The Shining Latios Chapter 8: The Corrupted Pokemon
A/N: Heeeeeey guys. Triforcelord here, with this chappie. I know that some of you may have questions about this chapter, and about my absence, but I'll hopefully be able to answer your questions in my ending author's note. Til then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the chapter!
Ring.
'Urg...shut up...'
Ring ring.
'Please shut up already...five more minutes...'
Riiiiiiiiing.
'SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME SLEEP YOU DAMNED PIECE OF MACHINERY!'
...RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNG.
With a roar of rage, Ash leaped out of his bed towards the maker of the horrible sound. Picking the doomed alarm clock up, he threw it into the floor as hard as he could, then stomped on it until it was in pieces.
...Ring.
Growling, with a look of pure rage on his face, Ash began to form an Aura Sphere. Just as he was about to fire it however, he noticed movement near the door. He quickly spun towards the door to see fully dressed Brock, Bianca, Latias, Pikachu, and Lorenzo staring at him with dumbfounded looks on their faces.
"Eh heh heh...Morning?" Ash offered Mareepishly, quickly snuffing the Aura Sphere behind his back.
"You'd think I would be used to this by now..." Brock sighed, "But sadly, things like this never stop surprising me."
"Seriously, " Bianca sighed, staring at the mutilated alarm clock, "What did that thing do to you?"
"Ummm...woke me up?" Ash muttered, turning slightly red and rubbing the back of his head.
"So you destroyed it?" Lorenzo said incredulously.
"He does this every time something, or someone, wakes him up." Brock said before Ash could speak. Ash just mumbled something about eyeless perverts giving away all of his secrets and fell silent. "If we have to wake him up, we usually stand a good 15 feet away, and let Pikachu electrocute him. That way, no one important gets hurt." Pikachu nodded in agreement..
"What are you talking about?!" Ash shouted, "Those shocks hurt!"
"No one important." Brock repeated before grinning at a hurt-looking Ash. "Come on, you know I'm joking. Anyway, think of that as revenge for the pervert comments."
Latias saw Ash opening his mouth to retaliate, and decided to stop the argument before it escalated. 'Anyway,' The dragoness began, 'We should probably get going. Remember why we set an alarm clock for Ash in the first place?'
Instantly, Ash stood stock still. Everyone mentally started counting down. Three, two, one...
"Holy crap! That's right, we're going to Hoenn today!" Ash half shouted, his eyes wide. Instantly, he rushed over to his backpack and started rummaging through it, pulling out his trademark hat and clothes. He quickly started to get undressed much to the embarressment of the other occupants.
"Hey Ash?" Brock said. Ash looked over, his shirt half off. "Could you wait until we've left before you start getting dressed? There are ladies here after all, and I don't think they would want to see you undress."
Ash froze. He looked at the brightly blushing faces of the women there and slowly his shirt back on. "Ummm...sorry about that." He said, blushing.
"J-Just tell us before you start stripping so we can clear out next time." Said a moderately blushing Bianca. Latias, whose face was doing a wonderful ripe tomato impression, nodded in agreement.
"After all, Ash, wouldn't they much rather see a mature specimen like myself first?" Brock said, "You wouldn't want to rob them of that chance, would y-" He was interrupted by Pikachu electrocuting him in the soft spot..."On...second...thought...I would...much rather...keep...the chance...to have children...Carry on..." He promptly passed out due to the pain in his unmentionables.
"Well, there's one problem out of the way." Bianca said, glaring at the downed Brock, "Well, see you at breakfast Ash. Come on Latias." With that, Bianca picked the unconscious Brock by the ear and dragged him down the stairs. Latias stole one quick look at Ash before following, closing the door behind her. Pikachu hopped onto the bed.
"You know, buddy," Ash said, beginning to get dressed again, "Sometimes I wonder if girls really are from another planet."
Before Pikachu could answer, the alarm clock decided to make a comeback.
Ring.
"ARCEUS DA...!"
It was an amazing day in Altomare Harbor. The sun was shining brightly, causing many children to beg their parents for money to buy ice cream. The Wingulls and Peliper were soaring lazily overhead, casting their shadows on those who walked below them. The waves were but small swells on the generally glassy, blue expanse of water that was the harbor.
All in all, Ash thought, it was a good day to start a journey.
"So where is our boat again?" Ash asked for the tenth time.
Bianca sighed. Even if he was a bit annoying at times, she was really going to miss the raven-haired boy, even his chronic forgetfulness. "Your boat is at the other end of the harbor," She answered, pointing to a large boat in the distance, "It'll be a while before it sets sail though, so we have some time to kill."
As she said this, she glanced at Latias, who was in her human form. Although the dragoness was doing a pretty good job of hiding it, Bianca could see the slight red tinge in her eyes. Of all of them, Latias was taking the end of Ash's short visit the hardest. She just hoped that the Legendary didn't do something stupid after Ash left.
Brock took out one of his many guidebooks out of his backpack and began to flip through it. "It says here that Altomare Harbor has a small park near the docks." He said, "Why not hang out there while we wait?"
"Yeah!" Ash said enthusiastically, "That would be awesome! Maybe this time I'll finally master those Mankey bar things!" Pikachu nodded in agreement.
After everyone agreed to the park idea, the group slowly began to walk towards the center of the docks, where the park was. Ash went behind the rest of the group, to where Latias was walking slowly. He had noticed that something was wrong since they had left the house. The dragoness hadn't spoken a word since they had eaten, and had been walking with her eyes downcast the whole time they had been walking.
Latias looked up in surprise when Ash fell into step beside her. 'I-Is something wrong Ash?' She telepathed.
"Well, nothing's wrong with me." The transformed boy said, "But I think that something's bothering you." Looking at the object of her affections, she noticed worry and caring in his eyes, and knew that it would be no good to lie to him.
'Truthfully, I guess I'm sad that you're leaving.' Latias telepathed only to Ash, surprising the boy, 'I've been having a lot of fun since you've been here, and...' 'And this visit has made me realize just how much I like you.' Latias finished in her head.
It was a few more steps before Ash said anything. Latias was worried that she might have made her upset, but his next words quickly dispelled that feeling. "I feel the same way." Ash said, smiling sadly, "See, in my journeys, I've made a lot of friends. We always have a good time, but in the end, we always have to say goodbye. It makes me really sad to think that this might be the last time I'm going to see you for a while. I guess it only makes sense that you would feel the same way."
Latias could sense that the others were staring at them, but she really didn't care at the moment. Mentally preparing herself, she decided that she had to tell Ash how she really felt before he went, or she might live her entire life without saying anything to him.
'Ash, there's a lot more to it than that.' She telepathed, 'Ash, I-'
Before she could get the words out, there was a massive explosion coming from the direction of the park, followed by screaming. Ash spun around quickly, a surprised look on his face.
"We can finish this talk later. " Ash said, running with everyone else towards the soruce of the explosion, "Right now though, we better see what the hell is going on over there!"
When the group arrived at the park, they were greeted by a scene of complete and utter chaos. There was smoking craters scattered around the site. Playground equipment was warped or broken. Benches and chairs were charred and smoking, lying on their sides around the park. Thankfully, everyone had seemed to have evacuated before they could get hurt. However, what was causing it was somehow far worse...
"What...the hell is that?" Bianca whispered, her mouth open in shock. Lorenzo was in a similar state, utterly bewildered at the scene before them. Brock was looking at it grimly. Ash and Latias were astounded at what they saw.
Standing before them was a Tyranitar. While that is a bit odd, it wouldn't be unheard of for one to be in a park so close to a major port. However, this one was going on a rampage. That wasn't all however...
It was made of pure darkness.
Everything from it's hide to it's teeth was made of swirling black darkness, yet it was still solid enough to cause tremors in the ground. When it opened it's mouth, a swirling black and gray portal appeared in place of it's maw. The warped Pokemon's eyes were glowing red lights, shining like a laser on it's next victim.
'That's not natural..." Latias telepathed, the horror in her voice apparant, 'Why corrupt a Pokemon like this?!'
Evidently, however, the monster was sensitive to telepathy, as it turned towards the group, and, with a roar, started charging what looked like a Hyper Beam.
"Shit!" Ash yelled, "Run for it!" The group dispersed as the demented Tyranitar unleashed it's attack, causing the ground to explode spectacularly in a shower of pebbles.
"Latias!" Ash yelled, coughing.
'Way ahead of you.' The dragoness yelled, back in her Pokemon form. The Legendary Pokemon flew around the creature, firing Aura Spheres as she went. However, it did nothing more than annoy the corrupted Pokemon as it roared in pain. It's claws became shiny and silver like steel, and it swatted Latias out of the sky, causing her to cry out in pain.
She was caught by something soft. "Thanks Ash." She murmered, still dizzy from the Metal Claw. It wasn't very effective against her, seeing as she was part Dragon type, but the sheer force behind the blow had left her dizzy.
"No problem." Said golden Latios grunted, "Can you fly yet? You're getting kind of heavy..."
Shakily, the dragoness flew off of Ash's back, hovering unsteadily for a few seconds before righting herself.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked.
"I'll manage." The Legendary Eon Pokemon said, shaking her head, "That guy sure packs a punch. We should avoid fighting him up close. Tyranitar is normally part Dark-type, which would be bad for us already, but it looks like its darkness has been enhanced by an extremely large margin. But Aura Sphere didn't work, but it should be weak against it since it's a Fighting-type move..."
Ash was about to reply, but suddenly his instincts screamed at him to move. Tackling Latias, Ash moved them out of the way just in time for a FlameThrower to shoot past them, barely grazing his tail as it went by.
"Okay, this guy's getting annoying." Ash growled, "Where's his Trainer anyway? I want to beat some sense into him."
"We can find the person responsible for this later." Latias said, "For now, though, we should knock Tyranitar out before someone gets hurt."
A yell from below reminded them that they weren't the only ones under attack. The two Legendaries turned to see the dark Tyranitar fire another FlameThrower, this time at the humans. However, the strong burst of fire was met by an equally powerful surge of lightning, courtesy of Pikachu. The two attacks clashed for a few seconds before cancelling each other out in a massive explosion, causing the humans on the ground to shield their eyes from the dust.
"Are you two lovebirds done flirting up there?!" Pikachu yelled, "If you hadn't noticed, we're kinda under attack here!" The Electric Mouse Pokemon and the humans quickly scattered as yet another Hyper Beam destroyed the ground they had been standing on moments before.
"Sorry!" Ash called before turning to Latias, "I think I have a plan, but it'll be risky. We'll need Brock's help too."
"Just tell me what I need to do." Latias said.
Ash whispered his plan to Latias, whose eyes opened wide at the risky plan.
"Ash," She said, alarmed and worried, "If this goes wrong, you could-"
"I know." Ash said seriously, "But if it'll save my friends, than it's worth the risk."
Latias hesited, then nodded. "Alright," She said, "But be careful." On an impulse, she quickyl flew over to Ash and pecked him on the cheek, before zooming off towards the others, leaving a very confused Ash hovering in midair.
Ash shook his head vigorously. 'Enough time to worry about that after this is over.' He thought to himself.
He flew quickly over to the demented Tyranitar and fired an aura sphere at it, gaining it's attention and a roar in response.
"Hey!" The Shining Latios yelled, "Your mother's a...uh...big...fat...Monster! Yeah!"
Despite how horrible the insult was, the Tyranitar was less than pleased at the tone of voice the Legendary was using. It quickly let loose a FlameThrower, which Ash quickly dodged before using another Aura Sphere on it. This caused the monster to roar in rage before opening it's mouth and charging a black and red ball of energy.
'Well, that's new.' Ash internally remarked before quickly zooming out of the way as a massive beam of red and black energy shot out of the monster's mouth. However, Ash was not expecting it to follow him. As such, the powerful beam scored a direct hit, causing Ash to cry out in pain before freefalling. After about twenty feet, he regained control of himself and shot another Aura Sphere at the monster, causing it to roar in pain and rage again.
'Just...a little more...' Ash thought, wincing in pain at the amount of damage he had accumulated.
He began charging another Aura Sphere, only to see the monster's Metal Claw swinging towards him again. His eyes opened wide.
'Shit!' he thought, 'I won't be able to dodge this one!' He watched as the attack came closer at an alarming pace...
Only for it to stop suddenly.
"Good job Onix!" Brock yelled to his Pokemon, who was holding the dark Pokemon's arm in place.
"Thanks Brock!" Ash yelled. The eyeless man nodded in acknowledgement before redirecting his attention to his Pokemon.
The Tyranitar was beyond enraged. It's attack had been stopped by some random Pokemon, but it's mouth still was functional. Opening said mouth, it began to charge another dark beam.
In a split second, a Dragon Pulse was fired down it's gullet, courtesy of Latias.
The monster screamed in pain, stumbling backwards as Latias continued to fire Dragon Pulses at it. The attacks were relentless, and the monster was slowly starting to sway.
"Keep it up, Latias!" Ash yelled.
Suddenly, though, the monster straightened, as though hearing something. It roared and ripped it's arm out of Onix's hold, slamming the gargantuan Rock-type into a tree, KO'ing it instantly. Although Latias was still firing Dragon Pulse after Dragon Pulse at it, she was obviously beginning to tire. Her Pulses were. beginning to lose their power, and the Tyranitar was ignoring them. A black aura began to surround it, quickly increasing in intensity.
"GET OUT OF THERE LATIAS!" Ash yelled. The Legendary Eon Pokemon noticed the black aura, and quickly began to fly away towards Ash. However, just as she began to, the monster released all of its stored power in a massive surge of black energy.
Time seemed to slow down as the black wave came closer and closer to them.
'She's not going to make it!' Ash thought frantically, seeing that Latias was moving much slower than the wave was going. He shot off, thinking that if he was going to die, he might as well die with friends.
Out of nowhere, a massive wall of white energy appeared, trapping the black wave inside, where it slowly dispelled. A dumbstruck Ash, Latias, Brock, Pikachu, Bianca, and Lorenzo turned slowly to see a boy in strange blue clothing with an even stranger hairstyle and a mask kneeling on the ground, his left hand on the perimeter of the white barrier.
"My my," Ryan said, standing up and dusting himself off while shaking his head, "It appears that I have had to save you again. That makes it twice in as many days that I've had to do so." He turned to the dumbstruck group of Bianca, Lorenzo, Brock, Pikachu, Ash, and Latias. "Hello. It's new people. Hello new people."
Bianca was the first to recover. "Who the hell are you?!" She demanded.
There was a pause. "You mean they haven't told you yet?" The strange boy said curiously, cocking his head to the side slightly.
"Don't tell me..." Lorenzo said slowly before Brock, Ash, or Latias could say anything, "You're that fellow who saved Latias, aren't you?"
"Yes, yes I am." Ryan said. He was interrupted however by the dark Tyranitar firing a dark beam at him.
"A Moon Beam, huh?" Ryan muttered without turning around. He quickly spun around and raised his left arm. Hundreds of bolts of white lightning shot out of his gloved hand, plowing through the Moon Beam and hitting the monster directly, causing it to roar as the large amount of electricity coursed through it's body.
Before it could recover, the masked boy slammed his right hand onto the ground. Instantly, numerous black tendril-like appendages rose out of the earth in front of him. These shot towards the monster and wrapped around it, restricting its movement and greatly pissing it off if it's roars were anything to go by.
Raising his left arm again, Ryan took careful aim. His arm began to glow white, and a ball of white enrgy began to form in front of his outstretched hand.
Once the energy reached an apex, Ryan yelled and released the energy in the form of a massive beam. The beam hit the still immobolized Pokemon, but strangely there was no noise.
The group had been astounded by what they had seen so far, but what came next took the cake. The beam engulfed the monster in a white fire. There was a bright flash, and when it disappeared, there was a normal Tyranitar lying KO'd on the ground.
Ryan turned around to see the shocked faces of Ash, Latias, Pikachu, Bianca, Lorenzo, and Brock, who had recalled Onix earlier.
"Yes, yes you may now kiss the ground I walk on." Ryan said in an amused tone.
Ash recovered first. "You-wha-ho-why-duh?!" He shouted intelligently, pointing a shaking finger at the probably smirking boy.
"Your vocabuary astounds me to previously unknown levels." Ryan yawned before stumbling. "Damn. It looks like that took more out of me than I thought it would."
"Okay, how the hell did you do that?!" Bianca shouted, "We were getting our asses kicked out there, but you just took care of that...THING so easily!"
"I'm afraid I don't have much time to talk." Ryan said, backing up slightly before the girl's wrath, "If they find out I'm here talking to you, you'll be in extreme danger."
"Wait, danger?" Ash said, "What danger?!"
Ryan looked around quickly. "We'll talk again soon." He said quickly, raising his right hand, "For now, I bid you adieu." Before Ash or Bianca could grab/strangle him, the masked boy swung his right hand downwards, making him disappear in a ripple of darkness.
'I can't sense him anywhere.' Latias telepathed, 'He's gone.'
"Damn." Brock cursed, "I wanted to know what he meant by "danger"."
A boat's foghorn sounded in the distance. "Crap!" Ash said, back in his human form, "Our boat! We're not going to make it!"
As the group started running, Bianca and Lorenzo held Latias back. After a hurried conversation, they started off after the others.
However, despite what had happened, Latias was smiling.
On a rise a good ways from the park, a girl with curls and a white baseball cap wearing a strange black uniform watched giggling as Ash's group ran towards their boats.
"And Dormin told me it was a waste of time and resources to use that Tyranitar." Aryllia giggled to herself. Granted, she had lost one of her stronger Pokemon, but the information she had gathered more than made up for it. Not only had she learned more about her boss's targets abilities, but she also learned where they were going.
However, what was more important was that she had located the Lord of Shadow, as well as his new interest.
Calming down slightly, the Team Shadow elite smirked. "I hope you're ready kiddies," She said, "It's time for the grown ups to make their move."
Giovanni was drumming his fingers against his desk impatiently. He was expecting a report from one of his scientists about the strange artifact they had discovered about a week earlier, but the scientist in question was running much later than normal.
His intercom buzzed. "About time." The boss of Team Rocket growled, pressing the button on his desk, "You better tell that incompetent "scientist" to get his worthless behind in here before I-"
"B-Boss!" His secretary's terrified voice came over the intercom, "H-He's coming! Get ou-" Suddenly the line went silent, and a man's laughing could be heard.
Rage filled Giovanni as he wondered who dared to infiltrate the base of Team Rocket so openly. Reaching for his belt, he had just touched the Pokeball of his Rhydon when the door burst open. When he saw who had done this, he instantly froze up in pure fear.
The man standing in the doorway was tall and very heavily muscled. He wore a black shirt that overlapped at the middle, with blood red gems placed on the shoulders, middle of the chest, and forearms. He was also wearing black pants, gloves, and boots, with more blood red gems on the top of the boots, the back of the hands of the gloves, and the kneecaps of the pants. He was also wearing a mask with intricate dark red designs, out of which the ends of a large mustache could be seen, and a circlet wrought with some sort of dark red metal, with a black gemstone in the front.
"Hello, Giovanni," The man said in a deep, booming voice, "It's been a while! How have things been going?"
Giovanni quickly tried to press the button under his desk that would turn his chair into an escape pod, but was stopped by a black shadow-like tendril grabbing onto his wrist.
"You! Giovanni growled despite his fear, "What are you doing here? I thought you were dead."
The man laughed. "It's nice to see you too Giovanni, my old friend. As for why I'm here," The man's eyes glowed red as he laughed once more, "A new game is about to begin, and when it does, I want to make sure all of the pieces are in the palm of my hand."
A/N: Aaaaaaand that's a wrap! Well, that's the end of the expository arc. Most of the main characters have been introduced, and the plot has now been set up.
Now, for the subject of my absence. Quite frankly, I lost all motivation to write for a good long while. I felt inadequate as an author, and so I stopped writing for said period of time. However, I still have been getting reviews and follows and favorites from this story, even over a year since I last updated. And so I've decided to continue this story at least, at a somewhat regular pace, so those of you who still find enjoyment in my writing can have that fun. Well, that's about all I have for now. Until next time, Triforcelord, out!