What's up? It's been a while. Sorry for the delay but the new chapter is now out and I hope you all enjoy. Please leave a review, follow and favourite if you'd like. A went for a bit of a different writing style for this chapter so I hope I didn't fail miserably. Stay safe out there!
Chapter 23:
"Yes, Ash the chef is back, he will have breakfast ready soon!" Anabel shouted annoyed.
"Thank you." Ash cheered as he ran towards the canteen.
"Sorry about him, he's a bit of an idiot." Dawn said sheepishly.
The sentence had just left her mouth when May went skipping past them muttering unintelligibly. The only word the caught was 'food'.
"So is she." Max deadpanned.
Eventually the whole group caught up to Ash and May who already had a lot of their meal devoured. The rest of the group including Anabel and Lucy got their own food and joined them at the table.
"All things aside, it was kinda crazy to see a Latias." Gaz spoke. "That was the first time I've ever seen a legendary Pokémon."
"Really?" Iris asked shocked.
"Yeah, they're so rare." Gaz replied, confused why it was surprising.
"Yeah, but it's still shocking that you haven't seen any." Serena added. "They're hard to find but not impossible."
"Well how many have you guys seen then?" Gaz asked defensively.
"Well, I've seen Zapdos and Moltres." Ash started.
"Plus, Noland's Articuno." Lucy added while Anabel nodded.
"2 Mews." Ash continued.
"Mewtwo as we said before." Misty piped up.
"Celebi as well." Brock mentioned.
"A couple of Lugia's." Ash said casually.
"Entei, Suicune and Raikou too." Misty told him.
"Oh, I actually saw Ho-Oh on my first day as a trainer." Ash suddenly remembered.
"Seriously?" Gaz asked in disbelief.
"There was also Latias and Latios in Alto Mare." Misty reminded him.
"Brandon has the Regi trio so me and Lucy have seen them." Anabel jumped in.
"Oh yeah, true. I battled them too." Ash said fondly.
"We saw Kyogre and Groudon fight in Hoenn." Max said, shivering at the memory.
"Plus, Rayquaza And Deoxys In LaRousse City." May added.
"And don't forget about that Jirachi we found." Max shouted happily.
"Oh, and Manaphy of course." May spoke fondly, her eyes full of happiness.
"And Phione." Ash added.
"Phione doesn't count." Gaz countered.
"We also saw the Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf." Ash continued causing Gaz to deflate once again.
"Dialga and Palkia too." Dawn pointed out.
"Cresselia..." Brock muttered.
"The guy who beat me in the Sinnoh League had a Darkrai." Ash said with a clenched fist at the memory.
"They let someone enter a league with a Darkrai?" Cameron asked in shock.
"And that Shaymin that annoyed Ash so much." Dawn laughed.
"Oh yeah that guy." Ash rolled his eyes. "Oh, and remember Regigigas too?"
"Not to mention that time we met Arceus." Dawn said, still in awe at the event.
"Alright I have to call bullshit on that." Gaz said in disbelief. "You expect me to believe you met the God of all Pokémon?"
"We did." Brock confirmed as Ash nodded.
"In fairness it is something I'd believe with Ash's luck." Gary laughed.
"This is crazy." Leaf shook her head.
"Then we saw Victini, Reshiram and Zekrom." Ash told them.
"The Meloetta that followed us around for a while." Iris recalled.
"Coballion, Terrakion, Verizion and Keldeo." Ash listed off.
"Kyurem too." Iris reminded him.
"Then there was Thundurus, Tornadus and Landorus after Team Rocket got involved."
"That reminds me actually." Anabel muttered. "Excuse me." She hopped up from the table and disappeared out the door.
"Huh?" Ash said confused. "Anyway, we saw a Genesect too."
"In Kalos we saw Diancie." Serena spoke up.
"That's right." Ash agreed. "Also, Xerneas And Yveltal."
"Hoopa and Volcanion as well." Serena added.
"And finally, there was that Zygarde that Bonnie looked after for a while." Ash finished.
Gaz, Leaf and Cameron exchanged several looks of disbelief.
"So, you're trying to say you've encountered pretty much every legendary Pokémon discovered?" Gaz asked in bemusement.
"Yeah," Ash answered casually. "Kind of crazy now that you mention it."
"I also caught an Arcanine." Gary said proudly.
"Okay, Arcanine definitely doesn't count." Gaz protested.
"Listen to his Pokédex entry." Gary countered.
"I know what it says." Gaz said dismissively causing Gary to laugh.
Just then Anabel returned with Jessie, James and Meowth twirling in the air above her once again.
"Can you set them down over there please?" Anabel asked her Alakazam who complied.
"Great job Alakazam, return." She praised her Pokémon who smiled before being recalled.
"I really don't appreciate being thrown around like a rag doll." Jessie screamed.
"What do you expect with that hair?" Meowth whispered.
"What was that?" Jessie shook her fist threateningly.
"Meowth for both of our sake please be quiet." James begged.
"I just wanted to give my Pokémon a break from watching you so I thought it should be our turn." Anabel explained.
"Good idea." Leaf praised. "Also, now might be a good time for Gary to expand on that plan he mentioned last night."
"Well, that will actually have to be a group effort." Gary started. "It's more of an idea than a formed plan."
"Well, it's all we've got," Misty reassured. "So, let's go with it for now."
"You know we have no desire to help you." Jessie huffed.
"Again." James added.
"And here I thought you were done being cowards." Iris rolled her eyes.
"Of course, we weren't." Meowth seemed offended by the motion for some reason.
"Well, he's a Meowth," Max started. "So, you know that means he's a pu-"
"MAX!" May shouted appalled.
"I didn't even say it." Max said frightfully as his sister was berating him.
"Back to what's at hand," Brock interrupted. "Team Rocket already knows you betrayed them so what do you have to lose?"
"Our lives?" James suggested.
"You risked them back in the forest." Serena pointed out.
"Yeah, but this is different." Jessie protested. "This is going into a building full of people who will be out to kill us."
"Maybe they're right," Dawn suggested. "Isn't it wrong to ask people to risk their lives for ours?"
"It's not just our lives though." Max pointed. "The whole world could be at stake here."
"Why should it be our responsibility?" James asked.
The group went quiet in thought following this, especially Gaz who looked especially thoughtful.
Ash took responsibility and stepped forward.
"We appreciate everything that you three have done for us. Not just last night, whether you want to admit it or not you've helped us in the past too."
"Your point being?" Jessie asked.
"Despite how much you guys want to pretend that you are bad people, you and I both know that you're not." Ash said emphatically. "All those years ago when I was travelling through Johto you were willing to sacrifice your life to help us."
"We just need your help to get in." Gary pleaded. "After that we can take care of things ourselves and you can leave."
Jessie, James and Meowth considered their words carefully.
"We need to talk things over." Meowth told them. The former Team Rocket formed a tight huddle and were furiously whispering to each other. After a couple of minutes, they broke the huddle and Jessie cleared her throat.
"Okay, after talking it over we have decided to help you, but only on one condition." She spoke.
"What is it?" Serena asked cautiously.
"If we help you, we get Pikachu in return." James said triumphantly.
"Absolutely not." Ash shot him down.
"We expected that, so we have a backup option," Meowth continued unfazed. "We will help you in exchange for an assortment of valuable jewels."
"What?" May exclaimed. "We don't have any valuable jewels. How would we even arrange that?"
"What about that thing you found in the river a while back? Surely that's valuable." James posed.
"That's a Mega Stone for Blaziken, you're not having it you won't even be able to use it." She huffed.
"Well then what do we get in exchange?" Jessie asked in frustration.
"Gratification?" Serena suggested, which was followed by laughs from the trio.
"What if I cooked you guys up a 5 Star gourmet meal." Brock offered.
The three stopped laughing and considered the offer.
"We have always wanted to try his cooking." James said to the other two.
"Is it worth our possible lives though?" Meowth asked.
"Of course, it is, it's 5-star gourmet." Jessie insisted. "We've dreamed about it for years."
"You're right." Meowth replied, his mouth watering at the thought of the meal. "All right, we'll do it, but this better be the best meal we ever tasted."
"Oh, it will be." Brock promised. "Anabel, is it okay if I use the kitchen here to prepare it later."
"That's no problem." Anabel answered. "Just to warn you though the chef can be pretty territorial."
"Don't worry, I've dealt with a Mr. Mime trying to rule a kitchen so this should be no problem." Brock said confidently, receiving a couple of confused looks in return.
"Right, so now that's sorted what's your plan Gary?" Iris asked.
"Okay, this is slightly crazy but hear me out here," Gary began to explain. "I think we shou-"
"Heatran!" Gaz shouted suddenly. "I knew there was one we were forgetting! I bet you haven't seen Heatran."
"That's what you were thinking about all this time?" Dawn screamed.
"Yeah, it was annoying me for ages." Gaz explained.
"We saw it." Dawn informed him.
"Son of a bitch." Gaz cursed.
"Back to the discussion at hand." Gary recovered. "This idea is reliant on a few things."
"Like what?" Cameron asked.
"Well first of all, do you three have the standard Team Rocket uniform? The black one?" Gary asked James.
"Yes, we always carried a set just in case we had to report to our superiors." He explained. "Some of them could be quite strict about it."
"Okay that's perfect." Gary stated. "Since you guys are technically fugitives to your organisation, I think I know a way in."
"How?" Serena asked him.
"I'm thinking two of us wear the black uniforms Jessie, James and Meowth pretend being on our side was a trick to get us to trust them and they're going turn some of the rest of us in." Gary suggested.
"So, you're using us as bait?" Jessie asked offended.
"Let me finish." Gary continued. "Once you get us in you can run away if want. as for my idea we act as if we are turning you in and get past the first security layer. Now, is there a way in that's light on guards?"
"There's two." James answered. "There's one underground passage that's barely ever used, I don't even think that many Team Rocket members know about it."
"How do you know about it then?" Asked May.
"We were about to get yelled at one day, so we found it looking for places to hide." James admitted sheepishly.
"Where's the other one?" Brock questioned.
"It's to the east." Meowth stated. "At the bottom of the hill where the building is. It's like a storage area. It's not really used for anything anymore so there's only ever one or two guards there."
"Okay, two entry points. 3 if you count the fake uniform trick." Max summarised.
"I think we should split up the group between the tunnel and the warehouse, so we have good numbers at each station." Brock suggested.
"Agreed." Gary nodded. "Here's what I'm thinking we do."
Gary laid out his plan to his friends and after a few suggestions and tweaks from the rest of the group they felt they had a decent plan to work with.
"If we get lucky this might actually work." Misty nodded. "Great work Gary."
"I still think my idea was better." Ash argued.
"For the last time Ash, just running in and kicking ass isn't a good enough plan." Max sighed.
"Nah I'm with Ash on this one." Cameron piped up.
"Of course, you are." Iris shook her head.
"If you think about it Ash, Gary's plan is just a more intricate version of yours." May consoled, giving Ash a sneaky hand squeeze.
Ash smiled and squeezed back.
"This is going to be dangerous." Lucy said calmly bringing everyone back to reality. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Lucy's right." Brock agreed, going from drooling over the Frontier Brain to serious almost instantly. "I don't want to sound too ominous here, but we might need to get our affairs in order before we proceed."
"Well for someone who didn't want to make things ominous you sure failed." Dawn shouted.
"When should we do it?" Gaz asked.
"We should give ourselves and our Pokémon the day to recover, so I'm thinking tomorrow evening." Gary suggested.
"Security isn't as tight late in the day," Jessie explained. "A lot of our operatives are only sent out once it starts getting dark in an attempt not to be seen."
"Good, so that would be our optimal time." Max pushed his glasses further up his nose.
"Relax Looker, you're trying too hard." Gary laughed.
The group heard the distant ringing of a phone from afar. Anabel got up to answer it as the rest of the troupe began to contemplate what was ahead of them.
The different tasks and the fear of them going wrong bounced around their head in a sequence just like the tone of the ringing phone that echoed in their ears.
"So, is everyone sure they want to do this?" Ash asked. "I don't want to put any of you in danger and I don't think you should all risk it."
"Would you shut up." Iris shouted, clipping the back of his head with a smile. "You know we can't trust you to do this alone you idiot."
Despite the obvious insults Ash smiled back as Iris nudged him a couple more times.
"We agreed no one is tackling this alone Ash." May reminded him. Forgetting her surroundings, she grabbed his hand. "We are all with you."
"Some more than others, eh?" Leaf joked, causing both Ash and May to blush.
"Alright, it's agreed. Let's go and kick Team Rocket butt and free those Pokémon!" Ash threw his arm forward and May immediately followed placing her hand on top of his.
She was then followed by Cameron, Serena, Dawn, Misty, Max, Gaz, Brock, Lucy and Leaf.
"Such little kids." Iris sighed as she joined in.
"What's wrong Oak? You too cool?" Gaz asked mockingly.
"Shut up." Gary snapped as he reluctantly joined in.
"Well, I guess we'll be hitting the old dusty trail." James said longingly.
"Fine, join in." Max rolled his eyes as James excitedly put his hand in followed by a less excited Jessie and Meowth, who had to sit on James' shoulder to be involved.
"Let's go operation..." Ash stalled.
"We don't need a name." Iris insisted.
"Yes, we do." Cameron shouted excitedly. "If not an operation name, then at least a team name."
"Any ideas?" Dawn asked.
Just as she asked a yellow, webbed paw was added to the pile. The group looked to see a Psyduck standing there looking confused.
"When did you get out?" Misty screamed.
"Psy Duck" He replied, his paw still in the pile.
"How about the Ducks?" Gaz asked.
"The Ducks?" Max asked. "No way, we need to think of some-"
"The Ducks it is." Ash shouted, as he threw his hand up forcing all the hands above to rise.
"I guess it's official now." Serena laughed.
"Hey Ash," The group turned to see Anabel was back. "The phone call was for you, it's your mother."
