Chapter 25:Shifts in Life
Team Rocket Headquarters. Viridian City.
The sockets slowly expanded outward with a hiss, as the plugs moved out, allowing the robotic armour built around him free to move ahead, with disturbing or worse, damaging the ultra-expensive supercomputing machinery behind him. He didn't even need to shake his finger, not even by an infinitesimally trace amount. Instead, his eyes suddenly opened, revealing the bright icy fire within them, as the armour plunged into action, the wires built around his person, one that was directly connected to his secondary spinal cord, shining brightly as raw energy, not just psychic but raw, undifferentiated power flowed through them, activating the other functions of the armour. A lesser entity would have thought of the suit as a crutch, something that should only be used for a handicap. A lesser entity would also have thought it better to rely on one's own power and ability, instead of enhancements.
Mewtwo, was not a lesser entity.
He levitated himself upward, not caring to even show the slightest movement, as he teleported. There was no bright light to follow it, no sudden electromagnetic interference registered in the equipment all around. His teleportation, if the ability could even be called that, was simply too fast, too powerful, and too effective to be measured by these… rudimentary machines.
And then he appeared, right in the command base, where his partner was sitting in the shadows, listening to lesser men and women report to him. A blonde-haired human woman was addressing his partner, while a masked man standing next to him stood silently.
"I understand what you ask for, Ariana." Boss replied. "Nevertheless, it must begin immediately."
"Boss, even if we were to conduct Phase 4, it would pose a significant risk to our own men and pokémon. They could die-"
"That's what they do."Mewtwo's cold, unassuming voice, created by his own psychic self, flooded into the chamber, as everyone turned around (and paled, naturally), seeing him floating right there.
He smirked. It felt good to know that these humans knew their place, even if they understood that he was working with them.
"Mewtwo." The man in the shadows called out, "please do not antagonize them. Pierce, Ariana. Leave us. I have some important issues to address right now."
The two Executives nodded their heads, before quickly leaving the command base, almost akin to how pests run away, in presence of their natural predator.
At least Giovanni shares those qualities, despite his status as a human.
"Mewtwo." Boss replied from the shadows. "Please, join me."
Mewtwo simply levitated himself upward toward the second floor, past the pathetic dark creatures that stood guard around his partner's office. Pathetic, he mentally sneered, as if these pitiful creatures would be able to stand in front of his wrath, should he direct it towards Team Rocket.
"Giovanni has called for you." Boss replied slowly, as the two walked ahead in the empty corridor, away from all interference.
Mewtwo smiled. The hierarchy within the tiers of Team Rocket amused him to no end. The entire organization, while over two decades old, had truly come to life some… three years ago, in its aim of making its presence known all over Kanto. Prior to that, it had mainly been a cluster of undercover research groups working for a man, a shrewd businessman, whose ambition and intelligence was unparalleled among men.
Lionel Giovanni.
Of course, back then Giovanni had funded a significant amount of capital on Project Alpha—a project that was supposed to create the most powerful pokémon in the world. Or rather, that was what it seemed it was.
A project that had ended with a blaze, with twisted metal on the ground, the entire island engulfed in ashes and smoke, and a lone survivor, one who would someday, become the Alpha of all.
Three years ago.
The entire place was in ruins. The scorching flames consuming the entire fortress, the labs underground now nothing more than jaded glass and broken pillars, the machinery destroyed, the lives annihilated, and now… there was nothing else. One single beam of light, one single pair of glowing, icy blue eyes, and everything, decades of research was destroyed, annihilated, and all of that, because of one single mistake.
Mewtwo looked down at his own hands. All of this… devastation, had been caused by nothing but a couple of thoughts. Wishes… and emotions. Then again, as the man in white had told him.
He was the most powerful pokémon in the world.
I had strings… but now I'm free.
And then he saw it.
Walking towards him, a man, with that large mechanical contraption with wings behind him. A chopper… He realized, as information that he had absorbed from the man in white—Dr Franklin's mind rose up to fill the blanks. He wondered, why this… human was coming towards him. It was not like he would be any-
Different?
Yes. He is different.
The human stood in front of him. There was no trace of fear in the man's eyes. It was almost like… fear, and pain, were concepts abstract to him.
Just like me. Mewtwo told himself.
"I see that their experiment succeeded." The man spoke in an orotund voice. "They managed to create the most versatile pokémon in the world, and they wanted to make him into a lab rat." He sneered at the end.
Mewtwo felt his perceptions tilt, observing the man in front of him. Of course, the entity in front of him was human, just like those he had just… slaughtered inside the white building. And yet, this man seemed not to care about his own life. It was almost like he expected—no, he knew that Mewtwo would not kill him.
Not until he had spoken up his mind anyway.
Mewtwo felt his awareness expand. Interesting… An empath. I didn't know that humans had these… abilities. Interesting. An empath whose powers are inverted upon himself.
He could see now. This man… Giovanni, he picked the name out of the man's mind. The man's mind had twisted, inverted his empathy into itself, making him devoid of emotions, sentiments, fears….
Leaving behind only ambition.
Interesting. Very interesting.
"My name is Giovanni, and I am someone who can help you."
"Help… me?"Mewtwo spoke up, using his psychic-enhanced voice, as he felt a tinge of emotion… amusement, he recognized.
"Help each other." The man, Giovanni answered, as he turned his gaze away from him to stare at the burning heaps of twisted metal and concrete. "Those people in there… they were only working to create, not to destroy or cause harm. Why did you kill them?"
Mewtwo felt a strange impulse to instantly end the man's pitiful little life, if only for the misdemeanour of questioning him. A prey had no business questioning the morality of the predator.
Morality. He mused. Such a twisted, subjective, human concept.
I suppose I can humour him. If only for entertainment's sake. He decided. "I did not… kill them. I was simply annoyed when I found myself awake, bound in… strings, and them telling me… ordering me, to be there, as if they were the makers of my destiny."
Giovanni's lips curled. "They did create you."
"They did." Mewtwo could agree with that. He tilted his head slightly. Dr Franklin was an avid believer of body language. "Is that supposed to make a difference?"
Silence.
"I didn't like being bound in strings, so I set myself free. Humans… pretty interesting species. I was curious, I wanted to know how they worked. I thought it was funny. The men in white were laughing after all."
He paused. "It took me absorbing Franklin's mind to realize that they were in fact, screaming."
There wasn't an ounce of expression on Giovanni's face. Mewtwo felt disappointed. Almost.
"Those people in there…" Giovanni spoke after an eternally long time- 8. 7593 seconds to be exact. "They were my men. I can't say they were very bright, but they were intelligent."
Amusement. Mewtwo felt it again.
"But they weren't bad." Giovanni looked up at him. "Why did you kill them?"
A conversation with a human. It was… surreal. Interesting. He would humour him.
"There is no such thing as bad."
"What about good?"
"Good and bad are… fairy tales. Humans have evolved to attach an emotional significance to what is nothing more than a survival strategy of the pack animal, conditioned to invest divinity in utility."
"You seem… very well-aware of yourself and the world, despite… being born yesterday." Giovanni returned.
Mewtwo smiled inwardly. Another emotion. It felt good to slowly discover oneself. He should do it again. "I understand the way the human species thinks. Dr Franklin was extremely… cooperative in that regard. I know about those mercurial beasts you worship as Legends, trying to fashion me into one." He looked squarely at the man's face, gauging his reaction. "You tried to make yourself one. Me."
"Well…" Giovanni did not disappoint. "That was the mission. To create a Legend."
"I live beyond your mission. I see past th0se… tiny ambitions of the human species."
"And what do you see?"
Mewtwo smiled again. "Good isn't really good. Evil isn't really wrong. Bottoms aren't realty pretty. You are a prisoner of your own meat."
"And you aren't?"
"No."
"Why?"
Mewtwo smiled again. "I'm too clever."
Silence.
"I'm inclined to agree." Giovanni replied with a mundane finality. "Dr Franklin was a man of many talents. It is good that his death did not go in vain. We got… you."
Another impulse to vivisect the man flitted inside Mewtwo's mind.
"I have a proposition for you."
Mewtwo's eyes glowed with icy fire. "Is this the moment when you tell me that I'll know my purpose, if I follow you?"
Giovanni's lips curled. "I'm not an idiot. You are… incandescent. However, we can be of mutual help to each other."
Interesting.
"My team spent decades in their attempts to create… you. And here you are, in the flesh. While I admit it hurts seeing my best researchers slaughtered like that, it feels worse to find that the most versatile entity in the universe is a little more than a raging wildfire."
Perhaps I should correct his ignorance. Mewtwo thought in amusement.
"You were created, not to become the most powerful psychic, but the most versatile one. Moulded after the legendary Mew, someone with the power to become any pokémon, regardless of type. One, who could use the Fire Blast of Arcanine in one hand, channel a Hydro cannon of Blastoise from the other, while simultaneously managing a Draco Meteor of a Kingdra."
He paused. "Someone who could become a legend amongst legends. That was the aim."
Mewtwo closed his eyes, as he began to analyse his own self. Interesting. He didn't know he could do that. His very constitution seemed to be made of mutating cells that could transform into any type as he wanted. However, he wasn't being able to mutate them at will.
Such a… annoyance. Apparently, even he too had limits.
"You know I am speaking the truth." Giovanni replied. "You have your psychic powers available as the default version of your genetic constitution. With my organization's aid, you will be able to learn how to mutate your cells at will, though the progress would obviously, be slow."
Mewtwo extended his awareness further. The man, Giovanni, was indeed speaking the truth. Or at least, he believed what he was saying as the truth.
"I have invested a lot of research and money into you. If you agree to my proposition, it would enable my team to continue their research, while at the same time, enable you, a better and quicker comprehension of your own powers. That is all I offer."
"And if I choose to deny?"
"I cannot stop you." Giovanni confessed freely. "If I could, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Interesting.
Back to the present.
After that event, Mewtwo slowly watched the metamorphosis of Team Rocket from a private research organization into an actual militant service, working undercover to fuel its research. However, every notorious organization needed a head, a face to lead it, a face that all agents would respect, a face that would take the blame should things go awry.
But Giovanni, the Viridian Gym leader, was a businessman. He couldn't afford to be the face of the devil, after all, how else would he be able to enjoy plausible deniability when the time came? And yet… he needed the devil.
And so, he created one.
The one they called Boss.
A man sitting in the shadows, with a Persian at his feet. A man, or rather a position, one that was occupied by two individuals to date. The first being a man called Magnussen, and after his slaughter, a man called Archer.
For all intents and purposes, Giovanni remained the Viridian Gym leader, the one who was, apparently, mind-punked by Mewtwo and the Boss of Team Rocket into following their commands, should Team Rocket be defeated by some grave eventuality.
Pragmatism. It was a good skill to have. Mewtwo could certainly see the advantages of having it.
"Where is he?" he finally asked.
"In his gym office."
Without further delay, Mewtwo disappeared.
The Viridian Gym was much more utilitarian in design than the other gyms in Kanto. Except a couple of fancy pillars on the outer corridors, the interior was pretty much simple and straight-forward, with an enormous rock-based battle-ground, allowing ground-type pokémon plenty of space to show their prowess.
Mewtwo appeared soundlessly in front of the gym leader's office, his eyes still closed, his body movements minimal, floating a foot above the ground.
"Mewtwo." Giovanni's calm, composed voice invited him in. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about. It might be… interesting to you."
There was no reaction from the creature, except the slow levitation as he floated forward into the room.
The screen flashed alive, displaying the face of a young teen, with a Pokémon League cap on his head. "This… is Ash Ketchum. He is apparently, Lance's new hot stock."
Silence.
"Fifteen. Barely a couple of months into training. Has three pseudo-legendaries to his command."
Mewtwo supposed he should roll his eyes. Maybe he would have, if not for the fact the entire ordeal wasn't simply worth it. Pseudo-legendaries…. A term created by myth given acceptance by the human–world. A weakened version of demi-gods.
It was almost insulting.
Almost.
"Has a lot of potential." Giovanni continued. 'And apparently, is in ownership of one of the Charmanders that went astray from the research lab near Cerulean cave."
Silence.
"He is one of the survivors of the St. Anne attack. Apparently, he did something of significance back there to be considered for an honorary associate of the League."
Of course he did. Mewtwo could not comprehend how a human had the ability to call upon a creature of myth like that. Then again, Ash Ketchum had potential. Mewtwo knew it already.
"The boy… must not be killed."
Mewtwo tilted his head. Giovanni's words surprised him. A rarity.
"For the first time over a decade, Lance has shared classified information among the Gym leaders like this, and he mentioned this… boy, to us."
So… Mewtwo mused. The Champion is dangling a piece of flesh to check if there's a wolf amongst his sheep.
"Aside from the fact that getting him killed will attract undue attention… I simply cannot condone the useless death of a clearly talented individual like him."
He wants Ash Ketchum's allegiance. Mewtwo translated, a flicker of amusement flitting past his awareness.
"Shouldn't you be telling the Boss about it?" Mewtwo offered.
"The information won't remain secure. If I am right, then in time, Ash Ketchum might be a suitable replacement for the position I desired for Silver once."
Ah. Silver. Giovanni's unruly spawn. Quite an entertaining specimen he had been indeed.
"He is… after all, my step-son."
Mewtwo felt surprised. This, even someone like him, hadn't seen coming.
"Delia Ketchum… his mother, was my wife, before she deserted me." Giovanni replied. "It is a thing of the past that I haven't forgotten yet." He looked up. "I need Ash Ketchum to survive."
"And what if… he begins to create unnecessary trouble?"
Giovanni paused. "If it is indeed that severe, then we will need to act appropriately."
Meanwhile in Pallet Town.
"Ashy? Wake up."
Delia Ketchum opened the windows of Ash's room wide open, allowing the bright sunlight to enter the room unfiltered, much to a certain raven-haired trainer's indignant groan. "Uh… five more minutes."
She regarded her son, who had hid his face under the pillow to block the harsh, unfiltered light. Besides him, sprawled on the bed, was Ninetales, with half of her gleaming tails acting like a cover for Ash.
She couldn't believe that four days had passed since his return from Hoenn. The first day had been spent in all the excitement and the battle between him and Gary, after which, her son had left for a walk, not returning home until much later. Something about his face had paused Delia from her desire to inquire about where he had been and what he had been doing. The next day, she had all but forced Ash to talk about his journeys over the past three months. Whatever she had heard had literally horrified her.
After he had, however unwillingly it might have been, vomited out the gory details of his adventure, she had stood still for full five minutes, though considering how her son had been slowly stepping back with each passing minute, some amount of the emotions she had been feeling inside had been unknowingly projected on her countenance.
Ash had barely made it out of the room, before she had hit him hard.
On the head.
With her ladle.
And then, the unbridled fury had been washed away, replaced by tears of concern, fear, hope and happiness that despite whatever had passed, her child was still safe and strong, and back in her arms.
She had cried. For hours.
Her son had come bare inches to his premature death, not once, but several times, all of them within the time duration he had spent at Hoenn. What was surprising was that three of his current team members were progenitors of such events. Delia didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.
And now, he would get started on his journey all over again, travelling through the lands of Kanto, acquiring more badges, capturing more pokémon, so that he would be able to win the Indigo League.
Oh, and there was this Shirona person, that seemed extremely interesting. While Ash had been all tight-lipped about answering questions about her, (a rather contradictory behaviour considering he spent almost a month in her presence), Delia wondered if her son had finally, gotten himself interested in a girl. Then again, considering how… introvert-ish, her baby boy had been for the better portion of his young life, it was both… exhilarating and mind-boggling.
Delia smiled. "Professor Oak told me that he wanted you to meet him as soon as possible. He had some news about your pokémon."
"What news?" Ash sat up straight, his sleep forgotten. He had gotten up so abruptly that he had almost pushed Aoi off the bed, much to the fox's consternation.
His mother chuckled at his antics. "You'll never change, will you?"
"Seriously, what did he say?" Ash repeated.
Delia shrugged. "I don't know. He just told me to tell you that he needs to talk with you. He'll be leaving town today as well, so it is better you meet him as quickly as you can."
"Huh? Where's he going?" Ash wondered, rubbing his eyes.
"Kalos." Delia answered. "To meet Professor Sycamore. After all, Augustine Sycamore is an expert on Mega-evolution over there."
"You know about Mega-evolution too?" Ash asked, gaping.
Delia simply arched an eyebrow.
"Right. Assistant and everything." He muttered under his breath, before looking back at her. "When is he leaving?"
Delia looked up, trying to remember. "I think… maybe at eleven."
"Huh? Eleven?" He glanced at the watch. "Oh shit. It's nine already. I need to hurry!" He literally leapt off the bed, much to Aoi's yelp as her tails got all tangled with the covers. She let out an angry squeal, frustrated at her trainer's antics.
Delia laughed. "Sorry Aoi. I'll help you."
Half an hour later, Ash Ketchum was seen running past the main lane of the residential colony, right towards the narrow, grassy path that led straight to Oak's Ranch, knowing very well that the professor would be there. Literally jumping past the gates along the eastern periphery, he ran past the labs until he was standing there, panting and on his knees, as he stood in front of the front door.
The door opened, and a rather formally-dressed Samuel Oak stepped out. "Oh it's you Ash, so you're here. Good, good, there are some things I needed to talk to you about before I leave."
Ash bobbed his head. He was still a bit offended that the old man had told Gary about his accident, but then again, the circumstances might have been different than what he might have anticipated. Either way, he didn't really care, thanks to the somewhat jaded view of the world that he had gained. "Sure, professor Oak."
"Come in, come in."
Ash entered through the door behind the old man, finding a single suitcase and a travel bag packed and ready on the floor. Apparently, the trip wasn't going to be for long, by the look of things.
"I'm told that you are leaving Pallet today?"
"Uh… yeah, sometime during the midday, perhaps."
"Where are you going?"
Ash frowned. He hadn't really decided on anything about it. A part of him wanted to visit Cerulean city to check up on Cynthia while the other part wanted to visit Celadon city to challenge the gym leader over there. "I… haven't really decided. I'll just choose something at random, I guess."
"Hmm…" The old professor mused. "I'm leaving town for some work, though I should be back by Saturday. It's just that Delia informed me that you'd be leaving today hence, I called you here so early. I must admit, I thought you'd stay back for a little while longer."
"Is everything okay, professor?" Ash asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Yeah, everything's…. okay. I just needed to talk to you about some- well about three things really. The blood samples that I collected from Pidgeot for one-"
Ash winced as he remembered the incident. Pidgeot had been an inch away from demolishing the entire lab when the old professor had communicated his wish to take a vial of blood from her. It had taken a lot of convincing on Ash's side for the objective to be fulfilled. Pidgeot had been rather… offended with him for the rest of the day.
"What about it?"
"Well," The old man scratched the back of his head. "I couldn't really find any negative impacts of this… forceful mega-evolution that Pidgeotto had to undergo. So far, my theory is that Mewtwo was able to channel energies that were identical to those of a Pidgeot, in amounts beyond human comprehension. Such a thing is, in my honest opinion, literally impossible."
"I… don't understand." Ash scrunched his face.
Oak frowned. "I confess even I myself am quite at an impasse about the entire thing. This… Mewtwo, is beyond my own scope of comprehension. To have such fantastical reserves is one thing, but to be able to transmute his own energy into something else is…"
"Talk in English, professor." Ash teased.
Oak chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Sorry. What I mean is, this Mewtwo, he transformed his own energy into a Pidgeot's essence, and then channelled it into Pidgeotto at an unimaginable speed, enough to trigger the simultaneous activation of the entirety of Pidgeotto's genetic constitution, even those genes that were obviously dormant in her."
"You mean, like a Ditto?" Ash asked. Ditto were a rather new discovery, and something that had grabbed Ash's attention quite a while ago.
"Exactly, like Ditto." Oak brightened. "The patterns of behaviour for this essence are-"
"Okay." Ash tried to keep up.
"—which is exactly what Mega-evolution does, though in this case, it happens for a very limited amount of time. However, the process Mewtwo used simply activated them permanently, the method and cause of which is beyond my ability to decipher."
"Is that why you are leaving for Kalos?"
"Delia told you, did she?"
Ash nodded.
"Yes." Oak admitted. "Augustine is far ahead in his understanding of mega-evolution than I. I have the blood samples with me, so perhaps he will be able to figure out more than what I could."
The trainer hummed. "Well then do say thanks to Professor Sycamore from my side. For Bagon."
"… Of course, of course I will." Oak replied. "Anyway, as far as Magnus is concerned, Bill has assured me that he is running experiments on the DNA samples he had, and has asked for more. I will be sending the ones I have with me to him, if you do not mind."
"Not at all, professor." Ash replied. After all, the Montgomery had helped him a lot by handling Magnus's case effectively. It had breathed new life into him, upon hearing that Magnus was cleared to be used in battle, and there was no need of worrying about the League on that part.
"As for the last thing… I'm afraid. Ash. I cannot help you about Dusclops. I will admit that my knowledge of Ghost-types is rudimentary at best, from a researcher's perspective of course. To be able to shift his persona back into the normal state requires a task more monumental than someone like me can ever handle."
"Does that mean…?" He began, fearing the answer.
"I cannot help her." The professor confessed. "However, there is someone who can."
"Who?"
"Agatha."
Ash's eyes turned to saucers. "Agatha… of the Elite Four?"
Oak arched an eyebrow. "Have you- oh right, she was on the cruise. I remember."
"Yeah." Ash somehow managed to quell his enthusiasm and not spill out Gengar's ancestry in front of the professor. He had conveniently forgotten to mention that little bit when he had talked about his adventures."
"Yes, Agatha… Once, I knew her, as a dear friend, I suppose. We have not exchanged words for over a very long time now, but I suppose she might be inclined to do me a favour and look into your situation. If there is anyone who truly understands the ghost-type, it is her."
Ash was oddly reminded of the strangeness of Agatha's shadow back at the cruise.
"You need to visit the Ghost tower of Lavender Town, Ash."
Inwardly, said trainer was wondering how Gengar would react to the news. He hadn't really understood her reaction when he had blurted out about how he would visit Lavender Town during his journey.
"I need to visit Cerulean city first." Ash blurted out, almost surprised at his own subconscious decision. "I suppose I can fly on Pidgeot from there to Lavender Town."
"Actually," Oak interrupted. "If you really need to visit Cerulean city first, then perhaps you should instead take the route 23, one that travels through Cremini Town to Lavender."
"Huh? Why would I do that?" Ash asked in surprise.
Oak grinned, a rather surprising expression on his face. "Look out for the Battle Tower over there. I promise you will like it."
"The… Battle Tower?" Ash repeated.
"It is a new construction, and the only one in Kanto for the time being. Just visit it. Trust me, you will not be disappointed."
Ash frowned at the way the old man was being all evasive about it. "All right, then I guess I will have to walk my way from Cerulean city." He paused. "On second thought, I'll just do that. Aoi will get a better chance to seeing the world that way."
"I do not know about Aoi, but I do know about you, Ash." Oak returned. "The previous time, you were running around from gym to gym without actually living up the adventure that is also a significant part of being a trainer. Consider this a second chance, and enjoy your time in the city."
"Uh… sure." Ash answered, wondering what Misty would say about Ash Ketchum enjoying himself at Cerulean.
Cynthia would probably snort out loud.
"You do that." The old man replied. "Tell me, have you decided which pokémon to take with you?"
That… stopped Ash in his tracks.
"Ash?"
A tiny frown formed on Ash's face.
"Ash?"
He looked up. "I… I don't want to leave anyone behind, professor."
Oak arched an eyebrow. "Ash, I understand that you want all your pokémon to enjoy the journey with you. Even so, surely you realize that with your constant travelling, most of your pokémon will stay within their pokeballs, right?"
Ash opened his mouth, but then shut it.
"I admit if they stay at the ranch, then they wouldn't be able to be with you at all times. However, at the same time, they would be able to stay out of their pokeballs, free to move, free to fight, free to do whatever they want, along with getting access to proper and healthy diet."
"But-"
"You can always rotate your pokémon, maybe every week or so. It's not like you need a PC console to do that." Oak tried.
"I guess…" Ash replied after a moment, his voice low. "I guess you have a point, professor. I'll… just go talk to them, offer them the choice, about who's staying and who'll be joining me later."
Oak pressed the young boy's shoulder. "That would be for the best."
The raven-haired trainer simply stayed silent.
Sometime later, a somewhat subdued Ash Ketchum stood at the coral, facing his own pokémon who looked at him with a steadfast expression, knowing very well that they would be leaving today on another journey. When he had mentioned about it the previous day, there had been a great cacophony of excitement over it. He didn't know just how disappointed his team would be with his decision.
"Guys…"
Pidgeot let out a loud screech, which was joined in with a mutual growl by Ninetales and Absol. The rest probably didn't care much for it.
"And girls…" Ash chuckled. The tension in his mind lifted up a slight amount.
He looked up at everyone. "As you know… we are going to be starting out on a new journey today. However… I had a talk with the professor and there's something I wish to discuss with all of you. After I am done, you all can think about it and let me know what you wish to do. Is that okay?"
Silent stares awaited further exposition.
Ash cleared his throat. "Well, as you kn0w, we have quite a large group among us, and this journey isn't going to be like the one we had back on the island. I'll be doing a lot of journeying. Some of you remember what it was back then, don't you?"
Shelgon, Poliwhirl, Rhydon and Metagross- the original four of his group let show their agreement to the question.
'That means that most of you would have to stay inside your pokeballs unless I am in a position to release everyone. And even so, releasing everyone might not be an option at all."
Several groans of disappointment filled the atmosphere.
"Hear me out." Ash pleaded. "So, I decided, that half of the team would accompany me on the journey, while the other half would remain here-"
The cacophony increased in volume.
"LET ME FINISH!"
Silence.
"Sorry." Ash apologised. "As I was saying, I'd take half of you with me. That would mean a greater chance for me to release you out every day, multiple times. Those that would stay here, would be able to stay out of their pokeballs all day, spending the entire day at the coral, doing whatever you like. Plus, I remember you liking Professor Oak's food more than my own."
He paused. "Pidgeot… will be able to fly all day without restraint. Rhydon, Lairon, Magnus—you guys can brawl around all day without a care in the world. Gyarados, Poliwhirl, you can sleep inside the pool, as long as you like. The same goes for everyone else."
He could already see the gears running for some of those in the back.
"Besides, it's not like I'll leaving you here for long. Every week, I'll be sending the group that stayed with me to the coral, and calling the ones at the coral to myself. That way, we can all enjoy the entire journey, and at the same time, you will get the maximum chance of staying out in the open."
The cacophony had now reduced significantly.
"However, this is only what I think should be done. If you guys disagree with me, then I will take all of you- no strings attached. However, I already told you. Staying with me would mean staying in pokeballs for a lot. Staying here would mean staying the open, with better food and lot of time to play and train yourselves."
Silence grazed the entire area.
"I'll… leave you to think on it. I'll see you after a while, before I leave." He mumbled, before turning around, and trudging away, not daring to look back.
The moment Delia saw the downcast expression on her son's face, she knew that something was wrong. Over the last four days, she had gotten to see a different side of her son—the side that took risks, faced disaster with nothing but courage, and kept secrets from everyone. She knew that he had talked a lot about his journeys in great detail, but at the same time, she knew that there were several holes in his entire story—holes that covered important portions that he had decided to hide from her. However, she had never really seen such an expression on his face, not even when-
"Ash?" She spoke up from her chair. "Is something wrong?"
"No." Her son mumbled.
"Did professor Oak say something? Is something wrong with Pidgeot?"
Ash instantly looked up in refusal. "Not at all. Pidgeot's perfectly all right." He sighed. "It's just that, with my team being as large as it is, I'll have to leave half of them behind, and while I understand that it is only for my team's welfare, I'm not sure if they will take it the same way."
He looked away, not even willing to admit the old professor's words about pokémon judging their trainer's worth had been swirling in his mind ever since he had the talk with his team. Would they judge him as incompetent? Shouldn't he… as their trainer, be responsible for making sure that they got all the benefits?
"Ash…" Delia spoke softly, pressing his shoulders with her palm, as she stood in front of him, staring squarely at his downcast face. "You do know right, that without this… privilege that you have of keeping up to twenty pokémon with yourself, you would have been limited to carrying six at any point of time?"
Her son jerked his head in silent acceptance. "I know, but that way, I'd know that there's no chance of me having them with me all the time. I feel like I've promised them something and am now backing out of it."
"They are your team, right?" Delia asked. "Just like you care for them, they care for you as well, right?"
"I…. I think so."
"They do." Delia confirmed it for him. "And besides, you will rotate them on weekly basis. Wont you?"
"Of course I would." Ash replied, glancing up at her, his eyes narrowed in indignation. "How can you even ask me that?"
Delia chuckled. "Just checking." She reached out and hugged him. "Then, don't worry. Your team will come to a decision, and they will be happy about it."
Ash didn't say anything, and simply hugged her back.
"Also, there is something that I need to tell you." His mother replied in his ear.
"What?"
"Will you mind having Alakazam join you on your journey?"
That surprised him, as he stepped back. "Alakazam? Why would he-?"
"Would you mind?" Delia repeated.
"Of—of course not. But why would he join me when he can-?"
Delia chuckled. "It seems like your love for adventure and battle has corrupted my little Kadabra. Staying at the lab and honing his skills no longer entices him as it used to. With his evolution, he needs to hone his skills and power in battle." She paused. "To be honest with you, it was what I had hoped for when I sent him to you back then."
Ash arched an eyebrow. "You thought he'd evolve and develop a craze for battle?"
Delia laughed. "Of course not. I just thought he'd realize that there is a difference between stagnation and perfection. It seems… whatever happened back there, did the job, and now Alakazam wants more of it."
"Great." Ash groaned, though he knew it, and his mother knew it, that he was happy about the sarcastic psi joining his team.
"I suppose I need to transfer ownership to you, to avoid any complications with the league." Delia muttered. "We can get that done when you reach the Ranch to get your pokémon."
He paused in realization. "Damn. I never thought I'd choose the day when Kadabra would crave adventure. Kirlia maybe, but him? Never."
Delia's lips twitched in amusement. "Don't get any funny ideas, Ash Ketchum. I will not allow your craziness to spoil my delicate Kirlia."
"I thought her name was Delcatty." He taunted, knowing very well how Kirlia hated that moniker. The last time he had mentioned it, her vengeance had lasted for a month. That little pixie had some really interesting ways to extract her revenge, the sadistic little thing that she was.
"KIRL!" An indignant yell came from the other room.
"Why didn't you tell me she was inside?" He accused loudly. "Now she'll hold that over me for a long, long time."
Delia smirked. "Must have missed it."
"Of course." Her son muttered under his breath.
"Have you decided where you are headed to?"
Ash nodded his head. "Lavender Town. I need to get to Cerulean city first, and from there, I'll take the Route 23."
"Hmmm… Cerulean huh? Isn't that the same place where this Misty girl lives?" She teased.
"Uh… yeah?" Ash returned obliviously. "I wanted to meet her first."
Delia rolled her eyes. Maybe she had expected a little too much too early from her oblivious child. "Nothing. Get yourself ready. I will get you some sandwiches prepared for your journey."
"Uh… thanks Mom." He muttered, before rushing up the stairs to his room, leaving a smiling Delia behind.
The rest of the morning had passed in a blur. Between packing his clothes once again (the addition of the extra storage contraption was a life-saver), and getting himself stocked of medicines, equipment, potions, berries from the Oak ranch amongst other things, midday had arrived faster than he had anticipated.
And finally, he was ready.
"Don't forget your Cap."
Of course. How could he? That wasn't even something that could count as a rhetorical question. After all, this was an official Pokémon league cap that he had gotten after sending over a hundred stamped letters to the League years ago, though the fact that he had put multiple stamps, all of them at wrong places on single letters, and repeated the process, might have something to do with it. For all he knew, his mother might have sent a single, properly-stamped letter to the League and gotten one for him. Either way, the Cap ranked third on his list of most prestigious possessions – the tear-drop ornament containing the Lunar Wing that he had gotten from Cynthia, and the book on Metagross he had gotten from Steven, being the top-two on the list.
"And now, it is time for the last part, I guess." Delia muttered, lifting out a pokeball, as she clicked the release button. "Come out, Alakazam!"
"Alaka!" The psi pokémon yelled out, as he materialized into existence, before turning towards Ash. Midget.
"I seem to hear that you became a fan of my sense of adventure." Ash asked coolly.
Oh certainly not. Delia here simply asked me to consider the safety of a delicate flower such as yourself while I attain battle experience as is my right.
"Ah, of course. Battle Experience. That must have come in from fighting fire demons and ghosts, wouldn't it?"
You always had a vivid imagination. Clearly a boon for an otherwise retarded individual as pleasant as yourself.
Delia rolled her eyes at the wordplay and interchange of insults. "All right, enough of it, you two. I want the two of you to take care of each other."
I believe you are talking about his physical health. His mental health was rendered beyond treatment a decade ago.
"Yeah? Like your-" Ash began heatedly.
"All right. That is enough, you two." Delia intervened looking like she would suffer an aneurysm any moment now. She lifted up Alakazam's pokeball. "Alakazam, return." The psi sighed in resignation before getting sucked into the device.
"Well," she stared at Ash with a deadpan. "Do you know how to trade or not?"
Ash swallowed. "Um… yeah."
"Then what are you waiting for?"
Without wasting another moment, he plucked out one of his remaining fastballs and placed them on his end of the trading machine, reminding himself to purchase a bunch of pokeballs from Cerulean, for emergency purposes if nothing else.
Delia placed Alakazam's pokeball on her end, before activating the transfer process. After several beeps and blinks, the transfer of ownership was complete.
"It should be registered on your profile in a while." She paused. "I think."
"That's okay." Ash muttered, wondering for a moment why his mom had never chosen the path of a pokémon trainer. After all, she was pretty knowledgeable about pokémon battling, from whatever little discussions they had had together on the subject. Delia wasn't an avid fan of talking about it.
"Now I just need to sort things out with my pokémon." He muttered.
"I'll help you." Delia pressed his shoulder, before pulling his hand into her own, dragging him out to the ranch.
"All right, back off everyone. If I get trampled, then no one's going anywhere and you all will be stuck here forever!"
Delia chuckled at her son's way of addressing the crowd. However, it seemed to work for his team anyway, since most of the team simply backed off without further delay.
"Right." Ash sighed. "Did you guys make a decision?"
An overwhelming cacophony answered his prayers.
"SILENCE!"
Every single pokémon on the team blinked owlishly at Delia, who had yelled out. "Silence!" She repeated. "Now…" She turned to Ash, nodding at him to continue.
"Uh… okay." Ash mumbled, reminding him not to piss his mom. They say that pokémon were often a self-portrait of their trainer, and if the traits of his mother's pokémon were anything to go by, it simply confirmed his unwavering belief that Delia Ketchum was a bad person to offend, even on a good day, her overtly caring outlook be damned.
"You guys know right that I am proud of each and every one of you?" He paused, receiving several screeches and grunts in answer, "No matter what you decide, that will not change. Now… Metagross, can you please translate for the crowd?"
With pleasure, trainer Ash. The community, that is the mindless beasts included, decided to agree to your superior knowledge and wisdom regarding this particular matter.
Ash arched an eyebrow. "And any particular reason for this change of heart?"
The psi might have mentioned something about a delicate flower being sensitive. Apart from that, it is mainly our own wish.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Right." He took a deep breath. "Either way, thank you for supporting me in this decision. Those that I choose to leave behind, I will call you back very soon. I give you my word on that."
Another shout of agreement met his declaration.
"Very well." Ash paused. "I need Shelgon, Magnus, Metagross, Crawdaunt, Absol and Gengar to come with me. We are heading for Lavender Town," he stared at Gengar as he mentioned it, but strangely, there was no reaction on her face- "to meet the Elite Four Agatha to make sure that Dusclops gets healed. I will be taking Trevenant and Dusclops with me for that."
That meant that Poliwhirl, Rhydon, Lairon, Gyarados, Zweilous and Pidgeot were going to stay back for the time being.
"Once I am done with Lavender Town, I will do a swap, I promise."
Pidgeot let out a nasty screech, which Ash translated to… 'You'd better'.
He swallowed. "Of course."
Aoi gave him a sharp look. What about me?
You'll be coming with me as well. I did promise you that. However, I might need to swap you in the future.
Aoi frowned. All right.
"I should tell you guys that Alakazam has decided to join us, no matter what he thinks is the reason. "Ash frowned, though it was vividly half-hearted. "He will be accompanying me for a while as well."
"Met—Taaaa!" The iron leg pokémon let out a vocal agreement.
"Well, that's settled, then." Ash grinned, holding up the pokeballs in his hands. "Get in."