Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks, and for y’know, notes and stuff

Chapter 3

Seeing Brock again hit him like a sucker punch to the stomach. He’d thought it had been bad enough when Professor Oak had called and told him about Gary’s bet, and of course, the old man’s happy expression instead of dejected silence last time was worthwhile, but…

Professor Oak’s death hadn’t been as important as those of other people… was he heartless to place the deaths of his friends and family on a scale, like a metric unit of grief? A pound for you, two pounds for him…

Or, had Ash Ketchum simply learned to cope with losing those closest to him, as Team Rocket had drawn their tight net closer and closer to subdue the Chosen One?

There was no right answer to the question.

The Boulder Badge was his though, quickly done, Geodude and Onix frozen as blocks of ice or left frosted in their tunnels, respectively.

Cascade was next. He took the bus there, surprised that he hadn’t thought of the solution on his earlier journeys, decided it was because then, he hadn’t been smart enough to think of it, and headed for Cerulean. Fearow proved her worth well.

As for Surge, Swinub was part ground, wasn’t she?

She was. She proved it too, the Earthquake attack was as neat as anything he had seen and was far less devastating than the electrical power battle he’d faced last time with a Pikachu who refused to evolve…

What a strange dichotomy the past and future conjunctions were turning out to be. But he could not repeat past mistakes. Wasting his time running around, getting lost was for a foolish child. That part of him had been crushed ages ago…

There was no way to reclaim it.

Erika was next, and he felt a bit of fear. No, no need to use Swinub for this one, he had his Fearow, didn’t he? And after he defeated Erika he would catch a few more pokemon, though the two he had were strong he needed a larger base, more pokemon, more power, and more power to protect those important to him…!

It had been less than a week. He needed to call his mom tomorrow.

“You’re saying that he already has three badges and only two pokémon? Interesting. Very interesting.” Lance studied his computer monitor for a few seconds longer, before he tapped it once and the screen turned black, locking.

“Lorelei.”

She materialized in front of him, as if she had teleported, but he knew better than that. Lorelei was special. All the Elite were, save Bruno. The fighting type trainer was an anomaly that disrupted their perfect sphere of influence. It was a pity that Will and Karen could not remove him, or Koga…

Well, life was not perfect. These little annoyances existed to remind him of the irrefutable statement. Lance nodded to Lorelei and than to Agatha, who had followed her protégé. Agatha was like Lorelei’s mother, as the poor girl’s true biological family had abandoned her. Careless.

Oh but it was, for now the ice trainer wielded her element, swift and sharp and sure, and the ice blades left no mark in the corpses strewn along the path behind darkening footsteps. Many a trainer had vanished mysteriously in Kanto, and now the Elite were investigating. No evidence ever turned up though.

It was generally assumed that the trainers had left to go to Johto, Houen, Cosmos, maybe some island or another, and simply neglected to fill out the paperwork to do so. That was certainly common.

Others whispered that it proved the existence of secret organizations… surely those trainers had become members of less… clean activities.

It might explain Team Rocket’s organization. It was no idle rumor that in Cerulean, near Mount Moon, even, there were many hidden trainers who were really agents, searching for trainers with potential to entice – or forcibly persuade – into their organization. Team Aqua and Magma most likely had scouts and operatives everywhere as well, even here…

It was truly bothersome. At least Magma and Aqua usually stayed in Houen, and almost always fought each other instead of the law.

Pah! Expanding the land indeed! Expanding the ocean indeed! Their land was perfectly fine just the way it was. Stupid zealots.

Team Rocket was really mostly a joke, but once in a while, some of their better agents would get written up in the headlines. The civilians would shake their fists and yell at the police and government to do something about it, but when the scourge faded after a few weeks, no one wanted to pay the taxes for improved security.

What was the use of a penniless group of bureaucrats who sat around in their expensive houses and got fat while the few trainers that did care worked for little pay?

The double standard was woefully unfair.

“Agatha, I need you to run a Level two scan on Ash Ketchum.”

Agatha’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Level two? For a normal trainer, level one should be enough.”

“Ah, but normal trainers do not earn three badges one day after another… with only two pokemon, one of which he just bought the day he started out…”

“You suspect him.”

“Of course I do. I am naturally inclined to be suspicious of any bright young ‘genius’, and from his tests that Professor Oak gave, he’s not particularly bright…”

“So you think he’s cheating?”

“I think that he’s been biding his time all along, though for what reason we know not… he could be a Team agent.”

“I understand. I’ll find him… he seems to be heading to Celadon, according to his pokédex readings.”

Lance gave a grim smile. “Then he’ll pass through Lavender Town. I trust you know what to do.”

Agatha smirked. “Yes.”

Ash whistled as he headed down the road. If he went to Lavender Town, maybe he could find Gastly and Haunter again! And this time, well, he’d enjoy a short break to have fun. He just wished it didn’t involve getting crushed under a chandelier… and this time; there was no Pikachu to share the experience with.

It stung, but he banished the emotion. He could not afford to falter now. He had to see the ordeal through. That way, he would know that he had made the right choice…

End Chapter

Completed 2/9/06

I wish inspiration were like a steady stream, or a tap that you could turn on and off…

Yes. Anyways. Stupid fungal infections! *Cries*

Lance: …

Phantomness: I hate getting sick!

Ash: She’s angry because she’s been sniffling like a dripping faucet for weeks thanks to the severe allergies she has

Phantomness: *twitches*