Episode 20! I was planning on making this the last episode, but I decided against it. Lucky for you readers... Many thanks to those of you that bothered to review!

Disclaimer: Nintendo has no intentions of selling pokemon to me. I don’t think 4 Kids, Game Freak, or Shogakukan Comics will want to sell it either. So I’m stuck with nothing but some half-baked ideas and my fanfiction. Oh well.

Disclaimer: Shadow’s fanfiction belongs to yours truly under the International Copyright law. Therefore, if I catch you posting or stealing without my permission, I will not hesitate to complain. Archives are fine, but ask first! It only takes 5 minutes to type e-mail…

Note: Takes place right after Episode 19. After all, they were on their way to the gym, right? ** Is thoughts, <> is telepathy, and Italics is translated poke speech.

Ranma – Yep, Skymew will add a new angle!

Hallow SHADOWS, Miss Misty U.S.A., and Perverted P-chan. Thanx for your support!

Tmp- No, Ash doesn’t know he’s Destiny yet. Why Skymew wasn’t transferred will be explained a bit later. Anyways, Skymew technically does not ‘exist’ in this time plane yet, by the time she does Ash will have figured out a way around the system. Skymew will battle later!

P.S. hS, if you promise to update Family Ties, I’ll promise to update mine too, okay?

Note: Since I’m putting up this chapter early, I’ll be working on other stories, okay?

Episode 20: Thunder never strikes twice in the same place, right?

Ash peered into the darkened gym, searching for the leader. Where was he? And why was it so dark?

Pika-chan looked around nervously, afraid that something might come out and jump them. Sunny twitched her ears, listening for any sound, while Todd put down his video camera and peered into the surrounding gloom. A kind of nervous excitement pervaded all of them.

Ash finally worked up his courage. “Hello? Is anyone here?”

A spotlight shone onto the gym floor. Two junior trainers appeared, standing in front of a set of closed, cast-iron doors.

“The gym leader is within, but you must defeat us first!” The girl said. She had red wavy hair and was dressed in camouflage.

“Can you withstand the power of thunder?” The boy asked. He had black hair, cropped close to the skull, and was also dressed in army attire.

Ash turned to Todd, who shrugged helplessly.

“All gym leaders are allowed to have trainers under them. You have to defeat them first. There weren’t any in Pewter or Cerulean, because both gyms were destroyed, remember?”

“Oh yeah.” Ash said. He shrugged. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“You first, Vicky.” The boy said.

Vicky shrugged and took her place opposite of Ash on the arena. “Are you ready?”

“Sure.” Ash said, with a hand on his poke balls.

“Good, because I’m not going easy on you. Magnemite, I choose you!” The small magnet pokemon popped out and looked around for its opponent, humming softly. The single eye set in its ‘head’ regarded Ash with a slightly contemptuous stare. Ash thought quickly.

< Use a ground or rock type. > Sunny suggested telepathically. < That would give you a type advantage. >

< But I don’t have any of those! > Ash protested telepathically, though he didn’t know how he did it. Sunny sweatdropped.

< You don’t?! >

Ash rubbed his chin, as Vicky started to pace impatiently. “Are you going to fight me or not?”

“Ponyta, go!” Ash said. “Use your flamethrower!”

Ponyta reared up on her hind legs and shot a stream of concentrated flames at the Magnemite, turning it red-hot. Ash winced in sympathy as Magnemite fell over with little swirls circling around its head.

“What?! Magnemite, return! Magneton, take that pokemon out with your Thunder!”

Thunder crashed down on Ponyta, who got singed but avoided most of the damage. Ash gulped.

“Um, Ponyta, use Flamethrower again!” However, Ponyta shook her head, dodged the Thunder, and launched Smash Kick against Magneton, throwing it into one of the gym walls. Then, she followed up with Fire Spin, trapping Magneton so it couldn’t escape.

Ash sweatdropped. * Well, whatever works, I guess… *

Ponyta trotted back to Ash’s side with her head held high. Pika-chan turned to Sunny and they both shrugged.

“Fine, you win. I don’t have any more pokemon.” Vicky said, handing Ash some money.

“Gerald, your turn!”

The boy frowned, but turned to Ash. “Okay, punk, you might have beat Vicky, but you’ll never beat me. Voltorb, I choose you!”

Ash rolled his eyes and recalled Ponyta. * Let’s see… I have to save Storm for the leader, so what should I use? Oddish might work, grass is strong to electric, right? * He reached over and pulled out Oddish’s poke ball.

“Oddish, I choose you!”

Oddish popped out, and blinked cutely at the Voltorb which was floating above its head.

Gerald snickered. “Voltorb, just tackle it away from you!” Voltorb bounced up in the air twice, before tackling Oddish to the floor.

< At this range, you can’t miss. > Ash said telepathically to Oddish. < I want you to douse it with poisonpowder. > Oddish was happy to comply, and soon, Voltorb was out due to poisoning.

“No way!” Gerald said. “Oh well, why don’t I try something else this time. Pikachu, I choose you!”

Oddish tried to run from the little electric rodent, but it couldn’t escape. Soon, the Pikachu had fainted Oddish. Ash recalled his little friend, trying to decide what to use next.

“Let’s see… Pikachu’s speed gives it an advantage, but if something could be done to match its speed or slow it down…”

< I’ll go! > Sunny said. < Don’t worry, I can beat the pikachu. >

< Are you sure? >

< Of course! > Sunny said, her fur standing on end. < I’m ready whenever you are! >

“Okay. Sunny, go!” Ash said. Sunny jumped off the bleachers and proudly walked into the arena. Gerald burst out laughing.

“You’re using an electric pokemon against my Pikachu?” He asked, between gales of laughter.

“Yes, why not?” Ash asked.

“Okay, Pikachu, make this a one-hit K.O. I want you to use your Thunder to knock it out!”

The enemy pikachu looked determined, as its cheeks began to spark angrily. Sunny seemed unconcerned. When the dust finally cleared after the electric blast, Sunny was still standing.

< Idiot. > Sunny muttered, before using Bite on the Pikachu.

It shrieked in pain and tried to run, but Sunny was a fox while it was a mouse. Within moments, Sunny had the Pikachu pinned and was ready to eat it.

“Sheesh! No need to be so serious!” Gerald said, before he recalled his pokemon. Ash looked offended.

“Well, now that I’ve finally beaten you, can I see the gym leader now?”

“Yes! Yes!”

The doors swung open. Todd quit videotaping and quickly dragged Ash over to a bathroom to change. When Ash emerged, his face was beat red underneath his outfit. He wore what looked like stylized medieval armor, with a helmet that covered his face, and even a fake sword as a prop. From his shoulders hung a dark purple cape, which fit nicely with the steel-colored armor. But it was so heavy!

“Kawaii!” Todd said, clapping his hands. Ash sweatdropped. Only Todd would think that something like this would be ‘cute’.

< Well, I’d say something, but I’m too busy laughing. > Pika-chan said, giggling on the floor.

< Say, I was wondering. How can I talk to you telepathically? I’m not a psychic. > Ash said.

“Oh, that’s easy to explain.” Pika-chan said. “It’s the white crystal you’re carrying around in your backpack.”

“Eh?” Ash produced the aforementioned stone. It was white, but it was glowing faintly purple. Before Ash could react, it had attached itself to his chest, underneath the shirt. In a moment, it had vanished.

< What is going on here?! > Ash demanded.

< I think you ingested the crystal. > Sunny said thoughtfully. < Don’t worry. It’s just a magic booster. >

Ash spent several moments freaking out before he calmed down enough to go inside. * Breathe. Relax. This doesn’t change anything. It won’t hurt me, right?*

“Right.” Ash said out loud, patting his chest. “Well, now that we’re done with this little drama, where’s the leader?”

Surge peered out. “Are you my challenger? You’re just a kid!”

“I’m not a kid!” Ash complained. “I’m twelve years old!”

“Well, if you beat those two junior trainers, you must be okay.” Surge said. “Okay, Raichu, lets show this baby what we can do.” Raichu popped out of its poke ball, looking self-satisfied. Why wouldn’t she be? After all, she had beaten almost all of the challengers so far.

“Storm, I choose you!” Ash said, not taking any chances. Storm’s cry split the air, as she attacked Raichu with ice beam.

This should be a good match. She commented. After all, I am quite resistant to electric attacks.

Raichu retaliated with mega punch and mega kick. Storm shrugged, normal-based attacks weren’t particularly good against dragons. She decided to counter with Surf.

Raichu nearly drowned in all of the water, as it filled the gym until Ash was almost up to his neck. Since Surge was taller, it wasn’t that bad for him, although his pants did get soaked.

“Water conducts electricity, Raichu. Finish it off with ten thousand volt thunder!”

Raichu’s cheeks sparked, as she zapped Dragonair, but Storm just shrugged it off. I won’t let you win! Raichu said.

Fool. Dragons only receive one-fourth damage from the base elements. She said proudly before using Earthquake on the electric squirrel. Raichu’s eyes went into snail form and she toppled over. The water also drained out into the convenient cracks. Surge’s jaw dropped.

“No way!” Surge said, stunned.

Ash recalled Storm. “Sorry, but that’s the way it is.”

“Well, I’m impressed. Maybe you’re not a baby after all. In any case, you earned this badge.” Surge said, handing over the Thunder badge. “It increases your pokemon’s speed.”

< Yay! You won! > Sunny cheered, doing a cartwheel in the air.

“Good job, Ash!” Todd said, as he closed his camera. “I’m impressed with your style.”

“Can I get out of this costume now?” Ash pleaded.

“Well… I guess.” Todd said. “It shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“Did someone say trouble?” A voice asked.

“Oh no.” Ash muttered under his breath.

“Prepare for trouble!” Amy shouted.

“And make it double!” Jake continued.

“To protect the world from devastation!”

“To unite all peoples within our nation!”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!”

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Amy!”

“Jake!”

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

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!”

“Ninetails!” The fox pokemon said, finishing off the speech.

“They never change do they.” Ash said, sighing. “Oh well, at least they left me alone for a while.”

“Give us your pokemon, kid.” Jake said. “Diglett, go!”

“Never!” Ash said. “Butterfree, go! Use whirlwind on them!” Butterfree nodded his head and began to create a wind tunnel, which blew the rockets out through a convenient window. They barely had time to recover when they hit the sky.

“It looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off again!” Amy shouted as they flew through the air. “And we like this less and less!”

“We didn’t even get to attack.” Jake said miserably.

“Nine.” Ninetales added.

“Some things never change.” Todd commented. “Looks like Team Rocket’s one of them.”

Surge just blinked and shrugged.

“Well, see you kid. Good luck.”

End Episode 20!

Not yet. Don’t worry, there’s a bit more.

They were about to leave, when something flew past the gym. Ash looked up and stared. “No way…”

“Yes way.” Pika-chan said. “You see, there’s Articuno. That means between you and Gary, all of the other pokemon cards have been captured. You’d better hurry, because that means that the final judgment is near.”

“You’re right.” Ash said. “So, how do I catch it?” He quickly summoned his wand with the short version of the incantation. (A.k.a., release)

“Dunno. Try putting it to sleep. That usually works.”

“Okay.” Ash was still in his armor, so Todd began to videotape again, wishing that he had had time to change Ash into a different costume. “Charizard, I choose you! Use Fire Blast!”

The Charizard card charged Articuno, as flames surrounded the bird. Articuno shrieked and froze Charizard solid. Ash quickly recalled the card. The Charizard looked peeved, but he had no time to ponder it now.

“Jigglypuff, go! Use your Sing!” Ash commanded. Jigglypuff blew itself up and began to sing, directing the sound waves at Articuno. The legendary bird’s eyelids drooped lower and lower, until it finally fell to Ash’s feet, snoring softly.

“Return to your true from, pokémon card!” Ash called, as the Articuno took on the now familiar blue card shape.

Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He wrote his name on the card and pocketed it, before falling over, asleep.

To be continued…

Comments and Criticism are great! Flames will be used to summon Seiryu seikun! Ohohohoho!