Ash Ketchum: Superman Chapter 7

Note: Superman and all related characters and material are trademark and copyright of DC Comics.

Pokémon and all related characters and material are trademark and copyright of Game Freak, Nintendo and Pokémon USA.

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Star City is a rising city within the region, and is starting to compete economically with its sister city, Summer City. The city’s location within the region also makes it a transportation hub, as evidenced by its major airport, Star City International. The city’s population is diverse, with people of many different ethnicities and nationalities (A/N: In this case, nationality means foreigners. I thought it sounded good) living and working in the city. Right now, Ash and Misty are approaching the city limits, astonished at the city’s size.

“Wow,” said Ash. Pikachu mirrored his statement with the equivalent in his language.

“I’m not sure if I’ve seen a skyline like this,” said Misty. “I’ve seen pictures of New York and Los Angeles, but I haven’t seen a skyline like this in real life. Celadon City might count, but it’s not as big as Star City seems to be.”

“I know. And this is where Brock’s meeting us,” he said. It was not a question.

“Yeah; he told us to meet him at the Pokémon Center in downtown.”

“So shall we go,” said Ash. “I’ll race ya!” At that, he took off running towards the city, but keeping his speed under check so Misty wouldn’t either suspect or fall too far behind.

“Hey, no fair, you got a head start!”

--

Because of the size of Star City, Ash, Misty and Pikachu had to take a train much like an El train into the city. The twisted steel of Star City amazed them even as they were approaching the city, just two days prior, having seen the city’s skyline from a good deal away, compared to Summer City, which they could not see two days out. The reason for this is because A) Star City had a bigger skyline and B) the buildings are taller. It had taken Ash and Misty a week to get to the city after Brock left, but they had been traveling to Star City with Brock for 3 weeks prior to him leaving, so it had taken them a month to get here, and now their journey to the city was almost over. Their next stop after this wouldn’t be as long as a month, but it was still a good distance.

“So where is Brock meeting us, again?” A curious Ash queried.

“He said he’ll meet us at the Pokémon Center and then he’ll take us somewhere,” she replied. “I didn’t ask him where he wanted to take us, though.”

“Did you just not ask him or did you forget?” He asked.

Misty put her finger to her chin and looked up at the ceiling in an inquisitive manner, than she said in a gleeful tone, “I forgot!” Ash simply dropped his head in embarrassment, as did Pikachu.

“Why did I ask?” He said to himself in a rare moment of genius—for his character, anyway. Superman is a different story.

“Well, we’ll find out when we see him, I guess,” Misty said in her normal way. “The Pokémon Center is in the Central Business District and that’s where this train is going,” she pointed to a map showing the Center’s location. “See, the train stop is right near the Pokémon Center.”

“Okay, then,” said Ash.

As the train pulled into the city, the two marveled at the high-rises that made up the city’s skyline and the twisted metal jungle. The latter overwhelmed them the most.

“Wow,” said Ash. “I wonder how many Gyms are here.” Now it was Misty’s turn to be exasperated, having annoyed Ash just minutes earlier.

“Is that all you can think about,” she said to him in a very annoyed manner. “Is obtaining badges all you ever think about?” She asked.

“Of course not,” He replied. “Bein’ a Pokémon Master is another thing I think about!” Misty sighed in exasperation at Ash’s (fake) stupidity.

“I give up!”

--

“Hey guys, over here!” In the crowded Pokémon Center, it’s very difficult to hear anyone, but with “super hearing”, it’s pretty easy, as Ash managed to pick Brock out of a crowd at the Pokémon Center. Misty was at first surprised, but her excitement in seeing Brock again made her drop it.

“Hey Brock,” said Ash as he and Misty ran to greet him. “How ya been?”

“I’ve been good,” he replied. “I just had to check on the Gym to see if it was being run well.”

“Well,” asked Misty. “Is it?”

“Well, to my dismay, I never got to get to the Gym,” he said. “I had to deal with some issues in the city. They’ve been having some problems with Team Rocket recently.” Ash and Misty looked at each other with dread on their faces, enough that Brock got worried and asked, “So, what happened to you two?”

“Well,” said Misty, trying to explain. “The first day you left, we were attacked by Jesse and James,” she began. “They tried to take Pikachu first, but then they told us that their boss wants to kill Superman.” The look on Brock’s face was a combination of horror and worry, but a voice in his head was telling him that since he was talking to them, they obviously survived.

“So what happened?”

“We sent ‘em flying,” Ash said in a nonchalant manner that made him sound sociopathic, in a sense. But the message got through, there’s no doubt of Pikachu’s ability to send someone into the stratosphere faster than a Saturn V rocket. “But that’s not the worst of it, though.”

“Two days ago, these two Rocket agents named Bonnie and Clyde showed up demanding that I tell them where Superman is,” said Misty. “And they sent Ash flying!”

“Well what happened next?”

“Superman showed up and flung them past the horizon, but not after a few setbacks.” Brock listened to this with a concerned look on his face, telling Ash that there seemed to be something going on here with Team Rocket. In fact, that’s exactly what Brock was thinking, too.

“Do you think there’s a connection?” He asked, much to the surprise of Ash and Misty.

“Might be,” replied Ash. “I mean, you had problems, and so did we. There’s gotta be something going on here with Team Rocket. I mean, we had to deal with them twice and—what kinds of problems did you have with them, by the way?” Misty looked at Ash in a surprised manner, since he was acting too damn smart for his idiot character, but Brock didn’t seem to care, since the gravity of the situation was far more important than an idiot actually being smart for once.

“Right now I can’t think of anything,” he said. The statement disappointed the both of them until they remembered something.

“Hey Brock, you said you were going to take us somewhere,” said Misty. “Where are you planning on going?”

“Oh yeah, I was going to take you to the Star City Natural and Human History museum!” He said, with a much more positive tone of voice that earlier. “They have a great exhibit on Pokémon and dinosaur bones as well as a great rock collection I want to see.”

“Rocks? Oh, I don’t want to see rocks!” Ash said with a whine.

“Oh, shut up!”

--

Like many museums—or at least the Field Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Science and Industry in the author’s home city--the Star City Natural History Museum has a Greco-Roman style of architecture that distinguishes it from most of the buildings in Star City. As they neared its grand entrance, Ash, Misty and Brock marveled at the magnificent splendor of the museum’s grand façade. The building was purposefully made to resemble Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History (A/N: Because the author is from Chicago, he’ll drop the occasional Chicago reference), enough that you’d expect said museum to sue the Star City museum.

Anyway, the interior of the museum left the three travelers in awe as soon as the stepped in through the doors. The main hall contained several life-size models of legendary Pokémon: Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos, Mew, Entei, Raikou and Suicune in various poses, the birds hung from the ceiling and the land Pokémon were facing each other down. And that was just a preview of things to come. The group paid their admission fee thanks to Brock. But the mood was ruined when Misty saw a newspaper and started to cry. Ash, who was deeply worried about her, said,

“Misty… are you okay?” Misty nodded and said, to his surprise,

“Yeah, it’s just that that issue has the interview with Superman that I never got to do!” Ash retracted his hand in exasperation

“Misty, you’re making a big deal over nothing!” He said to her.

Instead of listening to him (he was right), she grabbed him by the collar and hollered at his face, “I wanted to interview Superman! Instead, he sends a letter to every newspaper in the area and ruins my chan…” Misty stopped her little rant when she noticed that the people around her were looking at her with a “what the hell is going on here” look on their faces. Utterly embarrassed, she let go of Ash and dropped her grievances.

“Next time, please don’t grab Ash in the middle of public,” said Brock. “It’s embarrassing for all of us.”

“I’m still mad at him,” She said with a scoff and crossing her arms.

It’s not my fault. Ash thought to himself. I just wanted people to know more about me. You see, two weeks ago, Ash had sent a letter to local newspapers telling people his origins and his powers. When Misty saw it, she was devastated, because she had wanted to interview him herself. Well actually, it’s more liked ticked off than devastated.

The group’s first stop was the Pokémon and dinosaur exhibit that got Ash excited. Being that he’s pretending to be slow-minded, he felt that something like this would be exciting. Of course, since his interest in Pokémon is legitimate, his excitement is justified. The exhibit featured bones of long-dead Pokémon like Aerodactyl, Kabuto and others, as well as some Pikachu bones, which made poor little Pikachu a little nervous. With the exception of Pikachu, who should have been a little more relaxed and Togepi—who was understandably scared due to its infant nature, prompting Misty to put the egg-shaped Pokémon in her back pack. Brock, meanwhile, studied the fossils as best he could as if he was studying for some kind of Breeder test.

After an hour in the Pokémon bones exhibit—Ash left after half an hour, though because Pikachu got too scared—Brock took them to the rocks hall, much to Ash’s (apparent) displeasure. The hall contained some of the most spectacular rocks and gems—which excited Misty, who marveled at the fantastic diamonds—and even ordinary rock, which interested Brock. Ash, trying to keep up the illusion that he was an idiot, pretended to be bored. Until Brock and Misty weren’t looking, that is. Pikachu, who had seen Ash turn from himself into Superman, however, didn’t buy it. But the little critter kept it to itself.

For a while, things seemed to be wholly innocent, until Ash caught a glimpse of a strange rock about 20 feet from him. The rock was encased in a circular case, which allowed people to look at it more closely on all sides. As Ash approached the rock, he began to feel strange, like the rock was doing strange things, but he paid no heed to it. However, when he got within 10 feet, he not only got to see what it looked like—it was a green, glowing rock—but he began to feel pain in his entire body. He started to feel very dizzy and sick to his stomach, like he had just been on a very intense tilt-a-whirl. And he was getting weaker. Soon the pain was almost overwhelming and he was struggling to breathe, as though something was pressing on his chest and preventing him from breathing, forcing him to take some much labored breaths. He could barely keep on his feet. Now he knew had had to get away from the rock--fast. It was at this time he realized he was very close to the rock, which he realized must have been the cause of his strange symptoms. Unable to take it, he turned away from the rock and struggled towards the exit. That’s when Misty saw him.

“Ash,” she said in a very worried voice. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied, not wanting Misty to know what was happening. Right now the pain was taking a toll on him and if he didn’t get away fast, he was in big trouble. “I’m just going to the Egyptian exhibit, I’ll meet you guys later,” he said, leaving Misty and Brock in the rock exhibit. Pikachu tried to yell at him, but Ash firmly whispered, “Don’t say anything.” Finally he was out of the exhibit, but he was still feeling the effects of the rock. As he staggered through the museum, he noticed some sunlight pouring out of a window about 40 feet away. It took him a while, but he finally managed to get to the sweet sunlight. As he bathed himself in the glow of the sun, he felt his strength return and the pain and nausea leave. Pikachu looked on in confusion, but he was happy that his trainer was okay. But as he felt his strength return, Ash worried about that rock. Were there more rocks like that? Would he survive the next time he encountered it? Those thoughts haunted him severely.

--

Flashback

“Professor, what can you tell me about Ash?” A very concerned Delia Ketchum asked her old college professor, Prof. Samuel Oak. She had been noticing Ash’s very strange abilities, and was now asking for help.

“I’ll do all I can, Deila. But I’m more of a Pokémon researcher. However, I have managed to translate the hieroglyphs on the capsule you say Ash landed it.”

“You did? What does it say?” Oak took out his notepad, and said,

“It says, ‘This is Kal-El of Krypton, our infant son, our last hope. Please protect him and deliver him from evil. We will be with you, Kal-El, for all the days of your life’.” Delia simply looked at Oak, confused about what was going on. “Delia, an astronomer friend told me that there was a supernova of a red star about 5 years ago. He suspects that there may have been an Earth-like planet orbiting the star, and that it may have been destroyed by the supernova. I believe that Ash is a survivor of that supernova. The data dicks that you gave me indicate that this planet had a technology so advanced that ours is primitive in comparison, almost Neolithic compared to theirs.”

“Oh dear,” Delia said in reaction to Oak’s revelations. “I didn’t know there was life out in space!”

“Yes there is, apparently,” replied Oak. Now his face got serious. “Listen Delia, I want you to do me a favor. No, make me a promise.”

“What do you want me to do, Professor?” She replied.

“I want you to promise never to reveal Ash’s nature to anyone. If you do, well, I cannot say right now. But if anyone finds out, there could be trouble, understand?”

“Yes, I do,” she replied in a very worried tone of voice.

“Good, then,” he said, turning away. But then he turned around and said, “You must also be aware of this substance.” He pressed a button on his keyboard and a picture of a green, glowing rock showed up on screen.

“What is that, professor?” She asked him.

“That is the only known substance that is lethal to people from his planet. To us, it’s just a harmless rock. But the specific radioactivity is so high that this substance is poisonous and possibly deadly to anyone from the planet Krypton!” Now Delia was frightened beyond words, knowing that there was something that could kill her little boy so easily. “These are pieces of his home planet. My non-Pokémon colleagues told me that it was once part of a planet, and we believe it may be from Krypton. There are also other colors of this substance, but we don’t know where they are. We also don’t know where all the green rocks are either, so it will be difficult to track it all down. We have done tests on the green substance, and there seems to be no short or long-term effects on humans.”

“Oh dear,” she said. She could only imagine what kind of experiences Ash would soon have.

--

About an hour after encountering the green rock, Ash met up with Brock and Misty at the Egyptian exhibit Ash had spoken of earlier. But Misty and Brock were not about to let Ash get away without explaining what had happened in there. “Really guys, I’m fine,” Ash said. “I just felt a little queasy, that’s all.”

“Well you didn’t look queasy!” Misty shot back. “You looked like you were in immense pain, I was wor—I mean, I thought you were lying.”

“Sheez guys, I’m fine!” He said firmly. “Come on, let’s get something to eat, I’m hungry.” Misty dropped her grievances, since she knew that she could not get Ash to fess up to what had happened. She would be kept in the dark for a long time.

--

“So, my scientists tell me this is the only substance that can kill someone of his kind, huh? Well that makes things much more interesting. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

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To be continued

So class, tell me, what is the name of the only substance in the known universe that can kill Kryptonians? If you get it right, you get an A+! And include it with a review, will ya? Thanks.