Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Don't Give Me Diamonds ❯ Chapter 9

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Don't Give Me Diamonds

Diamond 36: Give me Innocence

Standing in front of the Viridian Gym, Delia made herself focus on the present. She had no more time to get lost in her memories. Her son was all grown up and he was expecting her to watch him participate in the Viridian City pokemon battle tournament, she wanted to be there. She wondered if she was unconsciously setting up an escape route for herself. If she had somewhere to be, she wouldn't be able to talk to Giovanni for long, she wouldn't be able to explain things as she should. That was, if he even spoke to her. She thought about putting it off for another day, but if she did that, a day might turn into a year and a year into a decade. Maybe deep down she didn't want real closure.

Delia made her way inside the Viridian Gym; it was not the same building she had lived in before. The underground facilities survived, but the structure above the surface was destroyed a long time ago. The glass doors opened for her automatically, leading her into a little lobby reminiscent of the generic design of Pokemon Center lobbies. The furniture was better than in Pokemon Centers, yet the room didn't seem special in the least, as if the building hid no secrets. Her footsteps echoed on the white tiles as she made her way to another set of glass doors on the opposite side of the lobby; those doors did not open. She could see the gym's spacious battle arena on the other side with two opposing platforms, it was dark and deserted.

"The gym leader isn't battling today, because of the tournament," a young man came through the automatic double doors at the entrance. He made his way towards a single wooden door in a corner of the lobby, between two fake potted plants with forest green plastic leaves. He took a set of keys from his pocket, a mix of silver and copper with a leaf shaped keychain similar to the Earth Badge that could be won at the gym.

The young man was wearing blue jeans and a gray tshirt, he had a few pokeballs attached to his belt. He had no red R anywhere, but Delia guessed right away he must be from Team Rocket. Why else would he be going into the gym with a large set of keys so casually? She could clearly picture him in the black uniform with a red R. The image seemed to fit him perfectly, with that look in his eyes as if he knew more than he let on. He was more focused on finding a specific key among the dozen in the ring than on the unknown lady until she spoke a familiar name, "Luke?" He immediately looked up as if searching for something in her face that looked familiar, "no, you can't be, you're too young to be him," Delia realized.

The young man had the same red hair and blue eyes Luke had, though his haircut was slightly different. His face was an almost exact copy, but unlike Luke, he wasn't tanned. Although Luke's tan was not something he was born with, but rather a color he acquired due to his love for the beach, otherwise he would have looked just like this man. "You're that lady from the picture," he paused, searching for a name in his memories, "Delia?"

"You know me?" This came as a big surprise to Delia, even if the man was too similar to Luke not to be a relative.

"You really are Delia?" He was visibly shocked, "wow, talk about unexpected surprises. My name's Comet, my father, Luke, told me about you and all the things that happened in Team Rocket a long time ago. He used to tell me the story of how Team Rocket defeated the Tempest Gang all the time when I was little. He has a picture of the original Team Rocket together; he told me all about his adventures with them!"

The tension of Delia's mission melted away and she allowed herself this little deviation. She couldn't help it but to smile upon hearing the young man's name, leave it to Luke to name his son something like that. "How is Luke, is he alright? I heard from him many years ago and he was going on some dangerous missions."

"Dad's fine," Comet confirmed, "he's in Johto now, his missions aren't quite as dangerous anymore. He's well known in Team Rocket for his skill in training pokemon. He trains pokemon that belong to other members too, to help the team improve." It seemed that after several years of risking his life, Luke finally managed to earn a true second chance. Delia couldn't help it but to wonder how much Luke really had to do for that.

She thought she understood the choice of keeping Luke around. Perhaps it was more than the benefits of a diligent worker, Luke was a remnant of a distant past. Yet there had to be more to it. "I'm really happy that he's alright." Almost unconsciously they had both sat down on the black leather chairs of the lobby, more elegant and comfortable than what they usually had in Pokemon Centers. "Do you know Binks?"

"Yes, I used to see him often when I was little, but I hardly remember him or anything about my early childhood," Comet replied sadly. "Binks passed away a long time ago. He was a scientist working on New Island, I heard he occasionally had some health problems," schizophrenia, Comet didn't specify. "For the most part he did alright as long as he was busy. He was working with some big shot scientist last thing I heard, Fuji or something like that. There was an accident and something exploded in the lab," Comet left it at that, but it was clear that explosion must have been the end of Binks as far as he knew. "Oh man, I have a really big mouth, I shouldn't be saying so much. Dad used to talk about the old Team Rocket all the time so it's almost like I know you. You'll keep this all a secret, right?"

"Of course," Delia assured, "I don't want you to get into trouble or anything." She held back her curiosity, feeling that it wasn't her place to ask, she didn't want to make Comet feel sad or uncomfortable. She had left long ago, to pick up the pieces of her existence and form a new life.

"Good, I don't want the Boss to get mad at me. I heard it really sucks when he gets mad at someone," Comet laughed with the same carefree attitude that Luke had in the old days. He had probably never gotten in Giovanni's bad side if he could still act so relaxed when speaking of the possibility. Comet had grown up in Team Rocket and gotten used to how things worked at a young age. Yet he had the same good heart as Luke, despite being a loyal Rocket. He could never pass for a real villain; he was just a carefree adventurer like his father.

Comet and Luke were really a lot alike, so much that Delia had no guess about who Comet's mother was. She wanted to ask, but wondered if she should. His mother was probably in Team Rocket; Luke wouldn't have a chance to meet anyone outside of the team if Giovanni had kept him under watch during the time of his dangerous missions. Maybe she was no longer among the living. Out of the five people Delia had met that night many years ago in Cerulean City, only Giovanni and Luke still lived as far as she knew. She wondered how many of the other people she used to know were still there. Archer, Ariana, Proton, Petrel, Ben... what had become of them?

"Do you think I could talk to Giovanni?" So many years had passed that the voice of reason in Delia's head told her it was useless to talk to him. They lived their own lives away from each other. The past was apparently long since left behind, but Delia never truly buried it. She only pushed it to the back of her mind where it waited to resurface at a later date.

Comet looked puzzled; he didn't know what business Delia could have with the boss after so many years. He never thought he would actually meet her. "I could ask if he has a few minutes. The boss has to battle the winner of the tournament today, but that won't be for a while. He might have to give a speech when the tournament starts though."

The small wooden door on the corner of the lobby suddenly opened and there stood a blond woman, a few years older than Comet. She was wearing an outfit similar to nurse Joy, save for the dress being mint green instead of pale pink. "Comet, what are you doing sitting there? I told you to hurry up with the keys when I called. Too many people showed up for the tournament, so they're battling as soon as they sign up to narrow them down. That means that the Pokemon Center is getting plenty of customers and the facilities we set up to treat pokemon at city hall might need to open soon. I need to get some supplies in there, the mayor won't get any votes out of this if his medical staff is lacking resources," she scolded impatiently.

"Oops, sorry Laiki, I just got a bit distracted," Comet smiled sheepishly, exactly like Luke. The mayor of Viridian City had been continuously reelected for years. He had a few important deals with Giovanni, thus it was in Team Rocket's best interest to make sure he stayed in city hall.

"Sorry to have caused a delay," Delia apologized. She noticed that the blond nurse, probably also a member of Team Rocket, was looking at her curiously.

"Hey, isn't this the boss' ex from way long ago?" Laiki asked Comet. Her tone was as if Delia wasn't even there to hear. She pointed at Delia, as if pointing at a picture.

"Is that how everyone here knows me?" Delia didn't expect anyone to recognize her at all.

"Not really," Comet explained, "I know you because of my father and Laiki knows you because she's the resident gossip expert. She must know every detail of everyone's life," he grinned at the pouting nurse.

"You're his ex, for real? I was just kidding about that! And what did you say about a gossip expert? You better shut it, Comet. I know her because my brother, Binks, told me all about the beginnings of Team Rocket," the way they interacted hinted that they had known each other for a long time. Laiki grinned curiously at Delia. "There are only a handful of people in Team Rocket who would know who you are. You're just lucky some of them work here at the gym. Given that, I take it you haven't been around here or else we would have ran into each other sooner. Anyway, my name is Laiki and I'm in charge of keeping the pokemon alive around here. The boss is busy today because of the tournament. I would feel bad if you came all this way to be ignored, so why don't we go to a nice little cafe and talk?"

"Laiki!" Now it was Comet's turn to scold her, "she's not here to share all the secrets of her life with you. Besides, don't you need to set things up at city hall?" He tossed her the keys which she caught. "Just get some grunts to help carry the boxes; I'm taking Delia to see the boss."

Laiki pouted, clearly upset at being excluded, but she knew she had her duties to perform. "Alright, fine, but you better give me the details later. I can't believe I'll miss this. It's like a cheesy soap opera coming true and I won't be there to watch it unfold. I hope the boss doesn't get mad at you for this. If he kicks both of you out without having a chance to talk it's going to be too anti-climatic." Complaining about missing out on the fun, Laiki disappeared through the same door she arrived from, leaving it unlocked.

"Is it really alright for you to take me to Giovanni?" Delia didn't want to get Luke's son into trouble. She was beginning to think more and more about what Giovanni would say if he saw her. Maybe he would just tell her to leave.

"I don't think it'll be like a soap opera," Comet assured. "That's just what Laiki hopes because she really likes them. She always keeps saying that it's never too late to be involved in a juicy scandal. She's always been like that and I don't think she'll ever change."

"Laiki is very different from Binks..." they were practically polar opposites, Delia mused. Laiki was straight forward and confident, while Binks had been shy. They had the same shade of pale blond hair, though Laiki's eyes were a deep green different from Binks' warm brown.

"That's what everyone who ever met them both would say," Comet agreed as he led the way through the little door on the side of the lobby. He made sure to lock it behind them. There was a maze of halls beyond the door, one of them leading to an elevator. The elevator took them to the third and final floor of the redesigned gym.

The atmosphere in the third floor was fancier than in the floors below, with smooth marble flooring and polished black wood doors. Comet stopped in front of one of the doors. It was further apart from the others as the rest, hinting that the room was larger. Delia didn't know if the air-conditioner was colder or if she was feeling colder.

There was something very unfamiliar about that place. It was true that the Viridian Gym was different, having been rebuilt a little over a decade after she left. Delia had never set foot inside the new gym, but that wasn't what felt so unfamiliar about it. It wasn't about the building; it was being in the same place as Giovanni. She remembered their past, but she had forgotten what his presence felt like. She knew he would change in time. The added unfamiliarity of suppressed yet eternally present feelings added to the uncertainty in the atmosphere.

Comet retrieved a small device from his pocket; it was a shiny black cell phone with a red R on top. It was smaller than the cell phone Delia used to have when she was in Team Rocket, and much more flat, about half an inch thick when it was folded. The device held a tiny keyboard instead of just digits, which she would imagine must be a little uncomfortable to use due to its miniature size. Comet didn't type anything though, instead he pressed a button then spoke to the little cell phone, "Boss, if you have a minute, Delia is here to see you."

There was a short silence and Delia assumed Comet had sent a voice message, "should you really say it so directly? I would be shocked if someone suddenly told me Giovanni came to see me." It was something she imagined many times after she went to Pallet Town. Then as Ash grew, she stopped thinking about it and focused on her son. Later, when Ash started his pokemon journey and her life fell into a predictable routine, thoughts of the past surfaced again.

"I guess that would explain the silence," Comet examined the tiny screen; the call had gone through and was active, he was sure of it.

"You mean that wasn't just a message?" Delia tried to picture Giovanni's face upon hearing the news followed by her voice in the background. Would he look surprised, or would he be able to keep a neutral expression as he used to do in most situations? Would he look indifferent or disbelieving? Delia found that she couldn't get a clear image.

"Let her in," after the pause, Giovanni's voice finally came from the little cell phone revealing that it had been set to speaker phone.

Comet quietly opened the door, closing it after Delia was inside and remaining outside. He felt as if Laiki was rubbing off on him, standing there outside the office as if it was of any use. The office was sound proof and sound locked. Even if Laiki was there to put her ear to the door, she wouldn't hear anything. Giving the closed door one last glance, Comet walked away. He was supposed to be on break after completing a successful mission, but he ended up helping set things up for the tournament, moving boxes of supplies here and there.

The random chores reminded Comet of the past. He had been an errand boy for Team Rocket since he was around seven, though he didn't remember much before that. Occasionally, his father would report to the Kanto headquarters in Viridian City and take him along. That was how he met Laiki when she was a rookie pokemon nurse, he had heard about her from Binks before. She treated Team Rocket's pokemon, as well as stolen pokemon that were left in bad shape as a result.

"Good luck," Comet whispered, though there was no one there to hear him. He would tell his father about the chance meeting. He was sure Delia wanted to ask more about him and their friends from the past, but she must have felt she shouldn't. Depending on how things went in the office, maybe Giovanni wouldn't mind too much if Delia took some time to catch up with Luke and the other long time members of Team Rocket she used to know.

Giovanni could always know where Luke went. The tracking chip he carried was never removed even after his long sequence of suicidal missions was successfully completed and his debt was paid. Those missions were not his only payment though. Luke had a small chip attached to his ribcage over his heart; it was a detail that Comet was unaware of. If Luke died during a mission it would be risky to abandon the body and the sooner it was recovered the better. The chip would not only serve as a beacon for Team Rocket's tracking system, but it would detect his heartbeats, thus confirming that he still lived. It also made it impossible to remove it without suspicion, since it had to be close to the heart in order to continuously detect his heartbeats.

A Meowth with several scars and a charm that was cut to a sharp point ran up to Comet and jumped on his shoulder. Her appearance was not his doing, the Meowth was already like that when he got her and it was not due to her previous trainer either. It was because of her life as a wild street pokemon. He received the pokemon from a friend, though he still considered the Meowth to be hers, or perhaps more so a wild pokemon, despite having a pokeball. Comet's first pokemon was a Magikarp his father let him keep as a pet despite being too young to be a legal pokemon trainer. That Magikarp eventually evolved into a strong Gyarados.

Comet petted the Meowth, "where did you run off to? C'mon, we better help keep Laiki's improvised infirmary at city hall well supplied or she'll bite my head off about it later."

xoxox xox xoxox

After so many years had passed, when Giovanni and Delia saw each other again, it almost felt as if they were meeting for the first time. Delia thought she might change her mind about all the things she wanted to say when she finally came face to face with Giovanni, but it was all the opposite. She had to stop herself from shouting the truth too fast and directly without any form of preparation for him.

She had promised Ash she would finally give him the answers he deserved, the things that happened in the past were not his fault and he shouldn't live without knowing of his origin because of it. As for Giovanni, she felt no anger or resentment towards him. Even so she expected to be at least a little upset when she saw him again, but she wasn't.

"Why did you come here?" Giovanni finally broke the silence. At that point he had no more anger or reproach left for her sudden departure so many years ago, though he still kept a strong hidden bitterness. He was puzzled as to why she would suddenly show up.

"I came to talk to you," Delia replied softly, she noticed Persian looking at her curiously. Persian approached and she petted him gently, kneeling beside the pokemon. "Look at how much you've grown and you're fully evolved too!" Delia somehow knew he was the same pokemon from long ago; the little Meowth Giovanni had helped out of the egg she took care of.

Giovanni wouldn't put it past Delia to suddenly show up just to talk. It was something she would do and she didn't seem like the kind of person to change too much over the years. Although he too had forgotten what it was like to be around her, he noticed there was a look of purpose in her eyes. That was his first clue that this wasn't simply a casual visit out of nowhere. "You have something to say, don't you?" He had gone around his large desk, now standing right in front of her, not bothering to hide his curiosity and puzzlement.

Delia took a deep breath, "yes, a lot," she still felt the irresistible need to tell him the whole truth, but tried to find a way to properly phrase it. They sat down on a small couch that was in the corner of the office where Persian often napped while Giovanni was working.

Delia looked conflicted, which puzzled Giovanni further. What could she possibly have to say after so many years that was so important? She thought about starting out slowly, but she was starting to feel his impatience. She was becoming used to his presence again. She would have to cut to the chase, but she would do it step by step. "Do you remember that letter I wrote when I left?"

xoxox xox xoxox

Diamond 37: Give me Enjoyment

Ash tapped his foot impatiently, the line of people was endless and it was barely moving. How long did it take to fill up an entry form and go inside the arena? Brock had gone off to chase girls a while ago and he still had not returned, not that he was missing anything. The sun was bright and the summer heat could really be felt, the crowds only made it worse.

Eventually the line moved until it was Ash's turn to fill up an entry form. The form was quite simple, it only asked for his name, postal address and a phone number or email address.

"You're not from Viridian City?" The green haired woman at the desk took Ash's entry form and added it to a pile. She kept the forms on two separate groups consisting of those from Viridian City and those from any other place. She didn't bother asking him for ID. Participants could call themselves whatever they wanted, some even entered with the funniest nicknames. If that young man wanted to call himself Ash Ketchum, he could.

"I'm not from this city, but the tournament is supposed to be open to everyone, right?" Ash had not really read the rules. He just saw the prize money, location, date and time; that was all he needed to know. It was after years of attending pokemon tournaments that he learned to take care of making sure he got those details right, instead of simply rushing over to the nearest gathering of trainers as soon as he heard rumors of a tournament. He learned his lesson after being late to an important competition and not being allowed to battle.

It was obvious that not everyone who was entering the tournament was from Viridian City. The crowd was simply too large for a tournament that only included the locals, even if the city had a high population.

Viridian City had expanded greatly in the past few years, though there was still plenty of empty space between it and Pallet Town. It was easier to see the Viridian forest from the window in Ash's room at Delia's house. In most cases, expansions like those came with deforestation, but the mayor took care of making sure the forest surrounding the city expanded along with it. It was a project that was started years ago by the mayor, in anticipation of the expected growth of the population.

As part of the project, many trees were planted along the forest borders extending it. Not only young trees were planted, those were few in comparison to the large trees that were transported there and replanted. Most of the trees originated from the unpopulated area north-east of Viridian City, before reaching Cerulean City. It was as if the city wanted to stay hidden behind the barrier of the forest and the pokemon that lived in it.

"Of course you can enter," the green haired woman confirmed, her brown eyes neutral. She was wearing a lime green business suit. The mayor picked out the color green to be used by those working with the public at the tournament, saying something about 'forest pride.' The bright color of her clothes was nothing like the dark, neutral green of her hair and she didn't like it. She also thought the oversized circular pin with the mayor's face on it was rather unpleasant. It was almost as ridiculous as the leaf shaped label displaying her name, Wendy.

Wendy looked at the young man's companion, a red haired woman, "do you need a form too?" She held one out, but the redhead didn't take it.

"No thanks," Misty replied with a polite smile, "I'm just here to watch."

"Aw, c'mon Misty, you should enter. We'll have double the chances of winning if you do," Ash encouraged her without thinking too much of his words. He had forgotten Misty's earlier reaction to when they talked. She was upset that he seemed to be after the cash prize instead of after the challenge as he usually was. Furthermore, if Misty won, that would also throw Ash's plans out the window. He needed to get his hands on that prize money himself if he was going to use it to get Misty a nicer engagement ring.

Misty's earlier feelings of disappointment resurfaced. She saw in Ash's eyes that he was still hiding something, but she had no clue what. "No, thanks," she voiced more firmly and without a smile.

Ash was not very good at telling when people were upset and more so why they were upset. He was creative, skilled and full of stubborn determination, yet being observant was a characteristic that rarely surfaced outside of battle. He assumed the long wait and the annoying summer heat, along with the noisy crowds were getting to Misty. He knew of no reason why she would be upset. He concluded that she was just cranky and that it wasn't his fault.

"We're having a preliminary elimination round because so many people showed up. Only the best fifty will move on to the tournament. You can think of this as the very beginning of the tournament if you wish. This area is just for the trainers, members of the audience should go through the front entrance. I'm sure the stadium is full by now, good luck finding a seat." Wendy's voice was neutral, bored and with a well hidden hint of annoyance. In contrast, she smiled radiantly; it made the difference between her tone and expression stand out more.

"I guess I'll see you later Misty," Ash was as carefree as ever and excited that he would battle right away.

Misty pouted as she used to do back when Ash was eleven and too young and naive to realize he had upset her. She concluded that some things never changed, then walked away.

"Make sure to cheer for me!" Ash called out as Misty stomped her way past the crowd, "crowds and hot weather really get Misty all temperamental, don't they?" Ash commented to Pikachu, who was more aware of the situation than his trainer.

Ash went inside the battle area in the little stadium. It wasn't as grand as the Indigo Plateau and no where near as large, but it served its purpose. The Viridian stadium was used as a pokemon battle arena, a concert stage, a basketball court or whatever the citizens felt like doing with it. The walls below the climbing rows of crowded benches were filled with windows and posters. The posters reminded everyone thanks to who the new local stadium was constructed, the mayor.

Similar events were held at the Viridian Gym in the past, before the stadium was built. But even after its renovations that included a larger battle arena, it was not constructed to hold too many spectators comfortably. As a result, most people used to gather at the park, where a big screen was set up showing the events taking place at the gym. It was fun, but it wasn't as exciting as when the crowd's cheers could actually be heard by the trainers.

The referee was a man wearing dark green pants and a white and lime green shirt with vertical stripes. He had light brown hair and green eyes in a different shade, intermediary between the shades of green in his pants and shirt. His name was Jango and he used to be an anchorman on the morning news years ago.

He had a younger sister named Ameda, who was a field reporter back when he was still an anchor. Rumors said that she got close to the producer and ultimately stole her brother's position. Thus she replaced him as the main anchor of the morning news. Other rumors theorized that Jango was fired due to his less than flattering remarks about Rune Antilles, the Viridian City mayor. Those remarks addressed Antilles' alleged involvement with the mafia.

To make it worse, Jango's comments were ill-timed as it was dangerously close to elections. Not long after his televised offense, Jango left the news and appeared in many events sponsored by the Viridian City mayor as part of his re-election campaign. Some said it was because the mafia threatened him into retracting from his comments and helping the mayor to prove his trust to the public.

After the mayor's reputation was saved, Jango knew he wouldn't be well received at the news station again. He had departed with a sudden resignation, in no liberty to give further explanations. He decided to make a career out of the job he did while repaying his 'debt'. There were many rumors in Viridian City but no one knew for sure if any of them were true, except maybe Laiki. She made everyone's business her own.

The preliminary battles were one on one. Ash chouse Pikachu and his opponent sent out a Goldeen. As Jango announced the start of the battle, Ash expected the Goldeen to be extraordinary beyond appearances. It reminded him of a surprisingly strong Bellsprout he faced long ago in the Indigo League championship. However, the water pokemon merely flopped around. Her trainer was a rather inexperienced looking teenage boy with dirty blond hair and yellow-green eyes. He had already commanded the Goldeen to use horn attack, but she ignored him.

"Be careful Pikachu," Ash whispered as he scrutinized the Goldeen. He couldn't see what was so special about her.

"Pika," Pikachu nodded, sharing Ash's focus.

Over his years as a pokemon trainer, Ash developed accurate senses to predict his opponents' moves. He could usually assert how powerful a pokemon really was, but with that Goldeen he drew a blank. His old self resurfaced and his patience was tested. His first move would be head on and if it brought consequences, he would make up for it afterwards. At least he would know what he was up against. Even if Goldeen let out a monstrosity of a counter attack, Ash trusted Pikachu to be strong and fast enough to deal with it. Then he could use that information to think of a good strategy, "Pikachu, thundershock!"

Sparks flew from Pikachu's red cheeks as the yellow electric pokemon released a powerful attack, "pikachu!" The attack hit Goldeen easily, instantly knocking her out. Even then, Pikachu stayed on his guard, as did Ash.

"Goldeen is unable to battle, Pikachu is the winner!" Jango announced.

"Return," the boy called Goldeen back into her pokeball and walked away grumbling about weak pokemon. After only a few steps he turned back and addressed Ash, "hey Ash-fan! You want this?"

"Huh?" Ash was astonished, not only by his beyond easy win, but by the boy's question and his way to refer to him as Ash-fan.

"This pokemon, do you want it?" The boy asked again, "I don't have time for a pet. I should have known a pokemon that gets caught so easily with a fishing rod wouldn't be strong. I only caught it for the tournament. I guess I was hoping to get my hands on the cash by a lucky twist of fate. I should have known it was impossible." He tossed the pokeball at Ash, "you keep it, set it free if you don't want it, I'm out of here. There are some pretty good food stalls out there I want to check out."

The boy started walking away so quickly that Ash barely had time to call out, "thanks for the Goldeen," before he disappeared into the crowd outside. Ash was still confused by the situation, but then thought he should have guessed not all those who entered the tournament would be pokemon trainers. With a cash prize on the line, just about anyone would feel motivated to enter; even if they had to catch a pokemon last minute. People were allowed to enter as long as they had at least one pokemon. The rules were tolerant since it wasn't an official Pokemon League tournament.

"That's all for now, you can go to the waiting room. If the place keeps filling up, we might have to extend the preliminary round. You can rest for now," Jango pointed towards a door connected to the arena. It was open and Ash could see a lobby inside with predominant shades of green. The trainers who had gone past the preliminary rounds were inside.

"Can I battle more?" Ash inquired hopefully, he didn't even get a warm up out of his last battle. Maybe next time he would battle a real trainer.

"Suit yourself, but are you sure you want to tire out your pokemon? Unless you have enough to switch your entire team, it's not against the rules to do that between battles." Jango looked at the Pikachu, who appeared to be as energetic as he could get. "Wait a minute I know who you are. You won the Indigo League championship the year before last. I saw it on TV; you're the real Ash! Where were you last year?"

"Yeah, it's me, last year I... um... overslept," Ash sheepishly replied, "I was late and they didn't let me enter," he had been very upset about it. They insisted that they would not bend the rules, not even for the past champion.

Misty had tried to wake Ash, but he had stayed up all night catching up with Ritchie whom he had not seen in years. Ritchie had been absent from the previous tournament in which Ash won. During their reunion he mentioned that seeing Ash on TV made him want to enter the Indigo League again. Ash ended up missing the competition, which Ritchie won, despite looking tired during his first battle. After his victory, Ritchie expressed that he really would have liked to battle Ash in the championship.

"I made a promise!" Ash loudly declared, "I promised Ritchie that I would battle him in this year's Indigo League championship. No matter what, I will not oversleep!" Laughter and amazement surged through the crowd.

"I'm looking forward to that battle!" Jango decided that it would be interesting to see a real champion battle more. "You can battle as long as you want. You can stop any time since you already passed the preliminary round. Show us what you can do!"

"Thanks!" Ash was as excited as he would get as a little boy.

The crowd of spectators began to cheer his name, "Ash! Ash! Ash!" At first people assumed he was just a look-alike fan of Ash. They doubted a champion would participate in a relatively small, non-official tournament.

"Did you hear that?" One of the trainers in the lobby next to the arena looked out the window. Ash was battling trainer after trainer as the crowd cheered his name. "That guy's the real Ash."

"There's no way I could beat him," a different trainer commented.

"Man, this sucks, here I thought I had a shot at the cash," another participant grumbled.

Misty had miraculously found a spot near the front to squeeze into. The man next to her scooted over to make room for the pretty redhead. Misty had thanked him with neutral politeness and sat down. He might have sent her away saying there was no room, if he knew that her boyfriend was the show off in the arena.

xoxox xox xoxox

A while later, Comet arrived at the lobby; he changed and was wearing a lime green waiter uniform. He carried a large tray of cheese and ham appetizers on decorated toothpicks with tiny green ribbons at the end. He set the tray down on the table in the center of the lobby which served as the waiting room. Curious about the commotion, he went out to see what had captured everyone's attention.

Jango was too excited watching a champion in action to notice that many of the participants were leaving. Taking notice of that, Comet quietly snuck over to Jango. The referee announced the end of another match, just before Comet discretely whispered to him, "we're going to run out of trainers for the tournament if this keeps up. Don't you see that a lot of them are leaving because they know they can't win?" The real trainers would stay for the challenge, but those interested only in the prize had no business there anymore.

If the tournament started with less participants than it was planned, it would bring more criticism to the improvised elimination round. To prevent that, Jango stopped Ash's sequential battles. The remaining participants were called into the arena's lobby to wait for the official tournament to begin. Before going to the lobby, Ash looked through the crowd until he spotted a pouting Misty. He waved at her, but she didn't wave back. 'What's her problem?' Ash thought. 'Is the heat, crowd and noise really bothering her this much?'

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At the lobby, Ash petted Pikachu, "you did really well out there." His main pokemon was only in the first few battles. Ash had learned not to push his luck too much over the years. He had his other pokemon take turns battling. He was still seen as being cocky, but in his way, he was cautious.

Switching pokemon was allowed at any point of the tournament outside of battle. A trainer could change the six pokemon he or she initially started with to prepare for the next round. The committee that organized the event thought that more people would be encouraged to participate if they thought they could create the perfect team to win. Of course, all the other contestants would be trying to do the same.

"Take this time to rest Pikachu. I know those battles were easy, but that wasn't the real tournament. We have to stay on our guard, save your strength for the end." Ash looked at the line of PCs at the lobby and sat down in front of one as soon as it became unoccupied. A lot of people were making last minute changes to their team. Some were even borrowing pokemon from friends, which was not against the rules.

The real trainers were few and most of the people there were only after the prize. Many only kept pokemon as pets and didn't have enough in their collection to keep switching them for each round. Nor did they have truly significant battle experience. However, Ash would have to face those few real trainers eventually and he might get some surprises.

The tournament was advertised mostly in Viridian City, as it was the people of that city who could keep the mayor in office. Nonetheless, it was open to the general public as part of the strategy of showing how great Viridian City's pokemon trainers were. The strategy was to create the illusion that they were being openly compared to the rest of Kanto through the tournament, while making sure Viridian had the best odds to win.

In reality, the advertisement didn't reach too far from Viridian City. Ash heard of the tournament because he was looking for competitions to enter. The crowd, other than the locals, mostly came from Pewter City. Yet the multitude on the street and the new faces, gave the tournament the impression of including all of Kanto.

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Diamond 38: Give me Determination

Laiki tightened a bandage around the Nidorina's paw, "there now, you're okay." She didn't understand how the city hall's improvised medical facilities became so full so fast. The Viridian Pokemon Center couldn't be full yet, or even occupied enough to be considered crowded. Those trainers probably thought it was cooler to go to city hall to have their pokemon treated for a change. Or perhaps they were directed there as part of the mayor's campaign. It was all the more work for Laiki, albeit she was supposed to be backing up the Pokemon Center, not turning city hall into its replacement.

Comet entered with his Meowth, Purry, following him a few feet away. She seemed to be embarrassed to be seen with such a ridiculously dressed trainer, in his lime green waiter suit. One thing was for sure, she would not ride on his shoulder like she usually did. "How's it going?" Comet greeted.

Purry considered running off again, but she wanted to stay close enough to her trainer to have easy access to all the areas in the arena. She loved watching battles; it helped her improve by observing the way other pokemon fought. She was a very tough and feisty pokemon. Besides, she would never forgive herself if she missed the ending of the tournament when the Viridian gym leader was scheduled to battle. That would be her chance to see his handsome Persian. Even if Persian wasn't sent out to battle, Purry knew he would be there next to his trainer as always. She would watch him hidden in the shadows as she always did.

The city hall looked as elegant as ever, with its mirror-like perfectly polished floors. The walls were adorned with forest themed wallpaper, which would have looked terribly tacky despite its expense, if not for the lovely glass chandelier overhead. The chandelier saved city hall from being a total eye sore by taking away all the attention that would have otherwise been directed at the leafy wallpaper. 'Forest pride,' that was what the mayor called his decor. It was an effort to win the votes of those who were fans of the Viridian forest. The forest was taken very good care of. Far from doing it as a favor to nature, the reason was mostly because it was a wonderful cover for run away thieves to sneak into their base.

"Busy," Laiki had a nice welcoming expression, but it was obvious she wasn't happy to be kept too busy to have time to snoop around. "How are things out there?"

"Not too great. A lot of the trainers that gathered here did it for the prize money. Most of the real professionals wouldn't be interested in an unofficial tournament not backed by the league, even if it is legal," Comet stood in a corner leaning against the wall near the examination table.

Laiki's next patient was a Voltorb. "There's nothing wrong with this one, he just fainted," she muttered as she tried to resuscitate the pokemon without causing him to explode. "So what's the problem? Is the crowd getting out of hand?" She wished she could see it, it certainly sounded more interesting than what she was currently doing. The injuries coming from battles seen by the public were not a real medical challenge, unlike the critical conditions she was used to treating.

"Not quite," Comet grinned, clearly amused. "You know how they were making the trainers battle to eliminate each other because there were too many? You're not going to believe what this guy did. He certainly made things go faster. It makes me wish I could battle him, too bad I can't enter the competition because I'm stuck delivering snacks."

"Voltorb! Voltorb!" The patient was finally awake and not in a good mood.

"Return!" Laiki called the Voltorb, back into his pokeball. It was her way to deal with stubborn pokemon when she would rather occupy herself with something else. "Well, are you going to tell me what this mysterious trainer you speak of did?"

Comet petted his Meowth, who hissed in response. She rarely allowed anyone to pet her, scratching at whoever tried. Comet was an exception, but not while he was wearing lime green. She ran off to the other side of the room and sat proudly in a corner. Comet looked down at his clothes, "only the boss can wear such bright colors without being hated."

"Even if we forgive orange, I doubt anyone would overlook lime green for too long. Besides, he's been dressing better lately," Laiki commented. "You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?" She pouted indignantly, "keeping me in suspense like this. C'mon, tell me, who is the trainer you spoke of? What did he do?"

Comet grinned, "Ash," he announced, "the Indigo League champion of the year before last." The man who Comet did not know was Delia's son. He only knew her by her first name from his father's stories. "The same one everyone is expecting to see facing off against last year's winner in this year's championship."

"No way, now that's news!" Laiki cheered excitedly, "tell me more, I must know!" Theories about the boss secretly having a descendant somewhere in the world were not unheard of. But every time the theories surfaced the stories eventually faded into nothing. This time, not even Laiki was expecting it.

xoxox xox xoxox

At Giovanni's office at the Viridian Gym, Delia had fallen into a monologue. After bringing up the topic of the letter she left before her departure from Team Rocket, she recounted various events from the past. She added in all the thoughts she didn't voice and perhaps didn't fully realize at those times. She had set her mind to revealing everything, but she couldn't find the balance between being too direct and going in circles.

The phone rang, putting an end to Giovanni's already drying patience, "I have to take that call."

"I understand," Delia did not complain and instead grew silent. She remained frozen in place, save for the motions of petting Persian on her lap. She reasoned that if Giovanni wanted her to leave, he would have said so. Besides, back when her abundant knowledge about Team Rocket had been recent, he never made the effort to find her, not even for the sake of ensuring her silence. He knew she would never speak against him.

Giovanni recognized the caller's number as coming directly from the mayor's office. He answered, knowing full well that even if mayor Rune Antilles was quite useful, he could be too much of a worrier at times.

"Giovanni, we have a problem!" The mayor's voice came from the receiver as soon as he heard the ringing stop, even before Giovanni could speak. "There's this young man who scared off some of the trainers. They say he has really strong pokemon and walks around with a ferocious Pikachu on his back!" As he listened to Rune, Giovanni tried to imagine the ferocious Pikachu. The gym leader found he could not; some pokemon were too cute to look ferocious, despite their power.

"He's not from Viridian City," the mayor continued with great concern, "he's from Pallet Town or something like that. Do you happen to know where that is?" Mayor Antilles was a man of high society and politics, though he was far from being a rich extremist. He did not think of an excursion to a 'peasant town' as a novelty. He simply did not know where on the map the little town was located because he had no business with it.

"Pallet Town is south from Viridian City, but why does it matter? A few decent competitors had to show up, that doesn't sound like a problem at all," Giovanni had taken a quick look out the window at the crowded streets below before Delia arrived. The city was infested with amateurs that called themselves trainers, he could tell just by looking.

"You'll take care of him won't you?" Rune insisted in a worried voice, "don't forget our plan. If someone from Viridian City wins the tournament, that trainer will win all the way in the extra battle against you. If someone from out of the city wins, even if they get the prize money, they will not get the glory. It will be up to you as the gym leader to avenge our proud city!"

"I'll win no matter what, just like I told you," regardless of if the trainer was from Viridian City or not, Giovanni would not allow himself to be defeated.

"But what about-" before Rune could finish, Giovanni ended the call and silence once again invaded his office.

"Is everything okay?" Delia felt the need to say something, before the atmosphere became too heavy with accumulating silence. In reality not more than a few seconds of quiet had passed.

"Yes, it's just Rune worrying about someone from Pallet Town with a ferocious Pikachu," clearly, Giovanni thought the mayor's worries were ridiculous and exaggerated. The mention of the little town brought up a question, "do you live in Pallet Town?"

Delia took a moment to reply, she had been a little distracted thinking that the trainer from Pallet Town who had the ferocious Pikachu had to be Ash. However, his Pikachu was absolutely adorable. The only ferocious thing about him was his appetite for her pancakes. "Yes, I do, I've lived in Pallet Town for many years," so far Delia had discussed the past, but had not spoken of the present. "In fact, I have a little restaurant there, you can't miss it; it's the only restaurant in town. What I mean is, maybe you should drop by sometime."

"Is that why you came here?" Giovanni sat beside Delia again, he was finished waiting. "You looked like you had something important to say. Your voice reminded me of when you were about to tell me a vital piece of information I never would have guessed you could obtain."

That wasn't the case; this was information that was impossible for her to not know. After all, no woman can give birth and not notice. "Do you like to watch the Indigo League championships on TV?" She finally found a strategy. Before telling him about Ash's identity, she would tell him just how great Ash was.

"Delia, just say what you were going to say," Giovanni insisted. As curious and surprised as he was due to her sudden visit, his patience had run dry listening to her stories of the past. He thought he would have figured out what this visit was about by then, even if she didn't say anything directly.

"This is what I was going to say, it's important, the truth is-" the phone rang again, cutting off Delia's sentence. She remained quiet as Giovanni went to answer the phone. She wanted his full attention when she explained everything. She would wait until he was done talking, rather than rush her explanation or share him with the phone. He could follow both voices, she knew that. But with news such as the kind she brought, his train of thought might come to a full halt when he heard, or perhaps speedily derail. As long as he had some sort of reaction that was not indifference, Delia would be satisfied. Anger, regret, happiness, disbelief, any emotion would do, it was uncaring indifference that she feared.

The conversation on the phone went in a similar way to last time. Mayor Antilles' speedy worried rambles came from the receiver as soon as Giovanni picked it up, before he could even speak. "We have less than fifty participants. A few of them have been identified as being very good, but mostly they are beginners. The good ones keep their battles quick because of the power difference in comparison to their opponents. Add to that the fact that so many trainers dropped out and the tournament will be cut short. We are ahead of schedule, but in a bad way! Even if we had too many participants before that troublesome man with the ferocious Pikachu showed up, now we don't have enough. We're taking late entries, but if worse comes to worse, I'll need your personnel out there to fill in the spots."

"Which is what I said should be done from the beginning," Giovanni reminded, he didn't share the abundant concern the mayor had about his 'personnel' being discovered.

"Yes, yes, but who would have thought he would show up, do you know who he is?" Mayor Antilles didn't give Giovanni the chance to answer before he revealed the young man's identity, though not by name, "he's the Indigo League champion from two years ago!"

Giovanni looked pleased with the news; he was looking forward to a challenge. He had no real battles in a long time. Badges were still given away now and then simply because that was his duty as a gym leader. He had to fulfill it to keep his position, but those were not real battles to him. "Good, I'm looking forward to that battle," Giovanni hung up in a slightly better mood than before.

"I take it you received news of a worthy opponent?" Delia voiced as naturally as she could. She had been very close to revealing everything before the interruption and she intended to pick up where she left off as soon as she recovered his attention.

"Yes, the Indigo League champion from two years ago is here, according to the mayor," Giovanni observed Delia's expression, she was a little surprised for a split second, then took on a knowing look. It was as if she had heard exactly what she wanted to hear. He remembered how Delia always found ways to surprise him and somehow ended up knowing far more than he expected. "You asked me if I watched the Indigo League championships on TV and it turns out the champion from two years ago is here. I take it this is not a coincidence."

"Do you know who he is?" Finally the conversation seemed to be advancing, which pleased Delia.

"No, I didn't watch the championship, I was busy. But if he's from Pallet Town then you must know him. Everyone still knows everyone there, right?" Whatever puzzle was awaiting; it had to be solved soon.

"Yes, I do know him," Delia smiled filled with thoughts of her son, their son. "It was many years ago when he was ten, nearly eleven really. That was when Ash started his pokemon journey from Pallet Town. He traveled to many places, met many people and had many adventures. He's come very far since then. You wouldn't remember him; you never battled him for a badge and I doubt you ever met."

During the time of Ash's first journey there were several small gyms that gave out badges aside from the main eight gyms of Kanto. Because of that, Giovanni wasn't surprised to hear someone had made it to the Indigo League without ever battling him.

"He does have an Earth badge though," Delia added, observing Giovanni's expression. She still had his attention and interest, he was puzzled and curious. "You weren't here during that time, he battled someone else to obtain the Earth badge," Jessie and James to be specific, but there was no need to associate their names with Team Rocket anymore. They had retired from the team a few years ago, or rather they were fired. Both of them were good people after getting to know them as friends rather than criminals. Delia certainly knew how to make them behave with the promise of food. Jessie, James and their talking Meowth were big fans of her cooking.

"So his name is Ash and he has an Earth badge, which he obtained while I was away," it wasn't rare that Giovanni had to delegate his gym leader duties, thus he didn't look too deeply into that detail. He didn't realize the mysterious Ash was involved in the incident that ended up leaving the gym in ruins. He didn't know anything about Ash's involvement in the Mewtwo case and he didn't remember Mewtwo. Giovanni's memories about the legendary pokemon were locked away and he was convinced the cloning experiment had been a complete failure. "He's from Pallet Town and he has a Pikachu," Giovanni finished listing the facts he knew so far, "all of this is somehow linked to something you came to say?"

"Yes, it concerns both of us-" again Delia's voice was interrupted by the phone, but that time her expression was annoyed. Her face lacked the patience she practiced the last two times.

She sighed as Giovanni went to pick up the phone. He spoke before Rune's worrisome rambles came, "what is it now, Antilles?"

"Goodness, are you angry? I suppose the seriousness of the situation finally sunk in. I'll be shooting myself in the foot if this tournament puts Viridian City below the level of some small town in the middle of nowhere," the mayor dramatized, "if it comes to that, you must win and avenge Viridian City!"

"You said that already and I told you that no matter what, I'll win the battle. If you don't have anything else to say, stop calling, I'm busy." Whatever mystery Delia held, it had build up to the point where it would endlessly bother Giovanni if he didn't solve it. It couldn't be anything urgent, if it was, Delia would have said it already without worrying about the phrasing, unless she was unsure if she should say it. Either way, he wanted to know what was important enough to make her show up at the gym after a very long absence. He told himself he shouldn't care, but the mystery kept nagging at him to be uncovered.

"What about the speech? We're starting the tournament and you're supposed to give a speech too. I'll start with my speech. It won't last more than ten minutes, so please get ready. We need to start the tournament before more people leave!" Mayor Antilles was clearly stressed.

"I'm on my way," Giovanni didn't wait for a reply before ending the call. He looked at Delia, who was giving him the very same look she gave him many years ago. It was the expression she had when she used to say she missed him, even if they lived together.

"I know, you have to go, but it's alright, because I want you to see for yourself what I was trying to tell you. I want you to know what I mean," her words didn't make too much sense to him. The only clue was the young man who had won the Indigo League championship in the past. "If you face him in battle, you'll learn more than what I could tell you, that's just how it is for two great trainers." She got up and started walking towards the office door, "I hope there's enough room for one more in the crowd."

"Wait, why don't you just tell me now? What were you going to say after you came all this way?" The mystery was really annoying Giovanni.

Delia smiled, "it's nice that you're interested in knowing, even if you don't know why you should be."

He didn't inquire further, if that was how she wanted it to be, then he would figure things out on his own. Nonetheless, he would make sure she stayed long enough to clarify his theories, whenever he came up with them. "You won't be able to find a seat now, unless you have a VIP pass."

xoxox xox xoxox

At the main entrance of the Viridian Stadium, Brock grimaced about his horrible luck. The girl from the ice-cream cart down the street was very nice to him and flirted with him for a while. He helped her take care of business, selling snow cones and popsicles of an assortment of flavors and various frozen treats. Eventually, she sold everything in her cart and left.

Brock asked for her number, email, or any means to contact her. She replied that her boyfriend might not like it if another man called her. Heartbroken, Brock rushed to the stadium realizing at last just how much time had passed. He was out of luck in more ways than one, as the stadium was full and Wendy wasn't allowing anyone else in.

He decided that at least he would keep her company guarding the front gates. Then a tall man with dark hair and a mean glare, wearing a similar lime green suit arrived. The man growled, "is this guy bothering you?"

"Not at all," Wendy grinned, "Brock, was it? This is my husband."

Brock's jaw dropped, he was having really bad luck that day, "um... nice to meet you." Before the dangerous looking man could reply, Brock ran away in depressed embarrassment.

From a safe distance, Brock looked back at the Viridian Stadium and sighed. If he didn't get married soon, he feared he never would. Everyone was either dating, engaged or already married. Soon Ash would be married too whenever he got around to propose.

He wondered the streets passing in front of the city hall on his way to the Pokemon Center. He wanted to find a quiet spot to sit and wait. He had come to terms with the reality that he would miss the tournament. He couldn't even flirt with Jenny or Joy because they were both married. Each of them had a baby girl identical to the mother.

He noticed people going in and out of city hall quite freely and wondered in. The large lobby at the entrance had been transformed into a medical facility and there was a pretty blond nurse. She was talking to a red haired young man.

The man began to leave, saying something about getting back to work. As he passed by, he stopped and looked at the depressed Brock, "are you okay?"

Brock looked absolutely agonized, "is she your girlfriend?"

Comet gave him an odd look, "of course not!"

Laiki threw her head back in laughter, "he's more like a brother to me," though they were not biologically related.

Brock's face brightened so much that Comet backed away, startled by the sudden change of expression. "Do you need help with anything?" Brock dashed over to Laiki, "by the way, my name's Brock, I'm a pokemon breeder. What's your name?"

Feeling ignored, Comet decided to continue on his way with Purry, following him. The Meowth still refused to be carried down the busy streets while her trainer was dressed in a lime green waiter suit. Comet decided not to meddle. Surely Laiki wouldn't lead on that poor desperate guy too much. She already had two boyfriends, one in Johto and another in the Orange Islands. Then again, she might want to have a Kanto boyfriend. Comet shook his head and kept walking; it was none of his business anyway.

To be Continued

Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. Wendy is from the episode "Dues and Don'ts" she joined Team Rocket around the same time Jessie did. The part about there being other gyms aside the main eight is a reference to Gary's many Kanto badges in the anime.