Author's Notes: I did a lot of sidestepping of the chapter the first time through. Since I am removing them this chapter will be a little longer. This was Chapter 3 but now it is Chapter 11. And no, it's not for bankruptcy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Nintendo does.
Chapter 11
We all gathered around to hear what she had to say. Even though we'd been enemies for almost 14 years now, I was very interested in hearing what Ms. Ketchum had to say about her past with Team Rocket. "It all started almost 30 years ago." She began. "Back then, I was married to Giovanni. This was back before I knew about Team Rocket. At that time we were living in Viridian City. We were a very happy couple."
"Sounds like the American Dream." I remarked thoughtfully. "Did you have a house with white picket fences?"
"You could almost say that." Ms. K replied, laughing softly despite my joke. "Back then, Giovanni wasn't like what he later became. He was a very kind person and loved his job as the Viridian City Gym Leader. Then we received word that his father had recently died and left him a large inheritance. I didn't know it at the time but the inheritance ended up being the Team Rocket Syndicate."
"Before Giovanni took over, TRS was a business that specialized in Human Reproduction and helping couples having difficulty conceiving a child. I was skeptical about it but I supported him none the less. After a while, government funding was cut. It turned out they were 'dissatisfied' with what TRS was doing with the taxpayer money. I found out later the real reason was because unlike his father, government officials didn't like Giovanni. Without government funding, TRS quickly fell into decline and the company was soon in real trouble."
"Since I was having trouble conceiving a child at the time, I agreed to be the test subject for a project that if successful would make the government officials reconsider. Using IVF and fertility drugs, I became pregnant. That made Giovanni and I very happy personally for we had wanted to have children of our own. Then we learned we were going to be having twins, a girl and a boy. It was a very exciting time for us." She paused. We could tell she feeling emotional as she told this long buried part of her life.
"If you want to continue later, that's fine." Ann offered. "We can see that this is very upsetting for you."
"No, I want to tell you everything now." She replied after composing herself. "It's something I never told anyone, not even Ash."
"A few days before the twins were to be born, a man came to our house." She continued. "He'd come see Giovanni so I went in to kitchen to wait for them to finish talking. After waiting for over 2 hours, the gentleman was still there. Since this man had come once every four weeks and I hadn't been introduced to him, I was curious about who he was. Standing next to the hallway, I listened to what they were saying."
"They were talking about what they were planning to do with the twins. Giovanni talked about how he intended to make an heir to his 'gang' and have the world's most powerful super solider the world would ever know. He was going to use his own children in an experiment that would change them forever. After listening some more I learned the man who came to see him was a doctor who planned to induce me while I was sleeping. They wanted to start as soon as possible!"
"What did you do?" Alex asked.
"Fearing for the safety of my children I ran out the backdoor and into Viridian Forest." Said Ms. K. "I wasn't sure if they knew I'd been listening but I just wanted to run as far as I could. Since I was heavily pregnant with twins and had never been in the forest by myself before, I didn't get far before I became lost. I ended up spending the night in a dead tree. When I woke up I heard people walking around outside. Giovanni had sent his men to look for me. After waiting in the forest for almost 12 hours, they finally left. As I tried to get out of the forest, I went into labor. I realized then that the babies would be born soon. Just as I made it to the edge of the woods Giovanni found me. He told me I was a fool for thinking I could leave like that. He said that I was in no condition to have left in the middle of the night without saying where I was going.
"I tried to resist but he practically dragged me back to Viridian City. Instead of taking me to the hospital he took me to the TRS HQ. There I was shackled to a bed while I gave birth to the twins. When they were born I wasn't even allowed to hold them. They were quickly taken to another room. I thought I would never get to see them and feared for my life. After waiting there for several days, Giovanni finally came to me and told me that he was going to let me keep one of the twins. He said that whichever one I decided to take, I would not see the other until the day he died."
"It was the most painful decision I ever made in my life. I took the boy whom we'd named Ash in the hopes that he would never end up like his father. Giovanni said he had no problem with that and Ash was given to me. He then said he would see to it that we would be well cared for even though we'd separately signed divorce papers two days before. He also told me not to tell Ash about Zora or about the past or I would live to regret it. Fearing for what he would do to Zora, I agreed to that too."
"I also decided I wouldn't tell Ash about his father. I knew he'd just want to seek revenge if I did. About a week later, I was allowed to leave with Ash. We moved to Pallet Town where Ash grew up. Every time I looked at him I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to him because of what his father had done with him. When he became interested in Pokemon I was uneasy about it because I knew that one day he would face his father in the Viridian Gym. When he turned 10, I let him leave home on a quest to one day become a Pokemon Master."
"And the rest is pretty much history." I said. "He made it to the Indigo League Tournament but was defeated by me. I later went on to beat Matt and became a Pokemon Master and the Indigo League Champion. I didn't see him again until later on at the Johto League. At that time he was leader of Team Rocket. My question is how and when?"
"Six years after leaving town, I learned Ash had killed Giovanni in a fight to the death." Mrs. K explained. "At the precise moment of Giovanni's death, something inside of Ash was activated. I later learned it was the TR gene. It was a portion of Giovanni's cells that his father had injected into him when he was born. It was dormant up until his father's death. After that, Ash immediately took over as the new leader of TR. Two weeks after I heard the news, a young woman sunddely came to my home in Pallet Town. She came, saying she was searching for the mother she never knew. After showing me a copy of her birth certificate, I realized she was my long lost daughter!"
"When I asked her what she'd been doing with Giovanni she told me her life was nothing but a nightmare. A nightmare she couldn't wake up from until her father's death. Giovanni had abused her in every way imaginable. There were scars visible on various parts of her body. Because of how she'd been treated growing up it was hard for her to trust anyone anymore. She said she came to find me in the hopes that I would not be like her father had said I was. She told me she had been given the impression I had wanted to kill her when she was born because I wanted a son. I started to cry when she told me that. That's when I told her about Ash and what her father had done to them both."
"She said that when Giovanni died, an immense power she didn't even know she had was awakened in her. She had been injected with the Cells of Mew, then the most powerful pokemon in the world. As a result she had the powers of every single pokemon in the world. She then told me she would go on a quest to undo the damage Giovanni had done to us. I didn't see her again after that until 4 years ago. At that time I had moved to Viridian Forest. She showed up one day, right after the Jets took over Kanto. She said she wouldn't be able to fight the Evil Empire by herself even with her powers. She wanted to find some help so she said she was going to Vermillion City. That's the last I saw of her."
Having finished her story, no one spoke for several minutes. It was quite a lot to process to say the least. Matt, Alex and Fin stood there, not blinking. Katrin, Ann and Monica were all crying softly. This truly was a horrible thing that had happened to Delia Ketchum. For years, she lived in fear of her late husband and children. Now that she finally had one back the other was threatening to destroy the world.
I wondered if now would be a good time to tell her about Kaylie. "Did you know you have a granddaughter?" Alex asked her. He was asking the same thing I was just thinking about. Delia looked at him in surprise. "Ash has a 16 year old daughter named Kaylie." He explained. "We'd actually been seeing each other before I was sent here. I was almost killed by one of TR's assassins in the process."
"We think Ash might be trying to spread his influence to a 3rd generation." Said Fin. "A few days ago, Kaylie shot me. Apparently, Ash told her that Dad killed Alex in Mt. Silver. Now Kaylie wants to hunt him down."
"Jordan is also looking for Matt and Jim." Ann pointed out. "It's for reasons unrelated to what happened with Alex, though."
"It's like history is repeating itself." Delia said, sobbing. "Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. I just want this nightmare to stop."
"That's why we're here." Matt replied. "We want to put an end to this curse that has also spread to my family."
"What do you mean, spread?" she asked with dread.
"Ash raped my sister May when they were young." he explained. "That's how she had Kaylie. 4 years ago, he forced her to marry him in exchange for the life of our grandfather, Professor Oak. She did it, willingly. She knew that the life of our grandfather was in his hands."
"I hope you all can do this." Delia replied. "I don't want Fin to leave until his wounds have healed so why don't you stay for the night? I have enough room in this house for everyone."
"That's very generous, but you really don't have to." I said. "Besides, we're all fugitives from both Kanto and Johto. Our stay here could be dangerous for you."
"No, I insist." She replied. "It's the least I can do. Consider it advance payment for helping Zora." She led Ann, Fin, Katrin and Me to a room upstairs. It was a hidden room with the doorway behind a bookcase. The room had 2 beds. We'd have to share. A door leading to a bathroom was on the left. It looked like Delia was used hiding fugitives in her home.
"This should be fine for you." She said. "If you're worried about the windows, no one can see you from outside. They're designed so you can only look outside them."
"That's pretty cool." said Katrin. "I love things built that way. I wonder how it works?" she moved through the wall to get a look from the outside. Delia just smiled.
"You'll have a hard time trying to figure it out." She said as she turned to Ann. "I sincerely hope what happened to me doesn't happen to you. At least you know what you're getting yourself into."
"You're talking about the baby." said Ann as she rubbed her belly. "You could almost say Team Rocket is attracted to pregnant women."
"And in one case it was fatal." I said. "Four years ago, Ann had a stillbirth. She was so devastated she almost went insane."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Delia replied but Ann shook her head.
"We're hoping this one will do better." Ann said as she smiled. Then she gestured to Fin and Katrin. "Katrin is my biological child, but Fin isn't."
"They are both the product of genetic engineering." I quickly explained. "Fin is my son but he is also half Pikachu. Katrin is Ann's daughter but she is also half Sableye. Their story isn't like yours but the events leading up to their births are very similar."
"When I was pregnant with Katrin, Ash tried to kidnap me from my own home." Ann told her." "He planned to use Katrin and Fin to make an army of people with pokemon abilities. As for this one, it's definitely going to be a regular kid. We made this one the old fashioned way."
"And we also know about our past." Katrin said as she and Fin walked over to us. "They told us about our origins when we were old enough to understand. We have no regrets about it, either."
"If anything, I'm happy to be a hybrid species." Fin added. "I can do some things a regular 12 year old can't do."
"Like set off a nuclear explosion." I said, remembering what we all witnessed earlier. "And in Katrin's case, move through stuff." Fin and Katrin just grinned.
"I'd better leave you all to rest." Delia said as she turned to leave. "You've all had a long day. Good night." She then left the room and closed the door.
"I remember that." Katrin suddenly said. "What happened four years ago."
"What?" Fin, Ann and me said all at once.
"When the baby died." Katrin explained. "I mean the one Mom should have had. I remember it from years ago."
"How can you know when no one told you about it?" I asked in surprise. "You didn't even know it was coming."
"No one had to tell me." Katrin replied as her eyes glowed red. "I can see and feel it. This is going to sound weird but I have the power to sense the presence of all living souls. Even though it's not born, yet I can feel the presence of the baby in Mom's belly right now."
"You're right, it is weird." said Fin.
"And hard to believe." Ann aded. "Besides, when did find out you had the power to do that?"
"Around the same time I found out I could travel between the realms of the living and the dead." Katrin replied. "That's also where me and Monica first met. That's also how Aurabolt and the Super Clones were kept up to date on what was happening here."
"That is really creepy." said Fin, quickly adding "No offense."
"I even remember feeling the baby slowly die inside you, mom." Katrin said as tears began to well up in her eyes. "It's almost as if I was the one who was pregnant."
"Why didn't you tell me something was wrong?" Ann asked as she suddenly grabbed Katrin almost violently. "If you knew the baby was in trouble, you could've said something! So why...?" Now Katrin was crying hysterically.
"Ann, calm down!" I exclaimed as I separated them. "If you can't calm down, it'll upset the one that's coming." She calmed herself almost immediately.
"Mom, I'm really sorry." Katrin said as she sobbed. "I would've said something before, but I was scared. When we saw how sad you were, I couldn't bring myself to tell you I could've done something, especially when you didn't tell us you were having a baby."
"Katrin, it's not your fault." I said. "Nothing you said or did then could have changed what happened, believe me. I was really depressed then and your mom was in a state of denial. I don't want you to feel you were to blame for what happened. That's not your fault, either of you. Sometimes people die so that others might live."
"Thanks for looking out for me." Katrin said as she calmed down. "Both of you, I mean."
"That's what we do." I replied, giving her a hug. "We look out for each other. We're a family."
"We'll do everything we can to help each other out." Fin added. "We want to see the end of Team Rocket."
"Maybe if we're lucky, the baby will come after TR is overthrown." Ann replied. "Speaking of. Someone doesn't want to feel left out.
"Did either of you want to feel the baby moving in there?" I asked them. "Me and your Aunts and Uncle used to do this all the time before you were born."
"Can you really tell if there's a baby in there?" Fin asked.
"Of course." Ann replied, chuckling. "Before Katrin was born, she visited me in a dream and that's when I named her. She had a name before she was even born."
"What if I was a boy?" Katrin asked.
"I think I'd know at that point for sure." Ann replied as they laughed. "You would've told me."
"I guess I would." Katrin said, finally smiling.
"When Fin was a baby, I was the only one who could pick him up without getting shocked." I said. "It was probably from my years of experience with electric pokemon."
"This one doesn't have strange new powers but it is special." said Katrin as she rubbed Ann's belly.
"I can feel the baby kicking!" Fin exclaimed. "It's really strong. It feels so real."
"That's because there's a real baby in there." I reminded them. "And ready or not, it will be coming soon."
"I can't wait until I have a kid of my own." said Katrin. "I'd have my own baby to love even before it's born."
"Just do me a favor and wait at least 6 years before you try to get pregnant." Ann said as she shot me a look. "You don't want to be having kids while you're still in grade school."
"I'll wait at 8 years at least." Katrin replied. I promise. "In the meantime, I'll just love this one."
Soon afterward, the kids fell asleep. Ann and I lay awake in bed. We were thinking about Delia's story and what Katrin just told us. This poor woman had clearly been through a lot. She'd also gone to great lengths to keep her past a secret. Ann had also tried her best to keep anyone from finding out about the stillbirth but Katrin knew about it all thi time. I wasn't sure how we were all going to deal with this latest turn of events.
"Her story has me thinking." Ann said, breaking the silence. "What happened to her almost happened to us."
"You're talking about when we were at your parents' place." I replied, knowing what she was talking about. I placed one of my hands in hers. "We were pretty lucky then. Things looked bad but we made it through without any trouble."
"I can only imagine what could've happened if he'd succeeded." said Ann. "What Fin and Katrin would be doing if he had his way. Now that we know most of what Fin and Karin can do, I can only wonder."
"I know how you're feeling." I said. "About if it was a good idea to get the kids involved with this war. Like Jim said before, The Alliance would probably try to use you and the kids to get to me."
"You're probably right." She replied. "Just thinking about that scares me more than anything." I put my hand on her belly and felt the baby within her move. Ann winced slightly in discomfort.
"This new baby we're going to have is our future." I said. "As you said to me 4 days ago, you don't want it to be born into a barren wasteland. I can now say I feel the same way. That's why we have to do whatever we can to make sure all of our kids grow up in with a promising future. I've already decided I'm not going back to the states until I've taken care of things here."
"I'm not leaving, either." Ann declared, putting one of her hands on mine. "Not until this is all over. We're going to give the people of Kanto and Johto the hope they need to survive."
"Fighting for our children's futures gives me the strength to make the change." I said.
"Does this mean you weren't thinking about their future over the last 4 years?" she asked. "Or our new one?"
"I guess not." I said after a long pause. "But now, I am. I want it to be one they'll want to look forward to. I want to at least give them this one chance."
"I'm sure we will." Said Ann. "We just have to do our best."
"That I plan to do." I said before falling asleep. "We owe them that much."
End Chapter 12!
I actually made references to a story I previous story I wrote titled Pokemon Pregnancy. At some point in the future, I'll reupload it too. No timetable for when though.
