After a night of rest, the group checked out of the Pokemon Centre. Ash decided to call his mom. "Ash?! Is that you?!", Delia shouted. "Mom! Please, calm down.", Ash said, and, it worked. Delia sat down, and relaxed. "What happened to you?", she asked. "Well, that's a long story. But I guess you saw me on the news, didn't you?", Ash said. "Yes, I did. Tell me what happened Ash.", Delia said. "Well, you remember Drake, don't you?", Ash asked. "Yes, I do.", Delia answered. "Well, this young lady is his younger sister, Marone.", Ash said, and pointed to Marone. "It's very nice to meet you, ma'am.", Marone said. "Please call me Delia.", Delia said. Then she turned to Ash. Ash continued. "We found out that she and Adron, her brother, were being held by Team Rocket. Once Drake realized that, he rushed over there, and we followed along to help him. Once we were inside, we made our way up. We encountered Giovanni with Jessie, James, Cassidy and Butch. James stepped forward, and tried to kill Misty. Brock pushed her out of the way to save her. But he was hit by the beam.". Delia gasped. "That's terrible… I'll notify his family in Pewter City.", she said. Ash nodded, and bowed his head a little. "When I saw Brock die in my own arms, something snapped. I transformed into what you saw on the TV. I fought against James, and beated him. Eventually, only Butch was left, and I battled him until the end. When I rushed back, I rescued Misty and Marone from the building before it collapsed. Misty told me everything along the way. We hadn't even landed, and the building collapsed. Drake and Adron, who were still inside, died also.", Ash said. Delia sniffed. "I'm sorry. It's horrible. I wish there was a way we all could help.", she said. "We're coming home mom. Because there's something more horrible.", Ash said. "What's that?", Delia asked. "Not now mom. I'll tell you when I'm home. We all have alot to do. Seeya.", Ash said. "See you soon, son.", Delia said, and hung up. Ash did as well, and got up from the seat. "I'ts best if we leave now. Let's go.", he said. Everybody agreed, and the group walked out of town.
"Marone, you can fly, right?", Ash asked her. They were standing in the woods. "Yes, but not so fast.", she said. "That's okay. I'll carry Misty and Pikachu. You can carry my backpack.", Ash said. "Okay.", she agreed, and took Ash's backpack. "Misty, hang on. We're going quite fast. Grab hold of my shoulders, and let Pikachu on your back. Leave the rest to me.", Ash said. Misty nodded, and walked behind Ash, and grabbed his shoulders. "All set? Then let's go.", Ash said, and carefully took off. Marone followed him. "Alright, Marone, follow me. It's quite a trip now.", Ash said, and flew off. Marone tried to keep up, and she did. They kept on flying for a few hours, until they reached New Bark Town. They landed outside of town. "Enough flying for today. I'm beat.", Ash said. "Let's stay here, so that we can rest up and take a boat.", Misty suggested. The group walked inside the town, and entered the Pokemon Centre. When they entered, the TV was on. "There's alot on the news now. Let's watch.", Asn said. The TV didn't show what they expected. The saw a young man sitting, talking to the police. It was quite obvious that he was a trainer. "This is Jack, live from Cianwood City Woods. A few hours ago, this young trainer was attacked by an unknown being. It didn't attack the trainer, but, what the trainer explained, absorbed the trainer's Charizard into his body, and the left off.", the reporter said. Ash stared at the screen. He knew what was going on. And his friends knew too.
Ash and his friends were in their room. Ash was looking outside through the window. "Damn that monster. He knows he isn't at full power, so he is attacking trainers and absorbs their Pokemon. Shit, there has to be a way that we can do something. But we don't have a choice. We return to Pallet Town tomorrow, and start training. All of us. I'll keep training with Marone, and Misty will take care of my Pokemon and Pikachu.", Ash said, while looking around the room. Marone sat on her bed. "I wish there was another way. I truly do. But it seems that we must fight after all.", she said, staring at the ground. Misty comforted her. "Hey. It's not the end of the world yet. I'm sure that if we work together, we can beat this guy. I'm willing to fight if it's going to help saving the world.", she said. "Besides, Ash is now a Super Saiyan. He will only get stronger, and so will you. So will all of us.", Misty finished. Ash turned to her. "I appreciate your kind words, Misty. But there's one thing you missed.", he said, arms folded. Misty turned to him. "What's that Ash?", she asked, confused. "Drake and Adron were also Super Saiyans, and they couldn't beat him. So I have to get stronger then them. And that's the hard part. I don't know if we can become so much stronger in the time we have.", he said. "Let's get our rest.".
The next morning the group boarded the boat to Pallet Town. Ash was walking on the deck, when he sensed something, very far away. It didn't come from Pallet, it came from a much larger distance. Misty walked up to him. "What's wrong?", she asked. "Something is going on in Viridian City. It's Dark. He thinks that Mewtwo may be there, since the Gym was controlled by Team Rocket.", he said, focussing his mind to the city. "I can't make it out quite clear, but he is stronger then before.", Ash muttered. He turned to Misty. "How much farther until Pallet?", he asked. "Dunno, 3 more hours I think.", she answered. Ash sighed. "I hate it when I can't do a thing.", he said, and walked back to the restaurant were he came from. Misty followed him, not quite understanding what he just said.
Dark was inside the Gym. Multiple Rockets fired with firearms at him. The bullets went through him. The firing stopped. Everyone looked at Dark. The bulletholes vanished in an instant. "Were is Mewtwo? Tell me!", Dark demanded. The Rockets shivered. One of them readied a handgrenade, and threw it at Dark. It hitted his body as it went off. The smoke cleared, and Dark had a gaping hole in his chest. Dark grinned, then laughed. He regenerated his body, and stretched his arm out to the Rockets. "Foolish, weak and pathetic humans.", Dark sneered, and blasted all the Rockets away. "I think that Mewtwo isn't here. Why can't I pick up his energysignal?", Dark muttered. He took off, straight through the roof, high in the air. He pointed his hands at the ground. "This place is no use to me anymore. Vanish!", he said, and launched an energyblast straight into the city. With the force of a nuclear explosion, Viridian City was wiped off the face of the earth. Dark stared at the crater, grinned, and flew off.
The ferry boarded at the harbour. Ash, Misty, Marone and Pikachu got off, and headed to Pallet Town, this time on foot. They didn't want to attract any attention. After an hour or so, the first houses of Pallet Town came in sight. "Finally, we're home again.", Ash said. "It's a quiet little town, Ash. I love it here already.", Marone said. "Glad that you do, because we are here for quite a while. Let's go to my house, and I'll introduce you to my mom, personally this time.", Ash said. The walk to Ash's home was short. Ash knocked on the door. Delia opened, and immediatly hugged her son tightly. Ash, instead of protesting, did the same to her. After a few moments, Delia released Ash and invited them in. "This was just on the TV.", Delai said. The screen showed the crater were once Viridian City was. "Some dark thing invaded the Gym, and then blew up the city. There are no survivors.", Delia muttered. The group gasped. While in search for Mewtwo, Dark has blown up Viridian City. "Oh no, Viridian City, totally gone…", Misty whispered. Ash stood speechless. He then turned to his friends. "We have no time to talk. Let's begin our training.", he said. Marone nodded, and walked outside. Misty followed her, and Ash sended Pikachu with her. Ash turned to his mom. "Mom, you know what we have to do. And don't try to stop us. Please.", Ash said. "Alright. Go out and train. You won't have any trouble here.", Delia said. Ash smiled, and walked outside. Once outside, he started giving pointers for training. He and Marone should start sparring, while Misty should train all Pokemon, especially Pikachu. With that, they started, Misty on the field in front of the house, and Ash and Marone in the backyard.
"Marone, try to keep your eyes on me! And if you can't do that, feel me out!", Ash said, after he floored her. They had been training and sparring for two hours in the backyard now, and Ash didn't even turned Super Saiyan. "I'll do my best to do just that.", Marone said, while she got up. She immediatly lunged for Ash. Ash dodged, and made her hit the ground again. "And don't be too impulsive. It's not a good thing.", Ash said. Marone stood up again. "Care to continue, or should we take a break?", he asked. "No! Let's go again.", Marone said, and readied herself. "If you want.", Ash said, and charged at her, throwing punches and kicks. Marone defended and blocked, and tried to counter. After awhile, they looked evenly matched. But eventually, Marone hitted the ground once more. "Let's take a breather. It's no good to exhaust yourself.", Ash said. Marone got up. "Ok. Let's see how Misty is doing.", she said. The duo walked off to the field in front of the house.
"Hey Misty, how is it going?", Ash asked. Misty saw them, and turned to them. "Great. Pikachu is getting stronger and stronger. He has the same tactics as you, you know?", she said. Pikachu was training against Charizard, Tauros, Poliwhirl and Onix. Pikachu's quick attack was so fast, that only Ash could follow it. Charizard launched a fireball at Pikachu, but it dodged it. It then countered wit a Zap Cannon, knocking Charizard finally out. Tauros charged, but Pikachu jumped over him and Thundershocked him. Tauros went down as well. Poliwhirl used his Water Gun, but realized his mistake too late. Pikachu used an electric attack through the Water Gun, shocking Poliwhirl. Poliwhril fainted before he hitted the ground. Onix looked like to have the advantage, en charged at Pikachu. "See? He's fighting by himself!", Misty said. Ash frowned, and stared at Pikachu. "Pikachu, try the Kamehameha.", he whispered. "Did you say something, Ash?", Misty asked. Ash snapped out of it. "Nono, just looking at his techniques, that's all.", he asnwered. Then they saw something happen. Onix made a lunge for Pikachu, and Pikachu jumped high up in the sky. It brought it's tiny arms together, and brought them to it's waist. "What? Ash, your Pokemon! He's doing a Kamehameha!", Marone said. She remembered that attack, and she could do it too. "PiiiikaaaCHUUU!!!", the yellow mouse yelled, and, instead of a blue beam, Pikachu launched a yellow one, which hitted Onix straight in the face. With a loud roar, Onix fainted. Pikachu landed on it's feet, giving it's friends the victory sign. Ash walked up to it, and putted it on his shoulder. Marone and Misty walked up to Ash. "Where did he learn to do that? I didn't see him do it in the training.", Misty said. Ash smiled. "He must have see me do it, when I fought Butch.", he said. "Let's go inside. I'm hungry.".
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Ash and his friends continue their training in Pallet Town. But they have to hurry and finish their training soon, because with every day they train, Dark is getting closer to his target – Mewtwo! Can Ash and his friends make a difference in this battle for the world? Or will everything be in vain in the end? Stay tuned, for the next chapter!