Chapter 11: Extreme Revelation, Part 2
A/N: Well, if at all possible, can you leave some more reviews? That would be great! I'm running dry on ideas for the next few chapters.
Enjoy!
"What the hell?! Gary?!"
And it was indeed Gary Oak. He stood to the side, his Arcanine growling. The Gym Leader wore a black T-shirt and blue jeans, with a gray backpack. Unlike his look several days ago, he seemed much more humble and determined.
"Enough!" a nurse cried, dashing to the fighting. "We can't have any battling in the Pokemon Center! Please, take this quarrel outside!" She hadn't noticed the Scizor's attempt to kill Ash, otherwise she would have called the police.
"Grr, fine," Damien growled. He turned to Ash. "Half an hour, in the Pokemon Center battlefield. Five people, one Pokemon each. Sound good?"
"Sure," Ash replied. "The results will be the same either way."
Damien's group left the Center afterwards, to prepare for the battle. Everyone sighed, then looked at Gary.
"Umm, thanks, I guess. But why did you save me?" the Kanto Champion asked. Gary looked down, sorrowful.
"We'd better sit down, this isn't a short story." The others nodded, and took seats on the couches.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Believe me, it was never my idea to turn against you OR to be the arrogant douchebag I was in the beginning of our journeys. But… I was forced to make a choice of what I wanted to give up. My personality that people actually liked… or my Pokemon." The Trainers flinched at this.
"I was at Gramps's lab, researching some of the Unovan Pokemon native here. Suddenly, some creepy black-cloaked guy stormed into the room. He had all sorts of Pokemon I've never seen before. His team wiped the floor with mine, then he knocked me out with some sort of dart gun."
"When I woke up, I found myself tied to a tree, with my Pokemon dangling off a cliff on a rope. His Pokemon were nearby; one was set to cut the rope from the trees that it was tied to. Then the man started talking."
"He said he was interested in you, Ash. He apparently wanted revenge for something. When he learned about me, he decided to 'pay me a visit'. Then he told me that he was going to burn down Pallet Town. It was terrible… What did he have against the whole town? These were his terms for the lives of my Pokemon."
"When he burned down the town, he said there was nothing I could do. And he was right; he destroyed me in a battle. I was told that I could turn against you and resume my arrogant personality for several years. Why the arrogant personality, I don't know. He said he would be watching, and if I tried anything, he would kill my Pokemon, Gramps, then me. It was either that, or lose my Pokemon right then and there."
"I was terrified at the choice. I mean, you beat me before; I'm sure you could do it again, Ash. Also, you were my friend. Cheesy, but to the point. On the other hand, I knew you had many other friends, other Gym Leaders, for example, who you could turn to. My Pokemon had no one to turn to but me; I had to make a choice."
"It doesn't excuse my actions, but can you imagine it? For the lives of ALL of your Pokemon, which you've raised and trained, who are like family to you, would you backstab me? I had no choice; I submitted to his demands."
"After I did, he put a bug on me. Not a Pokemon, an electronic bug. It was set to fall off yesterday night, so he would know I kept my word and I would be free from my obligation. That's why I'm able to speak of this now."
"It doesn't excuse my actions, but I hope it explains why I did what I did. Not by bribery, but blackmail."
"Some of the other traitors, like Tracey, were blackmailed. Others, like Brock, were bribed. I know which ones were which, and I'll tell you."
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Everyone was struck silent yet again, at this revelation. Ash looked at his former rival with pity, eyes with a slight blue spark indicating his Aura usage. He was reading Gary's aura to look for any lies. There were none.
"Wow… That really sucks…" May said unhappily. "Being forced to turn against your friend in exchange for the lives of your Pokemon."
Cynthia nodded. "Now that I see why you did this, I'm sorry for punching you and yelling at you. I don't know what came over me…."
Gary shook his head. "No, you were pretty right to do so. Frankly, I think you should do it again, and worse. I'd more than deserve it."
"Well, we would do pretty much anything for our Pokemon," Rosa said. It's kind of an obligation. Finally, Ash spoke up.
"I don't quite forgive you yet, Gary." The Pokemon researcher nodded, expecting that. "But I'm willing to give you a second chance, a chance for redemption. Let's start with this five-on-five battle." Gary brightened, surprised that Ash was so forgiving. Outright forgiveness was not possible, and no one would have expected that. But the Gym Leader was elated at the chance for redemption.
"I'll battle, too," Paul said. "It's been a while since I've fought a Trainer."
"He insulted me, so I'll join in," Max said. "But who will the fifth member be?"
May shrugged. "I'll do it. Besides, I'd like to fight alongside you, Max." He smiled, more than ready to sweep his opponents with his sister.
"Well, let's head over to the battlefield," Isaac said. The others nodded, and filed out of the Pokemon Center.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The two opposing groups stood on opposite sides of the battlefield, unaware of the crowd that was gathering around them. They knew of Damien's terrible training and personality, along with those of his gang. Everyone hoped the Champions' side would win.
"You ready to get blown apart?" Damien taunted, smirking.
Ash rolled his eyes. "Please, we'll burn you to the ground, like this. Charizard, end this!"
He tossed the Pokeball, releasing the Pokemon that Damien had abandoned so long ago. Upon seeing its former Trainer, Charizard roared with power and ager. Damien's eyes widened, looking at the size of his former Pokemon. It was so much larger than any other Charizard he had seen.
Paul sent out his Torterra, Max called for his Swampert, May's Blaziken made an entrance, and Gary's Blastoise landed on the field. On the opposite end, Damien sent out a Machamp, and his teammates sent out a Muk, Jellicent, Luxray, and a Skuntank.
"Sheesh, is that the Skuntank or our opponents' skill? Because I can't tell the difference," Paul said, smirking. The audience laughed, enjoying the comment. Ash and his friends laughed as well, the ones who knew Paul from before not believing that he was actually making jokes.
"I'll give you something to turn your nose up to!" the Skuntank's Trainer snarled. "Poison Gas!" The Pokemon sent a large purple cloud at the opposing team.
"Muk, you too!" The Poison-type seemed to yawn out its own purple cloud of venom.
"Swampert, Blizzard!" Max ordered. His starter blew out a massive blast of icy wind, sending the purple clouds back and poisoning the team, while also freezing them solid.
"Really?" Paul groaned. "You froze AND poisoned them? How the hell do you do that?" The other starters rolled their eyes, and Swampert grinned sheepishly.
Max laughed. "Well, whatever works. Right?"
"Well, should we free them? This is getting really stupid," Gary commented.
Ash shrugged. "Sure. Charizard, Flamethrower!" The Fire-type spat out a concentrated stream of fire, dealing heavy damage to all but Jellicent while also thawing them.
"Machamp, Stone Edge on that Charizard!" Damien cried. The Pokemon sent a barrage of sharp stones at its opponent.
"Hydro Pump!" Gary called. His Blastoise shot a torrent of water with its cannon, blocking the attack and dropping the stones on the ground.
"Luxray, Wild Charge on that overgrown chicken!" one Trainer yelled. The Electric-type Pokemon lunged at Blaziken, coated in electricity. Max and May looked at each other, and nodded.
"Fire Spin!" "Waterfall!"
The Waterfall was powerful on its own, but with a vortex of fire boosting it, the attack was far more than sufficient to overpower the electricity and knock out Luxuray. Said Electric-type was recalled by its fuming Trainer.
Damien growled. "Okay boys, it's time for our 'Endgame Knockout'!" His friends nodded, before issuing their commands.
"Jellicent, Scald!"
"Skuntank, Sludge Bomb!"
"Muk, Toxic!"
"Machamp, use Drain Punch to absorb the attacks and hit that Swampert!"
The Pokemon seemed to grimace slightly, before obeying their Trainers and performing their attacks. As the first three attacks were fired, the Fighting-type punched forward with a glowing fist, absorbing the power of the attacks before charging at Swampert. The Hoenn Water-type starter looked at the attack, before rolling to the side to avoid the hit. Max sighed in relief, then stared in horror at Damien's next command.
"Go for its Trainer!"
Machamp frowned in a sort of apology, before rushing at Max. The Hoenn Champion stood terrified, watching the bulky Pokemon run towards him with a fist coated with four different attacks. Many of the audience members screamed, some fainted, his friends paled, and Swampert looked back with wide eyes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When Max opened his eyes, he saw that he was on the ground, and miraculously, uninjured. As he looked up, he saw that Ash had tackled him to the ground before the punch could land. Looking to the side, Max saw his starter grappling with the Machamp in a fury, desiring revenge for what it almost did to its Trainer. Firing Hydro Pumps, Ice Beams, and slamming Machamp into the ground, Swampert continued to fight without orders until the Fighting-type fell unconscious. Above him, Max could see the rest of his friends looking down in concern. On the battlefield, the starters fought against their opponents to avenge the nearly-killed Trainer.
"You all right, Max?" the Kanto Champion asked kindly. He nodded, and shook from the fright of his near-death experience. His muscles were rigid, and didn't look like they would relax soon. May leaned towards him and took him tightly into her arms.
"Ohh, Max!" she cried. "I was so worried! Are you okay?" Finally, he relaxed assured that it wasn't his time to die yet. Everyone, including the audience, glared at the team that had ordered those attacks, wanting to join in the battle. Before anyone else could make a move, Swampert bellowed in sheer anger, startling the other Pokemon. It started charging up a massive ball of water.
"Is that what I think that is?" the young Trainer asked in wonder.
Gary nodded. "Indeed, your Swampert just learned Hydro Cannon. Go ahead, finish them off. You should do it."
"All right, Swampert! Finish this with Hydro Cannon!" At this, Swampert finished charging the ball, before spitting it out at high speeds towards its opponents. The ball slammed into the ground with a massive torrent of water, washing away the opponents except for Jellicent. The other non-starters were out cold from the torrent.
"Enough of this crap! Torterra, Frenzy Plant!"
"Charizard, Dragon Pulse!"
Both Pokemon launched a barrage of attacks against their last standing foe. Torterra slammed its legs into the ground, summoning massive roots that fell towards Jellicent. In the sky, Charizard shot a purple blast of energy to compliment the elemental Hyper Beam. The two attacks collided, and Jellicent fell to the ground.
At this, the crowd burst into wild applause, happy that Damien and his gang had been beaten in a battle. Said Trainers recalled their fallen Pokemon with looks of anger. Rosa leapt into Max's arms, Ash and Cynthia leaned into a deep, passionate kiss (which stirred up the crowd still further), and their friends sighed in relief for the Hoenn Champion's safety. Then everyone glanced at Damien's gang.
"Umm, Chief? What do we do?" one member asked, turning pale at the sight of so many intimidating glares.
"This! Let's get outta here!" He threw up a Pokeball, releasing a Pidgeot. The Flying-type did not look like it was in good condition; its feathers were dirty, its wings looked slightly crooked, and the would-be proud eyes only showed sadness. Yet it still took up Damien's entire gang and flew off to parts unknown. Charizard growled and prepared to take off, but Ash put a hand on its shoulder.
"Hold on, I understand how you feel. I want to roast them just as badly as you do, but we can't get arrested yet. Please, wait a bit for revenge," the Trainer said consolingly, and Charizard relaxed, before nodding. It then flexed its muscles and snorted before lightly roasting its Trainer, making the crowd laugh.
"Well, crap. We didn't get them for what they almost did," Paul growled, glaring at the direction where Damien's gang flew off. Cynthia put a consoling hand on the purple-haired Trainer's shoulder.
"Don't worry. If they show up at the tournament, which I doubt, we can just defeat them then," she said calmly. Inside, however, she was furious that someone had tried to kill one of her students, one who was like family to her. Max, looking into her eyes, noticed the sparks that seemed to fly out.
"It's okay, Cynthia. Don't worry, they won't be able to try that crap again," he said reassuringly. She nodded, slightly more relaxed.
"Well, let's head back," Rosa said. "But first…" She and May glanced at each other, and grinned. This chilled Ash's blood, and confused the other males.
"Shopping!" they cried. This made the other males pale and back away. Max in particular shivered, remembering the past when May took Ash and him, along with Brock, shopping. To this day, the Hoenn Champion swore he could still feel his arms ache. Finally, Gary sighed and stepped forward.
"Consider it part of my penance…"
"Well, you're on your own, Gary. See you!" Max and Tory cried, calling out Hydreigon and Salamence respectively, before jumping on their backs and flying off. Their other friends, except for Cynthia, did the same for their Pokemon who could fly.
"Cynthia, you wanna join us? After we catch them?" May asked.
Cynthia shrugged. "Sure. I need to get some supplies, anyway. Now, here's what we do if we want to catch them…"
A/N: That wraps this chapter up!
If you find the ending crappy, I apologize, but I had to stuff that in somewhere. This is not meant to be derogatory towards any girls in ANY manner; it's just a reference to the anime for comedic effect.
Well, please review! Seriously, those reviews are where I get inspiration and the desire to write better chapters! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
~Red Aura Guard, signing out.
