"It's time to step things up a gear!" shouted Ash confidently, smacking a fist against his open palm. "What do you think, Pikachu?"
"Pii pika!"
"Alright then…!" he said assertively, throwing his arm forwards. "Infernape, let's get back up and get back in the game! Head underground with Dig!"
Shaking its mind free of the cobwebs that Accelgor's relentless barrage had caused, Infernape focused itself and dug as quickly as its muscles would allow, shovelling great mounds of earth into the air as it burrowed deep into the ground below. Within moments it had disappeared, muffled scratches filtering up from the gaping hole as the Fire-type tunnelled about beneath the surface.
"Now, I wonder what kind of strategy Ash is going for this time around," Troy mused, stroking his chin with a long finger. "For the sake of entertaining the crowd, he could be thinking about another Flare Blitz, but at this point it's been debunked solidly enough by Lester to discourage another use…"
Lester shut out Troy's commentary at that point. His bias was flattering, but belittling Ash at every opportunity was just poor form on the young man's part; it was his own place to derail his opponent, not that of an outsider. "It doesn't faze me what you're planning, Ash," he called out nonchalantly. "Whatever you do is going to fall flat on its face."
"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is, Lester?" Ash retorted hotly, drawing a round of jeers and catcalls from the crowd as they were sucked into the exchange, trying to egg the two competitors along.
"Alright," Lester conceded, throwing his hands up. "Accelgor, fire a Swift into that hole and flush Infernape out!"
"Sel gorrr!" Accelgor hissed, racing towards the hole with cold intent. A giant star erupted into life between its upraised hands, but instead of firing this lone missile into the hole, the Bug-type gave a miniscule flick of its head, splintering the attack into a hundred smaller stars that hovered in an arc above its body. Taking one last look at the entrance to Infernape's subterranean escape, Accelgor gave a hulking roar unbefitting of its stature and launched the Swift, sending the projectiles streaming into the tunnel.
A glowing forearm shot out of the hole like a bullet, smacking into the spray of stars rushing down to fly through the entrance. A loud bang echoed throughout the spacious stadium as the stars combusted, a powerful shockwave tearing at the volley of stars about to follow and pushing them in the direction from which they came. Eyes widening in blank shock, Accelgor scrambled to dodge its own attack, flinging its nimble body to the side, wincing in pain as the stars spinning at the far edge of the array struck its slimy hide.
"Flamethrower, now!" Ash roared, seizing his opportunity to go on the offensive.
Like a behemoth escaping from a tomb of stone, Infernape punched through the ground with ferocious strength powerful enough to shower the sky with a cloud of debris. As the rocks fell back down with a clatter, Infernape sped at Accelgor, the flames dancing about its head throwing shadows over the Pokémon's simian features; together with the fierce glint in its eyes, the picture made the Fire-type seem like a crazed demon. True to the illusion, Infernape blew a colossal branch of flames from its mouth, scorching the ground a charcoal shade of black and wrapping Accelgor's body in a fiery cocoon, the latter writhing and twisting as it was swallowed whole.
"Alright!" Ash cheered, his voice buoyed by the thrilled cheers of ten thousand spectators, all pumping the air in with outstretched fists.
"Don't count your chickens just yet, Ash," Lester warned sternly.
Halfway through a celebratory jig, Ash faltered and turned his attention back to the battlefield. A moment later, his mouth crashed open in utter surprise as the flaming figure of Lester's Accelgor vanished in a puff of white smoke, leaving the flames that had surrounded it to flutter gently onto the ground and blow out in the wind. A squeak to his right told him that Pikachu was just as taken aback as he was, and he stared dumbfounded at the scene, blinking rapidly as he tried to comprehend it.
'But how?' he thought wildly, trying to hunt down an explanation. 'That was a dir—' his expression soured instantly, and he let out a great roar of frustration as the truth hit him. "Substitute…" he muttered darkly, hands tightening into fists.
Holding back another laugh at his opponent's expense and misfortune, Lester pointed towards Infernape. "Time to come up, Accelgor!" he ordered.
As all eyes returned to the battle proper, there was a flurry of movement inside the gaping chasm that Infernape's frenzied charge had left in the stadium floor. In a heartbeat, Accelgor burst from the wrecked crater in the arena just as its opponent had done moments earlier, throwing itself into Infernape with as much strength as it could muster. The Fire-type was collected in the small of the back, crashing face-first into the solid earth with a cry that was as much of rage as it was of pain, but it quickly picked itself up with its powerful limbs, whirling around on the spot to get its rival back in its sights.
"Darn it…" Ash growled, his arms shaking again as his fingernails dug through the fabric of his gloves and into his palms. "No matter what I do, Lester's always one step ahead of me…! If I go in close with Mach Punch, he comes at me twice as fast. If I try and get around Accelgor's speed, Lester just brings in a Substitute and hits me on the rebound… what am I supposed to do…?" he wondered, feeling that creeping touch of despair sliding through his stomach.
"What's this now?" Troy piped up, leaning forward now for a closer look at the field. "If I know my expressions – and I do, if you don't mind me saying – it looks like Ash has finally come to terms with the fact that he's completely outclass—"
The commentator's voice was suddenly cut off from the speakers as a large hand clamped down over his mouth, pulling backwards and dislodging him from his reclining chair. The stands became abuzz with confusion as the spectators looked to the commentator's skybox at the side of the stadium. Their only hints as to what was happening inside the room were the muted sounds of a minor scuffle that the microphone had managed to pick up.
"Just a—oof!—I was only—hey!—stop that—yeowch!—you've got no—argh!—one more chance—no, nooo!" groaned Troy, his voice steadily becoming quieter until it vanished altogether. A burst of static tore at the ears of the people in the stands, closely followed by the sound of a man clearing his throat.
A moment later, a voice familiar to Ash reverberated around the stadium. "Sorry about that, ladies and gents," said Derek, adjusting his grip on the microphone as he settled into Troy's recently-vacated seat. "It seems we've been suffering from some technical difficulties, as well as the unfortunate coincidence of Troy coming down with foot-in-mouth syndrome. So, it looks like I'll be taking over the commentating duties for the latter half of the battle!"
Glad to have been caught up with the events in the commentator's box, the crowd gave a mild cheer to Derek's arrival before turning their attention, for the most part, back to the battle. "And I have to say, I can't be happier to be presiding over the final stretch here in Stadium Thirty-One, because it's been something else, hasn't it?" he continued ravenously. "We've been treated to a battle of speed and tactical superiority by two brilliant competitors who aren't to be trifled with, even on a bad day! So far, Lester's quick thinking has been the difference, using sleight of hand and Accelgor's raw agility to stay ahead of the game, but Ash isn't the kind to take it lying down! How will the young Pallet Town native try to wrestle his way back into the match? Let's find out!"
"Accelgor!" Lester shouted. "I believe it's time for us to put this battle to rest. Fire a Sludge Bomb!"
"Ksel sel gor!" growled the Bug-type, throwing its head back.
"Dodge it!" Ash countered, just as Accelgor fired over a dozen balls of brown goo from its invisible mouth, all aimed squarely at his Pokémon.
Infernape, its heart pounding defiantly against its ribcage, tracked the incoming projectiles with an almost Zen-like expression and, as the first few orbs came whizzing down around it, wove in and out of the putrid shower as slickly as split oil. The Flame Pokémon's movements were flawless; the only discomfort it found itself in was from inhaling the noxious vapours rising from the tiny brown puddles as they oozed over the battlefield.
As the last of the Sludge Bomb splashed into the ground, Infernape gave a derisive snort as it turned its eyes back to Accelgor. The two Pokémon stared each other down as they had done so often throughout their struggle, the gentle fluttering of Accelgor's tassel-like wrappings was mirrored in the dancing flames above its foe's scarlet brow. Baring its teeth in an aggressive grin of sorts, Infernape raised its arms into a boxing stance, jerking its head upwards as if daring the Bug-type to come in for another round; while the latter was smart enough to know a taunt when it saw one, its eyes narrowed dangerously, tilting its head as though getting ready to charge towards Infernape any moment.
"No, it can't be…" Ash gasped, watching the exchange between the two Pokémon as the fumes from the Sludge Bomb shimmered around Infernape. "Infernape, quick! Come back over here!" he ordered, and Infernape turned to face him, obviously confused but obedient nonetheless as it hopped back to stand a few feet away from its Trainer.
"Swift!" Lester barked, and Accelgor was more than happy to oblige, darting forwards with a ball of golden energy cupped between its stubby arms.
A few of the spectators in the crowd, having recognised Lester's previous patterns of attack, roared in surprise when they saw the Bug-type charging in from the front instead of coming up from behind, but the figures down on the battlefield knew better than to be taken off-guard. As Accelgor sent its attack spiralling across the arena, Infernape nimbly dodged to the side, diving into one of the nearby holes that it had forged earlier in the battle, and the spectators in the stands were brought to the edge of their seats by the close escape.
Ash cheered as his Pokémon disappeared underground, but a warning cry from Pikachu alerted him that, with Infernape out of the way, Accelgor's Swift attack was inadvertently headed straight for him. The pair yelped in fright as they threw themselves down on the ground, and Ash winced as the stars whizzed over his head, the wind behind them tickling the hair on the back of his neck. The volley smashed into the boundary wall behind the duo, an almost melodic sound peeking out from behind the bangs and booms as the stars exploded, but Ash paid no attention to the noise as he picked himself up and dusted off his clothes.
"You're supposed to be trying to hit Infernape, not me!" he yelled, shaking a fist in his opponent's direction as curls of smoke poured from the wall behind him. "He's down there, in that underground tunnel! Why don't you pay more attention to knocking him out, huh?"
"Your little taunts aren't going to work on me, Ash," retorted Lester, with a slight tilt of the head as he folded his arms. "If I can turn your own phrase, I think you should focus more on knocking out Accelgor instead of trying to unsettle me… he's right here, after all—" he nodded towards the Bug-type, who mimicked its Trainer in crossing its arms.
Even though he knew better, Ash couldn't help but feel his blood boil a little in his veins at his opponents' cocky attitudes, and he threw his arm forwards. "Infernape, Mach Punch!" he roared fiercely, and he could all but feel Infernape's energy from underneath the battlefield as it readied its fist and tensed its legs.
"Use Me First!" ordered Lester, his stern gaze unflinching even as the ground below Accelgor split open with a mighty crack and caved away.
Infernape pounced from under the cover of the flying rubble, eyes glowing like its outstretched fist, and as quick as lightning, Accelgor tucked its arms across its chest and somersaulted backwards. The Fire-type tried to alter its movement in mid-swing, but it was moving too quickly, and its attack slid past its opponent's face without so much as a resting touch. Amazingly, Accelgor's keen eyes tracked Infernape's Mach Punch even as it rocketed over them; as soon as the danger had passed, though, its gaze turned to the rest of Infernape's body in a flash.
Before the unlucky Flame Pokémon had time to turn its head and face it, Accelgor launched itself downwards, spinning like a corkscrew despite the tiny distance between them. With a fierce growl, Accelgor dealt its foe a crunching straight-arm jab, and the power behind the punch sent the Fire-type tumbling back down into its underground tunnel. As Infernape smacked into the ground below, the force of the impact sent a deep tremor through the battlefield, and Lester allowed himself a triumphant little snicker as he felt the vibrations in his feet.
"Here we go…!" he said, voice growing louder as the crowd began to rally behind him. "This is what we've—!"
"—what we've been waiting for, Infernape!" Ash roared, punching the air with his fist, and Lester was struck dumb at his opponent's words. Taking in the stupefied expression on his opponent's face, a wide grin appeared on his own as the earth continued to tremble, a low, grating sound that slowly grew louder and louder. "Fire off that Flare Blitz, just like I said!"
"Say what?" barked Lester, but he was suddenly thrown off-balance as the tiny tremor escalated into a frightening earthquake.
Shrieks of panic erupted in the stands as the iron foundations of the stadium groaned and creaked under the pressure, but the steeliest onlookers watched on eagerly, and their determination was rewarded as they saw a dull red glow appearing in the centre of the battlefield. The glow steadily spread outward in all directions, and it appeared to feed off the ground itself as it grew larger and larger like a pool of liquid. Soon enough the entire arena was bathed in the muted light, a rectangle of red that shook incessantly under the force of the quake.
In the lone patch of green against a reddening backdrop, Lester regained his composure after the initial shock of the tremor, but he found himself caught unawares once more. This time, however, the alarm came from something separate from the rumbling below his feet. A new sound was mingling with the deep growl of the shifting ground; a sharp, high-pitched hissing noise that seemed to come not from underground, but from the surface of the battlefield itself, riding the noise of the tremor like a wave to reach his ears.
"Accelgor, be on your guard!" he warned, and at once, Accelgor intensified its focus, eyes darting from spot to spot on the stadium floor as it looked for a hint of its opponent.
Unfortunately for the Bug-type and its Trainer, all the mental preparation in the world couldn't have given them a clue as to what would happen next. Apart from their opponents standing resolutely across the field, only one other person in the stadium recognised that odd hissing for what it was, placing a pair of tinted sunglasses over his eyes as a precaution. A moment later, his concern was proven correct.
With a blinding flash of light that left the crowd cringing and clutching at their faces, the entire arena spontaneously combusted, becoming a field of roaring flame in little more than the blink of an eye. A wave of harsh heat burst from the fire and clawed at the vulnerable spectators; even Ash, who had been expecting what was unfolding, was forced to step backwards and shield his face with both arms to try and avoid the worst of it.
Across the field, Lester cried out in terror as Accelgor was caught smack-bang in the centre of the blaze. Equally frightened and confused, the Bug-type darted skywards to escape the rising flames as they licked at its torso, and it quickly became visible above the sea of orange. With its Trainer's commands inaudible over the sound of the conflagration, Accelgor was forced to survey the fire on its own, relentless in its search for Infernape amongst the hot flames and billowing smoke. A small explosion near the centre of the battlefield grabbed Accelgor's attention, its body tensing up to dodge the incoming attack, but it was nothing more than a wayward shower of sparks and smoke spiralling lazily upwards.
"NOW!" bellowed Ash, pointing squarely at Accelgor.
A great blue fireball appeared beneath the yellow haze, pushing upwards and ripping itself free like a rocket aimed at the heavens, and the blaze that covered the stadium floor seemed to be drawn into the sphere, streaming behind it like a comet's tail. In the centre of the raging orb, Infernape clenched its jaw and spread its arms wide, eyes glowing red to match the immense crown of flame cascading from its head, tiny embers splitting off to be swallowed up amongst the surrounding blaze. Encased in the molten cocoon, the Flame Pokémon shot towards Accelgor as though it were a bullet, snarling with savage joy as it saw its opponent's eyes widen in horror between the curling flames, and it opened its mouth wide.
"Ferrrrr-naaaaape!" it howled fiercely, an animalistic roar that reached over the noise of the blaze below and echoed through the air, all the way to the edges of the stadium. Leaping from their seats, the spectators returned Infernape's cries with enthralled cheers of their own, all eyes turned up to that sphere of fire as it powered through the sky and, at last, crashed into the dumbstruck Accelgor.
On the battlefield proper, Lester screamed out as he saw his Pokémon blasted even higher into the air by Infernape's overwhelming charge, the grey bandages covering its body now aflame and trailing smoke in its steep upward climb. As though in slow motion, the Bug-type hit the peak of its rise before succumbing to the relentless tug of gravity, and it fell to earth like a stone, slamming into the scorched battlefield with a loud thud and kicking up a large plume of soot and dust.
"Accelgor?" cried Lester, standing at the edge of his green Trainer's box, pupils quivering as he waited for the dust to settle. A gust of wind pushed the obscuring cloud away, and he breathed a deep sigh of relief when he saw that his Pokémon was still conscious. Nasty burns covered a good portion of its torso, and a wicked scorch mark had temporarily fused one of its eyes shut, but the one eye that stayed visible was full of resolve.
"My word! This battle still isn't over!" exclaimed Derek, looking quite red in the face as he gently lowered himself back into his seat. He suddenly realised that he had been running commentary non-stop for the past few minutes, and he took several deep gulps of air to make sure he wouldn't get light-headed and pass out. "We've been treated to some pretty unbelievable scenes here in the last minute or two; I'm not even quite sure how Ash and Infernape managed to set the battlefield on fire and knock Accelgor down a peg—or seven!—with that Flare Blitz, but even that hasn't been enough to put their foes out of commission."
"What did you expect?" Lester muttered smugly, folding his arms. "After all, that's only the first time Ash managed to land a hit on my Accelgor…"
"But, even after all the advantages Lester kept in the first half of the battle, it seems like Ash has taken the ascendancy with that last decisive strike!" Derek continued, excitement rolling off his every word. "Lester hasn't been in a position to fight back yet in the tournament, so how will he handle it?"
"Accelgor, Swift!" Lester barked, wanting to get back on the offensive as quickly as possible.
"K…sel…!" hissed the Bug-type, panting heavily as it pushed itself up off the ground and held its arms towards the sun, but it couldn't muster up the energy to form an attack, and it collapsed forwards, its eye becoming a swirl as it fell lightly onto the ground.
Observing the Pokémon from the sideline marker, the referee barely waited a second before raising her red flag in Ash's direction. "Accelgor is unable to battle!" she shouted authoritatively. "Infernape is the victor! Therefore, the winner of this battle is Ash Ketchum, who advances—!"
Her final few words were immediately drowned out by a cacophony, the crowd going absolutely wild as they heard her declaration. Ash's supporters jumped from their seats and danced in joy, pumping their fists in the air and cheering their Trainer's victory, a complete contrast to the groans of dejection from those in Lester's camp, who hung their heads and buried them in their hands.
The onlookers' emotions were nothing, however, compared to those of the two competitors on the stadium floor. On one side, Lester fell to his knees in blank shock, his calm demeanour utterly shattered by the loss as tears rolled down his cheeks, his arm shaking as he recalled Accelgor to its Poké Ball and clipped the latter to his suspenders. On the other, Ash took a running jump and held his cap aloft, meeting Infernape near the middle of the field and wrapping his arms around the victorious Fire-type, Pikachu waving his stubby little arms in jubilation as Infernape's crown of flames danced away with merry abandon.
"Great job, buddy!" Ash cheered, laughing all the while as he shared his embrace with the two Pokémon. "I knew you could do it!"
"Fer fer fer!" grunted the Fire-type with a wide grin, pulling free of its Trainer and hopping about on the spot in a kind of celebratory dance, raising its hands with each jump.
Jamming his cap back over his unruly black hair, Ash looked past Infernape's shoulder, expecting Lester to come walking up to the centre circle for the traditional handshake after the battle. To his surprise, though, Lester had already disappeared from the battlefield. His thoughts towards the valiant opponent lingered only for a moment, because the next second he was inundated by the post-match news crew, Derek leading from the front after sprinting down the aisles to vault the wall onto the arena.
Watching the battle come to its thrilling conclusion, Iato allowed himself a flicker of a smile, pulling the pair of tinted sunglasses down from his face and resting the back of his head against the comfortable leather of his armchair. Looking to his left, the smile widened to a snicker as he saw his three colleagues either rubbing their eyes or blinking furiously, the light from Infernape's Flare Blitz still affecting them a minute later.
"All's well that ends well, gents," he chuckled.
Reeve was the first to get his vision back from the flare, and he gave a great moan of disappointment when he saw that Ash was the victor, already mobbed by the interviewing crew. "He won? Damn, and I had five thousand on Lester, too…"
"Oh no, how terrible…" mocked Fiorello, setting his lips in an exaggerated pout as he leant towards Reeve.
"Terrible indeed," snorted the bald man at the end of the row, sitting sideways on his chair and resting his feet on the vacant one beside him, Simon's death having vacated the seat for him. "Lester has the Ketchum kid on the ropes for the entire battle, and manages to throw the fight. I don't get it…"
Iato pulled himself upright, swinging around to face his fellow. "Throw the fight? I can assure you that no such thing happened, my good chum. The young Ketchum-boy won the battle on his own merits."
"Really?" Fiorello muttered, clearly surprised. "How did he manage that one, I wonder…"
"It's quite simple," Iato replied, gesturing towards the battlefield below their skybox. "You see, Ketchum-boy and his Infernape couldn't get close to Lester's Accelgor; thanks to Accelgor's speed, direct combat was impossible. I take it you noticed Lester's preference for ranged attacks and sleight of hand?"
His associates all nodded in understanding, so Iato continued with his explanation. "Yes, Ketchum-boy was being forced to battle by Lester's rules, but there was one area where Lester was unwilling to press his advantage."
"Underground," Reeve interjected. "Lester never ordered his Accelgor to follow Infernape into those tunnels that it made with Dig."
"Precisely," smiled Iato, clapping his hands together once. "As long as Infernape was underground, it was safe from attack – or, at the very least, it had the advantage. I think Ketchum-boy realised this eventually, so he chose to make his moves from the safety of his Dig attack."
The bald man gave Iato a derisive snort. "Even so, that monkey never landed a hit on Accelgor, thanks to its use of Substitute."
"It had to use Substitute," Iato replied with a shrug, "because of the nature of its upbringing. You chaps may not be as adept at your reading as myself, so you wouldn't know it, but Lester's Accelgor is trained for speed, and speed alone. It has very little in the way of offense or defence."
"Which explains why Accelgor's attacks did so little damage," said Fiorello slowly.
"Correct again," Iato chuckled.
"What, so you're saying that Ketchum figured this out?" asked Reeve.
"Not at all. I simply said that Ketchum-boy realised that, were he to defeat Lester, the finishing blow would have to come from underground," Iato corrected. "However, he also had to overcome that illusory Substitute that you alluded to earlier, Fullmeister—" he nodded in the bald man's direction, "so he waited until Infernape's stamina dropped low enough for its Blaze ability to activate. The moment that happened, he flooded the field with fire to draw out the real Accelgor, and made his move."
"What a fantastic innovation," mused Fiorello, sliding a spidery finger down his cheekbone.
"Fantastic or not, I call it luck, and nothing more," Fullmeister grunted, peering through the glass windows as some fans ran onto the field for Ash's autograph. "I doubt his luck will serve him as well when he meets his next opponent."
Iato suddenly perked up in his seat. "Speaking of meetings, Fiorello," he said quickly, and the man's head spun around, "weren't you telling me earlier about a meeting with some new associates of yours?"
"Huh?" he grunted blankly, before something sparked in the back of his mind. "Oh, right! Yes, of course. Well, let's see—" he checked his watch, but leapt out of his chair when he saw the time, "crikey! I'd best be off, lest I keep them waiting. I'll see you gents later—!"
By then, Fiorello was already halfway to the door, and he left the skybox at full sprint, throwing the double doors open wide and disappearing in a flash. Fullmeister, Reeve and Iato all watched him leave with puzzled looks on their faces, but Iato shrugged off the sudden departure with a laugh and turned back to face the stadium.
"Hey, Iato…" muttered Reeve, tapping his colleague on the shoulder. "Could you run that whole thing past me again? I don't think I quite got all of it."
"Okay, thanks for the interview!" beamed Derek, vigorously shaking Ash's hand and turning back to the camera for his closing address. "Well, that's—"
Ash wrung out his sore hand, flashing a sheepish smile at the news crew as they finished their broadcast, and the latter promptly packed up their equipment and high-tailed it out of the stadium, no doubt in search of another breaking story. He heard Pikachu make a sarcastic squeak of a comment on his shoulder, and he raised a hand to scratch the little Pokémon's back. By the time his hand had dropped back to rest at his side, though, a gaggle of eager spectators had magically appeared and encircled him, pushing flyers and photographs of his face towards him.
"Could you sign this, Mr Ketchum?"
"I'm your biggest fan! I've watched all your local Conference battles!"
"Ash, would it be too much trouble if you signed by bra?"
"What?" exclaimed Ash, feeling himself being pulled down by the relentless tide of fans like a ship caught in a whirlpool. "Hey—no pushing, please—whoa!—that's not a marker, lady!—one at a time—"
"Ash!" shouted a sharp voice.
Trying desperately to avoid being swallowed up by the pressing fans, Ash swung his arms wide and pushed the closest ones back a foot or two to give himself room to breathe. As he did, he suddenly heard several voices grunting in displeasure at the far edge of the crowd, and he craned his neck to get a better look above the bobbing heads blocking his line of sight. To his surprise, the troublemaker was actually Brock, his face flustered as he barged past adults and children alike, much to their anger.
"Brock?" Ash exclaimed, his mouth agape as his friend slid between the last few people to join him in the centre of the group. "Hey, give us some room, please—?" the crowd backed off slightly, giving the two a brief moment of privacy, "Brock, what are you doing…?"
"Where's Misty?" he demanded.
Ash arched an eyebrow at Brock, not quite following where he was going with the question. "Um, she's back home in Cerulean City, isn't she?" he replied tentatively.
"You mean she's not with you?" Brock snapped.
A shiver ran down Ash's spine, and he took an involuntary step backwards. He'd never heard Brock speaking with so much anger before; he could almost see the rage glinting in his narrowed eyes. His words finally clicked in the boy's mind, though, and he stammered out another response. "I—what—what're you talking about? I haven't seen her at all!" he said loudly. "Brock, what's all this about, anyways?"
"Come on!" shouted Brock, clutching at Ash's arm and making to run, but the latter wrenched down firmly and held his ground. "Ash, there's no time!"
"No time?" repeated Ash, brow furrowed. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" he yelled, and the bystanders backed away from him even further now, worry apparent on their faces.
Brock tossed his head about in frustration, teeth bared, but he eventually relented and let go of his friend's arm, dropping his own to rest at his side.
"Now, what's this about Misty?" Ash asked, taking a step forward. "Is something wrong?"
"I—I don't know…" Brock sighed, hanging his head. "She and I came to Ayers Island to cheer you on. She was supposed to meet you last night, but if you h—"
"Last night?" Ash yelped, and Pikachu was forced to steady himself on his Trainer's shoulder. "So that's who that M woman was…!"
Brock nodded solemnly. "Right. She didn't come back to the hotel room we're sharing last night, so I just assumed that she'd spent the night at your place—but I couldn't find her here at the stadium cheering you on. I tried calling her a few times, but the connection never went through—and you say you haven't seen her, so—"
"What are you getting at?" Ash interjected, and Brock suddenly noticed that his hands had clenched themselves into fists. "Are you saying that something might have happened to her…?"
"Like I said, I just don't know…" he said with an unhelpful slump of the shoulders. "But, given the evidence, you can see why I'm really worried about her."
"Well, what are we waiting for, then?" Ash roared, smacking a fist against his palm. "If something's happened to Misty, we've got to find her!"
"Pii pika!" growled Pikachu, eyes set in a scowl as sparks of lightning erupted from his cheeks.
Brock shook his head, but a shadowy smile crept onto his face. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a movement in the crowd caught the trio's eye, and a small woman in a black dress scrambled her way to the front of the gaggle of onlookers. Her face was beet-red with embarrassment, the colour matching the scarlet envelope held in her trembling, outstretched hands, and she bowed her head in Ash's direction, holding the envelope out to him.
"Th-this is… for y-y-you…!" she stuttered.
Looking from the woman, to Brock, and back again, Ash hesitantly took the envelope from her grasp, glancing at it apprehensively before turning his gaze back to the mortified woman. "Hey, w—" he started, but she had already disappeared into the throngs of people surrounding he and Brock, all still looking at the two Trainers with some degree of fright or confusion. "Where'd she go?" he wondered aloud.
"What's that?" asked Brock, pointing to a rectangular bulge in the envelope.
Ash did a double-take, groaning inwardly as he saw the tiny protrusion; he couldn't believe that he'd missed that the first time he'd laid eyes on it. "Let's find out," he muttered, ripping open the envelope and giving it a shake. To his surprise, a small cell phone tumbled out from inside, landing neatly on his palm.
"A phone…?" Brock murmured, reaching out to have a closer look for himself, but it burst into life a moment later, buzzing violently and moving about in Ash's hand. The two Trainers exchanged worried looks, but Brock gave Ash a quick nod, and the latter raised it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"This wouldn't happen to be the Ash Ketchum, would it?" said a male voice on the other end of the line. Ash felt himself tense up, but before he could respond, the voice continued, "I take it by your silence that you are, so that means my assistant gave the phone to the right person for once."
"Who is this?" Ash asked tentatively.
The voice gave a reedy chuckle. "Oh no, that's not how this is going to play out. In actuality, I've got no reason to tell you my name, or anything for that matter. Well—okay, I do have to tell you one thing, because that's the whole point of this phone call, isn't it?" he teased, another laugh echoing through the line. "Now, I'm sure by now you've been informed that a certain lady-friend of yours is currently unaccounted for, yes?"
"You know something about Misty?" exclaimed Ash, drawing looks of shock from Brock and Pikachu, who craned closer to try and hear what the caller was saying.
"Of course! I'm the one who kidnapped the young lass," the man snickered.
Ash's brain took a second or two to process what had just gone through his ear; when it did, he felt his blood run cold.
"Unfortunately, this leaves me in a bit of a bind…" continued the man; whether he was aware of Ash's reaction or not didn't seem to make much difference. "I've got Misty right here on Ayers, but I don't want to keep her here. She bites, kicks and screams like nothing else."
"If you've laid a hand—"
"If I've laid a hand on her, you'll do unspeakable things to me in revenge for hurting your friend, etc. etc. etc., blah blah blah," the man snorted. "I've been doing this long enough to hear all the tirades and threats, so I'm gonna stop you right there. The bottom line is this: the girl is dead in three hours, unless you get to her before then. Use whatever means at your disposal to find her; you can call the police, you can offer a reward, you can go gangbusters on every building on the island—I don't care."
"Where are you, you monster?"
"I see this is a difficult concept for you to get your little head around," the man sighed. "Tell you what; I'll give you a hint. I'm hiding in a white box where no light can escape. You have… two hours and fifty-nine minutes. Good luck, kid~"
"Wait! WAI—!"
Brock heard the loud click of the line going dead, and watched as it slipped from Ash's hand onto the ground, landing with a loud clang and splitting open in a tangle of shrapnel and computer chips. Worriedly, he raised his eyes to look back to Ash, but his concerns only deepened when he saw the look on his face. Ash's eyes were aimed squarely in front without actually looking at anything, and his hands had been curled into fists so tightly that the knuckles were losing circulation. But his expression was the worst; his nostrils were flared, his mouth was drawn in a thin, straight line, and the muscles in his jaw were twitching as he clenched it again and again.
"Ash…?" he whispered, lifting a hand towards his friend's shoulder.
"Come on," Ash muttered, brushing the hand away. He lowered his head, tugging on the front of his cap, but when he raised his head again, his eyes were filled with burning determination, their focus returned as he looked Brock straight in his own eyes. "We need to find Misty now… like you said, there's no time!"
Brock tried to say something to Ash, wondering what had suddenly come over him, but the latter suddenly bolted towards the circle of fans, the boys and girls all hurriedly moving aside to make a hole for him to run through. Left with his mouth hanging open like an idiot, Brock stumbled forwards in pursuit, calling out for Ash to slow down and let him catch up.
To one side of the crowd, unbeknownst to the two young men as they ran for the Trainer's tunnel at the battlefield's edge, a small woman hid a smile behind her hand. She watched Ash disappear into the darkness with her pale, purple eyes, flicking away a caramel curl of hair before slipping towards the stairs.
Intrigue abound on the ground at Stadium Thirty-One, no?
To answer a question I received from "DragonMasterSirTimaeus", the differences in plot between this revamp and the original aren't things I can go into detail about; however, the basic progression of events is the same, and all canon characters in the old version return in their original capacities (with a couple of exceptions). These initial chapters are probably the biggest differences, if you compare the two versions; once things settle in, the similarities become a bit more apparent.
Don't forget to keep comments and questions, like the one above, coming in those reviews! Thanks to everyone who reviewed in the last week, especially "Shuffleveryday", "SkyrimSly", "Stanislavic" and "Tsukishima Inc" for their multi-review gifts.
Also, be sure to read Shanrock's story, "Crown", which is updated weekly on Thursdays, and comes highly decorated and recommended. Hop to it!
Chapter 13, "Agony Kai", will be released on December 20th, so be sure to come back then to find out what happens next!
So, until then... Be sure to review and, as always...
Keep up the good work!
