Laughing my way out of the darkness and into the light. My vengeance in getting even with this bully of a kid was necessary. Jack was only several feet behind my friends and I was tailing him from the same position on the trail. Now that I had finally caught up to my enemy. It was time to take him down.

"Lucy Tackle him! Knock him off of his trike!" I shouted with an insidious tone.

Still hesitant from my angry voice, she had no choice but to reluctantly fly towards my enemy and it was no surprise to Jack who quickly glanced at my Butterfree coming up from behind him. However, he didn't look all that happy that I had somehow destroyed any possible outcome of me losing.

He certainly wasn't counting on me approaching his trike so swiftly either. Especially after I had aggressively maneuvered the pedals of my bike to align my vehicle with his.

"Gastly, get out of Leaf right now!"

"He's not listening to you!"

During that banter, Lucy struck the top of Jack's head and he nearly lost control of his trike as the handlebars spun toward the left. This distracted him from taking action. There was nothing he could do, since he couldn't use any other Pokémon other than Gastly and now that he had taken possession of my soul. It infuriated him even more that all that he had worked to try and stop me with had been turned on it's head.

"Tch! Gastly! You need to let go of her emotions! I need you to win."

"Like I said Jack, your Gastly is not listening to you, because he is now mine to command. Tackle again Lucy!" I grinned with cunning satisfaction.

Lucy then wasted no time and had dove toward Jack once again and smacked him toward the back using the brunt end of her forehead. Causing Jack's trike to wobble out of control. The wide grinning boy did his best to hold the handlebars and maintain his focus with just a few more inches ahead of me.

"Tackle-tackle-tackle-tackle-tackle-tackle-tackle!" I giggled with delight.

"What is wrong with you!?" He shouted with disdain while Lucy had continued to bump him multiple times to try and veer him off the road.

There was no success in being able to strike him off the path from that move. He maintained weight and equilibrium and it was going to be a bit more difficult for him to even fall of his vehicle. Three wheels was a bit more difficult to knock off unless I had pushed his handlebars at a sharper angle. Gravity would soon take care of the rest.

I swerved my bike directly at his rear tires multiple times. Pressing those rims against his right, rear, tire as sparks flew from the combative strike.

"Gastly, get out of her right now!"

It was too late, we were making our way around the smaller peak which was our final stretch. Once we made our way towards the south path. The Pokémon Center would be the finish line toward our next destination and Rock Tunnel was that peak and there was nothing else that was going to stand in my way to make sure I won this race and continue our adventure as planned.

I wanted to make it to Rock Tunnel and I wanted to beat that snotty kid into submission, he's already caused enough problems, I wanted karma to teach him a lesson. He had brought out the demons in me and I wanted to utilize that avenue to do whatever it took to bring him down; I was willing to take that risk as the one person who would at any cost. However, despite how out of control and helpless Jack was, it was also me that was losing control.

"Black Clover, snap out of it! Aren't you a good person now?" Inquired Jack with a taunting smirk.

I laughed at his pathetic attempt at painting my allegiance with any moral stance and with decisive effort; I ran my bike's front tire right against the rear axle of his trike. Throwing him toward the edge of a ditch and skidding his tires off the trail and bumping his trike up against a massive cliff. Higher and higher we climbed. Sparks were flying off of Jack's trike continually until it started slowing down its pace.

"It looks like it's you who has gotten soft, right Jack?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know who you are, you were just a greenie when I was an Apostle of the organization. Tenth of Jack."

"W-wait!"

The boy, shocked beyond all apprehension had flung back behind me from that surprise. My chance in being able to pass him up in the race brought a smile to my face. His pathetic grin turned to a frown and his large, black, almond shaped eyes furrowed with distrust.

"I'd never thought Gastly would expose you to me this early. Now I really need to discipline him as soon as you are free from his grasp."

"You can try and free him from my body, but my emotions are clear. I need to reunite with Joker and let him know that you had failed in your attempt to stop me." I said.

"You are not going anywhere! You will lose this race and by the time you reach Lavender Town you will be the one who will be destroyed by his hand!"

Jack was so naive, the fact that Joker had chosen him to graduate as an Apostle had to have been a joke. Why him of all people, who was weak in all aspects of battle, but inferior in dirty tricks?

I was tired of being monitored by a pest like him. If I needed to relent to Joker, I had that capability, not him. The Black Clover was the most feared Apostle in the Johto region. That was the one thing he didn't understand.

Be prepared for your defeat Jack, I am about to prove my point to you even further.

After taunting him with a wicked smile. I looked up toward the cliff's edge and saw some Pokémon that were looking down from the top. These were a group of Sandshrew. From my observation, I've counted thirteen or more, looking to pounce down upon unsuspecting Trainers that were on their bikes along the cliff's edge.

"Sweet-Scent Lucy! Get them off the cliff!" I declared with a powerful pointed gesture.

Lucy shot straight up toward the group of Sandshrew and had sprayed them with the same pink substance I had used in the battle against my father. The Pokémon started getting some of this substance in their eyes and had irritated them off the cliff toward Jack's trike.

"You crazy—

He had been incapacitated as the Sandshrew all fell upon him and crushed him toward the ground. Jack's trike was completely in ruin and the rest of the scared Sandshrew tried to burrow quickly underground in order to rid themselves of the sticky substance released from Butterfree.

The drone in the sky had seen Jack's unconscious body and noticed that his trike had been completely in ruin. Handlebars that were bent out of shape, the wheels completely fell off from the impact in many varying directions. The heat signature picked up very little movement and the drone declared.

"Jack has been disqualified from the race, please bring your Pokémon and your trike to the finish line."

The only way I could win this was to get ahead of the rest of the contenders. There was only five of us left. I continued to pedal with quick effort, and ahead of my view. Was the final stretch of the race and a sharp turn that made it's way around the mountain to a cave entrance by the Pokémon Center.

Not knowing that Lorelei, the one that had helped me to compete further into the race had arrived near the slightly injured Jack, slowly bringing her bike to halt. She watched the boy sit up from the impact and tried to rub his back from the strain of the Sandshrew that had attacked him.

The boy turned and looked toward the girl that had thick glasses on and was wearing her usual business attire. The boy frowned from her presence and it didn't compare well that her power as a Trainer was exceedingly greater than his skills or abilities.

"I am Lorelei of the Elite Four, what did you do to Leaf, Jack?"

Jack relented as she continued to advance her bike toward him in a rather threatening manner.

"W-wait a minute, I am not here to kill her. Gastly just took possession of her soul is all."

"Then what are you doing here? Your goons are out of your jurisdiction. What brings you fools into the Kanto region?"

There was nothing Jack could do; he had been caught by the one of the four most powerful Trainer's in the region. If he was to fight her now, it would be a losing battle.

"Tch, fine; I am on a mission to prevent Leaf from going further."

"On what grounds?"

"To bring her back to Joker; he wants to be able to reunite with his fellow Apostle. He hasn't seen her in a while and it would be great if she could come home and rejoin the organization. But she's so stubborn and wants to do it herself? Why won't she just listen to me?"

"She's not going anywhere you pipsqueak. You just wanted to stop her from putting an end to your organization. What makes you think she'll be returning to Joker to fulfill his wishes?"

"Because I am the link to her desires. If I can use Gastly to go deep into her subconscious mind. She'll be able to change hers and we'll unite as one. It's for a good cause you know? It's for the perfection of Pokémon and people." Tittered the young boy with laughter.

"You will not be able to do a damn thing about it. Do you hear me kid? She's going to be much more powerful than you will ever be." She said with a berating, authoritative voice.

Lorelei placed her heels firmly on her pedals and spun her back tire with rapid pace. Seel had turned to glance back at the sore Apostle. Dirt and debris had covered his hair and clothes from the tire spinning out.

"Seel, Ice-beam." She declared with a cold and calculated brow.

The Pokémon beamed and encased a sheet of ice around him as he remained seated on the ground.

"Don't you go anywhere, once this race is done. I am turning you into the authorities."

The elite trainer bounced her bike off the hill with aggression. Speeding toward me with such ferocity that she was determined to make sure that I had been free from Gastly's curse once and for all.

Time was of the essence, the final stretch loomed at the prospect of me being taken under Joker's wing. If she didn't stop me in time the spell wouldn't be undone. She was the one who was willing to make sure that I would not go back on my word as a Pokémon Trainer.