Chapter 2: The Return Of The Champion!
On their way to Veilstone City for Ash's third badge and to Solaceon Town for Dawn's second ribbon, they run into their old friend, Cynthia, the Sinnoh League Champion on the trail that they were walking on. Lucky, for them that it wasn't surrounded by trees or they would have thought that she was someone else.
"Hey Cynthia, what are you doing here?" asked Ash as soon as he saw who it was and trying to catch up to her.
"I'm here to research about the Unown and its connection to the legendary pokemon, Dialga and Palkia. What are you doing here as well?" asked Cynthia as she stopped to wait for the other to catch up to her.
"Well, we're on our way to Veilstone City for my next gym battle." answered Ash as they stopped to talk to her a while on the trail.
"And I'm going to compete in a pokemon contest in Solaceon Town." answered Dawn as well as she was next to Ash on his right.
"Oh my Cynthia, you and I are going to research all over Sinn-OH!!!" said Brock as Croagunk gave him a Poison Jab as he was on Ash's left. Ash and Dawn just looked at each other and rolled their eyes as they remembered how Brock was with all of the beautiful women that he met.
"Right now, I'm on my way to both Veilstone and Solaceon as well, to find out more about the Unown." said Cynthia as she was thinking about what a coincidence it was to run into them.
After noticing that she was about to go, Ash had an idea which was quite a shocker as his ideas didn't work for most of the time.
"Why don't you come along with us, Cynthia?" asked Ash as he stopped her from taking a step away from them.
"Do you mind if I stop along the way in certain cities and towns for my research?" asked Cynthia as she brought her foot back from the step that she took.
"As long as I'm with you, Cynthia, I'll always stop to do research with YOU!!!!!" Brock added as Croagunk got him again. Apparently, Croagunk didn't trust Brock whether or not he was flirting with her.
"I think you went a little too far with that, Croagunk." said Dawn as she was watching it start to pull Brock away.
While everyone laughed at the poor man's misfortune as he was being drugged away by Croagunk, they didn't realize that Team Rocket wasn't around so let's see what their up to.
(With Team Rocket)
"I can't believe that League Champion joined up with the twerps again, but this time, she'll be with them all the time now instead of running into them, helping them out and leaving like before." said Jessie in disbelief as they were watching this from a close by bush.
"I know it's hard for it to sink in and everything, but let's just face it you two, we can steal her pokemon as well as Pikachu." said Meowth as it was snapping Jessie out of it and telling them that they have more valuable pokemon to steal.
"You're right, Meowth. We can hit two trainers with one pokeball by snatching both the twerp's pokemon and the Champion's pokemon at once, but where are they going now?" asked James as he didn't know where they were going.
"I know! They're going to Solaceon Town for a pokemon contest for the twerpette to compete in so let's go there and wait for them." said Jessie as she was already leaving them behind because she wanted to get going to Solaceon and arrive there before the twerps do.
"Hey! Wait up for us!" said James and Meowth in unison as they were trying to catch up to Jessie, who was way a head of them.
(Back With The Gang)
"Is everybody ready?" asked Brock as he was trying to get over Croagunk hitting him twice.
"Yeah!" said the two girls in unison as they were ready to get to Solaceon Town.
"Ash, is everything ok?" asked Dawn as she noticed that Ash wasn't paying attention because he heard something close by.
"Huh? Oh yeah. I thought that I heard something that's all." answered Ash as he was pulled back by Dawn into reality from where the sound came from.
"Then let's go!" said Brock leading the way as they continued on the trail again.
And with that, our heroes, now including Cynthia, continue on their way to Veilstone City and Solaceon Town.
Still on their way to Veilstone and Solaceon, our heroes, now including Cynthia, continue on their way until they run into a person Ash never wanted as a rival, Paul in an area with trees surrounding the trail.
"Well, if it isn't the 'Pathetic Squad' and Cynthia, what are you doing them?" asked Paul in his usual non-friendly tone when he saw them again.
"Come of it, Paul! You're just mad because she wanted to travel with us instead of you." replied Ash starting to get angry about what Paul just said.
"Why you little…" started Paul, but Cynthia stopped him short before he said anything that he would regret saying it at all.
"Stop it, you two. Paul, I'm traveling with them because they were going the same way that I was, that's all." answered Cynthia trying to calm both Ash and Paul down at the same time and it worked.
"Paul, I challenge you to a one-on-one match. My Pikachu against your Electabuzz. What do you say?" asked Ash in a challenging voice as he was trying to see if Paul has gotten stronger since their last meeting.
"I accept your challenge, Ash, but you'll regret challenging me to a battle." answered Paul as he was walking toward a little area that looked just fine for a battle.
"I'll be the referee." said Brock as he was taking his position on the sidelines near the battlefield in the little area.
Both trainers took their positions on each side of the battlefield, which was just a field that was by the trail that Ash and friends were traveling on. They got into their battle positions with Ash taking his usual stance along with Paul. Brock stood in between Ash, who was on his right, and Paul, who was on his left, on the sidelines as he was hoping that it wouldn't be that bad of a battle between them like usual.
"This match between Ash and Paul is about to begin. Trainers ready?" asked Brock.
"Yeah!" answered Ash and Paul in unison.
"Then let the match begin!"
"Go Pikachu!"
"Electabuzz, Stand By! You can have the first move." said Paul.
The first couple of attacks clashed together, nobody giving in until, HE showed up again. In the middle of the battle, Ash was possessed, for the rest of the match, by the King of Pokelantis.
Dawn, Cynthia, and Paul didn't know what was happening to Ash, but poor Brock knew what was happening.
"Not the King of Pokelantis again." said Brock to himself. The way that Brock knew what was happening was that Ash slumped over for about a few seconds before he stood back up with an evil grin wide on his face unlike usual. He could also feel the aura that was being emitted from Ash's body and he knew that it was evil by the way that it felt on his skin.
"Pikachu, finish it! Volt Tackle full power!" The King, for short, commanded.
Paul didn't command Electabuzz to dodge because he was too afraid of what Ash was making Pikachu do. Anyone who looked at Paul could tell that he was terrified by the King and he could feel how powerful the aura was in the air and on his skin.
Electabuzz was knocked out on the spot once it was hit in the stomach.
"Electabuzz is unable to battle. Pikachu is the winner!" said Brock still in shock of what just happened in the battle.
"WHAT?! How could that happen?!" exclaimed Paul in shock as he quickly swapped the look of terrified to a look of confusion and shock. He couldn't say anything else because he always thought that Ash was a weakling that could never pass him.
"Ha Ha Ha! Nice try, pathetic loser. I like to stay around, but I have to go. See ya soon, losers!" said the King before he left Ash's body. Everybody could feel the aura go back into Ash's body before he fell onto the ground on his stomach. Ash was knocked unconscious when the King left him as he wasn't expecting that to happen after what happened back at the Battle Pyramid with Brandon.
"Ash? Ash! Wake up, please wake up!" yelled Dawn as Paul was leaving, still in shock of Ash beating him for the first time ever.
Brock went over to check on him and found out that he was ok.
"He's ok, but I'm starting to worry about him." said Brock as he was examining Ash from head to toe.
"Brock, what was that all about with Ash?" asked Dawn looking at him with a confused look on her face. Her look gave out an expression that said 'What the heck is going on around here?'
"I'll explain later on." said Brock as he was getting up from kneeling by Ash.
While everyone is still shocked at what happened in the battle, let's see where Team Rocket is.
(Somewhere Along The Road To Solaceon Town)
"Are we there yet?" asked James and Meowth in unison as they were lagging behind Jessie.
"No! And quit complaining, you two slackers. You two are the reason why we never get Pikachu so let's keep going." said Jessie in an annoyed tone as she kept on walking.
"Ok, Jessie. Hey! Wait a minute! We're not slackers!" said the two in unison as they stopped for a minute when they heard that last part.
"Then what are you?" asked Jessie as she was still walking with her back turn to them.
"We're your servants." replied the two in unison sadly as they started to follow her again.
"That's what I thought you were." said Jessie in a nonchalant tone as she was still walking a little farther from them.
(Back With The Gang)
"Are you sure that he's alright because he's been knocked out for awhile now?" asked Cynthia as she was concerned about Ash and looking in his direction as he laid on the ground still.
He was still lying on the ground, but now he is lying on his back after Brock rolled him over while he was checking him out.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure he's fine. Why don't we set up camp for the night so that he can rest a little bit easier?" asked Brock as he was trying to reassure both of them, but he wasn't completely sure about that.
"After what happened today, I think that sounds like a good idea to me." answered Dawn as she was starting to perk up a bit. She had been down ever since Ash hit the ground after the King left his body to go back to wherever he came from.
And with the King of Pokelantis making his first appearance since the Battle Pyramid, our heroes have someone else to worry about more than Paul, someone more evil to deal with on their journey.
After the battle between them and Paul leaving feeling very dejected after the battle and a good night's sleep, they discover that they're only a day's walk to Solaceon Town. They stopped in a little area that was open with trees surrounding it except for a little area where they could still see the trail.
"We're so close to Solaceon Town, I can already taste that second ribbon!" exclaimed Dawn excitedly as she was trying to forget about what happened yesterday with Ash.
"Is she always like this before a pokemon contest?" asked Cynthia as she was also trying to forget about yesterday and wondering if Dawn was like this all of the time.
"It's her way of being psyched." explained Brock as he was thinking about dawn was always like before a contest and trying to forget yesterday too.
Just when Brock finished explaining Dawn's way of being psyched to Cynthia, Ash's way of being psyched could never be explained to anybody because he was training up a storm like always.
Ash was busy training Buizel and Chimchar with Turtwig and Staravia to get ready for the gym battle in Veilstone. He was acting as if nothing happened yesterday with the King taking over or that he was unconscious afterwards.
"Buizel, Aqua Jet, Chimchar, Flamethrower, Turtwig, Razor Leaf, and Staravia, Aerial Ace!" commanded Ash, leaving Pikachu on the sidelines because of the battle yesterday. He decided that if he was going to train today, he would leave Pikachu out because it needed a rest from battling so hard in yesterday's battle with Paul.
"Hey Ash, maybe you could settle down on the training for a little while?" asked Brock as he was worried about Ash's health.
"Why should I, Brock? I'm at the top of my game." asked Ash as he was curious to why Brock wanted him to settle down with his training. He still had no idea about the King taking over during the battle, but he was going to find out soon enough.
"Because of what happened yesterday in your battle with Paul." answered Brock as he was hoping that Ash remembered about the King taking over during the match.
"What are you talking about, Brock?" asked Ash as he was stepping away from his training for awhile as he was slashing Brock's hope about the King.
"Don't you remember the King of Pokelantis possessing you during the battle with Paul?" asked Brock as he was curious to why Ash would have amnesia about the King showing up yesterday.
"No. The only battle that I can remember was back at the Battle Pyramid with Brandon." answered Ash as he had no idea about the King taking over yesterday.
"Alright! Tell us the truth guys! Who's this 'King of Pokelantis' anyway?" asked Dawn and Cynthia in unison. They finally couldn't take it anymore and they wanted to find out who this 'King of Pokelantis' so that they would know what happened about yesterday.
"Well, I guess we can go ahead and tell you guys what happened." answered Brock as he was asking Ash and he just shook his head 'Yes' as he was uncertain about telling them about the King and how stupid he was to release the King into his body. "Well, it happened like this…"
(Flashback) In case you didn't notice.
They were at the Battle Pyramid, which was just outside of Pewter City, when they fell down into the Pokelantis Ruins and found a stone statue of Pikachu, which Ash picked up and before long they were being chased by a giant boulder, just like in the Indiana Jones movies. They met Brandon, the Pyramid King, who told them about the King of Pokelantis and stopped the giant boulder from crushing them, who 'supposedly' captured a Ho-Oh in a Stone Pokeball and Ash ran to find it and found the King's chambers where both he and Pikachu fell into the chamber and on the King's thrown, was the Stone Pokeball, but instead of Ho-Oh being inside of it, he found the King of Pokelantis' evil spirit inside it and possessed Ash for the first battle with Brandon and lost miserably after Brandon' Regirock beat Ash's Sceptile. After that, Ash regained control long enough to tell Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on him and that expelled the King's spirit from Ash's body and Brandon said the spell that put the King back into the Stone Pokeball and Ash had to battle Brandon two more times after that on his own.
(End Flashback)
"And we thought we were done with him until the King showed up yesterday with Paul." finished Brock as he was happy that they knew about the King better than before.
"Wow! I never heard that story before, Brock." complemented Dawn. She was thankful that she never heard about the King of Pokelantis before, but now she was starting to have second thoughts about the truth about him, but she decided that it probably wouldn't be that bad so she just accepted it.
"I heard about him when I was traveling to be stronger, but I never believed it until yesterday, guys." said Cynthia as she remembered about being in Kanto and looking inside of the ruins before the Battle Pyramid was there.
And with Brock explaining what happened to Ash the day before, our heroes are about to enter Solaceon Town after a good night's sleep and a miles walk in the morning.
Here's the new and improved Chapter 2! I combined Chapters 2, 3, and 4 into one chapter so I hope that you like it. Thanks, MediaMessiah for helping me out!