Authors Notes: I had to take a liberty or two with move lists this chap. Hardcore fans will see what I mean, but I had to do it.
On the bright side, this round was easier to plan than any of the others so far. Writing was more or less the same.
Meanwhile, in the anime:
Old news by now (as always with my update rate), but it turns out the new female main character in the animé, Serena has a history with Ash. Gotta admit this sure does make her unique among all of Ash's long-term travelling partners so far. Obviously this gives her unique shipping potential, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's the writer's intentions. After all, it's been well over a decade since Misty was around, and a lot of the fanbase from that time has long since gone. In retrospect I'm surprised they waited this long, if they are actually going to make some shipping hints between the two like they did with our favourite pairing back in the day.
(if it's not your favourite pairing...seriously, why are you reading this fic? What else, aside from sheer loyalty would make you sit through this crap?)
Now, I think we should do the adult thing here. The animé is gonna do whatever the hell its writers decide. Let's be fair, the animé isn't anything like it once was, and at this point not really worth saving, it's been left to be just "same old, same old" for far too long. Let's just accept that the potential has long since been lost, and keep what it could have been in our hearts, occasionally to show itself among the countless fics on this site and beyond.
...
...Or...
...and hear me out here...
We lead a courageous charge! And overrun the studio in charge of making the animé, and take those money-grubbing assholes, imprison them, forcing them to read crappy fanfiction until the end of time. (you try thinking of a worse punishment) Then we take that studio, and make me it's head, and usher in a new era of Ash developing character!
(hey, it's either me or a Negaishipper, take your pick)
Contest: Nothing to report. Another hint in this chapter somewhere. It may have been over a year since I introduced it, but I'm gonna stick to it.
Soundtrack:
Balance of Power: Under The Spell (A/N: I fucking love this song!)
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Over a year ago...
A screen flickered into life, and the face of Professor Oak broke into smile. "Hello there, Ash, how are you?"
"I'm good Professor, how are things back in Pallet?"
"Marvellous, I've been working with a Rotom a colleague was kind enough to send me, a most interesting Pokémon..." He sighed. "Though it wont get out of my lawnmower." He let the thought die out, quickly moving on to-"So how can I help you, Ash? Looking to send Snorlax back?"
With a smile Ash shook his head. "Nope. I can feed him, but to do that I need another Pokémon. There's a tournament nearby, but I need four Pokémon to enter."
"I see. So who can I get for you?"
"I was thinking about a water Pokémon." Ash cast his gaze upwards, recalling, "Maybe Buizel..."
"Alright then. I'll have Tracey-"
The door in the distant background of Oak's lab was blasted open, and all eyes turned to the new commotion. A small, bipedal crocodile was rushing across the floor, a lawnmower with snapping teeth following closely in his wake. Totadile took one look at Professor Oak and jumped, landing on the aged researchers head before taking a look at the now disgruntled lawnmower. Totadile laughed, opening his jaw and proceeding to anger the lawnmower further.
"Well at least that cleaned up Rotom's mess..." Samuel Oak sighed, somebody was going to have to dry the floor. Ash chuckled.
"Dile?" Totadile turned and-"Totadile!" He broke into dance, turning his safe spot into a tap dancing stage. He flipped in place, deaf to the Professor's annoyed grunts.
The professor cast a deadpan look to Ash. "This is starting to happen a lot. I hate to be a bother Ash but could you...?" Ash smiled.
"Send him over."
Totadile spun in place, leaving the Professor with a headache long after the dancer had left.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Feraligatr bore his fangs, mimicking Sabeleye's tactic of intimidation. Sableye leaned back his head, his visage casting out the light of the sun for an instant, casting darkness over the arena. Sabeleye's arms outstretched, and his head lurched forward, emitting a loud-"URRRRRPPPPPPP!"
The only reaction...was silence.
Sableye landed on the ground, near his trainer. He turned to the side, scratching his head as Quentin's eye twitched. "What the hell are you doing!?" Sabeleye belched again, turning ever so slightly, ensuing Quentin got a good view of his back before he reached a hand down and-"Stop scratching your ass and fight!" He just kept scratching. Quentin's twitched again. "This is about that isn't it?" He stopped scratching. Quentin gave a long, exasperated sigh. "I told you, you get it and nobody else gets any sleep." He went back to scratching. Quentin's eye twitched again. "Fine! If you win, you can have all you want!"
Sabeleye launched from the ground, but Feraligatr could only blink in confusion.
So could Pikachu. Ash was just...awed, and not in a good way.
This guy was aGrandmaster?
"Ho-Oh dammit, Sableye, get off my face!" Quentin clenched at the purple mass glomped onto him, pulling as it desperately clung to the back of his head. "What is it with you and coffee anyway?!"
Pikachu sighed. "Pi pikachu kapi pikapika chu pi." No Pokémon should obsess over one thing so much. He felt a familiar sense of being watched, looking up to see Ash just looking at him. "Pika?" What? Ash blinked, slowly. "Pika?" What? Ash shook his head and turned away."Pika?" What?
There was a cry, and Sableye was reaching desperately for Quentin's face as he was held at arm's length by the scruff of his neck. "I'll get that coffee maker you've been wanting if you stop grabbing me." Sabelye stopped struggling, and grinned. "Now go have some fun."
He dropped Sabeleye, who landed on all fours. He walked like a Krabby, turning towards Feraligatr, grinning all the while as he made his way. Feraligatr scraped a foot across the ground, his eyes on his targets, but Ash could see the drop of sweat making its way down Feraligatr's neck.
That grin was unnerving.
Sabelye, at a fighting distance from Feraligatr, got to his feet, still grinning. He hopped in place. "Eye, eye, eye, eye, eye, eye." He started jumping. "Sable, eye, sable, eye." He flipped, spinning in the air before he fell down and "Sabeleye!" Ash was pretty sure the translation for that pose would have been "Ta daaa!" Feraligatr sighed. Sableye's brow twitched. "Sable sableye!" He raised his fist, a single finger waving in the air.
"Sableye! Stop screwing around!" Quentin's brow twitched as Sableye did a very accurate impression of an army private at attention. ("Eye eye!") "I swear I'll drown him in that coffee if he wins." "Shadow Sneak!"
"Sable-" He parted his legs, setting into a stance and parting his shadow, the shadow started to grow. "Eyyyyeeeeeee!"
It moved, his shadow spread across the arena, splitting into two, into four, all linked to the caster of this sinister shadow. The shadow's claws lengthened, this was by no means any long a normal shadow.
"Feraligatr, jump! Get off the ground!"
"Tor!" Feraligatr kicked off the ground, jumping to heights which most would have disbelieved until they saw with their own eyes.
"Bring him back down, Sableye!"
The shadow rose, the darkness shot up, four claws rising up to claim their prey. Ash growled. Dammit, he wasn't expecting that. He glanced at the ground, following the shadow back to-"Feraligatr, get back down, shatter the ground with Earthquake!"
Feraligatr flipped in the air, and gravity grasped him again. He fell, slipping past the rising claws. "Fera-" He pulled back a fist. "TOR!"
Cracking. The ground around Feraligatr cracked, and opened, and the damaged passed over the arena rapidly like the surface of glass, passing through every other wound the battlefield had already found itself dealt. Feraligatr had come down with the force of a massive hammer, and every crack changed the arena in some way or another as it traversed the field. Sableye glanced at the crack approaching him, the arena around him already shifting. He jumped, his very keen eye giving him perfect aim as he took landed with precision. He landed on what had become a very small pillar, still casting his shadow.
Like disturbed water, much of Sableye's shadow had sunk into the cracks. Sableye gave a howl of his name, and his shadow was on the move again, now eight claws honed in on their target.
Clearly this had to be stopped at its source. "Feraligatr, Hydro Pump!"
Feraligat took aim, he opened his mouth. The geyser of water burst from his mouth, sending it on a one way journey to-"Sableye, Shadow Shift!"
Nothing. Sableye jumped, before he vanished, and his shadow briefly quivered, and from where it was originally cast it was moving, towards Feraligatr. The shrinking shadow converged, in an area just behind its casters foe.
"Feraligatr, dance!"
Sableye burst forth from his shadow, another shadow forming on his claw. He struck.
Feraligatr ducked, and with masterful elegance he turned in place, his tail flowing with water as clear as the sky, and with the force of a raging river. Sableye gulped, this was gonna hurt.
"Sablye! Use Shadow Claw again! Jump!" He grinned, now why didn't he think of that? He shot down his hand, another phantom claw emerging, shooting down. Sableye shot up, jumping over the tail.
Feraligatr grinned, the dance was in full swing, and his foe knew how to move. A rarity in itself. He moved in place, tracking exactly where Sableye would touch ground. On a single foot he leapt. His tail moved in the air again, taking aim.
Sableye landed, but he knew what was coming. Had to move fast, but where, had to find a-there! He jumped, landing in the one crack side enough to accommodate him. The tail passed over the hole, only a gentle spray of water hitting Sableye as he smiled.
"Sucker Punch, Sableye!" Sableye jumped from the hole thrusting out his fist with a joyful snarl, Feraligatr's jaw a massive target. Feraligatr shifted his head, the punch hitting nothing but air as the dancer stepped
away. "Shadow Ball!"
Sableye flipped in the air, finding himself upside down as-"Eye!" The purple sphere shot forward, towards a grinning Feraligatr.
"Iron Tail!" Feraligatr leaned back, and as his head descended, evading the ball completely, a tail ascended, ascending right towards a grim reality for Sableye.
There was no escape.
Sableye quickly found himself with a crushing headache, the Iron Tail smashing the top his head with elegant force. He was sent sailing through the air, moaning the last syllable of his name all the wile. Feraligatr flipped, landing on his legs with perfect grace. Ash smiled. Combat and Dance. Each held a beauty. Though unless the latter was mixed with the former, Ash couldn't see the appeal in it.
Totadile's dancing had always been something of a marvel. Though intended to be a mixture of fun and distraction, his moves were both the envy, and bane of his foes. Hitting such a small, hyperactive was an annoyingly tall order, especially when he wanted to use you for a dance partner (be you willing or not) or dance stage (most weren't conscious long enough to be willing or not). When he'd evolved it wasn't a matter of hitting a little hyperactive target, it was evading a hyperactive juggernaut who still wanted to use you as a partner/stage. Ash grinned, Feraligatr was such a crowd pleaser, just like Dawn-
His grin faded. He took a heavy breath.
Just like had Dawn said. When she'd seen Totadile in action, she'd called him a show off after beating Piplup in a one on one battle. She was interested in his technique, and though he was stubborn in admitting it, so was Piplup. Hours later Totadile was teaching Piplup some moves, yet in the days that passed no matter how many times it was suggested he try, Totadile had never taken an interest in contests. He loved to entertain, but he never would fight a...a pretend battle. A true battle was in trying to defeat an opponent, in meeting everything they had, and comparing it with your own to see who was truly the strongest. Not in trying to look good for a crowd.
That part was just a bonus. The fact that this battle had no crowds to entertain was at a pity to Feraligatr.
Sableye got to his feet, grumbling to himself as he shook his head. Quentin had better make good on his promises. He was gonna need one very strong espresso when this was over. He took a look at his opponent, now fully grasping the full danger that was his tail. Make that two.
Ash smiled. "Feraligatr, I think he wants to go another round!" Feraligatr roared, moving into a stance. "Dance with him!"
Feraligatr grinned, and did just that. He bounded across the arena, his movements like a ballet, his power with a tank. He swept with his tail, Sableye jumping away. "Feraligatr, Hyrdro Pump!" Feraligatr's maw opened and launched a geyser in the same instant. Sableye shot his hand down, and with another Shadow Claw, Sableye jumped away, catching a spray of water as he went. He moved a distance from his foe, but it lasted less than a second before the deceptively fast dancer came close again. Sableye jumped away again, and from another Hyrdro Pump. He had to keep clear. Attempting to get close was just asking for a reintroduction with that tail. Distance meant evading Hydro Pumps. Sableye smiled, this was kinda fun, even so.
Both sides knew to have fun. Totodile used to dance just for the sake of fun, but when he'd become Feraligatr Ash noticed he started taking a certain pride in his moves. It was more than just fun to him now, it was something important to him. Ash had considered trying to find some specialist in dancing (or whatever you called anyone with knowledge in dancing, Ash had absolutely no idea) to help Feraligatr in dance, to make his skills become whatever he was trying to make them. Turned out he didn't need it. What used to be rather odd to Ash actually became Feraligatr's greatest weapon.
It really bugged Sceptile to no end.
It was bugging Quentin too. "Get in close and use Low Kick!" Sableye dived in, skidding across the ground as he turned his body with a swift sweeping kick.
Feraligatr jumped, taking him to make sure his landing was aimed at his foe. Sableye rolled, springing off the ground behind Feraligatr's back. "Shadow Claw!" Sableye's summoned phantom claw scraped hard across Feraligatr's back, extracting a pained roar.
A critical hit.
Feraligatr's roar turned to rage as he eyed his foe with vegence. He'd gone into an Outrage. He charged Sableye, all sense briefly lost.
"Sableye, Sand Attack!" Sableye kicked the ground, blast up sand-like debris of the arena directly into Feraligatr's eyes. The dancer lost all vision as his foe took to the air, passing over Feraligatr with a grin. "Mega Kick!" Sableye's foot shot out, slamming into the back of Feraligatr's head with the force of a sledgehammer. Feralgatr hit the ground sliding across it. Still, in the air, Sableye took aim, waiting for the order to-Shock Wave!"
Ferligatr's arms thrust into the ground, and he quickly turned around, seeing the attack just about to be born. "Ferligatr, Vortex Shield!" Water flowed from Feralitar's mouth, forming a whirlpool which reached from in front of Feraliatr's face, and falling into his mouth. "Shoot it!" Like a cannon it shot from his mouth, maintaining its shape and size as it moved towards its target, intent on swallowing him whole. The electrical wave hit the projectile, turning the vortex into an even more dangerous weapon.
"Signal Beam!"
"Ice Beam!"
Both fighters opened their maws, Feraligatr firing a blue beam as Sableye fired a shining yellow one. Feraligatr's hit the vortex first, working its power. Sableye's beam reached just as the vortex turned to ice.
The vortex exploded, shattering it into countless disintegrating pieces as Sableye came back down to earth. The pair stared each other down, like something out of a western movie, which made Sableye grin. (He loved those!)
It was time to draw.
"Psychic!"
"Blizzard!"
Feraligatr's body glowed blue. He opened his mouth, unleashing an fierce snowstorm that would chill even Moltres's flames. Sableye's body was quickly aglow, and in sync with Feraligatr he launched his attack.
The forces met, sending a cold shock-wave over the arena. Sableye pushed back against the storm, roaring with all the power his lungs could give him. Feraligatr's frozen storm pushed against the invisible wall, countless particles of ice growing ever larger as they continuously latched to the wall. Both fighters pushed harder, the raging winter and the invisible wall. The unstoppable force, and immoveable object, a paradox that was ultimately destined to be rendered asunder.
"Fera!" Feraligatr glowed brighter, the wind picking up around him. "TORRRRRR!"
The wall moved, inch by inch, second by second it grew closer and closer. Sableye could feel the chill against his eyes. "Sayyyy..." It grew closer and closer, Sableye glowed brighter and brighter, filling himself with more and more power, fit to-
Explode. "EYEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The blizzard reflected everywhere. For just a second the rage of the fiercest winter storm hit everything in its path. Sableye and Feraligatr were swallowed up in a fraction of a blink of an eye, and the storm swept out, passing over the three other witnesses to this briefest glimpse of nature's wrath.
When it passed, Ash rubbed at his eyes. "Dammit." After a few seconds of violent rubbing he finally cleared his eyelids of the pesky ice which had taken his lashes hostage. He slowly removed his hands, catching a glimpse of. "Hm?"
His body was a mess.
This blizzard had worked in his favour. His wounds had been shut to further flow, the frozen blood sticking to him. Well at least he wouldn't pass out. He lowered his arms, smiling.
Couldn't keep going if he passed out.
Quentin pulled his foot up, his face stoic as he kicked against his other foot, apparently freeing it as well. He took a look across the arena, focusing on-
"Pikachu!" Ash looked down, finding Pikachu, and his reaction to the storm.
Pikachu's teeth were chattering as he quivered, his feet imprisoned and body partly seemingly growing ice. "Ka. Pika. Kachupi!" I. Hate. Blizzards! His cheeks briefly crackled, and like a Growlithe after an encounter with a hosepipe violently shook the ice off the top part of his body He looked down to find he was still trapped. Pikachu punched at his feet, shattering the ice. Ash smiled, he'd be fine. Now what about his other Pokémon...
Oh boy...
Frozen. Both were encased entirely in ice, the subtle movements the only indications they were not in fact, ice sculptures. Ash smiled, Ice really wasn't that hard to handle, if you knew what you were doing. "Feraligatr, Aqua Jet!"
Feraligatr's image was instantly covered by water. The ice soon cracked, water started leaking out. It cracked again, and water came spilling out.
It exploded. Feraligatr shot towards Sableye like a missile, and inside the ice Sableye could move just enough to shift his face. Quentin knew that expression's meaning very well.
Oh crap.
Sableye's prison shattered, and the giant missile shot onwards and slammed both itself and its passenger into the stone wall. They smashed with the force of a cannonball, and the wall burst around them, spilling more daylight into the darker areas around them. The area around them cracked.
And the area around that...Quentin gasped, and watched as the cracks started spreading, and spreading, and spreading...
They stopped. Quentin sighed in relief, turning to Ash. "We should try and end this quickly. This claw ain't gonna last forever."
"'This claw'?" Ash shrugged. "Whatever." What was a location in the grand scheme of battle? Beyond just a detail? If there was an answer, Ash neither knew, nor cared about it. As long as nothing interrupted this battle he didn't care about anything beyond it.
Arceus help anything that interrupted this battle.
Feraligatr growled, looking down at his foe, whose tongue was hanging out. He gave a few grunts of his name. Stop faking it.
Sableye groaned. Ain't faking it. Got brain freeze.
Feraligatr growled, raising his claw to-"TOR!" His claw came down, on a grinning Sableye. The ghost rolled away from the claw, chuckling to himself as he jumped to the arena. He danced in place, twirling around singing a tune that didn't quite hold a note. He flipped in place, moving into a more elaborate routine, with pirouettes, high kicks and hand-"Eye-!" He crashed, landing face-first."Sable..."
Quentin sighed. "Ever the showoff, even when he's hurting."
Rolling over, Sableye shook his head, trying to properly define up and down, though left and right might have been an equally urgent problem. Feraligatr jumped back to the arena, grinning to himself. He'd let himself look at this battle the wrong way. Sableye wanted to have fun, he wanted to have fun.
So they'd have fun.
Feraligatr was shrouded in water again.
Quentin knew better than to meet force with force. "Shadow Shift, Sableye."
Sableye dived into a large crack, and vanished. Feraligatr stopped, kicking off the ground and shooting like a missile again. Ash's mind couldn't help but recall when he'd first seen Feraligatr, or as he was at the time; Totadile perform the technique. He'd wondered where he picked it up, and discovered something interesting about the Pokémon who he kept with Professor Oak.
Though Ash left his Pokémon be, for years at a time even, members old and new congregated with each other. Buizel and Feraligatr's (then Totadile) had been a communication of knowledge. Buizel had taught him Aqua Jet, he'd taught Buizel to dance. Like Charizard, Buizel remembered his original trainer, though not with the same fondness Charizard did, and both would show what they once lacked when/if they met their again. Dawn would get a show, Damien would get a show of real power, along with some second degree burns.
Feraligatr continued shooting across the arena, aiming for Sableye, who would be gone before he was reached. "Shift until he gives up, Sableye. He'll run himself down long before you." So the strange dance continued, Feraligatr shot around the arena at break-neck speeds, trying to hit the ever-moving phantom, but where Sableye was, he wouldn't be even half a second later. Feraligatr's shroud suddenly dispersed, and he slid across the floor, as in the distance a grinning Sableye emerged.
Ash smiled. "Lets see him go into the shadows if they're underwater." "Feraligatr, Water Pulse! Fill this whole place!"
With a growl, Feraligatr was covered in thicker shroud of water. A flood came from the shroud, like a hole in reality filled with water was spilling out. The water reached the edges of the battlefield, falling into, and joining the water below. They tides rose up, bit by bit, rising higher and higher. Ash watched in silence, only reacting when he felt a weight jump up his body.
"Pikachu?"
Pikachu perched himself on Ash's shoulder. "Pi pikachu ka. Pikachu ka chupika." I'm already cold. Give me a break.
Ash didn't even shrug, instead he suddenly looked down. His feet were cold. He looked down to find himself up to his toes in water. He smiled, the battleground was submerged, the various cracks and holes of the arena filled with. The shadows had been drowned. "No more running around, now they really fight." "Aqua Dance!"
Feraligatr's feet were shrouded with flowing water, and he started gliding across the arena. Sableye gulped, and Quentin could not help but be shocked. "He's skating on the water?" He smiled. "Not bad." Sableye! Be on your guard!
Sableye grinned, he was already prepared. Feraligatr swept in, and the dance of battle began. The instructions of their trainers the melody they moved to. Sableye punched, Feraligatr gracefully moving around Sableye's body, his claws become shrouded in water before he launched a strong chop. Sableye ducked just under it, creating two Shadow Claws. One pushing him up, and the other aiming at Feraligatr's face.
Feraligatr leaned under the claw, kicking off from the ground. Sableye was bashed by Feraligatr's chest, knocking him into the air. Briefly dazed, Sableye saw Feraligatr was performing a back-flip as he rose up, Sableye's brain processing something was going to-"EYYYYYEEE!" Sableye was blasted to the ground, smashing into it. Feraligatr landed on his feet, skating across the arena again. With a groan Sableye forced himself back to his feet, Quentin's barked orders the only thing registering clearly. He hated Feraligatr's tail...
He took a step forward, one hand becoming a blade of violet. "Feraligatr, don't let his jab touch you!" Feraligatr roared. He eyed his target carefully as he swept in. He had to end this quickly. Sableye and Feraligatr moved, engaging each other one more time. Sableye jumped, his arm like a blade as he took aim at his foe. Feraligatr shifted as he skated, evading a swipe easily. Sableye opened his mouth, darkness generating inside it. The Dark Pulse burst forth, in sync with a powerful water pulse from Feraligatr as he moved away. The two blasts were lost in an explosion, hiding Sableye from Feraligatr's sight.
"EYE!" Sableye burst forth from the explosion, and was close quickly. Feraligatr punched on instinct, his fist a torrent of strength. Sableye's other hand released a Shadow Claw, which moved quickly. The claw grasped Feraligatr's wrist, pulling Sableye forward, past Feraligatr's attack. He thrust out his jab like a blade. Feraligatr moved, the jab missing his face.
'Tap'. Sableye had reached his shoulder. Feraligatr grunted, swiping out his tail again. Sableye flipped away, Feraligatr getting ready to move in again. "Tor-!" Feraligatr briefly staggered, groaning to himself as he clutched his stomach. A briefly purple glow said all that needed to be known.
Poisoned.
Sableye grinned. He kicked off the ground, shooting towards Feraligatr with all the speed he had, his foe was wide open. His fist sparked with electricity.
"Feraligatr! Snap out of it!"
Feraligatr's eyes snapped open, and with a roar he moved forward, his body spinning in place. Their trainers watched, everything seeming to slow in motion as both fighters launched their attacks. Now this was how one danced in battle. Contests looked good. Sableye's fist shot through the air, on a crash course with its opponent. Thunderpunch met Iron Tail. Ash smiled.
Fighting felt good.
Sableye rolled across the arena, splashing into the water beyond the arena. He quickly forced himself back onto the battleground, frowning. "Sableye, use Ice Punch! Make a board!" Sableye grinned, now why didn't he think of that...
With two glowing hands, Sableye plunged into the water, freezing the water and pulling out something. He grinned at his prize, a miniature surf board. He tapped a fist against it a few times. He plunged it into the water again, pulling it out once he'd put two handles on it. Perfect.
Feraligatr roared, and unleashed another Hydro Pump. Sableye moved to his right, the pump hitting the pool beyond the arena. The effect was immediate, creating a large wave as Sableye jumped on his board, and he surfed across the arena, grinning as he made his way towards Feraligatr.
Who mimicked his move. Feraligatr skated across the arena, approaching the slowing Sableye. Feraligatr swept with his tail, Sableye jumping with his board. He landed on the offending limb, both he and his board riding the tail before Feraligatr forced himself to stop. Sableye hit the floor on his feet, kicking right off with his board in hand.
POW! Feraligatr stumbled, before ducking another bash. Sableye's hand touched Feraligatr's head as he harmlessly flipped to the ground. He bashed the back of Ferligatr's knees, sending him crashing down. Sableye flipped to the air again, pulling back a hand before-"Shock Wave!"
The blast launched and hit its target in an instant as Sableye moved through the air, the blast lasting a few long seconds before Sableye's jump reached its end. Ash eyed Sableye's weapon carefully. It was sturdy, and useful, if only there was way to get rid of-"Feraligatr! Scald!"
Still on his knees, Feraligatr opened his jaw, unleashing steaming water all over his opponent. Sableye's shield was instantly reduced to water, and himself covered in it. Sableye yelped, jumping away, his body glowing partly red with burns. He took to the air again. "Sableye, Shadow Ball!" Sableye created a mass of darkness in his hand, and shot it.
"Feraigatr Ice Cannon!"
Feraligatr opened his maw, generating what Quentin recognized as a Hydro Cannon as his fangs started glowing blue. His frozen fangs scraped the surface, sending ice spreading across its surface. The cannon launched, sending the still freezing ball on a crash course with Shadow Ball.
The spheres met, the dark ball pushing into the water, with its entrance quickly being frozen over. The new sphere...froze, both in temperature, and in movement, it held itself in the air, the inside of it getting nearer and nearer to absolutely frozen. It slowly fell to the ground, a dull hum emitting from it.
It cracked, dark mist spilling out from the first, then a second crack followed. It cracked more and more, more and more, as if it was about to-It exploded. Purple shards of ice shot everywhere, smashing violently wherever they landed. Sableye and Feraligatr were knocked off their feet.
A shard was headed right towards Ash. He was knocked off his feet before he'd realized it, all he felt was a cold grasp claim him.
Water. He was in the water. Above him light danced, laughter ringing in his head. Her laughter. He closed his eyes.
"I am...alone."
His dream, back then...where everyone had given up, it was so real, and had he yet seen anything showing it was wrong? They had reason to turn their backs on him, better reasons than he'd had for any of his own endeavours. Perhaps they would all be better off without him, even Mom. Pikachu...even he would be better off. He'd see, he'd understand. He couldn't have Pikachu's whole life be nothing but the battle...
The battle...
If he drowned, he couldn't battle anymore...If he died, then there would never be another battle...
"I can't..."
He stopped sinking.
"I can't stop."
He kicked against the water.
"I won't!"
He pushed, with everything he had he forced himself towards the light.
"I won't stop fighting!"
"Pikapi!" Ash broke the surface with a desperate breath. Pikachu grabbed his shoulder, and with deceptive strength pulled his friend out of the water onto solid ground. Ash forced himself to his feet, caring nothing for his now weighted clothing. Everyone else had picked themselves back up, save for Quentin who didn't seem to have been knocked down to begin with.
"If my predecessors could see who took my place..." Quentin shook his head.
Ash smiled tauntingly. "Guess I don't fit the part, huh?"
Quentin glared. "A Grandmaster's life is one of duty, of mission. Oh they dangle fame, fortune and all that comes with it, but standing at the top is as much work as getting there. A true Grandmaster is an example, the example of what a trainer is supposed to be. Masato showed the world that, then his successor followed, and so on down those worthy few, until I was the one tasked." He signalled all of Ash's body, and all he had thus far endured. "You on the other hand. You are a selfish, wrathful, lost little boy. The absolute antithesis of who should be in your place, the kind it was my duty to beat into the ground! A duty I will evade no more!" He pointed at Ash. "What happens when every trainer gets it into their head that all they need to do to be the best is be like you? What happens when every trainer decides to copy you? Aspire to be exactly like you? When every trainer dreams of becoming a hollow shell, living only for their next battle? I prey to Ho-Oh you haven't reigned long enough to leave any permanent damage." He lowered his hand, his glare stronger than ever. "I will not let them be lead by one who runs away!"
"What the hell are you talking about? I never run from a battle! Especially from one with you!"
"It's not me you're running from!" His face flared, in rage, filled with mission. "But now there's nowhere for you to hide! Sableye, Nightmare Mist!"
Sableye jumped, taking place before a deep, water filled crack. His fist ignited, and he slammed his ablaze punch into the hole. Steam. Sableye was shrouded instantly. The steam rose higher and higher, and bigger as Sableye's fist remained in the hole.
Sableye pulled out his fist, the mass of steam resting in the air above him. He stretched out his arms, generating a violet aura. He gave a brief cry, that somehow echoed across the arena, and passed outside. The mass of steam turned purple. Ash took a step back as he gazed at the strange mass before him. "What's he doing?"
Quentin smiled. "There is nowhere to hide in your own mind. Close your eyes and see what finds you! Sableye, consume them!" Sableye took a very, very deep breath, in a technique Ash recognized from a very long time ago. He was going to generate a make-shift Whirlwind.
"Gotta stop it!" Ash's mind rushed through the creation of the mist. Fire punch, steam-Steam! "Feraligatr! Freeze it! Blizzard!"
Feraligatr roared, casting a frozen wind into the mass above, the mass expanded as the cold joined it, but from the despaired look on Sableye's face, Ash knew he'd found the right method as he took in the result. A mass of purple in the air, slowly seeming to dissipate. Nothing more than a frozen fog.
Quentin smiled, just slightly. "Clever. It's no good this way, the steam is needed to cloud the mind." He sighed softly. "Can't be helped." "Sableye. Will-O-Wisp."
Sableye gulped, but raised his hands. Both of his hands were ignited with blue flame as he waved them about, faster and faster before he clapped, shattering the blaze to the mass above. The frozen mist became a thick steam, and the violet mass came down. Ash covered his mouth. He had a feeling this was not going to turn out well.
Quentin closed his eyes. "...Shit."
Everyone was consumed.
To Ash, the world disappeared in a fog. For seconds it was just him and the fog, before it passed him, but it wasn't what he saw which first surprised him, what showed him the world around him had changed. It was the sound.
The sound of wind. Howling, unforgiving, and casting everything that could not endure its might aside. Ash turned, taking a look at the area around, a vast, wild land, beneath a...truly awe inspiring sky. He could almost reach out and touch the heavens here, and perhaps they touched the very land he stood upon. The mountain in the distance, though a few hours away if travelled by walking, could be seen clearly by him. This mountain pierced the heavens and from this mountain a land with all kinds of terrain spread out, to house the multitude of Pokémon types which made home here, some not originating from any region Ash had yet laid foot in. From his spot he turned, gazing down from the top of the mountainous ridge he stood on. Far below, almost like details on a map he could see a town, and the subtle hints of its inhabitants existence.
He knew this place. He knew it well.
For half a year this place had been his home. It'd only been mere weeks since he'd left it behind, but it felt like such a long time ago. An island that like the Orange Archipelago, belonged to no region, but this one had something, something which many bravado-fuelled trainers came to see, and on rare occasion, the more foolish never left.
The Edge. Named for the fact that in distant history, this place was believed to be the edge of the world itself. Legends said that in days long gone by, this is where warriors would come for their final battle, against the forces of nature which rested here, be it in its indecisive weather or its inhabitant Pokémon. Each were truly fierce, and just to reach where he stood now Ash and he team had fought wild Pokémon stronger than any they'd ever faced, and weather crueller than any he'd ever walked through. Ash and his team had conquered both nature and Pokémon, and soon even the harshest storm seemed cautious of approaching where he and his team made camp. He could remember every day, so many of them blurring into the next, training to their limits and beyond. The only days which stood out were the brief interludes they would take to rest.
At times, he had wondered where he would go after the Championship, and though even to himself he had not admitted it, this was the only place he could think of. Though when the time came, thought hardly had any control on where he went. Strange, he hadn't thought of this place since leaving it...
"You should have just stayed here." Ash turned, he knew that voice.
The third time. A photograph could not show him this boy's image any clearer than he'd seen it in recent times. There he was, accusation in his eyes. Why was this one always coming back? And why now? He had more important things to attend to than a memory. He met the gaze with a stoic one of his own.
"Go away. I don't want a lecture from you." He turned from the boy, gazing out into the distance once more. "What did you ever know, anyway?" Why was he here again? Where was the battleground? Quentin? Where was Pikachu?
"Why wonder about that? You belong here."
Ash repressed a growl. So the brat could his mind. Well it wasn't like he was getting closer to escape anyway. He turned around.
"Why?"
The boy charged. "Because this is where you belong!" Ash blocked a hook. "You abandoned my friends! And you're dragging Pikachu down with you!" Ash pushed off the younger's fist, grunting as his second met his gut. "You're hurting Mom!" He grunted as he jaw was struck. "You hurt Misty!" He was pushed back. "You hurt everyone!" The boy threw another punch.
It was stopped. The boy grunted, pulling back, but his fist was caught in a vice. "And I'm hurting you too." Eyes slowly rose to gaze at him, enraged even more than the boy himself. "But tell me, if you know so much..." The vice tightened, making the boy wince. "Why did you end up being me?"
Ash pushed the memory back, watching as the boy's face contorted in a fiercer rage, and...changed. Subtle details were somehow standing out as they appeared or vanished, no matter how infinitesimal.
Ten became eleven. Eleven was becoming twelve.
The memory charged, his punch meeting Ash's forearm. The memory glared, punching at him with his other hand, quickly getting his wrist caught. Ash threw him face-first into the ground. The boy jumped to his feet, his jacket flaring...and changing in the wind.
Twelve. "Why didn't you think before you left!" Where things...changed. Hoenn. "Why did you always set off alone!"
The memory charged wildly, meeting Ash's charge, stopping the memory and quickly throwing him to the ground again. The boy leapt to his feet, loathing in his eyes as the changes continued.
Sinnoh. Ash took a stance, his fists clenching, he was rapidly reaching the present."Why didn't you ever make time for them!" The two circled each-other, slowly, as slow as the changes were now passing by. "Why didn't you call more often, write more often?" Ash charged, blocking the sudden hook before trapping the offending arm between his arm and side. He met the hateful glare with one of his own as the final change came to be.
Unova. "Why didn't you just stop?!" Ash released him, pulling back his arm and right side before slamming his fist into the phantom's face. The boy fell back, hitting the ground. Ash advanced, and put his foot on the ageing boy's chest, looking down at finally fully aged memory. "If you didn't wanna be like me then why didn't you stop it?"
The memory smiled. His cheek split open. His mouth started bleeding. The memory didn't flinch, or react as his arms started to bleed. Before Ash, the memory's skin was breaking, cut by something he couldn't see. The memory's eyes, they were changing. A cold feeling filled Ash as he stared down the final form of the memory.
A mirror.
"Why didn't you?"
Ash growled, his knuckles cracking. "Dammit!" His fist came down like a bolt of lightning.
Ash.
The memory was nothing but ash, dust to the passing wind that carried it away. Ash's fist was left only against stone. He stood up again, looking for any remains of what he knew was already long gone.
Long gone, in so many ways.
"You took him from us."
Ash froze, he knew that voice. He turned to find a very familiar maiden, with a hate-filled glare that had already been burned into his subconscious. "You're not Ash."
"I am Ash!" Seeing the flare in her eyes he felt his nerves fade away. "Just not...who I used to be." Her eyes said all he needed to know. He wasn't Ash to her.
"Liar." Another voice, he turned to another face. May.
"Faker." Another turn, another face. Dawn.
"Traitor." Max
Like a square, they'd formed around him, trapping in their glares of, he'd never believed such rage possible from them, such loathing.
"Not my brother." He didn't want to see that face, yet his body moved before he give could order against it.
"Not my son." That face he was not going to look at, but he could feel her eyes bare into him. His eyes turned to another, one he was as unwilling to see, but compelled to look at none the less. Her words were her own, and everyone else's too.
"I hate you." Her words cast a murmur across the group, Ash could not make out their words, but their feelings were clear as day, and growing louder, every voice cursing, accusing, and loathing.
"Shut up..."
The ground started to shake, and in the distance the mountain roared with fire. The ground beneath him collapsed, with the others simply watching him fall, waiting for the ground to consume him.
Hoping it would.
"I hate you."
"Lair."
"Traitor."
"Fake."
"Not my brother."
"Not my son."
Ash reached for his head, covering his ears from the sound of the raging fire and earth, and from their voices, but the harder he tried, the louder they seemed to become. "Shut up!"
"I HATE YOU!"
He screamed. He had to drown them out. The raging fires, the shaking ground, he had to drown them out. The raging inferno quieted to a distant ember, the shaking stilled. The voices faded to echoes, echoes became quieter. Quiet, became silence. Nothing. There was nothing but his own howl. He screamed to his breath, and beyond, falling down.
He fell to his knees. He was quickly gasping for air, filling his deprived lungs with cold air. Cold air?
He felt the stone ground under him. Wet stone ground. Still stone ground. Cold on his skin. He was wet. The subtle sound of disturbed water around him, the dull throb of the deeper wounds, the cold.
He opened his eyes.
Real.
He clenched his fist on the ground, slowly raising his head again.
This was real.
He grunted, the memories of their voices still not completely a memory.
That was not.
He looked to the side of him, finding Pikachu on the floor shaking. "Ka chupi...ka chupi..." No ketchup...no ketchup.
Ash sighed. Figures... He poked Pikachu in the side. "Wake up!"
Pikachu's eyes snapped open. Crackled walls, bloody freezing, this was the battleground. A billion times better than that reality. "Pika Chu." Thank Mew.
Pikachu sat up, and took to his feet, with him and Ash looking across the battlefield. Both Feraligatr and Sableye were still in the thralls of illusion. Feraligatr clutched his head, dancing, well perhaps it was intended to be dancing but it was anything but graceful. Sableye on the other hand was curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth, muttering something. "Pikachu, what's he saying?"
"Sa bleye...sa bleye..."
There was a brief moment of silence before-"Chuka pikachu." Nothing interesting.
Ash shrugged. "Feraligatr! Wake up!"
Feraligatr stopped moving, removing his paws from his shoulders, his head darting in all directions before he gave a sigh of relief. So that crowd hadn't been real, thank Ho-Oh. He found his opponent, and what the hell was he doing? "TORRRRR!"
Sableye jumped, scurrying around franticly, muttering something to himself. He stopped, and sighed in relief, taking a glance back and Ash and Pikachu before he turned around.
He grinned.
Quentin was on one knee, his hand clutching his face, breathing as if he had just narrowly evaded drowning, or, as the gaze was, from an extremely horrific nightmare. He got to his feet, muttering something to himself.
"Eyeeeeee." He looked up, seeing Sableye advancing slowly, mouth open with fangs bared. Quentin stepped back, fearful before he stopped-
His eye twitched. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Sableye fell back, rolling around laughing. "You can say goodbye to that new coffee maker!"
...
Sableye used water spout. Sableye crashed to his knees, his eyes flowing as he begged desperately to the angered Grandmaster.
It wasn't very effective. "Either win or you're never getting coffee again I swear to Ho-Oh!"
Sableye stopped, jumping back to his feet, grinning again. There was no way he could lose, no way he could-"Sa-" He clutched his arm, as it throbbed with burn.
"Torrrr." Feraligatr balanced himself on his tail. He felt sick.
Ash and Quentin frowned. Their respective ailments had sustained through the haze, and taken their tolls. They both knew. "He can't keep this up much longer."
Quentin took a look at his opponents Pokémon, who wasn't in any better shape than his own, but there was another he wanted to check. He softly sighed. "You're still going to run." He slowly closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Well far be it from me to stop you."
Ash fell quiet for a moment. "Was that nightmare what I'm running from?" Were they who he was running from? Was it even running? Or was he just accepting things as they were. Were his dreams so far a step from reality? Were the dreams of those he knew really so far from the real thing?
May.
"No. I don't have anything to say."
"Liar."
Dawn.
"You're a jerk!"
"Faker."
Max.
"He promised me a battle once."
"Traitor."
Brock.
"I considered you a brother, Ash."
"Not my brother."
Not anymore...
Misty...
"Maybe I wasn't his best friend after all."
"I hate you!"
Where was the contradiction? Where was the reality that declared that nightmare false? What had he seen that dispelled that illusion? Had there been anything?
"My baby's home!"
"Mom..."
She'd been glad to see him, she'd welcomed him without question. And then he'd repaid that kindness, by bringing his burdens with him. He'd never have done that years ago.
"Not my son." Maybe there was truth to that, there was truth to that. He came home a mess, and brought all kinds of problems with him. That wasn't what her son was supposed to do. "My son's a good boy." Even she, in the end, would see it. Would see...him. If everyone else had already figured it out, it wouldn't be too long...
He closed his eyes, feeling them sting. He raised his arm, rubbing the cold, wounded skin against his eyes as he grit his teeth.
"Pikapi..." He stopped, freezing for a second. He slowly lowered his arm. Ash smiled, looking towards Pikachu. He leaned down, petting his oldest friend. He was doing it again, he was letting his mind wander beyond the battle, though a grim reality, it meant nothing at this moment. He stood back up, resolute.
"They're no friends of mine."
His Pokémon..."My family..." He met Quentin's eye. A worthy opponent... "My only friend..." He clenched his fist. The battle..."My only life..." Feraligatr roared, Sableye took a stance. "I have nothing else." It was time to end this round. "I need nothing else!"
"If you wanna stop something then stop this!" With now boundless rage he cast a gaze on Sableye. He was still grinning! "Feraligatr! Frost Bite!"
"Pikapi! Ka pika chu-" Ash, that attack isn't-
"DO IT!" That little bastard was going to pay!
Feraligatr's confusion was erased, and he started to move. If Ash wanted this move used, it would be used. His body was lost to sight as water burst from him again. The water below him rose, and began gently shifting. Sableye and Quentin both looked around, the water beyond the arena was shifting too. Sableye grunted, clutching a random burn. "Eyeee..."
The water around Feraligatr parted, the water flowing from his feet instead of his entire body. He was in an intense state of concentration. He raised one foot, the water falling to the ground beneath. He stomped. His foot broke the ground, and from it came another flood came. A wave a high as Sableye swept across the arena, headed right for his foe. Sableye jumped, his grin suddenly fading as he saw his foe's reactions.
Feraligatr grinned.
So did Ash. "Gotcha!"
The water below shot up, reaching for Sableye as it took a form. Half a form. The water outside the arena shot up, arching through the air to form the other half, surrounding Sableye, set to consume him.
The maw of a water beast, with huge teeth. Feraligatr opened his mouth, howling as a frozen storm emerged.
"This ismy reality."
The maw clamped down.
Sableye was submerged, before around him the water froze, dying the air with cool mist. The mist blinded all, dissipating quickly over the arena. When it parted, Sableye was revealed to be trapped in the ice, with water pushing each side of the frozen maw against each other. Ash took a close look at the ice.
"Shit!"
Feraligatr growled, his voice ripe with dissatisfaction. He opened his maw, groaning before closing it. He used up all his energy with that.
"Pi kachu pikachu, Pikapi. Ka chupi pika" I tried to warn you, Ash. It wasn't ready.
The ice started cracking,
"Too thin."
Quentin raised an eyebrow. "Trap a foe in ice and crush them in the pressure before the ice breaks. Inventive, I'll give you that." The ice shattered, falling to the water like thin shards of glass as Sableye hit the ground in a heap with a pained groan. "But only that! Sableye, take him out! Thunderpunch!"
With a grunt Sableye forced himself to his feet, and with a strained cry he lunged, his fist sparking into life. Ferligatr jumped, a slow, heavy jump.
Too slow, too heavy. Sableye's fist slammed right into his gut. Feraligatr's body was surrounded in electricity as he roared, sailing back to the ground like a giant sandbag. He cracked the already damaged arena floor as he sailed across it. Sableye too hit the ground in a not so impressive fashion, clutching at his body as he took in his opponent's condition with a small grin.
Feraligatr wouldn't be dancing anymore today, the consequence of his trainer's choice. Quentin watched as Ash reached for his belt. "Bringing an attack that isn't field-tested to a war. How foolish." He shook his head. "I didn't think you were incompetent, boy." Quentin watched as Ash returned Feraligatr, and smiled. "Four down, two to go, then your reign ends."
Ash raised the lure ball. "Sorry, Feraligatr, I let him get to me." With a press of the button he shrunk it. "I'll make him pay." Ash reached for his belt, placing Feraligatr back and pulling out another fighter. "Charizard! I choose you!" Charizard burst both, meeting the wet ground with disinterest, he'd been summoned to more inconvenient places. He took one look at Sableye and growled, clearly that runt had just defeated one of his team. Revenge would be swift.
Revenge would be brutal. "Sic 'em Charizard!" Charizard flew forward with a savage roar.
"Thunderpunch, Sableye!" Sableye jumped forward, slower than he would have been capable, but faster than most would have been capable of evading.
Charizard was not among them. He evaded the much smaller Pokemon with ease. "Get up high, Charizard!" He ascended putting distance between him and his foe. Charizard stared him down. "Fire Spin!" Charzard's maw opened, releasing a spiralling inferno, in a heartbeat it surrounded Sableye.
In the next it consumed him. The air was superheated by the blaze, casting an ominous red light across the entire arena. A tornado of pure fire.
An Inferno.
Ash looked to the blaze, the last time he'd seen the other side of the inferno was. Ash shook his head. He was just a memory. Just a memory, and nothing more, no-one more. He, like Harrison, like that brat, they had gotten what they had deserved. They had proclaimed themselves strong, but they were weak. They lied to him! Was Quentin the next in line? The next liar to be punished? His body seemed to throb, every wound reminding him of their existence. He smiled.
No.
Quentin was strong. The strong were rewarded. Rewarded by that which only the strong could enjoy. The strong met his full strength, to compare against their own. What better way was there to reward true power, than to be allowed to test its limits?
What greater reward was there, for people like them?
What greater joy?
"Charizard! Enough!"
The fire died. All that remained was a figure, in the middle of red-hot stone. Sableye had tested the edges of his power, and reached their limit.
"Return, Sableye." Quentin smiled. "Good job." As he returned the ball to his belt he wondered how many different brands of Coffee he was likely to buy in the coming days. "He's going to drive coffee beans to extinction." He grasped something, and his smile faded.
Quentin extracted his fifth Pokéball, slowly raising it and taking a look at. He took a heavy breath. "I shouldn't enjoy using him in battles." Shadows crept into his eyes. "His only instinct is to beat on a target until it stops moving. But..." He smiled, taking a look at Charizard as his shadows turned to fire. "When facing an opponent like you, I'm free to indulge!" He laughed, pulling back his ball. "I bring before you worthy prey! It's time-!" He cast it. "For a hunt!" It burst open. "Prepare for battle!"
Ash felt almost a twinge of fear, from a memory. This Pokémon was one he'd only seen a few times in his life, though no impression registered next to the first. Ash understood why Quentin didn't like using him, Ash didn't like seeing him. Charizard was not much different, and he'd broken into a savage roar. Only one name could entice this reaction from Charizard.
"Aerodactyl!"
With a roar Aerodactyl spread out his wings and took off from the ground. From his heights he took a look across the arena. Quentin had called for a battle, against-against a boy? The youngest he'd ever been set against. Now where was his worthy prey?
Aerodactyl screeched, a vicious primal cry that would freeze the blood of any not welcomed by it.
"He still can't see."
Charizard was most welcomed. He roared, kicking off the ground. He rose to Aerodactyl's heights, and the two beasts circled one another, waiting for the first order, for the first strike.
For first blood.
"I'll make him see!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
End of Chapter
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Next time: Heartbeat to Ignition
Author's Notes: Charizard's opponent for this battle was way too easy to choose. Tell me how it's not perfect.
The most savage round yet next chapter!
Warning! Will contain:
Heavy violence (by standards set by Pokémon, relatively mild by my standards)
Needlessly excessive dialogue. (I feel I've been holding out on you all in recent chapters)
Absolute crap! (and there's this fic's new summery!)
Coming Q3 2014! (I'm averaging three reviews per chapter... yeah, not exactly a motivating number.)
Trivia: I wanted three members of Ash's team to be starter Pokémon, seemed the fitting thing to do. So I ended up going with Charizard, Sceptile and Totodile/Feraligatr. First and last because they were personal favourites, and Sceptile because he was the best to choose from in my view, and it is my fic so it's ultimately only my view that gets a vote. Don't like it? Then write your own fic. This isn't the most original concept on the net so I definitely don't own it: knock yourself out. You'll likely finish yours before this one's done. Hell, before the next chapters even up!
Though if anyone attempts to steal Quentin, you'll wish all the nightmarish creatures from every horror movie you've ever seen were real just so they could get to you before I do. A luncheon with Hannibal Lecter is far more pleasant than just five minutes with me. (even if I'm not trying to kill ya) Quentin is my creation, probably crap but mine none the less.