Chapter 11: Noah's Secret and The Return of Ash-Greninja
Mokuba was still happy that Kaiba and Gladion managed to beat Lector and he knew that Kaiba was coming to rescue him very soon. "Hmph, you think your brother cares about you, given that Lector mentioned his past?" Annie said to Mokuba, who had enough of hearing about that incident
"Listen, ladies, I don't know who you think you are, but you don't know my brother or our family or what we've been through before being adopted into the Kaiba family," Mokuba said to Annie, who laughed at him. "What's so funny, and who are you anyway?" Mokuba said to Annie.
"Oh, we know all about your past before meeting Gozaboru. After all, Kaiba Corp is known in our group's database and is something we've had our eyes on before the change of ownership," Oakley said to Mokuba, who was shocked at this statement. "Not to mention gathering information is what Annie and I are known for in Team Rocket. Trust me, what we've been through and done is only small time compared to what other members of our organization are known for."
"That's enough, Oakley. You've said enough. After all, Mokuba needs to see the truth of what type of brother Seto is. After all, I can be a better brother than Seto ever was," Noah said to the two girls.
"No, your not family to me anyway. What makes you so better than Seto anyway? You have no connection to the Kaiba family anyway," Mokuba said. Noah was shocked by this but remained calm and typed some buttons on a wrist watch. Mokuba was curious about what Noah was doing, and before he could say anything, Kaiba just appeared right behind him.
"Huh? Seto, you've come. Finally, now we can get out of here?" Mokuba said, running to his brother. Seto didn't respond but pushed Mokuba down. "What, Seto, why are you."
"You are always messing things up, Mokuba, and you're the reason why we're here in the first place. You are always holding back the company from the start. Even when I was about to get my hands on the company from Gozaburo. You already sided with him back then, and then you got yourself captured not once but twice," Seto said to Mokuba, who was taken aback. "Why should I even bother saving you? I lost the duel to Pegasus because he used you as leverage against me and made me lose focus."
"Seto, that's not true, and you know it," Mokuba said in tears as Seto turned his back.
"You are no family to me, nor are you a part of the Kaiba family line. I blame you for everything that is happening here. Why don't you do us all a favor and stay far away from me and stay captured," Seto said to Mokuba before leaving.
"Seto, that's not true, SETO. Please come back!" Mokuba said falling to his knees, crying.
"See, what type of brother he is, Mokuba? He doesn't deserve to be part of the Kaiba family, nor is he worth your time," Noah said to Mokuba, who looked at Noah. "I can be here for you, and you can be more of a help to the company than that so-called brother of yours. In return, you forget him and are willing to get the company back from him, plus you can back him back for his lies by staying by my side," Noah said to Mokuba, who still was trying to comprehend how Seto could have said those things to him. Mokuba turned to Noah whose eyes glowed. Soon Mokuba had a glazed look in his eyes.
"Yes, Seto is no longer family to me. After all those years, he's not my brother anymore," Mokuba said as Noah and the girls smirked, knowing that this plan had worked perfectly. Annie and Oakley knew they couldn't have come up with something as sinister as that.
Meanwhile, with Ash and the others, the duel's outcome had finally settled, and the duel disk vanished from Gladion's arm as he sighed.
"You did great out there, Gladion. I must say, for someone who has no experience or knowledge of the game, you managed to win," Yugi said to Gladion, who humphed.
"I guess watching enough of the two duels was enough to give me the knowledge of how to play, plus Joey sacrificing his Goblins instead of his Jinzo clued me into its special ability to destroy traps," Gladion said.
"What gives you the right to use my Blue Eyes like that kid?" Kaiba said to Gladion who glared at him.
"I saw it first and knew it would come in handy besides Kaiba if they mean so much to you. Where was it during your time during the duel? Besides, just because you are known for using it doesn't mean others can't. And besides, we won the duel, and I can't just let you have all the fun and speaking as one older brother to another I needed to prove that I could protect my sister. Also, I don't think you should be in a position to argue with your teammate considering we were facing an opponent who was willing to win at all costs," Gladion said as Kaiba humphed at this.
"I'll let it go for now. As you said just now, you had a good reason for participating in that duel. As much as I hate to admit you did good out there, much better than Wheeler here would," Kaiba said to Gladion. Joey was about to say something, but Gladion shook his head toward Joey, showing that it was not worth it.
"Right now, fighting with each other isn't worth all this, Kaiba, and while I would like to give you a piece of my mind, I'm in no position to call you out on your past actions, given my family history, so we should try to find Mokuba and try to figure a way out of here," Gladion said to Kaiba who nodded in agreement.
"Right, but in return, I want to know who the heck you all are and the whole truth, right now I barely trust you three, and that's a first for me, so just don't try to get in my way when it comes to this matter, and you won't have me going enraged at you," Kaiba said to Gladion, Ash and Lillie.
"Well, Lector already gave you my whole story Kaiba, and I won't be surprised if you heard of my company given that it's well known almost everywhere," Gladion said, shrugging. Gladion, Kaiba, Tea, and Yugi walked off to find Mokuba, hopefully.
"No, sadly, I don't, but the group that your friend there said does sound like something that Gozaboru mentioned when I was a kid," Kaiba said to Gladion.
"You mean Team Rocket? They're very dangerous where we are from and are responsible for why we are here in the first place. They took my sister, who was with the group, back there," Gladion explained.
"I see. Does that explain why you are desperate to help me get Mokuba back during that duel there? But what about those two girls with Noah? Are they with Team Rocket as well?" Kaiba asked.
"I don't have much history with the group, but Ash does. All I know is that they are bad news and killed a friend of Ash's during his Journey from what he told us after Joey's duel against Johnson," Gladion said. That part of killing someone caught Kaiba's attention, and he knew that this wasn't some magic nonsense and something that Gozaboru would be affiliated with.
"If Team Rocket is who I remember they are, then we need to get out of here quickly," Kaiba thought. He rarely shows concern about things like this, but this is now personal and he had to get Mokuba out of here quickly, even if it means working with Gladion's friends.
Meanwhile, Ash and the others while Joey was letting out some steam from what Kaiba had said to Gladion. "Man, even someone newer to this game than me has his praise, not me. That's low, Kaiba," Joey said, slamming his hand on the Truck as Ash and the others were having anime sweatdrops on their heads.
"Ook, that's Kaiba for you folks. He's always putting Joey down. Even when Joey proves himself. Kaiba wants to put him in his place," Tristan said to the others as Ash now understands why Gladion tells Joey that it's not worth it.
On the other hand, Lillie looked at Tristan, who was once human, and seeing what he has become, the dawning of the realization that she could've been in the same situation as Tristan if Ash hadn't saved her hit her hard.
Ash noticed the look on his girlfriend's face. "What's wrong, Lillie? You seem like you are about to cry?" Ash asked, now concerned about her. Lillie looked at Ash with tears in her eyes.
"Just seeing Tristan like that reminds me of how close I was to losing that duel if you hadn't stepped in and saved me," Lillie said as Snowy nuzzled her leg. "I could've been a Penguin or even a Piplup if that attack had landed, and I'm not sure if I could've get my body back even if you had gotten me out of there. What if you didn't recognize me," Lillie said as Ash comforted her by hugging her.
"It's okay, I'm here, Lillie, and of course, I would've recognized you. Even if you had become a Piplup, you would be my Piplup, and not going to lie, I always wanted one on my Journey," Ash said, trying to cheer up Lillie jokingly.
Lillie giggled at this. "I guess you were trying to make me feel better there, but I am sure that Snowy wouldn't like hearing that," Lillie said as Snowy let what Ash said go, even admitting that it was funny.
Everyone admitted that Ash was making light of the situation, even though Tristan didn't like hearing all this, given what he had become as Joey finished his rant.
"Well, I guess we should try to get this hunk of junk going and catch up to Kaiba and the others," Joey said to the group who had anime sweatdrops.
"You recovered quickly, Joey," Ash said to Joey, who sighed and tried to get the Truck started as the group were getting on the back of the Truck.
Meanwhile, with Kaiba, Gladion, Tea, and Yugi were making their way through the tunnel and Kaiba was getting worried about Mokuba and he knew he had to find him quickly.
"Mokuba, we're coming, and I will make sure that Noah and Nesbitt will pay for messing with my family like this and get to the bottom of why Team Rocket is showing up in the first place," Kaiba said to himself, which caught the groups attention.
"Hold on, Kaiba, how do you know about the group these two girls are in?" Yugi questioned Kaiba, who sighed. "You said it yourself. You want to know what is going on and who Gladion's friends are, but we can't hide things either," Yugi said to Kaiba, who grumbled.
"I wouldn't say hiding more like not much info only through my step-father," Kaiba said to Yugi. "From what I know, Gozaboru mentioned that he was working with a group infamous for causing trouble and crimes," Kaiba said to Yugi, who, along with the others, was surprised by this.
"Hold up, so that story about Kaiba-corp being a war-mongering corporation is true. I thought most of what the Big 5 said was trying to ruin your reputation?" Gladion said, to which Kaiba sighed and nodded.
"Not sure about the Aether Foundation and your family's history, but Kaiba Corp wasn't originally a gaming company. We were infamous for being a part of many wars and war crimes. Before you ask why I joined this family via adoption, I found out about this after Gozaboru was forced to adopt me, via a chess match per our "Deal"," Kaiba said to Gladdion.
"So that's when you changed things for the company when you took over and won your inheritance via what Lector told us?" Gladdion said.
"I admit what I did was wrong, but the stuff that Gozaboru did before me joining the family was much worse: attacks on cities, secret deals with many politicians, and I heard one of his attacks caused many families to lose loved ones," Kaiba said which made Gladion growl with anger. "Most of the military stuff was outsourced to a silent partner, one known for being even more notorious than Kaiba Corp itself," Kaiba said.
"And you think this is the same Team Rocket, right Kaiba?" Tea asked Kaiba, who nodded. "I mean, from what we were told by Gladion's friend Ash they are willing to do anything to get what they want or cause destruction to win," Tea said. This made Kaiba wonder who Ash was and how he knew about Team Rocket. As much as Kaiba hated to admit it, he had to agree with what Tea had said just now. It sounded like what he learned from Gozaboru.
"Yes, when your friend Ash mentioned that to Nesbitt in Tristan's body, something about those two girls clicked with me and why Noah is so dead set on trying to get to me. I saw them before when I was about to give Gozaboru the news about my acquiring that company, and thinking back now, and I have a feeling that they must've found out about my achievement," Kaiba said.
"You think that they were hiding that from Gozaboru, or they were the one who ratted you out, not Mokuba?" Gladion said to Kaiba, who stopped walking and sighed.
"I think that might be the case, and Mokuba took the blame because of it," Kaiba said to Gladion.
"Seem's like Lector got the wrong information, or he was hiding the full truth about it given that he was willing to do anything to win. I wouldn't put it past him," Gladion said as Kaiba nodded.
"Seems like you are well aware of almost what is going on," the group heard Noah's voice inside the tunnel they were facing. "You want answers. You'll get it whether you like the truth or not, Seto."
"Noah, whoever you are, you better give back Mokuba before I get angry," Kaiba said as Noah laughed, which agitated Seto more.
"Give him back. I think not. Let's just say he saw you for the person you are," Noah said as Seto was now getting angry. "Now you want your answers. Well, now come and get them," Noah said.
Not wasting any time, Seto started to walk into the tunnel where the voice was coming from. Yugi, Gladion, and Tea were worried that this might be a trap but followed along. There was a flash of light. Suddenly Yugi Tea and Gladion were in front of a large house, and Kaiba was nowhere to be seen.
"Seems like you are well aware of almost what is going on," the group heard Noah's voice inside the tunnel they were facing. "You want answers. You'll get it whether you like the truth or not, Seto."
"Noah, whoever you are, you better give back Mokuba before I get angry," Kaiba said as Noah laughed, which agitated Seto more.
"Give him back. I think not. Let's just say he saw you for the person you are," Noah said as Seto was now getting angry. "Now you want your answers. Well, now come and get them," Noah said.
Not wasting any time, Seto ran ahead into the tunnel where the voice was coming from, eventually reaching a fork in the road and going left. Yugi, Gladion, and Tea were worried that this might be a trap followed along however they went right at the fork. Soon, Yugi Tea and Gladion were in front of a large house, and Kaiba was nowhere to be seen.
Kaiba did find who he thought was Mokuba, but it was Noah in disguise. Noah brought Seto inside the house, and Seto reunited with Mokuba, only for Mokuba to side with Noah. Kaiba tried to reason with him, but Annie and Oakley (at Noah's command) took Mokuba away.
Meanwhile, Yugi, Tea, and Gladion heard a baby crying. There searched the house, but they found nothing except for a picture of Noah with Gozaboru Kaiba.
Meanwhile, with Ash's group, Joey was driving the Truck in the direction that Yugi and the others went; however, they didn't see a tunnel during their drive on the highway. "They couldn't have gotten too far. We've been driving for almost 20 minutes and still haven't found them," Joey said while driving the car.
"What if Noah got to them? Given that he has the Power to transport us to other places here in this world?" Serenity said to Joey, who sighed and realized that his sister was correct with her guess.
Ash was now worried, as they should have found them by now, and turned to Lucario, who was trying to sense their aura via aura sight. His aura skills had gotten a lot stronger since he had arrived in this dimension, but it wasn't strong enough find people who were teleported, sadly.
Lucario's ears perked up and growled. "Huh? What's wrong, Lucario?" Ash said to Lucario as everyone noticed.
"I sense four Auras heading our way, and they aren't our friends. I can confirm that," Lucario said, teeth clenched as Ash realized what was coming as an attack hit the Truck before Lucario could tell Ash where the attack would come from.
Everyone got up out of the Truck to see that it was the remaining four members of the Big Five now standing in front of them. The attack had came from Lector's Jinzo form.
"What the heck do you four losers want?" Ash said to the remaining members of the Big Five.
"What else do you think? We're here to obtain your bodies no matter what the cost, regardless of what Noah thinks or not," Crump said to the group as Lillie got shivers down her spine upon hearing his voice again, as Snowy and Lucario stood in front of the group ready to fight as well as Pikachu.
"You're either brave or stupid to think that we'll fight fair," Gansley said to the group as they started to launch an attack on the group. Lucario used Aura Sphere, Snowy used Ice Beam, and Pikachu used Thunderbolt which hits the Big Five's attack, only for the four old geezers to charge at the group with another attack which they launched right at the group again.
However, something managed to stop the attack. Just before Ash and Lillie's mons could react, it was Greninja slicing through the attack, which surprised everyone. Ash and Pikachu, on the other hand, were even more happy than shocked.
"Greninja!" Ash, Pikachu, and Lucario said as Lucario had more of a wagging tail motion to see the Pokemon who helped get his aura stronger is back with the group.
"Gren, Greninja (You're aura sight still hasn't gotten strong enough, Lucario, that you could've sensed them sooner, but we can talk later)," Greninja said as Lucario translated this as Ash nodded.
"Hey, that's not fair," Crump said to the group.
"Oh, it's fair, alright, and if you have my record, Crump, you know the bond I have with this mon, alright," Ash said to Crump as he was getting ready as both Greninja and Lucario knew where this was going.
"Right, it's been a long time since we did this, so let's go, Greninja," Ash said as they combined through their auras, Greninja took on a new form that impressed everyone except the Big 4. "But that's not all. Let's do this, Lucario," Ash said to Lucario, who nodded as Ash pressed his mega bracelet. The mega stone hovered in front of Lucario, and he changed into his mega form however his form and powers have magnified even more.
Meanwhile, Seto and Noah were staring each other down. "It's time you learned the truth, Seto."
Kaiba was annoyed. "What truth?"
Noah shows Seto a projection of himself with Kaiba's adopted father. Yugi, Gladion, and Téa arrive, and Yugi gives Kaiba the photograph they found. "Does this photo mean anything to you?"
"It's a trick. It's a picture of my step-father and Noah."
Noah tells them all to watch the projection. They see Gozaburo take a photograph of young Seto from his desk and show it to Noah, telling him that this is his latest acquisition. Seto is extremely intelligent, he says, and he plans to bring Seto there to challenge Noah so that Noah will work harder in his studies. Noah will have to prove that he has the intellect to run Kaiba Corp someday. Noah agrees, telling Gozaburo he won't be disappointed and calling him "Father."
Everyone is shocked, Kaiba most of all. Noah says it's true—he is Gozaburo's one true son, and Seto was just one of his servants. Kaiba says it's not true, but Noah says that now it's time for him to reclaim his rightful position as the head of his father's empire. Noah tells Kaiba he's out of a job.
"Why haven't we met before?"
Noah was about to answer, but an alarm sounded then everyone in the room saw the members of the Big 5 that had lost their duels defeated on the ground with Ash, Lucario, Greninja, Incineroar, and Pikachu standing over them. "Hold on, a minute. I need to handle this situation." Noah left the room.
20 minutes earlier
Ash lets out Incineroar, who is wondering what is going on. "Keep an eye on the other members of that group and protect our friends here just in case," Ash said to Incineroar, who nodded and was with the group. Ash sighed. "Alright, let's do this," Ash said as he had his Z ring ready.
"Greninja uses Water Shurkin, Lucario uses Aura Sphere," Ash said as the two mons got their moves ready to fight. Ash turned to Pikachu, who nodded, knowing where this was going. "Time to show you why I am the champion of Alola and a member of the masters eight, and you all are just pathetic old geezers," Ash said to the group.
Ash threw his hat onto Pikachu's head. Lillie was smiling. "Here it comes." Joey, Serenity, Tristan, and Duke were confused. Lillie turned to the four. "Just watch, guys. You're about to see the ace in the hole for trainers from Alola."
Pikachu and Ash high-fived, then Pikachu used his tail to touch the ring on Ash's wrist at the same time Ash touched it. Pikachu and Ash then moved in sync as Ash chanted, "Much bigger than a Thunderbolt. 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt! Yeah, this is much, much bigger. At super-full Power! " All the while, Pikachu was surging with energy. "Pikachu, use 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu let loose its attack, as did Ash-Greninja and Mega-Lucario. The three moves combined, and Gansley, Crump Johnson, and Lector were knocked out cold. Lillie ran over and hugged Ash. Ash kissed her then he and his 4 Pokémon stood over the defeated Big 4. "Now give Tristan his body back and Never EVER target Lillie or any of my friends again."
The group grumbles at what just happened as Noah, who saw what just happened, says. "Breaking my rules, are we, gentlemen?" Noah said in an indignant tone which made the group now scared as Noah, Annie, and Oakley showed up above them. "You have broken my rules too many times now. I will deal with you myself. You ruined my conversation with Seto, I was trying to put some sense into his mind about why he's inferior."
One of the members of the big 5 was about to say something, only for Noah to teleport them out of there, much to everyone's dismay as they were hoping that Tristan would get his body back, but to no avail, as Greninja and Lucario returned to normal just in time for Kaiba and the others were reunited with Ash and the others as Noah teleported them back to the group, not wanting to deal with Seto as he needed to deal with the Big 5.
"Hey, guys, there you are?" Joey said as he and the others went over to them. Yugi and Tea seemed concerned about what had just happened. "What's wrong?" Joey asked.
Yugi and Tea explained what they had learned about Noah before he took the Big Five away, as everyone was now more confused about what was revealed.
"It's a trick from Noah. That kid was never around when I was a kid with Gozaboru, and if he was his son, why haven't I heard his voice before or why wasn't he mentioned," Kaiba said, now madder than before that Noah just tossed him away and brainwashed Mokuba as he noticed Tea had something in her arm. "What is that Tea?" Kaiba said to Tea, now realizing that she must've found something when he was separated from the group.
"Not sure what it is, but we heard a baby crying, and then suddenly we found this photo, and it's Noah with someone?" Tea said, handing Kaiba the photo, which he almost dropped.
"This has to be some kind of joke?" Kaiba said. "What Noah said couldn't be true even after seeing this photo?" Kaiba said.
"What do you mean, Kaiba? And who is that in the photo with him?" Gladion asked Kaiba.
"That man in the photo is the one I've been talking about to all of you, the one man I hoped never to see his face again. The original owner of Kaiba Corp himself, Gozaboru Kaiba, my step-father," Kaiba said the group was surprised by this. "But this has to be a trick by Noah as what this photo just showed couldn't be true?"
"Are you sure about that, Kaiba? What do you mean?" Yugi asked Kaiba, who nodded.
"Take a look at the date of when the photo was taken?" Kaiba said, showing it to the others. "This kid can't be his son 'cause that photo was taken a year before I was adopted by Gozoboro, and from the looks of it, if that was the case, he would be placed around my age," Kaiba said, which the group was surprised.
"What have we gotten into?" Lillie questioned Ash, who shook his head as if he had no clue.
And we'll end it right here. Sorry, this chapter took longer than we thought to get out, but both of us do work in retail, and now that I am in a winter advisory on my end, this was a good time to finish it. Special thanks to DraconicFirelord for helping me with certain parts in this chapter, as I am not too privy to this episode, and Kids WB never re-airs this episode the amount of times I watch the network back then. My collab partner will be working on the next chapter, and that part with Team Rocket was my idea and made sense if you think about it. Merry Christmas/Happy New Years to you all, and it's part 1 of the Merger of the Big 5 next. Happy holidays everyone.