Kalos Redone

Chapter 28

Ash's POV:

Upon realisation, I immediately climbed on top of Fearow, beginning my journey back to the Battle Tower in search of Scott. I managed to learn about Scott's presence by a small bug I had the trio plant on his usual Alolan shirt.

I was in such a hurry that I didn't even bother to wear my mask to cover my face. I rang the doorbell at least twenty times before Anabel came to the door cursing me.

"WHAT?!", she came out yelling at me before realising that it was me. Anabel was a far cry from her usual tomboyish self. She was wearing a black suit while her hair was let down almost coming down to her waist. She was also way more curvaceous than the last time I had battled her.

"A....Ash?", she asked me, her lips quivering and that was the moment I realised that I hadn't worn my mask.

"I..uh....hello Anabel", I greeted her and she brought me into a bear hug sobbing heavily.

"Where were you, Ash? Do you have ANY idea as to how worried I was when we didn't know a single thing about your EXISTENCE?", she yelled at me clutching at my shoulders.

"Certain things....happened, Anabel. I just couldn't find the strength to face it alone as myself", I told her sighing.

"Have you at least talked to...to...your girlfriend?", she asked me and it almost seemed like she was finding it difficult to say the word "girlfriend".

I nodded my head and we spent a few minutes catching up before I remembered the reason behind my visit to the Battle Tower.

"Is Scott here, Anabel?", I asked her out of the blue and she nodded her head guiding me to him. Scott was playing with Anabel's Espeon.

"Hello, Scott", I greeted him and he was shocked to see me, especially seeing me in this outfit.

"You're the person who has been on a hunting spree!!", he pointed a shivering finger at me and I nodded my head.

"Scott, pull yourself together. I need some Intel!! Archie said something about recruiting and stuff. Do you know ANYTHING about it? Scratch that, you MUST know something about it!!", I pressed and he began to scratch his head pondering deeply. I began to grow impatient causing me to tap my feet rapidly every now and then.

"YES!! Cyrus has been carrying out a recruitment drive for Team Galactic to cope up with the fall of his allies in Kanto, Hoenn and Johto. I hear he's in Sinnoh. That's all I know as of now", he told me and I thanked him for the info. After hearing his comment, I turned to leave before I was stopped by Anabel.

"Just....be careful, Ash! I..... I don't want to see you get hurt", she told me cupping my cheek and I nodded me head giving her a smile. But out of the blue, she kissed me.

"Anabel, what? Don't you....", I began to rant.

"I'm sorry, Ash! I didn't mean to do so. I...I...I'm so sorry, Ash", she interrupted me tears flowing down her face and I didn't have the heart to yell at her.

"Just...forget that this ever happened, okay? You're a really good friend of mine, and I don't want to part on bad terms with you", I told her placing my hands on her shoulders and she gave me a watery smile, her beautiful purple eyes still misty.

"Just be careful, alright?", she asked me and gave me a final hug before I left the Battle Tower in search of Cyrus.

Time Skip

It took me 2 solid months to get NEAR a recruitment drive zone. They had hidden themselves very well, unlike the other members, but I happened to spot a few grunts every now and then, following whom I got my Intel. By politely asking a few Team Galactic grunts about the recruitment drive, I reached Twinleaf Town, which was the hub of the secret event. It had a horrible password - "Twinleaf Sinnoh". The creator of the password had such skills of imagination, that even a 6 year old could create a better code word to hide his or her toy. I'm pretty sure Archie or some of the surviving Aqua grunts would have shared the video of me killing Archie. I was too late to realise that the place might be wired, and I managed to cut the wires only before I faked his death. But, it was useless as my identity was compromised. So, in order to keep my identity hidden, I stole a knocked out grunt's uniform and enrolled myself in Cyrus' drive. A few minutes later, I began to mingle with my "colleagues" from whom I learnt the various methods by which they gathered information. Many of them were spies in Pokemon Centres, Police Booths and even in Gyms! Out of the blue, Cyrus came with his usual frown and glory.

"My friends!! I am deeply shocked by seeing the ENORMOUS interest shown by the likes of you in my motive, and I am mulled over by your love and respect towards me", he spoke as buttery as ever. He always seemed to have his way with words and this never failed to work in his favour. His speech was so moving that for a split second, I was nearly mesmerized into seeing things from his point of view.

"But, my dear friends! Before we take our first step forward, we have to find ONE traitor, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!", he yelled bringing down the unconscious form of a guy I knocked out. I cursed my luck silently and Cyrus began to scan the crowd looking for guys who might give a few hints about the "traitor".

"Team Galactic isn't like the idiots you have taken down......ASH KETCHUM!!", he thundered my name and I openly flinched causing the people near me to look at me suspiciously.

"I know you're here, my friend. Possibly, you'd know that PokeTech has mightily evolved and I could trace it out that it was YOU who killed my former colleagues. Give yourself up now, and I'll give you a painless ending", he told the crowd and all the grunts began to look around searching for me and I tried to do the same but a few guys recognised me. They alerted Cyrus and thus began the game called Catch And Kill Ash.

"The one who kills Ketchum, becomes my PERSONAL SECRETARY this MOMENT ONWARDS!!", Cyrus roared making things worse and I began to throw a variety of stray Pokemon in their path which gained me a few metres but in vain as I was cornered. Then, all of them brought out their weapons and I readied myself for impact but their attempt was cut short by the screech of a Decidueye, MY Decidueye who was carrying my shotgun and he dropped right in my hands before flying and sitting on Cyrus' pointy hair while the latter was trying to swat him away.

I used the moment to release my herd of Tauros and most of the grunts were trampled to death by the raging Pokemon, while the others barely escaped.

"Gaah! Get out of my HAIR!!", he yelled desperately but Decidueye had FINALLY learnt to sleep on top of pointy things. But the problem was that he woke up only if Noctowl screeched near his ear.

I used the moment and released Scrafty who grew ecstatic when he saw some Pokemon food behind Cyrus and began to run/hop towards the food merrily. What was NOT too cute to see was that when he kept jumping, the Mohawk like spikes on his head directly made contact with Cyrus' crotch causing him to double over in pain. It seemed hilarious except for the fact that Cyrus began to bleed heavily while Scrafty began to eat merrily.

"You....your.... bloody Pokemon, all of you will rot in hell! In time! In time! Hell awaits traitors like you! If you were.....half the man you claim to be, you would've.....killed me face to face", he wheezed clutching a certain appendage which was highly disfigured due to Scrafty's antics.

"If I go to hell, I go there proudly. I know I've done the right thing. If certain sins have to be committed so that one major problem can be avoided, it's not wrong to do so", I told him sitting at knee level so that we could come face to face.

"(Laughter) Think you're some hero, boy? There comes a time when each and everyone realises that the world isn't a colourful top. The earlier you realise it, the lesser the pain. If I had to die to make you see the point, so be it", he told me and his vision seemed to become blurry.

"Go on! Rid me of this misery", he pleaded me and my expression hardened.

"Suddenly, I feel too merciful", I told him and left, his shouts sounding deaf to my ear. By the corner of my eye, I spotted the few grunts who managed to survive my Tauros' rampage. They gathered their weapons and pointed their guns at me.

"Incineroar, I choose YOU!!", I yelled and shot out Incineroar's Pokeball and he came out thumping his chest. He made short work of the few guys and three women remained who were trembling.

"You...you wouldn't hurt us, right?", one of the them asked me trembling.

"I'm a feminist, and that means I support gender equality", I told her and asked Incineroar to finish them off before heading off to read another letter Serena had sent me the day before.

To be continued...