If I Could Change the World

\"Well that\'s it then.\" Richie sighed as he folded the letter he had been reading. \"All the leaders have chosen sides.\" It had been four days since Jessie had revealed Gary\'s plan to recruit gym leaders into his army, and the frantic project of getting gym leaders to remain loyal was over.

Ash closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He had gotten very little sleep in the past four days. Most of his time had been spent in the conference room planning a strategy.

Richie studied his friend. Moonlight streamed in from the glass wall, bathing his face with an eerie glow. Ash\'s features were exhausted, his face paler than normal. He remained as still as death; Richie could hardly tell if he was breathing. \"Ash are you ok?\" Richie asked, the concern in his voice evident.

Ash opened his eyes. \"Yes, I\'m fine.\"

Richie looked at him suspiciously, but Ash was now hunched over the table scribbling something on a stray piece of paper.

In reality, Ash had been feeling horrible since he had fought Gary four days earlier. He would suddenly be overcome with waves of dizziness, and he had a constant headache. Ash consulted the list he had just written. \"So which leaders sided with us?\" he asked.

\"Misty, Brock, Blaine, and Sabrina are with us,\" Richie told him, ticking off each name on a finger. \"Koga, Lt. Surge, Erika, and Lorna chose to take Gary up on his offer.\"

Ash furrowed his eyebrows. \"Lorna?\"

\"She replaced Giovanni at the Viridian City Gym when he disappeared,\" Richie explained.

Ash nodded. \"Is she a major threat?\"

\"Let\'s just say the contestants in the Pokemon League have thinned down greatly since she became a leader. Very few people can beat her.\"

Ash stood up and was about to say something else, when his head began to spin so violently he had to lean against the table to remain standing.

Richie stood up, alarmed. \"Ash?\"

Ash stood in silence for a few moments, his eyes closed and his palms pressed against the wooden table, letting the dizziness subside. When he opened his eyes, Richie was at his side staring at him worriedly. \"I\'m fine Richie,\" Ash assured him, straitening up. \"I\'m just tired.\"

It was obvious that Richie didn\'t believe him, but he let the excuse slide. \"Go get some sleep,\" he said, gesturing toward the door.

Ash shook his head. \"No, I\'m fine.\"

Richie heaved a frustrated sigh. \"Ash, it\'s past midnight. I\'m going to bed now too.\"

Ash nodded. \"You\'re right.\" His headache had grown more painful, he felt as though his head was being squeezed between a pair of massive hands. He began walking toward the doors when another wave of dizziness overcame him. With nothing to use as support he fell to his knees. His headache worsened to the point where the pain was so great that he couldn\'t see, and he passed out on the cold tile floor.

~*~*~

\"Don\'t you think this is a little much?\" a scratchy male voice asked.

\"Butch, I do hope you aren\'t going soft on me,\" his female companion answered.

Butch remained silent as they walked through the dark stone corridors; Cassidy\'s boots made a light clicking noise as she walked. Butch glanced at the object in her hand with a small shudder of fear, the thought of what they were going to do turned his stomach.

Lit torches lined the wall about every ten yards, casting eerie glows along the stone floor. Every few feet the wall would become bars, and if one looked close enough he would be able to see the shadowy figures of prisoners hunched in the corner of their cells.

Cassidy\'s heels stopped clicking and Butch knew they had arrived. She pulled a set of keys from her belt. The small jingle of the keys held an immense power over the prisoners, who would cringe in fear at the sound. The only reason keys were ever heard outside a cell was if whoever was holding them was coming to torture the inmate. Butch watched as Cassidy gleefully pulled the cell door open and stepped inside.

This particular prisoner was hanging from the ceiling by his wrists, which were bloody from the constant rubbing of the chains. His head was down and his black hair hung over his face. He wasn\'t wearing a shirt and cuts and bruises stood out against his pale skin. He was painfully thin from weeks of starvation, only getting enough food to keep him alive. The man was young, only nineteen.

Cassidy and Butch might have thought him unconscious had he not uttered, \"Where\'s Pikachu?\"

Butch admired his spirit. After weeks of daily torture the first thing he always asked was the location of his pokemon. He probably cared more about that rat than himself.

Cassidy rolled her eyes. \"Who cares?\" she said. It was her usual response. \"Now, Ashton, are you going to tell us what we want to know?\"

Ash lifted his head to look at them. His face was bloody and battered, and his brown eyes glared at her with utter contempt.

She grinned widely and held up a rectangular object. \"Consider carefully,\" Cassidy warned, pressing a button, sending a wave of electricity through the stun gun she was holding.

His eyes flashed with panic for a brief moment before returning to their normal blank stare. He said nothing and Cassidy shrugged. \"Have it your way,\" she said as she advanced towards him. She flicked the stun gun onto a low setting so it wouldn\'t knock him out on the first try.

Butch grabbed her arm. \"Cass...\" he said trailing off, a look of sympathy in his eyes.

\"Butch, if he won\'t talk he gets what he gets.\" She turned back to Ash. A wicked grin spread across her face as she whispered in his ear, \"You love your electric rat so much, let\'s see how you take to this.\" She pressed the stun gun to his stomach and turned it on.

Ash cried out sitting bolt upright in bed. Sweat ran down his face as he struggled to regain his surroundings. \"It\'s ok, it\'s alright,\" he heard a familiar voice say as a pair of arms wrapped around him, holding him tight. It didn\'t take him long to catch the scent of Misty\'s perfume. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tightly, glad for the reminder that he wasn\'t in that cell anymore.

They embraced for a long time, neither saying anything, both feeling safe in the other\'s arms. A soft knock at the door caused the two to hastily break apart. \"Come in,\" Misty said softly, her gaze still upon Ash.

A woman with large brown eyes and red hair pulled back into two ponytails entered. Ash recognized her immediately as one of the hundreds of Nurse Joys. \"Oh, good,\" she said, a look of relief evident on her face. \"You\'re awake.\"

\"How long have I been out?\" Ash asked, rubbing his temples with his index fingers.

\"A little over a day,\" Misty told him gently.

He looked at her. \"Has Gary tried anything?\" he asked softly.

Misty lowered her eyes. The Nurse Joy busied herself with checking his pulse. When Misty looked up he saw something in her expression that worried him.

\"What happened?\" he asked, searching her face for the answer.

She took a deep breath then said, \"Gary and his army attacked Viridian City.\" Misty paused, looking at his expectant face before continuing. \"Richie didn\'t dare try anything without you, with Gary\'s powers we all would have been killed.\"

Ash closed his eyes. \"How many died?\" he murmured.

There was a long pause before Misty choked out, \"No one survived.\"

Ash lips released a noise that sounded like a cross between a cry and a moan. He opened his eyes then determinedly removed the blankets that were covering him.

\"What are you doing, Master Ketchum?\" Nurse Joy said in alarm.

Ash looked at her in surprise. No one had called him that in over three years. He regained his composure. \"Gary\'s going to attack again. This time we\'ll be ready.\"

\"You shouldn\'t be out of bed yet,\" Joy protested, as she watched him stand up.

\"I feel fine,\" Ash lied, for even as he said it, his headache was returning full force.

Sighing, Joy gave up. \"I\'ll go tell Master Hiroshi you\'re up.\"

~*~*~

How are you feeling? Pikachu asked, looking over his master. He was still unnaturally pale and Pikachu could tell he was very ill.

I\'m fine, Ash told him as they walked down the hallway.

Pikachu rolled his eyes. You can lie to the others, but tell me the truth.

Ash stopped walking and looked at the pokemon, who was perched on his shoulder. I\'ve been feeling like this since I fought Gary, he told his friend, then resumed his walk.

Pikachu flattened his ears in thought. Do you think he did something?

Actually, I was wondering what disable would do to a human.

Pikachu\'s eyes lit up. Yes! That might be it!

Ash stopped, having come to his destination. He opened the door and entered the brightly lit conference room. Around the rectangular table sat the four gym leaders, and at the head of the table stood Richie. They all turned to look at him as he entered.

A young woman with ebony hair that rivaled Ash\'s rose from the table and approached him, appearing to almost glide rather than walk. She was clothed in long silk robes the color of the midnight blue sky. Her eyes were hidden from view by her long bangs.

\"Ashton,\" she acknowledged, bowing her head.

\"Sabrina,\" he said, also bowing slightly.

\"It\'s good to see you among the plane of the living,\" she said, her expression impassive. She moved as close to him as she could get without actually touching.

Ash made no attempt to back away, instead he looked at the top of her head. Sabrina slowly lifted her gaze to meet his; the slightest smile visible upon her face. She leaned towards him, and her ruby red lips came inches from his ear. Ash could feel her breath tickle his ear as she whispered so low that not even Pikachu could hear her say, \"I know a certain redhead who is pleased you are alive too.\"

Misty watched, anger rising, as a small smile crept across Ash\'s face.

Sabrina returned to her seat. Ash sat in the empty chair next to Brock and cast an amused glance around the table. All of the men, Brock especially, were sitting with their mouths wide open, gaping at Sabrina. Misty sat slumped in her seat, her arms folded across her chest, glaring at Sabrina.

After a long silence Ash said, \"Shall we get this meeting underway?\"

Richie cleared his throat. \"Yes, good idea.\"

\"What is the status of the Elite Four?\" Blaine asked.

\"As of now, they are remaining neutral. I don\'t know what they will do if they enter the battle,\" Richie answered.

\"Do we have any idea where Gary is going to attack next?\" Brock said.

At this everyone looked at Ash. He looked around the table before saying, \"Viridian was just a test to see how powerful the army was.\" His head pounded as he absently rubbed the back of his neck. \"My best guess would be that they are going to attack Indigo next.\"

After an uncomfortable pause Richie said, \"So what can we do?\"

\"Fortunately most of the city is empty, so there will be few civilians involved. We have been recruiting as many soldiers as possible. The only thing that really needs to be done is for me to work with Sabrina,\" Ash explained.

Misty looked up, and before she could stop herself she said, \"Why?\"

He glanced at her. \"Sabrina knows everything there is to know about Alakazam. If I\'m going to fight Gary I need to be prepared.\"

Everyone nodded, agreeing that that was logical. Misty watched, jealousy building up inside her as Ash and Sabrina shared a small smirk.

~*~*~

Sabrina gave Ash a rare smile as he knelt on one knee, struggling to regain his breath. \"You are more powerful than I realized,\" she said. \"The fight between you and Gary will be one that will be remembered long after you have crossed over.\"

Ash stood up, his breathing becoming more regulated. He pushed his sweat soaked hair from his face before saying, \"That isn\'t what I want to be remembered for.\"

Sabrina\'s dark eyes appeared to look right through him and into his soul. \"We do not always get to choose such things Ashton,\" she said as she recalled her fainted alakazam.

\"You have him very well trained,\" Ash said, changing the subject.

Sabrina gave a nod. \"You have gained all the knowledge you can from me. Be sure to remain rested, I know you are still ill.\"

He looked at her, not too surprised that she knew he was lying when asked about his health. He watched as she quietly retreated from the gym.

They had been using the Master\'s Mansion\'s gym that was normally reserved for pokemon battles as a training area. Ash had been going one on one against Sabrina\'s alakazam to prepare himself for the impending battle with Gary.

Ash closed his eyes, letting a wave of dizziness subside. He was beginning to feel better, although the headache remained, as well as random spouts of dizziness. Once the dizzy spell was gone he glanced around the gym, remembering his days there.

The gym was used for battles between the Master and any trainer who had made it far enough to challenge him. If the Master lost to the challenger he had to relinquish his title to him, and the challenger would become the new Master.

The longest term ever served by a Master before Ash had come along had been two years. Ash had served for five years and often wondered how much longer he would of served had he not been kidnapped. He shrugged the thought away. It didn\'t matter now.

He sighed as he sat down on the bottom row of the metal bleachers that circled the large room.

\"Brings back memories, huh?\" a voice asked. Ash looked up to see Misty standing in front of him.

\"Yeah,\" he said as she sat down next to him.

\"I was watching you training,\" she told him. \"You\'re very good. Sabrina is right, you are very powerful.\"

Ash shot her an odd look. Misty wasn\'t one to flatter him; even when they had been dating she didn\'t go out of her way to compliment him.

She leaned towards him, their faces inches apart. A sly grin formed on her face as she whispered, \"What\'s the matter?\" Ash stood up quickly, as though he had sat on something very sharp. Misty was making him uncomfortable. \"Come on, Ash,\" she said, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout. \"You don\'t like me anymore?\"

He eyed Misty suspiciously. \"What\'s the matter with you?\"

Misty stood up and began walking towards him, causing him to back away. \"Why Ashy-boy, I don\'t know what you mean.\"

He continued to back away from her until his back hit the solid wall of the gym. He watched as she walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest, perplexed as to why she was behaving so oddly. She looked up at him and said, \"Isn\'t this what you want?\"

Ash looked into her eyes; what he saw alarmed him. They held no emotion whatsoever. Sadness, pain, anger, happiness, nothing was detectable in those beautiful blue eyes. It was then he sensed another\'s presence in the gym. \"Gary,\" he accused, looking around and seeing no one.

\"Ah,\" Misty said. \"You\'ve figured me out.\" Ash watched as Misty was released from a psychic grip. Her eyes rolled back and she wavered slightly before falling forward, Gary\'s use of her rendering her unconscious.

Ash caught her limp body in his arms and held her tightly. One by one the huge fluorescent lights that hung high above them turned off, leaving Ash in total darkness. The four sets of doors then slammed closed, trapping them inside.

\"Let me put her outside, Gary,\" Ash said into the darkness.

\"No,\" a voice answered back.

\"This has nothing to do with her, it\'s between you and me,\" Ash said, his voice angry.

After a pause Gary said, \"Fine, but if you try to run I\'ll kill her.\"

Ash didn\'t answer, instead he picked Misty up. The door closest to them opened and he walked through, gently laying her on the tile floor. He looked at her unconscious form sadly, stroking her hair then bent over and lightly kissed her forehead. He straightened up and turned towards the dark gym, a sense of foreboding settling over him.

He took a step towards the gym when he heard someone yell, \"Ash!\" Ash glanced down the hall to see Brock and Richie running towards him. They were about fifty yards away.

\"What\'s going on?\" Richie called. \"One of the guards said something was happening in the gym.\"

Ash watched them approach then turned his attention back to the uninviting gym. Richie and Brock weren\'t far from him now. \"Get Misty to Nurse Joy,\" he said. He walked into the gym, his resolve set.

Brock and Richie reached the doors as they slammed closed. Ash could see them through a small square window, and he could hear their muffled voices begging for admittance as they pounded on the door.

The sadistic voice of Gary protruded through the darkness. \"I\'ve always envied that of you, Ash.\"

\"What\'s that?\" Ash asked, looking around, trying to allow his eyes to adjust to the total lack of light.

\"You always had such loyal friends. I never had any friends, even as a child,\" Gary said, fake remorse in his voice.

\"That\'s because you were an arrogant prick, Gary,\" Ash said, matter-of-factly.

\"There was a time,\" Gary began as Ash spun around. Gary\'s voice seemed to come from a different direction every time he spoke. \"Comments like that would have bothered me. But now I realize that they are basically true.\"

\"Nice to know you\'re out of denial,\" Ash muttered.

\"Cute,\" Gary responded.

From the opposite end of the gym a bright silver glow began to form, outlining Gary\'s slim form and warning Ash of an attack. He watched as the glow grew larger, illuminating the wall of the gym that Gary stood near. The light converted to power and a huge wave of pure psychic energy came barreling toward him.

Richie and Brock watched through the small window as the dark gym was lit up with a silver glow.

\"Gary\'s in there,\" Brock muttered.

\"Yes but what about Ash?\" Richie asked once the glow subsided, leaving the gym in darkness once more. \"Why hasn\'t he used his powers?\"

\"Well, there\'s two possibilities. One he\'s buying his time, or two...\" Brock trailed off, not really wanting to think about the second possibility. A low moan drew his attention from the window to the floor, where Misty was regaining consciousness.

Brock knelt next to her, gently helping her sit up. \"Misty what happened?\" he asked her anxiously.

Misty rubbed her temples. \"How did I get out here? Where\'s Ash?\"

\"He\'s in the gym,\" Richie told her. He was still watching through the window, although nothing obvious was happening. Neither Ash nor Gary had used his powers again. Richie was worried, he could tell Ash was lying about his health and his attacks might not be back to normal power yet.

\"Richie we have a problem,\" Brock said from behind him. Richie tore his gaze from the window and looked at Brock who was now standing, staring down the hallway. He followed Brock\'s gaze and saw about ten people walking in pairs towards them, led by a skinny man and a tall thin woman.

Brock helped Misty up as Richie narrowed his eyes. \"We\'re under attack,\" he said reaching for his pokeballs. Brock and Misty did the same. The group of intruders came to a halt, leaving a ten foot gap between them and the three friends.

The woman had stick straight blonde hair that was cut in a bob at her chin. An aquamarine band was wrapped around her forehead, flattening her hair to her head. She wore long flowing robes like Sabrina\'s, although they were aquamarine, matching her band. Her icy blue eyes took in the scene around her. The man stood rigidly next to her, his hair the shade of night, as were his clothes. His dark beady eyes were fixed on Richie.

\"Richard,\" the woman acknowledged with a nod of her head.

\"Lorna,\" Richie said, his eyes narrowing even further. He turned to the man next to her. \"Koga.\"

Koga said nothing, he simply stood in silence, watching them. Lorna\'s pink lips curled into a smile as she said, \"This can be easy or hard, it\'s your choice.\"

\"Nothing is ever easy with you, Lorna,\" Richie said, scornfully.

\"Richard, I don\'t understand you. With the kind of power Gary is offering us, we could rule the world as king and queen.\" Her expression was expectant, as though she expected him to simply switch sides. \"Join us,\" she continued. \"You know we make a great pair.\"

Richie shook his head. \"Your greed has blinded you Lorna. You know our relationship was over the minute you agreed to join Gary.\"

Brock and Misty exchanged surprised looks. Neither of them had known that Richie and Lorna had dated.

Lorna\'s eyes flashed angrily. \"Have it your way,\" she said, pulling a pokeball from the folds of her robes.

Richie quickly glanced around the confining hallway. \"Do you really think this is the place for a battle?\" he asked.

She looked at the pokeball in her hand then shrugged. A light toss released a huge charizard between the two groups. It towered over them, it\'s red eyes glaring at the first three unknown humans it came across: Richie, Brock, and Misty.

Richie was about to release a pokemon when he heard Lorna talk from behind the charizard. \"How about some room, Char?\"

The charizard glanced over her shoulder and nodded at her trainer with a small snort of acknowledgement. The charizard turned and quickly crashed through the wall, sending a cloud of plaster and dust into the air. They coughed as they breathed in the dusty air, watching as the dust dissipated, allowing them to see a large hole in the wall, a makeshift doorway to the mansion\'s courtyard.

Lorna caught Richie\'s eye, a grin on her face, and said, \"That better?\"

~*~*~

Blaine glanced around the empty table. Raising an eyebrow, he addressed the woman that was sitting across from him. \"So where is everyone?\"

Sabrina looked up at him, or at least he thought she did, he could never tell with her hair covering her eyes. She simply shrugged and continued to eat.

Blaine sighed as he ate another spoonful of soup. He had never been close with Sabrina. None of the leaders had. He found her mannerisms slightly creepy, and she wasn\'t very good company since she rarely talked. In fact, the only person she actually had conversations (if you could call them that) with was Ash. Sabrina seemed to respect him, and found him worthy enough to talk to.

A low rumbling pulled him from his thoughts. The floor shook slightly, causing the empty plates that were set around the table to rattle. \"What\'s going on?\" Blaine asked when the shaking had stopped.

\"We are under attack,\" Sabrina said, calmly setting down her spoon.

Blaine stood up, alarmed and walked swiftly to the window. The dining room was on the third floor of the Master\'s Mansion, and Blaine had a good view of the courtyard. The first thing that caught his attention was Richie dodging a flame-thrower attack from an enormous charizard. Behind the charizard he could see Misty and Brock battling with Koga and about ten other Team Rocket members. Needless to say, it was obvious that quantity was triumphing over quality.

He turned quickly and was startled to see Sabrina standing directly behind him. \"We have to go help them!\" he said urgently. She nodded in agreement and the two walked quickly to the door. Upon pulling the door open Blaine found himself face to face, or rather face to chest, with a tall, muscular, blonde man, dressed in army camouflage. Lt. Surge\'s thick face grinned evilly as he reached out a muscular arm and grabbed Blaine by his neck. He lifted Blaine with the ease of lifting a glass for a toast. Blaine began to cough and sputter, his airways being restricted.

Surge entered the dining room, still carrying Blaine, whose feet dangled helplessly a foot off the ground. Once Surge moved aside, Sabrina could see a young woman with short black hair pulled back from her face with a red headband. Behind her stood an army of ten or so Team Rocket members.

Blaine was having difficulty breathing and couldn\'t reach his pokeballs. Surge cocked his head, his dark eyes glinting maliciously as he said, \"Does that hurt, Blaine?\"

\"Let him go,\" a soft but firm voice spoke up from behind him.

Surge turned his head, keeping his fist iron tight around Blaine\'s throat. His eyes lit up when he saw the speaker. \"Sabrina,\" he said, and hint of lust in his tone. He loosened his grip on Blaine, who slid down the wall he had been pinned against.

Surge advanced on Sabrina. Another woman might have been afraid of the large man, but Sabrina remained still, watching him approach. He towered over her, the top of her head barely reaching his chest. She glared up at him defiantly.

\"I\'ve always wanted you,\" he said to her.

\"And I have always detested you,\" she told him calmly.

Surge\'s eyes flashed dangerously. \"I\'ll show you, you little...\" He raised his huge arm, his hand in the position to backhand her.

\"Hey!\" Blaine cried, his voice horse, as he rubbed his raw throat.

Surge stopped his hand, inches from Sabrina\'s face, who, he was not pleased to see, hadn\'t even flinched. He lowered his arm, a small smile forming on his chiseled face. \"You\'re right. There\'s another way to solve this.\" His face broke into a full grin and he began to loosen his belt buckle.

Erika finally spoke. \"Surge, I know you feel the need to rape every female you see, but we really don\'t have time for this.\"

He glared at her. \"It won\'t take long,\" he growled. \"Keep Blaine out of my way.\"

Blaine finally stood up from his slumped position on the floor and was angrily getting ready to attack the much larger man.

Erika rolled her eyes at Surge, then moved over to keep Blaine in his place, her green kimono shifting slightly as she walked.

Blaine glared at her. \"Fire against grass, huh?\"

She nodded smiling. \"Grass and water and electricity,\" she said, gesturing to the Team Rocket members around her.

Blaine shrugged. \"I haven\'t had a good battle in a while.\"