Poke-genetics: choice
«How did it go? » Pikachu asked as he took the purchases Genno had come back with.
«… it could have been better… » Genno answered. «… much better… »
«What happened? » he inquired, looking at his friend.
«… I need to tell you something… Is Ash around? »
«I think he's taking care of Alexchu. I can look for him, just wait. » he said as he began running.
«No! » Genno shouted.
Startled, Pikachu stopped. He looked at his friend with confused eyes. Why was he acting like he didn't want Ash to know about whatever happened?
«Please… Pikachu, I need to speak to you alone. »
Both pikachus stared at the other.
«…what happened, Genno? »
Genno sighted. It had been traumatic enough to live it. Just thinking about the wound from the bullet made him shiver.
«I… was attacked by Team Blast's member. »
«What? » exclaimed an incredulous Pikachu.
«It happened when I went to my house to get some money. There were two members guarding my father's lab. They recognized me, well, they recognized Ash's face, but you get the idea. »
«What happened after they saw you? »
«I… one of them threatened me with a gun. When the other went to tie me up, I distracted one of them and transformed into the other. After that, I tried to escape, but one of them shot me through the left arm. »
Pikachu's eyes were much rounder now.
«I'm okay now. It seems that when I change into a ditto, physical wounds disappear. It makes sense. After all, if I copy another pokemon, my whole body is transformed. There would be no reason for my transformation to keep the wounds. » Genno explained with cynical sadness.
His friend was skeptical. Was transformation that convenient of a move? To be fair though, restraining conditions had to be met for it to work in the first place.
Pikachu then asked the thing that bothered him.
«How did they know what Ash looks like? »
Genno lost his cynicism and tried to hide his shame.
«… I… I haven't been honest with you and Ash. »
«What do you mean by that? »
«When you asked me why it took me so long to get back with the supplies the other day, I lied to you. »
He knew it would come to this sooner or later, so why was he unable to face Pikachu? He didn't dare look at his friend expression. Instead, he held his forehead in his paws.
«I didn't get lost. I got chased. »
«By Team Blast? » Pikachu couldn't refrain from asking.
«By… civilians. »
Baffled, Pikachu could only say:
«What? »
«It seems that my father wants to see me again. Only, he promised to release the children of whoever brought me, you and Ash to him. »
Pikachu tried to grasp the implication of that statement.
«I didn't tell you because of Alex's coming birth. I thought Ash should focus on his son… and leave the fighting to us. »
«But we can't let him out of this! He has as much reasons as us to fight! » Pikachu protested.
«He also has a lot more responsibilities than the both of us combine. »
«This is… not right… » he whispered.
«I… Pikachu… I think that the plan we thought of in Viridian City's pokemon center should not include Ash. »
«Genno! »
«I don't really want to do that, but I'd never forgive myself if something happens to Ash while he could have been safe, would you? »
Instead of comprehension, Genno saw anger in his friend eyes.
«I will not leave Ash out of something he has the right to fight in! » Pikachu shouted.
Genno had the decency not to look at him directly.
«I… need to check on something before we can actually try anything… I'll be back by sunset… I think… please be ready then. » he added weakly.
Pikachu could not believe his ears. It was exactly like he had already decided.
Disgusted, Pikachu turned around and ran.
How could Genno think like that? It was so unfair to Ash!
Genno looked desperately at his friend running away from him. He sighted sadly and rubbed his hair in an attempt to restrain from yelling his frustration. He did not want to do this. Did Pikachu really taught he did something like that because he wanted to get a break from Ash or something?
Copping with the sadness, he looked for a flying type he could transform into.
Ash was amazed by the quantity of time Alexchu could spend sleeping peacefully without flinching. Of course, being a newborn, his son had to wake up for seemingly no reason and cry for his father once in a while. Most of the time, Ash waited a minute to come. This was one of the advices he received from the many mothers around here. This one was actually useful. By doing that, he would not be enslaved to his son's cry but would still comfort him.
Ash was always feeling like going crazy when he looked at Alex. He could barely believe it. He was a father. It was just too special of a feeling to disappear in a matter of days… He actually suspected it would never really fade.
A shadow appeared on the ground, next to Alexchu. Immediately, he shot a look at the sky.
It was only a venomoth.
Ash relaxed as fast as he tensed… but tensed again.
The venomoth accidentally knock a fruit down.
Ash instantly jumped over his son.
The pikachu only saw a red fruit becoming bigger and bigger before it reached him. When it made contact with his face, it exploded and its juice dispersed in a fiery red mist.
Ash began coughing. Mew! That fruit smelled so strong and he had its juice all over his face! The smell attacked his sensitive nose and he felt dizzy. He remembered throwing one of those at Pikachu before. How did his friend managed to tolerate that?
Under him, Alex was waking up, bothered by the strong smelled.
«Chuuuu! » the pichu complained.
Ash felt like hitting his forehead.
«Pikachu, stop hiding please. » he said loud enough to be heard from a few meters away.
«How did you know I was here? » his friend asked.
«Your scent… and I heard you whisper «Ash» earlier. » Ash explained with a hint of triumph.
«You really came a long way at using your senses. » Pikachu remarked.
«Hey, I've had time to practice. » Ash said with a grin. «Anyway, can you look after Alex for a few minutes? I need to wash my face. Apparently, it's too strong for Alex. »
«Of course. »
«Alex, stay with your uncle. I'll be back soon. » Ash ordered to his son.
With that, Ash ran to the beaches with the firm intention to jump in the lake.
Alone with Alexchu, Pikachu sighted. How could he explain to Ash what Genno wanted him to do?
He was distracted from those depressing thoughts when he heard Alex sniffing the air. The baby pokemon sneezed at the remnant of the fruit's odor.
That made Pikachu chuckled. He picked up the pichu, which sniffed him. He was still not old enough to differentiate his father from him just with one look. When he recognized the scent of his «uncle», Alexchu smiled.
«Chu. » he said happily.
Pikachu smiled back and fondled his hair. It was a bit like Ash's, only a little more spiky.
«So, do you like this place, Alexchu? »
«Chu. » he answered with a serious look.
«Your father's a bit naive, but he's a really nice person. You're lucky, you know? »
As if he understood, Alexchu said cheerfully:
«Chu! »
The baby's good mood affected Pikachu. There was nothing like the sincere smile of a kid to cheer you up.
Genno was trying not to feel guilty. He had good reasons to be. What Pikachu said was one hundred percent true. He was trying to force a choice on Ash even if he did not have the right to. Ultimately, the decision was Ash's, neither his nor Pikachu's. It was just that whenever he thought about leaving a kid alone while his father was fighting a life-threatening battle... he was feeling burning anger devouring his insides.
He stopped thinking like that as he reached his destination: Giovanni's mansion.
He landed on the roof of the mansion. After a quick look around him, he morphed back into Ash. This time, he doubt there would be anyone here, not after what the citizens of Viridian City had done to this place in their fury. He just hoped the building was not damaged enough to collapse.
Slowly, he opened the door leading to the lower levels.
It was dark. Anything remotely technologic had been thoroughly trashed and broken in pieces. This was not good. They needed this place to be relatively intact, otherwise it would be useless to them.
Apprehensively, he walked in the dark, going downstairs. He gulped too loudly to his own taste. It was not the time to trip and fell downstairs, that would be a ridiculously stupid way to lose against Team Blast. He concentrated a second and did what he was able to no matter what form he was taking. Genno used his ditto eyes.
He felt dizzy. It was not as bad in the dark since the light itself was not reaching this place, but it was still freaky. At least, he could feel where the stairs were.
As he explored the abandoned mansion, Genno questioned himself.
This place had been a lair of criminals in its own way. Was what he was looking for here? Probably, but the question was whether it had been destroyed or not.
The one thing he was really worried about was the consequences. Truth to be told, he hesitated to act. If what they were planning failed, they'd truly be doomed and they'd bring innocents down with them.
Genno felt like laughing a lifeless laugh. He was not pessimistic for once; it was just a simple truth.
The problem was that succeeding would be morally challenging too. If he was not mistaken, his father would…
The thought made him shiver. It was bad to let it happen, but they had no choice. Team Blast was too strong and was aiming for even greater strength.
He stopped using his ditto eyes. He no longer needed them. This part of the mansion had a few broken windows. It was enough to let some light filter the place and bring shape to the darkness.
He stopped to examine the situation clearly. What he was looking for was probably hidden. Now, how was he supposed to find it? Most likely, it wouldn't be in a high place. It wouldn't be fit for the kind of experiments they conducted. Besides, Team Rocket's laboratory would probably be hidden underground.
Ash was still a little bit wet and crystal-clear water was dripping from his fur. It had felt quite refreshing to dive in the lake. He even played with the vaporeons and the goldeens for a few minutes before going out. When he was done with his «bath», Ash got out of the lake and headed toward the place he left Pikachu and Alex.
It didn't take long.
He saw Pikachu waiting patiently for his return next to a sleeping Alex. At the tree's foot, there were another bag of things Genno bought for them. When he reached his friend, Ash asked:
«He was not too hard on you? »
«Ash, he's days old. He's spending his days sleeping and sometimes waking up to eat. There's no way he would be hard on anyone. » Pikachu said.
«Well, being still for too long is not everyone's style, is it? » Ash added with a smile.
Pikachu frowned. He knew Ash well enough to know that this smile was a fake.
«Ash… » he simply said.
«What? » the teen inquired, a bit too fast to be genuine.
«Are you going to continue fighting Team Blast with me and Genno? » Pikachu asked, deadly serious.
«Don't be silly. » Ash replied. «Isn't it obvious? »
But Pikachu noticed how hard Ash was clutching his fists.
He entered the room cautiously.
Against all odds, the lab was perfectly normal. He wasn't sure how to react. It was perfectly stupid of him considering he knew how labs were built and supposed to work - he had lived half his life in one - but he couldn't help it. The most childish part of his mind assumed that a criminal lab had to at least look different. Then again he had been inside Team Blast's lab and he hoped never to return there, especially not as a test subject.
Genno looked at the lab. Now that he had turned the light on, it was filled with dim white light. Apparently, the scientist liked that color, as ironic as it could get, and the whole lab was as white and stainless as possible. It seemed that he was the first to enter this room since the downfall of Team Rocket.
The dust on the many counters and on the few shelters confirmed his guess.
«Hum… everything looks usable, even if there is not a lot of material. This much can be arranged. »
It was then that his eyes caught something interesting. There were a few computers in the lab.
«I wonder if… » he began as he reached for the machines.
In a second, he opened one and waited for it to start working. If the lights were working, the computers had no reason not to work.
He was right.
«Okay, now how did they classify their data? » Genno wondered.
It was absurdly simple. Genno just check for the first folder he saw and it was there, classified by experiments. It was completely careless of them. Then again, it was on a computer in a hidden lab in the headquarters of a criminal organization that, a year ago, was still fairly feared.
«Let's see… » he muttered, alone in front of the digitalized information. « Operation E? What is that? »
He felt the urge to open the file. It would be useless now that Team Rocket was gone but...
«Stupid curiosity. » he told himself as he double clicked on the icon.
The file opened and revealed a large quantity of text. On the first lines were the assigned members on the different groups, then came the detailed operation. It was a «retrieval» mission, an euphemism for another robbery or pillage. Members were to be sent to… Pallet Town!
«Wait… this rings a bell… » he began.
«Marco! That was his goal! He wanted to prevent Team Rocket from getting to Pallet Town! » he yelled as his memory gave him the answer.
Genno suddenly went silent.
«But… why? This only looks like an ordinary criminal act for them. Why is this one so important that Marco had to create Team Blast? »
Genno went on in his reading. He was terribly disappointed. The thing they wanted to get was not mentioned nor were its uses, except for the fact that it was a unique item, rumored to be somewhere in Pallet Town or in its surroundings.
He sighted his deception and was about to say something when he gasped in shock. The date! The operation had already been launched! Precisely the day of Marco's major retaliation against Kanto! The leader of Team Blast had planned to stop Team Rocket, but he had been a tad too late. On the day of the kidnappings, Team Rocket had been defeated in the space of an hour by angry citizens everywhere in Kanto. This had been an incredible feat. Worried parents succeeded in doing what police had lacked the strength to do in an hour. There was a catch though.
There were still some Team Rocket members in Kanto! They were probably hiding now that a major part of the organization had been crushed. He had to tell the others!
«Ash… » Pikachu said sadly. « …do you want to fight? »
«Want? Of course, I WANT to fight, but I can't. Not when Alex needs me. I can't leave him like that and don't even think of suggesting to bring him with us. »
What could Pikachu say to that? He didn't want to leave his best friend out of something that concerned him, but Ash himself admitted he had to stay behind, even if it was at the cost of a colossal effort.
Ash gritted his teeth. He didn't want to let Genno and Pikachu fight alone, but he couldn't leave Alex alone. The choice had already been made for him the second he gave in to the female pikachu's appeal.
«Pikachu, I'm just trying to be mature. I can't be a child anymore. I have to be an adult. It's impossible for me to act like I always did now. I can't butt in the first fight I see, Alex's counting on me. I failed to protect his mother; I must not fail to protect him. »
Pikachu listened to his sadness. He had no idea how to react. Had Genno been right all along? Should Ash just let them handle the fight from now on? But it was just so…
«You promised. » Pikachu said.
«I did. » Ash whispered.
«You promised to save his mother. » Pikachu completed.
Ash punched the nearest tree. Being a pikachu made it a little harder, but he had to take out his frustration.
«What am I supposed to do? I can't stay here to be with him and save his mother at the same time! » Ash growled.
«Ash, when Alex will be old enough to walk, you'll be able to leave him in someone's care. » Pikachu declared softly.
«But I don't want to leave him! »
«Not for long periods of time, just long enough for us to act against Team Blast. Alex will only need you constantly at his side for a short period of time. »
Ash went silent. Was it truly possible? Did he have the chance to take part in the conflict while fulfilling his responsibilities?
«Chuuu… » Alex called in his sleep.
With a small smile, Ash answered his son's call.
Pikachu was looking at the red sun disappearing behind the horizon. Genno had asked him to be ready for sunset. He was.
A shadow appeared in Pikachu's vision. It was far, but was getting closer and closer by the minutes. Soon enough, the mouse pokemon could recognize the shape of a pidgeot.
The flying type landed with some difficulty. Apparently, Genno was not used to landing with a barrel in his claws.
«What is that thing? » Pikachu inquired.
«The barrel? Since there were new factors to consider, there's a new part to the plan. Hop on my back and I'll explain while we're on the way. »
Pikachu followed Genno's instructions to the letter.
«Ready? » Genno asked.
«Yes. »
With one large movement, Genno spread his wings and took off. Their destination was Team Blast's headquarters.