Just throwing some ideas around to get rid of my writer's block. I felt
like writing a Pokemon fanfic and this is what resulted. This fic is
probably going to be "dark" but I don't know how much yet. Could this be
the first "dark" Pokemon fanfic? 

_______________________________
    
Pokemon Master

Written by Ace Sanchez.
Pokemon and its associated 
characters created by Nintendo. 
_______________________________

Part 1


The night was cold except the unnatural, hot wind, which blew southwards
with a strong scent of smoke. Moonlight shone on the forest revealing
nature ravaged by destruction, burnt and broken tree stumps littering the
area, litter and faeces polluting the earth. A shadow ran through the
woodland, rotting vegetation crunching underneath thick, black boots.

The dark figure dressed in a hooded, black cloak continued to follow the
trail of devastation taking even and strong strides. Golden brown eyes
took long sweeps, observing the desecrated area. A small, brown backpack
was adjusted briefly by a hand as he sped up the pace. The quarry was
getting closer ...


<><><>


The small town was in flames and the night seemed red instead of black.
Everywhere there was chaos as dozens of people ran, trying to escape the
sudden attack. Huge, hostile pokemon and their trainers had come out of
nowhere and had begun a merciless and violent raid. The settlement was
totally unprepared for the assault. What pokemon they had, were quickly
routed and killed.

The huge, red, two-story-tall Charizard took another long breath before
it continued to spit out a long and melting-hot burst of flame which
turned the school house into glowing crimson embers. On the other side of
town, an angry Tauros smashed through houses at the direction of
its trainer, trampling over possessions and structures alike. Other
buildings such as the town hall and community buildings were overrun by
the sharp-bladed scythers and pinsirs. They were slowly advancing towards
the supply buildings in the centre of the town which housed the food and
water. Supplies were a valuable commodity in present times because of the
worldwide food shortage.

Behind a slowly burning house, the young, black haired girl screamed as a
grinning man grabbed and pinned her against the wall. Nearby, his
Kangaskhan watched curiously. It had seen its master do this before and
had always found it entertaining.

The man slapped the girl on the mouth hard. "Shut up with the screaming,
bitch and take this like a woman!" He began to work his fly open and
loosen his pants. Suddenly he felt a sickening pain in his head and
something tossed him over to tumble along the ground. When he opened his
eyes he saw a tall, dark figure, cloaked in shadows, standing over him.
The girl he had been about to have some fun with, had scooted backwards
in fear, and sat trembling against a small tree. He looked back at the
shodowy figure and momentarily felt a cold slab of fear enter his heart.
There was something familiar about this person...

Then he growled in anger. He was mistaken. This was just a poor fool who
was trying to be a hero. And now he will pay for his misplaced sense of
justice. "Kangaskhan, take him!" He laughed. "Chew his bones, nice and
slow."

The large bipedal pokemon, who was already hissing in anger because of
the attack to its master, needed no second order. It gave an inhuman
snarl and extended its sharp bony, claws before leaping towards the
black, cloaked figure.

However, a rapid spin kick stopped the charging pokemon's attack, while
one of its claws was seized and used against it, stabbing into its own
chest like a knife. The Kangaskhan blinked in confusion before toppling
over, its chest a puddle of oozing black blood.

"Kangaskhan?" the man said in shock. No man could be strong enough to do
what the cloaked figure had just done. He continued to stare,
dumbfounded, before a hard fist smashed into his jaw and everything went
black.


<><><>


The supply buildings in the centre of town were surrounded by a half-ring
of attacking raiders and their pokemon. The huge Charizard puffed a
large cloud of dark smoke as it eyed the structures hungrily before
looking at its trainer as if asking a question.

"No," the trainer, who was a tall bald woman, answered. "The supplies we
were raiding for in the first place would be destroyed." She looked at
one of the other trainers. "Yasha! Use your Tauros to break the walls
down. Then we'll just get physical." She began to laugh as Yasha directed
his Bull Pokemon to charge through.

A sudden, wet, splattering sound made the gang of raiders turn around. A
dead, bleeding scyther had landed right behind them, in a puddle of its
own blood. Both of its own sharp, blade-like arms, had been twisted
around and made to impale itself on them. Its serpent-like head hung
from its neck by a thin string of tendon, almost decapitated.

"My Scyther!" one of the raiders wailed. "Whoever did this, I'll kill
him!"

A tall figure in a long, black, hooded cloak stepped out from behind a
burning building. His face was concealed in the shadows of the hood,
leaving only bright, golden brown eyes visible. They seemed almost
glowing in the dark.

"Arrogant bastard, isn't he? Think you're a Pokemon Master with that
cloak?" the bald woman raider asked mockingly. "Surround him!" she
ordered. The huge Charizard, Tauros, pinsirs and other Pokemon and their
trainers slowly walked around to encircle the cloaked stranger. The
frightened towns-people who had managed to make it into the supply
buildings observed them from the windows, frightened and hoping for a
miracle.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" the woman raider asked
mockingly. "Before you are roasted alive?" Her Charizard snorted in
anticipation, leaving rings of smoke to shine in the moonlight before
they dissipated.

The black cloaked figure snapped his fingers. A tiny, shadowy form leaped
out of his backpack to land by his feet. "Pikachu. I choose you." The
voice was soft but deep, the order barely carrying to them so it could be
heard. There was a dangerous quality to it that sent a shiver of fear
down the raider's necks.

The raiders then looked at the cloaked stranger's pokemon. It looked like
a pikachu except its colour was not a bright yellow, with orange
stripes, but a full bodied, matt black. Its eyes were glowing a bright, 
cobalt blue, as it crouched on all fours, jagged tail in the air.

She laughed out loud. "That's a weird pikachu, stranger, but Charizard
will still roast that puny thing into oblivion! Charizard, Flamethrower!"

The huge, red, winged dragon, rose up to its full height and inhaled.
Wind was sucked into it violently, the air ruffling the stranger's cloak.
Then the Charizard leaned forward and exploded a huge tongue of flame
towards the little black pokemon and its master.

The sound of electricity crackled and the fire was repelled by a shield
of black electrical energy which suddenly appeared above the pikachu. It
sparked and hissed violently as it deflected the flame harmlessly before
winking out.

"Pikachu. Lightning Vortex."

The little black pikachu nodded. Suddenly, the crackle of electricity
returned and a dark eerie glow surrounded the strange pokemon. The
raiders stepped backwards, startled. They had never seen the like of
this attack before.

A sharp wind began to kick up and rotate around the pikachu and its
master. Dust, leaves and debris from the destruction of the town's
buildings began to stir and get sucked into it. Rocks and planks of wood
lifted into the air.

The Charizard began to slide forward despite its huge weight. It grunted
in confusion, then fear as it began to slide faster. It flapped its wings
to take off, but that was a mistake as it only got sucked in that much
faster. The raiders themselves began to get sucked in, as well as their
pokemon. The Tauros squealed as it scrabbled backwards, hooves digging
into the ground but the wind was becoming too strong. 

"What the devil of an attack is this?" the Charizard's trainer shouted in
confusion as she tried to claw herself through the air and back to the
ground. It was useless. The velocity of the pokemon-made tornado picked
up speed and soon the town was a revolving blur to the raiders and their
pokemon as they spun around wildly.

Then the Pikachu screamed, "PIKA!" and a ring of destructive lightning
exploded from the center of the vortex - from the Pikachu itself. A flash
of black energy was seen and the raiders and their pokemon knew no more.


<><><>


The cloaked figure and the pikachu stood in silence. Around them, the
ring of raiders and their pokemon lay unconscious, if not dead, smoking,
some even on fire. The Charizard was definitely dead, its body ripped in
two distinct pieces, the severed ends, blackened and frayed. The smell 
of cooked meat hung in the night air.

"Good work, Pikachu."

The little black electric mouse stood up on its hind legs. "Pii." It
jumped back into the backpack, its head poking out the top.


The towns-people began to approach them from their hiding places in the
buildings. An older man, who had to be their leader or Mayor, was in the
lead.

"T-That was most impressive." He looked at the pikachu staring curiously
at him from its perch on the stranger's backpack and shivered. How could
such a small pokemon be that powerful? He shook his head and regarded the
cloaked stranger again. "W-Who are you?"

The stranger reached his hand towards the hood covering his head and
slowly removed it, settling it back. It revealed a handsome, young man's
face, who seemed to be in his early twenties, although his golden brown
eyes seemed older than their time.

The night wind picked up again, blowing the smoke of the ruined village
towards the south, ruffling the stranger's longish, black hair and
obscuring one of his eyes.

He blew the hair out of his eye with an upturned lip and a gust of
breath. He answered them. "I am Ash."


<><><>


The morning sun let down its light over the small, recovering town.
Despite this, the air was still freezing cold. The raiders had caused
such extensive damage, it would be some months before all the repairs
were finished. The sound of hammers ringing on anvils reverberated loudly
and the sawing of wood echoed among the destroyed buildings. 

Ash sighed as he warmed one of his hands on the campfire and sipped
some coffee from a mug in the other. Would these kids ever leave him
alone? he wondered, observing the crowds of children, infants and
teenagers alike, as they scampered around his tent.

"Does that cloak mean it's true you're a Pokemon Master?"

"Why don't you have any more Poke-balls?"

"Silly, he's only got one pokemon."

"How come you only have one pokemon?"

"I've never heard of a Master with only one pokemon."

"Mister, why is your pikachu a weird colour?"

And the questions they asked. He couldn't believe he had been this
noisy as a kid. He must have really been annoying. 

Pikachu, for his part, calmly munched on his apple as he stared into the
campfire. "Pika-pii ..."

A new voice spoke up. A woman's voice. "I've heard about the one with the
black, or 'shadow' pikachu."

Ash looked up quickly. It was a tall, attractive, blond woman. For a
second the voice had sounded familiar and a knife stabbed through his
heart. But it was not her, so he looked down again to contemplate the
bubbles in his coffee.

"It is said that he was unbeatable and that he was once the top trainer
in the Pokemon League." Her eyes narrowed.

The kids hearing this, became silent. They began to look at him
fearfully. Some even began to step backwards.

"Then one day he disappeared ..."

Ash put his mug down, picked up his cloak and stood up. It was time for
him to leave. he looked up to find that all of the children had made
their escape.

However, one of the teenagers was still there. "Mister, I don't believe
for one instant you were one of the evil Pokemon League," she said
forcefully. It was the girl he had saved from last night. "No one who was
one of them could be as heroic and handsome as you are..."

The blond woman sucked in her breath. "Hikari!"

Ash began to roll up his sleeping bag. "She is right. You do not know
me." He clenched his fist and stared at it, his thoughts a thousand
miles away. "You do not know me at all."


<><><>


The afternoon sun seemed permanently hidden behind its dense layer of
grey clouds moving across the horizon. The wind began to pick up speed,
ruffling Ash's cloak and hood. Despite this, the deserted ruins of the
city were silent. Almost too silent. Not even the crickets were chirping
their songs even though there were plenty of overgrown foliage in the
ruins to hide in. Ash adjusted his black cloak, tightening it. There
might be a battle soon. Someone was following him.

"Kachu ..." Pikachu said sadly as it looked around at the debris that
used to be Viridian City. Ash understood Pikachu's sadness. This place
held memories for him too. It was the first city he had reached back in
his training days. If not for Nurse Joy, Pikachu would not be here now,
and most likely he would not be here either. Most likely, dead. He and
Pikachu had stuck by each other through thick and thin.

Ash stared at the broken down wall of one of the old buildings. In fact
that was probably part of the Medical Center which saved Pikachu's life.
Now this city was nothing but a deserted pile of rubble. Even the air
smelled dead. It was just like all the other major cities that had been
destroyed back in the Dark Pokemon Wars. A cloud of dust was picked up by
the wind and he held his hand over his nose and mouth as it passed.

He could still feel the itch on his neck. Whoever it was, was still
following them. It kept a safe distance and didn't seem to be advancing
on them. Yet.

Pikachu's ears pricked up. "Pika?"

Ash turned to the little pokemon riding on his shoulder. "Yes, there's
someone following us, Pikachu. But they seem to be keeping back-"

"PIKA!"

The crumbling stone wall they had been walking parallel to abruptly
exploded with a hail of sharp rocks. Shrapnel and rubble showered over
them in a spiked, painful rain. A massive object crashed through with a
rumble the sound of thunder.

"What? Ugh!" Ash threw Pikachu away to safety, just in time before he was
smashed back painfully, to roll sideways along the gravel of the road.
After rolling away at what he thought a sufficient distance, he rolled to
his feet, jumped and back-flipped away to land on top of the opposite
wall. He threw his hood off and brushed his hand across his temple. He
felt blood.

"Pikachu!" His small companion leaped to land on his shoulder once again. 
Ash sighed in relief that Pikachu was safe then turned to the scene of
the attack with narrowed eyes.

Dust was flying around everywhere. It was hard to make out even the wall
they had been walking next to. He raised his hand to shelter his face as
he quickly searched with his eyes. He had not even sensed this threat.
Which meant the attacker was one of *them.*

Finally the dust settled. There was a gaping hole in the wall and next to
it lay a huge, brown boulder about a dozen feet across. There was a
creaking of stone and thick, grey limbs began to sprout from the large
rock. Large claws as sharp as daggers extended from the newly-made
appendages and a snake-like head grew from the centre of what would be
its torso. The eyes on the rocky, serpent head, suddenly swivelled open.
They were an angry red, the colour of blood.

"TRAITOR," the head hissed.

"Golemdor," Ash acknowledged, bending his legs slightly. He was already
planning his attack.

"IT WAS YOU WHO INTERFERED WITH THE RAID ON THE XELIAN SETTLEMENT
YESTERDAY. YOU HAVE BEEN A LOOSE CANNON TOO LONG ASHURA. TODAY IT ENDS.
YOU SHALL FINALLY PAY FOR YOUR TREACHERY."

"I think not."

The red, serpent-like eyes swivelled to the black pikachu briefly. "I SEE 
YOU ARE STILL TRAVELLING WITH THE LITTLE ONE." It focused on Pikachu 
completely. "YOU COULD HAVE HAD POWER LIKE THE REST OF US. WHY DO YOU 
TRAVEL WITH THE ASSASSIN?"

"Pika-pikachu!" Pikachu chattered angrily from atop his shoulder. Ash 
narrowed his eyes at the mention of the name the golem had called him.

"YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO POKEMON KIND!" the golem roared in response to
whatever Pikachu had said. "EARTHQUAKE!" It lifted a huge stone fist and
pounded the ground. The earth shook and a large crack rapidly approached
the wall Ash was standing on. Ash leaped into the air, tossing Pikachu to 
the side just before the quake reached it and reduced the stone wall to 
dust.

The massive golem continued to pound the earth in its earthquake attack,
this time using both its fists. Ash was hard-pressed to avoid the cracks
of destruction heading his way. He back-flipped and turned hand-springs 
to dodge the wildly shaking earth attacks.

"Argh!" Ash shouted in pain as a piece of rock shaped like a sharp knife
fewl up and embedded itself into his leg. He landed painfully and slid 
along on his chest, the gravel digging into the palms of his hands.

"Chu!" Pikachu shouted in alarm, leaping to distract the huge golem. 
Black lightning began to spark from its cheeks. "Pika!"

"Watch out Pikachu!" Ash shouted when he saw what the little pokemon was
going to do. But it was too late.

"PIKA!" It tried a black thunderbolt and sent it towards the pounding 
golem. However, the electricity dissipated harmlessly over the rock 
pokemon's stony-hard body.

The golem grunted as it stopped its earthquake attack. "TACKLE!" it
shouted as it began to charge the recovering pikachu.

"No!" Ash called out desperately. He ripped out the piece of stone
shrapnel from his leg, grunting in pain, then leaped forward, knocking
Pikachu out of the way. The golem screamed in frustation at missing its
intended target. Then it looked at Ash lying on the ground, with a 
malvolent gleam in its  blood-red eyes. It grabbed him with one of its 
huge rock-like fists and began to squeeze the life out of him.

"NOW YOU DIE," The golem chuckled. It opened its palm slightly to allow 
access to the front of Ash's body. Snorting in rough laughter, it gave 
him two massive punches into his chest with its free arm before tossing 
him away like excess garbage. Ash slid painfully away on his back, his
cloak getting ripped in several places, before a piece of rubble stopped
his momentum.

Ash felt like his chest had caved in and died. He coughed and spat out a
mixture of blood and spittle. Slowly, he got up on his hands and knees, 
shaking furiously. "Now you've gotten me angry, Golemdor. And you'll see 
just why they call me the Pokemon Assassin." His voice was low and calm. 
His voice was death.

The golem looked at him in confusion. It had expected the human to be
lifeless. Dead. Granted, this one had once been a Pokemon Master in the
Pokemon League, but at the heart of things, he was still a puny human. 
It had given enough blows into its chest to shatter concrete, let alone
bone. 

"HOW CAN YOU STILL BE ALIVE?"

"That's a question you'll soon be asking yourself!' Ash cried, before
getting to his feet and leaping towards the golem's thick stone legs. His
black cloak flapped, trailing behind him as he blurred into a series of 
rapid attacks.

The golem tried to avoid him, still confused and beginning to get a
little scared at the furious attack the human displayed. He seemed to be
doing something to his legs. After all, back in the Pokemon Wars, this
one had gained a reputation ...

Finally, Ash leaped backwards and somersaulted back on to an intact 
section of the wall.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE - NOOO!" The golem's legs suddenly gave way from
underneath it as they turned into dust. The torso of the boulder-like 
pokemon crumbled at the loss of its support and fell over on to its 
back. "IMPOSSIBLE! THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE! I AM INDESTRUCTIBLE!" It tried
to lift itself up by the use of its remaining arms, but lost balance and
fell over again.

Ash held his arm out horizontally and Pikachu landed on it. "Golemdor,
nothing on this world is indestructible. Especially not you." He threw
Pikachu into the air. "Finish it! Thunder Shatter!"

Mid-air, the little pikachu rolled into ball and began to emmit a dark
light.

"FOOLS! I AM IMPERVIOUS TO ELECTRICAL ATTACKS."

"We shall see ..." Ash said, folding his arms.

"PIKA!" The air around the pikachu suddenly roared with thunder and began
to spark as it descended towards the golem.

"WHA-WHAT IS THIS?" it shouted in alarm as the small pokemon collided
into its chest and shot into its body like a bullet. When the pikachu had
fully entered its stony torso, the golem started to vibrate madly.
"WHA-WHAT MA-MANNER O-OF A-ATTACK I-IS T-THI-" It didn't get to finish
its question. The golem's body turned black and its body began to invert
into itself as if it were trying to implode. Then the rumble of thunder
and flashes of black lightning exploded all around and instead the golem
was ripped apart into a hundred little pieces of rocks and dust.

When the thunder stopped cracking, all that was left in the centre of the
destruction was the little black pikachu standing where the golem used to
be. A ring of grey and brown dust and rock lay piled around in a circle.
The golem's snake-like head rested a dozen feet away, before it too 
crumbled into a fine brown powder.

"Pikachu. Return." The small electric mouse leaped back onto Ash's
backpack.

There was the sound of clapping. Ash quickly turned around from his 
position standing on the fence to see a blue cloaked person applauding 
him. He or she was leaning on one of the toppled walls of a destroyed 
building lazily, one foot tapping to some unknown beat.

"Only a true Pokemon Master could defeat one of the eight Master Pokemons
of the Pokemon League."

There was something familiar about that voice. "Who are you?"

The green cloaked figure stood up straight, aqua eyes staring at him from
underneath the hood. "I am Mistaria. And I have a proposition to make
you."


--- End of Part 1



Well ... this is my first Pokemon fanfic and all ... and already,
everyone is OOC =). Well seeing as this is in the future and I have my
reasons for Ash acting this way, I hope that excuses it. And before 
everyone shouts at me that pokemon can't talk, there's a reason why 
the golem could do it...

The storyline is going to contain some influences from Ninja Scroll
(about the 8 Devils kind of thing) in case you haven't already noticed.
And anyone else think that a little black Pikachu would have absolutely
rocked? =). Actually, there's also a reason why Pikachu is a weird color
in this fic too. And also why Pikachu has some new weird attacks. I've
thought of everything =).

Anyway, C&C would be much appreciated! Even the many spelling and grammar
errors being pinted out would help! =) Oh and for those Ranma fans who
are still waiting for my next parts, I have just about all of them "Half
done" (the fault of a short attention span). I just have to finish them
off and I can do a mass-posting ...


Ace Sanchez
Email: jsa@fl.net.au
WWW: http://jsa.users.fl.net.au