Author's Note: I'm actually a little disappointed with myself about how the last chapter turned out. But then I'm often my worst judge at times. Anyway, an important character makes his first appearance in this chapter. And by now of I'm sure few of you reading have guessed who it is. I know one person has (thanks for reviewing, by the way).
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.
Chapter 9: Trainer N
Ash found himself standing alone on a chunk of land in an endless sky covered completely by swirling dark-blue clouds. Floating through this dark sky around him were other chunks of land, almost resembling islands. Some were floating upside down while some were floating at an angle. Many of the islands were barren, like the small piece he was standing on, but others had strange tall kelp-like trees growing out of them. Ash quickly realized just what strange land he was in, for he had been in this place once before. He was back in the Distortion World.
Suddenly small floating pieces of rock came and formed a path. Ash began walking the path as if his body was moving of its own will. How long he walked down the path of floating stones he could not say. But eventually Ash saw a much larger floating island in the distance, and the path was taking him right to it. As Ash came closer and closer to the island he could make out the figure of a person, and eventually he saw that it was Misty.
Ash attempted to call out to Misty, but when he opened his mouth no sound came out. He had also noticed something strange about Misty. Her entire form, including her clothes, was completely grey, and she wasn't moving at all. It was as if she was frozen in time. Eventually Ash finally reached the island, and when he did he noticed that his foot had bumped into something. Ash looked down and was horrified to see that his foot had bumped into a pile of bones, and not just any sort of bones. They were the bones of Pokemon, and from the skulls he could tell which five they were. They were the bones of Pikachu, Lucario, and the three Lake Guardians of Sinnoh, Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit.
Suddenly Ash heard the sound of footsteps, causing him to look up. Out of the shadows came a very familiar man with spiked blue hair and an emotionless expression. Ash recognized the man right away; for it was the man he hated most in any world, the leader of Team Galactic, Cyrus. From his vest Cyrus pulled out a silver pistol that looked like a sort of ray gun and aimed it at Misty. Ash screamed at Cyrus to stop, but once again no sound came out of his mouth. Cyrus pulled the trigger of his weapon at Misty, firing a bolt of blue energy that shattered Misty's body like glass.
Ash shot up in bed with cold sweat covering his brow. As he caught his breath Ash saw that he was back in his room at the Nacrene City Pokemon Center. The light of the moon was shining through his window. In moments Ash noticed that Pikachu was also awake and standing at the end of his bed with a look of concern. Lucario was also awake and standing in a corner of the room looking at Ash with a similar expression to Pikachu's.
"Damn, it's been days since I had that nightmare. I thought it finally stopped." Ash said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He turned his attention back to Pikachu and Lucario. "Don't worry guys, I'm fine. But I don't think I'll be getting any more sleep tonight. How 'bout we go outside for a bit?"
In moments Ash was fully dressed in his usual attire and out in front of the Pokemon Center with Pikachu and Lucario. They walked for a few minutes until they had reached a small park near the Pokemon Center that Ash and the others noticed the day before. The park was on a hill overlooking the city. Ash walked over to a fence with his two companions to take in the view.
"Lovely night, isn't it?" a voice commented, causing Ash and his two Pokemon to turn.
Standing behind them was a young man who looked to be around Ash's age with long olive-green hair tied back into a ponytail. He wore a white long sleeved shirt over a black undershirt, along with long grey pants and green sneakers. On his head was a black ball cap with an off-white front, and around his neck was an odd pendant of some kind. Hanging from his belt at his left hip was a sort of black puzzle cube. For a moment Ash felt that he had seen the young man somewhere before, though he could not place where.
"Sorry if I disturbed you." The young man said to Ash. "I didn't expect anyone else to be out here at this time of night."
"It's fine, I didn't expect to be out here either." Ash replied. "I had a little trouble sleeping."
"Oh, sorry to hear that." The young man responded. "My name is N by the way."
"I'm Ash." Ash greeted. "So what're you doing out here at this time of night?"
"Just enjoying the night air." N answered simply. "Many of the Pokemon living in this area come out at this time of the night, so I wanted to see them. I notice that you have a fine pair of Pokemon with you right now."
"These are my friends, Pikachu and Lucario." Ash introduced. "So are you a Pokemon Trainer?"
"You could say that." N replied. "I'm guessing that you're one."
"Yeah, I just beat the leader of the Nacrene City Gym yesterday." Ash confirmed. "Today my friends and I are headed to Castelia City so I challenge the gym there."
"When you say your friends, do you mean your two Pokemon, or are there human traveling companions with you as well?" N inquired.
"Well I am traveling with my girlfriend and friend I met back in Striation City, but Pikachu and Lucario are friends too." Ash said with a slight laugh. "All of my Pokemon are."
"Hmm… they do seem to greatly enjoy being with you." N said as he observed Pikachu and Lucario. "I've actually never seen Pokemon who have such trust in their trainer…. Ash, I'd like you to do me a favor. Normally I don't like having Pokemon battles, but in your case I'd like to make an exception. I'd like to see just how strong a bond you have with your Pokemon, your Pikachu specifically."
"How 'bout it Pikachu, you up for a battle?" Ash asked his electric companion.
"Pika!" Pikachu said enthusiastically as he jumped off Ash's shoulder and stood ready to battle.
"I guess it's on then." Ash said to N.
"Very well." N replied before putting his hands up to the sides of his mouth. "Come to me my little friend!"
Suddenly emerging from a nearby bush and running up to N was a small cat with a large head and striking green eyes. Much of its fur was purple, but its muzzle, the front of its neck, shoulders and hind paws, and a large spot on its back were off-white. The cat also had two small white spots near its eyes, which had two large spots of violet fur above them. On the end of the cat's tail was a tuft of fur that looked like the blade of a scythe. As N kneeled down to pet the feline Pokemon, Ash got out his Pokedex to find out just what Pokemon he was seeing.
"Purrloin, the Devious Pokemon." The Pokedex identified. "Purrloin likes to steal from people for fun and often uses its cuteness to get off."
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone call their Pokemon out like that before." Ash said to N as he pocketed his Pokedex.
"I don't like putting Pokemon inside Pokeballs." N told him as he stood back up. "Now then, let's start our battle, shall we?"
"Fine by me." Ash agreed. "PIkachu, use Thunder Bolt!"
"Pik… a… CHUUU!" Pikachu cried as he fired a bolt of yellow electricity at Purrloin. Purrloin jumped out of the way of the attack and darted around to Pikachu's left.
"Sand Attack!" N commanded. Purrloin came at Pikachu and kicked up a cloud of sand with its right front paw. The sand got in Pikachu's eyes and clouded his vision. "Now use scratch!"
Purrloin jumped at Pikachu and scratched him across the chest with its claws, causing him to cry out. The force of the attack was strong enough to knock Pikachu back half a foot.
"Pikachu, use Thunder Bolt again!" Ash commanded. Pikachu fired of another bolt of electricity at Purrloin, but the cat Pokemon quickly darted out of the way. "Dang! That Purrloin's fast!"
"Yes, and it hasn't helped that Pikachu's accuracy has been lowered by Purrloin's Sand Attack." N pointed out. "Alright Purrloin, use Scratch again!"
Purrloin charged at Pikachu again from his right and delivered a powerful scratch to his side. Pikachu quickly recovered from the assault and got down all fours. As he glared at Purrloin his tail began to crackle with electrical energy. Suddenly a ball of yellow electricity began to form at the end of Pikachu's tail.
"What the heck's going on?" Ash asked.
"It looks like Pikachu has just learned Electro Ball." N theorized. "It's an electrical attack that does more damaged based on how fast its user is than the opponent."
"Alright then." Ash said with a smirk. "Pikachu, use Electro Ball on Purrloin!"
Pikachu jumped up into the air and flipped around, launching the ball of electricity from his tail like a catapult. The ball of electrical energy hit Purrloin in the face before it could dart out of the way. Purrloin tried to get up but fell back to the ground.
"Well, that's that." Ash said as Pikachu took a victorious pose. "That was a good battle."
"I have to admit, I thought so too." N agreed as he went over to Purrloin. N kneeled down and pulled a small bottle of what looked like medicine out of his pocket as Purrloin got back up. "Here you are my little friend." Purrloin began drinking from the bottle that was offered to it.
"You're a pretty good trainer N." Ash complimented.
"I feel the same about you." N said as he got back to his feet. "The equation of you and Pikachu working together like that produced an answer that I did not expect possible. I never thought I'd meet a trainer and Pokemon who were so close."
"Hey, Pikachu and Lucario are two of my best friends." Ash replied with a smile.
"Of that I have no doubt. And I get the feeling that you care about Pokemon a great deal." N observed. "In a way I think you and I are alike Ash. We both care a lot about these perfect creatures we call Pokemon."
"When you put it that way, I guess we are alike." Ash agreed. He then glanced and noticed that the dawn was approaching. "Hey, looks like the sun's coming up."
"Oh, so it is." N noticed. "In that case I should be going. I hope we meet again Ash."
"Same here." Ash said as he went over to N and shook his hand. N then began walking away with Purrloin, giving Ash a wave as he did so.
A few hours later, Misty and Chili walked downstairs from their rooms to the main room of the Pokemon Center. As they continued to rub the sleep out of their eyes they saw Ash awaiting them with Pikachu and Lucario.
"About time you guys got up." Ash said with a rather cheerful expression. "I'm ready to hit the road whenever you guys are."
"Ash, how long have you been up?" Misty asked as Chili continued to yawn.
"About three hours I think." Ash replied. "Don't worry, I wasn't bored. Pikachu, Lucario, and I were doing some training out by that park near here."
"…You feeling okay?" Misty asked him.
"Sure I am." Ash assured her. Misty looked at Ash for a moment before walking over to him.
"Well, you do seem to be in a better mood than yesterday." Misty noted before planting a kiss on Ash's cheek. "You're sure you're okay though."
"Well I didn't wake up too good this morning," Ash admitted, "but I'm fine now. I just needed to clear my head for a bit."
"Okay then." Misty replied.
"So now that that's been settled, shall we get going?" Chili asked.
"Fine with me." Misty agreed.
"Next stop, Castelia City." Ash said as the group headed out the door. They walked in silence for a few moments as they headed down the path out of the city.
"So did anything interesting happen during your training this morning?" Misty asked Ash after a moment.
"Well, Pikachu learned a new move." Ash answered. "Plus I made a new friend. His name is N, and I guess he and I are a little bit alike."
Author's Note: The part I enjoyed most about this chapter was that nightmare scene at the beginning. I love writing scenes like that. Plus it made one heck of an opener. Anyway, N is perhaps one of the most unique villains I've ever seen, period. He has the best of intentions, but his methods are pretty screwed up. It's a real shame he's never appeared in the anime. Because he makes a real interesting opponent for Ash.
Please review and let me know what you think.