Wanna Be a Master!

 

“This place is cute,” Ash noted, looking around the Laverre Gym.

 

Giovanni hummed an agreement, though he hardly found things cute anyway. His view of ‘cuteness’ was limited to Ash.

 

Ash squealed and grabbed his hand, heading towards the store inside the gym that held what apparently were several dresses, kimonos, and furisodes designed by Valerie, the gym leader.

 

“These are really cute, Giovanni!” she exclaimed, examining one in particular that was Pikachu-based. Obviously, Pikachu agreed and approved of that particular kimono.

 

Giovanni was already running the outfits through his head, with Ash in them, and slowly grinning (he would not admit it was lecherous at all –well, maybe partly. Mostly, his ‘cuteness’ viewing was finally activated at the moment, and he found that he would definitely enjoy seeing Ash in all of the outfits and thought she’d look cute and pretty in all of them).

 

He was more than sold when he saw a Persian-designed yukata that he immediately strode towards and grabbed. He headed back to Ash and put it in front of her, startling her by his suddenness. Persian let himself out of his pokéball from Ash’s belt, purring in delight and approval.

 

“Will you wear this?” Giovanni asked, staring at her intently.

 

“Your lechery is showing again,” Ash snorted. “Figures you’d be a Gijinka-lover.”

 

“Am not,” he sulked, taking the yukata and cradling it to him. “And I don’t even know what a Gijinka is.”

 

Ash smirked at him, giving him a playful look. “Oh? Then maybe I should surprise you and cosplay for you one of these days.”

 

She laughed at him lightly, walking away to continue perusing the store. In the meantime, Giovanni glanced down at the yukata and nodded. It was settled. He was buying it. Persian nudged his leg.

 

“I’m buying it,” he reassured his beloved pokémon, who nodded in content.

 

Pikachu tugged at his pants leg insistently, and he looked down to see the electric mouse pokémon looking at him in discontent and pointing at the previously looked at Pikachu kimono. He laughed and patted his head.

 

“Of course. We’ll get that one too.”

 

Giovanni grabbed it and carefully placed it with the other, before looking around.

 

“Is that a Mew one? I like that. Ash would definitely look cute in that, wouldn’t she?” he hurried over to it, with Pikachu and Persian coming after him.

 

He lost track of time and was only brought to attention when he ran into Ash, who looked at him in amusement.

 

“Having fun?” she raised an eyebrow and glanced at the pile of dresses in Giovanni’s arms.

 

He waved dismissively. “I have more at the counter. They’re holding it for me.”

 

Ash gaped at him, more so as she looked around him and spotted more piles of clothes where he said they would be and the salesgirls all looking rather taken aback.

 

“Are you buying the whole store or something?!”

 

“I just found a lot of them that I thought you’d look cute in,” he said defensively. Persian and Pikachu made agreeing noises. “Although the Persian and Pikachu ones are probably my favorite of the bunch. The Mew one comes pretty close though…”

 

Ash shook her head, before digging out something from her pocket and showing it to him. He blinked and stared in surprise. It was the Laverre Gym Badge.

 

“When did you get that?” he asked baffled.

 

Ash gave him a look. “While you were busy shopping. It’s been at least an hour since we first got here, you know.”

 

That caught Giovanni off guard and he gave her a sheepish grin.

 

“But I found cute things for you to wear and I’m going to buy them.”

 

Her lips twitched up. “That definitely makes up for everything. Come on, you silly man. Let’s go buy what you want, before you end up buying the whole store.”

 

 

Giovanni laughed with her, and together they headed towards the counter.

 

After they left the gym, they got into the RV and began to drive north. On the drive, Ash recalled hearing something from one of the customers of the store while she’d been walking around.

 

“Hey, in this direction, there’s supposed to be a place called the Pokéball Factory,” Ash told Giovanni, ignoring Pikachu who was admiring the Pikachu-kimono Ash had put on. “I heard they give out tours of the place. Want to check it out?”

 

Giovanni thought on it. “Sounds good to me. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out and I’m pretty sure we have enough time to put aside and be able to visit the place. Do you want to go?”

 

“I do!”

 

So with that decided, Giovanni checked on the map where exactly it was and began to drive there. Oddly enough, once they got there, it seemed rather empty and not bustling with activity like it should be.

 

“This seems suspicious,” Giovanni muttered.

 

“Aw man,” Ash pouted. “Why can’t we catch a break? I just wanted a normal day and a normal visit to somewhere!”

 

He looked at her in amusement. “By now, I’m surprised you’re still surprised. You should be used to this kind of thing by now, what with your history.”

 

“I know,” she grumbled. “But it never fails to be exasperating. Come on, hubby. Time to save the day again.”

 

He barked out a laugh. “It seems completely wrong to say that to me of all people.”

 

“Get used to it! You’re married to me, remember? You’re my husband, so change of routine.”

 

He shrugged and followed her out of the RV, Pikachu and Persian following the two of them. Ash stopped though.

 

“You know, I just got this silly plan in my head…”

 

After hearing it, Giovanni didn’t find it silly at all. In fact, it was downright brilliant in his opinion. And so, as they approached the lone Flare grunt guarding the entrance, Giovanni lamented the poor guy’s fate.

 

“Stay right there,” the Flare grunt saw them. “This place is close for renovations.”

 

“Would have maybe worked if you hadn’t been wearing a Team Flare outfit,” Ash said sarcastically and then picked out a certain pokéball from her belt.

 

Giovanni just smirked, likewise taking out a particular pokéball himself. Together they threw them out and two Charizard appeared with mighty roars. The grunt froze and looked up at the duo Charizard in front of him, jaw dropping.

 

Then both Giovanni’s wedding ring and a new bracelet on Ash’s wrist glowed bright. Thoroughly enjoying themselves, they called out for the pokémon to Mega Evolve.

 

“Maximus, Mega Evolve!”

 

“You too, Charizard!”

 

To the Flare grunt’s nightmare, both enormous Charizard glowed and then transformed, respectively into the X and Y forms.

 

“Pikachu, Persian, you two know what to do,” Giovanni directed to the other two pokémon that had been on standby.

 

Persian and Pikachu nodded and made noises of affirmation, and then the two of them ran around the grunt and into the building.

 

“I suggest you run,” Ash told the poor Flare grunt.

 

He gave a rather girlish scream, and then he started running away from them. And then Giovanni and Ash got onto their respective Charizard and the pokémon took off from the ground and soared around the sky.

 

“Ready?” Ash asked Giovanni, feeling exhilarated with the flight.

 

Her Charizard roared and shot out a flamethrower just because, while Maximus pulled off a very impressive spiral dive. Then those two pulled up next to her and Charizard, and Giovanni gave her a smug smirk.

 

“Totally ready. That extended stay at the Tower of Mastery was worth it, wasn’t it?”

 

“Very,” Ash agreed. “Sill, I feel kind of bad for going so crazy on Gurkinn.”

 

Giovanni shrugged. “Well, I’m helping to pay for the damages and getting people there to do the repairs.”

 

“Some of the Rockets must have gotten really good at that,” she thought about it, with the amount of damage the Team, herself with the Team, and the JJM unit alone have caused.

 

“I have a division specializing in it,” he admitted. “There’s just too much clean up that happens, and it saves me money.”

 

Ash could see how and why. There was Pokémon Land, the various mishaps Jessie, James, and Meowth got up to, and it’s just useful to offer his own service and look the good guy in public.

 

Sounds of screaming and yelling reached them, and they looked at each other.

 

“Showtime,” Giovanni told her.

 

A crowd of Flare members ran out of the building, and Ash and Giovanni directed their Charizard closer, using the pokémon’s Flamethrowers to herd the group to an area and then surrounded them with a wall of fire that circled around them and kept them in. Pikachu and Persian emerged from the building, chasing out the last of the Team Flare agents that quickly was herded into the circle before it was closed up.

 

“Ring of fire~” Ash sung cheerfully.

 

Giovanni huffed. “You and your songs.”

 

She gave a laugh and sung another song, “Sing a happy song, sing a happy,” she continued singing, having her Charizard shoot out random bursts of fire at the corralled group and laughing manically every once and awhile.

 

“You’re a horrible person,” Giovanni sweatdropped.

 

“But you made me so,” Ash retorted and then went back to her song.

 

Giovanni twitched. “Yeah, no. I think you were always this crazy, horrible person that enjoyed torturing Teams…”

 

“Clap your hands and sing a happy song!” she half sung and half demanded down at the people, and then Charizard blew out a burst of fire right over the heads of the screaming Flare people. It was too close for comfort for them.

 

“Ash!” they heard someone scream. “Ash, it’s me! Stop it, please stop it!”

 

Ash blinked and looked around, and spotted a Flare grunt waving his arms frantically. Then the man ripped off the red wig and face mask, and Ash laughed in delight.

 

“Oh, look! Giovanni, it’s Looker!”

 

Giovanni gave her and then the man a weird look. What kind of name was Looker?

 

Ash flew down and snatched Looker’s collar, pulling him up from the ground and then placing him behind her on her Charizard. Then she flew back to Giovanni’s side.

 

“Giovanni, this is Looker. He’s from the International Police,” Ash told him, and Giovanni only felt slightly wary. “Looker, this is Giovanni, my husband!”

 

At that, the man nearly toppled off of Ash’s Charizard in shock.

 

 

Giovanni just smirked widely.

 

Looker had been very caught off guard when he’d run into Ash at the Pokéball Factory, having not expected to see her there all of a sudden, and up in the air and having fun terrorizing Team Flare agents while rounding them up. Further, he was shocked to find out she’d gotten married in the time since she’d last seen him. But then he realized who she’d gotten married to.

 

Of all people, it was Giovanni Rocketto. Successful business mogul, Pokémon League Board member, Viridian City Council member.

 

And if rumors were to be heard, the boss of Team Rocket.

 

Of course that wasn’t proven or anything. Just that it was somehow a prominent rumor amongst the Kanto Pokémon League division, the Kanto government, and the International Police. He’d only just got cleared to know that as well, and it wasn’t all that widely spread in the International Police as it seemed it was in the Kanto League and government. Further, as he was advised and it was known, Giovanni was untouchable.

 

The rest of the world was just living in ignorance, and didn’t know a thing about it or even of the rumor.

 

But since Ash was married to him, he had to say something. She probably had no idea who her husband really was, or what he really got up to. As soon as they landed on the ground and had everything settled, he had to find a good time to pull her aside and tell her.

 

They did land on the ground a few moments later, and the ‘ring of fire’ was going strong around the whimpering group. Persian and Pikachu stood watch, the flames of the fire flickering against their faces and making them unintentionally ominous. It left the three of them to go inside the building, find the workers and free them, and then set things right. Soon, they were in the President’s Office, where Ash and Giovanni were receiving Master Balls from the President in gratitude for their help and for saving them all.

 

“I really love your luck on most days,” Looker heard and saw Giovanni turn to Ash and tell that.

 

Ash laughed and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. “It’s fifty-fifty for me.”

 

The three of them left the office, going to go outside and take care of the still trapped Team Flare group. It was then that Looker decided to say something.

 

“Ash, I need to tell you something,” he said urgently, glancing furtively at Giovanni, who gave him a curious look.

 

Ash nodded, confused, and he brought her a little ways away from the tall man that waited in that spot.

 

“Ash, do you know who he is?” Looker hissed.

 

Ash blinked at him. “Of course. Giovanni Rocketto, business tycoon, Viridian City gym leader –”

 

“No, I meant did you know there are those who think he’s the Rocket Boss? I don’t want you to be married in the case he is –and he probably really is –and you’re stuck in bed with the man. Please don’t panic –wait, you’re not panicking?” Looker asked, becoming the confused one as he saw Ash slowly start to giggle.

 

She shook her head. “No, I don’t need to panic. I already knew that. In fact, I can confirm to you that he is the Rocket Boss.”

 

Looker gaped at her. “Then shouldn’t you be upset? Especially since you got married? Wait, why are you married to him?!”

 

Ash shrugged. “Actually, one, I’ve always known he was the boss of Team Rocket, so I knew he was the Rocket Boss when I married him. Two, I knew so no need to be upset. Three, I married him because we were just going to pretend at first so he could travel with me and it wouldn’t look weird, and then we could go take out Team Flare together. But then we actually accidentally got married for real, so there’s that. Also, since I’m married to him, that makes me boss of Team Rocket too.”

 

It was like an information overload and Looker’s head was whirling with all the information. He honestly didn’t know where to start.

 

“Wait, what?” he stared at her.

 

She shrugged and started over from the beginning. Looker listened intently, going through a myriad of emotions that was overwhelming him.

 

“Wait, so you’re that Bonnie and Clyde duo that robbed that bank and took care of the power plant?” Looker remembered what she said, asking incredulously.

 

Ash shrugged, “Yeah, that’s us. Why?”

 

Looker wanted to face palm. How could she be so oblivious to the infamy and chaos she was trailing behind her? Also, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he remembered his thoughts the day of the meeting he had with the cops before, or if he should lament piteously or hilariously at the misfortune of those paint-covered police officers that day (especially given now that he knew who was the cause of their misfortune).

 

“You’re chaos,” Looker croaked out. “Chaos incarnate.”

 

But at least he knew now that this mysterious Bonnie and Clyde duo were good guys. Sort of.

 

“I’ll try to help out where I can then,” Looker told her. “If there’s anything I can do or help, you have my number now. In the meantime, I think I will check out that base in Lumiose City, case it out and see what I can find out.”

 

“Hm, okay. Try to keep a lookout for Xerneas or Yveltal, since Team Flare’s trying to get them for some kind of weapon they’re making or something,” Ash told him.

 

“Alright, will do.”

 

He gave one last look towards Giovanni and then her, and then inwardly shook his head as he left them behind to travel to Lumiose City.

 

“So what was his problem?” Giovanni asked her once she’d joined him again.

 

Ash gave a small grin. “Wanted to know if you were the Rocket Boss and freaked out when I told him you were and that I sort was too. Then I told him the whole story, and he might have been a bit overwhelmed by everything.”

 

“He could have just asked,” Giovanni said casually. Then he did a quick glance in amusement at Ash. “And by the looks of him as he left, ‘a bit’ overwhelmed is definitely an understatement.”

“Ah well. He’ll eventually process it all and get used to it.”

 

Giovanni thought that was typical of his wife. He moved onto something else, knowing Ash wasn’t going to think otherwise of that situation anyway.  He held up his Master Ball.

 

“Have I mentioned how much I adore your luck? I love these things, but they’re extremely hard to make. Hence why they’re not made a lot, especially with their catch rate,” Giovanni fingered it, imagining all sorts of pokémon he could catch with it.

 

“I’ve gotten a few of these,” Ash said nonchalantly, making Giovanni twitch. “They are awesome.”

 

“Which pokémon do you think you’d like to use it on?” Giovanni asked curiously.

 

“Hm,” she became thoughtful. “You know, I think I’ll save it for Xerneas or Yveltal, just in case we run into them and I can catch them to keep them from Team Flare’s hands.”

 

Now that put Giovanni in an excited state. “Whatever one you get, I’ll get the other,” Giovanni almost crooned. But then he looked at her, watching as she looked at him in amusement and had a raised eyebrow, and sighed deeply. “And once everything’s over, we’ll be setting them free, won’t we?”

 

“Yep. Sorry, babe.”

 

Giovanni shrugged. “Maybe one of the Legendaries will want to stick around…Hopefully.”

 

She laughed at him. “Maybe, but not likely. The more responsibilities they have, the less likely they are to want to be caught.”

 

Well, Giovanni still had to try at least.

 

“Come on, you,” Ash grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the building. “We’ve got to go see our Charizard and those two menaces. I’ll bet you they’re playing a round of ‘Scare the Flare Grunts Into Passing Out,’ and basically terrorizing them.”

 

On that thought, he agreed and hurried along. Those four probably were up to no good.

 

 

They were their pokémon after all.

 

Valerie stared around her gym’s attached designer clothes shop, surprised at the almost barren look of it.

 

“Where is everything?” she asked one of her girls.

 

The salesgirl looked at her sheepishly. “Um, there was a couple here earlier.”

 

Valerie looked at her in confusion, wondering what that had to do with anything. She waited for her to elaborate, giving her the signal to continue. The girl coughed nervously.

 

“Well, the husband basically went on a binge-shopping spree for his wife, choosing all sorts of dresses here that he thought he found would look cute on her. I believe the wife was the girl you were battling, while he was shopping here.”

 

She was amazed. The shop was almost empty after all. But then she remembered which girl her employee was talking about (which wasn’t hard to do because the girl was very memorable), and totally agreed.

 

“Her husband’s right though,” Valerie mused, walking around as she thought, going into her own world. “There were so many that would have looked cute on her…”

 

While her employees looked at each other and began to whisper together, Valerie looked around while she began to design in her head.

 

She had really wanted to design something for that girl earlier, and now she felt inspired and thought of something.

 

Although, she had to go find her again and hopefully be able to present it to her.