บท 169: The Council of Wives
As Ace was looking for Whitney, the girls were also moving in order to have their 'girl talk'.
First thing first though, they had to take an hour or so to clean up both themselves and the room, as well as to prepare some food since they were all, understandably, famished.
Most of the girls dispersed back to their own rooms in order to shower and get a change of clothes, while lady Ilene in particular had to go let her Aura Guardians know where she was, since they were growing concerned after not hearing anything from her all morning.
At the same time, Misty, May, Dawn, Joy, Chloe and Daisy were working to get the room back into order with the help ofJessie, Cassidy, and a houskeeper that arrived to do stayover service, who also received a BIG tip from Daisy after Jessie confirmed they were in fact an actual housekeeper. They also ordered room service, enough food for all of them that mainly consisted of various fruits, while Joy whipped up a few more dishes of Chansey eggs with glasses of moomoo milk.
By the time they had finished, the rest of the girls were starting to return so that the first official Council of Wives meeting could begin.
"Alright... So how do we do this?" Misty asked Daisy nervously, not quite knowing how they were supposed to proceed as they took their places.
"Lets start with Giana." Daisy suggested, and the woman in question came forward.
"Giana, I'll just be blunt. What exactly is it you want with Ace?" Dawn asked her in a stern voice unlike what she usually used.
"..."
Giana was silent for a moment as she seemingly comprehended how to answer, before finally saying with a slight smirk on her lips, "Power."
THAT made the wives look at each other with raised brows, before Joy asked her, "Can you please elaborate?"
Giana nodded in agreement as she took a seat in front of them, and started telling her story.
"I suppose I should start from the beginning. Obviously, you all know that I am Giovanni's daughter, and therefore a defacto member of Team Rocket."
The girls, including even those from the other regions, all nodded in affirmation.
"Well, as a matter of fact, the first part is wrong. Giovanni doesn't have a daughter. I'm his clone that he created to run Team Rocket after he either dies or retires. Whichever comes first."
"""!?!?"""
To call ALL of the girls surprised would be an understatement, while Giana now had everyone's undivided attention, especially professors Ivy, Juniper, Sonia, and Joy.
"Human cloning is illegal." Joy immediately pointed out, to which Giana replied sarcastically,
"And you expect Team Rocket to follow the law?"
"..."
Understandably, Joy had no response to this while Ivy, Juniper and Sonia all looked at Giana with boundless amazment and intrigue.
"This is incredible... I've never heard of such a successful human cloning before..." Ivy uttered while looking her up and down.
"I thought it was illegal?" Rosa asked with a frown.
"It is, but that doesn't mean there weren't attempts in the past once fossil cloning became possible. But back then the process was significantly more complicated, and resulted in FAR more failures. The idea of human cloning was considered inhumane, and was subsequently banned in every region around the world. But to think Team Rocket actually succeeded..." Juniper explained while never taking her eyes off of Giana.
"I don't think this would be too surprising when you think about the fact that they DID clone Mew as well." Daisy said, not necessarily downplaying Giana's existence, but pointing out the other feats of cloning the criminal organization had succeeded in.
"Anyways..." Giana said, trying to get back to the topic on hand.
"I was created after Giovanni accidentally sired a son he didn't want, as he wanted a 'proper' heir instead of an accident. I spent most of my early life either having tests ran on my body, or being groomed to become a proper leader of Team Rocket one day. And in all of Giovanni's lessons he emphasized one point in particular, power is EVERYTHING.
"I had believed that Giovanni was the most powerful man in the world with his wealth, connections, and the various 'assets' we had under our control, such as Sabrina. But then he sent me to go and treat with some snot-nosed brat who foiled our attempt to assassinate two girls, and ruin the good name of professor Oak, Ace Ketchum."
At this point Giana paused slightly as she closed her eyes, and seemingly recalled the events of that day, shuddering as she did so.
"Ace showed me what TRUE power was that day. I had faced down large and powerful pokemon, met with Champions, CEOs, and everything in between. But NO ONE ever made me feel so powerless as he did that day. When Ace threatened to destroy Team Rocket if we ever targeted his loved ones again, I KNEW he would do it, no matter how improbable it seemed.
"After that I started comparing Giovanni to Ace whenever I watched him work, and found him lacking compared to a boy of merely twelve years old. While Ace had managed to alter my entire worldview with a single conversation, I began noticing the flaws in Giovanni's teachings. The primary problem being that his entire empire was built on money.
"I will admit, wealth is incredibly important when in a position of power. But it is a TOOL to be used, NOT something to act as the foundation itself. Through it, Giovanni manipulated entire regions from the shadows, lobbying money to pass certain regulations, to bypass various restrictions on some of his projects, to bribe public officials, fund various investments, and to manage his entire empire. But as time went on I noticed the growing cracks inthe foundation.
"What Team Rocket lacks compared to Ace Ketchum and the rest of the criminal organizations of the world today, is proper drive, unity and motivation. Ace has already started taking the steps to make himself a power unmatched by any other in the world. The Legendary pokemon respect him like they have no other human on record, he and his pokemon already possess strength to put them on par with members of the Elite Four, he has earned respect from numerous Champions from different regions, and now he is also preparing to begin his own corporation to further his own resources.
"The values Giovanni instilled in me are still my core values, but I don't have the same arrogance and ignorance he does. I desire power above anything and everything else, and not only has Ace Ketchum made me feel things no other man has, he is quickly becoming the most powerful person in the world. There is no other man in this world deserving of my loyalty."
As Giana finished her little speech there was silence as everyone tried to come to terms with everything she said, and the reality of what her life had been like until now. They all knew she was a daughter of Giovanni, but none of them had ever even considered WHAT that entailed, especially considering that Giana wasn't even a 'natural' human. Not that any of them would hold that against her.
And then there was everything she hadn't told them, such as how SHE had been the one keeping Giovanni in the dark regarding Ace's actions as Sabrina monitored them, or how even now she was systematically weakening Team Rocket with Ariana by turning several of their personnel and assets over to her influence. And in the ashes of Team Rocket, she would raise a new organization that would be greater and stronger than Team Rocket ever was, united under the strongest man the world would ever know, Ace Ketchum.
Unaware of what Giana was planning, Daisy, Misty, May, Dawn, Joy and Chloe deliberated amongst themselves for several minutes while Lady Ilene was watching the clone girl closely.
She knew everything Giana said was the truth, as well as the fact that she had omitted certain details about her past and intentions. However she could tell through Giana's aura that none of those things would be detrimental towards Ace. If anything, Giana appeared borderline devoted towards him.
"We have reached a decision." Daisy suddenly said, drawing Ilene's attention back towards the so-called 'Council of Wives'.
She found this little charade humorous, but also fairly necessary considering how many women Ace seemed to be 'collecting', and what she knew about Ace's relation to the Legendary pokemon of this world. Anyone willing to dedicate themselves to being with, or around, Ace, would have to know what they were getting into.
"Giana, for the time being we have decided that you will be allowed to join us on the Council, but we will not grant you the position of wife." Daisy stated, before May continued,
"Only Ace can decide who does or does not become one of his wives, so that decision would be left up to him."
"Very well." Giana said, with a hint of a smirk at the edge of her lips.
She didn't care for anything as mundane as a title as 'wife' in the first place. The mere thought of becoming a housewife, white picket fence, children playing, and cooking meals for her husband, was almost enough to make her burst out laughing right then and there.
No, the posiiton of wife did not appeal to her in the slightest. Perhaps the position of mistress? Ace's own Mistress in the shadows?
Either way, the acceptance of the girls did mean that she would be involved more in their decisions and such in the future, which was a plus since she woudn't need to go through Sabrina for everything.
"Professor Ivy, please step forward." Daisy asked as Giana went to sit beside Chloe.
"There's no need for all of this pomp and performance." The sexy professor said as she stepped forward.
"To begin with, I have no intention of ever marrying or expecting anything other than a good lay from Ace. Of course, I wouldn't mind if he would come to visit our child every now and then."
"""!?!"""
To say professor Ivy's words caused a stir amongst the gathered women would be an understatement, especially when she proceeded to caress her lower belly with a warm smile on her face.
"How can you know if you're pregnant already?! You've only known Ace for a few days!" Joy exclaimed in disbelief, to which Ivy readily nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, it would be impossible to know this early regularly. However, please recall that 'breeding' is my specialty, I can significantly improve my chances of bearing a child if I so wish. I had been desiring to concieve for a while, all I needed were the proper 'genes'." Ivy explained, stunning the girls since they had never heard of such a thing. However Ilene had a gleam in her eye at the news.
"And so, you just up and decided that you wanted Ace's genes on your own?" Misty demanded irritably.
"To be fair, Ace himself had no problem filling me with as many 'samples' as he could. You can't blame me for accepting the 'gift' he willingly gave me." Ivy pointed out, making several of the girls grimace since Ace DID have a habit of rarely pulling out. Joy even had to develop a special form of birth control just for them because of it.
"I don't suppose you would be able to help me out with the same thing?" Professor Juniper suddenly asked, stunning the rest of the girls further.
"YOU TOO?!?" May demanded this time.
"Well of course." Professor Juniper said as if it were obvious.
"Both Ivy and I are ARE significantly older than you girls, so its understandable that we want to have at least one child before its too late. And after spending the night with Ace last night, both before AND after all of that happened, I can't really imagine settling for another guy anymore."
Ivy nodded in agreement with Juniper's assessment before she added, "not only that, but I'm sure the two of us would also require nothing from Ace to raise our children, aside from his attention every now and then. We are both successful professors in our respective regions, so we have no need for finacial aid from Ace. Though, I DO plan to move a bit closer to wherever he ends up calling home though. Especially since we already discussed working together on breeding projects in the near future."
"Yeah... I'm pretty sure he didn't mean the same TYPE of breeding projects you did..." Misty muttered under her breath.
With both Ivy and Juniper deciding to merely become Ace's baby mamas, the meeting continued as the girls all discussed their various futures with Ace and the group.
For the most part they remained undecided, with only Leaf, Lillie, Serena, Gloria and, surprisingly, Sonia actually joining the council for their various reasons. And it was only after they went through every single other woman there, that they finally decided to address the Snorlax in the room.
Lady Ilene only flashed a warm smile at the girls as they all turned towards her, and Hilda gave voice to the question several of them had.
"So who's the cosplayer?"
There were a few stifled giggles at her question, though no one faulted her for believing such. After all, Ilene looked like someone who had just walked out of a medieval drama.
And while the queen herself also found Hilda's question humorous, it was Giana who answered with an exasperated voice.
"This is no cosplayer Hilda. She is Lady Ilene, QUEEN of the nation of Rota."
Silence reigned as everyone realized what Giana just said, while Ilene herself stood and curtsied to the group of women with all of the elegance and mannerisms of royalty, making several of the girls who just giggled uncomfortable. Meanwhile those who already knew who Ilene was, Ivy, Juniper, Sonia, Daisy, Misty and even Lyra, were all silent as they studied the queen curiously.
She had been an object of curiosity since the moment they first noticed her in the room this morning, and her involvement with them was nothing but a massive mystery, to all but the two who had been present when Lance greeted and spoke with Ilene the night she first arrived.
"If I may be so bold, lady Ilene, why ARE you here?" Daisy asked her finally, but it was Juniper who answered.
"She came all this way for Ace, due to his powers. But Lance told her flat out on the night she arrived it wasn't going to happen."
Though numerous looks of suspicion centered on her at Juniper's explanation, Ilene appeared completely calm as she finally began speaking.
"Firstly, thank you for the introduction Giana, and if anyone is curious her devotion towards Ace is the real deal. Also the amount of loyalty each and every one of you has towards him is truly admirable. Ace is genuinely lucky to have women like each of you supporting him."
As she spoke, Ilene looked at Each of the girls in turn, making them feel exceedingly uncomfortable since it felt as if she were looking completely through them. Even Giana shuffled slightly in her seat under the queen's gaze.
"Now then, as professor Juniper stated, I made my way to this ship specifically to meet with Ace Ketchum, and to try to recruit him to Rota if possible. The reason for that is because Ace possesses the most powerful aura of anyone I have ever seen. It's intensity is so great, that the only apt comparison I could make is that he is like a sun while those around him are merely candles in comparison. Even my own guards, men who have trained their bodies and aura for most of their lives, are nothing compared to him."
"You mean there's people in Rota who can use aura as well?" Dawn asked curiously.
"Indeed. Our most elite combatants are all aura users who have trained extensively to use their abiltities, and are all paired with a Riolu egg upon reaching a certain point in their training. It is due to our aura guardians, as well as Rota being the home of the cult of Mew, that we have managed to exist for so long throughout history."
As lady Ilene finsihed her explanation of Rota's aura guardians, the girls were quiet as they thought on everything she had told them. Meanwhile Ilene was busy analyzing each of the girls as they spoke.
She found them fascinating, as each and every one of the girls that had traveled with Ace until now possessed stronger auras than a normal person. Ilene knew this had to be because Ace also used his aura while making love, meaning he was filling and nourishing their bodies with his own aura each time they had sex.
She didn't know if this would make them aura users in the future as well, or if it would merely make them somewhat stronger or more sensative to their surroundings than normal people. But either way, she was excited to find out in the future, both for them, and for the sake of her own kingdom.
Right then, before the girls could decide anything...
"NOTICE! THE PRELIMINARY ROUND OF THE TOURNAMENT IS NOW OVER! ANY ONGOING BATTLES MAY BE FINISHED, BUT NO BATTLES STARTING FROM THIS POINT WILL BE COUNTED TOWARDS THE TOURNAMENT! THE RESULTS OF THE PRELIMINARY ROUND WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN ONE HOUR!"
***
I looked up at the announcement, and felt relieved that this battle with Whitney would still count towards the tournament. Maybe, since the battle was NOT going well at all right now.
"Miltank, use Rollout! Tauros, use Zen Headbutt!" Whitney confidently ordered again, which her pokemon readily complied as they shot towards mine.
"Tauros, give it another Zen Headbutt! Miltank, use High Horsepower!"
"TAUR!"
"MILL!"
Crying in affirmation, Miltank charged at her opponent while her entire body became covered in ground type energy, which helped to combat the rock type energy of Rollout as she clashed with Whitney's Miltank. Unfortunately Whitney's Miltank had mine outclassed in both size and strength, as an alpha. As such, while Miltank managed to remain standing, she was steadily being pushed back by the overwhelming might of her opponent.
On the other side, my and Whitney's Tauros both used Zen Headbutt as they slammed into each other with their full force, again.
*DOGON!*
A psychic shockwave spread out over all of us, battlers and spectators, as the two Tauros hit with their full might, stalling slightly as they entered a competition of strength. But only for a slight moment.
"TAUROS!"
With a roar, Whitney's Tauros locked horns with my own before using the leverage against him, sending my Tauros flying as he crashed to the ground. HARD.
"..."
"Now Tauros! Horn Attack!"
"TAUR!"
With a roar, Whitney's Tauros charged at my own to finish the battle as he struggled to his feet, but not fast enough.
"TAUUUUUUUUR!"
My tauros cried out in pain as he was hit yet again, and sent flying back by the larger and stronger Tauros until he crumpled at my feet without moving.
"Good job Tauros! Now, go help Miltank with her opponent!" Whitney ordered, to which her Tauros cried in affirmation as he went to do just that. Leaving my Tauros laying where he fell.
"So is that it?" I asked him while kneeling down, even as Miltank struggled to fight back against her opponent's Rollout.
"..."
"You're just going let Miltank take both of them on by herself?"
"..."
This time there was slight twitch to Tauros at my words.
"Very well. I guess in that case, I'll just have to breed Miltank with a whole herd of Paldean Tauros. I've heard they're MUCH more reliable anyways."
As I said that, I also proceeded to project the image of Miltank surrounded by numerous Paldean Tauros into his head, reminding myself of a certain meme from a questionable video in my previous life.
"!!!"
"TAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUR!"
Tauros immediately pushed himself to his feet at my provacation, his legs shaking and breath ragged as he turned a hateful glare to the other Tauros, who turned to look back at him when he heard the roar.
"Oh? Want some more punishment?" Whitney asked with a voice full of confidence.
""Boo hoo for you! Whitney's strength is true!"" A couple of girls declared from the side when they saw Tauros rise, members of Whitney's gym who pulled out pompoms to cheer for her, along with their own Teddiursa and Aipom.
"Tauros, use Raging Bull." Whitney ordered with full confidence. It was obvious she thought this was the end. And while she WAS correct, I didn't intend to let this end the way she thought.
"Take him down." I ordered Tauros.
"TAUROS!"
With a roar of affirmation, Tauros charged at his opponent while they both amassed energy, before they crashed into one another in the middle of the arena. Again, everyone was buffeted by the reuslting shockwave as both Tauros tried to subdue the other. Except this time, mine was actually holding his own as he tried to force his opponent back.
On the other side, Miltank was finally overwhelmed by her opponent's Rollout as she was sent flying back, before Whitney's Miltank swung around for another attack.
"Miltank." I called out to out loud as she rose to her feet.
"Mil?"
"If you win this battle, I'll let you breed with Tauros."
"!?!"
"Now, are you going to let her psuh you around anymore?"
"TAAAAAAAAAAANK!"
Crying out in defiance, Miltank planted her hooves and turned to face Whitney's Miltank without flinching or recoiling in the slightest.
'Use Ice Beam on the ground, and then follow it with a sideways Zen Headbutt!'
"MIL!"
Following my command, Miltank froze the ground in front of Whitney's Miltank with a beam of ice type energy that formed between her horns.
As expected, the frozen ground eliminated the traction that Whitney's Miltank had during Rollout, while my Miltank amassed psychic power to her head and swung it to the side right before the two impact.
*CRASH!*
Immediately Whitney's Miltank was sent backwards while spinning uncontrollably on the ice.
"Miltank?!" Whitney cried out in alarm.
"Now finish it Miltank! Hyper Beam!"
"""!?!"""
The alarm people felt around us was understandable, considering that Hyper Beam was one of the strongest attacks a pokemon could learn. And Miltank did NOT disappoint.
"Mil...TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK!"
With her greatest roar yet, Miltank unleashed a powerful beam of energy at her opponent, who was still spinning uncontrollably around the makeshift ice rink. And once the powerful attack hit her, that was all she wrote.
"Miltank is unable to battle!" The drone readily declared, retiring Whitney's Miltank.
"No..." Whitney uttered in disbelief, before we all turned towards the two Tauros as they continued battling.
By this point both were battered and bruised as they collided over and oer again, neither one wanting to give up. Mine because of the threat I made, and Whitney's because of his pride as an alpha.
And I couldn't have Miltank help him because the Hyper Beam attack had completely wiped her out, and she needed to rest for at least a minute. It was the main reason why the move was rarely used in battles, since if it missed you were left wide open until you could recover.
Plus there was Tauros' own pride to consider.
"End this Tauros! Use Take Down!" Whitney ordered urgently, since it would be over for them if Miltank joined the battle.
'Hold Tauros.' I mentally ordered mine, a plan emerging in my mind.
"Taur!"
As I commanded, Tauros did nothing as he was hit by the alpha's Take Down, which sent him sprawling to the ground.
"Alright Tauros! Now hurry and take care of Miltank!" Whitney quickly ordered, though I could feel her concern for Tuaros due to the damage he took from the recoil. But unfortunately for her, we weren't done yet.
"Tauros, use Assuance."
""!?!""
Both Whitney and her Tauros looked back in shock to see mine struggling to his feet, his legs shaking and chest heaving as he fought just to remain conscious. And that was all he needed.
Tauros sent a blast of dark type energy at his opponent, which did double the usual damage possible since Tauros had JUST taken a hit.
"TAUROS!" Whitney cried out, right as her Tauros fell to the ground.
*Crash!*
He wasn't alone though, as mine fell immediately afterwards in a double knockout.
"Tauros and Tauros are unable to battle! Miltank and Ace Ketchum win!" The drone cried out, leaving everyone stunned as we all stared at the arena.
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