Episode 8: Two birds versus one stone

Chapter 1

It was a sunny morning and Black Jack was standing outside a luxury mansion. The mansion belonged to his brother John and he invited him to be a guest, along with Ash, Pikachu and others.

It was nearly a week after he and Ash fought each other to determine the champion and Mane's opponent for the freedom of either John's family or the pokemon. It turned out that Black Jack and Ash came to a draw in the grand final match and they both became joint Hoenn League Champions. Even more good news was that Mane decided that both Black Jack and Ash can challenge him. Everyone was happy about that but Black Jack had his suspicions.

"Mane must have something up his dirty sleeve, setting up a two-on-one pokemon battle," Black Jack thought as he looked up into the blue sky. "No matter what, I'm the one who's gonna put him out of his misery."

He had been standing outside of the mansion for quite sometime. One of the reasons why he was because he didn't want to disturb the others sleeping, he was also waiting for one of Mane's henchmen to arrive.

"Black Jack," said a voice. Black Jack turned round to see the person catching his attention. It was Cassandra.

"I'm just waiting for one of Mane's bozos to come pick me up," Black Jack replied, as he knew what Cassandra was going to ask him.

"Aren't you going to wait for Ash?" Cassandra asked.

"If he comes late, that's his loss. I spotted him leaving earlier to go to the nearest pokemon center to check on his Meganium after what Salamence did."

"Treating Meganium like that wasn't really necessary."

"I know. But Ash needs to know about the cruelty of our upcoming battle like Mane showed us when he battled John."

Whether Cassandra liked it or not, Black Jack made a good point. Both Ash and Black Jack love pokemon but with a difference. Ash trains his pokemon in a healthy kind of way: spending time with his pokemon, training them without hurting them, learning from them, etc. But Black Jack, he trains his pokemon in a harsh way because he takes battling more seriously than Ash, although Black Jack and his pokemon do share times of friendship bonding, as they like to fight a lot for fun, whether it's against themselves or others.

"Hmm… I'm going to the pokemon center," Cassandra said.

"Suit yourself," Black Jack replied.

Meanwhile, Ash, Pikachu, Lao Ping and Misty were walking to the pokemon center. Ash looked down in a sad manner.

"I knew that Black Jack wouldn't want to go easy on me," Ash said. "But I never knew that he would go that far…"

"Pika pikachu," Pikachu said, comforting his human friend.

"I know, no one did," Lao Ping replied. "I never thought that he would use such violence, even with his brother's family on the line."

While Lao Ping was concerned about Black Jack's behaviour, Misty couldn't stop noticing Ash's sorry feelings about Meganium. "Ash, are you okay?" Misty asked. "Meganium's going to be fine. You know that and I know that. Because she is strong, just like you."

Ash smiled in response and said. "Thanks, Mist."

They arrived at the pokemon center, with Ash leading the way. "Nurse Joy," Ash said as he made it to the desk. "How's my Meganium doing?"

"She's still recovering, Ash," the nurse replied. "She still needs time."

Ash remembered that since he had drawn with Black Jack in the grand final, Mane gave them both the opportunity to defeat him for the freedom of the pokemon and Black Jack's family in a two-on-one trainer battle. That match would happen on that very day.

"Can I see her?" he asked.

"Sure you can," she replied as she granted them entrance.

Ash and the others went into one of the rooms to see how Meganium was doing. She was wrapped in bandages, and she was heavily bruised caused by Salamence. Ash kneeled down to look at Meganium's sleepy face.

"Poor Meganium…" Misty said sadly.

Meganium slowly opened her eyes to see Ash, her best friend and trainer. "Meg…" she said weakly.

"Meganium," Ash said with a small smile. "Are you okay, buddy?"

Meganium nodded her head slightly. Her face then showed that she realized something and tried to turn away from him, feeling rather ashamed of herself.

"It's okay, Meganium," Ash said. "It's not your fault… it was my fault… I've made a mistake…"

"Ash, you shouldn't blame yourself," Misty said.

Ash remained silent. He remembered what Black Jack said regarding the match against Mane.

-Flashback-

Salamence dropped Meganium a hundred feet while flying in the air. Ash had a look of shock and fear in his eyes, so did everyone else.

"Now do you see how I battle other trainers?" Black Jack shouted. "I treat them with no mercy… that's exactly what I plan to do when I face Mane!!"

-Flashback ended-

"Er… Ash," Lao Ping said. "If Meganium is going to stay here for the next few days, who is going to replace her?"

Meganium became shocked of what Lao Ping said. "Meganium!" she cried. She struggled to get out of bed, but every time she tried to move, she felt the aches and pains in her body. Ash and Pikachu hurried to calm her down.

"Meganium!" Ash cried, getting her attention. "I know how much you want to battle. But after what Black Jack has done to you, I want you to stay and rest. Even though you can't battle today, you'll always be part of the team."

Meganium felt happy when Ash mentioned those words as she nuzzled her head against his. Misty was also happy, as she felt a great bond between those two. Somehow, this made her feel that she had a completely different bond with him but that was also special.

Suddenly, a loud thud can be heard from outside. Ash and the others ran to the entrance of the pokemon center. They saw Black Jack holding an unconscious man in a suit on his shoulder. Cassandra, May, Max and Brock were standing beside him.

"This brat thinks that he can take me to Mane without you, Ketchum," Black Jack complained as he dropped the man in the suit.

"Ash, how's Meganium doing?" Brock asked worryingly.

"Not good," Ash replied. "Meganium still needs to stay here for a few days."

"If Meganium's injured," Cassandra said. "Why not use another pokemon?"

Ash looked at Black Jack, who had an evil smile one his face as he looked down on the man in the suit. Ash had one pokemon in mind, a pokemon who always had the mind to fight.

Ash called Prof. Oak by videophone. After the Hoenn League tournament was finished, Professor Oak immediately went back to Pallet town along with Tracey.

"Hello, Professor," Ash said.

"Oh, hello Ash!" Prof. Oak replied.

"Listen, Professor. I need a pokemon from you."

"Oh? Don't you already have six on you?"

"Yeah, but after what happened to Meganium, she needs to stay here in the pokemon center for a few days."

"Oh, I see."

"So, can I get a pokemon from you?"

"Alright, who do you need?"

"Sceptile."

"Hmm… yes, Sceptile will be fine. He was fully recovered yesterday, but since then he has been picking fights with the other pokemon, so I think it would be best that he would be sent to you."

"Great! Thanks, Professor."

A few moments after getting Sceptile from Prof. Oak, he released him. Sceptile looked around and found that he was in the pokemon center. "Great to see you again, Sceptile," Ash said happily.

Sceptile turned his back on Ash, not wanting to look at him. Ash fully understood why Sceptile was being like this. "Sceptile," Ash said. "I'm sorry for replacing you for Charizard, but I haven't seen him for a long time, please try to understand."

"Pika pika!" Pikachu cried trying to get Sceptile to listen to him.

(Author's note: Another pokemon translation)

Sceptile's eyes turned towards Pikachu.

"C'mon, Sceptile," Pikachu said. "You don't know how much you mean to Ash."

Sceptile remained silent, but he listened to Pikachu intently. "Ash always gives you what you want. I know it was a bit hard on you not taking part in the grand final of the Hoenn League, but Ash hasn't seen Charizard for a while. Besides, the beatings you took in the first round weren't helping you heal well."

Sceptile smiled and said, "You're right, bud. Maybe I have been looking forward to it too much."

Sceptile looked down in guilt. Charizard wasn't the only pokemon that Ash cared about. Sceptile himself, Pikachu, Heracross, Swellow, Bulbasaur, and all the other pokemon Ash has on him and back at Prof Oak's lab in Pallet Town.

Sceptile turned round to face Ash and gave a thumb's up.

(Author's note: Translation ended.)

"Ha! This is great! Great to have you back with us!" Ash said.

"You had us worried there, Sceptile," Brock said.

Suddenly, a fist came charging at the back of Sceptile's head. Sceptile confidently moved his head at a side to avoid the attack.

"Black Jack!" Ash shouted. "What are you doing?"

"Just testing," Black Jack replied, as it was him who attacked Sceptile.

Sceptile turned round to see Black Jack standing near him. "Not bad," Black Jack said while smiling. "I just hope you're good enough to battle Mane."

"Scept?" Sceptile croaked.

"Pika pikachu," Pikachu replied, which meant, "I'll explain everything."

After some explanation, Sceptile understood why Black Jack and Ash needed his help at that very moment. Sceptile clenched his paw, as he couldn't wait to battle.

"Just one problem," Brock said. "What about that guy?"

Black Jack grabbed the collar of the man's suit and began slapping him. "Wake up, you dimwit!" Black Jack shouted.

"Ow! Stop hitting me!" cried the man in the suit.

"Take us to Mane! Now!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

More coming! Reviews please!