Chapter 19-Distant Voices

 

~Our group, anyone who joined us all had a reason. Brock wanted to become a great breeder, Tracey wanted to meet Prof. Oak, but Ebi… as good a friend he is, we hardly know anything about him. Other than always making powerful new weapons and gadgets, he always has incredible knowledge of every place we’ve ever been to or headed, as well as just about any enemy we’ve met. Ebi is a genius, and combining with his years of experience and expertise, he is a crucial member. When I think about it… it all started that night which felt like so long ago, when I saved him. Things kept escalating from there, leading up to me fighting the Super Fiends. When I think about it… if I never met him, would things have turned out this way? Would I have fought Doppelganger or gotten involved with the Super Fiends? Would Aquamarine still have come after me? Would I have even acquired the Power of One? As much as I want to think about these things, now’s not the time… I’m in the middle of a battle… one that I’m not sure I can win. But no matter what, I can’t give up… I have to try…

-Ash Ketchum

 

(Location- Grim Void)

 

Grim Void… this bleak place stretched for an eternity. No ground, no sky, no gravity. Time flows much faster here than it does in the real world, making it longer for help to come. People will float aimlessly, losing their mind as they sink deeper and deeper into insanity. The only way to get here is to be banished by Mortal Reaper or Soul Harvest, both powers held by the Super Fiend Goth. After that, just about nothing else can connect our world to that dimension

 

“Just a bit more…” Ebi said to himself, but it was so difficult to concentrate. Over his glasses he was wearing some kind of magnifying scope. With the time speed here, almost two days have passed in that time Ash and Misty were fighting Goth and Twin Dreamer. The appearance of the surroundings hadn’t changed one bit, and every direction remained the same blank white colour, with the exception of the other soul harvest victims floating around.

 

“(Yawn)” Brock just woke up, “Even after being banished into eternal limbo by Super Fiends, you still have to make all these inventions?” Brock stretched, feeling a bit tired and particularly sore. Being thrown into this place was a very tiring. Though the Super Fiends used the attack, it felt like the energy to get here came at the victim’s expense. Thankfully, there was no need for food or water in this place.

 

“This is the only thing I can do here that’s holding me back from insanity” Ebi didn’t bother to look up at Brock, “I’ve been REAL busy, and I’ve been working on this ever since before I met Ash” it was impossible to tell what it was really, seeing how it was in a hundred pieces with all those tiny circuits and wires, “If this works, this may just save us…” Ebi yawned. It was getting more and more difficult to stay awake. He was already tired when they reached Marble city. The energy used up when sent here, along with the many hours spent endlessly working on this thing, he was exhausted.

 

“Ebi, you so much as rested since we got here over two days ago! I can understand the dedication if it were important, but how can we know it’s importance if we don’t know what it is?” Brock asked, as Togepi chirped in his arms

 

“There’ll be plenty of time for rest later… what’s important is I get this done immediately.” Ebi’s eyes started to droop, but he shook his head to wake up. His head was hurting but he refused to stop. Brock and Tracey tried to question him more, but Ebi simply ignored them. Eventually they drifted off to find someone else who’ll make better conversation, Togepi followed. “Ash, Misty… try to hang on a bit longer…” Ebi spoke in a quiet voice, struggling to stay awake

 

***

(Location- Marble City)

 

“BLOOD FANG!” Chaos Reaper dove down from the building. Ash jumped out of the way, missing him. Before touching the ground, the vampire flipped so he landed gracefully on his feet, “Heh…”

 

“GRRR…” Ash growled, “Stand back Misty, the freak’s a vampire now, and if all them old movies are correct, these guys always aim for the females first!” He pushed her back.

 

“Trying to protect your sweetheart?” Chaos Reaper smiled unpleasantly

 

“Oh shut up! TAKE THIS! SILVER BULLET!” Ash shot forwards, being pulled by his QuickSilver arm. The hard metal board, combined with the speed and the weight of his body, Ash slammed into Chaos Reaper hard.

 

“UGH!” Chaos Reaper felt the blow from the hit and was thrown off his feet and slammed into a wall. After a few seconds of shock wore off, he got back up, with no visible damage at all. “It didn’t hurt! I didn’t feel anything!” He laughed and pulled out the Blood Whip, “This body is immortal! Nothing you do will work against me!” He laughed, “BLOOD WHIP!” he swung the black bloody whip

 

“WA!” Ash moved his head to the side as the whip barely missed his face. The whip hit the wall, leaving a visible crack. “ow” he held his hand where it had grazed him

 

“If you think you stand a chance against me, think again! LURKING DEATH!” His body faded away as he became nearly invisible. He was like a ghost, transparent and everything, and in the darkness he was much harder to see.

 

“Ah…” Ash was sweating as he looked left and right… this technique made it impossible to follow him with his eyes… where did he go?!

 

“HISSSSSS!” Chaos Reaper hissed loudly, surprising Ash as he leapt from behind and grabbed his arms, keeping him form moving. Ash tried to struggle, but Chaos Reaper was far stronger. Chaos Reaper bared his fangs, “time for me to feast! BLOOD FA-”

 

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Misty ran forwards and slammed him on the back of the head with the sledgehammer.

 

“AGH!” even though he was invulnerable, Chaos Reaper definitely felt this. His grip loosened up as the shock from the hammer stunned him

 

“GRR!” Ash broke out of the hold. Quickly he pulled out a nitro ball. Chaos Reaper involuntarily gasped at Ash’s quick actions, and Ash thrust his hand forwards, forcing the nitro ball into Chaos Reaper’s mouth. Before Chaos reaper could react, Ash closed his eyes and gave him a powerful uppercut, slamming his jaws shut…

 

KABOOOM!

  

“WAA!” Ash and Misty jumped back from the explosion

 

“AAARGH!” Chaos Reaper screamed. Even with his new strength, this was something that he could never have survived had he not been transformed to this body. His head was trembling and smoke was coming out from his mouth…

 

“HYA!” Before anything else happened, Misty swung the heavy sledgehammer upwards and slammed HARD between Chaos Reaper’s legs

 

“ACK!” Chaos Reaper exclaimed and dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. In the meantime Ash and Misty ran as fast as they could.

 

“Good thinking Misty!” Ash high-fived her as they ran, “It doesn’t matter how invincible you are, if you’re a guy, that HURTS!”

 

“Thanks! I knew I’m not strong enough to knock him out, so I went with the quickest solution that came to me!” She smirked

 

“Yeesh… remind me never to get you mad again” Ash said as they continued to run

 

***

(Location- Grim Void)

 

“(Sigh) almost finished…” Ebi said to himself, his head constantly dropping. In that time Ash and Misty ran into Chaos Reaper which took about two or three minutes, nearly an hour had passed over here, “Only a few more pieces…” he reached for the necessary parts, but one of them was missing… “Agh, no! I can’t have lost it now!”

 

“Here” a female’s voice said as she handed Ebi the last piece of the device, “You dropped this”

 

“Oh, thanks…” Ebi accepted it as he turned around, and was shocked at who he saw

 

“Surprised? I can tell from that look you weren’t expecting to see me!” She smiled. This attractive young girl looked almost identical to Ebi, with the black hair and eyes, but she didn’t have glasses and her hair was long

 

“AMAEBI!” Ebi exclaimed as they hugged, “Of all the people…! How did you…! When…?!”

 

Amaebi smiled. “I can tell you were never expecting to see me!” She said, and looked at the gadget into her brother’s hand “You’ve been working hard, and I think it’s time you finished it!”

 

“Yes!” Ebi turned around and started to finish the device he was making

 

“Hey Ebi! Me and Brock heard you yell out and-WAAAGH!” Tracey exclaimed as Brock pushed him out of the way, sending Tracey spinning through the void

 

“HellomynameisBrockandIthinkyourethemostbeautifulgirlIhaveeverseenwhatisyourname?” Brock said very quickly

 

“Um…” Amaebi sweatdropped

 

POW!

 

“WAK!!!” Brock was sent flying as Ebi punched him

 

“Keep your hands away from my sister you lecherous pervert!” Ebi shouted, “Just ignore the eyeless freak, sis”

 

“Gah… sister?!” Brock exclaimed as he rubbed his head as he slowly descended, “No way could someone that nerdy, be in any way related to someone so pretty! And what was that remark?! I’ll show you eyeless freak… AH!” he gasped when Tracey punched him, sending him flying

 

“That’s for knocking me out of the way!” Tracey shouted

 

“Argh… Why am I the one getting all the bashing in this stupid fic!?” Brock shouted

 

“Oh shut up you cry-baby, Aquamarine’s got it worse than you.” Ebi turned around, “By the way… if you’re here, then what about the others? Are they here?”

 

“No, sorry. Everyone’s still separated, and until recently I was travelling with Tobiko… only we sort of got split up along the way, and I’m looking for her. Too bad, you really wanted to see her again, didn’t you?” she Amaebi winked

 

“No-no-no-no! That’s not what I meant!” Ebi said very quickly

 

“Sure-sure… but don’t worry, I’m sure they’re safe. They’re all capable adventurers remember? For now, you should get to work and finish your invention!” she said, and Ebi started getting busy finishing the device.

 

“Hey,” Said Tracey “I’m not sure I should be asking, but who’s Tobiko?”

 

“(Girlfriend… well, she has potential anyways. Ebi’s totally in love with her… and I’m pretty sure they’d make a great couple… if he could work up the nerve to actually TALK to her without fainting)” Amaebi whispered back, “(I know it’s tempting to make fun of him, but I think we should let him finish)”

 

“YES! It’s done!” said Ebi, holding it up. It looked like some sort of wristwatch, and the clock part was silver and shaped like a dome, “This is the most advanced piece of technology on earth. A pokédex is nothing compared to this thing! With a scanner able to tell us the HP, Stats and name of any opponent, human or pokémon, as well as a thousand times more memory than any government computer system, and can hack in and out of those things as well. It holds all my tools and in one, this is my ultimate masterpiece! THE EBIDEX!!!!!” He shouted, “Along with all the features, the transceiver phone’s range and power has been multiplied by a thousand, as well as dimensional, and it’s sure to help us outta this dump of a dimension!”

 

***

(Location- Marble City)

 

“Could you see him coming?” Ash whispered, they were hiding in one of the buildings

 

“I don’t know. It’s so dark…” Said Misty, (BEEPBEEPBEEP) they heard a sound, “What was that?” she wondered

 

“Oh yeah! I haven’t used this thing in so long I nearly completely forgot about it!” Ash pulled out the transceiver phone, “hello?”

 

“(CRRRR) ASH! This is EBI! Can you hear me?” he said through the speaker

 

“Yes!” Ash and Misty were excited that they could talk to him, “We can hear you, loud and… well loud anyways!”

 

“Hey, let’s see YOU try and get a good reception when you’re speaking across worlds!” Ebi replied indignantly, while his friends all cheered. With the EbiDex, they could finally communicate with the outside world! That wasn’t all, but now that there was a link between them, time between the two dimensions was synchronized!

 

“Hmm… that sounds like a pretty complicated situation! And who’d have ever though Sky Render could do that?” said Brock after hearing about it

 

“You think you’re surprised, how do you think I feel? I mean, I’M the chosen one, and I’m supposed to be the only one who can use the power of one!”

 

“(CRR…) Cross that thought! You’re A chosen one, not THE chosen one! I guess I should’ve told you earlier that Sky Render’s a Chosen One who can use it too. What’s more, he’s infinitely stronger than you! Too bad, though! This whole Power of One thing seemed like the only way you can match him!” Said Ebi

 

“WHAT?!” Ash angrily yelled into the transceiver phone, “You mean to tell me you already knew that they could do that?!”

 

“(CRR…) um, yeah. Sorry, I guess that was a detail I forgot to mention… (CRRR)”

 

“Any MORE important details you neglected to mention?” Ash asked angrily

 

“(CRRR) Actually… those nitro balls you’re carrying in your pockets? Do me a favour and put them in the QuickSilver, because I don’t need any lawsuits. The way you’ve been handling them, it’s a miracle they hadn’t exploded and blown your legs off!”

 

“WA!” Ash quickly pulled all of the nitro balls he was carrying in his pockets and dumped them into the QuickSilver’s storage compartment

 

“Can we PLEASE return to current situation?” Asked Misty

 

“(CRRRRR) Yeah, well… hmmm… weaknesses… (CRRR)”Ebi stopped to think for a moment, “Well Twin Dreamer is a psychic element fighter, and his power has gotten far stronger when turning into Grand Dreamer! I don’t know any weakness, because I never stood around to watch his fights, but Grand Dream is far stronger than any Twin Dream attack, and his Tarot Cards are also a deadly weapon! As for weaknesses, I have no idea. However, the key to winning here may be to exploit his overconfidence from his newfound power… because while he’s gained incredible power, he himself hasn’t gotten any stronger! (CRRR…)” said Ebi

 

“What is that supposed to mean!” both Ash and Misty spoke

 

“It’ll take too long to explain, you’ll see for yourself when you fight him! (CRR)” Ebi continued “As for Goth… there is no question that he is the more dangerous of the two, and now that he’s transformed into Chaos Reaper, there is no comparison between now and what he was before. He is without a doubt, the fiercest enemy you’ve faced! If you encounter him, RUN, because as you are now, there is no way for you to defeat him! To fight him will only mean death!” Ebi stressed

 

“Then how are we supposed to win against an enemy like that!?” Misty shouted

 

“There’s the problem. You can’t.” Replied Ebi, “However, there may be an alternate solution. Marble City is a city that relies heavily on technology, so of course they’ll have to have a back up power source! Even if you can’t beat Chaos Reaper, if you relight the city, you’ll take away his advantage! (CRR) Plus he’s a vampire now, and light might hurt him! Also, try using any items you know of that kill vampires! You know, stuff like garlic, stakes in the heart, crosses and such… but your first course of action should be to light up the city!”

 

“So where is this power source?” Asked Misty

 

“Well… they say there’s an underground plant beneath the electric company…”

 

“This city is huge! Be more specific! Where’s the electric company?”

 

“Well… um… (Crr)”

 

“So… in short, you don’t know” Said Misty

 

“(CRRR…)” Ebi didn’t answer, “… … … … …SHUT UP!”

 

“I think you insulted him” Said Ash, “After all, knowledge is the only thing a geek like him’s got to be proud of! After all, he’s no athlete, he’s got toothpick arms and legs, and he’s got no strength, skills or any talent with sports to be proud of, unless you count weightlifting, what with those enormous glasses he’s got. And don’t get me started with looks! If the nerdy glasses aren’t enough, get a load of that haircut!”

 

“I HEARD THAT!” Ebi shouted “(CRR…) So that’s what you really think of me, eh? Well listen up here Ash Ketchum…”

 

“THERE YOU ARE!” the doors burst open, and there stood the super fiend. Wearing his silver outfit and a flowing silver cape, Grand Dreamer stood there, “So this is where you were hiding, in the electric company building?”

 

“We’re in the electric company?” Misty blinked. Talk about convenient! “Uh, not now Teedee, can’t talk! We’re calling long distance here!”

 

“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt… hey! Don’t make fun of me!” He exclaimed, “And stop calling me TeeDee already!”

 

“Sorry! She didn’t mean anything by that! She meant to call you GeeDee!” Said Ash

 

“GRRRR!” Grand Dreamer growled, “THAT’S EVEN WORSE! GRAND DREAM!!!”

 

WHOOSH!

 

“WAAAA!” Ash and Misty dove out of the day of the GIGANTIC beam that Grand Dreamer shot. It went tearing through the wall and smashing through one building after another, anything that was in its way. “Whoa…” Ash and Misty sweatdropped

 

“That’ll teach you to call me names!” He pulled out his tarot cards and started shuffling the deck, “FATE SHUFFLE!” the cards started to glow as he finished shuffling. He then pulled one out and looked at it, “Heh! Here’s a good one!” one the card was a picture of the night sky with the stars and half-moon. Under the picture were written the wordsClair du Lune

 

“Clear the what?” Ash read it confused

 

“No Ash, it’s French! It means moonlight!” Said Misty. As she spoke, even though their eyes have adjusted to the dark, everything went completely black…

 

CCRRAAAASSHHH!!!!!!

 

“AAAAAAAAAHHHH!” They both screamed when HUGE pillar of light smashed through the roof. Ash, Misty and Pikachu jumped out of the way and missed it, but barely. That attack… was so powerful! It had smashed right through the building and right into the ground!

 

“This is my power!” Said Grand Dreamer “The effect of this card is like Solarbeam, all the moonlight shining across the lands was absorbed for one second, and all the energy from the dim light is concentrated into one beam and SMASHES down on the target! And because it came randomly from the draw of a card, it doesn’t cost ME any energy!!” he held up the deck proudly

 

“THUNDERBOLT!” Ash shouted and Pikachu attacked Grand Dreamer with lightning

 

“GRAND DREAM!” Grand Dreamer countered it with a gigantic beam of energy. The psychic power broke the chain of lightning. “PSYCHIC HOLD!” he shouted. Suddenly, Ash felt his body lock, he couldn’t move, held by an invisible force! “Now… Grand-!”

 

“PIKAAAA!!!” Pikachu quickly attacked from the side, striking him with thunder wave.

 

“URGH!” Grand Dreamer gasped, feeling the effects of the paralysis, losing all feeling in his body as well as his ability to levitate. He fell from the air… though the numbness disappeared right before he hit the ground. “OW!” he shouted. Slowly he got up, “GRRR… GRAND DREAM… URK!” he felt the effects of paralysis again and wasn’t able to move or attack. That paralysis stopped him dead in his tracks!

 

“Yeah, well thanks GeeDee! We’d like to stay and chat, but you know… anyways thanks for blasting us a nice pathway!” Said Ash as he jumped onto the QuickSilver and Misty and Pikachu hopped on as they quickly descended into the hole, the three of them pulled down an eyelid and stuck out their tongues

 

“D-DAMN!” Grand Dreamer cursed

 

(Location- Marble City underground complex)

 

Some parts of the Marble dessert were extremely rocky under ground, and Marble City was built over one of them. There were enormous rocky caves and underground rivers, and there was a hydro-electric plant being used for those rivers. It was mostly a bunch of rooms stationed around the caves over the large rivers, and full of metal bridges with safety rails all over the place. There were some dim lights hanging from the ceiling, which lit up the place. Even with the power out, these lights were to remain on always. Ash and Misty were running on one of these metal bridges

 

“So you got away from Grand Dreamer huh? (CRRR) Quickly, get your pokédex out!” Said Ebi as Ash and Misty ran

 

“Okay” Ash pulled it out

 

“(CRRR…) now touch it to the transceiver I’ll do the rest!” said Ebi. Ash held the pokédex close, and cables appeared from the transceiver device, connecting to the pokédex, “Good, now touch your pokédex to the ground!”

 

 ”Right!” Said Ash as he touched the ground with it

 

“All right! Ebidex Scan! (CRRR…)” Ebi called out. From his end of the line, the EbiDex was scanning the entire area by hacking into the pokédex and using its scanner. A map appeared on the EbiDex revealing all the halls, pathways and rooms, including our hero’s location “All right! I’ll guide you now!”

 

After a few minutes of following his directions, they found the room with the main switch and flipped it. Outside where the gigantic underground river was running, the electric turbines started to turn, and power was returning to the city. Ash and Misty ran out of that room and continued over the metal bridges and reached some stairs connecting this one to a higher one.

 

“(Crrr) Good! The power’s back on! Now you can go back to surface and enjoy a battle under fully lit conditions! Chaos Reaper’s still powerful, but he’s lost his advantages brought by the darkness! (CRR)” Ebi’s voice spoke, “The EbiDex scanner’s picked up something, and it’s close! I can’t see what it is though! There’s three of them! (CRRR…)”

 

“Three?” Ash said aloud

 

“The only three left in the city are Grand Dreamer, Chaos Reaper, and Sky Render!” Said Misty

 

“You got that right!” A voice spoke up. Ash and Misty stopped when they saw someone standing on top of a metal beam, dressed in a silver outfit and pure white hair… there he stood… Twin Dreamer? “Heh…” he laughed as he looked down at them. “I have to hand it to you twerps, there are few who could last this long against us. But maybe if you hand over Pikachu, I’ll let you go…”

 

“Huh?” Ash and Misty blinked. When did Grand Dreamer revert back to his original form? And since when were the fiends interested in taking Pikachu?

 

“You won’t give him up? I’m warning you, I can be really scary! As a matter of fact I-WHOA!” he exclaimed as he lost his balance, “No-no-no-no!” he slipped “EAAHH!” he fell from the beam and landed with a painfully loud -Thud- ‘TeeDee’ groaned as he looked up, hair turned out to be a wig, which fell off, revealing who it really was

 

“JAMES?!” Ash and Misty exclaimed

 

“ow.” James groaned

 

“James you moron! You ruined the trap!” Jessie called from one of the higher metal bridges

 

“How’re we supposed ta capture Pikachu now?” Meowth shouted

 

“You idiots!” Misty kicked James, “What do you think you’re doing here?!”

 

“Um, stealing Pikachu?” Said Jessie

 

“Yeah, yeah, I can see that. But more importantly, why didn’t YOU guys get banished to that alternate dimension like everyone else?” Ash crossed his arms

 

“Oh, so dat’s what happened?” Asked Meowth

 

“We don’t know anything. That ESP jerk came and attacked us! Well, except for James who KO’ed himself in that pathetic attempt at an escape” Said Jessie

 

“But that doesn’t explain how come you’re still here”

 

“I can answer that!” Said Ebi, in the tone he usually speaks in whenever he pops up out of nowhere and explains everything, “(CRRR) The Soul Harvest may have the same effects as Mortal Reaper, but not as effective, because its range is simply being increased through the use of telekinesis, you know… having to do with the mind? They were unconscious and because their minds didn’t react, neither would their souls or bodies. They purposely missed Ash. As for Misty… I have NO idea why she didn’t get hit (CRRR)”

 

“Toge! Priiii!” Togepi chirped Hearing Togepi brightened Misty up immediately. She felt relieved that Togepi was all right. That wasn’t all, but she figured out why she didn’t get banished either. It was because of Togepi…

 

“Well… seeing how we’re fighting a greater evil, one that’ll surely attack you guys as well (no matter how much you deserve it) but they’re REALLY strong and we could use all the help we can get. So can we call a truce?” Ash asked

 

“It’s a deal!” James reached up and shook Ash’s hand

 

Now things were looking up, even though their opponents were powerful, at least Ash and Misty weren’t by themselves right now. As they made their way up to the surface, Marble City seemed different. Now that there were street lights, this city had lost its aura of terror, it felt almost welcoming…

 

RRRIIIIP! CRACK!

 

Chaos Reaper tore through a metal lamppost with his bare hands, “Damn lights!” he didn’t notice the group. He was making too much noise breaking these lights.

 

“Listen to this strategy! See, while Mr. Happy is busy battling the fearsome lampposts…” Ash began to explain it all. “You see that bank over there? Basically, we’re not gonna try and beat him. I’ll go open the vault while you guys fight him! We’ll force him in and lock him, and then weld it shut with a fire pokémon!” said Ash, “I’ll go in there and line the floor of the vault with Nitro Balls first, so when we lock him in, he won’t try to get rough and break out unless he wants another nitro ball explosion!” Ash said as he quickly and quietly sneaked into the bank.

 

Misty went to hide in the alleyways, and Team Rocket were about to play their part.

 

“Hey you! The dead-looking guy!” Jessie called out as the three stepped forwards.

 

Chaos Reaper stopped breaking lampposts and looked at them, “What do you want?”

 

“Prepare for trouble!”

 

“Make it double!!”

 

“To protect the world from devastation!”

 

“To unite all people within our nation!”

 

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

 

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

 

“Jessie!”

 

“James!”

 

“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!”

 

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

 

“Meowth! That’s right!”

 

Chaos Reaper stared at them, “Okay, now really, what do you want?” Jessie, James and Meowth fell over in stupidity

 

“We just said it! Didn’t you get anything out of what we said?!”

 

“No.” He answered plainly

 

“GRRR! That’s it! You’re dead!” They growled.

 

“Arbok! Wobuffet! Attack!” Jessie sent them out

 

“Wheezing! Victreebell! Go!” James sent them out

 

“SCREEEECH!” Victreebell immediately dove and swallowed James whole

 

“MMFTMF! LET GO!” James crawled out of Victreebell’s mouth.

 

“Heh!” Meowth extended his claws, “Prepare yourself Super Fiend!”

 

(Meanwhile)

 

“Now put this gently here…” Ash placed the last nitro ball on the ground, “There!” there were nitro balls lying all over the floor inside the bank vault. “This is the right way Ebi?”

 

“Let me check!” Ebi looked through the minimap, and saw how the floor was lined up with nitro balls, “Almost perfect! But if you don’t want it to explode the second he comes in, I suggest you remove that one over there, those three over here and…” Ebi told Ash which ones to remove, “Perfect! When he’s thrown in here, he’ll land in this spot without the nitro balls, they’ll simply littler his path between him and the door. This way, there won’t be an explosion unless he tries anything!”

 

“That’s good news! The first we’ve had in a while! Now all we have to do is get the walkin’ dead in here and we’re done with him! Just one question, what if he uses Lurking Death to get out, or the nitro balls blow this place open?”

 

“Don’t worry! This room is solid with special alloys, it’ll take about a hundred more to break it open! And he can’t slip out either, because the walls and door are magnetically sealed. The strongest lasers will just bounce right off, and ghosts can’t get in or out! Gotta hand it to the people of marble city! Not many places ghost-proof their bank vaults! Greed is good, eh?”

 

“Maybe, but one thing bugs me. How is Team Rocket doing against him?”

 

“MORTAL REAPER!” he heard someone shout

 

“CHARRBOOOK!”

 

“WOBBBAAA!”

 

“WHEEZIIIING!”

 

“SCHREEEEEEEECH!”

 

Ash sweatdropped, “Well that answers my question” He walked to the entrance and gasped at what he saw

 

“MEAAAOWR!” Meowth dove forwards and slashed at Chaos Reamer’s face, but the fiend moved and missed, “GRRR! ROWR!” Meowth continued to lash with his claws and fangs. All the swipes, if they even hit, had no effect whatsoever. Meowth landed on all four on the ground. “Hey, you’re not bad, for a human!”

 

“And you’re pretty good, for a freak!”

 

“Watch it bub!” Meowth hissed, “I’ll show you! MEEEOOWTH!!!” Meowth leapt forwards with his claws and teeth bared

 

“Fighting tooth and nail is your specialty, but it’s useless if I’m that much better! BLOOD SLASH!” Before Meowth reached him, Chaos Reaper swiped at his face with his long and very sharp nails

 

“AGH!” Meowth fell to the ground, “GRRR…!”

 

“MORTAL REAPER!” Chaos Reaper attacked with his scythe

 

“ROWR!!” Mewoth leapt over it and dove down at Chaos Reaper’s face “ROWR!” Before he could tear at him with his claws, Chaos Reaper smacked him out of the air and attacked with the scythe again, “RRR…!” Meowth hissed as he stood on all four, his fur standing up, “MEEEOOOWR!!!!” Meowth darted forwards and attacked.

 

Meowth was getting more savage by the second. He was acting like a real wild cat. He hadn’t uttered a word. He hissed, he growled, this fight was too serious for any silly catch phrases. Meowth was fighting like he had never fought before. Everyone was quiet as they watched the two combatants, the agile cat and the ghostly reaper battle each other. Both of them were moving like lightning.

 

“You’re good, almost as fast as me, but not nearly as strong! Your stamina is your most critical weakness, you’re tiring quickly! HA!” Meowth wasn’t fast enough and Chaos Reaper slammed him over the head, smacking him hard onto the pavement. Meowth was about to get up, but Chaos Reaper stepped on him with one foot, and keeping him from moving “The only thing that’s letting you keep up with me is your speed. You’re exhausted, and without your agility, you’re nothing more than a helpless kitten! MORTAL REAPER!”

 

“MEEEEOOOOWWTH!” Meowth gave one final screech as the scythe passed through him as he faded out of existence

 

“MEOWTH! NO!” James shouted

 

“I can’t believe it!” Jessie exclaimed, “Ah!” she gasped, when Chaos Reaper turned and faced them.

 

“Uh… UHH… S-STAY BACK!” James held up a cross

 

Chaos Reaper looked at it “um, is that supposed to scare me?”

 

“Heh, surely you know these things do to vampires!” James smirked, but his smirk faded as Chaos Reaper approached

 

“And how will this affect me?” Chaos Reaper was right in front of James

 

“Gah…” James was shaking, but straightened up, “Ugh! This is a cross! How thick can you get?! Doesn’t this have ANY MEANING AT ALL to you?!” he shouted

 

“Nah, not really, no” He said quite casually “Why should a cross have meaning to me?” he flicked it out of James’s hand with his finger, “I’m not Christian”

 

“Well can’t argue with that logic… um, I mean… eep.” James sweatdropped

 

“MORTAL REAPER!” Chaos Reaper attacked

 

“EEEEHEEOOOHOHO!!!” James also faded as the attack hit him

 

“NO! WHY YOU!” Jessie charged forwards

 

“Hm?” Chaos Reaper turned around

 

“TAKE THIS!” She held up a wooden stake and placed it where his heart was… “HAAA!!” she struck it with the hammer.

 

Chaos Reaper didn’t flinch. The stake didn’t even penetrate his skin. “That won’t work” He plucked the stake and mallet out of her hands and crushed them, “My power goes far beyond anything you may have heard in the myths.” His hand forward up and grabbed her by the neck, lifting her into the air, in his other hand he lifted his scythe “Nothing can stop me, not even the sun itself! MORTAL REAPER!” He tossed Jessie into the air and swung the scythe, sending her to the Void. He turned to Ash “you’re next”

 

Ash took a fighting stance “Those guys put up an incredible fight, possibly the best one they ever had. Even if they did lost, they proven their strength and courage.”

 

“Yeah… they’ve proven how weak they are! RAAAAAAR!” Chaos Reaper charged forwards and slashed at Ash with the scythe, but Ash deflected it. Sparks flew in the air as the weapons clashed off each other “You think you can beat ME?!”

 

Ash didn’t say anything. He and Chaos Reaper engaged themselves in single combat. On blow after the other, sparks flew as their weapons deflected off each other. Ash moved quickly, fighting fast and hitting hard, even against the overwhelming strength of his opponent… “AGH!” Ash gasped, when Chaos Reaper’s punch sent him flying ten metres away and hitting the ground. Chaos Reaper dashed forwards and grabbed Ash up by the front of his shirt. Quickly Ash pulled something out of his pocket and slammed it into Chaos Reaper’s face. Chaos Reaper screamed and dropped Ash as he tried to get the sand out of his eyes.

 

“This city’s in the middle of a dessert! You know, sand? You’d think I’d let an opportunity to get this much ground-element ammo pass by?” He smirked as he held out several element capture balls, which each had a sandy colour, meaning that they were all ground-attack balls.

 

“You’ll pay for that!” Chaos Reaper charged forwards, but Ash stepped to the side. Chaos Reaper’s vision had been obstructed by the sand

 

“White Kaiser was also an ‘invincible’ enemy, but sand in the eyes was able to hurt him, and you’re no different!” Ash called, “Another thing. You know I’m a pokémon trainer, and even though I fight without a pokémon a lot of times, I always use them in whenever I get the chance. But I’m not using them right now, WHY?”

 

“Because Sky Render finished them all off? BLOOD SLASH!” Chaos Reaper wiped the sand completely out of his eyes and slashed at him.

 

“Whoop” Ash turned to the side a bit, missing the slash “Wrong! I’m not using them because…” he smiled

 

“I’m the one who’s using them!” Misty called from behind. With here were all the pokémon, as well as Pikachu. They’ve been healed with Hyper Potions and Revives, and they were ready to fight, “I’ve always wanted to try this for myself!” She pointed forwards “UNISTRIKE!”

 

“CHROOOAAAR!!!!!”

 

“QUIIIIIIIIIIIIL!!!!!”

 

“BULBASAAAAUR!!!!!”

 

“BAYLEEEEEEF!!!!!”

 

“SQUIRTEEEEEEL!!!!!!”

 

“TOTODIIIIIIIIILE!!!!!”

 

“PIIIII-KAAAAA-CHUUUUUUU!!!!!”

 

The four different elements flew through the air… Earth, Fire, Wind and Water… perfectly balanced, they joined together, to a single element, with power far surpassing their individual strenght. The ultimate attack, UNISTRIKE!

 

Chaos Reaper was stunned, his body froze up with fear as the beam headed towards him. Ash dove to the side, but Chaos Reaper wasn’t so lucky

 

CRRRRAAAASHHHH!

 

“AAAAARGGH!” The beam sent him flying. Through the wall, through the bank, the beam had stopped, but the force had thrown him that far. Right into the open vault, he crashed into a metal wall before falling to the floor, “Ugh… argh…” using his scythe for support, he slowly started to get up. That rib cage he wore as body armour was still intact, but lots of it was cracked, and parts of his cape were ripped.

 

“NOW!” Ash, Misty and all the pokémon charged forwards, slamming the huge metal door shut. The two fire-type pokémon started to flame around the sides of the door, welding it shut. Sure, Chaos Reaper wasn’t completely beaten, but they had him sealed up!

 

“ALL RIGHT!” Ash and Misty high-fived each other, “YES!” The pokémon cheered as well, and Ash and Misty started to calm down. They looked at each other, forgetting that the room was full of pokémon or being shy or anything, they hugged. They broke the hug rather quickly, but continued to gaze into each other’s eyes.

 

“I’m really impressed, you really handled the pokémon well back there.” said Ash

 

“Yeah, but when you were fighting against him, I never seen you fight like that before. You deserve the credit. You were really amazing” Said Misty

 

“No, you were. Only a great trainer can command the Unistrike, and you did that!”

 

“No, you’re the one. Only someone really brave would jump up and go fight him!”

 

“So what? Meowth did it before me!”

 

“But he didn’t do nearly as well did he? And who was it who got the idea of locking that guy up?”

 

“Not mine, it was Ebi’s!”

 

“But you did all the work!”

 

“Why should I take all the credit for everything? I’m serious! You were great!”

 

“Was not!”

 

“Was too!”

 

“Was not!”

 

“Was too!”

 

“Was not!”

 

“Was too!”

 

“Was not!”

 

“Was too!”

 

“Was not!”

 

“Was too!”

 

“Fine then! I was great!” Misty smiled. Both Ash and Misty laughed, they were acting very childish. But something Ash said made Misty think “Ash, when you said that, were you really serious. Did you really think I’m that great?”

 

“Yeah, I always thought you were great, no… amazing, nice, and even cute…” Ash snapped back to attention “(ARGH! I can’t believe I said that!)” he thought to himself, going red

 

“(AH! I can’t believe he said that!)” Misty also thought, also going red

 

Neither of them said anything for a while. They were both silent, wondering what was next. They were too embarrassed to look at each other straight in the face. The pokémon went silent, Ash and Misty forgot they were there.

 

Ash gathered the courage to look “(Wait, she’s also blushing. She’s also blushing!)”

 

“(Agh… this is so embarrassing!)” Misty turned and looked at Ash, “(But if he’s blushing too, then does that mean that he…?)” she gazed at him

 

“(Wa… the way she’s looking at me… could that mean that she… likes me? … NO! She’s just some uncute girl who doesn’t like you the way you think, and never will! She’s just… oh why am I even saying this?)” Ash was all red, “Gah, I argue with myself even more than her. At least I can agree she’s pretty…” he sighed, “URK! I… didn’t just say that out loud did I?”

 

“Oh yes you did” Misty smiled, “So, you really think I’m pretty?”

 

“Uh! NO! No, wait, that’s not what I meant to say, it’s that um… oh…” Ash sighed

 

“Oh don’t be embarrassed Ash” Misty pinched Ash’s cheek, “So I’m amazing, nice pretty too! Anything ELSE you want to tell me?”

 

“Well… um… wa…” Ash stuttered. He had said too much. “(oh… How do I get myself out of this? One of the moments I’ve been waiting for my entire life. She wants to hear it, I wanna say it, but I don’t even know what to say! DAMMIT!)” He looked at her. “(I try to back out, I’m gonna regret this for the rest of my life ‘cus I’m not gonna get this chance again. I come clean and she laughs, then I’m gonna want to open the vault door and jump in with Count Dracula over there. But if I say it, and she feels the same way and’s been hiding it too…)” He thought to himself, “(AAAARGH! Damn you Mikazuchi, you sadistic bastard!)” Ash thought angrily, but looked at Misty’s face and immediately cooled down “(But that look she’s giving me… I can’t look her right in the eyes and lie… can I?)” Ash thought uneasily to himself

 

“Well?” Misty asked, breaking Ash’s train of thoughts

 

“(That does it! My mind’s made up! I’m saying it! It’s either now or never!)” Ash finally decided as he stepped back took a deep breath, “Misty” He stood up straight and looked into her eyes, “For a long time, I’ve wanted to tell you this. I…” He paused. This was so difficult, and it was a miracle he didn’t collapse immediately.

 

Misty looked at him. Ash had her full attention, “(This is it!)” she thought to herself excitedly

 

Ash straightened up “Misty… I want to tell you that…” He heard the sound of some shuffling and looked behind him, at all the pokémon sitting around, “Hey! I don’t need any witnesses for this! Return!” He called them back into the pokéballs, and then bent down to talk to Pikachu “(You Pikachu,)” he whispered, “(This is a very personal moment, and I’d prefer it to be private too! Sorry to offend you, but could you wait outside?)” Pikachu sighed and walked out the door. Ash stood up and turned to Misty, who was standing there, waiting impatiently

 

“Oh uh… sorry” he looked at her, just about everything’s been delaying this moment, but now they were by themselves. Ash straightened up, took a deep breath and looked her straight in the eyes “Misty! I-WAAAAAAAGH!!!!!” Whatever he was saying was cut short when a small beam of energy hit him on the side of the head. “OWOWOWOWOW! THAT-FREAKIN’-HURRRRT!” He was rolling on the floor

 

“AM I INTERUPTING SOMETHING?!” Grand Dreamer shouted. Ash stopped rolling on the floor long enough to get up and look at him. Both of them heard a loud voice yell. Ash and Misty looked. Flying through the air was a HEAVILY bruised, cut and bleeding Grand Dreamer, who suddenly stopped flying and fell, “OW! That paralysis you gave me… do you know HOW much trouble it caused?! I fly at no less that four metres high, and just about every ten feet I move, the paralysis hits me and I drop! Do have ANY IDEA how painful that is on concrete floor that’s full of debris consisting almost entirely of TWISTED METAL and BROKEN GLASS?!?!”

 

“Bad timing GeeDee, you could’ve waited at least another fifteen seconds…” Misty was mad. Yes, that guy HAD interrupted something important, which was possibly gonna be one of the most important something’s of her life

 

“You have a healing move, you know” Ash crossed his arms

 

“Oh yeah… forgot about that… uh, GRAND HEALER!” Energy enveloped his body, healing all his cuts and bruises and removing the paralysis

 

“(cough) Loser”, Ash coughed, “What do you want now, GeeDee?”

 

“GRRRR…” Grand Dreamer growled, “Say that name again and I’ll kill you both!”

 

“How’s about we call you GD?” Asked Misty

 

“That’s the same thing! But spelled differently!”

 

“Well what do you know? Super Fiends CAN read and write. You win the bet, and owe you a lunch, Misty” Ash smirked and crossed his arms

 

“GRRRR… I warned you… to…” Grand Dreamer was growling, and the smirks faded from Ash and Misty’s faces as Grand Dreamer started to glow, “STOP… CALLING… ME… THAT NAME!!!!!! RRRRRAAAAAGH!” his shout echoed throughout the city as he sped forwards, ready to finish off the disrespectful Ash and Misty for good…

 

The night is young, and the fiends are still fresh. After going through all that trouble and sacrifices, along with the biggest fight Team Rocket had put up in history just to get Chaos Reaper temporarily subdued, they still don’t get a single moment’s rest because they have Grand Dreamer to deal with! Well, despite almost admitting how the two felt for each other… this is a sign that the AAML is coming very soon! Find out what happens next time on PUA!

 

►TO BE CONTINUED