Ash's Gift
By MegamanZero
Part 8: They Have Arrived
nmc_512@yahoo.com
AAMRN

Ash: 15 Misty: 16   Brock: 20   Duplica: 15
Jamie: 16   Gary: 16    Jesse and James: 21
Richie: 17  Ashura: 15  Todd: 16

A/N: I love www.thepokemontower.com, coz it won't shut down on you when you just finished your frickin chappie!!! You rule, Jolt!! ^_^ Anyhoo, chappie 8 is finally up, so read and review please, if ya wanna know what happens next to Ash and Co. Sidenote: I've actually created an original character (Jamie) that has actually lasted through 8 whole chapters and hasn’t had something stupid done to him like the whole He-Was-A-Bad-Guy-All-Along crap, or just plain died! I'm planning on keeping this guy, and don't think you've seen the last of him when this whole fic is over! The spirit of Jamie will live on forever in my fics(unless you count that stupid Not Another Pokemon Spoof fic, which to this day I rue the moment I extracted it from the murky corners of my brain). Now stop bothering me and READ.

- M to the Z

* * * *

Duplica and Ditto hurled themselves at the human, their fists and feet charged with Psi. Duplica felt such vengeance, such raw fury towards the boy in front of her. He had threatened the Ultimate, her responsibility ... her Ashy-Boy. The Elite would pay. She and Ditto would see to that. She would show him just what the Ultimate's personal guard could do.

Gary crouched into his own fighting stance and braced himself for the fight that was about to occur. It's just another piece of Lekarian scum, he told himself, just another alien filth with a Ditto. He took an instant to measure up her Psi levels. He was shocked when he discovered that they were dangerously close to his. No matter, he thought. I've taken down opponents twice her strength. All it took was a little strategy, yes, just a little ...

WHACK!

Two feet had struck contact with his chest; he wondered foggily she had gotten to kicks in without him seeing it. Then he mentally slapped himself on the forehead as he flew into the same broken tree as before. The Ditto; she was using her Ditto to copy her moves to aid her in the battle. It seemed a very cowardly move to him, but he could play on her level.

Gary threw himself back onto his feet and pulled out one of his Pokeballs. A very angry looking Machop, wiry body and all, materialize before him. Gary made note that his Machop was extremely fast; his speed could counter his two opponents' own speed. It was just like having a Pokemon match, only this time around the TRAINER was involved in the fight as well.

"Ready, Machop?" Gary quickly inquired as he settled himself back into his fighting stance.

"Chop!" the fighting Pokemon responded. It crouched into its fighting stance and growled deeply.

"Alright, then ... ATTTAAACK!"

All Ash and Misty saw were four blurs clashing together in an all-out brawl. They took a moment to silently admire the four fighter's amazing combat skill.

"Ash," Misty said quietly as the four fought on, "the collar." She pointed to the Inhibition Collar on the unconscious teen's neck. "Take off the collar."

Ash responded with a quick peck to Misty's cheek as he scrambled over to the sleeping Jamie's form. He grasped his fingers onto the black collar, and prepared to pull with all his might. What happened next shocked him.

Literally.

Ash yelped in pain as bolts of energy shot through his hands. He jerked his fingers away from the collar and nursed his hand. He glanced over to Misty, who was busy trying to revive an injured, mostly shaken, Pikachu. Just then it hit him.

Abra. In all the commotion and bedlam, he had forgotten that Jamie's Abra was still sitting by his side in silent obedience. It looked up at him with quizzical eyes.

"Abra!" Ash shouted over the Psionic roars, no longer caring about the volume of his voice, as the people fighting ten feet away from him were far beyond with concerning themselves with what was occurring around them. He pointed to the collar tightly locked around Jamie’s neck. "Can't you do something about this stupid thing!?"

Abra shrugged helplessly. Ash seemed to hear a voice in his mind. He quickly reasoned that it was Abra using telepathy. Ash knew that most Psychic Pokemon used telepathy as a means of communication. "I would if I could Ash, but this collar works against a living thing's Psi; it repels anything with a life force."

The boy punched the ground, leaving a deep hole where his fist made contact. "Dammit!" Ash desperately tried to devise some way, ANY way, to get the collar off. Think, you doofus, THINK! It repels anything with Psi ... can't make direct contact with it ... come on, you stupid ... THAT'S IT!

Ash looked towards Misty. "Hurry, toss me my backpack!" he ordered. Misty complied by grabbing his pack and hurling it at him. Ash caught it and began to search frantically inside. Ash gave a silent "YES!" as he triumphantly whipped out a Pokeball.

"Chikorita, I choose you!" The Grass type materialized before him.

"Chikori!" she squealed happily as she snuggled up against Ash's knee.

"Aww, Chikorita, now's not the time." Ash groaned. "Look!" Chikorita managed to tear herself away from Ash long enough to get a good look at the situation. She immediately took on a serious expression.

"Chikorita, I want you to carefully use your Razor Leaf attack on this." He pointed at the shiny black collar around Jamie's neck. "Don't slit his throat open, ok?" Ash knew that while Chikorita surely had life force in her, the leaf on the top of her head didn't.

Chikorita gave a loud "CHIKA!" as she reared her head-leaf back. Ash gulped as he closed his eyes.

He opened them only to see half a collar. Ash beamed with pride. Abra looked like he could've kissed Chikorita. "Good job!" he cried as he hugged her into his arms. Chikorita purred happily as she released some of her sweet-smelling fragrance. "Return!"

As Chikorita returned to her Pokeball the effects on Jamie were instantaneous. As if nothing had happened to him, he flipped himself upward into the air and landed gracefully. He only looked slightly shaken.

"Whoa!" he shouted, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. "I just had the craziest dream where ..." He looked at the "festivities" that were happening all around him. "Oh, guess it wasn't a dream."

"Jamie!" Misty and Abra cried out in their own languages. They both threw their arms around a very surprised Jamie. Ash only smiled. Of course Misty would hug him, after all, he was her friend.

"What's going on?" he wondered out loud. Ash and Misty quickly explained the situation to him. "Oh, right." He sneered at the one of the blurs fighting before him. "THAT guy."

Jamie cracked his knuckles. "Like I said, this won't take long." He cupped his hands over his mouth. "HEY, IDIOTS!"

The four blurs stopped to a halt and stared at the brown haired boy. "Why not let me join in on the action, huh?"

Duplica immediately recognized him as the infamous Runaway. She took a second to focus her Psi and did a brief measurement of his own. She nearly choked on her own saliva when she calculated a result.

This boy in front of her, the very same one that had managed to avoid being killed by people like her his whole life, had more power than her and the Elite.

Combined.

He hopelessly outmatched her. Duplica glanced at the Elite she was once fighting    to find the same shocked expression he had on.

Gary’s frightened look switched from the Tri to the Runaway in a sort of deadly metronome. “Who’s fighting who!?” he demanded, his voice shaking slightly.

Duplica had similar questions. Who was the bigger threat, the Elite or the Runaway? Would the Runaway attack? Duplica answered her own question: of course he would attack. Countless other Tris had been sent to kill him, only to never return to headquarters again. It was obvious that the Runaway was the biggest threat.

“Ditto, Mind Flare!” she ordered.

Ditto raised its hands into the air as a bright flash spread in all directions. Ditto’s Mind Flare illuminated the night. Everybody quickly turned in the opposite direction in an attempt to shield their eyes from the corrosive shine.

Jamie only smiled placidly at the girl. “Abra, you know what to do!” he called. All color left Abra’s eyes as two black beams shot into the sky. As the two beams met, they swirled together to form a hissing black ball. As if somebody had turned off the lights, the blinding shine from Ditto’s technique was sucked into the ball like a vacuum cleaner. The two fighters, along with the others, were awestruck.

Jamie’s smile remained. “Umbra attack.” he announced. “It sucks up all light in the area, making up a sort of temporary black hole.” He turned towards Duplica and sneered. “You actually think that I haven’t fought against that little ‘Mind Flare’ thing? I’ve seen that same trick played hundreds of times when people like YOU try to kill me.”

The Umbra move ceased. “Do you wanna try your luck fighting me toe to toe, or are you two finished yet? If ya want, you can BOTH come at me, I don’t mind. Just be sure not to ruin this shirt any more than it already is, ok?”

Duplica only stared at him. He actually WANTED to fight them. She was amazed at his arrogance. Than again, with Psi levels like those, she would be overconfident too. She still didn’t know who to fight; she just stood there, next to Gary, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do.

Jamie’s eyes suddenly took on a deadly gleam as he leered at the blue-haired girl. What was left of his smile disappeared. “All my life I’ve been plagued by people like you. You killed my parents, you ruin my life. In a way, I’m glad that I’ve met you tonight; I think that a little closure is in order.”

Jamie’s released his Psi into the air, creating a dark, angry blue aura. “I’ve faced dozens of Tri, young, old, men, women, boys, girls.” The air seemed to sizzle with his anger. “They are all dead; killed to a man, and woman.”

Ash, Misty, and Pikachu were once again sitting on the sidelines, with Brock lying unconscious by their feet. They held each other in their arms, and paws, and watched as Jamie’s bodily glow flared outward once more. Abra jumped by his side, crouching into his own fighting stance. The Psychic Pokemon had the same furious glint in his eyes; it was obvious that Abra had suffered along with Jamie.

Gary, figuring that now wasn’t a good time to go about his mission to kill Ash, called back his Machop, leapt into the trees and hid for dear life. Jamie, Duplica, and their partners paid him no heed. They stood still, staring each other down. Their muscles tensed, their auras charged. They reared back, ready to strike. They took deep breaths, and ...

A huge flying blue ball of light burst before either one of them could make the first move. They shielded their eyes and faces, instantly feeling a hot burning sensation as they were thrown back away from each other. Although they had landed on their feet, their legs felt like jelly when they looked over to see the cause of the Psi burst.

It was Ash.

Cheast heaving, palm pointed outward, smoke seeping from his hand, he spoke again. “Stop the fighting. NOW!” Torn grass and dust particles swirled around the boy as he spoke. His Psionic aura gave an almost determined glow. His usually welcoming brown eyes shone an angry red as he spoke. “Don’t make me do it again.”

Duplica raised her hands up. “Ashy-boy,” she said softly, “it’s me.” Ditto followed suit by lifting its hands to the sky as well.

Ash blinked when he looked her up and down. Blue hair, nice features, and a Ditto. A voice that contained a slight perk, even in a deadly situation, like the one they were in right at that moment.

Ash’s angry optical shine flickered away as he realized exactly who it was he was looking at.

“... Duplica!?”

* * * *

The two Lekarians shot through the sky like bullets. Sparky held onto his trainer, hoping that he wouldn’t fall to his doom. After all, they were flying very high.

Sparky took a moment to remember what Ashura looked like after his transition into the Dark Rage. He looked like Stephen King’s worst nightmare. His hair stuck out wildly, with bloodred streaks striping it hear and there.

Instead of eyes, he now had two black orbs with red dots in the middle. The whites of his eyes had clouded over with a glassy ebony color. His irisis were swallowed up into the black completely, leaving only his pupils, which had glazed over into red. The ‘blacks’ of his eyes seemed to siphon the light around them.

Sparky gathered his thoughts and recollected the night’s recent events. Morton sent the two hunters to their deaths. They go to rendezvous point, only to find that Duplica wasn’t there. Ashura becomes angry, seemed to be having a conflict within himself. Finally, Ashura transforms into this nightmarish effigy of his former self.

The Pikachu couldn’t bring himself to understand exactly why he just witnessed that horrible premonition. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his partner was gong to die very soon. Sparky’s fur prickled as he remembered the vision.

* MEMORY OF VISION *

He was clinging to Richie’s shoulder as the boy mercilessly pounded them. There were six of them; Duplica, her Ditto, the Runaway, an Abra, an Elite and a Machoke. Fists and feet clashed against fists and feet. Four blurs tried in vain to land a hit on him, only to either hit air, or strike a well placed block.

Sparky looked around. He saw the nightmare Ashura, floating in the air with his arms crossed, watching placidly as Richie made sport of the young fighters. He played with them, moving left, right, up, down. Then blocking, parrying, dodging. Watch out for that Machoke’s fist, block, dodge, parry. Then a bored look swept over Richie as he grew tired of the game, he was ready to end it.

Two lightning fast kicks to the side and groin, a left hook to the cheek, a Psyshock here and there, more kicks and punches; all distributed by Richie. His opponents stood no chance, his strength was not his own. The six fall to the ground, bruised and bloody.

Richie cackles, then taunts something at them. Sparky couldn’t make out what it was; it was almost as if a gag was place over Richie’s mouth. But Sparky could hear the moans, yes, the moans of pain coming from the torn fighters lying helplessly on the ground, Pokemon and trainer alike. Richie shoots into the air above them. He flares his Psi outward as he charges up. A large glowing ball begins to form at his outstretched hand. It grows in size and volume, its oppressive shine forcing Sparky to squint.

Richie says something again, but with more venom in his voice. Just then Ashura shrieks for Richie to do something, quickly. A golden yellow blur zips past Sparky and Richie. Richie’s eyes widen in shock as falls to the ground.

Half a person.

Sparky screams out his master’s name in his own tongue as they both rapidly descend to the ground below them. The Pikachu then loses his grip as his hits the pavement.

Pavement?

Oh yes, they were in a city; a city that had been reduced to nearly rubble. Sparky squalls loudly as he lands in his master’s blood. His fur is soaked in the red liquid. He turns to his master’s face, the shocked expression forever frozen on his visage like some horrible photograph, his dead eyes staring back at him in a sort of sad way.

Sparky looks up into the sky at the offender. He had killed his master; he would pay dearly. Oh yes, he would shock the life out of him, literally.

But he can’t see him. The vision becomes blurry, distorted. All he can determine are a pair of blazing brown eyes, and ... Pikachu ears?

* END VISION *

* * * *
 
“Are you saying that you KNOW this girl?” Jamie demanded pointing at the girl dressed in a black uniform. A ball of Psi had formed at the end of his pointing finger, threatening to let loose at any moment.

“She’s a friend.” Ash told him firmly. “Put your finger down.” Once again Ash’s aura became visible, pulsing along with his heartbeat.

“A Tri isn’t a friend to anyone, Ash!” Jamie growled, the glow on his finger unceasing. His angry gaze then flickered towards the girl in front of him. “Why don’t you tell him, ‘Duplica’? Enlighten your ‘Ashy-boy’ on some of the daily ‘activities’ activities you participate in.”

Duplica hung her head down in shame. How could she tell Ash what she was there for? She couldn’t just say, “Hi Ash, remember me? I’m Duplica from the Imitate House! I just want you to know that the circumstances that you met me in were all scripted and that I’m here to take you in so my superiors can train you. Why, because you are a genetically altered Lekarian killing machine, and in three years from now, on your eighteenth birthday, you will have no recollection of your friends and loved ones!” What could she do?

Ditto was becoming nervous. “What should we do?” It whispered telepathically to Duplica.

“Get back into your Pokeball. I’ll seem less threatening that way.” Duplica replied in the same method.

Just then Jamie leapt away from the entire group, his hands up in a fighting stance directed at ALL of them. “So THAT’S what you are!” he roared, pointing at Ash.

Ash blinked. “Wha- what are you talking about?”

“I should’ve caught it before!” Jamie’s legs shook from under him as he talked. His eyes spoke of the same KNOWING terror that Ash had seen in Misty’s eyes. “You’re the ... the ...”

Jamie finally let it out. “YOU’RE THE ULTIMATE!” he shouted. He then turned to Duplica again, his eyes burning with hatred. “So THAT’S why you protected him! You only want him alive so you can train him to kill!”

Jamie screamed at Ash. “When you explained the situation to me after I was knocked out by that JERK, you never said ANYTHING about being the ULITMATE!”

It was Ash’s turn to be angry. “I am NOT this ‘Ultimate’ or whatever!” he said hotly. “Why does everybody think I’m something I’m not!?”

Duplica was horrified. How did the Runaway know? How did he know of her intentions? She gasped when she realized the answer. Of course, it all made sense. The Runaway had ESP, he could read her mind! She thought of it, and he heard it!

Jamie’s murderous stare jerked back and forth from Ash to Duplica. At this point he didn’t know who to kill, him or her. Both were incredibly dangerous, more so Ash. He had heard Tris that had attacked him in the past speak of the Ultimate, but he had thought that was just stupid gibberish and a rumor. He never would’ve imagined that the Ultimate himself would be standing right in front of him.

“It all makes sense now.” Jamie laughed humorlessly. “The weird Psi signature, your strange eyes, the busted-up tree stump.” He scowled at Ash. “And to think for a few hours I was beginning to consider you a FRIEND.”

That had done it for Ash. “SHUT UP!” he roared at Jamie. It all happened in a flash. One second Ash was standing next to a very confused Misty and Pikachu (not to mention a very comatose Brock) and the next second he had thrown a punch at the brown-haired teen. Without a second thought, Jamie had carelessly parried the fist away and swung a hook kick to the back of Ash’s head. Duplica shrieked. Misty shrieked. Pikachu gave a furious “PIKA!”

Ash was nearly knocked senseless as the heel of Jamie’s foot struck his skull. His vision became blurred when his knees hit the ground. His body struck the grass and hard dirt with a sickening thud.

One human, one Lekarian, and one Pikachu once again shot towards the two in white-hot anger. If not for the pills she took, Duplica would’ve entered the Rage right at that moment. But their assault was cut short when Jamie shot turned to Abra and barked out an order. In their anger, their ears didn’t catch the attack that Jamie ordered Abra to perform.

On them.

Abra’s eyes glowed a baby blue light. The air around them seemed to ripple and pulse, almost as if it were alive. The writhing sensation was soon replaced by a blinding flash of light. This only angered Duplica, she lifted her leg in preparation for a kick.

Only she didn’t. She quickly realized that she couldn’t lift her leg up. She tried moving it with her hands, only to find out that they were frozen in place as well. She was terrified; she couldn’t move a single muscle.

The group was frozen stiff.

Jamie gave them a placid look. “Synaptic Shock.” He explained. “It cuts off all synaptic impulses to the white muscle in your body. Pretty much all you can do right now is breathe, unless you count your heartbeat. Pretty handy technique, huh?”

Misty tried in vain to scream her outrage, only to find that her vocal cords would cooperate with her. She felt like sobbing, but she couldn’t even close her eyes. The tears would not come.

Pikachu was livid. How dare this ... this ... THING attack my Pikapi. I’ll show him. Pikachu’s electric sacs on his cheeks weren’t controlled by white muscle. He charged up his electricity and fired off the biggest Thundershock he had ever given into Jamie.

The electric rodent couldn’t believe his frozen eyes when he saw Jamie absorb the energy like it was a snack. He gave the same placid look. “Quite refreshing, little buddy, but it just won’t cut it. Don’t you know that Lekarians have a high tolerance for the elements, including electricity?”

Pikachu inwardly smacked himself. Of course, he thought. Now it all makes sense, now I truly know what my Pikapi is. How else could he endure my repetitive Thundershocks? Ohh, Pikapi ... I’m sorry for letting you down.

Jamie’s gaze jerked toward Abra. “How much longer can you hold them?” he asked quickly in telepathy.

Abra’s stare didn’t leave the would-be attackers as he replied telepathically. “About ten minutes.”

“Great, that’s more than enough time.” He looked down at Ash, the blow to the head making him lose his grip on consciousness. Jamie pointed his palm at him as a glowing ball formed around his hand. “I hope you understand why I’m doing this, Ash.” He said softly, the deadly edge in his voice gone. “I can’t let you grow up to be eighteen. I’m sorry, it’s just that I happen to LIKE this planet, and I don’t want to see it taken over by people like ME.”

Ash took a brief moment to consider what Jamie had said. People like him? Now why would he say that? People like HIM ...

Then Ash’s heart melted with sympathy for the boy who was about to kill him. Now I knew what he meant. He hated his own kind.

But wait. Something’s not right here. He felt around in his own mind. Anxiety? I’m not afraid, what’s that doing there? What ... waitaminute ... MISTY?

“Goodbye Ash.” Jamie whispered as he prepared to release the energy. “It really was nice knowing ...”

There was a loud explosion as Jamie’s body was violently hurled forward into the trunk of a tree. Abra caterwauled as he was thrown back by the shockwave. In that instant, the strange hold that the Pokemon had on the others was stripped away as they flew backward into the grass.

Up in the sky, two figures were laughing.

* * * *

“Excellent shot, Richie. I believe you have just killed the Runaway, or have mortally wounded him at least. Look at him, his Psi levels have become so low ...”

“I gotta tell ya, Ashura my man, these new powers you gave me are great! I used to suck at external Psionic moves. Now I got enough power to set this whole freaking forest up in flames!”

“I’m happy that you enjoy the wonderful abilities I’ve bestowed upon you, Richie, but just take a look at where you fired that blast for a moment. Who else is there, hmm? My brother, of course! You know that I said I didn’t want you touching Aries. I will be very displeased if he’s hurt.”

“Yo, relax, Ashura. See? He ain’t dead! Look, he’s getting up like nothin’ happened to him, see?”

“I’m very glad to hear that, Richie. You got lucky this time around, but don’t expect me to be so lenient the next time you blatantly disregard my orders. Now come, let’s descend down to the ground. It’s about time I met my brother.”



A/N: Ugh, I’m such a jerk, ain’t I!? Leaving you hanging like that ... the nerve! The gall! But I do this anyway because it makes you wanna find out what the hell happens next! Well, chapter 9 is on the way and should be done by next Friday. Keep on readin’!