Alexa: well, this is odd. Legal/Queen said that she lost it, but she found it.
Delia: she was talking about this document, probably.
Author's Note: I'm not putting ages in this and this chapter will tie to a future fic. This is considered a flashback chapter, but it will shift to the present events and also is in third person perspective. Basically: a rewrite of chapter two, including why Brock has Forrest spying on Ash. In the last chapter, I stated that Misty's surname was Sakuma. I will explain why I changed it at the end. On with the chapter!
Chapter 2: A Viridian City Encounter
Alternate titles: "For Future References", "How I Met the Last Two Frontier Brains" and "How Delia Met Anabel and Brandon"
(Ketchum residence. Present)
"Alexa, can you make sure that breakfast stays warm for Ash?" Delia asks the Kalosian reporter.
Alexa nods. "Going somewhere, Delia?"
Delia sighs. "Yes. I promised some acquaintances I'd meet them this morning at a coffee shop in Viridian," she says.
"Okay. I can do that Delia, you can count on me," Alexa says.
"Heli-optile!" her Helioptile says.
Delia thanks her before departing. It's not a long walk to a certain part of Viridian City, especially if you take the back roads. 'Oh, dear. I just wish you would come by and see Ash,' she thinks.
It doesn't take her long to reach the coffee shop and since it's a nice day, she decides to take her drink and scone outside.
"Hi Delia. We were wondering when you'd get here," a man's voice says. Delia looks up.
(Flashback. Delia and Professor Oak have just left Unova.)
They get out of the Viridian City airport and are surprised to see Tracey waiting for them. "It's an urgent situation. I'll explain on the way," Tracey said.
"Tracey, my boy. Who's taking care of the lab?" Professor Oak asked.
"Daisy, May, Kelly, Donny and Winston," Tracey replied.
Tracey explained that Butch and Cassidy attacked and in the moment when Tracey thought it was two against one, Kelly came with her Blastoise. It wasn't until the defeat that the two noticed the trail of destruction they left. The fence for Ash's Tauros was broken. All of Ash's Grass-types had been injured. Ash's younger Pokémon (his team from Sinnoh) didn't know what to think and were running amok around the lab. Ash's Muk was trying to separate Heracross from the injured Bulbasaur and Charizard was trying to keep some of the other Pokémon with temper issues (Infernape, Totodile, Gible and Glalie calm) while Quilava was trying to soothe an upset and confused Torkoal. Charizard had come from the valley and over the phone, Liza had explained to Donny that Charizard sensed a disturbance with one of his old friends. The only Pokémon that were in the lab and not doing something (or not injured) were Ash's Swellow and surprisingly, his lead Tauros. Over time, Ash's lead Tauros had grown bigger than the others and in a sparring match against Sceptile earned a slanted scar (from a Leaf Blade) over his forehead. [1]
As they pull closer to the lab, May was outside waiting. "Delia, something is wrong with Mr. Mime. I left a few of my Pokémon with him to keep him company and Spearow returned to tell me that Mr. Mime stopped doing housework," she said.
"Mimey," Delia murmured in worry. Kelly came out with her Ditto by her side.
She smiled at Delia. "Don't worry. I called in an …ally I met in Hoenn," she said.
"What about Yellow?" Delia asked.
Kelly nods. "I called her first," she said.
Delia sighed before leaving to her home with May. They don't say anything on the way there and noticed Yellow is waiting with the door shut. "While you were gone, Mimey started losing his temper. Kitty and I tried to calm him down, but we didn't have much luck." (2)
Delia was stunned at this. "Kelly said you brought over an ally that you all met in Hoenn," she said.
Yellow nodded in confirmation. "See, we met them in Hoenn, but one of them is actually a Kanto native. Brace yourself," she said as she opened the door.
(Delia's P.O.V.)
I was surprised to see an Espeon and an Alakazam out. Well, the Alakazam is facing Mimey and Espeon is with a man between mine and Samuel's age wearing all green. With Alakazam and Mimey is a girl around Ash's age wearing mostly purple. You know who I'm talking about.
Delia, not you too. Ugh. Never mind. I'll let it slide.
I watched the girl and notice another Butterfree. "That's Ash's," Yellow whispered. Yellow watched the scene unfold with Mimey. Within mere seconds, Mimey was on the couch and seemed to fall asleep.
The girl thanked her Alakazam. "So this is your cousin, huh Yellow?" she said.
"Yep. Anabel, this is Delia. Delia, this is Salon Maiden Anabel," Yellow replied.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. You see, I taught my Alakazam to use Disable and I can command an attack through telepathy," she explained.
"I see," I said. Espeon let out a noise of distress.
Anabel went to Espeon. The man asked, "Espeon, she's right here. Will you talk to her?"
Espeon went close to Anabel as the man stood up. He approached us. "Your Mr. Mime will be fine. Anabel knows what she's doing," he said.
Yellow nodded. "He's telling the truth, Del," she said. "Delia, this is Pyramid King Brandon. Brandon, this is my cousin Delia."
He nodded and extended his hand. "Other than the circumstances with your Mr. Mime, how are you?" he asked. I noticed he was loud, but was able to quiet down a little.
"I'm doing alright. There was an attack at Professor Oak's lab and the Pokémon there are," I trailed off. I couldn't bring myself to say it all.
Brandon nodded. "I understand. I'm originally from Pewter City," he said. (3)
Anabel shot up with Espeon panting in her arms slightly. "There are two Flying-types exchanging blows not too far from here," she said.
Yellow moaned. "Again?" she asked. We were all stunned as May's Spearow came back and stood on the couch, watching over Mimey. Yellow shook her head. "Follow me," she said. She explained that a Pidgeot and a Fearow had been going at each other every now and then for a few years.
"Could it be Blue's Pidgeot?" I asked.
Yellow stopped as we neared the fight scene. Kelly must've seen the Pidgeot and thought of Blue. "No, it's not. I think I know who this Pidgeot belongs to. I learned something from Emerald, to a degree," she said. She took a deep breath before confronting the Pidgeot. (4)
I could tell that Yellow was interested in this. "Pidgeot," Kelly calmly called. "Please descend to the ground and look over here," she gestured to us. Pidgeot did so and looked at me.
"Ott?" Pidgeot said before looking at me unsurely. "Ott," Pidgeot said, leaning near me.
'This Pidgeot must be Ash's,' I thought to myself and I watched Anabel communicate with the Fearow.
Anabel approached us and explained that Ash's Pidgeot (but not saying that it was Ash's) was female and Fearow a male. Anabel explained that in their first meeting, Fearow developed feelings for Ash's Pidgeot. "That's very sweet. Would you come with me for a little bit?" I asked.
Yellow and Kelly smiled at each other. Kelly said, "Yeah. We could use some help with the other Pokémon. Professor Oak's assistants can only do so much."
We all walked to the lab and saw that it was in the same state. Professor Oak greeted Anabel and Brandon. (5)
"So, what can we do to help?" I asked.
He smiled at me. "Well, Delia. Since a majority of these Pokémon belong to Ash, why don't you use your maternal instincts?" he offered.
Brandon and Anabel looked at me. 'So that's why their names sounded familiar,' I thought.
Anabel smiled at me. "Ash is quite the young man. I wasn't sure he was your son," she said.
"Thank you," I replied.
Brandon nodded. "A bit stubborn, but also determined. I won't forget the possession, though," he said.
Possession? Brandon quickly explained that Ash got possessed by an ancient king. I wanted to scold him for not telling me, but as the phrase goes: like father, like son. And Ash is so much like his father. Brandon put my mind at ease when he said that he himself is a father. I started with Ash's recently caught Pokémon. I approached them cautiously. (6)
"This is Ash's Torterra," Tracey explained. I smiled at Torterra and the gesture was returned to me.
(Flashback end. Back to third person perspective)
"So, what has Ash been up to lately? Brandon told our coworkers, boss and I about seeing Ash in Sinnoh," Anabel asks, stirring her coffee.
Brandon takes a sip. Delia sighs. "Ash has been rather down lately. He came in the top 4 in the Sinnoh League, but when the time came to compete in Unova, he landed in the top 8. Ever since, Ash has been depressed. Pikachu seems to be depressed, too," she answers.
Anabel and Brandon exchange glances. Brandon takes a card out of one pocket and a pen out of the other. He jots on it.
"Let us know how Ash is. I've been aiding Gary through his grief over the phone," Anabel says.
Brandon hands Delia the card. Anabel's name is listed first, followed by a phone number. Brandon's is below.
"Call us and let us know if Ash gets into danger or if you want us to help," Brandon says.
Delia takes the card. "Thank you both," she says.
"You're welcome," Anabel says.
(Meanwhile at the Pewter Gym)
"Rhyperior is unable to battle. This means that Leader Forrest is out of usable Pokémon and the winners are BJ and his newly-evolved Wartortle," Salvadore announces. Salvadore is in his referee uniform. Forrest is now wearing a jacket over his old green shirt (which still fits him) and a pair of blue jeans for now. Forrest recalls Rhyperior.
"Good job, partner," Rhyperior says.
"We did it," BJ says to his Wartortle. Forrest nods to Salvadore before approaching BJ.
"Congratulations, BJ. This is the Boulder Badge," Forrest said as he pulled a badge out of his pocket. "It's yours," he says, handing BJ the badge.
BJ bows. "Thank you, Forrest. Next stop is Cerulean City," he says before leaving.
Forrest calls to him, "I'd catch more Pokémon if I were you. Misty is no pushover," he says.
After BJ leaves the gym, Salvadore and Forrest soon follow. They put a sign that reads: CLOSED FOR LUNCH. WILL RETURN. Followed by a clock that Forrest spins the time to. (7)
"Forrest, Sal. Brock's on the phone," Cindy says as they near the house. They go in and see their mother on the phone.
"It must be very hard work, Brock dear," Lola says. She then notices her boys. "Hang on, Brock."
"Brock's been waiting to talk to you," Cindy whispers in Forrest's ear.
Forrest walks over to the phone and takes it from his mother.
(Forrest's P.O.V.)
"Hey. There's the Pewter Gym leader and third ranked overall," Brock says. Of the toughest, Sabrina is first, followed by Janine. Fourth is Misty and at number five is Gary. Yes, I mean Gary Oak. He did all he wanted to do in Sinnoh and came home to take his test. (8)
"Yeah," I say. "So, I've been told that you really want to talk to me. What's up?" I ask.
Brock sighs. "You remember Ash, right?" he asks.
I laugh. How can you forget a kid who comes into your family's gym with a Pikachu? "Yeah. Why?" I ask.
"Ash said he'd call me before leaving to a new region, but I haven't heard from him. Has he tried the house?" Brock asks.
Brock did a lot in his travels. Ash became like another brother to him and Misty another sister. The same with May, Max and Dawn. I turn to Cindy. "Cindy, has Ash tried to call the house?" I ask.
Cindy likes answering the phone. She shakes her head. "Well, you saw the answer," I said.
Brock gives Cindy a look. He wants to talk to me alone. "Forrest, do you still have Crobat?" he asks.
Odd question. "Brock, I still care for Steelix, Graveler and Crobat. Sudowoodo loves the kids and Croagunk," I begin. Brock's other Poison-type. "When he's over, he usually stares at his reflection."
Brock laughs at that. "That's typical of him. Listen, I need you to send Crobat to Ash's house," he says. He keeps a firm expression. "Back when I finished with Professor Ivy in the Orange Islands, I came home on a boat. I caught your Rhyhorn but I tripped over some thorns on the way to Pallet Town. Mrs. Ketchum took me in. Crobat was a Zubat at the time. One of my classmates did a paper on the memory of Pokémon and the Zubat line have a very good memory." (9)
I process what he's saying. "You want me to spy on Ash?" I ask.
Brock shakes his head. "Sort of. I'm worried about him, Forrest. Just tell Crobat to go to the Ketchum residence in Pallet Town. I gotta go. Bye," Brock says, not even giving me a chance. I sigh.
'It'll have to wait until after lunch,' I think.
Mom is a good cook, which probably explains where Brock learned how to cook. After lunch, I call out Crobat and tell him what to do. Brock didn't explain what to do afterwards.
I watch Sudowoodo playing with Marill. I do hope that Ash is okay, though. He's a happy guy as far as I know him. Crobat is back within 10 minutes as I get a text on my Pokégear. I notice it's a chain text. The other recipients are my coworkers, minus one.
Don't be late to today's meeting. Thought I'd get the word out for the new app that lets you understand your Pokémon! Xoxo Erika
I quickly download the app. The meeting is in …an hour and …damn. I forgot where it was. While the app is downloading, I make a phone call.
"Hello?" I sigh in relief.
"Misty," I say. "I feel like an idiot. I forgot where the meeting is."
She sighs. "Don't beat yourself up, Forrest. I'm picking up Gary from Pallet Town. Want me to pick you up, too?"
I think about it. "Yeah, sure. Have Gary call me when you're outside the gym. I've got an outfit ...that my mom made for me to wear to my first gym leader meeting," I say.
I hear Misty grumbling something about her parents, but I couldn't make out what. I decide not to push it. "Sounds good, Forrest. See ya," she says.
"Bye," I disconnect. I have downloaded the app. I go by typing and click on Crobat's entry. I put in my earbuds. I hope this works. "I don't know how exactly this will work."
"I think you're doing well so far," a male voice says. I look up.
"Crobat, you can understand me?" I ask.
"I could already understand you, bud. Yeesh. I didn't think Brock would resort to spying, but I can see why he's worried about Ash. Pikachu told me," Crobat replies.
"So you got caught?" I ask.
"Sorry," Crobat says.
I shake my head. "Don't be, pal. Pikachu is …the grandson of Pika and Chuchu. He's Pibu's son," I say. Crobat says nothing. "Oh, right. Way back when our dad led the gym, there were two trainers taking on the league: Adam Ketchum and Bryce Oak. They called Adam 'Red' and Bryce 'Blue' for some reason. Anyway, Red's Pikachu is nicknamed Pika and Allison Yellow's Pikachu is nicknamed Chuchu. They had one egg that they gave to Jeremy Gold and it hatched into a Pichu. At some point before his death, Pibu evolved into a Pikachu and ended up mating with an Ampharos named Sparkle. Sparkle belongs to Jasmine. She really helped me when Onix evolved into Steelix."
Crobat takes all that in. "That's good. That would also explain why Pikachu has Thunder Punch. I guess he never knew he had it. So, back to Ash," Crobat replies.
I nod and take all of that in. I look at my watch, thank Crobat and run inside, past Graveler and the twins. "Careful, Forrest," Graveler says.
"Oops," I say to the two. "Nerves," I say.
"It's okay," Billy says.
I run up the stairs to the room I share with Brock. I notice the outfit is on the bed. "Forrest! Don't listen to your music too loudly," mom scolds. She doesn't know. …and that's a good thing.
"Yes ma'am," I say. She smiles.
"I ironed it for you and everything. I think you'll like it," she says. I shrug.
I take out the earbuds and go to my side of the room. Well, she's right. It's a pair of gray slacks. To the right is a light green polo shirt that has a note on it.
"I didn't think you'd want a tie. The loafers are under your bed and have been in this family for ages. You don't know what I had to do to convince your mother to not give you a tie. Hope you like it, son," I read the note. I waste no time in changing my clothes. I run a comb through my hair before going back downstairs then outside.
I see Misty's navy blue Honda Civic pulling up. I open the back driver side door and sit down. "Hey Forrest," Gary says.
"Hi Gary," I say back and buckle my seatbelt. "Hi, Misty. Thanks for driving."
She shifts the gear. "No problem. Honestly, I don't know why they have to rotate which city a meeting is held in," she says somewhat agitated.
Gary scoffs. "It's not like it's our normal champ's idea. I mean, he'll just pick a random city from time to time, but Lance is just …I don't know with these meetings," he says.
'Normal champ?' "What do you mean? Lance is our normal champ," I say. Misty and Gary are silent. "Right?"
Misty looks at me through the rearview and Gary pulls down the visor in front of him. He also looks at me. (10)
"Not necessarily, Forrest. I think he's old enough, don't you, Sakuma?" Gary asks, teasingly. (11)
I guess they're hiding something. "Yeah," Misty replies. "You see, Forrest," she begins.
(Five minutes later)
I don't know what to think, but here we are in Vermilion City. It was really interesting seeing the other leaders outside of Misty and Gary. Lt. Surge was talking to Erika and Sabrina to a boy with blond hair and gray eyes.
"Who's he?" I asked. Misty shrugged. Gary knew.
"That's Blaise," he whispered. "Blaise used to be in Team Magma, but his background his really complex. Sapphire told me."
I thought I'd introduce myself, but Bruno cleared his throat. The meeting was about to begin and Lance called it to order.
"As you can see, we have two 'newcomers' to the scene. Why don't you boys take care of your own introductions?" Lance said.
I stood up and went first. "As some of you guessed, I'm Brock's brother. My name is Forrest and I've been leading Pewter's gym since my brother decided to traverse Sinnoh and after I beat my dad in a battle. Before I became the gym leader, Brock gave me his Onix, Geodude and Crobat. Under my ownership, Onix evolved into a Steelix and Geodude is now a Graveler. My signature Pokémon is my Rhyperior, which I've had ever since Brock gave him to me as a Rhyhorn. Uh, that's all I have to say. I'm not good at speeches," I said before sitting down and Gary patted my back, pretty much telling me I did good. (12)
Blaise wore a red collared shirt with black slacks. He stood up and took a breath. "My name is Blaise and I've taken the position of gym leader from my grandfather. Grandpa died a few weeks ago in his sleep. I used to be in Team Magma, but that's only because they took me away when I was little. I've inherited his Ninetales, Magmar and Rhydon. In addition, I have a Slugma, Magcargo and a Houndoom. ...I'm not too good at speeches either, but it feels good to be back in Kanto," he said. (13)
The meeting was pretty boring after that.
(Back at the Ketchum residence)
Delia returned from her meeting with Anabel and Brandon. Maybe she could get them to help Ash out of his funk, but not right now.
Certain scents woke up Ash and Pikachu who raced each other down the stairs. Ash picked up a TV guide and saw that there was a special from each region on the following channels: channel 056 for the Orange Islands. Channel 066 for the Sevii Islands, which Ash had heard stories of as a young boy. Channel 196 for Johto and Ash remembered beating Gary. Channel 258 made Ash think of his journey through Hoenn and meeting May and Max. Channel 447 was for Sinnoh, the region Ash had gotten higher than any of the other main leagues. He couldn't help but wonder how Dawn, Barry and Nando were doing. Channel 538 was for Unova and Ash had bittersweet memories of the place. Lastly, channel 674 covered Kalos and Ash didn't know anything about the region.
Mr. Mime watched Ash inhale his food. 'Oh, Ash. I really wish you'd come clean and tell us what's going on,' the Barrier Pokémon thinks to himself.
Revision date: 12/24/16
Well, that looks better than it did before, now didn't it? If you didn't read the original, don't sweat it. Rundown time and I'll see you at the A/N!
I agree with my friend Dragon Soul94 and please check his stories out. We agree on the fact that one of Ash's Tauros should stand out from the others and is therefore his lead Tauros. I'd imagine that Leaf Blade is a sharp move and I know there's Razor Leaf, but I thought an up-close injury would seem more …dramatic. Charizard stayed at the lab because something was telling him that something was going on with Ash.
Reminder: Kitty is Yellow's nickname for her Butterfree.
(1) Regardless of the story, yes, that is my head canon. Brandon is from Pewter City, Kanto. This doesn't mean he knows Brock and his family. He knows Flint, but I head canon that when he meets Brock, he really doesn't put too much thought into it.
(2) What Kelly learned from Emerald was how to determine where Pokémon who were released were from. Also, Kelly is still slightly ornithophobic and that [for those of you who may not be aware, Green is afraid of birds, but she overcomes it for the most part] she still has it, but not as severely as she did when she was younger. Also, Blue's Pidgeot would be with his family and is likely bigger than Ash's.
(3) The lab was still a mess? Will Fearow become one of Ash's Pokémon? Let me explain that little head canon: in the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga, Ash catches the Fearow while its anime counterpart is still a Spearow.
(4) Yeah. Ash didn't tell his mom about being possessed by an ancient king. Keep in mind that this is Ash we're talking about. Ash is very reckless like his father indeed. Maybe more than, if that's even possible.
(5) It's one of those clocks that appears to be on a piece of paper and usually has two red arrows; the hour and minute hand, to be exact. What time it is changed to is up to your imaginations.
(6) Why would Gary be leading the gym? Well, if you've already read this chapter and you're rereading it to make sense out of it, you know why because you've likely read ahead. If that is not the case, leave your guess in the reviews below.
(7) It's one of those clocks that appears to be on a piece of paper and usually has two red arrows; the hour and minute hand, to be exact. What time it got changed to is up to your imaginations.
(
(8) Why would Gary be leading the gym? Well, if you've already read this chapter and you're rereading it to make sense out of it, you know why because you've likely read ahead. If that is not the case, leave your guess in the review box below.
(9) I made this bit up. I know that it's probably more likely for Phanpy and Donphan to have this. Also, the only things that are true about that (the bit about Forrest's then Rhyhorn, that is. That's for the stories that tie into the "His Distance" canon and HD itself) is Brock catching Forrest's Rhyhorn and that he left the Orange Islands on a boat.
(10) If you've driven/rode in the front passenger seat [in a car], then you'll know that there's something called a visor. Most of them have mirrors and if positioned correctly [and depending on the height of the individual{s} in the back], one can see through it that way.
(
(11) I was going to have Gary call Misty 'Red' like he did in the episode[s] that he did. As I said in number 8, you'll know why I did that. You'll find out [in a future chapter] why I did what I did with Misty's surname.
(1
(12) Fun fact: in Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver [when you first face him], Brock has a male Rhyhorn on his roster. In the Type Expert/World Leaders tournament in generation 5, he has a Rhyperior that can be either gender and in Stadium 2, round 2, Brock has a female Rhydon. I head canon that Brock gave Forrest his Rhyperior as a Rhyhorn.
(13) I'm probably going to be working on Blaise's backstory this year, too. One of my collaborators already knows it. …and I did spoil some of it.
Date of revision: Christmas Eve 2016
Date of second revision: 3/30/2017
What I revised: a lot. I replaced the gym leader's name entirely for Cinnabar Island and I replaced the Viridian gym leader.
What I revised in the second revision: added the bit about the Zubat line and corrected Yellow's first name. I will spill this: I am experimenting with Yellow's first name and am trying different things. So, for right now, Allison is not her official name for any future fics (be they rewrites or not) …if I choose it, I'll say so. Fixed a few errors that I didn't even notice (I'm only human, after all) and yeah. That's about it.
A/N: Well, that's squared away. I only have one more chapter to rewrite in this story; I think. I'm not so sure right now. Crobat didn't find anything last chapter, so Forrest tried something new. …Just go with it, okay?
R and R, F and F, vote and ask. Bye!
``Eagle
PS Happy holidays to all! (Hey, April 1 is coming up and I think that there are some unofficial holidays between then and Easter)