Ash, Green, and Gary were sitting on a ship, while Pikachu and Vee were sunbathing on the roof. At least, that's what they thought they would be doing. They thought this thing would be chill; however,
Instead, this ship was moving way too fast and spinning like it was some kind of bumper car. They didn't even know how the captain was doing it.
Pikachu was the first to fall. He leaned over the edge and barfed out, "Blaargh!"
Green saw it next and immediately reacted, "Ew! Ew! Ew!" Then her cheeks puffed, and she ran to the edge to throw up too, "Blaargh!"
"Hey, you got some on me!!!" Gary was caught in the crossfire and looked sick. He ran over and also threw up, "Blaargh!"
The worst part was none of them had motion sickness. This ship just drove that badly. The only ones who were slightly fine were Ash and Vee, who just sat down and held onto a chair, hoping for the best.
Eventually, they got to smoother waters, and the ship stopped moving so crazily. Everyone got a moment to recover as they could now see Orre in the distance.
Green wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and sighed, "Okay...first thing when we get there, I am finding whoever designed this ship."
Gary looked over at her weakly, "You mean the captain?"
"No, the ship designer," Green said seriously, "Because whoever thought this was a good idea needs to explain themselves."
Gary stared at her for a moment, "Green, I'm pretty sure the captain was the one driving."
"Exactly. And clearly someone gave him a ship."
Gary opened his mouth, then stopped, "...You know what? Fair."
For a few minutes, they just sat there, enjoying the calmer ride. The ocean was finally peaceful, the wind was blowing softly, and the distant coastline of Orre was becoming clearer.
But Ash eventually glanced back at the two of them, "Okay, so…"
Gary looked over, "Hm?"
"What are we actually doing in Orre?"
"Oh yeah, that's a pretty good question. From what I read about it, isn't it a dump?" Green added, and sure, that was rude, but it was also accurate.
Gary tilted his head back and forth, "Well, you're not wrong. Don't get me wrong, it's getting better, but it's still pretty bad. But hey, a new researcher recently joined the team and is trying to help the situation get better."
"Really? Who?" Ash asked.
"His name is Professor Es Cade," Gary revealed, and Ash's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but Gary didn't notice.
"He came in saying that he went to Orre to try and help the people get out of poverty after all the stuff that happened. He's apparently trying to get Pokémon to migrate over there."
"Oh dang, I forgot about that. They don't have any wild Pokémon over there…" Green realized, "How do you think anyone gets any Pokémon?"
"Green, remember, poachers were really bad back in the day," Ash said. Since he had looked into Orre when he had the time, he knew about the situation, "I guess most people bought some from those poachers."
"Ah...I see," Green muttered.
"So what does this have to do with why we're going?" Ash finally asked again.
"Right, take a look at this." Gary pulled out a picture and handed it to Ash.
Ash took it, and Green leaned over his shoulder, resting her head on it to see it too. Both of their eyes widened.
The picture showed a monolith covered with Unown symbols.
Gary noticed their looks and nodded, "Yeah, Unown. So it might help with the Molly situation."
"I see," Ash muttered as he handed it back to Gary, "Anything else we should know?"
Now he knew what was at stake, which made this mission even more important. If he was lucky, he could find the last three he needed here.
"Well, that guy, Professor Es Cade, is actually the one researching these monoliths, and he asked for my help. Well, technically, he asked for Gramps and Professor Rowan's help, but they can't make it right now, so I was sent to help instead, and he seemed fine with it."
"Anyway, he's doing this because if these images take off, he'll get recognition, and if he does, he'll be able to get funding from other regions and support to try and help Orre, I guess." Gary sighed, looking out toward the land that was approaching them.
"Dude, I know that look. Be honest with me, how bad is it?" Ash called him out.
Gary sighed, "Bad." He shook his head, "Life there is pretty rough. People are still living in constant poverty, there's a high level of criminal activity, the health system is a joke, and they don't even have free Poké Centers there."
Green frowned, "That's...actually pretty messed up."
"Yeah," Gary said quietly, "Orre has been improving, but it's been slow. After everything that happened with Cipher and Team Snagem, people were left trying to rebuild without much support."
"So this Professor Es Cade guy is trying to fix all that?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," Gary nodded, "He's trying to bring more attention to Orre, get more researchers involved, get more resources sent there, and help the people actually recover."
Ash crossed his arms, "Sounds like a...big job."
"It is," Gary admitted, "Which is why I'm not exactly sure why he wanted me specifically."
Green smiled slightly, "Because you're Professor Oak's grandson?"
Gary immediately looked annoyed, "I swear, if that's the only reason, I'm leaving."
Ash laughed, "You know, you say that, but you also keep using that title when it helps you."
Gary opened his mouth, then closed it, "...Okay, maybe sometimes."
Green grinned, "Wow, Gary admitting something? Someone write this down."
"Shut up."
They all chuckled, while Ash looked out at the coast. Something told him this wasn't going to be simple, and he needed to do more research once he was there. He needed to confirm something in his head.
Eventually, the gang finally landed, and they nearly jumped off the ship to hug the ground. Finally.
Meanwhile, Green and Gary were debating where they should shoot the ship, while Ash looked around for someone to ask the town's name and where the professor's lab was.
He saw an old woman sitting by a crate and approached her.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Can I trouble you by asking what this town's name is and where the lab is?"
She looked up slowly and sighed, "I don't know about any lab, but this town was once known as Port Town. Then it got renamed to Kuro Town after the Black Plague that killed all the seniors here."
Ash, Green, and Gary blinked at how casually she said something so morbid. Ash coughed awkwardly, "Thank you for your time."
They walked away and looked at each other, deciding to split up quickly to ask around. They were in a completely new region, after all.
They asked multiple people, but the people here weren't exactly friendly. Which, to be fair, they couldn't blame them. Orre wasn't exactly the place where friendships were easily made.
When they asked a woman who was walking with her husband, she scoffed, "Those scientists are just taking the taxpayers' money, yet they haven't done anything except find some stupid rocks!" Then, in a fit, she started marching away.
The husband, who was actually pretty polite, bowed apologetically at them.
"I'm sorry. I tried explaining to her that the monoliths aren't stupid, but she doesn't get it. Women, am I right?" He said that last part while leaning toward Ash and Gary, trying to make sure Green didn't hear. But she still heard him.
She said nothing until after he ran after his wife.
Green watched the man run after his wife, then slowly turned toward Ash and Gary with a blank expression, "...Did he really think whispering that was gonna work?"
Gary shook his head, "Nope."
Ash crossed his arms, "Not even a little."
The three of them stood there for a moment before Gary looked around.
"Okay, so that was helpful."
"Very," Ash said sarcastically, "We learned that the people here either don't know where the lab is, or they hate the people working there."
"And also, apparently the whole stuff about the monoliths is common knowledge...which is interesting," Green added.
"I guess we've got to keep looking. The lab has to be somewhere," Gary sighed.
They kept looking around, and as they did, they took a look at the shops. Saying that the stuff here was expensive was an understatement. It just made them think about how messed up the economy was that even Green wouldn't charge people those kinds of exorbitant prices.
But as they walked, Ash finally used Aura to look around. However, he sensed a familiar Aura that made him stop.
He turned and looked at Green and Gary, and without a word, he started moving.
Green and Gary were confused, but they followed anyway.
They went almost entirely across town, going through alleys, and when they did, they saw someone that all three of them recognized.
A girl with long yellow hair and a sunhat on her head, with a Pikachu resting on her shoulder, was there talking to someone. After the person shook his head, she bowed politely and turned away, looking disappointed. But when she did, they saw each other, It was Yellow.
Yellow's eyes went wide, and Ash was surprised too, but the first person to react wasn't either of them. It was Green.
She raised her hands excitedly, "Yellow!" she said as she ran to the smaller girl and hugged her tightly.
"Ah!" Yellow yelped as she was pulled into the hug, "Green, it's good to see you too." She hugged back.
Then Ash and Gary walked up after them. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder, and Chuchu did the same.
As they finally walked up to each other, the two Pikachu happily rubbed their cheeks together. They had missed each other.
Yellow pulled back from the hug and looked over at Ash, smiling softly, "Ash, it's been a while." Then she looked over at Gary, "And Gary too!"
"Yeah, it has," Ash said, "But seriously, what are you doing in Orre?"
Yellow looked down for a moment, then glanced at the person she had been talking to before, "I was asking around."
"About what?" Gary asked.
Yellow rubbed her arm, "You know...my parents. I'm still looking for them. I recently got here after traveling, so I was going to look around. Maybe they're here."
Ash's expression softened slightly.
He already knew Yellow had been traveling for a long time searching for them, but hearing that she was still going at it made him feel a little bad.
"You've really been looking everywhere, huh?"
Yellow nodded, "Yeah. I've been to a lot of places, but...I haven't found anything yet." She gave a small smile, trying to make it seem like it didn't bother her, "But I'm not giving up."
Green's expression softened as well, and she stepped forward, putting a hand on Yellow's shoulder, "Yellow…"
"You know you could have told us you were still searching, right?" Green said, "We would've helped, or at least I would have. I know the boys might have been busy."
Yellow blinked, then looked away, "I know...I just…" She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "Everyone already had their own things going on, and I want to do this myself because for the first time, I know what I want to do, and this is it."
Yellow quickly looked away before anyone noticed the small blush on her face.
"So...what about you guys?" Yellow asked, looking between the three of them, "Why are you here?"
"Actually, that's a pretty long story," Gary said.
"We're here because Gary dragged us into another adventure," Green said immediately.
Gary looked offended, "Excuse me? You were the one who immediately agreed."
"Because I knew it would be fun."
"You didn't even know what it was."
"Details."
Ash sighed, "Anyway, we're here because Gary got asked to help with some research, and we might be able to find some stuff about Unown. You remember all that stuff, right?"
Yellow sucked in a breath, "Yeah, I understand."
Then Green suddenly snapped her fingers, "Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
"What?" Gary asked.
Green pointed between all of them, "We're all here, in Orre."
Ash blinked, "Yeah?"
"And we're all looking for something."
Gary stared at her, "Where are you going with this?"
Green smiled, "How about we travel together again?"
There was a pause.
Yellow blinked, "Together?"
"Yeah!" Green said excitedly, "Think about it. It's been forever since all of us traveled together. Ash, Gary, me, and now Yellow too. We're already here, so why not?"
Gary looked thoughtful, "I mean...I don't care, sure."
Ash smiled slightly, "I wouldn't mind."
Everyone looked at Yellow.
She froze slightly, "Me?"
"Of course you," Green said, "Unless you don't want to."
Yellow immediately shook her head, "No! I mean, yes! I mean…" She stopped, realizing she was making it worse.
Yellow covered her face slightly, "Sorry…"
Ash smiled, "Don't worry, Yellow. We know what you mean."
Yellow looked at him and smiled, "Thanks, Ash."
Green grinned, "Then it's settled! We're traveling together again!"
Yellow looked between everyone, "Okay," Yellow said softly as she smiled, "Let's do it."
Gary nodded, "Alright, then since we're all together, does anyone know where the lab actually is?"
Yellow froze, "Oh." She pointed behind herself, "I...actually do know."
Gary blinked, "You do?"
Yellow nodded, "I tried to ask the professor before, but he was busy and didn't let me in."
"Hey, great! Yellow is already proving she's MVP. We missed you, Yellow!" Green said, giving a thumbs up.
Ash smiled, "Then what are we waiting for?"
Yellow nodded, and the group began walking together toward the lab.
They moved up a mountain, where behind some trees they saw a lab. It had some graffiti on the walls, and as for what was on it...let's just say Green covered Yellow's eyes as they went into the lab. People really didn't like this place.
When they got inside, a man was working on the computer, "I said it before, we can't-" He turned but stopped when he saw Gary, "Ah, you came! And I see you brought friends. That's great!"
He got up to greet them, starting with Gary, who was at the front, "Greetings, Professor Gary Oak. I'm Professor Es Cade. Welcome to the Pokémon HQ Laboratory. It's the only laboratory in the Orre region."
"Hello, and these are my friends, Ash, Green, and Yellow," Gary introduced the group.
Then Es Cade realized something and called out to his assistant. The last three people in the lab walked over, and he introduced them, "Everyone, meet my research partners, Professor Krane, Professor Ein, and my assistant, Lily."
Lily smiled and bowed, "Pleased to meet all of you."
Krane adjusted his glasses, "Hello!"
But Ein flicked his hair, "I have graced you with my presence."
Everyone looked at Ein with a blank expression, and Es Cade chuckled, "Come on, Ein. We don't treat our guests like that."
Everyone chuckled, but Ash narrowed his eyes while looking at them. He recognized all three of them. Krane was one of the researchers from Gale of Darkness, and Lily was too, but she was also the mother of the protagonist.
As for Ein, and even Es Cade too...well, let's not talk about them yet. Not until Ash gets more information on them.
Anyway, Es Cade cleared his throat, "Okay, Professor Oak, why don't you follow me? I'll share my findings."
Gary looked at the group and gave them a look and a nod. Then he walked off with Es Cade toward the back of the lab.
"Um...so what about us?" Green muttered.
"You can hang out with us!" Krane said happily.
But once Es Cade was gone, Ein dropped his smile and groaned.
"Ugh! Dealing with kids is the worst. Leave me out of this." He walked off to get back to his research,
"Uh, well, I have some work in the lab, and I don't know if you want to see what I'm doing. It's…" Lily looked at Pikachu, Vee, and Chuchu, then cleared her throat, "Not exactly fun for young trainers like yourselves." For those back home, she was about to go and dissect Pokémon.
"Well, in that case, you can come with me! I was about to go do some field work!" Krane said excitedly.
"Uhhh, but I wanted to relax indoors," Green said, crossing her arms. Then she opened them and looked over at Lily, "I'll stay here at the lab!"
"Uhh, if you're sure," Lily said. Then she looked at Krane, Ash, and Yellow, "By the way, my children were also supposed to be going with Krane, so if you can, can you look out for them?"
Yellow nodded, "Okay. Oh, wait, before anything…"
Yellow pulled out a small, wrinkled picture and held it out to Lily, "Have you seen anyone like this?"
Lily took a good look and shook her head, "I'm afraid not."
Yellow looked down, but she nodded, "Okay, thank you. I won't give up yet!"
Krane smiled and walked to the door, "Okay, let's go," he said, holding the door open for Yellow and Ash, and they went out with him.
As they walked, Krane started explaining the wonders of what they were studying here, almost like he was trying to sell them on the idea of becoming professors too. It wasn't surprising; Orre was not that connected to the other regions, nor did it have much TV.
Anyway, they walked to the beach, and Krane looked around, "That's strange. They should be here by now. Oh, you probably don't know. Lily's children, like she said, are coming too. Their names are Michael and Jovi, and I'm worried about them. They're not here, and they should be."
Ash frowned, but when he was about to ask more questions, they heard the scream of a little girl. They all looked in that direction, then at each other, and started moving toward it.
When they got there, by the shore, they saw two kids cornered. One was around the same age as them, and the other was a blue-haired little girl who was hiding behind the boy. Two Corphish were snapping their claws at them.
"Oh no, they're in trouble," Yellow said, looking worried.
The girl looked scared, "I'm sorry!"
The boy kept his arm in front of her protectively, "We'll get out of this!"
Krane saw this and was about to panic and say something, but Ash jumped down, sliding off the cliff they were on, and landed in front of them. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and stood in front of them with his arms crossed.
The boy looked alarmed, "Hey, what are you doing? Those are Corphish! They're highly territorial!"
Then, before he could say more, the Corphish jumped at Pikachu, trying to grab him with their claws.
But Pikachu looked at them, then looked kind of offended when he realized how slow they were moving. He very simply gave them a backhand with a [Thunder Punch].
The Corphish were sent flying back into the water, knocked out in one hit. Then some more Corphish that were hiding looked at Pikachu, looked at their friends, and very simply ran away, grabbing their friends by the feet and dragging them back into the water.
Ash looked at them and shrugged, "Weaker than I thought."
But he wondered...shouldn't Orre not have any Pokémon in the water? It was too polluted. Why were there Corphish here? In the fields, he could understand, since apparently they were trying to reintegrate Pokémon back into the wild here, but the water was still not suitable for Water-types.
But as he was thinking, the little girl looked happy and smiled, "Yay, we were saved!" She ran up to Ash and hugged his arm, "Hahaha, thank you!"
The boy quickly ran up too, trying to get his sister off Ash's arm, "Jovi, let go of him!"
But then Yellow and Krane made it down the cliff, and Krane ran up to them, "Michael and Jovi! There you are! Oh, you just gave me a heart attack."
Jovi immediately pointed at Ash excitedly, still holding onto his arm, "But he was amazing! Pikachu went bam! and the Corphish went flying!"
Michael rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, looking embarrassed, "Yeah...thanks for helping us."
Ash smiled and waved it off, "No problem. But you're Michael and Jovi, huh? Funny enough, we were just looking for you. Professor Krane was going to show us around the field with you guys."
Krane nodded and pushed up his glasses, "Yes, you see, this is Ash, and this girl here is Yellow. They are friends of Gary Oak and came with him."
But Michael only heard the name Oak, and his eyes lit up, "Oak, as in Professor Oak? As in the greatest professor ever?!"
Jovi chuckled, "Oh boy...big bro's going to go cray-cray again."
"He, well, it isn't the Professor. It's his grandson," Krane clarified, making Michael calm down. But then he looked up again.
"Doesn't matter. If he is Professor Oak's grandson, then maybe he can help me talk to him!" Michael said, clenching his fist.
"Yeah, good luck with that," Ash said helplessly, "By the way, why were you guys getting attacked?"
Michael snapped out of it and crossed his arms, looking over at Jovi, "You see, Jovi ran off when she should be listening to her older brother!"
Jovi stuck her tongue out and hid behind Ash, "Michael is being mean to me!"
Michael looked exasperated, "Oh, stop it, Jovi. We just met him."
Ash waved his hand, "Don't worry, it's fine, but if we're all here, should we get moving? Maybe I should take them back to the lab, considering what just happened."
"Ah, yes...maybe that is for the best," Krane sighed, "Can I trouble you to take them back? I still have to do my field research."
"Alright, we can do it," Ash smiled.
Yellow nodded twice, "You can count on us."
Together, they walked back while Krane waved goodbye and quickly went off to finish his research, but Ash started thinking. Things were strange here, and he didn't understand some things, but he was going to find out.
Michael and Jovi talked to them, looking excited and happy to meet them, and Yellow tried her best to keep up with their questions, but she was no match for their quick questions. They kept going until they got back to town and returned to the lab.
When they got inside, they saw Green sitting at a desk with her head on it, "Uhhh...that was so gross…" she said, while Lily gave her a cup of tea.
But when they walked in and Lily saw Michael and Jovi, she lit up and went over to them.
"Michael and Jovi, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to go with Krane."
Michael immediately pointed at Ash, "We got attacked by Corphish, but then he saved us! His Pikachu defeated them in one hit!"
Jovi nodded rapidly, still excited, "It was amazing! Pikachu went bam! and they went flying!"
Lily blinked, then looked over at Ash and smiled softly, "I see...well, thank you for looking after them."
Ash waved his hand, "It wasn't a big deal. They were just lucky we happened to be nearby."
Lily still looked like she had a minor heart attack, but she smiled anyway, "Oh, that reminds me. Since you're guests and friends with Professor Gary Oak, I set up some rooms for all of you for tonight. It's not much, I apologize."
"Oh, really, it's fine. We're used to camping outside, so any bed is nice," Ash said politely.
"Ah yeah, please don't trouble yourself," Yellow quickly added, meanwhile Green still looked like she was dying.
Lily smiled, "I see, well, I thank you. I will go check on Michael and Jovi just in case. Can you wait here, please?"
Ash nodded, "No problem. I'll just take care of Green. She doesn't look like she's doing too well." Ash pointed at Green with his thumb, meanwhile Yellow was looking around, seeing if now would be a good time to heal her.
Lily smiled and excused herself, quickly taking her children to the back to check on them. But then, when Yellow was approaching Green to treat her, Ash sighed, "You can stop acting."
Green immediately sat up, making Yellow jump back and yelp quickly, and Green sighed, "What gave me away? I thought I was better."
"You overplayed your part," Ash said.
Ash looked around, making sure no one was there, not even that Ein guy. That was good. He walked to a computer and leaned against the desk, letting Porygon jump from his phone and into it, where it started hacking.
"So what's your opinion?" Ash asked the girls.
"Oh, Lily, she's great, and nice, but Es Cade...I don't trust him," Green said immediately.
"Oh, thank Mew," Yellow sighed, "I didn't want to be rude. I thought it was only me, but Mr. Krane seemed really nice."
"I thought so," Ash muttered. As he looked at the computer, he knew it would take some time to hack into it. He might not find anything of value, but his main priority was to find information on Team Cipher.
"Welp, Green, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ash asked.
"Oh, absolutely. I thought you'd never ask. Let's go sneak!" Green smirked.
"Wha-really, but-" Yellow was going to say something, then she remembered how Ash and Green were and decided against it, sighing, "What if Ms. Lily comes back?"
"Tell her I took Green to the bathroom because she needed to throw up," Ash said as he and Green moved, leaving Yellow behind to cover for them.
Ash and Green quickly moved through the facility, and Green made sure to get Ash to abuse his powers to make sure they were safe and undetectable. They got to a certain room, and Ash felt Gary's Aura coming from there. He gestured to Green, and they got closer, quietly listening in.
There, they heard Gary's voice, "Out of the question!" he said, leaving no room for negotiation.
"Imagine the media coverage we'll get from this!" Es Cade tried to say, but Gary stopped him.
"This is bigger than some media recognition!" Gary said, "And my grandfather would say no too, so it's out of the question, and that's final."
Then they heard Gary stomping toward the door, but as he did, Es Cade tried one more time, "Please think about it. My dreams are hanging on this!"
But Green and Ash didn't hear the rest. They knew how Gary was, so they quickly booked it to get back to Yellow.
Meanwhile, once Gary left the room, Es Cade clenched his fist and went to a small communicator he had hidden, "Looks like the peaceful method didn't work. We need to be more 'persuasive.'"
Then a voice spoke through it, "Understood. We will prepare."
–
At night, when the gang were led to their rooms, or rather, one big room with a bunch of beds, Ash was sitting on his bed looking through the information he managed to steal.
Like he thought, nothing useful was in this computer, only some research information. However, he did find some interesting things on the internet and in the news.
A few years ago, Team Cipher was taken down by a single trainer named Wes, and their boss, Evice, was captured and arrested. For a while, he was seen as a hero.
But then, one day, reports showed up of Wes attacking people with Shadow Pokémon and turning evil. Since that day, he went missing and had not been seen since.
Meanwhile, the boss of Team Cipher, Evice, escaped and also disappeared. Nothing had been heard of him, even though he was on the most wanted list in multiple regions.
Ash read through it, but because of this, he had a theory. The more he looked into it, the stronger his feeling became.
And while he was deep in thought, Green, Gary, and Yellow walked into the room. At the same time, Ash got a message from Porygon telling him that there were no cameras or recording devices in the room.
Gary saw Ash and crossed his arms, "So, Ash, we need to talk, and I think you know what I have to say."
Ash looked at Gary as a slow smirk grew on his face, "Oh, this will be fun."