Sweat dropped from Ash's forehead as he and his Pokemon worked hard to get the fire under control. They had been joined by other trainers and Pokemon who used water type moves and mud shots or rock slides to help with the fire. At one point Charmender had went into the fire to get the Pokemon who were hurt out. Ash pat the fire lizard and told him not to stress his body out too much and to pace himself. Charmander nodded as he helped his teammates control the fire using rock slide to place more rocks infront of the inferno.
Ash, "I have an idea. Pidgeotto use steel wing to break the branches and Togepi use metronome."
Pidgeotto, "Pidgeo!"
Togepi, "Ge ge!"
The metronome powered up and soon out came water gun, Ash told Togepi to keep the water gun going as much as he can to which Togepi nodded. Misty was frowning beside the other trainers, as she and her water types were working with the fire fighters on putting out the fire. There was no way this fire was natural and she knew the others suspected as much as well but had no way to prove. Her Pokemon were getting exhausted because of both the heat and constant use of Hydro pump, she hoped this will be over soon.
Chloe was panting it was very hot near the flames but she was not leaving her Nickit who was working hard, she had helped a few of the wild Pokemon get away from the fire and almost got burned, however she didn't let it stop her. Gou was beside Ash, with his two Nickits and Scorbunny, Scorbunny was working beside Charmander in getting any hurt Pokemon out while the Nickits were beside Lucario and Primeape. Brock was using Onix and Graveller to dig the ground infront of the fire and filling it with mud to keep it from spreading further. He panted as he heard Surge order people around to get those who are hurt to the medics.
James, Meowth and Jessie were by what was left of the base quietly disposing off any of the the data that was left in the computers that were still in one piece. They destroyed the hard drives and mother boards that escaped the destruction before they found more dead bodies that they carried outside with blank faces. This part of their jobs were never easy to do, the clean up always left them feeling dirty like they were the worst of the worst.
Surge's face became dark when he saw them, "Where did you find them?"
James pointed at the direction they came from, "We found a broken door and went in to check if someone was still alive inside. Unfortunately they are all dead, both human and Pokemon."
Surge cursed out loud before turning to them, "You shouldn't have entered without informing anyone. What if you had gotten trapped inside yourselves? Nobody would know and we would have more dead bodies instead."
Jessie, "We apologize Sir, but we just couldn't ignore it. In case someone was still alive in there."
Surge sighed, "Damn trainers with zero survival instincts. I expect you to show the others where the base is and work with them. Do not attempt to return there on your own."
James, "Yes sir!"
Jessie, "Understood!"
Jessie turned to the Rangers who had come to help and motioned them to follow her while she explained how safe the structure was. It was not safe, as James had hit the supports really hard, the base was collapsing on itself and it would be best for them if they had a psychic Pokemon to teleport them out. One of the Rangers had a high level Alakazam and Hypno capable of doing that and they set off in two directions in a group of three. They found five more dead bodies and one survivor who was saved from the blast earlier as he was smart enough to take cover. They took the bodies and the unconscious man and teleported out of there just in time for the base to collapse bringing a part of the burning forest down.
Red appeared with his Alakazam around this time, "Sorry I am late Surge, the meeting just got over."
Surge, "Glad you made it Champion."
Red sighed, "I told you you can call me Red, anyway, Lapras and Articuno use ice beam, Wartotle and Gyarados use hydro pump. Put the fire out."
Surge whistled, "You don't play around do ya, Champ?"
Ash looked at Articuno in surprise, in the manga and games it was implied Red had caught the three legendary birds, he didn't expect to see one though. However he was not complaining, it was a relief to see the fire finally getting under control after five, five slogging long hours of struggling. He sat down on the ground with his Pokemon leaning against him exhausted physically and mentally. He noticed the others were relieved and exhausted too as they sat with their equally exhausted Pokemon and watched the ice Phoenix as the magnificent bird put the fire out alongside the Champion's Pokemon.
Ash, "Better late than never."
Gou, "Huh? Ah, yeah. Your brother's cool, you know. He caught a legendary but I don't feel up to recordimg."
Ash, "Well at least it's over now."
Pikachu lay beside Charmander across Ash's lap, "Pi pikachuuu."
Scorbunny lay on his back, "Scor scor!"
Charmander sighed, "Char char charmander."
Primeape lay against Ash completely exhausted, "Ape."
Lucario, -This was not natural.-
Togepi agreed, "Ge."
Pidgeotto, "Otto Pidgeotto."
Ash nodded, "Man made."
Gou, "I suspected that much. But who and why are the real question. Your hair came loose Ash."
Nickit, "Ni nickit."
Ash, "Ugh, I'll bother with it later. Too exhausted right now."
Gou rubbed the two Nickits' heads as they sat next to him, "Wonder what will happen now."
Red, "Ash? I thought that was you."
Ash waved at him lazily, "Hey big brother!"
Gou, "Cha Cham Champion Red!"
Red, "Just Red kid, I'm still the same guy who watched over you lot during summer."
Gou nodded, "O okay!"
Scorbunny snickered, "Scor scor scor scor!"
Red bend down pinching Ash's nose, "It looks like whenever there is trouble, you are already there."
Ash, "Let go, and I don't plan on doing this you know! It just happens."
Red snorted, "First time is an accident, second time a coincidence, third time is a pattern."
Ash squawked, "It only happened twice now and what's that supposed to mean."
Red, "This has happened twice and if this happens a third time, I'll have to keep a tab on you."
Ash gaped, "You seriously don't mean that? The hell Red!"
Red looked at him seriously, "You are running into these problems the same way I did as a trainer. I rather you have someone as a back up if things get too out of hand."
Aah closed his mouth looking away, "I don't mean to, not intentionally."
Surge decided to speak getting everyone's attention, "Thank you to all you trainers, Rangers and fire fighters. Unfortunately the gym battles for the first three days of this week has been pushed to the end of the week. Today you have done a good job in getting this fire under control and preventing a horrible disaster from befalling the city. We do not know how the fire started and are currently investigating the source and will keep you informed on the progress. However from what little we could gather there was a secret underground Team Rocket base here, what happened inside there we are not sure. I will though tell you this, to be careful when you leave the city, Team Rocket is not gone as we thought there are still active cells out there. You never know when you and your Pokemon will be targeted by them. That's all, thank you for your hard work everyone. There will be a feast tonight celebrating this win."
Most of the trainers cheered at the idea of good food, that also for free, Ash and a few others grimaced. They knew, they got lucky this time by not having to face Team Rocket through they did wonder what happened. Was there a fight among them? That seemed to be the most obvious answer but some things didn't add up so that's probably not it. Ash left with the others and returned to the centre for a nice long bath and relaxation, his Pokemon deserved it. It was only after they were done and came out to join the others he realized it was already early evening. They had spent the day training before rushing to put out the fire, they even forgot about lunch. At least they can have their fill of food during dinner so that's a relief.
Ash, "Brock you alright?"
Lucario, -Zubat.-
Brock, "I'm fine, but Onix is suffering from a bit of dehydration."
Zubat flew around Lucario making sure he was okay, "Zu zu!"
Ash nodded, "Not surprised, the big guy was literally moving close to the fire, the only one who could actually."
Lucario, -I am fine my friend, just exhausted and hungry.-
Brock, "Nurse Joy said, he'll be fine as long as he takes a certain amount of liquid and a certain type of diet."
Misty, "Hey guys! Chloe and Gou returned yet?"
Butterfree, "Cree!"
Lucario, -Hello Butterfree, I'm fine, promise.-
Ash shook his head, "They said, they'll meet us at the feast."
Jessilina joined them, "What's wrong?"
Seviper, "Se Seviper."
Butterfree, "Creee."
Ash, "Just thinking we got lucky, we didn't have to worry about battling Team Rocket this time, although I have to wonder who attacked them."
Jameson came at this point, "Whoever it was certainly had a grudge, there was no one alive except for one man."
Misty paled at the implications, "Seriously?"
Ash felt sick, "It sounds like they made enemies with someone they shouldn't have. I would say it was a Pokemon but nobody was running or trying to get out from what I could tell."
Brock nodded, "You are, maybe, right. Let's wait for the investigations first though and stay out of any Team Rocket business in the future. They are not messing around and will be more brutal than before. Not to forget they will want revenge for this."
Ash, "Don't know, if we will be able to avoid them Brocko. This is the second time we ran into them."
Misty sighed, "I don't know what I'm gonna tell my sisters. They are going to insist I return home."
Jessilina, "Maybe we could go back to Cerulean you and me and have a girl on girl time. We could take Chloe along with us too, it'll help her out as well as your sisters. We aren't getting our battles this week for sure."
Misty frowned remembering Chloe's pale expression, "Yeah, yeah let's do it."
Brock, "I think I'll use the tele transport to check in on my family too. Today left a bad taste in my mouth and kinda brought home that anything can happen in life, even sudden death."
Ash nodded, "Red will want me to stay with him and probably want me home for a bit, I think I'll take Gou with me. Do you want to come along Jameson? I want to introduce you to mom."
Jameson gave a small genuine smile, "I would love that Ash."
Jessilina clapped, "Alright we have a plan, let's go pick up the other two and have dinner with the others. It has been a while since I ate at a feast you know."
The group left together and met up with Gou who had come after cleaning up from the institute, on the way they stopped by Chloe's house and she joined them. She was still pale but looked better than before, she waved goodbye to her mother and brother before leaving with them. Misty stayed close to Chloe and held her hand in silent support as she chatted the night away with Jessilina about Cerulean city. Chloe was thankful for the support, she had not expected people to die, she knew it was a possibility but it had not sunk in till she went home and stayed under the shower for an hour.
Surge at one point had taken Ash aside and told him, he would be busy however if Ash needed him to simple give him a call. Ash nodded in thanks saying he will before Surge left, and Ash joined Gou and Jameson and tried to eat a bit. He really should not feel guilty but he did for some reason whenever he saw the haunted empty look on Jessie and James's face. He half wondered if Ash in the anime had been a life line for them aside from being a target. They certainly never showed their trauma or depressed or haunted sides in the anime, maybe going after Ash had kept them from the darker side of the organization.
Something that didn't happen here as he didn't start his journey at ten but had started it at thirteen as per the law. He frowned looking at the food, he had lost his appetite, despite how good it looked on the plate. Lucario who was quitely talking to Mewtwo in the shadows looked at Ash feeling his turbulent emotions through the bond making Mewtwo look towards him too. The genetic Pokemon sighed, he knew Ash and his friends would be affected by today's events but he didn't know it would be this bad, he would have to talk to Red. He motioned Lucario to go to Ash and coax him to eat a little at least, he has not eaten whole day, Lucario nodded and left promising to talk later tonight.
[A. N.: I love the Pokemon amv The One who laughs last by NCD.
It's so cool! I can't stop watching.]