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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter XLI

Saga IX- Phantombadge Saga

Chapter III- The Dark

Part I- The Battle with Angus

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Tom cracked his knuckles in one palm. “One last badge,” he plotted to 
himself, “and then it’s hello Pokemon League!” He said to himself, boiling 
over with excitement.

Porygon Two sighed by his feet. “A year and a half for this?” it grumbled.

“What’s up with you, Porygon?” Tom asked at Porygon Two’s comment.

Porygon Two shook its head. “Oh, nothing…”

-

Tom threw open the doors of the Double City gym. “Hello?” he called.

His voice echoed all over the dark gym. It was pitch-black inside, with a 
cloud of creepiness inside of it. Tom and Porygon slowly ventured inside, 
and nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard the door slam shut 
behind them. It was so dark with no outside light from the closed door that 
not even Porygon’s special optic systems could navigate through the room.

“Is anyone here?” Tom asked again.

Suddenly, Tom head what sounded like a door opening and closing. Instantly, 
he and Porygon whirled around in the dark and tried to look at their 
entrance. It was still lost in the darkness.

“I’m here,” came a low undertone voice in the dark from behind Tom.

Tom and Porygon turned around at the voice “Where are you?” Tom asked.

“In the dark,” The voice said. “Isn’t it soothing?”

“It’s fucking creepy,” Porygon Two muttered.

“Cowards,” the voice muttered.

Instantly, a small light clicked on. The room was still dark, but now with 
the single small light that hung from the tall ceiling illuminating the 
room, Tom could make out a figure in a dark red shirt sitting on a fold-up 
chair with its back to Tom. The floor was plain concrete and it echoed the 
lean black-haired figure’s footsteps as it rose from the chair.

“Who are you?” Porygon Two asked.

“Who wants to know?” the figure replied calmly, still holding its back to 
Tom and Porygon Two.

“I do,” said Tom.

“And who are you?” the figure asked with a voice like a stone.

“Tom Simms from Yorin Town. I’ve come for your badge.”

The figure turned around to face Tom, revealing the face of a solemn 
teenager, looking no older than nineteen years. “So, you want the 
Phantombadge, do you?” he replied in a grave monotone.

Tom nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

The teenager brushed his long hair with his hand out of his face, and let it 
droop once more so that it covered his eyes completely. “You’ll have to 
battle me for it,” he replied.

“Who is this guy?” Porygon Two asked uneasily.

“Call me Angus,” the teenager said. “Well? Shall we start?”

“Let’s go,” Tom confirmed.

Angus raised his hand, and snapped his fingers in the air. The small light 
on the ceiling multiplied, and many other small lights like it from the 
ceiling lit up, adding more visibility to the room. Tom looked down at the 
concrete, and saw that it was marked like a Pokemon Battlefield. “Well? Get 
to your end?” Angus prompted Tom, folding up the chair and tossing it across 
the sidelines. Tom looked behind him, and saw the Trainer’s box at the other 
end of the field.

After stepping into the painted square, Tom and Porygon Two faced Angus. Tom 
reached to his belt and plucked off a Pokeball. After enlarging it, Tom 
dropped it to the ground and let it pop open. With a flash bursting from the 
Pokeball, Tom summoned Donphan to the battlefield. Donphan grunted, and 
stamped his feet on the ground.

“Go, Haunter,” Angus said gravely, taking a Pokeball from his pocket and 
dropping it on the ground.

The ball sprung open in a quick flash of light, and soon a Haunter was 
hovering above it. “Haunter,” he crooned, rubbing his dismembered ghostly 
hands together.

“Donphan, Rollout!” Tom commanded.

Donphan nodded, and curled up into tight ball and raced towards Haunter.

“Haunter, Psychic!” Angus commanded.

As soon as Donphan neared Haunter, Haunter waved his hands about in front of 
him, and Donphan was instantly cast into a eerie purple aura. There he 
remained motionless, unable to move. When Haunter pointed a spiky finger 
towards the wall of the gym, Donphan flew through the air in the designated 
direction and crashed hard into the wall.

The glow around Donphan faded, and the Pokemon groaned and slumped to the 
ground. “Donphan!” Tom gasped, gazing upon his defeated Pokemon.

Angus crossed his arms. “Give up yet?” he asked in his growling voice.

“No way!” Tom shot back, zapping Donphan back inside his Pokeball.

“Fine then,” Angus muttered, “I’ll give you another loss and then you’ve 
lost.”

“Three on three,” Tom gleamed, “Exactly what I’m best at! Alright then, two 
wins for me and I win!”

“Sure,” Angus muttered, “Send out your next Pokemon.”

Tom tucked Donphan’s Pokeball back onto his belt, and then looked down at 
Porygon Two.

Porygon Two sighed. “Alright, I’ll go,” it said, driving out to the center 
of the field to face the Haunter.

“Haunter, Shadow Ball!” Angus commanded his Pokemon.

“Porygon, Double Team!” Tom ordered.

As the Haunter formed a large black orb of energy in his disembodied hands, 
Porygon Two seemed to multiply into three Porygon Twos that stood beside one 
another.

Angus hummed darkly. “Haunter, let them have it!”

The Haunter nodded and wound back his hand, and then hurled the Shadow Ball 
at the left of the three Porygon Twos. The Shadow Ball zoomed right through 
the Porygon and the Pokemon disappeared. Suddenly, another image of the 
Porygon Two reappeared where the last one stood. The Shadow Ball sped into 
the darkness and created a crashing echo soon thereafter with Tom turning 
his head around to follow it.

“Haunter, destroy it,” Angus commanded, pointing his finger at the middle 
Porygon Two, “Hypnosis!”

Haunter hummed a chuckle and pressed his palms together. Then, he let a rush 
of wild wind blast upon the three Porygon Twos. The outer two Porygon Twos 
faded into nothingness, leaving the center Porygon Two rock backwards from 
the wave. When the blast was over, Porygon Two closed its eyes sleepily.

Tom rubbed his eyes wearily. “Don’t give in, Porygon!” he urged.

But it was too late. Porygon Two had already drifted off to sleep standing 
up. “Haunter, Nightmare!” Angus commanded.

The Haunter gave a sadistic chuckle and rushed towards the sleeping Porygon 
Two. Cloaking his gaseous body around Porygon Two, Haunter gave a relaxing 
sigh. Instantly, Porygon jolted and writhed about. Tom was aghast at the 
scene as Haunter continued to torment Porygon Two.

The seconds melted into hours for Tom, as he watched in horror as Porygon 
toppled to his side and squirmed about in its sleep with Haunter still 
engulfing it. Finally, when Tom had seen enough, he yelled, “Stop it 
already!”

“Mercy is for the weak,” Angus muttered. “Keep at it, Haunter.”

Tom’s blood ran cold. “But-! You’ll- you’ll- kill him!” he protested in 
horror.

“So what?” Angus growled.

Tom’s heart felt like it had shattered into millions of sharp pieces. Lost 
for breath and words, Tom’s brain was screaming at him over Angus’ apathy. 
He stood there, eyes bulged out and jaw dropped wide as he watched the 
Haunter torture Porygon Two.

Suddenly, Tom’s senses came back to him. Standing upright and wearing a 
scowl, Tom plucked an empty Pokeball from his belt and zapped Porygon Two 
back inside.

“What are you doing?” Angus asked in more of a growl than a question.

“Withdrawing my friend,” Tom scowled back.

“You can’t do that,” Angus replied in a deep monotone.

“Just watch me,” Tom snarled, “I forfeit.”

With that, Tom turned on his heel and walked away from the battlefield. 
Using his sense of intuition, Tom found the door in the darkness and left 
the gym.

-

PART II- Firefly of the Night

-

Jen felt an air of overwhelming hated brush past her as Tom angrily stormed 
by her in Double City’s Pokemon center. “Tom?” She asked, “What’s up?”

Tom did not answer, he only dropped his Pokeballs into the Nurse Joy’s hands 
behind the counter and stormed away into another seat on the row of chairs 
on the far side of the Pokecenter’s lobby.

Jen slowly made her way over to Tom and stood by his side. “What’s the 
matter?” she innocently asked.

“Nothing really,” Tom replied sarcastically, “But don’t bother to get a 
badge here.”

“Why not?” Jen asked, sitting down beside Tom.

“The gym leader here is the standard sick fuck,” Tom growled, hunched over 
and staring madly at the floor.

Jen was shaken a bit. “How so?” she asked.

Tom only muttered, “Just trust me on this one. Don’t fight him.”

-

Jen pushed into the Double City Gym doors. “Hello?” She called into the 
darkened gym.

“Who’s there?” answered the grave voice of Angus.

“Um, my name’s Jennifer,” Jen weakly murmured, holding the door open to 
allow a spot of light to shine into the gym, “Why’s it so dark in here?”

“I find it soothing,” Angus replied.

“Um, could you turn on some lights so I can actually see where I’m going?”

Instantly, the hanging ceiling lamp from overhead switched on, leaving Jen 
to shield her eyes from the sudden burst of light, and revealing Angus 
sitting with his back to Jen on the folding chair. “So, you’ve come here to 
battle, have you?” he asked.

Jen nodded. “Yeah,” she weakly said.

“Then I suggest you get to your end of the field,” replied Angus, standing 
up from his chair. Folding it up, he tossed it to the side of the 
battlefield.

“How about a one-on-one?” Jen offered.

“Whatever,” Angus muttered.

“Sure thing!” Jen declared, taking a shrunken Pokeball off of her belt and 
enlarging it. “Come on out, Snorlax!”

Jen tossed the ball onto the middle of the field, and in a brilliant flash 
of light, Jen’s Snorlax sat in the center of the field.

Jen’s Pokeball flew back to her and she caught it in her hands, shrunk it 
back down to its original size, and reattached it to her belt. Angus took a 
maximized Pokeball from his pocket and dropped it on the ground. With 
another flash of light, Angus’ Haunter took the field.

No sooner had Haunter appeared, Angus ordered, “Haunter, Shadow Ball!”

Before Jen or Snorlax could react, Haunter had formed a ball of dark light 
in his hands and hurled it at Snorlax. Snorlax was sent head-over-heels by 
the ball as it smashed into him and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Snorlax 
landed right beside Jen, just so she could kneel by her burly Pokemon’s 
side. “Snorlax, you okay?” Jen asked worriedly. Snorlax grumbled and sat up. 
“Alright then!” Jen exclaimed, “Snorlax, Fire Blast!”

Snorlax took in a deep breath, and leaned towards Haunter as he violently 
exhaled, blowing a burst of fire from his mouth towards Haunter. The Haunter 
simply barrel-rolled in the air to his left, letting the Fire Blast swoosh 
by him. “Haunter,” ordered Angus, “Psychic!” The Haunter obeyed, waved his 
hands about in the air, and Snorlax was suddenly cast into a dark glow. 
Then, with a flick of his fingers, Haunter sent Snorlax smashing into the 
ceiling with his telekinetic powers. And with a simple nod, Haunter sent 
Snorlax crashing to the ground, shaking the floor beneath Jen. Jen was 
nearly sent to the floor by the rumbling ground, but she soon rightened 
herself and exclaimed, “Okay! I give in!”

Angus only snorted. “Haunter, punish him.”

The Haunter nodded and laughed cruelly, and again smashed Snorlax into the 
ceiling. “Please stop already!” Jen insisted in horror.

“Give me one reason why,” Angus replied.

“You- you-!” Jen blurted out, “You’ll kill him!”

Angus snorted again. “Big deal.”

Jen felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart with a blade of ice. She 
stood there with her eyes wide open and jaw dropped, watching in horror as 
the Haunter continued to pummel Snorlax into the floor and ceiling 
repeatedly.

Finally, Jen had seen enough. She quickly reached for Snorlax’s Pokeball and 
zapped Snorlax back inside. “Not you too,” Angus groaned. “And you’re going 
to forfeit as well?”

“You’re fucking right I am!” Jen shrieked in rage, sticking Snorlax’s 
Pokeball back on her belt and storming up to Angus. Angus had no idea what 
the angry and scowling Jennifer had in mind as she approached his and 
stopped in front of his face. Even though Angus was at least six inches 
taller than Jen, she still managed to land a sharp vicious swat to Angus’ 
cheek as if her were her height. Angus was taken by surprise by the blow and 
stepped back on his foot. “Maybe you’d make it a big deal if I killed you!” 
Jen snarled, fiercely backhanding Angus across his other cheek. Angus 
suddenly put his hand in front of Jen’s face. “Please, don’t hit me,” he 
growled.

Jen was livid. “If you don’t get your Goddamn hand out of my face in three 
seconds, I will personally beat you to a bloody pulp,” she replied calmly.

“I could have you arrested,” Angus calmly replied back, still holding Jen 
away by a barrier of his hand.

“I’d get a lawyer and sue your ass off!” Jen shouted back. “Tom was right, 
you are a sick fuck!”

“Tom? You mean that guy I fought earlier with that Porygon Two?”

“Yes him!” Jen shrieked, clenching her fist tightly.

“The guy who cared about his Pokemon…”

She was not sure what it was, but when Angus said that, Jen detected a hint 
of sorrow in Angus’ voice. Jennifer relaxed her fist and slowly removed 
Angus’ hand away from her face. She saw a glimpse of a thin trickle of tears 
roll down Angus’ cheeks before he turned his back to Jen. “Go. Leave,” Angus 
growled with his back turned to Jen. Jen was lost for words, and yet she did 
not want to leave. “I said, leave!” Angus roared.

Jen stood her ground. “Look, I- I’m sorry,” Jen weakly began, “Sorry if I-“

“Just fucking leave,” came the half-sobbing voice of Angus.

When Jen heard slight sniffles coming from Angus, she ventured to his side. 
“I’m very sorry if I’ve done something,” Jen slowly offered.

“What part of ‘leave’ don’t you understand?” Angus growled back at her.

Jen sighed sorrowfully. “Look, I’m sorry I hit you,” Jen said, reaching into 
her purse. When she looked at Angus’s face, she gasped. “You’re bleeding!”

Angus touched his cheek with his finger and rubbed away the thin trail of 
blood on his left cheek. “It’s nothing compared to what else I’ve been 
through.”

Jen took her hand out of her purse with a Kleenex in her hand. “Jesus, I’m 
really sorry,” she said, dabbing the Kleenex on Angus’ cheek.

When she was finished, Angus said, “I bet you want to know too.”

“Know what?” Jen asked.

“It’s just what everyone I fight in Pokemon battles asks me. Why I’m so 
merciless.”

Jen took a venture. “I guess I do…”

Angus sighed. “I’ve been waiting to tell this for quite a long time,” he 
said.

-End (Or is it…?)

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