The Darkness Within
As Neo in his Wailord form swam for Mossdeep City, his companions were napping on his back. He had just recently shown them his maximum power earlier when he was assaulted by Kyogre, Groundon, and Rayquaza. The sun was beginning to rise and Mossdeep could be seen on the horizon. However, there was only one way to wake everyone up.
Neo blew a Water Spout straight up, which rained down on his passengers, waking them up gently. Ash asked, "When did it start raining?" Neo answered, "I was just waking you guys up. Mossdeep is right ahead of us." He was right and everyone prepared to dock. Neo beached himself on the beach, then Transformed back into his normal form. It was too early for anyone to be up, so Neo was sure that no one saw him.
Ash wasted no time finding the Gym, which was used by the psychic duo of Liza & Tate. "They use Psychic types, huh?" Latios spoke, "Ash, let me take this fight. You've done so much for me and my sister that it's the least I can do." Ash answered, "OK. I'm pretty sure you'll have your hands full." When they stepped inside, the place was pitch-black.
Two voices spoke at once, "Welcome to the Mossdeep Gym! Did you come to earn a Mind Badge?" The lights came on and Brock started drooling over the sight of the two Gym Leaders! "Ahem?" Brock looked to his left and saw Neo ready to bop him with a Bone Club. "Uh, sorry. I'll behave." The twin sisters asked, "Who is the challenger?" Ash stepped forward, "I am." "Then let us begin. This will be a 2-2 battle. Go, Solrock! Go, Lunatone!" The two Psychic Rock type Pokemon levitated in place. Latios whispered to Ash, "Do you really want me to take them on alone?" Mewtwo stepped forward, "Allow me. I wish to prove my loyalty to you and I have not gotten much action for a while." Ash answered, "OK. I'll battle with Latios and Mewtwo!" Neo spoke, "I'll referee." He stood at the side lines and shouted, "This is an official match for a Mind Badge! The Leaders, Tate & Liza with Solrock and Lunatone, against the challenger, Ash Ketchum, who will battle with Latios and Mewtwo. There is no time limit. Let the match begin!" Latias spoke telepathically, "Be careful, Brother." Latios replied, "I will."
Mewtwo and Latios had never participated in a Double Battle before, so even though they were far more powerful than their opponents, Solrock and Lunatone had much more experience. They were also harder to predict, since their Trainers gave them commands via telepathy. Right after the start, Solrock tried to blast Mewtwo with a Flamethrower! He dodged it, but ran right into a Shadow Ball from Lunatone! "Grah, I'll make you pay for that!" As he made a dash for Lunatone, it used Sunny Day. "Hmph. Do you really thinka little sunshine will help you?" Mewtwo was then blindsided by a Solarbeam from Solrock! The intense sunlight allowed it to fire it without having to charge. Latios tried to attack Solrock while it was using Solarbeam, but Lunatone intercepted him with an Ice Beam! Ash had to come up with something quick.
"Guys, try a combination attack! Attack them from above!" Latios said to Mewtwo, "He's right, and that Ice Beam gave me an idea." They then flew to the top of the room and began to gather energy for what seemed to be a Blizzard attack. Suddenly, they shouted in unison, "It's over! FREEZE STORM!" Both of them thrust one arm downwards and used their psychic powers to create artificial wind. They had indeed been gathering energy for a Blizzard attack, but they added a unique twist. With the wind swirling the icy air around the two opponents, the area's temperature dropped well below freezing! When the wind stopped, both Pokemon were encased in pillars of ice! Before they could break free, Latios blasted Solrock with a Luster Purge while Mewtwo slammed Lunatone with an Iron Tail! The two frozen Pokemon were broken out of the ice and slammed into each other, knocking them out cold! Neo ended the match saying, "Solrock and Lunatone are unable to continue! The victors in this match are Latios and Mewtwo!"
Tate & Liza were stunned. They had never been defeated so quickly before! Ash ran over to his close friends and congratulated them for such great teamwork under pressure. They were a little embarrassed when he hugged them both, but they hugged him back. The two Leaders spoke at once again, "Your trust in them was truly unusual. You allowed them to fight on their own." Ash looked confused, but Mewtwo confirmed it, "They're right. You gave us advice, but you never gave us direct orders." Ash blushed, "Heh heh heh, I did, didn't I?" The twin Leaders added, "We have no regrets. You earned this Mind Badge!" To Ash's surprise, the badge was in two halves. He also couldn't join them on his own. Mewtwo said, "Let me help." He took one piece and joined it to the one that Ash was holding. The two pieces fused into one badge. "I couldn't have gotten this on my own. Thank you guys." He then embraced his two friends again.
During the rest of the day, everyone just tried to relax. Brock did some shopping to reload their supplies, May and Max went shopping for souvenirs, and Neo was having a sparring session with all of Ash's Pokemon, so they wouldn't get out of shape. He even took on his three siblings as well. All at once, that is! However, he went easy on Latias because she was at a much lower level than everyone else.
Little did everyone know, there was a sinister threat approaching them. She thought to herself, (There is no way that punk can match me this time. I'll make sure to take him out first this time! And NO ONE will be able to interfere!"
Just as everyone was deciding on a hotel to stay at for the night, Neo detected a massive amount of Shadow energy approaching. "Great. Looks like we've got company tonight." A mechanical suit of armor landed in front of them. They could see Black Tulips' face behind a visor. The suit fit her body well and had an energy cannon on the left arm. The color of the suit itself was mostly black and blood red.
"Do you want me to kill you this time?" said Neo. Black Tulip answered, "Nah, you can have your turn later. I came here for him." She pointed at Ash. Mewtwo defiantly stepped forward, "You'll have to get to him over my dead body!" Neo added, "And mine." Latios then floated forward, "And mine!" then Bayleef, Latias, and Pikachu stood in her way. Latias then said, "You will have to get through all of us first!"
Black Tulip laughed, "Don't worry. You'll have your turn soon enough!" Neo shouted, "We are not asking, we're telling!" Black Tulip replied, "I don't care. I'm killing that runt first, whether you like it, or not!" As she finished say that, Black Tulip blasted the group with an unknown type of ammunition! The six of them were trapped in some sort of translucent purple dome! "Trust me, you can't break through that. All you can do is wait ten minutes for it to dissipate. Of course, I'll be done in five!" Neo went full power again and tried his best to break through the dome, but nothing gave! "NO GOOD! I just can't break through!" Black Tulip then faced Ash. "Get away from here guys. I can take her on my own." His friends did as they were told while Ash removed his hat and backpack. "Don't think I'm as weak as before, twerp!"
Ash then ascended into his powered up state and flew above Mossdeep City, so no one else would get involved. Black Tulip made the first move. Her suit was incredibly fast and durable. She quickly made a large number of blows onto Ash before he could fight back, but when he did, she felt it. He used high speed blows to knock her of balance and then tried to send her into the ground, but she kicked him off of her before that happened. He tried to get to her again, but she just blasted him away with the arm cannon. When Black Tulip caught up to Ash, he pelted her with a powerful barrage of high speed blows! After that, Black Tulip started pounding into him with a flurry of punches and kicks, followed by three flying kicks from multiple directions! Finally, while Ash was still reeling from that last beating, Black Tulip blasted him in face wit Shadow energy! This only sent him higher into the sky! She slammed him downwards again and went into the final phase. She started knocking Ash back and forth at high speed for a few seconds while close enough to the ground for his friends to see what was happening. Then, Black Tulip slammed Ash into a blast of Shadow energy and knocked him back into another one! When he came flying back towards her from the explosion, she hit him so hard that there was a bright flash of light, as well as an agonizing scream that filled Latias's and Bayleef's eyes with tears.
When the flash dimmed, they saw Ash being held in place by a type of beam coming from Black Tulips' arm cannon. He also seemed to be unconscious. Neo assured them that he was still alive. Black Tulip gloated, "What's wrong, little boy? Are you ashamed that you got your butt handed to you by a woman?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
Deep in the recesses of his mind, Ash saw the three orbs. The one on the left was still shining with a golden light. Suddenly, the one on the right began to glow a bloody red. Ash could sense something dark in it. So dark, the golden orb's light seemed to dim slightly, as if overwhelmed by the other one. Ash was afraid of this new power. Hoping Black Tulip would listen; he woke up and gave her one last warning.
"Don't...you...dare...awaken the darkness inside." As he finished the sentence, Ash's body turned dark, as if covered in a thick shadow. Black Tulip scoffed, "YOU?! DARK?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! What do YOU know about the power of darkness?! You're just a pathetic little brat!" Right after she said that, Ash's body and clothes turned completely black! "You're wrong....." Those words seemed to come from everywhere.
Suddenly, two blades of dark energy that seemed to come from nowhere slashed Black Tulip across the chest, followed by an explosion that blew her away! Even she let go of Ash, he just floated where he was. The sky became like a sea of blood. Just then, it became golden yellow as Ash's body released a black sphere of darkness that covered the sky for a moment! He let out a scream of pure rage! When everyone could see again, they were shocked to see that Ash's hair had become a fiery hue! His eyes had turned white and his body was surrounded by a dark blue and blood red aura! His body had been completely corrupted by the power of darkness!
Black Tulip made a dash for Ash to finish him off, but Ash had other ideas. At speeds that only Neo could reach in his strongest form, Ash began pummeling Black Tulip with countless physical blows and slashes of dark energy! He could even cause small rips in the dimensional field to send explosives blasts of energy at Black Tulip from a dark dimension! He could even create shadows of himself to attack her. With such mastery over such a deadly force, Ash was far superior to Black Tulip's armor's weapons. After backslapping her eight times, Ash fired a deadly blast of dark energy from his palm! What happened next is difficult to say. All Neo and his friends could see were about a dozen giant slash marks in the dark sky. Then, Ash proceeded for the kill. With Black Tulip's armor in tatters, she was terrified of what this boy had become. A circle with a golden rim with runic inscriptions opened above her. Suddenly, three meteors of dark energy slammed into her body from three angles. Her screams of agony were drowned out by the booming collisions as the three meteors grinded her body down into nothing but pulp. Lastly, a second portal opened below her and destroyed the rest of her body by blasting her with dark energy from two different angles. The battle was ended by a shower of blood and hail of bone fragments.
The night sky returned to its original black color with the stars adorning it. A moment later, the barrier disappeared. Ash landed nearby, but his friends were too afraid to get anywhere near him. Finally, Latias slowly approached him. When she was right up in his face, she asked, "Ash, are you all right?" He reverted to his normal form and collapsed into his girlfriend's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Everyone could understand why he was crying. He had just taken his first life. "It'll be all right, dear. You'll be fine. I know it's hard to live with yourself after you do something that you can't forgive yourself for, but we still love you. Please try to calm down." Everyone walked over to them and gently embraced Ash. This was a very difficult thing for him to cope with and he needed their support. That night, everyone shed tears for their friend. Ash couldn't even think about his next Gym battle. He could only think about why he had killed someone. He finally cried himself to sleep. Latias joined him and held him in a loving embrace, hoping that it would have a positive influence on his dream........
Neo blew a Water Spout straight up, which rained down on his passengers, waking them up gently. Ash asked, "When did it start raining?" Neo answered, "I was just waking you guys up. Mossdeep is right ahead of us." He was right and everyone prepared to dock. Neo beached himself on the beach, then Transformed back into his normal form. It was too early for anyone to be up, so Neo was sure that no one saw him.
Ash wasted no time finding the Gym, which was used by the psychic duo of Liza & Tate. "They use Psychic types, huh?" Latios spoke, "Ash, let me take this fight. You've done so much for me and my sister that it's the least I can do." Ash answered, "OK. I'm pretty sure you'll have your hands full." When they stepped inside, the place was pitch-black.
Two voices spoke at once, "Welcome to the Mossdeep Gym! Did you come to earn a Mind Badge?" The lights came on and Brock started drooling over the sight of the two Gym Leaders! "Ahem?" Brock looked to his left and saw Neo ready to bop him with a Bone Club. "Uh, sorry. I'll behave." The twin sisters asked, "Who is the challenger?" Ash stepped forward, "I am." "Then let us begin. This will be a 2-2 battle. Go, Solrock! Go, Lunatone!" The two Psychic Rock type Pokemon levitated in place. Latios whispered to Ash, "Do you really want me to take them on alone?" Mewtwo stepped forward, "Allow me. I wish to prove my loyalty to you and I have not gotten much action for a while." Ash answered, "OK. I'll battle with Latios and Mewtwo!" Neo spoke, "I'll referee." He stood at the side lines and shouted, "This is an official match for a Mind Badge! The Leaders, Tate & Liza with Solrock and Lunatone, against the challenger, Ash Ketchum, who will battle with Latios and Mewtwo. There is no time limit. Let the match begin!" Latias spoke telepathically, "Be careful, Brother." Latios replied, "I will."
Mewtwo and Latios had never participated in a Double Battle before, so even though they were far more powerful than their opponents, Solrock and Lunatone had much more experience. They were also harder to predict, since their Trainers gave them commands via telepathy. Right after the start, Solrock tried to blast Mewtwo with a Flamethrower! He dodged it, but ran right into a Shadow Ball from Lunatone! "Grah, I'll make you pay for that!" As he made a dash for Lunatone, it used Sunny Day. "Hmph. Do you really thinka little sunshine will help you?" Mewtwo was then blindsided by a Solarbeam from Solrock! The intense sunlight allowed it to fire it without having to charge. Latios tried to attack Solrock while it was using Solarbeam, but Lunatone intercepted him with an Ice Beam! Ash had to come up with something quick.
"Guys, try a combination attack! Attack them from above!" Latios said to Mewtwo, "He's right, and that Ice Beam gave me an idea." They then flew to the top of the room and began to gather energy for what seemed to be a Blizzard attack. Suddenly, they shouted in unison, "It's over! FREEZE STORM!" Both of them thrust one arm downwards and used their psychic powers to create artificial wind. They had indeed been gathering energy for a Blizzard attack, but they added a unique twist. With the wind swirling the icy air around the two opponents, the area's temperature dropped well below freezing! When the wind stopped, both Pokemon were encased in pillars of ice! Before they could break free, Latios blasted Solrock with a Luster Purge while Mewtwo slammed Lunatone with an Iron Tail! The two frozen Pokemon were broken out of the ice and slammed into each other, knocking them out cold! Neo ended the match saying, "Solrock and Lunatone are unable to continue! The victors in this match are Latios and Mewtwo!"
Tate & Liza were stunned. They had never been defeated so quickly before! Ash ran over to his close friends and congratulated them for such great teamwork under pressure. They were a little embarrassed when he hugged them both, but they hugged him back. The two Leaders spoke at once again, "Your trust in them was truly unusual. You allowed them to fight on their own." Ash looked confused, but Mewtwo confirmed it, "They're right. You gave us advice, but you never gave us direct orders." Ash blushed, "Heh heh heh, I did, didn't I?" The twin Leaders added, "We have no regrets. You earned this Mind Badge!" To Ash's surprise, the badge was in two halves. He also couldn't join them on his own. Mewtwo said, "Let me help." He took one piece and joined it to the one that Ash was holding. The two pieces fused into one badge. "I couldn't have gotten this on my own. Thank you guys." He then embraced his two friends again.
During the rest of the day, everyone just tried to relax. Brock did some shopping to reload their supplies, May and Max went shopping for souvenirs, and Neo was having a sparring session with all of Ash's Pokemon, so they wouldn't get out of shape. He even took on his three siblings as well. All at once, that is! However, he went easy on Latias because she was at a much lower level than everyone else.
Little did everyone know, there was a sinister threat approaching them. She thought to herself, (There is no way that punk can match me this time. I'll make sure to take him out first this time! And NO ONE will be able to interfere!"
Just as everyone was deciding on a hotel to stay at for the night, Neo detected a massive amount of Shadow energy approaching. "Great. Looks like we've got company tonight." A mechanical suit of armor landed in front of them. They could see Black Tulips' face behind a visor. The suit fit her body well and had an energy cannon on the left arm. The color of the suit itself was mostly black and blood red.
"Do you want me to kill you this time?" said Neo. Black Tulip answered, "Nah, you can have your turn later. I came here for him." She pointed at Ash. Mewtwo defiantly stepped forward, "You'll have to get to him over my dead body!" Neo added, "And mine." Latios then floated forward, "And mine!" then Bayleef, Latias, and Pikachu stood in her way. Latias then said, "You will have to get through all of us first!"
Black Tulip laughed, "Don't worry. You'll have your turn soon enough!" Neo shouted, "We are not asking, we're telling!" Black Tulip replied, "I don't care. I'm killing that runt first, whether you like it, or not!" As she finished say that, Black Tulip blasted the group with an unknown type of ammunition! The six of them were trapped in some sort of translucent purple dome! "Trust me, you can't break through that. All you can do is wait ten minutes for it to dissipate. Of course, I'll be done in five!" Neo went full power again and tried his best to break through the dome, but nothing gave! "NO GOOD! I just can't break through!" Black Tulip then faced Ash. "Get away from here guys. I can take her on my own." His friends did as they were told while Ash removed his hat and backpack. "Don't think I'm as weak as before, twerp!"
Ash then ascended into his powered up state and flew above Mossdeep City, so no one else would get involved. Black Tulip made the first move. Her suit was incredibly fast and durable. She quickly made a large number of blows onto Ash before he could fight back, but when he did, she felt it. He used high speed blows to knock her of balance and then tried to send her into the ground, but she kicked him off of her before that happened. He tried to get to her again, but she just blasted him away with the arm cannon. When Black Tulip caught up to Ash, he pelted her with a powerful barrage of high speed blows! After that, Black Tulip started pounding into him with a flurry of punches and kicks, followed by three flying kicks from multiple directions! Finally, while Ash was still reeling from that last beating, Black Tulip blasted him in face wit Shadow energy! This only sent him higher into the sky! She slammed him downwards again and went into the final phase. She started knocking Ash back and forth at high speed for a few seconds while close enough to the ground for his friends to see what was happening. Then, Black Tulip slammed Ash into a blast of Shadow energy and knocked him back into another one! When he came flying back towards her from the explosion, she hit him so hard that there was a bright flash of light, as well as an agonizing scream that filled Latias's and Bayleef's eyes with tears.
When the flash dimmed, they saw Ash being held in place by a type of beam coming from Black Tulips' arm cannon. He also seemed to be unconscious. Neo assured them that he was still alive. Black Tulip gloated, "What's wrong, little boy? Are you ashamed that you got your butt handed to you by a woman?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
Deep in the recesses of his mind, Ash saw the three orbs. The one on the left was still shining with a golden light. Suddenly, the one on the right began to glow a bloody red. Ash could sense something dark in it. So dark, the golden orb's light seemed to dim slightly, as if overwhelmed by the other one. Ash was afraid of this new power. Hoping Black Tulip would listen; he woke up and gave her one last warning.
"Don't...you...dare...awaken the darkness inside." As he finished the sentence, Ash's body turned dark, as if covered in a thick shadow. Black Tulip scoffed, "YOU?! DARK?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! What do YOU know about the power of darkness?! You're just a pathetic little brat!" Right after she said that, Ash's body and clothes turned completely black! "You're wrong....." Those words seemed to come from everywhere.
Suddenly, two blades of dark energy that seemed to come from nowhere slashed Black Tulip across the chest, followed by an explosion that blew her away! Even she let go of Ash, he just floated where he was. The sky became like a sea of blood. Just then, it became golden yellow as Ash's body released a black sphere of darkness that covered the sky for a moment! He let out a scream of pure rage! When everyone could see again, they were shocked to see that Ash's hair had become a fiery hue! His eyes had turned white and his body was surrounded by a dark blue and blood red aura! His body had been completely corrupted by the power of darkness!
Black Tulip made a dash for Ash to finish him off, but Ash had other ideas. At speeds that only Neo could reach in his strongest form, Ash began pummeling Black Tulip with countless physical blows and slashes of dark energy! He could even cause small rips in the dimensional field to send explosives blasts of energy at Black Tulip from a dark dimension! He could even create shadows of himself to attack her. With such mastery over such a deadly force, Ash was far superior to Black Tulip's armor's weapons. After backslapping her eight times, Ash fired a deadly blast of dark energy from his palm! What happened next is difficult to say. All Neo and his friends could see were about a dozen giant slash marks in the dark sky. Then, Ash proceeded for the kill. With Black Tulip's armor in tatters, she was terrified of what this boy had become. A circle with a golden rim with runic inscriptions opened above her. Suddenly, three meteors of dark energy slammed into her body from three angles. Her screams of agony were drowned out by the booming collisions as the three meteors grinded her body down into nothing but pulp. Lastly, a second portal opened below her and destroyed the rest of her body by blasting her with dark energy from two different angles. The battle was ended by a shower of blood and hail of bone fragments.
The night sky returned to its original black color with the stars adorning it. A moment later, the barrier disappeared. Ash landed nearby, but his friends were too afraid to get anywhere near him. Finally, Latias slowly approached him. When she was right up in his face, she asked, "Ash, are you all right?" He reverted to his normal form and collapsed into his girlfriend's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Everyone could understand why he was crying. He had just taken his first life. "It'll be all right, dear. You'll be fine. I know it's hard to live with yourself after you do something that you can't forgive yourself for, but we still love you. Please try to calm down." Everyone walked over to them and gently embraced Ash. This was a very difficult thing for him to cope with and he needed their support. That night, everyone shed tears for their friend. Ash couldn't even think about his next Gym battle. He could only think about why he had killed someone. He finally cried himself to sleep. Latias joined him and held him in a loving embrace, hoping that it would have a positive influence on his dream........