Chapter 8-The Shadow Gym
Vincent awoke first to find himself in a double bed, fully dressed, with a half clothed Gary in his arms and Sol-leks lying on his feet. He had been rather alarmed, but then he had remembered the events from the night before. At first he smiled, but as he went over what the men had told him, his smile changed to a frown. He gently pulled away from the younger boy, hoping that he wouldn't wake up, and went to have a quick shower.
In the next room, Jessie and James both awoke and discovered that they were both almost completely naked. For a moment they both looked shocked as they remembered their conversation the previous night. Then James had leant forward and kissed Jessie softly on the lips. "I want you to know," he said slowly. "That I meant every word I said last night. I'm sorry if you think that this was all a mistake"
"James" Jessie took his hand. "Last night…I'd been waiting for you to tell me how you felt. It wasn't a mistake. I…I love you too"
"Finally you two have admitted it" Meowth commented from his corner. "I was wondering how long it would take you"
"Shut it Meowth" they yelled, as they both threw their pillows at the cat. Then they looked at each other and started laughing.
Ash and Misty had also woken up quite shocked at the things they had said the night before. Ash had got up first and, with a quick glance at Misty, started out of the door. But he paused when Misty mumbled his name, then sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Ash, are you still here?" she asked. "Don't go…not yet"
"Well, okay" Ash sat on the edge of the bed uncomfortably. "About last night" he began. "I'm sorry if I…"
"Ash" Misty cut him off. "There is nothing to be sorry for. I love you and I have for ages. If you don't want to be my boyfriend, then please just say so"
"Misty…of course I want to be your boyfriend. I just didn't…" he broke off when Misty kissed him. Any other thoughts went straight out of his head as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss.
As they all met downstairs, most of them looked embarrassed, but the act was soon dropped. Jessie and James held hands and Misty and Ash sat with their arms around each other. Gary was the only one who seemed to be embarrassed, and he kept his head lowered as the group sat around a table, waiting for Vincent to speak. He told them briefly what the men had told him and when he had finished, there was silence around the table as the group all looked at one another. "You mean that Damon isn't the bad guy in all of this?" Ash asked, sounding rather confused.
"Doesn't seem that way," Vincent agreed. "Although the thought of Jack being a bad guy makes no sense either. The guys I met last night were part of the gym here. I want to give it a shot before we leave. Are you guys coming?"
"Sure" they all said together. "Don't even think of leaving us out now," Ash said. "We're already in this up to our necks, we might as well find out the full truth"
"Okay then" Vincent stood up and monitored for Sol-leks to follow him. "Let's go"
They found the gym at the very end of the town. It looked dark and was surrounded by shadows. "It's called the Shadow Gym" Vincent told them quietly. "You can win the Shadowbadge here, but the gym leader is supposed to be tough. Maybe it would be best if I went in alone…"
"No way" James said immediately. "It could be dangerous"
"Yeah, he's right" Ash agreed. "Besides, I want to try and battle for a badge too"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Misty asked him. "Vincent said the gym leader was strong"
"Yeah, Ash" Brock said. "You don't want to hurt your pokemon do you?"
"Of course not. But Pikachu could do it"
"Pika, Pika" Pikachu agreed. Vincent gave a sigh. "Okay, then" he said. "We'll all go in. Maybe it's better that way"
He pulled open the front door and they all went in. As the door closed behind them, Misty shivered. "It's awfully cold in here" she remarked. "It's colder than outside"
"That's true" Gary sounded puzzled. "But how can that be possible?"
"It's a shadow gym," Vincent reminded them. "The gym leader here uses shadow pokemon. That's probably why it's so cold. Anyway, let's go"
They began to walk down a long dark hallway. Sol-leks pressed himself against Vincent's leg, whining softly. Pikachu, sitting on Ash's shoulder, was completely silent. None of the group spoke.
Finally they came to another door. Brock held it open as the group went through. They found themselves in a large, badly lit hall. At the opposite end, hidden in shadows, the group could just make out the shape of a person. Shivering a little, Ash took a step away from the group. "Whoever you are" he called over to the figure. "Come on out. I demand a battle"
"Foolish child" the person stepped out into the light. It was a man, aged about forty. His dark brown hair was beginning to turn grey. He was dressed completely in black, save his dark blue cape. "You wish to battle for a Shadowbadge? Well then, give it your best, young one"
Slowly, Ash walked away from the group. All of them fixed their eyes on him, except Vincent who didn't move his eyes from the gym master. "Well then" the man said confidently. "My name is Clive and I am an expert at using shadow pokemon. We will have a one on one battle. My pokemon will be Genger"
"Pikachu. Give it your best shot"
"Genger" Clive called. "Use Nightshade"
As Ash watched, Pikachu was knocked back by the psychic move. He managed to get up and countered with a Thundershock. Genger was barely affected and used Lick, which left Pikachu paralysed. It then used another Nightshade and Pikachu went down. Ash ran over to Pikachu and picked him up. He looked at Clive and lowered his head.
"That was pathetic" Clive gave a short laugh. "And you want to be a pokemon master. That's a good joke"
"You haven't seen me battle yet" Vincent said, his voice cold. "My pokemon will be more than a match for yours. Gary, do you want to battle first?"
"No way" Gary shook his head. "I'm not putting any of my pokemon up against those things"
"Fair enough" Vincent shrugged and turned back to Clive. "Go Sol-leks. Give it your best"
"Okay then" Clive said slowly. "Alakazam, go"
"This should be easy" Vincent said quietly. "Sol-leks, Build-up"
Sol-leks stood there and a strange blue light surrounded him. At his master's command, Alakazam sent out a Psybeam. Sol-leks began to absorb the energy and before anyone knew what was going on, he sent the attack back toward Alakazam. The psychic pokemon was knocked clear into the wall, where it made no effort to get up. Clive narrowed his eyes as he looked at Vincent. "Fine then" he said finally. "Try this. Go, Espeon"
"Sol-leks, hit it with Take Down"
Sol-leks hit twice, first with Take Down, then with a Quick Attack. Suddenly, Espeon disappeared from their sight. Sol-leks looked around, confused and was unprepared for Espeon slamming him in the chest. Sol-leks was sent flying across the room and landed heavily on his back leg. As he attempted to get up, Espeon came at him with Bite. However, Sol-leks remembered clearly the Arbok he had lost against in his younger days, and he was able to fling himself aside and Body Slam the Espeon with all his strength. Before the Espeon could rise, he used another Quick Attack and the Espeon fainted. Sol-leks glanced at his master and collapsed from exhaustion.
"Sol-leks!" Vincent yelled, running over and kneeling beside his fallen pokemon. Sol-leks gave a whine and licked his hand. "You did great" Vincent told him. "Get inside the poke ball and I'll take you to the pokemon centre"
"Wolfang, wolfang" Sol-leks did as he was told. Vincent attached the poke ball to his belt and looked at Clive. "Here kid" the man said, handing him his badge. "You earned it. Now get out of here, I've got business to attend to"
"Yeah, sure" Vincent said slowly. "Come on guys, let's go. We should be moving on tonight anyway"
"You did great Vincent" Gary said quietly, as the group left the gym. "Thanks" Vincent replied. "I hope Sol-leks is okay. It was him who did it really, not me"
"That's true" Misty said. "But he wouldn't be so strong if he hadn't had such a good trainer"
As they headed back to the pokemon centre, a young man ran out from behind the gym and grabbed Vincent's arm. "Excuse me" he said quickly. "But are you Damon's brother?"
"I'm Vincent" he replied carefully. "Why did you want me?"
"I came to ask you a favour. Please save Damon. He's being kept in a small fortress not far from here. Clive, the gym leader here, and Jack are making terrible plans and he's being treated really badly. You're the only one who can help him and maybe save any more trainers from being killed. Please help him"
"Alright, I'll think about it" Vincent nodded slowly. "You'd better go before anyone sees you here. We'll save Damon if we possibly can"
"Thank you. But please hurry. I don't know how much time he'll have left"
"You're not really going to help him are you?" Misty asked when the man was out of sight. "After the way he treated you, he doesn't deserve it"
"I know" Vincent gave a sigh. "But he is my brother, and I get the feeling that he has the answers I want. I have to find him and find the truth"
"We can understand that" Jessie said, glancing at James. "Count us in"
"And us" Brock spoke up quickly. "I agree with what Misty said, but he is your brother and it's your decision. We'll help in any way we can"
"Same here" Gary kept his head lowered, and wouldn't look at Vincent. "I'm not leaving you now. I'll help"
"Thanks guys. Thank you. But before I do anything else I have to take Sol-leks to the pokemon centre. And you've better get your Pikachu seen to, Ash"
"I will" Ash said, still humiliated from his defeat. "Clive just got lucky, that's all"
"Yeah, sure he did Ash" Misty said softly trying to make him feel better. Ash said nothing, but he slipped his hand into hers and held it tightly.
An hour later, Sol-leks and Pikachu were fully healed and the group was ready to go.
Slowly and carefully, with Vincent as their leader, they crept through the thick wood surrounding the town, relying on Sol-leks to warn them of any danger. It was tiring, but they made good progress and it wasn't long before Vincent stopped them. "I can just see the fortress from here" he told them. "It gets dangerous from here on, so be careful and watch for traps"
"We will" Brock started to say, then took a step forward and tripped over something on the ground. Before anyone really knew what was happening, a net fell over them, trapping them all. Then they heard the sound of footsteps. "This looks bad" Vincent muttered, calling Sol-leks into his poke ball. "They've caught us nicely"
"Vincent, it didn't catch me," Gary whispered from the other side of the net. "What shall I do?"
"Go" Vincent hissed as the footsteps came even closer. "Go and get help or something. Just don't let them catch you"
"Alright. Take care" Without looking back, Gary disappeared into the wood, just as the masked figures stopped in front of them. "Well, well, well" one of them said slowly. "Look what we have here. If it isn't Jacks other brother, coming to stick his nose into our business. Let's take him to Jack and let him deal with them"
