Chapter 40
Saturday 27th October 2001
After a rather fitful nights sleep Ash woke up knowing he had a tough task ahead of him. It was crazy he thought that he should be so worried about the upcoming battle when he was the Kanto League Champion but he had always struggled against Steel Type Pokémon since Charizard had left him. It was maddening that it was only now he had realised he was deficient in an area of his training style that he needed to sort out. So it looked like he needed to find a Ground type along with a Ghost type to cover him. He also needed to look for another Fire type too which was going to be tough. He had Pokémon that could use Fire Type moves but that wasn't really the best way of getting around the situation, more coverage in case of an emergency. It proved to him just how naive he was if he thought he could become a Master with just ten Pokémon. Pikachu pointed out that if Venusar hadn't retired and Blastoise and Charizard hadn't gone part time his original six would have been more than enough to cover ninety percent of battles. It was amazing to Ash what losing those three did for his battle plans.
"Have you chosen your fourth Pokémon?" Jess asked at breakfast the day of the battle.
"No" Ash said "I think I'll wait to see how I'm getting on. I have coverage for the three Pokémon I know he has, it's the fourth that's unknowable to me."
"I mean, it's not," Jess said. "You could just look at his profile to see what Pokémon he registered."
"I have done" Ash said to her "but it's still a toss up on which of his six remaining Pokémon he'll choose. I have an idea of who it will be, but you never know. Normally people hide their strongest Pokémon or keep their starters in reserve but he always leads with his. He won his first two battles with just his Steelix. He had a tough time with Ralph though in his last match. I don't think he was expecting him to counter his Magneton with a Lanturn. It was a good match to be honest."
"Ah right Ok" she said "Well I wish you luck. We'll be cheering you on from here. Travis has some paperwork he needs to send in and I quite fancy a lazy day."
"Sounds fun actually" he said "Oh, could you do me a favour? I have an interview being broadcast next week and they sent me the questions a few days ago. I wrote some answers but I don't want to come across as a nob so could you look through it and see what I need to change?"
"Sure," she said, nodding "It'll give me something to do while you win your battle."
"Thanks Jess," Ash replied, standing up and fetching the pad and handing it to her." I'm going to feed my Pokémon and do some light training. Hopefully I can be inspired and figure out a fourth Pokémon."
A few hours later Ash had recalled Charizard and Salamence and had a much livelier conversation with them about how they were likely to proceed. It was around 11:30am when he felt a large mass of aura approaching him and as one they looked Northwards and up at the mountain. A very familiar Pokémon's feathers glinted in the sunlight and it wasn't long before the female Lugia landed as gracefully as she could.
"Greetings my Chosen One" she said "forgive me for the late arrival. I was conversing with Lady Suicune about trying to find Lord Entei who has disappeared and lost track of time. Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"Lord Entei's son has been captured" Charizard said without any preamble causing her to stiffen up and concentrate."
"Strange" she said "I can feel him about five hundred miles from here. Are you certain?"
"Yes" Charizard said before explaining what he knew, getting help from Queenie on clarifying certain points. "I know what I fought and it wasn't strong enough to be Lord Entei, I have felt his power when he passed my Valley a few moons ago, and it wasn't the fabricated one created by the Unown either. That disappeared when they did so that leaves his son. I know it was him because of his unusual colouring."
"That is most concerning" she said "He is required to come and explain to either myself, my mate or Lady Ho-oH if he plans on working alongside a trainer for a long period in any capacity and he has failed to do so. That might explain why Lord Entei was last felt just North of Violet, a territory his son should be governing a week ago."
"That's just North of my Valley and was around the time we attacked the intruder" Charizard said "I never felt him near unless his power is diminishing in some way."
"No," Lugia said, shaking her beautiful head "when I last sPoké to him, at the start of this tournament his power was in no way less. In fact I believe it to have grown in anticipation of challenging you to a battle."
"Well we haven't battled" Charizard said "I haven't the resources at the moment to have come and found you personally to inform you but as of last week I'm not letting any Legendary except yourself, your mate and Lady Ho-oH near my Valley until this is sorted out. I cannot risk it given how we were attacked by the masked villain who commands him."
"That is fine" she said "I'll inform my mate and Ho-oH about your decision. For the time being you will have to govern that area and report to me any issues that have been found. I will stop by as often as I am able to receive them but we may need to alternate who travels where. The Whirl Islands where we battled and the Western parts of Ilex are still in need of fixing after Celebi's interference so I am needed there to supervise the Pokémon aiding the human settlements."
"That's fine" Charizard said "If the issue with Entei is sorted out as soon as possible I will send some of my kin to aid you."
"It will be most appreciated," she said, nodding in thanks. "Now, it seems I have two wayward fire types to find."
Ash looked at his watch and cursed when he saw it was 11:55. "I need to run, my match is supposed to start in five minutes and I should have been there ten minutes ago."
"Not to worry" Lugia said "I will drop you off at the stadium."
"You will?" he asked, shocked, getting a nod of affirmation "thanks." recalling the Pokémon he would be using today he recalled three others who he was debating using and climbed on Lugia. Charizard and Salamence joined them as they headed westwards towards the huge stadium.
Thomas was getting very irritated. He had been standing alone in the corridor waiting to be called out for the last ten minutes now and Ash still hadn't turned up. He wasn't fond of these kinds of mind games and coming from a Champion who should know better was even worse to him.
"Thomas, can you please make your way onto the pitch and go to the referee."
Nodding Thomas walked out onto the pitch ignoring the shouts of the crowd who looked just as confused as he felt.
"Thomas" the referee said, looking down at him before looking at his watch "If your opponent doesn't turn up in the next two minutes he will forfeit his place and you will advance."
As the seconds counted down the crowd as one looked at the clock. The people watching at home was confused, where was Ash?
"Is he ok?" Delia asked worriedly from her couch at home where she was sitting with Flora at her side.
"I have no idea" Red said looking just as worried as his wife "he didn't tell me he had anything planned and it's not like him to miss a battle."
"I'm quite worried" she said before gasping at the TV, something mirrored by her husband as the cameras panned to the skies to see three large Pokémon arrive and descend onto the field kicking up dust. When it settled the whole world watched in shock as Ash Ketchum climbed down from the back of a Lugia and pat her head, whispering something in her ears. Very few people noticed the lethal looking Charizard and Salamence who also landed.
Looking at Thomas Ash walked forwards to complete silence. "I'm really sorry. My Pokémon came to me with some urgent information and I lost track of time trying to sort it out."
"What was so important you nearly missed the battle?" The referee asked looking down at him, frowning in disapproval "you were fifteen seconds away from being disqualified."
"Really?" Ash asked surprised before looking at the huge clock on the building "wow, if you hadn't brought me here Lugia I'd be following you home right now. Anyway, it's not something I can share right now, I need to inform Lance first and then it's up to him."
"I'm afraid I'm going to need more than that" the referee said "under the rules of the Johto League you are required to be here at least fifteen minutes before the battle and present yourself to the receptionist. You haven't done that so unless I hear a valid explanation I will be forced to disqualify you."
Before Ash could answer his Pokégear went off in his pocket. Taking it out he ignored the referee and answered it, missing the outraged look.
"Hello? Oh right. What now? Yeah, hang on a minute." He placed his Pokégear back into his pocket and looked around trying to figure out what to do when he came up with a plan. Spying the wall attached to the referees podium he ran to it and jumped towards it, kicked off it and leaped, grabbing the metal barrier going around the podium. Hauling himself up he agility landed next to the astonished referee and handed him his Pokégear.
"Here, it's for you."
Tentatively the referee took it and answered it.
"Hello? Oh Hello Sir… Yes sir I know but the rules are the rules… Yes I understand he made the arena on time but…Yes Sir I'm aware of who he is… Yes I'm also aware of what stage of the tournament is... Thomas had no problem turning up on ti…Yes Sir… I understand Sir." shaking his head he handed the Pokégear back to Ash who saw that Lance had hung up. "It seems you have friends in high places Mr Ketchum who has authorised the fight to go ahead regardless of the rules and regulations put in place."
"Hang on" Ash said holding up his hand "I did not ask for any special treatment. Just because I cannot give you the reason I was late does not make it any less valid. Lance has made the decision, not me. Hang on, I remember you now. You're the referee who disqualified me in the first round for nonsense reasons. I knew I recognised you from somewhere. Is that what this is all about?"
"No it is not!" he said looking angry "what this is about is you blatantly disregarding the rules, again I might add and getting away with it because of who you are."
"And at no point, moron have I asked for any special treatment" Ash said getting irritated "you know what, this is annoying me and there's another battle after us and I won't delay them any longer." Jumping over the balcony he landed on his feet and walked the few feet to Thomas holding his hand out. Thomas, who had no idea what was happening, shook it briefly before Ash let go.
Not bothering to wait for the referee to give him his instructions he walked over to Lugia, Charizard and Salamence. "You two, go with Lugia and find out what you can about them. Charizard, I know you need to get back to the Valley but I need you to show the area you saw him to Lugia so that she can instruct the rest of them. Queenie, report back to me by Tuesday, I'll still be here regardless of the outcome of this match."
Nodding the two flying types took off and waited for Lugia who gave Ash one last searching look before she too took to the skies in one great wingbeat and it wasn't long before they were out of sight. Walking up the steps to the box, that may or may not have even been his, he brought out his Pokégear again and started typing away before pressing send and looking up to the referee who was halfway through the instructions. Usually Ash would be apologetic about being so rude but he had other things on his mind right now and wanted to get through the match as quickly as possible.
"Is that understood?" the referee finished.
Ash was very tempted to ask him to repeat himself but this referee had already shown he had no love for Ash and was very likely to be biased against him so he just nodded and grabbed the first Pokéball and threw it onto the pitch.
Thomas looked very confused as the referee hadn't told them to release their first Pokémon so to see Ash release a Heracross was very strange. Grabbing his he threw it onto the field and a huge steel snake appeared roaring as he did. The referee shook his head and said "Steelix vs Heracross, begin."
"Earthquake" Ash shouted, not wasting any time. His Pokémon complied and slammed his hands into the ground creating a terrific tremor that rocked the field.
"Magnet Rise" Thomas shouted, countering Ash as his snake crackled with electrical energy and raised himself up into the air, preventing the attack from hitting.
"Get in close Heracross, we'll need to weaken that Magnet Rise if we have any chance of winning. Get close and use Brick Break" Ash shouted.
"Wait until it's close and use Iron Tail, follow it up with Crunch" Thomas shouted, countering Ash again.
"Carry on with the attack" Ash said wanting to gauge the Steelix's power. As the fighting and steel type moves collided it created a huge plume of dust hiding them from view. Ash though saw a huge black light briefly flash in the dust and grimaced as Heracross had to quickly abandon the tail and hold the mouth open. Heracross paid for it as the tail continued and hit him full force in the stomach sending him flying out of the dust cloud where he bounced before eventually righting himself, shaking himself off.
"Brilliant" Thomas shouted "Now let's finish this one quickly. Use Stone Edge"
"Heracross, you need to be brave and punch through them. I need you to get close to Steelix." Ash shouted, starting to put a plan into action. When the razor sharp stones headed Heracross' way he quickly unsheathed his wings and started to fly in and out of them as he rushed forwards. He wasn't completely successful but he avoided the majority of them and was soon within striking distance of Steelix who stopped his attack.
"Brick Break" Ash shouted.
"Iron Tail, follow it up with Crunch again" Thomas shouted.
"Good" Ash muttered which was picked up on the microphones. As soon as the two attacks collided again, creating yet another dust cloud Ash waited for the black light to appear and as soon as it did he shouted. "Heracross stop the attack and duck."
Confused Heracross did just that and got out of the way of the Iron Tail just in time. He quickly saw Ash's plan though as the tail carried on circling around and headed for Steelix's face smashing into him and disrupting the Crunch attack. "Now, get in close and use Close Combat!"
"Steelix look out!" Thomas shouted not believing how Ash countered him. Steelix could only shake his dazed head though before he had a face full of a glowing Heracross who proceeded to kick and punch Steelix in the face several times in quick succession before delivering a final brutal punch and Steelix smashed into the ground.
"Now" Ash said, seeing the opportunity "Earthquake Heracross. Finish it."
Using the momentum from the final kick Heracross dove to ground with two glowing fists and split the ground with a devastating Earthquake. Steelix could do nothing but groan at taking two extremely high powered moves in succession and struggled to raise his head. Heracross meanwhile had managed to climb out of the various cracks he had created with easily the most powerful Earthquake he had ever delivered.
Steelix groaned as he failed to raise his head and stayed still.
"Steelix is unable to battle however because Heracross used an illegal move; he is also out of the match too." the referee shouted holding up both flags.
"What?" Ash shouted in surprise "what illegal move?"
"That was clearly a Fissure disguised as an Earthquake Mr Ketchum. OHKO moves are banned from the tournament." The referee said to him, looking stern.
"What the hell are you on about?" Ash shouted incredulously "Heracross can't even learn that bloody move! You clearly heard me command Earthquake, are you really going to try and cheat me out of a victory because your boss told you off on national television?"
"We all heard what he commanded," Thomas said, frowning "you have no logical reason for disqualifying him."
"My decision stands" he said ignoring Ash and Thomas "trainers send out your second Pokémon."
"You're an absolute bellend" Ash said looking disgusted at the man "and I think everyone here can see you are trying to cheat me out of this match."
"That is a warning Mr Ketchum" the referee said.
"I don't care" he said as he recalled Heracross and sent out Machamp as Thomas sent out Magneton "you're corrupt and we can all see it. Machamp, the referee is looking for any excuse to disqualify you because he's shit at his job and has it out for me. Do what you need to do in this battle, I'm going to be slightly busy. Just don't use Earthquake but keep your fourth slot available if you can just in case. I'll explain why later on."
Machamp looked very confused before he focused on his opponent and waited for the referee to begin the match. Thirty seconds later he still had not so he looked up to the box to see the referee on the phone having what looked like a very heated conversation. Finally the referee, who was looking very irate, looked over at Ash who was typing away on his phone before shouting "begin". Immediately Machamp rushed forwards belying the speed of his type and hopped over the still very uneven ground towards his opponent.
"Thunderbolt" Thomas shouted "follow it up with Thunder Wave and elevate yourself."
Machamp dodged several bolts of lightning before stopping and surrounding himself in a blue light as the electrical cage washed over him, surrounding him but not affecting him in any way. Carrying on his charge he rushed forwards once more and halted as his opponent rose twenty feet in the air and sent more bolts down at him. Cancelling the Protect shield he dodged the bolts once more and hammered the ground, splintering it before throwing them at his opponent who twirled in the air, pirouetting between them and avoiding them. What Magneton didn't realise though was Machamp was moving closer with every rock he threw and soon Machamp was directly underneath his opponent.
"He's below you" Thomas shouted "Gyro Ball straight down."
Machamp set himself as he saw the spinning magnet Pokémon head down to him at a terrific speed and threw his arms out to try and halt it. He grunted and strained against the spinning Pokémon before throwing himself backwards and launching Magneton back into the air where it stopped and sent another bolt of lightning at him. Quickly he rolled out of the way and avoided it before once again covering himself in a Protect sphere as another Thunder Wave was sent his way. He remembered Ash telling him once they could do that for as long as they had an electric current flowing through their bodies so he knew he couldn't wait it out for too long. Feeling the strain lessen he cancelled the sphere and rushed forwards again, once again using the ground to throw rocks up at Magneton. He smirked as he heard a few ping off the steel body happy that he'd at least got the first hit in.
"Lock On" Thomas said as he saw Machamp get close. His Pokémon halted in mid-air and looked intently at his opponent who was running around the field and sent a red target at Machamp who winced as it hit.
Looking up from his message he saw the move hit and winced. He knew he had used two moves so far and was likely going to be limited by paralysis in the very near future. The Lock On guaranteed that. "Machamp, end this, get underneath and use Flamethrower."
Thomas panicked at the attack. He had forgotten his opponent had that move in his arsenal. "Thunder Wave, quickly. Don't let it hit!"
"Don't bother with Protect, it won't work." Ash shouted as Machamp set himself ten feet away and sent a huge torrent of flames upwards. The Thunder Wave encircled the flames in a cage as it travelled along it unaffected by the move and hit Machamp with deadly accuracy causing him to wince and cut off the attack. Magneton didn't get away lightly though as the flames travelled upwards and hit it on its body causing it to screech in agony and drop down fifteen feet in the air. Machamp looked up and saw his opponent was ten feet from him and gathered his strength and sent another Flamethrower at Magneton who couldn't move away in time.
"Magneton is unable to battle, Machamp wins. Thomas please send out your third Pokémon."
"You did great" Thomas said before releasing his third Pokémon.
"Skarmory vs Machamp" the referee shouted. "Begin."
"Fly up and use Iron Defence" Thomas shouted.
"Rock Throw" Ash commanded as he saw the steel bird rise until it was thirty feet into the air. "Just do what you can Machamp."
"Keep it up, Skarmory" Thomas said as his bird hardened again.
"Machamp, just sit down and wait." Ash said "we can't do anything while he's up there so just conserve your energy."
"Again" Thomas shouted as once again his bird hardened, increasing his defence.
"Hey, Ref" Ash shouted "how long can he stay up there not actually engaging in battle."
"As long as he wants to" the referee said "he's still using legitimate moves."
"Fine" Ash said, shaking his head. "Machamp return, Pi you're up."
"Really?" Pikachu said as he watched Machamp get recalled.
"Yeah" Ash said, nodding to the field.
"Skarmory vs Pikachu begin" the referee shouted.
"Rain Dance and follow it up with Thunder" Ash shouted emotionlessly "if he wants to stay up there we'll make it as difficult as possible while he's up there."
Not bothering to answer, Pikachu sent a ball of blue up into the sky and clouds started to gather very quickly. Pi then followed it by sending volleys of lightning into the sky creating huge black clouds that soon started rumbling.
Thomas looked on warily as he didn't expect Pikachu to be used. He'd heard a rumour that Pikachu was only being used as a last resort due to some weird illness but clearly not.
"Skarmory, get closer to the ground and use Drill Run" Thomas shouted over the growing storm hoping his bird heard him. It did and his Skarmory did a backflip before streaking to the ground ignoring the rumbles from behind him.
"Pi" Ash shouted "Volt Tackle, head right for it."
"And Ash tries to counter the Drill Run by using Pikachu's most powerful move. Will it reach his opponent in time before?" the announcer shouted.
The two Pokémon collided creating a huge explosion as the two moves connected causing them both some serious damage. Pikachu, while powerful was still a small Pokémon in comparison to the five and a half foot bird who was as solid as the steel that gave it it's typing and came off quite badly being sent skidding back onto his back resting twenty feet away. Skarmory on the other hand had not come off lightly either as Pikachu was an electric nightmare for any opponent and thousands of volts of electricity coursing through you was not a fun experience. The blast sent Skarmory back towards his trainer, tumbling along the very uneven ground hitting various lips of broken bits of earth until finally it came to rest. Panting Pikachu stood up and shook his head, his body littered with scratches before looking up just in time to receive a Thunderbolt from the sky as it started raining them down onto the field. Pikachu felt the electricity go through him and winced as it filled his partially empty sacs. Skarmory on the other hand had no such ability and took the various bolts full on, screeching in pain. The storm only lasted about sixty seconds but that was more than long enough for it to eliminate Skarmory from the battle.
"Skarmory is unable to battle, Pikachu wins. Thomas please send out your final Pokémon" the referee shouted.
Thomas sighed as he recalled his Pokémon. He was losing quite badly but had done some significant damage to Ash's Pikachu and Machamp so his final Pokémon could even the playing field if he chose the right one. Nodding he sent out his final Pokémon.
"Metagross vs Pikachu. Begin" the referee said.
"Metagross use Magnet Rise and then Psychic" he shouted as his Iron Pokémon flooded its legs in, rising into the air and then sent out blasts of psychic energy across the field ripping it up and lifting it into the air before ending it towards his opponent. Ash had seen this done before and hated that his Pokémon had to deal with it.
"Pi" he shouted "run through the debris and then use Volt Tackle."
Pikachu nodded, brave in the face of the few tons of earth headed his way to bury him. Seeing a small opening he ran, picking up speed as he did so and threw himself into the oncoming ground. The next few seconds were long for Ash as he waited for his Pokémon to persevere and push through.
"Metagross, Scary Face then Meteor Mash" Thomas shouted as his Pokémon, still concentrating on levitating the ground, sent a spectral frightening face into the melee just as an exhausted Pikachu emerged. The speed-lowering move hit, causing the Volt Tackle to fail and he looked up just in time to dodge a silvery arm being sent his way. Wondering what was going on he dodged again as another one headed to him only for him to be clipped on the back by the first one returning, sending him into the deep hole that had been created. The two arms rose into the air, hovering over where Pikachu was last seen before speeding downwards at lightning speed kicking up soil and dirt as they hit the ground.
"And that's all she wrote for Pikachu" Thomas said smiling as the two arms rose out of the deep hole and reattached themselves to Metagross who stayed hovering in the air.
The referee looked on his monitor at the overhead camera and couldn't see Pikachu so he made a decision.
"Pikachu is unable…" he began to say.
"Thunder Pi" Ash shouted over him as amazingly the ground beneath Metagross began to move and a huge arc of lightning blasted the dirt away hitting Metagross who groaned as it lit up and wobbled in the air.
"What?" Thomas said "No way!"
The crowd began to swell as out of a small hole Pikachu poked his head out and exhaustedly dropped himself onto the dirt, lying on his back panting harshly.
"Metagross, Meteor Mash end this" Thomas said, recovering from his shock.
"Wait!" Ash shouted "Pikachu can't continue. I don't want to risk serious injury to him."
"Very well" the referee shouted "Pikachu is unable to battle. Ash, please choose your third Pokémon."
"Machamp you're up" Ash shouted as he released his fighting type who looked around and saw the ground had disappeared, lying in a huge heap against Ash's side of the field. He also spotted Pikachu lying face up looking at the clearing sky. "Can you grab Pikachu for me please. He can't battle anymore."
Nodding Machamp winced as an electrical arc passed over his body and he climbed down into the dirt. Strangely Pikachu began to float towards him and he was gently placed into his arms. Looking up he saw the Metagross stop glowing and nodded in thanks. Handing Pikachu over to Ash he took his place once again and winced as another arc passed over him.
"Metagross vs Machamp, begin!" the referee shouted.
"Remember Machamp, we have one move slot remaining. I know which one I want to use so get in close."
"Don't let him Metagross, we need to end this one as quickly as possible." Thomas said "Psychic and then Meteor Mash"
"Protect and run towards it" Ash shouted "then use Flamethrower to get within striking distance."
"Move away and continue the moves." Thomas shouted as he waited for the opportune moment. For the next few minutes the two Pokémon dodged each others attacks and when they couldn't braved them out.
Being slammed into the ground by a point blank psychic attack was not fun for Machamp who was quickly feeling the strain of trying to combat Metagross. Shakily he stood up and saw his opponent who was hovering ten feet away, a few scorch marks over its body but otherwise very able to battle. As an arc of lightning screamed through his body he winced and went down to one knee.
"Now Metagross, Meteor Mash. End this" Thomas shouted.
"This is it Machamp. Facade!"
"Get out of there Metagross" Thomas shouted as Machamp started to glow yellow. Without any chance to move Metagross was smashed into by a yellow bullet throwing Metagross into the wall. Machamp, hitting the iron Pokémon full on came off a lot worse than Ash planned and face planted into the ground, panting extremely harshly before closing his eyes.
"Machamp is unable to battle. Ash please send out your final Pokémon." The referee shouted.
Recalling his fighting type he looked at the scoreboard and frowned. Yet again it had come down to his final Pokémon albeit this time he was cheated out of one in Heracross.
"Venusaur" Ash shouted as he threw the ball and his huge plant Pokémon appeared, looking around at the field which was extremely torn up. "You're the last one pal. As is Metagross. Do your best."
Metagross had shakily risen into the air feeling the effects of Machamps Facade attack.
"Metagross vs Venusaur, begin." the referee shouted dropping both flags.
"Psychic" Thomas shouted sounding excited. He had type advantage here which was a very strange choice by Ash given the enormity of what was at stake.
"Frenzy Plant" Ash said smiling suddenly feeling very nostalgic as his plant slammed his feet into the ground and extremely thick vines came rising out of the dirt and covering him in a big cage like structure, the Psychic attack splashing harmlessly against it.
Thomas suddenly didn't feel as confident anymore. He only had one physically attacking move he could use and it wasn't great but it was all he had. "Meteor Mash. Power it up with Psychic."
"Sunny Day" Ash shouted as a ball of light escaped the cage and flew into the sky before it closed up and Metagross arms impacted the vines, doing very little as they tried to probe. "Grab those arms and pin them."
"Get them back" Thomas shouted frantically as the thick vines moved like lightning and ensnaring them, bringing them inside the cage where Metagross couldn't feel them.
"I think we can wrap this up Venusaur" Ash said "Frenzy Plant and grab Metagross."
Metagross tried to hover away but missing two of its limbs left it at an incredible disadvantage and was easily ensnared by Venusaur who slammed it into the ground and began to try and constrict it. The best it could do though was hold on tightly as it was solid steel.
"Leech Seed" Ash said looking over at Thomas who bowed his head as the seed spread blossomed and spread all over his Pokemon.
"I forfeit Metagross" he said "I can't win from here."
"Are you certain?" The referee asked getting a strange look from Ash. He had not been asked that when he forfeited Pikachu.
"I am" he said recalling Metagross into his ball, the vines collapsing and disappearing into nothingness.
"Very well. Metagross is unable to battle. Ash Ketchum therefore moves on to Tuesdays Semi final." The referee said sounding pained before he left the podium.
The crowd erupted at the announcement and Ash breathed a sigh of relief. Venusaur had been an inspired choice against Metagross and he was so thankful he had such a Pokémon. "Thank you Venusaur" Ash said recalling him and walking down the steps, skirting around the field as carefully as he could and stopping by the entrance are for Thomas who soon joined him. Offering his hand Thomas took it and nodded.
"That was a great battle. I never expected Pikachu or Venusaur. I didn't know they were even on your active roster."
"What do you mean?" Ash asked as they walked down the tunnel "Pikachu has been used in every round except the last one."
"I know but I heard a rumour he was injured or forcibly retired." Thomas said, shrugging his shoulders.
"No" Ash said shaking his head "he's limited with physical moves because of an injury to his tail. That's all that is. As for Venusaur he volunteered because I had no suitable Pokémon to battle you other than Heracross and Machamp."
"Yeah about that, what was that referees problem?" Thomas asked as they neared the reporters bullpen "everyone heard what you commanded and like you said they can't learn Fissure."
"Oh he's had it out for me since my first battle when I called him a moron." Ash said "he was determined to do what he could to impede me advancing as you saw. Thank you for what you said though. It means a lot."
"If I win it's because I win fairly." Thomas replied "I don't want any of my wins to have an asterisk against my name. Anyway, good luck in the semis. You'll need it."
"I know" Ash said nodding "this time though I'll have more Pokémon I can use. Yours was a tricky battle that I don't mind admitting kept me up all night."
"Truly?" he asked, surprised.
"Yes" Ash said, sighing "anyway, it was nice battling you Thomas, good luck with whatever you do in the future." Shaking his hand he walked away letting out a big sigh of relief. He was through to Tuesday's semi-final. He was just steps away from his goal of being Johto League Champion and with it the next step in his plan for gaining his Mastery.
Walking out of the building Ash made for his chalet and walked inside, throwing himself into the chair and closing his eyes.
"Rough day eh?" Travis said from the couch where he had his laptop set up.
"Madness really" he said "Thursday it was poachers on my land, yesterday it's Entei being caught and then to top it off a biased referee trying to manipulate my match today. I genuinely cannot wait to leave next Sunday."
"I must admit I've really enjoyed my time away from the hospital" Travis said "But I think next year we'll go abroad somewhere."
"I've been to some amazing places in the Orange Islands" Ash said before Travis interrupted him.
"Nope, we're not going back there voluntarily. Jess spent six months there, remember." he said "No, we're not going to the Orange Islands anytime soon. Actually, and don't tell her this but I was planning on taking her to Alola. I quite fancy sitting with my wife on a tropical beach enjoying the sunshine."
"Alola intrigues me quite a bit actually" Ash said "It's a shame I'll likely never be able to travel there due to my commitments as Kanto Champion."
"I've been before" Travis said "It was where we went on our first holiday together, oooh around ten years ago now."
"You've been together a while now eh?" Ash asked.
"Yeah, we were childhood sweethearts" Travis said smiling fondly "we've been together a long time Ash. A very long time but every day is a wonderful day with her."
"It's nice to see" Ash said before continuing "I was having a look at various places in Hoenn and Sinnoh to visit and I could only really find a handful that are ideal for relaxing. It's strange that Kanto and Johto don't really have many either."
"Well they're very landlocked regions when you look at them." Travis said "Hoenn is obviously the exception of the four but there's very few that have coastal attractions that are easily accessible. The main ones in Kanto and Johto are still being rebuilt from when they were destroyed by that Tentacruel at Porta Vista, Cinnabar is currently thirty feet under lava as it erupted last week, The Whirl Islands are also being rebuilt too so no, there's very few places to visit that are exclusively for relaxing that are habitable."
"Which is why I suggested the Orange Islands." Ash said laughing "Mandarin City is beautiful, I had a lovely time relaxing there with mum and Lorelei's family."
"Before it all went to shit again" Travis finished laughing.
"Yeah but that's all over with now" Ash said waving it away laughing too.
Ash's Pokegear ringing stopped any further conversation from happening. Looking at it he remembered why he was late to the battle today and he walked into his room, shutting the door behind him and answered it. The next few hours were spent going over the plan Ash had come up with and letting Lance know what he knew of the mysterious psychic and his interactions with him, along with the route and territory of both Enteis.
"I'll let Charizard know you're sending your Dragons to investigate the ruins" Ash said "according to Charizard they're a few miles North of Azalea, towards the centre of Ilex Forest but if you meet them in the Valley they'll show you where it is. He should be back in later on from his patrol with Lugia. Salamence got back about twenty minutes ago so I'll get an update from her and send it on to you."
"Cheers Ash" Lance said sounding distracted "I need to go, Melanie just got home. Keep me updated Ash."
Doing what he said he would do, Ash said goodbye to Charizard the next day and went for a wander to the training pitches that were in use for the preliminaries but were now just one huge field with a long metal barrier around it. Curious, he wandered into the massive enclosure and released Machamp and walked around watching the various trainers who were out with their own Pokémon.
"What's say we have a proper spar?" Ash asked Machamp "we've not been able to have one for a few weeks now."
"Are you sure?" Machamp asked, "Your next battle is in two days' time."
"Three" Ash said "The Semi-finals are on Wednesday. So we've got plenty of time to recover. I just need to get my mind off the talk tomorrow."
"Very well," Machamp said, walking ten paces in front of him and turning around to see Ash doing some short stretches. Eventually Ash stopped and took up his stance before making the first move. Ten minutes later they were still going at it full force and had gathered quite a crowd who sat on the bleachers looking on with interest as the maniacal Kanto Champion took on one of his Pokémon in hand to hand combat. The crowd groaned as one when Ash took a full punch to the face sending him rolling backwards where he came upright and took a defensive pose waiting for his Pokémon to attack which Machamp did, rushing forwards to press his advantage and continued to drive Ash backwards until he was ten feet from the chain fencing. Seeing he was losing he decided to go for broke and twisted between Machamps first arm, gripped his second and front flipped off Machamps standing leg until he was back to back with Machamp, quickly turning around and blocking a low sweep from him with his own leg before kicking forwards, his leg being blocked by the third of Machamps arms before his fourth came slamming down on his thigh. Ash took a step back and winced, holding his hand up to Machamp.
"Ow" he said, limping and rubbing his leg furiously, "yeah you win this one." tentatively he put his leg down and tested it, wincing again as it hurt.
"Are you ok?" Machamp asked, walking forwards.
"Yeah, I'll be fine pal" Ash said "Nothing's broken, but I suspect I'm going to have a huge bruise on my leg tomorrow. That one's on me, I shouldn't have kicked out, I should have taken a few steps back to try and regain my stance and hold my defence. Ow." Putting his weight on his leg he grimaced as he took a step forwards before shaking his leg again.
"That was awesome!" a voice said from off to the side as he saw around six youngsters with their faces pressed up against the barrier, their eyes shining in awe "How did you do that?"
Chuckling Ash leaned on Machamp as he walked out of the enclosures gate and walked to where the young trainers were. Sitting down heavily on one of the stands that were still erected he patted the side of the bench to them and they all gathered around. Looking at the kid who asked the question he began "Well, are you all wanting to be Pokémon trainers?" getting vigorous nods he chuckled "well the first thing you need to know is how to look after your Pokémon and what it means to be a trainer…"
The next few hours were some of the most enjoyable hours Ash had in a long time. Some of the children were due to start their journey next year and were seen to be eagerly listening to Ash and what he told them. "Your Pokémon will be the most important being you will ever have in your life until you have your own family. For all intents and purposes they are your family so make sure you look after them. Train alongside them, show them what you want them to do and work with them. I guarantee you'll all surpass where you think you'll get."
"Not me" a haughty girl said standing in a heroic pose "I will be Pokémon League Champion and take Lance's position and everyone will know my name!"
"Ambition is a wonderful thing" Ash said nodding to her "keep that dream in mind when you get your partner and you'll be where I am in no time. Believe in yourself and your Pokémon and there will be nothing you can't achieve. What's your name?"
"Cindy Asher," she replied.
"Well Cindy Asher, I will be keeping an eye out for you and your progress." Heaving himself to his feet he looked at them all "Good luck all of you."
"You too Mr Ash" they said as they moved out of the way and watched Ash limp off leaning on his Machamp. Getting home was difficult as he was in quite a lot of pain. He didn't think anything was broken but he knew he'd certainly bruised his leg and muscle in the fight. It was his own fault though, why did he try and kick instead of defending? He'd never normally go on the offence in that position. Ignoring the few reporters that had set up camp outside his chalet he walked inside and sat down heavily on the couch.
Jess looked up from playing with Tammy and gasped "What happened to you?"
"I was an idiot," Ash said, chuckling. "I overreached in a spar with Machamp and he hurt my leg. To be fair to him he could have easily broken my leg with how I extended but he didn't. I'm lucky I'm not in the hospital waiting for a scan right now."
"Well if it's still bad tomorrow you're going for one" Jess said shaking her head at him. "You've already had severe damage to that leg, Ash."
"I know," he said nodding, agreeing with her, "I'll be more careful in future."
The next day it had gotten much better and it was only with a slight limp that he wandered into the huge building that was opposite the main stadium. This was where all the reporters and Media outlets had set up shop and it was a hub of movement and busyness, no doubt there was a lot of people to interview or scoops just coming in.
Walking up to the receptionist he gave his name and sat down at one of the tables and began looking through his Pokegear for information about Bethany who had easily won her battle. Ash knew it would be a tough battle but strangely he wasn't as worried about this battle like the last one.
"Mr Ketchum?" a voice asked and he looked up to see an aide with a clipboard looking at him "Hi, I'm Leon, if you could come this way please?"
"Certainly," Ash said, standing up and following him through several corridors before walking out onto what looked like an auditorium, set up for what was clearly a chat show.
"We've got a few hundred that will be seated in the audience today, none of whom are the general public. As it's been arranged at such short notice it'll be workers from this building." Leon said as they walked down the aisle to the stage where there were two seats around a table "So we're recording today and it will be going out tomorrow evening at 8pm. Michael will be ready around 2pm, so we have an hour and half in make-up with you where we'll go through the questions and make sure you're ready. Your aide will be here in the next half an hour along with a representative of Silph."
"Is Joanne not the representative then?" Ash asked.
"Apparently not," Leon said. "We don't have any more information at the moment on that."
"Fair enough" Ash said as he shook the hand of the stylist and introduced himself.
The next hour was very weird for Ash as he sat down and listened to the stylist, Scarlet talk and talk at him while she did his hair and makeup. "My hair is fine." he said as she started on it.
"No it's not" she replied officiously "it looks like a bird's nest." Ash hadn't had a haircut in a very long time and was usually held back in a long ponytail. Today though it was just loose as he didn't feel the need to do anything with it. "I don't have the time to trim it but I can book you in with a hairdresser in Silver Town if you want?"
"No" Ash said, shaking his head "just put it into a ponytail like I usually have it."
"But you're going on the TV" she said scandalised "we can't have that!"
"I'm being interviewed about my life and what I do" Ash said "people have seen me enough to know when I'm being genuine, you doing something strange to it will come across as fake. So just leave it."
"Are you being difficult again Ash?" Joanne asked as she walked in.
"No, not at all" Ash said shaking his head "I just don't need my hair doing."
"It does need trimming" she said, causing Ash to frown. It wasn't the first time in the last month that they'd had this conversation.
"I've already told you I'll get it cut for Christmas" Ash said "It doesn't need it yet."
"We've had this conversation" Joanne said to Scarlet "he's just got attachment issues."
"Quite literally" Ash said, pulling on it before looking forwards into the mirror. Scarlet just chuckled before carrying on with his make-up. "Anyway, why are you here if you're not the representative Silph is sending?"
"I am the representative," she said, sounding confused "who told you otherwise?"
"The bloke who brought me here, Leon, I think his name was" Ash replied "he said my aide would be here soon along with the representative that Silph was sending. Like you I assumed it would just be us, evidently not."
"Very strange" she said leaning back into her chair "I haven't been told of anyone else coming. I suppose we'll find out won't we?"
An hour later there was a knock on the door signifying it was time to go. Walking down a corridor with Joanne they headed towards the stage and heard raised voices. Wondering what was happening they walked around a corner and Joanne grabbed him, halting him. "Oh no, why did they send him?"
"Who?" Ash asked as he saw a man around five foot ten, jet black hair combed over and gelled, dark brown eyes and a small sneer on his face dressed in an immaculate blue suit complete with expensive shoes.
"Please, don't get yourself worked up" Joanne whispered as the man saw him and strode forwards.
"Ah, you must be Ketchum" he said walking forwards moving the aide out of the way rather rudely, ignoring her outraged gasp. Holding his hand out Ash took it tentatively, wondering who he was. "Hanzo Suzuki, Ow" he said, releasing Ash's hand and shaking it, looking very angry at it just being nearly crushed "watch what you're doing oaf."
"Oaf" Ash said, taking a step forwards, towering over the man "say that again, I dare you."
"Ash" Joanne said standing between them "calm yourself. You don't want to do this here."
"Listen to her Ketchum," Hanzo said, looking angry.
"And as for you I'd advise you to leave" Joanne said to Hanzo looking irritated.
"You don't get to speak to me like that," Hanzo said, sneering at her "do not forget who you work for."
"She works for Hatori" Ash said "and should that change she will then work full time for me. Her job description will not change as long as I am alive. Now I'd advise you to shuffle along and leave."
"I am here as the representative of Silph!" He replied looking down his nose at her "and as such I will not allow for such insubordination. You're fired."
"You're hired" Ash said immediately to her clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Let Hatori know why while I'm giving the talk." Sneering at Hanzo he walked past him leading Joanne with him who looked distraught. "Don't worry, I have doubts you'll stay fired when Hatori hears what's happened."
"I can't believe that man" she said wiping away angry tears "he's always had it in for me."
"Why?" Ash asked her as they stopped by the stage and said hello to the stage hand who started to mic him up.
"Three guesses" she replied sardonically "Karl can't stand him."
"Wanker" he said fixing his shirt "ring Hatori. Do it now before he can try and spin it."
Nodding she wiped away the angry tears and composed herself before taking out her phone and walking off to the side. Ash was motioned to enter the stage when he heard the audience clapping but he held up his hand to the aide as he watched Joanne with worry. Again he heard the audience start clapping but Ash made no movement to walk on.
"Mr Ketchum, you keep missing your cues" the aide said frantically trying to move Ash.
"My P.A needs me at the minute" Ash said not moving as he looked at Joanne who was nodding and talking rapidly. Turning to Ash she held the speaker and mouthed "what are you doing? I'll be fine."
"Are you sure?" he asked, concerned.
"Yes" she nodded before shooing him.
Nodding he motioned for the aide who signalled the host who looked very concerned himself who shouted Ash's name again.
Walking on Ash smiled and waved at the audience before shaking the hosts hand, apologising and sitting down. "Sorry about that, my aide had an issue that needed sorting urgently."
"It's Ok, we'll just edit this part. Is she ok?"
"She will be," Ash said, nodding.
"Good" Michael said nodding "so let's begin shall we. Now as I said in the introduction you are a philanthropist, a conservationist, a battler, an author, a leader, a Champion, a Chosen One. That's some going for a man who's not even fifteen years old yet."
"Oh you're not wrong" Ash said laughing "but you missed off son and now brother on that list. When I started off on my journey I had only one goal in mind, to become Indigo Champion and hopefully Kanto Champion before I turned eighteen. I was very lucky to meet some great partners along the way who helped my dream become a reality."
"You did" Michael said nodding "so at what point did your focus change from battling to conservation?"
"I've always been interested in the Pokémon world" Ash replied after a thoughtful pause "I've always got along with Pokémon better than humans, something which hasn't really changed that much. I find Pokémon to be easier to talk to, get along with and understand as they're not that complicated. They're blunt, to the point and don't care about feelings. People on the other hand are big bags of emotions that baffle me at the best of times. But to answer your question I suppose the first time I really thought about it was after the incident in Porta Vista."
"Yes, let's talk about that" Michael said "it's very widely known that you single-handedly took on a gigantic Tentacruel and beat it less than six months into your career. Do you have a death wish? Did you not care about what could happen to you?"
"Honestly no" Ash said shaking his head "all I knew was that I couldn't let that Pokémon reach the city. There were hundred if not thousands of innocent people there that relied on me to do what I could. And it wasn't single-handedly, my Pokémon stood by my side, and alongside the police who quickly led the lines despite the danger and we all overcame it together. Very nearly at a great cost. It was after that incident that I began to really look around me to see what humans have been doing to the natural world but I wasn't in any position to make a significant change."
"So what started it?"
"It actually started with a conversation I had with my Pokémon" Ash said "at the time I only had four Pokémon. Those being Pikachu, Charmeleon, Ivysaur and Wartortle. I asked them what they wanted from life and they were astonished. Pokémon don't get much of a choice in life when they're caught due to edicts created by the All-Maker. They essentially become slaves to their masters whose choices become theirs and very few ask their Pokémon what they want out of life. Now, at that point, other than Pikachu all of my Pokémon were rescued from being abandoned by their previous trainers so when I asked them what they wanted they had to really think about it. Pikachu wanted Rock Types to fear Electrics, Charmeleon wanted to earn Legendary status, Wartortle had no idea as he was only a recent rescue and had been living alone after being abandoned and Ivysaur just wanted a simple garden to look after. Now he imagined just a little yard like my mother had to tend to some plants. That amazed me more than anything I'd ever heard. All he wanted was a small garden, he could have asked for anything and that's what he asked for. A few weeks later we were travelling down towards Fuchsia and observed Digletts Valley and the Laramie Ranch and it gave me an idea. By that point I'd amassed some money from my books and battling and decided to see if I could buy a house with a large garden. As I was only still only eleven at that point my mother and Professor Oak as my sponsor took over the legal side and I left it with them. When my birthday came around my mother took me for a little drive and showed me what she'd bought for me. I was stunned, here I was just expecting a small house in Pallet Town and she had organised a brand new house being built with a huge area of land. By this point I'd been speaking with various people from areas I'd visited such as The Laramies and the AONB about making my land into a place that Pokémon could live in peace. It's sort of grown from there really."
"Fascinating" Michael said leaning back, content to let Ash talk "So where does your relationship with the Silph Company originate from?"
"My first foray into Saffron City" Ash said "I'm not going to go into my opinions on Psychics, that's already well documented including the reason why but I freed the mind of its inhabitants and it just happened to include the son of the head of Silph. After that they offered me a ten year sponsorship deal when I told them of my ambitions."
"Which has become a very lucrative deal hasn't it?" Michael asked "for both sides."
"I don't really know the numbers from their side" Ash said shrugging "and I've given up checking what I get paid as I trust them implicitly. I send them ideas for products, they can either dismiss them or go ahead with them. I'm very lucky that they thought I had some good ideas."
"So why are you in dispute with them so much?" Michael said looking at a piece of paper "we've all heard reports of you being at odds with them."
"Well as in any business relationship there has to be boundaries set for it to work" Ash said "we're both still working out the kinks of those as we have a very organic and fluid relationship. The contract we signed offers a stable foundation to work from, and we've made additions along the way that suit us both. I know there's been stories saying I'm holding them to ransom or being antagonistic but all I've done is stood my ground. I've lost just as many arguments as I've won with them."
"So what of the report you've banned them from your ranch after they helped fund it?" Michael asked.
"For one they didn't help fund it" Ash said shaking his head "they provided the equipment needed for their researchers but it's still me that pays their wages and it comes out of my budget not theirs. I fund my ranch. And they've not been banned from my ranch either, I sent them all on holiday, with pay a month earlier than scheduled because I want to be able to have my parents visit with my new sister and not overwhelm her and for myself to have some peace after a gruelling year of travelling. Every decision I make that involves my ranch is for the benefit of those inhabitants and I keep Mr Suzuki informed every step of the way if it includes his workers. He accepted my reasons and hasn't caused a fuss. He's very clued in on what I'm doing and hasn't voiced a contrarian opinion on many things but his opinion is valued, especially on the business side."
"Ok moving on, why do you have such a problem with the media?" Michael asked.
Ash frowned as that wasn't one of the questions on the list. Thinking it over he wondered what he should say before deciding on an answer. "I don't in general. I don't really care what people think of me or believe of me as they don't know me. The opinions of the general public also means little to me too. They have formed it from other sources. Newspapers, TV shows, gossip etc and don't actually know the real me. I'm a very private person and as I said before I don't get on well with people. I'm curt, to the point but very rarely am I rude with people. You have to do something to someone I like, even love for me to write you off and I have never said no to offering advice where Pokémon training is concerned. But once the media starts bringing my family, friends or girlfriend into their opinion of me is when I feel they've crossed a line. Attack me all you want, I really don't care but they have no right to say anything about my loved ones just because they can't get at me. I have a lawsuit currently in the works with the Reporter for their response to my refusal to do any interviews with them after they accused me of cheating on my girlfriend when it's extremely well documented what my aura will do to anyone that interferes in my bond with my soul mate, especially to me. So, if the media are respectful to me I will be the same back."
"You know of course that it's the medias job to report on people." Michael said.
"They have a responsibility to report the truth" Ash countered "I'm not holding out for universal popularity if that's what people think, I'm not that naïve. But to blatantly spread lies to sell papers will never sit right with me and if people don't start standing up for themselves then they'll carry on destroying lives with their lies."
"Changing tack, why did you agree to this interview if you have such disdain for the media?" Michael asked.
"I don't" Ash said "I just abhor lies. As for this interview I agreed to it because I feel I owe Silph for some of the things they've done for me over the last few years. At times I've not been able to hold up my end of the bargain, mainly due to recovering from saving the world again and again and because I refused to do any press this year due to the Reporters actions we struggled to come to an agreement. I offered to do this because it was the right thing to do for them. They've come through for me on so many occasions when they didn't have to, especially in helping me mentally. It's because of them I'm not in a mad house given all that's happened to me over the years. They went out of their way to help me find a therapist whom I speak to once a week."
"Are you not worried about what admitting that might mean to you?" Michael asked "given it could be used against you in your lawsuits."
"No" Ash said shaking his head " I'm perfectly rational and in control of my own mind. My therapy is based on coming to terms with constantly being in life threatening situations due to morons thinking they have the divine right to rule the world and everyone in it. So no, they can try and use that if they want to but it's not a factor for me. Thousands use therapy, it's extremely beneficial and I would highly recommend it to everyone who is struggling with something in their life."
"Can you share some insight into what you talk about with your therapist?" Michael asked curiously.
"Well normally it's very private and I would normally say no but as I'm talking about it now I will do." Ash said taking a deep breath "currently I feel lost. I have been struggling because one of my Pokemon died just before the tournament started and I seriously considered giving up battling altogether. It was such a freak accident and happened so fast that I felt guilty that it happened at all and wasn't strong enough or quick enough to prevent it. Losing Typhlosion was something I didn't think would happen for at least a few more decades so it was a bit of a reality check at how brutal a life this is for a trainer. It's still not really sank in for me, I still feel very detached and if it wasn't for my girlfriend convincing me to not give up battling just yet I'd be at home now just walking around my ranch, likely feeling sorry for myself."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Michael said, sounding sincere.
"Thank you." Ash said nodding "while I can I want to apologise to Macey who I battled in my second match. I was angry after the way my first match ended and wanted to make sure I had a shot at making it through and I was rather brutal using Pikachu. So I'd like to apologise for that."
"I'm sure she'd be thankful for that" Michael said "we're about ready to wrap this up so before we go I want to ask, what's in the future for Ash Ketchum?"
"Honestly, beyond trying to beat Bethany tomorrow nothing except win this league" Ash said "I have a tough opponent, it won't be easy but I cannot allow myself to look beyond my next match. If I'm to achieve my goal of gaining my mastery in the next four years I cannot afford to be arrogant. Hopefully in a weeks time I'm at home with the winners trophy."
"Ladies and gentlemen Ash Ketchum" Michael said standing up, something Ash mirrored as the applause sounded. Walking over to the side of the stage he frowned when he saw Hanzo having what looked like a stern conversation with Joanne.
"Are you threatening my employee?" Ash asked as he walked over to them "I'd advise you to move away from her."
"She is still my employee Ketchum" Hanzo said looking irritated.
"You fired her, remember?" Ash said "and I hired her. So if you don't mind I'd like to take my employee back home."
"I do mind actually Ketchum." Hanzo said "she hasn't been fired so she still listens and obeys me."
"Obeys you?" Ash asked, interrupting him "Joanne obeys nobody. She is her own person and is free to choose what she wants to do and if you think I'm going to let her stay in the company of a scumbag like you, you have another thing coming."
"You know nothing about me Ketchum." Hanzo said walking forwards to look up at Ash.
"I know exactly what kind of man you are" Ash replied "you are a totally corrupt, womanising playboy who believes that he can get away with anything just because he has a rich daddy. You're a disgrace to the Suzuki name."
"Mr Ketchum" a voice said from behind him "we need your microphone."
"No worries" Ash said, taking it off along with the power pack "thank you. Come on Joanne, let's go discuss the benefits package for your new role."
Walking away with Ash Joanne felt very strange wondering what was going to happen in the future. She loved her job but didn't know if she'd want to work for a man like Hanzo should the worst happen to Hatori, who wasn't getting any younger. Perhaps it was time to explore other options. Getting back to their chalet half an hour later she sent an email to Hatori explaining what had happened, unaware Ash had sent a similar one only with a caveat. Do not send your son as a representative of Silph in anything that we deal with Hatori. It will not end well for both parties.
Hatori was sitting in his chair with his head in his hands wondering what to do. Printing off both emails he phoned the media outlet and spoke to the director who informed him what went on as he was at the side of the stage too. Grimacing he hung up and headed upstairs and into his fathers office. Seeing he was on a call he waited off to the side but when he heard the voice he was speaking to he frowned.
"… unacceptable Grandfather. I will not be spoken to like that by a two bit Pokemon trainer."
"That Pokemon trainer is the Kanto Champion" Hatori said, coming to stand behind his dad and putting a hand on his shoulder, gently squeezing it while he slipped the two printed off emails into his hands "and your behaviour is utterly deplorable. I have repeatedly warned you about how you act and how your actions represent this company and you've repeatedly ignored me."
"You've never took my side in these things" Hanzo said angrily "never."
"Because you've never been in the right!" Hirohito shatter slamming his hand down on the table "you have brought shame on this family."
"Oh not this again" Hanzo said shaking his head "it was a one time thing. And she didn't want anything to do with us, remember!"
"I cannot say I'm surprised given the way you abandoned her." Hatori said.
"Well I've started to try and rectify that." Hanzo said, smirking.
"How?" Hatori asked.
"I've applied for custody of Ava." Hanzo said "she is my daughter. You get your granddaughter in your life and can stop whinging, Ava gets a better life and everybody wins."
"Everybody except Zoe and Ava!" Hatori said "there is a reason I have never pursued the legal route."
"Yes, well I have" Hanzo said "then we can drop this 'shame' nonsense once and for all."
"This does nothing but antagonise Ash, Zoe and Ava." Hatori said looking at his father.
"What does Ketchum have to do with it?" Hanzo asked frowning "she is nothing to him."
"He's been her father figure for the last few years now" Hatori said "Zoe and Ava have been living in Pallet Town for the last few years after Zoe became Ash's Ranch manager."
"Well that will change when she comes back and lives here" he said "I won't have my daughter living so far away from me."
"I urge you not to proceed with this," Hatori said, frowning "no good will come of this."
"I will get my daughter back." Hanzo said "that's all that matters to me."
"And what of Zoe?" Hirohito asked "what of Ava's mother."
"She'll live with me too," Hanzo said as if it was obvious. "Anyway my lawyers are already filing the papers. And as for Ketchum, he better send an apology in the next few days or there will be repercussions for his actions."
"Ash will send nothing" Hatori said "you were the one out of line and it is you that will send him an apology. I will not argue this Hanzo, I have had it confirmed by several people who were present and it is you who was in the wrong. It is you who will send an apology email not just to Ash but to Joanne also for the deplorable way you have treated her."
"I will do no such thing!" He said livid, "I am Hanzo Suzuki, not some commoner." Angrily he signed off leaving Hirohito and Hatori to look at each other in concern.
"I'd ring Ash and inform him of Hanzo's actions." Hirohito said "I'll begin filing papers to disown him. I will not leave our company in the hands of a tyrant son. I will not see sixty years of hard work pissed away on one spoiled brat."
"Very well father," Hatori said, dreading the conversation he was going to have with Ash. "First though I will go and see Zoe. She deserves to hear about this from us in person."
"Tell her I am deeply sorry" Hirohito said nodding "let her know we will help her in any way we can but as he is on the birth certificate she may have very few options available."
That evening a helicopter was seen flying towards Pallet Town, landing in the town square, much to the irritation of its occupants. Climbing out Hatori looked down at a piece of paper and saw his destination was just across the park. Knocking on the door he waited until finally Zoe answered, her face falling the moment she saw who it was.
"Hello Zoe, may I have a moment of your time?" Hatori asked sounding grim.
