After Ash and Serena won their first badges in Johto Region, the two of them, as well as Misty and Brock, left Blackthorn City, and went back the way they came from on their way to Cherrygrove City, which is about halfway point in between New Bark Town and Violet City, which is the location of the next gym.
Right now, the four of them have just arrived in a Town that was few days before Cherrygrove City, so since it has already afternoon, they decided to make a stop in the Pokémon Center, and spend the night there, before they continue in the morning.
As they were walking next to a forest that was a part of the City, they saw something poking out of a bush.
"Hey, what's that?" Misty asked, as they all looked at the bush to see what it was, and saw a Pokémon come out.
"Hey, that's a baby Stantler," Brock said, after he recognized the Pokémon. "I wonder what's it doing here, Stantler are usually in a herd, and are rarely alone like this."
"Maybe it got separated from the herd, and is now lost," Serena said, while looking at the Pokedex about the information on Stantler.
"Yeah, it is possible," Brock said, and then took some food from his backpack, and tried to lure Stantler to him by offering it the food. "Come Stantler, you can take this food, you must be hungry if you are alone."
Stantler looked at Brock and the food he was offering it, but was hesitant because of its experience with humans, so it produced a nice scent from its antlers, that made Brock, Misty and Serena cry to smell it even more because it was so nice, while Ash narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Wow, this smells nice," Misty said.
"Yeah it does," said Brock. "I didn't know Stantler can do than, though."
Just then, a giant herd of Stantler came out of nowhere, and charged at the group.
"What the hell," yelled Misty, and along with Brock and Serena started running away, without even noticing that Ash is not moving? "Where did they came from?"
"We must get away, of they'll run us down," Brock said, as he was running like never before.
"Wait, where is Ash?" Serena asked after she noticed that Ash is not running along with them.
"What?"
Misty asked, and looked around and saw Ash is not with them.
"Don't tell me he stayed back?" Questioned Brock.
"He must be crazy to stay with that herd running at us," Misty said very concerned for Ash. "Even he can't stop that much of them."
"Where is the herd anyway," Brock asked, now noticing that there is no one chasing them? "With that much of them, we should be hearing them running at us, and other people running, bit there is nothing."
"You are right," Serena said looking at where they came running. "There is nothing there."
"Let's go see what happened," Misty said, and Serena and Brock agreed and started heading back, when they were stopped by Officer Jenny.
"Hey kids, wait up," she yelled, while driving on her motorbike toward them.
After she approached them, she stopped, and looked at them. "What happened I heard the report that there was another herd of Stantler running through here?"
"Yeah, there was a herd running after us just a minute ago, but now there is nothing," Brock replied.
"We were just about to go back and see what happened because our friend of ours seems to have stayed back, and didn't run like we did," Misty said.
"Let's go then," Officer Jenny said. "He might be in danger, as those Stantler have been terrorizing the City for a while now."
"That's weird" Brock said, as they all went back to where Ash and Stantler were. "Why would they do that?"
"I don't know," replied Officer Jenny. "It all started two days ago, and there has been many reports of a herd of Stantler rushing through the City. But it always happened after someone has seen a baby Stantler, and after they tried to approach it, the entire herd shows up, and everyone starts running away."
"Hm, interesting," Brock said. "This might be something that baby Stantler is doing, but what?"
A minute later, they came back to where they saw baby Stantler, and where they started running from, and saw Ash there next to the forest, with baby Stantler next to him. Ash seems to be trying to tie a bandage on Stantler's leg, as it seems to be injured.
"You know," Ah started to say after he noticed everyone approaching him, and before any of them could say anything. "Even with all the training I had to become Aura Guardian, I've never learned to be a good healer."
"Ok," Brock said after few moments of silence. "Let me take care of that."
Brock then approached to baby Stantler, who tried so stand up and move away from Brock, but Ash stopped it.
"It's Ok, Stantler, Brock here is going to fix your leg, as he is better at that stuff then me," Ash said, trying to calm down Stantler. "So, don't be afraid, and just stay still."
Stantler looked at Ash, and then relaxed, and let his head down, while Brock started fixing the injury to its leg.
"What happened, Ash," Misty asked? "Where is the herd? And why didn't you run away?"
"There was no herd to begin with," Ash replied, and everyone got confused, so he continued explain. "This little guy here was injured and separated from the rest of herd, so every time someone tried to approach him, he got scared, and released that sweet scent we all sensed, which induces illusions of a herd."
"So, you mean that all this time, there was never a herd of Stantler, and that the City was terrorized by illusions made by a baby Stantler," Officer Jenny questioned?
"Yep, that pretty much sums it up," Ash said.
"But how did you figure it out," Serena asked?
"Well, I was trained a lot, and even though I'm not much of a healer, I did learn some other stuff, amongst which, is that Stantler can cause an illusion by releasing a sweet scent from their antlers." Ash explained. "I knew it was coming from the moment I smelled the scent."
"If you knew it was just illusion, then why didn't you tell us, and instead you let us run away," Misty yelled at him?
Ash smirked at her, and replied. "It was fun to watch you run away while screaming like death is after you."
"I'll kill you," Misty said with rage in her eyes. "I swear to god, I'll kill you one day, Ash Ketchum!"
"We'll see about that," Ash said with smirk, and Misty barely controlled herself, and that's only because Officer Jenny was there.
"You know, you two argue like an old married couple," Brock said, and Ash smirked at his words, while Misty blushed at the mention of a married couple.
"Well we are not old and married, but we are a couple," Ash said. "We might be an old married couple in about 50 or 60 years, though. What do you think, Misty?"
Misty's blush intensified, and she stayed quiet, while Ash smirked at her expression.
Serena and Officer Jenny just looked at the two and sighed at their antics.
"I think this kid like's to tease this girl way too much," Officer Jenny though.
A minute later, and Brock was finished. "There, all taken care of," he said, and baby Stantler stood on his legs, and walked around a little to see if there was any pain, and there was none.
Stantler then approached to Brock, and nuzzled his head on Brock's leg, which made Brock smile.
"Now that he is fixed, we must find a way to get him back to his herd," Brock said, and Stantler bowed his head a little, and whined, which tears in his eyes, while Ash sighed.
"That might be a problem, because the herd was attacked by Pokémon Poacher, and many of them, including Stantler's mother were captured," Ash said.
"What?" Officer Jenny yelled. "There have never been poachers in these parts. And how the hell was he able to take on a whole herd of Stantler. Also, who told you that anyway?"
"First off, I'm an Aura Guardian, a high level one, and I can understand Pokémon language," Ash said. "Second, Stantler is the one who told me after I saw through his illusion, and asked him what's going on. I don't know who the Poacher is, and how he was able to take on all of them. Stantler only said there was one, and had some strong Pokémon, but that's it."
"So, I guess he managed to run away, and ended up here," Misty said, and Ash nodded.
"How long ago this happened?" Officer Jenny asked.
"Two days ago," Ash replied.
"He's probably far away by now, and we can't catch him," Officer Jenny said, with anger in her voice.
"Maybe we can't, but we can at least look around the forest, and see if he captured all of them, or there are still some left," Ash said.
"I agree with Ash," Brock said. "It might be a good idea to go search to forest. We might find something that will help you identify the poacher. Unless of course, he is a new one, which I doubt, and there is no information on him."
"Yes, this police force has a bunch of information on Pokémon Poachers, so if we find something, we might identify him, as you said, and maybe get a clue at where he would go with a big catch like this one," Officer Jenny said. "I'll go and gather a search party, and we will start then."
"No need," Ash interrupted her before she can get back to the station. "We will take care of everything, you can stay in the City, and make sure nothing happens here. For all we know, the poacher never left, and could be here somewhere."
"You think I'll let four kids go in a forest after a dangerous poacher without any help," Officer Jenny said with narrowed eyes. "You must be crazy. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happens to you all."
"Nothing will happen to us," Ash said. "Besides, I'm a Grand Master, and as such I have higher authority then you, so you can't stop me no matter what. It's my job to prevent things like this from happening, and that's what I will do.
"Let's go, guys," Ash finished saying, and started walking toward the forest, with the others following him, including Stantler, leaving Officer Jenny behind, with her mouth wide open in shock.
"Was I just scolded and told of by a kid?" She asked herself.
Then, she turned around, and drove back to the station with her motorbike. She needs to send few policemen around the City, and on the edges of the City to keep an eye, and see if a poacher appears.
XXX
For the next hour, the group of four, plus one Pokémon were walking around the forest, searching for any sign of the Stantler herd or the poacher that got them.
Ash did ask Stantler if he can tell them where the herd spent most of their time, or where were they when they were attacked, but being so young he couldn't tell them, so they had to resort to just walking around and searching.
Of course, Ash also tried to feel with Aura and see if he can find something, but as powerful as he was, he still is not capable of being able to sense everything over the entire forest, and what he is able to sense is just Pokémon and humans, not anything physical that the poacher could have left behind.
So, right now, they go over the forest a little, and then Ash uses his aura sensing to see if can find something, if he doesn't, they go the place where the edge of his sensing ability reaches, and then does it again, and again.
"Wouldn't it be better if we split up to cover more ground," Misty asked?
"Normally that would be a good decision," Ash replied. "But the problem is that we know nothing about this guy and how dangerous he is, so it might be better for all of us to stick together."
"Ash is right, Misty," Brock said, and Misty huffed. "That guy captured the entire herd of Stantler, so he is bad business, and we might not be able to catch him without Ash's help."
Misty knew Brock is right, so in the end she let it go, and didn't push for them to separate.
Another hour later without anything, until finally after more than two hours of searching through the forest, Ash sensed something.
"Stop, I sense something," Ash said, and they all stopped and looked at him.
"What do you sense, Ash," Serena asked?
"I sense a big group of Pokémon on the same place about 2 miles to the west of here," Ash replied. "It is almost on the edge of my sensing ability, but I can clearly say that it's the bunch of Pokémon. Most of them are the same, but there are also several others different, as well as one human."
"Well, then, let's go before he gets away." Brock said.
"I doubt he can get away now, because he seems to have trouble bringing all those Pokémon with him." Ash said.
"What makes you say that?" Serena asked.
"Well, I know I would have trouble dealing with all of them, even with a bunch of strong Pokémon," Ash replied. "Besides, in two days, he should have been far from here by now, and yet we caught up with him in just over two hours."
"I guess you've got a point there," said Brock. "So, how are we approaching this?"
"Let's get there first and see the situation, and then we'll come up with a plan," Ash said, and the three agreed, so they started walking toward the west where Ash senses the Stantler herd.
XXX
It took another hour and a half of walking through the forest outside of the road to reach the location where Ash was sensing the Stantler herd and their poacher.
When he and the others got there, they saw a complete herd of Stantler on the same place surrounded by five Pokémon who were keeping guard.
There was also a small tent, probably for the poacher, who is not seen among the group of Pokémon.
"Who are these Pokémon?" Misty asked from behind some bushes, where she and the others were hiding. "I've never seen some of them."
"They are Scizor, Sneasel, Tyranitar, Charizard, and Aggron," Ash replied. "This won't be easy as they are all powerful, and could be a problem, so we need to be careful."
"We could use Darkrai and Volcanion that Misty and I have," Brock said. "You also have Lugia, and she can help as well."
"Let's try to avoid that, and use the other Pokémon," Ash said. "I don't want to risk their exposure if this guy manages to escape. He could tell someone, and it will bring us more trouble."
"Ok, so how do we do this," Serena asked?
"The three of you are going to take on those Pokémon, while I will face the poacher once he comes out of the tent," Ash said. "I think that you are ready to face those Pokémon, but, if you feel it's absolutely necessary and you can't defeat them any other way, then use the legendary you have. As for Serena, here take Lugia and if you need her, she will help. I already told her a while ago, to listen to all of my friends if she ever gets released from her Poke Ball by one of them."
"Ok, Ash," Brock said. "So, who gets who?"
"That Tyranitar is the strongest among them, and is the Pseudo Legendary Pokémon, just like Dragonite, so only Serena's Dragonair and Donphan will have a chance, none of the other Pokémon any of you currently have with you except Legendary will be enough, so Serena should face it, while the two of you can pick any other you wish for. Although, Scizor is a Bug Type, so Misty might want to take some other," Ash said."
"Ok, then, let's go," Brock said, but before they could split up, Stantler interrupted.
"What about me?" He asked in a soft voice.
Ash turned and looked at him, and replied. "You stay here. You are hurt, and also very young, you can't take on any of them, and will only get hurt, so it is best to stay here."
"But I want to help!" Stantler said.
"Like I said, you are young and hurt, so you can't help in any way," Ash said, and Stantler lowered his head, which made Ash sigh. "I'm sure you mother is among them, and if she sees you putting yourself in danger, she will be worried, and you don't want her to be worried, don't you?"
"No," Stantler replied. "I don't want her to be worried."
"So, we have agreed, you will stay here, and just wait for us to finish, and you will be reunited with your mother," Ash said, and Stantler nodded.
After that, the four of them split up and went in four different ways.
XXX
After she split from the group, Serena slowly walked behind where Tyranitar was standing guard, to try and attack it from the back without much trouble.
On the way, she released her Dragonair and Donphan, and told them about the situation, and what's the goal here, and after they nodded, they went to take out Tyranitar.
XXX
Just like Serena, Brock and Misty picked the Pokémon they will take out, and also had the same idea as Serena to release their Pokémon before they reach the location where the poachers Pokémon are standing guard, so they will not make noise during the release from Poke Ball's, and to have more time to explain the situation.
Seeing that she will have to face against Charizard, and she only has a few first level Pokémon, Misty gave the Water Stone she bought some time ago, and gave it to her Eevee, who evolved into Vaporeon as soon as he touched the Water Stone.
Since Ash told them to pick any Pokémon they want to take out, and since Serena took Tyranitar, and Brock had to take Scizor since Misty is afraid of Bug Type, Misty ended up having to fight against Charizard and Sneasel, while Brock ended up with Aggron and Scizor.
After all of them came in their positions, and since it wasn't said who will start the battle first, Brock decided to start this of, by having his Magby and Vulpix attack.
XXX
"Magby, Vulpix, I want you both to fire Flamethrower at the same time, and I want you both to aim at Scizor," Brock said, and seeing the look that said 'why', on his Pokémon faces, he continued. "If we take out one of them immediately in surprise attack, then it will be easier to face Aggron alone, since I'm sure that it is stronger than Scizor, and will be harder to defeat."
After both Pokémon nodded, he said.
"Ready, aim, and Fire," Brock shouted in the end, and as soon as he said that, both of his Pokémon fired a very powerful Flamethrower's, that were the result of months of hard training.
Brock's shout made Scizor and Aggron turn around to see what is going on, and both saw two big Flamethrower's fuse into one extremely powerful, and head toward Scizor, who was so stunned by this, he didn't even move a muscle, and was hit by overpowered attack, and sent dozens of meter away through the forest from where it was standing, and leaving the path of burned ground and trees.
After Magby and Vulpix stopped their attacks, and they, along with Brock looked at the damage, and saw a path formed in the forest where the Flamethrower went through, and completely burned down everything in the way. The entire path was still burning, and on the end of the path, there was Scizor lying completely scorched, and looked barely alive.
"Damn," said Brock. "That might have been more powerful than I was expecting. We must finish Aggron fast, so we can put out that fire, and not cause the whole forest to burn down."
Aggron looked at where the attack came from, and saw Brock with his Pokémon coming out from behind the bush ready to attack him, he also saw the other of his owners Pokémon were also attacked, so he growled, and attacked Brock and his Pokémon before they can attack him.
"Lets' go," Brock said. "Magby use Fire Blast, Vulpix use Fire Spin!"
XXX
Once Serena and Misty heard Brock yell, and two Flamethrower's took down Scizor, they acted, and attacked their opponents.
Misty, after she saw what Brock did, decided to do the same, and had both of her newly evolved Vaporeon, as well as Seel attack.
"Vaporeon, Seel, both of you use Ice Beam on Sneasel." Misty said, and as she said, her Pokémon did, and both formed a bluish ball of water in front of their mouths, and fired several beams from them, at surprised Sneasel.
Even though Sneasel was part Ice type, and even though it was resistant to ice type attacks, there was only so far any resistance can take you, because as soon as Sneasel was hit by several beams, it was frozen solid, along with a forest ground and trees in twenty meters circle from where Sneasel was.
It was a good thing that they weren't too close to the Stantler herd, because then both Brock, and now Misty, might have held back a little, but this way, since the guarding Pokémon were several dozen meters away from the herd, they could go all out without worries.
"Great, now attack Charizard," Misty said, and then the battle also started on her end, just like on Brock's.
XXX
Serena, who unlike Brock and Misty only had to face one opponent, didn't have to waste an attack on taking out one Pokémon and then to go and fight the other.
No, she instead had both of her Pokémon attack Tyranitar as her only opponent, and tried to take it out, but it looked like it was not going to be so easy, because Tyranitar reacted quickly, and dodged to powerful Hyper Beams from Dragonair and Donphan.
Seeing what is going on, Tyranitar got angry, and roared to the heavens, which made Serena swear, but sent her Pokémon to attack so they would not be picked apart, by a very powerful opponent.
"Dragonair, Ice Beam! Donphan, Hyper Beam," Serena said to her Pokémon, and the battle on three of four fronts started.
XXX
After he split up from the others, Ash went toward the tent where the poacher was, and waited for him to come out, as he didn't want to just barge in as he didn't know if there were any traps, and his aura and psychic powers can't always help him, so he's playing safe.
Once he heard Brock's shout, and saw a Flamethrower several dozen meters away, and then the others also attack, he knew the poacher is coming out, so he stayed behind the bush, and waited for just a moment, since just as he expected, the poacher appeared.
When he saw who came out, Ash was surprised, but not because he knew the poacher, but because of the 'uniform' he was wearing that makes him, in his own opinion, look a little ridiculous.
The man was wearing black and gray tight suit, along with some kind of west, or whatever that thing was. He also had golden boots, golden belt, golden mask that stood on top of his head and covered the upper half of his face. He also had a beard on his chin.
All in all, the guy looked scary to any normal person, and children, but to someone like himself, he looked bloody ridiculous.
That's when Ash decided to come out of hiding, and face the guy, before he can go after the others.
So, he came out from behind the bushes, and came face-to-face with the poacher.
"Who are you," the guy yelled after he saw Ash? "Are you the one attacking my Pokémon?"
"My friends are attacking your Pokémon," Ash replied. "I came to face you."
"Who are you, and why are you attacking me?" The guy asked.
"I'm surprised you're asking that, because you are the one who attacked a herd of Stantler for whatever reason, and now you are angry I'm attacking you," Ash said, and looked as the guy was getting angrier and angrier.
"You know, now that I look at you better, you look kind of familiar," the guy said after he tried to calm down a little. "Have I seen you before?"
"I don't know if you have seen me before, but I'm sure I have never seen anyone wearing that ridiculous suit, as I'm sure I would have remembered you." Ash said, and looked as the guy got even angrier than before, which is a good thing, as he might make a mistake in his rage.
"You are messing with things you shouldn't be messing with, kid," the guy said in a calm voice, though he looked like he was about to burst from rage. "So, I advise you to take your friends and walk away while you still can."
"Hm," Ash smirked. "I think I'll take my chances, and stay here. I mean what kind of Aura Guardian I would be if I let a poacher get away with the entire herd of Stantler."
This got a reaction from the poacher, as he backed away a little from Ash after he heard he was Aura Guardian. "Y-You are an Aura Guardian," he stuttered, and then it dawned on him why Ash was so familiar. "Wait, I know who you are. You are Ash Ketchum, aren't you?"
"How do you know me," Ash asked?
"You are the reason I'm even bothering with capturing this many Stantler," the guy yelled, and Ash was confused. "If you didn't take out Team Rocked in Saffron City, I wouldn't have to do this crap, and would be hunting out more valuable Pokémon!"
"I see," Ash said. "So, you are a member of Team Rocket."
"Yes, I am," the guy replied. "I'm Iron-Masked Marauder, and I'm a high-ranking member off Team Rocket whose job was to hunt down and capture powerful Pokémon, as well as Mythical and Legendary Pokémon, and now I'm reduced to a mere poacher. And all because of what you did!"
"Am I supposed to feel pity for you, and let you go, because I supposedly ruined your life," Ash asked with contempt in his voice? "You are a poacher and member of Team Rocket, and as such you get no pity from you. You are going to jail, be sure to that. The only question is if you will come easily or by force."
"Never going to happen," the Marauder yelled, and then took some kind of weird black Poke Ball, and threw it in the air, and from it came out another Tyranitar, though this one looked bigger and stronger than the one Serena is facing. Also, it had something in its eyes that didn't feel well with Ash, and he wondered what it was. He didn't look into the eyes of the other Pokémon of this guy so he didn't know if they are the same, but there is something wrong with this Tyranitar.
"So, you have two Tyranitar," Ash commented. "What, did you also capture a whole bunch of them or something?"
"This one was mine from a while back," the Marauder said. "As for the others, they all belonged to other trainers, and I captured them from them."
"How could you just capture Pokémon that already have trainers," Ash asked? "And what's up with that look in its eyes. I've never seen a look like that in the eyes of Pokémon?"
"Oho, so you want to know, ha," the Marauder smirked, while Ash narrowed his eyes. "Ok, then, I'll tell you. You see, this Poke Ball is special, it can not only capture a Pokémon that already have their balls, but it also turns them all evil, and more powerful than they are."
Ash looked at the Marauder with rage and hatred in his eyes, and was ready to kill him right now, but managed to control himself. "I take it that's another creation of Team Rocket," Ash said, spiting the name of Team Rocket!"
"Yeah, it is," the Marauder said. "Though I'm the only one who is using it."
"Good to know that, because after today, there will be no one to use them," Ash said, and Marauder flinched a little in fear, but recovered quickly.
"Is that so," the marauder said. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam on the kid!"
Tyranitar roared, and fired a powerful yellow-orange beam from its mouth at Ash, who just stood there, and with ease created a barrier in front of himself, that was then hit by the Hyper Beam, and there was an explosion that destroyed the ground around where Ash stood, lifted the dust and smoke in the area, and even ripped a few trees from the ground and destroyed few others.
"Hahaha, was that all the kid had," the Marauder laughed? "I'm a little disappointed that this is all it took to take him out. And to think he was the one responsible for the arrest of Giovanni and the others, and the death of Proton."
"I wouldn't be laughing if I was you!" Ash's voice was heard from where he was standing before, and once the dust cloud cleared up, the Marauder saw Ash stand behind the barrier he created, and without the scratch on him. "I though you said that that Poke Ball makes Pokémon stronger. But from what I've seen, that Tyranitar is pathetically week."
This made both the Marauder and Tyranitar angry, and the Marauder yelled. "I'll show you! Use Sandstorm, and then Dark Pulse!"
Tyranitar roared again, and then created the Sandstorm that surrounded his body first, and then spread around the entire area, even spreading as far as where the herd of Stantler are, who are now laying on the ground and protecting themselves from the attack.
"Hahaha," the Marauder laughed while the Sandstorm created by Tyranitar was all over the place, and he couldn't even see Ash again. "That's great Tyranitar! Now fire Dark Pulse where he stood before, just to be sure his defeated."
Tyranitar opened its mouth and then a light purple and purple colored aura forms inside of it. It then fired black and purple circles from the aura inside its mouth at the place where Ash stood before the Sandstorm.
After this attack collided with the target, there was another explosion, and the dust and debris from the trees was all over the place mixed with the Sandstorm.
"Told you, you should have walked away kid, but you didn't listen, and now you paid with your life," the Marauder laughed at Ash, thinking he killed him.
Imagine his surprise when the Sandstorm started growing smaller and smaller, until there was nothing else, and when he looked at what's going on, he saw Ash standing in the same place he was before, but was now surrounded with blue Aura, and his eyes were glowing yellow.
"And I told you, you are going to jail," Ash said, and then the glow in his eyes intensified, as he was looking at the Marauder, and formed an Aura Sphere in his right hand, and threw it right at him, which collided with the screaming Marauder, and created an explosion bigger than the one created by Tyranitar's Hyper Beam and Dark Pulse.
When the Aura Sphere collided with the Marauder's stomach, he was sent backwards and once he stopped bouncing off the ground and trees, and once the dust was gone, Ash saw him lying on the ground covered in bunch of bruises, and a lot of blood. His mask was destroyed, revealing his face, and his suit was torn in some places, mostly on his torso where the Aura Sphere hit.
Then, Ash looked at Tyranitar who was glaring at him and looked like he was planning to fire another attack, but Ash formed two more Aura Sphere's, one in each hand, and then brought them next to one another, and the two spheres merged together and formed one bigger and stronger, which Ash then lifted above his head with both of his hands, and threw it at Tyranitar, who was hit, and sent flying backwards, destroying everything in its path as it was pushed through the forest by a giant Aura Sphere.
Ash then released a sigh, and walked over the Marauder. Once he came in front of him, he saw the guy has passed out, which was not surprising, and also saw a Dark Ball was destroyed. All that is left is to destroy the ones that are holding the Pokémon the others are facing.
Now that he remembered about the others, he looked around and tried to sense how the things are going with them, and was pleased that it went well, so he started tying up the Marauder, and waited for the others to come from their battlefields.
XXX
Few minutes earlier, with Brock:
"Vulpix, watch out!" Brock yelled as he was watching Aggron coming at his Vulpix with Metal Claw ready to strike her.
Unfortunately, Brock's yell and warning came too late, because as soon as he said it, Aggron's glowing claws slashed at Vulpix, hitting her across the face, and sending her flying backwards across the forest.
"Oh no, Vulpix!" Brock yelled worried about his Pokémon, and inability to do anything,
Brock then took Vulpix Poke Ball, and returned her. "Return Vulpix!"
"Ok Magby, it's just you and me now," Brock said while looking at his Magby, who was covered in some bruises, and was exhausted, but could still fight. "Are you ready?"
Magby nodded, and stood ready to continue.
"Great, now use Fire Blast!" Brock said.
Magby took a breath, and fired an 大 shaped attack at Aggron, who in return created a silver ball in front of his mouth, and fired it in a form of a beam, which then collided with Fire Blast, which created a big explosion, and shockwave, that pushed Aggron back a few meters, but Magby flew back from the force of the shockwave, and his small body.
Aggron's whole tail then glowed white, and it jumped at the Magby who was lying on the forest ground.
Brock saw what was coming, and warned his Pokémon. "Magby, dodge, and attack with Flame Burst!"
Magby heard Brock's warning, and dodged just as Aggron was about to hit him with Iron Tail, which instead hit the ground, and created a large hole in it.
Seeing an opening in Aggron's defense, Magby used it, and created an orange-red fireball, and then from it fired several beams at Aggron, who didn't dodge or counter, and was hit dead on the head, and all over its body, which then set it on fire, along with a small part of the forest around it.
"Great job, Magby," Brock said to his Pokémon with a smile, and Magby returned it smiling back, though weekly, as he was close to being done, and maybe has two or three attacks in him!
Aggron stood up, and roared in anger at being scorched like that by a Pokémon like Magby, and opened its mouth, and created a silver ball, which it then fired as a beam at Magby.
"Magby, Flamethrower!" Brock yelled.
Magby give it his all, as he knew it will take his all to counter that Flash Cannon, and fired the most powerful Flamethrower he could in that moment, which, when collided with Flash Cannon, started pushing it back a little, until Aggron added more power, and pushed the attack at Magby, who couldn't do much, and just before it was to hit him, the two attacks exploded, which then sent Magby rolling and bouncing of the forest floor for several dozen meters, until he hit at the tree and stopped.
"Oh shit, Magby!" Brock yelled again; this time even more worried about his Pokémon. "Come on Magby, I know you can do it! Stand up!"
Magby slowly started to stand up, though barely as he was tired, and hurt from all the attacks, and can barely hold himself from passing out.
Aggron saw Magby starting to get up, and saw Brock cheering him on, so he decided to attack Brock instead.
Aggron's claw's gloved white, and it jumped at the surprised Brock who wasn't expecting Pokémon to attack him.
"Oh crap!" Brock yelled, and jumped to the side, narrowly dodging Metal Claw from Aggron, who then came after him again.
Magby was that his trainer is in trouble because the evil Pokémon is now attacking him, and he wanted to save him.
In that moment, Magby yelled to the sky, and started glowing, which then drew the attention of Aggron who stopped attacking Brock, who was now also looking at Magby.
Magby glowed for a few moments, and after that, the glow stopped, and instead of Magby, stood a powerful Magmar, who the roared to the sky just like Magby earlier, and looked at Aggron with narrowed eyes.
"Wow, Magmar, you evolved!" Brock said in ave, and Magmar nodded not taking the eyes of Aggron, who was staring back.
"Great job, buddy, now let's take it out, Ok! Use Fire Blast!" Brock said.
Magmar the fired another Fire Blast just like the one before, but now it was at least three times bigger and much more powerful, and was scorching everything on its path to the stunned Aggron, who didn't move at all, and was hit by the overpowered attack, that set it on fire for the second time that day.
"Great job, Magmar," Brock praised him. "Now finish it off with Fire Punch!"
Both of Magmar's fists became surrounded in fire, and he jumped at the downed Aggron, and started repeatedly punching him on the face, and all over its body for almost half a minute.
"Ok, that's enough, Magmar," Brock said, and Magmar stopped. "I think Aggron is done for."
And he was right, as Aggron was lying on the ground completely covered in bruises and burn marks that will take a long time to be healed.
"Good job, Magmar," Brock said after he approached his Pokémon. "You really showed it how to fight with courage."
Magmar nodded, and Brock returned him in his Poke Ball for a nice ret.
"I better go and see if Ash found the poacher." Brock said to himself, and headed to where Ash was.
XXX
Just like Brock, Misty was able to defeat Charizard, who, even though took out Seel, was no match for Vaporeon, and was soundly defeated after Seel was taken out, and Misty and Vaporeon went all out.
Serena had most trouble of all of them with her opponent, and even though Tyranitar didn't take out neither of Serena's two Pokémon, it still took both of them relentlessly attacking to take out Tyranitar, and win the battle just barely, because they were almost done, and on or two more attacks and they wouldn't be able to continue.
And now, all three of them are approaching to where Ash battled against the poacher.
"Hey guys, how did the battles go?" Ash asked from under the tree, where he looked like he was cooling out without any care.
"Why the hell are you just sitting there," Misty asked? "Where is the poacher?"
"He's over there," Ash replied, and pointed to a tree under which the poacher lied tied up and unconscious, along with Tyranitar, who was the same.
"Where the hell did that Tyranitar come from," Serena asked?
"Apparently, the poached had two of them," Ash replied. "This one was his, and the one you battled and those other Pokémon belonged to some other trainers from which he stole with those Dark Poke Ball's."
"Dark Poke Ball's, what are those?" Brock asked, and Ash explained everything he found out about the Marauder, how he is a member of Team Rocket, about the Dark Balls' and their power's, and in the end what he did to him and Tyranitar.
"I didn't know that Ash can be so brutal," Serena though as she has never seen Ash do something like this, and was surprised. "I wonder if this has something to do with what happened between him and Misty on that Lake few weeks ago."
"Ok, so what now?" Brock asked.
"Now, we release the Stantler herd, and then take Marauder and the Pokémon he had back to Officer Jenny, where she can decide what to do with the Pokémon, and put Marauder in jail," Ash said, and the other three agreed.
They then went to the herd, and saw young Stantler they found in the City, has come out of hiding, and was now reunited with his mother and herd.
Once the herd saw Ash and his friends, some of them approached them, and thanked them for freeing them, and after baby Stantler said good bye to them, he walked away along with the rest of the herd.
As the herd left, Ash took some empty Poke Balls he had, and captured all of the Pokémon Marauder had, and placed them in his back pack, and then picked Marauder by his right ankle, and dragged him back to the City, while the others walked next to them.
XXX
After they came back to the City almost three hours later, it was almost night time, so they went to the police station to hand over Marauder and the Pokémon he had, before they go to the Pokémon Center for the night.
"You are back," Officer Jenny yelled and ran in front of Ash and the others after they entered in the station! "I was getting worried that something happened to you since it was almost dark and you were not back yet."
"Yeah, it took us over three hours to find the poacher, and then three hours to come back after we dealt with him, and released the herd," Ash explained, and Officer Jenny looked at the man Ash was holding by the ankle, that looked like he was more dead than alive, and raised her eyebrows.
"Is that the poacher," Officer Jenny asked, and Ash nodded. "What happened to him?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Ash said, and Officer Jenny looked like she wanted to insist, but after she remembered he was an Aura Guardian, she decided to drop it, and had few policeman take Marauder behind the bars, and call doctor so he won't die because of his injuries.
"There are also these Pokémon," Ash said, and handed over a bunch of Poke Balls with Pokémon that were Marauders, and explained what happened, and about the Dark Balls abilities, and that the Pokémon will need Nurse Joy to heal them.
"After they are healed by Nurse Joy, and she checks their mental condition, you can decide what to do with them," Ash said, and pulled out a Visit Card from his pocket. "This is a number of Dr. Urahara from Rota Kingdom research division, so if you need some assistance with these Pokémon, call him, and tell him I gave you the number, and explain him what happened, so he will help you."
"Ok, I will," Officer Jenny said, and after that, Ash and the others said that they will be in the Pokémon Center until after breakfast tomorrow, so if she needs anything, that's where she can find them.
Then, they said good bye, and left the police station, and walked to the Pokémon Center where they took two rooms, and after they had dinner, they went to sleep, as they were all exhausted.
Even Ash a little.