Chapter Eight: Home again
Before the others escape…
– Paul's POV –
Paul shoved the troublesome girl in the elevator before she could get in his way, the tiny girl stood with her mouth gaping but he turned around, leaving his back to her. He could hear the smaller Oak in the other room trying to wake the idiot and, before he succeeded, Paul took the opportunity to escape. He'd told them to get out and now he was under no obligation to help them further. There was no way he was travelling with them. He would go off on his own like he always did.
Since troublesome had taken the elevator Paul opted for the stairs, he was about to go down when another thought crossed his mind and he sprinted upstairs instead.
'Now would be the perfect time to find out their plan' Paul thought to himself. Making familiar twists and turns he found himself in the same hallway that he had overheard the sinful plot to get them out of the way.
'Now if I can just find the scrawny geeky one' Paul went in the direction that the two men had left in earlier. Chances were that they were long gone and in a building as large as the Indigo Plateau, Paul would ever find them. But if he was being forced to go on the run, he was going to find out why.
Crap. Where could they have gone? Paul growled in frustration. How the heck was he supposed to find out what they were up to if he couldn't even find them? He ran down to the next floor, and then the next one, each time finding that neither the fat man nor the scrawny, scared man were present. With all the time he'd wasted searching he hoped the others had gotten out by now and not been caught by the ones he was looking for. He'd come all the way down to the third level before he finally struck gold.
The scrawny man with the glasses and clipboard was sneaking into one of the many rooms. Paul quickly followed behind him. He found the man standing in front of a filing cabinet, sifting through the many records it stored.
"Hey you" Paul called to the man who froze and slowly turned around.
"y-you're not supposed to be in here" the man stuttered, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights.
"Are you?" Paul questioned, walking towards the man who backed up against the wall.
"y-yes. I- I'm a member of the pokémon league, this is a restricted area. Y-you need to leave." The man tried to sound stern but he ended his sentence with a squeak.
"I heard you and the fat old man talking" Paul said casually, like he was not bothered at all.
"I don't know what you're t-talking about" the man said faintly.
Paul, fed up with the man's stutter and with playing cat and mouse, gripped the man's shirt and held him tight against the wall.
"I heard you. Looking through Ketchum's file and talking about how he's 'the one' and how you want to get rid of Lance, Cynthia and the rest of us to get to him" Paul growled dangerously.
The man simply whimpered in response and Paul shoved him again. "Talk!" he commanded.
"M-Mifune ordered me to!" The man burst out. "He asked me to find a particular file and read it for him!"
"Why? Trainer files are open to the public during tournaments and always available to the league" Paul pointed out, his grip still tight on the man's shirt.
"He didn't want to be recorded accessing the file" the man confessed. "Every time you open a trainer file it asks for a login, he didn't want Mr. Lance to know what he was doing".
"Why? What does he want? What does he mean about Ash being 'the one'?" Paul demanded.
"The kid has a price on his head! He asked me if he was the one that was wanted!" the man wailed.
"Wanted? By who? Team Rocket? Galactic? Maybe the league itself?" Paul guessed.
"I don't know! There was a photo of the kid, taken when he wasn't looking. Mifune wanted me to be sure it was him and then find out all about him!"
Paul thought this new information over. So someone was spying on the idiot? When did it start? Before or after the incident at the Lily of the Valley conference?
"Ok then. What is the fat guy planning? How does he plan to get rid of us?" Paul asked in a low tone. The man felt danger radiating off of Paul and did not answer, simply using his eyes to indicate towards the filing cabinet.
Paul let go of the man's shirt a grabbed a handful of records out of the cabinet. Paul couldn't make much sense of them, they were a diagram of some sort. No, a blueprint. This was a blueprint for a building.
"What building is this?" Paul's voice dropped to a whisper, a feeling of dread welling up inside him.
"It's a floor plan for the Indigo Plateau, headquarters for the Pokémon League" the man responded solemnly.
"And why were you after this?"
"We needed to get the boy, but with two champions and all his friends in the way Mifune had no chance of getting to him without drawing suspicion. He wanted to plant doubt in the minds of the council about Lance's leadership. We needed him out of the way." The man explained helplessly.
"What does all that mean?! What is your plan?!" Paul shouted at the man.
He did not receive an answer however as a loud boom sounded and shook the room.
Paul's face paled and he turned to the small man in horror. He wasn't trying to get the blueprints, he was trying to put them back. "Explosives?"
"Lance saved a herd of electrode from a group of pokémon hunters the other week; he stored them here for recovery".
"You took them" Paul realized. "and left them to self detonate".
The man nodded "because it was Lance who brought them here they'll blame him".
A second boom shook the room again, sending dust to fall from the ceiling. "Where did you plant the pokémon to explode?!" Paul demanded.
"Those two were by Lance's office where he and the Sinnoh champion should be" the man looked up at Paul with manic eyes "and the rest are on floor ten".
As he spoke a series of explosions went off, making the whole building tremble. "Shi-!" Paul swore which was covered by the sound of more explosions. Debris rained down from above as bits of ceiling fell.
The man slid to the floor laughing manically. "It's too late! No more champions! No more kids!"
"You'll have killed Ash too you idiot! Didn't you need him?!" Paul shouted at the man.
The man giggled. "If he's really the one they want then he should survive! That Salamance couldn't kill him right?"
Paul yelled in anger and punched the man hard in the face, knocking him unconscious. Paul could only hope that no one was still on the tenth floor when those Electrode self destructed. They were the only ones staying at the league so he shouldn't need to worry about other random casualties.
…
The whole building was in chaos. People ran all over the place, shouting instructions as others screamed. Paul dodged around them and tried to find a way to the tenth floor. Any sense of time he had was lost as he made every attempt to weave through the rush of panicked people. How long had it been since the explosions went off? A minute? An hour? Suddenly he was pulled from the confusion into an empty space.
"Cynthia?" Paul asked in disbelief.
"Paul what are you doing here? You need to get out!" Cynthia exclaimed in worry.
"b-but the explosions! You and Lance were in his office!" Paul sputtered. It was unusual for him to be in such disarray but an event like this could throw off even the most composed of persons.
"We'd already left the office we're both fine. So are the others. No one was on the tenth floor everyone's ok." Cynthia said trying to calm him.
Paul let out a relieved breath of air. He may not be friends with the group but he didn't want them to die.
"Where are they now?" he asked seriously.
"Gone I believe. Lance saw Dawn and Brock rush out the kitchen earlier. It's safe to presume they met up with Ash and the three left together?"
Paul nodded. He may not trust Lance, but Cynthia was a different matter. "The smaller Oak should be with them too." He explained.
"Gary?" Cynthia looked caught off guard. "and I don't suppose you had anything to do with them leaving after we told you that you were under league protection?"
Paul did not answer but the blonde merely smiled. "It's a good thing you ignored us then. Does Ash know?"
"No" Paul shook his head. "Oak would have made something up. He knows nothing." Paul emphasized the last word to indicate that Ash still didn't know about his aura either.
Cynthia nodded. "Ok well best you be off then too. Go find the others, you have to tell them what happened. Whoever set these off wanted to make it look like it was Lance's fault. You won't have us to help you anymore" she gave him a wistful look.
"I don't need any of his help" Paul spat, still distrustful of the duo champion of foreign regions. "What about this league protection? How are you going to explain our… leaving?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the thought of having to return to a place where people were trying to kill him.
"Consider it revoked" Cynthia smirked.
"Do you have that power? This isn't Sinnoh." Paul pointed out.
"In a state of emergency, league representatives from other regions have the authority to act as they see fit in the best interest of the people" she stated in a matter of fact as if she were reading from a textbook. She gave him one last smile, worry reflected in her eyes "go on then. Only Lance and myself are aware that you're all gone. You'll have time to get away before they realize you're gone while they try to clear the debris. We'll help you the best we can by figuring out a way to cover for you, but until we sort this out, don't trust anyone."
Paul gave a short nod in response " I never do."
He turned to begin searching for an exit but not before he called back one name to her.
"Mifune."
– Ash's POV –
The walk home was extremely nostalgic. He remembered when he left Pallet Town at ten years old it only took him a day to reach Viridian City because a flock of Spearows had chased him and Pikachu which, naturally, makes one travel faster than average. In fact he had the bike of a certain red head to thank for his swift arrival in the next town, he grinned at the memory.
Walking back to Pallet from the League headquarters would only take a few hours as they could take shortcuts over small walls and hedges. He wasn't able to take this route when he was on his way up to Viridian as the short cut was one way only (although that never made sense to him personally as one could simply jump over the obstacles anyway but tradition stopped him from making that call the first time round).
In just a few short hours the group was walking up the last hill and at the top, the view of the whole of Pallet Town was visible. His hometown was small, the biggest building being Professor Oak's Laboratory and ranch. The rest of the town was a few scattered houses and shops. Ash lived right at the edge of town; he could already see his house from where he was standing. The sun was rising in the distance, they'd been up all night. This surprised Ash but in that moment he was too excited to worry about the time.
As much as he wanted to go home first he figured visiting his pokémon at the lab should be a priority. "C'mon guys we're almost there!" He called to the others behind him. They had moved quite quickly at the beginning, anxious to get away from the Indigo Plateau, but their energy had quickly worn out despite being veteran travelers. None of them, excluding Ash, had a chance to rest when arriving at the Plateau and their bodies were feeling the effects heavily.
"Wait up Ash!" Dawn called back, panting. Ash ignored her and skidded down the hill yelling gleefully. He waited impatiently at the bottom for the others to arrive, tapping his foot and crossing his arms. The group finally caught up with him and Dawn dramatically collapsed onto the ground. "Can we please rest now?" she begged.
"Aww c'mon Dawn! The professor's lab is just on the other side of town! It's not that far!"
"The other side of town?!" Dawn wailed "I can't walk another step Ash Ketchum!"
"It's ok Dawn we'll take a break first" Brock reassured, he sent a quick glare at Ash before he could argue and Ash took the hint and kept his complaints to himself.
"Ash's place isn't that far from here. Let's walk a little longer and then you can sit down there and get a drink" Gary suggested.
"What? Don't offer my house to other people!" Ash complained.
"What? You don't want us to go there and rest?" Gary raised an eyebrow in mock astonishment.
Ash reddened. "No! I mean yes. I mean – let's just go" he stalked off and Gary smirked.
Dawn gave him a look of awe "wow you really can work him over huh?"
"He wishes" Brock quipped and laughed heartily earning him a poisonous glare from Gary and poison jab from Croagunk who had released himself from his pokéball once again.
"Huh that's strange. Usually Croagunk only ever does that when Brock hits on a pretty girl" Dawn noted.
"Maybe he does it whenever Brock is being a creep" Gary crossed his arms, his face flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
"C'mon guys hurry it up!" Ash called out to them again.
The others sighed and ran up to meet him as they continued on their way to Ash's house.
…
"Wow you're house is so cute!" Dawn squealed when they'd finally arrived at their destination.
Ash shrugged; to him the house seemed normal. He supposed with its white picket fence, small vegetable garden and bright red roof it could be considered a nice house but he rarely gave it a second thought. This was home, no matter what it looked like.
He grabbed a key from under one of the potted plants out front and opened the door. The house was spotless as per usual thanks to his mother and Mr. Mime. Speaking of, where was that anno-
Ash never finished his thought as a vacuum was shoved in his face. "Wahh!"
"Mr. Mime!" a cheerful voiced cried.
"MR. MIME HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO STOP TRYING TO CLEAN ME!" Ash shouted from behind the head of the vacuum.
Mr. Mime ignored him and continued vacuuming the house while the others laughed behind him.
"Ugh. Well that's Mr. Mime if you hadn't caught that Dawn. He's my mom's pokémon. He usually helps her with all the chores and runs errands and stuff" he explained to his friend upon remembering this was her first time here.
"Shouldn't you be the one helping her though?" she asked innocently.
Gary snickered and Brock chuckled with amusement while Ash scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Mr. Mime is much better at that sort of stuff than I am and really enjoys doing it so I leave it up to him really"
"Hehe I bet when Mr. Mime first came along you were jealous cuz you thought you were being replaced" Dawn teased.
"Right again Dawn!" Gary laughed.
Ash scowled. "Whatever. The kitchen's over there, help yourself to anything you want. I'm gonna take a shower and then go to the lab". He stomped up the stairs, Pikachu leaping off his shoulder choosing to explore the kitchen and hunt for some tomato sauce rather than deal with one of Ash's tantrums.
Dawn watched after him worriedly, "do you think I made him mad?" she asked inconcern while Brock left to grab drinks for everyone.
"Nah you just hit the nail on the head" Gary reassured her and they sat down at the kitchen table to rest their tired legs.
…
Ash let the cold water pour over his aching body. Although it seemed like he had endless energy he was probably the most tired out of everyone. Sure he'd gotten a few hours sleep but it felt like it did him more harm than good. He let his hand run over his chest where his injuries were. He'd taken off his bandages to shower and seen them for the first time. His skin was a raw, angry red, like a bad burn. It hurt to the touch although the cool water helped somewhat. In some places the skin had broken and bled although those places were scabbed over by now. All in all it was a ghastly sight. He hoped that it would fade with time but he couldn't know for sure.
Turning off the tap he grabbed a towel and peeked out the door to make sure Dawn hadn't wandered upstairs and had any chance of running into him while he was indecent. Seeing the coast was clear he headed towards his room and closed the door behind him.
His room was just as he'd left it when he'd been there last, before he'd gone on his journey to Sinnoh, although it was evident that his mom (or possibly Mr. Mime) still came in once in a while to keep it clean and lived in. A new feature in his room since he was ten was the trophy shelf added to the wall. On it, shining proudly, was his orange league trophy as well as some smaller trophies he won from small pokémon competitions he'd joined on his travels and the runner up trophies he received from participating in other leagues. His badge cases were all open and standing, showing off the shiny badges inside from all his journeys so far. The display was quite impressive yet he longed for it to be filled with the championship trophy.
Opening his dresser drawer he grabbed a pair of underwear, blue jeans, and a black shirt. He'd thrown out his old bandages and didn't have any to replace them and so he decided to just go without. A voice in the back of his mind reminded him that Brock would probably have more bandages and could help him put them on but he felt uncomfortable with the thought of others seeing him in that state.
Putting on his clothes made him feel nostalgic for his first journey as it was similar to his original travelling attire. He opened his closet to find his old jacket hanging and pulled it out. He'd grown significantly since then and could no longer fit the garment but he kept it for sentimental reasons. Actually he kept all his outfits but he had a certain attachment to his first one.
On a shelf above the hanging bar sat his old back packs and hats. He grabbed a familiar one with the official Pokémon league symbol on it and tried fitting it on his head. He was happy to find it still fit him quite snugly. He dropped it onto his desk where something else caught his eye. It was an old photograph of Brock, Misty and himself on their first journey together. He was the shortest back then and the two of his friends stood on either side of him, leaning on his head while he gave them an unappreciative look. His two friends were wearing happy expressions and the memory made Ash smile as he carefully put the photo back in its rightful place.
He went back to his bed where he'd laid out his jacket, hat and back pack. Picking up his jacket he gave it a quick whiff and wrinkled his nose. It needed a wash. Looking around his room he saw no other jacket that could fit his newly framed body.
'Maybe mom has something in her room, she always buys me a new outfit when I come back home' he thought to himself. Chucking the dirty clothes into his wash basket he made his way into his mom's room. It was simple, with a queen sized bed, built-in closet and bedside table. The only thing she used to make the room personal was a photo frame on her bedside table with a picture of herself and Ash at age 8. There used to be more life in this room, when his father was still around. Ash personally thought that his mom got lonely and stayed out of her room a lot of the time, choosing to do house work and gardening instead to fill her day.
He went to the closest and searched for any potential new travelling outfits. He sighed when he could see no sign of one.
"I guess she didn't buy some after all" he said disappointedly. Now he'd have to do a load of washing and wait for it to dry. He was about to close the closet doors when something caught his eye. On the top shelf was a big box.
"Hmm I've never noticed that before" he pulled it down and opened the box. Inside was a red and white jacket and matching baseball cap and backpack.
"Oh cool!" He pulled out the clothes and tried them on. They fit perfectly. He noticed that instead of being brand new as he expected, they were already quite worn out like they'd been used for travelling before.
"Maybe she got them second hand this time" he spoke aloud to himself.
"Ash! C'mon we're ready to go to Professor Oak's now!" Dawn called from downstairs interrupting his thoughts.
"Coming!" he called back. Shrugging he put the lid back on the box and returned it to the shelf deciding that his mom probably intended on giving him the outfit anyway and wouldn't mind if he took it now.
"Thanks mom!" he quietly thanked her and went to meet the others who were already halfway out the front door.
"Nice outfit Ashy boy" Gary complimented with a smirk. "You find that in the goodwill pile?"
Ash scowled "Shut up Gary. My mom got it for me."
That silenced Gary. As much as he liked to tease Ash, he'd never insult Mrs. Ketchum lest he want to beat up by Mr. Mime, all of Ash's pokémon and, of course, Ash himself. Not to mention his own grandfather who looked at Mrs. Ketchum like she were his own daughter.
"Sorry" the brunette mumbled.
Ash grinned and ran past him. "Bet I can get to the lab first!" Ash began sprinting up the road, Pikachu leapt out of Dawn's arms and chased after him.
"Get ready to lose that bet!" Gary laughed as he followed suite, quickly catching up to Ash and turning it into a head to head race.
"Wait up guys!" Dawn cried after them, she and Brock looked at each other and sighed as they too began to run after their friends.
Ash and Gary ran all the way to the lab without stopping and reached the front door at the same time.
"I *pant pant* won" Ash said in between heavy breaths.
"No way Ketchum *pant pant* I totally got here before you" Gary argued.
The two friends grinned at each other and waited for the other two to finally catch up. When Brock and Dawn managed to reach them Ash was leaning against the wall, arms behind his head in a relaxed position.
"What took you guys so long?" he asked casually.
Gary mirrored his feign pretense of not being exhausted and leant against the wall as well, arms crossed and eyes closed. "Yeah guys we've been waiting".
Dawn's eye twitched in annoyance "You guys ran off without us remember" walking past the two to knock on the door she spoke again with her head held high. "You mustn't have been waiting very long, I can see your sweat patches Ash."
Ash flushed and brought his arms back down while Gary chortled at his expense.
The door opened then to reveal a familiar green haired boy.
"Tracey!" Ash exclaimed, forgetting his moment of embarrassment in his happiness to see his old friend again.
"Ash! Gary! Welcome back!" Tracey grinned and stood aside to let everyone inside.
"Good to be back Trace!" Ash embraced his friend in a tight hug. "This is Dawn" he introduced the bluenette.
"Hi it's nice to meet you!" Dawn said cheerfully as she gave a small wave.
"Hi Dawn my name's Tracey. I'm Professor Oak's assistant but I used to travel with Ash and another friend of ours, Misty".
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu greeted Tracey from Ash's shoulder and held up its paw to wave.
"Hello to you too Pikachu! How are you? Keeping Ash out of trouble?" he gave Ash a teasing look which was met with rolling eyes.
"Pika Pikachu pi Pika chu" Pikachu babbled, climbing onto Ash's head and tapping him indicating who knows what since Ash was the only person who could really understand Pika-speech.
"I'm gonna take that as a yes then" Tracey laughed. He led the group to one of the sitting rooms and started preparing tea for everyone as they sat down at the coffee table. "Where are Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum? They didn't come back with you?"
Ash turned to the others, letting them be the ones to answer.
"Gramps wanted to finish off helping the league with a few more things and Mrs. K decided to stay too" Gary explained hesitantly. Ash watched the exchange between Gary and Tracey with great interest. His friends had been acting weird ever since they got to Kanto and he was seeing it again first hand.
"I see…" Tracey said after a few moments. He did not push the matter further and finished off preparing the tea and walked back to the others carrying the tea on a tray. "So Ash" Tracey began as he set steaming cups in front of everyone. "How are you?"
The underlying question was all too clear to Ash. What Tracey was really asking was 'what happened?' He was aware his Pokémon watcher friend knew him well enough that he'd be able to see straight through any lie Ash told.
"As good as anyone could be considering" Ash said taking a sip of his drink. His answer made Tracey 'hmm' in worry but Ash brushed it off, having no desire to have another conversation about the recent events.
Jumping up from his seat Ash turned to the others "well I think I'll go check on all my Pokémon then" he announced loudly. "You're welcome to come and meet them all Dawn. C'mon Pikachu". Without waiting for the others to respond he swiftly left the room and headed for the ranch, Pikachu right at his heels.
– Tracey's POV –
The group of four watched as Ash and Pikachu promptly left the room, the door slamming noisily behind them.
"How long has he been like that?" Tracey asked, clearing his throat at the awkward silence following Ash's exit.
"Since he woke up in the hospital basically" Brock responded, taking another sip of the tea Tracey had served. "He's been avoiding the topic as much as possible aside from league interference. He doesn't sleep well either. He thinks we haven't noticed though."
Gary grunted in disapproval earning him a bemused look from their pokémon watcher friend. "so… what did happen?" Tracey asked curiously. Brock exchanged looks with Gary and Dawn, unsure whether involving yet another person with the sensitive information they had was a good idea.
Sensing that it was a relatively delicate topic Tracey decided on a different approach. "Ok so you can't tell me everything. Then at least tell me what the league wants with him".
His query raised some eyebrows to which he felt obligated to give an explanation. "You wouldn't have come back without the professor and Mrs. Ketchum without good reason. 'Professor Oak had some business to finish' that's a load of tauros crap."
He was not surprised by the stunned looks he received. As Professor Oak's personal assistant he was privy to information otherwise unavailable to the public. He knew the league was not all that it seemed. But even to the untrained eye one could see that calling Ash to the Indigo Plateau was… an unusual course of action, and the group's sudden appearance in Pallet Town without Gary's grandfather and Ash's mother was even more so.
After a moment's hesitation it was Gary who spoke "you would already know that they wanted to question Ash about the incident at the Lily of the Valley conference" Tracey nodded in confirmation, urging Gary to continue. "Well it seems that some people on the council suspect Ash of being… involved with the attack".
"Involved?" now it was Tracey's turn to look confused. "How so? He was severely injured in that attack; doesn't that prove he isn't involved?" Gary simply shrugged but Tracey suspected there was more to it than what he'd been told, after all he was a pokémon watcher and the power of observation could reveal more than one would like. "And the reason you left without the professor and Mrs. Ketchum?"
Gary actually looked guilty at the mention of his grandfather and his friend's mother. "It was decided that it would be in our best interest to leave inconspicuously".
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"The less people who know about it the better" Gary responded flicking his eyes to the door Ash just left through.
Tracey understood immediately; whatever was going on Ash was out the loop, and the reason for that was because he was in danger somehow.
"Is there anything I can do?" Tracey finally asked in a low voice.
"Help us keep our heads low 'till it all blows over?" Gary shrugged. It was true; there wasn't much they could do. If the league was after Ash there weren't many places to run. Even coming home was a risk but Tracey guessed they still had some time before it was discovered that Ash and the others were gone.
Mulling over the limited information his friends had provided and the information he'd picked up just by watching their behaviour, Tracey still couldn't paint the whole picture. He wasn't even sure they knew the whole picture themselves. In a nutshell, Ash had gotten himself in trouble again and this time it was big. The last time Ash had gotten in big trouble while he was around was the Shamouti Island incident and Arceus knows no one wanted a repeat of that.
He was shaken from his musings as the others rose from their places on the couch. "We're gonna go catch up with Ash. Heaven knows what sort of trouble he'll get himself into if we leave him by himself any longer" Brock said in a light-hearted tone which was not reflected in his eyes.
"Right. I'll be with you in a minute." Tracey said distractedly, annoyed his train of thought had been interrupted. Much like the professor, he'd picked up the habit of getting lost in thought and disrupting that process often led to bad moods.
The three trainers left to find their raven haired friend leaving Tracey to his own devices. Tracey was pretty smart, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why Ash would be in so much trouble. He'd been watching Ash's battle along with the professor and Mrs. Ketchum when the attack happened and from what he could see; Ash was just as much of a victim as everyone else.
Contemplating this Tracey switched on the television in the corner of the room, pondering whether he should watch a recording of the incident to see if he missed anything. What he saw as soon as the monitor flickered to life however, stopped him in his tracks.
"This is channel 47 Kanto News reporting. Late yesterday evening the Indigo Plateau was victim to a series of explosions caused by a herd of Electrode."
Tracey gaped at the television and quickly grabbed the remote to turn up the volume. A woman in a professional looking business suit and glasses was standing in front of what used to be the pristine Indigo Plateau – headquarters of the Kanto Pokémon League. Now it was smoking and pieces of the building were missing. In the background, league agents were running around tending to injured and trying to clean up the debris.
"Sources tell us that the locations of the explosions were targeted at our own champion's office as well as the entire tenth floor which hosted the guest rooms. No deaths have been reported but several are injured and there is substantial damage to the building itself."
Tracey's eyebrows furrowed in worry, no deaths recorded but injury was still a concern. What about the professor? And Mrs. Ketchum? The woman on the screen continued her report, Tracey absorbing every word.
"It appears that a group of young trainers were staying on the tenth floor for reasons unknown and thus far have not been found. It is not known if they could be trapped under the rubble of the tenth floor."
This surprised Tracey despite Gary's insinuation that they left inconspicuously. So they really didn't know at all.
"Included in the list of missing trainers is our very own Professor Oak's grandson, Gary Oak. Gary is well known in the trainer world as well as for being one of our youngest leading researchers specializing in ancient pokémon. He was also reported as friends with the other missing trainers. Professor Oak, present at the time of the explosions, refused to comment on the incident but we can say with relief that he in uninjured."
Tracey sighed in relief. At least he was ok.
"The other missing trainers have been identified as Brock Harrison, former Gym Leader of the Pewter City Gym, Dawn Berlitz, a Sinnoh native from Twinleaf Town and a well known co-ordinator, and Paul Shinji, another Sinnoh native and a recent participant of the Sinnoh league which was also placed under attack last week during the semi finals match. Paul's opponent in that match, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, is also among the list of the missing."
As each of their names were said a picture was shown. The photo's only seemed to emphasize how young they were.
"League agents and rescue operations are working their hardest to recover the trainers from under the rubble, all praying that they are safe and can return home soon."
The woman went on to describe the attack on the Sinnoh league and theorized how they may be connected but there was no one to listen as Tracey raced out the lab to find the 'missing trainers'.
– Ash's POV –
Ash ran silently and did not stop until he reached his favourite hill with the giant oak tree. Once he arrived at the top he took a deep breath and sat down turning his head to look up at the clear blue sky. He wasn't sure why, but he felt suffocated when he was in the lab surrounded by everyone.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu had followed him to his resting place and was sitting at his feet looking at him in concern.
"Hey Pikachu" Ash smiled and held out his hand for Pikachu to climb. Pikachu did not budge from his spot.
"Pikapi" Pikachu said its name for Ash in a disapproving tone.
"Ahh c'mon Pikachu, I didn't want to stay in that stuffy lab and answer questions" Ash pulled his hat over his head to cover his eyes and lay back fully so that he was lying down.
"There's nothing more to tell" he said, more to himself than to Pikachu.
Suddenly thinking it was far too quiet, Ash spoke his thoughts aloud, "I wonder where everyone is? Usually everyone would've found me by now and I'd be crushed under a huge pile of pok-" unfortunately he never finished his sentence as it was drowned out by many different cries and screeches.
Looking down at the bottom of the hill, Ash saw a stampede consisting of all his old pokémon heading straight for him. Leading the pack was none other than his overly affectionate Bayleef.
"BAY BAY!" Bayleef cried as it bounced on him full force, followed by a mix of his other pokémon.
"Bayleef! I'm happy to see you guys too but I CAN'T BREATHE!" Ash managed to wheeze out from the bottom of the ever growing pile.
Bayleef begrudgingly removed itself from atop his chest and allowed him to sit up. Ash reached out his hand and cupped Bayleef's face gently, rubbing in slow circles. Bayleef sighed into his caress, happy that its master had returned.
Ash looked around him, excluding his herd of Tauros, everyone had gathered to greet their trainer.
"Hey guys how've you all been? Keeping out of trouble I hope?" he asked cheerfully and was met by a chorus of happy grunts, growls, and purrs in what he hoped were confirmation for his question.
Ash laughed merrily as he reached out to pet each one of his pokémon, Pikachu following his lead and greeting its fellow pokémon with an excited wave of its paw.
"Oh right you haven't met our new friends yet!" Ash said suddenly remembering his current team. With a swift flick of his wrists he released Infernape, Staraptor, Torterra, Buizel and Gliscor.
"Everyone these are our new friends, say hello!" he gestured to the Sinnoh natives. Bulbasaur, being the most civil of his pokémon, was the first to introduce itself, extending its vine in greeting. The other pokémon quickly followed suit. Ash laughed as Buizel was almost consumed by a happy 'hug' from his Muk.
Noticing that Ash had not budged from his spot on the hill, even when greeting his pokémon, Pikachu cautiously crept toward it's trainer and gently sniffed at his chest in concern, wondering if his injuries were still bothering him.
The other pokémon observed Pikachu's actions. Still unaware of the ordeal their trainer had been through. Bayleef, quickly sensing something was not quite right with its master, promptly followed Pikachu's actions and began sniffing at his chest. Ash pushed her head away earning himself a gentle nip on his fingers.
"I'm fine Bayleef it's nothing" he said hastily, inwardly cursing Pikachu for drawing attention to the matter.
"Pikapi Pikachu pi pika chu pi" Pikachu scolded Ash using its paws to indicate that the others should know.
Sighing at an unwinnable argument Ash began to strip himself of his jacket and then t-shirt. The small gasps from each of his pokémon were enough to indicate that the sight they were met with was displeasing at the very least.
"Bay" Bayleef whimpered and licked his cheek softy.
"I'm ok it doesn't hurt much anymore" Ash said quietly, pulling his shirt back on but vetoing the jacket and instead simply drawing his knees to his chest for warmth.
The pokémon exchanged looks of worry, usually Ash was very active and cheerful even if he got sick or injured he was always ready to train and keep moving forward but now…
"Hey Ash!" a voice called from the bottom of the hill.
Ash looked up and saw Gary, Brock, and Dawn waving at him from the bottom of the hill, Dawn had her hands cupped around her mouth in order to holler to him.
Keeping up appearances Ash quickly jumped up, grabbing his jacket along the way, and sprinted down the hill closely followed by each and every one of his pokémon.
Dawn's eyes practically popped out her head upon seeing the vast selection of pokémon in Ash's possession.
"Wow these are all your pokémon Ash?" She gasped in awe.
"Yup!" Ash said proudly. "Well actually I also have a herd of Tauros in one of the paddocks, Squirtle joined the firefighting squad, Charizard is still training in the Charcific valley of course and I have a few other friends who've gone their own ways." He confessed rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Dawn's jaw dropped and Ash laughed at her expression. He always loved showing off how many pokémon he actually owned. Most people he met on each journey assumed he only owned the pokémon he had on him at the time, in actuality he had caught well over 60 pokémon. Had he chosen to switch some of his older pokémon into his teams during his later journeys he may well have won a league tournament already. Of course, Ash did not like doing things that way.
"I'd love to see you battle with one of your older pokémon!" Dawn said excitedly, clapping her hands together.
Ash perked up at her request. He hadn't battled since he was on the boat with Cynthia and they never even got to finish.
"Ok!" He grinned "I accept your challenge Dawn!"
"Wait a moment!" Gary interrupted making Ash frown.
"What Gary? Don't worry we won't mess up the field that much! Please I haven't battled in ages!" Ash hardly liked begging his old friend and once greatest rival but he really wanted this battle.
Gary smirked and pulled out a pokéball of his own. "That's not the problem, I want to be the one to battle you Ash".
The two boys looked at each other with fire in their eyes while Dawn pouted. "No fair! I asked him first!"
"I'll battle you afterwards Dawn" Ash promised sending her an apologetic smile "I haven't battled Gary in forever and I'd really like to see how we've each improved since last time".
Dawn, though still annoyed, nodded in understanding. At least she could watch the battle.
Brock took the opportunity to remind everyone he still existed, "I'll be the referee! Just like good ol' times" he winked at Ash and Ash grinned.
Ash and Gary took a few more steps away from each other to make space for a real battle. "Hurry up Ash and choose your pokémon!" Gary called to him from the opposing side, already in a battle stance, ball at the ready.
Ash thought carefully as all his pokémon clamored to be chosen for the battle.
"You said you wanted to see one of my older pokémon battle right Dawn? I have the perfect one then" Ash smirked. "Bulbasaur I choose you!"
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cheered and ran onto the makeshift field. Ash's other pokémon whined in disappointment and begrudgingly stood on the sidelines to watch.
"Finally! I've been wanting to try out this pokémon on you Ash" Gary teased and released his pokémon.
Light burst from the ball as he released it and formed into a grey, flying type pokémon that Ash recognized easily.
"Arooo!" The Areodactyl screeched, setting its steely eyes on Bulbasaur down below.
"Areodactyl?!" Dawn gasped in shock and was only further confused by Brock bursting out into a fit of laughter as Ash cowered where he stood. "What's so funny Brock?" she huffed in annoyance.
Brock wiped a tear from his eye "When I first travelled with Ash, he sort of got kidnapped by an Areodactyl that tried to eat him after he accidentally woke it up" he explained.
Dawn blinked in apprehension. "No way." She said flatly, turning to Ash to hear him deny it for sure. To her surprise, Ash was only glaring at the Areodactyl and made no move to deny Brock's outrageous claims.
When he did open his mouth to speak it was not to refute Brock's story. "I thought you couldn't remember that cuz Jigglypuff put everyone to sleep?" Ash said in an accusing tone.
Gary grinned, "A certain friend of yours came by the lab a while ago. He claimed he had a rare photograph of an ancient pokémon and showed me a picture of you getting carried off by that big chicken! You should have seen his face though when I showed him my Areodactyl." Gary was almost bent over with laughter.
Ash turned bright red at the memory "Todd was here?" he squeaked.
"He certainly was! And he was kind enough to let me keep the photo!" Gary poked his tongue out teasingly as steam came out Ash's ears.
"Ok, ok, you guys can solve this on the battle field!" Brock said, quelling any potential fight. Gary and Ash positioned themselves ready for battle once again.
"This will be a one on one battle between Bulbasaur and Areodactyl. No time limit! Begin!" Brock announced, waving his arm down urging the trainers to start.
"Bulbasaur use razor leaf!" Ash called immediately, thrusting his arm out in command.
Bulbasaur shot out a series of sharp leaves directed at Areodactyl who swiftly dodged them without instruction.
"Areodactyl use steel wing!" Gary commanded.
With unbelievable speed Areodactyl raced toward Bulbasaur with its wings glowing a bright white which Bulbasaur barely managed to dodge.
"Again Areodactyl!" Gary called.
"Use vine whip to jump!" Ash countered as Areodactyl tried for a second attempt. Bulbasaur shot out its vines and struck the ground hard, using the momentum to launch itself into the air.
"Now use leech seed!" Ash yelled fiercely.
Still in midair, a seed burst from the bulb on the grass pokémon's back and hit Areodactyl head on. Areodactyl screeched as vines began to wrap around its body and suck energy from it.
"Areodactyl use razor claw to break out of those vines!" Gary urged. Areodactyl scratched away at the energy-sapping vines until they were completely shredded.
"Not bad Gary" Ash complimented, his eye's burning fiercely with challenge.
"You too. I see you're still using some of your old techniques" Gary noted, the same burn reflected in his own eyes.
"Old techniques?" Dawn asked turning to Brock inquisitively.
"Ash has a few signature techniques that he used a lot in the old days. One of them was using his pokémons tails or moves to launch themselves in the air to dodge. It's kinda similar to your spinning dodge technique" Brock explained.
"I see! That's actually really smart!" Dawn marveled.
Ash fell anime style upon overhearing their conversation. "You don't have to act so surprised!" he yelled to her before turning his attention back to the battle.
"Bulbasaur use vinewhip!" he ordered to which Bulbasaur immediately obeyed. Long vines, shot from Bulbasaurs body toward Areodactyl who once again swiftly evaded them.
"My flying pokémon has the advantage over your little grass pokémon Ash! You should know that by now!" Gary chastised from his side of the battle field.
"Advantage isn't everything Gary! You should know that by now!" Ash retorted. "Bulbasaur use vinewhip to jump!"
"That won't work twice Ashy boy! Huh?!" Gary stopped his banter, watching in shock as Bulbasaur landed on top of Areodactyl.
"Now use your vines to attach yourself to Areodactyl!" Ash called out triumphantly.
"What?! Areodactyl shake that Bulbasaur off!" Gary shouted in irritation. He'd been caught off guard.
Try as it might, Areodactyl just couldn't shake off Bulbasaur when it had its vines wrapped around it.
"Now charge up your Solarbeam Bulbasaur!"
"Oh crap" Gary mumbled. "Areodactyl do whatever you can to shake off Bulbasaur!" he cried desperately.
Ash was ecstatic. He hadn't had a battle this close with Gary since they faced off in the Johto league. Bulbasaur's bulb was gathering as much sunlight and was almost ready to launch its solar beam. Just before he could give the command Areodactyl managed to wrap its teeth around one of Bulbasaur's vines and bite down hard.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cried out in pain and accidentally launched its solar beam early; completely missing Areodactyl and losing any chance of a one hit knock out like Ash was hoping. Bulbasaur fell from its perch on Areodactyl's back and landed on the ground hard taking on substantial damage.
Ash's plan had completely backfired. "Dammit!" he said under his breath, gritting his teeth. Before either of them could recover Gary called out his next attack.
"Hyperbeam!"
The world stopped. Flashbacks to the Lily of the Valley Conference plagued Ash's mind as he stared in horror at the bright orange light emerging from the mouth of the flying type.
"Bulba?" Bulbasaur called to its trainer, asking for its next command, should it dodge or fight back? But received no answer. Ash could not hear its cries and instead and dropped to his knees. Bulbasaur dodged the attack on its own, the attack harmlessly hitting the ground, sending up a cloud of dust.
Ash could not breathe. He was completely unaware of what was happening around him and instead was concentrating on trying not to empty the contents of his stomach.
"Aww crap" Gary cursed and quickly returned Areodactyl, the battle abandoned. "Ash I'm sorry! I forgot – I mean I didn't realize! I mean – are you okay?!" Gary had knelt down next to Ash and was trying to shake his shoulders.
Somewhere in the back of his mind Ash could hear his friends calling his name, he was dimply aware one of them was in front of him currently trying to shake him out of whatever was happening. But he didn't care. All he really knew was his chest hurt and he couldn't breathe.
"I think he's hyperventilating! He's having a panic attack!" He heard someone call out worriedly. A panic attack? Huh. Hadn't had one of those since… well he really couldn't think when he'd ever had one.
Those were his last thoughts before his mind went blank and he fell forward into someone's arms.
– Gary's POV –
"Aww crap" Gary cursed and quickly returned his Areodactyl. How the hell could he do that to Ash after everything that had happened? Dammit.
He rushed over to his friend who'd collapsed onto his knees. His pokémon were all trying to rush over to him too but Dawn and Brock were trying to quell their alarm and give Ash the space he needed. Bulbasaur had also abandoned the battle and was trying to stop the others from crushing Ash in a desperate attempt to go to him although Gary could see it constantly looking back at its trainer in worry. Pikachu was the exception and had rushed over to Ash as soon as the attack in question had launched, seemingly knowing in advance the consequences.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried in worry, shaking one of his knees.
Gary also knelt down, putting his hands on Ash's shoulders and looking into his eyes desperately but only receiving a blank stare in return. "Ash I'm sorry! I forgot – I mean I didn't realize! I mean – are you okay?!"
Ash did not respond. His breathing was shallow and erratic, at one point he'd begun clutching at his chest. "Ash? Ash!" Gary called to him again and again, shaking his shoulders to no prevail.
"I think he's hyperventilating! He's having a panic attack!" Brock called from where he stood, keeping the pokémon at bay.
"Panic attack?" Gary mouthed barely making a sound. Ash seemed to dimly hear that last sentence, letting Gary know he was at least somewhat aware of his surroundings, before he promptly fell forward into Gary's waiting arms.
"Ash!"
"Pikapi!"
"Let's take him inside!" Dawn said worriedly, having left the pokémon once Ash had collapsed and returning to where they were. Gary nodded and hefted Ash up onto his back; he was heavier than he remembered, but then again, the last time he'd given Ash a piggy back was back before they'd even left on their first journeys.
Slowly, with Brock and Dawn standing at his sides making sure Ash didn't fall off and the Pokémon clearing a path whilst creating a vanguard for them, Gary carried Ash all the way back to the lab.
Tracey was already at the door to meet them although it looked like it wasn't because he'd heard what'd happened, but rather was about to come out for another reason.
"Hey guys! I just saw- what the heck happened to him?" Tracey asked in shock.
"Later." Was all Gary muttered, pushing past him and gently laying Ash down on the nearest couch.
His pokémon had to wait outside as there was not enough room for all of them, but they'd let Pikachu be their representative as the rest looked on through the small windows.
"Pikapi" Pikachu whispered, teary eyed, as it settled itself into a spot by Ash's head protectively.
"What the hell happened?!" Tracey demanded.
Dawn and Brock turned to gaze sadly at Gary who looked away in shame.
"They were just having a pokémon battle…" Dawn began softly. Tracey turned to listen to the small bluenette while Gary tightened his hands into fists. "Areodactyl and Bulbasaur. It was going good, Ash was doing well. But…" she trailed off, looking at their unconscious friend.
"But?" Tracey encouraged, waiting for the end of the story.
"But I ordered Areodactyl to use Hyperbeam." Gary cut in, spitting out the words in anger. "The same attack that was used on him in the Sinnoh league. The same attack that put him in a coma for three days and gave him those injuries. I used that attack on him, my best friend." He'd clenched his fists so tight that his fingernails had dug into his skin and he was now bleeding.
"Gary you didn't mean-" Dawn tried gently but Gary cut her off once more.
"No! I should've known better! Who wouldn't have a panic attack seeing the same attack that could have killed them?! Ash is already hurt and has already been through so much and I've gone ahead and made things worse! I'm such an idiot!" He punched the wall in anger, feeling something crack in his hand.
"Ouch!" he hissed and clutched his hand.
Brock sighed. "Calm down Gary it's not your fault. Now give me your hand" Brock tried to take his hand and inspect it but Gary jerked It away.
"I'm fine. I deserve it." He looked away again in disgrace.
Brock rolled his eyes and forcefully took his hand again. "It wasn't your fault" he repeated, while inspecting Gary's injured hand. "You didn't mean for this to happen and Ash wouldn't want you beating yourself up, literally". Brock clicked his tongue in disapproval. "You may have cracked a knuckle but I'll need to x-ray it for sure. For now I'll just bandage it up."
Brock walked over to his backpack which lay by the coffee table where he'd left it and dug around until he fished out a roll of bandages. He began wrapping Gary's hand whose attention was solely focused on Ash. He didn't care about his hand. Or whether he could or should be forgiven. All he cared about in that moment was his friend.
"Actually I was about to go outside to tell you guys something else…" Tracey piped up hesitantly.
Gary ignored him, not caring what he had to say right at that moment.
It was Dawn who asked what he wanted to say.
"The Indigo league was bombed."
That grabbed Gary's attention. Even Brock stopped bandaging his hand, looking at the Pokémon watcher in shock.
"…what?" Gary whispered.
"I was watching the news" Tracey explained slowly, his expression cautious. "They said that there were some explosions at the Indigo Plateau after you guys left".
"Was anyone hurt? What about Gramps and Mrs K?!" Gary demanded jumping up onto his feet and grabbing Tracey by the collar, irritating his newly injured hand.
"Gary sit back down I need to finish wrapping your hand!" Brock ordered, pulling him by his shirt and forcing him to take his seat.
Tracey, slightly shaken up by Gary's confrontation, brushed himself off and continued. "They're both fine. There were some injuries but no deaths recorded. The explosions seemed to be focused on the area you guys were supposed to be staying" Tracey waited as the other three took this information in.
"So… they were after us?" Dawn whispered fearfully.
Tracey nodded "It seems so. So far they haven't realized you're all gone. They think all of you are buried in the rubble but it won't be long before they realize you're missing and who knows what they'll do then".
"So everyone thinks we might be dead?" Brock summed up, putting the last finishing touches on Gary's bandages.
"They think we're dead?!" Dawn gasped.
"Not yet! They're still looking for you right?" Tracey said trying to calm down the small girl.
"No this could be to our advantage." Gary said thoughtfully; now back into his master strategist mode.
"What do you mean" Tracey asked confused.
"You know we haven't told you everything and we won't, for you safety, but basically we need to get away from the league for a while. You can see why" Gary explained, silence following as each one of them thought of the consequences had they not left when they did.
"If they're busy trying to find us there then we still have time. We need to leave, this is going to be the first place they look" Gary said, already planning what he'd need for a long journey.
"Where can we go? What are we supposed to do when no one can help us?" Dawn asked anxiously.
"No need to worry Dawn!" Brock said smiling, "I think I know someone who can help."
"Who?" Gary asked curiously.
"You should know Gary" Brock wagged his finger, "Who else could we turn to for help? We're going to Cerulean city!"
Sorry guys haven't had internet the past few weeks! Hopefully the next chapter will be up over the next couple days if the internet holds up :/ From now on the only promise I'm making is that I'm gonna finish the story, wish I could promise set updates but we all know my track record for that is awful. Thank you for all the reviews, favourites, and follows, as well as for sticking with me this long! I hope this chapter satisfies you because it certainly doesn't satisfy me. I could not figure out how to work Misty in there without it being way too long.