Ash inquired, focusing slightly on his toast as he himself had an inkling of how it turned out.

"Horribly." Paul confirmed Ash's thoughts. "The investigation turned up nothing, and my brother was left in disgrace for bringing accusations against prominent companies. It all came to a head a year later when Brandon, head battler of the battle frontier, told him he essentially wasn't that good. He quit it all and settled down in Sinnoh to become a Pokemon breeder."

Paul picked up a bit of toast for the first time as he had finished his story. "And that's all my brother has told me about it - the only reason he did so was to warn me about the criminal organisations. So, naturally, when this came up..."

"I see." Ash stated, thinking upon what Paul had said, before pulling out his Pokegear. "That is interesting information."

"Hold it, Ketchum." Paul spoke sharply then, making Ash pause and look up at him. "Don't go passing on anything until you've given me what I want to know. I don't want my brother caught up any more in this world of yours."

"For the record, I was making a note of a few key aspects there, not passing anything on." Ash stated blankly then, looking impassively at his fellow trainer whose mouth was still a thin line. "But fair is fair. Where do you want to start?"

"How about at the beginning, Ketchum?" Paul stated dryly. "Start with the deal with Team Rocket that my brother may have uncovered and you seem to know about."

"Very well." Ash replied as he took a swig of water to hydrate himself before starting. "That one's fairly simple to answer actually, in the fact that Team Rocket is gearing up to become a major terrorist threat."

Paul looked perturbed at Ash, voicing his thoughts. "What-"

"Here." Ash interrupted as he held the screen of his Pokegear out to Paul, making the purple-haired trainer quieten as he leaned forward slightly to view the small screen better. Three things could clearly be seen in the photo Ash was showing him - one of them was the background, which was clearly of a warehouse type setting. Most prevalently was the figure of a solider who took up half of the screen on the left, their back turned to the camera so that all that could be seen was the shaven back of a man's head and a light-grey metal body armour vest. The butt of a submachine gun could be seen being held aloft past the armoured vest, the muzzle of weapon obviously pointed to the floor. To the right of the solider, sitting on the floor was an open crate with the lid of it propped open against it. Obviously visible inside the crate was a stacked pile of semi-automatic weapons.

Emblazoned on the back of the body armour vest was a symbol. It was the minimalist outline of a Charizard in the act of breathing fire with no actual flames, just its jaws held apart, claws aloft and tail flicking upwards. The outlined Pokemon symbol was shaded completely a dark red - but in the middle of which was a black shield icon. Within the shield icon sat a thick red diagonal line slanting down to the bottom left of the filled-in black shield.

"That was a raid upon a weapon smugglers warehouse, in which they found crates of weapons ready to be shipped to Team Rocket." Ash explained in a quiet voice to Paul. "That is the nature of Team Rocket's true self. And before you ask, no, I have no idea what the motivations, ideals or plans of Team Rockets' are. All I know is that that is clearly a terrorist threat, and that it's aimed at Kanto."

Paul looked very troubled by that, remaining silent as Ash put away his Pokegear, adjusted the brim of Oak's old hat on his head before folding his arms on the table and looking at Paul seriously with his masked expression. "That, Paul, is the deal with Team Rocket."

Paul remained silent for a minute more as Ash, too, stayed quiet as he just awaited for Paul to speak up - who was digesting that information. It was not everyday that you were told such things, and the purple-haired trainer was busy trying to get over the news that had been much more than he'd expected, thus throwing him when he'd heard it.

"...How do you know this?" Paul eventually asked, knowing it would lead to the next part of what Ash had to say. "And that symbol in that photo wasn't of Team Rocket."

"No, it wasn't." Ash agreed, still staring at Paul as he spoke. "Both elements of what you just said can be answered easily through the same thing - my father."

"Red Ketchum, the Pokemon master?" Paul asked subconsciously then, but then asked another question to stop Ash confirming something he already knew. "Isn't he notorious for harassing Team Rocket and stopping their activities?"

"Indeed he is." Ash agreed once more. "Though as you've already seen, there's more to this than simply stopping some Pokemon thieves. Just as Team Rocket adapted in their activities, so did my father."

Paul just listened to what Ash said, before urging him on. "What did he do?"

Ash just looked to Paul with an expression of finality. "Final chance, Paul. This is your last chance to back out from hearing this and getting involved. It's one thing to know of what Team Rocket is up to, it's another to start going into what my father is doing."

Paul shot a look of resolve at Ash. "I've heard this much, Ketchum. I'm already involved now."

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." Ash shrugged before picking up his glass of water and drinking some. "My father knew that whilst he could deal a lot of damage with his Pokemon, he could no longer even hope to win against what was fast becoming an insurgency arming themselves. When he first found out, he tried to warn the League - but much like your brother, it only resulted in a lot of exclusion for him at the League. Both because of Team Rocket having resources imbedded in the League, and sheer disbelief."

Paul thought on what Ash had said so far, and made an educated guess at what happened next. "He played them at their own game, didn't he?"

"Correct." Ash confirmed. "Eighteen years ago, my father found out about Team Rocket's rising criminal tendencies. He spent the next three years failing to convince the League, and then embedding himself in the criminal underworld. Once he'd reached a good point of influence and resource acquisition, the Kanto Liberation Faction was born."

Paul seemed somewhat stunned at that, before inquiring about it. "Kanto Liberation Faction? What in Arceus needs liberating?"

Ash grunted, before responding. "It's got two main objectives - the primary one being of course, to put a stop to Team Rocket. The second being to change the state of Kanto so that it stops being 'soft' according to my father. How is something that hasn't really been shared with me either."

Paul grunted this time. "And you're helping your father and his faction, aren't you?"

Ash's eyes flickered to meet Paul's with a deadened expression. "An acute observation of yours." He sarcastically quipped. "Don't get me wrong. I'm still here on my journey, looking forward to beating the Indigo League. The true work begins when I start gearing up to take on the elite four."

"In which, if you succeed, would make you the highest authority within Kanto." Paul summarised.

"I'm sure you can make your own conclusions in how helpful that would be." Ash stated as he folded his arms down on the table.

Paul only made a considering gesture before speaking. "This is... a lot to take in, so to say." Paul commented, before looking up to Ash. "Though from what you say, you might as well be your daddy's lap dog, Ketchum."

Ash snorted, not taking offence in the slightest. "Would it help if I told you I wanted to be champion originally because of Lance, not my father?"

Paul shrugged. "Either way, it's all very ambitious, Ketchum."

Ash laughed a little. "I think I stand a chance."

Silence resumed for a minute, before Paul spoke up with another question. "Though I was wondering. Why not just show such photos or weapons to the League?" Paul asked, an inquisitive tone in his voice. "Such evidence and photos can't be just ignored."

"My father explained that to me once." Ash answered, looking Paul dead in the eyes. "He said to me that the Rockets had infiltrated the League, and could make such stuff disappear. That's when he began to do the exact same with his faction."

Paul raised an eyebrow. "Infiltrate the League?"

"More than just the League." Ash stated as he finished his water. "I thank Arceus that my fathers' men have kept Team Rocket away from the Institute for Regional Defence's vault."

Paul frowned at the implications of that, before his eyes went wide at the most obvious implication. "...Whilst simultaneously having access to it himself."

Ash just tilted his empty glass towards Paul in a motion that stated 'correct' before putting the cup back down on the table. "Don't ask." Was all Ash said in the face of that line of inquiry.

The two trainers just sat there as five minutes passed by, the toast in the middle of the table gone before then. The general hustle and bustle of the atmosphere, as quiet as it had been with only a few workers dropping in and out, was still louder than the silence at the boy's table.

"So, Paul." Ash started then, having tired of the waiting and figured that his fellow trainer had been given long enough to think. "What will you do now?"

Paul still looked extremely contemplative as he replied. "There's just still something I have to work out, have to know-" Paul broke off, looking sharply at Ash. "Why would you tell me so much detail?" Paul inquired then. "I've gotten more answers than I perhaps expected."

"And why should I care if you have more information?" Ash asked back, looking completely unconcerned. "What would you even do with such information?"

Paul looked back with a considering expression, trying to work out what Ash meant before just responding with the obvious answer. "Tell someone, like the authorities or the League?"

Ash looked amused then as he looked to Paul with a glint in his eye. "Who would believe you Paul?" He spoke amusedly. "In the same way no one believes Team Rocket has any sort of terrorist threat or weapons and such, who would believe that there's some hidden faction who's managed to penetrate the League and IRD? Let alone headed by the Pokemon Master himself?" Ash paused to chuckle to himself then, not looking at Paul then as he spoke to the both of them. "Please, by the time anyone starts asking you questions, the faction would've made you disappear or forget."

Even Paul, as schooled as his features had been throughout their time in the café, looked disturbed by that simple statement. However, he was given no time to speak then as his fellow trainer sat up straighter.

Ash leaned in then just to show Paul how serious he was from his expression. "The way I see it Paul, you have three options. You could either stick by me and tag alongside my journey, wait here for a member of the faction to come and make you forget, or you could do literally anything else which would involve the faction hunting you down. Which wouldn't be pretty."

"Make me forget?" Paul looked confused as he said that.

"Yes, such options are available. The faction could induce amnesia via chemical input to make you not recall even anything to do with me. It'd be like waking up from a dream, and wondering how you got to Viridian when the last thing you remember is the scenery of Route one." Ash explained as he made an idle motion with his hands. "I'd consider that one carefully, if I were you. It's literally your only choice now of going back to a normal life before anything kicks off."

Paul looked perturbed once more at the mention of 'kicks off', getting the general gist of what the raven-haired trainer meant, but one glance at Ash showed he wasn't getting a further explanation. "And what would happen if I tagged along with you?" Paul asked instead.

Ash let out a small smile then. "Simple. Just come along with me to the Indigo League in ten months time. After that, well I do want to be champion."

Paul schooled his features as he thought about his options. There was no need to explain the third option any more than what had been stated, and he wouldn't even consider taking it.

He wasn't stupid.

The second option was very tempting, Paul had to admit. To go back to a couple of days where he didn't know anything of terrorists or factions seemed semi-blissful, where he merely wanted to show the world how powerful he could be and prove his brother wrong.

But there was also the fact that he hadn't ignored such things before. He'd wondered about his brother's situation and warning for years now, and now that he finally had his answers he was reluctant to let go. Besides, there was also the fact that this situation could prove beneficial to him.

Paul downed the last of his coffee before he answered. "I think I'll tag along, Ketchum."

Ash cocked his head slightly before nodding. "Very well, Paul." He then looked round to one of the other tables where a worker sat reading a newspaper, who looked back and made eye contact. The trainer made a waving gesture to the man, who promptly nodded, stood up and rolled his newspaper up before leaving. On the way past, the man dropped the newspaper on their table.

Turning back to the purple-haired trainer whose eyes had widened somewhat, Ash knew Paul was now beginning to understand just how deep the rabbit hole went. "You've chosen now, Paul." The trainer unrolled the newspaper to allow the Sinnoh trainer to see the headline of the late morning edition.

Virdian Pokemon Day-care Centre burns down over night!

VIRIDIAN CITY POKEMON GYM.

Giovanni Sakaki was not a happy man.

His Persian was sat on one of the regal armchairs besides the fireplace he was staring into, occasional purrs of contentment reaching his ears from the comfortable posture the cat was enjoying, basking in the warmth. Giovanni, in comparison, was not basking in any warmth - but rather a cold fury he was directing at the minion behind him that he refused to even turn and speak cordially too.

"Say that again." Giovanni spoke, his tone level and respectful, but the fact that he refused to look at the logistical associate behind him spoke his anger just as well as if he had been shouting at the trembling Rocket. Very few would be able to withstand Giovanni's anger with a cool head when they had the context of how powerful the man was combined with what he could do.

"Ah - yes sir." The associate stumbled slightly before looking back down at the report in their hands. "Two of our mains sources of weapons have stopped supplying us entirely. We don't know why."

A slight turn of the head was Giovanni's indication that he had heard them. "And have they bothered to try finding out why?" He questioned, this time letting the scathing tone come through in his voice.

"Y-yes." The associate confirmed, voice more hesitant and shaky in the change of tone from their superior. "Several teams were deployed to try and find out more, and their first reports state that the weapon smuggling operations are gone entirely, sir. They're still gathering information, but it looks like either the smugglers moved operations to a completely new location without informing us, sir, or shut down."

Giovanni let out a deep hum at that, before his voice took on a commanding edge. "Deploy a few more teams. I want these smugglers found, and when they are, I want them brought before me - then seize control of their operations for our own benefit. It is clear that we must begin reaching another level of self-sufficiency to steer away from unreliable outside assets."

Another turn of the head allowed the corner of Giovanni's eyes to be seen for the first time, viewing the associate still standing there, obviously waiting to see if there was more. "Dismissed." Giovanni stated in a louder, curt and more forceful tone to stress his desire for the person's presence to be gone from the same room as him.

Which they hastily complied with.

Downing the glass of rich alcohol in his hand and thinking for a minute, Giovanni eventually moved as he gently set the glass down and instead picked the phone up off the desk. Inputting a string of numbers from memory, the criminal mastermind waited for the beeping tone of the phone line to connect before speaking. "Ah, Dr Fuji." Giovanni began. "Please give me some good news."

"I can actually, sir." A light-toned, masculine voice came down the line. "Project one is happening somewhat ahead of schedule. If this rate continues, it may even be ready a year in advance of project two."

"Excellent, doctor." Giovanni responded with as he smirked. "That is excellent news."

VIRIDIAN CITY CENTRE - OUTSIDE THE POKEMON GYM.

Ash stared up at the gym that was renowned as being Kanto's toughest - so much so that even the sign near the front doors stated that a requisite for challenging the gym leader was that you had to have seven other badges. It was also the least visited gym for its purpose of handing out badges - with people preferring to go to Kanto's other fourteen gyms. Even the isolated fire-type gym on Cinnabar Island, hard to reach as that was in its location of a remote village, saw more action due to the fact that it didn't humiliate trainers in the ways Viridian did.

Paul, meanwhile, looked at the gym's design - obviously modelled after more historical architecture - and scoffed. He'd never been one for grandeur, which was what the building portrayed. With a wide stone fountain with lion's faces carved into it where water came out of its mouths being the first thing a person saw as they approached the gym, it set the tone of a rich and more upheld atmospheric style. Four marble pillars stood before the gym's entrance, where the building itself was also made from marble on the roof and sides, as the remaining walls were painted a rich orange with carved designs in them.

"So." Ash started, drawing Paul's attention to look at his new travelling partner as Ash adjusted the hat on his head to keep the sun's rays reflecting off the building from hitting his eyes. "This is the toughest gym in Kanto. It's said that most trainers that beat this gym will at least make it to the 6v6 rounds of the Indigo League due to the ridiculous standard that's set here that may even proceed the variable difficulty of the trainers you meet at the Plateau."

Paul snorted, giving a final glance to the building before turning his back to it. "They also seem to be full of themselves because of it."

Ash broke off looking at the building to chuckle slightly. "Yeah, I can see that."

The two trainers walked through the stone tiled square that the gym was set in to get onto Viridian's main high street that they had passed the previous night - and saw it was a much different sight to when it had all been closed. The splendour of colour now appeared to a higher resolution that the light of the day lit it all up clearly, with signs, advertisements and styled buildings all in great contrast to one another. The hustle and bustle of the street provided a busy atmosphere, a multitude of stamping feet and talking shoppers. Combined with the welcoming doors of the abundant shops down the street - many of which were affluent companies that could obviously afford the top row spots on the capital's high street - it spoke of a popular environment that would be busy for years to come.

"I don't need all this." Paul muttered as he stared down the street, but still loud enough for Ash to hear as his eyes narrowed in annoyance at the bustling crowds.

"You were the one that wanted to go shopping, you miserable sod." Ash joked, before beginning to move off. "We'll go in the Viridian Department Store first, then we'll head to the Pokemart."

Paul arched an eyebrow as he fell into step with Ash as they began navigating their way through the crowds. "The department store? That's just the fancy version of the Pokemart, plus they're mega expensive."

"That is true." Ash agreed. "But that means their products are of a better quality. Besides, I want to look at the move machines and Pokemon medicines and pellets they've got in there."

Paul considered that before giving in. "Very well, Ketchum."

"Ash." The raven-haired trainer stated, making Paul look to him inquisitively. "Since we're travelling together now, let's not be so uptight, eh? Call me Ash, if you please."

Paul looked at Ash somewhat strangely before smirking. "Alright then, 'Ash', I will." Paul accepted, emphasising his new travelling partner's name. "I can tell we're going to be the best of friends."

Ash just laughed slightly at that, as the two made their way across the street and into the department store's entrance. It was situated in a skyscraper with the first five floors dedicated to the shop, and then the floors above them dedicated to serving as the regional headquarters of the company.

Making their way to the second floor of the building, Paul had his interest flare and so didn't make a single annoyed expression as he too began browsing the aisle filled with technical machines on sale. Though the word 'machine' was in the name, it was actually just one side of an aisle filled with small boxed discs. There was even a section of the cheaper hidden machines at the end of the aisle - though it was all fake, with stickers on them saying 'ask for me at the till'. With good reason, for the more expensive moves at the upper end of the aisle made the entire aisle equal sums close to hundreds of thousands of Pokedollars.

Seeing as how the two trainers didn't have a lot of money, they eventually found themselves drawn towards the HM discs which were both cheaper and could be given to a broader selection of Pokemon. Perfect for them since their journeys had just started.

Ash picked up the two HM discs of 'fly' and 'strength', respectively a flying-type move and a normal-type move. Whilst strength allowed for a Pokemon to accumulate energy within their limb to unleash in one go for a strong blow, or to conserve such energy to use in situations like the common application of moving boulders; fly was a lot more versatile. It allowed a Pokemon to learn how to better conserve and utilise its energy for transportation purposes, and since it was one of the few human-created moves that was downloaded on these discs, that meant trainer Pokemon that learnt it hands-down beat wild Pokemon in moving about. It could even be used to deal damage in Pokemon battles by using such a technique to avoid the opponent then swoop down when they were unprepared. However, such downsides involved that it was not a high damage-dealing move and it couldn't be taught to as many Pokemon as even water-type HMs.

Ash eventually put the strength disc down, finding the fly move to be more appealing to him as he looked up and saw that Paul had also picked one up - Rock smash. It was similar to strength, but differed in that it wasn't a normal-type move and was instead a fighting-type move. It also didn't allow a Pokemon to conserve the energy - instead it was unleashed in such a way that it targeted the structural integrity of its target. This resulted in a lower damage being dealt than the move strength, but it allowed to ironically shatter objects easier than the normal-type move - or for a Pokemon, temporarily lower the opponent's defence stats.

"Rock smash? Good choice." Ash commented to his fellow trainer. "Though none of your Pokemon are fighting types, are they?"

"Grotle can learn it. It'll be good for him to have a direct physical move to counter the close-combat moves that the rock-types at Pewter will undoubtedly use, and it'll be useful for the road." Paul replied before looking to Ash's choice in his hand. "Neither do you have a flying-type, Ash."

Ash put on a thoughtful face. "I've got my eye on a couple of Pokemon. This'll be for when I do get a compatible Pokemon."

Paul gave a hum in acknowledgement as he turned the disc set over in his hand, before a thought struck him. "I've never used these before. How do these even work in making a Pokemon learn a move?"

"Ah, yes. I nearly forgot about that." Ash stated in a recognising tone. He turned round to view the other side of the aisle, and sure enough spotted what he was looking for as he picked up a thin, rectangular box-like device. "You need one of these things."

Paul looked over to the device as Ash opened it to view the inside - revealing a rectangular docking station within the device the same dimensions as a laptop now that it was opened. There was also a another hold besides the docking station, which Paul recognised as the perfect spherical shape for putting a Pokeball into.

"See the docking station?" Ash questioned as he pointed out. "Mr Oak's told me about these, he helped invent it because that's where a Pokedex goes, it acts like a computer in assimilating the data to the Pokemon. Thankfully, that's what makes this device cheaper than it should be - because it uses the Pokedex to help the process along."

"That's all well and good, and I can guess you put a Pokeball in the spherical slot." Paul stated. "But where's the disc go?"

"Here." Ash tapped a small rectangle shape set in the device, which opened up to reveal a disc tray. "Then you put it in, switch on the device and there you go, the Pokedex recognises the device its in and starts the process. It even acts as a charger for the Pokedex should you need it." Ash informed with a cheerful tone. "Just $5000 Pokedollars for a TM conduit which only links a disc, Pokedex and Pokeball."

Paul could blatantly hear the withering sarcasm in the last statement, understanding how Ash thought that was a rip-off. Pulling out his own Pokedex, he scowled slightly as he saw his bank balance, before looking to Ash. "Wanna go halves on it and share one? That'll clean me out if I get one for myself."

Ash glanced to Paul before his expression turned pleasant at the thought of that. "Sure. That's a good idea."

Paul nodded before then moving off with Ash following to the checkouts to pay. He became irritable at handing over five and half thousand Pokedollars for the TM stuff, but didn't comment as he saw the benefits in doing it. Though his bank balance of $8000 Pokedollars saved over from his time in Sinnoh had just taken a massive hit, he could always make more money from battling other trainers. If not that, then there was always the paid chores in the Pokemon Centres.

The two then moved back downstairs to view the medicine and similar item aisles. There was many bottles of differing purposed liquids and pellets for Pokemon, including those that temporarily boosted Pokemon stamina and stats. There were three aisles filled with the herbal remedies and other concoctions, and Paul looked unimpressed at them all.

"I didn't know much about such things, and now that they're staring me in the face, it seems an awful lot like illegal drugs. Cheating." Paul remarked.

"They kind of are." Ash informed him as he turned over something called 'PP up' which promised to temporarily raise the amount of times a Pokemon could use its learnt techniques. "All this crap is illegal in the Pokemon Leagues, only available for use in the gyms and between trainers."

"Well, lets get out of here." Paul stated. "You can make your Pokemon strong without relying on drugs."

"Wouldn't ever bother with it." Ash responded as he put down the bottle and followed Paul to the exit. On the way out though, they got a little side-tracked by the display of Pokemon evolution stones and similar items, before Paul pointed something out.

"There's no point even considering getting such stuff now until you know you need it." Paul spoke as he began moving out of the display aisle and towards the double doors now within reach. "Otherwise you'll just be wasting money on stuff you may never use. I know for a fact that I don't need one right now, and I don't think you need on either."

Ash responded in affirmation as they left the store and went about achieving their business, getting on with their day as they soon arrived at the Pokemart which was just off of the high street.

SAFFRON CITY.

Saffron City was the second-largest human settlement within the country of Kanto, sitting at a population of 16.2 million people whilst Viridian City trumped that with a population of 21 million. Overall, Kanto had the three most populous dense cities on the planet within its borders, marking it firmly as the nation with the highest population of 524 million - followed by Sinnoh with 435 million.

It reflected the stance of the Pokemon League - which had preferred building larger human settlements to take up less space, as well as to further deepen interconnectivity within and outside of the regions. This had served the resource-rich nation of Kanto well, which had experienced a trade boom throughout the century under League rule and had a flock of immigration to its borders as a result of driving economic growth. It had officially passed Sinnoh's population mark sixty years ago.

Throughout all of the hustle and bustle of these huge metropolises that dotted Kanto, it meant that a lot of stories and tales went unnoticed by the general population. Nobody had time for every detail within a crowded place, and it showed often. Another trainer passing by was just another trainer - due to the dominance of the Pokemart and its affordable travel-line of clothing, a large amount of trainers often wore the same styles.

This served Red Ketchum extremely well.

Leaf Green was sitting alone within her favourite expresso bar just around the corner from her house in Saffron City, a lot of the regular clientele within the bar now used to the famous trainer's visits. Thus, she often had a greeting and her favourite drink ready to go on the counter around the same time she appeared most mornings when she was in the city, and was then left alone to take her favourite seat by the back window.

Sliding the hot drink onto the table to cool momentarily, Leaf sighed contently as she prepared to start another day. It was a routine of hers to have a half hour seating with her espresso, to perk herself up for a busy day of either League work, training her Pokemon or taking part in some sort of tournament. Thus, she relaxed as she opened up the Kanto Today news app and prepared to spend the next thirty minutes not thinking about what she would need to do for the rest of the day.

The first clue Leaf had to Red's presence was when a red-coloured hat with a white strip and a small, blue Pokeball icon on the front was placed before her on the table. She instantly recognised the hat as a hot, steaming drink in a paper cup was put next to it, before the man himself sat slowly in the chair opposite her.

"Hello, Red." Leaf spoke after a moments silence just staring, slightly astonished at the man's presence that she hadn't seen in well over a year. They had used to be the best of friends in childhood - her, Red and Blue, before going off on their journeys. This had dampened somewhat when Red chased off highly ambitious positions in the League at the starting age of ten and Blue had followed after him as his rival - Leaf being left behind as the only one without such high ambitions. She may not admit it, but there was a reason she lost the elite four challenge to Blue and hadn't challenged Red in over a decade - she was the weakest of the trio. Still one of the strongest trainers in Kanto, roughly on par with Oak since he let himself go a bit since he became a regional professor, but she had lost to Blue for the position of Champion. Let alone Red who ascended to a higher position than him - who had become master at the age of fourteen, twenty years ago.

Their friendships had soured further when Red chased off after other things, namely like Team Rocket and making sure to put it down. She had at first seen the good in what Red had been doing, but when he began to become more extreme - she saw her friend had changed. The League had soon banned him from several aspects of the League like its governing body which dealt with the controlling policies of the regions after his ideas and more aggressive stances become more widely known within the League. And she had followed suit in the end, after Leaf could no longer bear to follow what the man was doing any longer.

Thus, Leaf had spoken to Red on the few occasions she now saw him with only a tolerant tone ever since their falling out.

"Leaf." Red replied apathetically, with just as indifferent a tone.

Leaf could not respond to that for a moment, her mind rapidly thinking on the surprise visit of someone he had let know that she could no longer call a friend. It wouldn't make sense to any normal person, and she couldn't think of any way she could help Red with any situation he couldn't deal with himself. He had always been a lone wolf.

"Why are you here, Red?" Leaf eventually questioned, her eyes narrowing to some extent as she saw the man just look civilly at her.

Red just grunted before picking up his drink and swilling it a little, then taking a large swallow of it without caring for the heat of it - further raising Leaf's ire in the face of Red's completely unconcerned expression and delay. Red put the drink down then, before speaking. "I hear you're helping Blue out with the Indigo League this year." He spoke then with a somewhat dull tone. "Something about some changes to how it's operating and such."

Leaf hadn't expected such line of conversation, but replied to it. "You must've heard about it from your department." She said a little stiffly. "Surely you can find out more from them."

"Not really." Red replied as he clasped his hands together. "The details are still being 'worked out', apparently, so I came to you for a more concrete answer."

"Why would you want to know anyway?" Leaf inquired then. "You don't oversee any of the regulation or procedures of the Indigo League."

"Most of them." Red corrected her then, making Leaf halt in her thinking and look to him. "I do oversee overall security arrangements on the continent."

Leaf wished she could somehow excuse herself from this conversation, but Red had her there - and he knew it. When the Pokemon League had restricted Red's access to many of its departments and procedures, it had basically shunted him into being head of the security department for Pokemon League operations and other like its continental leagues. So long as Red didn't tread on any toes and he kept crime on the down low as he was gifted in doing, Red remained out of the picture for the day-to-day running of the governance and there wasn't any problems. But unfortunately, that also meant that Red did have to be consulted in an official capacity from time to time.

"Previous security protocols for the Indigo League are fine, Blue and I both agreed on that." Leaf stated. "There is absolutely no need for you to get involved."

"Not good enough." Red instantly responded. "My department will be the judge of that, given that we are the ones providing security. Team Rocket activities have been on the rise these past few years, after all."

"Which is also your job to deal with." Leaf snapped at Red then.

"Yes, it is." Red agreed then without a single hint of cordiality in his tone with his agreement. "That still doesn't change the facts, however."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you haven't told me why you want to know such information." Leaf persisted.

"Like I said." Red began to repeat himself, which frustrated Leaf as the roundabout conversation turned back to her. "I'm head of the security department, it also falls under our jurisdiction to review such things. It is your duty to inform me."

"And like I said." Leaf shot back. "The previous security arrangements will work out just fine. This supposed duty has already been fulfilled. There is simply no need for you."

Red's mouth twitched then, signalling to Leaf that she had finally said something that provoked an actual response from the very guarded man, as he sighed then. Even Red grew tired of this charade, where Leaf's refusal to try and have a civil conversation with him ever since their falling out ten years ago just grew tiring. It would take much more than that to rankle him, though. "How about you just stop this nonsense, Leaf." Red spoke then, making the trainer before him purse her lips at that statement. "And just tell me, rather than me having to go through all the paperwork to force it from your grip." Red looked back up as he put a hand on the table next to his cap as he decided to stick a knife in to provoke an end to the heated conversation. "Don't let this be like your actions ten years ago."

Leaf was instantly furious, as Red could clearly as she fully narrowed her eyes and her expression tensed slightly. The Pokemon Master knew fully just how well Leaf still took the decade-old incident - and it looked to still have much of the same raw potency it did then. Which had been what Red had been counting on, forcing a change in the tempo of the conversation just so that he could get somewhere.

What he didn't expect was for Leaf to calm down and twist a knife of her own.

"Oh?" Leaf let out as she raised an eyebrow. "Just like your own son was attacked because of your actions?"

Leaf instantly knew she had gone too far, much further than Red had gone as the hand clutching the edge of the table turned a sudden white in the knuckles, instantly splintering the processed wood under grip with surprising strength to the female trainer. Red's own eyes had narrowed, vestiges of fury within them as he glared at his old friend before him - who had shrunk back slightly with a flabbergasted expression as he slowly leant forwards.

"If you ever repeat such a thing again." Red spoke slowly and controlled. "I will make you regret it. Childhood friend or not." He hissed out at the end.

Red took note then of how the fairly talkative atmosphere within the corner expresso bar had died down, much of the attention on him and the City's favourite trainer. Nobody approached, however, as people recognised the illusive Pokemon Master - who had a suspect reputation to the well informed.

Standing up and putting the cap on his head, Red only said a few last words. "I can see that this is going nowhere. You're still as stubborn as ever, except this time you pushed it. Expect an inquiry from the security department - and you can count on it being thorough."

Turning on his heel, the Pokemon Master had gone from the place before Leaf could even try to respond - stewing as she was in the violent changes the conversation had undergone in its last stages.

VIRIDIAN FOREST.

Exiting off of the road, the two trainers came onto Kanto's route two - the path through Viridian Forest which exited out the other side into Pewter City. The forest itself was of a ginormous size, for it stretched completely across the northern horizon that one could see from their viewpoint of the boundary of Viridian City. The trees were of tall stature, a mixture of light and dark greens that were propped up by thick wooden trunks - making a spacious, but very large forest. It was notorious for being home to low-level Pokemon, especially bug and flying types, and added to the legacy of trainers starting their first gym battle in Pewter as it was a perfect place to catch beginning Pokemon.

Ash wasn't really interested in any of the Pokemon in the forest as he scrolled through the species list of he geographical area on his Pokedex. Sure, there were a few good Pokemon - like Pikachu, but they had low statistical chances of appearing, and he'd have better use of his time continuing forth and searching for such Pokemon around places like Lavender Town, where electrical infrastructure was more abundant.

It was late afternoon as the two trainers crossed over the grassy fields that marked the green belt around the city and into the forest, the path becoming noticeably less maintained and swapping materials into becoming just paved through the forest.

Plucking out a Pokeball as they crossed the boundary, Ash pressed the release button on the device to manually open it and expunge the red light from within. In under a second, the mass of energy had formed the familiar shape of Blue the Riolu, who looked up to Ash and greeted him, before looking over to Paul with an inquisitive eye as the Sinnoh trainer looked back with a respectful eye.

Paul himself released Pidgeotto as his own Pokemon to protect himself against wild Pokemon - after introductions were out of the way, the two trainers got back on the road through the forest to Pewter City. However, they had only being going for twenty minutes when the branches overhead rustled.

Ash reacted as a multitude of dozens of purple needle-like projectiles rained down upon the group then, thrusting up his hand and channelling his aura. Ash knew he had done the right thing as soon as he recognised the use of the move poison sting by a Weedle in the branches above, spotting it as the projectiles were merely deflected by the aura shield he'd projected. A Pokemon may be able to recover admirably from being poisoned using berries and potions, but a human would not be as hardy - so Ash was thankful to all his lessons that enabled him to react in such a way.

The shield fell as the rain of projectiles was halted, the dark yellow caterpillar-like Pokemon with a spike on is head and tail end looking shocked at the ease of which Ash deflected its attack. It quickly started to scamper away as Ash looked to the navy-blue canine Pokemon beside him and pointed to the Weedle, commanding his Pokemon via aura as Blue nodded. The gap between wild and trainer owned Pokemon was shown very distinctly, especially for a low-level Pokemon like the bug Pokemon.

Blue caught up with the slowly fleeing Weedle and quickly grabbed its head to silence its cries to stop it alerting any Beedrill in the forest as per Ash's instructions, before priming a Mach punch with his free hand. There was no point taking any chances with a poisonous Pokemon, as Riolu landed the speedy move on the bug Pokemon caught in his grip with a glowing fist that cleanly knocked out the low-level Pokemon.

Joining his trainer and long-time friend back on the ground, Blue perked up as he saw Ash eye-smiling at him, offering a Poke-puff to him which the Pokemon gladly accepted before Ash then rubbed Riolu's head. "Nice work, Blue." Ash praised, getting a happy response from the canine.

"Thanks, Ash!" Blue responded, getting a bigger smile from Ash.

Ash quickly had his attention diverted over to Paul, however, as he heard the 'tch' that emanated from the trainer. The Sinnoh trainer looked like he was having a migraine as he actually rubbed his temples somewhat, before complaining to Ash. "You know, Ash, I'm getting fucking tired of these new surprises and mysteries from you. And I've only known you for a couple of days."

Ash just smiled again, this time amusingly. "Happy to be of service."

Paul, however, did not look amused, or impressed. "I would like an explanation for this too, Ketchum."

Ash could tell that Paul wasn't happy by the use of his surname coming through once more, but he took it in his stride and shrugged. "Very well."

A FEW HOURS LATER.

"Well, isn't that just fantastic, Ash." Paul remarked then. The two trainers were setting up camp within the forest as darkness was starting to fall, as Paul was setting up the overhead tarpaulin sheet for cover and preserving heat - as Ash was lighting the fire. He was doing this by holding his hunting knife over strands of particularly flammable grass, and striking the stainless steel against a piece of flint. Blue stood beside Ash, watching the process with intrigue. "You've even got a fucking knife. Are you sure you're not going to murder me in my sleep?"

The grass finally took hold as a fire was born, quickly spreading over the whole bundle of grass and onto the bundle of wood below as Ash stood up, and looked to Paul with some amusement. "Very sure, Paul." He stated. "You aren't that detestable."

Paul just grunted as he saw Ash slide the knife back into its sheath, grumbling some more. "So you've got a gun, aura, some combat training from your father and a hunting knife. Anything else?"

Ash looked thoughtful before nodding. "Yes, actually."

Paul looked dryly at Ash then. "Fuck me." He muttered reflexively.

Ash eye-smiled at that. "No thanks."

Ash could practically feel Paul's eyes boring into his skull, and just spoke before Paul could state something they'd all regret. "Just one thing I can think off of the top of my head right now, and that's this." Ash informed Paul as he held up the ultra ball in his hand, catching his fellow trainer's attention quickly since he had professed interest in it just the previous day. It also made

Paul grunted, and then made a suggestion. "Perhaps we should release all of our Pokemon at once."

"Good idea." Ash agreed. "The Pokemon may be kept in suspended animation, but it isn't healthy if they aren't fed every so often."

Directing his aim away from the inside of the space under the tarpaulin sheet, Ash first released the remaining two of his regular Pokeballs - from out which emerged Silver and Peeper. Guiding Blue round to join them, Ash pulled out the big serving bowl that all of them shared.

"Alright, you three." Ash spoke as he as he then tugged out the Pokemon kibble from his pack - instantly gaining the stares of his Pokemon. "Let's get you lot sorted out before I let Synergy out." He then dumped an appropriate portion of the food into the bowl, and scooted back to let the three of them have at it. "Enjoy. Don't take it all for yourselves, either."

Sticking a thumbs up at his Pokemon's thanks, he hen turned back to Paul who had released Grotle, Pidgeotto and Snorunt beside him as well. The Snorunt appeared to be triangular shaped with a glistening white skin, of short stature with a wide face in the middle of the triangle. Icy breaths were released each time it exhaled as it joined its other two Pokemon comrades in chowing down on the food.

"Alright, Ash." Paul stated with a bored tone as he looked to his travelling partner. "You've kept me in suspense long enough now."

Ash nodded at that. "Indeed I have." He agreed before simply tossing the ultra ball over his shoulder.

Synergy stood up to her full height as she was finally released, taking in the surroundings around her before her eyes saw the camp area where the six Pokemon besides her were eating and the two trainers sat. Ash was looking over his shoulder with a slight smirk on his face as the purple-haired boy opposite him certainly looked surprised at her - her logic processors supplying the fact that he most likely wouldn't have ever seen a Pokemon like her.

"Ash Ketchum." She spoke then as her crimson eyes looked down to her trainer. "How long has it been since you left Pallet Town?"

"This'd be my third evening away from there, why?" Ash asked back with a slight smile. He knew he was in trouble.

Synergy yanked Ash to his feet and lifted him up slightly, staring at him with an unimpressed expression. "I told you to let me out on Route One, Ash. Not Route Two." She stated dryly.

"Well, I kind of got caught up with business like Team Rocket and everything." Ash explained then with an unconcerned tone. "Sorry."

Synergy's eyes bored in on Ash's own as he said that, the implications of the statement not lost on her. However, she could also clearly see that it was nothing to worry about as he looked unconcerned - and she would've been released if he needed help. But that still didn't mean she was happy about it. "I'm staying out the Pokeball from now on." She informed her trainer. "You can't be trusted."

"Oh?" Ash let out as he raised an eyebrow. "But what about not letting any random person seeing you?"

Synergy mirrored Ash's previous expression as she responded. "Better that than you running into situations like that. I want to be there next time."

Ash rolled his eyes. "You're a right mother hen sometimes." He muttered.

Synergy just eye-smiled at that as she put Ash down. "And where would you be without me?"

She didn't get an answer, but the both of them knew the correct answer as Ash ducked back under the tarpaulin sheet and sat close to the fire - looking over to Paul who was still focused on Synergy. Ash could see he was still somewhat amazed from the expression in his eyes, but he was also brooding in an analytical way as he had schooled his features and clasped his hands together in thought.

"...You still managed to surprise me, Ash." Paul admitted after a few moments as he watched Synergy also duck the tarpaulin, having a harder time due to her taller stature, but managing in the end as she sat down. "Somehow, after all the surprises already."

"And who's this friend of yours, Ash?" Synergy questioned as she looked back at Paul, then scanning over his Pokemon and logging their species.

"This is Paul." Ash informed her. "We met after Peeper beat his ass in battle. Twice."

Paul broke off looking at Synergy to look at Ash with a firm expression. "It was close at points, Ketchum, and you know it."

"Perhaps." Was all Ash said as he clasped his own hands together in front of his face, despite the mask that hid it from view already.

"Whatever." Paul stated as he pulled out his own Pokedex. "Are you going to tell me why your Pokemon can talk, Ash?"

Ash looked to Synergy with an appreciative look as he put a hand on her shoulder and gestured. "She's a robotic Pokemon, really. I won't go too much into it, but she was born with he ability to talk."

Synergy's facial plates twitched at the subject of conversation, remembering what Ash was on about. But, just as Ash hadn't, she didn't go into specifics either. "94.9% robotic, actually. There are some biological components that Oak found in his scans."

Not too much.

Paul grunted, before just pointing his Pokedex at Synergy and pressing the scan button on it to find out more about her - only to then raise an eyebrow as the device spat a rejection at him. "Pokemon unknown." The Pokedex said aloud.

"OK, is she not native to Kanto?" Paul asked then as he slid the Pokedex closed and away, seeing no further use for it. "I had my Pokedex updated with the Kanto species list before I left."

"No, she is." Ash informed Paul as he pulled out his Pokedex. "It's just that Synergy here may be classified to most people."

Tapping the scan button on his own device, Paul leaned in and looked at how Ash's Pokedex responded in the way it should've compared to his as the stats were pulled up. "Plasteel, the robotic Pokemon." The Pokedex spoke aloud. "Plasteel is an analytical Pokemon that will seek to complete its mission directives at any cost. They use the blade extension in their arms to great effect. Only one individual of this species have ever been encountered. Note - this Pokemon is a female, has a dual steel and electric type and is classified as a medium-class legendary Pokemon."

Paul looked impressed at that, sitting back slightly as he looked back to the robotic Pokemon who just calmly glanced back. "Legendary?" He inquired after a moment.

Ash grumbled slightly before looking to Synergy. "You tell him." He simply stated.

JOHTO, GOLDENROD CITY.

Lance flipped through the inquiry proceedings report before him as he glazed over Red Ketchum's recent actions. Whilst Red's official actions were obvious to follow given how every security proceeding had to have an official report, he had no idea of what the Pokemon Master did in his spare time. Partly because Red went to places a lot of people didn't - like the mountain - but also because he couldn't be tracked. The League didn't care enough to take it seriously, having dealt with Red already and the fact that he was head of security, and that Lance was in charge of such things. But the major reason was that whoever did follow him, disappeared. Lance was still building up his information network within Goldenrod City, and it still wasn't back up to is previous standard.

That all in itself raised flags.

But he couldn't bring any charges, or requests for extra surveillance, or anything against Red due to the simple fact that there was no evidence. Whilst any person could link Red to the disappearances of his agents, it wasn't the way the ruling body worked as it was careful not to create trouble where it could be avoided. And the League executives would certainly vote against creating trouble with Red Ketchum.

So, that left him with few options. And each time he received a new report that told him little about the Pokemon Master, the option of confronting Red looked more and more appealing.

Lance grunted as he put the file down and clasped his hands in thought.

He may well have to soon. Whatever was going on, Lance would stop it.