Chapter 18: Face off
May walked to where New Magma was now located though she was forced to move slowly as the ground was randomly shaking thanks to Groudon. She wondered how long it would take for it to raise enough land that would be considered suitable for New Magma's plans, but that was all up to Fane. May walked along the path with Mismagius behind her carrying Pikachu in his Psychic prison. He hadn't moved since they left Ash but just to make sure he didn't try anything Mismagius zapped him occasionally to keep his strength down. As they closed in to their target May saw one of the security personnel and approached him.
"You best turn around miss, a pretty young thing like you might get hurt if you go this way." The grunt snickered as she walked towards him
"Security code: Omega Ruby." May gave the grunt her agent password.
"Wait you're an agent?" The grunt reacted suddenly.
"Yes that's correct." May responded coldly.
"I-um my apologies miss please go right ahead." The middle aged man showed her the path.
"Inform your superiors that Agent Maple has come to make a report and wish to speak with them." May instructed the grunt.
"Yes of course." He responded before he began talking into his radio.
May continued down the path she was on until she finally saw the large machine that she remembered was meant to be used to control Groudon. As she approached she finally saw Fane sitting in the centre with Captain Gregson speaking to him when they both noticed her walking towards them.
"Agent Maple what are you doing here?" Gregson asked his frustration outweighing his curiosity.
"Sir Ash Ketchum and I were in the area when Groudon emerged and following my orders I restrained him." May informed Gregson.
"Why are you 'here' Maple that's what I'm getting at?" Gregson said as he crossed his arms.
"Well sir I was continuing to travel with Ash and this just happened to be the area we arrived in as unlikely as it seems." May told him.
"Agent where is Ketchum now?" Fane interrupted.
"On the other side of this ravine." May pointed in Ash's general direction.
"Alright and how much did he see?" Fane asked.
"Well, everything sir." May hesitated slightly.
"Hmm that might be an issue." Fane taped his fingers together.
May wondered what exactly Fane planned to do with Ash after all of this was done, she hadn't really thought of it herself. She had taken Ash's Pokémon as a precautionary measure but what would happen to them now?
"Say is this Ketchum's Pikachu?" Gregson asked as he peered at Pikachu though Mismagius's Psychic prison.
"Yes I brought him here as he doesn't have a Pokeball." May told Gregson.
"Can't believe an Elite Four member uses a Pikachu, he doesn't look that tough to me." Gregson snickered.
May looked at Pikachu laying prone and breathing slowly, Gregson was right he looked completely helpless he had trouble even keeping his eyes open.
"Miss Maple bring Ketchum to us and we will deal with him from there." Fane instructed.
"Sir, deal with him?" May enquired.
"Yes 'deal with him' is there a problem?" Fane asked.
"No sir I'll get right on it." May responded.
May turned around and started walking back the way she had come, she stopped beside Mismagius and quietly spoke to herself.
"Could possibly mean to kill Ash?" May whispered.
Pikachu's ears pricked up when he heard this, it was not May's intention for him to hear it but it sprung him into action. He had a small space to work with but Pikachu leapt up and started running in circles building up speed and power. May and Mismagius both saw this at the same time and though she was stunned to see him moving at all May was quick to respond.
"Mismagius stop him now." She yelled.
Mismagius shot beams of Psychic at Pikachu but they bounced off of him as a yellow field of electricity covered his body and shot out behind him as his speed drastically increasing.
"Hold on is that Volt Tackle?" May exclaimed.
Her assumptions were correct and now having built his attack up to full power Pikachu jumped head first at the wall facing Mismagius and smashed into it. The Psychic prison couldn't contend with such a powerful attack and was shattered on impact, Pikachu continued and slammed into Mismagius with enough force remaining to send her flying backwards into a tree trunk.
May looked at her Pokémon in shock after what had just happened, but Mismagius was still conscious. She then looked back at Pikachu the recoil from Volt Tackle was taking its toll but he had already lined May up and was charging his next attack. Before May could react she was hit with a Thunder Bolt from Pikachu, she cried out in shock as electricity coursed through her body. When the attack ended she dropped to her knees and gritted her teeth, short gasps of pain filtered out of her throat.
Pikachu wasted no time before jumping besides May and ripped off Ash's belt, he sprinted back up the path leading to Ash the belt dragging on the ground beside him. The rest of New Magma had seen the commotion and tried to react but Pikachu was so fast that he had gotten past their perimeter and into the undergrowth before anyone could even try to stop him.
"First squad get after that Pikachu, don't let him get back to his master!" Gregson ordered.
May was still unable to stand after Pikachu's attack, it was obvious he hit her with everything he had. Gregson's squad ran past her holding their stun rods and though she had faith that they would be able to catch Pikachu it was her responsibility to get him back.
"Mismagius lets go." May instructed as she slowly rose to her feet.
Her Pokémon was also struggling to get up, May didn't want to push her to hard so she returned Mismagius to her Pokeball so she could get some rest. This also meant that May didn't have to worry about her lagging behind and she could move on her own freely.
"Maple what's your status?" Gregson asked.
"I'm going to join first squad and recapture Pikachu and then bring Ash Ketchum back as well." May stated feeling her body begin to come back to normal.
"Just don't let him escape next time got it?" Gregson instructed firmly.
May nodded and then set off back along the path she just came from. She didn't know if Pikachu could make it to Ash in his condition but if he did she knew she would have a fight on her hands.
Fane pushed the issue of Pikachu escaping to the back of his mind, he doubted the little rodent would be able to do much now. His immediate attention was on overseeing the new area Groudon was making.
"Lund get Groudon to cease raising the land along the coastline and concentrate on raising more land out to sea, we can even things up later on." Fane told his head of science.
Lund input the commands and after even more growling and thrashing around Groudon positioned both hands to its sides and began raising new land further into the ocean.
It felt like hours had pasted but it had really only been a fraction of that time, Ash had slowly been working himself loose, however he had made little progress. The bonds were tight and tied off well and he didn't have anything sharp on him to cut them. He could hear faint rustling in the bushes in front of him, he wondered if it was a Pokémon that could help him. Suddenly Pikachu appeared out of the shrub running towards him with a belt of Pokeball's in his mouth.
"Pikachu!" Ash explained a wave of relief washing over him.
Pikachu placed Ash's belt beside him and then jumped up, using Iron Tail he cut right through the ropes holding Ash to the tree. Once he was free Ash turned his hands towards Pikachu so he could cut to ropes around them with Iron Tail as well. Pikachu leapt up again and using pin point accuracy cut through the remaining ropes without cutting Ash's skin.
"Thanks a lot buddy." Ash said as he put on his belt.
Pikachu smiled happily as Ash did up his belt when the fatigue of running such a long distance in bad health caught up with him, Pikachu collapsed on the ground, his legs no longer able to support him.
"Pikachu, come on buddy speak to me." Ash uttered as he scooped Pikachu up in his arms.
Pikachu smiled weakly at Ash letting him know he was ok but Ash could tell he didn't have the strength to keep going, asking him to fight was completely out of the question. What made matters worse was that Ash could hear voices approaching, and by the sounds of it they were looking for Pikachu.
Ash hide behind the thickest tree he could find and laid Pikachu down, he couldn't face all those men alone and he would have to tend to Pikachu as well. Fortunately he had two Pokémon that were perfect for this situation.
"Sceptile, Greninja I choose you." Ash stated as he released the two rivals of his team.
The tall forest lizard and the lean ninja frog took shape in front of him, in terms of skills and battle style Sceptile and Greninja were very similar and naturally considered each other rivals, however as a team they were nearly unbeatable.
"Alright guys listen in, I know it might be hard to believe but May has betrayed us and is with a group of people that are taking control of Groudon." Ash informed Sceptile and Greninja of everything that had happened in the last twenty minutes.
Sceptile took the news a lot harder than Greninja, he had travelled with May and her Pokémon. Battled head on with Blaziken and now having learned of this was best described as a bombshell.
"Right now we have to put our feelings aside, there is a group of men heading our way, I need you guys to take them down. Nothing to serious ok." Ash told them.
Sceptile and Greninja nodded in sync, there was a reason Ash had chosen them not because they worked well as a team but because they were his best team. In training he had given Sceptile and Greninja the name 'Team Saber' for their effectiveness in battle and lighting sharp moves. He had never lost a double battle with them together, those men searching for them didn't stand a chance. Sceptile and Greninja leapt silently into the trees and moved into position ready for an ambush.
"Hmm not that many foes, if we go in guns blazing so to speak we can get this over with real quickly." Sceptile whispered to Greninja.
"Don't be so hasty, this is our first time fighting humans. Taking them out silently and safely is always the best option." Greninja replied calmly.
Sceptile huffed dramatically Greninja was the definition of cool calm and collected, while Sceptile was simply cool. As he bit down on a twig Sceptile knew that arguing would only put Ash and Pikachu in more danger but the quick fight he had earlier with the Mightyena had him riled up.
"How about we take a few of them down stealthily and then go in hard for the rest? What do you say Froakie?" Sceptile grinned.
"I guess I'll have to take what I can get, very well we'll go with your plan. And I thought I told you to stop calling me Froakie." Greninja retorted.
"Oh calm down let's get to it." Sceptile grinned back before jumping to another tree to get into position.
Greninja shook his head and concentrated on one of the men walking just beneath him. Greninja hung onto the bottom of his branch and silently uncoiled his long tongue and wrapped it around the man's neck, putting him into the tongue version of the sleeper hold. As he silently choked the man out Greninja looked up and saw Sceptile standing on the ground right in front of the armed guards, a huge cocky smile over his face.
"Of course he would do that." Greninja internally sighed.
Four men saw Sceptile and instantly jumped back not sure how to respond, after all they were only looking for a Pikachu. Sceptile took advantage of this and powered up the leafs on his arms into the move Leaf Blade. He leapt forward and in one quick movement struck each of the four men across their heads knocking them out cold, he then landed in a crouched position and calmly shortened his blades.
Two more men ran at Sceptile charging up their batons, Greninja threw two water shuriken at them which sliced clean through the batons. As the two men looked at their weapons in confusion Sceptile jumped in front of them and kicked both of them in the chin sending them to the ground. The final two men looked around at their fallen comrades in a daze, Greninja simply jumped behind them and hit them in the back of the neck, knocking them out cold.
"All done, let's report back to Ash." Sceptile spoke casually.
"Were you ever intending to go along with the plan?" Greninja asked coldly.
Sceptile merely smiled cheekily before jumping into the trees and returning to Ash who had been busy taking care of Pikachu while Sceptile and Greninja dealt with the advancing men.
"Hmm I've never seen a Psychic attack do damage like this, must be because of the way Mismagius altered it to create that prison of hers." Ash said to himself as he finished up treating Pikachu who was now sleeping silently.
There was no way that Pikachu would be able to fight for a few hours, he could barely stand on his own. Ash couldn't take him along with him in case he got injured further, as much as he hated to do it he'd have to leave him here with one of his Pokémon as he didn't have Pikachu's Pokeball on hand, that is if he'd ever go in it for once. Sceptile and Greninja both returned letting Ash know their task was done.
"Alright guys the jobs not done yet, I need you to scout ahead and see what those people are up to. Do not engage with them understand?" Ash looked more at Sceptile knowing his enthusiasm for fights.
Both nodded and leapt back into the trees, disappearing between the branches. Ash turned back to Pikachu wondering who he should leave him with, it would leave him with four Pokémon against an enemy with unknown strength and he would need Charizard. In the end he chose Krookodile as he was once Pikachu's rival and a bit closer to Pikachu then Garbite.
Ash reached for his Pokeball when he heard rustling above him, as he looked up May suddenly jumped down from a branch one fist pulled back ready to strike him. His reflexes kicked in and Ash leapt backwards just in time before May hit the ground and missed with her punch. She responded instantly by bringing her other hand into an uppercut which forced Ash to arch his head back in order to avoid it. May used her momentum to twist her body around and lift her leg up into a spinning heel kick. Ash saw that she was aiming right for his head and instinctively reached his hand up and blocked the kick right before it hit his face. He then grabbed her leg to try and control her movements but May placed both hands on the ground. Using the support Ash unwittingly gave to May by holding her leg she curled back her other leg and got ready to kick. Ash realised his mistake and pushed the leg he had a hold on away from his face twisting her body and pulling her other leg along just enough that her follow up kick missed Ash entirely.
Ash doubled back to avoid May's strikes, her surprise attack had caught him off guard and he was nearly taken out. May got to her feet and lowered into a fighting stance, her eyes fixed on Ash.
'She got past both Sceptile and Greninja without being spotted, she must well trained in stealth.' Ash thought to himself.
'She also didn't use one of her Pokémon on me, she must be confident that she can take me down by herself. By the way she's standing she definitely knows some sort of close quarters fighting style.' Ash analysed the situation.
'But still it's not like I don't know a thing or two about fighting.' Ash told himself.
He knew he could call back Sceptile and Greninja but right now May was between him and Pikachu, she might try something if he called for them, he would have to settle this himself. This went against everything he believed in, Ash vowed never to hit women just the thought of hurting someone like May was alien to him. But there was more than his own life at risk here, Pikachu, Groudon and now the Hoenn region were in jeopardy. He had to stop her, he was the only one who could. Ash widened his stance and raised his hands waiting for May to make the first move.
"Got nothing more to say?" May asked almost mockingly.
"I've said everything I need to, and so have you." Ash put bluntly.
May moved forward with a hook to Ash's left ear which he easily blocked, her second fist went for his chest. Ash used the same hand to blocked that as well, Ash was biding his time for now. Both studying her fighting style and looking for an opening. May grabbed Ash's shirt and pulled herself towards him driving her knee upwards, Ash blocked down hard with his arm just managing to stop her knee before she connected with his ribs. With her off balance Ash grabbed May's own shirt with his free hand twisted his hips and threw her off of him. May rolled on the ground and swiftly got back up into her stance, unfazed by Ash's throw.
Ash waited once more for May to move which she did, she came in with a low turning kick followed by a high kick from the same leg. Ash blocked the first with his hand but was unable to react in time to stop the second, it hit him on the shoulder but fortunately it didn't hit to hard and Ash was able to shake it off. May followed up with a straight jab to Ash's face, he dodged it and May's arm kept on going. Ash saw his opening the side of her face that she had punched with was exposed. Ash threw his own fist forward he had a clean shot in the last moment May realised that she had gone too far with her punch and opened herself up, now she was going to pay for it.
Ash's fist stopped a centimetre away from May's face, he had held back.
'I-I can't do it, even with everything riding on me I held back.' Ash scorned himself.
May stared at Ash's fist in shock, he had her and yet stopped himself. She was relieved to say the least, a part of her even wanted to take a few steps back and show her respect. But she knew that this wasn't a friendly spar and she acted accordingly. May grabbed Ash's arm moved around to his back and put him in an arm lock, twisting his elbow and wrist.
'Come on Ash, you can't stop just because of the way you feel about her. May is able to do this because of what she believes in, so why can't you?' Ash's internal voice shouted.
May kicked the back of Ash's knee forcing him to kneel. She had control over him but he still had enough strength to stop her from twisting to far, and he wasn't even concentrating on her fully.
"Just give up and come quietly, or you'll force me to break your arm!" May shouted.
Ash laughed silently is if he had remembered a random joke, but it only served to aggravate May even more.
"You know May I've seen this commanding presence of yours before, I just didn't expect to see it outside the bedroom." Ash snickered.
If she wasn't angry before she was now "Shut up!" she yelled as she let go of his elbow and pulled it back ready to deliver another punch to the side of his face. His plan had worked, Ash had riled May up enough that she broke at least part of her hold in order to hit him. Ash rolled forward breaking May's grip and avoiding her punch, as he came out of his forward roll he stood up looked back at her.
'I can't keep holding back or next time she'll just break my arm, I have to put aside my feelings for now and get serious. Or else everything could fall apart.' Ash told himself.
Ash stood up straight and removed his jacket it was brutally hot anyway and fighting with it on would restrict his movement. He placed the jacket down by a tree and set his hat which had somehow not fallen off on top of it. May simply watched and waited for him to get back up and ready to fight.
"You ready for round two?" May asked
Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, he breathed out slowly. Clearing his mind and readying his body. As he opened his eyes he knew he what he had to do.
"Yes, I'm ready May."
The brunette ran forward and started off with a front kick at Ash midsection followed by multiple attacks with her fists. Ash stepped back in time with her footwork evading and blocking her every move.
'By her former attacks she seems to get in close in order to deliver a heavy blow at point blank so if I stay out of range of her grabs I can prevent her from doing that.' Ash thought to himself.
May threw a right hook so Ash moved to May's right side and drove his fist upwards into May's bicep. She didn't realise what Ash had done till she pulled her arm back, pain coursed through her right bicep and she found it hard to move her arm. In one move he had severely reduced the movement in her right arm, May would now have to rely more on her other limbs. She ran at Ash jumped up and delivered an airborne turning kick to the side of his face, Ash managed to place his hand in the way but it didn't stop the full force of her foot as it connected with his head. Ash was to dazed as May landed and punched Ash's ribs. Ash threw a wild open palm which connected with shoulder pushing her back slightly, Ash sweeped his leg along the ground making May stepped back to avoid getting tripped over.
Ash had only a moment to get his head straight before May came at him again this time coming in with a powerful side kick. Ash stepped back out of range and grabbed May's leg when she extended it, Ash then realised that this was the leg that May injured her knee. Ash twisted her leg over pulling May off balance and in the process aggravating her old injury. May felt her knee twist and pain ripped through her muscles. She fell to the ground and groaned through her teeth, it was no were near as painful as it was before she got treated but it was enough to make her drop her guard.
May stared daggers at Ash who stood there waiting to see if she could still retaliate. He was fast and a lot more skilled in hand to hand combat then she ever imagined. He was slowly wearing her down and showed no signs of injury or fatigue. May knew she had to do something to beat him or she was going to lose. May got back up to her feet she could push through the pain but would more careful as to not throw that same leg out again. She knew that Ash was simply waiting for her to attack and countering when she made a mistake. She would have to get past his defences and go in for a big finish, this fight had to end quickly or else.
May moved forward and was about to attack when Ash struck first bringing his right fist towards her right shoulder. May blocked with her left arm when she saw Ash left hand coming forward. Ash's fist hit May square in the left shoulder, Ash had opened that tiny area up and punched over his right arm and May instantly felt the damage. She staggered backwards and her entire arm went limp, May realised that her shoulder had been dislocated and the pain was building with every second.
Ash watched her stumble back his guard not dropping in case she tried something. May's back hit a tree she knew that she had to do something about her arm at the very least. She leant her shoulder against the tree pulled her hand up to the joint and with a loud crack snapped her shoulder back into place. She cried out and leant against the tree for support, she still couldn't fully move her arm that along with her knee had May knowing that this fight was over, Ash had beaten her.
The older trainer lowered his hands and started walking cautiously over to her, May didn't know what he planned to do with her now that it was over but May still had her backup plan. She reached for her backpack and pulled out a Pokeball raising it in front of herself, Ash stopped walking and his eyes narrowed a mix of grit and anger seeming to fuel him.
"Just give up May." Ash told the wounded brunette in front of him.
"I can't give up, I have to stop you." May said between deep breaths.
At that moment Sceptile landed right next to Ash, his leafs glowing with energy. Ash saw Greninja hidden in the tree tops behind May, two water shuriken in his hands. Ash made a barely noticeable hand sigh, a cue for Greninja to wait. The dual water dark type nodded, it was best for Ash to have a Pokémon in the shadows for a surprise attack if he needed.
"If you want to battle May then fine I'll make it quick, Sceptile is my first choice." Ash spoke sternly.
May pushed herself off the tree and stood up her gaze a fiery blaze of anger and determination. She had neutralised Pikachu and Ash didn't know about her sixth Pokémon she had on her. The two of them didn't know it but the clouds Ash had seen before had come closer to the mainland and was developing into a thunderstorm. As Ash and May faced off on the battered Hoenn coastline and bolt of lightning went off in the distance. They were older now, stronger, wiser, yet further apart then they'd ever been. The battle between these two elite trainers had only just begun.
First time I've written a human on human fight scene which was actually a bit harder than I thought it would be. But enough of my complaints, hope everyone is enjoying the story.