Aftermath of battle of Saffron

After the battle and the massacre that followed, many trainers that took place in the fight were killed, a few managed to escape, and some of them decided to join Ash's side and become dark trainers.

Following this, Ash blamed the massacre on Team Rocket and people believed him. He said that they tried to use the curse to ambush and kill all other trainers in order to become the strongest human force in the area, and while they killed many, their plan failed. Also, he said that in Saffron they found the secret to solving all problems. He appeared with a cursed pokemon and said that from now on humans and cursed pokemon can live in peace.

Also, he called out to all residents of Kanto to join him in the new capital where Saffron used to be (Name of new capital pending). He said that Digletts will dig roads throughout Kanto that people can travel form safely, with guarantee that cursed pokemon won't hurt anyone travelling there. He also guaranteed that whoever stays at the capital peacefully won't die, and they can become dark trainers too by accepting this power inside them. He called them enlightened trainers as well.

For the terrorists of the world, Team Rocket, he asked all members to put down their uniforms and become dark trainers and they will be spared. However, because of the crimes he blamed them for (his crimes) he specified that for team Rocket members, the only choice they have is to become dark trainers. All other people can choose whether to "accept the enlightening power (become dark trainers) or not. Many members who didn't know of the actual betrayal being done by Ash abandoned team rocket and became dark trainers. Ash also found Giovanni's body ( who was his father) and although initially Giovanni was supposed to be part of the betrayal, after Jessie and James defeated and killed him, Ash blamed him as the mastermind behind the death of the trainers and showed the body to taunt rocket members or make them lose hope and join him instead.

Vergil didn't manage to escape, but Ash kept him prisoner, hoping to get him to abandon his way of thinking and join the darkness as well. Vergil trained during his stay there, and witnessed first hand the birth of the new capital of Kanto. He knew though that this is all a trap, built upon the bodies of hundreds of trainers, his mother's included.

Brock, after escaping from Saffron, hurried back to Pewter to secure the North from Ash's possible attack. He made it back, explained the real events to everyone, but to his surprise, Ash didn't attack Pewter. Instead, he went there in person and blamed Brock for conspiring with Giovanni to get him killed, blaming him for wanting to control the cursed pokemon himself, take revenge for his brother and Misty, blinded by it, and rule over all of Kanto. The majority of the people stood by Brock, but some were divided.

Ash then said that although Brock is a traitor, he won't start a war, since too many innocents would die for only one man, but instead he said that the new capital is open to all residents of Pewter and the north. Then he challenged the residents to travel there and see if Brock would try to stop them. That would show who the true tyrant is. He said that he will bring Brock down by showing his people what the new world will be about. This started a political war between Ash and Brock, which caused a lot of turmoil within Pewter. At some point, some people openly questioned Brock and his intentions and wondered if Ash was right.

At some point, things reached a dead end, seeing how the capital was flourishing, and Brock's words that this was all a play from Ash were more and more just words that people listened to even less. Eventually, Brock was forced to respect the wishes of people who wanted to leave.

As Ash saw more and more people arriving to the new capital, he thought that he had no need for people who hadn't joined him yet. In the next months, he created a vast force of cursed trainers and pokemon that swept the countryside, killing anyone in their passing. Few people escaped and continued living there. When it was a big massacre, in a big village or city for example, Ash's propaganda would say that a big team rocket force took refuge there and killed all locals before doing so.

Jessie and James decided to go back to Celadon and rally the remaining team rocket members to protect them from Ash's forces. When they did, Jessie made a speech and explained the situation and what happened to Saffron. Since many members had already left, the ones that remained were the ones that their uniform meant something more to them than just doing crimes. For those that remained, team rocket was a family, and they would follow it regardless of whether Giovanni was in charge or not, or whether it would be a criminal or legitimate organization or not. Everyone liked Jessie's speeck and decided to follow her and James, them being well known among the organization for a long time, and they left Celadon for their safety. When the vast force of cursed pokemon attacked Pewter, team rocket found out and rushed to their aid. After being under siege, with team rocket's assistance, Pewter survived.