Four years earlier:
The legendary had been attacked by Team Rocket who had used the same machines to try and subdue him that had been used at Mt. Quena, merely more advanced. Despite the fact that he was still resisting the torture, Mewtwo had no strength left to try to escape, and so was unable to stop his captors from transporting him towards Viridian City. He knew that if he got there, they would find a way to completely subdue him, and his freedom would be completely gone. Resisting for so long had exhausted the legendary, and he knew he was only a day or so away from Viridian. Mewtwo was resigned to his capture, and had only resisted out of his fury at having to serve Team Rocket once more. It had been clear to the Rockets who were escorting the van he had been transported in that he was being slowly broken. Mewtwo had been in the dark, too weak to even send his mind out to work out where they were, with only the noise of the van moving to focus on. That and the sound of the machines attached to the inside. As he listened, Mewtwo suddenly felt the van stop. Shouting from the driver. An explosion. Mewtwo suddenly started paying a lot more attention, a new reserve of strength surfacing. He stayed in the van, listening hard. He heard the sounds of Pokémon attacks, lots of them. As Mewtwo waited, the number of attacks started to decline, until suddenly there was a series of massive explosions. The van rocked back and forth before settling back on its tires once again. Mewtwo waited, and suddenly the doors of the van burst open, and sunlight shone in. A figure stood at the door, only a silhouette against the light. Another silhouette appeared beside him, before a brilliantly colored beam flew into the interior of the van, shattering the four devices along the walls. Released from the machines that had tortured him, Mewtwo dropped to the ground, landing on all fours before slowly climbing to his feet. As he looked up, the figure was gone from the entrance to the van, and so Mewtwo stepped out of his prison, into the sunlight he thought he would never see again. The back of a van was pointing up a hill, evidently twisted from the road, and in front of Mewtwo was the figure that had freed him, ten Pokémon stood in a line behind him. Slowly turning, Mewtwo surveyed the wreckage of the convoy behind him, before turning back to his rescuer.
Ash stood there facing the Pokémon in front of him. Mewtwo stood tall, but the injuries to him were. Behind him were the wrecks of more than a dozen vehicles, the bodies of many of the drivers still in the burnt out wreckage. The Rocket convoy had been totally wiped out by Ash's Pokémon and Ash himself, Rockets lay on the ground, many of them dead. The ferocity and surprise of the attack had completely and utterly overwhelmed the Rockets, despite the large escort. Ash had personally added three to the body count, in addition to those he had only knocked out. Mewtwo looked him in the eye, recognizing the trainer that he had last seen years earlier at Mount Quena. As Ash watched, Mewtwos strength finally gave out, and he slumped to the ground.
Ash had left medicine for the Legendary to help him recover, along with a large quantity of food. Mewtwo had tried to find him to thank him, having released the clone Pokémon into the wild some time earlier . A month later he had been flying in a remote region when he saw ruins. Dropping down, Mewtwo found that it was a Team Rocket base. In the aftermath of this discovery, Mewtwo had gone back to Viridian City. He had stood in the ruins of the Rocket headquarters, and tried to work out what had happened. An organization that had the power to snatch a legendary couldn't just collapse, yet collapse was what had happened. What eventually clued Mewtwo in was the lack of bodies. When he had woken up again after his rescue, there hadn't been a single body or any wrecks of vehicles left. The whole area had been cleared by Ash. Inside the Rocket headquarters was the same, so Mewtwo assumed that it was Ash who had attacked it. He never found the trainer again.
Present Day
Mewtwo stood watching the trainer to whom he owed his life. It was the early hours of the morning, the day after the failed raid. Ash was attached to the wall by manacles around his wrists. Behind him was the same machine that was built into Mewtwo's armor. It sent an electric charge into the targets body. In Mewtwo it encouraged obedience by the simple reasoning of if he tried to resist, the charge in his armor was enough to seriously injure the legendary, potentially even kill him. It also kept him weak enough to prevent him from forcing it out quickly enough to stop it overwhelming him. The one behind Ash was enough to keep the trainer in a degree of pain, but not enough to cause permanent damage. If he tried to resist, however the charge would be turned up massively. The Rocket who had secured the manacles around him had told him so. Ash wasn't particularly inclined to test it out. There were four Rockets stood outside the cell which was in one of the lowest levels of the Team Rocket headquarters, with Mewtwo stood outside. Tentatively, the Psychic legendary sent out his mind, wincing as the trainer on the wall jerked in pain.
"Sorry" Mewtwo's said telepathically, without the guards knowing. "If I had known it was you, I would have refused and faced the consequences."
Inside Mewtwo's head, there was an image of Ash, his body stance neutral, a shadow across his face. "It's fine. How did they catch you?"
Mewtwo sighed, it was embarrassing for him to be captured by Giovanni again. "Bad luck on my part. Giovanni was apparently looking for me, and I just managed to walk straight into a squad of his Rockets. Before I could stop them, one of them informed their boss of what they had found, and next thing I knew there was a fleet of helicopters heading for me. I was worn down over time, and a Pokémon of theirs managed to get this helmet onto my head. It has the same thing that is in your back just it was turned up far higher. In the time it took me to get rid of it, they managed to attach more, and soon I was caught, having to try to fight off the Rockets whilst enduring the pain. It was too much. When I woke up again, Giovanni was there, telling me that I would serve him, or he would kill me. Each of the pieces of my armor has one of these devices, and I can't disable them all simultaneously, their constant charge prevents me from getting back to full strength."
"If you were at full strength could you get out?" Ash asked.
"I think so" Mewtwo answered. "But that won't happen. They are sure to make sure that I can't regain strength, the power in the suits circuits is enough for that"
An image of a grin flashed in Mewtwo's mind. It was at this point that Mewtwo realized something. Despite the fact that he was closely linked to Ash's mind, he couldn't feel any pain radiating from the trainer. Yet when he watched Ash, he could see him writhing in apparent pain, something that the guards had noted. Equally, for somebody who wasn't psychic, Ash seemed to have an excellent grasp of mental communication. Now suspicious, Mewtwo started questioning the captive once again.
"Why aren't you in pain?" the Psychic legendary asked.
"I'm blocking it. Don't tell them, I can only block so much." Ash replied.
"Block? But you're not psychic, how can you block something like that?"
"Correct. Suffice it to say, I have ways."
Mewtwo stood staring at the trainer who still twisted as if he was in pain. His acting was superb, if Mewtwo didn't know, he would assume that Ash was feeling every bit of the pain that he should be. And there was something else wrong with him. The first two times Mewtwo met Ash, he had been surprised by the amount of emotion that ran through the trainer. Now he could feel nothing. Emotion simply didn't seem to be part of his make-up anymore. Mewtwo reached out with his mind again, surprised to feel another presence withdraw as he touched the Pokémon Master's mind. Unable to work out what the second presence was, Mewtwo decided to focus on his conversation with Ash.
"I am sorry for getting you in here." Mewtwo said, trying to apologize once again.
"I'm here." Ash said, cutting the legendary off. "You can get out."
"I can't. If I try, the suit electrocutes me."
"When I insult you, use your tail to start to strangle me."
"WHAT? Are you insane?"
Ash didn't bother to answer with his mind, merely glaring at Mewtwo and speaking out loud.
"You know Mewtwo, its funny. You were losing the tug of war when I ordered my Pokémon to pull out. A single Psychic type able to beat you. I thought you were supposed to be strong?"
Instinctively, Mewtwo growled with rage, raising a hand to strike at Ash. As he realized what he was doing, he lowered his hand, and let his tail to snake out and wrap around Ash's neck. As soon as it made contact, Mewtwo felt himself getting stronger. Energy was flowing into him, and suddenly, Mewtwo realized that there was more than enough to overload the armor and allow himself to escape. Behind him, he heard a loud cough. Spinning around, his tail still wrapped around Ash's throat, Mewtwo saw a screen with Giovanni's face in it. The man looked pleased, as if he had just gained something important.
"Mewtwo, if you could not murder our guest, I would appreciate it."
Relaxing his tail, Mewtwo stepped away from Ash who groaned, the marks around his neck clearly visible. Mewtwo stalked away from the cell, before focusing his attention on the screen, where Giovanni was now addressing Ash.
"'Champion'. Nice of you to join us." Giovanni said.
"Giovanni." Ash replied, his voice totally devoid of emotion.
"I apologize for Mewtwo's actions. I suggest that you refrain from insulting him, he seems to take them personally."
"Perhaps he objects to his own captivity?"
Giovanni's face smiled tightly. He moved his arm, pushing a button off-screen. Ash suddenly screamed in pain, as the charge flowing into him trebled. Casting his mind into Ash's once again, Mewtwo found to his surprise that the amount of electricity that Ash was deflecting was greater than he himself was being subjected to. To his even greater shock, he found that none was getting through to Ash. The scream was faked, making Mewtwo reflect that Ash was a stunningly good actor. As Giovanni pushed a different button, Ash flopped down in the manacles, before raising his head once again.
"I suggest more strongly that you refrain from angering me." Giovanni said his lip curling. "I don't have the same restraint when it comes to me being angered."
Ash remained silent, which seemed to amuse Giovanni.
"You know you will be missed?" Giovanni taunted. "I might reveal that you fell into a trap and were captured, I might make it look like you defected. Without you able to counter the story, what Team Rocket says will be believed. And with you removed, the Pokémon League is currently leaderless, and has nothing that can stand up to Mewtwo, or our numbers. You have caused the collapse of the Pokémon League with your captivity. And to think you thought to strengthen it." Giovanni tutted. "I guess even the best intentions can end badly. I'll talk to you again soon, 'Champion'. After all, you're not going anywhere."
The screen went back. Mewtwo turned back around, before linking his mind to Ash's once again.
"'Champion'?"
"My name is a secret Mewtwo. You are among a very small group that knows it."
"You're Pokémon Master and nobody knows who you are?"
"Yes"
Mewtwo regarded the trainer, and when nothing else was forthcoming, he turned away. The Psychic type stalked up the corridor away from the cell, before walking up to topmost basement level. When he felt that there were no Rockets in the immediate vicinity, Mewtwo sent out a wave of Psychic energy from his body. Every single one of his piece of armor flew off, hitting the walls. Stretching in relief as for the first time in months Mewtwo was free from being electrocuted, Mewtwo suddenly heard an alarm going off. His face was utterly expressionless when he turned to face the squad of Rockets who raced around the corner, responding to the alarm. The leader of the squad took one look at the armor on the floor and paled. Before he could give any commands to his squad, or even release a Pokéball, all the Rockets were lifted up from the ground and sent crashing into the wall behind them. Mewtwo then raised a hand to the ceiling above his head which promptly collapsed, giving him a route to the ground floor. Floating up, Mewtwo looked around. The area he had come up seemed fairly empty, with not a single human in sight. Flying at the doors, Mewtwo opened them with a Psychic attack and flew out, exiting into the deserted city, before flying into the sky. Back in the cell, Ash heard the alarm, acknowledging it silently. He had at least managed to get Mewtwo out safely. The Pokémon's distrust of humans should make sure that the legendary was out-of-the-way until he had dealt with Team Rocket.
A knock on Cynthia's door caused her to groan out loud. She hadn't wanted to be at the office so early, but she hadn't had a quantities of paperwork had piled up from the various gym leaders and their trainees, and the camp had made it hard for her to keep up. Raising her voice to be audible to the person outside, she called for them to enter. As the door swung open, Cynthia was busy scanning a report from the Cinnabar Island Gym. Without looking up, she started speaking.
"Take a seat, I'll be with you in a moment."
"I suggest you give me your full attention now Cynthia" a voice spoke inside her head.
Slowly lowering the report, Cynthias head swung around to see a large bipedal Pokémon stood there, its arms crossed and its eyes glowing a bright blue. The report fell from Cynthia's hand as she realized just what was in her office. The Pokémon lowered its head, before reaching out to her mind once again.
"I am Mewtwo. In the absence of the Pokémon Master, 'Champion', I believe that you would be the best person for me to talk to."
Cynthia just stared. It took a lot to surprise her, but this had completely stumped her. To meet a legendary Pokémon was rare, to talk to one rarer. To have one walk into your office and start a conversation was unheard of. All Cynthia could do was a weak "ahhh"
"I didn't think this would be so hard." Mewtwo mused. "This is important, so say when you're ready."
Cynthia nodded, before shutting her eyes, rubbing them and opening them again. After deciding that there was a Pokémon in her office, talking to her, she started to calm down. Having finally gotten a grip on her thoughts, she leaned back in her chair, resting her arms on the rests, gesturing for Mewtwo to try again.
"Finally" the Legendary complained. "I need to talk to you about 'Champion'."
Realizing that Mewtwo knew who 'Champion' was, Cynthia was suddenly more alert. "Why?"
"Because he is being held captive inside a Team Rocket base in…"
"Goldenrod City. I know, he told me where he was going. What do you mean held captive? How was he captured?"
To Cynthia's surprise, Mewtwos head bowed, almost in shame. Her mind now working at full speed again, she was quick to spot the connection.
"You captured him didn't you? You were the trap that Team Rocket were going to set?"
"Indeed. I had been held captive with them for some time, and they had a way of ensuring that I did as ordered. A painful way of ensuring it. I was the one who restrained 'Champion' so that he could be tied up."
Before Mewtwo could say anything else, Cynthia held up a hand, before realizing that Mewtwo wasn't technically talking. Despite this, the Pokémon got the message and stopped speaking into Cynthia's head as she picked up the phone on her desk, quickly dialing in a number.
"James. Hello, sorry about the hour. I need you to come into the office as soon as possible. I need some advice from you with regard to the problem." A pause. "Yes, something has come up regarding 'Champion'." Another pause. "That would be a good idea. Thank you James."
Putting the phone down once again, Cynthia turned back to Mewtwo.
"How did you escape?"
"I am unsure." Mewtwo replied. "Something 'Champion' did restored my strength to beyond the point where I could break out. I don't know how."
Cynthia looked hard at the Pokémon, before deciding that he was telling the truth. Another mystery for her to try to solve.
"Can you tell me everything? I presume you are informing me so that he can be rescued?"
"Yes."
"Right. In that case, anything you can tell me about where he is being held is crucial. When we are done here, I will start assembling trainers to join me in a second assault."
Mewtwo tilted his head slightly, regarding Cynthia before stepping away from the door. He stood facing Cynthia once again who was still sat behind her desk, before reaching out with his mind to talk once again.
"To attack the Rocket base, you are going to need a lot of trainers. Inside there are twelve floors above ground and sixteen below. The ones below contain six dormitory levels, giving the base a theoretical capacity of nearly three thousand Rockets, although there was never that many there. At most I saw several hundred, although many of these are high-ranking Rockets, so harder to defeat."
Mewtwo kept talking into Cynthia's head, describing how Ash was being held, as well as the way that he had been captured. Cynthia was typing furiously on her keyboard, writing down anything that she felt important. As Mewtwo finished detailing the defenses, as well as the location of 'Champion's' cell, the phone on Cynthia's desk rang.
"Hello? Yes, send him up. Tell the specialists to start without me today; I have things to sort out. Thank you."
Putting the phone down once again, Cynthia fixed her attention back on Mewtwo, as he confirmed that there was nothing else to say. The door behind the Pokémon swung open, and James and Meowth stepped in, jumping in surprise when they saw Mewtwo, although recognizing him from events on Mount Quena. As Cynthia gestured them towards chairs in front of her desk, she sighed. Today was going to be a very, very long day.
Espeon sat at the window, looking towards the Team Rocket headquarters. It bemused her to think that she knew that the man who her trainer was trying to reach was in the building, and her trainer was captive there, yet she couldn't do anything about either. When Ash had told her the plan, she had instinctively argued against it. The idea of leaving him for that length of time was something that jarred against her. In the last seven years, she had never gone more than a day without seeing her trainer. Now it had been five, and every time she talked to him, she was told she had to wait longer. She understood the logic, having been with him when they finally reached the crime boss's office four years earlier to find that he had escaped, but it was still hard. She had barely moved from the window in all the time since his capture, using Psychic to bring her food to her. It was a mood mirrored among all the Pokémon that had been with Ash on the Day of Departure. The ones that had joined him since then loved their trainer, but they hadn't seen what lows he had sunk to. No words could convey the raw emotion that had been invoked in the Pokémon and their trainer that day. It was the reason that the Pokémon that had experienced it remained by their trainer always. They refused to leave him alone simply because they wanted him to know that they would never leave him. Equally, the fury that these five Pokémon held for those that had left wasn't really mirrored among the nine. Over the last five days these four Pokémon had waited together, missing their trainer. Their anger towards Team Rocket for splitting them apart hadn't been sated in the first attack. When their master gave the word, they would fall on Team Rocket like a flood, to the point where they would barely need the other Pokémon.
Behind Espeon the rest of the Pokémon were killing time. In their trainers absence they couldn't train, not knowing when they might be needed. As a result, sat in the apartment that Ash had rented, they were killing time. Many of them chose to wait in their Pokéballs, leaving Espeon, Meganium, Charizard, Sceptile, Snorlax, Sharpedo and Alakazam together waiting. When it was time to move, they would release the rest of the Pokémon before having Alakazam teleport the team to the room where Espeon could feel Ash's mind. Without that help, they doubted that they would be able to teleport in accurately enough. Meganium came up next to Espeon, putting a vine around the neck of the Sun Pokémon. They all felt the pain that was emanating from Espeon, not least because they felt it themselves.
Meganium retracted the vine and turned back into the room, leaving Espeon to her solitude. When she reached Sharpedo, the Brutal Pokémon gestured for Meganium to follow him. After walking into a different room, Sharpedo turned to Meganium.
"What is it with you all?" Sharpedo asked. "It's like there is something special for all of you about having Ash away from us. I don't understand."
Meganium's eyes watered as she regarded her friend with a sad look. "You weren't there the day that the rest of the Pokémon left us. You can't understand."
"But what happened?" Sharpedo pressed. "What was so bad?"
"Remember Sharpedo, Ash had left all his friends. He had left his only family, all he had was his Pokémon. One of those Pokémon was Pikachu, his first and the one that he had spent every minute of his life with since he was ten. All of those left him, led away by the one he thought he could trust above all the rest. Broken does not even begin to describe how he was. Espeon and I love him. Not in the way that you all do; you love him because as a trainer he has shown you nothing but kindness. Espeon and I would die for him in an instant. Before you say that you would do the same, would you? Without thinking at all? If he was in danger, can you honestly say you would jump straight in, not thinking about anything, just focused on dragging him out alive, even if it killed you? That is what I would do for him. He has saved my life, did you know that? He has also saved Charizards and Sceptiles lives. Let alone what he did for Espeon, I don't even know her story. He had done it for many of his former Pokémon, only for them to leave him. That kind of pain cannot be put into words. On that day, I saw the human I love above all others broken by somebody he thought he could trust. On that day, those of us left made a promise. We would protect our trainer to the death, keep him as sheltered as we could. He was young, and had been through so much, it wasn't fair for anything else to happen to him. That is why we are so subdued. He is being effectively tortured, and we are forced to sit here and do nothing."
Meganium spat the last word, which shocked Sharpedo. The Brutal Pokémon had known Meganium for years, and she had never shown this, more ruthless side to her nature. As he processed what he had been told, Meganium turned and started to leave the room.
"Meganium" he called after her. She turned back, a sad smile on her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"
"I know" the Herb Pokémon said. "You couldn't. And you still can't understand. You weren't there."
And she left the room, using her vine to shut the door behind her, leaving Sharpedo to reflect on what he had just heard.
Ash Ketchum was a patient man. Years of solitude had given him that; he never needed to rush for something. When he thought back to how he had been when he was younger, he was embarrassed at how he ran around everywhere. His impulsive nature had rescinded as the years went by, making him far more reserved. When he was young, Ash had felt that by rushing everywhere, he could get more done. He now knew that there was a time to rush things, and a time for patience. Currently, he was in need of every ounce of patience that he possessed. Every time Giovanni called him, Ash remained impassive, not baiting the Rocket leader, but trying to make him feel secure enough to come and gloat in person. He had to act like the captivity was taking its toll. He had already worked out that Giovanni was scared of him, and for that reason, his patience was being tested. His plan relied on Giovanni coming to see his captive, and thus far, that wasn't working. His opponent was very suspicious. Espeon talked to him fairly regularly, but they were short conversations. Otherwise, he had little to do but think. It was no surprise that his patience was being tested to the extent that it was.
After the last communication with Espeon, Ash felt mildly guilty. The Sun Pokémon was struggling, her loyalty being tested to the fullest. Ash knew that his Pokémon hated leaving him alone, and in the hands of Team Rocket would be almost unbearable for them. Espeon's loyalty fell back to the first time he met the Pokémon, when she was still an Eevee. Unbidden the memory started to rise, and Ash let it, thinking that there was little else to do, and a distraction would help.
Flashback
Three months after he had left home, Ash stood watching his Pokémon rest after their training session. Pikachu had returned to his place by his master's side. Their training had started a couple of weeks earlier, after Ash's Pokémon from around the regions had reached him. Charizard had been the last one to return, after him Ash was sure that there would be no more. He had started training the next day, beginning with a run that left him and his Pokémon utterly exhausted. The area that had found to train in was secluded, a valley with an easily to climb cliff at one end of it. The cliff was where Ash was able to watch his Pokémon from whilst they trained, and where he stood now. He had just finished preparing food, which, whilst he acknowledged wouldn't taste as good as what Brock could make, after a day's hard training, it seemed to suffice for his Pokémon. Looking over the valley, Ash saw something in the distance. He looked down at Pikachu.
"Looks like smoke Pikachu. Wonder what it is." The electric mouse looked up at his trainer, guessing what was coming next. "I'm gonna go take a look. "
"Pika? Pika, Pikachu?"
Ash chuckled, scratching his Pokémon behind the ears. "Nah, don't worry Pikachu. Eat your dinner, you've earned it today."
Scrambling down the cliff again, Ash strode out into his Pokémon, all of them looking up from their food to track him. Ash reached his bag, and picked it up, before turning to face his Pokémon, Pikachu leaping off his shoulder and heading to his own bowl of food, waving as his trainer headed off.
"Guys, I'm going out to check something. Some smoke in the distance. I wanna know what's causing it. Keep eating, I'll be back soonish."
Shouldering his bag, Ash turned and started to jog in the direction of the smoke. It turned out that the smoke was further away than Ash had realized. It was after nearly an hour where a tired Ash climbed up a hill, to see a man in front of a forest. There was a Charmeleon stood there, using a Flamethrower on the trees. In front of him were the burnt out husks of several trees, with Charmeleon setting fire to another. The trainer was glaring up at something in the uppermost branches of the tree. He was so focusing so intently on what he was doing that he didn't notice Ash creeping up behind him.
"Stupid Pokémon, thinks it can do that to me…" the man muttered. Following the man's gaze, Ash saw a small brown thing in the tree, and hearing what the man said, it clicked what must be happening. Quickly shrugging his backpack off, Ash raised it before smashing it across the back of the man's head, causing him to pitch forwards with a grunt. Distracted, Charmeleon stopped attacking the tree, and turned to see a teenager charging at him. Ash smashed into the Pokémon, knocking it off of its feet, as it was unprepared for being attacked by a human. Before Charmeleon could recover, Ash had punched him multiple times, before he was dragged off by the trainer, and thrown to the ground.
"Who do fucking you think you are, you little shit?" The man growled, standing over Ash. "Nobody fucking jumps me like that."
Ash's eyes widened as he saw a the man reach into a pocket and pull out a knife. A feral instinct took over, and he lashed out, his knee driving firmly up into the man's groin. The man's eyes widened in pain, and he dropped the knife, falling to the ground in agony. Ash scrambled to his feet, and turned to see Charmeleon diving at him. Luck caused the Flame Pokémon to miss first time, as it had aimed for Ash before he scrambled up. As it turned and fired a Flamethrower attack at his opponent, Ash dropped to the ground, and felt for the Pokéball belt of the trainer he had incapacitated. Not feeling it at his waist, Ash desperately cast his eyes around as Charmeleon stalked closer, unable to use fire attacks due to Ash's proximity to his trainer. Ash suddenly spotted the Pokéball belt lying next to a bag some five meters away. Realizing that he would never make it, Ash started looking around. His eyes fell on the knife at his feet, and he picked it up before throwing it at Charmeleon. The throw was terrible, the blade not even pointing at Charmeleon, but it was enough. The Pokémon distracted for precious seconds, Ash got up and threw himself across to the Pokéball belt, pulling out a Pokéball and using it to recall Charmeleon. Slowly and painfully getting to his feet, Ash looked back up at the tree that was burning merrily at the bottom. In the upper branches was an Eevee, looking absolutely terrified. Ash called for Eevee to jump down to him, but the Evolution Pokémon was too terrified to move. Looking around, Ash realized that the trees around this one had been burnt down, as if Eevee had jumped from tree to tree as each one was burned down. Glaring back at the man who was still immobile on the ground, Ash looked at the tree once again.
There was a fire burning about halfway up, extending no more than a meter up the tree. It was clear that Charmeleon's attempts to burn the tree down had been interrupted before they could get too far. Gritting his teeth at what he was about to do, Ash ran at the tree and started climbing. From above Eevee was watching his progress in disbelief. As Ash reached the fire, he kept going, straight through it, coming out the other side. As he started to move through the flames, Eevee started to move down towards him, climbing into the arms that were held out to her. As soon as he had the Pokémon in his arms, Ash leaped out of the tree, landing on the ground four meters below. As he hit the ground, his legs gave way, allowing the Eevee to spill out of his arms onto the ground. Ash lay in the dirt, with some of his clothes burning from his climb through the fire. Eevee started kicking sand at him, which put out the flames. As the adrenalin wore off, he felt the burns on his skin, groaning in the pain. Suddenly he was lifted off the ground once more, picked up by the throat. The man he had attacked was stood in front of him, a look of pure fury on his face.
"You started the wrong fucking fight, pal" the man growled, murder in his eyes. He reached for the knife he had recovered, holding up to Ash's face, placing the point in front of one of Ashs eyes. "I'm gonna blind you, and then leave you out here to suffer for as fucking long as fucking possible. Nobody fucking attacks me like that, do you ARRGGHH"
As the man screamed in pain, he dropped Ash, who tried to move away but felt very, very tired. The man had collapsed, clutching his groin again, with Eevee stood in front of him, looking fierce. As Ash slowly climbed to his feet, he realized that Eevee had seen what he had done to the man first time, and given him a repeat performance. Moving over to the man, Ash kicked him one last time for good measure, before limping away. He never asked what Eevee had done to invoke such rage, and he was never told. However, from that one event, Eevee felt closeness to the trainer that she had never felt before. So when he limped over the hill, Eevee didn't even think before heading after him, following him back to his camp, where she was captured in a Pokéball, before joining Ash's team. The loyalty she felt from that event had been more than enough to stop her leaving when Ash gave her the option. She had no reason to leave the trainer that had saved her life, and she had never regretted the decision to follow him.
End flashback
As the memory started to fade, Ash smiled to himself, particularly as he felt the presence of Espeon at the back of his mind. She had been remembering the same thing. The strength he drew from both the mental bond and the loyalty of his Pokémon was more than enough to keep him carrying on, so that the worst abusers of Pokémon, Team Rocket could be finally broken.
As Espeon withdrew from her trainers mind, she thought about the secret she had held since that day. Ash had never asked why she had been stuck in that tree; he had merely thrown himself into first saving her life, and then integrating her into his family of Pokémon. She had become stronger than she ever imagined she could, but she still feared losing the first human to ever show her kindness. The man that had attacked her had been her previous trainer. She had been captured by a poacher weeks earlier, before being sold to the Eric, the man that had abused her. She had stayed with him for nearly a month, before she finally rebelled, in a raid. Eric had been a member of Team Rocket, and had tried to use her to subdue an opponent whilst he was robbing a shop. Her rebellion had caused him to have to recall her, and his Charmeleon had burnt down the entire shop, leaving nothing of use inside it. In a fury, Eric had taken her out into the woods near the town. He released her, and ordered Charmeleon to attack, but she had been too quick. Darting into the forest, she had climbed up a tree. However, she had been seen, and chased through the forest, until there were no trees left to hide in. Eric had burned all the trees around her, and then Charmeleon had trapped her, setting fire to the wood below her. Until Ash saved her. She had never told Ash or any of his Pokémon the abuse she had been subjected to when she was Eric's Pokémon, when beatings and starvation were the least of her troubles when she had been with him.
Reflecting on her trainer, Espeon thought about the years since she had met him. In all the time she had known him, she had never known Ash to show anything but kindness towards Pokémon. And she had never known Ash to show anything to humans. It was when she spent time thinking about him that Espeon realized what Ash had given up in his training. She struggled to be sad for him; she loved her trainer exactly as he was. She knew that if her, or any other Pokémon, were in trouble Ash would stop at nothing to save them. He had come a long way from that boy climbing through flames to save a Pokémon he had never met, but the core of him was the same. He was still the most caring being she had ever met. As she looked out of the window, Espeon felt a trickle of a tear run down her face. All she wanted was to be able to curl up next to Ash, her trainer, her master and her friend. And all she could do was wait, while he suffered in a building that she could watch. She just hoped he knew what it cost her to let it happen.
Cynthia stood on the platform in the main training room of the Indigo training area. Behind her stood Gym leaders from all four regions, whilst at the back of the room were trainers that they had brought with them to help with what they were all doing. With them were the Elite Four from each of the regions. Next to Cynthia stood the Champions of the four Regions. Lance representing Kanto and Johto, Steven from Hoenn. There was no representative from Sinnoh, because Cynthia had never been defeated as the Sinnoh Champion. Technically she was still in place. At the back were the specialists from the camp, along with other trainers that they had asked to be there. All they had been told was that there was a situation that required the presence of powerful trainers, the more the better. It was in effect a call to arms, something that hadn't been seen for a long time. In front of her were the thirty trainers who had been at the training camp. All in all, the concentration of trainer strength in the room was staggering; they were some of the toughest trainers in the world. The last week had been absolute hell for her, with the camp still running whilst she was still trying to organize her response to the capture of the Pokémon Master. Now she was ready.
"Good morning. What you all hear here is completely confidential. Virtually nobody outside of this room knows what I'm about to tell you. That should give you some idea as to the seriousness of this."
Cynthia paused to look around the room. Of all the people in there, only she, James and the other Champions knew the full story of what had happened. Explaining to them was going to be hard, but if Mewtwo was to be believed, she would need every single trainer in the room as well as the Legendary to stand a chance of breaking into the Rocket base.
"As you may know, four years ago Team Rocket stopped their activities. According to sources that have only recently given their information this because they had been attacked and almost destroyed. However, their leader had escaped and started to reform Team Rocket. Their leader is a man known as Giovanni, the ex-Viridian City Gym Leader. He vanished in the immediate aftermath of the attack on his organization. He was successful in reforming Team Rocket, and they are once again conducting their activities. This we have known for four weeks, since a group of Rockets were discovered in Violet City by Falkner."
Pausing again, Cynthia waited for the muttering from throughout the room to die down. The Gym Leaders had known that Team Rocket had resurfaced, but nobody else seemed to. Almost nobody else, Cynthia suddenly noted, with two of the trainers on her camp looking unsurprised. She glanced at Sam and Mellanie, wondering how they knew.
"'Champion' has taken an interest in shutting down Team Rocket once again." Cynthia continued. "He managed to discover the location of the Team Rocket headquarters, and nine days ago he left here to attack the base and try to bring down Giovanni. Since he left there has been no contact from either him or any of his Pokémon. Furthermore, the day after he left, a Pokémon came to visit. This Pokémon is one that is virtually unheard of. He has asked not to be named to any of you. However, he has revealed some information to me and the other regional champions. Until recently, he had been controlled by Team Rocket. He was part of a trap that was laid for 'Champion' when he reached the Rocket headquarters. In the aftermath this Pokémon managed to escape. He came here to talk to me and to reveal what happened."
Cynthia took a deep breath before revealing the blow that would shock the assembled trainers.
"This Pokémon told me that 'Champion' had been captured by Team Rocket."
There was instant uproar. Even the Gym Leaders behind Cynthia were talking now, and there many of the assembled trainers below the platform started shouting up at Cynthia.
"How do you know it's telling the truth?"
"The Pokémon Master would never be captured by a group like Team Rocket!"
"Lies! They could never!"
"You can't just trust any Pokémon that shows up at just shows up and…"
"ENOUGH." Cynthia blinked and turned to where Lance had stepped forward. He had a look of fury on his face as he addressed the assembled trainers. "Do you honestly think that Cynthia has been duped? That this Pokémon has been lying to her? Do you take her for such a fool?" Lance gave the assembled trainers one last glare before turning back to Cynthia. "My apologies Cynthia. Please, continue with your briefing."
Smiling to herself, Cynthia turned back to the trainers. Clearly Lance still had problems with his temper. It was something that she suspected would never change about her colleague. He had certainly questioned Mewtwo about the event very closely when the two met. Between them the three regional champions had developed plan of action for the rescue, with Mewtwo and James contributing substantially.
"As I was saying, 'Champion' has been captured. I have asked you all here for one purpose. I intend to finish what 'Champion' started. We will go to the Team Rocket headquarters and we shall attack it. This is something that the other regional Champions have agreed with. All of you have been asked here to join in. I will not force anybody to join in this endeavor, but if we succeed I believe we will be able to both remove Team Rocket and rescue the Pokémon Master. We will be moving to the location of the Team Rocket base overnight. You have the rest of the day to decide. There will be a briefing later to highlight the strategy."
With that, Cynthia turned and left the platform, Lance and Steven close behind her.
A/N
As always, thank you to those of you who have read, and the increasing number who are reviewing. I appreciate both. I'm not surprised many of you guessed that Mewtwo was the asset that Team Rocket had. There wasn't much else it could really be. Mewtwo will feature beyond this particular episode, and there will be a few other legendaries as well making smaller appearances.
Anyway, to answer a few points made in those reviews I have thanked you for...
Darkrai6543: You are both correct and incorrect. At the end of Mewtwo Strikes Back, Mewtwo does indeed erase all the memories of everybody who was there. In that respect, Ash shouldn't know who Mewtwo is. However, I don't know if you have seen the special episode Mewtwo Returns. In that one, Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie, James and Meowth all meet Mewtwo once again and he does not erase their memories. So, Ash would know Mewtwo. It is a valid point though.
The Shuiro Amaya: The format is something I started doing when I got annoyed at having massively broken up paragraphs. I know its wrong, but its something I just started doing. I'll try to break the habit, it should make it easier to follow.
Thorndsword: You are indeed correct, Ash can very easily simply fire Cynthia. He might be sufficiently grateful from getting rescued to forgive her though?
Noshadowone: Another very good point. Delia is indeed missing Ash, although she has barely featured in the story thus far. Remember though, he has effectively become a completely independent person. It does happen that some people simply leave home and never go back.
MysteryOfOrigin: Ash, arrogant? Aloof and independent is a better way of putting it. I always object to people calling somebody else arrogant when they refuse help simply because they don't need it. I perceive arrogance as the belief that you are better without reason. If you are actually better, your not necessarily being arrogant, you're simply truthful. That is just me though, I know that to most people he probably is arrogant.
WarmasterSamiel: Somebody setting up a fan club is very easy to imagine, but can you honestly see Ash enjoying it?
Bloodshark: No. There will be Mega Evolutions.
Egg Emperor: I meant to answer this one earlier, but forgot... "What benefit is it to a man if he gaineth the world, but loseth his own soul?" Very deep, but an interesting analysis. Ash has lost his human friends yes, but he still has his Pokémon. That might be enough for him.
With the various regional champions, there is a single reason why they haven't been put in yet. With Ash being called Champion, having other characters with the same title would get very, very confusing. However, I feel I should clarify some things. In the Pokémon League, each region has eight Gym Leaders, an elite four and a Champion (Lance being Champion for both Johto and Kanto who also have the same elite four). The direct superior of the regional Champions is the Pokémon Master; Ash. Think of it as a simple hierarchy; Pokémon Master on top, then the regional champions, their elite fours and their Gym Leaders. Under normal circumstances the regional champions would be responsible for the Gym Leaders, but the Pokémon Master is within his rights to intervene as well. Hope this answers any questions you might have had.
As always, please keep reading and shouting your thoughts loud and clear. Well... writing them clearly... you get the idea. Till next time!