Ash's Gift
By MegamanZero
Part Two: Enter The Superior Humans
nmc_512@yahoo.com
AAMRN, Gen.

Disclaimer: I didn't own Pokemon then and I don't own Pokemon now.
Rating: PG-13

Ash: 15 Misty: 16   Brock: 20   Duplica: 15
Jamie: 16   Gary: 16    Jesse and James: 21

Story Recap:
   Last time on "Ash's Gift" we were introduced to the cheerful, yet tortured, Jamie Mason. After letting loose one of his psychic discharges, Misty gave him a good yelling at, then some comfort afterwards. However, Team Rocket Headquarters has detected his discharge and is tracking him down as we speak. Will Ash be willing to help Jamie?

* * * *  

   Ash paced back and forth around the campsite. Pikachu, in a nervous frenzy, downed every drop of ketchup out of his bottle like a baby drinking out of a bottle. Brock was on the verge of falling asleep in his tent.
   Misty, Jamie and Abra emerged from the darkness of the woods and into the light of the campfire. Their eyes had the telltale swelling and redness of recent tears. Misty cracked a nervous smile. "We're back."
   Ash looked over to them. "Oh really?" Ash said acidly. "And just WHAT were
you doing, hmm?" He obviously didn't notice that they had been crying. He was a little bit preoccupied with being jealous.
   "If you MUST know what we were doing," Misty replied fiercely, her nervous smile turning upside down. "We were having a very important conversation."
   Ash raised his left eyebrow. "About what?" he asked incredulously, his eyebrow in danger of escaping into his hair. Ash didn't like the idea of Misty running off into the woods with some guy, especially some guy he had just met minutes before. But, then again, Ash and Misty weren't together.
   Not just yet, he mused.
   Jamie glanced over to Misty. "Do I have to?" he pouted. Misty's answered him with her best glare.
   Jamie opened his mouth, but then pulled back. He began to let loose a faster than light train of words that nobody understood. Ash looked at him cockeyed. Pikachu and Brock both turned their heads to the side in confusion. Misty knew these as signs of nervousness for the brown haired boy.
   "Jamie, quit stalling!" Misty barked.
   Jamie opened his mouth and wore the same nervous smile Misty had worn before. "Ok, I know this is gonna be kind of a lot to take in...........considering we just met an all. Try to bear with me ok?"
   Jamie told the rest of the group everything that happened to him. He told him of the Hunters, the death of his parents, and his psychic discharges. He even began telling him what his favorite color was and went as far as to tell them that he likes watching the Powerpuff Girls.
   "Jamie!" Misty interrupted. "Don't ramble."
   "Sorry. As I was saying, there are a select few of us born. People like me are only born to one out of a thousand people. So, you could say I'm somewhat of a "mutant". Personally, I like to think of myself as a "miracle".
   Misty rolled her eyes.
   "We posses superior strength, enhanced speed, heightened senses, and the ability to augment psychic energy into our Pokemon and ourselves. Every time we do, it enhances our Pokemon's abilities as well. After each psychic augmentation they become much more stronger than they would in a normal Pokemon battle."
   "Hey, I've heard of rumors about you people!" Brock piped up. "They say that you guys are called the "Superiors" and the most powerful trainers in the whole world. But why is it that every time one is born, it's never heard from again?"
   "Simple." Jamie replied with venom in his voice. "Team Rocket STEALS them."
   Ash set his face to "stunned". Brock and Pikachu followed suit. Misty stood by with a solemn expression.
   "Babies being stolen right out of the nurseries." Jamie said with hate. "Stolen by Team Rocket for their own warped purposes. I could've grown up to be just like them: a soulless killing machine."
   Ash was taken aback by his words. Just moments before he had felt nothing but contempt for this red-eyed stranger. Ash felt like a fool for thinking that Team Rocket was ruining his OWN life. The boy standing right in front of him had seen more hurt in his life than Ash ever would. Ash had to say something to him.
   "H-hey, Jamie?"
   Jamie paused in the middle of his speech. "Yeah? What?"
   "S-sorry."
   "About what?"
   Ash gave a loudly audible sigh. "I'm sorry for being so suspicious about you before. It's just that...................ah............. um................uh.............................. (mumble mumble)."
   Jamie looked confused. "What's that?"
   Ash walked up to him and put his mouth to his ear with a very embarrassed look on his face. "I........................um...........................kinda like.....................Misty." He whispered.
   Jamie gave a sly smile. "Ohhhhhhhh, I see," he whispered. "You have the hots for the Mist-Girl."
   "Hey!" Misty said sharply. "Instead of practicing our conversation skills, shouldn't we be getting out of here?"
   "Oh, right, sorry Mist." Jamie said. "Anyways, I think that all of us should haul ass RIGHT NOW because the Rockets will be on us like flies on a dog turd!" He said the word "Rockets" with such poison that Brock winced back.
   "You mean, they're going to be here really soon?" Brock asked, already packing the tent into an item ball. "Ash, we should leave right now."
   "Hold on, wait a minute!" Ash yelled. "Why are we running?" He threw his hands up into the air in frustration. "We've dealt with Team Rocket before, and we can do it again."
   "I totally believe you, Ash." Jamie said. " I believe you when you say you've handled them before. But tell me, O great Pokemon master, have you ever dealt with twenty of them at once??"
   Ash's heart leapt into his throat. It dawned on him that if the TRs were anything like the ones that attacked Jamie in the hotel, they were in deep trouble.
   "Pika chu Pika Pikapi chu (Ash, we have to go NOW!)" Pikahu urged as he tugged onto his master's pant leg.
   It was total bedlam. Misty had yanked Togepy away from his slumber, much to his great displeasure, and stuffed him into her backpack. Brock was franticly grabbing all of his cooking equipment, uttering curses as his hands touched the hot pans. Jamie was busy trying to calm a very panicked Abra.
   Ash however, stood still. He had picked up a very strange looking Pokeball that landed by his feet a few seconds earlier. Pikachu was also observing it from Ash's shoulder. It flashed red in a steady rhythm. Ash gave a confused look as a series of short beeps began to emit from the ball.
   Jamie froze to a halt. "EVERYBODY STOP, NOW!!" he shouted, his voice boomed like a shout from God. Everybody froze into place. "What's that sound??"
   Ash turned around and faced the group. "Oh, you mean this?" he asked, pointing to the beeping, flashing orb in his hand. "Somebody tossed this Pokeball by my feet."
   Jamie's red eyes bulged out from his sockets. A look of horror spread across his face as he realized what the ball was. "Oh God, ASH!! THAT'S NOT A POKEBALL, THAT'S A-------"  
   Jamie never had time to finish his sentence before the PokeBomb in Ash's palm detonated. A look of surprise and shock appeared on Ash and Pikachu's face just before they were caught in the blast. The shockwave knocked everybody several feet before the trees around them were up in flames. Jamie barely had time to throw his body over Misty's.

* * * *

Voice One: You fool, you killed him! The Boss will have your nuts on a stick! I outta shoot you right now.  And we needed them BOTH alive.

Voice Two: It wasn't my fault! The Boss even said, "Capture the targets by ANY
means necessary. Eliminate all others that get in the way of the mission."

Voice One: But did he say for you to blow up the whole freaking forest with a POKEBOMB!? Where's my gun, you're gettin' it, Jim!

Jim: Not if I kill you first!

Voice Three: Everybody shut up. NOW. Jim took a wise course of action.

Both: WHAT!?

Voice Three: Keep your voices down, you idiots! He knew that the Superiors would definitely survive such a blast, while the others near them most certainly would not. So what if we burn down a few dozen acres of forest? By using the PokeBomb,

Jim here insured that the targets were alive, but incapacitated, and that all other witnesses were eliminated. Isn't that right, Jim?

Jim: Y-y-yeah, s-s-sure, Commander. Right. Can you please tell Rudy pull his gun out of my ear, sir?

Commander: Rudy, holster that gun before I break your arm.

Rudy: SIR! SORRY, SIR!

Commander: VOICE DOWN, SOLDIER. Alright men, good luck. I'll have to leave you now. Complete the mission on your own, I have other things to attend to.

Both: SIR!?

Commander: For the last time, QUIET. You men will bring the subjects back to the rendezvous point. Me and the other Superiors will be waiting to take them into custody. Both of you have your standard issue Vileplumes, right?

(Pulling out Pokeballs) Everybody: Yes sir.

Commander: USE THEM. Only a Vileplume's Stun Spore or Sleep Powder can take down a Superior. If the blast didn't knock them out, your Vileplumes will. USE EXTREME CAUTION. If they are still capable of fighting back, and if their Pokemon defeat your Vile plumes, then you are all as good as dead.

Both:...

Commander: If your Pokemon are beaten, both of the Superiors will be quite angry by then. It will be a total bloodbath. They will go into the Rage and will brutally kill both of you, probably their friends as well. That is, if their friends are still alive.

Rudy: We won't fail, sir. We know how long it took to find both Aries and Jupiter, and we won't disappoint the Boss.

Commander: Glad to here it, Rude. All right men, move out!

* * * *

   Misty coughed up ash and soot as she tried her best to get up off the ground. She felt her brain do flip-flops in her head.  Jamie lay next to her, whispering "Oh God, oh God, oh God" over and over. Brock lay unconscious by the bludgeoned tree stump.
   At first Misty tended to Togepy, who was crying like mad from inside the backpack. Then she realized what just happened.
   "ASH!!!!!! She screamed, her throat felt like sand. "NOOOOOO!!!!!" She scrambled up off the ground with Togepy wailing in her arms. Burning tree bark littered the ground around her. Thick black smoke was everywhere, her eyes burned and itched, but she didn't care. "Ash!!" she screamed again.
   "Abra!" Jamie coughed. "Is there something you can do about all this smoke?"
   "Bra abra! (On it!)" Abra replied. He jumped into the smoke and began spin in place like a Hitmontop. The thick black cloud that surrounded the terrified teenagers soon dispersed into the sky.
   "Good job, Abra!" Jamie shouted.
   Misty, however, was not so enthusiastic. She had just watched her best friend get consumed in a burning ball of fiery death. She felt like lying down on the burning forest floor and dying. Instead, a wave of nausea hit her full force, and she spewed out her sadness all over the ground.
   Jamie stopped muttering "Oh God". He was too busy gaping at the sight where the smoke was cleared. It was Ash.
   Intact.
   Ash was covered in a thick black film, Pikachu as well. They were both sprawled across the ground and looked quite dead. Soon Jamie noticed that although most of Ash's clothes were blown away, including his hat, he didn't have a mark on him. He even had all his hair.
   "Misty, look!" Jamie cried.
   Misty looked at the ground before her. She didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or be angry. All she knew was that Ash was still alive.
   She helped him off the ground and wrapped her arms around him. She didn't care that she had soot all over her, she didn't care that Ash smelled like a burnt hamburger. She never wanted to let go of him.
   "...My head hurts," Ash croaked. He felt a little surprised that Misty was holding on to him as if he were a favorite stuffed animal, but he would have to discuss that later. Right then he had to worry about the fact that somebody threw a bomb at him. His surprise was suddenly replaced by anger.
   A lot of anger.
   Misty didn't notice the burning pieces of leaves hovering around both of them as she held Ash.
   Ash's keen ears heard voices: "There they are, release your Vileplume, now!"
   "Rockets." Jamie seethed.
   Ash pulled away from Misty because he had the sudden urge to snap somebody's neck. An evil grin spread across Ash's face as he mused about how wonderful it would be to kill the one who dared to try and take his life. Oh, it would be so sweet. He pictured himself ripping them apart and...
   No, wait! Why was he getting these violent urges? And more importantly, why was a red miasma seeping over his eyes?
   Misty stepped back and put her hands over her mouth. She watched as Ash underwent a physical transformation. The red miasma that swam over his eyes began to give off a brutal madder red glow. His muscles began to bulge outward with ugly blue veins and sinew. His body began to vibrate wildly just like the leaves did before.
   Misty yelped in horror as he let loose a low growl. Pikachu gave a loud "PIKA!" at the sound and jumped into Misty's arms and trembled in fear. She turned around only to see Jamie going through the same transformation.
   "It-it-it can't be..." Misty breathed. "No...it can't be..." He didn't look or sound like the sweet, caring Ash she knew. He acted like some dangerous beast.
   Both Ash and Jamie gave a loud hiss. Their attention quickly turned towards the Team Rocket members and their Vileplumes.
   "Oh shit!" Jim wailed. "They've already gone into the Rage! Whadda we do now?"
   "We still gotta complete the mission!" Rudy replied. "We'll deal with the girl and the man later. See what happens when you make a Superior MAD!? 'Wise course of action', my ass."
   The two Rockets stood steady with their Vileplumes, trying to hide the post-death horror they were feeling at the moment.
   "We're gonna die, guys." Jim whimpered as the two rabid teenagers began to advance toward them.
   "No, we're not." Rudy said through gritted teeth.
   Misty had huddled up against Brock's unconscious form by the tree stump with Togepy cradled in her arms, wailing like mad because it's Daddy had become some a monster. She then realized how Ash had smashed it up. Pikachu and Abra huddled alongside her. She closed her eyes because she knew exactly what kind of carnage would take place in a few seconds.
   Ash and Jamie let out one final roar before they barreled towards the Rockets like two wild animals.