Chapter 5: The Face of the Dead-Eye Smiles
Just when you thought things couldn't be more troubling for Ash and his gang, the appearance of Paul had Ash's skin crawling more feverishly than when it was only J and her captured collection of Celebi. Along with Brock, Cynthia, Dawn and Rushuna, they watched anxiously to understand why Paul, joined by his Electabuzz, would come into an extortion sale. There was a doubt that he wanted a Celebi of his own. "You certainly have guts to come into a deal," J huffed a smug. "I don't know you, but I can tell that you're not one who aids anyone, even authorities. Perhaps you would be interested with a Celebi." Of course, no one would tell that to J. Paul showed nothing, not even an interest in owning a Celebi.
"Do I look like someone who would want a weakling such as a Celebi?" he coldly disregarded. Weakling? How would he know? Did he have a Celebi before?
"Oh, come now. You forget that this Pokémon can travel through time. Think of it as having a remote control to your VCR or DVD player, editing your bad battles." Rushuna heard this. The details matched what she was recently told. All she would need is one. Paul, on the other hand, saw no reason of having a Celebi.
"Perhaps I'm taking advice from another trainer I can't stand: win or lose, you move on. You learn from mistakes." Ash awed Paul's statement like it was his own...or one he borrowed from him. One of J's henchmen came up, whispering something. J took note of what was being mentioned.
"You don't say." Letting her henchman back off, J resumed her glare at Paul. "According to my grunt, you're a power hungry trainer. Took me awhile to understand why you would diss obtaining a Celebi if you knew its true power." It's true power? The large man felt that he was being ignored by J for this kid.
"Uh, J?" he spoke up, stuttering from her earlier comments.
"Be quiet! No money, no Celebi." She had enough of the fat man. Rushuna decided to wait no longer, stepping out and into the scene.
"Excuse me!" she called. All turned to Rushuna, fascinated to see her here. The fat cat saw Rushuna for more than her smile that she sported.
"Oh, baby!" he wooed. "That's some beauty walking up to us." J's henchmen couldn't agree more, whistling her over. Paul and J were indifferent to her arrival.
"What's your purpose?" J asked. Rushuna peered over at the bronzed Celebi.
"I'd like to have one of those Celebi, please," she requested. Viewing this, Ash knew it wasn't going to work. J had to assume that her body may have had some success somewhere.
"Well, if I knew your occupation, you've got plenty of money to throw around." Everyone had to believe Rushuna was doing something that made usage of her figures. They would guess again.
"Well, I don't have any money." Besides, how good was money after a few hundred years. J had a double-take, thinking she heard Rushuna wrong.
"No money?"
"I was misplaced in time and I needed a way back. While I don't have any money, I do have a smile." She revealed her cheerful smile. It didn't help her case.
"So, you've got a smile. A smile can only get you so far, you realize." Oblivious to the real problem, Rushuna seemed to have agreed with J.
"A smile really can go far. I've managed to live for a few hundred years with a smile." No one could believe her age. Even Paul thought it was impossible.
"Is that suppose to be a joke?" he snorted. No, Paul, she's the real thing. Deciding to confront the rival, Ash emerged, willing to back Rushuna's claim.
"Paul, this is why you fail to see a lot of the light," he smirked. "That goes the same with everyone else." The face chilled more when he saw the other trainer.
"Of all the weaklings I had to run-"
"Yeah, yeah, I had the same reaction as well. But I'm not as concerned about you than I am about Hunter J." Paul was a bit awe-stricken. To Paul, seeing Ash meant seeing a role reversal of himself. He expressed a chip that was embedded in his shoulder while Ash appeared to be a happy-go-lucky trainer. J was no different.
"There's never a trade without interference, especially when you or that Master get involved for no reason," she scowled. The Master was present. Audaciously, Ash and Rushuna ignored J and turned to Paul.
"So Paul, we take it that you sought this clearing to do some of your rigorous training?" Rushuna guess. J acted appalled with the decision to feel sidelined.
"I was speaking!" As if forced, Paul went along with Ash's talk.
"As if it matters," he scorned. "I heard that this was a good spot to train from the Pokémon Center. The last thing I wanted to see was you." Always the helpful type, Ash gazed the area, trying to imagine it without the excess of the airship and the fat man's vehicle.
"Hey, I hear ya," he agreed. "Maybe we can help clear a path. Not like these guys can do anything to you and your Electabuzz, right?" Paul seemed dumbfounded with Ash's proposal. A hated person doing such a lovely task, a bizarre irony to gawk at. He sighed, knowing what Ash had in mind.
"I'd rather not get involved in your messes, but I do wanna confess something. While you may be a weakling, you're a pretty honest young man. Do you know how hard it is to trust an honest but worthless trainer?" Ash just bobbed. The fat man became agitated with feeling ignored. The money he provided to purchase one Celebi wasn't enough and now he had two rival trainers and the Grenadier to get mixed up with.
"This has already blown out of proportion," he growled as he pulled a silver handgun, slimmer than Rushuna's revolver. He pointed the gun to Ash. This was already a bad move. Ash saw the gun with the barrel facing him. Rushuna dropped her eyelids, smile and her innocence and drew her gun with a quick pull of the trigger at the man's gun. BAM! The bullet seemed to be a warning shot as the man still pointed the gun to Ash's head. He didn't know that the gun had a tube instead of a barrel. The man pulled the trigger. Click? It didn't jam. The man checked the new hole through the barrel...and freaked out.
"Did you see that?" Dawn asked the other two on the sidelines. It was a wow.
"That takes extra skill and even that can't be perfectly done without massive luck," Brock awed. Cynthia seemed to know what had happened, even though it took less than a few seconds.
"Rushuna fired her gun into the barrel of the cat's 9mm, tearing through it and ripping on the other side with no sensed repercussion," she observed like a color commentator in Antonio Freeman's catch against the Vikings in 2000 in Green Bay. "It would explain why the cat didn't notice the hole in his gun until he noticed it misfired." The man became easily succumbed in fear, curling in a sitting fetal position. J was amazed with Rushuna's shot and how she was dead-on accurate. Ash was thankful for Rushuna in saving his life. Paul? Cold as the Arctic.
'I'm a little bit nervous about her after that moment,' he minded. That's a gust of wind of a new direction. He's scared?
"No more smiles," she scowled. Ash regained his composure, ready to fight. The man tried to get back into his vehicle, prompting Rushuna to deflate his escape. She pumped slugs into his tires and into his getaway driver, clipping him in the butt. That's got to be worse than a spanking by hand. Dawn and Brock were as scared as the dealer while he heard his driver cry from the butt wound.
"She's incredible!" she shivered. Brock quickly and repeatedly shook nods. That's when Ash came forward, demanding the Celebi to be released.
"Now, then," Ash spoke up to J. "The Celebi. Hand them over!" His anger, not fueled by Paul, began to reveal a new secret. A blue light was emitting from the raven-haired trainer. No one took the light show seriously. The sidelines were a different story.
"Is that-?" Dawn jumped. Is that what? "Is that aura that's steaming out of Ash?" Aura?
"It is," Cynthia answered. "That's Ash's aura. It billows the blue light the same way it emits from a Lucario." Brock saw the aura, remembering a time before.
"This is the third time seeing Ash's aura come out of him," he pointed out. "Back in Kanto, he joined Lucario in using his aura to restore Mew's energy at the Tree of Beginning. It was also used when we helped a Riolu escape from J in an earlier encounter." Dawn would know about the Riolu encounter. Cynthia continued to examine the aura that kept radiating from Ash.
'His power,' she pondered in thought. 'Why is his aura...his power...becoming stronger by the second. Why is he increasing his strength? Is it the Celebi? Rushuna? Paul?...or us?' J saw the aura, not amused with the show of light.
"You're leaking a light which I've only seen in Riolu," she sneered. "If you think you can take these Celebi back, be my guest." Ash figured that the baiting wouldn't necessarily work. He stood ground. "I see. You realize that I have the upper hand with the vessel and my men. Besides, in case of any bullets flying, I've prepped for such an occasion." One more goon emerged from inside the airship with a cache of firearms from handguns to rifles. The moment became dire. One thug pointed his weapon toward Paul, still nothing of a flinch. Did he want to get shot?
"This is the result of all your bounty hunting?" Ash growled more. "Becoming no more than gun-toting cowards?" J sneered at the two, not a care in the world...and Ash thought that would only imply on Paul.
"Consider it an insurance policy. Besides, that pistol of hers only has six shots. She's out of firepower." It was pointed out earlier and Rushuna began to feel the bane. "Normally, I'd leave since I have the money. However, this will be the last time you run interference..." She shot a look at Paul, followed by her gun. "...Starting with you." Pulling the trigger, she fired a bullet, striking Paul in the knee. Instantly, Paul fell to a knee, writhing from the pain in his shot leg. Electabuzz became fearful of its master, wondering if he would be okay. Dawn, Brock and Cynthia knew that J had become chaotic, yet were staying clear of being shot at. It was all up to Ash and Rushuna. J gazed at them, knowing that this would be the last time she would see that bothersome trainer. However, she turned as an aura sphere raced in and...BOOM! The sphere blasted J's face, destroying her headgear. Ash, still fuming aura, had an arm out like he threw that sphere at J.
"That's my rival, not a standing target for you to bust a cap!" Recovered, J was fuming mad.
"Gentlemen?" The shootout was about to being and Dawn, Brock and Cynthia instantly took cover. Ash enveloped more spheres. Action! "FIRE!" The men fired volleys of rounds right of the bat as Ash and Rushuna barrel-rolled cleared. As Rushuna rolled, she discharged her revolver of the empty shells. Then from her bosoms, more bullets emerged, bouncing from her chest and into the cleared cylinder before closing it back up. Fancy way to reload your weapon. In that same motion, she returned fire, nailing the goons and knocking them down. She was on a roll and not in the literal sense. Ash continued to heave spheres, spinning cobwebs in the brains with each concussive explosion. It bought time for Rushuna to reload once more and slug J's men. The other man shoved his driver out the door and assumed the seat to elude the gunfire. His car was facing Paul, still reeling from being shot in the knee. He didn't care. He punched the accelerator and aimed straight for the first interrupter. Paul sensed his life in danger. Electabuzz had to protect his master, throwing itself in front of the vehicle. Despite the tires flattened from Rushuna's shots, the car found traction and zoomed toward Electabuzz.
"Brick Break!" Paul instructed. Following his call, Electabuzz rose a glowing arm before karate chopping the hood. The hood split in half and the engine was totaled on impact. The vehicle was dead. The thugs were down and Pikachu zipped in, taking the Celebi toward the rest. J started to fire back at Rushuna. Amazingly, Rushuna fired shots which seemed to clash and stop J's rounds. Some technique that Cynthia seemed to recognize.
"A master of Collision Spark," she assumed. Collision Spark? Cool name.
"What's Collision Spark?" Brock wondered.
"Collision Spark is a technique where the shooter fires shots to cancel her enemy's shots with precision. A real Enlightened is skilled in many ways to defend themselves from gunfire. She's a real Enlightened." Guns pointed amongst each other, J and Rushuna were itching to continue. Ash sneaked around Rushuna, collecting the shells. What for? J only watched the gun-toting blond, not eying Ash for a second.
"You're out once again," she grinned. "Too bad." Ash had to act fast. He empowered his aura into the shells and tossed them at J. Time began to slow down dramatically. Quickly, J swung her arms over eyes, shielding from a potential plume of light. However...the shells hit the ground without a sudden effect. All that for nothing. J unveiled her eyes...to Pikachu being right there. Surprise!
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. From it's small body, Pikachu emitted giant amounts of electricity, zapping J. After that, J collapsed in a heap of voltage as a swarm of men in blue uniforms entered the scene, all pointing guns toward J, her henchmen and the fat man still frightened out of his wits. One ocean blue-haired woman in uniform slapped handcuffs onto J.
"Pokémon Hunter J, you're under arrest!" she growled. "And that goes for the rest of your contacts." Brock, Dawn and Cynthia regrouped with the powerful duo and Pikachu, a job well done.
"Ash, Rushuna, that was unbelievable!" Dawn cheered. The Celebi also came out, more green and lively. They surrounded Cynthia and Ash, feeling happy to be back flapping their little clear wings again.
"Guess you're thrilled to be free from J, aren't you?" Ash smirked. Rushuna came over to see what the Celebi looked like. Without knowing it, she clutched Ash's hand while Cynthia walked up and snagged Ash's other hand. With J and her gang captured, Paul getting medical attention and the Celebi freed, all signs of returning to save Yajiro and Mikan were green. However, a question remained. If she did go back and save her friend, what repercussions waited in the future?
TO BE CONCLUDED...