The Dark League


Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any related names, characters, locales, et al.

Claimer: I own Hachiro, the hooded figures, and the Pokemon represented in the sphinx statue.


Chapter 1

Introductions


"Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt!" yelled a young boy. This boy's name was Ash Ketchem, a boy from Pallet Town. His blue shirt flapped in the wind from the battle.

Sparks started flying from Pikachu's, a yellow mouse-like creature with red cheeks and black-tipped ears cheeks. "Piiii-kaaaa-chuuuuuuuuu!" yelled Ash's Pokemon. At this, a large bolt of yellow thunder left the rodent.

"No, Pidgeot! Maneuver around and dive at him!" yelled Ash's opponent, a novice trainer. He wore a long red robe, with his trainer badge on his heart pocket. The badge identified him as Akuta Hachiro.

Hachiro's Pidgeot avoided Pikachu's thunderbolt, and used the sun's glare to sneak behind the electric rodent.

"Pikachu, behind you! Hit him with a Thunder!"

However, instead of following Ash's order, Pikachu simply dodged Pidgeot's aerial attack, causing the bird-like Pokemon to slam beak-first into the dirt. Needless to say, although Pikachu's plan worked, Ash was pretty mad that Pikachu had ignored his order.

"Pidgeot!" Hachiro yelled, running over to his injured Pidgeot.

"Pikachu, why didn't you use Thunder? Why did you just dodge?"

"Pii kaa." Pikachu said.

"You thought that would work better?"

"Pii."

"That wasn't half bad, Ash." Came Misty's reserved voice. Ash turned to face the girl, a red-haired girl who wore her hair cropped short. She wore a yellow sleeveless shirt and blue-jean shorts.

"Thanks, Misty." Ash replied, smiling brightly.


Meanwhile, in a castle halfway across the world, two people were conversing in the middle of a huge chamber. One person wore a long black robe, and the other a long red robe. The drapes hung loosely from the windows, casting dark shadows through it. In the middle stood a statue of an unknown Pokemon, one that looked like a sphinx that stood on two legs.

"Servant." Came the voice of the person in the black robe.. "Is my plan in action?"

"No, master, we are still trying to decide on one particular trainer." The other person said.

"Oh? And which one is that?"

"The boy from Pallet Town, Ash Ketchem. He managed to get to the finals of the Indigo tournament and defeat Mewtwo."

"Such a boy could be dangerous to our cause. Attack him with our Icelanders."

"Yes, master." At this, the red-robed person bowed.


"Ash, we should stop for a while… I'm tired… Brock's tired… Pikachu's tired…" Misty panted, as sweat poured down her face.

"But, Misty, we only have five miles to go before the next town on our list!" Ash groaned, but then his stomach started growling. "Come to think of it, I'm kind of hungry…" Upon this, Brock and Misty, apparently forgetting their exhaustion, fell anime-style onto their back.

"Do you only think about food and Pokemon, Ash?"

"What else is there to think about?"

"Pretty girls…" Brock said, hearts in his eyes.

"Cool it, Romeo…" Misty muttered under his breath.

"Okay, we'll take a break…" Ash muttered angrily.

"Ah, come on, Ash, you know that you wanted to rest!" Misty exclaimed.

Suddenly, a long, tubular object flew straight towards them. Ash noticed that it was heading toward Pikachu, and, he leaped in front of the electric rodent.

"Ash!" Misty exclaimed fearfully, running toward the pair. Her feet pounded the forest floor. In the air, the object left a trail of burning trees in its wake. She managed to push the pair to the ground just as the object hit the ground. A huge explosion was triggered, sending them flying into a tree.

"Ash! Misty! Pikachu!" Brock yelled. He frantically crawled into the rubble, trying to locate the three who had been attacked. "Guys!" What Brock saw under the rubble was shocking and horrifying. The explosion had sent shrapnel at them, and Ash had purposely taken the brunt on the blast, with metallic shards sticking out of his back, coating his back in a red liquid, blood. "Misty, we have to get you and Ash to the Pokemon Center, fast! Especially Ash. It doesn't look like he'll be able to survive long without medical attention!"

"Ash!" Misty exclaimed, and then grimaced. She was not in the best condition herself, with numerous scrapes and burns covering her stomach, and perhaps even a broken rib.

"Let's go." Brock said.


A/N: What do you think? Should I continue? I apologize for the length, but this is a prologue.