Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Ketchum's Eleven ❯ 01: Ideas and Planning ( Chapter 1 )

Ketchum's Eleven

01: Ideas and Planning

A PikaFlash's Studio Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters, songs and scenes belong to their respective owners...

An A/U Crossover Type fanfic...

*

 

In a parole board hearing room, three board members were at a stand as Ash Ketchum was brought in by guards into the board room.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Ash greeted back.

“Please state your name for the record.”

“Ash Ketchum”

“Thank you. Mr. Ketchum, the purpose of this meeting is to determine whether, if released, you are likely to break the law again. While this is the first time you are convicted, you have been implicated in a few other confidence schemes and frauds. What can you tell us about this?

“Like you said, I was never charged.”

“Mr. Ketchum, could you tell us the reason why you chose to commit this crime or was there a good reason why you simply got caught this time?”

“My wife left me. I was upset, so I went down the path of self-destruction,” Ash explained.

“If released, is it likely that you would fall back into the same pattern.

Ash smiled. “She already left me once. I don't think she'll do it again...”

The board members look upon themselves, then, the one final question pops up.

“Mr. Ketchum, what do you think you would do if you're released?”

Ash gave a bit of thought, and then asked, “No clue. What about you? What do you think you would do if I'm released?”

“Well, we're debating on whether we could...hey!”

*

 

Ash was released on parole and Guard Motoko was giving Ash his possessions and the necessary papers that certifies the return.

“Sign this,” Motoko said as she hands Ash a pen. Then she adds a letter to the pile. “This came in today. Anything else would be forwarded to your parole officer.”

Ash opens the mail and reads it. Motoko looks over Ash's shoulder and sees the return address.

“Your lawyers?” Motoko asked.

“My wife's,” Ash replied and reads the letter.

“What does it say?”

Ash looks up. “I'm a very free man.”

~

 

Ash changes out of the prison outfit into his usual jeans, black t-shirt, blue and white shirt and a red cap. Then he picks up a wedding ring. “To wear or not to wear...”

 

~

 

Ash walks out of Kanto Prison. Indeed a very free man as he breaths in the fresh air outside the prison walls...and not to mention carbon monoxide from the early morning traffic rush...

“Damn, couldn't they at least let me out through a side road?” Ash said as he coughs through the fumes.

*

 

Ash enters the Celadon Game Corner. Ash took out some money and puts it at the counter. “I need some coins.”

“Sorry sir, but you need a Coin Case...”

Ash sighed; he dumped his hand into a bin and takes out a Coin Case. “You mean this?” Ash said as he shakes out the rubbish from the case...

“Yes sir.” The casher exchanged the money for the Coins.

Later, Ash looks around the Gaming Corner from a blackjack table, looking for an old friend. No luck. So Ash looks back at his game.

“I stay” Ash puts down his cards. The dealer and Ash reveals their cards. “Twenty-two, dealer bust.”

The game continued in Ash's favor until another dealer arrived and took over the losing dealer's place. Ash looks at the new dealer, purple hair and male. Not the one Ash is looking for but he knows the dealer.

“Hello, Jimmy.”

The dealer looks up. Someone recognized him. He quickly hides his shock.

“I'm sorry sir. You must have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Eric, see?” The dealer taps on his name tag. A supervisor walked by...

“My mistake,” Ash said as he collected his winnings. “Table's cold, anyway.”

“You might like to have a drink at Celadon Hotel lounge. It gets busy at one, sir.”

“Thanks, Eric.”

*

 

At the Celadon Hotel lounge, Ash was having a drink while reading the papers. He looks at the time. 12:58 and no sign of `Eric'. Ash continues to read the paper. `Digi-Palace Casino to be demolished; Former Owner Denounces Plans'. Ash looks at the photographs. The first one appeared to have a photographer with bad hand-eye coordination, but Ash was able to see the new owner of `Digi-Palace', Seto Kaiba, but the woman with him has her head cut off the picture. In the second picture, the former owner, Taichi Kamiya, was on his knees.

“Anything good in the papers?” A voice asked.

Ash looks up and sees `Eric' sitting across him in a completely different outfit.

“Eric?”

“Good to see you, Ash. The name Jimmy Stuart wouldn't get by the Gaming Board. You got out?”

“Just.”

“And you're turning over a new leaf.”

Ash gets a bit closer to James and asks, “You seen her?”

“Last I heard, she went back to Tomoeda. Teaching Anime Characters how to play Duel Monsters.” James realize what Ash wants. “Why? Got something planned already?”

Ash smiled. “I only just got out this morning.”

James stares at Ash for a moment. Ash grins. He has something planned.

~

 

“It's a tough life for our work now. Everybody is so serious. Too many guns and too many computers. What do you want to do? Steal from ordinary people?” James asks.

“That would be criminal,” Ash said as he and James walk through the streets.

“What do we have left? Pokémon centers are funded separately and banks have no money. The only places with cash around are...”

“Game Corners.”

James stopped walking, realizing what Ash meant. “Don't tell me...”

“I will...”

James continued walking and catches up with Ash. “When?”

“Soon. Interested?”

James' smile was the answer Ash needed.

“Give me a second.” Ash walks to a phone booth and makes a call. “Yes, Officer Narusegawa. My name is Ash Ketchum. I'm just out and I'm supposed to check in with you within 24 hours.” Ash listens. “No madam, I haven't gotten into any trouble. No drinking.”

Ash continues to listen to the officer while drinking some alcohol. “No, I wouldn't even think of leaving this region.”

*

 

The next day, Ash took a flight to Tokyo...

At Tomoeda, a woman was leaning on her car while eating some nachos when a young Anime Character from Pokémon Advanced, Max, walks up to her.

“Sakura! You're here...”

Sakura and Max walked into a back alley. Max started talking.

“I don't know if you have your own business like `Sakura Inc.' but I think you should think about it. Yesterday, I was talking to my manager...”

“ Madison?”

“Not that Madison, but another Madison. My Business Manager's name is also Madison. She was telling me about this, like researching this for a future gig and use it for tax dodge. She suggest that I write you a check...”

Sakura looks at the Anime Character.

“Or we could use Cash.”

Sakura and the Anime character entered a club the Anime characters were partying.

“Alright. Who's here, Max?” Sakura asks.

“Rini is here. Tommy is here. But Daichi couldn't make it. He had to do some reshoots because somebody figured out that the budget for the new season of Beyblade was coming out of Canada.”

“That's a problem.”

“Negi is here,” Max added.

“I thought they were still filming that Magister Negi Magi Anime series?” Sakura asked.

“Couldn't work out the dates, but he did bring one of his students.”

“Not the violent one...”

Max nods.

“I stopped watching any series by Ken Akamatsu after they did not show the episode 25.”

Sakura and Max entered a room where Rini (from Sailor Moon), Tommy (from Digimon Frontier) and Negi (from Magister Negi Magi) were at the table. Asuna (from Magister Negi Magi) is standing behind Negi as an observer.

“Its time to duel...”

~

 

The four-way duel lesson has begun and Max decides to start it off...

“Alright, I put one card face down. And I end my...”

Sakura leans to Max's ear and whispered, “Why you choose to put that card down is your business. But you have to make them think it's down there for a reason. Understand?”

Max nods.

Sakura was whispering to Rini. “Rini, you must know what you have. Looking won't change anything. Leave them the way they are or put a card down and make your move.”

Next, Sakura was giving some tips to Negi. “I know she's your student, Negi, but you can't. Thank you.”

A few minutes later. “I got all five pieces of Exodia.”

“Very good, Max. Let's have a break.”

~

 

Sakura walked to the bar in the nightclub.

“How's the game?” The bartender shouted over the music.

“Longest day of my life,” Sakura replied.

“What!”

“I'm stealing your wife,” Sakura replied at the same volume she used earlier.

“Great!” The bartender gave the thumbs up.

As Sakura looked at the crowd, she caught sight of a familiar face outside, but she lost sight of the person as he walked through. Sakura returned to the room.

“Hey, Sakura. We have another player, if it's alright with you.”

Sakura looks at the new arrival next to Max. “What's going on?” Sakura asked.

“I heard that there was a four-way duel in progress. I hope I'm not intruding.”

“It just finished and I won,” Max said.

“Really?”

“Who told you we were playing a game?” Sakura asked.

“I don't remember.”

“Alright, let's make it five-on-one duel,” Sakura said. Then, she points at Ash. “You're going down, Ketchum.”

~

 

Later in the duel, Ash was proving to be a difficult opponent, especially when he has powerful cards...

“So, Mr. Ketchum. What do you do for a living? If you don't mind,” Max asks.

“Why should I mind? Two cards face down and I switch my monster to defense mode.” Ash switched his card and then looks at Max. “I just got out of prison.”

“Really?” Max looks at the other players. “Really...”

Sakura looks at Rini carelessly showing her cards. “Rini, cards showing.”

Rini quickly covered her cards. “Sorry.” She looks at Ash. “What did you go to prison for?”

“I stole things.”

“What things? Jewels? Diamonds?”

Silence. Then Sakura said, “Digimon Matrimonial Headmasks.”

Everyone just went “Wa?”

“From a museum?” Rini asked.

“Gallery.”

“How much do they have in those...Digimon Matrimonial...”

“HeadMasks,” Ash finished. “And they're worth a lot to the Digimons.”

“I heard that they weren't pleased when you tried to swipe one while wearing the mask,” Sakura said as she draws her card. “I place a card face down in defense mode and end my turn. You sure have a lot of bad luck that time.”

Ash draws a card. “I will use Polymerization to fuse my monsters Summoned Skull and Red Eyes Black Dragon to special summon Black Skull Dragon to the field. Next, I will set a monster card on the field and then, I will place four cards face down.” Ash places four cards on the field.

“Alright, remember the first rule of Duel Monsters?” asked Sakura.

“Err...never bet with your cards?” said Rini.

“I think it was always keep your trump card as the best,” corrected Max.

“Meowth, that's right. My friend is really pushing me to the limit. Time for you to use your best moves.” Then, Sakura adds, “And if you can't handle it, you can surrender, but if you do, you'll lose a thousand.”

The other kids made their moves before Sakura made hers.

“Alright, my first move would be flip summon my face down Monster. Dark Magician Girl!” Sakura reveals her face down Monster. “Followed by using Sage's Stone to special summon the Dark Magician.” Sakura special summons the Dark Magician. But Sakura's not finished yet. “Now, I will tribute my two Magicians in order to summon...Sorcerer of Dark Magic!” Sakura tributes the two Monsters and summons the monster that has equal attack power to the Black Skull Dragon, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic. “Your trap cards are useless, Ketchum.”

Ash smiled. “You're wrong. I don't need a trap to trap all of you. I will use my Black Skull Dragon to attack your Sorcerer of Dark Magic!”

“But that means both of the monsters will be destroyed.”

Sakura and Ash put their monsters in the graveyard. “Next, I will use the Trap card, Just Deserts, to give you your just deserts. 500 life points per monster on the field to be exact. Next, I will reveal my Princess of Tsurugi and inflict another 500 for every magic and trap card you have on the field.”

Those last two moves brought the other player's life points to zero, but Sakura was the only one left as she didn't have any monsters, magic or trap cards on the field.

“Alright, Ketchum. I surrender.” Sakura puts her hand on her deck.

“Great. You each owe me a thousand, which gives me five thousand.” Ash counted, then he takes out a book. “By the way, could you sign something for me? I have friends who are big fans of your shows...”

~

 

The Anime Characters walked out of the room, only to enter a large mob of fans who want the characters' autographs. Sakura and Ash walked through the crowd to the exit.

Sakura was driving her car with Ash on the passenger's side.

“Ash...you were so...”

“Mean? Yeah, I know.”

“How was your time?” Sakura asked. “You get the cookies I made?”

“Yeah. Why do you think I came to see you first?”

Ash takes out the winnings from the game and gave half to Sakura. “Two thousand and five hundred for you, with no tax deductions.”

“Ash, you had just embarrassed me earlier, by barging into my new workplace, and ruining my professional reputation. At least tell me you got something better than this.”

“Oh yeah, I got something better.”

~

 

Ash and Sakura were sitting at a cafe having coffee.

“How's the wife?” asked Sakura.

Ash gives a glare at Sakura, giving Sakura the message. Not the right conversation starter.

“Ok. Tell me,” said Sakura.

“Well, it's never been done before. It needs some planning and a large crew.”

“Guns?”

“Not loaded ones. But it needs to be precise as there's a lot of security. But the risk is worth...”

“Ok, and the target?”

“Around eight figures.”

“I said, `and the target?'”

Ash got closer to Sakura's ear and whispered, “When was the last time you were in Domino City?”

“What? You're going to knock over a Game Corner?”

Ash shakes his head and shows three fingers. Three Game Corners. Sakura puts down her coffee.

*

 

That night, Sakura and Ash were inside the Mahora Academy Library, the biggest library in the world on an island. They were in the underground levels of the library. Through the use of flashlights, Ash finally found the blueprints needed for the idea.

“Here it is. The vault at `Kaiba Land'.” Ash puts the blueprints on the table.

Sakura looks through the plans. “You know what? This is the probably the most inaccessible vault ever designed.” Sakura looks at the blueprints again. “I mean, this is definitely the most inaccessible vault ever designed. Like this place but with fewer exits.”

“Yep.”

“But you said three Gaming Corners?”

Ash takes out more blueprints. “These feed into the money pile at both `Duelist Kingdom' and `The Black Clown'.”

“Hang on. Kaiba Land, Duelist Kingdom...don't tell me. We're robbing Seto Kaiba!”

“Yes. Do you think he'll mind?” Ash asked.

“I think more than that.”

~

 

A librarian with blue hair entered the library with a flashlight.

 

~

 

Ash keeps the blueprints.

“But you'll need lots of people and a combination of cons,” Sakura said.

“What do you think?” Ash asked.

Sakura counts her fingers. “Well, I think you're looking for a Bakura, a Shobu Kirufuda, one Mimi Tachikawa, two Ken Ichijoujis and a Yugi Moto. Oh, and the biggest Greymon you can find. Ok, so, how are you going to fund this?”

“As long as we're hitting the Gaming Corners, we'll get our bankroll. Seto Kaiba has lots of enemies.”

“But who would be willing to fund us as if he's got nothing to lose...” Sakura realized who's going to be their `sponsor'.

“Kamiya,” both said in unison.

~

 

The librarian was walking towards the part of the library where Sakura and Ash are...

 

~

 

“So?” Ash asks Sakura.

“Here's my thoughts. Why not you take this plan, kick it around for a week or two. Sleep on it. Turn it over in your head and never bring this up to me again.”

Ash was not listening. “Yes. And you were saying?”

“I'm saying that it's like trying to build a house of cards during an earthquake.”

“Really? I thought it was much harder than that.”

The librarian flashes the light at Ash and Sakura.

“Oh Pika! Would you lower it, Nodoka?” Ash said.

“Sorry.” The librarian, Nodoka Miyazaki, lowers the flashlight. “Have you found what you wanted?”

“Yeah. Thanks. Do you mind if I borrow a couple of drawings for the night? Just need to make some copies,” Ash said.

“Sure. Only the Library Exploration Club comes regularly and it's not for the books.”

Ash took out some money and handed it to Nodoka. “Thanks.”

*

Ash and Sakura were waiting at the elevator to get out of the library...

“I need a reason, Ash. And it better not be for the money.”

“Well, I'm no Jerry or Lizzy Maguire,” said Ash.

Sakura sighs. “Why do this?”

Ash grins. “Why not do this?”

Sakura stares at Ash, waiting for an explanation. “Well...tell me.”

“Ok, yesterday, when I walked out of the Prison, in my favorite outfit, you're stealing off some kids who don't know how to play duel monsters properly. And that is because they do not understand how it works. The cards are the reason why you win. Not skill, not luck and not brute strength. Unless you believe in the heart of the cards, you will take that big risk. And then...the duel is yours.”

Silence...then the elevator doors open.

“I have no idea what the hell you just said, but I'm in.” Sakura said. “Have you been practicing that speech?”

“A bit. Though I did make up some of it on the spot. Did I rush through it? It felt like I rushed it.”

“No, it was good. Though you're still being mean to those kids, though.”

The two stepped inside the elevator. As the door closes, Sakura says, “I wonder what will Kamiya say about this.”

End of Part 1