Pallet Town, 1408 Hours Local Time, Day 28 of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon Journey
Delia Ketchum may not have been your ordinary housewife, but she damn well tried to make it seem that way.
So while she was making lunch for her two youngest and eldest children, it was more to keep her from murdering her brother's entire organization. Her Mr. Mime was kinda wanting to END a threat to her progeny's life.
But her primary concern was whether or not her eldest son would come out of his shell and begin that long and winding path to making her a grandmother. For the last few years, she'd been trying to get Ash back to his old, more-outgoing self.
The phone rang, making the former Elite Four put down what she was making, walking over to the phone. The caller on the screen read 'Saffron City Pokemon Center' and while she knew a LOT of people, the people in Saffron… tended to avoid her. There was that incident with Silph Co…
Delia shook her head as she answered the call, finding none other than her eldest son, looking… nervous, turning his head to look to his left a lot.
'Oh this better not be something involving Misty.' Delia thought. 'Well, something BAD involving Misty. Him coming out of his shell would help.'
"Hi, mom. Uh… I got good news, bad news and… odd news…" Ash said, rubbing the back of his head.
"What happened, sweety?" Delia asked, hoping the 'bad news' was Ash sleeping with Misty. She might frown on it normally, but hey, anything that would help.
"The good news is we're ok." Ash started before nervously chuckling. "The bad news is we were kinda in the middle of what happened in Saffron a couple of days ago…"
Delia's eyes narrowed. The 'storm' could be seen for miles.
"And the… odd news?" she asked, curious as to what could be 'odd'. With that, Ash stepped aside to allow someone to enter the view. A woman roughly ten years her junior, with black-green hair, purple eyes…a figure her younger self would kill for, especially the chest…
"Hi, Gramma!" the girl said.
Delia froze.
"Gramma?" she asked. 'What the fuck.' she thought.
Pallet Town Outskirts - roughly the same time
"Never wanted to come here again." James said.
"Fire tends to scar. Let's get this over with and get back to Saffron." Meowth said, not fond of Pallet Town either.
It may have been famous for other reasons, but for them, it was the site of their pain. They would not bring up why. They didn't want to remember why.
So they avoided the place.
Which was why the Boss made sure to send THEM and not someone else. He enjoyed making them suffer on occasion.
"Let's just go already!" Jessie declared as she charged ahead to the home of Delia Ketchum just to get this over with.
"She knows I have the letter, right?" James asked.
"Just go. Then we can take the Natu back to Saffron." Meowth said.
Delia continued staring until there was a knock at the door. "Be… right back…" she said before going to the door, finding a letter on the doormat.
With an R on it.
"I'll deal with YOU later." she said before walking back inside, to where her… granddaughter… was waiting on the phone.
Sabrina Natsume, the Saffron Gym Leader, thought she was Ash's daughter. There was a story behind that.
She wanted Ash to tell her first.
She returned to the vid-phone, still somewhat confused. "So, how did this happen and what ELSE do I need to know?" she asked.
"Uh… can you help my friend out? Her name's Anabel and… I don't know what girls need and Misty's… busy." Ash stammered out.
Delia was going to need to read that letter.
Silph Co building in Saffron City - roughly the same time
"Do not fuck this up." ordered Ariana, Team Rocket Admin and one of the more intelligent members of the Team.
Because she knew Ash Ketchum was in the city and wanted this done, in and out, quickly. Silph's Master Ball prototype was ready after nearly 70 years in R&D (Cipher fucking over everyone yet AGAIN like they had nothing better to do) and Team Rocket wanted it.
It could catch literally any Pokemon. From the lowest Rattata to (theoretically) Arceus.
Giovanni wanted it. Combine that with the old Snag system made by the now-LONG defunct Team Snaggem in Orre and… well, even Delia Ketchum would no longer be a threat.
She wasn't stupid enough to think they could take her on NOW - the damned machines were in Orre's deserts somewhere after Cipher unceremoniously kidnapped both their pains in the ass and gave them two rounds to the back of the head - but baby steps.
First step: steal Master Ball. then replicate it. Then profit.
"Ma'am, what if Ketchum shows up?" one of her grunts asked. It was a stupid question, but people had to ask given the status of the Team.
Archer was dead, Proton in a hospital prison… it had to be asked.
"In the unlikely event he shows up, follow orders and do not engage." she ordered. She was NOT in the mood to test Giovanni by threatening his nephew. There were just some things you DON'T do.
Giovanni SHOT Archer for that.
"Yes, ma'am." the grunt replied, spreading the word.
"No worries. If we do this right, he won't even know we were here. Who do we look like, Jessie and James?" Ariana cackled as one of the grunts breached the back door with a shotgun.
Saffron City Pokemon Center - 1525 Hours Local Time
This was beyond embarrassing for Ash. Having two younger siblings was one thing.
Having a woman that thought she was his daughter that was ten years older then he was didn't help.
"You have REALLY pretty hair, Sabrina!" said Yellow.
Having his little sister and Sabrina interacting was… horrifying.
"You're going to have to tell us how this happened, Ash," said Red.
"You do NOT want to know." Ash said to his younger brother, more out of not wanting to tell him about the other timeline and what caused this.
'No, you don't want them to know. Just go with it.' said that annoying smug voice in his head.
"Yes, Ash, I DO want to know why I have a niece that's twice my age!" Red yelled back at his older brother.
"Pika." 'Your suffering is great and I am enjoying this.' Pikachu said with a light smile.
"Only because you got your wish." Ash retorted back at his starter.
"Pi… ka." '…Holy shit, you're right.' Pikachu said with a realization.
"Well, I am going to take Anabel to the nearest clothing store." his mother said. "Those League people never know how to get a proper fitting outfit on a growing girl."
"And… I'm going for a walk." Ash said before taking any excuse to LEAVE.
"Pikapi!" 'Wait! Stay! I want to enjoy this, Ash!' Pikachu said, following his trainer.
He missed Delia's evil smirk.
"You want him to have a harem, don't you?" Red asked his mother.
"Misty likes him, that Anabel girl won't leave him alone and I know Serena will stop at nothing to get her man, sweety." Delia said sweetly before sighing. "Besides, you know your brother deserves some happiness after what happened."
Red nodded somewhat. "Though he doesn't remember." he said.
"That might be for the best." his mother replied.
Ash ran two blocks after he left the Pokemon Center. Anything to get away from the madness that was now his life.
"It used to be SIMPLE!" Ash finally said as he stopped, panting, out of breath and generally winded. "Just go around, catch Pokemon, learn about the world and occasionally save it from itself. No muss, no fuss, no romance."
"Pika." 'Your life was never going to be simple.' Pikachu retorted.
"I MISS the old timeline. Everything was simple, uncomplicated and I didn't have to carry around a gun for self-protection!" Ash bemoaned.
"You and me both, son." said a gravelly male voice from behind Ash. The young trainer turned around to see a man in what could only be called a casual business suit, with grey-white hair, a moustache and a face that looked like boiled leather. On his left shoulder was a Natu, perching like he belonged, with a Gible orbiting his feet.
Ash was reminded of his Gible. Where WAS he, anyway?
"I've been forced to carry one of these things for decades." he continued, tapping the weapon on a hip holster. "I never thought I needed one myself until I ran into a Shadow Togetic. Damn thing nearly killed me. But I suppose you don't want to hear an old man ramble, do you, Ash?"
"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Ash asked, weary of people knowing his name for no reason.
"My name is Gaffery. I'm a league psychiatrist." The man said. "YOUR psychiatrist, in fact. You are not an easy man to catch up to. Did you know that?"
…Oh this was the LAST thing he needed. Sure, he had… issues, but he knew his issues and how to deal with them. He didn't need to talk to someone that didn't know what he'd been through telling him how to deal with his feelings!
"I don't think I need a shrink." Ash said, backing away.
"The league thinks otherwise. And you aren't the first to think they didn't need help." Gaffery said, his Natu nodding along. "It's a league requirement. Every trainer not assigned to a gym or watch post has a psychiatrist assigned to them. In your case, me."
"Look-" Ash started before he felt something land on his head.
"Natu." 'Yo.' said the Natu, which was female. It was Anabel's female natu. "Natu!" 'Porting time!'
With that, Ash disappeared in a flash, making Gaffery sigh.
"Seriously, why do people hate us?" the old man asked.
Maybe you pry into their lives and make them feel like shit? (WHACK!)
Clothing Shoppe - Five minutes later
Sabrina smiled as she chatted with her aunt, who was… tiny.
Weren't her aunt and uncle supposed to be bigger than her?
Aunty Yellow was so short! So was uncle Red!
"And that's why Ash has his hat!" Yellow said, finishing her story before Red sighed.
"He's not the only one with a League hat." he said, gesturing to his own.
"Yeah, because you got his older one!" Yellow said mockingly before Red scowled at her and lunged at her, beginning what appeared to be a chase.
One both of them enjoyed, from the small smile on Red's face.
"So, it was true." said an old man, making her jump, looking at the man. "Sabrina Natsume thinks she's a little girl. Interesting."
"W-Who are you?" she stammered, looking for her mother.
"Not to fear. My name's Gaffery. I'm your..father's psychiatrist." he said, sounding uncomfortable calling her father that.
"Natu." said the Natu on his shoulder before hopping on her head.
"Don't mind him: Natu likes to do that. He's just going to make a scan of your mind." Gaffery said.
"...Shouldn't Daddy be here before you do things like that?" Sabrina asked.
"Normally, yes. But you ARE a gym leader and an adult." he said, looking up and down her form. "Your current behaviour to the contrary."
"I still want him here before you do anything." Sabrina said, mimicking her grandmother's voice when she was angry.
"Good Lord, you're even starting to SOUND like them now." he muttered.
The same time - Near Silph Co building
"So...why are you here and not with Anabel?" Ash asked the Natu on his head.
"Natu." 'Technically, neither of us were caught. I can pick whatever trainer I damn well please.' she answered, nesting on his head. "Natu." 'And that shrink was bothering you.'
"I have issues. And I have to work them out on my own," Ash replied.
"Natu." 'Something to do with reeking of psychic residue that is clearly Celebi's?' Natu asked.
"So you can tell." Ash half-asked, pulling out a Pokeball for Natu.
"Natu." 'Only psychic types and Aura users.' Natu said before tapping the ball and turning to energy before being sucked in, only to be let out seconds later to nest on his head again. "Natu!" 'Sweet Guardians, that was unpleasant!'
"Pika." 'Tell me about it.' Pikachu said on Ash's left shoulder. Pikachu hated his Pokeball for good reason: he was a semi-purified Shadow Pokemon and that thing BURNED when he went in. In the other timeline, it was a prison when he was caught that was also somewhat defective and hurt him.
"Might've gotten a bad one. Can I trust you not to wander off, Natu?" ash asked before petting the bird somewhat.
"Natu!" 'Of course. I might be yours, technically, but only because of Anabel. You keep her safe and I'll stick around.' Natu answered.
Ash snorted. The safest place to be was anywhere he wasn't.
A point proven by the sound of breaking glass inside the Silph building. Most people would avoid the place with a vengeance after the sound of violence. Not Ash.
No, he was stupid enough to charge in and fight off whatever was breaking in. Case in point as he ran towards the building.
Reji Tokasaka was a low-ranking grunt in the Team, so he was on guard duty outside the Silph building. No one gets in, no one but Rockets gets out.
The black haired grunt was not stupid, though. Not the sharpest tool in the rocket gang, but…
Well, when he saw Ash Ketchum running towards the door, he was stuck between pulling out his gun and shooting him and running away and forgoing his duty to guard the door by following Ariana's orders to avoid Ash at all costs.
Ketchum resolved his conflict with a swift rebuttal to the face courtesy of his gloved fist slamming into his face at high speed.
Ariana holstered her Rocket Admin sidearm after shooting some corporate jackass from the Pernon Group that was sent here to talk to Silph's higher management.
Asshole needed to leave Kanto. Fucking Unovans.
Her musing on how she hated that damn country with a passion ended with her earpiece going off.
"Ma'am, we have a problem on the first floor." one of her grunts reported.
"What would that be?" she said before retrieving her sidearm as the Pernon rep groaned in pain and putting two rounds into her skull. "We have control of everything save the top floors."
"Ash Ketchum's been sighted on the CCTV monitors entering the building! Your orders?" the grunt asked, her voice laced with confusion.
"Damn it. Contain him. Do NOT injure him in any way or I will tell Giovanni it was your doing!" she barked before reloading her weapon. "I will deal with the president."
Her Murkrow flew back to her shoulder, perching like some malevolent Natu.
Murkrows were better, anyways.
"Natu." 'I feel insulted and want to murder whatever talks shit about me.' Natu said on Ash's head.
"I know the feeling." Ash said as he kicked a Rocket in the side. They never pulled out their sidearms, just sent Pokemon at him like the old days. They were made short work of by Ash's team.
"Pikachu." 'punching bag time it is.' Pikachu stated. "Pika?" 'Call in the rest, too. We can clear the building faster and get these Rockets to fly.'
"Pretty sure only Jessie, James and Meowth do that." Ash said, but pulled out his Pokedex to do just that.
It made sense, after all.
(BGM: Bombing Mission - Final Fantasy 7 Remake Version)
The grunts patrolled the floors, hunting for anything that moved. They didn't know they themselves were being hunted.
"Char!" 'Surprise, assholes!' declared a Charmeleon as he jumped from a vent in the wall and slashed at a Grunt, making him fall to the ground in pain, releasing his Pokemon, a Koffing and Rattata, in the process.
"Char." 'Oh, good. Punching bags.' Charmeleon declared to their horror.
Another grunt was barreled down by a Noctowl that Steel Winged him in the head, another, a Squirtle Hydro Pumping him into a wall.
This pattern was repeated basically everywhere, with the grunts getting their asses handed to them by Ash's Pokemon.
With one exception, as Ash was charging up the stairs, Pikachu zapping any grunt that was on guard duty into the walls. One fell off a railing to her doom, straight to the ground floor. At least it was only from the fifth floor. She might survive.
"Pika!" 'Let's kick their asses! Maybe we'll find Giovanni here!' Pikachu said as he ran/jumped ahead of his trainer.
"He doesn't seem the type. Natu, can you teleport us higher?" Ash asked the bird.
"Natu." 'Nope. Teleport dampeners on the higher floors.' she answered.
"I hate these guys." Ash said as he reached the 20th floor, where Pidgeotto and Snivy were having a ball tossing an Electrode into a wall repeatedly until it was knocked out.
"Snivy." 'This is the most fun I've had since kicking Team Plasma's ass back in Unova. You should've pulled us in to kick Flare's asses in Kalos!' Snivy said with a smug grin.
"Not my style, Snivy. I swapped Pokemon every region to give the new guys a chance." Ash said before a bullet went past his head. The source was a grunt that had likely needed to change his pants now after rounding a corner and blindly firing at Ash.
"Oh, FUCK!" cried the grunt as he dropped the gun, arms in the air.
It did not save him from the wrath of an angry Bulbasaur that rammed into his legs from behind and used his vines to dislocate his arms and slam him into a wall. Repeatedly and VERY hard.
"Bulba." 'No one tries to hurt Ash. Anyone that does SUFFERS.' the ambassador declared with a heavy Vine Whip to the back of his head.
"THAT was unnecessary!" Ash said. "He missed! You could have just used Sleep Powder on him!"
"Bulba-saur." 'I was going to. Then he shot at you.' Bulbasaur said. "Bul." 'No more attempts on your life will go with a slap on the wrist. They try to kill you, we kill them RIGHT back. No more kid gloves.'
"Yeah, let's save that for ones that actually hurt me." Ash said before going to a door, finding it locked. "Damn it."
"If you're Team Rocket, know this! I'm armed! I got a big gun and am not afraid to shoot you!" said a terrified man on the other side.
"I'm not a Rocket! Are you ok in there?" Ash asked, with the door unlocking and his face meeting a shotgun barrel, but it didn't fire as the man, wearing a bloody business suit, was in no condition to fire it.
"Son of a bitch. You're not one of them. Good." he said before opening the door, getting a glare from all of Ash's Pokemon before their trainer glanced back at them to make them stop. "They're after the Master Ball prototype. If they get it, no Pokemon is safe from them. Not even legendaries. You gotta help get them out of the building!"
"Already on it. My Pokemon are beating the daylights out of every Rocket Grunt here," Ash said with a grin. "Should get them ready for my next gym match."
"A League trainer? But you're just a kid!" he said before shaking his head. "Fuck it. A trainer's a trainer." the man then retrieved a Pokeball from the desk. "Here. They don't know about this. I saw that you have a Pokedex. It'll automatically register the Pokemon inside to you."
"I… kinda have a lot of Pokemon already." Ash said sheepishly. He still had to catch the rest of his Kanto team and make sure Lapras was safe at the Orange Islands. Which was the only reason he even planned to go there now: screw the Orange League.
"It's a Lapras. They're endangered enough and you're a better choice then those Rockets!" he said. "Go and deal with the grunts. And watch out: they have an Admin with them."
'Like Proton and Archer.' Ash thought, knowing one of them was at Mount Moon and both of them were on the Olympic. Misty tossed him out a hatch, apparently.
"Alright, then." he said as he took the Pokeball. 'Going to be weird having two Lapras.' he thought to himself.
Ariana watched as a Chikorita and Cyndaquil toyed with one of her grunts from a floor above before that grunt was slammed into a window, with his body hanging halfway out of the building.
"Ketchum's been busy." she muttered as one of the new ones, a Pidove of all things, clawed out one of her higher-ranking grunt's eyes. "And they don't like us that much."
A point proven as another one was shoved into a door by a Phanpy using Rollout on him, breaking his back and leaving him a screaming mess.
'Note to self: update the intel files on Ketchum.' she thought with wide and horrified eyes before sighting the boy himself.
"Ma'am, he's fucking us over! I'm taking him out!" one of her grunts armed with an old rifle snapped over the comms.
"You do that, we all die! He's Delia's son! Giovanni's nephew!" she yelled at the dumbass.
"Taking the shot!" he said, Ariana watching at the idiot took aim at his boss' nephew.
And the crack from that rifle echoed in the building before the 7.92mm round slammed into Ash Ketchum's chest.
Ariana's clinical side saw the shot was sloppy, made from panic and lack of time, as it hit the boy's right lung. A second shot hit lower, impacting his liver.
"I ORDERED YOU NOT TO FIRE!" she screamed.
The less logical side of her was panicking. Giovanni was going to kill them.
Ash fell into shock in moments, noticing that he had a hard time breathing and his chest hurt.
"PIKAPI!" 'ASH!' Pikachu cried as Ash fell backwards, choking on his breath.
"Dove!" 'I got the motherfucking bastard!' Pidove cried before flying towards the sniper, screaming following as the bastard in question was slowly but painfully put down.
Pikachu ran to his trainer, who was coughing up blood in copious amounts, trying to hold him down. Not a wise choice with someone fifty times your mass, as Ash was still coughing heavily.
"Pikapi!" 'Stay with me, Ash! I am not losing you again!' Pikachu begged as Ash stopped thrashing around. Stopped moving entirely, in fact.
"PIKA!" 'NO!' the mouse cried. This was it? All they went through, only to die from some bits of lead hitting him?
"Na… tu." 'I will keep him alive. He's in psychic stasis.' said Natu, as Pikachu looked closely at Ash, seeing a purple layer of energy covering his body. "Natu." 'Go. These wastes of flesh tried to kill him. Make them pay.'
Pikachu started taking in deep breaths, his nature as a Shadow Pokemon taking over somewhat.
"Pikachu." 'Everyone fucking DIES.' he spat.
Ariana ran higher and higher up the stairs, hyperventilating to get as far away as possible when black lightning fried one of the grunts behind her, his scream barely getting out before he caught fire.
She didn't need any further excuses to get the fuck out of there: Shadow Pokemon were bad enough, but that Shadow Pikachu combined the usual starter/trainer bond with the rage of a Shadow Pokemon. In short, if she didn't get out of there, she was going to die.
"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" she cursed as she pulled out her machine pistol and emptied the magazine at the door handle, kicking it open and exiting onto the roof, glancing behind her to see the grunt directly behind her getting a Shadow Bolt that killed him and set him on fire.
"HONCHKROW, GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" she yelled as she released the Big Boss Pokémon and climbed on, escaping from the building.
She panted, trying to get her heartrate down to an acceptable level as they flew from the building. This was before her communicator rang with the Boss' ringtone.
'Oh, shit.' she thought before chuckling nervously. No, Ash getting hurt was that rifleman's fault. She gave orders NOT to fire, to flee on sight. She wasn't in trouble.
She answered, Giovanni's face appearing on the built-in screen. "Report." he demanded.
"Well…" she started before explaining it slowly and strainingly.
Giovanni's reaction was… atypical. He punched out the screen, which auto-disconnected the call.
"Shit." she spat. Well, she was screwed. Maybe retiring wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Saffron City Hospital - 3 hours later
Misty Waterflower was… better now. She could stay away from Ash for some time now, but she didn't think she'd ever be away from him for weeks or months.
And his nature, which could very easily be called 'hapless hero', had gotten him hurt.
She ran through the hospital, bowling over doctors, nurses and knocking over gurneys in her rush to get to where Ash was.
"If he dies, I am going to bring him back, kill him again, then bring him back just to give him a reason to stay!" her mental self screamed.
She turned a corner, then slammed into a man in a business suit without looking, knocking them both down to the floor.
"Damn it!" he said as he recovered from the shock. "Watch where you're going!"
"I just got told my boyfriend was shot!" Misty snapped back, getting a slow clap from her past self.
The man groaned as he got to his feet. "There's only been one shooting victim and he saved my building from being overrun with Rockets." he said. "He's your boyfriend?"
"Ash Ketchum, yes!" she snapped in annoyance. She didn't have time to waste with this guy and turned to leave.
"Wait." he said before offering her a Pokeball with a purple top and two ridges. "This is for him. A token of my gratitude."
Misty just took the ball and continued running towards where they were operating on Ash.
"She could have apologized." he huffed as he straightened out his suit.
"He needs to stop throwing himself into the fire." Gaffery said to his Gible as he chewed on a bar of pig iron.
"Gible." said the Gible.
"I know, it's part of the complex people like him have." Gaffery replied back to the land shark before she looked back at him.
"Gible, Gib-Gible-ble." she said before hopping to the floor.
"Could be worse. His file said he was so emotionally crippled it would be a wonder if he would ever leave Pallet Town." Gaffery said as he began correcting said file. "I'm amazed he even got to Pewter, let alone Saffron."
"Natu." said the Natu as he hopped off his trainer's shoulder. "Natu, Natu."
"You honestly think he'll win a League? He seems the type to self-handicap himself." the shrink asked.
"Na-tu." Natu said nodding.
"Guess we'll find out." Gaffery said.
Emergency medical stasis was never fun to work on, but it froze Ash in suspended animation while the doctors repaired the damage the bullets did, draining the lung of blood.
"Team Rocket is going to BURN for this." Delia spat as she watched them operate on Ash from the viewing area above the theater.
"Mom, don't issue threats you can't deliver on," Red said as he kept Yellow from watching. "You taught us that."
"And you're right to mention that, sweety." Delia said, motherly as always before hate filled her expression. "In this case, though, I am MORE than capable of delivering on this one. I used to be Elite Four before I had Ash, you know."
Red's expression turned from doubtful to...well, terrified would be close. This was his mother, after all. You weren't supposed to be scared of your mother.
"Oh. Oh, shit." Red said before Delia flicked him on the forehead.
"Language. Your sister's mouth rubbed off on your brother, I don't want it rubbing off on you, too." his mother said sternly.
That changed nothing.
RMS Germanic - 150 kilometers from the Sinnoh/Obvilia border - 0819 Hours local time - Day 29
"He did WHAT?" Pernon asked.
"Apparently, he mindwiped Sabrina. She thinks he's her dad now." Rin said. "Anyone ELSE find that creepy?"
"Uh…"
"Say what I think you're going to say and I will make sure that where you're going, you won't need eyes to see." Rin snarled.
Kyril chuckled nervously. "Ok. Well, look on the bright side. We finally have access to Saffron's production facilities." he said. Saffron was the home of Nihon's aviation industry and while the plants were intact… well, Team Rocket, combined with Sabrina, made getting them back in action impossible.
No one wanted to work with a crazy-ass psychic in town. Now that psychic thought she was a little girl again and was basically harmless.
If not… well… a little girl.
"Kyril, get your head out of the gutter or I swear to Arceus and Giratina I will MAKE you." Rin warned.
"Old habits?" Pernon said with a nervous grin before Rin growled… which was overshadowed by an angry scream.
"What the hell was that?" both asked.
Goomy questioned the sanity of Ash's Kalosian mate many times during the original journey in Kalos.
Now, he was not questioning if she was crazy, he was questioning HOW crazy she was from the safety of under a nice wrought iron bed.
"I WILL KILL HER! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" Serena bellowed as she loaded a bolt into her ratcheting crossbow. "KILL HER!"
"Serena, dear, I know you're upset-" Grace started before Serena fired, sending the bolt shooting past her, out an open window and out to sea.
Where it impacted some poor Team Aqua schmuck and exploded, not that anyone noticed or really cared outside of Team Aqua.
"SHE TRIED! TO KILL! MY HUSBAND!" Serena screamed. "TEAM ROCKET WILL BURN FOR THIS!"
The news only came in a few minutes ago: yesterday, Ash Ketchum foiled a raid on Silph Co's headquarters led by Rocket Admin Ariana and apparently, she or one of her grunts shot him. His Pokemon had likely gotten revenge, as was their right, but that meant nothing to Serena.
"Goo?" 'Is she done being scary?' Goomy asked.
The rest of Ash's team were hiding with him, making their own cries. But all translated as 'no'.
"Fen!" 'I want to burn those Rockets down to size!' Fenniken barked.
Like Trainer, like starter, it seemed.
15 kilometers from Fuchsia City en route to Celadon - 1307 Hours local time - Day 31
"Ash has all the luck, bad and good." Gary Oak muttered to himself as he listened to his Pokegear talk about how Ash's condition was 'stable, barely' and how Rota's nobility were outright PISSED at Team Rocket to the point where the only thing keeping them from invading Kanto was the permission of the Champion and their reigning king. Or heir, in this case.
Ash was in surgery and his siblings hadn't appeared at court, so that wasn't happening.
Still, he took this time to get caught up. His grandfather had made good on his threat, so he was releasing more than he caught. Kept a Horsea and his Squirtle evolved during his last match near Lavender Town, so now he was going to face Sabrina after kicking Erika's ass. Her three badge team was the best bet to warm them up for Sabrina.
6 hours later - Celadon Gym
"Wait, Saffron Gym is closed?" Gary asked, confused after getting his Rainbow Badge from Erika.
"Yes, it is." Erika said, dusting off her kimono. "Apparently, Sabrina's suffered a breakdown and her gym was closed. I think it had something to do with…"
Gary waited for her to finish before hearing a light snore.
Narcoleptic woman couldn't even finish a sentence without falling asleep, could she?!
Erika then woke up. "Oh. Sorry. My medication ran out last week." she said. Gary did not believe her. "Ah, yes, that boy the Rotans are calling their prince did something. She thinks she's his daughter now."
Gary stared in silence. Then a perverted part of his brain asked if hitting on a woman that thought she was your friend's daughter was breaking the Bro Code.
Gary ignored that part of his brain for pondering later. "Well, there are a lot of minor gyms and I only need eight badges, right?" he asked.
"Usually, but if you don't have two of…" Erika said, trailing off as she fell asleep again, making Gary fume for a few minutes before she woke up again. "...the major ones, it's frowned on. I fell asleep again?"
"YES." Gary ground out. He was tired of this. It took him four hours to get to Celadon and the match lasted two thanks to her falling asleep so often.
"Oh. You can go. Just get as many minor ones to make up for your lack of a Marsh Badge." Erika said before falling backward on the grass, snoring loudly.
Gary finally released the scream he had been holding in for hours.
Viridian City Gym - 1602 hours local time
"Delia, I think your son's Pokemon dealt with the offending idiot. The Admin in charge of that debacle even ordered them not to engage unless necessary and NOT with firearms," Giovanni said to his glowering sister.
"That is not an excuse, Giovanni," she snapped. He was in deep shit. "You have two weeks before I start ripping your organization apart piece by bloody piece."
"You knew this would happen! You can't protect Ash from everything!" Giovanni yelled.
"A few scratches, I can live with. A broken arm from a fall isn't serious. Your men SHOT my boy," Delia all but roared. "Two weeks, Giovanni! Leave the Team for good or I rip it apart AND tell Lance you're the Boss. Then you'll have the entire Elite Four PLUS me after you!"
It was well and good that Giovanni had masterful control over his bodily functions. Otherwise, he would have needed to change his pants right then and there.
"You can't leave Yellow and Red alone." Giovanni pointed out.
"I'll put them up with Lorelei. She is their godmother, after all," Delia admitted. "After that… I will destroy Team Rocket. Two weeks. Get moving." With that, the call ended.
Giovanni pursed his lips before cursing well and truly. "Fuck." he spat.
He didn't want to accept that offer that was made before Ash left Pallet, but what the hell: he was screwed anyways. Might as well bring as many down with him as he could.
Cherrygrove City Port - 0949 hours local time
A cargo ship pulled into port, the crews working on getting loading ramps into position to unload the ship.
Vun-vun.
"What the hell was that?" asked one of the dock loaders.
Vun-vun.
"Hell if I know." one of his friends said, not noticing the fin with a notch gliding past behind one of the containers.
Behind aforementioned containers, Treecko looked at Gible. "Treecko." 'HOW do you do that?' he asked.
"Gible." 'No idea, don't care! Come on! Let's get to a patch of open earth so I can dig us back to the ranch!' Gible said.
"Tail." 'The ones that were caught have to get to Ash. And he's where? The Treeckos can go to the ranch. WE need to find Ash.'
"Bi." 'He's in Saffron City.'
All of them jumped at the sound of Celebi's voice as she suddenly appeared beside them. "Koal." 'Don't do that.' Torkaol demanded.
"Celebi." 'Stealth time travel is not EASY. I'll teleport the slower ones to Saffron Gym.'
"GIB!" 'NO! I've heard stories about that crazy bitch!' Gible said.
"Bi." 'She's dealt with and I am not in the mood. I'll dump you outside Saffron and the ones that don't want to be caught at the Oak Ranch.' Celebi said testily. "Bi." 'Don't like it? Too bad: I've been dealing with annoyed legendaries for the last three weeks and I am NOT in the mood.'
With that, Celebi unceremoniously teleported them away.
En Route to Fuchsia City - 1025 hours local time - Day 33
Gary walked down the paths with a seemingly carefree look, but he was still keeping an eye out. There was relaxed, then there was dead. Shadow Pokemon lurked in the route between Celedon and Fuchsia and while he and Ash frowned on guns, Gary was more practical about it. Until something purified the whole lot of them, they needed to protect themselves.
Gary's eyes picked up a figure down the road. He (well, Gary thought it was a he) had a dark purple jacket on with black pants. His hair was just as dark purple as his jacket, with an especially dark scowl on his face.
Well, the old laws were still practiced. Ash only fought people willing to fight and so did Gary. Even if Gary was worse in the fighting area: Ash was a freaking natural.
"Well, you're glaring at me hard enough to bore a hole through my head." Gary said once he finally got in earshot of the trainer. "Presuming you want to fight?"
"Obviously." the trainer spat back, sounding hoarse. Did he have a cold or something?
"Well, give me a second and we'll get started-" Gary started before the other teen scoffed.
"You're Gary Oak. Paul Ikari." the now-named Paul said, pulling out what appeared to be a Rowen-model Pokedex. "You have a pokedex. Use it, dumbass."
Gary scowled himself. This guy was an asshole. Well, time to put him down a few pegs.
"Six on six. I will kick your ass." Gary said, pulling out a Pokeball.
"Boasting is for fools." Paul said as he pulled out his own Pokeball. "You rely on your grandfather's name too much."
Gary growled as he sent out his Horsea, who would make short work of whatever this guy would toss out.
"Murkrow, stand by for combat!" Paul barked as he sent out a raven with a crooked beak and a witch's hat on its' head, flapping its' wings. "Krow!" cried the Murkrow.
"The hell? Those things don't appear in Kanto." Gary said confusedly, to which Paul huffed.
"Pathetic. You spent no time learning at your grandfather's feet." he said in dismissal. "Murkrow appear in small numbers at the Rota/Kanto border. And your horsea is nothing but practice material."
Gary scowled. "Too bad for you." he spat. "I've been teaching Horsea some tricks. Icy Wind!"
"Horse!" cried Horsea before the air became frigid.
"Evade!" Paul commanded, Murkrow flapping his wings to get airborne, barely getting up before Horsea exhaled.
And cold wind slammed into the flying/dark-type, causing the feathers in his wings to become rigid and grow ice crystals, making him lose lift. "KROW!" he cried before slamming into a tree.
"Again!" Gary ordered, Horsea inhaling and exhaling again, letting out cold air that made the bird faint on impact on the ground.
"Nice work, Horsea!" Gary said, Horsea cheering with him.
"Pathetic. If I didn't need that Murkrow, I'd get rid of it." Paul said as he returned the bird to his Pokeball. "Just means I need to put it through a more intensive regimen."
"You serious? Your Murkrow only lost because his hat was too heavy." Gary said.
"And that is what I will remedy. It will adapt or it will be discarded." Paul spat before tossing another Pokeball.
The Pokemon released was… well, Ash's starter would know it. He was one at one point.
"Pi!" cried the Pichu as he (it was hard to tell with Pichus) was released, Paul glaring at it.
"Are you serious? Pichus aren't meant for battle! You have to raise them-" Gary started, but Paul clearly didn't care.
"Thundershock." he ordered, Pichu struggling to generate the electricity to shoot off the lightning bolt, hitting Horsea in the muzzle.
It didn't knock horsea out, but Pichu wasn't uneffected, panting tiredly.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Gary said before Paul glowered at the Kantoan trainer.
"Power is the only thing that matters. Force matters and you will get what you want." he said. "Thundershock."
"Icy Wind!" Gary countered, but Horsea buzzed with static, showing he was paralyzed before Pichu fired off another bolt, zapping the Dragon Pokemon into unconsciousness. "Damn it!"
"You should have switched out, idiot." Paul said, scowling. "Type advantage and power are all that matter in battle. That 'believe in your Pokemon' bullshit will get you nowhere."
Gary grinned. "Really?" he said before returning his fainted Horsea. "Then get owned!" he then tossed out a new Pokemon, one common but dangerous in Kanto.
"Dig!" cried a mole-like creature.
"Diglett. Seriously?" Paul said.
"Sand-Attack and Mud Sport!" Gary commanded, Diglett obeying by spewing out sand into Pichu's face, followed by mud in quick succession before Paul could return the Tiny Mouse.
He huffed. "Lucky shot." Paul then returned Pichu, grinning. "Turtwig, stand by for battle!" he yelled, sending out a Pokeball that spat out a dour-looking turtle with a bush on his back. "Turt." he said.
"A Sinnoh starter. Grass/ground-type." Gary said in confusion. "You're from Sinnoh?"
"That wasn't obvious?" he spat. "Arceus, you ARE pathetic. Razor Leaf."
"Turt!" cried Turtwig, sharpened leaves flying from his back towards Diglett.
"Dig!" Gary ordered, Diglett obeying quickly to avoid the leaves, which shot past and hit Gary in the leg, making small cuts on his left clave.
"Dig can be bypassed. Absorb, downwards." Paul ordered, Turtwig directing his grass-type energy downwards to leech at the earth and anything in it.
It worked like a charm. After a minute, the Diglett surfaced, moaning...well, pathetically as Gary returned him.
"A modicum of intelligence would have saved you." Paul spat. Gary did not take that well.
"GO, GROWLITHE!" Gary roared, sending out the Puppy Pokemon.
"Growl!" barked the puppy, making Paul scoff.
"You're an idiot. Turtwig isn't just a grass-"
"Ember!" Gary snapped, Growlithe spitting out fire at the grass turtle, causing the leaves on his head to catch fire.
"Idiot. Earth Power." Paul ordered, Turtwig glowing before slamming his front legs on the ground, causing a minor earthquake. Growlithe tried jumping to avoid the attack, but the ground was rent up under his feet, resulting in the puppy breaking his leg and taking the full force of the attack.
"Growlithe!" Gary yelled before running to his wounded Pokemon.
"Empathy is a waste in battle, the pathetic moron." Paul snapped, getting a glare from Gary. "Kantoians are all the same. Pathetic."
Gary pulled out another Pokeball as he returned Growlithe. "Go!" he yelled.
And out of the ball came a seemingly sleepy lizard-like Pokemon.
"Abra." said the Abra, Paul huffing.
"An Abra?" he asked before the Psychic-type stood up and teleported.
With a steaming fist slamming into his Turtwig's face. Ice Punch.
"Well played." Paul spat.
Near Saffron City - 1250 Hours Local Time - Day 33
A fin appeared near a bush.
A fin with a notch.
"Gible!" 'Digging time!'cried Ash's Gible as he dove into the earth.
Treecko poked his head into the hole. "Tree." 'Land sharks.' he muttered.
"Tail?" 'And you would want something else?' Tailow asked, cocking her head.
"Treecko." 'No. But he's so playful for a Pokemon that can be so powerful.' he replied before going into the shark tunnel.
"Gli…" 'Please, no more tunnel…' Gligar asked before he was shoved into the hole unceremoniously by Turtwig and Chimchar, then dragged along kicking and screaming.
That's what you get for fucking off for months at end, in Sinnoh and the ranch.