Into the Unown (Pokemon Fanfiction OC)
Chapter 150

Nobita looked very different than when Nina saw him that afternoon. The boy had obviously just gotten out of the shower; his previously well groomed and meticulously gelled hair now set loose, black curly strands hanging over a pair of thick rimmed glasses which Nina identified as being the pair that the boy used to wear back when he was living in Cerulean City.

In place of his previously bespoke suit was a casual set of shorts and t-shirt. Even his entire demeanor changed, from a confident rich boy to the same nerdy little kid that Nina used to play video games with.

“Nobita!” Charlie exclaimed as he rushed forwards to greet his childhood friend, only to be held back by the solid figure of Purple Shadow, now in his jet black ninja garb.

“Hold your Ponytas, kiddo,” said Purple Shadow as he turned to address a docile looking Nobita. “Gotta do a full scrub first. I’m sure the young master understands?” 

“Yes,” the boy responded with a wry smile and arms extended to the side. “Do what you must.”

Lilian, Nina and Charlie were in unfamiliar territory. So naturally, Alfred and Purple Shadow, as their bodyguards, were very cautious.

Earlier in the day, when Nobita handed over his business card to Nina, he had deliberately sandwiched another card for this establishment in between two copies of his. On it was written a room number as well as a secret password to be given to the receptionist when making their booking.

Naturally, Lilian and Nina couldn’t be seen patronizing such an establishment, so they sent Purple Shadow in disguise to secure the room before teleporting in with Alfred. After that, it was just a whole lot of waiting after being assured by the proprietress of this establishment that Nobita was sure to come by sometime in the evening.

The rest of Nina’s cohort were on standby outside the building, monitoring the proceedings and ready to dial for the police if anything untowards were to happen to them.

“He’s clean.” Purple Shadow declared, at the conclusion of his pat down. “Nothing in his shadow either.”

“Gallade informs me that there are no Psychics tethered to his mind as well.” Alfred added. “You may proceed with your reunion, Mr Rockford.”

However, by this point, Charlie’s enthusiasm had been severely dampened. So he just approached Nobita with an uncertain gait and sheepish look, only to be pulled into a tight hug by the other boy.

“It’s been too long, Charlie…” Nobita sniffled, seeming to be on the verge of tears.

“Yeah… Yeah it has…” Charlie stiffened at the sudden contact, but then loosened up again to return the hug.

The two boys stayed that way for some time, before separating and breaking out into a subtle series of convoluted handshakes and finger movements. Presumably, the secret handshake that Charlie told Nina about previously.

***

“So what’s going on, Nobita?” Nina began. 

The girl was sitting cross legged on the bed, with Nobita on the edge. Lilian had privilege over the sole chair adorning the space while Charlie opted to sit on the floor. Meanwhile, Alfred vigilantly stood guard beside the door and Purple Shadow had long since melded into the shadows to look after their surroundings.

“I imagine being the heir to a criminal empire isn’t all it’s cracked up to be huh?” The girl joked. 

Nobita chuckled in a self deprecating manner. “You can say that again… I have to say, I wasn’t expecting you to bring me such powerful backup, Charlie.” The boy then sighed and threw his head back. “Where do I even begin…”

“We know all the basics. And… about Team Rocket.” Lilian chimed.

Nobita turned towards the Blackthorn girl with an amicable smile. “Yes, I imagine the League probably has some notion. Question is, how much do you actually know? We’re not just talking about white collar crimes and petty racketeering here. A lot of the things that Team Rocket used to be known for aren’t entirely applicable either.”

“Then elaborate further. Starting with why your father has been spending such inordinate amounts of capital on logistics and scientific research.”

“That does help to narrow things down a bit...” The boy mused, before turning to address Nina. “I heard you took down a Rocket den last year?” He asked, to which Nina nodded in affirmation. “Do you know why they were going around kidnapping children?”

Nina frowned. “Isn’t it because they wanted to sell them to some rich pervert or something?”

Nobita shook his head with a weak laugh. “Nah, that’s what they tell the grunts — can’t spill what they don’t know. No, the reason is because they want to indoctrinate them.”

“Indoctrinate?”

The boy nodded. “There’s a hidden facility somewhere, I don’t know where. One built specifically to groom Ace-tier trainers.”

Lilian frowned in response to the boy’s words. “Why?”

“Well for one, Team Rocket has been on the decline since Giovanni’s defeat. Aside from that, there’s also a ploy from the conservative faction of the Indigo League to infiltrate and steadily take over the ranks of the League’s Ace Trainers.”

“Preposterous!” Lilian exclaimed as she slammed a fist on the arm of her chair. “How is it possible that we're unaware of such blatant sabotage?!”

Nobita laughed. “It’s true. And the reason why you guys don’t know about it is because this is a fairly recent project, otherwise you would be seeing a lot more missing children.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.” Nina chimed. “Surely the League must have very stringent procedures when it comes to the recruitment of any Ace Trainers. How could someone with a sketchy or unknown background be so easily admitted?” The Ace Corp were the hammer to the Pokemon League’s anvil after all. Such authority wouldn’t be given out so easily.

“No, it is definitely feasible.” It was Afred who answered to Nina’s doubts. “With the cooperation of the Koga clan and some of the more conservative legacy families, it is possible to fabricate a convincing enough background for an Ace candidate. And with the pool of viable trainers diminishing by the season, it is only a matter of time until standards are lowered.”

A muffled voice came from a dark corner as Purple Shadow interjected as well. “That Vicious Thunder or whatever did say that Team Rocket promised to make her an Ace Trainer when we interrogated her.”

“Hang on a sec,” said Nina. “Are you saying that Koga might be involved in this? Why? Isn’t he supposed to be all righteous and patriotic?”

Lilian scoffed. “Righteous is relative. Patriotic, certainly. But therein lies the problem.”

“Yes,” Alfred continued. “Koga is loyal only to Kanto and has a deep hatred of Johto. As a matter of fact, the man is the leader of the League’s conservative faction. When it comes to the warmongers, none are as bloodthirsty as the patriarch of the Koga clan.”

The butler then proceeded to explain that the warmongers had been steadily losing influence in recent years thanks to the prolonged peace. As such, they’ve been resorting to increasingly desperate maneuvers to maintain relevance and push their misguided agenda. A harebrained scheme like trying to take over the Ace Trainers from within seemed right up their alley. 

As powerful as Lance was, he was only one person. With the Ace Corp completely neutered, there would be no one to enforce the League’s will. There were still the Jennys of course, but their authority was more limited to urban law-keeping. The Ace Trainers were directly subordinate to the Elite Four and therefore have a broader role; counter-terrorism, Alpha subjugation, even the occasional black ops and espionage, and many more.

“What is surprising is the fact that Koga is willing to join hands with Team Rocket in any capacity.” Lilian added. “This is low, even for that decrepit old Arbok.”

In a fairly uncharacteristic moment, Alfred sighed. “Koga is long past his prime, the man does not have many years left ahead of him. Desperation drives even the most enlightened of sages.”

“But why though?” Charlie muttered. “Isn’t peace a good thing? Why are these people so desperate to hurt each other like this?”

“One cannot hope to understand grief without experiencing loss, young man,” said the elderly butler. “Koga has his reasons, as perplexing as they may be.”

Nina scoffed. “You’d think the guy would have done something at the beginning to stop Lance from assimilating the Kanto League instead of allowing the two Regions to become as unified as they are right now.”

“That’s because the rise of my uncle was originally facilitated by the forces of both regions,” said Lilian, causing Nina to perk up in interest. 

The girl sensed that she was about to learn a piece of history that was unknown to the general public. “Dammit! I don’t have my notebook with me.” Nina was tempted to pull out her Pokedex, but opted not to, to avoid spooking her friend.

“Times were different back then.” Alfred continued. “Right around the eve of Champion Red’s ascension, there were undercurrents of a potential invasion from Sinnoh.”

This was a time where the Church of Origin’s influence was at its peak. And as with any theocracy, Sinnoh at the time was highly militant and eager for expansion. After securing a non-interference agreement from Hoenn, Sinnoh was getting ready to insert itself into the Kanto-Johto conflict and bring its unruly southern neighbours, weakened from war, to heel.

“Those religious sycophants were also very obsessed with the Ruins of Alph for whatever reason.” Lilian chimed.

Alfred nodded. “The person who was the most aware and concerned about this at the time was none other than Koga, Agatha’s then right hand in the intelligence bureau.” The man explained. “And so he reached out to his Johton counterpart and hatched a plan to secure a temporary truce from the war. All so that they might come together to form a tenuous alliance in the hopes of discouraging Sinnoh’s ambition.”

In fact, Koga even went as far as to eliminate the majority of the more stubborn opposition, leaving only a small but solid base of ardent supporters within his influence. What’s left then was to pick a nominal Champion for the two Regions. Johto had Lance, the greatest prodigy to emerge from the Blackthorns since its founding. And while Koga had his own candidate in mind, his plans were thwarted by the sudden ascension of an unknown in the form of Red.

Alfred laughed in amusement. “Koga tried to bring Red over to his cause. Oh believe me, he tried. Unfortunately, as evident by history, the boy was exceptionally headstrong and capricious.” Ironically, all the inane politicking and Koga’s attempts at manipulation only served to hasten Red’s decision to abdicate. This opened up a void for Lance to exploit.

League regulations stipulated that should the Champion’s seat be left empty without a replacement, the strongest among the Elite Four will take over as interim Champion. And because part of the agreement struck with Johto at the time necessitated that they each appoint one of the opposing candidates as their Elites, it provided an opportunity for Lance to take over as interim Champion of Kanto — a position that eventually became permanent through the support of the pacifist forces of both Regions.

“Koga had severely underestimated the people’s desire for peace. The war had gone on for so long that no one even remembered why we were even fighting anymore, only the loss and tragedy associated with the senseless conflict.” With the tides against him, Koga had no choice but to acquiesce, consolidate whatever power he could and bide his time in the background.

“The patriarch of the Koga clan is a very complex individual.” Lilian added. “His sense of duty outweighs his personal inclinations. Hence why he has been dutifully performing his role as our head of intelligence and Elite Four in a fair and impartial manner all throughout these years.” 

But with his faculties aging by the year, Koga’s principles had become more malleable as of late, resulting in the overactive conservative faction causing all sorts of trouble — a great source of headache for Lilian, her family, and the proper bureaucrats in charge of governing the Indigo League.

Lilian turned to look at Nina with an intense gaze. “If I’m able to become the crux of Koga’s downfall, the elders will have no choice but to give me their complete and unconditional support.”

Nina sighed. “I don’t know, Lil. We’re not Red, and this isn’t as simple as just charging into the Yamaguchi Group headquarters and beating everyone up.” Back then, there was only Giovanni and Team Rocket. Now, they were dealing with an active member of the Elite Four and a good number of Kanto’s legacy families, potentially some from the Johto side as well. 

“I can easily see this going very wrong. Maybe even giving the conservative faction an excuse to reignite the regional war.” Nina turned towards Alfred with a pleading glance, hoping that the man would talk some sense into her mistress. Unfortunately, the man remained silent, not feeling as talkative anymore.

Undeterred by her friend’s concern, Lilian continued questioning Nobita. “Nobita Yamaguchi, what else is there? What is the reason for the company’s outsized spending on scientific research? Does it have something to do with their plot regarding the Ace Trainers?”

Nobita responded with a wry smile. “I’d prefer it if you don’t associate me with that family name. As for the R&D spend, I don’t really know. Only that there’s large amounts of money being funneled to an external entity on a regular basis, the details of which are vague.” In fact, Nobita only knew about this because as his father’s nominal successor, he was expected to learn how to manage the company’s accounts.

“Outside of that, there’s the smuggling business of course; drugs, contraband, rare Pokemon not found in the region, Loppunies… You know, the usual.”

“Loppunies?” Charlie asked in confusion, only to elicit a pitying gaze from Nina and Nobita who placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder with a gentle shake of his head. Some things in this world were better off left in the dark.

***

Author's note:

There'll be a bonus chapter release today which takes place, chronologically, after Ch 144. It was a late addition that I wrote and I feel it helps to give a bit of context to a character's choice in the next chapter.