I'm splitting this into two parts. There's a lot to get through.
Cheers for the reviews RKF22. Means a lot.
Chapter 12- a series of deep conversations
The next few days were a whirlwind for Ash. Pikachu refused to talk about what was bothering him. Ash was a little irritated at him but as it was his story to tell he let it slide. He informed the rest of the group though about what had transpired between them and Zapdos. Needless to say, their awe for Pikachu went up a few notches but overall, they decided not to treat him any different. They had been in Rock Tunnel now for 2 days and the end didn't look any nearer. Along the way they had battled many trainers which helped Squirtle become more accustomed to Ash's battle style of hit quick and hit hard.
"As you progress you will become extremely more agile with your moves, so much so that if you choose to become Wartortle or Blastoise you won't have as limited mobility as many of your species have. We're looking to improve you now so that when you get to that point you will become an unassailable fortress and no longer fear attacks from Electric types or Grass types and can face them head on. That's not to say they won't affect you, but you'll become more immune. Lucky and critical hits are still a thing. At the moment, because of the weights you're becoming faster at dodging attacks. But your aim is pretty poor for now so we're going to be doing target practice. Bulbasaur is going to be sending out Razor Leaf's at you and you're going to be hitting them in mid-air with whatever ranged attack you like. Now he has supreme control over his blades, even in the air so eventually he will be controlling them to change their direction. For now, though they will be coming straight at you.
Bulbasaur, were going to be working on Sludge when Squirtle is doing running practice. I had an idea about that. Is there any way that you can condense your Poison Powder into a ball instead of spores?"
"Possibly" Bulbasaur said thinking "I will have to meditate on that though as its all an internal reaction in my bud. Think of the inside of my bud as separate compartments that open up when using a status attack and close the others at the same time so they can't interfere with each other."
"You're essentially a plant though, right?" Charmander asked joining in
"More or less, yes. It's a bit more complex than that but essentially, you're right" Bulbasaur replied "why?"
"Well, most plants can produce that sticky stuff, right?" Charmander asked.
"Sap" Bulbasaur interjected helpfully.
"That's the one. Well, what if you leaked Sap at the same time as you released your poison powder" Charmander said "would that work?"
Thinking, Bulbasaur took a minute to work it out in his head. Slowly he began to think out loud "that might actually work you know. But rather than leaking sap I could try and make it so that the sap doesn't actually go anywhere. If I attach the spores to the sap, it might be a makeshift Sludge. I would then have to figure out how to release it as an attack after that. Usually, I just shake the bud and it releases spores, which are lighter than air and therefore travel easier. This will be much trickier as sap is sticky and usually it just oozes."
"Well, we'll have to get the first part working first" Ash said as he listened in to their interaction "we'll try and figure out the mechanics after that. It may be that you run around and let the sludge drop to the ground that way, to keep your opponent penned in. It's not ideal but for now it's likely all we may have. Now, Charmander. You're much trickier to deal with at the moment."
"Why?" he asked confused.
"Because you nearly evolved at the Power Plant." Ash said seriously causing the others to listen in intently "which means a few things will have to happen before we go forward. I'll start by saying no matter which option you choose you will still be a part of our team and family. Now, the first option is that we just do light training from now on so as not to stress your body. The obvious downside to this is that you can't participate in actual battles. The second option is that when we leave here, we buy an Everstone at the Poke Mart. This has the same drawback as the first option, with the limited training and battle use until we get one. The final option is that you evolve, and we continue on as normal."
"I'm not sure I want to evolve yet Ash. I don't feel ready mentally to do so." Charmander said sadly.
"Your body however is telling you a different thing" Ash said "Your mind might not be ready, but your body is. Squirtle, Bulbasaur. You need to give this some thought too as you're all rapidly approaching the same point Charmander is at. Bulbasaur, your body is a much lighter shade than it was when we first met, and your body has got much bigger. Your bud is also starting to open more which means you maybe have two to three weeks before you'll be in the same situation. Squirtle, your ears are beginning to curl at the edges and your shell has become much harder. Your legs are also becoming much longer and sturdier so I would say you have maybe three weeks, a month at most before this too becomes an issue. Luckily by that point we'll have made it to the nearest mart where I can order three Everstones but until then you all need to give it serious thought.
Our training has likely accelerated your evolution process given how hard we train and the toughness your body has developed is approaching a time where some change will need to happen to cope with the added stress. For now though the rest of you go and start training, Charmander I want you to take the morning off training to have a think about what you want. If you need advice, we're all here to talk to."
With that Ash stood up and began his own fitness routine. He had started trying to develop his aura strength more by infusing his fists with aura and punching rocks. He didn't have the gym on hand that a centre had, nor were there and trees to practice his usual 100 pull ups a day and his upside-down crunches. He had developed very well over the last four months, and while he didn't see any change himself it would be very noticeable to others. He was incredibly fit for someone twice his age and had sprouted to over five feet in such a short time. Settling into his Kata stance he began punching the wall, focusing more and more aura as he progressed.
They had become so focused on their training that they didn't see they had an audience. Hearing a cough made them all stop and turn to the place the noise came from. "Who's there?" Ash said getting into an offensive stance and ready to launch an Aura Sphere into the darkness around him.
"Easy there, lad" a familiar voice said as Bruno came out of the shadows. "Interesting training methods you're using there."
"Bruno?" Ash said relaxing his stance and walking over to his camp where he pulled out water for them all. Handing Bruno a bottle he sat down cross legged as Bruno did the same "I have to admit, I didn't expect to see you in here"
"Aye lad. I was sent here by Lance to investigate what happened at Power Plant. Nurse Joy told me you left the centre around two days ago and were making your way through here. I know this place very well, it's where I first met my Onix many years ago, Onix heard you punching the wall from around half a mile away" Bruno said, "the officer who took your statement wasn't very clear of the details, your description however intrigued me."
Shaking his head in disbelief Ash said "five different officers took my statement Bruno, five. How can they not give you a clear indication about what happened?"
"Well lad that might be because you left out key parts of what happened" Bruno said wryly giving him a look. "Particularly Team Rocket being involved."
"I was ordered not to by Lance." Ash said sighing "I disrupted a team in Mt Moon who were after the fabled Moonstone and were performing inhuman experiments on the Pokémon there. I stole a laptop and sent it anonymously to him. Evidently it wasn't anonymous enough as he sent me a personal email a few days after instructing me to keep certain things quiet and that he would be in touch with me. He hasn't yet called. He also sent me an email not long ago asking about my interaction with an Ancient. He's not replied back to that one either. But when I disrupted Team Rocket at Power Plant, I remembered what Lance had said and left out their involvement."
"Jenny is under the impression that a gang tried to steal electricity and was attacked by a Zapdos" Bruno said chuckling "what actually happened?"
Ash told him of what happened the entire day. He left out killing the Rocket member in the hallway, but the rest was a true description of what happened. "I didn't plan on having the last guy die" Ash said "but I failed to remember him when I came up with my desperate plan to save Zapdos. I'm not sorry the scumbag died Bruno, what they were doing was unforgivable to me. But I am sorry that I didn't think of him at the time. You could have gained much more information about their master plan from him."
"What makes you think there's a master plan?" Bruno asked raising an eyebrow.
"I know there's a master plan Bruno because both teams I've encountered have mentioned a big project coming up that they wished they would be a part of." Ash said wryly "and it doesn't sound like it's going to be good for the rest of us. And I have a feeling that I'm going to smack bang in the middle of it. Don't ask me why, it's just a feeling I have given how often I have encountered them in just four months."
"What I'm about to tell you was never uttered, do you understand me, Ash?" Bruno said leaning in looking serious "ten years ago your father took part in an investigation on Cinnabar Island after the laboratories there exploded suddenly. Team Rocket was a new upcoming gang at the time who claimed they wanted world domination. To do so they tried to create a Pokémon using a fossil we recovered. That fossil contained the DNA of Mew, and they financed its creation in a hidden lab underneath the volcano. Something went horribly wrong, and the explosion set off a chain reaction that made the volcano erupt. Half of Cinnabar was under molten lava within an hour. It took several years for the island to recover, it's still nowhere near what it was. It's now a tourist place actually but I'm getting off point.
The experiment went wrong. Something happened. We have no idea what. The lab was covered by lava so we could not find any information about what was created, if anything was successfully created in the first place. We believe that creation survived and that it was that what wiped out Viridian Gym and killed your father and the leader of Team Rocket. We also have reason to believe they want to create another one. We have no proof, however. Your information on the laptop wasn't much use I'm afraid. Just results from the experiments inside Mt Moon. But it was well thought out by you. Power Plant was a bust for us too given how there were no survivors. I doubt they would know much about it given how secret the new leader is being. We have several leads but nothing concrete about who he or she is."
Standing up Bruno shook his pants of dirt and Ash did the same. "Now, before I go, I'm going to say something that will stay between us. My wife would not thank me for this as she wants to do this in person. But she is deeply sorry for what happened at Cerulean Gym."
"I'm still angry about that Bruno." Ash said "I lost a lot of respect for her over that. If she'd have told me beforehand that she had a different challenge in mind, like Brock and Lt Surge I wouldn't have minded. Brock and Lt Surge explained their changes to my challenge and gave me valid reasons why. Your wife decided to stack the deck against me at the last minute simply to see me fail."
Holding a big hand up he stopped Ash "No she did not Ash. She told me everything you said to her, including about how you've not had a decent challenge since you faced Brocks Golem. Not only that but she knew if you just used Pikachu, you would crush those three girls and she didn't want that. She has a soft spot for them. Their parents died in a horrific accident a few years ago and their shows are their way of making sure their gym doesn't get taken away from them so she's kind of adopted them."
"That has nothing to do with me Bruno" Ash said "I would have been more than happy to have my initial battle, get my badge and leave. As it was, they were extremely rude and denied me a battle. Twice. They're the gym leaders, it's their job. Blue, Lance and Goodshow have given me a mission to inspect the gyms as I challenge them. I did what I was asked to do. Your wife might be empathetic to them, but I don't know them and as such I don't care about them. Now, I'll take your apology for what it is, and we'll move on. I'm still not happy with your wife though."
"And I'm aware of that as is Lorelei." Bruno said "but be mindful of what you say, she is my wife, and I will defend her when necessary. Right now, you're only a kid. Soon though you'll be a man and the relationships you cultivate now have a massive impact on your future. My wife is a wonderful human being who made a mistake in not talking to you beforehand. It was not personal as you seem to want it to be. Maybe you should ask yourself why you believe that."
"It certainly seemed that way with how she responded to my protests. As I said though, we'll move on." Ash said starting to pack up and recalling his team. Shaking his head Bruno said his goodbyes and left melting into the darkness.
"Are you still angry about Lorelei?" Pikachu asked.
"No, not anymore Pi" Ash said "I moved on from it the day afterwards when I gave my apologies for my behaviour to the sisters. What I did to them was wrong. What I said to Lorelei wasn't. But my mother was right about one thing. When I'm out traveling, I represent not just myself but her too. And I need to get a handle on my anger when I feel aggrieved."
"So why did you tell Bruno the opposite?" Pikachu asked perplexed.
"I told Bruno I was still mad at his wife because even Elite Four members need to realise that their actions have consequences, just like a rookie does." Ash said as they began walking "it shouldn't take a rookie to have to point that out to them. Now let's get cracking shall we. I want to make it out of here by sunset tomorrow at the latest. It's starting to feel uncomfortable in here."
If Ash had sent out an aura pulse, he would have realised that Bruno hadn't completely disappeared and heard every word. Ash was right in a way. Those that get to the top sometimes forget what they felt when they were at the bottom. It was good to be reminded every now and then to stay humble. Sending out his Onix they tunnelled their way out of the mountain.
That night Ash set up camp for hopefully the last time in Rock Tunnel. He wouldn't be returning here in a hurry he decided. Honestly, why people still travel through here baffled him. Apart from the occasional rock type and Cubone there was nothing here and no reason to be in here. Conversation was stilted that night as Charmander had still not come to a decision. "It's ok. We'll decide when we get to Lavender Town. As I said earlier though we can't risk training too hard, but you can still do your daily exercises. A decision will have to be made then though."
That night they all decided to stay out of their pokeballs so that they could talk while Ash slept.
"I'm worried about changing who I am" Charmander said suddenly halting their conversations. "And I can't keep placing blame on Damien for what he did. Why am I believing Ash is the same as him?"
"Is that's what's bothering you?" Bulbasaur asked.
"Yeah" Charmander said "I know my temperament. I know how driven I am. And I know that will just get worse if I evolve."
"Then stay as a Charmander" Squirtle said as if it were obvious.
"It's not that simple" Charmander said exasperated "I will never reach my full potential as a Charmander. I want to prove Damien was wrong for what he did, calling me weak and making me feel worthless. I don't know what to do."
After a few minutes of silence, it was Squirtle who piped up "you need to evolve Charmander. You said it yourself that you have a desire to make Moltres be the second-best Kanto Fire bird. You've told us that many times. So, you already knew that you were going to reach your final stage at some point. The problem here is not evolving, it's your behaviour after you do so. Take Damien out of the equation. Give me a reason to stay as a Charmander. Temperament does not come into it. You will change your mindset to accommodate your new body. That's fact. Will you suddenly lose respect for Ash? Given how driven he is to be the best you two are a perfect match. You're also forgetting us. We won't let you get a big head. Ash once told me that we were all family and that we sort issues out together as a family. Your thoughts on this are making a mockery of that. I'm aware I've been here the shortest amount of time. But that's only by a few weeks. I have already decided I won't fight evolution when it comes. Ash will need us at our best to fight whatever Arceus fears, and if that means evolving to do so I will. I don't want to be put into a situation where evolution could have solved a problem, just because I was stubborn."
"Squirtle is right you know" Bulbasaur piped up after a few minutes of thinking looking at Charmander "I hadn't planned on evolving myself after what my previous trainer put me through. I wanted to prove I was better as a Bulbasaur for my own selfish needs. I know we haven't lost a battle yet, but I don't believe Ash will care if I lose against a stronger foe. He won't mock us or belittle us. Instead, he'll use it as motivation to do better next time. I don't think evolution is as near as he thinks though. I will ask for an Everstone stone simply to master the strongest moves I can learn. Then I'll evolve. You on the other hand have reached a point where your body is telling you it cannot physically cope with the demands your power has reached. You need to evolve."
"I'm done with evolution" Pikachu said "I've evolved once, and I love how I feel as a Pikachu. The moves I learn as a Raichu aren't enough to convince me I need to evolve again. My electric attacks are already superior to most fully evolved electric Pokémon and the physical moves I learn as a Raichu are just not worth it. So, I'm done. I agree with the others though Charmander. You have reached a point where you're not going to get better. What other moves can you learn to improve yourself? Flamethrower? Dragon Claw? I think that's about it really and you're already close to that with your Ember."
"I know you guys are right" Charmander said "it's just telling my head that that's the issue" standing up Charmander went and curled up next to Ash and closed his eyes not seeing Ash do the same. The others stayed up a bit longer before going to sleep themselves. The next day was more of the same for the group as they made their way through the darkness of Rock Tunnel. Luckily there was torches at strategic places with arrows on where the exit is throughout the place so you couldn't really get lost. Following them Ash eventually saw a light in the distance. "Looks like we made it guys" checking his pokegear he saw it was a little after 3pm "we should be able to make it into Lavender by tonight if we decide to carry on walking, what do you guys think?" receiving shouts of affirmation Ash led the procession out of the tunnel and breathed fresh air for the first time in four days.
"Hey, you" a voice shouted at them making them all look up. Seeing a huge man walking towards them Ash wondered what he wanted "You've just come out of the tunnel right?"
"Yeah, I have, we've been in there four days. Why?" Ash asked.
"Well, you're a trainer, right? I challenge you to a battle" he said smirking.
"You are kidding?" Ash asked incredulously. "I've literally just told you we've been in there for four days. We're exhausted. So, no. We won't be battling you" Ash began walking away but before he could get very far the man moved in front of him stopping him from leaving.
"Well, I say we are battling. You're a trainer, so am I. And you're not leaving until I say so kid" the man said towering over Ash.
Ash had had enough of the guy. Fusing his hand with aura he pulled his arm back and punched the man in the closest place that would do the most damage. His balls. Immediately Ash felt the man crumble around his hand, collapsing to the ground squealing in agony. Stepping around him Ash carried on walking leaving the man squealing in pain. Ash had walked abut twenty feet away when he heard something moving towards him from behind. As Ash turned round to face it a red blur jumped in front of whatever it was, followed by a terrific blinding light and then an amazing source of heat rushing away from Ash.
Blinking Ash took in what had happened. The trainer had managed to get to his knees still holding his privates and had called out a Pokémon which had attacked Ash on his command. Charmander had seen the attack and knew Ash wouldn't be able to turn around in time and jumped in front of him to protect him and in doing so had triggered his evolution. Rather than stop himself he let it happen and immediately felt a rush of power stir up inside him as he launched a Flamethrower at the attacking Pokémon blasting it back into the wall of Rock Tunnel. Taking an attacking stance, he narrowed his eyes at the trainer who was open mouthed at what happened. "Meleon" he growled letting his claws unsheathe as he began to stalk towards the trainer. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looked around in anger and found his wrath quell. Ash was standing there with clear pride in his eyes "No Charmeleon. Thank you for saving me, it was greatly appreciated. But your opponent is down. There is no honour in attacking the trainer for his foolishness" the words caused Charmeleons anger to return as he turned around and let flames build up behind his teeth "No Charmeleon" Ash said with a firmer grip of him "your opponent is beaten" turning back to Ash they stared at each other for a good thirty seconds, neither one backing down. Huffing Charmeleon put his claws away and stalked up to the trainer, who was still on his knees. Ash watched on cautiously as Charmeleon got into the man's face causing him to lean back from the heat coming from his mouth.
"I know you won't be able to understand me, but my trainer just saved your life. Next time you won't be so lucky" walking back to Ash he pressed his pokeball on Ash's belt and returned himself, clearly still too angry to trust himself.
"What, what did it say?" the trainer stammered fearfully.
"He said that you should be thankful I was here to stop him killing you for your cowardice and that next time you won't be so lucky." Ash said "next time I won't stop him" walking away the group followed him in silence, mentally preparing themselves for the conversation that was bound to happen that night. "I'm very proud of him guys" Ash said suddenly breaking the awkward silence "I know why he's angry, the choice of evolving was taken from him by that coward. Add that to the fact I stopped him getting retribution and I have an angry Pokémon on my hands."
"He removed himself from the situation though Ash" Squirtle said "he was very scared that this would happen to him you know? He was afraid that he would change who he is upon evolution.
"He was always going to change Squirtle" Ash said "you all know this. Evolution doesn't just change a Pokémon's body. And it's pretty evident by his reaction that he has a close ancestor that was a dragon. I actually suspect it was his father. They don't stop until their opponent is down and can't move anymore. The Graveler wasn't the only opponent he saw back there. That guy is bloody lucky I stopped Charmeleon from killing him. He attacked Charmeleons family. Very few live after doing that normally."
"You're not wrong" Pikachu said "I would have done so myself if you'd have let me. I'd do it for any of you."
"Well, we're all going to talk to him when we reach Lavender Tower." Ash said "We'll all make him understand that he wasn't wrong for feeling the way he is. And removing himself proved that he knows when to back down. I'm very proud of him."
The walk to Lavender Town was full of random conversation. The cheerful conversation lasted until he set foot across the threshold of Lavender Town when the air immediately became oppressive. He immediately recalled everyone safely back into their pokeballs.
"Ash" Pikachu said cautiously "something is wrong with this town."
"I agree Pikachu" he replied. "Something has happened recently. You can feel how heavy the air is here as soon as we walked into the town. Let's go to the Centre and ask Joy what's going on." Walking through the town Ash was assaulted by heavy spikes of oppression from time to time. Something was trying to take over his mind. Walking into the centre he spotted Joy and went to talk to her. He was taken aback by how rough she looked. Her normally coiffured hair was lank, her eyes were bloodshot, and her face looked gaunt. Normally Joys had a cheery disposition, but this Joy had seemingly given up hope.
"Nurse Joy" Ash said walking up to her "are you ok?" immediately she burst out crying. Frantically wondering what to do he opted for calling his mum and putting her on speakerphone "mum, you've got to help me, Nurse Joy is crying, and I don't know what to do."
"Context Ash" his mum said exasperatedly "what happened?"
"I asked her if she was ok" Ash said dumbly "that's literally the only thing I've said to her."
"That's all? Ok. Hand her the pokegear and let me talk to her" Delia said, "and let us do so in private Ash."
Handing a still sobbing Joy his pokegear she took it trembling. Ash walked about ten feet away desperately trying to hear what was being said but also knowing if his mum found out he was listening in his ears would soon be bleeding. Ten minutes later a hopeful looking, but no longer crying Joy handed him his Pokegear back and confusingly a key.
"Hello?" he said into the pokegear.
"Ash. I know what's wrong with Joy. Now, she should have handed you a key, correct?" his mum asked.
"Yeah, she has. She's looking at me strangely though" Ash said a bit concerned "what's going on?"
"I'm getting to it Ash." His mum said patiently "What I want you to do is lock the front door to the centre. You're the only person there other than Joy and no one else has visited in over two weeks so its unlikely anyone else will. You're then to walk her back to her room, make sure she's lying in bed and have Bulbasaur use Sleep Powder on her. Ok?"
"Erm, yeah sure mum" Ash said perplexed "why?"
"She's exhausted." Delia replied "She's not had a sleep in over three weeks now. Something is keeping people awake in that town so you're likely going to encounter the same thing if you go wandering so don't! I'm going to call Sam and inform him something is wrong in Lavender Town. Hopefully he can get someone to you in the next day or two. You mustn't leave the centre Ash until then or you could become affected too."
"It can't mum" Ash said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"As soon as we crossed the threshold into Lavender Town Pikachu and I felt a wave of oppression spike us." Ash said "and all the way here to the centre it kept trying persistently but was unable to grip us. I think it's because I have the gift of Aura, I kind of accidentally gave Pikachu a variant too through training. He can use Aura Sphere, so I think whatever I did to him is protecting him too. So, I think it's a Psychic type Pokémon that's doing this. Aura users are unaffected by psychics. Its why they fear us, they can't read our minds or emotions."
"That makes sense Ash." Delia said "From what your father told me its one of the reasons the Rota Royal family want to infuse their bloodline with Aura. Many years ago, one of their royals was captured and controlled by a psychic user. They ended up killing the reigning monarch before they were caught and purged. So, infusing them with Aura would put a permanent stop to that kind of coercion. Anyway, I'll let Sam know and either he or I will ring you back with more information."
"No worries mum." Ash said "I'll use the computers here to try and look for any kind of clues. Hopefully whoever they send can then sort it out. I'm getting kind of tired of being the one thrown into situations I don't need to be in."
"Good boy. I'll speak to you soon Ash" Delia replied hanging up.
Releasing all of his Pokémon he frowned as he felt the wave of oppression hit them again and he saw them stiffen up before relaxing again.
"What the hell is that, Ash?" Charmeleon asked looking furious "who dares try to control us?"
"Easy Charmeleon" Ash said "it's why were locked in here for now. Just let me take Nurse Joy back to her room and I'll join you guys here and let you know what's going on. Bulbasaur, can you come with me, my mum has a little job for you" Locking the front door Ash led a very confused Bulbasaur and a much happier looking Joy to her room. "Mum wants you to knock her out. She's not had a sleep in over three weeks now and is exhausted. Hopefully after a good rest she'll be ok, as it is she's on edge" Bulbasaur complied, and Ash tucked her in, left the front door key on her nightstand before leaving her to sleep. Walking back to the front desk he gathered them all around a table and told them what was going on.
"Why can we all resist?" Squirtle asked.
"As I told my mum I think its because of me and our training." Ash said "I frequently use Aura Spheres when training with you, the more they hit you the more your body adapted to my Aura and the more resistant you guys have become. It wouldn't surprise me if eventually you guys can use a variant of the move like Pikachu can. Psychics can affect Aura users. We're immune to them. That's my best guess anyway."
"So, are we going to find out what's causing this?" Squirtle asked.
"No, we're not" Ash said surprising them all "my mum has already got Sam working on it. We just need to stay in here and see if we can find anything to clue us in on what's going on. I made a decision after Rock Tunnel. It was something I was thinking about since the Power Plant. If I can help it, we won't be going searching for danger. I know we have a mission from Arceus, we are training for that. But situations like Mt Moon and Power Plant could have been avoided. Especially Power Plant if I'd just called the police and let them deal with it. So, going forward, we're only going to head into situations like those if we have no other choice and no other options."
"Wow" Pikachu said "that's a bit sudden. Do we not get a say in this?"
"Yes of course you guys do" Ash said to him "but I'm not going to risk your lives by playing the hero. If we have to then we will, otherwise let the police deal with it. We have too important a role to risk in situations like Power Plant. Literally the only benefit we came away with there was you finding out about your family Pikachu."
"And saved thousands of lives by stopping Team Rocket stealing the electricity" Pikachu exclaimed furiously.
"And the police would have eventually investigated the Power Plant and found out what happened Pikachu" Ash retorted "everyone knows that Kanto gets its electric supply from there. And given that no one could get through by phone they would soon have sent a team out to investigate."
"I think that's wise" Squirtle said "I was against going to Power Plant to start with but was outvoted. Another situation like that, one slip up and Team Rocket knows instantly who's been taking out their teams. At least this way we can train and get stronger before hitting them with all we've got."
"I'm not happy about this Ash" Pikachu said shaking his head "we were born to do this job."
"And we will" Ash said, "we just won't go looking for trouble that can be avoided."
"Seems cowardly to me Ash" Charmeleon piped up "I'm with Pikachu on this one. Arceus put us in your path to help you with your mission. So far, I think we've all held up our part of that deal. And now you want to stop doing it?"
"I don't want to stop doing it Charmeleon" Ash said "we all know there's going to be plenty of times that we will face danger. But actively going looking for it is something I'm trying to avoid."
"I still don't like it Ash" Charmeleon said.
"I know you don't, and I was very well aware that some of the rest of you wouldn't be either." Ash said sighing "but finding yourself in a situation and looking for that situation are two different things."
"Ash is right" Bulbasaur said "we're just rookies at the minute. We can't fix everything. There's not just us in the world than can solve problems."
"Maybe," Pikachu said "but finding ourselves in a situation we haven't trained for, in real time is also equally as dangerous. We survived Mt Moon and Power Plant. And we came out of it more experienced than when we went in. Up until Power Plant I was the only one here who had witnessed what we will have to do for Arceus. The others had only heard the stories of how it felt to kill. Now they all know what it's like. We're no longer blind to reality Ash. None of us can say we don't know what to expect anymore."
"And I get that Pikachu" Ash said "but if someone with more authority AND has the resources to sort it out can do so then that's what's going to happen. I'm Eleven years old Pikachu. I don't have any credibility yet to be able to justify interfering in other people's business. As I said trouble finds us, we will have plenty of chances to stop Team Rocket. But how long do you think we'll last should they decide we're interfering too much and throw everything they have at us? What good are we to anyone if we're dead? You and Charmeleon need to stop thinking of this in terms of cowardice and more like we're biding our time until we have the strength to act. At the minute all we are is a fledgling aura user who's still a rookie trainer with three badges who has slightly more powerful Pokémon than a rookie would normally have. We have a long way to go before we can call ourselves dangerous."
"Which is all the more reason to not hide" Charmeleon said "we need the training, in real time as Pikachu said."
"Which we will get" Ash said exasperatedly throwing his hands up in the air "you're just not listening to me. We will find ourselves in situations where we have no choice but to act. But until then we will train in secret, using the gyms and other trainers as practice. Look, I've explained this many times now. I'm not going to anymore. Congratulations on evolving Charmeleon, I'm very proud of you and very grateful that you saved me against that trainer. But I suggest you and Pikachu have a think about what I've said. Throwing ourselves recklessly into situations helps no one."
Standing up Ash left to head to the computer in the corner to look more into the history of Lavender Town. The more he searched the more confused he became. The town was famous for one thing, The Pokémon Tower. It housed the dead remains of thousands of Pokémon that had died over the years. There wasn't much more information on it. He read about the man who was caretaker of the tower, a Mr Fuji. Apparently, the bloke looked after sick Pokémon when he wasn't taking care of the tower and found them homes. He found a police report from a few months ago about him. He had been missing now though for over three months which was very strange, and his house was locked up tight, no break in and no note saying where he was going to.
Typing his name into a search engine his picture flashed up. "Now that's very interesting" Ash said out loud reading a report from years ago.
"What is?" Pikachu asked as they all trotted over. The debate wasn't over, Ash knew that much but until it was brought up again Ash decided to ignore it.
"This man, Mr Fuji is" Ash said printing off a few pages he had saved. Walking back to the waiting desks he spread them out so they could all read them together. "Now, I looked up this town to try and figure out what's going on. This town is famous for two things. The Pokémon Tower as it houses the remains of thousands of Pokémon who have died. And Mr Fuji, a man who rescues sick and abandoned Pokémon, heals them up and then finds them homes. He's apparently been missing for over three months now and no leads have ever been found to his whereabouts. A quick search about him offers up some very interesting information that none but we know. Do you remember the conversation we had in the tunnel with Bruno?"
"About your dad investigating a lab on Cinnabar that blew up, supposedly financed by Team Rocket?" Charmeleon asked "yeah, what about it?"
"Well apparently the lead scientist at the time was none other than our boy here, Mr Fuji, formerly Dr Fuji." Ash said showing them the paper on him "he was mysteriously acquitted of all crimes he 'supposedly' committed due to all the evidence being under thirty feet of lava, self-exiled to here where he committed the rest of his life to 'doing good' for the community."
"Seems like he had a guilty conscience" Squirtle piped up.
"Exactly" Ash said "now the facts of that time are this. Rocket was trying to create a Pokémon with Fuji as the lead guy. The lab blew up, evidence goes with it, dad investigated and found nothing. A few weeks later Fuji is fully acquitted after dad attacks Rocket HQ at Viridian Gym and goes missing along with the leader, with no trace of either of them or their Pokémon ever being found. Dad was declared dead extremely fast by Goodshow and Lance and his funeral happened and in that time Fuji moves here. My uncle Giovanni told me about a month before I set out on my journey that no known Psychic Pokémon could have teleported anyone out of that building and left no traces of evidence. Known Pokémon. Well, we know from Arceus that Mew has been kidnapped by Team Rocket and they're trying to clone her, maybe already have. We also know from Bruno that they tried to do so ten years ago, and no evidence survived. Except maybe it did."
"What do you mean?" Squirtle asked.
"My dad was an extraordinary trainer. He became the youngest ever Pokémon Master at age 21." Ash began as he stood up and started pacing "I've seen footage of his battles. His team were monsters, his starter is a legend in the Charicific Valley as the one that battered every single Charizard in there in combat except one. The leader of the Valley at the time, that being Professor Oaks Charizard. Which it drew against. So, he was no joke in battle. There is no way that the leader of Team Rocket could beat my father in battle unless he had a secret weapon that no-one knew about." Turning to Pikachu he continued "do you remember outside Mt Moon, the guards outside that hole at Cerulean Cave? We both felt that presence Pikachu. We all felt the power of Zapdos when it used Thunder. Whatever presence we felt outside that cave was more powerful than Zapdos given we were outside and still felt it. I believe it's whatever was initially created by Team Rocket, that escaped their clutches is in that cave. We felt it Pikachu, we felt it."
"It's a bit of a leap Ash but the evidence does fit." Pikachu said, "without the Pokémon though as evidence all this is is guess work."
"That's what's troubling me" Ash said running a hand over his face "Fuji has gone missing, at exactly the same time that Rocket starts making itself more known. I don't believe in coincidences Pikachu. I've seen fate have a hand in things far too many times over the years for me to believe in it. No, they're connected somehow. And this presence here that's oppressing people is also connected. I just don't know how yet."
"I thought you didn't want to go looking for trouble?" Charmeleon asked sarcastically causing Ash to look sharply at him.
"This is very different. This is about searching for clues about my father's disappearance." Ash said seriously "I know that Lance and Goodshow are hiding something, I know the Elite Four are doing the same. I suspect Bruno leaked that information to me on purpose and is trying to help me. Why I don't know, maybe guilt, maybe justice. All I know is that if it takes my entire life to find out I will do so."
"Good" Charmeleon said shocking him "I'm not happy with what you said before, I'm far too much of a do-er to be able to sit back and let others do something I can do. I didn't evolve by accident Ash. But this crusade for your father is something I'm fully behind. And I will help however I can. You realise though that we will likely be going into places where Team Rocket has hidden information. Maybe infiltrating the league HQ too eventually"
"I do yes" Ash said "but this is too important to me and mum to let go. Someone knows something Charmeleon. And I will find out what."
At that moment his pokegear rang startling them all. Looking at it he saw it was an unknown number. Answering he had to take the phone from his ear as the person on the other end was shouting down the phone.
"HELLO, IS THAT ASH? I really bloody hate these contraptions. HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME?" a woman's voice shouted.
"STOP SHOUTING DOWN THE BLOODY PHONE. TALK NORMALLY YOU MORON" Ash shouted back.
"Who are you calling a moron, young man? When I see you, I'll box your bloody ears" the voice asked at a more reasonable pitch,
"You, you cretin" Ash replied back "there was absolutely no need to scream down the phone."
"Well, I don't know how these bloody things work do I?" she asked "anyway is that Ash"
"Yeah, it is" Ash said shaking his head and looking at his team incredulously "this person doesn't know how to use a phone apparently. Who the hell doesn't know how to use a phone? You guys could do that!"
"I can hear you, you know" the voice said irritated.
"You were meant to" Ash retorted "now who are you?"
"Just wait until I see you. I'm the one being sent to help you out in Lavender Town" she said.
"Oh, bloody hell" Ash said pinching his nose "terrific. Why?"
"Because I'm an expert on that town young man and Ghost Pokémon. That's why!" she said, "I'll be there in the morning, 7am sharp" and with that she hung up.
"Great" Ash said shaking his head "it seems like we're getting someone who can't hear very well and is crap with technology to come and aid us. Come on guys, lets go to bed. The sooner we sleep, the sooner we wake up and the sooner we can bloody leave this place."
