The New Order: Fading Light
Chapter 6: In The Name Of Survival
Delia Ketchum stared down at Viridian City from the hilltop. The windows of the buildings seemed to glitter in the sunlight. As Delia felt her stomach knot up she wondered just what feelings the sight of this city had brought to her son and other beginning trainers who had once stood atop this same hill. She decided that the feelings that Ash and others like him had experienced had to have been the opposite of what she was feeling now.
She looked down at Pikachu who stared up at her in return. After the initial shock of losing everything and the initial instinct to flee had passed Delia had realized that she couldn't simply leave Misty or Samuel to the Rockets. She kept losing people and she refused to let it go on anymore. She would either rescue them or die trying. But Pikachu didn't have to share her fate.
"I'll meet you in Viridian Forest," Delia told her companion.
"Pika…?" Pikachu tilted its head and looked at her strangely.
"I won't lose anyone else," Delia explained "I'll meet you in Viridian Forest when I'm done here. Wait for me there."
Pikachu shook its head and launched into a speech that although Delia could not understand word for word, she was able to decipher the meaning behind the stream of gibberish.
"I've got to go alone," she told the creature at her feet "Anyone seen with a Pokémon in a Rocket controlled city like Viridian is immediately taken into custody for questioning, remember?"
"Pika," Pikachu nodded in understanding though its tone was one of reluctance.
"I'll be fine," Delia bent and ruffled the fur atop Pikachu's head "Don't worry. I'll be with you in Viridian Forest before you know it," she stood up again, undoing the ponytail at the nape of her neck and running her fingers through her hair. "And if all goes according to plan, I'll have Misty and Samuel with me."
XXX
"This looks like a safe enough place to camp," James said as he turned to Jessie in the early morning light.
Jessie sighed heavily "Safe enough," she repeated. The question was for how long? How long would it take before they were found? It wouldn't be long now. With every heartbeat, Jessie wondered how many heartbeats remained before her time was up.
If she were to voice these thoughts to James she was sure she would be accused of being overdramatic. After all, James had promised her time and time again that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Jessie wanted to believe him; she did, with all her heart she desperately wanted to believe him. But the evidence was overwhelmingly stacked against them.
Every town or city they passed was either under Rocket control or devastated by raids and looting by Team Rocket soldiers. There were only so many places that they could hide. Travelling by night and sleeping in caves by day. They had no destination planned just as long as they kept at least half a step ahead of their former colleagues.
"Jessie," James interrupted her thoughts and Jessie realized that sometime had passed since she had last spoken.
She shook herself from the destructive thoughts as best she could "Yes, yes," she said quickly "We'll rest here," she bent down and entered the cave.
James shook his head and followed her.
XXX
Dawn took a tentative step forward "Is it… is it really… you?" she asked.
Ash looked down at his own body for a moment before looking back up at Brock and Dawn "Yeah," he told her "What about you? Are you guys for real or am I still dreaming?"
Brock suddenly rushed his friend and tackled him to the ground "That felt real enough to me," he laughed as Dawn joined the pile.
"You're alive!" Dawn shouted.
"Not for long if you guys don't get off of me," Ash retorted from beneath the weight of his two friends.
Dawn and Brock rolled to the side. The three friends sat up on the beach and stared at each other. Suddenly Ash through his head back, laughing as tears flowed from his eyes "I'm so glad to see you guys," he said finally "I thought, I don't know what I thought. How did you find me anyway? How's Misty and the baby? Is it a boy or a girl? How's the fight against Team Rocket? Have we won? How are Pikachu and my other Pokémon?"
Brock and Dawn just stared at each other. Where were they supposed to begin answering those questions? What was Ash going to say when he found out that no, they hadn't won the fight against Team Rocket and not only had Misty fallen into Team Rocket hands but that his daughter was being hunted by Giovanni's goons and they had been forced to hand the child over to Ash's former rival to live in a God forsaken underground bunker just so that she could one day save the world with the power that he had passed down to her?
Ash's stream of questions had ended and he was staring at them "Guys…?" he said finally, the smile disappearing from his face "What's wrong…?"
"Ash…" Brock was the one to speak "A lot has happened since you've been gone…"
"Mr. Ketchum," the three friends on the beach looked up to see Wendy standing a few yards away. She was beholding the scene in front of her with a look of confusion. Torchic was at her side and looked as if it had just been called out of its Pokéball in the middle of a good sleep. "What's going on?" Wendy asked finally.
"Ash…?" Dawn looked from the girl to Ash and back again in utter bewilderment "Who's that…?"
Ash got up and walked over to where Wendy stood. "Wendy," he began "These are two of my very good friends. This is Brock and that's Dawn," he gave Wendy a moment to let the information sink in "Guys, this is Wendy."
"Nice to meet you Wendy," Dawn smiled at the girl "And this is Piplup," she introduced the Pokémon who was sitting beside her on the sand.
"Piplup pip lup," the Pokémon piped up.
"Hi," Wendy greeted before turning to look up at Ash "How did they get here?" she asked.
"The storm blew us way off course," Brock answered "We were headed for Sinnoh."
"In this boat…?" Ash asked "Why not take the ferry?"
"Team Rocket controls all the major transportation routes," Dawn replied without thinking to spare Wendy the news until the words had already left her mouth. Dawn's gaze immediately dropped to the ground and she refused to look Ash, Brock or the girl in the eye for several minutes.
"Wendy," Ash said, turning to the girl "Why don't you and your Pokémon start getting things ready for the day. My friends and I will be there in a little while, alright?"
Wendy nodded as she turned and left. As she walked back to the camp she looked down at Torchic who seemed not to understand the meaning of what was transpiring. The day she'd known was coming was here. Someone had come to take Ash away from them. She had detached herself from Ash as best she could but the idea of being left alone on the island with no one to care for her and her younger siblings still cut deep; and what about Ellie and Ben? They would be devastated by the news. Wendy knew that the two children were very fond of Ash.
Wendy reached the camp and collapsed to the ground, burying her head in her arms as she began to sob heavily. Torchic, who had been ready to start assisting Wendy with the morning gathering of wood for the fire, stared in confusion at its trainer.
Back on the beach Ash took a seat on the sand with Brock and Dawn again "Things are bad, aren't they?" he asked.
Dawn and Brock nodded "Kanto's a lost cause according to Lt. Surge," Dawn told him.
Anger flickered in Ash's eyes "A lost cause?" he nearly fumed.
"Sabrina and her family were assassinated," Brock explained "We've lost Saffron City. And before that we lost Veilstone City, Goldenrod, Hearthome… the list goes on…"
"What about Misty and the baby?" Ash asked, his voice much quieter now, his face taking on an expression of worry. If anything had happened to them… he wasn't sure what he would do.
"Your daughter's name is Aurora," Dawn told him "And she's in good hands." She decided to start with the positives of the situation.
"A daughter," Ash beamed at the news. "Aurora," his mouth formed the word carefully. He spoke the utterance with love. He had a daughter. After over a year of wondering the genderless, nameless baby had a name. In his mind he tried to imagine what she might look like. Her mother's eyes of course and his hair perhaps. The poor child, cursed with the same mop of messy black hair. His lips twitched into a full blown grin.
He snapped back to reality far too soon however. There were still so many answers he needed "And Misty…?" he pleaded desperately.
Brock and Dawn looked at each other for a long moment, long enough to make Ash feel the cold fingers of despair crawling up from darkness and snaking round his heart, preparing to crush him.
"A little over a week ago," Dawn began "There was a Rocket raid on Pallet Town…"
XXX
Delia had made her way to the center of Viridian City without attracting undo attention to herself. She had found her way to the hospital and was standing in the parking lot, trying to figure out her next move. As she was contemplating, a nurse approached her.
"Excuse me?" the nurse asked with a kind smile adorning her face "Are you lost? Do you need help?"
Delia glanced briefly at the nurse's nametag. It read Millie Randolph. "No thank you," Delia said politely before a thought dawned on her. The nurse looked an awful lot like Delia. In fact Millie looked enough like Delia that no one who didn't know Delia might mistake her for Millie if Delia was wearing a nurse's uniform.
Delia closed her eyes briefly. She really didn't want to assault some poor woman who only wanted to help her. But she really didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't come right out and ask the woman if she was a resistance sympathizer or a Rocket loyalist.
The nurse had already unlocked her car door. Delia walked over to the woman "I'm really sorry about this," she said as she hit the woman over her head.
XXX
Misty stared at the ceiling. There wasn't anything else to do as she waited for the Team Rocket escort to the interrogation building, otherwise known as the place where resistance fighters went to die. Misty groaned as she thought about her daughter. Would Aurora understand when she was old enough about the decisions that the adults in her life had been forced to make for her? Misty didn't know the answer to that. She feared that Aurora would grow to be angry. She didn't want that for her daughter.
Misty heard the door of her room open and she closed her eyes. But she didn't hear the heavy clunking of the Team Rocket escort's boots on the tile floors. She opened her eyes to see a nurse pushing a laundry cart. There was something oddly familiar about the nurse that Misty couldn't put her finger on until the nurse turned to look her in the eye.
"Mom…?" Misty gaped, recognizing her mother-in-law.
"Misty, have they hurt you?" Delia asked as she got to work undoing the restraints that bound Misty to the bed.
Misty stood to her feet with Delia's assistance "Not yet," she replied "But that's because I'm still not fully recovered."
"Hurry," Delia opened the laundry cart and helped Misty hide in it.
Misty settled herself in before noticing just what she was sitting next to. She turned to see Delia remove a dead body from the cart "What the hell?" she asked in surprise and horror as she shivered.
"The woman in the room across the hall passed away," Delia replied as she strapped the body into the bed and covered it with the sheet "Whatever will buy us some time."
Misty groaned "Doesn't this seem… wrong to you?"
Delia sighed heavily "I've done a lot of things today that I'm not proud of," she turned to the cart and arranged things so that Misty wouldn't be visible to any passersby "Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do when you're fighting to keep from losing everything." Delia began pushing the laundry cart down the hall of the hospital. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute. She tried to keep her breathing even, hoping that they wouldn't be discovered.
XXX
Jessie followed James through the woods. He had told her that Rockets hadn't gotten to this village yet. She wasn't sure if she believed him but she trusted that he wouldn't put her in danger. He had told her of an elderly woman who lived on the outskirts of the small hamlet who had offered them a place to stay in return for help with a few chores. It sounded like a good deal. A warm bed, shelter from the elements and something to eat other than apples was nothing to sneeze at.
"This is the place," James said, pushing aside a tree branch.
Jessie came to stand beside him and stared at the little house. It was white with black shutters. The house wasn't nearly as impressive as Jessie had hoped but beggers, a role which she and James had often been in over the years, really couldn't be choosers.
"Grandma!" a boy standing in front of the house called "They're here!"
The boy looked about eight years old. His hair was auburn red and messy. He was dressed in blue jeans and a blue and white striped t-shirt. His eyes were a deep blue. Beside him on the ground stood a Growlithe.
Jessie looked at James for a moment.
"Her grandson," James explained.
Jessie nodded as the front door of the house opened and an old woman with a kindly face appeared "Aiden," she said sternly "Don't shout like that."
"But Grandma…" the boy began.
"No buts," his grandmother scolded "Now I know that your mother taught you better manners than that. You say hello to our guests and be polite."
"Yes Ma'am," the boy said with a reluctant nod. He took a step in Jessie and James's direction and extended his hand "I'm Aiden," he said to Jessie.
"Nice to meet you Aiden," Jessie returned hesitantly as she took his hand and shook it.
"Now that's enough gabbing out here," Aiden's Grandmother said "Hurry on inside all of you. You don't want to attract any unwanted attention now do you?"
Aiden and his Growlithe, followed by Jessie and James made their way into the house after the old woman. Jessie and James sat down at a table while Aiden ran off with Growlithe up the stairs. The old woman stood against the wall, watching them.
"Well," the woman began "As you already know," she looked pointedly at James "I'm Angela Rayburn. I live here with my Grandson Aiden and the Pokémon we raised." Her gaze turned to Jessie now "I'm willing to allow you room and board here in exchange for your help." Mrs. Rayburn paused for a moment, leaning forward, listening for the sounds of her Grandson playing happily in his room before continuing. "You see, I can't keep up with the work that needs to be done around here anymore. Aiden's parents left a year ago to join the resistance."
Jessie and James both bristled at the word "resistance".
"And my health is declining by the day," Mrs. Rayburn continued "We don't have many Pokémon here. Just a pair of Ponyta and Aiden's Growlithe," she slumped into a seat "There were more but…" she grew silent as the memories of how she and her family had come to be living in this house in the woods came back to her. "There was a raid on our ranch at the beginning of the war," she explained "All of the other Pokémon were rounded up by Team Rocket. We were lucky to have escaped with our lives."
Jessie and James shared a knowing look. They understood Mrs. Rayburn's pain. They missed their Pokémon every day and wished that they could be with them. Mime Jr., Seviper, Carnivine, Yanmega, and Wobbuffet had all been taken away when Jessie and James had been taken into custody.
Jessie reached up and brushed a few stray tears away with her fingers "We'll do whatever we can," she said finally.
"Good," Mrs. Rayburn smiled at them "Right now you two should go make yourselves comfortable," she lead them to a small bedroom at the back of the house. The bedroom only had one bed.
Jessie and James looked at each other awkwardly as Mrs. Rayburn began speaking again.
"There's a bathroom with a shower right through there," she indicated "I'll need one of you to help me with dinner in about an hour. Make yourselves at home." And with that Mrs. Rayburn left them alone.
Jessie sat down on the edge of the bed. She said nothing for a long time. Finally she looked up at James "Do you want to shower first?" was all she said.
James shook his head "You can go," he replied.
As Jessie vanished into the bathroom James flopped down onto the bed. He could hear the sound of the water being turned on in the bathroom. His mind drifted for the briefest of moments to thoughts of Jessie standing naked in the steamy shower. He shoved those thoughts aside since they served no purpose but to tempt him, eventually leading him back to the disappointing reality.
They had found a place that was relatively safe for the moment. It was a place where they could live in peace, a place where there was a bed and food and a roof over their heads. Maybe, just maybe they would survive. There was a chance now that they might live, without the fear of Team Rocket's execution squad hanging over them like a heavy cloud of doom.
But that would only last for so long, James realized. As long as Team Rocket had control, they would never stop searching for him and Jessie. His thoughts eventually lead him to the resistance. He and Jessie had been opposed to it and even the mention of the word made them uncomfortable but why should it? The resistance's goal was to stop Team Rocket. Jessie and James were no longer part of Team Rocket; Giovanni had made that abundantly clear. The resistance wanted to protect themselves and other people from Team Rocket. He and Jessie were just trying to escape being killed by Team Rocket.
James realized as he lay there, listening to the running water in the next room, that he truly had become a resistance sympathizer. And he saw nothing wrong with that.
XXX
Wendy had stopped crying before Ash and his friends returned to the camp. She had kept her emotions under control for the greater part of the day. She had to stay strong for Ellie and Ben. The two younger children were oblivious to her feelings, thankfully. Ben and Ellie took to Brock and Dawn like Buizel took to water. Wendy stayed silent while the group chatted on and on through the day.
As evening drew near Wendy helped Ellie and Ben get ready for bed. She lay down with them inside the shelter but she refused to go to sleep. She stayed awake, listening to the conversation that the adults were having only feet from where she was lying.
"What am I supposed to do?" Ash asked "Misty needs me. The resistance needs me."
Wendy groaned, hoping that he would at least wait until morning to say goodbye to them instead of sneaking off in the middle of the night.
"But these kids need me. I can't just leave them. And we can't take them with us," Ash said sadly.
"We could take them to stay with Gary," Dawn suggested.
"That isn't fair to Gary," Brock reminded her "Especially since…" he trailed off.
Dawn looked down. Would Gary even speak to her after she had deliberately not told him about his grandfather? Professor Rowan was sure to have informed Gary of Professor Oak's capture. Rowan was the one in charge of coordinating rescue operations and evaluating the validity of such attempts after all. Dawn was sure that Gary would have received a rather unsympathetic note from Rowan by now. RE/IP, Rowan's code for "Rescue Impossible" the reply he was almost certain to give considering the declining strength of the resistance.
Dawn cringed as an image of Gary's face reading that line entered her head. She wished she could have been there when he had found out. She wanted to hold him, let him cry, give him comfort. She wanted to assure him that he wasn't alone, would never be alone and that no matter what, she would be there. But it wasn't that easy. It would never be that easy.
"Chances are," Ash was saying when Dawn's mind finally returned to the conversation "That if we try to take them back with us that Wendy will just get dragged into the fighting. I don't want that for her."
In the shelter Wendy sat up, listening intently to Ash's words.
"Any trainer Team Rocket can get their hands on has been pulled into this fight," Ash thought back to the boy with the Ariados who had attacked him "These kids deserve better than that. Their parents sacrificed everything to protect them from that life."
"We can't just leave them here," Brock remarked.
"I know that," Ash said sadly. He looked up when he heard footsteps and saw Wendy standing at the door of the shelter.
She held a Pokéball in her hand. A determined look graced her face. She tossed the Pokéball and Torchic emerged "We want to help fight," she said steadfastly "We want to help you save your family Ash."
Ash smiled and walked over, wrapping his arms around Wendy. The fact that she had called him by his first name was not lost on him. But he just couldn't let her join the fighting. "No," he shook his head "Fighting a war isn't the way a trainer's journey is supposed to begin."
XXX
Ian Delaney stood at the edge of the rooftop in Saffron City. His hands were clenching the railing so tightly that his knuckles were bone white. He had been watching the goings on in the city square for the past few hours. With each execution, Ian fought the urge to vomit.
A fourteen year old Rocket soldier, Ian had never questioned his superiors, believing that whatever they did or ordered him to do was in the best interests of not just Team Rocket but everyone. But he had begun questioning his loyalties lately.
It had all started about fifteen months ago when he had encountered a member of the resistance in the forest. This wasn't just any resistance member. He had stood toe to toe with Ash Ketchum; the man practically was the resistance. Ian had been beyond terrified. He hadn't known what would happen to him if he were to fall into the hands of the resistance.
He had come upon Ketchum completely by accident. Ian had never been in a battle with the resistance before. He had recognized Ketchum even in the dark, Giovanni wanted all of his loyal soldiers to know the faces of their enemies and Ketchum was number one on that list.
As Ian stood there the man, though Ian wondered if it was fair to call him that since Ketchum was only five or six years older than Ian was, had elected to talk to the terrified boy. It was a tactic that only served to confuse Ian, until Ketchum had begun insulting Ian's beloved Boss.
What gave Ketchum the right to speak such lies about Giovanni? Giovanni had taken Ian in when no one else would so much as let him rummage through their trash for food. Ketchum didn't know Giovanni. He had no right to speak such lies about the man who had taken Ian in, trained him, and taught him to fend for himself.
Ian had been infuriated and has sent Ariados into battle. But Ketchum had been caught off guard and Ian hadn't given even a second to the other trainer for releasing a Pokémon of his own. Ariados's Hyper Beam had hit Ketchum at full force. Ian hadn't stuck around after that to see what had become of the other trainer. He had called Ariados back to its Pokéball and fled.
It had been over two weeks later when news reached Ian's group that the resistance had declared one of its most prominent members dead. Ian never told anyone about the incident. He didn't know what to do. Had he really killed someone?
Ketchum's words from that night continued to haunt Ian. Over the months since his run in with Ketchum, Ian had begun to notice how cruel Team Rocket had become. Or was it that they had always been this cruel but Ian had never been willing to acknowledge it before?
Ian's stomach gave another horrific lurch as below in the square, yet another resistance trainer was publically executed. This wasn't something he wanted to be a part of anymore. But Team Rocket was the only life he knew. Team Rocket had sheltered him and protected him. How could he turn his back on them? Even if what they were doing was wrong, his loyalty still belonged to them, didn't it?
A/N: I know this chapter is a little longer than the ones I've been writing but I had to introduce a few characters who are essential to the plot. Ian especially needed some good face time. This chapter took me longer to write than I had hoped. I hope you all liked it. Please submit reviews and let me know how I'm doing. Love ya'll!