I am very grateful for 500+ views to Servant of the Pokémon. Keep 'em coming, folks. I would love some reviews, though - I'd love to know what you guys like or dislike. Surely there's something that can be said about this chapter, right?
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"You know what to do, Mr. Ketchum."
As Ash glanced between the giant volume in his palm and the black-robed man in front of him, his brain refused to make the connection. Yet again, the facts of the day had failed to compute for him.
"I said, you know what to do. All you have to do is put your hand on the Book of Arceus and affirm that you'll take your oath of office seriously. Because this is all serious business, even if you didn't choose it for yourself."
Well, at least he's willing to acknowledge that it wasn't my decision. In fact, none of this was my decision, so why can't they just leave me alone, huh?
But Ash didn't say any of that aloud. Instead, he looked up at the Chief Justice's face and tried not to consider the multitude of TV cameras and microphones set up all over the Presidential Palace's balcony. Every sound Ash made, even if he was merely clearing his throat, could be interpreted six ways from Sunday.
"Do you promise to execute the duties of this office faithfully, rationally, and in full awareness of the gravity of your position?"
"I do," Ash replied.
"Do you promise to protect Kanto from all enemies, foreign and domestic?"
"I do." Though it's pretty shocking that they're trusting a 25-year-old with something of this nature. It just doesn't make sense.
"Do you promise to listen to the experts when they may be more qualified than you to solve a problem or steer the ship of state through a crisis?"
"I do."
"Then, so help me Arceus, do you agree that you are now President of Kanto, and that you assume all the rights and responsibilities that holding this office confers upon you?"
"I do" Ash responded for the fourth time, his throat now getting a bit raw. Really, it shouldn't have been so dry given the afternoon humidity and the fact that he hadn't said much, but the world wasn't always logical; almost everything that had happened today was proof of that.
"Very well" the Chief Justice replied, shaking Ash's hand forcefully. For an older man, the head of Kanto's Supreme Court sure had a strong grip, and Ash had to be careful not to let any of his fingers be broken.
"Is there anything else?" Ash enquired, because all he really wanted to do was retire to bed early. But there wouldn't be many easy days up ahead, not for him at least.
"Not at this time" the Chief Justice told him. "Congratulations, Ash Ketchum. You are now President of Kanto."
Not for the first time, Ash wondered if this couldn't still be the most intricate prank ever pulled upon a human being. Or maybe he'd wake up back at his apartment, and this would all have turned out to be a lucid nightmare.
If he were being honest with himself, though, Ash could have admitted that the window for this to even be possible was rapidly dwindling. Sooner or later, he'd have to face up to the facts.
"This copy of the Book of Arceus is now yours" the Chief Justice told Ash. "If you think it'll impart some of the Creator's wisdom upon you, feel free to take it with you. Otherwise this'll head to the National Archives, where it will be preserved for the rest of Kanto's history."
"I'll keep it," Ash said. Quite frankly, only Arceus can help me now.
The Chief Justice nodded before continuing. When he spoke again, Ash flinched; he hadn't been expecting this news.
"Your domestic partner, Serena Courtland, has arrived at the Presidential Palace. Feel free to greet her in the main hallway - I'm sure you two will have much to talk about."
Well, that's quite the understatement.
Despite the high temperature, Ash shivered. Of course, since he was on camera, he was careful not to look too nervous or excited - any gesture, no matter how seemingly innocent, could be used against him later.
Ash turned towards the media, who had assembled en masse on the palace's lawn, and waved at them. The President forced a smile, because needless to say, happiness didn't come naturally to him at the moment.
"Thank you all," he said, probably not very convincingly. "The media occupies the most important role in any democracy, which is holding the powerful accountable." It was a robotic line, to be sure, but Ash couldn't think of anything better.
Inside the ornate corridor, a familiar blonde-haired young lady with gray eyes stood exactly where Ash had been told she'd be. This lady's face was contorted into a scowl, and lightning glistened in her eyes.
Serena took a few steps back from Ash, as though she were repelled by the very sight of him. "What have you done?" she exclaimed.
"I don't know," Ash responded dumbly. "I guess they made me President."
"But that doesn't just happen," Serena insisted. "Right, Pikachu?"
The electric mouse, who stood right beside Ash's girlfriend, nodded. "Pika pika" ("I don't understand.")
"I don't understand either, Pikachu," Ash echoed. "But this is just how it's going to be. I'm the President now."
"Just send in your resignation," Serena told him. "Tell the Chief Justice that you're not fit for the office, because you just aren't. You never wanted to be President, right?"
Now that Serena mentioned it, this seemed like such an obvious thing to do. But something told Ash that this would be wrong.
"No," Ash muttered impulsively. "We shouldn't put Kanto through two Presidential resignations in one day. I should at least give this a chance for a few days. Was this palace Poké-proofed?"
"Ash, you know Pikachu's house-broken. He's not going to -".
"I'm not worried about that," Ash insisted. "But he might tear up the carpet, and that's pretty unbecoming of a President, to allow that to happen."
Pikachu cowered behind a potted plant, and Serena stomped her right foot. She then retorted with the following words:
"Ash, you're the President now! If you really aren't going to resign, then this place is yours! You can do what you want with it! If you want to give Pikachu free rein here, then give him that!"
"Fair enough."
"I just don't know that you're taking this business seriously," Serena told her boyfriend. "I mean, sure, you just took the oath of office, but we've had bad Presidents before."
"Indeed we have."
"So what makes you any different? How do you know you're going to be good at this?"
Truth be told, I don't know that, Serena. At least, that's what I would say if I were committed to honesty. Sadly, I'm not.
"I'll do my best," Ash insisted. "I'll have the best interests of the country at heart, and isn't that what really matters?"
Serena frowned. "I bet you think I can't stay mad at you very long, don't you?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It doesn't matter," Serena replied, implicitly agreeing with her boyfriend. "But you'll have to be more careful what you say now that you're President. In some ways, you have more power; in others, you have far less!"
Their late lunch felt like one giant staring contest. Ash supposed the food was good, delicious even, but he couldn't force himself to enjoy it with an angry young woman glaring at him every few seconds from the other end.
"So where do I go after this?" Ash wondered aloud in between bites of a Magikarp melt. "Is there anything I need to do after swearing the oath of office?"
Serena made an odd gesture at her boyfriend, flapping her arms like Torchic wings. Ash couldn't help but cringe at the sight.
She's not laughing with me, of course. She's laughing at me. But why?
"Please tell me what you mean!" Ash shouted, because the table was long enough that this was necessary in order to make himself heard.
"I mean," she replied, "that you're acting like an idiot of the highest order! Just ask one of the people outside!"
Even Pikachu glanced up from his meal of kibble. The electric mouse's red cheeks glistened with what must have been pure electricity.
"Pika pika!" ("She's right, you know! Advisors exist for a reason, don't they?")
Ash glanced at Pikachu in exasperation. It wasn't really directed at the Pokémon, of course; rather, what truly angered him was that he'd been dropped right here without an instruction booklet, with no blueprint regarding what to do.
As soon as Ash had eaten all he could (which wasn't much; his stomach seemed to have shrunk to the size of a peapod), he rose from the table and left the room, returning to the ornate atrium that was the lobby of the Presidential Palace.
"Hey, uh, sir?" Ash asked the Secret Service agent stationed by the dining room.
The guard immediately did a salute, holding up the hand not clutching a Master Ball. (And yes, it seemed that Kanto's Secret Service wielded Legendaries to protect their boss. Only the best for the President!)
"Yes, Mr. President?"
"What do I do once I'm done with lunch? Do I clear my plate?" You know, the way Mom always told me to do it?
The Secret Service agent chuckled - indeed, it seemed he could hardly resist an all-out guffaw.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Mr. President. It will be taken care of. You have enough responsibility already; you don't need to take care of kitchen duty."
"Thanks, I guess," Ash uttered. "In that case, where do I go next? Do I make my Cabinet nominations?"
Another Secret Service agent, whom Ash recognized right away as "Leatherman", entered the room at that moment, as though he were programmed to be summoned by that question.
"Yes, that is exactly what you do," Leatherman told him. "Have you settled on a person to be your Chief of Staff?"
Ash frowned. Somehow, he hadn't given this any consideration. (Obviously, that "somehow" is rather clear.)
"Could it be you?" he asked rather blankly, because his mind still wasn't working quite right.
Leatherman shook his head. "I'm already a Secret Service agent," he told Ash. "I can't take on another job - that might well be a conflict of interest. Besides, with all the threats showing up, I need to be focused entirely on your protection."
"Threats?" Ash gasped.
Leatherman waved his right hand. "I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. It's just those standard crazies who believe in conspiracy theories and think you're the anti-Arceus. We don't really have our hands full dealing with them, not yet."
The bodyguard's social cues told Ash otherwise, however. The look on Leatherman's face made Ash instantly aware that he wasn't being told the whole story. The extent to which he was being kept in the dark, of course, was to be determined.
"Anyway. Since I can't be your Chief of Staff, who will it be?"
Ash put his head in his hands. "Does that position have to be confirmed by the Senate?"
Leatherman raised an eyebrow. "No. But a lot of other positions have to be. You know how nomination hearings work, don't you?"
"Uh…no" Ash admitted sheepishly. "I'd need a refresher on that."
"Well, your nominee will be brought before the committee - you know how committees work in the Senate and House, right?"
"Not really," Ash acknowledged, his face turning red.
Leatherman gasped. "So you mean to say that you know nothing…about anything?"
"Hey!" the President yelped. "I know some things. I can, you know, do math and stuff." Quite frankly, this suggestion that Ash was a total airhead just because he wasn't from the political world was rather offensive, not to mention idiotic. He probably knew more about the real world than your garden-variety member of the legislature.
"Very well. I'm not here to be your Policy Advisor - yes, that's another position you don't need the Senate to confirm. You should hire one as soon as possible; he or she will be very helpful, I'd imagine."
I think I know just the person for that role.
"Your eyes are lighting up, Mr. Ketchum - ".
"How did you see that so quickly?"
" - which makes me think you've got an idea," Leatherman finished, holding up a finger to show disapproval of Ash's interruption. "Nothing wrong with that, of course; in fact, it's a good thing. Who will you nominate as your Policy Advisor?"
"Brock Takeshi. He's one of my closest friends. If I can't trust Brock, I can't trust anyone. And I have to trust someone, so why not him?"
Leatherman nodded. "A rather long-winded answer, though an appropriate one. Would you like me to contact him, or would you rather do so?"
"I'll do it," Ash insisted.
"If you do," the Secret Service agent responded, "then your call will be monitored. It's in both your interest and the public's."
"How long will it be like that?" Ash moaned; he'd already forgotten about this part, and wasn't thrilled about the reminder.
"For the rest of your life" Leatherman said simply. "Even if you smash the phone on the ground and storm out of this place right this minute, you'll still be former President Ash Ketchum. And that means you'll always be someone's target. This is for your own good."
Oh, great. Not just no privacy for my Presidency - no privacy ever again. Isn't that just fantastic?
Ash did not voice his displeasure aloud; the last thing he needed was to alienate someone who'd be willing to take a bullet for him if necessary. Instead, Ash simply nodded glumly.
"I guess I'll go call Brock, then" Ash repeated. "And you can monitor it, make sure he doesn't say anything too personal or whatever. But we already know each other, so…".
" - it doesn't matter," Leatherman insisted. "Something might get intercepted. That's always a possibility, no matter what encryption we attempt."
"Oh."
"Just say the minimum number of words possible to get the point across," the Secret Service agent muttered. "Do you think Mr. Takeshi here will jump at the chance to be your Policy Advisor?"
Ash nodded, then left Leatherman's side. As soon as he dialed Brock's number, he was met with the familiar voice of his longtime friend.
"Ash! You're calling me again today?"
"Well, we're friends, aren't we?" the President asked rhetorically. "I can't think of anyone else to talk to."
"There has to be a reason why you're calling me right now" Brock insisted. "There just has to be. Are you going to nominate me for something?"
Ash gasped. "How did you guess that?"
"Trust me," Brock responded, "I have my ways of knowing things. What position would you like me to take in your administration?"
"P…Policy Advisor" Ash said softly. Why do I have to stammer right now? I'm the President, not some awkward kid who just moved to a new town!
"I see," Brock replied in a measured tone.
"So are you going to do it or not?" the President responded, hoping he didn't sound whiny, desperate, or both.
"Yeah, sure. I'll do that" Ash's friend told him. "I just hope it doesn't skirt some nepotism law or anything like that. We don't want to be dogged by investigations during your term."
"It'll be fine," Ash insisted. While Leatherman had assured him this would be the case, doubts still crept in. The friendship between Ash Ketchum and Brock Takeshi was very well-documented indeed, and even if the latter's appointment wasn't illegal, many would still find it questionable.
"Well, then. I don't think I can turn down the opportunity" Brock said, unable to resist a slight chuckle. "But I won't keep you any longer. You've probably got many more phone calls to make."
"You're right about that."
A similar phone call then occurred between Ash and Professor Gary Oak. The researcher was another close friend of Ash's, having introduced Ash to Pikachu when the former was just ten years old. In many ways, Professor Oak had been instrumental in making Ash Ketchum the man he was today, both for better and for worse.
Anyway, Ash nominated Professor Oak to be his National Security Advisor, and the professor agreed to it. Like the position of Policy Advisor, this position did not require confirmation by the Senate, so as soon as Oak was nominated, he was in.
As soon as Ash got off the phone (read: not one second later), the Presidential laptop computer started vibrating on a nearby wooden desk.
That's weird, the President thought. Who would call the President? It's like, don't come to me, I'll come to you.
Ash pried open the laptop. Sure enough, a FaceTime call had been initiated, and while Ash suspected at first that it had been an accidental dial, each subsequent ring made this seem less likely.
Then he saw the phone number, which identified the caller as Jeremy Almaty. In other words, the Mayor of Saffron City.
Ash's blood ran cold. Now that he was the leader of the country, his city's leader would now see him as a superior. Mayor Almaty rarely phoned his constituents (would a mayor really be expected to?), but Ash had to imagine that the dynamic was usually very different from the conversation that was about to take place.
Nonetheless, Ash accepted the call. It wouldn't be right to leave a message from the Mayor unanswered, no matter how much more powerful Ash was now.
On the screen sat Mayor Almaty. He was a tan, slightly burly man with black hair and dressed in a white robe. (He was a former priest in his local diocese of the Church of Arceus, and old habits die hard.) There was, however, something Ash hadn't expected in the FaceTime window.
The Mayor was frowning.
"Hello, Mr. Ketchum" he announced, emphasizing the last two words to great effect.
"Oh, hello, Mayor," Ash replied.
"I was hoping you and I could talk for a few minutes. Just me and you - nobody else can listen in on this conversation."
Ash frowned. "I'm afraid I cannot accommodate this request. Every call needs to be monitored for the sake of security."
"To hell with that!" Mayor Almaty replied. Given that the Mayor had used that word in vain, Ash felt certain that the matter at hand must have been extremely important.
"What do you mean?"
"This has to be between the two of us. If you're on a laptop, this doesn't have to be tracked. Just turn the tracking off."
"But - ".
"Do you seriously not know how to use a computer, Mr. Ketchum?" Mayor Almaty bellowed. "Do you need me to walk you through every little bit of it?"
"Well, no," Ash muttered. "I don't need that."
"Then you'll do as I say. You might be the President, but I'm still the Mayor."
"Fine," the President whispered. He switched off the tracking app that had been installed on the Presidential computer, a transgression that felt like spitting in his own mother's face. He knew that if he were seen doing this, he'd probably have his security clearance revoked or something.
"Okay then" Mayor Almaty responded, glancing to the side as though a mugshot were being taken of him. Then, turning back to face Ash directly, he cleared his throat and continued. "I think you should resign."
Ash gasped. "Why?"
The Mayor chuckled without any humor. "It's not exactly news that you never wanted to be President in the first place. In our constant news cycle, I knew right away that you were unfit for office. Indeed, all of Kanto knows that."
"Well, I want to be President now," Ash insisted. He didn't know why he felt this way; maybe he sensed an obligation to the country, or maybe he just didn't want to waste such a golden opportunity that he'd been given. But for whatever reason, he'd gone from not wanting the job to incredibly defensive of it.
"And that's your problem" Mayor Almaty responded. "Mr. Ketchum, how old are you again? Twenty-five?"
Ash rolled his eyes, behavior likely not befitting of a President, but he didn't care. "That's public information, Mayor."
"Well, the fact remains that you're not nearly old enough to make an effective leader. Anyone can run, but a sane country would never vote for anyone so inexperienced - ".
"I didn't run, and they didn't vote for me."
"Exactly!" Mayor Almaty exclaimed, clapping his hands together as though trying to kill a mosquito. "You just proved my point! If you didn't even put your name in the hat, why are you so determined to remain President?"
"You wouldn't get it" Ash blurted out, because that's all he could think to say.
"Well, you're digging a deeper hole for yourself, Mr. Ketchum. Let me tell you something: I'm almost twice your age and I could never imagine seeing myself as fit for the Presidency. It's not just about experience, it's also about maturity and lack thereof. Who are you even putting in your Cabinet?"
Ash's reply was automatic. "Brock Takeshi is going to be my Policy Advisor, and Professor Gary Oak will be my National Security Advisor."
"Those are Cabinet-level positions, but not proper department secretaries" Mayor Almaty snapped. "The fact that you listed those people first demonstrates that you don't know what you're talking about. If you're too ignorant to be responsible, you're too ignorant to be President."
"I'm not ignorant" Ash insisted, raising his tone slightly. "Just because I talk slowly doesn't mean I think slowly."
Mayor Almaty grumbled a bit. "Well, I don't think you'll last a month in office. I'd love to be proven wrong - Kanto's in rough shape these days, and we could use a steady hand after the disaster with Fiddlesticks."
"I will be that steady hand" Ash replied curtly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get off this call before I'm seen using an unsecured computer. There'll probably be a new catchphrase like 'But his emails' or something."
"Fair enough," the Mayor responded coolly. "Let's have a bet. If you haven't resigned by the end of a month, I am going to."
Man, he's pretty confident, isn't he?
Anyway, the call ended shortly afterward, and Ash made sure to reinstall the tracking software so that nothing looked suspicious. He then made his way back to the dining room, where Serena and Pikachu were still waiting for him.
The minor argument he had with Serena right afterward wouldn't linger in Ash's memory very long, though. His talk with Jeremy Almaty sucked all the extra oxygen out of his brain.
Serena didn't know what had been said. She couldn't know what had been said, or else she'd leave him. That much was clear.
And the more Ash thought about it, the more he wanted to ball his hands into fists when he thought of the Mayor. It wasn't because he thought Mayor Almaty was wrong about his lack of qualification, his inability to be a strong head of state.
Rather, it was because he feared the Mayor was right.