Chapter 4:

Mane stood in the battlefield holding a pokeball. “Things are getting interesting,” he said. “You’ve just taken out Zapdos, one of my favourite pokemon. Now I’m going to give you a surprise for your effort.”

Black Jack and the others were observing the match as spectators, desperately hoping that John would win this match. Jesse, James and Meowth were also watching the match but from somewhere else in the stadium.

“A Zapdos knocked out by a Tyranitar?” Meowth exclaimed. “Anuder pokemon dat we can catch!”
“I can imagine the boss giving us more than just a raise!” James said happily.
“Not now James!” Jesse complained. “Let’s just see what that Mane guy has in store.”

“Go! Pokeball!” Mane cried as he tossed out another pokeball. This time it was… Mewtwo!!

Shock expressions came onto the faces of Misty, Brock, Ash and Black Jack. How can a pokemon trainer catch Mewtwo!?
“Huh?” May asked. “I never seen or heard of that pokemon before.”

Realising that the others have seen the genetic pokemon on the field, Black Jack had to give some information about him. “That pokemon’s name is Mewtwo. One of the most rarest and one of the most powerful pokemon.”
“What?” Ash asked in a surprised tone. “You know him?”
“Yeah… we met on a couple of occasions and battling him wasn’t pleasant… but I liked it. And judging by your tone, you seem to know him as well.”
“Yeah, we met him at one time when he was in trouble and…”

Black Jack stopped him by raising his hand as he noticed another microchip. This time it was on the back of Mewtwo’s neck.

“I knew it!” Black Jack snarled angrily. “It IS the microchip! Mane must’ve used some annoying gadgets to not only to capture them but to control them as well!”
“Wait a minute!” Ash said. “If Mane captured Mewtwo, what happened to the other pokemon?”
“He must’ve captured them too,” Black Jack replied. “Let’s concentrate on the match. John needs all the help he can get.”

Everyone agreed as they watched the match again with high hopes for John.

Team Rocket also saw with their mouths wide open. “I can’t believe it!” Meowth cried. “Dat guy’s either used some special gadget, or he’s got some other method of catching and using pokemon!”
“The boss would give us a big promotion if we get that thing!” James said excitedly.
“Not only that!” Jesse continued. “He’d give us a big raise, a paid holiday, a very big house…”
“Dis could go on forever…” Meowth mumbled.
Suddenly, Wobbuffet appeared again. “Wobbuffet!”

“Mewtwo!” Mane cried. “Hyper Beam attack!”

Mewtwo raised his hand and shot out a huge beam of light at Tyranitar, who barely dodged the attack.

“That was close!” John commented. “Tyranitar! Tackle attack!”
“Mewtwo! Barrier!” Mane commanded.

Tyranitar ran at Mewtwo to take him down, but Mewtwo’s eyes glowed as he stood. John and Tyranitar thought that they got him, but to their surprise, Tyranitar bounced away from Mewtwo. “The barrier that Mewtwo used must be invisible!” Black Jack thought.

“Gotta use a long range attack!” John said in frustration. “Tyranitar! Hyper Beam attack!”

Tyranitar leaned backwards as he breathed in. Mane and Mewtwo just stood where they were. “What’s the matter, Mane?” John taunted. “Scared?”
“Well, this is hardly a horror movie,” Mane replied.

Tyranitar shot out a huge hyper beam of his own. “Mewtwo! Mirror Coat attack!” Mane yelled.

Mewtwo raised his arm as his eyes glowed again. The beam bounced right off his hand and it hit Tyranitar instead in the gut, knocking him out!

After seeing that knockout, John had disbelief on his face. “No…” he whispered “NO!”
“I told you that you should’ve save the best for last, didn’t I Johnny?” Mane taunted.
“Tyranitar is only one of my best,” John replied, getting back his determination. “Magmar! Go!”

Magmar popped out of his pokeball. “Magmar…”

“Magmar!” John shouted. “Flamethrower attack!”

Magmar spat out a huge flame out of his mouth, aiming for Mewtwo. Mewtwo easily dodged out of the way, making the flame going for Mane.

“That’s it!” John cried. “Scorch him good!”

“John must’ve wanted Magmar to hurt Mane instead of Mewtwo!” Ash said.
“I bet you would do the same if Mane hurt your family as well,” Black Jack replied.

Mane stood calm as the flame was reaching for him. But all of the sudden, Mewtwo stopped the attack with his psychic powers. He formed the flame into a ball and tossed it back at Magmar, causing an explosion on impact.

Magmar fell to the floor, heavily damaged. He slowly picked himself. “Magmar!” John cried. “Are you alright?”

Magmar nodded in response, as he knew what was on the line.

“Alright then!” John said. “Magmar! Fire punch attack!”

Magmar quickly ran at Mewtwo as fireballs appeared on his fist. “What a bore!” Mane commented. “Mewtwo! Psychic attack!” he ordered as he snapped his fingers.

Mewtwo’s eyes glowed again as he stopped Magmar in his tracks. Magmar was lifted into the air; he was then slammed down on the ground numerous times. “Now Mewtwo!” Mane commanded. “Mega Punch attack!”

Mewtwo, still using his psychic powers he brought Magmar close to him and he punched him in the gut sending him flying, unconscious.

“Someone tell me I didn’t see that!” Brock said.
“That Magmar…” Misty said, feeling sorry for it.
“Things are looking really bad now,” Cecilia said.

“Five of my pokemon gone…” John said after calling back Magmar. “Rattata, you’re my only hope now.”

John sent out his Rattata. The pokemon stood his ground, waiting to receive orders.

“A Rattata?” Mane replied with a smirk. “It’s your last pokemon and it’s a Rattata? Well, I guess the truth is that you spend more time with your products than you spend time training. Guess you didn’t see this battle coming, didn’t you? Mewtwo return!”
“Huh? Why are you returning your Mewtwo?”
“I just felt there’s one more surprise I need to show you and our dearly beloved audience.”

“Great,” thought Black Jack in a down tone. “What’s next?”

“Go! Pokeball!” Mane cried as he threw out another pokeball, containing a… Rayquaza!

Shock expressions came on to everyone’s faces again. Only Black Jack snarled in frustration.

“Rayquaza!” Mane shouted. “Hyper Beam attack!”
“Sandra… Alice… I lost,” John said, losing all hope after seeing Rayquaza. “I’m so sorry…”

Rayquaza leaned his head backwards as he breathed in and then he let out a huge Hyper Beam. John shut his eyes slowly as it hit Rattata, causing a huge explosion on impact. After Rattata lay on the ground unconscious, John looked down in defeated manner as he called back his last defeated pokemon.

“There are no more pokemon you can use,” Mane said. “That means you lose, my stout fellow. You have also lost your only chance of saving your dear wife and child. But don’t worry, I do have a proposition for you.”

He snapped his fingers and another man in a suit came out carrying another briefcase. The man held out the briefcase to Mane and opened it. Mane took out a contract and a pen.

“If you want to be with your family, all you need to do is sign here,” he said in joyful tone.
“What’s the catch?” John asked.
“Nothing much, you just have to hand over your company to me. And you and your family will be employed as my servants. If not, you’ll have to spend the rest of your life wallowing in sadness as you sit by your desk”

As much as John hated to do this, he wanted to be with his family even more, so he had no choice. He took the pen out of Mane’s hand and his hand shook, as he was about to sign. Suddenly, a hand knocked off the pen off John’s hand. “I pick door number three!” Black Jack shouted. It was him who knocked down the pen.

“Mane,” Black Jack snarled. “Just because you used those rare pokemon, it doesn’t mean you are the strongest. I challenge you to a battle and if I win, you’ll release John and his family and never hurt them again!”
“This is certainly interesting,” Mane replied.

Before he could say another word, Ash interrupted. “Hold it!”

He jumped down from the audience stands and walked over to them. “You can’t use mind control on the pokemon!” he yelled. “You can’t treat them this way! Either you release those pokemon or you can have a real taste of a trainer!”

“Even more interesting,” Mane replied. “Okay then, how about this? Tomorrow is the grand final, isn’t it? I suggest that the better trainer can challenge me. If Black Jack wins and defeat me, John’s family will be released. If Ketchum wins, then he can challenge me to gain the pokemon’s freedom.”

Ash and Black Jack’s eyes turned from anger to shock. “Wait a minute!” Ash demanded. “How about it if one of us beats you, you’ll release the pokemon AND John’s family?”
“Nice try,” Mane replied. “But I’d be losing everything at once.”
“You were born to lose,” Black Jack muttered.

Mane turned to John. “My dear fellow, Johnny,” he said. “Why don’t you spend more time with your brother.”
“What?” John replied in shock. “How did you know?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied as he turned around to leave the stadium.

“Mane, wait a minute!” John cried. “What about my wife and child?”
“Oh, they’ll be fine, I assure you,” Mane replied as he continued to walk away. “hahahaha… HAHAHAHA!”

“No! Wait!” John cried as he tried to go after Mane. Mane ‘s men stepped in front of him and were about to beat him up.

“Lay one finger on him,” Black Jack warned, clenching his fist. “And you’re dead.”

The men took a few steps back, scared of Black Jack. “Hold it right there!” Ash demanded. But Black Jack stopped him.

“No kid,” he replied. “You shouldn’t. If we go after Mane and his men, who knows what he will do to John’s family. For now, we have no choice but to play his game.”

John fell to his knees with tears flowing coming down his eyes. Black Jack walked over to him.

Elsewhere in the stadium, Jesse, James and Meowth had seen and heard everything. “Now what, Jess?” Meowth asked.
“Well, whether it’s Black Jack or the little brat that wins the battle, we can follow them to where Mane’s hiding the pokemon and himself. Finding the pokemon’s exact location will be the most difficult.”
“Nice one, Jesse,” James said as the three sneaky trio sneaked away from the stadium while sniggering.

“Why?” John sobbed as he looked down on the ground. “Why is this happening to me?”
“I’m sorry, brother,” Black Jack as he kneeled down and took out a photo, containing two kids and two adults, which turned out to be John and Black Jack’s family when they were children. “We have lost one family, but I won’t let you lose another.”

John looked up to Black Jack. “Thank you… I’ll never forget this.”

John hugged his missed brother and sobbed like no one has sobbed before. Black Jack’s head turned to look at Ash.

“I guess we can’t hold it any longer,” Ash thought.
“Just a couple more fights,” Black Jack thought. “Just a couple more.”

Next episode: It’s Black Jack Vs Ash Ketchum! And the championship isn’t the only thing on the line!
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Until next time... More coming! Reviews please!