Chapter 2...
Ready for more Ghost stories? MUAHAHAHAHA!
Anyways, let's get started.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKEMON!
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A few months had passed since the initial events at the Pokemon Tower, and since then Ash and his ghoulish friends had gotten stronger.
Pikachu-turned-Rotom quickly adjusted to his new body and had endless fun possessing the appliances scattered around the tower and scaring the crap out of other visitors that ventured to deep into the tower. It during this time that Ash learned more about Rotom's new abilities and attacks.
Ash also got adjusted to his new-found abilities. With Giratina's essence flowing through him, he found that he could use Pokemon attacks, like Shadow Ball, Astonish, and Confuse Ray. He also found that, with practice, he could turn into a ghost!..albeit only for a short period of time.
The Gastly Trio also went to work as well, by training.
With Ash's help, they got stronger and learned new moves. Ash also made sure they all had completely different move sets to differentiate from one another. It also indirectly took care of another issue.
Before training started, Ash found out early that neither Gastly or Haunter wanted to evolve. For Haunter, it was an easy solution since he couldn't evolve anyway without a trade. For Ghastly it was a little more complicated. Essentially, he had to go through the same process as Bulbasaur did, where he had to learn to resist evolution. This method would have to do until they found an everstone.
Another issue that was also fixed quickly, and hopefully permanently, was the problem of Ash not having an active Trainer's license.
After finding and talking with the Tower's eldery caretaker, a deal was made. The man would be his sponsor as long as Ash did not upset the atmosphere and other ghost of the tower with his training and ghosts antics. The man had even allowed Ash to live in the tower for now as long as the ghosts didn't mind. The local Nurse Joy, who had come to admire Ash's skill and spirit, also helped in making Ash a new Lavender Town trainer's permit, under the name of Ashura Shadowclaw.
Of course, the ghosts didn't mind Ash living there, they actually insisted upon it. Now they could have fun every day.
The next issued they fixed was making a training ground. Turned out that there were several areas around the Tower and Lavender Town that severed as good areas for practicing attacks and increasing stats.
For practice battles, however, the best place they found was in a very surprising spot: The huge Dining room, the largest room in the Tower outside of the grave areas.
Through some manipulation of the large amount of otherworldly energy that circulated through the tower, Ash and his friends were able to manipulate it so that the room would be sound-proof and battle friendly whenever needed. As Ash trained more, he was eventually able to use illusions to manipulate how the room looked during those times. Needless to say it was fun.
However, the true fun began when pokemon trainers first stumbled upon their battle room...
"A-Are you sure about this, Geoff?" a boy said as he jumped at every strange sound the Tower made.
"Of course!" the boy Geoff said confidently, "we need a ghost type to beat that Sabrina witch! How else do you expect to beat someone like her?"
"Umm, I-I don't know.." his timid friend said softly, "t-training?"
Geoff rolled his eyes, "That'll just take too long! Come on Jack, show some enthusiasm, or at least grow a backbone! We've got ghosts to hunt!" he said with a fist pump he climbed the tower, with his frightened friend two steps behind.
As they climbed, they felt more of their hairs stand on end as the forbidden feeling the Tower gave off got more intense.
As the two friend made it to an area away from the graves, they got more hopeful. These were areas that people didn't typically go, and hopefully, where ghosts haunt more often.
After an hour of searching, they finally found an area of interest : the Tower's large kitchen. It was..surprisingly clean. The lights were all working and it looked completely operational.
"Woah.." Jack said as he peeked from behind Geoff, who nodded in response.
"You think... s-someone lives here?" Jack asked as he ran a hand over the clean counters.
"Pfft, I doubt it," Geoff replied, "who in their right mind would live in a creepy place like this?"
"But..but look.." the younger scaredy-cat said as he opened the refrigerator, "the fridge is fully stocked!"
This got the attention of his more confident friend, who came over to check it out. The fridge was indeed full of tasty looking, fresh food, "strange..."
Then, something happened.. the fridge changed color from white to orange..
..and grew eyes...
..and a mouth...
... and started to laugh!
"RO-HO-HO-HO-HO-TOM!"
Both trainers screamed as they were suddenly blasted by what felt like a Blizzard attack, and frozen to the bone. Their fear didn't let them stay stationary for long, as they both broke out of the ice and ran out of the room, screaming their heads off.
The next room they ran into appeared to be a well kept, small dining room, no bigger than 10x10 feet. In the room was a simple round table with plates and silverware for one. There was also a small counter with a microwave, a fan, and a couple cabinets.
The boys took a moment to catch the breath as they looked around, thinking the same thing. Why would the table be set for one? And why was there a microwave and a fan in a place this old?
They didn't have time to contemplate, as more haunting laughter was heard, sending a shiver down the boys' spines. Next thing they saw was the plate and silverware floating in front of them, and the cabinets opening and closing erratically.. on their own!
"Uhh...G-Geoff?"
"D-Don't be scared!" Geoff told his friend, "It's just the ghosts trying to mess with us." he said as he got out a pokeball.
The fan started to shake as it suddenly turned on full blast, blowing the boys' hair and clothes around. Then, the fan went under the same transformation that the refrigerator did, changing color and gaining a creepy looking face. Then, the face began to laugh maliciously as the power of the wind turned up ten-fold, literally blowing the boys into the next room.
"Ugh.." Geoff said as the room stopped spinning, "you..you ok, Jack?"
"Uhh.. yea, just get off me.." Jack responded.. from under Geoff.
"Whoops!" said the older trainer as he frantically got up, and helped his friend to stand.
That's when the boys heard more laughter. Only it didn't sounded like the same haunting laughter that had been following them.. This time it almost sounded human.
Once the boys stood up, they looked around the room. It was another dining room, only this one was at least ten times bigger than the last one. It was well lit by two chandeliers and a line of smaller, fire-lit candles on each side wall. There were two long, wooden tables lined with fancy looking chairs, as well as gold-lined plates with a complete set of silverware.
"Woah.." Jack whispered, impressed by the state of the dining room. Geoff, however, was more focused on the figure sitting at one of the tables in the far back corner of the room.
It was a boy, around their age. He had medium length, pitch black hair that had been pulled back into a small pony-tail, pale-ish skin, and ziz-zag marks on his cheeks. He was wearing a black, short-sleeve jacket over a dark purple shirt, and around his neck was a pendant of what looked like a Ghastly. In front of the boy was a deck of cards and a pile of poker chips. As he held five in his own, semi-gloved hands, another hand of five were ...floating on their own?
The boy chuckled and smirked, "I see you've met some of my friends.." he said as he placed a small stack of chips in front of him, "tell me, what did you think of Rotom?"
"R-R-Rotom?" the young Jack stuttered out. The fact that another human was up here was creepy enough, but the boy himself looked.. downright scary.
"Mhm.." the boy hummed as he turned his sharp, purple eyes towards them, "he loves possessing the appliances scattered around this part of the Tower. It's his favorite game." The boy smirked as he placed his hand down, revealing a straight flush of diamonds, "The others have their fun too, making various objects float, and scaring the trainers and curious idiots that foolishly venture this deep into the tower."
Hearing this, Geoff growled, "so it was you that told them to attack us?!"
The pale boy chuckled, "no, of course not. They do that on their own as a way to defend their turf, as well as have some fun!" he said as he collected the chips.. which floated to him, before turning to the boys, "you are kind of trespassing into their territory after all.."
Jack tilted his head, while Geoff just glared, "yea?! Well so are you! You're not a ghost, so you're trespassing just as we are! You don't belong here!"
The dark-haired boy just shook his head, "actually.." he said as he stood up and the cards floated away. He stared right at the boys with his almost glowing purple eyes, "I do belong here."
As soon as he said this, a mysterious and ominous wind blew through the room, rattling the plates and silverware, as well as the two boys, whose heart rates were going up by the second.
"L-Let's go, Geoff. Let's just leave!" the smaller boy pleaded, "It's not worth it!"
"No way!' Geoff said stubbornly, "I came here for a ghost type and I'm not leaving here without one!"
The wind only got more vicious as the pale boy stared at them both, then smirked, "Alright then, I'll cut you a deal," he said as he fixed his hair, his voice seemingly echoing off the room's walls, "Let's have a battle. You win, I'll lead you to the best areas in the Tower to find Ghost Pokemon. You lose, and you leave, empty handed. Deal?"
"Geoff..." Jack warned timidly, but was ultimately ignored by his friend.
"Deal!" The older boy said as he got out a pokeball, "two on two!" the he yelled, ready to take down this creep and get a ghost type.
The boy just nodded, "very well," he said as he walked towards the middle of the back wall and snapped his fingers. Within moments ,the tables, chairs, and tablewear flew towards the sides of the room and disappeared... as if they weren't there at all! The Chandeliers moved upwards, and side lights dimmed, giving the now empty room an eerie feel.
As the happened, the two trespassers trembled with a new fear, while the dark-haired boy across from them smirk, almost chuckling at their reaction.
Still, the boy, Geoff, took a deep breath as he forced himself to calm down before stepping forward, "My name is Geoff Hunter of Viridian City!" he said, as customary for trainers to introduce themselves.
"And my name is Ashura.. resident Ghost trainer and keeper of Lavender Town, at your service," the boy said with a mock bow. He then stood up and crossed his arms across his chest, "Now that introductions are out of the way, how about we get started. HAUNTER!" he yelled to the ceiling. Almost instantly, the mid-evolution Gas Pokemon appeared, seemingly seeping from the shadows.
The happy looking ghost stared at the two visiting trainers, who couldn't help but shudder at the evil-like stare.
Geoff then steeled himself again and tightened the grip on his pokeball, "Go! Charmeleon!" he yelled as he threw it. In a flash, a red lizard-like pokemon appeared, with a rounded horn on the top of his head and a flame on the end of its tail. The fire type let out a burst of flame as it faced its opponent.
Ashura frowned heavily as it glared at the starter. He harbored some resentment for the Charmander line, due to past experience. Still, he wouldn't go all out right away, he would at least give them a chance to fight back.
"Is he your starter?" he asked in a calm voice.
"Nope! But he is one of my strongest Team mates! You'll meet my starter later if you even get past this one!" the boy said confidently. Type aside, he knew that the fire type had to strength to take on just about anything. Charmeleon seemed to agree as it let out another snort of flame.
Ashura just smirked. Arrogance appeared to be standard with the species. Or maybe it just came from the trainer, he couldn't tell. Anyways, the show was about to start.
"Alright then, you can have first move," the ghost trainer said as his purple eyes shined in the dimmed light.
"fine by me!" Geoff yelled, "Charmeleon, Flamethrower!"
The flame pokemon smirked as it shot out a torrent of hot flames, aimed right at the stationary ghost type.
Ash just smirked and whispered, "Into the shadows, then scare!" even though it was whispered, the voice seemed to come from everywhere..
Upon command, Haunter seemingly melted into the darkness afforded by room's dim lighting, successfully dodging the attack. As both Charmander and his trainer looked around the room for any sign of their opponent, both were caught off guard as Haunter reappeared right in front of the fire type with its face distorted to look like some sort of horrific monster!
As a result, both trainer and pokemon yelped in surprise and fear. The attack was successful as the ghost and trainer shared a laugh at the reaction.
Geoff audibly growled. He would not let some ghost get the drop on him! "Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!"
With a huge inhale of air, the fire type released a bluish flame out of its mouth towards the floating Haunter. As the flames reached their target, the attack exploded spectacularly.
"Yes!" Geoff said as he pumped his fist, "direct hit! Now Charmeleon, go in for Fire Fang!"
Charmeleon nodded as it charged ahead, albeit slower than usual, its mouth ablaze with fire. It ran forward and chomped down... on nothing.
"Char?" it muttered as it looked around curiously.
"Behind you!" it's trainer yelled as it turned around to see the giggling ghost hovering over it.
"Flamethrower!" Geoff yelled, seeing his chance.
"Sucker Punch," Ashura said calmly as he watched the fight.
As Charmleon readied its flame, it was suddenly struck by a dark, see-through fist that sent it reeling backwards and to the ground.
"What? But how?!" Geoff said, astonished. Ashura just chuckled, "surely you know that Sucker Punch is a special priority move. As long as the opponent is readying an attack, it always hits first," he said with a coy smile.
The other trainer just growled. He had forgotten about that, "Charmeleon! Get up and use smokescreen!"
The little flame Pokemon sat up with a grunt and shot a huge cloud of smoke right into Haunter's face. Soon, the entire middle of the battlefield was filled with the dark, murky smoke.
"Alright, Charmeleon, evasive maneuvers!" Geoff called out, "we gotta get back into this fight!"
It was then that his opponent let out another ominous chuckle.
"What's so funny!" Geoff yelled, further aggravated by his opponent's strange behavior.
Ashura just smirked, "The funny thing is.." he said as his smirked deepened, "the smoke helps me just as much as it helps you.."
As if on cue, Charmeleon appeared above the smoke and in the air, caught in the disembodied claws of Haunter.
"CHARMELEON!" Geoff yelled worriedly.
"Finish this please.." Ash told his pokemon with a small frown. For such big talk, this battle had been a disappointment, and it was best to end it rather than torture the victim.
Haunter nodded and hit the fire type with a move Ash taught him, Thunder Punch.
Charmeleon hit the ground hard but still struggled to get up, even though its body was crackling with electricity. Frowning for the first time since the battle started, Haunter formed a black and blue ball of energy in his hands, and sent it flying towards the ire type, successfully knocking it out.
Biting back a growl, Geoff returned his pokemon and got out a new pokeball, "Not bad, but this is far from over, kid!" he said as he called out his next and last pokemon. A huge Blastoise appeared, cocking its cannons as soon as it settled.
Ashura nodded, "So he's your starter then. Tell me, how did you get two starter pokemon in your arsenal?" "Oh the irony in that question, seeing what his past pokemon were.. still, he was curious.
The opponent just smiled, "It's all about having the right connections. Charmeleon was a gift from a friend of mind that breeds Charmanders."
"Interesting.." Ash said as he nodded to Haunter, who instantly disappeared, "I have just the counter for that behemoth then. ROTOM!" He yelled.
Again, almost instantly, a new pokemon appeared, although neither Geoff nor Jack recognized it right away, "W-What is that pokemon?"
Then, Jack started to stutter in fear, "I-I think it was t-the same p-pokemon that was sc-scaring up earlier!"
Rotom smirked and nodded rapidly before twirling around.
They both got out their Pokedex's, only to the same result.
'No Pokemon Data Available. Please see regional reference guide'
Geoff growled. "So it's from another region, eh? It's probably just another ghost type."
"Hold on, I think it's an electric type too!" Jack said as he came forward, "see those appendages below it? They look just like lightning bolts!"
Ashura smiled, "your friend is smart. A lot smarter than you, probably.."
"Shut up!" Geoff said with a growl, "No one asked your opinion! And I don't care if that puny thing is an electric type, it's going down!"
"Blast!" the water type said in agreement.
Rotom just smirked as it surged the electricity in its body, as if saying 'bring it on!'
Ash then nodded, "I'll allow you to have the first move.."
Geoff was about to respond, before smirking, "ohhh no! That's how you got me last time! You go first!"
The ghost trainer just shrugged, "if you insist.. Rotom, Confuse Ray."
The little electric type nodded before summoning several yellow orbs of light and sending it towards the target.
"Blastoise, Withdraw then Rapid Spin!"
As the giant turtle withdrew and began its spin, the Confuse Ray hit. Geoff smiled as he believed that the attack didn't work thanks to Blastoise's unbeatable defense. He was dead wrong..
Blastoise's Rapid Spin attack became more and more erratic before going completely out of control, it's huge body spinning all around the field. Geoff and Jack began to panic as the huge Pokemon nearly flattened them before finally coming out of its shell, looking dazed.
"Wha..what happened?" Geoff said, while Ash chuckled, "you don't know much about ghosts or ghost type attacks, do you? Confuse ray will confuse the opponent as long as it hits, in spite of the area of contact. The attack can be dodged, or even blocked by something like Protect, but any direct contact, and your screwed."
Geoff, once again, growled with frustration. This kid was making him look like a noob. He had been so worked up, that he had forgotten the basics. How embarrassing.
"Blastoise, please! Snap out of it!" he yelled. Surprisingly, the large water starter was able to shake the confusion off and get back into the battle. "Alright!" Geoff yelled, "time to turn this around! Hydropump that pest! "
"Blast!" the pokemon grunted as it sent gallons of water towards its tiny opponent.
"Evade, then shockwave!" Ash said with a smirk, raising his voice for the first time in this battle. Now it was getting interesting.
Rotom nodded as he used his tiny body to easily dodge and dive around the incoming water attack, taking no damage. Rotom then smirked as it charged up and let loose a wave if electricity.
"We can't dodge that, Withdraw!" Geoff yelled. His pokemon obeyed and quickly withdrew into its shell, lessening the damage.
Ashura nodded with a smile, "so you're not completely brainless.. that's a good thing.." he said, causing his opponent to grumble, "let's try this then. Rotom, use Thundershock!"
The little ghost type nodded and let loose a large wave of thunder at the still withdrawn turtle.
"Rapid Spin!" the other trainer yelled to his water type.
Blastoise grunted before spinning around again, further lessening and even deflecting some of the attack. However, the thunder still left its mark, which was noted when the fully evolved starter suddenly stopped spinning and came out of its shell, sparking slightly.
"What the.." Geoff trailed off, "Blastoise, what's wrong?"
"Geoff, I think it's paralyzed!" Jack said frantically from behind him.
The ghost trainer smirked and nodded, "that's right.." he then turned to Rotom and nodded. The little Plasma pokemon seemed to smirked before heading straight for the sparking Blastoise.
"Here it comes, Blastoise! You gotta shake it off!" Geoff said, almost desperately
As the water type slowly got control of its body back, the smirking ghost suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Astonish.." Ash said, looking to wrap this up with the right moves.
Rotom's smile grew wider as it let out a loud shout, startling Blastoise and his trainer, making them flinch.
"Now, Thundershock!"
Rotom smirked as it charged up its lightning and let it loose, scoring a super-effective hit and making the water type yell out in pain. Once the little ghost backed off, Blastoise went to its knees, breathing heavily.
Ash then turned to the two trainers, "well.. what's your next move? And chose carefully.." he whispered, "And keep in mind that you haven't even gotten a hit on my Rotom yet.."
As Geoff listened, he growled, and lowered his head. In other words, he had no chance to win at the this point. Blastoise's damage was too heavy.
With a heavy sigh, Geoff held up the pokeball, "Blastoise... return.." he said, recalling his starter in a flash of red light.
Jack immediately came to comfort his friend for his loss. The older boy turned to him and smiled, before nodding, then turning his attention towards the raven-haired boy, "You may have won this round..Ashura.. but mark my words, I will get stronger, and I will be back!"
Ashura just smirked and nodded, " Please do.. I look forward to actually getting a challenge next time we meet.."
That said, the boys suddenly found themselves floating on thin air, before they were carried outside and out of the Tower by some other-worldly force.
As they landed outside, they immediately turned tail towards the Pokemon Center. After getting Geoff's pokemon healed, they immediately started telling other trainers about what they saw and the trainer they battled.
And that's how it began..
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A few more months had passed since then. The amount of trainers coming to the Tower to try and defeat the 'Mysterious Ghost Trainer' was impressive, though not overwhelming, especially considering that most trainers chickened out before they even made it to Ash.
Right now, he was averaging about three braves souls a week that showed enough courage to battle him.
His ghost team had became stronger as well. They had all learned new moves with the help of some TMs he had 'earned,' and Rotom had learned some new moves as well, like discharge and Electroball.
Very few trainers had managed to defeat him, and the few that had were all from other regions, much older than he was, and had at least one Ghost or Dark Type on their team. As promised, Ash would either show them a good place to catch a ghost pokemon, or give them an item that his pokemon had 'picked up,' either a special stone or item for improving a pokemon's stats.
It didn't take long for the rumors of a powerful ghost type trainer to reach the ears of people in Pallet Town, namely one auburn-haired eleven-year old with an ego the size of Mt. Silver.
"Hah!" One Gary Oak said in a haughty voice, "We'll see how strong this so called, 'ghost master' is after he faces me! I'm the strongest trainer this side of Kanto! I'll put them in their place!"
Yes, despite coming up short in Indigo, Gary hadn't lost an ounce of his arrogance.
That in mind, the young Oak made the trek to Lavender Town. It took him two weeks, but it was well worth it.
Once there, Gary immediately started gathering information from the local trainers. While most of them ended up just getting the crap scared out of them, only one trainer he talked to actually made it to challenge the Ghost trainer.
"He's tough..and scary.." the 13-year old trainer said as a shiver went down his spine, "And those ghosts are crazy strong.. I battled one on one with his Gengar.. That thing is enough to give anyone nightmares.." he said as another violent shiver went through his body.
Gary listened intently, all the while contemplating strategies, 'looks like I'm gonna have to bring my A-game for this one. I'll have gramps send over my strongest team.'
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Once he had a team together, Gary immediately set off for the infamous tower. He didn't let the ominous and nearly overwhelming presence that surrounded the place deter him as he entered.
'Let's see..' he thought to himself, 'the other trainers said he was on one of the upper floors.. where few dare to go..,' with that in mind, Gary steeled his resolve as he climbed the floors.
It was ... surprisingly quiet.. no mysterious wind, no objects moving on their own.. nothing..
"humph! What a letdown.." the arrogant brunet said to himself, "And here I was expecting a challenge. I haven't seen one ghost in this whole tower! I bet this so called master is weak as well" he said with a smirk.
Soon, he found a room that many of the other trainers had told him about.. a Kitchen, in pristine conditions. Everything from the refrigerator to the ceiling lights were in perfect working condition.
As Gary looked around, he first zeroed in on the refrigerator and the oven, both of which were apparently possessed..
..nothing..
The boy once again chuckled, "what a crock of-"
He was cut off by a strange sound.. a child's laugh...
The strange sound immediately put him on edge as he reached for his pokeballs.
*giggle...*
It seemed to echo from everywhere...
*laugh..*
It was getting louder...
*Chuckle..*
And deeper.. like a male's laugh...
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Whipping around, he saw something that will be stuck in his nightmares for a long time...
A giant, floating, transparent human-like specter. Its body was covered in a long gray shirt, and its pitch black hair fell down past its feet. Its white arms and hands appeared to be stitched and sporting 6 inch long, sharp, black nails. The bottom half of its face was barely visible, showing its razor sharp set of teeth that appeared to have blood dripping from them. Those teeth seemed to twist into a smirk before laughing demonically.
Seeing this, Gary did the one thing that most people would do in this situation...
..he fainted.
Once the boy was down for the count, the Specter illusion broke, and Ash and his ghostly friends stood in its place, laughing their heads off.
"Oh man, that was perfect!" he said during his fit of giggles, "Did you see the look on his face? HAHAHAHA! I've waited a long time to get Gary back for the shit he put me through, but it was well worth the wait"
The others agreed as they continued their laughter.
Ash then looked down at Gary's prone form and hummed to himself, "now.. what do you with you.. how should we continue our fun.."
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With a groan, Gary slowly but surely awakened.
How long had he been out? Minutes? Hours? Days? He had no idea...
As he looked around at his surroundings, a wave of confusion overcame him.
'Where am I?' He thought as he looked around. It looked like he was in some sort of fancy dining room.. The tables were all set and the chandeliers were shining brightly.
'This isn't right..' the boy thought as he retraced his steps, 'wasn't I at the Pokemon center last?... No, that's not right..' he huffed, 'I went to the Tower to challenge the Ghost Master.. I made it to the kitchen when,..' His thoughts trailed off as an abrupt memory of the creepy human ghost he saw flashed in his head, sending an involuntary shiver up his spine.
'That thing.. it came out of nowhere..I don't remember anything after that..' he then looked around the room some more, 'Am I still in the Tower?'
"That you are, Gare-bear.." a new, somewhat familiar voice said, as if reading his mind.
Upon turning his head abruptly to the front, Gary jumped as he was caught off guard by the new person's sudden appearance.
It was a boy, about his age. He had paler than normal skin and pitch black hair pulled into a pony tail. He was wearing an outfit of purple and black, with a ghastly pendant around his neck. The boy himself was slightly creepy, yet familiar looking. Though, Gary was sure that he didn't know anyone with purple eyes. Still.. he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this person.
"Y-you're the ghost master, right?" the Auburn said, working up his courage. However, the more he looked the boy over, the stronger familiarity got, not to mention the nick-name, "Have we..met before?"
The pale boy adapted a somewhat hurt look, "aww, you wound me Gare-bear... And here I thought you would remember your old childhood friend-turned rival.." he said with a smirk.
That, confirmed it. There was only a few people who knew that blasted nick-name. One being his older sister, the other being..
"Ash?" Gary said with obvious shock and surprise. Last time he checked, his grandpa told him that Ash had disappeared after losing his license and his pokemon.
"That's right.." Ash said as his ghostly friends appeared around him, "I am also the infamous.. 'Ghost Master' as some people have started to call me.."
At hearing this, Gary just growled. There was no way in hell that Ash had gotten that strong in the months he had been missing.
"Ha! Yeah right!" the young Oak said smugly, "No way a weakling like you could be so strong. Gramps even said it himself when he announced to Pallet Town what had happened to you."
"Let me guess.." Ash started as he closed his eyes, "He called it an unfortunate accident caused by a trainer's illusion of his non-existent strength, or something along those lines.." he then opened one eye up again, "am I right?"
Gary was left speechless, which was saying something. Ash had pretty much repeated what his gramps had told him, "wha... how did you.."
"When you're a friend of the ghost type, you have eyes everywhere.. and no one ever realizes it.." he explained lightly while still smirking at his former rival.
Hearing this, Gary just glared at him and huffed, "whatever. Still doesn't change the fact that he was right. You're too weak to be a trainer, something I've been saying from the start..," he then smirked, "so weak that Gramps revoked your license due to incompetence, how sad.."
He was cut off when Ash frowned and his purple eyes.. how did they become purple?.. flashed. He suddenly felt a foreboding, overbearing wave of malicious intent wash over him, effectively shutting him up.
"I advise you to remember who's domain you are in.." Ash said in a low, deadly voice, "The ghosts do not take kindly to those who bully and pick on ones they consider friends."
Unable to suppress a shiver that went up his spine, Gary meekly nodded.
"As for the license issue.." he continued, "That's been taken care of, by someone who saw through Oak's rushed mistake and was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt, so now.." he smirk, "I am once again a licensed, certified pokemon trainer. An there's nothing that the old man can do about it."
"W-We'll see about that..." Gary said once he got his voice back, "but I came here for a reason, and that was to challenge the so called 'Ghost Master' " he said as he gestured the parentheses with his fingers, "So I guess, since that's supposedly you, I challenge you to a battle!"
Ash just chuckled as he stood up from his chair, "Gary.. I've been waiting a long time for this.. let's not waste time then, shall we?"
He then snapped his fingers...
The chair that Gary was sitting in disappeared, making him fall on his ass. Then the rest of the tables and chairs in the room vanished, along with their silverware and plates. The Chandeliers went into the ceiling and the wall candles dimmed. The battlefield was set.
Within minutes, the two 11 year olds were glaring at each other, ready to start.
It was here that Ash began started to speak again, "I only have four partners at the moment. However, I am more than willing to take you in a handicap match of 4 to 6. What do you say?"
Gary just growled, "you sound sure of yourself.. fine, Ashy-boy, have it your way. All the better to humiliate you when I don't even lose one of my pokemon!" he announced confidently, as if it was as sure as the dun coming up tomorrow that he would win.
Ash just chuckled, "Now who's sure of himself..very well.. I will release my pokemon first. Gastly, Out of the shadows!" he yelled to the ceiling.
Within seconds, the Gas Pokemon appeared, sporting its signature grin. "Gaaaastly!"
Gary smirked, believing that Ash hadn't really trained this one since it was in its first stage, "Let's see how that little ball of gas likes this! Eevee, I choose you!"
In a flash, the cute little evolution fox made its appearance, letting out a cute "Eevee!" as it got ready for battle.
"Your flimsy ghost type attacks will have no effect on Eevee here! But we have the perfect attack for you! Let's go Eevee, use Charm!" Gary announced as the battle got underway.
The little fluffball nodded before winking towards Ghastly and letting loose a barrage of hearts aimed right at the ghost type.
Ash merely smirked, "nice touch starting off with a status move. Too bad it's a fairy type attack. You're underestimating my Gastly's strength, which will now be your downfall," he said before calling out, "Gastly, use your newest move, Icy Wind!"
The ghost type chuckled before opening its mouth wide and letting loose a powerful gust of artic wind. The Ice type attack blasted he alluring hearts backwards before destroying them completely, only to continue and hit Eevee head on before it had a chance to dodge.
"Vee!" the little fox yipped as it was blasted off of its feet and backwards.
"Eevee!" Gary yelled with concern as his normal type got back up valiantly. The trainer then growled at Ash and Gastly, "that's the way you want to play it, fine! Let's go, Eevee, Quick Attack!"
"Vee!" The evolution pokemon yelled as it dashed forward with impressive speed.
Ash just frowned as he watched the fox come at them, 'Now Gary should know better than to come at us with a normal type attack... what's he up to?' he thought, then called out , "Gastly, hold your ground!"
Just as Eevee was catching air to reach the floating ghost type, its trainer called out ,"Switch to Bite, NOW!"
Within a second, the little fox pokemon had bared its fangs and chomped into the ghost type, making it wince in pain from the super effective attack.
Ash just chuckled, "simple yet effective strategy there, Gary. Too bad your pokemon is much too weak to do much damage. Gastly? While it's close, Hypnosis."
The first stage ghost type chuckled as its eyes began to glow with a pink colored energy. Being so close, Eevee had no time to react as she inadvertently stared at her opponent's eyes, making her own eyes droop and her body sag. Within moments, the little evolution fox was asleep.
"Eevee!" Gary yelled, "Come on Eevee, wake up! Wake up now!"
It was all in vain as Eevee stayed asleep, snoring away.
Ash just continued to smirk, "this is boring, let's finish this up.. Gastly, Will-o-wisp! And don't let up!"
"Gaaastly!" the ghost yelled as 5 blue and white tufts of flame appeared and began to circle around it almost hauntingly. Then, within seconds, the unearthly flames launched forward towards the sleeping fox and hit dead on, waking it up as well as causing intense pain.
"Vee!" she yelled as she got back on her feet, ready to dodge as more flames came her way, only to be impeded as her entire body was engulf in fire for a second.
"Oh no! Eevee's been burned!" Gary yelled in shock.
As more flames came her way, Eevee tried her best to dodge, but the burn status slowed her down significantly. There was little she could do as Gastly kept launching the blue fireballs at daunting speeds.
"Eevee! Try to launch a ShadowBall!" Gary said desperately. Alas it was all for naught, for as Eevee powered up the ghost attack, a Will-o-Wisp hit dead on, hitting the Shadowball and causing a small explosion. Gary looked on worried as Ash and Gastly remained impassive. Soon, the results were clear as Eevee was on the ground, knocked out.
Seeing this, the auburn-haired boy quickly recalled her and growled, "You got lucky that time. Let's see how you handle this one." he said as he readied his second Pokeball, "let's go, DoDrio!"
In a flash, a large, ostrich-like pokemon with three heads, with each head wearing a different expression, appeared onto the battle field. Upon apprising the new opponent, Ash let out a sigh, 'same tactic but with a stronger pokemon, it seems.. oh well.. hopefully it won't be another disappointment..'
"Gastly.. return for now.. let's let the others have some fun.." he said with a smirk.
Gastly nodded, slightly disappointed that his turn was over, but jolly all the same.
"HAUNTER, COME FORTH!" He yelled, and the second Ghost type appeared, its appearance and laugh causing a shiver to go up their opponent's spines.
After regaining his composure, Gary just glared, "that doesn't scare us! Let's go, Dodrio, Drill Peck!"
The large flightless bird charged forward with incredible speed, all three of its beaks now in a spinning motion.
Ash just shook his head, "really, Gary? And here I was expecting a challenge.. Haunter, Sucker Punch!"
Hauner grinned maliciously as both of his floating hands began to glow with dark aura and fly forward, hitting Dodrio twice in his chest area, a sweet spot for most pokemon.
"Dodrio!" Gary called out as his flying type staggered backwards from the blow. Once it recovered, both trainer and pokemon glared at their opponents, who just stood and floated their respectively in a deadly calm.
Ash then smirked, "maybe I should make the first move this time.." he said before turning to his pokemon, "Haunter, Sludge Bomb!"
The ghost type smirked before opening his mouth wide and letting loose multiple globs of brown, foul smelling sludge from his mouth, right at the offending bird.
"Use your speed to dodge those, then head in with Mirror move, give them a taste of their own medicine!" Gary commanded, ready to turn this around.
Dodrio squawked as it took off, dodging the balls of sludge easily and then jumped, spitting out its own balls of sludge as it mimicked Haunter's attack.
Haunter merely frowned and ...faded away.. causing the attack to miss
"Huh?" Gary said in shock, "What's this?! Where'd he go?!"
Ash just smirked, "He's still here.. think about what you know about Ghost types, gare-bear.."
Gary just growled and looked around the room, "Keep an eye out Dodrio, he could be anywhere."
The bird squawked as its three heads looked in different directions..
..except behind..
"There it is! Behind you! use Peck!" Gary yelled as Haunter made itself visible.
Just as Dodrio turned around, Haunter contorted his face to look like something out of a nightmare, making the bird stop its attack jump away in horror. Ash couldn't help but chuckle in response.
"Dodrio, Drill Peck!" Gary yelled again. He refused to lose another pokemon to his former rival and loser of a trainer.
The bird quickly shook off its fear and lunged at the giggling ghost.
"Enough of these games.." Ash said, "End this with Thunder Punch!"
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Gary with wide eyes
As Dodrio was about to land his attack, Haunter's fists became aglow with electricity and flew forwards. Both attacks landed on the mark, with Haunter's grunt and Dodrio's shriek audible to both trainers.
Haunter floated back to his trainer with a few new bruises, while Dodrio was barely standing after the super effective attack.
"I'll give credit where credit's due, I'm surprised that overgrown turkey is still standing.." Ash said as he observed the bird, "Do you want to continue this or keep fighting a losing battle?"
Gary just growled at him as he looked over his pokemon, he made a decision to call him back for now, "Dodrio, return. Rest for now, I may need you later.."
The young Oak then readied another pokeball, "Alright then, no more Mr. Nice guy. Let's still how you like this!" he said as he threw his third pokeball, "Arcanine, to the battlefront!"
The Fire type made his appearance and let out a mighty howl, ready for battle.
Ash nodded in appreciation, "It seems as though you are finally taking this seriously. Excellent. "
Gary didn't retort, surprisingly, and instead looked to his pokemon, "Arcanine, I want that Ghost down for the count! Flamethrower!"
The canine barked in affirmative and sent a powerful looking flamethrower towards the still floating ghost type, ready to annihilate anything in its way.
"Counter that with Sludge Bomb!" Ash called out immediately. Haunter let loose dozens of huge gobs of sludge right at the incoming flames. The results was an explosion in the middle of the field.
When the smoke cleared, Haunter had once again disappeared.
Gary growled, annoyed at the ghost's disappearing tricks, "Keep a look out, Arcanine.. we won't let this fake and his cheap tricks get us"
Arcanine barked in agreement as he kept his eyes and ears sharp. Too bad ghosts don't have a sense of smell...
"To your right!"
The fire dog turned at his trainer's command.. only to come face the face with one of the scariest faces he had ever seen in his short life. It reminded him of a gruesome scene from one of those ' movies' his master watches. It made him tense up in fright before jumping backwards with a loud whimper.
Ash couldn't help but laugh out loud at the pup's reaction, "honestly Gary, falling for the same trick twice? How laughable.."
His old rival growled, though if he concentrated a bit, he could feel the embarrassment and humiliation coming off him. And they were just getting started..
/-/-/-/-/-/-/
In the reverse world, looking through one of many mirrors to the overworld, was the king himself, Giratina.
The Anti-matter pokemon watched with silent glee as his new Chosen slowly decimated and humiliated his former rival. Yes.. he had made a fine choice.. and with the power of the ghosts by his side, the boy's potential was possibly limitless..
"GIRATINA!"
The ghost dragon was broken from his good mood as a familiar voice echoed through his world.
Another golden mirror appeared, revealing the form of a very angry looking Arceus.
"Ah..hello father.. to what what do I owe thi-"
"Shut it! I don't have time for your Tauros shit! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY CHOSEN?!"
"hmm?" Asked Giratina with an innocent-looking tilt of his head, "whatever do you mean?"
"You know EXACTLY what I mean, you outcast!" Arceus roared, "You corrupted my chosen! I sense your power signature all through him! Do you realize what you may have done?!"
Giratina merely chuckled, "you really should be thanking me, father.. I saved his life. Without me, your precious chosen one would have surely killed himself from extreme grief and loss.. not that you bothered to be there in his time of need like I was.." he said with a slight sneer.
"ENOUGH!" The god Pokemon yelled, "Thanks to your selfish actions, the council must now start from square one! We must find a new, untainted chosen before the dark times come, which will be very soon.."
Giratina just shrugged, "No concern of mine anyway. Like you said father, I'm an outcast, no longer a member of the official council.. not at the moment anyway.. " he said with a smirk, "Anyways, I wouldn't call Ashura 'tainted'.. he still has a relatively pure heart, it just has a darker, and more mischievous feel to it. If you ever need to borrow him to help with these so called 'dark times' we'd be happy to oblige.. for a price.." the dragon's smirk grew wider
Arceus growled, "You will regret what you have do, I will make sure of it.." he said before he disappeared, the golden mirror shattering into nothing..
Giratina merely stared at the spot the mirror was for a moment longer before going back to watch the battle. He made it just in time to see Arcanine fall..
\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\
Gary hastily recalled Arcanine back to his ball as he fell unconscious. Still, this battle was a little more evenly matched if the few marks on Haunter were anything to go by. Still, the ghost type looked like it still rarin' to go.
Ash just smirked, "Well? Do you want to keep going? Or do the smart thing and give up?"
"No way am I giving up!" the young Oak said defiantly, "You must be cheating somehow. No way you've gotten this good legitimately in only a few months!"
Ash just shrugged, "you'd be surprised by what I can do given the right motivation and circumstances. But enough chit chat, let's continue, shall we?" He then turned to Haunter, "come back bud, take a rest.
Haunter nodded as he casually floated behind Ash, not even looking tired.
The pale boy then smirked, "let's turn this up a bit.. GENGAR! Come Forth!"
The large Shadow Pokemon appeared.. right in front of Gary's face.
"Gah!" he yelled out, nearly falling to the floor, before growling at the chuckling ghosts and their trainer.
"Well?" Ash questioned, "we don't have all day, Gare-bear.. send out your next pokemon!"
The brown haired boy scowled before sending out his next fighter, "GO, Electabuzz! Make this ghost extra crispy!"
The electric pokemon came out sparking brightly, adding much needed light to the dim surroundings.
Ash and Gengar frowned for a moment as they observed the electric type, before smirking. Could this one be a more worthy opponent?
"Electabuzz, Thunderbolt! Let's go!" Gary commanded, causing the whirring pokemon to spark more violently before shooting off a large bolt of lightning towards the ghost.
"Counter that with Dark Pulse!" Ash called out.
Gengar smirked before sending out a concentrated "O" shaped waved of dark energy. The two attacks met in the middle, causing another miniature explosion.
Once the smoke cleared, Gengar was gone, and a smiling Ash just stood there.
Gary just growled, "we're not falling for that again! Electabuzz, Shockwave!"
Electabuzz nodded as it charged up and sent out an unavoidable wave of electricity, scoring a hit on the hiding ghost and shocking it.
"Gotcha! " Gary said with way more enthusiasm than necessary, while Ash remained deadly calm.
"Now, follow up with Fire Punch!" the Auburn haired boy said as he gained his confidence back.
Electabuzz rushed forward towards the stationary ghost, his right fist balling and lit aflame.
"Shadow Punch!" Ash called out. Gengar nodded as his own fist became aglow with ghostly power.
Both attacks, met their mark, with Electabuzz being sent flying backwards and Gengar floating away with a deep grimace.
"Come on, Electabuzz, stand up!" Gary called out to his pokemon. The electric type sat up and shook his head to clear it of the effects of that punch.
"Let's test out a new strategy.." Ash said with a smirk, "Gengar, Ice Punch!"
After a quick recovery, Gengar flew over and readied an icy fist.
As Electabuzz looked up, he saw the ghost type over him with the scariest smile he had ever seen, making him freak out and yelp.
"DODGE THAT!"
Thanks to the twinge of ear implanted in his heart, Electabuzz hesitated just for a second. It would cost him dearly. The Ice Punch hit straight on, causing a freezing effect and thus slowing him down considerably.
"Follow up with Toxic!" Ash said with an almost evil grin on his face. Gengar shared this grin as he shot out globs of purple poisonous sludge, nailing the still sluggish Electabuzz and inflicting massive damage. Miraculously, the electric type was able to stand up, only to fall to one knee as a wave of purple washed over him.
"Shit! He's been poisoned.." Gary grimaced.
Ash just chuckled and pointed, "now..finish this with Hex!"
Gengar's eyes began to glow ominously as he sent an almost invisible wave of dark red energy towards his poisoned opponent. Almost immediately, Electabuz screamed in pain as the power of the ghost move effected him greatly, making him thrash around and fall to the ground as he tried to escape the painful attack.
Gary could only watch on in shock as his pokemon suffered.
"Call him back, Gary.."
When the brown-haired boy looked at his old rival, he saw the boy glaring at him with those purple eyes of his, "despite my attitude, I don't like seeing pokemon in this state. It's your choice.. Call him back or watch him suffer.."
Gary grumbled softly and closed his eyes tightly as he reluctantly called Electabuzz back to its pokeball, ending the effects of the attack.
The ghostly boy nodded in respect, "good decision.."
In the mean time, Gary was wondering what to do next, 'I thought this would be easy to defeat him..I haven't even taken out one of his pokemon yet...' he then looked up at Ash and Gengar, 'I can't use Nidoking ...his poison type moves would be negated and his ground type moves would have no effect thanks to Levitate..I have one choice then..'
"Blastoise! I choose you!"
The fully evolved started made itself known as it appeared, roaring its name across the room, "BLASTOISE!"
Gengar smirked, ready for another round as it chuckled towards its oversized opponent.
"I think i'll take the first move this time, " Ash said with a smirk that was becoming insufferable to the brown-haired boy... strange irony there...
"Gengar, Dark Pulse!"
"Hydro-pump!"
The attacks met in the middle, battling for dominance before imploding on each other. As the smoke cleared, the voice of the ghostly trainer called out, "Shadow Punch!"
Through the smoke, a huge fist made of shadow energy blasted through the smoke cloud and hit the giant turtle sending him backwards. Miraculously, it still remained on its feet as it growled towards the other side.
When the smoke cleared, Gengar was gone again..
"Goddamnit!" Gary yelled in frustration, "Stay out in the open ya fucking coward! Scared to face me up front?!"
Ash just chuckled, "of course not. But what's the fun in that? It's only natural for a ghost to use the shadows to their advantage, so why fight nature?"
"whatever!" Gary yelled, "We got somethin' for that little trick! Blastoise rapid spin/Hydropump combo!"
In an instant, Blastoise retreated into his shell and began to spin rapidly around, he then started spraying more high pressure water from his cannons . As the water went everywhere, more shadow punches came out of the darkness of the room, seemingly from everywhere.. each one hitting their mark and throwing the spinning turtle off balance.
Fortunately for Gary, the water combo wasn't a complete miss, as Gengar was hit several times by the Hydro Pump attack, which would result in him being seen for a moment before diving back into the shadows and finding a new spot.
This pattern continued for a few more minutes, before Gary had finally had enough, "Blastoise! next time it appears, stop and use surf!"
As soon as Gengar had been hit again and appeared, Blastoise stopped his spin and shot a massive wave at the area where Gengar was. Everyone was nearly swept up in the wave, including Ash and Gary.
Once the surf attack subsided, Gengar was fully visible and panting, obviously from the damage it had taken so far.
"Now," Shouted the brown-haired trainer, "let's keep this going! Hydropump dead ahead!"
Blastoise nodded before cocking its cannons and shooting two powerful torrents of water right at the ghost.
"Dark pulse to counter! Dodge if you have to!" Ash yelled. There was no time to escape to the shadows, so they would have to use more conventional methods. Using offensive moves in a defensive situation is a good start. The Dark Pulse would slow down the incoming attack if not stop it all together.
By the time Gengar had shot of the dark attack, it was already close to him. Still, he was able to slow down the attack to a crawl and give himself enough time to dodge the attack with a polevault style flip, and was now hovering higher in the air.
"Dark Pulse again, follow up with Toxic!" the ghost trainer commanded.
While hovering, Gengar nodded and shot off another Dark Pulse attack, aiming straight for Blastoise's head.
"let's borrow their strategy. Blastoise, hydropump to counter!"
Once again, water met darkness, only the situation was flip-flopped. Unfortunately for Gary, the results were not the same. Because of Dark pulse's proximity to the water type, fatigue, and Gengar's higher point of view, the Dark Pulse attack overwhelmed Hydropump this time, and reached the turtle much quicker, giving it no time to dodge.
"BLAST!" The water starter yelped in pain as the Dark pulse pummeled him
"Blastoise!" Gary yelled in worry. The tide of the battle had once again turned against him, and Blastoise was paying dearly for it.
The menacing ghost didn't stop though, for as soon as the Dark Pulse attack ended, he spat out a wave of the poisonous purple sludge, stinging Blastoise in the eyes and causing him to fall back in pain as he struggled to get the sludge off of his face.
"Blast yourself with water, quick!" Gary yelled desperately. His pokemon was in a vulnerable state and it would only get worse.
"End this with Ice Punch!" The raven haired boy yelled with a smirk, ready to end this battle and put his rival in his place. As Blastoise was still blinded, Gengar raced forward with a fist of ice-blue energy.
"Withdraw!" Gary called out as a last ditch effort. despite the pain he was in, Blastoise managed to withdraw into his shell just as the attack hit, causing a small amount of ice to form on the shell. Thus, the not so effective attack was further nullified.
Ash growled, "I didn't want to do this, but it appears I have no choice..Gengar, Hex!"
"NO!" Gary called out, all too late.
The ghost type's eyes glowed maliciously, soon followed by Blastoise's entire body. Soon, the shell was spinning around erratically and bouncing off the walls, as if to try and escape the pain. After a few tense moments, the shell suddenly stopped and the glow faded. Blastoise popped of its shell and slumped to the ground, unconscious..
With a shaky hand, Gary recalled his starter and grit his teeth. He couldn't believe how strong these ghosts were. Now he had a decision to make.
'All I have left are Dodrio and Nidoking. Dodrio is still hurt and Nidoking doesn't stand a chance against a pokemon like Gengar..'
"Let me guess.." Ash suddenly piped up, "You're out of truly usable pokemon. That Dodrio of yours is in too bad of a condition, and your last pokemon probably has a severe type disadvantage.. am I right?"
Gary growled , and stiffly nodded, making Ash chuckle, "alright then, I'll introduce you to a new player. My last pokemon.."
He then called out for all to hear, "ROTOM! COME FORTH!"
Almost instantly, the little orange spirit became visible and started zipping around the room, full of energy as always.
"W-what is that?" Gary said to himself as he pulled out his pokedex,
'No Data available.'
That very statement made the poor boy shiver as it brought back bad flashbacks to his mind of the Viridian Gym incident. Still, he steeled himself as he observed the pokemon.
'Let's see.. it's obviously a ghost type.. and going by how it looks, it may be a fire or electric type as well..'
"let me introduce you to my best friend and starter, Rotom. He's a ghost/electric type pokemon that can possess appliances and sap them of their electrical energy." Ash said, before frowning, "of course.. you've met Rotom before, before he was a Rotom.." he then glared, "before he died.."
"What are you talking abo-" the young Oak started before he stopped short, thinking about what Ash just said, 'best friend.. starter...electric type.. it can't be..'
"A-are you telling me that that thing is.."
"That's right.." Ash finished for him, "Rotom was once my beloved Pikachu."
This left Gary stunned. Obviously his grandfather had left that little tidbit out, "b-but.. I don't understand.. how.."
"Thanks to your grandfather and my so called friends and mother, Pikachu was left with fatal injuries that could not be healed. If it weren't for some.. otherworldly interventions, I would've lost him forever.."
"..no way.." Gary said above a whisper, still shocked at the story. Was that the truth? did his grandfatehr really do that? Had his own friends and mother done that? It seemed unbelievable..
Still, this wasn't the time to dwell on his rival's sob story. Seeing a small chance at a comeback, he readied his next pokeball
"Whether that is the truth or not, I'm definitely going to have to talk to Gramps about this. But until then I have a battle to fight! Nidoking, let's go!"
In a flash the large poison/ground type appeared and let out a guttural roar. It looked at its tiny opponent and snorted, confident that this would be an easy win.
Ash smirked, this would be interesting, "Heh, so your ground type attacks would have no effect before o Rotom's levitate, and My electric type moves would have no effect thanks to typing.."
"Looks like it!" Gary said as he shared the same smirk, "But we got more tricks up our sleeve. Nidoking, use Poison Sting!"
The giant pokemon opened its maw and hot off dozens of purple, needle-like projectiles towards the tiny ghost.
"Stop them with Discharge, follow up with Astonish!" Ash commanded.
With not a moment to spare, Rotom released dozens of powerful sparks towards the poison needles, stopping them in their place and sending them dropping to the ground. It then rushed forward and appeared right in front of Nidoking's face before letting loose a loud, startling shout, casing the Drill Pokemon to flinch in surprise and step back.
"Don't let it get to you! Use Ice beam while it's close!" Gary shouted
Nidoking immediately heeded its trainer's words and powered up an orb of frosty energy in its mouth before shooting it forward towards Rotom.
"Dodge that!' Ash urged. Rotom immediately flew upwards to avoid the full brunt of the attack, but was still brush and took damage as its lightning bolt appendages were hit.
"Keep up the Ice beams!" Gary shouted. In reality, it was probably the only attack they had that had the potential to do significant damage to the little ghost. He couldn't use EarthPower obviously, and Horn Attack would have no effect either. If only they had perfected Megahorn..
Soon, Rotom found himself dodging Ice beam after Ice beam as the large ground type fired them off without showing signs of slowing down. Thanks to his secondary typing, the electric ghost couldn't use the shadows to his advantage like the others did. He was too much like a light bulb to do that.
Luckily, Ash had an idea. "Alright, Rotom. Sweep in low and use Astonish again, follow up with Confusion!"
The little electric type smirked as he flipped in the air before sweeping just above the floor towards Nidoking, still dodging any low flying Ice beams. Soon, he was once again in the Drill Pokemon's face and shouted loudly, causing the fierce looking beast to stop his attack and once again, flinch backwards.
"Snap out of it!" Gary urged
It was too late, however, as Rotom's eyes began to glow, and several bright yellow, floating orbs formed around him before rushing towards Nidoking. Unable to dodge in time, the attack hit dead on, and the behemoth's eyes suddenly became glazed over.
"Nidoking?" The boy questioned as his pokemon began to stagger around as if he was drunk, "Come on bud, snap out of it. Ice beam!"
The Poison type didn't seem to be listening though, as he began to beat himself on the head, injuring himself.
"Dark Pulse!" Ash called out. Rotom smirked and immediately replied as it formed a dark orb in his appendages and launched it forwards in a dark wave.
"LOOK OUT! Gary yelled in vain to his pokemon, who wasn't even aware that he was being attacked. The dark type attack hit straight on and sent the large pokemon to his knees, as well as snapping him out of his confusion.
The boys looked at each other and grinned. One final attack to take it all.
"ICE BEAM!"
"DARK PULSE!"
Almost simultaneously, the attacks were launched towards their opponent, both passing each other, and hitting their designated target.
Both pokemon called out their respective names as they were hit and took on damage. How much was uncertain as both pokemon were pushed back violently.
For a moment, the two stared each other down..before smirking .
..Then, Nidoking fell to the ground, exhausted.
"Nidoking!" Gary said as he rushed to check on him.
His pokemon looked up at him and gave him a smile, one that the boy couldn't help but return, "You did great, bud.. take a nice long rest.." he said as he returned him to his ball.
"Gary?"
When the boy looked up at the call of his name, he saw something that he never thought he would see again. His rival, smiling at him.. a creepy smile, but a smile nonetheless, and not the smirk that he had been wearing for most of the battle.
"Tell me, what do you think of my new friends?.." he asked him as Rotom hovered next to him
Gary stood up and sighed, "They're pretty freaking strong, not to mention hard to hit. Maybe I was wrong about you Ashy-boy.." he said with a grumble, "Still, don't think I won't get stronger. You just caught me off guard, but I've learned from this little encounter and I'll use what I've learned for future battles, including our rematch. Believe me when I say I won't underestimate you again."
Ash could only chuckle, "And believe me Gary when I say, I look forward to it." He then frown, "But for now, I think you've overstayed your welcome.
That said, the boy once again snapped his fingers, and the Brown haired boy found himself hovering in mid air, before being rushed out of the room, and then the Tower, by an otherworldly force.
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Once Gary was outside after being forcefully expelled from the Tower, he saw that it was already morning.
Still, a lot of thoughts now plagued his mind as he ran to the Center. He thought about the battle, and how.. even with a handicap, Ash was able to pretty much dominate him in every match-up.
There was also the story Ash told him about Pikachu becoming Rotom. Was he telling the truth. Did Pikachu truly... die because of something his grandfather took part in. And if it were true, how in the reverse would did Pikachu become a Rotom?
Ash mentioned something about an otherworldly intervention...but what did that mean?
The whole thing made his head hurt.
Maybe he should ask Grandpa about what really happened that day...
/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
AAAANNNNDDD DONE!
PHEW! This was a tough chapter to write for some reason... maybe because I just don't have the free time I used to have to write. But don't worry guys. I'll still be updating as fast as I can, it'll just be a tad slower than before. That goes for all of my stories of course.
PLease Review and Follow if you like it.
Flames will be sent to the North Pole, and WON'T get a gift from Santa Clause.
