Chapter 19 – A Family Affair
Returning to the room a little while after his conversation with Koga's daughter, Ash found Brock already awake and sitting in a chair against the wall. The older Gym Leader looked up when Ash entered, grinning and raising an eyebrow. He shifted and put a small piece of paper on the nightstand.
"Snuck out for a midnight stroll with Misty?" teased Brock, emphasizing 'stroll' with finger-quotation marks.
Ash shook his head and shut the door behind him. "Just having a heart to heart with Janine, so to speak. What are you doing up so early?"
"Couldn't sleep," answered Brock. "I spent half the night dreaming about all kinds of weird stuff. So I figured I'd get up and try to wake up before going down to get some breakfast at the diner across the street. You in?"
Ash checked the clock. "Are they twenty-four hours?" he asked.
Brock nodded.
"Sounds good," said Ash. "I'm going to clean up first, but I'll go."
Patiently taking stock of his pack while Ash took a shower and changed in preparation for the day, the older Gym Leader made a point to ensure none of his smaller valuables had gone missing. When he thought about it, the measure probably wasn't necessary as Janine had thus far given the group no reason not to trust her, but nonetheless, Brock wasn't going to take any chances. The hair on the back of his neck still stood up when he thought about yesterday when she'd come at him like a Gengar and scared him half to death...
Ash got dressed, choosing his flying clothes based mostly on the fact that even on warm days Fuchsia tended towards cold, and this early in the morning it was almost frigid outside. He and Brock left the Pokemon Center, finding only an empty street between themselves and the diner opposite the big masonry building. Still, out of habit he told Brock, Ash looked both ways before, during, and after crossing the street. In truth, the young trainer made a point to scrutinize the shadows lingering in the maze of alleys and side streets that seemed to constitute the whole system of travel within Fuchsia. Ash saw no shapes he could judge to be even vaguely humanoid, an observation that almost bothered him more than if he would have spotted hooded figures watching them.
A bell jingled as Brock opened the diner door and the smell of bacon, eggs, coffee, and pancakes slapped Ash in the face. The pair scanned the building full of empty booths and, seeing no one at the bar, sat at the counter. Brock rang the bell and the two immediately heard something crash in the back. A moment later a short woman with sharp features and dusty brown eyes came scampering out of the kitchen.
"Sorry, sorry," she apologized, rubbing the bags beneath her eyes and setting a dinged metal tray covered in tin plates and cups on the counter. "Caught me cleaning up," she said, pulling a pair of menus out from beneath the bar and setting them in front of the Gym Leaders. "Are you two going to need a minute?"
"I think so," said Ash as he and Brock picked up the menus.
"Alright hon, take your time," said the woman, picking up the tray and walking back to the kitchen.
Ash sighed and began looking over the colorful, two-sided, plastic sheet. He and Brock were both silent for a minute as they looked through the list of items, before Ash set his down and rested his elbows on the counter. When the waitress returned with two cups of coffee and offered them to the trainers on the house, both Ash and Brock eagerly accepted. While Brock drank his straight, Ash took the time to load his up with creme and sugar.
"Jeez," said Brock. "You want some coffee with all that extra?"
Ash shook his head. "No thanks," he answered. "I like it one part coffee, four parts everything else."
"Whatever works," Brock mumbled, finishing off the cup and setting it down with a content sigh. "So," he said, swiveling to face Ash a little more. "What's new?" he asked. "I mean besides the whole saving the world thing?"
"What do you mean?" asked the younger trainer.
"I mean how are you doing? How's life outside of being a Gym Leader? What's new with you and Misty," he asked. "I haven't seen you in more than a month and I wanted to catch up."
"Oh," Ash played up the realization like an epiphany. "Now I get it. Small talk."
"Exactly," Brock answered.
"I'm doing alright," Ash shrugged, then gestured with his thumb at the bandage on his cheek. "Maybe a little beat up, but no worse for wear." The younger Gym Leader gave Brock the five minute version of the past several weeks, bringing him up to speed on business in Vermilion. Ash made a point to emphasize that, with Vermilion's fishing industry booming like it never had before, the town would be more than happy to start shipping some of the extra preserved fish to Pewter if it meant holding off the food shortage a little longer.
"I'd appreciate that," said Brock, looking at the bottom of his empty coffee cup. "When I left I was trying to keep a lid on this but... all of our trade with Viridian has completely stopped," Brock muttered. "The grain they used to ship north to Pewter and Cerulean had just stopped coming. I sent two of my brothers to try and get the supply lines going again, but none of the plantations west of the city are even producing anymore."
"What?" Ash toned. "Since when? I knew that they hadn't been selling, but not even producing?"
"My brothers got back a week before I left. They reported that the plantations had been burned to the ground and someone had gone through and salted the fields," Brock went on as Ash's jaw dropped. "But it gets even better. We hadn't had any word at all from Viridian for some time and, I didn't want to say it in front of everyone earlier but, Viridian is on the brink of exploding. Their gym's stores are the only real source of food in the area and that isn't cutting it for some twenty thousand people."
Ash shifted and paused as the waitress came back and took their orders, then returned to the kitchen again. "I had no idea," he said. "How's Pewter handling it?"
Brock tapped on the counter with his knuckles, staring down at the bar. "I didn't want to start a panic, with anyone," he said. "So I've been trying to keep a tight hold on the flow of information, but those plantations were the bread basket for most of the western cities. Without that grain, Pewter is having to focus more resources than ever on just getting food. I mean, we've established several groups of police lead hunters who try to harvest some resources from the Viridian Forest, but that's dangerous and unreliable at best. Mt. Moon is turning out to be more and more valuable, but there's only so much we can get out of the Paras and Parasect living there without seriously affecting the population. Frankly we needed that grain."
"Can you farm the fields around Pewter?" Ash asked. "I remember them being pretty big."
"Big yes, fertile no," Brock responded. "The ground is too rocky and dry. We were trying to get some kind of agriculture going, but it's probably going to be extremely labor intensive and not very rewarding so I'm not holding out hope. We can maintain our current reserve levels thanks to the caves under the city and all the mushrooms that grow there but... it doesn't make for comfortable living."
Ash thought for a minute, looking up and thanking the waitress when she brought the plates of pancakes and bacon. "Could we get another couple of coffees?" he asked.
"I'll have those right out," she answered.
Turning back to Brock, Ash put a hand on his shoulder and shook him a little. "We'll set this right," he said. "Don't let it stress you out too much. We'll come through just like we've always done."
"It's not just about you or me," Brock answered, tone growing more sober than Ash thought he'd ever heard his normally easy going partner. "This is about all of Pewter. More than that, Viridian and Cerulean are at stake too. Kasumi sent me a letter saying that she was on the verge of authorizing her gym to hunt in Mount Moon to make up for the grain shortage. Cerulean can only draw so much from one lake, no matter how big, after all. If that happens then not only will it cut into what my men can harvest, but it would destroy the local ecosystem. Worse still, if they start cutting into our resources then my men might just decide that it's worth fighting over Mount Moon to put more food on their own tables...
"Not only do we not know whose responsible for destroying the plantations, we have no way of restoring them. The fields won't support agriculture for years, probably decades... and it's brought the three biggest frontier cities to the brink of fighting with each other over resources that were plentiful two years ago," Brock sipped from the coffee.
Ash took a moment to soak in the information. "No wonder you wanted to keep all that under wraps. Brock, I'll send a message to Baily and the City Counsil in Vermilion and tell them to start shipping whatever we can afford to Viridian, Pewter and Cerulean. Maybe we can start farming the land to the north to make keep the food flowing."
"Thanks," said Brock. "I don't want to be a burden, but we could all really use all the help you can spare. Damn I just wish I knew what was going on. My knee jerk reaction reaction is to blame Team Rocket, but even for them it makes no sense. Why would anyone, especially Rocket who had so much to gain from them, destroy the bread basket of the west?"
"I don't know," Ash mumbled. "Right now though, we need to focus on problems we can fix. The situation out west isn't so dire yet that people are rioting and starving to death in the streets so we still have time to reallocate resources. And, Team Rocket is still the enemy we know, they're still working on getting to the bottom of Cerulean Cave, and we still need to stop them. After we take care of that we can focus on fixing everything else."
"I wonder why they're still working on that," Brock leapt on the chance to change subjects. "They've had more than a year."
"Who knows," Ash shrugged. "Something is obviously keeping them out. Still, they have it-"
"So we want it," Brock grinned and finished Ash's sentence.
"Exactly."
By the time the two trainer's finished breakfast, a few people had begun to trickle into the diner. Both Ash and Brock agreed that it would be best to set off as early as possible and headed back to the Pokemon Center. Passing through the cafeteria on the way to their rooms, Ash and Brock found Misty and Janine sitting at a table and conversing over some empty bowls of cereal. It made Ash sigh with relief to see the two apparently getting along.
Both girls looked up as Ash and Brock neared, and set their silverware aside. Ash grabbed the bowls as Misty and Janine got up and moved to take them to the kitchen's conveyer belt. Misty followed him, hanging onto his arm. When Ash set the bowls on the belt, Misty reached up and put her arms around his neck to kiss him well within view of everyone in the cafeteria.
"Somebody's in a good mood," Ash laughed, putting his hands on Misty's hips and holding her against him after a long, head-turning moment.
"We've got a big day ahead of us," she said. Then her eyes narrowed only enough to let Ash know there was something on her mind. "Besides, I thought you could use a reminder of why you don't need to go sneaking around dark rooms with another woman."
Ash's face flushed but he managed to hold back a nervous chuckle, but Misty put a finger on his lips before he could respond. "Don't worry," she said, a sickeningly sweet smile on her lips. "We'll leave it right here and not worry about it again."
Ash nodded. Don't say a word, his brain ordered his mouth.
SC
An hour's hike took the party deep enough into the woods beyond Fuchsia that the trees and light underbrush swallowed up all signs of civilization. The terrain had sloped gently downward for a mile before dropping sharply into a vast basin utterly choked with trees, ferns, and mist. Standing at the top of the harsh slope, Ash, Janine, Brock, and Misty looked over the basin, none of them able to see its end.
"This is it," said Janine, peering out at the other trainers from under her hood.
Misty crossed her arms. "It's beautiful," she whispered, watching as the sun, just coming into view on their right made the thin mists seem to glow yellow and orange. "Does it have a name?"
"The Lavender Vale," said the girl in purple, "not for any particular reason other than it having belonged to Lavender a long time ago. Unfortunately this marks the extreme edge of the area the gym patrols and it's where we have to part." Janine paused as if she expected someone to speak up, but continued on when no one did. "If they were to see me with you they'd likely attack on sight so I'll take an alternate route."
"You're sure the markers will still be there," Ash asked.
Janine pointed down to the base of the hill and, following her gesture, the other trainers spotted a small stone obelisk. The structure, maybe ten feet high and two or three feet wide at the base sported a great number of carvings Ash couldn't make out from the top of the hill. "That's the first one," she said. "The path they marked faded long ago, but the remnants of the road should be enough to keep you on track." She turned and looked at Ash specifically. "See you on the other side," she said. Without any hesitation, Janine flung herself down the slope, skidding down the moist grass in a spray of dew and vanishing into the forest without a trace.
"She can make an exit," said Brock.
Ash looked between Brock and Misty, then glanced at Pikachu on his shoulder. Rubbing his hands together he took a deep breath. "Shall we?" he asked, stepping out over the slope and letting gravity do the rest. Immediately, Pikachu burst into a chittering fit and leapt to the level ground at Misty's feet. Taking long strides and fighting to keep his balance, Ash skated down the grassy incline and waved his arms about. Halfway down the forty foot slide, Ash's feet pitched out in front of his face and the young trainer suddenly found himself parallel to the ground. Muttering something unintelligible, Ash connected with the slope and began a rapid descent, only hastened by the slick grass.
Coming to the bottom and planting his feet on the ground, taking several leaping strides along the flat ground to avoid a complete wipe out, Ash huffed to a stop right at the base of the obelisk and leaned forward to rest his hand against it. "That was a bad idea," he muttered, feeling both the dew from the grass soaking through to his back and the stinging of several thin cuts on his elbows and forearms.
"Ash!" Misty called from the top of the slope, hidden from view below by the trees. "Are you alright?"
"Fine!" Ash yelled back, catching his breath and listening to his heart drum in his ears. About then he felt the pain of the impact with the slope seeping into his hindquarters and he stretched back to rub through his wet jeans. "A little sore!" he amended, walking back to the slope.
Looking up the green slide, Ash saw Brock slowly walking himself down via a rope the older trainer had tied around the trunk of a stubby tree. "Oh," Ash said to himself. "That might have worked a little better." Though the rope only reached three quarters of the way down the hill, it allowed Brock to skip the rest of the way down the slope with no trouble, and Misty followed behind him with even less effort while carrying Pikachu in one arm.
The redhead took a single, smirking look at Ash and shook her head as the little yellow Pokemon in her arms jumped back to its trainer. "Silly," she said, walking up behind him and brushing her hand down his back to clear away some of the debris. "These grass stains are never coming out by the way," she added. "At least you'll have some camouflage."
"Traitor," Ash sighed, reaching up to scratch Pikachu behind the ears. He flinched when the rodent batted him on the nose with its paw and glared at him as if to chastise him. "I know, I know," said the trainer, grabbing a pokeball from his belt. "I'll give you some warning next time." Again Pikachu shook its head and batted Ash several times on the back of his head.
In a bright white flash, Ash released Arcanine from his pokeball and hopped atop the Pokemon's back. Scratching the eager Pokemon all through his flowing mane, Ash took a minute to welcome the canine back into action before turning to Misty and offering her a hand up. As Misty swung one leg over the Pokemon's back, Brock took a pokeball from his belt and snapped it open.
A low grumble, the sound of rocks clattering against one another, echoed through the trees as the light congealed into a massive quadrupedal Pokemon more than four feet at the shoulder and almost eight feet long. As the light transformed to heavy grey plates of armor accented by spikes and dull obsidian eyes set in a wide face, rock jumped onto the Pokemon and into the saddle lashed to the back of its shoulders.
"A Ryhorn?" said Misty. "Impressive. How long have you had him?"
"Her," Brock corrected, patting the Pokemon on the side of its head and settling into his saddle. "I found her on my last trip to Mount Moon actually. I went to scout out some of the entrances to the Deep Roads, making sure Rocket was really gone, and she came lumbering out of the dark like she'd been looking for me. Didn't you girl," he ran his hand along the rocky ridge over the Ryhorn's eye and the Pokemon cocked its head to expose more of its skull to him. "Ever since she's been my all-terrain Pokemon whenever I want to be up a little higher and more out of harm's way. Onyx is great, but sometimes I need a little more... subtlety."
"Subtle," Ash mulled over the word, looking at the Pokemon. "I guess."
"Don't knock it till you've tried it," Brock countered amicably.
Ash opened his mouth to respond, but stopped as the radio in his ear buzzed. "Go ahead," he said, reaching up and tapping the earpiece.
"Just making sure the radio works," Janine said on the other end as Brock and Misty went quiet.
"Loud and clear," said Ash. "How are things looking on your end?"
The radio remained silent for a moment. "I'm not sure," she answered. "I don't know if there's been some kind of trouble, but I haven't seen any patrols along the normal routes yet. I'm going to keep moving towards the mansion."
"Alright. I want radio silence from here on in unless something comes up or unless we go to Plan B."
"Acknowledged," said Janine, the radio going dead afterward.
Ash turned to his partners, Arcanine stepping around so Ash could face Brock. "Keep an eye out. No trouble yet but that doesn't mean we can relax. Let's move." Arcanine turned again allowing Ash to spot through the woods and try to locate the next obelisk marker. "That way," he pointed into the woods, seeing their destination.
As the party went quiet and began riding deeper into the forest, bathed up to their knees in thin mist, Ash reached out with his thoughts until he touched Haunter's consciousness. The ghost jumped with anticipation at the contact and floated invisibly out of Brock's backpack where it had been warding the Gym Leader against attacks from behind. Ash motioned with his eyes and thoughts, instructing the specter to patrol the woods around the trainers out to a radius of fifty meters and relay anything of any interest to the trainer. Giddy with excitement and barely able to contain an audible laugh Haunter raced out to the designated distance and began sweeping the undergrowth in expanding and contracting arcs.
"Keep your guard up," Ash whispered to Pikachu as the little Pokemon sat silently on his shoulder and scanned the surrounding woods for danger. Arcanine yipped quietly and constantly sniffed the air, his eyes darting from point to point in front of the party as Ryhorn, surprisingly quiet for a Pokemon lugging around a rocky carapace, marched behind.
They reached the second obelisk and stopped. All three trainers peered off into the woods and looked for the next marker. "There," Misty spotted it and pointed it out to the rest. Again the party quietly set off for the next marker.
As Ash, Misty, and Brock began spotting the markers more and more easily in the forest, traveling deeper into the woods as an our trudged passed, Haunter began relaying more and more information to Ash. The ghost had spotted some of the hidden birds that kept issuing the strange calls echoing all through the woods, and Ash flinched as Haunter decided to sample the colorful animals' flavor. Both Brock and Misty commented on how the woods got strangely quiet a moment later.
Another hour ticked by, and Ash began to wonder how far the uniform layout of the forest could continue. By now, finding the obelisks was more of a chore than anything else, and none of the Pokemon had spotted anything more threatening than songbirds. More than once, Ash drew out his thermal imager to scan the woods, but saw little more than his Pokemon.
A pang of shock nearly knocked Ash from Arcanine's back and he fumbled to catch the imager he'd dropped as Haunter's consciousness prodded his over their link. Gruffly Ash asked where the attackers were coming from, but felt only the ghost's laughter as it stated that it had found something and wanted the party to come see.
Interesting... the word floated over the link. Not far... this way.
This had better be good, Ash thought. He cast about and located Haunter's general location and pointed. "What's that?" he asked as they reached another obelisk, despite not seeing anything.
"What?" asked Misty and Brock in unison.
"That," Ash feigned peering harder into the woods, pausing for a minute before rearing Arcanine around as Haunter came floating invisibly out of the woods to lead him. "I want to check it out."
"Another marker?" asked Misty, looking off in the direction of the one she'd already spotted as Ash and Brock both left their chosen path.
Bigger, Haunter whispered to Ash.
"No," said the younger Gym Leader. "It's bigger I think."
A large, indistinct, shape began to take on form as the trainers strayed into the trees. Arcanine's lip curled up in a low snarl and the trainers stopped in their tracks. Ash could now see that in the direction Haunter led there was a massive mound of... something he couldn't make out. Arcanine's glare was directed elsewhere however, at a tree just in front of the travelers. Glancing over, Ash immediately spotted the crack smashed into the trunk, and the blood spattered all over that same side of the tree.
"Holy shit," Ash muttered, looking over the body slumped against the trunk, most notably, the skull smashed beyond recognition, and the chest ripped open what Ash could only imagine as huge, blunt claws. Through the caked, apparently long-dry, blood Ash could make out the mark he recognized as the Fuchsia Gym's motif. "I think I know why we haven't met anyone yet," he said, stepping down from Arcanine with misty and walking forward into the small clearing.
In a radius of a little more than ten meters, the canopy of the forest opened to allow sunlight to fall on the shattered and fallen trees. Any plant taller than a few inches had been torn up and tossed about like toothpicks. Huge footprints dug deep into the ground and divots pockmarked the grass everywhere. Scattered about the artificial clearing like bits in a butcher's shop, were a dozen human corpses, each rent and torn as badly as the first Ash had seen outside. None of these were what drew the three trainers' gazes however.
Heaped in the center of the clearing like a pair of burial mounds, two massive Snorlax bodies lay unmoving. Deep slashes and punctures marred their deep blue fur and exposed the hugely thick layer of fat beneath their skins, letting the smell of carrion and rot pervade the clearing. Their forms, even prone rested almost eight feet high and gave Ash, Brock, and Misty all reason to pause, even as Haunter began floating about and pointing out to a very nervous Ash that each of the bodies bore the tattoo marking them as Fuchsia's Gym members. The specter also noted that each carried a small coin purse but none of these were what had drawn the ghost's attention.
Look behind, the ghost's ethereal voice floated over the link.
"This was one hell of a fight," Brock murmured. "Be thankful Snorlax only ever run in pairs.
Ash paced around the first body of the huge dead Pokemon, and for the first time heard the low, almost inaudible drawing of breath. His blood froze but Haunter pushed him to look while Misty and Brock both began picking over some of the corpses. Coming to the hollow between the two Pokemon, Pikachu on his shoulder and Arcanine at his back, Ash found the source of the quivering breathing.
"Pairs," he repeated. "Unless there's a baby." He knelt down as the shape right in front of him attempted to retreat, but found itself ringed in by its parents. The little Pokemon, all but identical to the larger Pokemon on either side aside from its pointier ears and slightly thinner frame. Measuring only two feet high the creature seemed diminutive to Ash compared to its parents. "Brock, Misty!" he called, his voice driving the Pokemon to cower. He drew out the Pokedex and pointed it at the Pokemon. "I found a survivor."
Misty and Brock both came jogging around the body. Brock drawing a small white box from his pack as he moved. "Where are they injured and who-" he asked, cutting himself off when he saw the little Pokemon. "Oh," he said, "a Munchlax... well I guess we know why the big ones fought to the death."
Misty remained frozen stiff. Glancing warily between the two huge bodies and the littler Pokemon, she worked to keep her breathing from becoming to labored as her mind involuntarily made its way back to the night Cerulean had come under attack by just one such monster. While Ash got to his feet, waiting for the "Data Sent" screen and closing the Pokedex when he saw it, Brock took a step back from the scene.
"Well, what do you want to do?" asked the older Gym Leader. "There's really nothing for us here, he patted the wallet pocket sewn into the vest beneath his armor. "And I'm not sure taking the baby," he gestured to the still cowering Munchlax, "would be the right decision."
Misty's breath caught as the Pokemon's eyes locked on her and she heard a pitiful little rumble escape its mouth. Immediately she turned to Ash and Brock. "We can't just leave it," she blurted. "It's just a baby. There's no way it could make it on its own with both parents dead."
Brock and Ash both glanced at one another, though it was Brock who spoke up. "We can't take it with us," he said. "Snorlax are dangerous and unpredictable. Frankly I've never even heard of one being raised in captivity without trouble, much less taught to fight for a trainer."
Stepping forward as Ash looked down at the blue Pokemon, Misty looked between her partners. "Neither have I," she said. "But I haven't ever heard of one being captured as a baby and raised by humans either. This might be a chance at just that."
Brock thought for a second. He couldn't argue that, even as traveled as he was, he'd never heard of a Munchlax being trained to fight from infancy... and this was indeed an infant, he glanced at the Pokemon as it tried to hide behind its dead parent. Neither however, had he heard of anything good ever coming from interaction with a Snorlax. "Misty, if there were any precedent I'd be all for it, but there isn't."
Ash put a hand on Misty's shoulder. "I'm not sure it's a good idea either," he said.
"Look at it," Misty muttered, pointing at the Munchlax. "If it weren't a baby I'd leave it too, but put yourself in its position."
Brock sighed. "It may go against everything I try to believe about Pokemon, but when it grew into a Snorlax it would be too dangerous to-" he stopped as the blue Pokemon, still taking quivering breaths and rumbling lowly, stepped out from behind its mother's head, and walked up to Misty. Looking up at her, the Pokemon extended its arms and embraced her leg. The girl knelt down and looked up at Brock as she put one arm around the Munchlax.
"Does it look too dangerous to you now?" she asked as the Pokemon buried its face in her shoulder.
Brock, and Ash for that matter, stood stunned for a moment but Pikachu put a hand up to his cheek and chittered uncomfortably, ready to unleash a bolt of lightning at a second's notice. Ash reached up however and patted the Pokemon's head. "Hold on," he whispered.
"That..." Brock thought aloud, "is really, really weird."
"I'm keeping him," Misty said, standing up and scooping up the Munchlax in one arm and went for a pokeball with the other. Grasping the orb that had remained vacant since Staryu's death, she clicked it open and the Munchlax disappeared into the flash of white light. "And that's the end of it."
Brock sighed again and put up his hands. "Alright," he said. "If you insist, I can't stop you."
Ash smiled a little and touched Misty's arm. "I knew you had a heart in there somewhere."
"Told you," she playfully punched his arm. "Ready to go?" the girl looked between her partners and the Pokemon.
"Sure, sure," said Brock. "Let's mount up."
Arcanine leading the way, Ash, Misty and Brock set off back into the forest. With a little help from Haunter they quickly found themselves back on the path marked by the obelisks and trekking deeper into the trees. Another hour passed before the ghostly scout again drew Ash's attention. Haunter continued to maintain a perimeter around the travelers, but it contacted Ash to warn him that there was a single human approaching them. The ghost relayed that the camouflage worn by the ninja seemed to shift and change color as the person moved through the trees, meaning that while Haunter's senses had picked it up instantly, Ash's might not be so lucky. Holding up a hand to stop the group, Ash peered into the woods and silently instructed Haunter to follow the scout.
"Hold on," Ash whispered, waiting for Haunter to follow up with what was happening.
Misty leaned forward. "What do you see?" she asked, scanning the forest.
A moment passed and Arcanine sniffed the air, nerves on edge, before Haunter again contacted Ash. The specter reported that the scout had closed within ten meters of the party and observed them from up in the trees, then turned around and left.
Stay a little farther back, Ash instructed. If anyone gets any closer than that last guy, knock them out of the trees for us.
The ghost nodded up and down and rushed out to keep running circles around the party. At the same time Misty put her hand on Ash's side.
"Nothing," said Ash, shaking his head. "I thought I saw something but it's gone."
"You have some kind of sharp eyes," muttered Brock as they all set off again.
They had barely gone half a mile before Haunter reported that the trainers were coming up to a sudden break in the woods, and by the time Ash thought to relay it to the rest of the trainers Arcanine had already stepped through the treeline into a big clearing. The expanse of open grass stretched out before the trainers, clean cut in stark contrast to the last clearing they'd encountered. Jutting up in the center of the field, a large mansion consisting of three visible stories kept vigil on the clearing. With at least a hundred meters between the house and the nearest tree, Ash couldn't help but wonder how Janine would, if she hadn't already, infiltrate the facility in broad daylight.
"Here we are," Brock said, walking his Ryhorn up beside Arcanine and looking over the house. His brown eyes focused intently on the faint path leading to the courtyard at the front of the mansion. "What was the plan again?" he asked rhetorically. "Weren't we supposed to just walk through some kind of killing field and knock on the front door?"
Ash nodded as Arcanine pawed at the ground a little and Pikachu hopped down onto the canine's head for a better look ahead. "All of a sudden," he said, petting Pikachu down the back, "I don't really like it either. But at this point we don't have too many options. Let's just do our parts." He tapped Arcanine's sides with his heels and set off into the field, angling for what looked like the main entrance.
Approaching the long neglected courtyard ringing off the main entrance, Ash and his companions paused before continuing. "I half-expected there to be traps or something," Ash muttered, both to Misty and to himself. "You think this is the right place?"
Misty shrugged. "Only one way to find out," she said.
The three trainers hopped down from their mounts, though no one yet entered the courtyard. Brock first returned Ryhorn to its pokeball while Ash waited with a hand running through Arcanine's mane. The youngest trainer's eyes scanned the front of the building as he tried to get a feel for what he could expect inside. If the other members of Fuchsia's Gym were anything like Janine, he thought, then the innocuous fading whitewash and grand wooden columns of the building's facade must have been hiding something sinister.
As he returned Arcanine to its pokeball, Ash reached down to the ground and picked up a small grey stone and chucked it into the courtyard before him. The bit of rock clattered along the broken cobblestones, the clinking and clacking seeming far too loud for the calm morning. Nothing happened and Ash glanced around at Misty and Brock. The three trainers shrugged at each other and walked forward in unison. As they reached the stairs to the small porch, the only obstacle remaining between them and the door, Ash again paused as Haunter floated invisibly up beside him.
People, whispered the ghost. Second floor. Hooded. Masked. Watching.
Great, Ash thought. He reached for Haunter's attention. Traps? he asked, though immediately he felt only the specter's uncertainty.
Taking a deep breath, ready to react to the slightest provocation, Ash stepped up the creaking stairs. As nothing happened he walked forward, raised his hand and knocked casually on the oaken frame. "I'm Ash Ketchum, Leader of Vermilion Gym, here to see Koga of Fuchsia!" he shouted, stepping back from the door and letting his words filter through the house. "Brock Takeshi, Leader of the Pewter Gym has come as well. We both demand and audience!"
A moment passed in silence. Ash took slow, quiet breaths as he waited for a response. When one finally came, from Haunter no less, the young trainer twitched in surprise. Coming this way, Haunter whispered.
A loud metallic clicking filled the morning as some mechanism within the door came undone. With a soft creak and the sound of settled wood bending, the big doors began to slide inwards. Ash crossed his arms as two people, each wearing denim jeans and baggy hoodies stepped out onto the porch. Both individuals had their dark green hoods pulled up over their heads, but one wore an ostensibly eyeless mask the color of sand while the other left her face uncovered.
The young woman stepped in front of the masked figure and glanced between the three trainers. "It's an unexpected honor to receive you, sirs," she said with a polite bow. As she moved and her hoodie shifted, Ash noticed that rather than pokeballs at her waist she wore a short sword strung to a thick belt of leather. "If I may ask, what brings you this far into the wilderness?"
"Business with your leader," said Ash, making sure to keep his tone firm without being rude. He made sure to watch her hands as the green sleeves shifted farther down her wrists, almost of their own will it seemed, and hid her hands from view. "Is Koga here?"
The woman in the green hoodie turned to look at the man in the sandy mask before looking back to the visitors. "He is. Though I'm afraid if you want to see him you'll have to wait for a while."
"That's fine," said Ash. "Can you show us the way?"
"Of course," the woman bowed again and motioned for the trainers to follow her. "Please, come this way." Stepping inside and waiting as Ash, Misty, and Brock followed behind the man in the tan mask, the woman walked back to the door, closed it, and slid a lever mounted to the door into a locking mechanism fixed over the seam.
Inside, the smell of wood rot mixed with the odors of stagnant water and musty upholstery. Dim light dispersed throughout the long hall, originating from small oil lamps set on end tables placed at even intervals down the length of the corridor. The motes of dust hanging about the lamps like halos worked only to make the corridor feel even darker. Ash could see no windows or skylights anywhere, and the numerous open halls leading off from the entryway were all unlit, standing like the mouths of mine shafts.
The woman walked to the nearest end table and picked up one of the little lamps. Turning back to the three trainers she smiled amicably and stood unmoving. "The antechamber is just down this way," she said, turning to one of the side halls and waiting.
Ash glanced around, suddenly aware that the man in the mask had disappeared. From the looks on Misty's and Brock's faces, he guessed that they too had noticed. Nevertheless, he reached up and patted Pikachu on the cheek. The vigilant little rodent understood and hummed to itself, beginning to glow with enough intensity to light up everything within a stone's throw of Ash.
"You mind?" he asked their guide, pointing to the luminescent Pokemon.
"As you will," she answered, holding up the lamp and blowing it out before setting it back on the small table.
The mansion, large as it appeared from the outside, only seemed to grow bigger as the trainers followed the guide deeper into its confines. The house's halls, while even and built soundly, turned and curved at subtle angles. The rugs and darkly shuttered windows laid out at varying distances and the interspersed works of faded art gave the halls a notably congested feel without allowing the trainers a sense that they could take cover behind anything at all if the situation called for a fight. Often, just as often as not actually, Ash would pass by a column next to the wall and find that from his previous point of view the pillar had hid a narrow door only visible after he had walked by. More than once he'd seen shadows skirt out of the like cast by the Pokemon on his shoulder.
As they entered a large room, its walls lined with exits to other hallways, the guide stopped. Ash heard silence ringing in his ears as he realized that for the length of their walk through the house, their footsteps had been the only sound to hear. He looked around, partly to make sure that Brock and Misty were still behind him and partly to spot around for an ambush, but saw only the guide and his companions. Set about the open center of the room were numerous chairs and sofas arranged around small tables. Leading up to the second and third stories of the house, a massive open stairway on the far end of the room twisted up and out of sight, leading Ash's eyes to the huge pentagonal tarp stretched out over the ceiling above the center of the room.
"Feel free to have a seat," said the guide, gesturing to the many places to sit. "I'll inform Master Koga of your arrival." She quietly walked by Ash and Misty, leaving down one of the side halls and leaving the three travelers in complete silence.
Reaching out with his mind, Ash found Haunter sneaking up the stairs and told the ghost to keep a close eye on the indoor balconies overlooking the antechamber. When Haunter agreed, Ash turned back to Misty and sighed. "And now we wait," he said.
"And now we wait," Misty echoed.
Brock flopped down in one of the chairs whose cushions immediately erupted with with a choking dust. The Gym Leader leapt up as though he'd sat on a tack, coughing and sputtering. As Ash and Misty both waited with tensed muscles, Brock swiped at the air in front of his face to clear the dust.
"Phew," he laughed and coughed, eliciting a sigh of relief from his companions. "Somebody needs to call these people a maid."
The three trainers waited in abject quiet as the minutes ticked by. Haunter made its rounds about the three levels of the mansion immediately surrounding Ash, and returned to inform the young Gym Leader that, while it had come across several people, all of whom wore the same unremarkable denim jeans and cotton hoodies, Haunter had yet to find even a single pokeball. What was more, Ash thought, none of the other people in the mansion seemed concerned with the presence of someone there to meet with their leader.
Ash checked his watch, deciding that forty-five minutes of waiting in the dark was more than enough, and got up from the couch where he'd sat with Misty. The redhead looked up at him and stood up, as did Brock.
"Something up?" asked Misty.
Ash shrugged. "I want to get on with-"
"Mr. Ketchum, forgive my tardiness!" an echoing voice fell from the stairs and made all three trainers whirl on the source. Descending the heavy wooden steps with footfalls as light as a cat's, a man in plain khaki pants and an oxford shirt walked towards them. "But I was delayed by business with an old friend."
Ash took a moment to size up the new arrival, deciding almost immediately that, for someone possibly in league with an evil group of thieves and murderers, the man before him appeared nothing if not genteel. His honey colored hair, combed back and falling to his shoulders framed his face neatly enough, while his pressed white shirt and tan pants, accented by a black leather belt sporting a trio of pokeballs fit his ghostly pallor and lean physique like a well-tailored glove.
"No harm done," said Ash, walking forward to the man, both to shake his hand and allow Pikachu's light to better illuminate the individual. "Koga I assume?"
The man nodded and bowed. "At your service," he said. "Now to the chase, my apprentice informed me that you didn't just stop by to make my acquaintance. What can I do for you, Mr. Ketchum?"
Ash crossed his arms and leaned away from the middle aged man. "What do you know about Malebolge?" he asked.
A small grimace flitted across his lips before the blonde man's face returned to an affably blank mask. "That's outside my area of expertise," he answered. "I could tell you as much as any of the other Gym Leaders in the region, but with as far away as it is from Fuchsia, I'm content to leave worrying about that troublesome place to the Elite Four." He paused and looked between Brock and Misty before turning back to Ash. "Why?" he asked. "What's your interest?"
Before Ash could speak, Haunter intruded on the young Gym Leader's thoughts and informed him that during the brief conversation, more than a dozen of the people in masks had gathered around the balconies to watch. None of them carried pokeballs, but each was armed with a vast assortment of knives, shortswords, and other concealable weapons. Ash reached up and rubbed his brow. "I'm planning a mission to the lower levels," he said plainly. "I want to know what's down there and I need help from the other gyms to do it."
"Good luck, but I'm not going with you."
An uneasy laugh escaped the younger Gym Leader. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I'm not asking for an escort, just an endorsement."
"Alright, I'm with you so far," said the man claiming to be Koga. "But what would you get out of my backing you?"
"Two things," said Ash. "First, as you'd know, if I want to have a shot at getting by the Elite Four I'll need the unanimous support of all the Gym Leaders. Second and on a related note, I'm working to boot Team Rocket out of Kanto for good, but again, for that I'll need the support of most if not all of the Gym Leaders. Your endorsement would further both of my goals."
"I see, now," said the blonde man, raising an eyebrow, "tell me. Why would I want to help you take down Team Rocket? As far as I can tell they've done nothing but good in the Fuchsia community and I for one like having them around."
Ash could sense the insincerity in the words, both the man's suddenly mirthless grin and narrowed eyes betrayed the sentiment. The young trainer's breath caught as his hand twitched up towards his ear, but he stopped himself. "You're not a very good liar," he said with a sudden pointedness that made both Brock and Misty flinch. Ash looked up at the balconies looking down on the conversation and the masked faces watching him before he turned back to the man in front of him. "And something tells me you're not Koga either. You're too young."
"You must be mis-" the man stopped as Ash grabbed his collar and pulled him forward. His eyes went wide as Ash's fist slammed into his jaw and snapped his head backwards.
"Janine's been compromised!" Ash barked, throwing the unconscious figure in his grasp aside and snatching a pokeball from his belt. At the same time a screaming woman plummeted to the ground and crashed into the wooden floor with a shattering crack, Haunter's giggling overhead muted by the screams of surprise. "Go to Plan B!"
SC
Several Minutes Prior...
The rusted grate groaned in complaint as pale fingers forced it loose from its slot in the tile floor. Sliding the red metal aside and filling the bathroom with the grinding of metal on ceramic, the hooded figure's head breached the surface of the water standing stagnant a few millimeters beneath the floor. Despite the vibrant shade of purple coloring her face, Janine took a slow and quiet breath to relieve her burning lungs. As her vision vibrated for want of air she pulled herself out of the drain, barely able to wriggle her narrow shoulders through the hole. Gingerly replacing the grate, she looked around the filthy communal shower and stood up.
Taking the time to move carefully, as not to cut herself on the rusty metal that seemed to coat every sharp angle in the room, Janine stepped out of the shower and walked to the row of bathroom stalls. Finding the locked one she crawled underneath and found the duffel bag hidden behind the toilet. Removing the plastic bag from her pocket and checking the radio inside, she slipped it in her ear. Quickly stripping naked and throwing the wet clothes into the toilet bowl she removed the clean garments from the bag and got dressed. After pulling the middle of the hoodie down over her belt of weapons and tucking the ends of her sleeves around her wrists, she snuck to the bathroom door and listened. Hearing nothing she slipped into the hall beyond and snuck down the dimly lit corridor.
In the absolute silence of the mansion's restricted basement, her padded shoes sounded to her like iron-plated boots. The twitches running down the entire right side of her body did little to add to her efforts at stealth in the narrow passage. Coming to a single door at the end of the dead end corridor, Janine knelt and placed her ear against the rusted frame. Counting off the seconds she reached inside her pocket and drew out a small set of lock picks which she quickly began working into the door.
She jerked her hand away, hearing only the tiny hiss of air as a needle hidden in the door's frame shot out and clanged off the opposite jam. Sighing in relief, and to steady her hands, Janine set back at the lock, taking more than a minute to gently work the mechanism before it clicked and her tools met no resistance. Quick as a thought she opened the door and stepped inside.
The room beyond, contrasting violently with the dark hall outside, glowed from the light of numerous lamps hanging on the walls. The single spacious chamber bore the trappings of a comfortably furnished study and bedroom combination, sporting a bed piled high with blankets and furs, bookcases laden with a number of volumes, and a corner desk stacked with books and papers. Walking quickly across the rugs covering the stone floor, Janine grabbed one of the lamps from the wall and set it on the desk as she began riffling through papers and flipping through books.
"Got to be something here," she whispered, holding apparently blank papers up to the light and turning books to let the pages hang loose. Coming across a sealed letter at the bottom of a stack of books, Janine grabbed it and ripped open the top. Casting the envelope, postmarked from the Celadon City Casino, aside she pulled the single piece of paper free and quickly scanned it. Lip curling down into a scowl, she set it on the desk and leaned over it, her mind working in circles to decode the runes scrawled across the page. "Changed the code," she muttered. "Complicated."
Janine's thudding heartbeat counted the passing seconds as the nonchalant look on her face gradually faded to shock which melted into a white lipped scowl. "Father," she hissed. "How dare you..."
"How dare I?" the baritone smooth as olive oil rolled through the room.
Janine's eyes flashed, though she slowly straightened up and turned. As the trapdoor hidden in the floor behind the bed glided shut on silent hinges, a tall man in a purple traveler's cloak walked around the bed. "How dare I what?"
Janine, perfectly calm, held up the coded message. "I wanted to believe it wasn't you," she said. "I wanted it to be a trick or a ruse... anything but..." she met his steely gaze. "Why? For the Code's sake, why?"
Koga raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "I don't think I understand what you mean," he said.
"Don't fuck with me!" Janine answered. "You gave Fuchsia over to Team Rocket, handed it to them on a plate, and tried to kill me when I started fighting back. Why?"
Koga's lips turned downwards. "I never tried to kill you," he said. "And I never made any effort to give Fuchsia to Team Rocket."
Janine ran her fingers along the belt hidden beneath her hoodie. "Quit playing dumb," she held up the message. "You have a contact in Rocket's Celadon base congratulating you on all your good work. 'You're reward is on its way.'" She shook her head. "Why would you lie to all of us? To me?"
"Always the clever one, so quick to leap into action," Koga responded as though his thoughts were far away. "Because you lied to me," he went on, "and I'm not going to watch you wither and die like I did your mother. You mean to much to me Janie."
A shiver bolting through her frame, Janine took a step back till she felt her legs bump the desk. "Fine," she said, eyes tearing up. "Fine. I don't-" she bolted forward towards Koga, drawing a knife from her belt and angling for his throat.
Hands lashing out like bullwhips, Koga reflexively caught Janine by the wrist and twisted her arm aside. As she spun around and bent her arm at her snared elbow, the girl went for another blade on her belt with her free hand, but Koga preempted the move with a solid kick to her ankle that dropped her to her knees. Grabbing both her wrists and locking her in place, Koga looked down at his daughter and shook his head.
"Why wouldn't you tell me?" asked the tall man, twisting Janine's arms behind her back and pinning her against the wall.
Janine's answered by raking her heel down her father's shin and throwing all her weight against him. When he let go and stepped back she charged forward and grabbed him by the collar to pull him into a headbutt. Reaching between her arms and wrenching his hands outward to break her hold, Koga drew his foot to the side and kicked her in the knee. When she went down with a cry, he caught her by the elbows, spun her around, and dropped her again with a kick to the back of her right knee. This time he put his palm between her shoulders and shoved, forcing her to the ground.
"I'm not going to fight you Janie," Koga said calmly.
"You sure tried hard that night you ambushed my team," she said, turning her head. "You didn't hesitate to try to murder me."
"I wasn't going to kill you," he answered. "I just wanted to bring you back home."
"You killed my whole team!" she retorted, poise breaking into a scream.
"They were traitors."
"You're a traitor!" she shouted, rolling out from beneath him and kicking at his ankles.
Koga casually sidestepped the attack and watched as Janine rolled to her feet and picked up the knife she'd previously dropped. "You betrayed everything we stood for and sided with evil bastards like Team Rocket after swearing an oath to fight injustice no matter the cost! You swore an oath!" She rushed at him and swiped down for his neck. Again though, he batted her hand aside like he would a meddlesome fly.
"And I'd break it again..." he said, catching the hilt of the knife between his hands and twisting it out of Janine's grip. Dropping the weapon and kicking it aside so that it stuck point first in the post of the bed, Koga grabbed Janine's throat with one hand and her wrist with the other and again pinned her to the wall. "Janie, I will not watch you waste away like I did your mother, I will not," his voice remained perfectly even as Janine struggled futilely in his grip. "You're more important to me that anything... even the Code."
"So you know about the Huntington's?" she asked, struggling through the iron grip to form the words.
Koga nodded. "I know that's why you went to Saffron when you were twelve and why you've secretly been buying drugs wholesale." His eyes flitted to the twitch shaking her right hand. "I also know the medicine isn't helping with the symptoms as much as it used to and you've got a less year before you're bedridden and helpless."
Janine sucked in a struggling breath. "Then you've got to know there's nothing anyone can do."
"Not true," Koga shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. Team Rocket can cure you. I've seen the results myself, seen the people they've saved with their technology. There's a cure Janie."
Janine froze and her heart began thrumming harder in her chest. "How is that possible?" she asked.
"I only know that it is," answered her father. "Janie, Team Rocket is working on something big and they need my help. They knew about your condition and they went to a lot of trouble to find a cure for you. You can be free of it Janie, you can live a normal life. You don't have to die." He paused and let go of her, putting a hand on her shoulder when she didn't try to fight back. "If not for yourself," he went on, "think of me.
"Nine years I had to watch your mother slowly die, her mind withering into nothing right in front of me," he said voice quivering only a little. "And when she was gone, I had to live knowing that it could happen to you. Then to find out that you... had begun showing the signs so early and that you'd be gone so much sooner because of it." He stopped and his lips pressed together. "Janie, don't make me live through that, please. Come with me to Celadon. Accept the cure and we can be done with all this."
Eyes wide, Janine stared at her father. Frozen she took a slow breath and licked her lips. "But we'd have to work with Team Rocket," she said, "to get this cure?"
Koga nodded. "Only for a little while," he answered. "Then we could leave and start somewhere else. We could go north or, or west."
Janine took a breath and looked up at Koga, face twisting in conflicted thought until it finally broke and tears began streaming down her face. "Dad, I'm so sorry," she whispered, opening her arms and walking forward to embrace him. "I'm so sorry."
Koga knelt and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. "It's alright," he said. "It will all be well in the end- hrk!"
Koga's eyes went wide and the muscles in his neck bulged as his daughter gripped the Soul Badge on his breast and tore it away. Janine stepped back, raising her foot, and planted it in his chest, shoving him away from her with a swift kick to his ribs. As Koga stumbled back and reached behind his back, Janine held her open palm, red with blood, up beside her face. Pulling her sleeve away from the miniature crossbow which had, upon firing, ripped through the purple fabric of her hoodie, Janine pulled the cocking mechanism back and loaded another bolt.
"Janie," Koga gasped, pulling the heavy bolt from his back and throwing the bloody implement to the ground. "You're not thinking right."
"No," said Janine, leveling the weapon at her father and putting her free hand on the trigger. "No I wasn't. I should have done this the instant I saw you."
Koga shot forward like a bullet as Janine fired. The bolt caught his gold earring and tore a hole through the lobe of his ear, but he reached his daughter before she could ready another attack. Grabbing the crossbow and ripping downwards, he tore the straps holding it to her arm and threw the weapon across the room. He tried to twist out of the way when he saw Janine going for the side of his head with her elbow, but a shock of pain from his back paralyzed him. Koga's vision flashed white as Janine slammed him in the head. A second later he realized he was stumbling and caught himself on the edge of the bed.
"Ash!" Janine shouted, raising her hand to her ear and pressing the button on the radio. "Go to Plan B." She dropped her hand and spotted around the room.
Janine grabbed a shortsword mounted on the wall and rushed Koga. Reaching inside his cloak, the older man drew out an egg painted with black pitch. Smashing it in his hands he threw the egg at Janine and the small orb disintegrated in a cloud of debris that caught the girl in the face. She tripped over her own feet, the cloud of pepper burning her eyes and nose, and wiped at her face with her sleeve as Koga stood up and moved for the door.
Depth perception gone, only able to look with one eye, Janine jumped in front of Koga and slashed at him with the sword. He leaned back and under the blade, swinging his fist into her wrist and breaking her grip on the weapon. The sword clanged to the ground but Koga swore in pain, the dark stain around the deep puncture in his back growing larger every second.
"Janine!" he barked. "Stop this. The disease is clouding your mind. Listen to me and think!"
"It doesn't matter what I think!" Janine yelled, stomping the hilt of the sword to flip it into her hand. "I know it's my duty to kill a traitor!" She crossed the two yards between herself and Koga in a leap as the man shot out the door and into the hall.
Koga whipped around to slam the door behind him, but the blade of the shortsword held the portal open. The blade snapped between the rusted steel and the jam, but Janine kicked open the door and jumped into the hall. Gasping as Koga's knee drove into her ribs and knocked her off the ground, Janine crumpled against the wall but kicked off the concrete surface and swung the broken sword at Koga. The truncated blade caught Koga across the chest and tore open his cloak, drawing a line of red across the wall. Following through, she swept downwards and drove the broken edge into Koga's thigh where it stuck. Koga grabbed Janine's collar and slammed his forehead into her cheek. The flash of pain made her vision blur and her head spin, but the girl reflexively reached out and twined her finger's behind Koga's head. Wrenching forward she brought his head down and her knee up and smashed the two together with a force that made her whole body jolt.
Koga staggered back, clutching at his face as Janine crumpled against the wall, the girl shaking and reaching to the flat surface for support. Koga took the sword sticking from his leg and tore it free without hesitation. Reaching into his cloak as Janine recovered her footing, her seizing abruptly abating, Koga crushed another black egg in his hand. Arcing his fist through the air he pitched the egg at his daughter and again caught her in the face with the resultant cloud of fine-crushed pepper.
Blinded, having sucked in a deep breath, Janine dropped to the ground and wheezed as the pepper and something sharp and biting burned and tore at her airways. Coughing and heaving to clear her throat and nose, Janine spent precious seconds pawing at her eyes and wiping away stinging tears. Looking up from her hands and knees she scanned the hall and tried to locate her father. Handicapped as she was, body beginning to shake and threatening to seize up, she quickly located the droplets of blood leading down the hall and through a door at the end. Forcing herself up to her feet, Janine felt along her belt for a weapon but found nothing.
She grabbed the broken, blood covered sword as she ran after the blood trail through the door at the end of the hall and around a sharp corner to another blind turn. Taking a deep breath and coughing, Janine fumbled to a stop at the dead end and the ladder which lead up to a hatch in the ceiling.
"Damn it," she muttered, knowing full well that the emergency exit lead out to the mansion's main grounds. Worse, she knew she didn't have a key to open the hatch. "Ash," she said, reaching up to the radio. "What's your condition?"
The device buzzed as Ash came on the line. "We're alright," he answered. "Everything's under control up here in the main hall. How're things on your end?"
Janine paused for a minute. "Well-" she wished the hall had been large enough for her to unleash her Pokemon on her father, then decided that would have meant he could do the same to her. "I'm on my way up."
SC
Sitting on the piano and scratching Pikachu behind the ears, Ash turned as he heard footsteps patting down the hall to his left. Brock and Misty both looked with Ash as Janine rounded a corner and stepped into the large room. The three trainers had torn down the shutters keeping the hall submerged in black and the late morning sunlight now streaming in glinted of the wet blood still clinging to Janine's forehead.
In stark contrast to the girl in purple, Ash, Brock, and Misty all looked more or less untouched. Sitting atop his Ryhorn and flanked by his Golem, Brock kept watch on the nine people standing in a line against the wall with their hands above their heads. Misty, Starmie, and Vaporeon stood between Brock and Ash while the redhead casually glanced between the prisoners, all of whom had been unmasked and disarmed.
"Did you find anything useful?" asked Ash, hopping down from the piano and passing by Charizard and Arcanine to meet Janine as she walked into the room. He paused when he got a good look at the bruises coloring her face and the raw skin circling her eyes. "You alright?" he asked.
Janine nodded. "I've been worse," she said, looking passed Ash at the prisoners. "You surprise me," she nodded to them. "You only killed two?"
Ash felt Haunter's chilling laughter echo in his head. "I would have tried to save more," he said, "but things got a little chaotic. So what are you going to do now?"
Janine stood motionless for a second, then walked passed the young Gym Leader and stood next to Brock's Ryhorn. Clearing her throat loudly enough to ensure she had the undivided attention of the captive gym members, Janine went down the line and looked each one of them in the eye. "I'm going to give each and every one of them the chance to make up for unintentionally betraying the Code," she said, more to the captives than to Ash, "since I know that none of them did it knowingly or willingly. They're going to help me drive Team Rocket out of Fuchsia and as soon as that's done we'll see where it goes from there."
"Ma'am," said one of the prisoners, a short man with unremarkable features and a messy mat of brown hair. "Forgive me but what's going on here? Where's Koga?"
Janine turned to address the man in the green hoodie. "Escaped," she said. "Koga is a fugitive and a traitor to the Code. He abused his power for selfish reasons and tricked you all into working for Team Rocket." She paused as a quick mutter circulated through the line of prisoners. "Now that I'm calling the shots however we can fix all that. Understood?"
No one in the lineup disagreed and everyone either nodded or uttered a quick "Yes ma'am."
One woman in a silver hood gave Janine a quick salute and nodded. "If I may," she said, "and if it's not too bold to say, it will be good to get back to the way things used to be, and it'll be even better to have you back full-time ma'am." Another quick mutter of approval and agreement ran through the lineup.
"Good," Janine said, turning to Ash, Misty, and Brock. "I'm sorry," she went on, mostly to Ash. "I misunderstood the situation and I didn't mean to put you three in danger, but I appreciate your help nonetheless, even more really."
"I'm just glad we could help," said Ash.
Janine smiled, reaching as though she were going to pull her hood over her head, but stopping short. "As promised," she said, walking forward and grabbing Ash's hand. She opened his fingers and dropped the stained Soul Badge in his palm. "You'll have the full support of Fuchsia Gym as soon as I can clean things up here."
"Do you need help with Team Rocket?" asked Misty, stepping up beside Ash.
"No," Janine answered. "You three should head to Celadon and check out the casino as soon as possible. I know for a fact Team Rocket is operating a base there that controls most of their interests in Kanto. If you can shut that base down then it will be a big step towards taking them out for good."
"I'll see what I can do," said Ash. "Are you sure you don't want help here?" he asked, casting a wary glance at the prisoners.
"The sooner you get to Celadon the better," answered Janine. "I'm confident in my men. We can get the job here done."
The captive in the green hoodie put his hands at his side, eliciting a warning growl from Arcanine. "It could get bloody, ma'am," he said. "Rocket is trenched up nice and tight in our city and they're not going to leave without a fight."
"I never said there wouldn't be bodies when we're done," she answered. "All I said is that we're going to do it."
"Yes ma'am."
Ash took a deep and reached up to accept the radio as Janine offered it back to him. "So I can' count on you to back me to the Elite Four when the time comes?" he asked.
"Absolutely," Janine nodded. "And if you ever need anything else, don't hesitate to ask."
After a quick round of goodbyes and Brock mentioning that their group might as well set off for Celadon immediately, the three trainers left the mansion with Janine watching their departure from the porch. Once they'd disappeared into the woods, she turned back to the open doors and motioned for the other gym members to follow her. At the same time, Ash and Misty, both atop Arcanine, discussed with Brock the most direct route to the second largest city in Kanto and the best route to get there.