Authors Note: So. I recently re-read all the chapters that I've put up so far, and I've noticed a trend. It seems like every time I post a new chapter, I give some sort of lame excuse as to why it's been so long since the last chapter. So, I'm going to try and do better. And stop giving excuses. I'll do my best, and hope that my best is turning out a chapter closer to once a week or every two weeks than once every two months. Like this one.

Also, thank you all for your reviews! I never expected to get over a hundred reviews on my story, and it makes me feel happy inside :D

And now, I'm going to change the pace a little. The last two chapters were action/battle oriented. This one is going to change up a bit and go back towards plot movement, back story, and character development. We will finally learn more about Ash's dad (who's first name will be revealed in this chapter!), Echo, Patrick and Jane, and the kidnapping victims. Wow, now that I list it out, it looks like it will be a long chapter. Better get to it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the brand names, books, corporations, etc. that may be mentioned in the below story. The overall plot and non-canon characters belong to me however.

ASH

Ash, Bill, and Jacky all sat in the waiting room of the small Pokecenter. It wasn't the Cerulean Pokecenter, but a private one in the building, reserved for the use of guests and occupants. Bill and Jacky were over on one side of the room, huddled together and talking quietly to each other, Jacky in shocked tones and Bill in calm ones. Ash couldn't hear what they were saying, and at the moment he didn't really care. He was more concerned with his Pokemon at the moment, being cared for by Nurse Joy and a veritable army of Chansey. He was waiting, and nothing was worse to Ash than waiting.

Eventually, Nurse Joy walked out of the back room. "Everyone's going to be fine," she announced happily to Bill and Ash. "They're all resting, and Sceptile is being thawed out next to the heater as we speak. They should all be ready to leave by this evening. Just make sure that they get plenty of rest and don't overexert themselves for the next couple days."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy," Bill said with a smile. "We'll just wait out here for them, if that's alright."

"Of course it's alright," Nurse Joy said with a smile, before turning and disappearing back through the door again.

Ash let out a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair to look up at the ceiling.

"That's an impressive Pokemon you have there, Ash."

Ash tilted his head to look at Bill, who had stood up and was making his way across the room to sit next to him. The young trainer grinned and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Pikachu is pretty amazing isn't he?"

"Amazing doesn't even begin to describe it." Bill took his seat and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, chin on his folded hands. He tilted his head sideways so that he could look at Ash. "By all rights, that Pikachu should be in a giant block of ice, or dead from the amount of electricity it was using."

Ash shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Let me put it in a different way," Bill said, trying to explain better. "Let's put some electric Pokemon onto a scale for you, with one being incredibly weak, OK?"

Ash nodded, trying to picture the scale in his head. "Let's start with the weakest electric Pokemon out there, Pichu. Let's give it a rank of, oh, 35 in terms of electrical power. That is a very low number. It's attacks will never be very strong. But, that's to be expected from what we call a 'baby' Pokemon." Ash nodded. So far, he was following Bill. "After Pichu comes Pachirisu at 45. Again, nothing spectacular. Let's jump ahead on the list a bit, though, to show you the upper limits of electric Pokemon. The top three strongest electric Pokemon are Electivire, with about a 123, Zapdos, with a single recording of 125, and Magnezone, with an average of 130. Now, these three are out of the norm when it comes to Electric Pokemon. Zapdos is extremely rare, and is not only strong, but fast, and with good defenses. Magnezone and Electivire, on the other hand, are strong, but slow."

Ash nodded his head. "Yeah, that makes sense. They trade off speed for power."

Bill smiled. "Right. Electivire is also a special case, in that it is stronger with physical attacks like Thunderpunch, than with special attacks like Thunderbolt. It falls in a special category with Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray. But that's besides the point. Now, you know where Pichu stands, with a 35. A Raichu, on average, sits around a 90. Where do you think a Pikachu stands on the scale?"

Ash thought about it for a little bit. "Well," Ash said after a moment, "I really don't know. Pikachu has beaten Raichu before, so that would put him above 90. But at the same time, Raichu are supposed to be stronger than Pikachu."

Bill shrugged. "Make a guess for me."

Ash thought for a moment longer. "About a 65, I'd guess."

"Actually, Pikachu's sit at 55. They are, in fact, just above Pachirisu in terms of power. A normal Pikachu is the third weakest electric Pokemon."

Ash blinked a couple times, thinking about that for a second.

"Your Pikachu, Ash, I would have to say, on an offhanded guess, is over 170*." Bill said this in a perfectly serious tone of voice.

Ash blinked a couple more times, not knowing how to respond. "Wait," he finally said. "You're saying that Pikachu, MY Pikachu, is not only stronger than the average Pikachu, but stronger than the average ANYTHING electric?"

"I'm saying," Bill said, "That the highest recorded power of ANY Pokemon was at the Battle Tower a couple years ago. It would appear and disappear, but when it appeared it was at 180. Before that, the highest recorded power was from an Alakazam, coming in at 152."

"Then," Ash started, "Where does that put your Walrein?"

Bill grinned. "Walrein's only at, maybe, 106."

"That doesn't make any sense. If it was at 106, and Pikachu is over 170, shouldn't Pikachu have won easily?"

"If battles were just comparing numbers, yes. But it's more than that. I fought that Alakazam, once, with Walrein. Knocked it out."

"You're confusing me."

"It's strategy, move sets, and terrain just as much as stats or anything else. The trainer was cocky, let me fight in my choice of terrain. So, I picked one that was advantageous to Walrein. On land he may be clumsy, but nothing can catch him in the water. And there are also move powers as well."

"Move power?"

"Yeah. Ice Beam comes at a 95. So does Thunderbolt and Flamethrower. Psychic ranks at a 90."

Ash nodded. "What about that move you used, Sheer Cold?"

"Sheer Cold is a special case. It's unranked. There are three attacks that are unranked, and will automatically knock out your Pokemon, if they hit. Sheer Cold, Fissure, and Horn Drill." Bill waited for Ash to pick up on what he was saying.

Finally, he did. "Wait, so Pikachu's Thunderbolt outranked an unranked attack?"

Bill nodded once. "I don't think you can call that a 'Thunderbolt', or even a 'Thunder', but yeah."

"Wow."

"Wow is right. It's never happened before. You, my friend, have just made history."

Ash took a deep breath and leaned forward, speechless.

"I'll let that sink in for a bit. For now, I have to hold up my end of the bargain. I owe you some answers, don't I?"

Ash nodded. "Yeah. I need to think up my questions first, though."

"Take your time. Let me start with stuff I was going to tell you anyways, alright?"

Ash cocked his head to the side. "Like what?"

"Like why I asked your last name. Like why Tom was acting funny." Bill leaned closer. "Like the only other trainer that beat my Walrein."

Ash looked at Bill funny. "What do any of those things have to do with each-" He stopped mid-sentence, eyes growing wide. "No," he whispered.

"Yes," Bill responded. "Let me tell you about your dad. Let me tell you about Liam Ketchum..."

LIAM KETCHUM

"All right everyone, let's call it a day." Liam turned around, looking at his traveling companions. It was evening now in Sinnoh. The day before they had landed the stolen plane somewhere on Mt. Coronet, and had made their way down to the foot of the eastern side of the mountain. They woke up early the next morning, and walked all day. If he was any judge of direction, they were only another days march away from Celestic Town.

Everyone was out of breath and sweating, swaying unsteadily on their feet. Daisy Waterflower promptly fell face first onto the grass. "Oww," she mumbled, but remained motionless on the ground. "I'm never leaving Cerulean again. I can't feel my legs."

"It's not like we wanted to leave in the first place, Daisy," Lily panted as she sat down next to her immobile sister. "We were kidnapped, remember?"

"Don't remind me," Violet responded, leaning against a tree, catching her breath. "I don't want to remember. Although, as far as kidnappings go, it was pretty civil."

"Oh, so you've been kidnapped before?" Lola Slate snapped. "And this was civil in comparison? Being separated from everyone and everything you love? Your Pokemon taken to only God knows where, and you being flown halfway across the world, and you find it CIVIL?" Her voice rose to a shriek towards the end of this. "If I could move I would slap you, you insolent little-"

"Lola, that's enough," Flint Slate cut in. He stumbled over to where the woman was sitting. "We're back together now, and that's all that matters."

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Flint!" was all she managed to say before bursting into tears. Which set off a chain reaction of crying and hugging from the rest of the Slate children, with the exception of Forrest, who just joined in the hugging.

Liam groaned. He had been hoping they were done with the crying, but he had just been proven wrong. He took a deep breath and sighed, eying everyone again. The Waterflower sisters were about to drop where they stood. Well, the other two were. Max, Forrest, and the other children seemed to be alright, having the boundless energy of young people. Lola and Flint weren't in much better condition than the Waterflowers. Norman had kept up fine, but Caroline and Johanna had struggled, unused to the exercise. And, surprisingly enough, Deliah was perfectly fine.

What a woman I married, Liam thought to himself as he set down his pack. He pulled out his Pokeballs and released all of his Pokemon to help him set up camp. "Alright, guys," he said to his assembled friends. "You know what to do." They all nodded and went about their normal tasks for setting up camp. Scyther disappeared into the surrounding forest to gather firewood, while Infernape took to the trees to collect Berries. Electivire, Gallade, and Weavile went about clearing out areas to sleep, and Leafeon went to find water.

Liam set himself to making a fire pit and starting to prepare dinner. With all of the Pokemon helping, everything was ready in a remarkably quick time, with a relaxed efficiency that spoke of having done the same tasks over and over. Even having to prepare for more people than usual didn't add much time to the wait. In no time at all, everyone was huddled around the fire eating a bowl of stew. "So," Liam said into the silence. "How is everyone doing?" As one, everyone turned to glare at him. "Alright, stupid question."

"Um, excuse me?" Lily asked, raising her hand in the air like she was still in school, waiting to be called on. "I have a question for you."

"Alright, what can I do for you miss..."

"Waterflower. Lily Waterflower."

Liam smiled and nodded once. "What's your question, Lily?"

"Well," she began, "I think I speak for most of us when I ask, who exactly are you?"

Liam took another spoonful of his stew. "I'm sorry," he said, putting down his bowl. "In all the rush, I never had a chance to properly introduce myself." He stood up and looked at everyone once in the eye. "My name is Liam Ketchum, husband of Deliah, father of Ash, and agent of Echo." He took a bow, smiling crookedly. "And, your savior."

All was quiet. And then it was interrupted by a laugh. Liam turned towards the source of the laugh. "Damn it, Norman, can't you just give me my moment?"

"I'm sorry," Norman chuckled. "I couldn't help it. Please, go on."

Liam sat back down next to his wife, frowning. "You ruined it now. Jerk."

"I'm sorry, everyone," Norman said, addressing the group. "Liam's a bit of a drama queen. He likes to make big impressions."

Liam muttered something under his breath and rolled his eyes.

"Oh relax you big crybaby," Norman scolded Liam. "You'll get your chance to talk."

Daisy raised her hand next. "Um, yeah, like, I'm Daisy. Do you know why we were kidnapped? And by who?"

Liam nodded. "Yes, yes I do." Liam picked up his bowl and took another spoonful. "My former best friend kidnapped you, because he doesn't like Ash."

"Oh boy," Norman muttered under his breath.

Liam glared at Norman until Deliah patted his knee. "Just ignore him, dear," she said softly. "We've got time. Why don't you give us a little entertainment with the meal?"

He took another spoonful and set the bowl down again. "So," he said to everyone. "Do you want to hear a little story?" The little kids in the group perked up at this. "A story about a man, who started on a Pokemon journey, traveled the world, made friends, fell in love, and went on to do amazing things?" The children gathered closer, waiting to hear the story. "A story filled with action, romance, and a hint of tragedy.

"A story about me.

"As you know, my name is Liam Ketchum. I was born on the foothills of Mt. Silver, just inside the Johto region. When I was ten years old, I left my home to begin my Pokemon journey with Sneasel, who is Weavile now. That is the point where I will begin the story.

"Now,times were different back then than they are today. Granted, not so very different, but different nonetheless. Some of the things you know today, and the people you know today, weren't around. Of course, Nurse Joys across the world were the same, and Officer Jenny's too. And all the major gyms were in the same place too. But the leaders were different, the people were different. And it was amazing.

"Now, as I'm sure most of you know, traveling isn't quite the same when you're by yourself. You get lonely out there without people to talk to. Friends are paramount, to stave off the boredom. Fortunately, it wasn't too long until I met a friend. I was traveling on the road between Cherrygrove and Violet Town when I heard someone crying by their self. I followed the sound of the crying...

FLASHBACK

"Hey," a young Liam said, wandering around in the tall grass, Sneasel at his side. "Where are you? Are you okay?"The sound of the crying cut off abruptly, and there was a ruffle in the grass. "Hello?" he called out again, walking through the tall grass to the moving patch.

Parting the grass cautiously, he found a girl, about his age, sitting in the grass, huddled in a ball. "Are you okay?" Liam asked again, concerned.

The girl sniffled. "No," she finally said. "I'm lost, and I don't know where to go, and there are icky bug Pokemon all over the place, and I'm scared, and...and..and...WAHHHHH!" She burst into tears again.

This was way out of Liam's area of expertise. He had no idea how to even begin comforting a girl. He crouched down next to her and patted her back. "Um, it's okay. Everything will be, er, fine."

The girl stopped crying again and looked over at him, tears in the corner of her eyes. "Really? You think so?"

Liam smiled and nodded. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I'm going to be a Pokemon Master, isn't that right Sneasel?"

The ice Pokemon looked at Liam skeptically, before finally giving a slow nod.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Liam mumbled at the Pokemon, rolling his eyes. "You're a true friend."

The girl giggled at the exchange. "You're kind of funny," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes before standing up. "Do you think you can show me how to get home?"

Liam stood up and nodded. "Absolutely I can. I have a map in my bag, and I have an awesome sense of direction." At that, Sneasel burst out laughing, rolling on the ground in hysterics. "No one asked you!" Liam shouted at the black Pokemon. He turned back to the girl. "Where do you live?"

"Violet town," she said, watching the Sneasel recover from its fit of laughter.

"No way, that's where I'm going!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm going to challenge the gym leader there and get the badge. Me and Sneasel are going to get it easy." Liam smiled at the girl. "By the way, My name is Liam. What's yours?"

"Deliah," she said shyly.

"Well, follow me Deliah," Liam said, starting to walk through the grass back towards the road. "And don't worry about any bug Pokemon. Me and Sneasel will take care of them too."

"Sneasel must be really strong to be able to do so much," Deliah said shyly, looking at the small Pokemon. "I mean, it is kind of small."

"Yeah, she's a little on the small side, even for Sneasel, but she's really fast, isn't that right?"

As if to prove the statement, Sneasel zoomed ahead of them, kicking up a wind with her speed, and stopped a hundred yards away, leaning against a tree, waiting for them to catch up. Liam rolled his eyes. "Sneasel likes to show off whenever she can," he told Deliah.

"No," Deliah said. "She's just proud of herself."

Liam shrugged, not really knowing how to continue. They walked for a moment in awkward silence. "So," Liam started. "Do you have any Pokemon?"

ASH

"The first time I saw your dad, he was competing in the Silver Conference," Bill was saying. "He had collected all of the Johto badges, and wanted to make a name for himself in the Pokemon world. I was an observer, watching all the trainers."

"You weren't competing?" Ash asked.

Bill shook his head. "No. By that time, I was done with competitive battling. I was there as a talent scout, for the organization I work for. I'll tell you about that later. It was my job to find talented trainers who might be interested in a specific line of work. Your dad had a flair about him and the way he battled. He drew the eye, and made you want to root for him. And most of the time, he found some impossible way to pull out a win. In short, he was the kind of trainer I was looking for. He made it into the top 16, and onto my short list of trainers to watch. For a trainer just starting, that's very impressive. From that point on, whenever Liam's name came up, we had people watching him."

"Who, exactly, was watching him?"

"The group is called Echo," Bill told him. "We're a psuedo-government, paramilitary organization. We do the things that the military and the police aren't allowed to do. A lot of it could be considered 'illegal,' but most of the politicians support what we do, and keep us quiet and out of trouble. Occasionally we'll have someone who doesn't like how we handle things and try to use us as the bad guy in their campaigns. They don't usually get elected.

"Anyway, we were watching him. He was still untested, still new, but he had a lot of promise. His Sneasel was impossibly fast, and he was an adaptive battler, never sticking to something if it didn't work. He was resourceful. But most of all, he had something to prove, to himself, and to someone else."

"Who?" Ash asked.

Bill smiled at Ash. "Nothing spurs a man to greater heights than having a woman by his side," he answered. "Isn't that right, Ash?"

"Huh?"

"Let me ask you something. How hard do you try at anything, if its just you working on it by yourself."

"I work pretty hard."

"Now how hard would you work at the same thing if, say, Misty was watching you?"

"Oh," Ash said, understanding, blushing a little.

"Yeah. Your dad was trying to impress the girl who would go on to become your mom. The two of them actually met very early on his journey. But that's a story for another time. In the Silver Conference that year, there were a total of four names that made it onto my list. You've probably heard of a few of them. Your father, Liam. Koga, the Gym Leader, who was apprenticed under Pryce at that time. Bruno, the Elite Four member, just starting. And last, a young trainer named Giovanni Bugiardini. Liam and Giovanni figured to be each others rival. They both had very different battling styles, and different training philosophies. Liam lost to Giovanni, who then lost in the next round. Their paths, though, crossed each others time and time again. For a while though, it was the same path."

LIAM

"That was a bitter pill I had to take that day. That wasn't the first time I had fought Giovanni, like I told you earlier. It wasn't the last time either. But it was the first time I lost to him. I went into the battle cocky and assured. I figured he would be the pushover he had been to me before, the small hop to the next round. I was dead wrong.

"I was inconsolable for the rest of the day. Just ask Deliah, she was there. My defeat made me take a long, hard look at myself. I asked myself what I was going to do next. Do I continue? Do I give up? Will I overcome the defeat? Obviously, I did, but for a while I wasn't sure. My world had been turned upside down. But I gained respect for Giovanni that day."

Liam paused for a moment there, reminiscing the past. He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. "Sorry about that."

"No worries, dear," Deliah said, patting his knee again.

Violet took the brief pause to ask a question. "What does the past have to do with what's going on now?"

"Weren't you listening?" Daisy asked her sister. "His old best friend is behind all this. He's telling us about him, and how he went from friend to enemy."

"Oooohhh. Okay. So who is it?"

"I'm thinking it's this Giovanni guy, cuz-"

Liam cleared his throat. "Hi. How you doing? Can I tell the story please?"

The two girls looked shamefaced. "Sorry," they mumbled.

"It's okay. So," Liam started again. "I had made up my mind on what I was going to do. I was going to keep traveling, and get stronger..."

FLASHBACK

"So what are you going to do now, Liam?" Deliah asked quietly.

Liam took off his cap and rubbed his hands through his hair. "Well, you know, there's Hoenn not to far away. I was thinking I'd go there. You know, meet new people, fight new gyms, compete in their League. Kind of like starting new, where no-one knows me."

"Oh," Deliah said, sounding disheartened. "What about Kanto? That's practically next door."

Liam shook his head slowly. "No, that's too close. I want to go abroad. REALLY abroad. Go to Hoenn and Sinnoh, and save Kanto for last before trying in Johto one more time."

"Oh." Deliah was quiet for a while.

"Deliah, what's wrong?"

She looked up and smiled. "Nothing's wrong. I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun out there."

Liam was confused. "What do you mean? You'll be having fun too. You are coming with me, right?"

Deliah shook her head, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "No, I won't be. My parents won't let me go that far from home."

Liam didn't know what to say. "Oh," he said finally, lamely. He was torn. Would he go away, and leave behind his best friend, or would he stay and change all his plans. "Why won't they let you go?"

"I don't know. They're parents. They don't give me a reason."

Liam thought for a moment, and then put his cap back on his head. "But Kanto's not to far?"

Deliah smiled faintly. "Nope."

"Alright then. That decides it. We're going to Kanto."

"Really?" Deliah said, joy coloring her voice.

Liam smiled. "Really."

"Mind if I come along?"

Startled, Liam whirled around. It was Giovanni. "You're going to Kanto too?" Liam asked dubiously.

He nodded. "Yeah. I hear there's some pretty good trainers out that way. Plus, it's a different League, and different Gyms." He shrugged. "If I learned anything, it's that I still have a long way to go before I'm the best."

Liam nodded. "You and me both."

"So, mind if I join you?"

Liam looked to Deliah.

"Sure you can come," Deliah said with a smile. "The more the merrier."

LIAM

"...And so the three of us traveled through Kanto. Me and Giovanni would flip a coin to decide who would battle the Gym Leader first, and then we'd alternate challenges. I remember, we stayed in one city for almost a month before we beat the leader."

"Which one?" Norman asked.

"It was this older guy up north. Some of you probably heard of him." Liam smirked at the Waterflower sisters. "His name was Tigridia."

The girls gasped. "You fought gramps!" Daisy exclaimed.

"And you both beat him?" Violet yelled.

Liam nodded. "Like I said, it took about a month before we left Cerulean. How is he, anyways?"

"He's doing fine," Lily said. "We talk to him twice a month. Since he retired from the gym, he spends his time traveling around. Last we heard, he was in Hoenn somewhere."

"Really? I may have to track him down one of these days. Anyways, he was actually our last gym badge. And a month in one place puts all sorts of strain on relationships. It was then that I found out about 'the kiss'..."

FLASHBACK

Liam slammed Giovanni against the wall. "What the hell?" Liam yelled , holding onto Giovanni's collar. "How could you do this to me?"

Giovanni pried Liams hands off of his shirt. "Back off," Giovanni replied. "What's the big deal anyways? It was just a kiss."

"Yeah, a kiss with the girl that you KNEW I liked."

"And you were going to make a move...when, exactly?"

Liam just glared at him. "I was going to after I won the League."

Giovanni rolled his eyes. "Do you really think that was going to happen? We barely beat this last gym leader. How do you think we're going to fare against the rest of the challengers? Against the Elite Four?"

"We won't know until we go up against them."

"Be realistic, Liam." Giovanni started walking around him, like a tiger circling its prey. "We still have miles to go before we stand a chance against them. They're in a whole different league than us. We could be training for another ten years before we're even close to their level. Are you really going to wait that long?"

Liam continued his glare. "Just watch," he whispered. "I'm going to win this time around."

Giovanni laughed once. "You really think that?"

Liam nodded.

Giovanni shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. You worry about your Pokemon, and I'll worry about lonely little Deliah." He started walking away. "And who knows?" he said over his shoulder. "Maybe next time I'll get more than a kiss."

Liam watched Giovanni as he walked away, saying nothing. He finally turned to the wall and punched it. Hard. The pain was reassuring. And it was a distraction from the pain in his heart.

LIAM

"Giovanni left the next morning," Deliah whispered into the silence. "Liam and I went to the Indigo Plateau Conference together, but it was...awkward. We didn't speak much, and when we did, it usually ended in a fight." She looked over at her husband. "I remember that I cried myself to sleep almost every night, thinking how much of an idiot I was."

Liam pulled her into a hug. "No, I was the one who was wrong. I was just being jealous and mad, when I didn't have a right to be."

Deliah closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. "Anyways, that was the past. And it's not even the worst thing that happened."

Liam furrowed his brow, looking down at her.

"I'll remind you when it gets closer. Continue."

"So," Liam said carefully. "I went to the Indigo League Conference...

ASH

"It was easy to keep track of Liam and Giovanni after the Silver Conference. They traveled together all throughout Kanto."

Ash nodded, listening to the story.

"They stumbled a little towards the end, at the Cerulean Gym, but they made it through. They had a little falling out though, just before the Conference. My intel at the time had no clue as to why, but I found out later that it was because of your Mom.

"Then the conference came around. Your father and Giovanni faced each other in the quarter-finals. This time, Liam won. It was a spectacular battle, though. Liam actually made it through the first of the Elite Four at the time, before he was beaten."

Bill paused there.

"What happened next?" Ash asked, engrossed in the story.

"Well," Bill said. "Then they all went separate ways. Giovanni stayed in Kanto, traveling from city to city and training with anyone who was willing. Liam went to Hoenn, trying for that Conference, and Deliah went home. As far as I know, they didn't keep in touch.

LIAM

"Basically, I was being immature. I was four Badges in before I realized how much of an idiot I was being. The gym leader was going on about the fire of passion, how the flames continued to burn even if you weren't there to tend them. The second after I got that badge, I went to a Pokecenter and called up Deliah."

Deliah picked up the story there. "I remember, my mom picked up the phone then. There you were, covered in so much ash and soot you looked like a chimney sweep, and there was a little flame smoldering on your cap. She looked over at me and said 'This was the Liam you've been talking so much about?' And I said 'He looks better when he's clean.' We talked for hours that night. My dad was rather upset about the phone bill that month, as I recall. Every time you were in a Pokecenter, you'd call and tie up the phone for the rest of the night."

Liam shrugged. "Yeah, well, what can I say? I was in love, even if I didn't know it. Anyways, the next day I started to try and get back in contact with Giovanni. You know, make peace with him. About a week later, I finally managed it. We both apologized, and kept in touch. All in all, I was rather surprised on how smoothly it went over. So the three of us started to reconnect, reforming our old friendship. It was a funny thing, actually. Three people, in three regions, maintaining a long-distance friendship like that. Me in Hoenn, making my way through to the Ever Grande Conference. Giovanni in Kanto, making a name for himself as the trainer to beat."

"And me in Johto, learning how to do chores," Deliah chimed in. "As soon as my mom saw how much I liked you, she said to me 'Well, it looks like I'm going to have to start teaching you how to cook and clean and be a proper wife.'"

"She did not," Liam said in disbelief. "Your mom? She's the most feminist woman I've ever met."

"Hard to believe, right?"

Liam shook his head, chuckling. "Your mom's a crazy old woman," he said.

Norman cleared his throat, bringing Liam back to the story. "You were saying about the Ever Grande Conference?" he said.

"Right, the Ever Grande Conference..."

ASH

"Liam made his way through the Hoenn gyms pretty easily, and landed himself in the Ever Grande Conference. He was an old hand at this by now, and whisked through the competition. He had a bit of difficulty in the finals with another young man we were watching, Norman Haruka. But Liam won out, and fought through the Elite Four, and lost to the Champion by one attack. It was then that Echo first approached him."

FLASHBACK

Liam sat in the airport, waiting for his plane to come in. He held his cap in his hands, thinking about that last battle. Sneasel was asleep in the chair next to him, calmly breathing in, and out.

Rest easy, friend, Liam thought. We'll be back with more friends soon. Not two seconds after the Conference was over, Liam had decided that he was going to surprise Deliah by visiting her in Johto. He was getting tired of the phone calls, and longed to see her in person again. It won't be long now...

A man sat down in the seat next to Liam. "That was some battle," the man said to Liam.

"Thanks," he responded, sounding lackluster. "I still lost though."

"Psh," the man snorted. "To the reigning champion of the last five years. And then only just. You should be proud of yourself."

"I should. I don't know. I'm just tired."

"What do you mean?" the man asked.

"I...It just..." Liam sighed. "I don't know."

"It feels like it's just the same stuff being repeated over and over again?" the man suggested. "Like even if you did win, nothing would really change? Like it wouldn't make any difference, no matter if you hold the title for one or twenty years?"

Liam looked over at the man. "Yeah," he said, surprised. "How did you know?"

"Because I used to be like you, not to long ago. I longed for something more than battling for a title. I wanted to fight for a cause."

The man had gone quiet. "So what did you do?" Liam finally asked.

He smiled. "I was approached by a man. He offered me a job. He told me what they did, and how they worked. He told me the rules that had to be followed, and the tasks I would be asked to do. And I took the job, and haven't looked back since."

Liam just watched the man for a long moment, his heart in his throat. "Oh," was all he said.

"So," the man stated. "I have a job opportunity for you, Liam. Would you be interested?"

Liam thought for a moment. "Maybe," he said after a while. "Do I have to make up my mind now?"

The man shook his head. "Nope. You have a couple days to think about it." He held out his hand to shake Liam's. "My name is Bill, and I'd like to talk to you about a group called Echo..."

LIAM

"Back then, the Echo training facilities were in the Sinnoh region. After I went to Johto, and spent some time with Deliah and Giovanni, who was in the area at the time, they whisked me off to the camp. It was the most brutal training I'd ever experienced. It was also there that I found the rest of the Pokemon that make up my team now."

"Not only that, but they only allowed you one, five minute phone call a week," Deliah interjected.

Liam laughed. "Yeah, I remember that. I'd split it between calling you and calling my mom, letting her know I was still alive. Ow! Deliah, you're squeezing my leg a little hard."

"Am I? Sorry."

"Oh. Now I know what you were talking about earlier."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I apologized to you for a whole month. I sent flowers and chocolates. I even went AWOL for a day and visited you. You still haven't forgiven me?"

Deliah sighed. "No, I've forgiven you. I just don't like thinking about it."

Lily was bubbling over with impatience. "What? What happened?"

ASH

"While Liam was training in Sinnoh, a new criminal organization had started to spring up in Kanto. They called themselves Team Rocket. They were doing fairly low level crimes, so we figured that it was the kind of thing for a new agent to try out, his first real mission. So we sent him to Kanto with the objectives of finding out about Team Rocket, and disabling any operatives he encountered."

"Team Rocket is that old?" Ash asked. "It doesn't seem like it."

"Well, that's because you've only really come up against two operatives, and them when they were first starting in the organization," Bill explained.

"Okay," Ash said, listening to the rest of the story.

"So, after a while, Liam finally found a fresh track of the people he was tracking down. They are among the founding members of Team Rocket. They could have set themselves up as bosses, but they liked the field work. Their names are Patrick and Jane, and they are the deadliest weapon at Team Rocket's disposal, and Team Rocket was far more cunning than any of us had guessed.

"Liam had set up a sting at their next target, a small Pokecenter outside of Mount Moon. They found out about it, and turned it on Liam, managing to get away without a hitch. The second time they met, they set him up to take the blame. The third time, they almost killed him. And the fourth time... The fourth time, they DID kill him. And since we're a shadow operation, there wasn't anything we could do about it. A man wandering by called an ambulance, and he was taken to a hospital. His heart stopped for thirty seconds on the drive over. If they hadn't been there, if a man hadn't been wandering by in a sheer stroke of luck, your father would have died in a back ally. It was then that we revised our threat assessment of Team Rocket. We kept your father on lead in the case. But, we had to find a way to surprise them. So, we faked his death.

LIAM

"Oh. My. God." Violet's stunned proclamation pierced the silence that had surrounded the group. "They faked your death?"

"Yup. For almost six months.

"Five months, three weeks and four days," Deliah interjected.

"And you still married him?" Caroline asked.

Deliah sighed. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for secret agents."

"You didn't know I was a secret agent though. You just knew I had a job that kept me supper busy."

"Still..."

"You must have a thing for super villains too, than," Liam said jokingly.

Deliah coolly looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to retract that statement, Liam?" she said in an emotionless voice.

Liam paled. "Desperately," he uttered.

Deliah nodded, closed her eyes, and took a sip of her drink. "All right," she said, lowering her cup. "I'll allow it this time."

Liam let out a relieved breath.

"But what did you mean?" Caroline asked. "What happened?"

"Well, it was one of the reasons that I came out of hiding," Liam explained somberly, trying to get through the section of the story. "After my 'death', things were...tough on Deliah. The only other real friend she had was Giovanni. So he was there for her, a shoulder to cry on. They started dating not to long after. But then, I found out who was really behind Team Rocket. The real brains of the operation. In retrospect, I could have handled it differently. SHOULD have handled it differently. But, hindsight is 20/20. As soon as I found out, I grabbed Weavile, who had evolved since, and took off...

FLASHBACK

Liam burst through the apartment door, letting his unbridled fury out on the yielding wood. It slammed open with a resounding thud, reverberating throughout the floor.

Deliah and Giovanni were curled up together on the couch, talking, a movie on pause. Well, were talking.

When the door flew open, Deliah screamed, getting as far from the door as the couch would let her. Giovanni's hand slid under the cushion, grabbing for something hidden there. Then they recognized who stood in the doorway.

"Liam?" Deliah yelled. "But I thought...You were...We were sure..." All the time, Deliah had started to tear up. She finally stopped talking. "Is it really you?" she finally choked out.

Liam nodded his head once, keeping Giovanni in his sights. Weavile was waiting down the hall for his call. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I need you to trust me right now Deliah. Can you do that?" She nodded. "I need you to get away from Giovanni."

"But why?"

"Please. Just do it."

Deliah looked back and forth between Liam and Giovanni. Finally, she rolled off the couch and took a few steps back. "Liam, what's going on?"

"Ask him," Liam said, nodding at Giovanni.

"Giovanni? What's going on? I'm so confused."

Giovanni stood up from the couch and slowly walked over to him. "I don't know, babe."

"Don't call her that, you piece of scum!" Liam yelled. "And you know exactly what's going on. Don't even try to deny it."

"I honestly don't know," Giovanni said, holding out his hands. "But I'll find out. I know people. Whatever happened to you, I can help. I just need you to calm down."

Liam took a deep breath and took a step forward. He closed the door behind him as he stepped into the room. "I am perfectly calm," Liam said to Giovanni. "And since we're two calm people, why don't you tell me about Team Rocket?"

"Team what?"

"Team Rocket. The people who tried to kill me." Liam took his shirt off, revealing scars on his body. Bullet scars. "What do you think?" Liam asked, ignoring Deliah's shocked gasp. "Like your handy work?"

Voices sounded behind Liam.

"Hey, Deliah, they were out of Snickers ice cream. Is Moose tracks oka..."

Liam whirled around to face the newcomers. To face Patrick and Jane.

Patrick dropped his grocery bag. "You!" he yelled, he and Jane reaching for something behind their backs.

Liam let out a piercing whistle. A flash of black came through the door, and Weavile came to a stop, holding two guns in her hands.

"Persian, Thunder Wave!" The attack took Liam and Weavile completely by surprise. They were completely paralyzed now, unable to do anything but watch. "You couldn't just stay dead, could you?" Giovanni whispered as he walked past him to the door. "We have to leave, now," Giovanni told Patrick and Jane.

"But shouldn't we-" Patrick started.

"Now!" Giovanni yelled, running past them. Patrick and Jane took one last look at Liam before following Giovanni, leaving Liam, Weavile, and Deliah all alone.

ASH

"He got in a lot of trouble for that stunt. And I mean a LOT of trouble. We could have stopped Team Rocket then and there if he hadn't gone barging in half-cocked like that. After then, they got a lot more careful. Patrick and Jane essentially fell off the radar. We couldn't find them for anything. Giovanni too. They are remarkably good at hiding their tracks." Bill continued his story. Ash was enraptured by it, feeling like he had never really known his father. This was a side of the man that Ash had never seen or heard of. It was fun. It was exhilarating. It was scary.

"What happened after that?"

"Well, we couldn't keep pretending that Liam was dead, and three months later we pulled him from the Team Rocket file. He was too close to it to keep a level head. Whenever we did a bust though, Liam was on the strike force. It was the least we could do." Bill rubbed his hands together. "I think that's enough for now." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a card, handing it to Ash. "Meet me here tomorrow, and we'll finish this up. I don't know about you, but I'm bushed." Bill stood up and walked out a door, waving. "Night, Ash."

Ash looked down at the card for a second, and then stood up and walked to the counter. "I think I'm ready to go Nurse Joy," he said.

She smiled. "Okay, one moment while I get your Pokemon." She disappeared into the back. A minute later, she came out with a tray of Pokeballs, Pikachu sitting on his spot.

"You ready buddy?" He asked.

Pikachu nodded. "Pika!"

"Then let's get some sleep."

With his friends in hand, he walked out the door into the night time bustle of Cerulean.

~End Chapter.