Chapter 11: Restless Day

Ash was giving first aid to one of the houndours when he heard footsteps running in their direction. Thanks to the light coming from a lamppost, he caught sight of multiple men being led by a woman with amber eyes and short teal hair. She was wearing a cap, a short-sleeved button-up shirt, and a skirt, all of which were mainly in dark blue with a few more colors for designs. The pokémons around him growled but he calmed them down, "It's okay guys, they're friends."

"Team Rocket!" The woman exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the two unconscious Team Rocket members lying on the ground. Some of her comrades quickly handcuffed Jessie and James before carrying them away along with another Rocket member tied up in String Shot. She turned her gaze to the boy and spoke, "I'm Jenny. Kid, what happened here, is there any adult with you?"

Ash shook his head, "No, officer Jenny. And that weezing and dustox belong to Team Rocket." He then petted one of the still unconscious houndooms. "Also, these houndours and houndooms are this school's pokémon guards, they were injured fighting against Team Rocket."

Jenny gave orders to some officers, "Put that Weezing and Dustox into iron nets. Search for their pokéballs later and put them inside. And take those houndours and houndooms to the pokémon center." She cleared her throat and walked closer to the boy, "Would you come with me to the station for questioning? We'll also need to contact your parents or guardian."

:･ﾟ(ꈍᴗꈍ)･ﾟ:

Kenny was on his apartment's balcony under the early morning sky, eating breakfast as he scrolled through his phone. His eyes widened when he noticed a man with purple hair in the thumbnail of a news story. "This man, he talked to me yesterday in the park," he said to himself and pressed the play button.

The video showed the gates of a school and some areas inside, "Just earlier, in the middle, of the night, three members of Team Rocket attacked the Vermilion City Pokémon School. They tried to steal the pokémon of the said school but they failed and were caught by the police." A photo of a woman with long crimson hair then appeared, "According to the police investigation, this woman, who is identified as Jessie, pretended to be a reporter of a magazine yesterday to get inside and get information about the school." The photo was then replaced by that of the man Kenny had recognized, "While this man, named James, broke into the control room of the school last night and stopped the CCTV cameras throughout the school from saving recordings so as not to leave evidence." Another man was then shown on the screen as the report continued, "Their third member is a local of Vermillion who is allegedly just a new recruit, his name is Bobo. The Police did not provide details on how the group failed and was arrested."

Kenny took a bite of his bread as he recalled his interaction with James and thought to himself, 'this man said he noticed that I was alone and sad in the park so he talked to me. It's a good thing I didn't listen to this man's persuasion to give me the power to do whatever I wanted. Otherwise, I'd be with them now behind the bars.' He finished his chocolate drink and opened a book on his table, 'Another day of self-study.'

:･ﾟ(ꈍᴗꈍ)･ﾟ:

Ash walked slowly into the school, his feet were heavy as if his shoes were made of steel, "Uh I wasn't able to get back to sleep. Officer Jenny bombarded me with questions in the station and then mom at home." It was very early in the morning and he could still see the last glitters of some stars in the sky as the sun rose. But his club advisor had called him earlier and told him to meet up with him in their club before school hours. When he arrived at the school ranch he saw Brock watching his geodude roll over the new piles of earth where the craters had been before, flattening them. "Good morning, sir Brock."

"Have you had coffee yet Ash?" Brock asked as he and the boy entered their club building.

"Not yet, sir." Ash sat at the table while his club advisor took out his thermos with brewed coffee. He poured the liquid into two cups and handed one to him, "Thanks, sir."

"A policewoman contacted me earlier," Brock informed but paused as his cheeks flushed at the thought of the woman. He took a sip of his coffee to calm himself. "Because I am in charge of this club, she invited me over to their station with the principal and informed us of what had happened here, according to your statement. No wonder that woman, Jessie, didn't give me her number, she wasn't able to feel my love because of her evil heart." He cleared his throat and continued, "Officer Jenny decided not to disclose too many details to the press, especially your involvement, for your safety. But even if she did, there's no need for you to worry. Two of the three Rocket members that were caught earlier have decent ranks in their organization, but they weren't too high for Team Rocket to waste time getting revenge for. Especially now that some of their higher-ranking members have been arrested in recent weeks after they were seen wounded for whatever reason."

"So, I also shouldn't tell anyone what happened, right, sir Brock? My mother already knew though." Ash pulled out his phone and opened his messaging app, "I'll tell her not to tell anyone too."

"That's right. But as I said, you don't need to worry too much." The older teen then started stroking his own chin, "About that pokémon you saw that introduced itself as Mewtwo, we believe that it was just a wild pokémon that just happened to pass by, with great psychic abilities that's why it was able to talk to you mentally. Probably a named Alakazam, just maybe. It could also be an Aura user, a Lucario to be more specific. But those are just possibilities. It would help if you could add more descriptions."

Ash looked up at the ceiling, remembering what had happened, "I have nothing more to add, sir. Its appearance was obscured by its own shadow because of the moon. It was bipedal, had pointed ears and a long tail, but now that I think about it, it had small scratches all over its body. Probably from wild encounters. That's all really. Anyway, what is Aura, sir?

"All I know about Aura is that the user can communicate mentally with others who also have a strong Aura. And other capabilities I'm not sure of. Historically, there were only a handful of people recorded to have used it. Of the pokémons now, I think it's only Lucario's family that is capable of learning how to use Aura. Still, to see one being good at it is very rare." Brock explained, before his face became serious. "By the way, the other reason why I called for you is about you sneaking in here in the middle of the night."

It was now the raven-haired boy's turn to take a sip of his coffee to calm himself, "ah yes, sorry, sir hehe." As if on cue, Riolu entered the room and looked at Ash who noticed his arrival, "Morning Riolu!"

"Reeyow!" the emanation pokémon barked in response.

Brock took a stainless bowl, filled it with pokémon food, and laid it down in front of Riolu before returning to his seat. "As I was saying, about you sneaking here earlier in the night. The principal and I agreed that you had good intentions, which was to check on the supposed sick Riolu, and that paid off nicely because you and your Mr. Mime were able to help the school pokémon guards on stopping Team Rocket from stealing the school pokémons until the Police arrived. We want to commend you for your efforts, so thank you. But you still broke a school rule so sorry to do this, but we have to punish you to be fair to others. But of course, we put into consideration what you have done. We also filed it as a different offense so you will not be linked to the incident."

Ash hid his disappointment and displayed an understanding look on his face, "I understand, sir."

Riolu stopped eating, having understood the keywords of what Brock had said. He stood and raised his arms, getting the attention of the two humans, "Reeyaaw yaaw."

"Don't worry, Riolu, it's nobody's fault but Team Rocket. We just have to implement the rules," the pokémon breeder assured.

:･ﾟ(ꈍᴗꈍ)･ﾟ:

"Have you heard the news?" Goh asked in his usual seat during lunchtime.

"There are lots of news in the world to hear, Goh." Chloe paused to have a sip of her juice box, "Maybe you want to be more specific?"

"Is it about a new sale at the mall?" Dawn asked while combing her hair.

"You know what? Nevermind." Goh groaned.

Ash just remained silent as he returned his lunch box to his bag. He then propped an elbow on his table, his sleepy eyes watching the two girls laugh at Goh. His eyes widened when a bespectacled boy suddenly appeared behind Dawn.

"News about Team Rocket's failure to steal the school's pokémons last night," the boy interjected, making the three unaware pre-teens squeak in surprise. He adjusted his glasses and stepped between Goh and Dawn, revealing his dark green hair and black eyes. He had a red necktie, signifying his higher year. Behind him was a smaller boy with orange-rounded hair and gray eyes, with the same yellow tie as Ash's group.

"And who are you?" The dark-blue-haired girl asked, leaning away from the boy.

"I'm sorry, I'm Conway, a third-year and president of the Journalism Club. And this is Trevor, he's a freshman like you guys, from section one. He's a member of my club," introduced Conway, his smile creeping out the two girls of the group, while Trevor just nodded quietly. "I'm here to ask questions about the incident, to include that topic in the next monthly issue."

"What do we have to do with that?" Chloe asked.

"It came to my mind, that there were two possible reasons why the police did not elaborate what happened. First, they may not want to disclose their tactic of capturing Team Rocket for it to remain effective." He looked at each of them in the eyes one by one before continuing, "And second, maybe someone else caught Team Rocket and the police are protecting their identity."

"I don't know how you came up with the second one, it sounds like a scene in some fictional stories," Goh commented.

"So what are your questions?" Ash asked, gulping afterward, not comfortable at how close this Conway was to the truth.

"Simply put, do any of you have anything to do with what happened? Or do you know anybody?" Conway adjusted his glass once more, with one hand taking out his notes as Trevor secretly took some photos.

Before any of them could answer, there was a shout from the doorway, "Got you, Conway!" A tall boy with blonde hair and orange eyes approached the bespectacled teen, "I received reports that you've been harassing students in their rooms again. You even went after the first years this time! I'm gonna fine you big time!"

"Harassing? You are overreacting again, Barry! I'm just interviewing some students!" The third year reasoned before the other teen grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the room. "Hey let go of me, you're the one harassing me now! You should be removed as a committee member! I'm a year higher than you, let me go!"

"Oh yeah, let's talk about that in front of the student council then," was what Barry said as his voice slowly disappeared in the hallway. Trevor bowed his head to the group of section two students before running after the older students.

"That was weird," Ash commented as he rested his head on his arms on the table.

"And creepy," Dawn added.

"Are you feeling okay, Ash?" Chloe asked, noticing her friend's less energetic behavior.

The boy in question sat up straight, "Yes, I'm just a bit sleepy, that's all,"

:･ﾟ(ꈍᴗꈍ)･ﾟ:

"I hope you still remember what we've discussed yesterday because now you need to apply those in an actual game," said the PE teacher of class 1-2, standing in front of them inside the indoor multi-purpose gym. "Just a reminder, since not all of you are good at basketball, I will be loose in calling the rules. But I hope you will still show effort in following what we have studied."

He looked at his note for the students who would be captains of their teams. He based it on those who got the highest grades in their quiz yesterday about the rules. "We will divide the boys and girls into two groups each to play boys vs boys and girls vs girls. I will call the captain of each group and they will pick their members alternately. The boys first. Team A's captain is Gary while Team B's captain is Richie. Both of you stand here with me, you're on the right Gary and you're on the left Richie. "The two called students followed and stood in the given position. "Now, play one round of rock paper scissors. Whoever wins, will be the first to choose his team member, followed by the other." The two boys raised their fists to chin level, "At the count of three. One, two, three, go!" Gary and Richie released their fingers as they lowered their fist at the same time. "Scissors to Gary, and paper to Richie. You choose a teammate first, Gary "

Goh tapped Ash's shoulder, "What's our strategy?"

"Huh? It's like you already know we'll be in the same team," the raven-haired boy said, before chuckling, "I kinda do too, though haha."

Goh snickered, "It's obvious, we'll be teamed up with Richie. So about the strat..."

"Ash, I choose Ash."

Ash and Goh fought the urge to clean their respective ears as they looked at the source of the voice.

"Get over here," Gary smirked. Even he was surprised at his decision to choose his fellow Pallet native to be one of his teammates since he liked the idea of playing against him. But, by the way Richie had performed in their previous PE activities, it was easy to tell that he was as good as him in sports in general. As much as Gary wanted to be challenged, he wanted to win even more. And Ash was the deciding factor.

Richie gritted his teeth, knowing full well what the Team A captain was thinking. He had also wanted Ash on his team to secure the win, but that was no longer an option.

"Your turn, Richie. Please be quick," their teacher instructed.

Moments passed and all the teams for both boys and girls were decided. Their teacher gave them a couple of minutes to talk about their strategies. While the other classes in the gym had already started their games in their own courts.

All 7 members of Boy's team B were sitting in a circle as they talk to themselves, in contrast to the equally numbered Team A who were just sitting normally on their bench.

"Hey Gary, aren't we going to talk about our own strategy?" a team A member asked.

Their captain looked at him and spoke, "Ash and I will play full 10 minutes with you. Then the other two will be switched out in the 5-minute mark so everyone could play. We will do a man-to-man defense, I'll guard Richie and you guys pick your mark. Do your best on getting the rebounds and pass the ball to Ash. He knows what to do, right Ashy boy?"

The raven-haired teen's eyebrow twitched, "That's your strategy? Fine, I'll do it. But if we win, you will no longer call me Ashy boy okay?"

Gary smirked, "Forever? No can do. One month is all I can offer you."

"Seriously!?" Ash growled.

A whistle was heard, earning the whole class's attention, "Times up. The boys will play first. Move move move." The ever-energetic PE Teacher instructed, standing in the middle of their basketball court, waiting for players to get into their positions for the tip-off.

Gary, Ash, and three other boys walked to the right, while Richie, Goh, and the other three boys to the left.

"Go! Ash! Win this one! And! Have! Lots of fun!" Dawn cheered as she waved her hands in the air with imaginary pom-poms. Ash nodded and smiled in thanks. Most of their classmates also looked at her for a second before focusing back on the court.

"Go Ash," Serena whispered as she put her hands down, being only a second late than Dawn from doing the same thing, which was not left unnoticed by Misty.

"Hey, Chloe! Cheer me on too!" Goh yelled at his childhood friend who just looked away, her eyes rolling sharply before blinking. Their classmates chuckled at this while Goh hung his head in disappointment.

"I believe we have a game to play. The team with the most points after 10 minutes will win. Each team has two 1 minute timeouts each," their teacher reminded with a ball in hand. Gary and Richie stepped forward, preparing for the tip-off. "Begin!" He tossed the ball in the air.

The jumpers waited for the ball to reach its highest point before jumping after it, their hands trying to do the tip.

As expected, Gary got to the ball first and tipped it to the side, right to Ash who was already waiting for it.

As soon as Gary landed back on his feet, he immediately ran to their ring, running around the opposing team effortlessly, with Richie chasing after him.

Without moving an inch from where he stood, Ash threw the ball forward. Gary caught it and did a lay-up, scoring 2 points.

Some girls squealed when Gary flipped his hair before moving to the side, letting Goh take the ball and pass it to Richie.

"Let's go! Offense!" Richie said, running to their side of the court. Gary didn't bother giving chase and just stood near the free-throw line.

As soon as Richie crossed the middle line, Ash intercepted him and stopped him in his tracks. In one swift move, Richie went for a straightforward drive to get past Ash. He smiled, feeling he had gotten through Ash's defense. But that smile vanished when Ash stepped back with precise timing and tapped the ball right off his hand.

Richie's eyes widened in shock as Ash ran and swooped the loose ball right up. Similarly as earlier, he threw the ball forward to Gary who was still standing on the same spot near their free-throw line. The auburn-haired boy caught it and did another easy lay-up.

4:0 in less than 30 seconds.

"Wow," was the common thought of everyone except for the two Pallet natives.

"Come on guys! We are just getting started," Richie encouraged as he and Goh moved to get the ball back into play. Gary also decided to go on the other side to help in the defense.

With the ball back in his hand, Richie started dribbling down the court, planning to go right for the basket. But this time Gary was the one who caught up to him, just in time to stop him from going past the three-point line. Ritchie passed the ball to Goh who was open for a jump shot.

"Go in!" Goh had a smile on his face as the ball left his hand.

But then a hand slapped it from behind, changing its trajectory. "Sorry Goh," Ash smiled, as a teammate of his caught the ball. Ash moved away from Goh and made himself open for a pass. His teammate recognized this and passed the ball right into his hands.

"I won't let you pass it this time," Richie said, marking Ash. Goh and the others instinctively ran after Gary who was making his way back to their basket, anticipating another pass.

Ash dribbled the ball at an irregular pace. And then in a blink of an eye, he moved forward. Richie stayed in front of him, though, slowing him down. But then Ash bounced the ball to his left hand where he caught it for a fast break in that direction. Richie's knees buckled for a split second and Ash took advantage of that and charged forward. He shook off Goh and one more defender before throwing the ball in the air. A familiar hand caught it before being shot to the basket.

"Yeah!" Gary exclaimed.

The game continued this way. Ash would attempt to steal the ball and go through the defense to pass it to an open teammate, who was usually Gary. Their other teammates also scored some points but they were more efficient in getting the rebounds. Ash scored a few baskets just to confuse the opposing team and not focus too much on Gary.

Richie did everything he could to carry his team and in the end, he got 8 points and 1 assist out of their team's total of 12 points. Gary had 16 points, 0 assists, and Ash had 4 points, 10 assists, out of their team's total of 25 points.

"Not bad, Ashy boy, I mean Ash haha," Gary laughed, remembering their deal. "It seems that growing up in a small town where there is nothing to do but play games and sports is also beneficial."

"I'm not rusty, unlike you," Ash retorted, panting and sweating twice as much as the taller boy for doing most of the running. He turned away and started walking up to the bench. His lack of enough sleep and exhaustion made him want to go home and rest. But this subject wasn't over yet and there were two more subjects afterward before club time.

"I never thought those two could work together like that," Dawn said, earning a nod from Chloe. "And the way Ash played is amazing. He practically handed points to Gary."

"You did very well Ash!" Serena complimented, now standing in front of him, getting the boy's attention.

"Thanks, Serena. Do your best too!" Ash replied, his smile masking his fatigue.

"Thanks! I can't promise I'll be as good as you, but I'll try my best!" the honey-haired girl chimed before joining the other girls on the court and the other boys walking out of it.

:･ﾟ(ꈍᴗꈍ)･ﾟ:

A/N: Feel free to point out any plot holes you may notice at any point in time. Except for those that fall under the 'Suspension of Disbelief.'

Thank you!

-Areyem Meyera