Departer

by SwallowTheSun

The Pokémon World is shocked when the unthinkable happens, several thousand people have been killed and the murderer is missing. Sinnoh Champion Cynthia teams up with Ash's mother Delia and his old travelling companions to try and find Ash and unravel the mystery, but they're not the only ones looking for him... Contains violence, swearing, beloved character death and mature humour

6. Chapter 6: The Melancholy Spirit

Wow, I realise how long it's been since my last update, but all I can do is apologise as I have no reason for such shocking tardiness, time just slipped away from me I guess. I am sorry.

Since it's been such a long time, and these chapters aren't short and easy to catch up on, I'll give you summary.

This chapter is a lengthy one, and it's mostly about someone who isn't usually a huge focus in Pokemon stories, so not only have I posted this so late, but the story remains on a slow burn, and again I must apologise. Despite this I hope you enjoy the chapter, as I enjoyed writing it immensely. I really wanted to convey to you the danger of the expedition that awaits Cynthia and Ash's friends, please tell me if I succeeded.

A series of x's separating two paragraphs means that the setting has changed, either to a different character or location or time, etc.
However a series of hashtags separating two paragraphs means that it is still in the same setting, but the point of view has changed to someone else in that setting.

Please read and constructively criticize, comment on problems you find. Thank you.

Flames will be ignored.

I don't own Pokémon.

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Summary of Departer thus far:

Ash is missing, though nobody knows yet.

A man strongly resembling Ash walked into the Lily of the Valley Conference and blew it up, killing Brock and Dawn and leaving only Paul as a survivor, though he was horrifically injured we learn as Red picked him up a few minutes later. Cynthia questions Delia about Ash and learns that she, Gary and Professor Oak know something about the missing Pokemon Master Red, and that said Pokemon Master might be responsible for the explosion at the conference in Sinnoh. Lance is soon killed by an unknown Charizard, reinforcing suspicions of Red and Cynthia learns from Misty that it was Ritchie at the conference in Sinnoh. May and her boyfriend Drew, whom she's beginning to have doubts about, visit Delia along with Iris and Cilan while Max is given a flight back to Hoenn on Cynthia's private jet. The Ketchum household is brutally attacked by an Alakazam and Machamp who work for Giovanni/Blue, resulting in a coma for Cilan and a few injuries for May. Mimey was killed too.

Max, meanwhile is attacked while flying over Silver Town by a charizard, who is soon killed by another Mega-Charizard that steals Max, but not before he manages to record a video of what is happening and sending it to Cynthia via her wounded Garchomp. Viridian Police Officer Jenny travels to Shamouti Island with her boyfriend Bruno to confront Lugia about asking the Legendary Pokemon for help against Ritchie, who is now called the Colossus, but is instead told that Ash, the 'Chosen One' is on Mt. Silver and that all his past travelling companions must ascend the tallest mountain in the world of which Professor Oak was supposedly the world record holder of the highest anyone had climbed up it. How true is this though?

Meanwhile Garchomp crash lands in the Corral and Cynthia and May and gang watch Max's tearful kidnapping, causing May to break down and Cynthia to snap at Delia and the Oaks because she recognized the Charizard who took Max as Red's Charizard, a man whom they had lied to her about. Cynthia sends the video to her colleague Steven who calls Max's parents and falsely tells them not to worry and that Max is in their care. Steven calls Cynthia to warn her about what he had told May's parents, and also that the public isn't ready to hear of Ash's innocence.

Meanwhile Brock's brother and Dawn's mother have been mourning, and Ash's father is apparently in the clutches of Giovanni, who is ruthlessly torturing him to get information about Ash and his Aura abilities.

I think that brings it up to speed, so now on with the story!

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Chapter 6: This White Mountain On Which You Will Die

Mr̥tyu kṣētraBase Camp; 7 250m (23 790ft) above sea level; 10/06/1975:

"This is the mountain upon which you will die," the stern middle-aged man said as his eyes roved about the room, judging each and every person's reaction to his grim opening line. Eventually his gaze fell upon two young men who were in their mid-twenties. They were smirking at each other… that was not the reaction the speaker had wanted. He scowled at the two confident men as he continued with his presentation.

"The mountain has many names; the one most people know it as: Mt. Silver, so named because it is the only known source of silver on Earth. The one the Servants know it as: the Holy Mountain, so named because of their belief that it is the home to many Legendary Pokémon. And the one the Gurkha know it as: Yō saphēda pahāḍa kuna mā timī marnēchau, or 'This White Mountain On Which You Will Die' in common speak, so named because… well I think you can guess why."

The speaker paused his speech as he glanced again at the two young men to gauge their reaction. He watched in irritation as the auburn haired one turned to the dark brown haired one and muttered something, causing the latter to chuckle. The speaker internally sighed, he wasn't irritated because they were disrupting his presentation but rather because he knew that they wouldn't make it if they didn't take this undertaking more seriously. As he watched them regretfully he began reflecting upon when he had first met them.

They had arrived from Pallet Town via Pokémon two months ago, best friends and newly made fathers, and the first thing they had done upon arriving was proudly show off their pictures of their newborn babies to anyone who was unfortunate enough to find themselves in a conversation with them. But as the first day rolled by, their bodies eventually realizing that there was hardly any oxygen in the air up here, they became bed-ridden, too weak to even sit up. Of course everyone suffered the same thing on their first few days up here in the highest settlement on Earth.

Eventually, as their bodies got used to the scarce oxygen, the group in which the Pallet natives had been placed were able to walk again, albeit very slowly. So the speaker, who was also their training instructor and mountaineering guide, had set them walking laps around the camp. A few days later and they were jogging the laps. A month later and the instructor deemed them ready for their first hike up the mountain. They had taken 5 hours to reach the 7500 metre mark, just 250 metres higher than the camp and around where the infamous Death Zone began, before turning around and heading back to camp, which had taken another 3 hours. They did the same hike every second day and in between he would make them climb the ice wall just outside camp using ice picks and roped harnesses. When they eventually managed the entire hike, both up and down, in just 3 hours the instructor had forced them to sit naked in the snow for an hour, purposely getting them sick.

They had recovered from their illness yesterday and now, their bodies' immune system and tolerance for cold newly strengthened, they were finally ready. So finally the day was here, the day when they would leave and attempt to summit Mt. Silver, the tallest mountain on Earth, but if those two Pallet men truly believed that they would be getting there together and in one piece, the instructor feared they may be in for a very rude awakening.

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To say that Samuel Oak was scared was to say that water was wet and fire was hot, but the same could be said for his excitement. He had been waiting most of his life for this moment, him and his best friend Alex King, who was sitting beside him similarly bursting with nervousness and excitement. They had gone through hell during the past two months in order to get strong enough to attempt the climb, but now the day had finally come and they listened attentively to the stern middle-aged man as he continued his summarising presentation of all that they had learned in the past two months.

"For the past 60 days you have been residing here in the Mr̥tyu kṣētra Base Camp, which is Gurkha speak for 'Death Zone', though we are not actually within the Death Zone. We are currently at around 7250 metres above sea level whereas the Death Zone starts at around 7500 metres, or 24 600 feet for those of you who follow the imperial system. Once you go beyond that height the oxygen will soon be so thin that it will be physically impossible for you to breathe without the aid of oxygen tanks. It has been roughly calculated that the amount of oxygen in the air within the Death Zone is about a third of what is found at sea level."

As their instructor paused for a breath Sam glanced at his friend and again they caught each other's eyes and smirked. They were not idiots, they knew that this would be the hardest thing they will ever have attempted, but they were still confident of their chances. Ever since they were children they had done so many things together, things most people wouldn't even dream of, but they had never done what they had promised each other they would do when they first set out on their Pokémon journey, until now. Their pact entailed that they would be the first people to summit Mt. Silver and that they would make it together.

To say that Samuel Oak and Alex King were stubborn was to say again that water was wet and fire was hot and even though their respective wives had pleaded with them so desperately not to go, not after their babies had just been born, go they did, determined to make history and defeat the undefeated White Mountain, together.

The two Pallet natives returned their attention to their instructor as the stern man continued. "But the main reason for the Death Zone's grim name is simply because of how many lives it has claimed, for when within the Death Zone, it truly is every man and woman for his and herself. There is simply not enough oxygen for one person to help another; if you see someone lagging behind, or simply stopping, having lost the will to go on and wanting to die, you have to leave them behind. It doesn't matter if they're your mother, father, sibling or even your child, if they aren't going the pace you are, they aren't going to make it, and you will have to go on knowing you will never see them again."

That wiped the smirks off their faces; that wouldn't do. They were either going to make it together or give up and go back down together, there was not going to be any abandoning between these two stubborn young men. They tried to avoid thinking about the third scenario; that they might end up perishing together on the slopes of the so called 'Holy Mountain'.

The old man continued, "There was a survey a couple of years ago and the results stated that about 40% of those who had survived the Death Zone committed suicide within 5 years, 80% of those suicides were committed within one year. The remaining 60% of the survivors are either still living or have died of other causes, though 7% of those still living are currently staying in psychiatric hospitals."

The danger of what they were about to attempt hit home with that statement. Sure they had always known that this brutal journey was going to be incredibly challenging but they had never stopped to wonder about the repercussions it would have on their mentality if they did survive. Would survivor's guilt prove too strong? Would they end up pulling the trigger to their head a few years down the line? They knew that they were going to be together no matter what, but would any of their team mates perish before their eyes? Would they be forced to leave behind one of these people that they had formed bonds with over the trials and tribulations of the harsh training they had endured? Their morbid musing was interrupted as the instructor spoke again.

"No one has ever summited Mt. Silver and the furthest anyone has ever climbed was only 390 metres, or 1 280 feet, beyond the 7 500 metre mark. The mountain is thought to be around 8 450 metres or 27 720 feet high. That is over 500 metres, or 1 600 feet, higher than the world record. The holder of that record found a cave there at 7 890 metres and decided to rest a while to recover his strength. It was a rest from which he never awoke."

Sam closed his eyes and muttered a prayer to Arceus, he was by no means a Servant, but he would take all the help he could get on this lethal undertaking. But despite all the hardships ahead of him, despite the fact that they had 500 metres higher to climb than the world record holder, he had a gut feeling telling him that he and Alex were going to make it. So after composing himself the young researcher in training continued listening attentively to the presentation, knowing that everything would turn out in their favour.

To say that Samuel Oak was wrong, was to say that water was indeed wet, and fire was indeed hot.

#########

Both Sam and Alex were still breathing normally as they finally saw the wooden signpost stating that they had reached the 7 500 metre mark, that they had reached the undefined edge of the Death Zone. Only the instructor was waiting for them, the others all still making their way up. They smiled cheerfully at the instructor, who only stared back impassively, before seating themselves on a smooth boulder and staring back down at the camp that had been home for the past two months.

They recalled the several journeys they had taken up to this place over the past month. The first trip had been hell to say the least. 5 hours of grueling hiking at a snail's pace, not to mention the majority of the trip had been on loose shale so for every two steps they had taken they slid back one step. Their lungs had been burning, straining for more oxygen that just wasn't there. They had been sick several times, the lack of oxygen making them feel very light-headed.

It was amazing just how much the human body could improve upon its durability within the space of one month. Sam chuckled at the thought of their original trip up here, they had been so weak back then, but now they were strong, and were ready to take on the rest of this beast of a mountain. He turned so that he was facing the opposite way and paled slightly at the sight of the steep blizzard and glacier coated slopes that they would be trying to ascend in a few minutes.

His eyes trailed up the thin, winding path that was lined with thick wooden stakes thrust into the firm icy surface of the many glaciers of the White Mountain. When the howling blizzards lightened up every now and then he could see the snow-whitened red flag thrust into the ice next to a cave entrance that marked how far the world record holder had climbed. The climber had planted it with the help of his machamp as he had been far too weak to do it himself.

It made Sam very nervous that he could clearly see the red flag, indeed it was only 400 metres above him. He may find the 250m climb from camp to here quite easy now, but just how much more dangerous was the Death Zone if the furthest anyone had ever gotten into it was 400 metres? And even if he did manage to surpass the record, could he really climb the 500 more metres until the ever shrouded summit of the mountain?

He sighed nervously as he gazed up beyond the blizzards veiling the Death Zone and at the grey clouds that always boiled around the summit. It was a strange meteorological phenomena that had baffled every meteorologist and scientist who had studied it, though doing so comprehensively was impossible as the blizzards at such a height were far too strong for helicopters to fly or parachuters to glide, which was also why the actual height of the summit was still a mystery. The inexplicable weather patterns at the top of Mt. Silver had led many, even those who don't practice Servantship, to believe that the summit is indeed the home to Legendary Pokémon, for what else could be strong enough to defy the natural laws of Earth?

The final members of their group eventually arrived, a few with confident smiles on their faces, the rest panting slightly. Sam smiled at one woman who broke away from the rest and made her way towards the Pallet duo. She scowled as she reached the relaxing duo and scoffed, "Giving up already are we? Should've expected this from a couple of farm boys." Alex snickered and replied, "Says the one who couldn't even make it up here the first time!"

The woman's scowl remained for a few seconds before it cracked as a huge grin spread across her face. She laughed, "Touché, my friend, though you can only claim bragging rights when you manage to beat my gengar," she said heartily before laughing again at Alex's scowl. Sam chuckled and piped up, "Be honest though Agatha, your Ghost Pokémon don't exactly fight fair do they? I hope you remember that phasing into objects or out of existence is banned in League battles before you challenge Old Man Gareth for his Elite Four title."

The sandy haired and rather plain-faced young woman chuckled along with the young researcher, "Yes, I suppose it would be unfortunate if I forgot that, luckily for me though the Elite Pokémon up here have long since forgotten League rules, so I don't have to restrict my Pokémon to fight fair do I? Besides, fighting fair will get you killed in a place like this."

Her grin slipped a little as she finished her sentence, as did those upon the Pallet duo's face. Alex noticed that Agatha was gripping the single PokéBall on her belt with one of her violet mittens. One of the many crucial tips that their instructor had drilled into them almost every day was that they would only be allowed to take one of their Pokémon, and that the Pokémon they chose to take could not be a flying, grass or ground type. The blizzards were just far too strong and cold for any of those Pokémon to survive.

The only reason that dragon types were allowed was because of their extraordinary resistance to all elements, even to ice which they were weakest against. Also, almost every Dragon Pokémon was a Pseudo-Legendary, meaning that their basic strength, power, defense and resistance were far stronger than the average Pokémon from the get-go.

Which was why Sam had brought his dragonite along; dragonites were only labeled as flying types because of their wings and ability to fly, their bodies had hard scales instead of fragile feathers so as long as he didn't take to the air, his dragonite should be able to deal with the blizzards. The young researcher grasped his own PokéBall, as if doing so would strengthen both his own and his Pokémon's resolve, before breathing deeply and letting go.

He wished he could take more Pokémon with him, but he knew the reason he couldn't was valid. It had been discovered fairly recently, not by him which irked him considerably, that Pokémon could actually sense another Pokémon's strength. This ability became stronger as the Pokémon itself grew more powerful, and since most of the Pokémon living on the mountain were once Elite Pokémon, there sensing abilities were very fine-tuned indeed.

Since this discovery there had been some newly developed PokéBalls made that could mask a Pokémon's power somewhat, but if the contained Pokémon happened to be really strong itself, then the PokeBall's masking capabilities were weakened. In this case only a slither of the power of the Pokémon within was let out, but with the strength of the Pokémon upon Mt. Silver, a slither was all they needed to find you. And since one was only legally allowed to climb the mountain if one had been placed 4th or higher in a Regional Conference, one would undoubtedly have strong Pokémon.

This was why only one Pokémon was allowed, any more and you risked the chance of the mercilessly strong and feral Pokémon of the mountain finding you… and destroying you.

Sam's thoughts were halted by the instructor standing up and declaring that everyone had rested enough. The young researcher stood up and offered his hand to Agatha, who had seated herself down next to them sometime during his reflecting, while the instructor began to speak, "Our destination for today is the cave where the world record holder died, about 390 metres above us. While no one ever has ever climbed further than the cave, since the record was placed many people, myself included, have managed to reach the cave as well. But everyone gave up then, too tired to go further. If we make good time today we should be able to get there in about 4 hours. There's a chance that there will be Pokémon in there so I ask that the strongest of you send out your Pokémon to inspect the cave before we attempt to enter it.

Sam glanced worriedly at Agatha, she was the strongest trainer in the group, having actually won a conference before, but Sam couldn't help worry for her anyway. She had been good friend to him and Alex during the past couple of months and he didn't want to her or her friendly gengar to get hurt. She glanced at him and smirked before returning her attention to the instructor and Sam couldn't help but smile at her confidence and energy.

The instructor continued to speak as he walked to each person and checked their oxygen tanks. "Though we will be entering the Death Zone, you shouldn't need to use these tanks today, I'm just making sure that they're all full and that there are no problems with any of them. If you do need to use an oxygen tank today, you will be going back as you will not survive the climb." The group shuddered a little at the instructor's ominous tone.

"Once we reach the cave and have ensured that it is safe, we will set up for the night. Tomorrow will be absolutely brutal, remember that the highest anyone has ever gotten is the cave we will be sleeping in. Once beyond the cave we will need to be in constant motion to ensure that our bodies don't freeze. No part of your body should be exposed, flesh can become frostbitten in a matter of minutes up there" the instructor said grimly as he checked the last person's oxygen tank.

Finally the checkups were done and he made his way over to the wooden signpost, talking as he did, "This sign says that we are 7500 metres above sea level, the mountain is thought to be around 8450 metres above sea level, you just spent the past 3 hours climbing 250 metres and we plan to climb 400 metres further in 4 hours, and after that, there is still another 500 metres, or 2620 feet, to climb until we reach the summit. If we go the same pace as I am hoping to go today then 500 metres should take around 5 hours… We do not know if there are any caves further up the mountain so we may not be able to rest. There is a chance that tomorrow when we rise at dawn, we may not be able to stop until we reach the summit, or give up and turn back."

He watched everyone's faces for some sort of reaction and was pleased to find that for once the Pallet duo did not have smirks on their faces, but rather nervous visages of determination. The instructor breathed an internal sigh of relief before continuing, "About halfway through our journey today we will come across an ice wall that we will be required to climb using ice picks and ropes. You have trained for this on the climbing wall back at camp, I even ordered my Sealeo to use Blizzard on you while you were climbing so that you could get a feel of what it will be like."

Sam grimaced, that had been very unpleasant. The icy wind had made it hard for their frozen fingers to grasp their ice picks and hammer it in deep enough to support their weight as they moved up to hammer the next pick in. He knew it was going to be a lot worse today, what with stronger blizzards and less oxygen, not to mention the constant threat of Pokémon or avalanches.

"Now remember what I said about the Death Zone," the instructor continued, breaking Sam's thoughts, "If you see someone slacking, leave them. The same goes for the ice wall. When we get there, we will split into two teams, I will lead one and the other will be led by Patrick Rowan, whom I believe has had some experience climbing ice during his travels on Mt. Coronet?" The instructor paused as he glanced at the Sinnovian researcher to make certain of this. When he saw the researcher nodding he returned his attention to the rest of the group.

"We will lead the climb, hammering in the spikes through which we will loop the ropes. Each and every person will be linked to each and every other person in their team so the only reason you should fall is if the ropes are cut, or the ice wall breaks, which isn't likely." The group appeared to release a collective sigh of relief; it was nice to know that it wasn't actually that easy to fall to your death, however their faces paled again at the instructor's next words.

"But… if you fall unconscious on the ice wall, either because you're not getting enough oxygen or the cold has reached your brain, you will be cut loose. None of us can afford to climb back down with your body in tow and besides, you would be long dead by the time you made it back to camp." Sam glanced at Agatha nervously; she had struggled on the wall back at camp, her short stature making it hard to reach the next handhold and the fact that only mittens, which were not ideal for climbing, prevented her fingers from freezing.

Agatha seemed to notice his worry for she returned his concerned gaze with a confident smile. Sam's face broke into smile, who was he kidding? That mad woman was far too stubborn to die by anything but old age. "Don't worry Sam, the wall of ice won't break me, I only hope that I don't break it" the Ghost Trainer said confidently and with mirth. Sam and Alex both chuckled before being silenced by a glare from the instructor. "Do you find this amusing? Do you think you have what it takes to cut the only thing keeping a friend alive, and watch as he plummets to his death knowing that you are the direct cause of it?!" the instructor said heatedly.

The Pallet duo both paled and began stuttering "N-no S-sir-" "This mountain will destroy you if you don't start taking this more seriously! We've never, and I mean never had a group returning with all its members! Every single time people have attempted to summit this mountain, at least one person had died! Statistically it is guaranteed that someone in this group will die over the next couple of days… Are you ready for when that time comes?" The instructor's rant lost heat as it progressed, as he became less angry and more sorrowful. For too long had he watched people die on this cursed White Mountain and the pain was getting to be too much to bear. He thought again of the mountain's ominous name, 'This White Mountain On Which You Will Die', and he realised, again, how justified the name was… in more ways than one. If it didn't kill your body, it killed your spirit.

He did not have a happy life. Arceus… when was the last time he had even felt joy? He thought back on the gun he had in his office desk drawer, the only reason that gun remained there and never pressed to his temple, was the thought of his ex-wife back home in Celestic Town, and their young daughter… They would never want for anything with the money he earned leading people to their death on this fucking mountain!

He had stayed alive this long, if only for his family, despite how much they despised him, but perhaps the time had come when that gun would finally see the light of day… Yes… whether he died in the Death Zone or not… this would be his last trip. His family might miss him, they might… He hoped they would.

They say the mountain bred hard men and women, and Mr. Lawson was harder than most, but even the hardest rock became brittle when exposed to the cold.

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Pallet Town; Ketchum Household: 04/04/2013:

May marched down the stairs in anger; she had just spoken to her parents, and after tearfully telling them about Max's kidnapping, she was told about how Steven had called them and told them that Max was being looked after in Ever Grande. She had no idea what the G-Men were up to, but she was sure that Cynthia would know, which why she marched down those steps, each footfall a thump that echoed through the house.

Cynthia had just finished her call with Steven when she heard the thumping, shortly followed by a loud and angry hail, "Cynthia!" she heard May shout and as she turned to reprimand the brunette for greeting her so rudely she saw her expression. She grimaced as she realised that May must have spoken to her parents already. She saw Drew stand up and move over to his girlfriend, ready to support her in anyway. It seemed he really was trying to be a better boyfriend.

As the young brunette reached the blonde G-Men Officer she began her interrogation, "You want to tell me why Steven called my parents telling them that Max is being kept safe in Ever Grande? Didn't you tell him about the charizards?" May's heated tone attracted the attention of Misty, who had been eating cereal in the kitchen, and Delia, who had already come out when she heard Cynthia gasping over the news of Red's whereabouts. The two women turned to Cynthia, Misty with a curious expression upon her face and Delia with a disapproving frown on hers.

Despite the piercing stares of May and Drew and the frown on Delia's face Cynthia remained composed, "Do you know what the G-Men are, Ms. Maple?" At May's confused expression Cynthia continued, "They are the only people who know your brother is missing, they are also the only people who are most capable of protecting the public from the Colossus and not just from physical harm. The actions of this man in Sinnoh has plunged the world into fear and the only way to maintain control is for the public to believe in a government in control. If word gets out that the G-Men failed to protect a Gym Leader's son, all faith in the G-Men would be lost and without a higher power to trust in the world would spiral down into chaos and confusion."

Instead of calming the brunette down like Cynthia had hoped, the girl instead grew angrier, "It wasn't the G-Men's failure to protect my brother, it was yours. Why can't the public know it was just the failings of one person? Why can't the G-Men just discipline you and then continue searching for Max with other more capable agents?" She said bitingly.

If Cynthia was hurt by the brunette's scathing words she showed no indication, though a guilty expression did adorn her face, "May, words cannot express how sorry I am that Max was taken and believe me I will do everything in my power to get him back. But the truth is you should be counting your blessings that the G-Men decided to let me off without so much as a slap on the wrist, for without me, quite frankly, they wouldn't even consider searching for your brother while the Colossus is still out there."

May and Drew gasped while Misty and Delia just shook their heads disappointingly. Cynthia continued, "The fact of the matter is that besides Master Red and the Colossus and with Lance's death, I am now the single strongest Pokémon Trainer in the world," she wasn't bragging, she was the best and everyone knew it, "I am your greatest chance in getting your brother back, I need you to trust if not in the G-Men, then in me May."

May shook her head angrily, "I don't know if I can Cynthia, you see there was one other thing my parents mentioned. They told me that Steven was convinced that the Colossus is Ash, haven't you told him about your findings?" At this both Misty and Delia snapped their attention to the blonde G-Men officer, anger clearly written on their faces.

Cynthia mentally groaned, this was bad, she knew that Ash's friends and, more importantly, his mother would never trust her if she told them what Steven told her about why Ash's innocence must be kept hidden. So she lied, "The only evidence I really have that Ash isn't the Colossus or Lance's killer is your word and while I believe you wholeheartedly, Steven and the other Council members would never accept the words of Ash's friends and family." The blonde Champion neglected to tell them that the G-Men would have and had already accepted her words if she declared Ash innocent.

Cynthia continued her untruth, "For the time being the G-Men believe Ash is the Colossus and it must remain so until I have irrefutable proof that he isn't." The blonde G-Men Officer finished her explanation and watched each person's face for their reactions. She could tell that Delia, Misty and May were still upset over this news but a look of understanding also graced their faces. Drew seemed rather nonchalant about the whole deal; it seemed the Coordinator still didn't care much for Ash Ketchum.

Cynthia returned her attention to the topic at hand, namely getting these people to trust her yet again. "Anyway, I have good news and bad news May," she said, catching May's attention, "The good news is that we've discovered where Red, and therefore Max, is." The brunette's face lit up with joy and even Cynthia smiled a bit at how hopeful she looked, she continued, "The bad news is that Red is on Mt. Silver, arguably the most dangerous place on Earth."

As the brunette's joyous expression fell Cynthia decided to comfort her a bit, "But I'm sure that if Red refused to harm Max in the skies yesterday then he wouldn't let anything happen to him and with Red protecting him, I don't believe anything short of Legendaries can harm your little brother." May smiled again and turned to her boyfriend, who smiled at her encouragingly and then her wrapped in a hug.

After May separated from her recently loving boyfriend, she turned back to Cynthia and was about to speak when Cynthia cut her off, "I have more good news. A couple of days ago I sent Viridian's Officer Jenny and my ex-colleague Bruno," that raised a few eyebrows; when had Bruno lost his job?! "On a trip to Shamouti Island to try and contact Lugia." Misty gasped and Cynthia glanced at her before remembering what Bruno had told her; that Ash, Misty and Tracey had been present when the Legendary Bird Trio went crazy all those years ago. In fact it was Ash who had summoned Lugia and rode him into battle against that Pokémon Collector.

The blonde Champion continued, "The goal was to ask Lugia to consult the other Legendary Pokémon and ask for their aid against the Colossus as we believe that besides Red's Pokémon the Legendaries are the only Pokémon that can face Colossal Pokémon and survive." Cynthia paused as everyone nodded in understanding before continuing, "Lugia agreed, but for a price. He asked that all of Ash's previous travelling companions go on a journey to find Ash, or the Chosen One as he refers to him. He also told Jenny that it was the Legendaries, not the Colossus that spirited Ash away. Apparently the whole thing is a test for all of Ash's past travelling companions; Lugia needs to know that you are all willing and strong enough to find Ash."

Cynthia paused and smiled at everyone's hopeful and smiling faces; being the bearer of good news was always a nice feeling. "There's more, Lugia told Jenny where Ash is…" Everyone gasped and Delia's eyes shone with unshed tears; her baby boy was safe! He wasn't in the clutches of the Colossus and now they know where he is! She leapt forward and clasped Cynthia's hands in her own, a pleading, almost begging, expression on her face as she looked up at the slightly taller woman, "Please tell me, please tell me where Ash is!" she asked frantically.

The usually stern and composed Cynthia's face withered as she broke out into an authentic, sympathetic smile. She was again reminded of the promise she had made this very woman a few days ago, (Arceus, was that only a few days ago?!) the promise that she would find Ash and bring him home to her, his mother. Cynthia had briefly forgotten that promise in the wake of all that she had learnt in the past few days: Lance's death, Red's disappearance, Lugia's task and Max's kidnapping. True, the promise had originally been a ruse to get Delia to trust her, but Cynthia was only fooling herself if she believed she hadn't meant it.

Gently she grasped the shaking mother's shoulders and smiled comfortingly at her, "Lugia said that he's on the summit of Mt. Silver which is, far too coincidentally, where Red and Max are thought to be; there would have been sightings of him over the past twenty years if Red were staying anywhere on the mountain but the summit."

Delia's face fell ever so slightly before her smile returned brilliantly; learning your missing son was on the summit of Mt. Silver wouldn't be considered good news by many, but Delia knew it was far better than the alternatives: that the Colossus had her son or worse, that he was dead. She took a deep breath before tentatively speaking; her nerves were a bit frazzled at the moment. "W-when do w-we set off?

Cynthia smiled again and glanced at the other residents of the room, May seemed even happier at the news of Ash's location and even Drew had a ghost of smile upon his face. But it was Misty who caught Cynthia's attention; the Cerulean beauty's striking green eyes sparkled as they filmed over with tears, reminding Cynthia of a sundrenched ocean sparkling, as if to flood the world with hope.

Tearing her eyes away from the girl's stunning ones, Cynthia returned her attention to Delia's unanswered question. "We set off as soon as Garchomp is up and about, there's no way I'm even thinking of attempting Mt. Silver without him. It may take a while for him to recover, so I suggest you use this time to train yourself as hard as you can, I'd even go so far as to train at Silver Town so you can get somewhat used to the cold and high altitude. Bear in mind though, Silver Town isn't even half as high as Mt. Silver." Cynthia directed her answer not only to Delia but to everyone else as well since they'd all be climbing the mountain.

"Since the current record holder is the Professor, I'll ask him to organize some sort of presentation so as to prepare us a little bit." As the others all nodded in understanding Cynthia's phone began to ring again, she frowned as she saw it was Steven again. She turned to Delia and spoke, "Mrs. Ketchum I have to take this call but please don't go anywhere, I would like to speak to you about Red afterwards. The auburn haired women blanched slightly but nodded.

Cynthia answered the phone as she strode towards the sliding door to the garden, intending to get a bit of privacy, "What is it Steven?" she said grumpily, if Steven were offended by her less than stellar greeting he didn't say anything. "I have news Cynthia, my sources in the Death Zone Base Camp tell me that they found a man lying outside their clinic door." Cynthia grimaced when the camp was mentioned; that was the place where her good for nothing grandfather had died.

Steven continued, "The man was one Paul O'Connell, and he was apparently in a horrible state. The doctors have said that it was clear that someone had treated him somewhat, and he has apparently been fed a steady flow of anesthetics to keep him unconscious, it's possible that he has been under since the explosion." Cynthia's mouth hung open; Paul had survived?!

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Pewter City; Outskirts; 04/04/2013:

Nearly a week had passed before Forrest was able to use his hands again, and now he was going to use them for something far more useful than punching his Rhyperior. As the sun shimmered on the horizon, bathing the City of Rock in a rosy glow, Forrest headed towards a rather suspicious shop that lay on the outskirts of town. He pulled his black hood up as he approached the shop, the entrance barely visible behind the mass of cheap prostitutes milling about the entrance, looking for a lay and some money. He was rather famous in town and he didn't want anybody noticing him in a place like this.

He reached the prostitutes and shoved past them as they called out to him, offering themselves for the night. He shriveled his nose in disgust as he pushed past them; the girls wore far too much make up and perfume and far too little dignity, even just being near them brought on the want to bathe, thoroughly. Eventually he reached the entrance and pushed through, revealing red walls lined with everything from bongs to weapons. It was no secret that this place sold illegal goods or that it was run by Team Rocket, but for some reason the police never shut down the place. Some suspected that corruption was afoot but that didn't make sense since the police answered only to the G-Men, a government organization dedicated wholly to eradicating organisations such as Team Rocket.

Forrest pushed the thoughts from his mind as browsed through the selection of weapons. Eventually his eyes landed on a simple 9mm handgun that was on special. 150 PokéDollars was all was needed to buy the gun with a hundred regular rounds and 20 dum-dums, also known as hollow point rounds, capable of making a head explode. The young Gym Leader smiled, perfect. He picked up the gun and the bullets and headed over to the counter. The beauty of an illegal goods shop that was untouchable was that he didn't need to show his face or I.D, he just needed money.

So he bought the gun and left the shop. Pushing past the ladies of the night again, he walked the mile distance to where he had parked his car before driving back home. He glanced at the setting sun and then at the clock on the stereo, 8:27. He smiled; there was still plenty of time to get home and have a good night's sleep. He had a long drive to Pallet Town tomorrow.

Ash had taken the young Gym Leader's brother, someone he cherished more than anyone else in his life. It was time to return the favour.

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Twinleaf Town; Outlying forests; 04/04/2013:

"Kangaskhan, use Giga Impact!" yelled the blunette. Joanna watched as her Parent Pokémon became enveloped in a purple glow as she experienced a sudden massive increase in adrenaline. The incredible power that would normally be expelled in a massive blast called 'Hyper Beam' was instead infused into the Parent Pokémon's muscles and tough skin and as she charged across the clearing with the force of 500 rapidashes, the ground shook beneath her feet and the trees in her path were instantly felled.

Joanna smiled as she imagined each one of those trees as a certain raven-haired trainer, quaking in fear as her Pokémon faced him down. She wanted him to feel the same fear that her baby girl had felt in her last moments, she wanted to grind him down into oblivion. It would happen, she was sure of that, her last breath would be dedicated to hunting him down.

When she returned home with her Kangaskhan trailing behind her; she liked to leave her out of her PokéBall after such strenuous training as it helped her recover quickly, she was greeted by the sight of a kindly-faced old lady resting on her porch with her walking stick by her side. Joanna immediately recognized the old lady as Bertha, a Sinnoh Elite and ex-Champion of Sinnoh, though what she was doing outside her house, Joanna had no idea.

Bertha eyes squeezed shut as she smiled widely, she struggled to push herself up but eventually managed it and began to speak, "Mrs. Berlitz I presume? I was terribly sorry to hear that your daughter was at the Conference." The kind old lady's smile faded and was replaced with a sympathetic gaze, "I am Bertha Scott, a member of the Sinnoh Elite Four, and I've come here on the behalf of the G-Men to escort you to our safe hideout."

Joanna raised an eyebrow but didn't smile as she strode past the pleasant woman to her front door, Kangaskhan went around the back to enter her garden. Joanna unlocked the door and held it open for Bertha who nodded her thanks as she walked by, the blunette then walked in herself, locking the door behind her and heading for the kitchen. "Would you like some tea or coffee Mrs. Scott? You must have traveled a long way to get here."

The gray haired lady smiled and seated herself on one of the cushioned wicker chairs surrounding the coffee table , "Some tea would be lovely dear, thank you" the old lady began to speak even though Joanna was in another room, the ex-Coordinator had taken longer than she had expected to get back home and now Bertha didn't have a lot of time. "You may have heard of the plane crash in Johto recently?" she asked politely, when she heard no answer she continued, "Johto Champion Lance was on that plane, unfortunately he didn't survive. We believe that Ketchum was responsible for it and as such the G-Men has decided that everyone who was extensively in contact with Ash must be protected. There's no telling what a monster like him would do if he got his hands on you."

Joanna mentally smirked as she brought the tea out on a tray, he would die horribly is what he would do. As she rested the tray on the table and took a seat opposite Bertha she asked a question, "What if I don't want to go with you?" The old lady's kindly smile grew larger for some reason, which made her next words rather sinister, "I'm afraid you have no choice dear, don't worry you'll be well provided for, the G-Men have spared no expense in making sure tha-" she was interrupted by Joanna's house phone ringing. Bertha's wide smile remained while Joanna reached for the phone, though the blunette could have sworn she saw flicker of frustration in her eyes.

"Berlitz Residence…" Joanna answered the phone and was greeted by a familiar, though strained, voice, "Joanna? It's Caroline… H-how are you?" Joanna sighed, as their daughters had grown close over the years, so too had she and Caroline. The lively brunette was a wonderful person, but rather talkative and currently Joanna was not in a talkative mood. "You know how I am Caroline, now what did you call to talk about?" Joanna heard the brunette sigh, meanwhile Bertha still had that now-becoming-creepy smile on her face, though it slipped a bit at the mention of Caroline.

Joanna heard Caroline draw a shuddering breath and it occurred to her that the brunette sounded like she had been crying, her next words clarified why. "M-Max was k-kidnapped, h-he was on Cynthia's private jet bound for Petalburg but it was destroyed just over Silver Town," Caroline told Joanna the rest of what May had told her and Joanna's face showed not even a flicker of emotion. But inside she was reeling in shock; poor sweet, cute Max! But why did Bertha tell her that it was Lance's jet? Her unasked question soon got an answer as Caroline went on to tell her about Steven's phone call and then her conversation with May earlier today.

Joanna's eyes narrowed at Bertha, who seemed not to notice, as she thought about the G-Men's offer to take her to a safe place. How could she trust the organisation if they blatantly lied to a Gym Leader couple about the whereabouts and condition of their son? Bertha had said that Joanna had been given no choice in the matter, but that only meant that she had to make her own. After concluding the discussion and wishing Caroline well, taking care not to reveal any information to Bertha about the topic at hand, Joanna placed the phone back in its holster and stared intently at the lady opposite her. The old lady appeared to get uncomfortable as she shuffled in her seat, "I sincerely hope you're not thinking of not coming with us, I would hate to have to take drastic measures," she said somewhat nervously.

Joanna fingered Glameow's PokéBall on her waist as she continued staring at the old lady. Suddenly a large smile broke out on her face as she spoke all too jollily, "Oh Mrs. Scott, I assure you, there's no need to worry!"

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Somewhere; 04/04/2013:

Blue cursed he watched Alakazam fail to, yet again, bring the man back to consciousness. It seemed the Bloody Braviary had been a bit too excessive, he was still alive of course, his lungs and ribs were back in place, his back as smooth as glass. But the excessive amount of pain he had experienced had forced his mind into a coma, and comas were an affliction that even his mighty alakazam couldn't heal, not as he was anyway.

But there was still hope; his sources in Kalos had told him about these strange Mega Stones and Mega chain things, about how they allowed a Pokémon to evolve into an exponentially more powerful state, and seeing as Alakazam was already exceptionally powerful, a Mega-Evolution would probably boost his power to the Alpha Rank, on par with Cynthia's Garchomp and Lance's Dragonite. A coma would be no trouble for his Mega-Alakazam to heal at all.

This catch with the time limit on the evolution though, that bothered him. What was the point of growing stronger if you couldn't maintain that strength indefinitely? So he had his top scientist work on some way to bypass the reversion and make Mega-Evolution permanent, the elderly man had studied tapes of Red's battles since it was now apparent that his Charizard was a Mega-Charizard, though not the usual black one that had been discovered, and that he could hold his Mega form indefinitely.

#########

The tapes revealed nothing so the scientist had to improvise, using Team Rocket's vast connections he managed to get his hands on some Alakazite and begun to study them intently. He crushed them up, cracked them, dissolved them and soon discovered something remarkable. Mega-Stones were essentially fossils of Pokémon that lived millennia ago! They were stones made from diamond, or carbon, infused with the aura of an ancient Pokémon! The scientist wasn't quite sure how they came to be, did they form when Pokémon died? Did Pokémon consciously infuse these stones with their aura before they died?

But one thing was quite certain, the stones definitely held the aura of an ancestor Pokémon of Alakazam, which meant the Alakazam evolution chain had been around millions of years ago! The scientist also discovered how the process of Mega-Evolution worked; the stone temporarily granted the user the use of the aura inside when connected with a Key Stone, but the user never absorbed the aura. The incredibly tough carbon of the stone prevented any aura from seeping through into the user's body and this was what he needed to bypass in order to perform a perfect Mega-Evolution. So he set to work on extracting the aura from the stone and condensing it into liquid form.

It was strange, turning a life force into matter, but if anyone could do it, he could. He was the G-Men's top scientist after all, ordered by the Council to join Team Rocket and make use of their advanced resources and facilities to discover ways to improve the G-Men's knowledge and power. It was an arrangement that Giovanni and the G-Men had with each other, Team Rocket would utilize its frankly incredible science and technology department to make the G-Men stronger and the G-Men would allow Team Rocket to discretely run its illegal operations all around the world.

Obviously only certain council members knew of this arrangement, the Sinnoh Champion, and maybe a few of the elites, would shut down this operation immediately if they knew about it. The scientist grimaced, he didn't know why Cynthia was allowed on the Council, she caused more trouble than she was worth…

The scientist returned to his work and held up a syringe that held a glowing blue liquid. He beheld it in glee, if this all went according to plan then he had discovered a way to permanently Mega-Evolve Pokémon! The Council would be pleased! But first Giovanni wanted it for his Alakazam for some reason.

The scientist was unaware of Blue's prisoner, but had he known about it, he still wouldn't care, he was the G-Men's top scientist after all, emotion was as foreign to him as honesty was.

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Pallet Town; Ketchum Household; 04/04/2013:

Delia sat down at the island table in the middle of her kitchen, cradling a mug of tea in her hands. The others had just left, heading to Professor Oak's lab to get some information from the elderly man about Mt. Silver. Delia shuddered as she thought about the mountain, she had more reason than most to dread that mountain, who knows how different her life would be if she had had a father growing up…

And now she was going to be climbing it herself, 'This White Mountain On Which You Will Die', it was a terrifying prospect, but one she was willing to embrace wholeheartedly if it meant she could see her son again, meeting Red again would be interesting as well…

Opposite her sat Cynthia, who had remained behind to finally question Delia about the elusive Pokémon Master, which was why Delia's hands were shaking, almost spilling the tea in her hands. It wasn't that it would be hard for her to tell Red's story, there really wasn't much to it, it was more what had happened after Red disappeared those twenty years ago that made her nervous about bringing it up again.

The auburn haired mother watched nervously as Cynthia reached into her coat to bring out her small notepad and pen. She also took out her phone and placed it on to the granite surface of the table and put it on record. Finally the blonde champion looked up at Delia and smiled warmly, easing her nerves greatly. How this rather impatient and moody woman several years her younger could strike so much fear and yet also calm her down with a simple smile was beyond the auburn haired mother. Say what you want about Cynthia Lawson, but none could deny that she was a formidable woman with an inspiring presence.

The blonde G-Men Officer finally spoke, "Ok, Mrs. Ketchum, what can you tell me about Red? Please be truthful, I believe we both have had enough of all these half-truths you and the Oaks have been giving me." Though Cynthia's smile remained as encouraging as ever Delia could easily detect the warning in her words. No more lies, she knew, it was time for the world to learn what she knew about Master Red.

"First of all," Delia started, taking a deep breath before continuing, "Red is not actually from Pallet Town, I don't actually know where he is from, he never told anyone." Cynthia's eyes widened, even in learning more than nearly everyone in the world about Red, it seemed there was always going to be an element of mystery with him. "I was 13 when I first met him," Delia continued, "It was the first day of my Pokémon journey and me and my best friend, Blue, had just set off through the woods separating Viridian and Pallet Town."

"Wait a second," Cynthia interrupted, "You don't mean the Viridian City Gym Leader Blue do you?" she asked in surprise. Delia smiled and nodded, "Yes that's him, I was once best friends with two Kanto Champions, Blue and Red, though Blue's reign was rather short because of Red." "Interesting…" Cynthia said, "So how come you are no longer friends with Blue now, Blue does have a reputation as a bit of a loner," she asked. Delia's smile faded into gloom, "I'll get to that soon, it's actually part of Red's story…" Cynthia nodded and gestured for Delia to continue her story.

"We hadn't traveled for long, only about a couple of hours, before Blue challenged me to our first Pokémon battle. My bulbasaur struggled at first but soon we gained an upper hand on Blue and his squirtle, in order to one-up me Blue snuck around me while I was focusing on the battle and then pushed me into the river that was nearby. I got him back of course, and we spent quite a while playing in that river with our Pokémon, but then we noticed that my bulbasaur had disappeared."

"It wasn't long until I found him floating downriver, unable to fight the current as it swept him towards a waterfall. Without thinking I jumped in, trying to save my first Pokémon, Blue panicked and jumped in after me. All together we rode down the waterfall and we found it to be a mild one, far from dangerous. But as we made our way to the river's bank we noticed a figure floating face up in the water near us."

"We dragged him out the water, no easy feat as he was a full grown man and we were just a couple of kids, and laid him down on the bank. We were worried at first that he was dead, and neither of us knew CPR, but then he woke up and I saw the most startling eyes I have ever seen still to this day, for the irises were a pure blood-red colour." Cynthia paused her jotting as she listened to Delia talk, it was unknown what Red's true eye colour was as sometimes he was seen with red eyes, and sometimes with blue, though all the times he had been seen with blue eyes was when he was battling, Cynthia realised. It was generally assumed that he wore contacts to change his eye colour, just to add to his mystery appeal. But maybe there was something more at play here.

"He didn't cough up any water or anything," Delia continued, "in fact he just sat up, looked at me once, and started crying." Cynthia's head snapped up. Crying?! The greatest Pokémon Trainer in existence had been… crying? Delia saw the blonde woman's reaction and chuckled, "Yep, he started crying, and I still to this day don't know why. Anyway, after he stopped crying he stood up and held his hand out to us in greeting. He told us that he had no name and then that he was going to attend the Indigo Plateau Conference."

"Of course we asked him what had happened, why he was floating in the river and there was a long moment of silence before he told us that he couldn't remember. To this day I suspect he was lying to us but Blue and I backed off when his eyes flashed a darker shade of red."
"What?" Cynthia interrupted, "What are you talking about?"

Delia sighed and shook her head, "I'm telling you, his eyes flashed a darker shade of red, and it really freaked us out." Cynthia was confused, how one earth does a person's eyes change colour like that? And how could someone have no name? She decided to file it away in her mind as Delia continued.

"He then took out a PokéBall and released it, and that's when Blue and I met the most powerful owned Pokémon in the world… Red's Pikachu. After checking Pikachu to make sure he was alright for some reason, Red looked at us again before Pikachu jumped right at me. I screamed at first, thinking Pikachu was attacking me, but then I felt the little mouse lick my cheek. I looked into his eyes and I could have sworn that I saw recognition and love in those eyes, though that didn't make sense as I had never met him before."

"Red then approached us and took Pikachu back, but not before giving me a weird crystal flower-type thing that seemed to resonate to his touch, but as soon as I touched it, it became dull and opaque. He told me to hold onto it until I went to Pewter City, where I should leave it as a package addressed to someone called Riley… Riley Ketchum… who would become my husband in later years."

Cynthia's head shot up; she had assumed, like quite a few people really, that because Red and Ash both came from Pallet Town and because they looked so similar, Red must be Ash's father. To learn that he wasn't was quite a shock indeed. The blonde G-Men Agent smiled, this story was getting really interesting.

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The Death Zone; Mt. Silver; 7 700m (25 260ft) above sea level; 10/06/1975:

Sam tried to breathe normally as he slammed his ice pick into the firm ice of the ice wall, after making sure that the pick was secure he kicked the wall hard with his spike studded boots to ensure that his feet were secure as well before pulling and pushing himself up with his pick and feet respectively. He reached out with his other hand and the pick it held before repeating the whole process again. It was tiring progress, made harder by the gusting wind and freezing cold, but Sam could feel the benefits of the excruciating hardcore training they had endured.

It wasn't hard for him to keep his breathing constant, his muscles barely strained and the cold was not actually affecting him too much. The only real problem was the stinging of snow as it whipped across his face and covered his goggles with white slush. As he raised his free hand to wipe the snow from his goggles he glanced down beneath him at the rest of the group. Directly beneath him was Alex, and beneath him was Agatha. Above Sam was Mr. Lawson, the guide who literally held all their lives in his hands as he hammered rings and hooks into the wall and threaded ropes through them.

Sam sighed as he thought of their journey to the wall from where they had started at the edge of the Death Zone. Two people had already turned back, gasping for air even with their oxygen tanks and even as they gasping, Sam could see the strange combination of relief and disappointment in their expressions; bittersweet smiles and teary frowns written clearly on their faces. He hoped they could find comfort in knowing that only about 200 hundred people had even made it as far as them, but he knew that like him if he turned back, they would never forget their failure to summit the White Mountain.

He glanced again at Agatha just below Alex to make sure she was alright, but she was doing fine, he could see clearly that fierce determination on her face that he had seen during their multiple battles together back at camp. He returned his attention to climbing the ice wall as Mr. Lawson gestured him to follow. But as he slammed his pick yet again, he couldn't help wonder who else would turn back before day's end… and in what manner?

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It had been an hour since they had ascended the ice wall which, thankfully, had taken no lives and they were now nearing the cave in which they would be spending the night and which held the world record for the highest anyone had climbed the mountain. The group was in high spirits because while they were exhausted and cold and hungry, the wind had died down a bit and they were also making good progress. Not one of them felt the need to use their oxygen masks and none of them felt too cold to go on. The fact that they were near the cave bolstered their morale as it meant not only that they would be able to rest soon, but also that they were approaching the record and yet none of them felt like giving up and going back down. It was hard for them to believe that they couldn't surpass the record at the moment.

Even Mr. Lawson was impressed by the group's dedication, though he knew it was partly due to group psychology, as he too was feeling that he could perhaps beat that record. He glanced at the Pallet Duo just slightly ahead of him, walking with an arm slung around the other's shoulder and chuckling at something. He smiled slightly as he realised that he was perhaps being too critical about his thinking of them. They knew the danger of what they faced, but joking about it was not a bad way to stay calm and confident. He really hoped that this journey wouldn't change them too much, a friendship like theirs was rare. His smile slipped as he realised how ridiculous he was being, this was only going to end in tragedy.

"They're good men aren't they?" The guide was brought out of his thoughts by a strong feminine voice by side. He looked to his right to see Agatha strolling along beside him, a smile gracing her lips as she watched her two friends. Mr. Lawson smiled sadly, "They are, but they're not going to make it, and if they do, they won't be same. Whatever happens up here, those two men that you see now will be gone, either dead or replaced by someone you may not recognize."

Agatha frowned at him, "Why would you lead us up here if you think no one can summit the mountain?" she asked. "Oh, I believe the mountain can be summited, but not by people like them." Agatha scoffed, "Those two are the most determined men I've ever met, I've never seen anyone laugh in the face of death so openly."

Mr. Lawson sighed, "That's exactly why they won't make it, hope can kill as much as it mends. I've seen hope bring a broken man up upon his two feet, and I've seen hope crush a man down until he pulls the trigger to his head." Agatha glared at the guide before realizing that tears were rolling down his weathered face. She thought about what he had just said, and realised that he was speaking from personal experience. She wondered what had happened to him to make him so sad. How had hope crushed him into this morose wreck she saw before her now?

Mr. Lawson, meanwhile, was again thinking about that gun in his drawer back in his office. For the last time had he watched men like Alex King and Samuel Oak be destroyed by the White Mountain, for the last time had he seen a glorious man's spirit crushed by the psychological trauma inflicted by 'The White Mountain On Which You Will Die'. Whether up here in the Death Zone or down there back in his office, his last breath approached.

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Sam gasped for breath as he focused all of his energy in putting that one foot in front of the other. This was crazy! Just half an hour ago he and Alex were laughing with their arms slung around each other and now they could barely think as they fought for oxygen. They were on the last stretch to the cave and they were now realizing why no one had ever exceeded the cave. They were currently on a sharp incline of brittle shale that was almost 50 metres high, the cave was at the top of the incline and it honestly seemed no nearer than it had when they started climbing the incline.

But the cave must have been closer than he realised because not ten minutes later and they were all huddled around the entrance to the cave. Sam stared at the flag that had barely any trace of red left on it from all the years it had spent being billowed around by the blizzards up here. He then glanced up at the mountain, now that they had reached as far as anyone had gone there was no path to follow up the icy glaciers and sleet covered shale. They would have to make their own path from now on, avoiding loose snow for fear of avalanche and avoiding crevasses for fear of a plummeting death.

Sam was brought out of his thoughts by Mr. Lawson gesturing to everyone with a finger on his lips, he then started speaking quietly, "Before we enter the cave we have to make sure that all the Pokémon within are killed." The group gasped; they had never been told that they would have to kill Pokémon! Sam and Alex stood up and were about to protest when the guide interrupted them, "If we just knockout the Pokémon then they will recover and then summon other Pokémon to their aid, we cannot hope to face a whole horde of Pokémon up here.

Sam and Alex sat back down and shakily sighed, Mr. Lawson was right of course, they would perish instantly if they faced too many Pokémon up here. "Agatha, are you ready?" the guide asked, causing Sam to swing his head to Agatha to see her reaction. He was not surprised to see her shaking slightly, he doubted anyone up here, except Mr. Lawson probably, had ever killed a Pokémon and he knew it wouldn't be easy for Agatha to do.

The nervous but tough-as-nails woman visibly steeled herself and then released her gengar, "Gengar… we're going into that cave and I need you to kill whatever you find within…" Gengar's ever present sneer actually managed to look a little less joyful at the news, though the Shadow Pokémon soon laughed and gave Agatha a thumbs up. Sam shuddered, and not because of the cold, he knew that Gengar wasn't really happy about the situation but the eerie Pokémon's eagerness to do the deed disturbed him greatly. There was just something about Ghost Pokémon that was really creepy, probably because they had killed more people than all the other types combined. He admired Ghost Trainers like Agatha greatly for their ability to tame Ghosts and also to remain calm in the face of the undead.

Sam watched as Agatha and Gengar slowly made their way into the cave, it wasn't long before the blackness of the cave swallowed the two and the rest of the group couldn't see them anymore. Almost immediately after they had disappeared however, they could hear Agatha shouting, "Brick Break… don't… don't s-stop…" They heard a painful cry of "Laaaarvitaaarrr…" along with a constant sickening thudding. Soon no other noise was heard except for that squelching thudding and vomiting from both within and without the cave. Mr. Lawson, grim faced as ever, stood up and, ignoring his retching group members, strode into the cave. He was soon followed by the rest of the group.

The group took out their torches, and soon wished they hadn't, for the grisly sight before them was truly horrifying. Agatha was slumped against the remarkably smooth cave wall with tears rolling down her face and next to her… next to her were the bloody gut-strewn remains of a baby larvitar. Above the corpse was Gengar, its fists covered in blood and tears carving their way down his ethereal face. The sight of Gengar's tears and sneer clashing together was a sight Sam didn't think he would ever forget. And neither was the sight of a mutilated baby Pokémon.

Sam and Alex rushed over to Agatha and they both clasped her in a strong hug as she broke down completely in their arms. The rest of the group sadly looked on, except for the guide, who looked suspiciously around at the cave. "Hmmm…" he said, "this cave seems smaller than before…" The group's eyes widened when they heard an ominous rumbling echo through the cave. Suddenly the wall that Agatha was leaning against shifted, causing the Ghost Trainer and her two Pallet friends to stumble before standing up together and backing away from now moving wall.

It soon became clear under torchlight that the wall was actually the pale green armoured hide of a tyranitar. The Armour Pokémon soon reached its full height, standing on it two legs, before opening its eyes and glaring at the people that dared interrupt its slumber. However it then noticed the bloody remains of its baby… It was easy to see that Gengar was the culprit here and then Agatha recalled her Pokémon, which was probably the biggest mistake she would ever make in her life. The tyranitar's eyes became wide and reddened with fury before bellowing loudly and Sam could clearly hear both the anguish and indescribable fury in its roar.

With speed that was rare for a species as large as tyranitar it lunged forward and reared its huge fist, ready to smash it down on Agatha. The Ghost Trainer stumbled backwards but fell due to the uneven surface of the cave floor, she landed on her butt and then screamed in absolute agony as all 30 kilograms of Tyranitar's fist smashed down on her right leg, crushing her femur and shattering her knee cap.

Sam lunged forward and released Dragonite before yelling, "Dragonite, take that tyranitar out of here!" The Dragon Pokémon leaped forward and gripped Tyranitar in its strong claws that glowed white with the power of Strength before dragging it out of the cave and launching into the air with a flap of its huge and powerful wings. Dragonite spiraled continuously in the freezing air so as to confuse Tyranitar before flipping and releasing the Armour Pokémon, who dropped like a stone towards the ground at the bottom of the steep shale incline the group had just climbed.

The rest of the group shuffled outside, an unconscious Agatha being carried by Sam and Alex, and watched as Tyranitar plummeted towards the ground. However moments before impact the tyranitar righted itself and slammed its glowing feet into the earth with a thundering roar that echoed around the whole mountain. The force of the Earthquake, magnified by the height from which the Armour Pokémon fell, created a massive shockwave that lifted the shale around it as a huge ripple.

The group watched in terror as the ripple made its way up the incline before shattering, sending thousands of razor sharp shale stones at them. Just before the sharp rocks reached them though Dragonite landed in front of Sam and quickly formed a Protect barrier. Unfortunately the hexagonal riddled shield was only large enough to protect those who were in the immediate vicinity of Sam, namely Alex, Agatha, Mr. Lawson and Patrick Rowan. The few who were protected watched in horror as the sharp stones tore through the rest of the screaming group like bullet fire.

The screams could barely be heard over the sound of the roaring wave of stones smashing into the green Protect barrier surrounding them and when the wave eventually passed, what remained was a truly horrifying sight that none of the survivors would ever forget. Sam fell to his knees and threw up. He was soon followed by the rest of the survivors, except for Agatha who, perhaps fortunately, had remained unconscious during the whole event. Sam gazed over the torn remains of his group members and muttered a prayer to Arceus as he thought of how he had bonded with each and every one of them.

His thoughts were soon interrupted however as another earth shattering roar split the skies, this one wasn't caused by a Pokémon though, and the group's faces paled as they stared up at the enormous wall of snow, earth and ice rushing down the mountain towards them at an unfathomable speed. "Get in the cave now!" Mr. Lawson yelled and the group promptly obeyed. Recalling Dragonite and slinging Agatha over his shoulder Sam grabbed a still shocked Alex and shoved him into the cave before following him, Mr. Lawson doing the same with Patrick.

They all sat down and listened nervously as the avalanche passed over them plunging them into absolute darkness. A few minutes passed in silence until eventually Mr. Lawson started speaking, "Ok we all need to relax, there is little enough oxygen up here as it is and now all we have left is what remains in this cave so people, try and keep your breathing even." Everyone tried their hardest to follow his advice but it was really quite hard to remain calm after what had just happened.

Sam realised that just 10 minutes earlier he had been congratulating himself on reaching the world record, and now most of the group had been horribly killed and Agatha had sustained a likely irreparable injury. How could so much go wrong in such little time? His thoughts were interrupted by the guide's next instructions, "Our first priority is getting out of here and then getting Agatha back to camp immediately. Sam, can you use your dragonite to melt our way out of here?" Sam nodded until he realised that no one could see him in this darkness. "Yes, I'll call him out now"

"Wait!" Sam jumped at the sudden yell from Alex who had been quiet the entire time. "We have to go on! We have to try and summit the mountain, we can't let all this have been for nothing" said Alex. Mr. Lawson growled, "Are you mad son?! Did you hit your head?! We just survived a Tyranitar's Earthquake and the resulting avalanche, Agatha has been gravely injured and the avalanche will have made the mountain pretty much impassable!"

"I have to go on… you don't have to follow me, but I need to do this…" replied Alex quietly to everyone's confusion. "Alex," Sam approached his best friend and spoke quietly, "We have to go back… Agatha needs our help and the avalanche will have made the mountain impossible to climb, I know we promised each other that we would make it but we also promised each other that we'd be together no matter what… Let's turn back Alex, we can try again another day."

"No!" Sam jumped at Alex's yell, shocked by the anger he could hear in his best friend's voice. "You don't understand, none of you do! This isn't about us anymore Sam, I've been chosen… I've been chosen…" Sam was confused, "Chosen for what? Alex what are you talking about? You can't go up there! You'll die in minutes!" "Maybe I will and maybe I won't, that's not up to me," replied Alex vaguely confusing Sam even further. Sam was getting desperate now, he knew that if Alex went up there he'd never see his best friend again and that was a prospect he couldn't handle right now.

He thought back on the tragic events that occurred in the last 10 minutes, he thought back on the two months they had spent training back at camp, he thought back on his and Alex's wives and their beautiful newborn babies. "Alex… think of Ashley and your daughter Delia! You're a father now, you can't just abandon your family! They need you… Delia needs you…" Tears dripped down Sam's face as he realised that Alex wasn't going back. "…I need you… We promised! We promised we'd stick together no matter what! If you go up there Alex… I can't follow you…"

Sam broke off as sobs racked their way through his body. When they had started out on their journey together all those years ago and they had promised each other that they would conquer Mt. Silver together, he had been sure that they would be together until the end. To say that Sam and Alex had a friendship that transcended the bond of even family was to say that water was wet, and that fire was hot.

"Sam…" Alex's quiet voice brought Sam's thoughts out of the past, "I know you can't, you have to look after your family. I don't expect you to follow me but I need you to understand that I have to do this, this is greater than you and I, this is my destiny." Sam broke down again and was about to retort when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Son," Mr. Lawson said soothingly, "You and Alex will have to sort this out later, we're running out of oxygen and Agatha won't survive long in these conditions. Tell Dragonite not to use a fire move to break us out, there's not enough oxygen for fire now."

Sam's crying didn't cease but he nodded his head shakily before releasing his dragonite, "Charge up your Hyper Beam!" Sam yelled. As his Dragon Pokémon opened his mouth and a pale orange orb began to coalesce in his maw, Sam used the light of the orb to see where the snow covered entrance of the cave was and then pointed at it when he found it, "Shoot there Dragonite!" he yelled. The orb exploded into a huge pillar that shot out of Dragonite's mouth with an ominous trembling noise that sounded a bit like a tuba. The Hyper Beam obliterated the wall of snow that covered the entrance, allowing white light to filter in and oxygen to flood the cave.

Sam hadn't realised how much he had been struggling to breathe until he tasted that sweet oxygen again. They shuffled out of the cave and looked around at the devastation that the avalanche had caused, but Sam couldn't really concentrate on it as he thought about his best friend again. He turned to see Alex standing slightly above him staring up at the shrouded peak. He trudged his way up to his best friend and stood by him staring up. "There's nothing I can say to get you to come back is there." It wasn't a question, it was a horrific realisation.

Alex chuckled sadly, "No my friend, this is where we part ways." Sam bowed his head as tears sprung again to his eyes, "We had a good life didn't we Sam," said Alex poignantly. Sam sobbed, "Y-yeah Alex, we did, so why does yours have to end so soon?" "I can't tell you Sam, but I get the feeling that one day you'll know." Sam sighed, he had expected as much. He stood still as he tried to cope with the knowledge that this would be last time he would ever see best friend.

He was brought of his thoughts by Alex digging around in the snow below them. Eventually the auburn-haired Pallet Town native man found what he was looking for and proceeded to pull it out of the snow. Sam's eyes widened as he realised it was the world record flag, "What are you doing?" asked Sam, only for Alex to chuckle sadly and reply, "I'm going up Sam, I going to go further than anyone has ever been, I may die up here but I'll be damned if I don't go down in glory."

Sam laughed as tears strode their way down his face; that was just like Alex, going out swinging. Alex soon joined in, laughing and crying in a weird combination of pride, nostalgia and despair. Their blizzard of emotions was soon interrupted by the trudging of snow as they were approached by Mr. Lawson. "We have to go, that Earthquake and avalanche would have alerted every Pokémon on the mountain to our presence. We might as well use our Pokémon now since they know we're here already, Sam can you take Agatha back to camp on your Dragonite?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, how will you and Patrick be getting back?" "Oh we'll be riding my Salamence, I take it you're not coming with us Alex?" the guide asked. Alex nodded before handing his PokéBall to Sam, "Please take care of Blastoise for me Sam… and tell Ashley… I'm sorry… and Delia…" Alex paused as tears rose again unbidden to his eyes, "Look after my little angel will you? Look after Delia for me?" Sam took Alex's PokéBall before pulling his best friend into a hug, "Of course Alex, they'll never want for anything." The two held the embrace for a while, tears freezing on their cheeks as they recalled their life together travelling around the world.

They eventually broke apart when they heard a distant roar of a Pokémon followed by many others. "We have to go, I wish you the very best of luck Alex" said Mr. Lawson before gripping the auburn haired man's hand in a handshake. The guide then turned away and made his way back down to Patrick before releasing Salamence and clambering on top of it, followed by Patrick. "You'd best go now Sam," said Alex quietly as the realisation that he would never see another person again hit him.

Sam, with his head down as fresh tears crawled their way down his face and froze on his cheeks, slowly walked to Dragonite. Each step he took in the shin deep snow brought upon him another flash of memory of his life with Alex; their first Pokémon battle against each other, their first Gym battle, their first Conference, their first girlfriends, their first fight, when they first met their wives, when their children were born not two months ago, and lastly the countless nights they had spent camping under starlight and talking the night away on their journies. One could hardly call what these two men shared a mere friendship, no... what they shared was a brotherhood.

A few minutes later and Dragonite was hovering in the air above Alex with Sam on his back. The two Pallet men shared on last salute of goodbye before Dragonite slowly made his way down the mountain. Sam watched Alex turn around and start making his way upwards, towards certainty and eternity; certainty that he would perish on the White Mountain, and eternity in the sense that he would never be forgotten.

As he faced forward once more staring at the icy clouds that surrounded him, he recalled Mr. Lawson's grim opening line of his presentation, "This the mountain upon which you will die," and realised just how true that was. For though his body may be living, his spirit was now all but gone.

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Pallet Town; Professor Oak's Lab; 04/04/2013:

Professor Oak sighed as he gazed upon the people seated in front of him. They were all currently seated in the presentation hall that he used every now and then when fellow scientists and professors visited. Seated in the front row was Delia and Cynthia, who had an attitude somewhat similar to her grandfather, Professor Oak had noted over the past few days. Behind them was May, Drew and Misty while at the back was Gary, Tracey and Daisy.

He sighed again when he saw his grandson, when Cynthia had approached him this morning with the news that both Ash and Max were at the summit of Mt. Silver, he had immediately known that he couldn't allow Gary to join the rest on their expedition to find the missing duo. The fact that the expedition was a task given to Ash's friends by the Legendaries only solidified his conviction as he suspected that Legendaries were involved with Alex's determination to die on the White Mountain all those years ago. Why else would he be 'chosen' to go, or say that he 'had to'?

The professor closed his eyes and sat down behind the desk, confusing the other residents of the room who had been awaiting his presentation. Behind closed eyelids tears built up as the old man remembered that fateful day. As if it wasn't bad enough that they had to kill a baby Pokémon and that Agatha had been permanently maimed and that most of the group had been shredded by sharp stones and that his best friend had left him to undergo a task that could only end in death, the night when he had returned to camp he had walked to Mr. Lawson's office, and found the tough old bastard slumped in his chair, gun in hand, hole in head and a crimson splatter on the wall behind him.

He had returned to Pallet Town the next day, and while over the next ten years Agatha went on to defeat Old Man Gareth and claim his position in the Elite Four, and Patrick Rowan went on to become the Regional Professor of his homeland Sinnoh, Samuel Oak had spent the decade in despair. He became a drunk bastard, mistreating his wife Gloria and neglecting his son Giovanni. He had never hurt them, or cheated on Gloria, he just became a drunken mess that shouted too often and cared too little. The only light in his days was little Delia, who came over to play with Giovanni almost every weekend.

The little auburn-haired girl was so like her father that even being in the same room as her while she played with his own son was enough to bring a ray of hope into his dark life. He watched with pride as his best friend's little angel grew up to be as great, if not greater than her father. Ashley had done a good job despite the difficult situation Alex's death had left her in. Unfortunately he had been so fixated on ensuring Alex's family was happy that he forgot to tend to his own.

Gloria left him Giovanni was ten, taking his son and moving in with another local man whom he suspected she had already been seeing, not that he could blame her, he was hardly being a devoting husband. It was then that he realised he needed to get his life in order and another three years later and he was the Regional Professor of Kanto, the youngest Regional Professor there had ever been. It wasn't long after his son's 13th birthday, whom Gloria let him see every weekend, that he discovered that the man his ex-wife and son had been staying with had been beating them.

The police got involved and the man was arrested, but that left the issue of Gloria and Giovanni, the former who had been declared too emotionally unstable to care for a child. Samuel had obviously insisted that Giovanni stay with him, but it wasn't long after that that the teenager left on his Pokémon journey with Delia, but that was a story for another day.

The disaster that was his life after he came back from the White Mountain was enough to make Samuel Oak realise what Mr. Lawson had meant all those years ago. He recalled what the Ghurkas called the mountain and grimaced sadly. The old professor had never recovered fully from what had happened, one could say that his spirit now possessed a melancholy that had plagued his life since that day. And that was what Mr. Lawson had meant with his opening line almost forty years ago.

So, heart heavy with a shattered past, the old man stood up and opened his eyes to the expedition assembled before him, ready to take on what had destroyed him. His eyes fell upon Delia and he almost smiled, what a great woman she had become… Alex would be so proud… If only he could see her now... "This is the mountain upon which you will die…" Professor Oak began…

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So there we are, what did you think?

I have very limited experience with mountaineering and no experience with the Death Zone, which is real by the way, so nearly all assumptions I made about a journey up Mt. Silver, which I'm comparing to Everest, could be entirely wrong. I also do not speak Nepalese, which is the language spoken at the beginning of the chapter. So what you're seeing there chaps is the wonderful work of my good friend Google Translate. I apologise if it is incorrect, though I suspect not many Nepalese speaking people read Pokemon Fanfiction.

I'm sure many of you are surprised that Red is in fact not Ash's father, I hope you aren't too disappointed by this turn of events, though I did warn you about the possibility.

We learnt in this chapter that the G-Men aren't all that they seem to be, and that Blue/Giovanni had a rocky past. We also learnt that both Forrest and Joanna are feeling very vengeful towards Ash, but why is Forrest heading towards Pallet, and what are his intentions?

These questions will be answered in the next chapter, as will the rest of Red's story with Delia and Blue, though I cannot promise when that next chapter will be.

I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter and I apologise if Alex's departure seemed a bit sudden and Deus Ex Machina, I tried really hard to make that quite emotional and yet mysterious, though I have the sneaking suspicion that I failed.

Anyway, please Read and Review,

If you are confused about something, or you want to ask me something, please feel free to PM me and I will try my best to reply without giving away spoilers unless you want them.

Until next time.

-SwallowtheSun