A CHAMPIONS RISE
CHAPTER THREE: THE HUNT AND THE REUNION
Ash woke up bright and early the next morning. He was the only one up when he woke up Pikachu because he was raring to go find the Poacher. Ash quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake up Ursula or Sarah, and made his way to the living room with Pikachu in tow. Ash quickly ate a bowl of cereal just as fast as Pikachu ate his Pokemon food and the duo made a hasty exit to the door, glad to have not woken anyone else.
"Remember buddy, it doesn't matter that we don't find him. We know he's here anyway, we're just making sure everybody's in one piece and still has their Pokemon." Ash whispered to Pikachu as he hopped onto his right shoulder.
Pikachu merely nodded, afraid to do much else at the prospect of waking anybody in his & Ash's room or anyone else's room up. It was only about 5am, just before sunrise. Nobody but them would wake up this early, and they only did it to make sure everything was safe. Back on the mountain they got up just after sunrise to train all day with Aipom and the other Pokemon, Ursula and Sarah slept until 9 or 10.
Come to think of it, Pikachu thought, not much has changed since the mountain. Sure they weren't in a wooden cabin, sure there were no chilling winds and sure there were no explosions from training but they were still together. They were still a family, a family that helps other people who can't help themselves. He remembered how he and Ash left the mountain almost every day to fly around the world and help. Between Ash and Paul, they stopped more trouble than Team Rocket caused.
Pikachu smiled at the memory before remembering that they weren't on the mountain or flying around on Charizard, but walking around Lily of the Valley Island looking for what very well could be the most dangerous person in the Region.
The Knight of Darkness. Even the name brought shivers to Pikachu's spine. Back in Johto in Ecruteak City, soon after they 'adopted' Sarah, they discovered a string of missing Pokemon believed to be stolen right off their trainers belts and property. They duo spent a week in the city just trying to figure out what happened until they finally saw something that changed all their ideas. They saw a shady man demolish a trainer, obviously a new one, in a battle and claimed the Totodile used in the battle as his prize. He took the Pokeball away from the trainer and said something along the lines of 'Don't tell anyone.' Before walking away like nothing ever happened.
Turns out this had happened in multiple other cities across Johto and Kanto. It took just under 2 weeks doing nothing but following, training and preparing but the duo of Ash & Pikachu proved to be too much for the guy. After a battle of witch Ash and Pikachu were victorious, the police stopped him before he could take any Pokemon from Ash. They swore that they would keep him in prison as long as he was alive.
Guess Not.
This guy was dangerous. After the arrest the only story on the news was about the infamous 'Knight of Darkness' and his capture. Of course they wanted to put the duo's names and give them rewards but Ash wouldn't allow it, so they just said that 'A mysterious duo of man and Pokemon with an unbreakable bond has done more good than they know by saving and returning these Pokemon'. Not the best report but considering they couldn't mention much else without revealing themselves it was pretty good. After taking him down they figured it'd be best to lie low so they left the region all together and went to Hoenn. The Dewford Islands provided the perfect escape from the public.
After arriving at the Dewford Islands by using Feraligatr they figured they'd never see the Knight again. Guess they were wrong.
Pikachu was shaken from his thoughts when Ash spoke.
"Well buddy, I haven't see him yet and we've been out here for an hour. Wanna just go meet the guys?" Ash asked, referring to his Pokemon.
"Yea, I haven't heard anything either. Besides I miss the guys, it's been too long." Pikachu said back.
"Alright, lets go to the park and we'll do it there. I think they'd all love to meet the new guys. Too bad Aipom, Houndoom and Lucario are still asleep." Ash said as he started walking to the park.
"Well maybe they can be introduced later. Let's hurry up I'm suddenly sensing we're not alone here anyway." Pikachu said, looking over his shoulder.
"I felt that too. Is it human or Pokemon?" Ash asked curiously, looking side-to-side.
"I don't know but I do know it's coming closer. I can't tell what for though." Pikachu answered, his ears moving back and forth, trying to listen better.
Suddenly out of the bushes came a familiar purple figure that instantly ran up to Ash's free shoulder and rubbed her face against Ash's.
"Missed you too." Ash said to his Aipom while Pikachu snickered a little.
Suddenly out of nowhere a Hyper Beam was shot towards Ash and his Pokemon.
"Pi, ThunderBolt!" Ash responded quickly. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and shot a bolt of crackling electricity to hold off the Hyper Beam.
After the smoke cleared Pikachu flipped back onto the shoulder opposite Aipom as the 3 glared at the figure that was coming from the bushes. What they saw was enough to almost immobilize them. Standing in the bushes was a giant Tyranitar and next to it was a man, Ash's height, with a black hoodie and sweatpants on and he was wearing a hood. The Knight of Darkness has returned.
"I see we meet again. What a coincidence." The Knight said sarcastically. Ash rolled his eyes.
"Right. Coincidence. What do you want?" Ash asked, getting annoyed. He said but one word.
"Revenge." Before vanishing using a smoke cloud as a cover. Ash sighed.
"Looks like we got more work to do. Let's go home and get everyone else." Ash said as he started walking back to his hotel room.
After he got back to his hotel room, he took his Pokeballs that were in his room along with Lucario and Houndoom and made his way back outside, except this time he went towards an empty in the woods around the stadium.
Ursula woke up at 9 am to find Sarah still sleeping peacefully and her husband gone along with Pikachu and the other Pokemon. She smiled at the thought that he was probably re-uniting with his Pokemon. She got out of bed and was met with the sight of Paul placing his, hers and Sarah's breakfasts on the kitchen table.
"Knew you'd wake up soon." Paul told her smartly as he sat down.
"Thanks for making breakfast. I could use a break." Ursula said as she too sat down.
"No problem. Cooking everyday for so long has to be entitled to a day off once in a while right?" Paul asked knowingly.
Ursula just smiled and nodded her head as she started to eat the food Paul made, witch was pretty good considering she didn't think Paul cooked at all.
Sarah emerged from the bedroom Ursula was not too long ago and wordlessly sat down with Ursula and Paul to eat her food. Not too long into the meal, however, an explosion was heard. Then another. And another followed. Sarah, Ursula and Paul were getting quite annoyed so they went outside and made their way over to the smoke that was streaming into the sky.
When they arrived they saw Ash standing there, a little dazed, with Infernape and Meganium on 2 sides of the battlefield in front of him having a practice match that was tilting in favor of Infernape. Although they all knew something wasn't right, they decided to forget about it and let the man have his happy reunion with all his friends after all these years. So Sarah, Ursula and Paul silently turned and walked back to the Pokemon Center to continue their breakfast.
Ash, who was aware of their presence the whole time, sighed a heavily relieved sigh.
"Okay, you can stop." Ash said as Infernape and Meganium collapsed against each other right after the words left his mouth.
"Think they saw him Ash?" Aipom asked as she jumped from a tree onto his left shoulder.
"I don't think so. They didn't say anything about it. I'm just glad they bought the 'practice battle' cover-up. If they knew The Knight was here they'd never fell 100% safe." Ash thought out loud.
Aipom smiled and jumped off his shoulder and ran to play with Pikachu. Ash smiled at his 2 only un-evolved Pokemon. They were like brother and sister to each other since they found Aipom abandoned somewhere in the Hoenn region. Those 2, along with Lucario and Houndoom, were some his most trust-worthy Pokemon and along with Charizard, Sceptile and Feraligatr some of the strongest. Although Pikachu could take anyone in a 1-vs-1 match, he couldn't take the elemental Trio together. But then again, even Legendries have fallen to these giants. Charizard had beaten the Legendary Birds 1-on-1, Sceptile had beaten the Legendary Golems 1-on-1 and Feraligatr had beaten the Legendary Kami Trio 1-on-1. However despite their size Pikachu and Aipom have accomplished quite a lot. Aipom had taken down Jirachi and Celebi separately and Pikachu hasn't been beaten in a 1-on-1 in forever, even against Legends.
Houndoom's senseless barking interrupted ash's thoughts. Ash turned to see what had the dog-like Pokemon so excited or aggregated. When he turned he saw something just as bad as The Knight of Darkness. He saw the very people who turned their back on him. He saw the very people who made him give up his life and live in hiding. He saw the VERY PEOPLE who killed his mother. He saw his old friends. Walking to him.
Trip was walking and talking with his friends as they headed to the woods to do some training. He was talking to Misty and Dawn, as Iris and Cilan had a separate conversation and Brock, May and Max lagged behind everyone else, having their own talk.
"Do you think he'll ever come back?" Max asked hopefully.
Even though no name was mentioned, May and Brock still knew all-to well who he was talking about. Ash. After they realized Ash wasn't bad luck and that Trip had turned them on their best friend, the 3 became almost inseparable as nobody else felt bad about turning on Ash. Every time the 3 were alone they'd discuss Ash. If they thought he was alive and okay, if they thought he'd come back and even if they'd see him. Most importantly if he would forgive them. That was what worried them the most.
"Maybe. Who knows, he might even be here." May said positively. She was trying to convince herself more than Max.
"I hope so. I miss him." Max said quietly.
Before the conversation could go any further, there was a loud and annoying barking sound coming from the left. They realized it was coming from the woods they were going to train in. They all turned and saw a man with a black cloak hanging off his shoulders and a hat hiding his hair. He was standing before a large variety of Pokemon but he didn't seem to be paying attention. He appeared to be deep in thought about something.
'Must be really important to not notice that barking'
That was the unanimous thought of Trip and the others as they walked closer and closer to the man, hoping to learn something about a possible opponent. This man also somehow reminded them of someone they once knew, but none of them could place from where.
The man must have finally noticed them because he now had all but 4 of his Pokemon returned to their Pokeballs. Now all that was left was a Pikachu and Aipom on his shoulders, a Lucario at his left side and Houndoom by his right. And they were all staring blankly towards them.
"Hello sir." Cilan spoke up as they came closer to the man.
"Hello." The man replied, quick and coldly.
"Now I remember you! You yelled at us before!" Dawn cried, remembering the night they yelled at Sarah and Ursula.
"Don't remember." He replied. He seemed to genuinely not remember and they bought it, not noticing the smirk Houndoom wore for his master.
"Are you competing?" Misty asked, changing the subject.
"Yes. How many of you are?" The man asked. This was the most they heard him speak since getting here.
"I am." Trip, Misty, and Max said simultaneously with their hands being pointed up a little for clarity.
Ash, still unknown to them, smirked. This was going to be more fun than he thought. Pikachu grinned just as much as Ash along with the other Pokemon at the thought of the confused looks on their faces when Ash's name was revealed in the finals of the tournament.
"So, you are the 3 who will have the pleasure of losing to me." Ash said in a confident tone. Pikachu, for added effect, stuck his tongue out at them.
The aforementioned people glared towards them, as if to say that they had no intentions of losing at all.
"Well what's your name? I'd like to know who I'm going to beat." Trip said cockily. Ash just smirked.
"I go by many names these days, but you may call me Red." Ash said mysteriously. Pikachu could hardly hold back a chuckle at his partners 'code name'.
The traitors however, seemed to buy it as they merely bit him a goodbye and walked away towards the Pokemon Center. As they left earshot Ash turned to Aipom.
"You battle first tomorrow. Lucario if she falls or I say otherwise you'll get a battle tomorrow too. Houndoom I'll save you for later. Look at the bright side, you battle the stronger Pokemon." Ash ordered. Aipom cheered, Lucario nodded and Houndoom barked in approval. They all loved a good battle.
Pikachu smiled. He loved battling more than anyone, except maybe Charizard and Sceptile. Those power-hungry fool. They could never get enough training. He knew he'd get a really good battle in this tournament too, he could feel it. Everyone in his family knew almost no battle could be as tough and frightening as witnessing a battle between Charizard, Sceptile and himself. Feraligatr and Floatzel were close in power, so was Houndoom, but they weren't in the 'Top 3' as Sarah called it. It was her name for Ash's 3 most powerful Pokemon that consisted of the mighty fire dragon, the agile grass lizard and 'innocent' electric mouse. The 'Top 5' is what extended to Feraligatr and Houndoom.
Ash turned his head to see his partner deep in thought over something and chuckled a little. It was funny to him because Pikachu never really over thought things so it was a little funny to see it when it happened.
"Alright guys, lets go get some food then we can walk around until lunch and then train a little bit. Sound okay?" Ash asked, not expecting an actual answer though, he knew his Pokemon loved food, peaceful walks AND training.
Just as he expected they all smiled widely at him and assumed their usual spots. Pikachu hopped onto his right shoulder and Aipom jumped to his left while Lucario stood by Ash's left side and Houndoom by his right. After that the trainer started towards the Pokemon Center, falling into step with his 2 walking Pokemon. They left the wooded training area and made a left to go back to their room. On their walk Ash and Pikachu saw so many people they knew from their lives before.
There was Barry in a tag battle with Zoey against Burgundy and Morrison. They saw Tyson training Blaziken. They saw Lance flying on Dragonite. They saw The Knight demolishing Brock, May and Max with Tyranitar. They saw Gary Oak trying to flirt with a girl. He didn't see anything too unusual.
Wait, what? Ash did a double take to confirm his thoughts and was proved right when he saw the people he traveled through Hoenn with about to be destroyed by his worst enemy in an ally, of all places. Ash sighed. Couldn't the world give him a break?
"Houndoom, Dark Pulse!"
Ash called suddenly, and before the words even completely left his mouth, the dog-like Pokemon fired a dark orb attack that intercepted the Hyper Beam of the Pseudo Legendary, who looked pretty pissed. Brock, May and Max returned Swampert, Blaziken and Gallade respectively before hiding behind 'Red' as they knew him, as The Knight growled and Tyranitar glared.
"If you leave now 'Hero' you may have your Pokemon." The Knight said threateningly.
Brock, May and Max gasped at the threat but to their surprise Ash or 'Red' chuckled lightly and his Pokemon smirked.
(Authors Notice; I'll say 'Ash' but they don't know its Ash, they still think he's Red so unless someone else besides his Pokemon, Paul, Ursula and Sarah call him Red, I'll write Ash.)
"You and I both know, a little too well, that won't happen. Is this your idea of a trap or are you just trying to get me pissed to get a better shot at winning?" Ash asked, a little too cocky for Brock & the others comfort.
"Red, this guys no amateur." Brock warned, May and Max nodding fiercely, worry spread across all their faces.
"I assure you, neither am I." Ash said, in the same whisper as Brock.
Brock and the siblings gulped worriedly. If this guy couldn't walk-the-walk they'd all be done for. Although he did seem like he knew what he was doing, so they let it go for now as they waited to see what Red would do next. Although they couldn't put their fingers on it, but their was something familiar about this Red fellow.
"Pi, Lucario, Houndoom, Aipom use Escape Maneuver 4." Ash called seriously.
With a nod, they all jumped into action. Pikachu jumped in front of Tyranitar while he crackled with electricity that surrounded his entire body. Lucario put a blue bubble made of aura around Brock, May and Max. Houndoom, while never leaving Ash's side, gathered heat in his mouth and prepared for Ash's order to fire. Aipom stood by Pikachu's side with her tail glowing white, ready to slam into something at a moments notice.
Before anybody could do, say or question anything a white bolt of electricity came from the sky and headed to Pikachu. Before they could connect, Pikachu did a back flip and landed on Ash's shoulder. The lightening did a sharp turn and went into Aipom's glowing tail, although the monkey looked completely fine. Aipom quickly swung her tail into the ground and released the electricity as she too hopped back onto Ash. On Ash's nod Houndoom released a flamethrower at the exact spot Aipom struck the floor. On impact with the electricity the fire and static exploded violently, causing a huge crowd of smoke to appear clouding everyone's vision, but Ash's voice rang through the smoke, screaming but one word.
"Now!" and with that little word, Ash, Pikachu, Aipom, Houndoom, Lucario, Brock, May and Max found themselves vanishing into thin air. As the smoke cleared the only thing left in the ally was a confused Poacher, a pissed Tyranitar and confused bystanders. Refusing to go back to jail, the Knight hustled away with Tyranitar as fast as he could, but also avoiding suspicion. He knew, however, to be free he must get rid of the most troubling thorn in his side. Ash Ketchum and Pikachu.
I STILL DON'T OWN ANYTHING.
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT 'A HERO'S RETURN' WITH ITS NEW ALTERNATE ENDING AND 'UNOVA: THE NEXT STOP' WITCH WILL BE UPDATED AFTER CHAPTER 4 FOR THIS STORY IS UP.
SO I KNOW YOU GUYS HAD QUESTIONS LIKE 'IF MAY FEELS BAD, WHY DID BLAZIKEN BURN ASH'S HOUSE?' WELL DON'T WORRY ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN TIME. AND NO I'LL TRY NOT TO MAKE IT STUPID LIKE 'UMM I FORGOT'
LIKE I SAID, CHAPTER 4 FOR THIS STORY WILL BE UPLOADED BEFORE THE NEXT CHAPTER OF MY OTHER UN-FINISHED STORY, THE REASON BEING I'M FAVORING THIS STORY A LITTLE MORE CONSIDERING I'VE BEEN WRITTEN A LOT ABOUT WRITING MORE 'BETRAYAL' ASH STORIES.
SPEAKING OF WITCH I HAVE OTHER IDEAS FOR BETRAYAL FICS AND PLAN ON MAKING MORE EVENTUALLY BUT NOT UNTIL AT LEAST THIS STORY OR MY ASH/GEORGIA STORY IS DONE. IM NOT SURE IF THEY'LL BE BETTER OR WORSE BUT I'LL GIVE IT A SHOT. IN CASE YOUR WONDERING YES ASH WILL HAVE SARAH IN ALL OF MY BETRAYAL FICS AND THE TEAM ROCKET TRIO WILL MOST LIKELY BE IN HIS FAMILY IN MOST OF THEM TOO.
THAT'S ABOUT IT FOR NOW. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY NEXT UPLOADS!
