Chapter 2: One Man's Loss is another Man's Gain
Setting: University Four Years Earlier
"Give me your lunch money Ketchum!" "But I gave you all I had last week!" Ash replied. The brute picked Ash off the ground and pinned him against the wall "I know you got some cash on you now give it!" Ash shut his eyes as the brute got ready to punch Ash. "Hey Kyle why don't you stop picking on the kid and just let him be?" Kyle looked back dropping Ash. "What do you want Red?" Red walked over to the two of them "Just leave him alone he's with me." Red replied helping Ash off the ground. "Really Red you're friends with this loser?" "He isn't a total loser Kyle. In fact me and…" "Ash." "Me and Ash are a better team than any of your friends." Red bragged. "Oh yeah is that a challenge?" Kyle asked "How about we settle this the old fashion way?" Red advised "A round in the target pit?" "The team to finish the fastest wins." "What do I get if I win?" Kyle asked. "If your team wins then we'll both give you double what you've been taking from Ash here." Ash's eyes widen "Wait what!" Ash shouted. Kyle smiled at the idea "But if we win you have to give us money every week until our senior graduation." "Deal." Red and Kyle shook hands on the agreement "You're so in for it Ketchum." Kyle replied eyeing Ash. Ash was frozen at the agreement the two made "So Ash I suggest we get going if we want to win this bet." Ash stared at Red "Are you insane!" Ash screamed shaking Red back and forth. "Calm yourself we'll win I promise, and by the way my name's Red." He stuck his arm out greeting Ash.
Ash slowly shook his hand "Ash. Ash Ketchum." "Well nice to meet you Ash I haven't seen you around before, but since you're getting bullied by Kyle I'm guessing you're a freshman just like me." "Do you get bullied by him too?" Ash asked. "Nope." "Then why did you come to help me." Red patted Ash on the back "Ash first rule of being my friend is do not question my motives." Ash tried to figure out what Red meant by that until Red started dragging Ash to the pit.
Setting: Ash's room
Ash yawned and stretched his arms out trying to get himself out of bed. Ash noticed that Misty and Pikachu both had left already "Thanks for waking me up." He whispered. Ash got dressed, washed his face, and grabbed his gun before walking out. When Ash stepped out the entire base grounds were empty "Slackers." Ash then headed to the sleeping quarters to wake everyone up, but when he entered everyone was gone. "Where is everyone?" He continued searching; he went through the practice pit, the dining hall, even the armory, but no luck. "Come on guys this isn't funny." When he reentered the main room it had been destroyed. Ash was in shock "How'd? I was just here." There was a loud scream coming from outside the base. He rushed out into the sewers and the screams became louder "That sounds like Misty!" The screams led Ash to the ladder that leads from the sewers to the abandon town above their base "Misty hang on!" Ash shouted climbing up the ladder. When he pushed the manhole off he climbed out of the sewers and into the streets of the old town.
"Put your hands where I can see them!" Ash slowly looked back and saw the whole Kanto army aiming their weapons at him. A bright spot light was shinned on Ash and a tall older man stood in front casting his shadow over him "Well well we finally found you." Ash looked at his surroundings "There's no point in running we have you surrounded." The man walked closer to Ash "It's a real honor to finally know the identity of the resistance leader." "To bad I can't say the same." Ash replied. "Now be a good boy and surrender yourself." "I'll never surrender to the likes of you." "I think you may want to reconsider." The man snapped his fingers and some of the soldiers brought out a small row of people wearing bags over their heads. He snapped his fingers again they removed the bags off their heads revealing Misty, Brock, Gary, Oak, and Red. Their hands and feet were tied so there was no way for them to get away "I'm sure you've guys had met." The man smiled. Ash didn't reply, but instead just watched the man's action as he pulled out a gun. "Six bullets five friends you do the math and whenever you do you can guess who get's the last bullet." The man walked over to Oak and aimed the gun to his head. "Now are you going to surrender?" Ash stared at the man "Don't do it Ash!" Oak shouted. Gary's eyes widen "But gramps!" Oak looked at Gary with sad eyes "Ash you need to find a way out of this and start over." "But Oak." "Times up." The man pulled the trigger and Oak's body fell to the ground. "Grandpa!" Gary cried; Ash's eyes widen and he felt a single tear roll down the side of his cheek.
"You're a bastard!" Ash shouted "You're the one who didn't surrender. It didn't have to be this way." He aimed his gun to Gary. Brock and Misty gave a shock look and tried to break free while Red sat there quiet not moving. "Do you surrender?" Gary gave a frightened look "Ash…promise me you'll kill this asshole." "Gary." Ash whispered. The man pulled the trigger. "Gary!" Brock shouted "You're a psychopath." Misty yelled. He walked over to Brock and readied the pistol "Third times the charm. Now surrender or he dies." Ash couldn't stand it anymore and was going to finally give in "Ash I swear if you don't find a way to get away from this and become leader I'll come back from the dead and haunt you!" "Brock we're finally done for. There's no point in you dying." "Ash you have to overcome this." He pulled the trigger in the middle of Brock's sentence. "Brock no!" Misty screamed letting her tears flood "Stop!" Ash shouted. The man looked back "But why the fun is just starting." He quickly aimed the gun to Misty. As he pulled back the trigger Misty looked up and saw the gun; the man fired the gun and Misty watched as Red jumped in front of her taking the bullet for her.
The man looked back in confusion and saw that Misty was still alive and Red was the one who was shot, but he was still alive. Red began coughing up tons of blood as he was slowly crawling away "Red why'd you take the shot?" Misty asked crying holding Red in her arms. Red let a small smile slip "Because I figured Ash needed to see his little sapphire for a bit longer." Red joked. The man pushed Misty out of the way "No don't hurt him!" "Red!" Ash yelled. Red looked at Ash with a small smile, and then the man lifted Red up to the gun and fired. He then tossed Red's body back on the ground and quickly turned to Misty. "Stop I'll surrender just stop!" The man smiled "Good, but still." He aimed the gun at Misty and shot her. Ash's emotions suddenly burst with rage and adrenaline as he watched Misty's life be taken away from him. "Misty!" He screamed before charging towards him. The soldiers quickly tackled Ash holding him down and preventing him from reaching the general. "Who are you?" The general towered over Ash
"You should know you graduated from my university." The general laughed.
Suddenly there was a blast of lightning between Ash and the general "What was that?" Ash struggled to look, but was afraid of what he might see. "Pikachu!" Pikachu leaped out of the tree and rushed towards the general shocking all the soldiers in his way. When Pikachu finally reached the general he prepared one last shock to finally end it, but the general quickly grabbed Pikachu's throat and pushed Pikachu into a nearby tree holding a knife against him. Ash tried to break free, but the soldiers blocked his view of Pikachu and the general "Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted "Ash what's wrong?" "What?" Ash saw Misty and Pikachu in front of him with a worried a look "What happened?" Ash asked. "You were having a nightmare." Ash looked up at Misty "It…It was all just a dream?" Misty nodded "Just a dream." Ash stayed silent "It seemed so real though?" Misty held Ash "Its okay Ash. If you want to talk about it?" Ash got off the bed "No. I'm ok." Ash got dressed and headed out of the room. Misty sat on the bed "I'm worried about him. Aren't you Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded in reply.
Setting: The Pit
Ash entered the pit seeing Red tutoring some of the soldiers on how to improve there aiming. "And if you have steadiness." Red shot the target in the center "You'll have a better chance of hitting your target, but then again that is basic stuff." Red placed the gun down "Now you guys do a few rounds and try to hit the center." "Rodger!" They replied grabbing their own weapons. "Having fun?" Ash questioned "Oh good morning to you too. How'd you sleep?" Ash scratched his head "Not so well?" "What happened? Is Misty a snorer?" Red replied. Ash shook his head no "No. It's not that it's? How'd you know about Misty?" Red pulled his own gun from his belt and began polishing it "It's not too hard to find stuff out around here Ash. Plus I saw her come out of your room which was a dead give away." "I guess so." Ash answered. "By the way are you two sort of?" "Oh no we're just in a relationship now." Ash grabbed a weapon of the table "Want to shoot a couple of rounds?" Red smiled "Only if you're okay with losing." Ash rolled his eyes to the fact that everything seems to be a competition with Red.
"Good morning Brock." Misty said happily "Good morning Misty how'd you sleep last night?" Misty gave a frustrated look "Ash was having those nightmares again, and what really upsets me is the fact that he doesn't ever want to talk about them." "Well it seems he has been having nightmares ever since Red got here a week ago." Misty watched the two of them target practice from the upper floor. "But Ash seems more relaxed now that he reunited with his friend Red." Misty explained "Perhaps Ash just thinks he believes in Red, but in reality he doesn't; he just doesn't know it yet." Brock replied. "Well I'll keep trying to convince Ash to talk to me about and whenever he does finally tell me what's wrong I'll make sure to let you know Brock." Brock nodded. Misty exited the room as Brock continued to watch Ash and Red scurry around in the pit.
Ash and Red where at the end of the course placing the weapons back on the shelf "Come on Ash you know I shot more of the targets than you." "You did not. I specifically remember you being two targets behind." Ash replied. "Sure whatever you say. It is all thanks to my lucky pistol though that got all those headshots when you were barely lucky to even get one." Red bragged placing his pistol on his side. "I forgot how cocky you were." "You know I'm just kidding." Red smiled. "Hey Ash can I ask you something?" Red asked "Sure what is it?" "Do you want to have a battle?" Ash gave a confused look "We just got done battling in the pit." Red shook his head "No I mean a Pokémon battle." "A Pokémon battle?" Red nodded. "Yeah for fun you know. It will be like old times. You do remember how to have a good old fashion Pokémon battle right?" "Yeah I battle with Brock and Gary for training not ever really for fun." Ash answered. Red grabbed one of his pokeballs "Come on Ash." Ash gave a nervous look "I don't know Red." Red was frustrated "Ash don't tell me you're the leader of the resistance and you forgot how to have fun." Ash rolled his eyes as he placed the pistol back on the gun rack. "Well during this war there hasn't been anytime for fun Red." Red sighed "That's why you have to make time for it. Life doesn't make time for fun you do. Now do me this one favor and battle with me."
Setting: Arena
Ash brought Red to two large metal doors "Well here we are." Ash pushed the door wide open revealing a large room with an arena and stands surrounding it. "We usually use this place for close combat training." Red entered the room seeing several soldiers wrestling each other and fighting with body armor. "Everyone here can go take a break for a few minutes." Ash announced attracting everyone's attention. "Some of us just got here Ash are you sure we should take a break now?" A soldier asked "Yes. Red and I are going to be using the arena." "Are you two going to wrestle?" He asked. "No we are going to have a Pokémon battle." Red replied. The soldier's eyes widen "You're going to have a Pokémon battle can we watch." He asked with a smile. "Sure." Red replied "This is going to be awesome." He said running off.
"He acts like he has never seen a Pokémon battle before." "He hasn't seen one. Well he hasn't seen one since he has been here for all I know." Red gave a confused look "But I thought you've battled here before?" "I have, but it has always been in private so that we can focus more. I'll let them see this battle though since it's for fun and all." Ash replied. The two of them headed to the center of the arena "I guess we can start whenever Pikachu shows up." Ash looked around "Oh yeah I wonder where he is?" Ash then was tackled to the ground. Ash saw Pikachu on his stomach "Wow Pikachu what did I tell you if you keep practicing you'll be able to sneak up on anyone." Pikachu smiled at Ash's compliment.
As Ash and Red went to their sides of the arena there were soldiers sitting in the stands waiting for the battle to start. The rows of seats were being filled up "Come on Ash you can beat him!" "Gary you're actually cheering for Ash?" Gary looked over "Misty and Brock what are you doing here?" Gary asked. "We came to watch Ash battle. Why are you here?" Gary gave an annoyed look "I'm here to watch Ash wipe the floor with that Red guy." Misty looked around amazed to see almost everyone in the resistance came to watch Ash and Red battle. "Everyone here acts as if they've never seen someone have a Pokémon battle." "Well you have to keep in mind Misty that some of the people forgot what it was like to witness a Pokémon battle since the war started." Brock added. "I guess you're right." Misty sat in between Brock and Gary waiting for the battle to start. "Let's do this Pikachu!" When Pikachu leaped in letting a full sparks of electricity to be released the crowd went crazy. "Well I know who the favorite is in this battle, but still a crowd won't help in win." Red smiled as he pulled out a pokeball. "I choose you Charizard." The fire dragon appeared onto the battlefield surprising everyone except for Ash and Pikachu. "He has a Charizard!" Brock said shocked "I guess this will be an interesting battle after all." Gary smirked. "It's great to know that your Chamander has evolved. I remember the day you received it." Ash announced "And I remember the day you got Pikachu as well." Charizard used a Flamethrower at the ceiling showing off its power.
"You can have the first move Ash." "Okay, but you'll regret doing so. Pikachu use Quick Attack." Pikachu swiftly reacted to Ash's command and raced towards Charizard. "Charizard fly." Charizard lured Pikachu in as close as possible before taking to the skies avoiding the attack. "Thunderbolt." "Dodge it." Pikachu charged up Thunderbolt and released it. Charizard was dodged Pikachu's Thunderbolt "Thunderbolt one more time." Charizard tried to avoid the attack, but it made a direct hit on Charizard's wing sending it hurling to the ground. "Way to go Pikachu." "Charizard Dig." Charizard straightened itself up and dug its way into the ground. "Pikachu get Charizard out of the ground using Iron Tail." Pikachu leaped in the air and slammed down in the ground causing Charizard to be launched out of the ground. "Now use Thunderbolt." "Flamethrower." Charizard had the advantage for being able to charge up its attack first landing a direct hit.
"Now it's my turn to take the offensive. Charizard use Fire Blast." Charizard fired a powerful Fire Blast straight for Pikachu. "Pikachu use Electro Ball." When the Electro Ball made contact with Charizard's Fire Blast it was immediately overpowered and the Fire Blast did major damage to Pikachu. Pikachu went flying back "Come on Pikachu I know you can still battle." Ash never felt this excited in Pokémon battle for a long time. "Come on Pikachu you can do it." Misty shouted "You've got this Ash." Brock added. Pikachu struggled to get on its feet 'Pikachu can still keep battling, but knowing Red that means the battle is just starting.' Ash thought to himself. "Well Ash what's your next move?"
