This is my first attempt at making a fic, so here goes.
This is an experiment of sorts – If writing this turns out to be enjoyable to me, and the story itself turns out to be enjoyable for the readers, then I will continue to update the story. Otherwise, I won't.
Author's Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
"text" is spoken language
'text' is thoughts
"text" is translated pokéspeech
A New Era, Chapter 1
"What an amazing match this is turning out to be!" the announcer boomed. "Neither side is willing to give up. After that last double KO, both trainers have only one Pokémon remaining! Which Pokémon will they choose?"
Sixteen-year-old Ash Ketchum, one of the participants in the battle, was in the middle of a long championship fight. Thousands of people gathered to see him defend his title as the Pokémon Master. Thousands more came to see if the challenger could take that crown away.
"You ready, Pikachu?" Ash said to his loyal companion.
"Pika!" The mouse Pokémon rushed onto the field. "The champion, Ash has selected Pikachu as his final Pokémon." The announcer said.
"Very well then." Ash's opponent said. "Gengar, let's go!" The ghost Pokémon emerged from his ball. "Gengar!" "The challenger, Katherine, has selected Gengar as her final Pokémon."
The referee looked the two Pokémon over. "Begin!"
"Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" "Gengar. Shadow Ball. Now." Both attacks collided with each other with full force. The resulting explosion knocked both Pokémon back, but not to the ground.
"Now, Pikachu! Use Quick Attack!"
Katherine laughed. "Do you really think that attack is going to work? This is a ghost Pokémon, you know. Geez, and I thought the Pokémon Master would know such a thing."
"I know that." Ash snapped back, as Pikachu took off. "Now use your speed for an Iron Tail!"
Pikachu raced up to Gengar, twisting his body and slamming his now glowing tail onto Gengar. "Hmm…not bad." Katherine said with a smirk.
Meanwhile, in the stands, all of Ash's old friends had come to watch the fight. "This is an intense match," said Max. "More so than his usual fights."
"I'll say," said May.
"I'm so proud of him…-sniff-" Deliah sobbed.
"Hmmph." Gary mumbled. "Out of all the people who could have become the Pokémon Master, it just HAD to be Ashy-boy." It was quite obvious that despite their recent truce, Gary was still quite jealous of Ash.
"Go, Ash! He's our man! If he can't do it, no one can!"
"SHUT UP!" Gary screamed at his cheerleaders. Everyone else sweatdropped.
'Oh boy…here we go again…' Misty thought to herself.
Gengar was obviously fazed by the attack, but he still held his ground.
"Now, Gengar." Katherine said. "Confuse Ray." Gengar shot out a little yellow beam that raced towards Pikachu. He tried to dodge, but the beam hit him anyway. Pikachu, slightly disoriented, noticed that there were now three Gengar on the field at the same time. He charged at one without a word from Ash, and promptly rammed into the side of the battlefield.
"Oh no! Pikachu!" Ash cried out.
Katherine just laughed. "Now to make things even more interesting. Not to mention fun. Double Team!" At once, Gengar split into many images of himself, surrounding Pikachu. The poor mouse, who was already in a confused state, now became even more so.
"Shadow Ball again." All of the Gengars began to charge up a black ball of energy. Pikachu didn't know what to do, and neither did Ash. While trying to dodge all of the balls in his confused state, the ball sent by the real Gengar managed to hit Pikachu, sending him flying. He landed very close to Ash; the mouse was obviously in a great deal of pain.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted.
"Chu…" Pikachu muttered as he slowly got to his feet.
'Pikachu…please…I'm not going to give up…so that means you're not going to give up, either. Please, Pikachu…'
Then, Pikachu suddenly snapped out of his confusion, and looked as ready as ever.
"Now, Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"
"Piiikaaaachuuuuu!" Pikachu shouted as the lightning raced towards Gengar and his copies. Gengar and Katherine looked equally surprised as the attack hit the real Gengar. The ghost fell down, but got back up.
'How did Pikachu break out of his confusion so quickly?' Katherine thought to herself. 'He may be the One…'
Ash was about to tell Pikachu to use another Thunderbolt, but Katherine held up her hand, stopping him. "Wait."
"Huh?" Ash replied, a little confused.
"Pika?" said Pikachu, who was now trying to understand what was now happening between the two trainers.
Katherine seemed to be pondering something. "I understand that you are very close with Pikachu. Is this true?"
"Yes, of course." Ash said.
"And is it also true that your Pikachu does not like to be held inside Pokéballs?"
"Yes, but why are you asking these questions now?"
"Because," Katherine answered with a sneer, "It is time to test the bonds of your friendship."
"Uh…what do you mean?" Ash said.
"You'll see soon enough. Gengar! Curse!" As Gengar's eyes lit up, Pikachu began to cry out in pain.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried. He then winced. He knew that the only way that Curse could be removed from a Pokémon was either from fainting or being recalled back into its Pokéball. But he would never put Pikachu back in its ball – he had returned it to Professor Oak's lab long ago. In addition, since Pikachu was his last Pokémon, he could not cure Pikachu of the curse without losing or forfeiting the match. Ash glared angrily at Katherine. "How could you do this?" he said.
"I told you already. This is a test." Katherine simply replied.
"Here? In front of all these people?" Ash blurted. "Out of all the places you could have chosen to test me and Pikachu, why here?"
"I can't tell you that." Katherine smirked.
Ash growled. Then he looked down at Pikachu, He was still writhing in pain.
'Pikachu…please…don't go out now…I need you…'
"Pi….ka…chu?" Pikachu managed to mutter.
Ash nodded. A look of determination crossed his face. He turned his cap backwards. He did not take a glance off Katherine. "Show her no mercy."
Suddenly, Pikachu felt a newfound power wash over him – something that hadn't happened in a long time. Pikachu got up and was ready to go.
"Now, Pikachu! THUNDER!"
Katherine smiled quietly. 'I knew it.' Then, she yelled: "Gengar – hold your position!"
"Gen?" said Gengar, confused at his trainer's odd request.
"Don't question me, just do it."
"Gar…" Gengar sighed as it stood still, waiting for the lightning bolt to hit home. It did so, and Gengar went down for the count.
"Gengar is unable to battle! Pikachu wins! The winner of the match is the champion, Ash!"
The crowd cheered.
Ash was about to do his victory dance – the same one he always did – but he stopped. Pikachu was lying down on the battlefield.
Katherine smiled. 'Of course. He is the One.' She reached into her pocket and grabbed a crystal. She began to talk into it: "Master, I have found him."
"Wow." said all of Ash's friends. They were shocked at what had just happened on the field.
"I can't believe what I just saw!" Max said.
"You say that every time Ash wins in a battle, Max." May said.
"I know, sis – it's just that I still can't get used to seeing how Ash manages to pull off victory after victory like that!"
"You have a point there, little brother."
"Hey! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not so little anymore! In fact, in another year, I will be bigger than you."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Will you two stop talking?" Brock said. "Now, let me try and figure out what happened here. Normally, Curse should have weakened Pikachu over time, making it harder and harder for said him battle effectively. However, despite this, Pikachu managed to unleash that devastating Thunder attack. So that means either Ash somehow managed to remove the curse without putting Pikachu back into its Pokéball, or…"
Brock then noticed Pikachu lying on the dirt, motionless.
'…or maybe it's still there…'
"Or...what? What do you mean, Brock?" Prof. Oak asked.
"Look at Pikachu, Professor. Do you see a marking on Pikachu somewhere that suggests that he might still have the curse?"
"Let me see." Oak took out a pair of binoculars. "Hmm… I don't see anyth- wait. I think see a skull-shaped mark on his neck."
"That means the curse is still afflicting Pikachu. That's disconcerting. Also, why did Katherine tell her Gengar to hold its position when that Thunder was coming? It doesn't make sense…"
As if right on cue, a windstorm started blowing into the stadium.
Ash could barely keep himself upright in the ferocious gusts. He held on to Pikachu so that the mouse would not be blown away. Suddenly, Ash could make out a couple of pink lights in front of him. The lights converged into each other until there was a giant pink blob of light directly in front of him. When the blob reached its full size, the wind stopped.
'Hello, Ash.' said a voice in Ash's mind.
'What the?' Ash thought. 'Who's speaking to me?'
'Who else would it be?' The voice said again.
Ash couldn't believe it. 'I must be dreaming. I'm imagining that this pink blob, which happens to know my name, is talking to me. And through my mind, no less.'
'You aren't dreaming. It is talking to you. And through your mind, too.'
Naturally, Ash got freaked out. "What's going on?"
'This was a test,' the voice said, 'to see if you are really the One. And you passed.'
A small pink bolt of energy suddenly passed from the blob to Pikachu. The skull mark disappeared.
'Wait a minute…The One? But I'm already the Chosen One!'
'You are still the Chosen One, no doubt about that. That, however, is a different legend. You are also the One, destined to lead us to a new era – a better world for all Pokémon.'
Pikachu woke up. Ash, temporarily forgetting about the pink blob, embraced the small yellow mouse.
"Pikapi…" said Pikachu.
"I'm so happy that you're alright, Pikachu."
"Chu…" Pikachu then noticed the pink blob directly in front of both of them. "Chu pika?"
"What did you say, Pikachu?" He then looked up and saw the blob. "Oh yea…"
'You done?' The voice said, with a bit of impatience in its "tone."
Ash nodded, and then pondered something. 'Wait…you say that I'm involved with yet another legend?' Ash slowly muttered to himself so the blob wouldn't "hear": "Just how many legends am I involved with now? I've lost count…"
'Yes.'
'Why should I trust you?'
'You do not have a choice in the matter. And it is time.'
'Time? Time for what? What do you mean? Explai-'
Before Ash could finish his sentence, another pink energy beam, larger than the first, shot out from the blob and struck Ash. "Wait! What are you doing?" Ash yelled. The voice said nothing more, and the pink blob disappeared. The force of the beam knocked Ash to the ground. Ash then felt something strange happening to him. His body started to emit a white aura.
"Pikapi!?" Pikachu said, with concern in his voice. "Pika pika pichu?"
"I don't know what's happening to me, Pikachu."
Ash then screamed out in pain. His entire body then turned white, just as if a Pokémon was about to evolve. Then Ash's silhouette started to shrink. Pikachu watched in horror on what was happening to his master. The silhouette now began to change in shape as well. Despite feeling intense pain before the changes occurred, Ash felt nothing as he noticed himself actually changing. Soon after, the changing ceased, and the white glow dissipated. Ash, clearly disoriented, looked as his surroundings. Pikachu, who was now just as tall as Ash, stood right in front of his master, obviously in a state of shock. "Pikachu?" Ash said. "H-How did you get so big?"
"Uh, Ash, you're a…" Pikachu started to say.
"Huh? How can I understand you, Pikachu?" Ash's eyes slowly widened as he realized what was going on. "Oh no…" He looked around at his body. His arms were short, stubby and yellow. He was covered with yellow fur. His hat was still on his head, but he also felt long, pointy ears right next to it. He looked back and saw a lightning-bolt shaped tail coming out of his rear end. He realized that he had turned into a Pikachu again.
But this time, all of people in the stadium had witnessed his transformation.