Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
The Chosen Ones

Chapter 3

Clouds were beginning to gather over Cerulean City. A foul wind began to blow, dropping the 90 degree temperatures considerably. From a hill far away, the Emperor could tell that this sudden change in the weather did not go unnoticed by the residents and guards of Cerulean. He smiled wickedly. Things like this had preceded some rather unfortunate events recently, but the leaders of Cerulean didn't seem to take the weather as an omen. They would pay a price for that.

"Move into the city," the Emperor ordered as he turned to the commander of the battalion that had come with him, "Destroy the Rocket's garrison. Capture as many civilians as possible, but kill any who resist."

"Yes, your Majesty." The officer replied, bowing before turning to give orders to his men.

"I'll take care of the gym." A cold whisper emitted from the Emperor. In moments he became nothing but black, swirling smoke. The smoke slowly drifted on the wind towards the city as the first mortar shells and pokemon attacks fell upon Cerulean.

* * *

The tiled floor of the large elevator shaft shuddered as the group of people from the conference room made their ascent to the main lobby of the building. An evacuation of the building had been ordered only a few minutes before that. As they had been heading to the elevator, word reached their ears that Cerulean was under attack. Along with this disturbing announcement came the first of many distant rumbles from the surface above.

The Commander was visibly tense. He constantly fidgeted with the buttons on his uniform. Many times he sighed in failed attempts to calm himself down. The Chosen One had showed no more signs of emotion since he had ordered the evacuation. The rest of the silent but restless group wondered who exactly would be attacking Team Rocket. Had the rebels gotten word that their leaders had been taken here and had come to rescue them? Or was the Chosen One telling the truth, and this new threat had decided to take on Team Rocket?

To try and calm herself, Misty decided to study her surroundings. The elevator was large, as it still had plenty of room in it even with the large number of passengers. The tile floor was made of marble, and leather chairs had been mounted to the walls. The two bright overhead lights dimmed as the elevator was hit by another tremmor. Suddenly Misty remembered something she was amazed to have forgotten.

"Excuse me," Misty said as she turned to the Chosen One, "once we reach the surface, could I take some men and go to the gym? I just remembered that my three sisters are in charge of it and I want to make sure that they are safe."

The hood of the Chosen One's cloak turned towards her. Even in the brightly lit elevator, she still couldn't see his face under it. "The Cerulean Gym is where we're headed," he told her as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

He led them across the lobby to the main doors. They could see signs of the battle out of through the glass doors. An army truck awaited them at the curb as they left the building. Sounds of war reached their ears. Explosions, cries of pain, gunfire, and the roar of large pokemon mingled with the sounds of thunder. The group looked up, noting the change in weather for the first time.

As they drove off, those towards the back of the truck watched as 'Mercenary grunts' helped load citizens into more of the large, tarp covered trucks. Max took notice that no normal Rocket grunts could be seen. They must be off fighting. He reasoned.

Finally, the truck pulled to a stop and everyone got out. Misty was relieved to see to more of the trucks already there. Amongst all of the black and grey, she spotted the colorful, long hair of her sisters, who looked very out of place. They smiled and ran to her when they saw her.

"Sis! Like, it's so good to see you." Daisy said as she embraced her little sister.

"Yeah, we were like, so worried when we were told about Trovita." Violet told Misty as she, too, gave her a hug.

Misty hugged the last of her sisters and stepped back, "Who told you about Trovita?" She asked

Violet pointed to the Chosen One, who was searching the skies for something, "He came up to us a few days ago and told us what had happened. We were like afraid at first, but he like told us you were safe."

"Sorry about your wedding Sis," they said in unison, hardly sounding sorry at all.

Misty was shocked. Over the past few days, she had totally forgotten that her wedding was to take place the day after they fought at Trovita. A wave of sadness swept over her, but she felt something else. Was it....relief? Realising the lack of sorrow in her sisters voices, Misty was about to question them when the Chosen One walked up.

"Sorry to interrupt your happy reunion, but we need to get going before Team Rocket comes to investigate why none of their Mercenaries have shown up. If you will please-"

He was cut off as a the base of a tall building on the corner across the street exploded. With nothing to hold it up, the rest of the building fell. Dust and smoke filled the street. As it became clear enough to see, everyone saw a man materialize out of midair. As more smoke and dust was cleared by a sudden gust of wind, they could make out more details about the newcomer.

He had short, black hair. He wore black plated armor, minus a helmet, over his whole body. His black cape fluttered in the wind as he took a step forward. His voice was deep and cold. Shivers ran up and down everyone's spine as he spoke, "Now, where do you all think your going?"

The Chosen One made his way towards the man. As he reached the curb, he stopped and turned, "Josh! Take everyone and leave now. I'll deal with him."

As the Commander (Josh) stuttered a protest, the man laughed, "The Chosen One has decided to be all noble and heroic and stand up to me again," he mocked, "Tell me boy, how many times must I beat you before it gets through your thick skull that you can't do it alone. With out the other Chosen One, you are nothing."

"We'll see about that Emperor!" yelled the Chosen One as he, much to most of the watching group's amazement, fired a bolt of electricity from an outstretched hand at the Emperor. The bolt struck him dead on and exploded. The Emperor emitted a gust of wind to blow away the smoke, revealing that he didn't have so much as a scratch. Hovering above the ground, he charged at his cloaked opponent. When their fists collided, the collision was so powerful that a tremor was sent through the air.

With lightning speed, the Chosen One soared into the air, the Emperor close on his tail. They stopped, floating in midair. The Emperor suddenly unleashed a ball of dark energy at the Chosen One, who deftly dodged to the side. The ball exploded upon impact with the street, tearing a nice-sized crater in it. With that, the two charged at eachother, their impact resulting in another tremor as they bounced away off eachother. They took off at lighting speed, every point of physical contact resulting in shock waves flying through the air, every blast of energy or bolt of electricty resulting in massive explosions. It was like watching two powerful, legendary pokemon battle.

A tremor from a particularly powerful explosion shook the ground, causing Josh to lose his balance. As he got up, he looked around and noticed that just about everyone was enthralled with the duel. Realising that he had wasted too much time already, Josh went about giving orders and getting everyone back to work loading the trucks. He considered sending some pokemon to help the Chosen One, but knew that it would be no use.

It looked as if the two warriors were evenly matched, but the Chosen One knew that his opponent was holding back, probably hoping to wear him down. Then, landing a successful kick, the Emperor sent him crashing into one side of a skyscraper and out the other side. The sound of twisting, snapping metal could be heard as his body landed on the top of a parked car, pulverizing it.

Scratched and bruised, the Chosen One got up. He winced and looked down at his left leg. Seeing no blood stains on his pant leg, he assumed that one of his bones was cracked. He looked up to the sound of laughter and saw the Emperor descending to the street in front of him.

"You look tired my friend," the Emperor said with mock concern, "Perhaps I can help you get some sleep!" He launched a crackling, swirling ball of dark energy the size of his fist at the Chosen One. It moved so fast that he couldn't prepare to block it and disappeared in a flash of smoke and fire. When it cleared, he was found lying on the ground a few feet away from where he was before, slowly and painfully getting up. His clothes had been burned away to the skin where the ball had made direct contact.

"Sir! C'mon, we're ready to go!" yelled Josh from the back of one of the fully loaded trucks.

Upon hearing these words, The Chosen One looked as them and shook his head. The Emperor smiled and yelled to no one in particular, "Get them!"

Suddenly they all found themselves surrounded by soldiers wearing black armor of a different make and design than the Emperor's. The soldiers advanced, calling out pokemon and firing their guns as they approached. The trapped allies did the same, jumping out of the trucks to join the fray.

"Marill, use water gun!" Misty ordered as her recently evolved Marill sent a torrent of water at an oncoming Magmar. The little pokemon's power became evident as it sent the larger fire pokemon skidding across the ground. It tried to stand up again, but lost its energy and fainted.

"Mar marill! Marill mar mar?" (I did it! Know what should I do?) The blue, mouse-like pokemon turned to its master, who was now preoccupied with smashing an enemy soldier's face in the dirt. Marill was about to go out on its own when it heard a low growl and turned around. Standing there threateningly, was an Electabuzz. The yellow stripped pokemon was about to launch a wave of electricity when....

"Pikachu!" Pikachu came falling out of the air, using his iron tail attack on the surprised Electabuzz. As the much larger pokemon lay sprawled on the ground, Pikachu turned to Marill, "Pi pika pikachu pika pika pi." (Follow me, I could use some help.) With that, the two disappeared into the chaos.

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The Chosen One was not doing so well. Having just escaped another round of being a pinball for the Emperor, he ducked inside an alley. He held his chest while breathing heavily. He raised his hands to fix his cloak, which had been twitched a little to reveal a tuft of raven-black hair, but quickly brought them back down again as pain shot through his ribs. At least on of them was fractured. The bruised young man considered his options, realising he had none. If he didn't go back out and fight, the Emperor would turn his attention to the larger battle occuring by the gym. He had to go out there and make sure they got away safely, make sure she got away safely.

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Brock's fist sent one of the enemy flying. He quickly picked up the dazed attacker's fallen weapon and let loose a short flurry of bullets at the soldier as he tried to get up. The man fell backwards as one of the bullets found a space in the helmet where the armor was weak. The other two glanced off the breast plate.

Brock looked around. The enemy was quickly falling before them. What he didn't get was why they were still fighting. They were weaker, and outnumbered 4 to 1. Yet, they continued to attack. Why? Brock turned to a yelling soldier that had charged out from behind a rock. Before either could fire, the seemingly suicidal attacker was rolled over by a Golem.

"Go golem golem." (You should watch your back) It wisely suggested to its tall, brown haired master, who muttered his thanks while hiding his embarassed face.

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The Emperor was surprised by the Chosen One's new vigor. The Chosen One managed to land a few blows that had actually given the Emperor a cut or two. This was the sign he had waited for, no more fooling around. It was time to get serious, but how to do it?

The Emperor deflected another ball of electricity that was sent hurtling towards him. He stole a quick glance at the battlefield below, his men were almost completely wiped out. It was time to get the Chosen One to become cocky.

The Chosen One watched in amazement as his latest thunder attack caused the sinister man to plumet from the sky in which they had been battling. He sent a rain of lightning bolts down on the temporarily limp figure. After the shock, the Emperor slowly got up. His armor had dirt and scrapes all over it, plus it was quite a bit singed.

"I.....I-I can't believe it," the stunned, evil ruler managed to say, "H-how are you s-so strong?"

Pride flowed through the Chosen One's body, causing him to lower his guard and become careless. He flew downwards towards his weakened opponent. He stopped in front of the Emperor only long enough to see his shocked reaction. Then, with a kick to the chest, the Emperor was sent flying high into the air.

The Emperor managed to get into a floating position in the air. He looked down at the Chosen One, who was coming up at him with electricity dancing around his fist. Perfect. Ignoring the dark energy gathering in his right hand, the Chosen One prepared to hit the Emperor in the face with something akin to a thunder punch. His fist was inches from the Emperor's face when he noticed his opponent's devilish smile.

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The battle on the ground being over, the victorious Rebel and Chosen One soldiers watched the precedings in the sky. They looked on in horror as the Chosen One was about to land a powerful punch on the Emperor. The armor clad figure suddenly unleashed a small, concentrated blast of energy. A black streak flew through the Chosen One, who let out a cry of pain as he began to fall.

Before he got very far, the Emperor appeared beneath him. With a powerful punch, he caused the Chosen One to fly higher into the air. Before he could begin his descent again, the Emperor flew higher than the limp body and began to pound it with blasts of dark energy. With every strike, there was an explosion and the Chosen One was pushed a little farther toward the ground. His body slammed into the ground at the same time as the last few particles of the mysterious energy made contact with him. He disappeared in a swirl of smoke, fire, and debris.

As the cloud of smoke began to clear, Misty and her friends could see the shape of a figure lying face up in a crater in the street. The details of this body became steadily clearer as the smoke disappitated. When it was finally gone, they took a step closer and let out a collective gasp.

"Pikapi!" (Ash!) Yelled the tiny yellow rodent when it saw the body.

The others were shocked, too shocked for words. Lying on his back in the crater, his cloak and shirt completely blown away, rips and tears everywhere on his pants, was Ash Ketchum. He was bleeding badly from the many cuts and scrapes, but especially from the hole in his side, where he had been hit by the concetrated energy.

The first to recover, Tracy ran toward the body. Then the Emperor appeared out of thin air in front of him.

"Nuh-uh-uh," the Emperor's cold voice said teasingly, "Ketchum won't be getting any rescue today." With that, a powerful blast of air sent Tracy sprawling.

"Everyone move! Move, move, move! We're getting out of here!" Josh had also recovered and began to get everyone back in th trucks. He looked around and saw Misty just standing there, frozen to the spot.

Misty's mind had shut down at the sight of Ash. She couldn't think straight, she couldn't even move. Brock practically dragged her onto a truck. She watched from the truck as it drove away, watched the Emperor turn and head for Ash's body.