Alright, here's chapter 5.

I kept it nice and short, since I would like to dedicate a short, separate chapter just for this.

Enjoy!


Praeteritus Preteritus

Previous Day, 11:00 PM
Indigo Plateau Outskirts
Pokémon Meeting

"Right. Let's get the monthly meeting started." Said a large orange lizard, with a flame burning on its tail.

"Let's just get to the point, Charizard. What's the bet this month?" a red Pokémon with a figure similar to a human, with two claws.

"Calm down, Scizor." A blue and black Pokémon commented, who had spikes on the back of both his hands. "We are all interested in the prize for this month."

"Yes, but sadly, only six of us can compete this month." A little yellow mouse said while eating ketchup directly from a bottle. "Ash already chose the party for the final match, after all."

"Indeed." All the Pokémon nodded in unison.

"Right, so let's introduce the bet this time." The Pikachu continued. "Tomorrow Ash is going to be meeting Cynthia again, I'm sure you all know that."

Again, they nodded.

"We're going to predict the outcome of the meeting!" Pikachu excitedly said.

"What? More of this 'romance' ordeal?" the dark and blue Pokémon asked in annoyance.

"Simple enough." A blue dragon said while sitting on a rock.

"And the winner will get to go first in the final match?" another blue Pokémon added. It has four legs and a large 'X' on its face.

"Yes." Charizard answered. "Ash is already determined on going through all the rounds with only Pikachu. You lucky mouse." The lizard said to the electrical mouse. "Hey, I won the last month's bet fair and square." Pikachu answered.

"Now, let's get the predictions down. I'll be the judge this time." A shiny bird Pokémon said, while scratching the rock to make a scoreboard. "You have 3 minutes to predict what's going to happen."

The group stayed quiet for the next 3 minutes, and the Noctowl signalled the end of the thinking period. "Right, time to put the bets."

"Charizard?" the bird asked. "Holding hands, through a handshake. He fainted after he kissed her forehead just now; I bet he's not going to be brave enough to do more the next day. He's not good at this stuff." The orange lizard explained. "Right, cause you're a pro at this." The bird said sarcastically. "Shut up." Ignoring the warning, the bird went to write at the rock.

"Moving on. Pikachu?" the bird looked at the mouse. "A kiss on the cheek? From Cynthia." The yellow creature answered. "Okay..." Noctowl went to write again.

"Salamence?" this time, he looked at the blue dragon with the large red wings. "A hug. She's liked him for four years, but she's not daring enough to go for a kiss. Or at least that's the impression I got." Commented the dragon. Noctowl wrote this one also.

"Lucario?" He switched to the other party member, who looked confused. "I do not know.. I am not good at all when it comes to this kind of thing. I did not even know that Master had a romantic interest." He answered. "Right.. I'll put that down as 'Nothing Happens'." The bird said, and went to the rock again.

"Scizor?" the red Pokémon was leaning on a tree, looking very calm. He seemed confident in his answer. "Second base!" he confidently answered. Hearing this, everyone flinched and fell. "Are you sure about that?" the bird asked while trying to get up. "Definitely." Said the bug Pokémon while waving his claw in a confident manner. "Ri.. Right." The bird went over to the rock to write Scizor's answer, but stopped in the middle of writing. "Why stop at the second base? You know what, I don't even want to know." The bird went back to write his answer. "He gets interrupted by someone or something. That's what I was thinking." The steel Pokémon replied. "Oh, I thought he's impo- You know, let's stop this conversation here." The bird finished jolting down the answer.

"Moving right along. Metagross?" the bird asked the steel-psychic type Pokémon. "A kiss on the lips." The pseudo-legendary answered. "Right, let me write that down and end this meeting for this month." Noctowl finished writing the bets. "I'm off to sleep, then. See you guys." He flew off to his tree.

"I guess we better get some rest too. Especially you, Lucario, you have that 'special op' tomorrow." Pikachu said.

"Indeed." Lucario answered, while walking to the resting area.

Everyone else followed, while Pikachu went back to the cave.


1:25 PM
Indigo Plateau
Alleyway

After a high jump, Ash was beginning to descend, still holding the Sinnoh champion bridal-style, who was still in a daze after another surprise from her prince and his Pikachu.

They safely made a smooth landing.

They walked out of the alleyway and started walking.

"What hotel are you staying at, Cynthia?" Ash asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Ah- It's the Charleston Hotel." The champion answered, who snapped out of her daze.

"Oh, okay. Let me walk you there." The man replied.

After a short walking distance, Cynthia finally got the courage to ask the question that's been on her mind for the past two days.

"So, umm.. 'Sir' Ash, mind telling me how you're here right now?" asked the blonde-haired trainer.

"Well, I walked here." He replied with a smile.

"Of course. But what I mean is, how did you survive the incident four years ago?" she asked while trying to avoid crashing into someone.

"Ah, that. Well, do you want the long or short story?" he answered with a question.

"I don't mind the long version." She replied.

"Okay, here goes. After the long fall, when I came to, I realized-" after a short and incomplete explanation, the male trainer stopped talking and walking. Cynthia stopped when she realized that Ash has completely stopped walking, and turned around to see what was wrong. "What's wro-" before she could finish her sentence, she saw Ash's face, whose eyes had widened a big deal from looking at something.

Cynthia turned around once again to see what it was.

A man with blue hair was getting out of his car, wearing a formal attire, a matching striped suit. He was wearing a black shirt and a silver tie, matching his company's uniform. On his left chest, a 'G' shaped badge was pinned to his suit.

"Cyrus." Ash murmured. All the memories from the incident four years ago are coming back to him in a vivid instant, which couldn't be shaken off this time.


Four Years Ago, One Particular Day
Mt. Coronet
Near Spear Pillar's Entrance

"Without your Pokémon, you're just as useless as the next guy on the street, aren't you, The Champion of Sinnoh?" said the blue-haired man while he was taking out a red chain from his pocket. "Now, I'm going to pry open the Dimensional space."

"Stop right there, Cyrus!" the blonde-haired trainer shouted, while trying to take the red chain away from the man. Cyrus, who had anticipated this, quickly ordered his Pokémon to stop the champion in a violent way. "Crobat! Air Slash!"

"No! Get away from there, Cynthia!" Dawn said, who was being kept busy by a number of Galactic Grunts attacking her with multiple Pokémon. May, who had just finished her share of Grunts, came to help Dawn.

Ash, who realized Cyrus' intentions from the beginning, had already started running towards Cynthia.

Brock, Misty and Max had just arrived in the scene, after calling help from the Police Force and taking down quite a few of Grunts.

Ash, who couldn't make it in time by running, quickly reached out his right hand and dived forward. He pushed the champion, getting her out of the course of the Air Slash.

He closed his eyes, not knowing what will happen.

He could feel the Air Slash pass right through his face, pushing his hat off.

He felt a splash of warm liquid on his arm.

He opened his eyes, to see his right arm flying, detached from where it was supposed to be.

"Aaaaaah!" Ash screamed out loud in pain, grieving over the loss of his right hand.

The rest of the group watched in amazement, witnessing the unbelievable scene without being able to do anything.

"That's what you get for trying to be the hero, brat." Cyrus said, walking up to him with a big grin on his face. He stopped in front of Ash, who was in a crawling position, still holding his right arm. "No one can stop me in my quest for a new beginning." He kicked Ash's stomach, which resulted in another scream from the boy. "Stop! How could you be so cruel?" Brock yelled from afar, who was still watching the scene, and was trying to get closer to save Ash. "Don't come any closer.. or the boy falls off the cliff." Brock immediately stopped in his tracks upon hearing the man's ultimatum.

"How hard it is to mold this world to my image.. that's why I will pry open the portal to the other dimension! But of course, that comes after crushing you, brat." He gave another kick, this time to Ash's face.

"It's far easier to create a completely new world than to change this current one!" He proceeded to punch Ash multiple times on the face. Completely powerless and numb from the pain, Ash could not manage to let out a single sound, even to express suffering.

"No.. stop!" Misty screamed from the top of her lungs, witnessing this situation.

"I will make a new world in which I am the ruler of all things!" Cyrus clenched his fist one more time, and gave an uppercut to Ash's jaw.

Ash, barely having the energy to say anything, still managed to stand up. Everything seemed like a blur to him. One of his leg gave out on him for a moment, but he managed to stand up again, but he was in a difficult position. He was right next to the cliff. A very deep canyon. A bottomless pit.

He could barely stand up.

He could barely say anything.

He could barely hear.

He could barely see.

He could barely breathe.

All he could make out was Cyrus, who was getting close to him.

"You're no human! Stop this at once, if you still have the littlest bit of human within you!" Cynthia shouted, trying to stop the leader of Team Galactic. "You promised not to kill him if we didn't get closer, and we didn't! Let him go!"

"That promise, I did not make." He answered.

"You... You're mad!" she shouted in response.

He turned around to see the champion in the eyes. "Mad? I..Shall become a deity!"

After turning around, Cyrus' right leg was lifted from the snow, and thrusted forward, making contact with Ash's gut.

Ash's feet were lifted off the ground, and he was flung backwards, over the edge of the cliff, into the bottomless pit.


Present Time, 1:30 PM
Indigo Plateau
City Streets

"Cyrus.." Ash said under his breath. He started to walk towards the blue-haired man, who was walking towards the entrance of the restaurant in front of him. It seemed like he had an appointment with someone important.

On a nearby building, a group consisting of five Pokemon was watching the whole scene.


"Crap, he's going to go crazy." An orange lizard said to his friends. "Scizor, go with Lucario to stop him."

"I would've done it without you even saying it. Look at Pikachu, he's already trying to stop him. Let's go." The Scizor replied.

"Indeed. We do not want him destroying half of the city, with the Grand Conference coming." Lucario answered, while jumping down the building to stop his trainer.


I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

The next chapter will be a long one, containing the most important element in Pokemon! Pokemon Battles! =P

As usual, please review.