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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter XLIII

Saga IX- Phantombadge Saga

Chapter V- The Dark, Round II

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Tom, Porygon Two, Jen and Angus sat around the window seat of a diner. Tom 
and Porygon sat on one side, Jen and Angus sat on the other. Angus' body was 
hunched over and looking gloomy. "And that's my story," he said.

Tom and Porygon Two looked guiltily at each other. "If I had known," Tom 
muttered.

"You can't possibly know what it feels like," Angus muttered bitterly, "To 
wake up one morning and find your best friend gone..."

"Your Grandfather's Raticate was how old?" Tom asked.

"Fifty years. That's nintey Raticate years," Angus replied. "When Raticate 
died I released all my Pokemon that same day. When I heard that dead 
Pokemon's souls can be reincarnated as ghost Pokemon, I've trained and 
caught only ghost types, hoping to one day find Raticate's soul."

Angus sighed as Jen rested her hand on Angus' back reassuringly. "Well, 
you've found him," She said.

"Angus, about, you know," Tom began, "If I had really known that about your 
Raticate, I mean-"

"That's okay, Tom," Angus replied lowly, "Everyone thinks that about me when 
they battle me. I'm just too harsh for them. Searching for someone close to 
you for years like I have takes its toll. But I've changed now," Angus said.

"Oh? How so?" Jen asked.

"Tom, the way you care about your Pokemon and you finding Raticate as Gastly 
helped me."

"Really?" Tom asked, "How?"

"In all my angst, I forgot that other trainers care about their Pokemon too. 
You helped me see that again. I promise to stop aiming to dominate and crush 
when fighting and focus on just defeating," Angus said.

Porygon Two nudged Tom in the ribs with its beak. "Hey Tom," it whispered, 
"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, so?" Tom asked quietly out of the corner of his mouth.

"Now that he's lightened up, maybe this time you can beat him!"

Tom caught a gleam in his eyes. "Angus, how about a rematch? Between us?"

Angus lifted his head and brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. "Sure."

*********

The Double City gym was still dark, but it was significantly brighter now. 
Tom, Porygon Two and Angus stared at each other from their respective ends 
of the battlefield.

"What's it gonna' be, Tom?" Angus asked in his same grave tone, "What's the 
match on your mind?"

"Two-on-two?" Tom offered.

"Agreed, then," Angus replied, taking out two Pokeballs from his pocket and 
enlarging them. Dropping both of them on the floor, Angus released his 
Haunter and a Gengar. Tom followed suit and unleashed two of his own 
Pokemon, Donphan and Skarmory.

As soon as the four Pokemon took the stage, Angus ordered, "Haunter! Shadow 
Ball!" Before Donphan could even blink, the Haunter hurled a ball of black 
light at him, knocking him in the snout and bowling him over. No sooner had 
Haunter unleashed his attack, Angus ordered, "Gengar, Night Shade!"

"Skarmory!" Tom screeched in desperation, "Mud Slap!"

Before Skarmory could dig his talon into the floor, an eerie purple hue 
enveloped him and raised him to the ceiling. Gengar chuckled cruelly as he 
quickly pointed to the ground. Suddenly, Skarmory was sent plummeting from 
the air and smashed into the ground with a nerve-shattering crash.

Angus crossed his arms and puffed a lock of hair out of his eyes as Haunter 
and Gengar stood their ground with their characteristic blood-chilling 
grins. Donphan and Skarmory weakly ambled to their feet, groaning as Tom 
nervously bit his lip. "I think I was wrong about him," Porygon Two quietly 
muttered.

"This is the last time I ever take advice from you," Tom breathed.

"You're looking a little shaken," Angus said in his constant monotone, "Want 
to give up?"

Tom quickly shook his head. "Not this time!"

"Suit yourself," Angus said, uncrossing his arms, "Haunter, Psychic!"

Tom never had time to react before Haunter encased Donphan in another purple 
glow and telekinetically slammed him to the far wall past Tom. "Skarmory, 
Steel Wing!" Tom frantically ordered.

Skarmory took up off the air with a few flaps of his wings and sped towards 
Gengar. "Gengar," Angus commanded, "Shadow Ball!"

Just as soon as Gengar had formed the glowing black sphere in his hands, 
Skarmory had already flown into him, smashing his stiff wing into Gengar's 
teeth. Gengar dropped the ball harmlessly and was sent rolling head over 
heels backwards onto his stomah from Skarmory's strike.

Angus blinked in disbelief. "Haunter," he ordered in half bewilderment, 
"Finish off Donphan! Hyper Beam!"

Donphan had barley recovered from the Psychic attack before he set eyes upon 
a racing blast of energy headed straight for him. The Hyper Beam blasted 
upon Donphan, blowing the Pokemon onto his back, knocked out cold.

Tom clenched his fist as the hand that held Donphan's Pokeball zapped the 
defeated Pokemon back inside his casing. Not wasting a second later, Tom 
ordered, "Skarmory, Drill Peck Gengar!"

Gengar had just gotten back to his feet when Skarmory rushed towards him, 
smashing his steel beak between Gengar's eyes. Once again Gengar was knocked 
to the floor, but this time he did not rise again. Angus only snorted and 
zapped Gengar back inside his Pokeball with casual swfitness.

Tom caught a gleam in his eye as he smirked plottingly. "Skarmory! Steel 
Wing!" Skarmory again made a mad rush towards his opponent, with Haunter 
dead in his sights. When Tom noticed Angus slowly fold his arms again as 
Skarmory was wothin meters of Haunter, Tom cheered, "Finish him!"

Suddenly, Angus threw his arms to the side and roared, "Haunter! Hyper 
Beam!"

A sudden flash of blinding light and an ear-rocking boom shot through the 
gym. forcing Tom to cover his eyes and Porygon Two to hide behind Tom's leg. 
When the light and noise subsided, Tom pried his eyes open again and gasped 
when he laid them onto the battle field. Skarmory lay sluped on the ground, 
twitching.

"Guess I win," Angus said impassivley.

Tom's shoulders sagged in disappointment as he weakly zapped Skarmory back 
inside his Pokeball. Porygon Two sighed quietly and let its head droop low. 
"Almost had him," Poryon Two muttered.

Tom looked down at his computer-made Pokemon. "Well, let's go," he said, 
crushed.

Just as Tom and Porygon turned around to head for the gym doors, Angus 
called out, "Wait there, Tom."

Tom and Porygon Two turned around again to see Angus walking towards them, 
holding something in his fist. "I know you lost to me," Angus slowly said, 
"But you wanted a rematch."

"Yeah? So?" Tom asked.

Angus quickly tilted his head to the side slightly, avoiding Tom's eyes. "I 
thought that was how I could repay you for finding Raticate," he said, "And 
I went ahead and won."

Tom blinked. "Well, I guess that was a gamble on my part," Tom sighed.

Suddenly, Angus took Tom's hand and opened it, placing his fist inside Tom's 
palm. Opening his fist, a small black crest tumbled from Angus' hand and 
into Tom's. "Take it," Angus said.

Tom, shocked at this turn of events, quickly examined the crest. "The 
Phantombadge?" Tom quickly looked down to Porygon Two, also in a visible 
state of shock. "Angus-! I can't take this!" Tom weakly protested.

"Go on," Angus coerced him.

Tom guiltily looked at the Phantombadge in his hand. Tom knew he would get 
infinite scoldings from Jen and he could never again respect himself if he 
took it without earning it. "Sorry Angus," Tom said, "but I'll just take the 
defeat instead," he said, handing the Phantombadge in front of Angus' chest.

Angus only closed Tom's fist around the badge and pushed it back into Tom. 
"You don't have to win to be a winner," Angus quickly said. Tom blinked, 
completely speechless as Angus said, "Thank you."

-End......

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