Chapter VII: The Clone

He didn't know how long he'd been knocked out. All he knew was that he was waking up slowly, as though he was out of a trance. The more he woke up, the louder he could hear the voices calling him. "Ash...Ash..."
He finally opened his eyes and saw that he was somewhere unknown. Instead of being outside, he was in a dark room. There was nothing in the room, from what he could see. Then, he felt a pair of arms that hugged him quickly yet with a firm grip. "Ash, I'm so glad you're awake!"
He recognized it as Misty's voice, and realized it was her who was hugging him tight. "
"Uh Misty, could you not suffocate me?"
"Oh, sorry." Misty let go, blushing slightly. Then, he felt something run up to him. "Pikapi!"
"Pikachu!" Ash was glad that Pikachu was here, but then he felt people breathing down on his neck. Ash looked around and was surprised
to see Dawn, Brock, Selia, and Jerry next to him. "Huh, what are you guys doing here?" he asked nervously, knowing he was in trouble for
leaving them.
"Oh not much, just trapped in this room because of you!" replied Dawn, who was visibly angry. In fact, everyone else was angry at him also,
as if they were never worried about him. "But don't worry, we all got acquainted a little. So know we all agree that you're gonna receive hel-"
"Ok ok, so I snuck out and tried to save Misty."

"Without telling us."

"Yeah, and so what if I got myself captured."
"And ourselves."
"Yeah you too, but Team Rocket didn't even take away our Pokémon this time! We can easily escape!"
"Boy, don't you realize that this is not the same Team Rocket you normally run into?" Jerry spoke this time, only in a stricter and
serious tone. "Giovanni is not someone to underestimate. He set this all up as a trap for you, because you are much too valuable. And even
with you here, what makes you think he won't hurt the rest of us? Are you sure you can handle that on your conscious?"
The room fell into a dead silence. No one could say anything. "I'm sorry...I never wanted any of you hurt, or caught up in this."
"Aww, how touching."
Ash felt his spine tingle at the sound of the voice. He knew all too well where he heard it before. He couldn't see him, but it sounded as
though he was outside. The lights in the room turned on immediately, nearly blinding them. Sure enough, Giovanni was standing in front of
the door, with his Persian and two other grunts with him. Everyone else was also shocked to see him as well. Misty, however, was boiling
in anger.
"You! What do you want from us this time?"
"Hmm, now that's hardly the tone to use for Team Rocket's Boss. You should show more respect towards me, especially after all I've done for you."
Ash stood up and faced his direction. "Respect huh? Well I'll give you the respect you deserve!" He spat in front of Giovanni, but was
slapped right across the face.
"Ash!"
Jerry was about to lunge himself onto Giovanni if it wasn't for one of the grunts that handcuffed him immediately. "Let me go, let me go!"
"What are you going to do to him? "

"Don't worry; we'll also take the boy as well."
The other grunt grabbed Ash and handcuffed him as well.
"Pikapi!" But before Pikachu could go after him, Persian jumped out and pinned him to the floor. "Pikachu! Are you all right?"
"Well kid, we have two ways of handling this. You can come with us quietly, or you can watch your Pikachu become a quick snack for my Persian. You pick." Ash anger quickly rose, but reluctantly agreed to
go with Giovanni. "Giovanni, I hope you realize how sick and twisted you are" said Selia.
"Trust me; you don't know the half of it. Now, take those two out of here" he pointed to Ash and Jerry. "Oh, and if you four attempt to escape... well let's just say it won't be that good for your friends."
With a final smirk, he left the room, locking it tight. Once his footsteps faded, Selia suddenly clasped her hands together and closed
her eyes. As she did this, a pink-purplish glow appeared in front of her. "Let's see if I can tune with Ash's mind."
Unaware to her, Brock and the others were freaked out. "...Umm Selia, what the heck are you doing?"
"Brock, Dawn, Misty, it's time I revealed something to you..."

Ash and Jerry were silent the entire time. Not only would it be bad for them if they talked, they were both thinking pretty much the same
thing. It was obvious why Giovanni wanted Ash, but why would he want Jerry as well?

"Selia, can you see where they are now?"
"Not yet Brock. Hold on, I think I see something..."

Ash and Jerry stepped into a dark room full of scientists. There were many strange machines in the room that Ash had never seen, and they were all blinking and flashing. But the strangest and probably the one that captured Ash's attention the most was probably the one in the center of the room. It was in the shape of a black cylindrical tube, but it had all sorts of wires connected to it, some black and tiny, while others were larger and clearer, and had strange fluids passing through it. It had no flashing lights, but it did have a screen that reminded Ash of one of those heart monitors they had in hospitals. It was also connected to some sort of sphere that looked like it was surrounded in a faint black aura. Or was it just Ash's imagination? "Impressive, isn't it?" Ash almost forgot where he was, and who he was with. "What is that?" he asked quietly, not expecting to be answered. "Patience, but for now instead of asking what that is, why don't you start by telling me who you are?"
Ash would have felt threatened, if it weren't for Jerry's sudden outburst of laughing.

"Is he…laughing?" asked Misty, wondering if Jerry really was insane like Ash had told her. "Oh Jerry…"

"May I ask what is so funny?"
Jerry stopped laughing, but a smile and a few tears in his eyes. "You're wasting your time Giovanni; he's not the one you're looking for."

"Wait, what?" said Misty. "What does he mean that Ash isn't the one he's looking for?" asked Dawn, who was just as confused as Misty was.

"Oh no, don't tell me…"Selia murmured.

"Oh, so sure about that are you?"Giovanni smirked.
"Believe me, this boy has some strong aura inside him, but he's not the one you're looking for."
"Wait, what is he talking about?" thought Ash.
"So, you think you know who I'm looking for?"
"Think I know, I know for a fact that you're looking for my son, aren't you?"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT! JERRY HAS A SON?"
"Oh dammit. This won't end well" thought Selia.

Ash also had a look of shock on his face, but for some reason, it was also mixed with sadness and hurt. Giovanni, however, still had a prideful smirk on his face. "Hmm, so you're sure that your son is the one that I'm looking for?"
"Yes, and you'll never find him, because he goes by a nickname that only his family calls him by."
"And what is that nickname?"
"Well, you can't find him now, not while I'm here, but if you must know, his nickname is Ash."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

"... HAHAHAHAHA!"Giovanni began to laugh as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. It almost made him less threatening, but almost.
"Well, I'm afraid I have bad news for you. Do you know that boy's name over there?" He pointed to Ash.
"Yes, his friends tell me his name is Ashton."
"But isn't it strange that they've only called him Ash?"
"Well, it must be his…nickname."
"Yes, that boy over there is really known as Ash Ketchum, and he is your son Tajiri."

"No way! How could Jerry be Ash's dad? Didn't he die a long time ago?"
"Selia, what's going on?"
"This will definitely not end well."

"So…you really did forget about me…" Ash looked away from his father, not wanting to even glance at him.
"Ash, it's not true! I would never forget about you, I just…"Tajiri was at a loss for words. He had made a huge mistake, how could he have not recognized his own son?
"I must admit Tajiri, not recognizing your own son even after all these years? You really have lost your touch."
"Ha, coming from the same man who would kill his own brother!"

"Wait a minute, so now Giovanni is Jer-I mean Tajiri's brother?"
"But that means, he's Ash's uncle!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Tajiri, but I'm not the same spineless brother you had all those years ago." Giovanni said with a smirk.
"Yeah, now you're a despicable, miserable excuse for a human being. Whatever your plan is, it won't work as long as I'm around!"
"Hmph, insults get you nowhere. Grunts, take him back to the room, I need to talk to his son in privacy."
"I'm not leaving here without Ash Jonathon!"
"To be honest, you are in no position to say that. Now go already!"
Two grunts came in and grabbed Tajiri, who was struggling and yelling to his son. "Let go of me! Ash, don't do anything he says!" Ash, however, still had his head down, not even paying attention to what his father said.

The grunts took Tajiri to the room where Ash's friends were, pushing him roughly inside.
"Damn…could they have been a little nicer?"
"Actually, compared to us those guys are nothing."
Tajiri turned around and saw Misty, Dawn, Pikachu, and Brock with an angry expression. "Oh damn, I forgot about Ash's friends."Tajiri thought nervously. "So guys, I suppose you know what's going on huh?"
"YOU LIED TO US!"
"Yeah, I tend to do that sometimes…" Tajiri sweat-dropped. He would rather be thrown off another cliff than face the wrath of two angry girls (and Brock). Then he remembered something.
"Selia, can you still see with Ash's mind?"
"Yeah but-"
"Keep on seeing and tell me what's happening, I need to check for cameras and bugs."
"Wait, why?"
"We're going to be escaping soon…"

Meanwhile, Ash and Giovanni were still alone in the room. Ash was still quiet and still looking at the floor. "So you're probably wondering why I wanted to have you kidnapped."

"Have you ever heard of aura?"
"Yes, and I know you want my aura don't you?"
Giovanni chuckled, "Well, you're not that dim are you? You see Ash; I need your help in a little harmless experiment of mine that would be extremely helpful. If you do help me, I'll let you, your friends, and even your good-for-nothing father go and you can forget this ever happened." Giovanni still had a proud smile on his face.
"Well, why do you want me?" Ash asked.
"It's like you said before; I need a bit of your aura."
"Why, it's not that special."
"I guess I overestimated you a bit. Ash, did you know you have a very special and unique aura, and not to mention powerful. It's so powerful; if it goes untrained it could cause a great deal of damage to those around you. This could be like training for you.
"And what if I refuse?"Ash was not sure he should trust him.
"Well, let's just say you better not refuse.""
Ash hesitated, but decided to agree with Giovanni. "Alright, I'll do it. But you have to swear you won't hurt anyone."
"Hmph, fine I swear."

"Dammit Ash, I told you not to agree with him!" Tajiri cursed.
"Umm, Mr. Ketchum, what will Giovanni do to Ash?" asked Dawn.
"Fortunately Ash is much too valuable for Giovanni to do any major harm to Ash. But still, I'm not so sure…"

"All right Giovanni I'll help you, but what do I have to do?"
"Ah yes, you see Ash all you have to do is place your hands on this sphere."Giovanni pointed to the sphere in the room, the one that Ash was curious about.

"Wait, that's it? THAT's what Giovanni wants Ash to do?"

"Hmm, something's still not right here…"

"So that's it huh? No aura or anything like that?" Ash made his way to the sphere and put his hands on it. It felt dead cold and rough, as if it was made out of crystal or some type of rock. Even though Ash was told to do something so simple, he couldn't help but feel worried and curious at the same time. Giovanni took notice of this. "What's wrong, feel uncomfortable?"

"…you're hiding something, aren't you?"

"My, you really aren't that dumb are you? All right then, I'll let you in on a little secret, I personally believe that you aren't that capable of mastering your aura, so I'm about to take the responsibility of being an Aura Guardian of your hands." Before Ash could react, his feet were grabbed by two metal clasps. He tried to move, but he couldn't. "W-what's going on?"Giovanni laughed, "Allow me to present to you my latest experiment and creation." He went over to the tube and pressed a large button in its side. Suddenly, the black metal on the tube started to glow, and seemed to disappear and turn the tube into glass. The screen that looked like a heart monitor turned on, and looked like an actual heart monitor. Ash's eyes (as well as everyone else) widen in shock at the thing inside the tube. "Now, nephew, I want you to meet our experiment 522, or better known as your only clone." It was true, inside the tube was a replica of Ash in every single way. It had his black hair, his face, everything exactly like Ash except for the fact that wires were connected to his head, hands, torso, and feet. The clone looked dead, as if there was no life coming from him.

"Y-you cloned me!"

"I had to; this is the only way that I'm able to store your aura. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to keep the clones alive, I had to sacrifice all of them just make sure he lives" he pointed to the clone, "But with you here, I'll be able to bring him into this world."

"Well too bad Giovanni, I'm not doing a thing you ask me to."Ash said, keeping his hands behind his back.

"HA, you'll regret saying that twerp." Giovanni took out a remote with a dial and a button. "Let's see how you'll take on Level 1." He turned the dial to the left, and pressed the button. Suddenly, a wave of shock came from the clasps and through Ash's body. Unlike Pikachu's thunder shocks, this kind of electricity was more powerful, shocking his very bones. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Then, the pain and electricity stopped. Ash was panting heavily, realizing that this was the 'lightest 'of all the levels.

"Dammit, when I get out of here, I'll make my bastard of a 'brother' pay!"
"Tajiri now's not the time for that! Giovanni will pay for what he did, but I feel he's not over yet."

"Now Ash, will you do what I ask you to?"Ash nodded slowly, feeling numb from the electric shock.
"Good boy, now place your hands on the sphere again." Ash raised his hands, and once he put them on the sphere, another shock even more powerful from the last one went through him again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He kept his eyes closed, hoping to slip away into unconsciousness, but for some reason he couldn't. He opened his eyes a little, and he saw that some dark blue light was escaping from his hands. He opened them more, and saw that his whole body was radiating in the light. "What's going on…"He thought to himself. At the same time, the heart monitor was starting to beep, increasing every time more of the dark blue light entered the tube. "Now Ash, thanks to your aura, I'll be able to complete my mission. I just need a few more…"He twisted the dial, and the electricity got even more powerful.

Ash's friends could not believe what was happening. Ash was being tortured out there, while they were inside doing nothing. Pikachu had enough, and started to use Volt Tackle on the door.
"Pikachu stop!"Tajiri tried to stop the Pokémon, but it would not listen. Misty, understanding Pikachu's motivation, defended it. "Pikachu is trying to do something, while we're standing around here doing nothing!" Then, Pikachu's final Volt Tackle finally broke through the door, creating a huge gaping hole in the middle of it. "Pi-Pikachu broke the door!"Said Dawn, completely surprised at how much power the little Pokémon had.
"Good, you kids stay here, I'll go with Pikachu and get Ash."
"Right!" Selia kept looking through Ash's mind, when she sensed something faint. "What was that?"she thought.

The shock stopped, but Ash could not take it anymore. If Giovanni shocked him at a higher level, he would surely die. "I can't take it anymore…" he thought. The clone was getting stronger, but that still wasn't enough for Giovanni. "I just need a little more…"Ash's heart sank. He really was going to die, and to think this was the same uncle who helped him and his mom when his dad was gone. "Dad…please help me…"he thought. Then from the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a boy about his age. It was too dark to tell how he looked like but he was a little taller than Ash, and looked very serious. For some reason, Ash felt he wasn't part of Team Rocket, and was almost familiar to him. Then the boy waved his hand and suddenly all the electrical appliances and machines in the room started to short circuit. "What's going on!" Then the tube started to beep loud and harshly, as though it were a warning bell. "Oh no, get the clone out of there, quick!" Then, the tube itself was starting to short circuit, until one shock finally went through the clone. It opened its eyes widely, and it was obvious it was in pain. "No!" Then the clone's hair turned white and his eyes turned blood red, and finally it closed his eyes. Then the clasps released Ash, and he fell back as the sphere exploded in front of him. While Giovanni and the other scientists were busy with the clone, no one noticed Tajiri and Pikachu enter the room. Pikachu ran over to Ash's side, and was relieved he was awake. "Pikachu…"However, Ash was still weak from the shocks. Tajiri went over and picked up Ash quietly, trying not to be seen by anyone of them. Ash looked for the boy, but couldn't find him anywhere. "Was I…hallucinating?" Tajiri and Pikachu left the room quietly, and were now hurrying over to the room where Ash's friends were held captive. Everyone was glad to see Ash, considering the fact that they were all angry at him just a few hours ago. "Ash! Is he going to be okay?" asked Dawn.
"Don't worry, he'll be okay soon enough" replied Tajiri. He laid Ash down on the floor, and turned to Misty, Brock, and Dawn. "All right kids, I need you to take out your strongest Pokémon and have them attack that wall." In less than a second, Brock took out his Croagunk, Happiny, and Sudowoodo, Misty took out her Starmie and Staryu, while Dawn only took out Piplup (Mamoswine would not have fit). Each Pokemon tried to Tackle or punch the wall, but it wasn´t until Happiny landed a single Pound that the wall completely collapsed into a hole in front of them (much to the surprise of Selia and Jerry). However, to everyone's surprise, they were staring directly at the sky, with no trees around them! "No way, weren't we in the first floor?" asked Dawn. Everyone returned their Pokemon, and saw that she was wrong. The "log cabin" looked as if it had suddenly grew 5 or 6 stories higher, making it look like some sort of office building.

"Hmm, I see, he builds his headquarters underground so no one can find it, but it rose so that we can´t escape. Huh, I guess Jonathon´s not that dumb after all..."
"That´s nice and all, but how do we get out of here?" asked Brock.
"Staraptor..." Everyone turned to see Ash standing up and holding out a Pokeball. He seemed to be getting better, but he was still tired. "Of course, Ash´s Staraptor should be able to take all of us down!"said Brock. Ash nodded, and released Staraptor.
"Staraptor!" Misty was impressed with Staraptor, due to the fact that she had never seen one before. However, Tajiri was still worried. "Hmm, Staraptor looks big enough to carry only three of us at the same time. Okay, new plan!"
"What do you mean new plan?" asked Selia.
"Brock, Dawn, and Misty will go down first and head to the middle of the forest. Me, Selia and Ash will follow you guys later."

"But, are you sure you want to stay behind with Ash?" Misty was worried that something might happen to them while they were here.
"Don´t worry Mist, I´ll be OK." Ash smiled weakly. Misty blushed, but she didn't want him to see her that way. "I´m not worried about you, I´m worried if Selia and your dad can handle you that´s all."
"Sure..."thought everyone except Ash. Anyways, Dawn, Brock and Misty got on Staraptor. It was quite comfortable being on Staraptor, if it were not for the fact that everyone riding felt squished together. "Ow Brock, that was my leg!"
"Sorry Dawn, Misty don´t grab on to my hair!"
"Sorry, I felt like I was about to fall!"
"Boy, I´m glad I´m not going with them" thought Ash. "Alright Staraptor, fly as fast as you can please!"
"Wait, how fast is that?" asked Misty.
"Not fast enough!" Staraptor spread its wings and took off, at a speed so fast that Misty´s screams were only heard for a few seconds. "Well, that´s that" said Tajiri.

Suddenly, a loud piercing alarm started. Team Rocket members were coming in from the halls and to their room. "Aww damn, now we´re screwed" said Tajiri.
"Wait, don´t worry Tajiri, don´t forget Plan C!"
"Plan C, what are you talking about Selia?" asked Ash.
"Oh yeah, that plan! Ash quick, grab on to my hand!" Ash did as he was told, and grabbed Tajiri by his hand, while Tajiri grabbed Selia´s hand. Pikachu climbed on Ash´s shoulders. "All right Ash, this may be weird at first, but you´ll get used to it later."
"Wait, what?" But before anyone could answer him, Selia jumped out the hole, along with Tajiri, Ash, and Pikachu. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" But instead of falling to his death as he thought, Ash found himself floating, or more like levitating. He turned to look at Selia, but in her place a Cresselia was there, and his dad was on her! "W-what the, w-why is-"
"Don´t worry Ash, it´s me" the Cresselia spoke using Telepathy. Ash´s eyes widened in shock, but the voice was all too familiar. "S-Selia?"
"I´ll explain everything later, but for now, get on my back."
"Ash, give me your hand" Tajiri reached out his hand. Pikachu climbed his arm and went on Cresselia. Ash extended his hand, but then-

BOOM!

Ash and Cresselia were suddenly attacked by dozens of rocks. "This is Power Gem! But who-" However, to her shock Ash was not there with them. "Oh no, Ash were are you?" Cresselia must have lost focus on Ash, but quickly saw where he was, to her horror. "Tajiri, down there!" Tajiri looked down, and saw what was wrong. Ash was being held by his head and hair by Giovanni. He was unconscious, but his face was clearly in pain. Giovanni was trying hard to bring him inside the room, and trying not to let Ash go. "Jonathon, let him go!" Tajiri was incredibly angry.
"Sorry Tajiri, but I don´t think that´s a very good idea. Persian, get rid of these pests." Persian obeyed, and was starting to charge up its Hyper Beam. "Per..." However, before it could even launch its attack, Pikachu quickly used Thunderbolt on it. It stopped Persian, but it also hit Giovanni, who spread the attack on Ash. "Aaaaah!" Although it was not as powerful as the shocks he received before, it reminded him of them and fainted again. Pikachu stopped its Thunderbolt, but Tajiri could sense something was wrong. Giovanni also sensed it, and one look at Ash was enough to know why. Ash was starting to radiate blue aura again, only this time it was growing and growing, and anything in its way disappeared as if it disintegrated. Giovanni got his Persian and went right out of the room, he knew what was happening.

"Selia, you have to take me down to Ash!"
"But Tajiri, you can´t go to him in this state..."
"I have to at least try!" Selia sighed and gave in. Sometimes, it was hard to tell who was more stubborn, Ash or Tajiri. As she got closer, the aura around Ash was still growing, it had now destroyed the whole room and was proceeding onto the roof and the floor below. Selia was amazed at how powerful Ash´s aura was. Tajiri tried to get closer to Ash, but the aura kept pushing him away. "Ash, wake up! You have to stop this instant!" He tried yelling at him, but it wouldn´t work either. "Pikapiii!" Not even Pikachu could wake up his friend. "Wait a minute...Pikachu!" Tajiri just had an idea.
"Pikachu, I need you to use Thunderbolt on Ash again."
"Pikachu Pika pika!" (What kind of idea is that!)
"Well I never said it was a good one."
"Chu, Pika-Pikachu pi ka!" (Well I´m not doing it!)
"Pikachu´s right Tajiri, Ash might get hurt..."
"Maybe, but it will give us the chance to get him before Jonathon comes back."
Selia hesitated, but she knew that this was the only plan they had. "Alright then, Pikachu if you won´t do it then I´ll have to." Selia was forming a small ball of electricity in her hands, and then launched it straight at Ash. It broke his aura force field, making it easier for Tajiri to grab him. Once he grabbed Ash, Selia started to fly away towards to the forests, but not before a Hyper Beam nearly hit them. Tajiri could see Giovanni standing on the roof with his Persian. "Dammit Jonathon, just leave us alone!" he shouted. Persian sent out another Hyper Beam, this one being much bigger than the last one. Selia nearly dodged it, and almost caused Tajiri and Pikachu to fall off. However, Tajiri lost his grip on Ash´s hand, and could do nothing as he saw his son fall down towards the trees...

Author`s note!

Mwahaha, aren`t I ASHbusive? (laughs) Anyways, it won`t be long untill I post the next chapter. Bye-bye, and thanks for reading & reviewing!