Chapter 2: Aftermath and Goodbyes

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or anything mentioned in the story. None of them are my works.

Key

"This is speech"

"These are thoughts"

Professor Oak sighed when he saw the screen turn off after Giovanni ended the videophone conversation they were having. The past few days had not been easy for the old Professor. The stress kept piling up, as he'd had to deal with the funeral preparations for Delia, as well as somehow trying to help Ash out of his self-imposed isolation.

They'd decided after the fire that it would be best for now if Ash stayed with Professor Oak at his ranch. Blue and Gary wanted Ash to stay with them, but their house only had enough room for the two of them. They also felt that maybe they should give Ash some time to grieve for his mother. They believed staying at their home wouldn't be a good idea, considering the wreckage of Ash's old home was in plain sight from their windows.

Unfortunately, time and space didn't seem to help Ash get over the incident. Ever since the fire, he had locked himself in one of Professor Oak's spare guest rooms and refused to come out except for dinner. What's worse, when he did come out, he looked completely exhausted and drained. Professor Oak had tried to make him open up and let out his emotions, but Ash didn't even seem to listen. He seemed lost in his thoughts and kept staring past everybody, barely acknowledging the people around him. The only time he seemed to even be aware of himself was when he ate, and even then pain seemed to flash across his face.

It was a delicate situation, as nobody knew what to do with him. What's worse was that Ash had even taken to tuning out Gary. If anybody could pierce the cloud of negativity surrounding Ash, it was Gary, but even that venue seemed to fail.

Oak thought to himself, "If Ash doesn't recover by the funeral, I don't know what I'm going to do. I have no idea how Giovanni is going to react when he meets Ash. Ash's shattered state doesn't help things, because I don't know if it'll swing things in his favor for Giovanni's decision to take Ash in. On one hand, maybe it'll appeal to his sense of family, seeing how broken Ash is and how much he needs a strong support to help him get over the shock. On the other, Giovanni could panic and decide that it's too much trouble, and Ash isn't worth the hassle. I wish I knew him a little bit better, or that Delia had talked about him before. Right now he's a complete mystery to me."

Well, maybe not a complete mystery. The professor had heard him speak at the annual Pokemon League research conferences. He seemed to be a proponent of the idea that Pokemon are tools for people to command. All of his proposals were quite harsh, and seemed to bank on the fact that a Pokemon would obey its master completely. He didn't take into account things like feelings and emotions, or even the sacred bond between Trainer and Pokemon. To him, Pokemon were only as useful as they were strong. A typical might makes right proponent, one could say.

However, the interesting thing was that his reputation was the complete opposite. Oak didn't know anything about Giovanni himself seeing as he'd never truly gotten to know the man, but everything he knew was based on the rumors of the man. He'd heard of how he ran a tight shift in Viridian City the past few years, managing to turn the crime ravaged city into a respectable tourist spot. Even more impressive, he'd managed to get the League to build a gym in the city. Ever since he became gym leader, he'd led the gym, as well as the city, to new heights in prosperity.

Of course, as much as the people of Viridian City loved him, the trainers hated him. Unlike most other gyms, Giovanni didn't coddle the challengers and give them easy wins. There was no moral, no secret lesson to be taught in his gym. He didn't impart the value of any secret battle technique or any such wisdom. To win in his gym, one needed sheer strength. Enough strength to remain standing steadfast like the Earth against the coming trials. The Earth Badge was the last hurdle before fledgling trainers would be granted entrance into the Indigo Plateau Conference. With that came the burden of ensuring the trainers who beat Giovanni were worthy of battling there. Giovanni took his job seriously, and didn't allow just anybody to get the badge. To earn it, one had to defeat his Pokemon in battle completely, a task that was not easy.

Unlike most other gyms, his Pokemon couldn't be beaten with simple type advantages. They'd grown and excelled from his harsh training regiment, to become some of the highest ranked in the entire League's gym leader roster, able grow past their weaknesses. Even worse, Giovanni often had his Pokemon use suicidal tactics with little regard to their own safety. Things like point blank Hyper Beams, Explosions and Self-Destructs were common-place and often prevented new trainers from grasping a decisive victory. Sometimes, the battle would end in a draw which was the same as utter defeat for the challenger due to Giovanni's victory condition. Only true defeat would cause him to give out an Earth Badge. He tried to balance out the sheer difficulty of his gym by making it a one on one battle, winner take all. Some would say this worked against many new trainers who wouldn't realize they'd made a mistake until it had already cost them the match. Even worse was that the man only gave you one chance a month. Most gyms had varying policies on how often one was allowed to re challenge the gym leader. Giovanni's policy made it so most trainers who got to his gym late near the registration deadline for the Indigo Plateau Conference only had one shot at victory.

The man warily pondered, "If I go by rumors, then I can't be entirely sure that this man is the best choice to raise Ash. Damn it all, there's no other option though. If only I could take time off of work, then I could take care of Ash until he starts his journey and then everything would be fine. I don't like giving Ash over to some random stranger who I've never personally known, but I guess there has to be something good about him if Delia trusts him so much. I guess I'll just have to put my trust into Delia."

As he looked out the window, he suddenly realized how dark it was outside. The sun had set in the amount of time he'd spent speaking to Giovanni and thinking on the current situation. Pretty soon it would be time for dinner and he'd need to remind Ash that eating was a necessity yet again.

"Guess it's time to get Ash. It's so strange to be the one to have to force Ash to eat food. Before the incident, he'd always be the first one ready to chow down," he thought sadly to himself, his heart going out to the troubled young youth.

He couldn't believe it. Even now, he couldn't understand how everything could go so horribly wrong in such a short span of time. Why did he have to be the one to suffer? Why did their life have to be ruined so abruptly? What heinous crime had they committed that Mew was punishing them for?

They didn't have much, just a small house, some savings, and of course, each other. He didn't have the best life. He didn't have many friends, or even a father to help raise him or show him the difference between right and wrong. Yet, it was enough for him, because he'd had his loving mom. He could still hear her calling out his name in that loving tone as she cooked him his favorite food, ready to call him in for dinner.

Then in one fell swoop she was gone. It was a very shocking change, especially considering he wasn't even old enough to truly understand death. All he knew, from what Professor Oak had explained, was that his mother was gone and most definitely wouldn't be coming back. Despite how shocked he was when the Professor explained it to him, he'd already come to a similar sinking realization when he'd seen the blazing fire raging through his house. He knew his mom wasn't some sort of super hero. She wasn't a Pokemon either. People didn't go through fires and come out just like that. Just like when he accidently touched the baking pan in a haste to get at the fresh cookies his mom made, his hand would get burned. He knew his mother had to have felt an even worse pain from the flames that were probably much hotter than what he'd experienced.

It made him so angry. He was full of rage and frustration at everything. He was mad at the company that made the new stove his mom was using. He was mad at fate for making the firestone explode. He was even mad at himself, for being so weak, so helpless, and so utterly worthless in that moment when he arrived at the fire. He couldn't even muster up the will to get the Professor to come help like Gary had. Instead he'd merely stood there, staring at the flames like an utterly worthless loser.

Then, just like that he felt the anger drain away, replaced only by shame, self-disgust, and a wide encompassing numbness. He felt like he'd let his mother down, he couldn't do anything right.

A knock dislodged him from his self-hating thoughts. He turned his head towards the window and saw it was getting to be quite late. The Professor was probably here to make him eat. Despite how much the Professor urged him, he just couldn't muster up an appetite anymore. He felt bad, being such a burden on the kind man, and hoped he could figure out what he was going to do with himself after the funeral. He knew he couldn't stay here and drain the man's meager resources.

He wasn't surprised when he opened the door to see Professor Oak standing there, although his expression did seem strange. The man had an uncomfortable look on his face, like he was dreading what he was about to do or say.

"Hello Professor, is something the matter? You seem troubled, well more troubled than before," inquired Ash, curious to know what was bothering the elderly researcher.

The man took a deep breath, and seemed to let it out like it was a very strenuous task. His expression shifted and became slightly more serious, yet remained somber.

"Ash, can we talk?" he said, seeming to be quite stressed.

Ash nodded and the two took a seat facing each other on the bed, before letting their gazes fall around the room. Neither wanted to really broach the issue, Ash because he was afraid to know what was going to happen to him and the Professor because he didn't know how to break the news to Ash about his uncle.

After several minutes of silence in which the Professor gathered his thoughts, he finally spoke, "Ash. I know now isn't the best time to talk about this, you still haven't gotten over...what's happened and you're also feeling confused and lost. It's not easy dealing with something like this. I know because...well something similar happened to me when I was a foolhardy young trainer in my youth. Not many know this, but I had a sister once. Her name was Daisy. We were very close, and yet at the same time, we could barely stand each other."

The professor laughed derisively, "In those days I fancied myself to be a real hot shot trainer, someone who was really powerful and skilled. I thought I could take on the world. I believed I was invincible. I had just beaten some members of the Elite Four, and decided to do something crazy. I thought I'd challenge the legendary bird of fire, Moltres. I believed myself to be such a great trainer, that I thought I could defeat the Dark Phoenix of Kanto."

Ash's eyes widened. The Professor had a sister? And he'd fought Moltres? This wasn't something he'd ever heard of before, as none of the big stories about the great Oak detailed an encounter with the legendary fire bird of Kanto or any important family.

He looked Ash in the eye now, completely serious, "Do you understand the complete scope Ash, of what I felt I could do? I meant to tame the very creature, whose flame can burn for an entire year. The same creature who could eclipse the sun if it so wished, by unleashing its own light from its unholy flame. It is said that Moltres' body burns hotter than even Ho-oh's Sacred Fire. Looking back, I can't help but question my sanity. I a mere human had chosen to challenge a God. A God Ash, because that is what the Legendaries are, they are far too powerful to be anything less than a God."

He seemed to take a deep breath now, as he continued his story," Daisy didn't want me to go. She thought I was crazy for trying to do something so utterly stupid. When I was leaving, she made me take her with me. I guess she thought that if she came, I'd get cold feet, or maybe she'd be able to talk me out of doing it. If anything, her presence only strengthened my resolve as I decided I couldn't let myself be humiliated in front of my sister by turning around before we even reached the cave where Moltres was recently sighted.

When we got there, I scoped out the area and I tried to see if Alakazam could sense Moltres. I thought we'd be able to find it, plan an ambush, and attack it before it realized we were there. We gravely underestimated Moltres and paid dearly for it."

The Professor had a haunted look now, as he seemed to relive some great horror. His words now came out in a very hollow tone, "The power...the sheer power that Moltres released, it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I'd heard the legends of course, but one cannot truly grasp the difference in power between us and them until one sees it personally. When I had my Gyarados use a Waterfall attack, it did nothing to Moltres. They are so powerful, that a type advantage doesn't matter at all, unless of course it is another Legendary facing them. With a mere cry of fury, Moltres unleashed such flames, that they burned straight through my Gyarados, leaving nothing but plasma behind. The sheer heat of the flames had caused almost all of the oxygen to be swallowed by the flames, and I passed out mere moments later. My Alakazam had barely managed to grab me and use a quick teleport to get us out of there...but he couldn't grab Daisy in time.

When I came to, I was back in Pallet Town, and my Alakazam quickly explained the situation to me. After that day, I gave up my trainer license, ashamed at what my arrogance had done. I turned my eyes towards the field of research, hoping that my experiences could allow me to help new trainers, as well as help me forget what I'd done."

Ash's face softened as he felt pity for the Professor. At the same time he wondered what the Professor's point was. Sure, they both lost someone important to each other, but they're situations weren't really that similar. He lost his mom to a freak accident, while the Professor lost his sister because of his own arrogance.

He continued sadly, "Now granted, there are some differences in our situations, but I know what you're going through. However, I want to make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did. I never owned up to my mistake, instead I ran away from my problems, even changing my entire career just so I'd never have to deal with it again. You need to grieve and get over the incident Ash. Don't be like me and keep running away."

He thought to himself, "Hopefully my words can help him. Now's probably not the best time to spring the news of his uncle on him, I'll tell him after dinner."

They then proceeded to head downstairs and eat. The food wasn't anything special, Professor Oak was no cooking genius after all. It was a simple rice and curry, one of the simplest dishes that Professor Oak had learned to make during his travels. After dinner was finished, the professor put away the dishes and stopped Ash before he went back upstairs. It was clear to him that Ash had been thinking on his words, and was going to be pondering them for at least the rest of the night.

"Ash, there's something else I need to tell you. It's regarding your future," he said.

Ash looked back and seemed to furrow his eyebrows as he wondered what the Professor needed to tell him. His words regarding the incident were still running through his head, and he didn't really know what to make of anything. He didn't even want to think about what he'd do in a few days when the Professor would inevitably tell him to leave. He had no home, he had no money, and he had nobody to turn to. In short, his life was ruined.

"What is it Professor?" he asked, deciding to get the conversation over with quickly so he could head back upstairs and figure out what he was going to do with his life.

"You see Ash, when your mom...passed away, she made a request of me. She wanted me to ensure that you were safe, and would have a home to go to. Sadly, I myself cannot provide this home, due to my overwhelming duties and responsibilities. Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to keep you here since my salary as a researcher is quite low, just enough for me to live off of. Most of the money I use comes in the form of grants from the Pokemon League to finance different research endeavors. However, it seems we are in luck, because tomorrow someone is coming here to meet you and then hopefully, take you home with them," he said ending in an upbeat tone.

Unfortunately, Ash seemed even more confused at the news, as he wondered who would possibly want to take him in.

"Wait, who is coming tomorrow? Why would they want to take me in? It's not like I have any relatives, and my dad's been missing for years? So who is it?" asked Ash, wondering if he was such a burden that the Professor was willing to give him away to a random stranger.

He responded nonchalantly, "Well, as it turns out, you have an uncle who is the gym leader of Viridian City. His name is Giovanni, and I'm hoping that the two of you can get along well enough to live with each other."

Ash froze as he heard he had an uncle. His head was suddenly filled with questions wondering just who this man Giovanni was, and why his mother had never spoken of him Ash was lost in his thoughts again, and having prepared him for tomorrow's encounter, the famous researcher took his leave, leaving Ash to his thoughts.

The next day dawned brightly, yet Ash didn't feel like getting out of bed. He'd been plagued all night long by questions. He'd even started to become nervous, for a number of reasons. He didn't have any idea who this Giovanni person was, nor did he know how the man would react when he met him. Would he like him? Would he be annoyed by him? What kind of a man was he? He was apparently a gym leader, so he had to be powerful and skilled, but how was he as a person? Most prominent in his mind was the question on why he'd never been involved in his life before.

After realizing that he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep while all of these questions once again filled his head, he decided to get ready for the day. As he proceeded through his morning routine, he was filled with a very annoying anxiousness. He was nervous to face the day, and yet he couldn't help but wish that the man would get here already so that he could finally put his questions to rest.

After several hours of waiting in the house, he heard a loud whirring sound coming from outside. Turning his head, he went to go look out the window and see what was making the loud racket. As he looked, he could see a large, black helicopter was right outside the ranch. Its rotors spun as it lowered itself and landed on the grassy meadow, the whirs of the rotors dying down as the pilot turned off the air vehicle.

Out stepped a man in a sleek black suit, looking to the entire world like the CEO of a major company. He had an impassive look on his face, and in his hands he carried a Persian that he put on the ground. It strutted around him, rubbing its head on the man's legs.

Ash's heart started pounding as he wondered if this man was Giovanni. He sure seemed to have style, looking at his clothes and his manner of entrance. He had a very serious manner, although he seemed to be glancing around the ranch in keenly veiled interest, gazing at the various Pokemon in their habitats.

Ash stepped away from the window and went to go let the Professor know about the visitor. Fortunately, he was already outside tending to some of the Pokemon. Oak walked over to the man and they seemed to talk about something. After a few moments, Oak called out to Ash and beckoned him over.

Giovanni looked around the ranch, spotting a wide variety of different Pokemon.

"So this is the famous Oak Ranch. I'd heard that over sixty different species are tended to here daily by the Professor. Quite an impressive feat when one takes into account the sheer diversity of skills required to maintain all of them. I wonder how long it took him to build such an extensive collection," he thought, his eyes taking in the various breeds.

It was an awe inspiring sight, seeing how most trainers never had more than seven or eight different Pokemon. Even gym leaders usually only kept two teams of six so that they could cycle out their Pokemon between battles. It made sense since taking care of that many Pokemon was difficult in itself, taking care of anything upwards would prevent a trainer from managing all of his Pokemon. Thus, seeing fifty different breeds coexisting simultaneously in a man-made habitat was truly an exciting experience, possible only because of the Professor's recently developed stasis technology.

Utilizing the ability of the Poke Ball to store Pokemon, it ensured that when placed in his machine, the Pokemon in the Poke Ball would be placed in a cryogenic stasis that kept it safe. This helped him coordinate taking care of the Pokemon, as he wouldn't be swamped with work, he could study the Pokemon in peace, and the Pokemon would remain healthy too while in stasis.

Giovanni spotted the Professor making his way towards him and decided to greet him. Meanwhile, Persian was making its way around the meadow, curious about its new surroundings.

Giovanni spoke in a crisp voice, "Hello Professor."

The Professor replied, "Hello Giovanni."

A tense silence settled over them, neither having any idea on how to talk regarding their sudden connection through the now dead Delia.

After a few moments, Giovanni asked the Professor with barely concealed anxiousness, "Can I see him? Delia's boy I mean."

"Ah yes of course, let me just call him out here. I haven't told him much about you. All he knows is that you're his uncle and the Viridian City gym leader," said the Professor breezily, deciding to leave things up to fate.

"Hmm now where is that boy? Ah there he is, Ash come join us!" he called out, while beckoning with his hands for the boy to come over to them.

Giovanni watched with interest as a young boy, probably around the age of five or six ran to them from inside the house. Giovanni was shocked, the boy was a carbon copy of that man. He had the same black hair spiking off to the sides, he had the same dark brown eyes, and he even had those damnable z marks on his cheeks just like that damned Red. It maddened him seeing what looked like his sworn enemy reborn right in front of him, and yet his eyes caught what they had previously missed. The boy was weak. He didn't have the same confidence and determination that Red had. What's more, he was looking uncertainly at Giovanni as if he was unsure of what to expect.

Silently assessing his newly found nephew, Giovanni thought, "No, I'm being silly. They might look similar, but they are two completely different people. Red is a full blown champion and the boy is but a child. Not to mention, he's an orphan whose been abandoned by his father, and his mother's dead. Hmm to be honest, it reminds me of myself a little bit, only I guess you could say my situation was a little bit reversed. Not that that bastard Red helped anything. Him and his damn meddling ways."

"Are you, are you my uncle?" the boy asked with his head down, shockingly behaving shyly.

"Well, I'll just leave you two to get acquainted with one another. If you need anything, I'll be in my lab," interjected Professor Oak before he quickly made haste in leaving the awkward meeting.

Giovanni sighed deeply, and turned his eyes to the boy before speaking, "Yes, I am your mother's brother. My name is Giovanni. I have no last name because I didn't want anything to connect me to my mother who had abandoned me and your mother early in your childhood."

The boy turned his sad eyes towards the man and asked, "If you're my uncle, then why have I never met you before? Why did you never visit me? Did you not love me and my mom?"

The man seemed to shrink back at the accusing look in the boy's eyes before pondering whether he should reveal the reason behind the huge rift between him and Delia. Deciding he might as well explain himself, seeing as how he'd possibly be living with the boy soon he spoke, "Well, you see, your mother and I had a big fight many years ago. This was even before you were born. We were fighting about stupid stuff and neither of us wanted to back down. Your mother was being her usual stubborn self, while I just didn't think she was making the right choice. At the time, she decided she didn't want to have anything to do with me. By the time we both realized what was happening, she was walking out of Viridian City leaving me there staring at her back. She didn't leave alone of course; she left with your father. That's the last I'd heard of her, all I knew though was that she said she was going to go live in Pallet Town. We never spoke after that day, and so a rift appeared between us. I wanted some days to visit Pallet and see her, but I couldn't work up the nerve. I didn't even know that you existed until yesterday."

"So you knew my father?" asked Ash hopeful that he might get some info on the man he knew relatively nothing about.

Giovanni replied, "Yeah, I knew him. We didn't really get along too well though."

"Why's that? Was he a bad guy or something?" asked Ash getting a loud hearty laugh from Giovanni.

"That's a funny thought; I can't imagine that idiot ever committing any crime. Anyways, enough about him, let's get to know who you are Ash. After all, I have missed out on six years of your life. What's your dream?" he asked, getting a laugh at the irony in the question.

Ash thought deeply about the question and wondered what his dream really was now. Last week he would've probably said that he wanted to be a Pokemon Master, so that everybody would pay for ignoring him. Looking back on the past few days, could he say that he still strives to the same petty dream? Did the acknowledgement of unknown strangers really matter to him as much?

Thinking on the past few days, only one thing strikes out to Ash. He never wanted to feel that helpless ever again. Being powerless like that still shook him to his core. He couldn't do anything, couldn't stop the fire. All he could was sit there watching in horror.

He looked up with fierce determination on his face and said, "I wanna be...strong. No not just strong, I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was. To become so powerful, that nobody can touch me. I never want to be helpless ever again."

A smirk settling on his face, Giovanni thought, "Hmm, there it is. It's that same glint that Red had...I guess he truly is his son after all, in both body and mind. I wonder if he inherited his skills with Pokemon...No matter how much I hate that man, I can't deny he was one hell of a good trainer."

"You're interesting kid, looks like you have big dreams. I'll help you, if you want my help that is. I don't know if Professor Oak told you, but your mom wanted me to take care of you. I want to do this to make up for the past few years of not being here. Come with me to Viridian City. I know it isn't an easy decision, but I know you won't regret it. I can help you reach your dream, as a gym leader I have a lot of special privileges that can benefit you. I just want you to think about it and give me your decision after the funeral," he said to Ash, before heading inside to the lab to ask Professor Oak for his temporary lodgings.

Ash seemed to be thinking it over, wondering if he could really leave everything that he'd ever known and go with this relatively unknown man to live in a city in a gym. On one hand it was a dream come true, getting this kind of opportunity. Then again on the other hand, it was the scariest thought he'd ever thought of, to say goodbye to the familiar greenery and people of Pallet Town, and go into a brand new world.

Looking around the quaint town, he wondered, "I have no idea what to do. Then again, what choice do I really have? If I don't go with him, it isn't like I have any other options. I can't stay here and be a burden on Professor Oak. I guess going with him is my only real option...but why am I not jumping for joy? I mean he's my uncle, I should be happy that I get to live with a relative that might care for me...Am I really that attached to this town? The one that has almost completely ignored my existence?"

The funeral happened shortly after Giovanni's arrival. It was a very quiet affair with only a few people in attendance. For the most part, the group was comprised of Ash, the three Oaks, Giovanni, and a few others that had decided to try to console the last Ketchum for his loss. In Ash's eyes, it was far too little too late. None of them really cared. They were just here for news to gossip about, and to soothe their guilty conscious for making the two Ketchums outcasts in Pallet Town.

A few days later, Giovanni finally decided to ask Ash what he had decided regarding his offer.

Ash stated in a blase tone, "I'll go with you. There's nothing left for me in this town anyways. When can we leave?"

A smile bloomed on Giovanni's face, as he ruffled Ash's hair and said, "Alright, glad to have you with me. We can leave in my helicopter in an hour, once you get everything ready and say all your good-byes. Just come outside when you're done, I'll be waiting by the copter."

Ash walked back inside and saw that all three Oaks were waiting for him. Surprised, he could only wonder how they had known what his decision would be.

"Don't look so surprised Ash, we knew you'd go with Giovanni. Or at least, I'd seriously hoped that you would take him up on his offer," said the Professor with a smile on his face.

Ash felt some tears well up in his eyes as he realized he probably wouldn't be seeing these people for a long time. Sure, he could always try calling Gary on the videophone, but it wasn't the same thing as living near a person. He ran forward and hugged the three, tears spilling out of his eyes.

"Tch, just as I'd expect from a big crybaby like you Ashy boy. Getting all teary eyed on me. You better not become weak out there in Viridian! Next time we meet, we're going to be rival trainers! You better be prepared, because I'm going to be working my butt off to make sure I become a Pokemon Master!" said Gary, turning around to hide his own tears and keep up his macho act.

He then gave Ash half of a Poke Ball. It was a golden Poke Ball, with no purpose in catching Pokemon, meant purely as a decoration piece, yet Ash felt like it was the greatest gift he'd ever received. It was a prize that Gary had received in a local contest geared towards building interest in Pokemon, promoted by the League of course. Gary had gotten first place in it, while Ash hadn't even made the top five. That day, it had shown Ash the wide gap separating the two, as Gary was much more knowledgeable than him. Ash hadn't even heard of half the facts that Gary had stated, and had felt extremely inferior to him that day.

Gary then explained, "This represents our bond as friends and as rivals Ash. For as long as we have these, we will always be sworn rivals. No matter what happens, we must keep growing stronger until we both achieve our dreams. You better not get weak, or I'll beat you and take this back, you got it!"

Gary quickly ran away while Ash clutched the broken Poke Ball. He put it in his pockets to sort out properly later once he was on the copter with Giovanni.

Blue stepped forward and ruffled up Ash's hair before putting a slightly worn deluxe edition official Pokemon League hat on his head. It was a red hat with the Pokemon League logo in white on the front.

"You're a good kid Ash, take care of yourself. I want you to have this hat. I was holding onto it for your old man, hoping he'd come back for it one day, but I think you'll need it more than me. This thing was with him through all of his adventures, so take care of it ya hear?" he said with a smirk.

Ash seemed awed at the rare hat, one that had long been declared out of production by the Pokemon League. He was even more surprised that Blue had known his father.

Ash asked in an incredulous tone, "You knew my father! All this time and you never told me? At least tell me this, who is he?"

Blue laughed, "What can I say, we both grew up here in Pallet Town, and we eventually became friends. Doesn't mean I liked it when the jerk beat me an hour after I became Champion though."

Ash's eyes widened.

"My dad was a Champion?" he shouted.

"One of the best, they used to say he was either a demon or a saint, because no ordinary human could be so skilled at battling. His name was Red," said Blue, before seeming to dismiss Ash as he decided to leave, having said his goodbye.

Ash's head was left reeling as he took in the news, that his father was a Champion, just like Blue. In fact, his father was the one who beat Blue and took over the throne!

Professor Oak then walked to Ash and said, "Ash, it's not easy for me to say good-bye. In the short two years that we've known you, you've wormed your way into our hearts. Know that no matter what happens in the future, you'll always be welcome back here. When you leave Pallet Town, I just want you to remember what I told you earlier. Never run away from your fears Ash, never become like me. Face them head on, and build your path to success. You're a talented boy, and one day I'm sure you'll do great and wonderful things. Before you leave, I want you to take something to remember us by."

He then moved his hands from behind his back and held out a small brown feline creature to him. It had big wide eyes, and a small black nose. Its two long ears were pointing down as it looked at Ash confused. It had a cream white colored mane surrounding its neck and a fat long fox like tail.

After a few seconds of staring uncertainly at each other, the baby Pokemon jumped out of the Professor's hands and jumped on Ash, licking his face happily while causing him to fall down from surprise.

It yipped in an adorable tone, "Vee, vee".

Ash started laughing as the Eevee's actions were tickling him. Oak stared content that Eevee and Ash seemed to be getting along well. After a few moments, the Eevee calmed down and seemed to fall asleep on Ash, its young body still not used to so much excitement.

Ash picked up the Eevee's young frame and asked the Professor overjoyed, yet at the same time sad, "Thank you so much Professor, I love that you got me an Eevee, but I can't keep him. I'm still not old enough to have my trainer license yet, so it'd be illegal for me to own an Eevee."

The Professor laughed, "Don't worry Ash, I've already taken care of it with Giovanni. Eevee's been registered for now as one of Giovanni's Pokemon. Since you'll be living with him as his nephew, you'll be able to take care of Eevee without a license, since technically Eevee will be Giovanni's Pokemon. Now take care of him, he's a newborn so he'll be a little weak for the first few weeks. I'd originally intended to give him as a starter Pokemon to a worthy trainer a few years from now, but I think you'll be able to take care of him. Here's his Poke Ball. Take care now Ash. Keep in touch and don't forget we're just a phone call away."

Ash smiled widely as he received the Poke Ball and quickly returned Eevee into it. He clipped the Poke Ball to his belt, while basking in the joy of the moment. He had his first Pokemon! It was an exhilarating moment, and he didn't know what to do, until he remembered the helicopter was waiting for him outside. Putting the few items that remained after the fire in a small backpack, he walked outside to the copter and nodded to Giovanni to indicate he was ready. Giovanni seemed a little surprised by the new hat, and glanced at it for a moment before turning away and sitting in the copter with Persian.

As he sat down in the helicopter, he wondered what the future would hold for him. So much had changed in the past few days, and yet, the future held a lot of promise for him now. He knew one thing for sure though.

"No matter what happens, nothing is going to stop me from becoming the best. Nothing," he thought with absolute confidence and determination shining in his eyes.

As the copter rose into the air, and he turned his eyes ahead towards Viridian City, he didn't realize the dark world that he was about to enter. For just as he had many hopes and desires, so too did his uncle. Unfortunately, many of those dark desires would end up causing trouble for both of them in the future.

Giovanni thought to himself as Pallet Town faded away into the forests of Route 1, "The next few years are going to be quite interesting."

A dark glint was in his eyes as he petted Persian while looking at the oblivious Ash.

AN: Realized I forgot a disclaimer in the past two chapters, guess I'll add that in when I revise them this weekend. I didn't really like how this chapter came out at all, it was too emotional, which is something I'm not too good at writing. Giovanni may seem OOC, but just remember two things. One, Giovanni cares deeply for family, this is self-evident by the long drawn out schemes he does in the Pokemon Adventures manga just to find his son Silver. Obviously family has to mean something to him. Two, he's Giovanni! Nothing is as straightforward as it seems with him, as we'll come to learn in the coming chapters. It's going to be a lot of mind games from here on out as Giovanni tries to turn Ash towards his side with Team Rocket. The Moltres bit was inspired from the games. Every time we first beat the Elite Four and unlock the various legendaries, one of the first things we do is try to catch the Legendaries, like Mewtwo, Lugia, Rayquaza, the Regis etc. In the games, they have to keep all the Pokemon balanced as it is a multiplayer oriented RPG. However, in my story which will be much more realistic, the legendaries won't be balanced with the rest of the Pokemon, they'll be true terrifying monsters. Mythology and Legends are going to be big in this story of the Pokemon world, so keep your eyes open whenever they're mentioned in the next few chapters. Also, as you can see, Eevee is Ash's starter. I'm still not sure yet on whether I'll keep Pikachu involved in the story, but for now Eevee will be replacing him.