Finding Roots Making Ties

Summary: Volker is a teen with more angst than most, Reina wants to go out on an adventure, and Alex just wants to know who he is. Three kids from different families, with completely different lives. But a chance encounter brings them together, and it turns out that they share a common trait. They all have a connection to one Ash Ketchum. Warnings: Future fic, slight adult themes & language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon

Chapter 3

Alex grunted as he peeled himself from the wall he was leaning on before making a run for the exit and he could hear the enemy hot on his trail. When he gets back, he was going to kill Evan for this. The guy said that it was a simple retrieval mission; he hadn't said anything about this turning out to be an underground ring of Pokemon smuggling. If he had known, then he would have come more prepared for this. As it was, all he had on him was his Pokemon and a his Xtranceiver.

That was nowhere near enough to take down thirty professional hunters, and what was worse was that he was stuck in an island in the middle of nowhere. His only hope now was that the reinforcements he sent for were already on their way. He cursed as a flamethrower only missed him by a hair's breadth and tried to run even faster. Without even slowing down, he took a glance at the image on his Xtranceiver and took a sharp turn to the right when he reached an intersection.

It was only a few meters now before he reached the exit to this facility, but that was when two men suddenly blocked his path. With his pursuers, behind him there was no other way to go than forward. He then pulled out a Pokeball and enlarged it before releasing the Pokemon inside. "Mightyena, use Giga Impact!" He ordered as the Bite Pokemon begun to be engulfed in a purple glow as it charged forward, knocking down both people and Pokemon, giving his master a clear pathway.

He then returned his Pokemon before he could falter in his step as the recoil from Giga Impact kicked in and made another sharp turn to arrive at an empty corridor where he can see the exit at the end of it and made a mad dash for it. Once he passed it, he's literally out in the jungle and he wastes no time running deep into it. Mid step, he grabs another Pokeball and throws it to release another Pokemon. "Honch!" The Pokemon cries as he flies overhead his master.

"Honchcrow! Guilde me to the beach!" The Big Boss Pokemon cried out what was probably an affirmative before flying even higher and darting straight ahead. The teen tried to follow the best he could, but it wasn't easy considering the shadow balls being thrown his way and he tried to run in a zigzag to increase his chances of not getting hit. It worked for a bit, but it seemed that his luck came to an end when a huge Machoke and Hariyama suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Shit." Was all he said before deciding to make a gamble and ran head first towards the glowing fists of the two giants, but once he was close he slid down the small opening between the two giants. He then quickly got to his feet with a wince before continuing his run again. He looked up to see where Honchcrow was, but gritted his teeth when he couldn't see his Pokemon anywhere. This meant only one thing; he was completely lost in the jungle with his enemies right behind him. Just perfect.

In this type of situation, there was only one thing for him to do. He had to somehow hold out and keep running to stall for time since it didn't look like reinforcement was going to arrive anytime soon. He could only pray to Arceus that the path he was on would lead to the beach, or at least not back to the facility he had just left. As he jumped over another log he stole another glance at his Xtranceiver, just waiting for headquarters, or back up to contact him, but so far nothing, he got absolutely nothing.

It seemed that his luck, that had managed to keep him alive thus far, had finally run out when he finally broke through the thicket and arrived at a cliff, of all things. "You have got to be kidding me." He said as he backed up when the hunters began to close in on him. One look down showed him a long drop with very sharp looking rocks waiting at the very bottom. So with that, jumping down was no longer such an attractive sounding option to him. As things were there were two choices for him.

The first was that he could jump down with a twenty percent chance, at best to land safely in the water. The other eighty percent was that he'd hit the rocks and crack his head open. The other option was to stay on the cliff with the hunters and somehow distract them long enough for back up to get to him. Of course this came with the risk of multiple Pokemon attacks being hurled his way, which would mean that he'd most probably have a long and painful death…

As he took another look at the snarling Pokemon in front of him and the jagged rocks that promised instantaneous death, he started to see the appeal of a quick and painless death. But that was only if worse comes to worse, because he wasn't going to give up on living just yet. "You better give it up hunters, it's all over. As we speak my, comrades are about to arrive in this island. " He bluffed, with a face that betrayed absolutely no emotion.

"That's just what you think, boy! As soon as we get rid of you, we'll be long gone before your comrades even take a step on this island's shores." The lead hunter of the pack, Ryder, retorted with a triumphant grin on his face as he started to pull something from his jacket. Alex inwardly cursed before racking his brain for anything that could save his life. "Even if you guys plan on leaving, it doesn't matter. You'll be caught in a matter of days." He said as Ryder's hand stopped mid-pull as the man frowned.

"Oh, and what makes you think that?" He asked as Alex gave the best smirk he could muster. "Just think about it, how did I end up finding out about all this? It all started when one of your hunters got sloppy on a job and left a trail for me to follow." He said as the look on Ryder's face looked far from amused. "What are you getting at, boy?" He bit out rather impatiently. "Hunters usually work alone; it's rare that they ever work in group, and even rarer still that they work in a group as big as yours."

"But hunters aren't perfect, and sometimes they'll leave a trail. What I'm getting at is that with the number of hunters you have in your organization, or whatever you call your bunch, eventually another one will leave a trail that will ultimately lead back to your headquarters." He said and it seemed that all hunters on the cliff seemed to ponder his words for a moment before they began to murmuring things to each other looking far from pleased.

If there was something he knew about hunters, it was that a lot of them were careful and cautious by nature, but even more of them were paranoid, by playing into their fear of getting caught the teen managed to get himself some time. But it ended when Ryder suddenly barked out at the other hunters. "Enough!" At that one word, the other hunters silenced themselves as Alex inwardly grimaced. It seemed that their fear for the man won over their natural sense of paranoia, and he immediately looked down at his extranceiver for the nth time that day, but still nothing.

"That was an interesting point you put out, boy." He said as he once again put his hand in his jacket and pulled out a gun. "I'll have to remember that when I'm on my airship." He told him as he pointed the gun at the teen. "But it's the end of the line for you, boy." He had said, but Alex didn't hear his last statement because he was too preoccupied with the navy blue, almost black figure that stood out from the deep blue of the sea and the blueish gray from the rocks.

With just that, his mind was made up. As he heard the safety being turned off he instantly turned and headed for the edge of the cliff, jumping at the exact same time the trigger was pulled. The bullet had grazed his arm, but he didn't put any mind to it. Instead his eyes were on his buzzing Xtranceiver which showed a blurry image of a boy his age with brown hair and blue eyes. The Xtranceiver call was choppy and the image kept turning to static every other second. "Alex… Back…U… Ha… Ar…Ve…"

But for the life of him, the only thing that went through his mind as he fell was, "Now, you guys arrive." He thought rather annoyed at his comrade's timing before looking at the rapidly nearing sea. It seemed that with angle of his fall, he would end up hitting the rocks. But Alex was perfectly calm, not because he was resigning himself to death, but because he knew that things would turn out just fine. There was a flash of white in the water before the rocks that he was supposed to be landing on was pulverized instantly, giving way to the clear blue waters.

He made contact with the water, which resulted in a great splash and it took a few seconds before his head went back up. But it seemed that he wasn't alone as a large Pokemon that resembled a shark suddenly swam next to him. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, Sharpedo." He said as he gave his Pokemon a small pat on the head. "Shar." The Pokemon replied as Alex put an arm around him so that he didn't need to use so much energy just to stay afloat.

But that was when several helicopters suddenly appeared before flying directly above the cliff. From the waters, Alex could make out the words, "Hunters, you're all under arrest for Pokemon smuggling! Return your Pokemon and drop all your Pokeballs." It was said by a voice that was amplified by a microphone, and the teen couldn't help but sigh before letting go of Sharpedo to lean on the Brutal Pokemon instead.

Alex closed his eyes. That had been a close one, thank Arceus he taught his Sharpedo the move Skull Bash, otherwise he'd just be a corpse in the water by the time his comrades got to him. "Alex, Alex are you there bro?" A voice asked as he opened one eye to look at his Xtranceiver that was floating in the water next to him, it must have come off when he fell into the sea. He reached out and grabbed it before bringing it up to his face. "Alex speaking here, what can I do for you?"

The other teen on the other end of the line let out a sigh of relief. "Alex! Bro, you had me worried. I thought that the hunters had already gotten to you before we could." He said as Alex gave him a bland look. "That's what I thought would happen to me too until two minutes ago, Evan." He replied as the other teen laughed sheepishly. "It's a good thing you released Sharpedo in the sea when you first got to the island then. Hey, don't look at me like that! In my defense, there's terrible signal in that island!"

Alex chuckled dryly at that. "Yea, I could just see it now, "agent dies because of bad signal" That would make a pretty good title for the report." But Evan just put his hands up in a placating manner. "I get it, bro. The new Xtranceiver still needs a few problems, I'll tell that to Professor Parker later. But speaking of problems, what was up with all the static with my previous call a little while ago?" He asked as Alex just shrugged.

"You called me while I was freefalling from a cliff. I guess the professor needs to work on that too." He answered evenly before adding. "Oh, and Evan I'm putting an official request for a pick up." He said as the other teen nodded. "No problem bro, just tell me exactly where you're at." He told him as the other teen looked at his surroundings. "Well, right now I'm in the sea, surrounded by sharp rocks and like I said, I fell from a cliff." He said simply as the other teen sighed.

"You need to be a bit more specific than that bro, how many cliffs do you think there are on that Island?" He asked. "There really isn't anything around that I can use as a landmark. But just look for an agent leaning on a Sharpedo in the water, and you won't miss me." Was the only thing he said before ending the call. "Well Sharpedo, looks like it's just going to be you and me for a while." He said and the Pokemon gave him an affectionate growl.

"Shar! Shar, Sharpedo!" He cried out as he seemed to be looking at something in the sky. Alex looked up to see a dark spot in the sun. But when he squinted, he saw that the dark spot was some kind of Pokemon with dark blue feathers with a red underside and grinned. "Honchkrow, over here!" He shouted as the bird Pokemon made a sharp descend down before alighting on his head. "Correction Sharpedo. Now, it's just you, me and Honchkrow."

Hours later, and Alex finds himself back in headquarters with his injuries already treated, wearing a new set of clothes. He was just finishing up his report when Evan walked into the room with three Pokeballs in his hand. "Here, Nurse Joy's done treating your Pokemon." He said as he handed the Pokeballs back to his friend, who took them before putting them back in his black jacket. "Thanks, Evan." He told him before going back on his report.

"But man, outside everyone's talking about what you did today." He started as Alex paused his typing to look at his friend. "They talked about how I was stranded on an island and almost died several times?" He asked and Evan gave him a dry look. "Very funny, wise guy. No, that wasn't what they were talking about. They were talking about how you uncovered the underground ring, bro." He said as his face turned thoughtful. "What's this, your fifth crack down?"

"Sixth." Was the simple answer he gave as Evan grinned in triumph. "See? For someone who's only joined up three years ago, six crack downs on large syndicates is an unbelievable feat." He said before continuing. "Shame that you're no longer eligible to win the Rookie of the Year award anymore." Alex sighed at that. "That doesn't really matter to me; I'm just doing my job like anyone else in this organization. Besides I was just lucky this time around, nothing more than that."

"You can be too serious when it comes to work, you know that?" He asked as Alex finished up his report before handing it to his friend, who took it. "Yeah, you say that to me almost on a weekly basis." He answered as he stood up and grabbed his pack. "Hey, where are you going?" Evan asked as he watched his friend head out to the door. "I'm going to go grab the last flight back to Goldenrod city." He replied evenly as his friend took a look at the time on his watch.

"By the time you get back, it'll be night. You sure you don't want to spend the night at headquarters and go home tomorrow morning instead?" He asked as Alex merely pointed at something in his Xtranceiver. Evan looked down at his own device and frowned, he didn't see anything out of place when a couple of numbers caught his eyes and his eyes widened in horror. He gulped before looking up to meet his friend's eyes again. "Today is that day?" He asked, fear lacing his every word.

"That's right, so it's a must that I return back home tonight, otherwise we'll get a repeat of what happened two years ago." He replied as evenly as he could, but as soon as the words left his lips both boys shuddered at the memory. "Bro; you don't need to say anything else. I perfectly understand your circumstances. Heck, I'm sure anyone in this organization will understand. I'll submit your report for you and take of the other stuff, but for the love of Arceus, hurry or you might miss your flight!"

His name was Alexandre, or just Alex, in short. He was a Pokemon trainer/agent working for an organization called the G-men. He began training when he was just eight after receiving direct recommendations, and became a full-fledged agent at the age of ten. It was a feat that had been unheard of before him, as most trainees became full fledged agents at the age of twelve or thirteen. While many had their doubts or their reservations on him joining at a young age, there was no choice.

He had managed to finish the training curriculum that was supposed to last for four to five years, in just two and it would have been a waste if he was just kept on standby, not doing anything while he waited for his twelfth birthday. So they let him go on missions, provided that for the first two years he only worked on cases that took place locally, or in other words, his homeland of Johto. Despite his young age, he was already able to accomplish a lot and helped out a lot of Pokemon.

In his first year he took down the notorious Hunter Aiden and his men, which got him the Rookie of the year award. But enough about that, the truth about the teen was that despite seeming to have a perfect life, he had one problem. He had no idea who his dad was. While this probably shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did since he did have his mom and it wasn't like he really missed out on anything in his childhood because his dad wasn't there. He couldn't let it go.

Now, don't get him wrong. It wasn't that he was starved or desperate for a father figure in his life. No, he had enough uncles for those, thank you very much. What made him hang on was the fact that his mom would never tell him who his father was, and because of that there seemed to be a big blank in his life. It was a blank that made him uncomfortable, because it was like there was a part of himself that was shrouded in complete mystery and would continue to stay that way until he found out the identity of his dad.

It brought a disconcerting feeling to him every time he thought about it. His dad had never been in the picture, but when his mom got into the mood to do some storytelling, she would always tell him how great a man he was. When he was just a kid, this was probably what spurred his interest in the man. But as he grew up, these feelings gave way to confusion and uncertainty for him until it reached the point that he began to question his own identity.

At exactly six thirty pm, he arrived at the rather large flat he shared with his mom and landed on the teal couch with a thud. The whole house was dark and quiet, which meant that his mom was probably still at work. He inhaled deeply as he shifted to get in a more comfortable position before falling asleep in short order. It was later that he awoke to a much illuminated living room courtesy of the lights being turned on as he slowly got up from his lying position on the couch.

One glance at the adjoining kitchen showed his mother cooking something over the stove and while he was comfortable where he was at, his stomach chose that particular moment to start growling, and that decided his next course of action. He stood up before padding over to the kitchen, and while his mother didn't turn back, she seemed to have known that he was already up and was headed towards her, if her addressing him was any indication.

"Had a nice nap, Kiddo?" She asked without turning around. "I was able to catch up on some sleep, yes." He answered as he stopped when he was right beside her. His mother hummed before taking a glance at him and frowning. "Are you getting enough to eat? Your face looks even skinnier than the last time I saw you." She commented. "Don't worry mom, I'm eating enough." He answered as she shook her head. "Eating calorie mate and energy bars hardly counts as eating enough."

"Maybe, but it's much better than the food at headquarters." He replied as he got the plates and utensils that were on the counter before heading towards the table to set them there. "Honestly, it's an interregional organization, but the food they serve at their cafeteria loses to calorie mate and energy bars. I should really go talk to Lance about that. I can't have you dying on me from malnutrition, of all things, because you don't eat the food there." She said as she served up the food that was in the pot.

"I won't die from malnutrition, mom. I do eat the food there; I'm just usually on the road so I have no time for regular meals. But if worse comes to worst, I'll take supplement tablets." His mother scoffed at that. "The G-Men are willing to save the Pokemon, but they're not willing to make sure that their agents get to eat properly?" She said as she set down the plate on the table. "I miss the times when you were younger, and would go with me to the league; at least you liked the food there."

"Which reminds me, Lorelei and the others have been asking about how you were doing lately. It's been a long time since they've seen you in person." She said as Alex flinched. "You should really visit them soon." She said as she sat down opposite to her son. "Yeah, I will." He replied as he picked up a utensil and begun to dug in to the food with gusto. "Good to see that you still enjoy my cooking." She said as she picked up her own fork and took a bite of the Vongola pasta she made.

"There has never been a time that I didn't enjoy your cooking, and there most probably never will." He answered truthfully before taking a sip of tomato soup, which made his mom smile. "So I heard that just hours before, you had a big mission." She said conversationally and Alex stilled his hand before looking up from his plate that was full of different foods. "I guess." He answered nonchalantly before resuming his eating. But his mom only gave him a small sly smile before speaking again.

"I bet you're glad your Carvahna evolved into Sharpedo, otherwise you would have been in hot water." She said as she regarded her son. "I was already in hot water before that, so it's more accurate to say that I would have been out of the frying pan and into the fire." He told her honestly before adding. "But one thing I am glad about is that I had been wearing the special suit at the time, because otherwise I would have gotten hurt because of Sharpedo's rough skin." He said conversationally and she laughed. "That's true."

"How about you, mom? Any challengers or at least potential challengers show up today?" He asked as his mother sighed. "Unfortunately, no. It was just another one of those days that I had to do paperwork to pass the time." She answered before adding. "Well, even if there was I'd still have to wait a long time before anyone could challenge me." She said and Alex gave her a comforting smile. "Don't be down mom, that's just because no one's foolish enough to fight Karen from Johto's Elite four without proper preparations."

In half an hour's time, the table had been cleared of the dishes that had been occupying it before and all that was left was two small plates, two dessert forks, two glasses and a bottle of Apple Cider. The woman, now identified as Karen came back from the Kitchen holding a box in her hands before she set it down on the dining table. She then opened it to reveal the cake that was inside. "So I get black forest this year?" He asked as he watched his mom light the fourteen candles on the cake.

"That's right. You've had a long day today Kiddo, but happy birthday Alex." She said as the teen blew out the candles. Not long after that, the cake was cut and a piece went to each plate on the table. "But it was a good thing that you managed to come back home in time this year, if you hadn't, I would have went to the G-Men headquarters again." Karen mused and Alex winced. "I'd rather not repeat what happened two years ago, mom. The other agents actually call it the Vileplum incident now."

Karen laughed at that. "Do they now? But enough about that, it's time for CaF." She said as Alex sighed before setting down his fork. So they were going to do this again, like every other birthday. CaF, stood for 'Clues about Father' and it was a game they started to play since he was four. The game was simple; his mom would literally give him one clue about his dad, hence its name. He probably would have been more enthusiastic about this game, if it wasn't for the clues being too vague.

"So far what I have I told you?" She asked as the teen listed down her previous clues. "He loves Pokemon, tall, came from another region, you met in Johto and you were on good terms with each other." Karen nodded her head before resting them on her propped up arms. "As for this year's clue, it's going to be a bit different compared to the other years." She said as she seemed to regard him for a moment. "Oh? How so?" He asked as his mom straightened in her seat.

"For this year's clue, I'll admit to you that I've kept in touch with your father over the years." She said and the effect was instantaneous. Alex stood up so quickly that his chair had been knocked over. "What?!" The words came out sounding strangled and Karen also rose from her seat. "That's right and for an extra special service, I'll tell you this. Your father wants to meet you." She said before leaving the stunned teen and going over to her room, returning moments later with a medium to large gift wrapped box.

Alex could only stare as his mother gave him the box and when he remained unmoving, put the box in his hands. "Aren't you going to open your gift, kiddo? If you do, you might find a nice surprise in there." She said and once the words registered in his mind Alex looked down at the box wrapped in silver wrapper with an ivory colored ribbon before he slowly unwrapped and opened it. A look of confusion appeared on his face as he saw the contents of the box.

"A backpack and running shoes?" Karen nodded her head before pulling out a letter and a shrunken Pokeball from her coat. "Those are from me, you'll need them when you're on your journey." She said as Alex got even more confused. She then held out both Pokeball and letter to him. "These, are from your father." She said as she watched as her son looked like someone had put a bullet in between his eyes before he reached out for the items.

Once they were in his hands, he first opened the letter to see what sort of message was inside. Karen got a bit worried when her son just seemed to stare at the small piece of paper in his hands, but she was more than a little surprised when he suddenly started laughing. "Alex?" She called out, but he just held his hands up. "I'm fine, but I never expected my dad to be such an interesting guy. But whatever, I'll take him on his challenge!"

It was a bit after midnight, but Karen was still up. She sat down on a stool by the kitchen island as she nursed her drink. She sighed before pulling out her phone and dialing a familiar number which the other person picked up on the second ring.

"Karen? Why on earth are you calling at twelve twenty five?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Something wrong?"

"Nope, but just the prospect of you and Alexandre meeting keeps me from sleeping."

"I'm guessing you've given him my gifts already. So, what happened?"

"He took your letter as a challenge issued to him. Even I couldn't see it as anything but a challenge, when I got to read the letter. You sure it's a good idea to provoke him like this?"

"It's the best way to get him on a journey."

"You really think that a journey is the best option."

"Well, like you've said. He's a bit lost right now, and he's at the stage that he's wondering who he is. I also went through that stage, but I was cured by going out on a journey. It was on my journey that I learned a lot about myself that I never knew, and was able to find out and get comfortable with who 'I' was."

"And that's exactly what that child needs right now. Hopefully it will be able to do the trick for Alex too, because right now you're already using yourself as bait. If this doesn't work, then I'll be counting on you to give him some fatherly guidance."

"Don't worry; I'll do my best to help him out. Though I got to say, this whole conversation is giving me a sense of Déjà Vu."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Got another call earlier this evening about another one of my kids."

"Which one? You have to be a bit more specific since you have a lot."

"My daughter in Kanto."

"Ah, Erika's, then?"

"That's right."

"Did something bad happen?"

"Oh no, they just got into an argument. But Erika's going to mend things up between them first thing tomorrow."

"Well that's good…"

"Karen? You okay, what's with that long sigh?"

"I was just thinking about my Alexandre, I just don't get is why this became such an issue, him finding out who you are, I mean. It's not like I haven't told him how we just had a one night fling that resulted in me getting pregnant with him."

"Well, it's something I can kind of relate to since I also grew up without a dad. But the difference between us is that I knew who and what happened to my dad. For kids like Alex who don't really know anything about their parent, or in some cases, parents, they don't get to have the same closure I got."

"So if it's just that, then I should have just told him today about who you are. You did say that it was about time for you two to meet, anyways."

"No, this and that are two different things."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Finding out who his father is will give him a sense of closure and it will tell him that he has roots from his other side, but that's still different from him being lost with who he is. That had stemmed from his own uncertainty, and it can only be cured with both understanding and acceptance of himself."

"Both of which you expect he'll get at the end of the journey."

"It's worth a shot. He's part of the G-Men, which means he's never went on a proper journey before, so you never know. By the way, did he like my other gift?"

"Liked it, he loved it. But then again, even I have to admit that you've sent quite the adorable gift. Almost makes me jealous."

"Hahahah… Well good to know that he liked it, but it's as blatant a clue as it is adorable. Which reminds me, I was planning on giving you its brother as a gift for your birthday... But I guess that I wouldn't mind giving him to you a bit early."

"…"

"…Karen? Something I said?"

"(Squeal) Really? I'd love to have him. When can you send him to me?"

"I can do it as early as tomorrow morning, but you should have given me a warning. My eardrums almost burst."

"Well I can't help it! It's not every day that I get an adorable Pokemon from Unova's champion himself."

"Honestly, if your fans saw their cool idol acting this way…"

"Well, they didn't and they won't. This side of me just comes out when I'm with people I'm close to."

"I guess I should be honored then."

"You should."

"But anyways has the boy made any plans yet for his journey?"

"Oh, he's already sent a letter to the G-Men about him taking a break and he'll be heading out to visit his aunts and uncles at the Pokemon league first thing tomorrow morning, and will at least be staying there for a couple of days. Then he'll come back here before going off on his journey, proper."

"Sounds like he's had it all planned out."

"What would you expect from our son?"

"Nothing less, Karen. Nothing less."

Thanks for Reading.

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