Seven Days of Terror

Nothing to say here. Enjoy.

Seven Days of Terror

by Perfect Purity

Epilogue


18 April

Happy birthday to us!

Today marks the three-year anniversary of the birth of Sketchmore Industries.

It didn't help that I had to spend the first year of those three in jail, but Tracey has proved to be an excellent interim leader. I'm quite impressed with his work. Getting out of the criminal racket was the best thing this company (it feels so good to be able to call it that rather than just a 'criminal organization') has ever done. Some people still do not trust us as a company, seeing as how I am the company president, we are still housed in the same building where Silph used to be, and a good chunk of our staff consists of former Rocket agents who were tired of Giovanni but did not have the willpower or strength to challenge his authority.

I can't blame them. It's going to take a long time to remove the stain on Saffron City that Giovanni left. Speaking of, the jury surprised me when they sentenced him to life in prison rather than death. They'd said that death would have been too lenient a punishment, and I could find myself agreeing with that.

Enough about that, though. This is a happy day!

Tracey and I just finished the design for another house. We're hoping to break ground early next month.

James paused, taking a moment to sip his coffee. Black, the way he preferred it. He stared intently into the cup, looking through his reflection into the murky dark liquid. It reminded him of his dark past, and he took a larger drink before setting the cup down and resumed writing.

And speaking of happy days, Ash has informed me that he and the young Miss Langford are scheduled to be wed sometime next year. We're building May her dream house as a surprise wedding present. It's unfortunate she will never be able to actually see it, but I just know she'll love it. From what Ash told me, he moved to Hoenn to be with May almost immediately after we got back from Orre. He said he told her parents, "I got your son killed. The least I can do is make sure your daughter is taken care of for the rest of her life." I'm not sure I would have phrased the first part quite like that, but that's Ash for you. Right to the point. But he's definitely making good on that promise. It might sound like he's doing it out of an obligation to her, but just from looking at them, you'd be crazy to think they were anything but very much in love. It makes me smile to see them together... I'm glad he's found someone.

As for myself... I don't think I'm ready to get back on that horse just yet. I know Jessie would want me to move on and find someone else, but I can't do it. Not yet. I need to focus my attention on keeping this business alive, but it warms my heart knowing that at the very least, Ash and May can start their life together with one less criminal organization in the world.

James stopped again, and thought. What else was there? And the light came on. "Oh!"

Brock challenged the Elite Four for a spot in their ranks, and his match against them was aired last night. He lost, which is quite a shame, considering he had Lance down to his last Pokemon. I didn't even know Brock even wanted to join the Elite Four. The proceeds for the whole event were donated to various organizations. Some of it went here, as did the cool million we lifted from Giovanni's mansion. Without Giovanni funding us, we've had to rely on a lot of donations to stay strong. Ash has helped out in this area tremendously - I guess he wasn't lying when he said he didn't need Giovanni's money.

A young lady with long brown hair knocked on the open door to James's office. "Sir, there's a..." She glanced at her clipboard. "Jasmine De...Dell.."

"Deloreaux," James finished. She was here a day early!

"Jasmine Deloreaux," the girl parroted, relieved she'd avoided embarrassing herself further. "She is here to discuss plans for renovating a Gym in Johto."

"Send her in. Thanks, Daisy."

"Yes, sir."

James closed his notebook, put the pencil in its binding, and shoved it away into a drawer. James straightened his tie and grinned as the plain young woman and her Empoleon entered the room. "Jasmine, welcome. Please, have a seat."

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Somewhere off the coast of Cinnabar Island, three friends were on a boat to Pokeprison, Kanto's somewhat ridiculously named maximum security prison, to see a man none of them wanted to see.

The shortest of the three spoke first, his voice sounding slightly hoarse. "Are you sure about this?"

Ash crossed his arms in thought. He really wanted to tell Officer Jenny to turn around, turn around now and forget Giovanni. He looked up at the building that housed the former leader of a former organization of Pokemon thieves. Curse Giovanni for planting the seeds of inquiry. He was probably leading him on, in any case, but he had to be certain. "Yeah," he finally answered.

"You think he's gonna tell you anything?"

"I was just thinking about that. I bet he'll probably send me on my way the second we get there, but I want to know if he knows anything."

May hugged her troubled soon-to-be husband. "You might not like what he has to say." She gave him a comforting squeeze. "If he says anything at all. You said he only claimed to know anything when he was backed into a corner, right? So it's possible he lied about the whole thing."

Ash considered that, too. "Well, he was right when he said I'd want to know," he began, taking his fiancee's hands in his own. "He knew, once Lance showed up, that he was finished. I think he'd planned on me not knowing who my father was, and hearing anything related to him would get me to say hold on, wait a sec." He shook his head sorrowfully. "To hesitate. And that's exactly what I did. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You still came out on top, didn't you? That's all that matters."

"Weavile's right," May reminded him. "No matter what he says to you, you've got plenty of things to look forward to." She leaned in to kiss his lightly furred cheek.

"You bet I do," Ash happily stated.

Idle chatter filled the remainder of the boat ride. Upon arriving at the isolated rock, another Officer Jenny stood waiting to receive the young man. As he was led up the stone steps to the main gate, he passed two more Jenny clones, each with a ferocious-looking Houndoom sitting obediently at their sides. Even though he knew their sharp fangs and wicked moves would never be trained on him, he felt incredibly nervous walking past them nonetheless.

Inside, his identification was scanned, then his person was scanned to ensure no Poke Balls were present. The device they used, he noticed, was the same one Jackson used on him and his friends three years ago. Ash was then led into a large room separated in two by thick glass. Ash saw other people sitting down here, speaking to prisoners on the other side; loved ones talking to incarcerated spouses, lawyers contacting their shady clients. Ash was brought to the end of the room, where there was no one on the other side.

A guard spoke into his radio. "Okay, bring him in."

Ash did his best to steel his nerve as Giovanni Romano, orchestrator of death, walked into the room led arm in arm by two guards with huge guns. Both his hands and feet were shackled, Ash saw, and he orange jumpsuit he wore looked strikingly similar to the orange suit he wore in his days of being feared. The two officers placed the convicted man into the seat, and took their hands off him. Not once removing their eyes from him, they stepped back just enough so the man would have room to breathe.

"So," Giovanni began with a smile, that smile that Ash hated. "You came."

"Skip the formalities, Giovanni," Ash spat. "You know why I'm here."

Giovanni's smile faded ever so slightly before returning full force. "Your father."

"Yes. Tell me who he is."

"Why should I? Have you forgotten? My offer ended the second I got on that helicopter."

"I can make your life in here a lot easier," Ash coolly offered.

Giovanni couldn't deny that. He'd been in solitary confinement since he arrived, and anything was better than that. Then again, Ash Ketchum was the one who put him here in the first place. Even if he'd spilled his guts, that wouldn't get him out of here. He'd still be trapped in this desolate hole, and [i]he[/i] would be safe. On the outside.

He weighed his options, and decided with a single word. "Choke."

"You sure about that?" Ash countered. "Once I walk out of here, deal's off. For good. You won't see me again." He stood up as if to drive his point home and, for a brief moment, hoped that Giovanni would change his mind.

Giovanni almost laughed. "Well, I can only hope. I may be cursed to live out the rest of my days in this stinking pit, but you know what? I'm glad. You little wretch. You can take not knowing who your father is to your grave. I will die with a smile on my face knowing that I'm the only one who can tell you."

Ash was becoming upset, but wouldn't give Giovanni the satisfaction of seeing it on his face. Without another word, he turned and left, leaving Giovanni content with the knowledge that his son had left without ever knowing the truth.

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

Brock stood over the stove, staring out the window and sighing as he put the finishing touches on another group of pancakes for his veritable posse of siblings. It's not that he hated cooking; he cooked almost daily, both for human and Pokemon, and loved doing it. He'd just like someone else to handle the cooking duties once in a while.

"Heyyyy, Brockmeister," one of them called to him as he entered the room.

Brock did not even look away from the stove. He hated when they called him that. "What is it?"

He tossed the letter on the table. "You got some mail. From the Pokemon League. Looks important."

This caught his attention. He took the finished pancakes from the pan, turned the stove off, and looked at the envelope. On the back, Brock saw it was sealed with the offical Pokemon League seal. What could they want with him? "Well, only one way to find out..." He tore the seal and opened the plain white envelope, unfolded the piece of paper, and began to read.

"So? What's it say?"

A smile slowly crept across Brock's face as he mouthed the words of the letter. "I... they... I'm in! I'm in! Can you believe it??"

Brock's kid brother crossed his arms. "What are you in?"

Brock read his message aloud. "Dear Mr. Slate: Thank you for applying to become one of Kanto's Elite Four. As you are aware, those who cannot defeat the current Champion are ineligible for consideration for a 6-month period. However, given the results of your match and your longtime standing as a Gym Leader, we have decided to make an exception in your case.

"As a Gym Leader, you received an e-mail from Indigo Plateau stating that Agatha Tomash would be retiring from service at the end of the year. After careful consideration, we have unanimously voted to induct you into the Elite Four immediately following Ms. Tomash's departure.

"Per League regulations, we are obligated to inform you that should you accept, you must resign your status as Gym Leader. Choose a replacement via regulation guidelines and send their information to Indigo Plateau by mail or e-mail. We are looking forward to working with you in the near future. Respectfully yours," Brock folded the note, "and then it has all their signatures. But I can't believe it! I'm part of the Elite Four, bro! I'm so excited! Oh man, I gotta call Ash and May and tell 'em the good news! We'll throw a party! And there'll be cake, and, and and and music, and women!" He clapped his hands together. "Oh ho ho, yes!"

As Brock gleefully rushed off to use the video phone, his little brother helped himself to a large stack of the now unattended breakfast. He planned on getting his fill before his other siblings arrived like the pack of dogs they were and demolished the fluffy cakes themselves.


THE END

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Thanks to those of you who posted comments; eternal sadfases to those who didn't.

Sorry it took so long. Hope you guys liked it! I might have to add an extra "chapter" sometime with that ending-credits sex that one reviewer mentioned...