******* Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned Chapter LXIV Saga X- Finalbadge Saga Chapter I- The Legend of the Silver Scyther Part I- They're off to Pokemon League.... or not..... ******* Although he did not know it himself, Tom had subconsciously sped up as he walked with Porygon Two to the Pokemon League, eventually leaving a large gap between the two. Tom sensed Porygon Two's lagging, looked over his shoulder and cheered, "C'mon, Porygon! Pokemon League waits for no man!" Porygon Two only sighed as the gap between them widened. "Come on, hurry up," Tom prodded further. "Well slow down!" Porygon Two shot. Tom deccelerated. "Oh fine," he said, "But we're almost there anyway." As soon as they approached the city limits, Tom stopped as he took a deep breath and smiled. "We're finally here!" Tom exclaimed as Porygon Two stopped by his side. "We're only at the city limits," Porygon Two muttered. "The place where dreams come true!" "Or nightmares." "Where legends are made!" "Or broken." "Pokemon League City!" "Tower City." Tom grumbled and looked down on Porygon Two. "You're a real killjoy, you know that, don't you?" "Happy to be of service," Porygon Two hummed as it drove forward into the city. "I oughta' take you in for service," Tom muttered as he sagged and followed Porygon Two. ******* It was not long before the duo reached the large red building that was the famous home of Pokemon League. "Good thing today's the last day of registration," Tom said to Porygon Two as they waited in line to reach a small receptionist counter. "Yeah," Porygon Two replied. "Hey Tom, how long has it been?" "Been what?" Tom asked. "Since we first met by Yorin Town?" Tom scratched the back of his head underneath his trench coat. "A year and a half ago I think," Tom muttered, "Why?" "No reason," Porygon Two hummed. When it was Tom's turn at the reception counter, he and Porygon Two headed forward and stopped at the counter, met by a female long-haired blonde receptionist. "Name and hometown please?" she asked with casual abandon. "Tom Simms of Yorin Town," Tom replied with a haughty smirk on his face. The receptionist only shrugged at Tom's grin. "Can I see your badges, please?" she asked in the same careless tone. Tom dug out his wallet from his jeans pocket and flipped open to the clear plastic flaps. Tom then held the wallet in front of the receptionist, displaying his eight badges. "Eight of them," Tom said smugly. The receptionist again responded with a shrug and typed a few commands into her computer. "Trainer I.D., please," she said. Tom was shaken. "Trainer I.D.?" he asked. "Yeah," the receptionist said without taking her eyes off the computer, "your Trainer I.D." When she recieved no reply from Tom, she said, "You have a Pokedex?" "Yeah." "Your Trainer I.D. is in there as well." Tom took out his Pokedex and handed it to the receptionist. The receptionist in turn plugged the Pokedex into a socket in her computer. "Okay, your I.D. number is 507892, Mr. Rong?" "Rong?" Porygon Two asked, "Who's that?" "That's my friend back in Yorin Town's name," Tom muttered. "Is this your Pokedex, Mr...?" "Simms. And no, it isn't. My old friend gave it to me." "Do you have your I.D. anywhere?" "Um, no..." "Well, without a Trainer I.D.," The receptionist sighed, "I can't let you in." "Um, I don't think I was given a Trainer I.D.," Tom murmured. The receptionist looked at Tom. "You weren't... given one?" "Um, yeah," Tom replied. "Where did you register?" "You did register yourself as a trainer," Porygon Two said uneasily, "Didn't you?" "Um, well, not exactly..." The receptionist sighed again. "Well, no I.D. means I can't let you in." "Where can I get one?" "Down the street on your left," the receptionist replied, "Costs two hundred bucks, a quarter of the fine you could be facing for training Pokemon unregistered." Tom's heart skipped a beat. "Fine?" He weakly repeated. "Yeah," replied the receptionist. "Eight hundred fifty dollar fine." Tom sighed. "Guess it all ends here," Tom muttered bitterly to Porygon Two. Just before Tom could turn away, the receptionist said, "However, there is a way you can get out of the fine and still get into the League without I.D." Tom brightened immediately. "How?" He eagerly asked. "There's this old gym in Canyon City," the receptionist said. "The leader there has possibly the toughest Pokemon in this country." "And?" Tom asked. "There is this old loophole we accept here that whoever wins his badge gets unconditional acceptance into Pokemon League. In fact, you only need his badge alone to get in, nevermind eight." Tom and Porygon Two, both in shock, stared at each other. "And the fine?" Porygon Two asked. "Revoked," replied the receptionist as she handed Tom's Pokedex back to him. "Basically put, when you get his badge, you get it all." "Thanks," Tom said, turning from the counter with Porygon Two. Once outside again, Porygon Two asked, "So we're off to Canyon City, huh? "One last badge!" Tom complained. "I already got the whole lot of them!" "Life's a bitch, huh?" Porygon Two chuckled. "Oh shut up," Tom grumbled. ***** Part II- The Legend ***** Tom was still muttering as he and Porygon Two walked down the barren stretch of road across a vast, empty countryside meadow. "Maybe we should stop in at Elementia City a while?" Porygon Two asked. "What for?" Tom muttered bitterly. "Let's just get the fucking badge and be done with it," he grumbled. Porygon Two whistled. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," he hummed. Tom did not reply, he only continued to mutter and gripe under his breath. Instead, Tom said, "Why do you want to stop in Elementia anyway?" Porygon Two hummed. "My database told me there's a good computer store in there," Porygon Two replied, "I wanna' check it out." "A Porygon in a computer store?" Tom asked, "What do you want a computer for? You are a computer!" "A computer needs programs," Porygon Two said as-a-matter-of-factually. "Oh. And what do you need?" "Um, well, I dunno... maybe a little something..." "And how are you going to buy that little something?" "Oh, well, that's why I asked you," Porygon Two quickly replied. "Y'see, uh, I was hoping that, well, you know, we've done a lot for each other, and well, you know..." "You want me to buy something for you," Tom muttered. "I'd say something along the lines of showing appreciation for one's friends, but yeah, that works too." Tom sighed. "You know, if you were someone else I'd tell you to screw off," Tom muttered, "But, alright." "Thanks!" ******** Tom waited in the lounge of the town Pokemon Center while Porygon Two browsed about the computer store across the street, seated sloppily on one of the fluffy plush chairs. Tom sighed silently to himself and felt his eyelids droop. Rubbing his eyes, Tom sank into the chair further and let the soft plush soothe his body, bringing Tom to the verge of dozing off. Tom was jolted back awake when the front doors to the Pokemon Center swung open and clanged against the wall. A blocky man dressed in a dark tan trench coat with an oversized khaki hat stumbled into the Pokemon Center and leaned up against the counter. Dropping five Pokeballs in front of Joy, the stranger murmured, "They're hurt pretty bad." Joy only nodded as she quickly took the five Pokeballs in her hands and gave them to the Chansey aide, who scurried off into the unseen depths of the Pokemon Center behind the counter. "We'll see what we can do for them," Joy said somberly. The stranger only nodded his thanks and limped to one seat away from Tom where he plopped himself down and sighed loudly. It was not until Tom allowed himself to take a quick glipse at the stranger's face that he noticed a large welt lacing the man's cheek. The red swelling drew Tom's eyes and locked them in place upon it long enough for the stranger to take notice. "You wanna' know what happened, huh?" The stranger asked Tom in a gravelly raspy voice. Tom set his sights straight ahead of him again, prying his eyes off the man's bruise. "If you think that's bad," the stranger said, "You shouldn't look at ones my Pokemon have." That caught Tom's curiousity. "What happened to them?" Tom asked. "You're new around here, aren't you?" The stranger asked. "Yeah," Tom replied. "Then I suppose you don't know of the silver Scyther?" "Silver Scyther?" Tom asked. The stranger quietly sighed. "There was this old legend passed on from generations in this town about a lone Scyther whose skin was that of pure silver." "A metal Scyther?" Tom asked, "Scyther's can't be steel-types." "But their evolved form of Sizor is," the stranger replied. "Rumor has it that this Scyther was born of a Sizor and a Scyther, and through some act of God the baby Scyther was Silver." "So that Scyther is a steel and a bug type?" Tom asked. "No, still a bug type," said the stranger, "His skin is silver colored, but that's where the similarities to metal end. They say that he got his color from the Sizor." "So what about your Pokemon?" Tom asked, "What happened to them?" The stranger tilted his head towards the ground. "I've been after that Scyther for eleven years now," he said, "I swore to myself that one day I would catch him. But its unlike any other Pokemon I've ever seen." "Besides the silver color?" Tom asked. "Yes, he's possibly the most powerful Pokemon that ever lived." Tom caught a plotting grin on his face. "Most powerful Pokemon," Tom hummed silently to himself. "They say that that Scyther is thousands of years old," said the stranger, "And they also say that he's still in the prime of his life." Tom could only help but let his jaw drop slightly. "A Pokemon that old-? In his prime?" "Yes," said the stranger. "But it never matters how hard I train my Pokemon or how powerful they become," the stranger grimaced, "whenever I do find that Scyther, my Pokemon's combined strength is worthless compared to his. And then he roughs me up for fun once he's through with them." Just then, Joy reappeared at the counter. "Mr. Cystik," she said, "You're Pokemon are fine." The stranger staggered to his feet again. As soon as he approached the counter, Joy handed him his six pokeballs and the stranger was once again on his way. As soon as the stranger stumbled out of the door, Porygon Two drove in. "Tom," said Porygon Two, "When I was going down the street I tripped over a bad curb and took a nasty fall," Porygon Two said, lifing his head to reveal a large blemish in his structure. Tom sighed and picked Porygon Two up in his arms and walked over to Joy behind the counter. "Could you fix him up?" Tom asked. "Of course," Joy said, taking Porygon Two from Tom's hands and setting it down beside one of the Chansey aides. The Chansey led Porygon into the medical rooms behind the counter and vanished from sight. Just as Tom was about to reseat himself, Joy said quietly to him, "Don't mind that Cystik guy." Tom turned his head to Joy. "Why?" Joy took a quick glance to the left and right of her, leaned over slightly to Tom and whispered, "He's a little crazy." Tom looked sideways at the door of the Pokemon Center. "He didn't sound crazy," Tom whispered back. "You believed him with that silver Scyther story of his?" Joy quietly asked skeptically. Tom blinked. "Sounded real enough," Tom murmured. "He comes here almost once every week to treat his Pokemon," Joy said, "He says it was the Scyther, we think it was just some other white-colored Pokemon." Tom rubbed the stubble hairs on his chin. "What other kinds of Pokemon are white and look like Scythers...?" Joy paused for awhile, and then sighed. "Well, that Scyther legend was just a story to keep little children out of trouble in the old days," Joy said. "There's nothing like that here." Tom was about to add another side of his position to the conversation when Porygon Two, fully repaired, nosed him in the leg. "I'm ready," said Porygon Two. "Thanks anyway," Tom sighed, waving once to Joy as he and Porygon Two left the center. **** PART III- Who's afraid of a big bad Scyther? **** Tom and Porygon Two were almost past the limits of Elementia when Porygon Two noticed Tom walking with extra subtle bounces in his step. "Something wrong?" Porygon Two asked. "Um, not really," Tom quickly replied, putting on a weak grin. Porygon Two blinked and shrugged it off. As they were just within meters of the town's limits, Porygon Two noticed that Tom's hopping had grown. "You feeling okay, Tom?" Porygon Two asked again as the duo approached a thick forest along the trail. "No, I'm not," Tom quickly replied, stopping. "Just a sec," Tom said, quickly dashing into the forest. "Wait up for me!" Tom called to Porygon Two as he dissapeared into the foiliage. When Tom was completely submerged within the bushes, he took a quick look around. Upon seeing only greenery, Tom turned to the thick trunk of a nearby tree, brushed aside the unfastened flaps of his trench coat around his wait and unzipped is jeans. Quickly imagining a flowing river in his brain, Tom slowly began to feel more relaxed with a soft and steady sound of liquid splashing upon the tree trunk falling on his ears. Tom briefly closed his eyes and sighed. Suddenly, the gentle sound became less soft and more rigid, and Tom's eyes jolted open. When what he thought was just a pile of leaves at the base of the tree shot an angry pair of eyes at him, Tom could only murmur, "Oh shit..." Porygon Two was startled to hear Tom's voice from within the foiliage scream out. "Tom!" Porygon Two gasped, rushing off into the forest after Tom's voice. Only after a few seconds into the forest, Porygon Two collided with Tom's dashing feet, causing Tom to fly a short distance in the air and come crashing back to the ground with. Porygon Two whirled itself around and drove to Tom's head. "Tom! Are you alright?" Porygon asked worriedly. "No!" Tom screamed, frantically scrambling back to his feet and dashing away as fast as he could, "Run!" Porygon Two stayed still, watching Tom flee back along the trail to Elementia. "What the...?" Porygon Two muttered to itself, turning its head in the opposite direction. Porygon Two found out why Tom was running so madly when its eyes met with the belly of a large shiny white figure. Porygon Two cautiously looked up and saw the head of the creature and saw the face of a silver-skinned Scyther with a silver body to match. The Scyther did not look very happy at all. Porygon Two took off after Tom instantly. "Tom!" Porygon Two screamed as he caught up to Tom with the silver Scyther following close behind, "What the fuck did you do?" "He must've been sleeping under that pile of leaves!" Tom screamed back as he and Porygon Two ran from the infuriated Scyther. "What?" Porygon Two screeched back. "Nevermind!" Tom shouted back, "Just keep running!" Suddenly, the Scyther zoomed over Tom and Porygon Two's heads and planted his body in front of thier path, making Tom and Porygon Two come to a screeching halt. Tom immediatley whirled around and began to dash the opposite way when the Scyther leapt from his feet and tackled Tom from behind, sending both crashing to the ground. The silver Scyther raised his bladed arm would have plunged it into Tom's back had Porygon Two not dove at the shining Scyther's back and knocked him off Tom, pinning his belly to the ground. As soon as the two smashed into the ground, the Scyther viciously threw himself onto his back and swatted Porygon Two off with the unbladed part of his arm. Porygon Two was sent tumbling along the trail from the silver Scyther's strike, finally stopping ten meters away. By this time, Tom had just gotten back to his feet. As soon as Tom set his sights on the silver Scyther again, the shining Pokemon flipped himself back to his feet and immediatley set his eyes in a burning glare into Tom's. Tom instantly brandished his five Pokeballs from his belt attachment and spread them over the ground between him and the Scyther. The five sprung open in a quick flash of light, revealing Pinsir, Kangaskhan, Machamp, Dodrio and Houndoom. With the five blocky Pokemon now hiding Tom from the Scyther's view, Tom snuck back a few meters behind his Pokemon and decided to give orders there. "Everyone!" Tom commanded, "Attack!" Dodrio and Houndoom were the first to rush in on the Scyther, each looking to land a blow upon the silver Pokemon. As soon as they neared, the Scyther swung his blade upward, knocking the two Pokemon back and onto the ground. Machamp, Kangaskhan and Pinsir converged on the Scyther next at the same time after Houndoom and Dodrio had fallen. Machamp threw an icy fist as Kangaskhan and Pinsir moved in for a Take Down upon the Scyther simultaneously. The Scyther whirled his body around quickly with an outstretched arm, swatting all three aggressors away with hardly any effort. Pinsir was the first to land on her back, then Machamp landed on top of her, only to be sandwiched by Kangaskhan. The pile of Pokemon slid off each other, groaning as all five of Tom's downed Pokemon rose to their feet again. Just as the Scyther started charge Tom's Pokemon, Porygon Two, who had now recovered from the silver menace's strike, gave the Scyther a vicious Double-Edge to the back. The Scyther collapsed onto his belly with Porygon Two on top of him, and as soon as the two hit the ground, the silver Scyther whipped his arm around, smacking Porygon Two in the face again, knocking the Pokemon clear off of his back. Now with thier wits collected again, the rest of Tom's Pokemon charged at the Scyther in a five-on-one again. Just after the Scyther dodged Pinsir, Kangaskhan, Dodrio and Houndoom, Machamp found an opening to strike the silver Scyther on his chin and took the opportunity immediatley, knocking the Scyther off his feet. Seconds before Machamp could throw another Ice Punch, the rest of Tom's Pokemon converged on the lone Scyther again. The Scyther danced around each of Tom's Pokemon, much too fast for them to catch. Suddenly, the Scyther switched modes from dodging to attacking, and with amazing swiftness and agility, beat back all of Tom's Pokemon except for Machamp, scattering them all around. Just before the Scyther could attack again, Machamp reached down low from behind the silver Pokemon and grabbed his ankles. With a roar, Machamp tugged the Scyther off of his feet and began to swing him around in a circle with a Seismic Toss. When Machamp let go, he sent the silver Scyther flying toward the forest. However, just as Pinsir limped to her feet, the body of the Scyther smashed into her, taking her along with the Scyther, sailing through the air together and dissapearing into the foliage of the forest. "Follow them!" Tom barked an order, "Find Pinsir and run!" After Kangaskhan, Porygon Two, Houndoom and Dodrio got to thier feet, they followed Machamp blindly into the forest after Pinsir and the silver Scyther. A few seconds after all of Tom's Pokemon vanished into the forest's foilage, Tom slowly ventured in to follow them. As he steadily walked through the forest with weary nerves, Tom found tree after tree broken in two at eye level, leading in a straight path into the green leafy depths. Soon, Tom came to a clearing, devoid of any trees or shrubs esxcept for the sparse flower or two. Suddenly, the bodies of the silver Scyther and Kangaskhan came crashing to the ground from out of nowhere with Kangaskhan on top of the Scyther, squashing the Scyther into the ground. Kangaskhan groaned and rolled off, rubbing his face and chest, laced everywhere with multiple bloody cuts. The Scyther soon got back to his feet, his bloody bladed arms shaking as he eyes down Kangaskhan. The Scyyther rushed on Kangaskhan again, knocking the giant Pokemon backwards again just before a blast of fire rocketed through the clearing towards the silver Scyther. The Scyther danced out of the blazing fireball's path, letting it sail through the forest's foiliage harmlessly. Houndoom wearily stepped out of the foiliage by the clearing, bloodied and breathing weakly. Kangaskhan was getting back to his feet just as Porygon Two and Dodrio charged put of the depths of the foiliage around the clearing on a collision course with the Scyther. Just as the two were about to smash into the Scyther, the silver Pokemon took a high leap straight upwards, letting the two charging Pokemon crash into each other. Porygon Two and Dodrio slumped onto their back, groaning and rubbing their heads. With the two Pokemon momentarily stunned, the silver Scyther raised his bladed arm to strike them when Pinsir shot from the bushed and tackled the Scyther from behind. Tom blinked and slowly edged his way towards the end of the clearing, away from all the mayhem. As soon as he stopped, he felt his foot brush up against something. Tom looked down and gasped in horror when he saw Machamp lying face-down on the ground, nearly completely motionless. Tom, suddenly weak with shock, gingerly rolled Machamp over onto his back. The blocky Machamp had his eyes closed lightly, breathing lightly despite all the open bloody wounds covering his body, knocked out cold. While the rest of Tom's Pokemon fought the silver Scyther, Tom took off his trench coat and tried his best to drape it over Machamp's wounds to stop as much bleeding as he could. When Tom felt that the bleeding wounds had stopped, Tom pulled out Machamp's Pokemball and zapped his bloodied Pokemon back inside, leaving just Tom's bloodstained trench coat on the ground. Tom decided not to put the bloody jacket back on as his attention quickly focused back onto the wildy feral melee in the middle of the clearing. As soon as Porygon Two gave the Scyther a Double-Edge to the face, the Scyther's bladed arm swung around to give Houndoom a Slash to the shoulder. Houndoom howled horrendously as it slumped to the ground, defeated. Tom bit his lip as he zapped Houndoom back inside his Pokeball. As soon as that was done, Porygon Two fell to the ground and did not move any further. Tom quickly ran around the edge of the clearing, staying as far away from the savagery as he could, quickly dashed to Porygon Two's side and dragged it to the edge of the clearing. Kangaskhan, Pisir and Dodrio still attacked the silver Scyhter with all thier ability, but the Scyther's sheer skill guided it to weave this way and that like a gliding leaf on a still pond, flowing fluidly out of Tom's Pokemon's attacks. With another vicious Slash attack, Dodrio squaked loudly and slumped over, quickly recalled into his Pokeball by Tom soon after. Pinsir suddenly lowered her head and charged at the silver Scyther with her pinsirs, only to have the Scyther slide out of the way and accidentally catch Kangaskhan in them. Thinking she had the Scyther in her grasp, Pinsir wildly bucked her body upright, throwing Kangaskhan far away and sending him to land hard on his back. Kangaskhan gave one last painful groan before he passed out. Pinsir quickly realized her mistake and took a quick glance at Kangaskhan, but that was all the time the Scyther needed to deliver another Slash attack on Pinsir's back, falling the large Pokemon onto her belly immedatley. Tom's blood ran cold as his legs gave way from a sudden weakness, dropping him onto his backside. Tom's fingers shakily reached for Pinsir and Kangaskhan's Pokeballs. In an uneasy grasp, Tom managed to hold them long enough to recall his fallen Pokemon before dropping them to the ground as the silver Scyther shot an angry glare at him. The silver Scyther, battered, bloodied and bruised, took a heavy step towards Tom. Tom inched himself away as fast as he could in his terror-induced weakness, but the Scyther's natural quickness eventually brought the Scyther standing over Tom, freezing Tom to the spot. The Scyther closed one eye tightly as he pointed the tip on one of his blades at Tom's face. Tom's heart skipped beat after beat as the blade slowly neared his eyes. Then, in half the time it took Tom to blink, the Scyther quickly flicked his elbow around, giving Tom a small cut on the underside of his chin. Tom, still paralyzed from fright, barley felt the thin trickle of blood from his tiny wound dribble down his throat. Then, without uttering a word, the silver Scyther turned on his heel and walked away, as if he was totally uninjured from the bloody battle, and dissolved into the forest's foliage. As soon as the Scyther left, Tom's body collapsed onto his back. And he lay there breathing heavily, staring up into the sky with small slants of sunlight poking through the trees, shining upon him. -End ********* The Asylum's note: If you're still awake, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! -The Asylum *********