The beginning of a new road {Path of the Aura Ranger: Book II}

VI Riley's P.O.V

"What do you mean Primeape evolved into Annihilape?! I did not know that Primeape could even evolve one more time!" Ash exclaimed, as he was in a call, startling everyone in the camp. "A new evolution discovered in the Paldea Region? What? He was training Rage Fist and suddenly evolved? I don't care about that! Stop stuttering like an idiot!"

Everyone exchanged surprised looks, as Gary sighed. "Leave it to me, he is just frustrated that a pokemon of his evolved without him around."

With that said he entered his and Ash's tent to calm down the Pokemon Master. Leaving behind a very uncomfortable group. Normally it was Ash the one to keep them happy and break any kind of tension, but right now he was... busy.

"Well, that was something," Clemont commented, from where he was grooming the Chespin he got from Professor Sycamore's lab.

"Wait! Is that an orange flower Flabébé?!" Max stood up in excitement. "Come on Gallade! We have a pokemon to catch!"

With that those two were gone on their quest to catch their brand new friend. He does not have a Fairy-type pokemon, so I'll allow him to get this excited. Not to mention, an orange flower Flabébé is quite rare. Not as rare as a white flower one, but rare indeed. He does need the numbers too. Max has decided to do the same as Ash and start his new journey with brand new pokemon. He is only carrying Gallade, his starter, Scraggy, Pidgey, Litleo, and soon, Flabébé. He does rotate the rest of his pokemon, keeping them sharp and trained. Unlike Ash, he will use all of the pokemon aveliable for the conference.

"It's as chaotic as I remember!" Serena's laugh, broke the tension in the clearing. "Whenever, Ash is around chaos reigns. Not to mention, he infects everyone around and they start acting more chaotic than normal."

"That's how being with Ash is all about," I agreed.

We all turned towards the Ash's tent, as he, Gary, Pikachu, Blackie, and Princess Jolteon left.

"Sorry about that..." Ash apologized, sheepishly.

"Don't worry," Clemont replied awkwardly, as the rest of us laughed.

"Where's Max?" Gary inquired with a frown.

"Chasing down a Flabébé!" Bonnie chippered.

"A Flabébé? Not bad!" Gary whistled impressed.

We waited until Max returned, with his brand new pokemon, to pack up everything and go back on the road to Cyllage City. As he hiked, we were forced to leap out of the way when a roaring truck barreled down on them, with Officer Jenny in close pursuit. When the dust cleared, we noticed a cage that fell off the truck, and a weary Scatterbug that crawled out and collapsed.

"W-what?" Serena stuttered, looking at the same species pokemon of her first catch horrified. "How horrible! Who would do this?!"

"Smugglers!" Ash growled angrily, lifting up Scatterbug gently in his arms. "We better get her to the Pokemon Center ASAP." We did so, rapidly heading towards the nearest Pokemon Center and handing Scatterbug to a worried Nurse Joy. While, we waited for news, Officer Jenny barged in and tried to arrest Ash. Max, Gary, and I sighed, as Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie panicked. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Ash finally exploded. "Honestly, this is the last thing I need today! What in Lugia's name do they teach you in the Police Academy? Or do they just give you your badge because of your family?" Officer Jenny looked insulted, but Ash was not done. "I thought I had done my part when I made a complaint to the International Police Commission, but it seems that I have to do this myself. Like always!" He huffed, glaring at Officer Jenny so hard, that she had to take a step back in fear. "Is it genetics? Because how in the name of Lugia do you jump to the conclusion that I am involved in a smuggling crime when, first, I brought said smuggled pokemon to a Pokemon Center, and two, I am Ash fucking Ketchum! An Ace Captain Ranger that specifies in dealing with smuggling, poachers, and criminal syndicates! How you stupid or what?!" The whole entrance hall was silent as a tomb, as everyone stared at Ash in shocked silence. "You know what? You are off this case."

"You can't do that!" Officer Jenny shouted, eyes blazing with fury.

"I can and I just did," Ash smirked. I snorted, as that smirk was all Gary. He has been spending too much time with Gary lately. "You almost ran us over in you "epic" car chase. Strike one! Then you acussed us of a crime without any evidence backing your claim. Something that if we start asking the people of this town, I'm sure has happened before. Strike two! It is Officer Jenny's like you that relay only in your family name that give the rest of your cousins a bad name. Strike three! You are out!" Slowly, many trainers in the Pokemon Center began clapping their hands and cheering. Officer Jenny looked around her in disbelief, cheeks red in embarrassment. "See? We all want you out," he spread his arms out, before smirking cruely at her. "So get out!"

Officer Jenny stumbled back, before rushing out. I could see tears in her eyes as she left and almost felt pity. But how many innocent civilians ended up shamed annd going through a difficult ordeal, simply because she did not do her job correctly.

"Ah," Gary sighed. "When he calms down, Ash will be quite sad."

"Why?" Bonnie asked confused. "He was awesome!"

"Because Ash is always calm and collected, when he is not excited because of battling," I replied. "He never allows bad emotions to take control of him like this. He went too far to make a point, even going as far as to be cruel about it... that's not his way of doing things."

"But he's been fed up with the Officer Jenny cousins for a while," Gary frowned. "The International Police Commission should have dealt with them by now, but it seems that not every single one of them took the warning seriously."

"What warning?" Clemont asked warily.

"If any of them shows any kind of abuse of power and negligence in their police work... they'll lose their badges," their eyes widened at my answer. "Their family history in the force will no longer protect them. It should have not, to begin with."

"Wow... that's harsh," Serena murmured. "Officer Jenny has been a staple of the Police Force for decades. Then again, maybe it is because of that, that they are being harsh."

"In my short time as Gym Leader, I've dealt with enough complains about Officer Jenny than I would like to," Clemont admitted with a grimace. "They walk all over everyone and accusations without backing, as if they own the place and have a divine right to judge others. And just because they are Officer Jenny, the civilian trust them and follow their lead. Many civilians got their lives destroyed because of them, only getting an empty apology from them after the whole mess was cleaned up. But things do not return as normal afterwards, the others start looking at the innocent that got arrested with suspicion and start excludinng them... it's tragic, but it happens."

"Good for them!" Bonnie exclaimed. "They finally have someone to stand up to them!"

"It should not be Ashy's problem to fix," Gary frowned. "He already has enough on his plate."

I watched sadly as he walked towards Ash and hugged him. I could sense through his aura, that Ash was sad, tired, and frustrated. Even after we caught the smuggler Dolan, Ash continued to be sad, though most of his sadness had turned to anger as it normally did when faced with a poacher or smuggler. Gary was right, it was not Ash's issue to fix.

Yet, he was the one chosen for the task.