Chapter 13-Pokemon Showdown
"Damon" the man said with a sneer. "How nice it is to see you again. Right guys?"
Around the room, his pokemon nodded. Vincent took a moment to look at them and took a deep breath. "There must be over twenty of them," he whispered to Gary. "Right" Gary agreed. "Just who is this guy anyway?"
"An old friend of Damon's" Vincent whispered back. "Or not. They hate each other"
"I figured. Is he dangerous?"
Vincent didn't answer. He just took Gary's hand and held it tightly. Damon had his fists clenched and looked prepared for a fight. "Lucas" he spat. "I should have known"
"Yeah, you should have known" Lucas agreed. "When Jack offered me money to prevent a bunch of kids getting through here, I never dreamt that he meant you too. It must be my lucky day"
"And mine. I've waited a long time for this, you bastard"
"I'm glad to hear that" Lucas jumped down from his platform. "Although I have no interest in fighting over Lana now"
"She was mine, you son of a bitch," Damon hissed. "You had no right to her"
"Damon, is it my fault that she came to me? Maybe if you had satisfied her better, she wouldn't have need to look elsewhere"
"I'll kill you for that" Damon finally snapped. "Stop telling me these things"
"Why? Can't you stand to hear the truth? Well here goes. You were a lousy brother, a drunken idiot and a selfish lover. Lana told me that herself. You couldn't face up to your responsibilities and now it's too late"
"What do you mean?" Damon looked pale, his eyes angry and sad at the same time. "You know something, don't you?"
"I sure do" Lucas wrapped his cape around him and disappeared into the shadows. "You see," he said suddenly, making Ash jump. "Lana and me aren't together anymore. She went off with someone else. But not before I got my own back on you"
"What do you mean?" Damon asked again. "You already took her from me. What else could you have done?"
"Well it's like this" Lucas disappeared again, only to reappear by Brock. "We had been together what, just over a month. That's it, a month. Then one night, we were lying in bed together after the best fuck of our lives. Then, out of the blue, she turns to me and says, 'Lucas, I'm having Damon's child'. So I told her…I told her that if she didn't get rid of it, I'd leave her"
"You did what?" Damon yelled at him. "You made her kill my child? To get back at me?"
"Yes" Lucas grinned evilly at him, and didn't see the psychic blast Vincent hurled at him. As he flew across the room and hit the wall, Damon and Vincent glanced at each other briefly. Both knew that Lucas would be a difficult enemy to get passed and both vowed to do their very best.
"You little creep" Lucas got to his feet. "I admit, you got one over on me there. You're more powerful than Jack told me you were. Well Damon, like I said, everything with Lana's in the past now. I'm not interested in fighting over her any more. So I'll make a little deal with you. Let's have a pokemon battle. If you win, I'll let you through. If you lose, well lets just say that you don't want to lose. Do we have a deal?"
"Alright" Vincent agreed. "Sol-leks go. Pidgetto, Sandshrew, Charmeleon. I choose you"
"Nice choice Vince" Damon nodded and reached for his poke balls. "Ivysaur, Pidgeot, Jolteon. Go guys"
"Arcanine, Nidoking" Gary called. "I choose you"
"Arbok, Lickitung" Jessie sent out her pokemon. "Go on Meowth. Get in there"
"Geodude, Zubat" Brock sent out his pokemon and Ash called out Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Lucas looked round at them and smiled again.
"Well" he said thoughtfully. "Looks like you're ready for anything I throw at you"
"Yeah, that would be right" Vincent told him coldly. "Come on then. Lets battle"
"Have it your way. All against all"
Before Vincent or Damon could protest, the enemy pokemon had banded into three groups and were heading towards them from different sides. Vincent glanced at them all quickly. He noticed that one group had most of the strong pokemon in it and decided to take it for himself. "Listen" he called. "Damon and I will take the middle group, since their pokemon are stronger. Ash, Brock, you take the left side. Jessie, Gary, you take the right. Lets go"
It was a tough battle for all of them. The enemy pokemon were very strong and very fast. But their pokemon fought together well. When Dragonair wrapped Sandshrew, Sol-leks and Jolteon worked together to bring it down. When Tangela caught Bulbasaur, Arcanine used Ember to faint it. Pikachu joined in at times, Thunder shocking any pokemon that looked like it was gaining the upper hand. Ash had to withdraw Bulbasaur and Squirtle; Gary had to call back Nidoking. Brock's pokemon were fainted, as was Lickitung. Ivysaur, Pidgetto, Pidgeot and Charmeleon were called back.
And the last of the team: Arcanine, Meowth, Arbok, Jolteon, Sandshrew and Pikachu, led by Sol-leks, prepared to face the rest of the pokemon. From then on, it was an easy victory. Sol-leks used Fire Spin, Arcanine used Flame Thrower, Sandshrew used Slash, Arbok and Meowth used Tackle, Jolteon used Head Missile attack. And finally Pikachu jumped up and sent out a wave of Thunder, which fainted every pokemon still standing.
"Yes" Ash jumped in the air and slapped palms with Brock and Pikachu. Gary, Vincent and Jessie had a quick group hug. As they called back their pokemon, Vincent noticed that his Sandshrew was glowing. As the group watched, his Sandshrew evolved into Sandslash.
"Oh right" Damon said. "Nice one kiddo. I'm impressed"
"Yeah, thanks. I'm pleased. I've been working on him for a while" Vincent suddenly paused and looked around. "Where's Lucas?" he asked suddenly. Everyone looked around, but Lucas had disappeared.
"Damn him" Damon swore. "They don't call him the Master of Shadows for nothing, I'll admit that. Be on your guard guys, he could turn up at any point"
They were just exiting the strange rocky room, when Brock yelled out Ash's name. As the two brothers turned round, they already expected the worst. Lucas had caught Ash and was holding him tightly, a knife pressed to his throat. Separating them from Pikachu, Vincent and the rest was a large Arbok and an equally large Scyther.
"You sure have a lot of pokemon," Brock muttered. "How did you get so many?"
"They're not my pokemon" Lucas gave a smile and pressed the knife harder against Ash's flesh. "I'm a Shadow Master. I summon them and they do my bidding"
"I guessed" Vincent hissed at him. "Trickery. You'll never be a true pokemon master. Sol-leks, Pikachu, give it your best"
Obeying him immediately, Sol-leks used Ember to burn Arbok. Meowth jumped in and tackled it. Pikachu hit Scyther with a Thunder attack. In the confusion, Damon grabbed Jessie's arm and began to pull her away. "Come on" he hissed to Brock and Gary. "Vincent will help Ash. Let's just get out of here. Lucas is too powerful to fight openly, and we don't have time to waste. Quickly, come on"
Meanwhile, in the confusion, Lucas felt the knife being pulled from his hand. As he let go of Ash and turned round, he saw Vincent standing there, blood leaking from a cut on his hand. Vincent spoke quietly to Ash. "Go" he said. "Take Meowth, Pikachu and Sol-leks and get the hell out of here"
"You've certainly grown up" Lucas remarked when Ash was out of sight. "Pity though. One of you was enough"
"Just shut up Lucas" Vincent ran one finger along the edge of the knife. "And get the hell out of here, before I decide that I have to kill you. You've hurt Damon enough and I won't let you hurt him anymore"
"Oh, the devoted brother act" Lucas sneered. "Well, now that they've got through, I guess I failed. I'm going, but one day we will meet again. It appears that when I'm even stronger than I am now, you and me will have an old score to settle. Well then, I'll be seeing you"
With that, Lucas wrapped his cape around himself and disappeared again. Vincent waited in the dark room for a moment or two, unsure if it might be a trick. When he was certain that Lucas had gone, he carefully put the knife in his backpack, rubbed his bleeding hand on his jeans and headed after the others.
