As Gary got off his grandfather's Dragonite, he surveyed his hometown for the first time in months. Pallet Town changed relatively little in the past few months, but despite that the boy didn't feel like he was returning home. It was like some part of him, just hadn't come back yet. Or maybe, it was because there was something missing, something he wasn't going to see ever again.
It was late afternoon, the sun nearly set.
"Ow, it's been such a long time since I've needed to fly that far," his Gramps stretched his back.
Dragonite murmured something. He brought one of his hands over to his trainer's side in an effort to keep him standing.
"Oh, don't worry! I'm not that old! It's just, I haven't realized how out of shape I was!" Gramps laughed it off.
Dragonite took this as an opportunity to grab onto the old man and raised him above the ground in a hug.
Gary drew a faint smile, thankful that at least something hadn't changed. He looked ahead and saw that they were at his grandfather's lab, where just a few moments ago. Ash, that stupid boy, went and woke himself up late and had lost his chance to get a normal start like everyone else. He had even lost his chance to have that traditional rival battle at the laboratory.
In retrospect, Gary should have probably stuck around just a bit longer on the start of the adventure, because that would have been a memory worth remembering. It didn't matter who won, only that they had their first battle against one another.
Gramps was finally set down by Dragonite. The dragon then flew overhead, to the back of the ranch. The old man stumbled forward and unlocked the door to the lab. "You know, that wasn't a bad place you had there, Gary," the old man commented. "It's a very economical lab unit that reminded me of some of my old little hideaways when I was your age."
Though Gary didn't succeed in his intended goal, the boy gave his grandfather a cocky grin. That little tidbit of information brought his mood up. "Well, my investor is still upset." That woman who was interested in finding her rich boyfriend constantly kept sending spam emails and texts, but he had learned to tune them out.
"Some people need to learn that science isn't all knowing," the Professor laughed. "It's a process. One fraught with many dangers and false information. And often, you never find the answer to everything because you're missing something very critical."
Gary's grin deflated. "Honestly, I don't know what I was missing. Maybe I wasn't smart enough, knowledgeable enough. Or maybe I didn't have the right data." He unfastened his belt and set the Pokéballs on a nearby table. His team had not gotten a proper rest since his impromptu camping trip. Now, they deserved much needed rest, preferably somewhere with working air conditioning.
"Or maybe it's been too long and the trail has gone cold." Gramps sighed. "Regardless, you did your best effort and you didn't give up until you exhausted yourself; that's more than the coast guard and the search rescue teams were able to do. You should be proud."
Gary didn't feel proud, but he still felt better knowing all of that. "Still kind of wish I could have found his body."
Gramps shook his head. "I know. It would be better, but the funeral is going to be in a couple of hours. Instead, we just have to bury the past and move on in whatever way he can. So, we're stuffing his coffin full of memorabilia."
Gary frowned. Ash's funeral was that soon? Maybe he chose the right time to come home after all. The boy brought a hand over to his chin. He did still have that split half of a pokéball he and Ash split between themselves; it wouldn't be complete, but that was something his best friend deserved to have.
Gramps took the Pokéballs Gary set aside and put them on a medical tray. No doubt, he was going to heal them using some of his lab equipment.
"So, what are you going to put in, Gramps?" Gary asked idly.
"Oh, just an old sketchbook I made when I was younger," Professor Oak said idly as he slotted the Pokéballs into a diagnosis machine. With one hand, he pulled out an ancient notebook from one of the drawers.
"Why that?" Gary asked before doing a double take. "Wait, you can draw?"
"I haven't drawn in years, but I feel it appropriate given the circumstances," Gramps said solemnly. "Why I'm planning to bury that, it might not make sense to you, but it does to me. And hopefully, Ash, wherever he is."
It sounded like an esoteric grandpa thing and Gary wondered if he'd become like that once he got older. Though, he had to admit, now he was interested to know. "Why wouldn't it make sense? I mean, you can tell me right?"
Gramps frowned. He pressed some buttons and the Pokéballs glowed faintly. "I don't know, but… I guess there's no harm anymore." His mood brightened slightly. "Did you ever wonder why I gave Ash his Pikachu?"
"Because he was last to show up, right?" Gary asked, wondering just where this thing was going. "Like, you just gave him one of the spare Pokémon in your lab."
"No, that was me making up an excuse," Professor Oak laughed. The light from the machine faded. He took some of the Pokéballs and divided them into two separate groups. "I mean, really. I had four applicants who I was going to sponsor. Yet, I had only three Pokémon on offer.. Did you really think I was going to tell one kid who was looking forward to one of the most important days of their lives that one of them had to go back home and wait for a replacement?"
Gary blinked as he thought about it. Now, that his Gramps had put it that way, it made no sense to receive no Pokémon. It would have been a cruel joke for Ash to go through all of the exams and paperwork only to not become a trainer at the appointed time. "So, wait, you set Ash with his Pikachu up deliberately? Didn't he like to chew the electrical cables?"
Gramps smiled, saying nothing, yet implying everything.
"Why?" was the only thing to come from Gary Oak's mouth. And how does that relate to a sketch book of all things?
"Because, I knew they were destined to be together. That isn't me stating a gut feeling, but rather working with an empirical fact. Or at least, what I thought to be an empirical fact." Gramps frowned.
Yeah, Gary was definitely struggling to understand. He was missing something important and he was getting impatient.. "Get to the point, Gramps."
The old Professor smiled. Gramps returned half of the Pokéballs to his grandson, whilst he set the other half on to another tray, likely because those Pokémon needed more treatment. Then on his free hand, he slid open the notebook over to his grandson.
Gary flipped open the sketch book and found himself looking at a single page with an faded drawing of a Pikachu and some other Pokémon. He didn't recognize the Pokémon, but the pikachu seemed very similar to Ash's. Maybe they were related/
"So, the truth is, when I was your age, I had an encounter with a Pokémon known as Celebi."
Gary, who had never heard of that Pokémon, stared, still waiting to learn what was so important about that. "Who does what exactly?"
"Celebi is a Pokémon known for its ability to travel through time," Gramps explained. "I never told anyone except for Agatha because most wouldn't believe it, but I traveled through time. But instead of going to a past that I had known about, I instead went to the future. And met a very particular boy and his electric rodent. You can probably guess the boy's name."
Gary blinked as he processed all of that. Now, he understood, though he didn't believe it or want to believe it. "Wait, you're telling me, you gave Ash his Pikachu because you were stuck in a bootstrap paradox?"
Gramps laughed, definitely amused. "I know it's hard to believe, that's my reasoning." he shook his head. "Though, I suppose with Ash's death, it's entirely likely that time did not work the way I had thought it did. Or I had made a mistake or assumed something I shouldn't have."
Gary clutched his head, wondering if this was all an overwork induced hallucination and he was still in his lab. Like, his Gramps couldn't have really met a strange Pokémon that made him travel through time; that's was just ridiculous. He… needed to know more, to see how impossible this really was. "Wait, when did this happen?"
"I'm not sure. It could have happened already, but Ash hadn't been to Johto as far as I know. But if it was supposed to be in our future, that's not going to happen now, with Ash gone. And I know how ridiculous this sounds." Gramps muttered. He released the first Pokémon he wanted to examine, which turned out to be Lapras. He did a quick examination of plesiosaur, mostly checking his teeth.
"Actually, I've seen weird stuff like that already," Gary muttered, his mind returning to that strange anomaly that he found while trying to search for his old friend. "Like, this weird spatial distortion that moves around somewhere near the Orange Islands that I saw. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get inside."
"That is definitely strange and might deserve a second investigation once the funeral is over," Gramps replied. He then released Eevee and went to work on her. The small fox rubbed her body over the Professor's hands.
Gary mulled it over. He hadn't had any plans on what to do after returning home. And it seemed a little counterintuitive to just… go back to where he started to investigate this weird phenomenon he had encountered. Though as he did, a small part of him realized something: If his grandfather did meet Ash in the upcoming future, was that an indication that he was still alive… or was that more evidence that Gary missed his old friend even more than he already did?
He shook his head. Maybe that was a thought for another time. For now, the boy now knew; every second with his loved ones was precious. "Hey, Gramps, mind showing me how to better care for my Pokémon?"
Eevee, perfectly willing to oblige, leapt onto her trainer's chest and licked him on the mouth.
Gary laughed. "Not just you," he said, though he did like how eager she was.
Gramps smiled faintly at him.
"So, what do we do now?" Ash asked his grandfather as they walked out the door and into the marketplace. He and his friends had just come out of an hours-long meeting, where Team Rocket made their plans with the city's guards. While the riolu had been present, he was more of a bystander whilst Brock, Cinder, and Dexter all advised the group on what they knew about dittos or what kinds of experiments were being applied to the Pokémon. It all mostly went over the jackal pup's head, but it helped to save his friend. And from the sound of things, it was almost certain that Team Rocket would succeed in luring the ditto right where they wanted him.
"For you?" Gramps replied as he pulled up from behind. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if trying to find the right words. "I… I feel that you and your friends should return home. It would be safer there."
Brock, who came from behind, made a light growl, upset at the news.
Ash, too, made a pout and crossed his arms. "I want to help. And I've saved many others before, too!"
The lucario ignored the lycanroc, instead choosing to focus on his grandson. "I know, my grandson, but this is no longer your fight."
Ash stared back, his fists clenched. "Gramps!" he complained, making his position known to those present. "Vulpix is my friend. And more importantly, she's Brock's friend more than mine, so he should help, too!"
Brock made a slight growl, a swell of pride emanating from him. He didn't say much.
Gramps closed his eyes and held his emotions in check, yet Ash could feel a barely contained tempest within. "My grandson," he started. "I know you wish to help and that is admirable, but… I cannot allow this to happen. It is far too dangerous for you."
Ash gritted his teeth and growled. He could see a small gathering of Pokémon observing them. He didn't care that others saw him, not when he felt like he had to do something.
Perhaps this is not the best location. Dexter muttered from Ash's back. The living Pokédex had exhausted himself over the course of the week and mostly stayed on the riolu's back to rest.
"Ash," Pikachu's voice reached him. The rodent grabbed onto his friend's shoulders. "Your grandfather doesn't want you to be hurt."
"But I'm fine with being hurt!" Ash spat back.
"Yeah, that's one thing you two have in common." Pikachu kicked the dirt. "I mean, that's how you are with me, right? You don't like me getting hurt if you can avoid it. And you'd rather get yourself hurt than let others suffer instead."
Ash stared, almost bewildered. "But, that's different." he said, though his words felt empty. Sure, he didn't mind if Pikachu got a little beat up in a sporting match, but when it came to actual combat, he was more than willing to put himself in harm's way if it meant sparing others. In fact, that's how he and Pikachu first bonded.
Gramps felt very guilty. "My grandson, despite everything that's happened so far, I still wish for you to stay safe and protected. You are my flesh and blood, despite… everything." He shook his head. "Go home, my grandson, I will be back with our foe's head on a pike momentarily."
"Ditto don't have normal heads," Ash grumbled. But Gramps didn't stay to hear that.
The lucario turned his back and walked away, following behind some of the guards
The riolu and his friends walked the other direction, going to a more densely populated area of the marketplace. It seemed that since the meeting, the market returned to normal, with people going back to their groceries and shopping.
"I'm helping Vulpix," Brock declared in a low growl, once they were away from any guards
Ash nodded his head in silent agreement. The riolu felt the frustration in his blood; he didn't know if the guards and Team Rocket would be enough, but he knew that if he didn't do something, he wouldn't rest well until Vulpix was safely back.
Pikachu gave his trainer a look of dismay. He sighed. "I'd prefer we didn't and just waited."
"You don't have to fight if you don't want to." Ash said. After all, it was his choice to go to battle, just like it was for any of his Pokémon. In fact, it was probably a good idea to send what friends of his who didn't want to participate back his grandfather's house Gramps wanted.
"I'll fight, just… I wish we didn't in this case," Pikachu lamented.
Ash then spotted Onix ahead, sitting coiled up just outside of a small play area. As they neared, the of Ash's friends became visible as well.
Goldeen, Onix, and Charizard sat on a table and played a card game against each other with Squirtle acting as a card dealer. Meanwhile, Misty and Staryu had Togepi strapped onto a simple rope swing and gently pushed the little Pokémon back and forth. The rest were trying to chase Psyduck to keep him from causing trouble.
Misty was the first to take note and she walked over. "How'd it go? Where are the Rockets?" she asked.
"Busy on a new job." Ash shrugged. Really, it was kind of funny how Team Rocket had essentially gotten the job of capturing Pokémon who had done bad, when before they had always attempted to kidnap Pikachu almost exclusively. "They won't be back until much later."
"Does that mean no storytime tonight?" Togepi questioned very innocently.
"No, no. I mean, we can still have stories!" Staryu pleaded abruptly.
Togepi tilted her head, almost curious.
Ash shook his head. "Either way, Gramps wants us back home, because he thinks we'd be safer there."
"Yeah." Brock muttered under his breath. "I can't just sit back, not when I know where Vulpix's kidnapper will be."
"Truly?" Kyuko, the ninetales priestess, walked towards them. "We know where Vulpix's kidnapper would be present?"
Brock nodded his head.
Kyuko breathed a sigh of relief. "That's… good then. The guards can no doubt take care of things from here."
Ash put a hand over his friend's side, reassuring him with his presence. He could feel the unrest within the lycanroc. "Yeah, Gramps and Team Rocket think that there's a chance the ditto would come right where they want him."
Misty frowned and twisted her whiskers. "So, wait, how is this supposed to work? Like, why is this ditto going to go to what could be a trap?"
Ash scratched the back of his head. "... Well, during the planning, Cinder may have told Team Rocket that their group made the ditto and… abandoned it."
Misty blinked. "And that's helpful, why?"
Ash shrugged. He didn't understand the fine details, but he did understand this. "Because they wanted him to come to them, they didn't care about how it happened."
Brock made a low growl. "And that's when we'll take our own bite out of him."
"I… I don't understand. You intend to fight?" the priestess asked. She felt quite afraid by Ash's reckoning. And she wasn't the only.
A sense of spied amongst the riolu's friends friends, most especially Pikachu and Onix. It was enough that those of his friends who were busy playing cards took notice. It was obvious no one really wanted him to go into danger, but the riolu still felt like he couldn't just sit by and idly watch.
"It's something we gotta do," Ash answered them all.
"But… why?" Kyuko asked once again. "Surely, this is a matter for the guards? I understand you are a warrior by blood, but this… is not your fight."
Ash shook his head.
Brock took a deep inhale.
"It's just like the Boss," Squirtle commented as he shuffled a deck of cards. "Even when he's told that his help isn't needed, he still wants to get involved because that's who he is."
Those words reassured many of Ash's friends, but despite that they were still worried. How could they not? Just because they had all faced regular kidnapping attempts, that didn't make things less stressful.
Misty sighed. "Can any of you promise me you won't be requiring a hospital visit?"
Ash made a face, knowing full well that was something he could never promise.
"I thought so." The buizel shook her head. "Can we at least drop off Togepi?"
Ash raised one of his eyes. "Wait, what do you mean by "we"?"
James looked at himself in the mirror and wondered why it had taken so long for him to get a new uniform. Perhaps it was the lack of available materials. Or the feeling that they needed to hide their identities after the Game Corner was attacked.
The pikachu in the mirror raised one of his hands and touched the red capital cased "R" that was hastily stitched over his heart. The silken garment was originally meant for a formal occasion. It had originally belonged to one of the gerd from within the city, though he had stopped being able to wear it since he evolved. James converted it for his use, improvising a uniform that looked just like what an admin might have worn… minus the pants.
"Looking good!" Victreebel laughed, raising one of his leaves in a salute. "I could just eat you up!"
James took a step back, nearly flinching at the declaration.
Victreebel deflated slightly. "Oh, sorry. I forgot."
"It's fine!" James replied. While a part of him was glad he wasn't getting eaten, he didn't like the way that his Pokémon, his friend, was saddened by the news. To compensate, he made a promise, "We can… make up for lost time once we're done with this job! Now, put on your new uniform, grunt!"
"Right!" That seemed to get the giant pitcher plant's spirits up. He shifted slightly and tried to slip on a black sheet of cloth around his body.
James the pikachu walked forward and climbed up a nearby stool. He grabbed hold of the cloth from one end and carefully adjusted it to make sure the garment was held securely.
"Why didn't we get these before? These are pretty nice." Victreebel asked. He turned himself over to his trainer, revealing the trademark Team Rocket "R" over his mantle.
James shrugged. "I guess I never really thought about giving you guys clothes," he admitted. "I mean, I guess there's the obvious disguise element."
"James, we're never disguised. Weezing and I only get out once it's time to fight." Victrebeel countered. "So, like, giving us trinkets to wear isn't going to change much."
James put a paw over his chin. He supposed the pitcher plant had a point. Really, there was no down side in most cases if his Pokémon were given big letter R's to denote them as being part of Team Rocket. After all, by that point, James would have already ditched his disguise by then.
"Does this make us look fat?" Weezing's dual voice chimed in. The Poison-type levitated over, two sheets of black cloth draped over his two main spheres. The cloth was porous enough that gas escaped through his orifices without impediment, though it did look like he was pulsing like a heart. "Because I feel bloated."
Victreebel shook his head. "It looks kind of awkward."
James nodded. "If you want, I can always whip up something better for once we have time."
"We'd like that," the gas sack muttered. He then bobbed his heads back and forth, an expression of thought that he sometimes had. "Hey, does this mean we're part of Team Rocket?"
"What are you talking about you've always been part of-" James shook his head once he realized the mistake he made. "I mean, you were always part of my team, but I guess… no, you weren't a member of Team Rocket."
"Yeah, that's one thing Meowth was that we weren't," Weezing said with a frown.
Victreebel also deflated, seemingly from agreement.
On seeing this, James wondered if his Pokémon might have harbored a bit of jealousy towards Meowth. Meowth, despite being a Pokémon, because he could talk was not treated like other Pokémon were. The cat was treated as a member of Team Rocket, but Victreebel and Weezing were simply James's Pokémon. Maybe that was something that needed to change? What would that even mean?
But James decided to file that away for another time. They had a job to do. "... We should probably talk about this later, but if you ask me, you guys are still my friends."
Victreebel gushed, whilst Weezing shook his body up and down.
The dressed up pikachu got up and walked to the room adjacent to his dressing room. There, he spotted Jessie performing twirls against a small standing mirror. The eevee wore a simple robe, which had been decorated with the Team Rocket "R" on its back. It wasn't exactly the kind of outfit that befit an executive, but James didn't have the time to make anything better.
"Hm, I don't think this suits me," she commented as she spun on herself. "It feels weird having all of this fur underneath my clothes!"
"Yeah, it's annoyin', cuz you gotta make sure it doesn't leave any odd bumps in yer outfit." Meowth agreed. He wore a simple black apron with the emblem of Team Rocket on its front. "And I got's less fluff than ya."
"I can say that this is the rare instance where I find that I like having no body hair," Arbok said, his outfit consisting of a mantle that was over his hood.
The eevee seemed to think of this for a moment, before she noticed James. "Hey, how long were you there?"
"Just a bit," James admitted. He then brought a paw to his face and contemplated what he had learned during that dreadful meeting, the single fact of their entire plan hinged upon. "So, Team Rocket made this thing?"
The eevee shrugged. "If Zorua Twerp is to be believed. Can't say I've ever heard of anything like "Verge" before, but I'm not really surprised."
James and his Pokémon all raised a collective eyebrow, though only figuratively;none of them had actual eyebrows.
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"Well…" Jessie flicked her tail. "Back before Mom disappeared, she sometimes told me stories of things that Team Rocket wanted to do. Like, there were always stories of things like Moon bases or maybe Pokémon that were resurrected by using parts from two separate fossils, weird stuff like that."
This was the first time James had heard of any of this. "Team Rocket does this?"
"I never saw it myself," Jessie admitted. "I just always assumed it was for when you got into the big leagues and got all of the fancy stuff. You know, when you're so up in the hierarchy that you get the private yachts and personal jets."
"Why would anyone do stuff like that?" Victreebel asked. "Like get the private boats, but weird experiments."
"I'd like to remind everyone that we used to have a mecha and vehicles budget. That's not standard." Weezing chimed in.
"That was only because we needed to make temporary changes to our income to better capture Twerp's Pikachu!" James said… and then promptly looked at himself.
"I'll just point out dat the Boss made me his maid til I got demoted," Meowth murmured longingly.
"You think the Boss would make one super powered ditto?" James found himself asking.
Meowth frowned as he thought it over. "... Probably? Like, I cans imagin him makin a super Pokémon! Don know if he's done dat yet."
Which then brought the conversation to the next topic. "And we're going to lure him to face us," James sighed. He turned to Jessie with a frustrated look. "Are you sure this is the best idea?"
"It's a perfect idea!" Jessie said, clearly proud of herself. "All we have to do is to shout his name and bring him towards us! Then the city guard will fight him for us! And if he is a no show, we're in not danger."
"I guess that makes sense." James sighed. It sounded reasonable on paper, though there were quite a lot of holes. Namely, the ditto had no real incentive to actually attack if it didn't want to. This all basically relied on the ditto having an ego that could be exploited or having a vendetta against Team Rocket proper to make himself known. On the other hand, the other plans proposed were even less practical.
Jessie smiled smugly. "Now, is everyone ready?"
Everyone just nodded. Technically, James would have wanted to create all sorts of booby traps to help, but that part of the plan was vetoed by that absol. Apparently, he felt that it would have been more of a detriment than anything good in of itself.
"Good!" The eevee then leapt forward and out of the room and into the stony hallway.
Everyone else, including James had no choice but to follow the excited eevee. At the end of the hallway, they ran across Mister Tajiri, Riolu Twerp's very scary grandfather..
The elderly lucario held a spear in one hand and a bronze curved blade on his hip. He scowled at Team Rocket, his eyes focusing on their emblems with an obvious hint of disgust. "Are you done?" he asked in a voice devoid of all emotion.
James felt a shiver go down his back, but he stood his ground and nodded his head.
Jessie and everyone also nodded in agreement.
The lucario gave them a grunt of acknowledgement. "Then, we shall do battle as we discussed. This "Verge" shall be apprehended and my grandson's associate will be returned."
"That's the plan!" James burst. It was kind of funny how Team Rocket had gotten into this position. They were supposed to be the ones kidnapping Pokémon and instead, now they were the ones working to get them back home.
The old jackal scowled at them. "You know, the guards do not realize that you are named Team Rocket. It is an odd coincidence you bear the same name as this "Verge's" supposed creators."
James immediately looked up at the jackal, a shiver going up his back. He could tell there was a threat in there, or maybe a warning. He expected an attack, yet… nothing happened.
The lucario said nothing and simply walked forward.
James went to look at the rest of his team, to get a feeling what they thought. All of them were visibly shaken, the lucario's words sounding so very close to a threat.
Team Rocket and the lucario walked down the hallway and exited a doorway. There, Team Rocket found itself in a large sports stadium. Dirt covered the central area, whilst the bleachers and stands were all formed from large stone blocks. From what James understood, it had been used for everything from martial arts to races and more.
"We have roughly twenty warriors loaned to us for this task," said the lucario as he pointed to the stands. "Most of them are in hiding, to make it seem like we are alone. Another dozen or so are off spreading the word of your location to everyone within the city. We also have the services of competent alchemists to serve as our medical personnel."
James turned a slide glance and found Zorua Twerp working with an old ferrothorn. The Pikachu could see that the spirit fox was quite nervous, perhaps not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.
"Looks like everything's set and good to go," Jessie laughed nervously. "And that means, that ditto is as good as captured!"
James wasn't nearly so optimistic. After all, there was a good chance their target would see their ploy for what it is and simply not show up. Or even worse, there was simply a chance he wouldn't have heard their message and wouldn't come. But the alternatives required searching a whole city or guarding every single Pokémon that belonged to a species Verge hadn't kidnapped; those plans were even more impractical than this longshot.
Besides, they had already gone out of their way to make all of these megaphones out of scrap metal.
"Hey, you're a half rate alchemist who doesn't know anything!" Victreebel shouted, megaphone in his vines, not being an alchemist himself, but that didn't really matter. He held
"You stink and you're ugly!" Weezing added, with Victreebel holding a megaphone for him.
"Team Rocket is right here!" Arbok hissed, his megaphone attached to his tail. "Now come and get us!"
It might not have been the wisest idea to try to call out a serial kidnapper and try to goad him into attacking, but James figured that this stunt was their only option to try to lure Verge out on their terms. If the ditto was anywhere near the stadium, he'd hear Team Rocket's jeers and insults. If he was in the city, the small army of criers and shouters going around were sure to at least turn some heads.
And if the insults and attacks on the ditto's character and origins weren't enough, well, it turned out most of Team Rocket was still on his to-do list. Simply adding that fact meant that even if ditto didn't care for these insults, he'd want to acquire the Pokémon who were present for his own ends. No one in Team Rocket liked the fact they were reduced to live bait, but lycanroc's teeth made a very convincing argument.
"Dis is stupid," Meowth grumbled sometime in. "He ain't gonna fall for this trick."
"It is… rather blatant," the lucario murmured, his back against one of the walls as he his eyes searched the stands. "But if our prey is as much of a perfectionist that … Tanzanite suspects him to be, he will not take these attacks lightly."
"It might take several hours even if he does show up," James observed.
"Please tell me we're being paid by the hour." Jessie groaned, a stark change compared to her previous enthusiasm.
"But we gotta keep shouting?" Meowth questioned. "Like, he ain't gonna hear this unless he's already der."
Jessie leapt towards her cobra's megaphone and then redirected it towards Meowth. "Shut up!"
Meowth winced in pain.
James too gritted his teeth, his ears ringing. This was going to be a long night, wasn't it?
"You didn't have to come along," Ash murmured to Misty as she followed behind him.
The riolu wished more of his friends would come, but at the moment he only had himself, Pikachu, Misty, Staryu, and Brock. Dexter, too, but he was taking a nap on Ash's back. This mostly came down to the fact that a large group would have been more directly noticeable. And that wasn't counting on the fact Charizard and Onix were both so large they stood out so easily.
Their group pushed their way through the streets on foot. They had just dropped off everyone who wanted to sit out back home and were on their way to where Team Rocket and the city's guards hoped the ditto would attack.
In the distance, stood a stone sports stadium that was notably taller than most of the buildings surrounding it. Ash knew that was where Team Rocket was heading, having overheard it in the rather lengthy discussions.
It was late afternoon and the streets were thin out. Many of the shops and stalls present were getting ready to close for the day, whilst other, more nocturnal stores began to prepare themselves.
"And leave you boys to go off and get yourselves hurt, again?" Misty challenged, tapping her foot down. "Someone has to be rational here."
"That and we skipped out on the previous crises we want to compensate for," Staryu replied.
"I can handle myself," Ash muttered.
"Misty," Brock began seriously. The Rock-type wore a thick body coat to conceal what kind of lycanroc he was.
"What? If I wasn't here, would you honestly sit back and wait to see if the guards need help before jumping in?" the buizel countered, arms crossed. "You could get yourselves in trouble or worse, you could make things harder for everyone involved if you screw up."
Brock said nothing, but instead focused his attention to the path that lay ahead.
Ash stared back, knowing full well what that answer was. "Okay, maybe you have a point."
As they gradually drew closer, they ran into a loudred that blasted an announcement as it walked past. "ATTENTION. TEAM ROCKET CHALLENGES THE HONORLESS VERGE TO BATTLE!" the loudred boomed through his speaker-like body. "MEET IN THE COLISEUM!"
"That wasn't very subtle," Misty commented as the group continued to walk forward.
"Well, the idea was that it'd get attention, lots of it." Ash explained. He was pretty sure that you could hear the criers all the day down in the sewers. Chances were, the ditto would overhear and find out about Team Rocket's challenge very quickly.
It certainly got my attention. Dexter stirred from Ash's back. The Pokédex then made an unusual static-like sound that might have been the digital equivalent of a yawn. He was clearly tired from having worked so much lately.
"Sorry," Ash apologized.
"No need to apologize for something that isn't really your fault," Staryu said.
Minutes later, the riolu found himself just a stone's throw away from the stadium. At this point, he could hear Team Rocket shouting at heavens.
Excited, Ash almost ran forward, yet he was held back by Pikachu and Misty as they grabbed onto his arms.
"Ash!" Misty snapped, pointing with her free hand. "Look at the entrance!"
The jackal pup turned his gaze downwards. He spotted several Pokémon all gathered at the entrances. It seemed like they wanted entry. "Wait, what's going on?"
"When you announce to the whole city that you're challenging a kidnapper, it makes sense a good number of people would flock towards that location to figure out what's going on," Brock answered succinctly. "It's the downside to being so direct, I guess."
Ash didn't think about it that way. "So, we just… fall in line?"
"I don't think so," Pikachu said.
Misty nodded her head in agreement. "Ash, if you get too close, it'll make things way more difficult. Especially if your grandfather or people that know what you look like find out you're here."
Ash grunted, not liking either implication. "So, what are we doing then?"
"For now?" the buizel said. "We wait for something to happen and jump in if something goes horribly wrong. Otherwise, we just let the police do their job."
Brock grunted. He was angry and annoyed, but instead of charging in, he found a nearby bench and sat on it.
Ash didn't like the idea of waiting around, either, but Misty was right. Things would be awkward if they showed up right now, despite his grandfather mandating that he go home. They needed to see if Verge would attack the stadium before they went in. It could have been hours or maybe days before there would have been any sign of Vulpix's kidnapper.
Though that left Ash in a bit of an odd predicament, in that a part of him did kind of want danger to show up immediately.
Cinder watched from the shadows as Team Rocket continued to shout at the sky. She didn't understand the methodology of the plan. Why did they choose to dress up in such… ridiculous get ups? And why were they shouting when there were dozens if not hundreds of criers on every street running through it?
It made no sense at all, but then again, they had apparently hounded Ash for an entire year over trying to kidnap a single pikachu. Maybe there was a sense that was only known to them?
"It is impressive that they have such good stamina," Sensei Tungsten stated as he inside.
Cinder slowly nodded her head. She would have preferred if she had been allowed to return to the Tajiri household with the others, but she had been requested to serve as assistant for the more senior ferrothorn because she both knew everyone involved and had studied their target's documentation.
Beside Team Rocket, Mister Tajiri furiously sharpened weapons against a whetstone. There was something… different about him, a sort of frustration that was not present when the zorua had seen him last.
The lucario abruptly shifted his gaze towards Cinder, a harsh scowl present on him.
Cinder leapt and nearly turned herself into part of the scenery in surprise.
Mister Tajiri turned his gaze away and went to ignore her.
The fox saw no problem in that.
"Try not to think too poorly of the old lucario," the old ferrothorn commented as he stepped beside Cinder with a sort of carefulness you don't expect from a living spiked steel ball. "He's been through quite a bunch since the Usurpation War, especially in regards to your family."
"Usurpation War?" Cinder wracked her mind. She knew about the War; it was many, many Moons ago. Though the specifics eluded her, she knew that the current Emperor's father was nearly deposed by members of his own family. But she had never heard of anything about her family being involved in that. "And what do you mean, my family was involved?"
Sensei Tungsten looked concerned. "I'm surprised you don't know, but your parents won their titles for their service in that war."
"Father… didn't like to talk about himself or my mother," Cinder lamented. Though things between the two of them were better than they had been in a long time, she hardly knew her father. "But, what does this have to do with Mister Tajiri?"
"Old Takemoto had lost his near entire family in that war. Ironically, his only surviving daughter, Hanako, survived simply because was with your parents and not part of the army at the time," the ferrothorn explained. His body trembled, grief evident in his expression. "Takemoto had never been the same since then."
Cinder looked down, studying each and every word. To lose so much in a single instant… Distant visions flashed to her mind, of what she had seen happen to her family back when she was so young. "I see." She had already guessed that the rest of Ash's family had died, but this confirmation stung in a way she couldn't imagine. "...Is that why he doesn't like me? It's because of my familial connection."
The Sensei seemed to think about that. "I do not know what exactly happened, but I suspect that might be the case. Your parents were… heavily involved with the dispute between Hanako and her father." The ferrothorn lamented. "She became the only successor to the Clan and was thrust into responsibilities that she didn't ask for. And so she left, seemingly vanishing from Citrine entirely. The rumor had always been that your parents and those connected to them knew where she had hid herself."
Cinder felt awful hearing this. She couldn't imagine the kind of pressure that Ash's mother had to have gone through. A part of her also felt sorry for the old lucario, because that kind of pain and loss was hard to process. She had some familiarity with that.
"I imagine that old Takemoto is acting the way he is now because he's… desperate to keep what he has left," Sensei Tungsten continued. His gaze fell over to the Fighting-type as he continued to work on his equipment. "Ash, that riolu, is the one thing he had gained since his daughter left him."
… Cinder thought back to her own father, how his situation isn't too far off from that of Mister Tajiri. Hopefully, he wouldn't get lonely.
Though, as the fox thought of this, she noticed a storm drain in the arena started to overflow. Before she could think too much about that, sludge swelled from underneath and coalesced into shape away from the drain. It was clearly some sort of being, perhaps a muk? Either way, there was little doubt in her mind that this was Verge, no doubt having decided to take interest once the criers shouted.
Cinder lowered her body and hid behind a corner, her eyes cautiously searching for threats.
Team Rocket abruptly stopped shouting at their megaphones.
"What are you waiting for? Stick to the plan!" Jessie barked at the others in her team.
James and Victreebel dashed off to the building, no doubt to retrieve whatever improvised armaments that had gathered.
Mister Tajiri walked over to the mound of sludge, spear and khopesh in hand. Guards who had previously been keeping watch amongst the stands started to draw closer. Weapons were in hand and orders were barked.
The pile of sludge grew a pair of eyes and a pair of animated limbs. The muk's mouth opened, its voice echoing. "Where is Team Rocket!?"
Jessie stepped forward and sat on her rear. This caused the red "R" on her chest to become slightly elevated. "Right over here!" the eevee declared. "Look at the uniform!"
"You are an eevee," the muk stated simply. "Where is your master?"
"... I am my own master!" the eevee hissed, offended.
The muk's eyes glowed faintly. His body then shrank rapidly and condensed into a more vulpine shape. Rivers of sludge turned into thick hair, whilst a large unstructured maw rapidly changed to proper jaws. The new eevee was an exact duplicate of Jessie in every single way save that she lacked the clothing she wore and her coloration was a mess of various splotches of random color ranging from pink to yellow-orange. "Strange," her voice intoned, an exact duplicate of the original's. "I am unable to perfectly replicate you."
Cinder marveled at the change, never having seen anything like it before. While her kind were able to effectively shapechange, that was mostly a complicated illusion backed up with shadowstuff rather than… whatever it was that this creature did.
Jessie yelped and leapt backwards upon seeing her freakish double. "What did you do?"
"I learned," the badly colored eevee replied. Her voice brimming with a manic confidence that put Jessie's to shame. "As is my function, as is my purpose, given to me by the creators that abandoned me. I will be the perfect Pokémon." Her eyes glinted towards Jessie. "I need to learn more."
Jessie stepped backwards just as the eevee lunged at her.
Arbok stepped in and backhanded the eevee with his tail.
"Thanks!" Jessie exhaled.
The copy eevee rolled to a stop, landing on her feet with uncanny agility. She took a quick look around her and spotted the dozens or so city guards converging at her. She hissed. "Hm. I see that this situation has escalated quite quickly."
"You are named "Verge", are you not?" Mister Tajiri spoke as he walked closer, his spear in his right hand.
"This is my designation, yes," the eevee admitted.
"Then, you will return those you have taken," Mister Tajiri demanded, his voice cold as winter. "Escape is not an option."
Several of the guards broke from formation and quickly executed several tactics. A detachment of three bugs blew String Shots all over the top of the building, forming a thin yet sticky web. Meanwhile, several Maiju enacted a series of small and tactical earthquakes at specifics at the arena, no doubt to collapse the sewer tunnels. The walls of the arena then began to faintly glow, a spell to ward in Ghost-types.
Cinder had to admit. She wasn't even the target of this operation, yet she felt very intimidated by how thorough this all looked.
Yet, despite all of this, Jessie's copy didn't seem perturbed in the slightest. Verger spoke back, her tail thrashing about in excitement. "I see. You went through a lot of effort to contain me in this place. Quite impressive, though expected."
"It is fairly obvious that this ploy was a trap, yes," the lucario admitted. He took his spear and aimed its sharp end at his foe.
"Yes. Which is why I determined the best course of action was to prepare for a counter offensive," the false eevee claimed. "My name is Verge.
Cinder immediately felt an intense swell of agonizing pain and rage boiling beneath her feet. It all happened so suddenly and so much below her that she knew it wasn't natural. "Below us!" she cried out, alerting everyone present. "There's something below us!"
But it was too late, the ground burst open and several dozen maiju all rose out from the ground all at once. Whatever numbers advantage the guards had quickly evaporated as they were attacked. The newcomers were furious and enraged, they charged at whoever was nearest to them with near suicidal abandon.
Mister Tajiri lunged at Jessie's duplicate, but Cinder couldn't see what happened next. Suddenly a group of Maiju all lunged towards her, blasting fire and ice in the fox's direction.
Cinder barely had time to hit the floor and avoid getting roasted. In the process, a wall of ice cut her off from Sensei Tungsten. The fox wondered where Verge could have obtained a small private army of Maiju, but then she had her answer. Vulpix bellowed a furious battle cry and then sent a cone of ice at the zorua's direction.
Cinder rolled out of the way and took cover behind a nearby table. She then took a good, hard look at her friend, to witness what had just happened to her, because last she checked, Vulpix wasn't supposed to be able to learn Ice-type techniques.
Vulpix was still fundamentally a fox, yet her body had been warped. While retained the majority of her fur was still the same usual rust brown, the tips of half of her tails had become pure white. One of her eyes had become a pale blue. Odd bits of snow white fur matted her body… and weirdest of all, those patches seemed to move.
The twisted fox breathed heavily, and moaned a battle cry. From her mouth came both fire and ice in a destructive torrent.
Cinder leapt out of the blast radius and ran into one of the arena's dugouts. Vulpix ran after her, but Cinder pulled a little trick. She went to a corner and then quickly split off a Double Team copy of herself and directed it to keep going forward, while she hid behind the small bit wall.
Vulpix dashed after the copy as it continued to run.
Cinder breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked at the battle that raged around her and noted that Vulpix was not the only warped Maiju. Outside, she could see a rhydon that was partly Psychic engaging a whole squad. Meanwhile, a seaking whose body had glowed with electricity and dragonfire caused havoc, beside an almost bug-like pidgeotto who simply shouted at everything that moved.
Then, suddenly, Cinder heard a faint heartbeat behind her. The zorua abruptly shifted her body and let loose a small flurry of stars in the attacker's direction. She struck true, sending her attacker to the floor… only it wasn't an attacker.
"Hey, cut it out!" James groaned, patting at the new gaping hole in his attire. "You ruined my outfit!"
"...Sorry," Cinder winced. "I thought you were an attacker."
"Wat's going on?" Meowth demanded, a large set of rockets on his back. "We took a we bit longer."
Cinder pointed at the battle ahead. "I think our opponent has decided to… make use of his test subjects."
"Why are they attacking? Aren't they supposed to…want to be saved?" Victreebel stumbled over.
"They're drugged," she answered. "I don't know with what, but there's quite a few ways to cause self destructive aggression, like that. They're even attacking each other, but their madness is allowing them to shrug off the pain."
"Aerosolized?" Weezing suggested. "Like, I'm not an expert, but it's not easy to intoxicate so many all at once?"
"Well, what do we do?" James asked.
Cinder raised a paw and pointed it at the battle between Verge and Mister Tajiri.
The ditto rapidly shifted forms in and out of battle to gain whatever upperhand he could. One moment, he was a towering worm beast, another Verge was a winged bug. Other times, he was a ferocious dragon and then as a fae beast. Whenever he needed something specific, he simply became a Maiju that had that quality. If he needed speed, he became fast as a ninjask; if he needed strength, he was a machamp, he needed endurance, he became a bastiodon.
Mister Tajiri hit the new triceratops, but instead of defeating him, the dinosaur forced the attack to rebound an an explosion of silvery light.
The lucario was knocked back, but he pushed on even as his opponent took on new and interesting forms. Though the old lucario clear was not as his prime, he was able to keep up, parrying away blows with his weapons, whilst closing in with martial arts. He kept up, though it wasn't clear if he had the upper hand or not.
"My father would say, decapitate the leadership where possible," Cinder said, though she was pretty sure father was being quite literal. "Either way, if we stop Verge, we make things much easier for everyone."
Both James and Meowth nodded their heads.
Meowth took a rocket off of his back and took aim, pointing the improvised firework at the battle between Verge and the elder lucario. Cinder doubted the rocket's payload would have been anything significant, but even a momentary distraction could have made all of the difference.
Yet torrents of fire and lightning lanced towards them.
Cinder leapt out of the way, as Vulpix and several other Maiju came charging at them. Victrebel shot out several razor sharp leaves, whilst Weezing covered the immediate area in a smoke screen. James shot out a bolt of lightning
Cuts and bruises scored hits, but none of that slowed them down; they kept coming. They shrugged off their injuries and simply went forward and attacked.
Meowth had almost lined up his rocket, but a stray blast of ice dinged him in the arm and caused him to drop the rocket at the same moment he lit the fuse. The rocket screamed into the air with blinding speed and exploded. A cloud of bright sparks and a shower of burning paper rained down. Cinder did not have to think of it for long
Vulpix came barreling at Cinder like a speeding comet
The zorua rolled out of the way, but this time was not so lucky. Pain shot up against her back side and forced the fox backwards.
Vulpix went for another lunge.
But this time, Cinder knew she had to fight back, no matter how much she wasn't a fighter. She conjured whatever shadows she could and coalesced them into a sphere. She didn't have to throw the Shadow Ball and instead let Vulpix ram into it.
The shadow impact discharged on contact and blasted the unstable fox backwards.
Cinder regarded her footing. Vulpix rose up, injured but not significantly.
The zorua winced, realizing that she was not likely strong enough to actually fight off her attacker. Hopefully, someone would come by and save her.
In truth, Tajiri Takemoto had little expectation that this ploy by his grandson's….associates would have worked. It was so simple, so minimalistic, yet it required acting upon the unknown feelings and temperaments of an opponent that had largely been a great unknown. And yet, it worked, as though simply mentioning Team Rocket had been key words of invocation.
Perhaps this was more evidence that everything in the past week had been some kind of test, a trial set for him by the gods.
But such thoughts had to be set aside for another time. For now, he had been given the chance to make everything right.
The elderly lucario twirled and spun on his heels to avoid a torrent of water. In that same instant, he blitzed forward and swung his khopesh at his foe, an octillery.
The blade cut the cut tentacles, but in that same instant, the cephalopod reformed his limbs into proper arms and transformed into a sort of mutant machoke, one that bore more musculature and four arms instead of the usual two.
Verge slammed a flurry of blows at the lucario's midsection.
Old Takemoto took the impact and slid back several feet. In response, dragonfire gathered in his fingertips and he sent it forth like a thrown lance.
Verge then abruptly changed, turning into a clefairy, causing the attack to diffuse against the natural barrier the fae were known to produce. "You are quite strong."
Old Takemoto scowled. "And you are a monster." All around him the Emperor's soldiers fought against the maddened Maiju. It was like an echo of the previous war, rendered into reality for a new generation.
"I am doing what is necessary for the sake of perfection," Verge replied a boiling frustration spewing out of his voice.
"Then what does perfection look like?" the elder lucario asked. "How does it involve kidnapping others?" Yet, a part of him felt like had already known the answer. He was no alchemist, nor had he done much investigation work on this case, but he had learned enough from what others had gathered.
"Because I must harness the… Essence of other species, to bind them together into a single cohesive hold.," Verge replied, raising a paw forming a fist. "Only then, will I achieve what I was created to do."
The lucario shook his head. He knew exactly what the fool was thinking about now. "That isn't what you think it is. It will not have the results you desire."
And yet his pleas fell on deaf ears. "Liar!" Verge shouted. "You simply want to stop me from achieving greatness!"
And then the clefairy changed once more. Instead the Maiju changed his body once again. He remained bipedal, but his arms and legs grew long. Pink hairs became blue fur. Soon enough, Taketomo was face to face with a copy of himself, yet lacking the orange sash he preferred to wear.
Takemoto closed the distance and swung a balled fist at his opponent. The other lucario deflected the blow and swung backwards.
The elder Fighting-type rolled with the punch and spun to sweep the leg, yet the duplicate evaded the blow. Verge thrust his palms forward, prompting Takemoto to intercept the blow by using the shockwave of his Force Palm to push back his foe.
Both lucario were sent back several feet, standing.
Mirroring each other, both conjured spheres of blue flame. Both cast their Aura Spheres at their opponent. The spheres collided with one another, detonating in a violent surge.
Choking dust was kicked up into the air, blocking line of sight for a good moment. When the obstruction cleared, both lucario faced one another at opposite ends of a crater.
Both were harmed equally, yet Takemoto felt like he had the upper hand. It was after all his body that this "ditto" copied. He knew his own strengths and weaknesses.
Verge clutched one of his hands, flexing it back and forth as though testing it.
Takemoto knew the problem. "What's wrong? Not used to old age?" he taunted.
Verge scowled. "Perhaps, but that is easily corrected." The imposter lucario's fur changed subtly, its coloration becoming brighter and more vibrant. He slammed one of his feet onto the ground with a satisfying thud, making it clear what had just happened.
Takemoto stared in awe, seeing a version of himself that was hundreds of Moons younger.
The now youthened lucario charged the original, with a vigor and strength Takemoto could not match. Verge peppered rapid fire blows into the lucario's body.
Takemoto had very little time to do anything else but deflect blow after blow. Though he was a skilled warrior, the elder lucario had long suffered the deterioration that came from age. His khopesh took the brunt of the fake's strikes and rapidly wore down. In seconds, the blade dulled and bent so much the old lucario had to throw it away.
Yet, Verge kept coming, kept attacking without any regard for his own safety.
And while he might have been able to make use of his improved form, Takemoto was not out of the fight yet.
In one instant, an explosion erupted in the sky, prompting the ditto to glance upward for a split second. The elder lucario took advantage of this and made his move. He grabbed onto one of the pretender's arms and slung it over his shoulder. Takemoto spun on his heels, still holding onto the arm and making himself into a lever. He was about to throw his opponent onto the ground, when suddenly, he lost his grip as the stable arm became completely viscous.
Verge slipped through and spun on his heels. He slammed a burning fist into the original's side.
Takemoto reeled back, a sudden burning pain coursing through him.
In that same instant, he spun on his feet and slammed a roundhouse kick into the fake's head. That stunned Verge and sent him rolling back.
Takemoto clutched at his sides, noting the burns across his torso and the aching bones within his body. The Fire Punch did severe damage, though it was odd that a lucario could have done such a thing; perhaps that was simply because he was a foreigner. Regardless, the old warrior had to win a battle to win.
The old jackal brought his paws together and raised them above his head. He closed in and brought them down atop his foe's head.
Verge staggered backwards, winded but still standing. Takemoto saw his opportunity to end this and went for another lunge.
Yet, Verge was so easily taken down. The false lucario's body became engulfed in flames as rage and frustration bubbled inside of him. "You won't defeat me!" he shouted. An explosion of fire spewed from every corner of his body.
Old Takemoto found himself launched backwards and onto the ground. Burns laced across his body, putting him in near crippling pain. He tried to stand, but his motions were sluggish.
"I. Will. Be. Perfect!" Verge declared at the top of his lungs as he took several towards the fallen lucario. His body was suffused with faint traces of fire racing across his fur. It resembled something like a mantling, though Takemoto could not discern where he obtained the source of that power.
Some of the nearby warriors tried to themselves in harm's way, but were bogged down by the small army Verge created.
Takemoto managed to force himself to stand up, but Verge slammed him down. The pretender stepped on his foot and put the jackal in intense pain. Despite this, the old warrior was no coward. He looked at his opponent with defiance in eyes. "I don't know who told about…whatever this madness is, but go on. Why don't you go find out what your perfection actually looks like?" he spat.
Verge's eyes twitched in manic hatred. "You. Dare?" he screamed. He slammed a fist against the old jackal's ribs and winded him. Then, he lifted one of his paws and began to conjure a fiery Aura Sphere.
Takemoto stared, unafraid of his own demise.
And yet, it didn't happen. Water and lightning arced over the pretender, sending him backwards and away.
The lucario stared in surprise, perhaps wonder if some of soldiers had managed to break through to assist him. And yet, when he saw who came to assist him, Takemoto could only feel an intense dread come upon him. "
Ash and some of his friends walked from the stands and fell into the arena. The young riolu breathed rapidly, a look on fear in his eyes. "Gramps, are you okay?"
"You shouldn't be here!" were the words the came straight from Takemoto's mouth. "You should be at home, defending it!"
"Mister Tajiri, I hate to tell you this, but your grandson doesn't really listen to authority all that well," the buizel beside his grandson spoke. "Besides, you didn't exactly ensure he'd stay at your house."
The old jackal grunted. Of course, he probably should have expected that his grandson had a defiant streak within him; he was after all his dear Hanako's child.
"Can you stand?" the lycanroc asked.
Old Takemoto tried to rise, but his wounds were too great for him to bear. He shook his head.
"Then this makes everything more complicated." Starryu stated.
"We've got incoming!" Pikachu snapped. The retainer let loose a stream of electricity, just as Verge went back for a second round.
This may be a bit late and rough, but this arc is going to be ending real soon.
There will be some major tidbits of information coming in the next few chapters that will affect the future and certain tidbits about the past.