Author's Notes: I figure I'll make this short for once.
Chapter 20
Having traveled all over Kanto, I was now about to get the Volcano Badge from Blaine, "The Hot-Headed Quiz Master" along with the last Jirachi. Flannery led us to the Gym, which had been rebuilt after the Volcano erupted several years ago. It was now in the Volcano itself. The temperature rose as we reached the center of the Gym. There we found Blaine. Aside from the wig he was wearing, he was still the same.
"I don't suppose you remember me, do you?" I asked him.
"Of course I do!" He responded. "You're the trainer who battles under extreme situations. You truly are The Undisputed Pokemon Master!"
"I heard from Flannery you found a Jirachi." I said. "Can I see it?"
"Why do you ask?" Asked Blaine. "And how did you even know I had—" At this I displayed the other 6 I had caught for him to see. He was speechless at first.
"I'll tell you what I'll do." He said. "If you can pass a quiz I'll let you have it! If you don't pass, then you can't have it!"
"Sounds fair." I said. To us it meant doing some unauthorized shoplifting later on. "Let's have it!"
"First Question: You have 2 wives who are pregnant with your child." Said Blaine.
"Hell no!" Said Ann, Monica, Matt, and Me simultaneously.
"Ann is my only wife and Monica and Matt are together." I said.
"Okay, I'll take that as a pass." Said Blaine, obviously embarrassed with the reaction. "2nd Question: Magneton is the only electric Pokemon that Learns Zap Cannon Naturally."
"That would be true." I said. "You can get the TM in Johto."
"Another right!" Said Blaine. "3rd Question: Mantine is the only Pokemon that has a hitchhiker."
"That's False." I said. "Slowbro has a Shellder attached to its tail Not only that, Slowking has one on its head."
"Right again!" Said Blaine. "4th Question. Rayquaza is known as the Sky Upper Pokemon."
"False." I said. "It's the Sky High Pokemon." If you want, I could show you mine."
"No, that won't be necessary." Said Blaine. "I'll take your word for it. Now for the final Question: Mew has the Cells of all Pokemon and therefore can take any shape."
"Monica would show you, but can't because she's pregnant. Oh, and that is true."
"Really, now?" Asked Blaine. "I didn't know that. Since you have answered all the questions correctly, you get the prize!" And with that I had finally collected all 7 Jirachi. After putting it inside its poke ball, I found myself unable to do or say anything. I was just so happy at finally being able to revive Mewtwo and Mewthree.
I suddenly felt the presence of a force all to familiar. "It' can't be…" I said. "Where are you…" That's when I passed out. When I woke up, I was at the area hospital. Fin and Katrin were also in the room.
"What…happened?" I managed to say. "I think you were so filled with happiness you fainted." Said Katrin. "Too bad it wasn't the same with mom."
"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly awake and fully alert.
"After you fainted mom started feeling some contractions so the doctors here decided to run some tests to make sure the baby isn't coming early." Katrin explained.
"Everything is fine, now." Ann said after coming into the room. "It was you who scared us the most."
"Is everything ok?" I asked her.
"I'm fine." She replied, rubbing her belly. "And so is the baby. The doctors said it was false labor. It's perfectly normal and happens sometimes. They said I have to stay here overnight for observation, though."
"I'll battle Blaine tomorrow, then." I said. "Maybe then I'll know when I'm getting out of here."
"I'm going to see if me and Scyther can get some training in." Said Fin. "I'll be at the beach."
"I'm going to be doing some fishing with Nautica by the docks." Said Katrin.
"What about everyone else?" I asked.
"They're staying at a hotel." Fin replied. "They're waiting for you to get better." The two then walked out the door. Looks like I lucked out again. So once again, Ann and I found ourselves getting some quality time together for the second time in three weeks. It was pretty interesting. Considering how things were with us when she was pregnant with Katrin it was surreal. It was like we were going to have our first kid, which technically was true. I was now more determined than ever to at least beat TR Jet before the baby came. Because of how long it took for us to get through Kanto I now know it would be impossible to cover an entire country in a small amount of time.
"So, how does it feel?" Ann suddenly asked me.
"About what?" I asked. "Do you mean Getting all 7 Jirachi, the kids getting their first Pokemon, being 2 badges away from taking on TR Jet, or you being one day closer to having our third child?"
"I'd say all of the above." She replied, laughing. "I keep forgetting to be exact with those kinds of queries."
"Only two things can sum up how I feel about getting all 7 Jirachi." I said. "Mewtwo and Mewthree. Once they're revived I'm sure I'll definitely be able to defeat Ash Ketchum, no if, ands, or buts about it. I'm just not sure what I'm going to do about Kaylie. I really don't want to have to kill her or just end up being the cause of her getting killed, more or less because she is pregnant with Alex's baby. That and I'm not partial to seeing anything like that happen to someone who is expecting, not after what Ash did to you."
"What about the kids and their Pokemon?" Ann asked me. "They seem to be getting along ok."
"I think it's nice." I replied. "They'll hopefully take what they see in us and use it to help strengthen their relationships with their pokemon. I can definitely see that as a possibility. As for being two badges away from fighting TR Jet, It's a good feeling. I came here not sure of weather or not the Gym Leaders would be using genetically altered Pokemon but I'm happy to see they're not. They all have been very supportive of our crusade as well."
"What about our Mystery Gift?" Ann asked, pointing to her belly. "What do you think about the baby with all this?" I placed both of my hands on her belly. I could feel the baby moving around a bit but not as much as when we were in Viridian Forest. I knew that the future of this baby as well as Monica and Kaylie's would be decided by whatever it is I did after tonight. Regardless of weather the baby was a boy or girl, if I failed in my quest then I would doom this child too.
"I'm not one to make promises I don't know if I can keep." I said. "But I will say this: I will do everything within my power to make sure that even if I don't get through all of Johto before it is born, it will at least be born knowing there is hope, however small. We've already shown that to the people of Kanto. Only Saffron, the capital city is left. Once we get the Earth Badge things will get intense. Some of us may even die during the fight. If I die during the war and you live to give birth, tell our child I died to give them the chance at life. I want you to promise me this."
"Ted, that's deep." Ann responded. "I've never heard you say anything like that. It sounds like you are planning something drastic."
"Just promise me this." I said.
"You have my word that I will do it should you die before the baby is born." Ann replied.
"Thank you." I said. "And in response to what you just said, I am planning something drastic. Something on the scale of Mariupol but not so much collateral. I can't tell you what I'm planning, though. Not until I'm sure of Ash's location."
"Please take your sanity into consideration." Ann warned, sounding very worried. "I saw you go insane once and you almost killed me. That's something I haven't even told the kids. I don't want to see anything like that happen again."
"It's not me I'm worried about." I said. "It's my clone. Even though he was purged from my body I can still sense him. I just don't know where or when he'll strike."
"You don't think he's in the baby, do you?" Asked Ann, feeling concerned. "Or what if he's in Fin?"
"I'm sure that's not possible." I said. "If he was in Fin he would have my personality. As we now know, Fin has a mind of his own. I know that you couldn't possibly be pregnant with him, either. He was purged from my body 10 years ago. The only person I could possible think of who could have any reason to want my clone alive is Ash. I know May wouldn't go through with it, though…"
"You don't think he put Ed Ross in Kaylie, do you?" Ann asked. "In his current mental state he might have—"
"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed when I realized the possability was real. "I haven't the slightest Idea why I didn't see this before. That bastard! How the hell could he do this to her?!" I started to sob when I realized what has going on. "Ash, I won't let you do this to your own daughter! Not her! When I find you, I'll kill you!"
"Ted, what's the matter?!" Asked Ann, slowly backing towards the door.
"He actually went and did it..." I said. Alex suddenly came in.
"I heard shouting from down the hall." He said. "What's going on?"
"Alex, close the door." I said.
"Why, what's—" he started.
"I SAID CLOSE THE FUCKING DOOR!" I screamed at him. He slammed it shut. "What I have to say to you isn't good news. It has to do with Ash, Kaylie and her unborn child."
"Did something happen?" He asked.
"You have no idea." I said. "For starters, Kaylie was pregnant before you came Kanto. Seeing as you two didn't have sex before you left, that baby can't possibly be yours."
"What are you getting at?" "Asked Alex, starting to get very frightened at what I was telling him.
"The baby she is going to have isn't yours." I said. "It's mine. To be more exact, it's me. My Clone."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Asked Alex. "When did you find time to sleep with my girlfriend?"
"14 Years ago, Mewthree cloned me." I said. "Unlike the other clones it created, my clone was different. All the evil capable of being formulated by someone and some that could possibly destroy the person in question—is in my clone. In fact, I ended up throwing it into a black hole when we first met. That wasn't enough to get rid of it for good, though. Two years later it returned in me. I lost my sanity because of what it did to me. In the end I sealed it away in a test tube and had it locked away in Goldenrod City."
"I remember there being an area in the underground no one was allowed to go in." Said Alex. "Ash went in there and said he found something valuable, but didn't say what."
"Then he definitely did do it." I said. "Hmm…Kaylie should be in her 3rd month now. When my clone was in me, it was like there were 2 minds in my body. Mine and my clone's. It was like a parasite in need of a host. It had the ability to take control of my body at will."
"Kaylie already has traces of Giovanni's cells in her." Said Ann. "We can only imagine what will happen when Ed's Clone becomes active."
"That is what we should fear the most." I said. "Everything I know, my clone knows. Once the embryo is able to tell the difference between being conscious and unconscious, it will become active. By now, it may already be active. That would explain the prison escape..."
"So there's no traces of my DNA in the child?" asked Alex. "Just yours and hers?"
"I didn't say that much." I said. "It doesn't have reproductive cells. Ash probably just used some of your frozen sperm to get her pregnant. Right now I haven't the slightest clue how I am going to deal with this one."
"Let's just take each day as it comes." Said Ann. "We'll figure out something soon enough. Right now you need to get some rest." I finally did go to sleep, but it wasn't peaceful. Not after finding out yet another setback. It seemed like something was always coming up to keep me from getting the job done. Tomorrow I'd make up for lost time and get 2 badges in 24 hours.
Having been cleared, Ann and I headed over to the Cinnabar Gym. Everyone else was there waiting, including Flannery. She also wanted to see me battle against Blaine. Upon entering the Gym, we were lead to the top of the volcano. It seemed Blaine wanted this battle to be an all-out one!
"Welcome to the Cinnabar Gym." said Blaine. "This will be a 4 on 4 tag Battle with a 30 minute time limit. Any part of the Volcano may be used. The person with the most pokemon remaining wins!"
"Charizard, Aurabolt, Pyro, Puma, go!" I said, throwing 4 Poke Balls. Aurabolt and Puma came out in their Gochu forms. They were raring to go.
"I choose Arcanine, Magmar, Rapidash, and Torkoal!" Said Blaine, throwing 4 Poke Balls. This was going to be an interesting match indeed!
"Charizard, use Air Cutter!" I Said. "Pyro, use Sky Uppercut! Puma and Aurabolt, use Ice Beam!" The converging attacks quickly overtook Torkoal and Rapidash, but Arcanine and Magmar held their ground.
"Arcanine, use Extreme Speed!" Said Blaine. "Magmar, Thunder Punch!" The attacks allowed them to escape Puma and Aurabolt's Thunderstorm attack.
"2 Minutes remaining." Said Matt. I currently held the lead but knowing Blaine that could change very soon. "Charizard, use Thermal Heat!" I said. It maximized Special Attack and caused it to evolve into Charpalm. Blaziken used Jump Kick and scored a critical hit on Arcanine, fainting it. Now it was 4 on one!
"Magmar, use Burn Energy!" Said Blaine. This was a move I had never seen coming, as it always reduced the user to 1 Hit Point. It DID Guarantee a Critical Hit, though. Puma and Blaziken were felled by it. That didn't make Charpalm and Aurabolt too happy. Aurabolt used Mega Thunderbolt which Charpalm followed up with Seismic Slam. The force of the attacks sent Magmar into the Lava.
"Time up!" Said Matt. Lave spewed high into the air. Charpalm roared and belched fire as it circled the mouth of the volcano. Then the unexpected happened—Magmar jumped out of the Lava and back on one of the platforms!
"Aurabolt, finish it off with Hyper Beam!" I said. That proved to be unnecessary. Magmar collapsed on the spot. No one was more surprised than Blaine. I'd won the match 2 different ways simultaneously!
"Your passion for battles is hotter than ever!" Blaine exclaimed, having clearly enjoyed our match. "You've certainly patented your skills. I'm very sure you'll be able to stop TR Jet. Take the Volcano Badge!" And with that I was one badge away from being able to challenge TR Jet.
"You were inspiring once again to me." Said Flannery. "I'm going to stay here and train with Blaine some more. Maybe if I get strong enough, I'll challenge you and win!"
"Emphasis on 'Maybe'!" I shot back. "Just keep working hard and you'll do great." With the 7 Jirachi and 7 Badges we packed up and headed north.
End Chapter 20!
I added a few stuff here and there but overall I think the flow was good. Next is the final Chapter of The Evil Empire Saga, #21.
