A Journey's Link

Chapter 37 - Threats

"My head," Ash groaned. "It feels awful." He stood up and was confused by his surroundings. He expected to see the cold and harsh atmosphere of the location he and Goh were at when they ambushed Z, but instead, he saw the familiar aesthetic of the Anistar City Gym.

"How are you feeling, Ash?" a voice said to his right. Startled, he jerked his head to the right and saw the reassuring face of Olympia, which shocked him. "O-Olympia?" He asked, confused as to how she could be here and standing when she was being controlled by Mewtwo mere moments ago.

"Where's Giovanni?" Ash blurted, standing up aggressively. He winced and quickly sat back down, feeling a sharp pain go up to his leg as he did so. "I wouldn't stand up if I were you," Olympia said knowingly. "That explosion knocked you and your friend back pretty far."

"Explosion?" Ash muttered, trying to remember back to the ambush. He saw Mewtwo put up some kind of protective barrier which caused all the energy from the moves to repel backward and cause damage to the surrounding area, but couldn't remember anything beyond that.

Olympia nodded and said, "If it wasn't for your power, Mewtwo wouldn't have disabled its hold on me. That's how I was able to teleport us back to safety." She made her way over to another area of the room they were in as Ash absorbed her words. She got us back to safety? he thought. I thought we were goners.

"And how are you feeling, Goh?" Ash heard Olympia say soothingly. He looked over at where she stood and saw Goh also just gaining consciousness. "Where... am I?" He asked, looking around just as Ash had done when he woke up. "You're at the Anistar City Gym," Olympia began explaining. "Your combined efforts with Ash helped us get out of that situation with Giovanni, or as he called himself, Z."

Z. That name made Ash confused. "That wasn't Giovanni?" Ash blurted out. Both Goh and Olympia looked over at Ash, surprised at his sudden exclamation. "Did you capture him?" Ash added on, hoping for the answer he was looking for. Much to his dismay, he saw Olympia's face fall as she shook her head.

"I was more worried about saving us from the explosion," Olympia said apologetically. Ash shook his head, knowing that Olympia was right. They could chase after him all they wanted, but they had to be safe while doing so. Ash perked his head up when he heard Goh begin to speak. "So, is that person Giovanni?" He asked Olympia, who sighed.

"I believe so," she said quietly. "There were too many signs pointing to it being him." Ash furrowed his brows and looked at Goh. "He's the main leader of Team Rocket," he said angrily. Goh raised an eyebrow. "So he's the leader of Jessie, James, and Meowth?" He asked, to which Ash nodded.

Goh nodded in return and grunted as he stood up. Ash opened his mouth to warn Goh that he might feel some pain, but it was too late as Goh winced and subsequently sat back down. Ash's mind began racing as he thought about Giovanni and what he said to Olympia. He was talking about a third Zygarde core, he thought. I thought there were only two?

"What was Giovanni talking about when he said there was a third Zygarde core?" Ash asked Olympia, who seemed to have a blank expression. "I'm honestly not sure," Olympia responded. "I would have seen a potential threat in the future, but nothing was brought to my attention. I didn't even realize that Giovanni had been operating under a different name until just now."

Ash couldn't believe his ears. "But there is a threat!" he exclaimed. "Squishy is-I mean, the third core is heading towards Earth right now!" He felt himself unreasonably getting angry, but it wasn't at Olympia. He wasn't sure who he was angry at, but all he knew was that he needed Olympia to help them in any way possible.

Olympia seemed taken aback by Ash's passionate and insisting tone. "I-I'm sorry Ash, but I truly haven't seen any threat in the future," Olympia calmly said, trying to subdue Ash's personality. "If I did, I would've contacted you in some way." Ash knew this was true, but something else came up in his mind.