Warning: This is not standard Pokemon fanfiction. It contains scenes of violence and some inappropriate language. ************************************************************************* Pokemon Master Fanfiction by Ace Sanchez. All parts of this story may be found at http://jsa.users.fl.net.au Note: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyright by Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions. ************************************************************************* Part 4 - Rebellion The moon was free to shine down brilliantly through the cloudless night sky over the Rebel's campsite just east of the Pewter Settlement. The grassy plains were populated with over a dozen large green tents and in the spaces between them, the Rebel Trainers and villagers, alike, walked, discussing the repairs to the small town or the battle that had just taken place several hours ago. The sound of men and women working to rebuild parts of the town to the west was loud and the night's air was cool and clear, a distinct contrast to the screams, heat and smoke of the earlier battle. Inside a tent to the far south-east of the camp, Misty was sitting down, cross-legged, in conversation with Erika, whose side was being tended to by a nurse. Erika's green eyes were flashing at her friend. "You're crazy! What is *Ashura* the forbidden Master doing here?" She winced briefly as the nurse, a young red-haired girl, continued stitching her side with a needle and thread. "Why get involved with him again?" Misty wore a stubborn look on her face, and brushed her long red hair off her shoulders with her hands. "He's helping us against the League. Didn't you see how he drove off those Fire Trainers while we were busy with Blaine and Rapidasher?" "And that's what I'm puzzled about," Erika said with a frown on her face. "Why should he help us? Him especially. Even though he's not exactly chummy with the League any more, last time we saw him he was fighting against us!" Misty looked away and closed her blue eyes. "Hydroxin Waterflower." Erika began to rise, shocked, but then winced again as the young nurse held her firm then began to bandage her side. "You didn't," she said, aghast. Misty looked back at the horrified look on her friend's face. She nodded. "How long has he got then?" "Less than a week." Misty's face was serious. "You're going to let him ..." Her blue eyes watered and she slumped forward with her hands in her face, her strong facade breaking down. "You know I can't do that." Erika gentled her voice to calm her. "Funny. I thought you hated him. Ever since that day. You do know the only thing that will release the toxin from his system don't you?" Misty nodded again. The young nurse finally finished bandaging Erika's side. The Grass Master looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, Joy. Even though you haven't seen ten summers yet, you are just as good as your mother was. You may go now." The young girl smiled back. "Thank you, Mistress Erika. I do my best." She looked at Misty. "Do you need anything Mistress Misty?" Misty lifted her arms, lowering the blue sleeves of her cloak, and showed that the cuts she received on them had already been tended to. "By your leave then," Joy said. And with that, the young nurse stood up and walked out of the tent, her medical bag clutched in one hand. Erika looked back at her friend as she put her favourite red hair-band back in her dark hair. Misty seemed to have recovered herself and now sat, smiling sadly, as she looked through the open tent flaps at Joy's back as she walked among the the other tents. "By the way, thanks for saving my life." Misty nodded absently as she played with a fold of her cloak. "Ditto." Then her eyes narrowed as she turned her head slightly. Erika followed her field of vision. It was Ash's tent. <><><> "So how have ya been Ashy-boy?" Duplica said as she leaned back against a cushion and twirled a long strand of dark blue hair around her little finger. "I haven't seen you since before the Dark Wars." Ash kneeled as he poured her a cup of hot chocolate from a thermos then turned around and handed it to her. "As well as could be expected I suppose." He turned back and went to pour himself a cup. "Pika!" Ash sighed, and poured Pikachu some in his cup. "Now what am I going to drink from?" Ash asked him, exasperated, putting the cup on the floor, where Pikachu could lap from it. "Here, Ashy," Duplica said as she raised her free hand. From her palm a lump formed outwards, then formed into a mug. Not a plain one either, but a white one with a little cute picture of a violet Ditto on it, its amoeba-like body holding a smiley face. Ash looked at it, shrugged, then picked it up from her hand. "Thanks, Duplica." He poured himself some chocolate, then sat back, setting down the thermos, and sipped. He looked her over. She was still wearing the black dress that hugged her slim, curvy form to perfection. When he came to her face, he saw that she noticed his inspection. He smiled unashamedly. "Well you're certainly looking well. That body real?" Duplica huffed good-naturedly. "Of course its real! I can't stay in another different form for *too* long, otherwise I get tired." Then she smiled devilishly at him, her red lips tilting at the corners. "Of course, if you'd rather I looked like this ..." Ash watched, enthralled, as her body seemed to re-mould itself. Then he fell backwards, face turing red as when she was finished, it was Misty who was sitting there in the sexy black dress. On Misty's all too familiar face, she wore a petulant look, ice-blue eyes staring sultrily at him over a pert nose. "Oh, Ashy-boy!" she said in Misty's voice, but voiced low and sexily. She shook her head once, flapping her long red hair loose over her shoulders then licked her lips at him and blinked long dark lashes. "Pi-ka-chu," Pikachu said, amazed. But then the small, black electric mouse lost interest and went back to lapping from up hot chocolate from the cup. Ash's face was still red as he sat back up. "That's not funny. Misty and I aren't together any more." The Misty look-alike got a shocked look on her face. Then it blurred and morphed back into Duplica, who still had the shocked look. "What do you mean? You two were inseparable back then!" "Well, obviously not now. I'd rather not talk about it," Ash said looking down into the bubbles in his drink. Duplica looked sadly at him. Then she smiled, hoping to cheer him up. "Okay, but you know you always have me. I can be the woman of your dreams!" she said, laughing. "You just have to tell me what she looks like." The corner of Ash's mouth tilted ironically and he brushed the black hair that fell in front of his eyes away with a hand. "Well, then you don't have to change at all," he said, joking with her. Then he felt a tugging on his cloak and looked down. "Pika?" Pikachu said, lifting the empty mug up at him. Ash groaned. "You need more already?" He put down his mug and got up on his knees to refill it. Duplica looked at Pikachu and smiled bitter-sweetly. "You and your pokemon remind me so much of me and Ditto." She took a sip out of her mug and shook her head. "I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing." She got a sad look on her face. "He died back in the Dark Wars." Ash finished refilling Pikachu's cup and put it down before Pikachu could lick his finger off accidentally in his haste to have it. "Yes, I noticed that he wasn't with you and that you've gained ... certain powers." Duplica was silent for a moment, reminiscing. "Back then I swore I wouldn't get into any more world events. Just me living peacefully in my house of imite, and hopefully, some day, find a man to settle down with and marry." She crossed her legs in front of her. "Now look at me. Back in the action all over again." Ash sat back down to finish his chocolate. "Yeah, now that you've brought it up, just why are you here? Where are you going?" Duplica seemed to stare in the air blankly as if feeling something that was not physical. "You don't sense the disturbance in the Astral Plane?" She paused, considering. "No of course not, you're not part pokemon like I am." She looked at Pikachu who had just finished his second mug and was now watching them curiously. "I'm betting that your pikachu feels it though." "Feels what?" Ash asked, curiously. "A sense of foreboding. Incoming danger. A wrongness in the air." Ash closed his eyes. "Let me guess. The centre of that feeling is coming from the Cerulean City ruins, right? I feel a slight weight coming from there as well and is one of the reasons I didn't put that much of a fight when Misty forced me on her mission to investigate them." Duplica looked at him hard with her brown eyes. "Yes. The Cerulean City ruins exactly." She seemed to study him. Ash opened his eyes and noticed her looking at him with a serious look on her face. "What is it?" he asked, a puzzled look in his golden brown eyes. "Nothing," she said, still considering him. Ash looked away, unnerved. He skulled the last of his hot chocolate with one quick gulp and placed the mug on the floor of the tent. "Well, perhaps you can join me and Misty on our way there when we leave tomorrow morning." He stood up on his feet, smoothed his long black cloak down, and loosely secured it at the waist to keep the wind from blowing it around too much. "I'm going to go for a walk before I turn in for the night. I'll be back later. Pikachu, you keep Duplica company and guard our things." "Pikachu," Pikachu agreed, and saluted him with one dark paw. Ash nodded at Duplica, then covering his head with his hood, he opened the flaps of the tent and stepped outside into the night. Duplica was silent for a few moments more, thinking, before she picked up Ash's mug and absorbed it back into her hand. She looked at Pikachu. "Looks like it's just me and you, big fella. So what do you wanna do to kill some time?" Pikachu gave her a mousey grin and scampered over to Ash's backpack. After rummaging through it for a second he pulled out a pack of cards and presented them to her. "Chu!" His cobalt blue eyes shined hopefully at her. Duplica put her hand on her forehead and groaned. "Oh no! Not Pokemon cards!" Then she smiled as she took out her own collection. "Do you have a Ditto? I'll trade you a Pikachu for it." <><><> Ash walked among the tents ignoring the frightened looks that villagers and Grass Trainers gave him alike. Maybe he should have went in his civies, he decided, as yet another green clothed man took one look at him and darted behind a nearby tent, making a warding symbol at him with his hands. Slight steam came out of his mouth as he breathed and he noticed that it was getting colder. As he picked his way north to walk out in the open, he sensed someone following him. He turned around and just caught whoever it was slipping behind a tent. He smiled and shook his head. <><><> The girl scolded herself as she crouched behind the tent. He had almost seen her! That guy must have some kind of weird sixth sense or something, she thought. After all, hadn't she been the best in her reconnaissance class? She had made sure she stepped in time with the noises of the camp so that her footsteps wouldn't be heard and stayed back a respectable distance hadn't she? She combed her long black hair back with her fingers and peeked around the corner of the tent. He wasn't there any more. He must have turned towards the forest at the north of the camp. She got up and was about to follow, when a deep voice startled her from behind. "I suppose I should ask why you're following me." She whipped around, her heart beating fast and noticed a shadow that hadn't been there before. It stepped into the light and revealed itself as the man dressed in the black cloak that she had been following. How did he get there so quickly? She thought fast. "Remember me? I'm the girl you saved back in the battle by taking out that Arcanine. I-I just wanted to thank you..." The man threw his hood back finally revealing his full features to her. Her heart got caught in her throat as his golden brown eyes regarded her over a fine featured, handsome young man's face. His longish black hair was ruffled by his hood and stuck out a bit on his head giving him a cute look. She hadn't expected him to be so young. Anyone that was that powerful and with that deep voice she would have expected to be older, not this man who only seemed to be in his early twenties or even his late teens. "Oh is that all," the man said, smiling at her. Her stomach turned flip-flops at that smile. "In that case, you're welcome. I don't think we got properly introduced in the battle, so ..." He held out his hand. "I'm Ashura. But you can call me Ash." The girl returned his smile gratefully. She took his hand and shook it, noting his strong, rough grip. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Laselle, but you can also call me Lass - but only if you want to die young." She let out a light laugh as she dropped her hand from his, suddenly shy. "So where were you going?" Ash smoothed away a strand of hair that fell down to cover his right eye with the fingers of his right hand. "Just for a walk. Sometimes I get the feeling that I have to be by myself just to think. Not even with my pokemon with me." He noticed her sudden sad look. "Oh sorry, to remind you about your Bulbasaur. I've really put my foot in it haven't I?" She sniffed. "That's okay. At least you avenged it for me." "Well I'm sure you'll get another pokemon soon and train it to be very powerful." He turned to go, lifting the black hood over his head to cloak his face in shadows again. "Well I better go now." "Do you think I could walk with you?" Laselle asked hopefully. He turned around and seemed to think about it. Then he shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" He waved her over to his side, "C'mon young-un." Laselle made a face at him as she went over by his side before they began to walk off between the tents again to the north. "I bet I'm not that much younger than you. I'm fifteen after all." "Wow. That's mighty old," came his amused voice from next to her. "Well aren't you going to tell me?" she asked, exasperated. "Tell you what?" he asked, obviously playing dumb. "How old you are, silly!" "Oh ..." he said as if he just realised what she was fishing for. "I'm twenty-one." Then in a different tone of voice, "Going on one hundred, it seems." She sensed his sadness about something, but she didn't say anything realising that he needed the quiet. They walked for a while in companionable silence until they reached the outskirts of the camp. Another man noticed Ash and walked quickly away. "Why are they afraid of you?" she asked, curiously. "You're on our side right?" His black-cloaked shoulders shrugged. "Maybe it's because they realise that maybe, just maybe, some of the old legends are true. The legends that their parents scared them with as they went to sleep." "Old legends?" Ash stopped walking and it took Laselle two steps before she realised it and turned to look at him. His eyes abruptly flared golden, lighting the shadows within his hood, and startling her. He suddenly looked very sinister and she couldn't help but feel a sliver of fear enter her throat. "The legends of the forbidden elements." Even his voice sounded sinister. "The Light." He paused. "And the Shadow." She took a step backwards, afraid. Then the golden light in his eyes winked out, and he laughed. "Just kidding!" he said taking a step forward. "Hey, argh." He tripped over a tent peg and fell flat on his face in front of her. Laselle burst out in laughter. "Ha ha ha! You deserved that, Ash, for scaring me like that." She watched enthralled as Ash lifted himself up with his hands and did a hand-stand, then flipped over forwards to land on his booted feet gracefully. "Yes, I suppose I did," he said meekly. "But you should have seen your expression." "Oh, you." Still, that had been pretty convincing. Perhaps there had been some truth to what the other trainers were saying. Maybe he really *had* been once the Champion of the Pokemon League of all things. Then she shrugged it off as rubbish-nonsense. He seemed too nice. Then a screaming came from one of the larger tents in front of them. Ash turned his head, then darted off. Laselle gasped and followed as best she could. That guy could run like the wind, she thought, as he reached the tent quite a ways before her and darted inside. When she caught up and slipped inside the large tent, she saw that this was where they kept the League prisoners. There were just under half a dozen of them inside and they were all tied up, back to back and sitting on the floor. However, one of them, an older Fire Trainer, was laying by himself on the floor on his back. He looked to be terribly beaten, bruises and cuts all over his face as well as tears on his clothing, indicating that his body had also not been spared any punishment. "What is the meaning of this?" a tall gruff man dressed in a maroon, muscle shirt and trousers said. And he sure was dressed appropriately as his chest and arms seemed to bulge with strength. On his thick fists he was wearing a wicked looking pair of brass knuckles. The Power Trainers must have just arrived, Laselle thought. Ash stood before him in his black cloak, but had removed his hood. "Perhaps I should ask the same of you," he said, pointing at the beaten up prisoner with one hand. "Those orders came from Master Bruno himself," the Power Trainer said. "I was to interrogate these League scum by any method I deemed fit to find out just what is happening over at the Cerulean ruins." "Any method you deemed fit? A nice way of saying torture?" Ash said in a low dangerous voice. "I may seem cruel to you, dealing out death and destruction as easy as that, but at least the men and women I fight have the honour of being in a battle. Torture on a captured prisoner is intolerable." He narrowed his eyes, and for once, Laselle was not scared when they began to glow golden. "I see Bruno has not changed a bit, even being an ex-league member." Suddenly a deep growling voice from behind them, startled her. "ASHURA! I heard you were here." Laselle turned around to see a massively muscled man, at least more than half a foot taller than Ash who was already quite tall at six feet, enter the tent. He was dressed in a maroon hooded cloak, the type Pokemon Master's wore, full-bodied and reaching to his ankles, but loose-fitting so that it could float with the wind. Just like Ash's. The only thing that differed from the norm was that the sleeves had been cut short close to the shoulders to show off the man's thick, corded arm muscles. His hood was removed revealing brown hair worn in spikes and a rugged face that could have been handsome were it not for the signs of strain and the perpetual look of anger on his face. Laselle stepped backwards, away from him. She had always been a little afraid of Bruno, the Master of Power. Ash frowned at him. "One reason to dislike the grape-vine I think." "Don't give me your smart-ass shit, Ash, because I still owe you one, the last time we fought! I challenge you to a Circle of Masters. No pokemon, so you can use that blasted, level infinity Pikachu, just us two. Hand to hand combat." He smirked, showing a white-toothed smile and turned around to leave the tent. "You're just lucky that Erika convinced me that we have nothing to fear from you, and that we just may need you, otherwise you'd be dead already." He closed the flap of the tent, ripping it in half from his anger. "I'll be waiting for you outside." For a moment there was silence in the tent. Then the Power Trainer laughed as he studied Ash's slim, athletic physique, no match to the Master of Power's immense strength in his opinion. "Sorry, Lass, but looks like your new boyfriend here isn't going to be so pretty any more, come later tonight." Then he kneeled down and lifted his fist. "Now old man, are you going to tell us all you know? ... No? Well then, here's another - hey what are you doing?" he asked as Ash roughly pulled him up by the neck then lifted him high in the air, off his feet, with one hand. No mean feat since the Power Trainer was taller than Ash. Even the trainer was surprised, his eyes wide. "I said, no more torture," Ash said calmly. Then he quickly jerked his right arm inwards and gave him a massive head-butt with a loud crack, then threw the unconscious man through the wall of the tent like excess garbage, with a loud rip as the green canvas tore. The body rolled about a dozen meters in the grass before it was stopped by a tree. The old League Trainer on the floor said softly, "I was going to tell him not to underestimate you. One with the forbidden power should not be underestimated. I don't know why I'm saying this, Shadow Master, but I feel I should tell you the little I know." He coughed. "Master Blaine said that our mission was to flush this area free of any, or most, human settlement and to prevent any Rebel Force from approaching the ruins of Cerulean City. I also heard Blaine receive orders from the League Master himself and that 'the day' was coming in less than a week. I don't know what they meant by that though." Ash frowned deeply as he listened to what he was saying. "That is dire news indeed, old man," he said, wiping the hand he had used to hold the Power Trainer's neck with a tissue. "Thank you deeply for telling me this." He looked over at one of the unconscious women Fire Trainers. "And take care of Belle. All of these events that have happened have reminded me why I swore to keep out of Rebellion and League business, but it seems trouble always seems to find me when it comes looking." He looked at Laselle, his light brown eyes serious. "Maybe you'll want to head off to your tent for the night? What you'll see outside will probably just be more senseless violence with that jerk trying to shove his superiority down my throat." Laselle looked at him with wide eyes. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world. You're so cool!" Then she frowned. "Wait. Shadow Master? Forbidden elements? You mean what you were saying out there was *true*?" she said, aghast. He smiled unashamedly at her then blew that pesky strand of hair that always fell in his eyes away with an upturned lip and a gust of breath. "What can I say? I'm not a very good liar. Mostly." <><><> Joy excitedly ran into Erika and Misty's tent. "Mistress Erika! Mistress Misty! Come quick! It's an emergency!" Erika quickly stood up and summoned her green cloak over herself in a flash of energy. "What is it? Has someone got hurt? Are we under attack?" "No, Master Bruno and Master Ash are going to fight in a Circle of Masters! Hand to hand combat - no pokemon!" "Oh," Erika said. "I was sort of expecting that anyway. Silly me." Misty sighed. "Boys will be boys. C'mon, let's go see Ash win." Erika looked at her as she covered her head with the hood of her cloak. "What do you mean? Aren't we talking about Master Bruno here? The Master of Power? Ex-member of the Elite Four? That big ridiculously muscle-bound, six feet-six or so guy? That Bruno?" "Yes, but I've seen Ash fight. Ash will win. That Pikachu isn't his only strength." Misty walked outside the tent, covering her own head with her hood. "Care to bet on it?" Erika followed her. "You're on!" she said confidently. "What's the forfeit?" <><><> Laselle looked on, breathless, as a circle of stones, about two-dozen feet in diameter, was placed on the grassy field next to the camp. Then a Grass Trainer and a Power Trainer stepped around the circle placing lighted torches on each stone. The ring was part of the duel between Pokemon Masters. The main rule of the match was that if one were to walk outside that ring of stones and fire, or was thrown out, then that one was the loser. The combatant who was still conscious or inside the ring was the winner. What was extraordinary about this 'Circle of Masters' though, was that it wouldn't be pokemon fighting, but the Masters themselves. However rare, such battles were allowed in the rules. And Bruno had called for just such a match. A literal Match of Masters. As word got around the Rebel camp of the duel, groups of villagers and trainers began gathering around the edges of the circle, ready to watch the oncoming battle. Although there was many of them, the crowd was silent as they knew the ritual importance of such a duel. Inside the circle, on opposite ends, Ash and Bruno stood silently staring at each other, their cloaks being blown to the side by a slight wind. There was an air of tension to the air that was almost physical as the two men waited. The two of them were highlighted by a harsh glow from the flaming torches surrounding them, which flickered, dancing their shadows around. The moon's glow only added to the atmosphere of the night. Finally, Mistress Erika and Misty arrived and assumed their positions outside the circle, one at each end with Misty on Ash's right side while Erika stood at Bruno's. "Pika, pika," a cute voice said interrupting the relative silence. Laselle turned her head and saw that Ash's night-black pikachu had arrived along with that strange woman with dark blue hair worn loose, who could somehow change her shape. She also saw that she was still wearing that scandalous black dress that all the other girls in the camp had said was *too* daring. What was really weird, though, was that the woman was not shivering at all in the cold night air, where people's breaths would turn to steam as soon as they touched it, even though the dress showed so much skin. "Yeah I know, Pikachu, Bruno is going to be like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest," was all the woman said as she settled down to watch the fight. Finally, Erika and Misty raised their right arms in the air, then brought it down in a quick jerking movement. "Begin," they both said simultaneously, their voices formal and serious. "He who flees the circle or lies unconscious shall forfeit." Ash and Bruno both rose their arms into the sky and a glow began to surround each of them. In Ash's case it was a dark, blue-black glow, which surrounded him, distorting his features. When it cleared, Laselle saw that his black cloak and boots had been removed, leaving him barefoot and with loose-fitting, long and baggy black trousers that was worn underneath the mantle as well as a slight black shirt, cut short at the sleeves close to his shoulders, and hugging his athletic but muscular form. He lowered his raised, bare arms, then lifted his hands to the ready. She saw that he was now wearing a pair of dark, fingerless fighting gloves. His fine black hair which was worn in a slightly longer than average length was tussled by the cold wind and his eyes began to glow golden in the night like points of shifting burnished gold. Respectively, it was a maroon glow which surrounded Bruno's huge six-feet-six frame and when it cleared, it left the huge man's truly muscular form for all to see. He wore long maroon trousers but no shirt, leaving his huge smooth chest bare. His arms looked like tree-trunks, brown and scarred, and as thick as could be, which he lifted to the ready, opening and closing his huge bare hands in anticipation. He was the most muscular man Laselle had ever seen. But those types of bodies sickened her. She much preferred the athletic looking, but muscular type, like Ash was. Bruno was also barefoot revealing large, square feet, again, not at all like Ash's which looked small and even kind of cute. Bruno's hair did not move at all in the wind as it was in a hardened, spiky style, which probably used too much hair-spray, Laselle guessed. His eyes began to glow too, but a dark red colour, the colour of rust. The two of them inched closer to one another so that it was now only half a dozen feet separating them. They slowly stepped sideways around each other, circling slowly. Adjacent to each other, the true contrast in their sizes was obviously apparent. Ash's head only reached up to Bruno's chin and his body seemed only half the width of Bruno's ridiculously muscled torso. Then it was Bruno who struck first. It was faster than the eye could see. But Laselle had quicker eyes than average and she discerned it as a feint for the true strike, which was a blow with his right fist the size of a small boulder aimed directly at Ash's middle. However, she didn't even see Ash move, he was so quick. One moment he was in front of Bruno, the next he had somehow twisted around his back and had grasped the giant man's shoulder with both hands. Then in an overhead swing which looked impossible for a man of Ash's size, he threw Bruno over on to the ground, face first. Then he did a backward hand-flip away and resumed position. Bruno flipped on to his feet, and spat out some grass. "That was a good move," he acknowledged. "But it will take stronger hits than that to take me down." Ash turned sideways and beckoned him with his gloved hand held to the ready. "That was just a test to see how much you weighed, Master of Power." "Arrogant aren't we? You want to throw me out of the ring rather than render me unconscious." Bruno said, hopping lightly over to close in the distance, his head and fists moving in quick jerking movements. "I'll admit that's your best chance. I have never been KO'd before." "Well I don't want to chance causing you an injury," Ash said as he stepped lightly sideways, gracefully and smooth as if in a dance. Bruno fists began to glow a dark red colour. "Well I don't have any recriminations about doing so!" he shouted as he swiped at him, causing the energy on his hands to flare. Surprisingly Ash blocked the powerful strike rather than dodge it. Immediately Bruno began to hammer at him faster, with complicated, but immensely powerful, hand and arm movements. But Ash blocked those too, almost lazily, using his forearms and elbows to parry, moving so fast that they were blurring as red sparks flew and crackled at each contact of their arms. Then Ash suddenly stopped parrying the hits and twisted inside Bruno's circle of offence, striking him in the stomach with an open handed palm blow with his left hand. Blood flew out of Bruno's mouth at the powerful blow as Ash continued the sequence with a right handed palm blow to the face, then a roundhouse spinning double-kick, first with the heel of left foot striking Bruno's feet from under him, then a rotating kick with his right heel catching him in the chest this time, launching the huge man into the air. As Bruno took to the air, spinning around in a half twist, Ash flared with a glow of blue-black energy for an instant, then completed the combo with a rising, spinning punch which hammered Bruno over a dozen feet away backwards and was just enough to knock him out of the Circle of Masters. The crowd moved as Bruno landed on the grassy ground with a loud thump, bounced once, then continued rolling until a small boulder stopped his movement. A young nurse with red hair ran over to the still body and examined him. "He's unconscious!" she shouted. Erika and Misty jerked their arms up and down in one quick movement. The fight was over. Normally there would have been a crowd cheering at the victor, but it was silent, the only sound being the noises of people breathing and the slight wind which ruffled people's clothes. "Sorry," Ash said, blowing the hair out of his eyes. "I didn't mean to knock him out." <><><> Ash wasn't even breathing hard when Misty walked over to him within the circle to ask him if he was alright. "I'm okay," he responded as he rubbed his sore arms. Then he looked at her and combed his fingers though his hair. "I'm sorry about this duel, but he challenged me and no Master can refuse the challenge." Misty smiled, looking back at the annoyed looking Erika for a brief moment. "That's okay, thanks to you I profited a little." He looked curious at that, but then his expression changed to utter seriousness. "Misty, before this senseless display of violence, I just acquired some information that might be important from one of the League Fire Trainers." "Indeed?" She looked at him with her blue eyes. "Well I'll call a midnight meeting as soon as Bruno regains consciousness. I was going to call one anyway because we need to decide what to do from here on tomorrow." <><><> It had just struck midnight around the large campfire when the meeting of Masters took place. In a four pointed circle, with the fire in the centre, the Masters sat, cross-legged with Ash and Misty at opposite ends, while on the corresponding sides, sat Erika and Bruno. "This better be good, Ashura," Bruno growled as he adjusted the ice-pack on his head. He also had some white bandages wrapped around his chest which were visible underneath his cloak. "Just because you've beaten me, it doesn't mean I'm going to let off on your back." However, Ash could sense a new feeling of respect towards him that hadn't been there before the fight. Ash warmed his hands over the fire. "I'm aware of that, Master Bruno," he said dryly. He was about to speak out his news when he sensed something. He looked behind himself into the trees towards the camp. "Wait," he cautioned. "Someone's coming." A short while later, a shadow walked into the light given off by the campfire. It was Duplica. "Oh, Ashy," she called. "So this is where you people got off to ..." Erika frowned, her green eyes reflecting the light of the fire. "This is a strict meeting for Masters only." Duplica stopped by Ash's side and blinked. She waved her hand over her body and violet glow surrounded her black dress and skirt for a few moments before it blurred and extended to cover her whole form loosely over her body. When she was finished, she was also dressed in a long cloak, but this one violet in colour. "Well aren't I the Change Master?" Duplica asked. Bruno folded his muscled arms and studied her. His eyes glowed darkly. A second later, he motioned her to sit down. "She speaks the truth." Duplica stuck her tongue out at Erika, much to the Grass Master's annoyance, and sat down next to Ash. This time Misty frowned at her. "I felt I had better listen to what Ashy has to say too," Duplica said, ignoring Misty's disapproving look, as she crossed her legs and settled the folds of her violet cloak over them. Ash then proceeded to tell them what he had learned. "It seems the League is clearing away all the human population around the Cerulean ruins," he said. "They've probably sent squads of Trainers and pokemon to each settlement around that area, just like this one, to kill everyone off." Misty was shocked. "But that's inhuman. What reasons have the League got for doing such a thing? There's hundreds living around that area!" Bruno thought about it. "One reason is probably to keep any curious people away. Another may be that they need the supplies for their trainers and pokemon, for whatever project they may be working on over there." "And another may be that they just enjoy it," Erika said darkly. Duplica looked on, thoughtful. "Go on, Ashy. I can tell you have some other things to say." "Well aside from being ordered to do that and drive off any Rebel interference, my source also said that he overheard the League Master himself. Something about 'the day' that should be coming within a week or so. He didn't know what he meant by that, though." "Sounds ominous," Bruno said. "It looks like there's a time limit we're working with then. This 'day' thing seems like it would be a very bad thing to happen." "I wonder what Lord Garick has in mind, and just what the Cerulean City ruins have to do with this," Erika thought aloud. Ash narrowed his eyes and stared hard at Erika over the flames of the fire. "Gary is dead," he said flatly. "The title of League Master should have passed down to Lance, the Dragon Master, and second in command." Bruno, Misty and Erika looked over at him puzzled. "What do you mean? 'Gary' is still the League Master," Erika said. "He is still very much alive." Ash stood up, startling Duplica who had been silently thinking. "But that's impossible," he growled. "I killed Gary myself. I sent him a one-way ticket to the Astral Plane with the point of my sword." Ash could distinctly remember that day. It seemed it had been filled with the blood that he had spilled. It was also the day he had left the League for good. Aside from dismembering the League Master through the middle and removing his limbs, he had also been forced to kill many League Trainers on his flight from the Palace of the Elite Four. It was not a day he liked to recall. Misty frowned. "If that were true, and no doubt it is, then Lord Garick somehow has the power to recover himself." "But only psychic pokemon have that power," Erika pointed out. "Us Pokemon Masters may have extraordinary powers, but that is due to a fine attuning with the sense of our life-born element and the bond we share with our pokemon. The recovery ability is an ability that is out of reach to us even if we were *Psyche Masters*, like that damn Sabrina, let alone the power of magnitude that must be needed to recover from the *dead*. We're talking about resurrection here. Just how is that possible?" Duplica suddenly spoke up, breaking her own silence. "We don't know *how* it's possible, just that we *know* it's possible." She looked up at Ash. "Ashy, please sit down before I go on." He looked at her and nodded, sitting down and crossing his legs underneath him before smoothing his cloak over his thighs. "Now then, like I've already told Ashy here, the reason I'm here is that I sensed a disturbance in yes, the Astral Plane. And surprise, the centre of that disturbance is at the Cerulean ruins. Now an interesting, but hardly known fact to note is that, at that point in the world exists one of the stronger links to 'the Plane of the Dead' or as it is commonly known as by some people, 'Hell' or 'the Spirit's Walk' due to its almost perfect position to the north-west of the old Pokemon Tower. I'm guessing that the other two points that correspond to the tower, at Cinnabar Island and the Palace of the Elite Four, have also been deluged by League activity. Of course, we'd never know it since those two places are heavily under control by the League anyway. Heck, Lord Garick lives in the Palace of the Elite Four." "So the League is interested in the spirit world, somehow," Bruno stated. "But why is that?" "That's a thing I don't know," Duplica said, shrugging her shoulders. Misty spoke up. "It's obviously something to do with coming into contact with the other side, somehow. But how that would help them, your guesses would be as good as mine." Ash closed his eyes, feeling a sliver of fear enter his stomach for the first time in over five years. He opened them and stared into the crackling hot fire, desperately trying not to show anything outwards on his face or eyes that might reveal he knew something. Something dreadful. "This is all fine and good," he said. "But we now know our top priority. And that is to head off to the Cerulean ruins as fast as possible and stop whatever the League is planning before time runs out." "What about helping the settlements that are sure to be under attack by the League?" Erika asked. "We can't just leave people to be murdered like that." Ash thought that if they didn't stop whatever it was the League Master was most probably planning - he still didn't *really* believe it was Gary - then the whole *world* would be murdered, not just the people living in the settlements around Cerulean. "Then we'll split up," he said. "Erika and Bruno, and their forces of Trainers can take the old Diglett's cave south of here, to end up by the ruins of Vermillian City. From there, they have the best position and the numbers to protect the settlements. Meanwhile, me, Misty and Duplica can head through east of here through the old haunted Mount Moon, and go directly to Cerulean. Misty because ... well, she has me on a leash so to speak, while Duplica has some knowledge about the Astral Plane that I'm sure we'd need." Bruno looked at Misty and then frowned at him. "I still don't trust you, Ashura. You may be strong, but you do have a reputation. Damn it, you've even fought against us a number of times while you were still in the League. Here's what we'll do. I'll send a Venemoth to carry a message for Koga and his sister, Aya, to meet Erika at Vermillion, as well as bring his Poison Trainers. That means I'll be able to bring a couple of my men and go with you." Ash looked at him and considered. "That's fine with me, as long as your men don't slow us down." Erika huffed, exasperated. "You mean no one wants to go with me? Fine, hurt my feelings why don't you!" she said, tightly. Misty laughed at her friend. "Look at it this way, at least you'll get to have the time of your life kicking League butt with Koga and his sister." "True, true," Erika said, feeling better already as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation. "What about Brock?" Ash asked, suddenly curious about the rock trainer that had been his best friend in the past. Everyone fell into silence. Misty looked at him, her blue eyes suddenly beginning to moisten for some strange reason. "You mean you don't know that either?" "Know what?" He looked dumbfounded as all pairs of eyes focused on him, save for Duplica who didn't know either. "Brock was killed. In a battle with the League." Ash clenched his fist and looked at it hard. "Who killed him?" he whispered. Bruno said flatly, "It was apparently Master Garick himself. That is how we know he is still alive. We saw him struck down before our very eyes before we had to retreat." His voice cracked, showing a sign that he had cared for the Rock Master as well. "It was the battle of Celadon City." Misty got up and walked over to Ash and put her hand on his shoulder, but Ash did not notice. He was dead to the world. Then he looked up, his eyes glowing so golden that even the other Masters were afraid of him at that moment. "If Gary is still alive, then when I meet up with him, he will be worse than dead. He won't even have a spirit to return to the Astral Plane when I am through with that bastard." <><><> By morning, with the sun shining brightly overhead but with a cloudy sky, the camp had packed and Ash, Pikachu and the others had already said their goodbyes to Erika and the other Rebel Trainers. Laselle had given Ash a tearful goodbye kiss on the cheek which got him a red face and a dirty look from Misty. Bruno's two men had been introduced to them. One was Gambit, an older man, but one who had certainly not lost any strength with his age. He reminded Ash of that old Christmas legend, Santa Claus, complete with white hair and beard, but with muscles instead of fat. On his face he wore a pair of circular sun-glasses and covering his large body was a long maroon coat. The other Trainer to come with them was, strangely, a young boy who was not at all muscular, but was instead, slight and kind of short. He was wearing a maroon cap, with jeans and a maroon vest over a white shirt. In fact, he kind of reminded Ash of himself at that age, although Ash was sure he had been taller. The boy's name was Junior. Ash, with Pikachu riding inside the backpack he wore, as well as Misty, Duplica, Bruno and his men all stood on the grassy plains just east of where the camp had been. In front of them stretched out long green hills and grass as far as the eye could see, with old Mount Moon on the horizon. "Seeing as how we have all these plains free from trees and so," Misty said, "Let's take a more efficient method of transport." She detached what looked like a star-shaped black badge, with a red jewel in the centre, from her cloak, that Ash hadn't noticed before. Then she spun around one rotation, her blue cloak flapping around, and threw the badge out on the ground in front of her. "Misty chooses Starmos!" The 'badge' grew in size, flat across the ground, till it was about six feet in diameter, and when it had finished, it had formed into what looked like a starmie except its skin was a glossy black, aside from the large red jewel in its centre, and that its ten pointed limbs seemed razor sharp. Starmos then began to hover a foot above the grassy ground. "Let's surf!" Misty said as she hopped on to the star pokemon and then flew it over to Ash as if it were a hover board. "C'mon, Ash, you can ride with me. Just mind the points, they're very sharp." Ash looked down at it. Starmos seemed to be the evolved form of Starmie. He had never seen one before. He was tempted to take out his old pokedex out of his pack and record it. Then he shrugged. He could do that later. He leapt on to it, behind Misty. But he almost lost balance when she was about to surf forward. She stopped and chided him. "You're supposed to hold on my sides," she said, "As I'm the only one who has balance here." "Pika, pika!" Pikachu also chattered at him from his backpack, exasperated. He had been scared of the near fall also. Ash was heavy. Ash's heart got stuck in his throat as he reluctantly grasped the sides of her small waist. Through her cloak, her body was still as soft and firm at the same time, just as in the past. Time passed since then, but it seems she hadn't changed much. The memories assaulted him. Then he forced them away. At least Misty's backpack was keeping his front out of contact with her back. Gambit and Junior, promptly threw out their poke-balls, a Ponyta emerging from each one of them in twin flashes of red light. It looked like they had scored some from the left-over pokemon that belonged to the Fire Trainers back at Pewter, Ash thought. Bruno, however, had an embarrassed look on his face. "Uh, I have nothing to ride. I forgot to get a pokemon that was rideable back at the camp." Duplica laughed at him. "Don't worry Bruny-baby, if you want you can *ride* me!" Junior laughed out loud, while Gambit, hid his a smile on his bearded face with a hand. Bruno's face turned even redder if that were possible as Duplica fell down on her hand and knees in front of him. Then her shape shifted into a large Rapidash, the final evolved form of the ponyta fire horse, its hair of fire burning brightly in the air. Ash noted that the form Duplica had shifted into seemed much larger than an average pokemon of its type. In fact it was none other than Rapidasher itself, the Master Pokemon of fire that she had defeated yesterday. Misty elbowed him in the stomach and he expelled a breath. "I can sense *you* want to ride her, but you'll just have to be content with *me*, Ashura Ketchum," she hissed. "But she looks so rideable," Ash said jokingly, infuriating her. Meanwhile, Bruno reluctantly tried to get on her back, but Duplica-Rapidash danced away, making him fall flat on his face. Then she turned around and neighed a horse laugh at him as Bruno got up on his knees, his face burning red, but in annoyance this time. He feinted to the left, causing Duplica-Rapidash to dart to the right, but then he leaped into the air, turning a somersault and managed to land on her back. "Ha! Enough silliness, Duplica, please. We have no time to waste." That ended the joyful playing and the five of them sped off across the grassy plains and hills towards the Mountain of Moon, Misty in the lead with Ash hanging on to her waist for dear life, while Bruno did likewise to Duplica's mane of fire. In the rear, Junior and Gambit rode, their Ponytas galloping along keeping up the pace easily. It had seemed that despite the Fire Trainer's faults, they trained their pokemon quite well. As they flew along, the wind speeding past them, Ash turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of Misty's hair. Pikachu laughed at him. <><><> By afternoon they had reached the light forest at the base of Mount Moon, and just in time as the fine weather had taken a turn for the worse and the dark grey clouds overhead had already started to trickle down some rain. Thankfully the cover of the forest trees overhead calmed the ponytas that Junior and Gambit were riding somewhat, as they trotted along. Ash and Misty stayed in the lead with the hoods of their cloaks thrown back, as they continued east, both of them hovering along slowly atop her star pokemon, while Bruno, still riding Duplica-Rapidash, and his men brought up the rear. A drop of rain managed to fall down though the cover of the trees and fall down on Duplica's back. It hissed, and she neighed in pain. She looked up at the sky, red eyes annoyed. "Don't worry, looks like we're almost at the entrance at the base of the mountain," Misty said, concentrating as she controlled her pokemon like a hover-board over the forest debris scattered along the ground. As they advanced, Ash began to sense a number of people coming from the south of the forest and heading directly towards them. "Ssh!" he whispered, tightening his grip upon Misty's waist. "People are coming ... and also some pokemon." He concentrated. "They seem to be having a battle." Bruno looked around for cover. "There," he pointed at a large stone boulder at the base of a grove of bushes. "Behind that. We'll see if they are friend or foe before getting involved. If we even choose to get involved that is. We have to remember that our priority is the mission, first and foremost." "Agreed," Misty said softly. She guided Starmos over to the boulder, with Ash still riding along behind her, while Duplica suddenly morphed back into a woman, wearing her violet Master's cloak, surprising the hell out of Bruno as he had still been riding her. "Mind letting go of me?" Duplica motioned to Bruno's hands, which were grasped on to the sides of her chest and just touching the base of her breasts. "Oh, sorry," Bruno said, red-faced. When they were all hiding behind the boulder, with Misty and Ash still hovering upon her pokemon so that they could peek over the top of the boulder, it wasn't long before four men, dressed in clothes with the 'L' of the League emblem emblazoned on them, came running out of the trees, breathing hard. Then they suddenly stopped in the clearing to catch their breath. "They got Pokemaniac," one of the men said, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He had short blonde hair and was wearing blue clothing, but otherwise looked like a typical League grunt. "Do you think we lost them?" another one asked, looking behind them into the forest as if searching for something. Surprisingly, he looked familiar to Ash and Misty who were silently watching. He had brown hair and was wearing a cheap, tattered looking cloak that matched his hair in colour. "I hope so, otherwise they'll get us next!" the third man said. He also had brown hair but looked younger than the others, perhaps about seventeen. There was also something familiar about him. The last was a man dressed in a ridiculous looking samurai outfit, complete with black helmet and yellow fins attached to its front and dark blue armour. At his belt, he wore a poke-ball and a long sword in a sheathe, while on his feet, he wore a pair of wooden thongs. He reminded Ash of that boy he met more than a decade ago, when he had just started his journey, who had been dressed up in a similar outfit. The samurai man remained silent, alert, as he too watched the forest behind them. For a seemingly long moment the four of men studied the trees and bushes for any signs of life. Then the blonde grunt sighed in relief. "I think we lost them." How wrong they were. Suddenly a flash of silver blinked from the high branches of a tree and a knife was sticking out of the blonde grunt's shoulder. He screamed and fell over on to his side, clutching the hilt of the small dagger. "Prepare for annihilation!" a feminine voice shouted from up above. From the upper canopy of the trees a slim woman dressed all in black, with baggy trousers and a tight short-sleeved tank-top open at the mid-riff, somersaulted down into the centre of the group of men. Her head was covered by a ninja's tight hood, face hidden by a dark veil, only showing her frosty blue eyes. Through an opening at the back of her head, her hair was worn in a long, single red ponytail which streamed along like a ribbon of silk. Her athletic figure spun into a frenzy of martial arts moves, a spin kick knocking away the younger man, then a rising splits kick which caught the brown-cloaked man on the chin sending him flying backwards into a tree. "You bitch!" the samurai said as he unsheathed his long katana and charged her. But from behind him, a shadow emerged from the bushes. "And make that double!" It was another figure dressed all in black, with matching baggy trousers and tight shirt showing off a lightly muscled chest. On his head, he also wore a ninja's hood, the only features showing were his emerald green eyes. The ninja dived forwards in a somersault roll, then rose upwards in flying kick, catching the swordsman in the back and sending him colliding into another tree. However, the tattered brown-cloaked man sat up and recovered, shaking his head. He removed a poke-ball from his belt. "You are no match for the Farfetch'd Master! Go Farfetch'd! Sword's dance!" From the ball emerged a brown goofy looking bird pokemon holding what looked like a stick of celery for a weapon. "Far!" it squawked as it began to flap forward and attack the ninja man with it. Then a loud cat's growl came out from behind a tree and a large panther-like, white cat with a red jewel in its forehead and black rounded ears with sharp whiskers leaped out and caught the unfortunate bird pokemon in its sharp teeth. "Pers-ian! Dinner!" it growled as it began to chew and crunch the bird pokemon in its powerful jaws. Then chaos emerged as a Ponyta exploded from the west, bucking wildly, and creating confusion in the battle. On its back rode a young, dark-haired girl dressed in a light green cloak. She was screaming in fright, obviously having lost control of her horse. Ash recognised her. "Laselle!" he called out in alarm over the boulder. What was she doing here? He let go of Misty and leaped into the air over the stone, turning a somersault, cloak whipping around, and throwing Pikachu in the air as he did so. "Pikachu! Shadow Blade!" As he landed, Pikachu complied, morphing into the long black katana that seemed to absorb light. Ash caught it in one hand, spun it in a full circle once, then continued to sprint towards the battle. "Ash!" Misty shouted, as she directed Starmos to follow, flying in the air after him. The younger, brown-haired man saw the black-cloaked man running at them with a wicked looking sword and panicked. He ripped out a poke-ball from his belt and threw it. "Eeverion! Antipode attack! Stop that guy! Please!" From the red ball emerged what looked like an Eevee, a small fox-like, rabbit creature, except it had flame red ears, long yellow spines across its back and a blue fish-fin tail. "Eev!" it growled as it shot a red and blue ball of ice-fire from its mouth directly at Ash. Ash leaped into the air turning a somersault, but the antipode attack seemed to follow him, somehow having some homing properties. So in midair, using the shadow blade like a baseball bat, he knocked the sphere of powerful elemental energy away into the sky. "Pikachu, Darkness Illusion!" he called as he pointed the sword downwards as he passed over them, at the Eeverion and the brown-haired young man. From the tip of the sword shot a black stream of shadow which streamed out in a dark mist all around its target. The Eeverion Trainer shouted, "I'm blind! That bastard blinded me!" as Ash landed with a thump and ran towards Laselle and the Ponyta who was being chased by the samurai man. The 'Farfetch'd Master' in the tattered brown cloak breaking out of the shock of the death of his pokemon at the hands of the Persian, screamed in anguished loss, then turned to run off towards Mount Moon. "Persian, stop him!" the woman ninja called out. "Perr!" the large cat pokemon growled, spitting out the stick of celery it had been using to pick its sharp teeth with, then loped quickly after the fleeing man on all fours. Meanwhile, the samurai had cornered Laselle atop the Ponyta against a grove of trees. The fire horse snorted and rose up on its hind legs as the swordsman approached. Then Laselle screamed as she fell off the horse on to the ground, lying on her side. The Ponyta shrieked at the surprise and jumped over the samurai's head and sprinted off into the forest. At the samurai's distraction, Ash slashed the air in front of him with his sword and a gust of knife-sharp air pressure rocketed forward, parting the ground in front of him like a bullet, dust and leaves flying to the sides. He continued to run forward as the column of air struck a stony boulder nearby the samurai and it shattered, the shrapnel striking the man with sharp bits of hard rock. The samurai turned around, angry and bleeding in several places from the explosion and noticed Ash running directly at him, black katana held horizontally at his side, the point facing backward. The samurai lifted his silver katana to the ready. "So, another who practises the art of the sword!" the samurai said in anticipation, his helmet gleaming damply from the light rain. "And one who has the look of a Pokemon Master! But you will be as a novice in front of a true Master! A Blade Master!" Ash didn't hesitate, his eyes gleaming golden, as he shifted his run into a sidestep, black cloak whipping behind him. The samurai twisted at his movement and struck the first blow, a powerful swing of his katana, but as if he were testing him. Ash countered easily, letting the blade slide against his and out of the way, before spinning the sword around and lopping off the samurai's left hand as easy as cutting thin air. The samurai screamed and fell backwards, clutching his sword unsteadily in his remaining hand, as Ash shifted his feet and twisted, preparing the final blow. A Blade Master indeed, Ash thought sarcastically. He would show the folly of that empty title. But the samurai ripped his poke-ball from his belt and threw it at him. "Pincer! Kill him!" Ash knocked the ball away with the flat of his blade and it exploded open in the air front of him, the brown, bipedal, insectoid creature with huge venom-dripping spiny horns, lunging at him as it dived out. But he was prepared and kicked the large pincer in the stomach, knocking the breath out of it, before slashing his katana horizontally across the creature's head. The huge spiny horns detached themselves from the pincer's head a split second later and flew off, dark blood spurting from the cleanly sliced stumps. The pincer vomited in pain and Ash sweeped its stumpy legs out from underneath it with an advancing low kick. It fell flat on its back and he finished it off with a thrust to the head, the black light-absorbing katana feeling as if it met no resistance at all as it easily pierced through three feet of skull and into the hard ground. Ash smoothly removed his hissing blade from its forehead with one hand, blood splattering out, and spun back to the samurai, the folds of his cloak whipping around. But sensing his opportunity, the samurai had run over to Laselle and now stood lifting his sword over her threateningly with his one remaining hand. He glared at him with fierce dark eyes within his helmet. Yet, they were also afraid of him too. "Stop novice! Or I will be killing this girl!" the samurai shouted, desperate now. Ash was wondering about whether a dark shock would kill the man before the man could do anything, when suddenly a thin stream of silk shot out from the opening in Laselle's backpack. It wrapped all around the samurai's ankles and he tripped over, shouting as he did so, and dropped his sword out in front of him. Unfortunately for him, the silver katana fell hilt first, and the man fell on top of it, the sharp blade piercing his armour and through his chest. The man gurgled a death cry and twitched pathetically along the ground before he lay still, blood leaking from his chest and mouth. Ash ran over and kicked the body away before kneeling down and picking up Laselle in his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked, dropping his sword on the floor, where it promptly changed back into a dark coloured electric mouse. "Pika?" Pikachu said worriedly, jagged tail twitching. "I-I think I'm okay," Laselle sniffed. Then, puzzled, she unstrapped her backpack and opened it up fully. "Pii!" The head of a green caterpillar pokemon emerged out from it. "A Caterpie?" Laselle said, surprised. Ash's eyes widened. If he wasn't mistaken, this was that same caterpie who had scared Misty stiff, and that he had failed to capture, back in the Viridian Forest. "It looks like you have a new pokemon, Laselle," he said, smiling as the caterpie began to hug Laselle's side. Then behind him, two throats cleared. Ash turned around to find the two ninjas in front of him. Pikachu growled. "No need for alarm," the male ninja said, his green eyes gentle within the slit over his black mask. "The damsel has been rescued and all is right with the world." The female ninja with the red hair tied in a long ponytail, smacked him on the back of the head with her hand. "James, you fool! While we were gawking at the rescue, we let two of the outlaws escape! We have to catch them all or we won't get paid the full amount!" "Sorry, Jessie," the male ninja said apologetically, rubbing his head. Then the white Persian came loping back. "Perrrsian ... don't worry, they ran into the entrance of old Haunted Mount Moon," it growled. "They're like two mice caught in a box in that place." They turned to go off. "Wait. Jessie, James?" He looked at the Persian. "And Meowth?" The two ninja's turned back and looked at him with shocked looks in their eyes. The woman removed her veil and the black covering on her head revealing a sinister-looking but familiar beauty with red hair and blue eyes, while the man removed his mask, uncovering a girlishly handsome green-eyed man with blue hair worn in a longish style on his head. The Persian looked at them, its feline slitted eyes narrowed in contemplation. "You know us?" the man and woman asked simultaneously. "Have we met before? You look familiar also." "Ash, Laselle, you're okay!" Misty's voice came from behind them, as she hopped off her pokemon and ran up to stand over Ash and the young girl. "W-What's that?" she asked alarmed. "A-A bug! I hate bugs!" she screamed and turned to run back the way she came, red hair flying behind her. Ash sighed. "Perr ... I know them now," the Persian said, as it eyed Pikachu. "They're the brats from years ago when we were still in Team Rocket!" Bruno, Duplica and the others came up from behind, but had to dodge Misty as she ran past, blue cloak flapping wildly. "A surprise every second," Bruno stated as he turned to watch Misty run away into the forest before she bumped into a tree and fell down on her back unconscious. *** End Part 4 _________________________________________________________________________ POKEDEX _________________________________________________________________________ SHADOW PIKACHU Type 1 - Shadow Type 2 - Electricity Attack : Darkness Illusion Type : Shadow A thick mist of darkness is generated which is impossible to see in or through. Can also cause hallucinations upon contact with eyes. _________________________________________________________________________ Notes: Those of you who play Street Fighter Alpha 3 may recognise Ash's combo in the circle of Master's as a slight variation on a coolness combo belonging to one Miss Karin Kanzuki ^-^. And no. Laselle, Junior and Gambit aren't made-up characters. They're actually plays on those annoying trainers (Lass, Junior Trainer, and Gambler respectively) you have to fight in the game ^-^. One of my pet-peeves in a fic is a lot of ANC's (Annoying New Characters) so I'm trying to only limit myself to only one - Valdera. Then again she's a baddie so she may not count ^-^. The other baddies like the Farfetch'd guy, the samurai and Eevie guy came from the anime. The grunt doesnt exist, but then he was disposed off quickly anyway so I hope you'll forgive me ^-^. Oh yes, Starmos, the evolved form of Starmie also doesn't exist. I don't like making up ANC's but I don't have any worries when it comes to making up pokemon ... Comments & Criticisms would be much appreciated! Ace Sanchez Email: jsa@fl.net.au WWW: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au