Hello, everyone. Welcome to my eleventh fanfiction: 'The Revenge of Ashton Ketchum-Oak'. This fiction is for a challenge ring, set up by awesomeness-rocks. In this challenge, I need to incorporate the following details into my story line;
1. Ash has been training under Oak since he was 5-7 years old
2. Ash is really smart
3. While Ash was training under Oak he catch/befriends Pikachu, Riolu, and 1 other Pokémon
4. Unusual pairing
5. Ash catches Lugia and 1 or two more legendary Pokémon
6. Ash can use aura
7. Ash with cannon and non-cannon Pokemon
8. Ash who places higher in the League tournaments
I hope you all enjoy the story.
Disclaimer:I don't own anything featured in the official Pokémon franchise.
The Attack
It was a calm midnight in Pallet Town. The seas of Route 21 to the south were lapping, gently, against the southern shores of the town. The wind blew calmly through the trees, rustling their leaves like a soft baby rattle. But, there was a dark presence looming in the streets of Pallet Town.
A man in a matt black suit stalked the town's streets, with a mind-set Hell-bent on his destination. Behind him were four teenagers. Two boys, aged 15 and 16. And two girls, aged 14 and 15. All of whom were dressed in black uniforms, sporting a red R in the middle of their shirts.
The 16 year old lad had purple-green eyes that only sparkled when he had dark thoughts, and green hair that was so short, it barely covered his forehead, making him look like he'd had it shaved by force. He held a cigarette in each hand, taking a draw from each one in turn every 10 seconds or less. The 15 year old girl next to him had purple eyes, and blonde hair tied up in twin pigtails. On her ears, she wore two pink triangular earrings. The 15 year old boy had lavender coloured hair that formed an upside down V shape in his fringe. In his hand, he held a single black rose. And the 14 year old girl had long, sweeping pink hair, which curled into a crescent moon shape. On her ears, she wore two green, spherical, earrings.
The sinister group marched down the street, eyes glued to the horizon of the meadows beyond. There, standing alone on the side of a footpath, stood a house. The house. The target house. It was a quaint little house. Nice and modest. A small, white, two bedroom house with a red roof. As they drew near, the evil smirk on the leader's face grew ever wider. When they reached the pristine white fence that surrounded the house, and its beautifully trimmed garden, the suited man turned to the youths.
"OK, you four. This is your first official assignment. You know your orders. No survivors."
"Aye, aye sir." The four teens saluted.
Inside the house:
A young boy lay fast asleep in his room. Along his bedroom walls were posters of Pokémon battles. In one poster, a Nidorino was hurling himself towards a smirking Gengar. In another, was a picture of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle. The room was littered with Pokémon memorabilia and official Pokémon League merchandise. The raven haired 5 year old lay peacefully in his Pikachu duvet cover. But the sound of, what sounded suspiciously like, a pokéball being opened caused the toddler to stir. As he opened his curious eyes, he heard a shout from outside his bedroom window.
"Growlithe! Use Flamethrower!" Came a raspy, male voice. A blast of fire was heard, followed swiftly by the shattering of glass, the roar of igniting timber, the smell of singed flesh… and the scream of a woman.
"Mummy?" The little boy jolted from his mattress, eyes the size of dinner plates with horror. He leapt from his bed, and struggled into his favourite blue jacket, jeans and his official Pokémon League hat, which was much too big for him at the moment. He picked up a white half of an old, slightly rusty, pokéball, and ran out into the hallway. As he was about to turn right, to his mother's bedroom, he was stopped by the intense heat of the raging inferno that had erupted from the doorway. Lying just an inch away in front of the child… was his mother.
"Mu-mummy?" The boy quivered, tears starting to push at his retina. The woman stirred, slightly. Her pink, silk dressing gown was singed here and there, and her long, flowing brown hair – which her son adored – was now burnt to half black. Her – once sparkling – tawny brown eyes, which her child had inherited, were now dull, and limp. Her breaths were raggedy, and she coughed after every 3 breathes of the smoky soot that tarnished the air.
"Ash." She croaked. "Ash, you need… you need to get out."
"No. Mummy, I won't leave you."
"You have to, Ash. I'm sorry, but I don't think mummy's going to make it."
"Mummy, please. Don't." The young boy shouted, defiantly. He was not going to hear this. He took his mother's hands, and aided her to kneel, sitting on the backs of her calves.
"Ashy. You need to go. This isn't an accident. Someone's trying to get rid of us." The weakened woman squeezed the words from her throat, choking on a bit of smoke. "I can't let you, not my only child, be hurt by whoever's doing this."
"But, mummy, I don't wanna lose you. Daddy's gone missing, and I want to keep you safe." The five year old whined. His mother was never so defeatist. She'd been through some horrific heartache in her time, but she never lost faith. When she was told that Ash's father was missing in action, she put on a brave face, and kept herself fighting, for the sake of her son. Why now? Why be so negative now? What changed? What does she know? Although the glimmer in her eyes was now completely gone there was still a look about them that said that she knew full well what was going on.
"Son…" She picked her child up, with what little strength she had left, and sat him on her lap, rocking him back and forth softly. "Please. You must go. Run. And keep on running, don't look back. Just run as far away from this house as you can." She placed the, now weeping, child on the hallway floor, and kissed him gently on the forehead. "I love you, Ashy."
"I… I love you… too… mummy." Her child sobbed, sniffing each time he took a breath between sobs.
"And remember." His mother whispered. "You'll always be my little Ashy." And with that, she sank to the floor, head resting on the backs of her hands. Her eyes rolled closed for, what was going to be, the last time.
"Mummy?" The child whimpered. "Mummy? Mummy…? Mummy…? Mummy…?" Was all he could say. He was too grief-stricken to say anything else. He was stuck on repeat. A broken record to match his broken heart, as his mother lay slain before him. He wept, and sobbed, until his eyes ran dry from the heat in the hall. Suddenly, a wooden support beam came crashing down from the ceiling, blazing in front of the boy's eyes. The child gave a scream, and ran for the stairway, leaping down three stairs at a time. The second his little feet touched the floor of the hallway, and the front door was in sight, the child bolted for his only escape route. But, as he was passing the living room, he was grabbed by the collar of his top. He was hoisted into the air, to the sound of evil cackling, coming from fairly youthful mouths.
"Look-y what I found!" Came a gruff, raspy voice, shouting in triumph – as if Ash was some kind of trophy. His captor was a 16 year old, Ash guessed, and stank of cigarettes. A girl with blonde hair stalked over, and picked the child up from the boy's grasp, clinging on to the front of his top. She snarled, evilly, at the whimpering child she held in her fist.
"Boss said no survivors." She crowed, menacingly. As quick as a towel dropping, Ash found himself on the floor, with a rough pain in his right arm. The two teens then proceeded to kick the helpless infant. They kicked him in the head, the chest, and the stomach. The boy even gave a single kick between the crying child's legs. After seconds, which felt more like hours, of this torture, the teens left the sobbing child alone, choking out blood with cuts and bruises all over his small, fragile, frame.
Ash's eyes managed to focus, just a little tiny bit, to make out the shape of a young teenage girl younger than the two who'd just beaten him black and blue, with pink hair gazing down at him. He was going to ask her for help… until he noticed she was wearing the same clothes as the others. Beside the girl was a purple snake Pokémon… Ekans, was it? Ash hadn't seen a Pokémon like that in the big league battles, but he did see one or two on some Australian animal documentary. Beyond the girl, there stood a dark figure in a suit at the front doorway, smirking wickedly, which made Ash's blood run cold.
"Jessie. Finish that kid. We can't risk him living." He snarled, venomously.
"Yes, boss." The girl, who Ash took to be this 'Jessie' person, responded. She turned to face the injured child, and closed her eyes, as if not wanting to see what was going to happen. "Ekans. Bite him. Inject him with your venom." She ordered, deadpanned. Obediently, the snake Pokémon hissed its eagerness, as it lunged for the toddler, and embedded its razor-sharp fangs into the boy's left arm. The child screamed in agony, and pulled away, hugging his now throbbing arm, sobbing as if he'd just been thrown on a bed of nails. "Nothing personal, kid." Jessie explained, as the other teens in the house followed the suited figure out. "Just payback at your dad, for what he did to Team Rocket." A boy with lavender hair popped his head back into the house.
"Jess. We're leaving now." He called. His voice was a surprise. It was suave. Smooth. It would've, almost, been comforting now to Ash, if it weren't for the fact that he knew this boy was evil, like the rest.
"Coming, James." Jessie replied, and she followed him out of the house. Once the door was shut, the raspy voice of the boy who kicked Ash yelled.
"Growlithe! One more Flamethrower!" And there was a blaze of burning red, as the living room window was shattered by a stream of flame, and the fabric of the curtains ignited, spreading fire into the room in seconds.
Now, Ash was laying on the carpet of the living room, curled up in the foetal position, sobbing silently, too weak to make any sound. His little eyes opened, blindly, his vision black as night. 'Why?' He thought to himself. 'Why us? What did we do?' Then, he remembered Jessie's words. 'What did daddy do?' And his world turned black around him.
So there's the first chapter. All future chapters will be posted weekly on Sundays (by GMT time), starting with chapter two going up tomorrow on the 22nd of January. See you then.
