So, I decided to switch it up a bit. I've had this idea for a while, as a conglomeration of shows like Leverage, and movies like Ocean's 11/12/13, The Italian Job, and a few others. I finally decided to put it to words. This will be a crime story about an ex-cop and a crew of loveable rogues, trying to do the right thing and make some money in the process. Disclaimer: I don't own the Pokémon universe. Unfortunately. Reviews and Feedback heavily encouraged.

Viridian City, Kanto

Ash Ketchum sat on the barstool, glaring up at the television that hung from the wall of the Viridian Bar and Grill, half eaten burger in his hands. News coverage of the release of Silver Sakaki, a witness in one of the largest trials in the Kanto Region in recent history. Silver had testified against a major player in Team Rocket in front of a grand jury, as part of a plea bargain.

While normally Ash would have been happy seeing one of the Rocket bosses behind bar, even if a lesser grunt walked, what he saw on the television made him feel sick.

The red-haired lieutenant had been involved in a small drive-by shooting that killed two in Viridian City two years ago, and Ash Ketchum, a former member of the International Police, or Interpol, had been the officer to bring him to justice, dead to rights.

Proof enough to convict Silver Sakaki for the murder of Professor Samuel Oak and Delia Ketchum. With enough evidence to put the boy away for twenty-five to life, Ash Ketchum thought for sure the boy would see justice for the murder of his mother and their friend.

Instead, he managed to get a plea bargain, testifying against Archer of Team Rocket in exchange for a lighter sentence. And now, a year after he went into the correctional facility, he was back out onto the streets, with media coverage on every local news station from here to Olivine Town. Ash scowled as he continued to glare, pushing his plate away. It was coming up on the two year anniversary of the shooting, and Ash sure as heck didn't want to spend it looking at Silver Sakaki's face.

Pulling out his wallet out of his dark jeans, he laid down enough money to cover his food and still leave a generous tip, and he left the tavern, heading out into the rain-soaked streets of Viridian City, fumbling for the keys to his car. 'I've put criminals away before. I've put dozens away for them. But the one that matters, the one I wanted put away more than anything, and they give him a free pass.'

Ash muttered under his breath as he settled into the leather seat of his car, shoving the key into the ignition and driving off, to anywhere but there.

As he got on the road, he soon found himself heading towards Pallet Town, where he grew up. As he drove the streets of his childhood, passing his home, he spotted a familiar sight; The Oak Research Laboratory. Taking a deep breath, he drove up and threw his car into park. He wasn't sure what possessed him to stop, but he felt it was time to pay a visit to an old friend.

Oak Research Laboratory, Pallet Town, Kanto

As the low whine of his heavily customized and expensive computer filled the home office, signalling it was booting up, Gary Oak took a sip of his coffee, just trying to get his eyes to open all the way.

Gary Oak was not a morning person. He was used to keeping extremely odd hours for his job, so getting up before noon was nearly unheard of for the millionaire. Being a network security specialist, he had to be up at odd hours of the night in order to run his network attacks. To put it simply, he was a white hat hacker; he got paid to attack people's network and database security.

He smirked as he let out a large stretch, enjoying the resounding sound of cracks and pops of his joints. His coffee was beginning to kick in, finally. Smiling as his eyes opened to normal proportions instead of Brock's normal, and quickly logged into his seven separate email accounts he used for business, across his six monitor setup.

"Bill, bill, script job, thank you, bill, script job... " He sighed as he checked his inbox. "I swear, if these idiots hired decent network specialists, I'd be out of a job. What ever happened to a challenge?" he asked himself rhetorically.

Grabbing the remote control, he threw on his big screen plasma TV to the wonderful sight of SIlver Sakaki's release. Scowling, he was about to switch the channel when he heard a knock on the door.

He sighed with a frown. "Who could that possibly be at this hour?" he asked as he pulled up his security camera feed for his front door onto one of his monitors. Granted, 'this hour' was noon on a saturday, but he was Gary. 'Well, well. What're you doing here, Ashy-boy?" he asked as he got up with a curious smile, shuffling towards the door.

Ash pulled his leather pilot jacket closer around his neck, hood up to keep him somewhat dry in the Kanto rain. He was about to pound on his friend's door again when it opened up, revealing a tired looking, smirking Gary Oak standing there in sweatpants and a dark blue bathrobe.

"You're a bit early, Ashy-Boy. To what do I owe the honor?" he asked as he ushered his oldest friend into his not so humble abode. Ash wiped his feet and walked in as Gary closed the door. The brunette headed back towards his office, not even caring if Ash was following him at this point.

Of course, Ketchum had followed him, already used to interactions with the spiky-haired brunette. He'd visited several times since the funerals, though mostly on business. Six months after the shooting, Ash finally managed to get his hands on the triggerman, Silver Sakaki, partially with the help of Gary's hacking skills. Five months of courts and litigation after that, and Silver was sentenced to one year of prison. Ash quit his job at Interpol shortly after that, and Gary had turned back to corporate security.

"So seriously, what brings you home to Pallet?" Gary asked as he sat down in his office chair, turning to face his raven-haired friend.

Ash sighed, glaring at the TV. "Is he on every single channel?" he asked, annoyed.

Gary rolled his eyes. "I was about to change it when someone decided to drop in…" he replied sardonically.

Ash's expression turned dark. He picked up the remote and changed the channel to another station.

"...And this comes hot on the tail of Giovanni Sakaki's announcement of the grand opening of the Celadon Game Corner Casino later this month. Silver is expected to be reunited with his father later this week, and be present for the opening."

As the news reporter continued on, Ash felt a growing urge to hurl the remote in his hand into Gary's expensive TV set. As he drew back to hurl the plastic, button-riddled brick, Gary quickly snatched it out of his hand.

"Oi! I don't come over to your house and break things!" he shouted crossly.

Ash just sighed, frustrated. "I just… One year! One blasted year, and that little punk is out, and daddy has a brand new casino, built with money from the hundreds he and the Rocket family played, robbed, or drove out of town," he said, shaking his head angrily.

Gary sighed, resting a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Look, dude, I know. I was right there with you for six months, hunting for that rat. I hate seeing him go just as much as you do, believe me, Ash. But you've got to let this go," he told his longtime friend. "How much has it cost you, now?"

Ash closed his eyes as Gary shut the TV off. "A lot," he admitted.

Gary shook his head ruefully. "Ash, it's been almost two years. I know you lost your mother, but you've got to let this go. We've done everything humanly possible against Team Rocket, and they spit it right back at us. There's nothing more we can do," he replied as he settled back into his chair.

Ash leaned his head back, still standing in front of the TV. He knew Gary was right. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew he was right. Ash had spent most of the last five years of his twenty-eight year old life hunting Team Rocket. He'd put multiple grunts behind bars, even a few admins. He'd served in the Kanto Detectives for seven years, and Interpol for two after that. He'd saved lives, put people away for crimes that sometimes kept him up at night, he'd even… fractured the occasional law in some investigations just to make sure the bad guys were off the streets.

'If you have to jaywalk in order to catch a criminal about to shoot someone, you would,' his mentor used to tell him. Breaking into a suspect's house if you know they're about to destroy evidence, taking their phone records to nail them for a crime, even using Gary's… questionable contacts to locate information necessary for an arrest. As long as the bad guys were put behind bars, what did it matter how?

The pair descended into silence, only the sound of Gary's keyboard filling the office. Ash stared blankly at the television set, aimlessly listening to the constant pounding of Gary's keyboard. He'd run through the last two years over and over in his head. And now, after all his work, all his effort, all the rules he bent and broke to get Silver behind bars, and Team Rocket were unveiling a bloody casino later that month.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"

Turning, Ash saw Gary hunched over his keyboard, the sound of his keystrokes seeming more angry. "What's up, Gary?" he inquired.

"Someone's trying to breach my firewall," he responded, his gaze glued to his monitor.

"Any idea who's behind it?" Ash asked as he got up, heading behind his brunette friend.

"Trying to run a trace…" he replied, voice sounding strained. "Damn it. Whoever this idiot is, he's good."

Ash gripped the back of his friend's chair, watching as the countless, meaningless lines of code scrolled across the six monitors.

"On my mark, flip that breaker," the brunette told him, pointing to a small lever by his computer tower.

Ash nodded and grabbed it, holding his breath as he waiting for his friend to give the signal. After a few seconds of rapidly typing, he nodded.

"Now!" he signalled.

After pulling the breaker, the lines and lines of code stopped. All outside connectivity stopped short as Gary began combatting whatever virus was currently attacking his system. Six minutes later, he finally sat back in his chair, exhaling.

"Alright. We're clear," he told Ash as the adrenaline began to drain from his system. Sitting back up, he pulled up a window and pulled out his phone.

"What're you doing now?" Ash asked.

"Tracking the signal. It's coming from…" Gary trailed off, worrying Ash.

"Where'd it come from, Gary?" he asked.

Sighing, Gary showed his friend his phone. It read 'Celadon City, Private Property, Sakaki'. Ash's eyes widened.

"Gary, is that what I think it is?" he asked, and his friend nodded, mouth slightly ajar of shock.

"Yup."

Ash sighed, scratching the stubble on his cheek. "Should we call the police about it?" he asked. He knew that Gary occasionally ran with people of questionable ethics and legal standing, despite helping Ash with several investigations, so the police weren't Gary's favorite people.

Scratching the back of his neck, Gary shook his head with a frown. "I have no proof of it that I can use. You have any idea what they'd say if I told them 'Yeah, these people tried to hack me. How do I know it's them? I hacked them back, of course!' Yeah, that'll get me far…" he replied with a sigh.

"Do you know what they were after?" Ash asked.

"If I had to guess? Probably my business information, likely on Sliph Co. Look Ash, as much as I'd love a reason to put these guys into the ground, there's no way we can legally go after them. It's just the way the stupid justice system works," Gary told him as he began bringing his network back online. He didn't notice the frown on Ash's face, the confusion and realization that had dawned on him.

"Say that again," he replied, eyes taking on an intense look.

"What, how the justice system is a joke?" Gary asked, shooting his friend an odd look.

"No, before that," he stated.

"We can't legally go after them?" Oak asked, even more confused now.

Ash just nodded, looking back at the monitors. "That's it. You're a genius! Why didn't I think of it sooner?" he asked himself rhetorically.

Gary spun in his chair to see Ash walk around the room, pacing. "Ashy-Boy? What, exactly, did I say?" he asked, wondering if Ketchum had finally lost it.

Ash tapped his chin in thought as he paced. "We can't hit them legally. It's impossible. Giovanni has too many officials, too many judges, officer Jennies in his pocket. The only reason Silver got out was because he ratted out Archer, which in turn gave more power of the Rocket family to Giovanni. The only way to hit him is outside the law," he explained quickly, the pacing beginning to make Gary dizzy.

"And that helps us… how, exactly?" he asked. 'He's finally cracked. But if he's thinking what I think he's thinking...'

"The only way to bring Giovanni down is to play by his rules," Ash concluded, turning to his friend with a glint in his eye. One that Gary had only seen when Ash was about to fracture a law to get a suspect.

"Ash… Tell me you're not thinking what I think you're thinking…" he pleaded.

"Look, my old mentor always used to say, 'If you have to jaywalk in order to catch a criminal about to shoot someone, you would.' I keep thinking of how to bust them like a cop," he told him, walking up to his friend with a smile that was slightly terrifying to Gary. "I've had it staring me in the face all this time, I just didn't see it. The only way to bring down a criminal like Giovanni is to play by his rules," he explained.

"And what, pray tell, does that entail?" Gary asked.

Ash exhaled, a grin settling onto his face. "Alright, we both know that if that casino opens, the Rocket family will have a fortune rolling in, right?" he asked. Gary nodded, so he continued. "So, we'd need to shut the casino down before it begins. And if we can't get at him legally, the only way to do that is to ruin him by other means."

"Ash, what you're suggesting would get us arrested for a very, very long time, my friend. I'm too pretty for prison," Gary complained, but Ash just shook his head.

"You forget, Gary, I used to be a cop. I know how they'd think, how to avoid them, and besides, you really think the police would overly mind if the newest, untouchable Rocket front was hit?" he asked.

Gary had to hand it to him, his logic was sound. Scary coming from someone who spent most of his life playing by the book, by the law, and putting away people who would suggest this. But, then again, Ash wasn't a cop anymore. He was just an ex-Interpol officer with a grudge and a plan. 'At least, I hope he has a plan… Wait, am I actually considering this?!'

"Come on, Gary. We both know that the Sakaki's are rotten to the core. We'd be doing Kanto a favor removing them from power," Ash prodded. "You know computer systems better than anyone I know. If anyone could get us into their systems, it'd be you."

Gary waved his hand, screwing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. "Look, enough with the 'us' already. What makes you think I want to throw out all my lucrative contracts, reputation, and go toe to toe with the biggest crime boss in Kanto AND Johto?" he asked, looking back to his friend.

Ash simply looked his friend in the eye. "Because no one else will. Because Silver killed your grandfather and by extension my mother because Team Rocket wanted the research your grandfather found. Because, like you said, the justice system is a joke. And, because it's the right thing to do," Ash replied with such conviction, even Gary was beginning to contemplate his crusade.

It was true, Team Rocket had had Professor Oak gunned down so they could break into his laboratories during the funeral. They had taken just about everything related to his research, so Gary had heavily upgraded the lab's security systems, and assisted Ash in his investigation into the shootings. But, even now, they were still attacking the lab, albeit remotely now.

Gary tapped the ends of his fingers together, looking at his luxurious navy blue carpet, deep in thought. Finally, he sighed and looked back to Ash, a smile creeping onto his face. "I never thought I'd see the day when you wanted to play the other side." Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, he nodded. "Alright, let me see who I can get. If you want to knock over a casino, you'll need a crew."

Ash smiled. "I assume an upstanding citizen like you can put one together?" he asked. "We'll need a tech specialist, a hitter, a grifter, and a mechanic for what I have in mind," he continued, counting off on his fingers, and Gary nodded up until the mechanic.

"Uh. Alright, I can do that, but you might not care too much for some of the people I get. I mean, you've chased a lot of the underworld, and some of them might not take too kindly to you. You think you can play nicely?" he asked.

Ash nodded. "If you can get them to go with this, I'll work with whoever. I can fund part of this with what's left of my savings account, and we can pay whatever mercenaries you get with proceeds from the job," he replied, crossing his arms as Gary spun around back to his computer, pulling up faces onto each monitor. One, two, three, four, five…

"Wait, Misty?! That's your mechanic?" Ash questioned, and Gary just rolled his eyes.

"We both know she's the best. If you want this done right, we do it right," Gary snapped.

Ash sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. Alright, make the calls."

Sunnyshore City, Sinnoh

"Oof!" the man grunted as he was slammed against the wall, hard. Staring back at him were a pair of onyx eyes, attached to a head of purple hair, falling to the man's shoulders. The assailant was wearing a black denim jacket, dark purple knit ski cap, dark grey cargo pants, heavy boots, and a look that told him that this man would kill him without a second thought.

"I- I already told you everything I know!" he told the purple-haired man, feeling close to wetting himself.

He watched as the assailant pulled his arm back, and he closed his eyes and flinched, waiting for the blow to land. To his surprise, it didn't.

"Shinji. Speak."

Opening his eyes, he saw the thug had pulled out a cellphone, and was talking on it.

"No, I can talk. Six figures? Kanto. Alright, I'm in. I'll be there," he said intermittently, before he hung up, pocketing his phone. Glancing back at the man he was currently holding against a wall, the purple-haired man smirked. Right before slamming his head into his target's.

Hearthome City, Sinnoh

"Come on, Dawn, one date, that's all I ask!"

The blunette woman sighed, putting her hands into the pockets of her white trenchcoat. She genuinely liked Kenny. He was a good guy, but she knew things wouldn't work out between them. After all, he was an accountant with a fairly large firm here in Hearthome. And her? Dawn prided herself on her acting abilities, and had a steady cover job as an actress.

In her off time, however, she was a thief. A grifter. Some would say a con woman, but she prefered the term con artist. Con men and women left their targets angry. Con artists left them with a smile, not realizing they had been had. And while she could easily, easily take Kenny's attraction for her to the bank and back, she had a strict code of honor. She only hit marks who could stand to lose the money, and only ones who used their money and power to harm others.

"Look, Kenny, you're a nice guy and all, but it just wouldn't work. Trust me," she told him, trying to let him down easy.

"Dawn, we've known each other since we were kids. It's not like I'm asking you to marry me, just a simple dinner," he told her, looking at her with pleading eyes.

As she opened her mouth to refuse again, she felt her phone ring in her pocket. Sighing, she pulled it out, raising a finger to the auburn-haired man.

"Dawn Berlitz, how may I help you?" she answered with a sweet voice, before frowning. "Gary? Uh, yeah, I can talk. A job offer? Where, exactly? Kanto?"

Kenny frowned as he listened to Dawn talk with this 'Gary'. Kanto was a separate region entirely.

"What's the part, exactly?" she asked, placing her other hand on her hip. Suddenly her eyes widened. "That's... " She sighed. "Alright. I'll be on a plane tonight. Yup, see you then," she finished, hanging up her phone and giving Kenny an apologetic smile. "Sorry, that was a friend of mine. He's got a part for me to play in one of his upcoming co-..." She coughed as she caught her slip. "Upcoming county/western films," she finished, blushing slightly.

Kenny sighed and nodded. "I understand. Show business and all. So, you're going to Kanto?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm really sorry it's such short notice, but it's a bit of a time sensitive part," she explained.

He waved away her concerns. "No, I understand completely. Go, break a leg, or whatever you do in show business. I actually might be out in Kanto in a few weeks, maybe we can meet up then," he suggested.

Dawn smiled. "If I'm not too busy, sure," she told the boy as she stepped off the curb, hailing a cab. She had to go home and pack for her latest role.

Slateport City, Hoenn

"It'll be fine, May. I'm telling you, it'll hold your weight completely," the twenty-three year old computer techie told her. Wearing a forest green dress shirt, khaki pants, a pair of glasses, head of green-blue hair and a smirk, the boy held out a repelling rig to his older sister. "I designed it myself, five point harness, three point weight support, carbon fiber line, auto-breaking resistance, the whole nine yards."

May sighed, taking the rig and looking it over. She brushed her long brown hair behind her ears as she studied her brother's creation. It looked perfect, but she wasn't sure about any untested tech, which Max was known for. Sighing again, she nodded and began slipping the harness on over her red windbreaker jacket and tight blue jeans. "Alright, but if this drops me, I'm going to destroy your computer setup at home," the brunette warned.

Max just smirked at his sister. "You worry too much, May."

The siblings had always had a love-hate relationship with each other growing up. When the two began their career as professional thieves, it intensified, but the two always got the job done. May had become one of the best cat burglars in Hoenn and Max had a reputation for designing and using some of the best tech his genius-level mind could invent. Together, the two had hit several lucrative targets without getting so much as implicated, with May doing the fieldwork and Max acting as support to his sister. Despite their bickering and arguing, they made a great team.

As the brunette attacked the line to the ceiling of the warehouse they were currently in, Max returned to his laptop, set up on the platform they were on. Giving his sister a grin and a thumbs up, he went to work typing, leaving May to hook onto the line with her harness and test it out.

Now, she wasn't stupid. She knew her brother's inventions normally worked brilliantly. But, on rare occasion, he forgot something. That's why she was currently twenty feet in the air over a giant safety stunt bag. 'Alright May, now or never,' she thought to herself as she jumped off the platform.

As she fell through the air towards the bag, the harness began to work, slowing her descent to a crawl. As her feet touched neared the bag, she hit the release on the harness, and it dropped her lightly onto the overstuffed back with a grin.

"And the verdict is?" Max asked from above, poking his head over the side of the raised platform.

She gave him a thumbs up. "Alright, you win, I'll find a way to use it in our next heist," she replied, working her way to the edge of the pillow to climb her way back up to Max's setup, grabbing a water bottle on the way up.

When she finally did climb up, however, she heard her brother's ringtone go off. Frowning, he picked it up. "Max Maple, custom technology and equipment, how may I help you?" he asked. "Gary? Gary Oak? Wow, you're a blast from the past. What's up?"

May looked up from the floor where she sat with her water bottle. Last time she heard that name was four years ago. Gary was a hacker who played both sides, but he had a reputation for getting it done and getting his crew paid. Granted, he was a mercenary when it came down to it, but any crew he was with had nothing to fear.

"Job offer, eh? Alright, but you know, we're a box set. Kanto? Alright, I think we can do that," he told him slowly, glancing at May. She nodded. She had no major gigs planned in Hoenn, and a vacation could be good. "Yeah, we're in. We'll see you soon," Max replied as he hung up his phone and pocketed it, beginning to take apart his extensive laptop setup for transit.

"So, what's Gary got for us? May asked as she got up and stretched.

"Wouldn't say," Max replied, pulling bags out and shoving gear in. "Only that he had a big job out in Kanto for us. Six figures."

May's eyes shot open. "Six?" she asked, not quite believing the hundred thousand minimum payout.

He glanced up. "Come on, it's Gary. He's always got something up his sleeve. Don't let the whole white hat act fool you."

May grinned at the thought of such high level work. A chance to test herself. And the payout certainly wasn't bad either.

Cerulean City, Kanto

"I still don't see why you couldn't just phone her," Ash whined as Gary drove his sports car through the streets of Cerulean City, looking for the Gyarados Garage.

"Because, Ashy-Boy, if I called her, and she came all the way to Celadon City, and then saw you and decided not to join up? She'd pound us both into the ground. This way, we know for sure if she's in," the spiky-haired brunette explained, idly pulling a piece of lint off his black dress shirt.

Ash just grumbled in the passenger seat. 'At least the rain had stopped,' he reflected as the pulled into the Garage parking lot. The two exited the car, heading for the front door.

Gary strode forward with purpose, black dress shirt, dark jeans, spotless shoes, and his purple, teardrop-shaped pendant around his neck. Ash, however, kept his head low and hood up on his leather jacket, simple black tee underneath, normal blue jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

Inside, the receptionist smiled at the pair. "Welcome to the Gyarados Garage," she greeted them.

Gary gave her his best, heart melting smile. "Afternoon beautiful. Is Misty in?" he asked, as smooth as molasses.

"She, uh, she's in the… the… the back!" the receptionist said, blushing like mad.

Gary smirked. "Thanks," he told her as he headed through the indicated door, Ash hot on his heels, leaving the poor receptionist to compose herself.

As the two walked across the noisy car shop, Ash spotted a pair of long, shapely legs in jeans sticking out from beneath one of the cars. Tapping Gary on the shoulder, he pointed it out, and Gary nodded, walking over and prodding her boot with his shoe.

"One sec," came the reply from beneath the hood. After a few seconds, the legs pulled themselves out on a crawler, revealing an athletic body wearing a heavy sleeved apron, a face marked with grease, and a gray bandana holding down a set of brilliant orange hair. She also had a look of disbelief on her face as she stood up.

"Afternoon Red," Gary greeted with the same smile he used on the receptionist. She promptly ignored him, looking directly at Ash.

"Hey Misty…" Ash started.

The resounding slap echoed through the large Garage.

So, chapter one is up. I should note, that while there was PokéShipping in the past for this story, this will be an AdvanceShipping Story. Sorry any PokéShippers who read this. Maybe one day, I'll try my hand at a PokéShip, but for now, I've got enough on my plate. Anyways, I'd love to hear some feedback on this idea, anything people would like to point out, ideas, ect. Anyways, Guardians of Rota will hopefully have it's next update by tomorrow night. Hope you all enjoy The Celadon Job, and are looking forward to future chapters! God Bless.