Ash's Gift
By MegamanZero
Part 5: New Friends and New Enemies
nmc_512@yahoo.com
AAMRN

Ash: 15	Misty: 16	Brock: 20	Todd: 16
Jamie:16	Gary: 16	Jesse and James: 21
Richie: 17	Ashura: 15	Commander Slade Morton: 33



A/N: Sorry about the typo on the last chapter. No, IT was NOT PART ONE. That's 
why they call it a typo. Yes, I'm aware that I didn't add a disclaimer on part 
four either, so I'll have to do double the disclaiming on this one. I am also 
aware that I've been misspelling the name of a certain Pokemon (gasps). That is 
a typo as well. Don't worry all you purists out there, I will correct this 
"terrible" error and I hope you can forgive me >_<. Oh yeah, I've also deciding 
not to do any more story recaps, they're getting to be a pain in the ass to 
think of. Furthermore, I don't want to see any flames about Duplica and Ash 
hooking up! This is an AAMRN, dammit! Be patient! Flames on this subject will be 
used to burn the people who send them.

Disclaimer: All characters (except for my originals) are sole property of 
Creatures and Gamefreak, blah blah blah.

Still Disclaiming: This is the difference between fantasy and reality. In my 
fantasy world, I own Pokemon and I'm rolling in green right now. In reality I 
DON'T. I hope you have learned a valuable lesson.

* * * * 

"That's right, just keep those hands up." the cold voice continued. "Think you 
can move faster than laser?"

Duplica shook with fear. One of the things she hated was being held at gunpoint 
from behind. It was a horrifying thing to think about, not being able to see the 
gun, never knowing when the gunman will decide to pull the trigger. Then another 
thought clicked into her head.

Wait a hot tick! What am I so afraid of? I'm a Lekarian, a Superior for Christ 
sake! I fear no bounty hunter, especially ones that are too cowardly to confront 
me face to face. But still, how did he know what I really am? Her heart sank 
when she thought of the answer.

He was with wasn't just any old bounty hunter. He was an Elite; one of Silph's 
top operatives. Only Silph agents knew of her kind's true origins. Elites were 
so well trained with Psi that they could very well deal with just about any 
Superior. 

Damn Siplh! she cursed. Figures that I would be the first one to be captured!

"And don't even think about turning around." the Elite warned. "I know what you 
Lekarians are capable of. I am very well aware that you need to have visual 
contact with a target before you can use a Psionic technique."

Duplica shifted around in place. "If I am to be taken in," she said, "then I 
should at least know the name of my captor."

The Elite gave a warm smile. He did a little bow while keeping his gun trained 
on her. "Todd Tooru at your service, madam." he said sweetly. His smile faded 
back into its usual scowl, his voice sunk back down into a rasp. "Now lets go, 
I'm getting a huge bonus in pay for bringing a Tri member in, so I'll try not to 
rough you up TOO bad."

"Where's your partner, human?" she inquired, her confidence coming back to her. 
"All Elites have partners. Shouldn't he be helping you with the likes of me?"

Todd snorted. "You flatter yourself, Lekarian. Partner or not, I'm still just as 
dangerous to you as ever. The whereabouts of my partner are none of YOUR 
concern." He gave a tired sigh. "But if you must know, he is taking care of the 
Ultimate right now."

Duplica's heart jumped into her throat. "You're going to kill him ... aren't 
you?" she whispered. "You're going to murder him."

"Not me." Todd sneered. "Definitely not I. However, I can't say the same about 
my partner." His eyes flared blue for a moment as his Psi levels raised with his 
anger. A sudden gust of Psi wind nearly blew Duplica off her feet. "And it's NOT 
murder. It's called 'saving the world'. Saving him from beings like YOU who want 
to use him to destroy all humanity! He cannot be allowed to live." 

Todd calmed down a bit, then he started to insult her. "And don't you dare call 
us murderers. Your whole damn SPECIES is made up of murderers. You are the 
epitome of killing. You are the ... "

"Shut UP!!" she roared. "I hate killing, I HATE IT! Don't you EVER call me the 
epitome of killing!"

Suddenly, her attitude changed. She gave a sinister smile. A little intimidation 
was all it took. "But don't think I won't kill you to escape, human." she said 
in her sweetest, deadliest voice. "Don't believe for one moment that just 
because I hate taking life away, that I won't take yours in defense of myself. 
And don't think I won't take the life of your partner for trying to eliminate 
the Ultimate."

"You talk big," he commented, slightly caught off guard, "for one who is about 
to be taken in to her execution, and an Ion Disruptor trained on 
her head."

Duplica's eyes went as big as saucers. That settled it, she was GOING to escape. 
She WOULD be free. An Ion Disruptor was the strongest pistol in the world. It 
made her Phase Disruptor look like a peashooter. She began to concentrate her 
Psi into the air around her, making it dense and thick.

The sinister smile returned once more. "Just one more thing," she said in a 
seductive voice. "Before you take me in, big boy, I just have one thing to tell 
you." 

Todd blinked in confusion, he was noticing that his gun hand was trembling 
involuntarily. "Yes, and what's that?"

Duplica flared her Psionic aura. "THINK FAST!" 

She shot her Psi from under her, rocket-propelling her off the ground and into 
the sky in one huge jump. With unimaginable speed, she began to zip around in 
the air, her glowing aura making her look like a humanoid light bulb. 

Todd uttered a loud curse and began shooting at her with the Ion Disruptor. The 
shots sizzled and cracked in the air. Duplica feinted around them like they were 
harmless fireflies. She moved so fast it seemed as though there was more than 
one of her. Todd was confused; no matter how much he shot at her, or no matter 
how good of a shot he was, he just couldn't make a hit. 

Then he inwardly smacked himself. It was the work of Psi. The little bitch had 
used her Psi to make the air thicker around the shots so they would go much 
slower than they would have. Her technique boggled his mind to think that she 
was good enough could follow the shots and thicken the air around him to make 
them go slower. It was incredible. But the time to marvel at her strength was 
not now. 

"You think you Lekarians are the only ones who can use Psi!?" he raged up at 
her, holstering his gun. "Think again." He began to concentrate his own Psi, 
pushing it under himself and forcing him off the pavement. His aura exploded 
outward as he shot into the air. He was angry.

Duplica halted in mid air. "You're pretty good!" Duplica complimented as he rose 
to her height. "If I wasn't so fast I would've been shot down by now. But that 
doesn't matter! You will die tonight, human." The two fighters put their hands 
up into a fighting stance. Anybody watching them would have seen two teenagers 
floating above the trees.

Todd gave a loud cry as he shot towards the glowing girl. He began to throw out 
a seemingly unstoppable flurry of punches and kicks. The girl only gave a wide 
smile as she effortlessly dodged, blocked and parried every single blow that 
came to her. He wasn't so tough, she decided. I almost died the last time I 
faced off against an Elite, but this one has to be the weakest one I've ever 
fought. He can't even land a single blow on me! I'm way too fast for him, and 
there's no doubt in my mind that my martial arts technique is better than his. 

Her smile remained on her face as she gave a lightning fast round kick to his 
left flank. It was so fast that he didn't even have time to see it coming, much 
less avoid it. He gave a loud grunt as the kick made contact, sending him 
reeling off into the air. It felt like someone slamming a sledgehammer into him.

He angrily clutched his side. "God," he groaned to himself, "if I don't rethink 
my strategy I really am going to die tonight. How was I supposed to know that 
she was THAT fast!?"

Duplica crossed her arms impatiently. "Well?" she shouted. "I'm waiting! Or is 
the mighty Elite afraid of fighting a little girl like me?""

Todd stared in disbelief. She was mocking him. The little bitch was mocking him. 
How dare she make sport of him! He would show her, oh yes, he would show her 
just what an Elite could do!

He grinned slyly as he began to descend back onto the pavement. When in doubt, 
he thought, use your Pokemon! He pulled out one of his Pokeballs.

"Go, Scizor!" he shouted. The crimson bug Pokemon appeared with a loud "ZOR!" 
"Fight speed with speed!"

Duplica quickly descended back to the ground. "So, you wanna turn this into a 
Pokemon match, hmmm?" she taunted. "Can't do your own dirty work, so you have to 
have your Pokemon do it for you? Well, fine, two can play that game. Go, Ditto!"

With a red flash, Ditto materialized itself in front of its trainer. "Ditto!" it 
cried.

Duplica sneered at him. "You had leverage over me when you had me at gunpoint 
from behind, but now that we're fighting face to face, things are a lot 
different, aren't they? Ditto, Transform!"

Ditto glowed white and began to morph. But it didn't transform into Todd's 
Scizor. It Transformed into Duplica. 

Todd's eyes bulged outward. "What the ..." he gasped. "That's not possible! 
Dittos can only Transform into Pokemon!"

"Scizor?" The red Pokemon didn't know what to think.

Duplica's eyes gave a deadly gleam. "Oh, is that so?" she inquired, raising her 
eyebrow. "Show's how much you know of the power of a Ditto. Or a Superior."

Todd was seething. "Will you just stop calling yourself that stupid name!?" he 
exploded. "You are a Lekarian, Lekarian, Lekarian!"

Duplica ignored him. "Remember," she said, "Ditto can only use techniques that 
the subject knows. Just think of this as an example of how dangerous I really 
am. Ditto?"

Ditto/Duplica eyes wouldn't leave its crimson target. "Yeah?" it answered.

"It ... can ... talk." Todd breathed.

Duplica pointed at the Scizor. "Use our Mind Flare move, now!" A blue aura, much 
like the one that surrounded Duplica, appeared around the Transformed Pokemon. 
The light from the aura became so bright it illuminated the area around them. 
The Scizor cried out in pain and covered its eyes. Todd clutched his own eyes. 
If it weren't for the ocular implants, he knew his eyes would've been 
permanently damaged. 

"Scizor, use your Slash attack!" he ordered. The Scizor wouldn't obey, however. 
Through a blur, Todd watched as his Pokemon stumbled around aimlessly, slashing 
around wildly. It was blind. 

"DAMMIT!" Todd cursed. Things weren't looking good at this point. "Scizor, 
return!" The blinded Pokemon was teleported back to its Pokeball while Todd 
fumbled around for another. One of my strongest Pokemon, he thought bitterly, 
put out of commission with a single attack. "Lekarian scum!" A haunted look 
spread over his face. He had only brought one Pokeball. He wanted to kick 
himself, how could he have been so careless!?

Duplica smiled even wider. "It looks like you're out of Pokemon." she observed. 
She cracked her knuckles as well as her neck. "And out of luck." she added as an 
afterthought. "Ditto, return!" With a flash of red, the shape shifting Pokemon 
returned to its Pokeball. 

Todd whipped his Ion Disruptor pistol out of its holster and began to fire 
wildly. He was desperate, he had no more Pokemon, and she had him up against the 
ropes. It was impossible. He had her, and then he lost her, in mere seconds. She 
had really turned the tables on him. Now it was HIM fighting for HIS life.

Duplica used the same Psionic technique she had used before by thickening the 
air around the laser shots, using her own unfathomable speed to dodge the 
glowing shots with ease. Then she focused her Psi on the gun. It combusted into 
flame. 

The the Silph Elite roared in pain as the exploding weapon seared his hands and 
hurt his eyes even more. It streamed through his mind over and over. Mere 
seconds, mere seconds, mere seconds ...

Duplica's aura charged up once more, her eyes glowing a bright blue. Her smile 
had left her face; it was completely devoid of emotion. A Superior's face. "I've 
decided to spare your life, human. Inferior." She let the word linger for a 
while so it would sink in. "But only if you agree to not hurt the Ultimate. I'm 
giving you a choice, make it quick."

Todd stared at her for the longest time. He didn't know how long, and neither 
did she. He opened his mouth with parched lips. 

"... never." he rasped.

Not a shred of emotion showed on the girl's face. "Then you leave me no choice." 
she answered in a hollow voice. She lifted her hand and pointed her palm at the 
teen. A blue ball of light began to form in her hand. It started out Pokeball 
size, then instantly grew into the size of a regular beach ball. She stared 
directly into his eyes. 

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She released the ball. It hit the boy dead on. He 
didn't even make a sound as the blast slammed into his body. A blinding flash of 
light burst outward from the explosion. Duplica shielded her eyes with her 
forearms. 

When the light and smoke cleared, there was nothing. Todd was gone. Not a trace 
of him left. A single tear trickled down the girl's cheek. She hated killing, 
but she loved Ash more. She had to find him quickly. To warn him, protect him. 
To save him from the Elite's partner. 

With an explosion of blue light, the girl zipped off into the woods in search 
for the Ultimate. 

Little did she know that the Elite wasn't really dead. Oh no, he was very much 
alive. Even though he barely had time to put up a Psi shield strong enough to 
withstand the blast, he was still alive. He used his stealth module to make it 
seem like she had blown him into oblivion, but she didn't. 

Todd gave a soft moan as he struggled to stand up. "You ... Lekarian bitch." He 
rasped weakly. "I'll ... get you ... for this ... (cough cough) ... the Ultimate 
... (cough) WILL die."

* * * * 

"You're different, Ash." 

Ash, Misty, Jamie, Brock, and the Pokemon waited in the clearing for the trio to 
return with their balloon. After Ash had explained the situation to them, they 
instructed him to wait in the clearing until they came back with the balloon. 
Misty had regained consciousness shortly after, and he explained the situation 
to her as well. Brock didn't wake up. Ash was kind of glad that he didn't have 
to tell Brock everything all over again. In a way, it was actually better that 
Brock didn't wake up for a while. 

Ash and Misty were confused. "How is Ash different, Jamie?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, how am I different?" Ash inquired. 

Jamie smirked. "I don't think Misty needs an echo, Ashy-Boy." Ash winced at the 
name. Jamie became more serious as he spoke. "Ok, first I'll point out the 
obvious. Every one of my kind has red eyes." He pointed at Ash. "Yours are 
brown."

"Second," he continued, "Your Psi signature is like nothing I've ever seen or 
felt before."

Ash blinked. "Psi?" he said dumbly. 

Jamie slapped his forehead. "Whoops, I almost forgot that you're new at this. 
Here, it's best if I give you guys a little visual."

He made a fist and pointed his index finger at the two. Abra just stood by him 
and watched solemnly. Ash, Misty and Pikachu looked like they were watching the 
previews of some movie. 

As if some kind of light was switched on inside his finger, the tip began to 
glow a madder red. The glow soon swelled outward into a shining red ball. Ash's 
eyes widened; Misty gasped; Pikachu gave a surprised and confused "Chu!"

The only time Ash had ever seen something like this was when he first met 
Sabrina, the powerful Psychic that ran the Saffron City Gym. He remembered the 
shock when she transformed his friends into little dolls, ones that uncannily 
resembled voodoo dolls.

Misty was having similar thoughts. Thoughts of being transformed into an 
inanimate object with the very same power Jamie was showing them. She shuddered 
at the thought, the thought of being a doll forever, never able to see Ash 
again. 

"Stop it." Misty demanded. "STOP IT!" 

Jamie didn't look the least bit offended. He just gave her an understanding look 
and watched the glowing ball disappear from his finger. 

"So," he inquired. "I take it you guys have had a bad experience with this 
stuff?"

The three were taken aback. How did he know that? 

Ash gave him an incredulous look. "How do you ... know that?"

Jamie sighed. "God, how do I put this into words?" he asked, mostly to himself. 
Ash swatted a bug that landed on his neck. Jamie's eyes brightened. "Ah, I 
know!"

He smeared some of the bug guts on the same finger he used to make the ball. 
Misty gave an involuntary shudder while muttering something about hating bugs. 
"Everyone has Psi." he explained. "It's the only reason that you're alive. It's 
the essence of life. You use it all the time." He looked at Ash then pointed at 
the bug entrails on his finger. "You've just used it to smash this poor soul 
into guts. You use it every time you breathe, you use it every time you speak, 
you use it every time your heart beats. You use it every time you move." 

"There is, however, more than one way to use Psi." he continued. "You can 
project it out of your body to influence the world around you. What you saw me 
do was just an alternate way of using your own life force."

Jamie gave a disgusted look. "There are a lotta weirdo religious freaks out 
there who either think it doesn't exist, or that you gotta be a super holy 
person in order to use it. Psh, that's all a buncha crap. Projecting Psi out of 
my body is no different from just using my hand."

"Psi is easy enough to learn but impossible to master. Kinda like Pokemon 
training."

This immediately clicked with Ash's confused brain. "Ohhh, I get it now!" he 
beamed. 

Just like Ash to relate everything to Pokemon, Misty thought fondly. 

Then she finally got a good look at him and blushed deeply. She had never 
noticed this before, but with most of his clothes blown away to shreds, (A/N: 
No, she can't see his ding-a-ling, perverts. Get your mind outta the gutter!) he 
looked GOOD. Misty had never realized how well toned his body was. It was just 
like Jamie's, only slightly less muscular and more real. 

Oh my God, she thought, when did Ash become so RIPPED!? And since when did his 
butt get so CUTE!?

Jamie looked sharply and raised his eyebrow. "You seem to be enjoying the fact 
that Ash doesn't have many clothes on." he observed.

Misty glared daggers at the boy. "JAMIE!" she wailed. "I do NOT enjoy the fact 
that Ash is unfathomably sexy!"

Pikachu looked like he had just seen a ghost. Ash looked the same. Jamie was 
trying his not cackle like a madman.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Misty protested, trying to recover what dignity 
she had left. "What I meant to say is ... um ... what I'm trying to ... you 
didn't hear that ... LEAVE ME ALONE!" Misty was practically in tears. Ash still 
looked shell-shocked. 

Jamie gave a sly smile. "Right, Mist." he muttered. "You just keep on lying to 
yourself."

Misty's glare would have frightnened a Houndoom. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!!?"

"Oh my God, it's so freaking obvious!" Jamie exploded, his glowing eyes flashing 
outward. "The way that you look at each other, the unmentionable thoughts you 
have about one another ... face it. You both want each other more than a Snorlax 
wants its sleep."

Ash instantly recovered from his shocked state as he took on a haunted look. 
"Did you ... say ... thoughts?"

Jamie mentally slapped his forehead. Whoops, busted. 

Misty looked like she was going to faint. "Thoughts ... wait a minute ... that 
can only mean ... oh my God, Jamie can you READ OUR MINDS!?"

"Pika cha chu ka Pikachu (what in the holy hell)!?" Pikachu exclaimed, almost on 
the verge of Thundershocking the group out of his own surprise. 

Jamie looked at themn nervously. They were waiting for an answer. "Um ..." he 
began, " ...well, um, sort of."

Misty was furious. She hated the thought of having someone else sticking his 
nose into her head. "WHAT DO MEAN, 'SORT OF'!?" she raged. 

"Ok ok, let me explain!" he protested, put his arms up in front of himself 
protectively. Even with all his strength, speed, martial arts skills and Psionic 
prowess, Misty could still succeed in scaring the everlasting piss out of him.

"Alright, first off, let me tell you that I can't read your most secret, 
subconscious thoughts. I can only scratch the surface, see what you're thinking 
at that moment."

He sighed when the three began to calm down a little. "That's the power of Psi. 
You can use it to read minds, amplify your strength and speed, heighten your 
senses, sharpen your reflexes, even fly short distances. The possibilities are 
limitless. Now please stop looking like a bunch of flustered ninnies."

Misty looked into Ash's eyes. God, they were so beautiful. She almost got lost 
in them. "Ash, do you really think of me that way?"

Ash turned red. "Well, um, yeah Mist. I DO think that you're the most beautiful 
girl I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." Ash gazed right back at her, his 
eyes drinking in her lovely features. "Do YOU think of me that way?"

Misty pulled out her mallet and whacked him on the head. Ash only stood there; 
to his surprise, he didn't feel any pain at all. It felt like getting struck 
with a feather.

"Of course I feel that way about you, you idiot!" she yelled. Just then her face 
became sad and worried. "And when that PokeBomb hit you dead on, I was so scared 
that I would find you dead." Their faces inched closer, their noses almost 
touching. "I can't stand the thought of being without you, Ash. I never want to 
lose you."

"Misty, I lo ..."

TSEEEEWWWWWW!

Everybody cried out in surprise as a flash of white light shot towards the 
ground before them. Grass and leaves popped off the ground with the shot, 
leaving a single burning hole in the forest floor.

The group looked in shock to see a teenager wearing a black uniform materialize 
in front of them. He had spikey auburn hair and deep blue eyes. He had a strange 
weapon trained on them. 

The teen opened his mouth. "Hey, loser." he sneered. 

Ash looked horrified. "No ... its not ... it can't be you ..." he sputtered.

"By the way." the boy continued, pulling something out of a side pack. It was a 
tattered Pokemon league cap, slightly burned. "You dropped your hat.