Chapter 3
Old Hatreds
(Ash's POV)
I was woken, but this time, it wasn't by the golden morning sun. Looking around, I could still see that it was nighttime as I yawned and prepared to go back to sleep. But my attention was jolted by an unpleasant smell which could only mean trouble: smoke.
Instinctively, I thought that Charizard might have come out of his Pokéball again out of boredom, as I slid my legs out of bed after carefully taking my arms and legs off Misty. But as I placed my feet down on the floor, Misty spoke to me quietly.
"Honey, where are you going?" she said with a slight yawn.
"Downstairs, to check on my Pokébelt. I think that Charizard might have broken out of his Pokéball again, cos I smell some smoke" I replied.
"Okay, Ash. Take care not to wake the kids or Brock and Sabrina," she yawned again, turning on to her other side and pulling up the covers.
I rubbed my eyes again and gave a heavy sigh as I stood up and walked over to the door. But I stopped as I saw bright red, orange and yellow lights far off west, in the direction of Cinnabar Island. Out of curiosity, I peered out the window to take a closer look. From the blazing source of light loomed a thick trail of black smoke, which could only mean one thing.
Cinnabar Island was on fire.
"Misty! Misty! Wake up!" I tiptoed quietly yet quickly over to the bed and shook her gently to enliven her senses. "Cinnabar Island is on fire!"
Misty responded by gently holding my hand at first, oblivious towards what was going on and simply taking comfort in my touch. But after the message had gotten through, her eyes jolted open as she dashed towards the window with me. Pikachu and Marill also woke up from their position on the foot of the bed, startled by our sudden movements.
"What's happening?" she cried softly, still wary of not waking the children.
"I don't know, but we should get over there, and fast. You'll have to bring all your Pokémon with you," I said hurriedly. "I'll go and wake Brock and Sabrina."
"Alright. I'll meet you downstairs," Misty replied as she quickly went to get changed out of her nightwear.
I moved as silently and fast as I could to the guest room with Pikachu, where Brock and Sabrina were staying. After entering, I spoke to them from the doorway. "Guys, we have to go. Now. Cinnabar Island's on fire!"
"Huh? What?" Brock said, rubbing his eyes as Sabrina lifted her head from his chest to look at me. "What's going on, Ash?"
"I smelled smoke just before, and I woke up because of it. When I looked out my window, Cinnabar Island was on fire! I'll get my Pokémon ready now, and we'll leave as soon as possible," I explained.
"Ash, I'm all ready to go, but…" Misty came up to me in haste, "…who'll take care of the kids if we all go? We could be gone for hours!"
After a brief moment of thought, Sabrina spoke. "I'll stay. The three of you need to go there, now. I'll tell our kids what happened in the morning."
"Thanks, Sabrina. You and Brock are always there for us," Misty thanked her, giving her a hug.
"Alright, then, we should leave now," Brock stated. "I don't need to get changed, seeing as I'm still wearing the same clothes."
"Ash, you should go and get changed, now. We'll have all our Pokémon ready when you come down," Misty said to me.
"Right," I nodded, as I went back to our room. After changing clothes, I rushed downstairs and saw all three of them waiting for me at the entrance.
"Good luck, guys. Call home when everything's over. And here – take Alakazam with you," Sabrina said, handing over her Pokéball to me. "He knows how to use Rain Dance, so it'll come in handy. And…come home safe…" she murmured as she hugged me and Misty, before giving Brock a passionate kiss before we left. I called out Charizard, Pidgeot and Garchomp and the three of us mounted them as Pikachu and Marill leapt into me and Misty's laps. We immediately lifted off towards Cinnabar Island, hoping desperately that no lives had been lost in the disaster…
Upon touching down on Cinnabar Island, we immediately ran towards the source of the disaster: the Pokémon lab. The fire was quickly spreading to all the outlying areas, and the local fire brigade were trying desperately to contain it, but to no avail.
"Come on out, all of you!" Misty cried as she placed Marill on the ground and released Politoed, Golduck, Starmie and Gyarados from their Pokéballs; the first three onto dry land, and Gyarados into the water for it couldn't move on the ground. "Gyarados, I need you to keep up a Hydro Pump attack and aim it at the main building. The rest of you, come with me."
Misty's Pokemon then prepared to follow her, as Gyarados started to unleash a massive torrent of water at the fire zone.
"Alright guys, the five of you need to help control the fires by using your gust and sand-attacks to control the fire and prevent it from spreading elsewhere. Spread yourselves out," I told my five flying Pokémon, before releasing Sabrina's Alakazam. "Pikachu and Alakazam, follow me."
"Alakaza~m."
"Pika!" he responded quickly.
"Your turn, guys!" Brock yelled as he released his Geodude, Crobat, Marshstomp, Sudowoodo and Croagunk. "Geodude and Croagunk, use your Mud Sport and Mud Bomb to douse the fires when we're close to the building. Marshstomp, use Water Gun, and Sudowoodo, use your Mimic to copy Marshstomp's Water Gun. Crobat, follow Ash's Pokémon in the air. I'll release Steelix when we get there. You ready, guys?"
"Let's go," Misty nodded in determined fashion.
"Come on," I said as we began to run, "the more time we waste here, the worse the fire's gonna be."
How I wished I had Squirtle and his team, as well as Totodile and Buizel were with me…
It took more than three hours, but after we gave it our all, the fire was finally put out. However, the lab was now nothing more than a pile of rubble and charred frames of wood. We were too late: there were no survivors. I hung my head in shame, disgusted by my failure to save the lives of the people inside.
We were all exhausted, and our Pokémon as well. Brock's Steelix looked the most depleted out of all, as he had to constantly slam his tail sideways into the earth, sending massive dust clouds towards the fires. We were very surprised during the fire-fighting, as Mom, Dad, Professor Oak, Gary and Tracey had shown up on flying Pokémon mid-way through all the commotion, helping to douse the fires with their Pokémon, as well as some of mine they had brought along with them. Judging by the newly-rising sun, it was now shortly after 6am.
"Ash, Misty, my darlings, are you ok?" Mom cried, running over to us and giving us a hug, as Dad followed behind her.
"Yeah, we're fine, Mom," I rubbed her back to comfort her. "But I just feel so bad right now…for the people inside…"
"We were too late," Misty sobbed. "If only we had gotten here sooner…"
"It wouldn't have made a difference," a voice said from behind us, as we all looked back. It was a man who looked like an officer of some sort. "All the victims had been killed, before the fire broke out."
"Before? What do you mean?" Brock inquired.
"After checking some of the more-intact charred remains, it is evident that they were executed beforehand," the officer replied. "Many of them had bullet holes in their temples, as well as blade marks in various places."
"Who…" Misty held her hand over her mouth in shock as she began to draw tears, "…who could've done such a thing?"
"We don't know just who exactly is behind this atrocious act, at present," the officer shook his head. "We're trying to work out some leads, and-"
"Char~" Charizard growled as he looked to his left, causing all of us to look in the same direction, to see Noctowl flying off towards an alleyway.
"Noctowl's on to something! Quick! Let's go!" I cried, running towards Noctowl while holding Misty's hand as the others chased after us. After flying for some time, Noctowl swooped down and stood on top of the lid of a large dumpster bin.
"What could be inside?" Misty said curiously, and yet with a little fear.
"I don't know, but it's likely important," I said, moving slowly over to the bin. Noctowl hopped off the lid and onto my shoulder as I put my hand on the lid, slowly opening it to reveal…
…Officer Jenny?
She was unconscious, lightly breathing, with the white glove on her left hand stained a dark-red with blood as it lay on her hip. I couldn't tell just how long she was in this position, but my guess was for a few hours, after I saw a large area of the cardboard she was lying on stained with dark blood marks, as well. But thankfully, her bleeding had stopped. Her clothes were tattered and torn in various places, her hat was nowhere to be seen, her face darkened due to dried-out tears, and she was missing both of her shoes. She was also marked with numerous bruises and cuts on her arms, legs and face.
I pulled her out of the dumpster quickly yet carefully, so as to avoid restarting the bleeding, but to my dismay, it began again as I brought her onto the ground.
"She's started bleeding again! What do I do?" I frantically cried.
"You've gotta find some cloth to apply onto the wound, to slow down the bleeding!" Brock shouted back.
I felt all pockets on my clothes, but to my dismay, couldn't find any such cloth to use. But as I reached into the final pocket at the back of my jeans, I felt the soft touch of Misty's handkerchief, my most precious possession, and pulled it out. With a worried look, I peered up to her, to ask her permission to use it. I didn't want to soil such an important treasure of mine, but I had no other choice. As Misty nodded to me in approval, I rolled up the handkerchief and pressed it against Jenny's bleeding wound. Instinctively, she winced in agony, having being woken up by the pain.
"Sssh…it's alright, Jenny," I said softly to calm her, placing my hand on her cheek and turning her face to look at me. "You're gonna be fine, now. We'll get you to a hospital."
"Who…who are you?" she whimpered.
"I'm Ash Ketchum," I answered her.
"Ash…Ketchum?" she tried to open her eyes, but she was too weak to, as she fainted.
"Jenny! Jenny, wake up!" I shook her in a futile attempt to bring her back to her senses, before turning my head around and crying out to the others. "We've gotta get her to the hospital! Now!"
"Grooar!" Charizard growled, signalling me to get on his back with Officer Jenny. Taking her up in my arms, I mounted Charizard and placed her on my lap, being mindful not to let her slip. Her skin feeling as cold as ice, I removed my jacket and put it on her. With one hand around her and securing the handkerchief to her wound, I looked to the skies as Charizard lifted off towards the hospital.
"Alright, she's now in a stable condition and has regained consciousness. You can come in, now," a doctor peered out of the door, calling us to Officer Jenny's emergency room. Misty, Brock and I entered while the others stayed seated in the corridor.
"How is she, doctor?" I asked.
"She was very close to the brink of death from her blood loss, but we managed to stop the bleeding and give her a blood supply. We've treated all of her superficial wounds, removed the bullet and successfully tended to the serious wound after using anaesthetic. She should be fine in a day or two, although I personally believe that she should be relieved of her duties for at least a month, to make a full physical and psychological recovery," the doctor noted as he scribbled something into his notepad, looking at the policewoman as she lay in bed. She was now breathing more easily, and also managed to open her eyes a fair amount.
"Jenny, are you feeling alright?" I went over to her and crouched by her bedside, along Misty and a noticeably affected Brock.
"What…how did I get here?" she whimpered, her eyes fluttering about as she sat up.
"Ssh…calm down, Jenny. You still haven't recovered properly from your wounds," I calmed her, speaking softly as I drew her back gently by her shoulders until her head was back on her pillow. "You fell unconscious after I picked you up out of that dumpster you were hiding in. Do you remember?"
"Y…yes…thank you…for saving my life," she replied, before she started to shed tears. "It was horrible…they killed absolutely everyone inside and outside the building…I thought I'd never live to see my fiancée again…"
"Fiancée?" Misty said.
"Oh, that's right," the doctor noted. "After running an identity check on her, we've got her details: her name is Crystal Jenny, age 26, detached to Cinnabar Island a week ago by the police chief in Viridian City. Her fiancée's name is Jason Hart, a resident in the same city."
"Is he…alright?" Crystal asked the doctor. "He must be traumatized after hearing the news…he must think I'm dead…"
"Don't worry; we've notified him already about your stable condition. He was mightily relieved, I can tell you that," he replied as Crystal smiled and nodded.
"Crystal…do you mind if I call you by your first name?" I asked her, receiving another nod as confirmation. "Alright, then. I was wondering if you'd care to tell us what exactly happened last night. How much do you remember? And take your time – don't strain yourself while you're at it."
"Do you really have to talk sweetly to her like that? You're forgetting that your wife is with you right now, Ash Ketchum," Misty mildly berated me through the mental bond we shared through our powers of Aura.
"This is serious, Misty," I replied, while still looking at Crystal, who began to think back to the events of the previous night. "And she's very weak right now, so it's a necessity."
"Okay…sorry, honey…I know you're just trying to help," she apologized, as Crystal began to speak slowly but clearly.
"It was shortly after midnight. I was out patrolling the grounds of the Cinnabar lab with about six other local guards. I went over to the entrance and talked awhile with Johnny, the local guard whom I befriended during the past week. I feel so bad for him…last night was his final shift, before he was given two weeks' leave…" she said, her eyes growing more watery as she thought about the disaster. "I then walked down towards the side of the building to patrol the surrounding areas. I thought it'd be just like any other night, until I heard a loud cry of pain from one of the guards who were watching the main gate. I rushed to the corner of the building and peered out, to see every single guard either dead or wounded, about to be executed by some men dressed all in black. They all had silencers attached to their firearms, and began running around to secure the area."
Crystal took a brief moment to relax herself, before continuing on. "I was so terrified. I thought I'd never get to see my fiancée again…that I'd never get to one day retire from the police force to live with him, and have children with him like I dreamed of. But I was the only one left; I had to fight, otherwise the scientists inside the building had no hope. So I attached my own silencer before running out of the corner and towards the nearby tree, taking out two of them on the way. After I took down four more, they finally noticed me just as I realized I was empty and started to reload. But my pistol was jammed, and soon I saw one of them come up to me and shoot me once in the lower hip. I thought I'd die from the pain; it was awful," she cried as she held her hand on the spot where her wound was.
"So what happened next?" I asked her.
"I lost consciousness as the man hit me on the head with a baton. When I woke up again, I heard two men talking at the entrance, about some 'boss' and then about a 'stupid kid who always meddles with their plans', and that he might show up again if they were found out," she said, as Misty, Brock and I looked at one another, fearful as to what this may mean. "They then moved to properly finish off all of the security guards to shooting them in their heads, including the last one who was still barely alive. Then they came up to me, and…and…one of them tried to abuse me while I was down and weak…"
We turned our heads momentarily in disgust, but looked at her again as she continued. "After feeling the pistol of the one who was abusing me slide against my lower body, I waited for the opportunity to take it. Then, when he was fully engaged in his heinous act, I quickly pulled the pistol out of his holster and shot his partner, and then him. I then limped away down an alleyway until my body couldn't take it anymore, so I climbed into the dumpster bin you found me in, this morning."
"A 'boss'…and a 'kid who always meddles with their plans'…" Misty looked at me. "Ash, I'm scared…this could only mean one thing…"
"It's Giovanni and Team Rocket, those troublesome crooks," Brock spoke through gritted teeth.
"I never wanted to see them again…I just want to live in peace, with you, and not worry about them anymore," I exhaled, embracing Misty in a frightened hug.
"I know, Ash…I know…" she began to cry into my shoulder.
"I thought they'd be Rockets," Crystal sighed. "No-one's more organized in crime than them in both Kanto and Johto."
"Ash, we have to tell the others, including Jessie, James and Meowth," Misty said in a serious tone as we broke contact. "I've got a feeling we're gonna need all the help we can get, with this one."
"You're right, Mist. We'll give them a call as soon as we get back home," I nodded.
After bidding Crystal farewell, we left her in the care of the doctor as we exited the room and came back to the corridor where everyone was waiting. All of them stood up as the heard our approaching footsteps, and Mom came up and spoke to me first.
"Ash, honey, is she going to be alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, mom. The doctor says she's in a stable condition now. She'll be just fine," I stopped briefly to answer her, before proceeding to move promptly down the hallway to the exit, as everyone followed behind me.
"Huh? Ashy-boy, what's wrong? Too hyped up after sweet-talking with an Officer Jenny, now, are we?" Gary teased. "I admit, I wouldn't mind doing the same myself if I wasn't intent on proposing to Amanda, but…damn!"
"Gary, this is not the time," I said quickly, hastening my pace.
"Whoa, slow down there, Ashy-boy! I've never seen you so impatient like this after such an encounter! Not even with that Nurse Joy you got all lovey-dovey with two years ago, or that shapeshifting girl Latias, on the same night!"
"Shut up, Gary," I said rather coldly, shocking him to the core. "We have to move now: this crime wasn't carried by any simple criminals, but Team Rocket."
"T-Team Rocket?" Mom gasped. "How could Gio do such a thing? Stealing Pokémon is one thing, but…arson and murder?"
"He's gone too far this time, honey," Dad said to her. "He's got to be stopped, otherwise there's no telling what he might do."
"I can't imagine how much he's changed," Mom wept. "He used to be such a caring, loyal and precious friend…"
Hours later, we were all gathered in the lobby of Professor Oak's lab, recuperating with morning tea and deciding upon our next move. All the channels on the TV were showing 'breaking news' broadcasts of the disaster.
"This is terrible, indeed," Professor Oak glumly stated. "We still don't know what those Rockets could have wanted with the Cinnabar Island lab."
"Professor, what kind of facilities did the lab have, to attract Team Rocket's attention?" Tracey asked.
"There were numerous kinds of facilities available, such as those dedicated to genetic enhancement, fossil resurrection and other biotechnological machines," he replied. "They were also developing a prototype set of equipment which's aim was to resurrect humans by using their remains as DNA, much like how Pokémon such as Aerodactyl are revived from fossils."
"The Rockets wouldn't just raze a building like that for nothing, and risk detection at the same time," Brock muttered. "They also wouldn't go through all that trouble to revive some fossils, that's for sure. They're people who'd much rather just nab powerful Pokémon in their own habitats. They wouldn't be interested in genetic enhancement or biotechnology either…that leaves only the facility which is designed to resurrect humans. But why would they want to use something like that?"
"I'm afraid we have no way of finding out any facts about that," Professor Oak shook his head in dismay. "We need to get some inside information, somehow. But first, I think we should inform the Indigo Plateau about this matter."
"There's some people we need to call first, before even the Indigo Plateau," I replied, drawing everyone's attention. "Jessie, James and Meowth. We need their help in this."
"You're right, Ash," Misty nodded after awhile. "Technically, they'd still be listed as agents in Team Rocket's eyes, since they never officially quit their jobs. If they agree, then maybe they could work from the inside for us, and gather information about what Giovanni might be planning."
I walked to the video phone and picked up the receiver, dialing the number for James' estate. After a few seconds of waiting, the picture flashed on with James' face which was being pulled comically again by his daughter, Belle.
"Hello? Oh, Ash! Thank heavens you're out of Cinnabar! We heard what happened on the news. Are you all alright? How's Misty, Brock and Sabrina?" he greeted us with a sigh of relief.
"Hi, James. Misty, Brock and I are fine, and Sabrina's taking care of our kids back home," I replied.
"Oh, that's wonderful to hear. I'm glad to hear that," James smiled, before looking with concern at me, as I was grimacing with a worried look on my face. "…is there something wrong?"
"I'm afraid that the fire wasn't caused by any normal group of criminals, James," I said. Immediately, his face began to go blue as he picked up on where I was going. "It was caused by Team Rocket and Giovanni, who was most likely present at the scene, firsthand."
"Oh, dear…I never thought I'd have to see or hear about that awful bunch again," James' voice sank down, almost to a whisper. "Well, is there anything we can do?"
"There is, but I'm don't think you're going to like it," I clenched my teeth. "We need the three of you to go undercover and into Team Rocket's headquarters. You're our only hope, guys. We'll come by your mansion again in a few hours, and then we can talk about everything in more detail."
James then sank into his chair and hung his head, as Belle scampered off to play with her brother, Demetry.
"…I guess this means we'll have to call off our vacation…"
(End of Chapter 3)
A/N: Chapter 4 will be coming soon, and will start off with Giovanni's meeting with the former Team Galactic heads.
I'll try to keep updates regular, but I'm writing slightly less frequently than before, as I've started playing the French Campaign in Napoleon: Total War, which is quite time-consuming and entertaining at the same time. However, you can still expect chapter 4 to be up by about the end of this week.
Chapter 4 might take a while to come, as I'm also planning on re-editing Chapter One of Book I, to improve it from the short version I wrote when I first started on this site.
Please leave your reviews for this chapter. : )