Chapter 2:
Ash got up and looked around the five star hotel penthouse he was staying in with Nefer. Not as luxurious as he was used to, but it would do. He walked across the rose petal covered floor, knocking over a few candles. He jumped into the shower and turned the water up full blast, and began sudsing his hair. He heard the sink turn on and heard some faint humming. As he rinsed his hair, he let the melody wash over him. It was familiar, and he loved it, and the girl singing it.
"You know, this shower is pretty big." He stated. The sink stopped, and a tan shape appeared in the frosted glass.
"Is it lonely?" The sweet voice reverberated throughout the bathroom, and Ash snickered.
"Yes. I could use some company." The door slid open, and Nefer peeked around the corner.
"Do you want me to go get you some company?" Ash coughed.
"No. Why don't you keep me company?" Nefer smirked, and slid the door open further, and stepped in.
~noOon~
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! This is the Tournament of Dreams, hosted by the mysterious CEO of Nightmare Industries!" Cheering echoed throughout the stadium. Charles Goodshow smiled, and his ear piece buzzed. He itched his ear to activate the listening module.
"Goodshow we have one Rogue, two hundred feet and... Hurk!" The second best security team in the four regions was being taken out by a single man... Or pokémon. Suddenly, the team captain came through the static.
"Goodshow! Get out of there! This guy's too fast. He is in like two places at once! How is he in two places in once? Agh!" The radio cut out. Goodshow was incredibly shocked. That room and hallway was directly backstage. All hopes for subtlety was abandoned.
"Echo 2! Respond!" The crowd quieted. "Echo 2!" The crowd began frantically whispering. He turned back to the crowd. "Excuse me a minute." He hobbled off the podium, and walked towards stage left. As he walked towards it, a hooded figure no one, save a small group of five, recognized. He spread his arms wide, in a friendly gesture.
"Charles!" Mr. Goodshow grinned.
"Mr. Nightmare! What a pleasure! Sorry to be abrupt, but my security team is experiencing a difficulty." Mr. Nightmare chuckled, and pulled a high powered rifle from beneath his coat. He handed it to a stunned Goodshow.
"Sorry about that, Chuck. I really don't appreciate having rifles shoved up my nose." Mr. Goodshow frowned, trying to think of something to say. "Mind if we take over?" Mr. Goodshow nodded numbly, and then realized something.
"We?" Nightmare said nothing.
"Hello everybody!" People clapped politely, confused as to who this man was, and how he was able to casually take out one of the best security teams in the regions. "My name isn't important, seeing as how I never use it. But, just for reference, call me Nightmare. Now, this tournament, I personally set up. I have reviewed official tournaments, and I have split you all up into three brackets. This tournament, being incredibly large, has evenly matched you up. Now, I'm not saying it was by skill, but it was by skill." Suddenly, Nightmare's PokéNav went off. He pulled it out of his pocket and spoke. "Ah, Romeo, how did the-" Nightmare stopped talking, listening intently. He turned back to the microphone. "I'm dreadfully sorry, but something's come up. My associate will fill you in on the rest of the details." Another hooded person stepped up, this one shorter and clearly female. She too handed Mr. Goodshow a rifle, and stepped up to the microphone. The men in the crowd whistled, much to Nightmare's discomfort. Suddenly, Brock jumped up on stage, kneeling and holding one of the hooded woman's hands.
"HI I'm Brock, and I love you!" Nightmare strolled back on stage, and hoisted Brock up by the collar of his shirt. Brock dangled over the crowd.
"Mr. Slate. If you ever touch my associate again, then I promise you, Mr. Forest will find it incredibly hard to run a foreclosed Gym." Nightmare hissed the threat. Brock paled and stopped struggling.
"How did you..." Nightmare laughed, dropping him on his butt.
"Oh Mr. Slate. I knew you for over five years. There isn't much I don't know about you and your friends." Brock gaped.
"Ash?" Nightmare didn't respond, merely walking off stage. Brock was broken out of his thoughts by Misty, who was currently braining him with a mallet. Nightmare's associate continued talking, ignoring Brock.
~noOon~
"Ashy-boy!" A brown haired man yelled. The hooded man, Nightmare, removed his hood, revealing his ruggedly handsome face, and unruly black hair.
"Gare-Bear!" He yelled. Gary was carrying a black duffel. "So, how did you do?" Gary grinned.
"Absolutely fantabulastic!" Ash laughed. "We got three new berry species, two Bulbasaur, one Charmander, and some anomalous magnetic rocks." Nightmare clapped his hands together.
"Wonderful! I have a surprise for you Gare-Bear!" Gary grinned. Ash's surprises were the best. "Close your eyes." Gary closed his eyes. Ash pulled a pokéball from his pouch. Instead of red and white, the ball was green on the bottom and on the top, with yellow frills. "Okay, open them!" Gary opened his eyes and looked at the ball. He loved it, but was honestly a bit disappointed. Ash laughed, seeing his friend grin, knowing he was disappointed. He put the ball in Gary's hands. "Open it." Gary threw the ball in the air, and out spilled a Kecleon. It was rather small, and Gary guessed it was recently hatched. "I have had the breeders working on this technique for three years. That Kecleon has Color Change, Protean, and Speed Boost!" Gary's eyes widened.
"Three abilities? How is that even possible?" Ash scratched the back of his head.
"Actually, I don't know any specifics. I run the company like that so I am not actually worth much." Gary laughed.
"And so the importance falls to operatives... Like me, and... Say, how is Nefer?"
"Well Mr. Oak," said Nefer, walking into the room. "I am doing fantabulastic." Gary rubbed the back of his head. Ash hugged her.
"So how was the rest of the ceremony?" Nefer snuggled up under Ash's arm.
"Okay. There were no more Brock outbursts, and I finished explaining the tournament rules. Oh, and Gary?" Gary smiled, Kecleon jumping up on his shoulder, like Pikachu had, a long, long time ago. "Kelsey was moved to the Platation Project. You can be moved there too, after the tournament." Gary grinned wildly. He scratched his chin, pretending to think.
"YES!" Gary yelled. Kelsey was his fiancé, and he had been assigned to a research mission. Ash laughed.
"Remember, Romeo, we need you to win. Then reveal you're Gary Oak, working for Nightmare, then I will reveal..."Ash looked to the left, towards the door. As if on cue, Max, May, Paul, Drew, Trip, Dawn, Misty and Brock all walked in. "May I help you?" Ash asked, barely containing his anger. Misty was furiously waiting. No one spoke. "No? Okay. As I was saying, Mr. Oak, I have had my breeding team working on that generation of Kecleon for a very, very long time. We also bred in the moves Withdraw, Pound and Lick, for your strategic usage." Max spoke up.
"Wait, Oak like Professor Oak? Oak like Gary Oak?" Gary sighed, and took off his hood. Everyone broke out in grins. "Gary!" Max screeched, throwing himself at Gary. They hadn't seen Gary for two years, when he had mysteriously called, saying he was done looking for Ash, and he was pursuing a job with an independent corporation. "Gary, can you battle me? Please!" Gary looked at Ash. He nodded, and Gary grinned.
"Sure, why not?" Since Ash had disappeared, Max had started looking up to Gary.
"I've got to warn you Gary, I've gotten stronger!" Nightmare snorted laughter, and Misty lost control of her temper. She flew at Nightmare, whipping her mallet downwards. Nightmare blurred, and Misty fell on her butt, surrounded by wooden splinters. Nightmare crouched down in front of her.
"Temper temper, Ms. Waterflower. Next time, the mallet might not be what breaks." He stood up, and turned with a dramatic swish of his cloak, and exited the room. He whispered something to Gary, and Gary grinned.
"Sure thing boss!" His friends gaped.
"Boss!?" They said in unison. Gary nodded.
"Yes. This, as you know and have met, is Nightmare, CEO and founder of Nightmare Industries. He gave me a job where I-". Nightmare cleared his throat, since he hadn't left yet. Nefer answered a short call, and whispered to Nightmare, who nodded. Nefer turned to Gary.
"Good news Gare-bear! Kelsey just flew in! She's landing in the heli over on the pokécentre field." Gary grinned so wide, Nightmare idley if his face hurt.
"That's amazing! When is she landing?" Nefer checked her Pokétch.
"In about... Fifteen minutes, forty-nine seconds. You know how she is with numbers. After you two catch up-". Max chose that specific moment to butt-in.
"Wait. Who's Kelsey?" Gary frowned.
"Has it really been that long?" Max nodded. Gary ran a hand through his hair. "Well... Uh... Kelsey... She's my... She's... Well... She's my fiancée." Everybody was shocked, but happy. They all slapped Gary on the back, congratulating their friend.
"What does she look like?" May and Dawn both asked. Gary beamed, and ran his hand through his hair again.
"Well... She's one of the most beautiful people ever... She has blonde hair, that goes to her waist... She's almost as tall as me, if not taller... She is a researcher in my division... Um..." The door opened. In walked a blonde woman. She was as tall as Gary, with long, slender legs. She was wearing a lab coat, with a short black skirt. Her blonde hair was tied in a tight bun. She was also wearing glasses, and a grin adorned her face. Under the coat she wore a Pokémon Ranger shirt from a recruitment rally in 1985.
"She's also really funny, with impeccable timing!" She held out her arms, and Gary grinned. He walked over to her, and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. They stepped away, and Kelsey looked at Nightmare. When the traitors had entered the room, he had hastily put his hood back on. She grinned widely. "Ash!" Everyone in the room froze, and her wide smile slowly disappeared. "Did I say something... Oh these are THOSE friends?" Gary nodded grimly. Nightmare muttered a half-felt excuse and ran out the door, Nefer following right after. Kelsey sighed, and her eyes teared up. Gary hugged her, and she sobbed an apology. "I'm sorry... I didn't know... Didn't think..." May whispered, barely daring to breathe.
"Wait, Gary." Gary turned to them vehemently.
"What!?" They were all taken aback by his fierceness. Max was meek.
"Does she mean, like Ash Ash? Like, OUR Ash?" Gary released a breath through his teeth, making a hissing noise. Max stepped back.
"No. That Ash died when-". Misty stepped forward.
"We already know that!" Gary hissed and stepped forward, fists clenched and knuckles white.
"Let me finish, bitch!" Misty was taken aback, and everyone gasped, including Kelsey. "He died when you all stabbed him in the back, on live television!" All of the traitors looked down, but Misty retorted.
"What makes you any different, Gare-bear! I saw you, on that nightshow, and you spent almost thirty minutes bashing him." Gary grunted, gritting his teeth.
"What makes me different, is I looked for him BEFORE he was proclaimed innocent. Even before Team Rocket stepped forward! None of you looked for him before you needed him. And guess what? Nightmare Industries just, as in two days ago, purchased Team Rocket from Giovanni for 2.7 BILLION dollars! He is giving the disband order as soon as the tournament is over. And you know why?" The group shook their heads numbly. Where did Ash get that much money? "He is doing that so no thirteen year old and his friends have to deal with them!" All of the traitors gaped, and tears formed in most of their eyes. Gary turned away, and walked out the door with Kelsey. The group was left to wallow in pity, and Max knelt, tears streaming down his face.
~noOon~
There's a chapter of Nightmare Tournament! Surprise from Kelsey, she ruined Ash's surprise. Girls always ruin everything (stomps foot like child). Just kidding! Girls are... Okay... Rate and Review, leave OC's. Anyway, this is Petrous, signing out.