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Pokemon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter LXIV

Saga XIII- Master Battles Saga

Chapter VI- Round Five

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Tom's mind was completely off track. He could not stop thinking about the 
previous round, with the decision to ban Moltres from the field. Any fire 
Pokemon could set the field alight just as easily, Tom thought to himself, 
but why Moltres? Eventually, he had to admit it. He was in a very rotten 
mood.

"Earth to Tom, wake up!"

Porygon Two's sharpnes jarred Tom back to reality. For a moment, he had 
forgotten that he was standing inside his trainer box, in front of the 
standard, plain feild, with his opponent climbing the ladder to the trainer 
box on the other side. "Sorry Porygon," Tom mutteres, rubbing the back of 
his neck, "I must have let my mind wander."

"I can't blame you," said Porygon Two, "That ruling was total crap. At least 
they let you bring Moltres to the rest of the matches."

Tom looked up at the sky. "A good thing indeed."

As soon as Tom's opponent unleashed a Grumpig on the field, the referee 
declared, "Trainers ready, Pokemon ready, begin!"

Before another word could be spoken, Tom looked to the sky again and yelled, 
"Moltres!"

The blazing fireball from the sky shot down to the ground much faster than 
it had ever come before, and within seconds, the flames swooped across the 
field, blasting a intense wave of heat upon the arena. When the audience 
could open their eyes again, they saw a scorched Grumpig lying motionless on 
the field, and a Moltres perched beside Tom on the trainer box's rails. They 
cheered like mad when they realized that Moltres was allowed to compete. 
Tom's opponent winced, took out another Pokeball, and unleashed a Charizard 
loose on the field.

"Trainers ready," The referee declared, "Pokemon ready, begin!"

"Charizard, Fire Blast!"

"Moltres, Fire Blast!"

The Charizard sucked in a deep breath, and blew out a massive blast of 
flames at Moltres. The Fire Blast simply bounced off of Moltres' chest as 
the legendary Pokemon took in a deep breath of his own. And with a 
blood-chilling screech, Moltres unleashed a Fire Blast of his own, toasting 
the Charizard immediately.

Tom's opponent began to panic, wincing and murmuring nervously to himself as 
he fumbled to recall his Charizard and pick out a new Pokeball. "Go, 
Alakazam!"

Within moments, an Alakazam stood where Charizard was once, holding his 
spoons towards Moltres.

"Trainers ready, Pokemon ready, begin!"

As soon as the referee's jaw closed, Tom ordered, "Moltres, Wing Attack!"

And with hardly a split second of delay, Moltres shot forward like a flaming 
cannonball, smashing into Alakazam with no hint of mercy. The Alakazam was 
sent smashing backwards into the opponent's trainer box, nearly causing it 
to topple.

As Tom's opponent murmured to himself in disbelief and shame, the referee 
had declared him the winner. But Tom's mind was elsewhere. And as Moltres 
took off into the sky once more, that same feeling in his gut would not go 
away...

*******

Tom was still brooding as he and Porygon Two walked towards their suite. 
"Feeling better now?" Porygon Two asked.

"Yeah, I guess," said Tom, sighing, "I feel a lot better now."

"Then let me make you feel even better."

The voice from behind Tom made both him and Porygon Two whirl around. The 
dark-haired, blocky man they saw behind them grinned plottingly at them from 
behind a pair of thin sunglasses. "And you are...?" Tom asked.

"I know who he is," said Porygon Two with a sudden hatred. "Hello, Alex."

"Alex?" Tom gagged.

"Having fun with him, y' little runaway?" Alex snickered, taking off his 
sunglasses and tucking them into the pocket of his leather vest.

"What do you want, Alex?" Tom growled.

"I thought that the call t' suspend your Moltres was a bit harsh," he said 
with a cruel grin, "So I thought I'd come down to make you feel better."

"Cut the crap, Alex," Porygon Two hissed, "What do you really want?"

"To make Tom feel better. Honest."

Suddenly, a mess of news reporters and interviewers came rushing in their 
direction. "Crikey, look at all those cameras they're holding," said Alex 
plottingly.

"Now step back so they can interview me again," said Tom, glaring at Alex.

"But first," said Alex as the crews stopped in front of them, "I'm going to 
cheer you up."

Suddenly, Alex grabbed a television camera from one of the reporters and 
angled the lens to his face. "Hello, Pokemon fans," Alex announced, "if your 
still competing in the Pokemon League tournament like I am, then listen up. 
My name is Alex, and even though Tom's Moltres is quite impressive, I want 
to see him beaten." Alex paused to shoot Tom and Porygon Two a sinister 
smirk. "So whoever defeats Tom Simms in the League, I will give him or her 
five thousand dollars."

Tom winced as his jaw dropped. Alex turned back to Tom, and sneered. "Oh, 
when I said I'd make you feel better, when I said you, I meant me." Alex 
shoved the camera back into the chest of the reporter, put his sunglasses 
back on, buried his hands in his pocket, and nonchalantly walked away, 
laughing loudly.

Tom was too shocked and angered to notice that the cameras were now all 
pointed at him. His breathing quickly turned to quiet snarling, and his fist 
clenched tightly.

-End...?

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