All right, chapter 2 of this story!
I hope this is enjoyable, and let's see what kind of things get cooked up.
Cherrygrove City
"Are you done?"
"Yeah. Fully stocked, let's go!"
Three men can be seen leaving the Poké Mart in Cherrygrove city in the Johto region. Ethan, Silver, and Giovanni stopped here to get some medicine for their journey. This was to the annoyance of the Team Rocket Leader, viewing it as a waste of time. But as pointed out, the group might be viewed as criminals, and it might be hard for them to move around the world so freely. Even here, the group was getting suspicious looks, and people around them were whispering under their breath.
"... let's go." Silver doesn't like the way his father gets treated, even though he can understand people's reactions. Conflicted, he still wants to see this through all the way until the very end.
However-
"Well, this was easy." The trio of men leaves the Poké Mart, and immediately run into a certain, familiar duo. The brown-haired man who spoke, has his typical smirk on his face. "Found you!" Looks like the information they received led them right to the group.
Ethan gulps as he sees the legend himself, along with Blue. "R-Red!" Red doesn't say anything, instead just glaring at Giovanni. Silver puts himself in between his father and Red, making Ethan follow suit.
Flipping a Poké Ball up and down, Blue then says, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice."
Silver scoffs, knowing there's no way that they can just surrender his father. Pulling out a Poké Ball of his own, he's ready to square off with the two of them. That is, until Ethan cuts him off.
"Wait, let's take this somewhere else." He doesn't want to get innocent townspeople sucked up into this. When Silver was going to ask something, Ethan merely nodded. Silver got the idea. Pointing off to the side, Ethan asked Red and Blue to follow them to the nearby exit of the city.
Route 29
No sooner than the group had walked into the route, a flurry of activity happened. Red and Blue had dropped their guard for just the briefest of seconds, and that's when Ethan and Silver sprung into action. Silver drops a Poké Ball, his Corbat comes out and immediately screeches. As Red and Blue cover their ears, Ethan runs forward, pulling Giovanni behind him. A moment later, the two of them are riding away on the back of Ethan's Togekiss. Silver will be staying back to buy his father and Ethan some time.
"Not smart." Blue grumbles.
Silver asks Blue directly, "Well, if you were in my position, what would you do? If your grampa were in this situation, would you just give him up?"
Blue narrows his eyes, that one hit close to home. He has to admit that he would be stubborn too, and he would fight for Professor Oak. Turning to Red, he takes a Poké Ball out. "Let's just crush him, and go after Giovanni."
Silver readies himself, although not prepared for what happens next. Instead of agreeing, Red simply brings out his Charizard, then flies off on his back in the direction Ethan went, without saying a word.
Blue laughs, shrugging. "Ehh, I'm not surprised Red's not going to gang up on you with me." He then grins, "But now it's me and you. I'm curious to see how good you are, Silver!"
Giovanni's son nods, interested in seeing how he fares against a previous Kanto Champion. "Alright, let's do this."
With that, it's the first battle of Kanto vs Johto!
- Meanwhile, with Ethan -
Having put some distance between them and Red's side, Ethan and Giovanni land on the far side of Route 29.
Giovanni asks Ethan, "Why did we stop?"
Turning around, Ethan points to the sky. "Because of him." Sure enough, Red soon comes into view, barreling down on the duo. They are just in front of New Bark Town, and are running out of space to go anywhere that won't get innocent bystanders involved. With nowhere left to run, Ethan faces their follower.
Red lands in front of them, not saying a word. Returning Charizard to his ball, Red doesn't look amused at the slightest.
Ethan begins to sweat at the aura Red is radiating. "M-man, has Red always been this intense?" If Ethan didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Red's eyes were glowing as well. Maybe it was just his imagination.
Giovanni looked at Red, returning the hard stare coming from him. "Something feels off."
"Yeah, maybe." It could just be nerves, too.
Either way, Giovanni has a suggestion. "Let's team up, Ethan. We'll fare better if it's two-on-one."
Ethan shakes his head, shooting down that idea. "No way. I wouldn't feel right teaming up against one guy." Ethan then grinned, "Besides, I've got a reputation to uphold. I can't back down from a fellow Champion-level opponent, being one myself. I've got honor to protect!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" If Ethan loses, then Giovanni will have to face Red, something the Team Rocket boss has no intention of doing again.
"Just believe in me, like Silver does." Ethan then flashed Giovanni a thumbs up.
Begrudgingly, Giovanni agrees, stepping back to let Ethan handle Red. He'll deal with the fallout of this decision, placing all his trust in Ethan.
And so, the ultimate battle of Kanto vs Johto begins!
- Back with Blue and Silver -
"Alright, I win!" Blue triumphantly pumps his fist, as Silver's last Pokémon faints. Silver scowls, returning it back to its ball. Blue swaggers over to Silver, condescendingly patting him on the back. "I may have won, but you did better than I thought you would!" It was a surprisingly close battle, more than half of Blue's team was KO'd in the battle. Looking over in the direction everyone else went in, Blue continues. "With my victory, and Red beating Ethan, looks like this was over before it really began! Ha ha ha!"
His prideful laughter was cut short by Silver chuckling. "I wouldn't be so sure about that..."
Blue shrugs, "Why's that? I'm sure Ethan's good, but he's not on Red's level."
Silver grins, "Than you obviously don't know anything about Ethan."
While Blue wants to reiterate that Ethan can't win against Red, Silver's unwavering confidence, combined with not knowing Ethan that well, makes him pause. Could it possibly happen? Blue shakes his head. No way. Silver's just stalling. The grin on his face returning, Blue challenges Silver, "One way for us to find out!"
Grabbing him by the arm, Blue drags Silver with him, and the two of them make their way to the other pair of trainers.
- Reunited-
The rival counterparts of the Champions of Kanto and Johto make their way to the battle site of Red and Ethan. Silver breathes a sigh of relief, seeing that his father is unharmed.
What else they see is shocking. Well, at least for one of them.
Red's Charizard takes a few steps back, then falls over. Swirls in his eyes, he is KO'd.
Ethan exclaimed, "Man, what a battle!"
"Great job, Ethan!" Silver ran over to his friend, congratulating him for winning against Red.
Blue has a different reaction, unable to hide his disappointment. "Unbelievable..." Red remained silent, a shadow covering his face.
And Giovanni has the most different reaction out of everyone. "I wouldn't celebrate so quickly." When asked what he's talking about, he gestures to Red. "Look at him." Indeed, Red's not looking like his normal self, his face twisted in a rage-filled look.
"Man, has he always been this aggressive?" Ethan begins to sweat nervously, wondering what's going on with his opponent.
"That's not all." Giovanni then pointed out something strange about Ethan's battle with Red. "He never even Mega Evolved his Charizard. Had he done so, you probably would have lost."
That surprised Ethan. "Really, Red was holding back?" Looking at Red, Ethan could see that Red did have a Mega Stone. So why didn't he use it?
"Tch." Blue grumbled. "I didn't hold back with Silver." He had Mega Evolved one of his Pokémon, helping him get the victory. Silver shook his head in a sort of amazement; these Kanto Trainers sure are built different.
"Either way," Giovanni said, turning around and starting to walk away, "Looks like you both failed to stop us. We're leaving."
Blue held his hand up. "Not so fast! I'm still here, and I can battle!" With Ethan's team severely weakened, there's a chance Blue can take him on.
Giovanni shook his head, not turning back around. "Give it up, go be with your families." That angered both of the Kanto men, seeming especially insensitive given what has happened with Red's mother. But Giovanni didn't apologize. Instead, he started to keep walking away. That is, until-
*Bloosh!*
Giovanni looked up in time, moving back a few feet just in time to avoid a stream of water gashing a line in the ground in front of him. The message was clear: step over that line at his own danger. A "..." appeared over his head, eyes narrowing as he saw who was approaching them. "I didn't expect you to get involved-"
A certain woman with teal-colored hair stepped forward. Wearing yellow shorts, a red shirt, and a white coat, the woman was followed by a Feraligtr, which was where that stream of water came from. A frown was on her face.
"-Kris."
Blue blinked, surprised. "Huh, imagine that."
"Not you too, Kris..." Normally Ethan and Silver would be happy to see their friend, but not in this moment.
"I'm sorry Silver, but your father can't just keep running from his problems." Kris then glared at Giovanni. "And I haven't forgotten all the damage you did here in the Johto region either."
Giovanni sighed, shaking his head. "I had hoped that you were more mature than this, but I guess not." What to do now? Ethan's side is lacking, especially with Kris being here and her fully healthy team. However, Giovanni rarely travels alone, and rarely without a back-up plan. That is true now, more than ever. Looking around, he could see several bushes and trees were shaking.
Then-
*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*
Everyone's attention was drawn to the sound of a helicopter approaching. There is a large red 'R' symbol on the front of it. Looks like pressing the secret button in his suit a while ago when Red and Blue showed up to confront his side, was a good idea. Giovanni then called out with a loud voice as the helicopter lowered a rope ladder down for their boss. "Team Rocket! Run interference!"
"Yes Sir, Giovanni Sir!"
There was a flurry of activity as Team Rocket Grunts jumped out from the bushes nearby, dropped down from trees, and a couple even came out from the helicopter. The Grunts then proceeded to call out their Pokémon, attacking Red, Blue, and now Kris.
Blue cried out, "Geez! These clowns are everywhere!" He's simultaneously trying to fend off a swarm of Grunts and their Pokémon, and defending Red, who doesn't have anything to fight with.
"We're leaving." In the chaos, Giovanni yanks Ethan and Silver. There were watching in awe all of the drama. The three of them make it safely onto the helicopter. Before they go, Giovanni takes a moment to look down at Red, who's still furious. Then without a word, Giovanni and the two men leave.
- A few minutes later -
"Finally!" Blue lets out a sigh of relief. "That should be the last of them." It took a while, but Red's new group managed to get defeat and round up their assailants. But at the cost of Giovanni and co. escaping, them heading off into who knows where. Blue then gives Kris his two-fingered salute. "Thanks for your help there."
"No problem." Turning to Red, who's got a bitter look on his face, she then says, "Hey Red, I'm sorry about what happened with your mother. My condolences." Red doesn't say anything, the look on his face growing more somber.
Blue gets back to the matter at hand. "We're still going after them, right? Any idea where we can find them next? Your letter was so helpful."
"Letter? What letter?" Kris is confused.
Blue then held up the letter that was delivered to the pair, and drew them to the Johto region. In all of its pink hearts and glitter glory. "Didn't you send this?"
Kris takes it from Blue, then examines it. She then shakes her head. "Sorry, I didn't." No way Kris would send something like this; it's whole theme and design are a bit childish.
Just then-
"You'll never stop Team Rocket!" One Grunt had gotten free while the trios focus was on the task at head. His target: Red. No one could react quickly enough. That was until-
Attention is then focused on a mouth. "Jigglypuff, Hyper Voice!" The Grunt is rendered unconscious by a blast of sound from the Pokémon, sparing Red from his would-be attacker. When the owner of the Pokémon steps forward, Kris's mouth falls open.
It's a familiar-looking woman. She's wearing a red long-sleeved top, dark blue shorts, and white socks that reach up above her knees. Adjusting the newsboy-style hat on her head, the woman giggles.
"Lyra?! You're here too?"
Radiating joy and happiness, Lyra replies, "Yup!"
Blue deadpans, looking at the letter he and Red received, "The jokes write themselves..." Kris has to stifle a giggle, nodding.
Lyra doesn't seem to notice, or care. Instead, she rushed over to Red, holding tightly onto Red's arm. "Oh Red, I'm so sorry to hear about what happened! Are you okay?" Red doesn't say anything, just pulling his hat down onto his head more firmly. As she continues to not respect personal space, bombarding Red with questions and comments, Blue and Kris exchange a look with each other, raising an eyebrow. Kris then has to pull Lyra off of Red, while Blue rolls his eyes.
"Can we get back to the matter at hand?"
They still need to find Giovanni. But where in the wide Pokémon world could they have gone? Turning upside every region looking for them might be a waste of time. Instead, it's brought up that they might want to consider bolstering their side, as Giovanni's side will likely be doing that exact thing, for when the two sides eventually clash again.
Speaking for the first time in what seems like a long time, Red has an idea. With what looks like a sly grin, he says what's on his mind.
"I have someone I want to see."
Unknown Location
Ethan let out a breath of relief, "Man, that was a close one!"
Him, Silver, and Giovanni made their escape via helicopter, and were now at a secret Team Rocket base hidden somewhere in the Johto region. This was secret as Silver nor Ethan knew where it is. Nothing screams 'trust me', like blindfolding the two Trainers who are helping keep you safe, the whole ride there.
Regardless, the three men are now in the main room of this base, trying to where to go from here. While they didn't see Red team up with Kris, there's a pretty good chance she'll be on their side. This leaves Ethan and Silver's team lacking power-wise. The two of them have a back-and-forth as to what to do, and who they could reach out to.
Giovanni however, has his attention on something else though. When they got here, he immediately sat down on his throne chair, to do some thinking. But almost immediately, he noticed something wrong, and he's been watching a certain Team Rocket Grunt for the last few minutes. It's a female Grunt, and she appears to be busy working in the background, her back to the trio of men. Giovanni then raises his hand, cutting off Ethan and Silver from their discussion. With a loud voice, Giovanni calls out, "Everyone, leave!" The Grunts stop what they're doing, and start to leave. Ethan and Silver do too. Giovanni has to correct them, "...Not you two."
Silver starts to ask what's wrong, but then looks over to where Giovanni's attention is so focused on.
The female Grunt from before had looked over her shoulder, and was going to try and mix herself in with the other Grunt's, and leave as well. But the Team Rocket boss wasn't having it. Giovanni singled her out, telling her to stay put. Now alone, and with her back to the only three other people in the room, Giovanni slowly and dramatically approaches her from behind. Standing behind her, Giovanni pauses for a second, before saying, "I know everyone who works under me. But you, I don't know. Who are you? Show yourself!"
The Grunt reluctantly turns around, facing Giovanni. When she doesn't say anything, he takes it upon himself to take her hat off, to get a good look at her. And when he does, he takes a step back, as her long, brown hair falls down.
Ethan and Silver, having been watching all of this, react immediately to the sudden revelation, calling out her name simultaneously. "L-Leaf!" Indeed, before them stands Leaf, one of the Kanto region's Champions. She and Giovanni look at each other, locked in a tense glare.
This gives Ethan a chance to grab one of his Poké Balls, ready to defend Giovanni. "Looks like Red was able to sneak one of his allies on board for a surprise attack!" He's about to call out one of his Pokémon, when Leaf suddenly puts up her hand.
"Wait!" This makes Ethan stop, but still ready in case something happens. "I'm not here for a fight."
While the two other men relax slightly, Giovanni doesn't. He wants to know, "How did you find out about this place?"
"You're not as slick as you think you are." When Giovanni raises an eyebrow, Leaf chuckles, "This wouldn't be the first time I've done this, either." While facing her and looking at her, Giovanni's eyes go to the side. He searches his mind, trying to figure out if he can remember if anyone was out of place in the past, and possibly in disguise. He can't think of any times that might have happened. And that bothers him.
In any event, Giovanni sits back down on his throne. Focused on Leaf again, he asks, "What do you want?" A long period of silence follows, as Leaf thinks about what to say.
"...I'm worried about Red, he's not acting like himself."
"Yeah," Ethan says, "The guy went kinda crazy back there."
Glaring at Giovanni, Leaf snapped back, "That's kind of what happens when someone blows up his hometown!" Giovanni remains silent. But Silver has a question for not-Green/Blue (Female).
"Do you think my father really did it?"
Leaf sighs before replying. "I'm not sure. Part of me believes he did, but even I have to admit that this seems a bit out of character for Giovanni."
"Then why are you mad at me?"
Leaf grumbles back to Giovanni, "While you're supposed to be 'innocent until proven guilty', we haven't reached that point. And I haven't forgotten how you tried to ruin the Kanto region. I'm sure you're guilty of something, we'll just have to see what exactly that 'something' is."
"Fair enough." Giovanni seems satisfied with that answer, much to his son and Ethan's surprise. But Giovanni's not done. "One final question for you, before we go any further."
"...okay."
There's a long silence, as Giovanni closes his eyes to think. When he does, he asks Leaf pointedly, "Are you sure your feelings for Red won't get in the way of what might need to be done?"
Everyone else's mouths fall open, as Leaf stammers out, "W-what?!"
Staring hard at Leaf, Giovanni tells her, "Answer the question."
Leaf has to think for a moment. She finally replies, "I'll do what needs to be done." Giovanni doesn't say anything, noting that she didn't answer the question.
"Whoa, they're dating, or something?" Ethan whispers to Silver.
Silver blinks, "I guess so."
Putting her hands on her hips, Leaf huffs to Ethan, "Oh please. Like there's nothing going on between you and Kris?" That catches him off guard, as he stammers and blushes. Silver chuckles, watching his friend squirm under pressure. "Are you sure that won't become a problem later? You two are on opposite sides, after all."
"I guess we'll have to deal with that if it comes up." Ethan tries to reply coolly, although it's easy to see that he's conflicted as well.
When Leaf looks over to Giovanni, she sees that he's not interested in Ethan's alleged love life. Instead, he asks her, "What now?"
"Well," Leaf starts, hand up to her chin as she thinks out loud, "Knowing Red, he's not going to want to rest until he hunts you down." Everyone agrees to that. "And seeing as Kris joined Red, he'll probably be gathering more allies to his side as he looks for us." Giovanni chuckles dryly. The idea of Red gathering Trainers like they're his Pokémon, is comical to him, despite how dangerous that will be for anyone opposing him. Leaf continues, "If this thing escalates, then we could be on the run for a while." Putting her hands on her hips,, she then nods a few times.
"I think I know someone who can help."
There we go!
I'll be sneaking in a few ships here and there, 'cause why not? Romance during chaos makes for good drama. So far we have:
BurningLeafShipping
SoulfulHeartShipping
and possibly NewBarkShipping
I've got some ideas brewing for what will happen next. Keep in mind what I said earlier, about plot twists, and themes and ideas from the various Pokémon medias.
Maybe you'd all like to guess who's joining who next?
Until next time!