Chapter 30

Ash turned in confusion as he shot another Dragon Pulse at Houndoom. No matter how many times he hit Houndoom, it never attacked him; always going for one of his Pokemon instead. Even when he had made a mistake and let his guard down, instead of taking the easy hit on him, Houndoom went for Skye instead, forcing Ash to make a desperate maneuver to stop it. Was this Nigel's plan? To take out his Pokemon first and then finish him off? He rammed Houndoom again as the fire and dark type tried to attack Pikachu. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to let that happen.

Latios let out a grunt as Kangaskhan hit him for what felt like the hundredth time. Battling Kangaskhan was hard enough to do once, but doing it a second time, without Ash's commands, was much, much harder. He had to find an opening, but how? He flew back as Kangaskhan tried to hit him with a Power-up Punch.

Latias, meanwhile, was not doing well with Pinsir. On top of constantly having to watch out for Gillotine, Latias also had to dodge every bind thrown at her. A single hit from either attack meant a quick and painful defeat. Ash she dodged an X-Scizor, she was reminded why she didn't like battling. Latias sighed and launched a Dragon Pulse, she knew Ash would never force her to battle unless it was really necessary. Whatever he wanted her to do though, she knew she would.

Ground types are not fun to battle when you're an electric type. Pikachu threw another Electro Web on Dugtrio. Not because it would do any damage, but because it held the Mole Pokemon down long enough for Skye to get in a Leaf Blade. Pikachu made a mental note to have Ash help him learn Grass Knot later, that would have made this a lot easier.

Skye took turns with Pikachu baiting and hitting Dugtrio. It wasn't easy, but thankfully Pikachu had only gotten hit twice. Skye intentionally took several hits for Pikachu, knowing her grass-typing could take the attack much better than he could. If it wasn't for the aces and pains, this battle could have been fun, but getting hit by a three-headed Pokemon that smashed you when you were least expecting it. They should really make a video game on this, playing it would be much more fun than actually battling.

Though Ash's Pokemon were strong, fighting 4 different Pokemon all at once was hard and though they had beaten these Pokemon before, battling them was much easier in a controlled environment with Ash constantly watching out for them, not to mention coming up with crazy tactics that seemed to always work. Despite this, they held their own against the Dark Pokemon, not backing up an inch.

Nigel smirked as he watched the scene unfold. He knew Ash and his team could hold off his Dark Pokemon, but, he had just done a lot of work defeating all of them. So, he sat back and relaxed in his chair. He would bring in Ho-oh soon enough.

Nigel pulled out a picture from his pocket. It was one of him when he was much younger, he was wearing his favorite T-shirt, which had a picture of Ho-oh on the front, and wore a checkered hat on his head. He was surrounded by his Pokemon, a Digglet, a Houndoor, a baby Kangaskhan, a Pinsir, and a Mudkip. He was so young and naive back then, all he thought of was being best friends with his Pokemon. That was until one day, what he considered back then to be the worst day of his life. Now? He saw it as a lesson, one that without which he would not be where he was today.

Flashback

Nigel skipped along the streets of Ecruteak City with his Pokemon. "Look guys! It's Bell Tower!" He exclaimed, pointing out the historic monument.

"Dig? Digglet?" questioned his Pokemon.

"No Digglet," replied Nigel, "we can't go inside."

"Hound?" asked Houndoor.

"Why?" guessed Nigel, "Because we're not allowed to, it's too dangerous,"

"Khan, kangask,"

"Yes, of course I want to go in, Ho-oh's one of my favorite Pokemon, but we just can't, alright."

"Sir pinsir, pin," the bug-type pointed out.

"There's no one around?" Nigel turned his head in each direction to make sure. "Well, I guess a peek couldn't hurt,"

His Pokemon cheered.

"Shh," said Nigel, "I need you guys to be quiet,"

His Pokemon nodded.

"Alright, we're going to sneak in through that door in the back," said Nigel, "keep watching to make sure no one sees us,"

Cautiously, Nigel and his Pokemon tiptoed through the back entrance. With a final glance, Nigel closed the door behind them, leaving only a few rays of light that filtered through the cracks in the wall to light their way. They slowly started up the stairs, almost jumping with every creak they made along the way.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the group finally made it to the top. Excited, Nigel burst through the door, wondering if he would see Ho-oh.

"Hey, kid! What are you doing here?"

Nigel froze. He turned his head to see 2 men, each with a strong-looking Pokemon standing next to them. "I-I was j-just looking," he stuttered, "um, I guess I'll g-go now."

"Not so fast," said one of the men as his Tyranitar stepped up to him and growled, "you're not going anywhere."

At this, Nigel's Pokemon hurried to his side, stepping right between him and the Tyranitar.

"No! Don't!" said Nigel.

"Aww," said the other man, who had an Alakazam floating next to him, "the little boy has his little Pokemon to protect him, how cute,"

"Look," said Nigel, "just l-let me leave, I promise I won't tell anyone about you,"

"What do you think?" asked the man with the Tyranitar, "Should we let him go?"

The other man considered the question. "Yeah, we should, no sense dragging him along with us. But let's teach him a little lesson first to make sure he knows not to talk about us,"

"Alright boss, Tyranitar, use Brutal Swing!"

Tyranitar stepped up to Nigel. He closed his eyes as the Armor Pokemon swung a blow at him and braced himself for the attack. The attack never came, after a few seconds, he opened his eyes to see his Mudkip lying on the floor, battered and bruised.

He scooped up his Pokemon. "Midkip are you ok?"

The Mud Fish Pokemon didn't respond.

Nigel glared at the two men, even though he was only half their size. "You won't get away with this! Everyone attack!"

"Stone Edge,"

Nigel could only watch as his Pokemon were knocked away by the sharp rocks.

The man with the Alakazam smirked. "Let this be a lesson kid to not interfere with those who are stronger than you, only those who have power make it in this world." He turned to his companion. "Tie him up,"

A gag was stuffed in Nigel's mouth as he tried to yell for help. Ropes were tied around his wrists and feet, allowing him no more movement than the blinking of his eyes. The two men laughed before teleporting away with Alakazam.

Eventually, a group of workers found Nigel, and he and his Pokemon were taken to the Pokemon Center. Unfortunately, his Midkip didn't make it and not even Nigel's parents or Pokemon could comfort him for weeks. He took those words; 'Only those who have power make it in this world,' to heart and vowed that he would never, ever be weak again.

Flashback End

Nigel put the picture back in his pocket and grabbed Ho-oh's Pokeball off the table. It was time, time to finally take the power he had dreamed of for years, time to capture the strongest Pokemon in existence, time to show everyone that he wasn't weak! It was time to rule the world.

There's the chapter!

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