So, I apparently messed up by accidentally posting only a third of what was to be the opening chapter of the Orange Islands Arc. I tried to create the new story and assumed it and the first chapter would just sit in my profile until I posted the first chapter, apparently not. So, if you're planning on creating a new story make sure the first chapter is already completed beforehand.
I've been so busy at work that I've just not had a chance to write. This will essentially be a carry-on of what should have been Chapter 1. And to answer the guest who posted a review, no, this won't be a gore fest but there will be other deaths in this fic.
I own nothing.
Chapter 2
A few days later Ash was sat on a bench at his newly completed lake area contemplating his future. He had ordered the benches the day after the incident with Andrew and had them placed next to each hole that contained the flower beds to finish the symmetry. Looking down to his right Ash sighed again as he looked at the newly made flower bed area that had new shoots pushing their way through the soil.
"That was a big sigh" a voice said making Ash turn around in his seat. Seeing who it was he moved to the edge of the bench to accommodate the two people who had arrived.
"It was" Ash agreed turning to James "for the last few days I've been contemplating on what I should do now that my main goals in life have been completed. I always knew I would eventually do what I set out to do, and I thought I'd do it inside three years, but I seem to have undervalued myself."
"Ah" James said looking around at the view "you certainly have come a long way in the last eighteen months. I mean, I know we have only been cordial for the last six of those but the moment the boss identified you as a person of interest we knew you were no slouch. There's a reason we never even bothered trying to eliminate you and we've had plenty of chances to try. At this point I'd say you're above being attacked by the more intelligent poachers or thieves."
"Sadly, the less intelligent will always try" Jessie said taking off her shoes and wading into the shallow lakebed.
Ash looked at James with curiosity at her actions. "It's not my story to tell, it's hers" James said answering his unanswered question. "I've found that if I just go with it life is much easier." Hearing a snort, they both looked at Jessie who had her eyes closed just enjoying the sun and the cool autumn air.
"One day I might tell you" Jessie said opening her eyes and looking at them "not today though. At the moment I'm just enjoying the peace while it lasts because believe me these days seem to be few and far between."
"You're not wrong" Ash muttered looking again at the flowerbed. "Not that I don't enjoy your company but why are you here?"
"The boss sent us to make contact with Andrew" James said sighing heavily "we lost contact with him a few days ago and his tracking signal has yet to come back on. And given how his task was to watch you we thought we'd ask you if you knew anything about it."
"Hmmm" Ash said noncommittally "I haven't seen him around for a few days either. I knew he was in my forest watching me for the last week or so, but he never came out and spoke to me. His aura has been missing for at least three days now, so I just assumed he left on another mission."
"Hardly" Jesse said snorting "his task was to kill you, and he wouldn't leave on another mission without doing that first. No, he's disappeared and there's only a few ways that could have happened."
"Can you not track the Pokémon he was using?" Ash asked, "that is assuming you guys put trackers in your Pokémon."
"You know I've never thought of that" James said looking thoughtful and bringing out his Weezing "before we were given you did anyone do any kind of experiments on you?"
"No" Weezing said shaking from side to side "why?"
"We just wondered if you guys were being tracked from HQ and they planted something inside you to pinpoint where you are" Jessie said coming back ashore and sitting cross legged on the floor.
Looking as thoughtful as a Weezing could he finally said, "I cannot feel anything foreign inside me."
Nodding James recalled him, and they sat there in silence for a few minutes. "Well, it's good that they can't track you through your Pokémon at any rate" Ash said, "I would think there would be some rather awkward questions about why you were at certain places instead of being on missions."
"Yeah" Jessie said nodding "it does take a lot off your mind knowing you're not being watched all the time."
"Which leads us back onto your watcher Ash" James said looking at him "you haven't seen him for a few days?"
"At least three" Ash said nodding "it was driving Venusaur mad not being able to attack him. Sorry I can't help you more."
After another minute of silence Ash asked "where's Meowth by the way? I've yet to see him with you guys."
"He's incredibly skittish around people" James said with a sad look "I don't know what happened in that year he wasn't with us but whatever it was has left him very nervous. And I'm not the greatest at nurturing, Jessie is even worse, don't look at me like that you know it's true!" he commented after seeing her outraged face "so we've been stuck on how to help him."
"Oh, that's not good" Ash said looking thoughtful "if you come back in a few days, I may have someone with me who can help him. I can't promise anything though. Just talk to him and tell him that if he doesn't want to talk then he doesn't have to, but it would be very beneficial to him to do so. I've already put you on the access list for this property so you shouldn't be challenged when you visit here."
"Thanks Ash" Jessie said standing up "That explains why we've not been shouted at by the scientists roaming around. I'm afraid we must be going now though, give our report to the boss and all that."
Nodding Ash stood up and shook James' hand before they teleported away, Jessie didn't do touching, so she just nodded at him before they left in a flash of blue. Sitting back down Ash looked over at the lake before saying "did you hear everything you wanted to hear?"
Chuckling a tall man dressed in a business suit walked out from the treeline and sat beside him.
"I must say you certainly have lying through your teeth down to an art form Ash" the man said smiling.
"I learned it from you" Ash said smirking "what can I do for you Uncle?"
"What, can't a man visit his nephew without an ulterior motive?" Giovanni asked looking at him.
Ash just gave him a flat stare which had the man laughing and Ash followed not long afterwards. When they settled down Ash repeated his question "So, what can I do for you?"
"I'm here for a few reasons actually. The first one is I've been tracking those two that have just left for months now, ever since I saw them on my CCTV stealing back their Meowth. They forget, it was only them and us that knew I had a Meowth so that eliminated everyone else, especially as nothing else was stolen making the theft their main objective. So, imagine my surprise when I see them here chatting to you like old friends. Not only that but you then ask about Meowth which leads me to the first of a few questions. Ash, did you tell them how to break into my gym?"
"No" Ash said shaking his head "but I gave them the window of opportunity to do so during our battle. They're quite resourceful you know? And as you said only the four of us knew about Meowth, and at the time I knew you were hiding something to do with Team Rocket, I just didn't know what. It's ironic that I found out a few days later anyway when mum beat up Ilene. You should have been there Uncle, Mum was amazingly vicious."
"Why did you suspect me?" Giovanni asked curiously ignoring the last comment.
"You were too insistent on being innocent." Ash replied "In nearly every conversation we had after you told me what happened to dad you always slipped it into the conversation somehow. That and a few times you let things slip to me that made me wary of you. If it helps, you had nearly everyone else fooled including mum. It was only when we were on the SS Anne that I showed mum all the evidence I'd found that pointed to you at least knowing something you weren't telling anyone. And as I was unaware that I had a cousin I came to the conclusion you were the boss of Team Rocket. I was wrong obviously, but I was right that you knew who was."
"I always told myself that you were extremely intelligent" Giovanni said sighing "but I convinced myself you'd never find out. And I obviously outsmarted myself with my actions. But how do you tell your sister that her nephew killed her husband?"
"He's not dead" Ash said looking at him.
"What?" Giovanni asked shocked.
"Well, he wasn't up until at least a year ago anyway." Ash continued looking back out to the lake "Mewtwo told me that his body was hidden on New Island. And then he disappeared around the same time Fuji escaped Lavender Town. So, I'm going to take a trip to New Island to see what I can find in the next few weeks."
"Keep me updated, won't you?" Giovanni said looking thoughtful "as I said I have no illusions about the result of my son being captured but I would like to know the whole story before he is executed."
"You're remarkably calm talking about your sons upcoming death" Ash commented.
"I've had over fifteen years now to make my peace with who he is." Giovanni said "and when you play the games he's played and destroyed the lives he's destroyed there's only one outcome or solution to the problem. Erasure. I will mourn what I couldn't help with more than the man himself. He made his own choices just as you make yours and I make mine Ash. I found out to my cost that my actions have consequences."
After a moments silence Ash asked, "what were the other reasons for you coming here other than tracking Jessie and James?"
"I planned on asking them some questions about why they broke into my gym, but you've answered that. I also had a run in with the agent they were tracking too but he's disappeared. DO you know what happened to him?"
"What happened to Domino?" Ash countered looking at him.
"Ah" Giovanni said chuckling "what indeed. Let's just say she will no longer be an issue."
"And I echo those words" Ash said looking away. Giovanni gave a laugh, and they were silent for a while.
"Are you busy today?" Ash asked.
"Not particularly no. Why?" Giovanni replied.
Standing up Ash said "come, I will show you around my home. I eventually will have to run this place and any advice would be welcome."
Standing up Giovanni clapped Ash on the shoulder and for the next few hours they talked aimlessly about what Ash had planned for the area. As they sat down a few hours later inside Ash's home Delia walked in as they were looking over some papers.
"Oh, hello Gio" she said looking curious "what brings you here?"
"Hello sister" he said standing up and kissing her on the cheek before sitting back down "we were going over Ash's speech for his upcoming meeting with Sam. I must say he's certainly put a lot of effort into this project. It's remarkable for a twelve-year-old."
"He certainly has" Delia replied smiling at Ash "I'm very proud of him. Not many children would ever think about the betterment of the future."
"This place is nearly set up now" Ash commented "there's only a few more additions to make to the area and then I'll let nature take over." A ringing halted whatever he was about to say as Ash took his phone out and answered the call.
"Hello? Oh, hello Joanne" putting his hand over the receiver he made his excuses leaving brother and sister to talk to each other.
"I still haven't forgiven you; you know?" Delia said.
"I'm aware" Giovanni replied "All I can do is just be here for you. I've made my apologies already, any more would be worthless. But you're my sister and I've always adored you. I was just in a tough spot."
"I know" Delia said sighing "and you were right with what you said. If it was me in your position, I don't think I'd do anything differently. Ash is my life."
"I'm glad you at least see it from my perspective." Giovanni said "I've asked Ash to keep me updated on what he finds out on New Island about Red. And as I told ash a few hours ago I know full well what the end game to this is going to be. Silver will die. I just hope I can see him one last time."
"If it helps, I'll try and be sorry for your loss." Delia said "but he hurt Red and has him hidden somewhere. I'll never forgive him for that."
"I understand" Giovanni said nodding as Ash walked back in looking very annoyed.
"What's up?" Delia asked.
"Bloody vultures" Ash said shaking his head "that was Silph. Apparently my 'restful time is over, and the real world is still here'. I have a meeting in the next few days to go over my commitments and interviews with the new and 'reclusive champion' about what my plans are. I'm starting to regret ever signing with them."
"Ah yes" Giovanni said chuckling "not everyone is made for the camera, nor speeches or even the public."
"I don't know how you do it" Ash said, "I said the same thing to Blue after I won the league."
"It's the price you pay for contracts and fame" Delia said "but look at it this way, you've only got nine years left on this contract and you'll be set for life. This place is a huge investment and is already bought and paid for, some of it by Silph and their contacts so you do owe them Ash."
"I know" he said leaning his head back "but I'm a Pokémon trainer not a media mogul."
"I agree with you" Giovanni said "but the public are an important entity when it comes to being a trainer. You need to know how to interact with them because public opinion can turn on you at the drop of the hat. What these next few years needs to be for you is building up a resume of good publicity because there's always going to be someone wanting your job and they will do anything they can to take your place and they will not care about the truth while defaming you, nor will the public when they form their opinions. This place will definitely be included in that Ash as it's a huge project you're undertaking."
"He's right" Delia said "your father was constantly making sure I knew about situations before the media did so they couldn't accuse him of anything sinister and trying to break us up. I know of a few reporters your dad had an antagonistic relationship with."
"I'm the same" Giovanni said "being the face of the gym challenges has placed me in the same positions. But having years of good credit has helped me immensely and now is the best time for you to start building. So, what's first on the agenda for you?"
"Well, I had planned on travelling to New Island but that will have to take a back seat for a few weeks as Silph has set up an interview for me promoting one of their new inventions" Ash said "I've no idea what yet but hopefully it's a quick one. I'm then being put in a commercial for another invention of theirs and then a few days later I have a merch signing event."
"Wow" Delia said, "that's a lot."
"AND" Ash continued "two weeks later I have the talk with Sam, which I've just found out is taking place in Viridian City this year."
"Oh good" Giovanni said frowning "my proposal went through then. Nice to see they keep me informed on it."
"Why did you ask for it?" Ash asked shocked.
"Because it's a massive event" Giovanni said simply "it takes place over the course of a few days usually and brings in lots of good publicity and more importantly revenue for the city. It's an integral part of being the mouthpiece of the league."
"At least it's flying distance from home" Delia commented.
"I didn't think of that" Ash said looking out of the window. "Anyway, it's nearly teatime, are you staying Uncle Giovanni?"
"If I'm allowed to?" he asked looking at Delia uncertainly who gave a nod "then yes. Are you going to cook? Can you cook? What are you making?"
"Oh, it's something mum and I have done for years now." Ash said leading them to the kitchen and getting the food out of the fridge. "We started cooking together years ago and I've found it very therapeutic and on my travels I've found cooking to be a skill very few seem to have, relying on rations or Pokémon centres in an easy way of being lazy. Also being friends with Brock has helped broaden my horizons on food preparation and cooking as he had to cook for all his siblings when his dad went AWOL. So, this is one of his tonight I'm making."
The rest of the evening passed by in a pleasant haze as they chatted aimlessly about random things. Giovanni went home around 10 while his mum spent the night. The next few days flew by with Ash making sure he was as prepared as he could be for the event in Viridian. He just had to get through the next few weeks with Silph first. The next day Ash gathered his team and explained what was going on and what would be happening in the next few weeks. Calling out Charizard he flew towards Saffron City and speculated with Pikachu and Charizard about what Silph may have in store for him. It was around a day and a half away so there was a lot of speculation, some of it so outrageous that Ash nearly fell off Charizard from laughter. The next day Saffron approached on the horizon and Ash disembarked from Charizard and went into the Pokémon centre. Handing over his fire lizard Ash waited for him to be healed and read a few of the papers on the table. Hearing his name, he walked over to Joy and picked up his Pokémon before heading upstairs to his room where he settled in for what he was sure to be a long week.
The next day he sent a few emails to various people, sent his final draft of his speech to Sam and watched tv while waiting for replies. A few hours later he decided to get it over with and walked into Silph where he gave his name to the receptionist and sat waiting for his contact to arrive. Twenty minutes later the elevator opened and Hatori Suzuki himself walked out to greet Ash, just behind him was Joanne who smiled brightly as they said hello.
"Ash" Hatori said loudly attracting a lot of attention "glad you could make it. Now, why don't we go to my office where we can discuss what's happening over the next few weeks. I'm sure you're curious about what we have planned."
"It did come up in conversation with my mum and uncle" Ash said shrugging as they went up the floors and entered a big office just off to the side of the main room. "But as we had little to go on it was just pure speculation." Sitting down opposite Hatori and next to Joanne he listened to the proposals they handed to him.
"Now we're aware of what you're like as a person and how you are with people" Joanne said "But out of these six proposals we feel you would be the best person to promote them. We're asking you to pick two. And we'll film you advertising them in both. Now, you won't be alone, various other people are also going to be in the video shoots, but you likely won't know them as they're paid actors, so be nice to them. So, out of the six are there any that stand out?"
Looking over them Ash thought about the items being described. Immediately two stood out to him. "These two are more my sort of thing. Especially this one as a trainer. I'd buy that." Ash said pointing to a particular one "The other appeals to me being a person in general and I'd definitely buy that."
"OK then" Joanne said moving the other four and putting them in her bag "let's go over what you're going to be doing."
A week later Ash was sat in his room exhausted from what he'd been asked to do. Anyone that went into acting must be mad given how gruelling it was. The two items he'd been advertising would be revolutionary in terms of being a trainer and a traveller. Imagine having the ability to portably transfer any Pokémon you have and swap them out without needing to go to the Pokémon centre. And not only that but to be able to use your pokegear as a video phone so you could see the person you're talking to. Sadly, they wouldn't be available to the general public for a few months yet as they were still in the final development stage but once they were released, he knew they would be instant money makers. And as exhausting as it had been Ash was pleased that he was given the option of promoting them. He had a few days rest before his merch signing so he decided to go for a walk to take his mind off the week he'd just had.
Sitting in a restaurant that night Ash mulled over the next few weeks in his head. He was desperate to go find out where his dad had disappeared to, but things kept getting in the way.
"It's maddening Pi" Ash said as he bit into a sandwich "I seem to have no control over my life at the minute."
"Things seemed a lot easier when we were just heading to the next gym or next battle" Pikachu agreed sipping on his personal bottle of tomato ketchup. It was something he'd discovered over the year and a half he'd been with Ash, and he had never looked back. At one point he was dangerously close to being addicted before Ash had confiscated the bottles and had sat him down with the others to give him an intervention. He didn't think he had a problem until Ash refused to stock up on the tasty sauce and had to go without during the travel from Fuchsia to Pallet. Those were long weeks without ketchup, but he had realised that he did have a problem and discussed it with Ash. So now he was down to one bottle a week, and he had to make it last, or he'd go without. Ash made sure to check every few days on him which he appreciated. "Can we go back to that?"
"I plan on it" Ash said "once this week is over and I'm done with Sam and the convention we'll be heading to New Island and then somewhere else. The only problem I have is I'm just not sure where to go. Johto is the next region over from us so it will likely be there, mainly for convenience in its location to Kanto and home. Hoenn looks fun but again it's a bit further away from home. It's something we'll discuss in a few weeks and the majority vote will win."
"That sounds fun" Pikachu said, "will the gyms accept our challenge though now we've won a league?"
"Yeah" Ash said "for the next few years anyway. Winning the league so young doesn't change the rules of their gyms just yet. They're required to give us an advanced challenge at most until I've completed two leagues. After that it's going to be entirely elites depending on who I use. For instance, if I capture a few new Pokémon and prove I've only had them a short amount of time they can't use their elites. If I used you however they can. It makes it so people challenging them don't get discouraged by facing super strong Pokémon early doors in their careers. It's the main reason so many trainers drop off because they don't train as hard as they used to and get swept by the gym leaders who are only doing their jobs."
"Do you plan on catching anyone else?" Pikachu asked curiously "you're one short of a full team at the minute due to Salamence being sent to the Bagon grounds."
"I've been thinking about that." Ash said finishing his food "I am. But very few will be in my team. I plan on capturing Pokémon that will thrive at home and help protect what I'm building. I just haven't thought about what Pokémon I'd have in my team. You, Blastoise, Venusaur and Charizard were the only four I knew I wanted. I got Machamp because he wanted to travel with me, and I needed a fighting type to spar with. It has helped that he is a great person too and I don't regret for one second agreeing to catch him. And I was given Bagon by Lance, look how that turned out. So, for now, yes, I will catch more but unless they fill an outstanding need they'll be for home and the surrounding forest."
"At least you've thought it through at any rate" Pikachu said "being a Pokémon short in your battle party puts you at a disadvantage regardless of how strong we are. And I'm looking forward to starting training again. The last few weeks off have been really good, but I've been bored."
"Charizard said the same thing" Ash commented "even Blastoise, the lazy bugger commented on it. Machamp still spars with me daily, so he's been fine, plus he has the gym to work out in. The only one that's been happy is Venusaur, but I suspect that's because of home."
"Yeah" Pikachu said wistfully "I miss battling."
A few days later Ash met up with Joanne at Silph and went over what he'd be signing.
"They're replicas of your cap, your shirt and your shoes." Joanne said as she led them through a door leading to the huge hall where he could see people waiting to be let in through the doors. Walking past a few other people he recognised Ash breathed out a sigh of relief. At least it wouldn't just be him in here facing possibly hundreds of people. "Now this will only be for about five hours, after that the doors will close, and you'll be free to go until tomorrow when we'll meet here at the same time and do it all again. Isn't it exciting?"
"Oh yeah" Ash said sarcastically sitting down "can you do me a favour though?"
"Sure" Joanne said giggling "what is it?"
"Tell Hatori he's paying for my hand operation to unseize it after signing things for five hours." Ash said picking up the pen and making sure it worked "you may as well go to sleep Pi; it's going to be a long day."
"Too bad Ash" Pikachu said stretching happily "it's your own fault for winning the league."
"Oh no he can't" Joanne said picking up a metal container from the floor. "Pikachu will be signing too." She finished opening the tin and revealing a pad of black ink. Pikachu just stared at her in disbelief. "Can this day be over with already?" Pikachu asked.
He was righter than he realised. As soon as the doors opened, and people streamed in it was non-stop smiling and signing his name on items of clothing. Pikachu only put his pawprint on children's items, flat out refusing to do so on adults' items, something which Ash approved of much to the consternation of Joanne.
"He's supposed to be doing everyone's" she said trying to look stern "He's discriminating against adults."
"And?" Ash said signing a cap and handing it back to the lady in the front of the queue "you sprang this on him literally at the last second. It's his right to sign his name on what he wants to and if he limits them to children then I'm fully behind him. It's his right to do so because they could be aspiring Pokémon trainers who will see this and hopefully become trainers and not dismiss a Pikachu as just a small electric mouse. To be honest you're lucky he's signing anything to begin with. I've told you before we don't do surprises. And if you think I'm stubborn I have nothing on Pikachu."
Sighing Joanne shook her head and went for a walk muttering under her breath. Ash held his fist out to Pikachu who bumped his back. "Next please" Ash called out.
The next day Ash returned to the building and met up with Joanne again and went though the same talk. "Enough Joanne, I said it yesterday, and I won't repeat myself again. Pikachu is not under contract with Silph, I am. Pikachu doesn't have to sign anything if he doesn't want to, and you should be grateful he even came with me today after yesterday's stunt. I had to convince him to come. Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Ash didn't wait for an answer before heading into the hall and taking his seat and taking a drink of his water. As the hours went by and the people tapered off Ash was able to look around more to take notice of who he was signing with. He recognised a few as trainers that he had seen at the league but couldn't name them, there was also a few movie actors but again Ash couldn't name them. Coming back to himself he realised he wasn't alone anymore and held his hand out for the item without looking up. "Who should I sign this for?" he asked.
"Her names Nia" a voice said making Ash look up sharply and recognising the woman in front of him.
"Sarah" he said standing up and pulling out the chair beside him and helping her sit down "how have you been?"
"I've been good" she replied smiling and taking the offered seat "and so has Nia before you ask. She's helping her dad out at his job today so she couldn't come. To be honest it was only as I was passing by that I saw your face on the banners at the front that made me come in. What's this all about?"
"Part of my contract with Silph is to do public events like this" he said beckoning a young girl forward who with the help of her mum handed him an entire outfit and looking up at him with shining eyes "and who might you be?"
"Ava" she said in a quiet voice before looking up determined "Mr Ash, can I please stroke Pikachu?"
"Well, why don't you ask him" he said standing up, picking up Pikachu and walking round the table to kneel in front of her "it's something to think about, always ask a Pokémon trainers permission first but more importantly ask the Pokémon themselves if you can touch them. Some Pokémon don't like to be touched because they could hurt you without realising they are. Take Pikachu for example, his electricity could cause you a nasty shock if you just suddenly picked him up but if you asked him first, he could switch it off and then you'll be ok."
"Mr Pikachu" Ava said, "can I touch you please?" Pikachu nodded and jumped down to the floor while Ava sat down and picked Pikachu up hugging him.
"She's adorable" Ash said to the young woman before standing up and signing everything and handing it to her mum. Standing back up Ava handed Pikachu back to Ash before smiling at Ash. "Thank you, Mr Ash."
"You're entirely welcome" Ash said as the young woman left to join the queue to pay. Sitting back down he motioned for one of the ushers to come forward and whispered something in his ear before beckoning the next person forward.
"What did you just do?" Sarah asked curiously. Ash just nodded over to the usher who had gone to see the woman. The woman listened to the usher before bursting out crying and coming back over. Ash stood up concerned wondering what had happened before she hugged him and thanked him many times before going back to where the usher was. A few minutes later after the woman had left the usher came back and said something to Ash before going back to his post. "What was that about?"
"I'm very good at reading people Sarah" Ash said handing the cap to the next person "and I can tell when someone is worried. Their aura fluctuates in a certain pattern, and I can sort of get a mental image of what that worry is. It doesn't always work, generally I have to be in close proximity to them for it to be clearer. I could tell that lady was worried about something when she handed the clothes over, I thought it would be because I wouldn't allow her to hold Pikachu and thus upset her daughter. It was only when I handed them back and accidentally brushed her hand that I got the full picture in my head. She's a single mother, these clothes are quite expensive, but she didn't want to disappoint her daughter by making her put some items back. Now normally it would be an exercise in teaching your children they can't have everything they ask for in life, but Ava never asks for anything. The only thing she's ever asked for is a Pikachu plushie and the items today. She was so worried about buying them she was willing to starve herself for the next few weeks just to make her child happy. So, I paid for them."
Putting the pen down he looked around and didn't notice the smile that appeared on Sarahs face. Shaking out his hand he looked at his watch and saw the convention was due to finish in the next few minutes, so he picked up a cap and signed it, Pikachu doing the same and handed it to Sarah. "Sorry, I forgot about your cap. But here you go. The convention is due to finish in the next five minutes. Tell Nia I'll message her later on, the next few weeks are going to be very busy for me."
"Oh yes" Sarah said standing up "the Natural Beauty convention you're doing a speech at is coming up isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is." Ash said standing up and stretching, Pikachu jumped on his shoulder as they walked away from their booth "it's taking place in my uncles building in Viridian City. I'm quite nervous actually. I don't do well talking to large groups."
"I'm sure you'll nail it Ash" Sarah said kindly as they reached the queue which was down to just a few people now. When they got to the front Ash scanned his pokegear and paid for the outfit for Ava and the cap for Nia "my treat" he said before they walked out together as Ash had no intention of speaking to anyone from Silph for the rest of the day. Saying goodbye Ash walked back to the centre and flopped down on his bed. "That was exhausting Pikachu. On the way home tomorrow morning we're making a detour to Indigo Plateau and I'm treating us both to a bucket of Calamari."
"That" Pikachu said stretching before curling up "is an excellent idea."
The following week flew by and soon Ash found himself outside Viridian Hotel, the place attached to Viridian gym and the location for the convention. Walking in he gave his name to the receptionist and received his pass for the hotel. He wasn't planning on sleeping here so he didn't bother going up to his reserved room. Instead, he made his way through the lobby to his uncles gym and walked out onto the battlefield. Releasing his Pokémon, he talked to them for a few minutes before he started a light training session with them.
"I thought I'd find you here" a voice said. Turning around he saw Giovanni walking forwards to him. Looking on appraisingly at the team Ash assembled he released a few of his own and they stood there observing each other. "Fancy a battle?" he asked, "nothing too strenuous, we have a convention to attend after all."
"Sure" Ash said "we've not trained for a few weeks so I'm trying to get them in battle shape for whatever we do next. Ok guys, we're just going to have a spar with Giovanni's Pokémon. Now, it's not a full battle, we don't want any injuries after all, but he still deserves your respect as do his Pokémon. How about 1 on 1 with both being recalled after each battle?"
"Fine by me" Giovanni said taking his place on the other side of the field "and to spice it up our Pokémon will choose their opponent. I will go first and one of yours will walk on and battle. After each battle the other person will choose first."
"That's actually a fun idea" Ash said as Giovanni chose Persian "Venusaur, you're up. I want to see how you do against fast Pokémon that hit hard."
The next few hours flew by as Ash and Giovanni traded comments on what they could improve on during the battle. Battling Giovannis elites was extremely beneficial as there was a reason he was still the last hurdle before the league challenge. Sadly, just as they were about to call out their final Pokémon a harried looking intern came running onto the field.
"There you two are. I've been looking for you for ages. The convention starts in half an hour. You need to take your places."
Shrugging Ash and Giovanni recalled all their Pokémon and walked off the field together chatting excitedly about the battle they just had leaving the gasping intern to slump to the floor in exhaustion. Walking into the hall Ash took his place on the top table next to Sam, apologising for being late.
"Where were you?" Sam asked quietly as the lead speaker stood up and started talking.
"I was using Giovannis gym to train and he joined me. We ended up having a little battle and lost track of time." Ash said equally as quietly causing Sam to chuckle and hand Ash his notes for who was going to speak, what order they were going to speak and what they were going to talk about. Ash saw he wasn't on until near the end which suited him as people generally remembered the last thing they heard and took more notice. His speech would be today and tomorrow would be when the questions were being asked. When the person before him finished Ash stood up and walked to the podium to plug in his laptop as there was a slideshow included in his speech. Loading them up he looked at the big screen behind him and saw he was ready, and he waited for the Master of Ceremonies to finish their introduction. "I present to you, junior professor Ash Ketchum." He said causing polite applause to ring out around the hall.
"Thank you" Ash started taking a drink of his bottle of water "I hope you'll excuse me, but this is only the second speech I've ever made in front of an audience. My first was a few weeks ago when I won the Indigo League and Charles Goodshow sprang it on me so I'm a little nervous. It's very strange looking out at you and not seeing Pokémon dotted around like there was during the league. But I'm here today to talk about Pokémon. Not just Pokémon but their habitats, how they live, how they breed, how they survive and just how important it is that we preserve these places for the future of us all really. I've been a trainer now for just shy of eighteen months but in that time I've had the privilege of being able to see so many different places in Kanto that have taken my breath away" clicking on the first image Viridian Forest popped up and the Royal Pidgeot tending to his flock "this is not even a ten-minute fly away from here. I was asked by the Pidgeot to keep this place a secret for as long as I could but after receiving permission from him, I can now tell you a little bit about the area."
Ash carried on in this vein for the next hour talking about how important the natural world was and why it was vital that they preserve as much as they could while they could. With each slide he talked about what Pokémon were there and why they were important to the area. Diglett Valley brought a gasp of awe from the assembled crowd at the beauty, the Laramie ranch brought thoughtful faces when he talked about Pokémon and people living in mutual harmony, Granpa Canyon and the fossils and the need to preserve once extinct Pokémon but to leave them in peace once they had an established place, even the caverns of Seafoam and their harsh conditions was talked about as ice types thrived there until finally Ash came onto his home. Clicking on the picture of his home from above Ash carried on.
"When I was growing up, I had a dream of where I wanted to live when I was an adult. I don't get on very well with people, I much prefer the company of Pokémon as I've found they're easier to understand. So, for me to gain this piece of land, with the help of you all has far surpassed what I thought I could do. I just wanted a garden for my Pokémon to relax in but in the few months I've had it this is what it's become. It's not quite finished just yet but it's very close to being so. Like us they have the basic needs of food, a home and a safe place to breed the next generation and I've found over the last year and a half that it's much easier for Pokémon to do so when we just leave them alone and have as minimal contact as possible. What my home is trying to achieve is to breed as many endangered species as possible, with as little contact as possible, in as safe a space as possible before relocating them to places in Kanto, Johto or the rest of the world where they can thrive in peace. Now this is a very long-term project, it will easily outlive me of that I'm certain, but I need your help to make this dream a possibility. This is why I'm here today" he said pointing at the picture "places like my home, like the Diglett Valley, like the Seafoam Islands need to be preserved for the good of us all. I want to thank you for your time today."
Packing up his laptop Ash sat back down next to Sam and breathed out a big sigh. Mainly with relief that he had got through that speech without stuttering or going over the top. "I'm very proud of you Ash" Sam said patting him on the shoulder.
"We all need to help ourselves professor and doing this is the right thing to do." Ash said turning back to the MOC who was just finishing up. Standing up Ash went to leave before Sam stopped him "sadly this isn't something we can afford to escape from Ash. We need these people and their backing, so you'll need to talk to them. There's a buffet planned so we'll all be milling around going over what we have heard and seen today. Be nice and remember we need them." Sam clapped Ash on the shoulder before going off to chat to some of his colleagues. Sighing Ash followed to the main hall and nodded to his uncle who was in conversation with another professor. Getting some food for himself and Pikachu he sat down and began to eat before he was joined by someone.
"That was certainly some speech you gave, young man" a voice from his other side said. Turning to face them Ash looked confused as he vaguely recognised the man who talked to him. "Dr Attenborough at your service."
Ash immediately recognised the name. He was the worlds leading expert on natural history and had done hundreds of documentaries on the Pokémon world.
"An absolute honour to meet you sir" Ash said.
"No" he said smiling "after that presentation the honour is all mine, Ash. The talk you've just given was absolutely inspirational. Please, call me David. Now tell me, why did you decide to become a professor and at such a young age too?"
"I didn't" Ash said laughing "since I was six years old, I've been writing observations down whenever I interacted with the Pokémon living at Professor Oaks ranch. It's always astounded me just how many Pokémon he cared for and the dedication it takes to do that role is inspirational. Even now that I understand the world better, I still don't think I'm capable of doing what he does. Anyway, unbeknownst to me Sam kept everything I wrote, typed them up, polished them a little and published them under a pseudonym and they became the standard for teaching in universities worldwide. When it was time for me leaving to become a trainer, he informed my mother and I what he had done. I was astounded that people had taken my scribblings so seriously, he basically set me up for life with the money those observations made. However, as I would no longer be protected as a minor, he had to tell me and tell the world my real name. He felt that because of the work I had put in, and the help I had given him over the years leading up to me leaving that I deserved the Junior Professor status but made it clear what that meant and that it could easily be revoked should I not live up to his expectations. Thankfully, I seem to have done an OK job."
"Sam certainly chose well" David said as he speared a tomato from his plate "my next question is why did you become a naturalist?"
"Believe it or not it started with a conversation I had with my Pokémon about what they want to do when we're done battling" Ash said "I have the gift of Aura, in fact I'm the most gifted aura user in the world today and I have the ability to communicate with Pokémon. But one day I asked my Venusaur, who was then a Bulbasaur what he wanted from life. Now, I don't know if you're familiar with Arceus' Edicts? Essentially, they're a set of rules dictated by the God Pokémon Arceus that governs a Pokémons actions from the moment they're born until they die and how they interact with the world at large. Now the main one seems to be that a Pokémon has no choice in being a trainers Pokémon the minute they're caught. Now that to me seems very unfair because the trainer could be an absolute wanker and the Pokémon would have no choice but to follow their commands. Weirdly every Pokémon I've caught have been evidence of that as I rescued them after they'd been abandoned by said trainers. So, they were shocked when I asked them what they wanted from life as apparently very few people think my way. I asked them to think it over because at some point we have to retire from battling, so they'll need something to keep them occupied.
Anyhow a few days later they all came to me individually and told me what they want. Pikachu wants to end the myth that Pikachu in general are harmless little mouse Pokémon who would get stomped by a Ground/Rock type Pokémon. We've trained so much that he overcame that concept very early on and rock/ground type trainers have been put on notice for him. Charizard wants to earn legendary status and in a few years will begin that by challenging Legendaries. Blastoise wanted to just be at peace with himself due to his past, so I built him a lake. But it was Venusaur that made me think. We travelled to Celadon City and entered the park and Venusaur fell in love with it. All he wanted was a little garden of his own that he could tend to in peace, and it tied in with what I wanted in life.
So, with the money I had I asked Professor Oak if he could ask around so I could buy the land on which my house now sits. I had no illusions that I would be given the go ahead I'm twelve after all, but Sam thought the ideas I had were so worthwhile that he placed his reputation on it. I didn't plan on it being like it is, I just wanted a house I could make a garden for Venusaur for. And then we came across Diglett Valley. Honestly when I looked upon that place my breath was stolen from me. And then not five minutes later I saw that some idiot had been given permission to Dam the whole valley up for his own business and if he'd have done so the water that fed the valley would have dried up and destroyed the entire area. I was so angry with him and people like him that I phoned Sam up and asked him what could be done about it. He then got in touch with the AOONB board and was able to have me speak on what I felt today."
"Why do you not place value on humans yet you're asking for human help?" a woman asked from the other side of the table. Unbeknownst to Ash the table had filled up while he was talking and had been listening with rapt attention.
"Because I've seen the very worst at what humanity can do" Ash said "Humans in general are morons. They take what they can while they can and don't care about the consequences of their actions until it's too late and then they start panicking. I've seen the experiments first hand on what cloning a Pokémon can do, in fact I've met the Legendary Pokémon that was created by the cloning process to obey humans in conquering the world, and it was only through me dying that the situation was resolved and the world wasn't destroyed by a vengeful legendary. I've seen trainers abuse Pokémon either though starvation or ridiculous training regimes without taking into account the health of the Pokémon. I've seen people try and destroy Pokémon's habitats because of their greed and avarice in places like Porta Vista, the moron damming Diglett Valley for his own business, Poachers in the Safari zone, collectors stealing fossils because they could. The list goes on and on.
But I've also seen the best of humanity too in Professor Oak and the job he does, David here goes around the world highlighting just what humans are doing to the world and what needs to be done now before it's too late I've also seen what you guys have done in various places that I've researched so I know there is good in humanity too. I don't really care about being famous, the month or so I've had of it since my win in the Indigo League has been more than enough to put me off for life. But I now have a voice in the Pokémon world due to what I've achieved and it's my duty now to aid in preserving the Pokémon and human world however best I can. I've been told I shouldn't be as blunt today as I usually am with people because I need your help, but I'd like you all to know one thing, I'll do what I can with or without your help because I have the obligation to do so. But the plans I have for preserving endangered species will go much quicker if I have your help."
Sighing Ash got up from the table afraid that if he said any more, he would be guaranteed to fail in his bid for help.
"I would like to speak to you, if possible, away from here that is." David said walking up to him half an hour later finding him sat outside on a bench enjoying the night air.
"Well, my home is only a few hours flight away" Ash said "I'm busy the rest of the week but I'm free on the weekend. Are you free Sunday? I could come and collect you or give you directions and you could drive there. It's your choice."
"I have a flying Pokémon" Dr Attenborough said "is 10am ok?"
"That's more than fine" Ash said standing up "I'm sorry for blowing up in there but I have a real problem with people thinking I'm in this for myself."
"Oh, Victoria didn't think that" David said waving it off "but it will be a question you will often get asked so you may want to come up with a more palatable response. People don't like being told they're morons. Especially the morons" he finished with a chuckle before standing up and walking back inside.