With a stoic, underhanded toss, Wade Barrett smirked, "Golurk, I command you."
When the powder-white glow of energy vanished a bulky pokemon wearing teal ancient Roman-soldier armor appeared on the battlefield across from Pikachu.
Ash gawked at the sight of the pokemon. He'd never seen such a thing before. "What is that?" Flipping open his Pokedex and scanning.
*Golurk, the Automation Pokemon. It is said that Golurk were ordered to protect people and Pokémon by the ancient people who made them. Flying faster than the speed of sound, Golurk loses control when the seal on its chest is removed. It follows its master's orders faithfully.*
"Before we begin," Barrett pointed to the frozen Entei being cradled by Roman Reigns in the middle of the courtyard, "Let's clear the field so there are no distractions."
Ash nodded, "Fine by me."
"Golurk," Barrett waved, "Clear that eyesore from the field."
Ash watched as the teal golem clutched large ice cube that encased Roman's Entei and carried away with ease.
"Does anyone have a fire pokemon?" Roman asked Carlito and Larrell.
When the sentinel took its place across the dirt-covered field, Wade smirked at Ash, "Your move."
(He's letting me go first?) Ash blinked. (Why?)
"What?" Barrett crossed his arms. "Are you rejecting my hospitality?"
"Wade," the chocolate woman beside the fallen general pleaded, tugging on his arm. "Don't do this."
Wade took one final look at her, "Let go of me. I will end this fruitless existence once and for all."
She shook her head, "Was your living on really worth nothing? We found eachother. You found me." Cupping his face in her hands. "We're together again after all this time."
Wade downcast his eyes, "And I'm still unable to 'feel' anything from it because of the curse. I must break it."
Ash watched as the story unfolded. "I thought finding you would make me whole again, Alicia. Because of this curse I still feel nothing but pain."
Roman sang, "All I feel is pain, all I feel is rain, how can I maintain, with mad shit on my brain?"
Alicia Fox exhaled, "Are you seriously quoting DMX lyrics right now?"
"What?" Roman shrugged, "I think-"
"No cares what you think, dude." Larrell sighed. Everyone turned to Roman and sighed.
Ash returned his attention to the battlefield. "Okay, get ready, Pikachu." He cautioned.
The mouse braced itself, "Chu," it hissed as lightning burst from its cheeks.
Barrett shook his head, "Well, I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you. This battle will be a losing one for you." Barrett's expression hardened. "Golurk, use Curse!"
The sentinel's body glowed with purple energy; "GO," The watchman coiled its fingers into a fist, "LUUUURK," and punched itself in the chest with so much force it nearly toppled itself.
"Haha," Ash chuckled, "What's this guy think he's doing?" Watching the Golurk drop to one knee, "All he did was hurt his own pokemon."
"Look again," Wade pointed to Ash's Pikachu.
Plum-purple energy encircled Pikachu's body.
From the school's roof, Sasha stepped past a puddle of her own vomit. She'd cried her eyes away from the scrutiny of the group.
(No more. I won't cry over you anymore.) She vowed. (You're not worthy my tears.)
Wiping her mouth, Sasha sat with her legs draped over the edge and her hands gripping the surface for support.
As Pikachu was bewitched by the ectoplasmic energy of Golurk's Curse attack, Sasha silently praised the intelligence of Wade. (He knows Golurk doesn't have the speed to catch Pikachu. So he's placed a Curse on it so Golurk doesn't have to chase Pikachu. Pikachu takes damage every turn regardless of what happens. Smart.)
Instinctively Ash ordered, "Pikachu, thunderbolt!"
"Pi-ka," the mouse charged, "chuuuu!" launching a trail of lightning across the field.
As its teal armor was bathed in golden energy, The Golurk strode forward as if an idle breeze had hit it. Closing the distance between itself and Pikachu.
"What?" Ash gawked. "Electricity doesn't do anything to it?"
Then, Ash watched in horror as Pikachu's body glowed plum-purple again. The pokemon shook as if it were having a seizure for a moment, then, Pikachu dropped.
"What's it that?" Ash looked on in surprise. "C'mon, Pikachu!"
The mouse took a deep breath to collect itself and pushed itself to its feet.
Wade flatly stared at the mortified look on Ash's face, "Feel my curse. Golurk, attack with High Horsepower."
The armored pokemon's legs evaporated and it rocketed forward fast as a bullet.
Ash quickly thought, "Pikachu use your Agility to dodge!"
The mouse's body shifted into high-gear. Pikachu became a blur as it shot across the battlefield, avoiding the rampaging statue.
"Good," Ash breathed.
Then, the ectoplasmic energy ensnared Pikachu's body again as the Curse crippled Pikachu once again.
Sasha looked on with caution. (Ash has no idea what he's up against. Using Curse, a ghost pokemon sacrifices half of its health to put a curse on the enemy. Every turn, the enemy loses a quarter of its energy. That's two moves already for Pikachu. Meaning Pikachu only has half of its energy left. Pikachu has only two more moves to make before it goes down.) Sasha calculated. (What are you going to do, Ash?)
Ash stared at the Golurk. (Think, Ash?! Think! This pokemon has got to have a weak point! What did the Pokedex say again?)
Ash then gawked, "I remember!"
*Flying faster than the speed of sound, Golurk loses control when the seal on its chest is removed*
(We have to break the seal on its chest.) Ash realized. (Pikachu's Agility is giving it more than enough speed. There's a chance.)
"Aim for the chest, Pikachu!" Ash shouted, "Iron Tail!"
Leaving only a wake of electric-blue energy, Pikachu fired across the field and leapt into the air. As it twisted its body like an acrobat, its tail glowed silver. Brimming with power, it slammed its tail towards the heart of the Golurk.
"Golurk, use Defense Curl." Wade ordered.
The Golurk wrapped its arms around its body, coiling itself into a ball like a hedgehog.
"NO!" Ash shouted as Pikachu's Iron Tail bounced off the shielded body of the Golurk.
Then, the ectoplasmic glow returned, crippling Pikachu further.
Sasha shook her head. (Pikachu's got one more chance.) She counted as the Golurk untucked itself and stood. (Wade doesn't have to do anything except protect the seal on his Golurk's chest and Pikachu's done for.)
"Pikachu, you're much faster than that thing." Ash coached. "As fast as she can with all your power let's try one more time."
The mouse panted, "Pi-ka," barely able to stand.
"So you're going to try another Iron Tail?" Barrett chortled. "It's useless."
"Max power, Pikachu." Ash shouted, "Iron Tail on the chest!"
Pikachu exploded like a bullet.
"Use Defense Curl." Wade repeated.
At a closer distance than last time, Pikachu reached the Golurk a lot faster. It swung its tail, breaching the copper Band-Aid-like seal on the chest of the Golurk.
When Pikachu landed, "CHU," it squeaked before its body was overtaken by the ectoplasmic energy.
Ash watched as Pikachu slumped facedown into the dirt unconscious.
"GOOOO," The Golurk's body began to shake as golden-yellow energy exploded from its chest, "LUUUURK!"
When the golden-light faded the breastplate, gauntlets and helmet of the Golurk lay in the dirt unattached from eachother. "HOW?!" Barrett demanded.
"Anime cheese." Roman nodded. "No matter how ridiculous it is, Pikachu somehow wins."
Barrett glared at Roman. Although everyone knew it was the truth. The anime glorified Pikachu in the most ridiculous ways.
"And people think I'm being shoved down folk's throats," Roman shrugged, "Pikachu is a thousands times worse than me and John Cena combined when you really think about it."
Ash jogged across the dirt and cradled the comatose mouse in his arms, "You did it, buddy. You took down the Golurk," he muttered before hurrying back to his place.
"Ash," Lacey called, "Allow me to hold Pikachu."
Ash stared at the Southern Belle, "Why?"
"There's no way you'll be able to really focus on the battle if you're holding Pikachu." Lacey explained, "Besides, maybe there are some medical supplies inside the school. It is a Pokemon School after all, right?"
Ash stared at Lacey. He'd known her in his previous existence. She'd been an ally. A lover. That didn't mean she could be trusted now. "Well, I-" Ash hesitated.
"Golurk, return." Barrett exhaled, "We all know your Pikachu is special but that was bullocks." Barrett drew his second pokeball. "That won't happen this time. Charizard, I command you."
In a flash, Barrett's fire-dragon took the field with a loud roar.
Ash stared nodded to Lacey, "Okay," carefully placing Pikachu in Lacey's arms, "Take care of Pikachu, okay."
Sasha looked on. (Is that the same Charizard that Barrett used to beat Melbu in New York?)
Chapter 103 Flashback…
The Charizard leered down at its unevolved opponent. The Charizard snorted, spraying a cloud of smoke into the face of its smaller opponent.
Melbu howled, letting out a shrill roar as it charged forward, swinging its claws into the belly of the Charizard. The Charizard emitting soft grunts as it absorbed the attack-after-attack.
(The attacks aren't doing anything to the Charizard.) Prince clenched his teeth. Melbu charged forward fueled with pride. Melbu was battling freely, not waiting for orders but attacking purely on instinct.
"Charizard, flamethrower!" Barrett ordered.
Melbu stepped back, inhaling and charging before firing a flamethrower.
After a quick snort of disgust the Charizard fired an intense stream of fire three times the size of Melbu's. The Charizard's flamethrower swallowed Melbu's before overpowering the Charmeleon and sending it flying backwards into a nearby sedan.
"Melbu," Prince called, hurrying alongside the flaming car and examining his comrade.
"It's over, pharaoh," Barrett shook his head as the Charizard snorted another flume of smoke. Offended that it had been subjected to battling an opponent so weak.
(Melbu wasn't fully evolved yet. Still, that loss really hurt Prince and Melbu's pride. He'd love a chance to battle Barrett now with a fully evolved Charizard too.) Sasha noted. (But it's Ash's battle. What's he going to do?)
Sasha thought for a moment. (Let's see, with Pikachu down. What pokemon does Ash have left?) Sasha perused her memories for a moment. (Right, Ash has…)
Greninja
Charizard
Sceptile
Pidgeot
And Hawlucha left.
(I wonder what he'll use to take on Barrett's Charizard.) She looked on as the dragon roared.
In the candlelit auditorium, Prince carefully strode to the stage, "It's really you?" Staring at the new fuchsia hair on Eva, "This isn't a Jedi mind trick?"
Before Eva could answer, one of the children protectively jumped between Prince and Eva, "Who are you, mister?"
Eva smiled at her tiny bodyguard, "Everyone," looking at all the children and teenagers, "This is my Prince, my-"
"Is he your boyfriend, Miss Eva?" One of the girls asked.
"No," Prince answered, "We're more than-"
"We're friends." Eva said flatly. "Very close friends and," she carefully selected her next word, "partners."
Prince gave Eva a puzzled look. (Friends?) He blinked at her. "Friends?"
Eva nodded.
Prince couldn't stop staring at her. What was going on? What was she doing? What did she mean 'friends'? After all they had been through, the thought of being just 'friends' was impossible.
"Okay, 'friend'," The pint-sized bodyguard teased, "You got a name?"
Before Prince could answer, the faint roar of a dragon filled the auditorium.
"That's," Prince paused, "A Charizard?" He tapped his sternum, ensuring the pokeball that contained Melbu was still there. It was. "There are only two other people I know that have a Charizard. Ash and-" Prince paused.
Ash wouldn't just casually summon his Charizard. Something had to be going on.
There was no time for Prince to contemplate Eva's emotions. He took off, hurrying outside.