Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Pokémon, or its characters, or any merchandise that is even remotely connected to it.

 

Claimer: I have the copyright to all characters that I thought up. Not on paper yet, but… I have it anyway.

 

Category: General

 

Rating: PG-13

 

AN: Another week went by… I need to step on it with chapter eight, or I might not keep this up. Anyway, here’s the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed the flashbacks. Over half the chapter was in italics…

 

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Fight For Freedom.

 

By: WeirdDutchGuy, email: swampthing1132[at]hotmail[dot]com

 

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Chapter Five: Evil Plans and Conspiracies.

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**The Flashback Continues…**

 

“Where did you take her?” Ash asked. He was very angry, how dare this creep touch his mother. Kane was going to pay.

 

“Oh, she’s safe… for now.” Kane answered in a threatening voice. That was it, he was going down! “Pikachu, Thunder him!” Ash yelled. The other Rockets were about to move in, but Kane stopped them and released a Dugtrio who took the electric attack without flinching.

 

“I studied you well, mister Ketchum. There’s nothing you can do to surprise me. As for you, stay out of it! He’s mine!” The grunts backed away to give the fighters room. Ash was puzzled; it wasn’t like Team Rocket to fight fair. This guy must be pretty sure of himself.

 

“Well, as it seems you won’t make the first move I will. Dugtrio, Magnitude!” Kane yelled and his Pokémon started emitting shockwaves. Magnitude can be stronger as Earthquake, but this one was pretty weak and Pikachu withstood it.

 

“It seems luck isn’t with you, Kane! Pikachu, Quick Attack!” Immediately the mouse dashed off at his target. But before he reached it, the Dugtrio dug into the ground and Pikachu halted. Ash cursed under his breath and frantically searched for any sign of Dugtrio.

 

Heheh, we have you now! Dugtrio, surface and hit him hard!” Kane ordered his Pokémon with a confident smirk. Dugtrio did just that and Pikachu was send airborne by the force of the attack. Pikachu recovered and landed on all fours, though he was panting and bruised. Ash was about to switch him when suddenly one of the grunts cried out in pain and collapsed on the ground. Two figures stood on the road, their appearance masked by shadow as the sun hadn’t fully emerged yet. In front of them stood a Charizard and a Venusaur, the last one still retracting a vine.

 

“Not now!” Kane thought. “What are you waiting for, get them!” He yelled at the remaining Rockets, whose Pokémon immediately charged the two mysterious figures. The Charizard responded by flaming half with a huge Flamethrower and the Venusaur released a great number of vines to swat away the others. Kane watched with an angry expression and turned to glare at Ash.

 

“It appears we’ll have to put this little match of ours on hold, mister Ketchum.” He said as he recalled Dugtrio. “I’ll be ready for a rematch anytime you want. Just let me know.” And after that he and the other Rockets ran off before more could be said.

 

**End Flashback… finally.**

 

It turned out those two were the other trainers who left on their journey on the same day as Ash and Gary. After thanking them Ash had moved on to Pewter in hope of finding Brock, not really believing all gym leaders were killed as the two trainers claimed. Once in Pewter the gym had been razed and there was no sign of the Slates. The good news was none of the locals remembered a battle near the gym, so chances were Brock had done the wise thing and fled. He always had been one to use his head, unlike Ash who rushed into everything. Ash’ thoughts were thrown off as Frank appeared next to him.

 

“How’s the food?” He asked as he watched in amazement as Ash stuffed half a sandwich in his mouth.

 

Weally nice!” Ash managed to bring out while gulping down the sandwich. “I really needed something to eat. How about you buddy?” He said while looking down at the floor where Pikachu was eating his share.

 

Pika!” Came the happy reply. “So… who are you?” Frank hesitantly asked. “Oh yeah, we haven’t been introduced… Frank it was, right? My name’s Ash, and that’s my pal Pikachu.” Ash answered.

 

“THE Ash?! The League champion?!” Frank exclaimed in shock. “That can’t be! Everyone up there was killed!”

 

“Yeah, but I wasn’t up there. I was in the Hoenn region attending a meeting.” Ash clarified as he grasped another food item. Just then two people entered the mess hall still singing some random song. One dressed in simple blue jeans and black shirt, whose brown hair stood out in pretty much every direction. The other was dressed in black jeans, black shirt and a sleeveless camo jacket. On his head a camo cap hid most of his brown hair. As John and Chris approached the table where Ash and Frank sat one could clearly see the enormous grins on their faces.

 

Yo people!” John started. “Where are your smiles?” “Yeah, didn’t you know it’s time for celebrations?” Chris added. Ash just looked on in confusing, but Frank was genuinely worried. He’d never seen them act like this since he got here. John could most certainly have a happy mood, but Chris rarely laughed at all. He then saw his laptop in John’s arms and remembering what he’d seen earlier in the office something on it must’ve caused this. He was about to ask when another person stumbled into the room.

 

Wearing green baggy pants, a green jacket, a green cap and fingerless green cloves Ash recognized him immediately. “Ritchie!”

 

**Several days earlier…**

 

A large man in a red suit sat in his leather chair as he waited for someone to come in. He petted his favorite feline, a Persian, while he stared at the door. After someone knocked the door slowly crept open and Butch and Cassidy hesitantly came into the room. They knew why they were here, after failing to catch the Lavender rebels they’d also confirmed a security leak. Butch gulped as he stepped forward.

 

“You called for us?”

 

“Yes, indeed I did. Tell me, how has the search gone? Any sign of those rebels?” The man spoke.

 

“As usual the search turned up nothing. They covered their tracks way to well, not even our–“

 

“Silence! I did not call you here to hear some pitiful excuses! These rebels are being a major thorn in my side and I want them out of the picture, permanently! Do you understand?!” Butch and Cassidy nodded. They knew the price of failure. “I want you two to hunt down those rebels and get rid of them by all means. You can use whatever you find necessary, but I won’t pour resources in a wild goose chase. When you’re sure of their location call me, and I’ll send a detachment of Rockets to clear up the place. Don’t goof up again, unless you want to end up as those other two losers!” Giovanni roared. “I also understand there’s been a leak. Nothing too serious I hope?”

 

Cassidy stepped forward this time and answered. “We haven’t been able to trace all their actions, but we’re pretty sure they only took a list of prisoners, nothing to worry about. It’s not like they’ll raid a prison.”

 

Hm… I see. Well, go out there and do your job properly this time. I want to see results the next time we meet.” Giovanni pondered Cassidy’s last words for a bit. Would they really raid a prison? If they did, several threats might be set free. A prison was meant to keep people in, not out. If they raided one it might be easier than expected. He didn’t ponder too long though, as he had someone else coming. A firm knock on the door pulled him away from his thoughts. Kane entered the room and stood before his boss.

 

“I heard the Ketchum kid got away. It’s not every day that I see you fail.” Giovanni said with a smirk. Kane merely grunted as he thought back to that embarrassing event. “Not that I blame you of course, after all, not all effort was wasted. You did manage to roll up the resistance movement in Pallet town afterwards.”

 

“I only repaid the favor. They embarrassed me in front of the men; I simply put them back into place. They fought well though. But why did you call me?” Kane asked. Giovanni didn’t wait long to answer with a question of his own.

 

“How is the chase going? Ketchum must be caught. He’s too big of a threat to let him walk loose.”

 

“I understand. We followed the trail towards Cerulean, but it took us several weeks to find out where he was hiding. After we chased him out of town the trail went cold near the Rock Tunnel. As you know that route is part of the Lavender Faction’s territory. Therefore I assume he is now in the hands of the local resistance. Unless we figure out where they’re hiding we can’t get to him.” Kane replied. Giovanni took in the information and seemed to have a hard time believing it.

 

“All we know is that they pulled another stunt a few days ago. They raided one of our supply depots and stole all the Pokémon kept there. During the process they managed to hack our mainframe and stole several files. Do you have any suggestions? You’re the tactician after all.” Kane smirked at hearing this, a plan forming in his head.

 

“We could try to lure them out. I suggest posting several agents in the Lavender area, but they will have to keep a low profile. We don’t want the resistance to know they’re our agents of course. Hmm… Cinnabar is still in Blaine’s hands, right? What if we were to launch an attack against him? He’s smart enough to know he can’t take our force alone, so naturally he’d send a messenger to get help. We will trail the messenger and find the base that way. Attacking it would be suicide, so we’ll wait until they come out to help their friend in need. That’s when we strike. If all goes well the Faction will be mopped up, Cinnabar will be retaken and Ketchum will be captured. If approved, I’d like to lead this operation personally. Wouldn’t want some grunts to mess it up, right?” Kane continued. A bold plan, but if successful, he would hold complete control over Kanto. Then he could focus on the other regions. Kane’s plans usually worked fine, and with Kane himself in control, so would this one. Giovanni didn’t take long to make a decision. Making Kane his right hand man had truly been a great choice. He smirked and gave his approval. As Kane turned to leave he stopped him.

 

“Oh and Kane, do come back in one piece. It would be a shame to lose you.” After this he left. He closed the door behind him and laughed to himself. “I have the old fool right where I want him. He follows my every lead and it’s only a matter of time before his whole organization does. Then I’ll have no more use for him and dispose of him. Team Rocket will be mine, and the world will follow soon.” As he walked down the hallway laughing maniacally several grunts gave him odd looks.

 

**The present…**

 

Ash and the others had found out Ritchie was the messenger John had told Frank about. Ritchie was just about to tell them the reason of his visit.

 

Blaine has informants, good ones at that. One of them told him Team Rocket is about to attack Cinnabar Island. If they do Blaine and his small group of rebels won’t stand a chance, so he sent me to go and get you guys. You will help, right? Please, Cinnabar is the only safe place in Kanto. If it falls, Team Rocket can turn towards the other regions!” Chris and the others listened intently. If TR did attack the other regions they’d have to be at full strength. Having a rebellion going on would certainly be bad for them. Adding the growing resistance all over Kanto and you’d find TR without the manpower to do so. They did have enough to attack Cinnabar with, however. John pulled Chris over to a corner of the room and they talked to each other, careful not to let the others hear it. As they came back Chris looked at Ritchie.

 

“We’ll help you, but I can’t spare that much myself.” He turned to Ash. “If you want to go with your friend I won’t stop you. They can use all the help they can get. In fact, I think I’ll come. John can run the base on his own for a week or so.” John, at hearing this, gave him thumbs up and grinned.

 

“No problem, bro! Just come back in one piece.”

 

“Then it’s settled,” Ash said. “We’ll go with Ritchie and beat Team Rocket away from Cinnabar.”

 

“Yes, we leave tomorrow night. It’ll be easier to avoid any stray Rockets in the dark. And we will have some time to prepare.” Chris added.

 

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To Be Continued…

 

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AN: Hope you enjoyed, as usual. The next chapter should go up in a week as always. I promise it’s worth the wait.

 

WeirdDutchGuy