The Crown of Evil

Chapter 1

The Arrival

"Mom! I'm home!!" Ash yelled as he slammed the door with all his might. Mimey appeared alongside his master, sweeping the floor as usual.

"Hello, Ash!" his mother beamed, "Hi Misty! Hi Tracy!" Then she noticed Slash. "Oh! You must be Ash's new friend! What's your name?"

"Slash," he answered, nodding, "Nice to meet you."

"My pleasure!" Ash's stomach grumbled and a bead of sweat dropped down the back of his head. "Oh," his mom noticed the sound (as well as everyone else), "You must be hungry. I'll get you something to eat."

"I have a craving for pizza," Misty suggested.

"Great!" Ash's mom answered, "That's what I was going to make. It'll be a while. Why don't you go say 'hi' to Professor Oak?"

"Okay!" Ash said as he marched out the door. After a short walk, they were at Professor Oak's lab.

"Oh, hello Ash!" Prof. Oak beamed, "Come in! I'm glad to see you!" The four of them walked in and Oak shut the door behind them. Then he noticed Slash, "Is that Slash?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Ash didn't know how to react, "How do you know him?"

"Well, I watched the Pokémon League channel," Oak answered matter-of-factly. "Slash was the champion. And I also noticed that you were second! Great job! You even beat Gary!!"

Ash swelled up with pride, "Yup! I knew I could all along! And I caught a Machoke on Victory Road too!"

"Actually, you never fought Gary." Slash muttered under his breath, and a bead of sweat ran down the back of Ash's head.

"Oh, you're right, Ash!" Oak turned to look out the window, "He's been here for a while now!" All five of them looked out the window to see Machoke wrestling Muk. "They've really become friends." Suddenly there was a knock on the door. It was Mimey.

"Mime! Mime!" he said as he led them home.

"Come back soon!" Oak waved goodbye to them.

When they got home, Ash's Mother looked worried. "Ash," she said, "Have you seen this?" She pointed to the TV. The news was on. A reporter was telling about strange things happening. There were unusual tornadoes, earthquakes, bugs, rats, and other hazards plaguing cities. Ash shook his head. Looking out a window, Misty noticed a huge black thing in the far distance. Luckily, it was moving away from Pallet. Misty sighed thankfully. "Well," Ash's mom somehow seemed calm again, "You probably want your lunch." She brought them in to have pizza. Ash, Misty, and Tracy gobbled down the pizza as if there had just been a seven-month famine. Slash stared, mouth touching the ground in disbelief. He didn't think anyone could eat like that. He slowly picked up a piece and started chewing on the end, still staring at the "three little pigs".

After the meal was over, a loud knock emitted from the door. Mimey rushed over to open it.

"Oh, Brock!" Ash's mom welcomed the familiar face, "It's so nice to see you!"

"Hi Ash!" Brock stepped in and waved towards the living room. Pikachu jumped up and dashed to Brock.

"Pika!!" Pikachu leaped into Brock's arms.

"Nice to see ya Pikachu!" Brock beamed. Then he glanced over at the living room. There were Ash, Misty, Tracy, and another figure he had never seen before. "Who are you?" he asked as he walked in.

"My name's Slash," he replied as he stood up, "Nice to meet ya!"

"Name's Brock," Brock held out his hand in greeting, "My pleasure!" Slash grasped his hand firmly and they shook.

"Hey, you guys?" Slash turned to his new friends, "I'm gonna go get my Pokémon at the Pokémon Center. Wanna come?"

"Sure!" they all agreed simultaneously.

"Then let's go!" I yelled as I started out the door. Ash grabbed his new bike he had gotten that Christmas, and Slash pulled out his skateboard. With Misty, Brock, and Tracy in tow, they started out towards Viridian City.

Many ollies and wheelies later, the group arrived at Viridian, the Pokémon Center nearby. They rushed to it and went inside. Slash scuttled over to the PC and took out a laptop from his pack. He plugged a cord into the two computers and started working on it. Ash, Misty, and Tracy watched the procedure and looked as each of Slash's Pokémon were displayed. Brock was too busy over with Nurse Joy to notice what was going on. Finally, each and every one of Slash's Pokeballs- master balls, Lucky balls, Ultra balls, and even some of the balls had unique patterns. One was silver on the top with a star-like shape, another closely resembled a Jigglypuff. After all of the Pokémon were sent to the PC, the four friends looked to find Brock. He was begging to help Nurse Joy, and cried as he was dragged away by misty after being hit upside the head and electrocuted by Pikachu. They walked out of the Pokémon Center to hear a strange low rumbling noise.

"What was that?!" Misty stepped back, looking around.

"A storm," Brock noticed a dark cloud on the horizon, "and it doesn't look good. We'd better hurry if we want to avoid it."

"Go, Articuno! Go Sickle!" two Lucky Balls flew into the air and two Articuno, one slightly darker, emerged. "Get on!!" Slash yelled urgently. The Articuno zoomed towards Pallet Town and landed in front of Prof. Oak's Lab. Slash jumped off and they flew over to Ash's house. The four ran quickly inside Ash's house. Slash ran into Oak's lab after returning his Articuno. Just as he ran in it started to rain. A crack of thunder echoed and the rain poured harder than ever.