A/N: Thanks for the review Julie Togepi! I didn't want to put Brock or Misty for reasons, mainly because neither of them are any better than Ash is at running things.
The more Ash thought about what Wade had said, the more it occurred to him that Wade was probably right. He had told Wade's theory to everyone he trusted and most of them agreed that it did make sense.
Ash's Pokedex, therefore, was placed in a container that blocked any electromagnetic waves from leaving it. Ash hadn't wanted to leave his Pokedex- though he hadn't realized it, it was almost as important to him as his Pokemon. He had had one as long as he could remember and he found himself often reaching for it only to realize with a jolt that it wasn't there anymore.
The thing was that if Selena really did have access to it- well, his Pokedex had a large record of his information. She would probably know a lot about Ash- and even more since it had a camera and microphone.
After Ash gave the Torrential Badge to Wade, he felt better and then he realized something: since he now had Wade's Badge with him (well, technically not with him, but you get the idea), there was no need at all to try and get through Vanessa's domain.
Wade controlled most of the ocean, but Selena controlled a part that encircled the eighth Gym Leader's domain. This meant that Ash could go through Wade's domain and enter Selena's domain directly, or for that matter, go straight for His Majesty.
And so, he found himself taking his Greninja with him to surf near the border of Selena's domain. He didn't intend to go inside by himself just yet, rather, he just wanted to see if it was possible, because he had reports that there had recently been some strange sightings near the border.
Ash saw it half a mile before he reached it. Oddly enough, at the border, the water itself seemed to change color from dark blue to slightly greenish… but Ash gave up trying to explain it and guessed it was one of those weird ways that nature itself in Galea seemed to mark borders between the domains.
Surrounding it was a large barrier, but Ash had come prepared for that. He grasped his four Badges and prepared to blast a hole in the Barrier like he had back when he had gone to lay siege to Aroughs.
As he drew on their powers this time, Ash suddenly felt something different. He had made no progress in breaking this small barrier, so he drew on their power even more.
Nothing happened.
Ash frowned and tried drawing on every iota of Power the Badges had, and this made his head hurt slightly but he frowned and tried focusing anyway.
The smallest of holes- hardly big enough for an apple- appeared in the wall separating him from Selena's realm- and the Eighth Gym Leader's one beyond it which was his final target.
He sighed and let go of their power as he couldn't make something large enough to get through and now it had started seriously hurting his head and he began sweating. He had just recovered from whatever had happened with the Torrential Badge- he didn't need a relapse at this time.
Ash scratched his head- this was very weird. It had worked so easily before…
His Greninja seemed to be able to tell that something was wrong and made a few small noises.
"It's alright," Ash said. "Let's go back."
"And then I couldn't get through- I don't think anything bigger than a Rattata could," Ash finished telling the small gathering that had assembled at his office in Linnea's territory.
Gulliver, Brock, Misty, and Duke Hamnet were all physically present. Wade, Celera, and Mr. Jennings were joining in using the help of telephones.
"Sir Ash, I've never heard of anything like that," Mr. Jennings said. "I can't see why Selena would be able to keep you out when Linnea could not."
"I've never heard of something like that either," Celera said. "As long as Selena has the power of only her Badge she shouldn't be able to create something strong enough to keep someone like you out."
Everyone looked confused… except for Wade who had a dark expression on his face.
"You know something, Wade?" Ash asked. It didn't matter how high up Ash was or what Wade was now- Ash hadn't changed how he talked to or addressed anyone.
"I… cannot explain fully," Wade said. "But I believe that Selena has made this new barrier in the same way the great and original Barrier that surrounds Galea was made… it will be difficult to break through."
"How though?" Celera asked. "She only has one Badge… And wasn't the big Barrier made using the powers of all eight Badges?"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot say," Wade said. "I had agreed to keep parts of Lady Selena's identity a secret… but you should know Sir Ash that she is more powerful than any normal Gym Leader…"
"What do we do then?" Ash asked.
"The only thing that remains open- defeat and usurp Lady Vanessa," Wade said. "That would be my advice."
"Yeah, but if Selena can hide forever that won't make much of a difference," Ash said. "I can't handle having more Badges. If we need more power to get through, I won't be able to do it alone."
"True," Wade said. "But, I would warn you, even if Selena wasn't keeping you out to try and not challenge Selena. Lord Ash, she is a formidable Trainer…no, that is an understatement. I do not think that there is anyone in Galea who can match her skill. You would lose if you were to go against her. It would be no contest at all. Defeating Vanessa would mean that you could train in the harsh climate of her domain to prepare yourself for Selena. Also, I believe that if you defeat Vanessa, it would trigger some loophole in the treaty that Selena intends to exploit. She would move out into the open then, and you would be able to challenger her- though again, I would advise against that. Do not battle Lady Selena, Sir Ash- instead attempt to bypass her and go directly for His Majesty."
Ash frowned. "She's really strong?" he asked.
Wade said, "You have no idea. Truly, I wish I could tell you… I believe you would probably never reach her level no matter how long you tried. "
"Well, I guess I'll take your word for it then," Ash said. There was always the remote possibility that Wade was lying, but Ash didn't think that Wade was hiding something. The others did look at him suspiciously though. "I know you can't tell me who His Majesty is, but is he a good battler too?"
Wade said, "I haven't seen him in the last thirty-two years, but at the time, he was no where near Selena's level. He was a lucky opportunist that managed to become a Gym Leader due to chance, much like Freyja."
"On that note, I also have some news regarding Selena," Celera said. "We found Alan Lazar's body in a lake around fifty miles from here. The obvious candidate is Selena, though we couldn't find any evidence."
"He didn't know much for that matter," Wade said. "She probably didn't do it to silence him, but rather because he'd been a traitor. I'd have done the same if I were in her position."
Misty and Brock glanced at Wade nervously. No one else, Ash included, was very comfortable with what Wade has just said.
Wade sighed. "I do not have to like doing it, but it would be necessary. Treason is a crime that can and should be meted out with death."
"Okay then, the plan is that we go for Vanessa," Ash said. "But for that I'm going to need to figure out this Pokemon Contest stuff once and for all…"
With everything falling into place and no where to go but Vanessa's territory, Ash found himself putting off the date for his battle with her further and further off as time went on.
His immediate desire to go back to Kanto was washed away as with Brock and Misty with him, he no longer felt as if there was a huge void in his heart. Of course the urge to go back home was still there- it was always there- it was just easier for Ash to decide to spend another day with his two friends whom he hadn't seen in a very long time rather than train for Pokemon Contest of all things.
And anyway, as long as he had the two of them, it felt more like they were on some old adventure back in Kanto or Johto.
As such, two months passed without him making any real (zero) progress. Eventually Mr. Jennings managed to pester him enough to start doing something about things and so, Ash decided that, rather than going through the entire manual by himself he'd go with his earlier idea to make other people make a play out of things.
And so, a play was held in one of Linnea's finest gardens with a stage and everything. Misty and Brock decided to participate rather than watch.
Ash was the only one sitting in the audience- his Pokemon were jumping around and the servants and aides were standing. The play was going to be supplemented with basic props.
"So, let's talk about Pokemon Contests," Misty said, introducing the small skit. "While there are many forms of Pokemon Contests in Galea, the official one that will be used in a Gym Battle is this: There are five categories, namely, Cool, Smart, Cute, Beauty, and Tough. Each of them counts as a round, so to speak. Whoever wins three out of five is said to have won, and will get the Ribbon Badge."
Ash flicked a piece of popcorn into his mouth.
Then Brock took over. "Each of the rounds consists of two segments. The first one is an Appeal Round, in which Trainers pick one Pokemon and have a minute to put on a display, which is judged by a committee consisting of ten judges. Both you and Vanessa get to pick five people to be judges, and they all have to agree upon the Badges to be impartial no matter who they're from. This is worth one hundred points, ten by each judge. From the ten contestants, the four with the highest scores are chosen. Then we move on to round two, which is a battle round with each fight lasting three minutes. Each Trainer gets one hundred points each, which they'll lose as their Pokemon take hits. Again, moves that are based on the category will take away larger points from your opponent, and you'll lose points if you use a move that doesn't fall into the category. If your Pokemon is knocked out, you lose all the hundred points. If they both stand at the end of three minutes, the one with the highest total points from both rounds is the winner. This continues tournament style until a victor is chosen."
Ash had moved on to corn dogs now.
"An' that's not all," Gulliver said. "Each round involves ten people- since Vanessa's Gym Leader she gets to pick six from her side while we only get four. In the first round, if all four of the top scorers are from the same side, that side wins by default. Ya don't even have to participate yourself! Also, she gets another advantage- if two scorers finish in Round Two and they tie- it counts as a victory for whoever's on Vanessa's side instead of a tie."
Ash was licking an ice cream cone. It was apparently time for dessert.
"Ash! Did you hear anything about what we were saying?" Misty asked.
"Sure did," Ash said. "Way clearer now. So I guess it's all pretty much in the bag since it'll eventually come down to battling."
"Not really," Brock said. "In order to even get to Round Two, we need a good score for someone from our side to even get in the top four, or we lose instantly without even battling."
Misty nodded. "And Ash, do you even know which moves belong in their respective categories for that matter?"
Ash groaned.
"From our data, we're assuming that Vanessa's Pokemon Trainers are rather weak," Brock said. "With the strongest being Vanessa herself. But you should still take part in the contest, as your Pokemon are still the strongest and eventually it would come down to that only… but you'd still need to get a high score yourself, plus, you can only use the same Pokemon for both rounds."
Ash nodded. "Then who're the other four who I should take along? D'ya think Wade might be good?"
While Ash had been relaxing and enjoying life, the same couldn't be said of Team Rocket. By the time three weeks had passed after Ash had appointed Wade as his regent, Team Rocket was in dire straits.
With their last coconut gone, they had resorted to foraging around the island, looking for any kind of moss or mushroom that might be edible.
Jessie and James were rather good at this sort of thing, despite having been raised in cities, as they were used to running out of funds and having no food aside from what they could get from the wilderness. Still, they had no luck, and James had forgotten his manual on edible plants- and as he pointed out to Jessie, there was no reason for anyone to assume that he'd need it while breaking into the Lumiose City Gym.
They had all gotten severe stomachaches after eating some berries that they had found- and had assumed they were safe since Meowth thought they were safe. The theory was that Meowth would be right thanks to Pokemon instinct.
Sadly, Meowth seemed to have lost most of his Pokemon instincts once he started watching reality TV shows.
As such, Jessie and James had only managed to find some bark stripped from trees that took quite some time to get used to digesting and wasn't very filling. If there was a single thing that they could be thankful for, it was that there was enough clean water as it seemed to rain with an odd periodic regularity on the island and it wasn't hard getting vessels to collect them.
One day, as they were laying about trying to conserve their energy, James noticed something approaching from the horizon.
He got up, but didn't want to tell Jessie or Meowth in case he was wrong about it- and so went for his binoculars.
"What happened?" Jessie asked him.
"I'm sure I saw something…" James said. "There's a boat! There's a boat!" He nearly began crying.
"Let me see!" Jessie said and tore the binoculars away from James.
They all ran out to shore and saw the boat growing larger as is it came closer to them.
It was a ragged, old, wooden fishing boat with a single dirty and tattered sail. Rows materialized out of its sides and began moving rhythmically. It soon became apparent that the boat was heading towards the island.
Rather than remain on shore, Jessie and James both decided to hide in the surrounding brush. Nearly starving they may have been, but they were still criminals with no clue as to where they were. They didn't want to wander off only to be captured… better to see who these people were first.
The boat looked even more ragged up close- it was clearly not a luxury vessel or one used for commerce by a wealthy merchant. Jessie rubbed her nose, the smell was overpowering even from where they were hidden.
About half a dozen people got off the boat- they were all dressed in striped rags. Jessie thought that a few of them looked like women.
From their resting point, Jessie and James were able to garner one thing: these people were criminals. No doubt about it- because as they say, a Dittto can always recognize its own kind- and from the way these people walked Jessie and James knew that they were people who lived outside the bounds of the law.
They disappeared into the brush on the island, and once they were out of sight Jessie, James, and Meowth snuck over to the boat.
Jessie and James, begin criminals, knew it was the smart thing not to go and expose themselves, and also knew that if they intended to steal this ship, now was the best time- when there would be fewer people on board.
But, given their lack of Pokemon, it occurred to them that it might be better to hide- especially given how they had no clue how many people they were facing.
They sneaked over to below deck where there was cargo including food that they gorged themselves on before finding a nondescript corner to wait for some new developments.
A/N: Sorry for the error last time. 'Lady Ash Ketchum' well he did pretend to be Ashley that one time. Eh, sorry for the errors that occasionally creep in, I try to be correct and exacting, but stuff like this happens.
If you're wondering about what Wade said and if he's right or wrong, let me give you a hint- not all of what he's saying is right and not all of it is wrong either- but he thinks that everything he's telling is the truth. This applies to everything said by him in this chapter and the previous one.
Also, I've already given an explanation for how Selena could have put up a special barrier. It's buried in here somewhere.
Thanks for reading, and do please review!
