Chapter Nine – Call Him Crazy
Looking down into the water, idly studying the features of his reflection, Ash tried to keep his mind as blank as he could manage. He had been standing there for some time, how long exactly he didn't care. Thoughts came lethargically and even his newly acquired Cascade Badge, tucked away in the vest beneath his tattered armor, seemed a trivial thing. He replayed what Kasumi had said about Misty over and over in his head, trying to find something about the story that didn't fit, some detail that invalidated the Gym Leader's testimony about his partner.
The setting sun, shining in his eyes, was the first thing to alert Ash to how far daylight had waned. He looked up and around from his spot on the bridge between two islands and sighed. I should get back to the center, he told himself, wanting nothing so much as to un-hear everything Kasumi had said. What does it matter though, he wondered, pushing his hands into his pockets as he walked, watching the city wind down for the night and finding his way to the island on which the Pokemon Center sat. Misty has saved my life, multiple times. If she was working for Team Rocket now, would she have done that? … He ruminated on the question, walking slowly up the stairs towards the party's room.
Would she? he asked himself again, putting his hand on the doorknob and walking into the room. There was no discernible way he could be sure, he thought.
"Welcome back," called Brock, stone-faced, from his spot in a foldable chair set in front of a television on a cheap TV tray. "Come here for a second," he said, waving Ash over. "You might want to see this."
Ash caught sight of Misty, looking at him from the bed where she could see the TV. She smiled casually at him without saying anything, and he returned the gesture. The little glimmer, happiness Ash thought, he saw in her eyes seemed to seep straight into his chest and crowd out the trepidation that had been weighing on his heart for the past hours. He relaxed even more when Pikachu got up from Misty's lap and ran to him.
"'Attack leaves dozens dead,'" Ash read the headline of the news report aloud. He grimaced as the anchor, an attractive young woman in a red blouse, sat behind a desk in the news studio commenting on photographs and videos playing across the the studios displays.
"For those of you just joining us," said the anchor, shuffling some papers in her hands, "the Viridian Police Department was the target of a massive attack today by unknown perpetrators that left the city in chaos and at least thirty police officers dead." A short clip of one officer Ash instantly recognized as Jennifer appeared on the display next to the anchor. The shot was from the angle of someone standing directly behind Jennifer as the officer, flanked by two snarling Ninetails, turned away from the camera to face down a huge Arbok.
"While our reporters have yet to be allowed on scene," continued the anchor, while more pictures of carnage and destruction cycled on the displays, "as no one is completely sure if the danger has passed, we are being told that Team Rocket, a local group of community organizers, has been spotted near the police station's ruins trying to help the wounded and get supplies to the site of the disaster."
Brock's face soured as though the report left a bad taste in his mouth. "Team Rocket is behind the attack," he said, his tone devoid of uncertainty. "They wanted officer Jenny dead."
Ash and Misty both turned to the Gym Leader with curious glances, though it was Ash who spoke. "Not that I doubt it," he said. "But what makes you so certain?"
"I know Jenny," Brock responded, resting his elbows on his knees as he sat. "She's a damned good officer and she was secretly investigating Team Rocket a few months back when I went to Viridian. She came to me wanting my help, but I didn't have any information to offer... Knowing her and knowing now what I know about Team Rocket, she must have found something and I'd bet anything that this attack was to shut her up."
"What should we do?" asked Ash. "Do you think we should go back and-"
"There's no way we'd make it to Viridian in time to be any help," said Brock tersely. "For now, if she's still alive, Jenny will be on her own. The best thing we can do is keep going, get this Pokedex thing to Bill and then follow through with your plan to get to Indigo Plateau. If we're lucky then we might be able to convince the Elite Four to intervene and deal with Team Rocket by then."
Nodding, Ash felt his face fall some, realizing just how long of a road lay ahead of their little team, and just how unlikely it was they would be able to affect any kind of real change. "Oh," he said, as if the thought was a side note. "I managed to beat Kasumi at the gym. She gave me the badge and a letter of recommendation."
Brock and Misty turned to him, shock evident on both faces. "That's where you were all day?" asked Misty. "You spent the whole day at Kasumi's?"
"I told you I was going to challenge the Gym Leader," said Ash. He turned to Misty, automatically scrutinizing her face. "And it's not like it was a quick and easy fight." Even though it really was...
Misty pursed her lips. "Still, you were there all day?"
"Well, not the whole time," he said, scratching Pikachu behind the ears. "I went out and wandered around a little afterward."
Brock grinned for the first time since Ash's return. "Well this is all a pleasant surprise. If we have everything we need here, then we could move north in the morning. Oh, and," he amended, "that's impressive Ash. Nice work."
Misty and Ash both agreed. "The sooner we're back on the road and on our way to Saffron, the better," said Ash, glancing out the windows, taking a moment to enjoy the view the big glass panes provided. "I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to..."
That said, all three trainers began to bunker down for the night. Brock ensured that the group had more than enough supplies for the road, packing the party's backpacks with all of the essentials while skipping on even the most rudimentary of luxuries. Misty in turn went about putting the room in order so they could check out as early as possible, and Ash took the first shower. Without much in the way of conversation, Ash, Misty, and Brock settled in at nine o'clock, ready to get up before sunrise as to reach Bill's by early in the next day's afternoon.
Laying in the dark, unable to sleep, Ash stared at the ceiling and played through the days events once more in his mind.
Are you sure I can't convince you to stay? Kasumi had asked, pouting lips making it nearly impossible for Ash to refuse her. Ash had shaken his head and told her, after a long discussion of exactly what his future in Cerulean might include, that he had other responsibilities that had to come before her generous offers. Kasumi had then shrugged and sidled up to him a little more, expressing her regret that he wouldn't see things her way.
Ash sighed, still staring into the dark, and reached up, covering his lips with his hand. He hadn't expected her to kiss him, and he realized only after leaving her apartment, badge and recommendation in hand, how barefaced her attempts at seduction had been. Still, the fact that he'd almost fallen for it bothered him, making it difficult to fall asleep, and haunting his dreams when he did.
SC
After spending the night tossing and turning, Ash woke early the next morning, well before Misty or even Brock, sweating and cold. His breath was uneven and he felt clammy and sick as he sat up in bed. At some point during the night he'd ceased dreaming about Kasumi and his mind had born witness to a cacophonous riot of murderous images and sounds. The young trainer's stomach turned and for a moment he fought back vomiting.
Feeling something stir beside him on the bed Ash looked down and saw Pikachu's liquid onyx eyes staring up at him. The Pokemon bumped his flank with its nose and continued looking up at the trainer, who held one hand over his mouth, trembling, and with the other reached to pet Pikachu. What the hell was that? he wondered, laying back down and realizing he'd left the sheets soaked with sweat.
He tried not to think about it, choosing to stare at the ceiling as Pikachu curled up on his chest, but the dream seemed to manifest before his eyes. As the trainer's mind cleared, so too did the nebulous dread that had taken him in the night. He remembered seeing people while he slept, hundreds of them, walking through dark streets at night and suddenly doubling over and dropping dead, rotting where they fell.
Closing his eyes and shaking his head Ash tried to get the images out of his head but to no avail. He could only see it over and over, and lay silent, until the alarm Brock had set the night before went off and the room began to slowly come to life. Brock and Misty were both only getting out of bed by the time Ash had stood up to turn on the lights, much to the chagrin of the other trainers.
"Morning everyone," said Brock, characteristically nonchalant in his tone.
Misty said good morning, then turned to Ash and saw the bags beneath his eyes. "Ash are you alright?" she asked. "You look exhausted."
"I'm OK," said Ash quickly, stretching. "Just a really, really weird dream." He walked back to the bed and picked up Pikachu, scratching the Pokemon behind the ears while Misty went to the bathroom with her backpack and Brock changed into his drab outfit, over which he quickly fitted the segmented armor he'd worn the day before.
"So," said Ash as he got dressed, wanting to talk about anything just to hear another voice. "Is that kind of gear standard issue in Pewter?" he nodded to Brock's attire.
Shaking his head, Brock grinned. "Not hardly," he said. "This was a parting gift from the Elite Four when I left Indigo. I've gotten just a little big for it, but it's still the best I've ever had. You'd never know to look at it, but this armor's been through hell."
"It looks brand new," said Ash.
"That's the idea."
When Misty was ready, the party left the Center, checking out hastily in the predawn hours and walking to the eastern edge of Cerulean. Brock suggested that after crossing the heavily guarded bridge which served as the city's main entrance that they catch the edge of Route 9 and take that path north to Route 24 which should take them to Bill's. Neither Ash nor Misty protested and the course was set. As when they had entered Cerulean, Brock rode atop Onyx while Arcanine carried Ash, Misty, and Pikachu. The strategy was to use the overwhelming presence of the Pokemon to discourage any trouble.
"We still need to be careful," said Misty when the party stopped for breakfast. The sun had just broken over the horizon and flooded the grassy fields, which had years ago overtaken the highway, with warm light. "We may have a nice escort, but these old roads are a breeding ground for bandits and dangerous Pokemon."
"Not to mention we'll be coming up on the eastern edge of the lake here in the next couple of hours," said Brock. "We'll need to be especially cautious there."
Ash finished a mouthful of breakfast and cleared his throat. "What's so bad about the lake?" he asked. "What kind of Pokemon live there?"
"None now," said Misty. "The eastern shore of the lake is a stone's throw from Cerulean Cave's island. Odds are we'll be able to see the island with as close as we'll be to the edge."
"The island and Team Rocket's operation," noted Brock. "If we're lucky they won't have anything on this side of the straight, but I don't think we should count on that. We need to be ready for a fight, and not just from Team Rocket. We could run into all kinds of trouble between here and Bill's place."
Ash agreed and the party quickly finished up their meal, and returned to the road. Three quarters of an hour later, he suggested that it would me much easier to maintain a low profile if Arcanine and Onyx returned to their pokeballs. On that note, Ash, Misty, and Brock paused to put away the large Pokemon and resumed their journey on foot, at a significantly slower pace.
The terrain, which had begun as a grassy field which bore only passing resemblance to a highway had slowly been angling uphill and showing more and more diverse flora. Soon the party was trekking up what might have long ago been the side of a steep hill which had succumbed to heavy erosion, and picking their way between thick bushes the growing underbrush. Here and there trees appeared and before half an hour was up, the trainers were surrounded by what could pass for a sparse forest.
Misty took the lead with neither Brock nor Ash questioning how she knew the terrain as well as she did, leading the party ultimately to a plateau on the edge of which the trees grew nearly as dense as in Viridian Forest. Misty halted at the drop, where the ground abruptly ended in a sheer fall some forty or fifty meters straight down, and motioned for Brock and Ash to join her on the edge.
"There," said Misty, motioning out over the edge. "See that?"
Ash paused for a moment to take in the lay of the land... he shuddered a little, being so near so steep a fall. Looking down the cliff face at his feet, he saw that tree roots as thick as his arm wound in and out of the rocky face, running from top to bottom and ostensibly shielding the structure against erosion. How the trees around him had managed to grow roots so deep into solid rock he could only guess. Before him though, at the bottom of the cliff was a thin stretch of beach, ten meters thick in places, and as shallow as a few feet in others, running between the cliff and the waters of the enormous lake that seemed to stretch to the mountain-framed horizon. Off to the west, Ash saw, was Cerulean, glittering like a gem.
"That's Cerulean Cave," said Brock, following Misty's gaze to what looked like a small mountain that sat as though misplaced and forgotten not far out in the lake.
Ash stared for a moment, and if he squinted and focused, he could make out small figures, people and Pokemon he guessed, moving around on the shallow slopes of the mountain and on the thin beach that encircled it. "Where?" he asked. "I don't see a cave," he clarified.
"About a third of the way up, on that flat stretch of path," Misty said.
Looking for a moment longer, Ash picked out the entrance, a yawning gap in the stone he'd at first taken to be a trick of the shadows. He shivered again, suddenly intensely curious about the cave and wanting to go to it. He almost took a step forward without thinking before he caught himself and shook his head. What am I thinking? he thought, looking down at the cave, the desire fading.
"We should go," said Brock. "It's almost-" He stopped as Pikachu suddenly whirled around beside Ash, fur needling out as the Pokemon began chittering. The trainers quickly turned around, all three instinctively going for pokeballs as several shapes emerged from within the foliage behind them. Four people, all of them dressed in dull clothes that blended in well with the flora walked to within speaking distance of Ash's party. In brilliant white flashes, each of the new arrivals brought his own Pokemon.
"I wouldn't," said the foremost of the group, a large man with a green Mohawk and cloudy grey eyes as Ash's hand darted to Arcanine's pokeball. He went on when Ash, Misty, and Brock, obviously at a tactical disadvantage, hesitated. "I don't know what you folks are doing up here, but I'm only going to give you one chance to go back to the city," he said. "And I'm being generous with that."
Ash cleared his throat. "We're on our way north," he said as steadily as he could, eying the man's companions. A Nidorino, a Wartortle, two Mankey, and Grimer, Ash noted. Shooting glances at both Brock and Misty, both waiting to see what he'd do, he continued. "We don't have any business with you, so how about we all pretend nobody saw anybody?"
"Well mate, that's a rub," said the leader of the gang as his troop snickered amongst themselves. "Cause you see, the Scarlet Jesters here," he motioned to the trainers, "have a cozy little contract. Anyone who comes poking this way gets a nice nap at the bottom of the cliff, that's what Team Rocket says and-"
"Flash!" shouted Ash.
Pikachu leapt forward as Brock, Misty, and Ash all put an arm up in front of their faces. Pikachu exploded in a blinding burst of light that dazzled all of the Scarlet Jesters and stunned their Pokemon. "Thunderbolt," Ash ordered as Pikachu landed. The little Pokemon acted before the order was complete, blasting the enemy Wartortle with a bolt of energy that cracked through the air like a whip.
Misty and Brock both threw out a pokeball in unison, taking full advantage of the instant of confusion. Blastoise and Brock's Golem sprang into existence, glancing around and finding their trainers in an instant. "Tackle," Brock shouted as Misty ordered "Body Slam!"
"Horn Attack!" shouted one of the enemy trainers, blindly ordering and rubbing his eyes. The man's Nidorino, still dazed, fumblingly charged forward towards the first thing to take shape in its muddled vision... which happened to be Misty's charging Blastoise. The Nidorino yelped as Blastoise fell on the Pokemon like an avalanche, smashing it into the ground with a bone crushing slam. Blastoise took aim at the late Pokemon's trainer on Misty's order and blasted the man's leg out from under him with a jet of water that snapped his leg backwards and knocked him screaming to the ground.
Simultaneously, Golem bowled over the overmatched Mankey that stood in his way and stomped the Pokemon underfoot. Brock barked for Golem to finish off the other Mankey and the heavy stone Pokemon roared in acknowledgment, pivoting on the foot currently crushing the first Mankey and grinding the animal further into the ground. The second Mankey, which had started to run in for a Fury Swipes attack, stopped cold and stared up at Golem for only an instant before turning and sprinting back to its trainer, Golem lumbering after it and moving for the Crimson Jester's like a bulldozer.
"Shit," gasped the leader of the gang. "Run for it!" he ordered.
The gang needed no prompting; those members with living Pokemon already recalling them to their pokeballs and turning on their heels to flee. Ash, Misty, and Brock all ordered their Pokemon not to give chase.
"Hey wait!" shouted the gang member whose leg Blastoise had shattered. "Where are you fuckers going?" he screamed, trying to pull himself along the ground after them as Brock quickly walked up to the crippled man. Brock reached down and grabbed the man by his collar and hoisted him into the air like he was a toy.
Brock gave the man one solid shake to get his attention, then lifted him completely off his feet. "You picked the wrong people to jump," said the Gym Leader as the man whimpered in fear and pain, his eyes darting between his dead Nidorino, Brock, and the other Pokemon. "Now you're not going to give me any trouble are you?" Brock asked, voice unrecognizably dark to both Ash and Misty.
The man trembled and shook his head. "No sir, no sir," he said as Brock carried him towards the other trainers, both of whom just watched. "Please don't kill me!"
"I'm not going to kill you," said Brock, stopping at the edge of the cliff, still holding the man off his feet by his collar. "The fall down the cliff and the sudden stop at the bottom might, but I wont." The prisoner's mouth dropped open and he began to quiver and cry. "Now talk to me," said Brock. "How many of you jokers are in this area and why are you working with Team Rocket?"
I wonder if Brock would really kill him? Ash wondered, thinking that it was almost unfair how outclassed the gang had been. Then again, Brock alone likely would have been more than a match for them.
"I don't know anything," said the man, tears now spilling down his face. "Just don't kill me."
"Wrong answer," said Brock, scowling. "Tell me about your gang before I lose my grip."
"We, we, we,we're just merc-mercenaries," stammered the prisoner. "I'm Jacob and our leader is Jonas and we're just hired knifes. Team Rocket told our boss that there would be a lot of money involved if we helped them so we joined up and tried to help guard some kind of mining camp down at Cerulean Cave."
"And," Brock probed, still holding Jacob over the edge. "What else."
"And it totally wasn't worth it," Jacob said, voice breaking, prompting Ash to notice that the prisoner couldn't be any older than Ash himself. "The things that came out of that cave were totally fucked up, real living breathing nightmares. They killed people and shit you wouldn't believe..." He twitched as Brock's gaze narrowed. "And," he stammered to complete his story, "Jonas told Team Rocket that we were outa here so they told us to make sure nobody came this way."
"Anything else you think I should know?" asked Brock.
"No sir," whimpered the young man. "I don't wanna die. That's all I know. I swear."
Brock turned slowly, iron grip on the prisoner staying strong as he move Jacob over solid ground and let him down carefully. "If you start hobbling now you should be able to make it to Cerulean before nightfall."
"Wait!" said the man, reaching out for the party as the party as they turned to leave. "You can't just leave me out here. I'll never make it. Hey!" he shouted after them, face falling when no one even turned around to look at him. "Dammit," the man grumbled, looking around as the foliage all around him seemed to become suddenly very lonely. "Sons of bitches," he cursed, pulling himself up onto his good leg and turning to limp painfully towards the south.
Continuing on to the north for several hours, Misty, Brock, and Ash picked their way through the brush and quickly thickening plant growth. Gradually they turned to the east and began trekking along a thin path barely distinguishable from the overgrown terrain. Along the way they encountered several small Pokemon, Pidgey, Rattata, and several Spearow who all peered out from nests and burrows to stare at the passers by while staying out of their way. More than once a curious Rattata even wandered up behind the party, undoubtedly smelling the food they carried with them, and hiding in the bushes whenever they turned around to look at it.
"Friendly little thing," said Ash, stopping in the path to pick a handful of small berries from a branch. He tossed them to the ground in front of the rodent who had again emerged from the brush to tail the party. "I've never met a Rattata that didn't try to kill me."
"This part of the region doesn't have much of a human presence," said Misty, watching as the Rattata quickly sniffed the berries and hurriedly ate them before something else could jump from the bushes to do so. "Most Pokemon out here won't have had any interaction with humans at all."
"Doesn't mean they aren't wild," said Brock, stopping to check the position of the sun overhead and quickly look over the map. He stole a look over his shoulder just in time to see the Rattata dart back into the bushes, and he grinned. "Bill's place shouldn't be too much farther," he said. "Maybe half an hour more if we make decent time, so we should probably keep moving."
Ash and Misty both agreed and set off again, one tailgating rodent short much to Pikachu's relief. As they walked, Ash's thoughts wandered back to the previous day and he found the doubt planted in his mind by Kasumi returning. He tried to picture Misty as a cold blooded murderer and to his horror the image came easily. Why, he wasn't certain. It just seemed to fit for one reason or another. Either way, he reasoned, shaking the thoughts from his mind as the party walked in silence, whether Misty worked for Team Rocket or not, it doesn't matter now. She's on the right side, he told himself. Kasumi didn't give me a damn shred of evidence to prove what she said, and that, to Ash, was the end of the matter.
"Looks like the place," said Brock as the party broke through the tree line and out into a small clearing, almost the whole area of which was taken up be a squat structure resembling the foundation of a building more than a proper structure itself. The giant concrete slab, Ash guessed, was more the roof or protective shield of whatever was built underneath, as the top of the slab was barely higher than Ash's head.
"Now how do we get in?" asked Ash, quickly surveying the structure and failing to spot a door, or any distinguishing feature at all really. "I'm not seeing a way in," he reached up and pulled himself up to the top of the slab and scanned, again unsuccessfully for an entrance. "I think maybe-" Ash stopped in mid sentence with a yelp of pain as something slammed into his chest like a sledgehammer and knocked him off the slab.
Misty gasped. "Ash!" she yelled, running to him as the trainer landed hard on his back with a thud. "What's this?" She looked down at the sticky black goop, hissing and sizzling on Ash's chest.
"Don't touch it!" Brock shouted, dropping to his knees beside Ash and batting Misty's hands away. "We're under attack!" Brock's hands worked furiously to undo the buckles holding the wheezing Ash's breastplate in place and he jerked the armor away from the trainer, snapping one of the buckles and splattering the black goop across the grass which instantly wilted and died.
"Acid," Brock muttered, the side of his face flashing white as Misty released Blastoise and Starmie from their pokeballs. Brock whirled to his feet, grabbing Ash's wrist and pulling the trainer up as both men tossed pokeballs into the air. Pikachu's fur needled out and his cheeks sparked as Golem and Arcanine both appeared in bright flashes of light. The orange canine spotted Ash's condition and was instantly on alert, eyes alight with fire and whole body trembling with a growl. The ever cool and collected Golem looked to Brock for instructions, and the trainer positioned himself between the boulder of a Pokemon and the concrete slab.
Likewise, Misty and Ash took defensive positions behind their Pokemon, backs to the wall and watching for trouble. The whole forest seemed to have gone deathly silent. Not a single bird sang and nothing in the grass so much as twitched. Even the wind was dead and Ash felt the familiar rush of adrenaline sharpening his senses and heightening his awareness... torture when there was no obvious threat of which to be aware.
Brock put one hand on Golem's shoulder, quickly garnering the Pokemon's attention then turned to his left, walking slowly behind the moving shield of the Pokemon to scout around. When they reached the corner of the slab, leaving Misty and Ash side by side, Brock snaked around the corner and disappeared with Golem, moving as silently as a cat. Ash felt his chest tighten. This was intolerable. Something is going to happen, his mind told him over and over again. Move damn it move, the words came to him from nothing.
Ducking by reflex alone, Ash twitched as he heard the deafening snap mere inches above his head. He looked up as Misty and the Pokemon turned, seeing the enormous purple snake that had almost snapped off his head. Arcanine roared and the Arbok slithered, seeming to disappear instantly, back on top of the slab as silently as it had ambushed the trainer. A jet of flame loosed from Arcanine's maw chased after the Arbok as Arcanine leapt after the snake.
Misty looked down at Ash in shock. "How?" she muttered, stopping and turning to the forest. "Never mind. Look-" a wave of black mist, so dense as to obscure everything beneath waist level, rolled from between the trees and washed over Misty's legs and covered Ash up to his neck. Hopping to his feet and locking his jaw in pain, Ash swore and turned to claw his way atop the slab as Misty did likewise, her bare legs enveloped in a burning that made her eyes water.
"The hell was that?" Ash wheezed, his lungs burning.
"Tell me you didn't breathe it," Misty turned on him. "You didn't?"
"Only a little," said Ash, turning as the flash of fire to his left drew his attention. "Arcanine," he called, the words seeming to fight for their freedom from his throat. He saw his Pokemon locked in a duel with the Arbok, a terrifying serpent no less that fifteen feet long with a flared hood and a jaw filled with wickedly sharp fangs. "Fire Spin," he gasped, nausea and fatigue dropping him to his knees where he vomited.
"Shit," Misty hissed as Starmie appeared beside her and Blastoise, seeing Brock and something else move in the forest, barreled off into the trees. "Ash breathe, just breathe," she barked as Ash dropped to one shoulder, every muscle in his body seeming to lock up against his will. "Fuck, Ash breathe!" She took his hand and rolled him onto his back, watching helplessly as his lips and the skin around his eyes turned a peppery black.
A whirling jet of flame exploded from Arcanine and, as if alive with a will of its own, snaked around the Arbok and tightened around it like a cracking lasso. Arcanine set its sights on the Pokemon's throat as the snake wrenched back, skin burning under the fiery bonds, and Arcanine bolted forward, leaping with jaws open, ready to tear the Arbok asunder, but froze and hung in the air. An envelope of blue light wrapped around Arcanine and held him still. Ash, fighting with herculean effort against the poison which tried to paralyze his lungs, saw a pair of glowing blue eyes in the trees behind Arbok, eyes sparking with energy rolling off the Golduck.
Ash raised one hand to point and Misty quickly caught sight of the Golduck. "Starmie, Double Edge!" she yelled. Starmie, buzzing through the air with familiar ease slammed into the Golduck and smashed both Pokemon into the ground.
Immediately the blue energy around Arcanine faded and the raging canine continued through the air as though he'd never stopped. He smashed into the Arbok and sank his teeth deep into the Pokemon's torso, shaking and tearing, drawing blood and knocking Arbok back against the slab. The fiery restraints vanished as Arcanine attacked and a wildly hissing serpent coiled around Arcanine, trying to crush him. Arcanine's response was to bit even harder, threatening to snap Arbok in two, and to kick ferociously with his free back legs, tearing into Arbok's hide.
The serpent hissed in pain, but its sheer bulk allowed it to absorb the damage as it crushed down on Arcanine, constricting and trying to squeeze the life out of the canine. Starmie likewise was having a difficult time. Dueling with the Golduck was taxing the Pokemon's ability to dodge the psychic bolts the Golduck could throw out at will. Ash watched it all with increasing fatigue blackening the edges of his vision. Every breath was harder than the last and before long he realized that he couldn't hear Misty's voice, or anything for that matter. His world had gone silent, and as Arcanine broke free of Arbok's grip and loosed another blast of flame, Ash's world faded to black.
SC
Ash came to several moments later, a rush of air filling his lungs as his eyes opened. He saw the sky overhead and Misty above him, still squeezing his hand and looking off somewhere to his right. There was near panic in her eyes and as Ash followed her gaze he could see why. Arcanine was bloodied and bruised, still dueling the Arbok, though the serpent now bore numerous deep lesions and gashes in its hide, but Golduck and Starmie's duel was not going well.
An enormous writhing plant had appeared on the scene, directed by a man with blue hair. The Victreebel was lashing at Starmie with razor sharp vines that were connecting too often and inflicting too much damage. Starmie was slowing and becoming an easier target for Golduck. James? Ash realized, recognizing the man and spotting the hovering Weezing behind the Rocket Agent. So Team Rocket is behind this...
Straining against the burning in his muscles, Ash reached behind his back and gripped the handle of his heavy Tungsten knife. He drew it slowly as to not draw any attention, not even from Misty, and gauged the distance between himself and James. Fifteen meters... he thought, gripping the knife by its spine and feeling out the blade's proportionally tremendous weight, a long shot...
Ash heaved himself forward, making misty gasp in surprise, and flung his arm down over his head, releasing the knife the instant he felt he should. The blade tumbled through the air twice, far too fast Ash thought for something so heavy, before James caught the glint and turned. The man's eyebrows rose up his forehead as he processed what was happening, but he could only watch, time seeming to slow, as the point of the knife raced towards his throat and the blade sliced through the side of his neck in a flash.
Red blood pulsing from the wound, James's face went blank as he dropped to his knees and reached up with both hands to cover the wound, applying as much pressure as he could. James met Ash's icy glare and the two stared at each other for only a second, before the badly wounded agent turned and took a long stride into the forest, hobbling out of sight behind a tree. Ash dropped back exhausted as, without their trainer, the Golduck and Victreebel quickly fell apart and were forced to retreat into the woods. Arbok likewise turned away from Arcanine as a biting voice in the trees shouted "Return!"
"Ash!" Misty yelped. "You're alive!" Joy quickly washed over her face as she looked down at him when Ash leaned back and rested his head on the slab of concrete. "I thought... How did you do that? The toxin..."
"Guess," said Ash, his lungs still burning, though the air came easier now, "my system managed to work it out. You alright?"
Misty nodded as Starmie returned to her, and Arcanine quickly knelt down by Ash. The canine pressed his cold nose against Ash's face and the trainer reached up to stroke the Pokemon's scratched up face. "We're alive," he said. "And I guess we can say for sure that James is more than Team Rocket's PR man."
"You knew him?" asked Misty as Brock, Blastoise, and Golem came out of the forest and quickly joined Ash and Misty.
Ash nodded. "I met him and some girl named Jesse in Viridian. They tried to recruit me."
"Jesse," said Brock, "didn't happen to have long red hair and a really bad temper?"
"I don't know about the temper," said Ash. "But that sounds about right."
"I think she was working with this James character," said Brock. "At least she was out in the woods and trying to kill me. If not for Onyx, her Charizard would have ended us."
"A Charizard," Ash muttered. "Wow..."
All three trainers and their Pokemon turned as some electronic voice called from behind them. "Hey, hey you three," said the voice which they realized was coming from a speaker set inconspicuously in the slab. "Not working for Team Rocket so not here to steal research so come in come in," it rattled off as a seam appeared in the concrete and several steps slid downward with thud after thud, revealing a staircase. "Hurry before they come back."
Brock helped Ash to his feet and the trainers returned their Pokemon to their pokeballs. "Where's," Ash began, looking around and spotting Pikachu in Misty's arms, apparently unconscious, "Pikachu?"
Misty looked up at him. "Pikachu is alright for now," she said. "He got a dose of the same poison that put you down. But he's going to need treatment."
"Can take care of that," said the voice, irritation plain in its tone. "Now come in come in."
The party quickly made their way down the stairs and through the open door at the bottom. Finding themselves in another stairwell the steel door shut behind them automatically and locked in place as the sound of the stairs outside sliding back up into position echoed in the room. "I guess we go this way," said Brock, taking the circular stairwell down two, maybe three stories to the bottom landing, followed by Ash and Misty. Through another heavy door that had to be opened remotely, the party entered a large open warehouse that Ash felt was almost identical to Oak's lab back in Pallet. Machines as tall as a person beeped and flickered, florescent lights overhead buzzed, and from the middle of it all emerged a short man in a lab coat to greet the trainers.
"Good good, you're here which means that Oak sent you so you have the Pokedex and all that's needed is for me to activate it," said the man so quickly Ash wondered if he had to breathe. "I'm Bill but you knew that now where's the Pokedex?" said Bill, extending one excessively pale hand and reaching up with his free hand to rearrange his thick glasses.
"Oh," said Ash, kneeling and pulling his pack around front. He produced Oak's package and handed it to Bill. "All yours, now can you-"
"Thank you now please excuse while I work feel free to make yourselves comfortable if there's a place to sit," said Bill, turning around and starting to walk off.
"Wait," said Ash, catching Bill by the coat sleeve. "My Pikachu's been poisoned. He needs help."
Bill turned around and saw Pikachu, then walked forward and moved his face close to the Pokemon, a little too close to her chest for Misty's comfort, though she said nothing. "Hmm, yes most likely Weezing toxin very deadly and normally fatal but good thing you're here so I can administer antidote." He turned to Ash. "Looks like you might need a dose also, speckled lips sign of potential nerve damage wouldn't want to suffer later." He paused for a breath, then went on, "Some highly evolved individuals have extraordinary constitution and suppress effects of toxin allowing for escape from danger, doesn't prevent all damage to vital systems though. Come."
Turning around and motioning for them to follow, Bill walked deeper into the laboratory, trainers in tow. Misty leaned over to Ash and whispered, "Is this guy for real?" Ash could only shrug. He'd never actually met Bill and only knew what Professor Oak had said of him over the years. Reaching an alcove in the machinery, Bill opened a glass cabinet and took out a small plastic syringe. Without any hesitation at all he stuck Ash in his exposed forearm and pushed the plunger.
"Hey ow," said Ash, twitching but not withdrawing from the injection. "What was that?"
"Anti-toxin, don't worry, very low chance for negative reaction." Bill turned to Pikachu and injected him with the same syringe. "Originally intended to counter brain hemorrhaging induced by psychic attacks but proved much more effective at repairing damage done by neuro-toxins," he breathed in sharply through his aquiline nose. "Not sure why, but you should recover fully. Chance of slight nausea and-" Bill paused as Pikachu twitched and threw up down the front of Misty's shirt, "little else," he finished.
"God..." Misty sighed as Pikachu made a burping noise and opened his eyes and looked around, confused. "Glad you're feeling better," she muttered.
"Guest rooms somewhere that way," Bill waved off behind him. "Now busy, busy before you arrived, more so than ever now. I'll bring it when the Pokedex is finished." Bill turned and began to walk off, waving Ash off when the young trainer tried to get his attention. "Busy," Bill repeated, disappearing behind a corner.
Pausing for a moment, Ash couldn't help but wonder if he was simply dreaming that he'd met the famous Bill. This entity seemed like a character from a B-grade movie, not the genius who had helped Professor Oak carve the frontier out of the 'untamable' wilds. "Well," Ash turned around to Misty and Brock, "I guess there's not much of a point standing here."
"Bill mentioned guest rooms," said Brock, prompting the party to launch a search. Several minutes, and dozens of dead ends in the maze of machinery, later they came upon a comfortable sitting area with a few armless chairs set next to each other to form what could reasonably pass for a sofa, a rug, and a small bed that had long since outlived its usefulness. The party elected to wait here, Brock sitting comfortably on the floor while Ash and Misty sat on the chairs.
"So you ran into Jesse?" asked Ash, striking up a conversation with Brock.
The Gym Leader nodded and quickly filled Ash and Misty in on the details of his fight with the Rocket Agent. Apparently Jesse was skilled enough to control a Charizard, a Machoke, and a Venasaur simultaneously, a combination that was devastating against Brock's Golem, even aided as it was by Blastoise. In the end only Onyx had averted disaster, being nearly immune to Charizard's attacks, too big for Machoke, and more than a match in brute strength for Venasaur.
Given that Misty was the one conscious for most of it, Ash suggested that she be the one to bring Brock up to speed on their end. Though his head was clear now, Ash could remember very little about their fight with James, barely recalling that he'd ended it with a well aimed knife. I'll need to find that when we leave, he thought as Misty wrapped up her rendition of events.
"Impressive," said Brock, looking at Ash. "Poisoned, barely lucid, and you still managed to turn a losing fight around."
Ash raised his shoulders and let them fall. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Still," said Brock. "Good work, you too Misty. We all did well."
"Indeed indeed," said Bill, coming from nowhere and holding a large package wrapped in brown paper. "Glad you've made yourselves comfortable. Hope my bedroom isn't too messy for you but I don't entertain." He turned to Ash. "Noticed you and female companion lack proper defensive measures, rundown armor won't work out here, no doubt a parting gift from Oak, cheapskate, always was." He took another quick breath and handed Ash the weighty package. "Hope these fit," he said. "I only have two, but the second male looks protected enough as is."
Ash took the package, a box about two feet by two feet by one foot, and set it down. "Thank you. How's the Pokedex coming?"
"Not nearly done yet," said Bill with a bitter sigh. He paused for a second and ran a hand through his thick grey hair. "Unit sustained considerable damage, would guess someone threw it off a cliff if didn't know better. Still, presents opportunity for improvement over previous model now. Should be ready by morning, maybe. Anyway, feel free to go anywhere but out." Bill turned and left as quickly as he'd arrived, leaving the party without a clue as to what was going on.
"Well," said Misty. "What's in the box?"
Setting it on the makeshift sofa, Ash quickly opened the package and began setting out the contents. "Body armor," he said, holding up a black vest with a heavy duty zipper running down the front, "the really nice kind."
Pleasantly surprised to find that the armor fit both of them reasonably well, Ash and Misty quickly tried it on, finding that it easily fit over their casual clothes, but tightened up via Velcro, buckles, and straps as to not hang loose. The vests were built from semi-fused hardened plastic scales, though from the weight, Ash guessed there was more to the armor than just the top layer and the soft underlay. The guards afforded to the arms and legs looked on the surface to be composed of the same scales which made up the breastplates, though Ash quickly noted that a layer of extremely dense fibers made up the gauntlets' backings.
"Hey, this doesn't look half bad," said Misty, turning and twisting to admire herself. "It's a little big, but not completely bulky and ugly. I'm not a huge fan of solid black, but this isn't bad at all."
Ash synched up the last buckle, tightening the gauntlet against his arm. "I like the mobility," he said, jumping in place a little and testing out his range of motion. "I could get used to this."
"This wasn't cheap," said Brock, looking over Ash and Misty. "I'll bet the Elite Four wouldn't scoff at these. Bill sure is generous, just giving these away."
Ash grinned a little. "Well, think about it. He's working with my grandfather on cataloging every Pokemon out there. That's dangerous work and he can't do it himself, but we can, so there's no reason for him not to outfit us with the best gear, right?"
Nodding, Brock crossed his arms. "True true," he said. "But as soon as he gets the Pokedex up and running I think we should move out again. We don't need to hang around, hiding in a bunker while Team Rocket looks for ways to get at us."
Misty quickly agreed. "Though with James as wounded as he is," she said, "if not dead, we probably have till morning at least. Still, there's no need to be careless."
Spending the rest of the day venturing out into the lab and exploring, the party found what they guessed to be Bill's interpretation of 'guest rooms.' The small hideaway in one corner of the warehouse of a lab was only slightly larger than Bill's bedroom, though here at least there were blankets spread out on the floor, and a filing cabinet doubling as a stand for a coffee maker. While Brock and Misty decided to stay behind and rest up, Ash elected to explore the lab some more and look for Bill. After a solid twenty minutes of turning this way and that, running into dead ends, and wondering how in the world Bill navigated such a place, Ash finally came upon a larger open area, in which Bill sat at a squat metal bench which sported dozens of little tools and gadgets.
"Professor," said Ash, walking up behind Bill and stepping to the side. "Do you have a minute?"
"Very good Ash," said Bill, turning away from his project, which Ash saw was the Pokedex. "Hoped you'd come alone at some point. Need to speak. Don't know the others."
"I'll vouch for them," said Ash, taking a seat on a stool beside Bill. "I have a few questions."
"By all means," said Bill with a smile. He turned back to the Pokedex, picking up two small probes and poking around the inner workings of the device. "Ask. Speak speak. And not that I don't trust the others. Information just need-to-know."
"Have you seen my grandfather?" Ash asked.
"Many times," Bill said quickly. "None recent though. Expected him after Pallet destroyed but never came. Very sorry about home. Imagine it's difficult. You're strong though. Stronger than most. But no, haven't seen Oak in many months – No – year. What else?"
Ash paused, leaning against the bench for a moment, watching Bill work. "Actually, that was about it," he said, his mind wandering, despite his best efforts, back to Pallet. He quickly made himself focus on the present. "I guess I'd just hoped the he'd be here or something, waiting for us."
"If he was coming here there would have been no reason to send you," said Bill. "Shows a lot of trust on his part. Not the Oak I knew, never trusted anyone, either of us and it kept both of us alive." He breathed sharply again. "Except you, star pupil. Never shut up about you, very annoying but good that you were turning out so well, better than any of us hoped."
"Yeah," said Ash with a grin. "Grandpa told me several times that I was a quick learner. He said once that he was going to run out of things to teach me." Ash stopped for a second. "Wait," he went on, raising an eyebrow. "What did you just say?"
"Better than any of us hoped?" Bill quoted himself, speaking almost too quickly to be understood.
Ash nodded and Bill smirked to himself.
"Expected you to catch that. Oak would disagree but he's not here and I always said it would be better if you knew." Bill seemed to focus all of his attention on the Pokedex, leaning in and staring at it as he spoke to Ash. "Oak thought, and rightly so it seems, that Ash Ketchum, just like his father, would grow up to be a savant, an expert, one of the few humans truly in-sync with the natural world, truly capable of bonding with Pokemon on a subconscious level." Bill paused and looked up at Ash with a huge grin.
Sitting dumbly for a second, Ash tilted his head in curiosity. "Wait, what?" he said. "Back up and explain that to me again. Savant?"
"Heh," Bill sighed, shaking his head and going back to the Pokedex. "Like trying to tell a fish it's a shark, true but only in so many senses," he said. "All life evolves in response to its surroundings," Bill began, speaking quickly. "Full explanation would take long time, but savant is a human that is more evolved than other humans. Savants typically come from families with a deep history of Pokemon trainers, why we're not sure, so Oak and I tried to study the effects Pokemon and humans have on each other many years ago. When research produced no viable results, we began studying Pokemon only.
"In the process though, we did discover that being around Pokemon physically alters humans. Best examples are the Psychics of Saffron who spent whole generations training with Psychic Pokemon and eventually became Psychic themselves, more powerful than most Psychic Pokemon in some isolated cases. Same can be seen with some Ghost Pokemon. What few trainers who train ghosts tend to have an ethereal empathy, they see into the plane on which ghosts live and feel the ethereal resonance produced by even the slightest emotion of sapient being. There are numerous examples, the bug maniacs who have adapted to eat liquified flesh, many trainers of the southern sea who've adapted to swim as well as fish, some can even hold breath for hours, absorbing oxygen through skin, but all of these are lesser examples, not true savant, only adaptations, only reflections of savant, if you will. Not like you and Ketchum Sr."
"Hold on," Ash interrupted, raising his hands. "This is a little much..."
"Of course of course," said Bill, grabbing a small device which he set in the open shell of the Pokedex and soldered into place. "Much information, a library's worth compressed into a single run-on sentence. A few minutes and I'll expound..."
Ash rested his elbows on his knees and set his hands together in front of his mouth, leaning forward as he listened and Bill elaborated on the subject. As near as the young trainer could synthesize, nature forces life to evolve, and Pokemon being reflections of nature in varying degrees naturally force humans to grow into beings that Bill referred to as 'adapted people,' and that these people were very often incredibly in tune with the Pokemon to whose presence they had adapted.
"Most gym leaders are Adapted People," said Bill hastily, "which is why most gyms focus only on one maybe two types of Pokemon to the exclusion of all others, despite the obvious weaknesses of such a strategy... it's all they can connect with, which is why these people are only adaptations, not true savants, who don't adapt to situations on a case-by-case basis, but rather have adapted to nature as a whole."
"Professor," Ash interrupted. "I'm starting to understand what you're saying, maybe, but you've got to understand that this sounds crazy." Bill waited as Ash went on. "I mean, you're saying you believe that Pokemon, what... change human DNA?"
"Not actively, not at all," said Bill, quickly shaking his head. "Rather, human DNA changes in response to presence of Pokemon. Process is normally slow, though some people are naturally inclined to these changes."
"And you can prove this?" Ash asked, incredulous. "You have data to prove all this is actually a change in a person's genes and not just training or practice or something?"
Bill again quickly nodded his head up and down. "Yes, blood samples tissue samples, fluid samples from numerous sources, both adapted and otherwise, show subtle but definite changes in gene coding of normal people versus savants. Comparisons of samples collected from multiple generations confirm theory. Compared data from trainers from Saffron to genes of Ketchum Sr to data from normal people with minimal Pokemon contact over and over and over. The differences are very slight, less than one tenth of one tenth of a percent, but they are there for sure."
Ash paused as Bill fell quiet to let the young trainer process. "So," began Ash, "You're saying that you have proof that humans, real people, undergo real physical changes in response to being around Pokemon, and that these 'savants' are people who have just evolved to be super in tune with nature and Pokemon..."
"In an oversimplified nutshell, yes," said Bill. "Savants are geniuses of survival, geniuses with Pokemon, people who simply know what to do without knowing why they know."
Ash was a little struck by the comment. "I do get weirdly lucky," he said, as much to himself as to Bill.
"Not luck," Bill corrected in an instant. "Never luck, rather a misunderstood understanding. Your father was a Savant, a true one, someone who did not adapt to nature but evolved. He saw the world in ways the normal mind could never fathom, in ways he didn't understand. Oak and I never told him what he was but we both knew. He simply understood nature, understood Pokemon like child understands the sun rising and setting... not superfluous hows or whys, only that. Moreover nature understood him, Pokemon understood him, mutual understanding which resulted in Ketchum's simply knowing what would work and what wouldn't. Gave him an edge, kept him alive."
"I never really knew my dad," said Ash, a small grin twitching across his face as he recalled some of his earliest memories. "I saw him when I was tiny, but he left."
"Doesn't matter," said Bill. "Your father was a savant and so are you. Simple. Genetic now. Don't know why but why doesn't matter. Only that. There are still aspects of theory that are up in the air, but the basics are clear."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Ash asked, clearing his throat.
Whipping around, Bill turned on him, eyes lighting up, suddenly ignoring the Pokedex. "Why? Why? Is this a question? Because you need to know. You need to understand that your knowing things isn't dumb luck, it's not a fluke, it is human evolution at the most advanced level and the most basic level. You need to know because you need to trust those little thoughts that come to your mind from nowhere. It's why you're still alive. And we need you alive." Bill's gaze narrowed. "But we also need you to not tell anyone. Deal?"
Ash sat back, a pang of cold shooting through him. "Professor," he said, cracking a nervous grin. "You're starting to sound a little crazy." Crazier... he thought.
Bill shook his head. "World isn't ready. Individual mind can handle the truth, individual mind needs to know the truth, why I told you, but masses are stupid, panicky, dumb. Wouldn't understand. Would be bad for everyone. I told you because you need to know now promise not to tell."
"I won't tell anyone," said Ash, meaning what he said, but wanting to get Bill to settle down more than anything.
"Promise," insisted the Professor.
"I promise I promise," said Ash, mirroring Bill's quickness of speech before slipping back to his old tone. "Sorry, it's just really out there..."
Bill nodded. "Understood. Don't expect you to understand yet if at all. You just need to be aware so you can believe what you will." He turned and closed the Pokedex, then picked it up and handed it to Ash. "Damage less severe than initial estimation," he said more slowly than seemed natural for him. "Recommend you sleep tonight here and I'll point you on your way in the morning."
"Thanks," said Ash, taking the Pokedex and looking over the little red device. "I was planning on heading south from here, back towards Cerulean and from there to Saffron."
"Hm. Not sure I'd recommend that," said Bill. "Saffron in middle of political upheaval right now. Must not watch much news, Saffron Psychics in bitter conflict with both the Fighter's Gym and the City's Council. Fighters recently hired mercenaries who did a lot of damage to the city so outsiders not exactly welcome. Best to let climate cool some. Would suggest you go east to Lavender Town. Fairly safe, if creepy. Lots of death there in past but peaceful now."
"I'll tell the others," said Ash. "We'll probably go that way then."
"Good," said Bill. "Now, need to show you how to use Pokedex..."
SC
"You sure you're going to be OK?" Jesse asked quietly, looking over at James as the hunched, hidden in the undergrowth. Wrapped as they were in camouflaged blankets she could still see the dull grey bandages wrapped around James' neck. Even in the dark her highly trained eyes could see that they were stained brown.
"It will heal," said James, tone level and calm.
"I don't get it," said Jesse, turning her attention back to the entrance to Bill's bunker, twenty meters from their position on the gradual slopes of the heavily wooded hill. Her words seemed to hiss through her teeth. "Ketchum was down, you said. Weezing's toxin is lethal. It's not some pissing little poison gas. One breath will incapacitate anything instantly, and it should have killed him over the next few minutes."
"Calm Jesse," said James, not bothering to look at his partner. "Be patient."
"We should be gassing them out," she retorted. "We should have Arbok burrow down and punch a hole into the facility, and then pump the place full of toxic fumes. Or better yet, we should burrow in and kill them all ourselves."
Looking all around the edges of the base, James took a moment and then stood up. "We're leaving."
"What?" Jesse started to protest. Her mouth snapped shut when James glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Whereto?" she asked, calmer now though the hair on the back of her neck bristled.
"Ketchum and the others are holed up in the bunker. Unless Bill is a complete idiot he'll have escape tunnels that he'll use to get Ketchum away from here. We need to find those if we want to have a chance of intercepting them."
Jesse and James disappeared into the brush, wrapping themselves in the patterned blankets and quickly becoming little more than shadows. "Not that I'm complaining," said Jesse when the pair stopped to examine a plot of raised earth, "but why does command suddenly want us to bring him in?"
"Not sure," said James "I'd imagine it has something to do with what they got out of that police officer we captured in Viridian... Regardless," he paused, fiddling with the heavy blade now hanging at his belt. "I'd like to return this."
SC
"Thanks again for everything," said Ash, giving Bill's hand a shake as the four of them stood in the forest to the southwest.
"I hope you appreciate the drain you've been on my resources," said Bill, stone faced. The Professor watched as Ash's face contorted, then grinned widely and laughed once. "That was a joke," he said. "Anti-toxins, rations, new packs, climbing gear, all materials you need. Happy to provide."
After accepting another round of gratitude from the party, Bill said goodbye and walked back into the inconspicuous cave set in the south side of a hill, and disappeared through the cleverly concealed door therein. Ash, Misty, and Brock turned to the south towards the wilderness and set off, cautious, but confident that, thanks to Bill's elaborate system of tunnels and an early morning start, that their lead on Team Rocket was substantial. By Brock's best guess, they could reach Rock Tunnel, the underground route to Lavender, by early in the afternoon, assuming the nice weather held.
"So how does it work again?" asked Misty once the journey was well underway. She pointed to the Pokedex, glinting red in the morning sun.
Twisting his wrist so she could see, Ash pointed out a small glass node on the extreme edge of the device. "According to Bill," he said, happy to go over it again, if only for his own sake, "I aim this at the Pokemon using an onscreen sight, push the 'scan' button, and from there it's all automatic."
"Idiot-proof," Brock said with a grin. "Maybe that means we actually have a chance on this mission."
Ash laughed and Misty patted him on the back. "He's got a point, you know," she said. "With as often as you fall off cliffs and get eaten by wild Pokemon, it's a good thing the Pokedex is simple and indestructible."
"Yeah yeah," Ash brushed off the jokes and went on. "Anyway, if you're interested, it's more complicated than that. The Pokedex actually fires a small laser that vaporizes a microscopic layer of whatever it hits and scans the makeup of the..." Ash paused to remember the word Bill had used, "particulates. It transmits the data back to Bill, or stores it till it can transmit it, where his computers analyze the Pokemon's makeup and match it to the picture the Pokedex sent with the data."
"Which accomplishes?" Misty probed. "What good does a picture and a paragraph do us? There's got to be more to it than that."
"Bill said he'd take care of the rest," said Ash with a shrug. "I guess when he analyzes the data he'll make sense of it and transmit useful information back to us? Maybe the Pokemon's species if we don't know, it's likely habitats, diet, or something. He did tell me though that I'm supposed to scan every Pokemon I see, whether or not I've met its before... he said it would help build a more complete genetic profile of the species."
"Strengths, weaknesses, and habits would be more useful than diet and gender," said Brock.
"Maybe," Ash granted. "But I don't think there's anyway we could tell all that from a quick sample. It's not like I could point this thing at Pikachu and instantly learn everything there is to know about him. Besides, it's the best we can do right now. I'm sure Bill and my grandfather will improve on it later."
"Great, so there will be a Pokedex for every generation," Brock joked as the party reached a rough path angling to the southeast.
Following the road as it became more and more of a road, the party passed the rest of the day quickly. They met no one on the road, butt passed by some docile, if common Pokemon which Ash readily scanned with the Pokedex. Much to his disappointment, after he sent the data to Bill the display only read 'data stored on internal drive' in bold text. Ash admitted that he'd been hoping for something fancy and insightful.
By early afternoon, as per Brock's prediction, the party was entering the slightly more hilly terrain surrounding the appropriately named Rock Tunnel. Bushes, shrubs, and trees gave way to tall grass and increasingly large piles of rock around which the road was forced to wind. Ash couldn't help but begin to feel uneasy. Looking up at the rocks that were now arching overhead as the party entered a rough valley his mind wandered to how easy it would be to set up some kind of ambush here or how simply one could disappear into these crevices and caves if necessary.
As the sun arched passed its zenith and the trio came nearer and nearer their initial destination, Ash became more and more on edge, prompting him to remember Bill's seemingly farfetched theory about savants. Even though Brock and Misty's spirits were high enough, Ash could swear he smelled death on the air and it unnerved him. He began to look for threats in every shadow, but seeing nothing out of the ordinary quickly wore at his nerves and he even considered suggesting that the party find an alternate route, but he kept his worries to himself.
Paranoia, that's all, he told himself, trying not to think too much about what Bill had said about trusting his feelings.
As the party rounded a bend, Brock turned to Ash, having noted his silence, and looked the young trainer over. "You alright?" he asked. "What's bothering you?"
"Nothing," Ash quickly smiled and tried to look normal, though he kept his guard up, fearing the worst. "I was just trying to think of what Lavender would be like. I've never been there."
"Neither have I," said Misty. "I was kinda thinking about the same thing. How about you Brock?"
The Gym Leader shook his head. "Never been out that far. I've heard it's a peaceful little community, though it used to be a whole lot bigger a few decades ago... it's the oldest city in the core if I remember right."
The party rounded another bend in the path, coming upon the base of a small mountain, or perhaps just a very large and malformed boulder, in which was set the entrance to a large tunnel, clearly marked by a signpost as Rock Tunnel. It was not for this that the trainers stopped however, but rather all of the dozens of lean-to's and tents that were clustered all around the base of the entrance, forming a dense shantytown the size of a city block.
"What's all this?" Ash wondered as they cautiously drew nearer to the structures, pokeballs at the ready. By now they could make out the human figures on the outskirts of the tent-city and as the party came closer still, two men, each accompanied by a Growlithe, came out to greet them. It was plain by their dress that these were the guards posted at the station in the tunnel's entrance, guards meant to help protect travelers from wild Pokemon.
Raising a hand and politely greeting the officers, Brock stepped forward. "My name's Brock, I'm the Leader of Pewter Gym. Is there a problem here?" he asked, getting right to the point.
"A Gym Leader," said the taller of the two men, taking off his blue cap and scratching through his scraggly blond hair. "Didn't expect someone like you to go showing up here. Begging pardon sir," he and his partner bowed slightly, showing more than the deference due to a Gym Leader, "but it's been a horrible day, it has. There's something wicked happened in Lavender sir, and frankly we're not equipped to handle it here."
Ash looked around and met the gazes of a few people staring at the new arrivals. They were all dressed well enough, though it looked like none of them had bathed recently. Men stood next to their tents and woman, most with children Ash noticed, sat under a lean-to or next to a tent. No one looked to be in particularly bad shape, though every face was sour or scared, and many were both.
"Tell me what happened," said Brock, crossing his arms. "Maybe we can help."
Great, Ash thought. Brock is going to get us mixed up in this... As soon as the thoughts entered his head, Ash felt he should regret them. He had seen loss, more than most people, but that, he told himself, shouldn't jade him against others in need.
"Well sir, damned if I know," said the tall man, glancing at his partner, a squat sort with a red mustache and little other facial hair. "This morning a whole bunch of people came marching out of Rock Tunnel, dragging their feet and anything they could carry. Most of 'em were just scared witless, but a few... a few were... sick."
Brock raised an eyebrow. "Sick?" he asked quickly, uncrossing his arms and leaning back reflexively. "Did you quarantine everyone showing signs of disease?"
"Sire we did," the officer went on. "We put 'em up in the station we did, but... well I don't know, it's not like any disease I've seen before. We have 'em all in safe-rooms, behind glass if you follow. You should see, I can't explain it."
"Like hell I'm going to walk into a plague house," Misty whispered to Ash.
"It's probably not contagious," said Ash, the words leaving his mouth as soon as they entered his mind. "Well," he stammered as everyone present quickly turned to him. "If people came down with it yesterday and it was contagious then other people would be getting sick with it, right?"
The explanation did little to soothe Misty, but she followed nonetheless as the officers led the party through the tent city and into the small station. As they entered, an old woman dressed in rags stopped the officers and asked if there had been any change in the victims. The officer told her there was none, and then proceeded inside. When Ash asked about the woman, who had seemed collected, easily the calmest person they'd passed in the village, the officer simply called her a crazy old crone.
Near the back of the well lit little structure were the holding cells. The mustached officer mentioned in a gruff monotone that it would be wise not to look if you were weak of constitution, and then the taller man drew back the curtains on the safe rooms.
Misty quickly turned and buried her face in Ash's neck, refusing to look in, while Ash and Brock both stared through the two-way mirror at the people on the other side. "Good god," both trainers muttered in unison. Brock swallowed hard as Ash turned to Misty and silently put his arms around her. "What happened to them?" asked the Gym Leader, horror etched into his face.
"No idea. We think it's some kind of disease," said the taller officer, scratching his scalp and looking into the cells, and quickly turning his eyes away from the people inside. The people lay on the floors or leaned on the walls, eyes screwed shut as lesions an inch deep, seeping black puss, and rimmed in dead-purple flesh twisted across their naked frames. It looked like they were rotting where they stood. "The old crone says the ghosts got to 'em."