{Ashtwo}
It took a bit, but currently, Ash was standing at the tip of a ship holding a bunch of Team Rocket Operatives, including him, Jay, Enid, Jesse, James, and Meowth. Sayoko was also on the ship, as she had said she'd be.
It took a few days since they left, and now they are arriving at the cover of night approaching Goldenrod City.
As they docked in the night, they didn't land at the dock; they went around in a secret entrance around from the back where the rocky area went into, as their captain approached the rocks, a secret button was pressed, and the rocks split apart revealing an entrance that they went into.
Going inside, they saw that this place looked like it was probably the main base in Johto, and they could see that they were located under the radio tower, speaking of the base.
After Aster was captured, Giovanni ordered an evacuation of the Celadon branch, the only reason they could previously be there with no fear was because of Aster, with him out of the picture, it was best if they left it behind for a while.
They abandoned the Celadon branch for the time being until they were sure that they could guarantee their safety or they were sure no one would go after that base, although they kept the game corner running, that is a good source of income for them.
As they went inside, they were greeted by the sight of a bunch of grunts looking at them and cheering that the new transfers were here, and as they landed and they started getting off the ship, they were led to a larger room.
As they went in, they stood and saw a man wearing a black cloak and a mask walking up, and next to him were two people Ash recognized as Carl and Sham, walking next to him.
The masked man looked over at them, and his face was unreadable, but Ash could see he had the emotion… numbness..he wasn't feeling any emotions like he barely even wanted to be alive levels.
"Well, what do you all want," he said coldly, "A welcome party with cake…."
He walked to the side as the mask seemed to make some of them uneasy, "This is our base in Johto, we do things differently here in Johto here I have jurisdiction, I say what goes, these two next to me are my Executive,"
The man walked up first, "Carl,"
Then the woman, "Sham…"
Then the masked man looked back, "You all can call me leader, you do not have the right to know my name…"
As he said that, suddenly, two more men walked up, one with a black hat, Proton, and another with light blue hair and a white suit, Archer.
Archer walked up and put his arm on the masked man's head, "Now, now, you know that's no way to talk to our new members, and what's this about you being in authority here, last I checked since the last time you messed up I'm the one over you~"
The Masked man showed no reaction, but Ash didn't even need Aura to tell he was gritting his teeth angrily, but he said nothing.
Carl and Sham looked at Archer angrily, but they knew they couldn't do anything to him, he was stronger than them and even stronger than the Masked man, behind Giovanni, Archer was the strongest, and after that, it could be debated if the Masked man or Ariana were stronger.
Archer chuckled and gave the masked man a slap on the mask slightly, after all, he knew who was behind the mask, "Don't forget yourself~"
Then he walked up to see the grunts that arrived, "Very well, everyone get to know this base, you will receive a map later detailing where other Team Rocket bases are, for now, have fun; you will be called upon when it is time, but I do have some missions for a select few of you."
With that, Proton walked up holding a paper, "Will Agent D., Jay, Enid, Jesse, and James wait after,"
Other than surprised mumbling, no one said anything, and Archer dismissed them, letting them stay behind, Meowth tried to walk out too but was stopped by Jesse grabbing him by the back of the neck, and of course, Sayoko also stayed.
After it was empty, the masked man still stood on the stage as Archer and Proton walked up to them, first, he went to Jesse, James, and Meowth and gave them a paper, "This is your assignment, your task is to go to Violet City first…"
All 3 of them gave a salute, "Right!" x3, and then they ran out of the room with a nod.
Then he went up to them as Sayoko walked up and stood next to Archer, "So you 3 are the newest spies, I must say for 2 of you, you don't look like anything impressive, just some kids…"
Obviously, he was saying D looked like he was the most interesting, considering he covered his face and there was little to no background on him, but Enid immediately thought he was talking about her.
Archer continued, "But results don't lie, you three have made yourselves useful, some more than others," he said, sending a side eye to Enid and Jay, "But useful nonetheless,"
He then walked over and gathered some papers, "Agent Jay and Enid, these are your personal assignments. You will work individually, and I expect a report,"
Then he turned to Ash, "As for you, Agent D., there is a special circumstance, seeing as you got a promotion, you will now need a grunt to be your partner, someone under you you command but someone you can use,"
"Thankfully, we are receiving a new batch of recruits, and so you will be going over there to oversee it, and after that, you will select anyone that catches your interest."
Ash nodded and didn't say anything, Enid obviously looked smug to her, while Ash stayed here in the base waiting on some dumb newbies she'll be out getting stronger and more renowned in team Rocket, soon she'll take a promotion too and overtake him after.
"Very well dismissed, Proton why don't you show them around? I have some business here," Archer said, receiving a nod from Proton.
Proton walked up, "This way," then he started walking out, the three following. Meanwhile, Archer turned to Sayoko, but before that, he sent a glare to the stands where the Masked man was looking over,
The Masked man scoffed as he walked out of the room finally,
Sayoko looked mischievously at Archer, "You know if you wanted me alone and defenseless, there were easier ways~"
Archer paid no attention to that, "Not the time, the Boss informed me about your situation, how are things with 'that'?"
Sayoko's smile didn't falter, "Oh, they seem to last less and less as time goes on, but it doesn't matter. I'm doing all this work, so the boss is more than happy to supply them for me,"
Archer nodded, but he didn't have a smile, "Very well, just know here I take a more hands-on approach, if I see you abusing 'that' or wasting it, I'll cut it myself, and there will be consequences for you,"
Sayoko nodded but kept her smile as her left eye shined, "Loud and clear~"
—-
{Back with Ash}
After going their separate ways from Gary, they kept going further while Gary went off to do his own thing. They passed through a certain valley, but Ash had no reason to go there, so he went around, and eventually, they got to the dark forest.
Maybe if he didn't have Aura, this would be a problem with the ghost-types that live here, but with Aura, Ash had no problems and even found and knocked out the random Gengar trying to scare them, so they got past with no problems.
On their way, they got to the Pokémon Exhibition and stopped to watch it, but nothing more than that, well, Brock tried hitting on girls, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then they kept walking, going past Catallia City and Palm Hills, but because Jesse, James, and Meowth weren't there, they had no reason to stay in either.
As it was a new day, Ash walked, keeping his arms over his head, thinking he really had been able to skip a lot. He has trained on the road, but still, he's been able to get through most of this with a combination of him planning ahead and just Jesse, James, and Meowth not being around every 5 minutes.
Speaking of which, when was the last time he, himself, saw them…well, not counting when he saw them at the League, probably way back when he was at Fuchsia…no, no, he met them back in Vermilion City right before he left for the Orange islands!
Admittedly, without them, things seem to get a bit more boring, which makes him wonder how much of the events from the Manga, he doubts the events of HeartGold & SoulSilver will happen since Groudon and Kyogre haven't been awoken yet, so Arceus isn't planning to destroy all of humanity.
But then again, things are different here, he doesn't know if the Masked man will try to take Celebi, and if he does…
Ash looked down at the GS ball, this Pokeball was the key to Celebi, if the Masked man got it, he would get Celebi, but even if he didn't want to risk it, he couldn't just ignore Oak and keep the ball, especially with no good reason, it's not like he could tell him about the GS ball, there is no way he would believe him.
His best bet is to monitor it after he gives it to Kurt and have Abra mark it so he can try to take it back in case the Masked man gets it.
As he was thinking about his future plans, suddenly he was taken out by a cry, "Chhhh ~"
When they looked around in surprise, they saw a horn peeking from a nearby bush, as they took a moment to process that, the horn went up and reveling attached to it was a little Baby Stantler looking at them scared.
"Aww, look at that little guy…" Misty said, looking at the cute, Deer
"Yeah, it's so small, and it looks scared," Brock said as he approached slowly
Yellow, who understood what that Stantler said, was slightly surprised when Brock started approaching, she whispered quietly, "Brock…wait, why are you getting close? Stantler is afraid…"
"Don't worry, Yellow, I know, so I'm going to get close to Stantler and make sure it isn't afraid," Brock said as he got on all fours.
"That's…not how that works… Stantler is-" Yellow tried to explain as Brock started trying to act like a Stantler by doing every animal except a Deer, bold strategy we'll see how it plays out.
Needless to say, Stantler was just confused and scared now, if it could, it would have run away, but it couldn't, something Brock realized when he got closer and saw a bruise on the baby Stantler's leg.
Brock focused his nonexistent eyes on that, and Stantler noticed and was scared, thinking Brock would take advantage now that he knew that it couldn't run, so then its horns started shooting out a sweet, relaxing smell that entered everyone's noses.
As they enjoyed the smell, Ash, for once, closed his nose with his hand. He knew what was coming, once the smell stopped coming, Brock was about to take another step, but then they heard the sound of hooves on the ground.
Looking up, everyone saw a herd of angry-looking Stantler. Brock's face went pale as he took a step back, Misty, Yellow, and every Pokemon they had out, including the Pikachus, were also scared at the sudden appearance of probably hundreds of Stantler.
Then the Stantler started charging and grunting towards them; Brock started running, yelling, "Stampede!!!"
Misty and Yellow followed behind quickly, but Ash didn't move, much to Pikachu's surprise, as he started pulling his hair, trying to convince him to start running.
"Pika Pika!!!"
But Ash ignored it as he walked forward, finally making everyone review what he was doing and making them yell out for him.
"ASH WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!"
Ash didn't answer yet as the Stantler got closer. Pikachu was about to shoot a [Thunderbolt], but Ash raised his hand and stopped him as the Stantler finally reached him.
Everyone expected Ash to have gotten gored, but as the first Stantler hit him… nothing as the Stantler kept running, Ash was still standing as they went through him, and because of that, when they got to everyone else, they didn't move as it went passed them too.
Ash kept going and reached the baby Stantler and used Aura as he gave it a pat on the head, "Calm down, I know it's scary, but I'm not going to hurt you,"
As Stantler received the head pat, the Army of Stantler started to dissipate like they were ghosts, leaving only Ash crouching next to the baby Stantler.
"Let's see what we can do about this," Ash said as his palm glowed blue and he took it down to the baby Stantler's leg, at first, Stantler was scared, but when he realized Ash was helping him, he tried to relax.
It took a moment, but Stantler felt a warm feeling spread through its leg and over its body, when Ash removed it, the bruise was gone, and Stantler was back to normal.
Stantler gave a happy noise as it started nuzzling against Ash. Pikachu was still on his shoulder, trying to process what just happened, and the other three walked up, wondering the same thing.
Ash looked over at them and smiled, "What you can't see through illusions~"
Misty's face twitched in annoyance, but Yellow looked embarrassed since she could, she just forgot she could,
Brock walked up next to Ash and tried to pat Stantler, which was only allowed when Ash assured him it was ok.
Brock felt the Stantler's soft fur, "I guess this little guy must have gotten lost, most Stantler live up that mountain way up there, it's not likely that this Stantler could have ever gotten back on its own,"
Yellow walked over and patted Stantler, much easier without Ash's help, "Aww, Stantler must have been so scared, it must miss its mom…"
"Yeah, but unfortunately, that's the way nature works, it's sad, but Stantler migrate this time of the year to colder weather, in closer places, it's not likely most Stantler would waste the energy to find one fawn when they have more, so this little one was probably left behind."
"That's very sad," Yellow said as the Baby Stantler looked down, still scared to be alone, "Can't we do something…"
Stantler never stopped nuzzling against Ash, the more they talked they could see tears forming in Stantler's eyes and falling on Ash's shirt,
"We probably can't get this one back to his family, unfortunately." Brock said, rubbing his chin, then he saw how attached Stantler seemed to Ash, "Why don't you catch it then, it seems to really like you,"
Ash looked at the Stantler, "Well, you wanna come with me then, you won't have to be alone anymore,"
Stantler didn't hesitate and nodded happily, so Ash took a ball and booped Stantler on the nose, and it closed and 'dinged' immediately, meaning Stantler was caught.