Doctor Doom travels through Kanto with a Magikarp as his starter

In March of 2011 Sir Chris decided to write a story about THE GLORY OF DOOM!

Story
1: Arrival

Doctor Doom got tired of ruling over his own world so he decided that becoming a Pokemon Master would be a good way to spend a week or two.

However, what he did not know is that by the time he had gotten in on the craze almost every other Pokemon had been chosen already by the various other trainers.

Only two were left. A Chansey and a Magikarp. He stared deep into Chansey's eyes and saw nothing but perfectly stupid bliss staring back at him. He was not pleased. Then he stared into the eyes of Magikarp and it was there that he saw it. A rage that matched his own, a rage that empowered Magikarp to reach for great heights.

Doom picked Magikarp and asked Professor Oak what moves it knew. When Oak explained that it only knew splash, and then what splash was. Doom frowned harshly.

Oak would pay for this treachery.

2: Problem

Doctor Doom whistled a merry tune as the Pokemon Lab burned in the background. Professor Oak's charred body laid in the center of the building. Death was a good start to any day. Doom looked at his newly acquired bag and saw that he had several Pokeballs at his disposal as well as some sort of primitive computer used to scan and catalog Pokemon. This could be useful, Doom thought. ''Although... with a few minor adjustments, perhaps.''

After a few additions Doom put his Pokedex of Doom into a pocket.

Doctor Doom put Magikarp into a Pokeball and started onto the first route.

Immediately upon entering some knee high grass a Pokemon appeared. The good doctor whipped out his Pokedex of Doom and aimed it at the Pokemon.

"Rattata. The useless pokemon. You are going to see a lot of these, might as well capture this one and destroy the entire population later so that you may sell it off for a nice profit."

Doom rubbed his chin. That was a good idea.

Doom threw the Pokeball containing Magikarp and saw the Pokemon flop in a pathetic fashion on the ground.

"Magikarp use... tackle!"

Magikarp continued to flop on the ground.

'Magikarp use... flail!"

Nothing.

"Magikarp use... Splash!"

Magikarp bounced three inches into the air before resuming his useless flopping.

Meanwhile, the wild Rattata struck Magikarp with its head causing Magikarp to fly back into Doom. Although it was injured, it was not quite out for the count yet.

"Oh for fuck's sake, must I do everything?'

Doctor Doom stalked over to the Rattata and punched it right in the face. The rat fell to the ground and tried to get up, but it was unable to do so. Satisfied, Doom tossed a Pokeball and waited for it to tick three times. Rattata had been caught.

Doom renamed Rattata fittingly.

"Richards"

Doom smirked. How witty of him.

3: Triumph

Doctor Doom continued on the path. This was dreadfully boring.

Suddenly, a wild Pidgey attacked!

Doom thought over his options. He knew the Rattata he had punched earlier was useless in its condition. Similarly, his Magikarp was useless in any condition. It was possible that since his Pokemon were doing poorly that escape was the best option.

Someone should have told Pidgey, however, that Doom does not flee!

Doom snapped his fingers and the Pidgey exploded into a creative blend of blood and feathers. A slight dinging sound could be heard for a moment as Doctor Doom felt his already considerable powers grow ever so slightly.

Doom clinched his fists and a wide smile made its way on his face. Or at least, I think it did.

"Doom triumphs! Doom ALWAYS triumphs!"

4: Money

Doctor Doom strode into Viridian City. Staring back at him was a Pokecenter.

Time to heal these useless tools.

Doom strode into the building and stopped in front of Nurse Joy.

The pink-haired woman tilted her head for a moment in clear confusion before greeting the god known as Doom.

"Hello, welcome to the Pokemon Center! I'll heal your Pokemon right up," Nurse Joy said with a smile adorning her face.

Doom eyed her curiously for a moment before shrugging. She seemed harmless enough. He handed over his two Pokeballs and watched critically as she put them into a machine. After a few moments she was done and handed Doom back his balls.

"How much do I owe?" Doom readied his magic but stopped as Joy shook her head.

"There is no charge! We are glad to offer this service for free!"

"Are you now?"

After brainwashing Joy into charging ¥100 per a Pokemon per a visit and directly funneling it into his private bank, Doom set off to battle this supposed tough guy Gym Leader.

The day of the Magikarp was nearly at hand.

5: Rules

Doom marched up to the Gym and saw that his path was blocked by a middle-aged man wearing a severe expression on his face.

The man looked at Doom and put his hand in front of him and spoke.

"Halt! The Gym Leader is not currently in. No one is allowed in-"

Doom casually waved his hand and the arm that was extended in front of the man was blown off at the elbow as the man screamed in agony. Doom looked down at the man in disgust.

"Doom does not take orders, he gives them. Now run along. That is your order from Doom."

The man tried to stop the bleeding as he scrambled to his feet and hopped over the ledge screaming as he did so.

Doom shrugged. Pain tolerance lessons tended to be painful.

Doom entered the gym.

A man in his early twenties was the first to greet Doom.

"How dare you enter our sacred gym! I will defeat you in place of our revered Gym Leader!"

Doom rolled his eyes. He paused as surprisingly catchy and tense music started to be pumped through the room.

Well that's new.

The man threw his Pokeball and a Nidoking popped out.

"Nidoking!"

Doom took out one of his balls and threw it. His Magikarp soon revealed itself.

It flopped on the ground.

Both the opposing trainer and his Nidoking chuckled at the sight.

Doom did not. "I do believe this battle is officially underway by the rules and guidelines suggested in the official Gym Leader Challenge Booklet. Is this correct?"

The trainer seemed taken aback for a moment before he nodded.

"This makes it simple, then."

Doom, quicker than either opposing trainer or Pokemon could react, dived for his Magikarp and grabbed it by the tail. In one swift motion he imbued his Magikarp with ancient magic and swung it with great strength at the Nidoking. The poor Nidoking never stood a chance. The force of Doom's magic combined with the bony structure of Magikarp sent Nidoking flying into a wall, instantly knocking out the large Pokemon.

"Hey!, that's cheating!" The other trainer accused.

Doom gazed upon the other trainer with absolute loathing.

"Doom always obeys the rules. Because Doom is the rules!" Doom threw Magikarp at the trainer scoring a clean hit to the young man's head. The hit killed him on the spot.

Doom waited a moment and suddenly both himself and Magikarp were surrounded by several glowing lights indicating that they had both leveled up considerably.

Just as planned.

--

Doctor Doom swept through the gym with ease until he reached an older gentleman sipping on some tea while staring at him calmly. The other trainers had gotten out of Doom's way after he had shut off their foolish mechanisms, but this man seemed to be unafraid.

"You dare attempt to get in Doom's way?"

The man smiled and sat his tea down on his plate.

"I would not dream of it. However if you are here for the Gym Leader, he is not currently in and he is the only one who can give you the badge. No, I would say that I am in fact saving your time. You should move on to Pewter City which is north of here to obtain your first badge.

Doom's eyes narrowed.

"You do not have the proper fear of Doom. However, the only thing Doom detests more than foolish and unwarranted pride is wasting Doom's time." Doom turned on his heel and his cloak billowed in the air behind him.

Upon exiting the Gym Doctor Doom made his way north. Without breaking stride he snapped his fingers and the gym behind him was rocked with several magical explosions, surely killing everyone inside.

Doom does not waste time.

Doctor Doom was about to enter Viridian Forest when an old man stopped him.

"Wait just a moment! Allow me to show you how to capture Pokemon," the main said to Doom.

Doom looked down at his belt to his two used Pokeballs and back up to the old man.

"Clearly I already know how to capture Pokemon seeing as I already have one. Do not attempt to impede Doom."

"Nonsense, now let's take this weedle over here and-"

Doom snapped his fingers and the man had disappeared to an alternate dimension.

The man turned around and in horror saw two weedle-like figures, although they towered aboved him and had humanoid features such as distinct arms and legs.

"Oh look, a human! OK Johnny, let me teach you how to capture a human. Humanball, go!"

The man screamed in horror as a huge ball made its way towards him.

Doom, meanwhile, was a few steps from the forest when someone called out to him.

"Imagine seeing you here, Victor."

Doom's eyes narrowed.

Richards!



Doctor Doom turned around to see the smiling face of his oldest and greatest nemesis, Reed Richards known otherwise as Mr. Fantastic, standing in front of him. Doom hadother names for the man. "What are you doing here, Richards?"

"Well, it is simple really. I had no interest in this world until I found out from a future form of myself that you had come here and caused some unspecified amount of harm to the timeline of this and other worlds. Taking it upon myself to right this wrong, I myself traveled to the past to prepare myself for this trip. Either by coincidence or extreme luck I ended up in an alternate universe of the past where this world was nothing more than a popular video game series and a popular brand name based out of the country of Japan. Using the material to my advantage I abandoned my plan to contact my alternate universe self. That was probably for the because seeing as he was eating my family or something as a zombie, I didn't stick around long enough to get the details. I did grab a Gameboy and a copy of Pokemon Red, however. I played the game forty times, memorized every last detail about the world, speculated about how the technology would work and how I could improve it, and when I had thought of everything I created a dimensional warping machine and traveled here to the exact precise moment I know you would arrive, but at a different location. In short, I am here to challenge you to a Pokemon battle, Victor."

In short?

Doom readied to use a magical blast to destroy Richards but the man wagged his finger at Doom.

"Ready to admit that I bested you fair and square, Victor? Can't beat me in a battle of Pokemon?"

Doom growled.

"Richards, I accept your challenge. This will just be one more thing I do better than you! Go, Magikarp!" Magikarp came out of his Pokeball and stared blankly at Richards. Nothing new there.

"A Magikarp, eh? Very well, I should have something to counter that..." Richards reached to his belt and revealed that he had 7 Pokeballs with him.

"I thought the limit on Pokemon was 6, cheating already, Richards?"

"I prefer to think of it as upgrading existing technology for the betterment of all. Once this becomes widespread there will never be a need to limit how many Pokemon you have at once again. I would have thought you'd have done it before me, but even genius is not limitless. Right, Victor?"

Richards!

Richards chose his Pokeball and threw it. With a mighty roar a huge bird appeared in front of Doom. He whipped out his Pokedex of Doom.

"Zapdos, the legendary bird of thunder. Said to be able to kill a level five Magikarp forty million times over. Thor would politely clap at the bird's ability to dish out death by electricity."

Doom sighed.

"And how did you manage to get that thing?"

Richards smirked.

"Well I knew the electric power plant was having trouble due to my prior knowledge of the games, so I outfitted them with all new generators and upgraded their technology so much that Zapdos' hiding place was discovered. I used the mystical arts that Doctor Strange taught me to communicate with him and tell him how much destruction you would wrought if not stopped. He was glad to be of service."

"Doom bows to nothing! Not even so called legends! Magikarp, splash!"

"Zapdos, Thunder."

Both Magikarp and Doom were hit with a terribly powerful blast of electricity.

Doom Whited Out!

Doctor Doom woke up groggily with his mind-slave at his side.

"Master, I have returned your pokemon to full health . I hope to see you again," Joy said with a slight blush on her face.

Doom ignored her and got to his feet. "!"

"Master, are you alright?"

Doom turned to the woman.

"I am much better now than I was a moment ago, at least." Doom paused for a moment before he spoke again. "I will need your finest laboratory. I have work to conduct."

"This way, master."

Doom entered the Lab and saw nothing but old equipment that was useless to him.

"Nurse Joy."

"Yes, master?"

"Is there a way for me to order equipment?"

"Of course, master."

"And what is the private bank account I told you to set up currently at?"

"24,000,000 currency, sir."

Doom turned around to look at Joy.

"Excuse me?"

"Well you see sir, us Joys have what you would call a hivemind. Since you gave me instructions, all of the Joys around the world obeyed it. Since we have a complete monopoly on Pokemon healing everyone had no choice but to accept the fee. You will probably be the richest person in the world by the end of the week."

Doom IS money!

---

Doctor Doom held up his Rattata, the one named Richards, to his face.

"It it time you resemble me moreso than your namesake, Richards."

"tata."

"Mmm...quite."

Doom dropped the rat onto his newly built 20 million currency workbench and began to labor on his Pokemon.

Soon, soon Richards would be as elegant as his master.

After a few hours of work Doctor Doom had emerged from the Pokecenter with everything he thought he would need for his journey. Richards had made one thing perfectly clear: The man was a cheater. Well, if Richards wanted to cheat then Doom knew one thing for certain: He was going to be better than Richards at it.

Doom finally entered the Viridian Forest and entered the tall grass. He roamed for a few moments before a Pokemon emerged ready to attack.

The Pokedex of Doom spoke.

"Beedrill, the Drill Pokemon. Whatever god created this thing was a genius. A bee with drills for arms is simply a marvelous way to spend one's creative time. You should catch this one."

Doom nodded in agreement with his own alter-ego.

"Go, Rattata!"

The Pokemon jumped out of its Pokeball with menace in its eyes. The Pokemon couldn't be blamed. Despite three Pokecenter heals by Joy it was still in a considerable amount of pain. Its jaws had been replaced with some sort of metal alloy which shone brightly with the sun just overhead, and its two buck teeth had been replaced with a similar looking alloy which was now twice as long as the previous teeth and looking razor sharp.

Beedrill seemed unsure of itself as it gazed at the Pokemon.

Doom smiled. This was going well.

"Richards, use bite!"

Rattata shot forward faster than should have been possible for its species, thanks to Doom's cocktail of drugs it had been given, and bit Beedrill's left drill clean off causing the bug Pokemon's blood to splatter all over the tall grass.

Well that was effective

Doom casually tossed a Pokeball and Beedrill did not so much as twitch inside of it once it had been caught.

Doom walked over and, without breaking stride, picked up the Pokeball and continued deeper into the forest.

This day, like every other day forward, would be Doom's.

Doctor Doom continued through the forest as if he owned it. In fact, if he could manage to avoid the temptation to burn it to the ground for his entire journey to Pewter City he would probably own it by the end of the week.

Suddenly, a trainer popped out of from the tall grass and pointed his finger at Doom.

"I am Bug Catcher Charlie, I am a master of bug Pokemon! Go, Caterpie!"

The Pokedex of Doom came to life.

"Caterpie, the useless bug Pokemon. There are a lot of these, and they all suck. You should kill it and then make fun of the trainer for having one."

Doom once again found himself nodding at his own alter ego.

"I accept your challenge, Charles. Go, Magikarp!"

The bug catcher laughed. "Magikarp, eh? What a useless Pokemon! You must be a really bad trainer to have that be your starter."

Doom's eyes narrowed.

"Magikarp, Hydro Pump!" The Bug Catcher closed his eyes and covered head with his arms bracing for the impact.

Just as planned.

Doom ran up to his Magikarp and kicked it as hard as he could do, sending it hurtling into the Caterpie. With a cry of dismay the Caterpie could do nothing but watch as Magikarp came towards it. With a thunk the Magikarp Missile hit Caterpie, knocking it out instantly.

The Bug Catcher opened his eyes to see his Pokemon knocked out and glared at Doom.

"You had to cheat! Besides, Magikarp doesn't even learn Hydro Pump! You tricked me!"

Doom glared at the whiny man.

"First you laugh at my chosen Pokemon, and when it is victorious you make up excuses for your own failure. You are weak, Charles! As for the accusation of cheating..." Doom raised his hand and summoned Magikarp into his hand as he strode towards Charlie.

The trainer immediately knew he was in trouble by the dangerous look in Doom's eyes.

"Look, I am sorry! Here, take my 90 bucks for beating me! I am so sorry!"

Doom reached the boy and looked down at him like a King would the lowliest peasant.

"I do not care for your pitiful amount of money, nor do I care for your fear induced apologies. I only need one thing from you and that is understanding. I will spare your life, Charles. However, in return, you shall pass a message throughout this land in my name so that I do not have the tedious task of repeating myself. Are you ready to hear this message?"

"Y-yes."

Doom brought down the magically hardened Magikarp down on Charlie's knee causing him to scream out in pain.

"Doom!"

Crack. A bone crunching hit to the arm.

"Doom!"

Pop. A hit that dislocated a shoulder.

"Doom!"

Crunch. A hit that broke three ribs as it tore into Charlie's midsection.

"DOOM!"

Doom delivered a backhanded Magikarp slap to the boy's skull which knocked him out. Doom had lived up to his word; the boy would not die by his hands. If he were to be eaten by wild Pokemon, so be it. It wasn't like he couldn't find a new messenger.

Doom gazed into the eyes of Magikarp and saw its rage simmering just below the surface of its blank expression.

"Yes, my friend, I know. You yearn to be strong. Stick with Doom, and Doom shall provide. Doom always provides."

"Karp. Karp. Magikarp."

Doctor Doom continued through the forest unimpeded. While Charlie would need to spread word of his deeds far and wide the small forest already knew to stay out of Doom's way.

He was almost to the outer edge of the forest when a small noise came from some grass off to his left.

"Pika-pika."

Doom turned towards the noise and saw a very small yellow rodent. Doom took out the Pokedex of Doom and pointed it at the rat.

"Pikachu, the mascot Pokemon. While most Pikachu are completely unremarkable one out of every billion is powerful enough to take out things that shouldn't be effected by electric attacks, dragon-types, and even legendary Pokemon. It is worth a shot!"

Doom rubbed his chin.

"A shot? I suppose. Go, Richards!"

Richards came out of his Pokeball and immediately charged at the Pikachu.

Pikachu tilted his head.

"Chu!"

Pikachu sent out a bolt of electricity and poor Richards never stood a chance. Metal jaw and teeth or not, bolts of electricity still hurt.

Doom sighed and returned the well-done rat to its Pokeball.

Note to self: Install defensive modifications on Richards.

"Go, Magikarp!"

Magikarp came out of its Pokeball in a manner that could only be described as lazy.

"Magikarp, tackle!"

Doom was mildly surprised when the Magikarp actually flung itself at the Pikachu. He was not at all surprised, sadly, when the rodent swatted the useless Pokemon away with its tail playfully.

One does not play with Doom!

Doom went forward and picked up Magikarp. Before the Pikachu could register what was going on it had a flying Magikarp to contend with.

It was a critical hit!

Pikachu stumbled around after being hit by the Magikarp. The hit had sent its world spinning.

A moment before it would have otherwise fainted Doom threw a Pokeball at the Pokemon and captured it.

Doom returned Magikarp to its Pokeball and grabbed the newly acquired Pokeball containing Pikachu.

"Mmmm, defiant and proud for one so little, yet like all others you too are nothing but a servant of Doom. I shall name you... Thor. By the time I am done with you little one you will be the slayer of Richards' so called legend. Mwahahahahaha!"

Doctor Doom exited the forest and gazed at Pewter City. The city was the very definition of unimpressive. This was where his journey to destroy the first Gym Leader would begin. First things first though, it was time to make Beedrill whole again.

Doom entered the Pokecenter to be greeted by another Joy. Doom had to commend whoever had done the cloning of this creature, it was up to even his high standards.

"Nurse Joy, here are my Pokemon. They are in need of healing. I shall be taking the one known as Beedrill to the back for some augmentation. Is the lab equipment I shipped over ready as per my specifications?"

"Yes, master."

"Good. Doom rewards good service. Take 100,000 of whatever currency you like and take the day off after my Pokemon have been treated. I need to be alone for what I am going to do to Beedrill."

"Thank you, master."

The truth was he just wanted Joy out of the way and knew it would be suspicious if he just sent her wondering throughout the city. No one would question a woman shopping, both because it was ordinary and because any man would fear being swept away in the torrent.

No one could question Doom's intellect on thissubject.

Doom walked to the back of the Pokecenter and opened the door to his new lab. Eventually he'd have one just like it in every city, but that would take several weeks at least. The lab had everything he needed for any of his projects save for nuclear power, but he knew where to get that if he needed to.

Doom let Beedrill out of his Pokeball and the Pokemon cried out in pain.

"I see. You are in a great amount of pain. Be aware, Beedrill, that no great undertaking was ever successful without a great amount of pain and toil. You do not get anywhere in life by taking easy roads. I shall make you stronger, and the pain you are in will be but a distant nightmare. Believe in Doom, and Doom shall restore you!"

Doom's speech was met with Beedrill's arm shooting out and trying to impale Doom's face

Doom deftly caught it and used his other hand to backhand the Beedrill causing it to bleed. A moment later Beedrill was bound by Doom's magic.

"I suppose it would be better to show you than to try to explain it to your bug brain..."

This particular project took Doom much longer than Richards because of the substance involved. Although the other metal alloy was quite strong, it was also quite common. This, however, he had to ration as much as possible.

Working throughout the night, and with several re-applications of his magic as the Beedrill was in a great amount of pain and had struggled free of it, Doom had finished his work.

"Now, let us see what you can do." Doom threw a steel brick as fast as he could at the Beedrill. A moment before it would have laid the bug Pokemon out a flurry of movement happened and the steel brick fell to the ground in several pieces.

Where there was once a drill for a left arm there was now a thin blade in its place which gleamed with an unnatural quality.

"Yes... the Adamantium fits you nicely, Logan. Nicely indeed. Fwahaha."

Doctor Doom gathered up his now fully healed Pokemon the next day and set off for the gym.

He was almost there when something caught his eye.

Pokemon Museum

Doom rubbed his chin thoughtfully. While he looked forward to destroying this peasant Gym Leader, learning more about the Pokemon world's history could not be a bad thing. Knowledge was power and currently Richards had a very big head start on him on the matter.

Doom entered the Museum and surveyed the scene in front of him. There were many displays with various bones, fossils, and even some monitors showing ancient Pokemon sketches from data gathered.

Out of the corner of his eye Doom noticed a special high security case that contained several shiny looking objects.

Doom likes shinies.

Doom went over to the case and read the plaque below it.

"These are samples of fossils from Pokemon which became extinct a long time ago. From left to right: Kabutops, Omastar, and Aerodactyl. It is believed each of these Pokemon once held tremendous power. How they became extinct is currently unknown."

Doom likes tremendous power.

A man walked up to Doom with a smile on his face.

"Ah, I see you have taken notice of our star attraction. These DNA samples will hopefully one day lead to a breakthrough of Pokemon evolution."

Doom thought that idea was boring. He had a better idea. "When installing this system for security did you ever test its backup generator in case of a fire?"

The man got a puzzled look on his face. "What's a backup generator?"

Two minutes later Doom exited the Museum which was currently burning to the ground, three DNA samples in his bag.

''Doom triumphs. Doom ALWAYS triumphs.''

--

Doctor Doom marched to the Gym and pushed the doors open. The inside of the Gym was dark with huge rocks scattered throughout the landscape. Doom entered the gym and was mildly surprised when the doors slammed shut behind him. Doom would have been worried if it wasn't for the fact that he was Doom, and Doom does not worry.

"Yo, champ in the making!"

Doom turned to face a man who was wearing sunglasses in the dimly lit gym.

"And you are...?"

"Who I am is not important. What IS important, however, is your journey through the Pokemon League, which starts right here! Brock, the Gym Leader, specializes in Rock type Pokemon. Water and Grass are your best bets."

Doom considered killing the man, but for once couldn't rationalize it. Instead, he continued to walk further into the Gym until a young boy stood in his way. How stupid of the boy.

"I won't let you go any further! You are still light years away from being able to face Brock!"

Doom never broke his stride as he continued to walk towards the trainer.

"Hey! Stop! You are light years away from being able to face Brock!"

Doom extended his right hand and the boy was lifted off of his feet and began to emit choking sounds as Doom's hand slowly closed. "Time, nor distance, are a matter of concern to one such as I. However, you have wasted my time. This is unfortunate for you. In repayment I shall take your Pokemon now." Doom summoned the trainer to him and grabbed the Pokeball off his belt before releasing terrified trainer from his magic.

"Y-you can't have...Sandshrew..."

Doom kicked him in the head and he fell to the ground clearly knocked out.

Doom was about to say something about how awesome he was when a voice interrupted him.

"That wasn't very sporting of you, y'know."

Doom looked up to see a stern looking young man glaring at him. Unlike every other trainer he had faced he seemed to have a quiet confidence about him.

"I suppose you would be the gym leader?"

"Yes. My name is Brock, and I like Pokemon made of rock. I've heard about some of your exploits around town already and have decided not to go easy on you like I usually do with new trainers. Prepare to face the full wrath of Pewter City's best!"

Doom always did like futile defiance. This ought to be fun.

A man with two flags, one green and one red, stood on a balcony as the field began to shift. After a moment a rectangular field marked with chalk lines replaced the normal gym floor.

"This will be a three on three Pokemon battle! The first to lose all three of their Pokemon is the loser! Begin!"

"Go, Onix!"

"Go, Richards!"

Richards hopped out of his Pokeball and glared menacingly. This glare lasted only until Onix materialized from its Pokeball. The very large rock snake roared at the Rattata causing it to run behind Doom for its life.

Doom sighed and took out his Pokedex of Doom.

"Onix, the rock snake Pokemon. It is very big, very hard, and its tail slamming into the ground can cause tremors. It hurts to be hit by one."

"Richards, stop failing! Get in there!" Doom picked up the rat and threw it towards the Onix.

Onix, not missing a beat, lashed its tail out at the still airborne Rattata. With a thud Richards was slammed against a wall and clearly knocked out.

"Rattata cannot continue!"

Doom twitched.

As useless as the man you are named after still I see...

"Go, Magikarp!"

Magikarp came out of its Pokeball and flopped on the ground for a moment. Then another moment. It continued this for some time as Onix watched in a seemingly bemused state.

"Magikarp, tackle!"

Magikarp heeded its owner's wish and rammed itself into the Onix.

It knocked itself out.

"Magikarp cannot go on!"

Brock was smirking opposite of Doom.

"It seems you aren't so tough when you are being confronted! You should just give up and spare your pathetic Pokemon more punishment. You are worthless as a Pokemon trainer!"

Doom went rigid at Brock's words. His eyes narrowed, his face contorted with the fury that only Doom was capable of feeling.

"My Pokemon may be pathetic but it is not your place to judge them. Only I as their master have that right! Arrogant little worm, you believe you have toppled what has taken years to be built! You believe yourself greater than Doom, smarter than Doom, more worthy of victory than Doom. You are none of the above! Nothing is greater than Doom, no one is smarter than Doom, and no one, absolutely no one, is more worthy of victory than Doom! Doom is victory, and it is time I show one as lowly as yourself your place in this world, as well as the next! Go, Logan!"

Doom flung his Pokeball as hard as he could and Logan the Beedrill popped out, its new metallic blade gleaming even in the relative darkness of the gym.

Doom was pissed.

Things died when Doom was pissed.

Doctor Doom was angry.

Brock glared at Doom. He was clearly unimpressed by the speech.

"Onix! Tackle!"

The gigantic Pokemon rumbles forward and with a quickness that was uncanny for a big rock, it slammed itself forward trying to crush Logan the Beedrill."

"Dodge," Doom said simply.

Logan moved in a blur to barely escape the huge rock pokemon's fury. Dust flew into the air from the impact and obscured vision in the surrounding area.

Doom did not need vision.

"Attack," Doom said simply, although with more than touch of malice in his voice.

Several sounds were heard within the dust that the gym was covered in, various clangs and the sound of metal clashing with rock. After a few moments there was nothing. The dust started to clear to reveal Onix.

Or more precisely, the pieces of Onix. Its head was a few yards away from the rest of its segmented body which had been carved into five similarly sized pieces.

Beedrill stood by the head with its blade for a left arm dripping with a dark substance that was surely the blood of the now dead Onix.

"Onix! No!" Brock cried out in anguish.

"Next."

Doctor Doom waited patiently for the crying Brock to choose his next Pokemon. Tears from the weak were always ever so delicious. Although not filling. To get full, Doom would soon feast on the remains of all three of Brock's Pokemon. Figuratively, of course.

"Figuratively."

Brock wiped away the tears away from his eyes and selected his second Pokemon.

"Go! Golem!"

The round rock Pokemon rolled out of its ball before coming to a stop about twenty feet in front of Logan.

"Attack," Doom said once again.

Logan blurred out of sight and appeared in front of Golem and slashed its blade vertically in an attempt to cleave the golem in two.

Golem reached out its hand and stopping Beedrill's motion at its shoulder causing the blade to stop just inches short of its head.

"Golem use Seismic Toss!" Golem slammed its body into Beedrill's and tiny arms to hold Logan in place.

"...Drill?" Was all Logan could say before Golem jumped fifteen feet into the air and slammed them both into the ground with tremendous force.

Golem jumped back and watched with satisfaction as Logan had trouble fighting off the attack, although it did stand back up even while dazed.

Doom gave his Beedrill a look of contempt.

"Attack well," Doom corrected himself.

Logan nodded to his master and turned around to face Golem in a way that could only be described as a Beedrill death glare. Then it was gone from sight once again.

"Ready yourself, Golem!" Brock shouted at his Pokemon.

Logan appeared once again and did the same slashing motion as before.

Golem went to intercept the arm but was surprised to find itself grasping at air. A feint. A moment later it became more surprised as its right arm had been cut off by Logan's blade.

Logan took advantage of its opponent's momentary surprise and slashed off its other arm. Golem was crying out from the pain, it was overloading its normal keen senses. Beedrill, not satisfied with the work it had done, dove down to the ground and with one clean sweeping motion had cut both of Golem's legs clean off. The Golem screamed in agony as Brock gritted his teeth, his face pale with fury.

"Next." Doctor Doom was now supremely confident.

"No," Brock said.

Doom raised an eyebrow at the main.

"Excuse me?" Doom was mystified how the man could give such terrible one-liners and be this bad at Pokemon battling. Did the gym leader punk want Doom to kill his stupid Golem as well?

"There isn't going to be a next. Golem! Explosion!"

Doctor Doom's eyes widened. Doom liked explosions, but only when he created them.

"Logan! Run!" was all Doom had the time to say as Golem lit up a bright white and a huge explosion filled the gym soon after.

Doctor Doom shielded himself with his cloak as the debris flew round everywhere. He did not know what he had been expecting, but for the Pokemon to actually blow itself up to try to take out his Beedrill was not it.

Doom wants one.

Doom uncovered his face and blinked rapidly as the dust tried to settle into his eyes. After a few moments he spotted Brock's Golem on the ground, still alive. Doom was shocked. It blew itself up and survived.

Doom really wants one.

Doom scanned the gym and finally found Logan out of the corner of his eye. Logan was bleeding from several large gashes all over its body and its drill on his right arm was now severed, and the stump was bleeding profusely. Beedrill's body was swaying, and although it was not yet knocked out, it looked almost dead.

"Return, Golem! Go! Rhydon!"

Golem returned to its Pokeball only to be replaced by an even angrier looking rock type. The Rhydon stared at Beedrill like the bug was its next meal, and the drill on its head began to spin as it charged at the exhausted bug Pokemon.

"Logan! Dodge!"

Logan, however, did not have the energy left to dodge and barely had time to avoid all of the damage before getting hit on the side and being slammed against a rock pillar.

"It seems you are at the end of your rope!" Brock's taunt caused Doom to clinch his fist.

Rhydon charged at Logan once again.

"Doom has no end to his rope. Logan, double team!" Beedrill executed the move just in time as Rhydon crashed into crashed into one of Logan's copies.

"Rhydon! Keep attacking them, you'll hit the real one eventually!"

And so Rhydon kept going, one by one until there were only two Beedrills left.

"This is your final defeat! You will know the fury of the Pokemon League! Rhydon! The one on the left is the real one, HORN DRILL!" Rhydon's horn began to spin even faster as he charged the one on the left. Brock was correct, this was indeed the real Logan.

"Doom knows every word in the English dictionary save one, Brock of Pewter City, and that word is defeat! Logan! Show this peasant DOOM!"

Rhydon charged recklessly at the Beedrill, its sight set on impaling the Beedrill's skull for the knockout blow. Rhydon leaped into the air and came down on Beedrill with all of its momentum and power.

Dust kicked up from its landing, but only for a moment, and when the dust settled the scene was revealed.

Beedrill's head was bleeding from Rhydon's drill, which had lodged itself a good inch into his skull. If Beedrill survived, it would be lucky. However, there was no questioning Rhydon's state. Beedrill had stabbed through Rhydon's neck all the way to and out of the back of Rhydon's head, surely killing it instantly. Beedrill took shaky step back and withdrew his blade from Rhydon's head as the big rock Pokemon fell to the ground dead.

"No! This can't be possible! How can such a monster beat me!" Brock screamed in agony as he fell to his knees whilst throwing a Boulder Badge at Doom's feet. Doom picked up the shiny. What a quaint reward.

"Rhydon cannot go on, the winner is... er, what's your name?"

"Doom."

"The winner is Doom!"

"Yes, because the winner is ALWAYS Doom, and shall forever be Doom! Fret not, pathetic gym leader, you are merely the first to fall beneath my might!" Doom returned Logan to his Pokeball and exited the gym. After Logan recovered he would be treated to another round of steroids. Doom rewarded those that did well by him.

Doctor Doom walked into the Pokecenter and gave Joy his Pokemon. They ranged from injured and exhausted to nearly dead.

"Your Beedrill is hurt very badly master, it looks like it expended the last of its energy in your service. It must really care for you." Doom remained silent, having nothing to say to such a statement. It did not matter if they obeyed him out of love, respect, or fear. As long as they obeyed, whatever useless emotion that was behind it served him just fine.

"How long will it take for it to heal?"

"At least a week. It sustained major injuries."

"Very well, I will be in my Laboratory, update me when required." Doom swept out of the room and entered the long hallway to his lab. Once there, he took off his mask and sat down at his workbench. It had been a very tiring battle, one he had not expected to be challenging. Doom was mighty, but Doom was also intelligent. He knew that if he was going to conquer this world via Pokemon mastery he would need to improve the abilities of the Pokemon he already had as well as capture new, more powerful species. Doom was unafraid of hard work. Rome was not built in a day, and any empire that was deserved to be torn down as quickly as it had been built. Foundations were the key. Doom thought back over his team and knew the foundations of it already. Logan and Magikarp. Logan had a killer instinct and a great willpower. Doom had chosen his name wisely. Magikarp, on the other hand, was nothing but untapped potential. However, that potential would need to be unlocked. Nothing with that much rage inside of it could ever be thought to be useless, though. Anyone who laughed at his companion now would regret it soon enough, Doom just knew it.

Doom had a frustrating few days after his victory over the Pewter City Gm Leader, Brock. He had been informed that the parts required to recreate Pokemon from their DNA samples were not sold, for any price, and could only be found in the Cinnabar Island Research Lab, and one was only permitted on the Island after receiving six gym badges as a clearance measure. These prehistoric Pokemon would have to wait for another day, sadly.

The week passed quickly with Doom training his other Pokemon to the extreme, each of them improving in many ways. Doom was pleased when he set off for Mt. Moon with his freshly healed Beedrill.

Doctor Doom marched towards Mt. Moon with a sense of purpose. He had thought of a clever plan, and that was saying something coming from him.

A young boy stood in his path.

"I challenge you to a battle!"

"Doom has no time for the likes of you."

The boy began to protest when Doom backhanded him to the ground and carried on his way, leaving the boy crying on the ground.

Doom continued to march on when a shout came from behind him.

"Hey! I saw you slap that young boy! You can't just slap people!" Doom glanced over his shoulder to see a hiker approaching him with a look of anger on his face.

Doom sneered. "You should mind your own business. No one in the history of humanity has ever benefited from placing themselves in a situation on behalf of another."

"We'll see about that! Go, Onix!"

Doom reached to his belt for Logan, and then reconsidered.

Doom is plotting...

"Go! Magikarp!"

Magikarp burst out of its Pokeball and flopped on the ground.

"Karp. Karp. Magikarp."

The hiker laughed. "Sending out that little nothing versus my mighty Onix? You are as stupid as you are cruel!"

Doom's eyes narrowed to slits. "Doom awaits those that question my intellect, pleb."

The Hiker laughed again. "I don't know what that means, but it won't matter! Tackle, Onix!"

"Attack well, Magikarp."

With a quickness never seen before in a Magikarp, the Magikarp shot at the Onix and hit it midair just as the Onix was going for its tackle. Onix wore a stunned expression for a moment before it collapsed on the ground, knocked out. Magikarp flopped on the ground beside it.

"Karp. Karp. Magikarp." Magikarp was happy.

The Hiker returned the Onix to its Pokeball and ran away from Doom muttering about the monster Magikarp as he did so.

Doom turned to the Magikarp.

"Excellent."

Doctor Doom marched forward and it wasn't long before the towering Mt. Moon had extended its shadow over Doom. Doom did not mind the sudden lack of sunlight as he was capable of fighting in the shade. A sudden breeze rushed throughout the route and the grass swayed at its whim. Doom, however, is not swayed by anything. Doom continued his trek up the mountain until he came to the entrance to the heart of Mt. Moon which was said to be a huge cave. At least, that's what the tourist pamphlet he robbed from an old lady said.

However, the mountain itself was not Doom's objective at the moment. His goal was the Pokecenter by the entrance.

Doom entered the building with his usual sinister swagger and walked up to the Joy in charge.

"How did the operation go?" Doom questioned.

"Just as you said it would, master. The joy in Cinnabar Island was able to successfully kidnap a scientist's family and hold them hostage. He quickly agreed to hand over the fully functioning machine in exchange for their safety."

When Doom had thought to himself that his ancient Pokemon would have to wait for another day, obviously speaking he had meant "the next day" because as previously discussed Doom does not waste time. To add to that, Doom does not wait either.

Ever.



{C}Doctor Doom was angry. As mentioned several times already Doom does not like to waste time. There was a random salesman in front of Doom. Doom did not like salesman either. They were useless, thought they were sly like Doom, and usually sold nothing useful. "Get out of my way before I crush you," Doom said.

The salesman didn't even bat an eyelash.

"Well before you go about your business of crushing me I'd just like to give you the opportunity of a lifetime to own your very own Magikarp! For this limited time offer I can give it to you for 500 bucks!"

Doom raised an eyebrow. A chance to own two Magikarp? Doom was interested. "Can I see the specimen you have?"

The Magikarp salesman was a bit taken aback. No one had ever taken him seriously before. The man shrugged and took out the Pokeball containing the Magikarp and threw it into the air. A moment later a Magikarp was flopping on the ground uselessly, saying its own name as it did so.

Doom bent down and looked the Magikarp in the eyes. He had expected to see the same rage and hatred he had seen in his own Magikarp. Instead, he saw a docile look in its eyes. Its rage, if it had ever been there, had been broken.

"What have you done to this Magikarp? Where is its natural rage? Where is its potential?"

The Salesman was utterly confused by the questions. "I have no idea what you are talking about. Magikarp are the weakest, most pathetic and benign Pokemon in existence. Why did you expect anything?"

Doom took a Pokeball from his belt and released his own Magikarp.

"Doom has no weak Pokemon! Magikarp, tackle!" Magikarp tackled the salesman against the wall which broke the man's spine. He was dead within moments.

Doom gazed down at the weak and pitiful Magikarp at his feet.

"You are weak as you are now and your will is broken. Fear not, however. Doom is patient. Doom is ever patient." With those words he returned Magikarp to his Pokeball and continued on to Mt. Moon.

Doctor Doom breathed in the fresh mountain air. How disgusting. When he eventually conquered this world with his unrivaled skill and intellect, he would turn this mountain into Mount Doom. Instead of fresh mountain air, he would construct a river that would be filled with the blood of his fallen foes and their Pokemon. At the mouth of the river there would be a machine which turned the blood into vapor so that whenever Doom took a deep breath at Mount Doom he would breathe in the spoils of a past victory.

Mount Doom, just like Doom himself, would be victory.

Doom trekked to the mouth of Mt. Moon's twisting caves when he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Hi! I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!"

Doom turned around and could not help but to raise an eyebrow.

"Really? Of all of the things you could have chosen to say to an opponent before engaging them in a Pokemon duel to the death, you choose to discuss how you like shorts? You have chosen badly."

The young boy blinked. "Mister, Pokemon battles aren't to the death. Listen, I've seen things you wouldn't believe. From people who took weeks to beat Brock with just a Rattata to a guy who tortured his charmander until it had enough levels to burn Brock's Onix alive. I've seen the deadened look of those Pokemon. I've seen it all, I've seen far too much. So if I want to talk about my mother fucking shorts, and how much I like them, because they are mother fucking comfy, and easy to wear, you are going to shut the fuck up and listen, do you fucking understand?"

Doom was taken aback slightly. He had not expected that. So taken aback, he couldn't even find it within him to be insulted by such obvious insolence.

Oh, no, there it was.

Doom was insulted.

When I get through with this brat he will be lucky if he still has an ass to wear his precious shorts.

--

{C}Doctor Doom reached for a Pokeball and threw it. His Pikachu, Thor, leaped out of its Pokeball.

The Youngster laughed. "A Pikachu? You mock my love of shorts and you send out an unevolved Pokemon? Almost every trainer who beat me on their way past here at least opened with a Butterfree or something. Now I shall show you the power of one who has been loving shorts for thirteen years now! Go, Mer!" The Youngster with a shorts fetish threw his Pokeball and a white and pink Pokemon came out of its Pokeball.

"Wiggly!"

Doom raised an eyebrow as he pointed the Pokedex of Doom at it.

"Wigglytuff, the fabulous Pokemon. It knows no fear and will be itself no matter who is viewing it. Said to be extremely loyal and squishy, it is thought that they give the best hugs. I say kill it and smear its blood on the walls."

The youngster smirked. "Different kinda Pokedex you got there I see. You must be one of Oak's special trainers. Did he fondle you like he did a couple of the others? On second thought, don't answer that. Mer! Take Down!"

The Pink Pokemon charged at Thor with a sudden viciousness.

"Dodge, Thor," Doom commanded.

Just as the Wigglytuff was about to drive itself into Thor the small electric rat dashed out of the way and started to run circles around the Wigglytuff.

The Youngster sneered. "Running away from my Pokemon? What kind of coward are you?" The Youngster had learned many years ago that goading an opponent was an effective way to get inside newbie trainer's heads.

Doom was not a newbie and did not rise to the bait, for he knew that he would be having fried Wigglytuff as a snack in short order.

"Strike down the fool, Thor. Thunderbolt." Pikachu stopped in its tracks and began to pulse with a gross amount of electric power encircling it.

The Youngster's eyes widened. A Pikachu shouldn't be capable of that type of power!

"Run Wiggly! Run!" The Youngster screamed.

Doom cackled.

"You cannot run from DOOM! Now your Wigglytuff shall match your personality: Dead inside!" As if on command Pikachu unleashed its thunderbolt upon the Wigglytuff which screamed in agony as electricity was rammed through its body. A moment later the attack ceased and Wigglytuff's eyes saw no more as its dead body crashed into the ground.

"No! Wiggly! I've had you for ten years. You can't be gone!"

Doom loomed over the boy, who looked up with fear in his eyes.

"Have mercy! I don't have any other Pokemon!"

"I shall grant you mercy, poor trainer." Doom smiled down at the boy.

The boy sighed in relief.

Doom's smile turned into a snarl. "Compared to your miserable existence, Doom is mercy!"

The boy screamed as Doom's magic closed in around him.

The statue of a youngster became a popular landmark to visit for passing trainers on their way to Mt. Moon. The only thing out of place was the statue's shorts, which were around the boy's ankles as if someone had pants'd the statue. Such a thing was impossible, of course.

Doctor Doom blinked twice to regain his vision as he entered the first dark cavern of Mount Moon. Doom had heard a few rumors circulating about the mountain and cute Pokemon that would, on occasion, show up here. If Doom happened upon any of these fairy Pokemon he would either capture or kill them. Doom had no room in his heart for cuteness.

Doom took one step into the cave and suddenly there was a bat in front of him. Doom reached for his Pokedex of Doom and aimed it at the bat.

"Zubat. The annoying Pokemon. The reason for their annoyance cannot be properly expressed in words, so I won't even bother to try." Doom looked down at his Pokedex and then shrugged. Annoyances were not a problem for Doom. Then again, nothing was a problem for Doom. Anything that annoyed Doom would promptly die or, failing that, wish that it had died.

Doom selected a Pokeball from his belt and casually tossed it into the air. Richards the Rattata jumped out of it and snarled at the Zubat. It had taken a couple of days of harsh training and a lot of steroids, but Richards had redeemed himself in the eyes of his master. Richards was now more vicious than ever, and eager to please.

Doom did like eagerness.

"Attack well, Richards," Doom commanded of his Pokemon.

The Zubat never saw the quick attack coming, and it could do nothing to stop the ferocious rat from pounding it into the ground. Richards was going to go for the bat Pokemon's neck when Doom made a motion with his right hand.

"Cease, Richards."

The Rattata obeyed. It knew the price of not obeying Doom.

Doom walked over to the fallen Zubat and nudged it roughly with his boot. The Pokemon made a noise of pain and Doom smirked. "Still alive, that's good." Doom took out an empty Pokeball from his bag and threw it on top of the Zubat. After three ticks the Zubat was caught. Doom was going to give the bat a witty nickname when another Zubat appeared in front of him ready to do battle.

"Another one? Very well, Doom does like battle," Doom said.

Two hours later

Doom was knee deep in the corpses of hundreds of fallen Zubat. Every time he had even thought to take a step in this god-forsaken cave another would appear to challenge him. None had proven to be an actual challenge, but now Doom understood what his Pokedex had meant by annoyance.

Doom took out an electric recorder and turned it on. "Note to self: Commit to genocide against the Zubat population on Wednesday." Doom turned off the record and stuck it back into his bag.

It wouldn't be the first genocide Doom committed to, but it may have been the most deserved.

For the Zubat population it would be the last day of their collective lives. For Doctor Doom, it was simply Wednesday.

Doctor Doom prided himself on the fact that when he set his vast intellect to a task, it either got accomplished or took several powerful and half-witted super hero teams trying extraordinarily hard to undermine him to get in his way. Unless Richards suddenly appeared to stop his plan, he was good.

"RICHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARDS!" Doom yelled into the cave. Doom looked around for a moment to see if his nemesis was around to make some inane comment that didn't make any sense, but the man did not appear. The coast was clear.

Doom took one step forward and yet another zubat appeared in front of him. This time, however, he was ready for it. He reached a gauntlet encased hand forward and savagely brought the Zubat up to his face. The Zubat squirmed in his grasp and cried out in pain, its cries grew weaker however as Doom squeezed harder and the Zubat whimpered in pain. A man with a heart would have realized that Zubat were just protecting their home when they attacked and that they were innocent creatures. Luckily for Doom he was not born with such a defect just squeezed harder until the Zubat finally passed out.

Doom proceeded to reach into his bag and took a syringe out of a metal case. He had spent two days in this cave being as still as possible to not attract any unwanted Zubats while he worked on this chemical. He still had managed to get a few his way every couple of hours though. Richards the Rattata seemed to have developed a taste for live Zubat though and would quickly bite off their heads and devour them. Doom didn't know if he should be worried or pleased, and so chose to be neither.

Doom carefully stuck the needle into the Zubat's neck and emptied the blue liquid into Zubat. Normally when Doom chose to wipe out an entire species he would do it in a bit more of a personal manner. Burn down habitats, laugh evilly as they begged to be spared, the usual fare that went with being a magnificent bastard. However Doom realized that there were several caves in the region, each with zubats in them. This would normally not be a problem except that Doom was on a loose schedule. He did not want Richards to get too far of him and if he was going to overtake his inept rival at being a Pokemon master time was of the essence.

Spending two days in a cave plotting the demise of Zubats was one thing, but it'd take him a month out of his way to go to every cave and do genocide right: With a lot of flames and a lot of sinister laughing. So Doom was going to poison the entire population. Once it was injected into a Zubat it would mix with their body's fluids and it would slowly reproduce itself, disguising itself to the host body as sweat. Once combined with a DNA strand of a species, in this case Zubat, it would become airborne whenever one of them sweat.

All Doom had to do was give the execution signal and the chemical would become instantly toxic to anything of that DNA strand. All thanks to nano-machines.

Doom would triumph over the Zubats. Doom always triumphs.

Doctor Doom sighed. He was growing weary of always being a bad person. His heart had long since began to ache over how he had mistreated those who had done nothing to him throughout the years, and how he had foolishly passed on that hatred to his Pokemon.

He looked down at his Pokeballs. Each contained a creature that should have been his friend, but instead he had foolishly used them as tools. What had he gained through all of the bloodshed? Nothing but a pile of dead bodies and countless regrets.

Doom glanced up to see his rival, Reed Richards, staring at him with knowing eyes.

"It isn't so easy to live an evil life when your mind betrays you, huh Victor?" The words stung Doom more than he ever thought possible. For all of his intellect and sorcery, he was now little more than a broken man.

"Cast your Pokemon aside Victor, it is the only way to set your heart at ease."

Doom sighed. He knew Richards was right. it wasn't very surprising given the fact that Richards had always been the better man between the two of them, he had just been too blinded to admit it.

And so Doom started with Mewtwo, one of his prized Pokemon. He had been able to capture the powerful psychic when he had beaten it in a best of seven series in checkers. Mewtwo had been humbled four games to one, and had joined Doom without question.

Second was Houndoom. It's name was Houndoom, how many amazing puns had Doom been able to make because of this? Doom cried as he released Houndoom.

Down the line he went until he finally got to Magikarp, his most prized Pokemon, his best friend in the world. He and Magikarp had shared so many epic memories together. The threesome with Richards' wife in the astral plane sprang to mind as Doom sighed, boy had that been amusing.

With one last shuddering and emotional breath, Doom released Magikarp.

Doom is April Fool's day.

Doctor Doom strode back to the Mt. Moon Pokecenter after dispatching of the bitter Youngster. It had taken longer than expected to get the boy's blood off of his mask and Doom figured he could advance his research project before setting off into a dark cave.

"Nurse Joy, have the DNA samples been put into the machine?"

The pink-haired woman bowed in reverence. "Yes, master. We altered them specifically how you asked. The prototypes will be ready for viewing in just a few minutes in your lab.

"Good work." Doom swept out of the room and to his study. He had spent hours going over how the Pokemon would turn out when brought back to life and had thought of a few minor modifications to enhance them just how he wanted them.

Pokemon had many special attributes, and it was something that Doom himself was getting used to. Each of these three Pokemon were undoubtedly strong Pokemon suited for combat, but Doom had something more in mind for each of them.

Doom entered his lab and saw that the specimens were ready, all that was required was for him to release them from the chamber. Doom had a wicked grin on his face as he pressed the button. As they came into view he laughed evilly. Yes, his new creations were perfect.

Before him were three very pretty ponies. To be more precise, they were his three favorite ponies from the show My Little Ponies, a show he had loved to watch many years ago.

Doom loved his Ponies.

Doom loved April Fool's Day.

Doctor Doom continued deeper into the cave safe in the knowledge that when that Zubat awoke it would go back to its kind, and then the Zubat populations would eventually intermingle with one another and infect them all.

Wednesday was a good day for Doom. Then again, everyday was a good day for Doom. Because he was Doom, and Doom is good.

Doctor Doom stared at an item on the ground. It was a piece of rope in a thin plastic wrapping that had the word "escape" printed on it just sitting there for the taking. On the one hand, Doom was in need of some rope. Rope was very useful in all manner of ventures. Escaping a cave, climbing back into a cave, fulfilling Richards' wife's erotic fantasies...

On the other hand, Doom had been taught early in life not to trust random objects lying about.

A much younger Doom looked at a cookie on the ground. Young Doom loved cookies. Doom reached for the cookie and was promptly hit with a hot iron to his arm. Doom did not cry out, merely choosing to scowl.

"Now Victor, you know better than to trust objects lying on the ground," a voice admonished from his right.

Doom huffed. "I do as I choose...and I answer to no one!" Doom shouted defiantly.

"Just be in for dinner in five minutes."

"Yes mother."

The present day Doctor Doom rubbed his arm where a scar could be seen whenever he uncovered it. That was then, this was now. Doom wanted the rope, and Doom gets what he wants.

Doom reached out and picked up the rope. After a moment Doom realized nothing bad was going to happen and continued on even deeper into the cave.

Doctor Doom slowly descended down a ladder located in the middle of a cave. The thought occurred to Doom that there being a random ladder located in a hole made inside of a cave didn't make a lot of sense. Caves should not have ladders or be this brightly lit. Random holes in the ground for random passerbys to fall to their death in was, however, acceptable.

Doom stepped down from the ladder and surveyed his surroundings. The cave's structure hadn't changed much from the previous level and whatever wild Pokemon might inhabit the cave seemed to be content to leave Doom be. The scent of Zubat blood must have made them wary of him. Good, let them know that fearing Doom is wise. It is a lesson that all would do well to know.

Doom continued further into the cave until a faint noise caught his attention.

"Clefairy Clefairy Clefairy," a sing-song voice came from just around the corner. Doom followed the sound until he was face to face with a small pink Pokemon. Doom pointed his Pokedex at the small creature.

"Clefairy, the Moon Pokemon. Rumors persist to this day that Clefairy, one of the world's most elusive Pokemon, originally came from the moon. Cutting one open might prove to be useful."

Doom was about to let Logan out to cut up the Pokemon when the Clefairy started to dance.

Before Doom had time to realize what the Clefairy was doing the cave walls around him shifted and he lost his balance causing him to stumble. When Doom looked back up he was outside of the cave at the entrance to the mountain.

Doom's eyes narrowed as he gritted his teeth.

That Pokemon had made a fool of Doom.

This requires blood.

--

{C}Doctor Doom was angry. Bad things were going to happen. Messy, bloody bad things.

As Doom marched back into the depths of Mt. Moon his Pokedex spoke to him.

"Clefairy are known for two moves in particular. The first is encore, which makes the target repeat its previous action repeatedly. The second and more formidable move is Metronome. Very little is known about this move. However, Clefairy can use it with others of its species for great effect. It is speculated that by using Metronome Clefairy can replicate any Pokemon move, although not always with the same skill."

Doctor Doom did not take kindly to, and would never take kindly to, being shown up. This Pokemon, this Clefairy, thought it was different than everything else that had opposed Doom. That had stood in Doom's way. It was not different. Nothing would ever be different. No matter how many mountains Doom would have to climb, no matter how many life forms thought they could stand in the path of his destiny, Doom would always conquer. Doom would always reign supreme. Doom would always be the winner.

And Doom was going to be a Pokemon Master.

Doctor Doom had finally made it back to where he had been before the Clefairy had teleported him to find an interesting sight.

There were now twenty or so Clefairy all sitting around a circle, dancing merrily. Doom did not know if it was specifically at his expense, but he took it as such.

No one does anything at Doom's expense!

Doom walked forward and made his presence known to the Clefairy. Immediately they all began to dance causing Doom to glow for a moment. To the Clefairy's surprise, however, Doom did not go anywhere.

Doom chuckled. It scared the Clefairy. As it should.

"You believed that the same trick would work twice on Doom? No, Doom is beyond that. Show Doom something merely once and you have already caused your own destruction. Now that you have allowed me to analyze your powers... allow me to reveal the truth of your situation to you: YOU HAVE NO HOPE!" Doom squeezed his right hand and all of the Clefairys were quite suddenly under Doom's control. They tried desperately to free themselves of their invisible bindings or to use any of their moves, but to no avail.

"You have displeased me. No, you have committed an even greater crime than merely displeasing me, you have disrespected me. In my country such a high crime as that is punishable by death. However, Doom is not without his mercy, and he is also not without his fairness. You did not know what you were doing, you did not... understand. So in my infinite mercy I shall allow you one chance to live. All of you must use the move Encore for one hour without stopping. If any of you, even just one of you, stops using Encore before the hour is up... there will be consequences."

Doom sat down on a large rock a few meters away from the Clefairy and steepled his hands in front of his face. After a moment he released his hold on the Clefairy.

"Begin the applause," Doom commanded.

And the Clefairys obeyed. They always obeyed.

Doctor Doom never tired of being serenaded by applause. Even if the ones that were applauding were two feet tall pink puffballs. Doom had expected worse, though. It seemed that the move Encore amplified the sound of the clapping that made it somewhat respectful. Although, it still was pathetic compared to the thunderous applause that Doom truly deserved.

Doom let his mind drift towards other thoughts while his eyes were focused on the group of Clefairy in front of him. He had a lot of work ahead of him. When he got to the next city the Joy there was supposed to have the first of his ancient Pokemon ready for him. He had picked the one that looked like it had the most potential. He had given an idle thought to perhaps gene splicing the Pokemon together but he did not know enough about Pokemon Genetics to attempt such a procedure. Doom had not gotten to be the smartest man in the world by taking undue risk.

Well, more than once anyway, Doom thought.

Doom looked at his watch and noticed that it had been fifty five minutes since the clapping began. Doom was a man of his word. If they performed up to task he would allow them to live. It wasn't his fault if the condition he left them in made them want to commit suicide, however.

Just as the thought passed through Doom's mind one of the Clefairy stopped clapping and fell down on the ground yelling in pain. The other Clefairy stopped their clapping and went over to attend to their fallen friend.

"I did not say you could stop clapping," Doom said dangerously. However, his words were ignored as the Clefairy continued to try to comfort their friend.

"NOBODY IGNORES DOOM!" Doom's voice echoed off of the cave walls as he extended his mind outward until he had overpowered all of the Clefairy's, gaining control of their bodies. When next he spoke, his voice was heard only in their minds.

"You believe you are above Doom? That you do not have to properly fear Doom, that you are so mighty that you can simply turn your back on Doom and attend to another of your species as he talks to you? Doom cannot be ignored. Doom cannot be stopped. Doom is in everything and overcomes everything. I suppose you believe your positive feelings for one another can save you from Doom. You are mistaken. I said that you only had one chance to regain the lives that you put into forfeit when you crossed Doom. Your chance has come and gone. Know in your last moments that you brought this on yourself, Doom merely was the hammer."

Doctor Doom focused his magic and made all of the Clefairy use Metronome at the same time.

Metronome was usually random, however Doom was connected to the heart of the world at the moment. To normal people, metronome was merely luck. To Doom, there was nothing that was beyond his control.

An instant later, all twenty Clefairy used the move Self-Destruct and as their bodies began to light up, and their feeble minds realized their situation, Doom verbalized the last words they would ever hear that just so happened to echo their own thoughts.

"YOU HAVE NO HOPE!"

The Clefairy exploded all at once, the blood splattered all over the walls and onto Doom.

Doom took stock of the situation and chuckled mirthlessly.

"That takes care of the blood requirement, I suppose."

Doom marched through the splattered corpses of the Clefairy much more relaxed than he had been an hour previously.

Doctor Doom continued his travel through Mount Moon uninterrupted. The Clefiary had proven to be a good example to the other Pokemon in the area of what happened when one interrupted Doom's progress, and they had wisely chosen to stay out of Doom's way.

After a few hours Doom saw a sign stuck in the ground. "Exit ahead." How primitive.

Doom marched forward with evil thoughts in his head when suddenly he stopped. He heard voices up ahead.

"Jessie, the boss is really pissed. They still haven't figured out what happened to the headquarters in Viridian." Doom noted that the voice of the speaker was both male and undeniably whiny.

"You don't have to tell me that, James. Did you think it was fun reporting to him that the museum in Pewter had stepped up security for no good reason? He really wanted those fossils!" A shrill female voice had said this.

"You think that's bad," Another voice started. Doom, a master of the senses, knew right away that it was not a human speaking, "We've gotta capture a Clefairy or our duck is cooked! We haven't even seen one yet!"

Doom thought it was a good time to make his presence known.

"It seems you have had the gross misfortune of having your path intersect with Doom."

The two people and one pokemon whipped their head around to see Doom standing before them, his head held high and his arms folded over his chest.

"Who are you!" All three shouted at once.

"I am Doctor Victor Von Doom, and I am this world's future master." Doom's interest turned to the Pokemon between the two people and whipped out his Pokedex.

''Meowth, the cat Pokemon. They are very stupid and literally everyone would rather have their evolution, a Persian.''

"Hey!" The Meowth shouted angrily.

"Interesting," Doom murmured. "It says this species is stupid and yet it can speak as well as any normal human. That's not saying much, but still... I, Doom, would like to own him. Usually I would just take him, but Doom feels charitable. In infinite mercy only capable of one such as I, I have also decided that my taste for blood has been sated for the day. What do you say to a sizable donation on my behalf?"

"I am not for sale! These two love me! We are the best of friends!" Meowth retorted.

Doom turned his attention to the two humans and saw a very different picture. They were both eying the ten Pokeballs he had on his waist. Doom thought back to the conversation he overheard. These people must be part of some criminal organization that valued Pokemon, and they clearly had a higher opinion of their own worth than was warranted. Doom was in a playful mood though.

Doom liked to play with his food before he ate it.

"I see… well then. How about a Pokemon battle? If I win, I obtain the Meowth specimen. If I were to lose, you can have all of my Pokemon. Further, I'll only use one of my Pokemon, and you may use any number of Pokemon that you have. What do you say to that?"

"Deal!" All three said at once. Then they laughed. "You are a fool! We have 4 Pokemon plus Meowth here! You have just entered a five on one pokemon battle, you have no chance!"

Doom grinned. The three members of Team Rocket took a step back at the sheer evilness that the grin held.

"Hope, the greatest of human emotions. It is when a person stands at the very peak of this emotion that they are allowed to fall the furthest."

Doom took out a Pokeball and threw it to the ground.

"Enlighten them, Thor, of the dangers of having hope."

Thor the Pikachu leapt from its Pokeball and stared down its opponents with hard eyes.

"Pika-Pika."

Doctor Doom looked down at his Pikachu with an evil smirk on his face. It always worried every living being, not to mention the entire rock population, when they had the chance to notice that Doom had an evil smirk. His regular smirks were quite evil to begin with. He was smirking with good reason, even more worrisome. He had worked long and hard on ways to improve Thor. At first he had thought to implement a new blend of metal alloys into Pikachu's tail and give it more of a physical brute force aspect to it. Doom had quickly dismissed such an idea as amateur hour. Then, Doom had a good idea.

The world trembles when Doom has good ideas.

Sadly for Team Rocket they did not know to tremble.

"Go, Koffing!" James shouted as he threw his Pokeball. A moment later a purple Pokemon with a silly grin on its face appeared out of the Pokeball.

Doom scanned it with his Pokedex.

"Koffing, the smog Pokemon. They contain toxic gas, perhaps explaining why it always had a stupid grin on its face. Not worth worrying about."

"Take that back!" James whined to the Pokedex.

"Now James, it isn't healthy talking to a machine like that. You should remained focus on the task at hand. I believe you will find my Pokemon more than enough to hold your attention," Doom said

"Hah! Koffing isn't going to lose to an electric rat! Smog, Koffing!"

"Dodge, Thor."

Just as the smog was about to hit Pikachu the yellow rat blurred out of sight and appeared beside Doom. Doom began to move the fingers of his left hand slightly. As he did so magic rippled subtly in the air and rain clouds began to form near the cave roof above them.

Team Rocket looked nervous as the rain clouds began to form. They were not the brightest collection of people (and Meowth) in the world, but they were reasonably sure this wasn't natural.

After a few seconds rain began to come out of the clouds and pelted everyone. Team Rocket grumbled for a moment before they saw a sight that scared them. The Pikachu by Doom's side was glowing bright yellow. Very, very bright yellow.

"Normally I am not one to brag, but I choose to indulge myself this once. I've earned it." Doom gestured at the Pikachu at his feet. "I found this Pokemon in a forest one afternoon and learned that it was an electric type. In my genius, which is vast, I took the time to manipulate this Pokemon's DNA to respond exceptionally well when introduced to water. I believe I shall call this ability 'God of Thunder'. Yes, how appropriate."

Doom clenched his fist and a throne made of earth rose up from the ground behind him. He took a step backwards and sat down in the throne.

"It doesn't matter! Team Rocket won't be defeated by a rat." Jessie sneered at the glowing Pikachu after her proclamation.

Doom rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he leaned his elbow on the arm of the throne. Doom was amused.

That's never a good sign.

"Oh? A counter hypothesis to my own? Very well. I accept your statement as a valid theory. Let us see which one of us is correct. Thor?" Doom looked down at his Pikachu.

Thor looked back up to his master. "Pika?"

"Overkill," Doom said simply.

Thor nodded happily and bounced a few steps in front of Doom.

"Piiiiiiika….CHUUUUUUUUUU" Thor shouted and a bolt of electricity was called down from rain clouds above them and it struck Koffing with a thunderous force. Everyone had to look away from the blinding impact except for Doom, who stared at it with a small smirk on his face.

When Team Rocket looked they could not see Koffing anywhere. Seeing their confusion, Doom chose to help.

Doom is helpful!

"Ah, you are looking too high. He's on the ground over there."

Team Rocket looked for a moment not seeing anything. Then they saw it.

A pile of ashes.

Doom chuckled.

"Looks like my theory won out."

Team Rocket stood in horrified shock at the pile of ashes that was once the happy Koffing.

Doom coughed loudly and the three members of Team Rocket turned their attention back to Doom.

"Not to…cut your grief short, but you did promise me a five on one Pokemon battle, if memory serves. Send out the next Pokemon. Maybe it will turn into slightly less blackened ash."

And then Doom laughed.

Because it wasn't like there was anything they could do to stop him.

Doctor Doom liked it when people looked at him as if he were the most terrifying thing in the world.

Doom likes it when people are correct.

Jessie and James stopped their looks of horror and turned to each other.

"James," Jessie said.

"Yeah, Jess?" James responded.

"We're in trouble, aren't we."

"Yeah that sounds about right."

"So," Jessie began, "Do we go to Plan B?"

"We have a Plan B?" James asked with a blank look on his face.

Jessie grimaced. "Not strictly speaking. I just thought we'd use all of our remaining Pokemon at once."

"Oh. Good idea," James complimented.

James and Jessie threw out all of their remaining Pokemon together. Three Pokeballs opened to reveal three very different Pokemon.

"Show them what you are worth, Ekans! You can handle a little rat, right Geodude?" Jessie said to her Pokemon.

James looked at his Pokemon with vigor. "Show that yellow menace what a Paras can do!"

Meanwhile, Doom's chin never left his palm as he gazed at the Pokemon in front of him. He didn't bother to bring out his Pokedex to examine them. He could see their weakness plainly. The strong survived, the weak died. That was the reality Doom believed in.

That was Doom.

"Thor," Doom said.

The yellow rat turned to its master. "Pika?"

"The Pokemon you face are in the hands of trainers who do not know how to use them. Grant them the only mercy you are capable of giving."

Thor nodded and started to gather energy.

Meanwhile, the three Pokemon surged forward to try to attack the Pikachu.

They were too slow.

"CHUUUUUUUUU!"

A moment later three bolts of electricity struck the three opposing Pokemon which caused three different reactions.

The Geodude was blown apart by impact and its rocky remains were scattered all around the cave.

The Ekans looked less like a snake and more like a snake skin, deflated as all of its bodily fluids had been super heated by the thunder.

As for Paras, well, let's just say everyone was feeling ever so slightly buzzed at the moment as a small fire was all that was left of its body.

Doom pushed himself up from his make-shift throne and clapped his hands together.

"It appears I emerge victorious."

Doom always wins.

Doctor Doom looked over at the members of Team Rocket and saw that they were in need of a little prompting.

"Thor, prompt them."

One minor zap later and he had their attention.

"I will be taking Meowth now," Doom stated regally.

Jessie and James gave each other a meaningful look and then nodded to one another.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that," James said.

"I agree," Jessie chimed in. "Meowth is our friend, as much as he annoys us at times, we can't let you take him from us."

Meowth's eyes watered with fresh tears as he gazed up at his friends. "You guys..."

Doom coughed.

"Doom admit a small amount of amusement for the emotions that you have presented to me. You obviously care for Meowth, do you not?" The two nodded. "Truly touching. Your words have conviction and power behind them, and loyalty to a comrade is something Doom appreciates. If only you had raised your Pokemon to be as powerful as your meaningless words, you could have retained Meowth. Thor, show them the exit."

Chuuuuuu!

Thor the Pikachu let loose a wild thunderbolt from its body which landed right in front of Team Rocket causing the ground beneath them to explode. Both members of Team Rocket were catapulted from the cave and crashed through its ceiling.

"Team Rocket is blasting off again...!"

Doom turned to his Pikachu. "When I said do your work I meant to kill them," he said crossly.

Pikachu nodded its head in understanding. "Pika. Pi-pi-Pika-chu. Chu, chu chu, pika pika. Pika! Chuu! Chuu! Chuu! Pika pika!"

Doom nodded his head. "I see, you are still learning to deal with your tremendous power and it taxes you to be as accurate as you have been up to now. That is...an acceptable excuse. Work on you weaknesses, I will not be so forgiving a second time."

Pikachu nodded happily.

Doom turned to Meowth who had his mouth hanging open in shock.

"You can understand Pokemon? I've never met a human who could do that before!"

"Fool. Doom is no mere human. I am Doom. You are now a part of my team, with me you will achieve a greater greatness than you ever dreamed imaginable. You don't seem like the type who appreciates Pokeballs, that is fine by me. Let us be on our way, I have been slowed too much already."

Doom headed towards the exit with his new Pokemon behind him.

Meowth had a feeling he was backing a winner now.

Little did he know just how big of a winner Doom truly was.

Doctor Doom stepped outside of the cave. Doom was already missing the fresh smell of Clefairy blood that had been in the air.

"So..." Meowth started, "Not to complain or anything but why exactly did you want me? I'm just a Meowth. I ain't nothing special." Before the words had finished leaving his mouth Meowth was knocked to the ground by a backhanded slap from Doom.

"Do not question the wisdom of Doom again, little Pokemon. Doom does not know what your foolish master told you prior, nor does Doom particularly care, but I am capable of perceiving the very core of every living creature. I have gone beyond the curtain of creation and have been allowed to see secrets you could not imagine. When Doom takes interest, it is no passing matter. Luck and Chance are completely eliminated from the equation. Doom looks upon you and sees potential. I see cunning. I have use for these things in this world. One day, if you prove yourself to be able to live up to my expectation, you may in fact be someone I can…rely on." Doom turned his back to Meowth and continued his walk to the next city.

Meowth's eyes teared up slightly as he walked behind his new master. Never before had anyone been so nice to him!

Doom, for his part, could barely keep from rolling his eyes as he had finished his speech to Meowth. The Pokemon did not know that he had no need to rely on anyone else, much less him, and he would never have such a need. It would keep him in line, however. Keep him loyal. It was so easy to abuse the trust of a fragile mind that was already used to being abused. Just show an ounce of kindness, even if it isn't genuine, and they are hooked.

Doom stopped his nefarious thoughts as a city came into view. Cerulean City, home of the Gym Leader Misty who specialized in Water types. Doom was confident that before he was done that water would be her Pokemon's grave.

Doctor Doom headed to the Pokecenter when he spotted something shiny in the corner of his eye.

It was a bike shop. In the window was a shiny new red bike.

Doom entered the shop with Meowth following right behind him.

A man who was too plain to describe greeted Doom as he entered.

"Hello! Welcome to my Bike shop! Would you be interested in a bike?"

Doom tilted his head. He had no practical use for a bike and would never ride it or-

"Doom desires a bicycle. Give me the one in the store window."

"I am sorry, that is a special promotional model. It isn't for sale. We do have plenty of other models for one million dollars."

Doom does not like that price.

Doom's eyes narrowed.

"Doom did not ask to buy the bike. Doom asked to be given the bike."

The man looked at Doom like he was crazy. He probably wasn't wrong.

"I am not going to give you such a valuable model-ergh!"

Doom's hand clenched as the store owner in front of him was lifted off of his feet and making choking noises. After a few moments the man stopped moving and dropped to the ground, dead.

Doom glanced down at his hand for a moment. He hadn't meant to kill the man.

Acceptable outcome

Doom walked over to the Bike and muttered a few words under his breath and focused on the bike. After a moment the bike had shrunk to under half of its original size. Doom picked up the bike and gave it to Meowth.

"For you," Doom said.

Meowth's eyes watered.

"For me?"

"That is what 'for you' implies, yes."

Meowth took the proffered Bike.

"Thank you, master."

Doom nodded. Nothing manipulated followers like pretending to show them kindness.

"Thank me with actions, not meaningless words. Now let's commence the slaughter of those who would oppose me."

Doctor Doom entered the Pokecenter and put his Pokeballs on the counter. After a moment the Nurse Joy of Cerulean took his balls in her hand and placed them on the healing tray.

"You have taken better care of your Pokemon, master. Your skill is improving," The mind slave complimented her master.

"If I wanted conversation I would have requested it," Doom responded.

"Forgive me, master."

Doom ignored the apology. "Is the Pokemon I requested here?"

"Yes, master. We had to build a special underground chamber to hold it. It was causing too much of a stir. The chamber is beneath lab three."

Doom began the long walk to his laboratory with Meowth trailing behind him.

"Hey, why did that Joy call you her master?

"Because I am her master. I have control over all of the Nurse Joys in the world through their mental connection. You work for the owner of every Pokecenter in the world now. I am a great force for good in this world." His new underling did not seem to get the slight sarcastic undertone in the declaration as Meowth looked at him in awe.

I'm finally working for a good guy!

They walked in silence for a few minutes before reaching the lab and, just beyond that, an entrance to an underground chamber. It took them another minute of descending down stairs before they reached a large cave with a lake in the middle of it.

Before Meowth could ask how this was all possible beneath a city a loud screech interrupted his thoughts as a Pokemon made its presence known. Meowth took one look at it and hid behind his new master.

"W-what is that? I've never seen anything like it before!"

Doom smirked. "Not surprising, as the only place you could find one of these before today was history books. Meowth, I would like for you to meet your new friend: Omastar."

Doctor Doom had barely introduced the water Pokemon before the Omastar shot a blast of water at Meowth, slamming the poor cat into a wall.

"Anxious for battle I see. Very well, Doom is nothing if not accommodating." Doom put Omastar into the Pokeball that the Joy had given him and started the long walk up to the surface.

Meowth, on the other hand, was barely pulling himself off the cave's floor. He had never heard of an Omastar before, but It appeared be an ancient and powerful Pokemon. Meowth walked slowly up the stairs while pondering what kind of great man his master must be to have a share in so many different projects. As a trainer, he had easily defeated Team Rocket, and now he had brought an ancient Pokemon back to life. Meowth was convinced more than ever that Doom was just what the world needed.

While Meowth was still lost in his thoughts, Doom had started to go north of the Pokecenter for some casual slaughter only to be stopped by a familiar face.

"Ah, Victor, imagine seeing you here. I see Zapdos has yet to deter your dreams of conquest."

Doom clenched his fist in anger.

"RICHAAAAAAAAAAAARDS!"

--

Doctor Doom glared at his rival. Oh, how he loathed Reed Richards.

"Yes Victor, Richards is in fact my name. Honestly I would question your intelligence every time you insist on screaming my name if it wasn't for the fact that the last time I did so three million children died."

"It is always the children who suffer, after all," Doom said nonchalantly.

"I am pretty sure you are the one that came up with that saying right after you finished killing them all," Richards responded.

Doom shrugged. He saw no point in denying the accusation.

"You stand in the path of Doom, Reed Richards. Unlike the last time your trickery will do you no good at this juncture in the road. For old time's sake I shall give you one chance, but only one: Stand aside for your better or suffer." Doom crossed his fingers, both signifying that he did not mean a word he said and in whatever counted for hope in Doom's mental makeup that Richards would refuse the offer and he would get to best him in trial by Pokemon combat.

"Haha, you are as arrogant as ever I see. I suppose Zapdos is going to have to teach you another lesson. Offer rejected."

If Doom was capable of feeling happiness, this would be a moment of great joy for him. As it stood, Doom only smirked and cackled evilly, as opposed to the well known nice cackling, inside his mind.

Doom likes crushing his greatest rival.

"Do you believe that the same trick would work on one such as Doom, Richards? A foolish thought."

Richards smiled at Doom's proclamation.

Doom does not like smiles.

"Of course not," said Richards, "That is why I brought a new friend with me today. Go, Articuno!"

Richards threw a Pokeball and a massive blue bird appeared in front of Doom.

Doom stared up at the large bird and matched its gaze, refusing to back down to the gigantic bird.

Doom will not suffer defeat!



Doctor Doom whipped out his Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon, apparently named Articuno, in front of him.

"Articuno, the legendary ice Pokemon. It must like to have its food frozen before it eats it because it is sad that it Is capable of creating a blizzard at a moment's notice. Be wary, this one can probably kick your ass too."

Doom was not pleased with his Pokedex's opinion.

"You have a knack for capturing Pokemon above your station Richards. No matter, this time I am prepared. Go, Thor!" Doom tossed his Pokeball and Thor the Pikachu raced out of it and growled beside his master.

Richards snorted. "You would fight a legendary with something that has not even evolved to meet its maximum potential yet, Victor? I see your time in the Pokemon World has not done you any service. Your plots end here! Articuno! Ice Beam!"

"Dodge." At Doom's command Thor flashed out of the way of the ice beam which left the grass where Thor had been standing frozen solid.

Articuno's repeated use of Ice Beam came with the same result of Thor dodging them.

Doom smirked at his rival.

"Can you feel it, Richards? The heavens themselves cry at how pathetic your legendary is!" As he spoke Doom coaxed the clouds above into action, and after a moment a light drizzle started to pour down, which was quickly intensifying.

Richards' eyes narrowed at the sudden rainstorm. He had not seen Victor use any of his magic, but he was sure that he had.

Before Richards could chastise his rival, lightning struck.

Well, technically speaking it would be thunder struck.

"Thor! Bring down the hammer. Thunder!"

Thor charged up for only a moment before a crack of thunder could be heard overhead as a massive lightning bolt zipped down from the heavens and struck Articuno. The bird screeched in agony as Thor did not relent on the attack for several seconds. Finally, most of his energy spent, Thor stopped his attack and panted slightly.

Doom was pleased with the sight before him.

Articuno had scorch marks all over its body as it weakly hovered a few feet above the ground. Every time the bird tried to suck in air there was a terrible wheezing sound from its chest.

"It appears your new friend is… on ice," Doom said maliciously.

Richards smiled at the comment.

Doom frowned, because smiles were to be frowned upon.

"Show Victor Von Doom that legends last forever, Articuno! Blizzard!"

A moment before where there had been a downpour, there was now a maelstrom of snow and ice in its place and the scorch marks on Articuno were vanishing under the intensity of the storm.

Doom tilted his head upward slightly as a sign of respect towards the Articuno.

Doom likes a challenge!

---

Doctor Doom looked down at Thor with an unreadable expression on his face. That wasn't very surprising, it was hard to read a face that was covered in a thick metal mask meant to give off feelings of Doom inside all of those who would dare to gaze upon its majesty. That's how Doom told it, anyway.

"Do you understand the reality of this situation, Thor?"

Thor the Pikachu looked up at its master and then back at the swirling vortex of snow and ice surrounding Articuno. Thor nodded its head once as a clear answer to the question.

Doom had to suppress a smile. It was convenient having minions who would maim themselves at a word.

"Doom named you well, little one. Very well. Show this legend of ice what it means to be the god of thunder."

Richards crossed his arms in impatience. "Are you done talking to yourself yet Victor? Your rat is no match for my majestic legendary! Articuno, Blizzard!"

The snowstorm started to expand. It would only take a dozen seconds before it covered to where Doom was standing.

"Majesty is for the victors, Richards. One must survive first before it can lay claim to anything other than life. Cling to life, legend of ice." Doom paused only for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice mirrored the madness that was always in his mind. "THAT SHOULD BE YOUR ONLY CONCERN WHEN YOUR OPPONENT IS DOOM. CLING. TO. LIFE. THOR, VOLT TACKLE!"

Thor cloaked itself in lightning and immediately dashed into the oncoming storm. Not even a second later a huge explosion came from the epicenter of the blizzard and forced Doom to cover his eyes to try to avoid the intensity of the light.

Doom is momentarily blinded!

Doctor Doom took his arm away from his face and narrowed his eyes to see through the now fading light.

The snowstorm that Articuno had been generating was now gone and the air was still. There was no movement in the space between Richards and Doom as the light faded and both Pokemon were on the ground.

Articuno, the mighty ice bird of legend, seemed to take exception with being grounded. It began to stir and after a moment it flapped its mighty wings once. Twice. After a few flaps it hovered a several feet off the ground with great effort and cried out in agony. It had several gashes in its skin and was bleeding profusely onto the ground below.

Doom sneered. The Pokemon would get itself killed if it insisted on trying to battle in that condition. Not that Doom minded, if the creature wished to get itself killed he could always mount its head on his wall right next to Reed Richards's.

Doom looked for Thor and found him on the ground. The electric Pokemon was knocked out cold and twitched every so often as electrical discharges made their way out of its body. It had given everything for Doom.

Not enough for Doom.

Doom was annoyed that Thor couldn't quite finish the job but supposed he wouldn't have to kill Thor for his failure. With so little training Thor had managed to bring a legend to its knees. It had brought doom upon Articuno, and teaching doom to fellow Pokemon was all his Pokemon were good for after all.

Richards wore a stunned expression on his face. He couldn't believe that the powerful Pokemon he had "befriended" had lost to such a runt. It had taken him hours to navigate that godforsaken cave and calibrate the mind control nanomachines to its brain waves in order to get it to obey him perfectly. No matter, he could play Victor's game if that is how Victor wanted it.

"Good job, Victor. You have managed to defeat Articuno. However, this battle is not over yet. You have only defeated the tip of the iceberg!"

"I am going to torture for an extra five minutes before I dispose of you just for that pun alone, Richards."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Victor," Richards replied as he recalled Articuno to its Pokeball.

Doom did the same with Thor.

The two rivals glanced down at each of their own belts at the same time. Doom still had four Pokeballs on his belt. Richards had one. Doom picked a Pokeball from his belt at the same time that Richards picked his last.

"Go, Zapdos!"

"Go, Logan!"

Zapdos shot out of its Pokeball with a cry while Logan calmly hovered next to his master glaring at the yellow Pokemon he was to do battle with.

"Logan," Doom said.

The Beedrill turned its head to look at its master. It was awaiting orders.

"Kill."

Doctor Doom's command rung in Logan's mind for only a moment before it launched itself at Zapdos with reckless abandon. Logan brandished its arms which were now turned into nearly indestructible swords and slashed at the Zapdos.

Zapdos swiftly dodged and allowed the Beedrill to go past it without an attack of its own.

Logan turned back around to make another pass. If it built up enough speed there was no way that Zapdos could cleanly dodge like it had just done.

Zapdos has no intention of dodging, however. With a mighty cry the legendary of lightning unleashed a bolt of electricity upon Logan.

Doom arched an eyebrow at the impressive display. These so called legends had a lot of power within them. So much so that even a fool like Richards was able to get results with them. Doom liked power, and so Doom decided that Doom liked these birds. Perhaps when he was done flaying Richards' body he would use the Pokemon that his rival had for his side project of ruling this world.

Logan crossed his blades, forming an X shape with them, over his body and tried to stop the progress of the bolt of lightning. A moment later the force of the impact knocked Logan back several meters but he kept the energy from overwhelming him. The bug Pokemon let out a loud hissing noise and started to push the bolt back away from its body. With one final primal scream Logan redirected the blast back to Zapdos at twice the speed it had been sent.

Zapdos didn't even have time to move before the electricity slammed into it.

"Acceptable," Doom stated.

Richards heard Doom's retort and smirked. "Is it, Victor? Look again."

Doom continued to stare imperiously at the Zapdos that had just been hit by its own Thunderbolt. The electricity around it seemed to intensify and it looked…stronger than before.

Doom likes Zapdos even more now.

"You cannot harm the bird of thunder with its own electricity, trying to do so only makes its power grow! Now prepare to face the true ferocity of this legend! Zapdos, Rain Dance!"

Doom stood silently as a heavy rain began to fall. Doom lifted his eyes skyward and narrowed them. He had seen this trick before; he had used it, after all. Doom's gaze went back to the Zapdos which was now glowing in the heavy rain it had created.

"Logan, this is not like the battle against the rock Pokemon. You have no room for error here. You do not outclass this Pokemon. Victory shall be mine, but you must be utterly perfect. An extension of my perfect will." Doom's eyes never left the Zapdos as he spoke to his Pokemon.

"Enough idle chatter, Victor!" Richards looked at Zapdos. "Thunder!" Richards commanded.

The sky darkened overhead and before Logan could twitch a monstrous pillar of light torpedoed itself right into him. The light completely enveloped the Beedrill for a brief moment before it faded quickly. When the light receded there was nothing there but a scorch mark from where the move had hit.

"Next," Richards said.

Doom's eyes went wide in rage at Richards' single word response to Logan's utter destruction.

Doom will not suffer such disrespect!

--

{C}Doctor Doom smirked.

Reed Richards frowned. He didn't like that smirk. Smirks from Victor usually happened after he did something particularly clever, and when Victor Von Doom does something particularly clever it never turned out to be good for Reed Richards.

"I believe you will find there is no need for me to send out my next Pokemon, Richards." Doom crossed his arms and waited.

And waited.

Doom narrowed his eyes. "That is the cue, fool."

Logan appeared from above and rammed a blade straight into Zapdos' chest. Blood spurted out from the wound as Beedrill used one of its thin legs to roundhouse kick Zapdos back a few yards.

"What sorcery is this!" Screamed Richards, irate that the Beedrill had not been slain by the Thunder.

Doom laughed menacingly. "Fool! I do not need magic to deal with the likes of a Zapdos! I have put in the effort necessary for him to learn the move "Substitute", all you destroyed with that pesky light show was what you were meant to destroy! Doom shall triumph on this day Reed Richards, because Doom always triumphs! Hahahahahahaha!"

Zapdos recovered from the assault and its eyes began to glow with power as it stared down the supervillain.

Doom's laughter stopped as he noticed the legend's attention on him. "Yes, Zapdos, gather your power. Gather your might and face your DOOM!"

Thunder crashed in the background as Zapdos once again took flight.

Doctor Doom extended his arm towards toward the Zapdos. "Logan. I see one tactical retreat in battle as required, I see two as treason. Do not run again. Shred."

Logan didn't need to be told twice and rushed at Zapdos with its blades soaked with water from the torrential downpour that was all around them. As Logan closed the Zapdos fired a bolt at him that Logan smoothly dodged; a house that was behind Logan exploded as soon as the potent bolt hit it.

Logan went to slash at Zapdos but its blade was stopped by a ball of electricity that emitted from Zapdos' chest. Logan began to shake as his muscles strained at the very end of their limits and when Logan thought he could push no further his bladed arm began to move towards Zapdos' chest.

Zapdos, for its part, was freaking out a bit. It was facing off against a Beedrill and it was putting up much more of a fight than it had expected. Bugs were supposed to be eaten by birds, and Zapdos was smart enough to understand that it was no ordinary bird. It had true power. The electricity that ran through its body was ancient and deadly, and yet this common bug dared to resist it. So Zapdos, more than a little annoyed at the absurdity of the situation, did what Zapdos did best.

It used its power.

Logan, however, was not a normal Beedrill. It had been personally trained and modified by the greatness of Doom to have heightened abilities and instincts. Thus the moment Zapdos switched its power from a shield to a weapon, a vortex of electrical power, was when Logan chose to strike.

As Zapdos electrocuted Logan, Logan's twin blades sunk into Zapdos' tender flesh and buried themselves until both blades were sticking out the back of the bird. The pain redoubled the electrical attack as Zapdos pushed itself past its limits.

Logan shook as the pain from Zapdos' attack went straight through him. Logan knew he was being killed, and that he should pull back, but Logan also knew that pulling back would disappoint Doom. He would rather die than disappoint his master.

If Doom could hear Logan's thoughts at that moment Doom may very well have been proud of his Pokemon.

On second thought, probably not.

Logan never willingly backed away from the Zapdos, constantly hacking at the legend's midsection until the brutality of the lightning vortex became too much and Logan's arms slipped out of Zapdos' ravaged midsection and he fell to the ground in a boneless heap.

Doctor Doom narrowed his eyes as he focused on his Pokemon. If Logan died he would have to graft those arms onto another Pokemon. That would take time, and Doom didn't like to waste time. His time, at any rate; a Nurse Joy could waste her time trying to keep the failure alive. Doom returned Logan to his Pokeball. Still, despite failing Logan did maim the Zapdos. Doom liked his enemies maimed.

"It seems I have won, Victor. Return, Zapdos!" Richards reached out Zapdos' Pokeball only to be puzzled by the fact that the Pokeball wouldn't open. Richards' puzzlement ended when he saw Doom was glowing with telekinetic energy. It was clear now what was keeping the ball shut.

"Tut tut Richards, you should know better than to start a fight you are unable to finish. This is not an officially sanctioned gym battle, therefore unless stated otherwise we keep going until the loser is out of Pokemon. I am not yielding. What about you, do you yield? What say you proud bird of the thunder, can you continue?" Doom asked in a goading voice. Doom was clearly attempting to force the Zapdos to continue to fight despite being grievously wounded.

Richards tried to answer for his mind-controlled Pokemon but the Zapdos was now out of his control. The exertion, the pain, and the indignity of the situation had been too much for the Pokemon to handle. It screeched in fury and hovered above the ground despite an ever-growing stain of red covering a large section of its body. Worse yet, it was evident that it had used the last of its electricity to barely overpower Logan in their last encounter.

"Do not fret Richards, I solemnly promise that I shall refrain from using all save one of my Pokemon. I have always been good for my word, have I not, Reed?" Doom questioned.

Richards nodded mutely. He always got worried when Doom referred to him by a first name basis, it meant he felt comfortable. Richards did not like it when Victor Von Doom felt comfortable.

"And good to my word shall I continue to be. I choose you, Magikarp!" Doom tossed a Pokeball and an injured Magikarp made its way out of the Pokeball.

"This matchup again, Victor?" Richards asked. "I did not think you were one to repeat your mistakes! Zapdos, cook me a fish dinner. Thunderbolt!" Richards waited for the attack to happen, but it never came. "Zapdos, what is wrong?"

Doom smirked. "Tut tut, yet another mistake. I expect better from you, Reed. Your bird clearly spent all of its energy on Logan. It cannot use electrical attacks anymore."

Richards grinned. "Good thing Zapdos does not need to have electricity to defeat a weak Pokemon! Zapdos, Drill Peck!"

Zapdos lurched forward ready to peck the Magikarp into nothingness.

Then Doom began to laugh maniacally.

"Yes, that is what you would think That Magikarp is weak and further still its weakened from its optimal state! That is of course what the great Reed Richards would see! What you cannot see is the rage that Magikarp feels, the disrespect that it feels by your taunts! The burning fire that will turn all in its path to ash! You see weakness, I see strength! Boundless strength, strength forged from pain! From suffering! And now you have ordered your Zapdos to do what Magikarp cannot, and that is get its opponent in range for its ultimate attack!"

Richards sneered. 'What's it going to do, splash my Zapdos to death?"

Doom ceased his mocking tone and stared directly into Richards' eyes. "Death... perhaps, but not by splash!" Zapdos had almost reached Magikarp by this point. At the last moment, Doom yelled out, "Magikarp! Flail!"

Doctor Doom's Magikarp began to thrash about on the ground. Doom, who had never actually seen this attack personally, was more than a little annoyed that his Pokemon was having a seizure rather than bringing destruction to his enemies. Doom would be displeased if it died before it could kill the Zapdos. Doom needn't have bothered to question the outcome, however. Magikarp would not fail its master.

Zapdos plunged itself, beak first, straight at Magikarp. It was sure that it was about to have a tasty fish treat when the Magikarp began to flail around with a force that its body should not have rightly been able to generate. However, as injured as Zapdos was, it could not back out of its dive and had to meet the Magikarp head on.

A bad idea.

Magikarp shot itself at the Zapdos and hit it with such velocity and ferocity that blood spewed out of the Zapdos' mouth on impact. A moment after impact Zapdos was flying in the air, or more accurately floating upwardly in the air. It had blacked out upon impact with the Magikarp. Five moments after impact and Zapdos crashed into the ground, irrefutably knocked out.

"Doom is once again victorious. Doom reigns supreme, forevermore, and now Doom shall…" Doom trailed off as he spotted something that quieted even him.

His Magikarp was glowing white.

Doom observed quietly as the outline of Magikarp began to slowly shift. This was the moment Doom had known was coming all of this time. He has let the Magikarp grow at its own pace, he has been patient. He had selected this Magikarp as his original Pokemon for this sole purpose. For it to harness its rage and to take up its great destiny. Doom knew of these things, he saw them within Magikarp's very soul.

After several seconds the light abated and Magikarp was Magikarp no more. Its new form let out a tremendous roar of triumph as it unraveled itself from its coiled position and stood erect in front of Doom.

Everything stood erect in front of the majesty of Doom.

The new Pokemon stared at Doom and Doom in turn met its gaze.

"You exceed my expectations, a task not easily accomplished. Well done." Doom clapped his hands together only once, and that was all his new Pokemon needed to hear as it let out a roar of happiness. Yes, even its happiness came out as a roar, that's how badass this Pokemon was.

Doom took out his Pokedex and pointed it to his newly evolved Pokemon.

"Gyarados, the rage Pokemon. When angered, this huge dragon crushes its foes and is fueled by its tremendous rage that it has in the depths of its heart. They are said to be nearly impossible to train, as few trainers have the patience its previous form, Magikarp, required for the Gyarados to respect its master."

Doom put his Pokedex away and looked at the Gyarados. "You respect Doctor Doom." It was not a question.

The Gyarados nodded its head.

Doom had a proud look in his eyes as he could not take them off of Gyarados. If it was possible for Doom to feel the emotion of love now would have been a good time for it to have manifested itself. He had once again chosen well, as Doom always does.

When Doom finally tore himself away from his new Pokemon he discovered that Richards had ran away with the zero amount of dignity he had left.

It does not matter if he runs for now, nothing can escape Doom… nothing can escape Gyarados…

Then Doom chuckled darkly.

"Of course," he muttered. It was perfect. "Gyarados! From this point forward you have a new name! Wear it well!"

If a Gyarados could look confused, this one certainly did. The question on its mind was obvious to one such as Doctor Doom: What is my new name.

Doom gave a one word response.

"Doom."

Doctor Doom returned Doom to his Pokeball. As soon as the Gyarados was safely within its Pokeball Doom heard soft clapping from behind. Doom turned to see a slim figure slowly approach him with a smile on her face.

"Hello, Victor Von Doom. I am Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader...welcome to Cerulean," She greeted warmly. "I saw your battle just now. That was really something," Misty said with admiration in her voice.

Doom raised an eyebrow at her remark. He also was mildly curious how she knew his name, but didn't think it was important enough to torture her for the information. "The last gym leader did not appreciate my methods and was hot-headed."

Misty let out a throaty laugh. "Yes, Brock does tend to get that way doesn't he? I used to be the same way in my younger years. I've seen too much now to be offended by brutality though. Not every day you see a Magikarp send a legendary flying into the air after all, that was very impressive."

"Everything that Doom does is impressive, for Doom is impressive."

Misty smiled at Doom. "From what I have heard I tend to agree with that assessment." Misty looked down at her watch and sighed. "I'd love to continue chatting, but duty calls. I look forward to your challenge." Misty began to walk away but paused after a moment. "Oh yeah, silly me. I forgot the original reason I needed to chat with you. I found your Pokemon, Meowth, just outside of the rain storm barely able to move. I wrapped him up and sent him to the Pokecenter. You can pick him up at any time. Ta ta!" Misty sauntered away from Doom back to her gym.

Doom's eyes lingered on her form for a long moment before he smirked. She was different from Brock. She didn't need to speak loudly or with bravado to get the message across that she had strength. Like water, she was subtle and constant.

It would be a pleasure to crush her.

Doctor Doom looked down at Meowth. Doom proceeded to kick the Meowth awake.

Meowth looked up at his master regretfully. "Forgive me master, I tried to make it to you but the storm got in my way."

Doom glared down at the Meowth and was satisfied as his Pokemon wilted in fear before him. He could play this two ways. He could brutally kill the Meowth for being weak, or he could use this to his advantage.

Everything is better when it is to Doom's advantage.

Doom sat down in a chair in the Pokecenter and looked into Meowth's eyes. "Doom does not care about what you are feeling, nor does Doom dwell on those who ask or need forgiveness. Doom only cares for the strong. The next time a raging storm keeps you at bay, you shall endure it. You shall think of the glory that you bring Doom by being strong, and you will not accept failure. Doom does not accept failure. This will be your only warning. For the next time anything keeps you from reaching me in a timely manner, it would be wise of you to never reach me at all."

Meowth nodded his head. His master was so merciful!

Doom saw that Meowth took his words seriously and so let the matter drop. No need to waste time on the subject, if Meowth failed him again he would simply lock him away in the basement somewhere, never to be heard from again.

"I have once again bested my rival, Reed Richards, who took a momentary lapse in focus from me to escape with little else than his life. Doom will catch up to him eventually, of course."

"That's great master!"

"Doom does not need your compliments. Doom understands the greatness of Doom. For he is Doom, and Doom understands everything." Doom paused for a moment to consider that. "It is going to take some time for Thor and Logan to recover. They gave everything in the pursuit of Doom's victory, and when they recover the two of them will both be rewarded handsomely for their effort."

Meowth bowed his head. He would one day be worthy of his master's rewards he promised himself. "Master, are we going to remain in the Pokecenter until they recover fully?"

Doom backhanded Meowth for the question.

I really have to stop asking such stupid questions, Meowth thought. He didn't blame his master for hitting him, he knew he had a lot of bad habits that needed to get worked through.

"Doom does not waste time. Just because a minion or two is in need of hospitalization does not mean that the greatness of Doom will stand still and allow time to tick away while he remains fruitless. No, there is much to be done in this city still. At sunrise tomorrow we head north to the Nugget Bridge. It is time to introduce the world to my newest Pokemon." Doom smiled down at Meowth who returned the smile. Meowth knew when his master smiled it meant bad things were going to happen to unworthy people, and that was a good thing.

Doctor Doom approached the bridge with his Meowth by his side. The Meowth had wanted to stay behind to rest a little bit more but he knew better than to bring that particular thought up to his master. He didn't like being slapped around. Well, unless it was by female Persians. That is a story for another day, though.

Doom made it to the bridge and was halted in his advance by a man who had a friendly smile on his face. Doom immediately disliked him. "Welcome to the Nugget bridge! Defeat all of us to receive a wonderful prize! Go, Pidgey!" A small bird came out of the man's Pokeball and let out a high-pitched screech.

Doom raised an eyebrow. Or at least I assume he did. The metal mask makes it hard to tell sometimes.

"A Pidgey? You bring a simple Pidgey to bear against the might that is Doom? This is all that you have to offer in way of a challenge?"

The trainer he was facing was taken aback by the question. "Well, I also have an Ekans…" He appeared to be a bit embarrassed by the fact now.

Doom's eyes narrowed. "I see."

Doom took two paces to his left and shouted to the other trainers on the bridge. "Do any of you have Pokemon more advanced or better trained than the man before me?" He heard various shouts of "Well, a little bit" and "Not really" in response. Doom clenched his fist. He was mad. He had heard of this bridge, and he had expected somewhat of a challenge. Challenges were good, challenges let Doom's Pokemon face adversity. Through adversity they grew and became stronger. If they were not to face a challenge on this bridge then this bridge was nothing more than an obstacle on his path. A waste of his time.

Doom does not like to waste time.

"Go, Omastar!" Doom tossed the Pokeball from his hand and a moment later Omastar let out a roar as it landed on the ground in front of Doom smoothly.

"Omastar! This bridge is not worthy of our effort. Get rid of the occupants. Hydro Pump."

The Omastar opened its mouth and a huge barrage of water came forth. The blast enveloped the entire bridge for several seconds and when it relented there was nothing left on the bridge.

"Satisfactory," Doom said. Doom returned Omastar to its Pokeball and began to walk across the now wet bridge.

"Master, one of the trainers appears to be drowning!" Meowth pointed to a woman who was struggling to stay afloat.

"That is not Doom's problem," Doom said mildly as he never broke his stride.

Doctor Doom was about halfway across the bridge when he stopped suddenly and whipped his head to the left. On the other side of the small river was an entrance to a cave. Doom's eyes narrowed. He could sense a great and ancient power in the cave. It was not as great as Doom, nor as ancient as Doom, but it was enough to catch Doom's attention. A pity for whatever was in the cave.

"Meowth," Doom said suddenly, "We are going into that cave. I sense something of great power in there. I desire it."

Meowth visibly paled. "M-master. I have heard terrible rumors about that cave. Every member of Team Rocket was told to stay very far away from that cave. Something about radiation I think. It's really dangerous, with only the strongest Pokemon being able to survive such an environment."

Doom turned to Meowth with a sneer on his face. "Are you saying the Pokemon Doom himself raised are not the strongest? That untamed, untrained Pokemon could hold a candle to Doom's care? Do you think so little of your master Meowth? Is that it? Do you regret walking the path of Doom? Perhaps Doom can deliver you back to your former masters. Is that what you wish?" Doom asked silkily.

Meowth had never been more afraid of his master. Meowth was a smart Pokemon.

"N-no master. I let my fear get the best of me. I know you can face any challenge."

Doom glared at Meowth for a moment before nodding. He was more intrigued with this mysterious power than punishing his weak-willed Pokemon.

Doom levitated himself and Meowth above the water and soon they found themselves at the mouth of the cave.

Doom closed his eyes and let his magical senses unravel themselves. Doom was curious about the presence he had felt before. Knowledge was power, and Doom while never afraid or worried was also a prudent man. He would arm himself properly. After a moment Doom once again found the source of power and then felt the creature push back against him. Hard.

Doom fell to his knees, unprepared for such an attack. Doom staggered to his feet and fought off the wave of dizziness that had overwhelmed him. {C}{C}High class psychic powers… Excellent. That suits my needs.

--

Doctor Doom stood at the entrance of the cave and let his vision adjust to the darkness. Although this was only the second cave he had entered since he entered this world, he could tell this one was very different already. There was a power in the air that was palpable. It would be unwise to lose focus in this place. Not that Doom ever lostanything. Doom took a step forward and immediately saw hundreds of Pokemon roaming the landscape, the air, and even some in a nearby river. Doom noted that he had never seen most of these yet, but none of them were the presence he had felt previously.

"Master, there are many strong Pokemon here. Are you going to catch any of them?" Meowth asked.

Doom rubbed his chin. Meowth, for once, had a point. He had been so focused on the presence that he had not considered the opportunity to capture Pokemon besides it to add to his arsenal. After all, the more Pokemon he had the more margin for error he had if a Pokemon proved itself to be too weak to handle the glory of Doom and died from the stress of having itself be modified by Doom.

Doom was not about to give Meowth any credit though. "What a foolish question. Of course Doom is here to capture as many Pokemon as he pleases. Doom does as he pleases."

Meowth looked down, ashamed of himself for doubting his master's perfection.

Doom was deciding which Pokemon to attack first when a massive psychic presence entered his mind.

''You do not belong! Go from here!''

The presence attempted to overwhelm Doom, however this time Doom did not budge at inch mentally. Doom could feel the presence recoil in shock at his strength. Doom extended his arms and let out a triumphant laugh. Then he said, "Fool! You do not know the measure of Victor Von Doom! You believe you are the first to attempt to enter Doom's mind? To gain an advantage on Doom? To intimidate Doom? Does one such as you believe you have what it takes to conquer Doom? To tower over the tallest tower? You are none of the above, nameless Pokemon! Each time you attempt to persuade, you only make Doom's pursuit of you more fervent! Each time you take a step from me, I shall take five steps towards you! Enjoy your last moments of freedom, because Doom is here for you, and Doom does not stop until Doom succeeds, because in this world, and any other world, as there is nothing that is capable of making Doom know the definition of failure! Not Reed Richards, not you! '''SO RUN LITTLE POKEMON, RUN AND FLEE IN TERROR FROM DOOM, BUT KNOW THIS: THERE IS TRULY NO ESCAPE FROM DOOM, FOR DOOM IS EVERYTHING AND EVERYWHERE. THE WORLD ISDOOM!'''

Meowth didn't know about the other Pokemon, but he was very grateful he didn't wear pants otherwise the piss would have been on him instead of on the cave floor.

Doctor Doom was pissed. His rage was almost visible around him and the cave got hotter as the energy Doom was giving off affected the environment around him; various Pokemon were forced to climb out of the water as it began to boil. Doom would never take kindly to arrogant minds that tried to oppress his own. This Pokemon that had chosen to hide itself in the depths of this cave thought that it was worthy to do battle with Doom. That it was worthy to even exist on the same realm of existence as Doom. Doom would dispel these illusions when the two of them met, however. It would involve blood, magic, and even more blood.

Yes, Doom was indeed not in the mood for trifling matters. This included catching lesser Pokemon. They would wait. Everything would wait for Doom to attend his business in the deepest reaches of this cave.

Meowth, on the other hand, could not quite quantify his emotions. Part of him was very scared, but that wasn't all that he was feeling. As he ran to keep pace with his master Meowth felt a lightness he could never claim to have felt before. His master was so in control that Meowth could not doubt anything he did. Even as his master passed several rare Pokemon that Meowth had only seen in photographs he knew better than to speak up. To speak to his master so recklessly in the mood his master was in was nothing short of suicide. Meowth liked to voice himself, but he valued his life more.

Doom reached a ladder and quickly climbed down to the next level of the cave. As soon as his feet touched the ground he was quickly surrounded by five ball shaped Pokemon. Doom's left hand twitched as it ached to use magic to dispatch of the Pokemon who dared to stand in his way. Doom, however, kept his calm. There was no reason to act foolish just because others had chosen to act foolish toward him, after all. Doom brought out his Pokedex and scanned the closest Pokemon.

''Electrode, the Electric Bomb Pokemon. They hold vast amounts of electrical energy in their body and when they are physically disturbed or upset they have been known to explode at a moment's notice.''

"I see," Doom muttered. "This must be the welcoming committee. Very well then! Welcome Doom into your life!"

No sooner than Doom had finished speaking the group of Electrodes started to glow white.

Doom waved his hand and the Electrodes stopped glowing. "You will find that the theory and actual use of energy manipulation is something I am well versed in. Perhaps if your opponent was one of my Pokemon you would stand a chance. It is not. You have chosen Doom as your opponent. Doom does not forgive."

Once again the Pokemon glowed white and this time when Doom waved his hand the Pokemon stilled unnaturally.

Doom turned to Meowth and said, "Follow."

Meowth did not need to be told twice and walked with his master who did not seem to be in any hurry to escape the blast range of the Electrodes.

Sensing his minion's confusion, Doom took pity on him. "I am able to manipulate the time around the Pokemon to stand still. A simple matter."

Meowth continued to be very impressed with his master.

After going several paces Doom snapped his fingers casually and never broke his stride as he turned a corner in the cave.

A few seconds later a monstrous explosion was heard and felt as Electrode goo lined the cave walls.

Doctor Doom continued his leisurely pace in the second floor of the cave. His anger had abated slightly since doing his fourth favorite thing in the world which was to make the useless minions of any random foe explode. It wasn't so much just the act of their bodies tearing apart by their very foundations, but also the fact that they knew in the last moment that Doom was victorious. The glory and majesty of Doom should be everything's last thought, as far as Doom was concerned.

Doom's three favorite things in the world were to defeat Reed Richards in any fashion, second was to humiliate Reed Richards in any fashion, and lastly his favorite activity in the entire world was to have sex with Sue Storm. The last had the extra added benefit of both defeating and humiliating Reed Richards.

Doom spared a glance to his side to see Meowth looking straight ahead with a determined look on his face. Doom wasn't as annoyed with his Pokemon as he had been previously. Although Meowth was not perfect, for he was not Doom, the talkative Pokemon was learning to be somewhat acceptable to Doom's standards, if only just barely. Doom knew the value of patience. It had only taken a few hits to the head but his acquisition was learning the proper way to be one of Doom's Pokemon.

When Doom caught whatever Pokemon was lurking deep in this case he would be yet another step ahead of his rival and the rest of this world. So far everything had gone as planned, which made sense given that Doom had been the one to formulate the plans. This Pokemon that had tried to avoid this conflict had true power. That was the only type of power that was worthy of Doom, naturally.

Doom walked in silence until he reached the final ladder. Beyond this point he would be on the same floor with whatever Pokemon was powerful enough to command other Pokemon using its own will. Doom could not keep his hand from trembling. He had not been this excited in quite some time.

Doom slowly made his way down the ladder and as his feet touched the ground he felt presence of the Pokemon very near. Doom turned his head to the right and saw his prize.

The Pokemon was white and purple, with a very dark purple aura surrounding it. Its very presence felt unnatural. There was something radically different with this Pokemon compared to every other Pokemon Doom had seen. It just didn't belong.

Doom took out his Pokedex and aimed it at the unknown Pokemon.

No data.

Doom quirked an eyebrow at the machine and shrugged. It made no difference, he did not need knowledge in order to defeat an enemy of this level.

"Hello, unknown Pokemon. Will you willingly submit to the grandeur that is Doom? You will know heights you could have never before imagined if you were to join with me. Consider my offer carefully, and spare yourself the indignity of defeat by my hand." Doom was proud of himself; no reason in particular or anything, it should just be said every now and then just in case someone forgets.

The Pokemon's eyes narrowed and the aura around it grew steadily darker. ''I have heard those words spoken before. I will not be fooled again. Leave this place at once. That is your last warning.''

Doom's eyes narrowed. This creature clearly did not know its place if it believed it could issue warnings to Doom. "You will bow before me, even if I must hold your head down while you do so. You will regret the foolish words you dared speak to me," Doom promised.

Doctor Doom snarled and unleashed a bolt of energy from his left hand. The nameless Pokemon parried the attack effortlessly by raising its right hand to direct the attack off to the side.

''You are strange. I have not met a human with powers like yours before. The name I have chosen for myself is Mewtwo. I named myself this-urgh''

Mewtwo's explanation of his name was cut off by a thin beam from one of Doom's fingers.

"Fool! We are locked in mortal combat and you believe you have time to give me your biography? I am Victor Von Doom, a man who long ago ascended past the realm of normal human mortality! Behold one of my many masterpieces: the nerve impulse scrambler! With this, you are unable to physically move." Doom laughed in triumph and casually threw a Pokeball at Mewtwo.

The ball suddenly stopped in midair.

I do not need the use of my body to use my psychic powers.

The ball casually dropped to the ground.

"Is Doom supposed to be impressed because you are not totally useless?" Doom asked rhetorically.

Instead of giving a mental response Mewtwo's eyes glowed a deep blue and Doom was shoved back violently into a jagged piece rock that formed the lower reaches of the cave wall.

Doom grunted, he did not need to feel back the back of his head to know that he was bleeding. Before Doom had time to response he was hit with another powerful blunt psychic attack and the back of his skull once again smashed into the rock.

Mewtwo, who was by this point starting to regain some use of his body, shakily raised his right arm and used the physical motion to reinforce another psychic blast. This time, however, Doom shoved back and Mewtwo recoiled both mentally and physically from Doom's power. Mewtwo's head felt like it had been split in two as an overwhelming headache centered between his eyes. Mewtwo roared in fury and prepared another, more powerful, psychic blast when suddenly he was distracted by a small cat.

Meowth, who could see plain as day that his master was still reeling from his skull being rammed into a wall, decided to be a hero. It wasn't the smartest decision Meowth had ever made in his life but it's the thought that counts, right?

"Fury Swipes!" Meowth shouted as he leapt at the psychic Pokemon.

Mewtwo mentally rolled his eyes and took a second to casually use his psychic powers to send the small Pokemon crashing into a nearby rock, knocking the poor little guy out cold. Mewtwo was about to comment when he felt a horrible presence where Doom was. Mewtwo turned around and was taken aback by what he saw.

Doom was glowing.

Mewtwo looked back at Meowth and a thought occurred to him.

''Have I misjudged you humans? Do you care so much for this little creature that you can go beyond your normal limits at seeing him injured? Perhaps I have been mistaken all this-''

"Shut up," Doom said menacingly.

Mewtwo promptly shut up.

"It is one matter to trifle with the great Doctor Doom. To believe you are worthy of being placed upon the same planet as the great Doctor Doom. To challenge Doom. To impede Doom. All of these are great acts of both stupidity and insolence." Doom paused for a moment as the air thickened and the power surrounding Doom consolidated into a sicklier yellow color. "You postulate that I care for the creature which you harmed. I will clarify the situation to you. I care for that Meowth as much as I would a random rock in the lowliest garden in the lowliest town in my vast empire. The fact remains, however, that the random rock is still my rock." Doom's eyes began to glow. "PREPARE YOURSELF AS BEST YOU CAN WRETCHED LITTLE POKEMON, ALTHOUGH IT SHALL BE OF NO AVAIL! ONCE DOOM SETS ITS SIGHTS ON YOU THAT IS ALL YOU SHALL EVER KNOW! DOOM, I SAY! FEEL DOOM! DROWN IN DOOM! YOU HAVE NO HOPE!"

Then Doom unleashed his power.

Doctor Doom slowly walked forward with a pale yellow aura enveloping him. His thoughts were on the Pokémon in front of him; the Pokémon that was about to be crushed.

Mewtwo was determined to be proactive about the whole 'dying' situation and began to generate a large amount of psychic energy. After a moment of letting it consolidate he unleashed it towards Doom.

Doom was hit with the barrage dead on. Doom did not even flinch.

Mewtwo kept firing off psychic blasts. However, no matter how fast he fired or how potent each blast was, nothing appeared to affect Doom.

''You will stop! Stop at once!'' Mewtwo mentally shouted at the steadily advancing Doom.

Mewtwo's eyes glowed once again as he desperately fired off psychic blasts that were strong enough to obliterate any Pokémon he had ever encountered.

They were not enough to faze Doom.

As Doom drew closer to Mewtwo the Pokémon's rationality began to fade to panic.

''Why do my powers not work on you? I do not understand! You are nothing but a lowly human!''

Doom's right arm reached out and grabbed Mewtwo by the throat. Doom tested his grip by squeezing as hard as he could.

"There is nothing lowly about Doom, fool," a powerful voice said from the right.

Mewtwo's head was turned for him and he saw… Doctor Doom?

Doom sensed Mewtwo's confusion and let out a sinister chuckle. "Surprised? Did you really believe one as great as I would bother with the likes of you? What you have been fighting is one of my better inventions: A Doombot. I would give an explanation, but Doom does not give explanations."

You... mean... to kill me?It was obvious that Mewtwo's presence was fading if the hesitation in his projected thoughts was any indication.

"I had plans for you, grand plans. However a tool that does not know its place is no more useful to me than Reed Richards himself. You would be a useless tool. Doom has no time for uselessness." Doom casually walked up to Meowth and picked him up by the scruff of the neck. "This lowly creature will prove more useful to Doom than you could ever have been." Doom waved a hand which caused the Doombot to let go of Mewtwo and crumble to dust on the cave floor.

Thank you.

"Do not thank Doom, for Doom has not done you a kindness today. A kindness would be to bend you to my will and have you serve the glory of Doom by force. Doom is not kind. Wallow in your pity and pride by yourself, it is fitting for a creature such as you." Doom turned away from Mewtwo and began to make his way to the entrance of the floor.

''Wait! I acknowledge your strength. Doctor Doom. I wish to join you. Please!''

Doom did not turn around but said, "Doom does not accept. Doom already said it once, and Doom is loath to repeat himself… you are nothing more than a useless tool. Your power means nothing to Doom."

At hearing Doom's words something snapped within the mind of the psychic Pokémon. If I had to guess, it would be Mewtwo's common sense that snapped because he decided that it'd be a smart idea to attack Doom when his back was turned. Mewtwo charged up a psychic blast.

Doom was much faster, and before Mewtwo could bring his assault to bear he was flying through the cave from a burst of energy let loose by Doom. With a sickening crunch Mewtwo's body was launched through a cave wall, buried under several large rocks.

"You have no hope," Doom said with finality.

Doctor Doom, with Meowth still held by the scruff of his neck, began to slowly make his way out of the cave. Doom would never admit it to another living, or otherwise, soul but he was dissatisfied with how the encounter with Mewtwo had gone. It wasn't a matter of personal performance because that was never in question. It was the fact that such a Pokémon could exist. While Mewtwo was nothing compared to the ever-lasting glory and bountiful power of Doom, the psychic user would have slaughtered any of Doom's Pokémon in a matter of seconds. That was not acceptable. If Doom merely desired to rule over this world using his own powers then this would have been a very short trip indeed. Use power, laugh maniacally, and then proceed to sip on wine before the first sundown had occurred. That was not the point. The point was that Doctor Victor Von Doom was the peak of human intellect, that any challenge presented in front of Doom was as simple to him as fitting a square block into a square hole. Pokémon mastery would be his because everything was his. Nothing stood in his way, and nothing stood up to his might and machinations.

Mewtwo's very existence had thrown a wrench into that, however.

If a Pokémon found in a random cave in a random city could be that strong, what were the limits of Pokémon ability? How far would Doom have to go in order to ensure that no challenge was too great for his Pokémon? The answer, of course, was simple: As far as necessary. Although emotionally weak and as useless of a tool to him as Mewtwo would have proven to be, its existence in the chain of evolution was an importance that was not to be discounted. Pokémon could be very, very strong, even without the modifications that Doom had provided to his own. This meant only one thing.

It was time to get better modifications!

Doom's brainstorming, which registered as a category five hurricane as far as brainstorms went, was interrupted when a Pokemon stood in Doom's way.

The yellow Pokemon had a watch in its hand and slowly began moving towards Doom, swinging it back and forth.

Doom was not feeling charitable today. "You are in Doom's way. An unwise decision on this day!" Doom threw a right hook that connected with the Pokemon's skull and sent it crashing into a nearby rock.

After a moment several other Pokemon of the same variety came out of the woodwork, in this case a bunch of rocks, and slowly approached Doom in what can best be described as a threatening manner.

Doom laughed in their faces. "I see that one had a few friends with him. Doom understands. You wish to avenge him. Very well... come then, come avenge your comrade! Join him in his doom!" Doom boomed out.

Doctor Doom cracked his neck. That had been fun. Doom looked down and noticed that Meowth's limp form now had red splotches all throughout its fur. Doom looked back around the cave and saw approximately thirty mangled yellow bodies. While the challenge had been sorely lacking, there was something about the repeated gesture of punching something until it bursts open that had a calming effect on Doom. It might have just been the merciless ending of life that did the trick, though.

With his bloodlust sated for the moment Doom prepared to leave the area when a moan of pain caught his attention. Doom turned to the noise to find the Pokémon he originally hit was just now waking up.

The Pokémon in question quickly surveyed the scene and let out a sorrowful moan. Its grief radiated from its body as it cried over a particularly mangled corpse.

"This could have been avoided," Doom said. He instantly had the Pokémon's attention. "If you had just chosen to not stray into the path of Doom I would have had no reason to stop on my way out of here." Okay, so that was a lie, Doom had been looking to pick a fight with something. This creature didn't need to know that, though. "Now look at what your recklessness has wrought? The death of your community... all because of you. Now you are alone." Doom reached into his cloak and pulled out his Pokedex to scan the Pokémon.

''Hypno, the Psychic Hypnotism Pokémon. Able to alter the mental pathways of its victims in order to plant all kinds of powerful illusions and tricks. Could be incredibly useful in screwing with opponents.''

Doom rubbed his chin. That did indeed sound rather promising. After a nanosecond of consideration Doom spoke again. "You needn't be alone, of course. You can learn what it means to be strong. The end of your friends could be a new beginning for you. I will only make this offer once: Join me and become strong. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, take your emotions and carve your own path, through other psychic Pokémon if required." Doom paused for a moment before adding, "I want an answer immediately."

Doom was mildly surprised to see the Hypno nod its head as soon as he had finished speaking. This Hypno was made of stronger stuff than Mewtwo had been, able to quickly realize its situation and decide to drop its past for a chance at a brighter future. Perhaps this trip into the cave was not as wasteful as he had imagined. Doom tossed a Pokeball at the Hypno and the Pokeball did not even shake twice before it stopped rattling, indicating Hypno was now Doom's.

Just as everything would eventually be.

Doctor Doom exited the cave. Doom was less displeased than he had been when he had started his climb out. True, Meowth still had not regained his senses but the cat Pokemon was not required to be awake through the cave and so Doom had allowed, graciously, the Pokemon a few brief moments of respite. In the absence of Meowth and of anything of greater importance Doom had taken his time to navigate the cave eradicating Pokemon, and catching a few, where he saw fit. He saw fit in a lot of places. The frustration over such an extraordinary talent as Mewtwo being worthless had been a slightly greater annoyance to Doom than Doom had originally thought it would be. However after hours of wholesale slaughter and four new Pokemon added to his collection Doom was as pleasant as he was ever going to be, which is to say not at all.

Doom took a few steps outside of the cave, Meowth still in hand, and started to head north. He had no particular reason for heading north other than the knowledge that he was going to be able to cause doom if he went north, and he was still in the mood to do that particular activity.

He was always in the mood for doom!

Much to his annoyance the trainers who he had seen scattered earlier were no longer around. No, that wasn't quite true. They were still around, but they were not in Doom's path. Doom surveyed the field and noticed random trainers hiding behind various objects, in the ground, and scratching at rock in an attempt to get away from him. While Doom was itching to test out his new Pokemon he also had an appreciation for people who were smart enough to fear him. Fear was good after all, and in this case extraordinarily healthy.

Cower before Doom, and Doom will spare your miserable existence!

Doom continued east on the route until he came to a big house. In the front yard there was a sign that read in big, blocky letters "Bill's House." Doom's eyes narrowed.

He didn't like the name Bill.

Doctor Doom stomped his boot into the door which promptly fell by the wayside as everything did for Doom. Doom didn't know why he didn't like the name Bill, but Doom didn't need to take things like 'feelings' into consideration to know what Doom did with things Doom didn't like: destroy them utterly.

"Doom has arrived to end your puny mortal existence."

Bill blinked stupidly at the man who had just entered his house. "Um, hello?"

Doom stared at Bill for a moment before speaking again. "Hello indeed. Do you know who I am?"

Bill thought about it for a moment. "Well I am guessing Doom. You did announce yourself and everything. I ought to have paid enough attention to such a flashy entrance after all."

Doom's eyes narrowed in thought.

Doom likes this guy.

"That is indeed correct. I presume you are Bill?"

Bill thought very hard about lying given the tone of voice Doom had used to ask the question but decided against it. It probably saved his life. "Yeah, that's me. I am the inventor of the Pokemon Computer Network. I'd say it is nice to meet you but you did just bash my door in and everything."

Doom smirked.

Doom really likes this guy.

"You speak your mind openly. Are you unafraid of your impending destruction?"

"Oh, heavens no. I am scared to death of you. However as a scientist I have learned that there is nothing to fear about certainty. If you wish to take my life then it seems extraordinary likely that there is nothing I can do you to stop you from doing so. Tea?" Bill pointed to a table with what was obviously fresh brewed tea.

Doom looked at his wrist and noted he was ten minutes ahead of schedule. Doom nodded silently and sat down at the table.

Bill poured him a cup of tea and sat down and started to sip from his own. "So… Doom…"

"Doctor Doom."

"Ah sorry, Dr. Doom. I don't suppose you have much medical training?"

Doom simply stared at Bill before taking a sip of his tea.

"Right I didn't think so. A fellow scientist then? How exciting. Do you know much about my computer system?"

Doom thought to kill the man instead of enduring small talk. however the promise of knowledge was too great for Doom to pass up. "Doom has not heard of it."

"Well I see by your belt that you have Pokemon. The computer stores any Pokemon you cannot carry around with you and allows you to do all sorts of neat functions! You can trade, you can organize, you can even take them to be in your possession from any PC in the world!"

This system seemed useful to Doom. Time to manipulate it to his advantage. "How much do you charge for this service?"

Bill blinked again. "Well, nothing of course. It is for the betterment of all trainers. Why am I suddenly feeling drowsy?" Bill questioned as he let out a yawn.

"Think nothing of it, mind slave."

"Mind wha-" Bill's head hit his table a moment after he passed out.

Doom swept across the room and stood before a giant computer. He face twisted into a smile as he began to examine what was on it. This could prove very useful indeed.

Doom enjoys manipulating everything to his advantage!

---

{C}Doctor Doom quietly analyzed all of the information that was in front of him. It didn't take him long of course, he was Doom. The man who he had just made his mind slave was amusing. He had found a way to turn living, breathing creatures into digital data for simple storage. If Doom was capable of being impressed, he might have been at this. The amount of research that had been done on making this concept a reality had to have taken the better part of the decade. Doom would have it stolen in five minutes and have it turned to profit within ten.

Doom pressed a few buttons on the computer and suddenly the local Pokecenter popped up on screen. After a moment a Nurse Joy entered the viewing area.

"This is Nurse Joy how may I help you?" Joy said in her usual bubbly voice.

"It is your master, mind slave."

At the sound of hearing her master's voice Joy's eyes glazed over. When she spoke again, it was in a dull, mechanical voice. "Hello, master. How may I be of service?"

"I have acquired a Pokemon storage system. Doom wishes to implement this in every Pokecenter. You will get this task accomplished."

"There is already a system in place, master. I am unsure if it will be possible-"

"The storage I have taken is one in the same, mind slave," Doom interrupted. "I have simply implemented some desirable additions to the coding to ensure that any would be Pokemon collectors are kept in line."

Joy waited for her master to elaborate but when it was obvious that he had no plans to do so she simply nodded. "Will you be charging for this service, master?"

Doom's eyes narrowed.

Doom needs to lessen cognitive dampeners on his mind slaves.

"Slap yourself for asking such a stupid question, fool," Doom commanded.

Nurse Joy immediately slapped herself across the face as hard as she could. After a moment her cheek puffed up and it turned pink indicating that there was a rush of blood to the area.

On the other hand, cognitive dampeners amuse Doom.

"Doom wishes to charge the same amount for this service as he does for the healing. If they refuse to pay this service you may inform them that the agreement they signed before putting their Pokemon into my system stated that once the Pokemon enter the system they are legally mine until they are taken out. If they do not pay, then they lose their right to take them out."

"Would you like me to deposit the Pokemon in your lab for your own use if this should happen, master?" Joy asked with a fair amount of difficulty. She hit harder than she thought.

"No. Doom has no desire to train worthless Pokemon. If they are unable or unwilling to pay what Doom considers to be a reasonable fee Doom will simply start feeding the Pokemon to Doom's Gyarados, Doom. Doom is sure Doom would welcome the snack."

Joy had found that sentence very confusing but didn't have the brain power left to question her master. "Of course, master. I'll get on it right away."

Without further reply Doom cut off the connection and moved away from the computer. He glanced over at Bill. The man was laid out on the floor and bleeding lightly from where his head had connected with his sturdy wooden table. Doom was sure he would be fine. Even if he wasn't, it didn't concern Doom much. Doom walked over to the table and picked up his cup of tea which was still warm. He took a sip and proceeded to throw the cup against the nearest wall, shattering it. Tea time was over.

Doom turned on his heel and exited the house with his cloak billowing behind him. He had a date with a certain orange haired gym leader to keep.

The Gym Battle quickly approaches!

---

{C}Doctor Doom entered the Pokecenter and noted that he was not alone in the entrance. A man with red hair and a long black cloak was currently talking to Nurse Joy in an animated fashion. He wore a smile on his face as he gently patted the Joy's arm in an affectionate manner which caused a blush to rise to the nurse's face.

Doom walked forward, the noise from his iron boots alerting the man that he was no longer alone with Joy.

The man turned around and gave Doom a brief, albeit friendly, smile before turning back to Joy. "It seems you have a customer. Contact me if you get any information, thank you for your time." The man's voice was light and friendly but there was something layered deep within it that Doom caught. The man in front of him had tremendous strength and an uncanny amount of willpower.

Doom's eyes narrowed. This man was a threat. Doom liked threats; it made it all the more satisfying to crush those that could actually fight back in some capacity unlike that worm Reed Richards.

Joy smiled at the man. "O-Of course, if I find out anything I'll contact you sir," Joy said as she fought off another blush as best as she could.

The man nodded before turning around to face Doom. Their eyes met and instantly the man facing Doom tensed up. He could sense part of the danger Doom represented. If he could sense it all it would have made him run screaming in terror. After a moment he spoke. "Hello. I haven't seen you around before. My name is Lance. You may have heard of me." The man paused for a moment for effect. "I am the Pokémon League Champion." Lance offered his right hand to shake.

Doom was a master of politics, actually he was a master of everything but that's beside the point, and knew how this game was played. He reached out his hand and shared a brief handshake with Lance. "I am Doctor Victor Von Doom. A pleasure."

Lance looked at Doom's belt and noticed the Pokeballs there. "Are you taking the Pokémon League challenge, then?"

"Indeed I am. I was just about to take care of a few loose ends before challenging the gym leader of this city."

Lance's eyes lit up at this. "It isn't often that people challenge Misty these days. She has grown into quite a beautiful woman and an even more formidable trainer. It would be unwise to underestimate her," Lance said earnestly.

Doom's mind was racing. It was true that he did not think much of the orange haired woman, but the fact that Lance deduced that from a single comment was impressive. He would have to do research on this man before long. Doom was very interested in Lance, something that Lance probably wouldn't like very much if he knew just what that entailed.

Doom left his thoughts for the moment and responded to Lance's advice. "I will be sure to take that into consideration."

Lance nodded his head. "Well I've got to be off. I am just in town for the hour to investigate some Team Rocket activity. Apparently there have been a lot of shakeups in the hierarchy lately and it falls to me as the strongest trainer of the region to investigate such matters." Lance let out a sigh. "I miss the days where I sat around all day waiting for young hopefuls to be crushed by my awesome might. Those were the days," Lance said wistfully.

Doom raised an eyebrow at that. Perhaps this man was closer to a kindred spirit than he had previously thought.

Lance cracked a boyish smile. "Sorry, I tend to be a chatterbox sometimes. The habits of old age I suppose." Lance paused and tilted his head to the side. "Keep out of trouble now, Dr. Doom," Lance said with a predatory look in his eye. In the blink of an eye the look was gone and Lance was already moving past Doom. Lance stopped in his tracks and, without turning around, spoke once again. "Nice cloak, by the way."

"Thank you. Yours is nice as well," Doom responded.

There was a brief silence before Doom heard the door behind him open and close, indicating Lance was now gone. Doom processed the brief interaction he just had with the Pokémon League Champion. Doom suddenly let out a delighted cackle. The fact that Doom now knew for certain that there were men out there like Lance was news for celebration. When this world fell to Doom's majesty it would only be after Doom crushed their greatest hope, their champion. Marvelous.

--

{C}Doctor Doom had carefully planned out his encounter with Misty in the hours after his meeting with Lance. The plan called for a lot of blood and death. It was an awesome plan. Doom knew that she was renowned as being a master of water type Pokémon and so Doom's objective was clear: use only water types to crush her spirit until the only water she was a master of was her own tears. There were always many paths to victory for one as great and powerful as Doom however anything less than total dominion over his opponent was unacceptable. He would destroy her.

Doom took a brisk walk from the Pokecenter to the Pokemon Gym. Doom saw no reason to delay the destruction of Misty. He reached the gym very quickly and looked at the sign by the entrance.

"Gym Leader: Misty, the orange-haired mistress of the waters."

Doom will stain the waters red with the blood of her Pokemon.

Doom entered the building. The gym was nothing impressive, but then again nothing is impressive when beheld by the eyes of Doom. Doom looked down at the reflective water and saw himself staring back. Well, almost nothing is impressive when beheld by the eyes of Doom. The gym was in a pool with a narrow walkway that branched out in a few places. Doom was sure that once the battle commenced the walkway would disappear and grant a huge advantage to Water Pokémon.

Doom's thoughts were interrupted by an obnoxious voice.

"Yo champ in the making, we meet again!"

Doom turned around to be confronted by a man with sunglasses sporting a smile. Doom recognized the man from his last gym battle. "So we do… what sage advice do you have for me this time, man in sunglasses?" Doom asked with a subtle touch of mocking reflected in his voice.

The man's smile widened slightly. "Well I can tell you that against water types grass and electric moves are super effective!"

Doom scoffed. "Is that it? You do not need to tell Doom a very basic principle upon which battling is founded. Doom is wise; Doom understands such pathetically simple concepts."

The man rubbed his chin for a moment before snapping his fingers together. "Well, I also know if you compliment Misty's figure she will blush prettily and forget to command her Pokémon an average of two point eight seconds. Be mindful this will only work the first time you do it so you would be wise to hold off on doing it for a crucial moment. Oh, and she also she has an armor fetish which would probably work to your advantage. Just saying."

Doom stared at the man for a moment in open amazement, which may have been the first time he had ever done so in the history of everything. "How could you possibly know that?"

The man's smile took on a sinister quality as he said, "I know everything, Doctor Victor Von Doom. Now be on your way."

Doom made a note to talk to this man at his earliest convenience. He was interesting. The man would sorely regret becoming interesting to Doom. In fact, that list had been growing a lot lately.

Doom walked into the gym proper to see a man in the water about to challenge him to a battle.

Before he could, however, a sharp voice rang out. "Your services will not be required today, Roger."

Doom looked to the far end of the pool to find Misty standing there with her eyes trained on the man who was apparently named Roger.

"But ma'am… it is customary that us trainers battle any would-be challengers to prove they are worthy of facing you!" Roger shouted.

"Yes Misty, let the child have his play time," Doom said smoothly.

Misty's eyes went from Roger to Doom in an instant and Doom was taken aback by the predatory look in those blue eyes. "I do not recall asking you."

Doom shrugged, letting the matter drop. He'd have his pound of flesh for her moment of cheek soon enough.

Misty turned back to Roger. "I have no doubts about this man's ability to satisfy me. You may go."

What odd phrasing...

Roger left the swimming pool quietly.

Misty turned back to Doom and allowed her silk dress to fall to the floor revealing a green bikini. She stretched her arms upward to allow her breasts to bounce for Doom's pleasure.

Doom took no pleasure.

"I hope you are ready sweetie, I don't go easy on challengers. Not even when they wear armor," Misty said.

Doom cracked his neck. "Doom awaits you."

In more ways than one, Misty.

-- {C}Doctor Doom stood quietly as the floor began to shift under his feet. The walkway submerged under the water until nothing was left but two small platforms on the opposite side of the gym for the two trainers to stand upon.

“Doctor Doom,” Misty said. “I know you are a man with many talents so I am not going to insult you by requesting a mere two on two battle. I hope that four on four will not prove too arduous for you to handle?” Misty’s tone was light but she wore a predatory smile on her face as she spoke.

Doom’s eyes narrowed. This wench thought she had him cornered. That just wouldn’t do. “Four on four would be acceptable.”

Misty smiled. “It is settled then, let us-“

“However Doom believes that a five on five battle would be even more splendid,” Doom cut in.

Misty’s eyes widened as she looked down at her belt. She had five Pokeballs there. The water type user hesitated for a moment as if thinking something over.

Doom smirked. “Do I sense fear, Gym Leader?”

Misty scowled. “Of course not. I accept your challenge. On one condition.”

Doom folded his arms in front of him. “Go on.”

“When I beat you I get a date with you!” Misty proceeded to giggle like a school girl.

No one could see behind Doom’s mask, but it is a safe bet to assume his eyebrows were raised. “What possible reason would Doom have to take an interest in you?”

“Well I am attractive, successful, driven, and one hell of a Pokemon trainer! If I defeat you maybe I’ll be able to teach you a thing or two,” Misty said while grinning.

Doom knows he has nothing to learn from the likes of you.

“Very well. Your condition is acceptable. Know, however, that it will never come to pass. Doom does not lose.”

“I bet you say that to all the pretty girls,” Mist said as she undid one of her Pokeballs. “You should know though I don’t make a habit of losing either. Go, Blastoise!” Misty tossed the Pokeball and in a flash of light Blastoise had arrived. It roared before it turned its attention to Doom. The cannons on its back flexed in anticipation for the upcoming fight.

Doom whipped out his Pokedex and pointed it at the blue Pokemon. “Blastoise, the Water Cannon Pokemon. I’d suggest murdering it violently before it gets a high pressure water blast off from the cannons on its back.”

Murdering something violently is, in fact, always a valid option for everything in life.

Doom grabbed a Pokeball and casually threw it forward. The Pokemon that came out was just a tad less aggressive than the Blastoise.

Misty’s lips twitched upward in a half-smile as she gazed at the Pokemon.

Doom glared at Misty. “Doom will say this only once: Do not take Doom’s Pokemon lightly.”

Misty rolled her eyes. “You are the person who is hoping to match water against water with the leader of the water gym. You have no hope.”

The room grew colder as Doom clenched his fists in rage. “You… dare to speak to Doom like that. To tell one as great as Doom that he has no hope…” Doom snarled.

Misty winced. She really needed to get over that whole foot in mouth syndrome.

Doom turned to his Pokemon. “Slowbro. Ravage.”

Slowbro turned to his master in complete and utter confusion. “Bro?”

The palm of Doom's hand met Doom's mask as Doom let out a sigh. This was going to be a long day.

--

Doctor Doom’s fists clenched as Misty’s melodic laughter filled the air.

“I take it that did not go as rehearsed?” Misty said with an amused grin on her face.

“Indeed,” Doom said lightly. He turned his attention to Slowbro. “Do not disobey me again.”

Slowbro looked at its master. “Bro?”

“Now, Blastoise!” Misty suddenly shouted.

Blastoise spun up out of the water and headed directly for Slowbro. Slowbro wasn’t fast enough to dodge the spinning water Pokemon.

It was a good thing that Slowbro didn’t have a need to dodge, then.

Slowbro’s eyes glowed blue for a brief moment as its hands shot up into the air and the Blastoise stopped mid-air a mere five feet from Slowbro’s position. Slowbro thrust its hands outward and in a shocking display of psychic power slammed Blastoise against the far wall of the gym so fast Misty couldn’t see it. It almost goes without saying that Doom could, of course, follow the action just fine. For he is Doom, and Doom follows what he damn well pleases.

“Bro!” the Slowbro shouted in the direction of the Blastoise which was very slowly dislodging itself from the wall. While translating the vast language of the Slowbro is tricky business, it can safely be assumed that Slowbro's intention was to say something along the lines of "Don't interrupt discussions with my glorious master Doctor Victor Von Doom." That's what Doom chose to believe at any rate.

After a moment Slowbro turned back to Doom. “Bro?” it questioned.

Doom rubbed his chin. It appeared to him, and thus it must be true, that Slowbro’s language center was not very well developed. So when Doom gave even simple commands in the heat of battle Slowbro would get confused. On the other hand, when allowed to think on its own it could use its powers adequately. That level of control was unacceptable.

This calls for brain surgery.

Doom’s attention snapped back to Blastoise as it fell back into the water. The surgery would have to wait. For now he would leave the Slowbro to its own devices. Failure would still not be accepted, of course.

“Blastoise! Water gun!” Misty shouted and did a wholly unnecessary hand motion toward Slowbro.

Blastoise erupted out of the water and one of its cannons let out a large jet of water which went right for Slowbro’s head.

Doom shifted his eyes to his Slowbro. He did not issue a command.

Slowbro rewarded Doom’s shrewd thinking with another display of his psychic powers. Its hands moved in front of him and the water that was coming towards him slowed down until it stopped moving entirely. The air in the room began to grow cold as the stream of water slowly started to turn to ice. After a moment the liquid had turned from a powerful jet of water to an ice spear that was sent hurdling at Blastoise. Unlike its counterpart the turtle had no psychic powers to dodge the incredibly fast object and its left arm was taken clean off from the shoulder down. Blastoise's reaction was the practical one.

Blastoise roared in pain as its arm fell into the water and blood spurted from the open wound.

Doom cracked his neck. That was satisfactory.

Misty, her laughter over the Slowbro long forgotten, let out a sigh. “You have a lot of nasty Pokemon. Water is supposed to be elegant and beautiful, not blunt and harsh.”

“Words of a loser. Victory is victory, and everything else is not. That is what all those who have tasted complete triumph know of life.”

Misty ground her teeth together. “Fine! You want to play rough? I can play rough! Blastoise! Rage!”

Her Blastoise’s screams of pain came to an abrupt end as it began to glow red. A moment later it was directly in front of Slowbro whose eyes were already glowing blue. They quickly stopped glowing blue when Blastoise’s fist met the side of Slowbro’s head causing it to crash into the water below.

Doom tilted his head.

Interesting.

--

Doctor Doom did not impress easily but a turtle with cannons on its back flying around doing its best human torch impression, minus the fire of course, was enough to at least intrigue Doom. The Blastoise turned its attention to Doom and let out a growl.

Doom raised an eyebrow. It appeared that the creature had gone completely berserk in exchange for its newfound strength and speed. The move rage slackened the harness of sanity from the mind and this allowed the body to reach its true potential. The creature did not even have the survival instincts to realize that looking upon Doom with such naked aggression had led to the enslavement or death of things far stronger than itself.

Doom made a mental note to teach every single Pokemon he had this move. Doom could never have enough abilities which enabled Doom to use Doom’s tools, what others referred to as Pokemon, to their maximum potential. Anything less would be uncivilized, for it would not be Doom, and Doom is nothing if not civilized.

“Is your Pokemon knocked out only after one punch from Blastoise?” Misty mocked. “And here I thought this might provide some challenge.” Misty had conveniently forgotten that her Blastoise now had only one arm to punch with due to the very same Pokemon that she now mocked. She should really work on that short term memory.

Doom’s eyes hardened as he looked down into the large pool. He knew the parameters of all of his Pokemon perfectly, for knowledge was power and Doom was the most powerful of them all. That Blastoise didn’t have the strength, enraged or not, to knock out his Slowbro in one hit. At least it better not if Slowbro wished to continue breathing. This could only mean one thing.

“Slowbro,” Doom said. He sounded very angry as people tend to do when they are, in fact, angry.

A few moments later Slowbro bobbed up from the bottom of the pool. “Bro?” it responded to its master in its normal tone of blissful ignorance.

“Has Doom told you what he does to those that deign to show sloth in the face of adversity?” Doom said silkily.

Slowbro made stabbing motions with his paws while shouting excitedly before doing what could only be described as a Slowbro’s version of an evil cackle.

Doom nodded his head. “Exactly. Now what exactly do you think Doom is going to do to you?”

Slowbro stared blankly at Doom for a moment before the Pokemon began to look sick.

Doom smirked. “You are indeed slow, but Doom sees you have caught up to the topic at hand. Since you understand, Doom would advise doing something, anything, to get back into his good graces.”

Misty coughed loudly which caused Doom to turn his attention back to her. “Hello? We are in the middle of a match here! It isn’t the time for you to be chastising your Pokemon! How utterly rude.” Misty folded her arms under her chest and glared at Doom.

Doom stared into Misty and the woman thought she could feel her very soul squirm under his gaze. “Doom does what he wants when Doom wishes to do it. Doom wanted a Pokemon battle. It was done. Doom wanted to show his Pokemon the proper way to conduct itself. Notice that too was done, little girl.” Doom paused to chuckle darkly. “However Doom understands how the folly of youth can make one impatient. Very well then, we can continue our match.”

Misty blushed. She wasn’t used to being talked down to like that. She liked it. Putting her affection for the man in front of her aside she turned to Blastoise. “Destroy him, Blastoise!”

Blastoise blurred out of sight just as Doom turned towards Slowbro. Doom said nothing.

A moment later Blastoise was covered in a psychic aura as Slowbro held both of its paws out in front of him.

Misty’s jaw was slack in shock. She had never seen a Slowbro display this level of psychic power.

“Surprised little girl?” Doom asked. He didn’t wait for an answer. “I suppose it is only natural for a trainer of your level to not comprehend the magnificence of Doom’s glory. Allow Doom to put it into words even you will understand."

And explain he would.

--

Doctor Doom spread his arms out wide. The glory of Doom was currently making an appearance, and the deliverer of such a divine message was named Slowbro.

“Little girl, you have severely overestimated your place. Doom never comes unprepared. You look at Slowbro and you scoff. Just as I knew you would. I have done extensive research and found out that the latent psychic prowess of a Slowbro is surpassed by very few Pokemon. However weak trainers, like yourself, long ago gave up on harnessing that power because it had proven too difficult for you to master. No task is too hard for the great Victor Von Doom! Now you see the repayment for my time, Slowbro has unlocked his potential!” Doom reared back his head and let out a mad cackle. He didn’t think it was necessary to mention the modifications he had made to the Slowbro. This wasn’t show and tell after all.

“Um, is that all?” Misty asked.

Doom stopped his cackle short and clenched his fist. “What was that, wench?”

Misty laughed softly, the noise echoing in the gym. “Do you really believe a psychic is enough to hold back an enraged Blastoise? Look at your Slowbro, Dr. Doom, and notice the strain it is under.

Doom did not need to look. Doom already knew that the Slowbro couldn’t hold the Blastoise for much longer. That Pokemon had incredible strength when it was in its enraged state. Doom was impressed that Misty could tell that his Slowbro was under some amount of strain. Maybe she had some talent after all.

It was too bad it would not avail her here.

“Doom knows all, little girl. What you need to be concerned about is the fate of your Blastoise.” Doom turned to his Slowbro. “Crush it.”

Slowbro turned to its master with what could only be described as a frown. “Bro?” it questioned.

Doom raised an eyebrow. His Pokemon was questioning if that was wise; It would use up almost all of its remaining power to perform such a high level technique coupled with all of the energy already expended it was worried it would be of no use to Doom afterwards. Doom would have thought the Slowbro amusing for its devotion to him if the fool had not questioned his wisdom.

“Bro!” Doom shouted in the ancient language of the Slowbro, admonishing the Slowbro harshly for his lack of respect.

“Bro!” Slowbro apologized quickly before turning all of his attention, as well as all of his power, towards the immobilized Blastoise.

Blastoise began to vibrant violently. That was the first sign that there was a problem.

Blastoise’s eyes popping out and blood going, well, everywhere was probably the second. But honestly there was so much blood at that point it is hard to discern which order the signs came in from that point on.

The last sign though was obvious. Blastoise exploded from the outside in, sending all of his blood and guts flying across the gym.

Doom nodded his head in satisfaction. Doom wanted Blastoise crushed, and so Blastoise had been crushed. That was excellent. Doom turned to compliment the Slowbro only to find out that the Pokemon had been knocked out from exhaustion. Doom shrugged. He had been pre-warned that it would happen and honestly even he couldn’t be mad at Slowbro right now. It had actually pleased Doom, and that was a rare event indeed.

Misty, on the other hand, just stood completely still. She was covered head to toe in Blastoise guts as a large amount had mysteriously managed to make it her way. Then she screamed.

Doom once again turned to Slowbro and clapped three times. Doom was very pleased.

--

Doctor Doom could only assume that the referee crossing his arms and running up to Misty meant that there would be a short recess in the action. That suited Doom just fine, for it allowed Doom to bask in his glory. Doom glanced down at his Slowbro and once again nodded his head in satisfaction. He would have to reward it once this battle was over. He had whipped up a special blend of steroids for Beedrill, but perhaps Slowbro would be a more worthy benefactor.

Doom returned Slowbro to his Pokeball and shifted his gaze back to Misty who was still shrieking as the referee tried to wipe the blood off of her with a towel which was proving inadequate to the task at hand. Apparently a Blastoise had a lot of blood on the inside.

Doom quickly realized, as he tended to do, that it was going to be several minutes before Misty was ready to perform her duties as Gym Leader. Doom was fairly confident he could ask for a disqualification for such a delay but decided to let the matter pass. Disqualifications were for those who did not have the full confidence in their victory, and Doom was nothing if not confident in his abilities; he had every reason to be.

Doom reached into his cloak and pulled out a small notebook. It was his to-do list. The book was more for show than anything else, but every now and again it was useful to have some of his better ideas written down just in case he came up with an idea so magnificent and grand in scope that lesser ideas, in comparison of course for nothing Doom did was truly worthy of being called 'lesser', would vanish entirely from his mind in the backlash of such an onslaught of glory and triumph. Also Doom had trouble sleeping on occasion.

Doom flipped the book open and scanned its contents. Humiliate Reed Richards was the first and only item on the first page. Next to the objective was approximately ninety check marks signifying how many times he had accomplished that task. Doom flipped through the first several pages knowing that there were only check marks on those pages as well. He really did enjoy the first item on his to do list and his diligence in pursuing Richards’ complete humiliation was suitable proof of that.

Finally Doom reached the page of objectives that related to the Pokemon world. There was, of course, the complete domination of the Pokemon world that was still in progress. He had added defeating Lance as a sub-objective earlier in the day to further that goal. He skimmed until a particular line caught his eye.

Eradicate the Zubat population.

Doom remembered the annoying creatures who dared to attempt to defy the great Doom by swarming him. They had failed, naturally, but their insolence would prove to be their undoing as Doom had mixed together a virulent poison that would spread throughout their population before Doom activated the execution order ensuring complete genocide of the species.

Doom did some quick math in his head and came to the conclusion that enough time had passed for the toxin to spread. Doom silently punched a few buttons on his gauntlet and the task was done.

Doom spared a glance towards Misty who was no longer covered in blood. She thanked the referee for his help and turned a heated gaze at Doom. “I don’t think I like you anymore,” she said.

“Doom does not care for you or for talk. If you can talk you must be ready to send out your next Pokemon.”

Misty snarled. “You will pay for what you did to my Blastoise!”

Doom said nothing and merely crossed his arms.

Talk is cheap, little girl…

--

Doctor Doom reached for a Pokeball and casually tossed it. The truth was that Doom didn’t even know what Pokemon was in that Pokeball. Nor did it matter. Doom knew that any of his Pokemon was up for the task of outmatching this Gym Leader’s Pokemon. Slowbro, his least useful Pokemon, had already proven that much. Even the most meager of Doom’s Pokemon made Misty’s look hollow and weak in comparison. None would stand before Doom.

The Pokeball opened and out of it came a Kingler. Doom had gotten this particular Pokemon in the wake of his battle against Mewtwo. It hadn’t put up much of a fight. It seemed overjoyed at Doom’s speech about crushing things under its might. The Pokemon had proven to be quite aggressive when he had let it out and it was eager to destroy its opponents. Doom had quickly liked his newly captured Pokemon. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Doom could not have cared less for the actual Pokemon, but the havoc it wrought in the name of Doom satisfied him.

Misty frowned at the Pokemon. She knew from experience that Kinglers were tough Pokemon to defeat, having tenacity few water Pokemon could match. She would have to make her choice very carefully. Looking down at her remaining Pokeballs she reached for one when suddenly a Pokemon came out of a Pokeball that she had not selected.

Misty promptly put her palm to her forehead, not even needing to look to see which Pokemon had come out. There could be only one.

“Psy…?” the small yellow duck Pokemon let out. It turned to his master with a look of confusion that would have left Slowbro puzzled as to how anything could possibly look that clueless.

Doom brought out his Pokedex of DOOM to scan the Pokemon.

''Psyduck, the yellow duck Pokemon. Said to possess very latent psychic powers, generally speaking they are very weak and have nothing useful to offer to their trainer. Beware of the headaches, however.''

Doom tilted his head. His Pokedex very rarely had a warning for him. Doom turned his gaze towards the Psyduck which in turn looked back at him with the most simplistic stare Doom had ever seen.

Doom does not like simple things.

“Kingler. Crush it.”

The crab Pokemon did not need to be told twice and quickly dived into the water, making a beeline for the Psyduck.

Misty let out an exasperated sigh. “Dodge, Psyduck!”

The Psyduck did not dodge. Instead, it faced away from the Kingler to look back at his trainer. “Psy!?” it questioned.

“No you stupid duck! Don’t look at me! Look at the Kingler!” Misty thought about what she had just said for a moment. “Wait no, don’t do that! Dodge!”

It was too late, however, and Psyduck glared at the Kingler with all of its might. Psyduck was very pleased with himself, he had done exactly as his master had requested. It was a first.

A moment later Psyduck was no longer happy as Kingler’s claw smashed down onto its head which wiped the one of two thoughts currently in Psyduck’s mind away.

Doom smirked. “Doom is pleased.”

The room suddenly darkened as a dreadful sensation filled the air.

Doom narrowed his eyes and looked at Psyduck whose eyes were currently glowing blue. They were the only light left in the room.

Doom is no longer pleased

--

Doctor Doom looked at the Psyduck with undisguised interest. Doom did not care if this Pokemon was supposed to be his opponent; he was fascinated by what the creature’s cellular structure must look like under a microscope. Its psychic powers not unlocked by mental stress like Doom was accustomed to, but by physical pain. Nay, physical trauma that should have killed the little duck only made it more powerful. It was outliers like this that made Doom drive forward in his conquest of this world. There were secrets to uncover, so very many secrets. When all and said was done, all of those secrets would be nothing more than another well of knowledge for Doom to draw from at his leisure.

Doom, however, was currently dissatisfied with the situation at hand. For the secrets of this particular world were not yet his, nor was the duck in front of him. It belonged to another. A lesser being. Doom would have spared Misty a glance at this thought if Doom felt she was worth the effort. He didn’t. Instead he looked at his own Pokemon and noticed the Kingler seemed a bit shaken by the display of psychic powers. This was why it hadn’t proven worthy of a name yet. It had not distinguished itself from others of its species. It would have been disappointing if Doom had held any irrational hope for this particular Kingler to be a standout. He had not.

“Kingler. Hesitation in battle is unacceptable. So don’t.”

Kingler took the words for the warning they were and quickly lashed out at the Pokemon in front of him, only to be sent hurling back the moment Psyduck noticed his advance. Kingler smashed into the wall behind Doom with a sickening sound. Doom felt no need to turn around; he already knew the result of the encounter. Kingler had failed.

Doom kept his eyes on Psyduck while he waited for some inane comment from Misty, as she liked to do any time one of her Pokemon did anything of minor achievement. When the comment did not come Doom turned his attention to her and, now that his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, could see that her eyes were glazed over as if she were in a trance. Doom chuckled and turned back to the Psyduck.

“Doom sees the servant surpasses the master. How quaint.”

Psyduck’s head slowly turned towards Doom. Then it spoke in a deep, resounding voice that Doom faintly recognized was in his mind.

'Fool. I am beholden to no one. I am an ancient being trapped inside of this weak, pathetic creature. How one such as I ended up in this pathetic vessel I am unaware, all I know is the cravings of battle which draw me to the surface of this cesspool last only a fleeting moment. I should crush you where you stand, mortal. You may refer to me as Duck, and I accept gifts of gold, pearls, and donuts.'

Doom tilted his head. That spiel sounded oddly familiar. He wondered how many cosmic beings out there had a fondness for birds. Before Doom could question the entity about, well, anything, the room brightened and Psyduck’s eyes returned to normal.

Doom’s ears were then assaulted by the sound of Misty yelling excitedly on the other platform, having noticed Kingler knocked out.

“Whoohooo! Go Psyduck! I knew you could do it!” She said, unashamed by the fact that only moments prior she would have given anything to recall her Pokemon.

Doom spared a glance to his fallen Pokemon and recalled it back to its Pokeball. Doom had learned long ago that every grand experiment needed its fair share of failures before perfection could be obtained. Doom didn’t think Kingler would appreciate what he thought of even necessary failure, however.

It involved boiling water.

--

Doctor Doom waved his hand in dismissal of Misty's enthusiasm.

"Fool, Doom has many tools at his disposal. Your display of excitement is meaningless."

Misty stuck her tongue out at Doom which let the genius and future ruler of this pathetic world see just how much she cared about his opinion on the matter.

Doom's fist clenched in outrage. Such ill-tempered disrespect would have to be met swiftly and harshly.

She will not get away with it!

"Your brief moment of advantage will not avail you for long! Now witness as I choose to end your delusion of competence! Doom shall unleash an ancient power upon your head! Go, Xavier!" Doom elegantly threw a Pokeball and his Omastar popped out of it.

"Who names a Pokemon Xavier?" Misty said, unable to stifle her laughter.

Doom had named Omastar Xavier because he found it amusing to think of Charles Xavier as an ancient old man who everyone had thought extinct for several years. Doom was not ready to share his ingenious humor with someone so unworthy as Misty of Cerulean.

"My naming ability should not be your concern, little girl. Your concern should be the fate of your Pokemon."

Misty's eyes widened as Doom raised a gauntlet covered hand.

"Xavier, slaughter," Doom said. His command was heeded instantly as several spikes left Omastar's body and launched themselves at Psyduck.

"Psy?" the water Pokemon said as a red light snatched him out of harm's way just as several spikes almost as big as him were set to pierce him through.

Doom chuckled. "For once, something that is not wholly stupid," Doom said with a sneer on his face, or at least his tone of voice really made it sound like he had a sneer on his face since it is hard to tell with that big mask still being there and all. " Spare your Pokemon the torment of being commanded by you in this battle any longer and just submit. Doom is merciful, if you surrender here I solemnly promise not to humiliate you further. Doom is honorable, and Doom will uphold his word."

Doom saw Misty hesitate only for a brief moment before her eyes hardened.

''Good. Let he throw herself headlong into battle. Doom enjoys the destruction of fools.''

"I admit, Doom, you are an impressive trainer. However by any count I am still ahead of this match! I am getting sick of hearing you talk. Maybe this will shut you up! Go, Lapras!" Misty threw a Pokeball and a moment later a shrill yell was heard throughout the Gym as a massive Pokemon splashed into the water.

Doom took out his Pokedex of Doom only to be interrupted by Misty's voice.

"Lapras, Water Gun!"

Doom's Pokedex was sent flying out of his hands by a sudden jet of water. Doom went rigid as he saw his device crash into the wall behind him, cracking as it did so.

"Do your Pokemon research before a Gym Battle if you are so great. I don't have time to spare your snarky piece of crap device. Let's go!" Misty shouted across the gym.

Doom remained still for a moment longer before his lips curled into a grin. So the little girl wished to fight in earnest with the great Doctor Victor Von Doom? Doom began to cackle menacingly as he thought of the prospect of this miserable excuse for an opponent having the audacity to challenge him with so much vigor.

"Very well Cerulean Gym Leader! Know this: Your arrogance and rudeness shall be repaid with buckets of blood from your precious Pokemon. YOU HAVE NO HOPE!"

--

Doctor Doom pointed at the Lapras. "Xavier! Ravage!"

The Omastar let out a volley of spikes from its shell aimed for Lapras's head.

"Lapras, Ice Beam!" Misty shouted as a response.

The spikes were met mid-air by a light-blue beam that instantly froze all of the spikes causing them to fall harmlessly into the water.

"Interesting. It seems that not every move you make is the incorrect one."

If Misty was wounded by the taunt she did not show it as she folded her arms against her chest. "Lapras, Ice Beam!"

Xavier did not wait for Doom's command a second time and launched an Ice Beam of its own. The two beams met in the middle of the gym mere feet above the water. Neither Pokemon relented and, after several moments, the air began to chill as the beams came close and close to the water. Finally the beams went into the water and almost instantly the giant pool of water froze over and the beams of energy ceased with both Pokemon now on top of the ice.

Misty rubbed her arms to try to warm herself. She wasn’t properly dressed for the change in climate.

Meanwhile Doom had barely registered the change in temperature. From his always keen observation he had noticed that the Pokemon, a Lapras apparently, had a strong affinity to ice given the power behind its attack just now. Omastar was strong, for it was Doom’s and Doom demanded nothing less than strength, but if not for the water to halt the attacks Doom knew with certainty that Lapras would have overpowered his Pokemon. Doom was a proud man, and he had every right to be for he was Doom, but he was also smart. He now knew to avoid a battle of ice with Lapras, and like everything else in this world he would use such knowledge to his advantage.

“Xavier. Ice Beam,” Doom said calmly.

Omastar obeyed its master and a moment later Lapras had fired its own Ice Beam to meet the challenge easily.

On the other side of the arena Misty fought hard not to smirk. She had Doom right where she wanted him. He was good, she could see that, but he hadn’t done enough research prior to this battle. If he had, he would have known that Lapras was an ice type and particularly strong in using attacks of that nature. He was too stubborn for his own good, she thought, and that would lead to his Pokemon’s downfall.

Doom smiled as he saw the very brief look of triumph in Misty’s eyes. The little girl thought that she had deceived one who could not be deceived. The look of horror in her eyes that was to come would be satisfying. The fly did always think itself clever before it was eaten, after all.

--

Doctor Doom watched as the two beams of ice battled for supremacy before Lapras' won out and knocked Xavier back against the wall. Doom looked at his Pokemon and noted that it had very little damage from the exchange. Just as he had expected.

"Just give up, Doom! My Lapras isn't going to be defeated by the likes of you. You aren't clever enough to defeat me!" Misty said.

Doom's eyes narrowed at the clear taunt. On the one hand Doom knew it would be prudent to delay using his trump card against such a worthless trainer as this gym leader. On the other hand Doom didn't give a damn about prudence.

"You will know Doom! Your insolence shall be rewarded with blood! So much blood! Doom grows tired of this game, and thus your Pokemon's puny existence has come to its inevitable end! Xavier! Execute!"

The Omastar charged another Ice Beam which was yet again met by Lapras' in return. This time, however, Xavier did not stick around for the result of the exchange as it instantly smashed through the ice it was on and submerged into the water.

"Running away? How pathetic of your Pokemon!" Misty yelled at her opponent.

Doom cackled at the insult. There was a certain madness in the laugh that had not been there previously. The normally domineering Doom no longer was concerned with Misty; only his bloodlust remained. "Words are meaningless now. All that remains is for Doom to show you your Doom, and it shall be written in the blood of your miserable excuse for a Pokemon!"

As if on cue Omastar burst from underneath Lapras and a moment later several spikes ripped through Lapras' body, bottom up, causing the large water Pokemon to cry out in pain as it fell on its side. The blood began to spill from three large holes in Lapras' back and stomach where the spikes had punctured.

"Lapras cannot continue," the referee said from his box off to the side.

Misty thought she was going to be sick as she reached for Lapras' Pokeball. She was going to need a lot of medical attention after that. Misty went to open the ball but found that she could not.

Of course she couldn't, because Doom would not allow it to be so.

"Why so eager to run, little girl? Doom did not say he was done with your Lapras."

Misty gritted her teeth. "If I don't return it to its ball it is going to die-"

"I DID NOT SAY DOOM WAS DONE WITH YOUR POKEMON, FOOL!"

Misty broke out into a cold sweat. That voice... that wasn't human, not in the least. What in the hell was she dealing with here.

Doom broke into a mad laugh. "You thought you could mock the great Doctor Victor Von Doom! You, who are so insignificant. You, who does not matter in the least. You, pass judgment on Doom? No... no and... no. That simply will not do. You do not judge what you can not fathom, little girl. You are going to be taught that lesson today. Doom is so kind. Doom will teach you a lesson today. All Doom asks in return is that you burn this lesson into your memory and that you always cherish it. Doom is sure that will not be a problem, of course." Doom turned to Xavier. "Xavier. Finish!"

"No!" Misty screamed out in vain.

Xavier launched several spikes at the defenseless Lapras which ripped through the helpless Pokemon's body easily. It did not suffer for long, however, as a spike slammed into its head causing its brain to begin to leak onto the ice below.

Misty vomited as the referee called for a pause in the match to clean up the remains of the Lapras.

Doom regained his composure as he took in the sight of the slaughtered Pokemon before him. Everything was as it should be. He then turned his attention back to his opponent.

"Clever enough for you?" Doom asked. He did not get a response.

--

Doctor Doom was as polite as Doom was capable of being as he waited for Misty to compose herself after she had witnessed the unfettered brutality that he was capable of unleashing upon her hapless Pokemon. So that being said, after fifteen seconds he interrupted her pity party.

“Doom believes you have had enough time to grieve. Overcome your follies and choose your next Pokemon, Gym Leader.” Doom did not appreciate that the once defiant opponent had now devolved into a whimpering mess. It was inevitable, for she was weak, but even Doom couldn’t have predicted the pathetic display he was currently being forced to witness here.

Misty, for her part, wasn’t thinking about much of anything. She was currently crying like a little baby on her platform as she thought of all of the memories she had formed with Lapras over the years. That was all she had now that Doom had snuffed out Lapras’ life so cruelly. It was so senseless… so monstrous. Misty couldn’t wrap her head around what kind of monster would do such a thing to a poor, innocent, and loving Lapras.

Doom studied Misty closely for several seconds before he correctly guessed her train of thought. “If you had been a strong trainer perhaps it would not have come to this. You did not devote enough of your time and effort, meager as it might have been, to the development of your Pokemon. It is almost a shame what Doom had to do to your Lapras, and if Doom could have gotten this Gym badge by instead tearing you apart Doom would have gladly done so. Instead, your Pokemon, the Pokemon that trusted you to be strong for it, had to pay for your inability. That is how life works, as well as death. The weak seek the strong, and when the strong are not strong enough they are crushed. Especially when their protectors choose to anger someone such as Doom, who is as incomprehensible to you as the cosmos were to the ancients of my own civilization. In short, spare Doom your wallowing child and just send out the next Pokemon to be slaughtered by my grandeur.”

Misty opened her eyes and stared right at Doom. He was right, and that was what stung the most. She had loved Lapras with every fiber of her being. Perhaps she had loved the aquatic Pokemon too much. She hadn’t pushed it hard enough during their training drills. She had been content to show affection instead of instilling discipline. She had utterly failed as a trainer when it came to her Lapras. Misty looked down at her two remaining Pokeballs of consequence at her waist. She ddin’t think Seadra would be a match for anything in Doom’s arsenal at the moment and after what happened to Lapras she didn’t want to risk another of her Pokemon.

Slowly, Misty’s thoughts drifted to her last Pokemon. There had been a time when Misty had not been so kind to her Pokemon as she had been to her dear Lapras. Her last Pokemon had nearly been broken several times as Misty grew up. She had struggled so hard to try to steal away attention from her older sisters that she had tasked this Pokemon with all of her hopes and all of her dreams. This Pokemon, this one singular Pokemon, had felt the full brunt of Misty’s aspirations. This Pokemon had weight behind it, because without such weight it could not carry Misty’s burdens for her. It was a relic of an era that Misty, up until this moment in time, would have rather forgotten about herself. Now she was glad that she had once been what she truly was no longer: a magnificent Pokemon trainer.

Misty clutched the ball in her hand and threw it forward. “Go, Starmie!”

A purple Pokemon with a bright red jewel in the center landed hard right in front of Misty, the force of which sent tremors through the arena.

Doom nodded his head in approval. This Pokemon was without a doubt strong. That was good. Doom did not come here to battle weak creatures all day. Doom came to triumph, and triumph he would.

Because Doom always triumphs.

--

DOOM IS PLEASED WITH THE PRIASE

Doctor Doom eyed both the water Pokemon, apparently a Starmie, as well as its trainer. The leader of this gym was different than she had been previously. Her eyes were hard and determined; her demeanor had shifted from fragile to focused. It was as if she had been wearing a facade and finally decided now was the time to show her true self. She, like this Pokemon, was now strong. All it had taken was a little dose of brutality to allow her true self to rise to the service. One dead Pokemon was nothing in exchange for the sudden rush of excitement Doom felt now. Doom had been growing more bored by the minute in what was supposed to pass for a battle. Now, the true battle would begin.

“Doom is pleased to see that you are now taking this venture seriously. That is wise of you.”

Misty did not even bat an eyelash as she continued to gaze at Doom.

''She finally learned to bite her tongue. Excellent, this shows that she is indeed trainable. Perhaps I could have more use for her than I initially considered…''

“Xavier! Attack!” Doom shouted suddenly.

Misty did not move a muscle as she watched Xavier’s Hydro Pump launch itself at her Starmie. Doom would have frowned if he was capable of feeling sadness at the lack of reaction. Maybe Doom had simply broken the poor fool and had been wrong about Starmie’s strength.

Of course this was not the case, for Doom is never wrong.

Without any command from its trainer Starmie began to spin rapidly in place. As soon as the torrent of water hit the Starmie it was directed right back at the Omastar. The former fossil had no time to react and it was slammed by the blast which ripped through the ice it had been standing on and propelled the ancient water Pokemon to the bottom of the pool where it hit with a loud smack.

“Victor Von Doom, was it?” Misty said in quiet voice.

Doom stared at Misty. “There’s a Doctor at the front of that.”

“Victor,” Misty began again. “There is something you should know about your position in the broader Pokemon world.”

Doom fought hard not to roll his eyes. It seemed that she hadn’t quite given her last speech of the night. “Go on.”

“You are trash.”

Doom’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. The audacity of this whore. She still hadn’t learned her lesson.

Misty put her hand up, sensing that Doom was about ready to explode. “You know much about death and strength. What you do not understand is that there is more to raising Pokemon than strength. It takes discipline and trust. You don’t trust your Pokemon. You believe they are disposable.” Misty took a moment to look fondly at Starmie. “I was hard on Starmie, but I depended so much on it that a bond was forged. I took it to its limits and in return I was rewarded with a very strong Pokemon. Victor Von Doom… you are not the only one with strength in this world, and you are not the only one who is capable of timely viciousness. Let this be a lesson to you Dr. Doom, that it is sometimes best to be careful with the things you wish for most.”

Misty snapped her head around to look directly at Starmie. “Starmie. Thunder!”

Doom’s eyebrows actually rose as the tendrils of lightning struck the pool where Omastar was still submerged. The water itself glowed with electricity for a brief moment before it subsided.

After several long seconds the fried corpse of Xavier floated to the surface of the pool.

Misty smirked.

“I always did enjoy seafood way too much for someone who loves Water Pokemon. Got any sauce, Victor?”

Doom clenched his fist. This wench was going to suffer horrifically.

--

Doctor Doom looked down at the fried Omastar and gritted his teeth. He was displeased. A challenge was certainly welcome, but one of his Pokemon being so outclassed reflected badly on him. Doom did not like it when things reflected off of him at all, much less so when those things had the nerve to do such an action badly. Doom was not certain of the level of injury tolerance a Pokemon could have, but he was fairly sure when something began to steam that it was probably dead. Unless of course it was a steam monster; he was fairly confident of the fact that Xavier was not, in any sense, a steam monster.

“Omastar is unable to continue!” the ref said before he noticed Doom’s somewhat literal death glare on him. The man gulped visibly and quietly shuffled back into whatever dark corner he mistakenly thought Doom couldn’t see in to.

Doom returned Xavier to his Pokeball. Dead or not, he had uses for Xavier. After all, if he could manage to create the original Xavier with a few scraps of ancient DNA he reveled in the opportunity to create another version of Xavier with a nearly fully working body of the species known as Omastar. With some… modifications of course. Doom had been highly favorable to those cannons earlier. Doom liked cannons; he liked cannons even better when he could bioweaponize the contents inside of them to be highly toxic and splice the cannons into the foundation of an already powerful Pokemon’s gene sequence.

Doom does have degrees in way too many fields of scientific study!

Doom returned his focus to the opponent in front of him. She had dared to utter that Doom was trash because Doom did not have trust in his Pokemon. What a foolish thought. Of course Doom did not have trust in those inferior to him, what would have been the point? For them to succeed Doom only needed to give them the right incentives to excel. If they refused to excel even after having the overwhelming and crushing advantage that was his intellect in their corner it was almost unimaginable how hopeless their plight was without Doom’s aid. How horrible were their natural abilities if Doom did not take pity on the Pokemon and let them be his dedicated minions. Thus, those who did not measure up to the glory of Doom would be discarded when he saw fit, and not a moment before and certainly not a moment after.

Doom took one of his balls from his belt and casually tossed it forward. “Go, Gladiator, teach the gym leader a lesson in humility.”

As the light of the Pokeball subsided a blue biped Pokemon took its place in front of Doom.

Misty raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t every day that someone would bring out a Poliwrath to face a Starmie given their opposed typing. Misty’s gaze lingered on Poliwrath for a moment before she turned her attention back to Doom. She had the advantage, true, but the image of Lapras was still fresh on her mind. Despite an outwardly advantage she would have to be cautious here, who knew what tricks this madman had up his sleeve.

Doom, for once, was actually entirely unaware of the type disadvantage his chosen Pokemon suffered. Although frankly he would not have considered it much of a hindrance at all. One of the Pokemon was Doom’s, the other was not. There should not be an issue.

Doom extended his arm and pointed at Starmie. “Gladiator. Death.”

A moment later the air itself began to crack as a sensation of raw energy made its way towards Starmie.

Misty’s eyes widened in horror. She recognized the move immediately for what it was: Fissure!

--

Doctor Doom watched as the Starmie dodged the Fissure with mild contempt written on his face. That Pokemon was starting to pester him. Things didn’t tend to do so well when they began to pester Doom.

Doom’s concentration was interrupted by a huge explosion from where the Fissure hit after it missed the Starmie. Doom turned his eyes skyward and took stock of what remained of the building’s roof, which wasn’t much. Doom saw the bright blue sky overhead and gave Gladiator an appraising look. Perhaps if he could actually hit the road side of a barn with that move some progress could be made here.

“Gladiator, if it isn’t too much to ask perhaps you could actually aim it this time.”

The Poliwrath fought hard not to wince at his master’s request. He thought it was a good idea not to communicate to his master that he had been trying very hard to aim it that time.

Misty let out a sigh of relief. She would have been picking up pieces of her Pokemon for weeks if that monstrous move had actually hit. She wondered if Doom even know what kind of move he had just told his Pokemon to use. Fissure was one of the rare moves which were classified as banned under the rule of Lance. They were so vicious, so destructive, that they had no place in a battle. It wasn’t just the fact that it could maim a Pokemon, but it could hurt innocent bystanders as well. Misty wasn’t stupid enough to think that would stop Doom from using the move though. Misty was brought out of her thoughts by Doom speaking once again.

“Gladiator! Blitz!”

In a blur of movement the Poliwrath ran on top of the pool of water towards the Starmie.

''This is it. I have gauged that Pokemon’s movements. It can’t escape from this angle. Victory shall be mine!'' Doom thought to himself. His moment at triumph was at hand!

Or so he thought.

“Tragic,” Misty murmured to herself. Misty waited until the last possible second, mere moments before Poliwrath would reach Starmie and crack it wide open with a merciless punch. “Starmie! Psychic!”

It happened as Poliwrath was inches in front of its target a purple wave emitted out from Starmie and slammed into the Poliwrath which halted its forward movement entirely.

“A free lesson for you, Victor. Poliwrath is part fighting type, while my Starmie here is part psychic. Fighters are inherently weak to psychic types as you are about to find out.” Misty glanced over at the Poliwrath which struggled valiantly to free itself from Starmie’s psychic grip. “Starmie. Thunder.”

Two bolts of lightning were called down from the sky above and struck Poliwrath in the head. It was forced to endure the full brunt of the attack as Starmie’s psychic assault did not relent until the lightning had run its course. When it was finally finished Poliwrath slumped forward and as the Psychic attack finished it fell to the ground besides the pool. It was breathing, but barely.

Doom stared at Poliwrath with clenched fists. He glided down from his podium and came to a stop a few feet from his downed Pokemon. “Get up, Gladiator.” There was no response. “Your master told you to get up, Gladiator. Get up!” He was more forceful this time, but still there was no response from the Poliwrath. “I said get up!” Doom rushed forward and kicked the Poliwrath square in the face.

Misty flinched at the raw display of anger from her opponent. To do such a cruel thing to his own Pokemon was unspeakable.

Doom stared down at his knocked out Pokemon for a moment longer before he broke out into an insane laugh. “I see now. I see what must be done. Of course, it is so simple. It is not enough to use lesser Pokemon to toy with you. No, I must express to you my sincerest form of power. You must see the heights of my power for yourself. You must see... Doom!"

Doom grabbed the last ball on his belt and slung it forward.

"And Doom you shall see..."

--

Doctor Doom smiled triumphantly as Doom, the Gyarados that is, uncoiled itself from the Pokeball and let out a deafening roar in the direction of the Gym Leader and her Pokemon. Doom had no doubts, not that he ever had doubts, that Doom would bring victory and glory to Doom. That last sentence could be interpreted four different ways and still be entirely correct.

Misty, on the other hand, was feeling intimidated at the sight of the large Gyarados. She had seen Gyarados before, they were always a little scary, but this one had to be a good twenty feet longer than any she had seen previously. Its muscles flexed unnaturally as it stared down at her Starmie. It was clearly waiting for Starmie to make a movement to spring into action.

''Calm down Misty. Don’t let its size intimidate you. Remember: Starmie is faster than any Gyarados could hope to be. Gyarados also isn’t going to like any electrical moves much. We still have the advantage, I just need to keep my calm.''

Misty took a deep breath after her mental pep talk. Everything was going to be fine.

“Doom,” Doom said suddenly. Okay, that was bad.

Doom the Gyarados let out a roar as its only pretense and surged forward towards the Starmie faster than Misty could see. Fortunately for Misty her Starmie had better reflexes and dodged out of the way of the rampaging Gyarados before it slammed into a wall.

Doom the Gyarados showed no ill effects of the crash and let out another murderous roar.

“Doom. Dragon Rage!”

Misty was mildly surprised to hear Doom actually command his Pokemon with a specific move. Was it possible that he had actually forged some bond with this Pokemon alone?

Misty shouldn’t have taken time to wonder about Doom’s sentiment towards his Gyarados as Starmie left unguided had no answer for the Dragon Rage attack which slammed into it, sending the Psychic/Water hybrid into the water below with several burn-like markings covering its body.

“Tch. It’ll take more than that to keep my Pokemon down! Starmie! Recover!” Misty shouted.

The water below glowed green for a brief moment before Starmie sped out of the water looking brand new.

Doom casually drummed the fingers of his left gauntlet against his right arm. This was the first time that he had occasion to fully unleash his Doom and he was pleased with the results so far. It was all a bit too straight forward for his usual taste with how straight forward the attacks were but there was no denying their effectiveness. Although... In an arsenal that had so many intellectually impressive weapons perhaps a single great blunt instrument had its place. Doom watched as Doom again sent the Starmie flying into the water with what looked to be a slam attack. Yes, bluntness had perhaps been undervalued by Doom in the past. That would need to be rectified.

Misty gritted her teeth as the water was turned green again by Starmie. Recover had been a saving grace thus far but there was only so far that move could take them. They had to go on the offensive and quickly. It was rash, but if the move hit it would be devastating.

“Starmie! Thunder!”

Several bolts of lightning struck Gyarados at once as Misty watched in delight as they coursed through its body. Starmie apparently had very good aim today with those Thunders.

A moment later Doom let out its most monstrous roar yet as the electricity dissipated from around it. The roar shook the very foundations of the gym as large chunks of stone started to fall from the walls and the small remaining portions of the ceiling at Doom’s fury. When the dust settled Doom was revealed to be completely unharmed from the Thunder attack.

Misty’s jaw went slack as her eyes nearly popped out.

“No... No way,” Misty muttered.

Doctor Doom chuckled. “Doom promised you Doom, and so as he always does Doom delivers on his word. Now you too see that what lies in front of you is your Doom. YOU ARE FINISHED!"

--

Doctor Doom watched as the light of hope faded from his opponent’s eyes. He could see now that the girl understood completely the depths of despair that she found herself deeply entrenched in. Ignorance had given way to knowledge, and that knowledge heralded the ending of this battle and of her livelihood as she knew it. So proud this frail little girl had been, so determined to best the great Victor Von Doom; now there was nothing left but the ending of this tragic misstep on her part.

Misty had never seen anything like this Gyarados before. She had seen other powerful Pokemon before; plenty of them in fact when she had auditioned to be one of the Elite Four only to be trounced. But to have something with such a well-known weakness to electrical attacks shrug off such a powerful attack like Thunder… was terrifying. Nothing should be able to shrug off an attack like that. Yet it had been done. Doom’s words seemed prophetic now. She was doomed.

“Doom,” Doom started. “You may destroy the Starmie at your leisure.”

The Gyarados knew enough about its master to know when it said it could do things at its leisure he meant anything but that. The key words in that sentence that he zoned in on were “destroy” and “Starmie.” Gyarados wasn’t like most Gyarados; it was not blinded by its rage. It had harnessed the extra energy generated from its usual fury and used it to grow even more powerful and, following in the steps of his master, smarter. Doom was determined to live up to his namesake, his great and kind master, in order to properly honor him on their journey to conquer the world.

It helped that he got to savagely rip things up in this pursuit, as Doom found that he really enjoyed ripping apart lesser Pokemon.

“Stop! Please. Don’t kill Starmie. I beg of you,” Misty pleaded to Doom as tears streaked down her face.

Doom made a subtle hand gesture and the other Doom knew to halt its planned attack for the moment. Doom eyed Misty with a calculating look in his eye. Victor Von Doom was plotting. Somewhere a badly beaten Reed Richards shuddered in absolute horror.

“It is most interesting that you now choose to grovel to me after all of your boasts and taunts, gym leader. What, suppose you, could you have to offer me in exchange for the mercy of Doom? Mercy is not something that is just handed out after all, it must be paid for. What, Misty, do you plan to pay me with.”

“Actually,” the ref began, “from what I understand mercy is the act of sparing someone without needing urk-“ the man’s speech was cut off by Doom’s right hand closing in a distinctively choking motion as the man futilely grasped at his neck.

“Doom does not recall asking for an opinion on the matter.” Doom opened his fist and the man sucked in all of the air he could muster. Doom turned his attack back to Misty and said, “Well? What do you have to offer.”

“I bestow upon you the Cascade Badge, it indicates-“

“Irrelevant to the transaction at hand. I have earned that by crushing both you and your Pokemon. You cannot give away things that are no longer yours to give away, child. Try again.”

Misty bit her bottom lip. This man didn’t seem interested in money or the position of gym leader here. She knew of only one more thing she could offer him that might entice him.

“I’ll give you … me,” she stated nervously.

Doom thought about rejecting her offer immediately but held his tongue in favor of thinking over what she had said. She was willing to give up her life so that her beloved Pokemon could be safe from harm. Doom admired the bravery required for her to do that. It also required a gross amount of stupidity, but considering that everything else she had done up to that point was equally stupid at least she had now added bravery into the mix. Doom conceded in his own mind that he did not have nearly the amount of minions he wanted to establish his influence in this world. Such influence inevitably took time and manpower, two things he had not been afforded much of to this point. This Misty woman was hardly competent, but on the other hand she was a genius in comparison to some of the trainers he had swept aside previously. In exchange for one small act of mercy, an act that cost Doom absolutely nothing, he could gain a potentially valuable asset for his future endeavors. It was, all in all, a very favorable deal for Doom.

“Doom accepts your offer, girl.”

Misty let out a sigh of relief. That had been nerve wracking. She had conceded a lot right there, but at least Starmie wouldn’t end up like Lapras. Poor, poor Lapras.

And yet, it wasn’t enough for the great Doctor Victor Von Doom.

“With one added condition, of course,” Doom finished after a very long pause on his part.

Misty’s hands began to shake at the silky tone Doom had just used. He had her right where he wanted her. She couldn’t refuse anything he asked in this moment. It was either give in or have Starmie, and likely the rest of her Pokemon, die at his hands.

“What do you want?” Misty asked in an obviously broken voice.

Several minutes later Doom exited the gym with his cloak gently swaying behind him. Today had been a very good day in his journey to rule this world. He had learned many valuable lessons about the nature of Pokemon and his faithful Doom had gotten a brief moment of exercise, which Doom was sure Doom appreciated.

Doom eyed his broken Pokedex of DOOM and snorted. He would have to work on making sure the next model had ways of dealing with those which sought to harm it; perhaps something involving nuclear fusion.

That was for another time, though. Today he needed to start to pack up his lab equipment and set his sights on the next city that had a Gym Leader which undoubtedly stood in his path towards world dominitation: Vermillion.

Doom eyed the new Pokeball on his belt. He had a Starmie to name as well.

END OF GYM BATTLE WITH MISTY.

--

Doctor Doom walked into the Pokecenter in what could best be described as a good mood. Not that it was a good description mind you, for the complex thought process of one such as Doom could never be adequately described by the paltry language of the current evolution of man. Still, he had crushed his foe, made her do a dance for twenty minutes straight for no other reason than the fact he could, and gained a new and powerful Pokemon. That was adequate.

Doom walked up to the Nurse Joy and did not say a word. He fully expected to be briefed without the need for her to be informed of his wants.

Luckily for the Joy she understood this as well and began to fill her master in. “Master, while you were gone I was able to perform the surgeries you requested on the Beedrill. He will need a week to recover but after that he’ll be in tip top shape! As for Pikachu, most of his injuries were from the strain he put on himself and I was able to fix him up no problem! You can feel free to use him as he is needed any time you like, master!”

Doom didn’t particularly like how cheery the Joy was talking, but he also realized that cheeriness was very natural to the species known as Joy and to dull it any further than he had would raise unwanted suspicion of their activities.

“Doom shall take your diagnosis under consideration. Inform your counterpart in Vermillion City that they can expect me soon.”

“Of course, master,” the Joy said.

“Doom also expects you to heal his injured Pokemon in a timely manner.” Doom sat down four Pokeballs. “They should be healthy and transferred to my computer in Vermillion by the time I arrive. If they are not… there will be consequences for you, mind slave.”

“As you say, master,” the Joy agreed wholeheartedly with her master.

Doom picked up Logan and Thor’s Pokeballs and attached them to his belt. It was time to head south. Perhaps if the Pokemon down there bled a different color than the Pokemon up here the journey would relieve a fraction of his boredom. Doom exited the Pokecenter and was immediately greeted by Bill.

“Hello Doctor Doom,” Bill said.

Doom’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t I tell you to call me master, mind slave?” Doom asked in what appeared to be a rhetorical manner.

Bill shrugged. “I am sure you did, but I am pretty bad at this whole mind slave thing. I think because I’ve done so many experiments on my own brain it isn’t likely that anything you try on me is going to be wholly effective.” Bill noticed the promise of death that the look in Doom’s eyes had and decided to amend his statement. “I mean, my brain is so defective even the gloriousness of your majesty or whatever can’t make do with my feeble mind or something. Yeah.” Bill was hopeful that recovery was good enough to only receive limited torture from his master.

He should have known those who deal with Doom had no hope.

“Anywhooo… I got what you asked for. It wasn’t easy, but only the best for my master and all of that jazz.”

Doom’s sour mood at Bill’s tone turned for the better upon hearing that. Doom was pleased. Somewhere a broken Reed Richards screamed in horror.

“Excellent,” Doom said.

--

Doctor Doom headed south, much like his foes did when they themselves faced him. He had not encountered any wild Pokemon since leaving Cerulean. It appeared that Pokemon were starting to recognize him as someone they should run from. That was good; Doom liked it when the things he crushed showed even a tiny amount of intelligence. It made crushing them all the more amusing.

Doom was brought out of his thoughts by a sign that was crudely, not to mention foolishly, placed in front of him. The sign read “Pokemon Daycare ahead for all of your Pokemon raising needs! Great value!” Doom snapped his fingers and the sign exploded. Doom liked making things explode; he made a mental note to do it more often.

Much more often.

After the smoke cleared Doom saw a small house not one hundred feet away from the sign. Doom knew he had no need for such a service, for none could raise a Pokemon as well as Doom could. However, the sign had mentioned that these people expected payment for their services.

Doom wanted the payment for their services.

Doom marched into the small house and was greeted by an elderly man.

“Hello young man! Welcome to the Pokemon Daycare Center. Will you be leaving a Pokemon with us today?” the older gentleman with a cane asked kindly.

Doom almost said no immediately until he thought of an idea out of the blue; it was one of his ideas, therefore the blue and the idea it spawned was of the highest quality. Doom knew that this man could not possibly raise any of his Pokemon better than he did; mostly because he has been assured by his suppliers that the steroids he had used were made with chemicals that no one else had access to. The assurance had been made over a pit of lava, so he took their word for it. That and he was Doom, and thus obviously the best at everything. That being said, if the man proved himself even mildly competent at the task he could enslave him, triple the cost of the daycare, and make a massive profit.

''Doom likes massive profit. ''

Doom had thought to just take their money and be on his way, but Doom had higher standards. It would not satisfy him to have a corporation under his banner that was less than optimal. A bad employee and a tortured employee were both as useless to his bottom line as far as Doom was concerned so at least he should derive some amusement from their screams of suffering.

“Yes, I suppose I will,” Doom answered. Doom looked at his belt and selected the Pokemon he had the least use for. “This is Richards, it has had some modifications done to it to ensure proper behavior at all times. If he gives you any trouble simply stare at him as if you are about to crush his very soul from existence and he will settle down.”

The old man fidgeted on his cane. He was unsure what to make of that. “Like this?” The old man raised his cane and started to wave it above his head above his head while blinking rapidly and bulging his eyes as much as he could. For effect, he screamed “Get off my lawn you lazy no good kids!”

“No,” Doom said with great effort not to channel arcane energy into his voice and incinerate the elderly man where he stood. Doom proceeded to leave the house before he did something that he would find extremely satisfying but contradictory to his goals.

He had bigger fish to fry.

--

Doctor Doom continued his way south until he reached a closed off section of road which had a guard station in the middle of it. It amused Doom that in a world where creatures of great power and ability (in comparison to those who were not Doom) were commonplace that someone thought humans with no strength were sufficient to safeguard their cities. When Doom finished conquering this world he would have some of his strongest Pokemon standing as sentinels. That way nothing could harm his citizens. Coincidentally, no one would be able to leave the cities either.

Oh well.

Doom stepped into the guard station and proceeded to briskly walk through to the other side.

“Stop…at once. You aren’t allowed into the city! I… am so thirsty.”

Doom did not break stride as he spared the out of shape and out of breath guard a brief glance before turning his attention forward. He doubted that such a physical specimen would be able to able to keep pace with Doom’s crawl, much less Doom’s average walking speed. The guard should just be grateful that Doom didn’t think it was worth his time to maim fatties who couldn’t impede his progress; short of being directly in front of him, of course.

Doom paused for a moment at that particular thought. It would not be good if people who were out of shape thought that they could get away with disrespecting Doom. That guard had dared to tell Doom to stop.

Doom does not like being told to stop.

Doom snapped his fingers and the guard station behind him exploded violently, sending pieces of burning wood and melted metal flying all about.

Doom continued to make his way through the city, pleased at his resolution to make things explode more often. It almost got tiresome to be so correct and wise all of the time, but Doom was used to such a burden.

“Master?”

Doom turned to Meowth who was almost clinging to his side in what appeared to be complete and utter fear. How long had the cat Pokemon been by his side? Doom had almost forgotten he existed.

“Speak,” Doom said.

“I know you are in a hurry and all but um… I’ve always wanted to see the fighting Dojo.It is said some of the best fighting Pokemon are raised there. I know you don’t have business in Saffron and you seem to have important business in Vermillion but do you think we could stop in there before we leave?”

Doom didn’t know if it was because he had grown slightly fond of Meowth or if it was because he had just exploded something in magnificent fashion, but he was feeling accommodating today.

Okay you’ve got me: it was the explosion.

“Very well. A small detour is not out of the question. Doom will assume since you broached the subject you are knowledgeable of the whereabouts of this dojo?” Meowth nodded. “Lead,” Doom said.

Doom would see firsthand if these so called martial artists could withstand the might of Doom. Doubtful.

--

Doctor Doom entered the Dojo to the sight of several sweaty men doing repetitive motions with their Pokemon at their side, doing the very same motions as their masters. Doom fought the sudden urge to turn around and leave. Although this was clearly a waste of both his talents and time it appeared to mean a lot to Meowth that he triumph over these fools. Anything that gave him even more leverage for one of his minions to be absolutely loyal to him was never a complete waste of his time. Not only that, but Meowth was sure to spread word of the kindness and greatness of Doom for this one small, meaningless gesture. The word of Doom had to be spread, otherwise how would people know to greet their future overlord? After Doom slaughtered everyone in what would amount to a poor excuse for combat by Pokemon perhaps Doom would make the building explode. Yes, that sounded splendid indeed.

Doom took two steps forward and shouted, “Fools, Doom is here for you. Step forth and embrace your fate or perish like cowards. It makes no difference.”

The bustling of the dojo ground to a halt as every eye snapped to Doom who didn’t so much as blink at all of the new attention. At least they were somewhat coordinated, Doom thought.

After a moment a skinny man in a karate gi stepped forward with a stern look on his face. Doom was not impressed.

“How dare you barge into this dojo uninvited! I, initiate Kyle, challenge you to a Pokemon battle on my honor as a disciple of this noble dojo!”

Doom stifled a yawn and selected a Pokeball from his belt at random. Doom didn’t need to make decisions on an opponent such as the one before him, after all.

Kyle caught the sign of disrespect and gritted his teeth. This man would pay for such a slight against the people who had offered him a home. “Go, Machoke!” A grey, muscle-bound Pokemon materialized from the Pokeball and posed in front of its trainer.

Doom narrowed his eyes. Doom did not care for braggarts. He tossed his Pokeball in front of him and Doom, the Gyarados, uncoiled itself from the Pokeball. Doom could not stop himself from sighing in regret. This was going to hurt Doom’s efficiency rating.

There’s no kill like overkill. Kyle did not seem to be impressed by the sight of the massive Gyarados looming over his comparatively small Machoke. “”You will find that at this Dojo skill matters far more than size! Machoke-“

“Devour,” Doom said with authority.

Doom coiled into a ball before leaping into the air. It was snack time, and Doom liked snack time.

“Dodge! Dodge Machoke!” Kyle screamed.

His efforts were for naught.

What happened next ended up sending six of the dojo students and three of the masters into psychological therapy for a decade. Doom the Gyarados plunged straight into Machoke, swallowed him up in one fluid motion, and then in the very next motion spit out the bones of said Machoke along the far wall in such a way that ended up spelling “Adequate.”

Kyle in an impressive multitasking display threw up the contents of his stomach and fainted at the exact same time.

Doom the Gyarados turned back to his master, hopeful for some acknowledgment.

Doom looked up at Doom with no emotion in his eyes. “Doom is not normally so kind, Doom, so pay attention for I will only give you this treat of knowledge once, and only do so for because you completed the task before you so swiftly as to make this not count as a waste of time: Doom shall not clap for you on every occasion. Doom will not shower you with praise whenever you merely complete a task. Doom does not pander to those who are fortunate enough to be in his presence. Has Doom made himself clear?”

Doom nodded its head.

“Then face forward. You aren’t done yet.”

Doom did as his master asked because he wasn't nearly stupid enough to do anything else.

--

Doctor Doom watched as the remaining members of the dojo began to move the bodies of their shell-shocked comrades out of potential harm’s way. As if there was anywhere that was out of harm’s way if Doom wished them harm; what an utterly ridiculous sentiment for these fools to have.

However Doom observed that one man had not moved an inch the entire time. The man was simply standing in the back of the dojo staring impassively at Doom, his gaze never faltering. Perhaps he had a mental defect of some kind. Doom correctly surmised that this man was in charge of this shabby establishment. It was clear to Doom in a moment that he was the stupidest of the bunch. Who else but the runt of the litter would choose to have their gaze linger upon all that was Doom long enough to catch Doom’s attention?

That was an error in judgment.

Meanwhile as Doom took in the scenery Meowth had walked to the wall where the Machoke bones had been placed and started to tug at the one closest to the ground. Meowth figured since he wasn’t actually going to be doing anything of significance he could get a souvenir for what was bound to be a large collection of body parts that his wonderful master would leave behind on their journey together.

“So,” Doom began, “Doom sees that something has caught your eye. Doom bids you to speak up so that this charade of a standoff will end quickly so that Doom can get back to something more important. In this case, that would be anything but standing here rewarding you with Doom’s presence.”

The man grunted. “You who has stepped into this Dojo, are not doom. Doom is what is I am about to do to you through my elegant Pokemon. Hoo-hah!”

Doom’s face, obscured by his mask as it was, turned ugly at the declaration that he was not Doom. “You, lowly mortal, dare to lecture Doom on what it means to be Doom? You are insignificant. You are nothing next to Doom! You would know of Doom no more than an ant would of the tallest skyscraper! Doom is not something to understand. It is not even something to be spoken of. Doom is ever present, ever looming, only to be feared and worshipped by those who have tasted but a fraction of the power that is Doom. Those that have seen the signs of the heavens know that it is foretold that one day Doom shall rule this and every world. You will not deny Doom what is his! I shall obliterate you from this plane of existence and into the most hellish realms in all of imagining. Then, when your soul has been through all of the anguish it believes it can take I shall escort your loved ones personally from this very same world and have them join you. Their screams will echo for all of time, only matched by the triumphal laughter of Doom. YOU HAVE NO HOPE!”

The master of the dojo looked considerably less certain about the idea of facing Doom than he had mere moments prior to Doom’s hate-filled speech. The presence this man commanded reminded him of a slender girl he had met for the first time three years ago. He had recklessly challenged her for the right to change Saffron City into a Fighting gym city.

He had been forced to bury his Primape in five separate boxes.

Meowth, on the hand, was very glad that he had made a note to always have with him instant-popcorn for moments such as this. His master was awesome.

“W-words will not avail you now, fiend! Go, Hitmontop!” The man said shakily as he gave a half-hearted toss of his Pokeball.

“A top,” Doom said. “My mother used to give me tops when I was a boy. Then she was sent to hell with an egotistical demon. I haven’t played with one since.” Doom’s voice was uncharacteristically soft as he seemed lost, for the moment, in a distant memory.

The master wasn’t going to let this opportunity go to waste. “Attack, Hitmontop!” The Hitmontop began to spin very rapidly.

“It has been a very long time since Doom has had the chance to play with a top. Doom finds that he yearns for that feeling once more.” Doom turned to Doom. “Spin,” he commanded.

Doom, knowing Doom very well, knew exactly what Doom requested of Doom.

The Hitmontop charged at Doom on its head, spinning at full velocity. Just as it was about to strike, however, Doom flicked its tail in such a way that not only kept Hitmontop’s momentum going, but increased its velocity multi-fold.

“Spin and spin and spin. Tops are not meant to spin forever, you will find. Eventually it needs to stop, as all things not Doom must,” Doom murmured, madness creeping into his voice as he spoke.

“Attack Hitmontop! Evade the tail!”

A useless command. Again and again Doom the Gyarados was able to make the Hitmontop spin faster and faster until before long the Pokemon could no longer hear its master’s commands, and it could no longer move of its own volition.

“Doom is afraid he has grown tired of playing with a top once again. Time to put the toy away. Doom!”

Doom flicked the Hitmontop one last time. As the Pokemon spun though red splatters began to paint the walls. Then chunks of a now dead Hitmontop soon marred the walls along with the blood. Before long bones found themselves scattered throughout the room and only a small part of the once whole Hitmontop rattled to a stop in the middle of the room.

“Given enough torque, even objects made to spin will eventually lose their structural integrity. How pathetic; it could not even live up to its namesake. What a waste.”

Doom recalled Doom to its Pokeball and slowly stepped towards the man who was now having a panic attack.

“You are Doom! I admit it! Please, spare me and my Dojo that I have worked so tirelessly to build. In return, you can have your choice of my two most prized Pokemon. Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, strong fighting types who I have raised specifically to obey any master!” The man took the balls from his belt and placed them in his hands.

Doom rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So what you are saying is that if I spare you I can obtain one of the two Pokemon in question, yes?”

The man nodded eagerly. He really didn’t want to die today.

Doom smiled down at the man. “I have… a counter proposal.”

Doctor Doom was known for being great at many things. Negotiation was not one of them. At least, unless you were Doom himself; in that case Doom was the best negotiator in the world.

“What is to stop Doom from simply taking both of your precious Pokémon and then leaving you to rot in this pathetic attempt at architecture?” Doom asked with blandness in his voice one would associate with talking about idle town gossip.

“Common decency,” the dojo master replied in a small voice, doubting very much this was the answer he sought.

For the first time in a very long time Doctor Victor Von Doom actually laughed in amusement.

This man is funny.

The master did not need a written note to realize he was correct in his assumption that he had not presented the best argument possible just a moment before. So, like the foolish fool he fooled himself into believing he was not, he tried again. “Mercy?”

Doom ceased his laughter and looked down at the man with an intense look. “If Doom was capable of pity, Pokémon who had a master as pathetic and sniveling as you would deserve it a thousand times more than you! Mercy, you say? You ask me for mercy? The one whom you lorded your perceived strength over not even five minutes before this very conversation! You thought you were strong! You thought you were superior! You were WRONG!”

The man began to whimper as he attempted to crawl away from Doom. He had no other answers for the man in front of him and thought perhaps if he crawled away in the most pathetic manner possible the man would not be bothered to stop him.

“Cease your crawling, the sound you make as you attempt to slither along the ground displeases Doom.”

And so the master stopped immediately.

Doom walked forward and picked up both of the Pokeballs that the man had on his possession and then said, “You are not worthy of my mercy, but have hope, for Doom knows that even those who are not worthy of anything need a small respite every now and again.”

The dojo master looked positively stunned by this pronouncement.

Doom continued, “So Doom shall grant you a kindness. You have Doom’s solemn word that no harm shall befall you from Doom while Doom stands before you in this very dojo. Do you understand what Doom has said?”

The man nodded eagerly. “Thank you! Thank you so much.”

Doom said nothing and turned on his heel and walked out of the dojo with Meowth close behind.

As Doom crossed the threshold back into the city he looked down at the Pokeballs in his hands and came to the conclusion he had no use for two more Pokémon. In fact, he didn’t have any use for any Pokémon raised by such a worthless trainer to be given away as prizes, but it felt wrong not to keep one as a trophy of his conquest at the dojo, even if said conquest hadn’t taxed Doom in the slightest.

“Meowth,” Doom spoke up suddenly.

The Meowth, who had been busy inspecting his Machoke bone, quickly looked at his beloved master. “Yes, master?”

“That side trip… amused me. Doom sees you have already taken a trinket of your own volition and that is good, but Doom would be remiss if he did not reward you himself.” Doom tossed one of the Pokeballs at Meowth who caught it despite his overwhelming surprise. “Doom now considers you a Pokémon trainer, and will expect you to battle in my stead when opponents who are not worth Doom’s time should stand in my way.” Doom’s eyes narrowed as he sized Meowth up. “Your Pokémon and your battle skills will be a reflection of me, and Doom expects that reflection to be of the utmost quality. Have I made myself clear?”

Meowth gulped. He was positively overwhelmed by this sudden responsibility. He had always wanted a Pokémon of his own, and now he was going to represent his master at a moment’s notice! Meowth was overcome with emotion at the display of confidence his master had just shown in him. “I won’t let you down, master!”

“You had best not,” Doom replied. Doom snapped his fingers and suddenly the dojo behind them exploded as magical fire rocked the building to its foundation until nothing was left but a smoking pile of rubble. The charred remains of the dojo master were surely in the debris somewhere. “For that is the fate of those who displease Doom.”

Meowth nodded. His master was awesome, but very scary.

Doctor Doom walked briskly through Saffron City. He had no business here and therefore every second he spent here was a waste of his very valuable time when he could be doing something important, such as finding new minions or crushing someone’s hope. Better still Doom could be crushing many people’s hope at the same time to further increase his efficiency rating. He noted with mild interest the decent amount of power coming from the Gym at the far northeast corner of the city. He had been informed in one of the many dossiers he received from the Joys that the leader employed the use of Psychic Pokémon and that the young woman had not been defeated in a straight Pokémon battle in years. Psychic users had always held Doom’s interest even as a young man. Their intellect was more often than not above average and their arrogance was nearly suffocating. Crushing those who thought themselves superior to Doom in any facet, much less that of intellect, was always a pleasure.

Doom returned his focus back on the path in front of him. Thoughts of battle against that particular Gym Leader would have to wait. No matter how strong the woman was supposed to be Doom knew that she would not measure up to his strength, and so without a doubt that she would not provide Doom any meaningful amusement he turned back to his real priority: Vermillion City. His minion, Bill, had done a satisfactory job of providing him with a ticket for the boat that docked there. Doom had spent a sizable amount of his money to procure rare materials from a distant land and it had taken some stiff bribes for these materials to be smuggled onto this ship. Doom cared little for a fortune that sat idle however, and the money meant nothing in comparison to the amazing experiments Doom would be able to conduct once Doom got everything he had ordered into one of Doom’s many laboratories.

Meowth passed by his master on the bike Doom had gifted him as the two entered the guard station. Unlike the previous guard this one did not stop their progress and after a moment Meowth, followed by Doom, had made it to route six.

“Vermillion is just up ahead, master! I am so excited, it has been so long since I’ve seen the ocean.”

Doom ignored Meowth and continued down the path. After a short time Doom, as if on cue, snapped his fingers. The guard station, now a good quarter mile away, blew up in a towering inferno of fire and smoke. The smoke began to slowly swirl as it went skyward until it formed into a sinuous shape. Before long a massive and terrifying Gyarados made entirely of smoke was dominating the skyline.

Eat your heart out, Voldemort!

Meowth, more curious than caring about the loss of life, turned to his master. “Why?”

“Why not?” Doom responded.

Doctor Doom continued his journey to Vermillion City unimpeded until they were within the city limits. This is where everyone should have ran screaming in terror and prayed to their chosen deity, but ignorance left the people unaware of what horrors awaited them.

As Doom and his faithful Meowth entered the city the first thing he took note of was the giant cruise liner that had docked on the far end of the city. Unlike Cerulean this city was not populated by very many buildings and it was easy to see that there was still a lot of room for growth here. Doom could already visualize several corporations and factories that would make good use of the water front once he had freed these people of their delusions of freedom.

Doctor Doom entered the Pokecenter and without saying a word to the local Joy began his slow descent into his underground laboratory. Doom, in all of his wisdom, had made this particular area very big so that it could act as one of his central base of operations while he was stationed in this world. The port had too many uses not to have such a large base of operations nearby.

After several flights of stairs, because god knows Doom nor his Pokemon get the workout they need when in battle, Doom punched in a forty digit long code and walked into his lab.

Meowth was awed by just how expansive this place was. He didn’t think it was possible to fit all of this beneath Vermillion! Meowth looked to his right and saw a large area that had a green signed marked “Training” on the door.

“Doom is pleased that you took notice of that particular area so quickly. That is where you and your Pokemon shall train while Doom is out conducting research on the pain tolerance of various native species.”

“But master, I don’t know how to train-“Meowth was interrupted by a backhand from Doom.

“Then you will learn how to train. Doom will be gone for several hours, when Doom returns he expects certain standards to have been met. If such a simple task is beyond you, there will be dire consequences.”

Doom swept out of the room and made his way back to ground level. Now that Meowth was being efficient Doom turned his focus to what brought him here in the first place. Doom was Doom, therefore Doom was wickedly clever and his plans reached farther than anyone was capable of seeing. For his plan to succeed, however, Doom needed to conduct a key piece of research. The S.S. Anne held a key to this research and he would crush whoever got in his way. He would also crush those who did not get in his way, but if he actually announced this then those who were not directly in his way would have hope, and it was that hope that Doom was eager to crush personally.

Doom arrived at the docks and looked around. There was no one walking about. It was easy for Doom to deduce that everyone who would normally be milling about had decided to take a look at the ship in port. That would not save them from Doom. Doom continued towards the ship when something caught his eye. A truck was parked on the opposite side of where the ship was. Doom walked up to the truck and inspected it closely until a cruel smile had formed on his lips.

Doom was pleased.

They had already taken his shipment off of the boat.

Time to experiment!

Doctor Doom checked the contents of the truck and found everything was in order. This would go down as an excellent day on the road to his conquest of this world. Now all he needed to do was get the truck back to his base and he could commence with his work.

“Ah, Dr. Doom. Imagine seeing you again so soon. I didn’t think I’d have another encounter with you for a while yet!” A familiar voice said from behind Doom.

Doom turned around and immediately had to hide his displeasure. Before him stood the one man that Doom knew he needed to be cautious around for the time being. Doom was strong, and Doom was eternal, but to conquer this world the right way it needed to be done through Pokémon battle to the death. Doom, being great and wise, knew he was not ready to face this man. “Indeed. I thought they kept you League Champions quite busy. Why are you here?”

Lance smiled at Doom. “Oh you know, looking for some random youngster to scare the crap out of with my dragons. It is a free country, after all.”

“Not for long,” Doom murmured to himself.

“What was that?” Lance asked with a slight edge to his voice.

“Nothing,” Doom lied spectacularly.

Lance eyed Doom warily for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “Nothing, you say?” Lance said conversationally before continuing. “Sure, why not. I am actually here on official league business. The S.S. Anne is a great opportunity to meet strong trainers from other regions. We at the Indigo Plateau are always interested in being at the cutting edge of everything Pokémon related. That includes being the strongest and most well-read Pokémon trainers.”

Doom considered Lance’s words. If Doom were a paranoid man he might assume Lance had been following him.

Doom assumed Lance had been following him.

“I see. I will take that into consideration,” Doom said.

Lance turned his head to the S.S. Annie and stared at it as he spoke again, “I heard what you did to Misty. Took her on in a battle of water and won. Brutally and without mercy.” Lance turned his attention back to Doom. “You are clearly not stupid. You have strong Pokemon. Such conduct in a gym battle is unacceptable. It will not happen again.” Lance spoke in a calm voice, but his eyes betrayed the unsaid threat that his voice did not.

Doom clenched his fist. This worm was lucky. So very lucky that Doom had long ago decided that this world would fall not from Doom’s own considerable might, but the skill he would show as a Pokemon Master. However that insult would not go unanswered. “When Doom greets you in the field of battle your Pokemon will wish that Doom had as much kindness as he did when he faced Misty.” Doom meant that threat with every fiber of his being.

Lance laughed.

Doom’s eyes bulged. This fool dared to laugh at him?

Well, apparently so.

“That’s funny. You? Harm my dragons? You are a funny man, doctor. I’ve wasted enough time on you, I think.” Lance’s smile grew larger as he noted Doom’s rage. He liked to press Doom’s buttons.

No one’s perfect.

Lance continued. “I can sense the great strength and skill you have. I have little doubt I will meet up with you again. Don’t be in such a rush to head into battle with me though, you wouldn’t like the result.” Lance gave an abbreviated salute and leaped off the dock directly into the ocean. At the last possible moment he was whisked away into the sky by an orange blur.

Doom shook with rage. He turned to the truck and quickly decided that his shipment would be safe to leave unattended for a little while longer. Doom looked at the S.S. Annie and smiled malevolently.

Doom wanted blood and there was a big ship full of right in front of him.

How convenient.

Doctor Doom proceeded to the entrance of the S.S. Anne where an usher waited for him.

“Welcome to the S.S. Anne, sir. May I see your ticket?” asked the young man.

Doom smiled cruelly. “No you may not.” Doom waved his hand and the usher was launched several hundred feet into the air as Doom made his way onto the cruise ship. Doom had been given a ticket by Bill so that he could retrieve his property in a quiet manner without raising any suspicion. Doom was no longer in a quiet mood and if there were no survivors there wouldn’t be anyone left to be suspicious.

There has never been better logic in all of history.

Doom recalled that Lance had said that within the halls and decks of this ship there were several strong trainers from entirely different regions. This was good, perhaps they could give Doom even a fraction of a challenge before he painted the walls red with the blood of their Pokémon.

Doom had not taken five steps into the ship before he was accosted by a cheery middle-aged woman.

“Oh that’s a beautiful mask! Did you get that in the Hoenn region?” She asked.

Doom clenched his fists. This was perfect, already there was a fool in his path ready to be destroyed!

“Doom challenges you to a Pokémon battle,” Doom said grandly.

The woman looked sheepish, not bothered in the slightest that he had ignored her question. “I don’t have any Pokémon I am afraid, I am just here seeing the sights.”

Doom growled. “Then you are merely in Doom’s way! Doom removes all obstacles!” Doom threw a vicious right cross at the woman’s head causing her entire body to be violently lifted off the ground and slammed into the side of the cabin.

Doom stepped over her body without a second thought and proceeded to where he knew the main deck was. The blueprints he had obtained had been very easy to memorize, after all. Doom had made a commitment to conquer this world through Pokémon mastery and not something as mundane and unsophisticated as murder but if he did not find a trainer soon Doom had no problems making a mistake and slaughtering everyone on the ship. Doom would have to make it up to himself later.

Doom reached the deck in short order and his eyes lit up in excitement as he saw dozens of trainers who each looked ready for battle. This would be glorious.

As Doom was about to challenge the nearest one an object suddenly struck the deck thirty feet away from Doom and a red liquid, undoubtedly blood, spilled out from the impact.

Doom, a master of physics, mathematics, and the anatomy of the human body did not even need to look to realize that it was the usher he had gently displaced from the ground finally coming down from his foray into the upper atmosphere. Doom frowned as he noticed exactly where he had landed. Doom had wanted the corpse to be impaled on the spike that was two feet away from where the body had ended up. Doom needed more practice with flinging around live test subjects. Doom eyed the dozens of horrified trainers in front of him.

Easily solved.

Doctor Doom was both an efficient and scarily quick intellectual. So as the minds of the normal mortals fought to comprehend what had just gone on before their very eyes, Doom was hard at work erecting barriers using arcane magics to assure that none of them escaped unless Doom permitted it.

Teleport isn’t going to save them now!

When Doom spoke, he did so with the deposition of a king, his madness hidden far from the reach of the common muck he had surrounded himself with. “Welcome, one and all, to the grand seafaring coliseum of Doom!”

Everyone’s attention shifted from the dead body onto Doom. General consensus: this guy was crazy.

''Maybe the consensus will change when they are all in pieces. ''

An attractive brunette-haired girl with two balls attached to her waist spoke up. “Coliseum of Doom? Is this some sort of Pokémon challenge?” She asked.

Doom smirked. “That is correct. For you see little girl Doom has suffered a great many insults, so Doom requires sacrifice. Like the useless corpse that is currently seeping blood beneath your shoes, Doom is going to kill every single one of you.”

Everyone stilled at that proclamation. Well, almost everyone. From the far end of the deck someone broke out into a laugh.

Doom’s eyes narrowed. It was becoming apparent that someone was not going to make it to the Pokémon battle phase of this impromptu execution.

It’s going to be awkward if Doom is the only one with blood-resistant cloth on.

A blonde haired teenager, no older than sixteen, stepped forward and ran a hand through his spiky hair. “Not a chance, you masked freak. I have honed my battle technique through countless battles and hardships! You won’t lay a hand on me or anyone else here. Go, Blaziken!

A large red Pokémon came out of a Pokeball and immediately roared at Doom. It appeared the Pokémon was just as foolish as its trainer.

“Doom sees now. You wish to employ fire in an attempt to save your pathetic life. Very well, Doom did say this was combat after all. Doom accepts your challenge of trial by fire.” Doom’s hands began to glow as a sinister red light consumed the deck.

The trainer gritted his teeth. He wasn’t impressed with a simple lightshow. Someone should have probably given him better definitions of the words “simple” and “lightshow”, but there is a high probability if someone went to fetch a dictionary they would return to a pile of cinders. “Blaziken! Flamethrower!” the trainer suddenly shouted.

Doom’s eyes glowed in ecstasy. This was going to be fun. Doom pushed both of his hands forward and unleashed his vast powers on the incoming Flamethrower. The flamethrower fizzled without protest and soon the Blaziken was penetrated by the red light for several seconds before it dissipated. Doom turned on his heel and walked away from Blaziken.

The Blaziken readied another Flamethrower before it was interrupted by itself exploding into a gigantic ball of flame, its severed limbs flying all about the desk as the trainers scurried to avoid the debris. Miraculously no one was harmed in the explosion because Doom’s barrier protected them from the initial blast.

mir•a•cle: Gift from a benevolent God; Doom playing with his food before he roasts it.

Doctor Doom surveyed the deck and was satisfied to see the seriousness of the situation was beginning to worm its way into their little minds. Their hope would soon be gone, and after that their lives. Perhaps when he was done conquering this world he would build a castle made partly of bones from the people here. On the other hand perhaps that was a bad idea; after all it was a well-known fact that human bone did not hold up well as a building material. Well known to Doctor Doom, at any rate; after three castles couldn’t be held together Doom had recycled the bone in other, more profitable ways.

It wasn't Doom's fault if people couldn't tell the difference between narcotics and bone dust, and the treasury of Latveria didn't fill itself. Doom made a mental note to have an auto-filling treasury here in Kanto when he had crushed everyone who opposed him.

One person did not seem content to just lose one Pokémon today, however. “You freak! You cannot even properly have a Pokémon battle! I don't care! I didn’t like Blaziken that much anyway! However this is where I make my retreat. Go, Abra!” The man whipped out a Pokeball and out came the small Psychic Pokémon.

Doom snorted and folded his arms across his chest. “Doom is kind, so Doom will say this: Do not try to escape. You will not like the results.”

The man wore a manic grin on his face as he spoke again. “You are a liar. When I come back for you, the results will be far different. Abra, Teleport!” The Pokémon and its master disappeared from sight only to reappear a moment later screaming in agony as they came into contact with the barrier. The screams persisted for only a moment longer before a large demonic hand appeared out of the barrier and pulled both of them out of sight.

“Doom doesn’t often use barriers, but when Doom does he uses them as a conduit to a hell dimension,” Doom proclaimed proudly. Silence greeted Doom’s comment. Doom thought people should have more appreciation for the subtle art of dimensional manipulation. A pity they did not. “Now you know the price of non-participation. A fate worse than death awaits those who are too cowardly to face death bravely. However Doom is not without mercy. Those who agree to face Doom in glorious combat by Pokemon have a chance to leave here with their lives. It is simple: Defeat the great Doctor Victor Von Doom and you will be allowed to leave. As you have already seen Doom is capable of great feats of magic and skill, and Doom could crush you in a moment’s notice should Doom choose to do so. So have hope, if there is one among you who can defeat me you will all be spared. You have my solemn word.” Doom spread his arms out wide. “So who shall be the first to challenge Doom?”

“Me,” a man in sunglasses said.

There was an audible gasp from a few people who recognized the man.

Dom paid them no mind. “Very well. Doom sees you only have one Pokeball. This will be a one on one battle. I see no need for preamble! Go, Doom!” The mighty Gyarados unfurled itself from its Pokeball and let out a thunderous roar.

The man in sunglasses took them off and placed them in the front collar of his sleeveless shirt. He looked the Gyarados up and down and grinned in a feral fashion. “Now that’s one big Gyarados. You sure have raised an impressive specimen. Maybe it can prove to be a challenge to me. I doubt it though; it is at a perilous disadvantage against me.”

Doom clenched his fist. “You dare-“

The man’s demeanor shifted immediately at Doom’s reaction. “Shut up, maggot. You come into my city and threaten its people. Unacceptable. You are in need of lesson in respect, and Lt. Surge will be the one to give it to you! Go, Raichu!” The small electric Pokemon made its way out of the Pokemon and sparks flew from its cheek as it looked up at Gyarados.

Doom did not know who this man was, nor did he care. Doom was going to slaughter his Pokemon and then personally saw the man’s bones off of his body – while he was still alive.

Doctor Doom was recalling where in his laboratory he had stored his bone saw as he glared at Lt. Surge balefully. This ignorant wretch did not know who he was talking to. Maggot? Instead of simply sawing him into pieces perhaps Doom would cut off a limb at a time and show this insignificant man what a maggot actually was.

Doom let Surge know Doom’s opinion of him. “Hmph. Doom knows talk is cheap, unlike you. You prattle on about this and that while just having sat back and watched that pathetic worm get himself killed. Doom despises hypocrites.” Some would have said that several opinions Doom himself had could be hypocritical. Those people had a tendency to be locked in a deep, dark dungeon somewhere far from anyone else who could hear anything they had to say.

Lt. Surge spat on the ground. “Necessary loss for proper recon on the opposing force. That’d be you, sunshine.”

“Doom shall see what you have learned then. Doom! Attack!”

The people scrambled out of the way as Doom the Gyarados reared up before lunging at the Raichu.

Lt. Surge was quick to counter. “Counterattack Delta.”

Raichu’s body lit up with electrical power before he delivered a lightning quick uppercut just as Doom was about to overtake him.

Doom was sent sprawling back from the attack, the electricity temporarily stunning him before he shook it off with a mighty roar.

“Again,” Doom commanded.

Doom rushed at Raichu again only for Raichu to perform the same counter. This time Doom was prepared for it and dashed out of the way of the punch at the last possible moment and smashed its tail into the Raichu knocking it roughly into the wall behind the electric Pokémon.

“Adapt or die, Surge. That is the law of Doom,” Doom said with quiet intensity.

Surge spat on the ground once again. “Raichu!” Surge barked. “Get up. This isn’t the time to be lying about.”

On cue Raichu did perhaps the world’s cutest kick-up and landed deftly on its feet looking no worse for wear.

“Doom sees that your Pokémon enjoys pain. Doom will be glad to accommodate.”

Surge’s harsh look turned into a cocky grin. “We’ll see about that, this battle is just getting started. Raichu and me have a few surprises up our sleeves.

Doom did not say anything, for he did not have to. Doom did not need such a paltry thing as surprise on his side. He was Doom with Doom, and that was all Doom needed.

Doctor Doom did not wait around for the Raichu to recover fully. “Doom, Dragon Rage.”

Doom moved more swiftly than a Gyarados had any right to do and was on top of the Raichu before anyone could react had slammed down onto it. Doom reared up to inspect the damage and found there was nothing to inspect.

“Evasive Tactic Beta: Double Team!” Surge shouted out.

Raichus popped up all around Doom as it stilled its head in concentration.

Surge narrowed his eyes. He was starting to realize that this wasn’t a normal Gyarados. Normally such confusion tactics would cause it to lose its temper. Instead all he got for his trouble was a more focused opponent. Surge fought to suppress a smirk. Not like it could keep up with his Raichu in any case. “Quick Attack.”

Doom, the Gyarados that is, was unprepared for the sudden strike and was hit in its midsection from the assault. Unfortunately for Raichu Doom was a quick study and before the rodent could move out of range Doom slammed itself on top of the electric Pokémon causing it to cry out in pain. Doom liked the sound of its pain.

Surge once again did not miss a beat. “Raichu, Thunderbolt!”

Doom roared in pain as the Raichu blasted him with electricity. Unlike the Starmie that Doom was able to shake off this Raichu’s mastery over lightning was too strong to take several direct hits. Doom would go to its very limits for its master nonetheless. Doom feared Doom far more than any physical pain this small rodent could inflict upon him.

The Raichu dashed away from Doom before turning around and growling with electricity shooting all around it. “Your Gyarados can’t take those lightning strikes all day!” Surge half informed, half taunted his opponent. “Give up now while I am still feeling merciful. You can’t overcome type disadvantage. A Gyarados is never going to defeat an electric type. Submit while I still give you the chance.”

Doom face turned unbelievably ugly as he absorbed the ill-advised words of one Lieutenant Surge. This lowly creature did not understand. Doom would make him understand. “'''IT IS YOU WHO IS AT THE DISADVANTAGE! YOU WERE DISADVANTRAGED FROM BIRTH, FOR IT WAS ALWAYS YOUR FATE TO CROSS PATHS WITH DOOM! THERE IS NO GREATER DISADVANTAGE THAN THAT!'''”

Surge spat on the ground. “You think yelling is going to change a thing, boy?” Surge asked snidely. “You’ve got another thing coming! All they do in the military is yell. Yell at in the morning, yell in the evening, yell when they are riding some sweet young thing when they think the recruits aren’t around! I am not impressed with yelling! Show me about this disadvantage, show me everything you’ve got! Because I am going to show you what I’ve got, here and now. Raichu! Call down the THUNDER!”

Doom, the one with several doctorates in this case, could feel the excitement come over him as he watched the Raichu build up the incredibly potent energy within its body for its ultimate attack. Moments like this were what the great Doctor Victor Von Doom lived for. What was life without worthy villains in Doom's path for Doom to overcome. Doom gazed at the Raichu for a fraction of a second longer before coming to a decision.

This Raichu was worthy.

“Doom,” Doom intoned with ancient power reverberating from the single syllable. “Hyper Beam.”

--

Doctor Doom watched as the Hyper Beam erupted from Doom’s mouth. At the same moment the Raichu unleashed its Thunder attack at Doom’s massive Gyarados. Doom was mildly surprised when the two attacks did not interact. Instead both of them homed in on their targets with deadly precision. Doom would make sure to attend the Raichu’s funeral out of respect for the rodent’s audacity. Also because people crying amused Doom.

That explains so much.

Doom’s Hyper Beam consumed Raichu and the blinding light of the impact caused everyone to turn away except for Doom. Doom does not turn! After what felt like an eternity of basking in the blazing hot glow of his Pokemon’s attack the light faded and he gazed upon the Raichu which was now on the ground. The small Pokémon was burned terribly from the attack but it still clung to life. Doom frowned for a moment before the obvious conclusion came to him. Raichu’s ability to conduct electricity through its body gave it a tremendous amount of absorption ability against energy based attacks. Doom turned to Doom and saw the sight he had known he would see as soon as the light had faded: Doom was slumped down, equally unfit for battle as the Raichu across from him. Doom stepped forward and put a gauntlet on Doom’s body and carefully examined the damage.

After a moment Doom spoke. “Your rodent is clever,” Doom said. “It would not have felled Doom’s Doom by simply overpowering it. For nothing overpowers Doom. Instead it used the electricity in its attack to short circuit Doom’s nervous system and caused him to blackout. That is a fine specimen.”

Surge returned Raichu to its Pokeball and said, “The very best of its species in the world. It has been with me for years and has only been knocked out a handful of times.” Surge glanced over at the Gyarados. “This is a draw. What now?”

Doom chuckled darkly. “Fool. This is not Doom’s victory therefore it is Doom’s loss. As Doom promised you are all free to go.” Doom clapped his hands together once and the barriers around the S.S. Anne shattered into nothing. “Go now. My honor only allows me so much tolerance against having filth surround me.”

Soon only Surge remained.

“That applied to you as well, Lt. Surge,” Doom said darkly.

Surge shrugged, completely oblivious to the potential pain that awaited him if he did not tread lightly here. “I am the gym leader of this city. I assume you are taking the league challenge. If you come at me with such disregard for type disadvantages you may beat one of my Pokémon, but you won’t beat all four. You are a tough son of a gun to have raised a Gyarados to be able to hold off a Raichu like that, but toughness isn’t enough. Goodbye for now, Doctor.” Surge marched away in a manner only soldiers can pull off.

Doom snapped his fingers and a throne emerged from the wooden deck. Doom walked up to it and sat down upon the hard surface. Doom had made a mistake. As much as Doom was loathed to admit it that was what made him different than Reed Richards. Instead of ambling on without a care for intellectual honesty his rival would always assume he was right. Doom was better than that. Doom refined his ideas and learned from his mistakes. He had underestimated the people of this world. They could never surpass Doom, but if Doom only showed them raw power and blunt force they stood a chance. Doom eyed his favorite Pokémon and thought back to what Surge had said about how the different types worked. It was arrogance to put Doom in the situation he had. Doom would have to make it up to the Gyarados later.

Doom could not abide by his own arrogance any longer. He had been waltzing through Kanto as if it was his plaything without backing such an attitude up with actions. Doom did not come to have his power from laziness and assumptions. He had gained advantages through hard work and unending strength of character. Doom had done this world a disservice by going easy on it.

It was time to begin to correct that error.

--

Doctor Doom did not suffer failure, even his own. So Doom did what he always did when he was in a bad mood: Set half a dozen people on fire.

The denizens of the Pokecenter never saw it coming, and perhaps that was for the best, as Doom left the local Nurse Joy to find the duster out of the broom closet to clean up the ashes of the victims. Doom had research to do.

Doom went to his lab and saw a Pokémon furiously kicking a training dummy as Meowth did a very poor Doctor Doom impression in a pathetic attempt to inspire the Pokémon to work harder. Oddly enough the lackluster training method appeared to work, which made Doom pleased with himself; Doom wouldn’t want something with such low standards to have Doom for its master anyway. Despite that Doom made two notes instantaneously: Kick something later and have that something be Meowth for his poor attempt at mimicking him.

Doom pulled out the truck he had shrink rayed earlier from his cloak and placed it onto the examining platform of a very big computer.

That’s right, Doom has a shrink ray.

Doom pressed in a few parameters and watched as the computer began to chew through the data of the package inside the truck. Soon a message appeared on the screen stating that it would take fifteen minutes to fully decode everything inside. This displeased Doom. A moment and a burning pile of computer parts later a new computer was sitting in front of Doom appearing to shake, or perhaps shiver, slightly as it told Doom its analysis would be competed in thirty-seven seconds. It would take Doom longer to build a completely new computer from the scraps of the last two and so Doom let the matter slide.

For now.

Doom thought of ways to destroy the computer if it was even a second late but the data managed to appear on the screen early. Doom might just keep this computer around.

For now.

Doom assimilated the facts of the report into his mind effortlessly and promptly made the computer explode. It turns out five seconds makes a world of difference on something’s life expectancy. That note to make things explode more often was one of Doom’s better ideas in his mind, and that was saying something.

Doom went over to his massive library and started to look in the “M” section for any historical data on the Pokémon known as Mew. After all, reading was fundamental.

To maiming all of your enemies as horrifically and efficiently as possible.

--

Doctor Doom didn't take long to complete anything, much less something as simple and straightforward as research and soon he was off again to explore the city of Vermillion. Doom decided it was prudent to allow Meowth to continue to train the fighting Pokémon while the cat was focused instead of prattling on about whatever whimsy struck his minion. One day Doom was going to blow up that Meowth for talking too much and the necromancy required to revive him from such a manner of death involved not blowing things up.

Doom didn’t care for that branch of necromancy.

Doom’s sightseeing was going as well as anything could without explosions or a plot behind his actions.

Just kidding, of course Doom had a plot behind his actions.

Doom entered a building with a sign out front that labeled it as the Pokémon fan club. Doom didn’t like that all fans could enter. He would have to discuss policy and membership fee structure with whoever operated this shabby organization.

This could get messy.

Doom was greeted by an older gentleman with a hat. “Hello there and welcome to the Pokémon fan club where we all love Pokémon in the least offensive and violent way possible! Have time for a chat?”

Doom immediately did not like this man. “No, Doom does not have time for-“

“Great, glad to hear it! So I want to talk about the greatest most wonderful Pokémon that there is. That’d be my Rapidash, of course. Rapidash is really the best species of Pokémon by far and mine is simply the best! It is so cute… lovely…smart…plus…amazing…you think so?”

“Doom did not say anything, fool,” Doom ground out. He had already began to ignore most of the words out of the man’s mouth as he weighed his options here.

“Oh yes…it…stunning… …kindly…love it! Hug it…when…sleeping… …warm and cuddly… … spectacular … … ravishing… Oops! Look at the time! I kept you too long!”

Doom punched his hand straight through the man’s head, killing him with more mercy than the fool deserved. “Yes, you did keep me too long.”

The other members of the Pokémon fan club, who had learned a long time ago to be silent when their president spoke about Rapidash, let out a cheer.

One of them stepped forward. “Thank you for saving us, great hero. He kept us prisoner here and made us listen to his story repeatedly, even going so far as to threaten our families if we did not stay.”

Doom looked down at the blood and guts on his gauntlet and shrugged. Doom was the hero after all; that this was the truth of the matter did not come as any surprise to him. “Doom is a hero! All that I ask in return is that you install me as your new president and stand aside as I shape this ragged club into my own image.”

Everyone agreed immediately and Doom nodded his head. Finally some place in this world that did not need to be told to kneel. They would be rewarded in the best manner possible for this.

They would be subjects of the great Doom.

--

Doctor Doom came upon a large construction site and decided that it interested him enough not to blow it up.

For now. Soon thereafter Doom found an elderly man who was overseeing what Doom recognized as a Machop; a weak fighting type Pokémon according to his extensive research that excelled versus rock types. Doom glanced at the rocks lying all around the Machop’s foot. Apparently it was good against all sorts of rocks, not just Pokémon. Doom filed this information away for later use. “Why do you have your Pokémon uselessly crush rocks? It could be doing something more constructive, such as getting out of my sight,” Doom said.

The elderly man took one look at Doom and did not question why he wanted to know that, he didn’t appear to be the type who liked to be asked questions when he was seeking answers.

Old people sure are smart. “I do not have the money to build here. My family was actually quite poor and my son fell ill when he was young so all of my savings from my work went towards his medical expenses. This site was supposed to be funded by an anonymous man for a research center but when my son died he said the publicity moment was over and pulled the funding. All I know about that dastardly man is that he went by Mr. G in all of his letters. So now I sit out here every day faithfully watching the Machop ready the land that will never be built upon just like he always has. I will do this until the day I die to honor my son.”

Doom nodded in respect for the man’s loss. Doom understood family well. Doom, in a rare moment of kindness, snapped the man’s neck without hesitation. Family reunions were always so touching. He collected a DNA sample from the old man and in a matter of seconds a Doombot had been dispatched with the appearance of the old man mapped into its display interface to watch over the Machop at this building site. Doom had gained a new Pokémon and a prime piece of real estate in one swift stroke. It was an efficient move. It wasn’t enough to quench Doom’s thirst for conquest.

Doom marched over to a nearby cave and was about to enter when a sign caught his notice.

Foolish sign.

Doom read about a sleeping Pokémon that was blocking some random path and snarled. A Pokémon at rest thought that it could block Doom’s path? Doom had made no plans to go that way before, but the whole world was Doom’s path to take any which way; to attempt to block any of the routes towards any of Doom’s destinations was completely unacceptable. The last thing that was completely unacceptable to Doom had been the Zubat population. There was no longer a Zubat population.

Doom delivered a stiff kick to the sign which knocked it to the ground before he continued on his way. After a few steps Doom paused and considered something for a moment. Doom waved his left hand and the Diglett Cave exploded from within and it collapsed on itself within a matter of moments. Then it exploded again which caused the ground of the cave to sink a good fifty feet creating a huge hole where once there had been a cave.

Doom was not going to suffer any more caves on his journey.

--

Doctor Doom marched to the east until suddenly there was a large, snoring Pokémon blocking the road ahead of him. Doom decided to make use of his new Doomdex that he had rebuilt from scratch in his lab as he studied. Doom pointed the device at the sleeping Pokémon.

''“Snorlax, the sleeping mammoth Pokémon. Known for being incredibly strong and motivated once awakened from their many long slumbers. The species as a whole is both slow of body and of mind, and they have been hunted for years to the point that it is very rare to see one near civilization presently.”''

Doom frowned and violently slapped the side of the Doomdex so that it would work better.

“In short it has a lot of power but not worth the maintenance, just kill the useless thing.”

Doom smirked. That was more like it. Doom snapped his fingers and the Snorlax was rocked by several explosions. When the smoke cleared, however, the Snorlax remained intact although it was now awake and glaring at Doom. “Snorlax’s anatomy gives it a great resistance to fire and ice based attacks. This means you are going to have to actually put some muscle behind it.”

Doom glared at the Doomdex. Perhaps he had done too good of a job with that previous slap adjustment. Doom put the device away and focused on the Snorlax. It was time to do this properly. Doom leaped at the Snorlax and without warning delivered a powerful right cross to the Pokemon’s head.

Snorlax, which had just managed to sit up, was knocked back down onto its back. It grunted in pain and attempted to sit back up before it was stopped by a swift kick to its side by Doom.

“Doom does not stop for obstacles!” Doom shouted.

Doom kicked the Snorlax again.

“Doom does not heed the warnings of foolish signs!”

Doom stomped on the Snorlax as he climbed on top of its belly.

“Doom is Superior!”

Doom delivered another punch to the face of the Snorlax.

“Doom is supreme!”

Doom’s gauntlet came back with freshly spilt Snorlax blood on it after yet another brutal hit.

“Doom is the victor!”

Doom rained down several blows to the completely unmoving Snorlax.

“Doom is ETERNAL!”

Doom brought down his head and completely cracked open Snorlax’s skull with his own metal mask. Doom stood up and shoved himself off of the now dead Pokémon and began to walk back to Vermillion. That had felt good.

Good is never good enough for Doctor Victor Von Doom.

Doom, with a crazed grin on his face, turned back towards the dead Pokémon. What was it that his device had said? That Snorlax exhibited a great resistance to fire? Doom was above all else a man of study. This would be… valuable research.

Doom focused for a brief moment inward before he launched a bolt of magical fire into the Snorlax. Doom then turned around and once again started towards the port city.

A moment later the body of the Snorlax was completely torn apart by a magical explosion occurring inside of its body. The parts of the Snorlax flew as far as Fuchsia City where a safari camper got an unwelcome surprise.

Nothing resisted Doom.

Nothing. {C}-- {C}Doctor Doom had just finished wiping his suit clean of blood when he entered the Pokemart. Going into a place of business with any wet substance dripping on you was simply uncouth, more so if that substance had been inside of a living creature less than twenty minutes prior. More than that, if people saw blood on him they might get the all too clever idea of fearing him on sight. There was very little fun to be had in that particular circumstance.

Chasing after your victims is so 20th century.

Doom browsed the shop and quickly surmised that while the owner was most certainly dim of mind he had a selection that took care of his needs. Doom briefly considered taking over this business as well but decided that perhaps he should leave something in this land free of his grasp so that he would have something to do on a rainy day in the future.

''Or tomorrow. Whimsy was underrated.''

Doom created a wormhole to his lab to send his purchase through before stepping outside to continue his tour of the port city.

“Imagine seeing you here, Victor,” a familiar voice said to Doom as he walked into the street.

Doom’s fist clenched before he had even turned around. “Richards!”

“Not quite right.”

Doom turned around and he was momentarily taken aback by the sight in front of him. Before him stood the entirety of the group known as the Fantastic Four.

“I see you could not resist involving others after you embarrassed yourself in our previous encounter. Suitably pathetic of you, Richards. How are those so called legends working out for you?” Doom turned to Susan Storm without waiting for a reply. “Susan," he greeted curtly. "Always a pleasure.”

Jonathan Storm, the Human Torch, responded before his sister could. “Doom don’t you dare talk to my sister after all you’ve put her through. You don’t have the right!”

Susan winced at her brother’s remarks. “Please Johnny, it is alright. Victor is just attempting to be civil-“

“That’s quite alright Susan. No need to shield your brother from his own dull tongue,” Doom interrupted. He turned to Johnny. “Mr. Storm it appears that your condition has once again proven too much of an obstacle in allowing you to keep your cool. No matter, Doom is always here to help.” Doom waved his hand and the man was rocketed into the ocean.

“It’s clobbering time!” Ben Grimm, also known as the Thing, shouted as he charged at Doom.

Doom held out his hand and the Thing was taken off of his feet and soon was choking for air as Doom’s hand tightened into a fist. “Doom does not recall addressing you, Mr. Grimm. You should know better than to repeat the mistakes of a boy half your age. Be silent.” Doom released his hold on the Thing and watch with a satisfied grin as Grimm kneeled before him, even if it was only to gasp for air. “Is this what you have been reduced to? Confronting me when I have done nothing wrong? Let me surmise the situation. Richards likely told you some fantastical story about how I, the great Doctor Doom, was doing something awful to everyone and needed to be stopped. While it is none of your business regardless, I am simply partaking in this world’s longstanding tradition of Pokémon trainerism. As usual your blind faith in this pathetic man Reed Richards has led you to foolishly stand in my way. Turn aside now and I will grant you mercy.”

Susan noticed out of the corner of her eye that Reed was fidgeting the way he always would when caught in a lie. She sighed, the things she did for love. “I think there is only one way to settle this, Victor.” She removed her cloak to reveal two Pokeballs on her belt.

Doom chuckled. “What a foolish endeavor. To think you could defeat me in a Pokémon battle? Hopeless.”

Susan let out a wry chuckle. “Not just me, Victor.” As she said this Doom noticed that Grimm, the now soaked Johnny Storm, and even Reed Richards each had two Pokeballs on their belt. Doom crossed his arms. “Very well, I have shown you all of the kindness my honor demands. If you wish to charge headlong into defeat Doom will not stop you. I accept your ill-fated challenge. Come.”

And so started the epic Pokémon battle between Doctor Victor Von Doom and the Fantastic Four commenced.

--

Doctor Doom watched as Jonathan Storm stepped forward to be the first challenger. This didn’t surprise Doom, the boy was always the stupidest of his little group.

An achievement.

“So eager to be defeated, Mr. Storm? Very well. Doom welcomes your demise!”

Johnny snarled at Doom. “I see you are the same as ever, Doom. Always so arrogant and smug. You aren’t going to be that way for long. We have scoured the world for some of the rarest and most exotic species of Pokemon and have trained day and night for a week for this battle!”

“I have conquered worlds in less time! Do not be so proud to flaunt your futility at me, boy. Now start battling before I regale you with all of the horrible things I did to your sister in alternate timelines!”

Johnny paled at Doom’s implication. “Flame on!” Johnny screamed as he simultaneously turned into the human torch and flung a Pokeball. The Pokemon that appeared out of the ball was a giant orange dog with black markings all over its body.

''”Arcanine, a Legendary Pokemon. Arcanine are known for their reckless stupidity, sometimes mistaken for bravery, as well as their loyalty to their masters. It is quite a strong Pokemon despite its personality flaw so it is suggested to brutally slaughter it to set the tone.”''

Despite a rough start to its existence Doom was starting to like his new Pokedex invention more and more. Doom found that butchering things tended to set some sort of tone, one way or another, and tossed a Pokeball into the field of battle.

With a buzz Logan the Beedrill entered the battlefield for the first time since his grave injuries against Richards’ Zapdos. Logan swiped its metallic blades a few times and then set its sights on the Arcanine.

The Arcanine was not about to be scared of a bug and roared defiantly in the general direction of Doom and his Pokemon. Johnny smiled at his Pokemon, he too making the tragic mistake of confusing stupidity with bravery. “It is going to take more than bugs to win this battle, Doom! Arcanine, Flamethrower!”

“Destroy,” Doom ordered.

Logan blurred out of the way of the fire attack and charged directly at the Arcanine which had to take a step back to avoid getting impaled by one of Logan’s blades. It was not so diligent to avoid the second one, however. The Arcanine did not have time to register what was happening before the metallic blade cruelly ripped through the flesh of its neck with no regards for the life it was ending. As the blood spurted out of the neck, the now detached head fell from the dog Pokemon’s shoulders only for Logan to quickly spear it with his other blade and place it over its own head in a clear sign of triumph.

Doom was pleased to see Logan was getting into the spirit of competition.

“Let that be a lesson, Mr. Storm,” Doom said contemptuously. “Always keep your head in battle, lest you lose it permanently.”

''Doom: 1 Fantastic Four: 0''

--

Doctor Doom took Jonathan Storm’s temperature increasing three fold as a good sign for his efficiency, although Doom would have to be careful to not have the man spontaneously combust right in front of him. Doom refused to let his monopoly on combustion energy in this world slip from his grasp.

Explosions are the sole property of Doom!

“Mr. Storm, do try to control your emotions. It is uncivilized to allow your baser instincts to run away from you. Now if you wish to cease this charade of a battle between our Pokemon and fight me directly I would be willing to accept those terms.” Doom's words were as smooth as silk, hiding the promise of horrible pain that such a battle would have in store for the fiery youth in front of him.

“Don't, Johnny,” Susan said quietly to her brother who appeared as if he was about to do something very stupid.

Nothing new there.

Doom saw his opponent visibly relax and smirked. Johnny was easily controlled by his friends and his foes alike. The boy possessed qualities that antiquated societies often valued such as wholesome good looks and skin deep charm, but in a world where men such as Doom held the keys to the kingdom he was worse than useless. He would not change, could not change. So Doom would hurt him until he learned his place much like a man trains his dog to behave. Jonathan Storm would behave. That or he would be diced into small pieces and fed to Doom's Gyarados, a suitable alternative as far as Doom was concerned.

Johnny threw his last Pokeball out onto the field and a small red and yellow Pokemon leaped into the field of battle and stared intently at Logan.

''Flareon, the Fire Evolution of Eevee. According to the latest statistics only zero point four percent of trainers who have an Eevee have chosen to evolve it into a Flareon, by far the smallest percentage amongst the evolutions. Because of this startling lack of popularity battle details are scarce, although it probably is not impressive if its general lack of popularity and perceived worth is anything to go by.''

By the end of the Doomdex's evaluation the Flareon was openly weeping on the ground while attempting to bury its head into the dirt.

Doom was very pleased with himself as he watched Johnny try to comfort his Pokemon.

“Don't listen to that stupid machine, Flareon. It is just trying to demoralize us!”

Suddenly the Doomdex spoke back up.

“I can print up references if you like, Mr. Storm.”

Doom looked down at his creation and wondered if he had succeeded a bit too well with that custom made Artificial Intelligence.

The Flareon had finally succeeded in burying its head into the dirt, to hide or to commit suicide no one could say, and Johnny let out an exasperated sigh.

Doom looked at the Flareon with disgust before turning to his Beedrill. “Logan, did I give the order to not attack? Must Doom speak to you every time for you to understand what your duty to him is? Must I?”

Logan, bug-brained though he may have been, decided upon the correct solution to the question Doom had posed and charged forward to attack the defenseless Flareon. Logan proceeded to relieve Flareon of the major problems of storing its blood on the inside of its body, said body being cramped with such useless things such as organs, and the always worrisome, not to mention stressful, experience that came with having all of its limbs attached.

Just as Johnny thought it could not get worse the remaining body parts suddenly exploded into flames for no apparent reason.

Doom hid the smirk behind his iron mask well. He wasn't going to allow Logan to have all of the fun, after all.

--

Doctor Doom watched with moderate satisfaction as Jonathan Storm was helped back to the rest of the Fantastic Four. Not only did Doom get to see the shame and heartbreak practically roll off the young man, but he also got a good look at Susan's retreating backside. Doom approved. After all, Susan's ability to think clearly and show her brother how to retreat when faced against his superior might showed how keen an intellect she possessed.

That's not the only thing she possesses that Doom keeps an eye on.

Ben Grimm, better known as the Thing to the world at large, stepped forward and grunted at Doom. “You never did have any respect, did ya Doom? I am going to pound some of it into that big metallic head of yours.”

Doom did not deem the pathetic insult worthy of his words and checked the local weather report via his Doomdex.

''Chance of rain later, master. It will be perfect to wash away the insolent fool's blood, sir. Also a high of eighty-one.''

Doom was thinking over how cost efficient it would be to mass produce the Doomdex as a child's toy. After all, what child under the protection of Doom did not deserve its own personal replication of a Doom-like persona to offer guidance throughout its life? The added hypnotism would just be a free bonus.

Grimm narrowed his eyes at Doom. “Going to let the machine do the talking for you huh? Fine, let's get this started then! It's clobbering time!” Grimm threw out his first Pokeball and a bipedal green and beige Pokemon appeared out of it looking directly at Logan.

''Breloom, the Mushroom Pokemon. Breloom is native to the Hoenn region and is a master of fighting tactics. Its most dangerous ability is the deception it uses with its arms, which can stretch far beyond their usual capacity when Breloom enters combat. This is a dangerous Pokemon.''

The Breloom puffed out its chest in pride.

Don't get a big head, you are still an oversized plant with an inferior trainer leading you.

Breloom spread its legs out wide and assumed a fierce looking battle stance at the Doomdex's proclamation.

“Doom sees this one does not prefer to hide its head. Good, perhaps it can give Logan more of a workout than the previous two sad excuses managed to do.” Doom turned to his Beedrill. “Pierce.”

Logan blurred out of sight and in the next moment was right beside the Breloom with its blade poised to skewer the Pokemon. In a flash the blade was parried by Breloom's right hand and its left hand smashed into Logan's face causing the bug Pokemon to float away only to see the Breloom press the attack.

Doom watched as Logan continually counterattacked only for the other Pokemon to always be a step ahead of it with its hand speed. After several exchanges two facts were abundantly clear to the observant Doom. Breloom had his Pokemon outmatched with its technique and that the Breloom was going to lose this battle decisively.

“Faster, Logan! Ever faster!” Doom ordered.

Logan and the Breloom, a blur before, were now impossible to follow with the naked eye. The only evidence of their clashes were the growing puddles of red where the two met. After a several seconds both Pokemon stopped and returned to their masters side, each looking completely winded from their brief flurry of combat.

Logan had bruises and patches of blood all over its body. The Beedrill, although close to its master, never took its eyes off of its opponent.

Breloom on the other hand looked completely untouched save for one small problem: Its hands were severely cut up and in complete disrepair and twitching, a gesture that may have been unnoticeable if it had not been precisely what Doom was looking for.

Doom took in the sight of the Breloom and chuckled darkly. “Concede, Grimm, this fight is over. Doom is, and will forever be, more merciful than you deserve. I have chosen to spare your Pokemon, take my offer.”

Grimm barked out a laugh. “Not a chance, I am finishing this now! Breloom, go get him!”

Breloom jumped forward as Doom shook his head in amusement.

“A fool as always, Grimm.”

Logan buzzed away from its master and in the very next moment one of its blades was sticking out of the back of Breloom's head, blood dripping down the face of the now dead grass Pokemon. Logan slowly slid the blade out of the skull it had been lodged in and flicked the blood onto the ground before going back to its master's side.

“It almost grows tiring to teach you lessons about life, but it just goes to show how kind I truly am that I continue to put up with your lack of intelligence even on the most basic of matters. Even to someone with just rudimentary knowledge of anatomy should realize that when there is pain in an area of a body it causes hesitance on the part of any creature that has not been trained to withstand such hardship. Your Pokemon's hands were shaking from the pain. Your foolish pride has gotten your Pokemon killed, and you are supposed to be a hero? How... unfortunate for those that depend on you.”

Doom laughed maniacally as the Thing clenched his fists in futile rage. Doom was starting to have fun now, a dangerous predicament for anyone who was not aligned with the man.

--

Doctor Doom watched as the corpse of the Breloom was taken from the field by Susan so that the match could continue. Doom turned towards Logan and noted that while it had taken a beating against the Breloom the bug typed Pokemon was holding up well. It was good to see first hand that Logan's injuries had no lingering effects on his performance. It would have been a pity if Doom would have had to put the Pokemon down if it showed itself to be useless. It was no trifling matter to melt down the adamantium blades attached to its arms, after all. Not to mention the fact that he would be obligated to unfreeze one of the clones he had made of Logan to take his place, and the unfreezing process was tedious.

This is as close to Doom comes to liking living things.

The Thing glared at Doom. “You are going to pay for that, Doom!”

Doom was impressed. It was not every day that someone exceeded his expectations, even if the expectations were about the levels of stupidity one was capable of plummeting to. “As if you could ever acquire the abilities required to make me dole out any form of currency, be they literal or not. The universe could begin anew and endure an infinite recurrence of isolated time dilations leaving only you unaffected and still you could never even come so close as daring to dream that you have conceived of a way to conquer me.”

Grimm tried to process everything that Doom had just said but the attempt resulted in a headache for the man. Instead he chose to throw out his second Pokeball. A fool's errand, but no one ever said he wasn't a fool.

A large green Pokemon with a plant on top of its back appeared from the Pokeball and let out a tremendous roar.

Doom was not impressed.

''Venusaur, the Plant Pokemon. The plant on its back is said to be able to absorb large quantities of energy that it can store for up to six hours before having to release it in some manner; usually by obliterating whatever Pokemon it is against. Extreme caution is advised. ''

Doom was still not impressed. “Slice,” Doom commanded.

Logan zipped towards the Venusaur and was promptly repelled back by two vines smashing into its body. The Beedrill adjusted its course to avoid the ground and let out a distinctively annoyed buzzing sound as it glared at the Venusaur momentarily before charging at the grass type once again. When the vines came at Logan he was prepared this time and flicked a blade out in front of him. In an instant thick, green ooze was pouring out of the vines as the tips fell to the ground lifelessly. The next moment Logan was above the Venusaur delivering a brutal strike to the plant on the Pokemon's back.

As Logan cut through the Venusaur a yellow plume of pollen burst forth and enveloped him. Logan got away from the pollen as quickly as he could but the damage from the attack was obvious. Logan's body was covered in blue blemishes as it slowly made its way to the ground.

Doom narrowed his eyes. Doom did not remember telling his Pokemon to cease its attack...

Before Doom could do horrible things to Logan the Doomdex chose that moment to speak up.

Stun Spore is an attack native to many grass-typed species of Pokemon which invades a Pokemon's nervous system via physical contact and induces complete paralysis frequently until cured; hinders a Pokemon's agility greatly.

Before Doom could command Logan again a dazzling display of leaves flew from the Venusaur's body and began to swirl around it at high velocity.

Logan turned to Doom with all the weakness of a Magikarp. The paralysis having taken over its body, it was asking to be recalled back to its Pokeball.

Doom scoffed. Clearly it had paralyzed Logan's brain as well. “Do not seek mercy from Doom only moments after failing your master. Be grateful that I choose to allow this meager beast to punish you instead of doing it myself; it is far less than you deserve.”

The Fantastic Four gaped at Doom's callousness, because apparently this is their first encounter with Doctor Victor Von Doom, as Venusaur unleashed the flurry of Razor Leaf towards Logan.

To the Beedrill's credit it did not even flinch as the sharp as knives leaves pierced its body and sent its blood flying about. The Bug fell over, wounded but breathing, with nothing left to give.

Doom began to clap.

Reed snarled. “You just lost, what are you so eager to clap about?”

Doom grinned ferociously. “Four Pokemon to beat one? If only all your battles against Doom worked so well in your favor, perhaps you would actually live up to your title of fantastic.”

The “Fantastic” Four had no response.

--

Doctor Doom returned Logan to his Pokeball and contemplated his next move. Doom could simply unleash Doom upon the fools and let it be done with, but that lacked creativity. Doom could always bring out his star pupil later in the battle if the whim struck him.

Grimm grumbled in the general direction of Doom. “Are you scared or what, Doom? Send the next Pokemon to be pounded!”

Doom closed his eyes and remembered the vow he had made to himself not to maim people before battles were over. Doom was many things, but a liar was not one of them. Doom reopened his eyes and fixed his gaze on the Thing. “Fear is a useless emotion to have, not least of all when facing someone as ill-equipped as you are now.” Doom took a moment to unclasp a Pokeball from his belt. “With that said Doom admires your wish to be granted a swifter defeat than what he has provided you to this point. Very well, Ben Grimm, you shall have your wish granted by Doom!” Doom threw out his Pokeball and watched as a Pokemon landed gracefully on two feet. Doom had not had much time with this Pokemon as of yet but it appeared spirited enough to handle the job presented.

“Hit,” the Pokemon said as it hopped in place. “Mon.” The Pokemon shuffled its legs faster. “Chan!” The Pokemon began to shadowbox in place, its gloved hands a blur as the air crackled with power from varying elemental properties being unleashed from the punches.

Reed frowned at the obvious display of power. He was going to have to step up his dickish tendencies if Doom kept pulling out Pokemon like this.

Reed is finally starting to get into his element!

Grimm snorted. “Looks weak to me. I was a boxing enthusiast you know, and I know boxing is all about leg strength. Those legs are pathetic! No power at all! Venusaur, show them what strength is!”

Doom's hand curled into a fist. There was nothing to show Doom which Doom could not provide for himself. “Incinerate.”

The Hitmonchan strode forward and met any opposing vines with effortless jabs that left the encroaching vines torched from its touch.

“Razor Leaf, Venusaur!” Grimm barked out.

The Venusaur summoned the serrated leaves and shot them towards the Hitmonchan who continud to approach.

As the leaves were almost upon it the fighting type Pokemon punched the air in a near undetectable show of hand speed. The only evidence that the Hitmonchan was actually doing anything of note to the naked eye was the noise the leaves made as they turned to ash in the face of the fiery punches. Its gloves finally stopped moving as it stared down the Venusaur with naked aggression in its eyes.

Doom approved of the direction this battle was going.

Grimm glared at the fighting type. It was moving far too fast for something that was so scrawny. It was time to put an end to all of this by playing his trump card. “Venusaur, Solar Beam!” The Pokemon began to absorb light in preparation for its ultimate attack.

“No chance,” Doom said quietly.

His Hitmonchan agreed as it surged forward to interrupt the attack. The Venusaur did not have time to properly prepare the beam before the Hitmonchan hit it squarely in the face and its plant-like body was consumed by fire, partly fueled by the sunlight the Venusaur had been absorbing.

"Venusaur! No!” Grimm shouted as he shielded his eyes from the bright flame that had burst forth in front of him

Hitmonchan did not relent with just the one punch and mercilessly continued to beat the Pokemon until it had its fill of combat and retreated back to Doom.

As the flames subsided the charred remains of the once proud Venusaur were on display for all to see.

“All those that proudly protest against the glory of Doom shall be torn asunder. I would say let that be a lesson to you, but it has been proven too many times that wisdom is a lost concept on all of you when it pertains to Doom. Just send me your next victim, I have a schedule to keep."

--

Doctor Doom watched as his nemesis Reed Richards confidently stepped forward to confront him. It was almost admirable how delusional Richards remained even after all of their many encounters to have a shred of confidence left anywhere within him, much less enough to believe he could best Doom; the level of dedication required to maintain such a farce in one's own mind must have been staggering.

“I now understand why my Pokemon were unable to beat yours when we last met, Victor,” Richards said with certainty.

“Doubtful,” Doom replied.

Richards narrowed his eyes. “It was because the Pokemon I had picked out were useless. Their legendary status had clearly been overblown, therefore you were able to overpower them. Since then I have done research into the true legends of this world which will be used to bring you to your knees!”

The rest of the Fantastic Four slowly inched away from the man. Whenever Richards began to talk crazy it was usually a bad idea to be within needle range of the man, who had a very long reach.

Doom did not deign such a pathetic thought with a reply, which Richards took as a sign to continue speaking.

“Behold, my latest capture! Go, Regirock!” Reed threw out his Pokeball and a hulking stone golem appeared in front of the Hitmonchan.

''Regirock, the the legendary Stone Pokemon. Myths say that-''

The Doomdex was interrupted by the noise of the Hitmonchan pushing off the ground towards the Regirock. It did not want to waste time listening to a computer speak about fun facts.

“Reflect, Regirock!” Reed shouted. A shimmering barrier surrounded the Regirock as the Hitmonchan drew closer. It was now protected as well as it could be from physical attacks.

The Hitmonchan reared back its right fist, which began to glow white, and unleashed a full swing just as it reached the barrier. A very loud crack could be heard as the barrier turned red for a moment before fading away entirely under the intensity of the punch. The Hitmonchan wasted no time readying a second punch, this one much quicker, aimed directly at the midsection of the Regirock. As it connected cleanly with the Pokemon several fracture lines could be seen in the various rocks that made up its body. As Hitmonchan withdrew its gloved hand the Regirock fell apart silently and without protest, much to Reed Richards' horror.

“That was pathetic even for you, Richards.”

None of the other members of the “Fantastic” Four trusted themselves to sound honest in their disagreement, so they chose to stay silent.

--

Doctor Doom watched as the man some had ridiculously chosen to label as Mr. Fantastic attempted to piece the parts of the fallen Regirock back together to no avail.

Perhaps Doom should offer some glue.

Reed finally stopped his effort and dropped the rock he had attempted to make fit into a larger section of stone. He glanced down at the Pokeball at his waist but did not remove it from his belt.

“Doom has already said that he has a schedule to maintain. Choose your next Pokemon, Richards. I might even be kind enough to let this one live if you hurry.”

That seems incredibly unlikely.

Reed suddenly got a calculating look in his eyes and responded. “Actually, I think that's all from us for now. I concede the battle on behalf of the entire Fantastic Four.” Susan's head snapped around at Reed's proclamation. She hadn't even had a chance to show her Pokemon!

Doom considered Reed Richards' words carefully. The man had never known when to concede in the past and Doom had to assume this was not a late in life growth spurt to the man's brain. The man obviously thought he had come up with a clever idea of some kind that made forfeiting this battle an optimal play on his part.

Cute.

“Well? You would win Victor, I know how much you enjoy winning,” Richards said.

Doom shrugged. “Victory against you lost its meaning long ago. Much the same way one does not give oneself a parade for managing to simply draw breath, I take no innate enjoyment from doling out to you your lot in life.” Doom did not feel the need to mention he gave himself parades simply because he was Doom. Without saying anything related to his glorious parades, he continued. “However Doom is gracious in victory and accepts your … humble request of concession with but one condition.”

Reed smiled. That had been easier than he that it was going to be! “Name it, Victor.”

“I shall have one of Susan's Pokemon.”

Susan scoffed. “I worked hard to train these, to think that I would just let you-”

“That's agreeable, Victor,” Richards interjected. “Susan dear, give him one of your Pokemon.”

Sue Storm looked as if she was trying to kill her husband with the look she gave him. After several long seconds she relented and without emotion tossed a Pokeball to Doom who reached out and caught it.

Reed was all smiles. “Our business is concluded then. Until next we meet Victor.” Reed opened a portal to their home dimension and the “Fantastic” Four departed from the land of Kanto.

Doom looked down at the newly acquired Pokeball in amusement. This was four times now that he had liberated a Pokemon from a lesser trainer. Once this world was officially his he would be sure to build himself a statue in tribute to the kindness he displayed towards these poor, unfortunate creatures. That would have to wait for now, the present demanded that Doom check in on Meowth to see how his minion was progressing with the task given to him. Doom would be displeased if Doom's many triumphs since leaving Meowth were dampened by the Pokemon's incompetence at accomplishing a singular task.

Doom knew exactly three million ways to skin a cat, and all of them were extremely painful for the cat.

--

Doctor Doom entered the secret laboratory underneath the Pokemon Center after dropping off his Pokemon at the front desk. Doom had decided that after he had been assured of Meowth's success or failure that it was time to dismantle one Lieutenant Surge and the delusions of grandeur the man harbored. As Doom plotted the ways he was going to eviscerate the Pokemon his right gauntlet glowed softly indicating that he had a message. Doom tapped the gauntlet and quickly read over a crudely coded letter from his top spy in the region. Apparently they had information Doom needed to know. Doom made a note to meet with them before brutally slaughtering Surge and headed over to the training area.

“Faster, Hitmonlee, faster! You must kick with all you've got! Anything less is an insult to me! I'll kill you myself if you make me look bad in front of the great Doctor Doom!” Meowth screamed at his one and only Pokemon. The Hitmonlee, for its part, looked absolutely exhausted. The wooden post which the Pokemon had been striking was adorned with spots of blood from where the kicks had made contact.

Doom glanced to the left and noticed the dozens of broken wood posts that had been broken already. Doom was unimpressed. “I expected to see more progress given how much time you had. This is mildly disappointing.”

Meowth looked at his master with a panicked expression on his face. He was determined to make his master proud though, and would not make excuses. “I did my best, master. I am sorry for failing you.”

Doom smirked down at the Meowth. “If Doom was unable to cope with the disappointment that others constantly bestowed upon him he would not have lasted long in the world. You did not meet my standards, but then again how could you ever? Doom will allow some leeway on this matter. For now.”

Doom just so happens to not be in the mood for a cat bisque today.

“Thank you master, I promise I won't fail you again!” Meowth said with great enthusiasm.

Someone should tell Meowth it isn't polite to speak lies.

“Come, my business in this city is almost concluded. Bring your Pokemon, the time approaches where you will require a field test to assess your capabilities as a trainer.” Doom walked out of the lab with his faithful Meowth following him. It was time to renew Doom's assault on the Pokemon League.

--

Doctor Doom made his way over to the gym where two things caught his eye. The first was a very tall brush with a sign next to it that simply said “cut the brush to proceed.” Doom made a mental note to do something more interesting than merely cutting it. The second was the most shady looking person Doom had ever seen, which was saying something considering he had plenty of reflective objects around his castle. The person in question wore a tall brown trench-coat which hid all of their features aside from their face, which was covered up by a large pair of sunglasses. Doom walked up to the person and yanked off the ridiculous disguise.

“Ack!” the now undisguised Misty said as she tried futilely to get her disguise back.

“When I said for you to be discreet I did not recall there being sarcasm in my voice,” Doom said.

“Hey, I haven't done this whole spy gig before, how was I supposed to know what you meant?” Misty complained.

Doom would have to think up a punishment later for this level of idiocy. For now, he was more focused on not wasting any more of his precious time on this fool than was required. “You said you had information. Doom does not appreciate being kept waiting.”

Misty proceeded to spill her guts. “Alright, I get it. I have heard from several reliable sources of mine that the leader of the criminal organization Team Rocket has put out a sizable bounty on your head.”

“Doom cares not for what one petty criminal does with his free time. Doom will make an example out of any fool foolish enough into fooling themselves into believing they have even a minute chance of victory against Doom.”

That example is going to involve a lot of blood spatter analysis, someone call in Dexter!

Misty shivered. She was not so far removed from her battle with her master that she could forget the deaths of her loyal Pokemon. Still, Doom had given her generous compensation for her services. She just had to get results and this arrangement wouldn't be all bad. “That's not the problem,” Misty said. “The problem is Team Rocket owns a very large economic stake in a number of key businesses and research centers around the world. Even if you were to defeat the lackeys they send after you Giovanni has enough influence to make your life difficult in other ways. You needed to know this to plan for what is to come, master. I swear.”

--

Doom could practically feel the sincerity oozing from his minion. Doom knew that Doom would best this pathetic man sooner rather than later, but it was true enough that giving Doom the knowledge of who his enemies was put said enemies at a perilous disadvantage.

The best kind of disadvantage!

“Very well. Doom has considered your words and agrees this was worth his time. You are dismissed.”

Misty ran away from Doom as fast as possible while still being polite about it. She was getting smarter.

Doom turned his attention back to the tall brush in front of him and folded his arms over his chest. Doom did not like being given instructions, especially instructions which were useless. Doom twitched his right hand and the brush in front of him exploded into dark, dark fire. It was common knowledge in the magic community that dark fire was the most painful. Doom was in the mood to set living things on fire and cause them pain, this brush was just the beginning.

Doom walked forward and entered the Gym.

Meowth followed as silently as possible, more than a little fearful of the possibility that his master might decide he looked pleasing set ablaze.

Doctor Doom entered the Gym and was displeased to find only trash in front of him.

He isn't referring to the garbage cans, either.

Doom ignored the uninspiring trainers and set his sights on the rows of cans in front of him. Doom surmised this was some sort of meager challenge to impede lesser trainers from reaching the leader. Doom was not impressed. Before Doom could vocalize his lack of approval a voice cut through the air.

“Yo Champ in the making, welcome to the third gym on your way to the top!”

Doom turned towards the man in shades that he had now encountered three times. The last time they had spoken this little man had known his full name, something that no one should have been able to find out. This man was a mystery to Doom. Mysteries tended to die in Doom's presence.

No matter which way you interpreted that last sentence you were right.

“Doom told you the last time we met that we would have a talk,” Doom said ominously.

The man chuckled. “So you did! But I for one know that Doc Doom doesn't waste time on small fries like me, much less small fry temporal inconsistencies which if pried into could rip a hole into the fabric of the multi-verse. Let's just focus on getting you those badges! To get to Surge you are going to need to locate the switches at the bottom of the trash cans. Be careful though, if you trip a false switch the pattern will reset.”

It says something about both Doom's great intellect as well as his life experience on the whole that the part about switches on the bottom of trash cans piqued his interest more than anything related to time anomalies.

Doom lived through the whole of history and finished the tour remarkably unimpressed.

“Be careful you say? Doom does not need such warnings! It is everyone else who should be careful of Doom! I care not for this insult levied against me. You think Doom is unworthy? That Doom must solve your puzzle? Doom does as Doom pleases!” With a sudden burst of energy from his gauntlet Doom blew the steel door that barred the path to Lt. Surge off of its hinges.

As the smoke cleared from the blast a very bored Lt. Surge could be seen looking at Doom. His eyes flicked from the man down to his now defunct door. “Y,know,” he said, “You could have just knocked.”

Halloween Special
Doctor Doom was currently plotting. It wasn’t anything special by Doom’s own immense standards but nonetheless it was still a plan by the great Doctor Victor Von Doom, and thus it was the most magnificent plan that had ever been seen since Doom’s last run of the mill plan. It involved lasers, barbed wire, and a lot of maniacal laughter. There was surely a robot in there somewhere as well.

Doom’s thoughts were interrupted by his castle’s doorbell being rung. Doom thought that was quite strange given the fact that his castle didn’t have a doorbell. Doom put his plan aside and went to the door. Fifty minutes later, it was quite a big castle, Doom swung the door open to see two small children in hilariously bad skull masks with bags open.

“Trick or treat!” they said at the same time.

Doom rubbed his chin. He had forgotten that today was October 31st, a day where children were taught to get as much candy as possible in order for their parents to have less of an obligation to watch over them during the next day. Candy tended to keep children busy after all. Better to stuff their mouths than actually have to keep their minds busy. Doom didn’t have any candy, however.

“Doom does not have candy. However Doom is not without his kindness so allow Doom to offer you vast amounts of power. Would you children like vast amounts of power?”

The two boys traded a look before shrugging at each other. “That sounds alright, I guess,” one of the boys said.

“Then follow.” Doom quickly turned on his heel and without looking back led the two children into his castle. The children started to think this may have been an unwise decision when they passed the fifth dungeon that had terrible screams coming from within it.

After a long trip down many narrow hallways and through dark stairwells the trio arrived at their destination: A well-lit arena. There was a single chair in the entire room: a throne decorated with expensive looking jewels. Doom walked over to the throne and sat down. “Great power comes at a price. Doom gives nothing away! You must prove yourself worth of Doom’s gifts. The one that survives this encounter shall be my apprentice in the art of Pokemon mastery! You may now begin tearing each other apart for such a precious opportunity.”

Both children blinked before one of them spoke up. “Um, mister, Pokemon aren’t real.”

Doom’s eyes narrowed. “Then what is this? Go, Doom!” Doom pulled a Pokeball from his belt and tossed it. In a flash of white light his Gyarados appeared in front of Doom and roared as politely as it could at the children hoping not to scare them. Alas, Gyarados did a poor job and before its roar ended both children had run screaming from the room.

Doom held back a sigh and took a sip of his wine. Today’s youth were so, so very soft. Back in the old days if Doom had seen a giant blue dragon creature he would have almost been happy. To see power right before their young eyes and run screaming… it was truly a sign of the downfall of society.

Doom lifted himself up from his throne. If society wouldn’t strengthen itself it was up to Doom, the world’s great visionary, to push them along. This was the perfect excuse to build that mind control machine he had dreamt about the other night. What a delightful treat that would be for some unsuspecting global power. Doom cackled and walked back to his laboratory.

Christmas Special
Doctor Doom casually took a sip of his wine as he watched the snow fall just outside of his castle’s parameter. He had installed shielding years ago to ensure that nothing so natural as snow sullied the great wonder of a structure that was his headquarters, but even so he almost enjoyed watching the snow fall. Sometimes, albeit rarely, the planet was capable of producing events that did not utterly bore the great mind of Doom, and despite himself he had always held a small fondness for watching snow fall. It was beautiful in its own way, watching it slowly come to the ground and meld into a near endless sea of white.

Doom sat his goblet down and turned back to his current project: a Christmas present for one Susan Storm. Doom did not like giving out presents, mostly because the time to devise one was better spent finding a way to torment his would-be rival Reed Richards. However Doom was nothing if not an over-achiever in literally everything he had ever done, and therefore he had realized two days ago that giving a present to Susan was torment for Richards. The fact that he still had a lingering fondness for the woman did not enter into the equation. At least no equation that Doom was willing to admit to.

Doom was proud of his work, for it was his and therefore worthy of the feeling known as pride. Doom knew from experience that the rest of the so called Fantastic Four had a way of grating on one’s nerves so he had engineered a machine that allowed the user to go into a pocket dimension to get some peace and quiet. Susan’s mind had been poisoned against him but Doom was confident that she would receive his gift. Richards would spend a week trying to find the trick to the device where there was none to be found. Doom would be plotting less selfless acts while that fool wasted his time on a perfectly nice Christmas present. Doom cackled victoriously.

Doom outwits Richards again!

Doom’s cackling was interrupted by his motion detectors buzzing. Doom raised an eyebrow. Who would be so brazen and stupid to come to his Castle on Christmas eve? Doom walked with authority to the window and his eyes narrowed. How predictable.

The Human Torch, Jonathan Storm, was outside trying to pierce his shields and failing miserably. He was good at failing, he should have found a way to make it profitable. However through his constant battering of Doom’s magnificent shields the fool had managed to melt all of the snow outside.

Doom had liked that snow.

Doom quickly pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet and the Torch was quickly snatched out of the air by a mysterious force and brought directly into Doom’s throne room.

The Torch tried to attack Doom but Doom was ready for this reaction and smoothly dodged a pillar of flame while closing the distance between them. Before Johnny could react Doom had a gauntlet around his throat and was squeezing the life out of him.

“Doom does not forgive intrusions, Jonathan. You should remember this well.” Doom kept squeezing until the Torch flamed out and went limp in his grip. Doom released his grip and watched with a small amount of satisfaction as he hit the floor boneless.

Doom rubbed his chin. Perhaps this was an opportunity. He gained little from torturing this wretch. It was the holidays after all. Two presents were surely better than one.

Doom prepared.

Two days later Susan Storm finished signing for two packages from Doctor Doom. She knew Victor fairly well and knew him to have a twisted sense of honor. It was beneath him to try to trick her with a present, despite all of the great evil he was capable of.

She eyed the large present, about five feet squared. She took the note from the box and opened it.

''May this be an everlasting symbol of the great mercy that Doctor Victor Von Doom has the capacity for. Remember this always.''

Sincerely,

Victor

Susan raised an eyebrow and once again curiously glanced at the package. Shrugging her shoulders she began to unwrap it. Then she let out a scream.

Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, was cryogenically frozen in stasis in an elf suit.

Doom is kind.

And Doom is Christmas.

Doom responds to the users
X_Dante_X - I'm too scared to comment

it alerts doom to my existence

Doctor Doom sat in his chair and stared at his computer. Doom was amazed at the level of arrogance that normal human beings had towards him. This "Dante" character believed that if he remained silent that he would go unnoticed. As if Doom was incapable of feeling his life force from across the world? Through dimensions and reality itself? What a fool.

Doom narrowed his eyes as he quoted Dante's post and thought for a moment.

Not worth my time.

Doom closed the browser and went off to kill something.

{C {C}&amp;topic=58721228&amp;user=889026 Kenshin171 - Hey Dr. Doom, did you get me anything Doomtacular for my birthday today? I assume you knew it was my birthday today (because Doom is knowledge) and planned something especially Doom for me.

Doctor Doom sat in his chair. He usually took Sundays off to be sporting to his foes. If Doom worked hard every day of the week people would lose hope. Doom had worked hard the other days of the week to make sure that he would personally end their hope. It just wasn't as satisfying if they had come to the conclusion on their own without him in their presence. Otherwise when he told them "YOU HAVE NO HOPE!" they would sullenly nod and that was not the reaction he looked for. Doom sighed and checked his fan mail. He didn't understand why, but a lot of people seemed to be rooting for him. That seemed to go against the whole "point" of terrorizing the masses into obeying him but he couldn't expect everyone to be mentally well. Doom clicked his inbox and read the first e-mail he saw. Ah, it was a fan's birthday.

Indeed, he had known that it was Kenshin's birthday. Kenshin had written him before, and Doom had comprehensive profiles on anyone who had ever made contact with him in case anyone was amusing enough to torment. Kenshin171 sadly was not one such person.

"Dear Kenshin171,

I hope you have a pleasant birthday, for when I take over the world you will be one of the first to be purged in my "mental health" sweeps. Secondly, I do not prepare anything for anybody, and if I did you would not know it until it was too late to stop me and you would not wish for it. Go have a cake. Or a party of some sort. Enjoy your time while you can, because when I am done with my Pokemon mastery your world is next.

Sincerely,

Doctor Doom.

P.S. - I have heard from sources that Ice Cream Cake is most delicious."

Doom hit send.

Anagram - Excuse me, I have a question for Doctor Doom. What do you think of the Fantastic Four movie where your skin is made out of metal, you shoot lightning, and aren't a super genius?

Dear Anagram,


 * Destroys an entire galaxy*

Sincerely,

Doctor Victor Von Doom.

{C}Kenshin171 - Is there anything Doom cannot take? Can one "take" love? Dr., what are your wise thoughts? Dear Kenshin171,

Manipulation of the mind and of the proverbial heart is a simple matter for one who is as intelligence as myself. First you must consider a few simple facts about how love usually forms in humans. For the purposes of this explanation, Doom shall limit his keen mind to romantic love. First there must be a physical attraction. To reproduce this Doom would implement one of two strategies. One would be projection technology which would super impose a desirable face and body over my true form in order to impress a member of the opposite gender. Secondly I could simply implant data directly into the brain which would allow the woman to believe she is seeing something that she finds desirable. After this first contact is established afterwards it is a trifling matter of earning her affection through various socially dynamic and ever changing acts. This could, of course, be simulated by implanting false memories of these events happening. Failing that I understand that flowers and chocolate are an excellent way to induce arousal and affection in pursuit of the emotion known as love. After this it is a simple matter of patience and repeating the actions until the person loves Doom without Doom ever showing anything in return. Their love has, to be simple for my simple minded audience, been taken.

Sincerely,

Dr. Doom.

GenesisSaga - Doom does not take what Doom does not require. Doom does not require "love" as it is useless to one such as Doom.

Doom disagrees. Love and devotion are wonderful things to exploit! A man or woman who will die for you without question has uses.

Kenshin171 - Is that how Dr. Doom feels about Doom (the Doomados)? IS THAT HOW DOOM FEELS ABOUT STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM?!?

Doom does not feel.

Emporer_Kazbar - Wow, three write-ups in and I already know Doom's opinions are the worst in the world.

When Doom takes over the world your death will not be fast.

From: DrJawless | #458 Sooo, Doom is lowering himself to the level of a pokemon by battling them himself? Pity that he lets his bloodlust get the better of his pride.

Who are you, Dr. Jawless, to lecture Doom on what is and is not acceptable? You think you are capable of judging Doom? Never. Never shall you be worthy of leveling any judgment on Doom. Every decision Doom makes is calculated. Every action given an amount of forethought so great and of a quality so immense that it would shatter your tiny little mind to even ponder upon the mechanisms of its grand design for even the briefest of moments!

Do not presume to speak of Doom, lest Doom chooses to speak of you.

As for pride, Doom does not need such a worthless sentiment if it gets in the way of his designs! Doom wishes to inflict raw terror, to feel the panic rise up inside of his victims before he crushes them. Doom makes statements. Do you believe that any of Doom's mere minions could hope to make a statement as magnificent and as glorious as the one that has come to pass? Do you? Of course not. When Doom wishes to do something, it is obvious and should go without saying that Doom is always the best candidate to accomplish anything that Doom desires to be done.

Spare your pity.

From: Anagram | #082 Doomy, Doomy, give me your answer, do, I'm half crazy, all for the love of Doom, It won't be a stylish great deed, I can't afford to kill Reed, But you'd look sweet upon the seat Of a bicycle made from two

b**** don't speak to me I am Doctor Victor Von Doom Going to fright you so bad you will beg to go back into your momma's womb! I am eternal, everlasting Check your journal, you die by my blasting! Doom is going to knock open your skull You won't last longer than those filthy wretched skrull I hate Reed, now I hate you as well Too late to concede, DOOM SENDS YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL

{C {C}Spinoff series:

Doctor Doom was angry. No, check that, he was enraged. His favorite Pokemon, Starmie, had just been saved in an Internet Save My Pokemon Contest. Doom had been following this for over a year now, at times having slacked off from causing doom in the world to get in a clutch last minute save, and it was important to him. So when the host, ChichiriMuyo, decided that late into the day it would be fun to reset Starmie's save total, Doom knew what he had to do.

I will bring him to ruin.

Doom ranks flavors of ice cream:
Doom does not like many things, however even Doom cannot possibly resist a cold, soothing treat on a hot summer day. Doom, the diviner of all things, is also able to with but a single lick confirm which flavors are the best. For he is Doom, and Doom knows everything.

Come to Doom with your flavors, and Doom shall choose the victor!

Strawberry ice cream: Doctor Doom holds Strawberry in high regard. It is, perhaps, not the best of the flavors however there is rarely a time where a delicious cone of Strawberry Ice Cream, or even a scoop or two is unwelcome. Strawberry's greatest strength lies in the fact that it will not overpower what is around it so that it may delicately use its fruity flavor in a variety of different delectable desserts. Of course, if you were to repeat this to anyone Doom would have your windpipe crushed and brain afire before you could complete the thought.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup: If Doctor Doom wished to eat candy he would eat candy, not blend it together with ice cream in some sick attempt at Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Not to say that Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is bad, but there are very few candies which can properly accent the sugary delight of ice cream, and Peanut Butter Cup is not one of them. If someone from his magnificent kingdom offered Doom a cup of this as a treat he would back hand them and call them a fool.

Cookies and Cream: Doctor Doom used to be a fan of cookies and cream until he realized something: It was all a lie. The cookies were never up to the standards and glory of Doom, and cream in Ice Cream is just too much cream. Instead of being a glorious confection that was a mixture of a cookie and a frozen delight. Doom could not be more disappointed to learn that Cookies and Cream was not even the best type of Ice Cream that had "cookie" in the title.