Pokémon Tails: A Journey to the East

by The King of Soda

A story of adventure, love, and conflict begins when Ash and Misty stumble upon a young boy in the forest, but will the journey be more than they can handle? Rated M for mature scenes including suggestive moments and sex scenes. NOTE: On temporary hiatus! Massive edits incoming!

18. The Battle of Vermilion City

Pokémon Tails: A Journey to the East

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ or Pokémon.

NOTE: Before reading, I would strongly suggest that readers go back and reread Chapters 10 through 17 to get a feel for the new edits, otherwise you're going to be confused. Other than that, enjoy.

CHAPTER 18: The Battle of Vermilion City

A tiny speck had appeared on the horizon, and as the four watched, that tiny dot grew larger and larger in their line of vision.

"Look!" Brock cried. "It's a ship!"

"It looks like a silver Bird Pokémon!" Misty commented.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu added with a determined frown.

"Mew..." Mew whimpered, sensing the great waves of pure darkness emanating from the ship.

"I can feel it..." Gohan murmured. "I just know that this is going to be trouble, guys..."

The arrowheaded craft stopped directly over them, and at this point the crowds around them had taken notice of the ship.

"What is that thing?"

"Oh God, it's a UFO, a real UFO!"

"Quick, someone call Officer Jenny!"

"Moron! What's she gonna do?!"

"Run!"

"Get Lieutenant Surge!"

As the ship hovered there two hundred meters above them, the crowds around them dispersed, and though Gohan knew he had to lead the inevitable fight out of the city at some point, for now he was pleased that no one around the area was in any immediate danger.

For a few minutes, the ship simply remained aloft, content to gaze down upon them from on high before finally, with a release of steam from the engines located at the back, lowering itself to the ground and coming to rest on the hard pavement, setting itself only a few dozen meters from the four Pokémon Trainers.

Silence reigned for a couple seconds, before finally Ash spoke.

"What do you think we should do, guys?" he asked, sounding shaken.

"I don't know..." the dark-skinned Breeder admitted, equally at a loss for words.

"Do you think we should try and communicate with them?" Misty speculated.

"Pika Pika?" the Mouse Pokémon put forward.

"No..." Gohan murmured, sounding grim, resolute, in a tone not so foreign to the low pitch of his Super Saiyan 2 transformation. "I don't know who they are or where they come from, but I can sense their intentions, and I can tell you they're not here for a friendly visit."

Brock shook his head. "One of these days, you are going to have to teach us how to sense ki."

"If we make it that long," Misty stated pessimistically.

"Chu..." Pikachu moaned, its ears drooping.

And just like that, the hatch cycled open, and out poured dozens of aliens from different races, but they all wore the same outfit, and they fanned out to surround Gohan, Misty, Brock, and Ash with vengeful glee shining in their eyes.

"What are they doing?" Ash inquired.

"This does not look good..." Misty drawled, sweating nervously.

"Guys, I'm getting a really bad feeling about all this!" Brock added, gulping down his fears and anxiety.

"Mew!" Mew squeaked, huddling closer to Gohan's leg from fear.

Finally, the alien platoon had all enclosed the four Trainers within a semicircle while Kotaga himself strode boldly down the landing ramp and came to halt in the gap between his soldiers, sneering down at Gohan from high above.

"So you're the strong being our scanners picked up!" Kotaga boomed with a loud boisterous voice that spoke of an arrogant confidence.

Gohan stepped forward, frowning intently at the larger being.

"Who are you?" the hybrid demanded, refusing to be intimidated.

"Bold, aren't you, boy?" Kotaga chuckled, sounding amused. "Very well then. If that's the case, then allow me to be equally direct with you."

And he spread his arms wide, gloriously, like a soldier toasting victory.

"I'm Lord Kotaga, the leader of the elite Galaxy Marauders!" Kotaga declared proudly. "And we're here to conquer this puny world! But you know..." The larger creature smirked widely, as if enjoying a private joke. "I didn't expect the strongest warrior here to be a child."

And he laughed, which prompted the other soldiers to follow suit, taking part in the raucous mirth along with their commander.

"Uh, Gohan, I'm starting to get the feeling we might be just a little bit in over our heads here..." Brock told him, sounding very concerned.

"Pikachu..." The yellow rodent agreed, looking nervous.

"Relax, guys," Gohan replied, staring down Kotaga with a cold and contemptuous gaze. "They're just trying to scare us, that's all."

"Well, I'd say it's working!" The orange-headed girl said.

"But you're not one that's so easily bullied, eh, boy?" Kotaga scoffed, eyeing the resolute youth with a seeming newfound respect. "Very well then — since you are so full of fire and will I'll make you this glorious offer to join my organization, the Galaxy Marauders!"

Gohan scowled. "What could you have possibly have to offer me?"

The blue alien's eyes glimmered brightly as he spoke. "Just imagine the possibilities! With you at my side, we could conquer this planet in seventeen turns! And the rewards will be far greater than anything you could ever dream of! Food, sleep, sex, and war! The simple pleasures of life will be ours for the taking!"

"Gohan..." Misty whispered, voice thick with concern.

Gohan spared her a glance and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Misty — it's always hard the first time, but I have faith in you."

For a few seconds she was silent, then she smiled back. Gohan turned back to confront the Galaxy Marauders with a disgusted expression.

"You people are all alike, walking in here like you own the place," he grunted. "You think because you have power that it gives you the right to claim lives and take whatever you want because nobody can stop you. Well, I will! The offer is no, whoever you are! No thanks!"

Kotaga grinned even wider on hearing that. "So be it then."

"First things first..." Gohan said simply as he leveled a determined gaze on the huge alien. "We need to move this fight away from here. There are way too many innocent people who can get in the way."

"I agree," Kotaga answered affably.

Gohan, Ash, Misty, and Brock reacted with shock, wondering if they had been wrong after all, and then in the next second, Kotaga raised his arm. Suddenly thrusting it forward powerful energy beams shot themselves out of Kotaga's open palm.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Instantly, Vermilion City lit up with a fantastic display of fireworks. Buildings erupted into big detonations as Kotaga worked his way over the heart of the great city, shooting past Gohan and his friends to vent his rage out on the unrelenting population Gohan had shown concern for...

"Oh, Gohan!" Misty whimpered. "What's he doing?!"

"He's destroying the entire city!" Brock shouted back to her.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu cried, terrified at all the destruction.

But Gohan hadn't even heard them, for in the next moment, he had launched himself for Kotaga with a furious, enraged scream and in the final moment before he hit, turned Super Saiyan at lightspeed as he brought his fist into the alien's cheek, sending him flying.

The space pirate spun head-over-heels backwards for a while, before regaining his bearings, as he flipped off the ground and landed himself on his feet, staggering back a bit, as he wiped away some blood now sliding down his cheek, a shocked look on his face.

"Impossible!" Kotaga spat, a dangerous light now entering his eyes. "You were able to hurt me so effectively with only five killis?"

"You monster!" Gohan hurled at him, no longer a Super Saiyan.

Kotaga frowned, apparently reevaluating Gohan in his head.

"If it was those innocent bystanders that you were so worrying about, then why are you so getting upset over this, boy? After all..." And here Kotaga grinned maliciously, clearly relishing in the fact. "There are no longer any innocent bystanders left to get in the way of our battle."

"LEAVE THESE PEOPLE OUT OF OUR FIGHT!" Gohan hollered.

Kotaga dropped the dark amusement as a grim expression replaced his features, aware this fight wouldn't be as easy as he'd thought.

"We'll see about that, boy," Kotaga said gravely. "We will see..."

Now that they were certain the intense explosions had ceased, Ash, Brock, and Misty turned around to face the city behind them... where they saw nothing but fire and complete destruction as far as the eye could see... it looked like a bomb had blown up in Vermilion City with tons of ruined buildings, debris everywhere, and broken, shattered, smashed bodies, people calling out for help, screaming in pain...

"Guys, guys, look," Brock said, sounding shaky. "Vermilion City."

"It's... it's completely gone," Misty said, sounding just as stunned and horrified as Brock himself was.

"Mew..." Mew squeaked, eyes overbright from unshed tears.

Gritting his teeth at the injustice of such actions, Ash whipped back towards Lord Kotaga.

"Why did you do that?!" he threw at him. "They were all helpless, and you killed them all! Trainer and Pokémon!"

Kotaga turned his icy gaze on Ash as suddenly, he smirked.

"ANSWER ME!" Ash demanded, taking a second step forward.

"Pikachu!" the Electric Pokémon uttered. "Pika Pi, Pikachu!"

"Ash, I don't think it's really a good idea to provoke him," Misty said, now concerned for her friend.

"Yeah, let Gohan handle this," Brock agreed.

"How can I just do that?!" Ash fumed. "You saw what he did! He can't be allowed to get away with something so evil! It's not right, guys!"

"Pika, Pika Pika!" Pikachu urged, pulling on his pants leg.

"Well, if that's how you feel, you can be next!" Kotaga said.

And then Kotaga raised his left hand, and Gohan gasped.

"Oh no you don't!" He roared hotly, propelling himself forward.

However, one of Kotaga's soldiers took the moment to shoot a beam weapon at him, catching Gohan off-guard for precious seconds... right as Kotaga fired away a narrow ki blast, piercing through Ash's chest!

"ASH!" Misty screamed as the Pallet Trainer went flying.

"NO!" Brock cried, rushing forward to help him.

"PIKA PI!" Pikachu wailed, full of despair, as it turned an angry glare on Kotaga, shooting off a wave of electrical energy. "CHUUUUUU!"

Kotaga batted the electricity away with contemptuous ease.

"I'm sorry, was that supposed to hurt me, you pathetic little rodent?" Kotaga mocked, the cruel grin stretching even further on his lips.

Furious, horrified beyond belief, and dying for some payback, Gohan quickly charged the Galaxy Marauders, hair flashing back to gold.

"Yes, come at me!" Kotaga hissed eagerly. "I'll crush you!"

And Gohan slammed into Kotaga and the Galaxy Marauders with the force of a meteor, trading blows faster than their eye could follow.

"Ash, no..." Misty whispered, laying a soft hand on his chest.

For the black-haired boy lie there, not moving, eyelids shut, with a massively bloodied hole blown right clean through his abdomen.

"He looks like he's in pretty bad shape!" Brock muttered urgently. "He might not make it, Misty! Isn't there something we can do for him?"

"I... I don't know..." The redheaded girl demurred uncertainly.

"Pikachu..." Pikachu uttered, just staring at its wounded Trainer sadly.

By this time, the rest of the twenty or so Galaxy Marauders soldiers had joined their commander in the attack on Gohan, pounding at him relentlessly and coming in from all angles, barely giving him time to react or maneuver.

"I don't have time for this game!" Gohan retorted furiously.

With that, the hybrid fully powered up, blowing them all off him and sending them flying into the distance. Some of the wilier ones caught themselves, but most of those simply unfortunate enough to get swept up in it collided with nearby buildings, crashed into the hard concrete, or went spiraling into the sparkling sea.

"Guys, listen!" He barked, whipping his head downward towards his friends. "There might still be a chance to save him! Take him back to the capsule house, put him in the healing tank, and get as far away from here as you can!"

He tossed the capsule to them, which clattered to the pavement before them, then leaping back into the attack, wasting no time in doing so.

"Brock, do you believe it?" The Cerulean Gym Leader wondered.

"We have no choice but to hope!" Brock said, draping the broken form of Ash over his shoulder. "Let's do what he said and get outta here!"

"But... but... but Gohan!" Misty protested. "We can't leave him!"

"Misty, we can't do anything for him!" The dark-skinned boy stated in a deathly serious tone. "If we try to help, we'll just get in the way!"

As if in reply to his words, a series of colossal shockwaves exploded high overhead, and the two of them cried out in terror.

"Arrghh!" They shouted, diving to the ground.

"Pika Pi!" Pikachu squeaked.

"Mew!" Mew squealed, eyes tightly shut against the pressure.

Once the dust had cleared, the Pewter Gym Leader locked eyes with Misty, and he grabbed at her arm, obviously in no mood to argue.

"Misty, there's no time to waste!" Brock insisted. "LET'S GO!"

And he yanked her forward, pulling her along with him.

"Hey, ugh, stop, wait a minute!" She complained.

"Pika, Pika Pika!" Pikachu piped in, taking off after them. "Pikachu!"

"Going somewhere?!" one of the Galaxy Marauders snarled, shooting down a barrage of ki blasts right toward Misty, Brock, and Pikachu.

The three braced themselves, prepared to die, when a series of red beams intercepted the barrage, dispersing the ki blasts.

"Your fight is with ME, not them!" Gohan reminded the warrior, launching himself towards him with a vengeance.

Meanwhile, the trio were rushing past flaming wreckage and terrified, screaming, desperate Trainers trying to make sense of the chaos.

"Look at it, Brock..." Misty whispered. "It's so awful..."

"Yeah, I know," Brock agreed, his voice overly controlled, like he was struggling to keep his rightful anger from getting the better of him.

They made it to the city outskirts and Brock quickly released the capsule house.

"Let's hurry inside, Misty!" Brock pointed out. "We need to help Ash!"

"Pikachu, Pika Pika!" Pikachu agreed, nodding its head. "Pika Pi!"

Just then, a fierce earthquake struck the landscape, and Brock and Misty struggled to remain standing upright.

"Do you really think Gohan can defeat them?" Misty questioned, sounding very worried.

"He can," Brock said determinedly. "He has to."

The two, followed by Pikachu, rushed inside the home, searching rapidly through the inner structure to try and find the healing tank Gohan had mentioned, and after a few minutes, Misty called out.

"I found out, Brock!" she yelled back to him.

Brock came carrying Ash with him and as soon as he'd entered he caught sight of a small dome-shaped pod resting in the corner with thick cables plugged into the walls and several machines close by.

"Good job!" Brock commended her. "Now let's get Ash in it!"

But Misty was turning her head back and forth, and a minute later she spoke, bringing up something which Brock hadn't even considered.

"Hey, where's Mew?"

---

Gohan fought off the encroaching horde of space warriors all around him, punching two of them away, and blasting a third, who fell charred to the pavement below, and then bisecting another one with his fist.

"That's the last of them!" Gohan panted, gasping for breath, shocked to discover that the effort had cost him far more than he thought.

"Hmph," Kotaga sneered. "I was rather attached to them. They were my soldiers, my kin, and my brothers, all in one."

And here he smirked again, offering Gohan a truly crazy grin.

"Thank you for taking care of them on my behalf!" he laughed. "It spares me the trouble having to deal with the problem myself!"

"You're insane," Gohan snorted, spitting to the side.

"Am I, boy?" Kotaga wondered. "Am I? Then join me in my madness!"

And he propelled himself back for Gohan, striking him with a fierce series of punches, kicks, and fancy maneuvers that left Gohan reeling as soon the skies above Vermilion were filled with errant ki attacks, detonating in a fantastic display of fireworks.

"Excellent! What a truly rare fighter you are!" Kotaga said, excited.

"It's not over yet!" Gohan insisted, going on the offensive.

He struck out with a barrage of powerful blows, finally culminating as he raised both of his arms up above his head in a classic X pattern.

"Masako-HA!" Gohan bellowed, shooting off a yellow beam.

Kotaga raised his palm and caught the beam as it burrowed into him, straining against the effort as it pushed the space pirate backward.

"This is where you end, Kotaga!" Gohan promised, adding more power to the attack. "I'll make you pay for all the people you killed!"

Kotaga struggled with the blast as it nearly overpowered him, but at the last minute, he strengthened his arm, slowing it!

"No way!" Gohan cried, shocked. "He's... he's canceling it out!"

But then for inexplicable reasons, a faint purple light surrounded his attack, as Kotaga once again found himself losing ground.

"Wh-What?" Gohan exclaimed, wondering what was doing that.

He turned his head from side to side and spotted a small white kitty Pokémon floating only several feet from him, eyes glowing intently as Mew focused all its Psychic powers on the ki beam that Gohan fired.

"Mew, but... why?" Gohan asked. "You... you wanna help me out?"

"MEW!" Mew squealed, its eyes burning brighter, and then, a human voice broke into his mind. "We have to stop him, Gohan! Look at what he's done! He's a monster! Come on, let's take him down together!"

Gohan nodded, a fiery smirk now lighting up his features.

"I've got your back, Mew!" he vowed, having never felt prouder to be friends with this brave Pokémon which chose him to be its Trainer.

The city below shook under the power of their clash, but the two pressed on as the Masenko finally bypassed Kotaga's defenses and swept him up in it in a huge explosion that blinded them both...

---

Ash was stripped down to his shorts, then placed in the pod with a breathing tube fastened across his mouth, and the two Gym Leaders watched as the tank slowly filled itself up with a type of blue liquid.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Brock inquired, sounding worried.

"I don't know, Brock..." Misty said, shaking her head. "He... he was hurt so badly and he lost a lot of blood... we just have to hope..."

"Pika Pi, Pikachu," the yellow rodent said, leaning up against the glass.

Brock made his way back to the living room, and blinking, confused, after a few seconds, Misty followed him.

"Where are you going, Brock?" she asked him.

Brock started searching around the room, obviously looking for something, not taking his eyes off his task as he spoke next.

"Well, I just figured, with something this important, it might help to see what the news is saying about all of this..." the squinty-eyed man mumbled. "That is, if I can just find the TV remote... ah, here it is!"

Brock had located the small boxy device and picked it up, aimed it at the television set, and like that, the TV flipped on.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea, Brock!" Misty complimented him.

Sure enough, a TV newscaster was hot on the subject.

"... still no reports yet as to the extent of the devastation, but so far, it seems Vermilion City has been left in ruins," she was saying calmly.

"My goodness," Misty declared, feeling faint. "I still can't believe it; an entire city, gone."

And she started to wobble dangerously.

"Whoa, hold on, get a grip, Misty!" Brock snapped, grabbing hold of her shoulders to keep her from tipping over. "This is a dangerous time for us, and we have to be strong. Gohan..." He frowned in a serious way. "Gohan needs us to be strong."

Misty nodded weakly. "Y-You're right, Brock. Of course."

And the two of them turned back to face the TV.

---

The explosion had seemingly died down, with a cloud of smoke hovering over the battlefield. Gohan and Mew stared into the dust, though their eyes had narrowed, and Gohan felt his heart drop.

"Gohan, I... I don't believe that was powerful enough to stop him!" Mew said with grave concern, still speaking within his thoughts.

And sure enough, the dust cloud had settled to reveal Kotaga, his clothes a bit ruffled, but otherwise completely unscathed!

"Great," Gohan groaned. "So he's stronger than I first thought. And after Cell, I thought I wouldn't be facing any more challenges..."

"Cell?" The tiny Legendary inquired, tilting its head curiously.

"Ask me another time," Gohan stated grimly.

"My, that was an impressive display of fireworks, little boy!" Kotaga droned, brushing off his clothes. "I take it you're not human, eh?"

Gohan flared his aura all around him, the furious lines stretching across his face as now he spoke with a powerful, determined accent unlike anything the Mew had ever heard spoken by a boy before.

"You're right!" Gohan shouted back, sounding quite proud. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, mister! I am the pure-hearted Saiyan you hear of in legends, born on Earth and forged by fire, sent here to this time and place to bring you down! That's who I am!"

And a wave of yellow exploded around him, blowing fiercely above the city while the boy powered up even further than he had done before.

"I AM SON GOHAN, AND I AM A SUPER SAIYAN!" he announced.

Kotaga eyed Gohan shrewdly, smirking when he caught sight of his backside. "For a second, I wasn't gonna believe you, but... I guess you speak the truth, child. You really are a Saiyan warrior, aren't you?"

At first, Gohan was confused, but then Mew squeaked passionately.

"Look, look!" she cried. "Gohan, it's a miracle! Your tail's back!"

"I see..." Gohan said, turning back to face Kotaga.

"What a rare treat this opportunity is..." the blue-skinned beast said eagerly, licking his lips. "A Saiyan, huh? I have always wanted to kill a Saiyan! I look forward to claiming your tail for me as a trophy, boy!"

"If that's how you feel, then go ahead and try!" Gohan dared.

But then, right before he could take another lunge at Kotaga, his eyes went wide, and he glanced up, looking surprised about something.

"Oh my goodness, Gohan, can you feel that?" Mew squealed inside his head, doing a little aerial dance.

"I know, I sense it too, Mew!" Gohan breathed, a small smile forming over his face. "There's a very strong ki approaching this planet!"

"What?" Kotaga sneered. "You're crazy, boy, You can't measure power unless you have some sort of device to do it!"

Gohan smirked and turned back to face Kotaga. "Sorry, my lord, but you're wrong. And from the feel of things, it's the cavalry."

And slowly another shape resolved itself in the azure skies as the grin fell from Gohan's face...

---

Down below, amongst the flaming wreckage of debris and skeletal struts of collapsed buildings could be seen two figures slinking along shattered back alleys and side passageways, sidestepping said rubble when they could — and occasionally commenting on the state of the city.

"I don't know about this, I'm not sure that this is a safe place to be, Gabby..." a man with jeans, gray shirt, a cap turned backwards, and a camera muttered, running quickly to keep up with the other person.

"Come on, don't be a wimp, Ty!" a woman, with swept-down bangs, tight pants that showed off her figure, and a microphone shot back as she rushed through the city. "If we're lucky, we can get an interview with the mysterious beings!"

"That's what I'm afraid of!" Ty retorted, but Gabby ignored him, and Ty sighed, but kept pace easily with her, as if he was used to this.

Finally, they came to an area of broken streets that led out into the remnants of several buildings beneath the place where the two beings were fighting, and Gabby turned to face Ty, straightening her collar with a cough as she slashed her hand downward.

"Roll camera!" she barked, and with another sigh Ty did as he was told, struggling to keep the camera going as he stumbled in hollowed out potholes and smashed pieces of pavement underneath his feet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your faithful television news reporter, Gabby Roll from the Hoenn Region, on an extended leave in the Kanto Region," Gabby pronounced, her voice cool and methodical, without emotion and a very professional tone.

And she gestured upward...

---

"... as all of you can see, while filming on-site in Vermilion City, the otherwise tranquil and quiet morning erupted into horrifying violence when these two mysterious beings — are they Pokémon? Demons? Some kind of aliens? — started blasting this city into rubble," the woman on the TV continued.

Misty and Brock both watched, mouths agape, as the camera zoomed in on Mew and Gohan, both glowing purple and yellow respectively.

"Preliminary body counts are still unclear — so far paramedics have been given free reign to do their jobs," Gabby went on. "The reasons for this sudden rampage of chaos and destruction remain unknown, although as your faithful reporter, I and my handy cameraman Ty Stone promise to do our best to try and find out why, whatever the risks — in the name of truth, accuracy, and balanced journalism!"

"Look at Gohan," Misty said, her left hand coming up over her chest in concern. "He looks so vulnerable out there, doesn't he? So alone..."

"He's not alone!" Brock yelled angrily, actually grabbing the TV and shaking it a little. "He has Mew and together, they'll stop that horrible alien! They just have to! What's gonna happen to us if they can't?!"

Just then, the Scouter that had been left nearby started chirping, and Misty quickly raced over to it, picked it up, and affixed it to her ear.

"Hold on, Brock..." she muttered with very intense concentration. "The Scouter is picking up a very strong power level approaching rapidly!"

"Huh?!" Brock exclaimed, exasperated. "Oh what now?!"

"Wait a minute, something new has appeared in the sky!" Gabby said, taking note of it. "It... it appears to be a giant Blastoise shell!"

And slowly the object on the screen flew closer to Vermilion City...

---

"I can't believe it..." Gohan whispered, his optimism fading.

"Mew, Mew?" the little kitty questioned, reverting back into "Pokémon" language. "Have you ever seen something like this before, Gohan?"

"Yes, a few times ago..." Gohan murmured grimly, his frown darkening. "That... that looks like Frieza's spaceship!"

"MEW?!" the New Species Pokémon exclaimed, swiveling to face the ship, then turning back to Gohan again. "Mew, Mew? MEW! Mew!"

"It might be black and gray rather than yellow and purple, but that is definitely the exact same design," The Super Saiyan growled. "If Frieza — or somebody like Frieza — is coming here, it can't be good news!"

"Mew..." Mew whimpered, holding its small arms close to its body.

"Oh blast it all!" Kotaga snarled, turning a gimlet stare upon the craft which had started to descend to the ground below. "The Galactic Peace Forces, here?" He whipped back to face Gohan with a smirk. "You did this, didn't you, boy? Captain Argo betrayed me! Heh. So much the better."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Gohan demanded. "Captain Argo? Galactic Peace Forces? What on Earth are you talking about, you monster?"

"Why don't you ask your Saiyan friends down there!" the space marauder said with a nod towards the newly landed vessel.

And just then, the hatch cycled open, and another army poured out.

"Oh my gosh!" Gohan burst out. "Those... they... they look like..."

---

"Saiyans," Brock answered, sounding flabbergasted. "They're Saiyans all right, no mistaking it — they have tails like the one Gohan has!"

"... you can see, another group of aliens is coming down out of the spaceship," Gabby drawled on, keeping to her professional air despite the enormity of their situation. "They seem to be wearing separate sets of armor, and hold up..."

"Misty, can you scan their power levels?" Brock requested.

"... tails! One of the groups has tails, just like the Gold Fighter floating high above our heads..." Gabby went on, still sticking to the story.

"Sure thing, Brock!" Misty replied, aiming the Scouter towards where the invading army had landed.

After pressing a few buttons the Scouter beeped several times, wobbling dangerously due to the high power levels it was reading before finally settling on solid numbers while Misty watched on.

"They range anywhere from a little over a thousand to as high as ten million," Misty reported back, shutting the Scouter back off again.

"This doesn't make sense at all," Brock pondered. "Why are the Saiyans here? Don't they come from Gohan's dimension?"

"You know what Gohan said," the orange-haired girl reminded him. "The Saiyans were space pirates working for Frieza. Maybe they just found a way to cross over into this reality — the same way he did?"

"But that doesn't make sense either!" Brock stated. "Gohan said that the Saiyans were all wiped out by Frieza. None of them survived."

He turned back to face the TV screen, frowning again.

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

---

The Saiyans took to the skies, rising to greet the gold and glowing warrior, led by the noble Cabba, who smiled when he caught sight of Gohan, as though he were meeting an old friend he had forgotten.

"So you're the Saiyan Lord Frost was talking about," he said cheerfully. "You've done a good job holding off Kotaga!"

"Who are you?" Gohan said, not in the mood to speak; he wanted answers, not pleasant conversations. "And why are you here?"

"Mew!" Mew chirped, nodding in familiar agreement.

Cabba seemed taken aback. "But surely you know? I mean, you're a Saiyan, right? Then again..." He eyed Gohan. "I've never met a Saiyan who could turn his hair yellow like that. What kind of power is that?"

"I must confess, I've never seen a similar power in all the years I've been in the Saiyan Army," another Saiyan admitted softly.

"Oh leave the poor boy alone, Captain Renso," a sly, sinuous voice chimed in, and like that, Frost hovered up into frame. "The important part is that he has held off Kotaga before he and the Galaxy Marauders could further hurt the people of this planet! He should be commended for his actions!"

"You!" Gohan hurled at Frost, shocking the tiny creature with his venom. "I should have known with a disaster like this, I'd find you involved in it, somehow! What are your plans this time, Frieza?"

Frost's mouth dropped downward into a large O shape, and he pointed at himself, as if he was in shock from Gohan's hate-filled accusation.

"Me?" he put forward, sounding totally devastated. "I think you have me confused for someone else, boy. I don't know who this Frieza that you're speaking about is, but my name is Frost, overseer of the Cold Federation and commander of the Galactic Peace Forces! You must believe me!"

"He's telling the truth!" Cabba insisted. "We're just here to stop Kotaga from ransacking your world and then selling it on the black market!"

Gohan felt confused. "But... but... you're Saiyans. Why would you do this?"

"Why do you got to ask that?" Captain Renso demanded, sounding surprised. "You're Saiyan! It's our job to promote peace and order in the universe, stopping all sorts of vile threats from hurting people."

"So, I come to see a Saiyan child here, and then the Galactic Peace Forces arrive shortly after," Kotaga chuckled, drawing their attention back to him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say someone orchestrated this to their advantage."

"Gohan, I think he's right..." Mew told him. "Despite their seemingly pure intentions, I sense a dark aura in their midst."

Gohan whipped back to Frost, his skepticism returning full force.

"It was you, wasn't it?" he said angrily. "You set this up so you could buy this planet at a cheaper price, didn't you? You may not be like my Frieza, but I know what he was like, and I'm willing to bet you're the same way!"

"You're wrong!" Cabba hollered, hot tears streaming down his cheeks as he shook his head from side to side, as though in denial. "Lord Frost is a great man! He's saved the universe so much! I just won't believe he could do the things you're accusing him of!"

"Cabba..." And here Frost's lips turned up in a dangerous smirk. "I would not be so quick to dismiss this young Saiyan's claims."

The rest of the Saiyans gasped, pulling backward, as if they had just been slapped.

"But Lord Frost..." Cabba said slowly. "It... it can't be true... it just can't be!"

Frost held up his arms in a mock display of innocence, even as those other aliens dressed in differing armor leered down at the Saiyans.

"I'm afraid our young friend is correct, though how he came to learn this, I have no idea," he responded smugly. "So you can imagine how thrilled I was to purchase the service of Lord Kotaga and the Galaxy Marauders here — one of the best proxy agents I could ever have possibly acquired to spread so much destruction, and then once the planet was left in complete ruins, the proper people could be paid off to buy it at a premium price. For reconstruction efforts and possible planet colonization!"

"Then all this time..." Cabba whispered, the tears now sliding freely down his cheeks. "You've been deceiving us all this time!"

"Yes, I play a real good game of pretend!" Frost said proudly.

"You bastard!" one of the other Saiyans hurled at the alien. "You mean all this was to line your pockets?"

"I wish I could say it was for a greater purpose, so that perhaps that would make it easier for all of you... but in the end, that's what it's all about." Frost glanced up as a sick grin crossed his face. "Money, my dear man... money."

"You..." that same Saiyan growled, his fists clenching up.

"I knew it..." Gohan hissed. "You're too much like your counterpart to be a good person! Just like Frieza! You're both rotten to the core!"

Frost tittered. "Sticks and stones, Saiyan. Sticks and stones."

"But if you're telling us this now," Captain Renso said as a grave expression dawned on his features, "then how do you expect us to keep our mouths shut about this, eh? We know too much now."

Frost turned to the Saiyan officer with a devilish smirk. "Do you honestly think you were the first to uncover my secret operations? Really... how did you think I expect to keep your mouths quiet?"

"NO!" Gohan screamed, his aura flaring as he dived for Frost, visions of Frieza passing through his mind in hot waves. "I won't let you!"

Just then another shape came barreling into him like a train.

"You're fighting me now, boy!" Kotaga spat, plowing into Gohan and carrying him out of the city into the lush countryside.

Frost regarded the Saiyan warriors with a cold, predatory gaze.

"Kill them all."

---

"They're on the move," Misty said, tracking them with her Scouter.

Just then, a series of intense detonations rocked the house as it felt as though the ground itself were trying to shake them off of the planet.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Misty and Brock cried out, steadying themselves, before Brock stood up, a deadly glimmer burning in his eyes.

"That's it, I just can't put up with this anymore!" Pewter City's Gym Leader declared, heading out the door as he touched the Poké Balls at his waist. "It looks like we need to take the battle to them — now!"

Misty gasped and reached forward, grabbing onto Brock's wrist.

"No, Brock, you can't go!" she urged him. "It's too dangerous to get involved now!"

Brock shot a fierce glare at her. "And let so many innocent people and Pokémon die? I dunno if I could live with myself over that, Misty..."

"You said it yourself, Brock... we just gotta have faith in Gohan," the fiery tomboy replied, all traces of her usual passion and energy now a faint memory, looking as grave and resigned as Brock had ever seen her. "He is, as much as I hate to admit it, our only hope now."

Brock scowled, annoyed, but ultimately nodded, as the two returned their attention to the TV screen.

---

Kotaga dragged Gohan further and further into the country, plowing him through mountains that exploded, blowing out shrapnel and rocky debris in their wake, but doing little to slow the space warrior down.

"I hope that you enjoy it, Saiyan!" Kotaga shouted eagerly. "This is a gift to you, the mightiest among the warrior races of the universe!"

Gohan's eyes shot open and he flared his aura, throwing Kotaga off, who recovered himself, hovering there with a haughty glare.

"You are strong..." the hybrid began slowly, breathing heavily as the signs of battle damage became apparent, even to him. "Stronger than I gave you credit for in the beginning. But I haven't even shown you my full power yet!"

"So you have been holding out on me!" Kotaga cried gleefully. "Show me, Saiyan! Show me that wonderful power of yours and I'll give you a fight you'll always remember — to the next plane, and far beyond it!"

Gohan growled, pulling both his arms inwards, his face clenching, as his aura exploded all around him, hair spiking up, arms bulking, and a single lock dangled down over his facial features while electrical arcs danced around his body like a blazing thunderstorm.

He had become a Super Saiyan 2.

---

The battle was raging all throughout the skies of Vermilion City as Saiyan warriors engaged with the regular members of the Cold Army — allies in the Galactic Peace Forces... and now deadly opponents.

Cabba grunted as he was shoved through a skyscraper that crumbled after him, collapsing to the ground in a shower of glass and rubble.

"Didn't you ever wonder why the Cold Army always sent its Elites with the Saiyans we dispatched to war zones?" the other alien asked him.

Finally, Cabba was smashed directly into hard concrete, letting out a spit of blood as he did so, before another alien, this one with long hair tied in a ponytail and an effeminate style and posture, grabbed onto him and started twirling him around the air.

"It was so that we could always have insurance should the Saiyans ever find out the truth to Lord Frost's empire!" the sensitive-looking warrior laughed, twisting him around, before finally sending Cabba flying back up into the air.

Right then, Frost himself came barreling down on the helpless young fighter, intending to crash directly into his back, but before he could do so, he was intercepted by another Saiyan, who caught him off-guard and sent him on the defensive, and he smirked.

"Well, well, it seems I have underestimated you Saiyans," he uttered arrogantly. "But then, you have been working for me all this time."

Cabba's rescuer, Captain Renso, caught him by the leg, then straightened him up as the battle continued around him.

"Cabba, pull yourself together!" he said gently.

"How... how could it be true...?" the black-haired boy wondered, sounding broken. "How could Frost be just like our enemies?"

"You have to get it together!" Renso barked, knowing that right now, only discipline would shake Cabba out of it. "On your feet, recruit!"

Cabba snapped up, assuming the position he had various times.

"Yes sir!" he reassured him, face locked in obedience.

Frost laughed again. "How amusing. You Saiyans always are a delight to behold, but I'm afraid my amusement has run dry, my friends."

Just then, a blinding light surrounded the tiny alien, dissolving the sights and sound and smells of battle away for a brief moment while new dimensions sprouted all over his arms, legs, and torso, and when the light had faded there he stood, bigger than before, hulked out to insane proportions with a pair of horns spiked up above his head.

"That's Lord Frost's Combat Form!" Cabba breathed.

"Yes, and you won't live longer to see another one!" Frost snarled, leaping forward for the both of them. "It's lights out, Saiyans!"

But his Scouter beeped, and Frost came to a complete stop in the air.

"What is it?" he replied. "Can't you see I'm busy here, you fool?!"

The voice on the other end sounded nervous. "I apologize, Lord Frost, but the the computers are picking up a nearby power level in excess of one billion, and I thought it was something which you should know..."

"WHAT...?!" The icy emperor burst out, sounding shocked. "That's impossible! With a power level of a billion, you could destroy this sun and all the planets in the solar system! Scan it again, you moron!"

"W-We have, Lord Frost," the soldier stated, gulping a bit. "But the computer readouts confirm it. There's a high power level nearby."

Growling slightly to himself, Frost faced Cabba and Captain Renso with a savage grin, chuckling lowly to himself, as if he were very amused.

"It seems your execution has been postponed," he told them, his already impressively deep voice shifting to an even lower pitch, "but rest assured, I will be back to finish this deed, Saiyan monkeys!"

And he shot off flying into the distance, a trail of energy oozing off his rapidly departing shape while he left behind an astonished Cabba...

---

Once he had gone Super Saiyan 2, the battle had turned.

"Do you think you can bully me around now?!" Gohan demanded, locked in an intense arm-grappling contest with Kotaga that he was surely winning as Kotaga felt his bones creaking and his strength slowly cracking under the pressure.

"Damn fool!" Kotaga retorted, seemingly having lost his cool. "Don't make me show you what true power is, you pathetic little child!"

And Gohan bent forward, savagely smashing into Kotaga's forehead with a powerful headbutt.

"Do you like that?!" the Super Saiyan 2 taunted him.

And he smashed his head into him again, and again and again.

"Oh, you wonderful child!" Kotaga cackled, now sounding truly insane as he clutched at his damaged and bruised forehead. "You truly live up to your race's legacy, don't you? Yes, you have the fire of a thousand years of warriors burning in your blood!"

"Don't try and compliment me!" Gohan hurled at him. "After all the people that you killed, kind words won't make me reconsider."

"You don't understand me, do you?" Kotaga said, sighing theatrically.

"No!" Gohan insisted, his aura blasting across the meadow around them. "And I never want to, either!"

"Very well then. I guess I will just have to educate you!" Kotaga hollered.

And like that, he started powering up, hulking out to insane levels while his skin turned a yellowish-green color and pretty soon he had grown to Broly dimensions as he stood there, panting and surrounded by his own ki, as Gohan favored Kotaga an unimpressed expression.

"So you can transform, like I can," The green-eyed Super Saiyan observed. "It doesn't matter. It won't change this outcome!"

He assumed a battle posture, arms raised up, and legs spread wide.

"I'll destroy you and then go take down Frieza!" Gohan promised.

However, without warning, a suddenly sharp pain shot through his body, jolting through him like an electric shock, his legs quivering like jelly before he finally fell to the forest floor, face buried in the pine needles.

"What... the...?" he muttered, sounding extremely weak.

"Huh?" Kotaga said, eyes going wide as he caught sight of Frost, standing there, clutching tightly onto the young Saiyan's tail.

"Oh my, you've had a good game, Saiyan, but didn't you think I'd know about this little weakness of yours?" He smirked, tightening his hold on the furry appendage. "Now your fate is in my hands, boy."

"I... am... g-getting... sick... and tired... of people... grabbing... m-my tail..." Gohan whimpered, gritting his teeth against the sheer agony.

"So you do have a weakness!" Kotaga roared. "How dare you?! That just takes the fun out of the whole thing! Now you owe me, child!"

Frost turned his head up, smirk widening.

"Then perhaps we could take turns, my dear friend?" The blue alien said, leering hungrily over at the Galaxy Marauders' commander.

"Hmp, never thought a cosmic do-gooder like yourself would know the simple pleasures of this life!" Kotaga grinned, accepting Frost's offer.

And suddenly, Gohan was five years old, his face buried in the dirt as the evil tyrant stomped down on his face in excruciating pain...

"No..." he moaned. "No..."

No...

---

RING, RING. RING, RING. RING, RING.

Misty blinked, feeling surprised.

"Who on Earth is calling us at a time like this?" the orange-headed girl pondered while Brock got to his feet and headed over to the phone.

"Only one way to find out," the older boy said grimly as he answered the call.

A brown-haired woman appeared on the other end.

"Hello, Gohan?" the elderly lady said tentatively. "Or are you Brock?"

"Er, it's Brock..." the black Gym Leader stated. "Who are you?"

"I'm Delia Ketchum, Ash's mother!"

"AHHH!" Brock and Misty exclaimed, shocked.

"Ash's mother?!" Misty wondered fearfully.

"Yes, Ash gave me this number a few days ago," Delia explained. "He told me that I could get into contact with you whenever I wanted."

"I see..." Brock said darkly, suspecting what this was about.

"Mrs. Ketchum, why are you calling?" Misty questioned.

The kind-eyed woman turned to face her, and at the moment, Misty noticed that her pupils had enlarged with both worry and concern.

"Misty, is it?" she responded. "You see, I just turned on the news and heard that Vermilion City was under attack. Ash is okay... isn't he?"

Both Trainers exchanged a look, both thinking the same thing.

How much do we tell her about her son? How much should she know?

"Please, tell me!" The oak-haired woman insisted. "Please tell me nothing bad has happened to Ash! Not to my baby boy!"

"Mrs. Ketchum..." Brock sighed. "Your son... he... he was hurt."

Delia's eyes widened even further than before.

"We have him in a healing tank, but... we don't know if he's going to make it," Misty added, feeling terrible to have to deliver the news.

And just then, Delia stood abruptly. "Please stay right where you are. I'm coming to Vermilion City myself!"

And the screen went black as she cut the connection.

Brock turned to Misty. "What should we do?"

Misty said nothing, instead walking back to the window and turning her head to face the battle which was still taking place in the ruined city.

Please, Gohan... the ten-year-old girl thought, eyes quivering.

She was silent for a few minutes, and then sent out a silent prayer.

Win...

---

Gohan panted and gasped as Kotaga and Frost beat at him, bruises appearing all over his body, blood dripping onto a pool on the mossy carpet beneath him, as he whimpered and cried out each and every time, cursing himself for acting like that five-year-old child again.

"What's wrong, Saiyan?" Frost demanded. "Tell me you aren't enjoying this? I thought you Saiyans loved a good challenge, right, little boy?"

"Damn... you... Frieza..." Gohan stubbornly grated.

"Stupid child!" Frost said, whacking the half-Saiyan across his cheek. "Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners? I'm not Frieza!"

"This is getting boring..." Kotaga sighed. "What say we finish him off?"

Frost reared his fist back, as if to beat him some more, before finally letting it down and sighing in a similar way.

"I suppose there's little point in letting the Saiyan live," he agreed.

A thrill of terror went through Gohan, and Frost smirked, holding up his hand as blue ki gathered within his palm.

"Now pay attention, Saiyan, because I can only show you this trick once," the icy overlord smirked.

Not this way! Gohan thought desperately, even as the energy glowed so brightly it was almost blinding. Not... not this way!

Just then, there was a flash of movement as someone kicked Frost, sending the manipulative emperor flying.

"Huh?" Gohan said as instantly his strength returned.

"So, you've followed us here, boy!" Kotaga sneered. "For such fiery will and bravery, I shall reward you with an agonizing end, rest assured!"

Gohan turned, and standing there was the Saiyan boy from earlier, hair spiked up, in ceremonial armor, tail wrapped near his belt.

"B-But... it's you... but why?" Gohan wondered, clearly stunned. "Why have you come to save me after all the things I said to you before?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Cabba demanded. "You're a Saiyan like me! And we look out for one another! It's my fault for not spotting the way Lord Frost was. This is my mess to clean up! I have to help you put an end to this!"

Gohan blinked a few times, then nodded, deciding he liked this Saiyan youth. "Then, let's avenge all those people together... you and me!"

And he stood up, aura flaring as he powered right back up to Super Saiyan 2, the electricity crackling all around him.

"Now, let's finish this!" Gohan declared, smirking in a cool, confident way.

But then there was a bright flash of light that enveloped the area...

---

Captain Renso grunted as he locked arms with another alien warrior, pushing and shoving back at him, to no avail.

"It's no use, Saiyan!" the other fighter grumbled. "You can't take us all on — there's more of us than there are you! You can't possibly win!"

Renso cried in pain as the alien squeezed, putting pressure on them.

"You can feel it; the way your bones are starting to break!" the enemy laughed.

And just then, with Captain Renso distracted, another alien slammed into his back, and he went sprawling to the ground.

"And that is the last of 'em!" an orange-skinned fighter with an Australian accent simpered. "Though they fought a bleeding hard battle — they only left three of us to deal with the rest of 'em!"

"That's more than enough," the one who had been fighting Captain Renso retorted, raising his fist. "And now, to finish this one off!"

At least Cabba is safe... Captain Renso thought groggily, ready to die.

But, before he was able to slash it downwards, without any warning a faint purple aura surrounded him, and he was yanked clean off his feet and sent flying through several buildings, exploding into dusty debris.

"Huh?" the red warrior muttered, confused, before he turned to find a small catlike creature floating there, eyes glowing with a blue light.

"You... you vile, poisonous beings pollute this planet with your evil!" the Legendary Cat threw at them angrily. "You contaminate it with all your murderous ways and destruction! And by Arceus, I'll do whatever it takes to stop the chaos here, and now, so you can't infect anybody else!"

Captain Renso made his way shakily to his feet, feeling surprised.

"You... were the animal that was with the Saiyan boy," he said dumbly. "The one with the glowing aura and golden hair."

"Yes... and I can feel that you possess noble intentions!" the Mew informed him. "If we don't stop them here, they'll kill everyone! We have to fight them to save the entire planet! Please help me stop them!"

Captain Renso nodded, smiling gratefully. "Then just know I've got your back! Together, then! We'll save the people of this world!"

And they turned back to face the last remaining soldiers...

---

Gohan dodged the ki blast, and once he had he whipped his head around to face Frost, who stood there now in a small, sleek, slender shape that resembled the way Frieza had looked in his final form.

"Forgetting something?" the blue-skinned fighter sneered.

"Frost, how could you?!" Cabba snarled. "The people trusted you, believed in you! And you betrayed them so callously like this!"

"Comes with the job, dear boy," Frost said lightly. "You were always my most valued lieutenant but you are, after all, easily replaced."

"We'll see about that!" Gohan insisted as he leaped into action, charging himself at Frost with great furious anger.

Cabba was about to follow as, suddenly, something large, green, and orange got in his way, and he felt a fist ram itself into his stomach.

"You're fighting me now, boy!" Kotaga shouted. "Let's see how well you take a beating!"

Meanwhile, Gohan was pounding upon Frost, pummeling every square inch of the tiny creature he could find.

"You won't get away this time, Frieza!" Gohan vowed. "I'll make you pay for every one you hurt!"

"How many times do I have to tell you?!" Frost fired back, connecting solidly with a blow to Gohan's chin. "I'm — not — Frieza!"

And it was Frieza beating his father that struck out at him as Gohan was sent flying, his mind foggy and unfocused...

Back with Cabba, he was struggling desperately against Kotaga in his transformed state.

"What a pathetic weakling you are!" the space marauder growled as his fists connected with Cabba's torso. "Not like that other Saiyan with fire and will! I think I'll return this favor with the quickest death you can imagine! You are not fit to shine my boots!"

And with a savage punch, he sent Cabba barreling through a bunch of trees, displacing the local Pokémon and leaving broken bark behind.

No, I can't fall here, not now! the spiky-haired boy thought. If I fall, then this entire planet... my race... falls with me!

And Kotaga appeared directly above him, smashing into his chest as Cabba was rather violently reacquainted with the forest floor.

Frost, he's a monster... Cabba kept thinking, awash in a current of pain. He was responsible... for all that suffering, all those lives...

Visions of all those he had seen before, mothers torn apart from their children, siblings separated, broken and bleeding bodies, people calling out for help, pain, horror, swept past his mind as if they were flames.

"Help me, help me!"

"Mommy, I'm so cold... it's horrible, Mommy..."

"Stop him! He's going to destroy us all!"

"No, spare me! Spare me!"

"Praise Lord Frost! He always arrives in time to save the day!"

Cabba grit his teeth as that newfound sense of fury rose up within him, building up higher and higher like a volcano inside of him.

He... he was just using us... Cabba thought pain blurred his senses from the barrage of blows raining down on his body. We were loyal to him, and he never felt the same way for us... how could that be...?

He was seeing the laughing face of Frost in his mind's eye, completely at odds to the Frost he had thought he'd known, kind, gentle, warm.

"You are, after all, easily replaced." He leered down at him.

He was grounding his teeth together so strongly he was sure they would break, even while he felt that billowing rage rising higher, and his fists clenched hard enough to draw blood, blinded by fury, latching onto this new sense building up in him as though it were somehow a physical entity.

What will happen to my people if I fail here? Cabba thought, his love for his people overwhelming him almost in intensity as the same as his rage at Frost until it all had blurred together into... love, rage... love, rage... love, rage...

His eyes shot open, morphing into a bright emerald.

If I don't stop Lord Frost here... make sure that he never comes back again, then... then... all of our hard work, all of the innocent people we fought for, my family... my friends... he mused, the realization nearly too painful to bear.

Renso, Turles, Caulifla, Kale, all the Saiyans he had ever known passed through his sight as if he were possessed, his hair changing into a golden yellow coloration as a yellow aura surrounded him.

I'M GOING TO LOSE THEM ALL!

And with a ferocious scream, Cabba let the power out as the whole area exploded around him...

---

The rubble blew outward, and Gohan stood there, panting and gasping and regarding Frost with an angry gaze, trying to keep himself calm.

Get it together, Gohan! he berated himself. This is Frost, not Frieza, that you are fighting! Even if they are the same way! You can't battle him in this way — it... will... make... you... sloppy! Remember Cell?

"Goodbye, son. I love you."

"Yet another fighter... you could have saved."

Gohan shook his head, clearing it of the emotions that gathered there.

"My, my, it seems I struck a nerve..." Frost said, throwing his arms upward. "You, boy, seem to be of a different stock than the Saiyans I deal with — you seem... more aggressive... and far more ruthless."

"Try and taunt me, it won't work!" Gohan roared, launching himself at Frost again, who retaliated, and the battle was rejoined.

---

Cabba stood there once the dust had cleared, surrounded by a golden aura and extremely wide eyes, hair yellow, eyes teal.

"That again?" Kotaga said, looking surprised before grinning widely. "Perhaps you are far more worthy than I had first suspected."

"I don't care about you, Kotaga!" the newly ascended Super Saiyan exploded, shocked by the power and fury that he felt coming from his own voice. "But I'll give you a chance to leave here now before I do something I might regret to you."

"And miss the carnage of war?" Kotaga laughed. "Never!"

Cabba's eyes tightened, as though the answer had personally offended him, as if... he were struggling against something dark inside him.

"Very well then!" he screamed, sounding quite deranged. "I gave you your chance! NOW DIE, YOU MONSTER!"

And the battle resumed.

---

Gohan traded blows with Frost, smashing into him with all the fury and power of a semi, the air rippling from near-misses and accurate hits.

"How... can... you... be... this... strong?" Frost questioned Gohan, quickly losing ground to the superior fighter.

"Those who fight for justice will always surpass those who fight for evil or other horrible motives!" the Super Saiyan 2 shot back.

And he lashed out with a powerful punch, sending Frost flying into a nearby mountain, and Gohan countered by opening up a hundred blue ki blasts on him, smashing into the rocky outcropping and exploding with immense power.

Again, he raised his arms above him in an X pattern. "Masenko-HA!"

The yellow beam slammed into the mountain, which promptly blew up.

BOOM!

For a few minutes, Gohan stood there, panting and gasping, having spent up an enormous store of energy.

And here I'd thought I was learning how to control my Super Saiyan 2 ki a lot better... he thought to himself, feeling exhausted.

And then, the debris blasted apart, and Frost emerged from within, coming to land directly in front of the hybrid.

"You... you're stronger than any other Saiyan I've fought!" Frost cried furiously. "How... how can you be this strong? It's not right, boy!"

"You have the nerve to claim what I do isn't right?" Gohan snarled. "HOW DARE YOU?!"

And with that he charged right for Frost who at the last second swept to the side as he nicked Gohan's arm.

"Ah!" Gohan yelped, stepping away to the side. "What did you do to me?"

"Oh, you'll see, boy," Frost smirked. "You'll see."

And Gohan's vision began to swim in front of his eyes...

---

Cabba smashed into Kotaga, battering every inch of the Galaxy Marauders commander he could find with his powerful fists.

"Oh, I commend you!" Kotaga sneered at him. "What a feisty little warrior you are! It appears I have totally misjudged you, boy!"

"What's that?!" Cabba demanded. "Can't you keep up with my speed? Does it hurt?! Well, that's what you get for being such a monster!"

Kotaga suddenly blocked his attacks, then smashed his elbow into Cabba's face, grabbed onto his leg, and sent him hurling up, though Cabba caught himself in midair and, before he could catch him, he pulled his arms to the side.

"LET'S SEE YOU EAT THIS!" he bellowed as purple ki gathered within his cupped-together palms, shining bright as a star. "GA —"

NO! Cabba screamed inside his head. What... what's happening to you?! You can't fire from this angle! You'll destroy this world!

That short hesitation cost him as Kotaga blasted up and rammed his head into his stomach, propelling him higher.

"You call me a monster, yet look at how fiercely you fight, Super Saiyan," Kotaga spat — and then he grinned wickedly. "What's the matter? Don't like the idea of spilling a little blood to accomplish whatever goals you have?"

"No you're wrong!" Cabba insisted, as if to convince himself. "I haven't changed! I'm the same person I always was... I still fight for justice!"

"Oh do you really?" Kotaga laughed. "You seem like just a posturing child to me."

WHAM! BAM! WHAM! BAM! Kotaga unleashed a furious series of blows on Cabba's back, taking advantage of his delay to pummel the boy.

"That other Saiyan knows war, he knows battle," Kotaga stated. "He has earned my respect. BUT YOU'RE COMPLETELY WORTHLESS!"

Flipping Cabba upside down, Kotaga came shooting down towards the ground like a meteor, smashing his full weight into Cabba.

KABOOM!

An explosion blew up around them, obscuring their vision for miles...

---

"Mew..." Mew whispered, panting deeply as it sunk to the ground, sweat rolling off its forehead.

Captain Renso set down next to the Legendary Pokémon, looking just as tired, yet perhaps better at controlling it than the tiny Mew was.

"Are you well?" he asked it. "Do you need medical attention?"

Mew shook its head side to side. "No. But that... that's the last one. We did it. We took them all out."

"You fought well," Renso praised it. "You have proven that you have the true heart of a Saiyan, and you're a credit to this world."

Mew looked up with a smile... which suddenly vanished a moment later as it jerked its head off to the side.

"MEW!" it squealed in distress, gathering the last of its failing energy reserves to float up into the air.

"It's Gohan!" she yelled, sounding terrified. "He's in trouble! I can sense it!"

"Whoever that mysterious Saiyan boy is," Captain Renso said slowly, weighing the situation in his mind, "he's fighting Frost and Kotaga, two of the strongest beings in the universe, and they're far stronger than you and I could ever hope to be. Let's leave it in his hands."

"No, I can't just abandon him!" Mew screamed. "Gohan... if I don't go to save him, he'll die! I'm not willing to let that happen! Not him!"

And the tiny cat took off, flying off into the skies.

"You can't win!" the Saiyan veteran pressed on, but Mew paid him no heed, and Captain Renso sighed. "I guess it's useless to argue..."

And the seasoned warrior limped his way off in pursuit.

Cabba, hold on! I'm coming for you!

---

Kotaga stood there, waiting for the dust to clear, for some sign of the Saiyan boy to emerge, and when the smoke had dissipated and he saw that nothing remained, in a split second he had turned, but it was far too slow as Cabba's punch sent him flying into the forest, scraping along the floor as he crashed into several trees.

Cabba set down, glowing and folding his arms together, staring down at Kotaga with a serious, determined expression over his features.

"You're wrong, you know," he told him. "The fact that I can feel anger this way does not make me a monster. It makes me a hero."

"Oh?" Kotaga whispered, smiling weakly. "And how is that, child?"

Cabba uncrossed his arms and made his way closer to Kotaga.

"It is not a sin to feel anger over injustice," Cabba stated slowly, as the young Saiyan soldier put his soul on the line, and when he spoke next, it was with a passion rarely heard from someone of his years. "What matters is what you do with that rage and the kind of feelings you have inside your heart when you act upon it! And my heart is filled with justice, to see you answer for your crimes, not hate or revenge!"

Kotaga stood, smirking again, as he clapped grandly.

"Magnificent, boy," Kotaga said. "For your dedication and bravery, I think you'll bring you back home with me to make my own pet!"

Cabba assumed a battle stance. "Go ahead and try!"

Just then, a pink comet shot by overhead, drawing their attention to the spectacle.

"What's that?" Cabba said rhetorically. "Wait, that looks like the creature that was with the golden-haired Saiyan!"

"Fool!" Kotaga scoffed. "I'll crush you!"

And he shot off into the skies in pursuit as Cabba's eyes went wide.

NOW'S YOUR CHANCE! he realized, and once again pulled his hands to the side as purple ki once again collected inside his cupped palms.

"GALICK GUN!" Cabba roared, shooting off the concentrated energy beam, straight for Kotaga.

The space warrior turned as his own arrogance caught up him.

"DAMN YOU!" he screamed, reaching down to try to correct for his mistake, to tank the oncoming blast with his palm, but all was in vain as the energy wave had been fired too quickly, and pretty soon he was swept up by the rush of energy. "MY SPIRIT WILL SEEK YOUR DEATH, SAIYAN, ARRRGGHHHH..."

And like that, he was incinerated, burned down until his very molecules had ceased to exist, and the wave zoomed past the Mew harmlessly, exiting the atmosphere and into space, where it could do no harm unless by a freak chance it traveled by an inhabited world.

Cabba wiped some sweat off his brow, exhausted but satisfied.

"And so, that's the end of Kotaga," he sighed, his hair turning into black again, almost falling flat to his face right there, before his eyes went wide again. "I never thought I could defeat him on my own."

He held his hand up, staring at the palm.

"What was that?" he muttered. "I've never felt such a strong rush of strength and hate. It's like I was another person. Is it the same kind of power that the other boy had..." His eyes went wide. "Wait a tick..."

He shot upright, legs wobbling, bit his mind focused and clear.

That pet was the other boy's! he thought desperately. He was fighting Frost... what happened to him? I have to make sure he's all right!

And Cabba leapt off the ground in pursuit of the tiny Mew.

---

Gohan slumped to the ground, his transformation fading, his eyes swimming, as he fought for breath, which was suddenly painful.

"What... did... you... do... t-to me...?" he asked, laboring where he lay on the carpet of moss and pine needles even as Frost moved closer.

"Dear, dear, what a slow child you are," the blue emperor said, amused. "You're getting slow, sluggish, and your body systems are failing. What do you think I did to you, my dear Saiyan youth?"

He... he poisoned me! the hybrid said with rapidly dawning realization. That's the only explanation for all this! He... he really is like Frieza!

And Frost reached down to grasp at his chin, pulling his head up to stare at him.

"Let's see, pupils unresponsive," he said, as if he were examining a fascination specimen of exotic plant life. "Pulse is weakening. Yes, I do believe that you only have a few minutes to live, though I'm rather shocked by your resilience."

He let go of the slowly failing Gohan, smirking again as he stood up.

"Usually, the venom is instantaneous!" Frost declared. "Yet you still wheeze and gasp and fight for every second you have left. Marvelous! Simply wonderful!" And he clapped both his hands. "You truly are a testament to the might and strength of the Saiyan race!"

"It's... n-not... over... F-F-Frost..." Gohan avowed.

"I'm afraid it is," Frost intoned, laughing lightly. "And now, I do believe I have a planet to destroy and then build for resale on the market..."

He turned, as if to walk away, but before he could do that an energy ball blasted down towards him from overhead, and Frost jumped, only narrowly avoiding the deadly wave of psionic energy that detonated within the field.

"What the devil is this?!" Frost demanded. "Surely not another Saiyan managed to survive! My Elites should have been more than capable against them!"

And he swiveled his head from side to side, before a tiny white kitty settled down, floating only a few feet in front of Gohan.

"M-Mew..." Gohan whispered, wondering if he was going insane.

"You!" Frost snarled. "You're the oh so detestable little creature that was with your Saiyan here back at the city!"

"I won't let you hurt him!" Mew promised. "A boy as precious and pure-hearted as this one won't ever fall to the likes of you! What he represents cannot be destroyed and I won't let you taint him with unearthly evils!"

"So the creature speaks," Frost said, throwing his arms up in that way that seemed to be his habit. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid it is. See..."

And at that moment, Mew launched itself forward, apparently sick and tired of hearing Frost speak.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that?!" Frost growled. "So be it, feline!"

"No, Mew... y-you'll die..." Gohan said, reaching for it weakly.

Frost reared a fist back and punched Mew right across the cheek before it could even get close, sending the Legendary Cat spiraling through the trees, which snapped and broke into half in its wake.

Frost spat. "Foolish creature — did you believe you could hope to win against me? I am Lord Frost, the strongest being in the universe!"

"No..." Gohan whispered, inching closer to Mew as he dragged himself closer despite the poison coursing in his veins. "St-Stop it, Frieza..."

"How fitting that at the end, you still think of me as this Frieza," Frost sneered. "Kind of bookends this whole thing, don't you think?"

And then, without warning, a savage punch rapped itself across Frost's cheek, as he flew, flopped about in midair, and corrected for himself, landing catlike in front of them.

Cabba touched down, a dark look now crossing his face.

"Frost, let him go, and leave this planet right now!" Cabba ordered his former mentor. "Take your spaceship and go. Leave us right now."

"Oh, and do you presume to tell me what to do, little Cabba?" Frost chortled. "But then, you always were an amusing Saiyan."

"I mean it!" Cabba hollered, taking a step closer to the evil alien overlord. "Go now! You won't like what happens if you stay!"

"Given what you have to fight me with and the meager resistance I've encountered so far, I think I'll take my options here," Frost smirked.

Cabba growled, and as he did so, his ki exploded around him in a powerful aura.

"That's where you're wrong!" he shouted. "I'm not the same Saiyan that I was anymore! I'm different! And if you won't leave, then I'll just show you that I'm not that scared little boy you can order around!"

A wave of yellow enveloped Cabba, his muscles bulked out, his hair transformed to gold, and his eyes morphed to a cold shade of emerald as he stood there, glowing in the center of the clearing, and staring daggers at Frost.

Frost took a step back, looking shocked.

"But... what... you... how...?" he wondered dumbly.

"I've changed," Cabba smirked. "And now, I'll use my power to take you down, for the innocent lives who died in your secret wars!"

And he charged Frost head-on, exchanging blows faster than the eye could follow, even as Mew stumbled its way back from the forest, wobbling and nearly tipping over, to flop next to Gohan.

"Mew..." it cried, its former innocence now a long-distant memory.

"M-Mew..." Gohan whispered, as his whole body seemed to have gone numb. "I-I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to get you involved in this..."

"Gohan, it's okay!" the little feline reassured him. "There is nowhere else I'd rather by than at your side."

Gohan reached out, laying his warm hand on its forehead.

"Mew, I love you..." he slurred. "You're the first real Pokémon I ever had, and I'll..." He coughed up blood. "I'll always treasure you..."

Off in the distance, Cabba was getting his butt handed to him by Frost as the alien emperor pounded the living snot out of his subordinate.

"You've got a lot stronger — but you're still no match for me!" Frost hurled at the Super Saiyan savagely, and soon Cabba was covered in bruises. "Why do you think I was the one to lead the Galactic Peace Forces all those years? Because there is no being in the universe cunning enough or strong to deal with me!"

"I won't let you hurt the people of this world!" Cabba insisted, fighting the pain to trade yet more blows. "I won't let you use us anymore!"

"A brave sentiment!" Frost insisted as he smashed Cabba facefirst into the dirt. "But it's a bit hollow at the moment, I'm afraid."

Cabba glared up at Frost, who leered down at him, and suddenly lifted his index finger up with a crackling energy ball gathering on it.

"In fact..." Frost said thoughtfully, rising further up into the air. "I don't think I particularly need this planet, do I? It's far more trouble than it's worth! And after all..." He grinned. "I do like to tie up my loose ends!"

"Y-You wouldn't!" Cabba uttered frantically. "There are millions, billions of people on this planet! You can't just kill them all!"

"Ah, but that's where you are wrong, my friend," Frost said, a truly dark look now on his face. "The people here mean nothing to me. It's true to say that you never knew me... such trifles like this don't bother me in the slightest. And unlike you, I can survive in space, so there's little point in keeping this charade going."

"So that's it!" Cabba said. "You know you can't beat me, so you're just going to blow up the planet instead! How could you be so... cruel?!"

"I'm afraid it's no matter of cruelty, my friend," Frost said as he hovered higher. "It's just business and business is business."

The tears flowed freely down Cabba's face as he realized there was nothing he could do, no way to stop this disaster.

"You're right..." he wept, turning his head down. "I never knew you at all, and if this is you are, then I think I don't want to live with that."

"D-Don't... s-s-say... such things..." a soft voice moaned nearby.

Cabba turned to find Gohan standing there, knees bent, splayed up against a tree stump, panting deeply but otherwise determined.

"What... are you doing?" Cabba said, blinking stupidly.

"What... I-I've done m-my whole life..." he said, bringing his palms together to cup them at his side. "What... m-my father taught m-me b-before... he died... I am not going to j-just... ach! Give up! Not a chance!"

Blue-white energy gathered within them, shining brightly though with a definite quiver to them as though he couldn't maintain the power.

"I..." Gohan said, gasping for breath. "I... won't let... my father's sacrifice... b-be in vain! Not this way! Not... not this way!"

And with a roar, he powered up to Super Saiyan 2.

Cabba simply stared at the youth for a few seconds feeling inspired, before he nodded and made his way back up, limping his way over to the other Saiyan and bringing his palms to rest above and below his own.

"TOGETHER THEN!" Cabba shouted. "You and me... let's do this together! Let's protect this world from that horrible traitor!"

Gohan nodded once, then put his energy into a chant.

"K-Ka..." he said. "Me... ha..."

The energy vibrated within his palms, so strong the air around them seemed to shimmer with power like the heat haze off a highway.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that, is it?" Frost sneered, as the Death Ball enlarged. "Very well. To the death then, Saiyans!"

"M-M-Me..." Gohan stuttered, an eye going shut as his head dipped.

"Hold it together!" Cabba urged him. "We have to stop him!"

Gohan nodded weakly, and then staggered up right.

"HERE YOU GO, SAIYANS!" Frost roared, shooting the ball down at them. "A LITTLE GOING-AWAY PRESENT FOR BOTH OF YOU!"

"HAAAAAAAAAA!" Gohan screamed while Cabba helped him shove his cupped-together palms upward, shooting off a huge energy beam!

The strong ki blasts collided in midair, and it was as though a nuclear explosion had gone off as mountains crumbled under the force of their struggle, rivers emptied their contents all over the forests, and many Pokémon fled in terror.

"Powerful, Saiyans, but not powerful enough," Frost remarked, eyes glowing within the spectacle of all that light and energy shining.

"It's not enough!" Cabba said, sounding horrified. "We're faltering. He... he's gonna overpower us!"

"What would you think of me now, Dad...?" Gohan whispered, vision blurring even more as darkness trailed at the corners of his sight.

"Keep it up!" Cabba insisted desperately. "We... just... have... to... keep it up!"

"I... I can't..." Gohan said feebly. "I can't focus..."

The Death Ball had closed the distance between them, blowing out intense winds that shook the countryside, disturbing Misty and Brock in their capsule house, Captain Renso as he tried marching toward the source of the disturbance, and many, many more in the remnants of Vermilion City.

"Ah, what is that, Brock?!" Misty exclaimed.

"What a battle!" Brock put forth as nothing but a steady stream of light seemed to be shining in their windows, rattling them.

"Cabba, was it...?" Gohan wondered vaguely. "I'm... I'm sorry."

"We can't hold it!" Cabba said, as the Death Ball was now only feet away from burrowing into the earth and carrying them along with it.

However, before it could make contact, a thin purple light enveloped their beam, stabilizing it, and the Friendship Kamehameha was no longer giving ground.

"But... what... who?!" Cabba wondered, swiveling his head around.

But to Gohan's eyes, it was suddenly not Frost standing above him, or even Frieza — it was...

"YOU!" Gohan screamed, straining against the force of the Death Ball with renewed vigor that shocked Cabba from the sheer intensity.

"Yes, Gohan, keep struggling!" Cell laughed. "Put up a good fight! It'll only delay the inevitable!"

"NO, I WON'T LET YOU WIN!" Gohan hollered back to him, and now only one thought consumed his poison-addled thoughts.

"What power!" Cabba observed, even as he poured more energy into the beam that was slowly but surely ascending higher and higher!

"MEW!" Mew cried, sagging close to a tree. Just a little further, Gohan... just a little further... I don't know how much longer I can keep up this hallucination of your darkest memory... please...

The beam was now definitely shaking the forest furiously, even as Frost pushed and strained with all his might to shove the beam back down onto the two Saiyans, but to his horror, he found that all his efforts were useless!

"This... can't... be..." he groaned to himself. "NO! No way that I, the Emperor Frost, can be brought down by two Saiyans! No... I-I..."

The trailing edges of the beam were sweeping him up in it, and he loosed one last, agonizing scream.

"I CAN'T DIE HERE!"

But too late, for the blast had overwhelmed him, and Frost vanished into the Friendship Kamehameha as the ki wave shot up, past the atmosphere, before dissipating harmlessly in space.

The light show had faded, leaving behind only blue skies, shattered forests, and empty lakes, as the nearby ocean settled itself down with hundred-kilometer waves no longer rushing through Vermilion Bay.

"We... we did it..." Cabba said, sounding stunned. "We beat him."

And then, slowly, a huge grin formed upon his face as he dropped the Super Saiyan transformation, jumping up and down like a five-year-old child, even as Gohan fell to the ground, smiling somewhat uncertainly up at the other Saiyan.

"Mew..." Mew whimpered, sliding down the tree to rest on its bum on the dirt floor. We... we finally did it, and it's all thanks to Gohan...

Just then, there was a very loud roar, nearly deafening, as Cabba turned his head from side to side, trying to search for it.

"By the stars above, what is that awful noise?!" the spiky-haired boy questioned. "It's... it's so loud!"

But he no longer had to question where when the shell-shaped ship they had arrived on had lifted off from ground, opened up on the late Kotaga's ship with its weapons, and once it had been blown to dust, turned on its axis and made a beeline for outer space.

"The pilot!" Cabba burst out, almost slapping himself. "I forgot about him! That's my only ticket out of here! He... he's getting away!"

"L-Let... him g-go..." Gohan muttered, straining himself against the numbness now descending on him, trying to stay conscious for these last few minutes. My friends... still... need... s-somebody... to train them... and protect them.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cabba asked, now looking worried.

"There will... be... another... time..." he gasped as he finally succumbed and lost consciousness, fading away to black.

Misty... was the last thought to go through his poisoned brain...

Mew jerked bolt upright, and shot over with tears in its eyes.

"GOHAN!"

---

OMG IS THAT AN UPDATE?! :P

In all seriousness, I'm very sorry for the long break in between chapters. It took a VERY long time to edit the previous chapters to conform to the new characters introduced in Dragon Ball Super — as you can see, Rellik was changed to Frost and now Cabba has been added to team!

Sorry about taking Chapter 6 of Dragon Ball: A New Beginning down so suddenly, but trust me, there was a reason, and rest assured it WILL be back when I'm ready.

For Pokémon Tails, though, I would like to say that Kotaga, if you haven't guessed yet, is the Universe 6 equivalent of Bojack — crazy and unpredictable, but can you guess who the OCs are yet? Definitely my longest chapter yet with over 45 pages on Word. Long, amirite?

Not really much to say here, other than review, message me if you have any questions, and above all, enjoy!

KoS