A light breeze drifted gently through the clear blue sky and into the deafening stadium, where tens of thousands of fans stood on their feet in heart pounding anticipation for the challenger to deliver the finishing blow to the Hoenn Champion. Cheers rained down from the stands willing on the young woman to take the title of Champion for herself.
"And this is all but over folks; Hoenn Champion Steven Stone is almost down for the count. All challenger Melissa Jones needs to do is order her final attack!" The announcer commented over the roar of the crowd.
Down on the dirt battlefield two figures stood at each end of the rectangular field, one being the Hoenn League Champion Steven Stone, and the other being the challenger Melissa Jones.
Steven blew a wisp of sweaty steel blue hair out of his eyes as he concentrated on the near unconscious Pokemon in front of him. To spectators, analysts, and trainers alike, the championship match would be seen as an evenly matched back and forth battle. But most of the outside world did not, and would not know that the challenger was holding back.
Time slowed down around him, as he watched his opponent bring her arm up and around in front of her and point towards his loyal friend and ally Metagross, where she called out the final move.
"Typhlosion end this with a Fire Blast!" Melissa cried encouragingly to the Volcano Pokemon. Her Typhlosion let out a deep throated battle cry as the flames on its back erupted into a wildfire. Bracing itself onto all fours, the bear-like Pokemon opened its sharp canine teeth laden jaw as flames begun to form into a sphere of scorching heat.
"Metagross stop it with Light Screen!" Steven shouted desperately in a desperation counter attack. But it was to no avail, the massive ball of scorching flames slammed into the screen of energy shattering the attack and cutting straight into the tank-like steel type Pokemon.
Metagross cried out in pain as it was sent sliding back under the impact of the super-effective attack. Wincing, Metagross shakily rose back onto all fours and glared down its opponent. Steven watched in admiration of his starter pokemon as it pushed itself off of the ground, the steel type knew the consequences of losing this match, and to see it going the extra mile made him proud.
"And look at the determination by Metagross, how much longer can it han-" The announcer stopped in an instant as a groan came from the steel type causing it to fall to the ground in a heap unconscious. The stadium was deafly silent in a moment of disbelief and excitement.
A referee stepped forward and raised a green flag into the air, "Metagross is unable to battle, which means the winner and new Hoenn Champion is Melissa Jones!"
There was a brief pause of silence before the crowd leapt off their feet and shook the stadium with thunderus applause, "She did it! For the first time in seven years Hoenn has crowned a new Hoenn League Champion!" The announcer exclaimed ecstatically!
Steven walked swiftly over to his fallen comrade, crouching down and laying a gentle hand onto Metagross, he smiled, "You were amazing out there old friend, I couldn't be more proud of you," He said softly.
The steel type let out a disappointed groan and looked dejectedly away from its trainer. Steven smiled sympathetically as he pulled out its Pokeball, "It's alright Metagross, let's get you over to Nurse Joy, you fought your heart out in that battle you must be dead tired." There was a slight nod from Metagross and Steven recalled his old friend and looked over to the new Champion.
Sighing, he stood up, dusted his legs off and walked over to Melissa with a tired smile on his face. The brunette grinned ecstatically at Steven and met him at the center of the field, "That was an amazing battle Steven, you were fantastic!" She complimented jumpily.
Steven held out his hand and smiled, "It sure was Melissa, congratulations on the win and I wish you the best of luck with your reign as Champion," 'Or you could lose to the next challenger who faces you.'
Melissa took the hand and shook firmly, "Thank you Steven that means a lot to me!" Steven turned to the crowd once more and raised his hand in farewell; the stadium erupted into a booming standing ovation for the now former long-time champion.
Bowing once, he turned around and began making his way over to the field entrance. Stepping into the dark hallway, he reached into his pocket and removed a dark blue Pokegear. "Damn," he muttered as he flipped the device open and dialed in a number.
The Pokegear rang twice before it was answered by a male voice, "Steven?" the man asked sympathetically.
He sighed, "I tried Lance, but those Pokemon were too powerful for me to handle." His voice was lined with anguish.
"Don't be hard on yourself, after the ceremony take the next flight over to Head Quarters, Cynthia has some new information regarding Giovanni's plan." Lance informed seriously, even though Steven had lost there were bigger problems at hand.
Steven raised a quizzical eyebrow at the news, "What did she find out?"
"She didn't say, all I know is that an Elite from our Sinnoh branch returned with some files?"
"That's it?" He didn't bother hiding the heavy disappointment in voice.
There was a slight pause, "I don't know Steven, she said that whatever the Elite brought back could be the game changer in the war,"
Steven whistled in slight astonishment, "Well if it really can change the tide of all this, it must be pretty damn important."
"Well we'll find out in a few hours, Cynth is going to meet us at HQ so I'm going to get some paper work out of the way and leave you to get ready for the ceremony."
Steven nodded, "Alright Lance I'll see you soon," He said farewell.
"I'll talk to you later Steven take care," With that Lance ended the call, and Steven continued down the hallway and went out through a door to the back of the stadium.
'Hopefully whatever Cynthia found out is true; Team Rocket is really starting to get on my nerves…' He thought bitterly as he continued walking towards Ever Grande Villages resident Pokemon Center.
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Pallet Town.
The town of pure-white beginnings, as the old time saying goes. The small peaceful starting town where hundreds of kids per generation kick off their Pokemon Journeys. The quaint little town was scarce in in features and landmarks, except for the famous Professor Oaks laboratory which resided atop a hill looking over Pallet. And PIA-Pallet Interregional Airlines, which flew to practically every Region in the world.
The history was little to none; a hundred and fifty years ago construction began on a small village for travellers from other regions to settle down and find work, before heading off to the larger cities such as Pewter or Cerulean where they would spend the rest of their days. Other than that the only other history was that of Professor Samuel Oak, the famous Pokemon Researcher.
There was however family histories that had become well known in the Pokemon World from the town of Pallet. One being the Oaks, the famous Pokemon Researching family known worldwide for their leading Pokemon Research on anything Pokemon.
The other.
The other had become a scandal which lit up news stations, billboards, papers, magazines, and talk shows alike; the name would go down as a scandal that cancelled the Indigo League for two years for investigation and for causing an uproar which cost the League millions of dollars in expenses. The name which caused the League their problems was Ketchum.
Or more importantly Ash Ketchum, the son of Delia and Jay Ketchum. The rising star of Pallet, most would never say it to his face, but some would say prodigy. His natural talent for battling, his bond with his friends and Pokemon, his passion for helping others before himself, made him a natural leader and Pokemon Trainer.
An ordinary boy at first, travelling the world with friends, entering regional tournaments and Leagues, everything a regular Pokemon Trainer does. However the Ketchum scandal started well after Ashs first League. Three years into being a Trainer, he had finally won his first League giving him the chance at the champion's title.
Unfortunately his chance at the title he craved would never come, during the ceremony as he was being crowned the winner of the Sinnoh League, it was attacked. His body was never found among the wreckage of the stadium, and for years he was wiped off of the face of the Earth, never to be seen again.
And he would remain unseen, until four years passed where he revealed himself to the world in the Indigo League. Surprising the world with his reappearance, and the uniform he wore. He shocked the world by entering the semi-finals dressed as a Team Rocket agent.
And that is where he died, being shot during the course of the battle and dying in the hospital. The world was stunned, and almost immediately media worldwide started flaring up rumors and controversy surrounding the Ketchum family.
Most revolving around the small town family being a part of the Team Rocket organization, and trying to steal other Trainers Pokemon. But when he refused to do so, Team Rockets solution was to eliminate the person who betrayed them.
But that wasn't the case; there were only a select few who really knew what was going on in the League and the involvement of Ash Ketchum. And one of those peoples name was Misty Waterflower.
Misty Water flower, also known as the fourth Sensational Sister and Cerulean Gym Leader walked wearily down the dirt road leading away from Professor Oaks Laboratory. A slight breeze blew through the afternoon sky and through her shoulder length orange silk hair. Her attire consisted of light blue skinny jeans, a yellow hoodie which hugged every one of her curves tightly that defined her as a beautiful young woman, and a red drawstring bag slung across her back.
She would catch the eye of many teenage boys and men, who would stop and stare as she passed by. Some would even stop her and ask her for her number, but she would always turn them down. She was already taken.
She let out a quiet sigh and stuffed her hands into her pockets. Her cerulean eyes glanced around her surroundings and she took in the beautiful place that was Pallet Town. The rolling green hills with the green grass swaying to the constant breeze in the air, the chirping of Pidgeys as they talked to each other in an incomprehensible language, the bright sun in a clear blue sky, in other words it had the makings of a beautiful day.
Her eyes caught sight of the all too familiar small two-story home and white picket fence. The moment her eyes fell upon it, she felt her heart tighten in pain. It was just over one year ago that she had seen him, that she had held him… That she had shared her first kiss with him.
And it all felt like a dream. No. A nightmare which she couldn't erase from her mind, but she could pretend, even as hard as it was, to hide it. A lot had happened one year ago, Ash had returned, she had learned where he had been for the past few years, which led to her confessing that she still loved him and him telling her that he felt the same way. And then he disappeared all over again.
Pushing open the gate of the white picket fence, she knocked lightly twice on the front door, twisted the door-knob, and pushed open the front door. She stepped into the cozy little living room of the home, which had a television mounted on the wall, a three seater sofa, and a chair placed in front of it, pictures lined the walls of the room, pictures of a brunette woman, a young Ash, herself, and many of their friends.
She turned towards the staircase when a yellow blur raced down and leapt into her arms, "Pikachupi pikachu," the small yellow mouse cooed as it snuggled into her embrace.
A soft smile graced her mouth, "Hey Pikachu how are you doing?" She asked kindly, stoking his fur gently.
"Chuka pi cha pika pika," Pikachu replied happily.
"Oh Misty dear your back already?" A brunette woman asked curiously coming around the corner from the kitchen.
"Yeah Gary got a call from Professor Elm about some possible evolution thing and it was going to be a while before they finished so I headed out," She replied going to sit down on the couch, Pikachu still in her arms.
"Oh well Alyssa will be down in a few, we just finished gardening so she's taking a shower before dinner."
"Okay Delia, do you need any help cooking?" She asked the older woman politely.
Delia smiled warmly at the Cerulean Gym Leader, "Sure Misty dear I'd love some help," The two females entered the small kitchen and began chopping vegetables, with Delia consistently glancing over to where Misty was working to make sure she was able to keep up.
The two worked in silence, except for the sound of knives hitting wooden cutting boards. The Cerulean Gym Leader glanced over to the older woman she considered a mother, who was cutting a few pieces of celery.
After Ash had… Passed away, everyone had gone through major emotional troubles. Herself had taken a couple of months off from her duties as Gym Leader and moved in with Delia and Alyssa, who had been given permanent residence at the Ketchum home at Ashs request according to his mother.
Alyssa the Ex-Rocket member, had gone into heavy depression and felt alone in the world as Ash was her only true friend, and first love. After time though, she had grown close to Misty, Delia, and all of Ashs Pokemon. Unfortunately, there was a high degree of tension between Ashs old travelling companions and the Ex-Rocket member due to the fact that they thought she could have stopped Ash from competing in the semi-final match and he'd still be alive.
His old travelling companions had their own ways of dealing with the tragedy, Brock and Gary buried themselves in work, research, and anything that could occupy their time. While May, and Dawn had dropped out of that years Unova Grande Festival in depression, and took a leave of absence from competing and training.
Who surprised everyone the most however was Delia, the first two or so weeks had been brutally painful for her. With all the tabloids, television shows, and more posting false rumors about her son and family had been an overload of painful moments for her. But quite soon after that, she was back to her old self, happy, cheery, motherly, loving, the Delia Ketchum everyone knew and loved.
But Misty knew by experience, that behind the way she was acting, she was harbouring feelings of despair, sadness, stress, loss, and all the emotions that come with losing a loved one. Everyone knew that Delia was being strong for them; she was the one who pulled herself together for Ash.
He'd want them to move on with their lives… Even if it was so hard.
"Delia!" A female voice cried from upstairs. Delia and Mistys head snapped to look at the living room as they heard footsteps rushing down the stairs. Coming around the corner was a wide-eyed blond with a pony tail held in place by a green hair elastic, who wore a green tank top and dark blue skinny jeans, that showed off her petit frame and curves.
"Alyssa honey what's wrong?" Delia asked worriedly.
Alyssa glanced at the two women, "It's started," She said urgently!
"What's started?"
"Steven lost his title; Team Rocket is starting whatever their planning!" Her voice was filled with unease and worry as she gestured for them to follow her into the living room where she turned on the television.
Misty and Delia froze in place and an unsettling feel filled the bottom of the stomach as they followed the blond into the living room where a news report was playing.
"The new Hoenn Champion Melissa Jones, will officially take over her duties as Champion tomorrow at noon. Two hours ago the 22 year old from Phenac City of Orre, was crowned as Champion by Steven Stone, who lost his title by having no Pokemon remaining while Jones still had two Pokemon capable for battle. Join us later tonight for an extended coverage of the new Champion and her home origins at 8. This is Jessica Waters from KNN News, back to you Phil."
"Thanks Je-" The television was shut off leaving the three in paranoid silence.
"Are you sure it's…" Misty didn't finish, mainly because she couldn't bring herself to say the organization that ruined their lives.
"There's a chance of course that it's not, but… It's gotta be, I mean after everything we found out its just falling right into place…" Alyssa said quietly, later that night she was going to watch that coverage on the new champion and then do investigating of her own to hopefully see that Jones wasn't a Team Rocket member.
"I… I think dinners ready you two; we shouldn't be talking about these things… We can only hope that the G-Men are able to stop whatever they are planning…" Delia said trying to keep the conversation away from that topic as she left back into the kitchen.
Misty and Alyssa glanced uneasily at each other, before following Delia into the kitchen hoping that she was right.
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The sound of consistent clacking of dress shoes could be heard going down a long white hallway towards a single door that read Command Center engraved on the outside. Steven strided swiftly towards the wooden door and grasped the door knob and pushed inwards.
The Command Center was no bigger than a small classroom. A rectangular wooden table was placed directly in the center of the room that housed a three-dimensional map of all the Regions. Around the room were computer, sonar, topography, and security monitors all alike aligned against the walls displaying all sorts of technical jargon that most would be able to understand if their lives depended on it.
There were two men in the room as Steven entered, one being a man in his early thirties who had flame red hair, and wore a black jumpsuit and cape. The other was a man in his mid to late forties with dark grey hair peppered with steel grey flecks, his face was weathered and showed the signs of a man who had seen a lot in his time. He wore a navy blue suit, with a Lieutenant Ensign patched on his shoulders, over his chest a plethora of colored medals hung polished and placed neatly in order.
"Lance, Lieutenant Anderson," Steven said in greeting as he shook hands firmly with the Dragon Master, and Lieutenant.
"Glad you could make it Steven, Cynthia should be here shortly." Lance informed as he turned back to Anderson.
"May I ask why you are here Anderson; shouldn't you be strategizing assaults on Rocket warehouses or training facilities?" Steven asked curiously.
Anderson cleared his throat before speaking, "I'm not sure why I'm here actually, I was telegraphed from our Sinnoh Branch that I should be here for when Cynthia arrives. Apparently she has an important target in mind that could be beneficial to shutting down those bastards," He spoke gruffly.
"And I do," A female spoke from behind, causing the three to turn around and see the Sinnoh Champion walk into the room, files in hand.
"It's great to see you again Cynthia," Lance greeted cheerfully, taking the blond into a friendly hug.
She smiled, "It's been a while hasn't it," She pulled out of the hug and turned to Steven and offered him a sympathetic smile as she in turn took him into an embrace, "I'm sorry about today Steven, we know you did your best out there,"
Steven smiled and waved it away, "What's done is done, no point dwelling on the past." He said seriously.
"Mam," The Lieutenant spoke as he held out his hand and the blond shook in return.
"Hello Anderson how is everything going?" She asked politely.
"It's going alright, giving Rockets hell as usual." He shrugged uncaringly which let a smile grace the Sinnoh Champion's lips.
"That's good to hear," A serious look crossed her face, "Now I suppose you're wondering why I called you all here?" The three nodded in confirmation as a sign to continue. She handed a file to each of them and kept one for herself, and watched as they took out and examined each document.
Three minutes of silence passed until, looking up at Cynthia Lance spoke, "I don't quite understand how medical records and… A facility in Johto can benefit us Cynth,"
Cynthia nodded and gestured to the document he held, "Look at the dates, drugs, effects, and injection dates, on the third sheet fourth paragraph,"
The three flipped to the fourth sheet and their eyes scanned back and forth as they read over the text, "First injection… October 12, of… The drug is black lined?" Steven asked clearly confused at where this was going.
"What happened October 12?" She stated seriously, most of what she had recovered was blacked out leaving small bits of information that happened to reveal a lot with the help of an expert hacker.
Lance eyed Cynthia curiously; he knew what happened in October. Hell the entire world somewhat knew what happened, "Ash Ketchum was shot down at the League… Why does that matter though?"
"Because he's alive!" The blond exclaimed seriously!
Lance and Steven exchanged uneasy glances, "Cynth," Steven started gently, "We know that there was something about the kid that was special about him but he's dea-"
Cynthia's face lit up with a rare sign of anger, "He's not dead, Team Rocket somehow kept him alive! Look at the first injection, Tetrodotoxin slows your heart rate and pulse, as well as turning the body cold along with paralysation. They faked his death dammit, then somehow got his body out of their!"
Lance shook his head, "We were at the funeral Cynthia, we saw them lower the full casket into the ground."
"Look at the second and third injections, their blacked out but from what I understand it's some sort of… Liquidized amnesia drug, if put into the blood stream in certain quantity's it can hinder the person's memory!"
"But how does tha-"
"The first dose should have wiped his memories clean, but there been multiple injections, and they become more frequent as time goes on!"
"But how does that explain the body in the casket Cynthia," Lance stated seriously, he was all for going along with Cynthia's plans, but this seemed a little unusual for her.
Cynthia scowled and removed a picture from her folder and handed it to the Dragon Master, "This is proof that it's him, the Elite that got this information did damn near everything possible to get all the proof she could. And if that picture isn't proof enough then I don't know!"
Lance put the black and white photo under a light and examined it closely, he'd be lying if he said that it didn't look like Ketchum, it was a picture of a young man with a black hat covering most of his face in a shadow, "It looks like him sure Cynthia, but how can you be sure it's not just another Rocket?"
Cynthia handed him one last photo, which was brightened and showed just barely small lightning bolt shaped marks on the young man's cheeks. Lance handed the photos to Steven and waited as he compared the photos.
"Okay I'm with you Cynthia, this certainly looks like the kid," Steven agreed. Lance nodded in agreement.
"So you want to target this facility as a rescue mission?" Anderson spoke up, he'd been listening to the Champions converse and now it was his turn to step in.
"Exactly,"
"No offence mam, but what's so special about this kid in the first place?"
"He holds valuable information regarding Team Rocket; he's being trained as their top operative and could prove to be a highly useful asset in future engagements… And for whatever sick reason, Giovanni wants him. He's gone through a hell of a lot to keep him alive, after all this so there's got to be a reason."
The room was silent as they thought over what the blond Champion had suggested.
"I'm in," Steven agreed, slowly nodding his head.
"I'm up for it, I can start planning the assault once this meeting's over," Anderson agreed seriously.
Cynthia turned to Lance, "That's three Lance, what do you think?"
Lance slowly shook his head, "I want to do this if it was him… But we simply don't know, it could just be some imposter for all we know."
"Lance think rational-"
"I am thinking rationally Cynthia, if this is Ketchum, then what the hell did they bury at the funeral? And how the hell did they get him out of the hospital? We're jumping too quickly into things here!"
"Lance it's him jus-"
"If I may interject here Mam?" Anderson piped in gruffly.
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"Lance is right in this matter, if we jump in to quickly this can fall back on us quickly. But there is a way to confirm whether or not this is him or not."
The Champions and Ex-Champion turned curiously to the Lieutenant, "How?" Steven asked for them.
"Dig up the body and test the DNA."
The three went silent and cast each other a questioning look, that's all they really need to do. Check the DNA and see if they match, and they'd have their answer.
Slowly Lance nodded in agreement, shortly followed by Steven, "I agree with Anderson on this, do a DNA check on the remains and compare it with…" Lance stopped and looked at the others.
"What do we compare it with?"
"We could request medical history from a hospital, but that could take weeks to get… There is one alternative though…" Steven said slowly, he knew that this was a dangerous road to go down. But it was probably for the best.
"What is it?" Cynthia asked sensing his hesitation.
"His mother."
Once it was in the open, the Champions knew they had a big decision to make in this matter. Should they involve outsiders with this information, or keep it under wraps.