So January 5th is when Lars of the Stars happens. Anyway, Gary is now in the big picture, but we'll touch up on that later. I will honestly say, I'm really excited to bring Lapis to Sinnoh because it's my favorite in both games and anime series, minus Ash totally getting screwed over by the writers in the championship with that bullshit one shot character who used legendary pokemon. *STEVEN UNIVERSE AND POKEMON ARE NOT OWNED BY ME*
The cry of a flock of wild Wingull hovered over Lapis as the sea air caressed her face. The three brothers stood beside her onboard the small ferry waiting to reach their close destination. Lapis had gone full incognito mode by wearing a pair of Cilan's long pants and had a large sweatshirt on with the hood covering her face to hide her identity. The voyage had lasted all day and it was now nearly twilight, meaning that it would probably be dark by the time they docked. The deck of the boat reminded Lapis of the fateful day Ash and Steven took her on board the yacht, the day she and Ash began their love. It was hard for Lapis to imagine how only three years ago a fourteen year old Ash traveled the same route she was taking to their destination.
"There it is, the Sinnoh region" Cress announced as the horizon of a large landmass appeared before them. "We're halfway to Cynthia everyone".
"We're one step closer to helping stop Homeworld" Lapis soke aloud.
"COMING THROUGH!" a whiny voiced boy exclaimed from behind the group. The four turned around to see a teenage boy around their age running at full speed in their direction, trying to turn to avoid them, but he was running too fast, and ran straight into Lapis, causing them both to fall to the deck from the collision. "Hey! Watch where you're going lady! I'm gonna have to give you a fine! You have ten seconds to pay up!" He then began to countdown the seconds while Lapis looked at him confused.
"This woman happens to be three weeks pregnant" Chili scolded the boy "why don't you show her some respect".
He looked at her embarrassed, "oh geez, sorry about that lady. I guess I'll waive the fine, for now". But as Cress helped Lapis back to her feet, her hood fell off her face, exposing her identity to the boy "GAH! YOU'RE BLUE!"
Cilan and Chili quickly covered his mouth with their hands to silence him. Thankfully they were the only people in sight, but this stranger knew their secret now.
Cress quickly sprung into action and took nearly five hundred pokedollars out from his wallet, handing it to him. "You didn't see anything, understood?"
"Cress don't, that's all our money" Chili tried to protest.
"You want this man to Rattata us out?" Cress asked his brother, he then turned back to their unwelcomed friend, "take the money, walk away, you never saw us. Understand?"
He looked at them very confused, but he eventually took the money. When they thought he was out of earshot, Lapis addressed her escorts.
"Thank you all. Let's get this over with, we get to Cynthia, we get one step closer to getting back to Ash"
"Ash?" they heard the boy ask again. Much to their dismay, he had turned around and walked back to them. "You don't mean Ash Ketchum do you? Because I know that guy personally. I also know Cynthia personally"
The fact this guy had knowledge of both Ash and Cynthia peaked the group's interest. "You know Ash and Cynthia personally?"
"Yes. Well, I know Ash, but I am friends with a friend of Cynthia!" he explained, "As for my relationship to Ash, I'm his greatest rival! I'm the yin to his yang!"
"Oh so you're the famous Garry he told me so much about" Lapis thought aloud.
He looked at her as if she had punched him in the stomach. "WHAT!? NO! I'M BARRY! I'M ASH KETCHUM'S ARCH RIVAL!"
"Well, I'm his girlfriend, and he didn't say much about you to me"
Barry looked to the ground in annoyance and embarrassment, then after he put two and two together he looked back up at her surprised, "wait, if you're pregnant, and he's your boyfriend, is?"
Lapis nodded before he could finish.
"No kidding huh? Well where is the lucky dad? I gotta fine him for not telling me sooner. In fact, I don't think I've seen him since the Lily of the Valley Conference in Sinnoh. How's he been?"
"Excuse us for a moment" Cilan insisted, pushing Lapis and his brothers towards the corner to talk in private. "He already knows about us and Ash. You think we should let him in?"
"I don't trust him" Chili inputted. "We can't risk it".
"On one hand, we only just met him." Cress contradicted his brother, "On the other hand, he's a local to the Sinnoh Region and could know Cynthia's exact location. After all, none of us has any idea where we're going and a guide could prove useful. I believe we should".
"Lapis, what do you think?"
"Ash only told me a little bit about Barry, but what I did hear about him was positive. I think we can trust him".
"Alrighty then. Hey Barry! Welcome to the club!" Cilan announced.
After the boat docked and the five deboarded, they found a twenty four hour donut shop in town and sat down. Only Chili was really eating while the others filled Barry in as quietly as possible in the relatively crowded dining room.
"So it's an alien invasion huh? Oh I'm gonna give this Homeworld the biggest fine I've ever given! And then I'm gonna give Ash a fine for getting his baby moma getting me involved in this mess!" he screamed. Cilan, Cress and Lapis all leaned in and covered Barry's mouth to keep him quiet. Thankfully nobody in the shop seemed to be paying any attention.
"Keep your voice down." Lapis whispered to him. "We have no idea who might be listening in on us".
"Indeed, you can never be too careful" a monotone, male voice came from behind her, causing everyone to jump with surprise. Standing directly behind Lapis close enough to be breathing down her neck. He had a creepy smile on his face with a thick pair of glasses.
"CONWAY! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT DOING THAT!?" Barry scolded the boy.
"Barry, who is this?" Lapis angrily asked him.
"You may call me Conway. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation from my table. Aliens, as a man of science this is quite exciting."
"How long have you been listening to us?"
"As long as you've been here. I am just a curious person. You have nothing to worry about me hurting you by listening, though I wouldn't say the same for the other people listening in."
"What people?" Chili asked nervously.
"Don't acknowledge them because then they'd know you're onto them" he warned them. "But there is a bearded man three tables down from you pretending to read a newspaper and listening. There are also two people sitting across the room from you, one has yellow hair and the other has silver".
Using their peripheral vision, the group all looked, and as Conway told them, there was a bearded man wearing a large, blue coat and a large hat with a newspaper in front of him, but they could see in his eyes that he was looking at them. The other people watching them were not nearly as subtle. The duo across them were looking directly at them, and they could tell they knew they were watching them. Once the two noticed they were exposed, they and the bearded man all stood up and began to approach the table.
"I think it is time for us to leave" Cilan suggested.
The six slowly got up and tried to sneak out before their stalkers all got to them, but the three people had already approached them.
"Where do ya think you're all going?" the yellow haired man asked intimidatingly. He was very well built and wore a pair of sunglasses. The other person looked more feminine with long silver colored hair.
As the group prepared to fight on account they were now trapped, the bearded man removed an iron bar from his sleeve. But to their surprise, he swung the bar into the yellow haired man's stomach. Then he swung the bar at the other person, but they caught it and tried fighting back. He turned and looked Lapis dead in the eye as he struggled with them before screaming "RUN!"
The six followed the bearded man's order and took off out the door.
"Attila, stop them!" the silver haired Team Rocket member ordered him as they fought the bearded man.
Attila followed the group out the door and through the dark city towards Route 202.
"We'll lose him in the woods! Don't stop running!" Cilan commanded them. They followed his advice and finally reached the outside of the city, with Attila and his Skarmory right behind them.
Lapis desperately tried to spread her wings to fly away, but she had forgotten that she was wearing a sweatshirt and couldn't escape. Having slowed down, Attila had managed to catch up to her and grabbed her by the waist, trapping her in a bearhug to restrain her. When he pulled the hood off her head, he laughed. "Oh it's you. General Jasper has you as her top priority. You're coming with us little lady".
"HERACROSS MEGAHORN!" Barry's voice came from the dark. The massive bug type pokemon lunged at Attila and struck him directly, causing him to drop Lapis and fall to the ground.
"Why you little twerp!"
"Pansear, fire blast!" Chili ordered once Lapis was safe, seeing that he had no choice but to attack the dangerous man to defend Lapis and the baby. Attila screamed in agony as he tried to put the flames out on his body by leaping into the nearby stream. Barry and Chili returned their pokemon, helped her up and the three ran into the surrounding forrest.
"Cilan! Cress! Conway! Where are ya guys!?" Barry screamed into the night.
"Quiet" Chili shushed him. "They'll hear you"
The three ducked under a fallen tree and waited a few minutes in case the Team Rocket agents did manage to follow them. Then they heard footsteps in the leaves surrounding them, but thankfully it was the others. Once they were all reunited, they walked through the woods a few miles until they were far enough for comfort. Then they got a fire going and set up camp.
"Who was that guy?" Barry asked
"I don't know, but we owe him our lives"
"You're welcome" an older man's voice came from the shadows, causing all of them to jump. The bearded man who helped them stepped out into the open.
"And I thought I was good at sneaking up on people" Conway commented.
"You can remove your disguise young lady," the bearded man told Lapis, "I know what you are".
She gingerly removed the sweatshirt and a wave of comfort fell over her. "Thank you."
"Just who are you exactly?" Cilan asked
The bearded man chuckled, "why Cilan, I'm surprised that you don't recognize me". He pulled off his hat and jacket to reveal a brown trench coat underneath his other jacket. Then to everyone's surprise, he revealed his beard to be a fake. "You may address me by my designated codename: The Looker"
"Oh that's where I know you from!" Barry announced, "I saw a news story about you on the tube, you're the guy who took down Team Galactic!"
Looker chuckled again. "Well, I didn't do it all alone, but yes I did do that."
"Why were you stalking us?"
"I wasn't. It was by random, if not fortunate, coincidence we encountered each other. I was undercover on a stakeout to gather more information on Team Rocket operatives outside the Kanto region, following a personal lead. And it seems fate has brought us all together because my lead was Cynthia herself. Trainers are disappearing, and Team Rocket has been more and more active in the surrounding regions. My friend Cynthia contacted me to investigate. I was on my way to my to investigate on Mount Coronet, there is where we were supposed to rendezvous. I'm more than willing to bring you all to her, but I have to warn you all that you'll be walking straight into the Beedrill nest."
The group all looked around at each other, silently debating whether or not to go through with the dangerous journey.
"Well, what do you want to do Lapis?" Cilan asked, "we'll follow you no matter what you decide".
Lapis blushed in embarrassment from all the boys looking at her. What she was being asked to do was the exact opposite to why she ran from Ash in the first place. But the people she had met in the little time she had been in Ash's world were so kind, so compassionate, and all had shown her as much passion and determination as both Ash and Steven. She wasn't going to let these people down, she wasn't letting Ash down again, she was done running. "Let's do it!"
"Do what?" a low, female voice asked, catching everyone off guard. A girl wearing an orange vest, blue jeans and spiky, red hair stepped into the light cast by the campfire. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but you guys were talking conspiracies and the Pokemon Champion Cynthia pretty loudy."
Barry looked shocked at her, "hey I know you! You're Zoey, the winner of the Sinnoh Grand Festival! You beat out my friend Dawn."
She blushed modestly, "always an honor to be recognized by my fans."
Lapis looked at the newest arrival curiously, "you know Dawn?"
"Yep, she's one of the best pokemon coordinators I've ever met. Shame I haven't seen her in awhile. How do you know her? And why are you blue?"
After the group filled Zoey in on the situation, she grew concerned. "So Dawn and Ash are in trouble eh? Well count me in".
Looker decided to keep guard as the others set up their tents. The triplets stayed together, Barry and Conway bunked together and Zoey invited Lapis to sleep in her tent. "So you've got a bun in the oven, any thought of names?" she asked.
"I never thought about it until now. I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl."
"Man, I wish I could've been there to see Ash's face when you told him he's gonna be a dad"
Lapis looked down in shame.
"Oh honey you didn't" Zoey told her, a little sass in her voice "please tell me you didn't just walk out on him".
"If Team Rocket and Jasper caught me, then my baby would be dead. Leaving him was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make in my entire life, but I had to for the child's sake. Pregnancy is essentially a death sentence to a Gem. And had I told him, he would've been devastated Zoey."
"Hey, I ain't here to judge. Look, I know I could never put myself in your shoes," she then looked down at her feet to realize she used the wrong metaphor as Lapis doesn't wear shoes. "Uh yeah, but none of these boys are even capable of understanding what you're going through. I'll be here if you need me. Besides, Auntie Zoey will be there for Ash Jr."
"Thanks Zoey"
"Take them to the prison cells" The Iron Masked Marauder ordered Cassidy and Butch as he began to follow Aquamarine towards the gathered Diamond's quarters. He knew that the Diamonds were going to be furious on account of the news about Lapis escaping and the Cluster now being useless to them, and he wanted to see the chaos that ensued. The inside of the throne room had Yellow and Blue Diamond, their Pearls, Giovanni, and Jasper standing at attention. The Marauder saw Aquamarine basically hiding in the corner, meaning that he missed the tantrum.
"Yellow Diamond, please calm yourself" Giovanni requested.
But Jasper was having none of it, and threw her fist into the wall next to his head. "You gave me your world your agents would capture her!"
"JASPER!" Yellow Diamond screamed down to her general, "this little obsession has gone on far enough. We have already wasted far too many resources and time in hunting down a single Lapis. We'll get you another one."
"I don't want another Lapis, My Diamond, I want MY Lapis!"
"Oh please little Jasper" a new voice came from behind everyone. Everyone turned around to see that a Pearl with ghost white skin, and spiked hair entered the room. Following behind her, was a similarly colored, enormous woman who gave off a heated vibe.
"White Diamond" Giovanni heard Jasper whisper in awe.
"You gave us you word Giovanni" White Diamond scolded him. "We do not like to be lied to".
He gently bowed to her, "my Diamond, the incompetence of my agents is rather embarrassing. Let me personally fix the situation for you revolving the Cluster".
"How?"
"Fairly recently there was a ploy by an organization called Team Flare to destroy the world with a power that could've surpassed the Cluster. There is only one drawback"
"Which is?" Yellow asked
"The man who orchestrated it, a man named Lysandre, is dead. And he took the secret to this power to his grave. I however know how to learn this power. Just give me a few days, and I shall not disappoint."
"For your sake Giovanni, I'd hope you don't." White Diamond informed him. "But just to ensure that your word does matter, our dear Jasper here will accompany you. Won't she?"
"Of course my Diamond"
The Diamonds excused their guests to discuss their new plans. "And where exactly am I escorting you?"
"My dear Jasper, you and I are traveling to the Kanto region, in my universe. There we will unlock the power necessary to our success."