Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Pokemon, its characters, locations, or names. All of them, with the exception of the original characters, belong to Nintendo
Credits: The original fanfiction Shadow League was based off, Pokemon Master, was written by Acey. I retrieved permission before starting this the first time. "Paran" is the property of Elemental Sorceress, who had requested that I include her in my fanfiction. "Shadow Fox" is the property of Shadow Fox 05, who also requested that I include him in my fanfiction.
A/N: I have been so busy, it isn't even funny. But now I'm out of school, things are calming down, so all is well, and I'm hoping to get the rest of the story up soon. Hopefully. We'll see.
Warnings: The pairing in this is RivalSibling. This fan fiction has a lot of violence and gore, not to mention some language, and implied rape/sex. Not for kids, that's for sure.
- - -
Chapter 19: The Intruder
Crouching down, Ash peered around the corner to watch, waiting for the patrolling Master to pass by in the night. There was a meow as a stray cat brushed against his legs, and he glared at it heatedly, before creeping out and darting across the street, Pikachu hot on his heels; both kept a wary eye on the Master, frowning when he turned around just as they disappeared into the alley.
Leaping up, Ash climbed up onto the roof of one of the buildings, sighing. When Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder, he smiled tiredly. Well, only half a city left to go, he thought, and his pokemon's head tilted slightly in response. Thanks, big help you are.
The rodent snickered when the dark haired man swattered at him.
- - -
"Dammit, this is getting annoying!" May whispered harshly, grinding her teeth angrily. Her and Param weren't making as good time as Ash was; they were still in a small housing area, and any time they went to make a run for it, another group of patrolling Masters would appear nearby, hindering them from doing so. "What the hell is with this?"
"Do you think Ash is having this same problem?" the blonde asked quietly. The question brought an image of the Shadow Master hiding on a rooftop or in one of the darker alleys, and May shrugged. "What if we tried getting their attention? They'd call the others to come after us, and that would leave the way clear for him."
"Not a good idea. Until we can get to Misty and them, we aren't doing anything of the sort," May replied, quickly trotting across the street, Paran following her, when the coast was finally clear.
Sirens started going off, and the Masters guarding the street took off toward the city entrance, shouting to alert any stragglers that they had to move. Frowning, May followed them in the safety of the shadows. "What's going on?" her companion asked.
"I think they had the same idea as you did," May reluctantly answered.
- - -
"And, how precisely, are we supposed to be able to fight them all?" Misty asked, glaring at Lance as the Masters surrounded them. "If only Ash hadn't told us to run off! I wish he'd come back."
"For once, we're not going to wait around for Ash to come in and save our hides!" Lance snapped, "He has more important things to do right now, like taking care of Kiall and Gary!"
"True." she said, frowning deeply, "I wonder how he's doing. I expected to hear something from that direction hours ago..."
"Who the hell cares?!" Fox asked, "Let's worry about getting out of this alive, and leave Ash's fate to him! We'll find out soon enough!"
"We might have some help coming in now," the bright haired Dragon Master mused, glancing around warily as he fought off the Trainers that came in attacking, weapons swinging and getting separated from Misty.
"Who?" she called over the sound of battle, and Lance nodded toward the right. The other two glanced in the direction, and saw both May and Paran hiding in the dark, Lucia sticking her nose out to sniff; the former Master released a sneasel, muttering an order. The holy Electric-type darted forward, cheeks sparking as the Thunderbolt attack was sent out to electrocute a handful of the closest League members.
Fox let out Mewtwo, as a Dragonite and Suicune was also released. Several of the Masters and Trainers looked hesitant to get any closer to the trio, and even more so to use any of their pokemon. Some even backed away. "Those are two Master Pokemon," a few gasped out.
Dragonite and Mewtwo advanced threateningly, with almost evil smirks; they were the two that the frightened men and women were referring to, and they knew it. "What are you all waiting for?" one of the Generals asked, pulling his weapon out and charging at Paran. "Attack!"
- - -
As the sirens went off around the city, Ash's head snapped up. Masters and Trainers alike were running toward the entrance of Indigo City; Pikachu peeked over his shoulder at the chaos of the event, ears twitching. "What in hell is going on?" he said, and sighed, rubbing a hand against his face when he heard shouts about intruders, "I can't believe this."
The streets were virtually vacant, except for the occasional animal or pokemon. His eyes widened as he scanned over the area for any sign of a Master, or even a Trainer, and found none. "Those morons," Ash muttered as he jumped to the next building, "I'll most likely end up having to get them out the grave they're digging now!"
"Piiiiika, pikachu pi chi," Pikachu said, hiding in his backpack as Ash took another leap. The human yelped, and swore quietly when he felt a sharp tug on his cloak; at the last jump, it had caught on a tree branch.
"You think they're getting sighted on purpose?" he asked, and Pikachu nodded. When he pulled his cloak off to check the damage, he sighed again. "Today is just not my day."
The branch, when it snagged, had torn a great hole in the material. Putting a hand over it so that energy would form over it and patch the tear, he looked across to the next rooftop. "That's too far for me to try to jump. It might be better to foot the rest of the way. Think we should?"
"Pika."
- - -
As Misty struggled against the hold one of the Masters had on her, she frowned, and pulled her dagger out to thrust it into his abdomen. Blood spilled out of the wound, as he let go to clutch at it, trying to stop the blood flow, stumbling backwards. Suicune fought several pokemon at one time, using her various attacks such as Hydro Slam - which consisted of her turning to solid water and slamming down onto the opponent - and Waterfall.
"Damn you Ash...he's better not get in trouble after all this trouble that we're going through for him!" May seethed, freezing several Masters, panting, "If he even dares to get captured again, he won't have to worry about the League anymore, because I'll kill him personally!"
"Do us a favor and take your anger out on the Masters!" Fox suggested to her, slicing the head off another cleanly, and instantly moving in on a Trainer, dodging a stray fireball he nearly backed into that Paran had thrown.
"I don't understand how Ash has managed to keep from being turned into a human ice cube, when someone or something gets frozen whenever you get angry," Paran said, shooting off more fire as some Masters got too close for comfort.
"I can control who I attack," May said, looking at Lucia quickly to see that she was throwing out electric attacks as fast as the other pokemon were attacking her. "And anyway, I'm lenient with him. It isn't his fault that he's stubborn as a bull and can be twice as dense at times. I don't know if he took after his parents or what."
"His mother was neither, so I'd say he probably took after daddy," Misty mused, throwing out a stream of bubbles. May let Fiona out, freezing the Master advancing on her at last minute.
"Whatever happened to them?" Lance asked, jumping back so he was beside her. She frowned.
"They died."
- - -
Ash looked around the brightly lit hall wearily. No one was around to catch him, and it didn't help to settle his nerves. "Something about this isn't right," he said, "There's no one on guard, even though they had to of known I was on my way." He frowned. "It's like they want me to arrive."
"Chuuu." He dove behind the guard's counter when he heard voices, and looked over it cautiously. Slowly, he crept out from behind the counter, keeping low to the floor as he took note of his surroundings again. He shook his head, standing up again when it was obvious no one was approaching, and looked around before finally taking to continuing, turning a corner at the end of the hall, and freezing when he saw three woman that were blocking his way.
They were giggling loudly, oblivious to his presence, until one looked up with wide eyes. "Oh!" she said, startled, and smiled, "Hello, Master Ashura!"
Aha...this is going to get annoying fast, he thought when they giggled again, all three smiling widely. "Hello girls," Ash said, giving them a fake cheerful look, "What're you all doing here?"
"We've missed you very much!" another one squealed, getting nods of agreement from the other two. Ash's expression darkened when he remembered who they were, and even Pikachu groaned.
"Especially your lessons!" the last one added on, and they chattered annoyingly; Ash blinked. "Being taught by such a strong and handsome teacher on how to fight!..."
He scowled slightly when he felt his face heat up in embarrassment, and mentally kicked himself for allowing such a thing to bubble up. "I'm sorry, I have to move on. I have a battle I must get to." he said, and all three of them looked at him, their eyes darkened and sad.
"We...can't let you pass, Master Ashura," one of them said, her face strained. Pikachu's ears perked up. "We can't let you."
"What?" Ash took a step back as she ran forward, flying up for the heel of her shoe to meet her target. He put an arm up to deflect the kick, and used his other hand to grab her ankle, and her momentum threw her down to the ground without very little effort exerted by Ash. "You have got to be kidding me!"
"Piiikachu," the rodent cooed, crouching down. Ash sighed, dodging out of the way when the trio all attacked at once, feeling a sting when a dagger just barely nicked him.
"Thunderwave, full power!" he yelled, pulling his cloak up as he dove to the ground, pressing a hand against the steel floor, and using the material as a shield as he felt the electricity coarse throughout the room and through him and Pikachu. There were screams of surprise, and three loud thuds as they hit the floor, their muscles frozen in place. Peeking at them, Ash quickly stood. "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you."
With an almost exaggerated flourish, he took to the staircase, leaving the three paralyzed forms behind.
- - -
Lance ducked, and shot an arm out to catch the Master off guard, his lips turned down into a frown. Ever since the massive battle had started, something at the back of his mind had nagged at him, pulling at him, demanding attention that he had no time to give. "May!" he shouted, drawing his sword across a Trainer's legs, and darted away. " You need to go to the headquarters!"
"Why?" she asked, putting her hands out, palms facing a group of Masters, and watched as they froze, ice forming around them. Lance struggled past the fighting and the sculptures, and pushed her off into the shadows of one of the alleys.
"We all know what's happening. Ash would be there by now, and he's most likely on his way to find Gary, if he hasn't already." May stared at him, and Lance sighed, continuing. " You know as well as I do that he'll go straight after Kiall once he's finished with Gary. You have to know that not even he'll be able to function using that much energy up in a short period of time. He's going to need your help, May."
"Even if he will never admit it." They turned to look as Fox joined them, looking none the worse for wear. "Lance is right, but Ashura is going to most likely fight against the very thought of needing someone to aid him again."
"At any rate, he'll need the support." Lance said, his brows lowering in thought, "Even if it isn't showing, Ash is in no condition to run into two fights in one day without a rest between. Mentally or physically."
Watching the battle rage on, May's shoulders drooped slightly, and she pulled the poke ball she needed out, and recalled Sneasel. Curiously, Lucia and Fiona hurried over. "Go help Misty and Paran," she suggested quietly, jumping onto the ice bird's back with Lucia. "If anything happens, get away from the headquarters."
Letting out a long, sweet tune, Fiona spread her wings out, and took flight. "I hope they'll be alright," May said, listening as the sound of the battle started growing fainter.
The small pokemon's ears drooped.