.: Chapter 12 :.

A Tale of Two Cities

Ash Ketchum stared into the abyss and the abyss stared back into him.

At least, that's what it felt like to the young Master. In truth, this particular abyss was less an absence of matter and more an overabundanceof it. Ash was a master of taking action without fully thinking things through, and he was sure now that if he'd envisioned this particular scene at the beginning of the journey he'd have told Celebi to find herself another champion.

"Say something," Pikachu hissed at his side. "They're all staring at you."

"Yes, I'd noticed that, thanks," Ash hissed back, his anxiety leaking through and making his voice sharp. Of course, Pikachu wasn't one to accept misdirected aggression, no matter how worthy the source, and she responded with enough voltage for even pikachu-Ash to feel.

Ash yelped, but he knew better than to shock her back; if Pikachu believed she was in the right, she would just shock him again, worse, and the whole thing would escalate into a voltage war that he had no chance of winning. He settled for glaring while Pikachu widened her eyes at him, as if she was trying to tell him something.

Oh, right. Them.

Only for some reason the scene wasn't as daunting as it had been mere seconds ago; where before the faces had been uniformly expectant and apprehensive, now some were smiling and even looking relieved. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad.

"Thank you all for coming," Ash tried, and immediately realized how terribly inadequate that was. Many of these pokemon had risked or even given up their entire way of life to be a part of this…whatever it was he was doing, and all he could do was say thanks?

"We truly appreciate your support, and we recognize this was not an easy choice to make, for any of you," Pikachu stepped in, and Ash felt a sudden surge of love for his friend. "Many of you loved your trainers, or have family and friends that you had to leave behind. I promise you, we will do everything we can to ensure their safety. We are not trying to wage a war; we just want to send a message." She turned to Ash.

"And the message is this," Ash announced, taking up the torch from Pikachu, "Pokemon and humans are friends. Not enemies, not master and slave. Friends. We want to return to the days before pokeballs, when pokemon and people coexisted in harmony and helped each other not because they had to, not because one had power over the other, but because they wanted to. The situation right now is intolerable. The humans have misused their power long enough; we need to show them that we have power of our own, power they've taken for granted for too long. But our goal is peace. We won't achieve that through bloodshed, but neither will we get it by remaining passive and allowing people to control our lives."

The words had felt weird on Ash's tongue, talking about humans as a separate group from himself, and pokemon as the inner circle. Nevertheless, when a great cheer broke out from the assembled pokemon, he knew he had said the right thing. Pikachu gave him a blinding grin, and he stood up a little straighter.

"As for what happens now…well, mostly we wait. We need to see what Kanto's reaction is, and how far we can get on this demonstration alone before we make other plans. In the meantime we need to continue destroying as many pokeballs as we can, and we need supplies, so we'll be raiding pokemarts and other likely places. Talk to Noctowl if you're interested in participating." The oddly coloured owl hooted softly, and Ash was amused to see how all eyes swept briefly to him before refocusing on himself. Ash had originally wanted to place Squirtle in charge of the raids, but the turtle had rightly pointed out that he'd be more useful as a trainer. He'd recommended Noctowl to take his place, which had surprised Ash, but as he witnessed the mischievous glint in the bird's eyes now he thought he understood.

"We'll also be training," he continued. "If we have to fight, the pokemon we'll be facing will be strong; the best the humans can throw at us, and the most loyal. Although I hope it won't come down to that, we need to be ready. I've put a leader in charge of the training for as many types as we have, and they'll all be holding sessions starting tomorrow. If you have questions, direct them to your leader. Trust me, you can all learn something from them. I know I can!" Ash grinned as he got some sporadic chuckles for that.

"Now I'm sure you've all had a long day, so I won't bore you anymore. Go rest, eat. I have it on good authority that the pokechow is delicious." A few more laughs, and then Ash waved and jumped down from his little tree stump and the crowd began to disperse.

Pikachu was there to greet him, immediately giving him an affectionate nuzzle. "You did good, Pikapi."

"Thanks, but I feel like it can't last, you know?" Ash muttered back. "Like we don't have the right to do all this, and it's just a matter of time before someone finds out and it all falls apart."

"Pikapi…"

"There's too many of them, Pikachu. How can I expect them all to listen to me? We're just…our base is in the middle of a forest, not exactly the most secure place in the world. They have to sleep on the ground. Our food stores won't last much more than a few days, even with all the bags Brock gave us, and then—"

"Pikapi."

Ash paused, saw Pikachu's serious expression, and trailed off.

"They already listen to you," she told him. "They listen because they know you want the same things they do, and already they trust you to do them. You're the only one who can, or at least the only one who's ever tried to, and they know that. They need this, and you've given them hope. So yes, they'll sleep on the ground even if they're used to silk pillows, and they'll forage for themselves if they have to. Why do you think I've put up with so much nonsense over the years?"

Ash blinked. "Pikachu…"

"You need to stop worrying about the details, Pikapi. Leave that to Squirtle and Bulbasaur and the others. They can handle it. Do what only you can do, and let them do what they're best at."

"…You're right. You're right."

Pikachu nodded brightly, clearly in agreement, and Ash grinned. Almost immediately though, the grin faded as he thought.

"But then that means I have to…"

Pikachu nodded again, clearly expecting this. "Red has to disappear for a while."

"And you…"

"I have to stay here." Pikachu tilted her head, the better to see his expression. "We knew this was going to happen, Pikapi. Only you can be in two places at once."

"Maybe you knew," Ash muttered, but he knew she was right, again. It was just him who hadn't expected this, who had failed to think things through yet again. Of course Pikachu couldn't be seen palling about with the Master if she was part of this…resistance. Ash could get away with it only because no one else knew he was also Red.

Pikachu still looked concerned and a little confused, now, so Ash forced a smile. "It'll be weird, without you."

For some reason, that seemed to make Pikachu happy, which Ash resented a little since he was feeling pretty depressed at the moment. And then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, she leaned over and licked his cheek.

Ash blinked and gave up trying to understand her.

"You should probably go soon," she said, finally sounding a bit sad. "You don't want them wondering where you are."

"Yeah." He hesitated, and then following some odd instinct, linked his tail in hers before beginning to walk away. With each step their tails clung more closely to each other, until finally they slipped and fell away. It was oddly reassuring.

Ash looked back once more, and the words were nearly out of his mouth before he decided he didn't want to say goodbye. Instead he flashed a peace sign at his best friend and bounded off into the trees, trusting all his friends to make it work without him.

xXx

The lab was in chaos, and for once it wasn't Professor Oak's fault. Or at least that's what Ash assumed, since the sources of the chaos were simple phones instead of chemical disasters or pokemon running amok. Even walking up the path outside Ash could hear them, and now that he was in the lab proper the ringing was deafening. Ash had no idea so many phones existed, never mind that Oak had them all in his lab.

"Ash! You little twerp, do you know how much trouble you've caused?"

Ash jumped, barely having time to react before he was being propelled down a series of corridors by an irate Gary Oak.

"Gary—what's—"

"It's time you stopped keeping secrets, that's what," Gary snapped, shouting to be heard above all the phones. "We're going to see Gramps and you're going to tell him everything, right now."

"But Gary, he'll—"

"Ash, seriously, you've got to know you can trust Gramps with this. With anything. And he needs to know. Do you see this place? How's he supposed to keep it together if he's just as confused as everyone else?"

Ash grabbed onto a passing doorframe and hung on, forcing Gary to stop and listen, just for a minute. "Of course he wouldn't say anything on purpose! But I am seeing this place, and you know how absent minded he can be! What if he lets something slip? Some little detail, just to one person when hundreds of people are asking him questions? It wouldn't be his fault and no one would blame him, but I might still end up dead, Gary."

Gary grit his teeth and held his silence for a long moment. The wailing of the phones grew almost unbearably loud. "I don't like keeping secrets from Gramps," he said finally.

"I know. Me neither. I'll tell him everything I can, I promise."

Gary swallowed; stared at Ash for another long moment. "Fine." And then they were charging down the corridor again, although at least now Ash was allowed to move under his own power.

They finally reached a small office near the back of the lab, and Gary burst through the doors like he owned the place – which, Ash reflected, probably wasn't too far from the truth. Ash trailed through in his wake, feeling a bit like a piece of driftwood caught up in a storm, and about as responsible for anything that happened.

"Gramps! I've found him!"

The office was tiny, and Ash got the sense that it was being used as a hideout of sorts. Of course, this was futile, since there was a phone present in here as well, perched innocently in its bland whiteness on the corner of a desk. Oak occupied the single chair, and appeared to be snapping at someone on the other end. At his grandson's shout, he interrupted himself to yell at them to shut that damn door.

Gary did as told, and immediately the screeching died down to a resentful growl. Ash sighed gratefully, and silently blessed Oak's choice of hideout.

With a final angry outburst, Oak slammed down the phone and, without looking at either of them, yanked out the cord. The room fell into blessed silence.

And then Ash noticed that the Professor's angry gaze was fixed unerringly on his own face. Perhaps one ringing phone wouldn't be too bad, after all.

"Ash. So good of you to come back. Glad to see you're in one piece, and all that." He placed both hands on his desk and leaned forward. "Now tell me what the hell is going on here."

Ash hesitated. He dared a glance at Gary, but the researcher was leaning against the wall in his best neutral pose, and watching his grandfather instead. He would get no help there. He looked back at the Professor, who for some reason no longer looked angry, and was instead frowning worriedly at him.

"Ash…where's Pikachu?"

Ash looked down. How to explain… "She left, Professor. She wants to help the…rebellion." He took a deep breath and looked up, meeting Oak's gaze head on. "And I agree with her."

Oak appeared stunned for a moment, staring at Ash blankly, but no doubt his mind was working frantically. Eventually he shook his head and slumped back into his chair. "Wait, Ash, hold on. I'm not sure I follow you. You're saying this is…organized?"

Ash shrugged. "I think so. But I haven't actually seen it, if that's what you're asking. They don't like humans much, if you haven't guessed. I guess Pikachu knows by now, but…" he took a shuddering breath, not needing to fake distress, not completely, "I don't know when I'll see her again."

"This is worse than I thought." Oak paused. "…What about your other pokemon?"

Ash shook his head. "All my best are gone, Professor. I gave them the choice, and they decided it was the right thing to do. I've only got Charizard left now."

Oak blinked. "Charizard?"

Ash shrugged. "I know, not the one you'd expect, huh? I think he wants to protect me, or something." In truth, they'd agreed that Charizard was too much of a loose cannon to remain at the base, and far too likely to draw attention. None of his pokemon were comfortable with leaving him completely defenseless, either, and Charizard was nothing if not an excellent deterrent. Cyndaquil was a much better choice to teach the new fire types, as well. So, Charizard had stayed.

"If that's true, it's more loyal than any of us gave it credit for."

Ash frowned, jarred by the reference to Charizard as an 'it'. He'd been around pokemon so long that the expression felt fundamentally wrong to him now. True, he'd been uncomfortable with it for a while now, but this was extreme. "He. Charizard is a he."

Oak frowned, but didn't comment on it. Instead he continued as if Ash hadn't spoken. "Ash, if you know anything else, anything that could help, you have to tell me. What do they want?"

"They want to be free. They just want what we take for granted: the freedom to choose how to live their lives, to choose who their friends are. Professor, you must have noticed how bad things have gotten. It's slavery, pure and simple. I can't believe I was blind to it for so long."

"Ash…do you realize what you're saying? We rely on pokemon for nearly everything. If we were to just set them all free…do you understand what would happen? The chaos that would cause?"

"We've lived without pokemon slaves before, we can do it again," Ash announced. "Think about it, Professor. An Alakhazam is smarter than any human being, smarter than we can comprehend; what right do we have to use such a creature?"

Oak sighed. "Don't think I don't understand what you're saying. I think I understand the uniqueness of pokemon better than most. But this isn't the way to do it. These acts of vandalism…it can only lead to bloodshed."

"But what else can they do, Professor?"

Oak was silent for a long moment. "I don't know," he finally admitted, quietly.

Ash walked forward and copied Oak's earlier movement, resting both hands on the desk and leaning forward. "I trust Pikachu with my life, with everything. You know her; she would never agree to hurt anyone, and she wouldn't sympathize with anyone who wanted to. But she's part of this revolution now, and I have to support her."

The Professor took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Fine. What do you intend to do, then?"

Ash straightened. "Spread the word? Convince as many people as I can to comply and set their pokemon free. This doesn't have to be a war, not if both sides want to avoid it."

"That's just it, Ash. Even if you're right that the pokemon want peace, I'm not sure the same can be said of us. Our lives will change in significant, unpredictable ways if we lose our pokemon. People will fight tooth and nail to keep their luxuries."

"We'll see. There's not much else we can do."

"No, I suppose not." Oak glanced at his phone. "I can only avoid these people for so long, and no doubt you want to rest. We'll talk more later."

Ash nodded and turned away as Oak plugged the phone back in, but paused with his hand on the door. "Professor?"

Oak paused with a hand hovering above the now-shrilling phone, and raised his eyebrows.

"I want to give a statement, something that will be broadcast across Kanto. Do you think you could arrange that?"

Oak snorted. "You've been missing for months and I've got reporters badgering me every few seconds. I can't imagine it will be hard."

Ash grinned. "Thanks."

And then he slipped out into the hall with Gary, leaving Oak to his PR nightmare.

xXx

Oak proved to be correct, in that the reporters were practically salivating at the opportunity to have the Pokemon Master speak live on their station. As a result, his appearance was scheduled for the very next day, during prime time. The news station assured him that the whole of Kanto would be tuning in, despite the short notice, which had Ash feeling nervous despite himself. To combat this, he tried to keep busy.

He contacted Brock and gave the breeder a rundown of the situation and everything that had happened since they'd separated, although he was forced to be frustratingly vague as he couldn't risk anyone overhearing, even his mother. Luckily Brock was smart enough to realize that much, and didn't press for details that Ash couldn't provide. He got the message, and promised to set his own pokemon free and use his connections to convince the other gym leaders to do the same. The Pewter City gym would also be closed for the foreseeable future, and Brock assured Ash that the Cerulean gym would follow quickly. He claimed to be optimistic about the others as well, and explained that most gym leaders had only achieved their positions by cultivating strong bonds with their pokemon, and therefore would have nothing to fear by giving their friends the choice to leave. After his discouraging conversation with Oak, this outlook cheered Ash.

More depressingly, the conversation with Brock didn't eat up as much time as he'd been hoping, especially with the breeder's impatience to start talking with the other gyms as soon as possible. Standing alone in front of the computer after the screen flickered to black, Ash was startled by how much he missed Pikachu already. It was like a physical ache, and after being ignored for hours, made him slightly sick to remember it. He couldn't believe how much he'd gotten used to never being alone, and how heavy the silence now felt.

Most people would probably find constant company at least a little suffocating, after long enough, but Ash had never been most people. He'd always needed people around him, and he'd always done his best to keep them there. If someone had tried to psychoanalyze him, they'd probably assign the blame to abandonment issues surrounding his absentee father, but Ash had never been much for introspection. When he was small he'd had his mother and Gary and, sometimes, Professor Oak. And after them, there'd been Brock and Misty and all the other friends he'd shared his journey with over the years. And always, always Pikachu.

And now…

Ash straightened and took a deep breath, letting it out in a harsh huff. Everything was changing. Compared to the complete overhaul of his way of life for the past twenty years, this was nothing. …Should be nothing.

Unfortunately, Ash's heart wasn't much for logic, and the lonely beeps now drifting from the computer were doing nothing to ease the silence. With a sigh, Ash decided to revert to old habits, and went to bother Gary.

xXx

Ash's statement to the media the next day was short and to the point. The news broadcasters were clearly eager to give him as much time as he wanted – more than he wanted, in fact, but Ash needed something that most people would watch, something that would stick with them. An hour long lecture on the rights of pokemon wouldn't accomplish that. And, of course, Ash himself didn't have the patience to listen to an hour long talk, let alone give one.

So, his message fell well under five minutes and would no doubt be played on an unending loop over the next few days, a simple statement of support for the "freedom movement", as he had suddenly dubbed it. He urged people to let their pokemon make their own decisions, and stressed that the rebels didn't want to separate people and pokemon; that if the pokemon wanted to stay with their trainers then they should, but without relying on pokeballs to keep them there. He drew on the various speeches he'd made to his own team on various occasions, and tried to make it as reassuring and inspirational as possible. He wasn't sure how well he succeeded, but if the media's looks of varying shock and awe were anything to go by, he'd definitely succeeded at something.

He'd made his move. Now it was time to see what the rest of the world did with it.

"Hey, Ashy! Focus!"

Ash blinked, and realized the roots he'd been chopping hadn't been chopped so much as mashed into a fine paste. One whole, untouched root was slowly rolling its way to the edge of the table. He grabbed it before it could fall off.

"Seriously, if I'd known you were this out of it, I'd have just made you sit in the corner where you couldn't break anything."

Ash looked between Gary and his mangled roots and sighed. "Yeah...sorry."

Gary gave Ash a long, unreadable look and finally shook his head. He walked over to Ash's table and scooped the root-paste into a small jar. "It's fine; maybe the swinubs will eat it. I'd never give you a job you could actually screw up, Ashy-boy; I know you too well for that."

Ash huffed a laugh and leaned carefully against the wall while he watched Gary stash the jar in a seemingly random cupboard. He'd done his best to keep himself occupied, he really had, but when that had inevitably failed, he'd stuck to Gary like glue. At first Gary hadn't seemed to mind much, which made Ash realize he really had been gone far too long if even Gary didn't complain about being followed around by a lovesick puppy. By the third day, though, his patience had finally begun to wear and, to the relief of them both, he'd put Ash to work. Simple work only – mostly chopping or mixing ingredients for pokemon food – but Ash found it relaxing. Or had, until he started spacing out more than even those simple tasks could handle.

A sudden shrill beep from Gary's computer startled Ash out of his careful lean and pushed him perilously close to knocking over a glass jar of red liquid that was no doubt vitally important to something. As Gary rushed to answer the summons, Ash occupied himself with the straightening the strange, figure-eight shaped bottle. The liquid inside had an odd consistency, and Ash paused to watch it slop back down the sides of the bottle. It reminded him of an avalanche, or a volcano.

Ash was so absorbed with his strange liquid that he failed to notice the hushed silence that had fallen over the lab, and when he straightened he was totally blindsided by Gary's serious expression. Ash's stomach dropped in response, and his entire body stilled. They stood staring at each other for a long moment, and then Gary pointed wordlessly at his computer. Ash stumbled forward on slightly unsteady feet.

The message blinking on the screen wasn't a notification of the end of the world, at least. It merely signalled impending doom.

"The League is meeting," Ash read out after entering his access code. "'To discuss the current state of human-pokemon relations, and decide on an appropriate course of action.' …That sounds ominous."

"When?"

Ash frowned, and scrolled down the screen. "Tomorrow."

"Well, they certainly don't waste time, do they?" Gary said with a slightly forced grin, and brushed his hands together as if physically ridding himself of the news. "And neither should we. Do you think you can handle some mixing?"

Ash grinned back, feeling grateful once again for Gary's presence in his life. Letting his mind run in little anxious circles would not help, and tomorrow would come soon enough. In the meantime, there was pokechow to make.

xXx

The League, like any proper bureaucratic organization, insisted in holding all meetings bright and early in the morning, a practice which Ash heartily disapproved of. He was privately convinced that the meeting times had shifted even more towards pre-dawn hours once the other members noticed how groggy and disoriented their new Champion was when roused before noon. He knew for certain that they had managed to sneak approvals from him before that he never would have given while in his right mind, so they certainly had motive. And it wasn't like Ash couldn't wake up when he needed to; if the cause was sufficiently important or exciting, he'd be the first one there, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. League meetings, however, fell far short of both those requirements.

Today, however, was important. Today he needed to be at his best. Today he'd be on time for once—no, he'd be the first one there—

"Ash! Isn't your meeting starting in five minutes?"

"What?" Ash squealed, not even registering the horribly embarrassing noise as he frantically checked the clock. Sure enough, he was going to be late. He froze, and then turned slowly, accusingly, towards his pidgey alarm clock, which was still happily chirping away.

It was an hour behind.

"I'm having Charizard burn that clock as soon as I get back!" he called back to his mother as he dressed in record time. "It's cursed!" Ash dashed to the doorway, paused, and snatched his jacket from the back of his chair before bolting out of the house. He suspected his shirt was on backwards, but if he wore his jacket he thought people probably wouldn't notice.

He released Charizard from his ball before he was completely out the door, jumped on the great lizard's back before the dragon had fully materialized, and they were both in the air before either of them had quite figured out which way they needed to go. He thought he saw his mother shaking her head at him as his house disappeared in the distance, and a tall figure in a white lab coat collapse in either laughter or a seizure near Oak's lab, but he couldn't be sure. Between the two of them, dragon and trainer finally located the right direction, and with a roar Charizard shot off towards the Pokemon League HQ.

Charizard was fast - Ash had made sure of that – and he easily reached headquarters in under a minute. The meeting room, however, was located at the very top of the complex in a predictably elitist move, and Ash knew he didn't have time to climb all those stairs on foot. Instead he directed Charizard toward the window he thought was attached to the meeting room, sidled up beside it carefully while his dragon did his best to hover, and tapped on the glass. A bemused Lance wandered over almost immediately, and opened it for him after watching his slightly frantic gesturing for a bit longer than Ash thought was strictly necessary. After some manoeuvring – hovering was not one of Charizard's skills – Ash managed to tumble into the room. He recalled Charizard and immediately zeroed in on the clock.

Not late. Barely.

Not that it mattered; everyone else was already here, clearly had been for some time, and clearly had started without him. Silence had followed Ash into the room, but judging by their startled expressions and frozen gestures, he had interrupted a discussion. They were all seated at the large round table in the center of the room, and now staring at him expectantly – all except for Lance, who was still watching him from the window.

"Ash, is it true?" the former Champion asked softly. "What you said about Pikachu, on the news?"

The question threw Ash a bit off balance, even though he had every reason to expect it. If only he'd gotten up on time… "Yeah," he confirmed after a moment. "It's true."

Lance nodded, slowly, and made his way back to the table. Ash knew that the former Champion was probably the most likely to agree with him, or at least be able to understand his point of view. Lance's bond with his dragonite had to be the strongest Ash had ever seen between a pokemon and its trainer, and even though Ash didn't know the former Champion particularly well, he knew that the rest of Lance's pokemon would be similarly loyal. He would never have made Champion if they weren't. Ash held the title now, after all, and that meant he understood better than anyone how a Champion relied completely on his pokemon, trusted them utterly, had to in order to succeed, and that trusting dependence had to be mutual or it was useless. That sort of connection ran deeper than any other, and Ash would guess that it might be beyond even what the Elite Four experienced. So Lance, if anyone, would put his pokemon first.

Technically, after his defeat by Ash, Lance no longer had a seat in the League. However, traditionally all former Champions held open invitations to all League meetings and events, and continued to be treated with all the respect given to their former station. Lance told Ash once that this was mostly to prevent displaced Champions from usurping Elite Four positions just to stay 'in the loop' and keep some of their old privileges. Truly, the only thing that separated current and former Champion in the bureaucracy's eye was that Ash got paid – but even that was only when he actually fought challengers, which he hadn't done at all lately.

Lance didn't attend meetings often, but when he did show up he was always early, as if he was trying to be some sort of role model for Ash. This was clearly a failure, but Ash supposed he appreciated the thought. Sort of.

"Take a seat, Ash," Lorelei, the ice specialist, said. She adjusted her glasses with one manicured hand while she waved the other towards the only empty seat, situated at the symbolic "head" of the round table. Warily, Ash did as told.

"And now we can begin," Lorelei continued. "I'm sure you have all been following the news closely, but I'm afraid the public media does not quite have all the facts. The League has been withholding certain information from the public in the interests of maintaining calm, and we must now decide what to do with this information."

"Exactly what kinda info are we talking about here?" Bruno, the fighting specialist, interrupted, intent as always on cutting straight to the point. He leaned back further in his seat and resettled his crossed arms on his chest, the large muscles shifting visibly underneath his light gray shirt.

"And why do you know so much more than us?" This from Lance, who was a bit more sensitive than the others to hints of ostracism.

"Because I am the only one who bothered to become a Board member as well, that is why," Lorelei explained crisply.

"Some of us have better things to do than listen to squabbling bureaucrats all day," Karen muttered. The dark specialist was inspecting her nails which, although eternally painted black, were nowhere near as well-kept as the ice specialist's. Ash could see chips in the paint from his seat across the table, and even now Karen appeared to be making a new one.

Lorelei made a noise not unlike the hiss of evaporating ice, and moved as if to stand, but a loud crack halted her in place. The final member of the Elite Four, Agatha the ghost specialist, slammed her knobby cane against the floor once more just to make sure she had everyone's attention. She carefully made eye contact with everyone in the room, one at a time, and maybe it was her age that created the obedience, Ash didn't know, but everyone remained utterly still and silent as she did. By the time she had finished the tension in the room had dissipated, and Agatha seemed to lose interest.

"Continue," she warbled with a careless wave of one gnarled hand (her nails had no hint of paint). She relaxed back into her chair, which for some reason seemed more plush than the others, and her misty gray eyes drifted over to the window. No one moved for a long moment.

And then Lorelei coughed. "Yes, well. The news. Let's just get right down to it, shall we?"

"Let's," Bruno rumbled, clearly unimpressed. Lorelei shot him a frigid glare before proceeding.

"As you may have guessed, our resident Champion's national statement had quite the effect." Lorelei seemed completely composed once more, and her words were crisp and perfectly formed, emotionless. Ash thought she'd rather missed her calling as a news anchor. "The media has concealed much of this at the League's request. They have even turned down further inspired speakers, from gym leaders to a little girl with a bulbasaur."

Ash blinked; he hadn't known the League had that much power. And the little girl with a bulbasaur…that couldn't possibly be…Melanie?

"As is to be expected, they will not maintain this silence forever," Lorelei continued. "Therefore, we must decide on the course of action we wish to take. We must choose a side; the League cannot remain neutral in this matter. We already know which side the Champion has chosen, clearly." She slid a decidedly unfriendly glance toward Ash, who did his best not to flinch.

"Which you disagree with, clearly," he threw back. After all, the best defense is a good offense.

Lorelei sniffed. "I have not stated an opinion, Mr. Ketchum. I am merely providing the facts."

"What exactly have people been doing that the Board finds so…disruptive?" Karen asked, not bothering to look up from her nails.

Lorelei opened her mouth to answer, but Agatha's rough voice cut her off.

"Oh, the usual things, I would think," she murmured. "Following the Champion's advice, perhaps. Destroying their pokeballs. Telling their friends. Holding demonstrations, protests, and such."

Lorelei said nothing.

"Well," Karen drawled, "I can see how that would be terrifying."

"Don't be naïve," Lorelei snapped. "This is no simple matter. This decision will change our world, our very way of life. Do you have any idea just how much your daily routine would change if we lost the use of pokeballs? How much you would have to give up?"

Karen frowned, and said nothing.

"People would starve," Lance said, quietly, into the silence. Ash turned to stare at him, and the dragon master looked gravely back. "I'm sorry Ash, but it's true. We rely on pokemon for so much. Maybe we'd be okay, personally, but the poor – they'd starve. Some of them can't even afford pokeballs, as it is."

"But they could make their own food!" Ash objected. "They wouldn't need pokeballs, and they wouldn't need to buy from the factories! The pokemon would help them, without being forced."

"What pokemon, Ash?" Lance looked sad now. "They don't have any."

"Well, then, we'd find some who'd agree to help. In exchange for a share of the food, like partners. Or even employees."

"Food isn't the only problem, kid," Bruno said. "Electricity, too. Housing, even – where're we gonna put all these critters if we can't use their balls?"

"Where they should have been in the first place! Out in the real world, with us and everything else that's alive!"

Agatha tapped her staff against the stone floor. "Calm yourself, child. Your anger will not help you, and they only seek to understand how your ideas are possible." Agatha paused and then turned away from Ash, narrowing her gaze at the rest of the room. "But they fail to realize that change can be good."

Lorelei tapped a nail against the table, a small echo of Agatha. "This kind of change could rip the world apart, Agatha."

"The best changes always do. It certainly will be fun to watch, don't you think?"

Lorelei narrowed her eyes. "You've made your decision then, I take it?"

Agatha grinned, wide and unsettling, and revealed a gap where one of her front teeth should have been. "Don't be silly, dear. I never had a decision to make. I'm on no one's side."

Lorelei closed her eyes and gave a long-suffering sigh. "Of course." She scanned the rest of the room. "I need hardly state where the Board stands on this. While Mr. Ketchum's idealism is…admirable…the reality is that dreams and ideals cannot feed people or heat their homes. Giving pokemon independence simply poses too great a threat to the survival of society and civilization as we know it."

"Much as I respect Ash, I have to agree with ya there, Lor," Bruno said. "It's just too dangerous. Sorry, kid."

Lorelei and Bruno turned as one to watch Karen expectantly. The dark specialist shifted in her chair and kicked a leg of the round table none too gently.

"…Fine," she grumbled at last. "Gengar would probably just try to eat me anyway."

Ash, watching with mounting horror, turned to his last hope. "…Lance?"

"I'm sorry, Ash, I really am," Lance said, and he really did look sorry. "But like Bruno said, it's just too dangerous. I can't in good conscience support it, not when it's so likely to cost people their lives. Especially when I know it won't cost me mine."

"Lance…"

"So noble," Agatha commented from her side. "The world needs more young men like you." She paused, and smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile. "Or maybe it needs less."

"What…exactly have you all just agreed to, here?" Ash tried to clarify, in what he thought was a heroic effort to stay calm.

Lorelei turned to face him fully, for perhaps the first time this whole meeting. "The League will oppose the…freedom movement, and will take whatever actions necessary to maintain the current status quo."

Ash felt a bit frozen. "Whatever…actions necessary? Does that mean…?"

"We don't do things halfway, kid," Bruno said. "You should know that. Neither do you."

"Neither do I…" Ash echoed.

"They'll fight you, child," Agatha clarified with a wicked grin, although her voice was strangely gentle. "They'll fight you, and your best friend, and whoever else threatens their stagnant society. You've proven yourself against each of them individually, but all together?" Agatha cackled. "This will be interesting."

"Agatha," Lorelei warned. "Now, there was one other matter I wished—"

"Picha!"

Even Karen looked up at the strange expletive, but the Master ignored them, too infuriated to realize what he had said or to care. The ice surrounding him had shattered suddenly, destroying his calm and leaving a churning mess of frustration and betrayal in its place.

"Can't you see?" Ash continued. "You don't have to fight! No one does, there's no need for violence! All they want is the freedom to choose, to live their lives – is that really so bad? They're our partners, our friends, our family – we'd all be nothing today without their support. Can you really deny them this? Can you really keep them as slaves? Because that's what this is. It's slavery. And it's wrong." Ash paused, running out of words for once. He had thought, out of all people, that the League would understand. They were the ones who best understood the bonds human and pokemon could share, and the ones who owed the most to their teams. If these people, these elites, couldn't see for themselves how basically wrong the current situation was, Ash didn't know the words to convince them.

"Yes," Lorelei said, cold and immovable as a glacier. "We can."

And there really didn't seem anything more to say after that. Ash turned his back on them and strode to the window where, after only a bit of fumbling, he found Charizard's pokeball.

"Ash—"

Lance made a move to grab his arm, but the Pokemon Master shrugged him off. And then he jumped out the window.

The sudden rush of air shocked him out of his turmoil, and Ash luxuriated in the free fall for the brief moment it lasted. And then Charizard caught him and red wings carried him away from the Indigo League and into the open sky.

xXx

Time passed. Not a lot, but enough. The media finally released its censor on the news, and the inspired speakers had their chance to speak. People all over Kanto reacted, and reports started coming in from as far away as Johto of people destroying balls and giving their pokemon free choice. Some did leave, when given the choice, but many stayed, and no one ever reported losing all of their pokemon. A carpenter near Celadon started up a booming new business in pokemon houses. A truck transporting pokeballs from Goldenrod to Celadon was hijacked by wild pokemon, and its cargo destroyed. Lobbyists fought to turn the defunct Safari Zone into an official nature reserve. The availability of electricity waxed and waned, but people used their free electric pokemon to power their utilities, and slept near their fire types to keep warm at night.

The League continued to hold 'strategy' meetings, which Ash continued to attend, though mainly now as a silent spectator. He was still the Champion, and so the Board was forced to allow it, but in truth they didn't see him as much of a threat. He'd already done what damage he could with this media statement, and with only Charizard left out of his team, he didn't appear able to do much more.

Of course, the League didn't know of his midnight visits to Viridian Forest, where he kept Pikachu and the others posted on the League's position and plans, as well as keeping himself up to date on the status of training and supplies and such. New pokemon arrived every day, and feeding them all was beginning to become a problem. Raiding nearby pokemarts was no longer sufficient, especially since Pallet was such a backwater little village in the first place. Pikachu continued to insist that Ash not worry himself with it, and indeed she did seem able to keep things under control. She was an expert at finding food in Viridian forest, even after all this time, and was able to direct foraging parties to harvest the forest's natural bounty. Groups of flyers ventured out to distant cities regularly as well, for those pokemon that required more than just berries, and no one starved.

The training also seemed to be going well, for the most part; the type groups had even developed a sort of synchrony in their fights from all the time spent training together. Upon noticing this, Ash encouraged different types to practice together as well, and team battles became popular.

Real fights did break out occasionally, as will happen when so many intensely different species are so close together, but his team was more than equipped to handle them. And friendships were forming too. Squirtle seemed to have a trail of rattatas following him wherever he went, and Cyndaquil spent most of her free time playing with the other youngsters in the group. Pidgeot had acquired another flock, this time composed of much more than just pidgeys, or even just birds. To no one's surprise, Meowth and Sienne got on like wildfire, but to everyone's surprise, so did Meowth and Bulbasaur. The three of them were often together, and Ash made a point to find them whenever he visited. Meowth was getting better, he thought, more reasonable and less poisonously bitter, and seeing the cat's progress helped shore up Ash's weakened faith in the world.

In this way days passed, and weeks, and then a month, and the world inched closer to a new beginning.

Quick note here about my Elite Four + Lance. The show seems a little vague on who's in the Elite Four, so mine are a mash-up of my favourites from Yellow and Gold/Silver. They likely bear little to no resemblance to their anime counterparts, if those even exist, but I had a lot of fun coming up with personalities for them. Ditto for Lance; mine is likely more like Lancelot from Arthurian mythology than the dragon tamer on the show. Sorry if that bothers you, but it really worked for writing them.