Chapter 45
"Hi Ash, did you miss me?"
Those words still echoed in Ash's head two days later and it infuriated him. The immediate aftermath was extremely confusing for the audience who was watching some random guy appear on the screen. For Ash though it made him so angry that he had pulled a stunt like this. Ash turned to Giovanni and had immediately ordered him to secure Vincenzo and his mother and then turned to Lance and his Elite Four.
"Where is this being broadcast from?"
"I've no idea but we'll find out." Lance replied, looking up at the smug grin on Silver's face.
Ash brought out his Pokégear and grimaced, why was there no service? "Where is the main hub for the radio stations or the phone lines in Johto?"
"Goldenrod City" Bruno said "why?"
"I think we've just found out where that bastard is hiding," Ash said, shaking his head and looking back up at his cousin's face.
Ash had a few things he immediately needed to do. Jumping down to the floor he quickly rushed to Nia who was looking concerned.
"I need to go and get Gyarados, can you do me a favour and go and get Charizard. Tell him we need his help in Goldenrod City. Tell him Team Rocket have made their play and we need every bi of help we can get." Ash said, kissing her and rushing off without waiting for a reply. Heading back to the stage he released Queenie, causing the audience, who were still bewildered to hush
"I'm heading to the lake of Rage" Ash told Lance "I want my Princess back and I'll head straight to Goldenrod City, Nia is going to get Charizard and hopefully some of his kin to aid us. I have a bad feeling about this Lance."
Not waiting for a reply he gripped Queenie on her huge neck with his knees and she took off, heading West to where the lake was located. It wasn't a quick journey for Ash either as the Lake was a good half a day's travel across the mountain range and past Blackthorn City. It was nearing midnight when he landed at the lake, where the Radio Tower had been demolished since he was last there. Feeling both of his Gyarados deep under the lake he sent out a pulse to gain their attention and it wasn't long before they surfaced not far in front of him. Explaining the situation Princess nodded and went to retrieve her ball while Gyarados looked conflicted.
"I'm fine leaving you here" Ash said to him taking the decision out of his hands "This will likely be where we part ways though pal. It's been a pleasure knowing you. If you ever decide to train up a Magikarp to take over from you then you're more than welcome to head back to our home."
"I've never thanked you for what you've done for us" Gyarados said bowing his head "but you've done a service that every Magikarp and Gyarados will remember for generations. Your legend will be forever felt amongst our kind."
"It was my pleasure," Ash said, bowing his head and feeling his Princess drawing near. Ash noticed a certain shift in his body language when she appeared, almost as if he was guarding her but it quickly passed when she arrived. Lowering her head Ash saw two spherical objects roll towards him. Bending down he picked up her Pokéball but at its side was a marble, yellow but with a blue fleck glowing softly in its centre.
"No way," Ash said, shaking his head in disbelief, "where did you find this?"
"It was in her lake on Rind Island" Gyarados said "it was one of the reasons she looked after the lake for all those years but she felt you needed it more. If she should ever return though when you're done battling she will need to take it back there."
"I can't believe we have a Gyaradosite" Ash said shaking his head before looking at her "shall we try it out while we're here? We'll be spending the night here and moving on in the early hours tomorrow so we have all night to get you used to it."
Getting a chuff she lowered her head and Ash saw on her crown a small hole that had always been there but Ash had never figured out why. Looking over to his other Gyarados he saw he had the same slot too so it must be on all specimens. Walking over the water Ash stopped and looked at Princess who was twenty feet away and rubbed his hand over the pendant that was in his pocket. Gyarados immediately began to change, her body undulating as it shortened considerably from the thirty feet down to around twenty but her scales was where the biggest change happened as they became a lot smoother and two huge sails appeared on the centre of her back starting from the base of her head, supported by two other small sails at the base of her neck. She also grew four other smaller sails near the end of her body which Ash presumed would help her travel through the water at great speed. Her barbels on the base of her neck stretched from just under her neck to the entire length of her body at either side of the neck sails. Ash noted she looked a lot more like a Sailfish rather than a wyrm but she looked incredibly lethal in this form, much scarier than she usually looked given her size.
"You look incredible" Ash said after the light died down and she stopped panting. Ash felt a slight change in her demeanour as he walked closer but he knew his Pokémon and knew she would never do anything to harm him. Amazingly though Ash heard a growl come from her that he vaguely understood.
"Oh wow you can speak in this form" he said as he took in her appearance.
"Slightly" she said in a deep voice before shaking her head "It's…difficult…though…and…feels…strange."
"We'll get used to it" Ash said, walking over and patting her crown, getting another deep rumble. "It doesn't change anything though Princess. You're still an amazing Pokémon and an invaluable part of our family. How about you go and get used to your new body, let me know if there's any major differences."
"Typing…less speed…more power…easier movement…control water." She said in a halting voice. Ash knew it was because she wasn't used to speaking so took more notice of what she was saying and nodded.
"Apparently you're now immune to psychic types and aren't as weak to electricity anymore as you're now Water/Dark type. That will be fun to play around with, I may start you against that abomination when I challenge the Elite Four next year to see how well you do. I'm going to do some research on what Dark Type moves you can learn other than Bite and Crunch, mainly ranged ones to keep Pokémon away from you. You're shorter now so there's a lot more we can do manoeuvrability wise as there's less chance of you getting hit. We have a lot we can do with this new you."
"Better…prefer?" Gyarados asked.
"No," Ash said, shaking his head. "You've always been beautiful to me in your original form and you're beautiful now. I have no preference either way Princess. Anyway go and spend some more time in this body, we'll be on the bank over there."
The next morning Ash said goodbye to the other Gyarados, wishing him all the best but keeping his Pokéball so he wouldn't be caught and headed south over Mahogany, resting on the mountains that were the spine of Johto before carrying Eastwards back towards Silver Town. It was early evening when he landed at his Chalet to pick up his bag and leave the keys for the owner. The other inhabitants had evidently left, Jess and her family travelling to Olivine via car, Nia to the Charicific Valley and Gary with Lance wherever he was going. Joanne and Karl however were heading towards Goldenrod to get the train back to Saffron but Ash seriously doubted that would happen anytime soon if Silver and Team Rocket had indeed taken over Goldenrod City. It still puzzled Ash as to what his endgame was given he had isolated himself in a city so Team Rocket could be contained. Ash didn't think it would be easy to get the bastards out of the city but he hoped he was wrong. It would likely be a long drawn out confrontation like it had been over a decade ago. They had gotten very lucky back then as Silver disappeared after 'killing' his father but those years he spent under the radar had let him build up his power base back up to where they now evidently had enough people to take over the Capital City of Johto with apparent ease.
Ash walked to the League Building and spoke to the receptionist who informed him that Lance had left early that morning along with his Elite Four. Looking at his Pokégear left him feeling very frustrated as he knew the radio silence was something planned and not very welcome so the first thing they'd need to do was find a way around that. Sitting down on the bench outside the League building he wondered what he could do.
"Ash, the pain is coming back" Pikachu whispered quietly, gaining his attention. Ash felt like an absolute fool when he realised last night he had left Pikachu's medicine in his bag at the Chalet so it had been a very painful night for Pikachu.
"I'm so sorry" Ash said, taking it out of his bag and carefully injecting his tailbone, numbing it completely. Looking down at his starter Ash struggled to make a decision on what to do.
"Hello Ash" a voice said from the side of him.
"Hi Lorelei," Ash said confused. "I thought you'd be with Bruno heading to Goldenrod."
"No" she said, moving Satoshis blanket from his mouth in his pram, "we talked about it briefly but we have no one to look after Satoshi or Hailee so only one of us could go."
"You're worried aren't you?" Ash asked her, gaining a nod. "He'll be ok."
"I know" she said quietly "it still doesn't make it any easier though. Why are you here anyway? I thought you'd be in the thick of it with the rest of them."
"I left Pikachu medicine here when I went tearing off to get Gyarados back" Ash said looking guilty at his now sleeping Pokémon. "I felt so bad so I immediately made my way back here to get it. He's in a lot of pain."
"Is he going to be ok?" Lorelei asked, concerned.
"I think his battling days are over with" Ash said shaking his head "but I don't care about that as long as he's still here. I'm just debating what to do from here."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Pikachu has maybe four days worth of medicine left before he needs to get it replenished" Ash said "I know he can get treatment in Kanto and probably surgery too in the next week if I go there. However I also told Nia I would meet her outside of Goldenrod City as she's gone to get Charizards help and I have no way of informing her as the airwaves have been taken over. So on one hand I'm delaying Pikachu's recovery, but on the other hand I also don't want to worry my girlfriend, I know what I need to do, it's just rationalising it in my head."
"You need to get to Kanto don't you" she said, getting a nod. "Nia will understand you know and while she will worry she will get it. If you need me to talk to her then just let me know and I'll straighten her out."
Laughing Ash nodded and carried on petting Pikachu before asking "Are you safe here on your own?"
"I'll be fine" she said "I have my Pokémon with me should I need help."
"Which is fine if you don't also have your children to look after" he said looking concerned "I don't want to leave you here alone."
"Ash, I'll be fine," she said, shaking her head at him.
"This would be the perfect time for anyone trying to get at Hailee to do so" Ash said "while we have no proof the abominations are working with Team Rocket, leaving you isolated here could be something they have planned."
Lorelei looked troubled at that. "I hadn't thought of that" she said "what should I do then?"
"Go back to your chalet and pack lightly while I go to the League Building and get us two Alakazam. We're going to the Indigo Plateau."
Ash stood up and watched as the troubled mother rushed home to do what Ash said while he went and borrowed the two league Alakazam. He had to sign a few forms as he was borrowing Johto personnel not Kanto but he would be sending them back straight away so it wouldn't be long. Half an hour later he was back in Loreleis Chalet grabbing as many bags as he could while Lorelei held Satoshi on one hip and Hailee in her other hand. Releasing the Alakazam he went to order them before Hailee said "wait, what about Ralts?" Ash couldn't help the involuntary twitch that went through his body at the mention of the psychic type but looked at her sharply. "Grab him, but warn him that if he tries to interfere he will be punished."
Hailee nodded before rushing into their bedroom and walking out holding Ralts in her arms while Riolu hopped onto her shoulders.
Ash felt a disturbance in the aura of Silver Town not too far away and released the two psychic types. Tentatively he opened his mind to them and they latched on to Indigo Plateau and just as they winked out of existence the door to the Chalet burst open. They never saw Ash's smug grin but they felt rage as they knew they were going to be punished for this. Ash had inadvertently stopped another kidnapping, one that would have shook the world.
A few minutes later they all landed in a small heap in front of Ash's office building. Thanking the two Alakazam he recalled them and looked around noticing many people milling around, some wondering at the appearance of the Kanto Champion and the ex Kanto Elite Four member.
Taking out his Pokégear he grinned at the reception returning and immediately rang his dad.
"Ash" Red said urgently and happily seeing his face appear on the video screen "what the hell is going on?"
"I'll tell you in a bit but we need your help" Ash said, panning the phone so his mum and dad could see Lorelei there too "can you come and pick us up in the wagon, we're at the Plateau but I'd feel safer at home. We'll tell you what we know when you get here."
"It'll be a few hours, Ash" Red said, nodding "but sure."
"Dad, get mum and Flora to my house" Ash said seriously "Code S."
Grimly Red nodded and turned to Delia who had heard everything and began to gather her bags too.
Hanging up he looked around before picking up several of the bags. "Come on, we'll wait in my office. No point waiting out here."
Nodding Lorelei moved Satoshi slightly onto her other hip and followed Ash into the building and into his elevator, taking it all the way to the top. Looking at the time he noticed it was around 8pm Kanto time so he headed to Lorelei's old office which hadn't been changed as no one had taken her place just yet.
"I'll let you get him sorted out" Ash said "I'll let Koga and Laura know you're here. You'll need supplies so I'll go and get them now as I don't know if we'll have time on the way to my house."
Nodding Lorelei sat down on the bed wondering what the hell was going on. She hadn't said anything but she saw the two people in masks burst into her home and hated the fact Ash was right. Looking down at her five month old child and her six year old daughter who was sitting spinning in her old office chair she felt like crying at the fact she could have easily been in a cell now, with her kids being used as bargaining chips. She had never believed in a God, and even though Ash categorically had stated there was a Pokémon one she was still sceptical but she was starting to believe in one now. There was no way Ash's choice in coming back to the League building wasn't divine intervention after how close that had been.
"Mummy" Hailee said looking down at her swinging feet "why did people break into our house?"
"Ash just saved our lives sweetheart," Lorelei said, smiling softly at her daughter.
"Is it because of me?" She asked quietly.
"No darling!" She said gently placing Satoshi on the bed and kneeling in front of her daughter "don't you ever think that. You haven't done anything wrong, ok?"
Hailee nodded but still didn't look up.
"Am I interrupting?" Koga asked, knocking on the door.
"Hello again Koga" Lorelei said smiling "no not at all. How are you? It's been a while."
"Over a year" he said nodding, walking in and leaning over Satoshi. "He's going to be a big boy isn't he."
"He sure is," Lorelei said laughing.
"I thought you might be happy to be updated on what has happened in the last day. Ash has just informed me you are to be moved to his home until the incident in Johto is sorted out." Koga said "Laura is in the process of gathering the gym leaders in Saffron City however the majority of them are reluctant to help."
"Why?" Lorelei asked, shocked.
"Many feel, perhaps rightly that it is a Johto matter and therefore not something we should interfere with." Koga said making her shake her head "this is a new generation Lorelei, and while they have grown up with you and your husband, even Lance as idols the fact is you are no longer part of the Kanto set-up and don't have the influence you once had. There has always been this sentiment, bubbling up from the ether but as long as you remained unbeaten nobody could do anything to change anything. I remember talks happening over a decade ago to disband the Elite Four to recreate a new one but Charles Goodshow and Red wouldn't hear of it. Red wanted no part in a coup of any kind, something Blue put a stop to as well when he took over."
"Why weren't we told?" Lorelei asked, shocked.
"Charles felt it was unnecessary given you could have walked over anyone who dared try and having the Champion back you up put an end to any mutterings" Koga said "the Gym Leaders, led by Frank Surge also put down any potential take over as they wouldn't be party to that kind of thing. When you left though after Ash won the old sentiments started back up and while we are missing two from the Elite Four it is still now an all Kanto Elite Four."
"Something I am happy with" Laura said from the door, frowning as she listen to Koga. "Don't get me wrong, my respect for what you did for nearly two decades will always stay with me but we could never call ourselves the Kanto Elite Four if only one of our number was from Kanto. Things are different now and I can understand the reticence from the Gym Leaders but they all forget something. They answer to Ash and should he issue a declaration of war as Kanto Champion on Team Rocket to aid the citizens of Johto, aided by the Champion of Johto then we will have very little choice but to follow. Ash needs to be careful though as he's very rarely here to command the Kanto Leaders and with Blue on his way out his influence is getting smaller by the day."
"Noted" Ash said from behind her looking angry "but the leaders will listen to me or they'll be replaced. Team Rocket is a blight on us all and originated in Kanto. The previous board allowed themselves to be put into a position where they were hamstrung by the politics of the day. I have no such restrictions."
"The previous Elite Four very rarely came down from their ivory towers to do anything of note Ash" Laura said looking over at Lorelei, "and I'm old enough to remember the horror stories coming out about the Cinnabar experiments and then the Viridian City destruction less than a month later. And then absolutely nothing was told to the public afterwards from anyone up here. But my older sister knows the man who moved to Lavender Town was the chief suspect. A slap on the wrist is all that bastard got. You might have lived with the aftermath Ash but we all lived through the terror of not knowing if our loved one would be kidnapped and never seen. Lorelei and her friends are indirectly responsible for Team Rockets resurgence by not doing their jobs and eliminating the bastards when they had the chance and now you want us to put our lives on the line for those that weren't willing to do so fourteen years ago."
"I understand that more than you know" Ash said "and you are not the only one who had issues with The Elite Four. I was angry at them for over a decade but whether or not they're to blame is irrelevant right now. The fact is an issue that started in Kanto has now spread to Johto and we will not let them have anything to say about us leaving it to other people to clean up our messes. So I'm instructing you to head to Saffron City where I'll have a chat with everyone there tomorrow. At the moment though I have a few other more pressing matters."
Laura shook her head and moved away from the door without answering. Ash and Koga looked warily at each other wondering what would happen during their meeting.
"My dad is nearly here," Ash said, picking up some of her bags, Koga doing the same and making their way downstairs. Red did indeed arrive not long later in his new wagon that he'd bought.
"I'll see you around 6pm in Saffron tomorrow" Ash said, shaking Kogas hand. "I need to see the specialist in Saffron about Pikachu's surgery which I hope can happen soon. He's in a terrible state at the moment."
"Where is he?" Koga asked.
"In my bag" Ash said "He's asleep at the moment. The painkillers knock him out and I don't want to wake him up."
Getting in the front of the wagon Ash sat at the side of his dad and talked lowly on the way home about what had gone on over the last few days. Red listened while keeping his eyes on the road, grimacing when they got to the confrontation with his Steel type Elite Four member. Looking in the rear view mirror he saw Lorelei was staring off into space out of the window as Hailee was curled up asleep against her side.
"I'll tell you more about that when they're settled down" Red said lowly so only Ash could hear "there's a lot that's been kept secret over the years that I'm not happy with."
"I fear I'm going to have a lot of dissent amongst the gym leaders tomorrow when I meet with them in Saffron" Ash said sighing "I'm not looking forward to it."
"It's an issue you'll have for the remainder of your time as Champion" Red said grimly "be prepared for some of the Gym Leaders or even your Elite Four to challenge you for your position as soon as you take over properly should this go tits up. I know you're not looking forward to taking over but think of situations like this Ash and how you'll have absolutely no say in what happens should you give it up."
"I know," Ash said, sighing "but without Pikachu and Charizard I have doubts I'll keep my position. I seriously need to work on improving my squad. I don't even know what my strongest six is anymore as my Pokémon keep leaving."
"You need to get that sorted by the time you finish Hoenn" Red said "my advice? Don't challenge the Johto Elite Four next year like you planned. Do them after you finish the Hoenn League because without Pikachu you haven't a strong opener or finisher. Hopefully you can find one in Hoenn."
"I was thinking of doing just that," Ash said, sighing and leaning back. "I have good strong Pokémon but I have very few that would be considered Elite and they're reducing with every region which is frustrating but it's my own fault."
"Because you're letting them leave" Red said nodding "and while it's admirable Ash, letting them live out their dreams has detracted from your own and left you lacking. You are supposed to be the Kanto Champion and already two of your Championship team could have gone. You're lucky they're both for valid reasons but bloody hell Ash, you're making it difficult for yourself. At any other point in history you would have been challenged and beaten already so you're lucky the Kanto League is in a transition process."
"I know," Ash said, closing his eyes. "I made a decision at the beginning of the Silver Conference about a few Pokémon I will be hunting in Hoenn and training them seriously. I was planning on running them by you as I'm pretty deficient in certain areas."
"Go on" Red said as they pulled into the lane leading to Ash's house and pressing the buzzer which opened the gates while Ash listed the three Pokémon he was after. Pulling up to his driveway he noticed a few cars in his driveway and looked confused. Getting out he gently woke Lorelei and Hailee before grabbing their bags and leading them into his house, saying hello to his mum as he walked down the corridor to the East Wing of his home and led Lorelei into the room. Ash hadn't actually been down here in a while, certainly not to see it be finished but he stopped dead marvelling at the room.
"Oh wow" Lorelei said as she put her baby down on the bed and looked around. The room was incredible, creams and chocolate colours painted on the walls, with a huge blind covering one wall. Ash looked around and noticed a remote control on a stand and picked it up, pressing a button and to their astonishment the blind rose and a huge bay window was revealed showing an astonishing view of the lake with the sun going down. "What a view" Lorelei said looking astonished at seeing various water types that could be seen meandering their way across his lake. "Is this really your home?"
"It is" Ash said, nodding "I'll tell you what though, I think I'll keep Nia."
"Nia did this?" Lorelei asked, surprised.
"Oh yeah" Ash said nodding "There was no way I could come up with this. I just had the room made but the last time I saw this room it was just an empty white room. I just gave Nia a blank cheque and this is what she came up with. Hailee's room is just through there. This is obviously yours and Bruno's room. Just through that door there is a living room too. You're always more than welcome to come to my living room but I understand sometimes as husband and wife you just want your own space so I asked Nia to create one. There are a few rules that you absolutely must abide by that I'll ask Zoe to go over with you tomorrow, mainly for your own safety because ninety nine percent of the Pokémon here are wild and will protect their territory with extreme prejudice if you're not with any of my Pokémon. But we can go over that tomorrow, for now just rest. If you need anything I'm in the main part of the house, just follow the corridor and you'll come to my living room. Anyway, I'll leave you to it. If you want to join us for tea it'll be ready in a few hours, if not then have a good night."
"Thank you Ash" she said with a small smile looking around and lost. Ash hated seeing her look so vulnerable.
"Hey" Ash said getting her attention "Bruno will be fine. You're all safe now, safer than you know which is the most important thing."
"My babies are safe," she said, nodding in agreement with Ash.
That evening Ash was sitting having tea with his family, very grateful for the opportunity to do so.
"So what's happened?" Delia asked, looking tired but knowing she needed to stay up to hear about it.
It took half an hour for Ash to go through what he knew, what was happening with his Pokémon and what had gone on in the last twenty four hours. He hadn't forgotten what his father planned on telling him but there was so much to pack in that he was happy to wait.
"How's Pikachu?" Delia asked.
"It's not good mum" Ash said grimly "his battling days could be over with but as long as he'll be ok I'm not bothered about that."
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah" Ash said nodding "his well being is more important than anything else. Hopefully the surgery goes well for him and he can live a decent life but if he can't battle then he can't battle. He'll still travel with me but he'll be retired."
"Which isn't good for your mastery challenge," Red said, pouring a drink for Delia, "so what's the plan for that?"
"Well I'm struggling to care about that at the minute" Ash said "too many things have happened lately that have made me lose my love for battling. I was talking to Gary about this last week and I've found I love creating things like the Poképal or helping create the transfer network more than battling. I don't want to give up something I know I'm gifted at either but without Pi…I dunno."
"I think you'll regret hanging up your battling boots" Red said "trust me on that. But you have the opportunity to do what you want now. You have this place, family and friends but watching you in that semi-final against Bethany showed everyone that you were born to do battle."
"On the other hand" Delia said "it would be nice to have you closer to home."
Ash just laughed at the slightly hopeful way his mum said that and shook his head.
"I'm not giving up battles just yet" Ash said "I'm fourteen and don't want to regret anything. This whole situation with Silver needs resolving and I have a feeling I'm about to go to war with not just Team Rocket but members of my own league. That's going to be quite the discussion tomorrow."
"I had many myself," Red said, nodding "There was one person in particular that was very unhappy that three of my Elite Four were Johtoian. I had an easy out with that one though. I just told them that if they had an issue to beat them in battle and take their place. No one ever beat Lorelei. In fact that person was absolutely battered by her. But the anger has never gone away to the point I knew that one day it would resurface. I'm just sorry it's you that has to deal with it."
"You said you weren't happy with the aftermath of your disappearance" Ash said "why?"
"That's something I'm still processing," Red said. "My main gripe is that four people who were stronger than anyone else for over a decade at that point allowed themselves to be manipulated and strong armed into signing contracts prohibiting them from speaking out. I could possibly forgive that but letting Fuji go is something I will never forgive. They all, to a person, knew what that man was capable of and I often wondered why Lorelei convinced the rest to not leave. I actually sympathise with your Elite Laura and her view Ash. National pride has always been something I was proud of and it was one of the driving factors in me becoming Champion, Blue too though he'll tell you it was low on his list. The last Kantonian Champion before Blue and myself was his father in '63, and that was a long eight years of the Champion before Lance making sly comments about Kanto being obviously inferior. Before Blue beat him the region feared Lance would reign for a long time, and the relief a lot of people felt when he was beaten just a year into his reign was very palpable. People have long memories Ash and for the last twenty years having three Johtoians in our Elite Four has created a division in Kanto like you wouldn't believe."
"There was a reason they hid from public view for so long," Delia said, "especially after the Fuji debacle where they really dropped the ball."
"Why though?" Ash asked, "I don't get why they just let Fuji get away."
"They had no choice" Red said sourly "and they're not the judicial system Ash. It was them that they had to comply with and I suspect envelopes were passed around to try and make everyone move on as quickly as possible to save any embarrassment. The Elite Four were forced by Charles to sign NDA's and that was the end of it. I've spoken to a lot of people over the last year Ash and there's a lot of anger still there. Many believe the Elite Four intentionally covered things up because they're not from Kanto so it would cause us further embarrassment when it all came out not realising that their lives would also be impacted. It's bollocks of course but there is an undercurrent of Nationalism starting to stir up."
"The Kanto Board didn't exactly help matters either trying to sanction the Orange Islands in order to start the process of bringing them back under our rule." Delia said, "The other regions are watching very closely now to everything we do. I interacted with a lot of the higher ups at the Indigo League when I was running my restaurant there and I was told all sorts of things. So when I tried to establish a new restaurant in Johto it was nothing short of a nightmare. I've had to deal with so much red tape and having Ketchum as a surname hasn't helped either. They can't legally stop me creating another one but you can bet their taxes will be higher towards me than anyone who was born in Johto."
"Which is why it's so important we are seen to be dealing with Team Rocket" Ash said "and not letting Johto sort it out because that will cause a major split between the two regions. The incident at the Indigo League with the psychics widened that rift and Johto used that to piggyback on anything that painted us in a bad light. Me being in the region and winning their tournament won't have helped either. It's why I'm going to take your advice and postpone my challenge of their Elite Four, to let things die down after Team Rocket has been sorted. It also helps me get some new members of my team in the process too so it's a win-win for me."
"You need to be careful Ash" Delia said "and not just because you're throwing yourself into this situation. People will do anything they can to legally see you lose your job and all this in the bargain so you need to be squeaky clean with how you deal with Silver. It might be best to let someone else take him down."
"No," Ash said, shaking his head. "I understand where you're coming from but it needs to be me, if not dad ending his rule. I need to be certain that he doesn't escape to rebuild again and it needs to be done quickly. I don't enjoy the thought of ending someone's life but that may be what needs to happen as he's just too dangerous to be kept alive. I'll be leaving very early tomorrow so I'm going to head to bed and get what sleep I can. I need to call at Bills house before heading to Saffron City."
"Why in that order?" Red asked "if you're going back to Johto wouldn't it make sense to call at Bills before jumping on a boat to Olivine."
"Normally yes" Ash said "but we need to regain control of the radio tower in Johto to get messages out and he's the only one I know with the capability of doing so. So the sooner he starts the sooner we get control of Goldenrod City."
Ash did indeed leave early, in fact it was so early it was still pitch black. He had gathered his strongest team while he was at home and felt a lot better knowing he was bringing his heavy hitters. The journey to the Lighthouse was six hours and when he knocked on Bill's house it was just turning 10am.
"Ash!" Bill said letting him in "I would have thought you'd be in Johto."
"I'm heading back there tonight," Ash said, nodding "but I need your help with something first."
"Ah" Bill said, "Well that might have to wait as whatever is happening in Johto has blocked my ability to help out the Pokémon Centre in Goldenrod City so I'm trying to reroute the connection to enable Nurse Joy there to be able to do her job."
"Brilliant" Ash said, surprising him "That's part of why I'm here. For the last few months I've received reports that Team Rocket has had designs on Goldenrod Radio Tower and it seems they made their play on Monday afternoon. The entire network is down in Johto, no one can send messages or make calls and I suspect whatever they've done has interrupted your transfer network too. I came here to see if you know of anyone that can try and sort it out."
"Yeah I do" Bill said "you're looking at him. But I think I'll need to be closer to the tower to try and disable whatever block they have going on. What time are you heading to Johto?"
"As soon as I've had a chat with my Gym Leaders in Saffron and spoken to the surgeons at Saffron Hospital" Ash said "so I'll probably be back in Vermillion around 10pm. Why?"
"I'll join you" Bill said nodding decisively "we're just too far away to make any major changes to the network and while I could probably remote access their security system I would prefer to be on site."
"Very well" Ash said nodding "do me a favour then, when you've grabbed what you need head to Vermillion Harbour and book us two tickets to Olivine. I'll be as quick as I can."
Ash left shortly afterwards and headed over the forests towards Saffron City, landing outside Silph Towers a few hours later he wasted no time in heading to the hospital. It took a while to see someone but he finally managed to schedule to see a surgeon.
"Well you're in luck" the receptionist said "being Champion has some perks so you get bumped up the list. We can schedule Pikachu in for Friday evening to see what we can do for him. Is that ok?"
Ash grimaced when he thought about having to hang around in Saffron City for another two days. Looking down at his partner though he knew that he had to make a decision. "Book him in. I'll send him back home for now and he'll be transferred to you on Friday."
"We can take care of him here if location is an issue" he said looking at Ash "we know Pikachu doesn't like Pokéballs but we have an area that he can stay in safely."
"Ok" Ash said stroking his partner "hopefully I'm back for the weekend. You likely won't be able to get in touch with me as I'll be in Johto and they're having issues with their network system."
"Oh we know" he said "we've been having issues all day getting in touch with the hospital in Goldenrod Bay and we're not being told why."
"I'm heading back there to try and see what the issue is myself" Ash said "which is why I am reluctant to leave Pikachu but it needs to be done. Here, if you need to get in touch with someone urgently my mum and dad are my next of kin. Dad can get here easier than mum."
Saying goodbye to Pikachu was extremely painful for Ash as it would be the first time in over three years that they would be apart and it hurt Ash deeply. It needed to be done, he told himself as he headed out of the hospital and made his way to Silph Towers where he had booked a room for the gym leaders and the two members of the Elite Four to have their meeting. Wandering in he said hello to the receptionist and headed to the room where he was first to arrive. Looking at the time he saw he was an hour early so he pulled out his laptop and began to try and see what he could do himself to help out with the Johto situation. Ten minutes in he realised his CPU just wasn't powerful enough and he grimaced. "Shit" he said wondering what to do before he had an idea. Leaving the room he wandered to the receptionist and briefly spoke to them before heading up the elevator and walking out in their research division. Ash was pleased to see that no one seemed to stop what they were doing and fawn over him.
"Mr Ketchum" a man said rushing over "what can we do for you?"
"I've been delaying this for a few years now but I need a new CPU for my laptop." Ash said "It's still running on the old Porygon network but I've not been keeping up to date on the latest upgrades so I'm just wondering if anyone here can help me."
"Certainly" he said, leading Ash over to his table and pulling out a catalogue, and helping Ash choose.
"It needs to be able to run accessing the Pokémon transport network as I work closely with Bill" Ash said, "will this need the upgrade or Dubious Disk?"
"It already has the Upgrade installed on three of the ones you're looking at" he said "They can take the Dubious Disk if needed but you may need an external hard drive for that to prevent it crashing. If you absolutely need the Dubious Desk you'll need to wire your laptop into a server or mainframe that has it installed. The Dubious Disk and Upgrade are backwards compatible so there shouldn't be any issue from either side."
"Brilliant" Ash said, nodding and picking a laptop out. The very helpful man rang down to the electronics and gadgets shop in the building and placed his order and half an hour later Ash was back in the room beginning the transfer of all his files onto his new laptop. Ash was amazed with the speed in which the transfer process happened as he had thousands of protected files and information to move across. He was concentrating so much on the transfer he missed people walking into the room and taking seats and it was a cough from Frank that made him look up in surprise.
"Oh sorry" Ash said shaking his head "I was so caught up in this I missed you all arriving."
"What's with the two laptops?" Katie, the Viridian Gym Leader asked taking a seat beside him and looking curious at the two laptops that were hooked up. "That looks like a pretty hefty set-up."
"I'm transferring all my files over" Ash said "my CPU nearly packed in when I tried to get access to the servers in Johto but I've been putting off getting a new laptop for a while now."
"What's the specs?" she asked, whistling as Ash went through them "some serious hardware then. I see you have the Upgrade package too" she finished nodding to the sticker in the corner "why not DD?"
"It has the capability but DD runs better being mains powered" Ash said. "I'm considering having a smaller Server Farm installed in my house that runs on DD. I already have a huge one due to the researchers needing instant connection worldwide and they're not cheap to run."
"Really?" she asked surprised "I'm in the process of having a render farm installed at the gym so I may have to spring for DD to be installed. I love creating imagery and CGI pieces so it's necessary for me."
"I would recommend it" Ash said nodding to her "If you need help with anything I would highly recommend talking to Bill as he has both in his lighthouse. While I am pretty well informed and understand this kind of thing Bill is an absolute genius. I can keep up with him but some terms just go above my head."
"You know Bill?" she asked, shocked.
"Of course I do," Ash said, frowning confused. "I worked with him on the Porygon system when I was seven and I'm working with him now on the Poképal. He's just had to install DD to his own Server Farm to cope with the requirements that will be needed should they take off."
"Poképal?" Forrest asked, confused "what's one of those?"
"An idea I had while I was travelling in the whirl Islands" Ash said looking around seeing he had a captive audience "I currently have around ten Pokémon on hand at any given moment and it weighs heavily on my belt and pants so I had the idea of a device, much like the Pokégear that lets you cycle through every Pokémon you have and to have them on hand instantly. The Pokédex now has a similar system but you're still heavily reliant on someone being on the other end of the transfer system to send them to you which could take hours."
"So it works like your Pokémon are permanently in the transfer system but they can be called on without needing to go through Nurse Joy or the regional Professors?" Katie asked wide eyed "that's genius!"
"I have my moments" Ash said smiling "They're due out sometime in June, probably early Autumn I think and yes, I will be ordering and paying for one for every Gym Leader and Elite Four member. Bill and I are just putting the finishing touches to the access system for the regional professors as they still need to have full access to the trainers profiles for their roles."
"Yes well," Laura said, taking over "as fascinating as we all find that we are here for a specific reason are we not? Why have we halted the Gym Challenges for something that doesn't concern us?"
"Yes, we are here for a reason" Ash said looking at her unflinchingly "I've asked us all to be here to hear your thoughts and feelings on the Johto situation and what we can do to help."
"Why do we need to help them?" Grady asked.
"Because Team Rocket is a cancer on the world and they need to be eradicated" Frank said voicing his opinion.
"But it is a Johto issue," Grady said, looking at Frank.
"One that originated in Kanto," Koga said calmly, "and one that should never have been allowed to fester and spread. Yet it did."
"And why was that?" Laura burst out angrily, "because three trainers from Johto allowed it to happen."
"Do not forget Agatha was part of that too" Ash said looking around "and she went along with it."
"She was outnumbered and outranked" Grady said "and we all know it. Had she been Champion or leader of the Elite Four she wouldn't have let that happen."
"We had a Kantonian in charge of the Elite Four that went along with it" Frank said "don't forget Blue was part of this organisation too."
"Not at the time he wasn't," Ash said, refuting the statement. "He only took over from my father a few months after he disappeared in Viridian City and by that point the Elite Four had been forced into NDA's for whatever reason."
"Do you know this as fact?" Grady asked.
"I do" Ash said nodding "When I became Champion I had access to the old files and saw what went on. There's a brief gap from when my father disappeared and Blue took over but someone behind the scenes got to Charles Goodshow and it was him that forced the Elite Four to sign those forms. It was only a decade later they found out they had been duped by Fuji and Mewtwo."
"Mewtwo was part of this?" Richard asked, confused.
"Fuji implanted a device into him to control him" Ash said nodding, "when I confronted them both on New Island I managed to disable the device inside Mewtwo and he left, no longer under the control of Team Rocket but for a decade Fuji and Silver worked together, using Mewtwo to do their bidding to do what they could to hamstring everyone they could. They wiped the minds of the Elite Four, they didn't even know what it was they signed. They assumed that they signed a court order prohibiting them talking about it but when they looked at the sealed file a decade later all they found was a document left there by Fuji gloating that he and by extension Team Rocket got away with it. Which leads us back to the matter at hand. The issue in Johto is one caused by the inaction of the former Kanto Elite Four. Where they originate from is utterly irrelevant. I will not have anyone from Johto have the option of saying we stood by why they suffered. There is already too much animosity as it is coming from the other regions because of issues that have arisen in the past few years, especially the Kanto Board trying to sanction and re-integrate the Orange and Sevii Islands under Kanto rule by force."
"And why is that a bad thing?" Laura asked unconcerned.
"Because you moron, they do not belong to us" Frank said looking angry "the bloody war I was involved with started because of people getting ideas above their station where other peoples were concerned. The Orange and Sevii Islands are under their own rule and have been for over a century. They do not belong to us. In fact they have never belonged to us, they were once part of what was Johto so if anyone has a claim on them it's them."
"I was just asking a question," Laura said, holding her hand up.
"And I was just answering it" Frank said with finality.
"I am reluctant to issue a proclamation of war on Team Rocket" Ash said "mainly because I don't want to involve citizens of Kanto, some who have absolutely no experience in battling being placed on the front line. I will however be heading to Johto myself today to help out wherever I can so I need to know, can I count on all of you to do your part?"
"I'm not convinced we need to do anything at all" Laura said looking at Ash "As I said I'm yet to be convinced we need to get involved."
"I am also reluctant to issue direct orders as Champion to you all" Ash said sternly "however do not believe I won't do such a thing if I have to Laura. Let me be clear on this, the gym challenge is suspended, for however long it needs to be until the Johto situation is resolved. I have already issued my declaration to Giovanni who has forwarded it onto the Pokémon League Board who is backing me. Now, it could be less than a week that the suspension stands with your help but I will not start the challenge back up until that bastard Silver is either in cuffs or in a grave.
"So this is personal?" Laura asked, looking smug, "and yet our personal opinion means nothing apparently."
"Your opinion does matter" Ash said staring at her "but let me be even clearer, especially to you it seems. My opinion is the only one that really matters here and if you have an issue with that then I suggest you find yourself another job. I will not have it said that Kanto left others to die when we could have done something to change that. The reason we have met here is because the Bullet Train makes Johto just an hour's travel and aid can come from us very quickly. I will be in touch with you all as soon as the radio signal is back under Lance's control. I suggest you all get whatever help you can, the League has been instructed to provide you all with three Alakazams each to help get your people here A.S.A.P. Frank, Koga you two are in charge of everyone, I have instructed the Bullet Train to leave at 3pm tomorrow to Goldenrod City, with no delays so everyone has just under twenty four hours to get who they can. Misty, you are exempt for obvious reasons but you will need to choose your apprentices and send them in your stead. I need to get going, I hope you choose wisely. Dismissed."
Laura and Grady were the first ones to leave looking furious at Ash's statement but he didn't care, he was far too busy to pander to misplaced patriotism. Gathering his things he sighed and looked up to see Katie, Koga and Frank still there.
"Don't judge her too harshly" Katie said "she has her reasons."
"Which have no place in a rescue mission" Ash said shaking his head "she has had ample time to explain her reasons but instead all she has done is make it plain the disdain she has for the other regions. As an Elite Four member she will often be required to liaise with the other regions and at the moment I am seriously considering replacing her to prevent any further issues. I know for a fact that Karen and Cynthia will not put up with her attitude."
"Karen?" Katie asked, confused "why her?"
"Lance has told me he plans to retire soon and she is taking over from him" Ash said, making her nod. "You may want to warn Laura about this because I won't tolerate anyone from Kanto who works for me being so disrespectful. Grady is also on thin ice but I suspect he is far too old to even want to change his ways. Laura though has a chance, if she is willing to put in the effort."
Getting a nod she too left leaving just Koga and Frank. "I hated that," Ash said, shaking his head.
"War has no place for questioning orders" Frank said shaking his head "Ours is not to reason why Ash. We do because if we don't, innocents get harmed and that is unacceptable."
"I'll expect you both in Johto around 4pm tomorrow." Ash said nodding "I would suggest you all come out all guns blazing, so to speak, because the city itself is radio silent which means I cannot get in touch with you. I'll coordinate with Lance as soon as I'm at Goldenrod and we'll reinforce you however we can. I just hope nothing serious happens to anyone."
"Such is the ways of war" Koga said. "We shall be there."
Shaking his hand Frank and Koga left Ash to continue his file transfer which thankfully only took another hour. Sending his old laptop back home via Carrier Pidgeot he left Saffron City very disheartened by what had transpired. He had never growing up expected such resentment of another regions to be so strong but he was clearly wrong.
The hardest part of leaving Saffron City though was leaving Pikachu behind. He felt he had left a part of himself behind when he left for Vermillion and it wasn't fun. He despised Silver for his timing but he knew that was intentionally planned to coincide with his battle to put him at a disadvantage from the word go. Bastard.
Landing at Vermillion Harbour he alighted and walked into the building, spotting Bill sitting on one of the benches. Spotting Ash he stood up and they paid for a ticket. Luckily it was only around 8pm so the next boat would be the overnight one at 10pm getting them in Olivine for 4am.
They spent most of the evening admiring Ash's new laptop and Bill loaded up his own personal programme onto Ash's computer so they could sync.
"I may have found a kindred spirit for us" Ash said as he walked back into the room they were sharing and placed several snacks on the table they were using. "My new Viridian Gym leader, Katie, showed a surprising amount of knowledge on what my system was doing before and seemed very keen to work alongside you or to show you some of the things she's been working on."
"Oh right" Bill said looking nervous "what's she like?"
"Well for a start she doesn't swing our way" Ash said shaking his head and seeing the relief on his face "so you don't need to worry about any potential relationship as she's dating my Elite Four member Laura. She's a ground/rock trainer who is building her own render farm in the gym complex, for what reason I'm not sure but she has a degree in media so it could be for that."
"I'm not great on subtext with women" Bill said as he typed in her name on his own account "I usually avoid them for that reason. But she seems interesting. As you said, a degree in media and computer sciences, she builds computers as a side business so she's at least competent. Wow, she really is building her own render farm, and is paying for it herself. That isn't cheap."
"It wouldn't come out of the Viridian Gym budget as it's not part of her job as a League employee" Ash said "so she would have to finance it herself. I may help out though as it's intrigued me. I've always wanted my own personal Server Farm, like you have but I've never had enough space. It's ironic really because any space I do have at home is usually taken up by people."
"Can you not just use the one already being used by your research team?" Bill asked.
"Not if I want to keep anything I'm doing secret" Ash said pointedly "everyone has access to the big one."
"That's why I live alone" Bill said smugly and closing his laptop. "What's the closest place to Goldenrod where I can hack into their system safely?"
"I'm not sure actually" Ash said "the few times I've been there haven't been for great reasons. The first time I arrived by air ambulance after Greenfield and the last time was after the Whirl Island incident where I visited Lugia at the hospital. So I don't really know anywhere in the local area that's safe. Maybe the Safari Zone but you then run the risk of being disturbed by wild Pokémon which isn't ideal."
"Ecruteak isn't too far away is it?" Bill asked after a few minutes thinking.
"About a day's flight," Ash said, causing him to grimace. "We'll liaise with Lance when we get there, they may have set up a makeshift command center that you'll be safe in."
Olivine arrived quicker than they realised and they decided to have a few hours sleep in the Pokémon centre. At least that was the plan but Ash struggled to drift off so he decided to go for a walk, leaving a note for Bill to say he'd just nipped out. It was only as he looked at the mountains that he had an idea. Climbing aboard Queenie he winged his way Westwards towards Mt Quena. As he was travelling upwards he thought it very strange that he couldn't feel the psychic barrier anymore surrounding the place and as he swept up and over the mountain he landed on the platform they had used last time. Pulsing out his aura he received no answer which furthered his concern. Where the hell was Mewtwo?
Landing back in Olivine an hour later he ignored the crowds that had gathered around the centre and he and Bill left after a quick breakfast, him on Queenie and Bill on a Pidgeot. The travel was very long as Olivine was at least half a day away from Goldenrod, the relief they had when they saw the city pop up on the horizon was palpable but rather than heading straight there they swept southwards towards Ilex Forest as Ash could feel a large gathering of auras in one place.
Half an hour later they landed on Route 34 and walked the half mile or so towards Goldenrod and as they crested the hill they could see various tents had been erected, in plain sight of Goldenrod City. Walking through them Ash wondered at how many people had answered Lance's call to arms and marvelled that he had managed to get so many people with no way of communicating with them. Thankfully Ash spotted Karen walking out of a tent and followed her, hailing her as he did so.
"Ketchum" she said surprised to see him "I thought you were with Lance?"
"No" he said "I had to go back to Kanto first as Pikachu needed immediate surgery. I also collected my strongest team as the black-out has interfered with the network."
"We have our team working on that" she said pointing to a tent behind them "so far they've managed to get through three layers of firewalls but they're stuck."
"Which is why I brought Bill," Ash said, introducing them to each other.
"The Bill?" Karen asked, looking at the man and halting whatever she was going to say.
"Yeah" Ash said, turning to Bill and halting what he was going to say when he saw that Bill was equally as awestruck as Karen.
"You're beautiful," Bill said quietly, getting a deep blush from Karen, not taking his eyes off her.
"As romantic as this is, we have a job to do," Ash said, nudging Bill and breaking him out of his reverie. "Karen needs your help."
"Anything," Bill said instantly, "you can have anything."
Ash just palmed his face and twisted Bill so he was facing away and pushed him towards the tent. Walking inside the noise immediately stopped when they saw Ash enter but there were more audible gasps when they saw Bill.
"Oh my god, is that Bill?" one of the programmers asked from his area as they walked past.
"It seems you're a celebrity," Ash said, nudging him. Bill however just looked back at the tent flap looking forlorn. "She'll be here again soon. Right now we need to break this black out."
Bill looked around and saw a makeshift table had been set up in the centre and he brought out his laptop, logging in and looking around. "This won't do" he said as he picked up the table and placed it next to a machine that was seemingly powering everyone else's laptops. Plugging himself into it he began typing away, uncaring that the rest had stopped.
"Well that's shit" Bill said frowning and seeing Ash "we're going to need more processing power than what we have here. I suspect they are using the Radio Towers servers which is far more substantial than what we have here. Does anyone here have a laptop that runs on DD and not on Porygon? Or at least the Upgrade?"
"I do" one person said "I have DD on mine."
"I have Upgrade" a lady said standing up.
"It'll have to do," he said, pointing to them to sit with him. "Bring your wires, I'm going to have to hook them all up at once and I'd rather not have anyone break the connection by stepping on the wires. I'll instruct you on what I need as we progress."
"Here" Ash said, handing him his laptop and bag. "I have an external hard drive in the bag with DD if you need it."
"Oh, I'll need it" Bill said, setting that up on a stool beside him.
"I'll leave you to it Bill" Ash said "I suspect I'll be needed out there. Good luck to all of you."
Leaving them Ash walked out to find Karen talking with a few people and as he walked up to her he overheard the latter half of the conversation.
"...Lance" the man said "he's on the Northern side of Goldenrod. For some reason there is a trainer refusing to let anyone on the Eastern side. I don't know who she is but she has a lot of Charizard with her that keeps preventing anyone from getting close."
"That's my girlfriend" Ash said, interjecting himself into the conversation "and those are my allies, led by my Charizard. I think they're waiting for more information from me so I'll head there now. Karen, I have reinforcements arriving from Kanto tomorrow afternoon via the Bullet Train. They'll get here around four so I'll be attacking regardless to get to them."
"Very well" she said "we've had quite a few casualties so far as they're defending areas in great numbers and spamming Toxic attacks. We're lucky that we have a shit load of antidotes on hand but it's not going well. We've besieged the city for days now and not got any closer, hopefully with your help and the Charizard we can get access to the city."
"Bill is working on getting control of the radio tower as we speak" Ash said "as soon as he does so we can have a clearer line of communication but until then we'll have to stick with attacking in concert at 4pm tomorrow. Get some rest, all of you."
Not waiting for an answer Ash released his Salamence and headed North to speak to Lance, making sure he flew extremely high over the city as he didn't want to risk her being shot down while he was on her. A few minutes later he landed at the other side and walked towards the other camp where he immediately spotted Lance with his retinue clearly having a meeting. Ash wondered what was being said but whatever it was clearly stopped when they saw him appear.
"Ketchum" Lacey said looking surprised "we thought you'd abandoned us."
"Not a chance" Ash said "but I needed to go home urgently as Pikachu needs surgery. I also needed to get my full team and I couldn't do that due to the black out. It was a good job I left actually as when I arrived back at the Plateau I managed to prevent Lorelei and her children from being kidnapped."
"What?" a voice said from behind him as Bruno strode out of a tent looking livid.
"She's ok," Ash said, holding up his hands in a calming manner. "I managed to get her to my home where she is more than safe, your children too. They're with my mum and dad and hundreds of Pokémon who have been instructed to attack anyone but my family, and yours on sight."
"Thank you" Bruno said looking relieved, letting out a big sigh and looking to the heavens.
"I came to tell you that I have organised reinforcements arriving on the Bullet train tomorrow at 4pm" Ash said "My Gym Leaders and Elite Four are bringing their best with them so I want to be in that area at that time. I won't let my people get needlessly injured but I will do what I can to put an end to this."
"Then we have a time" Lance said, pleased with the course of action and standing up. "Get some rest everyone, we're going to need it."
"I'm going to see my girlfriend and the Charizard who are on the Eastern Flank awaiting instructions" Ash said
"Which leaves just the Western side which is thankfully all water" a man in a military uniform said "very few will survive out there."
"I'll see you all tomorrow." Ash said having said his bit. It didn't take him long to find the Charizard and he pulsed out his aura once he was near their camp. Landing he was immediately glomped by Nia who looked very relieved at seeing him. "It's ok now" Ash said kissing her forehead "but we have a big day tomorrow so we need rest." looking over to the side he noticed his Charizard along with ten others "we attack tomorrow at 3pm pal. No quarter."
Nodding Charizard lifted off followed by his kin leaving just the two lovers who chatted the evening away, trying their best to take their minds off what was going to happen. Tomorrow would be a huge day, Ash thought as he held Nia close that night.