"I know where your father is." the man in the black cloak said to me.
Time seemed to stop for an instant. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! He knew where my dad was? But that's impossible! How could he know?
"This could be a trap. How could you know something that everyone else has been spending eight months trying to figure out?" I asked cautiously. "We need more information before we can trust you."
"You can start by telling us where Ash has been all this time." said Jason.
"He's been captured by Team Rocket. But I can't say any more. Not here." said the man. "I know that you don't trust me, so I won't force you to come. But if you want to know the truth about your father, about Team Rocket, and what they're planning, then follow me."
Team Rocket had captured my dad? Then our hunch was right after all! I knew that his disappearance and Team Rocket's reappearance weren't a coincidence.
"What should we do?" Michelle asked.
"I don't like this guy, but if he has any information about my dad, I'm going to follow him and find out." I said. "We've been searching for him and have had very few leads. Now, an opportunity comes and finds us."
"This seems a little too convenient, but what have we got to lose? Let's go with him and hear what he has to say." said Jason.
"Alright, we'll come with you. But don't try anything funny." I said.
"What if I was to tell you more about Team Rocket and their plans first? Would you trust me then?" he asked. "After all, this information could prepare you for what's going to happen very soon."
"'Very soon?' How soon?" asked Michelle.
"As in, only a couple of hours. Team Rocket's plans are almost complete. That's why I came to find you before it's too late."
"Okay, take us to my dad and tell us about Team Rocket as we walk." I said to him.
"Their base is hidden in the forest west of Viridian City. Let's go." he said and started walking. We followed him from a distance, just to be safe.
"Let me start at the beginning. When Ash Ketchum and the Elite Four found and destroyed Team Rocket's main base so many years ago, their leader, Giovanni, escaped along with a few other grunts, while the ones who weren't captured scattered across Kanto. It took a long time, but he was eventually able to resurrect Team Rocket.
"But Giovanni wanted to make sure that Team Rocket would never be defeated again like it had been in the past. So he hired a Pokemon Hunter to assist him in capturing enough Pokemon to build an unstoppable army. In return, he promised the Hunter that he would rule Kanto alongside him, and eventually, the whole world...but then, Giovanni found out about the Temple of Legends."
"The Temple of Legends?!" I exclaimed.
"You know about it?" the man asked.
"I heard some guards on Mya's ship talking about it. I didn't hear what exactly it is, though." I replied.
"Thousands of years ago, people and Pokemon lived together in peace throughout the world. The Legendary Pokemon had a special bond to a different human that they each chose for themselves. These people had the power of the Legendary Pokemon at their disposal, having the ability to use them in battle. The Legendary Pokemon knew that they would use their powers to protect the world. But these people could only summon their Legendary Pokemon at a special shrine called the Temple of Legends. These people used a special type of Aura to activate the temples.
"When Giovanni found out about the temple and what it could do, he realized that with the Legendary Pokemon under his control, the world would belong to Team Rocket in no time! So he immediately ordered his troops to begin searching for this ancient temple. But when the hired Pokemon Hunter learned that Giovanni wanted him to capture the Legendary Pokemon, he realized that all of that power could be his and was ripe for the taking!
"So the Pokemon Hunter turned against Giovanni and killed him, establishing himself as the new leader of Team Rocket. And even though it seemed impossible at the time, he made Team Rocket bigger, stronger, and more evil than ever before! Any members of Team Rocket that did not swear total allegiance to him as their new leader were killed. Those who were seen as weak or insignificant like Jessie, James, and Meowth were also killed."
"So Giovanni isn't behind Ash's kidnaping?" Jason asked.
"No, that was after the Pokemon Hunter became the leader of Team Rocket." the man answered. "And he picked up right where Giovanni had left off, trying to find the Temple of Legends to capture the Legendary Pokemon. To accelerate his plans and capture more Pokemon for his army, he brought in four new Pokemon Hunters to serve directly under him and act as his main soldiers: Oliver, Mya, Michael, and Darien."
"Okay, so that explains Team Rocket's plans, their history, what the Temple of Legends is, and why they want to find it. But how do you know all of this? Where do YOU fit into this story?" asked Michelle.
The man stopped walking all of a sudden and removed the hood covering his head, revealing his face. He was about the same age as my mom and had smooth, dark brown hair and a pair of eyes that seemed very familiar.
"Well, it's time that I show you who I am. My name is Antonio, son of Giovanni." he announced.
"You're...Giovanni's son? You're a member of Team Rocket!" I said angrily. Pikachu seemed ready to shock him.
"Keep walking and let me explain." he said, remaining calm, despite knowing that he could've been hurt by us by revealing who he was.
"After the collapse of Team Rocket all those years ago, I left my old life as my father's executive behind. I gave myself a new name and a new identity. But when I fell in love with a beautiful young woman and we married, I realized that for the first time in my life, everything felt right. I was truly happy and content with my new life. I forgot about my past and began enjoying life to the fullest. Eventually, my wife gave birth to a baby girl and our family was complete.
"But when our daughter was a year old, I received a letter from an unknown person who told me to meet him in a secret location. That person...turned out to be my father. He said that he had resurrected Team Rocket and wanted me to come and help him once again. But I refused, since I had found a new and better life for myself and didn't want to help my father's evil plans anymore. But then, he threatened to kill my wife and daughter if I didn't cooperate, so I had no choice but to leave them behind and come with him. Before I left, I told my family that I would be going away for a long time and would probably never see them again. I also said that I'd always love them.
"But it wasn't long after I went back with my father that the Pokemon Hunter killed him and took over Team Rocket. As his son, I was one of the people that he wanted dead, but I managed to escape. However, he knew about my family and killed my wife instead. I was too late to save her, but I found my daughter alive. I took my daughter to live with my wife's mother. That was many years ago and I haven't seen my daughter since then. I don't know where she is, what's happened to her, or if she's even alive. If she IS alive, I think that she might be around your age by now.
"After the death of my wife, I swore that Team Rocket would pay for everything that they had done! I went in undercover, trying to stop them for good but I couldn't do very much or else I would be caught. But I managed to slow their efforts to capture Pokemon and finding the Temple of Legends.
"But I can't stall them any longer. They've found the temple and will be controlling all of Kanto in a few hours unless someone stops them. That's why I came to find you. I can't stop them alone. Besides, I think you guys owe me for saving your lives all those times."
"If you really want Team Rocket gone and know where my dad is, then I'm with you." I said boldly. I believed his story about his past and I knew that he was on our side. If he was actually with Team Rocket and wanted us captured, he would've done it already.
"Me too." agreed Jason.
"And me." said Michelle.
"But there's still one more thing that you haven't told us. Why did Team Rocket capture my dad?" I asked Antonio.
"It all has to do with the Temple of Legends." he replied. "As I told you, thousands of years ago, the Legendary Pokemon had a special bond to a different human that they each chose for themselves. These people had the power of the Legendary Pokemon at their disposal, having the ability to use them in battle. But these people could only summon their Legendary Pokemon at the Temple of Legends using a special type of Aura to activate the temple.
"But that was thousands of years ago and the people with those abilities are dead. But the new leader of Team Rocket found out something else. Once every one hundred years, a human with special Aura powers is born with the ability to summon all of the Legendary Pokemon. This person has many names, spoken by many different Legendary Pokemon, but his most common name is known as...the Chosen One."
Suddenly, everything became clear to me. "My dad mentioned to me that he was once called the 'Chosen One.' So they captured my dad because they knew that he was the only one who was able to activate the temple for them!"
"That's right. And they've been trying to capture you three as well because they know that Ash will never give in to them so they were going to use you three as prisoners to make sure that he cooperates. But you've managed to beat them and escape every single time."
After a while, we came out of the forest to see a huge base built on top of a large mountain. It had a huge "R" on the front and was colored black and silver.
"Wow...it's huge." we said in amazement.
"The base also has rooms and tunnels and hallways going down inside the mountain." said Antonio. "But there's a secret door on the side of the cliff."
He pushed a rock on the side of the mountain and a sliding door opened.
"Okay, I have a plan." he said, pulling out three maps. "This is a map of the whole facility. One for each of you."
He began pointing out things as he talked. "This is where the holding cells are. If they haven't moved your dad yet, he'll still be held in there."
"I'll go there. If anyone's going to save my dad, it's me." I said confidently.
"Undoubtedly, they've removed the Pokeballs that he was carrying when they captured him, along with anything that he had." Antonio continued. "They should be here in the Pokeball storage room somewhere. It's where all of the spare Pokemon for their army are kept."
"I'll head there." said Jason.
"Lastly, in case Ash has been moved from his holding cell, they've probably taken him here to the hanger bay where all of their ships and helicopters are, so that they can transport him to the Temple of Legends. One of you needs to go there to keep an eye on what Team Rocket's doing. They could be ready to leave at any time." he concluded.
"Looks like that's my job." said Michelle. "What about you?"
"Ever since I've gone undercover, I've been developing a bomb in one of Team Rocket's special labs. What they don't know is that I'm planning to use it to destroy them all! Once we're inside, I'll go and get it set up. It should be big enough to blow through the entire diameter of the mountain, making the rock unstable. The mountain will crumble, causing massive rock slides and the base will rip apart and collapse with it." Antonio answered.
"Here, take these to keep in touch." he said, handing us black receivers that attached to our ear. We put them on and turned them on.
Antonio took off his cloak and threw it to the ground, revealing a Team Rocket outfit underneath. "Nobody will recognize me in my disguise. You three will have to be careful sneaking around. Most of Team Rocket will probably be loading their ships but there will still be a few in the halls, staying behind to guard the base when the others leave."
"We each have a Ghost Pokemon that knows Hypnosis." said Jason. "If we bump into any guards that we can't get past, we'll put them to sleep."
"Good thinking. Well, you all know what to do. The fate of Kanto rests in our hands. Good luck." Antonio said as we entered the base.
Dad, I know that you're in there. Hang on, I'm coming to save you.
Author's Note: You thought that this would be the big showdown with Team Rocket? This is only the first part of the showdown!
A lot was revealed in this chapter! Adam and the others now know the truth about Team Rocket and their plans, as well as realizing why Team Rocket captured Ash and the secret of the Temple of Legends!
The kids and their unlikely ally, Antonio, are now heading right into Team Rocket's base to rescue Ash! But what awaits them inside?
Find out in the next suspenseful chapter of Pokemon NG!