Chapter 16- The Sand Raiders

 

~Even though I defeated the Missingno Gang and Team Rocket has stopped pestering us for now, my problems are far from over. Everywhere I go, I find trouble, and it clings to me like a stench. This is the price I pay for helping out those in need. With all the danger I’ve been facing, I always sigh in relief that I survived to see another sunrise. But everything I’ve faced until now was just practice… because I was soon to discover the existence of a force unlike anything this world has ever seen… I had no idea just what I was facing at the time, nor did I even begin to comprehend how monstrous our enemy is, and how deep their power runs. The bane of humanity, the power that could one day consume this world… the force known simply as the Kaiser Cult…

-Ash Ketchum

(Location- Mountain Clusters)

 

“HAAAA!”

 

CRAAAAAACK!

 

“Heh… finally… done…!” Cleft panted, smiling to himself as he stepped out of the tunnel he had smashed, running right through the mountain cluster which separated one side with its green forests to the other with a vast desert. Cleft sighed as he slumped down to the ground, removing his helmet and taking a swig from his canteen. “This oughta repay the favour. The shortcut will save those guys three days of climbing and mountain crossing” he said out loud, to no one in particular. “Well… I’d better get going…” he sighed as he stood up and brushed himself off. “Even though it was only a temporary alliance, I enjoyed it. Good luck in the rest of your journeys, Ash Ketchum…” He smirked as he continued walking. He was then joined by Bonsai, and the two Super Fiends walked off into the distance…

 

***

(Location- Marble dessert)

 

“OH YEAH! NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL TRAVELLING IN STYLE!” Tracey stood up and yelled. The Marble dessert was pretty windy place, and because of this, they have decided to use this to their advantage. While Ash and Misty were busy gathering items, Ebi, Brock and Tracey had built the special sled. It was shaped similar to a raft, so it could carry many people at once, but the sail and its design made it so it could move on the sand, and the wind would push them.

 

“If we travel like this, we won’t have to worry about the heat, because that cool breeze we’re getting from the ride! YAHOO!” Brock held on to the mast and raised his hand in the air; he was enjoying the ride very much.

 

“I gotta hand it to that Super Fiend!” Ebi called out, standing and enjoying the breeze, “If he hadn’t created that shortcut, it’d have been impossible to carry this thing and we’d have had to walk! Wasn’t this a great idea or what?”

 

“ONLY FOR YOU…!” Ash was sweating and grunting in effort. He was riding in front of them on the QuickSilver, and tied around his shoulders and arms were two ropes connected to the front of the sand sled. Because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, someone would have to get out and push, or in this case, pull. “I thought we agreed on everybody pulling their own weight, but here I find myself doing it for you! Maybe if you guys weren’t too lazy to walk, I wouldn’t have HEAVY burdens that you guys are, literally resting on my shoulders! Couldn’t you have at least tied those ropes to the QuickSilver and NOT me?!”

 

“Yeah, I suppose we could’ve done that. Remind us next time we decide to cross the desert on a sled!” Ebi called back, while everyone else laughed.

 

“Stop complaining! We’re losing speed! Now MUSH!” Misty yelled and cracked a whip

 

“YEOOOW! KNOCK IT OFF MISTY!” Ash shouted “If I go any faster, we can lose control and you guys will probably crash (not that you don’t deserve it) but it’ll rip my arms off in the process! If you wanna speed things up, couldn’t you at least get rid of that sail?! For crying out loud, the wind’s blowing in the opposite direction!”

 

“Removing the sail will kind of ruin the point of sailing!” Tracey called out and everyone laughed out loud

 

“GRRRRR…” Ash growled, “If you guys don’t stop making fun of me, I just might let you go, sending you-WAAAH!” Ash yelled. A jet of flames shot out of nowhere. It burned through the left tip of the sail, set the mast on fire and barely missed Ash. Ash could feel the heat of the flames passing just inches away from his head.

 

“WHAT WAS THAT?!” Brock shouted

 

“OVER THERE! LOOK!” Tracey pointed behind them. Chasing them was a group of men, each of them riding various pokémon or desert vehicles. They each wore goggles over their eyes and cloaks and scarves around their neck and shoulders to protect them from the sun and sand. By the looks of things, they were armed, and that blast of fire came one riding a Rapidash. “Bandits!?”

 

The hoard of sand raiders was gaining up on them, and in the front of them all was a desert speeder that hovered above the ground, and carried one in particular who stood out among the raiders. He wore a white turban and white cape, along with a scarf that covered the bottom part of his face. Hanging from his belt was a shining, razor-sharp scimitar. Clearly, this one was the leader. Although the speeder was being driven at a very high speed and steering hard, he stood straight up with his arms crossed, not even flinching or showing any signs of caution or fear.

 

“We have to speed up, let’s jettison anything useless that’ll slow us down!” Ebi shouted, and then turned to Brock, “You! Jump off!”

 

“WHAT?! Why me?!” Brock shouted

 

“Quit thinking about yourself no-eyes, and nobly sacrifice your life for us!” said Ebi

 

“Hey, I got a better idea! Why don’t we throw YOU off instead?!” shouted Brock

 

“Because my life is actually worth something!” Ebi argued back

 

“Oh, and mine isn’t?!” Brock said angrily

 

“WILL YOU TOO KNOCK IT OFF AND GET RID OF THAT STUPID SAIL ALREADY?! IT’S BURNING ANYWAYS!!!” Ash shouted over the two. Quickly, they did what he said, undoing the rope and letting the flaming cloth fly through the air…

 

“AAHH!!!” The rapidash rider in the front screamed as the burning sail hit him and his pokémon, causing both to fall into the sand and get left behind.

 

“Ah!!! Look guys, the mast is on fire!” Tracey pointed at the mast

 

“Then let’s get rid of it too! It’s useless anyways now that the sail’s gone!” Misty said, taking out her sledgehammer… “HAAA!!!” she swung it at the base, smashing through the wood and causing it to tip over, off the sled and roll down the sand…

 

CRASH!!!

 

The burning mast slammed into the front of the desert speeder, causing it to spin out of control and smash into several other of the bandits.

 

“Success!” the team cheered… but that soon changed when they saw the leader… Even though the vehicle spun out of control, he leapt high into the air and landed cleanly on his feet, and began chasing them on foot… “Oh… my… god…” they gasped as they saw him ran…. he was moving even faster than the speeder he was riding on! Drawing his scimitar, he had caught up with them and was running beside them!

 

“Ah…! WATCH OUT! THERE’S MORE OF THEM COMING!” Ebi shouted, pointing at a sand dune to the side, as more of these bandits came out and chased them, “Grrr…! This was a planned attack!” he growled, “ASH! There’s no point in running anymore! We can’t escape them in their territory!”

 

“Way ahead of ya!” Ash grinned, understanding what Ebi was getting at. They’d just have to take the fighting to them!” However, just as he was about to release, the raider dressed in white slashed the two ropes Ash was pulling. “WAAAA!!!!” Ash screamed, suddenly spinning out of control, “STOOOP!!!” Ash screamed out, trying desperately to regain control, “WA!!! GUYS! WATCH OUT! IN FRONT OF-OOF!” Ash shouted as he crashed into the sand

 

“AH!” Ash’s friends gasped when they saw what was ahead. They were heading straight for a large rock! “JUMP!” They quickly dove off the side of the raft…

 

CRASH!

 

The sled had crashed into the face of the gigantic rock and shattered to pieces. Ash got up and joined the others. Everyone had their pokémon ready. The riders surrounded them, and skidded to a halt, cornering them against the rock. “You better explain yourselves! Out of the way!” Ash growled

 

“Pikachu!” Pikachu agreed with Ash

 

“What are you, bandits or something?” Asked Ebi

 

“My orders were to keep outsiders like you out!” the leader of these desert raiders shouted down at the group as he stood atop the large rock. “HMM!!” He kicked off the rock and flipped through the air, landing gracefully in front of them. “You foreign scum will not take a step any further, unless you’d rather die at the hands of KN-05, White Kaiser!” He shouted down at them, “Turn back now, or face the consequences of enslavement or death!”

 

“Um… group huddle!” Ash called out

 

“This White Kaiser guy seems pretty serious!” Said Brock as everyone huddled

 

“Serious doesn’t describe him, he’s completely out of his mind! And did you see him move!? He must be incredibly strong! That sword of his looks like it can cut more than just a couple of ropes!” Said Tracey

 

“But don’t forget that we HAVE to travel east! I don’t know anything about any territorial junk or whatnot, but this is more important!” Said Ebi

 

“This guy’s definitely got connections with that Red Kaiser… but right after he explained his mission, he called that Kaiser Beast to attack us! But that was in the forest and full of dark trees where we can’t see anything! There doesn’t seem to be any Kaiser Beasts here!” Said Brock

 

“This is a desert. There’s a possibility it could be hiding under the sand, or he could even be carrying it in a pokéball.” Said Ebi

 

“It doesn’t matter” Said Ash, “Even if he has a Kaiser Beast, I’ll just blast it like I did the other one…” he looked at White Kaiser, “And he himself shouldn’t be too tough…”

 

“But he said the consequences would be death for us, or possible slaves!” said Brock

 

“You mean… we could really be killed?” asked Tracey uneasily

 

“Turning around’s not an option. It’s a choice between slavery and death” Ebi sighed

 

“Shouldn’t we have a vote on it or something?” asked Tracey

 

“No… I trust Ash…” said Misty, “I’ll go with any decision you make”

 

“Hm…” everyone else nodded in agreement. “Go on, it’s your call.” Said Ebi

 

“Then we all know the answer…” Ash then turned to White Kaiser and made a VERY rude gesture with his fingers, “THAT’S our answer!”

 

“And what is that supposed to mean?” asked White Kaiser

 

“It means that we’ll be trash you and the rest of you freaks! PIKACHU! ATTACK!” Ash shouted as he and Pikachu jumped into battle. Pikachu’s lightning attack shot forwards, but White Kaiser jumped to the side, and instead the lightning struck a vehicle carrying four raiders, causing it to explode

 

“GRRR! FIRE!” The bandits armed with guns aimed at the group…

 

“ONIX GO!!!” Before they even grabbed the guns, Brock had already released Onix. The stone snake appeared and shielded them from the gunfire. The bullets had no effect on Onix’s stone body. “Heh! Now’s my time to shine! A dessert battlefield is the perfect place for my rock pokémon! TAKE DOWN! MEGA PUNCH! SCREECH!” Brock shouted, also releasing Geodude and Crobat. The three struck fast and hard, Crobat’s screech forced them to drop their weapons and cover their ears, while Onix and Geodude smashed into them with their stone bodies, sending them flying in every direction. Immediately, the others in the team joined in too

 

“Staryu! Starmie! Double Edge!” Misty yelled. Staryu and Starmie flew like shurikens and slammed their targets to the ground, out cold

 

“BUBBLEBEAM!” Tracey told Maril to attack. Maril launched his water attack. Thousands of bubbles flew like a machine gun, continuously striking them

 

“PIKACHU! THUNDER ATTACK!!!” Ash shouted. The lightning struck a vehicle, causing it to explode and sending those standing around it flying. “First strike, absolute success!” Ash clapped the dust and sand off his hands. “See how much your guns and weapons can do against the spirit of real pokémon trainers!” Suddenly, it something occurred to him… the leader, he wasn’t among the fallen raiders! “Wait… that White one… where did he go?!” he exclaimed, looking left and right… Suddenly, he felt something. It was his trainer instincts, they were warning him… DANGER!!! “URGH!” Ash spun around and raised the QuickSilver, clutching it in both hands, shielding himself from a slash from White Kaiser’s scimitar. “AH!” Ash gasped, though he blocked that blow, he didn’t react fast enough when White Kaiser’s other fist shot up and uppercutted him, throwing him through the air and hitting the ground, the QuickSilver flew out of his hands. Ash quickly shook it off and made a dash for the QuickSilver, quickly grabbing it. He had to equip it fast…

 

“AN OPENING!” White Kaiser lunged at him, swinging his sword down before Ash was ready… “Hmm?” his eyes widened slightly when his sword was suddenly stopped.

 

“Geo…!” Geodude growled, having appeared between White Kaiser and Ash, and caught the blade of the scimitar between his palms.

 

“And just what makes you think I’ll let you attack my friend before he’s ready?” Asked Brock, he was the one who commanded Geodude to stop the sword… but something was strange… Geodude seemed to be having a lot of difficulty holding this man’s sword back… Geodude should have been able to overpower him!

 

“Hmm…” a smile crossed White Kaiser’s face. Instead, he turned around and swung the sword at Brock, with Geodude hanging on the end!

 

“AGH!” Brock screamed and fell back, “Ah… agh!!!” He gasped, writing in pain from being slammed by Geodude’s solid stone body!

 

“Hey! You’re not gonna-AAAH!” Ash was about to attack, but White Kaiser swung his sword with Geodude hanging on and slammed him across the face. Ash fell onto his back “That was a lot more painful than it looked…” He sweatdropped

 

“GEODUDE! JUST LET GO OF THAT SWORD ALREADY!” Brock yelled and got up. White Kaiser swung the sword as Geodude let go, sending the rock pokémon crashing into his face. Brock fell over on his back, “Geodude…” he growled, “Pray you don’t grow a neck anytime soon… because I would so be strangling you right now…”

 

“Geo!” Geodude slapped him

 

“We have to disarm him first! Get rid of the sword!” Ebi yelled from the sidelines. He was no fighter, or pokémon trainer, so the best he could do was observe and try to think of a way to beat him.

 

“Onix! Use bind!!!” Brock shouted. Onix roared lunged at White Kaiser, but he was faster, dodging left and right, not giving Onix the chance to coil around him. “A slippery one eh? Then let’s see how you handle this! ROCK THROW!!!”

 

“You may be good at dodging, but no one can evade SWIFT!!!” Ash shouted. Following these two commands, the battlefield was literally being showered with a rain of flying boulders and stars, all being fired at a single target. White Kaiser evaded every rock with ease, and deflected the stars with his sword. “You’re good, really good… but can you handle this?! PIDGEOT! SAND ATTACK!!!”

 

“AGH!!!” White Kaiser exclaimed, surprised when the bird pokémon flapped its giant wings and sent sand flying right into his eyes…!

 

-CRACK-

 

“NGH!” White Kaiser exclaimed, as one of the rocks slammed into his body, throwing him right off his feet and hitting the ground.

 

“Yes!!!” Ash and Brock cheered, White Kaiser was down! “Ah!” they both gasped when they saw, he was getting back up!

 

“You’ve got to be kidding!” exclaimed Ash

 

“Hmph… how humiliating” White Kaiser growled, shaking his head and standing back up… “I’ve gotten soft, to let myself fall like that to such a light blow.”

 

“A light blow…?! Is he serious?! He got slammed by a boulder!” Gasped Brock, “What is it with all these people these days?! All these humans taking the full brunt of pokémon attacks and not even trying to at least PRETEND it hurts?!”

 

“Who needs to pretend?” White Kaiser spoke bitterly, “Pitiful children with your meagre pets cannot even begin to compare with a Kaiser Knight…”

 

“SCYTHER! SLASH!” Tracey yelled, as Scyther bolted to White Kaiser from behind and swung his right talon downward…

 

-CLANG-

 

The sound of metal clashing rang through the air, after White Kaiser turned around and lifted his scimitar above his head, completely blocking the attack. “HMM!!!!” White Kaiser struck with his left elbow, smashing Scyther in the stomach and sending him flying back

 

“AH! SCYTHER!!!” Tracey yelled, running to his injured pokémon

 

“Attacking me from behind… like I would fall for something like that…”

 

“Maybe, but can you dodge bullets?” Misty said with her arms crossed, “ATTACK NOW! ICE BULLETS!!!” she shouted, pointing at White Kaiser. Staryu and Starmie had each fired bubble attacks, and Politoed had frozen them in mid-air with blizzard. By combining the two attacks, they had changed fast-flying bubbles into rock-hard projectiles, and even White Kaiser didn’t have the chance to dodge!

 

“NGH!” One after the other, White Kaiser was being pelted with thousands of solid ice bullets. Even this was too much for him to dodge and deflect… so he had no choice but to defend himself, firmly planting his feet into the ground and shielding himself with his arms in the ‘X’ position… “UGH!” While he was so focused on blocking from the ice bullets to the front, Geodude lunged from the side and smashed his stone fist to the side of his face, knocking him off balance, “AGH!!!” Onix’s tail slammed him from behind, and he fell forward, the scimitar flew out of his grip… White Kaiser growled, he was down on his knees…

 

“ICE PILLAR!!!” Ash and Misty shouted. All their water pokémon fired water attacks, while Politoed froze it all into a solid pillar, flying to White Kaiser…

 

SMASH!!!

 

“AH…!” the team gasped. Just as ice pillar was about to hit him, White Kaiser had smashed it to pieces with his bare fist! “I… impossible!”

 

“I have had enough of this fight…” White Kaiser said bitterly, standing up and wiping the dirt off his face. “I was being merciful when I gave you the choice to turn back… but now it is too late. You heathens are beyond redemption…” he clenched his fists… “HAAA!!!” Suddenly, he darted forward, right past any of the pokémon that stood ready for battle, right for Ash! “RHA!!!”

 

-THUNK-

 

“AH…!!” Ash’s eyes opened wide, his mouth hung open, when White Kaiser had slammed his fist square into his stomach… “NGH…! Agh…” Ash immediately collapsed to his knees, trembling, clutching his stomach… The pain he felt from White Kaiser’s punch… it was so strong…!

 

“HMM!!!” White Kaiser didn’t waste time watching Ash suffer, and went for Misty’s pokémon. “RHA!!” He leapt off the ground and sailed through the air, his foot smashed straight into Starmie’s jewel, shattering it. Quickly he turned around, breaking Staryu’s jewel with his fist. “HA!!!” He spun around and slammed his foot across Politoed’s face, sending it flying and crashing into the rock.

 

“AH…!” Misty gasped. This man… he had attacked them for no reason, and now he’s gone as far as to attack Ash and injure her pokémon… “WHY YOU…!” She screamed, reaching for another pokéball…

 

-SMACK-

 

“AAAH!!!” Misty screamed when White Kaiser spun around and slammed her with his fist, throwing her through the air and hitting the ground, “Unh… agh…!” she lay on the ground, her eyes closed and writhed in pain…

 

“MISTY!!!” Ash exclaimed, immediately standing back up on his feet, his pain completely forgotten as anger surged through him… “KAISEEEER!!!!” He roared, charging towards White Kaiser, clenching his right armoured fist… “HAAAAA!!!!”

 

SMASH!!!

 

“AAAAGH!!!” White Kaiser screamed, his head flung back as Ash’s armoured fist smashed into his face with such force, his body was sent flying through the air and crashed into the ground.

 

“Hah… hah…” Ash stood there, panting heavily, sweat poured from the side of his face. “Grr…” He growled, and took a fighting stance, as White Kaiser was getting up…

 

“Ngh… Argh…” White Kaiser slowly rose to his feet, but stumbled. He was panting heavily, his mouth hung open as he was gasping for air. “GRR…” he clenched his teeth as he turned to Ash. “That strength… how could a child hit so hard…” his eyes narrowed on his opponent. “Hmm…!” His feet shifted, as he took a fighting stance. This boy wasn’t normal. He had to treat him like a serious enemy… “HMM!!!” Suddenly White Kaiser darted forward, running past any pokémon that stood in his way. He wasn’t going to waste time fighting anyone other than the boy…

 

“RHAA!!!” Ash shouted, lunging forward and swinging his right arm towards White Kaiser, but the warrior caught it in his hand. Ash’s eyes opened wide as he saw a smirk cross the warrior’s lips, he reacted immediately, pulling his arm out of the QuickSilver just as White Kaiser twisted it a full 180 degrees. If Ash hadn’t pulled his arm out just then, it would’ve been broken. “UGH!” Despite having saved his arm, White Kaiser swung the board and slammed it across Ash’s face, causing him to spin and fall to the ground, “Argh…!” Ash growled, clutching the side of his face…

 

“You are quite talented as a fighter… but you lack the strength to face me…” White Kaiser smirked, holding the QuickSilver in his arms. Clutching the board, he felt even he wouldn’t be able to break it… but the clips… “Heh…” he snapped them off and threw them to the side. Now it was impossible for Ash to use it as a weapon…

 

“Grrr!!!” Ash sprung to his feet and jumped back, putting some distance between him and the warrior while his hands reached for his pokébelt, but White Kaiser’s eyes didn’t miss the movements, and he wasn’t about to let Ash call out any more pokémon… “UGH!” Ash gasped, his shoulders hunched over and body fell forward when White Kaiser tackled him in the gut, knocking him to the ground. Ash struggled to get up, but White Kaiser stepped down hard on his chest… “AGH…!”

 

“ASH!” Pikachu, Brock, Tracey, and even Ebi ran towards White Kaiser…

 

“AAAHHH!!!!” Ash screamed out loud when White Kaiser pressed his foot down harder on his chest, and his friends immediately stopped.

 

“I’m sure you’ll know what happens should you take another step…” White Kaiser smiled evilly. Ash was at his mercy, he could kill him any time he wanted to. He laughed as he saw Pikachu growling, his cheeks sparking, yet unable to do anything. All the people around him, all their pokémon as well, even if he wasn’t holding Ash hostage like that, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to him…

 

“Hey Kaiser…” a deep voice called from behind. Unwittingly, White Kaiser turned his head… “HAAA!!!!”

 

SMASH!!!!

 

“AAAGH!!!!” White Kaiser screamed, he was thrown right off his feet, and his body literally went flying through the air and crashed into the large rock.

 

“AH…” Everyone gasped when they saw who attacked White Kaiser. There he stood, with spiky blond hair, a massive figure, the gigantic Super Fiend, G.I. Jolt!

 

“G.I. JOLT!?! What are you… doing here?” Ash quivered

 

“Nothing much… and certainly not saving you…” G.I. Jolt growled, not looking at Ash. “I came here for one reason… him.” He pointed at White Kaiser in the distance

 

“Hmph…!” White Kaiser shook his head and stood up, as if the punch had no effect. “Grrr… it’s you…” he growled, seeing the Super Fiend, “One of the followers of Sky Render… G.I. Jolt, am I correct?” He took a fighting stance, his eyes focused entirely on the Super Fiend, it seemed he forgot about Ash, “You know which one of us is stronger… yet you’re actually challenging me?”

 

“HMM!!” G.I. Jolt cracked his knuckles. “Hey… Ketchum” he called over to the pokémon trainer, “You expect to reach Sky Render at that pathetic level?”

 

“Wa?” Ash blinked, confused as the battle started, and the Super Fiend and Kaiser Knight charged at each other…

 

“RHAAA!!!” G.I. Jolt swung his fist down, but the knight dodged and spun in the air, slamming him across the face with a powerful roundhouse kick. Jolt’s entire body stumbled back, from the powerful impact, yet he growled and straightened up, lunging forward and grabbing White Kaiser’s smaller body, lifting him over his head, “HAAA!!!” He shouted, smashing him to the ground head first… But despite having his head slammed right into the sand, White Kaiser showed no sigh of pain, and kicked upward, slamming Jolt’s chin and knocking him back. “Grrr…!” the two of them growled, not saying a word. The two charged at each other, switching powerful blows one after the other. They were evenly matched!

 

“Ah…!” Ash gasped, “G.I. Jolt’s strong… no… POWERFUL!” He said, remembering Jolt’s superhuman strength, “But that White Kaiser is so small, yet his strength matches his exactly! No… it even surpasses him!” Ash gasped as he saw White Kaiser gaining the upper hand, slamming Jolt’s face and causing him to reel back. “How can any human being have so much strength?!”

 

“Urgh…!” Jolt stumbled back and collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. “The answer is just that… he isn’t human!”

 

“So this is the Herculean strength of G.I. Jolt? You’re no match for me!” White Kaiser sneered, “I’m superior in every way… not only am I stronger, but faster too!”

 

“You’re right… I can’t beat you alone…” Jolt smirked… “NOW!”

 

“AH…!” White Kaiser’s eyes opened wide, as a figure suddenly sprung from the sand behind him, and he felt a piercing in his back. Looking down, he saw a blade sticking out right through his chest “WHAT?!”

 

“AAH!!!” Ash, Brock, Tracey, and Ebi gasped, Misty screamed and covered her eyes…

 

“Doton no jutsu… the ground cloaking technique” Standing behind White Kaiser was the one who stabbed right through him. The icy ninja Super Fiend… AntiArctic! “HM!” he pulled out the Ninja-To (small sword used by ninjas) and sheathed it

 

“Urgh…! You!” White Kaiser growled, turning around and seeing the icy Super Fiend…

 

“Ah…!” What shocked Ash more than there being two super fiends, was the fact that White Kaiser had been stabbed right through the heart and was still alive! There was no blood, no wound, no sign of injury other than a hole in his shirt!

 

“We told you Ketchum… this man is not at all human… not anymore at least…” AntiArctic spoke, “White Kaiser is the result of a horrible technology that goes against the very bases of nature… to cast aside his very flesh and blood, and replace them with the power of machines and steel! He’s no longer human… he is Kaiser!”

 

Ash, Misty, Brock, Tracey and Ebi gasped at what Jolt had said. It couldn’t be possible… but for him to be that strong… and to be able to survive a mortal wound without flinching…! That was the only explanation!

 

“You are correct… I am what you people would call a ‘cyborg’… a human who has been blessed with this invincible body…” White Kaiser took a fighting stance, “I have given everything for this power, and I am now invincible! STRENGHT AND POWER MEANS EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD! THE WEAK DESERVE THEIR FATE!” He charged to finish ran forwards to finish G.I. Jolt off

 

“HMM!!!” AntiArctic struck his palm to the ground… “HA!” suddenly, a layer of ice formed beneath White Kaiser’s feet, causing him to slip and lose balance…

 

“HAAA!” Jolt shouted, smashing his fist against White Kaiser’s face

 

“URGH!” White Kaiser was thrown back and hit the ground. “Argh…!” he growled at AntiArctic, and quickly turned to attack him

 

“HM!” AntiArctic dodged left and right, evading White Kaiser at every step. His movements were incredible, and even White Kaiser couldn’t keep up with him! “What makes you think you can outstep a ninja?!” AntiArctic swung his leg upward, a thick layer of ice froze over his shin… “HA!!!” he kicked White Kaiser across the face

 

“Agh…! ARGH!” White Kaiser was getting madder by the second, but with the arrival of this icy super fiend who did everything to hinder his movements, while the large one kept smashing him with his strength, he was at a disadvantage! “GRRR!” As AntiArctic attacked, White Kaiser reached down and grabbed his scimitar… “HAAA!!!”

 

-SLASH-

 

“AH!” Ash and his friends gasped. White Kaiser stabbed through AntiArctic’s body!

 

“Heheheh…!” White Kaiser smiled, and laughed insanely! He got him…! “WHAT?!” suddenly he saw it! On the end of his sword wasn’t the Super Fiend… but a log!?

 

“Kawarimi no jutsu… the art of substitution…” AntiArctic stood behind White Kaiser, holding the Ninja-To… “Even your strength is no match for the arts of the ninja!” he smirked, as White Kaiser turned around, “Succession Technique: KOGOESHINU! (FREEZE TO DEATH!)” with all his strength, he stabbed into White Kaiser’s body… but this time, instead of a simple stab, he had concentrated his powers through the small blade, and inside White Kaiser’s body, everything was beginning to freeze!

 

“Ah…! Aagh…!” White Kaiser gasped, shivering… the cold spread through his body… everything was frozen… he couldn’t move at all…!

 

“ARMAGEDDON FIST!” Jolt ran towards the immobilized white Kaiser, and swung his arm. Electricity crackled around his fists and sparks flew through the air. There was a huge crash that sounded like thunder as he slammed White Kaiser with a mighty slam. White Kaiser was sent flying into the sky, over the horizon. G.I. looked into the distance and could see tiny figure in the distance. He then pulled out a large bazooka, with the words ‘BIG SHOT’ painted on the side. “FIRE!” a gigantic rocket that flew through the air, homing in on the distant target. There was an explosion as it had hit its target, “Oh yeah!” G.I. Jolt cheered and turned around,

 

“Gah…” Everyone gasped… the one enemy who had effortlessly defeated them, pokémon and all… was taken down by these two Super Fiends!

 

“He’s definitely survived, and he’ll be coming back for us sooner or later… we better move. A drawn-out battle with him will surely result in our deaths.” AntiArctic said, retaining the serious look on his face. “There is nothing left for us in this desert. Let’s go…” he said simply, and walked off…

 

“Hmm…” Jolt didn’t leave however, and instead turned to Ash. “Hey Ketchum…” he called out to him. “Don’t bother thanking us, because as I said earlier, we did not come to help you… we only fought that man because he is our enemy… and because we believed you could’ve handled yourself better, though it seems we were wrong…” he growled, “Sky Render believes in you… that you have the potential to grow strong…” He shook his head and turned around, “But back there… that was pitiful”

 

“G… grr…” Ash clenched his teeth. Jolt was insulting him… but he was right. Ash was trembling… he really couldn’t do anything about it “N… no! It’s not my fault! They were the ones who started it! We were the ones being attacked!”

 

“And when they gave you the choice to leave or fight, what did you choose?” Asked Jolt, and Ash looked down. “You are a great pokémon trainer… more than skilled enough to win whatever pokémon league competition… but that’s it. With your power, you can do little more than play in those games.” He looked at Ash seriously, “The real world is much harsher than you think, and pokémon masters are worth nothing in the face of people like these. There are those who are strong, stronger than me, stronger than White Kaiser even! And many of them will make themselves your enemy! What will you do then?!” Ash closed his eyes and looked down… “If you want to have any hope of survival, you must grow strong, stronger than me even! The path you walk is a dangerous one, and if you go any further, the games will stop and battles will become those between life and death.” Jolt paused, “The choice is yours. Return to the safe places and play in your Pokémon Leagues if you think it’s too tough… but remember what I told you…” and with that, Jolt left…

 

“Hmmm…” Ash clenched his fists tightly, saying absolutely nothing

 

“Ash?” Misty carefully approached him

 

“I am weak…” Ash finally spoke, looking down at his hands. “At my current level… I can definitely win the league… but against the world itself, I’m too small… HMM!” He closed his fist and looked at Jolt, “HEY JOLT!!!” He shouted to the Super Fiend in the distance, “YOU TELL SKY RENDER THAT I’LL BECOME STRONG! STRONGER THAN YOU! STRONGER THAN HIM! I WILL SURPASS EVERYBODY!” he shouted

 

“Hmm…” A smirk crossed Jolt’s face, and he raised his hand high into the air, giving Ash a thumbs up. He smiled as he travelled further into the desert, and Ash and his group started moving along again. “You were right Sky… that boy has spirit like I’ve never seen before…” He spoke out loud, “Without a doubt, the next time I see him, he’ll be a serious contender… probably even stronger than me…”

 

***

(Location- Team Rocket’s Crash site)

 

“IT’S NOT FAAAAIIIR!” James whined, “RIGHT WHEN WE GET A NEW BALLOON, SOME NUT-JOB SUPER FIEND SHOOTS US DOWN!” Incidentally, the figure that G.I. Jolt fired that he thought was White Kaiser happened to be Team Rocket’s balloon.

 

“Oh, quit complaining!” Jessie slapped James, shutting him up.

 

“Meowth… this bites…” Meowth sighed

 

As the two Super Fiends and Ash’s group leave their separate directions, they all know this isn’t the last time they will meet. The world is vast, but those who walk the path of the strong shall cross, as is the fate of the warrior…

 

(TO BE CONTINUED)