A/N: Thanks for the review, Julie Togepi!
Ash's first point of business was to finally do something about carrying far too many Badges. Walking around with five of them was like walking around suffering with a hundred degree fever all the time. He knew he had to give one away, and after some considerable thought he decided that it would be best to give Wade the Torrential Badge back.
It wasn't a decision that Ash had come to lightly, and it shocked quite a lot of people that he was placing power back into the hands of one of the Gym Leaders. Perhaps the person who as the most shocked was Wade himself.
Wade had been a in a cell- nothing too uncomfortable when Ash told him about his decision.
"Are you joking?" the man asked. His eyebrows were so raised they were practically in danger of falling off his face.
"No," Ash said. "Look- I know you went ahead and did some bad things towards the end- and I'm still pretty mad about it…. But the thing is that ever since I've gone and taken control, I've had people who worked for you protest. Mr. Jennings, Duke Hamnet say that- and well, even I can tell that you've managed this place fairly. I have actual normal people starting rebellions because you've been overthrown- something I've never seen before with the others and that's when they know a rebellion is pointless now that I have the Torrential Badge. I could give it to someone else, but then I thought that no one was experienced enough. Gulliver certainly isn't, and Mr. Jennings may be but I can't be sure how anyone will become when they're given power. Except you. You've had the chance to do anything you wanted for the last thirty-three years but you didn't. I know you went ahead and kidnapped Brock and Misty… but I also sort of see where you were coming from, and they weren't hurt in the end." Deep down, Ash wanted to forgive Wade because it would make it so much easier to forgive himself for what had happened to Hawthorne City… because Ash believed that Wade truly had meant his friends no harm as Ash had meant no harm to Hawthorne city.
"And you would trust me after all of this?" Wade asked. "How would you be sure that I wouldn't turn against you?"
"I'll have you sign a standard stewardship contract," Ash says. "You know, I have one here that Mr. Jennings and Duke Hamnet drew up. It says that you'll get the Badge but I still have real ownership and can ask for it back anytime I want, you have to do what I say, you know, the usual they tell me when you appoint someone as trustee."
Wade read the contract and it was then that he realized that Ash wasn't playing some sort of weird practical joke on him- he was deadly serious! Wade took a moment to look at Ash.
"I must say, Lord Ash Ketchum, that this has been twice that I've misjudged you," Wade said.
"What?" Ash asked.
"At first, when I sought to challenge you, I was sure that it was your Greninja that would be valuable to you- more so than your friends," Wade asked. "And I assumed that you valued your Greninja for it being rare like the other Gym Leaders do- I thought that you thought of your Pokemon as objects to be coveted. But I saw true love and determination for them when I fought you," Wade said. He bowed his head. "It was a truly… moving experience, if I should say so."
"Oh," Ash said. "Well yeah, it's true, I do care about them a lot…" As Ash thought about it, he realized that there was hardly any depth that he wouldn't go to for his Pokemon.
"You need not say that for your actions spoke that clearly and loudly enough," Wade said. "And that was not all. I also saw the trust you placed in your friends- like Gulliver, and how much you care about Brock and Misty. While I was sitting here in my cell, I thought to myself, 'Here is a boy who truly cares about his friends. Looking at him, one can tell that though he'd forgive someone who had done damage to him- he'd never forgive one who had tried to do something against his friends.' I had kidnapped those close to you, and so I never expected you to be do something like give me my power back. But here I see you, and even though I have done harm to your friends… you would still be kind to me? And not even that, I don't know how, but I can tell that while you do still care about them you somehow have managed to rise above a single incident like that to give me a second chance." Wade then got up and bowed. "I'm surprised to see such maturity from someone so young."
Ash hadn't been expecting that kind of reaction. "So? Will you take the position? Do you accept the contact?"
"I was going to refuse," Wade said. "Regardless of the fact that it would meant that I would rot in a cell forever. I would have never agreed to help one who worked for Galea's destruction…"
"Can't you talk about it?" Ash asked, though he knew the answer.
Wade shook his head. "Our Badges bind us to our oaths even if we lose them. Like I said, I wouldn't have done so before… but being here has given me time to think… and I have reached a conclusion that I probably should have reached long ago. Allow me to tell you a sort of story, Sir Ash. Long ago, when we first forged the Accord I dreamed of finally bringing peace to Galea. No longer would the people suffer cyclical changes in the Gym Leaders- it was something that the Elite Four had for some reason not done. I thought that my other colleagues shared the same goal even if there methods were a bit cruel, and in the end, I reasoned, it was necessary to keep the Barrier from falling and leading to the destruction of Galea."
"But, it has occurred to me that I have been wrong on one account," Wade said. "I assumed that you wanted to tear down the Barrier, and that Selena wished to save it. I intended to remain loyal to her… until my mind caught up on a tiny detail. I believe that you were given a Pokemon in your battle with Freyja? And that it was sent through Selena's own system?"
"Yeah," Ash said.
Wade nodded. "The problem that comes is that there is no one in all of Galea that I know who is capable of hacking into Selena's computer system. And then it occurred to me- you must be wondering who it was that sent you your Roserade- that the only one capable of hacking into Selena's computer system and doing something like giving you a Pokemon instead of a normal Quick Ball… is Lady Selena herself. Selena was the one who gave you that Roserade and helped you beat Freyja. It couldn't have happened without her blessing, I am guessing that the Roserade is a Pokemon that she trained herself. It is quite powerful- and who else but a Gym Leader could train a Pokemon like that in these times?"
"What?" Ash asked. "B-but that doesn't make any sense!"
"I thought so too at first," Wade said. "But then I remembered just what a cunning Delfox Selena is. Think about something else, Lord Ash Ketchum, it was not I who brought you to Galea, and it wasn't one of the Gym Leaders whom you've faced already. That leaves only three Gym Leaders… and remember, a Gym Leader is the only one capable of doing so. And one whose domain borders near the ocean so that rules out Vanessa."
"That means…. It was the Eighth Gym Leader?" Ash asked.
Wade shook his head again. "No, Ash, what I'm trying to tell you is that the only logical thing to assume is that it was Selena herself who brought you into Galea. Her domain also controls a part of the sea, and she has studied the Barrier long enough to be able to bring someone from outside into Galea."
"But why?" Ash asked. "She's been trying to attack me every time-"
"Exactly," Wade said. "And therein lies the cunning in her plan. With her left hand, Selena helps the other Gym Leaders in trying to fight you and with her right hand, she secretly ensures that you prevail against any of them. She's been manipulating you."
"Again, but why though?" Ash asked.
"For that, I think we need to think a bit more," Wade said. "And before that, we need some info about Mr. Alan Lazar. He was Selena's left-hand man before he defected, and he told me two crucial things- that Selena intended to wage war against His Majesty, and that there was a loophole added to the Accord later to allow her to do so."
"Really?" Ash asked. He suddenly realized something. "Selena… I remember that she ordered some siege weapons from Thomdolt and I thought that she intended to use them against me… but what if they were for him instead?"
"I have been thinking about what the loophole would be," Wade said. "And I've come to but a single conclusion regarding the matter. It must only activate in a specific circumstance otherwise Selena would have launched an attack long ago. She's clearly waiting for something… and I believe that it involves you, Sir Ash."
"Me?" Ash asked.
"Yes, otherwise why would she go through all this trouble to try and get you here to Galea?" Wade asked, slamming the table in his impatience. "Think about it- the real loophole in the Accord, even if Selena had not added one herself, was someone like you! Someone from outside would be able to threaten His Majesty and Selena immensely, and they probably would've wanted a clause against that. So, Selena must have convinced His Majesty to let it in as a loophole against a loophole- I cannot know for sure what the clause it, but it is a good bet to say that it probably says that if enough of the Gym Badges change hands or become under one person… then some parts of the Accord are null and void. And that is why Selena has been secretly egging you on to challenge the other Gym Leaders…. she tried to starve you out even though if you think about it such a decision doesn't make any sense at all- trying to starve you out would've just turned you against the other Gym Leaders when you might have been comfortable just staying where you were- she couldn't have known how badly you wanted to go back home. But she made it happen anyway forcing you to go against the other Gym Leaders even if you hadn't wanted to go back and decided so somewhere along the way. She basically ensured that you would go around and challenge enough of the Gym Leaders for some reason… some reason and I believe that is because she needs you to collect enough Badge for the clause to take effect so that she can strike at His Majesty. And like the two-faced Mawile she is, she has done so without arising suspicion at all that she is involved somehow."
"Then… what do I do?" Ash asked.
"First of all, get rid of the Pokedex device I hear you carry," Wade said. "She no doubt has it recording everything you say and transmitting it to her. It would have been incredibly easy for her to have tracked your every move… she would know almost everything about you if you have been carrying it around with you."
A shiver went down Ash's spine. If what Wade said was correct…. well, he had carried his Pokedex around with him all the time. "But… I don't know how to destroy it. I mean, this is a new model they made to be nearly indestructible. I mean, after all stuff I've been through, I've never gotten a scratch on one of the old ones. And I don't want to break it."
"Then you must prevent it from transmitting," Wade said. "You can do so easily by placing it in a…. I'm sorry, I'm forgetting the word for it- ah, yes, a Faraday Cage! Wrap your Pokedex around some soft cloth, and then wrap a layer of aluminum foil around it and another layer of cloth again. That or you can of course ask for a Faraday Cage to put it in until you are sure that Selena will not spy on you. And leaving that aside, as to the reason why I have decided to forego my allies and join you is that this means that Selena herself was the one who is causing these disturbances in the Barrier. She never wanted a realm of peace and must have been planning this since the very beginning. And, thanks to her selfishness, the Barrier will come down. And His Majesty is no better for having done close to nothing."
"I'm sorry- but what happens exactly when the Barrier comes down?" Ash asked. "You keep saying that everyone'll die… but how?"
"I cannot say," Wade said. "And since Selena seems to have ignored the risk of such simply so she can try and rule all of Galea for herself, I see no reason to continue supporting her." Wade signed the contract, and repeated the words at the end.
"I, Wade, do hereby accept stewardship of the Torrential Badge from Sir Ash, its rightful owner and my new liege lord. May I perform my duty as ordered by him, and let me never forget that the Badge is not mine."
The Torrential Badge left Ash's chest as Ash signed the contract as well and floated over to Wade who caught it in his fist.
Ash suddenly felt so much room suddenly didn't appear to be so oppressively dark or so cold. More important than that though, Ash for the first time felt like he could eventually let go of what had happened earlier when Samantha (that had been her name, as he had found out) had tried to kill her. Oh, he'd never forget her face- and it would haunt his dreams for practically forever, but it now seemed like something he could move on from.
"Thank you Sir Ash," Wade said. "And I have to say that I am personally quite surprised at how friendly you seem to be with your staff. Now, I've always been one for treating them nicely… but I've gotten into the habit of thinking of them as mere underlings for quite some time."
Ash shrugged. "I just guess that's how I am."
As Ash left, Wade muttered to himself, "I wonder… could he possible be the one? The one whom the Elite Four were looking for?"
Wade sighed, shook his head and realized that he hadn't told Ash one thing: that if he was correct, the only way for them to foil Selena's plan was for Ash to stop collecting Gym Badges and stop trying to leave Galea.
But he chuckled as he also realized that doing so would be useless.
A/N: Thanks for reading and do please review! Originally I hadn't planned for Wade to get his Gym Badge back... but on thought with the way the story was moving it seemed like a logical choice.
