Ron the True Fan: This chapter is brought to you by Star Trek Online: so comically logical and good, Paramount has no choice but to canonize all of it!
Takeshi Yamato: True enough. It's only happening a little bit at a time, but it's happening.
Empire of Ransei - Forests of Violight Province - 1816 hours local time - Day 251 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
Anabel had no idea how to broach the whole… thing.
Serena was a bisexual young woman: there wasn't exactly a shortage in Kalos of those of both genders, though thanks to that psychic asshole, Serena's libido was…supercharged.
Someone was a sick bastard. It was no wonder why Anabel had problems with psychics getting into her head with something like that. The only thing that kept that freak from winning was her love for Ash.
Destiny Bond wasn't just a move. It was a universal constant, tying things, people and Pokemon together.
"Can we… talk?" Anabel asked.
"Depends on what you want to talk about." Serena said, looking around. "We kinda need to listen for the sharks."
'Then we'll talk mentally.' Serena broadcast, sounding a mix of Rey and Asuka. 'I could use the practice.'
'Just… keep Jade away.' Anabel asked, hearing a mental pout from the personality. 'Consent policy or not, you're scary for a REASON! I've SEEN what goes through her section of your mind!'
'And I've seen YOUR interests in that area.' Jade retorted sultrily. 'But really, you want to talk about opening doors in the fence, so you ARE going to need me.'
Anabel sighed aloud. 'Fine, but remember, talk only.' she 'pathed. 'Robin's still traumatized from your 'talk' with her, which everyone all but knows wasn't just talk.'
'Phooey.' Jade said, pouting. 'But you want to explore the fun of bisexuality! That requires a lot more then talking!'
'And you have a consent kink. And I'm not going to let you-'
"AAAHAOW!" came a scream.
Both girls paused. "Was that the freaking Wilhelm Scream?" Serena asked.
"GARCHOMP!"
"THAT was Garchomp." Anabel said before Serena grabbed her hand and started running towards the source.
SOMEONE pissed off the land shark if he got the clip off.
The Automat Kalashnikov rifle platform was originally designed in the People's Republic of Ferrum, originally using a 7.62 by 52 millimeter round. As Ferrum didn't believe in patents, the design became widespread, being used by everyone from revolutionary militias believing in the cause of communism to the very enemies of that ideology, for one simple reason: the damn guns just kept WORKING no matter what happened to them. When it works, politics didn't apply anymore.
That said, while the AKMs used by the kidnappers were more then able to put holes in even a Gible's scales, that only applied to the LOCAL land sharks. Sinnohan Gibles were…tougher.
And they sure as shit couldn't deal with a Sinnohan Garchomp. Which was why the VERY PISSED OFF Mach Pokemon was tearing idiots apart, bullets bouncing off his armored hide.
And humans… were not as tough as Pokemon.
Instinct told him not to hurt them. It was all but written law involving humans, baked into their DNA by Mew and Arceus: 'do not kill a human. They are your partners, your other half'. But as the Basculin in the Safari Zone and Charizard on Cinnabar Island proved, instinct can be ignored if you are pissed off enough or they deserve it.
These assholes?
They deserved it. So no mercy. No restraint.
Gibles were friendly. Garchomps were friendly, too. Never push the nicest dragon to the limit.
Just ask the idiot he Dual Chopped, who was now screaming about losing his arms and legs. Or the one he literally just bit in half.
Or the stupid blonde he was about to use a point-blank DRACO METEOR on, pointlessly firing her weapon at him, screaming in terror before he fired, the orb EXPLODING on contact and turning her into red mist.
"KEEP FIRING!" screamed the leader. "KEEP! FUCKING! FIRING!"
"We need a goddamn grenade launcher to kill this thing!" another dumb woman screamed. "And we don't have those!"
"This ain't a local Garchomp! We need more fire-"
He never finished as Garchomp lobbed another Meteor at them.
Serena released Braixen and Sylveon, the former psychically slamming idiots to the ground hard enough to kill them before incinerating two more. Sylveon was just as brutal.
"SOMETHING pissed them off." Anabel noted, even as Beldum started doing the SAME thing, violently slamming into them. She didn't like that, but…
One man with severe burns screamed as he ran towards them, Garchomp on his heels.
"HELP ME!" he screamed, crawling towards Anabel, trying to use her as a shield as others were electrocuted by Ranseian Gibles, who charged out of the building, VERY pissed.
"We found the Gibles!" Serena said as a sight she would find INFUTIATING walked out of the ruins.
A Gible, in pain… missing their fin. Crudely hacked off.
The Gibles… were being FINNED.
A Gible could lose their fin and live, as it would just regrow, but… losing a fin because of an accident was one thing.
Thye were CUT off.
Anabel watched as more finless Gibles walked out, looking pained and hurt. And she felt only one thing.
Anger. Her eyes glowed before the man was lifted into the air by her psionic powers. She was not as experienced as Sabrina, but she did not CARE.
"Give me ONE reason not to end you for what you've done!" she demanded, an echo to her voice as the man was lifted into the air.
"Because he knows everyone who was involved." Serena said, equally as furious, but tempered by logic. Rey must've had a field day keeping the others in check. "Kill him, they get away." she walked up to the psychic, looking the man in the eye. "Prove me right or I ask her to toss you to the Gibles!"
"I-I know people! Lots of people!" he said, agreeing before the trees rustled, Kyoji and Ryo arriving.
"Holy shit." the older soldier said. "I've never seen this from a Garchomp. They can get mad-"
Kyoji stopped him and gestured towards one of the finless Gibles.
"…They were FINNING the Gibles." Kyoji said, extremely mad. HIS Gible could have been one of these sharks!
Both men drew their sidearms. "HE DIES." they declared, taking aim at him.
"Do you want the ones that caused this?" Serena demanded, making them get their fingers off the triggers, but still close. "Kill him, they get away."
"Are you defending this monster?!" Ryo demanded.
"YOU THINK I WANT HIM TO LIVE?!" Serena screamed, a hint of psionic power in her voice giving an echo, making both men recoil in slight fear. "I want him dead for hurting these Gibles!" One finless shark approached her, prompting her to pick him up and pet him. "But I want every single one of his friends to join him and that won't happen if he dies!"
Kyoji ready-safed his weapon. "She's right." he growled before approaching the bastard. "You are DAMN lucky. You talk and I'll make sure that you die QUICKLY."
"What. The. FUCK." came the voice of Tatsuki, who entered the clearing, followed by Ash, who just STOPPED before Tatsuki's Gible ran towards her trainer, the princess picking up her land shark. "What-"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" came the voice of Misty, who ran past Ash, who just STARED before she picked up a Gible. "Who-what twisted fuck would DO THIS?! I don't like electric-types, but I wouldn't HURT them!"
Ash quietly walked up to the floating man, radiating malice. Kyoji thought HE was pissed, but he had nothing on Ash.
"Who did this." Ash asked, getting the man to look at him. "I'm going to make this clear: tell me who hired you to do this-" Ash gestured to the Gibles. "Or I hand you over to them. And I'll ask them NOT to fry you. Just make you suffer like you did them."
"Holy shit he's pissed." Kyoji whispered, seeing Giovanni's mannerisms and expression. Sakai to the core, indeed.
"M-My handler wore a mask!" the man pleaded. "No names! But we-we weren't alone, just one cell out of-"
"Tell me where the rest are or I ask Anabel's Natu to get you to look inside my head." Ash demanded, getting a look from ALL of them.
The man chuckled nervously. "W-What's so scary about your head?" he asked.
"I looked at the distortion realm without protection." Ash answered, the expression turning from fear of Gible justice to fear of Ash's mind. "And if I don't get answers to put an end to your little group, I'll make sure you won't be able to kill yourself to escape the insanity."
"Holy shit, Ash." Serena said. "That's a bit much."
Ash looked at her, rage in his eyes, but not directed at her. "Look at that Gible in your arms. You tell me if that's 'a bit much'." he asked.
Serena looked at the depressed, emotionally and physically tortured Gible, who made a weak, pathetic 'Gib…'
"…you know what, you're right. Fuck this guy." Serena said. "Anabel, parrot please."
"WAIT! I know other cell members! I can tell you who they are!" he pleaded. "Keep me away!"
"You tortured Arceus knows how many Pokemon." Ryo snapped. "That is a death sentence no matter what region you're from! Even Ferrum doesn't condone this and they're fascist idiots with delusions of godhood!"
"If you're gonna kill me, at least make it quick!" the dumbass exclaimed.
"I'm going to go get help." Tatsuki said darkly. "You have my permission to make this monster suffer. Just don't kill him."
"I'm not planning on hurting him." Ash said. "I'm mad, but just ask anyone here and they'll tell you I have something of an overinflated sense of fair play."
The idiot cringed.
"So you tortured the Gibles." Ash said, the Gibles growling in anger. "They get to do to you what you did to them. But remember guys… don't kill him. Yet."
Ash preferred people to learn their lesson and reform themselves. So anyone that pisses him off to actually make him want them dead?
No sympathy.
48 hours later - Violight Governor's Palace
The OUTRAGE was such that the government all but shut down. Violight Province was LIVID.
Their mascot, their icon, their heart and soul with a sharky grin, had been tortured and mutilated. And it had apparently been going on THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
Needless to say, after medical attention, raids were conducted throughout Ransei, recovering the Gibles.
THe ruling family was not exactly pleased. They were happy with Ash, sure: he and his lovely ladies found the Gibles and made the ones who shark-napped them PAY. They weren't pleased with what HAPPENED to them.
The only people more pissed then they were, in order of rage, was the Emperor and Ash. The Emperor because this happened under his watch and Ash… well, Ash was Ash. Sakai blood only added to his hatred for abusers of those who were their partners.
Of course, Ash's rage was two-fold.
"12 hours." he said, pacing. "TWELVE HOURS. I wanted to rest, take in the sights, maybe go through your League, NOT get caught up in another event!"
"I didn't cause this!" Kyoji exclaimed as he applied berry juice to a finless shark's back.
"I KNOW THAT!" Ash yelled before taking in a breath, calming down. "I haven't gotten a single break since I left Pallet Town. Crisis after crisis, like an unending wave."
"You told me he had issues, I didn't know he was going through this shit every day since he left home." Ryo said, Ash giving him a look. "He didn't tell me much."
"Just enough to tell you I've been at this for WAY too long." Ash said, shaking his head. "Without any form of a break. I'm cursed."
"Such is the life of the son of God." Mei said as she sat facing the outside. "The Chosen of Arceus is only born into times of crisis."
"And I'm going to punch Arceus in the face for damning me the next time I see him." Ash said with dry heat as Ryo stared at him.
Kyoji sighed. "He's the Chosen One. And he's been around the block enough to get the feeling Arceus REALLY hates him." he explained. "Ran into enough legendaries to confirm it. Hell, Giratina called him 'brother'. How many brothers does he have?"
"It." Ryo corrected dumbly. "Giratina has no gender. And I've been through some shit, but NEVER run into a legendary. Granted, Ransei has no legendaries. All we need is Arceus."
Ash facepalmed, then started laughing. "Of course. That makes a twisted sort of sense. No WONDER everything's gone to hell." he said, sounding more then a LITTLE mad and not the angry mad. Ryo gave Kyoji a worried look, the younger man shrugging.
"He's been at this a lot longer then I've known him, Ryo. I think it kinda… broke him." Kyoji said, Ash not even showing offense. "You know what it's like: constantly at work, no rest, no breaks and…" he stopped. "No, not talking about that."
"You might as well." Ash said, sitting down. "I've had nightmares for a while. Very, VERY vivid nightmares. I don't get much sleep anymore. I'm lucky if I get two hours a night."
Ryu stared, his jaw slack. "…How are you remotely close to SANE?" he asked, horrified.
"Sometimes, I wonder if I am." Ash said before Max snorted.
"That explains you willingly going to use torture on someone. You would never do that before!" he exclaimed.
"And I've never seen someone do THAT to a Pokemon before." Ash retorted, pointing at the Gible Kyoji was taking care of, who was still very sad. Polar opposite of what the little sharks were supposed to be. "Not even Team Rocket did anything like that!"
'He's not WRONG…' Astral Max said to his corporial self. 'Honestly, I'm kinda wishing he DID make that moron look into Ash's mind. Anyone who does that deserves it.'
"You're going to be required to testify before the Royal Court to your involvement." Tatsuki said, now fully redressed in her more formal outfit. "Nothing to worry about, just explaining what happened."
"Somehow, Princess, I doubt it." Ash said dryly.
"And what makes you say that?" she asked. "Literally the only thing you did was threaten someone with torture for hurting Pokemon. Who would blame you?"
"What he means is that every time something 'simple' happens, it snowballs out of proportion." Misty cut in. "As long as I've known him, it keeps happening and… well, I can't blame him for wanting it to stop or for expecting it to happen again."
Tatsuki looked back at Ash, who looked… resigned to it. "I'm not a hero, just unlucky." he said. "Heroes do things because they choose to. I don't have a choice."
Pikachu whacked him upside the head with his tail. "That doesn't mean I'm NOT going to do anything, Pikachu." Ash said, justifiably sounding a little annoyed at the smack. "I do nothing, bad things happen. I just don't want to drag anyone else into what is my problem."
"You know, being overprotective is good and all, but you're taking too much responsibility." Ryo noted. "You literally cannot do what you were sent to do alone, Pokemon or not."
"Says the black ops soldier with a kill count in the hundreds." Ash retorted. The redhead chuckled at that. "Not bothering to deny it?"
"I kill a lot of people. It's my job." he admitted. "But I harbor no illusions that I am anything but one part of a larger whole. The same applies to you, like it or not. After all, the first Emperor wasn't alone and he was a Chosen of Arceus, just like you."
Tatsuki just stared. "YOU? But the line of the Chosen goes from-"
"It doesn't stay with one family." Mei cut in. "The Chosen is born where he or she is needed. Your ancestors were A Chosen. That does not automatically mean you are ALL Chosen. The soul doesn't work that way."
Ash scoffed. "Kinda wish it DID." he said bitterly. "So, when do we have to go talk to the Emperor?"
"Two days." Tatsuki said after a moment of processing this. "For security, we're going to take a ferry from Chrysalia Province to Aurora. It'll take longer."
Ash nodded. "A moment of peace." he said, slightly relaxed. "I'll take it." With that, Ash left the suite they were given.
"…Medicate him." Ryo finally said. "He needs a full WEEK of sleep. I don't care if he's addicted to the sleep aids for a while as long as he DOES. No one can operate on two hours of sleep a day. NO ONE."
"That's…not the only problem." Anabel added.
And that problem was having a FIELD DAY inside Ash's head. "So many cracks, so little time." the King of Pokelantis said, grinning. Who knew a bunch of finless land sharks would do this much damage to his psyche?
Combine that with his own guilty conscience and…well, it practically writes itself.
Sadly, it wasn't going to be that easy thanks to his personal cheerleader squad. The worst was Serena. Unconditional love. What a joke.
She needed to die.
"Good luck with that. She's not my former body, but she's a powerful, if untrained, psychic." 'Sabrina' cautioned. "You know what they say about latents: don't wake them up without cause."
"And I want my future slaves to be obediant and intact. She's not." the king snapped.
Shores near Chrysalia Province - 1924 hours local time - Day 253
Ash looked out onto the shores. And something looked… wrong. The trees were covered in silk, Bug-types crawling all over, but they looked… exhausted. Tired. One Caterpie used String Shot, but it was a pathetic mist, Ash wincing at the coughing from the bugs.
"What's going on over there?" Ash asked, Tatsuki walking over.
"Chrysalia Province is best known for making luxuries. Pokemon-based silk and honey, mostly." she said. "But… this is wrong. Pokemon make a lot of excess, sure, but this looks like they're being forced."
"They are." Ash confirmed. "I can hear it. This isn't sustainable: Pokemon burn out just as much as humans do."
"Like you." she said, before covering her mouth, Ash not taking any offense before making a gesture to confirm it. With that… "Nothing but action for you, huh?"
"I'd love for a year of boredom." he said before turning his head to look at her. "Nothing but 365 days of mindnumbing boredom to rest, relax and not have to do anything."
"Pikapi." 'You don't do 'nothing', Ash. You know that.'
"Well, I'm more then willing to give it a try in exchange for a year without rampaging legendaries, saving the world or anything stressful." the Pallet native said, dropping the image of the inexhaustible youth for his true burned out self. "You'd feel the same if it never seemed to end."
Misty walked up, grimacing at the bug-types. Some things never changed, but even if she hated the type, there was such a thing as unnecessary cruelty. "What the hell is going on? It looks like they're being worked to death." she said, reminded of what happened with the Gibles.
"New policy for production." Ryo said as he kept an eye on Taggard, who glared back. "The governor's trying to win favors with the Prince. Nothing personal, your highness, but your father's not a young man anymore."
"I'd kill him if it were possible." she snapped. "Damn the decree."
"Decree?" Ash and Misty asked, making them look at each other.
"Arceus kinda forced a decree on us: no member of the royal family of Ransei will raise a hand to another." Tatsuki explained. "Well, forced is-"
"The First Emperor ASKED for it." Kyoji clarified. "To prevent the feuding age from returning."
"Of course, that introduced a few problems… Too many knots." Ryo said, implying something.
"Major, don't." Tatsuki ordered, Taggard scoffing.
"What, afraid your dirty secret's going to come out?" the old man mocked. "Your family tree is so knotted, I'm surprised you even EXIST."
"The same could apply to your prince." Ryo retorted.
"At least my lord's family married outside the region: Kalos, Galar, Unova before the fall of the monarchy." Taggard snapped back. "Yours never left Ransei. So what, the Emperor and Empress are kissing cousins?"
Ash didn't want to think about or listen to this.
"Half-siblings, actually."
REALLY didn't want to hear this!
Serena approached Ash, hugging him from behind. "Don't feel ashamed. There's no noble family without some inbreeding. Even mine," she said, trying to comfort him. "You're not responsible for what your family does or doesn't do."
"I REALLY didn't want to know ANY of this." Ash said, before looking back at the bugs.
Koumahito really was a dick if he was pushing THIS.
"Well, I didn't want to know, either…" Tatsuki said, pouting before she was shoved onto Ash by two yellow land sharks.
Pikachu cackled.
Ash was not amused.
Entry 110: Crysalia Provence
Bug-type capital of Ransei, Crysalia Provence is the highest producer of high-end luxury goods like silk and honey in the Empire. For centuries, a balance between nature and industry was struck, but in the last 20 years, that has been broken as the current governor, Tatsu Yoshimoto, has increased demands on production quotas, which have been decimating the plantlife and working the Bug-types on the island to the point of death by exhaustion.
The reason: politics. The governor is supporting the Crown Prince's policies over the Emperor's and is wanting to buy more influence in the court. This has not won the governor too many friends within the province.
Entry 111: Finning
This disgusting practice has its' origins during the Age of Pokemopolis, where sharks, mostly makos, were fished for the sole purpose of cutting off their fins for soup and medicine.
While there are some benefits to this, most would advocate using the ENTIRE shark and even then only with species that bred like rabbits. Then came the discovery of the Shark Pokemon such as Sharpedo and Gible.
Unlike non-Poke sharks, they could regrow their fins. This began a cruel chapter of mass finning, which resulted in the last King of Pokelantis losing his throne.
Since then, the practice was abandoned for its' cruelty… but it went underground. Three centers of it survive: Hoenn, Sinnoh and Ransei, though the former two crack down on it to the point of almost government oppression. But considering the feelings of disgust the sight of a finless shark Pokemon generates… no one really argues with the response.
Ron the True Fan: (Pets Gible to calm) See… I don't like shark finning. You want to have a shark for dinner? Fine. Just make sure it's a species that is common, breeds like crazy and USE THE WHOLE SHARK. Not sharks that take DECADES to even have one set of pups and you dump the rest.
Takeshi Yamato: Agreed. Anyone who practices finning deserves the Anderson Treatment. At least use a common species and find ways to use the rest of the shark. Don't just hack off the fin.
Ron the True fan: There is a darkness in Ransei. Ash is jaded about the whole thing for a REASON. Name ONE region he hasn't had to deal with this shit. And Gen 9's don't count. So of course he's pessimistic. Remember: this is an Ash who has seen the pattern, doesn't like it, but is resigned to it.
Takeshi Yamato: Yeah. It's not gonna be pretty, and of course Ash isn't thrilled. But it's something he's gonna have to deal with.
Ron the True Fan: There is a term for Ash now: reluctant hero. He will not shy away from it, but he will not LIKE it.
Ja Ne!