Does anyone know how I can stop people requesting commissions on my stories? I've tried getting in touch with the admins and even reported the reviews but nothing has been done about it. It's getting very annoying seeing that the majority of reviews are now people asking me for money. I have no interest in seeing my works brought to life so please stop asking.
Anyway on to chapter two.
Chapter 2
June 4th
The path from Oldale Town to Petalburg Town, while being pretty much a straight road was filled with quite a few places of interest for Ash. He saw many Pokémon that were native to Hoenn which made Ash happy to be travelling once more. He loved being home, he loved his family but it was travelling through the small forest that separated the small town and the big city that made him remember just how spectacular the wild areas are. He had helped out a few Seedot that had fallen out of a tree and located it back into the trees with its family. He had helped a young trainer capture a Zigzagoon too which made him happy as he could easily see they would be friends for life. Sitting around the camp that night he looked around and saw Pikachu talking to Mays Torchic who was happily bouncing around on the spot talking about how he was going to love being with his new trainer and travelling like Ash was doing.
"She's scared of travelling, you know" Ash said, gaining his attention, "when she came to pick you up eight months ago she broke her leg and was attacked by wild Pokémon so don't be surprised if you have to convince her yourself that you can protect her."
"I'll do my best" Torchic said "what is she like?"
"I've no idea" Ash said shaking his head "I don't know what she looks like, how she is with Pokémon or what she wants to do in the future. I suppose they'll be questions she'll answer over the course of your journey with her."
"Is there anything I can do to be ready?" Torchic asked.
"Yeah" Ash said as he took out his Pokédex and scanned him.
Torchic, Pokédex number 255, the Chick Pokémon. Torchic has a place inside its body where it keeps its flame. Give it a hug - it will be glowing with warmth. This Pokémon is covered all over by a fluffy coat and if attacked it strikes back by spitting balls of fire it forms in its stomach. A Torchic dislikes darkness because it can't see its surroundings. This Pokémon is male, has an Adamant Nature and has the ability Blaze. Torchic knows the moves Ember, Smokescreen, Peck and Growl. It also has the egg move Counter.
"Oh that's not too bad. We likely only have a few days together but we can help you learn to control your fire better with a few exercises. It's very unlikely we'll be together long enough to make a serious impact on your development but I can give the information to May. It'll be down to you two then. So, starting tomorrow we'll begin with your fitness and improving your core of fire. Those will be key to you doing anything going forward."
The next day Ash did indeed do as he said he was going to.
"Wow, those bring back memories" Pikachu said when he saw Ash attaching small weights to Torchics legs. "I didn't even know you still had them in your bag. When was the last time you used them?"
"I think it was Cyndaquil or Mareep actually" Ash said, trying to think back and ticking off the Pokémon he had caught since he started his journey. "Wow, that was a long time ago now."
"Well over a year now" Pikachu said, nodding as Torchic started trying to move and struggled. Ash lowered the weight slightly and Torchic started stumbling much to Pikachu's amusement who walked over and began to teach him how to walk properly.
The next few hours were very beneficial for Torchic who absolutely loved being trained and was soon panned out snoring its little head off after working so hard. It would take months for Torchic to get used to it which Ash didn't have so he was on more of a crash course. A few hours later he woke the sleeping chick and they started the second part of his training.
"Now, like water types you have a pool inside of you which gets larger and larger the more you use it, kind of like a muscle that needs strengthening. The exercises I'm going to give you will over time increase your pool of fire and make it more potent. These will need to be done every day Torchic so make sure you keep them up. I'll speak to May about it so hopefully she'll be ok with it."
"What if she's not?" Torchic asked, sounding concerned.
"Just go and do it yourself" Ash said "unfortunately I cannot guarantee that she goes along with it as she's your trainer, you're her Pokémon however she is the gym leaders daughter so the chances of you being able to continue to train is good."
June 7th
Ash walked into Petalburg City and was enthralled from the start. The entire City was littered with buildings but it was also full of trees everywhere so it was a very pretty city. He walked to the Pokémon Centre and said hello to Nurse Joy. He was shocked though when she rushed from around the counter and gripped him in a big hug.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you." she muttered against his chest.
Hugging her back he wondered what was going on and given he was over a foot taller than her he could easily look around and saw many bewildered trainers looking at them. He mouthed to one of them "what's she on about?" and got a shrug in response. Eventually the sobs died down and she pulled away, blushing heavily and trying to surreptitiously wipe the tears away.
"So what was that about?" Ash said, holding her at arm's length and looking down at her.
"Gemma survived because of your quick actions. She had a fractured skull and was in serious danger of losing her life" Joy sobbed looking at him.
"Who's Gemma?" Ash asked, confused.
"The Nurse Joy in Oldale Town" she answered wiping her face "she's my sister."
"Oh ok" Ash said "I was never told her name but I'm glad she's ok. She is ok right?"
"She has a swelling on the brain so she's certainly not out of the woods just yet. The doctors will know more when her brain goes back to the normal size and they can run more tests but at the moment she's only got a 20% chance of survival."
Ash stiffened up when he heard the news and growled causing Joy to look alarmed. When she looked up she felt his aura leaking dangerously and his face was set in stone.
"They're lucky they were arrested" Ash said "because if I see any of them again they won't have knees. Here, can you keep me informed about what happens to her please? I'd like to know how she's doing and if I can help I will. I'll be back in an hour, I need to go and speak with Chief Jenny."
Handing her his business card with his contact details on it he turned and abruptly left the Centre and followed the signage to the Police Station. It wasn't long before he entered and quickly gained the attention of everyone present as he was still leaking aura at a dangerous rate.
"Er, hello" the young officer on the reception desk said "can I help you?"
"Chief Jenny asked me to come and see her when I arrived in Petalburg City. My name is Ash Ketchum, I was with her a week ago at the Oldale Ruins."
"I'll see if she's in" Jenny said trepidatiously as she quickly hurried away and into a room off to the side. Ash stood there, not moving an inch trying to get his aura under control and failing miserably but soon enough Jenny came out of the office followed by her Chief who took one look at Ash and whispered to her deputy to guard the cells.
"Ash" she said, holding her hand out.
"Where are they?" he asked, ignoring the hand and looking behind her to where he knew the cells were.
"Secured," Jenny said, frowning and dropping her hand.
"Have they said anything?" Ash asked.
"No, but the Hoenn Task Force is coming to pick them up in a few hours to take them to their Headquarters in Rustboro City." Jenny replied "it's out of my hands at the minute."
"Let me see them." Ash said angrily.
"No" Jenny said resolutely "You clearly have an agenda and aren't in your right mind. So until you calm down, no."
"I'll calm down after I've seen them" Ash said looking at her "I won't do anything, I just want to have words with them. I can easily arrange it with Lance to have some one-on-one time with them but I'd rather keep you guys on side."
"Very well," Jenny said after a good twenty seconds of deliberating. Following her they walked down the corridor and Ash saw the Jenny from earlier looking nervous as she opened the doors that led to the cells. The door swung open and there was a very small corridor with six cells, three on each side facing each other of which four were full. There was also another Jenny sitting at a desk facing the mini corridor, keeping an eye on the prisoners who looked up and was surprised at seeing Ash. Ash however ignored her and marched past her and stalked down the corridor where the four grunts were lying on their cots. Hearing footsteps they sat up in the cots, two audibly gasping when they saw who it was.
"Save your breath Ketchum, if Jenny can't get us to talk then you won't." One of the men sneered at him.
"SILENCE!" Ash roared releasing his aura which pressed down on them making them fall backwards onto their cots. "Now as you have designated yourself as ring leader by talking I want you to shut up and listen." Looking around he made sure he had their attention before carrying on "I have just been informed that Gemma Joy, the Nurse Joy whose head you tried to cave in is thankfully alive. However because of the force of the blow dealt to her head she has only a 20% chance of survival. That woman has devoted her entire life to the betterment of the Pokémon world and right now she may not see the morning because of what you bastards did. So, I just wanted you all to know that should the worst happen and Gemma Joy die I will personally make sure that all four of you are placed on trial for murder. Should you be rescued by your teammates and evade the justice that you so thoroughly deserve, I just want you to know that I will personally hunt all four of you down to make sure you stand trial. You better hope you perish before I find you. I just wanted you to all know that, in person."
At that Ash turned around and walked away, quickly being followed by the three Jennies who stayed silent as they relocked the doors to the cells, one of them staying behind to sit back at the desk and the others followed Ash who stopped at the reception desk. Looking at the Chief he said "I've said it before and I'll say it again. No-one gets away with attacking any Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny's anywhere near me. Gemma may not live because of those bastards and I'm just looking for an excuse to hunt the lot of them down."
"You need to calm yourself," Chief Jenny said, grabbing him by the arm and leading him into her office, sitting him down in a chair opposite hers. Taking her seat she looked at him in a thoughtful way before continuing. "Now I let it slide back in Oldale because you had just protected me and helped me capture those four down there but Ash, you cannot just go threatening people like that in full view of everyone in the lobby. Those were some serious threats you made, out loud."
"Listen, I respect you and your position Chief Jenny" Ash said "but I've already had to deal with one set of bastards who think it's their right to create the world in their image, and had to bury twenty of the finest trainers you could ever meet because of them along with hundreds of Pokémon at the same time. Well, I won't put up with another set of them." Standing up he looked at her before continuing, and pointing back to where they came from. "Those bastards in that cell attacked and nearly killed Nurse Joy for no other reason than because they could and think they will get away with it. Well they won't, not while I breathe."
Ash walked off and stormed out of the Police Station angry with himself for losing his cool at Chief Jenny but he was just so angry at hearing Nurse Joy was nearly killed. He knew that it was out of character for him to be mad like this but he was blind when it came to the nurse Joys and Jennies being attacked in any way. It had been the same for years ever since they looked after him after Riley attacked him and while he knew they didn't really need to do much as he was never in any real danger they still visited him every day to see how he was doing, sometimes after fourteen hour shifts when they should have just gone home. So he would always be the defender of them and if anyone tried anything with them there would be severe retribution. Walking back into the Pokémon Centre he spoke briefly with Nurse Joy, whose name he found out was Leanne and told her he'd be staying a few nights while he challenged the Gym Leader.
The afternoon passed by and Ash received a message from Leanne saying the trainers had come to take the men away from the police station. Shooting up from his bed that he was relaxing on he rushed out of the centre and briskly walked the twenty minutes to the Police station and noticed a van outside with the initials HTF on the side in big black letters. He made sure that he was visible by everyone around him by calling out Queenie and Sneasel, nodding in the direction of the van. The two Pokémon were silent as they watched the proceedings and it wasn't long before two people came walking out of the police station, halting when they saw the huge blue dragon standing at the side of a huge man with a golden Pikachu on his shoulder and a lethal looking Sneasel at his side. Ash didn't make a comment as they quickly bundled the Magma members into the back of the van. Chief Jenny was standing on the step to the Police Station wondering what Ash was going to do as the van pulled away. She saw Ash mutter something to his Salamence and Sneasel, write something on a piece of paper for Sneasel to hold and watched concerned as Sneasel hopped onto the Salamences back and she took off in the direction of the van. As she watched Ash walk away she looked in the direction of the van and hoped they made it to Rustboro to receive justice because she didn't think they'd survive any rescue attempt made by Team Magma.
Elsewhere
It had been a rough week for Rachel Warren. Despite the warnings given to her by Ash Ketchum she had doubled back and stayed hidden in the trees to see what would become of her comrades at the ruins and was not surprised to find they were quickly overwhelmed by the speed and power of his Pokémon. She knew she had made the right decision by listening to him when he warned her not to try and attack him. It was disheartening to see four people who were loyal to the cause be beaten so easily and she knew that if the Task Force got a hold of them then they wouldn't live for very long afterwards. People seemed to 'disappear' whenever the HTF got involved. She knew she was skating on thin ice by remaining in the area but she knew she needed some information for Maxie when she gave him Ash's warning. To her amazement though she saw their leader for the expedition, Blaise walk out from the cavern as if nothing was wrong. How had he got by Ash? She watched as he briefly spoke to the Officer Jenny before flew away, not once trying to help anyone else that was there. She couldn't believe they'd be abandoned by people who said they'd fight alongside them. Half an hour later she watched Ash walk out and talk to the Officer Jenny and realised that he would easily sense she was near if she hung around much longer.
I took just over a week to get back to their Headquarters in the bowels of Mt Chimney as she didn't have a flying type but when she did she demanded to speak to Maxie but given she was just a lowly grunt her superiors weren't in the frame of mind to acquiesce to her requests, instead wanting to hear the message themselves and see whether Maxie needed or know or not. It took her shouting so loudly that the admins themselves came rushing out of their offices demanding to know what was going on. She had after all been travelling across the country by foot for a week and wasn't in the best of moods.
"I'm being repeatedly ignored" Rachel said, livid at the way she was being treated "I have a message that I need to give directly to the boss and these arseholes are trying to one up each other and get into his good graces by giving him the message himself. Do not deny it!" she said to the protesting Grunts "I know full well what you're doing. I need to see Maxie, immediately. I have a message that is for his ears only."
"Is that so? And who are you?" a voice asked as a man around six foot two, with combed red hair, black eyes wearing a red shirt and pants walked out looking at her. At his side three others walked with him and Rachel nearly audibly gulped when she realised the entirety of high command was now watching her expectantly. "Go on."
Drawing herself up to her full five foot five she saluted before saying "I'm Rachel Sir, Rachel Warren. I have a message from Kanto Champion Ash Ketchum."
Murmurs shot through the assembled workers who were listening in when he was mentioned, after all they all knew who he was.
"And?" Maxie drawled.
"He said 'I want you to tell him I'm coming after him and that any of his team that gets in my way will be dealt with severely. Tell your boss his days are numbered and should I see him I'll end his miserable life." Rachel said nervously.
"And why have we drawn the ire of the Kanto Champion?" Maxie asked the room at large.
"I believe he said this because we injured Nurse Joy in Oldale Town." Rachel said gulping. "I heard from the officers in Rustboro City a few days later that Nurse Joy was in critical condition after we attacked the Pokémon Centre."
"It's a good job Ketchum isn't an issue anymore then, isn't it? I buried him under rubble not long after he was foolish enough to attack our task force at the ruins." Blaise said, chuckling and dismissing the statement.
"He escaped" Rachel said, halting his laughter "half an hour after you left, leaving us to face the music I might add saving your own sorry hide he walked out of the cavern looking no worse for wear."
"What do you mean?" Maxie asked, confused.
"Rather than try and help our fellow comrades he decided to abandon us" Rachel said pointing to an angry looking Blaise. "No, you don't get to look angry after leaving the very people you swore to stand beside to face the fucking Kanto Champion and save your own skin! You've just said yourself that you thought you'd killed him and there were only two of his Pokémon he left at the camp. You could have done something."
"He did," Maxie said, hoping to diffuse the situation as he couldn't face a splintering of his group. Too many had defected in the past year alone to go to the other group which left him simmering nearly all the time. "He brought us vital information, information which we are utilising at this very moment to rescue said comrades on the way to Rustboro. In fact, our agents have already hijacked the van that is transporting them at the checkpoint to Petalburg Forest. So, while I applaud your tenacity and loyalty please do not question the loyalty of my support staff. We are all in this fight together."
Before Rachel could retort a young man came rushing into the room, looking terrified.
"Sir, it's the mission."
"Speak" Maxie intoned.
"Four are dead sir with two seriously injured and are not likely to survive the ambulance trip to Rustboro Hospital."
"How?" Maxie asked, alarmed and ignoring the gasps that ran around the room.
"The last report we received was just before they entered Petalburg Forest. Apparently Ketchum knew something was amiss and sent his Salamence and Sneasel to follow the van. We lost them in the forest but they never came out of the other side. We hijacked the local police radios as they headed into the forest from Rustoboro and all we heard over the radio was panicked voices. Apparently the van took a hit from the side taking the back wheel off and it careened into a huge tree where it exploded."
"Ketchum" Maxie growled angrily.
"Sir, I don't think it was him. His Salamence was seen landing at the exit to Petalburg Woods not long afterwards and would have been far too big to fly amongst the trees."
"What about his Sneasel?" Rachel said drawing their attention "when Ketchum gave me the warning I was about to send out my Pokémon to kill him when he dismissed me, almost contemptuously. He even told me that his Sneasel would slice my throat open before I even had the chance to reach for a Pokéball and there was a good ten foot gap to the nearest bush. I believed him. I've seen the speed of that Sneasel in battle. Very few Pokémon can match its speed."
Maxie looked at Rachel before looking at Blaise. "Go to Rustboro, find out what happened but keep a low profile."
"That's not a good idea" Rachel said, getting an arched eyebrow from Maxie who looked amused at her rebuttal. "It's well known that Ketchum is in Hoenn to compete in the tournament in his bid to become Pokémon master so he must be doing the gym challenge. Rustboro is next in line after Petalburg City and he's seen Blaise before. He'll know Blaise is there before Blaise knows Ketchum is there because of his ability in aura."
"She has a point" Blaise said "while I can disguise myself pretty well my aura cannot change and he'll spot me."
"Don't tell me you're actually scared of him," Tabitha said, sneering at him with a shit-eating grin on his face.
"You've never seen him in action in person" Rachel said coming to the defence of the man she was just having a go at, "It should be impossible to move with the speed and grace that he does and the speed and power his Pokémon attack with is unbelievable. I'd suggest you watch the clip of him sparring with his Machamp that a fan posted at last year's Johto League, then come back and dare to call us scared. He's a Champion for a reason."
"Sounds like someone has a crush" Tabitha sneered at her, making her frown in anger.
"Enough!" Maxie said cutting any response off "Tabitha, you will go to Rustboro City in Blaise's place and poke around. Find out what happened and report immediately. Stay until you know for certain that Ketchum has left the city and quietly follow him but do not interact with him. Blaise I want you to head up the next operation at Meteor Falls. Rachel is it? Given you obviously know the entire life of Ketchum I want you to write up a comprehensive report of his past dealings with the police, G-Men or anything he has been in the vicinity of when it's gone tits up and give it to me in person. I want your own opinion on what you find out, I expect it within the week." Looking around the room he continued. "We will not be caught short because of the lack of information nor will we be abandoning our plans just because he has threatened us. If need be we will eliminate him but for now we will keep a watch on him. Our reports say that those morons at Team Aqua are also stepping up their plans and we must be a step ahead. You," he said pointing at a person who was sitting at a computer "find her a room, give her access to whatever she needs but keep me in the loop. Courtney, with me. I have a rather special mission for you."
Blaise and Tabitha sneered at each other before going in separate directions, Maxie left with his last executive leaving Rachel standing there confused at what just happened."
"Come on" the guy said standing up from the computer "there's a room free here that you can use."
Rachel nodded before feeling very weary. As she sat in an office that had just a laptop and a chair she struggled not to fall asleep before giving up. Half an hour later the man who showed her the office popped his head around the door and chuckled before turning the light off and leaving her to sleep.
Ash
Ash decided to do some sightseeing for the rest of the afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find that while being a city there were quite a lot of areas that had very little in, including a very quaint looking park so he and Pikachu spent a few hours just relaxing. The next day though he was woken by a very persistent knock on his door. Grumbling, he looked at the time, saw it was 4am and cursed whoever was on the other side of the door.
"Who's that?" Pikachu said yawning and stretching.
"I don't know but they better have a phenomenal explanation as to why we're being woken up at 4 in the bloody morning" Ash said opening the door and seeing it was Chief Claire Jenny. "Yes?"
"We need you to come with us" Jenny said motioning to her partner "you're wanted for questioning."
"At 4am?" Ash asked yawning and looking back at Pikachu who seemed just as confused.
"Yes," Claire Jenny said, "so get dressed, we'll wait for you in the lobby."
"Hang on, am I under arrest?" Ash asked.
"Not yet" Claire replied before walking away leaving Ash very perplexed.
Five minutes later Ash strolled downstairs with Pikachu on his shoulder on the phone to someone. Motioning to Claire he followed her and climbed into the back of the police car, still chatting away much to the annoyance of Claire who was growing steadily angrier at the blasé attitude shown to her by the Kanto Champion.
Walking into the Police Station he followed Jenny to one of the questioning rooms and took a seat, placed his phone face down on the table and looked expectantly at Claire and her partner who was there to take notes. Placing her own dictaphone on the desk she clicked on record and started talking.
"For the record I am Chief Officer Claire Jenny, this is my partner Amanda who will take notes for the questioning of Kanto Champion Ash Ketchum in relation to the events that took place on the evening of June 7th 2002.
Roughly an hour ago the van escorting the four members of Team Magma was hijacked on the outskirts of Petalburg Woods by two unknown assailants who donned the apparel of the JTF. As they made their way through the woods on the way to Petalburg City their van was hit by an unknown force and swerved off the road where it exploded killing four and injuring the remaining two members of Team Magma, who died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The two members of the JTF were found with their throats slashed in the back of the van and were only recognised because of their wedding rings. Unfortunately the explosion and resultant fire, which is still being managed by the Fire Department made it nearly impossible to distinguish who was who."
"Ok" Ash said, leaning back and looking nonchalant "so why was I dragged in here?"
"You were dragged in here Mr Ketchum because I visibly saw you order your Salamence and Sneasel to follow the van to its destination." Claire said. "Why did you order your Pokémon to escort the van?"
"I didn't," Ash said, making her frown. "I think you'll find I ordered my Pokémon to travel to Rustboro City to deliver a message to Joseph Stone. As we've never been to Hoenn before and we don't really know the layout of the region, and the van was heading to said city it seemed easier to follow the van and get to Rustboro as easily as possible."
"You're saying you never ordered your Pokémon to follow the van for anything other than getting the vague direction towards Rustboro City?"
"You don't have to answer that Ash" a voice said from his phone "you've already answered what you ordered your Pokemon to do."
"Who is that?" Claire asked, surprised.
"Oh sorry," Ash said "I should have said at the start when you were doing your introductions. That is my lawyer Jennifer White. I rang her while we were leaving the Pokémon Centre."
"You're not under arrest Mr Ketchum" Claire said slowly "why did you feel the need to ring your lawyer?"
"Well, when you're pulled from your bed at 4am by the Chief of Police of the city you're staying in, it's best to cover all bases." Ash said pleasantly.
"And as he has answered your question, can we move on?" Jennifer's voice asked, "It's 1am over here in Kanto and I've a bed and a husband I would quite like to get back to."
"Well as stated we just wanted to know what he ordered his Pokémon to do." Amanda said.
"And this couldn't have waited until a more reasonable time because?" Jennifer asked, irritated.
"Eight people have been killed, Mrs White" Claire said, "I'm sure you can understand the severity of the situation."
"I do," Jennifer said, "but as my client has stated what he ordered his Pokémon to do, and it can be confirmed by ringing Mr Stone then I think we can safely say my client had nothing to do with it so I think we can wrap this up."
"Very well," Claire said, clicking the dictaphone off and gathering her notes.
"I'm off to bed Ash" Jennifer said before abruptly hanging up much to his amusement.
"Something I can agree with" Ash said standing up and looking at Claire "it seems you could do with some sleep as well."
"Something I'm unlikely to get at the minute" she replied standing up and leading Ash out of the room.
"Has a path been cleared to enable people to get through the woods?" Ash asked.
"Oh yeah," Claire said, nodding "the road is straight through from the checkpoint but the path veers off way before that section. Hopefully the fire department can contain the fire before it spreads much more but there's a huge area that has been lost and so far around forty Pokémon have died. Whatever happened to that van we may never know as the radio chatter was also hijacked but whatever happened has caused a lot of devastation."
"So what do you know?" Ash asked as they stopped in front of the counter.
"Nothing I can share," Jenny said, giving him a look "anyway, good night Ash."
Chuckling Ash headed back outside and walked slowly back towards the Pokémon centre, falling back asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
June 8th 2002
Ash woke up rather late in the afternoon and decided he needed to finish the task Professor Birch had given him over a week ago now. Going through one final training session he recalled Torchic happy enough with his progress and made his way towards the park again as the Pokémon Gym was right beside it. He was stopped at the exit to the Pokémon Centre though by Nurse Joy who pointed at the TV.
"Again, the main news today comes from the Nurse Joy division. In a historic move, never before done since the creation of the Pokémon Centres, Agatha Joy, the Head of the Nurse Joy division has issued a blanket ban on any member of Team Magma and Team Aqua from using the facilities to heal their Pokémon across all regions. This comes after the brutal attack on Gemma Joy in Oldale Town where she was struck on the head and fractured her skull, nearly ending her life."
Ash, knowing that Gemma was the Petalburg Cities sister, immediately hugged her to his side where she leaned in as they watched the news.
"If it wasn't for the fast actions of the Kanto Champion Gemma Joy, my granddaughter would have died that day" Agatha said as her face appeared on the screen looking livid and grim. "I'm sick and tired of the rules and regulations that have restricted us from acting, that have been in place for forty years now stopping us from reporting abusive trainers because of the Act of Partiality. Pokémon Centres have always been a neutral space, here for the Pokémon and not the trainer and we have gone along with that, under duress for four decades but the brutal attack on one of our own in Oldale Town is the final straw.
As of now the Nurse Joy division will NOT take any notice of that ridiculous law. No longer will anyone, from any team not sanctioned by the Pokémon League in any region be allowed to use our facilities. From this moment on when a trainer comes into the centre they must hand over a Pokédex or a Passport as form of identification whether they be trainers or keep Pokémon as pets. Should a trainer not have any form of identification the Pokémon will be confiscated until such time as identification can be produced. Furthermore should a trainer not produce identification it will then be logged onto our system and passed onto every Pokémon Centre across every region. Abuse of the Nurse Joys and our goodwill will also not be tolerated any longer. Any trainer found to be a participant of an unsanctioned team like Magma, Aqua, any remnants of Rocket or the newly founded Galactic in Sinnoh will immediately be reported to the authorities. You have been warned, this is not a joke and we will not be backing down from this.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Kanto Champion Ash Ketchum for his quick and decisive action that day as without his help I would now be helping my daughter in planning a funeral. We will forever, all of us be grateful for your help."
The picture disappeared leaving the news reporter who picked up the story again.
"That was a statement from the Head of the Nurse Joy division, Agatha Joy in Olivine City. No statement has been made as of yet from the Pokémon League Board or Champions of the Regions."
"Good" Ash said viciously "I've said for years those bastards that abuse Pokémon should be jailed. I'm glad your grandmother has declared that law invalid as I always felt it was utterly stupid and open to abuse."
"I'm just sorry it didn't happen sooner. I hope those bastards pay for what they did to her." Astoria said viciously.
"I take it you weren't told why Jenny hauled me away at 4am then?" Ash asked, getting a shake of the head.
"I've only just come on shift." Astoria replied.
"The four that attacked your sister, along with two people who hijacked their escort van died last night in Petalburg Woods" Ash said "Something apparently derailed the van and it veered off the road into a tree killing them but setting the forest on fire at the same time. You're likely to be receiving injured wild Pokémon all day from the scene."
"Good," she said viciously wiping away tears. "Bastards. Do you know how it happened?"
"No, at least not yet. If I find out I'll let you know though. Keep me updated on how Gemma is, will you?" Ash asked.
"Thank you Ash, I will" Astoria said, sighing and leaning into him before walking back to her desk and sitting down, composing herself before logging onto her computer to start her shift. Ash walked straight back upstairs and loaded his computer up anticipating getting a message and sure enough it wasn't long before Ash received a video phone call from Giovanni informing him not to make a statement just yet as the board needed to go over the legalities of the decision made.
"I've already crafted a statement," Ash said as he sent it to Giovanni. "I wrote it as soon as I heard the news. Let me know if it needs amending but the gist is there."
"Thanks Ash" Giovanni said as he read the statement under his breath. "Have you got an alternate one in case the board condemns it?"
"No" Ash said "I fully support them Uncle Gio. You know my opinion on trainers that abuse Pokémon."
"Very well" Giovanni said "you're aware that I may have to counter this if the board orders it so?"
"I am" Ash said "and I won't be offended if you do."
"Good" Giovanni said "off the record I fully support the movement too. The number of trainers I've had to sanction over the past year for Pokémon abuse since I've been Director is ridiculous Ash."
"I'm not surprised" Ash said "I've forwarded at least forty over to you since I part took over from Blue and that's just in the Kanto Region. Just yesterday I received a report from the Nurse Joy in Vermillion complaining about the idiotic trainers that still insist on challenging Frank with birds or water Pokémon. Something needs to be done about that or we'll lose not only trainers but Frank too."
"I'm already drafting something about that" Giovanni said "I'm proposing Franks Gym should be at least a four badge challenge. That way the trainer has no excuse when they try to complain about losing."
"Oh that's a good idea" Ash said nodding "I think Frank would appreciate that."
"As an aside, is Blue still ok with doing the meetings for the upcoming Indigo League?" Giovanni asked "I've been that busy I've not had the chance to ask him in person."
"He's not told me any different" Ash said "If that changes though I'll let you know as I can take a flight from Slateport City to cover it. I've planned my route so that I hit Slateport when the Indigo League starts just in case I need to fly back for either the opening or closing ceremony."
"No problem," Giovanni said, making a note of that. "I'll keep you updated regarding the Nurse Joy situation Ash. Speak to you later."
Closing his laptop he stood up and sighed before remembering what he had planned to do that day. As he was making his way to the gym through the park, greeting the other inhabitants of the city as he did so he paused and looked up to the skies and smiled as not even a minute later the very familiar aura of Salamence and Sneasel hoved into view, landing not too far away from him, kicking up bit of dust as they did so.
"Good trip?" Ash asked them.
"Informative" Sneasel said tiredly.
"Very informative" Queenie agreed.
"We'll talk later, there's ears around." Ash said taking out a neutral Pokéblock, something he always did in the morning just in case and split it between them. "I'll give you your proper breakfast in a few hours after I have handed Torchic over."
"We ate," Sneasel said, taking the crumbling block "there's a river just on the opposite side of the woods and we had a very nice breakfast."
"Roasted Magikarp tastes yummy." Queenie agreed, making Ash chuckle as he recalled them.
"Do you think they'll ever admit to being best friends?" Ash asked Pikachu as they carried on walking through the park towards the gym.
"Not aloud" Pikachu said "and certainly not in front of each other but anger one and you'll anger the other. It's strange how that's worked out isn't it?"
"Very much so" Ash replied, nodding looking up to the skies that he could just about see through the canopy of trees that surrounded the pathways in the park. "I'm glad though. I'm glad you've all got someone to go to if you need help or advice."
"You're just glad we aren't mithering you" Pikachu observed.
"That's not true" Ash said indignantly and stopping, looking at his best friend with narrowed eyes "I've always had time for each and every one of you."
"And how happy are you we're able to sort our issues out between us?" Pikachu asked.
"Oh, so glad" Ash said, getting a laugh from them both. "It's something that has fascinated me over the years because it's almost unheard of from a trainers Pokémon to be so independent from their trainer. I think it cements my idea of using aura in training helps improve the Pokémons intelligence."
"Or" Pikachu said countering "it improves the trainers intelligence and helps you understand us, like learning another language."
"That's a good point actually" Ash said "both points of view could be right, depending on your thought process it could easily be a mixture of both. I'll have to write that down in my journal. You know you're not as thick as you look Pikachu."
"And you are thicker than you look, which normally would be difficult," Pikachu replied, earning a laugh from them both.
It was while they were laughing that Ash came upon the gym. It was a large circular building, with a flat topped roof, and with the band of red running around the middle it looked like a huge Macaron. At the side of the gym was a much smaller building, a house that was two stories high with a flat roof that sloped on one side halfway along. As he didn't have any business with the gym at the minute he knocked on the house and waited. Eventually it opened and a young girl, around thirteen years old wearing a red bandanna over long straightened brown hair which framed her heart shaped face. She was wearing a red shirt which stretched down to her thighs, blue shorts and red trainers. She was very pretty, Ash observed as enquiring blue eyes looked at him in confusion.
"Yes?" the girl asked with a soft voice.
"Hi" Ash said "I'm Ash Ketchum, I'm on an errand from Professor Birch…"
"Oh then it's my dad you'll want to see." she said, turning away and shouting over her shoulder "DAD, THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR!"
"Then let them in!" a man's voice shouted back from the depths of the house.
Sighing as if put upon, she stepped back and let Ash pass her. Ash looked at her in confusion before she said "straight through the hallway. The kitchen is down there." Before Ash could reply she started walking towards the stairs.
"Are you May?" Ash asked quickly.
"Yes" she said hesitantly turning back to him in confusion.
"Oh well I'm actually here for you" he said as he walked towards the kitchen, May following in his wake trying to figure out why this mountain of a man would be here for her. Ash walked into the kitchen and was surprised by how homely it looked. It wasn't huge by any means, in fact it was roughly the size of his mothers kitchen with a tile floor, shelves lining the walls full of boxes and pasta packets, an open pantry at the far end and windows on one side looking out to a rather pretty garden. Dominating the room though was a large mahogany table where two people were seated. A man looking to be in is late thirties with short slicked back black hair, brown eyes and a rather angular face wearing a white shirt and brown pants was seated facing a woman roughly the same age with long brown hair, blue eyes and a heart shaped face. She was wearing a long yellow summer dress with bows on the shoulders and yellow sandals.
"And who might you be young man?" she asked. "Caroline Maple" she finished looking at him expectantly.
"Ash Ketchum" Ash said bowing slightly at her "I'm here on behalf of Anthony Birch. The bone idle man was far too lazy to come himself and I was on my way to this city anyway so he asked me to come in his stead."
"That sounds like Tony" the man said, chuckling before introducing himself and offering Ash a seat beside him which Ash took, May sat beside the lady who was clearly her mother. Offering his hand to Ash he continued, "Norman Maple. Tony only leaves Littleroot Town if there's a research opportunity elsewhere, otherwise he holes himself up in his lab."
"It's a source of irritation for Laura" Caroline said "Tony is very lucky she loves him so much."
"I've told him this" Ash said nodding and laughing, "I've spoken to Tony a lot over the years when I was helping Samuel Oak at his Ranch and he always seemed to be distracted, even when on conference calls. Last year I had to fill in for the Johto Regional Professor when Elm was sacked and the conversations I had with him were sometimes like pulling teeth when I needed advice. I met him in person for the first time a week ago and he's no different."
"Thankfully he isn't as bad as Eric" Norman said, getting a look of confusion from Ash. "I was once the gym leader in Olivine City and he was my boss so to speak. He was partly the reason we moved actually as it was getting ridiculous just trying to receive information from him. It hampered my job severely. So when this opportunity came along five years ago we jumped at the chance to leave."
"Yes," Caroline said pursing her lips "luckily my own regional professor for contests is always on the ball."
"Oh you were a contest trainer?" Ash asked intrigued, pulling out his wallet and getting a business card out, sliding it over to her. "they're starting up next year in Kanto and I've been asked to organise a few meetings with past stars to promote them. If we could pick your brain, that would be wonderful."
"They're starting in Kanto?" Caroline asked intrigued and picked up his card reading it aloud "I knew I'd seen you somewhere before!"
"Thankfully you didn't say anything" Ash said chuckling "It's been nice just being vaguely recognisable."
"Yeah I can get that" Caroline said.
"You can?" May asked, surprised.
"Yes" Caroline replied laughing "I know you don't remember May but I was once a Grand Champion as a coordinator before I met your father. Your aunt Joanna is the head of the Coordinator division, remember?"
"Oh yeah" May said, nodding.
"Joanna Ayako?" Ash asked, getting a nod "I've been emailing her for the past few months. It's a small world isn't it?"
"And it seems to be getting smaller" Caroline replied laughing "now, you said you were here on an errand?"
"Oh yes" Ash said pulling out a Pokéball and Pokédex from his bag and sliding them over to May "I believe these belong to you."
Warily May picked up the Pokédex and it clicked into life where, much to her shock a red ray of light scanned her face up and down. "Ah!" she said quickly, dropping it and looking up in alarm.
"Pokédex number 127695 confirmed. Distributed by Regional Professor Anthony Birch. Trainer I.D. number MM180689 May Maple authorised."
The Pokédex then went silent and May gaped like a fish wondering what happened.
"That's new," Norman said, walking over to a drawer and getting his own old one out. Walking over he picked up Mays Pokédex and compared the two. "I've never seen one of the new ones before."
"I said the same," Ash said, picking his own out of his bag which looked rather battered in comparison to the brand new one and a slightly worn one.
"What the hell happened to yours?" Caroline asked, taking it and turning it around in her hands before sliding it back over.
"I'm constantly being attacked or put in the middle of messes created by teams like Rocket or Legendaries with delusions of grandeur" Ash said "I'm actually surprised it's lasted this long without giving up. I suspect it won't last the year given the incident I've had with Team Magma. I've only been in Hoenn for just over a week!"
"Yes" Norman said darkly "I heard about the incident in Oldale Town and the ruins. They've been a plague on this region for a decade so far but usually they kept the fighting between themselves and Team Aqua. The fact they were so brazen to attack a Pokémon Centre is worrying."
"Nurse Joy nearly died" Ash said shaking his head "she's lucky to be alive after what they did. I received a phone call from Giovanni this morning after the breaking news from the Nurse Joy division letting me know what the boycott entails as it's historic."
"What happened?" May asked.
"Team Magma attacked the Pokémon centre in Oldale Town" Ash said "for the last forty years the Pokémon Centers have been neutral ground for everyone meaning anyone can take refuge there whether they be abusers of Pokémon, criminals that belong to teams like Magma or Rocket etc and been able to have their Pokémon healed and eat for free. Well, when they attacked the centre, Gemma, the Nurse Joy that works there tried to stop them from cutting off the electricity to the centre, which is vital for the welfare of the Pokémon needing care and they hurt her. They hurt her so badly that she was on the verge of death and had I not been there she would have died. She's in hospital at the moment for treatment for a bleed on the brain and may never talk or walk again."
"Oh that's horrible," May said, holding her hand to her mouth.
"Which is why they've finally had enough" Ash said "I wish it had happened sooner though."
"Why?" May asked.
Looking around he saw the grim faces of the parents and continued "May, I've been a trainer for just over three years now and I've seen a lot of wonderful people do wonderful things in the Pokémon world. But I've also seen the worst of people too. When you have to treat a malnourished Pokémon because people don't think their Pokémon need food and its nearly died from starvation, save a Pokémon's habitat from being destroyed by people wanting to build over it for their own selfish needs or watch as a deformed Machamp struggle to move its arms because it's been evolved hours after evolving from a Machop because its bones are puncturing through its skin you become very jaded and angry. In my capacity as Champion of Kanto I have the authority to sanction trainers but I need to provide proof from a Nurse Joy alongside my own observations. I've had to sanction and permanently ban forty trainers since I beat Blue two years ago which is forty trainers too many. So for the Nurse Joys to do this is unprecedented as traditionally they've been unable to act against any trainers who abused their Pokémon. This puts a blanket ban on anyone who abuses Pokémon in any capacity from using the centres to heal their Pokémon and escape justice."
"Not before time" Caroline said nodding in agreement.
"Anyway, onto why I'm here" Ash said, nodding to the Pokéball that had remained untouched. "Sorry, but I have to sound official here as I'm acting in Birch's stead. May, Now that your Pokédex has been registered to you you're officially on the Pokémon Trainer network. The Pokémon you applied for is in that Pokéball and has been deemed in perfect health. In fact over the past week I've had the pleasure of being able to train with your Torchic and I have a feeling he will be a wonderful friend to you. He's very energetic and is excited to travel the region with you. Here, to go along with your Pokédex and Pokémon are five Pokéballs and two of my own Full Restores. Why don't you say hello to him?"
May, who had previously been listening into the Nurse Joy talk with eagerness suddenly looked fearful. Ash, knowing why she was fearful, continued gently. "May, you can't be fearful your entire life of Pokémon. I know we've just been talking about the worst humanity has to offer but the contrast is the world is full of wonderful people, events and Pokémon. The good far outweighs the bad so just please keep an open mind. Your Torchic has been looking forward to meeting you for nearly a year now, so be brave and say hello May."
Nervously May picked up the Pokéball and enlarged it before pressing the white buttons and a small chicken appeared chirping its own name to everyone but Ash who understood him.
"He's asking if you're May," Ash said to her.
"I'm May," May said, nodding and holding her hand out tentatively. Torchic had no compunctions though and chirped happily, diving at her chest and she had no option but to move her arms around him and hug him, fearful he may fall. Torchic happily started chirping away though and she looked confused wondering what he was saying.
"He's excited to train with you and to see the Hoenn region and is hoping you could tell him about yourself."
"Oh" she said looking down at him "so his name is Torchic?"
"He is," he said, taking out his notebook from his pocket and ripping a few pages from it, handing it over to her. "This is the training regime he was on for the last week along with the information about him in general including the moves he knows and his preferences for food and the like. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask."
"She'll be ok" Norman said smiling at his daughter, "why don't you go and introduce Torchic to your brother?"
"Oh do I have to?" May said pouting "you know he'll just moan I picked the wrong Pokémon."
"There's no such thing as the wrong Pokémon" Ash said with certainty "every Pokémon is unique and special in their own way. It's like asking which type is the best when there isn't one."
"Try telling Max that" she said.
"Ok" Ash said, surprising her "lead the way."
"Oh this should be fun" Norman said laughing as they all wandered into the living room, Ash following with Pikachu on his shoulders. When he entered he saw a young boy, around eight or nine years old with short black hair, big glasses wearing a green top and green shorts avidly watching a Pokémon battle on the television. Ash saw to his astonishment that it was actually him battling Harrison in the final of the Johto League Conference. When May walked in he watched as Max looked up, saw a Pokémon in May's hands and leaped from the settee to where May was standing.
"Is that your Pokémon?" he asked, peering at Torchic who looked confused. "Why did you pick Torchic when Treecko is obviously so much better?"
"Who says it's better?" May asked indignantly getting the same response from the chick in her arms.
"It's obviously better" Max said smugly knowing he would get a response from his sister which he unduly did, turning it into a sniping match, each retort getting more and more personal, ignoring the scolding of the parents. Ash on the other hand tuned it out and moved closer to the television.
"I always hate watching this part," Ash said, gaining their attention, but not looking at them. Max, who had not seen Ash gaped at seeing the very person he was watching standing in his living room. "This part always makes me so sad. Do you know why?"
Norman looked at the screen and saw it was Sneasel vs Weavile who were going at it with abandon scratching and slashing each other without a thought to their own welfare. "Why?"
"When I first met Sneasel he was asleep in my tent" Ash said, shaking his head sadly at the scene of blood dripping from both Pokémons claws. "I didn't know this at the time but his family had exiled him from their pack for being 'strange' so he was forced to fend for himself and doing pretty badly at it. He all but spelled out how desperate he was to come with me so we took him in but over the following year he told us bit by bit what had gone on. His sister was next in line to lead the pack and didn't want him anywhere near them as she thought his strangeness would influence the other kits in the pack so she challenged him with the loser having to leave. She was naturally faster and stronger than him as he had no interest in fighting whereas she trained her entire life at that point to be the eventual leader. It was a massacre and he lost and had to leave. What you're watching here is a fight between a sister who was once the strongest in the pack and brother who would now easily lead the pack should he wish. It was not a Pokémon battle, it was a fight for pride with a lot of righteous anger mixed in."
Turning around he saw the conflicting expressions on their faces. "The aftermath of this was absolutely horrible for Sneasel as a few days later he was involved in the Battle for Goldenrod City where he was forced to kill to save others. He didn't have the chance to process meeting his sister because of what Silver did and it took him a long time and many months of therapy with my other Pokémon to be able to confront his own personal feelings. At some point though he will have to face his sister once more and actually confront her, and Arceus knows what will happen at that point should no one be there to intervene.
Now, I've only recently become a big brother myself so I don't know what it's like to be a proper sibling just yet but the limited time I've spent with Flora has put life itself into perspective for me in a way I had no idea it would. I actually considered giving up battling just to be near her and see her grow and be there for her because that's what a sibling should do. I stood side by side with several siblings in the battle for Goldenrod City and was there for the aftermath when the surviving sibling had to bury the other.
It's pretty evident you want to be a trainer Max and May now has a Pokémon of her own and is about to start her own journey. It's not a widely talked about scenario but the minute you get your trainer I.D you effectively become a potential soldier for your region so this fighting you two have going on needs to stop as one day you two could be standing next to each other on the battlefield and it could be the last time you ever speak to each other."
Sighing Ash closed his eyes and breathed in before looking at the two who looked down at their feet. "We need to be better. Norman I'll be back tomorrow for a battle, I also have some information for you from Giovanni and John Dickson. Caroline it was lovely to meet you. Come on Pi." Ash bowed at the two parents, gave Max and May one last searching look before walking out of the door, heading back towards the Pokémon centre.
"We've asked repeatedly over the last few years for you two to pack it in and you've ignored us," Caroline said sternly "Today your father and I had to suffer the shame of watching the Kanto Champion witness your petty behaviour and ignore our requests. I suggest you two go to your rooms."
"It's only by a quirk of fate that I wasn't part of the Johto contingency that led people into battle at Goldenrod." Norman said with clear irritation. "Had I declined the offer to come here and stayed on as Olivine Gym Leader I would have been on the frontlines and you two could have possibly buried me last year. Go to your rooms, dinner is at 6."
May and Max both walked off to their rooms, their faces looking at their feet as they left their parents in the living room.
"Were we too harsh?" Norman asked, grabbing his wife's hand and leading her back to the kitchen to resume their breakfast.
"No," Caroline said shaking her head "I've long since had enough of having to listen to them bicker over the silliest things. I'm angry right now because it took an outsider and not us to finally get through to them how much they should be thankful for. Oh I can't eat this Norman, I need to go for a walk." Pushing her unfinished breakfast away she stood up and walked to the coat stand, grabbing a cardigan.
"I'd love to join you but my new apprentices start tomorrow and I want to make sure their accommodation is ready." Norman said "I'll cook tonight, go and have a walk."
Caroline walked out of the house and headed to the park where surprisingly she saw Ash sitting on a big expanse of grass, next to the pond talking with his Pokémon. Walking carefully so as not to surprise him she saw his huge Salamence lift her head up and look at her before she went back to grooming a Bagon, likely her child. She watched as his Sneasel said something before flopping dramatically on the floor getting a laugh from Ash.
"You ok Caroline?" Ash asked, inviting her to sit down.
"Yeah" she said, taking a seat beside him, folding her legs underneath her "I just needed a breath of air. Are you ok?"
"Yeah I am" Ash replied nodding "just spending some time with my Pokémon. It's one of the pleasures I've found that comes with being a trainer and I've found just sitting by water and listening to the world is underrated."
"I agree," Caroline said, smiling.
"How long have you been an aura wielder?" Ash asked her, getting a chuckle.
"My entire life since I was nine years old," Caroline said, sighing "my brother and I used to randomly throw aura spheres at each other just to annoy the other and would frequently earn the ire our mother and father as there wasn't a complete piece of pottery in the living room after we learned how to do them. He was a wonderful man with a very bright future. James and I had such grandiose plans growing up where I'd be a Champion Coordinator, which in fairness I did achieve and he'd be Hoenn League Champion and we'd rule over the leagues. Pipe dreams Ash, but a wonderful childhood none-the-less. He was acquired by the Lucario Kingdom when he turned twelve and was an ambassador for them for nearly three decades so his dream of being a Champion changed."
"Was?" Ash asked.
"He died a few years ago" Caroline said sadly, wiping a tear away at the memory of her brother, "he was in Pacidiflog working for the Kingdom when a freak tidal wave hit the area. He was swept away, we never found him but there's a commemorative plaque there with his name on it. It took a long time for me to stop being angry at the Lucario Kingdom for changing his fate."
"Hmmm" Ash said looking out over the water "I'll pay my respects when I get there."
"Thank you" Caroline said nodding "you were right in what you said to them. One day they will never get to talk to each other again and they'll miss it more than anything in the world."
"My sister cannot even talk yet, she's only six months old" Ash said "I've been away from her just over a week and I miss her more than anyone save my girlfriend. I'd quit being a trainer tomorrow if it meant it guaranteed at least another thirty years of seeing her."
"Keep that in mind Ash" Caroline said looking out over the pond.
"Neither May or Max have aura" Ash remarked a few minutes later, "how do you feel about that?"
"Relieved" Caroline said immediately, getting a chuckle from Ash. "Don't get me wrong I loved being an aura wielder but there's so many downsides and it can be such a lonely existence."
"My mother said the same thing about Flora" Ash said "Maybe it's a parental thing. My opinion on it changes from day to day depending on who I deal with. My dad also agrees with your views now he's got a child he can have a hand in raising that she's free to choose her partner. I'm a little envious in a way as I never had the choice but I'm lucky I found my partner."
"Me too" Caroline said nodding "so many don't, my brother being one of them."
There was no talking done after that and by an unspoken mutual agreement they departed an hour later. They never mentioned to anyone that they had had that talk but it helped both of them in ways they couldn't describe.