"Chapter 7-Genesis"
"Who are you?" Ash called to the mystery figure in the shroud of dust. "What do you want?"
The figure did not answer, only stood there, not moving.
"Show yourself!" Ash demanded.
"As you wish," it said. The shadowy figure moved out of the dust cloud, revealing itself. It stood about 7 feet tall, yellow in color. Ash was shocked at the site of it. He couldn't believe his eyes. He could swear that it looked remarkably similar to a Pikachu, only more human-like. It didn't have a tail, though. It was tall and slender, with long arms, carrying a large staff. It had a mouth and nose, but Ash couldn't make out any eyes. They seemed to be covered by a helmet that resembled a Pikachu's face.
"What are you?" Ash asked, shaking. He felt a presence about this thing, almost evil. He couldn't be certain.
"You may call me Alpha," the creature said.
"Are you a Pokémon?" Gary asked, trying his best not to look afraid.
"I am a Pokémon," he said. "But then again, I am not. I am every Pokémon, and then I am none."
"This guy's really confusing," Brock said.
"Well you look an awful lot like a Pikachu," Misty pointed out.
"I have no physical form you could comprehend, human," said Alpha. "I have evolved far past the need for a physical body. I took this form to make things easier on your puny human minds."
"One minute and already I don't like this guy," Gary said.
"Why are you here?" Ash asked.
"To reclaim what is mine," Alpha said.
"And what would that be?" Tracey asked.
"Allow me to start from the beginning," Alpha began to explain. "I, along with my brother Omega, have existed since the dawn of time. Over the first few billion years of our existences, we evolved slowly, gaining new powers over time. Soon I discovered I had the power to create life itself. However, I was unable to take life away. My brother possessed that power. A pity. I soon exercised my new powers by creating a race of creatures in my image. I called them Pokémon."
"You created Pokémon?!" Brock exclaimed.
"That is correct. I created many different kinds, all unique. I gave them terrific powers. Over time, I grew tired of the planet I, my brother, and the Pokémon shared. I sought to conquer other worlds, and I would use my Pokémon to do that. They were creatures built for destruction, and it was time to put them to use."
"You created Pokémon to be tools of war?" Misty asked.
"Yes, I did. It's rather good, isn't it?" Alpha laughed.
"That's despicable!" Misty shouted back.
"Well, to each their own. My brother once thought as you did. I secretly sent many of my Pokémon to the most vibrant, beautiful world in the galaxy. The world you call Earth. I sent them here to be the dominant species, to rule this planet. When my brother got word of this, he would have none of it. We fought a vicious battle, my brother and me. In doing so, our home planet, and all the Pokémon remaining on it, was destroyed. My brother finally got the better of me. He could have destroyed me, but instead punished me with a fate worse than death. He banished me to the far corners of the galaxy, locked away with no escape."
"Well then how did you end up here?" Brock asked.
"Fortunately for myself, after millions of years of capture, another civilization found me and freed me from my holdings. I soon sought to know what happened to the Pokémon I sent to this planet. I created a new group of Pokémon to investigate just that."
"That must be what Raitorb was sent here for," Ash realized, looking at Raitorb.
"When they reported back that Pokémon were not the dominant species on this planet, but instead were ruled by a race called humans, I grew angry. I then lost contact with them. And so I am here, to reclaim what is mine."
"So I'm just a tool for evil?" Raitorb wondered to itself.
"Ah, Raitorb," Alpha said. "I'm so glad you managed to survive. I don't know what happened to the others, but I'm thankful to see you here. You can still be of use to me."
"Forget it, I'm no longer yours," Raitorb said in defiance. He was saddened that his purpose and creation had been revealed, and it was not to his liking. He knew he could never side again with Alpha. He wasn't like that anymore.
"We shall see," a visibly angry Alpha said.
"Well I hate to break it to you, pal," Ash said, "but Pokémon aren't going anywhere. We do not rule them, they are our friends, and we're not going to let you take them without a fight."
"Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu said, backing up Ash.
"As you wish," Alpha said. "You will soon discover it is I who makes the rules."
"So what are you going to do to us?" Gary said. "You can't kill us, you said it yourself."
"True," Alpha chuckled, "but I never said I couldn't inflict severe punishment."
"That's it!" the enraged Ash said. "I challenge you to a battle!"
"Fool," said Alpha. "You can't win. I have the strength of all Pokémon within me. Besides, I would not create a Pokémon stronger than myself. Nothing you could use would be more powerful than I."
"We'll see," Ash said. "Charizard, attack!"
"Ash no, don't try it!" Misty pleaded.
"Forget it," Ash said. "I'm not gonna let this thing push us around."
Charizard flew straight at Alpha, but Alpha stopped it dead in its tracks by simply holding up his hand. Charizard just floated there, motionless. Pushing his hand forward, Alpha sent Charizard flying away several meters, slamming it hard into the ground.
"Charizard!" Ash shouted.
"Now do you believe my power?" Alpha asked.
"That doesn't mean we're gonna give up," Gary said. "We'll find someway to defeat you."
"I seriously doubt it," said Alpha. "The only other in this universe capable of challenging me is my brother, and I'm afraid he's long gone. This is now my world. I shall reclaim my Pokémon and turn them back to their original selves, my servants of evil. I think I'll start with your pitiful Pikachu."
"No!" Ash shouted, but it was too late. Alpha casted a dark light upon Pikachu. Pikachu was unable to move.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in vain. Strangely, its demeanor did not change at all. After a few more seconds, Alpha released it from his dark grip.
"Curious," Alpha said. "My powers seem to have no effect on this one."
"I bet trained Pokémon are unaffected by Alpha's powers," Tracey said.
"See," Ash said, picking up Pikachu. "Pokémon were meant to be our friends, not your servants."
"No matter," Alpha said. "There are plenty of wild Pokémon on this planet to do my bidding. I have other matters to attend you. I shall leave you now. However, I will return here at midday tomorrow. I suggest you show up. You humans shall have your day of reckoning for enslaving my creations."
With that, Alpha ascended into the sky and they watched as it flew off towards the west. They all breathed a sigh of relief to have that tense situation over with, for now.
"So now what do we do?" Brock wondered. "If we don't stop that thing, he'll amass an army of Pokémon. It's possible enough trained Pokémon could handle them, but we still wouldn't be able to lay a finger on Alpha."
Misty noticed Ash was deep in thought.
"Well Ash, what do you think?" she asked.
"Alpha said no Pokémon he created was powerful enough to take him on," Ash pointed out.
"Yeah, what's your point?" Gary asked.
"I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but it's at least worth a shot. Let's go home and fill the Professor in. I think we might need his help to pull this off."
"Who are you?" Ash called to the mystery figure in the shroud of dust. "What do you want?"
The figure did not answer, only stood there, not moving.
"Show yourself!" Ash demanded.
"As you wish," it said. The shadowy figure moved out of the dust cloud, revealing itself. It stood about 7 feet tall, yellow in color. Ash was shocked at the site of it. He couldn't believe his eyes. He could swear that it looked remarkably similar to a Pikachu, only more human-like. It didn't have a tail, though. It was tall and slender, with long arms, carrying a large staff. It had a mouth and nose, but Ash couldn't make out any eyes. They seemed to be covered by a helmet that resembled a Pikachu's face.
"What are you?" Ash asked, shaking. He felt a presence about this thing, almost evil. He couldn't be certain.
"You may call me Alpha," the creature said.
"Are you a Pokémon?" Gary asked, trying his best not to look afraid.
"I am a Pokémon," he said. "But then again, I am not. I am every Pokémon, and then I am none."
"This guy's really confusing," Brock said.
"Well you look an awful lot like a Pikachu," Misty pointed out.
"I have no physical form you could comprehend, human," said Alpha. "I have evolved far past the need for a physical body. I took this form to make things easier on your puny human minds."
"One minute and already I don't like this guy," Gary said.
"Why are you here?" Ash asked.
"To reclaim what is mine," Alpha said.
"And what would that be?" Tracey asked.
"Allow me to start from the beginning," Alpha began to explain. "I, along with my brother Omega, have existed since the dawn of time. Over the first few billion years of our existences, we evolved slowly, gaining new powers over time. Soon I discovered I had the power to create life itself. However, I was unable to take life away. My brother possessed that power. A pity. I soon exercised my new powers by creating a race of creatures in my image. I called them Pokémon."
"You created Pokémon?!" Brock exclaimed.
"That is correct. I created many different kinds, all unique. I gave them terrific powers. Over time, I grew tired of the planet I, my brother, and the Pokémon shared. I sought to conquer other worlds, and I would use my Pokémon to do that. They were creatures built for destruction, and it was time to put them to use."
"You created Pokémon to be tools of war?" Misty asked.
"Yes, I did. It's rather good, isn't it?" Alpha laughed.
"That's despicable!" Misty shouted back.
"Well, to each their own. My brother once thought as you did. I secretly sent many of my Pokémon to the most vibrant, beautiful world in the galaxy. The world you call Earth. I sent them here to be the dominant species, to rule this planet. When my brother got word of this, he would have none of it. We fought a vicious battle, my brother and me. In doing so, our home planet, and all the Pokémon remaining on it, was destroyed. My brother finally got the better of me. He could have destroyed me, but instead punished me with a fate worse than death. He banished me to the far corners of the galaxy, locked away with no escape."
"Well then how did you end up here?" Brock asked.
"Fortunately for myself, after millions of years of capture, another civilization found me and freed me from my holdings. I soon sought to know what happened to the Pokémon I sent to this planet. I created a new group of Pokémon to investigate just that."
"That must be what Raitorb was sent here for," Ash realized, looking at Raitorb.
"When they reported back that Pokémon were not the dominant species on this planet, but instead were ruled by a race called humans, I grew angry. I then lost contact with them. And so I am here, to reclaim what is mine."
"So I'm just a tool for evil?" Raitorb wondered to itself.
"Ah, Raitorb," Alpha said. "I'm so glad you managed to survive. I don't know what happened to the others, but I'm thankful to see you here. You can still be of use to me."
"Forget it, I'm no longer yours," Raitorb said in defiance. He was saddened that his purpose and creation had been revealed, and it was not to his liking. He knew he could never side again with Alpha. He wasn't like that anymore.
"We shall see," a visibly angry Alpha said.
"Well I hate to break it to you, pal," Ash said, "but Pokémon aren't going anywhere. We do not rule them, they are our friends, and we're not going to let you take them without a fight."
"Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu said, backing up Ash.
"As you wish," Alpha said. "You will soon discover it is I who makes the rules."
"So what are you going to do to us?" Gary said. "You can't kill us, you said it yourself."
"True," Alpha chuckled, "but I never said I couldn't inflict severe punishment."
"That's it!" the enraged Ash said. "I challenge you to a battle!"
"Fool," said Alpha. "You can't win. I have the strength of all Pokémon within me. Besides, I would not create a Pokémon stronger than myself. Nothing you could use would be more powerful than I."
"We'll see," Ash said. "Charizard, attack!"
"Ash no, don't try it!" Misty pleaded.
"Forget it," Ash said. "I'm not gonna let this thing push us around."
Charizard flew straight at Alpha, but Alpha stopped it dead in its tracks by simply holding up his hand. Charizard just floated there, motionless. Pushing his hand forward, Alpha sent Charizard flying away several meters, slamming it hard into the ground.
"Charizard!" Ash shouted.
"Now do you believe my power?" Alpha asked.
"That doesn't mean we're gonna give up," Gary said. "We'll find someway to defeat you."
"I seriously doubt it," said Alpha. "The only other in this universe capable of challenging me is my brother, and I'm afraid he's long gone. This is now my world. I shall reclaim my Pokémon and turn them back to their original selves, my servants of evil. I think I'll start with your pitiful Pikachu."
"No!" Ash shouted, but it was too late. Alpha casted a dark light upon Pikachu. Pikachu was unable to move.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted in vain. Strangely, its demeanor did not change at all. After a few more seconds, Alpha released it from his dark grip.
"Curious," Alpha said. "My powers seem to have no effect on this one."
"I bet trained Pokémon are unaffected by Alpha's powers," Tracey said.
"See," Ash said, picking up Pikachu. "Pokémon were meant to be our friends, not your servants."
"No matter," Alpha said. "There are plenty of wild Pokémon on this planet to do my bidding. I have other matters to attend you. I shall leave you now. However, I will return here at midday tomorrow. I suggest you show up. You humans shall have your day of reckoning for enslaving my creations."
With that, Alpha ascended into the sky and they watched as it flew off towards the west. They all breathed a sigh of relief to have that tense situation over with, for now.
"So now what do we do?" Brock wondered. "If we don't stop that thing, he'll amass an army of Pokémon. It's possible enough trained Pokémon could handle them, but we still wouldn't be able to lay a finger on Alpha."
Misty noticed Ash was deep in thought.
"Well Ash, what do you think?" she asked.
"Alpha said no Pokémon he created was powerful enough to take him on," Ash pointed out.
"Yeah, what's your point?" Gary asked.
"I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but it's at least worth a shot. Let's go home and fill the Professor in. I think we might need his help to pull this off."