Sabrina gave Ash a rare smile as he knelt on one knee, struggling to regain his 
breath. "You are more powerful than I realized," she said. "The fight between 
you and Gary will be one that will be remembered long after you have crossed 
over." 

Ash stood up, his breathing becoming more regulated. He pushed his sweat soaked 
hair from his face before saying, "That isn't what I want to be remembered for."

Sabrina's dark eyes appeared to look right through him and into his soul. "We do 
not always get to choose such things Ashton," she said as she recalled her 
fainted alakazam. 

"You have him very well trained," Ash said, changing the subject.

Sabrina gave a nod. "You have gained all the knowledge you can from me. Be sure 
to remain rested, I know you are still ill."

He looked at her, not too surprised that she knew he was lying when asked about 
his health. He watched as she quietly retreated from the gym. 

They had been using the Master's Mansion's gym that was normally reserved for 
pokemon battles as a training area. Ash had been going one on one against 
Sabrina's alakazam to prepare himself for the impending battle with Gary. 

Ash closed his eyes, letting a wave of dizziness subside. He was beginning to 
feel better, although the headache remained as well as random spouts of 
dizziness. Once the dizzy spell was gone, he glanced around the gym remembering 
his days there. The gym was used for battles between the Master and any trainer 
who had made it far enough to challenge him. If the Master lost to the 
challenger he had to relinquish his title to him, and the challenger would 
become the new Master. 

The longest term ever served by a Master before Ash had come along had been two 
years. Ash had served for five years and often wondered how much longer he would 
of served had he not been kidnapped. He shrugged the thought away. It didn't 
matter now. 

He sighed as he sat down on the bottom row of the metal bleachers that circled 
the large room.

"Brings back memories, huh?" a voice asked. Ash looked up to see Misty standing 
in front of him.

"Yeah," he said as she sat down next to him.

"I was watching you training," she told him. "You're very good. Sabrina is 
right, you are very powerful." 

Ash shot her an odd look. Misty wasn't one to flatter him; even when they had 
been dating she didn't go out of her way to compliment him. 

She leaned towards him, their faces inches apart. A sly grin formed on her face 
as she whispered, "What's the matter?" Ash stood up quickly, as though he had 
sat on something very sharp. Misty was making him uncomfortable. "Come on, Ash," 
she said, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. "You don't like me anymore?"

He eyed Misty suspiciously. "What's the matter with you?"

Misty stood up and began walking towards him, causing him to back away. "Why 
Ashy-boy, I don't know what you mean."

He continued to back away from her until his back hit the solid wall of the gym. 
He watched as she walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest, perplexed 
as to why she was behaving so oddly. She looked up at him and said, "Isn't this 
what you want?"

Ash looked into her eyes; what he saw alarmed him. They held no emotion 
whatsoever. Sadness, pain, anger, happiness, nothing was detectable in those 
beautiful blue eyes. It was then he sensed another's presence in the gym. 
"Gary," he accused, looking around and seeing no one. 

"Ah," Misty said. "You've figured me out." Ash watched as Misty was released 
from a psychic grip. Her eyes rolled back and she wavered slightly before 
falling forward, Gary's use of her rendering her unconscious. 

Ash caught her limp body in his arms and held her tightly. One by one the huge 
fluorescent lights that hung high above them turned off, leaving Ash in total 
darkness. The four sets of doors then slammed closed, trapping them inside. 

"Let me put her outside, Gary," Ash said into the darkness. 

"No," a voice answered back.

"This has nothing to do with her, it's between you and me," Ash said, his voice 
angry.

After a pause Gary said, "Fine, but if you try to run I'll kill her."

Ash didn't answer, instead he picked Misty up. The door closest to them opened 
and he walked through, gently laying her on the tile floor. He looked at her 
unconscious form sadly, stroking her hair. He bent over and lightly kissed her 
forehead. He straightened up and turned towards the dark gym, a sense of 
foreboding settling over him. 

He took a step towards the gym when he heard someone yell, "Ash!" Ash glanced 
down the hall to see Brock and Richie running towards him. They were about fifty 
yards away.

"What's going on?" Richie called. "One of the guards said something was 
happening in the gym."

Ash watched them approach, then turned his attention back to the uninviting gym. 
Richie and Brock weren't far from him now. "Get Misty to Nurse Joy," he said. He 
walked into the gym, his resolve set.

Brock and Richie reached the doors as they slammed closed. Ash could see them 
through a small square window, and he could hear their muffled voices begging 
for admittance as they pounded on the door. 

The sadistic voice of Gary protruded through the darkness. "I've always envied 
that of you, Ash." 

"What's that?" Ash asked, looking around, trying to allow his eyes to adjust to 
the total lack of light. 

"You always had such loyal friends. I never had any friends, even as a child," 
Gary said, fake remorse in his voice. 

"That's because you were an arrogant prick, Gary," Ash said, matter-of-factly. 

"There was a time," Gary began as Ash spun around. Gary's voice seemed to come 
from a different direction every time he spoke. "Comments like that would have 
bothered me. But now I realize that they are basically true."

"Nice to know you're out of denial," Ash muttered. 

"Cute," Gary responded. 

From the opposite end of the gym a bright silver glow began to form, outlining 
Gary's slim form and warning Ash of an attack. He watched as the glow grew 
larger, illuminating the wall of the gym that Gary stood near. Without warning 
the light converted to power and a huge wave of pure psychic energy came 
barreling toward him.

Richie and Brock watched through the small window as the dark gym was lit up 
with a silver glow. 

"Gary's in there," Brock muttered. 

"Yes but what about Ash?" Richie asked once the glow subsided, leaving the gym 
in darkness once more. "Why hasn't he used his powers?"

"Well, there's two possibilities. One he's buying his time, or two..." Brock 
trailed off, not really wanting to think about the second possibility. A low 
moan drew his attention from the window to the floor, where Misty was regaining 
consciousness. 

Brock knelt next to her, gently helping her sit up. "Misty what happened?" he 
asked her anxiously. 

Misty rubbed her temples. "How did I get out here? Where's Ash?"

"He's in the gym," Richie told her. He was still watching through the window, 
although nothing obvious was happening. Neither Ash nor Gary had used his powers 
again. Richie was worried, he could tell Ash was lying about his health and his 
attacks might not be back to normal power yet.

"Richie we have a problem," Brock said from behind him. Richie tore his gaze 
from the window and looked at Brock who was now standing, staring down the 
hallway. He followed Brock's gaze and saw about ten people walking in pairs 
towards them, led by a skinny man and a tall thin woman. 

Brock helped Misty up as Richie narrowed his eyes. "We're under attack," he said 
reaching for his pokeballs. Brock and Misty did the same. The group of intruders 
came to a halt, leaving a ten foot gap between them and the three friends. 

The woman had stick straight blonde hair that was cut in a bob at her chin. An 
aquamarine band was wrapped around her forehead, flattening her hair to her 
head. She wore long flowing robes like Sabrina's, although they were aquamarine, 
matching her band. Her icy blue eyes took in the scene around her. The man stood 
rigidly next to her, his hair the shade of night, as were his clothes. His dark 
beady eyes were fixed on Richie. 

"Richard," the woman acknowledged with a nod of her head.

"Lorna," Richie said, his eyes narrowing even further. He turned to the man next 
to her. "Koga."

Koga said nothing, he simply stood in silence, watching them. Lorna's pink lips 
curled into a smile as she said, "This can be easy or hard, it's your choice."

"Nothing is ever easy with you, Lorna," Richie said, scornfully. 

"Richard, I don't understand you. With the kind of power Gary is offering us, we 
could rule the world as king and queen." Her expression was expectant, as though 
she expected him to simply switch sides. "Join us," she continued. "You know we 
make a great pair."

Richie shook his head. "Your greed has blinded you Lorna. You know our 
relationship was over the minute you agreed to join Gary." 

Brock and Misty exchanged surprised looks. Neither of them had known that Richie 
and Lorna had dated. 

Lorna's eyes flashed angrily. "Have it your way," she said, pulling a pokeball 
from the folds of her robes. 

Richie quickly glanced around the confining hallway. "Do you really think this 
is the place for a battle?" he asked.

She looked at the pokeball in her hand then shrugged. A light toss released a 
huge charizard between the two groups. It towered over them, it's red eyes 
glaring at the first three unknown humans it came across: Richie, Brock, and 
Misty.

Richie was about to release a pokemon when he heard Lorna talk from behind the 
charizard. "How about some room, Char?" 

The charizard glanced over her shoulder and nodded at her trainer adding a small 
snort of acknowledgement. The charizard turned and quickly crashed through the 
wall, sending a cloud of plaster and dust into the air. They coughed as they 
breathed in the dusty air, watching as the dust dissipated, allowing them to see 
a large hole in the wall, a makeshift doorway to the mansion's courtyard. 

Lorna caught Richie's eye, a grin on her face and said, "That better?"

~*~*~

Blaine glanced around the empty table. Raising an eyebrow, he addressed the 
woman that was sitting across from him. "So where is everyone?"

Sabrina looked up at him, or at least he thought she did, he could never tell 
with her hair covering her eyes. She simply shrugged and continued to eat. 

Blaine sighed as he ate another spoonful of soup. He had never been close with 
Sabrina. None of the leaders had. He found her mannerisms slightly creepy, and 
she wasn't very good company since she rarely talked. In fact, the only person 
she actually had conversations (if you could call them that) with was Ash. 
Sabrina seemed to respect him, and found him worthy enough to talk to. 

A low rumbling pulled him from his thoughts. The floor shook slightly, causing 
the empty plates that were set around the table to rattle. "What's going on?" 
Blaine asked when the shaking had stopped.

"We are under attack," Sabrina said, calmly setting down her spoon. 

Blaine stood up, alarmed and walked swiftly to the window. The dining room was 
on the third floor of the Master's Mansion, and Blaine had a good view of the 
courtyard. The first thing that caught his attention was Richie dodging a flame-
thrower attack from an enormous charizard. Behind the charizard he could see 
Misty and Brock battling  with Koga and about ten other Team Rocket members. 
Needless to say, it was obvious that quantity was triumphing over quality.

He turned quickly and was startled to see Sabrina standing directly behind him. 
"We have to go help them!" he said urgently. She nodded in agreement and the two 
walked quickly to the door. Upon pulling the door open Blaine found himself face 
to face, or rather face to chest, with a tall, muscular, blonde man, dressed in 
army camouflage. Lt. Surge's thick face grinned evilly as he reached out a 
muscular arm and grabbed Blaine by his neck. He lifted Blaine with the ease of 
lifting a glass for a toast. Blaine began to cough and sputter, his airways 
being restricted. 

Surge entered the dining room, still carrying Blaine, whose feet dangled 
helplessly a foot off the ground. Once Surge moved aside, Sabrina could see a 
young woman with short black hair pulled back from her face with a red headband. 
Behind her stood an army of ten or so Team Rocket members.

Blaine was having difficulty breathing and couldn't reach his pokeballs. Surge 
cocked his head, his dark eyes glinting maliciously as he said, "Does that hurt, 
Blaine?"

"Let him go," a soft but firm voice spoke up from behind him.

Surge turned his head, keeping his fist iron tight around Blaine's throat. His 
eyes lit up when he saw the speaker. "Sabrina," he said, and hint of lust in his 
tone. He loosened his grip on Blaine, who slid down the wall he had been pinned 
against. 

Surge advanced on Sabrina. Another woman might have been afraid of the large 
man, but Sabrina remained still, watching him approach. He towered over her, the 
top of her head barely reaching his chest. She glared up at him defiantly. 

"I've always wanted you," he said to her.

"And I have always detested you," she told him calmly. 

Surge's eyes flashed dangerously. "I'll show you, you little..." He raised his 
huge arm, his hand in the position to backhand her. 

"Hey!" Blaine cried, his voice horse, as he rubbed his raw throat.

Surge stopped his hand, inches from Sabrina's face, who he was not pleased to 
see hadn't even flinched. He lowered his arm, a small smile forming on his 
chiseled face. "You're right. There's another way to solve this." His face broke 
into a full grin and he began to loosen his belt buckle.

Erika finally spoke. "Surge, I know you feel the need to rape every female you 
see, but we really don't have time for this."

He glared at her. "It won't take long," he growled. "Keep Blaine out of my way."

Blaine finally stood up from his slumped position on the floor and was angrily 
getting ready to attack the much larger man.

Erika rolled her eyes at Surge, then moved over to keep Blaine in his place, her 
green kimono shifting slightly as she walked. 

Blaine glared at her. "Fire against grass, huh?" 

She nodded smiling. "Grass and water and electricity," she said, gesturing to 
the Team Rocket members around her.

Blaine shrugged, "I haven't had a good battle in a while."



A/N: I'm sorry about the wait, but life tends to get in the way of doing the fun 
things, you know? Plus I had a major case of writers block half way through this 
chapter, so that slowed me down. I've worked through it though so hopefully the 
next chapter won't take too long. (Hopefully being the key word there.) You know 
the drill, please review, let me know what your thinking, so on and so forth. 
Thanks!