Breathless

Broken Diamond

By the Davids (DK and Darth David)

Chapter Three: Breathless

Cerulean screamed in pain. It had been violated by Team Rocket.

And now a single scream inspires vengeance: Ash Ketchum ran as fast as his body would allow towards the fortified city, seeking to liberate it, and knowing that Misty had come some time before with the same solid purpose. He pursed his lip as he realized that he may be too late. Nevertheless, he was being powerfully driven by something he couldn't resist, some unseen force that forced him to ensure her safety. But he is but one man.

~~~~

Jup chose neither to be fighting alongside his men against legions of resistance, nor did he choose to sip lemonade in an office miles away. He was apprised of every development by his executives, for a newly revamped organization, Team Rocket, was surprisinglyorganized, and he prided himself for knowing those developments before they ever told him. He stood atop the tallest building in the entire city, his jet-black hair streaming out behind him in long strands, the crisp, cool breeze whipping his sharp, well-defined face. Peering into a pair of high-power binoculars, he focused upon a lone figure running towards the city. He smiled inwardly. He had spotted the rogue trainer thirty seconds before his men.

Jup lowered the binoculars from his piercing brown eyes and issued a command. "Let him get as far as the PokéCenter, and no further. I will personally lead a team against him."

His official nodded. "Affirmative, sir." There was a pause. "Permission to speak freely."

Jup eyed the man icily, but also with interest. "Granted." While awaiting a reply, he turned his gaze back towards the speeding Ash, watching him as a Fearow would a plump Weedle.

"The redhead girl, the gymleader," the executive began. "She's caused yet another guard to be hospitalized, sir. It's a little more serious than it was the last time."

Jup rubbed his hand across his chin, wincing as he felt coarse bits of stubble. He hadn't had a wink of sleep ever since the defeat of former leader Giovanni and his rising to the throne, and he hadn't had a chance to shave, either. He decided to take a long break as soon as he had the Pokémon Master within his grasp. "And you're wondering why I don't just have her killed, hmmm?"

"Well" The executive was in a precarious position; one word from Jup and his life would be negated. "Yes, sir. If you'd like, we coulderhm, round up some other girls that would be much more" The executive seemed to be having trouble finding his last word. But Jup, getting the meaning, raised his hand, silencing him.

"You don't understand. I'm keeping her alive only as a bargaining chip. It won't be long until Ash Ketchum comes to rescue her. Using her as bait, we can lure him into our open arms, then use him to destroy the Elite Four, one way or another."

The official was slightly baffled. "Sir? How do you know the Pokémon Master will come for the girl?"

A cruel smile curled up the corners of Jup's lips. "Because he already has."

~~~~

They came, huge trucks armed to the core and built for speed and size, engines roaring and machine guns popping. There were three of them, all hurtling towards Ash at roughly 60 miles per hour. Alarmed and caught by surprise, he backed away a few meters, then tried to dive for cover behind some shrubbery.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT. The shrubbery was nothing more than a neat pile of shredded twigs and leaves. Ash danced as gunfire erupted at his feet, missing his sneakers by inches. He turned angrily upon the trucks. He knew they could have easily killed him by now, but it seemed as if they were only toying with him. What exactly did they want with him?

Before he could figure out the answer, the trucks circled and skidded, surrounding him and covering him with a tan cloud of dust. Temporarily blinded, he wiped at his eyes with his jacket sleeve as he collected his thoughts. They obviously wanted something from him, as they had passed up the opportunity to end his life. Likewise, he wanted Misty, so he'd refrained from using his power Pokémon to launch a direct assault. But now his life was in jeopardy, and he'd foolishly allowed himself to be surrounded. But it wouldn't happen again. He resolved to go on the offensive.

Pikachu tugged on his trouser leg, longing for the same, his cheeks crackling with building electricity. Ash nodded, coughing from the dust.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave each of those trucks!"

"PIKAAAA!" the little yellow rodent responded, letting loose with a powerful wave of electric energy, directing it towards one of the trucks. The electric-based attack was generally used for paralyzing or slowing down the opponent, but Ash hoped that in this case it would render the vehicles immobile, stopping them from running him down and also from their occupants escaping. Pikachu could only manage one at a time, and by the time it reached the third, its windscreen was breached by a strong kick, and a swift, dark-haired figure leaped to the ground.

Jup's eyes narrowed, sizing up the so-called great Pokémon Master. He didn't look tough at all, despite an unmistakable, determined look in his eyes that Jup had seen in only a few trainers. Including himself. Huge fists clenching, Jup decided to just take him down quickly, knock him senseless and carry him back to station before he had a chance to whip out some other Pokémon besides his little Pikachu. He charged, like an enraged Tauros, towards a confused and surprised Ash.

Ash froze in his tracks. He battled with Pokémon, not with fists. Pikachu, sharing the Pokémon Master's feelings, looked to him for instruction, but the leader of Team Rocket simply kicked the electric mouse away with a sweep of his powerful leg, then threw three Poké Balls in the same direction, containing Sandslash, Electrode, and Gengar. After rolling a short distance, Pikachu flipped up to his feet with an angry cry to face these three new opponents. Gengar and Electrode appeared, each grinning their blinding grins, followed by an expressionless Sandslash, midnight-black eyes boring into Pikachu's own.

Jup's firm, confident voice reached their ears. "Electrode, Thunder Wave it, and Sandslash, keep hitting it with your Earthquake! I want it dead! Gengar, back them up!"

"Hey!" Ash yelled. "That's three Pokémon against one! You can't do that, it's not fair!"

Jup stopped his mad charge long enough to sneer, "And just who is going to enforce that? This isn't civilized battling, Mr. Pokémon Master. This is Team Rocket. And Team Rocket never plays fair. We play to win, and that only." Ash glanced worriedly at Pikachu, and saw that he would be overwhelmed in a matter of seconds if he didn't take action. Ash turned his attention back to Jup. "If that's the way you want to play, so be it!" he yelled. Ash wouldn't fail to act again. He had let himself be surrounded and put himself at a disadvantage, but it stopped here. He threw two Poké Balls towards Pikachu's enemies, containing Venasaur and Snorlax, then rolled out of the way of Jup's tackle. His Pokémon would act on their own and need no orders from him, so now he could concentrate on the

four or five years older fighter built like a brick wall. Ash had never been in a fight before, and he didn't know how to throw punches, let alone take them. He'd only seen this type of things in movies, and had never experienced them in real life until now. The first blow, quite real, hit him on the side of his face, and for a handful of seconds everything immediately turned black before returning to normal, and he realized the loud noise like bending metal was his head, against the cold, concrete barrier that surrounded the city.

The Pokémon Master was being thrown around like a rag doll.

Jup hit him again, then as Ash crumpled, began to pound with both hands clasped together. Ash shook and bled, and tried to fight back, as much as a fourteen-year-old could against a nineteen-year-old that was about three times his size. He saw the opportunity for a single kick, one that could make all the difference, and as consciousness began to fade he aimed his kick at the weakspot every male possesses, between the legs. Jup bellowed in pain, his head spinning, as Ash tried to get back to his feet. But it only took a matter of seconds for the elder of the two used his body weight to slam into unconsciousness Ash from above, still cradling his bruised privates. Straightening up, he produced a gun from the inside of his jacket and aimed it towards Ash's Pokémon, still battling with his own. The gun cocked.

~~~~

David stood staring at the door yet again. Like every other citizen in Cerulean, he was under house arrest. The already awkward situation was even more uncomfortable because this was not his house, but his laboratory at which he worked. Under the false alias of Chris Hanz, he was a scientist in Cerulean. Along with his name, his hair color had been changed and he wore, Clark Kent style, a pair of glasses he didn't need. He had basically done everything short of plastic surgery to change his appearance.

A long time ago, David Ketchum was a famous trainer.

In fact, he was, once, the Pokémon Master.

And then life happened, the world changed him, and he left everything he had for everything he has. It broke his heart. Yes, he had been a trainer once, and was told long ago that some things never change. Should he make a stand against Team Rocket? He still possessed a powerful team, but it was just as out of date and practice as he was. Again, some things never change.

He still had the courage and the will. The strength was his and the love followed. All the years had only blanketed his heart, which had remained in hibernation, until now.

Still, David stood at the door, on the brink of two decisions that could change two lives forever.

He reached out, and turned the knob of fate.

His family. His career.

His life.

~~~~

Jup tried to keep track of whose Pokémon were whose, but the blur of attacks and the clouds of dust kicked up by the battling Pokémon were preventing a clear shot. He didn't want to hit one of his own, that would be unprofitable. He decided to call upon them to return. "Electrode, Gengar—"

Sandslash had fainted.

"Both of you, to me!" Following his command, they withdrew from the battle, and Jup now had a more than clear shot of the towering Snorlax. His men, confined to their vehicles either by a Thunder Wave or Jup's orders, watched in fascination. Perhaps they would learn a thing or two from their leader.

A wicked smile curled up the corners of Jup's lips. His index finger squeezed the trigger.

Snorlax turned as the loud crack echoed in his ear. The well-aimed bullet sped on. Too late to dodge.

Milliseconds before the bullet had reached its destination, an unfamiliar voice shouted, "REFLECT!"

Jup was shocked by the noise and instinctively swung his gun around to aim at the direction the sound had come from, to find the source of the voice. Meanwhile, Snorlax threw out a Reflect, covering all of Ash's Pokémon and protecting them from the high penetration bullet. But still, slower and weaker, it managed to fly through the screen of armor and plant itself in the large Pokémon's side.

A furious Jup Zing examined each vehicle, and found neither a change nor person to be responsible for the cry that saved three lives. He reminded himself that he was in complete control of their every action. He controlled the city. He controlled Team Rocket. He controlled everything. But again, sound rebelled against him as he heard the click of a Poké Ball open. It made him look to the broken, battered body of the "Pokémon Master", assuring himself that he was incapacitated.

Perhaps if he'd looked up, he would have spotted the ball fall from the sky, as if the heavens were launching an offensive themselves. But if he had looked up, he would have seen the giant silhouette of a Dragonite before it tore the ground open with a steady bombardment of Hyper Beam.

The Poké Ball opened, and an Alakazam made good use of the distraction by teleporting Ash away while Jup's frightened men ran from the trucks, incinerated to molten steel moments later by the devastating attack. The figure atop the Dragonite's back, who must have been its trainer, jumped off as the dragon Pokémon flapped closer to the ground to recharge. It was masked, deliberately so, that wherever the figure may run, Jup couldn't track down the individual's house or headquarters by name.

Jup was cold, the gun still raised. "Identify yourself."

The figure was silent for a few minutes, then slowly replied, "You wouldn't believe me if I did." The stranger's gravelly speech was slurred even more by the coverings over his mouth.

Jup frowned. "Tell me, or die." The gun clicked as Jup readied to fire another bullet.

With a single glance from the trainer, Ash's Pokémon knew to return to their balls. He held up a hand, and each ball flew toward it. Jup was powerless to stop the Dragonite from swooping down and catching the stranger. He simply looked on, and his brain began to register the dark figure's last words.

"I am the Pokémon Master."