Ash was back on the sea floating on Lapras, he recently finished watching the remaining episode of Horizons, well at least the available ones, so now he was thinking about everything.
While he was there he was playing with something in his hand, he was spinning it around the palm and stopping it, it was a pink Berry, or more specifically it was the Pinkan Berry from Pinkan Island.
Yeah, he made a quick stop and just took 1 and hopped back on Lapras before the Jenny found him, he only needed 1 since he still had that app that gave him knowledge about farming so he just cut it open and took the seeds before planting them in his pocket storage and giving the slices to everyone.
Although it might make them pink it will only be temporary unless they are raised on it, which also made Ash curious so he took a bite, it tasted like pink lemonade, but Abra stole his piece so he couldn't keep eating it.
He shook his head and looked himself over, he didn't look like he was turning pink, then he took the camera and checked himself, his face was fine but surprisingly his eyes were turning pink.
It didn't matter since it would go away but still, it was interesting, now his next destination was simple, he was going to Fairchild Island.
But also he might be craving a 'Grapefruit' if you get what I mean, well it depends on which one is closer.
—
{International Police Kanto headquarters}
Looker and Anabel returned from the 'vacation' if you could call it that, and they went to the Battle Tower, the place that Ash sent them to find and potentially unlock more of Anabel's memories.
When they got there Palmer was standing there, at first, he didn't recognize Anabel, how could he after the news of her disappearance/death and the fact that she was so young back then?
And needless to say that when they told Palmer he was more than a little pissed thinking someone was making fun of someone's death, and after an overly long explanation and battle Palmer believed them.
[Flashback]
Palmer returned his Pokemon, "*Phew*I see it now, you really are Anabel, the way you fight it's exactly like your parents, man it really brings me back."
Anabel returned her exhausted Snorlax, "Erm, Mr. Palmer,"
"Just call me Palmer or Uncle, it wouldn't be right since me and your parents were so close," Palmer said, waving his hand happily.
"Right, Palmer, umm well I- " Anabel was caught off guard when Palmer talked again.
"Oh, we should call Scott! The Battle Tower was a huge success so we should build the next one so you can take over this one since this is yo-"
"Mr. Palmer!" Looker said, cutting him off, "Anabel needs to tell you something."
Anabel nodded and took a breath, "I'm sorry, but I don't remember you, I don't remember much I seemed to have lost my memories so we came here hoping that you could tell us more about me and my parents."
Palmer's face fell, "Oh, I see, well that actually makes sense when you call it out, if you did remember you would remember me, though it has been a few years what are you in your 20s?"
Anabel and Looker looked at each other, they talked about this and thought it was best that they keep the fact that Anabel probably jumped through time.
Anabel gulped and nodded, "Yeah, I'm 23,"
"Well could have fooled me, you don't even look like you're 15 yet," Palmer said trying to lighten the mood away from the somber topic.
But when he saw Anabel and Looker not laughing he sighed, "Yeah, I can tell you at least what I know, I can't tell you about yourself, but I might have someone who can!"
Palmer went to the PC and pushed a few buttons as a Pokeball appeared, it looked extremely old and also like it hadn't been open for a long time.
Palmer presented it to Anabel, "This was your mother's Pokemon, she left it here on that day to get used to the place, but seeing as..well that happened, I think it's only fitting you have him."
Anabel hesitated for a moment as she had a complex look on her face, then she took the Pokeball and looked at it for a moment before finally pressing the button to open it.
As it opened a Alakazam who was in the middle of meditating appeared, he opened his eyes. At first, there was a sight of annoyance but when he saw Anabel who was also the spitting image of her mother his eyes shot open.
"Alakazam! [My lady?…no, you're not her, you're her daughter.]" Anabel heard in her head.
Anabel nodded, "Y-yeah, you're my mom's Pokemon right."
"Ala-kazam..{Yes, and I remember you, we played together when you were young, I thought you perished with your mother}"
Anabel rubbed her shoulder, "I… I don't know everything yet, you see I lost most of my memories, so can you help me?"
Alakazam bowed, "Kazam…[I would be honored to accompany you,]"
[End of Flashback]
After that Palmer told them what little he knew, and Alakazam helped Anabel gather some of her memories but it wasn't everything, like what really happened that day.
But that wasn't important at the moment, speaking of which Palmer said he would call Scott to tell him the good news, which Anabel and Looker were also heavily against, well not the telling Scott part but announcing her being alive.
Would be pretty big if a dead girl came back to life, so they told him to keep it a secret for now, at least until she figured everything out but they did agree that Scott could at least know.
Right now Anabel was still trying to get used to everything and Looker understandably understood her stress, so he made sure she only had to do the bare minimum so she could have the time she needed.
And so that's how the first few days went, and slowly but surely Anabel was beginning to recover and started working, but she was still a bit behind schedule on her reports.
So like it always seems to happen Anabel and Looker had to stay late doing paperwork, though their eyes were drifting over to the computer, since it always seems to turn on when they are alone.
But it never happened, it never did turn on so they just went back to their paperwork again, and eventually, they did finally finish everything.
"*Sigh* I swear we get more paperwork every year," Looker said, stretching his arm behind his head.
"Yeah, but it's for everyone's good…" Anabel said, still seemingly out of it.
Looker looked concerned, "Hey, how are you holding up?"
"I'm…fine enough, Alakazam has tried something, almost like implanting memories in my head but it didn't really work, since you know," Anabel shrugged as she used her psychic powers to pick up a pen that was on the floor.
"Yeah, I can see that you would have something blocking your head right," Looker said pointing at his own head.
"Yeah, I mean being a psychic does give a natural resistance to this stuff," a third voice said.
Anabel nodded, "Yeah, it seems that as of now Alakazam c-" she stopped when she realized that voice didn't come from Looker.
Looker also noticed the 3rd voice and turned to the computer, and there it was, those red eyes in a black background, D.
"Oh don't mind me, I was just waiting so that both of you would be done, after all, it would be a shame to interrupt such important Police work like writing paperwork, and you wonder why I didn't join," Ash said chuckling
Anabel frowned and looked at the computer, "What do you want, if it's from you it can't be good,"
"I'm offended darling, I have done nothing but help you, I gave you information, given you the names of all the moles in your Police force, and I told you that there was going to be a raid in Cinnabar Island,"
Looker walked next to Anabel, "He does have a point, as of now he hasn't done anything to go against us."
"Ah, Looker old buddy old pal, I knew I could trust you, I already have your number, we should be on a first-name basis."
Looker frowned, "You first,"
Ash laughed, "Haha, oh that's funny, unfortunately, I can't do that, secret identity and all."
"This is pointless, why are you calling," Anabel said, more demanding than asking.
"Wow, I clearly see that my efforts are going to waste, you know I don't have to be so nice," Ash said as the screen started to static before stopping.
"But you know what, I quite like you 2, so I'll still keep helping you because it's entertaining to see you all scramble,"
Looker sighed, "Fine, can you tell us what your purpose is this time?"
"Oh gladly, well if you listened earlier, I have another Admin you guys can take down, tell me how much do you know about a man named Aster,"
Looker frowned and went to his computer to look up their information, "What are you talking about there is no Admin named Aster,"
"Well that's in your logs, in case you forgot Team Rocket is very good at hiding, and Aster is one of the worst examples," Ash said as a file appeared on Anabel's computer.
"That has everything you need to know about him, well from what I gathered because this guy is such a rat that he does countless other things without Team Rocket's permission,"
Anabel didn't open the file yet, she looked back up to the screen, "And what even is your plan if we agree to help, and what do you gain from this,"
"Well that's for me to know, but more importantly, in 5 days I promise you, Aster will leave the Sevii Islands and go to the port of Celadon, and I hope you'll be ready."
"And how are we even supposed to convince the other members to join us, after all, we can't tell them about you," Anabel said with a scowl.
"Oh darling, that's up to you to find out, not me, but you know you should smile more, after all, you're never fully dressed without a smile," Ash said as the call ended
—
{Earlier that day - Ashtwo}
It's actually been a few days since Ash arrived here on Two Island, and now he was standing in front of a boat in the dock as People were boarding.
Over the time he was here, he could practically feel Aster looking over him any moment he had, and there were more than a few times when he tried to take off the scarf.
He also had to make sure he didn't do anything that would give him more attention than he already has, sure he may have said he was decently strong but he still kept his cards close to his chest.
These days he noticed some stuff too, mainly that most of the grunts that he has control over do it out of fear for one reason or another. And he's been talking with him and Owari the most trying to get on their good side, no doubt to try and recruit them to work under him.
After some fiddling, he managed to have Porygon2 connect with the wifi on this island and he managed to get into the data files, although he didn't have access to the main computer he would need more time for that.
From what he managed to gather Aster does far more than just man and control the recruits here in Two Island, in fact, according to what he read he does a lot of stuff outside of Giovanni's jurisdiction, he seems to even be funding stuff in the black market but it isn't clear what.
But no matter, he was leaving Porygon2 to decipher everything and get into the master computer to see just what Aster was hiding.
But for now, he was walking onto the ship next to Owari since they were partners in this upcoming raid, Owari went to the ship's Bridge like always leaving Ash with one final reminder that Aster was up to something.
Once they were separated Ash started walking to go and meet with all the other grunts but as he turned the corner he saw Aster there waiting for him with a smile.
"Oh, D. fancy seeing you here, but you know what, maybe this isn't too bad I have an offer for you," he said with a toothy smile.
Aster walked up and looked Ash up and down, eyes fixating on the scarf he never seemed to take off, "Though once again, my curiosity is still peaked, could you perhaps tell me what you hide behind your scarf?"
Ash sighed but expected this, so he swung his hand to his scarf and pulled it down, revealing his 'destroyed' face and covering it again, "There was an accident so I cover my face, nothing more nothing less."
Aster looked sympathetic but it was only an act, on the inside he saw an opportunity and Ash could see it in his emotions, "That must be tough, no way to live a normal job, no normal line of work, and no way to have love,"
He put extra emphasis on the last part, "But you know I may have a way to help you if you'd like."
Ash knew what was coming next so he continued his acting, "Hmm, I'd be willing to listen to anything at this point,"
Aster smiled, "Well I have this daughter, quite the beauty if I say so myself, but it's only to be expected she is my daughter, she is none other than Gym Leader Erika,"
Ash's eyes showed a frown, "And why is that relevant to this?"
Aster smiled, "Oh simple, I'm her father I can get you engaged to her, all I want is that you work for me personally, I can even promise you a high rank, maybe even my right or left-hand man, so what do you say."
Ash frowned underneath the scarf but smirked that this was his exact plan, "Hmm, It doesn't seem like a bad deal," Ash said, continuing his act.
Aster smiled, not letting Ash say yes or no, "Excellent, then after this mission I'll go to Celadon City personally and tell her, I hope you enjoy the benefits," then he walked away.
As Aster walked to his room Ash walked the other way and smiled, "Oh you stupid greedy man, I promise you you're not getting farther than the dock, I'll make sure of that personally."