57: Ash vs. James
After being kicked out of Viridian Gym by the officer, Ash had wandered around the city, still seeing no signs of Team Rocket, even when having Pidgeot look with him from above. He meandered back toward the gym, eventually meeting up with Misty again. She convinced him to talk to the officers, which he'd done, though only hoping he might get news. The officer seemed to be especially interested in what kind of vehicle they had used, only to say later they'd been looking for a truck with that description, and still not found the stolen pokemon.
So they really hadn't done anything, Ash realized as he left the koban, Misty following after him. "Where could we look next?" Ash asked her.
"I don't know..." Misty said. "I didn't see this coming at all. I've heard less and less about Team Rocket, so I thought they were really done. Viridian Gym's the only place I could think to look. There's no other places I can think of that they're always around to look or anything."
"Jessie said they had a super secret base where all the pokemon are," Ash said. "We could try and find it. Maybe knock on every door!"
"I don't think that'll work. Besides, it might not even be in Viridian," Misty pointed out. "I don't really think it is. Someone would have noticed something if it was."
"I guess so," Ash said. He and Misty stopped as they reached a comp-ed school, a variety of small students walking out and blocking their path.
"Oh," Misty exclaimed in recognition. "Hi there!" she called to a boy that was lagging behind the rest. The boy clutched the straps of his backpack, not responding to the greeting. Instead, he kept his eyes on them warily, keeping some distance as he walked by.
"Who's that?" Ash said, looking over his shoulder at the slightly familiar kid. Misty knew a lot of people from running her gym, but that kid wasn't old enough to be a former challenger at all.
"You don't remember?" Misty said. "Well, it's been a while. That was James's son. I think his name's Jonathan."
Ash turned angrily toward where the boy had gone. "Let's go catch up to him!" he said.
"Why? Just leave him alone," Misty said, grabbing Ash's sleeve.
"James'll be where he's going, right?" Ash asked. "Then we can find the pokemon!"
"Not necessarily... Well, probably not at all, really." Misty laughed nervously.
"Oh yeah." Ash turned back around calmly. His father hadn't taken care of him, either. Ash had never even met the man. Just having family didn't mean that they'd be around much, and James didn't seem to be around his son much at all. They had to think of something better.
Another look around various parts of the city gave no clues. Misty talked to some people, but they hadn't seen much of Team Rocket in recent months either. There were neither visual clues nor anyone able to say anything useful. As the daylight faded, Ash and Misty eventually made it back to the pokemon center. Ash talked to various people on the phone, including Professor Oak, Ritchie, and Brock. The professor just wanted some news, though Ash didn't have much to share. Ritchie said he was coming to Viridian with other elite trainers to help in the morning. Brock was the most annoying, saying he was picking up his father's slack with his own pokemon, which hadn't been stolen since Brock hadn't been at the meeting. Brock assured he and others would keep the gym system running.
Ash eventually slammed down the phone, angered by his friend's attitude. "Hey!" Misty shouted. She'd been trying to get his attention. "I had things to say to Brock, too! I told you that!"
"Brock is just acting like none of us will get our pokemon back," Ash informed.
"He's probably just planning ahead! We don't know when we'll get them back! Or, really..." Misty paused, clenching her fist as she bit her lip. "There's no guarantee we ever will get them back," she said, her voice trembling.
"We are going to!" Ash shouted in her face. "There's no way I'll let them get away with this!"
"You act like I don't want to get my pokemon!" Misty pushed past her upset to shout right back. "Well guess what, I do! And Brock wants his dad's pokemon back, too. Stop just thinking of yourself and what you do or don't want to hear!"
Ash stormed off, cooling down outside as he watched the pair of newer trainers battle in the evening's spotlight, the magnemite providing even more light with its electric attacks. Ash knew Pikachu would have enjoyed the sparkly show, and kept noticing the lack of his pokemon's familiar presence with renewed intensity, which kept the problem fresh in his mind. What could he do? He'd always been the one to personally defend his pokemon against Team Rocket. Now, that seemed beyond his abilities, but no one else was doing anything about it. He couldn't just wait and hope someone else would do something. Even though it was late, he thought about going back to Viridian Gym to see if there were any signs of the rockets, but instead thought better of it, going back inside the pokemon center.
Misty was on the phone, and soon finished up. "Sorry," Ash muttered to her once she did.
"Huh? What's that? Didn't hear you," Misty cheerfully teased with a grin.
"I was just saying sorry," Ash repeated, frowning as he looked away from her before glancing back. "I know you want your pokemon back, and everyone else's too."
Misty nodded, easily accepting her friend's apology. "I was just talking to my sisters. Violet's ready to take over for me again first thing tomorrow. That way the trainers won't miss their scheduled battles. It's not about giving up, it's about not letting Team Rocket destroy what we've set up."
"Yeah," Ash said. "That's important, too."
"Right," Misty said. "And I'm sure, with everyone's help, we'll get all the pokemon."
"Or maybe I'll have to do it myself," Ash said.
Misty laughed. "You have a plan for how to handle all the rocket agents we saw today on your lonesome?" she asked.
"If I know where they were, maybe," Ash said. "Jessie and James wouldn't tell me."
"Of course not," Misty said. She rolled her eyes before her expression turned more serious. "I know we kinda got to know them back then, but they really aren't very good people. They love Team Rocket. They won't go against Giovanni just because you ask."
"Maybe I could make them," Ash mused. "What about that kid?"
"You mean James's kid? I doubt he knows anything that's going on, really," Misty said.
"I didn't think so," Ash said. "I mean, if I had him, and wouldn't let him go, like Team Rocket are doing with the pokemon, I bet James would tell me where they were."
Misty paused, appearing to process what Ash was saying. "What are you talking about," she eventually asked.
"You know, to find out where his kid was, James would tell me where all the pokemon were," Ash explained.
"Are you saying you'd kidnap him or something?" Misty said, forcing a smile only to mock the ridiculously awful idea.
"I guess," Ash said flippantly, still not seeming to understand the gravity of what he suggested. "I don't think it's a bad idea."
"It's a terrible idea!" Misty shouted, her hands thudding on the counter as she glared at Ash.
"Why?" Ash frowned, folding his arms. "It's just like what they did with all the pokemon, huh?"
"You think they're a good moral standard to go by?" Misty asked, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. "They're not. What you're talking about is evil." Ash didn't respond, and Misty then dropped the topic with, "I guess we'll pick up the search tomorrow."
Before Ash could leave the next day, he saw Ritchie and some of the other elites in the lobby. Seeing Sparky, Ash again wondered why Pikachu wasn't running up to the other pokemon, only to immediately recall exactly why. It was the same reason he was ready to run throughout all of Viridian looking for any sign of Team Rocket again. Pikachu was gone, and know knew what kind of condition it was in, or if, as Misty put it, they even had any chance of seeing it again.
So Ash didn't waste much time talking to them all, except to coordinate where they were going. After they'd searched again, they met back up at the pokemon center, everyone reporting having seen nothing. Several officers and other investigators were there as well, but had none of the missing pokemon with them, nor news of how they might be found.
"Why can't you find them?" Ash interrupted as a man was explaining the details of his search.
"Ash, come on! We're working together here," Misty said.
"I'll just work by myself then," Ash said, turning his back.
"Ash, I really am trying to find them," Ritchie assured. "I want to help you, just like all those times you helped me."
"Yeah, I know." Ash just smiled at his friend. "I just don't want to sit around talking about what people are doing. I want to actually get them back."
"That's what we're trying to do," Ritchie said.
"I'm tired of trying," Ash said before taking off as the conversation continued without him in the lobby. Maybe with that declaration, they all assumed he was taking a break, but Ash instead went into the city again. He was tired of trying, because trying wasn't good enough, yet found himself fruitlessly trying more and more on his own. Why bother consulting anyone who couldn't be more successful?
After a while, Ash found himself at the comp-ed school he'd gone by with Misty the previous day, seeing many of the younger children outside. It was later in the day, so hadn't they already been released? Of course, there were plenty of reasons to stay after school. Even so, it was fairly late into the day. A large group was leaving right then. Just as Ash was about to turn around, he recognized the one boy lagging behind the rest.
This kid had a noticeable resemblance to James, though much younger with different color hair cropped relatively short. Ash did recall when they'd met. It was the first time he'd seen a kangaskhan, and not only that, gotten to interact with it as well. At the time, he'd overall just been interested in that. His pokemon, and most of the other kids in the facility had also mostly paid attention to the large pokemon. However, this kid in particular had stuck close to James, away from them. Even so, Ash recalled them meeting clearly. The kid had grown older, but it was the same person.
Brock and Misty had said back then that they didn't see a point in calling the police and having the rocket group arrested. Team Rocket would just leave and upset this kid, or stay and have him upset even more as he watched his father be taken away. They should give this unknown child some time with the parent he likely hardly ever saw. Except, Ash realized currently, maybe if they had called the police that would have avoided a lot of trouble in the present. Maybe James's kid would make up for that time now.
With that thought in mind, Ash walked forward, eyes on the familiar boy. Just like yesterday, Jonathan kept at a distance from the other children, though this time, he didn't have anyone else lagging back with him. Ash approached him. "Hey," he said.
The boy slowed only slightly, nodding at Ash as he continued on his way.
"Is your name Jonathan?"
"Yeah," the kid replied, then frowned, looking at Ash warily before turning back around.
"Is your dad James, from Team Rocket?" Jonathan didn't reply this time, just increased his pace. Ash grabbed the younger boy's backpack before he could cross the street with the rest. "Hey!" Ash berated. "It's true, isn't it?" he demanded. Jonathan's lip went up as he sniveled and cowered. Ash stood up straighter, still not letting go of the item. "Come with me." Ash lowered his volume, but still spoke firmly. "We have to talk to him."
Jonathan looked toward where the other children had gone, further in the distance, getting ready to cross the street now that he had the signal to go.
"Just come on!" Ash demanded, speaking loudly again as he pulled the kid by his backpack. When Jonathan tried to abandon the item, Ash gripped the younger boy's arm instead, then dragged him forward, away from where he'd been trying to go. The younger boy really did start to cry this time, a few silent tears going down his face. "Cut it out," Ash chided. "We have to talk to him quick, so hurry up."
Jonathan was somewhat more cooperative, though still seeming to act as a dead weight as Ash pulled him along. As they got to Viridian Gym, the younger boy moved more quickly, perhaps recognizing the building. The front doors were closed and locked, everything seeming as abandoned as it had been the day before. Ash went to the back entrance. Finding it locked, he released Squirtle. The kid tried to run away then, but Ash held on tightly to him while ordering Squirtle to bash against the door. The pokemon took a few tries before it eventually popped open.
Jonathan calmed when Squirtle was done, but still looked to Ash questioningly. "Let's go," Ash ordered, leading the smaller boy inside.
In the dim light of James's reading lamp, Pikachu peered warily at Meowth from one side of the bottom bunk, just to see Meowth looking back at it just as warily from the other. Did the feline pokemon not care much for it anymore? Pikachu realized it had broken a taboo by even thinking of attacking a human, let alone how it had actually attempted to, even if the rocket boss had later mocked it for never being able to follow through. Of course other pokemon would think Pikachu was bad, even self-described criminals like Meowth. Even so, Pikachu wished the talking pokemon would say something. If calling out like a normal pokemon, Meowth could emote properly, not leaving Pikachu in the dark as to its feelings. Even the human words it used would be better than nothing. "Pikachu?" Pikachu eventually called.
Meowth sat up, surprised, then scowled. "I'm just fine," it replied.
"Did you and Pikachu fight?" James wondered, looking up from his book in the bottom bunk parallel to theirs.
"That's probably it," Jessie muttered from under the covers in the bunk above his. "Meowth was really beaten up today. You did it, huh Pikachu?"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu hotly called out who was really responsible.
"How about you mind your own!" Meowth shouted up at Jessie.
"Ugh," Jessie grumbled. "I'm fine not to talk about it at all, but maybe you two should take it easier next time."
"Pikachu." Pikachu advised Meowth to do something instead.
"You want me to do what?" Meowth said with a frown, then burrowing under its blankets before it glared Pikachu's way. "Something like you, then?"
"Pikapi, pikachu!" Maybe useless, harmful humans like Meowth's boss should get abandoned by their pokemon.
"Everybody has bad days. I believe in the boss! I'd never let him down!" Meowth snapped back.
"Be quiet down there," Jessie muttered with an exasperated sigh.
"The boss isn't useless at all," Meowth continued in a slightly lower voice. "I'm not the only one counting on him. So many are, humans and pokemon both! And he's followed through, with me and everyone else. Maybe you're thinking of the kid you call your trainer, huh? Where's he now? He's nowhere near as reliable, and that's just for you."
Before Pikachu could respond, there was a loud knock on the door. Jessie let out a noise of exasperation, putting on her overshirt and answering it before any of the others could. "What do you want?!" she demanded the uniformed man outside. "We've had a busy day! I don't want anyone else interrupting my beauty sleep." The man sighed and stepped back in response to Jessie's rant, almost tripping as he seemed slightly impaired. "Wrong door?" Jessie suggested, folding her arms.
"No, no," the man said, swallowing before he blinked and spoke slowly. "Someone's on the video line for James."
"Who's that?" James put a bookmark in his pokemon care guide before stepping to the door.
"Dunno," the man said, not offering more in his drunken state.
"It could be the boss!" Meowth said, jumping up from the blankets.
"Come on Meowth, even this guy knows who the boss is," Jessie pointed out, turning back to the bed. "It's probably a prank. I'm going back to sleep."
"It was just for James, anyway," the man outside informed, almost running into another person as he walked away.
"I'll go see," James said, making sure his own uniform had everything in place before he went out.
"I'll go too," Meowth said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu called, hopping off the bed. It wasn't tired and might like to go along as well.
Meowth then went back on its bunk and under the covers. "Maybe I'll just stay here," it said, peeking out from under the blanket just enough to keep staring warily Pikachu's way.
"Let's go then, Pikachu," James said as he opened the door. Pikachu followed by his feet as he left.
"Wait, never mind, I'm coming!" Meowth said, scooting out the door just before it closed.
At Viridian Gym, Ash quickly found the room he'd been in the previous day. He pushed his captive in before him, ordering the younger kid to stay still. Finding out how to use the machine took a little longer. Pushing the large button didn't work the same as the previous day, just made a light start to blink. As Ash tried to figure it out, the static went away, some loud conversation taking its place.
On the screen, a few uniformed Team Rocket members could be seen, not seeming to pay much attention to Ash as they instead spoke to each other. "Hello?" Ash said, feeling silly as he spoke to the TV screen. However, one of the men seemed to turn his way, a confused expression as he seemed to focus his gaze toward Ash. "Do you see me? You'd better listen up!" Ash said.
"Huh? Who're you?" the man said, then looking up from the beer can in front of him.
"Forget it. Go get James, I need to talk to him," Ash said, trying not to be too irritated.
"Huh, okay," the man said, then wandered off. A few more agents seemed to come on screen, each looking curiously at the camera and assumably Ash on screen in front of them before wandering away. It seemed like James was taking way too long to get there, but before long, the requested Team Rocket agent appeared on the screen before Ash.
The familiar man folded his arms, briefly raising his eyebrows before he sat down. "Oh, it's just you," James said, chuckling in amusement.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu hopped on the table in front of the rocket, jovially calling out to its trainer from wherever they were through the cameras.
"Pikachu!" Ash called back, knowing without a doubt that was his missing pokemon.
James patted the electric-type on the head, smirking toward the camera. "If you still want to be a trainer, shouldn't you be catching more pokemon now that we have this one?" he taunted.
Ash clenched his jaw. "You should just give Pikachu back to me," he said. "And all the other pokemon you and the rest of Team Rocket stole!"
"You needn't waste your time contacting us again, because that won't happen," the Team Rocket agent spoke coldly. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"
"Wait!" Ash shouted as he saw James's hand moving toward the button that had previously disconnected the video. The young boy in the room seemed to have stopped paying attention, instead looking at a notice on the wall. Ash pulled the kid up from the chair roughly, pushing him in view of the camera.
"Dad!" Jonathan exclaimed as soon as he saw the person on the screen, his face lighting up. James's expression also showed some surprise before immediately changing to worry.
With both of their reactions, Ash knew he had them. "Now, you have to tell me where you are. Otherwise I'll hurt your kid," he promised.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu questioned, glancing from the camera to James and back again.
The initial response couldn't be mistaken, but James's expression turned cold again as he spoke. "I don't have any children."
"Pikachu?" Pikachu tilted its head.
Ash slammed his fist on the table in front of him, the sound causing both father and son to jump back in unison. "You're lying!" Ash shouted. Pikachu knew it, and so did he. James had definitely recognized this kid, and vice versa. Yet the Team Rocket devotee tried to lie anyway, as if Ash were stupid.
"James," a woman's voice interrupted on the other end, one of the many people that had apparently been in that room before. James turned away at the casual call.
Wasn't he taking this seriously? It was serious, and he should be. Ash had gone this far, and was willing to go as far as it took from here. Did James know that? Ash shouted to get the rocket's attention again. "Did you think you can trick me?" he demanded. "I know this is your kid! I won't believe your lies! I'm really gonna hurt him unless you tell me where you are," Ash repeated his threat, gripping tightly to the boy's arm.
James looked down at the table, gently patting the curious Pikachu who also seemed distracted by whatever else was going on in the room. "Dad..." Jonathan whimpered.
"Hm?" James eventually peered up. "I'm not trying to lie. It's the truth. When did you ever see me with any children?"
"When I saw you with him," Ash said, lifting the kid's arm, unable to be deterred from what he knew to be the truth.
James remained silent, appearing to study the image on screen as if he really needed the time to consider who was really with Ash. "Oh, right. There was that boy I abandoned. Is that him?"
"You already know it's your kid," Ash said. He pushed the younger boy closer to the table, causing the child to shout in surprise.
James folded his arms and leaned back, chuckling. He laughed out loud before Ash could speak again. He then grinned, putting his chin up as he leaned back in his chair. "That really is him, isn't it?"
"That's what I just said," Ash shouted back in frustration. Was James stalling, or was he still just trying to lie somehow? Ash didn't care. He wanted to push things forward without too much discussion, so he asked, "Are you ready to tell me?"
James again chuckled, and shook his head. "You've made a mistake," he said.
"No, you just admitted who he was," Ash pointed out.
James turned his head away. "You think you can get information out of me with him? I'm a father that abandoned his child. I didn't want him, and I've never cared for that boy once in his life. I don't care about him at all."
"You're lying! I saw you with him!" Ash shouted.
"That one occasion? Meowth thought we should steal the pokemon at that facility. Pretending to care for that one kept us out of trouble when we were caught by your group." James shrugged.
"I'm not listening to you anymore. I know you're lying. I know you. There's no way you don't care about him," Ash declared. He gripped the boy even tighter as he glared toward the camera, maybe hoping to make him cry and then get James to stop rambling on.
"Doesn't it sound terrible? But it's true," James still dared to lie. "I don't want to be his father. He's technically my son, but I don't care."
You're lying," Ash repeated. "Too bad I'm not!"
With that, Ash finally shoved the child forcefully against the wall. The camera might not have caught the impact, but luckily, Ash's captive had the desired reaction. Jonathan shouted and then cried loudly enough that there was no way James hadn't heard. Indeed, the rocket agent finally looked back toward the camera, his open-mouthed, wide-eyed panicked expression reflecting his true feelings. "Pipipi?" Pikachu also fretted, its arms rising to its face.
"Are you gonna tell me now?" Ash asked.
James turned away, though seeming less confident than before. "Your actions reflect poorly on yourself. I already know I'm a villain. Was that an aspiration of yours as well?"
"Yeah, you're bad. Now just tell me," Ash demanded.
"That's not happening, no matter what you do," James declared. "A terrible person like me wouldn't sell out my team for a random boy that you've chosen to harm."
Ash stepped over and punched the child that was cowering against the wall. Again, there was no way James could miss the young boy's screams and cries. Leaning back to look at the screen, Ash could tell the man was still trying to act like he didn't care all while wringing his hands, other signs of worry on his face. "I'm not kidding, you know," Ash said. The Team Rocket agent still said nothing. "I'll keep hurting him as long as you don't tell me!"
"Then why don't you kill him," James suggested. "Then I won't have to worry about him at all anymore."
The rocket agent was still keeping up the front? Ash pulled the sobbing child back in front of the camera. James's expression wavered, but he was still trying to pretend like he didn't mind what was going on at all. It was a lie, but if James kept up his act, that would distract from the talk of where exactly the stolen pokemon were. The man's pretense ought to just be ignored.
Still holding tightly to his captive, Ash reached toward a pocket in his backpack, getting out a tool and opening it up. The pocket knife that served various uses on the road wasn't really a weapon. Even so, it could do some damage. "You mean like you're worrying about him now?" Ash said in response to the previous comment while gripping the item in his hand and waving it between the camera and James's son. The rocket agent made no response to the visual threat. "I'm not falling for it. Time to stop lying!" Ash said, then stabbed the child's arm.
Jonathan cried even louder this time. As Ash's grip relaxed, his captive dropped to the floor, possibly in defense, though it could have been pain. On the screen, James's expression had turned to horror, the reaction amplifying as Ash pulled the boy up to show the injury, then raised his arm to indicate he'd continue the assault. "Stop! Stop!" the man kept shouting even as Ash actually did relax his posture.
"I'll stop, as long as you tell me where your secret base is," Ash said.
"I'll tell you, just stop!" James declared.
As he started to describe the location, Meowth cried out from off the screen, "What are you doing, James? You can't tell him that!"
But James pushed the pokemon away, preventing it from cutting the connection, and kept talking. It seemed to be the truth, based on both Meowth's reaction and Ash's ability to visualize the location based on his familiarity with the area. As Ash finally saw success, the door to the room suddenly opened. Two uniformed Team Rocket agents stood, a man and woman, both appearing incensed at what they saw. Before Ash could respond, he found himself being the one beaten up, punched over and over by the man as Jonathan called out for his mother. Ash tried to fight back, but found himself overpowered.
The woman hugged Jonathan, looking at his injury, then turned to the man Ash was fighting. "Enough! We need to leave," she said. As the newcomers stood and left, Ash was released. He watched them go without fuss. He definitely wasn't about to win that fight.
And besides, he already had what he needed.
James felt completely cold as he stared at the screen in front of him which depicted Pikachu's trainer leaving the room. He'd been sweating from when he'd first seen that young kid with that trainer, and had hardly recovered now that it was over. That small, now injured child had definitely been James's own son, there without any protection, completely vulnerable with the older kid who couldn't seem to back off. James ended up being the one being held responsible, saying the absolute wrong things to calm and control the situation, making everything worse in just the short moments he'd been given that responsibility.
The person who had assured James she'd take care of his son had shown up at the end, keeping her promise, or at least trying to. But James had already messed things up at that point, badly. No matter which perspective, it was a failure. James crumpled the note that Wendy had handed to him. It had assured that the two that had eventually showed up and took Jonathan from the situation were already in Viridian, knew the boy was missing, and Wendy was going to get hold of them to stop whatever was going on in the communications room in Viridian Gym. They'd be there soon, so James had only needed to stall until then. He hadn't been able to hold back from talking that long, and his son had gotten hurt on top of that.
Was Jonathan okay? Either way, that kid was being taken care of by someone else, as had been established. The brief illusion of responsibility was gone. Even so, James desperately wanted to know if his son was okay, even knowing he had no right to ask. He'd do so later, since he was nowhere near where he might find out. Besides, at the moment, there were other things to worry about. Just outside the room, Meowth could be heard shouting about what he'd just done. As others started to talk too, an alarm went off. James finally stood up, wandering around without much thought, except the occasional one that he really ought to be doing something. Wasn't their secret base likely to get raided or something similar?
"What the hell, James!" Jessie slapped him upside the head as she found him just outside the base, other agents wandering around them. James cringed, but couldn't otherwise respond. "Why in the world would you do something like that?" Jessie demanded.
"I'm sorry," James apologized, rubbing his head.
"No, I want an answer! Why did you give that brat our location?" Jessie demanded.
"That stupid kid just called up and asked, and James told him," Meowth explained.
"That can't be true. Did you fall for a dumb trick?" Jessie asked.
"There was no trick. He was harming my son," James explained, sobbing once he put the previous unbearable reality into words.
Jessie raised an eyebrow. "You don't have a-"
"I've told you many times I do," James insisted hotly, then held back tears he tried to explain further. "It was - is that boy we saw in the facility near Celadon. When you were attending that school, and I was here, I, well..."
"You had a girlfriend or something? I get the picture," Jessie said, appearing to finally believe the truth he'd tried and failed to share with her multiple times before. She forcefully exhaled before glaring down at Meowth and giving the pokemon a light kick. "You left out an important detail there, how low that brat went. If that's what happened, it couldn't be helped, could it?" she declared. "Come on James, let's just go see how we're dealing with it."
"Pikapi..." Pikachu touched the screen that now showed an empty room. Its trainer was gone, though of course Ash had never really been there, only his image sent through signals. Was Ash on his way now? That seemed to be what everyone here seemed to think, panicking as they rushed around the building, paying Pikachu no mind, even as it entered the hall. Even Meowth and its human friends hadn't minded it, leaving Pikachu to do what it wanted.
So it decided to find a good vantage point outside in a tree and wait, seeing if its trainer or someone that might return it to its trainer might show up. The lights went out, both the spotlights outside and any inside, so the rockets used flashlights as they moved around, taking various items into vehicles and taking off. The building was emptying of the agents, and in the darkness, none noticed the small pokemon observing them from the tree.
Eventually, the officers came, and in great numbers. The rocket boss was outside with far fewer agents than typical, lying to the law enforcement that had come to check. "I wouldn't have any idea why those gym leaders said I took their pokemon. I went to their meeting, but it was only to resign from their ill-run organization. I left early. No one in my organization is responsible for anything that might have happened afterward."
Humans were really good at lying. Pokemon could lie too, but it was more a funny joke, since other pokemon could usually tell they were lying. Squirtle lied often, and then they all laughed about how the pokemon could communicate things that were so comically untrue. Of course, Meowth was able to lie the same as humans with human speech. That was why Pikachu wished the rocket pokemon wouldn't use it. Sure, it was a neat trick that was occasionally useful, but being able to use it seemed to affect that pokemon for the worse. Using human language, Meowth was able to create lies even to itself which it believed, such as the one that the man in front of them was anything close to good or caring. Hearing about that from Meowth before meeting the rocket boss, Pikachu hadn't even been able to tell it was untrue. It had completely believed the pretty picture Meowth had created with its use of human words.
"This is all ridiculous. Let me know who's responsible for this slander," the rocket boss insisted as the officers continued to question him.
"I saw you! So did everyone else!"
Pikachu had heard the group approaching among many others there, but recognized Ash's familiar voice easily as it echoed through the area. As the light shone to the group he was with, Pikachu could see Misty, Ritchie, and even Ritchie's pikachu, Sparky. Some friendly faces! Now was the time to get out in the open. "Pikapi!" Pikachu called, jumping down and running to its trainer.
"Pikachu!" Ash stopped saying whatever else he'd been saying, catching Pikachu as it leaped into his arms. He laughed with relief before his expression turned serious. Ash hugged the pokemon before turning to the officers. "You see? They had my pikachu here! It got stolen then! That proves what they did."
"That stray?" the rocket boss said. "I've seen it around for a day or so. I don't think it has a trainer."
"I'm its trainer!" Ash shouted.
"Send it to its pokeball then," the rocket boss said with a shrug. "I'd wonder how a trained pokemon that belonged to someone outside my staff could end up out here."
Another officer arrived on a motorcycle on the road that was previously limited to Team Rocket. "We've recovered the missing pokemon," she informed.
"What happened?" one officer asked the other.
"We ran into the Team Rocket counterfeits. We were able to recover what I believe is all the missing pokemon before they escaped our grasp."
"Including Pikachu?" Misty asked.
"That's..." The rocket boss suddenly scowled.
"Um, Misty, Pikachu is-" Ash began before Misty elbowed his side. "That's right!" Ash realized the reason behind her question. "If this isn't my pikachu like he said, my pikachu could still be in there! Weren't you going to search for it with your warrant?"
The officers talked amongst themselves for a while. A pikachu hadn't been one of the pokemon recovered. They had come there to search. Eventually, they went inside, searching through various things thoroughly, much to the rocket boss's displeasure. After a while, they walked out, informing Ash they hadn't seen a pikachu specifically. "Of course you didn't!" the rocket boss shouted. "We had nothing to do with whatever trouble that group ran into. I'll see whoever was responsible for the misguided process that led to this late night visit pays for their mistake. In the meantime, you all need to remove yourself from my private property. Don't think I'll be so kind if I see any of you here again."
Ash turned away, carrying Pikachu over to a vehicle. They got in, Misty and Ritchie on either side in the back as a different person drove them in front. "Ash," Misty began once they'd gone a ways down the mostly hidden road. "You ended up hurting that little boy, didn't you?"
Ash didn't respond, but Ritchie spoke up. "Ash is the one that found out what we needed to know," he said.
"Is that a good excuse? There's some lines that shouldn't be crossed," Misty declared.
"Yeah," Ash agreed, hugging Pikachu tighter as he thought of how loudly that kid had cried, and how much the injury would have hurt. "Maybe that was a bad idea," Ash admitted.
The rest of the ride away from the secret base was mostly silent. Pikachu tried to take a nap, though it had trouble with all of the bumps. It kept looking up at Ash. Pikachu definitely hadn't liked seeing what Ash had done to that smaller human. Even when Pikachu had been more wary around humans, it had been patient with children, even liked them. The even more weak and vulnerable humans seemed like they should be given more patience, be protected. Wasn't that why Pikachu had initially gone with Ash? The dirt covered boy that had taken it out of a pokeball in Oak's lab had seemed too young to be a trainer, just a silly little human that ought to be looked out for.
Pikachu never would have accepted the person it had seen earlier that day back then. Ash's actions shown through the camera seemed to confirm Pikachu's worst suspicions about humans. But of course, Ash has his reasons, as well as second thoughts. He was overall a nice boy that was kind to pokemon, the type to think over what he'd done and realize it was wrong.
So despite not liking what it had seen that day, Pikachu still thought the best of its trainer. Ash had only done what he'd thought he should in the moment, and those actions had led to Pikachu being back with its beloved human.
Next chapter: Charizard vs. Charizard