I quickly finished my lunch so we could get back on the road to Fuchsia city before it got too late, but before we did I told the girls to go on ahead while I took care of something. As they left the building that acted as the offical start/end of the cycling road, I made a Combee-line for a certain young lady on the other side of the building.
She was dressed in a regular pair of short-shorts with a Venemoth hoodie that was pulled up, and moved in a way that suggested she was listening to music as she browsed the shelves of items available at the checkpoint. But I had recognized her the second I noticed her presence.
*PA!*
"!!!"
As I approached her I promptly smacked her tight little ass, before giving it a proper squeeze as her entire body tensed alertly.
"Nice to see you again, Janine." I whispered to her with a smirk.
"Ace." The ninja said as she turned towards me with narrowed eyes, revealing that she had on headphones under her hood, but I was willing to bet anything that she wasn't listening to music with them.
"Do you mind removing your hand from my ass?" She asked with a voice that said she wasn't going to ask again.
"Only because you asked so nicely." I told her while giving her butt one last squeeze, before releasing her and pulling my hand back before she tried something like cutting it off.
"So what brings you here?" I asked her, though I already had an idea.
"We knew you were coming through, so my father sent me to escort you to Fuchsia." She answered, confirming my suspicion.
"Am I gonna have a babysitter from now one while I'm on my journey?" I asked her curiously, as I did also spend the last couple days with Erika.
"I don't know. But you and Ash ARE effectively royalty in Kanto and Johto now thanks to Red. I think I even heard about my father sending someone to watch over Ash as well, though my only mission right now is to make sure you reach Fuchsia city alright."
I rolled my eyes as Janine referred to Ash and I as 'royalty', though I suppose it was a fairly accurate comparison all things considered.
"Well in that case let's go. We're hoping to reach the city by nightfall." I said while draping one of my arms around Janine's shoulders, dragging her with me as I went to go meet up with the girls.
"Wait! What are you doing?!" Janine demanded as we approached the door.
"Team Rocket doesn't exist anymore, and they're going to learn the truth about your clan eventually anyways. Might as well just come clean now." I stated as we exited the building, to find the girls waiting for us.
"Hey Ace-?!"
"Who's your new friend?"
Joy called out to me before noticing Janine, while May asked directly who she was. Surprisingly, it was Misty that answered.
"Janine?! What are you doing here?!" She asked incredulously.
"She was sent by her father to escort us to Fuchsia city." I told them, before pulling my bike out of my bag.
"Who's her father?" Dawn asked curiously as we all mounted our bikes, with Janine reluctantly sitting behind me where Erika had ridden earlier, before we all started peddling our way to Fuchsia city.
"Her dad is Koga, the Gym Leader that we're on our way to go challenge." Misty explained, though she still looked between Janine and I curiously.
"Yes. Though what I'm sure you DON'T know Misty, is that Janine, Koga, and their whole clan, are actually ninjas that serve the League."
"""!?!"""
I could feel the shock from the rest of the girls as I dropped that bombshell, while Janine just sighed in my ear.
"Its true. My family has served the Champions of Kanto for several generations. When Team Rocket put the bounty on Ace, I was sent to protect him from the shadows on behalf of the League. BUT, due to his own abilities, Ace found me out almost immediately and has kept silent about my presence ever since.
"I followed you all from Lavender town to Vermillion city, then boarded the SS. Anne as a member of my father's entourage to prepare for the battle against Team Rocket. Afterwards I was sent home to make my report, since there was no longer any need for Ace to receive constant protection anymore."
"You knew about her?!" Misty demanded as soon as Janine was finished telling her story.
"She swore me to secrecy about her mission, otherwise I would have told you all." I stated, making Misty grumble irritably about being kept out of the loop.
We continued on to Fuchsia city with the girls asking Janine various questions about herself to get to know her. At first Janine was fairly guarded as she only answered a couple questions, but she began to loosen up after a while. That was also how I learned Misty and Janine knew one another.
Apparently they met back when they were both little girls due to both of their fathers being Gym Leaders, though Misty never even suspected that Janine and her father were actual ninjas.
Soon enough we crested a hill that, once we reached the top, revealed the entirety of Fuchsia city below us.
"Amazing..." May uttered as she quickly took several pictures from our viewpoint, and I honesty had to agree.
Fuchsia city was pretty significant to Kanto for numerous reasons, primarily for the pokemon zoo and the Safari Zone that were both located here. On a lesser note, Fuchsia city was also home to the main branch of the Ranger Union here in Kanto, and also where those who wanting to become rangers would go to enroll in their training courses. And finally, not that very many people knew this, it was also home to the Kouga clan that acted as the dark side of the League along with the city Gym Leaders.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Koga was actually exempt from the probation that Erika told us Red was enforcing on the Gym Leaders.
The city itself was separated into two main districts based on what I saw from up here, divided by the road that we were already on that went back east. The southern half of the city looked like a residential district with a few stores scattered throughout the houses, while the northern half was where the Ranger Union, zoo, and Safari Zone were all located.
"Welcome to Fuchsia city." Janine said as she hopped down from my bike.
"From the northern edge of the zoo up is the Safari Zone, which extends all the way to the top of the mountain and down to the base on the other side. Not only do they stock pokemon found throughout Kanto, but also some pokemon from other regions as well. This was also where most of the pokemon seized from Team Rocket was brought after the team was disbanded."
"Oooh!" May exclaimed excitedly as she tried to keep track of everything Janine was saying. Probably to tell her viewers on May's Expeditions.
"So do you plan to go by the Safari Zone, Ace?" Janine asked me as she finished explaining what she knew about the city.
"Nah. As much as I would like to, I have plenty of pokemon that I've gotten recently that I need to focus on first. I might come back when they're all stronger though for some new pokemon." I answered.
"We're going to though!" May declared with excitment, and I could already imagine her decked out like she was going on safari in khakis and a wide rimmed hat as they looked for rare pokemon.
"What about you then?" Janine asked me curiously.
"Well, while Misty, May and Dawn all go to challenge your father and explore the Safari Zone, I plan to go to Grampa Canyon and meet up with Brock. He's invited me to join the fossil dig he's heading there, and we have some business to discuss."
Even as I said that I wondered how the eggs Brock told me about were doing, the Amaura and Archen that he acquired by breeding with Ditto.
I'll find out soon enough I guess, as Brock already sent me a message stating that he was heading out to Grampa Canyon with his siblings and Lucy, and that he'll meet me there.
"So you guys are splitting up?" Janine asked confusedly, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Only for a few days. Once the girls are done at the Gym and Safari zone, they're going to meet up with me before we continue on to the Cinnabar Island Gym. The only ones going with me will be Joy and Chloe."
As I said that the two aforementioned girls puffed their chests up a little, apparently pleased to have me to themselves for a few days.
"Well... Just be careful out there. Grampa Canyon is known around here for all of the disasters that have happened out there." Janine cautioned me as she got back on my bike, and we continued down hill.
"Really? What kind of disasters?" I asked her curiously.
"All the large expeditions into the canyon ever since it was discovered have been halted due to various environmental factors, such as Earthquakes, Rockslides, and so on. And that's not even counting the expeditions that just flat out disappeared altogether. No one knows if its because that area is so geologically active, or if there is a powerful pokemon out there."
"Hmmm...."
I hummed while thinking about what Janine just told me, my interest in visiting Grampa Canyon going up now that I know there might be something out there. I know Lucario was interested, especially if there was a potential strong opponent involved.
We soon arrived in Fuchsia city before the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, but unlike Saffron city the light didn't reflect off of the buildings since they were all built like old style japanese houses.
"I love the architecture here!" Dawn stated as we rode towards the Pokemon Center.
"If I recall correctly, Ecruteak city is roughly the same, and its considered to be the oldest city in Johto." Chloe stated, while I paid attention to the people milling about as we passed them. I couldn't help but notice several of them paying particularly close attention to us.
"Instead of being located on our compound, the Kouga clan is scattered throughout the entire city to avoid scrutiny. Plus it makes it easir for us to keep an eye on everything in the city." Janine whispered into my ear as we passed them, making me both relieved and worried since none of the girls seemed to notice we were being watched.
We quickly arrived to the Pokemon Center where a Nurse Joy was apparently waiting for us, because as soon as we walked in she stepped forward.
"Ketchum party? We've been expecting you." Nurse Joy said, before promptly leading us out of the Pokemon Center.
"Joy told us you've been staying Capsules while on the road, and mentioned possibly staying in one for the night as well. With them becoming more popular, we've been working on creating space to allow trainers to put their Capsules up when they come through the city. I hope this will be satisfactory." She explained while gesturing to an empty space beside the Pokemon Center.
"Its perfect, thank you." I told her while simultaneously throwing out the Capsule that contained our house. Since we were in the middle of a city, it was the only one we were setting up for the night.
While the girls went up to their rooms I ordered us dinner delivered from a certain burger place that May heavily recommended, complete with fries and their famous safari milkshakes. I quite enjoyed the Bluk Berry Supreme flavor.
Unfortunately Janine couldn't stick around to have dinner with us, and insisted that she had to return to report to her father that we, or more specifically I, had arrived in Fuchsia safely.
The rest of the night was spent quietly as the girls packed a few sets of clothes into their personal bags since I would be taking the Capsule house with me to Grampa Canyon in the morning, and sure enough I saw May packing a cute safari outfit for when they entered the Safari Zone.
...
"..."
My eyes shot open as I sensed something....off in the night.
I disentangled myself from the limbs of the girls and crawled out of bed before locating my shorts to slip on, and crept down the stairs before making my way outside.
"Couldn't sleep?" Lucario asked as I stepped out onto the porch.
"I felt a disturbance in the force." I answered.
"Perhaps you aren't totally hopeless after all." Lucario stated, before stepping to the side to reveal a kunai stabbed into the railing.
"I thought I sensed something off, and when I came to investigate I found that there." Lucario explained as I pulled the kunai out of the railing.
Attached to it was a slip of paper wrapped around the handle, which I unraveled and read, "You have been coordinally invited to attend a banquet at the following location."
Following the message was a series of coordinates, which I looked up in my Rotom phone to find out that they led to an estate near the Gym.
"What do you think?" Lucario asked.
"I think that I'm underdressed."