Kanto - Saffron City

The group gave quiet sigh of relief as the reached Saffron city. They had travelled in silence, with everyone lost in their own thoughts after leaving Lavender city. Jessilina and Jameson looked at them sadly, they knew they would have to face the darker side of being a trainer sooner or later. They were hoping it would have been later, seeing the usually innocent, happy and energetic kids looking older and scarred mentally was always painful. They went together towards the Pokemon centre to get their rooms for two weeks. Ash gave himself a bit of pep talk, the contest will be in a week, he needs to pull himself together and start training. They had not trained and simply travelled the whole day after waking up from cuddling with their Pokemon.

Ash slapped his face twice, "Okay then! I'm gonna go and train, enough contemplating about could beens or what ifs. Contest and gym battles are around the corner."

Misty, "You are right, we can't keep getting depressed over what happened, we need to move on."

Brock nodded, "I agree."

Jessilina smiled, "Now that's more like it."

Jameson, "Let's get to it then."

Ash went towards the training fields and separated from the group with Brock and took out his Pokemon. He gave Phantump and Banette to the older teen and told the two young ghost types to stay with him and observe their training first and if they want he would train them later. There was no rush Ash had told them as they were both very young and would need to grow a bit older before they can safely battle. After that the Pokemon started training feeling a bit relieved that their partner and trainer was starting to become normal again.

Lucario had informed the rest of them what had happened back in Lavender town and they had been worried seeing their trainer looking dazed and lost in thought. Lucario, Primape and sometimes Fearrow had to stop Ash from walking straight into a tree or a pole, and the other humans were in no different state. Starmie and Butterfree kept a close eye on Misty making sure she doesn't stumble and fall while Zubat and Golem kept Brock safe. At one point Onix had picked him up startling the breeder but he was lost in thought soon after not minding the fact he was picked up. The older humans in the group watched them quietly, Lucario could tell they wanted to say something but didn't, instead they let the Pokemon take care of the three.

Meowth who had joined Misty, "M hapy you ar back ta normal."

Misty smiled ruefully, "I try to be, I knew you know? We all knew, stuff like this would happen. We had discussed this back during our last summer camp together. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."

Meowth gave a sad smile, "Dats life for ya, it wil punch ya when ya wil least expect it ta."

Misty, "Something tells me you are talking from experience.... Will you tell me your story one day?"

Meowth kept quiet for a few seconds before he spoke, "One day kit, one day, just nt t'day."

Misty nodded, "I can wait."

Jessilina was walking beside Jameson, "Do you think, they'll be really okay?"

Jameson, "We can only hope they will be, now come on, I got Intel, there is a hidden base here in Saffron City."

Jessie, "Is that so? And where is the base?"

James, "Right next to Silph Co, I bet you they chose that position to make it easier to spy on them."

Jessie hmmmed, "Well how are we getting inside?"

James, "I managed to get us inside by applying as maintainance personal for the electricity and mechanical issues. Our unused degrees will come in help when it comes to understanding what is going on in there."

Jessie laughed, "Yeah, those degrees will finally come in handy."

Gaurd, "Who are you? The main door is that way!"

James, "We are the maintainance and people are not exactly comfortable seeing us go through the front dressed up like we are."

Gaurd, "ID first."

Jessie took out her card, "Of course!"

The gaurd checked them over before letting them inside the building nodding at them. The two of them have a sigh of relief at that and proceeded to enter the building and check the place out. It seemed like the basic office building with paper pushers, employees and workers moving about their daily routine. They were soon approached by a woman in sharp clothing after she noticed them.

Woman, "Thank goodness you are here! The boss has been waiting for someone to fix the machines in the basement."

Jessie smiled her business smile, "That's us ma'am, just lead us to where the problem is and we will fix it.", 'Well fuck, it's that crazy Arianna.'

James, "We are the best at our job."

Arianna, "This way, you two, say you look familiar, have we met?"

Jessie laughed, "Ho ho ho ho ho ho! Depends on if we went to the same college three years ago. I have not been in contact with anyone ever since I started working."

Arianna, "Ah, then probably not, I didn't go to college but rather had private tutoring."

James, "I see, must be nice. You probably had more free time to do other stuff."

Arianna, "Not really no. Ah! Here we are! You are to check the wires, machines and electricity to make sure everything is working fine. Then you are to check the engines, which are in another basement followed by checking on the computers..."

Jessie looked at James who nodded and got to work after pressing a button that allowed a recorder to start recording. The two got to work starting with the wires then moving towards the machines and then going to the next room under Arrianna's watchful eyes. It was a bit irritating to Jessie how the admin watched the two of them as they performed maintainance on the machines before she noticed one of the wires missing.

Jessie, "Miss, a wire is missing and it connects the machine to the fuse. I'm afraid I don't have the proper wiring right now but I can come back in three days after acquiring it."

Arianna looked at where she was pointing, "Ah, very well. Perhaps we should move on to the next room."

The two of them almost flinched when they entered the next room, in the middle of the room was a very familiar holding tube, although it was currently empty. The two looked at each other before James shrugged making a comment about strange rich people with strange taste. Arianna smiled and made an excuse if her father being interested in many obscure subjects and enjoyed collecting items regarding that subject. The two finished their work soon enough and left the building after booking another day to return.

James, "She was profiling us."

Jessie, "As expected. Well we are returning in a few days and I want to know what is behind that one door we didn't enter."

James smirked, "Well the virus is already sleeping inside, we just need Meowth to join us."

Jessie, "I love our smart cat."

The two soon got rid of their costumes away from watchful eyes and rejoined Ash and the others for dinner. Ash greeted them and they exchanged stories about what they had done the whole day. Jameson simply said he had gone to help with the family business that handles hardware items and such. Jessilina said she went to scout out the city first and found a few good places they should try out later on. Ash, Brock and Misty talked about what they did and the new moves they had decided to teach their Pokemon.

Misty, "You are seriously going for four on four match Ash?"

Ash nodded, "Finals in the league are six on six, so I think it'll be good to increase the number of battles I fight slowly. Since I have four badges, I can now request for more battles."

Misty hmmmed, "That's actually not a bad idea, a bit risky though. Most don't do that till they get six badges at least."

Ash, "I know but after what happened in Lavender town, I can't afford to slack off. I will be honest with you, the two we fought against, I don't think they were grunts. They were too strong, it took our strongest Pokemon to work together to bring them down."

Jameson grimaced, "Because they were not grunts in the first place. They were hunters."

Ash, "Um what?"

Misty looked confused, "Is there a difference?"

Jessilina, "From what we were able to overhear and understand back at the league camp, hunters are specifically trained to kill people mercilessly. They are sometimes hired to do the dirtier jobs for the criminal organizations around the world, from killing to kidnapping to torture, if they think, it'll be of use."

Jameson, "They are trained killers, plain and simple."

Brock put his spoon down, "I think I lost my appetite."

Ash was pale, "Me too."

Misty, "I think I'll throw up again."

Jessilina looked at her in understanding, "That is a normal reaction, take your time. There is no rush with this."

Misty excused herself from the table and ran to the bathroom. Lucario looked at the table where Ash was after feeling his turmoil through the aura bond. He looked at the others who looked at their partners worried, they didn't look well and Seviper sighed and told them to eat first. They can take care of their human nest mates after they filled their bellies first. When Phantump asked what the snake Pokemon meant he simply said their humans were hurt and need time to heal. The little ghost type thought back to the battle he had seen after meeting them and worried if they had gotten hurt then. Banette poked him and told him not to worry, they were strong and of they need help, they, the Pokemon would be there for them. Phantump nodded determined, he really liked Ash, unlike the other scary humans he saw back in the grave yard. Ash was warm and nice and so was Brock, he was really nice and warm too, Misty, Jessilina and Jameson were too probably, they always travel together after all. He did not like the idea of them bring hurt and said as much to Lucario who pat his head and put more berries for him to eat. The rest of the dinner ended in silence after Misty returned and they turned in for the night.

Lucario, -Meema, talk to me, to us. Please!-

Milotic, -Please Ash.-

Primape, "Prim primape!"

Butterfree, "Creeee."

Beedrill, "Bzzzzz!"

Fearrow put his wing out as if shielding him, "Row fearrow."

Phantump was looking at him, "Phaaa!"

Banette simple nodded, "Ne."

Ash, "I.... well let's start with what we know about those two that we last fought back in Lavender town."

Ash sat and told his Pokemon about what he had recently learned about them and what they did, "You know one of the things I'm thankful for, is that Jessilina and Jameson don't treat us like helpless children. I'm glad they told me about who they really are despite how bad it was."

Lucario nodded before he scowled, -What do we do about the hunters? If we ran into them once we'll run into them again. We certainly did with Team Rocket.-

Milotic trilled worried, -I agree, now that they know about us, they will surely keep tabs on us.-

Ash, "Calm down, the only reason we battled them is they attacked us first. They don't know that we know about them. It'll be fine."

Phantump, "Phaaa?"

Ash smiled hugging him, "We'll be fine, I promise. We just need to train harder, in fact I think I should consider learning how to use a weapon. But getting a weapon is not exactly cheap..... Hmmm. Lucario what do you think about learning how to use a staff?"

Lucario, -Is that allowed?-

Ash, "Held items are definitely allowed as long as it's not life threatening. Or maybe you could create a staff using aura instead, I mean it's possible to create shields and aura balls, right?"

Lucario, -We could train with that tomorrow.-

Ash nodded, "Alright we got ourselves a plan, now let's get to sleep, it is pretty late."

Ash slept cuddling with Phantump being hugged by Lucario, Primape and Banette with Fearrow, Beedrill and Butterfree on the bed stands above him. The next day they left to train with the new idea and learned trying to control aura to take the form of a staff was harder than it actually looked. Misty and Brock on the other hand were busy preparing for the egg to hatch anyday now. According to Nurse Joy's scans the little ones were almost ready to come out, the two of them were very excited and the Pokemon could not wait to meet the new members. They wondered when the new little ones would join them, they hoped it was soon.

Jessie decided to get some training done for her fourth gym with James helping her out, she remembered Sabrina, she was one of the few friends Giovanni had that was neutral about him after the Mewtwo incident. But she also remembers how powerful she was and still is, very few trainers challenged her, and those who did were the ones who took the route of the main gym circuit. It wouldn't hurt to train up a bit and not to forget her battle with Sabrina was a day before going to the base again. It'll be a good confidence boost, if she won the fourth badge from one of the strongest psychic user in the world.