Alcazzar was pulling his cart down the forest path, occasionally stopping to admire the badge on the inside of his coat. A snort from behind him made him sigh.
"Stop that, Abra. It is the first badge I've won in this region and the first gym I've challenged in many years, I'm allowed to get nostalgic, aren't I?"
"Zor." Alcazzar looked up as a red blur flashed from tree to tree and landed in front of him. It had a thick red metallic exoskeleton, eye-patterned pincers and two-toed feet with one clawed toe in front and the other in the back. It had a pair of two-lobed wings which fluttered and retracted. Aside from its primarily red coloration, it had accentuations of black on its neck, chest, and abdomen, and yellow eyes. It raised its claws menacingly, and was a little put out when Alcazzar ignored it, instead looking past it at a tree.
"Is this your Scizor?" Alcazzar asked the tree.
"Yes." it responded in a tired voice. From behind the tree a man stepped out, old with greenish-grey hair and a thin double-moustache. He wore a tan jacket, opened at the front to reveal a green shirt. Over it he had a dark blue waistcoat with golden buttons. He also wore a brown kilt down to his ankles and had black shoes. "My name is Muramasa, and this is my Scizor, Masamune."
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Alcazzar." Alcazzar said, still not looking at Scizor.
"I take it you are a Pokemon trainer?"
"You are correct." Alcazzar replied. Muramasa smiled.
"In that case, perhaps you would be interested in visiting my Elite Pokemon Training Centre. It is the large building just down this path."
"I would indeed be interested." Alcazzar replied.
"Shall I lead you there?" Muramasa asked, gesturing down the path. Alcazzar shook his head.
"No thank you. I will get there in my own time." Alcazzar bowed, and turned back to his cart while Muramasa and Masamune headed down the path. He selected a Pokeball. "Come on out, Tropius. It is your turn to pull while I take a quick nap." Alcazzar tied the cart to the Grass-type by a rope that passed through both bars, before climbing onto the cart and settling himself. "Wake me up when we get there." he yawned to Abra, before falling asleep.
"Excuse me?" Alcazzar awoke to see a young black-haired boy with a white shirt, blue shorts and a blue strap over his left shoulder peering at him.
"Yes?" Alcazzar responded shortly.
"Why is your cart parked blocking the door of our training centre?" Alcazzar sat up. Tropius had pulled the cart to the training centre, then settled down for a nap in the doorway. He looked over at Abra, who was also asleep. He poked Abra in annoyance.
"I told you to wake me up!" he accused. Abra snorted and went back to sleep. Alcazzar looked over at the boy. There were several other people watching him curiously, and past them was a battlefield and training area. Alcazzar got off the cart. "I'm here to challenge the head of this training centre." Alcazzar explained. This did not have the expected effect. Alcazzar had expected them to be interested, possibly a little impressed. Instead, anger and fear flashed across their faces.
"You're Him?" the boy asked. Alcazzar assumed that he meant that Muramasa had mentioned he was coming.
"Errm, yes?" he replied. There was a collective intake of breath from the trainers.
"What are you doing here? This isn't a Dojo, it's a training centre!" one of them asked.
"Huh?" Alcazzar was getting confused.
"You won't be shutting this place down!" another shouted.
"Wha-"
"If you want to get to our teacher, you'll have to go through us, Shiro Dojo-destroyer!" the boy snarled.
"Who-"
"Go, Primeape!"
"Go, Nidoking!" Two of the trainers sent out their Pokemon – the messy off-white furred Primeape hopped up and down, waving its mitten like fists in the air, while the purple Nidoking stamped its foot and lowered its sharp eyes and sharper horn to glare, its fangs protruding from its mouth.
"I have no idea what you are on about, but if you want a double-battle I might as well give you one." Alcazzar said, selecting two Pokeballs from his cart. He pressed the buttons to enlarge them, and held them out, grinning at the trainers. "Now, my unstoppable tag team, battle calls!" he announced grandly, and the two Pokemon emerged in white flashes. The first was a white-furred Pokemon, nearly one and a half metres tall, with deep red lightning bolt-like markings on its face, chest and forepaws. The second was a large snake Pokemon, mostly black in colour with several scar-like purple markings on its body and yellow hexagon markings that ran from its head to its tail. Large red fangs protruded from its mouth over its yellow lower jaw and it hissed as it swished its bladelike tail. The two eyed each other and bared their teeth in what might have been smiles. "Zangoose use Aerial Ace on Primeape, Seviper use Aqua Tail on Nidoking." Alcazzar commanded. The commotion from down below brought Muramasa to the window. He watched in interest as the two trainers returned their fainted Nidoking and Primeape to their Pokeballs, and then the others began to release all of theirs at once at Alcazzar.
"Shingo, have a look at this." He called over to the boy sat at the table behind him. Shingo was Purple-haired, with a brown and black shirt and red and yellow shorts. He was on a laptop. "I thought you had given up that thing." Muramasa said as Shingo stood and closed the laptop.
"I use it to review my training now, not to dictate it." Shingo answered, walking over to the window. Down below, quite a pile of unconscious Pokemon was forming. "Is that a Zangoose and a Seviper?" he asked in astonishment. Muramasa nodded.
"I wonder how much training it must have taken to stop those two from killing each other, let alone battle together." Muramasa said, impressed.
"Who is he?" Shingo asked.
"He says his name is Alcazzar, and I invited him to join us. I then told the students that Shiro was coming."
"Shiro the dojo destroyer? Why?"
"As a test, which-" Muramasa glanced out of the window, from which the sounds of battle had faded, "-I believe he has just passed."
Alcazzar leaned against the cart, and raised an eyebrow at the angry students cradling their defeated Pokemon.
"Anyone else," he asked, "Or is that it?" he was answered by a laugh, and Muramasa and Shingo walked out of the doorway ahead of him.
"I'm sorry Sensei." one of the students stammered. "We couldn't stop Shiro."
"Don't worry about it." Muramasa answered. "This man is not Shiro." The students looked from Alcazzar to Muramasa in confusion.
"But you said-" one of them began.
"I lied." Muramasa answered simply.
"So are you two next?" Alcazzar inquired, nodding at Shingo who was casually inspecting the carnage. Shingo looked up at him.
"Against your Seviper and Zangoose?" he responded. Alcazzar shook his head, and returned them to their Pokeballs.
"These two have fought enough for today." he said. He glanced at Muramasa. "I assume you will use your Scizor." In answer, Muramasa released his Scizor from his Pokeball, while Shingo released a second one. "I see you both fight with one of Scyther's evolved forms." Alcazzar stated, rummaging around in his cart.
"One of?" Muramasa asked, curious. In response, Alcazzar released two Pokemon from the balls he had chosen. Both looked somewhat similar to Scizor in body shape, but they had their differences - the first was dark grey in colour, had only one set of wings which were grey and blade-like, a crowned head with one long spike stretching back, and a smaller red spike either side, just above the small, sharp eyes. Its mouth was thin with two small, sharp teeth at the front of the bottom jaw. Its shoulders were wide and pointed, and its body was very thin and segmented grey and red, leading to wide hips and a long abdomen with a red pattern and numerous spikes protruding from it. Its feet were three-taloned at the front with one heel talon, with armoured knuckles and a fire-like red pattern coming up from the sole. Its arms were slender, and one ended in a claw similar to Scizor's but sharper and more polygonal, with one long blade extending from the top part of the claw and curving down and another, larger one attached to the bottom of the lower part of the claw and curving upwards, so that when the claw closed they closed like scissors. The other hand was a long, wide curved blade.
"Scizark, Scyrass, battle calls! This is Scizark." Alcazzar gestured at the creature. "And this," he said, pointing at the other creature, "Is Scyrass." This second Pokemon was green in colour, its head having three rounded horns above almond-shaped eyes, while the lower part of its head was grey. Its four wings were long and slender, leaf-like. It had wide, rounded hips, back-jointed with a grey band around the first joint and the second widening down to three-clawed feet - two at the front, one at the back. Its arms also had a grey band just above the elbow, and ended in three long, curved blades whose direction could be changed - a slightly eerie thing to watch, as one moment all three claws are facing the way fingers would on a human, and the next the centre one has reversed so that they close like pincers.
"I've never seen anything like them." Muramasa said, impressed.
"I guess you can't get them in Johto." Alcazzar said.
"They can't be a match for Blade!" Shingo put in. "Let's start. Blade, use Quick Attack on the black one!"
"Scizark, Guillotine." Alcazzar closed his eyes. Blade sped forward with blinding speed leaving a white streak behind it, and Scizark vanished. Blade, having just sped through where Scizark had been, looked back in shock only to be slammed into a tree with its neck held firmly in Scizark's claw. It gritted its teeth and lifted its chin, trying to thin its neck to no avail. "Stop there." Alcazzar said, and opened his eyes. Shingo was staring in horror at his trapped Pokemon. "Do not underestimate my Pokemon, or you will regret it." Alcazzar told him. "Scizark, release him. We have made our point." Muramasa raised an eyebrow. This would be interesting.
"Masamune, Quick Attack Scizark." He commanded. Alcazzar caught the look.
'Let us see what this man is capable of.' Alcazzar thought. "Scizark, Guillotine again." He ordered.
"Masamune, down!" Muramasa called quickly. Scizark's claw scythed through the space vacated by Masamune's neck as he stopped all his forward momentum instantly and threw himself backwards. "Metal Claw!" Masamune's claws glowed as he caught Scizark's wrist. Muramasa half-smiled, before realisation hit him. He looked up at Alcazzar and saw the faint smirk on his face. He opened his mouth to shout a warning, which he said at the same time as Alcazzar's command. "Iron Defence!" Muramasa yelled.
"Scyrass, Vicegrip." Alcazzar had said. Scizark leapt up until he was vertical, facing the ground, and Masamune's claw had only just let go as Scyrass swept in, its right claw pincered and open. There was a clash, similar to that of two swords clashing. Masamune struggled, its arms folded, one claw either side of its head blocking Scyrass's long claws which were locked tightly around them. Shingo, seeing his master's difficulty, decided to act.
"Blade, use Metal Claw on Scyrass!" he commanded.
"No you fool!" Muramasa warned.
"Scizark, Night Slash." Alcazzar said tiredly. "Scyrass, Leaf Blade." Blade charged at Scyrass with claws open and glowing, and was met by Scizark's long claw trailing darkness. The two came together in an explosion which flung Blade backwards into a wall. Meanwhile, Scyrass's left claw, glowing green, came up in a gutting slash which made Masamune bend double, thereby opening its head to be caught in Scyrass's right claw. The students looked on in awe.
"That guy makes Shingo look like an absolute weakling and even Sensei is struggling against him!" they were muttering to each other. "Just who is this guy?"
"Shingo, use your head!" Muramasa scolded. "Stop rushing in!" He turned back to Masamune. "Masamune, use Double Hit!" Masamune, its head still caught in the Vicegrip, started pummelling Scyrass's torso, forcing it to let go.
"Scyrass, use Swords Dance." Scyrass's centre claws rotated so that all three on each hand were facing in the same direction, and began moving them in a pendulum motion. "Scizark, use X-Scissor on Masamune." Scizark crossed its blades and sped towards Masamune.
"Blade, use Quick Attack on Scizark!" Shingo called, and his Scizor rushed to intercept.
"Scizark, change target."
"Blade, jump!" Scizark turned and slashed at Blade who leapt out of the way, trailing white light, before descending and slamming hard into Scizark. Scizark staggered back.
"At last." Alcazzar smiled.
"Masamune, use Aerial Ace on Scyrass!" Muramasa called.
"Blade, stay low and use Metal Claw on Scizark!" Masamune leapt towards the still-swaying Scyrass and vanished, while Blade ran almost horizontally, using its wing for balance, its claws glowing.
"Scyrass, use X-Scissor. Scizark, Detect followed by Night Slash." Scyrass vanished just as Masamune reappeared and slashed at where it had been, and descended on Masamune from above with its claws crossed, slashing in an X-motion which drove Masamune into the dirt. Meanwhile, Scizark dodged each of Blade's attacks effortlessly, before driving a claw into Blade's midsection. Blade staggered back and fell to one knee, while Masamune back flipped away from Scyrass, panting heavily. Shingo and Muramasa looked at each other and nodded.
"Blade, use Quick Attack on Scyrass!"
"Masamune, Double Hit on Scizark!" Blade charged at Scyrass while Masamune headed for Scizark.
"Switching targets eh?"Alcazzar muttered. "Scizark, use Detect, Scyrass use Leaf Blade."
"Masamune use Feint!"
"Blade, zigzag!" Scizark dodged away from Masamune's left claw only to be struck with massive force from its right, while Blade narrowly dodged Scyrass's green-glowing claws and hammered into it. This time it was Alcazzar's Pokemons' turn to stagger back.
"Interesting." Alcazzar smiled. "Scyrass, use Vicegrip on Blade. Scizark, use Night Slash on Masamune."
"Blade, jump and dodge it!"
"Masamune, block it with Metal Claw!"
"Scyrass, Scizark, bird hunting formation!" Alcazzar commanded.
"Bird hunting formation?" questioned Shingo, Muramasa, and the audience. Scyrass followed Blade up and forced it down and left, while Scizark pushed Masamune up and right. Scyrass's long claws surrounded both Blade and Masamune and locked tight. Scizark stood ready.
"Two birds, one stone. Scizark, Guillotine." Alcazzar said with finality. Blade and Masamune desperately struggled to escape, but couldn't, and Scizark's claw closed in.
It was the next day. Having cared for the many Pokemon he had defeated and treated the entire training centre to a great meal (so good they ignored how much of their food stocks it had depleted) Alcazzar was now leaving them, heading for Azalea Town. Over the meal they had discussed tactics, techniques, Pokemon and trainers, and it was after the talk of trainers that Alcazzar had decided to leave early. As Shingo and Muramasa watched the cart trundle away, the student asked the teacher if he thought that Alcazzar would catch up with Ash.
"If he does," Muramasa answered, "That is a battle I would love to see."