Chapter 1:
Beyond The Borders
Jenny trudged through the jungle with her small group of friends. Dawn, as usual, just complained with May, Misty was grumbling, wishing her bike hadn't been destroyed, and Brock dragged his feet wearily. Jenny sighed, ducking under a branch. The Pokémon League had sent her and some of his "friends" to find him. He had been banished, and as soon as he was gone, Team Rocket had stood up and taken responsibility, laughing at how the League had sent away thier Ace. Then, Team Rocket sprang up all over the place. People were panicking, and doors and windows were locked at night.
They set up camp on the edge of the jungle and a desert. The faint glow of a town just over the horizon raised morale. Maybe they would find him in this town. They slept well, due to Brock's exquisite cooking and the promise of a town. But, as they would find, there would be no rest for the wicked. And with the way they treated him, they certainly were wicked.
~noOon~
They strode over the horizon, and looked at the town. It was really more of a small city, but the group was unfazed. They found the garrison, and walked into the blessedly cool building. "Name and business please." Said a nasaly voice from a woman sitting behind her desk. Jenny stepped forward.
"We are pokémon trainers looking for an associate." The woman looked down her nose at them.
"Names please, and then I will search for your friend." The small band passed on thier names, and then Jenny spoke again.
"Our associate's name was... Is Ash Ketchum." The woman typed furiously at her computer for half an hour, bouncing request after request through database after database.
"Ah here is a police report from four years ago." The group frowned. They would never have expected Ash to be on the receiving end of a police report. "Here, I'm reading directly from the document sweeties." The woman cleared her throat. "'The fire on thirty ninth has claimed only one life. One Ash Ketchum is the only person who has not yet resubmitted his citizenship form, however, there was no body.'" The group sat, thunderstruck at the news. Not only had they just sacrificed almost three years of thier lives, but Ash was dead even before they started their search. May, Dawn, and Misty all wept, and Paul, Gary and Drew tried to comfort them. Jenny sat on one of the plush chairs and pulled out her cellphone to alert everyone of the result of thier search.
~noOon~
"Oh Ashy-Boy! We got a hit from the garrison!" A black-haired girl yelled. She was rather short, standing at five foot six, with high cheekbones, a cheeky smile, and waist-length hair that was currently braided. She was very tan, and was wearing leather body armor, and a coat that went down to her ankles. There were multiple belts crossing over her body, and many had multiple pouches.(think Assassin's Creed). Also strapped on to her belts were small red and white spheres. From the other side of the dark room, the door opened. In stepped a tall man, the same age, 18, as the girl. He too had black hair, only his was unruly and stuck up in spikes in all directions. He was six foot three, and wore a similar coat with similar spheres. He walked over to the monitors groggily, rubbing his eyes. The girl made a sarcastic "aw" noise. "Did I wake the big baby up, fwom his power nap? Aww..." Ash chuckled and shoved her playfully. She rolled across the room in her chair, spinning slightly. She wheeled herself back over, and hacked the audio and visual to the security cameras. Ash watched over her shoulder. When the video cut through, Ash was shocked at who it was. It was most of his friends. Max was missing, as were Iris, Cilan, Serena, Brock, Clemmont and Bonnie, but for the most part they were all there. They were all sorrowful and crying, probably because they found out he was "dead." He looked at the girl. "Well, Nefer, it appears they finally found me..." On the monitor, he had distinctly heard the word "tournament." Ash pointed at the display. "Turn that up..." Nefer complied.
"...win this thing for Ash!" Was heard through the phone, which was on a table, on speakerphone. May sniffed and spoke.
"We know you will." Ash turned off the computer. He walked over to a Matisse, and punched in a small combination on the side of the frame. The Matisse swung away, replaced by cases of belts with pokéballs. Ash scanned his thumbprint, and swung the case open, hanging his belt up. A sign said Rookie. He pressed a button, and the cases rotated. Nefer stood up and walked over.
"So, which team are you using." Ash chuckled darkly.
"I'm going to give you a hint. I need your left thumb. Nefer paled.
"Come on Ash. Even they don't deserve that. You remember the last person you fought with them?" Ash looked indignant.
"Hey, he ended up okay! Eventually..." Ash muttered the last word, and Nefer sighed. Finally, a case came into view. The pokéballs on this belt were pure black, except for the release button in the center. There were two keypads, and two thumb scanners. He put his code in, and scanned his thumb. Nefer did the same, and the case swung opened with a hiss. Each person grabbed their belts, and Ash spoke again. "I want to use this team because after I'm done with my opponents, they'll know what it's like to crawl through hell." Nefer pouted.
"Without them, you never would've met me!" Ash laughed and kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, that's the worst part." Nefer laughed.
"That's not what you said last night! I seem to recall some 'Oh Arceus's,' and some 'I love you's!'" Ash chuckled.
"Well at least I could talk! All you did was scream and gasp." Nefer blushed deep red. They continued bantering all the way out of the room. The Matisse swung shut like a door, concealing the case, with the label Armageddon.
~noOon~
One half week later:
"...and that's how I'm gonna win this thing!" A green-haired boy said, as they walked into the Indigo Plateau pokécentre. A brown haired girl tugged on her hair, exasperated.
"I don't care Max! I am just here to support you, not deal with you!" They heard a laugh, and they whirled. There, on a couch, was a tanned, squinty-eyes man.
"Brock!" They both screamed in unison.
"Hey guys! What's up? Did you find Ash?" May's face did a complete one-eighty. The smile turned into a frown, and her cheery eyes filled with tears. Brock hugged her lightly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize. Where is he?" May burst out crying.
"He... He's... He's dead." She wept. Brock stared open mouthed.
"No... No way. I don't believe you." May sighed. She would let Brock live in denial for now.
"Ash Kech-". The half finished shout was cut off by the hiss of steel and frantic whispering. The group whipped around towards the desk. There were three figures. One was Nurse Joy, with two others. They were wearing ankle length coats with spiked steel boots, and multiple belts crossed their body. On all of the belts were a total of about ten pokéballs. Six of said balls were black, and Max grinned. He then noticed the half drawn sword strapped on his back, and the smile evaporated. The second hooded figure, not nearly as tall, was standing between the two, one hand over Nurse Joy's mouth and the other was pressed against the first's chest. Brock sprang up, furious, but May jumped in front of him.
"Brock!" May hissed. "That guy has a sword! That's completely different than pokémon!" Brock pushed past her, but the figures stepped back, and Brock calmed.
"Oh, sorry Mr. Nightmare." The tall figure nodded once, and turned, sheathing his sword. The shorter muttered an apology, and raced off after the taller. Max jumped in front of the figures.
"I challenge you to a pokémon battle." The figure ignored him, pushing right past him, knocking Max onto his butt and his glasses askew. May sprang up.
"Hey you bastard! Who the hell do you think you are!?" The man kept walking. Brock joined in the verbal assault.
"What's wrong? Are you scared of loosing to a kid?" The man stopped. His voice was gruff, cold and dismissive. It was also oddly familiar.
"I don't want that kid to go through a crushing loss right before a tournament. You will need all the morale you can muster." The group snorted, and Max threw his head back in laughter. The man turned, and the group's laughter fell out. "Tell you what kid. I will battle you." Max let out an inward cheer. "Under a few conditions." Max grinned.
"Anytime, anyplace!" The man laughed.
"I remember a kid like you. About the same age then too. Anyway! Here are the special rules: you have to use all six pokémon." Max nodded. "You can sub out at any time." Max nodded again. "And lastly, I will fight the battle myself." Max started to nod, then looked confused.
"Wait, what?" The man chuckled.
"You heard me." Max grinned and almost laughed.
"Alright! But don't use any of those swords you have! I don't want my pokémon getting too hurt!" The man muttered something. "Wanna say that to my face?" The man laughed and walked back outside. Max turned around. May was positively beaming at him.
"Maxy, you are going to destroy that guy!" Max whooped and started walking towards the door. Brock was lost in thought.
Maybe... Just maybe...
~noOon~
"This is a six on one special battle between Max Maple of Petalburg and a mystery trainer I met inside." Max spoke up.
"Hey buddy, put the swords and stuff down!" The man muttered something about weaponry, and walked over to the other figure. He unstrapped the two swords and daggers that Max had seen, but kept unstrapping more and more. Towards the end, the man actually reached between his molars and cheeks and brought out two sharp metal rods. Max and May gaped.
"How many weapons does this guy have?" They said together.
"Hey guys! What's up?" Came a voice. The pair and Brock whirled around. There was Dawn, followed by Paul, glaring as usual. Dawn and May hugged. "May, it's great to see you! How have you been? I know I just saw you but still, something must have happened!" May nodded.
"That guy challenged Max to a battle." May pointed at the hooded man, who was still unstrapping sheathe after sheathe. Dawn wrinkled her nose.
"Why is he taking off all that gear?" May laughed.
"Because, get this, he says he can beat Max's pokémon himself!" Dawn's moth opened, and she laughed.
"He must be some idiot!" The man finished unstrapping his weapons and turned to look at May, Max, Dawn and Paul.
"For your information, he is an incredible strategist and is also very perceptive!" The shorter of the two figures yelled, disconcerting the group.
"Okay! All of my weapons and pokémon are with my acquaintance! Let's go!" Max grinned.
"Go Gallade!" Max yelled. Gallade appeared on the field in a flash. He looked across for an opponent, and only saw a man. He radiated power, and Gallade turned back to Max.
(A/N: I will translate Pokéspeech, but unless specifically stated, no one except other pokémon, Ash and Nefer can understand.)
"Max, I don't know whoyou're fighting, but let me just say... YOU ARE AN IDIOT!" The man laughed.
"I agree Gallade!" The man shouted. Gallade turned, confused.
"You... You can understand me when I'm not talking psychically?" The man laughed. Max was confused.
"Gallade, Psycho Cut!" Gallade psychically apologized to the strange man, then his arm blades glowed purple, and he rushed forward. The man didn't move, and Max almost laughed. This guy was an idiot. As the blade swung down, the man started to spin. He ducked, spinning and kicking his foot out, and the purple blade passed over his head. The sole of his steel boot made a connection with the side of Gallade's head. Shockwaves rippled away from the impact, and Gallade crumpled without a sound. Everyone looked like Magicarp out of water, gaping. The man and his partner chuckled.
"Next." Was all he said. Max grumbled something about luck.
"Go, Mightyena!"
~noOon~
Max fell to his knees. Five pokémon knocked out in one hit each within one minute each match. Max looked up, fire in his eyes.
"I didn't want to have to do this, but here's my best pokémon. It used to belong to one of the best trainers I ever knew. Go, Pikachu!" The man was awestruck. The Pikachu was his Pikachu. Its cheeks sparked.
"I'm gonna shock you into next Tuesday!" The man laughed with his partner.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu screamed his name, sending a huge arc of electricity towards his opponent. An enormous dust cloud of dust and smoke erupted from where the bolt struck. Max pumped his fist. May grabbed his shoulder.
"Max! That guy might not have survived a full power Thunderbo-". May stopped short, and Max swiveled his attention back to the field. As the smoke cleared, a figure strode through. It was the man. He walked over to Pikachu, and kicked him. Pikachu flew through the air, rolling to a stop in front of Max, knocked out. The man snorted with laughter.
"Weak." The man turned, restrapped all his gear, and walked off into the woods. Max scooped up Pikachu, and ran into the pokécentre.
~noOon~
"Don't you think you layed it on a little thick there, Ash?" Nefer asked. Ash laughed.
"You know the answer. For three years I wallowed, and then for two years after that, I suffered through you!" Nefer laughed.
"Well Mr. CEO of Nightmare Industries, I didn't know you didn't like me. Maybe I'll just leave." She turned, as if to leave, but Ash wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Please don't go." Ash whispered, kissing her cheek.
"That's what I thought. Now, let's train. It's been a while since our Armageddon teams fought." Ash chuckled, arms still wrapped around Nefer's waist.
"How about a little one on one pokémon battle, and then a little one on one ourselves?" Nefer blushed, giggling.
"Sounds good to me."
~noOon~
So, ladies and gentlemen, there's the first chapter of Nightmare, Tournament. I hope you liked reading it, but if not leave a cheery "You suck" and then stop reading. This is Petrous, signing out.