Pokemon Legacy: I Can't

Chapter Fifteen

"You!" Ash yelled, widening his stance. Steele was standing in front of Ash's group, hands still raised in a gesture of surrender. His Lucario materialized from the bushes behind him, yellow fur golden in the light of the dying sun. Pikachu's cheeks sparked as he took up a defensive position in front of Ash.

"Please, no need to be alarmed." The battle master's voice changed somehow, it was a more pleasant, musical voice that reminded him of someone, the cruel edge gone.

"Why are you following us?" Serena asked, standing off to the side. Ash glanced at her quickly, then returned his eyes to Steele.

"I overheard you at the Pokémon Center, about Giovanni," he said, bringing his hands down. "I wanted to tell you that you are right about him and this tournament."

"We know, we battled some of his Lieutenants at Spear Pillar." Gary replied, narrowing his eyes.

"Spear Pillar?" Steele seemed surprised by this information. "Please, explain what happened to me."

"Why would we trust you?" Clemont asked. "One can draw the conclusion that you work for him. You are a Battle Master after all."

"That is purely speculation. Yes I may be a Battle Master but I am not working for Giovanni." He glanced around at Ash and his friends. "You didn't see the smoke did you?"

"Smoke?" Ash replied carefully. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Please, a powerful trainer like yourself? I would bet my life on the fact that you are keeping tabs on who has smoke and who didn't, and how that affected their battling."

"Fine, yes we have noticed the smoke and thought it was weird that your Pokémon did not have it." Ash replied, relaxing, but still had Pikachu ready and a hand on another pokeball.

"I managed to convince Giovanni I did not need the power that smoke gave to the other Pokémon by beating all 8 of his lieutenants." Steele replied.

"Wait, you've met with him?" Clemont asked.

"Yes. He met with all of his Battle Masters he chose for this tournament to give their Pokémon a power up and give us all the general idea of what would happen if we defied him."

"So why are you?" Serena asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I never was working with him. I belong to an organization created to fight him." Steele replied.

"So effectively you are a spy?" Gary asked. Steele nodded.

"Who else is in this organization?" Ash asked.

"The former champions, a few professors, and some gym leaders." Steele replied.

"So basically the entirety of all the region's leaders." Ash said.

"I will not say much more. We have a vague idea of what is causing the smoke around those Pokémon and the red around their eyes, but we still don't know what exactly it is."

"Well if you were a spy you would know." Naomi said.

"Not necessarily. Whatever it is is acting through a few Pokémon, I do not believe those Pokémon are doing this by themselves." Steele said. "I also would prefer to not have my Pokemon's minds altered, or whatever it is they are doing."

"Why don't you sit and join us," Clemont broke in. "We can finish this discussion over some dinner." Steele nodded. The group took a short break to set up the table and help Clemont with dinner.

After a few minutes, dinner was bubbling on a pot, and the Pokémon were eating their food. The group of six launched back into their discussion. "What Pokémon do they have?"