A/N: Hello again, everyone! I'm going to do today's update just a little bit early, since I'll be attending an annual Christmas Eve party later on. Thanks for everyone who reads/reviews/favorites the story! And to Jane Hawthorne, yes, that's basically what it is. I don't plan on this being short by any means, and getting everyone together is going to be an ordeal. I hope it's not moving to slow for anyone! I'm trying to keep it as enjoyable as I can!
Also, for those of you who haven't seen it in my profile, I am looking for a beta reader! I had one who was interested, but I haven't heard from him, and that was pretty =[. So if you're a beta reader and at all interested, please let me know! I reaaalllyy need an outside opinion on this thing!
Anyway, here you go!
In Goldenrod, Ash and Mason stopped nearby to check the map and see what sorts of trainer stores were nearby. Ash's face lit up as he saw something only a few blocks away.
"Wow! They built a battle tower!" He laughed in excitement, "Whaddya say Pikachu, should we brush the dust off and show everyone how we made it to the semi-finals in a regional tournament?"
"Which one was that?" Mason asked, startling Ash. Ash had all but forgotten him in his excitement.
"Oh, the Lily of the Valley in Sinnoh!" Ash looked toward the clouds, reminiscing. "One round away from the finals…but we did our best! Right, Pikachu?" Pikachu gives a "Pi" and nods in agreement. He turns back to Mason, "Why don't we head to the battle tower? I bet we'd do great in the double battle line-ups!"
"Sounds like fun, let's go!" The four of them run down the streets, ducking and weaving between passerby's. After turning one last corner, the battle tower is right there in plain sight. The entrance is extremely crowded, but Mason and Ash manage to squeeze their way through into the building and up to the sign-in desk.
"Alright, you sign us up, I'm gonna go call Professor Oak." Ash darted off toward the phone booths.
"Eh-Wait, why?" Mason yelled after him.
"I need my pokemon!" Ash yelled without turning around.
"Welcome to the battle tower!" The woman behind the deck startled Mason, who was still dumbfounded by Ash. "Here you may register to battle other trainers. Which battle-type would you like to enter?"
"Double battle, please."
"You will require a partner. We can match you randomly or you can provide your own, which would you prefer?"
"Oh, I've got one. He's just getting ready."
"Wonderful! Name and hometown, please?" The lady began typing away at the computer in front of her.
"Mason from Saffron City."
"And the name of your partner?"
"Ash from Pallet Town."
"Will you be renting pokemon or providing your own?" The woman nearly cut off the end of Mason's previous sentence. He turned around and noticed quite the line forming behind him and gave an embarrassed chuckle, pretty sure he had just cut in front of more than a few of them.
"Eh, we have our own. Is that all?"
"One moment!" The lady said in a high-pitched tone. She produced two neon-green rectangular passes. "These carry all of your necessary information. Proceed up the escalator in the center of the building and consult the map for further directions. Thank you!" The woman smiled and Mason noticed she seemed unusually happy for having such a busy job.
"Thanks, ma'am." He and Noone walked over to the phone booth as Ash was just finishing his phone call. "So who'd you pick?"
"I had the professor send me Snorlax and Noctowl." He held up his pokeballs and showed Mason before attaching them to his belt. "And, of course, Pikachu."
Mason handed him his pass, "We're supposed to go up the escalator and check the map, I guess."
"Well what are we waiting for?" Ash took off for the escalators with Mason trailing close behind. To his dismay, the escalators were extremely crowded with trainers leisurely riding, and he had to stand and wait until they reached the top.
Practically running in place, Ash bolts off of the escalator as soon as it reaches the top and runs to the map. Mason follows close behind, trying not to let him out of his sight. After a few seconds of checking the map, Ash takes off down a hallway to the left. There are a few trainers ahead of them in line, so they take their spot and begin waiting.
"I can't wait! It'll be great to be battling again, right Pikachu?" Pikachu cries out and hops onto the floor and holds his fist up. "Yeah! That's the spirit!"
Behind him, Mason just chuckles. "You really enjoy pokemon battles, don't you?"
"I'm gonna be the best some day! The greatest pokemon master that ever lived!" Pikachu hops back up on his shoulder and cries out in agreement. "It's been a while since I've done any real battling, aside from yesterday. What better way to warm up?"
Ahead of them, two trainers hand their passes to the men standing in front of the door. They run them through their computers and hand them back, opening the doors for the trainers to step through. "Just a little bit longer…" Ash pulls his pokeballs off of his belt and holds them in front of him. "Get ready guys, I know it's been a while, but I know you won't let me down." He smiles and puts them back on his belt.
A few minutes later Ash and Mason are standing, waiting to be called up. "Trainers, step forward." They do as their told and hold their passes up. The men take them and scan them like the trainers before them. After a few seconds of typing, they hand the passes back and the doors in front of them open. "Good luck to you."
They step through the doors and onto a platform. The doors close behind them and the platform they're standing on begins rapidly ascending. Ash and Mason both look up and watch the floors go by as they get closer and closer to an opening. Light shines through and suddenly their showered in spotlights, standing in a large arena across from their competitors. Surrounding the arena is a giant stadium filled with spectators whooping and cheering.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our next round will now commence." Hearing the announcer, the crowd cheers even louder. "Challengers Ash from Pallet and Mason from Saffron will take on defending champions Lars and Samantha from Olivine. This match will be a 2-on-2 battle with each trainer using only one pokemon. The match will be decided when either team's pokemon are both unfit for battle. Trainers, select your pokemon!"
Across from them, Lars sends out a Charizard and Samantha sends out a Marshtomp. "It seems as though the dynamic duo Charizard and Marshtomp are ready for battle again! These two gave our last trainers a tough time and earned themselves an early victory. Can our challengers handle this tag-team?"
"You ready, Mason?" Ash turned to him and pulled out a pokeball, activating it.
"You bet." Mason does the same and both trainers throw their pokeballs into the air, releasing Snorlax and Poof.
"The challengers have chosen Haunter and Snorlax. Trainers, begin the battle!" The crowd erupts in an almost deafening roar as they all jump to their feet, filled with anticipation.
"Charizard, flamethrower!"
"Marshtomp, water gun!" Almost immediately Lars and Samantha call out their attacks and their pokemon unleash a torrent of water surrounded in flames toward Snorlax.
"Poof, reflect!" Poof waves his hands and creates an invisible barrier in front of Snorlax that absorbs most of the attack. He can't sustain the ability, however, and Snorlax is hit with the remainder of the attack.
"Snorlax, go! Body slam!" With speed uncharacteristic to the large pokemon, Snorlax runs across the battlefield and throws himself into the air toward Marshtomp.
"Marshtomp, watch out!" Samantha yells to warn her pokemon. Marshtomp is frozen in his tracks at the sight of the immense pokemon flying toward it.
"Charizard, endure!" At the last second Charizard throws himself in front of the attack and braces for the impact. Snorlax comes crashing down onto Charizard, sending him back a ways. Charizard remains on his feet, still ready to battle.
"Poof, use night shade!" From back on the other side of the battlefield, Poof shoots a night shade toward the now-weakened charizard.
"Charizard, fly into the air!" The charizard does as Lars commands and takes off into the air.
"Snorlax, double-slap!" As Poof's night shade flies across the battlefield, Snorlax rushes forward toward Marshtomp with a double-slap attack. Marshtomp is still rendered immobile by the sheer size of Snorlax. The attack lands multiple times, knocking Marshtomp to the ground as Poof's night shade lands right next to it, hitting it with debris.
"Now Charizard, take down!" Alone across the battlefield, Snorlax is defenseless as Charizard barrels forward with a take down attack, knocking Snorlax back, causing him to roll back to his side of the field. Meanwhile Samantha is trying to get Marshtomp to stand back up.
"Confusion!" Mason yells to Poof and Poof lets out a powerful confusion attack that engulfs the whole arena. Both Charizard and Marshtomp receive the attack full scale, knocking Charizard down to the ground mid-flight. Unfortunately, Snorlax is also hit by the attack as he's attempting to recover from Charizard's take down and is knocked back to the ground. Every pokemon on the battlefield is knocked out aside from Poof.
"Hey!" Ash yelled, "What's the big idea?"
"Eh, sorry!" Mason waved his hands, "Didn't know that would happen!"
"This is a double battle, sometimes attacks-"
"Well, that was certainly unorthodox," The announcer cuts Ash off mid-sentence, "but with only Haunter standing, we have our new champions! Congratulations Ash from Pallet and Mason from Saffron! Please proceed to the waiting room for further instructions! Lars and Samantha, your winning streak has unfortunately come to an end, thank you for participating and we hope to see you again! Please see the front desk to exchange your battle points!"
Mason recalls Poof as Ash recalls Snorlax and they do as instructed. In the waiting room they're greeted by a very enthusiastic man. "Amazing! Stupendular! Wonderful battling! Congratulations! My name is William Dublay, overseer of the double battles, and it's my job to congratulate you personally and inform you of just how things work here. See, having beaten Lars and Samantha, you two are our newest champions! You will remain the champions until you are defeated in battle or you resign your position. Each battle you win earns you more and more prestige and, of course, more and more points. These battle points, or BP for short, can be exchanged at the front desk for any number of marvelous items from our selection!"
"Woah, cool! Did you hear that, Pikachu?" Ash turned to Pikachu whose eyes were gleaming with thoughts of all of the prizes they could win.
"Sounds awesome!" Mason's face was lit up with the same thoughts. It was the first time in a very long time that he was excited about battling. He was suddenly reminded of Noone and her dislike of most pokemon battles and turned to her. "You sure you're up for this? We don't have to battle, you know." Noone simply smiled and rubbed against his leg. "That's the spirit! It'll be fun, I promise!"
"After every match, we will pair you against new challengers," William continued, "When you are defeated you will be asked to exit and consult the front desk to exchange your battle points. Battle points reset every day, so be sure to spend them while they're hot!"
A man entered the room and approached William. "We're ready, sir."
"Ah! Great! Absolutely wondiferous!" He turned to the boys again, "Now, before you go, we can take your pokemon from the last match and allow them to rest if you wish, or you may battle with them again."
Ash handed Snorlax's pokeball to William. "Take good care of him!"
"Why not?" Mason handed Poof's ball over. "Be careful with that one, he's pretty playful."
Mason and Ash took the field once more. The crowd roared as they released their pokemon and began battling. Seven and Noctowl make short work of their opponents and earn another victory for the duo. The two of them continue with their streak, battle after battle, defeating each of the challengers, the crowd growing louder and louder each time they prepare to battle again. Six wins later, Ash and Mason find themselves in the waiting room again.
"Yyyyeah!" Ash jumps for joy as they enter the room. "Another one down! Way to go, Pikachu!" Pikachu cries out as Ash twirls him around. Mason and Noone are celebrating by playing a game of tag on the other side of the room. Soon they both take a seat and await their next match. "Undefeated for eight straight rounds! That's go to be a new record or something!"
"Even if it isn't, we're not losing any time soon!" Mason and Ash laughed. William entered the room from a door in the back.
"Absolutely superdious! You boys are on quite a roll! However, we'll be taking a short break as we prepare the new stage for the next hour. You boys are welcome to stay here in the waiting room or wander about the Battle Tower, but I would suggest you stay in the building! The changes will be made shortly and you don't want to be missing and have an automatic forfeit after such a wonderful streak!"
"Don't worry, we'll be ready!" Ash clenched his fist and turned his hat around.
"Um…" Mason looked around for a clock, "Weren't we supposed to meet everyone for lunch?"
"Uh…Oh yeah! I forgot!" Ash yelled, pulling his PokeGear out of his pocket and checking the time. "Waaaah! We're late! We gotta go! Sorry William! Come on, Pikachu!" Pikachu hopped on Ash's shoulder just before he took off out of the room, Mason following close behind.
"But wait! What about the battle?" William cried after them.
"Really sorry but we have to go! We'll be back later!" Ash yelled back, still running. They all got onto the platform and were back on the second floor before they knew it. With only a slight idea of where to go, Ash only continued running, knowing he was going to hear it from everyone about being late. Mason and Noone could only do their best to keep up, hoping they didn't get lost in the crowd.
Not too far east of Saffron in the beautiful town of Greenfield, Professor Hale and his daughter Molly are enjoying the day together by baking cookies. A knock is heard at the door and the butler opens it. Standing in the doorway are two hooded men, one wearing red and the other wearing blue.
"May I help you?" The butler asks.
"Where's Professor Hale?" One of the men demands. Before the butler can reply, the professor steps into the doorway, his daughter still in the kitchen.
"Hello gentlemen. How can I help you?" Hale said with a smile, knowing these men weren't there with any good intentions.
"Professor Hale, you once researched the mysteries of the unown, and we'd like to see all of your chronicled discoveries."
"Trust me, boys, those mysteries weren't meant to be understood. The secrets the unown wield is unlike-"
"We didn't ask for a lecture." One of the hooded men interrupts him. "Where is your research kept?"
"It's not. I destroyed it all."
The men snicker. "The boss said you'd say that." They both threw out a pokeball, releasing a crawdaunt and a houndoom. "Now, you have a lovely house here and, from what we understand, a lovely daughter." Professor Hale clenched his teeth. "It would be very unfortunate were anything to happen to either of them. Nobody wants that, do they?"
"Leave Molly out of this! She's been through enough already!"
"Then you will tell us where your research is kept." The pokemon prepared to fire off an attack. "Or there will be consequences."
Professor Hale grunted, but finally gave in, doing everything he could to protect his daughter. "Wait here…" The professor begins walking down the hallway when Molly appears.
"Who is it, daddy?" She asks, still stirring the cookie dough.
"Nobody dear, business men. I'll be back in a second, don't forget to add lots of chocolate chips!" Molly laughs and runs back to the kitchen. A few minutes later Professor Hale reappears in the doorway holding a key. He holds it up and one of the men snatches it.
"There's a warehouse. Just outside the Ruins of Alph near Violet City."
"Thanks for your cooperation, Professor. It's for the best, we promise."
As the men begin to walk away, the professor calls out to them. "If you know what's best for you, you'll find that warehouse and burn it to the ground. There are some things mankind was never meant to discover."
The two men return to their car without acknowledging the professor. He simply watches as they drive off.
"Sir…should we…do something?" The butler asks.
"No. Let's just forget this ever happened." Professor Hale shuts the door and returns to the kitchen to finish enjoying the day with his daughter. His only wish is that whoever those men were, they lack the resources to unlock the secrets he had discovered.
In the S.S. Cloud's dining hall, a rather suspicious look pair emerges wearing waiters' outfits, the woman pushing a cart. Suddenly the cloth around the cart lifts up and Meowth appears, scanning the area.
"Any sign of da twerps, yet?" He looks to both sides of the room, which is filled with passengers already. Jessie, who is disguised as a waitress, punches him in the head and shoves him back into the cart.
"Quiet, Meowth! You're going to give us away! James, have you seen-James?" She takes a look around and spots James at one of the tables taking orders. She runs up to the table and places the platter with h'ordeuvres that was sitting on the cart in the middle of the table. "Bon Appetit!" She says in a higher-than-usual tone, "Jim, could you kindly follow me? You're wanted in the kitchen!"
"But I haven't finished-" James cuts off halfway through as Meowth digs his claws into his leg. He stifles a yell, "Why of course! Be right back, folks!" Jessie pulls James around a corner and out of sight from everyone else.
"What are you doing? We're supposed to be looking for the twerps, remember?"
"But that doesn't mean we have to be bad waiters…" James looks down and twiddles his thumbs.
"It's not like we're getting paid for this! Just smile and look good for everyone and keep an eye out for the twerps! When they come in, we'll show them to a table and take their order. Meanwhile, Meowth will sneak under the table and steal their pokemon right out from under them!"
"It's fool-proof!" Meowth was poking his head out from under the cart again. Just as Jessie is about to hit him, Wobbufet pops out of his pokeball and cries out, as if agreeing with Meowth. Jessie simply clenches her teeth and recalls Wobbufet into his pokeball while Meowth slides back into the cart.
"Just don't mess up!" Jessie pushes James back out into the dining hall and waits a few seconds before following behind with the cart.
Down below, Tyrel had fallen asleep at his desk while organizing his papers which he was now drooling on. The rocking sensation of the boat was much more soothing than he had anticipated. Further down, Gary had also fallen fast asleep in his room, his umbreon curled up at the foot of the bed sleeping as well.
Max was the only one who had yet to fall asleep. He had, in fact, not even attempted to. He simply sat on his bed, remembering all of the fun he had had on adventures past. More specifically, he was remembering his time spent with Jirachi. The two of them had only spent a week together during the sighting of the millennium comet, but they would be friends forever, just like Ash had said.
It was fun to think of Jirachi, but it hurt at the same time. He was fine with knowing he would probably never see him again, but knowing he was in trouble wasn't something Max could stand thinking about. It would have been better if Max were just crazy and hearing things, but there was no mistaking the voice that called out to him the night before.
Max decides a walk would be great for getting his mind off of things. He leaves his room and finds an empty hallway, the stewardesses gone from their previous posts. He remembers Tyrel's room number from the first stewardess, though he didn't catch which one Gary was staying in. Tyrel said he had some work to get done, though, and probably wouldn't want to be bothered. There was nothing wrong with taking a lonely stroll, though, as long as he avoided anything that looked troublesome or suspicious.
Max follows his hallway back to the stairway that he came down on. Almost immediately he's lost in thought again, remembering Ash, May and Brock all laughing together. He remembers the wonderful food that Brock would prepare for them, and the tense gym and frontier battles Ash had. He remembers his sister as she was when they first started traveling, and how much she had changed by the time they split up.
Lost in his thoughts, Max simply continues walking. He walks down two flights of stairs before the stairs leading down simply stop. He remains in his own world, fantasizing about having his own pokemon and battling trainers across the world. He thinks about everything from his starter pokemon to the different gyms he would challenge.
"Hey kid!" A deep and scratchy voice calls out to him, breaking him out of his trance. He notices that he's nowhere near any of the rooms anymore, and that he's made his way to the engine room. He looks towards the direction of the voice and sees three sailors sitting around a table. "This ain't no place to be playin'!" The other two sailors laughed. "Unless you're lookin' for trouble, that is."
"Eh…" Max gave an uneasy chuckle, "No-nope, just lost. I'll be going now…"
"Hey wait!" The sailor calls out and Max stops, frozen in his tracks, "Just who do you think you are? You interrupted our break time. We don't take kindly to that." Max swallowed hard, not turning around. "What say we settle this like gentlemen, with a pokemon battle?"
Suddenly a boy appears in front of Max wearing green clothes with a pikachu on his shoulder. "That might work if any of you were actually gentlemen!" The pikachu jumped off the boy's shoulder and let out a growl. The boy knelt down in front of Max. "Are you okay?"
"Uh…yeah, I'm fine." Max turned to look at the pikachu, then back to the boy. "You know…you remind me a lot of one of my friends."
"Er…maybe now's not the best time for that. Let's get out of here." The boy and Max started to walk away.
"Hey! I haven't gotten my battle yet!" The sailor called after them. "Or do you want me to tell the captain that we've got a couple of kids down here up to no-good?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" The boy turned around and his pikachu took his place in front of him, ready to fight. "You ready, Sparky?" The pikachu cries out in agreement.
The sailor chuckles, "This'll be fun…Go Machoke!" The sailor throws a pokeball and a machoke appears, posing as it normally does. "Machoke, submission!" The machoke charges forward and lunges at Sparky.
"Sparky, agility!" Sparky suddenly starts jumping all around the room with incredible speed, causing the machoke to miss and slam into the ground. "Now, quick attack!" Sparky appears behind the machoke and slams into it, knocking back to the ground as it attempts to get back up.
"Cross chop Machoke!" The machoke turns around with his arms crossed and lunges at Sparky, who quickly jumps out of the way.
"Now Sparky, volt tackle!" Sparky charges up with electricity and slams into the machoke, knocking him back toward the sailor and knocking him out in the process. The sailor scowls at the boy as his two coworkers simply look on in astonishment. "Thanks for the battle, but we'll be going now."
The sailor recalls his machoke and continues scowling as the boys head back up the stairs. "So what were you doing down there, anyway?" The boy asks.
"I didn't realize where I was. I was a little distracted…" Max starts thinking again about being a pokemon trainer, but snaps out of it before he gets lost in one of his trances again. "Thanks so much for helping me out. What were you guys doing down there?"
"Us? Oh, Sparky loves to visit the engine room and see how everything works." Sparky gave a big "Pika!" and a smile to Max. "We go down there whenever we ride on the ferry. Come on, let's get you back to your room."
A/N: Hooray! Another old friend is back! I hope I'm keeping it interesting enough for everyone. At first I had planned on adding a bit more mystery to Ritchie's re-appearance, but couldn't really think of a way to do it. =[
Ash and Mason were dominating the Battle Tower, that is until they remembered they had a lunch appointment with the rest of the group and took off in a rushy. Professor Hale's past has come back to haunt him and he can only hope that his research is far too advanced for Team Aqua and Team Magma. Team Rocket's plans are in place as they await Max, Gary and Tyrel to enter the dining hall for lunch. What they didn't foresee is the return of the one and only Ritchie, who stepped in just in time to rescue Max from a disgruntled sailor. Will this deter Team Rocket's plans at all, or will they actually get away with the pokemon this time? And what was so important that Mason and Ash had to leave their winning streak to meet the group for lunch? Elsewhere, a peaceful town will be forever ruined by the actions of two men. Old research, old technology, old scientists: What could Giovanni possibly be planning with all of these things? There's only one way to find out! Stay tuned!
P.S. Happy Holidays. =] Stay safe!