Narrator
There was a sickening darkness gathered at the top floor of the ancient tower. Two pairs of heavy footsteps entered into the room, causing the door to slowly creak open, and they dropped down to one knee in respect to the figure in front of them.
"You two are back already?"
"The plan with the Charizards were a success"
"However... there were complications. My apologies, Master X"
"I sensed it from here" X said, turning around to face his subjects. "Those type-masters already ruined my plans once, but this one is completely full proof"
"What are you planning now?" the poison-type master, Sabrina, questioned curiously
"On my journey I discovered a new way to form the Bonds of Amour for my will" X revealed, placing a book onto the table in front of him - somehow, he had aged fifteen years, and his left arm and the right-side of his face were now both made out of metal. "The process requires the opposite of my previous plan... heartbreak"
"Heartbreak..." Winchester, the 'steel-type slayer' that specialized in fire-types, said. "I believe I'm catching your drift... in fact, the plan is almost so simple it's too good to be true"
"Correct" X nodded. "The death of Ash Ketchum should cause enough grief to the fairy-type master, that the bonds will form"
"People are approaching the tower" Sabrina announced. "I can hear it"
"Go"
Ash
"So that's it" I said
We stopped after a long walk - the Tower of Babel had been a thirty minute walk, but we had stopped for ten minutes halfway in. The tower itself was large that enough that it might have been the tallest tower in the world. It was made out of sand-colored stone, with orange patterns painted all around it.
"You think we would know about a tower this big" Anna pointed out
"There's probably a reason for it" Serena said
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I totally want to check it out" Gary cracked his knuckles and pulled out another Pokeball
Deciding it was worth checking out, we began to approach the tower, but stopped about fifty feet away from it when the ground began to shake lightly. Two pairs of heavy footsteps approach us from the right, and two silhouettes appeared beneath the bright sunlight on a small diagonal slab of land with a tip that was raised about fifteen feet off the ground.
"May we help you?" Clemont asked
"I believe you can" one of them said as the sunlight died down, revealing them
The one on the left was a girl wearing a purple robe, with long blonde hair and bright-purple eyes that stared directly into your soul - she was also followed by a Arbok that slithered next to her. On the right was an older man, maybe in his early-thirties, with knight's armor and a red cape that flowed with the wind. In one hand, he held a sword, and in the other, a small can of booze. Over the left side of his chest-plate, the words "Absolute Heat," were imprinted.
"I've heard a lot about you three" the girl said
"Three? There's four of us" Gary responded
"Never heard of you"
"Never heard of me? You haven't heard of, the, Gary Oak? Everyone knows that-"
"Shut up" She narrowed her eyes, and Gary quickly zipped his mouth
"I didn't expect Ash Ketchum to be here" the man said, taking a sip from his can - his voice was deep and laidback
"Are you seriously drinking right now?" the girl retorted
"Hey, if it comes down to it, the Pokemon does the battling, not me" the man defended
"Excuse me, but who are you guys?" Serena asked
The man scanned around, as if looking for something in particular. "No steel-type master, huh? I was hoping to really test out my flames"
"We're the Gates of Purgatory" the girl answered. "Well, two out of seven of them. My name is Sabrina, remember that. This here is Winchester, and he's probably too out of it to answer anything properly"
"That's cool, but you still haven't answered our first question" Gary crossed his arms across his chest
"We have orders to bring you up" Winchester pointed up the top level
"No, we have orders to bring them down" Sabrina corrected
"Oh" Winchester realized
A breeze blew by, and gears from underneath the tower shifted in place, as if they were uncomfortable with their current position. Sabrina and Winchester brought out Pokeballs, both which were master-balls.
"Serena, Clemont, we'll handle this" I said
"Are you sure?" Serena asked
"Yeah" I nodded in assurance
Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena jogged away so that they were out of the way of any potential harm, and both enemies brought out their Pokemon - a Salazzle and an Infernape, whose flames were navy blue instead of red.
"Blue flames?" Gary questioned
"My Infernape's flames are just that hot" Winchester grinned
"Good thing I got a powerful water-type on me then" I pulled out a Pokeball and released Frogadier
"Same here" Gary released Blastoise
Anna tossed up a master-ball of her own, revealing a Zapdos whose presence caused thunderclouds to gather.
"Infernape, Flames of Belial" Winchester commanded
Responding quickly, Infernape fired a massive blue Flamethrower from its mouth, leaving no time for Blastoise and Frogadier to dodge and exploding upon contact with the ground.
"Hidden Arts?" Anna asked
"Winchester's the steel-type slayer who specializes in fire-types" Sabrina informed
"Steel-type slayer?" the three of us responded
"Wherever there is good, there's evil" Winchester crushed his can and threw it behind him. "I'm surprised you didn't know. Each type has slayers for each type that's effective against it"
"Though type-masters aren't always good" Sabrina pointed out. "After all, I'm the poison-type master"
"Infernape, Ikari Fist" Winchester continued the battle
Infernape's fist sparked up with blue flames, and he jumped forward; Frogadier backflipped out of the way, narrowly dodging the attack as Infernape came down, smashing its fist where Frogadier had previously been standing.
"Zapdos, Wings of Fury" Anna said
Zapdos bent its wings inward, before spreading them out with all of its force, sending forth winds with electricity circulating them that began to push back Salazzle and Infernape; it kept flapping its wings, constantly keeping the two enemy Pokemon at bay.
"It can only flap its wings for so long" Sabrina said
"Infernape, Flaming Vambrace!" Winchester exclaimed
Bending its arm back, an aura of blue flames surrounded Infernape as a ball of hot energy built up in its hand, and it threw the energy ball like a baseball pitcher; the ball of heat flew rapidly through the intense winds and nailed Zapdos, exploding and causing him to stop.
"Use Twin Blades of Barbados" Sabrina instructed
Salazzle dashed forward, poison building up in both of its arms that built solidified purple blades. It lunged, slashing through Blastoise before Gary could react.
"Frogadier, use Cut!" I said
Frogadier pulled out a white blade and jumped at Salazzle, but missed as the smaller Pokemon was too fast for it. Infernape lunged unexpectedly, hitting Frogadier in the hip with a hard punch that sent it flying back.
"Blastoise, use Rapid Spin!" Gary said
Entering its shell and spinning rapidly, Blastoise launched forward, slamming into Infernape and sending him towards Salazzle, who had no time to move out of the way, and was buried beneath its ally.
"Electric Stinger" Anna added
Six jolts of electricity shot out of Zapdos's back, arching down rapidly and electrocuting both Pokemon and setting off an explosion.
"Looks like you're not so tough after all" Gary confidently mocked
The smoke cleared, and Infernape got up, therefore allowing Salazzle to recover as well. Winchester frowned upon the scratches that its Pokemon had obtained.
"Infernape!" Winchester shouted. "Secret God Art: Wrath of The Eternal Flame!"
"Looks like I spoke too soon" Gary said
The ground began to shake violently, and a ring of blue flames spread around out all around us, keeping us in and only allowing Zapdos to exit it at will. Strings of flames began to shoot out, wrapping around Blastoise and Frogadier's wrists, holding them tightly and burning so hot, that steam began to arise.
"You think?" I retorted
Zapdos transformed into a ball of electricity that quickly zipped through the air, slashing the binds of flames off of our Pokemon and freeing them. However, when it changed back. Infernape and Salazzle fired columns of poison and fire that combined and hit it, setting off a large explosion and sending Zapdos crashing down to the ground.
"Pika" Pikachu said, its cheeks sparking up with electricity
"Not yet, Pikachu. I don't want to risk you getting hurt right now" I replied - Pikachu was too sick to battle with some kind of Pokemon common cold
Gary and I both pulled out another Pokeball for backup, but when we attempted to bring out our Pokemon, nothing happened.
"These flames won't allow you to call any other Pokemon to help you" Winchester said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world
Salazzle spat a ball of poison into the air that spread out like toxic rain, hitting all three of our Pokemon and making them as sick as Pikachu was.
"To think that there's five other ones like these guys" Anna returned Zapdos, and Gary and I did so too
"Well, now that we've beaten you fairly easily," Sabrina said, "make it easy and come with us"
Suddenly, there was a loud roar from the sky that vibrated the ground, and Charizard came crashing down, hitting Infernape with Fire Punch and sending him crashing into the cliffside beneath Winchester and Sabrina.
"A wild Charizard?" Sabrina questioned as it landed on the ground in front of us
"That's no wild Charizard" Anna's eyes widened a bit
"It's clearly wi-" Winchester stopped mid-sentence as the Charizard opened up its mouth, causing the blues from the ring around us to become absorbed into it until it was all sucked up and eaten. "It... ate my flames?"
Footsteps approached from behind, and I spotted a white-robed figure approaching with Clemont, Bonnie, and a concerned-looking Serena.
"Are you alright, Ash?" Serena asked
I nodded. "I'm fine"
"Listen buddy, I don't appreciate the way you interrupted our battle" Winchester said, directing it towards the robed figure
"Secret God Art: Sacred Song" they said simply
Around Salazzle and Infernape, multiples circle of red light appeared underneath them; from the circles, a pitch so loud that it instantly forced us all to cover our eyes was released. Infernape and Salazzle's eyes went wide until their irises and pupils disappeared, leaving only white in their eyes as they fainted.
Shock hit us all, and none of us spoke a word. After a couple of moments, Sabrina and Winchester returned their Pokemon, but went to bring out another one.
"Charizard, Wrath of The Eternal Flames" the robed figured commanded
Charizard repeated Infernape's move from earlier, which made it so that Sabrina and Winchester were unable to call for anymore Pokemon as a ring of fire spread out around them.
"Coming to the tower was an unwise decision" the robed figured pulled down their hood
It was like one of those moments on TV where time seemed to slow down for a couple of seconds; beneath the hood was Jason, whose eyes were fixated on the ring of fire in front of him.
"I can't say I know you people, but your lives are in danger" he informed
"You don't... remember us?" Serena asked
"Remember... I don't remember anything" Jason muttered, waving his hand and calling back Charizard into its ball. "We should leave before there's more trouble"
He began to walk away without a care in the world, and we quickly caught up with him. In his face, he wore this expression that showed something extremely traumatic had happened to him, but he also looked bored at the same time.
"You used two God Arts in a row. Are you alright, Jason?" Anna inquired
"I appreciate the concern, but I won't feel the recoil until later" He answered before turning to me. "You must be Ash"
"Uh-huh" I confirmed, still confused
"It's important that you stay way from the Tower of Babel; the Gates of Purgatory are after you" Jason said
"Who are those guys anyway?" Gary asked
"The Gates of Purgatory... well, they want to send Ash to purgatory. Beyond that, I'm not sure" Jason explained
"What do they want with me?"
"Not sure on that either. All I know is that it's not good"
Serena's grip on my hand tightened a bit, and we gave each other a concerned look. Taking on glance back at the tower before it disappeared from view, I thought I could've seen a pair of dark-red eyes staring at me from the top floor.
