Ike Ketchum: A New Journey Begins
Part 10

Ike Ketchum: A New Journey Begins Part 9
Note: Ike's Pokemon:
Sasha, Lv. 19, Knows: Thundershock, Quick Attack, Volt Tackle, and Double 
Team
Primeape Lv. 28, Knows: Rage, Focus Energy, Karate Chop, and Seismic Toss
Spearow Lv. 19, Knows: Aerial Ace, Fury Attack, Growl, and Pursuit
Nidorino Lv. 20, Knows: Horn Attack, Double Kick, Focus Energy, and Fury 
Attack

Amelia's Pokemon have not changed since she caught Onix.

Misty shot  awake.  Her body was covered with sweat, and she was breathing 
heavily.  She looked around wildly for the clock, and when  her eyes finally 
landed on it she saw that it was 3 AM.  She lay back down, and she covered 
her face with her hands.  Her eyes watered.

Why do I keep having these dreams, she thought.  I haven't seen Ash in years!

Misty knew Ash Ketchum, the Pokemon Master, when they were kids.  She had 
traveled with him for a time, but then she had to attend to her gym.  During 
their time together, Misty had regarded Ash as a brother, and after a time, 
someone she deeply loved.  She was a little older than him, but it didn't 
matter to her.  She had really expected him to ask her to marry him, but he 
had chosen Ima.  They got married, and she hadn't spoken to Ash much after 
that.  Then he disappeared, and she didn't talk to him at all.

But then the dreams came.  

A creepy Pokemon with glowing eyes would talk to her, telling her that Ash 
needed her help.  It told her that Ash's son would come, and to tell him 
about their visits.  It said that there were horrible things happening, and 
that Ash couldn't set them aright by himself.  Then she would see so many 
terrifying images.  Pokemon suffering.  People screaming.  Both dying.

Misty shuddered.  She lay back down.  What could this mean?

Ike was in the Cerulean Pokemon Center.  He had won many battles in the 
field, and he was feeling pretty pumped.  He had found himself an 
unsuspecting Pokemon trainer who was bragging about how great they were, and 
he pounced on him.

“Hmph, who do you think you are? Good trainers don't brag about how great 
their Pokemon are,” he declared.

“What are you talking about? You think you're some hotshot or something?” the 
boy objected.

“Well, I know what I'm doing,” Ike said smoothly.

“What? How many badges do you have? I have 4!” the boy said, pounding his 
hands on the table in front of him.

“It doesn't matter.  You can beat a weak trainer with only pure luck,” Ike 
yawned.  “If  you don't know how to use your Pokemon, you might as well go 
home.”

“You have a big mouth! Why don't we battle, huh? I'll shut you up!” the 
trainer grumbled.

“Now, what is this?” Nurse Joy interrupted, coming in behind Ike.  “There 
will be no Pokemon battling inside the Pokemon Center!  Have some respect!”


The trainer glared at Ike for a few moments, then he got up out of his chair 
angrily.  The chair fell over.  Nurse Joy eyed the boys who were sitting 
around the table with him.  “Do you boys have anything to say? Or are you 
going with that one?”

The boys shook their heads, indicating that they would be causing no more 
trouble.  Joy turned to Ike.  “And you, are you finished provoking others, or 
am I going to have to kick you out?”

Ike crossed his arms and looked away.  “No ma'am,” he muttered.  Sasha looked 
at Nurse Joy with sad eyes.  

Nurse Joy's face softened, and she said, “Alright then.”

“What is wrong with you?” Amelia nagged when Joy left.  “Do you look for 
trouble everywhere you go?  Why do you act like this?  Is it because you're 
just so incredibly full of yourself that you think nobody will stop you from 
acting like a jerk?”

Ike glared at Amelia.  “I don't have to answer to you.”  With that, he gave 
Amelia another nasty look, and stormed away.

Probably headed to the gym, Amelia thought to herself.  And good riddance 
too!

Misty opened the doors to her gym.  They opened with a loud creak, and a 
quiet darkness greeted her.

It's so creepy when I open up, Misty thought.  Who would have thought I'd 
miss my sisters so much?

Their company would have been welcome now.  They were incredibly vain, and 
Misty really couldn't stand to be around them.  But any companionship would 
be better than this big empty gym.  She sighed  as she remembered her long 
lost friends, Brock and Ash.  It was hard to believe they had met so long 
ago, and that she hadn't made any true friends since them.  Misty sighed as 
she turned the lights on.  A gigantic, sparkling pool greeted her.

Misty stared at the placid water sadly.  Her reflection was looking older all 
the time, she mused.

Then she realized something.  The gym was way too quiet.  Usually, a few 
water Pokemon were left here over night, instead of staying in a Pokeball.  
When she would turn the lights on, she'd get a loud reception from whoever 
was there.  But this time...nothing.  The hairs on the back of her neck stood 
up, and she went to turn around.

Too late.  Someone gagged her from behind.

Ike arrived at Cerulean Gym, sick of being distracted.  He threw open the 
doors, and bellowed into the dark emptiness, “I challenge you to a battle!  
Come out from wherever you are and prepare to give me a badge!”

Ike's voice echoed all around the vacant gym.  Sasha fidgeted uneasily.  Ike 
roved his eyes around the room. It was dark.  This is weird, Ike thought.  Is 
the gym closed?  Then why are the doors unlocked? “Hello? HEAR ME! I will not 
be denied!” he shouted again.

“Pika...” Sasha whispered.

“Don't be a big baby, Sasha!” Ike complained.  “The gym leader's just afraid 
to....”

SLAM!

The sound of the doors banging shut caused Sasha to discharge a mild jolt of 
electricity.  “YEOWCH!” Ike wailed.  “QUIT!”

“Silence!” a deep voice boomed.  “Put your Pokemon away,” it ordered.

“Who are you, the gym leader?” Ike shot back impudently.  “Come out from 
wherever you are, you coward!”

“Hm, hm, hm! I'm no gym leader,” the voice laughed.  “You will understand who 
I am momentarily.”

“What is going on here?” Ike grumbled.  “This is stupid!”

“Listen, child.  I'm giving you a chance to leave.  It would truly be 
senseless for you to die here, since I have no interest in you.  If you turn 
around now, I'll forgive you for interrupting our plans.”

“Who do you think you are?  I'm not going anywhere.  I want my gym badge!” 
Ike argued.

The voice snickered.  “Very well, I see you wish to go on to the afterlife.  
A pity.”  The lights came on, and a single man stood in front of Ike.  He had 
red, slanted eyes, and long, gelled hair, slicked straight back.  He was as 
short as Ike, though he was a grown man.  He wore a black suit, which had a 
tiny red letter 'R' stitched onto it.  He put his hands behind his back and 
grinned maliciously at Ike.

“Hello, trainer.  I didn't expect anyone so early,” he said.  “And who is 
this on your shoulder?”

Ike took a step back.  There was just something about this man that made him 
feel uneasy.  Those eyes...he had never seen anything like them.  They bored 
into him, discovering him.  They held a knowledge so vast, so endless, that 
Ike knew it would swallow him up.  They burned into him, taunting him, and 
Ike was paralyzed.

The man's grin deepened.  “I see it.  I see you are afraid.  They all are, at 
first.”  His eyes flashed, and Sasha screamed.  She collapsed to the floor, 
unconscious.

Ike wanted to scream, but he couldn't move.  He had no control over his own 
body.  He felt his arms strain to go up, so he could punch the man in the 
face, but to no avail.  He stood rigid.  The man walked up to Sasha, and 
looked straight down at her.

“This Pikachu isn't ordinary, is it.”  He said it in a matter of fact tone; 
it was no question.  He bent down to touch her, to Ike's horror.  He rubbed 
her cheeks tenderly.  “Ohhh!” he said delightedly.  “I know who YOU are!”

The man looked up at Ike.  “I'm not surprised YOU turned up here.  It makes 
much more sense to me now that I know who you are.  And since I do, I don't 
think I'll tell you who I am.  I have the advantage that way.”

Ike racked his brain, trying to figure out how this terrible man could 
possibly know who he was, but he could find no answers.  His forehead began 
to sweat.

“Well, I guess it wouldn't matter anyway if you did know who I was,” the man 
said smoothly.  “Since you aren't going to be around to tell anyone about 
me.”  He sighed.  “Even so...”

The man stood.  He opened his jacket.  He reached in, and pulled out a 
pistol.

“As you have witnessed, I have incredible psychic ability,” he remarked.  
“But I find this more efficient when I want to kill someone.”

Ike's heart leaped into his throat.  No, he wouldn't really?

The man lifted his hand and pointed the gun straight at Ike.  “It's been 
real!” he said enthusiastically.

With a roar, Ike's world went black.


END OF IKE KETCHUM: A NEW JOURNEY BEGINS


TO BE CONTINUED