Undercurrents

"You did very well Dawn." I said while entering her dressing room after the contest was over.

"Ace!" Dawn exclaimed, before hurrying over to give me a hug despite only wearing her panties as she was changing out of her dress.

"But I lost..." She said dejectedly.

"True. But you managed to get into the semifinals in your first ever contest. Not only that, but you were against many more people than you normally would be, most with far more experience. You should be proud that you did so well." I said to comfort her, and it was all the truth. Dawn had done exceptionally well for her first ever contest, thanks to her practicing constantly with her pokemon, and also to Daisy working to make sure Empoleon looked her absolute best.

"Thank you Ace..." Dawn said as she snuggled up to me even more.

"No problem... So how'd you like the flowers?"

"Pft!" Dawn snickered as she turned to look at the MASSIVE boquet of roses I had bought her before the contest started.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of them." She said while repressing her giggles.

"I mean, I can think of a few ideas for tonight." I suggested, making Dawn look back at me with a smirk.

"Naughty boy~!"

"Always." I replied to her jest, smacking her butt through her panties as I did so before she went to go and get dressed.

It only took Dawn a few minutes to get changed into her usual skirt and top, though she extended that time slightly by putting on a little show for me as she did so. Needless to say I was tempted to simply rip all of those annoying clothes off of her all over again by the time she had finished.

Once Dawn was properly dressed once again, the two of us hurried through the ship to meet up with the others for dinner.

What Dawn didn't know was that it was actually a congratulatory party to celebrate her doing so well for her first contest, which the others were preparing while I was sent to collect Dawn. Unfortunately most of the guys weren't going to be there, since they were still working hard at grinding points for the tournament.

It was understandable though, since there were only roughly 24 hours left for the preliminaries of the tournament, and only the eight with the highest scores would move on. If they slowed down even a little, then other trainers could catch up to them.

Of course, they could all also catch up to me, but I wasn't too worried. And no, that was NOT arrogance talking.

One of the best parts about this tournament was our ability to choose who our opponents will be, instead of going straight into a bracket like normal tornaments and the conferences. Because of this, our scores reflected each person to determine what kind of trainer they were.

For example, those who recklessly challenged only Gym Leaders and members of the Elite Four were bound to lose more points than they earned, while those who refuse to take risks against stronger opponents would be unable to acquire enough points to make the finals.

So with the vast majority of trainers falling into either of those categories, I only really had to worry about the truly gifted trainers, like the protagonists, and the veterans that were well aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. Of course there were also a few outliers, like the Marnie girl that was keeping up with Gary and the others in the rankings. But wild-card trainers like her just made things more fun.

"Hm?" I hummed as something interesting caught my attention.

"What is it?" Dawn asked as I stopped walking.

"Nothing. Do you mind waiting here for me for a moment?" I asked her while turning towards the source of the disturbance, a bathroom with a 'closed' sign on it...

"Sure, I'll wait. Unless you want me to hold it for you~?" Dawn suggested with a grin.

"Tempting... Very tempting.... But not in a public bathroom." I replied, though I also wasn't going in there for that reason.

"Hurry back!" Dawn called as I entered the bathroom, to find it completely redecorated by none other than Team Yell.

I know it was them because they had painted TEAM YELL on the bathroom wall, on top of trashing the place in various ways. Not for the first time too, as I had heard they were causing some trouble on the ship. I'm pretty sure the only reason I hadn't come across them yet was because of how large the SS. Anne was, and because they had apparently been trying to keep a relatively low profile.

I shook my head at the wanton destruction they had caused, and proceeded straight to the stall at the end before opening the door. And inside the stall, I found Goh, tied up and gagged with what seemed like a gratuitous amount of duct tape.

"You know Goh, I'm usually not one to kink shame, but this is a little extreme to even me." I told him while shaking my head disapprovingly.

"MMMPH! HMPH MPH HMMM!" Goh tried to yell desperately through the gag, but of course I could not understand what he was saying.

"Don't worry. I just have to check something real quick, and then I know EXACTLY what to do in this situation." I tried to assure him, before closing my eyes and extending my psychic powers towards him to see what happened.

Unsurprisingly, it was Team Yell that did this to Goh. What surprised me was what happened leading up to this point. And what I saw made my mind numb.

Ash, Tracey and Goh were walking around earlier as Ash looked for trainers to challenge, only for them to be surrounded by several Team Yell thugs instead. Apparently they were looking for me, and got Ash and I mixed up.

I'll never understand how people are unable to tell Ash and I apart. OBVIOUSLY, I was the good-looking twin between us!

Regardless, Ash then did me proud as he and his pokemon fought back against the thugs as they tried to take him out of the tournament, and he managed to win against them!

I'd almost shed a tear if I wasn't so pissed that they actually targeted my baby brother! Mistaken identity or not!

So after Ash showed them how big of a mistake they made, the group ran away while one of them apparently grabbed Goh to send a message to Ash.

And that was apparently how Goh ended up being tied up and left in a bathroom, waiting for Ash and Tracey to eventually find him. Which would take quite a while since Ash wasn't NEARLY as aura sensative as me, and chances are it would take a while for someone to stumble across him since there was a closed sign on the door.

By the time I had finished reading Goh's mind, only a second or two had passed in reality as he waited for me to free him. Except maybe I won't?

"Alright. I got an idea what's going on here now." I said to Goh, who looked to me with a silent plea in his eyes to be released.

Instead, I spun him around before pulling both his pants and underwear down to his ankles. Then I pulled out a pen and wrote FREE USE on his ass cheeks, before taking a step back and admiring my handiwork.

"There you go. I'm sure this aligns with whatever kink you're going for."

"HMPH! MPH AMPH GPH!"

"Don't worry, I wont mention this to Ash. Don't want him getting the wrong idea, right?" I said in a helpful tone, which only infuriated Goh even more as I turned to leave. I also made sure to take down the closed sign on my way out.

As I left Goh in the bathroom I thought about Team Yell, and how they were apparently targeting me now. Well that worked just fine for me, since I now intended to deal with them as well since they went after Ash.

Before doing anything though, I needed to figure out WHY they were doing what they were doing. Hardened criminals like Team Rocket, or just some jumped up thugs like Team Yell, every group had a certain goal they were working towards. I just needed to know theirs before making a move, so that whatever I do to them will hurt all the more.

"You were in there a while. Everything ok?" Dawn asked as I returned to her.

"Yeah, just some mild property damage by Team Yell." I told her, making Dawn frown.

"Them again? I heard that they've been targeting trainers to keep them out of the tournament. Serena even told me that she was pretty sure she saw them yesterday."

"Yeah. Apparently they added me to their list of trainers to go after, but they ended up going after Ash instead by mistake. Now I intend to make them pay for it." I explained with an edge to my voice, which made Dawn shudder slightly.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" I asked her worriedly, but then her aura bloomed with reds and pinks as she looked at me hotly.

"I got wet..."

"..."

"Well, we have dinner first, so you'll have to wait until later." I told her while shaking my head, making Dawn pout as she hurried up so we could finish dinner faster.

Upon arriving though, any thought of getting back to our room quickly exited Dawn's mind.

"""SURPRISE!"""

I had to catch Dawn as she nearly fell backwards in shock from the numerous people who jumped out at us in greeting, complete with even a few poppers and noise-makers.

"W-what is this?!" She sputted in shock.

"We wanted to celebrate your first contest!" May exclaimed happily.

"Plus you did REALLY well in it!" Chloe added.

"I didn't....actually." Dawn said shyly from all of the attention she was receiving.

"It doesn't matter Dawn." I said while patting her on the head. "No matter if you won or not, this is the official debut of Dawn, soon to be the greatest contest star in the world."

Dawn blushed at my praise, and acted shyly when faced with all of the attention from everyone else. It was funny to think this was the same girl who was so energetic and confident on stage earlier.

Soon we got the party into full swing as we celebrated Dawn's first contest, which mostly involved gorging ourselves on pizza and cake. We even got my favorite, pepperoni and Pinap berry.

In all, it was a good evening, right up until some jackass decided to ruin it.

"Pardon me, but is there a trainer here by the name of Ace Ketchum?" Asked a man who approached us, dressed like a gentleman complete with a cane and top hat. And accompanying him was a beautiful looking woman wearing a glittering red dress.

"Yeah, that'd be me. Let me guess, you want a battle?" I asked him tiredly, already knowing what to expect.

"If you wouldn't mind young man." The gentleman answered while holding up a pokeball.

"Haaa... Alright then, one last battle for the night." I said, deciding that I might as well let one of my weaker pokemon get some experience before turning in for the night.

Together we moved off to the side while several of the girls came to watch the battle, though I expected that this won't take long.

"Let's show them we mean business, Raticate!" The gentleman declared while sending out his pokemon. To his credit, it was a fairly impressive looking Raticate, but all three of mine were FAR superior of course!

"Let's go, Cranidos." I stated, sending out my little dinosaur.

"Craniiii!" Cranidos growled at Raticate.

"Raticate!"

"Let the battle begin!" Declared the drone that had arrived to officiate.

"Raticate, use Sucker Punch!" The gentleman immediately ordered.

"Humph." I snorted as the Raticate shot towards Cranidos, dark type energy gathering along it's body as it did so.

Without preparing for any kind of attack, Cranidos did nothing as Raticate hit him with the full brunt of the attack. Only, nothing happened.

"Wha-?!"

"Sucker Punch is useless if you're opponent isn't preparing an attack." I explained to him while shaking my head in exasperation, before sending my intent to Cranidos.

Headbutt!

"Cran!"

Without warning, Cranidos smashed his armored head right into Raticate, sending the little rat flying back to it's side of the arena.

"Raticate! Use Quick Attack to get in close!"

"Raticate!"

We watched as Raticate blurred before vanishing entirely as it shot at Cranidos.

"Now, use Hyper Fang!"

"CATE!"

'Headbutt....NOW!'

Following my mental command, Cranidos readily swung his head to hit Raticate in the mouth right as it tried to use Hyper Fang, pitting the two of them against one another. Too bad for Raticate.

*Crack!*

"Humph." I snorted as Raticate's fangs cracked, before shattering due to how hard Cranidos' head was in comparison.

"Raticate!" The gentleman exclaimed as the rat was sent flying by Cranidos after destroying it's front teeth. They'll grow back in of course, but it'll take time.

Either way, Raticate wouldn't be able to participate in the tournament any longer. It may have other means to battle, but the loss of it's front teeth was too crippling.

"Raticate is unable to battle. Cranidos wins!" The drone declared before flying off, to which I shook my head at the gentleman.

This is what I was meant when thinking about trainers over-reaching earlier. I was top of the tournament rankings for a reason, yet some dude just came up and challenged me with a Raticate and apparently thought he could win. I mean, I wasn't looking down on Raticate as a whole, but his wasn't even in the top five Raticate that I had seen before, even without counting my three.

"That was an excellent battle young man!" The gentleman said to me, apparently having different thoughts regarding our battle. "That Cranidos of your especially is magificent."

"Thanks, I put a lot into raising him." I said while patting the top of Cranidos' head, though I also kept an eye on the man. It was obvious that he wasn't just being nice.

"I can tell. Tell, me, what did you think of my Raticate?"

"It has a lot of potential." I answered neutrally, though not technically lying. After all, ALL pokemon had a vast amount of potential.

"Then how about a trade?"

And there it was.

"Fuck no."

The gentleman blinked in surprise at my direct refusal, even as I kept a smile plastered on my face. Though my patience was about worn out now that I knew what he wanted. Even the others were glaring at the man with looks that asked 'really?'

"M-may I ask why not?" He asked with uncertainty.

"Aside from the fact that I already have three Raticate? Or the time I have spent with Cranidos, raising him from childhood and putting so much effort into training him? How about the fact that he's the first natural-born Cranidos the world has seen in thousands, if not millions of years? I dare you to try and give me one good reason why I should even CONSIDER trading him away."

"Dos Dos! Cranidos!" Cranidos declared in agreement while standing before me, stating that he was my 'spear'.

Suddenly, as if to answer his emotions, Cranidos began to glow before growing in size.

"Ram!" My newly evolved Rampardos declared once the light died down, now standing at five feet tall as he glared at the gentleman along with his lady friend.

"W-well I can tell that it will be a hard 'no' for a trade. But perhaps next time we would be able to reach a better agreement. Until then young man."

After saying such, the man quickly left with the woman on his heels.

"What was that all about?" Lillie asked as we watched them depart.

"I'm willing to bet that's his own way of getting strong pokemon. Instead of training them, if one of his gets beaten he tries to trade it for a stronger pokemon. Though there's TECHNICALLY nothing wrong with such an approach, it's still frowned by most trainers because of how uncaring it is." I explained.

"I can't believe that's allowed..." Chloe said with obvious distaste.

"So long as he doesn't actually mistreat his pokemon, then there's not really any reason to forbid it. I'm willing to bet he knew he was going to lose to me to begin with, and he just wanted to see if he could get one of my pokemon out of the deal."

"Ramp!"

"Of course I'd never trade you buddy." I said while scratching Rampardos under his chin, making his leg shake in pleasure. "Looks like tomorrow we'll have to give Brock a call so he can see how big and strong you've gotten."

"Ram! Rampardos!"

With all of that dealt with, we resumed the party with Rampardos joining us as well, even feeding him some pizza and cake to celebrate his evolution.

Once things started to wind down though, we all began to head back to our respective cabins, with just about all of the girls promising to meet me back at mine. And as we headed back, I also sent a message to Jessie about starting the plan with Cassidy. The sooner the better.

***

Jessie smiled evilly as she read the message from her new boss, having already made the preparations to 'break' that bitch, Cassidy.

While she didn't like the idea of Cassidy joining Ace as well, Jessie was looking forward to seeing her face as she was turned into a bitch by that monster cock of Ace's. Even more so thanks to the little 'surprise' she was planning.

Not even Ace knew about it, but Jessie wasn't worried about that. After all, it wouldn't be harmful to HIM.

Jessie had to fight the urge to actually cackle as he pictured Cassidy's face twisted in pleasure and ecstasy as Ace fucked her, over and over and over again.

Her imagining was interrupted when Jessie heard someone opening the door to the room she was currently using as a base, Cassidy.

"Ok! Time to set the bait!" She whispered to herself while setting a vial of a clear liquid down where Cassidy would see it.

***

*Slam!*

"Another." Growled a young man as he sat at one of the numerous bars that were located throughout the SS. Anne.

Thankfully for him, the barkeep wordlessly refilled his glass only for him to slam it down once again.

"More."

"..."

"I said more!" The young man growled to the barkeep, only for the barkeepers to walk away as someone slid into the seat next to him.

"What do you want?" The young man snarled to the newcomer, who appeared completely unfazed.

"Isn't sitting here and drinking the days away a complete waste for a man of your talents, Paul?" The newcomer asked in a raspy voice.

"Who're you?" Paul growled while actually looking at the man for the first time. His most notable trait was his dark greed hair, which was shaved short aside from his bangs.

"Just someone with an offer for a talented young trainer." The newcomer answered.

"I'm not a trainer anymore!" Paul snarled as fury rose up within him, aimed at a certain someone who was responsible for everything that had happened to him.

"Indeed. Thanks to Ace Ketchum." The newcomer said with a smirk.

"What about it?!" Paul demanded angrily.

"Well, how would you like a chance to be a trainer again? And how would you like to get rid of Ace Ketchum?"

"!?!"

For the first time, Paul seriously looked at the man sitting beside him.

"Who are you?" He asked again, this time with a genuine edge to his voice.

"Just someone who represents an organization that's interested in someone as skilled as you are in battle." The man said as he offered Paul a card, one with a large red R on it.

"And what makes you think I'll join you?" Paul asked as he realized who he was actually talking to.

"Because, we have a bone to pick with Ace Ketchum ourselves. Not to mention, don't you want to stick it to the League that revoked your license?"

"..."

Paul was silent as he digested what the man told him, before he looked back at him seriously as he held out a hand.

"I'm in."

The man smiled evilly as he shook hands with Paul, and said, "Call me Butch, and let's get you a pokemon."