[Pokémon] The Very Best

Title: The Very Best.
Rating: K - T.
Pairings: DiamondShipping, SpecialShipping, GymShipping, Amourshipping, OldrivalShipping.
Status: On Hiatus.

Summary: In a world where Ash's father is Giovanni and Red and Silver are his brothers, Ash is more badass, Charmander is his starter, Pikachu was bred from Red's Pika and Yellow's Chuchu- things seem to be a bit more stable. But what happens when Ash finds out that Giovanni is the leader of Team Rocket?

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Graduation. An important part of any young trainer's life as they were now considered adults in the World of Pokémon. No longer were they held back by others – but now – now! They could spread their wings and broaden their views. They could explore the world around them. Schools designed for trainers especially were meant for humans to learn basic education alongside Pokémon.

Extracurricular activates took part in a human student's everyday life. Those included learning basic Pokémon health, nutrition, care, and if said trainer was exceedingly well in courses they got to train and battle along a given Pokémon by the school. Every day during recess human students and Pokémon partners would battle and train, a free for all if you will.

Trainers and Pokémon lived in harmony this way. Professor Oak hosted a summer camp where trainers got to spend more time with their respective partners, or alternate Pokémon. The school also recommended human students socialize with their peers as much as possible because dealing with the real world isn't easy, they need 'social skills' to get through their own predicaments Pokémon may not be able to get them out of.

Not a lot of students understood this. Except for one boy, of course. He was cheerful as ever and accepting of everyone. He announced his name loudly and proudly. He said "My name is Ash Rocketto! I'm ten years old! I like my brothers, my mom, my dad and Pokémon! I wanna be friends!" His smile big and stupid making everyone in the room question; who the hell was this guy?

"Ash… Rocketto…" Gary's lips thinned, eyeing the raven boy. He didn't decide to move from his spot until the crowd of children all swarmed over to the ten year old, cheering and asking about Ash's older brother, Red. (Red, who the hell was Red?)

"Wow! Your Red Rocketto's younger brother!? Really?!"
"The Champions Brother!"

"He beat Blue Oak!" One boy added, causing Gary's brow to twitch in annoyance… Oh yeah. That Red. The one that Blue kept raving on about several years ago. How could he forget. "Hey, Blue! You should battle him! Maybe you'll get your butt whooped by him!"

Ash held up his hands in protest. "I've never won against my brother before – not even my lil' bro has managed to beat em! He's too strong. No way I could beat a guy like Gray Oak! Blue's super strong…" Remembering the time Blue came over and challenged Red to a fight. The time Red wasn't too busy battling in some other region, Blue was actually a nice guy, and told Ash about his brother Gary.

"You met my brother, Rocketto?" Eyes narrowing but still reaching the other side of the room just fine, Gary scoffed. Why did Blue meet with Red and not take him? "Since when?" He stood up, waltzing his way over to the younger boy. The other kids steered clear. "My brother never tells me anything. Typical."

Cocking his head to the side and raising a brow in curiosity Gary examined the kid who just stared. "Um… A few months ago. Blue stopped by to congratulate me. He said 'good luck in getting in school' And 'say hi to Gary if you see him'."

That was… Odd… Telling this boy he'd never met such a thing.

Ash smiled, rubbing the back of his head, laughing softly. "He also said he hoped we could be friends, and rivals!" Revealing a toothy grin Ash couldn't help but not notice the stares and whispers from the other students. Gary's mouth too was agape.

"Alright class, sorry I'm late!" The teacher came in only to see the kids huddled around one student's desk, curious he raised a brow. "Oh? What's wrong?" The other kids sighed. "To your seats!"

0+0

Several years passed. Ash and Gary were now fifteen. They finally were at an appropriate age to graduate. They accepted a certificate and everything, all shiny and framed with their names on it and the Pokémon they'd been using since they started. Ash hung his on the wall in his room and Gary stuffed his in a drawer somewhere.

The night after Ash's father came home. "Ash I'm proud of you. I only wonder what starter you're going to pick." It wasn't often that Giovanni came home, but this was a special occasion. "You have thought it over, haven't you?"

"Yeah, of course I have…" Ash replied while munching on food. Mr. Mime laughed, glad the boys liked his cooking. "I want to call Red tonight, though before I get my starter."

"Make sure you don't sleep too late!" The little twip, Silver managed to get a line in before grabbing a plate of food, earning a tug to the ear by Delia. "Ouch! Mom!"

"Ash is fully prepared for the road ahead. He needs his sleep. Right, honey?" Ash was too busy munching on food to reply. They all laughed.

"Oh. Ash. I almost forgot. I have two things to give you," Giovanni dug into his pocket and revealed a single Pokeball and a badge case. "You'll be needing this badge case to keep those badges organized. And… further more… There's a surprise in this Pokeball…"

Delia and Silver gave curious looks to the businessman who just gave a proud smile. Ash swallowed his food and wiped his mouth. "What is it?"

"A surprise. Open it up."

Ash enlarged the ball and opened it, only to reveal a purple rodent with a horn on its forehead… "Nidoran! Oh my gosh! Thanks pop!" Standing up Ash leaned in to give his father a hug! The Pokémon purred in delight.

"Turns out my Nidoqueen and Nidoking laid an egg, and well this was the result. I'm glad you're happy with it."

Ash bent down and picked up the purple rodent. "Hi! I'm Ash! Your new trainer! We're gonna have lots of battles and meet lots of Pokémon together!" The purple Pokémon purred and yipped happily. Ash hugged Nidoran and he snuggled up against him. "Hey that tickles!"

"Careful of its poison, the thing has poison point, right?" Silver smirked, impressed with the gift his father managed to get, only wondering what he'd get when he departs for his journey.

"Yes. But only when it feels threatened. Ash is good with Pokémon, you kids all are. I don't think it'd ever be a problem."

Delia smiled and sighed, leaning in to whisper to Giovanni "You should've told me about it," Giovanni raised a brow. "I would've bought more Pokemon food for him." Winking she put a hand on Giovanni's back only then to observe their family, their son's first Pokémon, their youngest playing with the Nidoran. "Reminds me of you and when you first me yours…"

"Really? I caught mine, sweetie." Kissing her on the cheek there was 'ewws' from Silver, Ash smacked him on the head.

"Let them be gushy if they want! Their old and married." He laughed forming tears in his eyes, he was so happy he was getting out on his journey right. His parents glowered at Ash, he waved his hands up in defense "Sorry! But it's true!"

"Brat." Giovanni nuzzled Delia. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Silver 'ewwed once more' as he held Nidoran "See that? That's our family. They're weird. Also, Ash knows nothing about love according to Red, whatever that means. I don't like them cause the girls in school all are jerks. And mom and get freaky and gross and old people love is just weird."

"Freaky?"
"Gross?"
"Jerks?"

They all laughed, Nidoran yipped and licked Silver's face, he giggled.

Yeah. Nothing could go wrong tomorrow!
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Also read this story here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11771973/1/The-Very-Best

Please note I decided to remove my AO3 account link as I post M rated stories that contain smut and other sensitive topics that aren't appropriate for younger audiences. While I haven't posted anything as of 7/4/16 I will eventually. I have plans to write ah - various pairings of my OWN choosing. So please be respectful. I might even write a more mature version of The Very Best on AO3, which I will not link here. Depending. The Very Best is still on hiatus due to me having problems with writer's block. But I hope you enjoy the chapters I have up as of now.

I'm 19 years old and am legally allowed to write these topics, but I know other members on this site may not be allowed to view these things I write. I don't want to get in trouble with anyone's parents. So please bear with me. PM me with your age if you wish to see my Ao3 content. Thanks for understanding!

Chapter 2

He woke up late.

Silver was laughing so hard he was crying. He kept on saying 'I told you so'. As much as Ash wanted to punch the twerp, he had to leave. He put on his best shoes (brand new! thanks mom!) and head out the door. He ran to Professor Oaks only to meet Gary there at the door. "Gary! Did you get your starter yet?!"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Jerk." Ash huffed and his cheeks were red with exhaustion. He bent over, heaving. Only then, he realized he had to introduce the Oak boy to someone special! "Oh! Check this out! Nidoran! Come on out!" The little purple rodent came out and yipped, running toward Ash it rubbed up against his leg, he laughed. "My dad gave it to me as a congratulations present. Did you get anything from Blue?"

"No." Gary turned his head from the sight. "He didn't even call."

Ash was about to speak when the roar of a familiar Pokémon interrupted him. Great winds came their way and the boys held had to steady themselves – when they looked up… "Red! Blue!" Ash smiled, Gary gaped… Both of them? Why?

'Weren't they rivals?" Blue's Charizard plopped down onto the ground, causing everything to shake Ash's Nidoran hid behind him fearful of the commotion.

"It's okay! This is my brother, Red!" Nidoran poked his head out at the two humans and giant lizard that held their hands up. "Say hello, Nidoran!"

Nidoran came out from behind the raven and slowly accepted a petting from Red. "So dad gave you a Nidoran huh? Cool! I actually got something for you, Ash. My present to you…"

Blue smirked. "If you can call that thing a present," He turned to Gary. "I've got a present to you too, twerp." He dug in his pocket and handed the kid a Pokeball. "Open it up."

"Bastard. You don't like how I raise my Pokemon?!" After handing the Pokeball to Ash Red couldn't help but clutch his fists as if he was ready to punch Blue. This Gary was familiar with. Too familiar with. "Let's see what that stupid thing can do!"

"Tch. Go on, open it up kid, let's see whose is better." Gary's brother… Was expecting something…

Did he expect him and Ash to battle?

"Come on out." Both Ash and Gary commanded their Pokeballs and to their surprise – both Pokemon may have been different, but they were rather interesting all right.

"An Eevee?" The little thing looked spirited, like it had determination. It yipped and jumped around as Gary recognized it.

"A Pikachu! Wow! Thanks Red!" Blue laughed, Red glared at him. "What's wrong?" Pikachu huffed up its cheeks and yawned.

"That thing won't listen to anyone. Not even Yellow!"

"Not even.." Ash pondered on the thought, knowing that Yellow was extremely good with training Pokémon. She just knew how to connect with all kinds even rampaging ones! "Well doesn't matter to me if it has a bad nature, hi Pikachu! I'm Ash and this is Nidoran!" He bent down and lent out a hand, Nidoran approached Pikachu and sniffed it.

"Pika…" Pikachu twitched irritably, it's brow moving. "Pikachu!" Releasing a Thundershock Pikachu couldn't help but shock everyone, even Charizard. But thankfully Charizard was calm enough to not attack the level 5 tiny mouse.

Blue, Gary and Red began laughing despite they were fried. Ash whined, knowing that he'd have a hard time raising this Pokémon considering it came from Red's Pika. "But your half ChuChu so… I won't give up!"

Pikachu looked up at Ash, wondering where that determination came from… He just shrugged. Then, everyone's attention went towards the elderly man that came out of the lab on the hill who was smiling proudly at the sight…

"Well if it isn't Ash and Gary. And Blue and Red! Tell me, do you know which Pokemon you want as your starters?"

Both Gary and Ash look to each other and nod. "Yup!"

0+0

"Aw man! I can't believe you picked Squirtle!" Blue pet the little turtle Pokémon that was in his brother's arms, yipping happily as the older human stroked him in just the right spot. "When you're older you'll definitely be able to beat me!"

"Depends on what team I have by then, too." Gary smiled, hugging his new friend close, the Squirtle giggled.

"Wow! Charmander! I thought for sure you were going with Bulbasaur!" Red stood there impressed with the team that Ash now had for himself. Nidoran, Pikachu and Charmander. "Don't tell me you're going to catch a Poliwag?" He rubbed the kid's head only to have his hand smacked away.

"No way. I'll catch a water type soon enough, just don't know which one yet." Ash smiled, then turned to Gary. "Hey Gary! Let's battle!"

The teen turned to Ash, then back to his brother, who nodded. "I think it's a great idea. Charmander VS Squirtle."

"But Squirtle is definitely going to win." Gary had let go of his water starter and it was already getting introduced to Charmander, Pikachu and Nidoran… Well.. Charmander and Nidoran.. (What's up with that Pikachu?)

"Type doesn't matter. Just give it your all and then we'll determine the winner!" Red punched his fist in the air, Blue smirked, the boys still looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"What do you say, Charmander? Do you wanna battle Gary's Squirtle?"

"They'll be our future rivals, Squirtle, so why not test them now?" Squirtle chirped and Charmander growled the two eyed each other regardless of them being friendly moments ago their eyes were now fierce with determination and fighting spirit.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ash cheered Gary smiled.

….

"Charmander use Scratch!"

Ash had the first move. His Charmander ran across the field, kicking up sand and dirt as he ran. The little lizard earned a respectful grunt from the Charizard who was watching. It gave him more confidence to keep going.

Swooping in for a Scratch Gary yelled out to Squirtle to dodge. It did such and only got a slight amount of damage on it.

"Use Bubble, Squirtle quick!" Sucking in air the turtle released an impressive amount of bubbles headed towards Charmander. He tried to get it to dodge but it was no use.

"Charmander! No! You ok buddy?" Charmader yipped "Good now use Ember!" The Ember was rather powerful compared to others, it released a hot flame from its stomach and out to its mouth. Burning the turtle but not badly as water defeats fire, after all.

"Withdraw, Squirtle! In your shell!" Squirtle managed to hide in its shell but was being badly burned in the process. It was losing HP and Ash was winning. "Quick! Out of your shell and counter the flames with Bubble!"

"Keep up that Ember! You can do it!" Ash cheered Charmander on. His Charmander just kept charging up his Ember until it was unable to continue "Oh no!"

Bubble came in and soaked Charmander, Gary smirked realizing he had an opening now. "Use Tackle!" Running towards the lizard made Ash panic, he screamed out his final command.

"Use Scratch to counter it!"

Like two swords clashing Charmander and Squirtle stood there for a long time unmoving, unable to comprehend who was going to go down first, but it didn't take long… Soon, Charmander began to wobble, but he stabled himself… Only until…

"A… A tie?"

Gary's body began to shake. Since when in Pokémon history did battles end in a tie?

"Charmander!" Ash ran over to the lizard and helped it up, it cooed in his arms, smiling as if it were asking 'did I please you?' "You did awesome buddy! That was so amazing!"

Ash nuzzled the Pokemon who licked his face. Meanwhile, Professor Oak, Red and Blue all sighed. Their first fight ended in a tie. How ironic, but really maybe it was better that way.

Gary smiled, heading on over to Squirtle he pet the turtle on its head stroking it, telling how well it did. "We're gonna get stronger and kick that loser's ass for sure next time!" Squirtle chirped and leaped into Gary's arms. He laughed.

"I'll heal up your Pokémon before you go. That was a great battle you two. Well done!" Approaching the two boys he wrapped his arms around them smiling. "One more thing though, I almost forgot these." Giving out Pokeballs for their newly acquired starters and more to catch Pokémon later on. "Any Pokémon you catch on your journey will be transferred to me, that is if you catch more than six."

"We know. We learned it in school!" Ash smiled, petting Charmander's head.

Oak nodded. "Right, forgot. Anyway, these are also important." He held out the new and improved Pokedexes. "I've been working with the other Professors from various regions including Kalos to upgrade the Kanto Pokedex. This even includes Mega Evolutions."

"Mega… Evolution?" Gary looked down at the red device, curious as to what he meant.

"You've never seen a Mega before?" Ash grinned Gary nodded. "They're awesome! And super powerful!"

"Alright, that's enough about Megas," Oak smiled patting Ash on the back. "You'll learn more about them as you continue your journey. In fact, you can learn about Megas right now. Just scan Squirtle and Charmander into your Podexes'."

With a curt nod Gary took out his shiny new Pokedex and as he scanned his Squirtle all the info he already knew from school appeared. Then a button was right next to it. "Press it," Blue and Red were grinning. He did what he was told and a whole new biography showed up with a whole new look for Squirlte's evolutionary chain in it, there, it showed a new form…

"Mega… Blastoise?" That form was insane! Ash was grinning like a madman as he showed his Charmander and its eyes sparkled. "Has your Charizard Mega Evolved, Blue?" He prepared to scan his Eevee.

"Who knows."
"That's mean Blue."

"It's a surprise once you're strong enough to battle me, you know. If you'll ever get the chance." Blue rubbed his little brother's hair and messed it up, Gary grunted. "Check this one out, we found this in Kalos."

"A new Evolution… Looks girly." He rolled his eyes and prepared himself to scan Ash's Pokémon.

"Your Eevee is a girl you know," Blue laughed. Gary glared at the little fox who just continued to wag its tail. "Hey Ash! Scan Gary's Pokémon when you get a chance! No time like the present!"

"Sure! You can scan mine, Gar."
"Already did, Ashy-Boy."

Ash growled at the nickname, Pikachu noticed and laughed. "Don't laugh! Kick his ass when he does that!" Pikachu still couldn't help it and Nidoran and Charmander joined in. The others (minus Gary) laughed too.

"Grr. I'll show you! I'll be a Pokémon Master! Even better than Red!"

He pointed, they all stared. "Pokémon… Master?"

"The heck is that?"
"How will you do that? Ashy-Boy?"

Ash's face blared up. "I don't know. But I know that I'll be better than all of you!" He grinned. "And stop calling me Ashy-Boy!"

"No way. Even when we're old and gross I'll still be calling you that!" Gary laughed, clutching his stomach. Red and Blue grinned. "You'll always be a wimp that couldn't touch that Weedle back in Summer Camp because he didn't wanna get stung!"

"I had my reasons!" Ash crossed his arms, puffing up his cheeks, blushing slightly. "I'll catch a Caterpie instead."

"Then I'll catch a Weedle to make sure it'll kick tiny bug's ass!" They both gripped hands, eyes flaring up at each other with might. All the adults were pleased with this and so were the Pokémon. Charizard gave Charmander an affectionate nuzzle sort of like 'you can do it kid'.

Charmander purred, glad it got affection from such a high-leveled rival. It nodded and turned its head over to Squirtle whose eyes too were glittering with fury. Squirtle chirped, Charmander yipped.

"Squirtle, Squirt!" Squirtle lent out a paw to clutch Charmander's.

"Char!"

They both smiled and hoped they would be able to fight each other again someday…

0+0

Ash started his trek on Route One without any problems. He let his Pokémon out… The ones that would listen to him. Pikachu stayed in its ball, as all it did was shock him. "Sorry, if you're not going to listen I can't do anything. I can't believe your ChuChu's kid." He sighed, tucking the ball in its pocket.

"Guys, I think we're good on Pokémon until we get to Viridian Forest, we can try catching one if anyone wants to be our friend… But, other than that I still think we're good." The others yipped, ready to get going.

Ash scanned a few Pokémon none seemed really worthy to catch. Pikachu was eventually let out of its Pokeball, which to Ash's regret it ran off. "Damn rat…" He sighed. "Nidoran, Charmander, we can't help it but let's go look for him." They nodded and ran off crying out for their teammate.

"Oh my god!" Misty shirked as her bike was electrocuted by this random Pikachu that came out of nowhere! What the hell!? "You're going to be food for my Gyarados! Come on out!"

Suddenly a giant serpent emerged and landed in the water. "Dragon Rage! She commanded and Gyarados was more than happy to do so. It launched its attack but Pikachu's Thundershock countered it.

"I've never seen such a powerful Thundershock…" Misty sat there impressed, then realized Pikachu was just laughing at her. She growled as she was being mocked. "Hydro Pump, Gyarados! Soak that rat!"

Ash heard the noise and quickly recalled his Pokémon. He ran towards the river and saw – the redhead girl attacking his Pikachu!? "Hey! Pikachu! There you are!"

"Hey kid! This is your Pikachu!?" Misty glared, so did Gyarados… nothing like being glared at by a giant fish.. Yup.. What a day. "Recall that thing now!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" He took out his Pokeball and commanded Pikachu to return, it avoided the command. "What?!" Biting his tongue he hissed. "Come on! This is dangerous let's go!"

Pikachu smirked as it made a little dance routine out of dodging the red light that Ash aimed at him. "Wow, he's good…" Ash smiled, Misty clutched her fists.

"Don't sit there impressed! Do something! It's your Pokémon, right? That thing fried my bike!"

"Get a new bike then! Like I care!"

Misty snarled Gyarados was getting fed up, it began to fire a Hyper Beam. "Gyarados!" Misty held onto her Pokémon for dear life "You'll destroy the forest! No! We don't want to kill Pikachu!"

A Hyper Beam was fired but Misty managed to grab hold of Gyarados's head and steer him off path, it fired at a mountain in the back… Ash gulped… 'that poor mountain..' "Call back Gayarados! Worse to have a raging Gyarados out than a disobedient Pikachu!"

Misty looked up, glowering. But she looked down at the agitated water-type. That was supposed to be her specialty! Dammit! "Your right. Gyarados – return!" As the red light consumed her Pokémon she jumped down onto the ground and sighed. "Now do the same for Pikachu!"

She smirked, tucking the ball into her Pocket. Only to be surprised when Ash jumped down from the cliff. "You – you crazy!? Do you know how tall that cliff is?!"

"I used to climb trees way taller than this at Summer Camp all the time…" He grinned, then paid attention to Pikachu. "Hey! Pikachu, look at this!" He got the special food his mom bought. "That food mom bought remember? There's more where that came from – you want?"

Misty smacked Ash on the head. "Teasing with food isn't a good thing! Your being a child!" Ash groaned.

Pikachu took no time to smack an apple out of the tree with his tail. He munched on it and eventually lied down for a nap. "Damn." Both cursed, Ash crossed his arms trying to think of what to do next.

"What about Pika and ChuChu! Don't you ever wanna see them again?! Come on! Let's just work together!" Pikachu opened an eye lazily as he heard his parent's names be mentioned. While not a horrible reason to return, he could deal on his own. Not all Pokémon stayed with their parents forever, and he certainly wasn't going to be a burden to his mother and father.

Who would need a weak mouse like him anyway?

"Pika and Chuchu?" Misty asked.

"His parents. My brother's Pikachu – Pika. And his girlfriend's Pikachu – ChuChu bred and created an egg, which lead to…" They both looked up and realized… 'Pikachu.'

"Pika didn't listen to Red at first but they then grew a strong bond together. I don't think Pikachu was with his parents for very much as Pika and ChuChu always had to travel with Red and Yellow. That sort of thing. But that still doesn't explain why he won't listen! I mean it's my brother's Pokémon!"

Growling he wondered if it was a good idea to keep this bad natured Pikachu at all. Misty's eyes wondered for a moment, until… "Oh! Your Red's little brother aren't you?! Red and I are friends! No wonder why you seemed similar!" She clasped Ash's hands together. Ash backed away for a moment as the sensation was too close for comfort. "He helped with the evil Gym Leaders and Elite Four nine years ago. He was amazing!"

"Nine years ago!?" Ash tugged away. "You mean you were a Gym Leader at ten years old?!" Ash whined realizing he was now seriously way far behind. "Man! I knew Red set out on a journey when he was ten but I didn't know that!" He tugged at his hair, Misty smirked.

"Yes yes you can worry about me being your elder later. But Red is the champion for a reason. He saved Kanto!" She was proud of him and proud of being his friend for many reasons. "Now what to do about Pikachu? I can't believe that he's Pika's son!"

Ash grinned. "Yeah. That's Pika's kid alright."

"Pikachu! Sorry I tried to attack you! I'm Misty, I know Pika and ChuChu! They're my close friends and so are Red and Yellow! I didn't know, you should've seen Pika when he was first with Red," Misty smiled, Pikachu looked down from the tree, trying to gather what was being said.

"He wouldn't listen at all. But it was incredible that he beat Brock! Like really! But that was only through how they worked together. Can you please come down now? I have Pokepuffs in my bag I can give you! I made them myself!"

"I thought bribing was bad." Ash whispered, Misty made a face.

"Still. How else am I going to get him down? I give up!" She sighed, defeated.

Pikachu smiled. Maybe these kids weren't so bad… As he was about to jump down though, a bird swooped past him! "Pikachu!" He cried Misty and Ash gasped. "Pika!" He clung on to the branch. It was a Pidgeotto! What the hell? They're not territorial!

It was just one, it kept swooping in and out trying to get a move on Pikachu but it surprisingly managed to dodge. "Pikachu! Listen to me we can win this one!" Pikachu raised a brow, still clinging onto the branch he was about let go until… "Pull yourself back up the best you can! I have a plan!"

Misty was ready to get her Starmie out, but she waited. Gyarados wouldn't do as it was still angry from before… She left Staryu at the Gym… "I hope you know what you're doing, Rocketto." 'He's Red's brother, of course he does.' She sighed and smiled, but still kept the Pokeball close.

"Now's our chance!" Ash roared as the Pidgeotto came in for an attack, Pikachu stayed put, its tail up like a lightning rod and the fur on its back sticking up like thorns. "Jump onto it and use Thundershock!" Pikachu jumped on Pidgeotto's back and electrocuted the bird as it went down Pikachu clutched on for dear life.

"Jump Pikachu! Misty – can you catch Pikachu? I'm going to catch that thing!"

Misty nodded and held out her arms. "Come to me Pikachu!" Pikachu whined as he jumped into the redhead's arms happily accepting comfort from her and she smiled. "You did awesome!" She nuzzled him affectionately. "I'll make you a bunch of Pokepuffs later! I promise! Just for you!" Pikachu 'chaad'. But then his attention was brought to his trainer as he began cheering.

"Yeah! I caught – no! We caught Pidgeotto!" He ran over to Misty and Pikachu and showed the Pokeball with the bird in it. "It'll be awhile until we get to Viridan City, then we'll heal up Pidgeotto there."

Misty smiled. "I'll go with you, you did fry my bike." Pikachu's ears drooped. "But as long as I can tag along until then," She snuggled Pikachu and he smiled Ash sighed. "I'll heal up your Pokémon."

"Thanks, Misty. There's still one Pokémon we gotta catch."

Misty frowned. Didn't he have enough?

"Caterpie."

Misty screeched. Oh no… She as going to regret this, wasn't she?

Chapter 3

When Ash caught Caterpie, much to Ash's annoyance Misty stayed far behind glaring at it, calling it a 'pest'. Ash smirked, allowing the bug-type to crawl up on his shoulder just to annoy Misty, he told Caterpie not to worry about her.

He was more focused on trainers that he might be battling in this forest to get stronger. "Hey! Gary!" He saw the teen looking over his Pokedex, only to stop when Ash finally came up to him. "Guess what I caught, impressed?" Caterpie chirped and rubbed up against Ash.

"Let's battle!" His eyes bright, Gary smiled.

"Who's the chick following you?" He pointed, Misty's head bobbing up at the boy.

"Oh that's Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean City Gym Leader. She knows our brothers, apparently." Ash shrugged. "But she hates bugs, she's been calling Caterpie all sorts of mean names. Can you believe her?" His cheeks puffed up, arms folded over his chest.

Gary smirks. "Typical women." Scoffing, Gary took out his Pokémon. "Come on out, guys!"

Eevee, Squirtle, Spearrow, and Weedle all came out to say hello. Ash's eyes went bright, Caterpie coward away from the poison type, Beedrill were aggressive and they didn't typically like Butterfree heading into their hives that often… "Say hello! He won't bother you!"

"You're going to be rivals, unless your battling we won't bite." Gary grinned Weedle chirped and rubbed up against Caterpie who grinned.

"Hey! What's taking so long?!" Misty stomped on over, hands down to her sides and fists clutched. Her eyes widened only when she saw Gary.

"Don't tell me –Blue's kid brother?!" She gaped. "You look just like him!" She smiled, Gary scoffed. When she saw the bug types she screeched and hid behind the tree that stood between the boys. "Put them back in their Pokeballs! Quick!"

"Don't tell us what to do, woman. You don't like it, go someplace else."

Ash grinned, he reached out for his Pokémon and let out the other new member of his team. "I'm glad you caught a Spearrow, Gar. But it won't do you much good cause Pikachu is starting to listen to me now." Releasing everyone out in the open they all yipped happily and stretched. His Pidgeotto was the one Spearrow noticed immediately.

Spearrow snarled and twitched a brow, Pidgeotto bobbed his head to the side. Ash bent down and stroked the bird. "It was terrorizing Pikachu and well we decided to work together to take it down, pretty neat huh? But he's not so though now!" Laughing he hugged the bird as he purred. "You're real friendly after all!"

Spearrow's eyes flared up and began to squawk. Pidgeotto became annoyed and squawked right back, nearly pecking Ash. "Whoa! Hey, wait what's wrong?"

"Spearrow probably is territorial since there's such a high-leveled bird Pokémon near it," Gary smirked, Misty sighed. "Why don't we battle, Spearrow, save your energy, what do you think?"

Spearrow glared with fire in its eyes. Ash looked over at Pidgeotto who was doing the same. "Alright! Let's battle! Bird VS. Bird!"

Misty grinned. "I'll be the referee." Getting in position Misty raised her hands up. "This will be a one-on-one Pokémon Battle between Gary Oak and Ash Rocketto from Pallet Town. Winner is decided on who knocks out the opponent's side first. No switching. Are we ready?"

"Ready!" Both barked and birds squawked even louder, if they could roar this would be their way of doing so.

"Then… Begin!"

With that cry Ash punched his arm up in the air to give his command, telling Pidgeotto to fly up in the air. Gary soon proceeded with the same call, both birds were up in the air and clashing with one another.

"Pidgeotto use Quick Attack!"

Backed up a few feet in the air, Pidgeotto dove in for a Quick Attack to speed itself up.

"Use Peck, Spearrow!" Gary only commanded his bird when Pidgeotto was in close enough range and Spearrow landed a powerful Peck on the larger Bird. "Now! Fury Attack!"

"Get out of there! Shake it off with Gust!" Ash roared Pidgeotto was stuck in a jumble of pecks aiming towards its face, but it flapped its wings furiously and managed to shake off the tiny bird.

They were now lower to the ground, Ash grinned, Gary, smiled. "Spearrow use Pursuit –"

"Kick up some sand with Sand Attack!"

As Spearrow was about to lay a hit on Pidgeotto Spearrow's vision became clouded with sand and dirt. It couldn't see until it heard a loud cry from behind.

"Quick Attack! Now!" Ash punched his fist in the air and grinned. Spearrow cried as it went down to the ground Gary yelled out for the bird, Pidgeotto still wasn't done yet, neither was Spearrow.

"Spearrow, shake it off! Use Aerial Ace!" Ash bit his cheek at that. How strong was this Spearrow? Gary must've caught a high-leveled one or trained it right when he caught it.

"Dodge it with Quick Attack!" He hoped this would work… And it did! Though Pidgeotto was getting tired, panting in mid-flight it looked like it needed to quit, but Ash wasn't about to give up. "Use Gust!"

"Pursuit!"

Ash's Pidgeotto tried to blow away the Spearrow but it landed a hit on it too soon. Far too soon, dammit! Ash yelled out as Pidgeotto was falling, but as it was about to hit the ground its eyes opened and it shook off the near-defeat, opened its wings and roared. "Alright! You can keep going?"

Misty groaned. "Man these two," She sighed. Pikachu nodded. "They just don't know when to give up."

"Pidgeotto Quick Attack!"

"Aerial Ace, Spearrow!"

The two collided and with a gust of wind so powerful it shook the trees and debris all around them. Pikachu and Misty held onto each other tight, no one was able to get a clear view of who was the winner until…

Misty grinned. 'Not bad kid.' Pikachu smiled "Pika Pi!"

Misty placed down Pikachu and raised her hand up yelling out the victor's name… "The winner is Ash Rocketto from Pallet Town!"

Gary smiled, only wondering how their last battle ended in a tie and now Ash came out as the victor in this one, but it was still so close. Would all battles be like this in the future? Spearrow was crying, hiding his face in his wings with shame. "What are you whining about?" Gary picked up the tiny bird and snuggled it. Spearrow looked up at its trainer with curiosity. "You were awesome. You know the last battle we had ended in a tie, right Squirtle?"

"Squirtle Squirt!" The tiny turtle blushed and rubbed its paw behind its head. Spearrow looked around at everyone who was praising it. Is this what true friendship is?

Squirtle waddled over to Charmander and formed a fist, punching his against Charmander's. They both then ran around trying to play tag with one another. "Sorry guys but we gotta get going. Pidgeotto's dead tired, and I'm sure you are too from that great battle, huh?"

Pidgeotto was on Ash's arm and let out a wing to shake Spearrow's who was resting in Gary's arms. "Go on," He let the Pokémon perch on his arm who then shook the other's wing. They smiled.

"We're friends till the end, right Gar?"

"Sure but rivals first, Ashy-Boy." He smirked, Ash's face became red again. Pikachu laughed.

"Those two…" Misty sighed. "Hey! Viridian City is just up ahead! Why don't we head there now and we'll make it before sundown!"

Ash turned towards Misty and nodded, they'll actually sleep in beds tonight! Oh what a relief! "Hey Gar wanna come with us? Stop by and see my old man!"

"Sure, why not, but just this once. We're rivals and we won't be travelling together all the time." He smiled then began to recall his Pokemon into their respected containers. Stuffing his hands in his Pockets he noticed Ash didn't recall Pikachu. "What about him?" Pointing he noticed Pikachu was content in Misty's arms.

"I think he's happier without being inside his Pokeball for now, as long as he doesn't cause any trouble then what's the problem?" Ash shrugged, waiting for Misty and and a sleepy Pikachu to catch up.

"Your too soft, Rocketto." He smiled but realized he too was like that once.

"Hey! I can see Viridian City from here!" Misty pointed out the sunset on the horizon reflecting against them. Pikachu sat atop her shoulder and looked out to see so many buildings and homes… This was the city!

"I can't wait to take a hot bath and get some good food!"

"I can't wait to register for the Pokémon League, oh and say hi to pops!"

"Same, I need to register. Resting is best for all of us." Gary smiled then began to head down the hill. "Last one there is a rotten Exeggcute!"

"Hey! Wait up!"

"Don't leave me here! You stupid boys!" Pikachu leaped out of the redhead's arms and cried after the two teens happily. They were finally getting started. Finally on their way to becoming the very best!

Look out world, here we come!

Chapter 4

Ash had arrived in Viridian City's Pokémon Center before sundown, as Gary, Ash, and Misty all ate and their Pokémon played Ash talked about meeting his dad in the morning.

"Your father is Giovanni Rocketto, right?" Misty remembered him being a gym leader who caused problems nine years ago but maybe Ash didn't know about that. "The Gym Leader of Viridian City, right?"

"Yeah. He's also a businessman." Ash said with a mouthful of food.

Misty raised a brow. 'Businessman?' Ash grabbed another handful of fries from Gary's plate and he knocked the teen's hand away, causing him to wince. Misty sighed. 'He really has no idea who he is, either…' Smiling Misty got up. "I'm going to make a call to Cerulean City to check on the Gym."

With a wave of her hand, Misty left the two boys to fight over food. "I see, you planned yet another cruise…" She clutched her fists thinking how ignorant they were to plan it without her or more importantly to plan it and think they could leave the gym behind unattended.

"Yeah, like, we'll be here when you get back though." Her sister smiled without a shred of guilt. "You are coming back… Right?"

"Yes, I'll be there no problems. Just don't leave until I do." She sighed, only wondering what Pysduck could do if he was left unattended. She sighed, hanging up the phone, heading back towards the kids who were now surrounding a man dressed in a rather nice suit… "Giovanni?" She glared, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Ah if it isn't Ms. Waterflower. Pleasant surprise you met my son already." He seemed nicer than he was nine years ago. "I hope Ash can challenge your gym soon, and it won't be a problem with your Pikachu, I assume?" Giovanni pet Pikachu under the chin and he chaaed. Ash smiled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Misty scoffed. "Yeah yeah, you just had to give him a Pokémon as a gift didn't you? Isn't that like cheating!?" Misty stuck her tongue out at Ash who did the same. "Stupid boys. Frying my bike."

Pikachu puffed up Ash held on to him. "I thought you were over that! And Pikachu said he was sorry!"

Giovanni cocked his head to the side. "Fried… Your bike?"

"Minding my own business and this little guy comes up from out of nowhere," Misty sighed as she pet the mouse he rubbed his head deeper into her palm. "And electrocuted my bike. You owe me, Ash."

"Sorry. I'll get you a new bike when I'm Pokémon Master, kay?" He grinned, Misty groaned. They laughed.

"Ash, do you have any water Pokémon?" Misty grinned her hands on her hips. "You'll need em' when you face Brock. He being a Rock Gym Leader after all." She dug into her pocket and held out a Pokeball. "Here, this one'll do fine." Releasing the Pokémon from its capsule revealed a green toad that happily smacked its hands together.

"Politoad?" Ash bent down and scanned it. "My brother has a Poliwrath, I promised him I wasn't going to catch a Poliwag 'cause I didn't wanna copy em'." Ash frowned, the frog croaked.

"You're not keeping it! Only borrowing it! Do anything to my Politoad and I'll make you pay! Got it?" All three men shivered as a red aura glowed around the girl.

"My Nidoran knows double kick, so I'll use him and Politoad." He smiled accepting the frog's Pokeball. "Oh, dad, look at how strong Nidoran's gotten!" He released the rodent from its Pokeball to show it sparkling from being brushed by Ash the whole way there.

"Been taking good care of it, I see." Giovanni bent down and pet the Pokémon and smiled. Misty couldn't help but wonder if this was really the same Giovanni she met all those years ago, or if people really could change… "I have to go back to the gym, I'll be leaving Viridian City tomorrow morning but I'll make sure to call your mom and let her know how you've been doing, alright?"

Ash smiled and nodded. "Sure. Thanks pop!"

"I'll do the same for the Professor, Gary." Gary nodded and shook Giovanni's hand. "I'm proud of both of you boys for coming so far and just look at your Pokémon! They're already so strong and you're not even to Pewter City yet!" He placed his hands on his hips and beamed. "I'll get going, one hug for the road, son?"

Ash smiled and dove in to hug Giovanni who grunted. "Oof! Easy!" He laughed. Misty smiled. "I'm old!" He laughed and noogied the teen. "Be seeing you kids."

"He's so nice…" Misty said aloud, then covered her mouth as Ash and Gary looked towards her. "I mean, wow. He seems to be doing a lot better than when I last saw him!" She cursed mentally, hopefully she wasn't going to stir up conversation… She didn't want them to worry.

"Yeah. Dad's awesome and has really cool and though Pokémon. Nidoran, when we face dad you gotta show him all of your power!" Nidoran chirped and rubbed up against his trainer's leg. "You're pretty close to evolving aren't you? Though to evolve you into a Nidoking you'll need a Moon Stone…"

"You can find those on Mt. Moon. Don't worry Ashy-Boy, it'll take you weeks to get outta that forest! It's like a maze!" Gary smacked Ash on the back who almost fumbled. Gary laughed.

Misty sighed. "I'm going to take a bath, you two dorks try not to destroy the Pokémon Center while I'm gone, OK?"

The two ignored her and continued bickering. She sighed and headed towards the girl's room. "Wanna come Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded and followed Misty to the baths.

Meanwhile…

"Sir!" Both Team Rocket Grunts saluted. "Awaiting your orders!"

"You know what to do, capture any strong Pokémon you can and report back to me," He smiled and pet Persian's head. "I'll be leaving Viridian City tomorrow morning, though I have important calls to make. Don't bother me during those times unless it's urgent." He sighed heading towards the back roads, then looked over his shoulder and glared at the young duo. "And when I say urgent, I mean urgent."

The two shivered, the cat Pokémon with them glared at the Persian who licked his lips and waltz next to his owner. "Man that guy! Wait until I be top cat – I'll be the boss's favorite!"

"Oh please, Meowth you can't even use basic commands let alone help us catch a decent Pokémon." The bluenett sighed. He went to take out a digital map that glowed in the dark. "This is the Area Nav. It shows how we can get around. To get to Pewter City we need to go through The Viridian Forest…"

"We can't just use the balloon?" Jesse pout her lips, cheeks puffing up.

"Sorry but we ran out of gas and it's expensive…" James held up his hands in defense, glares coming from both cat and girl. "I've got this though from the boss!" He held out a capsule. Jesse and Meowth's eyes widened. "The latest in Rocket Capsule technology!"

James shrunk the balloon into the tiny pill-shaped capsule and smiled, stuffing it into his pocket. "There, no problems. We'll keep the rest of our supplies in these. I've got twenty of them." Meowth and Jesse began to cheer, Wobbuffet came out of its Pokeball and cried along with them.

The next morning…

"Looks like Misty already left, huh?" With Pikachu on his shoulder Ash held his head to keep the wind from blowing his hair. Pikachu took both of his paws and graciously fluffed up his paws. "You took a bath with her?" He sneered Pikachu giggled.

"Gary! I'm going to stick around here for a while and train my Caterpie! What are you going to do?" Ash stopped Gary from heading out. His rival looked over his shoulder, mouth slightly open.

"I'm heading to Mt. Moon... Guess that means I'll be in the lead." Waving a hand Pikachu called out for a goodbye and soon so did Ash. Gary waved lazily as he knew this departure wasn't forever.

Ash smiled and headed over to Route 22. There he trained his Caterpie until it evolved into Metapod. It was only levels away, anyway. Ash picked it up and nearly tossed it in the air a bit too high, causing Metapod to butt heads with the boy. "Sorry!" He laughed. "Just you evolved this is great! We should get going to Mt. Moon now!"

The team all cheered and as Ash was about to recall his Pokémon. But… "Pika? Pika Pi!" Pikachu tugged at Ash's pant leg and stopped him from recalling everyone, pointing at the bushes behind them.

"What's wrong buddy?"

Charmander's nostrils flared up and growled, the other Pokémon were on edge as well. There was laughter echoing about. "What's wrong you say?! We'll be glad to answer you!" A man with blue hair and a woman with red hair a different shade than Misty's appeared from the bushes.

With them a Meowth standing on two legs crossing its arms smirking proudly stood with them, striking a battle pose of sorts. "We're gonna take all your Pokémon, kid!"

Ash gaped… A talking Meowth?! "Whoa! Cool!" Was all Ash could say as he took out his Pokedex and scanned it, then Meowth fell flat on its behind getting a fury swipes ready. "Huh. It's just a regular Meowth. Nothing special here. Lame."

"Lame?! I work my butt off with these two punks and that's what I get?! Lame!?" Meowth released his fury swipes towards Pikachu who wasted no time dodging, even smirked while doing so. "Gah!"

"A battle huh? No problemo!"

James bit his lip. This kid… Who was he? Never mind. They had to get these Pokémon from him no matter what! The boss's orders! "Go Victreebel, Weezing! Get those Pokémon from this kid!"

"Lickitung, Arbok, Wobbuffet go! This kid didn't even let us finish our motto! Teach him a lesson for that!" The Pokemon all came towards Ash and his team at once, Ash clutched his fist and punched it straight up in the air while smiling.

"Go Charmander use Ember, Pikachu use Eletro Ball, Pidgeotto use Gust, Politoed use Hydro Pump, Metapod use Tackle, Nidoran use Double Kick! Show em' all you got!" As Ash roared his Pokémon rejoiced with him.

Nidoran kicked Lickitung twice and hard so much it smashed against the tree before it could get in a solid attack. Politoed soaked Wobbuffet while Pikachu electrocuted it making the damage worse knocking it out instantly. Charmander fried Victreebel while Pidgeotto pushed Arbok back with its gust.

As for Metapod…

"You want some of this?!" Meowth readied its fury swipes and ran towards Metapod who was getting ready to tackle the cat. "I'm not going to be beaten by a stupid bug!" But sure enough Metapod's tackle landed onto Meowth's face and knocked him out.

A glowing white light surrounded Metapod and everyone gaped in surprise. "Metapod… Is evolving!" Ash grinned. Finally!

Out emerged a Butterfree! Flying around and chirping happily the Butterfree was revealed to have learnt Confusion. With a flick of his finger Ash roared out his final command. "Toss these losers away with Confusion Butterfree!"

The bug's eyes glowed and the bandits were lift into the air. With a flick of Butterfree's neck it tossed the trio into who-knows-where. The point was they were gone and they all won. Ash grinned and yelled out cheers "We did it!" Butterfree perched on its trainers head, purring. "Thanks buddy, couldn't have done without you. Or you guys, all of you were amazing!"

All of them cried happily. Ash noticed it was getting dark outside. Tomorrow he would set out to the Viridian Forest. There, he would train and become stronger and beat Brock no matter what!

Chapter 5

He was finally there… Pewter City! Taking a deep breath he sighed in relief but was happy with the training he did in Viridian Forest. Nidoran had evolved into Nidorino and Charmander evolved into Charmeleon. He managed to level up Butterfree some as well, though his Pokémon needed rest at the Pokémon Center.

Pikachu rubbed its eyes. The night skies above seemed to go over them forever and ever. He stared up and wondered what other sorts of places they'd see on their journeys together. "Hey look buddy, it's the Pokémon Center!" Pikachu's eyes lit up. Once they reached inside there were trainers all around a single area of the hospital, cheering and making impressed sounds. "What's going on?"

"Green is here!" One boy called out, Ash could've sworn blood was trickling from his nose. Ash visibly winced. "She's so pretty…"

"G-Green?!" He moved himself through the crowd to see Green putting on an act with her Mega Blastoise. Ash called out and she smiled over to him, the others scowled. "What are you doing here, Green?!"

"Just living my second life is all!"

"Being a thief?" The others drooped their heads and Green pressed a finger to her lips. "What, it's true. Until you met Red you were on the run…"

"From other thieves!" Green grabbed Ash's ear and he yelped. Blastoise returned to normal. "Alright that's all folks! Come back tomorrow – but time to pay up –"

"You're charging them?! How greedy!" Green winced at the teen's backlash.

"Kid, you ruining my business! Get outta here!"

"I'll tell Blue you've been misusing Mega Evolution." Ash puffed up his cheeks and stuck out his tongue. Green stuck her tongue out. Slowly the crowd began disappearing.

"Hey! My money! Come back!" Ash laughed as they all disappeared. Officer Jenny came and intercepted the two. "Oh… Hi Jen… Long time no see!" She grinned, rubbing her hand behind her neck. Green was busted alright.

"I'm not going to arrest you, but scamming is just as illegal as stealing you know! Behave yourself, Green!." Jenny glared, hands on her hips. She looked down at Ash who was doing the same. "Whose this?"

"Red's little brother! Isn't he a doll?!" Green snuggled him and Pikachu yelped, jumping off.

"Red's brother? No way! Don't tell me that Pikachu's…" Jenny looked down at the floor where Pikachu was cleaning himself. "Is Pika's?"

"Leggo!" Ash got out of the death-hug. Green pouted. "Yeah. He's Pika's son." Pikachu beamed proudly at the recognition. "I promise I'll keep Green out of trouble ma'am." He smiled Officer Jenny grinned. Green sighed.

"Your challenging Brock, aren't you?" Jenny looked towards the Pewter City Gym, only to remember when Red challenged him almost ten years ago… Time flies. "You better heal up then and rest good, don't need to rush into things. And stay out of trouble! Don't want to run into me now!" With a wave of her hand she said her goodbyes to the kids they nodded.

"You're really going to challenge Brock?" Green wondered aloud.

"Yeah. Wanna watch me tomorrow?" Pikachu hopped back onto his trainer's shoulder and nuzzled him.

"Sure. Got nothing better to do." Their hands smacked together and made it official .

0+0

"Gym's open. You're lucky. The gym seemed to be closed like, all the time." Green laughed, Ash bit his lip nervously but marched up to the door with hands to his sides anyway. He sucked in his gut and hoped for the best. "You have a Water Type yet?"

"Misty let me borrow her Politoad but I'm only using it for last. I've got a Nidorino my dad gave me, it knows Double Kick now." He smirked, rubbing his nose, back behind the gym. Green smiled. This kid has a plan… Total opposite of Red…

"Fighting Types won't do much here, kid." Ash yelped as he was surprised by the muscular teen, Brock smiled. "You're lucky you caught me today since it's actually my last day working here. Tomorrow my little brother will be leading the gym. Why don't you battle him instead? Give him his first shot as a real Gym Leader?"

Ash's eyes narrowed. Brock was quitting? Why? Well, it didn't matter. Brock or no Brock as long as he got a Gym Badge that's all that mattered, he smiled and nodded. "Sure. I'd love to."

Brock grinned. "I'll be the referee but just one last time."

"Why are you quitting Brock?" Green frowned, giving up on being a Gym Leader? "Did you tell the others? Did you tell Red?"

Brock nodded and frowned as they were heading inside. "No. I didn't. I want to start my own journey like Red is and meet all sorts of Pokémon Regardless of the type. Rock doesn't really matter I just want to train and raise all sorts and hopefully bring them back so my little siblings can have Pokémon to raise when they become trainers." He smiled then saw Forrest rubbing off his beloved Steelix that used to be Brock's.

"Forrest! We've got a trainer here that'd like to challenge you!"

"Eh? But you're not leaving until tomorrow…" Forrest ran over and examined the teen. "Hi. I'm Forrest Harrison, starting tomorrow I'm going to be the Pewter City Gym Leader… I think tomorrow…" Gazing up at his brother who smiled, then back to Ash. He was really confused now.

"Change of plans. I'm leaving tomorrow but since Ash is here he'd like to battle you to get you a head start. Whaddya say?"

"Sure! How does a two-on-two sound? My Steelix & Golem VS. Whichever you want?"

Ash blinked… Steelix was a steel type. So he'd probably be using Charmeleon instead of Politoad. And since it was such high level Pokémon than what he was used to at the first gym, he'd definitely have to use Misty's Pokémon. He nodded. "Sure."

"Sorry, but these are the only Pokémon we have right now. When Brock goes on his journey and catches some lower-leveled ones he can send them to the gym for me to battle beginner trainers… You seem strong though." Forrest grinned. Ash smirked.

"Damn straight I am!" Ash laughed, then entered the arena.

Green, along with the rest of Brock's family sat in the bleachers above the arena. "Ma… Ash. Is he really strong enough to fight a Steelix and a Golem?"

"Of course not!" One kid smirked. "Forrest has been training really hard for this day!"

"No way that kid can beat em'!"

Green's brow twitched. "This is Red Rocketto's brother y'know!" The others looked up with confusion. "You don't know who that is, do you?"

"This will be a two on two Pokémon battle! Ash Rocketto from Pallet Town and Forrest Harrison, Gym Leader of Pewter City! Pokémon can be switched out but first to get a knock out is the winner! Now, when both trainers are ready we may proceed!"

Ash gripped at a Pokeball on his belt, wondering which Pokémon Forrest was going to use first… "Go! Golem! I choose you!" There in a flash of light and a loud smash landed a Golem on the floor of the gym, but no problems with this terrain as it was used to it since it was a Geodude. Ash smiled and scanned it with the Pokedex.

"Alright! I choose you, Politoad!"

"Aw. No fair, water type…" One of the smaller ones pouted, their heads resting on the rail.

"You can do it, Forrest!" All the siblings rejoiced.

"Go Ash!" Green couldn't help but rival the cheers.

It was as if the gym was shaking from so much excitement, while the two trainers adrenaline were boosting by each second while just standing there, Ash waited for Forrest to give Golem a command.

"Use Stone Edge!" Large amounts of stones began to circle around Golem as the move charged up. Politoad's eyes widened as they hurried towards it. Ash bit his lip.

"Dodge it, quick!"

Politoad bounced high up into the air and everyone gaped, Green cheered. "Use Water Pulse!" A bright blue ball of water came from Politoad's hands. As soon as it released it water sprayed onto Golem and pushed it back against the terrain, causing dust to form. "Yeah that's it! Great job!"

As soon as the frog landed it jumped up and cried in glee. The board showed that Golem's HP was cut down by half but it wasn't out of the fight yet! Ash smirked, he was in the lead but he knew how Pokémon battles could go and turn around at any moment. "Use Bubble Beam!" He flicked up his finger likewise and roared, the others groaned. Green smiled. He might actually have this one!

"Use Rollout!" Ash blinked, what is this kid? Suicidal? He was charging straight into the Bubble Beam! Losing HP Forrest grit his teeth and kept yelling telling his Golem not to give up. Politoad kept firing it's Bubble Beam but didn't notice it was was close to being hit…

"No! Politoad!" The siblings cheered Green sighed, nodding her head. Forrest made a sacrifice at his Pokémon's HP to get in a hit at Ash's Pokémon, risky as hell but he did it for the win. Yet, he still may not be in the lead.

Ash's Politoad managed to get a considerable amount of damage from that Rollout due to it gradually gaining power while it kept charging. Ash sighed though realize he still had some strength left. "Use Hydro Pump one last time to finish this!"

"Earthquake!"

"Jump Politoad while you have a chance!" Before Politoad fired his Hydro Pump and got caught in Golem's Earthquake, it managed to use that Hydro Pump to lift itself up a bit. Then, when locked onto its target it managed to soak Golem.

The field shook and the ground cracked as Earthquake did a considerable amount of damage on the house, as always. Brock frowned. Forrest knew this was a last-resort move. His parents always hated repairing the field but couldn't help but be proud of the Pokémon who put up a though battle in the end.

In the end, Golem fainted and Politoad survived only able to keep a little bit of its HP left. Panting in the end, Ash knew it could continue if he wanted it to, but he didn't want to use only Politoad in this battle. "Politoad, return!" He smiled as Forrest recalled his Golem.

"I choose you, Nidorino!" The purple rodent cried out and purred, revealing itself to the crowd. Green smiled, happy Ash finally was able to fight with his Nidorino as it was a strong Pokémon in her opinion.

"Not a bad choice. Hopefully it'll beat this bad boy… Go, Steelix I choose you!" Steelix roared and shook the room. Everyone held onto one another, Green couldn't help but do the same. "See if you can beat this one, Rocketto!" Forrest had his hands on his hips, beaming proudly. It was similar to how his parents always did whenever they boasted about him or his siblings.

Ash smiled. "Oh I know I can win!"

"Begin!" Brock commanded, Ash had the first call.

"Nidorino, get onto of Steelix, quick!" Forrest's eyes widened, wondering what kind of command was that. Nidorino literally started to climb the snake-like Pokémon and much to Steelix's annoyance it couldn't shake the rodent off. "Use Double Kick!"

Nidorino did what it was told and on the back of the steel-type inflicted two, very powerful kicks that managed to push Steelix down. It didn't do too much damage but enough to gain Ash a little bit of an edge. Forrest couldn't help but smile, impressed.

"Wow, that kid's kinda cool." One of the boys said with awe. "I didn't expect that!"

"Way to go Ash!" Green cheered, punching her fist in the air, letting go of the railing. The others cheered their brother on.

As Forrest was about to give the next command, his eyes widened as he saw Steelix begin to shake and cry out in pain, noticing it had been poisoned! Nidorinos are known for their Poison Point Ability, so Ash must've known that would've come in handy?

"Alright! Guess we got lucky on that… Way to go, Nidorino!" No way… He didn't expect that at all!? Nidorino chirped and rubbed up against his trainer's leg as Ash bent down to pet it, then quickly went back to the arena. "Now, while it's stunned use Double Kick again!"

It was the only affective move that Nidorino had, but it worked for Ash at this point. He wanted to give Nidorino its first real battle and damn it was doing pretty good! More damage was caused to Steelix and it cried, the children in the stands all gasped.

"No! Steelix!"
"Not while it's poisoned!"
"That's not fair!"

"Shut up everyone!" Forrest interrupted the battle, glaring up at them. Ash stopped his command. "If you don't like it, leave. You can't handle the fact that I'm losing – that gym leaders are meant to lose – then leave! Out!"

Brock glared at the children who couldn't help but cower into the corner. Yolanda, the oldest sighed. "I told them not to come in… But I'm going to cheer you on, Forrest." Smiling she gripped the rail and the others looked then grinned.

"I wanna stay!" One of the smaller ones grabbed hold of the bars. "Kick his butt, Steelix!" The Pokémon cried, shaking off the pain as the others cheered him on.

Everyone began cheering him on, Green couldn't help but shake her head. Ash turned to Forrest. "Do your best, Forrest. You're the gym leader!"

Forrest nodded and gave Steelix the command dig. As it went underground Ash and his Nidorino had no idea where to look until it the rumbling signaled where it was about to pop up, Ash gaped, knowing it was too late and it would to a considerable amount of damage. He knew that Steelix was a higher-level than Nidorino so it was pretty much dead.

"Use dig!" They made impact, causing Nidorino to faint the moment they hit each other. Ash smiled. He still had Politoad, which he called out and Forrest smiled. "Looks like this is it, huh?"

"Yeah. Politoad! Do your best!"

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere now, everyone was cheering for both boys. Brock couldn't help but feel proud for both Ash and Forrest. "Begin!" The final matchup, only wondering who would win as it was too close. Far too close.

"Use dig, Steelix!" Another hole was formed nearby the other one and the ground shook as Steelix went into it. Ash examined Steelix's movements and tried to predict the outcome… Though he knew Politoad was still tired, he knew it could jump higher than Nidorino.

"Politoad, use Hydro Pump into the holes to flush Steelix out!" He smirked everyone gasped. Forrest frowned, this was it! As Steelix popped out of the ground when Hydro Pump soaked the snake, he knew it was over. The bar showed it had no HP left to go on. Steelix's eyes told all.

"Yeah! We did it!" Politoad smacked it's hands together, Ash ran over to it and, without hesitation Politoad jumped into the boy's arms. "Thanks so much Politoad!"

"Poli, Politoad!" Ash laughed as Politoad toppled over him nuzzling up against his face. Forrest smiled and returned Steelix, digging out of his Pocket he took out the Boulder Badge.

"Here you go, you deserve this. Man, I only hope my future fights will be as exciting as these!" Forrest tossed Ash the badge and he grinned, only then getting out his shiny new case he put it in there immediately. "This is what I guess being a gym leader is all about."

Brock smiled, placing a hand on Forrest's head, ruffling his hair. "That's right Lil Bro, you grow and learn with trainers whom you give badges to, hopefully teaching them lessons along the way. That's what being a good Gym Leader is all about."

All of Brock and Forrest's siblings, Green included came down from the balcony. The children tackled Forrest and Green couldn't help but give a hug to Ash, congratulating him. "So nice to see you again, Brock. So you're going out on a journey?"

"Yeah. I want to raise a lot of different Pokemon and hopefully send them back home for my siblings to play with," He grinned. "Ash your competing against the gyms, right? Then you're going to fight Misty next. She won't be easy, I know that."

"I know," Ash smiled. "But she let me borrow her Politoad so I gotta give it back. Which reminds me, I should probably do that now." Politoad cried out rubbing up against Ash. "It's sweet and all, but it's not mine. I wanna catch my own Pokémon and form my own team. Plus Red already has a Poliwarth and I don't wanna copy him. No offense, Politoad."

Politoad nodded and let itself be returned to its Pokeball. Brock smiled. "I can't believe that was Misty's Politoad! I'd like to see how she's doing before I get started on my journey…"

"You know, why don't you and Ash travel together?" Green suggested, the boys stared at her for a moment, considering. "Ash's going to Cerulean City anyway, so are you. The more the merrier, right?"

Ash only wondered if Brock was ok with it. "What about you? You wanna travel together?"

"Sure, no problem." Brock grinned. "It'll be fun having a travel buddy this time around. Plus your Red's little brother. I gotta watch after you and all. Make sure you don't get into trouble." Ash frowned. Brock laughed, holding out a hand. "Waddya say? Partner?"

Ash smiled, though the thought of Brock reminding him to stay out of trouble bothered him. Like having another big brother around to constantly tease him… Oh well. Couldn't be helped. At least he wouldn't be alone. "Sure thing, partner."

Green left for Celadon City as soon as Ash and Brock announced they'd be traveling together. Ash arrived at the Pokémon Center to not only heal up his Pokémon but return Politoad to Misty, who apparently hadn't arrived to Cerulean City yet, but he was still able to make the return anyway.

Further into Pewter City Ash and Brock noticed there was a Bulbasaur that was terrorizing the townsfolk. Ash calmed it down and caught it as his reward, the thing seemed disobedient and rowdy like his Pikachu, Brock joked it must be him that has bad luck with troubled Pokemon. Ash just sighed.

They were on their way to Mt. Moon when they were stopped by the same bandits and their talking Meowth Ash met on Route 25. "It's you guys again!" Ash groaned, only wanting to proceed but these guys… "Hey, have you seen any moon stones, I need one to evolve Nidorino."

"Kid! Why would we say stuff like that! We're Team Rocket! Thieves! We steal stuff like those!"

The Meowth readied his claws when Brock couldn't help but stand there and gape. A talking… Meowth? Ash noticed the blue-haired man was carrying a large sack on his back and it seemed heavy. "Are those moon stones?" Ash asked, the others jumped.

"Ash," Brock sighed.

"Hey Brock, is it really stealing if we're stealing from thieves?"

Brock crossed his arms and thought about it for a few seconds… Would they be? Criminals are criminals but would they be good guys if they stopped criminals from… "I think so… Maybe we'd be the good guys then?"

"We could get a lot of money from those stones!" Ash's eyes lit up into dollar signs. Brock groaned. Yup. Definitely Green's influence.

"Hey stealing from thieves is low!"
"Especially from Team Rocket!"
"We'll crush you twerps!"

As the bluenett released his Wheezing Ash got Butterfree and told it to use Confusion. Wheezing was knocked out immediately, causing the man to cry out as he caught it, spilling all the evolutionary stones at once. Ash gaped. There was something in the bag – something really cool!

"Wheezing! No!"

"Ugh! That useless idiot!" The redhead called out Lickitung next and Brock then called his Kabutops into battle. Team Rocket shirked in fear as the fossil Pokémon came at the normal-type with a glowing black claw.

"Use Night Slash!" Brock roared and knocked Lickitung back into the man's Wheezing.

"Who are these kids?!"
"Too strong!"
"Don't just stand around and do nothing! Finish them!"

The bluenett released his Victreebell and Ash commanded his Charmeleon to use Ember. Soon, they were up against the redhead's Wobbufett and Brock told Kabutops to use Aqua Jet. As soon as those two were out… All that was left was Meowth.

"I got just the right Pokémon," Ash smirked tossing out Bulbasaur, who didn't want to listen to a word Ash said left everyone speechless. Team Rocket laughed, Bublasaur growled. "Come on! Please! They're thieves! Bad people!"

Meowth charged up his fury swipes and Bulbasaur used its vine whip to smack it back. "Alright! Great! Now use Tackle!" Bublasaur obeyed only this once and Tackled Meowth which sent the entire gang of thieves flying.

"Team Rocket's Blasting off again!"

"Wow! Thanks Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur sneered at Ash's cheerfulness which was getting on its nerves. It released a smog of poison from its bulb, apparently just learned Poison Powder and caused Ash to pass out.

Brock rushed over to Ash, sighing. "You and your Pokémon, Ash."

Though since he was Red's brother it was kind of to be expected. 'If only Red where here to see this.' He smiled, looking up only wondering where the teen could be now…

Chapter 6

When the duo arrived in Cerulean City, the moon was full, their eyes were tired yet Ash was still eager to see Misty and challenge her. Brock nodded his head. Where did he get all that energy from? He only hoped the kid could sprinkle some of it on him every once and a while. They headed towards the Pokémon center first, only to meet Misty there, surprisingly, she had just arrived in the city herself.

"Ash, Brock?!" Surprised and yet happy Misty ran up and hugged Brock, she had no idea he was coming. "Brock – what are you doing here?" He should still be at Pewter City, managing the gym… But… Oh. That's great for him. He has siblings who care and who can actually manage Pokémon, Misty sighed, nodding. "I see, well lucky you."

Brock frowned, rubbing his head. "Yeah, sorry."

"No, it's no problem. It's just my sisters are planning to go on another four-month long cruise around Hoenn and I don't think they'll be back anytime soon," She sighed. "It's better this way if I'm just there, can't trust Pysduck by itself."

Brock smiled, he really wished Misty could travel with them, but she was busy as a gym leader and her sisters being… Rather incompetent didn't help. Pretty, but brains weren't their best powers. Misty had the brains, the power, and the leadership skills of a trainer everyone could want. It was no wonder she was needed all the time.

"So I take it you want to challenge me?" Misty grinned, rubbing Ash's hair.

"Hey! The hair!" He smacked her hand away. "Yeah I do! Bring it on, whenever you're ready!" Punching a fist in the air, Ash showed the flames in his eyes. "Oh. And I got a new Pokémon." Taking the ball off the counter he released the grass type out onto the floor.

"Ash, wait –"

Misty turned her head to see the little Bublasaur growling, she jerked her head back, smiling. "Ash, it doesn't seem to like me. Or anyone for that matter." She twitched her brow as Bulbasaur was trying to push her away. It was probably nervous about the people in the center, or just being in the center. It wanted back in its Pokeball, poor thing.

"Nah, you kidding? Bulbasaur is going to help me win tomorrow! Right buddy?"

"Bulba?" He twitched and released a poisonous gas that made Ash pass out, jumping out of his arms, Bulbasaur raced behind Misty's legs for comfort, Ash was dizzy from the gas, nurse joy's Chansey wasted no time in healing the teen.

"I see stars…" Ash groaned as Chansey healed him. He got up, rubbing his head. "Hey! Why do you have to go and do that?! All I want to do is be friends!" Ash barked, Bublasaur stayed behind Misty, turning his face, unpleased.

"Ash keep your voice down!" Brock hissed, noticing others were glaring at them. It was a hospital, so they had to be respectful of that. But Ash just was agitated at his Bulbasaur… Seriously! Why didn't it get along with him? Red's wasn't this bad.

And then, in an instant, long mechanical arms burst through the door, glass shattered the widows and laughter shook the room. A hot air balloon in the shape of a Meowth floated down to reveal the culprits, and as they jumped out they all entered special poses, regardless of people running and panicking.

"Ah, so we meet again, twerp!"

"You guys!" Ash snarled, Bublasaur ran in front of Misty, same like his trainer, agitated and eager to fight.

"You didn't even let us say our motto – you insolent child!" The redhead stomped her foot rather childishly, she puffed up her cheeks, but then as if within the blink of an eye managed to get back in her stance, crossing her arms.

… The Meowth held up a boom box, music playing. What?

"To protect the world from devastation," Oh no.

"To unite all peoples within our nation," The bluenett pulled out a rose. Where did he get that from?

"To protect the evils of truth and love,"

"To extent our reach to the stars above," Another cheesy pose.

"Jesse!" The girl clasped her hand against the blue-haired man, smiling and her eyes glittering like diamonds.

"James!"

The Boom Box playing that stupid music, still going on repeat, Meowth stood with it held high. He meowed and stood proudly. "Meeowth! I may have taken a beating from your stupid bug but I'm back and ready to fight, that's right!"

…. "We're Team Rocket!"

Ash held up a hand, pointing to his friends. "I'm Ash Rocketto, future Pokémon Master. Misty Waterflower, future Water Pokémon Master, and Brock Harrison –"

"Just, trying to have a good time." He smiled, waving a hand. The trio fell over, cursing. The boom box then exploded, leaving Ash grinning like an idiot.

"We don't care who you are! Once we report to Giovanni on rare Pokémon we catch, even you twerps can't do anythi-"

"Giovanni?" Ash froze. So did Misty and Brock… No. That can't be right. That, or there was more than one Giovanni. "Giovanni Rocketto?" He hissed, eyes flaring, knuckles whitening, Misty stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Ash…"

"That's impossible, dad would never harm Pokémon," He took out Nidorans' Pokeball, eyes widening in horror. Thinking of now where he might have gotten it from. He… He wouldn't, would he?

"Dad?" All three said in unison, then began laughing. "No way does our leader have a bratty son like you!"

Ash's eyes flared with rage. He sent out Pikachu and told it to use Thunderbolt. The mouse obeyed happily which sent the trio and their balloon flying, in no time at all there was peace in the Pokémon Center again, but Ash still was gripping Nidoran's Pokeball, eyes looking down at the floor with horror.

"Dad… He…"

"Pikachu, Pi…" Pikachu tugged at his leg, trying to see what was wrong, he looked over to Bulbasaur who shrugged. Ash stormed off to the phones, he needed to know what was going on. He had everything, he was Giovanni's son!

Or was he?

"Ash – wait!" Misty ran to him, Brock grabbed her shoulder, nodding. "But, Brock. We promised Red."

"There's nothing we can do about it now. We just have to let him find out on his own." The Gym Leaders looked on in distain, only getting questionable looks from the Pokémon down below. Pikachu was worried so he followed Ash.

The Rocketto boy punched the phone, still not making him feel any better. "What do you mean he's not there?"

"Giovanni is busy at the moment,"

"Tell him I met a group of thieves known as Team Rocket," The woman on the phone's eyes widened. Bingo. "And I would like for him to contact me immediately. I'll be staying in Cerulean City for a few days. Pokémon Center got wrecked by them though, but I'll find a place to stay where he can call me."

The woman nodded. Someone he didn't recognize. What was with that? "Understood. I'll relay the message."

"Pikachu?" As Ash turned around he bent down and picked up the mouse, nuzzling it. "Chaaa," It licked him, Ash sniffed.

"I don't know buddy – what to believe. If dad is behind this team of bad guys what am I supposed to do?" He hugged Pikachu tighter, but not too tight. The little creature didn't mind, he needed to be there for his trainer. "In the meantime, I guess we'll train around here and find a place to stay, wanna go meet Bill?"

Pikachu nodded and positioned himself on Ash's shoulder, nuzzling him again. Maybe they could figure out what's wrong with Bulbasaur's attitude problem while they were at it. Approaching his friends, Ash relayed his plan, and told him he was going to stay with Bill, the rooms were still useable but he didn't want to bother Nurse Joy until the center got repaired.

They would head out the next morning, meet Bill and Ash would hopefully get a call soon from Giovanni.

Chapter 7

Ash, Brock and Misty didn't say anything on their way to Bill's cottage. In fact, the first thing Ash did was check to see if he had any calls waiting for him – and when he realized he didn't – he was severely disappointed. Who were Team Rocket? Why were they after him and his friends, and most importantly why hadn't anyone told him about this before?!

"Ash," Misty sighed, leaning her hip up against door frame of the entryway. She didn't know what to say. She promised Red never to speak about the events that took place three years ago – when they all disbanded Team Rocket. Because – they knew it'd take time for Team Rocket to turn over a new leaf, just – Ash couldn't understand that.

So how was she going to tell him?

"You know don't you?" Ash gripped his gloved hand, Misty looked down and hugged herself. "You, mom, Brock, Red, Blue." Ash turned – his face filled with rage and distrust – Pikachu rode into the room on Brock's shoulder as he noticed he'd never seen his trainer get so angry before.

"Why didn't anyone tell me?!" He yelled, Brock's brow furrowed and Ash kicked the frame of the door. "This doesn't make sense – "He tried to kick it again when Pikachu went over to calm him, almost kicking the rodent out of the way Brock yelled.

"Ash. It's not Misty's fault. Now calm down." Ash looked up at Brock and his face just melted into tears. Brock and Misty pulled him into an embrace. "It's ours for not telling you sooner."

When they were back inside all of Ash's Pokémon were being evaluated by Bill. "Yeah, I knew too." Bill sighed. "Giovanni and Red were estranged afterwards, but they swore to keep things together for you because they didn't want you to know."

Estranged. It was really that bad? "Red's known as The Hero of Kanto, he conquered the Elite Four which were up to no good, they did their time and turned over a new leaf." Ash didn't know what to think. Team Rocket, Evil Elite Four? What was all this madness? "The good news is your Nidorino seems to be in excellent condition! Giovanni picked a great one."

The Tech handed the Pokeball containing the venomous rodent over to Ash. "I think he really has turned over a new leaf, that man. We've been in peace for so long there's really nothing to worry about."

Ash smiled down at his Pokeball. His dad was just having a hard time organizing his company – that's all. It'll be better in no time. He'll hear back from him in a few days and get the full scoop, yeah. "Thanks, Bill. And you two, guys."

They all laughed and then the phone began to ring. Bill sat up to go get it, then called Ash "It's for you." Ash happily accepted the phone. His eyes widened when he heard his father's voice on the other end.

"Ash," Giovanni was firm. Like he was going to get scolded. Yet void of most emotion the man still took a deep breath and tried to retain his anger – at whom? Employees? Those guys who kept following him? "I'm sorry."

Ash smiled. He knew Giovanni couldn't see him smiling over the phone, or nodding. So he spoke up. "I know dad… You're just trying to turn over a new leaf right?" A pause, the sound of a pen messing around could be heard.

"Handling a company is hard – I bet. And your just one person. If you make big changes people are going to disagree with you." He sighs. "I don't hate you. I just want you to promise me Pokémon won't ever get hurt again by Team Rocket."

Giovanni didn't realize he was crying until he wiped his eyes, nodding. "Already made that my main priority. I don't know if I can disband Team Rocket completely, as these people have jobs and without them they can't make a living. Some I took off the streets and have this place as their only home. Understand, Ash?"

Ash nodded. "Yes sir."

"But my main goal is to reevaluate our practices and be friendlier towards… everyone. I don't want to hurt Pokémon anymore. I want to make my family proud." He heard Ash laugh. "Ash?"

"I'm not just proud of you, dad I love you." He smiles. Giovanni laughs, wiping away his tears. "I'd like it if you have time we could all do something together. Since we do we ever get to do that stuff?"

"Your birthday?" Giovanni hums, taking out a pen to scribble something down, Ash groans. "But you're right, we need to do something."

"You need to get along better with Red and Silver." There was silence on the line for a moment. "I think… They should understand what's going on. And Red shouldn't be such a jerk. Silver's a kid yeah, but he's smart."

Giovanni thought of his two boys. His eldest who infiltrated his Mewtwo Project in the first place – he was angry yet proud at the same time. It was a ting of awkward pride. Then Silver, who has displayed phenomenal abilities with Pokémon and communicating with them. Ever since he was an infant, they were close. But have parted in ways since Team Rocket's disbarment.

"I will. I might go home tonight, actually." He sighed, feeling tired at that moment. "You said you're in Cerulean City?"

Ash blinked – then nodded. "Yeah. I am. Why?"

"Ms. Waterflower is a tough cookie, she took out three dozen guards in less than thirty minutes when she helped Red Infiltrate Team Rocket HQ," Ash oohed. "You have a challenge to prepare for."

Ash chuckled and rubbed his nose. "I know. She let me borrow her Politode for Brock's Gym. It was actually Forrest – Brock's younger brother since he's travelling with me now. I can't wait to get the Cascade Badge!" Ash held the phone in one hand and pumped a fist in the other, Giovanni laughed at the end of the other line.

"I'll be cheering you on from home."

"Thanks, dad."

Another laugh. "No problem, kiddo. Do your best and achieve your dream, alright?" Then the line clicked and went dead. Ash smiled. That was easy – it was just misunderstanding! Dad was no monster towards Pokémon, he loved them…

0+0

"Giovanni Sir," A Grunt perked his head through the door, seeing his boss contented with himself thinking now might be the right time. "A Jesse, James and Meowth are here to give you a report from Cerulean City."

Giovanni groaned. It couldn't be them – could it? Those morons were following Ash to capture a strong Pokémon for him thinking they'd get praised when really they were doing more harm than good. They barely made it passed training camp, and now they were nothing but a thorn in his side.

He only recruited them because of the talking Pokémon, which he never even got his hands on in the first anyway. But he can't do anything about that now – he promised Ash.

"Jesse, James, Meowth reporting – sir!" They all saluted at the same time. Giovanni waved a hand and pinched his face. They looked at him strangely. James, the bluenett was the first to start.

"We encountered ridiculously strong Pokémon and an exceptional on Route 22 that – "

"Sadly we could not catch."

"Due to – "

"What was the trainer's name?" Giovanni glared at the three of them, deadly and firm. He's never glared at any of his family like this. The three shivered and hugged each other. "The boy with the Pikachu." How did he know it was a boy?

"He – he claimed to be your son! Funny, right?" The three started laughing and Giovanni growled, slamming a fist onto the table, Persian looked up then offered him snuggles from down below.

"You're not joking."
"Oh my god,"
"You have a son?!"

"You will not continue to follow Ash or his friends at all. Steal his Pokémon or intervene with his journey, if I hear any incidents from any of you grunts you will be stripped from your jobs faster than you can breathe."

They all saluted and hurried out the door.

It wasn't him that he was worried about exploding at the grunts… It was –

"Ash found out what?!" Delia, in a pure rage gripped at Giovanni's collar nearly in tears. Meanwhile Mr. Mime and Persian sat in the living room lounging trying not to get into the human's squabble. Mr. Mime tried to clean up the mess but Persian had told it there would just be more coming so wait until they were completely finished. "How?!"

"My employees." Giovanni lowered his hands and cupped Delia's into his own. "Baby look at me," Silver wasn't home, he was currently at a friend's house which gave them all the time in the world to discuss this. "I know that this is hard dealing with me being gone for – "

"Ever. And ever. And forever! Giovanni the boys need you. Red is beginning to hate you. I've never seen him so… Cold." She wrapped her arms around her husband, burying her face into his chest, Giovanni sighed. Thinking of his own mother Madame Boss and how cold she got towards him as a boy he didn't want that happening to Red.

"I know I was harsh, but our boys aren't the same as they were five years ago. I just want things to go back to the way they used to be." She sighed, slowly swaying her body with Giovanni's as if they were dancing. "I love you." She felt his heartbeat, he felt her flush. They argued but they knew they still loved each other.

Giovanni was about two heads taller than Delia. Making it where her breasts would collide with his chest and her face would bury into the nape of his neck. He leaned down a bit and then kissed her forehead. Then, they kissed for real, a more passionate smooch. "I'm sorry my love. If Jirachi's Legends were true, then maybe I could wish all of this away."

All of the things that made them hurt in life – if he could just wish it away he'd do that. But it'd probably come with a consequence like everything else, just like in the Legend. It was still Delia's favorite story as a child. The mythical star Pokémon that granted wishes once every thousand years.

"I think I still have that story book somewhere," She giggled, wiping her eyes. "Want to read it?" Giovanni raised a brow. "Come on, it'll be fun."

Delia grabbed his arm and went into the living room where all the books were kept and it was, a few tears on the corners from babies playing with it roughly, but overall it was in mint condition. It was a song book, it displayed a song and show a story illustrated of Jirachi floating in space.

When daytime turns to night,
When the moon shines bright.

The Jirachi sleeps soundly and they turn to the next page. Revealing stars above the sleeping Pokémon's head.

When you're tucked in tight,
When everything's alright.
Slip softly to that place,
Where secret thoughts run free.

The Jirachi opens up its wings and begins to float around, as they turn to the next page little stars that look like sugar candies fly past Jirachi, below the Pokémon is the forest, then the ocean, and then a city with bright lights.

There come face to face – with who you want to be!
So swim across, the ocean blue.
Fly a rocket to the moon.

Jirachi witnessing a shooting star for the first time since it woke up.

You can change your life, or you can change the world.
Take a change. Don't be afraid. Life. Is yours to live!
Take a chance. And then the best has yet to come…

They're sitting on the sofa now. Mr. Mime and Persian at their feet. Blankets and tea warming them as Giovanni sings the final verse, closing the book, gently setting it aside. He strokes his wife's hair, then kisses her asleep.

Make a wish… He sings softly, twirling a piece of brown hair in his fingertips. It's up to you…
Find the strength inside. Then watch your dreams come true…
He inhales, exhales and kisses her again, leaning to turn off the light, he sings some more. The Pokémon below him purr happily to his voice.
You don't need a shooting star, the magic's right there in your heart… Close your eyes… Believe… and make… a wish…

The last sentence sounded slurred and tired. The boss and his queen slowly go into a deep slumber, snuggled up against each other on the old, crummy sofa in the old tiny house the called home years ago where they started their humble little family.

All he wanted was to live in peace like this forever, not worried about a thing in the world. Happily, retire and have his family surrounding him, he didn't know why if that was too much to ask for. But maybe his wish just needed to be worked at before it could be actually achieved.

Whatever the case may be, Giovanni Rocketto was one thing sure. He'd protect the ones he loved. And never again would they have to witness the horrors of three years ago.

Chapter 8: Conflict

A dozen or so baby Pokémon were on a truck being ready for transport out to various regions. Giovanni stood in silence as the stares from the creatures grew more deadly by the second. He heaved a heavy sigh. There isn't anything I can do about it now. "Close the truck." He ordered the higher-ranking grunts and they soon obeyed.

Giovanni didn't always act like this. He was a little wannabe trainer just like his son, Red aspiring to be a champion just like every ten-year-old who had obtained a new Pokemon for their birthday. But being the son of a successful crime boss Madame Eliza Rocketto – who was fierce in every way with her beauty and words; there was no way he could set out on a journey.

"Release it, Gio. You know your destiny is to uphold the family's honor."

Ten years old, he should be battling and traveling like everyone else! But here he was going to be trapped for life and supposed to take up the family name – all because of his mother! He was going to give away his partner, just like that…! No!

"But – what if I keep him – and train – and keep the family name!" Giovanni held Charmander tighter, who glared at the woman with her legs crisscrossed. "It'll be a valuable asset to me once I take charge of the company… Please mama, don't make me get rid of Charmander!"

Giovanni did his best not to look into his mother's hateful stare. But Charmander snarled at the woman for almost attempting to smack the boy, instead for seeing Charmander's determination she was impressed at how small it was and strong at the same time. "Your right. You may keep it – but get it out of my site immediately and make sure it stays that way!"

The memory faded back to reality as a sinking feeling fell straight to his gut. Giovanni, now an adult. A father. A husband – and yet still up keeping the Team Rocket name and by no means attempting to get rid of it like he promised all those years ago. He tried and tried, but these people had jobs, and they still depended on him as their employer. What was he supposed to do if they were just suddenly laid off?

What was he going to tell his family if he was a criminal? He couldn't tell Red, or Ash… or god forbid – Silver! Silver was just only seven, he couldn't grasp the meaning of a criminal's wrongdoings. Imagining having to grow up without a father just because he was too lazy not to shut down his company – or – rather – too scared.

"Sir – "A grunt came to him from behind. But suddenly stopped when he was greeted with Giovanni's signature glare.

"Can't you see I'm busy!?" Really, busy moping. Busy worrying about something that hadn't even happened yet. But a few other grunts higher on the food chain – so to speak – had approached him too and tugged at their caps. Something was wrong.

"Sir, a boy named Red has infiltrated our base. He says he's going to free all our Pokémon. What do you wish to do?"

"We've already sent grunts- "

Giovanni's eye widened. If Red was here, then Blue and Green must be tagging along. Oh no… "Without my orders!?" His face became blushed, what was he supposed to do if Red and his friends found out he was the leader of Team Rocket NOW? "He's a child – against you grunts!"

"But sir… He's strong…"

"No buts! Call back – we're retreating." The grunts looked at each other with worry, that was until a Charizard came over the fence leading into the back canyon. Before Giovanni could say anything some of the grunts had attempted to subdue the Pokémon with giant electric nets. "No!"

He barked, everyone stepped back as he came further. "Release it." Then, the Charizard glared mostly in surprise. "It's okay, Charizard."

The grunts didn't say anything and did as they were told. Charizard nearly released a flamethrower until Giovani raised a hand "Easy – easy – it's me – "Charizard looked down at the man he recognized as it's master's rival's father. Red… It let
Giovanni pet it and it roared. The other men nearby though. "Where's Blue?"

It roared and pointed a claw towards the back gates. "I see." Giovanni hummed.

"Let the children through. I know them." The boss sighed. "One of them is my son, and the other is his friends." No use in hiding it now. "Treat them with hospitality or your fired."

'Blue's going to kill me.' He groaned Charizard gave cautious looks to the rather startled human men. Until then Giovanni just rolled his eyes. 'I think I should be more worried about them. "Easy Charizard."

Green, Blue, Yellow and Red were soon lead through the back gates. Red's Pika and Yellow's Chuchu soon shocked everyone, minus Giovanni as he was standing close to

Charizard. "Easy!" Giovanni barked. "Pika, Chuchu no need for that now."

The two rodents' skit to a stop. They looked up with complete confusion until from behind Charizard appeared Giovanni. "Dad!?" Red nearly flopped on his backside.

"Pika pi!?" Pika yelled – Blue gave a stern look and the girls gasped.

"What's going on?!"

"Sir – "Giovanni stared. The grunt stiffened. "You… have a son…?"

Everyone was confused. Rightly so, and they deserved an explanation. Team Rocket, his family. The kids, his Pokémon… Giovanni sighed. "I guess – I owe you all an explanation."

Red's face flushed and he clutched his fists. "Hell yes you do!" He yelled and the other grunts stared in shock. "What the heck is this stuff anyway – why are you the leader of an underground mafia!? Does mom know – Silver, Ash?!"

Giovanni stomped his foot. Red stiffened. "That's enough!" Red clutched his fists further. He felt like he wanted to cry. But not in front of everyone here – not now.

He's too old for that. "Yes. Your mother knows. She knew well before we got married. I've been struggling for years to disband Team Rocket but – I can't just leave all these people unemployed! It's an entire underground operation that expands through every region in the world!"

Everyone was left speechless. Giovanni continued. "I obtained this branch when I was sixteen years old. My family was already in talks when I was ten, I wasn't allowed to go out and get Pokémon and train like you were. My worst fear was for you to ever come in conflict with… My work… So I kept it hidden for this entire time." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "I never meant for things to be this way."

"Blue, I apologize. Your Charizard is uninjured." He looked up to Charizard and
nodded. "You can go now." Charizard flew back over to its trainer who quickly returned it back into its Pokeball. "I will discontinue this operation for now, but for the time being Team Rocket remains untouched."

There was a brief moment of silence between all of them… Until Red finally had enough. "I'm not going to stop until Team Rocket is finally taken down. Until then, you're not my father."

Giovanni had nothing to say. With his back turned – Red ran. He only blamed himself for letting it get this far. Who knows how long this will last? A few weeks? A few months? Years? But whatever the case – he was determined to see his family again as soon as the mess was resolved.

And so it began.

it was kind of hard to wrap my finger around ashes name and him having brothers and stuff.

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