Chapter 8- Challenge by the Seashore
~The Super Fiends… a band of violent
outlaws, lead by the evil and notorious Sky Render, constantly spreading
destruction and chaos untold… that’s what I’ve been constantly told from day
one. Anyone you ask about the Super Fiends, you’ll get the same answer,
describing to you how evil they are… but when I actually began to face that
group myself, I found their attitudes somewhat shocking. They’re totally
laid-back and casual even when approached with an enemy, and there’s always
this sense of arrogance surrounding them. That’s not all, but they don’t seem
the least bit interested in personal gain or anything of the sort. Simply put…
they’re all warriors, ones that absolutely live for battle, and no matter how
dangerous the situation they always seem to be competing with each other. I’ve
spent all this time trying to figure out just what are they after, what’s their
purpose… and from what I’ve seen, they don’t even view me as their enemy, just
another guy who could show them a good fight. They’re pretty weird in that
sense… but are they really that obsessed with battle? Was the possibility of
more fights to come the only reason they sided with me against Team Rocket?
Right now, I’m feeling there may be a lot more to that group than what meets
the eye (except for Aquamarine, I’ve already got him figured out… freaking
psycho…)
-Ash Ketchum
(Location- Emerald Jungle)
It was midnight, a day had passed since the
battle against the great machine giant known as Devastator Titan, once
Giovanni’s greatest weapon, it now lay in ruins.
“Hmph… they call that greatest weapon?” Red
Kaiser crossed his arms, staring at the wreckage, “Piece of junk… it no can
even beat the boy in cap and Super Fiends”
“You were expecting more from the savages, Red
Kaiser?” said Green Kaiser, “However, that boy who fought alongside the Super
Fiends… I am starting to see what’s so special about him. If he continues to
grow, he may become a threat”
“Threat maybe, but right now he is exhausted from
fight” said Red Kaiser, “Though he did help us very much, and do our work for
us. Team Rocket is our last competitor, and he destroyed it. Even though he
enemy, we reward”
“What sort of reward?” White Kaiser asked
confused
“Swift death is reward.” Red Kaiser called as he
pulled out a strange pokéball, with fiery red designs, “KAISER BEAST
CHARRANNOSAURUS! I CHOOSE YOU!” he released the Kaiser Beast. As the Kaiser
Beast spread its wings, Red Kaiser jumped and stood on its head. He turned and
looked down at the two other Kaiser, “I got summon by master! I go now! You
kill boy in cap quickly too!” he said as he and Charrannosaurus flew off into
the night sky
“We’ll do that!” said Green Kaiser as he and
White Kaiser both headed in the direction of G.I. Jolt’s HQ…
***
(Location- Battle Arena)
G.I. Jolt grunted as he used the shovel to dig
into the ground of his artificial battlefield. That battle he had with Ash and
the group had really messed this place up, breaking the walls, damaging the
ceiling and all that. Jolt was busy digging up a new trench. The Super Fiends
consisted of among the last warriors in the modern era, and battles that
weren’t fought with the use of pokémon were becoming increasingly rare. This
arena did not mimic a plain empty ring, but an actual field of battle. The
fiends never fought in official tournaments or matches, as the world itself was
their arena. This place was where they fought amongst themselves, whether
training, settling disputes, or showing their rank within the team. Currently
Jolt was ranked number 5 in the group, while number 1 was forever held by Sky
Render…
CRASH!
“AAAAGH!!!!!” He exclaimed as the ceiling
collapsed and tones of cement and steel fell on him. “What’s going on!?” He
shouted, bursting out of the rubble and looking left and right.
“Someone broke in?!” AntiArctic suddenly appeared
seemingly out of nowhere. He was still hanging around this place. The two
looked up, and saw a figure in a white cloak came down. For a second they
thought it was Sky Render, but looking closer it wasn’t him. The two of them
recognised the man… “You! White Kaiser!”
“Where is he?” asked White Kaiser “The one you
call Ash?”
“Ash?” asked AntiArctic
“We’re looking for him” said Green Kaiser as he
jumped through, “And you are going to tell me right now where he is” this
wasn’t a question, it was an order.
“Well why should we do you any favours?” Jolt
growled, “Not to mention, breaking my ceiling the way you did, it makes me even
less willing to help you!”
“I am not here to fight you, I am here for him”
said White Kaiser
“We know your style” Green Kaiser said as he took
a fighting stance, “You won’t help us unless we defeat you! Maybe if we do
that, you will tell us where he went?”
“Hmph… so that’s it, huh? Defeat us and we talk?”
asked Jolt, cracking his knuckles “Very well, we’ll accept your challenge.”
“Be warned, if we win, you won’t make it out
alive” said AntiArctic, “By eliminating you, we’d have cut off nearly a third
of the ruling powers of the Kaiser Cult!”
“You shouldn’t make such boasts, especially
against those far stronger than you” said White Kaiser, readying himself for
battle, “I’ll try to go easy on you, to make sure you don’t die before telling
us what we need to know!”
“I’ve heard enough! HAAA!” AntiArctic charged
forwards, pulling out his ninja-to sword and slashing. The two Kaisers jumped
back as they ducked, dodged moved, avoiding each swing.
“RHAA!” Jolt roared as he fired the missile from
his big shot bazooka. The two Kaiser Knights braced themselves for impact…
“STORM CANNON!”
CRASH!
Following the blast of lightning was a huge
explosion that shook the ground. The smoke cleared and the two Kaisers were
still standing. They were burnt and dirty, but otherwise unharmed. “HAAAA!”
Green Kaiser attacked, slamming AntiArctic with his fist and sending him flying
back and hitting the wall
“TAKE THIS! ARMAGEDDON FIST!” G.I. Jolt swung his
massive arm
“HA!” White Kaiser dodged and spun in the air
kicking him with a roundhouse kick
“AGH!” Jolt flew back. He groaned and got up,
turning his head and spitting out a tooth, “Urh… s… strong…!”
“What do you think?!” said White Kaiser, charging
forwards and attacking with his fists, driving the two super fiends back, “In
our last encounter, you would not have survived without the assistance of your
friend!” He slammed Jolt in the face, and held him by the throat, “What’s the
matter? Is it too difficult for you to fight without ganging up on your
opponents?”
POW!
G.I Jolt was sent flying and hit the ceiling when
White Kaiser uppercutted him. G.I. Jolt got up but was slammed again and again
with powerful hits, again and again until he could stand no more.
“HYOKEN!” AntiArctic shouted, a thick layer of
ice froze over his hands as he punched, but the Kaiser Knight caught his punch
and squeezed his hand, breaking the layer of ice. He continued to squeeze with
a crushing grip, “agh!” AntiArctic tried to struggle, but the strength of Green
Kaiser made AntiArctic look like a baby, “LET GO!” he raised his ninja-to…
SNAP!
“AAAAAGH!!!!!!!!” AntiArctic fell to his knees,
his blade falling to the ground… his arm snapped like a twig by the Green Kaiser
knight…
SMACK!
AntiArctic flew back as Green Kaiser kicked him.
The ninja landed on his feet, but was punched again when Green Kaiser charged
at him. Panting, AntiArctic fell to the ground, defeated…
“I will only ask one more time. Where is he?”
White Kaiser snarled
“Grrrrr…” the two defeated super fiends growled,
but sighed
AntiArctic spoke up sadly “He and his friends
left yesterday. They are heading in the direction of the seaside town of
“Thank you, you’ve been a very great help to us”
said White Kaiser as he turned around and left. “Hmph… what a waste of time.
Didn’t even need to use our swords”
“You know… if the two of you had put up a better
fight, we might have considered you a big enough threat to have to kill.” Green
Kaiser also left.
The two Super Fiends looked sadly at the floor.
Those two were able to defeat them with so little effort, using only their bare
hands… “Forgive me Ash… for being defeated so easily” G.I. Jolt said sadly,
“For the first time ever, I feared for my life.”
“Agh…” AntiArctic groaned, his broken arm hurting
him, “Never has a Super Fiend been defeated so easily… and now they’re after
Ash, all because we were too weak” AntiArctic said. Those two… he never knew
they were that powerful…! Even if he transformed, it would have made no
difference! “The code of the ninja states that I would not reveal anything to
my enemies, even under torture and death… but I swore I’d talk… Please Ash,
though you can’t hear us, forgive us for being so weak… and be careful… because
you have become their next target”
***
(
“Wow! This place is nice!” said Misty as they
entered the next city. This one was like a huge tropical resort, with palm
trees, warm tropical climate and the beach was nearby,
“Where are we?” Asked Ash
“We are in the seaside town of
“This your first time here?” asked Amaebi
“The answer is yes for all of us” said
“Well, not ours. We came here on our previous
adventure, and it’s also been a while. I’d like to get to know this place
better” said Ebi
“Well, let’s do that! Let’s look around!” said
Tracey
“Hey look! The beach!” said Ash
“The beach?!” Brock exclaimed. The image of all
those girls in swimsuits came into his mind, “Sweet! I’m there!” he ran in that
direction
“Hey! Wait up!” said Tracey as he followed
“It couldn’t hurt to take a little vacation while
we’re out here!” said
“I can’t wait!” said Misty
(A few minutes later)
The group was ready. After getting changed, they
were ready for some fun!
“Let’s go!” Everyone raced to the water.
For the next few hours, they were having the time
of their lives, swimming, tossing the beach ball, and just plain ol’ goofing
off. After having lunch, they returned to the beach for some more fun. Ash and
Misty were competing in building sandcastles, each trying to build the better
one.
Ash’s sandcastle was over ten feet tall and
pretty roughly detailed. Misty’s was pretty small, but the details were
precise.
“Looks like I win!” said Misty
“No way” said Ash, “Take a look at mine!”
“That old wreck?” asked Misty
“Better than your pint-sized!” said Ash
“Hey, at least MINE was done by a professional,
moi!” said Misty, “and unlike you, I’ve actually trained my pokémon for this
kind of precision work” she said, pointing at Staryu and Starmie
“Oh, you’re using water elements to help? Well I
can do that too!” said Ash, pulling out a Water-attack ball, stored inside it
was a Hydro Pump attack he captured earlier “Take a look at this! GO!” he said
as he tossed it above the sandcastle…
SPLOOSH!
“WA!” Ash exclaimed. The water-attack ball
released nothing less than a miniature tsunami that completely levelled his
castle and knocked him back.
“Ha! You just bombed your own palace! That makes
ME the winner with my beautiful… ah!” Misty exclaimed and saw that Ash had
fallen on her sandcastle! “No! It’s not fair! I was winning!”
“You wish” said Ash, “mine was better”
“Was not!”
“Was too!”
“Was not!”
“Was too!”
“I totally won that one!”
“No you didn’t, I did!”
“Only in your dreams!”
“Then wake up Misty, this is reality!”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
It was then Ash burst out laughing.
Misty blinked, “What’s so funny?”
“Don’t you realize how childish we’re acting?”
said Ash, and Misty began to laugh too, “Come on, let’s not fight about a silly
thing like this. You won Misty” he said as he put his arm around her
“Aw, Ash…”
“Hey Misty” Ash spoke up
“Yes Ash?”
“Well, since I’m stronger and can build it a lot
bigger, and you’re much better at crafting things so you can make it really,
really nice, why don’t we work together to build a better one?”
“That sounds like a great idea Ash!” said Misty,
“We’ll build the best sand castle yet!”
Ash smiled at Misty. He was having a lot of fun,
living the normal life. During the past months it had been nothing but
fighting, fighting and more fighting along with tons of other live-or-die
situations. He sighed as he put his arm around Misty, for the first time in
ages he was relaxed… suddenly Ash’s trainer instincts kicked in. It was telling
him… DANGER!
“What is it Ash?” asked Misty
“Pikachu?”
“Pri?”
Ash put his feet firmly in place in the sand,
digging them into the ground and standing stiffly as he looked at the water. He
didn’t say anything, but there was a look of concern on his face.
“Ash? What’s going on?” asked Misty
“Misty! Pikachu! Togepi! Hold on tight and don’t
let go!” he said as he grabbed them all and crouched to the ground, digging his
hands and holding Misty and Pikachu underneath his arms to keep them safe.
It was beginning to get cold and cloudy, not to
mention very windy as the sky grew dark. Waves were getting bigger as storm clouds
were gathering. People were running as fast as they could to get out of the
water
“What is it?!” Misty panicked
“Pika Pikachu?! (A hurricane?!)” exclaimed
Pikachu
“NO!” said Ash as the wind blew strongly, “IT’S…”
“BLACK SQUALL!” Aquamarine’s voice echoed as the
attack blew people sky high.
Ash who had his hands and legs dug into the
ground and holding tight tried not to get carried by the fierce winds, but it
was getting harder… “WAAAAA!” Ash was launched high into the air, Misty holding
onto him. The attack ended, and people fell onto ground, unconscious from the
attack. “OOF!” Ash landed and hit the ground hard. He groaned, but got up, he
was tougher than the average human… but Misty wasn’t. “Misty!?” he exclaimed
and looked at her. She was fine, but was simply knocked out by the shock of the
rough landing. Ash sighed a breath of relief, “Glad that’s over-”
“GET YOUR HANDS OFF MISTY!” A voice shouted
“Huh?”
“CORAL CUDGEL!”
WHACK!
“WAAAAAAA!” Ash was sent flying and hit the sand,
“ow… WA?!” he exclaimed as he saw who hit him, “Aquamarine…!”
Aquamarine as usual had his harpoon gun hanging
from his back and the retracted trident as well, along with the Coral Cudgel
and folded fisherman’s net from his belt, along with a load of javelins. This
time though, he was dressed slightly differently, wearing only dark swimming
trunks and his usual black vest.
“I told you it was was a temporary truce, and I
said I would come back and kill you. That unfortunate case of the robot falling
on me delayed this moment… ASH KETCHUM! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!” he shouted as
he struck forwards with his fist
“WA!” Ash jumped to avoid it, “Why you! Take
this! SILVER BULL… dammit” Ash sweatdropped and looked at his arm. He had left
the QuickSilver behind and he was fighting without a weapon. Ash was sent
flying when Aquamarine punched him hard
“Don’t forget which one of us is stronger!”
Aquamarine shouted as he charged towards Ash and attacked with the Coral Mace
“GRRR!” Ash raised his hands up and caught the
coral cudgel. Aquamarine growled as he kicked Ash in the stomach, knocking him
back, “WHY YOU! HA!” Ash struck him in the stomach with all his might.
Aquamarine gasped as the impressive display of strength and jumped back. “You
might as well give up, I’m lot letting go of Misty and I’m not letting you win”
“Who said anything about winning?” said
Aquamarine as he got up, “I’m not here simply to win, I’m here to put YOU out
of MY misery by KILLING you! That’s something I’ve been waiting for a long
time!” he said as he hit Ash with his coral cudgel again and again. Aquamarine
then jumped into the air “JAVELIN RAIN!” a dozen javelins flew and landed in
the sand. Ash somersaulted to avoid them.
As Aquamarine was still into the air, Ash dove to
the side and grabbed a parasol, “TAKE THIS!” he shouted, folding the beach
parasol and hurling it like a spear…
“NICE TRY!” Aquamarine swung his arm and slammed
the parasol, smashing it to pieces. “OCEAN LANCE!” the bolt of energy flew from
the trident and struck him
“AGH…!” Ash gasped, on the ground… he had a large
black bruise on his chest…
Suddenly, Aquamarine kicked off the ground and
jumped high into the air. He dove down at Ash, trident first! “DEEP SKEWER!”
“WA!” Ash moved, as Aquamarine’s trident struck
into the ground, however, Aquamarine’s other hand moved and grabbed his other
weapon…
“CORAL CUDGEL!”
WHAMP!
“AAAH!” Ash screamed when the rock-hard bludgeon
struck him on the side of the head… he fell to the ground. Ash growled,
struggling not to let himself fall… his opponent was stronger than him…! He was
going all out!
“JAVELIN RAIN! HARPOON STRIKE! CORAL CUDGEL!
OCEAN LANCE!” Aquamarine was chasing him and Ash was running for his dear live.
As Ash ran, he tripped and fell into the sand
“W-W-WA…!” Ash scrambled to get up on his feet,
but Aquamarine kicked him and made him fall over
“End of the line Ketchum” said Aquamarine pulling
out his trident and was getting ready to skewer Ash
“Grrrrr…” Ash growled, “I guess it’s time to use
this… MY ultimate technique!” he said
“ooh, ultimate technique, this’ll be good for a
laugh” said Aquamarine
“Watch closely! HAAAA…!” Ash suddenly tensed up,
as if he was focusing his energy…! Aquamarine stepped back, preparing himself
for anything…! “Got ya!” Ash kicked the ground and sent sand flying into
Aquamarine’s eyes!
“AAAAAGH!” Aquamarine screamed, putting his hands
over his face
“HYAAA!!!” Ash suddenly grabbed Aquamarine’s
coral cudgel and slammed him across the head with it! The Super Fiend gasped
and fell to the ground… “Holy…!” Ash exclaimed, looking down at the cudgel… he
found himself having a hard time wielding it, even with both hands… it was so
heavy! And Aquamarine was swinging it so easily with just one hand? “HMM!” Ash
threw aside the cudgel and made a break for it. That weapon had to have weighed
several hundred pounds, it wasn’t something he could fight with. He needed
another weapon, fast! His QuickSilver and the rest of his pokémon were all the
way back at the centre… and there weren’t any decent weapons around here,
except for… “That’s it!”
“ASH KETCHUM!” Aquamarine screamed as he charged
forwards with his trident, “You’ll pay for that!”
Ash was running as fast as he could towards Ebi
“Almost there!”
“THE
Ash pulled off the EbiDex, attached it to his own
wrist as he shouted “EBI SWORD!”
CLASH!
The solid beam from the Ebi Sword clashed with
the cold metal of the trident. Ash smirked, “The battle’s in whose favour now?
EBI FLASH!!!”
“AGH!!” Aquamarine exclaimed when he found
himself blinded again… “NGH!” Suddenly he sensed Ash coming in for the attack,
and instinctively moved to the side. It was the right move, as Ash did attack
him with the Ebi Sword, barely cutting his cheek. “HM!” As Ash attacked again,
Aquamarine’s sight returned and he deflected it with his trident, “WHY YOU!
TIDAL SPEAR!”
“HMM!” Ash braced himself and was thrown back by
the force of the swing, “What’s the matter Aquamarine? Is it that hard fighting
me when I can actually fight back?”
“SHUT UP!” Aquamarine shouted, lifting his
harpoon gun “HARPOON STRIKE!”
“EBI LASER!” Ash shot the large beam of laser.
The red hot beam clashed with the cold hard harpoon and cancelled one another
out
“HMM!” Aquamarine reeled it in and pulled out the
fishing net… “CAPTURE NET!”
“EBI FREEZE!” Ash froze the net as it flew
towards him… “HA!” he swung his fist and shattered it to pieces. Aquamarine
suddenly jumped high into the air…
“JAVELIN RAIN!” Aquamarine roared, showering the
field with a hundred javelins…
“EBI FLAME!” Ash shot upwards, destroying the
wooden projectiles, leaving nothing but burnt ashes falling slowly to the
ground…
“WHY YOU!!” Aquamarine’s anger had reached its
peak. Every one of his techniques had been countered by that stupid weapon…!
“RHAAAA!!!! TERROR OF THE DEEP!” he roared, firing his most powerful attack
“HMMM!” Ash quickly braced himself, shifting his
feet and digging his feet into the ground as the massive beam came flying
towards him… “EBI SHIELD!!!”
CRACK!
The force field around Ash had shattered at the
impact of the powerful beam. However, Aquamarine’s technique had also been
cancelled out. It was a draw!
“GRRRR! You’re really starting to annoy me!”
Aquamarine snarled
“Yeah, so?” asked Ash
“You have no idea what you’re getting into just
by making yourself my enemy! Words cannot describe how much I hate you! It’s
just not fair!” said Aquamarine, “Look at all these people here! To them, you
are an idol who stands for hope and justice! Me, I’m a symbol of chaos and will
destroy everything!”
“Well isn’t that what you do?” asked Ash
“No!” said Aquamarine, “The justice you fight for
is a false justice, meant only to please the ignorant! What I… what the Fiends
are fighting for, goes far beyond light and darkness, as we are the last ones
who stand against the chaos that approaches!”
“What are you talking about?” asked Ash
Before Aquamarine could explain, some people
started to stir, “They’re waking up!” he said as he jumped into the water
“Hey wait! You can’t just run out in the middle
of a battle!” said Ash
“I can if there’s all these bystanders around!”
said Aquamarine, “We’ll continue this match somewhere else! You see that island
off shore? Tomorrow at sunset, be there! This will be our final match! Bring
your weapons and pokémon, but come alone!” said Aquamarine as he dove and was
invisible under the deep water.
“Ash!” everyone ran up to him
“What happened?” asked Ebi, “And more
importantly, why do you have my EbiDex? Give me that!” he snatched it, “Never,
NEVER use this again without my permission!”
“Sorry” Ash sighed… dropping to the ground and
laying there… finally feeling the exhaustion and pain he endured from the
battle. He was exhausted from that fight… but he was alive…
“Are you okay Ash?” some of his friends asked,
“What happened?”
“Nothing…” Ash lied. He didn’t want to tell them
about Aquamarine… it would only worry them. “Hey” he suddenly smiled, turning
to Misty, “We never did finish that sandcastle! How about it? Who’s up for it?”
“Sounds great, let’s do it!”
The rest of the day was spent having fun on the
beach, building the sandcastle, swimming in the ocean… almost as if that
earlier fight hadn’t happened at all…
(Nighttime)
Nighttime soon came, and people were either having
dinner or going to sleep in their rooms. Ash had invited Misty up to his room
to talk. When she arrived and seated herself, Ash sat down and explained the
whole situation to her.
Misty was shocked. Aquamarine had attacked
everyone and knocked them out, including her! Not only that, but he had also
attacked the one she loved with the intentions of killing him! “The nerve of
that guy! How could he?! What is he trying to accomplish?”
“He’s in love with you Misty, unfortunately” said
Ash as he sat down on the bed, “He’s obsessed, and will do just about anything,
even if it means to get rid of the other rivals by killing them all off.”
“Ash, I’m worried” Misty sat next to him and held
onto him, “I’m afraid that… something bad will happen to you!”
“I know…” said Ash, “I am going to fight him,
even though I really don’t want to”
“Then why fight him anyways?!” Asked Misty
“Because if I don’t… he’ll keep coming for me. I
can’t keep running away from him, I have to face him directly” said Ash, “This
isn’t just because he’s also after your hand, but this is also for his sake. He
is so full of rage and hate that he is willing to do anything, no matter how
reckless and stupid it is. The other Super Fiends turned out to be decent, and
this one can’t be all different!” said Ash, “He also said something about
standing up for the greater good, protecting people from the coming doom and
chaos. I don’t know what he meant, but I also have to find out.”
“Ash…”
“I need to know what he means, and I need to
defeat him as well! He may have gotten stronger, but I will defeat him and I
will make him see that you and I are together!” said Ash, turning and holding
both of Misty’s hands, “I don’t want anything else to get between us! I just
want to have some peace… so I can continue my journey, so I can be with you…
because that’s all I really want. I love you”
“Ash… I love you too” Misty leaned forwards and
kissed him. “Ash, I’m not going to interfere with your fight. I won’t tell
anyone about this, but please, promise me you’ll come back safe!”
“I promise” said Ash held her in his arms
They fell asleep that night in each other’s arms.
It wasn’t long before morning came. The day went by all too quickly. Ash spent
the time preparing himself, eating, loading up his weapons and getting ready
for battle, and Misty helped him, to make sure he was relaxed and would be at
full energy at the time of battle. It was near sunset, and Ash and Misty stood
on the beach. Ash stepped on the QuickSilver. Misty kissed him “Go Ash, and
come back safe all right?”
“I will” Ash smiled. It was the kind of smile
that seemed to fill everyone with hope even in the bleakest of situations. As
Ash sped off on the quicksilver towards that island, Misty smiled; she knew
things were going to be all right.
***
(Location- Offshore
“So you’ve arrived Ketchum…” said Aquamarine
“I see you hadn’t run off” said Ash
“This will be the match that determines
everything! Winner takes all! Full fledged Rupture Battle, no rules, no time
limits! Absolutely anything goes!” said Aquamarine
“Just the way I like it!” said Ash.
The two readied themselves, each taking a
fighting stance and holding a pokéball. This was going to be a serious fight,
and not one of them were ready to lose…
Once again it’s Ash vs. Aquamarine in a
full, anything goes Rupture battle! Anything can happen in this fight! Who will
win? Who will give up Misty? And what is the Doom and Chaos that Aquamarine
mentioned? Will they both leave this island alive? Find out next time on
Pokémon: Shadow of the Deceiver!
► TO BE CONTINUED