Notes: Ashley's Pokemon:
Hope (Pikachu) Female
Clint (Spearow) Male
Amethyst (Vivillon) Female
Gale (Pidgeott) Female
Mustard (Beedrill) Male Erika's Pokemon:
Meadow (Leafeon) Female
Rafflesia (Gloom) Female
Ichigo (Shiny Lokix) Male
Venom (Beedrill) Male Brock's Pokemon:
Quake (Onix) Male
Bolin (Shiny Grotle) Male
Geodude (N/A)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextFresh out of Pewter City, our heroes were walking towards their little sister's next gym battle. The highway ahead of them was endless, many discoveries awaiting them and many adventures to follow.
"Well, you certainly don't need a map to find your way to Mount Moon," Erika said, fanning herself in the sunny heat. "You'd have to be blind to miss it!"
Indeed, the massive peak loomed high up over everything, the lonely mountain rising up out of the landscape.
"I've always wanted a Clefairy, they're so elegant… so adorable," Erika said. "Actually, it's been a while since I've captured a new Pokemon."
"You just got a Beedrill in Viridian Forest," Ashley said, glancing at her traveling companion. "That was… oh, a week ago? I wouldn't exactly call that a while ago."
"For myself, I mean," Erika quickly clarified. "Most of my Pokemon that I catch, most of them are meant for challenging trainers during an official gym battle. And yes, while I love raising them, I'd also love a Pokemon just for myself to spoil and pamper."
"You sound like mom whenever she's daydreaming about catching a cute Pokemon," Ashley said. "I don't really understand it, what kind of Pokemon do you not even battle with?"
"You'll understand one day," Erika giggled. "I'm sure there's a Pokemon you'll meet one day that you'll say 'no, I refuse to let a Pokemon this beautiful and this cute ever dirty themselves in battle' to."
Ashley and Brock shared a look, with Hope just letting out a confused "Pika?" of her own.
Ashley shrugged. "I'm sure any of my Pokemon, if I told them they'd be housepets they'd never respect me again."
Hope nodded along with her trainer's words, letting out a "Pi-Pika-PIkachu!" Ashley chuckled fondly and let her electric mouse nuzzle up against her cheek. Little sparks flew and the girl grinned.
"It doesn't even hurt anymore," Ashley said. "It's more like a little shock by this point."
"That's great, Ashley," Brock said. "That means your Pikachu trusts you, if it lowered its electricity levels like that. If it were to shock you at full power, your Pikachu would probably-"
"Leave me twitching in pain, my whole body well-done?" Ashley said with a snort as she and Hope shared an amused look. "Trust me, I know. I've been on that end of Hope's shocks as well."
"Really?" Brock asked. "From the moment I met you, you two looked like you'd spent your whole lives together. I assumed you'd raised her since she was a Pichu fresh from her egg."
"Hahahaha no, she hated me when we first met. Hope didn't want anything to do with me," Ashley chuckled. "Like the very first thing she did when she saw me was to shock both me and Professor Oak at full power, maximum voltage!"
"Wow, really?" Brock said, staring stunned. "What changed?"
"Funny how Spearow flocks have a way of bringing people together, yeah?" Ashley grinned as her Pikachu let out a little 'Cha!' of agreement.
"Oh wow, that was you?" Brock's eyes widened. "I heard about someone capturing an entire Spearow flock earlier this year, and how all of the Spearows had been sent to that organization for disabled trainers. Now that I think about it, I'm not surprised at all you had something to do with it."
"Well, it was Erika's idea actually," Ashley said, with the girl in question blushing a light pink. "I was actually too terrified about Hope's health to really think straight, much less well…"
Ashley smiled again at her companion slash older sister figure, who replied. "I did the only natural thing, and I couldn't just leave you to fend for yourself out there in the wilderness. I knew you'd need my help, with apparent luck like yours. After all, not everyone manages to anger an entire Spearow flock on their first day."
"More than that, you helped me figure out who I was… who I wanted to be," Ashley said even as Brock stopped a few feet ahead of them. "I don't know how long I'd have been able to go on, asking myself a question I wouldn't even know the answer to. I'd have tried to suppress it, but there'd always be that feeling of Wrongness in the back of my mind."
Erika grasped her hands gently and smiled soothingly, about to say something before Brock beat her to it.
"Ah, this looks like the spot!"
"For what?"
"To make camp for the night, we can cross through Mount Moon in the morning and we should be able to reach Cerulean City by sundown tomorrow," Brock said. "I'll start making dinner, my treat while you two start pitching up our tents."
Ashley nodded, and gave a salute saying: "Yes sir!"
"Actually, if you could," Brock said. "Could you go get some wood to start a fire? Don't take too long, because otherwise we'll eat the food without you! You wouldn't want to miss dinner, especially not mine!"
Ashley nodded before going off to find wood and even if she felt a bit like a Mudbray she chose not to complain about it. She could hear Erika's voice in her head, even now saying how proper ladies didn't complain about any of the tasks they'd been given.
She sighed, right now she still didn't feel like a proper lady at all. It wasn't that Erika meant to be pushy, it was just that looking back she had a very different view of womanhood than Ashley did. Which was fine, there wasn't any wrong way to be a girl, well she hoped not anyways. Agent Domino's words still echoed in the back of her mind.
"She said I'd been faking," Ashley said to herself, sitting down on a rock and looking into a nearby river. Her reflection stared back at her and not for the first time Ashley saw just how masculine she still looked. She rubbed her chin and tried not to feel sick when she felt the beginnings of facial hair starting to grow in.
"...I mean, what does it matter? Why do I even want to prove myself to a member of Team Rocket?" Ashley sighed to herself. "I mean, a girl's a girl and yet…"
She rubbed at her eyes, feeling them start to water. Trying not to cry, she couldn't meet her reflection in the eye. Just looking at it was a reminder how far she still had to go before anyone would ever even believe she was a girl. Anyone with eyes, she thought to herself disgustedly, could tell even if she was wearing a skirt and girl's shoes with tights that there was still a boy underneath those clothes. She felt disgusting, she still felt Wrong and like she didn't quite belong just yet.
"...I could dress myself up in a wig and the fanciest ball gown imaginable and it still wouldn't disguise the fact of I am what I am," Ashley sighed. "I feel suffocated, like I'm just wearing a costume and playing pretend. Maybe Domino's right, maybe I am deluded. Maybe-"
"Ashley Leaf Ketchum," Erika said sternly as she walked up from behind her. "You know better than to listen to that… woman."
She curled her lip, looking like she'd been trying to avoid saying another word entirely. Sitting down next to her, and gently wrapping an arm around her, Erika pulled her close.
"You're not just playing a character, a part in a play," Erika soothed, running a hand through her hair. "Domino, people like her, you'll never convince them no matter what you do. If you ask me, they're the deluded ones. They're all wrapped up in their own beliefs that they'll never see anything beyond themselves, they're so convinced they're right that to them everyone else must be wrong."
"...It's just…"
"Come on, let's go eat dinner, Brock's almost done and a good meal will cheer you up and get your mind off that woman," Erika said. "I had Meadow grab some firewood, I had a feeling something was wrong when you didn't come back after a few minutes."
"...Yeah, something's wrong alright," Ashley mumbled even as she ate dinner, her own anxieties still eating away at her. "With me. I'm not… I'm not the person I should be, the person I want to be.'
"These things take time, and once you get permission from your mom to be injected with Ditto cells," Brock said, comfortingly, the food sat on an unfolding table. ""Well before you know it, you'll be everything you dreamed to be."
A Zubat chirped as it flew next to Brock, flapping its wings and darting around his head.
"Heh, guess you heard me talking about food," Brock said, before dipping a spoon into a bowl of soup and holding it out to the little bat. "Here you go little guy, eat up. Everyone needs a hot fresh meal every now and then, even Pokemon!"
The Zubat chirped happily and hung upside down from a nearby tree, hanging near Brock's head.
"It looks like he likes you," Erika smiled. "I think you've made a new friend, maybe you should try capturing him. Didn't you leave most of your Pokemon behind at the gym anyways?"
"Yeah, most of them. Honestly most of them aren't mine anyways, they belong to the gym. Onix, Geodude and Grotle are pretty much the only ones I actually own," Brock said. "The rest, they're in the family, to put it another way. Suzie's pretty much claimed Skiddo as her starter one day, and-"
"Bet Suzie is always taken seriously as a girl," Ashley sighed, knowing it was a little ridiculous to be jealous of a little girl. "She's lucky that way."
"Ashley…" Erika said sadly. "Give it time, the greatest things in life, they take time. You can't rush this, no matter how much you want to."
"I know, I just wish…" Ashley started before she sat up from the table, with her eyes widening. "Of course, how'd I even forget? Jirachi, it's supposed to be sleeping somewhere in this mountain right? It can grant any wish, right? I'll just ask for it to make me into a girl!"
"But Ashley," Brock said. "It sleeps for a thousand years, I don't think just anything can wake Jirachi up! Besides, it's only just a rumor. Jirachi may not even be here! Don't you think someone would have found it by now if that was true?"
"Maybe I'll be the first!" Ashley grinned.
"But you'd still have to wake it up!"
"Well then," Ashley said, grabbing Hope who let out a squeak of shock. "That's what a good Thunder Shock's for, right?"
"Wait up! Ashley!" Brock shouted in concern, even as the young trainer dashed off.
"Oh dear…" Erika sighed, pulling out a Pokeball and calling out her Gloom. "I'd guess we'd better go after her. Rafflesia, watch the campsite! If anyone tries to steal anything, you know what to do!"
LINE BREAK
Up above, floated a certain balloon. Even after being twisted into human pretzels in the Viridian Forest by a certain Machamp, the trio still stalked their prey.
"...A pokemon who can grant any wish huh?" Jessie said, looking through her binoculars towards the entrance of Mount Moon. "Imagine what the Boss would do if we brought in Jirachi! If it's asleep, we should have no trouble nabbing it for ourselves~!"
"Yeah, but if it's asleep, how is the boss supposed to wake it up and use it to grant his wish, huh Jessie?" James said, as she looked over at her partner. "Did you think of that?"
"The Boss is the Boss, he has his ways," Jessie waved a gloved hand dismissively. "I heard rumors of a certain experiment he'd love to perfect, and just think about it! Jirachi would be able to grant his wish and make it see success!"
"Hey Jessie, I just thought of something," James said as she grinned. "If Jirachi can grant any wish, why don't we, y'know, give it a little bit of a test run? To see if it's really true? After all, if it can't, what's the point in even stealing Jirachi in the first place?"
"It's still a rare Pokemon, and rare means extremely valuable," Jessie said. "But you do raise a good point, James. It doesn't happen often, but it seems there's still a few neurons firing in that tiny brain of yours."
"So what would you even wish for?" James asked as she looked at her partner. "Just curious. I mean, I know what I'd wish for. The love and respect of my colleagues, or at least rare Pokemon so that I can prove I'm a real member of Team Rocket. But what about you Jess, huh?"
Jessie swallowed, she knew what she'd wish for and that was to meet her mother. The Boss, she'd said she died long ago when searching for Mew. Agent Violet Lily, AKA Domino's predecessor had been a high ranking member of the original Team Rocket before Giovanni had taken control. She, from all she'd heard from her colleagues, had been the best of the best, an active-duty Class A Rocket special agent.
Jessie remembered faint memories, a lovely smile and dark purple hair and a simple phrase she'd summed up her life with. Something her mother had made sure to repeat to her every night before bed.
Step one: Profit.
Step two: Economize.
Step three: Pokémon!
She'd been the first Rocket to ever record actual proof of Mew's existence, while exploring the Paldean mountains she'd heard a cry from a mysterious Pokemon. It matched no other on record, and could have only been the cry of the New Species Pokémon. Then, tragedy struck. While searching for a photograph of Mew, she'd been buried in an avalanche.
Jessie had never seen her mother again. The Boss said he was still searching for her, though Jessie knew better. That was a lie to keep her loyal to Team Rocket, and every year that passed… her loyalty wavered a little more.
But if Jirachi could really grant any wish…
Maybe she could see her mother's smile again.
"Just… stuff," Jessie replied to James.
"Just stuff huh?" James said, and Jessie knew that her partner didn't really believe her.
"Yeah… just stuff," Jessie said softly before her voice hardened. "And that Twerpette, if she thinks she's going to meet Jirachi and make her wish before I do… She's got another thing coming! James, prepare to attack!"
Jessie ignored the tears in her eyes, and didn't care if James saw her cry. She would not be denied!
Not by that Twerpette.
Not by anyone.
It was time to show those idiots that she was a real member of Team Rocket just like them.
And best of all, that bitch Domino would be begging to learn her secrets when she saw her with Jirachi in hand.
LINE BREAK
"Maybe Brock's right, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself," Ashley said to herself as she wandered the caverns, Zubat flying past her for their nightly hunt. "Maybe it is just a rumor, a story. But all stories, well they have to come from somewhere… Right?"
Just looking at herself in the reflection of a crystal, she was given an unwanted reminder of just why she was looking around in this cavern to begin with.
Ashley reached out with a hand to touch her reflection, and sighed.
"Maybe one day… I won't have to look at you in the mirror…"
That's when she was knocked off her feet by an explosion, and coughing and wheezing she saw two very familiar figures in the smoke.
"Good job Billy, return!" Jessie's voice said as she recalled her Voltorb. "Hello Twerpette, miss us?"
"Not really!" Ashley said, as Hope got in a battle stance and bared her tiny fangs at the two Team Rocket grunts. "What are you doing here?"
"A truly twerpette question indeed! The answer's to come as soon as I feel the need! I'd say you have to prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double!" James added, with a rose in her hands and in the standard female uniform of Team Rocket.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender yourself or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!" Nyasu said, striking a pose.
"Yeah yeah, I've heard this motto before and I've heard Domino and Cliff's version. I have to say, theirs is better!" Ashley snarked, knowing that'd really tick the two off given how much they seemed to prize their… unique motto.
"Why you little… why don't you come over here and say that again to our faces?" Jessie said, quickly regaining control over her temper. "If you want to criticize our motto, Twerpette, don't do it from over there!"
"Yeah, what's the motto with you?" their Meowth grinned. "Youse got a problem with poetry and theater?"
"No, just a problem with you three!" Ashley said. "You're not stealing any Pokemon, least of all Jirachi!"
"Well, how can you steal something that technically doesn't belong to anyone?" Jessie said. "Jirachi's waited a long time for someone to find it, and maybe that should be me. It certainly shouldn't be you, kid. James, make sure she doesn't get far and warn her friends!"
"Pika!" Hope said, leaping towards the twosome.
"I don't think so. Kisame, use Toxic and then Return!" James said, calling out the little isopod. Purple gunk spewed out of the little Pokemon's mouth, and Pikachu let out a cry of pain. In a shocking burst of speed, Kisame darted forwards and smashed Pikachu into a wall.
"James, now that the little rat's out of the fight, let's get to the top of the mountain!" Jessie said. "There's a meteorite that crashed up there centuries ago, Jirachi has to be inside!"
"Oh no you don't!" Ashley said, using her own Tackle attack and knocking Jessie to the ground. Jessie kicked her square in the face before Ashley bit down on her leg through her boot.
"This again?" Jessie snarled, a truly venomous look on her face. "You've got a real death wish, Twerpette! James, get her off of me!"
"Truly sorry about this, young lady but between you and me, I'm afraid of Jessie more than I am of you," James said, as she pried Ashley off her cohort. Only to be punched in the face.
"Owwwww, I think she broke my nose!" James cried, stumbling backwards.
"Ugh, fine, I'll do it myself. Hemlock, freeze her in place with your Glare attack!" Jessie said, calling out her Ekans.
The coiled snake rose up and made a truly frightening expression. Ashley couldn't move, she could barely breathe with the Ekans resembling a demon more than a Pokemon.
"Zubat, Screech attack now!" came a familiar voice, and a loud shriek cut through the cavern causing both Jessie and James to cover their ears. Brock rushed in, quickly spraying Hope with an antidote to cure the poison.
"You two again," Erika said, barely managing to hide her distaste. "You two seem to turn up like bad pennies, and in the oddest of places. If you're looking for Jirachi, you'll have to get through us first."
"I know another thing to wish for," Jessie snarled. "To get rid of you interfering twerps and twerpettes permanently! James, come on!"
"Race you to the top!" James said, as she ran after her.
"Well… what are we waiting for?" Ashley said, pulling out another Pokeball. "After them!"
LINE BREAK
"Billy, blow it open with Explosion!" Jessie said, summoning her Voltorb as she looked at the massive meteorite still sitting in a crater untouched for centuries.
"Jessie, wait," James said as she eyed the meteorite. "What if you blow up Jirachi too?"
Jessie snorted.
"Jirachi's no ordinary Pokemon, it'll survive and besides this may serve as it's five-o-clock wake up call anyways!"
Then that's when she heard the buzzing sound and looked up to see a Beedrill glaring down at her.
"A Beedrill?" James said blankly before her eyes widened in fear as it registered a moment later. "A BEEDRILL?"
"Oh, he looks angry," Jessie said. "Hemlock, deal with him!"
Her snake Pokemon hissed and leapt up towards the bug-type only for Ashley to call out an attack.
"Mustard, Twineedle!"
The bug-type fired off a series of spikes at Ekans, pinning the snake in one spot by the tail.
"Billy, Spark now!" Jessie said, and her Voltorb fired off an electric jolt at Beedrill who flew up and over it. Landing next to his trainer, the bug-type continued to buzz angrily.
"You're not getting Jirachi, now or ever!" Ashley said, throwing out her arm in a declaration of protection. "Any wish you'd make, it'll be selfish and no good for anyone!"
"Except myself, of course," Jessie grinned. "I won't tell you the wish, because I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. You don't have a right to know anyways!"
"I called first dibs, I'm going to wish for Jirachi to make me into a real girl!" Ashley said, ignoring the tears building up in her eyes again. "Then Domino… nobody will ever be able to question my identity ever again!"
"Uh… Jess?" James said as she looked at her cohort. "Maybe we should step aside, that wish of hers… Maybe we should let Jirachi grant it first. For the Twerpette's sake, what harm could it do anyway?"
"Ugh… No, if Jirachi grants one wish tonight, it'll be mine!" Jessie said venomously before her expression and tone softened. "Besides kid, you don't need to prove yourself to that woman. Domino's so wrapped up in herself, she wouldn't care who you are. You're just a brat to her, boy or girl. You're only standing in her way, why should you have to prove anything to her?"
"I can't believe I'm agreeing with a member of Team Rocket…" Erika said, quietly stunned.
"It's not just her…" Ashley said. "I can hear the whispers at my back, see the looks sent my way. I know what they're thinking, saying about me. I just want them to stop."
"Take my advice, prove them wrong with your own ability," Jessie said. "Nobody cares who you were born as if you're a competent enough trainer. This will be the only time you'll hear me say this, girl so remember it."
"Maybe…" Ashley said. "But I'm not letting you take Jirachi! You'll give it to your boss, to Team Rocket and it doesn't deserve that! I don't care what wish you were going to make, Jirachi's staying right where it is! Mustard, Fury Attack! Hope, Thunder Shock! Make Team Rocket see stars!"
Her Beedrill buzzed angrily and struck the TRio's pokemon again and again with his stingers before flying out of the way. Hope was glowing golden, before letting out a powerful arc of electricity sending the TRio and their Pokemon flying.
"...well, that was quite a shocking experience. But she was right, because it looks like we are seeing stars," Jessie said. "They're really pretty tonight, we should be able to get a good view when we crash land!"
"Yeah, because WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" the TRio cried, becoming a twinkle in the night sky.
LINE BREAK
"Iron Tail, again!" Ashley said, as her Pikachu smashed into the meteorite with another silver strike from her tail. Already, the little mouse looked exhausted and was panting and sweating.
"Ashley, just give it up. You haven't made any headway at all, I don't think Hope's Iron Tail is ever going to even crack that thing," Brock said. "You're just going to make her faint at this rate."
"But she has to! I have to see Jirachi, I have to see if she's inside, I just have…" Ashley said before becoming a sobbing wreck in Brock's arms.
"Listen, I understand how you feel, but…" Brock sighed, hoping he could do this. Be the older brother that he knew Ashley needed right now and say what she needed to hear. "I know this is hard to hear, but you can't take shortcuts in life. Jirachi, let's assume it is in there. Let's assume Hope somehow breaks through to it and somehow you wake it up. Do you really think Jirachi would be able to grant the wish, at least without some catch? In every story I've read, genies granting you a wish never ends well, or how you'd expect. It may end up backfiring on you. How do you know Jirachi won't take away another trans girl's womanhood as a matter of exchange?"
"...well, when you put it that way…" Ashley said, looking horrified. "No, you're right. I can't do that, it'd be far too cruel."
"It's the same reason why I'd never ask Jirachi to make a Nurse Joy or an Officer Jenny love me," Brock said with a sigh. "I've thought about this a lot, believe me. Look, my siblings, they need a mom but… I can't just take a shortcut, if Jirachi granted my wish, it'd be just like brainwashing the woman in question. They'd be utterly devoted to me, sure, but it wouldn't be the real thing. They have families of their own, I can't take that away from them."
"Yeah…" Ashley said, with a sigh. "...this really stinks, you know that right? It's just not fair."
"Life sadly, as I've learned," Brock said as the two sat down next to the meteorite. "Hardly ever is."
"Ain't that the truth…" Ashley mumbled before showers of stars began to fall across the sky. Her eyes widened in awe. "Hey, are those…?"
"Yeah, that's them. The Minior shower, right on cue. They're beautiful, aren't they?"
Ashley nodded, watching the rainbow streaks of light fall from the heavens.
"I guess this night isn't a total bust, we get to see shooting stars even if they're not the Pokemon I meant to see tonight," Ashley said as she looked inside her bag for more Pokeballs. "...say, I have an idea. Erika, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I think I am," the woman smiled, happy to see Ashley bounce back so quickly. "Domino may not believe you're one, but I think you're one of the best girls in the entire region. One day, you'll be as much of a star as Jirachi."
LINE BREAK
"...well, that went well," James mumbled, crumpled in a heap. "That kid, she beat us again. That's twice in a row. Maybe third time's the charm?"
"You know James, you don't have to wish for respect or for anything from those worthless ingrates in the rest of Team Rocket," Jessie said, with Nyasu nodding. "You don't need their friendship, you've got us. We're all the top of the bottom, the top of the trash heap!"
Her Wimpod nuzzled up against her trainer, with Blight bumping up against James affectionately as well.
"Yeah, what Jess said," Nyasu agreed, snapping his fingers. "Youse don't have to prove yourself to us! We already know youse, and how pathetic youse are! If those idiots can't see quality, then that's their problem. Let me tell you a story, I learned to talk to impress this really pretty female Meowth, she ended up leaving me for a Persian anyways. Don't try to impress people who aren't worth it, it'll only end up leavin' you feeling like a real fool in the end."
"I suppose… Thanks, I love you all!" James said, as she brought her Pokemon, Nyasu and Jessie in for a hug.
"...so about that wish Jess…" Nyasu said. "Wanna talk about it?"
"I suppose, if I have to," Jessie said with a sigh. "First, I need to talk about my mother. Her name was Miyamoto, and she was one of the best Rocket had to offer…"
Notes: By this point, Professor Oak's accepted this is his life now. Also, for the curious, Miyamoto isn't just an OC we thought up for this story, she doesn't come out of nowhere. She was mentioned in a radio drama in Japan that lead up to Mewtwo's movie debut, going missing in the Peruvian mountains trying to find Mew. It was partially adapted to anime but not really well known. English translation of the radio play below: . . It's actually deeply sad and adds another level of tragedy to Mewtwo's character ...gee, remember when Earth was supposed to be the Pokemon world? Kalos, Unova, Paldea? Ha! Get out of here, that sounds like crazy talk, thinking up new regions to represent other countries! Next time, battling the mermaid of Cerulean City, Misty Waterflower!
