The Greatest Trainer Part 3 by Lord Kadabra I don't own Pokemon, and none of the characters except Allegra are mine. (And do not use her unless you ask my permission!). Not all first-person narratives are Allegra's point of view, but I will make it obvious whose POV it is. *** I sat, floating high over Saffron City, the clouds blowing through my not-quite-human feet. Was it fate? That the man I should hopelessly and truly fall in love with, I had been ordered to kill? Because I knew there was no way I could keep him alive. I may be powerful, but it was Giovanni. And I was aware of the change he had made, his fail-safe. No. I had to kill Ash. Unless...I knew that he could find happiness without me. But I could not eliminate only myself. One could not save a man by destroying the tool. One must destroy the hand that wields it. As long as Giovanni didn't understand. *** Ash was still in shock at the verification of his suspicions. Allegra-but he couldn't think about it. He looked up at Misty and Sabrina. Concern was heavy on their faces, and Ash smiled reassuringly. They were seated in the living room of the Cerulean City Gym, arranged in a triangle. Suddenly, the TV switched itself on. The face that had become posted in police stations worldwide because of its vague threats sat calmly in front of the cameras. "Ash Ketchum, this is your last chance. Tomorrow, I will wait at the Viridian City Gym. If you do not challenge me, I will not give you another chance. I will strike you down without warning, and destroy every gym in the world. But first, I will burn the suburbs of Viridian City. Especially one, little, happy town that you call home." Her eyes flashed blue and she vanished. Ash sat quietly for a moment, then stood up. He walked over to where he had placed his backpack. Misty stood up, and tried to stop him. "Ash, what are you doing? That woman will kill you!" she protested. Ash turned angrily to Misty. "I don't think she will, Misty. And even if she will, I love her, and believe that she isn't evil. There's something that's holding her, and I would risk my life to free her. But you don't understand that, do you? You're like your element, cold, heartless, emotionless!" Ash shoved her aside and rushed from the room. Misty looked after him, tears forming in her eyes. "I understand it Ash, more than you could ever know," she said to the air. Sabrina placed her arm around the young woman. "Misty, he's in a difficult place right now, and you perhaps shouldn't have been so...opinionated. But being pushed away by a loved one is hard..." She paused, as if remembering something, "but we should help him. Let's go." The vestiges of a smile flitted across Misty's face, and she hurried to get some supplies from her room. *** "You lured him to come here?" Giovanni asked. I nodded. "I felt that you would enjoy seeing him die," I answered meekly. A smile twitched at the edges of his lips, but it was a cold smile that chilled me to the core. "Of course. I will leave the gym open," he said quietly, "And Maxim, if you lose-" I looked up, waiting for an answer. "Don't lose." He cut off the connection, and I shuddered. But a grim satisfaction filled me. Soon, he would never bother an innocent person again. It was 4:00, and I knew that Ash would be here at sunrise. I had to prepare. *** Ash stepped to the entrance of the Viridian City Gym. He remembered, years ago, when he had come here for an Earth Badge. And now he was fighting for his life. The Romanesque entrance of the gym was much more imposing than Ash had remembered. And the doors were opened. He stepped towards the door, but a cry made him turn. Misty was running towards him, and Sabrina was walking calmly after him. Misty caught up, gasping and panting. "Ash, we came to help you, or rather, give you support," she wheezed. "Misty, you didn't need to-" Ash began, but Sabrina interrupted. "You need all the help you can get, Ash," she said, approaching him from behind. "Now let's go." *** The gym was nearly empty; there was one figure sitting in a chair on a raised platform in the back, and a beautiful young woman standing at the defender's position platform. Her green eyes, shining brightly in the dark gym, were glaring angrily to the door. She floated slowly to the ground, and spoke to the room. "I've been waiting for you, Ash," she said calmly, her voice nonetheless echoing incredibly. "Get in your position, and we'll battle." Ash silently climbed up to his platform, and the girl smiled. "Unlimited Pokemon. No time limit," she declared, rising to about an inch above the ground. Ash nodded, and threw a Pokeball. "Charizard, I choose you!" The dragon flew from the energy, blasting fire randomly. Again, Allegra's vines ripped free from her coat, her skin became an orange tinge, and the light caught her metal plates. "I choose, Maximestis!" She growled, and threw her hands up. "Hydro Pump!" The air around her became distorted, as if viewed through a glass of water, and a blast of water smashed into Charizard. It roared, enraged, and swept towards the girl. If he had collided, she would have been thrown into the platform. But she teleported out of the way, and Charizard crashed into the wall, expecting its prey to take the shock. It fainted, not expecting it to take its own attack. Ash frowned, and threw out another Pokeball. "Go, Muk! Maxim, why are you doing this? Why do you want to kill me?" Ash watched as the sludge Pokemon materialized. Allegra frowned. "I don't want to do this Ash, but you can't get anything for free. I wasn't born this way; I had to pay a price to get here." Ash scowled. "Muk, Minimize!" The Pokemon abruptly became much smaller, and Maxim realized she could barely see it. "Besides, Ash, I wanted to prove my abilities, and beating you is the best baramoter." She closed her eyes, and let loose a Psybeam that accurately blasted the poor Pokemon into oblivion. "And Ash, I'm sorry; you mean a lot to me." *** Kingler, Squirtle, Pidgeot, Snorlax, Bayleef, Ghastly, and even a powerful Mr. Mime (not his mother's) fell to Allegra's attacks. Ash somehow knew that if Pikachu lost, he would die. He looked to Allegra. "Please, Allegra, please help me," Ash begged. A laugh came from the back of the room. A light illuminated the back of the arena, where a red-clothed man with slick black hair and a disconcerting smile sat, stroking a contented Persian. "Don't beg with her, Mr. Ketchum. She answers to me, and if she fails, and that is a big IF, I have over 100 troops ready to kill you." The man smiled. "But I have enjoyed this, so continue." Allegra turned to Ash. "You have many more Pokemon, and this battle could go on for days. But Mr. Ketchum, you and I both know that one single Pokemon will determine this battle. Send out Pikachu. I want to see if that overgrown mouse can defeat me." She laughed. Ash growled, and turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, do you want to fight her?" The little Pokemon nodded determinedly, and hopped forward. Allegra giggled. "Ash, do you know when I first saw you? It was when I was 9. I was lost, and a storm had come up. And I saw a 10-year-old boy riding a girl's bicycle, carrying a Pikachu from a flock of angry Spearow. And the bike overturned. And something the boy did made that Pikachu leap into the path of the Spearow and let loose the power of the heavens, and decimated those birds. And Ash, from that, I decided that I would learn how to do that, and then I would beat you." She smiled, and the roof suddenly exploded outward. What became visible was a violent storm, lightening crashing and thunder deafening all nearby. The Pikachu glared angrily, and took up the stance that would allow it to use itself as a grounding wire. Allegra raised her hands, and lightening struck. It touched her metal plates, and exploded outward into a sphere of energy. Everything within a 10-foot radius was blasted, burned, and shocked. But Pikachu remained standing, and smiled. Its cheeks sparked, and it let loose a Thunder attack. The metal in Allegra's forehead was connected to her nervous system, and unintended electric discharge could be damaging. She fell, feeling the electricity shocking every nerve in her body. She screamed in pain, and Ash yelled at Pikachu to stop. The mouse relaxed, bounced to the ground, and leapt over to check on the prostrate figure. But she sat up, eyes glowing black. "I'm sorry, Ash," she hissed, and raised her hands. Black sparks bounced between fingers, and everyone present recognized the dark power at work. A beam of black light lanced out, striking just to the right of Ash. Giovanni stood up angrily. "Idiot! How did you miss? That's it; move in and kill both of them!" Giovanni was red with anger, and it was obvious that he truly wanted the two people dead. Quite a few men and women dressed in the standard Rocket attire appeared in the room, each carrying several Pokeballs. But Allegra still wanted to fight. She let loose another beam of light, but a sudden sound distracted her, throwing her aim off, and blasted into the Rockets. The energy was not concentrated; it knocked out everyone in the room except the original five. Her eyes shifted to a light blue shade, and floated up to Giovanni. The platform cracked, and the man fell heavily to the ground. Allegra stopped over him. Her body glowed a slight red color. "Giovanni, when you created me, you wanted to make sure I couldn't turn against you. So you had the scientists add another gene, that forced my cells to manufacture acetane pansis, the same chemical produced by Electrode. You also implanted a detonation chip that would, on command by remote control, cause that chemical to be activated and destroy me. But Giovanni, I learned about that gene, and I learned conscious control of it. And I've seen your Team Rocket in action. And Giovanni, I love Ash Ketchum, and I refuse to let him die. And I realized that I was only a tool, that you are the hand that wields it, that if I refuse, you will find other tools. So, Giovanni..." By now, her body was infused with a deep red- black, and a low humming filled the room. "Prepare to die." Giovanni tried to scramble up, but found his body was frozen. "What?! What are you doing?" "I'm making sure that you'll never hurt another person ever again. Ash, you and your friends get out of here. Now!" "But Allegra, Allegra, I-" "Go! Now!" Ash froze. "Allegra; I love you." Allegra hesitated a moment, but turned to him. "Ash, you have plenty to live for; you can survive without me. Now go!" He still remained frozen, so Misty grabbed his hand, trying to drag him away. "Ash, if we don't go, we'll all die!" she insisted. The humming became a deafening whine, and Allegra's body was only a sillouette. Sabrina looked him in the eye. "Ash, forgive me." She teleported them quickly away, but Ash's scream of anguish was left behind. But it could not compare to the scream let out the moment before the explosion by the man who had it all, the man who lost it all for the sake of love. *** Imagine a bolt of lightening striking the ground a foot from you. Imagine the sound and light it would make. This was nothing like that. The flash was seen as a thick column of fire in the northern sky from Professor Ivy's lab in Valencia Island. The force of air and sound reached them a minute later, a rushing wind that tore small trees from their roots, and a blast of noise that rattled windows, and caused Zubat to take refuge in the deepest caves. Anyone within the tri-city area was deafened for several minutes, and anyone who looked towards the lighted sky was blinded. Ash was sitting in the Pokemon Center, staring at the still-bright sky. He got up, and turned to Sabrina. "Do you think they've cleared the area?" She sighed. "I'll send you there, Ash, but it's not pretty." He felt himself carried by teleportation and set him lightly on the pavement. Misty and other water trainers were there, trying to put out the flames that persisted even hours after the explosion. Ash stared at the flaming rubble that once had been the arena. Over a hundred corpses lay there, blasted by the explosion. In the rear were the two skeletons that represented the the bravest person Ash had ever met, and the other, the most despicable. One was cowering in fear, the other standing somewhat calmly over him. Ash walked to this place, staring at the female bones, the woman who had sacrificed everything for a dream and for love. He cried unabashedly over her and her sacrifice, and Misty stood quietly behind him, sighing. She stepped right behind him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She really must have loved you, Ash." He smiled. "She did. But...she gave up everything for me. Why?" "Ash, it wasn't all for you. She loved you, and wanted to protect you, yes, but she also knew that someone had to stop Giovanni. And maybe Ash, she realized that the world wasn't ready for her, that her abilities would be abused, feared, and hated. Maybe, she did what was best." A tear fell from Ash's cheek. "But she had to know I loved her." "But Ash, she's gone. Sure, you can mourn, but sometime, you should realize that maybe this is better, that she left, or maybe let the pain fade, but not disappear. Maybe you can be happy again." Ash turned to her. "Maybe you're right." "Yes Ash, and I'll always be here for you, if you need it." And the flames, so long hanging onto life, made a final flare to the sky, and finally died down. And Ash stood, silently remembered her, her sacrifice, and the woman whom he loved. Like himself, she had a dream, and perhaps she fulfilled it. But the way she died, it truly made her the greatest. END