Pokemon: Fire and Ice

Chapter 16

Giovanni paced in his office, grumbling under his breath. Persian was curled on the couch, grooming herself. She had enough city grime to last her a while. But her master had better things on his mind than to worry about his pet.

"Delia, this is your fault," he cursed.

He had finally found his nephew! But now that brat would never cooperate. Giovanni hadn't meant to lose his temper so badly—he was in a foul mood that day. He spent the entire night before trying to reorganize his forces. Sure enough, when Giovanni returned to his organization, he found his executives had made a mess of things and nothing was as it should be. Even worse, the crime lord was anxious to interrogate the new prisoner, Ash's kidnapper, but only to discover his memory was wiped. The moron could barely remember his own name. But Giovanni was not fooled. There was no way the criminal had done some sort of last resort attempt to escape interrogation. No, someone had infiltrated his organization.

By the end of the night, Giovanni had dealt with bad news right after another and was sick of it. And later that afternoon he had to deal with a rebellious Ash.

He had to find a way to talk to the boy. Ash was going to join Team Rocket. That destiny had been chosen for him long before his birth.

And with that, Giovanni stormed out of the room.

***

Ash slowly opened his eyes. Immediately he was greeted with a migraine headache. The trainer moaned loudly and planted his palm on his forehead. He rested his head back, only to feel plush. He blinked his eyes open to find himself on a bed.

It was queen-sized with its length pressed against the center of the wall. On the opposite side of the room was a lone door. The room was dark, barely allowing Ash to see. Though he determined the room was barren: just him and the bed. The young boy was snuggled neatly in under the sheets, which were made of rough, uncomfortable cotton.

With another effort, Ash pushed himself to a sitting position. It caused his head to pound, but he ignored it. What happened? Suddenly memories of Nimbasa City flooded his mind. The shock was so great Ash couldn't help but give a choked yelp. The realization was so much clearer now, making the boy feel ill.

He had been traveling with the leader of Team Rocket! The most nefarious man in Kanto... had right in front of him. Then he shivered as a more recent memory came into play. Giovanni had told him they were family... No! There was no way!

The denial summoned a rebellious spark in Ash. He flipped the covers off of him and quickly slid out of bed. The result was a vicious blow within his head. Ash cringed. His own uncle did this to him? Enraged, the imprisoned trainer stormed over to the door. Of course it was locked. He immediately began pounding on it with all his might.

"Heeyyy!" he called. "Let me out!"

There was no reply. He pounded on the door, but quickly gave up, realizing it was futile. The kid then turned on his heels and stomped back to the bed. He sat on it, the force of his impact making it bounce. He crossed his arms and made a face. He looked exactly like a toddler pouting, but he was actually thinking, trying to connect the dots.

Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, claimed to be his uncle. How? Mom had never mentioned any uncles or aunts, or even any other excess family. It was just them. Ash had never even found clues in photo albums or other ancient family stuff. It seemed logical that Giovanni was simply lying, trying to mess with Ash's head.

No... Ash saw it in his eyes... he was telling the truth. Then who was he then? If he was an uncle, he was either related to his mother... or his father.

Ash didn't know much about the man. All he knew that his father had died before his birth, when Delia was still pregnant. Mom would tell stories of him a couple times, but that was only when Ash was little. To be honest, Ash had never thought about his father. He liked his life as it was and there was rarely that empty feeling. Mom just offered him too much love and comfort for feelings of abandonment to set in. And when she sensed her son was really depressed, she would summon the courage to comment about his father, reassuring the boy that the memory of the man still lived on.

Other than that, Ash's father wasn't existent. Maybe there was a reason for that... What if Mom never mentioned him because she secretly feared him? Feared him because he was related to a monster... That had to be it! Giovanni was his father's brother! And speaking of the devil...

Right after Ash's last thought, the door swung open and a casual Giovanni stepped in. Immediately Ash snarled and leaped off the bed, jumping to the corner of the room farthest from the bastard. Meanwhile, Giovanni closed and relocked the door, blocking it off with his huge figure. Trying to discourage escape, no doubt. When he noticed Ash's fury, he lifted his hands and put on a half-calm, half-concerned expression. His voice was soft, like he was talking to a frightened animal.

"It's okay, Ash," he murmured.

The child scowled.

"I'm sorry I scared you. I never meant to hurt you."

"You're crazy!" Ash immediately shot back. The man had tried to kill him in Nimbasa... now he's playing innocent? The boy took a couple more steps away in disgust. "You're nothing but a freak that's sick in the head."

Giovanni closed his eyes. "I know everything's confusing right now—"

Before he could properly finish, Ash spat, "Whatever my father did, has nothing to do with me!"

Giovanni's eyes blinked open. He stared at his nephew in confusion, baffled by the sudden change in subject. "Huh?"

"It's my father, isn't it?"

The man only blinked again, completely dumbstruck. That needed a picture... After a few moments of silence, Ash jumped when suddenly Giovanni burst out laughing. It was a deep, hefty laugh, something like an old man would have. But because Giovanni was pure evil, it had a sinister note to it that sent chills up and down the boy's spine.

Finally he shot a glare and demanded, "What's so funny?"

Giovanni cupped a hand over his eyes, trying to calm down. His booming laughter was dying into chuckles, but his shoulders still shook his violently. Finally he gave one last chuckle before looking at Ash with a very amused stare and a wide grin. That probably looked scarier than his glares.

"You think I'm your father's brother, don't you?" he asked.

It was Ash's turn to be confused, but he nodded. This caused Giovanni to chuckle again and boldly step forward. Ash tried to back up, but quickly realized he was running out of room. He tried not to tremble at the tower looming over him, covering his vision as if preparing to suffocate him. But everything disappeared as his heart stopped and his body turned numb from Giovanni's next words.

"No, Ash... your mother, Delia, is my little sister.