A/N: chaosspeer, I just wanted to point out where I got the idea from, though honestly that book series is so esoteric that no one has even written a Pokemon crossover with it. That said, this also does sort of borrow from Pokemon Conquest as well in a way, though with a lot more violence and gore. If anyone has read the books they've probably noticed the similarities already and if so- well, do know that quite a bit has been changed though.
Ash squinted at the funny lines drawn before him. They had managed to salvage a map showing Thomdolt's domain in detail, though it was a very old one and Mr. Jennings was explaining what had changed over the years.
"See, this place used to be a meadow," Mr. Jennings said. "But it was turned into an Industrial Complex fifty years ago before Thomdolt came to power under Lady Falmouth. Aside from that there aren't many things to note."
"Pika pika," Pikachu said.
"He's right," Ash said. "The more important thing is how we're going to get there."
Mr. Jennings raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on Ash's apparent ability to understand what his Pokemon were saying. He had heard stories of people with such ability of course, and Trainers could usually get a gist of what their Pokemon meant, though as far as he could tell Ash mainly seemed to just be able to guess well rather than literally understand his Pikachu word for word.
"The river would be an easy way to access it, but that opens up below into Wade's domain, and above into Linnea's. We'd have to enter the ocean to go through Wade's domain, but as far as our sources tell us the river has been blockaded as Wade is being cut off from supplies much as we are," Mr. Jennings said.
"The Gym Leaders are suspecting Wade of helping me, right?" Ash said. "Or they think that he was the one who brought me here?"
"Yes, but try as we might we cannot seem to contact him," Mr. Jennings said.
"He hasn't replied to any phone calls either," Ash said.
"That might be on purpose," Mr. Jennings said. "The telephone lines servers all lie in Selena's domain, so she can easily intercept them. As I take it, Wade seems to be saying that he didn't do any of the things he's being accused of, so if he does want to help us, he won't be calling us."
"With the blockade though that's just not of much use anyway," Ash said. "We could always just fly."
"Not if there is an air barrier," Mr. Jennings said. "It is very difficult, Sir Ash, but possible, for a Gym Leader to completely barricade themselves inside their domains. An overland route through Route 205 would be the best option, but to do that we would have to cross the strip of ocean in-between the two, and then the rest of Route 204 which falls under-"
"Pika pika," Pikachu said, interrupting them, pointing to a specific area of the map.
"What is that?" Ash asked.
Mr. Jennings frowned and said, "This map is very old, Sir Ash, and some things seem to have faded and there quite a number of stains, though if memory serves correctly…." he trailed off and then said, "I think that it is the Gliscor's Nest. It was the home of the ancient Assassins and though as far as I remember it still stands, it is nothing much more than a ruin. Alexios III ravaged it over a hundred years after his dynasty had established themselves, and slew everyone he found. After that, he was apparently given various gifts from the other Gym Leaders as thanks- don't look so surprised, while there was always infighting amongst the Gym Leaders, they hated someone who could kill and poison them without them knowing even more than they hated each other."
"Wouldn't he have rebuilt it?" Ash asked. "Thomdolt, I mean?"
"I don't know whether he really puts that much stock into his heritage," Mr. Jennings said. "The other Gym Leaders always thought he was training a new order of Assassins, though I do not believe that they would be of any use with the Accord's restrictions, and there has been no evidence showing that he was."
"Pika pii pii," Pikachu said, exasperated, and pointed to something near the Gliscor's Nest.
Ash frowned and took a closer look at the map "There's some sort of line coming from their, but it's a dotted line and comes all the way towards Route 204."
Mr. Jennings frowned. "It is very faint though. What could it mean…" he frowned, and after a while said, "Curse Selena for deleting our records! It takes forever to shift through pages for information. I remember reading something regarding history. There was a time when the Assassins had been attacked before Alexios III, but had managed to escape through some sort of 'rat hole' as they called it before regrouping. Could there perhaps be a tunnel leading out of the Gliscor's Nest?"
Ash smiled. "If there is, then that would be the perfect way to get there."
Pikachu wore a triumphant smile.
"But Sir Ash," Mr. Jennings said, "even if this did exist, it doesn't mean that it still exists. And if we can find out about it, there's no reason that Thomdolt wouldn't if he was part of their order. This could very well be blocked."
"But if it was, I could move it using the Badge," Ash said.
"True, but the problem remains that the Gym Badges are dominant only within their own domains and lose considerable power when taken outside," Mr. Jennings said.
"But, if there was an air barrier I could deflect it somehow, right?" Ash asked.
"Yes, but I don't know how powerful your Fearow is and if that would be enough, you see, you have but a single Badge right now and that might not be powerful to make a large enough hole for your Fearow to escape," Mr. Jennings said. He then stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Though it does occur to me that if part of the tunnel lies in your territory, there isn't anything that Thomdolt could have done to block it, and Marley certainly didn't. It could be unsafe though."
"It seems like our best shot," Ash said. "By the way, did you get any more information regarding Thomdolt's Pokemon?"
"No, sir, a good chunk of our data is gone, and anyway we had very few records on Thomdolt's Pokemon anyway, because as far as we can tell, he has never once battled anyone," Mr. Jennings said.
Ash did however, think based on what Thomdolt had done that he would have at least one Poison type Pokemon. To counter this he had tried looking for a Steel or Psychic type, but there were none in his domain, so he instead went with a Poison type so at least it couldn't be poisoned, a Skorupi. He had also been training every day, unlike Marley, in anticipation for the battle.
"In that case, would he be really weak?" Ash asked.
"I suppose we can hope," Mr. Jennings said, though deep down he didn't believe it. Thomdolt wasn't as lazy as Marley, and he must have anticipated fighting someone sooner or later.
"I think the tunnel should be our best shot then," Ash said.
"Hmm," Mr. Jennings said. "I would like for you to take some Pokemon familiar with tunnels, Sir Ash, in case something goes wrong. A secret tunnel… it is like something outside of a fairy tale. And a tad bit too convenient. In the meantime, we should continue trying to rebuild and collecting further information."
"And I need to get back to training then," Ash said.
Training usually consisted of fighting a series of Pokemon trained for that purpose within the main Gym. They weren't particularly powerful, and Ash could see how it could quickly become monotonous- which was probably why Marley had stopped trying- but he knew that it was necessary if he was going to take on Thomdolt, or any of the other Gym Leaders for that matter.
Today though, he cut his training session short so he could meet up with Gulliver. With all the things going around, Ash hadn't talked to him in the last couple of weeks because there had just been no time with all the things that needed his attention, but he had wanted to take some time out to see who was perhaps his only friend in Galea.
Gulliver was standing outside, and wearing a strange red robe decorated with dragons. "Hey there!" he said, before his face fell and he started mumbling something else that went something along the lines of "Sir Ash…" before Ash interrupted him.
"Hey, there's no need for that," Ash said. "Sorry I couldn't meet with you earlier- I mean, I didn't even know someone could be so busy."
"No need to be sorry or nothin'," Gulliver said. "I mean, it's actually been a real hoot since ya won! I've been going around, and I can do pretty much whatever I want now- 'cuz they think that I'm your right-hand man or something."
"So what have you been up to?"
"Oh, first thing I did was go back to my other pals and tell them all about what happened," Gulliver said. "Then I thought that I'd take a few walks around the city and relax a little, and it was great! I mean, people handed over their best food, and rooms, and all for free!"
"Pika pi?" Pikachu asked, confused.
Ash's face fell. "Wait- what do you meant that you got it all for free?"
"Oh, you know, how all the best officer of the Gym Leaders can waltz in and take whatever they want? I mean, we used to hate it but the tables have turned and all."
Ash looked horrified. "But- you can't just go around doing that! That's stealing!"
Gulliver looked confused. "But- technically speaking you own everything. I mean, you're the government, right?"
"But- you can't just steal stuff," Ash said and he regained some of his composure. "Okay, I don't want you doing any more of that, and please try to get the bills from whatever you took. I guess the treasury is going to be paying for them."
"Alrighty," Gulliver said, rubbing his neck with his hand.
Ash however, knew that their treasury was severely depleted, or at least, Mr. Jennings had told him that, as Ash had nearly collapsed when he had seen what the realm's accounts looked like. He would just have to manage somehow though, especially since the other parts of Galea were boycotting their goods.
"But I wasn't just foolin' around, ya know," Gulliver said. "I got a bunch of my pals, and they seemed really riled up to join ya, so we took a few Pokeballs, caught some Pokemon, and we've been training just like you did back then."
Just then, eight similarly dressed people walked in behind Gulliver. There seemed to be at least a few years difference between their ages, and all of them looked nervous.
Ash shook each of their hands, and they all bowed, and Ash tried his hardest to memorize their names correctly.
"We've all be trainin', and I heard that you were going to give Thomdolt a what-for," Gulliver said. "So we want to join ya, of course!"
"That's going to be really dangerous guys," Ash said. He appreciated the help, but he knew that the people here, or at least the Gym Leaders, were far crueler than even the bad guys at home, and he didn't want to lose anyone to them. "And oh yeah, Marley's men didn't do anything really bad to your friends, did they?"
"Huh? Nah, they had them locked up for a while but they weren't hurt badly or nothin' like that. And yeah it's a risk, but once you challenge Thomdolt, he won't be able to do anything to us," Gulliver said.
"Pika pii piii pi," Pikachus said, and mimed drinking something and falling over.
"He might not even try to fight," Ash said. "And he's a big user of poison. I can't challenge him until I'm face-to-face with him."
"Eh, it's alright," Gulliver said. "After all, what're friends for?"
A/N: Thanks for reading, as always. On a side note now, sadly my workload is going to just increase from now on so there will be no more weekly updates and this story will update whenever I get the time to write another chapter for the next couple of months.
If you liked, do please review!
