Pokemon Impact 3 (Rated PG13)

[Brian Powell]

Hello, PI fans. As prmoised I've placed the new series after weeks of making you people wait (Shame on me ^^').

Notes on the symbols:
( ) = Spoken in Pokemon Language
?? = Talking
[] = Thinking​

Now, let us begin...

Pokemon Impact 3: Roar of the new generation​

Prologue

Four figures sat in a large sitting room of mansion, three of them were men and one of them was a woman. One of them men wore mostly black leather clothing, sunglasses and a black bandanna wrapped around his forehead; that man?s name was Black Jack, known for past winning streak, ways of battling and surviving many dangers. The woman and the two other men wore smart clothing; they were relatives of his.

Black Jack privately spoke to his brother John, his adoptive father Jason and his sister-in-law Sandra about what happened in Orre Region, relating to the death of his parents years ago. It was an hour since Alice went to sleep after her ninth birthday party ended. They sat in the sitting room listening to what Black Jack had to say.

?So? it was him,? John said, feeling shocked.

?Yep,? Black Jack replied. ?He said that he knows everything about me.?

?Then? he knows about us?? Sandra asked, also shocked.

?We need to think of a plan to stop this madman,? Jason suggested.

?I have a suggestion,? Black Jack said. ?How about I take all of you guys under my protection??

?No, it won?t do,? John said as he stood up, objecting Black Jack?s suggestion. ?If you are his target then I?ll get one of my security guards to protect you.?

?Thanks for your concern, but I can take care of myself. I didn?t train my pokemon or myself for nuthin?. But what about you guys??

?We, too, have pokemon ourselves,? Jason said. ?You don?t need to worry about us, we have the best security.?

?I?m sure not about that,? Black Jack said. ?If something happen to you guys?? He held back a terrible feeling concerning his family getting hurt by the man that killed his own parents. He couldn?t live with himself if that ever happened. He looked down with wide eyes.

?There?s one person we?ll allow you to look after, Jack,? Sandra said. ?Alice wants to go on a pokemon journey next year and if everyone agrees? you can take her with you.?

?Wait a minute,? Black Jack said as he held his head up in shock. ?What about you guys? I can?t??

?Yes you can,? Jason said. ?As I said before, we have the best security money can buy.?

?Please, Jack,? John said. ?You?re an experienced traveller and Alice needs someone to help and teach her. After all, she did say that she wants to be a pokemon trainer like you.?

?True?? Black Jack said uneasily. Despite a short time he and Alice spent together, they held a great bond with each other as uncle and niece. Various thoughts came into his mind, thinking of the pros and cons of Alice travelling with him. After some time thinking, he came with an answer. ?Okay, I?ll do it,? he said with smile.

?Then it?s settled,? Jason said as he stood up from his seat. ?Next year, she?ll go on a pokemon journey with you.? With that, he walked out of the living room and up the stairs.

?Jack,? John said. ?Alice is our daughter and you?re her uncle. Sandra and I know that we should spend time with our child? but you?ve taken care of her while we were away and I want to thank you for doing that.?

?Y?know, I wanna thank you too,? Black Jack said. ?For not turning away from me when I told you I was a Team Rocket agent and for letting me know that I?m still part of the family. Don?t worry about it, I?m make sure that nothing bad happens to her.?

They both clasped hands as a sign of friendship as Sandra looked on happily.


A year later, Alice, who became ten, qualified to be a pokemon trainer when she passed her tests based on pokemon knowledge. It was a sad day since she had to leave her parents but yet it was happy one since she was starting her pokemon journey to become a pokemon master like her uncle.

The following day after her test, Black Jack, his relatives and their butlers and maids were waiting patiently for Alice to come downstairs to the main hall. When she did, she was being followed by a young and cute bear called Teddiursa nicknamed Big Brother, a young puppy called Eevee nicknamed Little Sister and a baby pokemon that was kept inside a half broken egg called Togepi nicknamed QT.

While she was coming down the stairs, Black Jack was one of first people to smile at the person he cared for the most? his niece, Alice. She was wearing a pink T-shirt with a picture of a purple heart at the front, blue jeans, red and white trainers, a green wristband on her left wrist and she was carrying a green backpack on her back. She had blond ponytail hair and a cute face, despite a small scar on her left cheek, which reminded Black Jack of a situation where he had to save her from one of his enemies and to make sure that she would never get hurt again.

Recently, during Alice?s birthday celebration, Black Jack announced that he would be joining her on her pokemon journey. Alice was happy about having her uncle by side, knowing the fact that he would be teaching her the ways of pokemon, life and others, little did she know that Black Jack had other reasons.

?Alice?? Jason said happily as he stepped towards her grandchild, trying to not shed a tear. ?You have grown so much and now you?re going to see the world. I have never been this happy, yet so sad in all my years.?

?I can?t believe it either,? Alice said in sad tone as she looked up to her eldest relative. ?I?ll miss you grandpa.?

As Jason slightly crouched towards her to give her a hug, she looked towards her parents. ?Mom? Dad?? she said softly as she released herself from her hug and walked towards them.

Her father placed his hands on her shoulders. ?Look at you,? he said with a small smile. ?You are young and now you?re going on an adventure? just remember that no matter what happens, we will always love you and we will always be with you.?

?I love you too, dad,? Alice replied with a small smile.

They noticed that Sandra, a loving wife and mother, was too upset to say anything. ?Don?t cry, my dear,? John said as he hugged his wife. ?She had to leave some day.?

?I know,? Sandra sobbed.

?Mom?? Alice said in a concerned tone.

?Oh, I remembered something,? Sandra said as she wiped the tears off her face and took out a gold necklace with a locket at the end. She opened it, revealing a small photo of her, John and Alice in a group wearing smart clothing. ?This is to remind that you?re not alone. We also gave your uncle Jack some money to help you on your way.?

She handed them over to Alice. Alice took the necklace placed it around her neck. ?It?s beautiful, Mom,? she said softly as her lips began to slightly wobble while she hugged her. ?I love this and I love you too.?

She looked down at her pokemon and kneeled down to them. ?Okay, guys,? she said with a small smile while wiping away her tear. ?I have to go now.?

All three of her pokemon shook their heads while yelling out their cries, showing that they don?t her to leave them behind. They leapt into her arms, begging her to take them. Alice tried to assure them that she will come back to see them but to no avail.

?It looks like they want to come with us,? Black Jack said.

?Are you sure you guys want to come with us?? Alice asked her pokemon, which they nodded in response signalling that they want to come.

?You guys do realise that it?s a dangerous place out there, right?? Black jack asked.

?Teddi Teddiursa! Ursa!? Teddiursa said.

?What did Big Brother say, uncle?? Alice asked.

Having been travelling around the world and training pokemon for over twenty years, Black Jack understood the pokemon language. ?He says that you?re their best friend and they don?t want to be left behind.?

?My family?? she said as she looked back at her pokemon who were still giving a heart warming hug, refusing to let her go. ?You win.? She said with a small smile.

?Well,? John said as he placed his hand in his pocket, taking out some small red and white sphere balls. ?Alice will be needing some of these.?

?Pokeballs?? Alice asked. ?Those are devices that keep pokemon inside??

?That?s right,? Black Jack said. He then turned his attention to three of Alice?s pokemon. ?You cubs realise that if you come along, there would be a lot bad things going on, right??

All three of her pokemon yelled out their cries in determined voices. Black Jack knew that they would do anything to protect Alice because of all the times they had with her.

Alice took the pokeballs out of John?s hand and promised she would take good care of each and everyone of her pokemon as she zapped them into their pokeballs for the very first time. She then turned her attention to her uncle.

?You ready to rock, uncle?? Alice asked in an enthusiastic tone.

?Ready,? Black Jack replied as he clenched his fist.

As he turned round to lead Alice out of the mansion, his face of shared feelings of joy and sadness turned into anger, remembering his two enemies he fought in the past. ?[Mane, Tusk, one touch on this girl and you?re dead meat],? he thought.

He and Alice got on his motorcycle ready to embark on a lifelong journey for Alice to become a pokemon master. ?Wait a minute, uncle,? she said before Black Jack was about to start up his vehicle. She quickly got off and ran towards her parents, giving them one last tight hug before she could start her journey. Her parents gave her a loving hug in return.

?Mom? Dad? I?ll miss you,? she sobbed.

?We?ll miss you too,? her father said while crying. ?You have to get going now, munchkin. No matter what happens, you?re still our daughter.?

?Be careful now, my darling,? her mother sobbed. ?I love you.?

She gave them both a kiss on the cheek each before she went back to her uncle, Black Jack, who was looking on and hiding his sadness away from the rest of his family. ?[At times like this, I wish that my parents were there to see me off when I was a kid],? he thought to himself.

As Alice got on the motorcycle, Black Jack started up the engine. ?Take one last good look at your first home, little cub,? Black Jack said, referring to his niece. ?Cos it?ll be a long time before you?re gonna get back.?

Alice did as he advised to while Black Jack drove away. Tears began to flow from her eyes as they began to get further and further away from the place where she and Black Jack called ?home?.

?Uncle Jack,? she said. ?Are you crying too??

?No,? Black Jack replied holding back his tears. ?I know it?s a sad moment? but you know me.?


Some time later, Black Jack and his niece arrived to a place where Alice would get her first pokemon, Prof. Elm?s laboratory of New Bark Town. ?Here we are,? Black Jack said stopping his bike. ?New Bark Town.?

He turned his attention to his young niece, whose eyes became widened because of the fast ride. ?You okay?? he asked in a curious tone.

?That was fun,? Alice said simply and happily.

They got off their bike and walked towards the door. ?First lesson, kid,? Black Jack said. ?A trainer can pick a pokemon from many different types of pokemon. But sometimes a pokemon can choose a trainer.?

?Why?s that, uncle?? Alice asked as she listened intently to her uncle?s lecture.

?That way, the two will become connected and the trainer will discover a pokemon?s true power.?

?That doesn?t sound like you. Where did you get the information??

??Lu-Gi-Oh?.?

?I didn?t know you watch that cartoon.?

?I don?t, it was one of those moments where you have to switch channels until you come across the least boring program. It does sound strange coming from a cartoon but it is a good theory.?

They knocked on the door and it opened revealing a man with brown hair wearing everyday clothing underneath a lab coat. ?Hey there, Elm,? Black Jack said recognising one of the world?s famous professors.

?Ah! Hello, Black Jack!? Prof. Elm said enthusiastically. He looked down on the new trainer, recognising her. ?That means that you must be Alice, looking forward to make a start on her pokemon journey.

?Hi, Prof. Elm,? Alice replied with a wink. ?And have you got that right.?

?Please, come in,? Elm said, motioning them to enter before closing the door.

He led them into his study room. In it were some bookshelves, filled with countless books and documents, a desk with a computer on it and a number of machines. What was most noticeable in the entire room was that there was a table with three pokeballs on it.

?Are these??? Alice said as she pointed towards them.

?Yes,? Elm replied. ?But you can only pick one of the three pokemon here. Hey, I have an idea. Why don?t we open them in unison??

?How about it uncle?? Alice asked.

?Okay with me,? Black Jack said.

The three humans picked up a pokemon-contained pokeball each and opened them together. Three different energies came out of their respective pokeballs and materialised into three different kinds of pokemon.

One was a young blue crocodile called Totodile, another was a young fiery mouse called Cyndaquil and the third pokemon was a little green cute dinosaur called Chikorita. ?The choice is now yours, Alice,? Elm said as Black Jack bent down towards the three pokemon.

?Hey there,? he said trying to sound cute but to no avail as the three pokemon began to become rather scared of him. ?Oh no,? Black Jack said, realising what he had just done. ?Don?t be scared of me, I?m a nice but silly guy??

That only upset the pokemon even more when they started crying making Black Jack back away from them while Alice came towards them. The Cyndaquil ran towards her and hid behind her leg.

?Aww,? Alice said cutely. ?Did the mean old man scare you??

The Cyndaquil nodded and held up its paws like it was a baby. Alice picked it up and started hugging the little mouse while tickling its tummy with her finger. ?I could you put you in a diaper and put you in a pram right now,? Alice said in a cute way. She then turned her attention to her uncle. ?Uncle Jack, what do you think??

?Well, none of them were comfortable with me,? Black Jack replied.

?Didn?t you say that sometimes a pokemon could choose a trainer?? Alice said. ?When it touched me by the leg, somehow I felt that this is the one for me.?

?You?re learning really well,? Black Jack said impressed. ?As long as you?re both happy, that is what counts.?

?Did you hear that, buddy?? Alice said as she looked at it. ?Welcome to the team!?

?Quil! Quil!? the Cyndaquil squeaked happily as it nuzzled on Alice?s cheek.

?Then it?s settled,? Elm said. ?Cyndaquil is now your pokemon.? He took a flat red device out of his pocket and handed it over to her. ?Here?s your pokedex. It?ll tell you everything you need to know about pokemon.?

?Thank you, Prof. Elm,? Alice said happily as she took the pokedex and putting it in her pocket.

?What are you gonna call him?? Elm asked, as he returned the two pokemon back into their pokeballs.

?It?s a male?? Alice asked in realisation. Then she placed her finger on her chin while thinking deeply. ?How about Blaze??

The Cydaquil shook his head, signalling a no.

?Molten??

The Cydaquil shook his head again.

Each name that Alice gave him, Cyndaquil replied with no. Everyone was patient about Cyndaquil?s choice of names, except Black Jack. ?[Oh? d?j? vu],? he muttered in thought. ?[This is the reason why I don?t nickname my pokemon].?


During the next three years of training and travelling, she had captured many pokemon but kept the ones she had from the beginning of her journey including an ugly looking fish called Feebas, which Alice nicknamed her Serenity as she believed that the real beauty?s on the inside, and a crafty yet trusty pokemon called Sneasel named Glacia.

At different moments of her training, Alice?s pokemon evolved from their pre-evolved forms. Big Brother was now an Ursaring, Little Sister?s an Espeon, QT became a Togetic, Pyro the Cyndaquil evolved into Quilava and Serenity became the beautiful Milotic, but Glacia still remained in its pre-evolved form.

She became a quarter finalist in the Johto League, a semi finalist in the Kanto League and also participated in a lot of pokemon contests in her spare time. Nevertheless, her uncle was always pleased of her.

Black Jack also had his fair share of pokemon battles, despite the fact that he never participated in leagues or tournaments because of being Alice?s tutor, teaching her the ways of pokemon and life.

Even though he had suspicions that his old enemies would soon show themselves up, they have yet to do so. Still, Black Jack was always on his guard for them, including new ones.

Out of all their great adventures they had, the next few will be unforgettable.
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More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Utter Disaster]

Yes, I would pick Cyndaquil too. Please do continue.

 

[Brian Powell]

Episode 1: The L on the forehead

Chapter 1

Three years have passed. After participating in some tough competitions, Black Jack and Alice decided to take break from it before they could decide on their next destination of adventure.

It was a hot summer day at Lilycove beach of the Hoenn region. Black Jack was resting on the side of his motorcycle as he looked at the beautiful waves of the sea. His image didn?t change much; only he grew a few inches taller. He was wearing a black tight T-shirt, black jeans, black boots and a black bandanna wrapped around his head. His arms were showing scars and tattoos in different places.

He was about to drink some of his beer, but a beach ball came flying by and he caught it. He looked and spotted girl, familiar to him. She was wearing a cute green swimsuit, and had yellow ponytail hair, and a pretty cute face, despite a small scar underneath her left eye. ?Sorry, uncle!? she cried happily. ?Can you pass the ball back??

?You?re just lucky I didn?t spill my drink, Alice!? Black Jack shouted back as he smiled while tossing back the beach ball. ?Just be careful, will ya!?

Both of them were in a quiet spot of the beach, away from other people. Because of their fame, people couldn?t hold back their excitement to run up to them and ask them for their autograph. Therefore, in order to avoid being surrounded by fans, they had to find somewhere quiet.

Alice, now at thirteen years old, was playing volleyball with her pokemon. Three of Black Jack?s pokemon, Tyranitar, Feraligatr, and Nidoking were playing a game where they had to smash a watermelon into pieces using a wooden sword each, blindfolded while his other pokemon, Metagross, Salamence and Chan the Blaziken sunbathed.

Nidoking inadvertently hit Feraligatr on the head with his wooden weapon. ?(Did I get it)?? Nidoking growled.

?It?s over there, Nidoking,? Black Jack replied. Since he was training his pokemon for so long, he now fully understood pokemon language.

Smasher took off his blindfold to see what was going on. He spotted the watermelon still not smashed? and now yards away from him. He looked at Comedian with nervous eyes and Feraligatr stared angrily at him with a large bump on his head.

?(S? sorry, Feraligatr),? he growled nervously.

Feraligatr hit him on the head with his wooden weapon in response, making Nidoking angry as well. Both of them got into a fight, distracting everyone.

Tyranitar stood next to his trainer and friend. ?(Shouldn?t we stop them?)?, he asked.

?That?s the way we train?, Black Jack replied in response, noticing the dusty clouds surrounding the fight between Nidoking and Feraligatr. ?Although theirs is a bit unorthodox.?

?Hey! Alice!? shouted a teenager boy?s voice, whose accent sounded american. Everyone turned their attention to him, even Smasher and Comedian stopped their childish fighting. He was wearing a white T-shirt with blue sleeves, blue jeans and red trainers. His hair was blond and was nearly reaching his eyes.

?Jerry!? Alice cried as she ran over to him and gave him a big hug. Jerry hugged back in return.

?Jerry, huh?? Black Jack said, noticing the boy?s arrival. ?How did he found us here??

?(He probably thought about looking for a quiet spot himself),? Tyranitar replied.

?Hey!? Jerry said. ?How are things goin???

?Everything?s going great!? Alice said joyfully. ?I?m so happy to see you!?

?Same here, it?s been four years since we were together.?

Jerry and Alice have been best of friends for so long that they don?t even know when they started. But they had to separate, because Jerry was one year older than Alice and wanted to start his pokemon journey early to become a pokemon master.

-Flashback-

Four years ago, a grade school was having a leaving party for the students who were to leave the next day for their pokemon journey. Jerry was one of those people and Alice didn?t like the idea.

Instead of being part of the party, Alice went on one of the swings in the school playground. It was warm afternoon that day but she didn?t care, as she was feeling rather depressed.

Jerry came to talk to her. ?What?s wrong, Alice?? he asked in a concerned tone.
?I don?t want you to go,? Alice replied in a sad tone.

?Alice, I have to. If I want to become a pokemon master as quick as possible, I?d have to get an early start.?

?You?re one of my best friends! I don?t want to see you go! I don?t want to say goodbye!?

Small tears came out of Alice?s eyes as she jumped off the swing and ran back into entrance of the school while Jerry gave chase.

While inside, Jerry kept on calling Alice?s name but to no avail. At some point, Jerry some familiar sobbing noises from a nearby closet, which was a janitor?s closet. He opened the door and saw Alice crouching down with her knees to her head. Jerry kneeled down to her put his hand on her shoulder.

?I don?t wanna say goodbye either,? he said. He then scratched his head, thinking of a solution. ?Tell you what,? he continued. ?I promise that we?ll see each other again.?

?You mean it?? Alice asked as she wiped the tears off her eyes. ?Promise??

?Promise.?

Jerry and Alice then shaped their small fingers as small hooks, they hooked their small fingers and shook though as though they shaking hands on an agreement.

-End flashback-

As Jerry and Alice started reminiscing on old times, Black Jack and his pokemon walked over to them. ?Jerry,? Black Jack said, catching their attention.

The two young trainers turned round, with Jerry?s eyes being widened as he was looking at one of the world?s top trainers. ?Bl? Black Jack!?? Jerry said in a shocked and nervous tone.

Jerry pointed at both people, knowing the fact that they were relatives. ?You two? travelling together!?? Jerry said in a shocked tone.

?I don?t want to say it out loud, but yeah,? Alice answered.

?You must be pretty lucky, travelling around with a pokemon master an? all,? Jerry said.

Suddenly, Jerry had an idea as he pictured a light bulb appearing on top of his head. ?I got an idea!? he said excitedly. ?How about I join up with you two!? I could use a little help!?

?Hey! That?s a great idea, Jerry!? Alice said, as she liked the idea. ?How about it uncle??

?Well, I can?t just take him along just because he?s a friend of yours,? Black Jack replied. ?Tell you what, do well in a battle against me and I?ll take you in, deal??

Jerry became shocked and scared as he started to sweat a lot upon hearing Black Jack?s challenge. ?You don?t have to beat me,? Black Jack said. ?Just do something challenging.?

?C?mon, Jerry,? Alice said, encouraging her friend. ?You can do this.?

Jerry gulped in a hard way. ?Okay?? he said nervously.
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More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Chapter 2

Black Jack and Jerry stood a distance away from each other. Behind Black Jack were his respective pokemon. Standing at a distance between the two trainers was Alice, Black Jack?s niece and Jerry?s best friend, along with her pokemon, as she was refereeing this match. She looked at both trainers and noticed that Jerry was sweating.

?Since you?re the rookie, Jerry,? Black Jack said. ?I?ll be choosing my pokemon first, this will give you an advantage.?

?Gee,? Jerry replied nervously. ?Thanks.?

Black Jack looked at Chan the Blaziken and nodded, signalling to him to take part in battle. Chan nodded back and ran onto the battlefield. Jerry took a pokeball off his belt; he looked at it and let out a small sigh, trying to calm himself down. He then tossed it out. ?Go! Jackie!? he yelled, trying to sound determined.

A pokemon classified as a kicking pokemon materialised as it came out of his pokeball. ?Hitmonlee!? Jackie cried as he prepared for battle. He looked to see whom he was going to battle.

His eyes widened with happiness he saw his opponent. He let out a loud cry as he ran over to Chan with open arms. ?Jackie! Wait a minute!? Jerry yelled with a shocked look on his face. ?Alice didn?t say begin yet!!?

?Chan!? Black Jack yelled, not realising what Jackie was planning to do and neither did Chan. ?Use your Fury attack and end it with Sky Uppercut!?

Chan dashed towards Jackie until his arm slammed on his gut. He then started poking on him rapidly viciously like a Dodrio poking on numerous Diglett and finished him off by giving him a heavy punch to the face, sending him flying and knocking him out as Jackie fell into the sand. ?Jackie?s unable to battle!? Alice announced as she raised her hand to her uncle. ?Chan?s the winner!?

?Wait a minute,? Black Jack said, realising what had just happened. ?He wasn?t attacking, he was intending to hug you, Chan.?

?(A hug?)? Chan replied as he looked back at his trainer. ?(Why?s that?)?

?I have to confess something here,? Jerry said nervously as he placed his hand at the back of his head while returning his pokemon. ?Jackie?s a REALLY big fan of your Blaziken, Black Jack.?

?(O? kay),? Chan said as anime-sweat appeared on the back of his head, as did Black Jack?s.

?[Just what we need],? Black Jack thought. ?[Another fan].?

Jerry took out another pokeball. ?Go! Bulldozer!? he yelled as he tossed it out, revealing a boulder-like pokemon Graveller. ?Bulldozer! Use Rollout!?

The rock type pokemon began to roll like a bowling ball towards the fiery fighter, attempting to knock him down like one of the pins in a ten-pin bowling game.

?Jump into the air to dodge it!? Black Jack instructed loudly.

Chan performed a leapfrog-like jump to avoid Bulldozer?s attack. He quickly turned round, knowing that a Rollout attack can return to you like a homing missile. But to his and everyone else?s surprise, Bulldozer didn?t roll back as he rolled towards the sea.

?Turn back, Bulldozer!? Jerry yelled desperately. ?Turn back!?

But the Graveller wasn?t able to as he splashed into it, much to everyone?s shock. ?Feraligatr!? Black Jack yelled. ?Save him!?

?(Got it)!? Feraligatr growled loudly as he ran and dived into the water.

A few moments later, Feraligatr walked up to the surface of the water and onto dry land, carrying the unconscious Bulldozer. ?(This guy needs to lose a few pounds)!? the blue crocodile complained as he dropped him onto the sandy beach.

Awkward looks appeared on everyone?s faces because of what they have just saw as they stared at Jerry. Jerry noticed this and quickly retaliated as he took out his pokeball. ?Er? a minor setback,? he said nervously as he zapped Bulldozer back into his pokeball. He placed the device back onto his belt and took out another. ?Go! Zapster!? he yelled as he tossed it out.

A small yellow mouse with red cheeks and a jagged tail materialised and landed on the ground. It crossed its forelegs and gave a confident look at Chan, who signalled him to attack him. ?[Something?s weird about this boy],? Black Jack thought suspiciously.

?Alright!? Jerry yelled. ?Zapster! Thunderbolt!?

Zapster leapt into the air and charged up his electric powers on his red cheeks and let out a huge electric attack on Chan but missed when he dodged out of the way.

?Chan!? Black Jack yelled. ?Leap into the air and use your Blaze Kick!?

Chan did as he was instructed and leapt into the air. He became as high as Zapster was and gave a roundhouse flaming kick but missed as well. ?Again!? Black Jack yelled.

Chan repeatedly kept on using his Blaze Kick attack but kept on missing as Zapster confidently dodged each one. ?That Pikachu?s real quick,? Black Jack thought suspiciously. ?But there?s something negative about him.?

Eventually, Chan did hit Zapster, sending him hard into the ground. As Zapster quickly got back up, he noticed a burnt mark on his right foreleg. He angrily looked at Jerry, who immediately had a shocked look on his face, and zapped him with its Thundershock attack, much to everyone?s surprise.

After feeling the painful jolt, Jerry fell on his back. As he quickly got up, he saw Zapster angrily running closer to him. Jerry panicked and quickly took out Zapster?s pokeball. ?RETURN!!? Jerry yelled quickly in a scared tone.

After Zapster was zapped back into his pokeball, Jerry let out a small sigh of relief and embarrassment. ?What have I done to deserve this?? Jerry said as anime tears ran down his face.

?Alright, Jerry,? Black Jack snarled in disappointment and suspicion. ?Enough secrets. What?s going on here??

?Well? er?? Jerry said in a nervous tone. ?When I said I need a little help, I meant a lot of help. You see I never won a pokemon battle or anything. I?m a loser??

Some of the spectators became surprised of his confession, but Black Jack wasn?t one of them. ?And my current losing streak is, like, 1000-0,? Jerry continued.

Everyone became very shocked at that confession, even Black Jack?s eyes widened. ?You got to be kidding me, Jerry!? Alice said in disbelief.

?Let me get this straight,? Black Jack started. ?You?ve been training for four years and you never won a pokemon battle, let alone enter a league??

Jerry ran over to him. ?That?s why I need your help, big guy!? he said as he fell to his knees and putting his hands together in a begging fashion. ?Please! Please say yes, Black Jack! I?ll do anything!?

Black Jack went down on one knee and smiled politely as he placed his hand on Jerry?s shoulder. ?Of course,? he replied positively.

?Really?? Jerry asked in a hopeful tone.

?No,? Black Jack replied as he changed his expression into a frown while he pushed Jerry away, making him fall on his back. ?I think it?s best for you quit now and work at a fast food restaurant.?

?Black Jack?? Jerry whimpered softly as anime tears came flowing out of his eyes. ?Without help, I?ll always be a loser??

Black Jack simply ignored him as he started walking away, along with his pokemon. ?(Jack),? Metagross said in protest. ?(You?re can?t just leave him there).?

?I already have,? Black Jack replied. ?Now let?s get out of here before he or his Hitmonlee attempts to grab us by the legs.?

Alice felt sorry for Jerry as she looked back at him while he remained on his back. ?Uncle,? she said walking up to him. ?Can I stay here with Jerry for a couple of hours??

Black Jack let out a small sigh. ?Alright,? he said. ?But make sure that you get back to the pokemon center by six, okay??

Alice nodded in agreement and headed back to Jerry?s location. He was still lying on his back and mumbled various things, such as, ?I?ll always be loser??

?Hey, Jerry,? Alice said. ?I?m sorry.?

?About what?? Jerry said as he immediately stopped his crying and put on a moody face.

?Sorry that my uncle won?t be able to help you out.?

?It?s okay,? Jerry said as he sat up. ?I?m used to it. Everyone rejects me.?

?Everyone?? Alice said as she gave a small cheeky smile.

?Okay, not everyone,? Jerry said, realising who Alice was referring to.

They talked about various things for hours since. ?Er, Jerry,? Alice said realising that. ?What time is it??

?It?s ten to six,? Jerry replied.

?I have to get going,? Alice said. ?I promised my uncle that I?d meet him at the pokemon center.?

She got up and was about to walk away. ?Hey, Jerry. Do you wanna come with me?? She asked.

?Nah,? Jerry replied. ?I got some thinking to do. After dat, I?m walking again.?

?Where will you go??

?Wherever life takes me.?

Alice kneeled down and gave him a friendly hug. ?I?m gonna miss you,? she said as Jerry hugged her back. ?I?ll miss you too,? he replied.

Alice soon released Jerry and walked away, holding back the tears as Jerry held back his.

As Jerry looked at the sea while thinking deeply, a mysterious figure walked up to him. Jerry heard the footsteps and quickly turned around?
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More coming! Reviews please!

 

[x-treme scripter]

Wow, that Jerry guy sucks. Nice fanfic, though.

 

[Brian Powell]

x-treme scripter: I know but things may change.

Chapter 3

Jerry quickly turned round and got up to look at the person sneaking up to him. ?Hey! Who are you?? Jerry demanded.

The young teen Jerry was demanding to was wearing a black leather jacket, blue jeans, multi-coloured trainers and black fingerless gloves. He also had spiky blond hair and a bandanna was covering his mouth and nose.

?My name is Keith Marsden,? the young teen replied as he took off the bandanna, showing his face. He had a pretty looking face, pretty enough for girls to have a crush on him, not that he cared.

?What the heck do you want?? Jerry demanded.

?Chill out, little guy,? Keith replied coolly. ?I only want to have a pokemon battle.?

A small sweatdrop came flowing down on Jerry?s forehead. ?[Oh no],? he thought. ?[I can?t afford another loss, not to this creep].?

?What?s the matter?? Keith asked, waiting for an answer. ?Jigglypuff??

?Me? Jigglypuff!?? Jerry shouted, taking it as an insult. ?No! I?m not a Jigglypuff! I just had a couple of tough battles today and they were real tough! And I?d appreciate it if you?d leave me alone!?

?Whatever,? Keith said as he turned his back on him. ?You?re not worth my time anyway, puffy boy.?

?Puffy boy!?? Jerry yelled feeling insulted. ?Say that to my face, ya limp noodle!!?

Keith smiled as he turned to face him. ?Care to make some conditions? Fine then. If you can beat me, you won?t have to see me ever again. I?ll beat you anyway but you won?t be seeing much of me so I won?t ask for any favours.?

?I?m gonna beat your pokemon to a pulp!!? Jerry said, still being angry.

?I think you?ve accepted my challenge,? Keith said. ?Fine by me.?

Keith and Jerry took out their respective pokeball at the same and tossed them out. ?Go!!? they both cried.

A spitfire pokemon Magmar materialised when it became released from its pokeball that Keith threw out. ?Magmar!? he yelled as he breathed out a lick of flame out of its beak. Jerry?s Hitmonlee materialised when it came out of his pokeball, but there was one problem? it was still unconscious from his battle with Chan! ?[Yikes!!]? Jerry thought deeply when shock was showing on his face. ?[He?s still unconscious!!]?

?[What!?]? Keith thought in surprise. ?[Why would you send out a pokemon that?s already unconscious?]?

He then let out a small snigger, noticing how weak Jackie was and how stupid Jerry was. ?Jerry,? he said. ?I know that some pokemon would recover some time after a battle but you should?ve known that you should give your Hitmonlee some time to do that.?

?Wrong one, man!? Jerry yelled defensively. ?Wrong one!?

He placed the pokemon back onto his belt and took out another one. ?Go! Ratty!? he yelled as he tossed it out.

The pokeball opened, revealing a small brown furred rat. ?Raticate!? he cried.

?Ratty!? Jerry yelled. ?Use your Headbutt!?

Ratty quickly ran towards the fire type pokemon on his four feet and dived his head towards his abdomen.

?Dodge it, Magmar!? Keith ordered.

Magmar did exactly as he was ordered as he easily dodged the Raticate?s incoming attack, much to Jerry?s shock. ?What the heck?? he said.

?Double Fire Punch!? Keith ordered, using Jerry?s distraction to his advantage. Magmar lifted up both of his paws, engulfed them in flames and shaped them like a hammer. He then slammed them onto Ratty?s back, knocking his front body first into the sand.

?One more Fire Punch should finish it off, Magmar,? Keith said. ?Use it now!?

?Oh no, you don?t, Spiky!? Jerry yelled, noticing Magmar?s flaming fist. ?Ratty! Counter with Iron Tail!?

The Raticate?s tail glowed brightly as he swiped his tail towards his opponent. ?Watch yourself, Magmar!? Keith warned quickly.

Magmar saw the attack coming and leapt into the air. ?Say what!? Jerry yelled in shock and disbelief.

?Withdraw your Fire Punch and use your Iron Tail!? Keith yelled.

Magmar immediately performed a rolling somersault while his tail glowed vigorously, slamming it on top of Ratty?s head, making him scream in pain before coming unconscious.

?Ratty! No!? Jerry yelled in disbelief.

?So, whatever-your-name-is,? Keith said confidently while Jerry zapped Ratty back into its pokeball. ?Any more losers for Magmar to knock silly with??

?It?s Jerry, spike head,? Jerry said as he took out another pokeball. ?And this pokemon is gonna knock yours around silly.? He tossed out his chosen pokeball. ?Go! Amazon!?

A white mongoose-like pokemon with battle scars on different parts of her body materialised after being released from her pokeball. ?A Zangoose, huh?? Keith commented. ?Pretty rare around those parts? weak but rare.?

?Funny!? Jerry yelled angrily while Amazon?s eyes narrowed, as she didn?t like hearing what Keith said either. ?You?re gonna be laughing on the other side of your face when Amazon beats ya! Amazon! Slash attack!?

The Zangoose leapt into the air and dived down towards the Spitfire Pokemon. ?Magmar, dodge it,? Keith commanded in a confident tone.

As Amazon was becoming inches away from slashing the face of her opponent, Magmar confidently stepped to one side making her claws hit the sand instead. She looked angrily at his direction as he got into his fighting stance. ?How slow is your Zangoose?? Keith asked with criticism. ?If you ask me which one?s faster between your Zangoose and a random Slowpoke, I?d pick the pink dumbo any time.?

?Say what!?? Jerry shouted, not liking the insult. ?You take that back!?

?I will? if you can beat me,? Keith said, still with the smirk on his face.

?You ask for it! Amazon! Use your Crush Claw!?

But the Zangoose looked around, as though she was sniffing for something. ?Er? Amazon?? Jerry said, looking confused.

She looked directly towards Keith and made a loud, angry hiss as she charged towards him. ?Amazon! What are you doing!? Magmar?s the opponent here!? Jerry yelled.

?Magmar! Body Slam attack!? Keith commanded quickly. Magmar did as he was told as he leapt into the air and performed a somersault, landing his body on top of his opponent?s.

Magmar jumped off Amazon?s back. As the weakened Zangoose slowly got up to her hind legs, Magmar landed a hefty, fiery punch in her abdomen, sending her flying. Amazon became unconscious when she landed badly on her back. ?Amazon! Darn it!? Jerry yelled as he ran towards her. ?Why were you attacking Keith instead of Magmar??

?I see that that Zangoose has strong sense of smell,? Keith said as he placed his hand on one of the pokeballs that were attached to his belt. ?And it smelt my Seviper.?

He took out the pokeball out, enlarged with a touch of the device?s button and released a black snake with different coloured patterns on different parts of his skin. ?Wha??? Jerry said in a confused tone.

?Sevipers and Zangoose had been enemies since probably the beginning of time, moron. How come you didn?t know that?? Keith said with criticism.

?I did!? Jerry lied in defence. ?I just er? forgot, that?s all!?

?Yeah, whatever,? Keith said, knowing that his opponent was lying. He returned his Seviper back into the pokeball, without noticing that the black snake was looking at the Zangoose in a curious manner. ?Now, let?s see what you can do? not much, I?m sure.?

?This pokemon is gonna knock your Magmar all the way into next month,? Jerry said as he tossed out his third pokeball. ?Go! Bulko!?

A huge Snorlax materialised after being released from his pokeball, much to Keith?s shock. ?[How did the dweeb catch a pokemon that rare?]? Keith thought.

He decided to ignore his shock and pointed towards the over thousand pound pokemon. ?Magmar,? he said. ?Fire Punch attack!?

Magmar nodded and jumped towards his opponent while a ball of flame engulfed around his clenched paw. He went to punch the Snorlax in the gut but as he did the paw became stuck because of fat skin of the opposition?s stomach. ?Magmar, pull the paw out,? Keith instructed.

Magmar did his best to pull his paw out of Bulko?s stomach but Bulk let out a loud growl, pushing the paw out of his thick belly, sending Magmar flying until he fell and harshly skid through the sandy ground. ?Good going, Bulko!? Jerry yelled, thinking of his next attack. ?Finish him off with Body Slam attack.?

Bulko patted himself on the chest a couple of times before running and jumping into the air. Magmar looked up with fear in his eyes, knowing what was coming next. ?Magamr! Out of the way!? Keith yelled.

But Magmar wasn?t able to move because of his shock. He became crushed and flattened by the thunderous force of the Snorlax?s huge and heavy body. A brief moment later after the sickening impact Bulko slowly picked himself up, revealing Magmar totally paralysed and unable to move.

?Alright!? Jerry yelled. ?Thanks to Bulko here, I?ve invented a new kind of pancake! Haha! What do you say to that, flatline??

?I?d say that your chance of winning against me is a flat line itself,? Keith replied, still feeling confident, as he returned his Spitfire pokemon back into his pokeball.

He picked out another pokeball and tossed it out. ?This pokemon is worth his name,? he said. ?Go! Darkness!?

A black dragon materialised standing on its small hind legs and yelled out his battle cry. ?A? a Dragonite!?? Jerry said in bewilderment. ?But that thing?s not normal. It?s got black skin, black and blue devil-like wings and red eyes? what?s going on here??

?Scared, I take it, Jerry? You should be, this pokemon can eliminate every pokemon you have on you and I can prove it to you,? Keith said. ?Darkness! Hyper Beam attack!?

Darkness?s eyes glowed red as he opened his mouth and quickly shot a strong light energy beam out of his mouth towards Bulko. Jerry and Bulko had no time to react against a devastating attack because of the shock they received when they saw the pokemon that Keith had released as the beam collided on the Snorlax, making an explosion upon impact.

Jerry had his eyes covered to protect them from the sand and the dust of the explosion. When the dust cleared, he turned his attention back to the battlefield only to find his Snorlax lying unconsciously on his front body meaning that he was no longer able to battle.

After Jerry returned his Snorlax back into his pokeball, he fell to his knees in defeat. ?Darn it,? he said to himself. ?I?ve lost.?

?That?s it?? Keith said disappointedly as he returned his Dragonite back into his. ?Three of your pokemon got knocked out and you give up already? I?m disappointed.?

?I told you,? Jerry replied, gnarling his teeth in frustration. ?I had some tough battles today, okay??

?Excuses,? Keith replied back as he turned away from him. ?Unless you want to disgrace your reputation as a pokemon trainer, never tell anyone what we did.?

With that, he walked away and out of the scene. Jerry was still on his knees, feeling humiliated? not once but twice in one day. He badly needed help by one of the best pokemon trainers there was today but got turned down when he confessed that he never won a pokemon battle in the last four years of his life. He no longer had the strength or spirit left in him to go on training.

?Maybe I ought to call it quits and go home? become one of those guys who serves burgers and fries behind counters,? he mumbled.

Suddenly, a gloved hand came into his view. He looked up and saw the person he asked for help before? Black Jack, who was showing his expressionless face. ?Black Jack?? he said as tears of joy began to form in his eyes. ?I thought you wasn?t gonna help me.?

?I?m not,? Black Jack replied. ?I was gonna ask if you have some spare change for gas for my motorbike.?

?Oh,? Jerry said in a down tone as he reached his hand down his pocket. ?Well, I could help you out here??

?Jerry, you?re such an easy guy to pick on,? Black Jack said while shaking his head. ?Of course I?ve come back here to help you out.?

?You are?? Jerry asked excitedly as he sprung to his feet feeling his spirit growing back while Black Jack withdrew his hand noticing that there was no need to help this young lad up. ?But why??

Black Jack let out a small sigh while shaking his head. ?Look at you,? he began. ?I said no and you?re still sitting here waiting for me. I refused to help you out at first because I thought you were wasting your time with your training. Now the only reason why I came back to help you is because you?re going to be a challenge? and I like a challenge every now and again. But if you want to be my student, I?m gonna set up some rules.?

?I?ll follow anything!? Jerry said enthusiastically. ?Even it means losing lunch every single day!?

?Believe me,? Black Jack said. ?You?re probably gonna lose more than that.?

With that, as they walked back to the pokemon center, Black Jack made some rules for Jerry not knowing how he would be coping with the passionate yet unintelligent underdog in future.

Next episode: Alice meets another old friend... and discovers more about him while they take a night out.
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More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Episode 2: Keith?s secret

Chapter 1

A few days passed Black Jack took Jerry under his wing. Since then he trained him and his pokemon in a harsh way, much to the pokemon and Alice?s concern.

It was a sunny afternoon in a park of Lilycove City and Black Jack, Alice and Jerry released their respective pokemon to enjoy it, except that Jerry and his pokemon were doing some exercises.

This time, Black Jack had Jerry and his pokemon do one hundred push-ups, with a strict rule that if Jerry or any of his pokemon dropped to the floor, they?d be told to start over? and that was just for a warm up.

As Black Jack often expected, Jerry kept on falling on his front every time he almost got to the target number. ?(Something tells me that Jerry likes to do this),? Tyranitar growled to Nidoking, both were observing what was going on.

?(That or Jerry doesn?t want to do any other exercises),? Nidoking replied. ?(Jerry can?t keep on like this forever).?

Black Jack looked at his wristwatch and noticed that this exercise had gone for over an hour. ?Okay, Jerry,? he called out. ?Take ten.?

Jerry and his pokemon fell on his belly and panted out heavily, so did his pokemon. ?Thanks, boss,? Jerry said breathlessly. Recently after Black Jack took Jerry in, Jerry continuously addressed him as the boss. Even though Black Jack didn?t like his new nickname, it took him a while to get used to this because Jerry was so dense.

?I?m off to get some food from the drive-thru restaurant for our lunch,? Black Jack said as he took his wallet out, handing over some money to Alice. ?Alice, you get the usual groceries.?

He then turned his attention towards Jerry but to his surprise he had already fallen asleep because of the tiredness from the exercise. ?Jerry, you just sleep,? Black Jack continued with a frown. ?You guys have some rest too.?

All of the pokemon present nodded in agreement while Black Jack and Alice walked off in separate directions. While they were gone, Feraligatr couldn?t but help but stare at Jerry and Tyranitar noticed it. ?(What are you thinking about, Feraligatr?)? the green dinosaur growled.

?(Have you got a marker pen on you?)? Feraligatr growled in a cheeky tone, with a mischievous smile.

?(You never stop, do you?)? Tyranitar growled, knowing what Feraligatr?s plan was. ?(Too bad, no one has it on them).?

Soon, they noticed a small pink balloon creature with a cute looking face walking down on Jerry. ?([A Jigglypuff])?? the two pokemon thought in unison. They then spotted the microphone that the Jigglypuff was holding. Feraligatr grabbed Tyranitar by the shoulder and whispered in his ear.

?(Tyranitar),? Feraligatr growled softly. ?(Is this the Jigglypuff that literally puts everyone to sleep with her singing?)?

Tyranitar nodded, signalling a yes to Feraligatr?s question. ?(And then she scribbles on their faces),? he continued as a sweat drop slowly slid down on the side of his head.

But Ferligatr felt confident as he walked up to the little Jigglypuff, who looked up in a curious way and then became very happy when she saw him. ?(Yippee!)? the Jigglypuff cried happily. ?(A new audience!)?

Feraligatr face of confidence became a face of shock. ?(Wait a minute)!? he snarled. ?(I want to ask you a favour)!?

The Jigglypuff became puzzled of what Feraligatr?s favour was. ?(If you let me borrow your microphone for a minute or so, I?ll listen to your singing, okay?)? Feraligatr growled.

?(Okay),? the Jigglypuff replied. ?(What kind of favour?)?


Meanwhile, at Alice?s location, she entered a grocery store and bought some food and supplies for future travelling. When she came out, she heard a bell ringing loudly and she looked across the road. She saw a bank being robbed as thieves wearing pirate like clothing and masks carrying sacks of cash running towards a getaway car.

One of them spotted Alice observing the scene while the other innocent bystanders ran away in fear. He took a gun out of his gun belt and aimed the weapon at her. ?(Oh no),? Alice thought in realisation. ?(I have no pokemon on me. Even if I did, I wouldn?t risk them).?

The thief shot a bullet out of the gun. As the bullet came inches closer to her, a young teen tackled her down, not only save her from the bullet but he also saved himself.

The thief cursed his bad luck as he quickly got inside the getaway car. As they got away, the young man got up and helped Alice get to her feet. ?That was a close one,? the teen said.

?Thanks,? Alice said. ?Although I was going to dodge the bullet myself.?

?Not from where I was standing.?

Alice looked at the young man in the face and her eyes became widened with surprise. ?Hey, wait a minute? Keith?? she asked.

?How? how did you know my name?? Keith asked in a surprised tone.

?It?s me? Alice,? she replied. ?You once saved me from those bullies, remember??

Keith?s eyes became widened as he began to remember.

-Flashback-

A little girl, who had blond hair, a small scar underneath her left eye and was wearing a blue dress, was strolling through a park holding a candy bar when three boys, who were twice her size and were wearing everyday clothing, came round to bully her. ?Give us you?re candy, kid!? one of the bigger kids yelled.

The little girl was frightened inside but she had the courage to yell out, ?no way!?

The bullies began bullying her and snatched the candy bar from her. ?Give it back to me!? she cried.

One of the bullies held the candy bar up in the air so that the little girl wouldn?t reach it, no matter how high she jumped. She gave up as she fell to her knees and started to cry.

?Give it back to her!? shouted another kid?s voice. ?Or else!?

The bullies and the little girl turned to the voice?s direction and saw a little blond boy who was slightly taller than the girl. The bullies all started laughing at him.

?Or else what?? shouted one of the bullies.

?Or else I will have to take it from you!? the blond boy shouted in replied as he charged towards the three bullies.

?No! Don?t!? the girl cried.

The boy took down one of the bullies in a tackle to grab the candy back. But the other bullies retaliated and started stomping on him. Soon all of three of them were stomping on him.

?Did you really think you can beat the three of us, pipsqueak!?? shouted one of the bullies.

?Maybe this kid can?t, but I can,? said a voice. The bullies turned round to see a six-foot ten, bearded man wearing black leather clothing and sunglasses. They recognised him straight away.

?Bl-Black Jack?!? they cried in a frightened tone.

?When you pick on people that way, you disrespect me and the way people want to live,? Black Jack said. ?And I have no tolerance for bullies, especially when they pick on my niece.?

The bullies realised that they were picking Black Jack?s niece. They started saying their excuses as they backed away from him.

?Oh, we didn?t know that she was your niece!?

?Of course we didn?t! I mean we wouldn?t bully Black Jack?s niece!?

?And we won?t pick on another little girl again, ever! Honest!?

?Hold it right there!? Black Jack said stopping them from running away. ?You boys weren?t thinking of getting away that easily, were you??

The bullies stopped and gulped. ?Let me show you how it feels like to be bullied,? said Black Jack, as his eyes widened like an evil maniac. ?I?m challenging all of you to a pokemon battle, here and now!?

?Huh?? said the boys in a surprised tone.

?With one condition, you three must use all of your pokemon you have on you, while I use all of mine.?

The bullies gathered round each other and whispered to each other. Soon, the boys looked at Black Jack bravely. ?Fine,? said one of the boys. ?But we?re warning you, you?re setting yourself up for a fall.?

They took out all of their pokeballs and tossed them out. They only had three pokemon each and they were a fluffy bug ball known as Venonat, a red lizard called Charmeleon, a purple floating ball with poisonous gas coming out from different parts of its body called Koffing, a grey muscular human-like creature known as Machoke, an insect pokemon Beedrill, a boxing pokemon called Hitmonchan, a vicious bird called Spearow, a cactus-like pokemon called Cacnea, and a blackbird called Murkrow.

After they have shown their pokemon, Black Jack?s face turned from a serious frown into a maniacal smile. ?Only three pokemon each?? he said. ?My one pokemon can take you all out, but I don?t want the others to miss the fun.

He tossed all of his six pokemon, which were Tyranitar, Feraligatr, Nidoking, Metagross, Salamence and Blaziken. The bullies and their pokemon looked at them with fear in their eyes. ?C?mon, you guys,? said one of them. ?We can beat them, there?s nine of our pokemon altogether and only six of them.?

?As far as I?m concerned, you?re all outnumbered,? Black Jack replied. ?Get ?em!?

All of Black Jack?s pokemon ran at the scared pokemon of the bullies and beaten them with ease. Seeing all damage that Black Jack?s pokemon caused, the bullies fell on their backside and started shaking in fear.

?That will do, you little brats,? Black Jack said smugly as he and his pokemon walked passed them. ?That will do.?

?Are you okay?? the girl asked in a worried tone.

?Yeah, I?m okay,? the boy replied, even though he felt a small jolt of pain when he tried to get up. ?Ow!?

Black Jack and his pokemon walked over to them and handed the candy bar back to her. ?Thanks for helping my niece out, kid,? Black Jack said to the boy. ?From the looks of you, you are a tough little hombre, just like me.?

The boy looked up at Black Jack and gasped. He was actually meeting Black Jack in person. ?Thanks, Mr. Black Jack,? he said.

?What?s your name, kid??

?Keith. Keith Marsden.?

With that reply, Black Jack showed a small smile.

-End Flashback-

?I remember now,? Keith said, offering to shake her hand. ?Nice to see you again.?

?Same here,? Alice said as she accepted the offer. As they touched, they felt a jolt of electricity flowing through them. There was an awkward silence between them when suddenly?

?Hey! What happened here!?? yelled a man?s voice. Keith and Alice turned their attention towards a man who yelled. It turned out to be Black Jack running into the scene, carrying a paper bag full of food for lunch. ?I heard a gunshot,? he said. ?Alice, are okay??

?I?m fine, uncle,? Alice replied, in an assuring tone. ?Thanks to this guy.?

Black Jack turned his attention to Keith and it took a short second to recognise him. ?Hey, you?re the kid who helped my niece out five years ago,? he said. ?How are things, kiddo??

?Nothing much,? Keith replied with a forced smile on his face. ?Just have a few battles here and there, living my own life, that kind of thing.?

?Not taking part in leagues, I see.?

?Well, let?s just say I like to remain anonymous.?

As Black Jack turned his attention back to Alice, he noticed the mess on the floor and realised that it must the groceries that she dropped. ?Man! Not my beer,? Black Jack moaned when he saw spilt alcohol and smashed beer bottles on the floor.

?Shoot! Sorry about that,? Keith said apologetically. ?I must?ve made her drop some of the goods when I saved her from those criminals.?

?Did you know what they look like?? Black Jack asked as he and the others crouched down to pick the goods that weren?t broken.

?They kinda looked like pirates, uncle,? Alice replied, feeling suspicious about the criminals. ?I think we might?ve seen or met them before??

?I think you might be right there,? Black Jack replied, also feeling suspicious.

Keith remained silent as he listened intently to the conversation between his new acquaintances. As he listened, he was about to pick up one of the last items, which was a banana, but another hand grabbed it first and he accidentally touched the hand. He looked at the hand?s owner and saw that Alice was the one getting the fruit.

He slightly blushed and quickly took his hand away from hers as Alice picked the banana. ?Sorry,? he said shyly.

?That?s okay,? Alice said, placing the banana back into the grocery bag.

?Okay, that?s the last,? Black Jack said, placing the last unharmed object in the bag. ?Let?s back to Jerry? I bet Feraligatr?s picking on him as usual.?

Keith noticed that Black Jack didn?t see the ?touching? moment between him and Alice and wondered what would happen if he did see it. ?Thanks for helping us out,? Black Jack said as he and his niece began to walk away with their goods. ?See you around.?

?Alice, wait a second,? Keith said, catching their attention. They waited for some time to listen to what he wanted to say. Keith breathed in and out, trying to calm his nerves before he could talk?


Meanwhile, back at the park, Feraligatr was finishing off drawing various scribbles on Jerry?s face, using the Jigglypuff?s marker pen while his friends were trying hard to not laugh to wake Jerry up.

?(There),? Feraligatr said as he gave Jigglypuff her pen back.

?(Nice pictures there),? Jigglyuff commented while nodding and giggling. ?(Can I sing you a song now?)?

?(Yeah, about that?)? Feraligatr growled awkwardly. He quickly kicked the balloon pokemon up into the air while she cried until she got out of sight.

?(Feraligatr)!? Tyranitar snarled loudly as he didn?t like what he saw. ?(That was unnecessary)!?

?Hmm?? Jerry mumbled as he woke up to the green dinosaur?s loud voice. ?What?s going on here??

As he got up to his feet, he found Black Jack, Alice and the pokemon looking at him in the face. Most of them started laughing at him while others held back. ?What?s so funny?? Jerry asked being puzzled.

?Nothing,? Black Jack replied while holding back the eagerness to laugh. ?Just don?t look in the mirror.?

That left Jerry in a puzzled state as he scratched his head. ?And don?t eat a banana while you?re doing that,? Black Jack said, confusing Jerry even more.
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More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Setokaibarocket]

This is a great fic, keep up the good work! But what happened to Seed the ninja? He just disappeared after #1. I liked the idea of a ninja being in the story.

 

[Brian Powell]

I'm planning something big with this character in future but I won't reveal it yet.

Chapter 2

That evening, Alice was in a spare apartment of the pokemon center that her group was staying for some time. The room had two beds, a desk with a mirror on top of it, and a small bathroom. Originally, the two beds were for Alice and her uncle Black Jack, but since Jerry joined the group Black Jack gave his bed up to him since he doesn?t sleep.

She sat at the desk and was looking at the mirror while brushing her shoulder length hair wearing her usual attire and noticed Jerry walking in with a tired look on his face. Exhausted, he fell on top of his bed with his face on the pillow.

?Hey, Jerry,? Alice said with a smile on her face.

?Hey,? Jerry muffled in a tired voice. ?What?cha doin???

?Oh, I forgot to tell you. I have to go soon.?

Jerry slowly turned his head towards Alice. ?Oh? Meeting someone?? he asked as Alice tied her hair into a ponytail.

?Yeah, Keith Marsden.?

?What!?? Jerry yelled in an alarmed way as he quickly sat up on his bed. ?That guy?s a jerk!?

?Hey?? Alice responded in a confused tone.

?I battled him the other night, before the boss took me in,? Jerry said while moving his hands, expressing his feelings towards that past battle. ?He told me he was Keith himself!?

Alice began questioning Jerry about Keith?s appearance such as the clothes he wore and what colour and style his hair had. And each question Jerry answered matched the young teen that Alice had been hanging around with.

?Jerry, Keith was probably putting his game face on when he was battling with you,? Alice said theoretically. ?My uncle?s always like that.?

?Alice, as your best friend, I?m begging you, don?t??

Jerry suddenly fell asleep and collapsed on his bed due to the exhaustion from the long and tiring training that Black Jack gave him all day. ?[Poor Jerry],? Alice thought to herself in concern as she covered the blanket over her friend. ?[Training all day and night].?

As she got to the door, she looked back at Jerry. ?Goodnight, Jerry,? she whispered to herself. ?I?ll keep everything in mind.?


Downstairs in the main hall of the Pokemon Center, Black Jack was sitting on one of the benches reading a newspaper. As he read, he heard sliding doors opening and some footsteps coming towards him but he didn?t look up from his paper. ?Hey, Keith,? he said, sounding as though he was expecting him.

?How did you know it was me?? Keith asked sounding quite surprised.

?Well, you did say that you?d meet Alice here,? Black Jack replied as he placed the newspaper aside. ?Y?know, it?s kinda weird when you save a man?s niece and then ask her out on a date.?

?Er? it?s not a date,? Keith replied in defence. ?It?s just two friends going to a non-fancy restaurant to have dinner, have a nice little chat and not kissing.?

?Uh-huh, sure,? Black Jack replied in an unconvinced tone while nodding his head.

They noticed someone coming their way and turned their attention to that person. It was Alice, who was wearing her everyday clothing. ?Hi, Keith,? she said smiling.

?Hi,? Keith replied back, blushing slightly. ?You look? nice.?

?Thanks,? Alice replied back, now also blushing a tinted pink. ?Ready??

?Yep, ready.?

As they walked away they said and waved Black Jack their goodbyes. ?Be careful out there,? Black Jack replied. As Alice and Keith walked out of the center, Black Jack had a small smile on his face noticing how grown up his niece had become. ?My brother?s daughter?? he said softly to himself.


Alice and Keith walked down the streets of Lilycove City. There was an awkward quietness between for a few minutes them but Alice spoke. ?So, Keith,? she said. ?Where are we going??

?Nothing special,? Keith replied. ?It?s just a fast food restaurant.?

?That?s okay. As long as there?s no trouble going around, that?s fine.?

But as they walked down the road, they were unaware that they were being spied upon as a shadowy figure, wearing a black cloak that covered all over his body, was staring down on them from the top of a nearby building. ?That Keith?? he grumbled. ?Why is he with that girl??

After some time walking, Alice and Keith got to their destination but discovered that it was almost completely packed. ?A lot of people here,? Keith said noticeably. ?At least there?s no queue.?

?I got an idea,? Alice said. ?How about we take the food as a takeaway and eat in the park??

?Yeah, good idea,? Keith replied as he placed his hand on his stomach. ?I?m getting pretty hungry anyway.?


Somewhere, in a dark room with various controllers, a number of people in blue pirate clothing were looking through different monitors. In the center of the room stood a six-foot five, medium built man wearing blue jeans, black jacket with a stripy blue and white t-shirt underneath, and a blue bandanna on his head. He had a scar shaped like a cross on his right cheek and an eye patch on his left eye. He looked down on a cloaked figure with anger in his eyes.

?You?re sure?? he snarled.

?Positive,? the cloaked man replied. ?I saw it with my own eyes.?

?That brat cannot betray us!? the man snarled.


Meanwhile, Black Jack was resting on the roof with a bottle of beer next to him. He was thinking some random thoughts. His pokemon were resting in the pokemon center.

?[Hey, Black Jack],? sent a girly voice. Black Jack sat up in surprise and looked around and saw two Gardevoirs standing next to each other, holding paws. One of them had a scar in the middle of her face. Black Jack became slightly surprised when he saw them.

?Hey, Sonya, Orion,? Black Jack said, recognising them. ?I guess that means that Cassandra and Wally must?ve brought you guys here.?

Five years ago, Black Jack and a young girl named Cassandra had a short rivalry because of their attitudes between each other. But after they defeated a street gang called the Rocket Revengers, they began to respect for each other.

Some time later after that, Cassandra discovered that her Gardevoir, Sonya, fell in love with Wally?s Gardevoir, Orion. After some convincing, Sonya had the courage to confess her feelings towards Orion, which he admitted that he fell for her too and they had been dating ever since.

?[(We?re on holiday as you can tell, Black Jack)],? Orion sent. ?[They?re on a date tonight, though they don?t like to admit it].?

?You guys trained hard to speak into people?s minds,? Black Jack said. ?Can we have a little chat or are you guys on a date as well??

?[(We?re just floating about)],? Sonya sent. ?[(Sure we can stay and chat?)]?


Meanwhile, Alice and Keith were eating their takeaway dinner as they looked up to the dark skies, watching the stars.

?Hey, look,? Alice said pointing to a bunch. ?That looks like a baby Pichu. See that small zigzag tail and the medium sized ears?

?Yeah,? Keith said noticeably and then spotted another bunch that displayed another shaped. ?Hey! Those shapes look like two Arcanines killing each other just for a scrap of meat.?

Keith let out a small laugh while Alice looked awkwardly at him. ?I never done this before,? Keith said.

?My folks and I do this a lot,? Alice said. ?My uncle once told me that stars like those tell stories. Like those two Arcanines you spotted, they?re not fighting over a scrap of meat. If I remember correctly that?s the story about an Arcanine called Ranger, who wanted to leave his group of his own kind to be with his mate Katrina, who came from another group of Arcanines and Growlithes.

?But the bad leader of that group, called Wildfire, wouldn?t have that because she came from another group and they got into a fight, which was a long and bad one. Katrina didn?t want to see her mate get hurt anymore and got in Wildfire?s way.

?Wildfire was about kill her instead but another Arcanine from Katrina?s group and saved her and Ranger from them in a nick of time. They welcomed him into the group and accepted him as one of their own. It?s kinda romantic and heart warming if you think about it, right, Keith??

?Yeah,? Keith replied uneasily. ?Nice story.?

?Something wrong, Keith?? Alice asked, sensing some negatives feelings from him.

?I?ve been wondering?? Keith started, and then he let out a small sigh as he turned his head away from her, sounding like he had given up like something wasn?t worth it. ?No, it?s nothing.?

?Keith,? Alice said as she placed her hand on his shoulder, unaware that that made him blush a small tinted pink colour on his face. ?What?s wrong? You can tell me.?

?It?s just that for the past few years, I?? Keith started again but then stopped. He let out another sigh. ?It?s nothing?? he said as he moved her hand away from him. ?I gotta go.?

Keith got up to his feet and started walking away but Alice couldn?t let her friend go feeling saddened with an unknown reason. ?Keith, wait,? Alice called loudly yet softly.

Keith stopped and looked back towards Alice, looking at her sad face. He slowly turned away from her and was about to walk away again but he spotted a few suspicious shadowy figures coming towards him. ?[What the?]? he thought.

He quickly turned round and saw Alice looking the other way, spotting a few more shadowy figures coming towards them. Soon, they discovered that they were being surrounded. As the figures came closer and closer, the colours of their clothing became more visible. They were wearing pirate-like clothing such as blue bandannas and blue and white stripy t-shirts.

?Well, well? at last, we meet Lisa Hummingburg,? said one the pirates as she stepped forward, much to Lisa?s surprise. She was standing at least six-foot tall and had long red hair, wore long blue trousers, black high heeled boots, blue and white stripy t-shirt with a blue vest over it, and a blue bandanna on her head.

?[How did she know my name?]? Alice asked herself in thought as she and Keith stood back to back.

?What are you doing out here? And so alone?? the woman asked in an evil tone. She then looked at Keith. ?Well, Keith,? she said. ?Been looking for more grunts to do the dirty work for you or are you planning on leaving us??

?What? Keith, is she saying?? Alice asked, noticing something suspicious is going on.

Keith was about to explain but the woman yelled everyone that sided with her to attack Alice. Everyone lobbed out their pokeballs and released their pokemon, which turned out that they were all water types such as Walerins, Cloysters and Golducks.

Alice took out two pokeballs off her belt. ?Big Brother! Glacia!? she yelled as she tossed them out. ?Let?s go!?

Her two pokeballs released a huge brown bear with a ring on his midsection and a small yet fierce black weasel with claw-like paws.

Keith also took out two pokeballs of his own. ?Umbreon! Alakazam! Go!? Keith yelled as he tossed them out, releasing a small black dog with ring patterns on different parts of his body and a mystical creature holding a spoon on each paw. ?Unless you and your lackeys want to avoid pain, Ruth, I suggest you leave us alone for good!? Keith yelled towards the opposition. ?I?m not part of you anymore!?

?[Keith?]? Alice thought in shock and concern. ?[Was he a part of this team?]?

?You dare betray us?? Ruth yelled. ?Very well, we have showed you what it?s like to betray the team that you belong to? Team Ocean!?

?[Team Ocean?]? Alice thought as she listened intently. ?[I gotta warn my uncle about them? if I can get out of this alive].?

?I belong to nobody!? Keith yelled.

?I knew you?d be stupid enough to fight against us, you fool,? Ruth said. ?Attack!?

Everyone yelled out their attack commands to their respective pokemon, engaging in a hectic battle. For Keith, Alice and their pokemon, they were in for a fight of their lives.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Pete]

It's.....

REALLY GOOD!!!!
Yeah I liked Seed from Rustboro Ghetto....
Anyway---great chapter!
You inspire me to do better!

 

[Brian Powell]

Pete: Thanks, mate. Again, I plan to get Seed a bigger role in future. I inspired you? Why, I thank you.

Chapter 3

All of the members of Team Ocean, present, ordered their pokemon to attack Alice, Keith and their pokemon while they had no choice but to defend themselves.

"Big Brother! Glacia!" Alice yelled. "Double Slash attack!"

The Ursaring and the Sneasel yelled their battle cries as they ran towards them. Glacia, being the quicker of the two, leapt on top of Big Brother's shoulder and then leapt into the air, confusing their opponents. Using this to their advantage, Glacia dived down towards the pokemon that were focusing on the bear, while Big Brother attacked those that got confused.

"Nice double team there, Alice," Keith commented with a smile.

"Well, as long as you got a great pokemon and strategy you're bound to do something good," Alice replied with a wink.

"Time to show mine," Keith said. "Alakazam! Use your Pysbeam attack!"

A green aura surrounded Alakazam's body as he began to focus his energy and blasted out a green beam towards the opposition, knocking them into confusion.

"Way to go!" Keith yelled. "Umbreon! Use your Swift attack!"

The black dog leaped into the air and the ring patterns on his body glowed energetically as he shot out small energy stars out of his mouth, which hit some of the grunts staggering them.

"Big Brother! Glacia! Get out of there!" Alice yelled.

Big Brother, with his great strength, managed to fend off the pokemon of Team Ocean and get away from them while Glacia struggled to get away but luckily Big Brother bashed his way through to save her and carried her back at a safe distance.

Four of Team Ocean's Tentacruels stepped towards and shot numerous energetic spikes out of their mouths towards their opponents. "Poison Sting attacks!" Keith warned.

"Dodge out of the way!" Keith and Alice yelled in unison. Their pokemon obeyed as they quickly dodge the attack, as did they when the attack was coming towards as they quickly ducked down.

Unluckily for Keith that attack was a decoy as one of Ocean's Walerines rushed and tackled him, sending him flying until his head and back hit the tree. Alice became distracted and yelled out to Keith but he wasn't able to respond because he was unconscious. She then looked back towards the battle scene and saw that her pokemon were struggling against the opposition.



Noticing that their trainer was unable to move, Alakazam and Umbreon ran over to him and tried to wake their trainer up but to no avail as the enemy continued attacking them, not allowing them to fight back.

Alice was in deep trouble as her pokemon were continuously being attacked by Team Ocean. With her partner unconscious and his pokemon left beaten, the numbers game have caught up with her. Realising how badly hurt that Big Brother and Glacia were getting, she quickly took out two pokeballs.

As she was about to toss them out to release her creatures to help Big Brother and Glacia she got knocked down by a charging Cloyster.

She fell harshly to the ground and shook away the dizziness only to be hit by a Poison Sting attack from one of Team Ocean's Tentacruels. "Well, boys," Ruth said. "Let's show her what happens what it feels to be hit by pokemon… especially when they're from Team Ocean." With that, all of the pokemon of Team Ocean began pounding unmercifully on her while the human members watched with cold eyes and smiles.

Meanwhile, Keith slowly moved, shaking his head to remove the dizziness. When he came to, he saw Alice, being badly hurt by Team Ocean and their pokemon while his pokemon lay on the ground unconscious and heavily injured.

He took out his third pokeball and tossed it out, releasing his black Dragonite. Curious of what was going on he looked towards the battle scene and then down on Keith, who was getting to his feet. "Darkness," Keith said. "Get Alice and her pokemon out of here, I'll hold them off."

Darkness became shocked of Keith's instructions and shook his head, refusing to obey them. "I'll be fine," Keith said while he returned his pokemon back into their pokeballs, knowing that his Dragonite doesn't want him to risk his life. "I got three other pokemon left to help me. Just do it!"

Darkness became hesitant but he stretched his wings and flew at the speed of light towards the members, knocking them down in an attempt to grab Alice, Glacia and Big Brother. As he did, he flew off into the sky carrying the badly injured Alice and Glacia in his arms and Big Brother holding onto his back.

"Whatever you do, don't look back!" Keith yelled loudly, hoping that Darkness was able to hear him. He then turned around and saw members of Team Ocean giving malicious looks while he looked back in hatred.


Back at the pokemon center, Black Jack walked around the main hall of the pokemon center with hands behind his back while the Gardevoirs sat on the benches, their backs next to the walls, looking at him in curiosity.

"What's keeping Alice?" Black Jack asked himself. "I told them to be back here by ten earlier today when he asked her out."

"[(Don't worry, Black Jack,)]" Sonya sent in an assuring tone. "[(So what? She's gonna be a little bit late at some point. I mean what could happen)]?"

"[(Yeah, it's not like she's dealing with a couple of muggers)]," Orion sent.

"You two don't go out much, do you?" Black Jack asked in response.

He looked outside his window and saw a black dragon flying towards the center and spotted Alice and Glacia in his arms and Big Brother on his back. His eyes widened with shock. "Alice!" he said loudly as he rushed outside, followed by the Gardevoirs.

As he got outside, Darkness safely landed to the ground. He placed Alice on the ground and she rushed towards him and started to hug him as tears began to form in her eyes while her pokemon ran to comfort her. "Alice," Black Jack said in a concerned tone. "What happened?"

"Uncle…" Alice sobbed. "I'm sorry… it's Keith…"


Back at the park, Keith was being held at by the arms by two men, making him immobile, and was getting battered, bloodied and bruised by his 'teammates'.

"That's enough, boys," Ruth said, holding her hands out, stopping her men from attacking him. "Hold him up."

She walked a distance closer to him and then slapped him on the face. Keith slowly looked back with a look of hate on his face. "I recognise that face," Ruth said. "We had a feeling that you would betray us again sooner or later."

"I never wanted to team up with you freaks anyway," Keith growled.

"You owe us, Keith. Remember our deal? We would tell you when you are through and you're not even close," Ruth said arrogantly as she backslapped him on the cheek.

"You punks!" Keith said. "I worked hard enough to take a trip to Hawaii."

"Hawaii's not on schedule," Ruth said as she took out a knife out of her sheath attached to her belt. "But if you wish I can send you to hell."

She raised her knife above her head and then quickly moved it, aiming for his forehead. "Ow!" yelled a voice, immediately stopping Ruth's attack. They looked at the direction where the voice was heard and it turned out that one of the grunts' was rubbing his hurt head. He looked down and saw an empty beer bottle. "Hey, where did this come from?" he asked.

"Behind you!" snarled a familiar angry man's voice. Everyone looked into the man's direction and it turned out to be Black Jack, accompanied by his 'young cub', Darkness, the Gardevoirs and his pokemon. "You think you can pick on my niece and get away with it? It looks like you did a lot of damage on her and now it's time I do the same…" he cracked his fist into the palm of his hand and then cracked his other fist. "Only heavier."

"I doubt that," Ruth said. "We, of Team Ocean, plan to capture all of the strong water pokemon trainers and the rarest water pokemon on the planet. I see that you have met one of our former comrades, Keith Marsden. He and his father owe us a little favour and made them follow our orders."

"Team Ocean?" Black Jack said. "Sounds like a rip-off version of Team Aqua that Ketchum beaten up years ago." Without waiting for a response he and his pokemon, plus the two Gardevoirs and Darkness, got into battle against Team Ocean.

As the battle started Black Jack and the pokemon that sided with him, using physical force, were knocking down all of the grunts and their pokemon. After they were all knocked down, Black Jack and his teammates looked at each other and nodded, splitting up into different directions.

Chan the Blaziken came close to his chosen victims and got into his fighting stance. The Ocean grunts and their pokemon slowly picked themselves up, surrounding him. One of them attempted to attack him from behind but the red fiery fighter sensed it coming and quickly turned around while kicking him in the face. The other grunts tried to attack him as well but the Blaziken countered each and every one of them with his quick and vicious kicks. He looked around to see how many were left standing. As he was about to choose his next couple of opponents, another standing grunt came charging towards him from behind but he countered him with his back fist punch, yelling out his battle cry, without turning around, knocking him out.

Feraligatr was knocking down each and every one that was on Team Ocean's side that attempted to attack him. "(Hey! Feraligatr)!" his friend Nidoking called, catching his attention. "(Tag me! Tag me)!"

Feraligatr turned his attention towards his Poison Drill friend, who was holding the grunt from behind by the arms. The blue crocodile walked over to him and tagged him by the paw and then punched the grunt in the stomach, making him fall the ground withering in pain.

On another part of the battlefield, Metagross was using its psychic powers to make his victims float in the air and unable to move. The grunts and the pokemon looked up and saw the blue dragon Salamance and the black dragon Darkness flying above them and saw what was coming next as they had cold sweat drops on their faces. As expected, Salamance and Darkness stopped flapping their wings and fell at a great height, crashing down on top of their enemies and squashing them onto the ground.

Meanwhile, another bunch of grunts and their pokemon were pounding on Orion and Sonya while Tyranitar and Black Jack knocked down another grunt, they saw that their Psychic comrades were in trouble. The green dinosaur quickly walked ahead of Black Jack and kneeled down with his head leaning forward. Black Jack saw what his pokemon's intention was as he quickly ran up towards him from behind and leapt on his shoulder; he then leapt off and crash-landed on top of his enemies, not only knocking them but his teammates down as well. "(Lucha libre)!" his Nidoking roared excitedly after he saw the stunt Black Jack performed.

As the battling continued, despite Team Ocean's strength in numbers, the pokemon that sided with Black Jack were dominating against them. Realising this, half of grunts ran away while the others stayed and got beaten in the process.

Black Jack and his pokemon looked around to see if there was anyone else standing. "Jeez, there's always one left when we think we're done," Black Jack said in an annoyed tone as he looked at Ruth, standing behind the weakened Keith while holding a knife by his throat.

"Step any closer and the boy dies," Ruth threatened as she stepped away from them while holding him.

"You're a little late to say that, aren't you?" said a young girl's voice.

Before Ruth could react, a familiar pair of hands grabbed her wrist that was holding the knife. As they struggled to gain control of the knife, Ruth accidentally let Keith go as he fell to floor.

Black Jack quickly ran towards them to help Alice but she made Ruth drop the knife before he could. He stopped and stood where he was, looking at Alice's angry face while she glared angrily at the now scared Ruth.

Ruth held her hands out towards her. "Don't… don't hit me," she begged. "I'm just leaving."

She took a step away from her… and then aimed to slam her fist on her face. But Alice blocked her punch with her hand and then slapped her in the face with the other, staggering her. Ruth became stunned and shocked for a brief second and turned her angry face towards her. "You slapped me?" she shouted. "No one slaps me!"

She was about to attack Alice again but Black Jack grabbed her from behind, he forcefully turned her around and headbutted her on the forehead, knocking her down. After shaking off the dizziness off her head, Ruth placed her hand inside her pocket and took out a mirror. She was horrified when she saw a huge purple bruise on her forehead that Black Jack inflicted. "My face…" she sobbed. "My beautiful face… don't you know how to treat a lady?"

"I do," Black Jack replied. "But for you I'm making an exception. Now get out!"

Ruth took her chance to escape as she ran out of the scene, leaving Black Jack with a nasty look on his face. He then turned and saw Alice kneeling down towards Keith, who was badly injured.

"Keith," Alice whispered sadly. "Are you okay?"

Keith let out a small groan in response as he struggled to move. "It's okay," he said. "I'll live."

Black Jack moved towards them, still with a nasty look on his face as he stared down on Keith and Alice noticed it.

"He… he saved me, uncle…" Alice said, sounding slightly scared. "And…"

Black Jack moved his hand towards Keith, offering to help him up. "Get on your feet, kid," he said.

"Huh?" Keith muttered, unsure of what Black Jack's intentions were.

"I said get up, kid!" Black Jack said loudly, assuming that Keith did not hear him properly the first time. "Get up!"

Keith quickly grasped Black Jack's hand and Black Jack pulled him up so that he could stand upright with Alice helping him. "Let me help you get to the pokemon center, Keith," Alice said as she wrapped his arm around her shoulders, attempting to help him stand upright. "It's the least I can do."

Keith looked at her concerned face and gave a small nod, allowing her to carry him to the pokemon center. She struggled to help him walk to the pokemon center; despite her weak and hurt body she had a strong heart and soul.

Black Jack noticed this and grabbed hold of Keith and hoisted him on his shoulder. "What are you doing, uncle?" Alice asked.

"This way, Keith doesn't have to walk and you can take it easy," Black Jack replied.

"Actually, I feel kinda oozy," Keith said feeling his gut being slightly squeezed.


Meanwhile, somewhere in a dark room a familiar man looked down on Ruth with a disappointed look on his face. "Ruth, I'm disappointed," he said. "You allowed that brat to be free from our grasp… now he's in the hands of Black Jack."

"Yes, sir," Ruth said with her head hanging low. "Even though I wish for it, I know I cannot be forgiven… I'm ready to receive my punishment."

"Silence. You are already punished at the hands of Black Jack when he humiliated you and headbutted you in the head," the man said. "To him, this is a warning to you and he could do much worse plus this is the first time you failed me. Therefore, I shall spare you this time. Now leave."

"Thank you, sir," she said. Still feeling ashamed, she made her way out of the room. After she left, the man stood where he was. "[Keith's betrayal and Black Jack's interference were not part of the original plan… but maybe… maybe…]"

Next episode: Alice enters a pokemon contest that features three of the most difficult judges to impress. Can she win it? Wait and see.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

EDIT:

A/N: In memory of Eddie Guerrero, 1967-2005

 

[Brian Powell]

Episode 3: Contest Washout

Chapter 1

It was a few days since Keith left Team Ocean to join Black Jack's group. Jerry didn't like the idea at first but it took him time to get used to it when he noticed how concerned Alice was. During Keith's days of recovery, Black Jack was looking for a two-seated sidecar that he would place next his motorcycle while Alice, Jerry, Cassandra, Wally and the pokemon kept Keith company while he was resting in on his hospital bed. While they did, they couldn't help but wonder what Team Ocean would do next.

At one point, while they kept Keith company, Black Jack made his entrance announcing that he found and bought the sidecar for the motorcycle.

He looked down at the recovering Keith. "So, kid," he said. "What's your story with Team Ocean?"

Concerned faces appeared on the faces on his 'cubs' and 'acquaintances', feeling that Keith may not feel comfortable to explain. But Keith felt different; he felt that he could trust his new friends, thus he told his story.

"A couple of years ago," he started. "My dad was working at a food store, which was being unsuccessful when it was competing against a rival shop. We became bankrupt and we needed some money desperately. That's where Team Ocean came in…

"They offered a huge sum of money, providing that we work for them. We had no choice so we had to…

"My dad and I were working for them for a very long time. Every mission we did involved stealing money and goods, and hurting others. I hated them for that and I hated myself…

"Another reason why I hated them was that there was one time where my dad died when he put himself on the line when he saved the group by staying behind to detonate a bomb inside a bank, making sure that there would be no evidences after we ran away with the loot. I begged him not to but you can do the math…"

"No one had any sympathy for me or my dad. Since then, while I was doing my missions, successful but not the way they like it, I was searching for anyone that could help… that was when you guys came into the picture… and you know the rest."


"[Sounds just like me while I was Team Rocket]," Black Jack thought to himself. "[Glad that he's away from them]."

"Keith…" Alice said sadly as tears formed in her eyes while she wiped them off. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry about your dad."

"It's okay," Keith said. "I wanna thank you guys for helping me out back there and for me to hang around with you guys."

"Coming to think of it," Black Jack said. "I bet your old man is smiling from above because you're safe with us."

"Jerry, what do you think?" Alice said as she turned towards him.

"Just one question," Jerry said. "If you're such a nice guy, why were you, like, showing off while we were battling?"

"It's the way I am, thanks to Ocean," Keith replied. "I thought I lost hope of getting away from them until you guys came along."

Jerry still had his unconvinced look on his face, much to Alice's concern. "Can't you just be friends with him, Jerry? After what he's been through and what he's done for us?" she asked.

He let out a small sigh, thinking of how he was going to put up with a guy who embarrassed him in their battle. "Alright," he said. "But I still hate you!"

"Still haven't gotten over that battle we had, Jerry?" Keith asked cheekily.

Jerry let out an annoyed grunt as he turned his back on Keith, looking outside the window. Black Jack, Wally and Cassandra noticed that this rivalry might have just begun.


After Keith was released from hospital, Cassandra and Wally told their friends that they had some important stuff to do. Therefore, they went into different directions, saying they would meet up later at the pokemon center.

It was the same day that a pokemon contest would be opened for pokemon coordinators as Black Jack and his 'cubs' spotted a poster.

"Hey! A new pokemon contest is coming on today," Alice said. "It's called the 'Golden Ribbon'. The poster says that it's not just any contest, it's for the golden ribbon plus get to be in the masters' rank. Can I participate, uncle?"

"Ya need to ask?" Black Jack asked in reply. "Go ahead."

"Hey up," Jerry said as he looked at the poster. "There's more. The rules stated that twenty trainers, interested, are to register and compete. First round involves the studio audience to vote for the best-looking pokemon. Only eight can go through the next round and the rest are eliminated.

"The second round involves the pokemon performing stunts. Four goes through to the next round the other four won't. Same goes for round three but only two will go through.

"The fourth and final round would have two trainers battling each other and judges will judge on how well they perform, based on coolness, cuteness and stuff. Tough competition from my view."

"I didn't know you could read, Jerry," Keith said.

"What was that!?" Jerry shouted as he turned his attention towards him with a vain throbbing in his forehead.

"I'm joking, bud!" Keith said in defence, showing a small cheeky grin while Black Jack shook his head in disappointment.

"I'm not your buddy!" Jerry yelled.

"[Jerry is such an easy guy to fool]," Black Jack thought to himself as he looked at the poster checked to see who would be judging the competition. "Karen Tuskbourne, Bill Fireman and Brian Powell," he read out loud.

"Brian Powell!?" Jerry exclaimed in surprise, quickly stopped being angry towards Keith. "He's the most hardest and harshest critic when it comes to talent, even when it comes to pokemon contests."

"Let's not forget about Bill," Keith continued. "Even at his old age, I heard he's not… 'all there'."

"C'mon, you guys!" Alice said loudly, getting their attention. "If we don't hurry, we'll miss our chance! It's not far from here!"


She, Keith and Jerry, ran to their destination while Black Jack slowly followed, walking. As they made it to their destination, a lot of people gathered there. The building for that was being held pokemon contest looked like a huge purple dome with large entrance doors. "Wow," Alice said in surprise. "I think they are all desperate to impress those judges."

"I doubt that," a young teen's voice said. They turned towards the voice's attention. He was wearing a light purple jacket with a black shirt underneath, blue jeans, and a pair of brown shoes; he also had green eyes and hair.

"Hey! I heard about you!" Jerry said as he pointed to him. "You must be Drew Whatsisname. The guy who sometimes competes against May Maple."

"Drew Moore," Keith whispered in his ear, which made him angrily turn his head towards him.

"Thanks for recognising me," Drew said. "I'm afraid that these are spectators, a lot of them are coordinators who are afraid to impress those judges."

"So, are you entering?" Keith asked.

"Me? No," Drew answered in a confident tone. "I just take my time becoming a top pokemon coordinator, I'm too good for them anyway."

"Then prove it," Black Jack said. "If you're so confident with your abilities as a pokemon coordinator then what's stopping you from entering? I heard that opportunities like these don't come very often."

"Well, let's just say that I'm not an opportunist," Drew replied as he walked away.

"Heh, whatever," Black Jack said with a shrug. "He's got all the ribbons, least he could do is learn a few things."

"Attention!" a voice sounded from a nearby speaker that was attached by a post. "There are only a few spaces left, so trainers, make sure you register if you want to compete in this competition."

"C'mon! Let's go!" Alice cried as she grabbed hold of Jerry's and Keith's wrists and ran towards the dome while Black Jack slowly followed.


As they got inside the building, they noticed that there was no cue at the registration tables, despite a huge number of people walking around the main entrance hall. Alice quickly ran over there to register for entry while Black Jack and his other 'cubs' went to the audience member registration table.

At the audience member registration table, Keith and Black Jack mentioned their names while Jerry slightly hesitated to give out his full name when it was his turn. "May I have your name, sir?" the lady receptionist asked.

"Er… Jerry…" Jerry replied and then he closed in on her face whispering his second name.

"Okay, Mr. Jerry Tickler," the lady said out loud as she typed down various keys on her computer while fell to the floor in shock and embarrassment.

"[Gah!]" Jerry snarled in thought as he quickly got up and fought the urge to jump up and down in anger. He found his family name quite embarrassing and felt that someone may make fun out of him if they found out. "[What's the point of giving away your full name if they're going to say to it anyway!]"

"Tickler? That's your second name?" Black Jack asked.

"You're not laughing?" Jerry asked in surprise.

"No, we're not laughing," Keith replied as he and Black Jack turned their backs on Jerry, hiding away their smiles.

As they got to the centre of the room to discuss Alice's plans on the contest, a girl's voice was heard. "Oh my gosh! It's Alice Hummingburg!" she said loudly and excitedly.

That caught their attention; they turned towards the direction of the voice and saw two girls standing next to each other. One had blue shoulder length hair and a pretty looking face; she also had a blue mini skirt, blue and yellow trainers, and a white t-shirt with a picture of a heart-shaped pokemon on it. The other had ginger hair that reached down her neck and also had a pretty face. She had a yellow t-shirt on, blue jeans and a pair of white trainers.

"Oh my gosh! It's Dawn 'Water' Spirit and Peach Suomi!" Alice cried, also excited as she dashed over to them.

"We love you guys!" the three girls cried happily in unison, much to Black Jack and Keith's awkward surprise.

The girls quickly got into a conversation about how they loved each other's past contest strategies, skills and their pokemon. They then released their respective pokemon that they would be using in the contest. Dawn released her beautiful sea snake Gorebyss, Peach released her pink and cute kitten Skitty, and Alice released her Togetic, QT.

After spending some time talking, Alice lightly slapped herself in the forehead as she forgot something. "Ah! I forgot to introduce you to some friends of mine," she said.

She took them over to her friends and relatives and she introduced them to him first. "Black Jack," Dawn, the girl in blue, said as she and Peach, the girl in yellow and orange, offered to shake his hand. "It's an honour to finally meet you, one of the most famous trainers."

"And since you know Ash and Misty," Peach continued. "We'd make it a triple honour."

"Pleasure's all mine," Black Jack replied as he accepted their offer and compliments as he looked down on the Gorebyss and Skitty. "Hey, what are their names?"

"This is Coral," Dawn said motioning to her Gorebyss. "Like Peach, she's been around with me before I started pokemon training. They're like sisters to me."

"Gorebyss gore," Coral cooed in delight as she felt a light stroke from her trainer.

Peach picked up her Skitty and held her in front of her chest. "Hello, my name's Smitty," she said cutely, pretending to be the Skitty's speaking voice. "I'm so happy to meet you nice people."

"Meow," Smitty mewed cutely while waving her tiny paw.

"Don't mind her, she's always like this, but it's really cute when you look at it." Dawn said, which Peach replied with a thank you.

"This is Keith," Alice said as she motioned them over to Keith. "One of my friends."

"Hi, Keith," Peach and Dawn said in unison.

"Hey," Keith said as he shook their hands.

"We have never seen you before," Peach said. "Pokemon trainer?"

Keith replied with a nod. "Started at ten," he replied.

"You look older then ten," Dawn said. "Have you competed in a league or contest?"

"Nope. Never did."

"Why's that?" Peach asked unaware that Alice was looking concerned for her newfound friend, thinking that he may not be ready to reveal his secret.

"Let's just say that I don't like being on TV," Keith replied with a small smile on his face.

"And this is Jerry," Alice said as she motioned them over to him.

"Hi, Jerry," the girls said in unison as they offered to shake his hand.

Jerry's eyes were widened as a tint red colour was showing on his face. He stuttered and mumbled as he slowly shook their hands. Black Jack noticed this and quickly moved him away from them. "Don't mind him," he said. "He's always like this with new people."

"Okay," Dawn said as she winked. "Peach and I will meet you guys at the contest."

"Yeah, wish you luck and wish us luck," Peach said as she and Dawn left. "See you later," they said unison.

As the two left, Alice, Keith and Black Jack stared at Jerry vacant looking face for numerous moments before Alice and Keith started laughing, snapping him out of his trance while Black Jack shook his head while rolling his eyes.

"What?" Jerry asked in confusion.

"You like them, don't you, Jerry?" Keith asked cheekily.

"Oh, shut up!" Jerry snarled as a red blush appeared on his face.

"Will you young cubs cut it out!?" Black Jack complained. "Alice has got work to do, and she may need our help. The show starts in half an hour."

And with that, Black Jack and his cubs set off to discuss Alice's plans on how to win this upcoming competition.
--------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Chapter 2

As the contestants and spectators were getting ready for the contest, at the back of the stage, an old chubby man in a smart suit was sitting at his desk searching for something. ?Where?s my cell phone?? he asked himself. ?Ah-ha!? he said in delight as he picked up a banana from the desk. ?Here?s what I?m looking for!?

He pressed a few times on the banana and used it as a phone. ?Hello? Is anyone there?? Then he came to the realisation as he moved it away from his ear and looked at it. ?Hang on a second! This isn?t my phone! Yes it is!?

?Who said that?? he asked himself as he looked at himself in the mirror. ?Ah! Who are you?!? he yelled in a sudden fright.

He shook his head rapidly to get back to his senses. ?Stupid thing,? he muttered as he tossed the fruit away and then picked up his phone, much to his glee. ?Ah-ha! Here?s what I?m looking for!? he said before he used it as an electronic razor.

While he was ?shaving? a man came and knocked on his opened door getting his attention. He was medium built, had bushy eyebrows and was wearing a grey tight t-shirt, black jeans, and brown shoes. ?Bill,? he started. ?Are you alright??

?Of course I am, Brian,? Bill replied positively and enthusiastically. ?Why??

?Me, Karen and the TV producers have been talking and we?re a little worried that you might be a little? confused.?

?Confused? No chance, my boy!? Bill said loudly. ?He might be,? he continued as he pointed at the mirror, reflecting the mirror image of himself. ?But I?m definitely not! Now come on! Let?s go!?

With that, Bill quickly got up and walked out the room. ?Bill, wait a minute,? Brian called in alert. ?You?ve forgot your??

Suddenly, a bunch of girls screamed in fright from outside the room. ?Trousers,? Brian finished as he scratched his head in embarrassment.


Meanwhile, at the spectators? gallery of the contest hall, Black Jack and Keith sat next to each other while there was a vacant seat next to Black Jack. That seat belong to none other than Jerry as he came down the stairs carrying a huge tub of popcorn and three large beverages.

He struggled to get through a large crowd to get to his seat. When he did, he gave one beverage each to Black Jack and Keith before sitting down on his seat.

?So when is the show starting?? Jerry asked as he quickly stuffed some of the popcorn in his mouth.

?It?s starting right now,? Black Jack said as a man wearing a tuxedo walked up on stage carrying a microphone.

?Ladies and gentlemen!? the judge exclaimed enthusiastically into the microphone. ?Welcome to the Golden Ribbon contest!?

The audience gave a long and loud cheer, apart from the slightly surprised Black Jack who responded by saying, ?Jeez, it?s not pantomime.?

?First, before we meet the contestants, I would like to introduce three of the smartest and wisest minds of talent today!? the host said enthusiastically as he pointed to the judging panel at the left side of the stage. ?Unfortunately, they couldn?t be here today, so we have Karen Tuskbourne with us today?? he continued as the woman with brown hair and dress waved to the audience as they cheered for her.

?Bill Fireman?? the host continued as the chubby old man was taking a nap in his chair until a middle-aged man wearing a tux woke him up, getting him to wave to the audience.

?And Brian Powell,? the host finished as the crowd started booing at Brian.

?I haven?t started,? Brian replied back arrogantly.

?And now,? the host continued. ?Let us meet the contestants!?

One by one, the trainers, accompanied by their respective pokemon, walked onto the stage. As Black jack and his two students expected, Alice, Dawn and Peach came up on stage, along with a coordinator that they didn?t expect to see? Drew, the coordinator who refused to participate at first. He entered the contest along with a beautiful grass type pokemon, Roselia.

?I thought he wasn?t going to turn up,? Keith whispered to Black Jack.

?Neither did I,? Black Jack whispered back. ?Maybe it was something I said.?

?Okay folks!? the host yelled excitedly. ?In the first round is the voting round. The contestants and pokemon won?t need to perform in this round but the audience, that?s you guys, will have to vote for the contestant you want to see go to the next round. Under your seats are keypads with numbered buttons, press the numbered button that matches with the number of your favourite contestant to help them get through to the next round. The top eight contestants who gets the most votes will go through, the rest will go home.?

?Huh?? Jerry replied, feeling confused.

Black Jack let out a small annoyed sigh. ?Just press Alice?s number, eighteen,? he replied as he pointed the button of Jerry?s keypad as he picked up his.

?Everybody ready?? the host yelled. ?Vote now!?

Everyone in the audience pressed their buttons, hoping to see their favourite go through the next round. ?Voting over!? the host announced. ?While the votes are being counted, we?ll have the judges? opinions.?

He turned towards the judges. ?Karen,? he said. ?Who do you think might get through??

?Oh, I don?t know, they all look absolutely fabulous,? Karen said passionately. ?They all look precious like the precious pokemon I have at home.?

?Thank you, Karen,? the host said as he turned towards Bill. ?Bill, what do you think??

?I have no idea,? Bill said, amazed at the sight of each pokemon present. ?Decisions like these can be so hard. I can?t make a decision like this.? He then mumbled to himself, ?Yes you can.? He then yelled, ?Who said that!??

Shocked, Bill began looking around, wondering who said it, not realising that it was actually him who said that while Brian placed his hand on his face in embarrassment. ?Continue, mate, continue,? he said.

?Thank you, Bill,? the host turned to the third judge. ?Brian??

?I don?t get it,? Brian said. ?Trainers feed their pokemon pokeblocks. Why? Well, they said that eating those sweets would make them look smarter, look cooler, look more beautiful, etc. Like those two Mr. Mimes over there,? he continued as he pointed at the two pokemon who looked clowns. ?I don?t know what pokeblocks they?ve been feeding on but they both look the same to me. Therefore, I have no clue who?s going through.?

?There is an old saying, Brian,? Karen said, trying to sound smart. ?The real beauty comes from the inside.?

?That?s just something you ugly people say,? Brian replied back, which annoyed her as the crowd started booing him again. ?I take it that you people see yourselves as ugly too,? he said.

Karen became angry at Brian?s remark as an anime vain started to throb in her forehead. ?How dare you, you...?

?Brian! Not in front of the children!? Bill exclaimed alarmingly at her, knowing what she was going to say.

?Bill, I?m Brian,? Brian said loudly to him. ?She?s Karen.?

?Oh, sorry, Karen,? Bill said as he turned towards Brian.

?Can we just get on, please?? Brian said in an annoyed tone. ?Getting rather awkward here.?

?Okay, okay,? the host said. ?Can I have the results please??

A man in everyday clothing and headphones ran up to the stage and delivered a piece of paper to him. ?Thank you, Charlie,? the host said as he took the paper.

?It?s Bob, actually,? the man said as he walked away.

The host began to read out the top eight contestants. As Black Jack hoped, Alice was through to the next round. Peach and Dawn were also through, much to Jerry?s joy. Drew was also put into the next round. As Black Jack looked at the eight contestants, he predicted that Drew, Alice, Peach and Dawn would be in the top four.

 

[Brian Powell]

After the announcement of the top eight contestants, they were given a half-hour recess. Alice was in her dressing room backstage, helping QT practice some moves for the contest. The room was a luxurious looking room with a white polished desk with a mirror next to one of the yellow walls, a leather couch, a number of celebrity posters and red carpet.

While they practised, there was knocking on the door, catching their attention.

?Come in,? Alice responded. The door opened, her friends and uncle entered the room.

?Nervous?? Black Jack asked.

?Yeah, a little,? Alice replied, trying to sound honest. Despite that she was trying to sound brave, Black Jack knew better.

?Ya mind if I help you out, Alice?? Jerry said enthusiastically. ?I got something big in my head that would blow the crowd away.?

?Thanks, Jerry,? Alice said. ?But I want to show everybody what I can do without help this time.?

?Huh? Why??

?Because after all this time, I?ve been getting help from Uncle Jack with my contests. Right now, since I?m in the toughest pokemon contest around, I want to show everyone that I?ve got what it takes to be one of the best.?

?She?s got you there, Jerry,? Keith said.

Jerry hung his head low, feeling embarrassed again. ?Why does it always have to be you who mock me?? he muttered.

?Don?t you want to at least show us what you?re planning?? Black Jack asked.

?Sorry, uncle,? Alice replied. ?But you know me, I don?t like to ruin surprises.?

Black Jack showed a fitting smile, feeling that his niece would bring out a great performance. ?Fair enough,? he said. He then turned towards the other two kids. ?C?mon you young cubs. Alice and QT?s still got more practising to do.?

As they left, Alice let out a huge sigh, trying to release her nerves, knowing how hard it would be to impress the most difficult judges. She remembered her first participation in her first pokemon contest...

-Flashback-

She was sitting in a locker room. She was sitting on a bench with a coloured cube in her fingers called a pokeblock, a pokemon sweet she was planning to feed one to QT, a Togepi at the time who was sitting next to her, to increase her statistics, such as her cuteness.

Apart from QT there was no one else in that room, not even Black Jack. Earlier that day before the contest, she had some practising for that event with some help from him. As the start of the contest was getting closer, Alice asked for her uncle to practice alone with QT in the locker room, which Black Jack agreed to.

The real reason why she wanted to be alone was because of her nerves and she didn?t want to show him how weak she was. Her nerves was getting too much for her as tears began to form in her eyes.

Seeing this, QT let out some small cute chirps, assuring her that they would do great in that contest. Alice turned towards QT and showed a small smile as she wiped the tears off her eyes. Like most of her pokemon, every time she looked at them, her nerves would leave.

-End Flashback-

Alice looked down to the floor, still breathing heavily to release her nerves. She felt a small paw touching her. She turned to her right and saw her Togetic, QT, touching her hand. ?Toge, toge,? QT chirped in an assuring tone, which helped Alice show a smile on her face. With QT by her side, her confidence increased.

After the intermission, the boys went back to their seats to observe the performances of the top eight contestants.

One in particular was Peach and Smitty the Skitty, who Black Jack spotted as a possible top contender, was one of the first contestants to come out on stage while the host introduced her to the crowd. The crowd applauded for her while Jerry couldn?t help but stare at her vacantly, while Black Jack looked at him as though he was acting strangely.

As Peach and Smitty got to the center of the stage they bowed politely to the applauding audience. Then they got into position ready to perform their act.

?Go! Smitty!? Peach yelled. ?Use your Assist move!?

Smitty leapt into the air and glowed energetically blue as she shot out a huge stream of water out of her mouth. ?That?s a Water Gun attack,? Black Jack said noticeably.

As the huge stream of water came falling down, Peach ordered Smitty to use her Ice Beam attack. Smitty obeyed as she shot a blue beam out of her mouth, hitting the falling liquid, turning it into a huge block of ice.

?Way to go, Smitty,? Peach said. ?Now, use your Assist move again.?

An energy ball on Smitty?s raised paw as numerous spinning leaves came shooting out of the ball. As the leaves came shooting out, they were quickly changing into different colours as they continually hit the ice block, knocking down small parts of ice and they scattered into the away, slowly falling as they sparkled beautifully, while audience looked on in astonishment. Black Jack, being a hard man to impress, also enjoyed that moment as he nodded his head. ?Not bad,? he said.

?Okay, Smitty, stop,? Peach instructed. The glowing ball on Smitty?s paw disappeared as she lowered her paw as they both gazed at the ice object in front of them, which is now a stunning looking statue of Peach hugging Smitty.

Peach clasped her hands and looked at the ice sculpture while smiling like a child in a candy store. ?Oh, it?s? beautiful, Smitty!? Peach cried with high admiration in her voice. The pink kitten turned round and cried happily as she leapt into her trainer?s arms. She caught her beloved pokemon began hugging. The way they hugged each other looked exactly the statue that Smitty created.

The judges were much impressed as the audience as they them a combined score of 29.5 points. It was a good score since the highest score the contestants can get was 30.0. After seeing what their score was Peach and Smitty happily danced around with joy and then they bowed to the delighted and applauding audience before walking off the stage.


The next contestant to walk on stage was Dawn, who was being accompanied by Coral, her Gorebyss. In Dawn?s hand was a bucket of different coloured balls.

When they got to the center of the stage they politely bowed in front of the audience.

Dawn leapt backwards as Coral got ready. ?Okay, Coral,? Dawn said loudly. ?Water Gun!?

Coral raised her head upwards and shot a fountain of water out of her mouth. A lot of the audience felt the cool and pleasant drizzle as it spread from the mountain.

Dawn picked a few balls out of the bucket and tossed them towards the fountain. The fountain successfully caught each ball and Coral managed to keep them floating on top of it, much to the amazement of the judges and the audience.

?Now, form your water gun into a ring,? Dawn instructed.

Obeying her instructions, Coral, still holding her Water Gun attack, separated her water gun and slowly turned her fountains into a horizontal hoop above her while the coloured balls moved about in the hoop, much to the audience?s and the judge?s amazement.

?Form your water gun into a heart, Coral,? Dawn instructed.

Listening to her instructions obediently, Coral slowly formed her water gun into a vertical shape of the heart, while still keeping the balls moving inside the Water Gun, impressing everyone even more.

?Now, throw them back into the bucket, Coral,? Dawn ordered.

Coral slowly formed her Water Gun back into a fountain again. She then separated her fountain back into two again, one of them shooting out each coloured ball while Dawn successfully caught each one and placing them back into the bucket, much to the astonishment of the audience. ?[Not bad],? Black Jack thought, noticing how good the performance was while nodding his head, slightly.

After the performance was finished, they both bowed to the audience receiving a standing ovation while the judges gave her a total score of 29.5, the same score as her friend Peach had. After Dawn giving Coral a great big hug in celebration, they both bowed to the audience and then to the judges before walking off the stage.

?[Alice is up soon],? Black Jack thought to himself, thinking how good Peach and Dawn were. ?[I know she?s got something big coming up].?
----------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Chapter 3

The third out of Black Jack's predicted top four was Alice, his niece, and QT. She came out with a couple of apples while QT flew to the center of the stage while the host introduced her while crowd applauded.

"Ready, QT?" Alice called to him.

"Toge toge!" QT cried while nodding, signalling that he was ready.

"Go!" Alice yelled as she tossed the two fruits into the air. "Psychic and Metronome!"

The Togetic quickly looked up at the two apples and glowed energetically blue, stopping the two apples as they also glowed the same colour while he slowly moved his paws from left and right.

While still glowing, QT leapt into the air and used his paws as knives to quickly peel off a small amount of skin off the apple. Then, he fell and landed safely on his feet with the apples safely in his paws. He showed the apples with the beautifully carved Chinese symbols to the audience while the big screen displayed the apples while the audience looked on in amazement.

"I have no clue what it says but that looks way cool," Jerry said impressed.

"That's Chinese for Blooming Flower," Black Jack said. "There's a saying in this, 'a flower that blooms is the most beautiful'."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Keith asked, slightly confused.

"Let's just say that I always find her very special."

"Yeah…" Keith said while he thought deeply about her.

"How do you know that, boss?" Jerry asked.

"Chan taught me."

"Isn't a trainer supposed to teach pokemon stuff?"

"Jerry, sometimes a trainer needs to learn a few things from his pokemon. Keep that in mind."

"Okay, QT," Alice called to her Togetic. "Use Psychic and Metronome again!"

"Toge!" QT chirped loudly as he tossed them up into the air again and glowed energetically as he moved his paws from left to right and back. He stopped glowing and leapt up into the air and began slashing at the apples in a quick and graceful way while the apples stayed airborne.

QT fell and safely landed on his feet as the apples fell safely into his paws. He raised them close to his face and gave them a gentle blow. Like small pink cherry blossoms, small and flat pieces of the apples began to float around the studio, much to astonishment of the audience.

"Wow!" Keith said in amazement. "Feels like I'm watching the mask of Zorro."

Jerry grabbed one of the floating pieces of the apple and placed it in his mouth. "Mmm, tasty," he said.

While the crowd applauded, Alice and QT gave a polite bow to them and then to the judges as they showed her the total score, which was 28.9. Despite that it was lower score that Peach and Dawn's, Alice was still happy because of the effort that they both put into this performance.


The final contestant of the top eight was Drew as he confidently walked onto the stage with Roselia as the host introduced him to the audience. While he and his Roselia walked to the center of the stage, most of the girls in the audience screamed for him because of his popularity in pokemon contests and his good looks.

As the audience quietened down, an orchestral music was being played in the background. "Roselia, use Magical Leaf," Drew instructed calmly.

The beautiful petal pokemon danced gracefully around the stage while shooting a number of leaves out of her flower-like paws while the leaves changed into sorts of beautiful colours, such as maroon red and sky blue as they start drift down slowly.

"That's great, Roselia," Drew said. "Now use your Petal Dance."

Roselia continued dancing to the music as she shot out small petals out of her paws and then stopped and raised both of them in the air and then started to spin when the music started to play dramatically. Her spinning was so fast that she created a tornado; it was powerful enough to move around the leaves and petals in circles but it did not vacuum the audience members.

"Okay, Roselia," Drew called. "Stop and use your Sunny Day."

As the music started playing slowly and calmly, the little petal pokemon stopped spinning and kneeled down while glowing energetically like that sun that shines in the bright blue sky. While she did, the petals and leaves also started to shine beautiful colours as they slowly started to move in circles and drift downwards, much to the crowds' amazement.

After the music finished playing, she stood up and bowed to the audience, signalling that the performance was finished and the audience gave a standing ovation. Drew and Roselia turned towards the judges and they responded by giving him a total score of 29.7. Roselia and Drew gave them a nod signalling a thank you and then walked off the stage.


After the final contestant performed and receiving his score, the show host walked up to the stage with the microphone in hand. "Now! Let's see the top four scores to see who gets to be in the top four!" the host yelled as the big screen of the studio displayed the top four contestants, which were Dawn, Peach, Alice and Drew. These were the four contestants that Black Jack predicted that would be in the top four. "Congratulations!" he yelled enthusiastically. "Come on out guys!"

The four trainers with their respective pokemon walked on to the stage waving happily at the audience, apart from Drew who kept his cool. "You guys have now made it to the top four… which now has a twist," the host said. "Instead of having to do more performances, you four will now have a free-for-all pokemon battle to determine the winner of the Golden Ribbon contest."

Everyone became shocked and surprised of that announcement, except Jerry who showed a look of understanding. "Oh, so that's how the judges get to leave early," he said.

"What do you mean?" Keith asked.

"Well, Karen's got some home emergency with her dog pokemon, Bill Fireman's just remembered that he has a doctor's appointment and Brian feels like having a long lunch. I heard it from some guy while I was getting us the drinks."

"As much as I hate to see how lazy and disorganised the judges are, having this kind of round is a good idea," Black Jack said. "A very good idea."

"The same rules apply from your usual battling rounds in pokemon contests," the host said. "Only it'll have four of the contestants battling at the same time. For those of you who don't know the rules of this round then I'll explain. The judges will judge on how the pokemon attacks look, based on their beauty, coolness, cuteness, smartness, and toughness, adding and decreasing their points in the process. If the pokemon is unable to battle, he or she will be eliminated and the battle will continue until the last pokemon remains, thus making him or her the winner. If the time limit of five minutes run out, the winner will be decided by how many points they have."

The remaining contestants were given a half hour recess to prepare for their upcoming battle round and they were sent to their dressing rooms. "Should we get to the back?" Jerry asked.

"Let's go," Black Jack said as they got up from their seats. As they got up, Black Jack and Keith noticed the determined look on Alice's face.


Alice and QT quickly made their way back to her dressing room. She quickly picked up a 'do not disturb' sign she found on her desk and hanged it outside on her doorknob. She then shut and locked her dressing room door.

While she prepared, her uncle and friends reached her dressing room door and looked at the sign. "Do not disturb?" Jerry read out loud. "Why would she want to keep us out? Should we at least check on how she's doing?"

"No," Black Jack replied as he remembered the determined look on Alice's face. "She said that she wants to do this alone."

"She needs our help, doesn't she?" Keith asked.

"We already are by being here for her."

After hearing that response, he remembered how determined Alice was on winning the Golden Ribbon contest and showed a small smile. "Yeah," he said to himself. "She'll be okay."

They started walking back to the audience balcony. "I keep on wondering, Black Jack," Keith said. "If she wants to be a pokemon master, why is she determined to win this contest?"

"It's because of the promise she made to QT," Black Jack said. "Back when QT was a Togepi, he and Alice enjoyed watching a lot of Pokemon Contests on TV. I think that watching them somehow inspired QT and Alice to participate in those contests and become the best there is."

"Man, that's some big stuff," Jerry said sounding impressed.

"I know. Doing two different things at the same time is a hard thing to do," Keith said.

"No, I mean check out the size of that hot dog!" Jerry corrected as he pointing at a nearby fast food stand while Black Jack and Keith gave him a dull look.


The half hour recess was up and the host called each of remaining contestants out while the audience applauded for them, knowing that they would be seeing a great upcoming battle.

The contestants and their pokemon took their places of the battlefield, each one standing at one side, ready to battle. Each contestant had determined looks on their faces, knowing that this would be a tough battle.

"Contestants, when I say go, that'll your turn to go," the host announced. "In 5… 4… oh, what the heck, GO!" he finished as he ran off the field.

"Coral! Use Water Gun on QT!" Dawn instructed.

"Roselia! Use your Razor Leaf attack!" Drew ordered.

"Use Assist, Smitty!" Peach yelled.

"Get ready to dodge with your Fly attack, QT!" Alice yelled.

The pokemon did as they were instructed as they start to use their moves… but suddenly, some rumbling was felt and heard throughout the building. This distracted the pokemon from their attacks as they and the others wondered what was going on.

"Er… this rumbling… it's part of this round, right?" Jerry asked worriedly. "It's either that or it's something I ate…"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Hey, PI fans. Got a present for you lot.

Chapter 4

Everyone became startled of the rumblings that were occurring inside and around the building, except Black Jack who kept his cool. He looked towards the stage and sensed something bad coming. "Alice! It's coming from that wall! Watch out!" he yelled in alarm.

Alice heard her uncle calling towards her and also and also sensed that the rumbling was coming from behind as she ran out of the way while the other contestants walked away as well. Suddenly, a huge vehicle crashed into the walls, shocking everyone in the studio.

As the dust cleared, the vehicle appeared to be a huge blue army-like tank with a white skull printed at the side of it. "Ocean…" Black Jack and Keith snarled in unison.

Team Ocean grunts ran into the scene from the huge hole of the wall and surrounded the tank. The top on top of the tank opened and another Team Ocean member climbed out while holding a megaphone. He was standing six foot tall, and was wearing much the same as his comrades but he had red sideburns, beard and an eye patch. He raised his megaphone up to his lips and spoke into it. "Black Jack and Keith Marsden! We demand that you surrender yourselves! Act otherwise, and these people shall suffer!" he yelled.

"And I thought that Brian Powell was a rude punk," Jerry said, not liking that man's attitude.

"How did they find us here," Keith whispered to Black Jack.

"They must have some spy around here looking for us," Black Jack replied. "Move, Jerry."

"You're giving yourself up to them?" Jerry asked in disbelief.

"Move it," Black Jack said as he got up from his seat.

"Black Jack, wait," Keith said, touching his arm to get his attention. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

Black Jack, showing an expressionless look on his face, moved his arm away from Keith and slowly moved down towards the stage while Keith followed. Everyone in the audience, knowing how strong Black Jack was, cried for him to not give himself up to them. "What is the boss doing?" Jerry asked himself, confused and saddened. Why was Black Jack following the villain's demands?

"Uncle! What are you doing?" Alice yelled as she and QT attempted to run to protect them but was being held back by Dawn and Peach, knowing how dangerous it would be to get a friend in danger.

Black Jack and Keith stepped onto the stage and they both looked up at the man with the megaphone. "Before you guys take me in I want to make a couple of favours," Black Jack said.

"Well, I am a man who allow others to have their last requests before I… you know," the man replied using the megaphone. "Now, tell me what's yours?"

"First, tell me and the other guys who you guys are," Black Jack said.

"Very well," the man replied, knowing that Team Ocean would themselves known to the world sooner or later. He turned towards the audience members and spoke into the megaphone. "My name is Rick, one of the high ranked officers of Team Ocean. We plan to take control of this world by we capture all strong water pokemon and all water pokemon masters. Then, and only then, everyone will fear us and me!"

Rick lowered his megaphone and turned his attention back to his two hostages. "Any other requests?" he asked.

"Yeah, pass me the megaphone," Black Jack said as he pointed to the object.

Rick showed a confused face but he tossed it to him. Black Jack caught it and looked at for a few seconds before holding it near his mouth and began speaking into it, getting the audience's attention. "After twenty five years of doing this, you'd think I'd get bored and give up on my life and this little hobby," he said.

He quickly threw the megaphone at one of the grunts directly in the forehead, knocking him down and out, much to everyone's shock. He then charged towards the grunts while the pokeballs attached to his belt opened, releasing his pokemon as they got ready to get into this upcoming brawl. The Ocean grunts took their chance to throw out their pokeballs releasing their aquatic pokemon.

Keith blinked numerous times in surprise but finally came to realise that Black Jack was toying with the enemy. "He lied," Keith sneered as he took out a pokeball off his belt. "Go! Skarmory!"

A large steel armoured bird materialised from a strange red energy, letting out a screech after being released from the pokeball.

"Hey! Let me have some fun here!" Jerry yelled as he ran down to the stage, taking out his and tossing it out. "Get'm, Jacky!"

The fighting-type pokemon materialised as he became released yelling out his battle cry. "Jacky!" Jerry yelled as he pointed at a large crab with a huge clamping claw. "Attack that Kingler with your Tackle attack!"

Jacky posed like a martial artist before running towards the Kingler, attempting to slam himself onto his face. The huge crab shot out a beam of bubbles out of his mouth towards the now shocked Hitmonlee, too shocked to stop running.

"Skarmory! Use Protect to protect Jacky!" Keith yelled.

The metal bird quickly flew down between Jacky and the Bubblebeam attack while an energetic sphere surrounded her. The kicking Pokemon got knocked down, but not hurt, by the sphere while numerous bubbles hit it but failed to penetrate.

After the last bubble hit the shield, it quickly disappeared. Skarmory landed safely on her feet while Jacky lifted up his legs and lower back, he quickly leapt from his higher back and landed on his feet. They both looked at each other and Jacky held a thumb up, appreciating what his newfound friend had just done.

"Wow," Keith said, sounding impressed. "What move was that?"

"I think it was called a Chinese pick up," Jerry answered. "The boss's Blaziken taught it to him." He noticed a Golduck running towards Skarmory. "Jacky! Protect Skarmory with your Hi Jump Kick against that Golduck!"

The Hitmonlee leapt on Skarmory's back and then jumped towards the opposition, he performed a spinning cartwheel-like kick, slamming his foot on top of Golduck's head, knocking him out unconscious.

Keith looked on in an impressed way and then looked back at Jerry, who was showing a small smile. "For a jerk… you're not… all that bad," Jerry said. "I think I may be a bigger jerk than you."

Keith smiled back in response. "I agree," he said. "But for a loser, you're not all that bad either."

He let out his hand to offer Jerry a handshake of friendship. Jerry smiled and shook his hand in response. They both realised that they would have to be friends at some level, not just for Alice but for themselves too. "Looks like I'll have to put with you for a while," Jerry said.

"Fine with me," Keith replied.

"Hey, boys!" Black Jack yelled from a distance. "You're missing out on some fun here!"

After hearing that, they both turned their focus back on to the battle scene.


As the battling continued, Drew saw a number of Ocean grunts and pokemon running towards and Roselia. "Roselia!" he yelled. "Use your Petal Dance attack!"

Roselia began to spin in one place so fast that she created a huge tornado, sucking her enemies into it. As they were getting caught inside the tornado, they were receiving cuts on their skins by the sharp edges of each petal that were being tossed around inside the whirlwind, feeling the deep sting by each cut and heavy dizziness in their heads.

After the tornado slowly vanished, the grunts fell and crashed unconsciously to the ground. "Ta-da," Drew said arrogantly as he and Roselia bowed to the audience.


Meanwhile, Peach, Dawn and their respective pokemon were back to back while being surrounded by the grunts. "Get them!" yelled one of the grunts.

"Coral! Use your Water Gun on the floor!" Dawn instructed. Coral quickly sprayed a fountain of water to the floor around them, making some of the unsuspecting grunts slip up and fall to the floor. They had trouble getting up because of the slippery floor.

"Obstacle one done!" Peach yelled.

"Coral!" Dawn yelled.

"Smitty!"

"Iron Tail together!" they both yelled in unison.

The tails of the respective pokemon glowed vigorously as they performed somersaults while quickly slamming their high-powered tails into each of the enemies' faces. They then noticed that there was one last grunt remaining, running towards their trainers.

He attempted to attack them with a knife but missed as the girls dodged out of the way. "Smitty! Take Down attack!" Peach yelled.

Peach ran at the speed of a shot-out bullet and then slammed her body into the grunt's face, sending him flying into the distance and knocking him unconscious.

Smitty landed on her feet and mewed happily. Peach ran over to her and gave her a huge hug. "You were magnificent, Smitty!"

"You too, Coral," Dawn said happily as she stroked her beautiful sea snake on the head. The Gorebyss let out some enjoying coos as she felt the delightful strokes. She looked over at the rest of the battle scene. "C'mon, Peach," she said. "Let's help the others out."

"Right," Peach said as she and Smitty helped for the rest of the battle.


Meanwhile, Another number of grunts and pokemon intended to attack Alice and her Togetic, QT. "QT! Use your Metronome!" Alice instructed. Hearing that attack, the grunts and their pokemon stayed away from Togetic as he moved his paws left to right, back and fourth. He stopped as his paws started glow bright blue.

After the glowing stopped, QT playfully jumped up and down, shocking Alice and the opposition. "A Splash!?" yelled one of the grunts in disbelief. "That's not even an attack! C'mon, gang! Let's get him!"

As the gang of criminals attempted to attack QT, Alice yelled for her pokemon to get out of the way. QT did so as he playfully skipped to the side, making the enemy missing him completely when they tried to tackle him.

They angrily looked at QT's direction and he was still dancing. To them, that was like taunting. They charged towards him but the little Togetic skipped backwards until his back hit the tank. "Got you now, you little brat!" yelled one of the grunts as he and the others were getting closer.

"QT! Use Fly!" Alice yelled suddenly.

QT leapt into the air and started flapping his wings to stay airborne. The grunts completely missed and accidentally crashed into the tank getting themselves injured. QT let out a small giggle while Alice sighed in relieve.


Meanwhile Black Jack was pummelling away on Kingler with punches, kicks and headbutts. He then felt that someone hit him in the back with a foreign weapon but did not feel any as he turned around and saw a Golduck, who was now frightened, holding a steel chain. He looked at him with an annoyed look in his eyes. "I like it when a punk like you attacks me from behind," he said with a sinister smile on his face. "It gives me a chance to do this."

He then proceeded by grabbing Golduck by the neck and then hoisted him on his shoulder and rammed his head into the side of the tank, creating a huge dent in it.

After the damage done to the duck, he dropped him to the floor. Suddenly, Black Jack's Tyranitar leapt from the tank and crashed his over-three hundred pound-body on top of Golduck's crushing his insides.


Meanwhile, Chan was being surrounded by another group of grunts and had his back against a wall. But, he was not worried as he leaned confidently against the wall. The grunts were about to attack but Chan looked up, somehow getting them to look up as well.

As they did, a huge blue steel meteorite fell and crashed right on top of the grunts after Salamence released it from a great height. Chan had them fooled all along.


In another part of the battle scene, Feraligatr was relentlessly beating a large blue seal. Unknown to him, a grunt was slowly walking up from behind carrying a steel pipe while Nidoking was slowly walking behind the grunt with a steel pipe of his own.

As the grunt was about to slam his pipe on the blue crocodile's head Chan quickly stepped in and quickly kicked him in the head, knocking him out, making Nidoking miss the grunt completely and inadvertently hit his friend on the head.

"(Ow!)" Feraligatr roared in pain. Panic-stricken, Nidoking quickly looked round and tossed the weapon to another grunt, who unwittingly caught it with his hands.

"(Who did that)?" Feraligatr snarled angrily while rubbing his aching head. He turned around to see the culprit who hit him on the head and saw Feraligatr, Chan and the grunt, who was holding the pipe in shock.

Nidoking and Chan quickly responded by pointing at the grunt. Feraligatr believed them and angrily stomped towards the frightened grunt. "(I'm gonna tear you a new something)," Feraligatr snarled angrily while Nidoking let out a small breath, not wanting to get into another fight with one of his best friends over another silly mistake.


After much brawling, Rick looked on in horror as his comrades were getting severely beaten. When the last of his comrades was knocked out, he turned around to make his getaway but was snatched by a clawed paw and a human hand, being choked simultaneously. "Look who's left?" Black Jack sneered, who was one of the attackers holding him. "A little boy can hurt himself if he's standing on a dangerous vehicle."

His Tyranitar growled sinisterly with a nasty smile at the villain. He and Black Jack looked at each other in the eyes and nodded before lifting him up and slamming him through the top of the tank, smashing the top to pieces much to everyone's shock. Rick was knocked unconscious.

He and Tyranitar jumped of the huge tank and landed safely on the floor. "(So… anything interesting happen)?" Tyranitar asked curiously, which made Black jack look back in a surprised way. "(Before all of this happened)," he finished, getting Black Jack to understand.

"I'll tell you in a little while after this mess gets cleaned up," Black Jack said as he looked around, seeing numerous Ocean grunts and pokemon lying injured on the floor. He then looked at the badly damaged tank.

"(I think we scratched it)," Tyranitar growled.

"Don't worry, it's a rental," Black Jack replied.

"Hey, boss!" Jerry yelled from a distance, catching their attention as he and the others ran towards them. "That thing you and Tyranitar did with that Rick dude! Some people didn't like seeing that but I don't care cos I did!"

"You didn't do badly yourself, Jerry," Black Jack said, looking rather pleased for what Jerry did.

"And that trick you pulled on those pirates!" Jerry continued enthusiastically. "If we had a recording camera, you'd get an academy award!"

"Jerry…" Black Jack said.

"And I got to thank Chan for helping Jacky out with all those karate or kung-fu moves," Jerry continued excitedly, somehow ignoring Black Jack calling him. "They were fantastic and helped me out in a big way!"

"Jerry…" Black Jack said a little bit louder, still trying to get his attention.

"And let's not forget that you…"

"JERRY!" everyone yelled in unison.

"What?" Jerry responded, slightly startled by everyone's yelling.

"What he means, uncle, that you did it," Alice said as he looked up to him. "You beat that leading member."

"I don't think so," Black Jack said. "WE did it. So what if I made the finishing touch on that guy, the main thing is that we worked as a team and that counts… I'm so proud of you kids."

"You don't show it," Keith said, noticing his expressionless face.

Black Jack responded by looking at him and showed a small smirk on his face. "Keith, remember when you said that you were sorry about getting me into this mess?" he asked.

Keith nodded in response. "Well, you don't have to. I haven't fought a criminal organisation in a long time," Black Jack said.

"You're not mad at me?" Keith asked in surprise.

"No. If I didn't know about this Team Ocean, this world would be in danger. Besides, it looks like that we're going to have a bit of fun now that they're targeting us. Somehow, it brings back the good old days."

"So… this Team Ocean gang," Drew said. "Why are they after you guys?"

"I'll explain after you finish your match with the girls," Black Jack said.

"Actually…" said a man with a loud posh accent. "There will be no final match."

The contestants and their friends turned to the man's attention. The man was Brian Powell holding a microphone; he was one of the three judges judging the competition. "And why's that?" Jerry asked.

"Well, for one thing the building's demolished and a number of arrests have to be made. It's hardly ideal to have a contest battle now," Brian said as he pointed to the great big hole and the criminals. "Therefore, the contest is over and done with."

Everyone started moaning and booing, wanting to see whom the winner would be. "But," Brian Powell continued, with assurance in his voice. "After seeing extraordinary and fantastic display, I decided to give all four of these contestants the golden ribbons because of what they did for us."

Members of the audience began murmur loudly with each other, not knowing whether or not it was the right decision. Then they heard someone clapping and they turned their attention towards the clapper.

It was QT, Alice's pokemon, much to everyone's surprise. "Why, QT?" Alice asked, slightly confused.

QT chirped a lot to his trainer, trying to explain why he was clapping and agreeing with the judges decision. "Can someone tell me what's going on here?" Brian asked.

Black Jack motioned Brian to lend him the microphone. Brian slightly hesitated after seeing what he did with the megaphone. "I'm not going hit you with it," Black Jack said.

Being less hesitant, Brian quickly handed the microphone over to him. "QT says that his dream is to become the greatest performer the world has ever known," Black explained, translating what the Togetic said. "Having said that, he knows that there are other performers that are just as highly determined as he is. After seeing what happened today, he's now more determined to do the best he can to accomplish his dream. And he deeply thanks Alice, the fans and others for giving him that determination."

After hearing that, Alice started to clap her hands agreeing with what QT said, then Dawn, then Peach with Smitty mewing approvingly, then Drew and Roselia, and then others. Soon, everyone gave a standing ovation. Black Jack was the first person that finished clapping and walked towards Brian and spoke privately to him. After a few moments, Black Jack and Brian shook hands as though they agreed on something. They then walked in opposite directions with Black Jack showing a small smile on his face.

"Uncle? What's going on?" Alice asked curiously.

"Brian has gotten us a free dinner at the best and most expensive restaurant in Lilycove," Black Jack said.

"Does it have an all-you-can-eat buffet?" Jerry asked excitedly.

Black Jack slowly nodded in response.

"Oh boy!" Jerry said excitedly. "Brian and the restaurant are gonna be so sorry after I'm done with the food!"

"Wait a minute," Peach said. "What did you say to him?"

"We had words, that's all," Black Jack said, leaving the contest winners slightly confused. He turned towards Keith and Jerry and nodded towards them, hinting that he spoke to Brian about him and the other judges' attempt to end the show early, which they nodded back in response and understanding.


That night, while Black Jack and the others celebrated, Ruth sat on a roof of a building looking at the almost destroyed building that Rick and his comrades caused in the distance. She heard the news of Rick and the others arrested. "Don't you worry, brother," she said with anger and sorrow in her voice. "I'll avenge you."


The next early morning, Black Jack was outside of the pokemon center doing some exercise with his pokemon. "Black Jack," a voice called to him, catching his attention.

He turned to the person who called out his name. It was Dawn who called him out, along with Peach, Drew and his 'cubs'. Jerry was the only person who wasn't there; he was still at the pokemon center suffering from a stomachache after eating so much food the other night. "Thanks for everything," she said.

"Leaving already?" Black Jack asked.

"Yeah," Peach said. "It's a shame that Jerry isn't out here with us. I wanted to thank him."

"I'll do that for you," Black Jack replied.

"No need," Dawn said. "We want to thank him personally but we have places to go. Oh, and thanks for letting us know about Team Ocean. We'll keep an eye out for them."

"I hope so," Black Jack said.

"Hey!" Alice said. "Next time we meet, we can have a battle."

"That is a given," Drew said. "Then we'll see who the best there is out of the four of us… I.E: me."

"Drew, you and your arrogance," Keith said with a smirk on his face.

Everyone waved Black Jack and his 'cubs' goodbye as they walked their separate ways, knowing that they will meet again and never forgetting the big event they had.


Next episode: Black Jack and his cubs meet a professor who's over-protective of his disabled daughter. They also meet up with some old friends.
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Since Christmas is coming close, I'd thought I'd make a PI version of 12 days of Christmas. Here we go...

On the nth battle with Black Jack, this is what he gave to me...

12 Bones-a-breaking
11 Joints-a-crippling
10 Scars-a-making
9 Burnt marks-a-marking
8 Punches punching
7 Kicks-a-kicking
6 Body slamming
5 Cracks on the skull
4 Hyper Beams
3 Lost teeth
2 Black eyes
And a big, fat busted lip​

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I have a bit of bad news everybody... after you read this chapter, this fic will be put on hold because I'm going to have a very busy month (University work and such). Apologies for the inconvenience.

In the meantime, reviews please! And happy holidays, everyone!

 

[Brian Powell]

Episode 4: Helpless But Not Hopeless

Chapter 1

As the morning sun was shining down, Black Jack was strolling down a forest outside Lilycove City. He stopped in the middle of the clear path and then slowly counted down the numbers, whispering to himself in a bored tone. "Three… two… one…"

He quickly and confidently bent down as a small black dog with yellow patterns on different parts of his body jumped down from a tree where he was hiding, in an attempt to catch him by surprise.

Failing that, the dark type pokemon missed him and lost his balance, falling on his front. Black Jack walked over and looked down on him.

"So you heard him, huh?" a spiky haired teen said, feeling slightly embarrassed, as he walked out from behind a tree.

"Bre…" his Umbreon said, also feeling embarrassed but not hurt, as he got up to his feet.

"Only… a lot," Black Jack replied to Keith. "Umbreon is still breathing too hard." He then turned his attention to the little dog. "Umbreon, you should relax and feel the lightness of your paws, that way you would be faster than a speeding a bullet and catch your victim out, no problem."

He heard a couple of bird pokemon squawking from a distance and turned his attention to that sound. He took out a pokeball and released his Nidoking from it.

"Nidoking, show Umbreon how you catch your prey… and this time, pounce on the victim that first comes into your view, okay? And make sure it's not a Nidoqueen," Black Jack said.

"(What are you talking about, Jack)?" Nidoking growled. "(It's not my fault those Nidoqueens like me)."

In nature, female pokemon would often go for the strongest male depending on their species. For instance, Black Jack's Nidoking, being one of the strongest Nidokings, had often attracted Nidoqueens and Nidorinas… much his fretfulness as he was so focused on his battles and exciting adventures that he, and Black Jack's other pokemon, became oblivious to this kind of nature.

"(Anyways)," Nidoking continued. "(Watch the master, little Umbreon, and learn)."

He turned his back towards them and quickly sprinted into the forest without making any noise. Despite his large figure, he was as quick as a Dodrio.

"Now, do you hear any noise that Nidoking is making?" Black Jack asked, trying to give Keith and Umbreon a lesson.

Before Keith could answer, a loud scream of a man was heard from a distance. "I've heard something now," Keith replied.

"That scream sounds familiar," Black Jack said as he quickly ran into the forest. "Come on, Keith."

The two humans and Umbreon ran down deep into the forest until they came across Nidoking holding his caught victim down. The victim was an old man wearing a lab coat with everyday clothing underneath; he also had grey hair and bushy eyebrows.

"Please don't hurt me," the old man cried in fear while Nidoking looked at him in puzzlement. "I never knew I was in your territory! I'm only here to do some exploring! I'll leave as soon as you get off me!"

"Prof. Oak?" Black Jack said in surprise, and then he changed his expression into a small frown as he rolled his eyes when he looked at what Nidoking was doing. "C'mon, Nidoking, get off him. He's not a Nidoqueen."

"(Oh, ha ha! Very funny)," Nidoking growled, sounding sarcastic as he helped Prof. Oak to his feet.

"What are you doing here?" Black Jack asked.

"I arrived to the pokemon center in Lilycove City late last night, along with Gary and Tracey," Prof. Oak replied. "Perhaps you remember them?"

"Yep, Gary's your grandson and scientist and Tracey's your assistant," Black Jack replied. "I wasn't there last night, been over at the local tavern while the kids were sleeping. Maybe they'll bump into each other today."

"I think so too," Prof. Oak replied and then he noticed Keith standing next to Black Jack. "Oh, and who might you be?"

"My name is Keith Marsden, Prof. Oak. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Keith replied offering to shake his hand.

"Likewise," Prof. Oak replied as he kindly accepted his offer.

"We can talk while we get back to the pokemon center," Black Jack said as he returned his Nidoking. "The other cubs will be waking up soon."


As they walked through the forest, Black Jack and Prof. Oak were having a conversation while Keith and Umbreon looked around as though they were exploring. "So, Mr. Black Jack," Prof. Oak said. "What's been going on with you since we last met? It's been about three to four years since we last met, correct?"

"True," Black Jack said. "I went and joined Alice on her pokemon journey. While I was teaching her about pokemon and life, she was doing the best she can to be the best. She became a quarter finalist in the Johto League and a semi-finalist in the Kanto league. I also had my fair share of battling… and now, here we are."

"Quite impressive, Black Jack. With those titles, your teachings and her talent, I'm sure she'll become a pokemon master in no time."

"Thanks. So, what brings you here?"

"I recently received an e-mail from one of my former students Prof. Hale. He recently discovered an ancient writing carved in stone in a cave from one of the Sevii Islands and sent me a few images of them; some of them had carvings of some rare pokemon, like Mew. I checked those writings when I looked through my notes and books but they don't seem to match or make any sense. Therefore, I thought that I should go there and do some research there."

"Interesting. Inviting anyone?"

"Why yes. I invited others that you're quite familiar with but I shan't tell you yet for security reasons. There's one more professor coming along as well, but I don't think you met him before."

"Try me."

"His name is Prof. Kesner."

"Never heard of him."

"That's hardly surprising. You see, not many of us hear much from him because he spends most of his time giving his daughter, Christie, some home education while his does research outside his teaching hours."

"Schools far away from their home I take it?"

"No, Black Jack. It's a sad story. One night, long time ago, his family was involved in a car accident. His wife never survived it and his daughter's legs suffered an injury so bad that she could no longer walk."

"Man, that's bad," Black Jack said, feeling the sadness of that story.

"Since then, Prof. Kesner feared for his daughter's health and life and decided to take care of her from that day forward. He knew that he needed a backup plan so he caught a Gastly, which is now a Gengar, and they both trained him to protect her from danger."

"So how old is the daughter?"

"I'm not sure, it's been a long time since I last met them. My guess is that she's fourteen years old. She is qualified to take an examination to become a pokemon trainer but I don't think she intends to because of her disability."

"[I'm thinking otherwise, Oak]," Black Jack thought to himself in suspicion.


Meanwhile, at the poekmon center cafeteria, a number of trainers and visitors were having their breakfast. Alice, Cassandra, Wally, and their pokemon finished their breakfast and talked about Alice's contest performance and the event with Team Ocean while Jerry continued guzzling on a huge number of pancakes.

"…And for the first time, Jerry and Keith were getting along," Alice said positively. "Isn't that right, Jerry?"

"Not now, Alice, I'm eating pancakes here," Jerry said back as he continued scoffing up the pancakes. Alice gave him a dull look in response.

"Didn't he suffer from a stomach ache the other day?" Wally asked.

"Yeah," Alice replied. "But somehow he recovered very quickly."

"Ah… that was good," Jerry said breathlessly as he tossed his fork down on the plate. "I'm stuffed like a Snorlax."

"He'll be sleeping like one next," Cassandra whispered to Wally, making him let out a small chuckle.

"Is that you, Alice Hummingburg?" said a young man's voice.

Everyone turned to his attention. He had black short hair with a red headband around his forehead. He also had a white lab coat over his green-buttoned shirt and jeans, along with his red and white trainers.

Alongside him was another young man with spiky brown hair and a face that a lot of girls would fall in love with. He, too, was also a lab coat over his blue-buttoned shirt, black trousers and brown shoes. Alice gasped with surprise when she recognised them both. "Tracey and Gary!" she said.

"Hi, Alice," Tracey and Gary said in unison.

"How are things?" Tracey continued.

"Everything's going great," Alice replied as she stood up from her seat. "Let me introduce you to everyone. You two remember Cassandra and Wally?" she asked as she pointed to the young teens while they shook hands with them. Then, a loud snoring was heard and came from Jerry who was sleeping in his chair after eating a huge breakfast. "That's Jerry," she finished nervously with anime sweat drop appeared on her forehead. "He's a pokemon trainer."

She then introduced the pokemon to them and Tracey took out his small notepad and quickly drew pictures of each of them. Anytime he saw a pokemon with fascinating features, he would always draw sketches of them.

"So, Alice," Gary said while Tracey drew sketches the pokemon. "How's your uncle?"

"He's fine. He left a note in my room this morning saying that he's out training with Keith. He's also a friend of mine."

"So what kind of damages has Black Jack been doing?" Gary asked jokingly.

Alice showed a slightly serious face and motioned him to come closer so they could talk privately. They spoke about their recent encounters with Team Ocean and should be kept a secret between them for now.

"So, what brings you here?" Cassandra asked Tracey.

"Well, Prof. Oak is here and…" Tracey said before he was interrupted.

"What? The Prof. Oak?" Wally said surprised.

"Wally, you met him before," Cassandra said, sounding slightly dull.

"I know but still he's still the most popular guy around here."

"Anyway," Tracey continued. "He's here in Lilycove city and tomorrow we'll be taking a boat to the Seveii Islands. One of Prof. Oak's former students, Prof. Hale discovered some ancient drawings that we couldn't understand so we decided to go take a look ourselves."

"Can we come and help?" Cassandra asked. "I am on holiday from my high school and Wally's still travelling."

"I'm sure the professor will allow it," Tracey said.

"Hey, kids," a familiar man's voice said, getting everyone's attention. "What's going on?

"Hey, guys," the others said as they saw Black Jack, Keith, Umbreon and Prof. Oak coming into the cafeteria.

"Hey, Professor," Tracey said. "I was just telling Cassandra and Wally about our upcoming project. They were wondering if they could come."

"Why, of course," Oak replied. "If anyone's interested they can come aboard."

"Hey, can we come, Prof. Oak?" Alice asked in a hopeful tone.

"Maybe you better ask your uncle."

"Can I, uncle?"

"Well… we can go to somewhere new and fresh here," Black Jack said thoughtfully. "Why not. I just hope they have good drinks and trainers there."

"Hello," said a nervous man's voice, getting their attention. As they turned their attention to him they saw a middle aged man in an old brown jacket over his white buttoned shirt and black tie. He also had short black hair, black trousers, brown shoes and a pair of glasses.

Behind him was a ghost type pokemon Gengar, who was pushing a wheelchair that had a young blond girl sitting on it. She had a short-sleeved buttoned shirt with a pink vest over it. She also had a tight pink skirt that reached down her knees, white socks and a pair of black shoes.

"Ah, Prof. Kesner and Christie," Oak said in slight surprise. "Good to see you. How are you?"

"Quite well, Prof. Oak," Kesner replied nervously. "I see you brought a couple of friends with you."

"Ah, yes. Let me introduce you to everyone," Prof. Oak said. He introduced everyone to him, including Jerry who was still sleeping. Kesner then introduced Christie, his daughter, and Gengar, who's nickname was Shakespeare because of his liking for the stories of his favourite poet.

Black Jack motioned for Christie to come over to them while Oak and Kesner discussed on their plans for the research and travelling. Slightly hesitant of her father, she moved her head towards Shakespeare and nodded and the Gengar pushed her wheelchair over to them.

"So, Christie," Alice said, starting a conversation. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a home student," Christie said. "You're all pokemon trainers, right?"

Everyone nodded, saying yes simultaneously but in their own words. She mentioned that she wanted to be a pokemon trainer but her paralysed legs made her unable to do so.

"Y'know," Black Jack said. "To me, it doesn't matter what you're suffering from. If you can just set your mind and heart to it then anything's possible. Believe me, I've been on the injury list myself."

Christie looked up at Black Jack as she intently heard what he said. She thought that in some ways, Black Jack made a point about being a pokemon trainer.

As the conversation continued, Kesner noticed his daughter talking with 'strangers', much to his discomfort.

"Something wrong, Prof. Kesner?" Oak asked.

"It's Christie," Kesner said worriedly. "Oak, you're the only person I still trust since my wife died. Tell me, do they look like strangers to you?"

"Of course not," Oak said. "I know how concerned you can get, my friend. But trust me, you're daughter's now in safe hands."

"And what about Black Jack? I heard some bad things about him."

"Yes, I know he can be a different person at times but he would never hurt a child."

"Perhaps we should continue to discuss our research in one of the spare rooms privately."

"Agreed," Oak said as he turned towards the young ones. "Listen, everyone," Oak said getting their attention. "Prof. Kesner, Gary and I have a few plans to discuss in the other room. Do any one of you have plans?"

"I got a motorbike to fix," Black Jack said.

"Since we're going to the Seveii Islands, then I'm thinking about getting a few things for my parents. They like to get souvenirs from different cities," she said. The others think they should also go shopping with her for more supplies.

They invited Christie to come with them. "I think not," Kesner replied. "I'm afraid that she has to remain here with Shakespeare."

"Why's that?" Black Jack asked.

"I… I want her to be safe," Kesner said nervously. "Besides, it's her first time in this city so she might get lost."

Black Jack looked over to Oak, wondering if he should reason with Kesner. Knowing what he wanted to do, he shook his head signalling a no.

"Tell you what, I think that she could do with a little sightseeing on the beach. It's not far from here and she could do with some company next to Shakespeare."

"Will she be in trouble?" Kesner asked, slightly hesitant.

"She won't be far away from us, she'll be fine. What could happen?"

Kesner gave this a long thought. "Very well, but who are you going to recommend?"

A familiar snore gave Black Jack a clue. He looked over to Jerry, who was still sleeping through every conversation that had just occurred after his breakfast. He walked over to him and slammed his hand on the table in front of him, on the table waking him up.

Jerry quickly moved his head around in shock. He then looked up at the frowning Black Jack, who was looking down on him. "I'm sorry," Black Jack said in a false apologetic way. "Did I wake you?"
-----------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Chapter 2

While everyone else were undertaking their activities for the day, Jerry undertook his by accompanying Christie, Dr. Kesner's disabled child, around the beach, along with Shakespeare, Christie's Gengar.

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream," Jerry sang in a goofy voice while he pushed the wheelchair with Christie sitting on it while Shakespeare walked beside them. "If you see a totodile, give him some double cream."

Christie let out a small chuckle as they got to the beach. "Hey, you like that one too," Jerry said happily. "Now, let me see if I can think of another one."

"Um… Jerry," Christie said. "I'm wondering if we can stop here for a while."

"Sure," Jerry replied as he stopped pushing the wheelchair. He walked next to Christie and sat down on the sandy beach, as did Shakespeare. Silence became between them as they looked at the beautiful waves of the sea moving in and out.

"Er, Jerry," Christie said, catching her new friend's attention. "What's it like being a trainer?"

"Well…" Jerry started as he laid his back on the sand. "For me, it's like a part of my dream come true. You get to walk around grassy places, you get to meet different kinds of pokemon, participate in many battles, make new discoveries, that kind of stuff.

"I also wanted to meet and be like other pokemon masters, Lance Dragonheart, Karen Darkshade, Wallace Seawave, Ash Ketchum and all that."

He let out a small sigh. "After four years of training, I was about to give up and with good reason that I never won a pokemon battle."

Christie and Shakespeare's eyes widened with shock when he said that. "Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have said that," he continued said noticeably. "That was until I met my boss, Black Jack. He's given me a new as a trainer and we've been training… a lot."

He sat up from his lying position and looked back at the sea waves with determined eyes. "Maybe one day," he continued. "Maybe one day I'll be a pokemon master like those guys… and the boss."

"Er… I don't want this to be uncomfortable but you didn't tell anyone else about that little secret, right?" Christie asked.

"Only Alice, the boss, and Keith," Jerry replied. "You won't tell anyone will ya?"

"I promise," Christie said in an assuring tone. She then turned her attention to the ghost-type pokemon. "And Shakespeare, can you not say anything too?"

"(Of course)," Shakespeare replied in his normal scratchy voice. "(If one cannot keep secrets that he bear in mind, he must find friends that he can trust in heart)."

"Don't worry, he likes to use long sentences," Christie said to Jerry. After spending a long time with her Gengar, she fully understood the language he spoke.

"Don't worry about that, I don't know what he's saying anyway," Jerry replied. "Anyone want some ice cream?"

Suddenly a huge splash from underneath the sea, surprising them as they let out huge gasps. After the big splash, a blue submarine occurred from the sea.

"Great, Team Ocean." Jerry moaned.


Meanwhile, outside the pokemon centre, Black Jack was busy attaching the sidecar to the motorcycle while his pokemon trained themselves by battling each other. "There, done," Black Jack said as he tossed a wrench aside and turned his attention to his pokemon. "Who wants to help me test drive?"

That caught everyone's attention; they were hesitant because they knew what Black Jack can be like with his prized vehicle. "Chan, how about you?" Black Jack said as he pointed to the fiery fighter Blaziken.

"(Never)," Chan said while moving his clawed paws in a negative way. "(If I was Mr. Ketchum's Pikachu, I'd rather be stuck inside a pokeball rather than sit on the vehicle)."

"Chan, you're the only guy who can fit in the sidecar. Alice and the others are busy."

Chan was still reluctant to get inside the sidecar, knowing what Black Jack was capable of. "(Chan)," Nidoking growled. "(When we were facing a bunch of Ursaring one time, what did you say when one of them slammed you like rag doll)?"

"(Ouchie)?" Chan replied, sounding as though he couldn't exactly remember.

"(No, you said nothing)," Ferliagatr growled. "(You just stood up and looked at him in the face, wanting give more and get more. You ought to sum up that same bravery you had there and get your downed butt in that sidecar)."

Chan let out a small breath out of his beak. "(Well, we did lose teeth here and there)," he said, trying to sound positive while giving the idea some thought. "(I'll give it one more try)."

He walked over to sidecar and leapt into it while Black Jack sat in his respective seat and started up his vehicle engine making Chan slightly nervous. As Black Jack accelerated the bike, the vehicle sped like a speeding bullet, much to the shock of the pokemon, especially Chan.


Back at the beach, Jerry and his friends was seeing the submarine emerging from the water. A hatch opened from the top of the submarine and two figures climbed out of it and stood in front of it. One was a woman with blond that reached down to her shoulder blades and the other was a man with short green hair, both were wearing striped t-shirts underneath their jean jackets, a pair of jeans and a pair of seviper-quilted boots each.

"Prepare for deep trouble," the woman said.

"Make it an impact of a double," the man said.

"To drown those who oppose against us."

"To wash out those who deny us."

"To increase the depth of the sea."

"To make sure that it's meant to be."

"Genghis."

"Kahn."

"Team Ocean, sailing the seven seas all day and night."

"Surrender to us now or you'll definitely lose this fight."

"That rhyming kinda sounds familiar," Jerry said suspiciously as he placed finger on his chin. "Are you guys originally from some jokers club, or was it some other guys?"

"Oh, nice one," Genghis said smugly. "Did Black Jack teach you that joke like the other things he taught you?"

Jerry gnarled his teeth. "In case you haven't noticed, kid," Kahn said in a scratchy voice. "We've been following you around since you put up a fight in that Pokemon contest event and we figured that you might be the weakest trainer of the group."

"So that's your game, pick on the weak" Jerry said. "That's the coward's way out. What do you want with me anyway?"

"As bait for Black Jack. He has a soft spot for kids like you," Kahn said. "And we'll be taking the girl along with us."

Jerry's eyes widened with surprise and annoyance. "Hey, leave the girl out of this!" he yelled. "If it's me you want, you're gonna have to battle me first!"

"Sorry, kid. But one of our orders is to not allow any witnesses to escape," Genghis said as she took out her pokeball off her belt. "Go! Shellshock!" she yelled as she tossed it out, which released a strange red energy that materialised into a large purple shell with spikes on various parts of it. It opened revealing a small black head with a sinister looking face.

"Go! Swashbuckler!" Kahn instructed as he tossed his pokeball, releasing a pokemon of his own. This time it was a blue mud fish pokemon that had a flat tail, a white stomach and chest and orange fins on each cheek.

"Huh, a Swarmpert," Jerry said. "To make things fair, I'm gonna choose two of mine."

He picked out two of his pokeballs off his belt. "Zapster! Jacky! Go get'm!" he yelled as he tossed them out, releasing the Kicking pokemon and a small yellow mouse with a red spot on each cheek. The Hitmonlee stood in his fighting stance and the Pikachu stood confidently with his forelegs crossed.

Jerry then turned towards Christie and Shakespeare. "Shakespeare, get Christie outta here," he said. "I'll hold them off." Shakespeare nodded, knowing the dangers that could happen if they remained on the beach.

Shakespeare quickly grabbed the handles of the wheelchair while Christie remained seated and ran away while pushing the wheelchair. Christie looked back to Jerry with worried eyes.

"Swashbuckler!" Kahn yelled. "Get the girl!"

The large Swarmpert ran on all fours and started to give chase on Christie and Shakespeare. Sensing what Swashbuckler was trying to do, he quickly gave an order. "Zapster! Use your Thundershock to stop that Swarmpert!" he yelled.

The Pikachu leapt into the air and powered his electrical as his red cheeks began to spark. He then let out a huge battle cry as he released a streak of lightning from his body aiming for the mud fish pokemon, who saw the attack and instinctively jumped back at the last second.

"My two buddies may be a couple of easy pickings for you," Jerry said. "But first you gotta get pass me!"

"It'll be our pleasure," Genghis replied arrogantly. "Since you are at a disadvantage, we'll let out have the first move."

"Ha! Pleasure's all mine," Jerry said. "Zapster! Use your Thunderbolt on Swrampert! Jacky! Hi Jump Rolling Kick on that Cloyster!"

His two pokemon attempted to attack their enemies simultaneously as they ran towards them and leapt into the air. Jacky leapt towards the shell pokemon with his trademark kick while the Pikachu let out his battle cry while shooting out another streak of lightning out his body.


Shakespeare ran a distance away while pushing the wheelchair with Christie on it. "Shakespeare, hold on a second," she said loudly, catching the Gengar's attention.

"(What is it, Christie)?" Shakespeare asked, wanting to know.

Christie was silent, she was deeply concerned for Jerry, yet she was also concerned about her father worrying about her. He was always protective of her and strict with her at the same time.

"I want to help him," Christie said. "But I can't do this without your help."

Shock appeared on Shakespeare's face. "(But child)," he replied. "(Your father despises you getting into danger… you know what he's like, even if it's a small scratch)."

"That's the risk I'm willing to take, Shakespeare. We now know about Jerry's inability of winning, he may not stand a chance against them."

"(I don't have much experience in battling either. All I can do is scare others with my hypnosis and others)."

"And that's what saved me and my dad. Remember the times when we first met and you scared that burglar away?"

-Flashback-

Christie, when she was just a little child, was sleeping in a small comfortable bed. The room was pitch-black. Outside her bedroom window, a shady character wearing rugged clothing carefully opened it with a break-in device.

He was able to fit in through the window. He took out a torch and switched it on, shooting out a stream of light. He moved it around the room until he inadvertently aimed it at Christie's face. She woke up and stirred because of the light.

When she opened her eyes, she saw him holding a knife. She shook with fear, ready to scream for help. "Don't make a sound," he warned quietly. "Or I'll cut you up so bad that you wish I didn't."

"Gastly…" a ghostly voice said. The burglar turned around, moving the torch towards the voice's direction. No one was there. He continued moving his torch around to catch someone who made that voice until he saw a small ball of gas, with devilish looking eyes and vampire-like mouth.

"Don't come near me, I got a knife," the thief warned fearfully. Christie was quite of the creature as well.

Despite his warning, the ball of gas slowly hovered towards, still menacingly looking at him. Out of instinct, the thief went to stab the gas but it went right through, much to his shock. Gastly responded by licking him in the face, making him shiver with completely awkwardness.

"GA-A-A-AS!" the creature yelled, making the thief scream in fright and jump out of the window. A loud thud was heard from below and Christie got out of her bed and ran towards the window, hoping that he wasn't hurt badly despite the threat he made.

"Ow! My leg!" the thief yelled in pain. "I think it's broken! I don't think I can…oh, a penny!" he continued, ending his painful yelling with a slight surprise in his tone when he found that small coin.

-End Flashback-

Shakespeare indeed remembered. Ever since that moment, he and Christie became best friends and protected from every danger that occurred to her, thus getting stronger with his scaring and hypnotic skills.

"I know we can do this, Shakespeare," Christie said in an assuring manner. "We would be able to say that we helped Jerry beat those bad guys and dad won't even worry anymore."

"(I'm not sure about this)," the Gengar said hesitantly.

"Please…" Christie pleaded.

Shakespeare looked back, not knowing what to do…


Meanwhile, while they were talking, both Zapster and Jacky were aiming their attacks against their opponents.

"Swashbuckler, stand your ground," Kahn said confidently.

"Shellshock, withdraw," Genghis instructed.

Jacky attempted to slam his leg on top Cloyster but the Water type pokemon quickly closed his shell, blocking the Hitmonlee's attack when he slammed his foot right on the hard-as-diamond shell and hurting himself in the process as he hopped away holding his hurt anatomy.

Meanwhile, Zapster's lightning attack was aiming for Swashbuckler, who was standing confidently despite the Pikachu's strong attack coming towards him. The move connected as the streak of electricity surrounded his entire body. After the attack evaporated the Swarmpert stood unfazed, much to Jerry's and Zapster's shock.

"Surprise, surprise, blondie," Kahn said. "Now, Swashbuckler! Mud Shot attack!"

Swashbuckler ran towards the little rodent while his fist glowed vigorously, picking up some sand with his paws and spraying it with his water gun out of his mouth; he then attempted to throw it at the opposition. "Dodge it, Zapster!" Jerry yelled.

Zapster obeyed as he barely dodged Swashbuckler's attack, making the small wet sand splat on the ground instead. Yet, Kahn still had a confident look on his face. "Swashbuckler! Slam Attack!" he instructed.

Swarmpert, with his long forelegs, quickly grabbed him and slammed him on the sandy ground. He then continued to push his face down in order to suffocate him. "Zapster's in trouble!" Jerry said. He turned towards his Hitmonlee who was still hoping on one leg while holding his hurt foot. "Jacky! Help Zapster with your tackle attack!"

Jacky quickly hopped on his one leg and slammed his body next to the Swarmpert's, knocking him down. He then helped his partner but he shoved him away and angrily looked at Jerry. "Hey! It wasn't me that was shoving your face in there!" Jerry said, realising what his Pikachu was going to do.

"PIKACHU!" the rodent yelled as he shot out a huge spark of lightning, shocking his trainer. When the attack stopped, Jerry fell to the floor.

His four enemies witnessed this and let out some huge laughs. "Not funny!" Jerry yelled as he quickly sat back up. "Zapster! Use your Thundershock!"

Zapster, still angry at his trainer, let out another streak of lightning at him again. "Not on me!" Jerry cried while getting electrocuted before falling down again. "Jacky," he said, with his back on the ground, loudly yet weakly while pointing at Swashbuckler. "High… Jump… Kick…"

The kicking pokemon towards the water/ground type pokemon and quickly hopped towards him, aiming a kick to the face. "Swashbuckler," Kahn yelled. "Dodge it and slam your Dynamic Punch on that rat!"

"Shellshock, tackle that Hitmonlee!" Genghis yelled.

The Swarmpert ran towards Jacky and dodged his High Jump Kick attack while his fist glowed vigorously and slammed it on the back of the head of Zapster, knocking him unconscious and sending him flying, until he fell next to Jerry while the shell pokemon leapt and knocked Jacky down. Knowing what happened, Jerry took out a pokeball off his belt and zapped his Pikachu back inside. "You got a serious anger management problem," Jerry said groggily. "I ought to talk to the boss about you."

He sat slowly sat back up, shaking the dizziness off his head and looked back at the battlefield. He and his Hitmonlee were now at the disadvantage against Team Ocean pair and their pokemon. Despite the numbers' game, Jerry and Hitmonlee never planned on giving up and surrendering themselves as Jacky shook the pain off his foot and stood in his fighting stance.

"You still want to go at it, pretty boy?" Genghis said smugly.

"Or aren't you going to be a good little doggy and come to daddy?" Kahn mocked.

"I still want to go at it, Genghis and Kang," Jerry said, mocking them back.

"It's Kahn!" Kahn said angrily. "Didn't you hear our introduction earlier!?"

"Jerry!" a girl yelled, catching everyone's attention. They saw Christie and Shakespeare running back on the battle scene.

"Christie!" Jerry said in surprise. "I thought I said for you to get outta here!"

"Did you actually think we'd leave you here?" Christie said.

"Well, well, well," Genghis said arrogantly. "Here's she comes to save the day."

"And we'll be wrecking yours, fish balls!" Jerry yelled back. "Jacky! Rolling Kick!"


While they battled, Black Jack rode his motorcycle towards the beach and made an immediate stop with the wide-eyed Blaziken in the sidecar. "Enjoyed the ride?" Black Jack asked.

"(So fast)," Chan said giddily. "(Just… so… fast)."

A huge thud sound caught their attention as they turned towards it. They saw Jerry, Christie and their pokemon battling against the opposition. "(Shall we help them)?" Chan asked when he saw Jacky blocking Swarmpert's Dynamic Punch attack.

"As much as I want to crack some skulls today, I want to see what happens in this," Black Jack said. "What I'm missing right now is a hot dog and a beer but forget it."

With that said, they continued watching the battle scene. Despite that they were close by, the young ones were too busy battling to notice.


"Shakespeare! Use your Confuse Ray!" Christie yelled as she pointed at Shellshock.

The eyes of the Gengar glowed vigorously purple as he shot a purple beam out of the palms of his paws towards the water/ice pokemon. "Shellshock! Protect yourself!" Genghis yelled. Her shell pokemon quickly closed his shell, avoiding getting hit from the attack.

Jerry and Christie looked at each other and nodded as though they thought up the same plan. "Shakespeare! Use your Shadow Ball!" Christie instructed.

The Gengar moved his paws in front of him and grew a black energy ball in between until it was big enough to cause a lot of damage. He then threw fireball towards the shell pokemon. "Waste of energy," Genghis said arrogantly. "Shellshock! Protect!"

The Cloyster quickly closed his shell again, protecting himself from any attack.

"Aim your Shadow Ball at Swarmpert!" Christie yelled.

"What!?" Genghis yelled in shock as Shakespeare motioned his paws into another direction while using his psychic abilities to quickly the dark energy ball, which was millimetre's away from hitting the water/ice type pokemon, into another direction.

On another side of the battle scene, Hitmonlee ran towards and jumped to perform a horizontal spin kick towards Swashbuckler's head but missed as the Swarmpert ducked down. "Swashbuckler! Use your Dynamic Punch again!"

Swarmpert, from his ducking position, powered his fist, glowing it vigorously and went for an uppercut but barely missed as Jacky moved slightly backwards upon hearing Jerry's command to dodge it, much to Kahn's shock. It was then that the Shadow Ball that Shakespeare created collided into the Swarmpert, creating an explosion on impact. "No way!" Kahn yelled.

"Now's your chance, Jacky!" Jerry yelled. "Use your Mega Kick!"

Jacky quickly jumped onto his opponent's shoulder and slammed his foot right in Sawrmpert's face with all his might to knock him down flat on his back. "This is not right!" Kahn yelled in disbelief.

"Don't look at me, Kain!" Genghis yelled. "It's not my fault!"

"The name is Khan!" Khan yelled, frustrated.

"Do it now, Jacky!" Jacky yelled. "Use your Dizzy Punch!"

"Dizzy Punch?" Christie asked in a puzzled way. "I thought only Kangaskahn can do that?"

"Yeah, but not this way," Jerry said with a happy and confident look on his face. "Take a look here!"

The Hitmonlee stood near the Swarmpert's head and bent down, waving his three-fingered paw between his face and his opponent's. "(You can't see me!)" He yelled before dropping his clenched fist onto his head. Swarmpert quickly stood up after feeling the force and pain of that punch, walking around in a dizzy fashion. "C'mon, Swashbuckler! Snap out of it!" Kahn yelled desperately.

"You got the everything to beat me except guts and heart!" Jerry yelled. "Okay, Jacky! While he's being dizzy, Body Slam attack!"

Jacky quickly ducked down and hoisted up the heavier and bigger Swarmpert, placing his front on top of his shoulders, shocking the members of Team Ocean. "This cannot be!" Kahn yelled as the Hitmonlee slammed his opponent's back onto the sandy ground, causing a small earthquake and knocking him unconscious because of the pain he suffered from that attack.

"As the ref would say, 'Swashbuckler's unable to battle'," Jerry said confidently.

"This can't be happening!" Kahn yelled in disbelief as he pressed his hands on each side of his, looking at his defeated Swarmpert. "This is not fair!"

"Life's not fair!" Jerry yelled. "I've lost a lot battles and now you're gonna feel the same!"

After seeing what happened, Shellshock cowardly closed his shell in order to protect himself from any danger. "C'mon, Shellshock!" Genghis yelled, annoyed. "Come out of your shell and fight!"

"Cloyster! Cloyster!" Shellshock hissed negatively as he shook from side to die, signalling a 'no'.

Jacky and Shakespeare and their trainers looked at the Cloyster with puzzled looks, noticing that he was not faking his fear after seeing what happened. "(Ah-ha)!" the Hitmonlee said as he held his finger up. He walked over to him and gave his shell some light knocks as though he was knocking on the door. "(Hey, buddy)," he said in a positive, happy tone. "(If you open up, I'll give you a nice and special surprise)."

"(Really? What?)" Shellshock hissed as he opened up, revealing his face and receiving a devastating kick from Hitmonlee.

"(That)," the Hitmonlee replied after knocking out his opponent and jumping back to his trainer.

"I can't believe he actually fell for that," Jerry said, still with a smirk on his face.

"Darn it all!" Genghis as she and her partner returned their pokemon to their pokeballs. "We're going to have to use plan B!"

Kahn quickly jumped back into the submarine and climbed back up holding a cannon on his shoulder. "You brats can either come with us or get in the net."

"That's not fair," Christie yelled. "Are you saying that we lost either way?"

Shakespeare ran towards the opposition and his eyes glowed purple and slowly motioned his paws in a circular motion. The Team Ocean partners curiously looked down on him and slowly became dizzy while the Gengar chanted his own name numerous times.

"We like living in the submarine," they said in a hypnotised manner, much to curiosity of the young ones.

"Gengar, gengar, gengar," Shakespeare chanted quietly as he continued to hypnotise Genghis and Kahn.

"We're going to ride back to our group," they said in unison, still being hypnotised. "And Backstreet Boys was the best boy band since New Kids on the Block."

They slowly went back into the submarine and closed the top of it and drove back into the ocean. "Hey!" Jerry yelled. "Come back any time, suckers!"

After Team Ocean was gone, both Jerry and Christie expressed their joy battling side by side with each other. "Jerry, you and Jacky are fantastic!" Christie exclaimed. "I liked the way Jacky kicked Swarmpert's head!"

"Heh! That was nothing compared to you guiding that Shadow Ball attack and into that mud fish!" Jerry exclaimed positively. "If it wasn't for you, I..."


As they continued talking, Black Jack and Chan saw this as the time to get back to the pokemon centre. "Impressive," Black Jack said. "You agree with me?"

"(Of course)," Chan replied. "(If they continue to improve, we may have another equal)."

"Most unlikely," Black Jack said as he started up his motorbike, driving away from the scene.


That night at the pokemon centre, everyone came back from their day's activities and had dinner in the cafeteria and chatted about what they did during that day. "So, Christie," Prof. Kesner said. "How was your day?"

Before she could answer, Black Jack got up from his seat and took his bottle of beer with him. "I off to get some air," he said, predicting what was coming, much to everyone's curiosity.

Christie quickly placed her knife and fork on the table. "I had such a blast!" she said excitedly, unable to contain it. "Jerry and I were having a pokemon battle with a couple of bullies and..."

She continued on talking about her day like it was the best day ever, along with Jerry who kept on complimenting her battling skills and her pokemon. "[How does Black Jack do this]?" Prof. Oak thought to himself, remembering the moment when Black Jack left the table. He then noticed his colleague, Prof. Kesner, leaving the table.

"I'm off to the bathroom," Prof. Kesner said.

"I'll join you," Prof. Oak said as he also got up from his seat, leaving the young ones to continue listening to the battle scene that Jerry and Christie were describing.


They both entered the men's bathroom and Kesner started to wash his hands as did Prof. Oak. "So, Lenny," Prof. Oak said. "Any thoughts about her adventure?"

"I'm not sure, Samuel," Kesner said, sounding slightly guilty. "You know how overprotective I am about my daughter. Yet, I feel sad and guilty that she doesn't get such exciting and memorable moments that I had when I was her age. After seeing that smile on her face, it made me happy. Maybe she got this joy for adventures from me... but still..."

He let out a small sigh, not knowing what to do. "What should I do, Samuel?" he asked.

Oak placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Maybe you ought to give her a chance," he said. "With Shakespeare's psychic skills, her knowledge and her courage, she will always do the best she can."

"We both know very well that the world is still a very dangerous place... especially those 'bullies' that she was talking about. If you could send me a Pokemon Trainer application form I will give this time to think and maybe I'll send it back to you, granting that she may become a pokemn trainer."

He walked out of the bathroom, leaving Oak behind drying his hands with a tissue cloth. "I hope you will, my friend. I hope you will."


Outside of the pokemon centre, Black Jack and his pokemon were a distance away from the building, relaxing against a tree. They were thinking numerous thoughts about how a young, helpless, but not hopeless, child, to be able to defeat a couple of opponents. "(In my opinion)," Tyranitar growled. "(I think that she and Shakespeare have more guts than all of us put together)."

With that, everyone agreed.


Next episode: Black Jack, his 'cubs' and associates travel to the Seveii Islands and Black Jack talks about old times to a familiar face.
------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Episode 5: Remembering

Chapter 1

"Well, boss," Jerry said as he and his friends stood at the port. "It looks like we're gonna have a nice day for it."

He was correct. It was a nice sunny day for a cruise ship trip to one of the Seveii Islands, and news had it that wasn't going to rain for a day or so, which it would take for the ship to arrive to that location. Each passenger was carrying their own backpacks and luggage.

Everyone walked up onto the ramp and on board the ship where they were welcomed by a medium built, bearded old man in a captain's uniform. "Welcome, Prof. Oak," he said politely with a smile on his face. "On behalf of Prof. Hale, I hope that you and your friends enjoy the cruise."

"You got a tavern here?" Black Jack asked.

"Of course, sir," the captain replied, giving him the directions of how to get there.

"It's eleven in the morning, Black Jack," Oak said, surprised that his companion wanted to have an alcoholic drink early in the day. "Can't you have them later?"

"I'm going to walk around for a while. You cubs do whatever you want," Black Jack said, ignoring what Oak said while walking away. "Just don't get in trouble."

"By the way, captain," Prof. Oak said, deciding. "Has my other guests arrived yet?"

"Why yes, sir," the captain said. "Everyone is on board."

"Alice, you don't seem to be worried by this," Prof. Kesner said, sounding worried for Black Jack's niece.

"Oh, don't worry," Alice replied, with assurance in her tone. "He likes to take a walk around on his own every now and again."

"What about his drinking habits?"

"He does drink a lot but not once has he got drunk so I have no worries about that."

Prof. Kesner's eyes widened with shock. "I guess he has this body system that is immune to alcohol," he said.


Meanwhile in one of the locations, Black Jack slowly walked through corridors, suspicious of what might occur during this cruise trip. The floor was made from polished wood and there were numerous doors that lead to different guest rooms. While he strolled, he spotted a small yellow rodent running across the halls and sensed a presence familiar to him but he didn't care.


Back to Alice and friends, they too were taking a little stroll around the ship. Oak and Kesner were not with them as they decided to look for their rooms and talk about their past discoveries. Soon, Jerry came to a sudden halt and sniffed out a scent, much to his friends' curiosity.

"What is it, Jerry?" Cassandra asked.

Jerry walked into another direction while the others followed. They soon came into a room there were numerous tables and chairs were placed neatly, people in uniforms doing their jobs and food was being served to other guests. It was the cafeteria.

"You had us follow you around for that?" Christie asked. "You just had breakfast, Jerry,"

Jerry looked back them with a dull look on his face as a growling noise occurred from his stomach. That was his response.

"You can if want to," Alice said, letting out a sigh. "Just don't get yourself a stomach ache like last time."

"And don't worry us again unless it's important, man," Keith said with a frown as he and his other friends walked out.

"Hey, wait a sec," Jerry called. "Where will I find you guys when I finish my snack?"

"I spotted a sign that said 'battling hall' while we were following you," Keith said. "Suppose we could meet up there?"

"Where was that?" Jerry asked scratching his head.

"We just…" Wally started, and then he remembered that Jerry was only following his nose while running towards. "It's just down that hall and then to your left," he answered while showing him the directions.

"Great," Jerry said as his stomach growled even more. "Patience, my pet," he said evilly as he gently patted his hand on his gut while walking to the counter.

As he walked away, everyone else walked out of the cafeteria to make their way to the battling hall.


Meanwhile, Black Jack visited the tavern. Numerous tables and chair were placed in different locations of the room and a number of drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic, were behind the counter. A man in a waiter's uniform, a chubby face and a flat top haircut, quickly rose up from behind the counter. Despite the man's quick appearance, Black Jack wasn't at least surprised as he walked over to the counter. "I'll have a beer," he said as he tossed a dollar note on it.

"Right away, sir," the man said as he ducked down and picked up a bottle of his favourite beverage.

Black Jack grabbed hold of the bottle and took the bottle cap off with his teeth and spat it out into a nearby bin. He took a swig of beer as he began to walk out, spotting the same rodent running into another direction. "Him again," he said.


Back at the cubs' location, they arrived at the battling hall where numerous trainers were battling each other. There were ten battle fields in the room with trainers were battling in single or tag team battles. One field in particular had a crowd of people and pokemon surrounding it, observing the match. Interested of what was going on, Alice and her friends walked over to that particular field.

As they arrived, they saw two trainers battling each other. One of them was more recognisable than the other, especially for Alice. He was about the same age as her was wearing a green t-shirt, white thick trousers, black trainers, a pair of glasses and had black short hair. He was battling with a huge white furry gorilla like pokemon, Slaking, who was resting on his side and scratching his belly, against another trainer who was battling with his with a smaller gorilla like creature, Primeape, who appeared to have a vain throbbing in his head.

"Okay, Primeape!" yelled one of the trainers. "Use your Mach Punch attack!"

The Primeape, with the speed of a shot out bullet, ran towards the lazy Slaking. "Slaking! Use your Endure!" the other trainer instructed.

The Slaking didn't appear to be moving despite his trainer's command as the angry pokemon slammed his fist right in his gut. To everyone's surprise, the Slaking wasn't even fazed despite receiving a strong fighting move delivered by his opponent.

"What the heck! That never happened before!" the Primeape's trainer yelled in disbelief.

"It happened now," the Slaking's trainer replied calmly. "My turn. Slaking! Seismic Toss!"

Slaking quickly stood up from his resting position and quickly grabbed his opponent's face with one paw and tossed him up into the air. "Primeape!" his trainer yelled. "Regain your balance! Land on your feet!"

Primeape responded as he somersaulted in mid-air and landed on his feet but lost his balance upon landing. The glasses wearing trainer saw his chance. "Now's your chance, Slaking! Body Slam attack!"

Slaking bored looking eyes became evil-like as he ran towards the angry pokemon and then leapt a great height into the air. As the Primeape got up, he looked to where his opponent was but he was no longer.

"Primeape!" his trainer yelled. "It's coming from above!"

The Primeape looked up and saw the falling giant coming down on him. His face was no longer showing any anger but shock and fear before getting crushed thunderously by the nearly three hundred pound Slaking.

Dusts began scattering around the field as the impact occured. After the dust cleared, Slaking slowly got off the unconscious Priemape's flattened body, no longer able to move. The audience was silent with awe.

"Ouch," one of them said finally.

"Looks like Primeape's unable to battle," the Slaking's trainer said as he zapped him back into his pokeball.

"Er... yeah," the Primeape's trainer replied nervously as he zapped back his. "Good match... er... bye."

He was about to leave but the better trainer called for him to stop. "Hey, don't leave," he said loudly. The opposition stopped, wanting to know what he wanted. The trainer with the spectacles walked over to him and offered to shake his hand. "Good match?" he asked.

The other trainer looked down on his hand and smiled as he shook his hand, responding that it was a good match. There were no bad or hard feelings between these trainers as the losing trainer walked away while the winning trainer looked on with a smile on his face. The winning trainer's name was Max Maple.

"Hey there, Max," Alice's voice called out to him, catching the winner's attention.

He turned towards the voice that he found familiar. "Hey, Alice," he said, recognising the girl walking towards him. "Long time, no see."

They both clasped hands in a welcoming fashion. "Hey, guys," Alice called to her friends while everyone else walked away, looking to watch over matches. "Come over here."

"Hey there, Max," Cassandra and Wally said in unison, their Gardevoirs also said 'hello' to him but in their own language. Alice then introduced Max to her other friends, Keith, Christie and Shakespeare.

"I've heard about you," Christie said. "You came close to winning the Hoenn and Johto League championship."

"Yeah," Max said as he placed his hand on the back of head, feeling slightly ashamed.

"There's nothing to feel bad about," Alice said. "I came close to winning a couple of championships myself. By the way, how's your sister doing?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Max replied as he pointed to the person behind her. Everyone turned to the direction that Max was pointing at and saw two figures coming towards them.

One was a girl, fifteen years old, had brown that was long on side of her head; she was wearing a red sleeveless jacket and miniskirt over her tight shorts, a green bandanna over head, black socks, red trainers and black and white training gloves. The other was quite taller, he was tanned skinned, had brown spiky hair and small eyes; he was wearing a green vest over his black and orange t-shirt, thick brown trousers and blue and white trainers. They were old friends of Alice's, May Maple and Brock.

"Hey, everyone," May said walking towards them. "How are thing?"

"Everything's fine," Alice said happily. "Boy, have we got a lot of catching up to do."

Before anyone could say another word, Jerry walked into the scene with his hand on his stomach. "Guys," he said catching everyone's attention. "You never guessed how many pancakes I ate in that cafeteria. I..."

He then looked at Alice and the others and realised that he interrupted their conversation. "Sorry about that, Alice. I..." he said before taking another look at Brock, Max and May. "Hey, you guys look familiar somehow," he said with his eyes narrowed.

"Brock, Max, May," Alice said, feeling slightly nervous. "This is Jerry."

"Hi," Jerry said, still deep thought as he shook each of their hands. After he shook May's hand, which was the third hand he shook, his eyes widened with shock as he finally remembered who they were. "I remember now! May's popular for her participation in pokemonn contests, Max's famous for competing in the last two pokemon leagues and Brock appeared on a cooking show to show how to bake a strawberry surprise cake for a Chikorita's birthday... and I just shook each and every one of your hands! This is so cool!" he continued excitedly, while his friends, old and new, looked on sheepishly. "I have a friend who is a celebrity and knows other celebrities!"

"Hold it down, Jerry. Hold it down," Keith said, placing his hand on his shoulder, trying to calm his friend.

"Wait a minute here," Jerry said, suddenly becoming slightly puzzled. "If you're here, Max, and if May's here, and Paris is somewhere in France… does that mean…?"


Meanwhile, Black Jack stood at the end on the ship, looking at the waves of the ocean while holding a bottle of beer in hand. As he drank another gulp he felt a familiar presence and some footsteps coming towards him yet he did not turn around.

"Pika!" squeaked a small voice, catching Black Jack's attention. He looked down and saw a small yellow mouse with a red circle marking on each cheek.

"Critter," Black Jack replied back.

He turned to his other direction and saw a young man, who was a foot shorter, standing next to him. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, red and white trainers, a black t-shirt underneath his white jacket with black T on the back and fingerless black glove on each hand. He had small zigzag markings underneath each eye on his face that a lot and scruffy hair that reached down to his shoulder blades.

Five years ago, Black Jack met this young man for the very first time at a Pokemon League in Hoenn. When they first battled, they fought hard and valiantly against each other and they had immediate respect for each other despite Black Jack's violent nature.

They were then put into a situation where they had to face a great enemy who captured Black Jack's family and some really rare pokemon, like Suicune and Zapdos. After fighting a long and hard battle, they managed to gain a victory against one of the most unforgiving opponents they ever faced.

Six months later, they teamed up to take down a criminal organisation in Oore, who mistreated pokemon and used them as biological weapons. Their toughest battle was against six of the strongest, and psychotic, pokemon who would use any means of violence to beat them. Despite that that too was a hard battle for them, and their associates, defeating those two pokemon trainers proved to be futile since Black Jack had a violent nature and this young man had a courageous heart.

This young man was the trainer that Black Jack respected the most.

Ash Ketchum, now twenty years of age, is here. "So," he said. "How's life going?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
More coming! Reviews please!

 

[Brian Powell]

Chapter 2

It was half-an-hour after Black Jack and Ash met up after five years of going their separate ways. During that time they had been talking about old times while watching the pokemon they released to get some fresh air.

Along with Black Jack's pokemon and Pikachu, Ash released his ice-ball like creature that had horns on each side of his head called a Glalie, a large gecko pokemon called Sceptile, an armoured elephant creature known as Donphan, a large red, white and black bird pokemon Swellow, and a small blue crocodile Totodile.

While others were playing tag, Sceptile and Chan were looking at the waves of the sea, Salamence and Metagross were taking a nap under the bright sun, and Totodile and Feraligatr were taking a nice swim close to the ship.

"Remember in the Orre region when Brock asked officer Jenny if she wanted to come along and get some doughnuts?" Black Jack asked showing a small smile.

Ash let out a huge laugh, remembering that particular moment. "Yeah," Ash said. "Misty could've gave him a knuckle sandwich there."

After Ash stopped laughing to let out a small sigh, attempting to breath in a normal way. "So what was Alice's toughest gym battle?" Ash asked as the conversation continued.

"I don't often do this… but I got to say that Waterflower was her toughest battle," Black Jack said.

"You mean Misty?" Ash asked with a slight surprise in his voice. When he was at a young age, he and Misty had a great bond of friendship during their pokemon journey… maybe even more than that. When she had to depart for her hometown Cerulean City he felt as though as his heart became broken because of everything they had been through.

It was a year later that she returned back to his life to see him compete in the Hoenn League against Black Jack. After a series of events happened afterwards, Ash and Misty spoke and Ash confessed his love to her. They had been together as a couple since despite that they were far away from each other.

"Yep," Black Jack continued. "She and I also had one heck of a battle. I can remember it like it was yesterday…"

-Flashback-

It was two years ago when Black Jack and Alice were travelling in the Kanto region in an attempt to compete in the Pokemon League. In order to compete in the event, Alice would have to defeat eight gym leaders of Kanto, one of them was Misty Waterflower, one of Black Jack's old associates, the love of Ash's life and leader of the Cerulean City Gym.

They were driving towards a dome shaped building with a gigantic seal Dewgong statue at the front. This was the Cerulean City gym, where Alice would challenge her for a Cascade badge to show that she did beat her.

As they entered the gym, they looked around to see if anyone's there to greet them. Unfortunately, there wasn't. They heard some loud cheering coming from the corridors and walked towards them. Some time after following the joyous applauds they walked into an entrance door and came across a large hall containing a large number of people sitting on the spectators' benches on each side of the hall and a large swimming being used by three women in bathing suits and various water pokemon such white seal pokemon Dewgong as they danced like a synchronising swimming team. They appeared to be finishing off their performance as they rose above the surface of the pool while balancing on top of each Dewgongs' nose.

"I think we got the wrong place, uncle," Alice said as she looked on with a puzzled look on her face.

"No, I know this place," Black Jack said looking around. "Waterflower must be around here somewhere."

"Oh… my… Bl-Black Jack!" a man behind them stuttered nervously yet excitedly. He was wearing some everyday clothing.

Black Jack's eyes widened as he had a feeling that a fan like that man would be asking him for his autograph. He always hated being famous. He quickly turned around and vertically pressed his index finger on his lips signalling the young man to be quiet. "Shush, kid," he whispered. "Have you seen the gym leader here?"

"I can't believe it!" yelled another fan much to Black Jack's dismay. This time it was a woman wearing a yellow t-shirt, blue skirt, and brown sandals. She also had brown shoulder length hair and was walking into the entranceway.

Soon, more and more people were looking into Black Jack's direction, no longer giving any attention to the swimming team's performance. "Great," Black Jack said in a down tone as the crowd started chanting his name. "What am I to do now?"

"Er… sign a bunch of autographs?" Alice replied sheepishly as he looked towards the fans.

"What's going on here?" a young girl asked, catching their attention. She was wearing a yellow, sleeveless t-shirt with a hood at the back, a pair of blue shorts, white socks and red shoes. She had ginger hair with a short ponytail at the side of her head. She was the leader of the Cerulean City, Misty Waterflower. Standing next to her was a little blue mouse that had a zigzag tail with a blue ball at the end; the creature's name was Marill. Another creature was standing behind her was a Psyduck, a small yellow duck who had three short hairs and had his wings holding his head as though he was having a headache.

"Thank, whoever, that you're here," he said. "I was about to tell those people to shut it but they won't listen."

"Hey! What's, like, the deal here?" yelled another girl. She had long blond hair and was wearing a red swimsuit. She was one of members of the swimming team and Misty's older sister, Daisy who was drying herself up with a towel after performing the show.

"Don't blame me," Black Jack said. "These folks must think that this is pantomime or something."

Black Jack looked at his niece and then back at Misty. "Hey, Waterflower, you remember Alice, my niece?" he asked attempting to stop the situation being awkward.

"Hey, Alice," Misty said, pleased to see one of her old friends. They were introduced five years ago after Black Jack saved Alice in a rescue. "It's been a while."

"A long while if you ask me," Alice replied, also pleased to see her. "I mean, five years."

"We want Black Jack! We want Misty!" the crowd chanted much to their surprise.

"What do they want?" Daisy asked in curiosity.

"Knowing those kinds of chants," Black Jack said knowingly as he liked to watch sport shows. "They want to see me and Waterflower battle."

"What!?" Misty said in surprise while the crowd still chanted for them to battle.

"What?" Black Jack asked mockingly. "Ya scared?"

"Humph. Why would I be scared?" Misty asked back, showing her confident face. "I'm just surprise that the audience would rather see us battle than to see all that dancing."

"Hey! I heard that!" Daisy complained.

"Well, I did say it out loud," Misty said.

"Uncle, I thought she and I were gonna battle," Alice said.

"Not now, kid, uncle's busy," Black Jack replied. Alice responded by showing a dull look on her face. "I'm kidding. Seriously, if you watch the match you could learn something from this."

"Okay. Good point."

"Waterflower, you on?" Black Jack asked turning towards his upcoming opponent.

"As the leader of the Cerulean City gym, it is my one of my duties to accept every challenge," Misty said, showing her arrogance as gym trainer.

"Looks like you gym leaders and I have something in common," Black Jack said showing his small evil smile.


Soon, the stage was set as a number of large, pink and yellow plastic boards floating on top of the surface of the pool. Black Jack and Misty stood on each side of the pool; she showed a determined look on her face while he showed no expression.

Before the match, they both agreed to use only one pokemon each and would release them at the same time. Standing between them was Alice, acting like a referee for the match while Daisy, Marill, Psyduck and the others were watching as spectators.

"This will be a one-on-one pokemon battle! The first pokemon to knock the opponent out will be declared the winner," Alice announced loudly, raising both her hands up into the air. "Both trainers release your pokemon… NOW!" she yelled as she quickly waved them downwards.

"Go!" Misty yelled as she threw out her pokeball, releasing a blue, gigantic sea snake, Gyarados.

At the same time, Black Jack tossed out his chosen poekball. "Time to whip some," he said, releasing Chan the Blaziken, much to most of the audience's shock, as he landed safely on top of the floating boards.

"Is… Black Jack out of his mind?" one of the spectators whispered to the other. "I mean a fire type pokemon battling a water type like Gyarados?"

"Don't ever count Black Jack out," the other spectator said. "I heard that his Blaziken suffered much more than just being soaked."

That audience member was right, despite Blaziken's type disadvantage and that they were battling on Misty's battlefield she didn't show confidence on her face, instead she looked absolutely focused. Things were very close to even as Gyrardos let out a loud roar in an attempt to intimidate the opposition but neither Black Jack nor Chan were intimidated.

Alice raised her hand up vertically. "And now… BEGIN!" she yelled as she moved it downwards as though she was slicing through the air.

"Gyarados! Hydro Pump!" Misty instructed quickly.

Gyarados heavily breathed in and quickly shot out a huge fountain of water out of his mouth. "Pretty basic if you ask me," Black Jack said with criticism. "Chan! You know what to do!"

"(Uh-huh)," Chan replied with confidence in his tone as he leapt from his floating board making Gyarados hit that instead, knocking it away.

"Land on the board over there!" Black Jack instructed loudly as he pointed to another board on his right. While he was still airborne, Chan looked at the object that his trainer pointed to and attempted to land safely on it.

"Gyarados! Use your Hydro Pump on that floating board!" Misty yelled. The huge snake quickly shot out another huge fountain of water and hit the board, knocking it away.

Despite the board being knocked away, Chan remained in his focused state as his feet safely landed on the surface of the water and then quickly leapt from it, much to the shock of the audience. He then performed a somersault and landed safely on another board; he then rubbed his nose while sniffing before getting into his battling stance again.

"How did he do that?" Misty asked in an impressed tone.

"Lots of practice," Black Jack replied simply. "Now, Chan, hit them with your Triple Kick!"

Chan nodded before he leapt a great height towards Gyarados's head. Misty saw her this as an advantage as she knew that fighters like Chan should not attack straight on. "Gyarados! Hydro Pump again!" Misty yelled. Gyarados shot out another huge fountain of water towards him, attempting to hit him in a close range.

The attack missed as the red fighter dodged out of the way by millimetres. He then dived down, feet first, towards the blue snake and slammed his heavy yet quick kick attacks three consecutive times before landing on top of another board.

Gyarados shook away the dizziness after taking three hefty consecutive blows to the head and looked maliciously at his opponent, who stood in fighting stance waiting for the Gyarados to attack or for Black Jack to call out another order. "You're Gyarados is tough, I'll give you that," Black Jack said across the battlefield. "Normally, those kicks would knock any pokemon out."

"You have no idea," she said with a smirk on her face taking his compliment. "Gyarados! Bubblebeam!" The blue snake obeyed as he shot out a vast number of bubbles towards the opposition.

"Chan, dodge that!" Black Jack ordered. The Blaziken nodded as he leapt in the air.

"Gyarados! Tail Slam attack!" Misty ordered. The Bubblebeam turned out to be a decoy as Gyarados quickly slammed his tail on Chan's entire body with a great force, a force so great that it sent him flying until his back hit the wall, much to Black Jack's shock.

After taking a great deal of damage, Chan got up to his feet and stumbled towards the pool. While Black Jack ordered his Blaziken to shake away the dizziness, Misty saw her opportunity. "Gyarados! Hydro Pump now!" she yelled.

Gyarados wasted no time as he quickly breathed in and shot another powerful spray of water, hitting the red fighter in the abdomen, soaking him wet until his back hit the wall again, much to the shock of the audience knowing of how badly damaged a fire type pokemon can get when they face a water type. Again, Chan stumbled towards the pool but he wasn't able to stand for long as he fell on his back.

After a moment or so, not seeing Chan able to stand up from his attack, Alice raised her hand. "Blaziken is unable to…"

"Hey! Look!" yelled one of the spectators as he saw Chan hoisted his feet and lower back upwards while placing the palm of his paws on the floor near his head. He then leapt from his hands and higher back landing safely on his feet, showing that he regained conscious and ready to battle again. Everyone, apart from Black Jack, looked on with surprise looks on their faces as Chan leapt a great height and performed a somersault before landing safely on top on one of the floating boards.

"I see that you like to trick everyone at times, don't you, Black Jack?" Misty asked.

"Same to you, Waterflower," Black Jack said showing a small smile. "Anyway, you still got a long way to go of beating Chan here."

Gyarados stared down on his opponent growling nastily while Chan looked back with focus in his eyes.

"Gyarados! Bubblebeam attack!" Misty yelled pointing at the opposition.

The blue snake shot out numerous bubbles out of his mouth in a formation of a beam towards the Blaziken. "Chan! Counter with your Comet Punch!" Black Jack commanded.

Chan let out a loud yell as he rapidly punched each and every bubble that threatened to make contact with him until the last one was popped away. "Okay, Chan! Agility!" Black Jack yelled.

Chan jumped off the board and began running on the water towards his opponent, much to everyone's shock, zipping from one location to the other. "Gyarados!" Misty yelled, she was the only person who still had focus in her eyes despite the stunt that Chan was performing. "Flamethrower attack!"

Gyarados shot out numerous streams of flames but Chan dodged each one thanks to his agility. Gyarados then attempted to use his Tail Slam attack upon Misty's command but missed as Chan leapt upwards to avoid the contact and came face-to-face with him.

"Finish him off with your Blaze Kick, Chan!" Black Jack yelled.

"Gyarados! Screech!" Misty yelled.

One of Chan's feet engulfed in flames as he was about to slam it on the blue snake's face but was countered when Gyarados let a loud screech, sending him flying into a distance until he fell into the pool while everyone covered their ears to protect themselves from the noise, apart from Black Jack since he and his pokemon were used to it after their harsh training.

The Blaziken's head risen above the surface of the pool, he spitted out some out of his mouth. Despite being forced away by Gyarados's Screech attack, he was unfazed by it.

"Gyarados! Bite attack!" Misty yelled. Her pokemon leapt upwards out of the pool and then dived down aiming his opened fanged jaw towards the now disadvantaged Blaziken.

"Chan, dive down!" Black Jack yelled.

"(Got it)!" Chan cried back as he dived into the water, dodging the blue snake's attack. The audience looked on in shock when they saw the fiery fighter dived into the pool, thinking that he would get badly hurt.

Unlike most non-water type pokemon, the Blaziken was able to swim like one, despite that he was a fire type. He looked over at his opponent's direction as Gyarados turned to look at him.

Black Jack looked down at the pool. He knew that Chan couldn't use any fire attacks because they were now underwater but that didn't mean that they wouldn't be able to attack.

"Chan! Use your High Jump Kick!" Black Jack yelled. Chan swam as fast as he could towards his opponent, attempting to slam his kick attack on his face.

"Gyarados! Double Team!" Misty instructed. The blue snake glowed vigorously as numerous copies of himself appeared surrounding Chan who stopped his attack and looked hesitantly at them.

Black Jack let out a small snarl. "Chan! Don't hesitate! Use one of your senses to catch the real one!" he yelled to him.

Chan nodded, signalling that he received the order and closed his eyes, as did Black Jack. "Now's your chance, Gyarados!" Misty yelled. "Attack with everything you've got! Hyper Beam!"

Chan still had his eyes closed as he deeply concentrated while his opponent powered up his energy from within. He couldn't smell his opponent's scent because he had to hold his breath underwater, nor could he feel any movement as the real Gyarados held completely still as did his illusions, nor could he feel the temperature of the opposition because the warmth of the pool was the same as their bodies. There was only one thing that Chan could sense… the energy from Gyarados.

He and Black Jack quickly opened their eyes, now knowing who the real one was. "It's coming from your left," Black Jack warned.

Chan nodded in agreement as he quickly swam towards the real Gyarados. "Finish him! Dynamic Punch attack!" Black Jack yelled.

"Gyarados! Withdraw your Hyper Beam and go for your Whirlpool and Dragon rage attack!" Misty ordered quickly.

"What!?" Black Jack and Alice yelled in unison in surprise.

They had the right to be surprised as the snake suddenly held back his attack as he and his illusions began to swim around the Blaziken so fast that they created a whirlpool. Chan spun around uncontrollably as he felt the air in his lings about to burst. "(What's the matter)?" Gyarados roared in triumph. "(Am I too fast for you)?"

Along with the audience, Black Jack looked down with shocked eyes, knowing of the disadvantage that Chan was in right now. He lost his concentration when he saw the gigantic whirlpool; despite this minor setback there was no time for hesitation.

"I got you now, Black Jack!" Misty yelled. "Gyarados! Hyper Beam!"

"I don't think so," Black Jack whispered quickly getting his focus back. His eyes narrowed as he yelled out his possible final attack. "Chan!" he yelled. "Ignore the pain inside you, find the real Gyarados and use Focus Punch!"

As Gyarados and his illusions formed a ball of energy each inside their mouths, Chan shut his eyes tightly taking in the pain and suffocation inside his body, letting a small growling noise while both his fists glowed vigorously. Then, out of instinct, he dashed towards one of the blue, giant snakes letting out a yell and aimed both his powered up fists onto his face, avoiding the contact of the huge energy beams that were shot out by his opponent and his copies, not knowing whether or not it was the real one.

Then suddenly, a great, big, gigantic splash occurred from the pool while a thunderous impact was heard from underneath the surface, much to everyone's shock. "He got him!" Black Jack yelled as about a quarter of splashed out water fell on top of everyone, making them completely wet while the rest fell back into the pool.

After everyone shielded eyes from the water, apart from Psyduck who was confused of the whole situation, they all looked back at the battlefield and saw Chan and Gyarados floating motionlessly on the pool's surface. Alice was about announce that both pokemon were knocked out but Chan, with the last ounce of his strength, slowly swam to one of the floating and held onto it for support as he climbed and stood on top of it, much to everyone's shock as they stared in awe.

Alice shook her head, snapping back to reality. "Gyarados is unable to battle!" she announced. "Black Jack and Chan win the match!"

That snapped the audience back into reality as they stood and gave both trainers and their pokemon a standing ovation for a brilliant battle. Out of exhaustion, Chan fell back into the pool again. Black Jack dived into the pool and swam towards him. He held him around his middle, swimming back to his side of the battlefield and then climbed up the ledge.

Chan sat and coughed out water out of his throat and stomach while Black Jack patted his back to induce the coughing. "Easy there, Chan," Black Jack said. "I hope you didn't put your fire out inside you."

"(Thank you, Black Jack)," Chan said, breathing heavily. "(I'll be okay)."

"Chan!" Alice cried worriedly as she ran towards them. "Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?"

Chan looked up to her in an assuring way as he held a thumb up, signalling that he was. "He's alright, folk," Black Jack said, also assuring her. "A day in the Pokemon Centre and he'll be fine."

They then looked at the badly injured Gyarados and Misty who was deeply concerned about him as were Daisy, Psyduck and Marill as they tried to comfort him. "We better go check on them," Black Jack said. "The poor guy seemed to be in bad shape."

They both helped Chan up to his feet and supported him as they walked towards the losers of this match. "Waterflower," Black Jack said. "This is a stupid question but is Gyarados okay?"

Gyarados gave a small growl, convincing them that he was fine. Misty let out a small giggle. "You did a good job, Gyarados," she said. "You deserve a good long rest."

"Blazi Blaziken," Blaziken said weakly to the giant snake who responded back with a small growl before they were zapped back into their pokeballs.

"Good match, huh, Waterflower?" Black Jack as he raised his hand, wanting to shake her hand out of respect.

Misty was surprised by this; a man like Black Jack doesn't do this often, even after battling tough trainers like her. Gladly, she placed her hand onto his and they both shook hands. "Good match," she replied with a smile on her face as the crowd still cheered for them.

"Uncle," Alice said jokingly, acting like a little kid. "Can I have my battle now, please?"

The three adults let out a small snigger each, as did Alice. "True, true," Black Jack said. "We originally planned visiting here so that Alice can battle you for the cascade badge. So, when will it be possible?"

Misty let out a nervous giggle. "Well, it depends," she said looking at the half-emptied pool, wet walls and floors. "It would take us a couple of days to clean this mess up."

-End Flashback-

"So did you and Alice help out with the cleaning?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, it didn't take long cleaning," Black Jack replied with disgust in his tone remembering the moment the huge number of obsessed, soaked up fans wanting to get his autograph. "It was a lot easier after getting those wet wannabes to leave me alone."

"I know how it feels," Ash said, letting out a small sigh.
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