Join the new adventures of Ash and Pikachu, 11 years into the dark future
where the world has changed greatly, not to mention themselves. What
happened last episode:

Ash reunites with Misty, but is forced to join her on her mission to
investigate the Cerulian City ruins. On their way there, Ash encounters
an old 'aquaintance' as well as battle the second Master Pokemon of the
Pokemon League.

Or just get previous the parts at http://jsa.users.fl.net.au 

A bit more drama and angst in this one, but hey! Even action needs a bit
of story to it ^-^. 

_______________________________
    
Pokemon Master

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

Part 3 "Remembrances."


The afternoon sun seemed red and menacing as a hot wind encouraged the
village to burn. A tall, muscled figure in a hooded, brown cloak stood
and oversaw as his men ransacked the settlement standing on what used to
be route five. His brown eyes glowed darkly within the shadows of the
cowl of his cloak as he folded his arms and watched the tall flames
engulf each building one by one. The smoke given off by the fires stood
out as a deep murky black against the cloudy sky and the frightened and
pained screaming of villagers was loud in the air as they were subdued or
killed where they stood. While the men of the small settlement were of
the latter, the women were rounded up in the centre to be dealt with
later.

"Die, League scum!" A villager shouted, a young man with dark hair and
dressed in forest clothing, as he managed to elude two fire trainers and
come at the cloaked figure with a makeshift weapon. It was a long plank
of wood with sharp nails embedded in it that he had no doubt picked up
from one of the destroyed buildings.

The villager managed to come within several feet of him before the tall,
cloaked man waved his hand once. The ground exploded beneath the
villager's feet and he screamed in pain as he was thrown about a dozen
feet into the air, legs horribly twisted and broken.

A flash of light caught the cloaked man's attention and he turned around.
Behind him, the scream cut off as a loud thump announced the villager's
body meeting the ground.

The white cloaked woman was still glowing in a radiant light as she stood
there in front of him, having just returned from wherever she had
disappeared to earlier. Her eyes glowed blue and even though he could not
see the rest of her features hidden within the shadows of her hood, he
knew she was smiling. At her feet, the small white pikachu that was her
chosen pokemon also seemed to be smiling at him.

"You seem to enjoy this don't you?" she said in a faint amused tone.

"Valdera," the brown cloaked man said, ignoring her jibe. "You shouldn't
disappear like that when you might be needed."

She looked around herself in scorn, noting the helpless people that had
no chance against a force of this much League power. They could not even
run away into the thick forest surrounding them before fire trainers
directed their pokemon to incinerate them down with their flamethrower
attacks. "You needed my considerable power to overwhelm this sorry lot?"
she asked with a disgusted tone.

"The rebels are quite strong, as I should know, and we might have gone up
against some resistance. Thankfully it seems they are not present within
this area. We are not to be bothered for the time is coming close at
hand." He turned around to continue watching his men destroy the village.
In particular he noted which villager women were nice enough for him to
take to bed tonight. "Has Golemdor acquired some more supplies from the
old Pallet area yet?"

"Golemdor is dead."

He whipped back around. "What?" he shouted. "How?"

Valdera continued to smile, her face hidden within the hood. "The
question is not 'how' but 'who'. Ashura is back. He should be still in
the outskirts of the Viridian Forest before I left him."

"ASH." At the mention of the name all the memories of the old pain came
back to him as vivid and real as before they had faded with time. "I
thought he was dead," he whispered.

"You don't really think that one with the power could be killed that
easily," Valdera said, somehow sounding pleased.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're happy about this I see. Just don't
try to stop me when I go to kill him for good."

She sneered at him. "So you plan on facing him in the open this time,
instead of working behind his back?"

The brown cloaked man stood up to his full height of six feet, seven
inches and laughed confidently. "We'll let him come to us. By the time he
gets here it will be too late." He was confused about one thing though.
"One thing that's bothering me. Why would Ash resurface now? Why would he
even get involved?"

"That's an easy answer," Valdera said as she knelt down to scratch her
pikachu on the head. "My sister is with him."

His brown eyes glowed even darker. "MISTY!"


<><><>


The small, hot spring was warm and pleasant as Ash stood within the
stomach-high waters and scrubbed soap suds all over his naked body. It
had been a few days or so since he had a 'real' bath and he was
exceedingly happy to have one now. They were fortunate he had remembered
this old camping site on route three with this nearby bathing spot.

His chest was sore from the various fights he had fought recently, not to
mention his arms, but the warm water was soothing. Coupled with his high
healing rate, he could almost imagine that he felt himself getting better
by the second.

He sensed someone behind him and his guard rose up. But he did not turn
around. It was Misty. He continued to wash himself as he heard clothing
fall to the rocky grounds surrounding the spring. She seemed to be
undressing.

"I thought we agreed that we would take turns and that I would be first
seeing as how I was injured," he said flatly, still not turning around.

There was no answer for a while except for the sound and feel of the
water behind him parting to accommodate another body. "I couldn't wait
that long," she said in a faint tone. "Besides, I thought we should
talk."

"About your sister?" he asked. "Yes, you never did tell me you had a 
sister. A twin sister at that. Why is that? I thought we told each 
other everything."

"To put it frankly, it's still painful to talk about her," Misty said 
softly. "At that time we thought she was dead. She and I were very close.
Even though we weren't exactly identical, there was still a twin's 
bond underneath the superficial physical differences." Her tone went 
flat. "Later after you and I went our separate ways and you disappeared,
even from the League, I learned she was alive and well. As a Pokemon 
Master. A Master for the other side."

Ash thought about it. "She never did tell me where she came from." 

"So it's true that you *were* seeing each other when you were both in the
League then," Misty said. It was not a question but a statement.

Ash shrugged. He reached around to do his back then winced in pain as a 
muscle in his shoulder tightened.

"Here let me do that," Misty said as he felt her come up behind him. He
was about to move away and protest when he felt her soft hands touch him.
All at once memories of the past assailed him, days just like this one
where they bathed each other, and he just could not move.

She kneaded the soap softly into his shoulders and back and squeezed the
tight knots in his muscles and smoothed them to nothingness. Unknowingly
he sighed and leaned back against her as she worked her magic over him.
The magic she had not lost in over five years. The magic that made him
clay to be moulded by her hands. He closed his eyes and remembered ...


<><><>


It seemed all he could hear was the cheering of the crowds surrounding
the ring. The Pokemon League Stadium building was packed to the maximum
it could hold. Streamers and confetti showered all around him and banners
were opened hailing the new Pokemon League Champion.

"Yep, Misty!" Ash shouted as he turned around to his long-time companion
and friend who had front seat in the sidelines (although sometimes they
had seemed more like enemies). "You're now looking at a true-blue Pokemon
Master!" Exceedingly happy with himself, he turned his trusty old red cap
around backwards and struck a pose. "Not only that, but champion of the
Pokemon League!"

Pikachu, tired, but still conscious from the long drawn out battle jumped
up on his shoulder and let out a victory cry. He had been the one pokemon
Ash had left that would defeat Gary's Blastoise. It was no contest.
"Pika! Pika!"

Misty laughed and ran towards him before they engulfed each other in a
giant hug. Even Pikachu was squashed within the tight embrace. "I knew
you could do it, Ash!" she said with tears in her eyes. Ash swung her
around in his arms, which wasn't so hard now that he had grown a bit
during the years they travelled with one another. In fact he was now
taller than her for quite some time. 

As they hugged each other, Ash became aware of another feeling. The
feeling that this was all worthwhile because Misty was here. Had always 
been here, right by his side. That his whole journey to become a Master 
was second-best to meeting this sometimes strange, but cute, red-haired 
girl. He didn't know what he would have done without her. Ironically, 
perhaps wrecking her bike was the best thing he could have ever done.

Behind them, Gary sat down dejectedly on the ring's floor with his
poke-balls scattered all around him. He had not been champion for long
before Ash had won the title from him. His cheering squad was silent.

Brock who had come to watch Ash win the finals, looked on with a strange
expression on his face.


<><><>


"So what are you going to do now?" Misty asked hesitantly.

Ash nodded at Professor Oak. "Well, I've been talking to the Professor
here and it seems that the pokedex still hasn't recorded all of the
different types of pokemon ... so I'm gonna travel the world again and
fill this thing up to the full!"

"Yes, yes ...," Professor Oak agreed. "There are still many pokemon out
there waiting to be discovered!"

"And besides, you know me, Misty. I can't stick around in one place
trying to act all important-like to be the League Champion! So I've
decided to let Gary take my place."

"WHAT!" everyone who was listening shouted. Gary seemed to come back to
life as he stood up. "You mean it, Ash?" he asked, delightfully.

Even the Professor was shocked. "But I didn't think you were going to
give up your title! You could have both been League Champion and gone on 
this mission!"

"And you worked so hard for this moment! You never gave up!" Misty said.
"All this time, you've never given up." Her voice also held a sad note.
"Besides if you leave, I-I might see you as much anymore ..."

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 eyes watered. "You really mean it? Of course I'll go with you!"
She ran over to him and they hugged again, laughing and spinning each
other around. Everyone sighed tiredly. They all knew the couple were
inseparable and that no matter what Ash decided to do, Misty was no doubt
part of his future.

"And besides, you still owe me a bike!" Misty said.

"Aw, you still going on about that?" Ash said, rolling his light brown
eyes. "It was a crummy bike anyway! Broke after one fall!"

Misty's eyes flashed. "Excuse me? That bike was the most, most! I
assembled it myself!"

"Maybe that was why the spearows almost got us then!"

"Why you!"

Soon the hugging turned into a different sort of hugging. One that had
more to do with various wrestling manoeuvres than a show of affection.

Pikachu at their feet, sighed. "Pi-ka-chuuu."

Everyone shook their heads. "You can say that again," they echoed.

The only one who wasn't paying attention was Gary who was laughing as he 
Put on his League Campion badge and struck poses in the mirror.

However as Ash and Misty struggled and rolled along the ground, wrapped
in a tight embrace, they each heard the other say softly to the other, 
"I love you." Then they laughed and continued the wrestling.


<><><>


Ash's eyes abruptly snapped open and he leaped out of the water, turning
a somersault over to his clothes, drying his skin with dark energy as he
did so. He looked at his pile of clothes and boots and concentrated,
dissolving them to shadow, which then moved and crawled up his body
before he solidified them back into place. Then he summoned his black
cloak back over them.

"You shouldn't do that," he said dangerously, still not facing her. He
did not want to see her nakedness, he didn't know what he would do then.
Whatever, it would only have led to hurt in the end.

Her voice came softly to him along a passing breeze. "You were tense. And
it's not like we haven't done this before."

"And not likely to happen again either," he said. "I'll admit I'm your
slave for the meantime. But I will not also be your toy to play with as 
you wish, then abandon. I will not." And then he stalked off back to the
campsite where Pikachu was waiting and staying on guard. The
leaves and foliage crackled loudly underfoot.

Unseen, Misty wiped a tear from her eye and leaned over the stony bank of
the spring, covering her face with her arms. "I-It was your fault t-too."


<><><>


Later, around the campfire, they each ate silently. They had caught some
fish, thanks to Misty and had cooked it over the open fire. Only Pikachu
made a noise as he happily slurped on an open bottle of ketchup. The 
silence was almost oppressive. The only thing that Ash was feeling
grateful for, was that the fish were not MagiKarp, which were nothing but
scales and bone.

Again, the clouded sky obscured most of the moon's light so the fire was
the only thing keeping the darkness of the night at bay. Aside from the
hooting of the wild pidgey's, the outskirts of the Viridian forest was
also largely quiet, mirroring the situation in the camp.

Suddenly Misty let out a large scream and jumped on top of the log she
was sitting on. The plate of food she was holding flew high into the air.
Ash, startled almost to death by the scream, leapt up. 

"Misty? What the hell?"

Then the plate of food landed on his head with a wet splat. Pikachu saw
it and started laughing.

"Pika, pika, pika!"

Misty was still screaming when Ash, annoyed now, ripped the plate of food
off his head. "Misty ..." his eyes widened when he saw what she was going
to do. She had cupped both her hands in a fist and was about to launch a
huge ball of cold blue energy at a small caterpie at the foot of the log
she was standing on.

"A bug! I hate bugs!" Misty was shouting in panic. "Kill it, kill it,
kill it!"

However, before she could shoot the ball of ice at it, the caterpie
jumped up on the log and began to hug her leg. Misty's eyes rolled up in
her face and she fainted, toppling over backwards on the grassy ground, 
blue cloak billowing open, revealing long, bare slender legs underneath.

Ash tried not to look as he fished out one of Misty's poke-balls from her
backpack and threw it. The ball opened up over the caterpie's head and
enveloped it in a thin beam of red energy before swallowing it inside. 
However Ash was surprised when the ball opened again and it came out. 
The caterpie seemed to make a face at him as it did so and then leapt 
away into the bushes.

Pikachu continued to laugh at him as he scratched his head. "Some things
never change," he sighed as he looked over to the unconscious Misty. A
piece of fish fell of his head. He smiled a small smile. He really 
needed a reason to smile just now. He had lived with depression a long 
time, it seemed.


<><><>


It was almost evening of the next day, with the red light of the late 
afternoon sun low in the sky, when they spotted the smoke rising in the
distance. It could have only been coming from the small town that was 
built by the ruins of Pewter City.

Misty's mouth tightened as she saw it. "C'mon!"

They began to run through the remainder of the forest, the smell of
destruction carrying to them by the north wind and when they reached the
summit of the large hill overlooking the town they fell face-down on
their chests and observed the action.

There seemed to be some sort of battle going on down there among the
ruins and the town. Ash recognised the uniforms of League Trainers as
well as what could only be people of the Rebellion. Fireballs seemed to
be flying everywhere as the League Trainers were predominantly of the
fire-type. However, unfortunately for the other force, they seemed to be
more of the plant type and seemed to be taking quite a beating.

"That's Erika down there!" Misty whispered, pointing at an elegant
green-cloaked figure that was battling someone on horseback on the
outskirts of the ruins. It was a man dressed in a blood-red cloak. In his
hand he carried a sword that looked to be made purely of fire. The green
cloaked figure dived as the man almost ran her down with his horse,
narrowly missing her. Then rolling around to her feet, she shot what
looked like spores out of her hands to retaliate. But a large fiery aura
surrounded the man and his horse, burning the spores to ashes. Ash saw
that the horse was not an ordinary horse, but a Rapidash, the fastest
pokemon in existence.

"We've got to help them," Misty whispered again.

"Is that an order, Mistress?" Ash said, already planning on how to
dispatch the force anyway.

"Well if you need to be ordered than consider it an order," she said
hotly.

"Okay then here's my plan. You go after the Fire Master battling Erika
since your element is strong against fire. Meanwhile I'll take out the
other Fire Trainers."

"So you get to come up with the plans? You're just lucky it makes sense
then. Alright, let's go," Misty said as she got up and pulled her hood
over her head to hide her long red hair. Then she whipped the cloak
around one arm and began to run to the western side of the town towards
the outskirts of the old Pewter City ruins where Erika and the Fire
Master were fighting.

Ash looked down at the small, black electric mouse as he got up and
lowered his own black hood. "Pikachu, you heard the plan. Let's go."

"Pika," Pikachu acknowledged as he leapt onto Ash's backpack. Then they
dashed off to the Eastern side of the town, low to the ground and black
cloak whipping behind in the wind. He ran down the hill on silent feet,
using the trees for cover, as he threw his senses out to locate all the
trainers on the hostile force. His lips tightened grimly. He was about to
do what he did best.


<><><>


"Bulbasaur!" the young girl with long black hair and dressed in a green
blouse and skirt shouted. "Leech seed!" At her feet, her small greenish
frog-like pokemon with a round plant on its back shot a hail of seeds at
her opponent.

"Arcanine!" the ratty-looking man dressed in red countered. "Fire Spin!"
The large, fire dog growled and began to weave fire at them. 

The girl screamed and dove down as the fire attack blew right through the
seeds and wrapped her bulbasaur in hot flames. The bulbasaur let out an
anguished death-cry then crumbled into black ashes.

"Bulbasaur!" the girl cried, tears streaming down her face as she knelt
in the dirt.

The Fire Trainer laughed as he put his hands on his hips. "Plant pokemon
are no match for the most powerful pokemon! Fire!" He tweaked his thin
black moustache. "Now Arcanine, bite her head off. We have other Plants
to fry!" He laughed again at his own joke.

The oversized red dog, growled and leaped. The girl screamed in fright.

Then a dark blur, cloaked in the coming evening's shadows seemed to shoot
out of nowhere and knock the Arcanine away. It yelped in pain as it
smashed, unconscious, into the side of a stone wall so hard it knocked 
chunks of rock everywhere.

The Fire Trainer screamed and fell backwards as a piece of stone shrapnel
shot into his eye splattering blood everywhere. He looked up to see a
menacing figure in a black cloak standing in front of the plant girl,
face hidden in the shadows of the hood, but eyes visible as they glowed
golden in the dark.

"A-A Master!" the ratty man screamed in fright when he spotted the cloak.
"H-Help!" With that last cry, he fell unconscious from blood loss.

Several unattached Fire Trainers came running towards his call and
surrounded them in a three-point circle.

"Another Master?" one of the newcomers said, a pretty woman with medium
length blonde hair and dressed in a red dress with a logo of the league
symbol wrapped in fire on her chest. Behind her stood a Charmeleon,
puffing out small clouds of smoke in anticipation of a battle. "But I
thought they only had one in their group, and a Plant Master at that!"

The black cloaked figure turned slightly to observe them.

"But I don't know of an element that corresponds to that colour," another
of the newcomers said puzzled. It was an older man also dressed in the
red uniform of the Fire division of the Pokemon League.

"Who cares," said the last of the other trainers to arrive. It was a tall
handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes. "I always wanted to fight a
true-blue Pokemon Master. Master's are highly over-rated in my opinion,"
he said winking at the woman Fire Trainer as he threw a poke-ball at his
feet. "Let's take him, Belle! Go Magmar!" 

The poke-ball expanded to form a large bipedal lizard-like fire pokemon
with a spiky back and horns of flame. It hissed. "Mag-mar!"

The black cloaked Master snapped his fingers and a little pokemon jumped
out from the pack strapped to his back. "Sorry about this, but I have to
finish you all quick," he said, his voice low and dangerous sounding.
"Pikachu, Dark Shock. Rapid Fire - now."

The arrogant Fire Trainer sneered, "That's not a Pikachu, you fool!
Pikachu's aren't black-arghhhh!!!" he gurgled and fell over as a thin
bolt of black lightning shot into his chest and through his heart.

The black 'pikachu' began to fire more bolts all around itself from its
tail.

The Magmar roared at the dispatching of its trainer and began to charge
them, but two dark shocks shot into its eyes, and its head exploded in a
hail of fire. The body walked around drunkenly for a few seconds before
it decided it was dead and fell over, its tail twitching before the fire
on its tip winked out.

"Dive!" Belle, the fire trainer shouted and leapt to the ground, but not
before a bolt hit the ground by her feet and she was flung back like a
rag-doll to land unconscious several metres away. Her Charmeleon was not
so fortunate as it was struck in the tail, which was blown clean off at
the base not even leaving a stump. It blinked a few times, shocked at the
loss of its tail before it toppled over and died.

The older trainer by that time had already run away. He had recalled some
old stories at the last minute about a so-called 'Shadow Master' and had 
decided it might be prudent to retreat.

"Okay Pikachu, that's enough. Let's go get the rest," Ash said. He looked
at the girl he had saved. She was looking at him with an almost
worshipful look on her face. Ack. Trouble there. "Girl," he said. "You
hide somewhere. You're defenceless here without a pokemon. Don't worry,
this will be quick." And with that bit of advice, he motioned Pikachu to
leap onto his shoulder and turned around with a whip of cloak before
dashing off in the direction the old man had run, which was towards the
centre of town.

The girl sighed. "I think I'm in love ..."


<><><>


Erika screamed as she narrowly dodged yet another charge by the Fire
Master on the Rapidash by diving behind the ruins of a destroyed
building. She breathed hard as she propped herself up by the back 
against the old stone wall. She noticed the lower hem of her green 
cloak was on fire so she looked at it and concentrated. The fire 
was extinguished and the hem rebuilt itself out of green energy so 
that it looked like it had never been burnt in the first place. 
Sighing, she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a hand and swept 
the black hair of her bangs back and adjusted the red hairband she 
wore on her head.

"Time to die Plant girl," Blaine's mocking voice drifted back to her
along the hot wind. "This is what you get for interfering in League
business. Your plants are no match for me and Rapidasher."

"BURN! BURN!" came a low growling. Erika tightened her cloak around
herself and shivered. Blaine was riding the Master Pokemon of fire.
She could not last long with her always on the defensive. She had to
counter-attack. But her favourite pokemon, Gloom had been taken out
earlier in the match and she didn't want to risk any of her pokemon
almost dying like Gloom had when he was caught in Rapidasher's Fire
Sprint attack. But she had no choice now.

"Venusaur, I choose you!" she shouted as she threw a pokeball at the
ground. The last evolution of Bulbasaur came out in a sparkle of red
light. "Solar Beam, now! Shoot through this rubble and get them on the
other side!"

The huge pokemon shouted, "SAUR!" and collected the last remaining light
of the day in the leaves on its back. The energy on its back glowed then
it fired a huge beam of light through the building she was using as
shelter. The stone and wood melted then vaporised as the intense laser
beam exploded through like a hot knife through butter.

Blaine was surprised by the attack, but the Rapidash took matters into
its own hands and leaped a dozen feet into the air, avoiding the beam.
The Fire Master spotted them from high above and smiled as he now had the
advantage. "A nice trick, Erika, but now it ends!" he shouted in triumph
as he swung his fiery sword. A huge tongue of flame shot downwards from
the tip.

Venusaur grunted and knocked Erika away before the flame hit. Erika
shouted in fright as the flame raked along her pokemon's back and set 
it's flower on fire.

"Blastoise! Water Gun!" a woman's voice shouted. Twin streams of water
shot on to the Venusaur's back putting the fire out. A second later a
huge turtle pokemon landed next to them with a blue cloaked figure riding
on its back.

Erika recognised that voice instantly. "Misty?"

"In a sec!" the Water Master said as she looked up. "Blastoise, 
Ice Beam! Blast them out of the sky!"

"BLAST! BLAST!" her pokemon acknowledged as it began to shoot streams of
cold ice from the huge cannons on its shell.

Blaine and the Rapidash were still in the air as they tried to dodge the
shots but they had lost some mobility and were hit by one cold shot. The
Rapidash neighed in pain as it crashed to the ground. Blaine was thrown
off, but he managed to turn a somersault, red cloak billowing out, and
landed safely on his feet. The Rapidash, however, was not as fortunate 
and crash landed in the nearby ruins of another building, creating a 
small explosion.

"Blastoise, return!" Misty shouted and withdrew her pokemon back into its
ball which she snapped back on to her belt.

"Mistaria," Blaine stated as he smoothed his red cloak around his body,
settling it. "You should not have interfered. Now I'll have to kill you
too and you know I always liked you." He bent his legs and lifted his
fire sword to the ready.

Misty back-flipped off the back of her Blastoise and landed on her feet
beside Erika. She assumed a ready position lowering her centre of
gravity.
"Well *you* have always annoyed me. It's time to act your age, Blaine,
and retire at a home."

"Besides, men like you, ugly on the inside as well as the outside, don't
deserve to live," Erika added.

"We shall see who is the one to 'retire'," Blaine countered as he lifted
his sword horizontally in front of him. "Two against one? I'll just have
to even the odds." From the hilt of his fire sword, another blade of
flame emerged forming a double-bladed sword. "Enough talk, let us see who
are the real Masters!" He charged.

Misty raised both of her arms and formed short ice blades around each
hand, while Erika opened her palms and a long, ebony staff of wood
materialised along them.

And so the fight began.


<><><>


Ash ran through the town with Pikachu riding on his shoulder. As they
spotted each Fire Trainer and their pokemon, he would point at them and
Pikachu would shoot a deadly bolt of shadow electricity. Each
accurate shot dispatched whatever it hit quickly and efficiently. Soon,
the League Trainers caught on to what was happening with their group
members dropping like flies and a general panic ensued. The battle with
the Plant Trainers was forgotten in favour of one thing. Escape with
their lives.

A short while later, the town was empty save for the Green clothed Rebel
Trainers and their pokemon. This was excepting the unconscious or dead
bodies of the League Trainers which had been left lying along the narrow
streets or wherever they had been struck down.

An earthquake seemed to rumble along the ground. Ash turned west and saw
Blue, red and green energy flare up into the sky. "Seems like they're
having fun," Ash said to Pikachu. "What say we join them?"

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu agreed.

After directing the Plant Trainers to look through the fallen bodies of
the League Trainers and tie up the ones who were still alive, Ash turned
and sprinted off towards the Pewter City ruins.


<><><>


Misty shouted in shock as Blaine managed to kick Erika to the ground but 
fortunately, only managed to slash her along the arm as she tried to roll 
away. Cursing, he lifted his arm and shot a fireball at her, which missed 
her head but knocked a large stone into her head, knocking her 
unconscious. Then just as he was about to land the killing blow on the 
helpless girl, Misty managed to catch her second wind and leaped over to 
slash the Fire Master along the back with one of her ice blades.

Blaine screamed and spun around with his double sword to re-engage her in
battle. "Naughty, naughty," he admonished her. "Didn't your mother ever
tell you it was rude to attack someone in the back?" he said,
interspacing his statements with several quick thrusts of his deadly fire
weapon. Misty parried them as best she could, and then she saw an
opening within his offence. That double sword of his was dangerous, and
had a lot of reach, but up close, the length of it made it slightly 
unwieldy for close-in fighting.

"Yeah, and she also told me it was rude to do *this*!" she said as she
quickly stepped within his guard, sacrificing a few shallow cuts on her
arms but managing to block most of the swords with her ice blades. As
soon as she was inside, she kicked him in the crotch as hard as she could
with one of her thick black boots and rolled backwards.

Blaine whimpered a pathetic squeak as he dropped his swords, the flames
winking out, and slowly sunk to his knees clutching his abused privates.
Misty finished him off with a powerful kick to the chin, snapping his
neck, and propelling him backwards in the air, flipping around crazily
before landing like a broken toy on top of a ruined stone wall. The Red
cloaked Fire Master's body seemed to sigh, before going up in flames and
exploding into black ashes.

"I guess I missed most of the action," an amused voice said. 

Misty turned around and saw Ash and Pikachu standing at the edges of the
ruins. She smiled. "I guess so," she agreed.

Suddenly the old ruins that the Rapidash had landed in earlier exploded
in a vertical column of flame which reached several feet into the sky.
When the fire dissipated, the huge Fire Horse stood within the shallow
crater it created out of the large broken debris of the old building it
had crashed into.

"BURN! BURN!" the Rapidash snorted as it clawed the ground with a sharp
hoof, getting ready to charge them. The horn on its head began to glow
red.

"I guess not," Misty said, disappointed. "Blastoise, let's finish this,"
she said as she again let out the huge turtle pokemon from its poke-ball 
with a flash of red light.

Ash looked at it and his eyes widened as he recognised it. "That wouldn't
be my old Squirtle and later, Wartortle, which I gave to you would it?"

Even the Blastoise had recognised him, even within the confines of the
black hooded cloak. "BLAS-TOISE!" it said happily.

"Of course it is," Misty said, exasperated. "But reunions can come later,
we have this Master Pokemon of Fire to deal with first!"

Ash looked at it boredly. "Oh. Right." He stared at it in the eyes.
"Sorry about this Rapidasher, old boy, but I'm going to have to finish
you off quick."

"BURN!" the fire horse snorted in rage. Ash got ready as it was about to
charge. Then suddenly, strangely, water seemed to rise up from the ground
all around it. The Rapidash neighed in absolute fright and was about to
jump out of the growing circle, but it was too late and the ring of water
sealed itself in a tight bubble trapping it inside.

Ash and Misty watched, enthralled as the water abruptly solidified in a
solid block of ice. The Master Pokemon of Fire inside seemed to implode
within itself, turning into soggy ashes. On the side of the ice cube, a
lump began to grow and form outwards. Soon a human sized hunk of ice
separated itself from the main bubble and seemed to form itself into
the shape of a woman.

The woman of ice began to walk towards them, warm colour beginning to 
Replace the translucency of the ice and soon a familiar looking, 
beautiful young woman with long black hair stood in front of them. She 
smiled, her brown eyes shining. "Remember me, Ash?" Her voice held a 
laughing tone.

"Duplica wasn't it?" Ash said. He looked at Misty, whose face had turned
a brilliant shade of red. "Before we continue, I think you better put 
some clothes on. You're upsetting Misty."

"Oh," Duplica let out a light laugh. She waved her hand over her body and
a small tight black dress formed over her skin that just barely covered 
the unmentionables. "That better?"

Ash turned. Misty's face was still as red as her hair. "Um, I can't
tell."

Misty swore something about insensitive men underneath her breath.


-- End Part 3


Yeah I admit I blatantly took the double fire-sword thingy from Star Wars
^-^. Damn, isn't Darth Maul just the coolest, coolest?

Oh, you'll notice the tone getting slightly lighter and more humourous.
The problem isn't internal inconsistency but actually the effect that Ash
and Misty have on each other as time goes along. Yeah, I did it on
purpose okay? Besides as my long time readers may know, I kinda like
comedy ^-^.

Anyways C&C much appreciated! If you like this story at all (or even
didn't like it ^-^), please give me comments publicly or privately so I
know there is still an audience for this story! Thanks.


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