59: Ash vs. The Pokemon League
Ritchie got back to his rented room late, throwing himself on the bed. He hugged the pillow, not even taking Sparky out of its pokeball as he usually would. What could a trainer like him say to his pokemon? He'd failed them. Pokemon protected humans so much, and he'd failed to do the small bit that he might have in order to protect his own.
He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, motionless, but eventually, the draw for a distraction took over. He got out the television remote. News for the current year's league would be on. Ritchie didn't know many of the trainers, other then the obvious one. Ash had made it far. Hearing if his friend had managed to win that day would be welcomed news, as much of a pickup as it could be given the rest of the day's events.
Instead of seeing the faces of Ash or any new fresh trainers, their happy pokemon engaged in the sport of battle, Ritchie ended up seeing himself, and his own pokemon. Specifically, it was the one he'd been trying hard not to think about, poor Zippo. Ritchie saw it on the screen as if it had battled that day, when it was from the first league he'd participated in two years ago. Ritchie recognized the match from memory. It had been the top 64, and both he and Zippo had been so happy then. It was while they could still be happy about getting so far, before the amount of success was undeserved and therefore embarrassing.
Thinking of that time would be preferable, but Ritchie's mind kept filling with scenes from earlier in the day. He'd never seen a pokemon die before, and had been warned how different it was to humans and other animals. Even with that warning, he hadn't been prepared for what he'd seen. It was far before Zippo's time, so it cried out as it melted down, seeming to struggle to maintain its form, a very disturbing sight. Then it was just gone.
The pokemon had deserved far better. Zippo had been Ritchie's starting pokemon, innocently happy to see him when it had been brought to his door on his first day as a trainer. Charmander were supposed to be the most difficult to train, but Zippo had always been agreeable. It was delighted to respond to the nickname Ritchie gave it, then engage in any kind of battles for any length of time. As a charmander, charmeleon, and even charizard, it was fairly kind and patient with both humans and other pokemon. Zippo the charmander approached everyone to greet them. As a charmeleon, and especially a charizard, it had seemed more standoffish, but Ritchie knew his first partner was just considering how others may be intimidated if the large pokemon walked right over to them. Zippo was kind enough to consider everyone.
Such a gentle pokemon hadn't deserved to be destroyed. Historically, any pokemon known to have killed a human had been. That was the driving fact behind the decision. Some had argued that since Zippo was a champion's pokemon, maybe it should be spared. Others had argued that being a champion's pokemon was all the more reason that it should be put down. The most vocal person with this opinion was the rocket boss, who seemed to have lost his favor for the current champion with the loss of his employee. So Zippo ended up taking the punishment for a human death during a pokemon battle.
If anyone should have been blamed for that man's death, it should have been Ritchie himself. He was the trainer. He hadn't observed what was going on closely enough. Being more eager to win and not back down, the so-called champion had made an extremely poor call as he ignored everything but the battle. Ritchie had filtered his attention to just the pokemon, as if it were a simple one in a safe arena. Because of that, Ritchie's pokemon had been given poor direction in a dangerous situation. Poor Zippo had been horrified by the results of the accident. Such results weren't its fault - Zippo had only acted in accordance with its trainer's orders.
But before blaming himself, Ritchie wanted to blame the person that had died. That man should have just kept his pokemon out. There was no danger in keeping it there just a moment longer. Then the other charizard would have taken the brunt of the attack, and there would have been no casualties. But maybe he hadn't seen that. Ritchie had been told he'd had good timing in battle. Of course, that had been before the awful incident.
Ritchie had been somewhat interested in who the person was. He'd dismissed both the deceased and his partner when they'd met, not bothering to make any notes or even remember their introductions. The current newspapers didn't seem to be of much use with figuring anything out in the present. They talked about the incident, sure, but couldn't even be consistent with the rocket agent's name or what city he was from. They talked about the late rocket agent's volunteer work, humanitarian spirit, and how he was loved by all. They interviewed various people, probably all connected to Team Rocket, who talked about how close they were to the deceased and all the good he had done, for them and the world. They went on and on about what a tragedy it was.
It was all absolute crap, of course. Ritchie recalled the person's sharp tongue and violent tendencies. There was also the fact he worked for Team Rocket. All together, he had hardly been the humanitarian the media was trying to show. Ritchie recalled that person kicking him specifically, demanding information for the still missing legendary birds. That memory alone was enough to remind Ritchie why he had hated that person. The champion hadn't meant to kill the rocket agent, but related circumstances aside, couldn't exactly be sad about that specific human being dead.
Even so, despite looking, proof that the person who had died had been a villain who without a doubt deserved it couldn't be found.
Instead, the TV people talked about if Ritchie was a fit trainer, how many trainers were fit if even Ritchie himself as a carefully chosen elite wasn't, and if he should have his championship status removed. Most of the talking heads agreed yes. Ritchie also agreed, but then again, he never had seen himself as worthy of such a thing.
Finally, they did an update on the league. Ash had indeed made it through the day, continuing on to the next. That was good news at least. Maybe Ritchie should visit him.
As the champion walked through the stands of the pokemon league, there were varied reactions. Some scooted away and whispered, others approached him and asked for a signature. One older girl actually gave condolences for his lost pokemon from the previous day. This prompted a man nearby to ask what Ritchie was thinking of to replace that member of his team.
Replace Zippo? Ritchie blinked back tears, but managed to force a smile anyway. "Please, I'm not ready to talk about that," he said politely. "I'm just here to watch my friend compete."
"Which of the final four is your friend?"
That's right, this was the final day, so it was fairly easy to guess who Ritchie may have been referring to. Would there be a stigma against Ash for being friends with the incompetent champion who had allowed his pokemon to harm someone? "I'm sure to root for everyone. I hope there's some fun matches today," Ritchie said, sidestepping the question before going to his private, reserved seat.
Ash won the second of the morning matches easily, the vibrant boy and his pikachu both performing well against several pokemon before Ash gave his others a turn. Both Ash and Pikachu waved to the audience as they completed, getting loud cheers. For a moment, Ritchie allowed himself to fall into enjoyment he'd felt watching the league and other similar events before even becoming a trainer. During the break before the final match, he walked around, getting more of the same reactions as the champion, and was reminded of his trainer status, the multiple responsibilities related to that, and how badly he'd let everyone down.
He tried to avoid people before the final match began. Ash won, even more easily the his previous match of the day. The crowd loudly cheered, and Ritchie felt some vicarious happiness for the superior trainer. A while after everything was over, he went to meet his friend in the competitor's area.
"Hey, Ash! You did it!" Ritchie cheerfully greeted the other boy.
"Oh, hey Ritchie," Ash greeted. Ritchie could almost mistake the other boy's pleasant demeanor as acting like everything was the same as before, but then Ash glanced away. Ritchie did the same, then caught sight of the reflection of the pair of them in a nearby window. People had said they looked alike in leagues past, commentators even calling Ash his 'clone', but currently, no one would make such comparisons. Ash was taller, even becoming somewhat more muscular, while Ritchie hadn't grown as much in the recent year. Besides that, Ritchie dressed more formally while Ash still wore casual clothing typical of traveling trainers. He even still had a league hat covering overgrown hair, while Ritchie had been sure to trim his own regularly since getting the title of champion. Despite past similarities, they really were different now.
"Well, I just wanted to congratulate you. I know you're probably busy now, so I'll let you get going." With that, Ritchie ended the conversation. He had come for a distraction, not to force anyone to talk to him, after all.
"Wait!" Ash called out before Ritchie had gotten too far away. "I haven't talked to you, you know, since-" Ash stopped, again turning away.
Since they'd recovered the stolen pokemon through joint efforts, of course. Ash had gotten the location they needed while Ritchie had used his connections to be sure that the process was set in motion for law enforcement to follow through. Ash had wanted to go to the location himself, Ritchie had someone drive them. Ritchie turned back to his friend. "We made sure everyone got home," Ritchie said. That day had been a success of their mutual efforts, something to celebrate.
"Yeah, it was great," Ash declared strongly, gripping his fist with a smile.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.
Ash's expression soon became more serious. "But I know about... Um, yeah, everyone knows about that," he muttered.
Right, just a few short weeks later, Ritchie had been one of the few whose pokemon had killed a human, accident or not. The weight of a human life, regardless of the value of said life, was heavy.
"I know your charizard didn't mean to," Ash said.
"Yeah... Thanks," Ritchie said. "I really just want to move past it."
"Yeah, I get it," Ash said. "It just makes me mad, how Team Rocket lies about you and them. And people forget what they did, just because of that accident."
"You think it was an accident?" Ritchie asked. He then bit his lip. What a question, what an unpleasant position to put his friend in by asking it.
But Ash answered without hesitation. "Well, yeah. Pokemon don't want to hurt people, right Pikachu?"
"Pikachu..." Pikachu called as it frowned, lowering its ears before it looked to the ground.
Of course pokemon would be disturbed by the situation as well. "Yeah. It was an accident," Ritchie declared. He hadn't respected common safety protocols including distance between battling pokemon and trainers or buildings, and there were other reckless actions he'd engaged in as well as he tried to corner and intimidate the rocket agents. Even with those facts, it was an accident.
"Team Rocket does bad things that aren't accidents, even now," Ash said. "They hurt pokemon and people. They just do whatever they want without thinking about that. Now that I won the league, I want to try and find out how to stop them for good."
Though in previous years, he'd have said he could help, Ritchie couldn't currently do the same. Who was he to offer his help? All the current 'champion' had done was rely on others. His actions reflected poorly on his fellow elites, who had helped him so much. Besides that, there was the matter of his pokemon. He relied on them more than anything else. By saying he'd help, Ritchie would only be offering to put his pokemon in further peril, apparently without being able to give them the protection they needed in return. Anything he offered would actually be forcing others to help.
"Hey, Ritchie, you okay?" Ash asked.
Ritchie realized he'd certainly been showing his moroseness, the pain of his various regrets. He shook his head and forced himself to put on a pleasant face for Ash, though he wasn't sure how successful he was. "I really hope you can stop them," Ritchie said.
"Yeah! I mean, they aren't doing much now, but when they do evil stuff again, that's what I'm gonna do," Ash said.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu called with as much passion as its trainer, seeming to agree with the sentiment.
"That's true," Ritchie said. "Maybe they are trying to be better," the champion suggested, though he certainly didn't believe it. "Or at least have people think they are. I see them everywhere now, and they don't seem up to anything." At home in Viridian, and various other places, the uniformed agents walked out in the open. This time the previous year, Team Rocket agents had seemed to be in hiding, but at the current time, they were all over the audience, many seen happily talking with other audience members, even. "I even saw the two I had first met, you know, when you helped me out. I saw them watching today."
"You mean Jessie and James?" Ash said. His attention previously fading, Ritchie's friend now had a hyperfocus on the moment.
"Yeah, I think. With the talking meowth. They were just sitting there watching, so I didn't bother with them," Ritchie said.
"Where?"
Ritchie told him. With that information, Ash gave a quick good-bye before running off with his pokemon. The champion turned, heading for the more discreet exit to the venue he'd become familiar with during his own participation. He was done, both for the day and in general.
"What an exciting spectacle!" Jessie exclaimed to the people that sat down behind her and James in the stadium as she stood. She pulled down the sleeves on her new, dapper uniform to be sure she looked properly professional to those around her. Though the older uniform was preferable, especially considering the new one was black and long-sleeved in the now summer weather, she was going to play the role the boss had assigned to them. Besides, they wouldn't be recognized as the 'fake' Team Rocket this way.
"I agree, Jessie," James stood next to her, grinning. "I wonder if I can compete in the future. As long as all the safety measures are taken," James added, his enthusiastic tone wavering.
"Hey..." a man addressed them. "Did you two see the champion pass by earlier? It looked like he noticed you or something."
"I didn't notice," James said. "Maybe he recalled me. It was my best friend that his pokemon carelessly killed, you know." James leaned on Jessie, putting his hand to his face.
"Yeah, you guys are Team Rocket, aren't you? I thought that was your uniform," the boy added, shaking his head.
"We certainly are," Jessie confirmed. "There, there, James." She took the time to calm his partner's mock upset before she continued, "We're always around to find out more about what's going on in the world of pokemon, just like our friend was that day. Not everyone takes as much caution as us when it comes to these matters, though."
"Don't the elites even know how careful we have to be?!" James demanded, his voice going high. Jessie embraced him, stroking his head.
"They should." The man frowned. "I mean, I'm not even a trainer and I know. Do you think that kid that won today knows? I think he's about the champion's age."
"I would hope so, but I'm not familiar with their procedures," Jessie said, holding James closer as he let out a sob. "At Team Rocket, we take every precaution. At an event run by us, there would be no mistakes like the one that killed our dear friend."
"I miss him, Jessie!" James insisted, clenching his fist before wiping his eyes.
"It's so important to be careful. When someone dies, that can't be undone," Jessie insisted coldly.
The man offered condolences. He chatted with them more before leaving. Jessie and James looked around, seeing no others nearby during the recess, then sat down for their break, Jessie rolling her sleeves back up and fanning herself. Meowth wandered over, holding a bag with a variety of snacks. "Finally!" Jessie exclaimed, grabbing for the cold drink before taking out some popcorn. "Let's take a breather before we put on this show for anyone else."
James also took something to eat, but Meowth just slumped over on the chair, frowning. "It's done, right?" it asked, impatiently staring out into the empty arena.
"Haven't you ever watched a complete league before?" Jessie asked.
"Not really," Meowth said, its eyes drooping in boredom.
"There's the final ceremony for the top participants, and various other events to fill the time," James informed between eating one of the snacks they'd bought.
"We got a winner, and now it's just boring," Meowth complained. "Let's just go."
"So, you want to complain to the boss about the free trip? Tell him we're done following his orders?" Jessie said.
"No! No way!" Meowth sat up, suddenly energized. "I guess it was kind of fun to see the battles. Everyone here was tops."
"The violent brat won," Jessie noted, staring as she saw some people enter the field, though apparently it wasn't to start anything. "Thanks to Pikachu, of course," she said.
"That goes to prove even more that we were right about Pikachu all along, doesn't it?" James said.
"Yeah." Meowth suddenly started to sweat, recalling the last time they'd actually had the pokemon under discussion in their possession.
"What's with you, Meowth?" Jessie asked as she stood up and stretched. "You're the one that wanted to get Pikachu the most, weren't you?"
"Yeah. I know Pikachu's the best," Meowth said, still unable to summon the enthusiasm it used to have about having the powerful electric type join them.
"But you never got over your fight?" James suggested between bites.
The boss hadn't been that concerned, so Meowth ought to get over it as well. Even so, the whole situation was unsettling. Despite everything, Meowth still liked Pikachu, having fond memories of the times they'd interacted and had fun together, including on that very day at the formerly secret rocket headquarters. Pikachu had emoted to Meowth later that it had thought their boss was a very bad guy, and had wanted to attack him to protect Meowth.
The boss wasn't really that bad. That aside, was it up to a pokemon to judge if a human should keep their life?
"Ha, who knew pokemon held a grudge," Jessie commented with some amusement as she sat back down, folding her arms as she stared onto the field.
"Maybe one day, Pikachu will join us all on its own," Meowth said.
"Yeah, maybe," Jessie said.
"The boss has other priorities at the moment," James said. "So of course we won't be resorting to our former methods to acquire pokemon, even powerful ones like Pikachu."
"Yeah," Jessie casually agreed before sighing. "This really is dull..." she commented.
"Say," Meowth began, standing on the chair and staring at the field before side-eyeing its partners. "What do you two think of pokemon that kill humans?"
"Huh?" Jessie turned to Meowth with an eyebrow raised at the sudden weird topic.
"Are you talking about the pokemon that killed Cassidy's partner?" James said.
"Um, yeah," Meowth tentatively agreed, again looking back out at the field.
"It was put to death, right?" James said.
"Really?" Jessie said, focusing on her partner and the interesting topic at hand.
"Just yesterday, I read," James said.
"Uh, yeah. Pokemon like that, that go and kill humans 'cause they feel like it," Meowth said, putting its claws together tentatively as it looked back at the two humans.
"Are you plotting something?" James said, putting his hands up in defense.
"Na, no way," Meowth protested, smiling to emphasize it. "I'd never kill humans, though me and every other pokemon easily could." Meowth gave a strained laugh that went on a little too long. "We're sturdy monsters that have all kinds of destructive techniques. Even the weakest of us are scary, scary, scary!" Meowth put up its paws, extended its claws, and grinned as it forced another laugh. "I could slice up any human quicker than it takes you to make a sandwich if I really wanted to!"
Jessie scowled. "Cut it out!" she shouted, pushing Meowth out of its seat and onto the stairs.
"Hey, I was just asking your thoughts," Meowth said as it picked itself up.
"I don't think anyone really wants to kill anyone," Jessie declared with exasperation.
"You might be wrong there," Meowth said as it looked up.
Jessie and James both stood as they noticed Ash and Pikachu walking up the stairs, now right in front of Meowth. "Oh. So it's the violent brat," Jessie commented casually.
"Is he here just to see us, you think?" James asked.
"Yeah," Ash confirmed. "I wanted to make sure you weren't up to something."
"We're just watching the show, like everyone else," Jessie noted, sweeping around her hands at the large audience around them.
"Are you here for Team Rocket?" Ash asked.
"Obviously," Jessie said, pointing to the now more discreet emblem on her uniform. "Actually though, I think we're done. You're right, Meowth, no need to stay around, especially with a violent brat like this being celebrated as the winner. Who knows what he might try, even though we're just here doing our job." Jessie stood up, shuffling to the end of the row in the opposite direction from Ash.
"Meowth, what do you think of humans that kill other humans?" James asked as he also stood. "You'd be surprised at how frightening some of us can be. We may not be able to spit fire or summon lightning like you pokemon, but we have other methods, like stabbing."
"Uh..." Meowth wasn't sure what to say, but turned out the question was rhetorical, since James was already following Jessie on his way out.
"James, wait," Ash said. When James turned his way, he looked at the ground. "I'm really sorry... You know, for what I did."
"Hmph." James almost seemed amused before he narrowed his eyes at Ash. "Why are you apologizing to your enemy?"
Next chapter: Seymour vs. Team Rocket