Story four
Betrayed To What End?
Ash Ketchum was walking home, his head held up high. He had barely gotten second place in the Hoenn Grand Festival… but it had been a close match, so he was well on his way to becoming a pokémon master.
His amber brown eyes spied the home of Professor Oak. He planned on going there to see all of his pokémon pals that he'd made throughout the years. Pokémon such as Snivy, Oshawott, Taillow, Greninja, Jigglypuff, Butterfree, Lucario, Charizard, Pikachu, Buizel, Poipole, Sceptile and many, many more.
After some more walking, he found himself at the foot of the stairs that led to the front doorstep of Professor Samuel Albert Oak. Grinning, he started up them.
A smell hit his nose out of nowhere. At first, he dismissed it as nothing more than a bonfire, or a wandering fire-type. However, as he smelled it more and more… he realized with horror what it actually was.
Burning thatch.
His veins felt like they were pumping ice. "Shit… Shiiiit!" he screamed, sailing down the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he didn't stop. He just kept on running through the town. Even as his legs screamed at him to stop… Even as his lungs screamed at him to breathe… he just wouldn't stop running.
He didn't stop running until he turned the final corner that led to his destination. When he reached it, his eyes went as wide as they could go. He dropped to his knees in despair.
His home was on fire. Mimey was also crucified to the wall.
Ash cried. How could this have happened!?
Forcing himself to his aching legs, he moved onwards, towards what was once his home. He gave a wail of despair when he saw the cause of the flames.
It was his friends. They were dancing outside of his burning home… as if they were full of glee over what had happened to the unfortunate trainer. All of them were also brandishing burning torches and gasoline.
When they saw him, all of his 'friends' began to chant evilly.
"Ash Ketchum, give up on your dream!" Misty screamed.
"You suck as a trainer, so you deserve this!" Cynthia cried.
"This is all your fault!" Drew shouted.
"You suck dicks! End the dream!" Ursula shrieked.
"You should never train again!" Samurai cried.
"What a kid! Can't even beat a simple league!" Kenny shouted.
"This will teach you a lesson you'll never forget!" Delia shouted.
"You'll go to Hell before you die!" Kiawe yelled.
"Join the flames, ya bastard!" the Iron Masked Marauder yelled.
"Die a virgin!" Giovanni shouted.
Ash wailed even harder at the sneers of the traitors. Why…? Why had all of his closest friends betrayed him!?
"Halt!" an officer jenny yelled, riding in on a bicycle with her growlithe in the basket. "What is going on around here!?"
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God! Officer Jenny!" he cried out for her. "They-"
Everyone pointed at Ash. "He did it!" they all yelled.
"I knew it!" Officer Jenny shouted, pulling a pair of handcuffs and a handgun out. "Ash Ketchum, because of the overwhelming evidence stacked against you… you are under arrest for burning down the Ketchum residence and the murder and rape of that melting mr. mime."
"Oh no!" Ash screamed in true despair. How could those traitors have done this!?
Ash pulled out a pokéball and summoned Goodra. "Goodra, use Fly, now!" he yelled, jumping onto its back.
After glaring at the traitors for a short while, the slimy dragon gave a few experimental flaps of his wings before taking off into the air.
As they flew towards Professor Oak's lab - so that Ash could rescue all of his pokémon - Ash's brows furrowed enough to make his head become tainted with creases. Those traitors would pay for their betrayal.
They would pay… with their lives.
Satoshi Red smirked as he looked over the mountains of Mt. Silver. His home. His training grounds. His last ten years of refuge away from the law… and the traitors.
Right now was not a time for being sad, however. Now was the time to claim what was rightfully his.
They would know the name… of Satoshi Red.
Allowing his cape to billow behind him, the trainer recalled his butterfree, who had very recently defeated a tyranitar. Giving a light tug of his red cap, he strolled down the mountain, towards the Alola League.
To the cheers of the huge crowd surrounding him, Satoshi Red gave a wave of his arm. Seeing this, his pidgeot fired a Hyper Beam laser towards their enemy. Misty's togepi.
The spike ball pokémon didn't last a second before exploding into a thousand pieces.
The red-haired traitor screeched in anger. That had been her last pokémon, officially ending her progression through the league.
Smirking and giving a tug of his red cap, Satoshi Red strode over to her as she fell to her knees in defeat.
"Whoever you are… you… suck as a trainer…!" she mumbled.
Satoshi Red gave a light shake of his head before decapitating her on the spot with a blade of aura.
The crowd cheered. A short while later, Satoshi Red's next opponent was sent out onto the battlefield: Professor Birch.
The man glared. "I don't know who you are…" he started, bringing out some pokéballs, "… but give up on your dream!" He threw a pokéball, producing a zigzagoon.
Satoshi Red lightly shook his head. He held up an arm and clenched his fist.
Ambipom fell from the sky and kicked the zigzagoon hard enough for it to be embedded in the earth.
Satoshi Red grinned as Professor Birch clenched his teeth. This was going perfectly…
"I won't let you win, villain! You hear me!?" Ridley yelled, baring his teeth while holding his last pokéball.
Hah… the other hundred traitors who had all been at the league had said the exact same thing. Still, Satoshi Red did not care. Snorting, he performed a crotch thrust.
Primeape caused a supernova, making Ridley's meloetta faint violently.
"Noooo!" Ridley screamed, dropping to his knees and pounding the ground. "How could a loser like you have beaten me!?"
Not answering him, Satoshi Red slowly walked up to him. Once close enough, he placed a hand onto the man's head, gripped onto his hair and yanked his head clean off his shoulders.
The crowd cheered loudly.
Satoshi Red huffed and faced his final opponent, who entered through the gates in a grand manner. The current champion of Alola… and the biggest of the traitors… James.
"… Are you ready to lose… Ash Ketchum?" James asked with a malicious smirk.
Everyone in the crowd gasped at his words. Satoshi Red simply huffed aloofedly and tipped his red hat.
"Oh…?" James scoffed. "Are you trying to say that Ash as we once knew him is now dead? And has been ever since that horrible day when I framed you for arson, murder and sexual shenanigans?"
The entire crowd in the stadium gasped a second time at the confession.
Satoshi Red simply placed a hand on his pokéball. Whatever. He was ready for battle.
He casually tossed out his pokéball. Lapras jumped out of it and landed on the ground.
James smirked aggressively and produced a pokéball. "Ash Ketchum…" He threw his pokéball, allowing a meowth to jump out of it. "I will let you know the pain of your desires!"
Looking at Lapras, Satoshi Red tapped his own shoulder with a balled fist. The whale with a shell pokémon gave an angry wail and charged up an attack.
The meowth allowed its claws to lengthen until they were five inches long.
Lapras fired off hundreds of thousands of Swift stars. They all flew in the meowth's direction, but the cat stepped to the side, causing them all to miss.
Satoshi Red huffed and flicked his head to the side. Lapras dove beneath the waves and appeared behind the enemy cat.
"Go, Meowth! Use Apocalyptic Death!" James screamed.
The meowth turned around and punched Lapras with all of his might. The shell whale was sent flying several feet away, but she stood her ground.
Satoshi Red stamped on the ground. Lapras ran around the stadium at an impossible speed.
"Meowth, it's time for… Emergency Genocide!" James commanded.
Meowth opened up a rift in time and space and killed Lapras.
Satoshi Red growled. Huffing, he brought out his haunter. When the haunter landed on his feet, Satoshi Red waved his arms.
Haunter grabbed Meowth and pulled out his skeleton.
"Oh no!" James cried. He sneered while pulling out another ball. "No matter… Go, Mime. Jr!" He dropped his ball, producing a little clown. "Use Chaos Crash!"
Mime. Jr. jumped into the air, did a forwards somersault and sliced open Haunter's neck.
The ghost screeched before deflating into a bloody mess on the ground.
Satoshi Red clicked his tongue and sent out his next pokémon. Larvitar.
The trainer performed a kick straight into the air. The young rock picked up Sophocles' dead body from an earlier battle and swung it around in a broad circle.
Mime. Jr. was hit by it and sent flying backwards at terminal speeds. Upon hitting the wall, he showered the cheering audience with his blood and guts.
"Mime. Jr! No!" James screeched. He growled and brought out another pokéball. He threw it. "Weezing, use Cacophonic Gut Philander!"
The weezing leaped out of its ball and continuously scratched at Larvitar with elongated claws.
Satoshi Red performed a sweeping motion with an arm. The small rock dodged the many slashes that had been sent his way by the poisonous cherry. He took one to his arm and tail, but otherwise managed to avoid most of them.
Satoshi Red held an arm out and tightly clenched a fist. The two holes on Larvitar's front produced a laser each. One blue and one yellow. The blue laser hit the larger of Weezing's two balls, freezing it. The yellow laser hit the smaller one of Weezing's balls, frying it.
The combination of attacks caused Weezing to fall to the ground, coughing up blood. He struggled briefly before collapsing.
Larvitar celebrated with a small dance. He looked pale and stopped dancing after a small while. He disintegrated.
Satoshi Red grit his teeth. Delayed poison…
"Hah! One for one!" James mocked while bringing out another pokéball. "This next one won't go down so easily, though!" He threw the ball. "Go, Inkay and Yamask!"
While the two pokémon materialized on the field, Satoshi Red brought out two pokémon of his own. Raticate and Squirtle, who both appeared on the field.
James held out an arm. "Inkay, use Soul Begetter! Afterwards, Yamask, use Memories Of The Other Life!" he ordered.
Inkay spun around on the spot at near light-speeds. Yamask pulled out some rope and held it next to Inkay before tugging on it as hard as he could. Inkay turned into a thousand different copies of herself, who faced Satoshi Red's pokémon. All of them jogged towards his pokémon at a rapid pace.
Satoshi Red smirked and turned around to face the other direction.
Squirtle nodded and brought out the two water cannons from his shoulders. Raticate jumped on top of the tortoise in time to be fired towards the inkays at an impressive speed.
The inkays held up their hands in an attempt to stop him. However, as Raticate flew close by, he quickly swerved to his side to smash into a load of them. As they died immediately, he swerved in the other direction, causing many more to lose their lives. He did this multiple times until every last one was destroyed. All except for one, who was still spinning.
Satoshi Red gave Raticate a side glance.
Raticate lifted his tail, which was glowing white. When close enough to the spinning squid, Raticate fired an aura black hole from his mouth. It enveloped Inkay, causing her to melt.
James growled in agitation, though he stood his ground.
Raticate turned to fly upwards, high into the air. He came down spinning into a landing next to Squirtle, who gave him a nod of respect.
Satoshi Red scratched the underside of his nose. Raticate and Squirtle gave a loud battle cry while running towards the remaining pokémon.
"… Yamask…" James started darkly. "… Genesis Mega Drive…"
Yamask produced two rainbow-colored wings. He gave a shrill shriek and unleashed a huge wave of energy all around himself, destroying the entire league's coliseum. Satoshi Red's two pokémon were blown far, far into the distance, further than the naked eye could see.
Satoshi Red clenched a fist in anger. Damn it. For a pokémon to be this powerful meant only one thing.
He needed to use the bond phenomenon.
Bringing out one pokémon in particular, Satoshi Red closed his eyes and focused. He focused on linking his heart with his beloved pokémon's. He focused on all the memories he'd ever had of training with the pokémon. He focused on all of the emotions, feelings and thoughts of the pokémon's.
He and the pokémon both glowed. Their hearts became one.
He clenched both fists and held them at his sides as his pokémon did the same. He looked over his pokémon as he did. The pokémon had black hair sprouting out of the sides of its head, as well as some red lightning bolts. It also had a red fin protruding from the top of its head, and a giant shuriken fused to its back.
Ash grinned. He gave a heavy tip of his hat.
Ash-Beedrill nodded back and flew towards Yamask while enveloped in a strange, mystical energy.
"I don't care!" James cried. "Yamask, use Flames Of The Viridian Forest!"
Yamask produced a blade of pure shadow and held it aloft, ready to strike.
Satoshi Red performed a karate chop, which Ash-Beedrill copied. The shadow blade connected with Ash-Beedrill's drill hand and shattered into a thousand pieces.
The trainer performed a shuriken tossing motion, which Ash-Beedrill copied to send out a wave of poisonous aura.
It hit Yamask and caused him to detonate, knocking James off his feet.
"Why you little…!" James yelled, bringing out another pokéball. "Emolga, come out and use Shadow Jutsu: Bone Upper!"
Satoshi Red stabbed forwards with a hand. Ash-Beedrill copied him, stabbing a drill hand through the pokéball as Emolga was about to come out of it. It crackled with electricity briefly and became useless.
"Nooo!" James wailed. He growled and brought out another pokéball. He opened it up and reached inside of it. He fiddled around briefly and brought out a gun, which he used to shoot Ash-Beedrill dead. "Aha! I win! I finally win!" he cheered, dancing about. "I'll finally make you give up on your dream!"
Satoshi Red slowly shook his head and brought out one last pokéball. He opened it up, revealing his pokédex rotom. He grabbed hold of Rotom and ran towards James with his arms behind him.
"Oh no you don't! Victreebel, use Doom Pillager!" James shouted, firing off some more rounds.
Satoshi Red smacked Rotom into each of the bullets, knocking them to the side. He kept it up until he was close enough to use Rotom's attack.
"Ash… you'll never win!" James screamed.
Satoshi Red gave a tip of his hat. He smashed Rotom into James' head, knocking him to the ground. He followed up by smashing Rotom into James' head several more times until the traitor's head caved in.
"Everyone… I think we have our winner~!" the host of the league, Bonji, chimed into his mike.
Everyone in the ruins of the coliseum roared out an applause.
Satoshi Red stood in place, accepting the recognition he had finally received as his nemesis' blood dripped down his arm.
With his hat still over his eyes, Satoshi Red stood upon the winner's podium, taking in all of the applause. James' corpse was to his right on the second place podium, and Ridley's corpse was to his right, on the third place podium.
"All hail the new champion of Alola!" everyone cheered, throwing confetti, poffins and underwear in his direction.
"I'm here live with the Alola League champion!" a man with a high-tech eyepiece and a mike said to a camera in front of him. "Champion! I'd like to interview you!" He turned to face the champion and held a mike to Satoshi Red's mouth.
Satoshi Red said nothing.
"… Champion!"
Satoshi Red said nothing.
"… I'd like to interview you!"
Satoshi Red said nothing.
Everyone murmured in confusion.
A nurse joy walked up to him and held a stethoscope to his chest. She hummed a few times to herself in understanding before turning to everyone. "… He's dead," she told them.
They all gasped in shock.
"Since when!?" Mr. Sukizo, another league presenter, asked.
"Looking at all the signs, I'd say… since a few years ago, when he started training in the mountains. He's been clinically dead since then," she replied.
"But… he was in the remarkable tournament just then!"
"Oh, it's simple. His soul left his body, but not his dream. But now that the dream is gone… he has no reason to keep functioning. He's dead in all but appearance."
"… Oh."
Bonji slowly shook his head before picking up his own mike. "In that case… the new Alolan champion… is Tobias!" he exclaimed.
The crowd roared in applause as Tobias rode in on his Arceus to receive his prize.
The dream will live on eternally.
The end
Finished: 01/01 (January)/2019 (Happy New Year!)
Word count: 2,932