The REAL chapter I (sorry for the one I posted a few nights ago. It was a mistake generated by a spur-of-the-moment thing).
From the top floor of the Silph tower, one could see the entirety of Kanto's central plain spread out before him, ranging from mountains to mountains. With great windows in all directions and no traces of separating walls, it was possible by simply spinning around in the middle of the room to see everything. The tower had once been the heart of a great economic empire that had spanned across continents, and it had reflected its pride. That empire had died eight years ago along with its founder's daughter, and now the office building was the property of a completely different organization: the Indigo Pokémon League.
For the last three years, the office building had been the location of strategy sessions, the place where plans had been hatched to bring the trainers of Kanto and Johto victory in the unrelenting war against Team Rocket that had begun with the murder of Lorelei Silph.
But now, there was no more planning. The people gathered on the top floor of the tower knew the war was over, and they knew it was won. Some were toasting, drinking in honor of their triumph or of those who had given their life to achieve it. Others were simply talking together, perhaps enjoying the feeling that peace had finally returned to them.
In the back of the room was one of the groups the least interested in the ongoing festivities. The mood among them was far darker than it was elsewhere in the room.
"Peace?" Dani mocked sarcastically. "For how long?"
The others looked at her, some sighing, other shaking their heads. Yoshi reached out to put an arm on her shoulder, the other arm holding his drink. He knew just how she felt, just what she meant. The same thought had spent too much time haunting him for things to be any different.
"What do you mean?" Sabrina Stevens lifted an eyebrow, both showing curiosity and the fact that her eyes were empty of the telltale glow that came when she used her tremendous psychic powers. Some years ago they wouldn't have been – she would not have bothered to ask the questions, instead simply sifting through Dani's thought until she knew what she wanted to know.
It was, as far as Yoshi was concerned, a good change. The further Sabrina seemed to distance herself from her powers, the better he would feel especially after all the rumors he had heard from Ash and other trainers of how she had once been.
"Look at how much everyone suffered during the war," Dani explained with a weary shrug. "The civilians, mostly."
Yoshi, taking a look at her, sighed. The combined load of leading the League's forces in war and raising a son at the same time had taken more of a toll on both of them than they would care to tell anyone. He knew many other trainers had shouldered similar loads over the last few years. It certainly didn't make his own load easier, far from it.
"As if it was our fault." Rudy Tyler, one of the Orange League gym leaders who had come to help in the war, snorted.
"If their precious government had done its job instead of prancing about telling everyone to be nice, we wouldn't have needed to fight the war ourselves."
Yoshi took a deep sigh, getting ready to argue the point, but someone else spoke before he could say anything.
"Wouldn't have so many people missing here tonight, either," Jackson shook his head. "Lots of people we knew got killed because their government wouldn't do a thing, to. I don't see what right they have to act like we owed them something. They should be thankful we got them rid of Team Rocket."
Yoshi bit his lips thoughtfully. Part of him wanted to simply support his friend – he had lost friends in the war, and there was truth to what Jackson said – if the government had done its job, there would have been no need for the war to begin with. That so many people were willing to blame their suffering on the trainers had never struck him as fair in any way, but…
"Do you honestly think that kind of attitude is going to solve any problem?" Sabrina reproached quietly with only the faintest hints of sadness in her eyes, a sadness Yoshi felt echoing throughout his entire self. There had been so much fighting, so much hate – why more? "They just want to live in peace. Can you blame them for that?"
"For being useless cowards, you mean?" Jackson bit back, and for a moment Yoshi wondered if there was anything left of his friend in the young man standing in front of him. The Jackson he had known during his journey would never have said that.
Then again, the trainer he had been back then would have never led others to their death in a war, and he had long since stopped trying to deny that. It had been necessary, and if he had not done it someone else would have. But it didn't make the weight of their dead souls easier to be.
"We're not getting anywhere with that kind of discussion," he finally said, raising his hand. There was no need for more fighting. The others fell silent, perhaps instinctively obeying the pokémon master he was. "We'll have to be careful for a few years, at the very least, that much is obvious."
"Why? The government is all talk and no fight," Rudy smiled back, shaking a stand of brown hair off his face. That he could still smile while talking of war and fighting was only a bitter reminder to Yoshi of how late the Orange league had finally intervened to support Johto and Kanto. The most horrible parts of the wars had been over by then. "They won't make any trouble."
"What do you think Lance will do, Yoshi?" Sabrina questioned, ignoring Rudy entirely, something Yoshi bitterly wished he could do. "He doesn't seem to be very interested in what the civil population wants."
Yoshi glanced back toward the stand where Lance was making his newest victory speech to whoever would listen to him. He was too far to hear clearly, but Yoshi was pretty sure what he did hear reflected rather well what Rudy and Jackson had been saying. The League had stood on its own instead of the government; it deserved recognition and not shunning and so forth. The fact that it was the League champion saying it made it no easier to hear. But at least he didn't smile taking about fighting and death.
"I wish there was something good to say about him," Yoshi finally shook his head.
"You're all such pessimists," Rudy shook his head. "We finally have peace! What's there to be down about?"
"Count the number of gym leaders Kanto and Johto had when the war began. Count the number of them still alive now," Dani snapped back. "You'll see what's there to be down about pretty easily."
She turned away, a lone tear coursing down her cheek. Yoshi reached with his hand to wipe it, keeping his eyes on Rudy. No, decidedly the man had no idea how much the war had cost Johto and Kanto. By the latest count he had heard, seven hundreds and thirty two trainers had gone missing or been found dead since the beginning of the war, not counting those trainers who had been found dead in ways that could not be related to the war.
"I count three for Kanto," Sabrina was shaking her head, doing, he guessed, much the same thing he was doing. "Brock went missing in action two years ago. Erika was killed during the Celadon attacks, and Koga took a bullet to the chest five months ago."
"We don't know that Brock's dead though…" Dani objected, an objection she had brought up more than once in recent months. Yoshi knew just who was behind that particular objection, and as much as he wanted to believe it, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "There really was nothing left to say what happened…"
"Oh for Mew's sake!" Rudy shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Don't tell me Misty got you on that notion of hers! Slate's dead. So's Ash. Else they would have reappeared by now."
Yoshi raised an eyebrow at the vehement objection. He had never quite managed to get to the bottom of why Rudy was so vehemently opposed to the notion of anyone putting any faith whatsoever in Misty's theory. Dani had claimed there was a love matter involved in it, and listening to Rudy it wasn't hard to believe.
"He's right I think Dani," Jackson nodded first, speaking gently. "Ash vanished three years ago. Do you honestly think he wouldn't have found his way back by now if there were any way he could come back? There's only one thing that could keep Ash from returning to Misty's side."
"Not quite true," Yoshi remarked with a brief smile. Here he had the advantage from having heard Ash's many tales of his journeys. "They were separated for a few years while Ash competed in Hoenn and Misty returned to administrate the Cascade gym."
"He would not leave her without news unless he was dead," Rudy insisted. "He's not that kind of guy. He wouldn't leave her like that. He wouldn't want her a wreck…" the last was mumbled.
"What do we know? There's no way to tell what happened to Ash," Dani stated firmly. "Or to all those other trainers. You really think it was just random happenstance?"
"I'll believe it was more than coincidence when someone gives me definite proof it was," Jackson laughed. "Come on guys, you don't really believe that a few trainers…"
The air in the room seemed to freeze as Sabrina turned toward Jackson. This time, her eyes blazed with the telltale glow of psychic powers. The blue aura spread all about her as she leveled a deadly glance toward the trainer. "I find your boundless faith in coincidence rather disturbing," she commented dryly.
Yoshi chuckled, if only for a single too rare moment. Of all the people he knew, Sabrina would have been the last one he would have expected to hear quoting popular movies, except perhaps Agatha of the Elite Four. It simply didn't seem like her. Then again, he reflected, perhaps she hadn't even realized she was doing it – perhaps she had never heard the movie quote itself, for that matter.
"I wouldn't do that!" Jackson screamed, throwing panicked glances left and right. "Let me go! I…" he looked to the floor this time, his cheek a deep red, tears coursing down them. "Please stop. Please just stop."
"You know it's true," Sabrina hissed, barely loud enough for even Yoshi to hear. "You want it to be true…" the last was barely above a whisper.
Yoshi looked for a moment at his friend before deciding he had better intervene, but he was saved from having to do so when Sabrina turned away from Jackson, her eyes coming to rest straight on his own, thoughtful still but now without their deadly aura.
"Is Misty still in the archive room?" she asked as Jackson slumped against the wall.
Swallowing hard, Yoshi nodded. As far as he knew, the gym leader had almost never left the room except to collect a few hours of sleep here and there or to eat in the last few months. Virtually everyone who knew her had tried to drag her out of her researches but with no success.
Silence reigned over the small group for a while. Jackson was still leaning against the wall, oblivious to anything about him, and Rudy had gone to get another drink. Sabrina eyed both Dani and Yoshi in turn.
"I think we should go see her, don't you agree?" she finally suggested. Her tone, however, left no doubt that the suggestion had best be taken very seriously.
There was no need for the tone, Yoshi decided. Visiting Misty sounded like a good idea enough on its own, without any commands from Sabrina or anyone else. She was, after all, something of a friends and the closest link Yoshi had left with Ash, who had definitely been his friend in the years they had known each other.
"Let's go," Dani approved without even waiting for his own answer.
___________________
"Nothing still…" Misty muttered, closing the browser window with a frown. She wondered not for the first time if she could have had the strength to do any of the researches she was working on if the entire archive of Kanto and Johto newspapers for the last twenty-three years had not been turned in fully searchable computer format. Likely, she would have given up on the third or fourth old newspaper.
The archive room of the new League offices was nothing like the musty old rooms spy movies were so proud of. It was well lit, the books were kept safe and secure, and all the information except for perhaps a few pieces from years ago was available straight on any of the numerous computers to be found inside.
One of them, she had heard the archivists whispers behind her back, had pretty much become her personal workspace. She doubted anyone else had even come close to touching the keyboard in the last few months – they knew who sat there, and whose researches were ongoing. No one had tried to stop her so far.
Once again, she looked at all the documents she had printed so far. There was little in the way of news, most of them were police reports about missing trainers, or league battle reports concerning members of the league missing in action. They had little enough in common between each other, except that they all had happened within the space of two months, and perhaps the fact that virtually all the disappearances were people who at one time had been close to Ash.
Coincidences, other said. She couldn't even begin to agree with them, even though some part of her insisted that she was simply letting wishful thinking run wild. There had been a war, and Ash had gone missing in the middle of it. What else could have happened to keep him away?
"I sound like Rudy," she said out loud, shaking her head without a care for her now shoulder-length fiery hair.
With a sigh, she readjusted the reading glasses that hours in front of the computer for months to no end had earned her and went back to her research, becoming so absorbed in them that she did not hear the footsteps coming up behind her.
"Hello Misty," she recognized Dani's voice as soon as the younger woman spoke. Dani had spent a lot of time with her since Ash's disappearance, trying to comfort her. She turned with a sigh, pushing back her material. She had hoped to get some work done in the absolute quietness that had resulted from everyone leaving for the various parties all over the building once the news of Team Rocket's final defeat had broken through. Obviously, she conceded, that would not be.
"Hi…" she replied resignedly, turning to face the handful approaching, then blinked. Dani and Yoshi she had of course expected, but Sabrina's presence was more of a surprise. The psychic gym leader had not shown much interest in her theories so far as far as she was aware. "Why aren't you all at the party?"
"Why would we be at a party when we have a friend in need?" Dani smiled gently. "I think you said something along those lines back when I was busy getting Van out. Seriously, we thought we'd keep you company."
Misty smiled weakly at the memory, seemingly so distant now. Van was a growing young man now, and now that the war was over chances where he would leave on his own journey in two years or so. His birth was part of a world far away, back before the war, back before Ash had vanished.
"I see you're finally done searching through the MIA reports," Yoshi noted, pointing at the desk. "Did you find anything worth it?"
"Plenty. See for yourself," she drew a list from the top of the stack. On it, finely set atop each other were a series of names with dates. From the earliest date – circled in red and with Ash's name next to it – to the last there was less than six weeks.
"Quite the list. All Ash's friends?"
"Virtually every noteworthy friend Ash made on his journeys, yes. Not counting people he just met once then forgot about, just those he met quite a few times and counted as friends, or those with whom he did something exceptional. The only one like that Ash knew who's not on that list is me," she reported blandly.
That, perhaps, had been the shocking part of it. If Ash was setting up the disappearances as she had first thought – he had grown rather concerned with the way the war was going after all – why would he leave her of all people behind? She had thought they would be closer than that.
"You're the whole reason this is rather hard to believe, you realize," Yoshi nodded. "If you had vanished I would have no problem with it," he admitted with a thoughtful sigh."
Dani nodded quietly, then shook her head. "Maybe Ash was going in something dangerous and he wanted friends with him, but he didn't want to involve you?"
Misty hesitated for a moment. Ash had been one to try to protect her in the past, true. Not as much as some other men acted around their girlfriends, but still enough to make her cringe at time. But would he really abandon her to go face some danger without even saying goodbye?
"I don't see Ash doing that," Yoshi shook his head. "He would have known how much that would hurt you."
Misty shook her head glumly. Of course Ash would have known that. Or maybe he should have known? He had been one to take rash decisions in the past, and that as far as Misty knew had never changed. He could simply have failed to realize the truth of the matter, he could…
"I don't think all those disappearances is a coincidence, though…" Dani hesitated, looking over at the list. "Hell, most of them didn't even happen in the war zone – Orange, Pokémon Island, even all the way in Hoenn for Max and May Whyte. Sorry but that doesn't feel like a normal result of the war to me. Just because a few of them were on dangerous missions when they vanished…"
"I'll grant you that," Yoshi nodded thoughtfully. Misty looked at her friend with a smile, wondering for a moment how she had managed to miss that. "But just who are we talking about exactly, anyway?"
"Outside Ash and Brock, Gary Oak, Tracey Sketchit, Todd Klaus, Richie Leonhart, Duplica Copperfield, Melody Davids, May and Max Whyte, Jessie Bearge, James Morgan, Sakura Yue, Casey Williams…"
"Plenty of names and few of them amounting to much," Yoshi shook his head. "Which is another point in favor of Misty's theory really. If they all had been known people I could have gone along with the notion that Team Rocket had somehow pulled some trick on them, but…"
"Revenge against Ash?" Sabrina asked, making Misty jump in her seat with the reminder that Dani, Yoshi and herself were not alone in the room.
"The only Rockets who would have known most of these were linked with Ash are Jessie and James, and they turned against the Team years ago. In fact they're on the list of disappearance," Misty shook her head. She had thought of it too – killing all of Ash's close friends would certainly be a way to make him suffer. But then…
"If they were going for that, they would have gone for you Misty," Dani raised the very objection Misty had been considering.
The entire group remained silent for another long moment. Misty ran again through everything she had found in her mind.
"I keep thinking something else happened in March of that year…" Sabrina shook her head, clearly trying to put together puzzle pieces…
"Wait!" Yoshi suddenly yelled. "I think I have it! Misty, can you open up the Pokémon Science Gazette archive for April the year Ash vanished?
Misty blinked. What did the foremost magazine on pokémon science have to do with Ash? He had never been much interested in scientific research on pokémon, outside the discovery of new species…
Her thoughts froze as the first page of the magazine appeared on the screen. There, written in bold letters at the very top of the page where everyone could see it was just the answer she had been looking for – the link between the magazine and Ash.
"That would be it," Sabrina agreed, reading on screen. "On March 7, professor Samuel Oak announced that after some recent discoveries had left him deeply troubled, he would be putting an effective end to any and all research on pokémon and retire…"
"A week before Gary, Brock and Tracey vanished," Misty shook her head. How had she missed it, especially with all four early disappearances tied to professor Oak and research in some way or another? Ash, who had always regarded Oak as some kind of father. Gary, who had been the professor's grandson. Tracey, who had regarded him as an idol, and Brock who had spent months in Pallet helping the professor while she and Ash were in the Orange Islands.
"It fits, doesn't it?" Yoshi asked quietly. "What now?"
Misty did not hesitate a moment, rising from her chair. She would need to go by her room and find some means of transportation, but if she hurried she could be in Pallet within a few hours…
"I'm going to have a long talk with one Samuel Oak," she hissed. "If any of you wants to come, be my guest. If you want to arrange for transportations while I get my things, that would be nice too…" she added the last. If she could save any time at all…
Yoshi shook his head before she was even finished speaking. "I have to stay here to keep an eye on league things."
"And there's Van to take care of," Dani added with a sigh. "Keep us posted, ok?"
Misty nodded as her only answer. She had not expected much help from them to tell the truth – had known their responsibilities would keep them in Saffron for a while yet. Truth to be told, she should probably stay as well, but there simply wasn't a chance she would now that she finally had a trail to follow. Even if it proved to be a dead end, it would beat just sitting around by a large margin.
"I don't think you will need to find transportation," Sabrina said quietly just as Misty made to leave the room, forgetting once more the presence of the psychic gym leader. "We will be in Pallet as soon as we are ready to leave."
Misty blinked, "Why?" the only thought racing through her mind. She had long since gotten over being transformed in a puppet in the Saffron gym, of course – the Sabrina who had done that was an entirely different person from the gym leader who had emerged in the wake of Ash's conquest of her badge – but still, she had never expected to find her so helpful.
Sabrina's eyes blazed for a moment before she nodded. "You remember how I was before Ash got his badge." That had been a statement, not a question. "I owe him my soul."
The answer was simple, but it really was everything Misty needed to hear.