Chapter
14- Return to Scarlet
~No matter how many times I think about how I got myself into this
mess, I just can’t stop being amazed. How it all started that night in
-Ash Ketchum
(Location-
???)
“So
the experimental Kaiser Beast has been destroyed?” His face was hidden in the
darkness, and the only thing that could be seen is his silhouette. “And you say
it wasn’t Sky Render who was responsible?”
“Yes
my lord… the one who destroy Kaiser Beast was young Pokémon Trainer” Red Kaiser
kneeled to the ground and faced the floor, “I not kill him, but come tell you
instead… find out if we want to recruit him.”
“Hmm…
no…” the man shook his head, and stepped from the shadows, revealing himself.
Dressed in dark coloured robes, an ancient crown atop his head and a long white
beard, he resembled nothing less than a venerable, ancient king. He also wore
the same emblem as Red Kaiser, of a chained sword surrounded by a ring of
flames. “People like him, no matter how skilled, if opposed to the creation of
living weapons, they are useless to us… and could only hold us back.” He shook
his head. “I am quite pleased that you told me immediately about the destruction
of the experimental Kaiser Beast… this tells us that we need to make them
stronger…” He looked back at Red Kaiser, “You are dismissed, my faithful
knight.”
“Hmm.”
Red Kaiser bowed his head, and stepped back, vanishing into the darkness…
(
“Your
pokémon have all been healed.” Said Nurse Joy, handing Ash a tray that held
both his and Misty’s pokéballs. “Enjoy your stay in
“Thank
you Nurse Joy” Ash replied, taking his pokéballs and attaching them to his
belt, while Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder. “You feeling all right buddy?”
“Pika!”
Pikachu nodded happily
“That’s
great!” Ash smiled happily, and walked carrying Misty’s pokéballs in his hands.
She was sitting by herself on a sofa, and he went and joined her, “Here, our
pokémon are all healed.”
“Thanks
Ash” Misty smiled, accepting the pokéballs. “Let’s get going.”
After
the battle against the Kaiser Beast back in the forest, most of their pokémon
were either injured or exhausted, and it was important that they had them
healed, especially because there was another battle that would soon be taking
place…
“Hmmm…”
Ash sighed as he and Misty exited the pokémon centre.
“What’s
wrong?” asked Misty
“Things
have change a lot since we last came here…” Ash answered, looking around. “The
pokémon centre was a lively place, full of trainers. But now… with the
exception of us and Nurse Joy, it’s practically deserted. And I’ll bet I know
who’s responsible”
“I
know what you mean…” Misty nodded. Ebi had warned them not to walk outside
alone, and she understood what he meant. The streets were empty, the shops were
closed, and it was as if people were too afraid to even go outside anymore… “It’s
no wonder everyone’s afraid. Even without the Super Fiends backing them up
anymore, the Missingno gang’s grown too strong even for the police to handle…”
“That’s
where I come in…” Ash smirked, clenching his fist. “By tomorrow, the people of
this city won’t have anything left to fear… I’ll make sure of it.”
“Oooooh,
scary…” Misty laughed a little
“Wa?”
Ash blinked, “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,
just for a second there, you actually seemed cool!” Misty giggled
“Oh…
thanks…” Ash said sheepishly, rubbing the back off his head… “Hey, wait a
second! What did you mean by that? I’m always cool!”
“Yeah
right! Only in your dreams, Mr. Pokémon Master!” Misty laughed, “Aw, come on,
don’t be like that, I was kidding!” she said reassuringly, seeing Ash’s
expression. “You’re dependable and cool, and I always feel safer when you’re
with me.” She smiled warmly, “I really like having you around”
“Uh…”
Ash’s face went extremely red, seeing the warm smile she gave him, and her
statement right there… “Well… I… um…” he didn’t really know what to say. “(Calm down Ash, it’s just Misty. You know?
MISTY! That loud, scary, uncute girl?)” Ash blinked, looking at her face, “(Well… I guess she is just a little cute…)”
he thought to himself, although he didn’t DARE say that out loud… “Um… I… I
like having you around too!” he said, Misty reacted similar to him…
Slowly,
looking up innocently without saying anything, they both reached out their
hands and held each other’s… their faces bright red… The two of them smiled
shyly as they walked, holding each other’s hand…
“Hmm…”
Ash suddenly stopped walking, his expression changed to a serious one
“What
is it Ash?” asked Misty, “Ah…!” she gasped at what she saw
“Well,
well, well… look who’s back. And look! He’s even brought his girlfriend!” A
group of familiar faces stood in front of Ash and Misty. The same group of
nameless guys, whom Ash had simply labelled as Punk A, Punk B, Brass Knuckles
punk, Chain punk, Two-by-four punk and Metal Pipe Punk, “So you come to grace
us with your presence again?” asked Punk A
“Oh,
it’s just you guys…” Ash’s serious expression changed and to a relaxed one
“What
is that supposed to mean?!” The six of them shouted
“Ash,
do you know these people?” asked Misty
“Nah,
just some random thugs I stepped on when we first got here” replied Ash,
grabbing Misty’s hand and walking off, “Come on, let’s go…”
“Where
do you think you’re going?!” They shouted. Suddenly, Ash and Misty stopped, as
more people emerged from the alleyways. All these tough-looking teenage
delinquents, many of them carrying weapons, some of them had pokéballs. There
were about twenty of them, and surrounded Ash and Misty. “This won’t be like
last time! This is payback!”
“This
is what you call payback?” Ash looked left and right, obviously unimpressed.
Calmly, he let go of Misty’s hand and let Pikachu down from his shoulder. “Hey,
Pikachu. I’ll handle this myself, so sit this one out, okay?” He asked
‘He’s
not even gonna use a pokémon?!’ ‘Hey, look at that, he wants to fight us
himself!’ ‘What an idiot!’ All these comments were heard all around, many of
them were laughing at Ash.
“I
may be a pokémon trainer, but to call them out on garbage like you is disgrace
to the true meaning of training pokémon.” Ash said, cracking his knuckles. “But
I suppose you’re right about one thing… this isn’t gonna be at all like the
last time. This time, you’re not the only one I’ll beat into the ground with my
fists, and I’ll do it all myself.” He spoke, glaring a Punk A… suddenly,
without warning, a delinquent with a baseball bat came from the side and swung
it down at his head…
SMACK!!!
“AAAH!!!”
the guy who attacked Ash screamed when his bat was smashed to pieces and he was
suddenly sent flying, right off the ground and hit the wall. “Ugh…” a weak
groan escaped his lips as he fell, out cold.
“WHAT?!”
Everyone gasped, all eyes were on Ash
Ash
stood there, holding out his fist. Just one punch broke his weapon and sent him
flying. He then took a fighting stance “Time to teach you all some manners…”
(Meanwhile)
“All
right! Hyper potions, check! Revives, check! full heals… check!” Brock was
checking through the inventory. There was going to be a battle, so it was
important to have a lot of items in case of emergency
“Done!”
Ebi smiled triumphantly, looking at the two objects sitting on his desk. One of
them was Ash’s pokémon league cap, fully repaired and looking brand new. “And
more importantly… the QuickSilver” Ebi looked at the weapon. “Heh, quite
impressive if I do say so myself. For the coming battles in the near future,
these upgrades will make a world of difference!” He smiled, but then stopped.
Usually, Ash would be pestering him by now, all excited about having his cap
repaired and Quicksilver upgraded… but that wasn’t the case… “He and Misty
should have gotten back from the Centre by now… where are they?”
“GUYS!!!”
Tracey suddenly burst into the room, getting their attention, “We got trouble!
Ash is fighting in the streets! He’s being attacked by a whole mob!”
“What?!”
Brock and Ebi exclaimed. Immediately, Brock threw all the items into a bag and
bolted out of the room, while Ebi snatched both the cap and QuickSilver in his
arms and ran, the two of them following Tracey, outside the building and into
the streets… “AH…!” Ebi, Brock and Tracey gasped at what they saw…
“HA!!!”
Ash shouted, swinging his fist upward and uppercutting one of the Missingno
Gang members, knocking him clean off his feet and hitting the ground. Ash didn’t
stop there, as another one attacked him from the side, he quickly spun around
and kicked him across the face, sending him flying into a group who were
charging at him from the other direction! Many of these punks were down, too
injured to fight, while Ash however didn’t have so much as a scratch and showed
absolutely no sign of fatigue! “HAAA!!!” He roared and slammed more into the
air…
“Ah…!”
Brock and Tracey’s jaws hung wide open… Ash… the SAME Ash they knew, he alone
had trashed over twenty men, without the use of a pokémon, and didn’t even
break a sweat?! “How could anyone be so strong?!”
“A…
Ash…” Misty wasn’t as shocked as Brock and Tracey, but was impressed. This was
her first time as well, seeing Ash fight like this. “Ah!” she gasped, when she
saw, one of the people who lay defeated behind Ash, suddenly sprung up with a
knife in his hand…! “ASH! WATCH OUT!!!”
“HM!!!”
Even before Misty had shouted, Ash had already spun around and caught the guy’s
wrist, stopping the knife from coming any closer.
“Agh…!”
the punk growled, trying to push his arm forward, but he couldn’t… Ash’s grip
was so strong, he couldn’t even move!
“You
really tried to kill me just now… and you thought you can do it because my back
was turned, didn’t you?” Ash asked. As he spoke, he tightened his grip even
harder, causing the man to scream out in pain and fall to his knees, dropping
the weapon. Ash threw him aside, letting him hit the ground. The man’s arm was
now dark and badly bruised, with the imprints of Ash’s hand. “Now you’re scared
all of the sudden?” Ash leaned down to him when he saw the man’s look of fear “Let
me tell you one thing… if you’re ready to kill someone with a weapon… you’d
better be ready to die by one too.” The man passed out from fear
“He’s…
a monster!” One of the remaining punks gasped… “AH!” he screamed, nearly
wetting himself when Ash was looking his way!
“You…
I know some of you are pokémon trainers… I can see the pokéballs” Ash spoke in
a serious tone, “Put them gently on the ground, and get out of my sight.”
“O…
okay…!” they immediately did as they were told, gently placing all their
pokéballs in a neat pile. “L… let’s get out of here!!!” they all fled in
terror, dragging with them their injured companions
“W…
whoa…” Ash’s friends gasped… “ASH!!!” they all ran towards him
“Huh?”
Ash turned around, “WA!!!” he exclaimed as he was suddenly surrounded
“That
was amazing!!! Absolutely incredible!!!” Brock shouted
“Since
when were you that strong?! I’ve never seen anything like that!!” said Tracey
“Ash!
Are you hurt anywhere?!” Misty asked out of concern
“Weren’t
you watching him at all Misty? Of course he isn’t hurt!”
“Weren’t
ANY of you watching him at all these past weeks?” Ebi spoke up, and everyone
turned to him. Unlike the others, he didn’t seem surprised with Ash’s strength.
“With every fight he’s engaged in, whether he won or lost, Ash just kept
getting stronger. We’re talking about someone who’s fought the Super Fiends
time and time again, defeating Aquamarine and was even acknowledged by Sky
Render as a serious opponent. At that level, normal people can’t even touch
you.”
“Oro?”
Ash blinked, clueless
“Tch,
same old Ash…” Ebi closed his eyes and shook his head, smiling, “After the
beating you gave them, I’m pretty sure they’re gonna behave from here on.”
“One
thing bothers me” said Brock, “Why did you tell them to leave their pokéballs?”
“It’s
simple. Watch” Ash answered, walking over to the pile of pokéballs and picked
them up in his arms, “EVERYBODY! GO!!!” He threw them all, releasing dozens of
pokémon. “All right! Any of you who wants to get out of here, do it now! You’re
free to go!” he called out. The pokémon all shouted out in confirmation, and
ran/flew off in different directions, leaving the city “Heh. I thought so…” Ash
smiled, while everyone looked at him, confused. “You noticed that I was
addressing to those ‘who wants to get out of there’ to leave, and naturally
they all chose freedom.”
“But
how did you know they all agreed? What if some of them attacked you for hurting
their trainers?” asked Tracey
“Are
you kidding? They’d have to actually LIKE their trainers before they do that!”
Ash laughed, “I’ve battled Trainers from this gang plenty of times, and every
time, I saw how unhappy the pokémon were. I mean, who wouldn’t be? They
probably don’t take care of them, and only use them as weapons to attack people
and commit all their crimes. When you stop and think about it, it’s pretty
obvious those pokémon can’t stand their trainers!” he laughed, while the others
stared in amazement…
“Ahem…”
Ebi cleared his throat, and approached Ash, “Here. I believe this is yours.”
“Oh,
sweet! My cap!” Ash exclaimed, immediately accepting it and putting it on his
head, “That’s better! I can never get used to walking around without a cap!
Seriously, I feel naked without it!”
“Have
I ever let you down?” Ebi smiled proudly, “Also, I’ve installed something new
to your QuickSilver. Take a look…” he opened it up, and showed Ash the insides.
In the compartment where he always got the pester balls was a new kind of
pokéball transporter. “I’ve removed the Pester balls, and upgraded you to
nitro. I’ve also installed a retractable shooter, so you can fire them directly
from the QuickSilver”
“Whoa…”
Ash gasped, looking at his new weapons. “But wait a minute… they’re explosive,
right? Won’t it be dangerous if I’m carrying them around inside the QuickSilver
while using it as a shield? It won’t explode, will it?”
“No
worries. The nitro balls have a failsafe system that doesn’t allow them to
activate as long as they’re inside the QuickSilver.” Ebi explained, picking up
the QuickSilver, “There’s also a nitro ball compartment hooked up to the
boosters, so now you’ve got Nitro Boost! When the keywords are mentioned, you
will gain a massive burst of speed, far surpassing the normal maximum, though
only for a second. The key words are…” Ebi then leaned and whispered into Ash’s
ear
“Silver
bullet?” Ash said out loud
“URK!”
Ebi exclaimed. The second Ash said Silver Bullet, the boosters on the
QuickSilver flared and shot out of Ebi’s arms…
“GYAAA!”
Brock screamed and dove to the side, as the board crashed right into a wall,
leaving a massive crack.
“Yeah…
and you might wanna be careful about saying the words indoors…” Ebi
sweatdropped, “Along with the Nitro balls, I’ve installed a new kind of
pokéball… I call it EC Ball… for Element Capture” He handed to Ash a pokéball
with no colour, just a mirrored surface, “These special pokéballs are for
attacking and defending only. They are useless of capturing pokémon, but if
they hit any elemental attack you throw them at, they’ll capture it. You can
then either throw the ball like a grenade to release the contained attack, or
even fire it from the QuickSilver. The EC balls can capture almost any attack,
like fire blast or Hydro Pump for instance, or maybe even HydroThunder, but
remember there’s a limit to the strength that it can contain, so don’t try
capturing attacks like UniStrike. Got that?
“Wow
Ebi, that’s great! You’ve certainly outdone yourself this time!”
“I
certainly have…” Ebi turned around, “(He
may not realize it yet, but I’ve added one more thing to this weapon… a power
that surpasses by anything in this world. This won’t work for just anybody,
only a true
“Ebi? HEY EBI!” Ash called, snapping him back to
reality…
“Sorry,
I kinda zoned out back there…” Ebi apologised and turned around away from Ash “(This power cannot be wielded by anyone but a
true
“EBI!”
Ash snapped him back to attention, “Weren’t you listening? I said we don’t know
the location of the Missingno gang’s base. Not to mention there’s a ton of Team
Rocket agents wandering about! We can’t go walking around the whole city
looking for trouble!”
“(Interrupting my monologues like that… that
kid’s got no concept of dramatic suspense)” Ebi grumbled silently. “I’ve
been digging around town for information, and got a tip on the Gang’s location.
It’s on the West side of town, a rough area. If we’re willing to go there, we’d
best be prepared.”
“I’m
ready if you are, Ash” said Misty
“We’re
good to go!” Said Brock and Tracey
“I’m
also prepared for battle” replied Ebi
“But
Ebi… you don’t fight” said Brock
“…
… … … shut up!” Ebi snapped at him
“All
right then, let’s go!” Everyone nodded in affirmation and started walking, with
Ash leading the way.a
“Hey
Ash,” said Misty as she walked next to him, “You know… back there, when you
fought those guys and freed the pokémon… you really were cool!”
“Thanks,
that really means a lot, coming from you” Ash smiled
“I
was right to feel safer having you around” she smiled at him, “You’ll always be
around to protect us, right?”
“Of
course! You can depend on it!” Ash grinned, holding her hand.
“Hmm…”
Ebi, Tracey and Brock smirked as they watched Ash and Misty in front of them,
chatting happily, laughing together while holding each other’s hand. They knew
for a long time that they were attracted to each other, and after spending all
this time concentrating on fighting, seeing the two like this really lifted
their spirits…
(
The
group was walking down the empty streets, led by Ash who was holding a piece of
paper. The place they were in was definitely not a safe looking area. All these
dirty buildings boarded up, graffiti over the walls, trash cans spilled over…
“This
certainly looks like the type of place we’d find them…” Brock commented,
looking around. Everyone was keeping a watchful eye, walking around in this
area made them feel very uneasy…
“We’re
in a dangerous district… even without the Missingno Gang running around I’d
avoid coming to places like this…” Said Ebi
“Come
on guys, nothing to fear. We’ve been to places worse than this, and plus I’m
stronger than anyone you’ll find running around here!” Ash grinned. Suddenly,
Pikachu’s ears rose up, sensing trouble. “Huh? What’s wrong Pikachu?”
“Pika-Pika!”
Pikachu’s cheeks started crackling
“What
is it Ash?”
“Pikachu
says it’s trouble!” Ash answered, reaching for the QuickSilver…
POW!
“AAAAH!!!”
“HUH?!”
The group turned around and gasped, seeing punks from the Missingno Gang, the
same guys who attacked Ash earlier, flying through the air and hitting the
ground, landing in a large pile. “What the…?!”
“Stupid
punks… picking a fight with ME of all people…” a lone figured stepped into the
scene, and any questions the group would’ve had about what happened to those
people were immediately answered, “Hmm?” Cleft looked up, noticing Ash
“You!”
Ash immediately moved in front of his group and stood protectively, equipping
the QuickSilver and placing one hand over his belt, while Pikachu jumped down
from his shoulders and electricity gathered at his cheeks …
“Oh,
it’s you again” The Super Fiend grumbled as he continued limping, his left hand
pressed against the wall for support. “What do you want?”
“I
should be asking the same question!” Ash growled, taking a fighting stance.
Although the man was still injured from the Kaiser Beast, Ash knew that Cleft
was nothing like those punks, he was a real threat…
“If
I didn’t know any better, I’d say you wanted to fight me right now…” Cleft
glared seriously at Ash, not showing any weakness even in his condition. “I do
hope your recent string of victories (a number of them being flukes no less)
hasn’t filled your head with delusions of invincibility…” his left hand gripped
the brick wall…
CRRRACK!!!
Everyone
gasped, when Cleft dug his bare fingers into the brick wall and tore right
through it! “You really want to fight me?” said Cleft, ripping a chunk out and
crushing it with his bare hands, dropping the bits to the ground. Ash growled,
but tried to remain calm. This man wasn’t lying about his strength, especially
with that group of punks he had totally decimated in even less time than Ash. However,
Cleft dropped his shoulders and casually shrugged, “No… I’m going looking for a
fight. If I was, I would’ve attacked you by now.” Placing his hands in his
pockets, he walked right past the group. “I’m just taking a walk, to clear my
head… Except those stupid gang members keep popping up everywhere, it’s like a
bloody infestation!”
“We’re
actually trying to get rid of the gang” Ash spoke, lowering his arms, positive
that Cleft wasn’t gonna attack him.
“Oh
really?” Cleft raised an eyebrow, “You’d certainly be doing everyone a favour.
I’m a wanted criminal, and even I don’t like them. Come to think of it, the
only reason you guys are fighting my group is because of that gang…” he
scratched the back of his head, “It was a big mistake for our group, getting
involved with them. We ended up tarnishing our records, associating with thugs that
are clearly beneath us.”
“Well,
I guess we’ll be going” said Ash, eyeing his group, which seemed eager to get
away from the Fiend… with good reason.
“Hold
it.” Cleft spoke up, and Ash stopped. “There’s something you should know before
going after the gang. While the gang consists of average punks and third-rate
pokémon trainers… their leader is different.”
“Different?
How?” Asked Tracey
“He’s
dangerous.” Said Cleft, in a serious tone. “I’ve only met him once, but I can
honestly say he’s by far the strongest man this city’s ever produced.” He
explained, “The Super Fiends first came to this city, hearing of that man’s
strength, and wanted to see if he was worth recruiting. He made the cut, but
had no interest in joining (and to make things even sadder, we somehow wound up
with Doppelganger instead). Just watch out for him, or you may wind up dead”
“Okay,
and thanks for the information.” Said Ash, as the group left the fiend… “Goodbye,
I guess”
“Hmph…”
Cleft crossed his arms and sighed. He and Ash’s group were supposed to be enemies,
through and through, but somehow he couldn’t help but feel slightly concerned
for the boy. “Probably Sky’s interest in the kid, rubbing off on me…”
“So
that’s it? You’re just gonna let them go ahead and have all the fun?” a voice
spoke up…
“Huh?”
Cleft turned around, “Bonsai!” he gasped, seeing his comrade standing right in
next to him, “How… when did you get here!?”
“You
blinked” Bonsai smirked, “I turn around for one second, and you end up in this
sorry state.” He eyed Cleft’s wounds, “What happened? Ketchum do this to you?”
“Course
not!” Cleft answered indignantly “No… it wasn’t him… otherwise I’d be in much
better shape. The one who attacked me… was Red Kaiser.”
“You’re
not serious?!” Bonsai shouted in disbelief, his relaxed expression suddenly
changed, but Cleft nodded gravely… “Damn… if he’s here… it means they’ve
already reached this region?!” he growled, clenching his fists tight…
“We
have to go warn the others, and we have to get out of here soon, because now
that THEY have moved in, it won’t be long till this whole region falls under
their control.” Cleft said seriously, “And I’m warning you Bonsai… and you’d
better tell Ketchum too…” He spoke, “I tried to fight Red Kaiser… but what
happened there couldn’t have been called a fight, just a one-sided slaughter.
Everything about him… his strength… his ruthlessness… his madness… I was completely
overwhelmed.” Cleft growled… trembling at the memory, “After I was defeated, he
left me for dead, to be finished off by the Kaiser Beast, which Ketchum and his
friends were able to destroy. However… the Kaiser Beast was nothing but a pet,
because the real monster was that man…” Cleft spoke seriously, with a panicked
expression in his eyes, “He is an immortal, and only a fool will try to fight
someone who cannot die. If you ever encounter him, run, because to fight him
will only mean death!”
“Hmm…”
Bonsai stared at his companion. Cleft was an incredibly strong fighter, he’s
proven that many times over. But for him… a Super Fiend, to be so afraid of one
man… this Red Kaiser must really be a monster. “Hmph… too bad for Ketchum
though. Even if we told him this… let’s face it. He’s a proud idiot. He won’t
back down from a challenge. If anything, hearing about Red Kaiser will just
make him stay here and even go looking for him. Ketchum may have grown strong…
but with Red Kaiser involved, it will mean nothing when faced against that man…”
“Hmm…
then are you thinking what I’m thinking?” asked Cleft
“Yeah…”
Bonsai nodded. “The only way Ketchum will leave this city is when the Missingno
Gang is defeated.” They both smirked, “Let’s lend him a hand, and speed up the
battle!” The two of them nodded and ran off… but suddenly stopped, “Uh… where
IS the gang’s hideout anyways?”
***
(Meanwhile)
“Hello…
what have we here?” Asked Ash, as the whole group stood in an alleyway.
“Team
Rocket Agents?! What are they doing here?” Asked Misty, poking her head out of
the alley and looking out in the streets. Standing out there in the open was
Jessie, James and Meowth of Team Rocket. More than that, accompanying them were
agents Cassidy and Butch, aloing with about a dozen masked grunts.
“Probably
the same thing we are. Wiping out the Missingno Gang” said Ebi, “Rumour has it
that Team Rocket’s been going around, busting up all sorts of gangs and
criminal organizations, and by the looks of it, the rumour’s true”
“What,
so you’re saying Team Rocket’s gone into crime fighting?” asked Brock
“Of
course not!” answered Ebi, “No… they never act unless something was in it for
them. The way they do things, is after beating whatever enemy they have, they
make offers to join Team Rocket and are usually successful because Team Rocket
can offer more than any other gang or organisation could. If anything… it’s
almost like they’re trying to stamp out the competition, while getting as many
recruits as possible. Why they’re doing it… I have no idea…”
“Shh!
They’re moving in!” Ash raised his hand and they all stopped talking. All the
Rockets moved on out of sight, leaving only Cassidy and Butch standing guard. “If
what you say is true, then that means this is the Missingno Gang hideout!”
“Peh…
why’d WE have to get stuck guarding an entrance while THOSE two clowns and
their cat gets to go in and take out that gang?” Butch spat
“Because
SOMEHOW, they’ve been getting stronger!” Cassidy answered bitterly. “I don’t
get it! The moment they become just a little LESS useless, they all of the
sudden get all the good assignments…”
“To
make matters worse, the boss is gonna chose someone to be the next 001! If
either of them gets that title, we’ll never live it down…!” (BOOM!) “AAAAAGH!!!!” They both screamed
when an explosion sent them flying and hitting their heads. The two of them lay
down, out cold.
“Whoa…
these things are powerful!” Ash gasped, holding his QuickSilver arm out.
Wearing it on his arm, he was able to fire a nitro ball and sent them flying.
It was certainly a powerful weapon… “Let’s go!”
***
(Location-
Missingno Gang HQ)
“I
knew the Missingno gang was strong, but I didn’t think it’d be this big!” Ash
gasped as they hid behind a bunch of crates
“POISON
STING!” Jessie shouted. Arbok opened his mouth and fired hundreds of poison
needles, taking down the enemy Fearow
“TOXIC
ATTACK!” James yelled. Wheezing released poisonous sludge, poisoning the
Flareon, followed by a Take-Down attack
“HA!
YA!” Meowth jumped left and right, slashing across Hitmonlee’s and Machamp’s
faces, taking them both down. “Heh…” Meowth looked up at his next opponent,
which would prove to be a better challenge. “A Dragonite? And what would a rare
pokémon like you be doing in a dump like this? MEOOWRTH!” Meowth screeched,
jumped up to Dragonite’s face and attacked wildly. Before long, Dragonite
collapsed to the ground, defeated…
“URGH!
There’s too many of them!” James growled. The three of them were leading a
group of Team Rocket grunts in the fight against the Missingno. The three of
them were doing surprisingly well… but Giovanni obviously must have
underestimated the size and strength of the gang, because Team Rocket was
outnumbered by more than a hundred, and one agent after the other went down
against them …
“Which
side are we rooting for?” Asked Brock
“I
think we want Team Rocket to win” Answered Ebi
“Then
shouldn’t we get in there and help them?” Asked Misty
“No!
We have to wait!” said Ebi “If we go on, both sides will attack us. We have to
let them fight it out and their forces to thin…”
CRASH!
“Ah!”
Everyone jumped up in surprise when the stack of crates suddenly went crashing
down, making a lot of noise, not to mention completely blowing their cover
“Sorry
Ebi, but waiting just isn’t my style!” Said Ash, standing up with his leg out.
Apparently he was the one who kicked the stack and made it crash, “I’m going in
right now!!!” Putting on the QuickSilver, he immediately ran into battle
“Finally!
I was getting bored of waiting!” Misty pulled out her mallet as well as the
pokéballs and followed Ash
“Gah!
Those idiots! They’ve ruined the strategy!” Ebi punched the crates
“Hey,
we’re still here” Brock and Tracey stood behind him, “About the strategy?”
“Whatever…
just go and fight… not like either of you have much use anyways, especially
since now that Ash can do it all on his own, you’re just extra baggage that
holds back the AAML…” Ebi muttered
“Well
excuuuuse me, (jerk…)” the two of them grumbled as they walked into battle…
“I
might as well leave… if I stay here, I’ll only be a burden” Ebi sighed, wishing
he could fight as well… “Good luck Ash… I have faith in you” He said, leaving
the building. He wasn’t wishing Ash luck in winning the battle, no… he knew Ash
could easily win. What he was referring to was the Power of One…
“HAAAA!!!”
Ash shouted as he charged through the masses of Missingno gang members,
smashing everyone who stood in his way and sent them flying in different
directions, “POKÉBALL! GO!!!” He shouted, releasing his entire team, “VINE
WHIP! FIRE SPIN! HYDROTHUNDER!” Ash shouted, and his pokémon fired their
attacks, wiping out both some of Team Rocket’s and Missingno Gang’s pokémon. “HMM!”
Ash then whipped out a handful of nitro balls in his hands, “HA!” he threw them
forward, causing a huge explosion that blasted everyone out of his way.
“ICE
PILLAR!!!” Misty shouted, as Staryu and Starmie both fired jets of water, while
Politoe’d froze the water with Ice Beam, creating a flying pillar of ice…
CRASH!!!!
“AAAHHH!!!”
“HAAA!”
She spun around, wielding the sledgehammer and sending people flying, “You
punks are way out of your league!”
“GEODUDE!!
GO!” Brock shouted, running beside the rock Pokémon, “MEGA PUNCH!!! HYAAAA!!!!”
Geodude slammed one of them with his stone fists and sent him flying, while
Brock slammed another one across the face with his frying pan
“MARIL!
USE IRON TAIL!” Tracey shouted, holding Maril as the ball on its tail became as
hard as steel. Leaping forward, Maril swung its tail like a flail and struck anyone
who came close while forcing others to keep their distance
“I
can’t believe it! It’s the twerps!” Jessie and James exclaimed, seeing Ash’s
group
“What
I can’t believe is how much damage they’re doing!” Meowth exclaimed, panting
slightly. Team Rocket was losing this battle, but the moment Ash and his
friends joined in, the tides turned completely. They were literally smashing
through their numbers, and there was no one who could compete with their
strength and skill! “Guys… I’d think we’d better run, because as soon as they’re
finished with the gang, we’ll probably be us next!”
“Your
right… RUN AWAY!” Jessie shouted, as they along with the grunts ran off. As
they ran, James’ voice could be heard, “But what are we gonna tell the boss?!”
“(Pant…
pant…) There’s just no end to these guys!” Brock growled, as sweat poured down
the side of his face. Even with the numbers they’ve taken down, they were still
outnumbered greatly… “RHAA!” he swung
his frying pan again. More came charging, but Geodude tackled into them,
throwing them all back, “Worse than that, more and more of them are
releasing their pokémon, adding to the numbers! Even if they stood in line and
politely let us knock them out, (which they are pretty close to doing) it’d
take us forever to beat them!”
“What’s
more, our opponents are human! We have to hold back on our attacks, or we may
end up killing them!” Tracey growled as Scyther slammed one of them on the head
with the flat side of its bladelike talons, being careful not to cut them. “We
can’t hit with full strength, but there’s too many to hold back!”
“If
we don’t come up with a better strategy, we’re not gonna last much longer!”
said Misty as her water pokémon attacked Rhyhorn, knocking it out
“HAAA!”
Ash lifted a man over his head and threw him at an incoming group, while Pikachu
leapt over his shoulder and took down a group of pokémon with thunder, “You
hear that Pikachu?” he asked, the two of them had listened to their friends. “Even
though we’re strong enough to go on fighting, our friends are getting tired!”
he spoke… “OUT OF THE WAY!” he kicked another guy and sent him flying “Misty’s
right, if we go on, our friends could be in danger! Maybe we should pull out
for now and come back when we have a better strategy!”
“What’s
that you say? You’re running away from small-fry like this?” A voice spoke, “And
here I was just starting to think you were tough!”
“Thinking
of backing down against these numbers… I’m disappointed in you Ketchum!”
another familiar voice called up
“Huh?”
Ash, Misty, Brock and Tracey turned around…
“AAAAAHH!!!!”
many of the punks screamed as they along with their pokémon were sent flying in
different directions, flung through the air like rag dolls. Those that weren’t
hit all gasped, suddenly freezing in place when they saw who did it…
“It’s
rude of you guys to start the party without us” Cleft cracked his knuckles, and
slid on an iron gauntlet… “RHAAA!!!” with all his strength he smashed the
ground with his fist, creating a massive shockwave that sent anyone within
twenty feet of him flying through the air. “Anyone who wants to die, step
forwards now”
In
one hand, Bonsai unfolded bladed war-fan. “HAAA!” Suddenly he shot forward,
quicker than the eye can see. Darting left and right, swinging that bladed fan,
and came to a stop. Everyone he darted past immediately collapsed to the ground,
covered in many thin cuts. He then pulled out a small bag filled with some sort
of powder, and threw it all into the air. “Hmm!” Quickly he jumped up and
opened a second fan, using them to scatter the dust over the attackers
“UGH…!”
everyone who was hit by the powder gasped, immediately collapsing to the ground…
struggling to breathe, unable to move…!
“Don’t
bother trying to get up. You’ve been hit with poison I’ve extracted from special
herbs. Don’t worry, it isn’t lethal… but don’t expect to regain control of your
body anytime soon” he took a fighting stance with both war fans, causing a lot
of people to back away, “Is there anyone brave enough to fight me?”
“Whoa…”
Ash and his friends gasped, seeing these Fiends’ incredible strength.
“And
THAT Ketchum, is how you instil fear over your enemies” the two of them looked
at Ash and smirked, “We’re here to help you fight, as payment for pulling me
out of the forest. We may be criminals, but we aren’t ingrates.” Said Cleft
“Uh…
yeah…” Ash sweatdropped. The mere sight of these two newcomers would have
already been enough to scare away most of the gang… but seeing what they were
capable of? They were frozen in fear.
“Who…
who are you kidding?!” one of the punks stepped forward, clutching a pokéball, “You
think we’re scared of you?!”
“Well
for someone who isn’t afraid, your legs sure are shaking an awful lot” said
Cleft
“S-shut
up!” That punk tried to look tough, but was failing miserably. More than
anything, along with all the others, he looked like he wanted to run away…
“Why
would people who are obviously terrified of us, still want to fight?” asked
Bonsai “Is it bravery that drives you to continue? Or is it just the opposite?
Could it be that you’re all afraid of being punished for running away?”
“Correct…”
A voice spoke up “They are afraid of you… but even more so of their leader, and
what will happen to them should they run away…” the person stepped through the
crowd, into the open… Ash, Misty, Bonsai and Cleft’s eyes opened wide.
“AH…!”
Ash gasped… seeing the hooded figure… “YOU!!!!”
“It
sure has been a while…” Doppelganger smiled wickedly… “Hasn’t it, Ketchum?”
Just as the battle seemed to have
been won with the arrival of the two Fiends assisting Ash… Doppelganger has
returned, more malicious than ever before? And what of the leader of this gang,
who could instil enough fear into his own followers to make them fight such
terrifying opponents, or Red Kaiser whom even the Fiends speak so fearfully of?
Find out next time, on PUA!
(TO BE
CONTINUED)