The group of three young trainers went past Valley of Steel by noon next day, and that same day, they managed to reach the entrance to the Fiery Path.
They decided to camp at the entrance for the night, before they restarted their journey to Lavender Town, the next morning.
They also used the break to exchange some Pokémon, using Ash's Pokedex, and while Ash didn't switch any Pokémon, as he still has three empty spots in his team, Serena and May did switch some.
Serena has sent at Oak's Ranch, her Marshtomp, Swallow and Golbat, so that the balls with Skarmory, Magnemite and Torkoal would become accessible. She wanted to get to know her newest Pokémon better, and to train them for a while.
May also wanted to do some training with the Pokémon she caught at the Abandoned Ship as well as the Magnemite she caught at the Valley of Steel, so she sent back her Taillow, Lombre, Beautifly, Loudred and Sableye, while Birch sent her Marill, Azurill, Golduck, Wooper and Magnemite.
With that finished, the rest of the day was spent with Ash and Serena telling May some of their stories from their travels thought Kanto, Orange Islands and Johto, only Johto for Serena, though she did talk about some stuff from her home Region, Kalos.
XXX
Right now, Ash, May and Serena are running down the Fiery Path, with half a dozen Slugma, right behind them.
"Can someone please explain to me, why the hell are we running away from some Slugma?" Ash was the one who asked, with annoyance in his voice.
"Because those Slugma are chasing us," Serena yelled! "What else are we supposed to do?"
"I don't know," Ash was very annoyed! "Perhaps we can battle them. There is six of them, and we have two dozen Pokémon between the three of us."
This made Serena and May look at each other, suddenly realizing that Ash is right. The two of them stopped, and seeing that his girlfriend and his friend/future girlfriend has stopped, Ash also stopped and looked at them.
"You are right, Ash," May said. "We can easily take care of them. But leave this to Serena and me. I want to test my new Pokémon, and I'm sure Serena wants the same."
Ash agreed to this. "Go ahead." He said with a slight smile on his face.
Serena and May grabbed two Poke Balls, each, and released their Pokémon. "Go, Corphish, Torkoal!" Serena released her Water and Fire type Pokémon, with May going right after and released her Marill and Golduck, two of her Water Type Pokémon.
"Let's do this!" May said, with Serena agreeing. "Marill, Golduck, use Water Gun!"
"Corphish, use Bubble Beam," Serena followed after May! "Torkoal, use Flamethrower!"
Marill, and Golduck went first and fired two powerful spirals of water from their mouth/bill. Those two attacks were enough to counter two Flamethrowers from two Slugma's, but there were four more of them.
They were countered by Serena's Pokémon, who were clearly more powerful then May's as well as more powerful than the Slugma, as four Flamethrowers from wild Pokémon were easily countered by one Bubble Beam and one Flamethrower.
"Torkoal, use Smokescreen," Serena said, and followed immediately with. "Corphish, use Crabhammer on the ground."
Torkoal's Smokescreen was able to blind Slugma's and stop them from firing more Flamethrowers. This was followed by Corphish, whose right pincer glowed white, before he hit the ground with it, sending a shockwave through the Smokescreen, which hit all six Slugma, sending them all flying.
May saw a chance here, so she went with her attacks. "Marill, use Bubble Beam, one more time! Golduck, use Hydro Pump!"
Serena doubted that those two attacks alone would be powerful enough to take out all six Slugma, even though they were piled up, so she decided to add some more fuel. "Corphish, use Bubble Beam, full power!"
Marill quickly released white bubbles from her mouth. She was followed by a very powerful jet of water fired by Golduck, as well as another Bubble Beam, fired by Corphish, from both of his pincers.
All three attacks joined forces into one very powerful blast of water, which hit the piled-up Slugma, and caused a big explosion, which caused the cave to shake. with some rocks falling from the cave wall.
The explosion caused a smoke cloud to rise and cover Slugma, so it took about a minute for it to settle down, and finally to show the results of the battle.
The result was, six Slugma scattered all over the place, with swirls in their eyes. They have been defeated.
"That was a good battle," Ash said from behind the two girls, which caused them to smile and thank him, after which, they congratulated their Pokémon for a good battle. "Though next time, try not to do so much damage, since we might end up getting buried alive if the cave collapses."
The girls paled. "Sorry Ash." They apologized at the same time.
"So, are you going to capture them?" Ash asked as he looked at the defeated Slugma. As he was looking at them, his eyes caught a glint from the side, as it looked like there was something in the wall which was broken by the explosion, earlier.
Serena and May didn't notice the look Ash was casting toward the broken wall, and they both said that they are not that interested in those Slugma. They are satisfied with just defeating them as it was a good training for their Pokémon.
It took them a couple of seconds to notice that Ash was not really paying attention to the two of them, and that he was now in front of the broken wall, looking at something.
"Ash, what's going on," Serena asked, as she and May approached Ash and noticed that he is looking at something in the broken wall. The two girls saw a glint of light, and were now curious.
"What's that?" May asked.
Ash didn't respond to the question, instead, he dug a little around the place through which the shining was coming. In less than a minute, he was holding in his hands something amazing and surprising. "Well, what are the chances?" He said with a smile, while showing to the two girls what he just found.
"Is that…?" Serena asked with wide eyes,
"Oh yeah." Ash confirmed.
"Damn, we must be really lucky to find another one," May commented. "I thought they were hard to come by."
"They are," Ash said. "Some people spend years searching for one and they can't find them."
"Do you know which one is it?" Serena asked.
"I think it's Charizardite X," Ash said.
"Charizardite X," May said with a frown. "What's that? Why is there 'X', in the name?"
"All Pokémon which have Mega Forms, can only evolve into one form," Ash said, "but there is one exception to that, and that is, Charizard, which has two possible forms to evolve into, depending on the stone. With Charizardite X, Charizard evolves into Mega Charizard X, which is Fire/Dragon type, while Mega Charizard Y, stays Fire/Flying."
"Wow, I didn't know that," May said. "So, which one is better?"
"Besides the fact that they look differently," Ash said. "I'm pretty sure they are about equally powerful. Though, those who like Dragon Type Pokémon, will always go with Mega Charizard X, while Flying Type trainers will go with Mega Charizard Y. I actually think that Mega Charizard Y would be perfect for Serena."
Serena was surprised by this. "Why me?"
Ash rose his eyebrows. "I don't know," he shrugged. "Maybe because about half of the Pokémon you have are Flying or part Flying Types. Those who don't know you, would assume you are flying type specialist because of all those flying type Pokémon."
"Hm, I guess you are right," Serena said, while deep in thought. "I do like Flying Type Pokémon, and I can imagine myself as Flying Type trainer, one day."
Ash smiled. "I'm happy for you," he said. "Also, that works perfectly with some plans I have for the future."
Serena and May rose their eyebrows. "What plans?" Serena asked.
"You'll see." Ash said with a smile, while Serena frowned.
"What are you going to do with that Mega Stone?" May asked.
Ash shrugged. "I'll keep it for now," he said. "Maybe I'll end up using it one day on one of my Charizard's, or I'll just give it to someone."
May nodded, and then looked at the defeated Slugma. "What about them?" She asked.
Ash looked at the defeated Slugma and asked. "Are you both sure you don't want to catch them?"
Both girls nodded, so Ash shrugged and pulled six empty Poke Balls from his backpack and captured all six Slugma.
"Why did you catch all of them?" May asked.
"For PPA," Ash said. "There are some caves under the PPA which could be perfect for them, and there they would be safe and wouldn't be attacking anyone, since no one but some rangers, my family, Professor Oak, Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny go to the PPA.
With the Slugma captured, Ash, Serena and May continued their journey to Lavaridge Town.
Ash, Serena and May were running up the road toward the station, where they are supposed to board the cable car to ride up the Mt. Chimney.
The reason they are running is because the next ride is in just five minutes, and if they miss it, they will have to wait for the next one, which is tomorrow.
Fortunately for them, they were able to get there in time, with barely two minutes to spare until the cable car left the station.
"Damn, we barely made it in time," Ash said, as he was seating on the passenger seat in the cable car. Serena was seating right next to him, and the two of them looked relatively normal. The same can't be said for May, who is currently kneeling on the floor next to the seat opposite of Ash and Serena. She was all sweaty and breathing hard.
"We sure did," Serena said. "Though I don't think we should have run that last mile and a half. We could have waited for tomorrow's ride."
"I… agree." May said through shallow breaths. She really seems tired, which made Ash frown at her.
"You need to get into better shape, May," Ash said. "As for the running all this way, that's because I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to get over the mountain. and on the way to Lavaridge Town.
"We could have rested a little," May said. She seems to have regained her breath, and was now seating on her seat. "The Lavaridge Gym won't go anywhere, so there was no need to hurry."
"You are right," Ash said. "The gym won't go anywhere, but there is no reason to waste time and rest at this moment. Serena and I are ready for the gym battle, our Pokémon are also ready, and it's best to get that over with, after which, we can take a day or two of rest without having to think about the upcoming gym battle."
May groaned. "Fine! But we better rest for a few days after the gym battles, Ash. I'm not used to all this traveling like the two of you, and I really need some rest after coming through the desert and then climbing up all the hills around this place. I also want to try out Hot Springs and sand baths, which Lavaridge Town is famous for."
Ash smiled at May and nodded. His smile made May blush and look away from him, which made Ash smirk, while Serena, who noticed this, groaned.
XXX
A man in his sixties, was walking down the dark corridor. Actually, it would be better to say that he was limping, and not walking.
The place he is currently walking through, is a very big and ominous looking castle, in the middle of nowhere. The corridor he is walking through, is only lit by some torches on the side, and on top of that, there was some unnatural darkness around the corridor, so it was pretty dark, and it's impossible for anyone to see more than three meters in front of them. The old man, though, doesn't seem to be bothered by the darkness, as he was walking though it like a man on a mission, wearing a scowl on his face.
It took him few minutes to limp his way through the corridor, and come to a rather large, golden door.
Once he was close to the door, he saw a female, standing in front of the door, looking at the man with a scowl on her face. She is about 173cm tall, and has about 57 kg, with an athletic build. Has long, light brown hair and blue eyes; beautiful face along with a curvaceous, buxom figure. She is dressed in a very nice, white suit, with very big open cleavage, and no bra underneath. Judging by her overall looks, she looks like she is barely 40 years old, but you never know for sure. (Think of her as Elizabeth Hurley turned into an anime character)
"I got to hand it to you, Julian," the woman started to speak to an old man, whose name is revealed to be, Julian. "You really have the balls to show your face here after what happened."
"Don't give me that shit," Julian growled at the woman, making her narrow her eyes at him! "I'm here to see the Queen, so move away."
"The Queen, is not happy, Julian," the woman said calmly, though she still had her eyes narrowed at Julian. "Not happy at all, which means that, if you go inside… you will most likely not come out alive."
"Why is she angry," Julian asked? "We couldn't have done anything against that monster."
"Oh she knows that there was nothing you, Martin and David could have done," the woman said. "That's exactly why she is angry, though. First #9 gets taken out, and now you, #10 also got your ass handed to you by the same person who took out #9. Not only that, but our sons are now in jail, with one of them pretty badly injured. I don't even want to talk about the fact that Queen's own son is dead because of that brat.
"The Queen is unhappy that some of her top agents are getting beaten left and right by a CHILD, even though she knows who that child is and what he can do. She's disappointed, she's unhappy and most of all, she is ANGRY, which is why you would most likely be killed if you go inside of the throne room right now."
"I need to talk to her," Julian growled! "I want to ask her for another chance to take that brat out, and this time, I will not fail."
The woman stood there by the door, leaning to the wall, and with her arms folded across her chest. She was looking at her husband with narrowed eyes, thinking if she should just allow him to enter and be killed, or she should send him away until the Queen calms down.
She didn't get to make a choice, because the large, golden door suddenly opened, much to the shook of both Julian and his wife. On the other side of the door, stood a woman of unreal beauty, with long purple hair and purple eyes. She was quite tall, standing at about 180cm. She wears a very tight and revealing, sleeveless, red drees, which goes down to her thigh's, leaving her perfectly long legs, for everyone to see. The dress is also very revealing on the chest area, revealing her 100cm breast, which look like they are about to spill out from the drees, and give everyone an eyeful. Finally, she wears a silver neckless, with a number three on it.
Julian paled when he saw the woman, while his wife gulped, and had sweat rolling down her face. One other thing that both the husband and wife had in common at that moment, except fear, was a light dust of pink on their cheeks, probably because of how sexy the woman look.
The woman smirked at the look on the faces of #5 and Julian, before she said. "The Queen will see you right now, #10." As she said that, she turned around, and walked back into the throne room. As she was walking away, Julian and his wife couldn't help themselves, so their eyes were glued to the woman's perfect ass. Doing that, both of them noticed that there are no lines on the dress, which most likely means that the woman is wearing nothing under the dress, which is so tight, any form of underwear would at least show something over the dress.
The old couple followed after the woman, and walked through the door, entering into a very large throne room.
The throne room was a very big, circular room, with high windows all around the outer walls, as well as a window instead of a ceiling, indicating that there are no floors above the throne room. Around the room, there are several golden statues of an extremely beautiful woman, who looks like she is barely in her twenties. She had long hair, though the color can't be guessed, since it's just a golden statue. The same with eye color and a dress she is wearing, which, actually reveals more than it covers.
Except for the statues, nothing else seems to be in the throne room, at the first look. But, when Julian and his wife got closer to the other side of the room, they came in front of a set of stairs, which lead to an upper level of the throne room.
Once they got to the bottom of the stairs, Julian and his wife finally saw what's going on at the throne chair… well, armchair.
Currently, on the armchair, there is the same woman whose statues are all over the room, and it was finally seen how she actually looks like.
The Queen, just like the statues show, is a beauty unlike any other, with long silver hair and silver eyes, though seeing her eye color was not easy at that moment, considering that her eyes are half lid. Not really surprising to Julian and his wife, considering the situation the Queen is currently in, which left Julian and his wife with their faces burning red, though not so much in anger, as much as in jealousy of the three teen girls, who are currently having 'fun', with the Queen.
The Queen is currently completely naked, lying back on the armchair, with two of the girls at the side of the armchair, sucking the Queen's breasts, while the third girl is on her knees, in between the Queen's parted legs, sucking and licking the Queen's pussy, while at the same time, finger-fucking her butthole.
The Queen's head is leaned back on the chair, and slightly raised up, making her look at the sky through the ceiling window. Her lips are parted and her breathing is labored. Her whole body, which is usually as white as fresh snow, is now flush because of the treatment she is getting from the young girls.
Julian and his wife looked at the Queen with red faces, which show nothing but want. It is nothing unusual considering the current situation.
"Damn it all," Julian thought in his head! "If I knew I wouldn't be killed instantly, I would have jumped at her right now. Then again, getting a piece of that ass, would be worth all the pain and suffering she would put me through before she finally kills me."
Julian then managed to calm himself, as he remembered why he is currently here. "No, I can't let myself die before I kill that brat. After that…" his thoughts remained unknown, as they were interrupted by seeing #3 approach the Queen, to whisper something in her ear, only to have her head grabbed by the Queen's right arm, before she was pulled down into a searing kiss.
Seeing what was currently going on in front of him, made Julian thank every god out there that the room is very dark, so no one was able to see him pop a boner unlike any other in his life. Julian felt like his dick is going to rip through his pants and fly toward the Queen to impale her right then and there.
"Dear God, just give me one chance to have that ass impaled on my dick," Julian prayed in his head, while looking toward the sky through the window. "I don't care if I die right after that, but I must have that ass at least once in my life." (In case you didn't figure it out, Julian is an ass-lover).
Julian was once again pulled out from his thoughts, when he heard the Queens Voice. It made him look at her, and saw that the girls are no longer around her, and the Queen is currently looking at him. She was still naked though, much to Julian's happiness, as he could see her perfect body.
"Stop fucking me with your eyes, Julian, otherwise, I'll rip them out along with your balls, and feed them to you," the Queen said calmly, making Julian gulp in fear. He knew she would do it, and even though she sounds calm, she is far from it, especially since she called him, Julian, as she usually calls her agents by their number, and only calls them by their name when she is pissed off. "And if you pray to god, one more time, about giving you a chance to fuck me in the ass or in any way… I'll feed you to the dogs after I leave them starved for a week," Julian shivered in fear, and even his wife and #3, gulped and sweat-dropped, because of the Queen's anger and because of what Julian was thinking.
"I'm the only goddess in this world, Julian," the Queen continued. "As such, I will not allow a sick and pathetic bastard like you to lay a finger on me, let alone something more."
Julian didn't even bother to ask how she knew what he was thinking, because he knew about her powers. He also knew that she is over-exaggerating when's she's calling herself a goddess, but he knew that she is very skilled and powerful, so she MIGHT be considered a demi-goddess.
So, Julian just nodded with his head, and kept quiet. He knew she was not expecting a reply or anything. He was hopping though, that she will allow him to speak, and give him a chance to have a revenge against the brat who nearly killed him and sent his son to jail, as well as his friends, who sent his other son in jail, after burning him so badly. Hw will be scared for the rest of his life because of the burns.
"Let's see," the Queen suddenly said, after she put on a very thin, silk robe, which barely covered her naked body. "You failed to get some Pokémon which we can sell. You were beaten and nearly killed by barely 13-year-old kid, who also defeated one of your sons before that, while your other son was nearly killed and scarred for life by Ash Ketchum's girlfriend and friend."
Julian bristled at being reminded of all that… but then again, it's always on his mind ever since it happened.
"You failed your mission… miserably," she continued. "To a child who was also responsible for the defeat and incarceration of #9 and the death of my own son. That alone makes me want to kill you right now, even though I know I can't blame you for the defeat of #9 and my son's death. I also know you have no skill to do anything against any member of the Ketchum family.
"Which brings the question… what makes you think I will give you another chance to go after the kid, when I know that that, will be the last thing you will ever do? You stand no chance against him. You will either end up killed, or arrested and sent to jail to keep company to your sons. Either way, I will lose another of my highest ranked agents. So, why should I allow you to go anywhere near Ash Ketchum?"
Julian felt like he was going to blow his top, because of how angry he felt at that moment. He was angry because of the defeat, he was angry because he was treated like dirt by the Queen, who also threatened him every other sentence. Most of all, he was angry because he was being underestimated by his own boss.
Looking at his wife, who was standing away from him, he saw that she was scowling at him, with hate in her eyes, probably because he allowed their sons to be sent to jail. The fact that he was still popping a boner, which was visible to anyone who bothered to look, didn't really help lower her hate. It only increased it.
Julian looked at the Queen right at her eyes, and said. "I want another chance to kill that brat. He has humiliated me unlike anyone before. He and his friends caused my son pain and irreversible damage. I will do whatever it takes to take him out, even if it's the last thing I ever do."
To those in the throne room who were listening and seeing Julian, could hear conviction in his voice, as well as a fire in his eyes, which none of them have ever seen before. Not even his own wife, even though they are in marriage for over 30 years.
"As for you losing an agent if I get killed or arrested, well, you never really liked me, and I'm sure you would have already replaced me with #11, if not for my impeccable record in mission accomplishments so far."
The Queen looked at Julian, with an impassive look on her face. She was thinking about, if she should simply allow the fool to go after Ash and be killed, or if she should keep him. Julian was right. She didn't like him one bit, as he was a pervert, a guy who is too full of himself, and most importantly, he was a MAN, and she hates man. Probably the reason most of her agents are female, with only occasional men allowed in the organization, and even those who are allowed in, are only allowed because a female family member was a member of the Shadow Legion.
He was also right about her wish to replace him with #11, and the only reason she didn't is because #11 is still just a very young teenager, and because he was actually doing a good job so far.
After few minutes of silence, the Queen talked. "Ok, #10," by calling him by his code name, it indicated that she has calmed down a little. "You can go after the kid and his friends. I will also see to it that your sons are released from prison to help you in your quest."
Julian thanked her and bowed his head. His wife also thanked the Queen, after she heard she will have her sons released from prison.
"But know this, #10," the Queen continued to say. "If you fail to dispose of Ash Ketchum, but are actually able to escape with your life and freedom… there will be no place for you or your sons in this organization, and I will personally kill you.
"Do you understand that?" She asked.
Julian gulped, but managed to nod with his head. He has accepted the terms, simply because his desire for revenge overrides his natural survival instincts. He completely ignored the fact that it's not just his life in danger, but also the lives of both of his sons.
His wife though, was everything but happy at that moment. She was angry at Julian for risking her son's life for simple revenge. Yes, she also wanted to have revenge on the kids who sent her beloved children to prison, but not at the cost of her own, and especially their lives.
She also wanted to be angry at the Queen, for saying she will murder her sons if they fail, simply because of Julian's stupidity. Of course, she knew about the Queen's powers, so she sent those thoughts to the back of her mind, before the Queen noticed, otherwise, she will be handed over to every male in the organization so they can have some fan with her. She had no intention of going through that, ever since the first time she saw one of the female members being subjugated to gang-rape just because she had some traitorous thought.
Since he was granted his request, Julian turned around, and walked out of the throne room, leaving behind the Queen, #3 and #5, who just stood there and looked at Julian's back.
The Queen looked at #5, and said. "I hoped you have said your goodbyes, because Julian will not be coming back. I'm almost 100% sure of that."
#5 looked at the Queen, and then at the entrance to the throne room, where Julian has just passed, few seconds ago. She knew that what the Queen said, is probably going to be the truth. She personally doesn't know Ash Ketchum, but she has heard how those who have gone against him, have ended up, and she knew that Julian and her son's, don't stand a chance, if they go after Ash.
Knowing that Julian is walking to his own death… means nothing to #5, as she has stopped loving and carrying for him, a long time ago. But she does love her sons. As idiotic as they are they are still her children, and she doesn't want anything bad to happen to them. Unfortunately, she can't do anything about it now, and can only hope that Julian and her son's manage to get rid of Ash Ketchum, otherwise, all three of them, will be killed.
This chapter has given me so much trouble back in the day when I wrote it. It's from here that the things start to get messy, and somewhat hot, though there was that small part with Swampy in chapter 53. I didn't know how far I want to go with dark, and sexy stuff, so the story was on hiatus for a while back then.
Eventually though, I read some reviews from the readers, and decided what to do, and how far to go. As such, another warning. Things will be somewhat darker, sexier, and edgier in the future.