They were sleeping peacefully in the room they were given. It was early in the morning, but as they were trying to relax, suddenly Krane opened the door and flicked the light switch on, "Good morning!"
Ash, Green, and Yellow's eyes fluttered open, and Yellow let out a small noise, grabbing Chuchu and burying her face into her Pikachu.
"What time is it…" she muttered into Chuchu's stomach.
"It's 5 AM," Krane said, pushing up his glasses.
"Hmmm… that's so early…" Yellow muttered.
"I'm sorry about that, but Professor Es Cade wants to see all of us," Krane said apologetically. "I'll wait for you all outside."
As Green and Yellow were rolling out of bed, Ash stood up, picked up Pikachu and Vee, and walked out of the room to let the girls change. He went to the bathroom, but as for Gary, you might notice he wasn't there. He did go to sleep with them that night, but now he wasn't here.
And yet, Ash didn't say anything about it. Not yet.
But when he got into the bathroom, he looked down at his Poké Ball belt and put them all into his dimension. Then he decided to start his preparation.
—
Later, when the trio was washed up and changed, they got out to the lobby, where they saw Michael, Jovi, Lily, Krane, Ein, and finally Professor Es Cade standing there waiting for them.
"Oh, hey!" Michael waved, but Jovi cut in and waved excitedly.
"Hi, Ash!"
"Hey guys," Ash said, walking up to stand next to them, followed shortly by Yellow and Green.
Lily smiled and clapped her hands softly, "Come on, kids, pay attention. Let's go."
As they talked, Green finally asked, "Hey, by the way, where is Gary?"
Professor Es Cade spoke up, "Your friend Gary will join us shortly. Seeing how all of you are leaving later today, I'd like to show you one of the monoliths we discovered!"
Michael was the first to react, and he got pumped, "Alright, sweet!"
Ein sighed, shaking his head, "Oh, children are so naive. I don't know how you can stand them," he muttered.
Everyone heard him, but before they could say something, Professor Es Cade spoke, "There is a cave in Route 136 known as the Relic Cave. That's where we are heading. Let's go!"
So they started marching out. As they did, Professor Es Cade led the way, cutting through the forest. He looked back at them and looked at Pikachu, Vee, and Chuchu.
"By the way, I see you have Pokémon, so are you trainers? You must have more, right?"
Green immediately pulled her best maneuver, "Ah, no, these three are the only Pokémon any of us have. I don't have any Pokémon, that's why I need Ashy to protect me~," she said while putting her hands behind her back.
Yellow gulped and nodded, "Uh-yeah, Chuchu is my only Pokémon."
"I see. Very well." Professor Es Cade looked disappointed.
"Don't have too many expectations. They are still children," Ein said, scoffing and walking forward, leaving the group behind since he didn't even want to be there.
As they walked, Lily looked over at Green, Yellow, and Ash, "My children talked a lot about you. I'm glad they made friends like you."
"It's no problem at all," Ash said politely. "And you don't need to thank us." He said this as they watched Michael and Jovi running up ahead together.
Krane looked around and got close to them, "To be honest, I didn't expect the Professor to let anyone visit the monolith site. He has always been so protective of it."
The trio smiled and kept walking, nodding along, but they communicated using their eyes, passing along a message.
Meanwhile, they finally reached a cave that Professor Es Cade confidently went into, gesturing for everyone to follow.
They went in, but at the last second, Ash felt the Aura of something. He looked and, in the corner of his eye, in the distance, he saw someone in a cloak. But based on their Aura, he could tell they did not have negative emotions toward them. Their emotions were a mix of confusion, sorrow, and a small touch of anger, but again, not directed at them.
Ash made a note of that and went into the cave. He kept playing his part, smiling and talking while Professor Es Cade led them right to a secret opening, where they all squeezed in, finally entering a hidden chamber. And there, at the end, they saw a giant monolith, and on it was the Unown language.
Ash, of course, did know how to read it, but he kept a neutral look on his face as his eyes looked over the text. His eyes narrowed when he read what it said. He memorized it quickly for later, then kept listening to Es Cade's explanation, which seemed just a little too in-depth.
Finally, Ash looked back at the entrance as Gary walked in, crossing his arms when he saw they were there, "What's going on, Professor?"
But Es Cade only smiled, "Can I have your attention, everyone? Who is curious about the writing on this monolith?"
Immediately, Michael raised his hand, "I am!"
And Jovi giggled, "Big bro, you're such a dork."
Gary crossed his arms, "I already told you I'm not going to translate it."
Lily and Krane looked shocked and confused, clearly they were told something else. Lily muttered, "What...? Does this mean our hard work is all for nothing...?"
Even Ein was surprised for a second, but then he composed himself and looked at Gary accusingly, "No, it's not for nothing! One person will get FULL CREDIT!"
"Oh hey, Gary is a dork, an idiot, and dumb, but he doesn't do that!" Green cut in.
But Ein didn't even look at her, "Hon, men are talking."
That made Green almost roll up her sleeve to go punch the sunglasses off of his smug face.
"I'm sure Gary isn't like that," Michael also tried defending Gary, even though he didn't really know what was going on.
Krane quickly spoke up, "Let's calm down, everyone... I'm sure Professor Oak has his reasons."
Gary nodded and tried to explain, "The hieroglyphs contain dangerous information that'll have dire consequences if it falls into the wrong hands."
But Ein looked unconvinced, "Oh, what consequences? Fame and fortune?"
And finally, Es Cade dropped his smile, "I tried playing nice, Gary."
The way he said that made everyone in the room go silent as he continued, "You left me with no choice."
As he said that, he snapped his fingers, and from the corner that they came in from came three figures, all wearing cloaks. They pulled out three Poké Balls, releasing them all at once.
As the balls fell onto the ground, one was a Poochyena, one was a Croconaw, and finally, the one in the center was an Umbreon. But the two on the sides were very visibly cloaked in dark energy. They were Shadow Pokémon.
Everyone's eyes widened as they realized what was happening, and in Ash's group's case, it was finally confirmed.
Ash whistled and sped in front of them as Pikachu and Vee jumped out and began fighting against the Pokémon, with Pikachu fighting both Shadow Pokémon while Vee did a 1v1 against the Umbreon.
And while that happened, Lily was trying to hide her kids behind her, Krane tried to look for some explanation, but Ein was full-on doing a little girl scream, looking scared for his life.
Es Cade laughed and looked at Gary, "You like it? It's the new and improved Shadow formula, given to us by our new friends. With this, Cipher will return stronger than it ever was. Oh, but wait, you can't enjoy it. You don't have any Pokémon, do you?"
Gary clenched his fists, looking down. "Who are you really?"
"I never lied. My last name is Es Cade," he said mockingly. Then he got a giant grin. "But my first name, the one that you might know me as, is Evice, the Leader of Cipher!"
That name had the Orre natives shaking. After all, Evice was someone who was on the news when he was arrested, and he escaped a little less than a year ago. But it turned out that he had been under their noses this whole time.
Meanwhile, in the fight, Vee was going in for a [Tackle] against the Umbreon, but it just jumped to the side and hit Vee with its tail. Over with Pikachu, he tried using a [Thunder Shock], but he got tackled before he could fire it and then kicked to the ground, laying there unmoving.
Es Cade, or better known as Evice, smiled. "So Gary, read the monolith, or I'll have my grunts kill everyone in here and make you watch. Your friend, who was your only hope, already lost. What makes you think that little girl with the straw hat has any chance?"
Ein quickly looked at Gary. "Quick, just read it, you selfish prick! I don't want to die!"
As everyone looked at him, holding their breaths, and the only sound was Jovi trying not to cry, Gary looked over at Ash, who had his head down.
But then his eyes moved lower, and at his clenched hand, he saw Ash's thumb inside the fist instead of out of it. That was the signal Gary needed.
He looked down and gritted his teeth. "Fine. Just leave them alone. I'll read it for you…" he muttered, looking defeated.
He slowly walked to the giant stone wall and looked up at the writing, "I will be reborn when all eight pieces gather. The purity of forms will descend. Tyrants of ancient times who lay destruction on everything! With the ancient description, now be revived... Black Primeape."
The stone began to move as the monolith shifted, and a crack appeared along it. Then, from the crack, a hand burst out, then another, and it pushed itself out, stepping one foot over the other.
Standing there, ignorant of everyone around it, was a Primeape. But it was different. It was pitch black, very similar to the Shadow Pokémon, but not just that.
Now that Ash had a look at it, he confirmed what he thought. And to understand, let's go back way back to Johto. Remember in Cianwood City, during the Black Tyranitar incident? Cipher was after it. Did you ever wonder why, or did you just forget about it and keep moving forward?
Well, Ash never stopped thinking about it. And here, Ash could tell that the Black Tyranitar and the Black Primeape were the same kind of Pokémon: ancient Pokémon of destruction.
But just by looking at Primeape, Ash could tell it was weaker than the Tyranitar.
Evice laughed, "Yes, I have it, the first is mine!" He looked back at everyone mockingly.
Yellow shook while hugging Chuchu. "W-what is that? Why is it l-like that?"
Evice couldn't, or simply didn't care, about the tone Yellow used there. He was relishing in his victory.
"I told you about the Shadow Serum. They make Pokémon into Shadow Pokémon. Why don't you wonder what the Progenitors of Shadow Pokémon are?"
He gestured at the Primeape, "These, the Black Pokémon, are ancient Pokémon that did only one thing: destroy! Now, with Gary translating all the monoliths for us, we'll revive them all and take over this world! Haha!"
Ash, while he was looking down, his gritting teeth suddenly turned into a smirk, "Thanks for spelling it out for us~"
Before any of them could react, Pikachu stopped acting. He quickly got up and pulled on what he had been setting up this entire time.
While he was on the ground, he was secretly spreading a [Electroweb] across the floor, and as he got up, Vee jumped back too, helping Pikachu pull.
The only one who realized what was going on was the one in the robes in the center. He and his Umbreon jumped back just as underneath the other two and their Pokémon, a web tightened and grabbed all of them.
Then Pikachu tried pulling them, using them as a wrecking ball, and threw them right at Evice. Evice couldn't move out of the way, nor did he have a Pokémon to protect him, "Wait, wait, wait!"
He got hit by the four bodies and slammed into the wall.
Meanwhile, the man in the cloak who jumped back had his hood fall back ever so slightly, revealing a face Ash recognized. It made him narrow his eyes, it was Wes, the protagonist of Colosseum.
But he didn't question it yet. He whistled, "Run!"
Everyone else didn't need to be told twice. They all started running out. Evice tried to get up and go after them, but Gary quickly went over and grappled him, pinning him to the ground and giving everyone time to escape.
As he struggled, he looked at the two grunts, "Get up and after them NOW!" he yelled, making the grunts quickly get the webs off themselves and run after them.
Meanwhile, he looked at Wes and growled, "You let them get away. Get them now, and take the Black Primeape. Use it on that boy."
—
Meanwhile, with the others, as they started running to get out of the cave, they saw more Cipher grunts around and starting to run toward them.
And while Ash could have taken them down with Pikachu…That's exactly what he did. What do you expect him not to?
So yeah, Pikachu and Vee just started shooting [Thunderbolts] at the grunts, stopping them from getting to them and letting them get to the outside.
But immediately, Ein kept running, yelling, "Every man for himself!"
And while it was a D move, he had a point. So Ash looked at Green and gave her a signal, and she finally stopped her little 'pitiful expression', "Alright, Ashy, leave it to me."
She looked at Lily, Michael, Jovi, and Krane, "We need to split up. Follow me!" she said without leaving room for negotiation.
They had to go one way. Even if Lily and Michael didn't want to leave Ash and Yellow alone, they didn't really have a say in what happened. So they ran in separate directions.
With Yellow and Ash, they ran into the forest, and as they did, Ash could sense an Aura rapidly approaching them. He looked over at Yellow, "Get ready, incoming!"
Wes rode up on his motorcycle along the cliff, stopping them. As he got off his bike, he spoke, "You shouldn't have done that."
"Oh really? Who is gonna stop me, you 'Wes'?" Ash said, and as he said that, he saw Wes's eyes narrow.
But then the Primeape jumped out of the side seat and looked at Ash and Yellow with murderous intent.
But now that they were out, Yellow stopped shivering. Now, she just looked at Primeape and Wes with pity. Yeah, even her shaking was an act. It all was, from the very beginning.
—
{Last night}
"I don't trust any of this. He told me what the monoliths could do, and let's just say it's not for a good reason. I don't think he cares about the people of Orre at all," Gary explained.
"W-what?" Yellow exclaimed. "H-how can you be sure?"
"I'm not. That's why I have a plan." Gary stopped her as she looked at everyone. "He told me tomorrow we are going to see the monolith, but I think he's planning on bringing you guys to use you to force me to read the words."
"Geez, if he thinks that's gonna work, he really doesn't know us at all. You would throw us off a cliff for like a five-dollar bill," Green laughed.
"No, no, Green, that's you. He'd do it for a crisp handshake," Ash added.
"Ah, you're so right. This is why you're the brains of the group, Ashy," Green laughed. Even after what Gary said, they weren't taking this seriously, but then again, this was normal.
"Right, can we get back on track?" Gary sighed. "If my hunch is right, they are probably gonna threaten you guys, and knowing Villain 101, when I do it, he'll try to kidnap all of us so we can go get the others. Blah blah blah, standard villain stuff. You get the point."
Gary pointed at himself, "I'm going to let myself get caught," he revealed.
Yellow immediately got alarmed, "W-wait, why? If you're right, can't we just beat them up and turn them into the police?"
"Not necessarily," Gary said. "Remember what I said, the system isn't good here. And besides, I don't think he's working alone. His notes he showed me have far more than just what a team of four professors could do. Actually, I don't think he's the one who found the monoliths at all."
"Interesting, so we need to play along with their game so we can get everything we need to stop them for good," Ash repeated.
"Exactly," Gary nodded as he reached into his jacket and pulled out his Poké Ball belt. "That's why, Ash, I want you to hold onto my Pokémon for me. And you guys should hide the rest of your Pokémon too. They don't know we are trainers, so we can use that to our advantage. For me, it's just so they can't steal my guys."
Ash nodded as he took Gary's belt, "Got it. I'll keep them safe, and just in case, I'll make sure Pikachu and Vee hold back a lot, so we can pretend to be weak."
Green nodded, "Fine by me. I have a hiding spot for all my Pokémon. They won't ever find them in a million years," she said proudly.
Meanwhile, Yellow just looked at them, thought about it, looked at her hat, took it off, put her Poké Balls in, then put the hat back on, "There."
"10/10 Yellow, 10/10," Green said, giving her a slow clap.
"Alright, but we have the plan. I have some stuff to add, then let's show them that we in Kanto are built different," Ash said with a grin.
—
{Back to the present}
Ash continued looking at Wes. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? But I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Orre's so-called hero becoming a villain and joining the organization he tried to destroy."
But then he tilted his head back. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, you've always been nothing but that your whole life, Wes of Team Snagem."
That seemed to hit Wes at his core, as he quickly pointed at them. "Primeape!"
The Black Primeape beat its chest and ran toward them. Pikachu was ready, but there was no point in using him for something like this. After all, Ash was much stronger than when he fought the Black Tyranitar.
Instead, a Poké Ball on Ash's waist opened, and from it came Aggron, who reached out and caught the enraged Pokémon with one hand.
Now here was a neat little thing Ash learned in this one exchange: Primeape had far more raw power, but it turned out being sealed away for thousands of years left it rusty. That meant Ash and Aggron had the advantage here. Heck, they didn't even need to Mega Evolve Aggron; he was already tanky enough.
Aggron held onto the Black Primeape's arm as the ancient Pokémon struggled, trying to overpower him. The ground cracked slightly underneath Aggron's feet from the force, but the Steel-type didn't even look bothered.
Wes's eyes widened slightly. "What…?"
Ash crossed his arms. "What's wrong? Never fought anyone who could fight back? Let me show you how it's done."
Ash snapped his fingers, the Steel-type Pokémon twisted his body, using Primeape's own momentum against it, and slammed the ancient Pokémon into the ground with a heavy [Body Press]. However, he put all his weight into the attack, making it even more effective.
Then Aggron grabbed Primeape by the fur and dragged it back up, slamming it into the cliff wall. He dragged it along the rock before throwing it back to the ground and stomping down with a point-blank [Earthquake].
The hit shook the cliff they were standing on, and as Primeape pushed itself up, Ash realized that since it was one of the Destruction Pokémon, it was durable if nothing else. But that nice, Aggron liked his punching bags extra durable
Aggron caught Primeape, then charged [Fire Punch] in one hand and [Ice Punch] in the other. He placed his foot on its chest and began beating the ever-loving crap out of Primeape, punch after punch, each strike so powerful that the ground underneath them began cracking.
Yellow looked away. It wasn't that she didn't want to watch the battle; it was just that with her power, she could see what the Black Primeape truly was like and what that black energy was that corrupted it. She understood that it had to be this way.
Wes didn't even get a chance to give a command. Aggron simply didn't let him.
When Primeape tried hitting back, even with it being a x4-effective Fighting-type attacker against Aggron, the hits barely had any effect. After all, those attacks were all power and no technique.
Eventually, Wes came to a realization: Aggron must actually be Ash's strongest Pokémon, and Pikachu and Eevee were just weaker ones he had. It made sense considering they were beaten easily.
What Wes didn't realize was that fight had been the equivalent of letting a baby win a wrestling match.
So Wes pulled out a Snag Ball and threw it, attempting to snag Aggron. But as the ball flew through the air, Pikachu simply shot it down with a [Thunderbolt], causing it to explode.
At that moment, Aggron had gotten bored of punching Primeape and kicked it, sending it flying back onto Wes's side.
And again, Ash had to give it props. After everything it had endured, Primeape still managed to get back up.
Wes gritted his teeth. "We aren't done. We just have to try harder."
Ash rolled his eyes. "You can try all you want. You're still weak."
That seemed to be a trigger for Wes, but before he could say anything else, someone else joined the chaos.
The cloaked figure Ash had noticed before jumped down from the cliff and landed in front of him.
Then they reached up and pulled their hood back, revealing who she was. She was a girl with orange hair tied into pigtails. She wore a black choker, and Ash immediately recognized her as Rui.
Wes seemed to recognize her as well, as his eyes widened and he took a step back.
Rui looked at him as she clenched her fist. "Wes… what happened to you?"
Wes grit his teeth, then quickly threw down something that exploded into black smoke, forcing everyone to cover their eyes.
But when they looked back, they saw Wes driving away with the Black Primeape. Pikachu charged up a bit of electricity, ready to shoot him down, but Ash stopped him.
"No… let him lead us right to them," Ash muttered quietly.
The girl meanwhile sighed and turned back toward Yellow and Ash, "Hi, I'm Rui. I'd love to talk, but we need to go somewhere safe. Please follow me."
Yellow looked over at Ash, and he nodded. So the two of them ran after Rui, and together they could plan their regroup. But all of this was going exactly as planned.
—
{Back in the cave}
Evice was crossing his arms, impatiently waiting. Behind him, Gary was tied up, his arms behind his back. They had checked him for anything, taking away his phone, but they hadn't found anything.
What they didn't know was that Ash had already given Gary something to track him: a small tracker hidden under his tongue, placed somewhere so insignificant that Evice never bothered checking.
Meanwhile, around them, the other cloaked figures who had been shot by Pikachu were present, except for one who hadn't even chased after them, meaning she never got shot.
In fact, she didn't even have her hood up. Instead, she let her long pink hair hang freely, Lovrina.
But just then, Wes walked in, and Lovrina noticed him first, "Tee-hee! Wes is back!" She ran up to him and hugged his arm.
But Wes pulled his hand away from her grasp, "Get off me, Lovrina."
Lovrina didn't seem discouraged. She simply stepped back, putting her hands behind her head casually, "Ohhhh, looks like someone is in a bad mood~"
Evice ignored Lovrina, "How did it go, Wes? Did you eliminate the pest?"
Wes clenched his hand and pointed behind him, where the Black Primeape was barely conscious, "No. That kid was holding back before, but now I know his full power."
Evice let out an annoyed breath, but he couldn't blame Wes. After all, Primeape hadn't fought in thousands of years. It was rusty. In his opinion, all they needed to do was make this Primeape learn and next time they would beat him. Plus, there were seven more of them.
Lovrina looked at the others and sighed, "Hey, since I'm the only one calling it out, what about the ones who escaped?"
"It's fine. We sent out agents to get them. And even if we don't, we have the most important one."
Evice looked toward Gary with a smirk, "Gary here can get us everything."
Gary merely kept his head down, still maintaining the helpless act. They needed more information, and being their hostage was the perfect way to get it.
And if he was worried about Ash or Green, he was more worried about these idiots. Because if they weren't careful, they were going to make Ash and Green have fun. And once that happened even Arceus itself wouldn't be able to save them.
Meanwhile, inside Wes's hood, there was a small device. Because really, you didn't think he actually got away, did you? He only escaped because Ash allowed him to. Ash had placed a tracker and recorder on him, and Wes never even noticed. This had never been a fair fight. Now, it was just a matter of how much patience Ash had left.