Cheers for the reviews. Thank you to everyone who has been on Ash's journey with me. I'm still unsure on how to do the Johto Arc but I'm having fun writing so I'll figure something out. I hope people aren't too mad about the match, I debated carrying changing what I wrote but it just flowed out from me.
I own nothing.
Chapter 20
A few days later Ash was due to head out from the hotel. He had moved back into his original room and had hardly left due to the amount of harassment he had received from people who were either happy for him or angry at him. Many of them were just downright abusive which is why Ash couldn't wait to leave the place. He still believed he had done the right thing and would go to his grave believing he was in the right. It was the Orange League Board who had made things worse by releasing their own statement the day after the battle by claiming Ash had violated the spirit of the match, that he was abusive to a league official who had their full backing and that there would be no refunds for anyone unless they came out of Ash's own pocket which he refused to do on principal. The Kanto Board had released their own statement too stating Ash was well within his rights to abandon a match that was clearly rigged to be in the Champions favour by a corrupt official and that they would be looking into the referees background to check for bribery and corruption. Outraged by this the Orange League Board had immediately hit every trainer with an ID badge from Kanto with a blanket ban on participating in any battles within the Orange and Sevii islands, Ash included. The Johto League board had released their own statement saying they refused to get involved in an argument between two national boards over something so pathetic as a trainer refusing to fight, something that was quickly echoed by the other various regions.
Ash just couldn't believe how much this had blown up but he was glad he was leaving and would be back home soon. Packing his things he walked down to the lobby where he handed in his key and paid the bill, thanking the staff for being so wonderful throughout his stay. Just as he was about to walk out of the front door though he heard his name being shouted and turned around to see the Orange League crew and Champion heading towards him. Automatically he shifted his stance in case of attack and Pikachu sparked warningly.
"That's close enough" Ash said when they were ten feet away making them stop "what do you guys want?"
"Peace Ash" Danny said walking forwards undeterred "we're not here to try anything, we've actually been wanting to talk to you since Sunday but you holed yourself up in your room."
"What do you want?" Ash asked warily.
"Just to talk" Drake said sighing "will you come with us to the ballroom?"
"No" Ash said shaking his head "but I'll join you in the canteen where there will be witnesses."
Drake walked over to the reception and talked in a low voice to the lady behind the counter and received a nod. Walking back over he said "that's fine."
Ash nodded and followed at a safe distance wondering what was going on. Walking to a large table Ash sat at the head of the table making sure to keep them all in view. "Ok, I'm here. What do you want?"
"We want to hear your side of what happened." Drake said seriously leaning forwards "all we've heard is rumours and innuendo over the last few days."
"It's pretty simple" Ash said shrugging his shoulders "I wasn't happy with the way the referee behaved and I walked out. As I said on the field, I don't hold you in particular to blame for what happened but I won't stand by as my Pokémon gets insulted by someone who was wrong to do what he did in the first place."
"What about the infighting between the boards?" Luana asked.
"That has nothing to do with me" Ash said "I'm not getting involved regardless of me seemingly being the one who's caused the division. It's pretty evident the two boards have been looking for an excuse to squabble if all it took was one person walking out of a match."
"Are you not going to do anything to resolve it?" Danny asked.
"No" Ash said laughing "I already gave my suggestions in my statement. It was your board who doubled down on backing the referee and refused to give the prize money back to the people who wanted a refund. Funnily enough there's been very few people who have asked for one from what I've heard. This is all about power, as everything seems to be. Integrity seems to have gone out of the window at some point."
"It's not just about power" Drake said sighing "as much as it pains me to admit we're a small fish in a big pond region wise because of how interspersed the people are across the Archipelago. Our three biggest cities still can't compare to Kanto's or Johto's so I think it's all about raising our profile. The board feel like you've insulted me and acted out."
"I have nothing but respect for all five of you" Ash said looking at each one individually "I've said it before and I'll say it again, the challenges I faced against you all were a lot more fun and interesting than the ones I faced in Kanto. Every single one of my Pokémon has thoroughly enjoyed being here and travelling through the islands and other than a few isolated incidents so have I. Whatever happens in the future I will always praise these islands and the challenges they hold and I will happily recommend people try them out. But I'm not going to be a pawn in the war between the two boards and I will make sure that my uncle knows that when he next releases any form of statement involving me. I am not to blame for what happened, the referee was and the fact it's become so huge is quite frankly ridiculous given all I did was forfeit a match."
"It was always going to be huge" Cissy said "your profile at the moment is ever-growing and has been since Shamouti. You saved the world Ash and this battle was never about the two champions facing off regardless of what it was billed as. It was about the people of the Orange Islands finally getting to see their saviour face off against someone who they've admired for years due to how he runs the league and to have you walk out of a match, against said champion because of an Orange League referee has confused everyone. No one wants to believe their saviour is correct in that an Orange League referee acted out, no one wants to believe the Champion they admire could part of a conspiracy and no one wants to believe their ruling body cares so little for them they won't even refund a $140 ticket."
"That has nothing to do with me though" Ash pointed out "I can agree to some of what you're saying but it's your board that has caused this. I walked out of a match, something I'm allowed to do as is every trainer. That's it. And I gave up my runner up winnings to be used to refund the people which would still leave the Orange League with money because they wouldn't have to pay Drake as he is already contracted and even if they paid everyone that went to the match their refund, $14,000 is nothing to them compared to the $150,000 I'd have received as a loser. If I'd have won I'd have received $500,000! So they've saved all that money already, money that was already in the pot! If anything, I'm the one who's come off the worst in this whole thing."
"We know" Danny said "but Cissy was right, it's about more than money to the board. Their view, whether rightly or wrongly is that a trainer from Kanto showed up the Champion of the Orange Islands on national TV in front of millions of people watching at home by suggesting the official chosen to referee the match was corrupt."
"Whoa" Ash said "I have never once said he was corrupt. That was the Kanto Board, who I have had zero contact with. I said the referee needs re-training to be able to face his obvious fear of Dragons or at least training on the rules. And I have never once suggested Drake is a part of some grand conspiracy, nor do I believe he is either."
"Can you at least release another statement saying that?" Drake asked "my reputation is nearly in tatters for something I haven't done."
"Of course, I will" Ash said "I'll write one up and give it to my representative at Silph. I hold no ill will or grudges against any of you. To be honest I was really enjoying the match and I was looking forward to battling Dragonite. My Charizard was very eager to face him as he sees him as just the challenge he wants."
"Thank you" Drake said leaning back "so what will you do now that you're banned from battling?"
"I'm only banned from official battles" Ash said "and only in these islands. But the match with you was going to be the last one anyway as I'm releasing my Lapras next week and then going home anyway."
"Oh, was it you who wanted the information I sent to Philena then?" Danny said surprising Ash "what? Didn't expect it to be me?"
"No" Ash said laughing "I didn't."
"The Lapras pod travel by my island five times a year Ash on their travels" Danny said "I collaborate with various researchers that settle in Naval Village, I've told you this."
"I didn't know that" Cissy said looking at him shrewdly.
"There's a lot you don't know about me" Danny said shrugging his shoulders.
"I guess I didn't think about it" Ash said interrupting a potential argument he could see building "but yeah my Lapras was separated from her pod in November when I found her being abused on a beach at Tangelo. She's ok now but I know she'd prefer to be with her family so we're travelling to Tarroco and waiting for them to appear."
"Tarroco huh" Drake said thoughtfully "how long will you be there?"
"At least the next week" Ash said "they're due to pass by between the 10th and 14th so I plan to get there by tonight at the latest. I'm already cutting it fine as I wanted to get there Monday to scout around but at this rate we may end up missing them. Luckily I have two flying types who have very good eyesight scouting the island as we speak, so we should find them."
"Ah ok" Drake said as he stood up "hopefully you find Lapras' pod and this whole situation gets resolved as soon as possible."
"It'll blow over" Ash said as he stood up too and began to walk out "what are you guys going to do now?"
"We're going back home" Luana said "life goes on, challengers await etc. Good luck on your journey Ash." With that she left the others out of the door.
"Bye Ash" Cissy said shaking his hand, something which the others mirrored.
"Danny, can I have a word?" Ash said earning confused looks "it won't take long."
"Sure" he said following him over to the side. The rest looked on as they seemed to be having a pretty heated debate until they gasped when Ash slapped him on the back of the head and pointed his finger at him. Clearly what was being said was serious. They were about to go over when Danny nodded and shook Ash's hand before he marched over and grabbed Cissy, earning a surprised squeak and kissed her full on the lips to the shock of everyone who watched as Cissy appeared to struggle before melting into Danny and jumping up encircling her legs around his waist as they deepened the kiss. Eventually they had to come up for air and rested their heads against each other, breathing heavily before realising they had an audience.
"Er" Cissy said going bright red.
"Blame Ash" Danny said before he scooped her up, earning another surprised yelp and running out of the door carrying her bridal style leaving a laughing Rudy and Drake. "Luana is going to be so mad she missed this."
"What did you say to him to make him finally pull his finger out?" Rudy asked.
"I told him to sort himself out" Ash said "and to stop being a coward and denying them both something they both clearly wanted. When you saw me hit him it was because he was arguing that he didn't want to give up his challenges for 'a woman' and I told him he was giving it up for 'the woman' which makes a massive difference. Anyway he's said he'll have a talk with Cissy about changing the last two challenges but he wasn't going to give up his abseiling. That's when he then marched over and kissed her."
"About time too" Rudy said "I was getting tired of the constant sniping at each other."
Before anyone else could comment a commotion was heard outside followed by a loud growl. Quickly Ash sprinted out of the door, followed by Rudy and Drake and saw a Charizard growling at the crowd that was trying to get near him.
"Away, all of you" Ash shouted frightening several people "what's up pal?"
"The pod are approaching Tarroco, they were about eight hours away when I left 2 hours ago"
Charizard said urgently. Relaying the message to Drake they said goodbye to Rudy who ambled away and a Charizard and Dragonite were soon heading North-East. A few hours later they landed on Tarroco and Ash released his Blastoise, Gyarados and Lapras and gave them instructions.
"Lapras' pod is due to arrive in the next few hours and are approaching the island from the North. We're here for moral support for her. Lapras it's all over to you now."
They both watched As Lapras moved over to the left hand side of the island giving her a clear view of the North. Ash climbed on Blastoise while Drake released Ditto and asked him to change into Blastoise and they both sailed around the east side of the island. Luckily it was a long and thin island with not much on it save a few sparse trees dotted around but it was still wide enough that Lapras was merely a speck in the distance.
"Your Pokémon are very impressive" Drake said eyeing the 30-foot shiny Gyarados warily "why didn't you use her?"
"It was a toss-up between her and Salamence, but I felt Salamence had earned the right to battle you given how much effort she has put in to changing her ways" Ash said as he looked out on the horizon before turning to Drake "she's been a great teammate since she realised we wouldn't put up with any nonsense. Gyarados has been incredible since I caught her as a Magikarp and it was a tough decision but she still needs to train a bit more before I use her in battles. I've had Salamance from a Bagon so she knows my battle style better."
Whatever he was about to say stopped when a huge spike of anger and fear came from the east of them. "Gyarados! Lapras is in danger, go to her! Remember, no electric attacks" immediately the large sea dragon roared and dove under the water creating a huge wave which nearly capsized Ash and Drake. "Blastoise hurry, Drake you won't be able to keep up so I suggest you fly." Drake nodded and headed to the shore while Ash sped off at a terrific speed around the island and amazingly seemed to be matching his Dragonites speed as they headed North-West. Soon Dragonite was joined by a feral looking blue dragon and an angry orange one with a Pikachu on its head.
Rapidly they saw what had attacked Lapras, a boat which looked more like a pirate ship had surrounded a huge pod of Lapras with a school of Tentacruel and was repeatedly trying to attack them only to be fended off by Ash's Lapras who was quickly becoming surrounded herself. She looked up in relief when her friends joined the fray, quickly decimating the Tentacruel who were being recalled back into their balls by their trainers on the ship. Ash became very angry when the ship started firing cannon balls at everyone including the Pokémon they were obviously poaching.
"Charizard, Pikachu use Blast Burn and Thunder on the hull of the ship" Ash shouted after Gyarados cleared away a few Tentacruel who were trying to sneakily attack them. Ash heard the men aboard the ship panic as the heat burned though the hull of the ship with a horrible screeching sound and soon enough the ship groaned as it capsized and began to sink. Frantically the poachers jumped into the water, clutching at the four remaining Tentacruel for dear life as the ship went under Keel first. Eventually the waters settled and Ash's Pokémon circled around the men.
"I suggest you lot make your way to that island over there where we will wait with you until the coastguard picks you up and takes you to jail" a very angry Drake said hovering on his Dragonite "I am very tempted to have my friend here end all of your lives but sadly I cannot."
"Guys" Ash said looking at everyone except Blastoise "can you escort them please and wait with Drake while I speak to the Lapras. We will be there shortly."
After they had done that Ash turned to Lapras who was with her mother while the rest of the pod looked on warily and spoke to her. "You're safe for now, I'm glad you're home Lapras and I will miss you."
"You can understand us human?" Lapras' mother asked coming forwards while the rest kept their distance looking scared and relieved.
"I can, yes" Ash said "why do you ask?"
"My daughter tells me you have a safe place we can all rest made especially for us?" she asked.
"No" Ash said shaking his head "I've told her this many times now. They're for every water Pokémon that wants a safe space to live, breed or just stay for a while. Lapras has got it into her head they were made for your species in mind but that's not the case."
"Ah" Lapras said nodding "but still it sounds like an ideal place for us to at least visit, especially after those men attacking us."
"Well, you're more than welcome to visit" Ash said thoughtfully "I am a little concerned that you'll be attacked again on the way there and with only your daughter to protect you it doesn't make me feel any better."
"What do you propose?" she asked as the rest of the pod came over after seeing there wasn't anything untoward going to happen.
"Well either one of two things spring to mind" Ash said "either I catch all of you and you get transported directly there or I send you with an escort. The issue with that one is it's at least a three-day journey to the border of Kanto near Pallet Town harbour from here. Other than that you can try and make your own way there but it would be pure luck that you get there."
Immediately there was several muttered conversations happening behind Lapras as they all started speaking at once. Eventually the lead Lapras looked at all the others but before she could say anything Ash asked "where do you all finish up by the way on your travels? We know you head to the Sevii Islands but why?"
"Our mating grounds are there" Lapras mother said "we go there for what I would think to be obvious reasons. There's an island there that we all visit hoping to continue on with our species. Sadly, bulls are few and far between, especially wild ones and we have such a small window of opportunity before we have to head back to these islands before the waters between the two places become too treacherous for us to swim. Sadly, this year it was a wasted journey. And we lost three of our number to trainers along the way."
"Ah ok" Ash said trying not to look concerned at just how few that left in the wild "I think I know what island that is. My offer is open to you, and as I said there are only two options I can think of."
"We will discuss it" Lapras' mother said as she led the pod just out of hearing distance.
"What do you think they'll do?" Pikachu asked.
"I'm not sure Pi" Ash said bringing out bis Pokegear and typing in a name "but losing three from an already small pod on top of not finding any mate at their breeding grounds is deeply concerning. I'll be back in a minute Pi." walking just out of earshot himself Ash rang the number and had a very weird conversation with the other person. By the time he was done and walked back to Pikachu Lapras' mother had made her way back to the shoreline with the entire pod.
"We have decided to take your second offer of an escort to your home for our own safety" she said "we will make a decision about our future once we can see what your home is like however we cannot become your Pokémon. We need to migrate for our own survival and despite this time being a wasted journey it is still one that is implanted into every Lapras' mind."
"I have news on that" Ash said interrupting her "I've just spoken to a friend of mine who has a Bull Lapras and they're willing to loan him to me for a short period of time."
Ash immediately felt their aura change from concerned to hopeful at the prospect of having young.
"This changes everything" another Lapras said moving forward "our window of opportunity to bear young is nearing its end for the year. I will take your offer if no one else does."
As more began to rush forward Lapras' mother let out a loud yell silencing them "I have already said we will take his offer, provided we have an escort. We will then make a decision once we're there but the offer of a chance to bear young has solidified my decision. You have my thanks. You also have my thanks for helping my daughter, I feared I would never see her again."
"No problem" Ash said calling over Blastoise and Gyarados "hi Guys, I want to thank you for your aid before in dealing with those bastards. And I know you're both feeling a bit sad that our time of sailing everywhere is coming to an end so I have a task for you. Can you two escort this pod to our home. Gyarados you'll obviously have to follow Blastoise too but they want to at least look at our home before excluding it from their migration path."
"Will the two of us be enough?" Blastoise asked seriously "Lapras and Gyarados are both still inexperienced in battle. I mean no offence you understand but should we be attacked there will only be myself who has battle experience."
"No" Ash said "I'm going to ask Sally and Charizard to support you from the air too." turning to the two Dragons who were waiting on the beach listening in "I know I'm giving you very little choice but can you help?"
"Certainly" Charizard said as Salamence nodded too. Turning to Blastoise he said "there are several stop off points along the way but the last journey is open water for a day and a half isn't it?"
"It is" Blastoise nodded "are you two going to be ok with that?"
"Yes" Salamence said with certainty before turning to Ash "I don't like the name Sally."
"Ok then" Ash said laughing as he dug into his bag and produced a couple of necklaces. Attaching their pokeballs to them he continued "I'm going to need dropping off on Pummelo though so Charizard will catch you guys up."
Salamence took wing as Blastoise and Gyarados moved off with their convoy and soon they were all out of sight.
"That was very strange" Drake said "and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it. You have some very remarkable Pokémon."
"I do" Ash said as he prepared to mount Charizard "shall we get going then?"
"About that" Drake said eyeing up Charizard as Dragonite landed behind him after escorting the Police back to Pummelo "what do you two say to finishing our battle? Ditto can take us both back to Pummelo afterwards regardless of the winner but I'm very eager to see how strong he is."
"Aren't we banned from battling?" Ash asked confused.
"Ash, I'm the current Orange League Champion" Drake said smirking "I'm not going to tell anyone, are you?"
"What do you think pal?" Ash said taking the necklace from Charizards neck "you game?"
Charizard immediately grinned with a vicious smile and took off to land thirty feet away. Ash quickly ran to be behind him and shouted to Pikachu "count us in and use Thunderbolt to start us off."
Hours later Ash released a healed Charizard outside the Pokémon centre and wished him luck. "They're likely 30 miles North-West of here as I think Blastoise is going slow enough for you to be able to catch up. If you head that way Vermillion is then 300 miles due North so there's a chance I'll pass over you in the plane. Good luck pal. I'll let Zoe know to expect you all in three to four days' time."
Sitting on the plane Ash sighed as he went over the last few months in his head. It had been an amazing experience, and he was glad he had taken Sam up on his offer. It was hard to believe, he thought as the plane took off that his Orange League journey had ended already as it didn't seem like yesterday when he arrived on Valencia to collect the G.S Ball from Professor Ivy. Going over the memories of his time here made him a little nostalgic but the things he'd seen and done along the way would always stay with him.
"Hard to believe it's been three months already Pi" Ash said to his first friend "how has it been three months already?"
"Time flies, eh?" Pikachu said "I can't wait to get home though Ash. While this league has been nowhere near as gruelling it's still been long and I do miss home."
"I hear you buddy" Ash replied "it'll be a few days yet until we get home too as I have business in Saffron but hopefully by the weeks end we'll be back."
"What business?" Pikachu asked curiously.
"I received an email this morning from the doctors in Saffron saying they had an opening for the day after tomorrow to scan my leg" Ash said "it's been playing up really badly the last few days and I was worried I'd have to cancel my talk due to being in recovery. There's no way I can spend a week on stage just weeks after possibly having surgery. This at least gives me more time to recover."
"Oh" Pikachu said "I'll admit I forgot all about your leg. Do you not think it strange that your aura hasn't corrected it?"
"Aura can only really heal superficial things" Ash said "if you remember the day I caught Squirtle I healed Officer Jenny but all I managed to really do was reset the bone, the body then has to heal it. Pokémon are very different to heal due to their physiology but even then I can only do so much. So, I suspect I have a tear, likely due to the Scyther attack on Murcott that's not healed properly other than being sewn back up and it's become infected in some way. Aura can't heal everything sadly."
A few hours later Ash disembarked from the plane in Vermillion City and breathed in deeply "you can't beat good old Kantonian Air."
"If you say so" a grouchy Pikachu said looking around him. It was nearly 10pm and he was very tired.
"You're that tired eh?" Ash asked "I'm sure doing nothing for hours is really knackering."
"It is" Pikachu agreed ignoring the sarcasm "now hop to it, I want to sleep."
Shaking his head Ash left the airport and headed towards the Pokémon centre where he checked in and went to bed. The next morning he went through his usual routine before going to the bus station and buying a ticket for Saffron. He was still disgusted eight hours later when he boarded the 10 hour bus ride to Saffron. He decided as he got off in Saffron at midnight that he would never get on another bus again and would fly everywhere instead.
"That was intolerable" Ash said as he climbed into bed and passed out exhausted.
The next day Ash walked into the hospital and had his scan. His doctor had a look and shook his head grimly. "You have a tear that hasn't healed up in your right thigh that hasn't closed properly and has become infected. I'm afraid it requires surgery and then rest for at least two to three months."
"Damn" Ash said looking at the calendar "when's the earliest I can have the surgery and can I rest at home or will I need to stay in hospital?"
"We can book you in as early as next week on Monday" Brian said "It's Thursday today so you'll only have a few days to wait. You'll need to stay in hospital for at least 2 weeks after the operation upon which you can then go home but you'll need to rest up for another six to eight weeks with absolutely no activity. After that you will require physio for another 6 weeks."
"I have a talk on Aura at Silph Towers in April from the 11th to the 15th" Ash said frowning "will I be able to make it for then? It lasts five days and I'm on stage every day that week."
"If you can stick to the programme of resting up until that week and you stay seated for most of the talk then there's no reason why you won't be able to make it." Brian said looking over his notes "How long is the talk?"
"No more than an hour and a half" Ash said "I don't do people and I hate talking but this is something I've been working on for a long time now and it sold out within an hour for the entire five days."
"I'm sure we can come up with some compromise for that week" Brian said smiling "maybe crutches or a wheelchair while you're on stage."
Ash looked at the calendar and worked out how long he would be inactive "Book me in for the 21st. The sooner I have the operation, the sooner I can restart my journey but it seems like Johto will have to wait a year."
Later that night he rang his mum and told her the news "It looks like I'll have to put Johto off until next year with my recovery taking until June at the earliest."
"You'll have five months to complete Johto Ash if you set out in June" Delia said looking slightly worried "can you not do that?"
"No" Ash said "well yes but I also have the Elite Four Challenge starting mid November. Lorelei has been pencilled in for November 11th with each challenge afterwards every three days, that's IF I get past them so I'm going to need to train for that too and I planned to put aside at least six weeks training which puts me needing to complete Johto by mid September. So that only gives me 3 months, not five. I can wait a year mum; my leg being mended is more important than a battle or league challenge. What good am I going to be in the future if I can't walk."
"I won't be able to see you before your surgery Ash" Delia said looking upset at the thought "but I will be able to come and pick you up. What date will that be?"
"Between the 6th and 8th March" Ash said "Brian said my recovery here will be 2 weeks before I can be discharged."
"Ok sweetie" Delia said "ring me as soon as you're able to once you've had the surgery."
"Will do" Ash said "Oh, can you ask Uncle Gio to reign in whatever nonsense he's got going with the Orange League. I've just read an article where I'm apparently quoted as saying I fully support them when I've not spoken to anyone since just after the final. I'm going to speak to Joanne today about putting out a second statement to try and calm things down as it's affected everyone from Kanto who travels to the Orange Islands when it should just be me."
"I've already done so twice" Delia said shaking her head "and he's still hell bent on whatever he's got planned. If I were you I'd send him an email telling him you're making a statement and that you're not happy with him and the Kanto board putting words in your mouth."
"So he's ignored you?" Ash asked incredulously "right, my conscience is clear then. Thank you for trying mum."
That night the various members of the Kanto Board could only watch on with horror as Ash's statement was read out on the news contradicting a lot of what they said and called an emergency meeting for the next day. Ash though slept soundly knowing he'd done the right thing. The next day at 11am Ash received a very much expected call from Giovanni on the screen phone in his room.
"Hello" Ash said "what's up?"
"Ash you're on speakerphone." Giovanni said looking very unhappy.
"Hang on" Ash said as he dialled a few numbers much to the confusion of the various members on the screen. "Hi Philena, as a member of the Orange League Board I'd like you to be witness to this conversation please. It seems someone's unhappy with me yet again. And Sam could you be witness to this as a member of the Kanto League please?"
"Ok Ash" Philena said straightening herself up and pressing record.
"Certainly Ash" Sam said as he sat down "Oh by the way Blue is here, I hope you don't mind if he listens in?"
"Why did you do that without consulting us?" a particularly snobby woman asked before Ash could respond "the Orange League has no business being a part of this conversation."
"You mean like you've consulted me putting statements out and quoting me directly when not one of you has done so?" Ash said rhetorically "I am not some pawn that you lot can use in whatever game this is you're playing with the Orange League and quite frankly I thought better of you Uncle. Because of all of you every single Pokémon Trainer in Kanto is banned from battling in the Orange Islands when it should have just been me. The only thing that happened was a referee overstepped his boundaries. Not once did I say he was corrupt or biased against me, not once did I say that Drake was a part of this so called conspiracy that you all have been trotting out and at no point have I been victimised or made out to be a pariah for 'fighting the good cause'. The only thing the referee was biased against was my Pokémon's temperament which I stated immediately after the match and could easily have been resolved. I have no idea why you fanned the flames and made this into something it's not nor do I care either but you will not use me or my families name again. Is that clear?"
"Just who do you think you're talking to boy?" and angry looking walrus faced man asked.
"I am Ashton Satoshi Ketchum, Son of Delia and Red Ketchum, who the fuck are you?" Ash stated glaring at the man.
"Ok, ok" Giovanni said holding up his hand "let's calm down shall we?"
"I'll calm down considerably when you tell me my name will no longer be used in whatever game you're playing Uncle. You've yet to tell me why the Kanto Board decided to do what they did." Ash said.
"We don't answer to you Boy" another woman said glaring at the effrontery "you answer to us."
"No he doesn't" Sam said interjecting "Ash Ketchum is currently a Junior Professor for the Kanto Pokémon League. He answers to me and Charles Goodshow as an employee of the League and Hatori Suzuki of the Silph Company as a member of the Silph Company. None of you hold any power over him save Giovanni of Pewter City but that's only as next of kin to Delia."
"And you have no authority here either Samuel" the walrus man said "You're a Pokémon Professor, not a politician or lawyer so I suggest you keep your nose out of this."
"Say that again" Blue said leaning forwards looking mad "I dare you."
"It's ok Blue" Sam said patting his son on the back "I've dealt with worse people in my 60 plus years of life."
"Sam is my mentor and therefore has the final say on anything I say or do in my capacity of Pokémon Professor or Trainer until I reach the age of 16." Ash said "Now, last night I released a statement that was true and I have forwarded a copy onto my lawyer and the head of Silph. I want no part of your games and every member of the Orange League board will be shown a copy of this conversation too so you can squabble amongst yourselves and leave me and every other Pokémon trainer in Kanto out of it."
"I can see were going to get nowhere with a delinquent like you" the first snobby woman said before she hung up. Soon the other four members of the board did the same leaving just Giovanni, Sam, Blue and Philena.
"Mum told you twice to stop what you were doing Uncle" Ash said "so why did you go ahead with it?"
"It's not something I can tell you just yet Ash" Gio said wiping his face with his hands "do you trust me enough still to believe me when I say I had very little say in this matter?"
"I'm not sure" Ash said "given you've told me nothing about it."
"Philena, can you stop the recording?" Gio asked "otherwise you'll be excluded from the conversation I will have with Sam, Blue and Ash."
"Ok" Philena said frowning as the red light at the top right hand corner disappeared.
"I'll say this, there's eight of us on the board and three were excluded from this conversation because of 'political reasons' Gio said making inverted comma signs with his hands "The only reason I'm speaking now is because of your involvement in the event at Shamouti Ash. There are people in power at the moment that have designs on unifying the Orange Islands and Kanto back into one region."
"That's outrageous" Philena said shocked "how can they do that?"
"Their next action was going to be an embargo on all activities between our regions to try and cut you off" Giovanni said "and believe me after six months your board would have folded as sanction after sanction was put in place to the point you couldn't blow your nose without us knowing it. Trust me, it's possible. And it's what the other three members and I are currently fighting against. The Orange Islands are unique because of how they were formed and should remain that way. But believe me there will come a time when someone with more power than I have will push through on these plans. The championship match and what happened afterwards was just the beginning I'm afraid. I've got to go, this conversation never happened ok?"
Giovanni hung up leaving just the four to sit in silence, shocked at what they had heard. Eventually Philena broke the silence "Thank you for providing me with this conversation Ash. I'll be sure to forward it on to the other members of the board. Hopefully the ban is lifted soon because of this as trainers from Kanto bring in a not so insignificant portion of our islands income. Farewell."
"She's not wrong" Blue said "where do we find you anyway Ash?"
Going over what his doctor had told him earned sympathetic winces from the two Oaks and good luck messages.
A few weeks later Ash had successfully undergone the operation on his thigh and was waiting for his mother to take him home. It had been months since he had last seen Pallet Town and he couldn't wait. Zoe had informed him during his initial recovery period that the Lapras pod had made it successfully to his home and had settled in. He gave Zoe Loreleis email address and told her that the Lapras were there whenever she wanted to send her own Lapras for his stud services. Zoe said the poor thing was worn out after the first week which made Ash laugh for hours. It felt good overall knowing he was making a significant contribution to the repopulation of the Lapras species and was very proud that it was something he had thought of. Hopefully in the next ten years the numbers would rise and they would no longer be critically endangered.
Hearing a horn Ash came back to himself as his mum pulled up in her new car and helped him into the passenger seat, stowing his backpack, wheelchair and crutches in the boot. The ride home was very long and Ash did his best to stay awake but failed miserably. It was around supper time when he arrived at his mums house, the place he would be staying while he recovered so he could be looked after. After all he was still only twelve years old despite how he looked. Delia had bought a bed that was placed in the sitting room so that Ash wouldn't have to climb up and down stairs.
The next six weeks were intolerable for Ash as he wasn't allowed out of the house except for fresh air and even then only in his wheelchair. He had complained many times that the wheelchair was motorised so he wouldn't be moving his leg but his mum had put her foot down with a firm hand and told him that the longer he rested his leg and recovered the sooner he would be able to leave and bumping into things outside was a legitimate hazard that he just couldn't risk. He knew she meant well but it was the longest he had been inside a place since he spent seven weeks in Mt Silver and that was a long time ago. He had quickly established the sitting room as a makeshift office where he had badgered Zoe into giving him some work to do to keep him sane. She had relented and between them both they had sorted out various issues that had popped up with the absence of the AONB who were still being picky about contracts their people had in relation to the studies they had already taken part in. They were very reluctant to hand over their partially completed research to any other company but as their test results had been prematurely halted they either had to relent and hand it over or provide their own contracts for Ash to look over upon which they could resume their work. They had wisely opted for the latter and they were due to move back on site to work alongside Silph in early March.
A lot had happened in the last six weeks, the most significant of which was the ban on trainers from Kanto to the Orange Islands being lifted due to his statement. The Kanto board had also tried to threaten him with expulsion from the region for interfering but a quick email to his lawyer soon had them retracting yet another statement. Ash was very bewildered that people like that were still in power but apparently they served a minimum of ten years on the board before their position was available for challenge and sadly several had at least six years left.
He had also had several conversations with his Pokémon, the most concerning one had been Blastoise. Sylveon had travelled to his home while he was recovering to speak to Blastoise and had virtually dragged him back to Ash to speak to him.
"You've had months now Toisy" Sylveon said glaring at her stubborn friend "And you've known what you wanted to ask Ash in all that time. Now stop being a coward and talk to him."
Ash sat up in his bed and waited for his turtle to start talking. After a whack on the head from a feeler of Sylveons he glared at her but began talking.
"Ever since I failed at the firefighting challenge I've been feeling very down" Blastoise said "and it took me talking it over with Sylveon to realise what the issue was."
"Go on" Ash said after a minutes silence.
"I didn't feel right." he said searching for the words "no that's not right. I felt useless, for the first time in a long time I failed at something I thought I was good at. I've not been feeling right ever since."
"Ok" Ash said as he eased himself out of his bed, much to the annoyance of his mum who was watching him with eagle eyes. Sitting down at the computer he propped his leg on the leg stool earning a satisfied nod from Delia who carried on reading her magazine but still listening in to the conversation. "I thought it would be something like that you know. So what do you want to do?"
"I'm not sure" Blastoise said "I just needed to tell you that I wasn't feeling right and hopefully we could come up with a solution."
"As a matter of fact I already have one" Ash said as he dialled a number on his phone.
"Hi Ash" the voice on the other end said as she saw who was ringing "are we still on then? Has he finally come to you?"
"He has" Ash said placing the video phone down and looking at Blastoise "I knew this was an issue, and I'm glad that I know you so well that I knew what the issue was. I'm not going to be travelling to Johto this year as I just won't have time due to my recovery period taking me into early June so we're going there next year. As you know this year we have the Elite Four challenge in November, I plan on starting training for that in September so we have until then to do what we like. That's seven months Blastoise. So, here's my proposal. How do you fancy reuniting with your old friends in the Squirtle Squad and training to combat fires until then?"
"Really?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes, really" Ash said "however I still have another three weeks until I start physio so to start with you can spend the next two weeks with them to see if you still want to do it. When you come back we'll discuss it more but should you want to I'm more than happy to loan you to the fire department. There's only one caveat, that is you come home every other weekend to catch up with us and relax in your lake. What do you say?"
Blastoise was overjoyed to be able to go and reunite with his old friends so Ash wrote a note to Sam and attached Blastoise's Pokeball to a necklace and sent him to the ranch where Sam sent him on to Jenny. Hopefully he would be ok.