Normal POV
Police cars and trucks were speeding along a dirt road as helicopters flew above them. These vehicles were carrying Lance, the Elite Four, and nearly the entire Kanto police force! After learning the location of the Temple of Legends, Lance had suggested that due to the enormous size of Team Rocket's forces, Officer Jenny would need all the help that she could get.
"We're getting close. It shouldn't be long now." said Lance as he looked at his map.
"Look over there!" exclaimed Bruno. In the distance, they saw Team Rocket's ships flying off to the side, heading towards the same place that they were.
"It's Team Rocket! They're ahead of us and are going to reach the temple before we do!" shouted Karen.
"Officer Jenny, can we go any faster?" asked Lance
"I'm afraid we can't." she replied. "Most of our forces are traveling on the ground below us and can't go as fast as we can. The helicopters can get there faster, but if we don't wait for the others, we won't have enough people to battle and stop Team Rocket. They'd overpower us in no time! We attack together."
"Okay, we need to make a plan." said Koga.
"Well, by the time we get there, Team Rocket will undoubtedly be guarding the entrance to the temple and will be heavily armed with Pokemon. They'll be distracting us from the other members that are inside, activating the temple." said Lorelei.
"You're right. We need to find a way to get around them and get inside. We need to stop them from activating the temple at all costs." said Karen.
"The officers and I will hold Team Rocket off outside the temple. With their attention on us, Lance, you and the Elite Four will be able to sneak around them in the confusion and get inside." Officer Jenny suggested.
"Alright. But just to be safe, I want Lorelei and Koga to stay and help you battle. This may be too much for even the police to handle." said Lance. "Lorelei, Koga, take no chances. If the fighting gets too dangerous for you or the police, use all six of your Pokemon at once if you have to."
"We will, Lance. We'll try to flank them to surprise them." said Koga.
"Meanwhile, Bruno, Karen, and I will get inside the temple. Team Rocket's forces won't be as strong inside. Alright, you all know what to do. Let's do it!"
Team Rocket's ships landed in front of the entrance to the temple, which was a cave entrance with stairs inside, leading down underground. The boss grabbed Ash and forced him out of the helicopter. The grunts and Pokemon Hunters started exiting the three large ships.
"You two, come with me." the boss said, pointing to Oliver and Mya.
He then faced the hundreds of grunts and said, "Don't let anyone in. You are to stay out here and guard the entrance. I don't care what it takes, make sure that no one gets in at any cost.
"And Darien, you are to stay on your ship."
"Yes, father." Darien turned and walked back onto his ship. He had to stay to make sure that the kids didn't escape.
Ash was shoved to the entrance and down the stairs that went down through a dimly lit tunnel for quite a while. The tunnel lead to a giant shrine deep underground. Once inside, they saw that it was a large, round room with a high ceiling and pillars circling it. Ash glanced beside him to see Scyther and Electivire, the boss's Pokemon, making sure that Ash didn't try anything stupid.
"Well, Ash Ketchum, here we are." said the boss. "When we captured you eight months ago, it was so that we could bring you here. You have no choice but to cooperate with us. Put your hands on the tablet in front of you and use your Aura to activate this temple."
Ash looked at the large, blank tablet, which was in the middle of the room. "Never! I know what this temple does, thanks to the loudmouthed grunts you have. I heard them while I was being held captive. You'll never control the Legendary Pokemon! Not while I'm still living!"
"Electivire, use Thunder." The attack hit Ash and he clenched his teeth in pain. After a few moments, the attack stopped.
"Maybe you misunderstood me. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. Activate the temple!"
Ash laughed and said, "It'll take more than your little Thunder attack to make me do this. I've suffered far worse electrocution from my own Pikachu in my travels!"
Little did Ash know that Adam and his friends were captured and inside Darien's ship.
The boss smirked and spoke into his transmitter. "Darien, bring in the others."
The boss faced Ash and said, "I'm raising the stakes...and you're going to get a surprise. A very shocking surprise."
Hearing his father's orders, Darien left the room that he was in and walked to the room where the children were. As he opened the door, he was greeted with what he expected. They weren't happy to see him.
"What do you want?" Jason asked.
Ignoring the glares and the question, Darien walked over to Pikachu and Pichu. He slid the levers down and both Pokemon were freed from their domes.
"Pi?"
"Pika..."
"Why did you do that?" Adam asked.
Darien faced them and said, "I only captured you three to get the boss off of my back. I needed to make him think that I was still on his side. Your two Pokemon need to hide in one of your backpacks so that nobody will spot them."
Pikachu and Pichu obeyed and got into Adam's backpack.
Darien helped the three kids up from the floor and lead them out of the ship, past the grunts, and into the tunnel. They started walking down the dark hallway.
"The boss has been suspicious of my behavior ever since our encounter on the Seafoam Islands where I let you go, even though I could have captured you."
He paused and added, "Since then...I've changed. I've changed my ways. I'm going to stop Team Rocket's plans, even if I have to give my own life."
"When we met on the Seafoam Islands, why didn't you capture us when you had the chance?" Adam asked.
"I didn't capture you because...when I looked at you and was about to shoot you with my arm cannon...you reminded me of someone, Adam. When I looked at you, all I could see was 'her'."
"'Her?' Who's she?"
"My daughter."
"You have a daughter?!"
"So that means...I have a cousin?" Adam said in disbelief. "What's her name?"
"Her name is Brittany. Brittany Berlitz. She turned eight not long ago."
"What does she look like?" Michelle asked.
"She looks a lot like myself, and Dawn too, since she and I are twins."
A small silence passed over them.
"Could you three do me a favor? If I'm killed, make sure that you go to my ship and find her. Tell her that you're with Dawn because I told her to find Dawn if I didn't come back." he said. "I just hope that...that my sister will look after Brittany for me. I don't want anything bad to happen to my daughter and Dawn is the closest family that Brittany has."
Adam was quiet for a moment and then said, "Well, if not my mom, then I know my grandma; Johanna, will do it if you're really a member of my family. My parents will do anything for family, that's the kind of people that they are." Adam replied.
"Thank you, Adam. And even though you still doubt me, I assure you, I AM your uncle."
They eventually made their way down and walked into the shrine.
Hearing the footsteps, Ash looked over. He saw Adam, Jason, and a girl who looked a lot like Misty. The Pokemon Hunter standing behind the kids reminded him of Dawn.
"As you see, we have your son and his friends, meaning that I hold all of the cards. Now activate the temple or something bad might happen to your son and his friends." the boss said.
"Don't worry about me, dad. Don't do it. When this temple is activated, Team Rocket will capture every single Legendary Pokemon and use them to conquer all of Kanto." said Adam.
The boss gave a small chuckle. "I think your father needs a little convincing. Electivire, use Thunder Punch. His face, his chest, and her back."
The three kids cried out as the attacks hit them, a few sparks still lingering where the attacks had hit. Jason coughed, trying to gain his breath back after being hit in the chest and Michelle had almost fallen to the ground from the force of the strike to her back.
Ash felt himself starting to break. He couldn't let this continue and let his son be hurt.
Adam, seeing the look in his father's eyes, shook his head. "No. No, dad. Don't do it." Adam said, fighting through his pain and sounding as stern as he could.
"Like father, like son. You're both so stubborn." the boss said, nodding to Electivire.
Electivire used Thunder on Michelle. She screamed in pain as her body was being hit full-force by the attack. "Don't...do AHH! Anything!" she cried through the pain.
It then moved to Jason. He screamed. "AHH! Don't!" he cried, only able to get one word out.
His attack lasted longer than Michelle's had. Then finally, it hit Adam. He screamed, feeling everything that his friends had just felt.
"Don't! AHH! Dad, don't! AHH! DAD!" Adam screamed.
Adam's electrocution lasted the longest. When the attack finished, the three of them were on the ground in pain. Sparks lingering, muted cries of pain, but it was shown in their eyes. They couldn't move.
Unknown to any of them, a white glow was coming from inside Adam's backpack. The kids were grabbed and pulled up into a kneeling position by Darien.
The boss looked at Ash, seeing the pain in his eyes and the internal struggle that he was facing. "Oh, I think you should know one more thing. Hunter Michael is waiting in his ship just outside of Pallet Town with his army of mind-controlled Pokemon, waiting for my orders to attack."
He knew that this would break Ash. He wouldn't want his hometown to suffer and his wife was at stake, too. "I'm sure that you wouldn't want anything to happen to your wife, Dawn, since we already have your son. As I said, I hold all of the cards."
Ash glanced at the tablet. He didn't want to do exactly what Team Rocket wanted him to do, but his family's life was at stake.
"You'd better not hurt her! Leave my mom out of this!" Adam cried, finding his voice.
"Well, that all depends on your father and what he chooses."
Ash looked at the boss. "How do you even know about Dawn?" he asked.
"I know her because she's my daughter and his sister." he said, pointing at Darien. "He's my son, too. They are twins. That's right, Ash. That makes you my son-in-law and Darien's brother-in-law. It also means that Adam is my grandson and is Darien's nephew. I have never revealed my true name to anybody but my wife, but since you'll never live to tell anyone, I'll make an exception.
"My name is Jacob. Jacob Berlitz. Let me tell you my story. It started many years ago. I was a young Pokemon Hunter, making a name for myself throughout the Pokemon black market in Sinnoh. But I knew that eventually, I would die of old age or if I was captured by the authorities. I would need a child, someone to carry on the Berlitz name in the world of Pokemon Hunters someday.
"That was when I met a young, beautiful, talented Pokemon coordinator named Johanna. I treated her well, cared for her, told her that I loved her...but little did she know that it was all just an act and that foolish woman fell for it! I never loved her, I was using her as a means to an end!
"Love is mankind's greatest weakness. Look at what it's done to you! Your wife and son's lives are at stake and your love makes you care too much about them to say no to my demands. Love makes humanity so exploitable. Me? I have no ties to anyone, not even my son! He knows this just as well as I do. In the world of Pokemon crime, it's every man for himself. It's what separates the weak from the strong and me from you, Ash.
"That idiot, Johanna, fell for my charade and ended up marrying me. We were very well off because of all of the money that I possessed from hunting Pokemon. I was paid thousands, sometimes millions for my captures. She eventually gave birth to twins and we named them Darien and Dawn.
"Finally having what I needed, a child, I no longer had any use for my wife or daughter. So a year after they were born, I snuck out of the house one night, taking my son and all of our money with me, leaving my wife and daughter alone and penniless.
"I raised Darien on my own, making sure that he'd grow up to become a ruthless Pokemon Hunter just like me and he has not disappointed me, not once in his life. After many years of teaching Darien the ways of hunting, Darien left me and my teachings behind and became an official Pokemon Hunter.
"But everything changed the day that Team Rocket's former leader, Giovanni, contacted me and hired me to assist him in the reconstruction of Team Rocket. He asked me to assist him in capturing enough Pokemon to build an unstoppable army. In return, he promised me that I would rule Kanto alongside him, and eventually, the whole world...but then, Giovanni found out about this place, the Temple of Legends.
"And when I found out what this temple could do, and that Giovanni wanted me to capture the Legendary Pokemon, I realized that all of that power could be mine and was ripe for the taking! Why share the spoils when I could have it all? So I turned against Giovanni and killed him, establishing myself as the new leader of Team Rocket. I made Team Rocket bigger and stronger than ever before!
"Any members of Team Rocket that did not swear total allegiance to me as their new leader were killed. Those who were seen as weak or insignificant like Jessie, James, and Meowth were also killed. I believe that you remember them, Ash?
"And I picked up right where Giovanni had left off, trying to find the Temple of Legends to capture the Legendary Pokemon. To accelerate my plans and capture more Pokemon for my army, I brought in four new Pokemon Hunters to serve directly under me: Oliver, Mya, Michael, and my son, Darien. As you can see, we've succeeded in our task."
Unknown to the boss, while he was talking, Darien knelt down next to the kids.
"Can you still move after everything you went through with Electivire?" he asked, whispering and looking to make sure that no one was looking at them.
"Yes, enough to get our Pokemon out, at least." they answered.
Darien untied them and stuffed the rope into one of their bags. "Keep your arms behind your backs. As soon as I shout 'GO!', throw your Pokeballs and start battling. Once the distraction is done, get Ash and get out. I have a surprise waiting for my father to make sure that he won't stop you from getting away."
At that moment, Jacob got a message over his radio transmitter. "Boss, we have trouble! The police have arrived here outside the temple! And the Elite Four are with them! We're battling them and trying to hold them off. We've got them outnumbered but their Pokemon are just too powerful!" the grunt cried, panicking.
The boss quickly pressed a button. "Michael, change of plans! Leave Pallet Town and come to the temple, quickly! The police and the Elite Four are battling our forces outside the temple and are trying to get in! Help the grunts keep the police and Elite Four from gaining entry!"
Panic was showing on Jacob's face. He knew that time was short. It was now or never.
"Scyther, you know what to do." he said. Scyther pressed its bladed arm against the front of Michelle's neck. Her eyes widened and she bit her lip.
"THAT'S IT, I'M OUT OF PATIENCE!" he roared. "No more games! Now activate the temple or else the girl gets it! One swipe of Scyther's arm and her head gets sliced off! And your son will be next!"
Michelle felt her heart beating rapidly. She didn't dare move, because one little twitch and she would be killed. Tears were falling silently down her face. She had never felt this scared in her life, not even when Oliver had captured her.
Adam and Jason wanted to throw their Pokeballs, but knew that it would only cause the boss to hurt Michelle...no, kill Michelle. There wouldn't be enough time to call out their Pokemon and stop his Scyther.
She had her hands in fists behind her back, her knuckles turning white. She closed her crying eyes and tried to imagine that she was back at home with her mom, not here, about to die. If Michelle was going to die...then her only regret was not knowing who her father was, since that was the question that she wanted answered the most in her life. That was her secret goal that she kept hidden from everyone.
Ash, seeing that he was about to lose everything that he valued, faced the tablet, tearing his eyes away from Michelle and Scyther. He had finally broken inside. He would not let anything happen to his family and friends. Reluctantly, Ash placed his hands on the tablet. He closed his eyes and his body glowed blue and then the tablet did, too.
The Temple of Legends had been activated.
Author's Note: More information about Darien and his father have been revealed as Team Rocket prepares for the final phase of their plan. Now, with Team Rocket threatening his friends and family, Ash has activated the Temple of Legends!
But the Elite Four and the police have arrived at the temple and are battling the grunts, trying to get inside to rescue Ash and the others, but they may already be too late!
Will Team Rocket capture the Legendary Pokemon? Will they control the world? What was that glow coming from Adam's backpack? Is Michelle going to die? Is EVERYONE going to die?!
Find out next time in the next unbelievable, exciting, dramatic, heart-stopping, and emotional chapter of Pokemon NG!