Lance Blackthorn

  “So, will we be able to find out where it leads to?” Lance Blackthorn lords over a Silph Co. researcher who’d been flown in to make sense of the way Giovanni had fled after Mewtwo had appeared, but the search wasn’t going well at all.

  “I’m asking where he even got these from, Champion Blackthorn!” The scientist was anything but helpful, more concerned about the theft of proprietary Silph Co. hardware than in assisting with catching a crime lord, “The man had it installed in his damn Throne Box and nobody batted an eye at it?! Silph could sue for technology theft, you know!”

  Lance was about finished with today, but he kept an amicable expression on his face as he turned to Agent Looker, ‘First, that agent blows our cover by storming into the arena, endangering a teenager by forcing a crime lord's hand into using a powerful secret Pokemon we’ve never seen, killing an entire Squad of Ace Trainers in the process and then it turns out that said crime lord has far more secret technology stolen than any of us knew. What a day…’

  “I can assure you that all the right people will be held responsible for the theft of technology. Currently, we simply need to catch the man himself, Giovanni.” Nodding towards the teleporter, Lance continued, “He fled his arrest using this thing, but it shut off after he used it. We need to go after him and see where it leads. So I would kindly ask you to cooperate and help us find the man.”

  “Fine, but only because this is an emergency…” The researcher inspected the piece of technology with a hum before lifting it out of its space in the ground with a heave, “Uhhng! Phew! Yup, just as I thought. This is PT-03.”

  “Mind filling us in on the details?” Lance reiterated with a quirked brow.

  “PT-03, or formerly known as Prototype-03, was one of the first Versions of the Teleportation Technology we developed. At this point, I’d call it an antique.” Fully lifting the pad, the man set it against the wall as it began fidgeting with some wires at its underside.

  “Sometime a few years ago, it was supposedly ‘misplaced’,” The man made some sarcastic air-quotes, “we just couldn’t find it anymore, even though it was well documented where it was supposed to be stored.” The man sniffed in humor, “Guess it wasn’t as misplaced as we thought…”

  Lance quirked an eyebrow at that, “So old prototype hardware, which nobody looked at, was left to rot in some storage room, and when inventory went through, they couldn’t find it anymore?”

  “Correct.” The man nodded, plugging a laptop into the bottom of the device, “These old prototypes are surprisingly volatile, though. I’m surprised nothing exploded or was atomized in his escape. There is also another issue.”

  “And that would be?” Looker asked to a stern glare from Lance.

  The scientist spoke seriously, “We only know of PT-03 being misplaced, no other teleporters. Even though Teleporters explicitly need an entrance and exit to function, meaning…”

  “They have developed their own?” Lance finished the man's sentence.

  “Correct. This goes far beyond theft of technology, this means that the Silph Co. Warp Panels have likely already been replicated by this crime syndicate you mentioned.” The man was already pulling out a phone, “I’ll have to bring this to my boss, no, my boss's boss.”

  “Before you do that, what about the location of Giovanni?” Looker pleaded.

  “I doubt you’ll be able to find out much from PT-03, these Prototypes were so early in the process that we didn’t even trust them to teleport any living matter with them. For all I know, Giovanni could’ve been ripped to shreds during his escape attempt. Only at PT-10 did we even begin developing a static memory into these devices, there is nothing on these things but hard electronics, no software. This will be a long process to figure out what was changed from our old documentation.”

  Lance and Looker could only sigh, “Alright, please take it with you and figure out where Giovanni went.”

  …

  Valerie

  It was late evening by now, and the Pokemon Center was utterly empty, something definitely out of the ordinary for a big city like Viridian City. Valerie could only assume that most people who were usually here were out journeying during the first day of the League Year or hiding away from the drama of their Gym Leader being arrested. The large mural behind the reception desk stood out to Valerie for the first time, a stone plaque with a carving of all the Legendary Birds and an Arcanine, all in their respective colors.

  She was lucky to receive Sybil and Larry’s Pokeball back immediately. The two weren’t as injured as expected due to her evolution, and Larry hadn’t taken any grievous hits in the bout.

  “Your Xatu and Larvitar are in exceptionally good health after a quick run in our healing machines. Make sure to give them a day or two of rest.” Nurse Joy advised, “Considering the amount of Status-Moves he supposedly used, his body was put under a lot of strain due to them.”

  “That’s alright with me. Come out, you two!” She released the two of them and hugged the bird and saurian tight as the local Nurse Joy looked her over with fondness, “I’m happy you’re both alright! That was scary in the end there!”

  “Xatu!” Sybil tweeted back.

  “Lar?” Larry was evidently still out of the loop, considering he had been beaten earlier in the fight

  “You were involved in what happened in the Viridan Gym, right? I did hear the news already.” The Nurse put a worried hand on her cheek, “To think our very own Gym Leader was connected to a criminal group, for shame.”

  “Yes, for shame.” Valerie agreed, less than enthused with the man herself.

  The Nurse looked at Valerie seriously, leaning over the counter of the center's reception, “So do you have any juicy details-”

  “I signed an NDA.”

  “Tch!” Clicking her tongue playfully, the nurse sighed before leaning back behind her desk.

  “For now, let’s get comfortable and discuss the Gym Battle a bit. I also have another call to make.”

  “Xaaa…”

  Larry nodded, but was still confused about what had happened in the Gym Battle, “Vi…”

  Larry

  First and foremost, they had won. The Earth badge shimmered in the lights of the Pokemon Center. Larry was very giddy about their win, a win that wasn’t even on the agenda for them. It was quite amazing that they’d managed to do so. Even though Giovanni wasn’t fighting at full strength, the Pokemon he used were still far above the first Gym Badge level.

  Also, Sybil had finally evolved! Larry knew it had to happen sooner rather than later, but for it to happen so she could clutch out a Gym Battle was on an entirely different level. Watching the recording of the Gym Battle showed how close they came to losing. A Flying-Type was about the worst matchup for a physically focused Normal-Type like Persian, and Power Gem was practically the only viable move for it to use in the scenario.

  “I can’t believe we won! Congrats on the evolution, Sybil!” Larry patted the bird's side happily. She was now double his height in comparison to before, lording over him much in the same way Valerie does, but he didn’t mind much. His height had its pros as well, after all. Sybil looked far more noble now, holding her wings in front of her in a dignified manner, her body now fit her perpetually graceful poise.

  “Thank you.” She bowed slightly before returning to Valerie, who was watching the Gym Battle on her phone.

  “Those Air Slashes of yours, they were weaker than normal?” Valerie asked as she pointed at the Gym's recording. The battle itself and the ceremony at the end had been recorded, but that video cut suspiciously quickly after a round of applause for Valerie.

  “Logically, I am not knowledgeable about Flying Moves yet.” Her Pokemon nodded back.

  There was another part of the story Larry had to contend with in his mind. Lance Blackthorn had made his best attempt at an arrest of the Gym Leader of Viridian City, Giovanni, and failed.

  Valerie had shown him the video, since it was all over the news, but everything was hard to put together as live recordings had stopped when a power outage occurred in the Gym, right at the crucial moment when Giovanni announced an insurance policy of sorts. Everything the public knew was that a powerful Pokemon disrupted the arrest, and Giovanni somehow managed to flee. Needless to say, it didn’t sit well with the public.

  Giovanni’s arrest was never part of any Pokemon media Larry remembered. The crime lord always worked from the shadows with an escape plan, so it was logical for the man to be able to flee, even now. Yet, even Larry wouldn’t deny that he would feel more at ease with the man's unlawful grin behind bars, ‘C’mon, how hard could it be? Lance literally has the most powerful team of Pokemon in the region!’

  But, somehow, that wasn’t the end. In hushed tones, Valerie had explained to him about how Giovanni had summoned a really powerful, purple Pokemon in a crazy suit of armor. It disobeyed the man before destroying everything in a giant blast of purple energy and fleeing through the ceiling.

  Now, Larry wasn’t one to throw around theory-crafting and conspiracy theories, but to his Pokemon franchise-loving self, there was only one purple Pokemon with psychic powers in Team Rocket's repertoire.

  ‘I mean…that’s gotta be Mewtwo, right?’ Larry thought to himself, ‘But what exactly was Mewtwo doing here? Isn’t it supposed to be in a lab on an island or something? Or was it Cerulian Cave? And what’s with the suit of armor? Argh, if only I had a guidebook or a wiki page or something like that…’ His anime knowledge was just too spotty to make any conclusive guesses. He’d always mostly enjoyed the games, but never had the time to watch an anime, especially one running on for more than a thousand episodes.

  Valerie and Sybil didn’t notice Larry's pensive expression, still deep in their post-Gym discussions, “I see, I see. Then we’ve got some new things to train. I doubt your flight back in the Gym was optimal, considering Xatu aren’t big fliers anyway.”

  She scooched closer to Sybil, “I’ve got to know, though, what was that new Psychic-Move you used?! It was so powerful, it beat one of Giovanni’s personal Pokemon with just two attacks! Your eyes lit up, and then no attack came, only for Persian to suddenly get hit a minute or so later!”

  Sybil looked at her with understanding before pointing at her phone with a wing, “Oh, let me look. What Psychic-Types moves do Xatu learn…”

  “Psyshock?” Sybil shook her head at the description.

  “Psychic?” Once again, it didn’t fit.

  “Well…The only one that’s left is Future Sight.”

  Sybil nodded vigorously, “...I kind of should’ve seen this coming, this is technically the thing Xatu are the best at…”

  “So it's an attack that only activates a short time in the future…” Valerie repeated from the website on her phone as she rattles off the rest, “The Pokemon needs to predict where the target will be in the future- Sybil?! You knew Persian was going to jump up into the sky, and you still flew there?!”

  “Wait!” Larry cut in between, “Does that mean you can actually fully see the future now?”

  “In a way, I indeed can.” Nodding back once again, she blinked an eye and then the other, “Xatu see the future in one eye and the past in the other.”

  “Guys, let me finish,” Valerie reiterated, “The Pokemon needs to predict where the target will be in the future, to accumulate powerful waves of Psychic-TE to distort the space in that place.”

  “Distort space…” Larry was awed by the wording, but still sceptical, “So you’re not just messing with time, but space as well?”

  “Correct, I am far more proficient at Teleport now due to my evolution.” Sybil confirmed, “I was already well versed in the distortion of space due to it, but my evolution has opened new doors, both metaphorically and physically.”

  “Seriously? And here I thought I was gonna be a powerhouse in the future…” Larry sighed at the insanity, ‘Damn, Psychic-Types and their bullcrap…’

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “It is quite convenient.” She quickly turned her head towards the Center's door as she spoke, raising a wing to point at it, “Observe.”

  “Hm?”

  Valerie tilts her head in confusion, “What am I supposed to-?”

  VRROOOOM!!!

  Suddenly, a motorcycle with a Police Officer on top raced up the steps of the gym before flying through the automatic doors at the entrance.

  SKKKRRRT!!

  It skidded to a stop on the tiled floor directly in front of the center's reception. The Nurse Joy stood up from her seat behind the reception with a look of exasperation, “We have a driveway, you know?”

  The Officer countered her quickly, “It's a Pokemon emergency!”

  Next to her, a young trainer in a sleeveless vest over a simple T-shirt, with a pair of jeans, and a cap with black hair underneath it stood up from inside the motorcycle's sidecar. The boy was young, no older than ten years. He held a heavily injured Pikachu in his arms, “Please help it!”

  Larry could hardly believe his eyes, “Is that fucking Ash Ketchum?!”

  …

  The trio had watched as Ash Ketchum’s Pikachu was placed on a stretcher and escorted back into the depths of the Center, into a critical care unit. But not before the trainer, who did indeed state his name to be Ash, was reprimanded by Nurse Joy for the terrible state his Pokemon had been brought in.

  “If there’s anything I can do, please just tell me.” He plead.

  Nurse Joy spoke seriously, “You can be more responsible.”

  “Huh?”

  “If you want to become a Pokemon trainer, young man, you don’t let your Pokemon battle until it's in this condition!”

  “But you don’t know what happened-” Ash tried to defend himself.

  “What’s past is past.” Nurse Joy reprimanded, “Now we have to heal your Pikachu.”

  Ash looked disappointed with himself. “...What can I do?”

  “Just leave everything to me.” Nurse Joy reiterated, now more fondly.

  “Please…” The boy finally agreed with her.

  The officer saluted, “It's in your hands. I know you’ll give the Pokemon excellent care.”

  The two talked a bit more before Nurse Joy disappeared into the back of the Center with Ash’s Pikachu, and the Officer went to work moving her motorcycle away from the front desk. The dejected boy was left to sit down next to Valerie in the waiting area next to the door to the care unit.

  ‘I am sitting next to Ash Ketchum right now,’ Larry measured himself, sitting next to Valerie in the waiting area of the gym, ramrod straight, barely even breathing as he fought to not stare holes through the boy, ‘Don’t freak out, don’t look at him funny, don’t act weird. JUST ACT NORMAL!’

  Sybil and Valerie didn’t have the same reservations, though, staring a hole through the downtrodden young boy before Valerie suddenly spoke up, interested to find out more about the boy and his Pikachu, “Um…I’m sorry?”

  ‘Damnit!’ Larry cursed to himself as he finally turned to the boy as well, ‘If there’s anybody in the Pokemon universe I don’t want to get involved with, it's Ash Ketchum!’

  Ash turned to his trainer, “Huh? Yes?”

  “I was interested to know what happened to your Pikachu for it to become this injured?” His trainer pointed at the door to the critical care unit next to them.

  Ash looked reluctant to tell, but did so anyway, “Pikachu and I got chased by a flock of Spearow until it turned out like that…”

  ‘Flock of Spearow?’ Larry's anime knowledge was spotty at best, but he did still watch it a little bit. ‘This seems familiar…’ There were more aspects to consider as well about the current situation. ‘Considering we’re in Kanto, where are Misty and Brock?

  “I see…That does sound pretty rough.” Valerie noted, “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, though. Nurse Joy will get your Pokemon back to health before long. They’re miracle workers.”

  “Xaa-tu,” “He will be healthy,” Sybil assured him with a nod, much to Ash’s surprise.

  “Oh, sorry. I should probably introduce myself, seeing as we’re both stuck waiting for our Pokemon.” Valerie put a hand on her chest before pointing at her Pokemon, “My name is Valerie, and this is Sybil and Larry.”

  “My name's Ash, Ash Ketchum.” The young boy introduced himself.

  Larry gave a stilted wave to the boy as Valerie shook his hand, “Nice to meet you, Ash.”

  Valerie looked around like she was debating what to do before she suddenly started talking about the Gym, “...Actually…I just had my first Gym Battle today,” Which elicited a shocked turn of the head from Ash.

  “Really?” The boy jumped into the topic like water, “Who did you fight?”

  ‘We’re in Viridian City.’ Larry thought to himself with an eye roll, ‘Who does he think we fought?’

  “The local Gym Leader, Giovanni.” Valerie focused on the important parts, pulling out her badge for effect, “I just managed to eke out a win, because Sybil here evolved in the right moment.” She patted her Psychic-Type on the back, “It came really close at the end. Right, Sybil?”

  “It did.” Sybil agreed in a satisfied tone.

  When she noticed Larry’s stare, she also gave him a pat on the head. “Larry here also worked a miracle, beating two of Giovanni’s Pokemon with a really dangerous strategy.”

  “Wow…” Ash seemed enraptured by the badge, staring at it like it was made of gold, “You must be a real professional trainer then.”

  Rubbing the back of her head, Larry watched as Valerie tried to suppress a grin to little success, “Psh, nooo…Not really. I only got my first Pokemon a month or two ago.” Turning the question back to Ash, Valerie asked him as well, “What about you? How long have you known your Pikachu?”

  The boy deflated when asked, “I only got him this morning, but he doesn’t seem to want to work together with me…He doesn’t even want to go into his Pokeball…When I tried to catch a Pidgey, he laughed at me…”

  That got Larry’s attention, as it finally dated the Pokemon world for him. ‘Wow, ok, I guess the two are really brand new to this.’

  It gave Larry a timeline to work with, ‘I guess we’re at the very beginning of the anime, then? He just made it to Viridian City? I think he also saw Ho-Oh in the first episode, if I remember correctly? That was a big part of it…’ Some more telling details also came back to Larry, ‘And that’s why Misty and Brock aren’t here either, he hasn’t even been in Pewter City yet!’

  “Hmm…” Valerie put a hand to her chin, “Larry here doesn’t like the inside of his Pokeball that much either, he still bears it when it's convenient, but he likes the outside far more, right?”

  Thrown out of his musings, Larry gave a quick nod to the boy, who turned to him, intrigued, “Is that common?”

  “Not from what I know, Sybil here is fine either way, from what she told me.” An agreeing nod from Sybil confirmed it.

  “What you should be more concerned with is your Pokemon not listening to you.” Valerie pointed out, “Your Pokemon can get taken away from you if they’re too unruly.”

  Ash looked conflicted by the fact, “Ughh…What am I gonna do…”

  “Sybil here joined me voluntarily, but Larry wasn’t that simple either.” Valerie reminisced, “I caught Larry to save him from the small stream he was floating in. I didn’t even know if he was still alive back then, and I simply brought him to the Pokemon Center in the hopes of saving his life.”

  Ash diligently listened to her retelling, “What happened then?”

  “Once he was all healed, I was planning on releasing him back in the wild by bringing him back to his mother.” She remembered fondly, “All because he’d obviously gotten lost, and I felt responsible for getting him back home. Back then, he didn’t even listen to me during our first fight.”

  Larry could only roll his eyes again, ‘I mean, who tells someone to use Tackle?’

  “Really?” The last sentence seemed to strike a chord with Ash, “So, what happened that made you two stay together?”

  Valerie smiled at the memory, “He told me explicitly that, after we found his mother, he wanted to stay with me. I think he understood that a life under a trainer can be far better than one in the wild.” She turned to Larry for confirmation, “Right?”

  Rocking his hand back and forth in a So-So gesture, Larry more or less agreed with her, ‘If I wanted to explore the world and actually do something with my life, I could only do it by a trainer's side. And Valerie was a great candidate, she did save my life after all. In a Pokemon world, I wouldn’t be able to go far if I wanted to do it as a Pokemon alone.’

  “Something like that anyway.” Valerie continued, “I think I treat my Pokemon better than the average trainer, and I respect their autonomy. While we work together, we are still separate people.”

  Fidgeting with her hands, she remembered what she’d told Larry back then, “We're friends, helping each other, but we're also teacher and student, improving as we go on, as I learn more to teach him.”

  Smiling at the young boy, Valerie found the lesson she’d wanted to teach the boy, “Once you get Pikachu to see that it can trust and learn from you, I think you’re going to be the best of friends.”

  Sybil and Larry nodded in agreement with a trill.

  “I see…I think I get it.” Ash seemed to understand the message she was trying to impart, “Thanks.”

  Valerie felt inclined to cheer the boy up now, “I haven’t traveled anywhere yet, so I think my first time going out on a Route will be just as much of a disaster as yours. My mom always tells me I’m a bit of a trouble magnet.”

  “My mom worries a lot too…” Ash confessed with a frown, “I wonder how she’d react if she knew I already put Pikachu in so much danger…”

  “I doubt your Mom would be that rude. Why not call her and find out?” Valerie suggested, “She’d probably be happy to know you got to Viridian City in one piece.”

  “You’re right…” Ash nodded, determined, “I’ll call home…”

  …

  It felt awkward to butt into a young boy's call with his mother, so they instead decided to stick back in the waiting area while Ash used one of the computers in the Center to call home, ‘Does he not have a Smartphone? Sounds dangerous to go on a journey without one…Well, it was the 90s in the anime…’

  Instead, Valerie turned back to Sybil with a whisper, “You knew he was going to come in?”

  “Naturally.” She confirmed.

  “So you can actually see the future now? You said before it was all random and out of the blue.” Valerie whispered to the Pokemon, not wanting to disturb Ash’s call, “What does my future look like?”

  The question ripped the calm serenity out of Sybil, as she whirled her head towards her before squinting. After a few seconds, she turned with a huff, “Not saying.”

  “Not telling? C’mon…” Their trainer insisted, “I’ll buy you some more fancy PokeChow. I think winning a Gym Battle gives me some prize money.”

  “Hmm…” Sybil considered the offer before turning away with a huff once again, “No.”

  “What about Ash’s future then?” Valerie pointed at the boy in a whisper.

  When Sybil gazed at the boy, she momentarily shuddered before pressing her eyes shut, “No!”

  “Aww…” Turning away from Sybil and peeking over Ash’s shoulder at the computer's screen, she spotted the boy's mother. With a sigh, she turned to Larry, petting him on his head and pulling him in close with a sigh, “Haah…I should call home too tomorrow…Tell Dad about what happened. I wonder how he’ll react to me getting a Gym Badge…”

  Looking up at his trainer, Larry thought of his own mom, ‘She probably won't care, but I can't wait to tell her either.’

  Ash returned meekly, still a bit shy at the admission, “...She was happy…”

  “Of course, she’s probably proud you managed to make it here.” Valerie smiled before covering her mouth to let out a big yawn. The outside of the Gym was dark as the night had set in by now, and the cuckoo clock above them confirmed her suspicions.

  “Man, it’s already so late?” Valerie quickly stretched with a groan as she rose from her seat. She turned to the newly minted trainer, “Ugh! Ash, I think I’ll go back home for tonight. I’ve been up all day.”

  ‘Thank god!’ Larry breathed a sigh of relief as he hopped off the bench as well, ‘Let’s get out of here before Mister Main Character gets caught up in more trouble. Lord knows I remember much of anything from the first few episodes.’

  She patted the young trainer on the shoulder as she walked to the door, with a confident stride, “Your Pikachu will be alright, I know it.”

  Ash still looked uncomfortable at the mention of his Pokemon, but smiled when Valerie patted him on the shoulder, “I hope so too…”

  “Good Luck on your journey.” Valerie turned her head back towards the boy as she raised a hand, “Since we’re both going on our journey this year, I hope we’ll see each other again.”

  ‘What is she now?’ Larry squirmed slightly at her cool act.

  Larry and Sybil followed after the girl, with Larry giving the Ash a friendly wave as he passed by him. Ash himself looked unsure, but still waved back, “Bye, Valerie. Let’s meet on the road again.”

  “Hm…” Valerie nodded coolly as the automatic entrance of the Center opened for her.

  …

  As she turned from the corner away from the Center, she released a breath she’d been holding in, “Paah!”

  Spinning back around towards her Pokemon, she leaned against the wall of the Center, “Guys? Did I look cool there?! I always wanted to mentor someone!”

  ‘...Seriously?’ Larry could only turn his head to the side, ‘She’d just wanted to look cool in front of a trainer younger than her?’

  “I think I did alright…” She fidgeted with her hair for a second, “Did I look like a cool older trainer?”

  Larry hemmed and hawed for a second before nodding, “Sure…you looked cool…” Sybil followed his lead as well.

  “I’m a big deal,” She rubbed her palm as she spoke to herself seriously, “There are gonna be kids looking up to me, kids like Ash…I need to look cool and awesome to them, don’t I?”

  “Snrk!” Suppressing a laugh, Larry quickly averted his gaze as Larry put a hand in front of his mouth.

  “I know, it does still need some work!” Valerie measured herself, “But I’ll have enough time to work on it on the road.”

  ‘I knew I would’ve wanted to look cool too if I were a teenager with a sudden bout of explosive fame.’ Larry saw her thought process, ‘But to try it out in front of Ash Ketchum of all people.’

  Another yawn escaped Valerie, and she quickly turned, “Yaaawn! Ok, let’s get home for now. I need a bed…You guys return for now, we don’t wanna attract more attention than necessary.”

  One last quick glance behind him, Larry saw an angry redhead stomp up towards the Center's automatic doors, carrying the burnt remains of a bike over her shoulder, ‘That’s Misty, isn’t it?’ He could only sigh in relief, ‘Whew, got out of there in time, I guess…’

  “That boy sure was interesting,” Sybil mused next to herself as they disappeared inside their Pokeballs.

  Larry could only grin, ‘Sybil probably just saw her life flash in front of her eyes when she saw his future…’

  What they’d missed in the darkness of the skies as they made their way back home was a large Meowth-shaped hot air balloon, flying in above the city.

  Episode 2 of the anime.

  some more exotic Pokemon for Kanto, like Matt's Patrat and Gustav's Dachsbun. I find regions need regional diversity if I want to keep them unique, but I'm allowed a little fun, aren't I?