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Fan Fiction
Azula Amongst the Stars: Ch 13Azula observed the black vessel and its sun emblem. A syndicate held the entirety of Kazima hostage and it was considered a small one at that. She couldn't help but think of what the implications of this ship being here are.Cetro appeared behind them with a data pad in hand, "That doesn't surprise me." He said with wariness in his voice, "The local crime family works under them.""Are they a small group like the one that had Kazima?" Azula asked, she never took her eyes off this potential threat."Quite the opposite. The Gold Sun syndicate is the apex predator out here. They own a good chunk of planets in frontier space, got deep pockets and practically run the criminal underworld.""They wouldn't take Ginza though, right?" Lectro asked with nervousness creeping into his voice."They probably could, but like I said the local crime family does business with them.""Knowing ol Euretta, she'd probably find some excuse to take the place." Skeeve said.Azula noticed the name mentioned, "Euretta? Who is that?"Skeeve's brow raised to his forehead, "You haven't heard of Euretta Sareno yet? She's only the scariest woman in the known galaxy and head of the Gold Sun's. She's got spies everywhere and owns most of the pirates out here, nothing happens out here without her knowing about it. They even say she's got a bounty on her head so high it would make anyone richer than the Pendaren emperor."Cetro rolled his eyes, "You're exaggerating Skiv. Her bounty ain't that high.""Skeeve." He grumbled to himself under his breath."And what is the Crimson Storm's relationship with Euretta's Gold Sun's?" Azula directed her question to Cetro."I would also like to know that." Skeeve said now worried as to why they reacted the way they did when seeing the ship.Lectro scratched the back of his head sucking in some air as if he was trying to find the right words, "Let's just say the Storm has a bit of a rocky relationship with the Gold Sun's.""And by rocky he means down right atrocious." Sev finished before going into detail, "We did some contracts against the Sun's a few years back and we gave them such a good fight that Euretta herself tried to buy out My'Rell and absorb the Crimson Storm.""How did the Captain take her offer?" Azula asked.Cetro let out a hearty belly chuckle as he answered, "I remember that, My'Rell told her she could take her offer and shove it where her gold sun doesn't shine."Skeeve's expectant look turned to an expression of pure horror, "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me I'm part of a crew that is on Euretta-I burn down entire family trees for fun-Sareno's hit list?""You're over exaggerating her reach, Skeevy boy. She's powerful but she ain't no Pendaren emperor powerful." Sev downplayed."She's the empress of the criminal underworld!" Skeeve looked as though he was going to have a panic attack."Ease up Skeevy boy. It's only one ship and it's a big city. Hopefully we won't run into its crew while we're here.""If y'all are going into town, keep an eye out for any Gold Sun's, you see anyone wearing black and gold or have a sun emblem on them, you walk the other way. Don't talk to any of them, if they ask you for directions just point them away from you and get out of there and especially make sure they don't know you're Crimson Storm." Cetro warned with the most serious tone Azula has ever heard him with, "That goes double for you sparky." He pointed to Azula, "Now y'all get going while I get our cargo and don't draw attention to yourselves." He went back to the ship as a dock worker approached."Well, guess all that is left is to find somewhere we can do our tests." Lectro said."Searching local omni-net connections for suitable locations." B3 said."Yeah good luck finding a place here. These Ginza cities are dense, finding space to do anything like fire bending is gonna be a pain." Skeeve said, taking out a cigarette, "But I've been here a few times so maybe I could help find a spot for you guys.""You ain't going anywhere Skiv!" Cetro shouted, "I brought you here for a reason and it's to help load in all our stuff, now get moving!""Guess the four of us will just have to manage, later Skeeve." Sev said, already walking off the platform."But-but I…""Move it Skiv!"The four of them took a train transport to the main city that gave them a clear view of the dark frigid wasteland outside. The only light source being the bustling cityscape that came from the dome and various spot lights. Heat sources such as generators stuck out clearly to Azula in the darkness of the outside. She looked to the night sky and saw the source of her new found power hanging overhead.The brown dwarfs looked like a campfire in the sky, its light so dim it could only illuminate the space around it. Such a strange phenomenon to her. It was difficult for her to comprehend the idea that such a sun could exist, but then again if someone told her a week ago that life existed past earth's sky she would have dismissed them as insane.The train ride between the spaceport and the dome was short with their transport entering the city. Once inside Azula's new found thermal vision was assaulted by an almost blinding array of neon lights that lined the edges of just about every building.Unlike Kazima's Horizon city this domed city was much denser with tall skyscrapers covered in neon and holographic signs huddled together almost built on top of one another, air vehicles darted past following invisible roads in the sky, multi level walkways acted as roads for foot traffic that was just as densely populated as everywhere else with hundreds of citizens marching through them like swarms of ants.They exited the train station once in the city proper and began to trek on foot. The amount of heat sources were in such abundance that it was almost blinding to Azula. The combined body heat of the dozens of citizens and heating units that kept the space habitable made everything glow, from the people to even the very air around them. Everything just looked like a messy oil painting of glowing oranges, reds, whites and purples to Azula's eyes, so much so that she needed to squint hard in order to see anything."B3, have you found any locations that fit our needs yet?" Lectro asked the robot."I have identified several locations that fit the parameters of our experiment, many of which are located in the industrial district.""Great! Maybe we can find an old warehouse to practice in.""The last time I was in an abandoned warehouse I was assaulted by a group of Ke'Kuvon youths." Azula said as she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision."You alright?" Sev asked."It's difficult to see.""I imagine so, the city is kept fairly warm." Lectro looked at her eyes for any changes, "There are many species in the galaxy that see in the infrared spectrum who also find it difficult to see in environments like this. They usually wear visors to help with that. Maybe we can buy one at a local shop.""Please because this is becoming a headache." She swatted his hand away when he tried opening her eye further."If you require assistance in navigation you may grasp my manipulator and I will lead you." B3 said while offering his metal claw to her.Azula crossed her arms while delivering a scolding look at the machine whose cold body stuck out in the sea of heat, "I don't need hand-holding trash can.""My designation is B3.""But given how densely populated this city is, it is quite easy for someone to get lost even without their vision being impaired." Lectro added.Azula rolled her eyes and grabbed the robot's hand, "Fine, just lead the way.""Where are we going then?" Sev asked as he towered over everyone in the crowd."The industrial district!" Lectro announced excitedly and began marching forward."The industrial district is located in the opposite direction, Dr. Lectro." B3 corrected.Lectro corrected his heading, "I knew that. Why don't you lead the way B3?"They traversed through the crowd made up of a dozen different species being sure to stick together. Azula held onto B3's claw tightly. Warm bodies glowing brightly passed her by and making her wince at their intensity. Every face she saw was a glowing blur of orange light that muddled the features, so much so that she was actually glad that B3 offered a hand to steer her as she didn't think she'd be able to direct herself accordingly.Not only did the glow of the warm bodies affect her vision but her body seemed to detect the presence of heat easily and the vast amounts of it surrounding her was overstimulating and it didn't help that this place was as populated as the outer ring of Ba Sing Se.To try and focus herself she looking up away from the people and tries to admire the architectural miracles of this city and gaze through the transparent ceiling. It helped that she was able to see clearly but her heat detection didn't help.After traversing the many walkways and stairways bathed in neon light they found themselves just above the more seedy lower levels of the city. The streets started to look dirtier, derelict buildings sat at the sides of walkways, strange graffiti covered the walls of buildings, vehicles that were stripped of parts sat in place left to rust, the sound of sirens from the local law enforcement could be heard from a distance and homeless aliens littered the corners of walkways with their appendages outstretched to those who walked by begging for money.Lectro looked around cautiously, "Uh… B3, are you sure we are going the right way?""Affirmative. This is the most optimal route to the industrial district.""I'm sure it is, but don't you think you should have taken us down a route that wasn't so sketchy?""I may have some difficulty seeing but even I can tell that you led us down a decrepit dump. It almost looks like I'm walking down Ba Sing Se's outer ring all over again." Azula added.She glanced down an alley and noticed the wall of a building with a large golden sun painted across it, the same sun on the black ship along with some loitering aliens dressed in black and gold."Apologies for the less than desirable location, however the industrial district is located on the lower levels and ninety-five percent of the lower levels of the city resemble what you are seeing now." B3 explained."So there's a chance we can get mugged while we are down here? Great. That's just great." Lectro said then coward at the sight of a group of troubled youths stealing a hover module to a parked hover car."Relax, once they catch a glimpse at me any mugger will think twice." Sev proudly said as he continued to tower over a vast majority of passers-by."Unless the mugger is another Dretta." Lectro commented."How many other Dretta you know are packed full of sacrilegious cybernetics?"It was at this point Azula began to zone out while they continued to converse. She focused more on just maintaining a heading but in her focus she failed to notice someone approaching her.A short alien with a round head, three horns jutting out of his forehead and a beard approached, giving her a crooked smile filled with missing teeth, "Want some red sand?" He held up a small vial of a powdery red substance, "First one's free."Before she could react Sev's giant metal hand came between them, "Get your drugs out of her face old man!"The alien scurried off at the sight of the towering cyborg."They're peddling red sand here?" Lectro said as he took a defensive position in front of Azula, "I thought the local crime family made their money on black market tech.""Guess they're expanding their business." Sev scanned for any other drug dealers."But isn't red sand a gold sun drug?""You all said the local crime family works for the Gold Sun's, correct?" Azula asked as B3 led her down some stairs."The Codello's?" Sev responded, "Yeah they're partners.""So what are the odds that this Codello family would allow them to sell their drugs here?""Unlikely. The Codello's may work for the Sun's but they wouldn't agree to selling their drugs. The Codello's like sticking to their tech market and aren't fond of sand dealing." Sev said before spotting another person selling red sand, "But it is pretty weird seeing sand dealers here.""I say leave the politics of dealing drugs to the syndicates." Lectro said, directing them to a service elevator that began taking them down further, "We are here for scientific purposes. Drugs and the inner workings of crime groups are not our priority here. Right now we should focus on finding a secluded location that won't draw attention.""Easier said than done doc. You see how packed this city is? Everybody is practically in each other's personal space." Sev said, crossing his arms."I doubt it will be as populated in the industrial district.""I hope so." Azula added as she watched their descent from the elevator window, "Less heat given off by these peasants means I can see properly.""I have located a setting that meets said parameters." B3 said."Great, just lead the way and we can finally get down to business."The group found themselves standing before an old food processing plant fallen into ruin covered in graffiti, broken windows, rust, cracks along its walls and various hazard signs.Lectro eyed the building with concern for its structural integrity, "This place doesn't look very safe.""If you are not satisfied with this location then I can find a new destination." B3 followed up."It's fine, this will probably be the best we can do." Sev said, already making his way to the fence."I don't see the problem." Azula said, crossing her arms as she observed the dilapidated structure, "It's quiet, it's secluded and nobody will bother us. I think your trash can did a good job finding this place.""My designation is B3." The robot corrected her again.The sound of a chain snapping caught their attention as Sev used his superior strength to pull the fence gate open, kicking the chain used to secure it aside."Alright, let's go loiter on private property." He said with a grin as he went further into the facility, Azula following close behind.Lectro turned to his robot, "B3, why was this place shut down?""Searching local omni-net records… facility was closed due to structural integrity concerns.""And you're sure this place is safe?""Affirmative. Only two deaths from structural integrity have been confirmed.""Two?!"Azula's impatient voice interrupted them, "Are you two coming or what?!"They entered the facility after Sev brute strengthed his way through several locked doors. The building was filled with machinery meant for food processing, however a thick layer of dust coated them like a blanket from years, or even decades, of inactivity. Broken glass, dirt and grime littered the floors, sliding doors were stuck open mid slide, graffiti covered the walls, all of which Azula could not read but was sure it was made up of nothing but profanity, and the air was cool which made the warm bodies of scurrying vermin more apparent. The darkness was more apparent to them compared to the bright neon lights that laced every structure and the building moaned as if it was struggling to stay up.B3 led the way with his built in light until Sev kicked a locked sliding door off its hinges to the empty warehouse."This looks like a good spot." Lectro said fishing for his equipment."Try not to burn the building down on our heads, firespitter." Sev said touching some old equipment and accidentally knocking things over sending metallic echoes throughout the building.She scoffed, pushing hair out of her face, "I barely feel the energy within me to even spark a torch.""From your weakened state under the red dwarf I theorize your powers are going to be weaker." Lectro presented the headset to her.She sighed in annoyance at the thought of that, "So which test do we do first?""First things first, let's start with just summoning a spark."She stood up straight and did her breathing exercises and attempted to summon a flame and failed but noticed her hands began to glow even brighter. She let him know of this discovery.Lectro looked intrigued and ordered B3 to measure the temperature of her hands."The temperature of Private Azula's hands has risen several degrees higher than her normal body temperature.""My readings show that your chi paths, though having a much weaker flow, seem to be gathering in your hands. Perhaps instead of fire bending you are capable of bending your own body heat."Azula did find this somewhat interesting but it didn't sound like body heat bending would help her in any way, "This sounds like the most useless form of fire bending possible.""But what if it's not just your own body heat?" Sev asked as he sat down on one of the old machines, "What if you can bend other people's body heat? You know, burn them up from the inside out."Lectro scratched his chin as his scientific mind went to work, "Almost like an artificially induced fever." Lectro then rolled up his sleeve, "Azula! I need you to bend me!"Her face scrunched up in confusion at his choice of words, "Excuse me?""Bend my body heat! For science."B3 moved between them, "Warning. This is an unsafe test in an uncontrolled environment. The possibility of injury is high."It was remarkable how fast Lectro was able to switch from a nervous and paranoid coward to a reckless thrill seeker when it came to scientific discovery. It was a trait Azula found strangely admirable."It's fine, we've got it under control.""She's gonna burn you alive doc." Sev warned in a not so serious manner, "Why not just use me? I could take a beating better than you can.""A limb is the best way to test and all of yours are made of cold metal.""Sevran's left shoulder still has enough organic tissue to be suitable for testing." B3 interrupted, "I still highly suggest we not perform this test.""I don't mind. Not like I'm doing much anyway." Sev approached and kneeled down to her height, "Come on firespitter. Cook me alive!""Alright, but don't blame me if you are burned." She held both hands over his bare shoulder and focused on trying to warm it and in doing so it began glowing brightly almost like a torch."Oof, that's hot." Sev said nonchalantly, "Kinda soothing too, almost like I'm getting a heated massage.""Very interesting stuff." Lectro commented."I think I can go higher." Azula said with a smirk as she wondered just what kind of damage she could do."I would not recommend increasing the temperature any higher than it currently is." B3 warned."I agree. Try seeing if you can cool it down."She then thought about how a fire bender would cool a roaring flame and applied the same principle. She saw that his once brightly glowing shoulder was dimming down until it was barely glowing at all and almost looked normal.A chill was sent down Sev's body, "That's cold. Arm is feeling a little stiff actually." He began rotating his shoulder a bit.Lectro recorded this with enthusiasm while smirking at this new found power. Perhaps this ability isn't as useless as she imagined."Let's try the pre existing flame test." Lectro suggested.B3 approached with a small panel opening up, summoning a small. Azula swayed her hand trying to feel a connection to the flame and she did feel it however the small flame felt overwhelming like trying to keep a thrashing animal down with only one hand. It was too much for her and her arm shook trying to contain it until she let go."I can't. It was like holding onto the reins of a raging komodo rhino.""Hm… perhaps the higher the temperature the harder it is to control. Heat isn't as hot as fire but it's definitely not cold so maybe it's some sort of middle ground that you can access."She crossed her arms, "But why? Why the heat vision and why only heat?""Brown dwarfs are incredibly weak sun's. Your body is obviously more accustomed to a hotter star. My current theory is that because the brown dwarf is so weak your bending has become almost nonexistent so your body may be trying to compensate by enhancing other senses like the body losing one of its prime senses and enhancing the rest. Or it could also be that the sun has reverted your bending to a more primitive state.""Is there anything weaker than a brown dwarf?""A black dwarf but I think being around that would be the same as having no sun at all. Let's try the blaster test next and the lightning."Sev fired his blaster at a barren wall and Azula couldn't manipulate the beams at all, like the torch the beams were too strong and unruly to control.They moved on to the lightning. She took her stance and swayed her arms trying to summon the sparks of the cold fire but after swaying her arms for what felt like an hour no sparks would appear. Lectro closely monitored her chi paths and found no change.He leaned over to his robot that watched her closely, "Are you picking up anything B3?""Negative.""As I thought. How's your vision so far?"Azula dropped the lightning technique looking at him seeing that he was still glowing unchanged, "Still glowing. I'm stuck here with no bending and the most useless fire related skill is all I have.""I wouldn't say that. Thermal vision can be very useful. You could see things that are invisible to most." Lectro assured her."Yeah, you know how good of a tracker you could be?" Sev said."Private Azula's new found ability may not be as useful as you suggest, weapon's specialist Sevran." B3 stated, "Planets that orbit a brown dwarf are not capable of sustaining life through natural means nor environments suitable for tracking.""So it is useless then? Great." She rubbed her eyes feeling drained, "So far this whole experience has shown nothing of worth from this experience.""All data is useful data. Without this experiment we wouldn't know anything about your Chi paths or that your powers are indeed affected by the type of sun you are under."She groaned and took the headpiece off, "Are we finished? I'm getting tired.""Just need to get another DNA sample from you and we can leave this creepy place.""Fine, just make it quick so-" She stopped when she stepped over an old rusted plate only for it to break under her weight and fell through the floor and landed on a pile of rubble.She looked up to see she fell two stories through a hole that was poorly concealed with the only light being from above."Holy crap! Azula are you alright!" Lectro called out.She pulled herself up grasping her rear to soothe the pain, "I'm fine! Your trash can picked a terrible spot to test!""Didn't you approve of it though?"She growled, "Just get me out of here!"Sev poked his head through, "Just stay put, firespitter! We'll figure something out!"Sev looked to his two companions, "So what should we do?""B3! You picked the place so please tell me you have some kind of layout for this place!" Lectro said to his robot in clear panic of the situation."I do indeed have knowledge of this building's layout." B3 projected a holographic image of the building and the structure beneath them, "Private Azula has fallen into the lower levels of this building. There are many paths she can take in order to exit the lower levels, the most direct route being directly before her; take the third right, second left, another left and a right.""Okay, Azula all you have to do is-""Third right, second left, another left and a right! I heard everything, wait for me on the other end!" She began marching down the path.Azula traveled down the dark and decrepit corridor. Despite there being no light she found her thermal vision coming in handy as she could see everything clearly outlined to her with the only bright heat being herself and the vermin scurrying around.She scoffed as she walked and didn't realize just how far the corridor went. She was hoping this trip would reveal new abilities for her bending, like maybe make lightning generation easier and less time consuming or perhaps give her the ability to combustion bend but no, heat bending sounded somewhat useful but it lacked the raw power she was accustomed to. All she has learned is that under certain suns she cannot produce her own flames and that on others all she can do is see heat, and it didn't help that in a crowd her new found sensitivity to heat overstimulated her senses. She couldn't help but think just how underwhelming this experience was."I would say this trip was quite enlightening."Azula looked behind her to see the shape of her mother standing there. She did not glow, further proving that she was just a figment of her imagination.She pinched her nose in frustration, "I really hope these new types of suns make you appear more often.""Perhaps or perhaps not. Only time will tell daughter." Ursa said.Azula raised a finger to the apparition ready to say something only to stop herself knowing full well that she would be talking to no one and instead turned to continue her trek out of the tunnels."This trip did tell you that your bending is limited in certain environments. That could be useful." Ursa said walking beside her while holding a warm smile as if the apparition was trying to be supportive."Shut up figment of my imagination taking the form of the person I hate most in this world." She responded bitterly."When you say this world do you mean Ginza or maybe the mortal world in general? Would that entail that you have a better liking of me on other worlds then? Like Kazima for example, although you weren't keen on seeing me there, perhaps on that rocky world we visited you would like me better." Ursa sounded amused trying to add some light hearted banter to brighten the mood.Azula only groaned louder and quickened her pace hoping to get ahead of her mother."Remember the machine said the third-""I KNOW!" Azula's shouts echoed throughout the cavern, "Why? Why are you here now?"Ursa's signature somber expression returned, "I only want to help you Azula.""I don't need your help! What help can you offer me? You're just a hallucination."She continued walking and came across the first right looking down the derelict tunnel only to find Ursa standing there."Perhaps you simply just don't want to be alone and I'm here to provide companionship."She scoffed and continued down her path, "I'm better off alone."She went past the second right, seeing Ursa once more standing there waiting for her, "Then why do I keep appearing when you are alone?""To torment me with your lies, that's why." She rounded the third right and again Ursa stood there with her hands in her sleeves waiting for her."When have I ever lied to you?"Azula gave her a cold glare, "You already know." She stormed past the apparition in a hurry, "If you're going to keep appearing then stay silent!"The vision of Ursa followed closely behind, "If that is what you wish."Azula didn't trust this illusion to keep its word so she pulled out her communicator and called Lectro."Azula! Hey! Is everything alright down there?""Peachy. I just made the third right. How far until my next turn?""You've got a ways to go, B3 says you've got a couple meters until you see it. Speaking of seeing, how's your vision down there?"Ursa leaned in a bit, "Oh! You should tell him how well you can see in the dark now.""Shut up!" Azula shouted back at the vision."Okay. Okay. You fell down a hole and don't feel like talking science. I get it. You don't have to be rude about it." Lectro responded, misinterpreting her words."No I- forget it! I can see very well down here without a light if that's what you are asking.""So my new theory is correct, fascinating!""I'm glad all it took was me falling in a hole for you to find that out." She said sarcastically.Sev's jovial voice interrupted, "Hey firespitter! You see anything weird down there?"She couldn't help but steal a glance at the vision of her mother walking beside her, "No. Why?""Well there's a local legend that says a bunch of creatures got loose from a zoo and live in the bowls of this city and wanted to confirm.""And you're telling me this now!?""Cool your jets there, firespitter. Just an urban legend. You can handle it even if it's real.""Sev! I swear I am throwing a fireball at your head the moment my fire bending returns!"Lectro's voice came back on, "Don't listen to him he's just messing with you. Listen when you exit the tunnels we'll…" static interference began to break up his voice."Lectro? Hey! Lectro!" She shook her device trying to get it to work clearly."Sig-zzzz-losing-zzzz-go-zzzz-" the signal was fully lost and she could only hear static."Damn it!" She cursed, closing the device and continuing her trek."You should be nicer to your friends. They're only trying to help you." Ursa said softly."We are not friends! Just temporary allies.""An allie can still be a friend. Everyone could use one.""I don't need friends. All they do is betray you.""Only if you give them a reason too. Take Chani for example, you're already planting seeds of betrayal with her.""Oh really? Enlighten me then mother. How have I done that?""Sharing our belongings with each other as a sign of friendship. We both know how much of a lie that is, you just wanted to wear her jewelry.""I was going to give her something in return. It's not my fault she rejected it." Azula said, admiring Chani's beautiful bracelet against her glowing wrist before scowling at the serpent bracelet."You're taking advantage of her kindness, like you do everyone else.""The world isn't kind. Kindness means you're weak and when you're we-""When you're weak the strong trample over you. Yes, we've heard this song and dance countless times before from your father time and time again." The vision finished with clear annoyance, "Did you ever stop and think that it could be a virtue and not a weakness?"She stopped to face her mother, "I'm sorry but didn't you say you were here to help me? How is talking about feelings and friendship helping me in this situation?""I am not sure, after all I am an extension of your mind." Ursa reached out to touch her affectionately only for Azula to pull away as if a red hot poker was coming."You are not my mother." Azula stormed past the vision, "You want to stick around, fine. Maybe I could use you as a way to bounce ideas off of."A smile adorned Ursa's face, "That sounds interesting. What would you like to talk about?""My plan to take over the Crimson Storm."Ursa's smile faltered, "Oh… that."Yes. What are your thoughts on it?""I think you should forget this plan and focus more on living your life.""Double down, got it. Thank you for your input, illusion." Azula said quickly."But that's the opposite of what I suggested!" Ursa said as she ran back to her side."If it's the opposite of what you want then it's the correct path.""Azula, there is so much that can go wrong with this plan of yours. There is so much we don't know of the universe outside our home." Ursa almost sounded desperate to dissuade her."That's why it is a long term plan you idiot. Learn as much as we can of this greater galaxy and the powers that be, then strike when the opportunity presents itself.""Neutral Jing then. I must say I didn't expect you to implement such an earth Kingdom way of thinking.""I'd much rather take the more direct fire bender approach, however being direct hasn't been very fruitful as of late.""And how long will this plan take?" Ursa sounded weary when asking almost as if by asking she'd be endorsing it."Months, possibly years. I need to know everything I can before striking or it could be disastrous.""The safest bet may be not striking at all. Your luck as of late hasn't proven to be very reliable."Azula scowled at the illusion, "Then what do you suggest I do? Spend the rest of my life as some space peasant? Settle down with some seven eyed, six limbed creature that only speaks in incomprehensible gibberish?" She then gave her a mocking laugh, "I could even go back home to get father's blessing from his prison cell! Maybe even invite Zuko, the Avatar and their friends to the wedding!"Ursa covered her mouth as she giggled, "I don't think the real me would approve of a creature like that to be your husband but if that's what makes you happy."Azula scoffed, "What would make me happy is to take back what is rightfully mine."They made the left turn, the tunnel now being filled with the sound of wet footsteps as Azula walked through the puddles of water that coated the floor.Ursa sighed a sad and tired breath, "Power. Is that all you care about?""Power is all that matters.""Really, and what has power done for you?" Ursa challenged."Power has made me strong. Made me feared. I was on top of the world, I was untouchable.""It was your crutch. Power was all you had and when you lost it you had nothing else to fall back on. No one else."Azula had no rebuttal for this and instead quickened her pace as if she was trying to get away from the subject."What did power do for your father?" Ursa challenged again, her voice becoming firmer and seemed to echo throughout the tunnels, "He was the most powerful man on earth and look where it got him. It made him cruel, heartless, egotistical, nothing was ever enough for him. The Avatar stripped him of his bending! His throne taken by the son he mutilated and tossed in a cell to rot for the rest of his life!"Azula couldn't stand to listen to this any longer so she covered her ears and her brisk walk turned into a jog.Ursa appeared before her on the far side of the tunnel, "Your father has nothing Azula! You have nothing, but unlike him you were given the opportunity for a new life, twice!"Azula squeezed her eyes shut as she ran past the illusion."Zuko gave you a second chance when he took you out of the asylum to find me and you squandered it!" Ursa's voice took on an accusatory tone with a righteous fury that thundered like an angered spirit, "And by some miracle you were given a third chance when that ship crashed! Don't throw it away for something that will ultimately destroy you Azula!"Her jog turned into a full on sprint through the tunnel making the final turn until she saw the light of the tunnels end.She dashed out of the into the lower levels of the industrial sector. Her breath was panicked, her limbs shaking and causing her to drop to her knees in a tired state. Her face felt wet and when wiping her face she found tears staining her cheeks.A frustration burned within her at this weakness so she violently wiped the tears away and attempted to steady her breathing to try and regain the dignity she still had left.Her communicator buzzed, making her jump in surprise. She collected herself before answering it."What?!"Lectro's voice came through "Azula! We're almost to where the exit should be. We're taking a service elevator down to that level. Where are you now?""I-I just got out of the tunnel.""Good, stay there and we'll come to you."After hanging up she remained there for a bit. She could still feel her mother's presence in the tunnel, she dared not look into it in fear that her mother would speak again, trying to corrupt her mind with lies like she always does.She doesn't know why she even bothered to engage in conversation with that illusion. Of course it would try to sabotage her grand plan to retake her throne, if anything she now wants to double down further on it just to spite her. She calmed herself further, she needed a clear mind, the plan needed to be perfect. There was no room for screw ups because almost isn't good enough.It didn't take long for the others to arrive and catch up with her.Lectro ran to her side, "I'm glad we got here quickly! What's wrong?"She glared at him, "Nothing is wrong with me.""We were able to detect a spike in your stress levels while you were in the lower levels through the adhesive sensors still on your body." B3 answered."Yeah they said it was like you were having a panic attack." Sev said as he studied the entrance to the tunnels for danger, a hand hovering over his weapon.She had forgotten that the sensors were still attached and didn't know they'd be able to pick something like that up. She couldn't appear weak to them, she needed to come up with a lie that would satisfy them."I-uh… don't like dark and… cramped places." She mentally scolded herself for how pathetic that sounded and didn't think they would believe her. She'll have to sell it better, "They remind me of the… prison cell my brother put me in before I escaped him.""Well I guess anyone would develop claustrophobia from something like that." Lectro said."Your brother sounds like a prick." Sev commented.They believed her, relief washed over her. Not only did she manage to hide what was truly causing her stress but managed to make Zuko look bad in the process."We should get out of this place and meet back up with Cetro." The scientist concluded.Azula and the others took a public transport to the location Cetro had told them to meet where they found both him and Skeeve waiting at a street corner."Bout time. What, y'all get lost on the way?" Cetro asked impatiently."Have you seen how big this place is? It puts Horizon city to shame." Lectro responded."Why are we here again?" Azula asked impatiently."I've got a business transaction to make with an old buddy of mine, Kanzo. He's the local crime lord." Cetro explained before walking down the street and beckoning them to follow."Your friend is a Codello?" Lectro asked in bewilderment."Yup, he and I go way back.""How far?"Cetro scratched his scaled chin with one of his lower arms as he thought, "Since… about grade school I'd say.""Geez, didn't think you knew the Codello's since time began." Sev chortled."Shut it lumix. I'm only two hundred and thirty three, I'm not that old."That information felt almost like a slap to the face to Azula. She could tell Cetro was old by the crotchety attitude he had that was common for elders to develop; however, to hear that he was over two hundred years old was not something she expected.To think there were still Airbenders flying around during Cetro's youth.Skeeve could care less about how old the head engineer was and was more interested in his friendship with the local crime lord, "Wow, so you and the local crime lord grew up together? So does that mean you are a Codello as well?""Same species but I'm not part of the family. Used to work for them in their chop shops when I was young but left that life for something more legitimate with the Pendaren's. Back before they became power hungry maniacs. But I stayed in contact with Kanzo and now he runs everything here, so good for me."Azula rolled her eyes at the notion of friendship, especially with a criminal. Their relationship was a betrayal waiting to happen, all it would take is for someone to make his supposed friend an offer good enough to make him willing to plant a knife in his back."What about the Gold Sun's?" She asked while allowing B3 to escort her again, "Surely his business with them won't affect our stay here, will it?""It shouldn't. He's never had any love for Euretta or her Sun's and only conducts business with them because the head of the family works for her. He won't rat us out to them."Azula decided she knew enough of Cetro's history and shifted the focus on to the present, "So what business do you have with your old friend?""He's in charge of the black market here and specializes in illegal tech. I've got a purchase on some hardware that'll make our two generators pumping energy in our very special device run a whole lot smoother.""You mean the fabricator?" Lectro asked.Cetro grabbed the scientist's muzzle, shushing him harshly, "Shut your trap lizard! We already got enough problems with Death's Head! You really want someone else out here hearing about that and start coming after us?" He let go of him and continued walking, "It should go without saying, don't mention our special device to anyone. Kanzo is a good friend but he's also a businessman and sometimes that business can outweigh friendship."The rest of their short trip continued in silence until they reached the club that sat at the top of a skyscraper. Azula and her group took an elevator to reach it and once in doors they had to traverse several lavish corridors until they reached the entrance where two tall brawny guards stood.Cetro was about to enter but one of the guards stepped before him, "The club is closed for renovations today, come back another time."Cetro glared at him, "I'm here to do business with the owner. He's expecting me.""We have not been informed of any business transactions scheduled for today.""Listen buddy, I don't like to play this card but your boss and I are old friends and he said he'd meet me today."The guard grimaced at him before reaching to a cybernetic implant on the side of his head and began speaking, "Boss, I've got an old Kestridon here who says he knows you. Says he's got business scheduled for today." There was a long pause as the boss spoke back. He turned back to the much shorter alien before him, "Name?"Cetro's irritation became more visible, "Cetro, I come here every other week. Y'all should know me by now!"The guard's amphibious face tightened in annoyance as he relayed the information back, "Boss says he's talking to someone now, but he'll see you. Grab yourself a drink while you wait.""That's what I thought." Cetro grumbled to himself some more as the other guard opened the door for them before stopping them as B3 began to enter."No robots are allowed in the club." The other guard said."That's never been an issue before." Cetro barked back."New policy."Cetro was about to respond with another rude comment but the robot in question interjected sensing conflict escalating, "It is all right. My functions would not be conducive in a nightclub setting. I will remain here and patiently wait for your return. Please do not trouble yourself for my sake."Cetro grumbled some more before accepting this, "Fine! I swear I'm giving your boss an earful while I'm here!" He stormed into the corridor telling everyone else to follow."Enjoy the club… sir." There was an edge of hostility in the guards voice that Azula narrowed in on.Something about that whole exchange seemed wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it.Once inside they were met with a decadent open room with white floors and walls with an organic architecture, a second level overlooking tge vacant dance floor and lavish decor. However the club was vacant, all the lights were on as a renovation crew were busy tearing apart the place and making replacements.Cetro looked around, his scaled brow furrowing in disgust at the new improvements that were being installed, it was all so gaudy, "What the hell is he doing to this place? I thought he loved this club.""Perhaps he got tired of looking at the same thing everyday and decided he needed a change in scenery." Azula said not really sure what to make of the new decorations."Yeah but he wouldn't change it to this style." Cetro looked around the room, his eyes darting back and forth, "Something's not right. I can feel it in my agnots."Not really having a point of reference for that comment she asked in a taunting manner, "Did them not letting in the trash can upset you that badly?""Actually yes. If Kanzo wasn't in the business he would have gone to university for robotics. That man loves robots, trusts them more than people if you ask me."Azula felt it as well and responded in a hushed whisper, "I had some kind of feeling that was the case. What is it?"Cetro directed them to the bar as everyone else took seats elsewhere, "The bouncers. I didn't recognize them, not just that. The staff here," he motioned to all the workers, both renovation crew and club workers, "all new faces.""Your friend doesn't make it a habit to fire his entire staff I take it?" Azula asked, her eyes darting around the room and her thermal vision letting her see patches of heat at the hips of many staff members, blasters no doubt."No, he doesn't like change." Cetro looked at the back of the bar seeing another Kestridon just like him only his scales were brown with dark striping and his mane of hair a jet black.Cetro sighed in relief, "Finally, someone familiar. Hey Jakro! Been a long time."The younger bartender turned to him, his four orange eyes widening and his body stiffening for a split second before the mask of a friendly bartender replaced it."Cetro! You old bastard." Jakro said, making his way to them, grabbing a bottle and a glass, "So… what brings you to Ginza?" He maintained a pleasant smile but his eyes continued to scan the room like prey searching for a predator."I've got some tech to buy, same as usual." Cetro responded before gesturing to the renovations, "What's all this about?"Jakro began pouring him a drink and laughed nervously, "Oh you know… change. We've been… doing a lot of that lately."Azula studied Jakro and noticed the heat in his face build up along with all four of his hands. She had heard that when people are nervous their faces would grow hot but now she could see it happen. She could see how it made his hands clammy and could even see his hot breath grow unsteady. He was afraid of something and It was more than clear to her now that something was seriously wrong."Jakro." Cetro said, focusing the younger man's attention on him, "Be real with me right now. What's going on?"Jakro looked around again before leaning in closer and speaking in a lower volume, "You need to leave, right now. Take all your people and get off Ginza." He looked around again subtly, "It's not safe for you here.""Why? What's going on?"Jakro opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself as another bouncer approached, "The boss will see you know."Cetro took another look at this bouncer and noticed he wore black and gold, "You know what, I think I may have come at a bad time. Maybe we can reschedule this for some other time." He said going to walk past him only for the bouncer to block his path with a thick muscular arm."He insists."Cetro could tell that this was not a request, "Wait here kid. I'll be right back."Cetro followed the bouncer up the stairs to the second level and as he did so every alarm in Azula's head was ringing telling her danger was present. It almost felt like she was in the den of a platypus bear.She turned back to Jakro, surely he could provide some more necessary information that could help, but the man only looked at her with worry before saying, "I-I need to get back to work." He then drank the glass that was meant for Cetro in one gulp almost as if he needed it to get through the day.The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She was in a trap, one the trappers didn't know she was in so far and every second brought them closer to noticing."You need to leave Azula." The voice came from the vision of her mother again who sat at a bar stool. She turned away as soon as she saw her."Why can't you just leave me alone?" She said to herself."Is that really what is so important right now? You heard what the bartender said. It's not safe for you or your friends here.""They're not my friends." She scoffed as she began searching for an exit, "But you are right. I need to get out of here.""What do you think it is?" Ursa asked.She observed several of the thugs that hung around either watching the club for danger or chatting amongst themselves. All dressed professionally with a hint of jewelry here and there to show they were well paid, gold mostly."Hard to say. My guess is an internal power struggle and that Cetro's friend has been replaced with someone a little less friendly."She walked past the mirage towards sev and Lectro who admired a rather large fish tank that acted as a wall separating the dance floor and a lounge area.Sev watched as a flat tear shaped blue fish with black stripes drifted by wondering if it made for good cooking.Lectro admired a red and gold crustacean resting on coral, "You know a nightclub isn't the best place for a fish tank. All the noise and flashing lights will have a detrimental effect on their health along with causing a lot of unnecessary stress.""Doesn't the captain have a fish tank on the SeCore?" Sev said watching a shimmering silver school pass by."A battleship is an even worse place for one!"Azula approached the two, "Hey, you two, what are you doing?"Lectro looked at another black fish covered in yellow spots, "Just criticizing the idea of having a fish tank in-""Yes that's fascinating and all, but we need to get out of here.""Why?" Sev asked, "We just got here."Azula moved closer to speak in a hushed tone, "This place isn't safe. No time to explain, we just have to go!""What about Cetro?" Lectro asked."Forget Cetro! We have the opportunity right now, let's not waste it." She went to leave only to be stopped by a metal hand on her shoulder."Hold it firespitter, if trouble is brewing we don't leave our own behind.""Wait! Wait!" Lectro stepped between them, "What trouble are you talking about Azula?"Before Azula could argue back Skeeve walked up from the bar with a purple bottle and glass, "Hey guy's, check this out! They've got Pendaren whiskey here. You have any idea how many planets embargo this stuff? And it's reasonably priced too! Either Cetro's friend is in bed with some imperials or he's stealing this stuff out from under their noses." He exclaimed excitedly as he poured himself a glass.Azula snatched the glass out of his hand and poured the contents in a nearby plant to his sorrow, "Listen! I don't think Cetro's friend is running the show here. Somebody else is.""Like who? The Codello family owns Ginza." Skeeve said, snatching his glass back.As if on cue the renovation crew members finished installing the new holo projector, dimmed the lights and plugged it in where it displayed a titanic Gold Sun emblem over the exit, bathing the stark white room in yellow light.The four of them looked on at the emblem in shock with Skeeve almost dropping his bottle.Azula was right, Cetro's friend wasn't in charge anymore however she was wrong about it being internal politics and instead it was a hostile takeover.Sev looked on and crossed his arms, "Well… crap."Cetro was led to the private office in the back of the second level, armed guards stood around the entire level as the renovation crew walked past carrying equipment. He could hear voices from beyond the sliding door of the main office."Four ships! Four ships carrying valuable cargo went missing in the past week!" The first voice said with a dry raspiness and clear irritation, "Find whatever or whoever is doing it, because if I get a call from the boss asking where they are again it's both of our heads!"A lanky banana shaped headed alien walked out in a hurry. The bouncer gestured with his head to go in.Cetro entered the room with the guard following him in. He found it to be unrecognizable to when he last saw it. Where there was once modest utilitarian furniture now sat lavish expensive leather chairs and couches, expensive trinkets decorated the bookshelf and walls and a giant Gold Sun flag sat on the wall where the self portrait of the previous owner once was. The only thing that he recognized was the modest desk that was currently being occupied by someone else. Someone Cetro didn't recognize.The man sat laid back with his feet kicked up on the desk, he wore a mix of black and gold utility wear with a dash of expensive clothing such as his shiny gold toed pointed boots, buttoned down dress shirt and black dress jacket with a gold trim, several gold chains hung around his neck and expensive rings decorated his fingers. His skin was the color of sand, burgundy scales adorned his head that started from his nose and flared up into his forehead and continued down his back giving him the prickly appearance of a pine cone with pumpkin orange eyes.He was a Chundari, a race that is considered one of the rarer species to see in the galaxy.The man looked both tired and annoyed but once he noticed Cetro he put on a welcoming smile flashing his crooked teeth, "You must be Cetro. What can I do you for?" His voice had the dry rasp of the person shouting and he spoke with a thick accent.Cetro narrowed his eyes in a scornful look, "Who the hell are you?"The pointy headed man shook his head in exaggerated disappointment in himself as he spoke in a jovial manner, "Where oh where are my manners?" He stood and approached Cetro with a welcoming hand and a devilish grin, "Call me Slater. I'm the new owner of this fine establishment."Cetro reluctantly shook his hand."Now, I understand the confusion Mr. Cetro. You come in here expecting to do business with good ol Kanzo only to be met with my ugly mug sitting at his desk and redecorating his club. Well… my club now." He spoke smoothly and confidently despite his rustic voice.He gestured to one of the lavish chairs, "Sit, please. Any business you had with the previous owner can be done through me."Cetro was weary of him but took the seat not wanting to cause any trouble, he didn't know what this man's temperament was, "You're Gold Sun. I thought Ginza was under Codello control. What happened to Kanzo?"Slater sucked in some air as he raised his brows, "Oh boy. Well sorry to say this but Kanzo ain't here no more." He paced to the window overlooking the cityscape, "As you probably already know the Codello family works for us and has to pay a tribute tax to dear ol momma Euretta every now and again, just like all the other smaller groups under the sun. Kanzo though got a little too greedy, he's been taking a few units off the top of his payments and got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. The boss lady didn't take too kindly to that so she had him… removed. In other words, Ginza's under new management.""I see." Cetro was all too aware as to what he meant by "remove" and didn't want to ask but had to confirm, "And Kanzo?"Slater looked back at him and huffed out a weary breath, "Best not to think too hard about that. Wouldn't want to spoil the mood with the… grizzly details." He gave him another smile as he went back to his desk and brought over a case, "Now that we got that cleared up why don't we get down to business. Can I offer you a drink first?""No, I'm fine.""Aw, don't be modest my friend. We all deserve a little pick me up every now and then. You know ma momma always said business is best done with a little bit of alcohol in the gut.'' Slater said, pouring two glasses and offering one.Cetro only kept a hard expression, "I prefer to keep a sober mind when doing so.""Suit yourself." Slater downed the offered drink.Cetro wanted to get himself and his crew out of this place as soon as possible but there was a courtesy to these things. They were stuck in a horrible snake den and what's worse Cetro walked them right into it. His one saving grace was that Slater didn't seem to know that they were Crimson Storm, now he had to sit and stay focused on whatever deal Slater wanted to make, whether he got the part or not was irrelevant as long as it got them out of there. He cursed himself mentally for not calling Kanzo ahead of time.Slater put the case down, opening it revealing a black and purple device, "One G-133 Pendaren computer processor. Streamlines processing power to any device you hook it up to, s'long as it's compatible of course. Now I ain't no computer wizard, more of a red sand dealer myself, but I know that this bad boy here is a godsend for whatever piece of tech you want it for. But very hard to find outside of imperial space and even harder to get yer hands on in the empire without the proper know-how. How much you willing to pay for her?""Kanzo and I agreed to three thousand units."Slater pressed his lips together, "Three thousand, huh? That may have been fine and dandy with Kanzo, however we do things a little differently here. Five grand sounds more like the proper price that we would normally sell this for."Cetro saw this as his chance to get out of there and took it, it would cost him this piece of valuable tech but it was not worth his life or the people under him, "I was promised I'd pay three grand. Nothing more, nothing less. That's my final offer, take it or leave it."Slater frowned, "Like I said before. The Gold Sun's are in charge now, so we charge Gold Sun prices. I'm sure we can negotiate a fair price. How about four-ninety?""Sorry but we ain't willing to pay more than that.""That coming from you or your boss?" Slater leaned back pulling a cigarette from his coat, "Tech like this is used for industrial and military grade equipment, stuff that requires access to those things." He tried sparking up the cigarette with a golden lighter, "I don't like to pry in people's personal life but from the look of ya I don't think you'd be making enough to be able to afford this thing on yer own meaning yer using company money." His lighter failed to produce a spark, "And you never said who it was yer working for. We typically like to know who it is we're doing business with." When the lighter refused to spark he cursed then flexed his index finger and a spark of electricity traveled up his finger and lit his cigarette.He puffed out some smoke through his nose, "Sorry about that, need me some new lighting fluid. I prefer not to show off my little trick like that. Tends to catch people off guard."The sight of that electrical current was enough for Cetro to conclude this meeting by standing up, "We're done here. Keep the chip, I'll find it cheaper someplace else."Slater eyed him suspiciously as huffed some smoke and closed the case, "I'm sorry we couldn't come to an agreement Mr. Cetro. I'll escort you out.""No need." Cetro said quickly making his way to the door that was blocked off by a bouncer whose tall muscular frame almost blocked all view of the exit.Slader nodded for the man to move and Cetro pushed past him speed walking down the steps to the rest of his crew."We're leaving, let's go!" He ordered quickly as he marched to the door."Hope we can do business again in the future!" Slader's delighted voice echoed from the balcony as he watched them leave.Once they were gone his friendly persona faded as he flatly ordered one of his men, "Find out who their work'n for."Once they left the building the five of them piled into a hover taxi and flew directly back to the spaceport. Cetro marched down the corridors he was almost running with the rest doing their best to keep pace."You didn't think to contact your friend ahead of time just to make sure he wasn't murdered by a cartel?" Azula scolded Cetro as they walked."You think I don't know how bad this is?" He barked back, "Kanzo had always been able to stay on their good side, but I'm not really surprised he tried to steal from Euretta but his timing couldn't have been any worse.""Wait! He tried to steal from Euretta herself?" Skeeve practically had a panic attack."Guess that explains all the red sand dealers we've been seeing." Sev said."How did this happen though? Don't we normally keep track of these sorts of things?" Lectro asked."This had to be recent."Skeeve looked over his shoulder and scanned the crowd of people at the spaceport in clear paranoia, "You think they know? About us being Crimson Storm?"Azula grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of his frenzied paranoia, "They will if you don't keep your mouth shut and make it obvious.""They don't know. That leader of theirs, Slader, had no clue when we spoke, but it's only a matter of time until they find out. We just need to make sure we're gone by then.""Would they be able to prevent us from leaving the planet?" Azula asked as they entered an escalator."Probably. Sun's like to plant their own in all sorts of places."Just as they were about to enter the shipyard several security officers stepped in their way.A short green lizard man just like Lectro stepped forward, "Excuse me, I'm going to have to ask you all to come with us.""What for? We haven't done anything?" Lectro responded."Yeah we're just headed back to our ship." Sev followed up."I understand, just a random inspection we do on various people throughout the space port."Azula's thermal vision let her see his face heating up slightly, he was lying. The alarms rang in Azula's head once more as the men surrounded them. She could see a warm spot at all of their sides, they were armed. There was no doubt in her mind that these random security officers were probably working for the Sun's.One of the guards grabbed her wrist and on instinct she pulled away and sent a roundhouse kick to his face sending him sprawling to the floor.The other officers reached for their weapons. Sev used his large size and strength to his advantage by grabbing a guard in each hand and tossing them effortlessly at the others. Cetro sent his two right fists into the lead officer's stomach and tossed him aside.The last officer pulled out his weapon and took aim at Azula. She quickly closed the distance and grabbed hold of his wrist directing the weapon away as a stun shot was fired. As she held his wrist and prevented him from breaking free the temperature in her hand and the flesh she held onto rose until smoke trickled out. The officer screamed in pain as he kicked her off him, his limp wrist now having a hand shaped burn.She looked on in astonishment. She didn't think she would be capable of causing damage like this at her current power level.The officer tried to fire at her again only to be hit by a stun blast from the weapon Cetro pulled from his opponents hand."To the ship now!"They raced to the shipyard pushing past various aliens that happened to get in their way. An alarm soon went off and more security officers began to pour into the hangar."Oh no, we're not gonna make it, we're going to be stuck here!" Lectro panicked."Calculating all possible exit routes for our esc-" B3 was cut off when a small white metal device the size of a tea cup latched onto his body and a surge of electricity stopped his movements and caused him to fall over after his forced shut down.Sev quickly grabbed the downed machine with another device being shot at him by a security guard; it latched onto his left arm and forced it to shut down and drop B3. Several more of the devices were shot onto his limbs until he was unable to move and he fell over after a stun blast collided with body."Sev!" Lectro called out only for a stun blast to hit his upper back that came from a catwalk.Cetro was ready to counter but several stun blasts knocked him into unconsciousness.Now it was just Azula and Skeeve. The security guards surrounded both of them with their weapons trained.Skeeve immediately threw his hands in the air and shouted, "I surrender!"Azula could only scoff at him as she raised her own arms up to comply."Officer's, this is all some kind of big misunderstanding!" Skeeve said as smoothly as he could, "Now why don't we put the blasters down and talk this out like civilized-" a stun blast to the chest silenced him.Azula barely had time to react as a stun bolt was fired into her stomach sending an electric wave throughout her body making her go limp.After being stunned into unconsciousness Azula was awoken with a slap to the face. She took in her surroundings seeing that she was seated in a chair with her hands bound behind her back in the middle of the empty club that used to belong to Cetro's friend, now empty of the renovation crew and only populated with Gold Sun thugs. The room is still being illuminated by the yellow light of the holo-projector.The others were by her side secured in the same fashion with them being awoken in the same rude manner."What happened? Where are we? Are we dead?" Skeeve gasped out from her right as he darted his head around."No Skiv, we're not dead. At least not yet." Cetro answered, "Everyone alright?""No." Azula answered while stretching her body in an attempt to stretch the pain of being stunned away along with subtly testing the limits of her restraints, they were too tight to break free from, "I feel like I've been hit with lightning."Sev rotated his head as he slowly regained feeling in the fleshy parts of his body, "Those EMP shots really did a number on me."B3 remained turned off and faced down on the floor as if he had been tossed there.One of the thugs backhanded Sev and ordered him to be quiet."Why don't you take these restraints off and try that again buddy?" He grinned back in a cocky manner then spat some purple blood on the thug's expensive shoes.The thug jammed the electric end of a stun baton into his stomach."Sev, can you please not anger the guys who have us cuffed?" nervousness was present in Lectro's voice.Azula looked around for an exit, so far the only one was the main entrance behind her and it was guarded by several thugs. She heard a commotion in the kitchen area to her right as folk music played loudly with someone singing along, the sounds of cooking present.After one of the thugs notified whoever was in the kitchen of their presence a raspy voice called out in joy, "Right on time!"Slater exited the kitchen, the sleeves to his buttoned up shirt rolled up and a steaming entree in hand. Azula noticed on his bare arms there were three metallic blue stripe-like protrusions on each side of his forearms. She wondered if they were some sort of cybernetic."Good to see y'all again!" He presented the platter before them, "Hungry? I tell ya, y'all have not lived till you've tried ma momma's recipe for fried Tiliga trout. The secret is to fry it just right so it's crispy but not dry."Everyone remained silent from either fear or not wanting to indulge in idle chit chat."I could get a chef to cook this for me, maker knows I've got the money for it, but there's just a certain satisfaction of doing it yourself ya know. Sometimes getting yer hands dirty can be fun."Everyone continued their silence."Aw come on y'all, don't be shy. Made plenty for everyone." He held the dish out to Skeeve, "Give it a whiff. Don't that-there fish just smell tantalizing?""Uh… y-yeah it does. I guess." Skeeve said nervously.This short interaction let Azula know all she needed about this man's personality. He was a talker that loved the sound of his own voice and liked to drag conversations out either for his own pleasure or just because he can't help but go on tangents. His confident and casual demeanor along with his clothes being a mix of rugged and luxury wear suggested that he came from nothing and clawed his way out of the dirt into power and was eager to flaunt it."What do you want, Slater?" Cetro interrupted, already tired of this exchange, "Are you that mad that I didn't buy that part?"Slater pulled the dish away and sat down at a nearby table where he began to dig in, "That? Oh nah. I'll find another buyer for that in no time. I brought y'all back here because I had no idea we had members of the infamous Crimson Storm in ma city, and I'm sure ya know the boss lady gave out orders to kill y'all on site." He took a bite from his fried dish, "Man this is some good food! Y'all sure ya don't want any? Might be your last.""If you got orders to shoot on sight then why are we still alive?" Azula asked.One of the thugs raised his hand to strike her for speaking without being addressed but froze when Slater raised a hand to allow it."That's a mighty fine question there…" he squinted his eyes as he took a closer look at her, "What are you supposed to be, some kinda pendaren mutant?"She rolled her eyes at that."Anyway, the reason y'all are still breathing is because I've got a bit of an issue. You see, some ships carrying valuable and very illegal cargo, hand held lazy guns mostly, have been going missing as of late and the boss lady has been twisting ma arm about it. Next thing I know another one goes missing in our star system and several members of the Crimson Storm walk right in ma club. Y'all can't tell me that ain't no coincidence.""That's exactly what that is! We only came to Ginza to pick up supplies and for me to see Kanzo. That's it." Cetro explained.Slayer took another bite as he took his time to think up a response. No one dared to interrupt him, "And what am I supposed to do with that? Call up Euretta, tell her another ship's gone and that a few members of that merc group she really hates strolled up and I let them go because they said they had nothing to do with it? The boss lady ain't gonna like that one bit, no she won't."He got up with a piece of fried fish in hand and spoke with his mouth full, "So my friends, where are ma ships?"No one answered."Aw come on now fellas! I'm being nice right now, giving y'all the chance to come clean. I like being nice, nice makes everybody happy. Don't make me be nasty, I don't like being nasty. Things get messy when I'm nasty, ya know. Teeth start breaking, faces get bloody and my clothes get messy.""Sorry buddy but we had nothing to do with your missing ships." Sev answered.He stepped over to Sev, "Let's start with the child of material sin himself, Sevran! I've heard a big deal about you big boy. Gotta say though, thought you'd be taller." He said, craning his head up to the giant who was still taller than him even while sitting, "So you gonna tell me what I want to know or am I gonna haveta strip ya down for parts and feed what's left of ya to the local animal shelter?"Sev kept a hard expression, if it wasn't for the EMP bolts placed on his limbs he'd have broken out of his restraints and tossed Slater through the nearest window, "Wasn't us. Pirates could have easily done it."Slater chuckled, "Son, we own the pirates out here and any that ain't under our payroll ain't dumb enough to try it. Funny enough, it's actually our pirate ships that are go'n missing."He turned his attention to Lectro next to him and sat down on the still deactivated B3, "What about you skinny? You look like a squealer. You tell me where ma ships are and I'll just let ya go."Lectro looked nervous. He has clearly never been in a situation like this and it showed as his body shook and he fumbled over his words, "I-I w-would tell you if-if I knew good sir. B-but we're telling the truth. W-we had nothing to do with that."Slater took another bite, "Nah, I ain't buying it. I feel like you ain't being honest with me skinny." He grabbed Lectro's face forcing him to look into his eyes."I'm telling the truth! I promise! The captain wouldn't even tell us any details about stuff like that if she was doing it!"Slater let go of Lectro pondering his words as he finished his food, "That's right. Y'all are at the bottom of the totem pole. My'Rell wouldn't tell y'all anything, unless…" he turned to Cetro and took a few steps towards him, "I talk to someone who's in charge, like you Mr. Cetro. After all, we know you are the head engineer of that old battleship of hers and that you've got ties to the Codello family, I.e. Kanzo."Cetro kept a stoney expression, "How do you know that?""Yer buddy Kanzo liked to keep a lot of records on people he does business with, and what we couldn't find out from that our bartender filled us in."Cetro growled, "Jakro wouldn't sell me out like that!""Yer right. He wasn't really will'n to talk but after a few black eyes and a broken wrist he was singing like there was no tomorrow!" Slater said and grinned as casually as if he was talking about his dinner."You son of a- When I get my hands on you I'll-""Ah-Ah! I'd be nice to me if I was you. After all, I've got all y'all's lives in ma… somewhat greasy hands. Somebody get me a napkin." He ordered one of his men."You killed him! Didn't you?" Cetro accused, not even attempting to hide his anger as he tried to stand only for the thugs behind him to pull him back into his chair."Sorry to tell ya this old timer, but no. It wasn't me, and honestly it would have been a mercy if I had done it." He knelt down as if he was speaking to a child, "Ya see, Euretta came here herself to deal with this whole situation and ooooooweeee! I tell ya what, she held no punches!"Cetro was so agitated the thugs had to hold him in place."Let me tell ya what she did to Kanzo. If I were the one to do it I would have just shot him and been done with it, but Euretta." He shook his head as he remembered, "That woman is something else, I tell ya. She had him, all his most loyal people and his family dragged out to one of the dry docks at the edge of the dome; stripped him down to his draws then doused him in the coldest water she could find under the dome, then she told him to take a walk outside during a blizzard."Cetro's eyes widened in horror knowing the temperatures of Ginza's natural environment was in the negatives year around and even worse during a blizzard."Yeah, and she told him if he made it at least ten yards before his whole body froze over she'd spare his family.""How far… HOW FAR DID HE MAKE IT!?" Cetro shouted, unable to restrain his fury.Slater only stood back up with a sly smile, "I'll leave that up to yer imagination." He then grabbed Cetro's face quickly, holding it in a firm grasp as he spoke through gritted teeth in a gravelly aggressive tone completely losing the air of calm friendliness he presented, "Now you see what I've got breathing down ma neck. If these ships keep going missing on ma watch, who do you think Euretta is gonna make walk out into the blizzard next? So tell me Mr. Cetro, where are ma damn ships?"Cetro spat on his face, "Like I said we don't know nothing?"Slater wiped it away, "Alright, you wanna be difficult? Fine by me, in fact since I admire your dedication I'll let you wear one of ma chains."Azula was confused by this odd gesture as she watched him remove one of his many garish gold chains and place it around Cetro's neck."It's a great honor to wear one of ma chains. Ya know how expensive these things are? Shame I'm gonna have to ruin this one."Slater grabbed the golden pendant and the metallic blue stripes around his forearms contracted, generating sparks of yellow electricity from his forearms that traveled up the conductive metal around Cetro's neck delivering a painful shock throughout his body.Cetro cried out in pain as Sev tried to force his non-functioning limbs into motion as both Lectro and Skeeve watched in horror."You're wasting your time you fool!" Azula said.Slater's electric assault on Cetro ceased as he turned his piercing orange eyes to her.He let go of the chain and sauntered over, "Oh really, little lady? Care to enlighten me on why that is?" He held a hand close to her cheek as if he was going to caress it before tensing up as electric energy ran between his fingers."Space is a big place after all, ships must go missing all of the time. It could have been any number of things." She pulled her face away as his crackling fingertips inched closer, "Blaming us won't get you your cargo back.""Maybe, but I'm sure y'all would make for an excellent fall guy." he inched his hand closer, the peach fuzz of her face beginning to stand on end.Lectro then remembered something the captain had said, "Wait! My'Rell said something about ships going missing in these parts before we left! Surely your ships aren't the only ones going missing too?"Slater paused his hand just before his electric fingertips could make contact with her face. Slater did remember hearing reports of civilian freighters going missing as well."P-plus!" Skeeve added, hoping he could help get them out of this situation, "The SeCore is an old ship, probably centuries old! It wouldn't be able to keep up with any modern day ships you throw at it. So there'd be evidence from debris that it would be us."Slater scoffed and pulled his electric hand away, "I ain't stupid. The SeCore is old but I know y'all have outfitted it with all the modern day gadgets and she wouldn't be up against any of our high end cruisers. What's missing are freighters, tugboats, small fighters. The SeCore could easily handle those.""Maybe you guys just suck at keeping track of your stuff!" Sev mocked only to be met with a stun baton shoved into his stomach again."If he opens his mouth again, shoot him in whatever part of him that ain't metal!" Slater ordered as his impatience grew.Things were escalating quickly. Azula needed more information in order to talk her way out, "When did your last ship go missing?""Two days ago. Why?""Two days ago the SeCore was sitting in a hangar undergoing repairs from a battle with Death's Head a couple days prior.""What about the rest of your ships? That rust bucket ain't the only ship My'Rell has."Cetro now somewhat recovered from his electric shock, breathed out a response, "All… all ships got recalled back… back to base.""Really, and why is that now? You expecting us?""Courtix. We're…we're expecting an attack from Courtix."Slater thought about this discovery for a moment, "Hold on now. I heard that ol man Duritax got blown to smithereens the other day and it put Courtix in a mood so fiery it would make a volcano jealous. That was y'all that did that?"Slater scratched his chin as he returned to the table seeming to be somewhat swayed by this news, "Say I believe y'all. That still puts me back at square one, four missing ships and no solution to find them. Which means what am I gonna do with y'all?""How about you just let us leave and we forget this exchange ever happened. We could always throw in some cash for your trouble." Azula suggested. She hated how weak it made her look but Slater held all of the power here and pleasing him may be their only way out."Nah, this ain't the type of problem you can throw cash at.""Then how about a trade?" Skeeve suggested.Azula and the others looked at him knowing what he was suggesting. Skeeve hated that he had to throw this in and that the client would be angry with this but no job was worth his life."And what exactly do y'all have that's worth all four of yer lives?""Skiv! If you say a word to this bastard, I swear I will-" Cetro was silenced when one of the thugs punched his stomach.Azula inched closer to him and whispered, "Hush up! This could be our only chance to get out of this!"Slater gave Skeeve a look to continue, "We-uh, we recently got a piece of valuable tech that I'm sure the captain would be willing to trade for all of us to be returned, unharmed that is.""What type of tech we talking about, stolen imperial tech?" Slater asked, returning to his meal."Better! A fabricator."Slater paused while eating, his interest fully captured and he quickly disregarded his dinner."And where did you get this fabricator from, exactly?"Azula answered when Skeeve couldn't provide the necessary information, "The Crimson Storm got it after clearing a pirate den, they were probably going to sell it for a lot of units, but if you speak with My'Rell the only thing you'd have to pay for is our lives. You might not find your ships but those can be replaced, hier new people and as for your lost cargo, the fabricator could just create what you need to replace it. No expense needed."Slater leaned back in his chair scratching his chin deep in thought, "One of Kanzo's reports talked about a piece of lost tech like that that he was gonna buy off some pirates. That must have been it." He got up and began pacing as he thought aloud, "Euretta doesn't give a damn about the ship's or the crew, all she's worried about is the cargo. I could replace everything that was lost and then some! Hell! She'll probably even forget about this whole fiasco to begin with!" Slater's charming confidence returned as a wide grin formed on his face, "Ooooooweeee! Things are looking up for me!""My'Rell won't trade that thing for us!" Cetro barked."Oh I wouldn't be so sure ma friend. My'Rell's the sentimental type that actually gives a damn about her crew. I'm sure she'll oblige." He handed his dish to one of the thugs, "Wrap this in some foil and stick it in the fridge for me. Somebody get me ma jacket, take all them to ma ship. We're going to make a trade!""What the hell are you thinking kid?" Cetro said to Azula."Shush! I have a plan." she whispered back."Really?" he asked skeptically."Partially, I'm making it up as I go."The thugs pulled them to their feet and began directing them to follow Slater while several had to lift Sev's body.
The Chrissea ( 1602jaw ) by 1602jaw
Ash's Kanto Journey My Version Chapter 10Chapter 10: Abandonment Issues"Human Speech""Pokemon Speech and Flashback"'Telepathy'We join our heroes as they head to the Pokemon Center near the village where Mellony lived. Eevee was still worrying about her soon-to-be eggs, and she looks like she would pass out at any point. "Hey, Eevee, are you going to be okay?" Bulbasaur said to Eevee, who was unsure what to say as Ash, who was also worried."You want a lift on my shoulder?; I know that it's not usually a good thing for soon-to-be mothers, but I'm sure that you don't want to be captured right away because it will send you to Professor Oaks's lab," Ash asked Eevee, who nodded and turned to Bulbasaur, who knew what she was going to ask."I'll be gentle. Just hang on tight on Ash's shoulder, and please don't try to squirm out of my vines," Bulbasaur said to Eevee, who nodded as he proceeded to use Vine Whip to lift her while not grabbing her belly and managed to get her on Ash's shoulder, which was the right move as any forced form of lifting might cause any possible issues. Ash, Riolu, and Flare who were all out of their Pokeballs agree that this was the best way to ensure her safe arrival. Ash even took the time to pet her head, giving her extra attention near her right ear, causing her to purr with delight."Say, Mellony, how much longer until we reach the Pokemon Center?" Misty asked Mellony, who was thinking for a second about how Eevee was doing and if Eevee's eggs were alright, and heard what Misty said."I'd say about a half hour from now if we don't take any pitstops, that is," Mellony said to the group. Eevee sighed on Ash's shoulders. She was still in pain, trying to keep calm so that the eggs would be alright until she senses something nearby, making a yip to catch the group's attention before they hear a grumbling that seemed like some Pokemon was yelling."Who in the right mind would put up a string trap like this? This is stupid. Can this day get any worse?" the voice said as it was not far from where the group was. It is revealed as the group reaches the cause of the ruckus Eevee noticed to be a penguin Pokémon hanging upside-down from a trap on a tree nearby. The Pokémon noticed the group. "Oh, great; it did get worse."Seeing that a Pokemon was in distress, Ash is the first to try and approach the penguin Pokemon."Let's get you down, and we'll help you out," Ash said as he tried to get near the Pokemon hanging from the tree, only for him to be stopped in his tracks as the Pokemon sends out a Bubblebeam towards Ash."Hey, that was uncalled for, we're trying to help you out," Ash said as the Pokemon waved his flippers to show that he didn't want help."Leave it to me, Ash," Flare said to Ash, who saw as Flare used the Flamethrower on the rope but before the penguin Pokemon could react quickly and protest that it was a bad idea, the rope was burnt, and the Pokemon dropped on his head. Pleased at her "rescue," Flare said: "There, maybe you'll be more grateful to us for helping you like that."Upset at how it got down from the trap, the group hear."I had this handled before you all came and "helped" like that. I'm sure that you all probably put that trap up for me, given that all you humans are the same. You just want Pokemon for your own selfish reasons and do not care about us and our feelings while you make us do something stupid like Contests," the Pokemon said, thinking that he was only speaking to Ash's Pokemon, unaware his conversation was being translated through the Pokedex from everyone to understand. Given this was a newly Integrated feature and all."And I thought we were stubborn," Flare said to Riolu, who crossed her paws before adding to the conversation."Part of what Piplup are known for. They are as stubborn as a Charizard and Buizel combined, and that's the nice ones, but you aren't wrong about that," Riolu said to Flare as Ash now knowing that this Pokemon was known as a Piplup took note of the conversation.As Piplup was seeing the human seemingly understand his Pokemon completely, was caught by surprise to all this. When he heard:"By the way, Piplup, a few things. One, they can understand you; two, we just got here, and three, do you see the Eevee on the boy who tried to save you shoulders? She's expecting, and you could've done some damage to her and the eggs she's carrying," Riolu said to Piplup, who was taken aback by this as he tried to process it. Thinking about what was said, he knew he had to accept his actions were premature."Ugh, fine. Thanks for helping me. Now, please leave me alone. I'm still not trusting any humans, so you should consider yourself lucky for now," Piplup said as he waddled off in the opposite direction of the group, just as Ash was about to say something."Let him be, Ash. We don't know what his issues with humans are, and we don't want to cause issues with Eevee here if he lands a blow on you two," Flare said to Ash, who nodded. Curious to know a bit more about Piplups, he searched his Pokedex for info, much to his dismay as he watched the now identified Sinnoh water starter waddle his way out of view."I know how you feel, Ash. I'm also worried about him, but he wants to be left alone, and we should get going, too. We can find out what is going on at the Pokemon Center after we get Eevee checked out," Misty said to Ash, who nodded as the group left. Latios and Latias were also concerned about him, as it wasn't normal for a starter to be out like this, and they wondered who put up that trap like that.As the group head towards Mellony's suggested path, it suddenly started raining hard. Ash returned Flare to her ball as it was one of the few times she was okay with being in it. They soon spotted the Pokemon Center and reached it before the heavy downpour started."Man, that was close," Ash said, letting Flare out of her ball. "We really need to check the weather whenever we are out now, we don't want issues with your tail flame, girl," Ash said to Flare who sighed that things didn't get worse if Ash hadn't been quick to think of recalling her."I don't think that is necessary, Ash. Weather is unpredictable, so we can't know when it will strike, so no worries," Flare said to Ash. While Riolu and the rest of the Pokemon who remained outside of their Pokeballs are drying off, Flare soon joins them to give them warmth from her tail flame to avoid the team catching the equivalent of a cold for Pokémon. Pokerus.It is then when Nurse Joy, with a Blissey by her side notices the group and saw Eevee recognizing her along with Mellony."So, is it about that time? It was almost a week since we last saw Eevee, How is she doing, Mellony?" Nurse Joy said to Mellony, who replies:"From how she's been acting, she looks to be expecting soon enough; the problem is the pain has gotten worse since she was here last," Mellony said to Joy, who nods as she gently takes Eevee off Ash's shoulder and places her on a cart as the Blissey took her to the checkup room as Joy turns to Ash."I take that you will be taking her in once she is cleared to travel?" Joy said to Ash, who shakes his head. "What do you mean, are you or aren't you taking her in, young man?" Joy said to Ash, who was about to go off on him before Ash clarifies his answer."I'm saying no because she is going to be with my mother once she is cleared to leave or has her eggs; either or both will happen while we are here. It was Eevee's request, as she doesn't want to be a human-trained Pokemon," Ash explained as he pointed out his translator, which Nurse Joy is a new Pokedex feature before she sighs and calms down."I see. Sorry about that, young man. It's just that Eevee has been through a lot lately, and we've been keeping an eye on her, so I was hoping she would find a trainer of her own one day, but I'm glad this is a better option," Joy said to Ash, who understanding Joy's worry is glad that he is able to help Eevee.The group has now settled in as Ash went to check on Eevee, who was now being checked on by the Blissey. Flare, Bulbasaur, and Riolu stood beside him, collectively worried about Eevee."Hey, we'll wait for her and let you know if anything changes. In the meantime, why don't you relax with the others, Ash?" Bulbasaur said to Ash, who looked at him with an appreciative smile before he walked off to join the other travel companions. Leaving the Pokemon to talk amongst themselves."I can tell that it's not just Eevee that Ash is worried about. If I know him as well as I think I do, he's also thinking about Piplup, but although it's raining heavily out there, it should be ok, right? It is a water type and a starter, after all," Flare said to Bulbasaur and Riolu, who turned to her and stated:"I agree with you, Flare. He's a starter Pokemon from my region, and I'm pretty knowledgeable about most Pokemon there. He should be fine. However, our top priority is Eevee. Piplup has already mentioned that he doesn't want to be around us, but I'm curious about the reasons behind his issues," Riolu crossed her paws as this is the most stubborn Piplup ever she's come across, even more than what his line is known for."It sounds like he was abandoned," Bulbasaur told the two who turned to him. "I've seen it with the other Pokemon at the village, and he's showing signs of going through a trainer or two before meeting us. You saw the way he acted towards Ash; that's a sign of hurt and abandonment, not just pride," Bulbasaur said to the two, who looked down in understanding.. "I hope that he is alright, though," Riolu said as she looked out the window. It was pouring so heavily that even Buizel couldn't use their ability, Swift Swim.We cut to Piplup, who was sprinting towards a hole in a tree not far from the Pokemon Center where Ash and co. were staying. As he made it to safety, he started panting heavily before shaking off the excess water from his body. Being soaked from head to flipper was just about the last straw on this horrible day."I take what I said back. This is the worst thing that can happen," Piplup said as he finally caught his breath and sat down, waiting for the rain to stop."I can't believe another trainer abandoned me, all because I wouldn't battle the way he wanted to and tried to go with the way I wanted to battle," Piplup said as he looked up, thinking back to before meeting Ash and the others when he was with his previous trainer.FlashbackPiplup was with his previous trainer, who was training with his Pokemon, and Piplup was trying different battle styles that he was used to when he was young. On the other hand, his previous trainer wasn't amused, nor was he happy that he wasn't obeying his orders or doing a move correctly. Or rather what he dubbed as correctly and was quick to make it known."No, no, no! Why are you fighting like that? You are supposed to battle the way I want. As a trainer, you should obey my commands," The trainer said to Piplup, who turned to him and heck. Piplup didn't agree to obey a trainer he had joined to get stronger. "To think that you of all mons are supposed to be the best, but all you are showing is why you are known for being prideful and unwilling to listen."Piplup was curious as to what he was about to do. Despite not being as prideful as, say, Dragon Types were known to be, once you earn a Piplup's trust and respect, you would find the Sinnoh starter to be one the most fierce Pokemon should they bring out the potential in them to reach the Empoleon evolutionary stage. Very few ever tried, enjoying keeping Piplups as Piplups for their cuteness, and most accepted that as a means to please their trainers, but not all desired that life. Some needed the thrill of battle. Craved it, actually. They just a different way to go about it. Why wouldn't a trainer trust a Pokemon to know what may best the best of battle for themselves and enhance that?"If you don't like the way I do things, then you should go ahead and leave. You are no better than you were when I found you. Pathetic and weak, just like whatever trainer abandoned you before I found you. You will either listen to me or leave, do you understand? Your choice. What will you do?" he said as Piplup was taken aback by his trainer's words. They were deliberately hurtful. Piplup took the hint and made his choice as he started to walk off, trying his best to not let that horrendous trainer see the tears falling from his face, just as his trainer said:"Fine! You were always a loser and not even worth the PokeBall you were caught in," he said before dropping it and smashing his ball.Not knowing much about Kanto and the intense measures poachers had gone to as a means to secure Pokemon foreign to Kanto, Piplup found himself lost and soon failed to notice the trap it was caught in briefly after before the group found it.End FlashbackHe was starting to think about it earlier and wished that he had gone with them if he had known this would happen, though he shook his head at that thought."No, he probably would've caught me and not cared about my feelings or how I wanted to battle," Piplup said as he slammed his flipper on the inside of the tree. "Humans are all the same, treating Pokemon as pawns of battle and not caring about us at all," Piplup said as he saw how the female pregnant Eevee was perfectly fine with being on Ash's shoulders, as were Riolu and Charmeleon being beside him."I don't get it why someone who is expecting so content on being with humans, and that Riolu know's a lot about my evolutionary line. Yes her line is from my home region as well," Piplup shook his head. "Ugh, I don't get it, but if that boy is willing to want me, he has to prove that he does care for his Pokemon not just me," Piplup said as he looked at the Pokemon Center as the rain was clearing up.Just then, Piplup noticed a certain human walking towards the Pokemon Center and growled at him."Oh, great. Of all the people who could show up, it had to be him. I'll wait until he's gone to see if that group of humans is there or not," Piplup said to himself, as just seeing that human made him madder than he was before. Today was just about the worst day of Piplup's life thus far.Meanwhile, Ash and the others were waiting to hear how Eevee was doing just as a boy walked into the Pokemon Center with a group of people hot of his heels and the boy who seemed like he was the defacto leader of the bunch, audibly grunted the loudest amongst them."To think that this day could get any worse. First, my Pokemon left my team and now, this storm hits," the boy said to his friends, who caught the attention of Ash and the others."I mean, Pokemon are supposed to listen to humans, so him leaving the team is an Arceus's end for you, Andrew," one of the members of the group said as the one who first spoke, who was identified to be named Andrew, laughed. This made Ash tighten his fist as he suspension that this could be the trainer that abandoned Piplup became more and more of a reality. Still he listened in and did the rest of the group."You kidding? He was already abandoned before meeting me, and from what I heard, it seems that he is being hunted by poachers. You think that he would be happy that I took him in, right? It's not as if Pokemon like Piplup aren't easy to come by here in Kanto," Andrew said, as Ash was not happy that he said that finally confirming that this vile trainer did abandon Piplup and ran up to him."So you are the one who both abandoned and strung up the Piplup we saw in the middle of the road not far from here?" Ash asked in an intense tone directed to Andrew, who turned to Ash and laughed at him but wondered who he was and why he would care about that poor excuse for a Pokemon."One, he left my team for not wanting to accept listening to my commands, as Pokemon should do anyways as a duty to their trainers. Two, did you not hear about what I said about Pokemon outside of Kanto being hunted by poachers? That trap is probably something that was set up for him or any other Pokemon in the area that isn't familiar with Kanto. Finally, why would you care about him anyway and what is it to you? You shouldn't stick your nose in someone else's business unless you're willing to do something about it," Andrew said to Ash as Misty and Brock heard this threat and soon stood beside him. This caught Andrew a bit by surprise, and he soon recognized one of them."Say, aren't you a Gym Leader?" Andrew said to Brock, who remained stoic before Misty confirmed he was, noting he didn't direct his question towards before adding."Brock here isn't the only one here who has ties to the League, young man," Misty said not yet revealing that she herself is a Gym Leader.At this Andrew scoffed that he should be afraid of anyone associated with to the League. But soon, Ash continues to makes his case."And we've had run-ins with other Pokemon that have been abandoned. Trainers like you are selfish and I take it that you are why Piplup has issues with humans. Do you even deserve to be a Trainer?" Ash finished. Andrew, who took offense that Ash would say something like that."Hey, he had those issues before meeting me, and it's not your call to tell people how to raise Pokemon or not, kid. You are probably a joke of a Trainer who thinks that everyone can get along with Pokemon here in this region," Andrew said with venom behind every word. He despised Trainers that were goody two shoes and wanted to be friends with Pokemon. Pathetic.Ash was about to say something only for Nurse Joy to step in. She was not happy."That's enough! All of you. Now, if you want to throw down, you should take it outside when the clouds clear, as this is a Pokemon Center, not a battleground." Joy said as Ash and Andrew shut up and nodded. Ash in a bit of shame and Andrew as a means to end this whole fiasco but wouldn't leave without getting the final word."Fine by me, I'll prove to you why you should treat Pokemon like the tools they are," Andrew said to Ash, who had seen this tactic before. He just kept to himself and said nothing other than deliver a fierce glare towards Andrew that silently yet at the same time loudly emitted a "Bring it on!” vibe."Let's go, guys. Let's get away from these losers. The League is more of a joke than I thought if these are some of it's representatives," Andrew said, having not to waste time with the group as he and his cohorts walked away."Sorry about that, Nurse Joy. It sounded like you heard of these guys," Ash said to Joy, who took a sigh of relief when the confrontation that was set to escalate thankfully ended before she explained the situation to Ash and his friends."Andrew and his friends, more like followers, Amelia, Jason, and Issac, are the type of friends who have been known for causing issues lately. They are strong, but rumor has it that they are former Team Rocket members."This caught the group off guard and really made Ash consider facing him that much more if he could help Pokemon like Piplup find their way out of the grasp of evil-doers like those formerly associated with Team Rocket."That's the rumor, anyway. Given that Team Rocket disbanded a long time ago, I don't know how true the rumor might be, but there have been reports of more Pokemon being found in former Team Rocket lairs like that of the Celadon Game Corner and being released from their captivity after being left in cages and being left without food or water for who knows how long. It's been hard to help with the rehabilitation of these Pokemon given their mistrust of humans. All we can do is keep trying and hope they can live better lives in the long run," Joy said to Ash and the others while Andrew and his friends were out of earshot."If they are with Team Rocket or were with them, why hasn't anyone reported anything? Wouldn't your word as a Nurse carry weight in reporting the actions trainers like that can put their Pokemon through, like of they're bruised or malnourished?" Misty said to Joy, who shook her head."Cause there's no proof of their evil doings, at least when it refers to their Pokemon. Some Pokemon are so devoted to pleasing their trainers they go along with their goals, despicable as they may be to where when asked by our Chanseys, Blisseys and Audino across the world they will say it was just an accident or in some cases refuse to open in fear of their trainers not feeding them or worse. It's not just us a care providers to report Trainers that do heinous acts, it's also on the Pokemon themselves and if they want to escape their current circumstances. Besides, they usually skip out of town once they either win a battle or lose a battle, finding other means to heal their Pokemon or not to avoid any contact with the League," Joy said as she continued. "For some reason, they have been very good with keeping it low profile if they are with them, but enough of that. Remember, that's not why you're here; it's Eevee. Ready for an update on her?" Joy asked Ash and the group. Soon, the group that Riolu, Bulbasaur, and Flare were in stood behind Joy as they heard the entire thing."Is she alright?" Mellony asked Joy, who nodded as she turned to Eevee's room. She then continued with the update."She's fortunate that you got her here as soon as you could because, according to her check-up with Blissey, I'm happy to report that she will have her eggs at any minute. That's the other reason why I wanted to calm things down here before things got worse," Joy said, as Ash and the others were surprised by this."She's going to have her eggs tonight, and once she's had them and at least an hour passes, she'll be cleared to be caught and transferred to Professor Oaks' lab," Joy said to the group. Ash and the others sighed as they felt that was the case, given how she was acting and in pain from all that walking."Luckily, whatever happened earlier didn't cause issues with her eggs, so she'll have them tonight. Let's let things play out, and they should. Not much more you all can do for now, so please, sleep. You all should go and rest. I'll contact both the League and the police about Andrew's group to inform them of Piplup's release, and hopefully, they can find it soon once the rain does down a bit, but by that time, they probably will be gone before they can get there, so you will have to help to make a report given you have insght to Piplup's situation having helped it be free from the trap and whatnot," Joy said to Ash and the others as they nodded as Joy took her leave.Ash and the others sat down and sighed as Riolu, Flare, and Bulbasaur approached the group. Latios and Latias were now visible and weren't happy about what was said.'You believe them about not putting up that trap for Piplup? Because no one who treats Pokemon like that would plead innocence about that,' Latias said to Ash and the others who weren't sure."I'm not sure, Latias. I can tell that he means what he said. You saw how he acted when I accused him like that, and it was almost a similar situation with Piplup towards us," Ash said to Latias, who was about to say something only for her brother to put in his own opinion on the matter.'I really hate to say it, sis, but Ash is right; he admitted to releasing Piplup, and you saw how Piplup acted towards Ash. You would think that he would try to put up that trap if he wanted him again. Not to mention he did mention that there are poachers who are after Piplup and other rare Pokemon, just as they are still trying to figure out how to catch and then what to do with us,' Latios said to his sister, who chose that silence was the right answer while gathering her thoughts. Ash was curious about what Latios meant before it was Latias' turn to speak up.'As you know, we were brought here in Kanto. We'd been avoiding poachers for weeks before meeting you guys, and we didn't like how they treated their Pokemon. You can tell by how I acted with AJ a while back, thinking that he was one of the poachers who tried to come after us,' Latias said to the group."You think he's with the same group who brought you here? I mean, we haven't run into Team Rocket since the day Misty and I started our journey as trainers, and it was the trio that my brother had faced a lot in the past," Ash said to Latios and Latias, who wasn't sure about what to say. The nature of poaching didn't merit exclusivity to Team Rocket. Notorious wanted criminals like Hunter J would jump at the bit to be the ones to capture and sell Latias and Latios to the highest, or who knows if she, or any poacher for that matter, would want them for themselves and wreak havoc across the Pokemon World. This was a truly terrifying thought. But that was a problem for tomorrow and beyond. Right now, they needed to focus on Andrew and the challenge made towards Ash."Ash, we should be more worried about the group here right now cause we need to figure out a way to face them. Knowing them, they probably are listening to the whole thing right now," Misty said to Ash and the others, who nodded. They wouldn't put it past them to resort to tactics like that to try and gain the upper hand on Ash."Right, let's not talk about who will battle tomorrow, but we don't know what he has on his team, so let's leave it to that," Ash declared. Flare was willing to fight, though Latias and Riolu also wanted to. Ash and the others were the only ones who could understand them, given that it was a new function of the Pokedex holders, and they worked with Pokemon near the wearers.Little did they know it, but Andrew was Indeed listening to the whole thing. He was okay with not knowing who he would be facing, though he is impressed that Ash and the others not only have a legendary but two on their team wanted by poachers. If he played his cards right, this could lead to an opportunity unlike any other...The next day came, and the rain had dissipated. The group was informed that Eevee already had her eggs and was resting. This made all the focus for the time being on the battle between Ash and Andrew, who were outside on the battlefield near the Pokemon Center.Meanwhile, back in the tree from the night before, Piplup was resting. It was not long before the noise of Trainers nearby caught its attention, and it started to wake up only to see the noise come from the group that saved him but also his past trainer, Andrew."What are they up to?" The Sinnoh starter thought as he hid nearby. He now watched the entire thing from afar as Brock was preparing for his role in reffing the battle."So, how many Pokemon do you suggest for this battle, Andrew?" Ash asked as Andrew didn't wait to deliver a cocky smile and held up three fingers."3v3 if that's fine with you. Just don't think that I'm going easy on you," Andrew said as he pulled out a Pokeball. "Let's start this off, Magby. Come on out," Andrew said as he sent out his first Pokemon, which was a fire type, and it looked like it had undergone a lot of training.Ash then pulled out a Pokeball of his own. "Let's get going, Tranpinch, come on out," Ash sent out his first Pokemon. Andrew wasn't impressed that Ash had one. He has rare Pokemon of his own. So why worry that this kid has one?"Are you thinking that you'll have an easy win because of it having a type advantage, or are you doubting that I'm not going easy on you, kid?" Andrew said to Ash, who shook his head, knowing he shouldn't take battles lightly. He trusts Trapinch and would use him even with the type disadvantage. With no straight answer from Ash, Andrew takes the initiative."Humph, suit yourself. Magby, use Flamethrower," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who fired the fire attack towards Tranpinch."Dig, and then use Crunch," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who dug underground, headed towards the fire-type Pokemon, and emerged from the ground."Oh no, you don't! Use Brick Break. Counter it." Andrew commanded his Pokemon, which slammed its fists right into Tranpinch just as it was about to bite Magby. Now, use Mega Punch," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, which slammed its fists into Tranpinch, sending it back towards its Trainer's direction."You, okay, Tranpinch?" Ash asked him, who nodded, showing that it would take more than that to take him out so easily."Humph, not bad, kid. I'll give you that: He's strong. It seems like he's been battling more than I thought he would, but I won't let this get to me. Now, Flamethrower," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack at the Tranpinch.Since recovering, Tranpinch looked like he was taking in some sunlight, something Ash noticed while Andrew didn't. This was a big mistake."Fire Solar Beam, now," Ash commanded, catching Andrew off guard as Tranpinch Pokemon fired at Flamethrower, causing an explosion as both attacks collided."Now, Gust," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who launched a Gust of wind at Magby. While most would question why Trapinch would know Gust, Ash was thankful to Brock, who, through a few breeding techniques while on a late-night training session, was able to have Trapinch learn the move. Before recovering from the attack, Magby stood his ground from trying to be blown away. It wasn't going well."Ugh, Flamethrower, stop it!" Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who fired the attack with such ferocious intent that the tailwinds of the Gust attack actually helped the flames intensify as they made their way toward Tranpinch as it canceled the attack. However, it was just too late, as the flames were about to make contact."Dig, now," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who dug underground again. This was the only way Trapinch was able to survive being burnt to a crisp. Before Ash could signal another attack, Andrew took charge."It's not going to happen, Lava Plum on the ground, Magby; put an end to this battle. Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who sent his fists on the ground, sending shockwaves of fire towards the hole where Tranpinch went in as it blasted, only for him not to be there. "What the?""Attack now, Tranpinch. Feint Attack!" Ash commanded his Pokemon, who slammed right into Magby, sending him to the ground and knocking him out."Magby is unable to battle Tranpinch wins," Brock announced as Ash and Tranpinch celebrated happily, though Tranpinch was tired from all that as Andrew returned his Pokemon to its ball. He was not happy he lost, but he was proud to see how strong his Magby has grown. Soon, he would have the Magmar he desired. Soon."Humph, not bad kid. I can see why you own one, but this is only the beginning. Tranpinch, come on out."Andrew sent out his own Tranpinch as Ash knew that his Tranpinch might be too tired to fight."Are you okay taking a break for now?" Ash asked Tranpinch, who nodded as he returned him to his ball.All the while, Piplup watched and was amazed by how different Ash's battle styles on Andrew were. He was willing to care for his Pokemon when they were tired of facing another member of its line. 'Would he truly care for me in ways others haven't? Maybe...' For now, he'd continue watching."Spearow, come on out," Ash sent out his next Pokemon, who took flight and was ready to fight as Andrew realized that Ash wasn't going to use Latias in this fight. This was bothersome. He'd hoped to face and defeat the Legendary. He'd have to force Ash to use it, and that meant defeating that flying nuisance in such a fashion he'd have to bring out his strongest Pokémon to even try to make a comeback."Now use Drill Peck," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who charged at Tranpinch. A snapped off his train of thought regarding Latias, Andrew retaliates."Feint Attack, then Rock Tomb," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who, with amazing speed, dodged the Drill Peck and vanished behind Spearow, then slammed its body on Spearow and launched Rocks towards the avian. Ash knew he had to take charge."Feather Dance, then Aerial Ace, Spearow," Ash commanded him, who launched the feathers on Tranpinch, lowering the damage to the Rock Tomb before it hit him and trapped it in the rocks. "Spearow!" Ash said as Spearow was struggling in the rocks."That's Checkmate. Now let me show you what a real attack looks like, Hyper Beam," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who charged up its attack and fired it at Spearow."Spearow, we won't let them get to us like this. We're a team. Use Steel Wing and Aerial Ace. Get out of there," Ash commanded him, whose wings glowed and destroyed the rocks before Spearow dodged the Hyper Beam barely, then began charging at Tranpinch, who was suffering from the recharge from the Hyper Beam and slammed right into him with Aerial Ace sending him flying across the battlefield.Andrew was surprised that Ash had come back from all that, though he had something up his sleeve for the next round of attack."Get up, you little runt. We're not done," Andrew said in an angry tone toward his Pokemon, who was getting up. The Pokemon was not happy that Andrew was angry with him but knew that he must win. There were consequences he and his comrades suffered if they didn't. Not always but enough times that when he got this angry, it was his Pokemon who paid the price."We need to be careful. We don't know if it knows Counter or anything of that sort, but he is showing that he was with Team Rocket or that sort by treating his Pokemon like that," Ash stated as he looked at Spearow, who seemed confident in continuing even after all it's been through so far. Ash sighed in relief that Spearow hadn't been too injured or tired just yet. "Right, let's try and end this, use Aerial Ace, then Drill Peck," Ash commanded his Pokemon.Spearow was charging in at Tranpinch, which wasn't moving. Ash felt something was off and knew he had to prepare for the worst. He may be too late to do so."Flail, now just as it hits you," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, as Ash hadn't heard of that move before. Ash was curious about it and chose to continue the course of action previously commanded. However, the power of the move was revealed in a surprising way."Ash, get him before he hits Spearow. It does a lot of damage if its health is low," Riolu said to Ash, who now realized it was a trap for him. "It's not going to happen. Spin now before it can strike you," Ash said, hoping this change would happen before it was too late.Andrew was taken aback as Spearow spun and slammed right into Tranpinch before it could land its attack, knocking it out, though it clamped its mighty jaw on Spearow's wing, landing a blow before it got knocked out."Tranpinch is unable to battle; Spearow wins," Brock announced. Spearow winched as its wing took a lot of damage from that attack. Everyone was surprised, and Andrew smirked silently."Spearow, are you alright?" Ash said, worried about his first captured Pokemon, who tried to shake his wing and though in pain. He nodded as Ash tried to return him to his ball."I'm fine, Ash, please. I want to fight more; I've taken more damage than that before we met, so please don't worry about me," Spearow said to Ash, who thought about Spearow's words. Knowing that it would do more harm to their relationship than not by harming its pride and willingness to fight just a bit more, despite wanting to care for it and its damaged wing, Ash sighs."Alright. I'll trust you," Ash said as Spearow cawed in an appreciative tone and tried to prepare for the next battle.Piplup saw the whole thing and could tell he really cared about his Pokemon's well-being despite their protests about staying in. Piplup was almost convinced to join his team when he noticed someone else was watching this battle from afar who was also interested in Ash. His attention is drawn back to the battle when he hears:"So far, so good, kid. I can see why you've made it this far as a trainer, though I'm not going to let this battle get to me. It's time to show you why I'm not going down that easily. Grimer, come on out!" Andrew proclaims as he sends out his last Pokemon, not realizing he has recalled the fallen Trapinch back to its PokeBall.Ash and the others now realize that Andrew might indeed have been tied to Team Rocket at one point just from using a Pokemon like that. Most used Poison types that weren't from a Pokemon gym. It oozes its toxins, ready to battle as Spearow itself was raring to go to the best of its capabilities."Alright, use Steel Wing," Ash ordered his Pokemon, which charged at Grimer with its wing fortified with steel energy."Disable, now," Grimer's eyes glow with energy that, although invisible to the eye, invades Spearow's mind in a way that disrupts the move's ability to connect and be used again for the remainder of the battle. This pleases Andrew as it catches Ash and Spearow off guard."Shockwave," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who deals massive damage by Shockwave. A move that, unfortunately for the recipient, rarely misses."Spearow!" Ash said as he was sent to the ground hard, struggling to get up as the pain from its injured wing became too much to handle."End this with Gunk Shot," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who fired its attack and shoots filthy garbage at Spearow."Get out of there now," Ash commanded his Pokemon, only for his wing, which was injured, to stop Spearow from flying. He couldn't get out of there and got hit by the Gunk Shot, knocking him out. "Spearow is unable to battle. Grimer wins," Brock announced as Ash ran over to him, who looked in bad shape. Possibly being an added effect, the move Gunk Shot often plagues the Pokemon it's gunk with."You did well, but I should've returned you to your ball before things got worse, boy," Ash said to Spearow, who smiled proudly before nodding as Ash returned him to his ball."I'll give Spearow this for a weakling of a fledgling. He took a lot more damage than I thought he would before his wing gave out," Andrew said, trying to play innocent from what happened, not trying very hard to hide the smirk on his face. Flare and Riolu weren't pleased by this. They said they wouldn't mind being next to battle to make Andrew pay for what happened. Their motivation to face the arrogant Trainer becomes that much more solidified as they hear:"If I were you, I suggest you quit before things get worse for you, Ash," Andrew said, laughing. Latios and Latias held back the urge to Draco Meteor this Trainer I to oblivion with every fiber of their beings as they continued to cloak themselves and watched their friends face this vile human. Latias herself wanted to put this human in his place but trusted Ash would use her if she were absolutely necessary.Piplup growled at this, as he'd seen it beforehand, that maniacal laugh when Andrew grew too confident. He hated it, and he wanted to step in as he heard Ash call out."I won't give up; this battle is far from over. Tranpinch, come on out," Ash said as he sent out his next Pokemon. "Use Gust now, Tranpinch," Ash ordered his Pokemon, who fired the wind at Grimer only for it to disappear. "Hey, where did it go?" Ash said it didn't have any clue where it had disappeared to."Shadow Sneak now," Andrew commanded his Pokemon, who slammed his fists right into Tranpinch behind it. Ash was surprised by this, sending Tranpinch seeing the move connect with vicious intent and how Trapinch was slammed hard into the battlefield ground and with swirls in his eyes effectively showing his move did its job in knocking it out."Tranpinch is unable to battle; Grimer wins, and the match is tied," Brock announced. Ash returned Tranpinch to his ball before Ash praised him, and Andrew laughed even louder."See, how pathetic you are? You are being predictable and proving how out of your league you are against me; you might as well call it quits before whatever your last Pokemon gets an even worse thrashing against me. You've got no chance," Andrew said as Ash seemed to remain calm and let him continue his talk. "To think that you can ever take me on like this, you are just pathetic like your Pokemon are," Andrew then finally noticed a distortion and saw his target at long last. Directed his speech directly to Latias and the Pokemon, who were out of their balls. "You might as well leave him and join someone strong like me and not someone as pathetic as this loser of a twerp,” Andrew regretted that last bit. Not many used the line of twerp as often as members of Team Rocket did back in the day. A talking Meowth and some idiots alongside it more so than anyone. It was a dead giveaway to his former ties to Team Rocket.Riolu, Flare, and a now-revealed Latias growled at Andrew and shook their heads, showing that they would rather not be abused or treated like that. Flare ran out to the battlefield after she had finished listening to his laugh."Keep calm, Flare, and be ready," Ash gave his instructions to Flare as the Grimer came underneath her shadow, ready to strike."Dragons Dance, then use Dragon Claw." The moves were used as Ash envisioned. Dragons Dance's movements allowed Flare to evade the Shadow Sneak gracefully. She slammed her claw into Grimer before he could strike, sending him out of her shadow and toward Andrew. Flare wasn't going to be phased by this trick; she was showing it by how she acted. Setting that Ash took note of."Flare?" Ash said to her, who turned to her trainer and gave him reassurance that she was okay."I won't let him get to me, Ash, or the team. Let's shut this brat up, shall we?" Flare said to Ash, who smiled and nodded."This kid won't give up. Use Shockwave." Andrew commanded his Pokemon, which fired the attack at Flare."Flamethrower now, Flare," Ash commanded his Pokemon, who fired her attack, and the two attacks were now caught in a power struggle. They were even in attacks. This dumbfounded Andrew."How is this possible?" Andrew said that as Flare showed that she wasn't even finished with the attack, he noticed she was holding back. "Cancel it out before she can control Grimer."They had him right where they wanted him."It's not going to happen. End this with Overheat max power," Ash commanded Flare as her tail flame burst and sent a massive fire that destroyed the Shockwave attack and blasted Grimer back. The overwhelming power from the Overheat began causing what seemed like an explosion—a small one, but an explosion nonetheless.The smoke cleared, and Grimer was knocked out. Flare was panting heavily showing this battle took a lot more than she had let on, but she was proud to see she had done her job in seeing how. Andrew and his friends were left surprised at his loss."Grimer is unable to battle Charmeleon, and the winner of the battle is Ash Ketchum," Brock said as Ash ran over to Flare, who was panting heavily but gave Ash a snarl and a lick on his face, showing that she was all right. This made Ash laugh a bit at the gesture.Andrew wasn't happy that he lost and returned his Grimer to his ball as he realized Ash's last name and knew why he was willing to fight against him just as his brother did against Team Rocket way back when and humphed."Let's go, you guys. We can get to my Pokemon Center. You guys, we shouldn't be around these weaklings," Andrew said as the group nodded and turned away."Andrew, wait," Ash said to him, who sighed in frustration at being ignored as Andrew stopped his march but did not turn to face Ash but replied: "Save it. I have nothing to say to you." Now, it was Ash who didn't respond. "Your victory is just a fluke, and next time will be different. Don't think that this is the end. Know that we'll meet each other again, and when we do, I'll put you and ALL of your pathetic Pokemon in their place, so savor this victory, Red's little brother, because it won't last forever. You don't know who you are messing with and know this.""Pokemon are just tools for means of battle, nothing else. Sooner or later, the rest of your Pokemon will wake up and leave you because of how pathetic you are, so take care." Andrew said as he and his friends took off.Latias was about to do something that would make Andrew witness Giratina in the flesh, but Ash called out to her. "You too, Latios." Knowing her Dragon brethren, too, probably had the same line of thinking. Latios remained cloaked, but an audible: "Fine..." was heard."Let him go, Latias. He's not worth it," Ash said to her, who turned to him and reluctantly agreed. "Right now, going after him would only make us stoop to his level, and we won't ever stoop that low, so let's get the team healed and figure out what to do next."Ash said as everyone nodded, only for Piplup to (finally reveal itself as he) run down towards Ash. "Wait!" The group then turned to see..."Huh? Piplup, I am so happy you're ok. I take it you saw the whole thing?"Ash said, kneeling to meet the Pokemon eye-to-eye, a gesture that showed great respect to Piplup. He appreciated that."Before I answer that, can you really understand us, human? I mean, Ash?" Piplup said to Ash, who nodded. He explained that it wasn't through any psychic means or anything of the sort but rather technology that is now available in certain Pokedexes like his to help understand Pokemon."I did, and I'm sorry for the way I acted. It's no excuse for what I did, but you see now why I left that...that...." Ash placed his hand reassuringly on Piplup's head and silently mouthed 'I know,' letting Piplup know it was ok to feel the way he did. Piplup damn near shed a tear right then and there but continued:"He's wrong about one thing. You aren't pathetic. You tried to help me and cared for your Pokemon like they were family, even when injured like Spearow was," Piplup said to Ash, who nodded. "It's how you would be treated. I would never abandon you or any of my friends," Ash said to Piplup, who listened to what he said and took it to heart. Riolu and the others were happy to hear Ash say that before Ash decided to go for it."Do you want to join my team, Piplup?" Ash politely asked who had considered adding Piplup to his team. He wasn't sure. He saw how strong he was, but deep down he wanted to test it himself."Only if you beat me in battle. You've impressed me with your battle style, but I need to see if it fares against me," Piplup said to Ash, who was taken aback by this."Don't worry, you don't have to challenge me immediately. I can see your Pokemon are injured unless Ms. Riolu over there wants to fight, given that you know my species, being from Sinnoh yourself originally."How could Riolu pass up a challenge like that?"Bring it. I want to see how good you are, given that we are both from the same region and both stubborn and arrogant. I have no doubt we can bring out the best in one another." Riolu said, turning to Ash. "Are you okay with it, Ash?"Ash nodded. "If things get too much for either of you, I'll end the match. I won't have you do more damage to each other than necessary. That goes for either of you, deal?" Ash asked Piplup, who agreed to those terms. As much as he hated to admit it, it was a fair offer.Riolu and Piplup got into position as Ash was ready to fight against him."Ladies, first, you can go," Piplup said to Riolu, who nodded, as did Ash."Right, use Brick Break, Riolu," Ash commanded her. She charged at Piplup with her paw glowing. Piplup fired a beam of ice toward Riolu, and her paw became covered in ice before hitting Piplup, sending him back. Riolu shook off her paw. "It's Typical for a water type to know an ice-type attack to counter their weaknesses," Riolu said to Piplup, who smirked."Just keep telling yourself that. Riolu," Piplup said as he made a kissing motion. Ash and Riolu knew what was coming."So, Attract made its debut, Shadow Claw. Slice through it before it can hit you, Riolu," Ash commanded her, slicing the hearts before they hit her. One did hit her as she was infatuated with him, albeit not to the full degree it would normally be."Riolu, snap out of it, come on," Ash said to Riolu, who was trying to shake it off and successfully did after a few seconds, which impressed Piplup.Piplup fired a Bubblebeam attack on Riolu, who was taking it. Ash noticed that Piplup was trying to see how well Ash was handling his type of battle style and how he fights."Iron Tail, and then use Shadow Claw," Ash commanded Riolu, who was using her tail to slice up the bubbles. When within range, she slammed her claw right into Piplup, who launched a torrent of water on Riolu, which caused more damage than usual."He knows Brine?" Misty said out loud in a bit of a shocked tone to Ash, who hadn't heard that move before. "It doubles damage to opponents if they're injured too much in battle," Misty said to Ash. Thankful for Misty's expertise in. water types and their moves, Ash, to come up with a plan quickly. "Endure, now," Ash yelled, hoping it would help Riolu against the onslaught of damage it was undergoing. Riolu just managed to survive the attack. Piplup was impressed by this and knew he had chosen a good trainer. He couldn't stand to see Riolu take any more damage, either. He knew Brine packed a whopping punch. "Alright, that's enough," Piplup stated. Ending the battle much to Riolu's appreciation as she dropped to one knee at the exhausting attempt to use Endure. That Brine would've knocked her out if not for Ash's quick thinking."I know that we just started, but I think it's enough for me to choose you as a trainer," Piplup said to Ash, who approached Riolu with a Potion to help her out before he pulled out a Pokeball.Ash tossed it at him, and with a final sign of acceptance from Piplup, we see the ball shaking three times before dinging to complete the capture. He was sent off to Professor Oaks's lab.Ash shakes his head at the fact that even with Latias being with him, he was due to reach his limit of 6 Pokemon and knew that Piplup wouldn't want that, so he had to choose who to send back to the lab, and when prompted to choose a Pokemon to switch out in order to return Piplup to him, Ash decided that Beedrill, for now, would be sent back.Finally, having faced Andrew and caught Piplup, the group headed back to the Pokemon Center. Ash got his Pokemon healed and went on to ask Joy if he could see Eevee's status checking in on her well-being and that of her eggs. Joy agreed, and knowing how much they care for Eevee, they let Mellony and Bulbasaur join Ash as well.It is then we see Eevee, who was seemingly recovering from last night along with her eggs, though they were in another room as Joy went off to check on them, reassuring everyone they were all now in good health. Eevee then surprisingly jumped on Ash and gave him a nuzzle. He chuckled just as Nurse Joy brought out her eggs in incubators, though there were three eggs, which surprised Ash."That's a lot of eggs for a first-time mother?" Ash said in surprise. Now he understood why Eevee's pain was as intense as it was and was thankful they made it to the Center before it got worse."Normally, first-time mother Pokemon would only have one or two eggs, not three," Joy said as the group turned to her. "That would explain why she was struggling to keep herself together lately. We didn't see it in her ultrasound when we ran her tests," Joy said.Then, a small knock on the room door alerted them that Brock and Misty had wanted to see Eevee as well. Joy gave a nod of approval for them to see Eevee, and we were surprised to see how many eggs she had. It was then that Eevee spoke out."Oh, good. You're all here. I have to tell you something." Before she gestured towards the eggs in the incubators, the group were wondering what she had to say. "They're yours," Eevee said to Ash, Misty, and Brock, who were surprised. These were her babies. They couldn't accept them, could they? Seeing their hesitation, she elaborated on why she was doing this."I might not want to be a human-trained Pokemon, but I won't privy them from that experience. Just keep me informed about how they are doing, as they can't be transported as I would be. Once they're born and caught, if you wouldn't mind sending them to the Lab once in a while, I would appreciate it."Ash wanted to protest but Eevee uses her tail to shoosh him and nuzzled him once more. "Please, this is my way of thanking you all for helping me. I wouldn't trust anyone else with my kids. You've earned my trust. Truly." Eevee said to Ash and his friends, who nodded. This day had certainly been a turbulent rollercoaster of events, but to seemingly end on this high note was just, for lack of a better word, pretty much perfect. "And I'll make sure that your kits are going to be safe, Eevee, so take care," Bulbasaur said to Eevee, who nodded and stated she was ready to be in her new home with Ash's mom before she turned to Mellony, who smiled at this. Her eyes were barely able to hold back tears as she had to say goodbye to such a dear friend."I know that they will, Eevee. You take care, have a good life with Ash's mother, and have fun," Mellony said to Eevee, who nodded and thanked her for everything."I know that they will be in great hands, Eevee." Looking to Ash and his friends. "You take care, have a good life with Ash's mother, and have fun," Mellony said to Eevee, who jumped from Ash to her arms, nuzzling and giving her a loving lick on the face and thanked her for everything. Mellony only whispered: "It was my pleasure." before finally crying as Eevee went back to Ash.Ash then pulled out a Pokeball and captured her with a single ding of the ball as she was soon sent to Oaks lab. Oak was soon contacted and instructed to give her to his mother and promised he would do so before ending the call. Soon, Joy contacted the group to head to the front desk."Right, now your Pokemon will be here for another day to make sure that they won't be injured until further notice," Joy said to Ash, who nodded. After the damage to Spearow's wing and its likely poisonous status, plus the damage Riolu took from Brine, along with all who helped in taking on Andrew, they deserved the rest, and another day wouldn't hurt their journey.Luckily, Joy didn't scold him for what happened to Spearow, as that attack on his wing was a low blow. He'd have to be wary of Andrew and his underhanded tactics the next time he battled.As Brock took his egg, he was soon tapped on the shoulder by a vine only to see Bulbasaur be the one to inquire his attention."Hey, what's going on, Bulbasaur? Are you ready to head back home with Mellony?" But Bulbasaur shook its head and let Brock know that it was ready to trust Trainers again after their help with Eevee and had decided to have Brock be his Trainer."Are you sure?" Brock asked, only to receive his answer as Bulbasaur pulled a ball from his belt, tapped it on his head, and let the ball wiggle three times before it locked and officially registered as his Pokemon. Brock picked up the ball and said, "You won't regret this."Mellony was now ready to take her leave. Brock decided it was best to let Bulbasaur out to say goodbye."Take care of everyone, and to you, my sweet Bulbasaur..." She knelt and scratched Bulbasaur's favorite spot right by his bulb one final time, much to Bulbasaur's delight and sadness."Take care of everyone, and I appreciate everything you did. I'll tell them you are helping others elsewhere,” Mellony said to Bulbasaur, who nodded and hugged her with his vines one last time.Mellony stood and took her leave as Ash and the others waved goodbye.With new friends to join their team as well as rivals, Ash and his friends have now taken a rest for the time being. What else is in store for our heroes as the journey continues...?Meanwhile...We see where the trap Piplup was stuck in currently lies. The sound of heavy boots crushing the grass with each step. A man grumbles as they take what is a charred rope trap and is not happy."It got away." Sucking in his teeth in disappointment. "Who did this?" the man said as he gripped the rope angrily as he stood, soon joined by his Houndoom, who caught the scent of the Pokemon caught in the trap. Now, knowing who their next prey would be."It matters not. Whoever did this just cost me what could be my most valuable target..." he said, gritting his teeth. "They will pay for this."Houndoom snarls, agreeing that they would enjoy the hunt as they often do.Stay tuned.
Onyx ( 1602jaw OC ) by 1602jaw
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the name says it all. so ya this is a group for Fanart but not only do we except Fanart if you have created your own version of a character that is accepted as well.
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tenebrosa19 Featured By Owner Dec 4, 2023  Hobbyist Digital Artist
     fanart: xiangling by tenebrosa19   Layla by tenebrosa19   [SLOTS 3/3] Commissions Open / Custom Commissions by tenebrosa19   
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