Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, but if I did this would be part of the Diamond and Peral series! I only own my characters!
Chapter 21: Putting The Plan Into Action!
After finalizing a trade with Kashton, our heroes are trying to figure out how to make the Stone Pokeball look like a regular pokeball along with feel like one too in a small little open space that wasn't far from the big open field.
"Who's the creative trainer around here?" asked May curiously as she was looking at everyone.
"Well, I think I fit the description because I like to draw and make clothes for pokemon to wear." replied Dawn as she raised hand.
"Ok, Dawn. You're in charge of us. So, what do you need first?" asked Brock as he was getting ready to get whatever Dawn needed.
"Well, first I need…" replied Dawn as she was starting to list out all of the things that she needs to change the Stone Pokeball.
(With Kashton)
On their way back to their campsite on a trail that was surrounded by trees, Azelf wanted to know why he'd agree to a trade in the morning instead of right then along with Mesprit and Uxie wanted to know too as to why their king was doing this with the others.
"Because I'm not as strong as I was before." said Kashton as he was still looking ahead while the guardians looked at him with a curious look on their faces.
"Is your body not strong enough?" asked Uxie curiously as it was starting to think that Ash's body wasn't strong enough.
"It is strong enough, but a spell had weakened my heart by someone around here." replied Kashton as he was still looking ahead.
"By who, Kashton?" asked Mesprit curiously and angry at the same time at the person who did this to him so that he would he give pay back to them.
"By the leader of the Council, Holy." replied Kashton as they stopped in their campsite, which was a small little area a little ways away from the big open space.
"Then we'll punish him severely for doing that to you." said Uxie as Kashton turned around to face them.
"Don't worry about him. I put him under a more powerful obedience spell, so he won't be a problem anymore-oh." said Kashton as his heart stopped again and he clutched his chest right in the spot where his heart was and he almost doubled over because of the slight pain that his heart gave out.
The guardians crowded around him as they were worried about what could happen to their king in this state in his body.
This time, his heart stopped for half a minute and then, started up again and he let go of his chest as it was starting to feel better and free of the pain.
"You need to rest so that you're ready for tomorrow and that your heart can rest too." said Azelf as they made sure that Kashton was going to be fine before backing away from him.
"Ok, I will. See you in the morning." said Kashton as he was looking for a place to sleep and found one not far from the guardians, but far enough away from the Council.
He didn't have a pillow so he made his arms be his pillow as he looked up into the sky, which was pitch black, and before long he fell asleep in the same position as he first laid down, which was on his back.
Brandon was tied up so he just laid down as best as he could and fell asleep on his right side with the ground being his pillow for his head.
(Back With The Gang)
Dawn was putting the final touches on the Stone Pokeball to make it look and feel like a real pokeball.
"And…done." said Dawn as she was finishing the Pokeball with a paint brush in hand.
"Wow! I can't even tell if that stone before, Dawn." said Cynthia as she picked up the Pokeball carefully as to not mess up the paint.
"Well, we should get to bed so that we're not tired in the morning. Let's hope that our secret weapon remembers the plan." said Brock as he started to roll out his sleeping bag along with the others right next to each other.
"Yeah, I hope so too." said May as she was lying down inside of hers with a look of worry on it.
(Back With Kashton)
While the gang gets some well deserved rest, the gang from Pokelantis are starting to worry about Kashton and how he's going to fare the next day with the trade.
Well, the guardians, Giratina, and Shaymin, that is, not the Council, who still wanted to get rid of Kashton, but couldn't.
Azelf went to check on Kashton's condition, but it jumped to his side because something was wrong with him it noticed from a distance.
Kashton wasn't breathing for a full minute, and then, he started to breathe again, which gave relief to Azelf.
Azelf watched him for a few more minutes, to see if he would do that again, which he didn't, and then, left to tell Mesprit and Uxie what happened to Kashton and how worried she was about him.
"What's Kashton's condition, Azelf?" asked Uxie as Azelf was coming back with a worried look in her face.
"His condition isn't getting better. He stopped breathing for a minute and then, he started again. I watched him a few minutes to find that he didn't do it again." replied Azelf sadly as she was looking in Kashton's direction with Mesprit and Uxie.
"Well, let's try to get some sleep before tomorrow comes so that we can be well rested in case something happens tomorrow." said Uxie as he laid down with Azelf, on his left, and Mesprit, on his right.
"Right." said Azelf and Mesprit in unison as they all fell asleep with a worried expression on their faces.
(With Team Rocket)
They were watching the whole thing from behind a couple of bushes, in the big open space, which was surrounded by trees, after getting here from Sinnoh a few hours ago after watching the whole transfer between Ash and Kashton at the Lost Tower a day ago, which scared them to death. (Figuratively, of course.)
They didn't know what to say because they were shocked at what happened then and just now as they saw everyone stand off for the things that they wanted before they fell asleep inside their basket, which was tied down tightly.
(Back With The Gang)
Everyone slept through the night pretty good, but some had a problem on their minds while they were asleep and barely got any rest because of it.
As the sun, which was dark behind the dark clouds, was rising, the two gangs were standing in the same big open space as when they negotiated the trade deal, but Ash's gang has a special surprise for Kashton, which he wasn't expecting.
As the two gangs are about to make the trade, our heroes are relying on the one special person to help them out in their time of need, which is now.
After arriving at the same big open space, which was surrounded by trees, as before, our heroes are relying on Brock to make the trade and Kashton to keep his end of the deal with handing Brandon over to them.
As Brock and Kashton approach each, away from their groups a little, the trade started with Kashton bringing Brandon in front of him, who was behind him, and pushed him toward Brock and Brock stepped forward a step and handed Kashton the pokeball, which he was happy to get, which he expressed by a wide smile as he was looking at the pokeball.
Brock and Brandon, who was untied by Brock as Kashton was looking at the pokeball with wide eyes, backed away as he raised the pokeball above his head, just like Ash did when he first had his little encounter with Kashton, with a smile on his face as he was looking at the pokeball.
"Come on out, Suicune, Entei, and Raikou!" said Kashton excitedly as he was still looking at the pokeball.
When he said that, the pokeball lit up, instead of opening up like a regular pokeball, and a pure white light came out of it, which started to wrap itself around Kashton's body, and went into his body, which caused him to fall unconscious.
Kashton's body fell to the ground, on his stomach, and when Brock and Brandon, who were still close enough to get to Kashton first, rolled Kashton over, he wasn't breathing and he didn't have a pulse either as they checked him to see if he was ok.
"What did you do that for?" yelled the guardians, Giratina, and Shaymin in unison as they approached the gang, who was around Kashton, and stopped to see what happened to their king.
"Because we want the world and our friend back!" yelled back the gang in unison so that the other gang would know why they were doing this to Kashton.
The guardians and Council were taken back as they realized that they were doing the exact same thing with Kashton taking over Ash's body when he had plenty of potential as a young trainer yet as they bowed their heads in sorrow and shame as they didn't realize that.
(In Kashton's/Ash's Mind)
Kashton was trying to figure out what was happening to him and where was he, which was filled with swirling colors of black, purple, and red all over the place, while he was getting up off the floor from his front.
"Where am I and what am I doing here?" asked Kashton to no one in particular as he was looking around, but mostly behind him as he was trying to find an exit.
"You're in my mind and I brought you here so that I can have one last fight with you." replied Ash as he appeared from the purple, red, and black swirls behind Kashton, scaring him, when he turned around as he wasn't expecting to see Ash again.
"Well, Ash. I thought that I'd never see you again." said Kashton as he was staring at Ash, who had an angry expression on his face.
"Well, I thought that I'd never get back into my body again." said Ash as he was staring back at Kashton, who was calm and collected when he looked at Ash, with the same angry look.
"You said that you wanted one last fight?" asked Kashton after a few seconds of silence, surprising Ash as he changed the subject.
"Yeah." Replied Ash kind of nervously as he was wondering what Kashton was planning.
"Then it's a fight that you're gonna get!" said Kashton as he started to run toward Ash with his fist clenched into a fist, which meant this was gonna be a tough fight for Ash.
Ash didn't know what to do because he was scared to death as he was watching Kashton get closer and closer with the punch that was directed at him.
Kashton hit him hard enough to hit the wall, which about three feet from where Ash was standing, and he slid down the wall to land on his butt as he was looking at Kashton, who had jumped back to his side of the battlefield.
(Back In The Real World)
The gangs noticed that the tattoo was starting to disappear from Ash's arms, which didn't leave any marks such as scars, and that he was starting to get some scratches on his face and arms, from the hit that he had just received from Kashton.
They just looked at each other, including the guardians and Council, and they were all hoping that Ash and Kashton were ok in Ash's body and hoping that there was a victor soon before someone was seriously hurt.
(Back In Ash's Mind)
"Ok. If you want to play it that way." said Ash as he was getting up from where he was sitting on the floor against the wall.
He ran towards Kashton, who was on the other side of the supposed battlefield in Ash's mind, to punch him, but he was stopped by Kashton, who grabbed Ash's arm and pushed him back down in the same direction, on his back, as before.
When he got back up, he saw Kashton starting to run towards him, ready to punch him again, but Ash was ready for him this time around as he saw Kashton running full force.
Ash got up and started to run to punch Kashton too until, just before they hit each other, who were mere feet away, when, they stopped in their tracks and clutched their chests because both of their hearts stopped at the same time.
They stood like that for 2 minutes until their hearts started back up again; making Ash start to wonder what Kashton did to his body while he was in the Stone Pokeball.
"What was that all about, Kashton?" asked Ash, finally able to move after what felt like an eternity to him.
"The spell's starting to become a problem now." replied Kashton, starting to move again, but he was slightly slower than before.
"What are you talking about, Kashton?" asked Ash, standing in the same place as before as he crossed his arms across his chest as he was waiting for an explanation from Kashton.
"One of my 'old friends' put a spell on me so that my heart would be weak in battle and I would eventually die." replied Kashton as he was looking at Ash.
"So let me get this straight, when your heart stops, my heart stops because you took over my body?" exclaimed Ash as he was getting angrier than before.
"Well, Ash, you just discovered what's happening to us." said Kashton calmly as he was watching Ash's face turn from an angry expression to a shocked expression.
Ash couldn't believe that he hit the nail on the head with that exclamation and how they were both in trouble if it continued on.
(Back In The Real World)
Both of the gangs started to notice that the tattoo was slowly going away from Ash's body as they had pulled the turtleneck down on his neck on could see it disappear.
The gang knew that Ash was starting to come through for them by defeating Kashton and hopefully, getting the world back to normal.
(Back In Ash's Mind)
"You know what, Kashton? You're going down!" said Ash as he was running towards Kashton again, but this time it was full force.
"Oh yeah, so are you!" said Kashton doing the same, but with a spell in hand, which was a dark blue that meant that he was serious about this fight.
(Back In The Real World)
As Ash and Kashton are fighting for control over Ash's body, our heroes are waiting to see who'll be the winner, but will it be Ash or Kashton that comes out on top?
When we left our young hero, he was facing Kashton for control over his body and the gangs were waiting for the winner to emerge victorious, but will it be Ash or Kashton?
Let's find out!
(Back In Ash's Mind)
The two punches hit together, but Kashton pushed Ash's punch back and hit him hard since Ash wasn't planning on Kashton doing that.
The punch sent Ash flying back in the same direction as before, but he slammed against the wall and was badly hurt from the spell being so powerful on him.
(Back In The Real World)
While the gangs were watching Ash's body, they noticed that he was starting to show some emotion in his face with a pained expression and the tattoo was gone from his body, but they didn't know if it was Kashton or Ash with that pained expression.
(Back In Ash's Mind)
"I was expecting more out of you, Ash, than you're showing me know." said Kashton as he watched Ash get up with his head lowered so that his hat was covering his eyes.
Ash kept his head looking at the ground while he was getting up so that Kashton wouldn't see him release some tears from his eyes.
"You know what, Kashton?" asked Ash, still with his head down and in a slightly cold tone too.
"What, Ash?" asked Kashton as well as he was wondering what Ash had up his sleeve.
"That you're going down once and for all!" yelled Ash as he lifted his head up and was starting to charge at Kashton with his fist clenched so tight that his knuckles were starting to turn white.
"You're going down too!" yelled Kashton as he was starting to charge at Ash as well without a spell in hand.
They were about to make contact with each other, when both of their hearts stopped again, which they clutched their chests, but for 3 minutes instead of 2.
When their hearts started back up, Kashton wasn't moving as fats as before, in fact, he wasn't moving at all as he was still clutching his chest.
"My heart can't stand another time of stopping because if it does, I will for sure be a goner." said Kashton in his mind as he slowly let go of his chest.
While Kashton was saying that in his mind, Ash had recovered faster than Kashton and started running again and punched him, catching him off guard.
Kashton was knocked against the wall hard, with his head looking down at the ground, as he wasn't expecting to have Ash land a punch on him.
When eh looked up, he saw Ash standing over him with his right fist still clenched while he was panting from what he had just accomplished.
"Are you ready to give up, Kashton?" asked Ash as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Yes, Ash. I am." replied Kashton as he was getting up with Ash's help.
"That was a good fight, Kashton." said Ash as he stuck out his hand to shake with Kashton.
"I agree with you on it, Ash." said Kashton as he grabbed Ash's hand gently and shook on a great fight.
There was slight pause before Kashton spoke again, breaking the silence that they both had created.
"Well, I guess I should be leaving your body since you're the winner, Ash." said Kashton as he was starting to leave spiritually from Ash's mind.
"Kashton, wait. Where will you go after you leave my body?" asked Ash as he was stopping Kashton from leaving momentarily.
"I'll go back inside the Stone Pokeball forever, but promise me this, Ash: When I'm back inside it, destroy the Stone Pokeball so that I may rest in peace." said Kashton half gone as he stuck out his hand.
"I will, Kashton. You can count on me." said Ash as he shook Kashton's disappearing hand.
As soon as Ash said that, Kashton disappeared from Ash's body, but his dark aura was still in Ash's body.
It took Ash only 5 seconds to get full control of his body again, which he was happy about after what he had been put through the past day.
(Back In The Real World)
The two gangs watched speechless as Kashton's dark spirit, not his aura, left Ash's body and went into the Stone Pokeball, which was lying right next to him, without any resistance.
As soon as Kashton was back in the Stone Pokeball, Ash's eyes flickered little as he was starting to wake up.
"Ash, is that you?" asked May as she wasn't sure if it was Ash or not.
Ash looked at everyone that was around him with amazement on their faces and then, May.
"It's me, for sure." replied Ash as he was slowly getting up as he was a little numb in his arms and legs.
"Let's get out of here, everyone." said Brandon as he was starting to reach for the Stone Pokeball to put it away forever in a spot where no one could find it ever again.
"Hold on, Brandon." said Ash as he was getting the rest of the feeling in his arms and legs as he was stopping Brandon from touching the Stone Pokeball.
"Why, Ash?" asked Dawn as both gangs were wondering what he had up his sleeve.
"Because I have a promise to keep." replied Ash as he stepped away from the Stone Pokeball with everyone following him.
"What are you talking about, Ash?" asked Misty as they were all confused about what he was talking about.
"By this: Sceptile, Solarbeam on the Stone Pokeball!" replied Ash as he was fulfilling his promise to Kashton.
Everyone, including the gang from Pokelantis, were shocked to hear that when Ash said that.
Scpetile's Solarbeam destroyed the Stone Pokeball completely without leaving a trace of it even existing at all.
When the Stone Pokeball was destroyed, all of the darkness in the world was gone, even all of Kashton's dark and evil aura left Ash's body and when it did, Ash fell down onto the ground on his stomach and the aura disappeared from the world too.
Brock went to check on Ash and discovered that something was wrong with Ash after he rolled Ash over to check on him.
"Uh, guys, we have a big problem. Ash isn't breathing and he doesn't have a pulse either." said Brock as he was getting up from Ash's side.
'Then let's get him to a hospital quickly." said Cynthia as she was hoping that Ash would be alright.
"Sceptile, would you mind carrying Ash for us?" asked Max as he knew that Sceptile was worried about its trainer and Sceptile shock its head 'Yes' and picked Ash up without a problem as it had done it before.
"Go Bronzong! Ok, everyone, let's go! Bronzong, Teleport!" said Lucian as they were in a hurry to get to a hospital.
As our heroes are teleporting to a hospital for Ash to get taken care of, the 12 legendary pokemon are starting to go back to their homes with a farewell and a good luck wish from all of them that Ash will be alright, but the question that's on everyone's minds, including the 12 legendaries, is this: Will Ash be able to make it through this part of the ordeal or will he face the inevitable?
Last time, Ash beat Kashton on the last fight between them and when Ash destroyed the Stone Pokeball, Ash fell to the ground after Kashton's aura left his body and he wasn't breathing and he didn't have a pulse either, which worried everyone there.
Now, our heroes are arriving at the hospital in Viridian for Ash, but will be able to be saved or will he die?
Let's find out!
(At The Hospital)
As soon as they arrived, Brandon went running inside to find a doctor or a nurse to help them with taking care of Ash.
He found a doctor just inside of the building and told the doctor to follow him outside because their friend collapsed while he was training.
When the doctor came running out with Brandon and saw Ash in the condition that he was in, the doctor ran in and called for a stretcher to come out immediately.
When the nurse came running out as she was bringing the stretcher out, Brock, Brandon, Lucian, and the doctor (Don't know what to call him!) lifted Ash up onto the stretcher and the nurse took him to the emergency room immediately through a pair of swinging doors. (Is that what they are called?)
Just before the gang rushed after Ash, the doctor stopped them in the waiting room before doing anything else such as running after Ash.
"I'll come out when I have some good news, but if I come out of there after 15 minutes of going in there, then, I have some bad news." said the doctor before he went through the swinging doors to take care of Ash.
As soon as the doctor left, Brock went to call Mrs. Ketchum, Professor Oak, and Tracey to give them the news about Ash and what kind of condition he was in.
While Brock was talking to the three of them and trying to comfort them, May remembered something that was very important that she had to do.
(The Phone Conversation Between May And Caroline)
She called her Mom to let her know why they weren't home yet, but she didn't want to tell her that they had to save the world from a rogue spirit that was loose in Ash's body.
"Oh, I see. Well, have fun at the party, May. Bye." said Caroline as she hung up with May.
"Thanks, Mom. Bye." said May as she was doing the same as Max was coming up behind her.
"What was Mom talking about a party for?" asked Max as he heard he very last thing that his Mom said to May.
"I lied to her and told her the reason why we're not home yet is because there's a party for Ash instead of telling her the truth." replied May as she was looking at Max.
"Oh, I see. Good job, sis." said Max complimenting his sister on a great idea.
"Thanks, Max." said May accepting the compliment.
"Hey, Max. Could you come over here for a minute?" asked Brock as he was looking at Max, away from the screen of the video phone in front of him.
"Sure, Brock." replied Max as he left his sister to see what Brock wanted.
When Max got there, he heard a person crying in the background that sounded like a woman, who was probably Mrs. Ketchum worrying about her son.
"Max, would you mind teleporting with Bronzong to pick up Tracey, and the others for me?" asked Brock as he was looking away at the screen and looking at Max.
"I wouldn't mind, Brock. See you in a minute, Tracey." replied Max as he stepped back to hold onto Bronzong and then, he was teleported away to Pallet Town.
"See you in a couple of minutes, Brock. Bye." said Tracey as he was hanging up with Brock.
"Bye, Tracey." said Brock as he was hanging up too.
(5 Minutes Later)
Max returned with the others, but Mrs. Ketchum was still crying her eyes out about what happened to her son and how this could've all been avoided.
(30 Minutes Later)
After Mrs. Ketchum finally settled down, the doctor came out through the swinging doors with some good news, which was indicated by a smile on his face.
"Well, Ash will be fine, but there are some consequences. Number 1: No training with his pokemon for 2 weeks. Number 2: He has to rest during those 2 weeks and practically do nothing, and Number 3: He can't do any battling at anytime during the next 2 weeks or he will for sure die. You can go ahead on in to see him. He should be waking up any minute now. Do you want me to tell him or do you all want to tell him the news?" asked the doctor as he was looking at the gang.
Everyone looked at each other and then, they made their decision about who should tell Ash this load of information.
"We'll tell him the news. When will he be able to go home?" asked Mrs. Ketchum as she was looking at the doctor and stepping forward slightly.
"He'll be able to go home tomorrow. I'll see you all tomorrow." replied the doctor as he was leaving them at the white swinging doors, which they went through as soon as he left.
(In Ash's room)
When the doctor left, the gang went into the room, after finding out where it was, and saw Ash still sleeping peacefully in the white hospital bed, which he was hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV.
As soon as they were in the room and shut the door, Ash started to wake up, which was indicated by his eyes fluttering open to reveal his chocolate brown eyes.
"Ash, I'm so glad that you're alright." said Mrs. Ketchum, who was sitting on Ash's right side by his head, as she was looking at her son.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" asked Ash as he turned his head to look at her with a curious look on his face.
"I'm here because Brock called about what happened and what your condition was at the time that you were in here being taken care of." replied Mrs. Ketchum as she was smiling for the first time since this whole thing started with Kashton.
"What condition?" asked Ash as he was starting to get up to sit up in the bed with as much strength as he could muster from being so exhausted from the fight with Kashton.
"Maybe this one word might help you remember: Kashton." replied Brandon as he was looking at Ash struggle to sit up without any help.
As soon as Ash heard the word 'Kashton', he fell back onto the bed, which scared everyone, but they were relieved to see that he was ok, in shock as he remembered what happen and how he got into the condition that he got when he came into the hospital.
"Oh yeah. HIM. Anyway, how did I get in the hospital?" asked Ash as he was trying to figure out what happened after he had blacked out from destroying the Stone Pokeball.
After finding out that Ash will be ok, our heroes are gonna get a good night's sleep, as best as they can with being in a hospital and all, so that they can take Ash home the next day.
That was Chapter 21! I'm happy how I worked on a lot of it. I started to work on it yesterday and today I finished it. Yeah! Next chapter will be the last. :( But I will have the next fanfic up on my birthday as that it when I'm hoping to finish this too. :) See ya later!
AshKetchumForever-Action first-Think later!