Vermilion City - Part 2

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Ash and Sophia walked the streets of Vermillion which were illuminated by the street lights with frowns on their faces...

Vermillion was a big city...One of the most revered and famous cities in Kanto, one of the most populated too...So why the heck were the streets of a city like Vermillion so empty?

It was dusk time when Ash and Sophia had reached Vermillion. The skies were dark and the streets should a bit emptier than mornings since it was the time that people go homes but...It shouldn't be like this...

Not a soul on the streets. The soft rustling wind that makes the boards of shops and the fallen posters on the road flutter was their only companion except each other as the duo of the silver-streaked ravenette and the blonde walked the streets of Vermillion.

"...Sophia...Be on guard..." Ash whispered silently when he saw that a small shop which was open just a moment ago closed in their faces as soon as they walked in front of it. A pair of eyes eyeing Ash warily as the shutter dropped in his face.

"...A-Ash...Can I take out my gun?" Sophia asked nervously as she gulped...She'd just come to know hours ago that Ash knew that she had a gun in his bag...Although she was relieved when he didn't know that she was getting some...Dangerous thoughts in the pokemon center.

She didn't know why Ash let her keep her gun even after knowing that she had one...Was it his confidence? Or arrogance? Either way...Sophia was quite sure that her gun wouldn't do much against him...So she just confessed that she did have a gun...Ash had just smiled knowingly at her and said, 'You are an assassin. You are bound to have that...Keep it. You are not a useless piece of trash who will slow me down in case anything happens...'

Sophia hadn't known if that was meant to be a compliment or an insult at that time...

"...Yes...Take it out and hide it somewhere where you can access it easily...I am getting quite an uncomfortable feeling from his city..." Ash whispered back as he warily looked side to side to find any sign of life in this seemingly lifeless city.

Sophia quickly did just that. Ash subconsciously began circulating some aura in body to enhance his senses...Ash was quite sure now that something was up with this city...

Then suddenly a cute blonde girl's figure came to his mind as he started to feel worried for his adorable little sister figure...

'...Goldie...Is she alright?' Ash thought to himself worriedly, '...Nah...She'll be okay...Her father is Lieutenant Surge after all...' Ash thought to himself with some relief. Whatever happens he knew that there won't be a scratch on Goldie...For anything to harm her it must go through a retired ex-army commander first.

...Rustle, rustle...

Ash suddenly turned back and surveyed his surroundings only to see a newspaper drifting in the wind on the road producing some rustling sounds...He breathed a sigh of relief...He was getting too paranoid for no reason at all...

Ash and the blonde girl took a turn in the corner and went to the right...The street lights were much brighter on this road...The familiar red roof of the pokemon center appeared before their eyes as both of them relaxed just a little.

Ash and Sophia looked at each other before they entered the pokemon center...Which looked silent and empty as fuck by the way...

The familiar pink haired nurse was sitting on the front desk with a Chansey by her side. After seeing Ash and Sophia enter the center she narrowed her eyes at them before she got up to greet them, "...Hello trainers...Welcome to Vermillion Pokemon Center..." Nurse Joy began a little nervously as she inspected the two trainers.

"...Greetings Nurse Joy...We just came in Vermillion just today and are looking for 2 rooms to stay...Are there any rooms available?" Ash's deep monotone voice cut through the silence of the pokemon center like a hot knife through butter as he asked Nurse Joy despite knowing that there were certainly many rooms available...

...The city was practically empty after all...

"...A-Ah yes...We do have some rooms available...But...You'll need your trainer license..." Nurse Joy said a little nervously.

Ash's face settled into a thoughtful frown as he gazed at the cherry haired woman in front of him...This was HIGHLY unusual...Although Ash knew that Pokemon Centers were originally constructed only for trainers. But later on this 'law' of sorts faltered and no one valued it anymore so any passerby and traveler was allowed to stay in a center as long as they paid some cash.

It was fairly cheap even for an economically poor traveler or passerby to book a room in a Center. Of course, Ash being a trainer with a license got a room for free. But to travelers it barely cost 10-20 Pokedollars for a single night stay, all costs of food included.

Just as mentioned earlier. Fairly cheap...Very cheap in fact.

Ash carefully asked the pinkette with a frown on his face, "...Nurse Joy...I do have a license but my friend over here doesn't have one. We are willing to pay money. Can't she have her own room?"

Nurse Joy fidgeted under the boy's piercing gaze as she spoke, "...R-Rules are rules here boy. You two can share your room but she can't have her own one..."

A light pink tint once again crossed across the blonde's cheek as she looked away. Ash's frown deepened as he spoke once more, "...Alright...Just give us the damn room. We'll share it..."

"...Here..." Handing a pair of keys to Ash after seeing his license the nurse went over to her desk and sat down.

Ash wordlessly took the keys and motioned Sophia to follow him with his hands. The ex-rocket girl followed him to the room titled #C16 and entered it with Ash.

Ash swiftly closed the door behind him after taking a look at the empty hallway of the pokemon center. He put down his bag on the table and turned to the very nervous Sophia as he spoke, "...You take the bed..."

"What about yo –", She was about to speak when Ash put up his hand and interrupted her, "...I said you take the bed. I have some scouting to do...I'll not get any sleep either way...This town is getting weirder and weirder by each passing minute...I must go and scout for possible threats..."

Sophia didn't question him any further. Ash once more opened his bag and took out a few things namely, a multipurpose knife that he always carried around (He could make one with aura but...Hey! Having a cold weapon at hand doesn't hurt anyone...Unless the cold weapon is used to specifically hurt them that is...) and a half face mask that covered his face up to his nose leaving only his eyes visible.

There was something going on in this town...And Ash couldn't afford to get his face seen while wondering out this late at night. Ash quickly wore the mask and then turned to his egg incubator that he had kept on the table as he spoke,

"...Oi Sophia...Can you do a simple thing for me?" Ash asked. Sophia nodded warily, not sure of what he wanted her to do.

"...Keep this egg safe...I can't bring it with me..." Ash told her with a frown and a small warning glare that literally screamed, '...And don't even try to escape because my Kirlia has got a psychic lock on you. One try is all it takes for me to slaughter you. Remember that...'

The 16 year old blonde girl nodded furiously as she accepted the egg. Ash cast a small thankful nod at her before he tossed a pokeball in the air. A certain cloaked creepy ghost came out with a white light and asked,

"...Keke?" / "...What now?"

'...We are going scouting Mimikyu...I've training you to Shadow Sneak another person with you right?'

"...Kekekekeke..." / "...Yes. I can carry you in the shadow with me..."

'...Good. I want to be as unseen as possible. Dissolve into my shadow and carry me around the shadow of the town...Anyway...How long can you sustain me in the shadow?' Ash inquired.

"...Kekeke..." / "...2 to 4 hours at max..." Mimikyu replied after thinking for a moment.

'...That's good. Don't worry it will not take more than 2 or 3 hours hopefully. So don't strain yourself alright?'

Mimikyu nodded wordlessly and dissolved into Ash's shadow. Ash felt a foreign pull of sorts sucking him in and even before he knew Ash was gone in a swirl of dark black shadows.

Meanwhile Sophia breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone and looked at the egg...She shook her head and stripped down to her nightclothes before she laid down on the bed with the egg just aside her for warmth.

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Ash reappeared outside the pokemon center...Inside the wall of the pokemon center to be exact. Although surprised at having lost his physical body, Ash gathered his wits and took a deep breath in to calm himself.

His hands tried to roam over to feel his body but all he felt was the cold shadows and the ghost fairy on his shoulder...His body was truly dissolved in the shadows.

'...This feels a bit weird...' Ash commented.

"...Keke..." / "...Get used to it..."

Ash allowed a small smile to grace his lips as he looked towards the yellow cloak wearing pokemon on his 'shoulder'.

He was quite sure this must be what Leaf calls a 'Kuudere' just like him –

SMACK!

Even before he knew a nearby shadow smashed into Ash's 'arm' causing some pain...

"...KEKEKEKEKEKEKEKE..." / "You shall NOT call me with that...that...derogatory term..."

Oh right...This kuudere could read his thoughts –

SMACK!

'ALRIGHT! Alright! I'll not call you that...'

"...Kekekeke..." / "You would better not..."

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The streets were empty. (Thank you Captain Obvious)

It was currently 8:30 PM. Quite late at night...Atleast it was considered quite late at night from where Ash came from i.e Pallet Town. Pallet was a rather small town with little population so it was quite rare for people to be late out. But in mega-metropolis cities like Cerulean, Pewter and Vermillion with almost 60 times the population of Pallet, 8:30 was like just the start of nighttime.

Ash had come to that conclusion from observing two of his earlier conquests.

So in large cities like this, streets should not be this empty. And the entire goddamn city shouldn't have a perpetual aura of 'Gloom, Doom and Edginess' around it.

Ash and Mimikyu had been travelling for about three quarters of an hour now.

Till now, they hadn't seen a single human being on the streets. Ash was currently standing in front of what seemed like a mechanical shop of regular tools like hammers, nails etc. He looked around him and released a deep breath he was holding in...Shadow travelling was certainly very nerve wracking.

Ash would like to assume that he'd seen most of the city by now. The only place that he hadn't seen till now was the Vermillion Harbor. Ash turned to Mimikyu at his side and told him, '...Mimikyu...Let's go to the harbor...'

The ghost pokemon nodded silently and focused on the shadows near him. Soon a nearby shadow encroached Ash's feet and both of them were gone as the shadows swirled around them.

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To Ash's utmost relief he saw the first sign of life in this seemingly dead city on the harbor.

There was a man, sitting on a chair of sorts inside a very small wooden ticket cabin, a cigar in his hands, slowly puffing out white smoke from his mouth.

(AN : I do not promote or support smoking in any form. Please keep this in mind that this is just for added 'effects' in story. Tip Of The Day : Try not to die just because you want to show a girl how 'badass' you look while puffing dangerous fumes [and smelling like you haven't bathed in 50 fucking years] while have red puffy red eyes and periodically coughing out your condensed smoke...Yeah...The girl would be head over heels for you in a moment...If she doesn't run away at the very sight of you [PS : Don't mind my sarcasm. I got it from my own character])

Ash emerged out of the shadows a little far away from the harbor, not to startle the man by emerging randomly right in front of his face.

Ash walked slowly on the wooden harbor, each step creating a small 'tuc-tuc' sound on the wood as he approached the man. The man lazily turned around as to see a boy with silver-streaked black hair that seemed to glow in the darkness of the night.

Half of his face was obscured by a mask and his left eye was covered by a couple fringes of silvery black hair and the other blue eye seemed to gaze into his very soul.

But then the man who was smoking sat up ramrod straight when he realized who this boy could be...Oh heavens...Not that boy...He was here?! Did he know about their plan of St. Anne? No...That was impossible –

"...Greetings...Are you in charge of this dock?" The boy stood in front of the ticket counter, slightly leaning against the wooden beam which gave him a rather intimidating look thanks to his tall, about 5'8" height. The man snapped out of his thoughts as he carefully and cautiously inspected the boy.

'...What the fuck are they feeding kids these days?! Cocaine, Marijuana coupled with steroids or what?!' The man thought to himself when he saw the height of the boy and heard the deep monotone voice ask him.

"...Uh...Erm...Yes I am the ticket distributor...Why?" The man dropped the cigar from his hands and crushed it beneath his boots to extinguish it as he asked.

"...Why is the town so empty?" Ash asked with a frown on his face.

"...Oh that..." Was the only sensible thing the man could mutter. The man coughed slightly as he spoke next, "...You see kid...Vermillion has been going through some dark days –"

"Why? Are daily solar eclipses regular here?" The silver-streaked ravenette interrupted sarcastically.

The man's eyes twitched before he replied, "...No. Crime rates are through the roof. In 20 years, the crime rate has never been this high...The police is silent...We the common populace are scared. Just a week ago there was a murder...And yesterday a new trainer's pokemon was stolen...Lieutenant Surge is trying...But just how much can one person do huh? We even appealed to the league for some ace trainers and atleast some form of protection...But no one came. Vermillion is truly in shambles..."

The man released a deep sigh with some smoke as he continued, "...The commoners even wrote missives to Lance but to no avail...A month ago even a band of robbers looted the Pokemon Mart in broad daylight and yet the police sat on the sidelines, doing nothing...As I said...Crime rates are the worst in about 20 years. Robbery, looting, murders have become daily news –"

"But if the situation is so bad then why isn't something like this on the media yet? As far as I know media is basically hounding for these types of juicy cases..." Ash asked as he interrupted the man.

To his surprise the man just shrugged with a smile, "...I wish I knew kid. I wish I knew..."

'...Heh...Lance is too much of a wet pussy to even dare interrupt our plans...After all he didn't dare lift his foot even though he knew exactly what was going on...Just to make sure that no conflict arises in his 'perfectly' peaceful Kanto under his leadership. Lance is basically turning a blind eye to these problems and even trying to COVER them so that the people don't realize exactly what lies in the coming future. Basically he is convincing people and the media that there's nothing wrong...After all if people find out...Will you still be able to retain your champion title huh? Lance Wataru?' The man who was smoking just a moment ago thought to himself with a mental smirk...But this boy didn't need to know all that did he?

The blue eyed aura user looked very troubled at hearing that piece of information. If the city was like this...Why hasn't anybody contacted the media yet?

Hell! In situations like this, either the mayor or the Gym leader in charge of the town should be the ones to contact the media...Or media should be basically hounding for juicy cases like present condition of Vermillion. But...Lieutenant Surge should be a very responsible person...Raising a daughter alone and being an ex-army commander said that much. So he must have contacted the media...

...Then something must be wrong with the media...Or some upper very high ranking official must be trying to keep this under wraps...

'...Lance...You son of a bitch...' Realization hit Ash like a train when he remembered his earlier encounters with these situations...The Central Jail massacre...The Power Plant Incident...It made sense now...Lance must have a hand in the city's condition...He must be trying to convince the people that there's nothing wrong here.

Ash turned to the man in the ticket counter and spoke, "...Thank you for your precious time dock-master. I shall take my leave now..." The 13 year old turned on his heels and left the dock leaving behind a very nervous man.

The man took out a walky-talky from his pocket and dialed a number. This throat was dry, he was sweating a bit...If this was the kid everyone in his organization was terrified of then those rumors of having lost many rocket members to Kanto's new 'mysterious vigilante' were absolutely true...

When the walky-talky clicked then a hoarse voice asked, "...Carlo...You'd better have a good reason for calling at this ungodly hour..."

"...I-I...I do boss...That kid is here...In Vermillion..."

"..."

"..."

"...Make preparations...St. Anne will arrive in Vermillion in 1 and half week...We'll continue the operations as it is. The mission must not be aborted. He's just a kid with 2 badges. I am an Executive...I'll kill him at the ship when the attack commences..."

"...A-Alright Executive Petrel..."

Click!

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Sophia was asleep in the cozy pokemon center bed, dreaming of mountains of (stolen) gold coins and a chibi Sophia swimming in the pool of gold. Ash was on his way to the pokemon center with Mimikyu but he hadn't come back yet.

Suddenly her beauty sleep and dream was interrupted by a small creaking sound. She jolted awake on the bed with wide eyes and a knife (that was hidden beneath her pillow) in her right hand and her signature Glock pistol in her left already in a defensive position.

...Years of being a criminal and getting chased around by the police will do that to you. Her sharp reflexes made her instinctively wake up from deep sleep and get into defense with her knife and gun on standby.

Sophia's eyes widened when she inspected the room for any danger but to find nothing but another cracking sound coming from just aside her on the bed.

Her eyes widened as she took out the egg from the incubator and settled it on the floor to see more cracks form on it.

Bright light exploded in the room and Sophia covered her eyes before a small squeaky

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