Aries

The Road to Cerulean

Claydol floated in front of Ash, all eyes on him as Steven held his Pokenav out, tapping away at a speed that rivalled Pinwheel's running speed. Pinwheel stood beside Steven to help, giving a reassuring thumbs up with the limited manoeuvrability a Pikachu had. Kai had curled near Ash's leg, nudging him to send a wave of relaxation through his form. The Hoenn Pokemon floated to be at Ash's eye level, eyes bright cyan.

"Firstly, who is Molly?"

Ash took a weak sigh. Kai perked up for him though, stretching up a little as the Dragon type trilled, "Molly Hale! She's the Unown's little girl- very little, I'm her age! 4!"

Ash had heard of Molly's story- a young girl whose mother had been lost by the neglect and disregard from her father who was never home. It was almost an old wives tale at Professor Oak's lab when a young Unown who came from Johto showed up. He was the centre of attention, and clearly, his story had spread. "Greenfield, Johto.. Her father is busy, Spencer Hale."

Steven tapped something on his phone as Pinwheel peered over his shoulder at the screen. "I heard of Molly. She's the Unown's friend."

Ash wasn't surprised the story had reached Pikachu. Metagross clicked in reply as Steven furrowed his eyebrows.

"Do you remember your human family?" Claydol buzzed again. Ash froze as Kai winced and shrank away. Steven's look quickly turned to concern when the Pikachu shrugged with little pretext for what the answer was going to be. Ash finally closed his eyes and answered. Kai trilled mournfully.

"Well.. I remember.. Ehr- my friends. Ambertwo and-"

Steven frantically started typing at the "two" part. He glared at the sky for a fleeting moment before gazing for a long time at the Claydol. He was going to be getting a headache at this point, with the names this kid dropped like spare change.

"There was Ambertwo.. Mewtwo, who was like.. Mew, but bigger! And Charmandert-" Ash paused, a few tears brimming in the corner of his eyes as reality hit him. Steven finished typing moments later. Dratini nudged him before Claydol looked to its trainer. "Ash, don't try to answer! You never told Momma, why tell this man?"

Ash shook his head and held Kai. "Yeah, but he wants to help, and-"

Steven tried his best kind smile on and crouched down in front of Ash, wiping away the tears in the kid's eyes as they opened up in a subtle surprise. He held Ash's shoulder, sighing as he looked aside at the ruffling grass of the route before Cerulean. "What will be happening is I'll follow you on your Gym Run. I have a feeling something very sinister is going on in Kanto."

Claydol beeped in response as it was returned, spinning in agreement. Metagross was returned too, while Ash returned Gale and Kai. The familiar sound of a ringtone filled the air

Ash watched as Steven froze, picking up the phone call. He took a long, exhausted breath as he held the phone to his ear, an apologetic smile crossing his face directed towards Ash. He heard the familiar voice of Wallace in the receiver again. This time, instead of annoyance filling the voice, disbelief did. "Steven, I'm checking that report now- did you misspell?"

"No," Steven replied, monotone. "I did not. That was... quick, for you though."

"This is- grounds for one investigation, and at least another- like- also, yes I was quick... I was just being sure to act on the information I was getting." Wallace muttered. "What the hell has Lance been doing?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Steven hissed. His mind could only wander along and wonder what the ILA would do with this information because it was incredibly likely that certain people would be in an incredible amount of trouble. "Because otherwise, I wouldn't be here, would I?"