Chapter 2
Back at John's mansion, the man in the suit walked Ash and Black Jack to his car. "This better not be a trap," Black Jack warned.
"Why would anyone set up a trap for this occasion?" the man asked.
"I'll take my motorcycle," Black Jack said. "I'll follow you from behind."
"I'll go with you," Ash said.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
"You two are very suspicious," the man said smiling.
As the man got into the car, Black Jack, Ash and Pikachu got onto the motorcycle. The car drove off while they followed. Little did Ash and Black Jack knew that they were being spied upon.
A helicopter was hovering high in the sky as the man driving it was looking down on them. "Sir," he said, communicating into a walkie-talkie. "Black Jack and Ash are following Johnson by motorcycle."
"Let them be," replied the man, who had a posh accent. "Don't follow them in case they get suspicious. Return to base."
"Yes sir," replied the helicopter driver. "Over and out."
He drove the helicopter away from John's mansion and into the direction of the base.
John looked outside of the window and saw the helicopter that was spying on Black Jack and Ash flying away. Brock, Misty, Delia, Cassandra, her Gardevior and Lao Ping were also there. "I'm going there," he said.
It wasn't long until Black Jack, Ash and Pikachu made it to a base, which was surrounded by a forest full of trees and bushes. "This place looks familiar," Black Jack thought. As they got off the motorcycle, the man came out of the car. "Welcome to one of Team Missile's headquarters," said the man.
"Team Missile?" Black Jack asked curiously.
"Correct, a team of organised terrorists who steal pokemon and merchandise and sell them for money."
"That's what Team Rocket does," Ash thought.
"Now proceed into the…"
"Hold it!" interrupted a voice.
Ash and Black Jack's friends came out from the bushes. The man was shocked seeing them. "I didn't expect your friends to come here," he said. "Under my master's orders, I will not allow anyone else but Ash Ketchum and Black Jack to enter."
"Ha!" John said. "This has everything to do with us, cos we are family!"
"Your boss shouldn't worry about us!" May continued. "He should worry about Ash instead!"
"Ahem!" Black Jack coughed.
"And Black Jack…"
"We won't interfere, we won't even lift a finger," Lao Ping said confidently. "Cos they are more than a match for him."
Ash and Black Jack couldn't help but smile, appreciating the support they're getting from their friends and families. "Thanks, you guys," Ash said quietly as he looked down.
"Ready?" Black Jack asked.
"Ready!" Ash replied.
"Pika!" Pikachu replied in a determined tone.
Their friends gave their last words of encouragement as they entered the base. Suddenly, the door quickly shut behind Black Jack, Ash and Pikachu, sealing them in. There was only one path in front of them. The whole corridor was made of metal and electricity, like the corridors you'd see in industrial places. As they walked down the corridor, a voice was heard from a hidden speaker.
"Good morning, Ash and Black Jack," said a man with a posh accent.
"Mane…" Black Jack snarled.
"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu cried angrily.
"And welcome to Team Missile's base. I know that I'm scheduled to battle you in a two-on-one pokemon battle. But I also set up some challenges for you two, you know, so you two can warm up."
"Either that or Mane is trying to weaken us," Ash said.
"Now why would I do a thing like that?" Mane asked.
"Cos you're a thieving scumbag?" Black Jack asked in reply.
"Hmhm, Black Jack, you and your sarcasm, enjoy your training."
They saw a huge room up ahead. As they entered, they looked around. The room made them looked like that they were inside a dome, big enough to fit a battlefield for pokemon battles. At the other end of the room was another corridor.
Suddenly, a small but thundering earthquake was felt and heard. Ash and Pikachu cautiously looked round to see where the earthquake was coming from, while Black Jack stayed calm. Soon, an eight-foot muscular man came from the other side of the corridor.
"My name is Brickster Tomb!" he shouted in a huge voice. "I've heard and seen a lot about you two. But to me, you two are not fit to become league champions, let alone beat the true master of strength like me!"
"Huh! Who paid you to become a critic?" Black Jack snarled.
"I know, the truth hurts, doesn't it?" Brickster asked. "Now which one of you two will battle me first?"
"Hold on!" Ash said. "We don't know the stipulations of this match yet!"
"Only one of you will battle me! If you win, you can continue to the next room. If you lose, and you will, you can get the boot out of this base and be the laughing stock of the pokemon world!"
"Sounds good to me," Black Jack replied. "Got a coin, Ketchum?"
Ash shrugged in response, meaning he has no money on him. "I think I must've some money at John's place," he confessed.
"Only one thing for it. Rock, paper, and scissors it is."
And they started playing that game. During twenty minutes of playing, they kept on getting a draw. Mane was watching them on a huge via a spy camera and was getting confused about the whole situation. Brickster was also getting confused until finally Black Jack won the match when he showed his hand in a form of a stone while Ash showed his in a form of some scissors.
"Looks like I'll be going first," said Black Jack confidently.
"We'll use one pokemon each for this battle," Brickster said.
"Agreed, and since you want to see if I'm good or not, I'll choose my pokemon first."
Black Jack picked out a pokeball and tossed it. "Time to whip some, Feraligatr!" he cried.
Feraligatr popped out of his pokeball and prepared himself ready for battle.
"Too bad you won't be able to beat my fighting pokemon," Brickster replied. "Go! Machamp!"
Black Jack stood calm and confident with his arms folded. "A Machamp," he said. "All muscle, I bet his brain is made of muscle as well."
"No matter!" Brickster shouted. "Machamp will pound your Feraligatr and you all the way to oblivion!"
"Then call your attack and find out."
"You asked for it! Machamp! Comet Punch!"
Machamp dashed at and swung many punches at Feraligatr but kept on missing as Feraligatr kept on dodging without moving from where he stood.
"Slowpoke," Black Jack said. "Keep on swinging like that and Feraligatr might catch a cold."
Machamp jumped away from Feraligatr, not knowing what to do after several of his punches missed.
"Machamp," Brickster yelled as he was sweating. "High Jump Kick!"
Machamp leapt into the air and dive kicked at Feraligatr but Feraligatr and Black Jack saw it coming. "Too predictable," Black Jack said. "Feraligatr! Mega Punch attack!"
Feraligatr dodged Machamp's attack and punched him in the gut. Machamp fell to the floor holding it.
"But… how can this be…!?" Brickster yelled.
"You relied on nothing except physical strength and ruthless fighting," Ash replied, who was standing by the sideline. "You forgot one small thing that would make a pokemon even stronger, and that is your heart connected to your Machamp's."
"Not to mention other abilities and statistics like smarts," Black Jack continued, mocking his opponents. "Speaking of ruthless and physical strength, I'll show you how Feraligatr fights his opponents! Feraligatr! Focus punch attack!"
Feraligatr ducked down while he charged himself up. Brickster and Machamp saw this as a chance to attack him, as they knew the weakness of the Focus Punch attack. The weakness was that no pokemon could move while charging up until they are fully powered up. "Machamp!" Brickster yelled. "Mega Punch! Now!"
Machamp ran at Feraligatr to punch him, but surprisingly Feraligatr barely dodged out of the way and heavily punched Machmap in the gut again. This time the punch knocked him unconscious.
"NO! WHY! HOW COME!" Brickster yelled as he saw his Machamp defeated, meaning that Black Jack and Feraligatr won the battle.
"Let's just say that I have my own ways of training pokemon," Black Jack said.
Brickster fell on his knees in disbelief. "No one has beaten me this easily before," he thought to himself.
Black Jack looked at him with disappointment. "Huh! Waste of time," Black Jack snarled quietly as he walked over to Brickster. He kneeled down and said. "And yes, the truth does hurt."
Black Jack picked himself up and looked at Ash. "C'mon, Ketchum," he said. "Another victim awaits us."
Ash looked at Black Jack with mixture of feelings. "There's something weird about this guy," he thought to himself as they walked into the corridor.
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