Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon. You all know that. If I did the show wouldn't be so repetitive. Anyway I bet you can figure out what I own and what I don't. Enjoy.

 

"I CANT BELIEVE I ACTUALLY LISTENED TO YOU ASH KETCHUM. NOW WHERE LOST AND IT’S ALL YOU’RE FAULT" screamed Misty.

"I DON’T SEE WHAT YOU’RE PROBLM IS IT WAS THE MAP NOT ME"

"OH SURE, LIKE I’M GOING TO BELIEVE THAT. YOU ALWAYS MAKE UP EXCUSES FOR YOU’RE PIGHEADEDNESS".

Once again Ash and Misty where arguing. But the circumstances where not what you would expect them to be. Ash had finished in the top eight in the Johto league about a week ago and he, Misty and Brock where headed back to pallet town. You would think heading back wouldn’t be a problem since they knew the route but no such luck.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SO CRITICAL MISTY?"

"SO I CAN PUMP SOME BLOOD INTO THAT INCREDIBLY THICK SKULL THAT YOU CALL A HEAD".

By now Ash and Misty where only inches away from each other and the shouting match degraded into a glaring contest. Of course that just made it look like they where doing something else. "Wait, hold it right like that" said Brock snapping a picture. "Oh this is just to perfect".

Ash and Misty turned several shades of red. "Brock, that wasn’t funny" growled Ash through clenched teeth.

"Oh but it looked so much like a Kodiak moment". The next thing Brock knew he was on the ground with two big red marks shaped like fists on his face.

"Hey there’s the road" Said Misty.

"Should we leave him there?" asked Misty pointing at Brock. "Pallet town is only half an hour away".

Ash thought about it then said "nah. Let’s just carry him. If he comes on his own he’ll hit on every girl he sees along the way. This way he can’t embarrass himself".

They picked Brock up and began walking down the road. When they where about a hundred meters down the road a figure materialized out of thin air. He was shrouded in a cloak made of impenetrable black smoke and his eyes glowed through the self-imposed gloom like shards of heated rock. He let out a rasping chuckle that sounded like the hiss of a snake. "Ssssoon" rasped the figure in a voice that could barely be heard even if you where inches away but yet seemed to echo among the trees around him. "Ssssoon little chossssen one you will know true ssssuffering. But firsssst I musssst do ssssomething to make you vulnerable. Ssssomething to make you weak. Then when you are at you’re weakesssst I will desssstroy what you will come to love making it will be impossssible to disssscover you’re true powerssss. And to help otherssss find theirssss". The shroud of darkness around the figure began to swirl violently and blew away and in the place where the shrouded figure had been seconds before stood a young boy about Ash’s age. He smiled and in a puff of smoke disappeared.

******************************************************

"Man Brock what are you been eating" growled Misty as her and Ash dragged him up to the front door.

Ash shrugged and said, "I don’t know. Bricks maybe?" he reached up and Rung the doorbell.

"Coming," shouted somebody from inside the house then footsteps and the door opened. "Ash you’re home" squealed Miss Ketchum scooping Ash up in a big bear hug that threatened to permanently cut off his air supply.

"Gak. Mom you’re choking me" wheezed Ash.

"Oh sorry honey I’m just happy to see you. Wow you grew quite a bit"

"Well what do you expect. I am 15 now" * I know Ash hasn’t gotten any bigger in the show but this isn’t the show so deal with it *.

"What happened to Brock?" said Delia when she noticed him lying on the ground.

"Oh he uh…hit his head on a tree branch. Yah that’s it" stuttered Ash.

"I see. Well come in, come in don’t stand outside all day".

Ash dragged Brock into the living room and heaved him onto the couch. "Ok Brock I know you’re faking it" growled Ash.

Brock sat up and growled. "Only for the last ten minutes" he said rubbing his face.

"Well then why didn’t you just walk when you woke up then?"

"Payback for hitting me"

"Well I ought to hit you again for that," said Ash. "But I smell food so I won’t," and with that Ash disappeared into the kitchen.

Brock shook his head. "Why are they so sensitive? I mean it’s so obvious they have a thing for each other it practically hits everyone in the face except for them. Oh well". He stood up and shouted, "I’m not hungry right now. I’m going for a walk". Brock walked out the door and headed down the road in the direction of professor oaks lab. He was walking along the road staring at the clouds when he bumped into something. He looked down to see a kid about Ash’s age standing there. "Oh sorry".

"It’s okay" replied the boy. "I’m Nick, what’s you’re name?"

"Uh…I’m Brock," he said shaking Nick’s hand. "I’ve never seen you around before. Not that I’ve been here very often, but still".

"That’s Ok. I’m new in town. Would you mind showing me around?"

"Um…I don’t know the town well enough but I know someone who does"

"Perfect!" said Nick smiling. But what he was thinking was / perfect, my plan has been set in motion. These brainless oafs will have no idea what I’m up to. Still I need to be careful /.

***********************************************************

"I wonder when Brock will be back?" said Ash.

"I don’t know. But it’s such a beautiful day. Maybe we should go outside too" Said Misty.

So they did. However just as they where leaving the yard Brock walked up with nick in tow. "Hi guys" shouted Brock running up.

"Hi Brock. Who’s that?" said Ash pointing at Nick.

"Oh this is Nick. He’s new in town. I told him you could show him around a bit".

Pikachu walked over to Nick and sniffed him. His eyes narrowed and he crouched down and started growling.

"Pikachu what are you doing?" Said Ash scowling at the little yellow mouse. He looked up at Nick and said, "sorry he’s not usually like this".

Nick just smiled and said "oh that’s Ok". He crouched down and looked Pikachu straight in the eyes. / This had better work or that insolent little rodent might break my cover / thought Nick reaching out psychically and nudging Pikachu’s mind. Pikachu stopped growling, stood up and smiled at Nick.

"That’s better," said Ash as Nick stood back up. Pikachu hopped up on Ash’s shoulder. "So Nick you said you’re new in town?"

"Yes. Well I actually live just a little way outside of town"

"Oh? I don’t remember any houses outside of town".

Nick mentally kicked himself and tried the same trick on Ash that he had on Pikachu. But when he did something blocked him. / Curse it. I’ll have to convince him the old fashioned way /. "Yes…well. It’s down one of the side roads in the forest. It’s fairly new so I’m not surprised you don’t know about it".

Ash frowned. / He seems to be telling the truth. But just after I said I didn’t remember any houses out there I got this strange feeling. Like something was trying to look into my head. Oh well. Probably nothing /. At length Ash smiled and said "fair enough. You said you wanted a tour of the town?"

Nick let out a breath he had been holding and said "yes".

"Ok. Follow me"

************************************************************

Later that day everyone was sitting at an outside café drinking lemonade. Nick smiled and said, "this is a nice place. Nothing like where I came from".

"And where was that?" asked Misty.

"Goldenrod City" said Nick. "It was always noisy there. Nothing like a quiet little place like this. I think I prefer here".

"Same here" said Ash. "Cities are just to noisy for me". Ash stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Brock.

"Bathroom".

Nick stood up to and when asked why he said, "To get more to drink". He bought another bottle of lemonade then hid behind the door leading outside. Their table was right near the door and Misty just happened to be closest to the door. When Ash walked out of the bathroom Nick stuck his foot out so Ash tripped and landed right on top of Misty knocking the chair over backward.

Ash and Misty sprawled onto the ground with Ash on top. Ash and Misty just lay there for a second blushing. Then after about a minute Ash jumped up and shouted "Ok who tripped me?"

Nick walked out and said, "hey guys what’s up?"

"Some one tripped me," said Ash helping Misty up.

"Oh, it was probably that Gary person you told me about. I saw someone like him run out the side door"

"I should have known. Gary is always causing trouble". Everyone sat back down and kept drinking. But Ash however was thinking. / Man what a day. First this new kid shows up then Gary trips me and I land on top of Misty. Though that wasn’t too bad… AH WHAT THE HELL AM I SAYING /.

Misty was having similar thoughts. / Today was really weird. I mean with the new kid and all. Then Ash lands on top of me. He looked really cute when he was blushing… WHAT AM I THINKING /.

Nick smiled. He had been reading Misty’s mind. His plan was going smoothly. / It may take a while but I can wait longer /.

"Well it’s time for us to head home" said Ash standing up. "I hope to see you again Nick".

"Oh you will don’t worry. It’s not like I’m going anywhere". Nick stood up after Ash and co. had left and ran back out to the forest. He walked up to a rock face and touched it. A shimmering portal appeared and began to speak.

"So Nalgaroz" it said. "How goes the plan?"

"Excellent my master. They don’t suspect a thing. Phase two will begin soon"

"Good. You have done well. Continue as you will". With that the portal disappeared.

Nick smiled wickedly and said "yes master Azmodayos".

************************************************************

"Alright Cyndaquil use a flame-thrower," shouted Ash pointing at a nearby rock. He had been training in the forest for the last few hours and right now he was helping Cyndaquil with his aim.

"Cyn-da-QUILLLLLLLLLLLLL" shouted the little mouse hitting the rock dead center.

"Good Cyndaquil. Return" Ash held up Cyndaquil’s pokeball and called him back. He sat down on the ground next to Pikachu and took out a water bottle. "Well what do you think we should do now Pikachu," said Ash after taking a drink.

"Pi pika chu kachu pikachu pi"

"Yah I suppose we could go home. It’s not like we have any more training to do". He was about to leave when he heard a sound behind him. He turned around to see Nick step out of the bushes.

"Oh hi Ash" said Nick smiling. "What are you doing way out here?"

"Nothing really" said Ash waving his hand dismissively. "Just training".

"Really? You or you’re pokemon?"

"My pokemon of course. What else would you expect a pokemon trainer to do"

Nick smiled and said, "I don’t know. Some trainers learn how to fightas well as training their pokemon".

"Well why do that?"

"A ‘just in case’ sort of thing I guess. I could teach you how to fight. I’m not a pokemon trainer so I had to learn to do something".

"Ok. I’ll take you up on that offer. But will you teach Misty and Brock to?"

/ Oh well this is interesting / thought Nick. / Instead of creating a weakness for one person I will create weaknesses for all my prime targets. What better way of knowing an enemies weaknesses then giving them to him yourself? /. At length Nick said "Ok I will teach Misty and Brock to. Go get them and meet me back here in two hour’s".

So it came to pass that two hour’s later Ash, Misty and Brock where standing where Ash had been speaking with Nick. "Ok" said Nick "There are several ways of fighting. The first is an all around fighter. These fighters have all things like speed, strength, endurance and so on in equal amounts. The second type is a strength fighter. Fighters like these are very strong and can take lots of hits and damage but the drawback is they are very slow compared to other fighters. The third type is a speed fighter. Fighters like these are very fast and can strike rapidly and retreat just as easily. The drawback is that they aren’t as tough as the other two types and can’t take as many hits. What you have to remember is that there is no type that is better then any other. What makes a fighter better is the ability to exploit the enemy’s weakness. For example a speed fighter can take advantage of a strength fighter’s low speed and avoid being hit. While a strength fighter can take advantage of a speed fighters low damage tolerance by gathering energy and taking them out in one hit. An all around fighters weakness though is not in his speed or strength but rather in his inability to accomplish things a more specialized fighter could do. Like escape a crushing blow with speed or soak up extreme amounts of damage".

"So there is no superior style?" asked Ash.

"No"

"How do you know what style is best for you?" asked Brock.

"I don’t know. You just do," said Nick shrugging. "There’s no journey involved in finding how you fight best. You go with you’re gut and hope for the best".

"Well my gut tells me that in an all around kind of guy" said Ash.

"I think I would do best with speed," said Misty.

"That leaves strength for me" said Brock.

Nick smiled / just the answers I was hoping for. I must be doing something right. I don’t know what that could be but I wont look the gift horse in the mouth /.

"Hey by the way how do you fight Nick?" asked Misty.

"All around" he said. "Ok the first lesson…" and with that for the next few days they spent their time learning the basics fighters of all types need. (Ok I’m going to skip ahead a little here. It seems like I’m getting into the middle of it pretty fast huh? Well good. I don’t like intros that last a whole chapter.)

************************************************************

A couple months later

"Good. You three are doing excellent" Said Nick clapping. Ash and co. had been training almost non-stop for the past two months and now they could stand up to pretty much all but the best fighters. But they still hadn’t gotten onto the more specialized stuff yet. He smiled and said "Ok I think you three are as good at the basics as you can get. Time to get on to the other stuff. Now Ash, you need to focus on everything. First I’m going to teach you how to run. Brock you don’t need any of this so just go do something else".

"What am I supposed to do?" Asked Brock.

"I don’t know. You want to train for strength. Go try to break a rock or something," said Ash as the others walked away.

Brock shrugged and turned to the nearest boulder. "Ok rock you’ve met you’re mach," said Brock winding up and punching it head on. SMACK. "Owe, damn that hurts" said Brock waving his bruised hand around. "Stupid rock". Brock wound up again and kicked it. SMACK. "OWE, I STUBBED MY TOE".

************************************************************

"Ok" said Nick. "Try to jump up onto that tree branch" said Nick indicating a branch about 6 feet off the ground.

"You’re kidding right?" said Ash.

"No I’m not. By the time you’re training is finished you will be able to jump at least fifty feet and Misty twice that".

"That’s impossible," said Misty.

In response Nick just jumped fifty feet up onto a branch in a different tree.

"Ok we’ll work on it," said Ash and Misty. (Ok another skip ahead. This is a big one so bear with me. And yes if you’re wondering if Nick keeps up with his plan to get Ash and Misty together he does. I just won’t describe any of it until the training is over).

************************************************************

Five months later

"Well that’s about it" Said Nick looking at everyone. "I’ve taught you all I can. Now to see what you can do. Misty? Lets see how fast you’ve gotten".

Misty wound up and took off at top speed. She was around the two hundred meter track in ten seconds.

"Good. Okay Brock now you".

Brock grabbed a nearby sapling by digging his hand into the trunk and then proceeded to rip it right out of the ground. It wasn’t a huge tree, saplings never are after all. But they do hold to the ground better then some full groun trees and one handed was pretty good.

"Good. Now you Ash"

Ash turned to a nearby rock and launched a flurry of lightning fast punches that turned it into gravel.

"Perfect" said Nick.

"Wow thanks Nick. Just one question though" said Ash.

"Yes?"

"How is it we got so strong so fast. I mean…doesn’t this normally take years?"

"Yes. But people like that don’t train as much in a year as we did in a month and they usually practice alone instead of having someone help". Nick’s lie seemed to stick. In reality he had been boosting their skills with his powers. Brock and Misty that is. Ash really did get strong that fast. And being the prime target Ash would have sensed Nick doing it to him anyway. Once their training was finished Nick stopped using his power on them. Besides the boost wasent needed anymore anyways.

"Well we had better get going" Said Ash. With that he, Misty and Brock ran back toward home. But despite being faster then the average person now Brock fell a little behind even with Ash and Misty running slowly…well slowly for them anyway.

Nick smiled and walked up to a cliff face and tapped it. The vortex appeared and said, "what is our progress as of now Nalgaroz?"

"Phase two is complete Master"

"Very good. Continue with phase three".

"Master. If I may…why did I have to train them to be this powerful? Won’t it make them more difficult to defeat".

"Yes. However it will also make them more confidant. And confidence is a very dangerous thing indeed. And the greater the defeat the easier it is to destroy their very souls. Do not worry. I am not overconfident. I have a backup plan in case a random factor presents itself". The laughter of master and servant echoed through the forest scaring the creatures into silence.

************************************************************

"Mom I’m home said Ash running into the house.

"Oh hi honey," said Delia from the kitchen. "How was you’re day?"

"It was great," said Ash as he, Brock and Misty sat down at the table.

"How is you’re friend doing?"

"Nick? Oh he’s doing good," said Ash. / Theirs only one problem only one problem. In all the time we’ve spent in the forest we have never seen his house. It’s like he doesn’t have one. Then again we haven’t exactly been all over the forest. Probably in a different part /.

Suddenly Pikachu froze and perked up his ears.

"What is it Pikachu?" asked Ash as everyone stood up.

"Chu chu pika chu pikachu ka pi pika chu"

"What is it Ash?" asked Brock.

"Something’s coming" he said running outside followed by Brock and Misty. Ash squinted down the road and off in the distance he spotted a cloud of dust. "Well we haven’t seen them in a while" said Ash.

"Who is it?" Asked Brock looking down the road (he didn’t need to squint).

"It’s team rocket".

Well that’s it for part 1. Hoped you liked it. Sorry if their fight training seems rushed but it will make sense later right?…right? HAHAHA j/k of course it will. As for whats coming up… what is team rocket planning. Will nicks plan…ah screw it. Team rockets invention works for once and Nick begins to have doubts about what he is planning. I'm no good at fancy previews. Well ciao.