FicWad

AN: I recently got myself hooked onto Pokemon and this idea has been rattling around and I really felt the need to get it out. I took a lot of inspiration for the world as a whole from The Sun Soul written by 50caliberchaos. I highly suggest you check it out, it is a great read and I cannot wait for the sequel. This world will be darker, not as dark as The Sun Soul, but dark all the same.


Ash - 17
Brock – 21
May - 16

Chapter 1 – The Burning Nightmare of Cinnabar
Lance glanced up from his conversation with his cousin Clair at the sound of his door opening unannounced. He let out a frustrated sigh as he hit the button to active his intercom. “Joyce…I told you no visi…” Lance trailed off once he looked up to meet the sight of Ash Ketchum. In the back ground he registered Joyce responding to him, he did not even pay attention to the words though. “Never mind Joyce, I apologize for my tone.” Once again he tuned Joyce out and diverted his attention from Clair and the intercom to Ash.
“So what brings Elite Ranger Ash Ketchum to my office?” Lance asked, keeping a neutral expression on his face. He was not exactly excited to have Ash barge in on his conversation with Clair, but, Ash would not appear in his office without reason. In the back ground he heard Clair snort in derision at his greeting.
Ash shot both the Dragon Masters a disarming smile before stepping fully into the office. He was dressed in plain blue jeans, a black shirt that clung to his upper body, and a grey vest that covered most of the shirt. Of course he also wore his signature hat and wore plain white trainers. To finish off his ensemble he wore dark black fingerless gloves with blue gems on the inside of his wrists. “Well I was just stopping by to hand in my resignation from the Kanto region.” With that he plopped a heavy stack of paper down on Lance’s desk.
Once again Lance heard Clair snort in the back ground; he silenced her with a quick glare in her direction before staring at the papers. He barely showed any interest in the documents, enough rangers be they regular corps or elite had dropped the same papers on his desk. Ash though…Ash was no regular ranger, Elite or otherwise.
Finally after a moment of silence, Lance decided to speak. “Bull shit. We both know you are on the track to replacing Agatha when she retires.” Lance leaned into the desk, his elbows resting on the desk. “Why the sudden decision to stop? Getting bored now that Team Rocket has been run out of Kanto?”
Ash just grinned back while scratching the back of his head. “You know I barely did anything to run Rocket out of Kanto, Red was behind most of it. The rest of the Elite Four took the remaining credit due. I was just a front line solider, nothing more, nothing less.”
“Hmm…yes, Red, landed the final blow but we both know you landed a major blow to Rocket’s operations on Cinnabar.” Lance continued before glancing back at the paper work. He noticed that Ash was removing Elite Ranger from his identification. “Now why would you remove your status from your identification…even retired Rangers are by law, allowed to identify themselves as Rangers, once a Ranger always a Ranger right?” Lance ended his question with a raised eyebrow.
Chuckling nervously, Ash once again sent a disarming smile at the two Dragon Masters in an attempt to silence their looks of disbelief. “Well you know…traveling the world…outside of Kanto the Ranger status really doesn’t mean much.”
“Riiiight the Burning Nightmare of Cinnabar just walks in, resigns, and gives up all of his powers.” Clair finally decided to speak up. Her voice conveyed her sarcasm as she simply rolled her eyes.
Ash sucked in a deep breath…every time he was called that, it felt like a punch to the chest. The easy going smile slid off his face, replaced, by a frosty expression. “Do Not Call Me That Name.” Ash annunciated each word. All aspects of the playful and care free trainer gone, he crossed his arms and sent a glare towards Clair.
Clair unfortunately did not seem to get the hint to stop while she was ahead. “You earned that name fair and square. When you landed on Cinnabar with Lance and I, the whole island was under Rocket control, but you…you and Blaine killed them all. There was no mercy…I saw it all. You even turned their secret weapons project against them. The bodies were strewn everywhere…in pieces and everything…everything was on fire.” Clair finished with a frosty look, she always hated Ash and his care free attitude. He acted as if nothing was a big deal…but when he got angry. Well Cinnabar Island was a proving grounds of his rage. “The population of Cinnabar Island was close to two million before you and Blaine started your offensive against Rocket. Oh well I am sure they are recovering…I mean it has been two years, am I right?” Clair ended her little diatribe with a sigh and a shrug.
She never noticed that Ash had gone completely silent…shaking now from rage. Finally after regaining some composure, he spoke, his voice barely going above a whisper. “I don’t remember asking for your assistance Princess, if I remember correctly, the only reason you were that was due to Lance’s insistence.”
Lance glanced up from the paper work that had been dropped on his desk. “Do not involve me in this.” Finally after he took another moment to study the two he realized that Clair was going to push the issue and the last thing he wanted, was for Ash to really blow up. “Clair, leave, now.” Lance directed his attention to Clair, his look brooked no argument. “We will discuss your insubordinate attitude at a later date.”
With a final huff Clair vaulted herself out of her seat in the corner by Lance’s desk. She pressed by Ash with a final glare before she was out the door. Clair closed the heavy oak door with a final slam.
Ash stood there by the entrance, surveying the office for the first time since he stepped in. He took a moment to cool off. The room was fairly Spartan, probably due to the fact that Lance rarely spent time in the office. The window to his left in the corner, which Clair, had been sitting in had the shades drawn. He could vaguely make out the sunset behind the heavy shades. The rest of the room was fairly boring with white washed walls, an executive oak desk, and of course two chairs in front of said desk. “So…if that is all.” Ash left the question hanging.
For the first time during the meeting Lance showed some amusement break across his face. “Really? You think I would let the only Elite Ranger we have just walk out without an explanation other than that you are done and wish to travel. Not to mention you are dumping this one on me while Red is gone off to who knows where? How would I explain this to him Ash?” Lance finished with a snort. He could just imagine it now. Explaining to Red that his protégée in all but name had just upped and left with no reason other than he wanted to travel to the Hoenn region. Lance shook his head before returning his attention to Ash.
For his credit Ash did not break immediately under the intimidating gaze of Lance. Well he held out for a minute…alright he held out for all of 30 seconds before trying to laugh it off. “Well I am sure Red will understand…it was his idea after all.”
Lance grumbled slightly before leaning back in his chair. He closed his eyes in annoyance. As always Red had his fingers in many pots and he did not always feel the need to inform the Elite Four of everything. “So what mission is it?”
Ash laughed again scratching his head a little. “Oh you know…Red heard of a new group forming in Hoenn and that the remainder of Team Rocket. Well of course someone needed to check it out and report back. That someone being stealthy, deceptive, and most of all loyal to Red’s cause to wipe Rocket off this Earth with prejudice…and of course that someone is me!” Ash declared while pointing his thumb right back at himself.
Fighting the urge to groan at Ash’s description he leaned forward in his desk again and opened his eyes. Lance Studied Ash for a moment prior to speaking his mind of the mission. “Well I can’t say stealthy or deceptive would be your forte. Please just tell me you are not taking any Pokémon that are too conspicuous and related to your time in Cinnabar. The Rocket survivors may not have seen your face but you know they remember your Pokémon.”
With a wave of his hand, Ash flashed five pokeballs, each of different colors, in front of Lance. Putting on a placating smile and speaking to Lance as if he were a five year old and not the leader of the Elite Four. “Relax…nothing too out of place. I guess I should say Charizard and Infernape will not be joining me. I suppose Salamence will not be joining me for this mission either.” Ash finished with a smile before clipping the pokeballs back onto his magnetic belt.
“Well thank the heavens for that.” Lance muttered imagining for a moment Ash’s version of undercover investigation was riding on the back of Salamence while he used Charizard or Infernape to “question” suspicious people.
“Well if that is all…I just need you to update my Pokedex and remove my Ranger status. As far as the people of Hoenn will know, I am just Ash Ketchum, traveler from the Kanto frontier. I will be traveling and competing in the Hoenn league gym battles. Hopefully by visiting all the towns and speaking with the gym leaders there, I can pick up any hints of discord and follow if back to the source.” Ash handed his Pokedex over to Lance.
Lance glanced at the beaten up dex for a moment before plugging it into his computer. His fingers ran over the keyboard for a moment. Now and again moving a finger up to swipe something on the screen and removing the item completely from the dex. In under ten minutes Ash became a regular trainer. His battle data was re-programmed as well. Lance knew that Ash did not understand the concept of holding back but he could not leave Ash’s near undefeated record on the dex. Instead he placed Ash in an above average bracket. “Done…now get out of my office. Also…I do not want to hear about the Hoenn region being turned into a duck shoot. Try using some of that strategy you use during a match while you investigate.”
Ash gave Lance a thumbs up before picking up the reprogrammed dex and walking out the door.
He did not even make it out the door before Pikachu who had been waiting patiently in the reception area jumped up onto his shoulder. “Pika…Pi!”
Ash grinned for a moment at his companion’s excited greeting. “That right Pikachu! We are off to Hoenn!”
Pikachu nuzzled against his trainer for a moment before concentrating on his balancing act while Ash navigated the crowded halls of Indigo Plateau.
Once Ash managed to get out of the building and onto the grounds he selected one of his pokeballs. He threw it out “Pidgeot! Go!” In front of Ash a red beam of energy shot out of the pokeball. It formed into a large and majestic looking bird. Compared to other Pidgeot, this one was double the size. The bird took in its surroundings momentarily before it started to preen itself. Pidgeot took a moment to look at its master with a curious gaze before returning to preening itself.
Ash smiled at his giant bird’s vanity. Some things just didn’t change. “I am going to need a ride to Hoenn region Pidgeot.” The giant bird knelt lower to the ground allowing Ash to climb onto the giant bird. Pikachu climbed into Ash’s backpack for the flight and curled up to take a nap. Ash patted the bird on the back of the head to let it know he was on and ready.
With a few giant flaps of its wings the giant bird took off from Indigo Plateau. Pidgeot kicked up small dust devils as it gained altitude. Once Ash felt they were at a comfortable height he patted the bird again before holding onto some of the bird’s feathers. “Alright Pidgeot! Set yourself up to cruising speed. “ Ash knew full well if he did not specify their agreed upon cruising speed the giant bird would take it upon itself to beat it’s old record. He hoped he would not beat Brock to the region by too much. Brock being a master of rock/ground pokemon would be taking a cruise ship into the harbor in Petalburg City. Ash had decided to start out in Littleroot Town and travel up to Petalburg city. As Pidgeot settled into a cruising speed the ride evened out and Ash allowed himself to relax. He let his mind wander…hoping against hope that Red was wrong when he informed him he heard of rumors from Hoenn of a new terrorist group starting up. Where Red was, Ash had no idea, but that was Red for you. All he knew that he was tasked with making sure this possible threat did not turn into something that may threaten Kanto or Johto.
Ash looked out over the vast tree tops below and could see the sparkling ocean in the distance to the left. First they would cross over Kanto then Johto. If he got lucky they would arrive in Hoenn by night fall.

A/N: Well there we go first chapter complete. May will be introduced in the next chapter near the end. Brock will appear in Petalburg City and will join them as well. Jesse and James will show up as well at some point. I for the most part have Ash’s team picked out give or take a Pokemon. The rest have specific purposes and will not be changed. I am also giving Ash one legendary. The legendary will be Ash’s ace in the hole and only be used in the most dire circumstances. I have one in mind but it may change. Read and review if you like. Following is alright as well. Thanks again.