Summary
Welcome to the New Age, where there are no leagues, just one King. Welcome to the New Age where Pokemon Hunting is the preferred sport and Pokemon slavery is the preferred form of labor. Welcome to the New Age where Villainy is the new law. But for every new Villain that arises, so does a Hero. It's a revolution I suppose. [Features Anime and Games Characters]
Prologue
Welcome to the New Age, where there are no leagues, just one King. Welcome to the New Age where Pokemon Hunting is the preferred sport and Pokemon slavery is the preferred form of labor. Welcome to the New Age where Villainy is the new law. But for every new Villain that arises, so does a Hero. It's a revolution I suppose. [Features Anime and Games Characters]
Prologue
He passed through the market place swiftly and with ease. He didn't attract much attention and went unnoticed by the various sellers and buyers that currently inhabited the town square. His eyes scanned and observed each and every stall with precision and he mentally made a note of all the objects that were being sold. He came to a halt in front of the last stall for a brief moment as his eyes met with the helpless female Tropius locked in the cage. He ignored the voices of the potential customers who bargained with the trader for a fair price. He had stopped for only one instant and in that moment he had tried his best to convey a simple to message to the Tropius, that they will get her out of there.
As he continued his walk towards their current base, he passed a group of elementary school children who were singing chants in the praise of the king. He tossed some loose change into their collection basket, not out of appreciation for the king but out of mercy for the kids. These kids, who knew nothing about adventures and journeys, needed his mercy.
He exited the Trader's Avenue of previously Slateport City, which was now just another unnamed trading town in the state of Hoenn and walked towards North and entered the path that was known as Route 110 until a few years ago. He took a right from the T-junction and after a few minutes of walking on the long road, bending over water, he reached a small cottage, almost hidden by a line of trees on the side, overlooking the sea.
He unlocked the door and entered the dark cottage. He didn't bother to turn on the lights as he quickly shut the door behind him and took a walk around the house to check if all the windows were closed and covered or not. After making sure that no one would be able to peep inside, he walked towards the farthest corner on the right side, and knelt down to push the carpet back. A faint square outline could be seen on the wooden floor and the young man very effectively lifted the loose floorboard to reveal a makeshift wooden staircase leading down to a well-lit yet small room in the basement.
The room was filled with quite a few wooden boxes with labels on them. He climbed down the stairs carefully and hurriedly picked up the one labelled 'Ash' and had three small holes drilled into the lid. He sat down on the floor, with the box in his hand and quickly took off the lid, a flash of yellow jumped up at him and he cradled the electric Pokémon in his hand.
"Hey, Pikachu. Did you miss me buddy?" He whispered in an almost inaudible voice. Pikachu just nuzzled against his neck, too afraid to speak, "It's alright. I'm here now. The meeting doesn't start before sundown. I'll stay here with you till then, okay?"
-x-
A/N: This is the first chapter and it basically focuses on the changes that happened in the world, a small insight on how Ash dealt with it and also how their small organisation works. I have decided to use the Japanese names for Hilbert( Tōya) and Rosa (Mei) so I hope it's not confusing. And umm…that's all! Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter One
Time.
It's revolving, it's turning, it's changing, it's flowing and it's waiting.
It's waiting to strike.
Time.
It's revolving, it's turning, it's changing, it's flowing and it's waiting.
It's waiting to strike.
To witness the end of an era, and the beginning of a new one is considered a rare opportunity by some. But for the inhabitants of this world, it happened overnight. They watched, helpless, as their way of living was ridiculed by the harbingers of the new era. To live in peace with fellow beings was considered illegal, a preposterous sin by the new civilisation. In the fear of being wiped out, they could not help but abandon their precious peace and follow the new commanders; they could not help but commit those heinous acts against the creatures that were once their companions, their nakama. They cowered in fear of the new kingdom, they were too afraid to stand up, too weak to raise their voice and hence, within a span of fifteen years, the fate of the Pokémon World changed drastically.
The first law established by the King read that 'Catching Pokémons or keeping them in any other form except as a Slave will lead to immediate execution of the Pokémons and imprisonment for the owner.' The law was further amended to add that 'Pokémon purchase was the only legal and state accepted way of attaining a Pokémon.'
This was followed by the Law of Slave Collars which stated 'Any Pokémon seen without a Slave Collar would be executed on sight.' For some reason, this law was the most popular and helped the Kingdom gain many favourable allies.
And the third major law passed was 'Pokémon Battling, Pokémon Co-ordinating, Pokémon Breeding, Pokémon Research or any other professional occupation which did not employ Pokémon as Slaves will not be recognised by the state as a legal profession, anybody practicing any of the aforementioned activities will be put on trial for treason against the state. His/her Pokémon would be confiscated and will be executed or put up for auction, depending on the owner's trial.'
Strangely enough, it did not take the people that much time before they got used to this lifestyle. Some sold their Pokémons and some set them free. As most of the population was left unemployed after the implication of the new laws, they turned on their friends by selling them out to the state for a meagre amount of money. Hundreds and hundreds of Trainers and Coordinators were caught and executed across the four regions. The executions became a kind of entertainment for the Royalty. The immense pleasure that was visible on their faces when the criminals were shot was just a tad bit disturbing. But not all Trainers were so easily defeated. The amount of Missing Persons reports filed that year was greater than any other. The best of the best disappeared without leaving any trace of their existence behind. While some gave up hope and preferred to stay away, some decided to dedicate their life to helping their fellow beings in every manner possible.
And 25 year old Ash Ketchum was a part of the latter half.
Time is an unusual thing. It passes by unnoticed, and yet when you try to stop and notice it, it shows you nothing but all the things that changed. Ash Ketchum had begun his journey when he was at the innocent age of 10. He had made friends, he had gone on many adventures, he had faced tough trials and battles, but he had failed to notice time. He ignored it as he went ahead with his journey, savoured the sweet taste of victory and formed the strong bonds of friendship. He ignored the past and didn't care for the future, he simply lived in the present. And that is why he failed to see it. He was so engrossed in his dreams, his adventures, his life that he actually failed to see the state of the whole world. He was overwhelmed as he watched the Pokémon suffer by the hands of his kind. He was scared and afraid like any other kid his age should've been. So he ran. He ran away from the people who needed his help. He only thought about himself and his Pokémon. He acted like any other selfish kid would have acted. And boy did he regret it.
It took him a few years to overcome the fear, but eventually he did it. He travelled across the regions, setting up bases gathering more members who shared his thinking but most importantly he travelled to observe the structure of the kingdom. Within a few years Ash was able to pinpoint the locations which were under full control of the Kingdom and those rare few locations which lacked supervision. He started his new journey when he was 13, again with no one but Pikachu by his side and as the years passed by he was surrounded by people who shared his views, his dreams. He was surrounded by people he could trust and people who trusted him. They believed in him to lead them and he had decided at the start of the adventure that this time he won't disappoint. This time he'll see it to the end. Even if the end meant death, he won't back down.
-x-
"Are you afraid?"
Tōya chewed on his lower lip nervously as he watched from afar. He had been a part of the small revolution army for only six short months and yet, here he was, on his first solo mission with no one but a newbie to watch him. He sent Mei a reassuring smile as they waited for the harbour to clear up. The sweet brunette replied with an enthusiastic nod which made Tōya even more nervous. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her. He was the senior, he was supposed to act cool and look like he knew everything. He cursed his luck, if only Mei had joined a week later, he would be standing here all by himself and no one would laugh if he tripped and fell flat on his face.
"It's okay if you are. I trust you anyways."
Tōya felt a little a calm as Ash's words rang in his ears. He took a deep breath. Ash trusted him to save the Tropius, and there was no way Tōya was going to let him down. He took a deep breath and turned to look at Mei again, "Let's go over this one more time." He whispered, "We-"
"Wait for Archeops' signal and then move in. You'll use your Chandelure's Confuse Ray to distract the guards while I look for the Tropius. When I find the ship she is on, I'll signal Archeops and then he'll let you know. I wait for you patiently and do not try to break the cage or rescue Tropius in any other way." Mei grinned at him as she finished.
Tōya smiled sheepishly at her, "I'm sorry. I'm not really good at showing the ropes."
She sent him a polite smile as she said, "I think you're doing just fine."
Before he could thank her for being so kind he heard a faint cry and looked up at the night sky. Tōya adjusted his hat and nodded at Mei, "Show time."
They moved from their current hiding spot and Tōya was surprised at how agile the young girl was. She swiftly reached the docks unnoticed by the guards and Tōya. One minute she was next to him and the next she was already looking through the very first ship for any signs of a caged Pokémon. He grinned as he quietly released his Chandelure. Maybe this mission won't be so bad after all, he thought. He moved between the crates and boxes to keep himself hidden and watched as the two guards who were supposed to patrol the harbour sat in one corner and chatted with each while gulping down tankards of beer, "I probably won't even need you." He muttered to the ghost Pokémon floating beside him. Around 20 minutes passed before he heard that same faint cry again. He looked up and saw his Archeops point towards a huge cargo ship right in the middle. He gave a thumbs up to his Pokémon and very silently ordered Chandelure to confuse the already heavily drunk men. He then proceeded to calmly make his way to towards the ship, not even bothering to hide himself. As he climbed up on to the deck he noticed Mei standing next to the only occupied cage, waiting obediently for him.
"At least 20 more cages." She whispered, "What do you think happened to them?" She looked at him with sad blue eyes.
"It's best not to think." He replied softly.
She nodded submissively and changed the subject, "I've been thinking about this the whole time, how exactly are we going to rescue her?" She looked at the cage with a confused look on her face, "You said that we can't break the cage or anything, so how are we going to do it?"
Tōya smiled as he fished out an empty Pokéball from his bag.
"We're going to catch it?" She asked again tilting her head in confusion.
Tōya shook his head as he walked forward and slid his hand inside the cage through the small space between the bars. The Tropius immediately backed away in fear. Tōya quickly kept the Pokéball on the surface of the cage and walked away. The Tropius edged away from the ball, looking scared.
"What exactly…?" Mei trailed off, unable to understand the situation.
"Mei, what do you know about the slave collars?" Tōya asked her calmly.
She frowned as she answered, "Uh…They have a tracking system installed and if the Pokémon happens to go across the designated area, it paralyzes the Pokémon for a certain amount of time." She searched through her brain for more details, not wanting to disappoint her senior and scowled when she remembered the last function, "And if the Pokémon happens to cross a large amount of area, the Collar detonates and creates an explosion most likely killing the Pokémon."
"Exactly. But what you don't know is that the Slave Collar is rendered completely useless if the Pokémon wearing it has been captured in a Pokéball." Tōya grinned. This small piece of information was always saved for the last. Tōya remembered how surprised he was when Ash and Ethan had shown him the trick on his first trial mission. And the look on Mei's face mirrored his expression as that time.
"Is that why they stopped manufacturing Pokéballs?" She asked him, her blue eyes showing nothing but disbelief. Tōya nodded in response and the disbelief turned into rage, "Unbelievable. They are just unbelievable." She muttered as she glared at the empty cages.
Tōya sighed and cleared his throat to grab her attention, "So to continue…" Mei's eyes widened as Tōya suddenly fell to his knees, his palms on the ground and bowed his head in front of Tropius. The Pokémon looked taken aback by the male's actions and turned to Mei with questioning eyes, hoping for an explanation.
"Tropius, first I'd like to sincerely apologise for all the pain that has been inflicted upon you by my kind." Tōya closed his eyes as he tried to keep his voice from breaking, "I understand that you're afraid but I assure you that I and Mei are not here to do the same. Secondly, I'd like to request you to get inside that
Pokéball as it would make it easier for us to save you." He opened on of his eyes to see that the Pokémon still looked unsure so he continued, "I am really, really sorry for everything that has happened to you, and that is why please, please get into that Pokéball. There is no other way. I promise to release you the instant we reach a safe place. I promise to not hurt you. Please just trust me."
Mei was stunned by the amount of sincerity she saw in his eyes when he looked up. She watched as the Tropius slowly moved forward towards the Pokéball and looked at Tōya again, who nodded and smiled at the Pokémon. And to Mei's surprise, the Pokémon smiled back at him and willingly nudged the Pokéball with her feet. The Pokéball opened and in an instant, the Tropius was swallowed by a flash of light and the small red ball closed again. They watched intensely as the Pokémon inside the ball fidgeted and the red light kept flickering. And after a few seconds, which seemed like years to Mei, the flickering stopped signalling that the Pokémon was now safely inside the ball.
Tōya let out a loud sigh of relief and grinned to himself as he picked up the Pokéball from the bottom of the cage. He turned to look at Mei, who still looked a little shaken, "The most important thing in a successful mission isn't how fast you were, or how well you evaded the guards, or how elaborate your plan was. It's whether you were able to gain the trust of the Pokémon or not." He smiled at her as he repeated the words Ethan had said to him on his first mission. Tōya motioned her to follow him as they left the ship and easily exited the Harbour as the guards were busy sleeping. She watched as he called back his Pokémon and praised them for their hard work. She thought about how her mother would disown her if she found out that she had joined the revolutionary army. But after tonight, she didn't even care what her mother thought. Her mother was a coward and Mei was not going to become like her. No, Mei was going to fight and stand up against the Kingdom.
Mei was proud of herself for joining the revolution.
-x-
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