Previously: Ash, Misty and gang had just escaped from the tunnels of
Mount Moon and from the murderous mist, Missingno. They continue their
journey to the Cerulean ruins hoping to stop a resurgence of the dark
wars.

This is a draft! If you see any major mistakes, please tell me! And
spelling/grammar mistakes pointed out would also be much appreciated.

Warning: This is not your standard type of pokemon fanfic. It contains
scenes of violence and maybe some slight inappropriate language.

_____________________________________
    
Pokemon Master

Fanfiction written by Ace Sanchez.
Hosted @ http://jsa.users.fl.net.au
Pokemon and its associated characters
owned by Nintendo / Gamefreak. 
_____________________________________

Part 6 "Reactions."


The wind was cold as it blew past, with the small group of people rapidly
speeding across the lightly forested land. The full moon up above was
half covered by a thin layer of grey clouds and the smell of moist
vegetation hung lightly in the night air. Many trees and bushes blurred
by their sides as they hurried as fast as they dared.

Misty leaned forward and silently ordered Starmos to give another slight
burst of speed. As her star pokemon complied from underneath her, she
felt Ash, who was riding behind, clutch her sides tighter. She began to
feel a little warm, but then ignored it as she concentrated on guiding
them around trees and other obstacles on their way east.

Behind them, she could hear the hooves of a Rapidash fire horse gallop,
the sound slightly muffled by the grassy floor of the forest. It kept
pace easily despite the large weight of the three people riding her,
Bruno keeping the unconscious Junior steady in front of him, while
Laselle rode behind him, clutching his sides. Duplica would probably be
complaining about her back when they finally stopped.

That was all that was left currently in their group though. Jessie, James
and Persian had decided to split up with them back at Mount Moon. But the
three mercenaries did say that they might meet up with them further east
in one of the towns. They had said that it might be interesting and
profitable if they could find some more wanted outlaws to make up for
lost money back at the mountain.

Misty's hair was being blown back violently by their movement and in her
head she apologised to Ash, whose face must have been whipped by it quite
a lot. As she banked a particularly steep left turn around a tall tree,
leaves and foliage blowing to the sides, she heard Ash hiss quietly from
behind her.

"Watch it Misty," he warned, his soft but deep voice carrying to her
perfectly despite the wind rushing past. "There's a small army of League
Trainers a bit to the north."

"But we have to pass that way," she said back to him. "The forest
gets thicker to the south."

"Fine," he replied quietly. "Just ride past them. I'll take care of it."

"You're not going to kill them are you?"

She felt his head shake. "Of course not. We don't want to create a
disturbance. Even though they probably know we're coming eventually, it's
better if we don't announce to them in bold letters that we're here."

The forest began to get thinner of trees and finally they shot out
on to a grassy plain. To their right they spotted the distant orange
lights of fires burning and hundreds of tents with many people walking
about. It was a League army camp.

"Go slightly more to the north, then loop around the army to the east,"
Ash voiced.

"Can't they see us?" Bruno worriedly asked.

"No," Ash answered. "I'm cloaking us in shadows."

"Cool," Laselle said.

And he was right. Misty watched as they sped around the large campsite
without so much as a sound from the many League sentries on Look-out
duty. At one point they had even been riding only about two dozen feet
away from a guard in plain sight, yet he not seen them or even heard
them. 

Misty looked angrily at the carousing men within the camp. No doubt
they were celebrating yet another successful destruction of one of the
poor settlements around this area. She had stopped counting the number of
burned down villages they had passed on their journey to the Cerulean
ruins.

After riding around the army's camp, they re-entered the light forest and
continued their way east. It wasn't until two more hours and it was a
quarter to midnight that Bruno mentioned that they had to stop soon as
Junior, who was still unconscious, was burning up with fever.

"I guess we will have to," Misty agreed. "Starmos is tiring also."

Ash was silent for a few moments before he answered. "Okay, let's find
the next suitable campsite."

Then suddenly the trees grew thinner again and when they cleared out
completely, they saw a human settlement upon the plains. It looked like
it hadn't been raided by the League yet and was fairly small. However, it
appeared to be highly defended with tall stone walls that were about two
dozen feet high surrounding it completely in a tight circle, and on the
top battlements, walked serious looking sentries and guards as well as
some pokemon.

Misty, with Ash riding double, directed Starmos back to the cover of some
trees with Bruno and the rest following. "Looks like a likely place to
spend the night," Misty said. "They might also have some medical supplies
for Junior that it looks like he needs."

"They could be suspicious of us," Bruno said, as he carefully stepped
down from Duplica-Rapidash carrying Junior in his arms. Laselle swung her
leg over and also leaped off. The Fire Horse snorted, then began to blur
as she changed back to a woman with dark blue hair dressed in a long
violet cloak.

"My back is killing me," Duplica muttered as she rubbed her behind.

"Aren't the towns around here neutral to the League and the
Rebellion?" Bruno continued.

Duplica peered around one of the trees they had sought cover and took a
peek. "Well judging from the alert looks on those guards, it certainly
looks like they know what's been going on around here with the League
attacking just about every human town in sight."

Ash let go of Misty's sides, the air suddenly seeming colder as he did
so, and stepped down to the ground. He brushed his wind-blown, black 
hair with his fingers and adjusted the strap of his small brown 
backpack.  "It looks like they were even attacked once before from
the recent burn marks on the stone walls," he stated. "And that army we
passed could very well be heading here next."

Laselle gasped. "But there were hundreds of League Trainers in that
army! We've got to help them!"

Bruno shook his head. "I'm afraid it would be probably be best if we left
this to fate. If Ash and Duplica are right about the return of the Dark
Wars, then getting to that damn tower is our top priority." He shifted
his grip on Junior's limp body. "Hell, the last Dark Wars destroyed all
of the major cities in the world as well as more than three quarters of
the world's population! If we allowed them to happen again, there would
be nothing left."

Laselle looked accusingly at him, her brown eyes fierce. "But we can't
just leave them here! It would be murder!" She looked at Ash, eyes
pleading with him. "I bet Ash could just wave his arm once and destroy
that army!"

Ash stiffled a laugh with one hand. "I appreciate your confidence in me,
Laselle, but I'm afraid even I couldn't do that so easily."

Misty stepped off her star pokemon and recalled it back to badge form so
she could pin it on her blue cloak. "The fact remains that we need
somewhere to rest for the night and Junior needs treatment. What say we
head off to that settlement, and if it gets attacked while we're still in
it, we can always help a little bit." She swept her red hair back over
her shoulders.

Ash rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose." He narrowed his eyes at
the unconscious Junior. "He wasn't supposed to slow us down, Bruno, but
seeing as how we all need the rest, especially after that ordeal at the
mountain, I guess we deserve it. Pikachu certainly does. " He turned
slightly showing Pikachu's snoring head inside the top of his pack.

Then he lifted his arms out slightly and his long black cloak, glowed
darkly for a few moments before it suddenly disappeared, leaving him
dressed in his black, short-sleeved shirt and dark, loose-fitting long
pants. "We'll have to go in our civies though, so we don't attract any
suspicion," he said, shrugging so his backpack settled more comfortably
on his shoulders.

Misty also recalled her cloak away, leaving her dressed in a soft blue
dress with a long slitted skirt which slightly revealed one long slender
leg. Bruno did the same and was left wearing maroon trousers and a muscle
shirt, showing off his extremely muscular frame.

Duplica just waved her hand once, her cloak disappearing to leave her in
her sexy green dress that she wore underneath. She looked at Bruno's
revealed body. "Rowr," she said, smiling.

Bruno sighed. "Can't you be serious for once Duplica?"

"Sorry," she lightly laughed. Then she looked at Ash's revealed body
which was athletic and muscularly slim. "Besides, isn't Ashy so adorable 
without that evil looking black cloak he always wears? A shame to cover 
up such cuteness."

"I'll agree with that," Laselle said, eyeing Ash's body.

Blood rushed to Misty's face. "If you'll stop admiring the men, let's
go."

Duplica grinned evilly at her as if she knew something Misty didn't.

Ash, for his part, wasn't really paying attention as he thought deeply
about something. He looked up. "So we're all ready then? Let's head down
and see if we can get inside. Don't make any sudden movements and we
should be able to convince them that we're just down-on-their-luck
travellers in need of a place to stay and help for our fallen companion."

Duplica folded her arms underneath her ample breasts and smiled at Ash.
"Just let me do the talking, or shall I say, posing, and I'm sure the men
will let us in." She laughed evilly again.

Misty silently fumed, she didn't know why she was so annoyed. "Okay,
let's go then," she practically shouted.

Ash looked at her with a bewildered expression on his face. Then
he shrugged. "Must be that time of the-"

Bruno ran up to him, Junior slung on his shoulder, and clapped his free
hand on his mouth. "Don't say it," he warned.

"Mrrpflphth," Ash said.

Then they all stepped out of the forest and on to the grassy plains,
Bruno leading so that the injured Junior in his arms was plainly visible.
Soon they stood before the massive steel gates of the walled-in town. The
guards had already spotted them for some time already and now looked
carefully at the six ordinary seeming people, with one of them injured
and being carried in the largest man's arms, from atop the high stone
walls.

"Who goes there?" The gate keeper standing on the front battlement called
down to them.

Duplica stepped forward, shivering for effect in her flimsy green dress.
"Only us weary travellers, good sir!" she called out. "We hope you would
be so gracious so as to let us stay the night!"

"Sir, they don't look like League Trainers to me," one of the guards
said, eyeing the blue haired woman's body. Other guards were checking out
the other woman with red hair and in the blue dress, while even the
female guards were looking at the muscular man and the man dressed in
black. But mostly at the man dressed in black.

"Appearances can be deceiving," the gate keeper said back to him. "Get
Nurse Joy here on the double!"

A couple of minutes later, a pretty woman dressed in white with dark red
hair worn in a high ponytail stepped on to the battlement and looked down
at them. She seemed to narrow her blue eyes at all of them, then gasped.

"Let them in immediately!" she called out. "I can already sense they are
good people, but that boy needs to have his head looked at!"

The massive double steel gates slowly creaked open to reveal the town
within, with many prosperous looking stone houses and buildings. The six
weary people stepped in gratefully.


<><><>


The large man in the hooded brown cloak, smirked as he looked out the 
open window of the tower. At this altitude the full moon was plainly 
visible in the night sky, so much so, he could even see the craters in 
the surface that meteors had caused.

>From this height he could see from miles around, from the distant peaks
of Mount Moon, to the dark tip of Pokemon Tower. Down below on the plains
far to the south near the Saffron City ruins, he could see fires burning,
no doubt a battle of some sort. The rebellion were fools to try to
protect the insignificant human settlements when the real threat was
right here and at the other two focus points.

"Just why didn't Missingno obey my commands?" an angry female voice
suddenly shouted from behind him.

The man slowly turned around to see the white cloaked blonde with her
pikachu sitting on her shoulder. Her head was unhooded, letting her long
hair free around her shoulders and exposing her exquisite face. "So your
back Valdera?" He smiled darkly. "Were you off spreading your legs for
your old boyfriend?"

The blonde standing at the door, seemed to shimmer with light, and then
she was suddenly right in front of him. She grabbed him with one slim
hand by the folds of clothing on his chest and hoisted him up high
without even seeming to exert herself. Then she spun around and slammed
his back into the stone wall, breaking more than a few chunks of rock
from it. Quite an amazing feat since he was almost a full foot taller
than she was and more than double the weight.

"I'll ask again," her soft voice said, that was usually so sensual, but
now seemed menacing. "Why didn't Missingno, the shadow pokemon, obey my
commands?" Her artic blue eyes flared icily.

"No need to show off your power to me, Valdera," the man said mockingly.
"Anyhow, maybe you weren't exerting enough of your influence on it so it
didn't obey you." Then his own dark brown eyes flared up within the
shadows of his hood. "Or maybe it saw you as a threat to the Pokemon
League." He abruptly broke her grip from his chest with one swing of his
powerful arm, and landed on the floor with a thump.

The blonde stepped away from him, thoughtful. Then she smiled, her
shapely mouth turning up at the corners. "Perhaps," she said. "I am,
after all, a threat to everyone." She tossed her head once sending her
long hair floating to the side, then took her pure white pikachu down
from her shoulder and patted it on the head. "Come my pet. I feel so icky
after all that work in the mountain." She turned around and began to walk
out of the small tower room, hips swaying within her cloak.

The man stared at her back. "The Master has ordered you to transport
Lance to the Palace of the Elite Four. It is almost time."

She stopped walking then replied without turning around. "Fine. But if
Ashura gets here when I'm gone, save him for me." Then she continued out
of the room and slammed the door powerfully. Chunks of stone rained down
from the roof.

The man in the brown cloak stared at the closed door for a few moments
more. Then he smirked again. "Oh, I'll leave something for you alright.
Just the way you want him." Then he too left the room, but in search of a
woman. Valdera always did that to him.


<><><>


Misty laid back in the bed in her guest room, with her arms folded up
behind her head, and stared at the cracks running across the plaster
ceiling. It was a surprise to see that within the town, it was actually
quite technologically advanced compared to others. For one thing, there
was running water out of taps and even working plumbing. She always hated
chamber pots ever since they were re-introduced. The world had lost so
much technology within a short span of five years.

Even the bed was soft. She hadn't laid down in a bed in a long time. It
seemed sleeping bags were her standard bedding nowadays. The wooden door
creaked open and she lifted her head slightly to see who it was. Seeing
Duplica walk in, dressed in a pair of violet pyjamas and her blue hair
done up in two high ponytails just like when they had first met her, only
made her frown and think about Ash. She hated thinking about Ash. She
laid her head back down, and brushed away a wayward strand of red hair
that had fallen in her eyes.

"You were right, Duplica," she said in a disgusted tone. "After one look
at you, and the men couldn't wait to let us in."

"Oh, I saw more than a few looking at you too," Duplica said, her voice
merry. "But it was Joy who really let us in." Then her tone changed,
surprisingly serious. "Okay, Misty, this isn't a social call. Or maybe it
is one, depending on how you look at it. But spill the beans okay? What
happened between you and Ash? It disgusts me to see you two who were once
so close, now so far away. At least on the surface." She sat down on a
nearby couch and tucked her legs underneath her.

Misty's guard went up. "Why don't you ask Ash?"

"I did ask Ash," she said in a frustrated tone. "Now I'm asking you. I'm
also curious about how you've kind of been acting cold towards me.
Weren't we friends in the past?"

"Why don't you also ask Ash?" she repeated, but in an angrier tone.

"You still love him, don't you?" Duplica suddenly said confidently.

Misty began to feel trapped. "L-Love? How could I love a traitor like
him?"

"But didn't you split up before Ash became a traitor to your cause? And
how could he technically have been a traitor when he stuck with the
Pokemon League? In fact, it was the rebellion who are technically the
traitors. They were the one's who split off from the League in the first
place, after the Dark Wars."

"But everyone knew the League was going too far in their thirst for
power. And besides, Ash sticking with the League is not the reason I call
him a traitor."

"Then why *do* you call him a traitor?"

However Misty stayed silent. She was not going to answer any more
questions. "Why don't you ask Ash?" she asked again, in a tone of
finality.


<><><>


Ash was sitting on the roof of the small guest house that he had been
given to stay in. The night's air was cold as he looked up at the black
sky, glittering with hundreds and thousands of white stars. Pikachu
sitting next to him slurped happily on two open bottles of ketchup, one
in each of his small paws.

"You know, you seem to be a lot different to how I knew you when you
fought in the League." It was Bruno. Ash had sensed him a while ago and
wasn't surprised.

Bruno walked across, carefully picking his way over the roof slates, then
sat down next to him. "In the Dark Wars, it was like you were a man
possessed. Like you didn't have anything to live for. Of course I didn't
know you too well, but that's how you came across to me."

Ash didn't look at him as he continued to stare at the stars. "Those days
are a blur to me now. I was barely living."

They looked at the sky in silence for a moment. Then Bruno broke it. "I
wasn't too surprised when you didn't break off from the League when we
did. You just seemed content to continue whatever it was you were doing.
To mindlessly follow orders, even though the war was over and the League
had started a new objective." He smiled darkly. "And of course you had
that beautiful blonde girl to keep you company. What was her name? Val?"

"Yeah," Ash responded quietly. "Val." 

He laughed. "I remember that Brock was so jealous. But he can count his
lucky stars that she was ga-ga over you and not him. Look what she is
now." But then he closed his eyes. "But it's hard to believe that he's
gone. Brock, I mean. He seemed ... well ... like a rock. Indestructible.
Unchanging."

Ash finally stopped looking at the stars and looked at him. "So when did
Misty join the Rebellion?"

Bruno opened his eyes and reminisced. "Oh, I think it was a little over
two years ago. She came back after some god-awful journey looking almost
half-dead. But then Erika nursed her back to health. It was a surprise to
see that she had mastered the element of water too, on her journey to 
wherever. She must have been involved in the Dark Wars somehow." He 
looked at him. "I know that you and Misty have some sort of past, but I'm 
not going to pry it out of you. I sense a lot of pain in that area, from 
Misty and even you."

"That means you're smarter than Duplica," Ash said jokingly. "Anyway.
enough about me. What about you? I knew you were best friends with the
other Elite Four. Lance, Agatha and Lorelei. It must've been hard leaving
them behind for your views."

Bruno closed his eyes again. "I tried to persuade them to go with us, but
they didn't share my opinion. They even welcomed what the League was
becoming."

Ash looked back at the stars. There was even one that seemed to be
shooting. He wished silently.

Bruno suddenly stood up. "Well anyway, it was nice talking to you Ash.
You're a nicer guy than I thought all these years. You probably deserved
to beat me all those times we fought." He carefully picked his way over
the roof to the side of the house. "Well I'll go on to check on how
Junior's doing. I'll see you later."

When he had gone, Ash also stood up. "Not likely." He grabbed his
backpack and shrugged the straps over his shoulders. Then summoning his
black cloak back over his body with a glow of dark energy, he concealed
his face within the hood. He was leaving.

"Come Pikachu," he said softly. "Time to save the world ... or destroy
it."


<><><>


There was a small crowd of villagers gathering in the centre square of
the town, preparing to watch a pokemon battle between a young, dark
haired girl in a light green forest cloak, and a boy dressed in jeans, a
white shirt and a maroon vest. On his head he wore a white bandage 
wrapped his forehead, his dark hair flopping over the front.

Laselle smirked at the boy in front of her. "C'mon Junior *Trainer*!
Let's see what you got. Go Caterpie!" Her small green caterpillar pokemon
jumped out of her backpack and over her head, where it rolled into a
ball, then landed on the stone tiled floor.

"Piii!" it said, blinking its dark eyes.

Junior went to twist his hat around backwards, but then finding only a
bandage on his head, he blushed. Then he narrowed his eyes and took a
pokeball from his belt, where it enlarged itself. "That's a laugh,
*Lass*. Let's see how it goes against ..." He threw the ball out in front
of him where it split open and with a flash of dark red light, a grey
humaniod pokemon stood, flexing its arm. "Machop!" Junior continued.

The blood rushed to Laselle's face. "Lass? No one calls me Lass!" She
pointed. "Caterpie, String shot!"

"Pii!" A long thin sticky stream of silk shot out of the pokemon's mouth
and wrapped around the small Machop, who promptly tripped over.

"Chop!" the Machop said, as it squirmed on the ground trying to get up.

"Machop!" Junior called. "Get up and Karate Chop it!"

But before it could do that, Laselle shouted, "Tackle!" and the caterpie
quickly leaped over, rolled into a ball and struck the machop on the
head. The machop promptly fainted.

The crowd of villagers watching clapped their hands. The caterpie must
have been superbly trained in their eyes to defeat a stronger pokemon so
easily.

Junior had his mouth open in shock. "That-that's impossible! A caterpie
can't beat a machop!"

Laselle spun around in a little circle happily, then bragged. "Yeah, but
my caterpie's special! She's gonna be my side-kick, just like Pikachu is
to Ash! She's already saved my life once!"

"Piii!" the caterpie chirped.

"Ha ha," Junior laughed. "You're so dumb! Anyone can see that your
caterpie is a boy!"

"Really?" Laselle asked curiously. She ran over to the caterpie and
lifted it up so she could look at its underside. "Oh, you're right. It
is!"

Junior laughed again.

"I don't know what you're laughing at!" Laselle said crossly as she
placed Caterpie back on the ground. "You owe me some money for beating
you!"

Junior stopped laughing and groaned.

Then Bruno came running into the centre square. "So this is where you
are!" he said to Junior, annoyed. "You're supposed to be in bed resting."

"Um, Master Bruno, can I have some of my wages? I lost to Laselle in a
bet."

Bruno looked around at the crowd, then at the two pokemon on the ground,
Laselle's caterpie and Junior's Machop which had fainted. He put two and
two together. "You mean she beat you?" he laughed. "And against your
favourite pokemon too! Maybe you let her win, because you like her," he
whispered.

Junior's face underneath his bandage turned red. "Do not! That caterpie
is just strangely strong somehow!"

And then, all of a sudden, a loud alarm bell began to ring, that was so 
loud it almost split Laselle's ear-drums and the crowds of people began 
to run. 

"Attack!" a sentry shouted from one of the towers at the town walls.
"League Army due west and approaching rapidly! All guards, archers and
their pokemon to their positions, now!"

"Uh, oh. Trouble," Bruno said worriedly. "Junior, you come with me to the
top of the walls while-"

"Hey," Laselle complained as she placed her pokemon back into her
backpack. "What about me?"

"You hide somewhere safe and,"

"No way! I want to help too! Besides, my caterpie is strong, he even beat
Junior's machop!"

"No need to rub it in," Junior said grumpily, as he shot a thin maroon
beam from his poke-ball and recalled his fainted pokemon.

"Okay," Bruno said decisively. "There's no time for arguments. Come with
us, but be careful okay? I don't know what Erika will do to me if I let
anything happen to you."

The three of them quickly ran to the town walls.


<><><>


It was half-past midnight, and the full moon shone down on the walled
town preparing itself for battle. Numerous guards all ran along the top
of the stone walls to assume position behind fortified blocks of stone,
poke-balls strapped on and ready, as well as bows clutched in one arm and
quivers of arrows worn on their backs.

On top of the stone battlement nearest to the gates, a woman with short
blue hair and dressed in light armour looked through a pair of binoculars
to observe the army marching towards the town in the distance. Jenny was
worried. They were just on the horizon and were quickly approaching
despite their numbers. The front-line seemed to be made up of League Fire
Trainers all riding ponyta's, the flame horse pokemon. In the back were
the standard League soldiers and various wheeled vehicles. Hovering above
them were numerous Charizard, the red flying dragon's roars audible even
from this distance.

"Captain Jenny," one of the guards said, who was looking through a
telescope next to her. "I estimate their forces at just over half a
thousand strong."

Jenny put down her binoculars and ran a hand through her short hair.
"This force is much larger than the one we fought off yesterday. I
don't think we have much chance of fighting off a group of those
numbers," she said gravely. "Begin evacuation of the women and children
and any men too old to fight." She clenched her fist. "But, by God, the
rest of us will fight, to the death if need be."

The guard blinked, then saluted her. "It will be as you wish, Captain."
He ran off to give out her orders.

Then she spotted a tall muscular man, running along the stone walls
toward them, with a boy and a girl following him.

"Who is that man?" she asked another one of the guards. "And what are
those children doing here? There is going to be a battle soon!"

The guard squinted. "It looks like three of those travellers we admitted
earlier to spend the night."

"Travellers? How many of them did we let in? Are they trustworthy?" she
asked immediately.

"Along with those three, there were also two women and another man who
accompanied them. The gate keeper thought them harmless enough, and the
boy needed medical attention earlier. Joy said they were okay."

"Nurse Joy said they were okay? That's good enough for me then, I
suppose."

The three travellers finally reached them. Jenny thought that the muscled
giant with brown spiky hair looked kind of cute. But then she squashed
down the feminine feeling. At times like these, there was no place for
things like that.

"Unfortunately, it looks like Ash guessed right," the man said, staring
at the frontlines of the army approaching them in the distance. "That
League Force really was on their way here."

"And what are you people doing?" Jenny asked. "You people should be
evacuating with the rest of the villagers. This battle does not concern
you." She looked pointedly at the young girl dressed in the green forest
cloak, and the boy wearing a white bandage around his head. "Especially
not children!"

The man looked at her, his eyes beginning to glow a mahogany colour. Then
he lifted his arms and a maroon coloured Master's cloak materialised
along his body.

"Y-You're a Pokemon Master!" Jenny exclaimed, surprised. Then she
suddenly ripped a bow from the hand of the nearest guard and nocked an
arrow, aiming it at the man in the blink of an eye. "League scum!" she
hissed.

"No, no!" the man said, lifting his arms up to show that he meant no
harm. "I'm with the Rebellion, not the League. We're here to help you."

"Rebellion, League, you're the same thing!" Jenny accused, still pointing
her bow at him.

"Girl, put that away before you hurt someone," a throaty voice said from
behind her. Startled, Jenny turned around, but was shocked when the bow
was kicked out of her hands by a booted foot, to flip around high in the
air.

"Good kick, Misty," the throaty voice continued. Jenny saw that it was a
stunning woman with long, dark-blue hair, dressed in a violet Master's
cloak. She was holding two of the guard's immobile, each of them with an
arm twisted around their backs and gritting their teeth painfully. It
actually looked comical that a woman like that could overpower two of her
highly trained men.

The other red haired woman next to her, quite beautiful as well, was 
also dressed in a Master's cloak. Although this one was a pure ocean 
blue in colour. There was a clack as the woman caught Jenny's bow in 
her hands and then placed it on a nearby stone bench.

"More Pokemon Masters?" Jenny asked with contempt. "So they needed that 
many of you just to destroy our small town? A town that just wanted to 
be left alone?"

The young girl who had arrived with the male Pokemon Master spoke up. "No
Mistress! We only wish to help you! We could beat that army easily!"

"We?" the boy interjected in a sarcastic tone at the girl.

"Well, okay, them three and Ash! Where is he anyway?"

But Jenny folded her arms and glared at the two women Pokemon Masters.
"How do I know you are telling the truth?"

"Well if we were with the League, you'd already be dead," the red haired
woman said dryly.

"True," Jenny considered. "And Joy did say you people were alright, and
she is an excellent judge of character." She looked back at the
approaching army and their fearsome pokemon who was now even closer. "But
look at how many of them! I doubt with even three Pokemon Masters, we
could fight off a force of that size."

The blue haired woman suddenly let go of the two guard's arms, who
quickly stepped away from her. They even looked a little afraid, Jenny
was amused to note.

"Well now that we're here, it's possible to hold a stalemate," the woman
said. "They won't be able to get in with us defending the walls and the
sky."

"A siege?" the muscular man asked. "But we don't have time for that! We
have to get to the Cerulean ruins and destroy that tower! Where the hell
is Ash? He should be here by now!"

"Ash isn't here yet." the red-head said. Then her blue eyes widened
in shock as she thought of something. "Damn! I'd bet anything that he's
left to do it all by himself. He always was impulsive."

"I left him on the roof of our guest house. He had his bag and Pikachu
with him, now that I think about it," the man voiced.

"Who is this Ash?" Jenny asked, curious. He sounded important. "Is he the
sixth traveller we let in? A Pokemon Master too?"

"Yes and yes," the blue haired woman replied. She suddenly laughed, a
light tinkling sound. "I suppose we haven't introduced ourselves. How
rude of us. Well I'm Duplica." She indicated herself. "This here girl
worrying about her boyfriend is Misty." She pointed at the blue cloaked
woman with red hair. "And that big hunk of meat is Bruno, while the two 
kids are Junior and Laselle respectively."

"He's not my boyfriend," Misty said in annoyed tone. "But I have to 
catch up with him no matter what. I'll leave immediately. I'm sure you 
people here can manage a mere army."

"And just why do you have to follow him and not any of us?" Duplica
asked, with an amused look on her face, brown eyes shining.

Misty turned, and covered her bright head with the hood of her cloak. Her
blue eyes lighting up the shadows. "I-I just have to." She began to run 
across the walls towards the stairs leading to the ground.

Jenny looked back at the massive numbers of League Trainers headed their
way. They were even closer now. "A mere army?"

Duplica shrugged modestly, her blue hair sliding off her shoulders. "To
us it is."


<><><>


A shadow sped through the forest, dodging trees easily as it flew along
close to the ground. Leaves and other foliage was kicked up in a cloud
behind it as the figure shot through almost like a small comet. Powerful
winds created by the rapidly moving object shook the trees like a sonic
boom, even shaking the ground.

A small group of five League Trainers were on patrol a little to the west
of the Cerulean ruins. Two of them were on horse-back carrying lances,
while the other three were on foot. They were just about to cross the
plains when they heard a sharp whistling sound.

"What's that?" one of them asked.

The ground began to shake underneath their feet. They all looked to the
west towards the forest. The trees were vibrating violently, leaves 
falling to the ground. Something was coming this way. Fast.

One of the trainers on horseback lowered his lance to the ready.
"Whatever it is we can't let it through. Ponyta!" he ordered his horse.
"Get ready to use Flame Thrower!"

The other trainer on horseback also prepared his ponyta, while the
others on foot threw pokeballs on the ground to release their pokemon.

"Charmeleon, I choose you! As soon as you see it, Fire Blast!"

"Graveler, prepare to use Rock Throw!"

"Rhyhorn! Get ready for Take Down!"

And then the trees in the forest parted to release what looked like a
huge fireball, but a fireball that was not made of fire but of pure black
shadow. It sped towards them impossibly fast, dirt and foliage and grass
being blown to the sides by the powerful wind it was making.

"Now! Attack it!"

The fire horses and the charmeleon emitted a firy aura then let loose
streams of orange flames, while the graveler ripped huge chunks of stone
from the ground and threw it. The rhyhorn began to charge.

However the flames seemed to dissolve into the ball of shadow, while the
rocks were shattered to sand. The rhyhorn tried to charge it head on, but
was caught by the wind and blown away, but not before it crumbled to
dust.

"SHIT!" the League Trainers shouted simultaneously. "RUN!"

The group jumped apart in two directions letting the fireball of shadow
fly through them. But as the pure blackness passed them, crackling dark
blue bolts of lightning emitted from it and electrocuted them all
unconscious.


<><><>


When the missile of shadow reached the hilly and rocky land just outside
of the Cerulean ruins, the blackness faded and revealed a man in a hooded
black cloak, who suddenly landed on the ground and leaned sideways.

Ash dug his boots into the earth and skidded more than two dozen feet
across the rocky floor, creating a large dust storm in front of him,
before he stopped completely just on the rise of a rocky ledge. Down the
ledge and before him a thousand feet away, in the centre of the ruins
stood the massive dark, circular tower of stone. At the foot of the large
structure were the old destroyed remains of Cerulean City, which seemed
populated by a large army, thousands of tents scattered around, with just
as many small points of lights that were created by the camp fires. He
looked up at the tower and couldn't even see the top, it was so high.

Despite that, he could see that the night sky above the tower had begun
to swirl slowly in a dark purple vortex, even the clouds being blown
around it. They were getting ready to open the gate. He must not allow
that to happen. He adjusted the straps of his backpack and stood up 
straight. "Pikachu ..." he said softly. "I choose you."

"Pika!" Pikachu said, jumping out of his backpack and landing beside him
on all fours, jagged tail in the air and pointed ears twitching. The
black electric mouse's eyes were glowing a cobalt blue as he stared at
the tower and the army before them.

Ash and Pikachu studied them together.

"Pika?"

"That's right. Our ultimate attack. I hope you got enough rest, Pikachu,
because we have to do this."

"Chu," his pokemon said, determined, standing on his hind legs.

The two of them stood on the ledge and began to concentrate their power.
The moon's light began to cut out as more dark clouds formed above in the
night sky and began to crackle with lightning. A blackness like no other
descended around them, a glowing blue-black aura surrounding their
bodies. A sharp wind began to blow in a spiral around them as if they
were in the centre of a tornado. Soon the wind had grown so strong that
the thousands of camp-fires at the base of the tower flickered out and
died, further sinking the night into shadow. The army was startled and
began to move as they noticed the large elemental disturbance on the
cliffs to the west.

Lightning crackled around Ash and Pikachu, the colour of midnight. The
wind was blowing at full force now so that its screaming drowned out any
noise in a hundred feet radius. The smell of ozone was thick in the air.
Rocks and stones began to crumble from the ledge they were standing on.

"Now Pikachu!" Ash shouted as loud as he could above the wind and lifted
his arms. "DARK LIGHTNING APOC- arghhhhh!" He screamed as a knife of pure
pain skewered in his head and he bent over, both of his hands covering
his temples. Pikachu also squealed in pain, linked psychically to his
master. Immediately, the massive amounts of elemental energy surrounding
them cut out. The wind died down, and the clouds above with lightning
emitting from them dissipated to nothingness.

Then the pain disappeared, just as abruptly as it had come. Ash stood up
straight and turned around quickly, cloak flapping as he did so. Pikachu
shook his head, eyes blinking and also went to see what had happened. A
short distance behind them stood a slim figure dressed in a dark purple
cloak, the colour of twilight. A hand raised itself and removed its hood,
freeing long night-black hair from its constraints. A beautiful, but
sinister looking face was revealed, longish dark bangs slightly covering
the figure's dark blue eyes, which were glowing a bright golden yellow.

"Sabrina," Ash said softly. "What brings you here?"

"I have orders to stop you," her flat emotionless voice replied. A slight
breeze blew her black hair around her shoulders.

Ash powered up, his eyes beginning to glow golden as well. "You may have
masked yourself from my senses when I was busy, but what makes you think
you can stop me, now that I'm aware of you and can fight back?"

"You have a weakness," she replied. "One that allows me to psychically
take advantage of."

Ash took a slight step backwards, doubts beginning to surface. She had,
after all, hurt him quite badly with her attack, and he had thought he
was immune to psychic blasts. "Sabrina, I don't want to hurt you. If you
attack me psychically, there's no telling what my mind will do to you."

Sabrina began to walk forward slowly a step at a time, glowing eyes
unblinking, hair beginning to float unnaturally behind her. "I'm aware of
the dangerous nature of accessing your dark mind. An inexperienced
psychic without the knowledge would no doubt be destroyed forever.
However, *I* have that knowledge. The knowledge to break you to my will."

And with that said, Sabrina's eyes flared even brighter, and again, an
excruciating pain exploded in Ash's mind, despite his defenses. He closed
his eyes and screamed as he felt her will channel itself through his
memories, accessing remembrances best forgotten. His private feelings
were invaded as easily as if she held the key to do whatever she wished
with his mind.

The mental pain was too much and he felt himself losing unconsciousness.
Faintly in the background he could hear Pikachu scream in pain also. Then
more memories surfaced, twisted, unreal, violated.

Blackness. Darkness. Shadows. A memory?

Ash held up his hand as he removed his red cap, letting out his spiky
black hair. He put it on Pikachu's head who was crouched down at his
feet. "No, no! I've decided. If I stayed as the League Champion, I
would have to come back every tournament to uphold my title. And frankly,
I think I've just discovered what I want most in life ... and
surprisingly, it's not to be the Champ ... I-It's something else." He
looked directly at Misty. "I know we haven't exactly been the perfect
couple, you and I ... I, I ... always fighting and that, but we were a
couple and it just wouldn't be the same without you ... so wha-what I'm
trying to say is ... oh heck, wouldyouliketogowithme?"

Misty's smirked at him. "Are you kidding? I've wasted most of my life
going on your stupid journey! Why the HELL would I want to go with you
now? You're nothing but a failure, Ash Ketchum, a FAILURE!"

Blackness. Darkness. Shadows. A memory?

Ash looked into her eyes, his heart in his stomach and fluttering around
like a butterfly. He took out a small jewel case. "Misty," he choked, and
swallowed. "I-I know we're kind of young ... and you know ... but it's
just that, you know ..." He paused again, tongue feeling as if
it had been tied up. "Oh heck, wanna get married?" He quickly took out
the ring from its box. Set in it was a perfect blue diamond which matched
Misty's eyes completely.

A tilting of her red lips. A mocking smile. Of hatred. "Are you kidding?"
Misty screamed. "I hate you Ash! I HATE YOU!"

Blackness. Darkness. Shadows. A memory?

Ash picked up his belt, holding his poke-balls, and strapped it on with a
loud click. He picked up his thin brown, forest cloak, that his mom had
given him back when he won his last badge and became a Pokemon Master,
and slipped it on over his clothes. She said it made him look mysterious
and handsome. Ash didn't care as long as it was warm. And that it had
come from his mother herself. He left his trusty old red Pokemon League
cap behind, though. It was a bit dirty and he hadn't got around to
washing it yet.

"So you're going then?" Misty said, with a twisted look on her beautiful
face.

"Of course I'm going," Ash replied, a little scared of the look she was
giving him. It looked like she *wanted* him to leave.

At his look, she folded her arms. "Well of course I want you to leave,
stupid! Do whatever you want! I don't care!"

"What-what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong. Except that I let you in my life!" She suddenly walked
over to the front door and opened it. At the door was a tall handsome man
with spiky brown hair and slitted eyes. "Just get out and stay out," she
said softly to him with no emotion any more, not even looking at him as
she destroyed his life. She hugged the man at the door. "I've decided to
marry Brock instead."

"B-Brock?" Ash stepped backwards, shakily. His stomach had dropped out
from beneath him and he felt like his heart was going to explode in his
chest. He felt his eyes go moist with tears.

Blackness. Darkness. Shadows. A memory? It continued unrelentingly.

"Misty," he groaned.

Then everything was as black as the night.


<><><>


Sabrina looked a little sadly at the unconscious Pokemon Master and his
pokemon. She wasn't as emotionless as people liked to believe. It was
just how she naturally came across. She lifted her hands and replaced the
hood over her head, carefully settling her hair back in place.

A brown cloaked man emerged vertically from the rock next to her, his
rocky body slowly changing back to flesh.

The man also looked at the fallen bodies. He chuckled then folded his
arms, satisfied. "I told you it would work," he said softly.

Then he walked over and kicked the fallen Ash in the side so hard, the
black cloaked figure almost rolled off the edge of the cliff. Sabrina
nearly had to stop him rolling by use of her telekinesis. 

The brown cloaked man growled low in his throat. 

"Feel my pain you bastard."


To be continued ...

--- End of Part 6

_________________________________________________________________________

                                POKEDEX
_________________________________________________________________________

SHADOW PIKACHU
Type 1 - Shadow
Type 2 - Electricity

Attack : Dark Lightning Apocalypse
Type   : Shadow / Electricity
 
Ultimate attack. A beam of shadow electrical energy is fired in a
sphere around Pikachu and its Master which is launched upwards. Then the
lightning gathers enrgy from the clouds then falls back to earth falling
in a surounding radius of 1 mile all around the point of activation.
Anything within this radius is completely destroyed.

(Think Ryoga's Shishi-Houkoden in Ranma 1/2 ^_^)

_________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

Woah, the first sad ending? Well I had to split up the chapter as it was
approaching 90 Kbs! And this seemed like the perfect place to do it.
(Yes, I'm evil ^_^)

As always, feedback, C&C or whatever is appreciated! 

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