Hmm... in hindsight I should have started posting this fic *after* my Japanese proficiency test tomorrow...

Anyway! Here's chapter 2. It's Dialogue heavy unfortunately, and so is 3. Sorry about that but it's the best way to set up what's going on. I hope the content is at least interesting enough to keep you interested. :redface:


Chapter 2

Professor Samuel Oak seated himself in the chair in front of the phone, checked the destination of the incoming call and pushed the answer button.
"Professor Oak here."
"Hello Professor, how are you?" The cheery voice of Nurse Joy filtered through the speakers as her face appeared on the screen.
"I'm fine Joy, and yourself?"
"Things here are good." She replied glancing to her left. "Actually I'm calling because I have two of your charges with me who want to speak with you."
Oak raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Try... try to stay calm with them." She added before moving aside. Kate's face appeared on the screen and Oak shot out of his chair.
"What the hell happened to you?" He demanded, seeing the scratches and bruises on her face.
"Relax Professor, we're fine. Well... Andy sprained her wrist and we're missing three of our pokemon but we're ok."
"What do you mean missing! How are you missing three pokemon?"
Kate hesitated. "We were walking towards Fuschia City and we got a bit waylaid... by Team Rocket."
"Oh really?" Oak said filling his voice with sarcasm. "And why the hell were you walking anywhere? Don't you have bicycles?"
Kate hesitated again. "We... we sold those."
"What!"
"They make too much noise when we want to catch pokemon." She added hastily.
"That's not the point!" Oak retaliated, raising his voice. "Two Pallet trainers walking around when Team Rocket is on the hunt is just... just stupid!"
"Hey! Professor, seriously, you're going to give yourself a heart attack." Kate snapped, her emerald eyes flashing angrily. "We're alive aren't we?"
Oak sputtered. "That's not-"
"We called you," Kate said, interrupting, "To give you some information." She eyed him seriously. "The group that attacked us was being lead by Cassidy."
Oak's attitude changed at once. "What? Are you certain?"
"Andy and I have both met her up close before, if you remember." Kate replied with a cold vein running through her voice. "I doubt we'd forget her."
Oak nodded. "Quite." He sat down and pulled a writing pad towards him. "Where were you attacked?"
Oak took notes as Kate told him what happened. Once she was done he set the pad aside. "Very well, I'll let Misty know to look out for your pokemon; hopefully they're ok. Are you going to head for Cerulean City then?"
Kate nodded. "We'll stay here until Andy's wrist is ok then head out."
"How are you going to get there?"
"Walk."
Oak ran a hand over his face. "I'm going to send two Pidgeots to the center when I get a chance. You'll use them to get there." His tone left no room for argument.
Kate sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever."
"And one more thing." Oak said, conscious of the girl's readiness to hang up the phone.
Kate looked at him expectantly.
"Don't tell Giovanni that you saw Cassidy." He said, looking straight into her eyes.
Kate hesitated at this and Oak felt he could understand some of the conflict going on in her head. Eventually she nodded, setting her jaw. "I understand. We'll call you later." She hung up before Oak could respond.

The professor sighed and muttered under his breath about teenage girls.
"Everything alright Professor?" The voice of Tracey Sketchit came from behind him. Oak turned to look at his assistant.
"Is everything done?"
"Everything's locked up and the other assistants are on their way home. I came to see if you were ready to head to Delia's for dinner."
"I should be ready shortly." Oak replied with a sigh. "I just need to call Misty first. You should probably sit in on this too."

Tracey nodded and wheeled a chair over beside the professor and sat down as the professor dialled the number for the Cerulean Gym. It was Ash Ketchum's face that appeared on the screen, he looked exhausted but still cheerful. The wild hair from his youth had gone, replaced by a much shorter cut that sat close on his head. His favoured wear had changed to a sleeveless black vest hemmed with red over a black t-shirt. The fingerless gloves had remained but were now black with red at the wrists. A reputation had evolved around him that whenever he battled, his tall, handsome and solid figure intimidated many opponents into making serious errors.

"Hi Professor Oak!" He said cheerfully. "Misty's actually in a gym battle right now, is there anything I can do to help?"
"You're probably actually better than Misty right now." Oak said, aware of the relief escaping into his voice.
Ash's smile lessened. "What's wrong?"
"Kate and Andy were attacked."
"What?" Tracey exclaimed.
Ash scowled. "Where are they now?"
"They're at the Princetown pokemon center." Oak replied. "Apparently they're relatively unharmed but they left three of their pokemon behind to cover their escape. They told them to go to Misty."
"I'll let Misty know." Ash said, taking notes.
"There's more. The person that attacked them was Cassidy."
Tracy inhaled sharply and Ash's eyebrow raised.
"Now that's interesting." Ash said, taking more notes. "She shouldn't be in Kanto."
"No, Kate said the same thing."
"I'll ask Ritchie in Johto for more information." Ash said. "Or Gary if I can contact him."
"Is Gary alright?" Oak asked, eager for any information on his grandson.
"His location is top secret." Ash replied, not looking up from his notepad. "But the last report I received from him indicated that he was fine."
Oak nodded.
"Where were the girls attacked?" Ash asked.
"Just outside of Princetown, before the turnoff to Vermillion City."
"Huh."
"What?"
"I was contacted by Renault a short while ago and told that David Carrada was in Vermillion. If Cassidy's in the area too then something might be about to happen. And considering how quiet the Rockets have been recently, that can’t be a good thing."
"Renault told you this?"
Ash nodded. "He was on assignment for the Gym Leaders and Trainers Organisation, tracking Carrada. They lost him again, the slippery bastard. Still, I suppose that’s why he’s a high ranking Rocket agent. Do you know Kayla? She won the Indigo Championship two years ago, she was leading the group. She obviously reported in to Erika straight away but Renault felt that I probably needed to know too so he contacted me as soon as he could."
"I see."
"It can't be coincidence that they're both near Vermillion." Tracey said.
"No." Ash concurred, tapping his bottom lip with the pen. "I'll contact the girls and see what details I can get from them."
"Ash, I want them both off assignment." Oak said flatly.
"Not possible." Ash replied.
"Why?"
"Because the Pallet Front barely has enough members as it is to pick up after the Gym Leaders' incompetence." Ash replied, ticking points off with his fingers. "Because those two are not members of the Gym Leaders and Trainers Organisation and therefore have much greater freedom than those of us who have to cover our tracks so that the GT don't find out about the Pallet Front. Because it's thanks to trainers like those two and Renault that came forward and asked to be involved that the Pallet Front even started." He pushed his last finger down. "And because I have confidence in their abilities and know that they can do what I ask of them."
"Ash, they're sixteen years old! They've only been training for three years! They aren't experienced enough to be doing this!"
"I've been fighting Team Rocket since I was ten." Ash argued calmly.
"That's different! The Team Rocket you fought sixteen years ago and the Team Rocket that exists now, the one that hunts Pallet Town trainers are two different teams. Giovanni doesn't control the team anymore and it's so much more dangerous because of it! Have you forgotten that Cassidy kidnapped them last year?"
"No I haven't." Ash said bluntly, it was clear from his voice that he was getting angry. "But you seem to have forgotten that they got out of that one almost completely on their own-"
"You were assaulting the place at the time!" Oak interjected.
"And," Ash continued loudly, "they were the ones to come to me after it was over and asked to be allowed to continue."
"They'd each just lost six of their best pokemon! They were out for revenge! They weren't thinking straight!"
"They're more intelligent than that and you know it!" Ash argued.
"If they're that smart then how come they were almost captured again today?" Oak snapped angrily.
"Clearly they're smart enough to get away!"
"What about Kate? As long as she and Giovanni are connected she could leak information to him!"
"What are you talking about? Giovanni's in the Pallet Front!"
"So you're intending to tell him that Cassidy's in Vermillion are you?"
Oak felt a vicious grin spread across his face as Ash's momentum came to a halt as he tried to splutter a response.
"That's a special circumstance and you know it!" Ash said finally. "I will not take them off assignment and as Gary and I lead the Pallet Front there is nothing you can do to affect that!"
"I'm having dinner with your mother tonight." Oak said rising out of his chair quickly. "I need to go and get ready." He stormed from the room leaving Ash with Tracey.

"He's just worried." Tracey said gently.
"Does he think I'm not?" Ash snapped. "Even if I did take them off assignment they'd just get themselves involved on their own. With Team Rocket running around like they own the place and attacking whenever they’re just bored there’s no way to avoid them getting involved! At least this way I have some measure of control over how much trouble they get into."
"I'll talk to him."
"Whatever. Is the security ok?"
"Pokemon covering every inch of the perimeter as usual."
"Good. I need to call the girls now and find out about Cassidy."
"Go for a walk or something first to calm down." Tracey suggested.
"Yeah, sure. I'll talk to you later." The screen went blank as Ash hung up and Tracey sighed heavily. Ash and the professor had been arguing a lot recently; it was getting out of hand. He rose from the chair and went in search of his mentor. Professor Oak was usually a very mild person but when he got really angry it was very unpleasant, Tracey wondered which room he'd find the Professor throwing things around in.

---------------------------------------------------

Ash leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his face. He hated how he and the professor were arguing so much these days. The stress of combating Team Rocket was getting to everybody. It had been five years since the coup that had ousted Giovanni and even though the information Giovanni had provided on base locations and members had been crucial (and was the reason that he wasn’t incarcerated), whoever had taken over was ruthless beyond words. Giovanni’s information had severely hampered the new leader and Ash shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if they hadn’t been given the opportunity to raid all of those bases and disrupt the Rockets’ plans. For almost two years they heard or saw almost nothing of the remnants of Team Rocket and then during the fifth round of the Indigo Championships three years ago… Ash had the newspaper clippings stuck up on his wall as a reminder of the people he was fighting against. 9 people died in that attack and so did quite a few pokemon and amongst the chaos and confusion 187 pokemon went missing presumed captured. The worst of it was that the Rockets left almost no trace to follow, nothing that could give a clue as to where they had come from and where they were hiding out. It had been planned and executed perfectly. That attack occurred in the year that Andy and Kate had started training and after that Professor Oak had refused to sponsor any more trainers.

The violence and crime in Kanto, and to a lesser extent Johto, was now on an unprecedented scale and with no clues as to who the new leader was, even after five years of intelligence gathering, the end did not look to be coming any time soon. The only saving grace was the dedication of the Gym Leaders and a select group of skilled trainers who had formed the Gym Leaders and Trainers organization as a special group to combat Team Rocket. And behind them as a final line of the defense (though unknown to the GT) was Ash and Gary’s own little group: The Pallet Front. The very best of the best in the eyes of Ash and Gary made up this group, Pallet town trainers and their closest friends and allies. Ash’s connections in particular were crucial in this little group and had led to trainers like Drake from the Orange Islands and even Lance joining up. Many of the trainers worked as members of the GT as well which caused complications at times but, for the moment at least, both groups seemed to be able to operate simultaneously without Erika, the leader of the GT, finding out about the Pallet Front.

He heard the door behind him open gently and looked up to see a pair of turquoise eyes looking into the room.
"You were arguing with the professor again." Misty said, stepping into the room. Her long red hair was held back in a damp ponytail.
"Everything's fine." Ash muttered.
"I could hear you from the other end of the hall through a closed door." Misty replied. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "That tells me a different story."
Ash eyed the promise ring on her finger that he'd given her over a year ago and scowled. If not for the chaos of the last few years that ring would have been an engagement ring. He had settled for the next best thing until things were brought under control and it angered him that it was taking so long for that to happen.
"The girls narrowly escaped being captured today."
"They're ok though right?"
Ash nodded. "They're fine. Apparently three of their pokemon are headed this way after they were called out to slow the Rockets down." He leaned into her. "The professor wants me to take them off Pallet Front duty."
"That's understandable." Misty replied. "They're only sixteen."
Ash growled. "I'm aware of that!" He snapped angrily, rising from his chair and turning to face her. "Do you think I want them doing this?"
Misty's eyes flared. "Don't snap at me Ash Ketchum." She said fiercely. "I'm fully aware of the situation thank you very much!"
In an instant, Ash's anger disappeared. Getting Misty angry wasn't worth anything. "Sorry." He mumbled.

Misty pointed at the chair. "Sit."
Ash did as instructed. He felt Misty's hands grip his shoulders and tried to relax as she kneaded his flesh.
"You're getting too worked up." She said gently. "You should try and relax. The stress of this all is turning you into someone you're not."
Ash sighed. “Carrada slipped away again. On top of that I have no idea where Gary is and he hasn’t contacted anyone in over a week as far as I’m aware and now the professor is on my case about the girls, which means I have to lie to him about Gary because he’s stressed enough as it is.” Ash took a breath. “And now I’m going to have to keep an eye on Giovanni as well because Cassidy is back in the region.”
Misty’s hands tightened on his shoulders when he said Cassidy’s name. Ash looked up at her face, her eyes were narrowed slightly and her jaw was set. He reached up and grasped her hand, kissing it once.
“We’ll get her this time.” He said. Misty looked down and her eyes locked on his. “Before she does anything.”
Misty gave him a weak smile and nodded. “Is Butch with her?”
Ash shook his head. “Last reports had him in Johto. That said, Cassidy was supposed to be there too so it’s anyone’s guess who’s where. I’m going to try and contact Ritchie or Casey and get them to try and determine who’s still in Johto.”
“Maybe Carrada will go to Johto.”
Ash snorted. “There’s as much chance of that happening as there is of a caterpie using hyperbeam.” He sighed in frustration. “I wish he would disappear for a while, then we’d be able to make some ground against Team Rocket.”
“Unless the leader is better.”
“I don’t want to even consider that. If the boss of Team Rocket is better than David Carrada then he’d fall just short of being a god.” He sighed again and leaned forward in his chair, pushing the button to activate the phone. “I’d better call the girls and then inform Erika that Cassidy’s back. I can’t wait to see how she blames me for it.”

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So... much dialogue. But! At least you have a handle on what the crap is going on. Sort of. Look out for chapter 3 when Renault returns and we get a proper look into his character. I like him a lot.