So you want to be a master of Pokemon? Do you have the skills to be number one?
The aftermath of the Team Rocket assault and the Bamboozle was a bit complicated.
Ash kind of felt bad for all the first responders who had to deal with everything. This was overshadowed by how happy he was everyone was okay.
Or at least mostly okay. Both he and Selene had a few scrapes, Misty had that cut on her cheek and Staryu had been hurt pretty bad. But everyone had survived and was going to recover.
After dropping of Staryu and some of the other more seriously hurt Pokemon off with Nurse Joy (who was suddenly very busy), the group left the Pokemon Center with a mission.
They all got to ride the giant waterslide down to the docks so he could collect the rest of Ash's team, that was definitely fun. As a bonus, he was thrilled to learn that the Zorua who'd returned to work on it decided to use it to wash away Archer's warehouse.
And as if things couldn't get any better, Surge had even managed to capture Archer! Ash still wasn't the jerk's biggest fan, but he had to give credit where it was due.
He should still probably give Leaf a call, just in case. Better safe than sorry and all that.
But they had some things to wrap up first.
"How did you know where to go?" Brock asked Surge the sensible question once they'd found the Vermillion Gym Leader.
"A mysterious woman in a suit and also an Electrode rolling down the street." Surge claimed without batting an eye as Archer continued to struggle against his grip. Ash's eyes kept darting to the Team Rocket member, half expecting him to try something.
"The woman was one of the Zoroark and the Electrode was the Zorua who came to find us," Pikachu explained to Ash.
"And you just listened to this random woman?" Karen seemed skeptical at Surge's logic.
Surge glared, "I said she was wearing a suit. Besides she said she could point me at the Team Rocket operation I've been trying to track down. You have to take every lead you can get when dealing with these vermin." He waved Archer around to emphasize his point.
Archer screeched in protest but was ignored by everyone.
"Besides, didn't you lot come running down here because of a phone call from me? What if it was one of these numbnuts pretending to be me in order to lure you into a trap?" Surge prodded with malicious intent.
"I don't think any of Team Rocket could mimic your lovely personality." Misty narrowed her eyes at him and he barked a laugh.
"True enough! This lot is too full of themselves to be as humble and generous as yours truly. Good luck out there kids." Surge bid them goodbye.
With that oddly positive parting remark from Surge, Ash quickly collected his friends and his Pokegear before leaving. The police would probably want to interview everyone who was at the Pokemon Center during the battle.
"Wait Selene, how are you here?" Sunny seemed confused at the Clefairy's presence. "I thought the six-member limit meant you couldn't come?"
"This was an emergency!" Selene explained, bouncing along. "Ash was all by himself and he needed some help!"
"That reminds me." Pikachu took a look around at the mostly empty streets and then gave Ash a shock, knocking him out of his illusion. "Don't leave us behind again you dunce! You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I know already!" Ash complained as he coughed. "I've been kicking myself since I realized how much trouble we were in!"
"Now that we have a moment!" Selene poked at Ash. "Your Mom wanted to talk to you! She was trying to call you!"
"We know." Eevee agreed as Ash started checking the messages on his Pokegear. "She called and texted. You should probably get back to her."
"Professor Oak mentioned something about that but when I said I needed Selene to help fight Team Rocket he cut himself off. I'll give her a call as soon as I can." Ash remembered the brief words he'd shared with Oak before the Rockets had showed up at the center.
"Hey, was that street always a giant waterslide?" Art noticed the water flowing a block away and started asking the important questions.
Sunny's eyes went wide and he grabbed his tail as though the water was coming to attack him. Ash applied his illusion again and picked up the fire-type. "Don't worry, it's just something the Bamboozle was working on. We don't have to go near it if you don't want to."
The Charmander relaxed but made no move to get down, Ash didn't mind carrying him the rest of the way.
"Can we use the waterslide?" Art raised his arm despite Sunny's concerns and Ash sighed.
"Who wants to use the slide?" He asked his friends. Art, Pikachu, Selene, and Storm all raised their limbs. "...alright we'll make a quick pitstop before going back to the Pokemon Center. Sunny you can wait up here with me." He wanted to ride it again too but he wasn't going to leave Sunny by himself near that much water.
Besides, this would give him a chance to call home and find out what his Trainer-Mom wanted to warn him about.
As it turns out, it was one of those things that would have been helpful to know before finding Team Rocket here. Considering it had been about Team Rocket.
Delia gave him the rundown of the breach and how someone had been trying to dig up information on himself and his friends who had broken into the Celadon Rocket Base. She'd been calling to warn him about that.
"Why were they trying to get into Professor Oak's file though?" That part was confusing Ash a bit, more than just the fact they were somehow using computers to do it. He knew the basics of how they worked but not the details.
"To get information about you of course!" His trainer seemed bewildered at the question and he realized he might need to clarify.
"Not that, I meant how come they needed to go to Professor Oak for it? Misty used to be a gym leader and Karen has competed in leagues before. I'm pretty sure you can find my trainer license listed somewhere…" It had to be out there since he was able to use Pokemon Centers with just his name.
She paused as she considered his words. It was just him and Sunny listening on the phone, his human friends had gone back to the Pokemon Center to help clean up, and everyone else was riding the slide.
Well, Pidgeotto was racing the slide actually, as opposed to using it.
"I don't know. Maybe they were trying to get more detailed information on your Pokemon and family. They started going into my file as soon as they noticed it." She admitted and Ash felt worry spike.
"Are you-" He started but she cut him off.
"I'm fine Ash don't worry. I've got Shelldon here, not to mention whoever you send home and Professor Oak. Although maybe I will start seeing about training some new Pokemon for help…" She muttered the last part and Ash felt a little giddy at the suggestion. New teammates? He wouldn't be the baby anymore!
Seriously! It had been ten years! It wasn't fair!
But he was still worried about her. "Please be careful! I don't want you getting hurt because of me!" A new reason to hate Team Rocket successfully embedded itself in his head.
"I'll be fine, just make sure to stay safe yourself! We don't know for sure if it was the group there in Vermillion who hacked Professor Oak! Don't leave your team or Pokegear behind again do you hear me!" She slightly scolded him.
"Yes, Mom." Ash nodded.
They said their goodbyes and Ash's team finished up their time on the waterslide. Ash said his goodbyes to the Zorua who'd helped him out and had one last thought occur to him. Something he'd promised Karen.
"Hey, before I go, my friend Karen, the one with blue hair, wants to catch a Zorua." He started a bit awkwardly. "I know none of you probably want to do it but I told her I would at least ask."
"She's the one with a bunch of dark-types right?" Ratatta checked and lashed her illusionary tail. "Hm, the funny thing is I'm not entirely against it. But the issue is I still want to get home after this. I don't have any way of contacting my family exactly…"
Ratatta was the only one who seemed interested right now but the others all agreed they had family to get back to. In the end, she decided to talk to Karen a bit and see if they could work something out.
As they walked, Ash tried to call Leaf and give her the message about Team Rocket but he went right to her voicemail. He shot her a message warning her to watch out for Team Rocket.
Her response was. 'Are you trying to be funny?'
That was a bit confusing and he just sent a few messages explaining what happened. She answered saying she was a bit busy but would call him tomorrow.
There were plenty of examples of other bamboozle behavior on the way back to the Pokemon Center. The great tire tower for instance stood taller than some of the proper city buildings. Plenty of walls and storefronts were still covered in paint and the streets had plenty of doodles coating them.
Other surprises passed them by, a group of local Meowth chasing a cackling blue and black Zorua wearing a crown, likely Ace disguised as a shiny. The Meowth were notably all the same shade of purple.
They turned a corner and found themselves in a jungle. There was still concrete beneath their feet but trees, vines, and other plants surrounded them on all sides. It was a bit tricky getting through but they managed it without any major difficulties.
All the same, it was well-passed dark by the time they arrived back and everyone was fairly tired.
Ash had to sit down and give his testimony to Officer Jenny, and while he did that Rattata went off to talk with Karen. He guessed he would find out whatever conclusion they came to the next day because as soon as he finished with his account of things, he went upstairs and passed out in bed with his team.
It had been a long day.
"If nothing else, thanks for asking," Karen told Ash at breakfast the next day, notably devoid of a new team member.
"Rattata is going back home then." Ash nodded, having expected that much. He was wondering if they could have figured something out but it looks like that wasn't the case.
"For now." Karen looked a little smug. "Although I might be making a trip to Alola once I'm done traveling with you. Let's say there's an open-ended offer."
"Quite a bit away from Unova," Misty noted over the lip of her cup, a fresh patch of gauze covering her cheek.
"Getting back to current events." Brock drew their attention. "I'm glad Team Rocket is dealt with, I thought the ones who attacked us in Diglett's Cave were oddballs. This was more in line with the Team Rocket I expected."
"The ones following us around are kind of idiots." Misty summarized simply. "They think Ash is a Vulpix despite having seen his real shape, and haven't figured out he's the Pokemon they're looking for. He was even wearing the hat."
"I doubt we've seen the last of them." Karen mused. "They seem a bit too dumb to take a hint."
"Even after we fought the ones here yesterday?" Brock raised an eyebrow and then frowned.
"What?" Ash caught on to the mood shift from the older boy.
"Nothing, it was just a reminder that I need to train more." He said. "I was struggling a bit with my team, we need to be better I think."
"That's the spirit!" Ash encouraged him. "You can work on that today! We don't have to meet that Brandon guy until tomorrow right?"
"At Cerise Labs right?" Brock nodded. "Brandon, I swear I've heard that name involved with digs before, archeological."
"It would make sense," Karen pointed out. "Considering what he'll be taking from us. Speaking of, that thing is safe right?" She glanced at Misty.
The younger girl nodded. "Yep, I locked it in my room under my bed until it's time to drop it off. Better than carrying it around, the last thing we want is for something to hit me in the back and break it open again."
"I wonder if it really is that easy for it to get free." Brock rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Or if it needs to be a Pokemon attacked specifically? Or even just one from a Diglett or Dugtrio."
"Good questions for this Brandon guy to answer." Karen nodded and stood. "Come on, you wanted training, right? Good news for you I'm something of an expert, as certain company can confirm."
"It's true." Ash agreed, "I'm loads better now! Oh, that reminds me! I want to try an illusion one of the other Zorua did yesterday! He made it look like they were made of glass!"
"Huh, sounds interesting." Karen agreed. "You gonna come out and work with us?"
"Not yet." Ash shook his head a bit ruefully. "I have to send Selene back to Professor Oak, he only overrode the team limit because of what was happening yesterday. Then I wanted to go say goodbye to the Bamboozle and the Zoroark before they leave!"
"And I need to see about getting us a ship to Fuchsia." Misty reminded them. "The reason we came here in the first place."
"Oh yeah…" Ash blinked. "I completely forgot about that part."
"How did you forget?" Misty sounded aghast. "We're doing it for your gym challenge!"
"I know!" He crossed his arms. "I was planning on leaving right after we dropped off the shield! I just forgot we had to get a boat first."
"Until we get enough flying types to carry all of us at least," Karen noted. "Let's get to work then, if we're leaving tomorrow we'll be too busy to train."
The day went fairly according to plan, with just a few minor hiccups.
Misty had some trouble locating a ship for them to use, mostly because a lot of ships were currently out of service due to the trouble caused by the Bamboozle the previous day.
Thankfully she managed to acquire one just when she was about to give up, an old seaman missing both arms and an eye. His name was Larry. He and his trusty partner Poliwrath had sailed the high seas for most of their lives. The rates weren't too bad either and he'd have them to a port within a day's walk from Fuchsia the next day.
"Fuchsia City never bothered with a port." He complained. "Despite being a scant few leagues from the sea! A waste if you ask me, but the old dogs there couldn't be kept from the sea! They made their own not far from the city proper."
This was entirely unprompted, Misty had not asked at all so she did the polite thing and just nodded along as he continued to ramble about cities near the sea not having ports of their own.
While Misty's day was whittled away listening to Larry, Karen, and Brock trained in the yard behind the Pokemon Center.
"Onix is certainly a tough one." Karen acknowledged as he tanked attacks from Umbreon. "I'm surprised you use him for new trainers."
"I use him for early trainers, no badge to two badges," Brock admitted. "But he's been getting stronger, ever since that incident with Ash and Pikachu."
"Really?" That caught Karen's attention.
"Provisional Badge situation aside, it's not every day an electric-type manages to shock a ground-type." He reminded her. "Even with the sprinklers going off."
"Well, it planted an idea in that Pikachu's head." She recalled. "Did you hear what he said happened down in the Tomb? Pikachu knows Rain Dance now."
"If Giovanni still had his gym he'd be sweating." Brock laughed but cut off as Onix went down. "Shoot, the joints are still his weakest point."
"I can imagine those would be hard to train considering they're what allow him to move around," Karen noted. "And durability training is hard enough on its own. There's a reason most trainers focus on speed and damage."
"Those are certainly useful." Brock agreed as he checked over his starter. "But having a good defense to fall back on is good too. Some Pokemon are better suited for it than others I've noticed."
"So how are you training the rest of your team then?" She checked as Umbreon came back to her and she rubbed his head. "Onix is your brick wall, but what about Geodude and Zubat?"
"Zubat is going to be the speedster I think." Brock mused as they planned. "Using his moves to undermine opponents' defenses, like Screech, Hypnosis, Confuse Ray. The type of moves that don't do direct damage."
"Not a bad approach. I know all about that kind of stuff." Umbreon held his head high as she mentioned it. "Dark-types are all about getting under your opponent's skin with tactics and moves they wouldn't expect."
"Like you get into my heart?" Brock asked and Karen had to catch herself.
"Look who's finally learned how to do it right?" She leaned into him with a grin and Brock blushed.
"It's a work in progress." He admitted. "But I guess you prefer casual flirting to love declarations?"
"Those can wait for the altar." She cackled as Brock spluttered. "Oh calm down! What about Geodude?"
"Geodude I want to be able to take a hit and deal the damage right back." Brock decided, "He probably won't be as tough as Onix but I bet he can still hit pretty hard."
"Especially if he decides to evolve." Karen agreed. "Let's start working with those two and then while they're resting we can go get lunch."
"Sure, gonna stick to the cafeteria?"
"Nah, saw a place down the road on the way in that looked good. I was gonna suggest we go yesterday but…"
"But we got bamboozled." Brock laughed.
"Exactly."
Ash's goodbyes to the Bamboozle were a bit sad. Especially with the ones he'd gotten close to over the last two days.
"Please can't you come with us!" Brother Zorua begged and tried to hold him down.
"Mom has room for more in our den! Please! You can be our new brother! Or our cool cousin!" Sister Zorua begged and helped her sibling.
"No fair!" Zoruball whined and rolled around them in a circle. "I want to keep Ash!"
"No one is keeping me!" Ash declared and easily pushed the other Zorua off him. Something he discovered was that as Zorua went he was one of the stronger ones here. Maybe a few had more battle experience but as far as raw strength went he was up there.
"All the same." Ace marched over once again in the guise of the white and red Zorua he'd seen yesterday. "If you ever find yourselves near a Bamboozle again, you're welcome to join!"
"Thanks, Ace." Ash nodded with a smile but it quickly vanished. "But I'm not sure what the chances are…"
"Bit of advice then." She swiped him across the nose with her tail. "Pokemon Village in Kalos, the Moor of Icarus in Unova, Melemele Island in Alola. There are others but most of us are from one of those three."
"I'm on Akala Island in Alola myself," Rattata told him. "I mentioned it to Karen, we'll see if she comes looking in a few months."
"Knowing her?" Storm mused, "Almost certainly, you sure you'll be willing to go with her then?"
"Maybe." Rattata shrugged. "More willing than I am now probably."
"If you ever find yourself in the area stop by, if there's not a Bamboozle going on we could probably tell you what the plan for the next one is," Ace told him and Ash grinned.
"Thanks, which one will you be at?" She seemed to be the one in charge of organizing this thing. Outside of the Zoroark at least.
"None of them." Ace gave a foxy grin. "I'm from the Alabaster Icelands in Hisui."
Eevee opened and closed her mouth a few times. "You mean Sinnoh right?"
"If you'd like." Ace shrugged. "I'm a bit old-fashioned."
"Is that why your crown is made of cardboard?" Pikachu bantered.
"Shut up." The Zorua bid them farewell and they wanded back to Vermillion proper.
"Should we have lunch and do some training?" Ash suggested. "Karen was right we might not have any time tomorrow."
"Fuchsia's Gym is a poison-type gym right?" Pidgeotto checked. "Hm, the biggest problem for us would probably be Art and Selene, Selene had a battle in Rota but Art hasn't had a chance yet."
"I want to battle!" Art announced despite having a weakness to the gym's type.
"Not looking forward to being poisoned," Pikachu complained but perked up. "Hold on, isn't there a berry that can cure poison?"
"Yeah, the Pecha Berry." Eevee nodded and caught onto the idea. "Oh that could work, we're allowed to eat berries in battle. If we stock up before the fight we could all have one just in case."
"Who would the team be?" Storm checked with Ash.
"I want you on it." Ash decided off the bat. "You haven't had a gym battle yet and your moves could help out a lot at the start. Eevee your pretty neutral, Pikachu you'd be good to have…"
"Planning is tricky." Pikachu acknowledged. "But part of the process!"
"To be the very best!" Sunny agreed, pumping his fist.
"Exactly!" Pikachu grinned at the younger party member.
Art looked very pleased with things. "I knew I picked the right trainer!"
Before the conversation could continue congratulating themselves for being awesome, Ash's Pokegear rang and he saw Leaf's caller ID. "Finally! Hang on it's Leaf, let's sit down for a minute."
"Who's Leaf?" Art asked.
"Good question, you've mentioned her a few times," Storm admitted her own lack of knowledge.
As his team explained who Leaf was to the members who hadn't met her Ash spoke to the girl herself.
"You alright?" He asked her. "What was that about me trying to be funny yesterday? I was trying to warn you about Team Rocket!"
"Well, I know that now. It also explains why Professor Oak was calling me. And my Mom. And my uncles. And…" Leaf trailed off and Ash got the idea she was counting on her fingers.
"We had Team Rocket attack us here in Vermillion City," Ash told her. "What about you?"
"Oh, I was attacking them here in Saffron City." Ash stared at his Pokegear while he processed her words.
"Are you still there?" She asked.
"What do you mean you were attacking them?" He asked finally.
"So I went to Saffron after Celadon and the Gym had some weird stuff going on so I figured I'd come back later and went to Lavender Town. But Lavender Town didn't have a gym. It does have a ghost tower though! I met some ghosts there. And a sad Cubone with a ghost mom, it made me upset. But Team Rocket was there causing trouble so I beat them up! And caught a Gastly, she's cool and funny by the way." Leaf began summarizing her adventures. "Hey, what happened with Misty's Gym?"
He winced as he realized Leaf hadn't heard about that yet. "I'll tell you after, what happened after Lavender Town?"
"I tried going south but ran into a Snorlax who wouldn't budge so I wandered around for a bit, found a town with a gym, and got a badge, they were a dark-type gym! They had Pokemon from other regions! No Zorua though. Sorry. Anyway while I was there I got a flute and used it to wake up Snorlax then I went to Vermillion, then went to Saffron again but it was full of Team Rocket!"
This was a bit more in-depth than Ash expected, not that he wasn't grateful to hear about her adventures he was gonna tell her about his after. But he was still worried about what she meant by attacking Team Rocket. "What did you do?"
"Before I could do anything some of the grunts recognized me! They must have got away from Celadon somehow! But they ran away before I could do anything." Leaf admitted and Ash wondered why they'd run from her but not him and his friends.
"The next day though I decided to get to the bottom of what they were doing there! They were all at Silph Co. so I went in and started beating them up. This was yesterday by the way." She added as an afterthought.
"...you broke into Silph Co.?" Ash made sure he heard her right.
"They broke into Silph Co. I just followed them." She clarified and he nodded.
"That makes sense." He would have done the same thing. "That's what you were doing yesterday?"
"Yeah… actually maybe that's how they were looking stuff up on us. They had a bunch of computers and scientists there? Something about infiltrating Silph Co. I wasn't really concerned about why too much." Leaf admitted. "It was tough but we've been training since last time! My team is stronger than ever and we totally kicked their butts!"
"Nice!" Ash grinned. "We beat the guys who attacked us too! Misty even used her sword on them!"
"Misty has a sword?!" Leaf gasped.
"Shoot! Uh… yeah let me explain what we've been up to." Ash got to work explaining their own adventures over the past month or so. Everything after they had parted ways in Celadon up to the events of the previous day.
"I'm sorry Misty lost her gym," Leaf said. "I wish we'd talked sooner, it sounds like you've been having an awesome adventure! All I've done is beat up bad guys, you got to fight a giant! That's EPIC!"
"I know right?!" They gushed about how cool their accomplishments were for a bit before saying goodbyes. And agreeing to call each other more often to keep up with current events.
Ash found Misty and her Pokemon back in the Pokemon Center but no sign of Brock and Karen. Staryu was recovering nicely after an overnight with Nurse Joy and was with them at the table.
"We have a boat." She announced when he sat down at their table in the cafeteria. "He'll take us tomorrow after we finish up at the lab."
"What time do we meet him?" He checked and Misty gave him a tired stare.
"He doesn't believe in time. Just whenever we're ready tomorrow." Ash sensed a story but decided it wasn't worth it.
Instead, he decided to ask about their missing friends. "Where are Brock and Karen? I thought they were gonna be here all day."
"They were earlier. I caught them just as I got back." Misty groaned and put her head down on the table.
"Did something happen?" Ash felt worry spike in his chest.
"They went out to lunch." Misty looked up at him. "Together."
He was a bit confused as to why she was acting like this. "What's the problem?"
"Alone together." Misty tried to clarify but it did nothing for the disguised Pokemon. "Ash for the love of- A date! They went on a date!"
"Oh." He blinked and scrunched up his nose. "Ew."
"Let's just go train." She pleaded.
"We need to eat though." He pointed out. "And…" he swallowed. "We're probably going to have to get used to it."
Misty groaned again. "Why did Karen have to come with us!?"
"She has good training ideas." Ash reminded her.
"Not for me!"
"Also we like her," Ash added.
The ginger girl tapped the table. "Not as much as Brock does apparently…"
Ash didn't have a comeback for that. "Anything else going on?"
"Oh, Team Rocket is locked up. At least all the ones here, including Archer." Misty clarified. "And I didn't think about it before but I'm not in trouble for slashing that Domino lady. Self-defense and all that."
"Why would you get in trouble for that?" Ash's brows shot up.
"Human-on-human violence is treated differently in some situations." Misty waved off. "It's fine. But I feel like I should train with my sword more. I got a lucky hit in if it weren't for Staryu…" She frowned. "Anyway, there were a few mentions of weird Vulpix running around during the battle, the police are a bit confused about where they went."
"Most of them went home." Ash grinned. "But one is heading to Fuchsia City."
His best human friend smirked and then snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, did you talk to Leaf?"
"She called just before I got here, and she's been having her own Rocket trouble…" Ash started the story.
They all went to Cerise Lab the next day. Along with everything they needed to take with them to Fucshia since they were going to go from the lab to the ship.
The house that had been modified into the lab hadn't changed much on the outside. At least not the house itself. There was a large glass habitat built behind the old building, likely for Pokemon to stay in and be studied.
A part of Ash wondered how he should feel about the idea of being studied like that. It wasn't exactly like they were being hurt, and if a human was part of a study they'd be staying somewhere for the duration. He decided not to think about it too hard unless it was obvious the Pokemon involved didn't want to be there.
Eevee was excited to finally be visiting, even if they had missed the grand opening. "I wonder what they're studying here? Habitats? Eating habits? Movesets? Typing?"
"Maybe you should stop guessing and just ask." Pikachu rolled his eyes.
"Guessing is part of the fun!" She snapped back at him and Ash shot them both a look to stay civil. Their dislike wasn't always obvious and he'd prefer they keep from arguing or fighting.
Misty and Ash took the lead, mostly to avoid Brock and Karen holding hands and saying weird things to each other. It was very uncomfortable for the two younger trainers. So they hurried up the stairs to the front door and Ash knocked on it.
There was barking on the other side and a few moments later an annoyed-looking girl around their age opened it and surveyed them with a critical glare. "Can I help you?"
Her tone made it clear how little she wanted to help them.
"We're here to see Brandon." Misty crossed her arms and glared right back.
"Professor Oak sent us!" Ash added on in case the girl decided that wasn't a good enough answer. "He said to meet him here?"
She wrinkled her nose and Ash caught a glimpse of a yellow and white Pokemon at her feet, his eyes lit up as he recognized Yamper, another Pokemon he'd never met in person before! They were probably the one who was barking.
"Let me get my father." She slammed the door in their faces.
"Unless Brandon is an illusionist or shapeshifter I doubt that foul entity was our contact," Staryu noted.
"What a warm welcome," Misty grunted to Ash with sarcasm in her tone.
"Could be worse." He reminded her. "At least we're not being attacked."
"That happens way too often to us." She admitted.
A disheveled man with blond hair and glasses soon came to the door and ushered them in. "Sorry about Chloe! She can be a bit abrasive."
"It's fine," Ash claimed as they entered the threshold. The hallway certainly had the feel of a regular house as opposed to a research lab. "Are you Professor Cerise? Or Brandon?" He tried guessing.
"No, no!" He waved his hands. "I'm Ren, one of Professor Cerise's assistants! The girl who answered the door was Chloe his daughter. The Professor is with Mr. Brandon in the habitat. Let me take you to them."
As they walked Eevee started bursting with questions that Ash translated for her. It occurred to him that they weren't exactly being discreet about it. Considering he only asked questions after Eevee spoke. But Ren hadn't commented on it and seemed happy to explain their research.
"We're not focused on a single goal like some research labs." He explained in answer to the question, "What are you working on here?"
"Well, we do have a goal, but it's one of those vague blanket statements that sounds nice on paper but isn't so easy to get specific about. Essentially the goal is to research "everything" about Pokemon, as grand as that sounds. That lets us focus on specific missions in relation to that goal. From focusing on how Wooper learns Ice Punch to the different types of Pokemon Egg markings!" Ren elaborated with a few examples.
Misty nudged Karen. "Want to ask about yours?"
The older girl frowned. "No, I think I prefer to be surprised. As weird as it may sound. I don't want to start developing expectations on this little one before they're even hatched."
"Huh." Misty gave Karen a surprised look. "Not the reason I expected."
"I was tempted to try looking into it." She admitted. "Mostly to figure out what Pokemon can give people headaches while still in their egg. And from miles away."
"My bet is a psychic-type," Brock added. "Maybe an Abra."
"Wouldn't be the first non dark-type on my team." Karen shrugged. "And I do doubt it is a dark-type. But I guess we'll find out soon enough."
Ren explained some of the details of the on-site habitat as they entered it. Greenery greeted them and filled the large glass structure from wall to wall. Some rivers and ponds dotted the terrain and mixed with rocky crags that jutted up and formed cliffs in a few places. It was an impressive sight.
"Wow!" Ash said as much. "This is way different from Professor Oak's ranch!"
"I've not seen the Oak Corral myself," Ren admitted rubbing the back of his head a bit awkwardly. "But I've read about it. Unlike the corral, we have complete control over the environment here! While it looks like one large area it's actually divided into smaller habitats for different types of Pokemon."
"What happens when two species start butting heads?" Brock asked, "I can't imagine they all get along."
"They don't." Ren shook his head. "We've had to break up a few fights, but it's to be expected. And it's valuable research seeing what Pokemon are more likely to be aggressive toward each other!"
Ash frowned. "What if they want to leave?"
"I'm sorry?" Ren looked confused by the question.
"What if the Pokemon want to leave?" Ash repeated himself. "Are they allowed to go?"
"Er…" The research assistant didn't seem quite sure how to answer that question. "I'm not sure any have an interest in leaving, but you're welcome to ask the professor about it."
Karen leaned down to Ash. "That's the universal answer for "I'm not paid enough to answer that.""
That didn't sit right with him.
They found Professor Cerise not long after. There were two people with him. A man in a jacket who seemed to be approaching middle age, and a boy around Ash's age who looked incredibly familiar.
Especially since he just saw him yesterday.
"Ren!" Cerise waved them over. "These are the ones Professor Oak sent us then?"
"Yes, Professor." Ren let the younger people pass him and took his leave.
"So, what's this I've been told about an "extremely dangerous artifact that needs a close watch and safe keeping?"" Brandon asked, looking over them. "Don't tell me it's the sword?"
"It's the shield." Misty pulled the oddly shaped piece off her back and gingerly handed it to him.
Brandon frowned at the markings as he carefully studied them. "Where did you come from…" Apparently talking to the relic itself as opposed to the ones who transported it.
The boy with the two men had looked at the shield at first but kept shooting looks at Ash. Eventually, he said, "Do I know you?"
"Yep!" Ash grinned at him.
Neither said anything for a moment. "...aren't you going to say something?" The boy asked. Ash was still blanking on his name even if he remembered his face and goal now.
"Nah, not until you tell me where we met before." Pikachu climbed up onto Ash's shoulder to help sell the comparison.
Recognition spread in the other boy's eyes. "Camp! Professor Oak's Pokemon Camp! You were the kid with the Pikachu!"
"Yeah! And you were the kid who wanted to catch Mew!" A couple of Ash's Pokemon snickered or coughed at that. Unsurprising considering who they had met in Rota. "I don't remember your name though."
"I'm Goh." He introduced. "I'm a research associate here at Professor Cerise's lab." he sounded very proud of that fact.
"Cool! I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town! And this is my team, Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Sunny, Eevee, Storm, and Art!" He paused. "Most of my team, there are two more back home."
"Including one you know." Pikachu chuckled and Ash blinked realizing that Goh would know Diglett. He'd forgotten he was there for that.
"This is certainly quite the find." Brandon got their attention back. "I want to say the hieroglyphs are Pokémopolis in origin. I recognize these symbols here." He pointed to a few of the runes carved into the discs. "The dialect is ancient though, and I think the meaning of some of these might have drifted over time. This here is either the glyph for "monster" or "god.""
"That… makes a disturbing amount of sense." Brock paled.
"I'm guessing there's a story there." Brandon figured out and looked expectantly at them to explain. They shared a glance and started from Diglett's Cave and covered everything between that and winding up in Mikey's basement.
Perhaps unsurprisingly Brandon was familiar with the legend of the Crystal Caverns and a few variations of it. "Well, this proved a few theories I had. One of the so-called giants is trapped in here then? I'll need to take a close look and be careful I suppose." He mused.
"I wouldn't recommend letting it out," Misty warned him. "Under any circumstances."
"True, but I think I can handle myself in a battle." Brandon didn't sound smug or gloating, saying it more as a statement of fact.
"Professor Oak mentioned you were a trainer!" Ash perked up. "Do you want to have a battle?"
Brandon looked at him and his team. "How many badges do you have?"
"Six," Ash answered but sulked when the man shook his head.
"Not yet then. Oh, don't look so put out. Tell you what, after you compete in a league, doesn't matter if you win or lose, have Oak give me another call. I'll give you a battle and tell you a bit about what I learned from your little delivery here. How's that sound?" Brandon suggested.
He was a bit disappointed about missing out on a battle but the promise of one later helped encourage him. "Works for me!"
"You're welcome to look around a bit while you're here." Professor Cerise mentioned, gesturing around them. "As long as you don't cause any trouble you're free to explore the habitat a bit."
"I was hoping to look around a bit, thank you." Brock quickly took him up on the offer and he departed with Karen. Misty mouthed something to Ash that seemed to be 'Gross.'
"I have a question for you." Ash took the chance to try again after Ren. "Are the Pokemon allowed to leave?"
"I'm sorry?" Professor Cerise seemed surprised at the remark but Brandon smirked.
"You heard the kid, do you let the Pokemon leave if they want to go?"
"Oh… well… I suppose if they wanted to…" Cerise frowned as if the thought had never occurred to him before. That was good enough for Ash. Better he start thinking about it than having already made up his mind in the wrong direction.
Unfortunately, his mood quickly took a downturn as Goh spoke up. "Why would they be allowed to leave? I caught them. Well not all of them, but a bunch."
Pikachu tensed on Ash's shoulder and did a sharp intake of breath. The Zorua himself settled on narrowing his eyes. "You caught them?"
"Yeah." Goh sounded very proud of himself. "I've been out in the field catching Pokemon! I wasn't going to at first since I wanted Mew to be my first catch but after a trip to Galar I realized I shouldn't hold myself back like that!"
"What about the Pokemon." The comfortable nostalgia had vanished from Ash and it took an effort to keep his tone neutral. "Do they want to come with you? From their homes to come here?"
"Does it matter?" Goh seemed confused at Ash's questions.
It made him angry and frustrated both. Goh wasn't doing anything out of malice, but ignorance. And that was the problem. He didn't know and hadn't even thought about what he was doing. "Holding himself back?" What about all the Pokemon he'd taken from their homes without a second thought? Were they happy here?
"Ash, as long as I don't kill him-" Pikachu started.
"No." Ash shot him a quick look. Not because he entirely disagreed with him. But because he wanted to try and get through to Goh first.
Then Pikachu could shock him.
But first, "Hey guys, could you ask around a bit?" Ash checked with his team and they got the message pretty quick. Find out if the Pokemon here actually liked it or felt like they had no other choice.
"What's that about?" Goh looked completely lost.
"You caught the Pokemon here." Ash brought back Goh's earlier point. "Did they want to come with you?"
"But I caught them!" Goh repeated. "That's how it works, I catch them, they're my Pokemon now. I decided what happens to them."
"Kid." Brandon put a firm hand on Goh's shoulder. "Consider this a friendly warning. Stop digging. Right now."
"Digging what?" Goh wrenched his shoulder free of Brandon's grip.
"Have you ever been shocked by a livid electric-type before?" The man checked. "Speaking from experience, not a fun time. Especially when it's avoidable by not being stupid."
"What are you-" The boy looked back to Ash and saw Pikachu sparking on his shoulder. "Uh… can't you keep control of him?"
"Pikachu can control himself," Ash repeated a line he'd said to another trainer months earlier. "Can't you control yourself?"
"I don't see the problem!" Goh held his ground and Ash wanted to scream.
"POKEMON ARE PEOPLE!" It wasn't Ash who shouted, but Misty. A warm feeling disrupted the cold fury that had been building in Ash.
"...what?" Goh stared at her, shocked by the outburst.
"Pokemon have families." Ash got his attention back. "They have friends, homes, and lives, if a Pokemon comes with you it should be their choice. You shouldn't be able to just take them from their homes and keep them forever. Especially if you're just gonna toss them aside without a second thought."
"I'm not tossing them aside!" Goh snapped at him. "I'm bringing them here to help with the research.
"But what if they don't want to help with research!" Ash tried. "What if they want to battle? Or do contests? Or what if they just want to be left alone? Why should your choice be the only one that matters!"
"That's how everyone does it though!" He tried falling back on the old reliable "everyone else is doing it!" excuse.
"Yeah." Misty agreed. "It is. But maybe it shouldn't be. I've seen a lot in the past few months and if nothing else I know that Pokemon should get a choice too."
"Sorry to play the uh, dark-type's advocate here." Cerise joined the conversation a bit nervously, maybe trying to calm things down. "But Pokemon that don't want to come with a trainer can normally escape fairly easily."
"Unless they're injured and afraid." Ash started listing off his points. "Then they won't want to leave the temporary safety of the Pokeball, or they're locked in their ball using the locking feature. Or they're so far from home they feel like they have nowhere else to go."
That gave the professor pause and he looked Ash up and down. "You've thought a lot about this haven't you?"
"Someone has to." Ash briefly considered giving examples from Sunny and Storm, and their experience with their previous trainers. Maybe even Misty's Psyduck. But he decided not to bring up those sensitive topics. "I've seen some bad trainers. And I hate that they're able to get away with it. I want things to be better than that."
"I suppose that's a good way to look at things." The Professor sighed and looked around. "I don't want the Pokemon I'm studying to feel trapped here. I guess I have to take another look at how I do things."
"But…" Goh looked a bit devastated.
"Goh, this isn't because you've been doing things wrong." Cerise shot a nervous glance at Ash and Pikachu, who had thankfully stopped sparking. "But because sometimes we need to look at things from a different point of view. This laboratory exists to learn everything about Pokemon, and well, sometimes we need to learn too."
Ash felt satisfied but he saw Goh clench his fist, out of anger, frustration, or self-doubt he didn't know.
He just hoped something had gotten through here.
As it turns out, only a few of the Pokemon at the Cerise habitat were unhappy with the state of things, and most had elected to stay.
"It's comfy here." One Bidoof had claimed. "No trouble if you don't get in anyone's way, and delicious food!"
"Those are good reasons." Art and Sunny had agreed.
Some of the more aggressive Pokemon wanted to get out entirely and never look back and a few were willing to stay but had caveats.
"I went with the boy because he looked interesting." An Espurr claimed. "If I stay, I wish to interact more."
That point had certainly helped smooth over a few things with Goh. And if nothing else he seemed to resolve to build better relationships with the Pokemon he caught, instead of just leaving them as part of some collection.
Ash still had to talk Pikachu down from shocking him a few times.
But they departed with less weight on their backs, literally in Misty's case.
"You know now that I've seen him I swear I've seen Brandon before," Karen claimed as they boarded Larry's ship at the docks.
"I looked him up," Brock claimed. "He's a trainer, a big one. He won the Hoenn League three years in a row twenty years ago."
"He did what?!" Misty gaped at Brock and whistled, turning to Ash. "No wonder he said to wait until you won a league to challenge him."
Ash kicked at the deck. "I really wish we'd battled now. I want to see how I compare!"
"Might not have been a good experience for either of you," Brock suggested. "The gap might be too big for either of you to get anything out of that battle."
"Hmph," Ash grunted and felt at least a few of his team agreed with him.
"Welcome to the high seas little one." Karen took her egg incubator out of the bag and sat with it on her lap. "I hope you don't get seasick in there…"
"Huh, I wonder if that can actually happen." Brock wondered. "Probably not, but try and keep it stable just in case."
"That's my plan." She agreed.
As they settled in Ash felt a tugging on his leg. Sunny looked up at him with big eyes. "Would it be okay if I stay in my ball for the trip?"
"Are you sure?" Ash checked with him, Sunny wasn't the biggest fan of his Pokeball, then again, he was probably less of a fan of the ocean.
"Yeah, I know it's probably safe in here but…" He glanced around the windows of the cabin nervously. "Too much water."
"Alright, I'll give the ball three taps when we're back on dry land," Ash promised the fire-type and took the ball out.
Sunny heaved a sigh. "Thanks, Dad," he said as Ash returned him with a smile.
Then the words hit him and his brain stopped working.
"Huh, thought that would have happened sooner." Pidgeotto mused to Pikachu.
"I thought Art would do it first." Pikachu crossed his arms. "But yeah, I guess Sunny has been with us longer."
You know I originally planned to go a bit further than this, but I realized this was a better ending point than my other options.
Next time! The gym battle is on the horizon but there might be one more stop before Fuchsia!
Or after. Haven't decided yet but it's been a hot minute since the last gym badge.
This though has been something I've been planning for a hot minute! Ash's brain is broke. His oldest teammates are amused.
Let's see, a lot happened in this chapter actually. Archer gets put away, we see Brandon and drop off the shield, say farewell to the Bamboozle, Leaf continues doing the game plot in the background, Goh's catching habits are brought into question, Brock is training and his relationship with Karen develops…
Reminder I did not plan for that to happen but it works shockingly well.
I have some plans for Fuchsia and what comes after. So that's exciting! Ninja time!
I'm trying to figure out the exact timeline for the next chapters. I know what will happen but I need to get the order down.
Before I say anything else… thank you. Those of you who reviewed and commented and told me you like the story, pacing, and long chapters be darned. I've spent awhile agonizing over it for no reason other than someone in a discord asking about pacing and the fear I'm doing it wrong implanted itself in my brain.
Knowing you guys like my story, worldbuilding, conversations, and wordiness, and all, well, it warmed my heart and made me feel more confident in writing this.
Thank you all.
Reviews!
Archangel_BK: No, this is the marker! Put it here now!
Deepthoughts42: Your review made my day. And made me feel way better!
LEGOBRICK13: Team Rocket can't help themselves and oh boy Giovani is going to fun to write from the perspective of. None of the Zoroark are Hisuian but one of the Zorua might be! Maybe… Ash didn't quite get the truth but he got a hint of Surge, he's not being a colossal jerk at this point since Ash already won, but he's still throwing his vibes around.
PenguinBandit523: Hopefully this chapter clears up a few other mysteries! Also yeah Surge at the docks was amusing in my head, glad it came out in story.
PokeDan: Is he real? Domino is one of the few canon Team Rocket members we get in anime who are actually threatening! Figured I'd use her.
Na: Thank you!
Strike Wyvern: Zorua is always a win!
Goldboi217: Thank you for agreeing with me on Ash being a Zorua!
Ozymandias42: Yeah, author vs audience pov can be a bit tricky. I guess it's like in DnD when the DM creates what they think is a simple puzzle but five players get stuck on it for hours. I was mostly getting in my own way about the pacing though, so I'll just keep writing and not sweat it too much!
Guest: Don't worry he's okay!
Lolistarkiller: You make some good points for why he should evolve and they'll probably come up in the inevitable conversation about it. But I don't think it'll be a commitment on Ash's part for awhile. Pikachu flat out refuses to evolve and he's doing just fine afterall. I suppose we'll see what happens. But Team Rocket is definitely a threat to Pokemon and humans alike.
Jaydee4: One, she could have but wasn't really thinking in the moment, just attacking. Two, lol true.
Anthony David Torres Jr.: I guess that could work as an episodic plot of sorts. Not sure I would enjoy writing that though.
The one who reads and writes: Hisuian Zorua Ash is worth an omake if nothing else I think. We'll see. Goh gets another appearance here with a bit more character involved. And you're right about Brock and Karen apparently not getting a moment during the fight other than being there. I shall endeavor to make sure they act as their own characters in this fic and not just part of the sideshow. Now as for making this fic millions of words… try and stop me! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! (I know this was not your intent but dang now I kind of want to.)
All for now folks! See you next time! Most of you at least.
Good luck.
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~FriTik
R&R