Asher's Team:

Lago - Rhydon

Crust - Golem

Sebastian - Nidoking

Selena - Nidoqueen

Seraph - Clefable

Barret - Dugtrio

Sonic - Sandslash

Death - Marowak

Colossus - Steelix

I felt a wave of pride hit me as I held the first place trophy above my head, the entire stadium cheering as I did so, regardless of their earlier thoughts of me, they still cheered all the same. It was a nice feeling, I felt like I was at the top of the world. Like I could do anything.

The rush of victory still hadn't faded, even as I stood on my lonesome against the roars of the crowd. I expected to win, but I didn't expect for it to be so easy. Lago was hardly even winded by the end. It was surprising even for me that he could beat three of Clair's pokemon like that, then again he is my strongest pokemon. I wonder how strong he'd be if I managed to evolve him into Rhyperior? He's already my best mon, and when you factor in the fact he's already massive and powerful already... well I'm almost afraid to evolve him.

I'm still gonna do it though.

Charles Goodshow stood behind me, and I couldn't help but grin widely as my heart pumped and my blood burned. This felt right.

But, I was interrupted as a microphone was pointed at me, courtesy of the old man wearing his cap backwards, and he asked me a question." Asher my boy, as one of the youngest trainers to ever win the Indigo Conference, do you have any words you can give to tell the world how you did it? How you got to where you are now?"

I took a moment to snap out of my daze and just said to him." I haven't got any secrets, it's just working hard and treating ya pokemon right. That's all there is to it." A blatant lie, but the world has no need to know my training secrets. If you have the map to a billion quid do you tell other people about where it is? Fuck no. They can make it there themselves.

Charles merely accepted my answer and began to speak once more into his mic." Well there you have it, the only thing you need to be a good trainer is grit and determination-"

I interrupted him suddenly." Sorry, but I've got a lil request, it's nothing big mind you, just something I want from you."

In response the stadium was silent, vibrating with tension for what I wanted as Charles, not at all mad that he was interrupted, just asked." Oh yes, and what might that be?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your autograph." I delivered the line with a very serious face as I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from my pocket, prepared to deliver this very line since the start.

I think I heard some laughs from the stands, but Charles just blinked and said." Sure, anything for a youngster like you." He took the paper and signed his name pretty quick, then handed it back to me." Bit of a jokester are you?"

I hummed and struggled to keep a straight face as I quickly said my line." You could say that, or maybe I'm completely serious and am just the most massive superfan in the world, who won the entire Indigo Conference, and the whole reason I became a pokemon trainer in the first place was just so that I could ask for your autograph on live television in front of the entire region."

The silence in the air was thick, chunky even, and I realised that they thought I was being serious. But, something was grabbing my attention, the intense stare of Charles Goodshow. We were having a staring contest.

"Is that so?"

I struggled to keep it together as I looked him right in the eye and said, with total seriousness." Yeah."

He narrowed his eyes, and I narrowed mine... only for the both of us to burst out laughing a moment later, us probably looking like idiots as we just laughed at our own jokes, the entire country having their eyes glued to us as they did so.

"Hahaha, I like you boy. Make sure you put your talents to use, you'll make it far if you use those talents right. Make sure you let this old man see you go places before he kicks the bucket will you?"

I smirked at him." Sure thing man, sure thing. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll even be watching me become the Champion."

Charles just crossed his arms and spoke seriously." If you're willing to try and make it that far them I'd be sure to keep an eye out. Just make sure not to get complacent until then."

I just snorted at that idea. Yeah right, like hell am I stopping anytime soon." Whatever you say Charles. Just you wait, I'll be on top of the world soon."

I have a feeling that things are gonna pick up from now. I'm sick of this place already and I've only been here two weeks.

Me and Sabrina were both packing up what little clothing and possessions we took with us on our journeys from our hotel room when suddenly I got a call on my poke gear.

Basically everyone on my contacts had called me to congratulate me on winning the Indigo Conference, so I answered my flip phone with an abrupt." What?"

"Hey Asher, it's me, Tom, I just wanted to call and congratulate you on your win. That Rhydon of yours really impressed at the end."

I dismissed his praise." Oh please, that was nothing. But, thanks for the call anyway. How's the wife and such?"

The Detective on the other line seemed to have a veil of happiness hidden in the static of the phone line." They're doing great actually. I'll actually be able to take some time off from the force if all goes well tomorro- er- anyway, what do you plan to do now that-"

"Wait. What's happening tomorrow?" I questioned, him suddenly changing the subject not passing by my mind.

"Oh, nothing important. The force is just finally going to give me some time off. They said that I was putting in more than enough hours, so I deserved to have some time off. That's all."

I was unconvinced by his words, but it wasn't hard to put the pieces together about what he meant. Ah, so that's what's going on.

Instead of voicing my own thoughts I just hummed, seemingly agreeing with whatever he said." That's awesome. You deserve it man, make sure to spend some time with the family and do tell me when Team Rocket il' get sent packing."

On the other end of the line he laughed." Of course, but don't worry about that, it'll be a few weeks until we begin the operation. Besides, you're too young to take part in something like this, so don't worry about a thing. You and your little girlfriend have done plenty."

Okay my age is becoming a massive problem, hopefully in a few years time the rest of the world will actually take me seriously. It's annoying that you can win 5,000,000 pokedollars in a national tournament, but the moment your age gets involved people don't take a millionaire seriously.

Being a pokemon trainer is... a very lucrative job. If you do it right. Being a trainer can earn you a lot of money, but at the same time it costs a lot of money to become a successful trainer. Pokemon food, pokeballs, the massive amount of time you need to invest into sorting all of this shit out. Because of this only the most talented of trainers can truly find success as professionals, the rest? Well, they settle down as civilians.

It sucks to give up on your dreams, but if you don't have the talent to do it right then being a trainer just isn't sustainable. Of course, that's not to say you can't still have pokemon even as a civilian, but your job won't be centred around battling. Maybe a rock-type trainer or a fighting-type trainer could make some good money in construction, or an electric-type trainer in a power plant or something though.

This is why so many trainers become type specialists. Because, if they won't cut it as a trainer, they can at least catch some pokemon so that they can be extra eligible for certain jobs and make a good living.

Training pokemon is hard. Even for me, who is more or less cheating, it was difficult to make ends meet at one point. But, thankfully, the prize money will be more than enough to sustain me and my team for a good while.

I hung up on Tom after telling him some vague answer, not thinking about my own words as my mind became burrowed in my own thoughts of what my next move would be.

Well, looks like I'll be getting my protagonist moment soon enough.

"Thanks for teleporting me here Spoons." Hearing my words made the Alakazam roll his eyes, obviously not the biggest fan of my nickname, but Alakazam is a mouthful and spoons is the best nickname my terrible naming sense could muster, so Spoons it is.

Sabrina, however, just brushed off my thanks." It wasn't a problem, Alakazam is a master of Teleport, going straight to Viridian from Indigo Plateau is a simple task for him."

I could have sworn that her pokemon puffed out his chest a little at her words, but internally I was extremely impressed at how easily her pokemon could Teleport to far away places with such ease. Normally a regular psychic-type would collapse from the mental backlash of just going from one end of a city to the next, let alone bring someone else with them. However, Sabrina's Alakazam could probably bring two people with him all the way to Lavender Town, but it'd probably be dangerous for him to stretch his mind any thinner than that.

As Sabrina returned her pokemon, I couldn't help but feel like something was off. But, I didn't mention it, I just stared at the place I'd stayed at for a little bit before I started my journey as a trainer. It was extremely brief, almost to the point where I shouldn't have remembered what was going on, but the truth was I remembered it pretty vividly. There were two dozen boys and girls living in this place, excusing me, and they all get just enough to eat so it's not like they're being neglected.

But, that's just it, they aren't being neglected, but they aren't exactly being given a lot either. The minimum to be considered properly cared for, and that's not even considering the lack of parents that makes them desperate for attention. I try to send money when I can, but it's not like I send everything I have. I'm still pretty selfish, so I make sure to keep a good amount for myself and my pokemon so that we can train and get 150% results. The orphanage also doesn't have air conditioning so the cold is probably kinda bad considering the multiple cracks in the buildings walls.

I'll make this place better soon. I do have the money now, and what's money if you don't spend it on something worthwhile?

Sabrina turned stared at me, perhaps in a way which she probably thought was subtle, before facing forward once again and walking to the door." We should go inside now, I am feeling rather chilly."

Hearing her words, how she spoke like she was reading out of a dictionary, now that was enough to set my eyes on her. Sabrina's speech was pretty robotic when we first met and it's not completely gone, but the way she worded that sentence... eh I'm probably overthinking things.

Approaching the door I moved to open it, however I noticed the intent look in the psychic girls crimson eyes, which made me second guess myself." Is something going on Rina?"

The stoic girl shook her head." Oh course not, the orphanage is completely normal tonight."

I narrowed my eyes." People don't speak like that, not even you. So, what the hell is gonna happen when I open this door?" I took my hand off the door handle and gave her a look of expectation.

Sabrina looked to the side slightly, before sighing." A surprise party."

"Sorry what was that?" I couldn't help but feel some surprise, not just the party part, but the idea that Sabrina would just cave immediately like that.

"A surprise party in celebration of you winning against Clair. Several friends are just behind that door waiting to congratulate you."

I processed her words. Almost wanting to laugh at the situation at hand and how... easily she just told me straight up and kinda ruined the whole point of a surprise party, but ultimately just settled by saying these words.

"You do realise that you just ruined the whole point of a surprise party, right?"

Sabrina just shrugged without shame." You were pressuring me and I panicked, so I decided to be out with it. In the end I think it mattered little."

I snorted at her words." You're a real riot you know that?" I didn't even bother to let her respond as I quickly opened the door, and was promptly greeted by the sight of dozens of kids up to twelve years old, Bethany, and Anna, the caretaker of the orphanage.

"SURPRISE!" They all shouted the moment I walked in, my ears actually ringing slightly at how many people there were shouting in unison.

But, I waved them off dismissively." Sorry, absolutely zero surprise over here. Sabrina spilled the beans like a minute ago- hey what flavour is that?" I put a downer on their surprise as I noticed the Cake they'd gotten me which was shaped like a Rhydon head.

Hearing my words, everyone in the room shot my girlfriend an annoyed or shocked look, with several children making comments on the fact she'd ruined my surprise party, but either she didn't notice or she just didn't care, since as she stepped inside she barely even acknowledged them as she answered." It's vanilla."

"Great." How'd they know my favourite?

Anna had been the caretaker at her orphanage for over fifteen years. She was thirty-six years old, however she'd like to think that she'd aged with relative grace, especially considering her profession. All sorts of children had come and gone in her time as their carer. Confident ones, shy ones, troubled ones and clever ones.

Yet, she can say without a shadow of a doubt, Asher is the most downright bizarre child she'd ever had the pleasure of caring for. Even if just for a short time.

The first time she laid eyes on him would have been when he appeared one night on her doorstep, whilst they were deep within the clutches of winter. He was unconscious at the time, and taking care of children was her job, so she took him inside without hesitation and layed a blanket over him, to make sure he'd remain warm. Then, once he awoke, he was actually rather... well not polite per say, the informal way he spoke with that strange accent almost seemed to prevent him from doing so, but he was certainly grateful in his own way. Such as referring to her as miss, and helping with chores such as laundry. He was a mature child, though at the time he seemed distant from the world.

He didn't remember his past, when he spotted her Gardevoir she saw the way he looked at her. He looked almost... shell-shocked. As though the sight was alien to him and completely out of the question. She literally saw him pink himself, and he wouldn't stop staring at his hands for some reason. He didn't believe what he was seeing.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the boy had an abundant amount of knowledge on pokemon. Actually no, that was an understatement. Like saying a Snorlax is slightly chubby. He could literally glance at a pokemon and tell her all their weaknesses, strengths, viability in competitive pokemon, and even what moves they could learn!

But, he didn't seem to think it was a big deal. He called it trivia of all things. Asher isn't exactly the most humble of people, so he must have genuinely thought that what he knew was not very important. He also had a strange habit of writing in a foreign code she didn't recognise inside his diary, and even left her a note inside not to read anything he wrote.

…okay, so she took a peek inside his journal. She was genuinely worried about his mental well-being at the time, and he honestly scared her a little.

Well he still kind of does in all honesty. What was currently going on in the orphanage's back garden was proof of that.

As she stood besides Bethany, the Nurse Joy of Viridian City, she watched on as the many children she watched over played and hung off of Asher's many pokemon. The same pokemon who she'd see ruthlessly crush their competition in the Indigo Conference, the Rhydon she'd seen effortlessly swat away a Dragonite away like a fly, were acting like they were best friends with each of the children in the crowd. His starter, Lago the Rhydon, was helping mould shapes out of the earth by placing his hands on the ground. His Nidoking and Nidoqueen were acting like complete opposites. Selena was gleefully reacting to the many children who climbed all over her, whilst Sebastian stood as still as a statue. His stoic expression remaining unchanged as, like his partner, several children climbed him as though he were playground equipment. He only had those three out, however she could tell that they were all extremely powerful, even though she wasn't a trainer, the size and definition on their bodies was definitely not for show.

If she didn't know any better, she'd say that his pokemon were on drugs.

"It's so interesting to watch such intimidating pokemon act with such gentleness, isn't it?" Bethany questioned as she watched how Lago made sure to take special care with how he walked whenever a child was gripping onto him like monkey bars. The absurdly massive Rhydon was an opposite to most of his kind. Rhydon are usually violent and brutish creatures, yet just by looking at his eyes she could see how much thinking was going on inside his head. He was just like his trainer in that regard.

She agreed and spoke." It is, I still can't believe someone who was a trainer for less than a year could-"

"Absolutely demolish the Conference like that." Bethany finished for her, and she just nodded." Well, don't flatter him too much. Even if he is strong, there are also a lot of trainers more powerful than he is. The ridiculous boy, one of these days he's gonna think he's unbeatable and challenge a Legendary pokemon."

Mary almost laughed out loud when she heard those words. With how little sense Asher's life makes, she wouldn't discount the idea he would ever meet a Legendary, but he wouldn't be able to beat one. Legendary pokemon are called that for a reason, over thirty years ago Articuno appeared and froze over Seafoam Island. She's heard rumour that, in all of that time, not a single spec of water had dropped from that glacial island. Their powers are said to be on par with a Champion's entire team combined. Asher couldn't beat one, not with the way he is now.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was an Elite Four by this time next year. That isn't even me being delusional, he truly has the raw talent to stand amongst the best trainers alive." She wasn't even joking either. Asher was the type of genius trainer you see once in a generation, the type who knows the right way to train a pokemon and how to use them to their fullest capabilities. He was able to learn from his mistakes, and he always had ways he could improve.

Bethany rolled her eyes at those words." He's a skilled trainer, but he's still only fourteen. He's inexperienced and he isn't ready for that kind of role. Besides, if he really does have some time to himself, then he should take some time off. Burn-out will only hurt him."

Mary had to disagree with that statement, Asher wasn't the type to even think about burning himself out. In fact, he didn't even seem to view pokemon as work. It was like a game for him, one where you levelled up and he was trying to reach the maximum level. Only, there was no limit when it came to pokemon, so she really wondered how high he'd end up going before he can't go any further.

She found her eyes tracing to Asher's location. He was actually quite far away from the other children, he and his girlfriend seemed to be having a serious looking conversation. She couldn't read lips, but they seemed as though they were disagreeing on something, then Sabrina begrudgingly accepted whatever he was talking about. He gave her a kiss on the cheek, and finally a hug.

What was that about?

Team Rocket. That was a name that wasn't well known to the public and, as far as the Pokemon League were concerned, that was for the best. However, when they were first heard of through the whispers of Kanto's underground, the League felt no need to do anything about them. Underground groups were nothing new, and most were relatively small-scale, so how could this one be any different? Why do anything about them at all?

Well, the League definitely wished they'd done something about Team Rocket when they were just up-starts. At the time they will have been more concerned about rebuilding the economy and restoring damage done to cities and towns than anything else. As a result, during a time where the government was still recoiling from the catastrophe they'd just scraped through, criminals and the like thrived under these conditions. None more so than Team Rocket.

Their criminal activities could have been traced back to about 8 years ago, however they could have been around longer, and it was frightening how fast they'd expanded their influence. They were appearing across all of Kanto at that point, sometimes they'd be caught, however none of the grunts ever knew who their leader was. They'd gotten the names of the Executives of Team Rocket. Petrel, Archer, Proton. But, the true leader of the evil team was always a mystery. Even their best detectives and investigators came up completely dry. He was, by all accounts, a ghost.

Lance had heard that same spiel about a dozen times, so imagine his surprise when they actually got his identity.

"Giovanni?" Lance couldn't hold back the disbelief in his voice if he tried, as multiple images of the Viridian City Gym Leader in very suspicious positions were revealed on a screen, plus a myriad of other images showing various bases of operation which Team Rocket were using for their criminal activities. Viridian City. Celadon City. Saffron City. Vermillion City. Those were clearly the four most important bases he was shown, however there were many others scattered throughout the region.

Giovanni was one of Indigo's greatest idols. He was a war hero, a former Elite Four member, and thousands of people look up to the man as a role model. Lance would have found the thought of him being the leader of Team Rocket absurd and unbelievable if it weren't staring him right in the face. He was truly one sly devil.

This would have been a scandal. If word got out that he was conducting his horrible crimes right under the League's nose then there'd be an outcry from the public for their negligence, and as a member of the Elite Four he wanted to do everything in his power to prevent such a situation from coming to pass.

He was asked to come to Viridian City as a member of the Elite Four, though when he asked why he was simply told that it was something that they couldn't discuss over the phone. So, though slightly annoyed, he made the trip so that he could do his duty as an Elite Four member and when he got there he instantly understood why such caution was necessary.

The investigator nodded his head." Yes, we had our suspicions, but once we found out it was easy to confirm the information we received was correct. Giovanni is a powerful trainer, and only another Elite Four could defeat him in battle. The rest of the Executives are about Gym Leader level, so they can be handled without one. We need your strength if we want to beat them all at once."

Lance ran a hand through his hair, realising what exactly was going on." When are we moving to apprehend them all?"

"Tomorrow. Though this may seem a little sudden, the hardest part of taking down criminal groups like this is actually locating them. If we give them the chance, then they'll just blend into the shadows out of our reach. The best move we can make is to take them all down at once, not giving them any time to react or withdraw."

Lance frowned. He knew that made sense and he was actually fine with getting involved so suddenly, however he still had one question on his mind." Who exactly is this informant of yours?"

The investigator hesitated for a moment, almost as though he were considering whether or not he needed to know, and ultimately just spoke." He's someone who'd rather remain anonymous, and they shouldn't be involved with something like this anyway. They don't matter much, just be prepared to battle with Giovanni."

Lance felt the need to question them more, but ultimately dropped it." What about these other bases? Who is going to deal with them?"

In response, the investigator then pressed a button on the remote he was holding, switching over to a picture of a purple haired man with a goatee." This is Petrel, one of Rocket's Executives and a poison-type trainer. The intel we've received suggests he's located at their base in Saffron City. Luckily the Gym Leader of Saffron should be able to handle him rather easily, due to him being a psychic trainer. He's also been noted to be the head of their recruitment drive."

The slide changed as the investigator continued his explanation. Changing to an image of a blue haired man wearing a cap." This is Proton, another Executive and a water-type specialist. He is positioned at Vermillion City, and is apparently their head of finance. We think it was his doing that helped Team Rocket amass so much wealth over the years. Gym Leader Surge will be tasked with battling him, for obvious reasons."

Yet again, the slide moved onto another man. He also had blue hair, however it was noticeably shorter, and he looked much younger than the other Executives, perhaps he was mid-twenties, but no older than that." Finally this is Archer. He's the acting leader of Team Rocket in Giovanni's absence, and is noted to be near Elite Four level. He is an Ice-type specialist and is situated at Cerulean City, the main base of Team Rocket. The Elite Four's Bruno has been tasked with aiding in that raid, due to the type advantage Archer has over Cerulean's Gym Leader, and a force of trainers and police officers have been assembled to help with the operation, so the large amount of grunts present there can be dealt with."

Lance digested the information he just received, and asked out of curiosity." What about the Champion Pryce? Wouldn't it be best to have a trainer of his calibre here to aid in this operation?"

Truth be told, Lance already knew the answer to that question. He just wanted to hear it out loud.

The investigator hesitated." Champion Pryce... is currently situated in Johto and refused to make the trip out to aid in our predicament." The reason why he refused went unsaid.

Lance might not be a Kantonian himself, but he does consider both Johto and Kanto to be one and the same. Indigo. As a man he'd admit that he would put the place he was raised above the rest of the region, however he would never deny extending a helping hand towards his fellow man. Kanto and the people who live there deserve their safety and security. Whilst he might put his homes wellbeing first, that doesn't mean he'd just neglect theirs for no good reason.

Pryce is someone who he's met on multiple occasions. And whilst Lance likes to consider himself a person who'd easy to get along with, Pryce is on the very short list of people who he just genuinely does not like. He's conceited, he's cut-throat, he's grumpy and just genuinely unpleasant. He doesn't have a charismatic bone in his body, maybe he never did.

He was a powerful trainer though, that much Lance could admit. You aren't a Champion for over half a decade completely without reason. But, you need much more than that to become a good Champion, they needed to be more than passable. A Champion needed to excel.

And, he believed that he would be able to do a better job than Pryce. Though, thoughts of usurping such a position could come later, he had a job to do.

"Alright. I suppose that we'll just have to do this without him. I am more than capable of handling Giovanni, though where exactly is his hideout. I can take a guess, but it's always better to confirm these things."

The investigator nodded and moved the slideshow onwards once again. This time, Lance recognised the sight quite well." The Viridian Gym. Whilst not technically a hideout per say, Giovanni will be present there tomorrow since even he cannot escape his duties as a Gym Leader forever. He will presumably be in his office, so prepare to confront him and take him down. He should be by himself, but don't assume that."

Lance could only nod resolutely. He knew his mission, and he was given a job to do, he'd make sure to do it well. Giovanni might have gotten away with his crimes thus far, but no more. He will face the consequences of his actions.

And, Lance will be the one to do it.

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