Celadon City Hospital
Ash's senses returned to him slowly. Unlike the last time he woke from unconsciousness, he could feel a comfortable mattress below his body and a nice pillow supporting his head. There were also two distinct lumps on his chest. Opening his eyes, his blurry vision revealed LED lighting and the familiar forms of two familiar pals.
"Pikachu... Eevee..." weakly muttered the boy.
"Pika!"
"Vee!"
The Pokemon exclaimed, nuzzling their trainer.
"It's good to see you guys," smiled the boy, pulling them closer.
"Ashy!" A high pitched voice called from the doorway.
Ash slowly moved his head and there stood... his mother?
"Mom? What are you doing here? How did you get here?" questioned the bewildered boy.
Ash was interuppted from his constant questioning, by a crushing hug, squeezing him and his Pokemon.
"Oh my baby!" wailed the woman.
"Can't breath..." Ash barely got out. Delia quickly releases her son and his Pokemon, to their immense relief.
"Sorry dear. How are you feeling?"
"I'm a little sore, but other than that pretty good. Seriously though, how did you get here? I've only been out for a few hours right?" Ash probed.
"Ash," Delia started gently. "You've been unconscious for two days."
"TWO DAYS?" exclaimed the boy.
"Yes son, two days," nodded his mother.
Ash just stared at this, unable to form a response. The silence was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Excuse me, but I thought I heard some screaming in here," said a Doctor peeking into the room. He wore a blue shirt with a red tie, had the standard white coat on, and a stethoscope wrapped around his neck.
"Ah, it looks like I was right," continued the man with a dazzling smile. "Good to see you are doing well young man, and this must be your young and attractive sister," the Doctor added with a wink at Delia.
"Oh my," Delia responded with a blush.
Ash scowled at the display. "Yeah I'm fine, but just who are you anyway?"
"I'm Doctor Proctor and I've been monitoring your progress these past few days. Anyway, how would you like to go on a date with me Miss? I'm thinking Pizza for two at this nice local joint," suggested the womanizing man.
"Well I..." started Delia.
"MOM! And you Doctor, I have a Pikachu here that would love to try out his new Thunderbolt Attack!" yelled the peeved boy.
This sobered up the doctor at once, who quickly walked up to Ash and began to check his vitals.
"Everything seems to be in order. I think you can probably be discharged this evening, but be sure to rest tonight with no strenuous activity!" ordered Doctor Proctor with a stern look.
Ash nodded, relieved that he wouldn't have to spend another day in the hospital at least.
"Now about that date," the Doctor sly added turning back to Ash's mom.
"Pikachu, use—"
"I think it would be wise that we take a hard pass!" quickly finished the man before leaving.
"Now that wasn't very nice Ashy," scolded Ash's mom with a small smile on her face, showing the fact that she could really care less.
"He was so weird flirting with you like that. It was like Brock, but on a whole another level," shuddered the boy.
"Just you wait a few years and you may start acting the same way," winked Delia. "In fact, one of your friends is a cute red head. Maybe she and I should have a quick chat?"
"MOM!" the embarrassed boy protested.
Delia simply laughed at her son's red face. "You know I just like to tease you Ash."
"Yeah, I know," the boy agreed with a small smile on his own face now. He quickly grew serious though, thinking back to an earlier question.
"So, you said it's been two days. Still, that seems pretty fast for you to have gotten here," Ash commented.
Delia nodded at this. "I received a phone call two days ago from Champion Lance, who informed me that you were in the hospital. After that, I headed straight over to Professor Oak's lab and he let me use his Dragonite, which got me here in a few hours, though the ride was bumpy and uncomfortable. Professor Oak says hello by the way. All of that said, never underestimate what a mother will do for her son that she loves," finished his mom with a smile.
Ash processed her words for a moment, before asking his next question. "Where is Lance anyway?"
"He told me he had to head back to the Indigo Plateau, but said he would contact you later," responded Delia, before getting serious herself.
"Now Ash, I think we have played around enough. When I got that phone call from the Champion and found out you were in the hospital, I put two and two together pretty quick. You haven't been entirely honest with me about your journey have you?" asked his mom with narrowed eyes.
Ash looked his mom in the eyes, but unlike the last time he talked to her over the phone, the guilt shined through on his face. "Yeah... I guess we need to talk about a few things," he said with a sigh.
"The truth is, i've run into a group of criminals, largely by accident, a few times called Team Rocket."
Delia gasped, recognizing the name immediately, but she motioned for her son to continue.
"I first met some Rocket flunkies in Mt. Moon. Brock and I handled them easily enough. Then Brock, Misty, and I encountered them on the S.S. Anne. I kinda ruined their plan, which may have angered them a bit. They sent this other kid after me in Lavender Town, though I didn't know they were behind it at the time. Anyway, he wasn't much of a problem. Never has been to be honest. Two days ago though, they kidnapped me and brought me to some sort of secret base. They tried to get their revenge. If it wasn't for Lance, they would have succeeded," admitted the boy, looking down and unable to maintain eye contact.
Delia was silent as she went through a few different emotions. Anger. Terror. Concern. Then she spoke.
"Ash, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in you right now. From what you have told me, there wasn't much you could do to avoid Team Rocket, but you still kept it from me. How can I trust you to tell me anything in the future? How can I know that you will be safe?" asked his mother in a mix of concern and anger.
"Mom I Pro—" started Ash.
"Let me finish!" interrupted his irate mother. "This is not the first time i've heard of Team Rocket you know. 11 years ago your father brought the group to my attention."
Ash looked up, his mother having caught his full attention.
"He said that they were up to no good and he had to stop them. That was the last thing he said to me before he disappeared Ash. I never saw him again," Delia softly spoke with tears running down her eyes.
Ash's eye began to water as well and his lips trembled. "M-Mom... About dad..."
"I know son. Lance told me everything," Delia said, preventing her son from having to say the words.
Ash finally broke down and wrapped his mom in a hug, sobbing hard on her shoulder. "I-it's not fair."
Delia held him close, stroking his hair, while his Pokemon looked on in sadness. "I know baby. I know. Don't worry, i'll always be here for you Ashy."
Indigo Plateau Conference Room (Two Days Ago)
It was getting late in the evening and four powerful trainers waited in a large conference room with a long table, comfortable chairs, refreshments, and windows overlooking the entirety of the Indigo Plateau. Some of them were starting to get annoyed at the one making them wait.
"I thought you said this was urgent Agatha? It can't be all that important if our Champion opted to keep us waiting all this time," said a tall red-head with glasses.
"I must agree with Lorelei. My Psychic Pokemon and I were having a very productive training session before you called," added a strangely dressed man with a face mask.
"If Agatha said the Champion needs us, then that is enough for me," shrugged a humongous man, sipping what looked to be tea.
"Than you for not whinging Bruno. As for you whippersnappers, I am just as annoyed. You don't have to whine like children though. Will, I suppose you can get away with it since you are still new, but I thought better of you my dear," Agatha commented towards Lorelei.
An exhausted Champion bursting through the door silenced any other conversation around the topic. The man had circles around his eyes that told the story of a long and daunting day. Nobody bothered to speak as the Champion grabbed himself a glass of water, downed it on the spot, and collapsed into a seat at the head of the table, though eyebrows were certainly raised and looks traded.
"Sorry for keeping you all waiting, but i've had a bit of a trying day," began Lance.
"We can see that Champion. Why don't you skip the dramatics and get to why we are actually here?" pressed Agatha, who was blunt as always.
Lance gave a small smile at the familiar response but quickly lost it, before going into the days events. "Earlier today, I received a distress call from a trainer I had previously had contact with. The trainer in question is one Ash Red Ketchum, and the son of my predecessor."
This caught everyone's attention at once, just as Lance had intended.
"I had previously run into Ash after the incident aboard the S.S. Anne, which you were briefed on. What was not mentioned in that report though was that Team Rocket would have very likely succeeded in stealing the Pokemon of every trainer aboard that ship, had Ash not intervened. This information was suppressed to give the boy some form of anonymity and to try and avoid retaliation by the Rockets. Nonetheless, I gave the boy a way of contacting me just in case," explained Lance.
"Today, in Celadon City, Team Rocket struck back and kidnapped the boy. Somehow he managed to activate his distress signal during the struggle, which led me to the Celadon City Game Corner. As we have long suspected, it was a major Team Rocket base. From here we have good and bad news. The good news is that Dragonite and I managed to save Ash, the Celadon City Police raided and dismantled the base, and we managed to arrest several Rockets," Lance said.
"And the bad news?" asked Lorelei.
Lance's face took a darker turn at this. "During the struggle, I managed to see and speak with the elusive Rocket leader, but it was over a screen as he was elsewhere. His identity also remains a mystery and he ended the call quickly, but not before making some vague ominous threat. Worse than that, the two high ranking Rockets actually present, Archer and an agent he called 009, escaped. Furthermore, every Rocket we arrested refused to speak. Some even laughed in my face, claiming they would be back on the streets in no time," scowled the Champion.
"That is all grave news Champion, but I think something else gave you that downtrodden look in your eyes," wisely observed Bruno with sharp eyes.
The Champion give a sad sigh and he nodded. "You're right. There is still one more piece of news I have yet to share that is far worse than anything else. During my rescue of Ash, I overheard the Rocket Boss speaking to him. He confirmed what none of us knew for certain, but many of us feared. 11 years ago he used his Nidoking to murder my predecessor on a beach in an unknown location."
The bombshell revelation almost caused an uproar in the room, but Agatha slammed her cane to the ground, restoring order, before speaking. "What will be our response Champion?"
"Tomorrow morning, I will be declaring Team Rocket a national security threat to the people of Kanto. This will mean many things, but I will give you the high points. League agents will be sent out into Kanto, blending into the background to pick up on details. Anyone caught wearing a Rocket uniform or conspiring with Team Rocket will be arrested immediately, with no chance of release. We will also be offering monetary awards that lead to the arrests of Rockets, with higher amounts for the Executive or other special members. The Elite 4 will be in charge of coordinating the response in our eight major cities. The minor cities with small Gyms, or no Gyms, are not likely to be targets of interest, but we will warn the local authorities just in case. That being said, you will each work with the Gym Leaders and the police force in your assigned cities. I want you on scene as soon as possible if we get even a wind of Rocket activity in one of those locations!" ordered Lance.
"What will you be doing Mr. Champion?" asked Will with curiosity.
"Officially, I will be supervising your efforts. Unofficially, I will be going undercover to infiltrate Team Rocket. You may disseminate the knowledge of our special agents and your presence in the major cities to the Gym Leaders and Police higher ups. Make sure to stress that they do not spread that information around though," stressed Lance.
"However, the last piece of information, regarding my going undercover, must not leave this room! You are not to inform the police or the Gym Leaders. We don't know who the Rocket Boss is or the extent of their reach. Am I understood?" asked Lance with steel.
"Yes Champion!" each member replied in turn.
"Good. This meeting is officially adjourned. Get some sleep my friends. Tomorrow, our war with Team Rocket begins," Lance concluded grimly.
Walking away from the meeting, the Champion reflected on his hidden objective in disseminating information. If Team Rocket seems to scale back their activity after the Elite 4 talks to the Gym Leaders and high ranking police officials, it will confirm my theory. The Rocket Boss has a high-ranking public official in his pocket, or HE is the official, thought Lance.
Celadon City Hospital (Present)
Delia held her son for what felt like hours, offering him comfort as he let all of his emotions out. There was still one final conversation to be had though, and after Ash started to reign it in, she pulled back.
"Ash, I know this is going to be hard to hear, but I want you to listen before you say anything. Can you promised me that?" Delia asked, looking at her intently.
Ash's face, still red from his emotional catharsis, showed a mixture of worry and confusion, but the boy nodded.
"I want you to consider giving up on your journey here in Kanto—"
"BUT MOM!" interrupted Ash.
"You promised to listen Ash," warned his mother sternly. The boy was suitably rebuked, and nodded with a frown.
"I'm not saying you have to give up on your dream to be a Pokemon Master. I'm just asking you take that dream somewhere else. You could go to Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, or wherever, but please just far away from here! I already lost your father to Team Rocket Ash. Please don't make me lose my son," Delia said with a sad expression.
Ash moved to comment again, but Delia cut him off. "I don't want you to answer me today Ash. Think on it, and you can tell me tomorrow. No matter what your answer may be, know that I will always love you," his mom finished, giving Ash a kiss on his forehead, before moving to the door.
"In the meantime, I believe we have kept your friends waiting long enough," smiled Delia, who walked out to grab said friends, leaving Ash alone to ponder her words. He didn't have too long, because almost immediately after his mom left, Brock and Misty entered the door.
"Hey Ash!" Misty cheerfully greeted, walking to his bedside.
"Good to see you awake man!" Brock added next to the girl.
Forgetting what his mom had said for now, Ash gave his friends a grin. "Thanks for coming to visit guys. I really appreciate it."
"Oh! I almost forgot, but we got the rest of your Pokemon from Nurse Joy," Brock said, handing over Ash's Pokeballs, which the boy promptly strapped to his belt.
"Great to have them back by my side!" Ash replied, his mood noticeably brightening.
"So, did the Doctor visit yet and let you know when you can get out of here?" asked Misty.
Ash nodded. "Yeah. I should be able to head back to the Pokemon Center tonight."
The boy looked at his friends closely, seeing their smiles, but they seemed forced. He had a good guess why that was too. Ash sighed and addressed the elephant in the room. "Guys, what do you know about what happened two days ago?"
Misty tried to brush it off, but Ash just gave her a "stop messing around" look, and she stopped, before Ash looked to Brock.
"We saw Lance's Dragonite carrying you out of the Celadon City Game Corner. Eevee and Pikachu seemed to know you were there somehow, and actually led us on quite the wild goose chase before that," chuckled Brock.
"Anyway, after that Lance took you to the hospital and invited us to come with him. He told us you had been kidnapped by Team Rocket and that he had intervened, but that is about it," finished Brock.
"I see," Ash replied evenly. "There's more to it than that, but I don't think i'm ready to talk about it yet," admitted Ash.
Brock put a hand on his shoulder and Misty put her own on his other. "You don't have to explain Ash, we'll always be here for you no matter what," smiled Brock.
"For sure!" Misty agreed with a wink.
Ash may have had a rough time these past few days, but he felt far luckier than most to have such good friends.
Celadon City Pokemon Center
A few hours later, Ash had been discharged and headed back to the local Pokemon Center with his mom and his friends. They enjoyed a nice dinner together, before Ash opted to head to his room for rest, but more importantly, some quality thinking time. Laying down in bed, the boy processed the day's events, particularly the request his mother had made. The boy thought long and hard, falling asleep at some point without making a decision.
As always, Ash woke slightly before the sun made an appearance. Pikachu and Eevee laid by his side, and his other Pokemon rested in their Pokeballs. All that said, he went back to the issue plaguing his mind.
Should I do it? I could just give up on Kanto and compete somewhere else, but that would feel like giving up and letting Team Rocket win! Then again, maybe it's selfish of me to want to stay? Is it right to make mom and everybody else worry? Man, this is hard. I'm not sure I can choose. Although, this isn't just my decision to make. Many others have put in a lot of work to get us this far. I think it's time I let them have their say, thought Ash.
Ash woke up Pikachu and Eevee and took them outside to the gardens behind the Pokemon Center. They boy then released his other friends from their capsules. Charmeleon, Ivysaur, Pidgeotto, Clefairy, and Tyrogue appeared. "Hey guys, it's good to see you all," smiled the boy.
His Pokemon were a bit confused, having not been released for a couple of days, but Ash brought them up to speed in no time at all, inspiring shock, tears, hugs, and other reactions along the way. Then he got to the heart of the matter.
"Yesterday, my mom asked me to consider giving up on our journey here in Kanto, and to travel somewhere else without Team Rocket. I've thought long and hard about it, but I realized it's not just my decision to make. You guys have worked just as hard as me, if not harder, to get us where we are at. What do you want us to do?" Ash asked with sincerity.
The Pokemon looked at each other, thinking long and hard. At some point they even huddled together, conversing in their unique language. Eventually, Chameleon was sent over as an emissary of sorts. Ash knelt down to greet his starter, and to his shock, the Pokemon slapped him across the face!
"Char! Char! Charmeleon!" scolded the Fire Pokemon, with approving nods from his other Pokemon.
Ash's shock wore off and he laughed. The boy laughed so hard that tears started coming down his eyes again. Eventually, he got ahold of himself and looked at his team with a big smile.
"I needed that didn't I? You guys are right. We cannot and will not give up on our dreams here in Kanto! We will train longer and harder! We will not let Team Rocket win! WE WILL BE THE VERY BEST!" Ash yelled with passion.
"Clefairy!"
"Pika!"
"Vee!"
"Pidgeo!"
"Charmeleon!"
"Saur!"
"Rouge!"
"Bring it in guys," Ash gestured to his Pokemon. They all came together and the boy brought them into a big group hug. "I love you all... so much."
No sooner than right after the words escaped Ash's mouth, one of his Pokemon began to glow, just as the sun's rays hit the garden.
END CHAPTER
Lots of emotion packed into this chapter, but we got there. Ash lays out some truth of his own to his mom, Lance and the Elite 4 prepare to take action, and Ash is given a tough choice that he and his Pokemon make together. Not to mention, the little surprise at the end. I'll be honest, I had intended for that surprise to occur later in a chapter covering a pertinent anime episode. That said, it flowed naturally and felt right here, even if it may seem way too early. I'll just say that if you read the evolution requirement, it makes sense.
Next Time - We reveal which of Ash's Pokemon evolved and what it evolved into. Another surprise comes along with that first reveal. Ash also tells his mom his decision. Finally, we get back to actual battling with a Gym Battle!
Mazzax Manacry - Thanks for the review! Yeah Ash should really remember to call his mother. Once you get to this chapter, I think you will find that he is now motivated to do so.
DragonEmperor999 - Thanks for the review! We'll see ;)
Guest44 - Thanks for the review! Clefairy has already learned one of those moves as of a few chapters ago. Keep reading.
Reader - Thanks for the several reviews! I appreciate the consistent feedback. Please keep it coming.
IcWinterSoldier - Thanks for the review! As I said in my PM, I am trying to keep chapters above 3K words now. That said, for this story, I prefer releasing chapters as often as possible, as opposed to making very long chapters. I may consider a different approach in a future story.
KingFlame18 - Thanks for the review! Was that an F for Red lol?
Remember to review with your thoughts/critique :)
Smell ya later!
