Warning: This is not standard Pokemon fanfiction. It contains scenes of
violence and some inappropriate language.

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                           Pokemon Master 

Fanfiction by Ace Sanchez.

All parts of this story may be found at the following address:
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/acey/pokemon.htm

Note: Pokemon and its associated characters are copyright by Nintendo,
Game Freak, Creatures Inc, and 4Kids Productions.

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Part 2 - Reunions


A slim figure covered by a long white hooded cloak kneeled as it studied
the ground intently. Reaching down with a finger, it touched a
rusty-coloured patch on the stony surface in between clumps of dead
weeds. Then raising its fingertip to the opening of its hood, it licked
its fingertip and smiled.

"You're back. And so convenient too..."

A deep, rumbling grunt from behind was the only answer.


<><><>


Slight waves rocked the small canoe as it drifted slowly northward down
the river, bubbles gently lapping against the sides of the boat. 
A hazy mist hung about the waters and the sky was grey as an old sword.
In contrast to the sounds of the steady current all about them, the
green forests on either side of the stream remained deathly silent.

Ash leaned back against the rear of the canoe and took the time to study
the blue-cloaked woman sitting in front of him. She was unaware of his
attention as she steered them steadily along with a long wooden pole.

He had recognised her instantly even before she offered her supposed
name. After all this time, what was she doing here? What did she want
with him? He squashed down the dark, forgotten feelings of resentment
that threatened to spill over from inside and breathed in deeply. After
adjusting the black hood that kept his face hidden within its shadows, he
looked down at Pikachu, who seemed greatly fascinated by the canoe ride.
Cheered up a little by his pokemon's obvious enjoyment, Ash sat up again
and checked the bandage around his leg. The wound left from the sharp
stone fragment had been deep but he was healing fast as always.

"It will be night soon. Let us camp at the next bend of the river."

Ash tightened his bandage more, welcoming the pain. "And you will tell me
what it is that you want of me or why you are even here, Mistaria ...
Misty."

The blue-cloaked woman didn't turn to him as she continued to steer the
boat. Minutes passed. He almost thought she hadn't heard his question
before she suddenly threw her hood back to let her long red hair float in
the breeze. She twisted slightly to regard him with somber eyes. "Let's
not live in the past ... Ash."

With her head unhooded, he could see more of her features. She had
matured. Especially her beauty which had shown promise when they
were younger, but was now in full bloom. In youth she had been pretty,
most would say cute. But apparently cuteness had fled over the years and
left adult splendour in its place. Sooty dark lashes were unblinking over
her aqua eyes creating an alluring contrast with the pale skin of her
face and darker hair. Pink-tinged lips were expressionless as strands of
her hair fought the wind and partially obscured her face.

However, overall, though much had changed, he knew he could never mistake
her for another person. But one thing ate at him. There was a strange,
different kind of familiarity with that beauty that seemed almost
unnatural. Like for the few times the sun managed to squeeze out its
golden light through the steel sky and upon her...

He finally turned away to stare at the moving scenery of the forest.
Pikachu noticed her and growled.

"You haven't forgiven me have you?" she asked rhetorically, meaning
either or both of them.

He didn't answer.

"But that's okay, since I haven't forgiven you either."

Anger welled, but was just as soon gone.

She began to say something else when the boat rocked dangerously
to the left almost unbalancing her. Ash steadied himself with a hand on
the edge of the boat, while his other hand grabbed Pikachu to stop him
from falling into the river. A large wave splashed into the boat,
drenching everyone in cold river water. Pikachu chattered angrily and
powered up for a short instant, drying his black fur with dark energy.

Ash rose up on his knees, while throwing his hood back to wipe the water
out of his face and the hair from obstructing his vision. He narrowed his
eyes in annoyance when he saw the long, spiny blue tail snaking along the
water around them. He turned to the front of the boat and waited.

A second later, the water at the head of the boat exploded upward into a
fountain at least twenty feet tall. At the centre of the eruption, the
head of a gyarados appeared, its angry, yellow eyes in narrow slits. It
puffed a cloud of hot steam from its dragon-like snout and screamed a
high pitched animal cry as its long scaly body continued to rise out of
the water. It began to lower its head to attack.

"Pikachu ..." Ash began. 

"Pi-ka!" His pokemon started to gather power into itself. Black sparks
emitted from his cheeks.

"Wait." Misty waved them off and Ash signalled Pikachu to stop. The
gyarados snarled as it streaked down, its mouth open in an angry shower
of sharp teeth. Misty's eyes began to glow a startling blue, an almost
unholy light emanating from her pupils. The sound of the rushing waters
seemed to fade into the background, into a still silence. The Gyarados
froze, unmoving.

Misty's eyes began to glow even brighter. Then she waved her hand in a
quick gesture. Simultaneous with the movement of her arm, the large
hostile pokemon dived back into the river. The light in Misty's eyes
winked out and time seemed to flow as normal. The sound of the rushing
river came back.

"A Water Master," Ash stated. "Just like you always wanted to be."

Misty shrugged and replaced the blue hood of her cloak over her head.
"You knew my dream," she said, as she continued to steer them down the
river. Then added with a sarcastic smile, "Besides the dream that you
would ever repay my bike."

"Oh ... yeah."


<><><>


The moon's light was dim in the darkness of the night sky. The camp fire
crackled warmly in front of Ash as he stared at the orange and yellow
flames eat away at the wood. Looking down as he unwrapped the
bandage from his leg, he noticed in satisfaction that the wound had
healed completely. Although, strangely he was still feeling a bit weak. 
Enough time had passed by now for him to have fully recovered. Maybe it
was just stress. And the shadows knew just how stressed he was.

A soft snoring came from Pikachu as he slept beside him, snuggled inside
the opening of Ash's backpack. Ash looked down at him and a half-smile
formed on his lips. Pikachu certainly deserved the rest after the day's
effort.

On the opposite side of the camp fire, Misty removed her cloak and sat
down. Ash watched her with slitted eyes as she took some blankets out
of a travel pack then began writing in a small notebook which she took
from one of the folds in her cloak.

"So what is so important that you seeked me out of all people? Why are
you even here?"

Misty stopped writing and looked up at him. She blew a long strand of red
hair out of her eyes with a tilt of her mouth. "Reconnaissance, mostly."

He should have known. "So you're just a spy," he said contemptuously.
"For the Rebellion, I assume?" He wondered why he had never saw her
before now and never even knew about her allegience. The answer to the
inward question came as quickly as it was asked. She had been avoiding
him obviously. And a good thing too.

"That is correct," she replied curtly.

"It's a pointless battle. There's no way you can win."

Her eyes flashed, almost beginning to glow. "You certainly did not help
matters."

He shrugged, uncaring. "That was in the past."

"What could have possibly made you decide to fight with the League?"

He ignored the question. "So, again, what is this all about?"

Misty was silent for a while, toying with a long lock of her hair. She
stared at the fire. "You must have noticed the large amount of League
activity in this area and to the east."

"Yes, there has been more... disturbances... here than in other areas
that I pass through."

"Well, from the little intelligence reports that we've received, it seems
that something is going down at the Cerulean City ruins and I've got to
find out *what*. From the few Masters that we have on our side we have
our own missions. This is mine."

"And where do I fit into all of this?"

She played with a long lock of her red hair. "Well I have to admit I
certainly didn't plan for meeting up with you. I just came across some of
your ... handy work the night before. I didn't even know or believe it
was you until-" She cut herself off, looking uncomfortable. Finally she
looked at him in the eyes. "Ash, you're the only one who knows how the
League operates and who is actually not part of the League. You've been
with them a long time. You have information that could be of great help.
And I've seen your power. How you easily defeated the Master Pokemon of
Rock. You've seen the world oppression caused by the League. Wouldn't
that be one of the reasons you left them in the first place?"

So that was it. She just wanted to use him. Again. Inside, the dark
feelings of resentment rose to a crescendo. Outwardly, he showed nothing.
His voice devoid of emotion, he shook his head. "Tomorrow we will split
up and go our separate ways. I'm sorry but I can't be a part of this any
more." Can't be a part of you, he added silently.

Misty shook her head. "Please don't let your personal feelings about me
influence your decision. Think of all the suffering you could end." Her
eyes seemed to moisten, but instead they began to glow a bright blue.
"I'm sorry I have to do this, but it's for the good of this world."

Ash startled, began to stand up. Then he shouted in pain as he felt his
blood begin to boil. How could she have done it? As he bent over with the
unbearable pain, a small cut on the inside of his lip broke open. He 
tasted the metallic taste of blood. Of course! He should have known that 
the kiss she gave him wasn't just for show. But she had caught him so 
off-guard, he couldn't have prevented it. But he should have. Stupid, 
stupid, he admonished himself. Never trust anyone! Especially, of all 
people, this woman! 

Pikachu woke up and began to snarl, powering up to let loose a bolt of
dark lightning at Misty who was still staring at Ash with her glowing
blue eyes.

"Did you happen to know that the human body is comprised of more than
seventy-five percent water?" she asked in an apparent bored tone as her
eyes abruptly returned to normal. "And when that balance begins to
change, it usually leads to death." She licked her lips. "Amazing what 
a drop of my blood can let me start when it gets within the bloodstream 
of a person." She noticed Pikachu's agitation and looked down at him. 
"If you kill me, your Master will die also."

Pikachu stopped powering up, confused on what to do. Ash, his pain
beginning to subside, sat up again and held him off with an upright hand.
"I guess you've won this one." He was calm now. "So how long have I got?"

"About a week ... unless of course you convince me to remove my ...
influence from your person."

"And helping you do your job just might happen to convince you."

"I see you understand."

He shook his head. "You've changed, Misty."

"That's true." She smoothed her hair and looked down at the ring on her 
finger. "You just don't know how much."


<><><>


It was a foggy morning. Ash struggled to see as Misty lead their way east
towards the Cerulean City ruins. Dead leaves and other foliage crackled
underfoot as they walked at a slower than usual pace through the woods.
Misty may be able to see through the white fog, water being her element,
but he sure couldn't. It was hard for him to even make out the dark-blue
of her cloak in front of him.

"Chu!" Pikachu chattered angrily in Ash's ear as he rode on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Pikachu," Ash said quietly, so as not to let Misty hear.
"I'll find some way to deal with this ... this poison. It is water-based
though, so there's nothing I can do for now, except to do whatever it is
she wants."

"Pikapi! Pi-pikachu..."

"No, if you kill her, I'll die," Ash said grinning a little at the fierce
loyalty of his friend. Then he turned his head to look at him with a
serious face. "Besides I thought you liked Misty."

Pikachu's blue eyes moistened a little as he seemed to remember
something. "Cha..."

"Well I'm over it now, so you don't have to worry." He looked ahead
searching for the dark-blue outline of Misty's cloak. It wasn't there.
"Damn, where did she go?" he said aloud, speeding up his pace a little.
The toe of his left boot caught on a fallen branch that he didn't see and
he almost tripped over. Fortunately he was able to grasp the trunk of a
nearby tree for support. Pikachu jumped back into the top of his
backpack, but kept his head sticking out of the opening.

"Misty!" he shouted, as he looked all around. The lack of visibility 
caused by the fog was terrible. He could barely see more than half a 
dozen meters in front of him before the scenery was swallowed by an 
all-encompassing white. "Misty!"

For a moment it seemed like someone answered him. Ash concentrated on
listening to it. It seemed like ... singing? He concentrated even more 
and could just make out some words.


              "Shadow and sun, sun and shadow...
               Refraction of light, what shall form?"
               

It was coming from the north. The melody was strangely, haunting and
beautiful. And familiar. He couldn't tell whether the song itself was
familiar or the voice of whoever sung it. Or both.

"Pikachu, you hear that?"

"Pii."

"Let's go see what it is," Ash said, his curiosity awakened. "And
besides, I don't know where the heck we are anyway, so following it for 
now won't hurt anything."

He stepped through the mist slowly, but surely, following the sound of
the song. As he did so, he parted away low-lying branches from the trees 
and stepped carefully over shrubs and bushes and other forest vegetation 
lying on the ground.

After a couple of minutes, and parting yet another set of low branches, 
the mist seemed to give way to a clearing and what looked like an old 
temple. It was fairly ancient, old enough to have survived through the 
Dark Wars and then some.

The clearing the temple was in the middle of appeared to favour the sun
as it streamed down, bright over the structure in contrast to the dreary
thick fog behind him. The temple itself, although ancient looking, was
fairly well preserved and beautiful in its own way with various
multi-coloured stain-glassed windows and whitish marble walls. The
double wooden doors in the front of it were wide open. It was also the 
source of the haunting song that had led him here.

Ash stepped forward into the clearing, feeling the warmth of the sun wash
over him in waves. He removed the hood of his cloak and combed the black
hair of his head with his hand. With the other, he felt the sunlight in
his palm. Although warm ... it was also strangely cold at the same time.
Feelings of familiarity washed over him and he turned to narrow his eyes
at the entrance to the temple.

"Pika ... ?"

"Yes, Pikachu, we're going in."

As they approached the temple, the song continued.


              "Just as the shadow has many faces
               Mystery surrounds the storm."


<><><>


"Ash!" Misty called behind her. "Are you still with me?"

No one answered. She stopped walking and turned around. He wasn't there.
Annoyed, she lifted her hand and repelled more of the fog to see further
behind her. All that were revealed were more trees and foliage.

She could hear some sort of melody. Someone singing. Faint. She began to
run towards the source of its sound. Absent-mindedly, she dissolved the
fog in front of her with an open hand. She should have known that walking
through this forest without any disturbances was wishful thinking.


<><><>


Ash walked along the narrow hallway, quietly following the origin of the
singing. He knew who it was now. Pikachu, riding on his shoulder,
chattered desperately at him to turn back, but he continued onwards. He
couldn't stop himself.

Finally he reached the centre of the temple. The chapel. He stepped 
inside, past the open doors, and saw her.

She was standing on the altar with her back turned towards him. It was
her who was singing the song. On her slim body she wore an almost 
transparent white robe which fell past her long legs and down to her 
ankles, leaving her elegant feet bare. Long, straight blonde hair fell 
down her back and almost past her waist. Its colour was so golden it 
seemed to emit a light of its own.

It was her. Pikachu was silent on his shoulder. But he could feel the fur
of the electric mouse stiffen through his cloak.

His danger senses exploded into action, but he stayed unmoving as the 
door to the chapel suddenly slammed shut with a bang and long chains of 
white light shot out from each corner of the room to wrap him and 
Pikachu up, tight and immobile.

More sunlight seemed to stream in through the roof of stained glass
windows to fall all around the woman in front of him. She seemed to glow
even brighter, as if the sunlight was indeed coming from her and not the 
roof. Her melodious voice continued to sing, haunted,


              "But together, what will become
               when that which has split become one?"
  

She stopped singing and the room fell to silence. She lifted her arms
above her head and from her feet, a white light began to drift upwards,
but slowly as if it were smoke. When the light reached the top of her
hands, it seemed to blink once then reform into a white material. First
long white sleeves formed down her arms, then a hood around her head as
the rest of the light fell downwards to morph into a long robe-like
cloak. A Master's cloak of pure white. She dropped her arms in a sudden,
quick motion.

The newly cloaked woman turned around and removed her hood with one
elegant hand. She tilted her head up and freed the hair from her neck
to fall down her back. Then, looking down at him as he stood helplessly
encased in long chains of light, she gave a half-smile. Brilliant blue
eyes regarded him with a devilish twinkle in their depths.

"Remember me, Ashura?" Her voice was the same. Throaty, sensuous. 

"Valdera," he acknowledged.

She looked him up and down. "Even more handsome than I remember."

"And you. Still a beautiful bitch."

She laughed at him. "I missed you, you know. We were good together. An
unstoppable team. One complementing the other."

She stepped down off the altar and approached him, walking through the
gold chains of light that held him from each corner as if they really
were as insubstantial as they seemed. She stood in front of him and 
unmoved by the beauty of her face, Ash stared into her eyes, finding them
doubly familiar for some unknown reason.

She lifted a slim hand, and with a long fingernail, began to trace down 
his cheek. Ash repressed the urge to shiver.

"Why don't you come back to the League with me? The empty spot in our bed
has been empty for far too long ..." She smiled. "And my pokemon. She
misses both of you as well ..."

Pikachu, trapped on his shoulder, made a small sound, but Ash silently
ordered for him to stay still.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the temple and the chapel doors were 
blown inwards off their hinges with a crash. Ash turned his head to find
Misty striding in, her blue cloak giving off an icy-cold steam. Her hood
was lowered and thrown back, her long red hair seeming to float behind
her as if being blown by a strong wind. Eyes glowing as she accessed her
power over the element of water, she lifted her right arm.

"Seadra! Ice Beam!" From behind her, a large shadow inhaled its breath
and a split second later, a cold, vivid blue beam of energy shot forth,
directly at Valdera. However, the intended target did a quick backflip 
towards the altar almost lazily, white cloak whipping about, and dodged 
the shot with ease. Instead, the beam hit the back wall of the chapel 
and exploded, sending shards of sparkling ice everywhere.

Valdera smoothed her cloak down with her hands. "Pity." She yawned,
covering her mouth with a hand. "An interruption."

Ash concentrated, his eyes glowing golden, and dark shadows rose up from
his feet to dissolve the chains of light which held him immobile. The
light dissipated to nothing and he was free. 

Misty looked at the white-cloaked figure more closely and the blue light
in her eyes winked out in shock. "It's you!"

Valdera squinted at her and began to laugh. She turned back to Ash. "So
this really was the girl who left you all those years ago! How absolutely
delightful!" She turned back to Misty. "Well you had your chance,
Mistaria, now I'll be taking him back."

Misty's eyes began to glow again as she narrowed them. "You just try!
Seadra, Blizzard!" The shadow behind her hovered into the light
revealing a large blue, water pokemon with a dragon-like head and sharp
spines protruding from its tail and shoulders.

"SEA-DRA!" it roared as it began to form a cloud of blue energy above its
head.

Valdera smiled as she lifted her arm. "White Flare."

As soon as she said the words, a pure white pikachu with glowing, green
eyes dropped from the ceiling and seemed to explode in a burst of light.

"PIKA!" 

Ash and Misty covered their eyes from the blinding whiteness. When the
light dissipated, Valdera and her white pikachu were nowhere to be seen.
Instead a twelve-foot tall Machamp with four incredibly muscular arms 
stood on the altar. Its torso and legs were rippling with pure strength
as it stood there, a feral grin on its frog-like face. Its skin was a
grey tone and it wore nothing save for a small, black loin-cloth.

Valdera's voice floated in the air, her tone slightly mocking. "Ashura,
I'll be back for you later when we can be more alone. For now Machampross
will keep you amused till then." She laughed and then her voice was gone.

Ash stepped backward towards Misty as the huge twelve-foot-tall,
four-armed, fighting pokemon walked forward slowly. It growled at Ash and
focused its bright red eyes on him. "I WILL TAKE REVENGE FOR MY FALLEN
GOLEM BROTHER," it snarled. Then it looked at Misty and an appalling leer
tilted its lips. "AND YOU WILL BE MINE."

It leaped at her with its four arms out-stretched, growling like a dog. 

Misty took a step back. "Seadra, Glacier Spear!"

"SEA-DRA!" Her Seadra glowed a cold blue and shot a large spike of ice 
directly at the attacking pokemon. However, the oversized Machamp punched
it away almost contemptuously and shattered it on the ground. It
continued forward and was about to reach her, when a dark blur collided
into its side so hard, it was knocked through the wall of the chapel
and several more walls until it was smashed outside into the forest.

Misty turned and saw Ash crouching in place of the Machamp, feet smoking.

"I had it under control," she said forcefully.

Ash lifted his arm. "Pikachu, to me!" As his pokemon leaped on to his
shoulder, he turned to look at her. "Sorry, but I can't take any chances
with the person who holds my life in her hands."

He leaped through the hole in the wall and followed the trail of
destruction left by the Machamp's exit to the outside. Misty jumped after
him, her blue cloak billowing behind her.

Jumping to the forest floor through the hole left in the white, smoking
marble of the temple outer-wall, Ash did a forward flip and landed low to 
the ground, his left hand braced for balance. Pikachu landed on all fours
next to him, his jagged tail in the air and alert.

Misty arrived on the ground behind him with her Seadra hovering over-head
as Ash slowly rotated his field of vision. The fog, no longer affected by
Valdera's power of light, was seeping back into the area. He had to find
Machampross soon and end it before the visibility worsened even more. He
noted the line of destroyed trees the Master Pokemon left in its flight.

Misty moved forward. "Careful," Ash warned her. "Master Pokemon are
almost impossible to sense."

"SEISMIC TOSS!" 

A tree trunk seemed to come out of nowhere. Ash, Pikachu and Misty leaped
upward almost narrowly getting smashed by the huge rough wood thrown at 
them.

Ash rotated backward in the air to alight on a tree branch above him
with Pikachu landing on his shoulder. Misty grasped on to the branch of
an adjacent tree and swung herself up.

The four-armed monstrosity jumped out of its hiding place behind one of
the forest trees and ran, ape-like to leap on to the trunk of the branch
Ash was standing on. It began to climb impossibly fast.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT THE LIGHT MASTER SAID!" it rasped. "I'M GOING TO KILL
YOU NOW!"

Ash thrust himself off the branch and did a half twist to face the huge
pokemon as he descended to the ground. "Pikachu!" His pokemon was settled
into his hand. "Shadow Bolt!" He threw Pikachu straight at the climbing
Machamp. In midair Pikachu began to glow black and electricity crackled
as he began to form dark energy around his body.

The Machamp saw the attack and leaped away to a different tree. Pikachu
exploded through, narrowly missing it, but cutting the tree the Machamp
was climbing in half. The top of the tree fell down with a crash.

Ash landed on the ground, his cloak billowing behind him, and dodged as
the Machamp leaped at him again. Its four arms were just a few feet shy
from grabbing him.

"Seadra! Impale it!" Misty shouted.

"SEA-DRA!"

From behind the Machamp, Misty's pokemon charged, its head lowered to
skewer it through the spine. Shockingly more agile than it seemed, the
Machamp flipped backwards, landing behind the seadra and grasped its
body with its two lower arms. With its upper arms it began to bash the 
water pokemon's head in, with massive overhead swings. The seadra 
squealed in pain and Misty shouted in horror.

"Drop it!" Ash shouted as he jumped up and rotated into a flying spin
kick striking the Machamp's head. After completing the spin, he used his
other leg to propel himself away from it by pushing off its face. The
attack was powerful enough to snap its head to the side and make it roar
in agony. It dropped the seadra, and grasped its head in pain with its
two upper arms.

Misty's eyes flashed blue as she formed an ice-blade around her fist and
leaped off the tree to the attack. The Machamp recovered from Ash's blow 
and grabbed her out of the air with one huge hand. It began to laugh in 
exultation then stopped and screamed in pain as she slashed through its 
wrist with a powerful swipe of her frosty ice-blade.

As she dropped, Misty did a back-flip away and landed safely on her feet.
"Don't underestimate me," she said dangerously, as she ripped off the 
dismembered hand, which was still hanging around her waist and threw it 
on the ground behind her.

"YOU BITCH!" the Machamp roared as it held its wrist in agony, trying to
stop the fast leakage of black blood. It grasped another nearby tree and
broke it off by the base with its two free arms. "SEISMIC TOSS!" it
shouted again as it threw it at her. Misty expelled a breath and
desperately tried to jump away but the tree was moving much too fast.

"Pikachu! Thunder Burn!" Ash shouted.

A dark flash of lightning disintegrated the thrown tree into red
ashes which harmlessly fell around Misty like snow flakes.

Ash turned back to the giant Machamp but it was no longer there.

"NOW YOU DIE!" 

From behind, two arms grabbed him like vices of steel and his back
exploded in pain as he was flipped over and smashed into the ground 
with a huge overhead blow. Ash choked on blood as the Machamp began 
furiously hammering on his chest with as many functioning arms it had 
left. A  crater began to form on the hard earth behind his back as he 
was pushed in by the force of the blows.

"I'LL MEGA-PUNCH YOU TO DEATH YOU MISERABLE TRAITOR!"

Pikachu on the ground next to them, snarled and began to power up, but
one of the Machamp's fists managed to knock him into the growing hole and
he fell in.

Abruptly, the Machamp roared in pain and it stopped the beating. It stood
up and ripped an ice spike from its back. It roared again as more spikes
began to embed themselves into it. It turned around.

Misty's eyes were glowing bright, aura flaring, as icy steam drifted away
from her hands which she had used to throw the spikes.

"YOU ANNOYING LITTLE GIRL! I WILL ENJOY RIPPING YOU APART!" it shouted.
Then it leered and growled lecherously. "IN MORE WAYS THEN ONE!" It began
to run, ape-like at her, on arms and legs. Misty stood her ground and
desperately hoped that Ash was okay.

All of a sudden, the ground beneath the Machamp's feet ruptured in a
strong earthquake and it grunted in confusion and pain as it was
knocked high up in the air by a powerful blast. Ash, in an explosion of
dirt, rocks and other debris, erupted from the ground and flew up into 
the sky after it. "Pikachu!" he shouted hoarsely. "Shadow Blade!"

Pikachu, hanging on to the back of Ash's cloak yelled in acknowledgment.
"Pii!" He began to glow black propelled himself into the air above Ash,
with a crack of thunder.

More dark energy formed around the black electric mouse and the air
around it seemed to shift as it reformed itself into a black katana, the 
very darkness of the long blade seeming to absorb the light around it. 
Ash grabbed the hilt of the sword in both hands and met the Machamp in 
midair at the highest peak of their flight.

"NOOOOOOO!" the Master Pokemon shouted in fear, seeing the blade of pure
shadow. It desperately tried to twist away from him in the air but it was 
not to be. Ash grunted as he swung the Pokemon sword, cleaving it 
diagonally through the middle, causing black blood to explode everywhere. 
After the quick execution, he turned a flip and descended back to the 
ground, landing with a solid thump and forming a smoking crater with his 
feet. The black blade hissed with steam as he balanced himself with one 
hand on the ground.

A second later, the two halves of Machampross landed on either side of
him along with several splashes of blood and other body fluids. Ash stood
upright and threw the sword into the air. With another crack of thunder,
it reformed back into Pikachu, who landed on his shoulder.

Misty was standing in front of him, impassive. "I see it was not a
mistake to force you onto my side."

Ash spat out some blood to the side then looked down at her. "It was a
mistake ... you just don't know it yet." He dusted his cloak free of dirt
and leaves. "You seemed to recognise Valdera. How do you know her?" he
asked, morbidly curious.

Misty looked away from him with a troubled look in her blue eyes. "She's
my twin sister."


*** End of Part 2

_________________________________________________________________________

                                POKEDEX
_________________________________________________________________________

SHADOW PIKACHU
Type 1 - Shadow
Type 2 - Electricity

Attack : Shadow Bolt 
Type   : Shadow / Electricity
 
Pikachu gathers dark electricity around its body and becomes a deadly
bolt of destructive energy.

Attack : Thunder Burn 
Type   : Fire / Electricity
 
A powerful lightning attack with elements of fire making it possible to
burn.

Attack : Shadow Blade 
Type   : Shadow / Electricity / Fighting
 
Pikachu shape-shifts into a long black katana sword. Incredibly sharp
and powerful. Thought to be an indestructible weapon.

_________________________________________________________________________

Notes:

Comments & Criticisms would be much appreciated! 


Ace Sanchez
Emails : jsanchez@bigpond.net.au
       : aceywacey@hotmail.com
       : acey@i.am
WWW    : http://i.am/acey
       : http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/acey