Chapter 21
Step Up
AJ sat, stone faced, as the montage of news highlights showcasing the disasters that had been going on in the world over the course of the past couple of weeks flickered across the screen. Tiny teasers of the terrors that had been popping off all across the Alliance, from Alola to Kalos and everywhere in between.
And in a detached and perhaps somewhat selfish sort of way, she couldn't stop those intrusive thoughts from bubbling in - that while all of this had been going on, she'd been away on vacation. Playing around in the snow while cities were being attacked and pokemon kidnapped and harmed. What a wonderful way to begin your tenure as the new Pokemon Champion.
They were in the main conference room in League Headquarters now, complete with its truly massive octagonal table made of solid mahogany that took up eighty percent of the space, the tacky purple wallpaper and scarlet carpet only superseded in their hideousness by the truly awful golden chandelier that hung from the ceiling - a ceiling that wasn't all that high to begin with, so it felt like if you were too tall, you were liable to smack your head on it when trying to sit down. Thankfully, AJ was short, so that wasn't a problem for her, but still. Who had okayed the design for this room?
That was the least of her problems right now, but it was easier to focus on something silly and stupid than try to confront the enormous reality that was that the Alliance was now all but at war with a mysterious group of terrorists whose motives were completely unknown.
From the hospital, after getting dressed and getting the ok from the doctor - so long as she promised to return in a few hours for her checkup - AJ and her mother had accompanied Ethan out of her hospital room and out into a jet black sedan that had taken them straight to League Headquarters.
She hadn't been prepared for the swarm of paparazzi that had been lying in wait outside the hospital, mobbing her as soon as she stepped outside, snapping so many pictures and asking so many questions that it was like she was in a hurricane of strobe lights and inarticulate shouting. Someone must have leaked that the new Champion had been hospitalized. That can't be good for her image.
Thankfully, the League apparently had sent some suits to hold the reporters off, and AJ was quickly ushered into the waiting car by Ethan without needing to make any statements. Which was good, because she had no idea what she would have said.
At the League, they were joined in their meeting by Lance, as well as her old friend and ex-Champion, Hilda, and her successor, Unova's current Grand Champion, Iris, who… was in Johto for some reason, apparently. Also joining them were Kris and Lyra, who were seemingly only there to explain to AJ how they'd found her. A rather short story, apparently, as it seemed like they'd stumbled across her within just a few hours of searching.
"And you were all just… lying there," Kris finished, glancing at Lyra for confirmation and shrugging. "Just… all four of you, side-by-side. It's like someone put you there for us to find, but… There weren't any other tracks or anything nearby. No idea who - or what, I guess - it could have been."
"You really don't remember anything at all?" Hilda asked, looking concerned, and AJ shook her head.
"No. It's like… We got there, we wandered around a bit, had some fun, saw some pokemon… And then once I get to that second night on the mountain, things start to get fuzzy. We… We set up camp, went to sleep, and then… I think something attacked us in the night? A group of Snover, I think, but… The last thing I remember is looking up at an avalanche rushing down toward us, and then… nothing."
But the avalanche can't have been what caused their memory loss. After all, they were all unharmed. No bruises or broken bones, no signs of hypothermia, and no head trauma. They must have escaped the avalanche then, somehow, and whatever had caused their memory loss had to have happened not long before they were discovered. Otherwise, they'd have had more symptoms of prolonged exposure to the cold, just lying out there in the snow for who knows how long.
"Any idea who that old man with you was?" Kris asked, and AJ shook her head again.
"None. I don't even know who you're talking about - I haven't seen him yet. But none of the Rangers came with us. It was just us three." And if it had been a Ranger, he would have been recognized when they were all transported to the hospital, so that was out. "Honestly - he's probably just some lost hiker or something we happened to pick up on our trip."
If he hadn't been identified yet, whoever he was, then he probably hadn't had any ID on him. Which was more than a bit suspicious - you don't just end up on Mt. Silver by accident, and the only people who wind up in restricted areas without ID are usually the kind you don't want to associate with. There was a better than decent chance he was a poacher or something, but it was a mark of just how serious the international situation was that none of them were talking about it. Normally, dealing with poachers was one of the League's top priorities. Compared to what they were dealing with now, though, one lone poacher was small potatoes.
It was only after Kris and Lyra had caught AJ up on the circumstances surrounding her recovery that Lance took over the conversation, bringing AJ up to speed on their current situation and pulling up the screen on the wall to show her news reports from around the world to emphasize just how dire things had become.
Which brought her to now, gaping in horror as Lance paused the video and let the screen grow dim.
A momentary silence gripped the room, the weight of what they were facing settling on each one of them like a mantle.
AJ swallowed thickly, then turned to Lance and the others, feeling the shame and guilt swelling up inside of her.
"Everyone," she said, softly, "I… I'm so sorry, I should have been here to help-"
"No," Lance said, cutting across her quickly. "None of that, now. You are not to blame for being absent, and no one here faults you. What we are facing now is… unprecedented. No one saw this coming. We - all of the nations in the Alliance - have dealt with our share of disasters in the past, but this? On such a scale? It beggars belief. Please, do not blame yourself."
It was easy enough to say, but it didn't do anything to appease her guilt. Moreover, while Lance could say that he didn't blame her, she knew the media was another story. They'd had it out for her since before she'd even won her title. They must have been having a field day in her absence, painting her as an incompetent failure. She dreaded facing those reporters again now more than ever.
"So, what's next, then?" AJ asked, trying to rally her spirits. "Do we really not have any leads? No clue about what they want?"
"We've got the International Police looking into things," Iris said, shrugging, "and hunting down terrorists is really their expertise, not ours. But last I heard, it's… not going well."
"The best we've been able to do so far is put out the fires as they spring up," Ethan added, and for the first time, AJ noticed just how exhausted he looked. "We've got our Gym Leaders on high alert, and both Champions and Elite 4 members have been on the move, up and down our respective nations, acting as both support and deterrent, but… At this point, if we can't figure out what they're after or who is leading them, I don't know what else we can do."
He tapped something out on some sort of screen embedded into the surface of the table in front of him and a large map of the alliance appeared on the larger screen on the wall for all to see. There were several glowing pins placed around the major cities in each country. With another tap, the image zoomed in on just the Indigo League, which made it much easier to see just how many attacks there had been, and in how many places.
"The only sort of pattern we could make out is that most of the attacks - except for that first one in Goldenrod that me and Hilda dealt with - seem to be taking place in cities close to where Legendary Pokemon are said to live or have appeared in the past. Which isn't a lot to go on, I know, but the theory may have been confirmed just a few days ago when Team Rocket stole a Victini from Hilda's twin brother."
AJ whipped her head around to stare at Hilda in shock. Hilda had a twin brother? And he had a Victini?! Why had she never told her that!
Hilda, however, was now scowling murderously at the map, seemingly too busy imagining reaching through the screen to wherever Team Rocket was and throttling whoever had hurt her brother than paying any attention to AJ.
Kris made an odd sort of noise from her end of the table, almost like she was going to say something then thought better of it and tried to hide it behind a cough. It caught everyone's attention anyway - the room was rather quiet and somber, after all - and she found herself the subject of everyone's expectant gazes.
"Do you have something to add, miss Kris?" Lance asked, polite, but with the tone of one who was expecting to be obeyed.
"No, I just…" she hesitated, looking around, her eyes lingering on Ethan for a moment, then sighed and sat back in her seat.
"Look, I… I don't actually have anything to add, I just… Isn't it weird to anyone else? We've been working off of this assumption that they're targeting legendary pokemon, but… Why target so many and all at the same time? Why not pool their resources and go after one, then move on to the next after they succeed?
"And also - I was at that attack at Olivine a few days ago. People kept saying they targeted the city because of the stories of Lugia and the Whirl Islands. But like… Olivine is pretty far. I mean, it's close, relatively speaking - but it's a good ways away from the islands, and it's not like that's a restricted area. It's a popular tourist spot. Why would they attack the city - one that has a pretty tough Gym Leader backing it up - instead of just going to the caves directly? That doesn't make any sense."
AJ frowned, then looked back up at the map. Now that Kris said it, she had a point. AJ had been just sort of blindly accepting everything the other Champions were saying because she'd been gone for two weeks and had missed it all. She hadn't thought to question any of it.
But looking at the map again… Attacking Ekruteak and the Orange Islands made sense if they were going off of the premise of 'hunting legendaires'. But Olivine, Azalea, Cianwood… and was that Cerulean City? Sure, there were legends - or rumors, in the case of Cerulean - about mythical pokemon in locations that were sort of nearby those locations, but not in the cities themselves. If the goal was to find Lugia, or Celebi, or whatever, then why not go straight to the locations that the legends spoke of? Why attack the nearby settlements instead? Settlements which, as Kris accurately pointed out, had police and Ranger outposts and often Gyms or even just random trainers who could rally together to fight them off?
"I understand your point, Miss Kris," Lance said - again, not impolite, but so impossibly firm, "and indeed, I've been asking myself those exact same questions. Why target so many places at once, and spread themselves so thin? Why send so many low-level grunts instead of focusing their strongest forces? Why have all of these criminal organizations clawed their way back from the dead only to join together - and, seemingly at random, swap which countries they've decided to terrorize? I suspect that you are right - that there is clearly more at play here than we are seeing. But if not for the Legendaries, then what?"
He seemed to be asking Kris, but the older girl could only shake her head. She didn't know.
Lance sighed, looking as though all of his years were catching up with him at once.
"Whatever their true reasoning, the pattern thus far has indeed seemed to target human settlements closest to the locations legends speak of. Not, as you say, Miss Kris, the actual locations - but the closest locations where humans live. With the abduction of young Nate's Victini and the attempted abduction of N's Zekrom, as well as the comments made to Former Champion Hilda, it seems that their goals do revolve around legendary pokemon in at least some capacity. Unfortunately, until we know more, we are left playing defensive."
The speech wasn't exactly rousing, but AJ understood. It's not that Lance didn't want to do more - they couldn't. So long as their enemy was going to continue attacking settlements where people and pokemon lived, it didn't matter what their motivations were - it was their job to protect them.
The League was not a police force - but when crimes involving Pokemon appeared, the police would often reach out to the League for assistance. Gyms worked jointly with local police and Ranger offices to keep cities safe, and when a situation grew too dire, it was up to the Champion and the Elite 4 to step in. At the police's discretion, of course.
The best they could do is hope the police did their job and caught the people responsible. Until then, the League would do their part to protect the innocent.
"So how can I help?" AJ asked, directing her question directly to Lance. Sure, she was the Champion now, but he wouldn't officially step down for another week or so, and she was the one who had missed out on everything thus far. She wasn't about to make a fool of herself by butting in and trying to take charge.
"If you would," Lance said, "I had actually hoped that you'd be willing to go and reinforce our friends in Alola."
"Alola?" AJ said, caught off guard.
"Yes. I'm not sure if you've had much opportunity since you awoke to catch the news…? No, of course. Well, then forgive me for being the bearer of ill news, but the public opinion of you as our new Champion has been… not exactly positive."
She suspected as much, but it still hurt to have it flung in her face by her direct predecessor. She did her best to keep making eye contact with him and not let herself sink down into her seat.
"There are some - not many, I think, but perhaps a vocal minority - who believe that your absence until now is proof that you aren't ready to take my place. And the news that you were hospitalized, foolish as it is, has seemed to only further instill the notion that you are unreliable.
"In addition, while you were gone, I had previously sent Koga along to Alola to back them up. Kanto does not have many stories about Legendaries, as I'm sure you know, and at the time we'd not suffered even a single attack. Our friends in Alola, however, are full of legends, and lacking a fully realized League of their own. Their Kahunas and Gym Leaders are doing what they can, but the devastation has been severe thus far, and they desperately need aid."
"Why haven't we sent anyone else?" Lyra asked, looking around quizzically.
"Kalos, Galar, and Paldea are too far," Iris replied. "And most of us are spread too thin as it is to be sending anyone foreign aid. The only reason I'm here right now is because Alder came out of retirement, but I need to be getting back to Unova ASAP. I'm planning on flying out tomorrow."
"Maybe I can go to Alola too?" Hilda asked, but Ethan shot her down.
"You'd be an amazing asset, I'm sure," he said, "But your main job right now is bodyguarding N. Rocket has tried for his Zekrom once before - they could do it again. And it's better to keep him here, in the Indigo League, which has seen the least amount of conflict so far. Besides - you'll make for great backup in AJ's absence."
"There is another reason why I want to send AJ," Lance said, taking over the conversation again. Here, he turned fully in his seat so he was facing her head-on. "As I said, your reputation at the moment is not great. An unfortunate aspect of being the Champion - one that you must learn quickly if you are to make it - is understanding the value of how the public perceives you. Though we have shown them time and again that Kanto has been the least devastated - and thus should be first in line to help our allies - all the media sees is that we have been attacked and we've sent some of our Elite 4 away. We must show them that we are not only strong as a League, but that you are strong as my successor. And the best - and quickest - way that I can think of to turn your perception around in the eyes of the public is to send you somewhere where your talents can shine.
"The situation in Alola is much more dire than in Kanto, and the people need our help. Go, and use the strength you displayed when you unseated me to show the world, not just Kanto and Alola, that you are a Champion. Do that, and none will be able to question your worth again."
"Yes…" AJ said, somewhat breathlessly. Then, again, with more strength, "Yes. Of course. I'll leave as soon as I can - oh, but, um, I'm still technically under observation at the hospital, so I probably won't be able to head out until tomorrow."
"Of course," Lance said with a nod and, unless her eyes were deceiving her, a small smile. "I'll have the League charter you a plane. And AJ - thank you."
It was him she wanted to thank. He was right; if she could show the world how strong she was, if she could make a name for herself by protecting Alola in their hour of need while Lance held the fort here at home, then no one would ever be able to call her weak again. This was it. Her chance. Not only to do some good, but to throw her haters' slander right back in their faces.
She'd been a little upset about being sent away at first, but now, she was eager. She was ready.
It was time to step up and be a Champion.
As the rest of the group stood and made their way out of the Conference Room, AJ paused for a moment, her attention caught by something on screen.
It was the list of legendary pokemon that Ethan had pulled up earlier, slowly scrolling through all of the known legendary pokemon and their alleged habitats. But the one that was on the screen right now was nothing more than an ancient stone carving. A famous photo of a relic found in a rainforest centuries ago.
'Mew' the caption read. 'Confirmed sightings - none. Habitat - unknown.' And that was it.
AJ stared at the picture for a moment, thinking.
Then she turned and left. She needed to get prepared for her trip. Who knew how long she'd be in Alola for?
The late morning sunlight that filtered gently through the third story windows of the Indigo Plateau's General Hospital glittered across the sparkling linoleum floor tiles as Jade made her way languidly down the otherwise abandoned hallway.
The light wasn't quite strong enough to warm her. Not that the hospital was cold, per se, but there was just something chilly in the air that she couldn't quite seem to shake. Maybe it was because they were at such a high altitude, or maybe it was because of how empty the hospital was and it was giving her the heebie-jeebies something fierce. Hospitals were so creepy when there was no one else around. Definitely on the top five places not to be when alone at night - right between cemeteries and carnivals.
To be fair, the Indigo Plateau boasted only a fairly small community. It operated more like a tourist destination, except instead of getting seasonal sight-seers off on holiday, the Plateau would instead see periods where hundreds if not thousands of trainers would flock to the Stadium up near the summit to watch or participate in the Grand Tournament that was held here twice a year; once for Kanto, then again for Johto. Or even better - to witness someone actually trying to take on either country's respective Elite 4.
But none of that was happening now. Jade could imagine that when one of the Tournaments was going on, this hospital probably saw a lot more traffic, but now? The actual population of people who lived in and around the Plateau was quite small, so the vast majority of the building actually went unoccupied most of the time. Which was nice, in a way, but it also made the empty floors feel like scenes from a horror movie.
She wished AJ were there. Jade had left her room shortly after waking and being informed of what had happened, only to find that her best friend had been whisked away to have some big important meetings for Champion's ears only. Sammy was up, too, but he was in a mood this morning - something to do with having lost all of his research supplies as well as his pokegear - and he'd left the hospital almost as soon as he'd gotten dressed so he could head down to the village and get himself a new one.
She'd considered going with him - what else was there to do while AJ was in her meeting? - but ultimately decided against it. It was cold outside, and after all, she didn't have her supplies or her pokegear either. There'd be no way to get in touch with AJ if she left, and she didn't want her to return to find her and Sammy gone without her. So instead, she decided to take a walk - just get out and stretch her legs a bit. Anything other than staying cooped up in her hospital room where the only source of entertainment were the public access TV stations.
Jade actually had flicked the TV on at first, which was when she'd discovered that the world had apparently gone insane in the two weeks that they'd been gone. She'd watched the news for a bit, wanting to be brought up to speed and horrified at the destruction she saw spread not only across the Alliance but even here, in her own home, but eventually, she'd had to turn the TV off. It was making her sick, seeing what was going on and knowing she could do nothing about it.
Which was another reason she'd opted to wait rather than go with Sammy. She'd bet all the cash in her now-missing wallet that whatever AJ's top-secret Champions-only meeting was about, it had to do with this. She could get all of the details - including all that top-secret stuff the news didn't know about - from her girl once she got back.
Still, it was taking a while, and the longer she lingered in less-trafficked parts of the hospital, the more convinced she was that the ghost of some old dead guy was going to pop out and try to eat her toes, or… whatever it was ghosts did. She always covered her eyes during those parts of horror movies, so she wasn't actually sure. She decided to make her way back to her room and wait there. That's where AJ would know to find her, after all. And besides, maybe she could get someone to bring her some food? She'd go buy some herself from the cafeteria, but… Well, her wallet and trainer ID were presumably lost somewhere up on Mt. Silver, never to be seen again.
It was when she returned to the second floor's east wing where she and her friends had been staying that she found herself interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
"Jade!" came the sound of a familiar voice, and by the time she turned around to see who was calling for her, she found herself already smothered in the protective embrace of her father.
"D-dad?!" she asked, trying to pull back so she could look at him, but he seemed determined to squeeze her to death, so she let him at it.
"There you are!" he said, trying to sound normal, but she knew him well enough to recognize the poorly concealed relief in his voice. "We've been looking for you all over! I've been trying to call you, but-!"
"Yeah, sorry," she said, finally managing to extract herself from her dad's hug and flashing a quick welcoming smile at AJ's mom who had walked up behind him, sending her an amused wink that seemed to say she'd just need to put up with her dad's antics for a moment. "I lost my pokegear on the mountain, so I haven't been able to contact anyone."
"Ah," her dad replied, some of the tension leaving his body as he scanned her from head to toe and determined she was physically sound. "Right. Yeah, that… that makes sense. I should have thought of that. But what about you? Are you ok? Should you be up and walking around-?"
"Dad, I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes. Mew, he could be annoying.
Something in her head twinged a bit - like it felt wrong somehow to use the word 'Mew' in that context, but that didn't make sense as she'd done it about a bajillion times in her life, so she let it go.
"The doctors said there's nothing even wrong with me. Or any of us. We just… have some amnesia or something. That's it."
"Amnesia?!" he repeated, sounding alarmed and reaching for her head like he was going to somehow diagnose her through the power of touch alone, but she swatted his hand out of the air with an annoyed huff.
"Dad. I'm. Fine! The doctors already checked us out. No head injuries, no diseases, not even a head cold. We're fine!"
"I tried to tell him," Misty said from off to the side, and her dad made an embarrassed face and looked away. He was always such a worry wart.
"But why are you here?" Jade asked, changing the subject. "I mean, not that I'm not grateful or whatever, but - what about the Gym?"
"Grandad's looking after it," her dad said with a shrug, finally releasing her shoulders and sliding his hands into his pockets. He looked like he was finally calming down a bit now that he'd seen with his own eyes that she was up and ok. "I figured he could handle it for a bit until I returned. It used to be his Gym, after all."
True enough - her grandad didn't have even half of the battling talent of her or her father, but he could hold the fort down well enough. He kept his licensing up to date for situations just like these, but also because, Jade suspected, he wasn't quite ready to hang up his hat and retire yet. She could respect that.
"I imagine AJ probably misplaced her pokegear too, huh?" Misty asked, sighing regretfully. "I should have realized sooner. Well… I guess I can pick her up a new one while she's in her meeting. She'll need one if she's to do her job properly."
"Aw, what a sweet, doting parent you are!" Jade gushed in exaggeration, then turned to her father, throwing on her most charming 'I'm your one and only sweet baby girl' smile, fluttering her eyelashes ostentatiously. "If only I also had a sweet, doting parent who could buy me a new pokegear too…"
Her dad stared at her for a moment, nonplussed, then let out a small bark of laughter and a rueful shake of the head.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," he said. "We can go pick one up later."
"And maybe we can grab some food too?"
"Fine, fine…" Here, her father sighed heavily in a very put-upon sort of way, but the smile he was giving her was affectionate. "What am I gonna do with you?"
"Feed me, hopefully."
It was then that Jade realized they were standing in front of an open doorway, but the room inside wasn't empty like most of the others she'd walked past that morning.
The room was dim, the lights and television turned off, but the sunlight that filtered through the slanted blinds that covered the windows was more than enough to reveal the form of an aged older man. He looked like he was maybe in his sixties, with gray hair and a rugged beard to match. Unlike Jade and the others, he had yet to wake up.
She recognized him - sort of. She didn't actually know who he was, but she knew from her conversations earlier with the doctors and Sammy that he'd been found together alongside Jade and her friends when they'd been rescued from the mountain. If nothing else, he certainly looked the part of a mountain hermit, but unfortunately, Jade had absolutely no memories about him whatsoever.
It was sad, in a way. Her dad had traveled here all the way from Pewter just to be with her when he'd heard she had been hospitalized. Granted - she was fine, he totally didn't have to do that, he was just overprotective - but he had still done it. She had someone who would do that for her.
But who did this old man have? No one, from what she could see. All alone and unconscious in the hospital, and he had no one waiting by his bedside.
Misty caught her gaze and stepped up beside her to peer into the room, her dad joining behind them.
"It's sad, isn't it?" she asked, softly. "I mean, for all we know, he's a poacher or escaped convict or something, but still. I wish there was a way we could help him."
"He's the guy you were found with?" her dad asked, and Jade nodded. "No clue who he is?"
"Nope," she replied. "No idea. I don't remember him at all - and neither does Sammy."
"Or AJ," Misty chimed in. "We asked her earlier, but…"
"And he had no ID?" her dad asked, sounding puzzled. "What about his pokemon?"
"He didn't have any," Misty said, shaking her head and stepping back from the doorway. The others followed, leaving the old man and his empty room behind. "The Rangers said that he had no pokeballs on him at all when they found him. Just the clothes on his back."
"A poacher would have definitely had pokemon with him," her dad said thoughtfully, scratching at his chin. "I can buy that he might have lost his supplies in the same way Jade and the others did, but his pokemon? If nothing else, he should still have had his belt on him."
"Apparently," Misty said, lowering her voice a bit, "some of the Rangers who are stationed at Mt. Silver admitted to knowing him. They said he called himself Cole and he's apparently lived up in the mountains for decades. They've let him be because he's just a lonely old hermit, but when their superiors found out, they were furious. I mean, Mt. Silver is off limits - it doesn't matter how nice you think he is, you can't just let random people live there."
Her dad looked disgruntled, and she thought she understood. On the one hand, if he really was a harmless old man and it really had been decades, then who cared? On the other hand, though, Mt. Silver was a protected habitat for endangered pokemon, and rules existed for a reason. If you made exceptions for one person, you had to make them for everyone. The Rangers really shouldn't have turned a blind eye.
"So wait," Jade asked as they reached her room. " We do know his name? Then how have we not figured out who he is yet? Can't we, I dunno… fingerprint him or something? Do a DNA test?"
She walked over to her bedside table and snatched up her belt where her pokeballs were kept, attaching it to her waist.
"That's assuming Cole is his real name," her dad said, leaning against the doorframe. "And a DNA test only works if we have something to compare it to. Fingerprints, though… If he ever had a trainer license, then fingerprinting should help."
"I think the police already took his fingerprints," Misty explained. "But I imagine they have to take them back and run them through a database or something. I have no idea how long that takes. But if he didn't have any pokemon with him, does he even have a license?"
That was the question. But as long as his life wasn't in danger - and from what she understood, he didn't have any injuries or anything on him either, he was just still asleep - then it was probably fine. Either the police would discover his identity or he'd wake up and be able to tell them himself.
In any case, odds were he wouldn't remember anything about the past two weeks either, so she wasn't likely to get any answers out of him. She'd leave him to the authorities to deal with. For now, she wanted to get out and get lunch. And a new pokegear.
When she turned to leave her hospital room, however, she found that they'd been joined by a fourth person - an older man with a lanky build and salt-and-pepper hair, wearing an overly-large brown trench coat over dark slacks and a white button up. Everything about him reeked of old-school PI cliches, especially the somewhat haggard look on his face that screamed that he'd been living off of coffee and cheap cigarettes for the past several days.
"Mr. Harrison?" he asked, his voice sounding equal parts polite and exhausted. "Brock Harrison, that is - Pewter Gym Leader and world-renowned Breeder and pokemon doctor, is that right?"
Her dad looked around, not having noticed the man approach them, and turned around in the doorway to face him full-on.
"Uh- Yes, that's me. Can I… help you?"
It was clear he thought the man was a fan or something, at least up until he fished around in his trench coat for a moment and then pulled out a glittering black-and-gold police badge and flashed it in their direction.
"My name is Looker, Mr. Harrison. I'm with the International Police. I'm sorry to trouble you, but since you're here… I was hoping you might be able to help with something." He glanced at Jade through the doorway, then added, "It won't take long, I promise."
"Oh, um… Sure. Is this related to the…" her dad gestured vaguely in the air like he was trying to point at everything, and the Looker man nodded.
"Yes, it has to do with the attacks. If I may step inside?"
Her dad nodded - though really it was Jade's hospital room, shouldn't they be asking her? - and together, he, Looker, and Misty all came fully into the room, which was now starting to feel a bit crowded. Her dad and Misty came to stand by the bed near Jade, but Looker went straight to her TV. He pulled a small laptop out of his trenchcoat - which, honestly, how much junk did this guy keep stashed in there? - and connected it to the TV so he could share the image on the larger screen.
On the TV were several mugshots of wanted criminals, and a few images that had clearly been taken from surveillance cameras that were a bit harder to make out. Below each was a name and a brief description, though Jade could tell at first glance that most of these men and women had ties to various well-known criminal organizations around the world. The same ones that were now waging guerilla-style warfare on the Alliance.
"I've already spoken to Mrs. Waterflower about this," Looker said, stepping back a bit and pulling out a remote that he used to shuffle through the slides on the screen, "and she'd given me what help she can. But your record shows that you were involved in a number of incidents involving criminals from these organizations in your youth, and I was hoping you might be able to help identify some of these individuals. We've obtained a plethora of images from civilians over the past two weeks, and we've had agents combing through them, trying to make connections. Many of the low level grunts who are involved in the raids seem to be newer members, but if we can make any connections to any of the original criminals, it could go a long way toward helping us finally pin them down."
"Sure, of course," her dad said, sounding surprised. "It's just, well… I mean, it's been a long time since those days. I can't promise that I'll be able to remember anyone's faces-"
"That's fine," Looker said, clicking the remote and pulling up a list of photos with the title 'Unidentified Potential Conspirators' at the top. "At this point, any help we can get - any at all - would mean a lot."
What followed was several minutes of Looker pulling up blurry photos taken from people on the streets in the midst of a chaotic attack or else stills from security videos, with Looker pausing on what felt like every single person he thought might have potentially been in charge and asking her father if he recognized any them.
For the most part, the answer was no, and Jade quickly began to feel like this was a waste of time after all. To be fair to him, though, he was being asked to remember people's faces from ages ago. Before Jade was even born - back when he was her age or even younger, still traveling around with AJ's parents. That would have been hard for just about anyone. And what was worse, it was keeping her away from lunch!
But every now and then, her dad would hesitate, frown up at the screen, and say something like, "That looks like someone from Team Aqua I might've battled in Sinnoh," or "That… might have been a Team Rocket admin. Didn't we run into them in Fuschia?", and then Misty would either shrug or give an affirmation.
Jade wasn't sure how much this was helping, but Looker kept going for several more minutes. He only stopped when his pokegear began to ring.
"Forgive me," he said, glancing at the screen and frowning, "but I need to take this. Let's take five, then I'll come back and we'll wrap this up."
And with that, he answered the call with a curt, "Talk to me," before exiting to the hallway.
Her dad sighed, reaching up and rubbing at his eyes in an exhausted sort of way. Misty patted him on the arm in commiseration.
"I feel like that probably wasn't very useful," he said, and Jade snorted.
"Yeah, I felt the same when he questioned me," Misty commiserated.
"I wish I could do more to help out…"
"So do I. So do we all. But until the police find a lead…"
Jade tuned them out, not wanting to dwell on the terrible things going on out in the real world. Jade wasn't part of the League like her dad or Misty or AJ. Well - technically, she was registered as a Gym Trainer at her father's gym, so that wasn't true per se, but it didn't amount to the same thing. Unless an incident happened right in front of her face, there wasn't much she could do either. She didn't like feeling useless.
Instead, she gazed up blankly at the tv screen. Looker had left the photos up when he'd stepped out, and apparently, they were in slideshow mode, because every few seconds, the photo on the screen would change.
So many criminals. She knew these crime syndicates had been a big deal back in the day, but to think there were still so many people involved even now. She didn't recognize any of them, but then again, how could she? They were all strangers to her. She'd probably never even see any of them ever, unless they finally got arrested and she saw their mugshot pop up on the news-
The image on the screen changed again, and Jade's breath caught in her throat.
It was an old photo, indicated clearly by the date listed on the bottom which placed the image as having been taken some thirty-odd years ago. The man in the picture had been older even then, in his thirties or thereabouts, with close-cropped black hair and a slight widows peak, sporting a finely-tailored suit of an expensive cut and a scowl that could make a Primeape cower.
Unlike most of the other photos, which were all mugshots or photos taken in secret, this one was clearly staged; a promotional photo of some sort. He was standing in front of a building - it was hard to say what kind, but from the large and imposing double-doors behind him, it must have been an important one - and standing beside him, looking proud and arrogant, was a Persian.
There was something about this man… Something that itched, something that made her head throb in spite of the medicine the nurses had given her when she woke up. But what? She didn't know him. How could she?
Her eyes bounced over to the description next to the image and read: "Giovanni, founder of Team Rocket. Age: Unknown. Whereabouts: Unknown. Former Gym Leader (Veridian)"
That was Giovanni? The founder of Team Rocket? Sure, she'd heard his name once or twice, probably from one of her dad's stories, but she didn't think she'd ever seen a picture of the man to put a face to the name. The photo was old though - did that mean that he hadn't been seen in all these years? Why was he in Looker's list, then? Just because he'd founded Team Rocket and that meant he might be involved? It did say 'whereabouts unknown', which must mean he was never caught and was presumably still alive.
The image on the screen disappeared as the slideshow moved on, replacing it with a photo of a man with a mane of bright red hair, but Jade quickly stepped closer to the laptop and hit the back arrow, bringing Giovanni's photo back onto the screen. Her father was absorbed in his conversation with Misty, not paying any attention to her, but that was alright. All of her focus was on the photo now.
Now that she was closer, she could notice some details she hadn't before. His suit, for example, was exceptional - clearly a high-class piece of clothing, not the sort of thing a regular business man would wear. And the Persian was also in a league of its own. Its lithe musculature, the glossy coat, the shine of the gem on its forehead; this was a well cared-for creature. The pride of this man's life. She could see it. With a certainty that came from somewhere she didn't understand, she knew - this Persian meant everything to him.
The pain in her head grew worse. The itch was almost insatiable. She… She knew him. She didn't know how, but she'd seen him before.
But where?
There was a knock on the doorframe, and Jade and the others turned to see that Looker had returned.
Jade stepped away from the laptop hurriedly, worried that he'd think she'd been going through his files or whatever, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at Misty.
"Mrs. Waterflower," he began, then hesitated. "Rather… Mrs. Ketchum. I need to speak with you. Something has… come up."
"What is it?" Misty asked slowly, taking a step closer and looking both confused and concerned. "Did something happen to AJ?"
"No, no - nothing like that," Looker said, stepping into the room and boasting an expression that could only be described as… well, uncomfortable. "I… suppose there's no reason to keep it a secret. The call I just received - it was from my people back at the station. It's regarding the man that was found together with your daughter - both of your daughters," he amended quickly, glancing at her dad, "and the young Mr. Oak, when we recovered them from Mt. Silver."
"Do you know who he is?" Jade asked, suddenly intrigued, and Looker nodded, though he kept his eyes on Misty.
"Yes, we do… Or, we think we do. They ran his fingerprints through every police record, legal document, or trainer registry we had… and we had a match."
Here, he paused - though from his expression, it was less for dramatic effect and more because he wasn't quite sure how to proceed.
"...and?" her dad pressed, and Looker sighed.
"I'm… not quite sure how to say this. According to his trainer registry - though it's not been renewed in decades - the man lying unconscious in the other room goes by the name of Cole Ketchum."
He paused again as the name 'Ketchum' seemed to reverberate hauntingly around the room.
"...We think he's Miss AJ's paternal grandfather."
Misty took a step back and stumbled, needing her father to reach out and steady her.
"How…" she breathed, looking like she'd just taken a Double-Slap straight to the face. "Are… Are you sure? But he… He's been gone for… for decades…!"
"Forty years, give or take," her dad said, looking equally astonished and perturbed. "If I remember right, didn't he disappear when Ash was still a baby? And you're saying he's been hiding up on Mt. Silver all this time?"
"I'm sure this is… surprising news," Looker said, showcasing what Jade thought was an understandable level of discomfort. How weird was it to have to walk in and tell a woman that you'd found her late-husband's long-lost father? "From what I can tell, the man doesn't have much family left in this world. There's AJ, of course, but records are showing that he was reported as missing - as Mr. Harrison stated - nearly four decades ago, so she likely would have never met him. Well, aside from on the mountain, presumably. And with Ash Ketchum deceased, that leaves only the man's widow… Well, wife, I suppose; one Mrs. Delia Ketchum. I was going to give her a call to let her know, but I thought that, since you were already here…"
"...Yes," Misty said after a moment, struggling to gather herself. "Yes, of course… I… I'll give Delia a call, and… Arceus, what am I supposed to say? What is she going to think?! After all these years…"
"I can call her if you want," her dad offered, but Misty shook her head.
"No, no… I'll do it. It should be me. Oh, Mew…"
And she walked out of the room, pulling out her pokegear and looking completely out of sorts.
"What are the odds?" her dad said, looking positively floored. And then, after a moment, "Hey, do you think that's why he was with you? Did you maybe bump into him and find out who he was, and maybe you were trying to bring him back down the mountain when you were attacked? Jade?"
But Jade didn't answer. She was staring back at the screen, at the photo of Giovanni.
The moment Misty had said "Oh, Mew…", it had hit her like a Rydon.
"Why do you do that?" the voice had asked - older, powerful, authoritative. "Swear to Mew?"
The wind was chill, and the snow had been so cold, and she'd been so worried about AJ and Sammy after the avalanche - but she'd been saved by the sudden appearance of a strange old man.
A man who was clearly well off. A man who exuded strength and authority.
A man who had bragged at length about his precious Persian…
"Swear to no one," he had said. "Place no one above you… Even a legendary pokemon can be made to heel to a trainer of sufficient strength."
Legendary pokemon… The attacks… Team Rocket… Giovanni… The mountain… Cole Ketchum…
Her hands were shaking. Her head hurt so badly. Everything felt like it was tunneling.
"...Jade?" her father asked, looking concerned. "Jade, are you ok? Do I need to get the doctor?"
She opened her mouth and took a deep, shuddering breath.
Why do I suck at chapter titles though?
But look, see? I did post again this weekend. I can be reliable.
Sometimes.
Anyway, this chapter was originally, like, twice as long, but I cut out the next section and put it in its own chapter (ie the next chapter) to give it some breathing room and because I wanted to add in an extra scene. I'm making good progress on my quest to 'finish this story before the year is out', so please feel encouraged to hold me accountable.
Until next week - Keep it Zesty,
ZC