Celadon City Pokemon Center - 0658 hours local time - Day 40 of Ash Ketchum's Journey
"I'm fine. Really." Ash insisted as the local Nurse Joy and her Chancey examined his scalp.
"You were bit by a Pokemon whose bite force is only surpassed by its' evolution, the Sandile line and the Tyrantrum line." the pinkette answered as she made damn sure he was fine. "Forgive me for wanting to make sure."
The sarcasm was strong in this one.
"Chan." 'He's fine. Why are we even bothering to check? We're not seeing exposed brains and he's perfectly lucid,' Chansey said, though only Ash could understand her. "Chansey." 'I am very sorry for this: she's only following the orders of the Gym Leader to make sure.'
"I'm shocked." Ash deadpanned. Erika might not have entirely blamed him for his Pokemon's desire for payback, but she wanted to make him suffer just a little for what happened to her Vileplume.
"Chan?" 'Wait… did you just-'
"Yup." Ash answered, not needing to hear the rest of the question.
"You're talking to yourself." the Joy said. "That's a good enough reason to-"
"I was talking to your Chansey, Nurse Joy." Ash clarified. "I'm not sure if Erika told you, but I can understand Pokemon speech."
She looked at the brown-eyed trainer critically, but then Chansey nodded to confirm it before saying something to Ash, just to make it clear.
"Chansey said something about something involving you, Erika and a rose bush." Ash said, making the Joy blush. "I don't want to know what happened. Believe me."
The medical professional chuckled nervously. "Well, you have two girls travelling with you and they're not glaring at you that often…" she said, the aforementioned duo glaring at Ash, but more out of worry then annoyance. They WERE annoyed that this was taking so long, but that was it.
"I think they just want to leave," Ash said. So did he: there was no Psyduck situation to resolve here and he had his badge.
After a second, the Joy threw up her hands. "You're free to leave. Just try not to get bitten again. Or worse," she said.
"I'll try to. Thanks, Nurse Joy." Ash said as he put on his jacket and hat.
Plop!
"Natu." 'About damn time,' said Natu as she nested on his head.
Two hours later, they finally saw the forests Kanto was known for.
In the old days, Kanto was the United Region of Nihon's technological powerhouse and while that had stalled, it had not changed, only adapted to the realities of a world with Pokemon you could not trust.
Thanks to Erika being overworked in running her shop and the gym and having almost no time to do the more important parts of her job, Celadon's outskirts were INFESTED with Shadow Pokemon.
So, people leaving the western part of Celadon were required by law to have their weapons in hand at all times.
"I hate this timeline," Ash muttered as he was forced by law to carry his rifle in his hands, Pikachu on his right shoulder and Natu on his head.
In front of him was Riolu, having tired of staying at the ranch and punching the crap out of other Pokemon. It was the perfect Pokemon to deal with Shadow Pokemon, in fact: the purified Aura used by Lucario using Aura Sphere was not something that Shadow Pokemon were fond of.
"At least Riolu can fight the Shadow Pokemon," Anabel said as Riolu looked back and smiled.
"Ri!" 'I will do what I can, psychic lady,' he said, turning his head back to the road as they continued down the trail.
If Ash remembered, Cycling Road was this way: a downhill ride straight to Fucshia. And then he'd have to spend the next week hunting for Koga's gym.
Every other gym leader he faced had their gym in the open: why did Koga put his in the middle of nowhere?
"Thinking?" Misty asked, noticing the look on Ash's face. "You know, I have to ask…"
"What's up?" Ash asked in return.
"Did you think a lot in the other timeline?" Misty asked. "It's just… you don't seem like the type for deep introspection."
Ash would have been insulted, but she was right. In the old days, he was more action then deep thought.
"Not really. Isn't… well…" Ash trailed off.
"Just what you did, not how you acted," Misty answered.
Apparently, her psychic imprint forgot he was a bit of a dumbass. That or found it endearing and left it be.
"That and something about Maiden's Peak?" Misty said, Ash paling.
'No. Hell no. FUCK no,' he thought, making Anabel recoil somewhat.
There was no WAY in hell he was going back to that place.
The sound of cracking and popping was heard as two Voltorb-fueled motorcycles came at them, two normally-intimidating-looking bikers with the typical biker look of rough-worn jeans and leather jackets.
Normally.
"RUN!" they yelled as they drove past.
"Ri?" 'Should we not see what they're running from?' Riolu asked his trainer.
"Normally, when tough guys run, that's a sign to run." Ash said. "Unfortunately, we don't have any way to Fuchsia other than that road."
And unless Ash caught a Lugia or something (which was never going to happen: he knew better) they had to go on foot.
"I swear, Arceus hates me," Ash muttered.
Cycling Road/Route 17 - 1019 hours local time
"How?" Misty asked as they looked at the destruction of the downhill run, small fires burning everywhere.
"It had to be a Shadow Pokemon," Ash said, knowing even Team Rocket wouldn't do this.
Team Aqua and Magma, maybe, Team Plasma DEFINITELY, but why would Team Rocket do this to themselves? They were basically the criminal underworld here.
"What could it have been?" Anabel asked, looking at the fires. "It had to breathe fire."
"A Shadow Charizard?" Misty asked, shuddering at the idea of the pseudo-dragon screaming and burning.
"A Shadow Garchomp? We saw what a Gabite could do to Ash's head." Anabel said, making Ash's eye twitch.
"Thank you for the reminder," he said sarcastically, remembering all too well Gabite's infamous chomp.
An explosion caught their attention as whatever caused it landed in sight, angry and bruised.
And pink.
And FAMILIAR.
"You have got to be kidding me," both Ash and Misty said, making them stare at one another as the Pokemon got up.
The eyes were dark and soulless. But that only made it worse to remember.
"Jiiiiiiiggggggggggglllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyppppppppuuuuuuuufffffffffffffffffff…" said the psychotic Shadow Pokemon, clearly driven mad from being what it was.
"Piiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkaaaaaa…" 'Ash… that's the Jigglypuff from Neon Town! The one-'
"SHADOW BOLT!" Ash yelled, remembering all the times that thing put him to sleep.
The first five times were kinda funny. The rest were just infuriating. Not to mention the doodling was annoying as hell.
Black lightning shot at the Balloon Pokemon, hitting and throwing the damn thing back.
It didn't take it down.
"PUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!" screamed the Jigglypuff, using a Shadow version of Hyper Voice, causing rocks to crack and Misty's ears to start bleeding as her eardrums burst.
Anabel made a barrier to block the worst of it and Ash… well, Aura use was instinctive, so he was fine.
But Misty's ears bleeding only made Ash mad. They would have made him mad in the old timeline, but here… he nearly pulled out his pistol and shot the damn thing.
He instead looked to Riolu. "Use Aura Sphere! Punch that thing's lights out!" he ordered, Riolu nodding and running at the pink puff.
"Jiiiiiiiiiiggggggggg." said the pink freak of nature as it used Rollout, rushing upwards at Riolu.
"Ri!" 'Take this!' Riolu cried as he used Aura Sphere, the purified energy hitting the corrupted Pokemon hard, overwhelming the rock-type power it used for the move and making the normal/fairy feel like absolute shit in the doing.
"PUFF!" said the pink monster as it flew back, taking in a deep breath and belching out fire.
"Flamethrower?!" Ash yelped as he dove for cover. "Since when could Jigglypuff learn Flamethrower?!"
"Natu." 'Since 16 years ago,' quipped the bird on his head.
"That's not helpful, Natu!" Ash yelled at the parrot.
"Natu." 'Well, that Jigglypuff is rushing at Anabel. Is that helpful?' she asked.
Ash blinked before seeing the pink terror flying at Anabel, her Eevee and Abra doing their damnedest to slow it down so Anabel could get her Natu out and teleport the hell away.
As a certain Russian would say, they failed. (MJOL-WHACK!)
Jigglypuff got into the air just as Anabel, fumbling, got Natu out of his ball, only for the puff ball to generate lightning in its' hand.
Anabel's bird didn't act fast enough, Jigglypuff's thunder punch slamming into Anabel's chest, right above her heart.
The psychic fell like a toppling building, Natu squawking like crazy like…
Like Anabel's heart just stopped.
"ANABEL!" Ash yelled as she fell, her Pokemon getting brushed aside by the Shadow Pokemon and the Jigglypuff looked at him with eyes of hate and disgust.
Fair enough: he wasn't a fan of the damn thing, either.
"Puuuffff." 'You smell. Like fire lizard.' the Shadow Pokemon said for the first time, sounding like a demonic girl. "Jiiiiggggggggggg." 'You have fire lizard. I killed fire lizard's master.'
Jigglypuff killed Damian? …well, Ash wasn't going to complain about an asshole like him getting purged.
Anabel was another story.
"Puff." 'You stink. Die.' With that, the screaming cries became impossible to hear properly. The translation was another story. 'DIE DIE DIE DIE!'
Ash was far enough away to weigh his options.
He could get Pikachu to shock the damn thing into submission so he could shoot it. It would be payback for all the Singing into submission and the doodling.
…No. That wasn't him. Death was a last resort.
His hand brushed by another option.
He had recently started carrying two Pokeball belts, a gift from Sabrina.
One for his primary team… one for easy access to fresh Pokeballs.
…Well, it worked for Psyduck.
Jigglypuff rushed at Ash, fist ready to cave his skull in.
Ash removed the ball from the clip, raised his arm…
And the Jigglypuff's puffy fist hit the button, activating the capture mechanism.
Normally, the Pokemon would fight back, resist and oftentime break loose. If they willingly activate the mechanism...instant capture. Wittingly or not, Jigglypuff just captured herself.
Ash dropped the ball, running towards Anabel's body.
"Natu!" 'If I knew this was going to happen, I would have sent her back to Saffron!' Anabel's Natu said as he pecked his trainer's head.
"Natu." 'No one could have predicted this would happen,' Ash's Natu said. "Natu!" 'but she can still be saved. Where's Pikachu?'
"Why do we need Pikachu?! It's not like shocking her again will help!" Ash yelled.
"Natu." 'We can restart her heart.' she said. "Natu." 'Though you'll need to perform CRP or whatever it's called.'
Ash paled. CPR? …well, it wasn't a kiss, so it didn't count.
Pikachu finally got over to them, his ears not picking up Anabel's heartbeat. "Pika!" 'FUCK!' he swore.
"Pikachu, we can still help her-" Ash started before Pikachu started zapping Anabel repeatedly and in vain.
"Natu!" 'You have to shock her HEART, you damned mouse!' Anabel's Natu squacked before Pikachu zapped him as well, the flying-type falling on his head before Pikachu did just that, perking up as his ears picked up a chaotic heartbeat, weak, but pumping and demanding air her lungs didn't have in them.
That was where Ash came in as he took in a deep breath and pressed his lips to hers, breathing into her mouth, trying to get her lungs working with her heart.
After two tries, Anabel started coughing, gasping for air.
She was alive.
"Naaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttuuuuuu…" 'Look at all the pretty Latis…' Anabel's parrot squawked deliriously.
"WHAT?!" Misty yelled, unable to hear a damn thing.
Explosions and loud sounds normally got everyone's attention.
Such was the case with Lara Laramie and the others from her ranch as they rode towards the source, expecting destruction and dead bodies.
Well, they weren't disappointed. Plenty of both at the base of the hill.
"Why the hell'd we even come here?" Dario asked as they looked at the carnage. "We know what happened: some Shadow Pokemon killed everyone."
"We're lookin' for survivahs, ya dumbass." Lara snapped. "Circle around, get up that hill. We find anyone alive, we get them to the ranch."
Dario grumbled, but his Dodrio started moving for him as Lara followed, her borrowed Rapidash close behind.
Not because she liked him. Because he was incompetent at anything that wasn't bird keeping. He might get someone killed.
They heard someone screaming from halfway down the hill, where a redhead with… well, Lara would be jealous at the girl's chest later. From the dried blood leaking from her ears, the poor girl's eardrums burst.
"We're gonna have to get that Blissey workin' on her ears." Lara muttered before noticing a boy around the redhead's age helping a lavender-haired girl to her feet, the girl shaking like crazy.
"Hey!" Lara yelled, getting the kid's attention. "You alraight? Wha the hell happened ere?"
The kid coughed, the girl he was supporting shaking like she was hit by lightning. "A Shadow Jigglypuff." he answered, laughing as if the idea of a Shadow Jigglypuff was ridiculous.
It wasn't. One entire line of the little bastards plagued the area for decades. It was only the efforts of Gym Leaders like Koga that they didn't do this more often.
"That don't saprise me." Lara said. "Where is the fackin' thing? I hope it's dead."
"She's at Pallet Town. getting the shadow beaten out of her, I hope," he answered, making Lara's eyes widen.
"Dario, ya fackin' idiot, get on the horn to Praf Oak! He's got a Shadow on his hands!" Lara screamed at the birdkeeper.
The kid didn't know what he did.
Pallet Town - Oak Ranch - 1327 Hours Local Time
Quilava Double-Kicked the hated Jigglypuff in the face, revenge for all the times the bitch put her, Ash and everyone else to sleep and drawing on their faces echoed in the aggressive look on her face.
The family was showing no mercy, no respite, no fear as they attacked the puffball.
Some for revenge: Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Totodile and Noctowl were part of this group, furious and vengeful.
Others for the sake of training: Scraggy, Krokorok and Charmeleon cared little for the sleeping sessions, only for the off-chance a Shadow Pokemon would help them evolve.
"Scrag!" 'Get down, ye little bastard!' Scraggy yelled as he Pounded the damn thing repeatedly. "Scraggy!" 'I'll evolve inta a damned Scrafty even if it kills meh!'
"Char?" 'Since when did he have a Southern Galaran accent?' Charmeleon said as he torched the Shadow puff.
"Tran!" 'Since last week: he alternates!' Tranquill said as she pecked at the thing.
"BITE!" Gabite cried as he chomped on the Jigglypuff, growling before it escaped, "BITE!" 'Get back here! I will be a Gible again!'
Jigglypuff floated away, landing before being smothered in slime.
Or rather, muck.
Living Muk, in this case.
"Muuuuuuuuuuk." 'I've got her. You guys take a rest,' Muk said as Jigglypuff tried getting out by any and all means necessary.
After fifteen minutes, the puff was exhausted and Muk wasn't letting in any fresh air, so he was just waiting for the Balloon Pokemon to fall unconscious.
And once he moved off, she was, the shadowy aura… gone.
"Gab?" 'Is it dead?' Gabite asked. "Bite!" 'If it isn't, I'm gonna chomp until it is!'
"Char." 'No. if anything… I'd say it's back to normal,' Charmeleon said, confused as hell.
Didn't Professor Oak say Shadow Pokemon couldn't be purified now that that village with all the old people was gone?
Near the Laramie Ranch - 1438 Hours Local Time
Lara could not believe this kid's skill in calming Pokemon.
The Tauros herd she was struggling to keep from rampaging? A few soft pats and kind words and they followed his lead.
"Hope yure not plannin' on takin' ove mah ranch, Ketchum!" Lara joked. Ash gave her a dirty look.
"I'm gonna be forced into something soon enough." Ash said morosely. Lara's smile dropped somewhat.
"Like wha?" she asked.
"Kingship." he answered. "I touch one staff and suddenly people expect me to bring Rota to glory as their king."
Lara blinked in confusion, thinking about some recording she heard in Fuschia last week.
"Aw, hell. You're the new prince?" she asked. "Damn. Sucks to be ya, boy. Ever since the last king was killed durin' the Cipher War, they've been all kinds'a panicky."
Ash lowered his head, then looked at the girls he was with. Misty and Anabel, he said.
Misty would be fine: those eardrums would need heal pulses to repair, but she would be fine in a couple weeks.
Anabel was another story. Her heart was stopped and you don't just do that for a minute and a half. The body had to get used to being… well, ALIVE again with fevers and resorting nerve signals and all that.
This wasn't Lara's first rodeo with that, if you know what she means.
"Well, they're gonna need to rest for a whil' and it's too fa to Fuchsia for Anabel." Lara said, smiling again. "Y'all can stay at the Ranch!"
Ash shook his head nervously. "I can't: I'm doing the league challenge-"
"Pfft. The League ain't for anudder five months!" Lara said, waving it off. "You'd be lazin' about after gettin' those eight badges anyways! The other 10 ain't worth yur time. Stay at the ranch fa now. Besides, I could use a new farmhand, if ya don't mind getting yur royal hands dirty!" Lara laughed at that bad joke.
"Better then running a country." Ash said, Lara staring at him in confusion.
Most people would kill to be royalty. After the Cypher War, a lot of people DID. Case in point, Kalos.
Ash treated it worse then anything.
'Weird kid.' Lara said.
Indigo Plateau - Pokemon League Headquarters - 1645 hours local time - Day 42
Lance did not want to do this.
But Delia being on the warpath, the incident at the Cycling Road and finding dozens of Rockets, dead and alive, at Celedon's outskirts and inside the city itself were damning.
"I call this meeting to order." Lance said to the Gym Leaders in the room, the Yas/Kas idiots as always absent.
Six of the eight major Gym Leaders and all of the Elite Four were in the room as well, the only two exceptions being Sabrina and the main reason this meeting was even being called in the first place.
Erika Sakura was being charged with negligence and incompetence. She would be called to face these charges in a few minutes.
They were damning. And Giovanni even suggested she was working with Team Rocket.
Lance hoped not: Delia was looking for anything remotely linked to Team Rocket and there was no stopping her if there WAS a link.
Though why would Giovanni suggest something like that?
"The evidence in Erika's case is not exactly flattering." Lance said solemnly. "She has neglected the outskirts of Celadon and has allowed Team Rocket to fester in the city. Investigations have already found five city officials being Team Rocket members."
"We don't want the days of Madam Boss back," Giovanni said, his eyes closed. "Random violence in the streets, open warfare… We are on the cusp of unifying Kanto. We don't need this."
"I agree with Giovanni. For once," Koga of Fushia said, coughing into his hand. "Conflict will only weaken the League's position."
"Man of few words as always." Daisy Waterflower said as she looked at Surge. "He ever speak more than ten words at once?"
"He's a fuckin' ninja. What do you expect?" Surge replied.
Lance picked up a gavel and hammered it down twice to restore order.
"Now, I realize-" he started before the door opened, revealing one of the two missing gym leaders.
The first was Sabrina, as everyone instinctually flinched at her arrival… but as they spotted her, they noticed Sabrina was very… different. Gone was her otherwise dreary, dark and outright… 'evil' demeanor, as well as the dark clothes that accompanied her… no instead, she was wearing a pair of white pants, a black belt and a short purplish-pink tank top. But most shocking of all… was the smile.
The only time they had ever seen Sabrina smile was when something evil she's done had happened 'according to plan'. No, this smile… was legitimate, innocent happiness. Like a teenager going to the shopping mall, or looking at new cuddly pets.
"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to check in with Gaffery as to whether or not I was allowed to come." she said, her tone just...disturbing everyone. It was joyous and happy - not conceiving and mocking.
Lance and the rest of the Elite Four were well aware of what happened. The rest? Not so much.
"What the hell is with you?" Surge asked, making the sign of Giratina with his hands, a traditional ward against psychics.
Sabrina tilted her head in confusion. "What do you mean, Surge?" She asked. "Did… I do something wrong or something?"
"You're… well." Daisy started. "HAPPY! You're NEVER happy! You're creepy most of the time!"
Lance sighed as he knew he would have to tell them eventually. Now was as good as ever.
"During Sabrina's… last gym battle…" he started before Lorelei took over.
"Remember the storm a week ago?" she deadpanned.
"Kinda hard not to notice," Brock said, chuckling before looking at Sabrina. "Wait, THAT WAS HER?!"
"Yes," Lance said, eyebrow twitching. "Apparently, Ash Ketchum-"
"Why am I not surprised?" Brock, Daisy and Surge all said at once. Lance was two seconds from SCREAMING.
"There was a personality in Sabrina's head controlling her. Somehow, Ketchum purged it." Agatha said, taking over. "That same thing killed a Hypno not a few hours later. And I thought I was the bane of Psychics! The boy's taking my place without trying!"
Sabrina shrank a little. "They did say something about that," she muttered. "But Dad said I was ok and Grandma said something about an incident when he was younger, so…" Sabrina shrugged.
Giovanni looked at Sabrina, then at Lance. "I thought-" he started.
"Long story, but Ash Ketchum is her father." Lance said, sliding a file over to the top gym leader.
Daisy looked at the file "Aww, that's sweet…" she muttered, "I mean, weird and all but… still kinda sweet…"
Giovanni started sweating bullets. Everyone in the room knew WHY: Delia was his sister, Ash was his nephew and that made the (somewhat unstable) powerful psychic his technical grandniece. And Giovanni was just barely entering his fifties.
Double-whammy.
"Now, as for Erika-" he started before the door opened, the woman in question coming in.
"My apologies for being tardy." Erika said, not wearing any makeup, exposing deep, dark bags under her eyes. "I had to sell the shop to one of my trainers AND do enough paperwork to murder a small nation."
Lance opened his mouth to talk, but remained silent for a second. "You… sold the shop?" he finally said.
"Yes. My recent challenger forced me to reconsider my priorities," Erika said. "And I am seeing my obsession with funding the league via perfume sales was detrimental to the safety of Celadon." with that, she snapped her fingers, a rental Abra dumping a MASSIVE pile of reports in front of her before teleporting off.
"Dozens of Rocket agents, five city officials being plants…" Erika said, shaking her head. "If there was someone capable of taking over my position, I'd resign in shame!"
Agatha chuckled darkly. "We were considering it." the crone said. "But fortunately for you-"
"Your loyalty to the league is without question, dear." came a surprise voice as Professor Samual Oak came in, smiling somewhat, if missing his coat.
"Master Samuel!" Lance and Lorelei said at the same time. "What are you doing here?" Lance asked his mentor.
"My latest and most promising charge just dumped a Shadow Jigglypuff on my lap." Oak said, everyone staring at him in worry. "Figuratively speaking. I am not sure if you heard of Ash Ke-"
"YES!" Brock, Daisy, Surge and Erika said simultaneously.
"Oh! That's my daddy!" Sabrina beamed happily.
Oak stared at Sabrina for a moment. "Right, Gaffery told me about that," he muttered. "You may be surprised to learn something about that Shadow Jigglypuff."
"That it's the bane of my existence?" Lance deadpanned, as it was not only a Shadow Pokemon, but a fairy-type.
"No. That it stopped being a Shadow Pokemon after waking up," the professor said, getting the attention of everyone in the room.
Except Sabrina. "What's so special about that?" she asked, tilting her head cluelessly.
Lance couldn't take it and screamed.
RMS Aquitania - 1859 hours local time - Day 46
The coast of Sinnoh was massive, with rocky shoals and reefs that made getting close to the shore impossible and made the journey to Kanto much longer as the reefs extended for thousands of kilometers, only stopping at Cinnabar Island.
Rockruff knew none of this. Even if he did, he wouldn't care.
It was time, as he stood at the forepeak of the ship, staring at the setting sun.
He couldn't waste time any longer. He howled, getting the attention of his fellow teammates, Noibat, Froakie and Goomy being the first to find out as they got to the forecastle, just in time for the main event as he began to glow.
"Goomy?!" 'Oh, COME ON! HE evolves and I don't?!' Goomy yelled as the dog began to grow, becoming larger, wilder and no longer a puppy.
When he was done, he was a wolf with orange fur, the color of the setting sun.
"Roc!" 'Finally!' Lycanroc barked as he noticed his form. "Lycan!" 'Back to normal!'
Goomy screamed as he attacked the Wolf Pokemon angrily. Of course, this was physical, so he wasn't hurting Lycanroc.
But his fur was getting slimy. And Lycanroc HATED getting his fur dirty.
It ended poorly.
Half an hour later, Lycanroc had a black eye and bruised pride while Goomy was unharmed.
"Well, I've never seen one of you before." Serena said as she washed Lycanroc's fur, cleaning off Goomy's slime.
"Lycanroc." Grace said, somewhat disgusted. "Alolan rock-type. One of my suitors had one. Damn thing was constantly humping my leg."
Everyone, including Lycanroc himself, looked at Grace. The wolf then said it best.
"Ly." 'Nope.' he whined.
"Bad news is, we can't keep him in here." Grace said, though she sounded pleased. "He's too big. Goomy and Rowlet, sure, they're tiny. Him? Too big."
"Kick him out, it ends poorly." Serena threatened, her more violent self surfacing. Even Grace knew better then to piss her off.
"Good news is, we're in range of the Nihon Pokemon Transfer Link Network." she quickly said. "You can send him as an early wedding present!"
That made Serena blush and smile happily.
The squee made Rowlet wake up, yawning. "Rowl?" 'Are we in Kanto yet?' he asked.
Goomy looked at Litten. "Goo?" 'He always like this?' he asked.
"Litten." 'All the time.' the cat answered, sighing.
"Is there anything he can't do?" Kyril Pernon asked as he looked at the file Rin handed him. "End Team Cipher before they begin? Restore the world to what it once was? Make me the perfect coffee?"
"There is no such thing as perfection, Kyril." Rin deadpanned. "But this does indicate a disturbing trend. Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova. He's only missing Pokemon from Kalos and Alola at this point."
"What about Galar?" Kyril asked, confused.
"What ABOUT Galar?" Rin repeated sarcastically.
Good point. Galar was a smog-filled wasteland half the time. Any unique Pokemon in that place were endangered or extinct.
"And speaking of those two regions… oh look, almost ten of them in the care of the young woman he's about to marry!" Rin said, trying to drive the point through. "We have to curb this. Rota's influential enough with them having direct relations with the Lucario Kingdom, who are literally the only thing keeping the plague that is Shadow Pokemon reasonably in check. We don't need their crown prince charming the entire country into reunification."
"You're overreacting." Kyril replied, waving it off.
"Oh, yeah? What's he done? Other than ruin multiple Team Rocket operations, brainwash Sabrina Natsume, who would make your power armor into a prison before psionically crushing you like a tin can, into thinking she's his daughter and let's not forget what influence he would have if people found out who his father was." Rin stated, naming everything they knew he was involved in.
"…Point taken," Kyril said. "But he might not want to do that."
"You want to take that chance?" his girlfriend retorted.
"I'll meet him when we get to Kanto," the businessman replied, adjusting his tie. "Best way to measure a man's worth isn't from personnel reports. It's face-to-face."
Serena sat at the desk in the ship's Pokemon Center, looking through the Kanto Trainer Registry for one person.
Ash was becoming harder and harder to find every day and even on a computer screen, it wasn't easy.
Lycanroc needed to go. As did Fletchling: that bird was getting relentless in training. For that, she needed one important thing: Ash's trainer ID number.
They insisted to be caught by Ash and no one else. Well, assign a trainer ID code to a Pokeball and even if you're not that person, the Pokemon is caught by that person.
Though she did not know it, that was how Brock caught that Tauros for Ash in the other timeline. Some things just don't change.
Problem was, was Ash Ketchum the name, or was it Ketchum, Ash?
While she was looking, Froakie and Noibat were looking at the land outside the windows.
"Froak." 'Sinnoh. Arceus' Throne and the place we must go to end this madness,' Froakie said.
"Noibat." 'That crazy man Cyrus is there. We gotta deal with him now,' Noibat said, getting ready to fly to the mainland before Froakie put a webbed hand on his shoulder.
"Froak." 'We are not strong enough. And even if we were, we are only two against thousands of Team Galactic Grunts, Admins and the psychopath himself,' Froakie said. "Kie." 'We will wait until we are ready. And if I know Pikachu, he's on the warpath in that regard.'
Laramie Ranch - 1347 hours local time - Day 48
Misty groaned as she rubbed her head "Why…" she muttered. "Why… does everything… hurt…?"
Anabel simply groaned as well, lying face-first in the ground, shivering as though she was cold but sweating so much it was clear she wasn't.
"Bliss." 'Poor dears.' said a Blissey as she used Heal Pulse on Misty, resisting the urge to do so for Anabel. That would only make it worse.
She had to heal naturally. It went against her instincts, which was to heal and help.
The only reason Pokemon even survived in the wild were the Chansey line: they weren't as rare as people would think. They just hid away VERY carefully, healing the injured. They were impossible to corrupt into Shadow Pokemon by natural means.
Cipher just used unnatural ones for that one Shadow Chansey.
A beep from the Pokemon Transfer Link Network teleporter caught Blissey's attention as two pokeballs appeared in the tray.
Ash rubbed his check as he felt the hair growing out of his face.
In the old timeline, Pikachu had zapped the ability to grow facial hair out of him.
Thaty or whatever nonsense was used to bring him back to life back on New Island did it. He didn't know, he didn't care.
All he DID know was he had a beard, he wanted it gone.
And all he had was that single-edged razor he 'borrowed', a mirror and a bar of soap.
"This is a recipe for disaster." Ash muttered.
He wondered if this was the reason so many people forwent shaving throughout history until better razors were made: the risk of accidentally slitting their own throat outweighed the removal of annoying facial hair.
Well, he wanted it gone, so he slid the soap into the water and began lathering it up, putting the substance on the beard and flicking open the potentially lethal tool.
"Get it over with." he muttered as he began sliding the implement over his skin, the hair falling off. His inexperience resulted in a cut, blood leaking into the wash basin he was using.
That got an angry howl out of something as it slammed into the bathroom door, trying to bash it down.
A familiar howl at that.
"There is no way." Ash said as he finished getting rid of the hair on the left side of his face, then opening the door.
He was bowled over by a wolf.
"Roc!" 'ASH!' Lyranroc said, laying on top of his trainer and licking his face. Or he was until he tasted the soap.
"LYC!" 'Blah! What the hell?!' Lycanroc barked as he tried to get the taste off his tongue.
"I was shaving, Lycanroc." Ash said as he got up, Lycanroc having trashed about in his attempt to remove the soap. "Timeline got reset, remember?"
"Roc!" 'That doesn't excuse it!' Lycanroc barked as he finally got the soap out. "Lycanroc!" 'I'm finally back!'
"Welcome back. How'd you get here?" Ash asked, confused as he began washing his face again in preparation to remove the hair. "Kanto doesn't have a Rockruff population."
"Lycan!" 'Your mate Serena sent me!' the wolf said knowing Ash couldn't understand him.
Ash paused mid lather.
"Serena?" he asked, Lycanroc blinking. "She's in Kalos. How does Serena factor into it?
"Roc?" 'That sounded-' Lycanroc started.
"Ling." 'Like he understood?' chirped a familiar red bird as she flew in, landing on the dog's head. "Fletch." 'Pikachu told me while you rushed off.'
"Ok, Fletchling, I can believe," Ash said as he looked at the robin on the Dusk Lycanroc's head. "She's from Kalos. You're not."
"Fletch." 'A long story involving that bitch Hunter J,' Fletchling chirped, Ash's rage flaring at the mere mention of that name.
Needless to say, it took another hour before Ash could finish shaving.
6 days later
A Ponyta walked past Ash as he mused on how his Alola and Kalos teams ended up together while washing clothing given to him by Lara.
She was giggling for some reason when he did.
"Well, at least I'm getting something done." he muttered as he ran the articles in question through their paces, handwashing them.
Pikachu cackled in the distance at some in-joke.
Ash ignored him, even as the Ponyta circled around him, bumping his muzzle into the unwitting Crown Prince.
Then he reached in to pull out something… yellow. And all too familiar.
"I am going to murder her." Ash ground out, realizing he was holding Misty's tanktop. Lara must have given him their clothes to wash while they recovered. Anabel's outfit was now clearly visible in the soapy murk.
Pikachu's laughing only got worse.
"Just hang them up." Ash said tersely as he continued his work, ignoring everything except the job.
Though a part of his mind giggled perversely at the idea of more guttural desires.
That part promptly took the mental equivalent of a Tsar Bomba to the face.
Twenty minutes later, Ash was hanging them up to dry.
'When I'm done, Lara is going to REGRET this.' he thought before Natu landed on his head, nesting on his hatless self.
"Natu." 'Pervert,' she said. Ash had enough of that.
"I am not." he growled out, as dealing with his own mind was bad enough. He didn't need Natu accusing him of it.
"Natu!" 'Not YOU, you idiot,' she retorted, pointing in the direction of the fence, in the tall grass.
Ash looked himself, focusing on something…
A person? Ash struggled to remember who it was. The black hair and ponytail… Oh.
'Great. Dario. Cheating bastard isn't just a cheating bastard, he's a damned pervert, too,' he thought angrily. Well, for once, he was going to indulge his dark side.
"Natu?" he asked.
"Natu!" 'On it,' she squawked, using psychic to begin lifting the idiot up.
"What the fuck?!" he screamed before Natu sent him flying into a building at high speed, crashing through a weak wood panel and knocking him out.
"Natu." 'Sic semper perverts,' Natu said smugly as she relaxed on Ash's head. "Natu?" 'Enjoying your work?'
"Hypocrite." Ash muttered as he continued hanging up his traveling companions' clothing.
"Natu." 'You're actively avoiding perversion. You get a pass period,' Natu said. "Naaaaaaaaaatu…" 'That and you and Anabel would make a very cute couple…'
Ash's resulting scream would later be credited to waking up Erika as she was nodding off in the middle of the Celadon Game Corner raid.
Day 60 - 0547 hours local time
Fletchling pecked Ash in the forehead, making Natu, who was perching on the head of the bed, glare at her.
"Natu!" 'No pecking my nest!' she squacked.
"Fletch!" 'I gotta wake him up!' Fletchling chirped.
"I'm awake." Ash said as his head rose up. He was lucky he went to Alola or else he would have been driven mad by lack of changing scenery for the last two weeks.
As it was, he was tempted to just go to Fuchsia, get the badge and come back.
"Ash! Get yer ass up!" Lara called from outside.
Ash got to his feet, only half-dressed.
Then a knife hit the windowsill. Ash was not in the mood for this, so he grabbed the knife and threw it back without looking.
"I would say that was sloppy, but you nearly hit me." said a man Ash wasn't expecting to see for a few more days as he looked down at the ground from his second-story vantage.
A kunai was VERY close to the foot of Koga, Gym leader of Fuchsia City.
"Impressive. You must be Ash Ketchum," he said.
"Where's Lara," Ash demanded as he reached for the pack with the handgun on the dresser.
"Do not bother," came a female voice from behind as she put a knife to his throat. Ash sighed before pressing it against his skin, making the attacker forced to withdraw it, making her vulnerable to counterattack as Ash elbowed her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her.
She coughed before hearing the clicking of a hammer, Ash pointing the stolen Rocket admin gun at her head.
"Where is Lara?" he demanded before hearing a cough at the window, looking to see Koga kneeling on thr windowsill.
"Put that thing away, boy. The girl is fine," Koga said, Ash obeying reluctantly as the gym leader came inside and approached the girl. "Janine, you were careless. You didn't restrain him."
"My apologies, father," the girl, Janine, said as she recovered, coughing briefly. "I did not expect him to do that."
Koga hmmed, coughing into his hand. "Reflect on your failure, my daughter," he said, Ash double-taking at the two.
Daughter?! Since when did Koga have a kid?!
"Yes, father," she said, standing up, eyes on the floor before Koga approached, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"This has no bearing on my love for you, child. The ninja is disappointed." he said, a faint smile on his face. "The father is only happy his child is alive," with that, the ninja girl brightened up as Koga looked at Ash. "You would have shot her."
"For all I knew, you were members of Team Rocket." Ash said, putting the weapon away after locking the safety. "This isn't the first time they've tried to kill me and I still want to know what happened to Lara and the others."
"The Ranch owner is making her rounds and your friends are resting." Janine said before grimacing. "The perverted birdkeeper is in a pile of manure."
Ash could tell they were going to get along SWIMMINGLY.
"Regardless, the reason we are here is two-fold." Koga said. "One, to ensure the security of the Ranch. We are this place's guardians and we have been lax in our duties."
Ash looked at his pants, silently asking for them as he didn't want to get close to Janine again. The ninja girl picked them up and tossed them over, the girl surprised at something. What, Ash didn't know and it didn't matter.
"And the other?" he asked as he got the pants on. Koga stared at the trainer intensely.
"To see if you are worthy."
Ash had a bad feeling about this.