With Ash's awkward birthday over, with him finding out of a few things about his friend Jamie if i might remind you. But as he returns to figuring out his mission at hand, he finally begins to get answers, reuniting with an old friend in the process. *I DO NOT OWN STEVEN UNIVERSE OR POKEMON*
The sun was setting near Beach City as Ash and Brock I approached Beach City Fries so they could all walk home with James, there they saw "Bloodstone" taking out the trash.
"Uh, hey "Bloodstone" Brock addressed him not knowing what else to say.
"It's just Ronaldo now Brock." he said in a defeated tone as he came his a handed Ash a brown paper bag "this is the gift i said i owe you Ash. Happy late birthday"
Ash accepted the stapled shut paper bag "not Bloodstone anymore eh? What happened?"
"I took some time to think, i was being a complete jerk to Steven, and you and everyone. I realize now that I can't be a Crystal Gem if i can't uphold their ways of acceptance and care. I am so sorry for being a complete jerk to you and Lapis"
"It's uh, it's alright Ronaldo" he answered him as they all began to make their way home
Once they were home, the group all sat together watching Camp Pinning Hearts as Ash opened Ronaldo's gift, a pamphlet titled "What We Can Do to Help the Crystal Gems" with a poorly photoshopped picture of himself shaking hands with Pearl, after which Ash crinkled it up into a ball and throwing it over towards Lapis and Peridot's toilet sculpture.
"You were right about Ronaldo by the way" he told Lapis as she snuggled her head on his shoulder "he did only make it till the end of the week as a Crystal Gem"
"I told you" she smugly said giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
As he set his morning alarm on his new phone Greg got him, he suddenly received a text from Jamie.
"You were right" was all it read. Followed by another text that said "about Serena"
Ash picked up the phone and texted him back "you gonna do something about it?"
There was a short pause before he received another text that read "no I'm too scared"
Ash was invested in setting up his friends but he was tired and wanted to sleep, so he replied "I'll put in a good word for you tomorrow, I'll see you then" he said before placing the phone down and closing his eyes, holding Lapis in his arms.
Ash suddenly found himself waking up in a lobby surrounded by fish tanks "what the?" He asked as he began to recognize the surrounding aquariums to be filled with water type Pokémon. He also saw he wasn't alone.
"Pika?" His Pokémon asked
"Pikachu what happened?" He asked
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" He heard a familiar female voice scream from the next room before the electric rodent could reply.
Ash and Pikachu quickly sprung into action and entered the room to see an enormous pool of water with two large platforms on opposing sides. Ash recognized this new location as the Cerulean City Gym.
The cry he heard came from his first traveling companion, the gym leader of the gym, his first close friend Misty. He saw the red haired girl being held down by none other than Lapis Lazuli with a giant water hand from the pool.
"Lapis what are you doing?!" He shouted
Lapis tuned with a confused look at him, but he quickly saw that this wasn't the Lapis he loved. This was a completely different Lapis as her gem was located on her left shoulder. Before he could react, he found himself pinned to the floor by a similar water hand.
"Don't get any ideas handsome" he heard as a second Lapis emerged from the shadows, standing over him with a seductive smile on her face. Ash saw this Lapis had her gem on her chest. Two more Lapis Lazulis emerged from the water and joined the sexy Lapis standing over him
"You know I once had an awesome dream that went just like this" he remarked causing the flirtatious Lapis to blush.
A Lapis with her gem where her eye should be took out a metal object "this is Lapis Lazuli cut 6XY, we have arrived at the destination but our position has been compromised"
The transmitter began to glow, as the hologram of a Peridot appeared before them "your orders were to gather intelligence and to not be seen by any humans or Pokémon, destroy anyone who saw you and return to Homeworld for further instructions" she barked before she cut the transmission.
"Aw do we have to? This one's REALLY cute" the chest Lapis protested for Ash
"You heard our orders" the eyeball Lapis sternly told her as she began to squeeze the hand around both Ash and Misty, choking them.
"Pikachu" he was barely able to choke out "thunderbolt!"
"pika-CHU!" The electric type exclaimed as he shocked the Lazulis causing them all to poof into their Gems and the water hands to release the two trainers
"Are you ok Misty?" He asked helping her up
"I think so, Ash who were those blue girls?"
"Lapis Lazulis. They're part of the alien race I'm fighting in the universe I'm living in now"
"Oh like that girlfriend you told me about? But what were they doing here? More importantly what are you doing here? Doesn't Arceus want you back there fighting a race of oppressive rock lesbians?"
"I don't know, one second I'm going to bed with Lapis"
Misty gave him an evil smile, similar to the flirtatious Lapis did when she heard this
"Not in that way!" he sternly said "anyway, the next thing i know I'm waking up in the lobby of your gym"
"Well what are we gonna do about them?" she asked pointing to the poofed Lapis gemstones on the floor.
"They're gonna return to their natural forms soon, and when they do we we've got to make sure there's no water at all near them" he explained picking up two of the four stones
"We can take them to the fields near Cerulean City" she suggested before she noticed Ash's blade attached to his belt "is that a sword?"
"Yea, my friend Pearl has been giving me lessons, but that's besides the point, do you have any sparkling nail polish?"
Misty looked at him extremely confused "uh, no. But my sister Violet does. Why?"
"Go get it, we're gonna need it to get information out of them" he explained.
Misty retrieved the sparkling, clear colored nail polish and the two friends made their way to the forest surrounding the city.
"So how are things?" Misty asked breaking the silence as they walked "how are things going with your girl?"
"Uh, things are great lately. And things are getting pretty serious between me and Lapis. Can I ask you something?"
"Ask away" she said with a smile
"Do you think i can do all of this? Save two worlds at once when i don't even know what exactly I'm supposed to be fighting?" he somberly asked
Misty thought her answer over for a minute before placing her hand supportively on her old friend's shoulder I don't know just how bad this alien world is, but I saw you single handedly take out four of them at once. How dare you question yourself Ash Ketchum!?" she said shaking him with an upset look on her face "When I traveled with you all those years ago, I saw things, incredible things that i never dreamed of. You did things, we did things I never would've believed we could. Ash Ketchum, I have the utmost faith in you, and you should in yourself"
"Thanks Misty"
Once they reached a clearing in the woods, Ash placed the Gems he was carrying and placed them in a pile. He then took out his blade and began to carefully rub the clear, sparkling nail polish onto it until the weapon sparkled in the moonlight.
"So what exactly is the plan?" she asked
"We're gonna wait until they reform, and then we're gonna get answers" he said patiently waiting for the Lazulis to reform
"How does that work?"
"Well, they're in a form of hibernation, when a gem gets injured they retreat into their gem and heal, they should reform any second now. And when they do, just play along" he explained as he summoned Glalie. As soon as the ice type was released, the four gems floated into the air and illuminated back into their physical forms.
"Glalie, freeze them!" he commanded as Glalie used ice beam to freeze the four gems into a solid clump of ice. Drawing his blade, Ash approached the Lapis whose gem was where her eye should've been, as he assumed she was the leader.
"Why are you here?" he asked holding the weapon up to her gem. As he got no answer, he knew he had to be more intimidating. "This is a diamond blade, the strongest gem in the world, can break anything it contacts, even Lapis Lazuli" he sternly said hoping his bluff would work
The single-eyed Lapis looked at his weapon for a brief moment "that's not diamond" she coldly said, but Ash could hear the worry and doubt in her voice, he knew she believed him, she was just playing hard to get. But he also knew from personal experience just how stubborn Lapis can be, so he decided to try another, far more drastic approach, as he approached the Lapis that flirted with him earlier
"Why are you here?" he asked the other Lapis with a more friendly tone "you thought I was handsome right? Well, I think you're pretty cute to" he said causing her to blush
"You think so?" she asked
"Yeah" he said softly leaning in close to her, now inches away from her lips, he honestly couldn't believe her naiveté. "You are beautiful"
"Prove it" she said
Ash knew what he had to do. He leaned in and kissed the Lapis right on her lips, much to Misty, Pikachu and the other Lapis's shock.
"So, why are you and your friend's here?" he asked once he pulled away from the Lapis's lips
"Don't tell him anything!" the Lapis whose gem was on her shoulder shouted "if you tell them anything you'll be shattered"
The Lapis he just kissed looked scared and silenced herself, but Ash had one last idea to get the information out of her. He approached the shoulder Lapis and held his "diamond sword" to her gem intimidatingly.
"I'll ask one more time, why are you all here?"
The leader Lapis finally gave in "we're here to gather intelligence on different cities. Our human intelligence told us that the "Cerulean City" is a water based city, so under Yellow Diamond's orders, we were sent to gather as much intelligence as possible."
"How did you get here?" he asked
"The Clemont's transporter brought us"
The mention of his captured friend's name immediately sobered him. "So that's what the Diamonds are making him build" he thought to himself before he realized something didn't add up "Misty follow me, Pikachu watch them" he stated leading his friend to the woods until they were out of earshot of the frozen Lazulis.
"what does she mean by "The Clemont?" She asked
"He's one of my more recent traveling companions. After Arceus snatched me up, he used his vast intellect to bring himself and his younger sister Bonnie to rescue me, but they were captured by Homeworld. We've rescued his sister, but currently he's still on Homeworld" he explained "but that's not what's bothering me about what that Lapis told us"
"Then what is wrong?"
"Clemont didn't tell them that"
"Ash, I know you don't want to believe that your friend would betray you, but keep in mind that he's probably being tortured for information" she began to protest
"But Clemont's never been to Cerulean City, he has no idea that you and the city specialize in water types, he didn't even know it existed until i told him about you. I'm telling you, somebody else told them. Homeworld has a human informant" he concluded as they marched back to the frozen bundle of gems
"Who is your human informant?" he asked the Lapis he had successfully seduced
"I think his name is Giovanni?" she answered him. Ash had never heard of this person before, but he saw Misty's eyes widen with concern.
"You know this Giovanni?" he asked her
"The Giovanni i can think of is the gym leader of Viridian City. But that's impossible, what does he look like?" she asked the group
"He's tall, brown hair, wears orange suits i think"
"That's him alright" Misty confirmed the Lapis's claim "we'd better get to Viridian to figure this out Ash. What are we gonna do with them?"
Ash summoned Charizard and freed the Lapis group from their icy tomb with a flamethrower attack.
"Here's what you're going to do" he sternly told the leader Lapis "you are all going to go back to your superiors and say that everything went well and you destroyed us like they told you, then you are going to tell them that this world isn't ready to be invaded yet, how and why i don't care that'll be your problem. Got it?"
"What's to stop us from telling the Diamonds everything that happened here and they send reinforcements?" she asked
Ash took a deep breath, and channeled his inner Pearl "you're seriously going to tell the Diamonds that you allowed us to overpower you, when you outnumbered and were surrounded by your greatest weapon on a stealth mission i might add, and gave out classified information to them? Doesn't sound like a good idea Lapis"
The Lapis looked down at her feet rethinking her decision before removing a device from her gem and opened a small portal.
"One more thing, why just the four of you? If Homeworld has the technology to come to this universe, why not bring a larger group?" he asked as they began to make their way home.
"Because the Clemont's machine isn't ready yet, it can only take up to four gems at a time" the Lapis with her gem on her chest Ash kissed explained as they retreated into the portal.
"We've got to get to Viridian City" Misty exclaimed as they walked back to the gym
"But Viridian is a two days walk" Ash stated
"It's a six hour drive" she said removing a pair of car keys from her pocket
"When did you get a car?"
"Oh it's not mine, it's Daisy's. I just swiped the keys before we left" she said winking at him "Daisy stole me from you by leaving me at the gym, i'm gonna steal her car from her and leave her at the gym. Karma's a bitch Daisy"
As Misty drove the "borrowed" car Ash began to remember the time he received the Earth Badge from Viridian City, but he never battled this Giovanni person.
"As i recall i never battled this Giovanni guy, Jessie and James were made the temporary leaders." Ash recalled
"If he has that kind of influence over Team Rocket, then he must have a position of power from within. He might even be the leader when you think of it" the red haired tomboy concluded.
The duo speed down the highway until they saw the lights of the city where Ash's journey with Steven, Lapis and the Gems officially began. Misty parked in a parking lot two blocks from the Viridian Gym and the two friends began to quietly approach the building. Ash checked his phone to see it was almost midnight. As expected, the front door to the Viridian Gym was locked, but they saw that the lights on the upper levels of the building were still on, meaning there were people there.
Taking charge, Ash went to the side of the building and pulled the ventilation cover off of the wall. Gesturing for Misty and Pikachu to follow him into the shaft. The trio crawled through the duct until they reached an opening to find themselves in a long hallway. Entering the door at the end of the hall, they found themselves in a large, open office building with a large window facing the dim city lights.
To their shock, the door facing the opposite side of the hallway began to open. The teens and Pikachu hid inside the closet of the office as a small group of people stepped inside. Peeking through a crack in the door, they saw a tall man wearing an orange suit with a Persian marching by his side. Behind him, Ash saw the familiar faces of James's former Team Rocket partners Jessie and Meowth walking behind the man, alongside them were two more people wearing black Team Rocket uniforms which Ash also recognized as Cassidy and a green haired man whose name he couldn't remember. But the member of the group that immediately caught his attention was the yellow clad, skinny woman that he recognized as Yellow Diamond's Pearl was the final person to enter, not only confirming that Giovanni was the leader of Team Rocket, but was also collaborating with Homeworld.
"Who's the yellow girl?" Misty whispered to him.
"Quiet" he whispered back to her as he began to listen
"Using your information we have already sent a squadron of Lapis Lazulis to Cerulean City. once they return, we will begin to sent a troop of Jaspers to Pewter City to begin our examination" Yellow Pearl exclaimed in a "matter-of-fact" manner.
"If your Lazulis are as powerful with water as the Diamond's claim them to be, then Cerulean City will likely be the first to fall." he proudly said pouring two glasses of wine from his liquor cabinet, offering the second to Yellow Pearl who accepted the glass but simply handed it to Cassidy disinterested.
"They are some of the most powerful gems in our entire empire" she assured him "and once the Clemont perfects the transporter, then we can transport larger numbers, and the colonization can begin. Of course it will all be managed by Team Rocket"
"Cheers to that" Giovanni proudly said as he raised his glass and took a sip "now i humbly request counsel with Yellow Diamond to discuss prime locations for the Kindergartens, if it is not too much trouble" he politely asked her.
"Of course, if you would follow me" she stated as she motioned the Team Rocket leader to follow her
"Jessie, Cassidy, Billy, finish closing up the gym and feed Persian and the rest of my pokemon" he commanded while stroking the cat pokemon's head one more time before following Yellow Pearl to talk to the Diamonds.
"What do i have to do wear a nametag!" the male Team Rocket member shouted sounding extremely upset
"Aw did the boss hurt your feelings Biff?" Cassidy asked smugly sipping the wine Yellow Pearl gave her
"MY NAME IS BUTCH AND YOU KNOW IT!" he furiously shouted at her as he grabbed a bag of pokemon food and placed it in a bowl for the normal type pokemon to eat
"Look at us" Jessie stated in an empty tone "we're all about to conquer the world for him and he repays us by making us feed his cat, we're basically his housekeepers"
"Look on the bright side Jessie" Cassidy said with pure arrogance "when the invasion does happen, we'll all be living pretty. Well in my case, prettier"
"Ya really think that just because we're under his payroll, he's gonna give us a free ride to the top?" Meowth asked rhetorically
"Shut up kitty cat and get to feeding" Cassidy angrily said as she, Butch and Jessie lead the pokemon through the door Ash and Misty came from.
"Holy crap" Misty said with extreme worry "Ash, do you realize what this means?"
"The Diamonds are ready to take over our world, and Team Rocket's going along for the ride. We've got to get out of here and get me back to the Gem's universe to warn the others." he spoke with extreme concern
As they crept down the hallway, they found the air duct they entered through to have been closed off.
"Going somewhere?" they heard someone ask from behind them. The two turned around to see the Team Rocket members Cassidy and Butch were now standing behind them
"To infect the world with devastation"
"To blight all people in every nation "
"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"
"To spread our wrath to the stars above!"
"Cassidy!"
"And Butch!"
"We're Team Rocket circling the Earth all day and night!"
"Surrender to us now or you will surely lose this fight!"
"You honestly think we're scared of you two, Cassidy and Billy?" Misty asked them
"I'M BUTCH YA LITTLE TWERP! HITMONTOP TEACH THIS GIRL SOME MANNERS!"
"Houndour help him out!" Cassidy shouted summoning her most powerful pokemon
Ash immediately turned to his oldest pokemon, also drawing his blade in case Team Rocket had any other surprises for them
"Politoed i choose you!" Misty declared
"Hitmontop use rapid spin!"
"Houndour use flamethrower!"
"Pikachu thunderbolt on Hitmontop!"
"Politoed water gun on Houndour!"
All four pokemon clashed in their attacks, of course Hitmontop was electrocuted immediately while the flamethrower and water gun canceled each other out.
"Iron tail pikachu!"
"Headbutt Politoed!"
Pikachu slammed his tail right against Hitmontop while Politoed bashed his head against Houndour, sending the two pokemon flying back to their trainers
"Enough of this!" Cassidy declared "Houndour use-" but she was caught off guard by being hit in the back of the head with a blunt object, causing her to fall to the floor unconscious
"What the?" was all Butch could ask before he was struck as well, falling to the floor.
Ash and Misty looked to the person that came to their assistance, to see Jessie of all people standing above her co workers holding a lamp taken from Giovanni's office.
"You said James was with you guys in that world where these rock ladies come from when we last saw each other right twerp?" she asked
"Yes"
"And you're going to stop them?"
"I made a promise. And i promised i will"
Jessie and Meowth looked at each other before nodding at each other.
"Then take this" Meowth said tossing him a small box "it'll get you back to the place you came from, but there's only enough juice for a one way trip. But no matter what, we've got your back twer- i mean, Ash"
Ash just stared shocked at the act of kindness from both the remaining original Team Rocket members "why are you guys doing this?"
"The boss has gone nuts. Believe me, i want power and glory as much as he does, but selling out the planet and the entire human and pokemon race to get it. Billions of lives will be lost, i don't want to kill anyone" Jessie explained "just tell James we love him when you get back"
"You're not coming?"
"You guys will need someone to keep an eye on Team Rocket back here" Meowth protested "we'll keep you updated and we'll try our best to prevent any of the boss's plan's from working"
"What about Cassidy and Bobby?" Misty asked knowing that they are still loyal to Giovanni
"They left the doors open to the boss's pokemon cages, his Machamp attacked them while they were battling you guys" Jessie stated the lie they would tell "now go kid. Blast off"
Ash hugged Jessie and Meowth goodbye and Pikachu approached Meowth and shook his paw in a sign of respect. They ran down the street until they reached the car and drove back to the Cerulean Gym and returned to the place they started their adventure.
"You know the offer i gave you still stands Misty" he said as they entered the gym lobby "the Crystal Gems could really use you and the beach would be perfect for you and your pokemon. We'd just have to move the toilet sculpture so that you'd have a place to sleep. You'd get along great with Lapis, and Amethyst, my other friends, you'd love to see the good person James has become. And with Brock there already, the original trio of us will be back together again." he pleaded.
Misty looked as if she were debating before she appeared to come to a conclusion "Homeworld made things personal when they attacked me at my home, with my family fast asleep upstairs. If you are seriously that desperate for my help, then i'd say that i'm in"
Misty wrote a note for her sisters explaining what she was doing as best she could before Ash pressed the button on Clemont's invention, creating the portal back to the Gem's universe.
"oh by the way, about what happened with that Lapis" Ash began to say
"I get it, your girlfriend doesn't need to know about that" Misty said, and the three of them stepped through the portal.
The group found themselves standing inside an empty white void with nothing around them.
"Where the heck are we?" she asked, before a blast of light flashed in front of them. They looked up to see the one true pokemon and the leader of the Crystal Gems standing before them.
"Arceus, Rose" he spoke in a humbled tone as he and Misty bowed to the creator of their universe
"You bow to no one my friends" the first pokemon spoke as they returned to their feet "now you know why you are needed to stop Team Rocket's alliance with Homeworld"
"If Homeworld succeeds in invading your universe thanks to your friend's technology, it will mean the end of all things" Rose explained "the Diamonds will be able to spread the Homeworld empire to the entire multiverse. World after world will fall and trillions of lives will be lost"
"It is a great burden to carry Chosen one, but it must be done. You and the Crystal Gems will have a great battle ahead of you"
"But why did you allow Clemont to even go to Homeworld?" Misty angrily asked
"I cannot intervene with fate. As it is Ash's destiny to stop Homeworld with the help of the Crystal Gems and his friends. A destiny that I cannot stop from happening"
"I understand Arceus. We will fight to defend both our universes from the Diamond's tyranny. But before we ask for safe passage back, Rose i must ask you, you left a tape for me of all people when you saw destiny unfold, i was told it had answers?"
"Ash, i want both you and Steven to both have answers, and i did leave you a message, but it is located in a secure location that you must find yourself. I'm sorry that i cannot tell you, but as Arceus explained, we cannot intervene with your destiny Ash. I hope for the best with your journey" she explained resting her hand gently on the trainer's shoulder.
Ash nodded in agreement with her, he didn't like the answer, but he knew he couldn't just get the answer that easily. "Alright Arceus, we're ready"
Another light elapsed over them as Arceus and Rose vanished, and just as the light appeared, Ash found himself alone in darkness.
"Ash?" he heard Lapis ask from a distance "Ash are you alright?" He woke up to the sight of Lapis, his Lapis gently shaking him awake with a concerned look on her face.
"How long was i gone?"
"I don't know, i just woke up to a light and there you were. I was so scared" she said embracing him
"What the heck happened?" Peridot asked having seen the light from the light from Ash's return
"I was back on my world, i saw what was happening back home. Brock, Misty was, wait, where is she?"
"Misty's here now?" Brock asked both confused and excited. As soon as he asked, another blast of light came from the cornfield catching everyone's attention
"There she is" Ash said
The five of them all ran outside into the field and split up to find their new arrival, eventually Peridot found the Cerulean Gym leader and she, James and Brock carried her into the barn.
"Hey Misty" Brock welcomed his old friend once she woke up. After he, Peridot and James familiarized with her, and began to move the multiple toilets outside so Misty would have a place to sleep, Lapis approached Ash with a concerned look again.
"Ash, i don't think this is a good idea for her to be here, don't you remember what happened with Serena? I just got on good terms with her, i don't think i can do this whole"love triangle" thing again" she stated. Before Ash could assure her that's not what will happen, Misty answered her for him, having overheard Lapis
"You actually think i'm in love with Ash Ketchum? Well i do love him, but like a brother. Believe me sister he's nowhere near my type. He's all yours" he said slapping her hand on Lapis's back. "You weren't lying when you warned me that you'd have to move a bunch of toilets for me to have a place." she spoke as she admired the now empty space
"We'll get you introduced to Steven and the rest of the gems in the morning Misty, till then, we'll get you some blankets and pillows and let you get comfortable" Brock stated handing her some pillows
"Thanks guys, i think i'm gonna like it here" she said before she saw the gift Ronaldo had given Ash crumpled up in the corner of the barn "what the heck is this?" she asked reading the absolutely ridiculous pamphlet