*Rubs hands gleefully* and now, let’s see who guessed right!

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 7

 

            The first inkling that something was wrong came when they discovered Richie, the current guard, lying paralyzed outside of the storage area. When they rushed inside, every single detonation device was missing.

            “This looks like a pokemon attack…” Surge frowned. “But who…”

            “Ash wouldn’t attack Richie, would he?” Bruno wondered.

            Paul narrowed his eyes. “Find him. I want an explanation.”

 

            A few minutes later, Flannery came up, looking grim. “Ash isn’t anywhere in the base, sir.”

            “He’s not?”

            “The last time anyone saw him was three days ago.”

            No one really noticed the Pallet native, after all. He was cheerful, but easily overlooked, especially since he was such a child.

            Ash never contributed anything worthwhile to their discussions, so it was inevitable that they would disregard his presence.

            Something cold and hard dropped into the pit of Paul’s stomach. He fought down the mounting panic. “Well, if he returns, tell him I wish to see him immediately.”

            “Yes, sir,” Flannery saluted.

 

            Several hours later, Ash had still not returned.

            Paul was becoming increasingly agitated as the time wore on. He cursed when alarms began to sound.

            “Paul! The pokemon are attacking!” Dario rushed up to him. “We’re not sure how long the doors will hold! They’ve got a mass of fire and fighting-types out there!”

            “Hell and damnation!” Paul cursed. “What’s going on?”

            A quiet laugh came from somewhere close by. Paul spun around, his hand on his gun. There, sitting perched on a desk was Ash.

            Only… he looked different…

 

            “Ash!” He roared. “Explain this!”

            “There’s nothing to explain, idiot human.” Ash giggled. His voice sounded wrong too, sweetly condescending. Darkness lurked in his eyes, which weren’t brown at all, but a pulsating, angry crimson.

            Red…

            “Please don’t confuse me with that silly mask,” He continued. “I’m Red.”

            Something else skittered on the edge of his mind.

            Flannery leveled her pistol at the boy, her hands sweating with a fear she could not name. “Explain yourself.”

            “Go ahead and shoot,” He gave her the finger. “You can’t hurt me.”

            In response, Flannery fired, twice, only to watch the bullets stop in midair. They dropped to the ground with a clatter.

 

            Paul stared. “You! You’re the one who’s been controlling the pokemon?”

            “It’s about time you figured it out,” Not-Ash continued. “For someone who claims to be the greatest trainer, you sure are slow. But then again, you were always blinded by your pride.”

            “I’ll kill you!” The purple-haired teen roared, but Flannery stopped him.

            “What are you up to, Red? What do you hope to achieve by doing this?”

            “Oh, I just think that it’s time for humanity to suffer, like they made the pokemon suffer.” He waggled a finger. “After all, there’s no sense in letting my new Shadow Coliseum go to waste, and there are so many pokemon just dying to fight you…”

            “You…!”

            Had he been wrong this entire time? NO! It couldn’t be!

 

            “Lance was actually trying to help you, silly.” Red shook his head in mock-pity. “It would have made things more interesting, after all, if the humans could fight back. Erika was the real spy. But you let your hatred get in the way of concrete evidence, and so you killed him.”

            Flannery paled. * Erika… *

            “It’s funny how you never bother to check the quiet ones.” Red continued. “Erika always had her pokemon with her, and no one ever noticed. Who do you think took Richie out with Stun Spore, and put Giselle to sleep?”

            Paul was turning purple at this. “This is all a game to you?” He demanded.

            “Well, eventually, you’ll all die and I’ll have served my purpose.” Red frowned. “But Paul, you’re so lazy. It wasn’t at all any fun baiting you.”

            “Why the hell do you keep talking to me?”

 

            “Because,” Red pointed at him, “You were the most evil trainer I ever met. Do you really think you got out of Shinou on your mediocre skills? Oh no, Weavile could have gutted you in seconds. Instead, you were left with that ugly scar to remind you of your failure, forever and ever…”

            “Shut up!” Paul charged at Red, only to bash his head into a shield of shimmering energy. Red smirked placidly, eyes still glowing.

            “Once I realized that all humans, at heart, were just like you, I just told the pokemon they didn’t have to listen. The rest, as they say, is history.” He crooned.

           

            Footsteps sounded outside. Paul’s eyes widened in terror at the sight of the carnage. The pokemon were splattered with blood and gore. The Dragonite in the lead still had half of a human’s body dangling from his mouth.

            “Did you kill all the others?” Red asked.

            There were nods from the assembled pokemon.

            “And what about the ones I wanted?”

            We have captured them, Master.

            Flannery panicked and began firing, but the pokemon were faster. Paul began to retch at the sight, as they tore into her like a raging sea.

            Red watched detachedly before Paul finished retching. A Primeape picked him up and slung him over his shoulder.

 

            “Let’s go back to the Coliseum, darlings. This is one match I’m sure no one will want to miss…”

            When Paul came to his senses, he was in a small, dark, cramped cell. To his horror, he realized that he was not alone.

            Gary was there, and Tyson, Brawly nursing a broken arm, Violet, and many other faces, some familiar, some not.

            Was this how his life was going to end?

 

            Then the Alakazam came, lifted him bodily out with psychic force, and floated him up the stairs. He was unceremoniously dropped on the hard-packed dirt.

            The stands were packed with pokemon of all types, but seated on a raised dais were several figures he recognized.

            Sabrina. Erika. Karen. Will. Morty. Clair. Jasmine. Agatha.

            Worst of all, was the fact that Lance was there, and looking distinctly irritated. His eyes were glowing with the same color of bloody red that Red’s were.

 

            “Two things you might like to know, before you die.” Red said, almost cheerfully, as he reached over to pet his lover’s hair. “Firstly, what Duplica meant to say was black hair and red eyes.”

            Obviously, he was referring to himself. Damn, damn, damn! How could things have gotten this convoluted?

            Lance arched into Red’s touch, closing his eyes.

            Paul wanted to scream, but at this point, he didn’t think it would be a very efficient use of energy.

            He couldn’t die here!

 

            “And secondly,” Red continued, “I wouldn’t ever let you hurt my Lance-chan. It’s terribly ironic, isn’t it, that it was Duplica’s Ditto?”

            The nightmarish pieces snapped into place in seconds, as Lance smirked.

            And then, there was a rush of heat, and Paul found himself standing across a field of newly molten glass from a very familiar Infernape.

            “Do try to give us a good show,” Red grinned, and leaned back against his throne.

 

End Fic

Completed 5/6/08

Yes, Ash and Red is the same person. Red is the true personality though, and Ash is a mask. No one ever thinks the cute, innocent kid is an evil mastermind… especially not with Lance around as a cover!

Red is the seme in this one, hehehe… I explicitly left it vague in earlier chapters, but! ^^

Lance: So I didn’t get tortured and raped?

Phantomness: Nope~. It was Duplica’s Ditto cosplaying as you. Of course, it was you having sex with Red.

Red: *Hugs Lance* Lucky!

Well, Nephitari Champion guessed the ending correctly. She knows my writing style too well…