Ch. 4 The Test
"You are ready." Jessy laughed as she walked into George's room the special morning. "Very nice, you look just like a young Giovanni but with added family ties." Jessy walked around her son inspecting him. He looked stronger and bigger than before and had the heart and soul of a true killer, like Giovanni. His hair was spiky like Gary's but backwards like the style of Jessy's. "What is your destiny?"
"I will get revenge and take my rightful place." George growled, hatefully.
"Good." Jessy grinned. "What have I taught you?"
"Ash is the enemy." George replied in a deep angry voice.
"So what will you do?" Jessy asked eagerly.
"I will kill them, kill them all!" George cried triumphantly. Meowth cheered. There was nothing that could stop them from completing their revenge now.
Meanwhile in Pallet Town.
"Today is the day." Mrs. Ketchum whispered to Misty's sisters as they waited with Ash and Misty and the others for Ashley.
"There she is!" Misty's oldest sister pointed as Ashley and Prof. Oak appeared.
"Ashley!" Brock waved. Ashley looked like Kitty Pride from X-Men Evolution.
"You look great." The other sister said as Ashley looked over.
"You've grown." The third sister added as she passed by proudly. Ash sighed as his daughter hugged Misty.
"Dad?" Ashley asked and he looked up. "Promise you'll let me do this on my own ok? Promise?" Ash looked at Misty and she waited for his reply.
"Alright, I promise." Ash grinned. Ashley grinned back and they hugged. Tracey and Todd sighed; they thought Ash would let them make sure Ashley wouldn't get hurt. Not this time though, he knew how much training meant to starters, so he would keep his promise. Ashley grabbed her Pokeball from Prof. Oak and looked out over Pallet. After she ran off, Tracey and Todd snuck off secretly after her. "I hope she doesn't get hurt." Ash sighed to Misty, nobody aware of what Tracey and Todd were up to.
Meanwhile in the North Fields.
"I can't believe we used to hang out here." James said as he returned to their old territory. Gary just sighed and walked through it easily. "I'm not scared ok, I just don't know why we have to be here is all. I mean, if your son was so special why does he need us, I never even had a chance." James growled as he got startled every so often by a shooting geyser. One smoked behind him and he whimpered like a little girl. Gary sighed again as he put the two 2 by 4's over one of the geysers. It shot up and set them on fire.
"There we go." Gary grinned and handed one to James. "Well, come on. Ashley has already started the test, we have to hurry." He ran off. James looked into one of the geysers and it blew up in his face. He cried out and ran after Gary.
Back at the training site.
Ashley was sneaking through the field around the lake to find and capture her first Pokemon and gain her first battle victory. Since she was a girl she had to pass this test to be allowed to start training. Ashley saw a Pinser getting a drink and decided he was perfect. She snuck through the grass but made noise when the dry grass moved against her. The Pinser heard and ran off, Ashley sighed in disappointment. "Oh man." But she didn't give up, she ran after him to find him. Tracey and Todd weren't too far behind.
"Todd come in, what's your position?" Tracey asked.
"Uh, behind a rock, looking over, spying to find our vigilante." Todd joked.
"Why do I bother?" Tracey asked the sky. He looked over the rock with Todd and saw Ashley. "Trainer ho."
"That's not a nice thing to say." Todd mistook the words.
"It's not nice to think like that either. That's not what I meant and you know it." Tracey growled and they began to fight again. Ashley saw Pinser along with a lot more Pokemon.
"Oh lord, I thank you for this bounty I am about to receive." Ashley wiped a fake tear as she saw Pinser along with a Rhyhorn, Beedrill, Fearow and Oddish. She got her Pokeball ready and snuck over. She made lots of noise in the gravel and it startled the Pokemon. They ran off, but Ashley followed, determined to not let this chance go by. Todd and Tracey were so busy arguing that they forgot to keep a watch out.
"Ah!" They screamed as the pack nearly trampled them but it passed. "Whew." They watched it go but turned around to see a panting, angry Ashley. "Ah!"
"Guys, what are you doing here?" Ashley growled.
"Uh, shopping for supplies for your journey?" Tracey gulped.
"My dad sent you, I knew he couldn't keep a promise." Ashley sighed.
"No, he kept it. We just didn't want you to get hurt." Tracey corrected.
"I'll do this on my own then, away from Pallet." Ashley ran off angrily.
"Ashley wait!" Tracey and Todd called but she was gone again.
"Somebody's gotta get a pager or something for this kid." Tracey moaned.
"Nah, she'd dump it, sell it or break it." Todd cut in.
"Do you always have to be so pessimistic?" Tracey growled.
"Yes... wait, what's that mean?" Todd asked.
"I'm not quite sure, I'm just trying to sound smart." Tracey shrugged. They walked back to Ash's house to leave Ashley alone. She looked over her shoulder at Pallet and they walked towards the outskirts. James and Gary caught up to her at last.
"Let's be arsonists!" James laughed as he and Gary lit the dry grass in the training field. "It's lights out for you Ashley, unless you count the fire as a night light." James laughed but trapped himself in a circle of flames. "Uh, is it hot in here or is that just me? Fire!" James screamed like a little girl and leaped out of the ring of fire.
"The plan is going great. Now go." Jessy said to George and he ran in the fire.
"Come on." Gary grabbed him and they ran off, their part was done.
"Don't worry Ash, she's fine." Brock was saying as Ash paced around.
"What, no! Ashley!" Ash gasped when he saw the fire. "Hurry, move!"
"Oh dear!" Brock gasped and they all ran off. "I'll get the others."
"Hmm." Ashley was getting ready to find Pinser and the pack when she saw smoke and fire. Then she saw the pack all right, running strait at her. She ran as well, but the fire was too fast and the Pokemon all escaped. Ashley saw a high rock and thought she could get ahead of the fire if she climbed over and jumped off she'd be home free. She ran fast and climbed hard but the fire got faster by eating up the dry grass in its hot red flames. Ashley made a long jump to the floor and hit it hard. She panted as she lay on her stomach, the fire couldn't get her now. She looked up and saw a dark figure, George. She inhaled too much smoke though, so she passed out. George nudged her to make sure she was still alive and then picked her up and ran from the fire.
"Whew." George panted when he looked over his shoulder at the fire far behind. But he didn't look forward and tripped off a ledge and into the lake. He pulled Ashley to the shore and dropped her down. She coughed and sputtered water as George went over.
"What's going on? Who do you think you are?" Ashley demanded when she saw the stranger and that she was by the lake instead of in the fire.
"I think I'm the one who just saved your life." George replied in the same tone as Ashley. He now spoke with a bad boy attitude like that of the dark Jackie Chan.
"Look I had everything under control," Ashley started.
"Not from where I was standing." George grinned.
"Then maybe you should move." Ashley yelled but George blocked her every time, just like they did when they were young. She scowled, not getting it at first.
"What are you doing, would you stop?" George finally asked, and made a confused kid face to make her remember him.
"George?" Ashley grinned and he grinned back.
"Ashley!" They heard Ash's voice and Misty came over.
"Oh Ashley, I'm so glad your ok." Misty hugged her.
"What happened?" Ash leaped from over a burnt tree, it crumbled into ashes.
"I was trapped in the fire until I was saved by George and," Ashley started.
"George?" Ash leered and growled at him. George was a little too nervous to growl back or reply, he just took a few unsure steps back for safety.
"Ash." Misty whispered. Ash stopped growling and glared at George.
"He did save your daughter." Prof. Oak came over with Brock.
"We are in debt to him, but we might make an exception this time." Brock grumbled.
"You saved her, why?" Ash demanded.
"I wanted to ask if I could join you," George started.
"Never, you were banned with the others." Ash took a step forward and George took a few back.
"I am alone. You may judge me now, or will I be blamed for some crime I didn't perform?" George asked. Ash just growled and paced around angrily.
"Ash," Misty started. Ash gave a quick glance at her and stared angrily back at George. He gulped and stood up strait, still somewhat afraid of the strong trainer.
"Fine, you can stay with us tonight. Then, we'll see who you really are." Ash growled and he and Brock walked off angrily. Misty smiled at Ashley and she did at George. George grinned back and they all started home. As they walked, George grinned a secret evil smile, it was all too easy. That night, George started to follow everyone into Ash's house, but Ash saw him and thought they would be in danger. Before George walked in Ash growled and leaped in front of him. He gave him a look to say that he was the dominant male around her and the most powerful trainer. George sighed and made a mocking face at him as he left. Ashley came over with a sleeping back she had for him.
"Hi." Ashley whispered, embarrassed by her dad's actions. "Here." She gave him the sleeping bag to show her apology.
"What kind of trainer are you anyway, princess?" George grumbled.
"What?" Ashley growled, she hated to be called that. No more miss nice girl.
"I bet you wouldn't last a day of training on your own." George grinned.
"Oh and I suppose a pro like you would teach me?" Ashley asked angrily.
"Yea, sure." George rolled his eyes.
"Ashley!" Ash called from inside the house.
"Coming!" She replied and gave an angry grin at George. "Ok, you wanna impress me? Do so after dawn." She mocked him and went inside.
"I look forward to it." George grinned secretly. From far off, Jessy and James were watching their foolproof plan beginning to take effect.
"Did you see that, he let her go. If that was me, I'd be buying me a big chocolate apology cake. No, wait, that didn't come out right." James began to think.
"Quiet." Jessy growled and James flinched. "Remember the plan, the closer he is to Ashley the closer he gets to Ash. When he gets Ash alone, ha!" James grinned. That night, Ash had a nightmare about his dad's death.
"Ash!" His dad called. Ash heard and ran to the top of the cliff where Giovanni had stood to kill his dad. "Ash, help me!" He called, seeing his son look down at him.
"Dad!" Ash called, he was a grown up in this dream. He reached for his dad but heard evil laughter. They looked up to see a dark figure that looked like Giovanni. "No! Dad, just a little farther!" Ash reached for his dad as he reached for Ash, nearly grabbing his dad's hand but the figure grabbed Ash's other hand and pulled him away.
"Gotcha!" The figure laughed and Ash was too startled to jerk away and get his dad. "Trust me." The dark shape grinned and Ash gasped and whimpered in fear.
"Ash!" His dad called as he slipped back and fell. Ash couldn't reach him now.
"No!" Ash yelled and leered at the figure. "Giovanni!" The dark figure didn't reply. It just laughed as it came into the light and its hair spiked back to reveal it was George. "George?" Ash was too stunned to do anything. George laughed and shoved Ash off the cliff to fall with his dad. "No!" Ash fell and hit the ground by his dad. Ash snapped awake to see Misty sleeping soundly next to him. "It was all a dream, it wasn't real." Ash sighed in relief and tried to get back to sleep.
"You are ready." Jessy laughed as she walked into George's room the special morning. "Very nice, you look just like a young Giovanni but with added family ties." Jessy walked around her son inspecting him. He looked stronger and bigger than before and had the heart and soul of a true killer, like Giovanni. His hair was spiky like Gary's but backwards like the style of Jessy's. "What is your destiny?"
"I will get revenge and take my rightful place." George growled, hatefully.
"Good." Jessy grinned. "What have I taught you?"
"Ash is the enemy." George replied in a deep angry voice.
"So what will you do?" Jessy asked eagerly.
"I will kill them, kill them all!" George cried triumphantly. Meowth cheered. There was nothing that could stop them from completing their revenge now.
Meanwhile in Pallet Town.
"Today is the day." Mrs. Ketchum whispered to Misty's sisters as they waited with Ash and Misty and the others for Ashley.
"There she is!" Misty's oldest sister pointed as Ashley and Prof. Oak appeared.
"Ashley!" Brock waved. Ashley looked like Kitty Pride from X-Men Evolution.
"You look great." The other sister said as Ashley looked over.
"You've grown." The third sister added as she passed by proudly. Ash sighed as his daughter hugged Misty.
"Dad?" Ashley asked and he looked up. "Promise you'll let me do this on my own ok? Promise?" Ash looked at Misty and she waited for his reply.
"Alright, I promise." Ash grinned. Ashley grinned back and they hugged. Tracey and Todd sighed; they thought Ash would let them make sure Ashley wouldn't get hurt. Not this time though, he knew how much training meant to starters, so he would keep his promise. Ashley grabbed her Pokeball from Prof. Oak and looked out over Pallet. After she ran off, Tracey and Todd snuck off secretly after her. "I hope she doesn't get hurt." Ash sighed to Misty, nobody aware of what Tracey and Todd were up to.
Meanwhile in the North Fields.
"I can't believe we used to hang out here." James said as he returned to their old territory. Gary just sighed and walked through it easily. "I'm not scared ok, I just don't know why we have to be here is all. I mean, if your son was so special why does he need us, I never even had a chance." James growled as he got startled every so often by a shooting geyser. One smoked behind him and he whimpered like a little girl. Gary sighed again as he put the two 2 by 4's over one of the geysers. It shot up and set them on fire.
"There we go." Gary grinned and handed one to James. "Well, come on. Ashley has already started the test, we have to hurry." He ran off. James looked into one of the geysers and it blew up in his face. He cried out and ran after Gary.
Back at the training site.
Ashley was sneaking through the field around the lake to find and capture her first Pokemon and gain her first battle victory. Since she was a girl she had to pass this test to be allowed to start training. Ashley saw a Pinser getting a drink and decided he was perfect. She snuck through the grass but made noise when the dry grass moved against her. The Pinser heard and ran off, Ashley sighed in disappointment. "Oh man." But she didn't give up, she ran after him to find him. Tracey and Todd weren't too far behind.
"Todd come in, what's your position?" Tracey asked.
"Uh, behind a rock, looking over, spying to find our vigilante." Todd joked.
"Why do I bother?" Tracey asked the sky. He looked over the rock with Todd and saw Ashley. "Trainer ho."
"That's not a nice thing to say." Todd mistook the words.
"It's not nice to think like that either. That's not what I meant and you know it." Tracey growled and they began to fight again. Ashley saw Pinser along with a lot more Pokemon.
"Oh lord, I thank you for this bounty I am about to receive." Ashley wiped a fake tear as she saw Pinser along with a Rhyhorn, Beedrill, Fearow and Oddish. She got her Pokeball ready and snuck over. She made lots of noise in the gravel and it startled the Pokemon. They ran off, but Ashley followed, determined to not let this chance go by. Todd and Tracey were so busy arguing that they forgot to keep a watch out.
"Ah!" They screamed as the pack nearly trampled them but it passed. "Whew." They watched it go but turned around to see a panting, angry Ashley. "Ah!"
"Guys, what are you doing here?" Ashley growled.
"Uh, shopping for supplies for your journey?" Tracey gulped.
"My dad sent you, I knew he couldn't keep a promise." Ashley sighed.
"No, he kept it. We just didn't want you to get hurt." Tracey corrected.
"I'll do this on my own then, away from Pallet." Ashley ran off angrily.
"Ashley wait!" Tracey and Todd called but she was gone again.
"Somebody's gotta get a pager or something for this kid." Tracey moaned.
"Nah, she'd dump it, sell it or break it." Todd cut in.
"Do you always have to be so pessimistic?" Tracey growled.
"Yes... wait, what's that mean?" Todd asked.
"I'm not quite sure, I'm just trying to sound smart." Tracey shrugged. They walked back to Ash's house to leave Ashley alone. She looked over her shoulder at Pallet and they walked towards the outskirts. James and Gary caught up to her at last.
"Let's be arsonists!" James laughed as he and Gary lit the dry grass in the training field. "It's lights out for you Ashley, unless you count the fire as a night light." James laughed but trapped himself in a circle of flames. "Uh, is it hot in here or is that just me? Fire!" James screamed like a little girl and leaped out of the ring of fire.
"The plan is going great. Now go." Jessy said to George and he ran in the fire.
"Come on." Gary grabbed him and they ran off, their part was done.
"Don't worry Ash, she's fine." Brock was saying as Ash paced around.
"What, no! Ashley!" Ash gasped when he saw the fire. "Hurry, move!"
"Oh dear!" Brock gasped and they all ran off. "I'll get the others."
"Hmm." Ashley was getting ready to find Pinser and the pack when she saw smoke and fire. Then she saw the pack all right, running strait at her. She ran as well, but the fire was too fast and the Pokemon all escaped. Ashley saw a high rock and thought she could get ahead of the fire if she climbed over and jumped off she'd be home free. She ran fast and climbed hard but the fire got faster by eating up the dry grass in its hot red flames. Ashley made a long jump to the floor and hit it hard. She panted as she lay on her stomach, the fire couldn't get her now. She looked up and saw a dark figure, George. She inhaled too much smoke though, so she passed out. George nudged her to make sure she was still alive and then picked her up and ran from the fire.
"Whew." George panted when he looked over his shoulder at the fire far behind. But he didn't look forward and tripped off a ledge and into the lake. He pulled Ashley to the shore and dropped her down. She coughed and sputtered water as George went over.
"What's going on? Who do you think you are?" Ashley demanded when she saw the stranger and that she was by the lake instead of in the fire.
"I think I'm the one who just saved your life." George replied in the same tone as Ashley. He now spoke with a bad boy attitude like that of the dark Jackie Chan.
"Look I had everything under control," Ashley started.
"Not from where I was standing." George grinned.
"Then maybe you should move." Ashley yelled but George blocked her every time, just like they did when they were young. She scowled, not getting it at first.
"What are you doing, would you stop?" George finally asked, and made a confused kid face to make her remember him.
"George?" Ashley grinned and he grinned back.
"Ashley!" They heard Ash's voice and Misty came over.
"Oh Ashley, I'm so glad your ok." Misty hugged her.
"What happened?" Ash leaped from over a burnt tree, it crumbled into ashes.
"I was trapped in the fire until I was saved by George and," Ashley started.
"George?" Ash leered and growled at him. George was a little too nervous to growl back or reply, he just took a few unsure steps back for safety.
"Ash." Misty whispered. Ash stopped growling and glared at George.
"He did save your daughter." Prof. Oak came over with Brock.
"We are in debt to him, but we might make an exception this time." Brock grumbled.
"You saved her, why?" Ash demanded.
"I wanted to ask if I could join you," George started.
"Never, you were banned with the others." Ash took a step forward and George took a few back.
"I am alone. You may judge me now, or will I be blamed for some crime I didn't perform?" George asked. Ash just growled and paced around angrily.
"Ash," Misty started. Ash gave a quick glance at her and stared angrily back at George. He gulped and stood up strait, still somewhat afraid of the strong trainer.
"Fine, you can stay with us tonight. Then, we'll see who you really are." Ash growled and he and Brock walked off angrily. Misty smiled at Ashley and she did at George. George grinned back and they all started home. As they walked, George grinned a secret evil smile, it was all too easy. That night, George started to follow everyone into Ash's house, but Ash saw him and thought they would be in danger. Before George walked in Ash growled and leaped in front of him. He gave him a look to say that he was the dominant male around her and the most powerful trainer. George sighed and made a mocking face at him as he left. Ashley came over with a sleeping back she had for him.
"Hi." Ashley whispered, embarrassed by her dad's actions. "Here." She gave him the sleeping bag to show her apology.
"What kind of trainer are you anyway, princess?" George grumbled.
"What?" Ashley growled, she hated to be called that. No more miss nice girl.
"I bet you wouldn't last a day of training on your own." George grinned.
"Oh and I suppose a pro like you would teach me?" Ashley asked angrily.
"Yea, sure." George rolled his eyes.
"Ashley!" Ash called from inside the house.
"Coming!" She replied and gave an angry grin at George. "Ok, you wanna impress me? Do so after dawn." She mocked him and went inside.
"I look forward to it." George grinned secretly. From far off, Jessy and James were watching their foolproof plan beginning to take effect.
"Did you see that, he let her go. If that was me, I'd be buying me a big chocolate apology cake. No, wait, that didn't come out right." James began to think.
"Quiet." Jessy growled and James flinched. "Remember the plan, the closer he is to Ashley the closer he gets to Ash. When he gets Ash alone, ha!" James grinned. That night, Ash had a nightmare about his dad's death.
"Ash!" His dad called. Ash heard and ran to the top of the cliff where Giovanni had stood to kill his dad. "Ash, help me!" He called, seeing his son look down at him.
"Dad!" Ash called, he was a grown up in this dream. He reached for his dad but heard evil laughter. They looked up to see a dark figure that looked like Giovanni. "No! Dad, just a little farther!" Ash reached for his dad as he reached for Ash, nearly grabbing his dad's hand but the figure grabbed Ash's other hand and pulled him away.
"Gotcha!" The figure laughed and Ash was too startled to jerk away and get his dad. "Trust me." The dark shape grinned and Ash gasped and whimpered in fear.
"Ash!" His dad called as he slipped back and fell. Ash couldn't reach him now.
"No!" Ash yelled and leered at the figure. "Giovanni!" The dark figure didn't reply. It just laughed as it came into the light and its hair spiked back to reveal it was George. "George?" Ash was too stunned to do anything. George laughed and shoved Ash off the cliff to fall with his dad. "No!" Ash fell and hit the ground by his dad. Ash snapped awake to see Misty sleeping soundly next to him. "It was all a dream, it wasn't real." Ash sighed in relief and tried to get back to sleep.