Chapter 32 – Straining Point

"It didn't take long to realise that something big was coming. We couldn't hope to have predicted how big, or how things would go downhill so quickly, so badly. Murphy's Law seemed to hate us, and Fate was sitting there and laughing as we fell from happier times into dark shadows, where bonds were threatened, broken, snapped and torn apart, leaving us all flailing alone in the big wide world." Rai

("So that was how I began to work for SECTION, alternating between staying with Misty and my mom, and working simultaneously as an elite and aura guardian. The year or so while it lasted was the best few months of my life, spending time with Misty and my Pokémon."

"Wasn't that about the time we got chased to Sevii by a very annoyed Domino?"

Ash paused in his tale, frowning. "Didn't we destroy her entire field of tulips and accidentally disgrace her in front of the boss? Maybe that that's why she was so angry."

Lance and Ash paused. "Nah." The champion shook his head. "Must be something else."

"We also had that little squabble with the plates." Misty reminded him. "Although you wouldn't tell me anything much, and I was trying to keep on top with the gym and anything the League asked me to do."

Misty had never technically joined SECTION, but she had been involved in enough events, even if she never had the official clearance.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, we found Team Rocket trying to use them and so began to collect them, much in a way we collected the gears. In the end though, we only had about three and we sent them to Cynthia and Riley, over in Sinnoh."

"Next big incident would be Celadon."

May instantly regretted speaking. "If you want…" she ventured. "We can skip that."

Ash let out a weak laugh. "You? Skip an important historical event? Not a chance. Don't worry about me – I'll get through it. Already survived the actual thing, the tale of it shouldn't be any worse.")

[19:59PM] – 18th July 2006 Cerulean City – Cerulean Gym

Although Ash and Misty would deny it, they were actually really grateful for Brock and Rai for helping them get together. The years apart seemed like they had never existed, and the pair were as close as ever.

Of course all good things come to an end, and this relative peace was not meant to last.

It all started with the death of Misty's sisters.

The red-head sat in front of the video phone, curled up with her Marill. A fuzzy image of her boyfriend was visible, trying to calm her down, despite the miles between them. "Misty! Misty, take a breath. Shhh, don't cry, please."

"B-b-but… they're dead!" Misty wailed. "Lily and Violet… why did it have to be them? They w-w-w-were just in the wrong p-place…" she hiccuped, "At the wrong t-time."

"Come on Mist." Ash pleaded, "Smile. Lily and Violet wouldn't want you to sit here crying!" he tried to smile but seeing the red, watery eyes it turned into a grimace. "I'll be down there tomorrow." He promised. "Just stay strong – okay?"

She nodded weakly. "Come back quickly." She whispered, curling into a smaller ball on the chair.

"Always." Ash looked unsure of what to do, "I love you." he said. "And so did your sisters. Remember that."

Misty nodded weakly, as the signal wavered and the connection was lost. Leaning back she blew her nose, trying to stop the ebb and flow of tears.

Lily and Violet Waterflower had been on their way home from Celadon Department Store when they were ambushed by thugs. It was unknown whether they were petty criminals, or part of a crime syndicate. There was a scuffle, with their Vaporeon and Dewgong knocked out, and their official gym badge stolen. The badge had belonged to their mother, the previous gym leader, and had passed to Daisy, the oldest, and she in tun had passed it to the twins. Misty was meant to receive it next, as the official leader, but she had happily let the twins keep it.

Now they were dead, killed and even though she wasn't close to them, the pain of losing another family member struck her deeply.

She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, blinking away tears.

Knock Knock Knock.

In a moment of hope, she thought Ash had managed to get back already, but her mind knew it couldn't be him. Wiping her eyes down, she glanced in the mirror, rubbing at her red eyes, trying to get that glassy eyed look to leave them, before holding her breath and answering the door.

The champion spun around, eyes widening at seeing her disheveled appearance. "Misty!" he exclaimed. "Good to see you." he bit his lip. "I heard what happened." He admitted, "I'm sorry. I was in the area and thought I'd pop around for some support."

Misty nodded weakly. Having Ash as a boyfriend inevitably led to the introduction of his other friends, and she now felt comfortable enough to join in his conversations to May and Dawn over the phone. Lance took the option of appearing out of nowhere and raiding their food stocks; he had once appeared drunk and had to sleep on the couch. Although Misty personally didn't think it was as bad as Riley, who was trying (for some strange reason) for a gym badge, and somehow proved to be twice as destructive as Ash and Lance put together. He did win the badge in the end, although not the prize money, which Misty insisted on keeping in order to pay for the repairs.

She led the dragon tamer to the kitchen, grabbing a box of tissues to try and stop the new flow of tears.

"You look terrible." Lance observed, not unkindly. "Where's Ash?" he asked, glancing around.

"Up at the League." Misty perched on the counter. "Meeting with the Sinnoh elites. Why aren't you there?"

Lance had a 'oh crap' look on his face. "That was today?" he asked. "Uh, I thought it was tomorrow."

Despite the horrible gaping feeling of loss, Misty laughed. "Guess you missed that then."

"How you coping?"

She let out a bitter chuckle. "How do I look like I'm coping?" she spread her arms out. "This morning I was the youngest of four, now I'm the youngest of two. You… how can you just lose two siblings? Gone. Just like that. I'm never going to see them again. They're never going to tease me about being the runt, or about Ash and I. They'll never be able to tell me stuff about Mom and Dad, when we were little, and…" she broke off, drawing in a shaky breath, closing her eyes.

She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, and she let herself lean into them.

"I'm sorry." She muttered. "I'm a mess."

"Don't apologise." His voice was steady. "Here."

She opened one eyes, watching as he opened a cupboard, pulling out two glasses, and then reaching to the back for the alcohol. How did he know where it was kept anyway?

He poured her a glass, raising his own in the air. "To Lily and Violet," He toasted, meeting her eyes. "May they rest in peace."

She wanted to say something nice, but the words stuck in her throat, so she simple lifted the glass to her lips and drank down the bitter liquid, letting it sting her throat and wash away the sorrow.

She wasn't sure what happened next exactly, several hours later after a few more drinks than was sensible but she knew that when she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine the hair she was pulling her hands through wasn't deep red but raven black and the eyes were brown and not silver grey. She knew she was moaning the wrong name, not matching the person, but she was in such a drunken haze of pleasure and woe that she didn't care.

She did care though, when she woke in the morning in the arms of the wrong guy.

It was only meant to be the one time thing. But when she found that heartache tearing inside her, and he was there, once again, her own personal drug, she found the guilt left her.

But after it came back twice as bad…

[07:59PM] – 31st July 2006 – Cerulean City – Outside Cerulean Gym

As Shard landed, Ash mentally thanked Cynthia once again, for causing a suitable distraction that almost certainly in no way involved her Garchomp in the middle of the city to create enough chaos for him to sneak out and bypass the morning meeting. Nope. No Garchomp involved. Riley and his girlfriend totally owed him that one. Lance after all, missed the meetings all the time, including the one with the Sinnoh elites, two weeks ago, because he had been doing something in Saffron with Silph Company. Ash wasn't sure where Lance had been last night, but it had almost certainly not been anywhere up near Viridian sorting out rare candy dealers.

Yawning slightly Ash recalled Charizard. He was careful not to dislodge the sleeping Pikachu in his arms as he thanked his dragon before turning towards the Cerulean Gym. He pulled out a key that Misty had given him, with a Pikachu keychain hanging on the end. Leaf had sent it as a gift, after the two had finally touched sides again after all these years. Mockingly, she had sent Gary a fluffy Eevee toy, which he had subtly gotten rid of by giving to Shard. The charred remains were now buried somewhere in Viridian forest.

Smiling, Ash slipped the key into the lock, turning it and slipping into the building.

It was good to be back, and he wished sometimes, that he was not so busy and could spend more time with her. It was worrying though, that the crime rates had begun to rise, and Team Rocket activities were becoming more and more frequent.

Misty would still be asleep, and Ash wished that Daisy had not moved to Vermillion with Tracey, leaving the red-head alone in the gym which was too large, without the presence of her sisters. Despite his best efforts, she still wouldn't talk about it with him, and he was worried about how she was dealing with the grief.

He moved down the hall, passing the door to the gym, and continuing to the main wing of the house. He almost tripped over Psyduck, sitting in the middle of the passage. Awkwardly shifting the sleeping rodent in his arms, he picked up the duck, to move him out of the way. As he did so he heard voices drifting down the hall way, and he paused, listening in.

"Ash will be home soon."

That was Misty. She was awake already, but who was she talking to?

"I should go."

What was Lance doing here?

"Look, this… I can't keep doing this… Keeping this double act up all the time…"

"What about Ash?"

Ash paused. What about him? The sleeping Rai 'cha-ed' in his sleep, and he held his breath, hoping that they hadn't heard. Moving forwards, he listened as they continued their conversation.

"I need to tell him. That it's over, and I made a mistake…"

The raven haired elite may not always understand everything to do with relationships, but even he understood what the words 'it's over' meant. He froze, heart stopping.

"How do you think he'll take it?"

Whatever Misty said next wasn't audible. Ash moved forwards, peering through the gap in the partially open door, the flicker of silhouettes just visible. Lance responded with something, and Ash paused, brown eyes observing the shadows, the taller one leaning down towards the slighter figure. Their lips touched, and Ash thought, if it was possible for a heart to physically break, then his might just have done so. He remained, paralyzed, watching from the darkness of the corridor.

"We'll have to just be honest, and tell him the truth." Misty said, and he saw her step back slightly. "Well, I'll tell him. Although I don't know how to tell him I've been cheating on him with another man…" she gave a hollow laugh, and Ash found strength somewhere to step backwards, away from the partially open door. Misty's voice was still audible as he made a beeline for the door he had just entered "You should go. I don't want you to be here when Ash gets back."

Dropping Psyduck next to the umbrella stand, the raven-haired man slid the door open silently, grateful that he hadn't locked it.

He was out of there, not hanging around to hear what she had to say. He didn't need her explanations.

It didn't mean that he didn't want them, to try and hear her justify herself, but he wanted to save himself the pain, that would inevitably come from hearing those words from her mouth.

He didn't know what he was feeling. Betrayed? Maybe, but his head was filled with such a kaleidoscope of emotions he couldn't manage to pin one down.

What had he done wrong?

He realised that there was latent anger, amongst the pain and sting of the betrayal. Lance was his friend, they would bicker and tease each other, watched each other's backs in missions and now he had gone and done this. I trusted you!

He had to get away, he wasn't sure where he was heading, before he realised that he could not continue this on foot, and summoned Shard, who looked at him quizzically but obeyed his frantic pleading to take him to Pewter.

It was only when they were flying over Mount Moon later, that Ash realised he was going to Pewter not to seek advice from Brock, but to plead for a mission that might take him away from everyone, so that he could delay interacting with them for as long as possible.

It would occur to him only later that thought of going away and staying away, was far more appealing than it should have been.

[15:06PM] – 7th August 2006 – Viridian City – Team Rocket Base – Prison Centre

Staring at the grey wall opposite him, with bleak eyes, Ash wondered if he had been just a tiny bit reckless, when demanding a mission from the Mount Moon SECTION HQ. He probably could have been a bit more specific than 'anything' especially if it involved the League, trying to capture one of the Team Rocket executives who were meant to be in Viridian Forest at the time.

Naturally a single aura guardian against a squad of rockets hadn't worked out, yet for some reason he found himself not caring. He sat here, wallowing in his own little pool of grief for several days, trying to think about what went wrong.

The images of them together were burnt into his heart, and it felt like something inside him was broken, or missing. Some part of him was still trying to deny it, but the overwhelming facts were clear cut.

Misty had always been there, his rock, his strong fierce girl that he loved, even if he never realised it. She was the one to push him into working harder, motivating him towards his dream. Yet at some point, between then and now, she had taken a mallet to his heart, beaten it up and thrown it away.

The guy that he had demanded the mission from had looked scared of him, a desperate man trying to run from his problems. Perhaps had Ash seen the look in his eyes of a soul broken man, he might have understood why.

He should have expected it really. He always got up to the top of hill, before falling back down again. His whole journey had practically been a road of bumpy hills, up and down, over and over.

And now he had fallen, oh so much further than before.

[17:50PM] – 7th August 2006 – Viridian City – Team Rocket Base – Boss's Office

Ash had been dragged up from his lonely isolation cell, and now stood here, in this smart office with a cup of tea sitting on the desk, looking out of place in the otherwise immaculate room.

And like in those typical villain movies, a large high backed chair spun around, revealing the dark black (hadn't it been orange, before?) suit of Giovanni.

Ash tried to throw off his guards, but they were gripping his wrists behind his back so strongly that his arm was going numb. "Let go of me." He snarled, but the stoic grunts ignored him.

He glanced up, meeting the cold black gaze of Team Rocket's infamous leader. "Well, well." The man mused. "Ash Ketchum. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."

Ash's blood ran cold.

Giovanni waved to another grunt, which dumped a dull brown file on the table. Languidly, while simultaneously stroking his Persian which was curling on the arm of his chair, Giovanni leaned forwards and flicked it open. Ash could see his own name, printed at the top, along with the stamp across it reading 'classified' in bold, red letters.

"Those are League files." He snapped. "How did you get those?"

There was a dark laugh from the man. "You really think we don't have spies within the League?" he didn't wait for an answer, skimming through the information. "You're twenty years old, born May 22nd, an elite specialising in electric types, aura guardian, dating the Cerulean gym leader, an impressive record of getting in our way." His voice was icy. "Your main Pokémon is a Pikachu with above average power and a record of being trailed by the same three incompetents for seven years."

"What do you want?" Ash interrupted, glaring at the boss.

Giovanni ignored him. "You are friends with multiple elites and gym leaders, along with the current champion of Kanto. A member of SECTION and the League, partaking in various missions along with the one that finally persuaded me to give Domino to Galactic."

Ash stopped struggling. "Galactic?" he repeated. "What interactions do you have with them?" his eyes were wide. They had thought this was just Team Rocket, striking back, but if all these things were linked…

The dark suited man laughed. "You really think we don't have links between us? Although I'll admit, it was hard to get Maxie and Archie to work together, but one we managed, it did pay off. It is so much easier when we are all working towards a common goal, or… at least letting them think that we are."

Ash was frozen. All the criminals were working together in the underworld, playing themselves for power, while playing the League to get what they wanted? It seemed so unlikely, yet made much more sense than any reasons they had already tried to find for the increasingly organised and strategic crime.

Yet on this scale, all those seemingly individual robberies, and Pokémon smuggling, led to only one conclusion that even Ash could figure out.

The criminals were preparing for a war.

Giovanni was still talking and Ash hastened to listen to him. "You're in such a position of power, amongst your little group of heroes. There must be so much that you must know."

"I'm not going to tell you anything." Ash snarled. "I'd rather die."

He had died. He'd fought and died and yet somehow remained here still alive.

The Rocket Boss laughed. "That would be a waste," he chuckled. "Someone of your talents and your position…" His fingers reached up to stroke his Persian, while scattering some pictures across the desk. "But it would be awful if some sort of harm would befall them."

It took a moment for Ash to understand the threat, and then work out the blackmail in its entirety.

"You're blackmailing me to spy for you?"

Giovanni smirked. "I'm glad we're on the same page."

The aura guardian stared, wide eyed at the boss, unsure what to do.

There was such a fine line, between good and evil sometimes. He had always tried to walk along the right path, but it twisted and turned so much that now he was beginning to doubt there was a difference. What was the League fighting for, against these seemingly impossible odds? The Teams had long ago been marked out the villains, the 'enemy' and yet to them, they stared back at the governing officials, and decided we were their opponents in this dangerous game of life and death.

Ash choked back a hysterical, dark laugh. Funny little differences, that made the whole world spin and knock your perspective out of balance. Here he was, stuck in the middle and not knowing what to choose.

He had fallen so far already.

What was a little bit further going to matter?

"On one condition," He met the Rocket leader's gaze. "You've proved your point." He nodded at the pictures scattered on the table. "I'll play your little game but you don't touch them." His gaze swept over the various people he knew. "Riley, Brock, Dawn, May, Max, Paul, my mom, Gary, Leaf… you don't hurt them in anyway."

"You're in no position to make a deal." The leader leaned back in his chair.

"Then I'll make a rather useless dead spy, won't I?" Ash scoffed. "Or you can agree, and I'll pass on what you want. Anything and everything."

Slowly Giovanni leaned forwards, plucking out the photographs of the people that Ash had named. "Just these?" he checked, narrowing his eyes.

"Lance and Misty," Ash added, feeling his gut clench at those words. "And them…"

"The champion and your girlfriend," Giovanni mused. "How quaint," He flicked through the pictures. "Okay then, I'll agree to your little deal, but if you don't keep to your side, then I won't have any qualms about a little…" he dragged the word out. "Motivation..."

A shiver ran through the aura guardian, and fought back the urge to flinch away, meeting the dark shadowed gaze. "Deal…"

A smirk rested on the Boss's face. "You need to remember your place." He said darkly. "You answer to me."

Ash couldn't help but feel like he had sold his soul to Darkrai, who stood here in place of a devil. The full impact of what he had just agreed to hit him.

He had agreed to betray his friends.

Misty had betrayed him first, he tried to justify it. It's to keep them safe.

The feeble excuses didn't help.

Giovanni was watching him, and he motioned to the guards to let him go. Ash stumbled slightly, but righted himself, using the desk for balance, and finding himself staring down at a picture of Misty, in a gym battle, he forced his head up to look at the Rocket leader. Said man had spun around to a screen behind him, and it flashed to life.

"Just to remind you who holds the power," He said. "Your little friends will be safe, for now, but if you try and double cross us in anyway… we'll know. We have spies everywhere." The leader was watching the screen, and Ash followed his gaze. It was a camera attached to the bottom of an air plane, flying over the sea. "And we aren't afraid to act."

The landscape in the video feed was changing, as cliffs appeared, and then grasslands and forests, following a river upstream.

To Pallet, Ash realised, recognising the landscape of his childhood. What was Giovanni planning?

He noticed the Boss watching him with dark eyes. "If it is any consolation," The man began, "We're not targeting your mother specifically. We're actually aiming for that senile old Professor. She was on your list but... well... she's just a promise of what to come if you don't follow through with your side."

The words weren't sinking in, as Ash watched the scene, watched the dark object fall towards the peaceful little village.

No. He lunged forwards towards Giovanni as the guards pulled him back. Time seemed to have slowed, in a mocking representation of what he had been researching with May and Dawn. He stopped shouting, after the first minute, realising that he could do nothing, he was helpless to stop the explosion, and fire and ash that choked the small village on screen.

"I told you." Giovanni watched him with emotionless eyes. "There is no bargain." He stroked his Persian, leaning back in his seat. "We hold all the cards."

He was filled with a burning anger at the arrogant boss, feeling a lust to let Lux have his way and rip out his throat. His mother was dead (gone) and he had stood there useless as she had died (burned). Was that meant to be extra incentive, to get him to co-operate or to just make him hate them even more?

Yet it worked, he hated to admit it, because the power the Teams (he wasn't sure when he had started thinking of them collectively) held so much power, and so much sway, and he didn't know when Dawn or Brock (Please Arceus let it not be Misty) might find themselves in a dark alley with a thug and a knife.

He'd lost his mother to the Rockets already, and he would bet anything that Misty had lost her sisters to them too. The Teams held so much sway, and the League, in their naivety didn't even know it. He was a pebble in the stream, trying not to be washed away.

He was failing miserably, floundering along, trying his best, but he knew that he, himself, had already lost his own, personal battle against them.

Somehow, after he had been let out of the base with Pikachu and Charizard and dumped near Fuchsia, he had managed to avoid Misty and Lance. If the two had to admit the truth to his face so badly, then they could find him.

People knew something was wrong, but they attributed it to his mother's death. She had been his only living family member, and they gave him the space he needed.

And Ash obediently, like a good little lapdog, passed Giovanni the information he needed, pushing down the feelings of guilt and reminding himself why he did this.

"I don't know why you're doing this."

"I don't expect you to."

"Hey! Just because I happen to live here… don't walk away. I want to talk to you. Have you ever considered telling your friends? They could figure something out, catch Team Rocket out now and end this!"

"You think I haven't thought about that? I can't trust them! Someone will find out, they might get hurt and I'll be in an even worse situation!"

"You don't even trust your friends that are the reason you're doing all this? Then… why…?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Just because I'm younger than you..!"

"You're sixteen, Silver."

"Your point..? You're only twenty years yourself. I can see you're mad at them, but I don't see why?"

"Oh go and play with your Feraligatr."

"Listen, I hate Giovanni just as much as you. I don't care that he's my father, he can rot in hell. I learned nothing from him other than how to steal and lie. The only good thing it got me was Fang, and I still would have ended up with him if I could have started my journey properly. My friends… Gold and Crystal… they taught me far more. Like the difference between what is right and wrong. You might think what you're doing here is right, by saving the people you love, but ultimately it's wrong. What happens when Giovanni starts to demand more of you? The next time he asks you to kill someone? Thought about that?"

"So what am I meant to do then? You tell me if you're so clever!"

"I… can't you trust your friends enough to confide in them about this?"

"No."

"So you're angry at them, I get that. I got annoyed at Ethan too when he kept beating me in battles, but it doesn't meant that when I need to talk to someone I can't put aside our differences (and trust me, there are many) to ask him, or Lyra for help."

"It's not the same, Silver. When did you decide to go into counselling either? You're not exactly the prime example or…"

"Okay, okay I get it! My life is messed up, growing up with that monster for a father, running away, and then being forced to come back here. But you can't keep this all in. One way or another it's going to come out, and you're going to be even worse off than you were before."

[19:54PM] – 5th November 2006 – Kanto – Somewhere between Route 5 and 7

Lance skidded to a half, his eyes barely concealing his frustration. "Damn it," he rounded around, staring upwards. "We're trapped!"

Way to point out the obvious Lance, Ash mentally sighed, as he slowed to a halt, studying the ground. The rock face stared mockingly at them.

The champion stepped forward, looking at the seemingly impossible cliff wall. "There must be a way," he gritted his teeth.

There wasn't. Ash stared at the ground. He guessed in the end, it had all come to this, and if Lance didn't kill him first, then he was completely screwed. Pikachu shot him a paniced look, and Ash was reminded that he did have Charizard on him if it came to the worst. He shook his head, glancing at Lance. "There isn't a way."

Lance whirled towards him, confused. Of course he was, Ash was meant to be the one leading them to this supposed Rocket base near Celadon, to conduct a raid. Ash was the one who had come up with the information in the first place.

All false, of course.

The champion opened his mouth to question his friend, but a cry makes him stop.

"Rockets approaching from behind!"

Ash was still, and did not follow as the rest of the group moved backwards to fight. He and Lance stayed the latter looking for a way out, before releasing his pair of Dragonair, a male and female to fight. Lance looked once more at the cliff face.

"It's a trap Lance." Ash told him, watching dispassionately as a swarm of Golbat flew upwards to engage the dragon pair in battle. "There's no way out," his voice was monotone, emotionless and cold. He was trying to distance himself from the fact that the secret was out, and that after this he was on his own. He would either be dead by the end of this, locked in a SECTION prison cell, somewhere far away fleeing from the war or working for Team Rocket.

None of them were very good options.

Death right now seemed the most appealing.

On his shoulder the small golden mouse pressed himself to his master's head, muttering words of comfort.

Lance stiffened, "You were meant to be leading us to Celadon. How could you get lost?" He was confused and his eyes puzzled. He hadn't quite put together the pieces yet.

Ash shook his head again, "I'm not lost. This was always our destination."

It was always the destination, from when he had first agreed to that deal. He should have realised it would come on eventually, and he would end up stuck here, in the middle.

(Two friends stand at a crossroads. One picks the path to Hell built on good intentions and his friend is left with the gilded road of blood that leads to Heaven).

It took a couple of moments for realisation to sink in and even then the champion didn't understand. He glanced again at the rock wall, as if it would hold the answers for him. Then he whirled around, his fist flying out and he punched the raven haired man in the face.

Ash doubted Lance understood that he was working for the rockets, but the fact he had just admitted to getting them lost was enough. He didn't protest as he staggered backwards, staying on his feet.

"PikaChu!" (Stop fighting!) Rai exclaimed, leaping down and standing between the two men, red cheeks sparking.

They ignored him.

Ash rubbed his split lip, ignoring the blood, glaring at Lance, months of pent up frustration and anger bubbling to the surface, but he kept silent, holding it back.

He had nothing to say.

The sounds of battle drifted towards them, and Lance glanced backwards and then to Ash. "You knew the rockets would be here?" he asked, "You led us into this trap?" His cloak swirled around his legs as he stepped forwards. "It's a slaughter! You purposely led us here to be slaughtered!?"

Ash stayed silent.

Lance's temper caught up to him as he took another step forward, ignoring the sparking Pikachu. "Traitor," he snarled, through clenched teeth. "You lying traitor!" He swung forwards with clenched fists and Ash backed out of the way, "How long?" he demanded. "How long have you been passing secrets to Team Rocket? How long have you been going behind our backs?"

"Three months." Ash spat. "But if you just get it through your thick skull and listen…"

Lance tried to punch him again but the raven haired man dodged.

"You don't understand," the aura guardian continued, trying to defend hisself. He hated seeing that look of betrayal in his friend's eyes, yet at the same time enjoyed ever second of it.

It was time Lance knew what it was like for someone to go behind his back.

"You don't see it, do?" he laughed, bitterly, spreading his arms out, "You never did!" the emotions swirling into his tone.

The pair began to circle each other, in a manner horrible reflective of their mock spars. "See what?" the dragon tamer snapped, voice rising in volume, "That you work for the rockets? Yeah, I see that now." He chuckled, "What I can't believe is that you agreed to it. You agreed to double cross us!"

Ash was frustrated at Lance's stubbornness. "Agreed." He repeated, "You make it sound as if I signed a contract." he coughed, spitting up blood to the ground. "I… They know everything, Lance. These little things, we've been trying to put down for months now aren't doing any good. It's falling before it's begun." He laughed again, a bitter sound. "There are spies, in every layer of our system." He told the champion. "You really think we stand a chance against them?"

"We did before you changed sides!"

Oh, how naïve. Had he thought that too, once?

"If you could just get it into your thick skull…"

Lance interrupted him, "You're a traitor! Trying to justify yourself isn't going to do anything to change that!"

"They killed her!" Ash snapped, dam breaking. "My own mother! She was meant to be safe, in Pallet, after all nothing happens there." His voice twisted to mimic the champion's own tone of voice. "So what do they do?" he mocked, "They bomb the whole town. Not that they were even after her. Apparently they were targeting Oak but that failed." He was so flippant, so past caring anymore.

After all what did that get him? - A broken heart and a shattered deal with criminals.

"Nothing we do is top secret." Ash drawled, "They know everything, anything…" his voice was bitter. Cold.

"You could have told us." Lance's tone had turned to pleading. "We could have turned this onto them!"

"Silver said the same." Ash mused quietly.

The argueing pair was interrupted by a call. "Lance!"

They turned to see a ginger haired girl racing towards them. Misty's turquoise eyes were wide with panic. Ash wished she had not been allowed to join them on this mission, and he had argued against it but was overruled. She knew the territory... north-eastern Kanto was her expertise.

And now he could get the chance to see the betrayal reflected in her eyes, as she found out the truth.

She shook her head, her hair flying, "There are too many of them! We've lost half the men already! We're doomed." At her words there was a loud crack to their left, as something crashed into the cliff top. Lance whirled around, eyes wide as he watched one of his Dragonair land, battered and bruised, and tumble down the rocky face, body broken.

(He fell down and broke his crown. Now he is King no longer).

Lance's head snapped around to Ash, "Thanks to you," he snapped, and Ash flinched at his tone, yet ignored the guilt that fluttered inside him.

Misty skidded to a halt, surprised, her head glancing between the two men, for the first time wondering why they were not fighting. Why instead of coming up with a plant to save the day they were here at the end of the path, staring at a cliff of dead hopes and fighting each other? "What?" she asked wide eyes. "What's going on?"

"How about…" Lance took a step forwards, "You ask this traitor why we're here? How about it?" he glared at Ash. "Tell her then how you led us into this trap? How you've been passing secrets to Team Rocket for months…"

Misty frowned. "Traitor?" she asked, voice rising. "What? No, it's not, you're wrong…" she trailed off, seeing Ash's expression. "No, Ash, tell me it's not true, please, tell me it's not true!" she shook her head, trying to deny it.

"You could have told us!" Lance was still raving, "We could have helped! You can't deal with everything on your own, all the time! I'm your friend! You're like my brother! You could have trusted us!"

"Yeah," Ash laughed bitterly, "My best friend who is so wonderful, he's cheating on me with my girlfriend." He snarled, eyes broken. Sarcasm laced his words like poison, as he glared at the pair. "When were you going to tell me that, huh? Or were you just going to forget about it, after I got captured. After all…" he continued, stalking to one side, "It's all in the past."

Lance and Misty's face mirrored each other's emotions. Shock. Regret. Panic. Denial.

The aura guardian curled his lip, vindictive for a second before it faded, eyes empty hollows. "Yeah, I thought so. You thought I didn't know what was going on? That I was just an idiot? You don't know anything…" His voice cracked. He'd agreed to this deal for them, and they didn't even have the courage to tell him what had been going on. He and Misty's relationship had been strained and taunt, after his stint in Viridian, but they had chalked it down to his mother's death. Neither Lance nor Misty had wanted to add another burden on top of that, unknowing that the burden was already there.

"No," Misty shook her head. "We were going to tell you. It's not how you think. We stopped, months ago. It came and went, and we aren't together…" she stopped as he glared at her, seeing the broken look in his eyes. "Ash…" she whispered, before falling silent.

The three were suddenly aware of how silent it was, and that the fighting behind them had stopped. Lance's second Dragonair had fallen, but she remained alive, and Lance retrieved her, casting a torn glance at the dead male. Somewhere a baby Dratini was curled up, never knowing that it would never see one of its parents again.

The pounding of feet told of the rockets advancing, and Lance and Misty backed together, not trying to fight, outnumbered. Ash remained by his corner of the cliff, alternating between glancing at Rai, Misty and Lance and staring adamantly at the floor.

A red-head that wasn't wearing a rocket uniform stepped forwards, but Ash glared at him and Silver decided not to bother.

Giovanni strolled forwards, smirking at the three, standing there in awkward silence. "Good job." He shot towards Ash, "Didn't think you would manage it."

Ash didn't meet his eyes.

"You mind leaving us along for a little bit?" Lance said sideways to the Rocket leader, ignoring their situation, before glancing back to Ash. "We stopped." He switched topic back, "We broke it up. It was a mistake, and it ended. It was never meant to happen."

"Oh don't worry about excuses, Lance," Ash sighed, "I don't really care anymore."

Of course he cared, that was a blatant lie. He'd just learned to ignore it by now.

"Ash, please!" Misty stepped towards him, but Lance held her back.

"So that's why you decided to betray us?" he asked, gesturing towards the rockets, "That's why you turn traitor?"

"No!" Misty tried to deny it, "Ash, please…"

Giovanni had watched with amusement, but now he seemed to grow bored. "Can you lot just stop bickering?" he snapped.

They fell silent.

"Finally." He drawled, before glancing at his guards. "You know I have a way to settle arguments like these." He mused, turning his dark eyes to his grunts. "Kill the champion and the woman."

"No!" Ash moved, standing between Lance, Misty and Giovanni. "You said you wouldn't touch them!" Pikachu stood by his side, cheeks sparking. He considered the pros and cons of releasing Shard.

"I did say that, didn't I?" Giovanni smirked.

"What?" Lance took a step backwards, gaze flickering between the two. What the hell had Ash agreed to?

"You said you'd leave them and the others alone. It was part of our agreement!"

The Boss laughed. "Our 'agreement' as you put it, was for you to spy, if I didn't kill your friends." He chuckled. "You're not going to be doing much spying anymore, so I consider that agreement now void."

Ash stepped back. "Lance." He said, in a low voice. "Take Misty and get out of here."

"But…"

"Now!" he snapped, tossing Shard's Pokéball at them. "Go!" before spinning around, an aura sphere forming on his hand.

Lance and Misty weren't going anywhere, but Charizard took that moment to burst in a red light out of his Pokéball, and shield them, snarling at the pair.

"But what about…"

Shard growled, and the pair hastened on, hanging on tightly as the fire drake took the air in a rush of air.

A shot rang out down below, and Lance glanced down, trying to spot Ash, but he could see nothing in the chaos. Then Charizard pulled upwards, and away, and Ash was left behind, his fate unknown.

[22:15PM] – 5th November 2006 – Mount Moon Base

"Oh good," Gary said, distracted typing something into his computer, "You're back. How was the mission?" he glanced up, eyes widening as he saw, not the whole squad he expected, but two sole people limping in, followed by a dragon who could barely fit through the double doors. He recognised the smallish, but tough as nails dragon as Shard, Ash's Charizard. "What the hell happened?" he stood up, ignoring the urgent e-mail he had to send. He gestured for someone fetch a nurse, before moving towards the pair. Misty and Lance looked exhausted, battered and bruised. Blue eyes evaluated the scenes and he cursed, "What happened?" he repeated.

Lance sank into a conveniently placed sofa, closing his eyes. Misty flopped down beside him, but stayed the other side, as far away as possible. "It was a trap," the dragon tamer breathed, closing his eyes, "Ash led us into a trap."

The Viridian gym leader frowned, "What do you mean he led you into a trap?" he sounded puzzled. "They knew you were coming? Blocked the route?" There was a choked sob from the red head and the researcher glanced at her, and then back to the champion. "Lance." he said, voice dropping.

There was a long silence.

"Ash has been feeding information to Team Rocket for the past few months."

Another pause, to let the information sink in.

"What? No way – he wouldn't do that." Gary shook his head. This was Ash they were talking about, the stupid naïve kid who slept in on the first day of his journey and had to make do with a wild Pikachu who had been found chewing the power cables of the ranch's generator.

He was also the grown aura guardian who had recently lost his only family member, and was a well-known elite and SECTION member.

"They killed his mother."

Well that might have helped, but why would he help them if they killed his mother. "The Pallet bombings?" he asked, for confirmation. When it was given he fisted a hand in his hair. "But that … oh crap… seriously? But we managed to get most people out… the Pokémon… my grandfather…"

"His mother died," Misty whispered, "They killed everyone just to prove they could. He… the deal…" she fell silent again.

The red head opened his eyes, looking tiredly at Gary, "There was some sort of deal, or agreement between Ash and Giovanni. Ash would spy and Giovanni wouldn't kill his friends." He scoffed. "More like blackmail, but Giovanni changed his mind and…"

"Wait, Giovanni?" Gary gasped, "The Boss Leader Dude was there?" he asked numbly.

Lance nodded wearily. "He ordered Misty and I to be shot, and Ash… he stood in the way … gave us Shard who practically kidnapped us…" he closed his eyes, "I should have stayed," he sighed, "I shouldn't have gone."

"They shot him."

Gary glanced at Misty, "Are you sure?"

She nodded, gazing at the floor. "I heard the shot, saw the blood before Charizard took off. Ash was checking to make sure we left, and he couldn't get a shield up in time." She broke off in a sob.

Gary leaned back, clenching his fists, "And Pikachu? He didn't have any other Pokémon with him… did he?"

There was a weak shake of his head. "The rat stayed with him. He gave Shard to us." Lance fell silent, before with great effort, spoke up, "Misty and I… we had an affair… about four months back… after her sisters died … it was only for about two weeks and we stopped but… Ash found out…"

He broke off at the fist which cracked into his nose. Letting out a gasp of pain, he reached up, trying to stop the sudden flow of blood. Gary was glaring at him, "You deserved that," the Viridian leader spat, "Champion or no – that was a down right idiotic selfish and cruel thing to do to him."

"We stopped!" Misty protested, "There was nothing there – it was always Ash! I just… I couldn't cope and he wasn't there…"

Gary shook his head, sighing. "Don't try to justify it. What's done is done… I just wish… Mew he's dead isn't he?"

Pause.

"We don't know." Lance admitted. "He told us to get out of there and we did. He's an aura guardian – isn't he? He should… be all right… shouldn't he?"

"I need to apologise," Misty whispered, "Because it was real… with him… and he probably thinks it was all a lie. It's not – it never was…" She closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself, trying to hold herself together.

Lance offered no comfort, and Gary figured that Leaf would be a better person to help her in this sort of this. He stared at the pair of them before standing and walking away, "I'll get a team on it," he called over his shoulder, "We must be able to find something…" he mulled it over. Pikachu was probably micro chipped, and they might be able to track that. Pokémon weren't normally chipped, but after one Jessie, James and Meowth catastrophe too many Ash had taken the precaution, since Pikachu never stayed in his Pokéball.

Maybe they might figure something out, and they might find Ash.

There were a lot of 'might's and 'ifs'.

Whether they would find him dead or alive remained to be seen.

September 2013 - The conversation with Silver is really only there to show Ash's feelings. "Oh go and play with your Feraligatr." The character will not be making any more appearances (she says, and then subtly writes him into the background of a future chapter). It was his cameo in this story, although he got lines so it might not count. It is a bit ironic, that Silver gives Ash a lecture on morals, but I figure being cooped up at Team Rocket's base; Passerby Boy has had a strong change of personality. The friends he mentioned are Lyra Crystal and Ethan Gold, who are based on their manga and game counterparts, and I think they exist in the anime under different names. There's Marina (who is Kris), Jimmy (Gold) and Lyra (Soul).

Don't hate Lance or Misty! Please! I love them and despite what they did, Ash and Misty made up their differences. Don't hate Ash either for his choices. I tried to make their actions all seem reasonable and not one of those 'we secretly hated you but pretended we didn't' plots that come out of the blue. Humans aren't perfect, and this just happens to be the point when these characters reach their straining point and break.

Thank you for the continued support!

~ Eclipse