A/N Hello. :) As per my promise on my profile and previous story, I shall now be finishing this story before I go on with others. Updates will be much faster as this will be the only story for me to update before I move on. :D For those still reading and reviewing, thank you so very much. It means the world to me and I shall be sure to reply to all of your reviews.
It is important to note that I know absolutely nothing about pokemon battling. I mean nothing. Nada. Zilch. I'm sorry, I hope it doesn't ruin this for you. I don't know if it makes sense. I had to update and the fighting had to be in this chapter. I did look up attacks and such, but I'm basically clueless so I'm sorry. Also, I've written this chapter so many times and had it deleted so many times that my head hurts. :P I hope the writing is bearable. I just had to push through with this one. I honestly just feel the need to get this story finished. It's been going on for far too long. Ugh! And I do not like my writing in this chapter, but I feel stuck writing the way that I used to when I come back to it. Alright, I'm done ranting. I'm still excited despite this and I plan to give this story the best ending that I can.
There could only be so many steps in one plan. And there had to backup steps too. If one thing fell through, you could be lost. Unfortunately, Ash had made one mistake.
Carefully, Ash reached up to his pack and pulled it from his back, placing it behind him and into Makaila's reach. Not all of the grunts had pulled out their pokemon yet and Ash couldn't move forward with his plan unless they did. Unfortunately, that left him with no other choice then to fight the man in front of him. He had to wait and as he did, the people behind him were closer to actually being hurt. Something he couldn't let happen. So what to do?
"You're testing my patience." Mark threw a pokeball into the air smoothly and caught it again with a slight tilt to the head. Before him, a Blastoise roared. His next phrase he enunciated clearly. "Act."
Ash reached carefully for his one of his pokeballs, and after only a moment of hesitation, released his Bayleaf. The pokemon looked over it's shoulder at him in confusion, not having been spoken too beforehand. Ash gave a nod of encouragement, a look that asked for understanding, and looked back to the man before them. With a nod, his eyes sparking to a look of determination, Bayleaf turned to face them as well. Ash watched as the Blastoise became even more aggressive as the scent from Bayleaf hit him.
Mark smiled. "Finally, a fight. You've been running loose so long I was beginning to wonder if you would ever face me."
Ash held back the retort, that he didn't even know who the man was so why would he face him? But he recognized the words for what they were, to try and distract him or upset him. He stayed quiet and focused on the battle, waiting for Mark to make the first move so he could postpone any pain that wasn't absolutely necessary. As he stood he heard the roars behind him as more of the pokemon begin to be released, and he waited.
Misty, Aleksi, and May came up short as a large Venusaur materialized in front of them. Misty and May both went automatically for their belts for pokemon that wouldn't be there as Aleksi simply stared at the large pokemon before them, backing up slowly. She turned to find grunts coming up behind Michael and Taylor. And Michael was the only one with any pokemon to help. A kid. A kid.
The Venusaur roared and moved forward, forcing them all back.
"Ash, I'm going to kill you," Misty hissed. Aleksi almost laughed. Her sentiments exactly.
May shook her head and stared in some fear. "I know I should tell you off, but if we get out of this I'll help you do it."
This time Aleksi did laugh. "This sucks."
A yell came from behind them and a large vine came down towards Misty. She quickly moved closer to May as the vine slammed against the stone and left a large crack. Misty's eyes widened as the vine rose beside them, seeing the large dent in the floor.
"Time to go," Aleksi announced tightly and begin to try running around it.
She had almost reached it when the Venusaur blanched and turned, large bursts of ice hitting it in the eyes, freezing and blinding it. The girls turned to see Michael breathing hard, Ditto out and changed to a Vanilluxe. The three relaxed minutely. This was what they would have to wait out. But even as the fear lessoned more pokemon began to form and near them. Aleksi began to pale. "This really sucks," she repeated.
Misty gave a short laugh. "That's an understatement, Aleksi."
Michael looked at all of the pokemon around them with growing panic. He couldn't fight them all off. Couldn't Ash move on now?
"Roserade! Magical Leaf!" Michael turned in shock to see Drake nearing them, his Roserade beginning to attack the other pokemon surrounding them. He quickly turned back to Ditto to issue another command as Drake caught up with him. "About time."
"What, no thank you?" Drake grunted as a flamethrower singed by his shoulder.
Michael chuckled.
At the same moment, the girls were still feeling mostly defenseless. Waiting to help was torturous. "This really sucks," Aleksi deadpanned
As the grunts came towards Skye, he took a short moment to look back to Michael. Drake was there now. It would be alright. His thoughts were quickly interrupted as a grunt neared him. For a moment the grunt paused and stared at him, looking thoroughly confused. Skye remembered that he was wearing a grunt outfit and moved forward before the grunt would have time to wonder if he should stand down or attack. Beside him Drew and Keagan blocked the other grunts.
A few of the grunts moved around them as they were pulling their pokemon out and headed for the group further down the hall. They were brought up short as Gary and Brock stepped in front of them. Brock's hands twitching to in preparation. Gary with an eyebrow raised as he tossed a pokeball. They were ready.
It was so close. Ash could hear the yells behind him, the shouts that meant that full scale Pokemon battles were beginning to take place in the large hall. They were close.
"Hydro Pump!"
Ash grit his teeth as Bayleaf fell back, wincing in pain at the blows only to steady itself for more. He didn't have time to do anything more than issue another command. "Razor leaf." Bayleef followed and a torrent of leaves quickly flowed from her. Ash resisted the cheer that rose when Blastoise backed up.
Mark's teeth gritted. "Water gun!"
"Razer Leaf! Avoid!"
"Skull Bash!"
"Avoid! Safegaurd!"
Mark winced involuntarily. Ash was good. Really good. It was surprising and infuriating. He shouldn't have had any problem taking him down. Ash was mainly avoiding what fighting he could rather than getting back at them. They were such simple attacks, but he would still get closer to winning. He made a quick choice and spoke again, "Aqua tail!" This time he smiled as the attack achieved the desired result, Bayleef falling back and wincing.
Ash counted down, mentally cheering Bayleef on. 'Just hang on a little longer. It won't get much worse. We're so close now.' And then the sound of snapping sounded from behind him a yell chilled Ash. Brock. He was hurt. He didn't have time to look or help. But for him it was the sign. They were done.
Pulling out his pokeball quickly he called Bayleaf in. Mark stared in complete shock as Ash called in his pokemon in the middle of a battle and shouted simultaneously, "retrieve!" as loudly as he could. Grunts turned in surprise as Michael and everyone else who had come with Ash quickly pulled out their pokeballs to do the same. Then, with Mark still staring in confusion, Ash pulled a small orb from his pocket. Mark's eyes widened in sudden understanding. He opened his mouth to call orders but it was too late. With a yell, Ash threw the orb to the ground at his feet. The sound of shattering drew the attention of all who had already taken in their pokemon. From Ash's feet the smoke rose around him, soon quickly covering him and continuing throughout the whole hall. The last Mark saw were Ash's determined eyes as the smoke came at him. With a shout of frustration, Mark abandoned the pokeball and pulled a gun from his pocket. Aiming towards where Ash had been. The speed that the smoke hit him came unexpectedly and his hand jostled despite his training when he pulled the trigger. Hearing the yell, he knew it didn't matter.
May grabbed onto her bandanna as the smoke pulled her clothes back. Michael covered Taylor, and all of the others were in similar states of careful watch as the smoke filled the hall.
In the moments that followed, all was silent. Grunts tried to figure out what they should be doing while it didn't seem that the smoke was dissipating. "Michael," Taylor started, confused by the strange smell filling her lungs and the sudden silence in the hall.
"Sh!" Michael hushed and looked around quickly, ears alert to see if any rocket would decide to attack towards the voice. But thick as it was, he could see nothing. He waited with bated breath.
Taylor jumped as a thud came from behind her. "Wh-What was that?"
Makaila's eyes widened at the sounds suddenly filling the otherwise deadly silent hall. Thuds. Was the smoke making people pass out? What was to protect them from doing the same? And then accompanying the thuds there were half exclamations from Pokemon, the thuds became more frequent, all around them, and the noises stopped.
The tension of the room was palpable.
It was a couple minutes later when the smoke finally cleared, starting at where Ash had been standing and continuing out quickly. As the brown and gray faded from Makaila's gaze, she looked to where her father had been standing, only to find him on the floor, back to her, but clutching at his leg. "Dad," she muttered in shock. The boy let her go as she broke from him and crawled to where her father was. "What's wr-" Makaila looked to Ash's hand to find blood soaked through his pant leg and covering his hand which was firmly pressed against it. Makaila trailed off, shaking.
"It's fine," Ash grunted. Makaila looked to his eyes. His face was pinched but he pushed the words out. "Don't worry about it. The blood's already stopped." The words did little to stifle the sudden fear coursing through her.
"No." The words was more a whisper than a statement. She looked to where Mark had disappeared and finding him still out of sight turned heatedly to the boy behind her. "Help." The boy took one look at Makaila's pale face and rushed forward. Ash winced as the boy leaned down to look, hands shaking minutely. It was not a comforting gesture.
"I'll be fine," he repeated.
Makaila stared, eyes wide. "Dad, you're bleeding."
Ash resisted rolling his eyes, "Not anymore," he repeated. Makaila looked back to the boy and found that he didn't try to move Ash's hand, only looked around it as he assessed it. "I know how to deal with this," Ash went on.
"Not by yourself." Makaila cut him off.
The sound of ripping shocked them both, and they looked over to the boy to find him ripping his shirt quickly, glancing to where the smoke was dissipating. Ash watched dumbfounded as the boy started to push his hand out of the way. After a moment of slight wrestling, Ash came back to his senses. "No! I can't, it'll start again." The boy turned his head up to Ash with a look of 'really?' and wacked him over the back of the head. Ash froze in shock, his body already dizzy, he almost faded out as the boy removed his hands and wrapped the cloth he had torn tightly around his leg. The boy looked at it with a slight sneer. Makaila wondered what he was thinking. It looked like his face for, 'you were just lucky this time,' when they had played.
"Is he-" she started, only to have the boy pull her down so quickly she didn't have time to absorb it. She came to staring at the concrete, the boy's arms around her. Breathing heavily she raised her head again. Ash sat directly before her, his face a mask of shock. Looking to the boy's face, he saw him staring behind her, a strong look of loathing so different then the fear he had shown before. She turned, Mark was staring at Ash in barely controlled rage. gun still in his hand, though downturned. Makaila guessed that this was the cause of the boy's anger.
As the smoke finally dissipated, Taylor was surrounded by gasps of shock. "What is it?" she asked again. Michael's teeth grit, "I'll tell you later," he whispered.
May's eyes filled with tears despite herself. They were okay, they had to be okay. Ash wouldn't hurt them. But it wasn't really the sight that bothered her, it was the reactions of the grunts. All around them the pokemon had fallen, completely still on the floor. The thuds now made sense, and it had been prepared, but watching was different. May watched as some of the grunts only twitched and getting over the shock, let out sounds of outrage or simply called the pokemon back. But still others, more than she had expected, stared with horror and dropped down next to the pokemon, looking them over to see what was wrong, worried and hoping there was something that they could do.
'Like Ash,' Misty reminded herself. There was some good in this building. They just needed a chance. The greater portion of the grunts who had collapsed were so young. They still had a chance.
Michael knew that he only had moments in the confusion. "I have to go," he whispered to Taylor. As she opened her mouth to question the crazy statement he quickly cut her off. "Don't make a scene. Don't talk to me. Don't mention me. It'll all work out, I promise." Swallowing her panic, Taylor nodded and his arms left her. At the same time, Skye backed up the nearest grunt and dropped beside him, looking over the pokemon in false sincerity.
Mark lowered the gun swiftly, pulling his anger under control and forcing the blank look of acceptance to his face. "Take them all. They won't release their pokemon yet. Not with that scent still in the air. " The grunts who had already pulled in their pokemon, or who had never had any in the first place, moved towards the still groups and began to quickly gather them up together. Skye controlled himself and kept seated as Taylor was grabbed along with the others.. There was hesitance from the grunts seated, but slowly they all stood and began to call back their pokemon and join in gathering those who stood with Ash.
Mark kept his gaze locked with Ash's as the grunts gripped him, Makaila, and the boy. As the boy began to struggle his gaze switched to him. The boy saw Mark's eyes on him and froze. After a pause, Mark simply nodded. "Good to have you back." He turned to the grunts behind him in dismissal and the sound of something like a growl came from the boy. Makaila had only heard it a couple of times in the past. Hearing a sound of pain behind her she turned and was about to tell the grunt off for handling her father so roughly but stopped at the look Ash gave her. Then he nodded, it seemed to extend his earlier sentiments. 'I'll be fine.'
A grunt took a bag from Mark and headed over to their captured holding it out. "Pokeballs and weapons." There was a moment of hesitation and then the group began to do as asked, filling the bag quickly. After more deliberation and even more looks of assent to Ash, they finally began to follow the ushering and follow the grunts directions down the hall. Ash sighed in relief as they left and winced as he leaned to far onto his leg causing another round of deep breaths to quell the pain. Mark turned to look at him once more. A glance through the hall at their progress and he smirked and looked to the grunts holding the three. "Come with me."
Eitan watched with wary eyes, still backed against the wall. As the three passed him by he sent a glare to the boy that was answered from the corner of the boy's unturned gaze. The grunts moved past him, Mark following up the rear. The man stopped and turned to him and Eitan froze, his heart rising to his throat.
Mark's eyebrow rose, "Hurt are you?"
Eitan swallowed the aggravation only to wince as he stepped on his ankle. With a forced nod he choked out in some embarrassment. "The stupid kid."
Mark stared at him, eyes widening marginally. "That kid?" He asked. He pointed down the hall towards the far retreating figures. Eitan stiffened and nodded. "You fought him?" He repeated as if the clarify. Eitan tried to hold down the sneer, but much of it rose to the surface. Mark's arm dropped from pointing and he looked over Eitan from head to toe causing him to wince. Finally Mark stopped again on his face and motioned a grunt over. "Bring him with us." The grunt nodded and another came over to help as they supported a surprised Eitan and led him after Mark.
A/N I was going to do more, but I've done enough for one day and I just wanted to update. :P Like I said, I am well aware that as far as the pokemon go, I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Please ignore my ineptitude. I hope it didn't take from the story too much. I know posted "avoid." a couple of times. I just didn't know how else it should have been worded. I really hope that this was worth the read.