[Pokémon] Remembering the Horror - (15)

South of Pallet Town, an old man got ready to watch the sun sink into the water. He had startling white hair that he kept short and square. He had a chiseled look about him, a face that had obviously seen a lot, things you would want to forget. He had a little two-story house - the only one in a fifteen mile radius – overlooking the sea to the south, with a nice garden he kept neat and tidy with flowers and a couple of trees. The forest around his property meant that hardly anyone ever noticed its existence. Which was just the way he wanted things.


The old man sat down on at his table and took a cold beer out of his ice box. He removed the bottle cap using his fingers and poured a few drops into a bowl he put down on the floor. "Here you go old friend – it's your treat. You deserve it". The Pokemon he had been speaking to moved slowly but deliberately to the bowl and looked up at him, as if to say cheers, before lapping slowly at the brew. His owner started drinking for the night too. They looked like two old buddies enjoying a quiet beer on a quiet night.


Not far away on the road leading to the house, two figures were arguing as they walked.


"I told you this wasn't the way! We've been walking along here for hours and all we've seen so far is a couple of Venonat. It's going to get dark soon and we have no way of getting back", said the first one. She was a trendy-looking teenager of sixteen years. She wore a black beanie that covered her long blond hair, jeans with a white top and skating shoes. Her blue eyes were the same as her partner's: strong and piercing.


"Well now we're on this road we might as well see where it leads", replied the other. He was a boy of similar age who wore cream shorts, had shaggy blond hair and was also something of a trendy boy.


After bickering and continuing along the road for five more minutes, they suddenly realized they had reached the end of the tarmac. They couldn't go further: they were about to enter someone's driveway.


Houndoom stopped drinking from its bowl and perked up its ears. The old man noticed immediately and suddenly felt the old familiar feeling of adrenaline pumping through his veins. "What is it buddy? Those pesky Rattata bastards nibbling at the wires again?"


The two kids read the name on the postbox in disbelief.


"It can't be, can it? We've actually found him", explained the boy aghast.



"It looks like it is", said the girl impatiently. "You're the one who knows who he is, who did the research. Why don't you go knock on that door Phil?"


"Are you kidding? Faye, this guy has been a ranger, a spy and a special forces operative. He trained his Pokemon to whole new levels of power and even invented a couple of moves for them!". The boy looked scared. "I'm certainly not going to ask him for help, he could break me in half in seconds".


"Then you're a pussy", interrupted the old man. "Look at me. My body is frail, I'm a drunk. I won't hurt you. Come on, I'll get you a drink, you're obviously here for a good reason". He motioned at them to follow him and lead them into the garden, where Houndoom was enjoying his beer again. "You bastard! You wouldn't even have been able to help me if they were dangerous" chuckled his owner as he got two chairs for his guests. When they were both seated and each had a drink, he sat down and faced them, the orange sky behind him obscuring his facial features.


He opened another beer and everyone clinked their bottles, but not a word was spoken. The two kids were looking at him sheepishly and seemed to be thinking a lot. Finally, the old man sighed.


"Okay, who are you and what the hell are you doing in my garden?"


The two teenagers looked at each other again. Finally, the girl spoke. "Are you really the one whose name is on the postbox?"


"Yes, that is me. Obviously a mistake since all I wanted was some peace and quiet to enjoy the sunset for the rest of my days". He gave a low growl after the sentence.


"Well, we're not sure how to tell you this really. What do you like people to call you by?" she continued.


"Mo will be fine, thank you".


"Well Mo, we came here after looking for you for the last five years", she said matter-of-factly.


The old man chuckled. "Hehe, bet you had a great time! Until three years ago you would have been totally unable to find me anyway, I was in Osutaria".


"We went too", interjected the boy. "We missed you by only seconds there once. You have no idea how it hurt to see your car driving away at speed. We had no chance to catch up and we didn't know where you were going":


"I came here" answered Mo. "But I'm guessing you had a hard time to find this out, so asked all my closest friends where I could be and someone cracked. Am I right?"


"Almost", said Faye. "We actually found out by accident, although we have been finding your old friends again."


Mo interrupted. "Like who?"


"Ryan, Raf, Bill and your adoptive parents to name but a few" came the answer, this time from the boy. "In the end it was your friend Misty Ketchum who told us by accident."


"What a *****! Of all the people who would betray me! She always used to be good at keeping secrets" gasped Mo.


"She had a good reason to tell us, just like we have a good reason to be here" said the boy, trying to calm him down.


"And what would that be, huh? More budding journalists looking for a story? Do you want to know why there hasn't been a story about me the last years? The last jorno to come here got a nasty injury", he pointed at them both. "And the one before, and the one before him as well. Do I make myself clear?"


"Mo, we're not journalists", said Faye.


Phil finished for her. "We're your grandchildren Mo".


Mo spat the beer he had just put in his mouth. He stared at them in disbelief. "What? I highly doubt this to be true, seeing as I've never even had children. How could I now suddenly have grandchildren?" He looked at the two and realized that they did look a bit similar to him.


Faye looked him in the eyes. "But you did have a child, Mo, you just didn't know it".


"Who is your mother? It'll be quite easy to settle if this is the truth or not if you showed me a picture of your grandmother. I remember the few times I had unprotected sex, they were so rare".


The kids took out a Polaroid picture of a young woman with black hair cradling an obviously new-born baby. Mo found her stunningly beautiful and seeing her again was like being hit by a sledge-hammer in the chest at full strength.


After some time to sit and gather his thoughts, Mo said: "she told me I wasn't the father. It was the only really big fight we ever had as a couple. But it was the last one too".


"She died a few hours after the photo was taken. Apparently because of complications" said Faye.


"You know that's Rapidash-**** just as well as I do. We were getting to a critical part of the war with Team Rocket. They were cornered. She was an easy target in the hospital". Mo's eyes stared into the distance.


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The deafening racket of the battle raging outside never seemed to end. A much younger Mo peaked around a corner and saw a Team Rocket operative order his Snorlax to roll over a defeated trainer. It was hard to resist intervening, but this would take time that he didn't have. He used the distraction of the torture to sprint across the street, Houndoom close at his heels.


They sneaked their way through the ruined buildings of Viridian, being careful to avoid the Team Rocket patrols. The bulk of the army that had been brought to take down the incredibly powerful criminal syndicate once and for all either had control over different areas or simply not arrived yet, and Dada was in hospital in Rocket-controlled territory. So far they had agreed not to screw up hospitals, but if they figured out she was there she was done for. This is why Mo was here. He realized the selfishness of what he was doing in the grand scheme of things, but he could not abandon her, even if she had cheated on him.


As he passed through the next ruined home, a grunt saw him and tried to raise the alarm.


Houndoom was onto him in a flash and used a Fire Fang on the poor guy's throat. He was dead before he could even put the walkie-talkie to his mouth. Mo ignored the blood oozing from the grunt's horrible wound and sized the guy up. He was about his build, which would suffice. He changed into the dead man's clothes. Blood on the uniform would not arouse suspicion today.


"Sorry buddy, but now you have to get into the Pokeball alright?" he said to Houndoom, who looked reluctant, letting itself get sucked back into the Pokeball.


Mo was running through the hospital's hectic corridors looking for the maternity ward. There were people screaming and dying everywhere, the floors were filled with blood and Mo even slipped in a puddle, falling over for a second before quickly regaining his composure. Finally he saw some signs showing him the way. He ran even faster, knocking patients, old people and doctors over. He asked a nurse where Dada was. She pointed at a closed door a few feet away, and Mo pounced towards it, ripping it open.


He immediately noticed a figure who had turned to look at him in surprise. The masked individual quickly pressed down harder on the empty syringe she had planted into Dada's right arm, forcing air to enter her bloodstream and destroy her circulation system. The love of Mo's life went from merely unconscious to dead in seconds.
Mo screamed, and let Houndoom out of its Pokeball again. "Nooo! You'll pay for this!"


"I don't care Mo. I finally beat you. I finally avenged Jack", said the masked individual. She removed her mask, revealing herself to be none other than Jill, one of Mo's worst enemies from the early days of his training.


Mo barked the order before he had even processed everything that had happened. "Kill her with a flamethrower". Houndoom fired a vicious blast of heat at Jill, who was charred beyond recognition after a minute. The Pokemon was also ferociously angry and had made sure to keep her alive as long as he could through her grueling ordeal.

---------------------------------------------------


"What I don't understand," said Mo, "was that they told me the baby had been taken away by its father, but I never got to find out who that was – from the hospital or from Dada. How did you make the connection with me?"


Phil decided to answer that question. "Research. We never met Mum's dad, although apparently he was a nice guy. He died a couple of years ago of old age and we were invited to the funeral. At his home during the wake Mum was looking through his stuff and found the letter where he admitted he wasn't her real father. However, she refused to believe it because she didn't want to lose the idea of having known her dad. We, on the other hand, made it our mission to find you".


Mo nodded. It made sense. "So now you've found me, what do you want from me?"


They looked at each other, until finally both spoke simultaneously: "we need you to show us how to battle".


"I'm sure there's enough people out there who'll be happy to help", answered a somewhat surprised Mo.


"None of them has the expertise or experience you have Mo", explained Faye. "And we're talking serious battles, not just fun ones".




Hope you liked this, it gets better as it goes on, but I'm busy proofreading the rest of the texts. If you like or don't like, please review!
edit: oops, no swearing at all? Never mind

I really like the style you wrote this in! In this memory format, you control how much of Mo's story the reader knows and can manipulate accordingly to make the reader draw connections between stories. Of course, I don't know if that is exactly what you are going to do, but it seems like that is the direction you are headed in, and I like it.

Other than that, your description is great. The calm tone you set in the beginning started the story very flowingly (if that's a word...) and I like the contrast in the memory. You succeeded in making me curious about the old man's history and especially Jill.

bloodstream and destroy her circulation system. The love of Mo's life went from merely unconscious to dead in seconds.
Mo screamed, and let Houndoom out of its Pokeball again. "Nooo! You'll pay for this!"

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I think you meant to press the return button once more in between paragraphs.

He had startling white hair that he kept short and square.

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This I just found amusing because it rhymed...

Anyway, this was a nice start. Keep up the good writing!

Mo was surprised at the request for battling lessons: after all, he had not had an aggressive battle in years. However the kids seemed insistent, and he figured it would give him something to do and an opportunity to bond with his new-found family. Not that he didn't have his doubts: something was up, there was something they weren't telling him. Yet.


After they had made the request he had told them he would think about it. He gave them a room to sleep in and they immediately conked out, clearly exhausted by their journey. Phil had decided on the top bunk and had trouble climbing up.


"That'll be the first thing we'll work on then – physical condition", thought Mo. He walked outside again and sat in his chair, watching the sea. Houndoom came for a bit of petting, which Mo gladly gave him.


"You have always been there my friend, in the good times and the bad. You and I have experienced so much together, and you have saved my life more times than I dare to remember," started Mo. He never forgot to thank Houndoom every day. "What do you think about those two, eh? Are they for real? What does your instinct tell you?"


Houndour gave a little bark and wagged his tail, which seemed to indicate to Mo that his closest friend thought they could be trusted.


"Well you've rarely been wrong so far, and if you were it was my fault", he sighed, patting Houndoom's flank. The dog-like Pokemon snuggled up to him. Mo drank a few more beers, smoked a couple of cigarettes and went to bed.


The sun was just beginning to rise and Phil and Faye were fast asleep. Mo chuckled as he and Houndoom crept upstairs. "Give us your loudest Howl, Houndoom", whispered Mo.


The ear-shattering noise nearly gave the two teenagers a heart attack. Phil fell out of his bunk and landed on his face, while Faye smacked her head on the top bunk when she jolted up.


"Come on kids! Get outta bed! Breakfast will be served outside in ten minutes! Get clean and come on down!" shouted a gleeful Mo.


When the two walked down, still grumbling, what they saw made their stomachs roar with approval: pancakes, cereal, Sitrus Berries, Nanab Berries – everything a hungry traveler could wish for. "Thanks grandpa!" they both exclaimed, taking Mo by surprise. He hadn't thought they would call him this so early. Houndoom made sure he greeted both of them both appropriately, letting them pet him and licking their hands, careful not to let any flames touch them.


"I've thought about what you asked of me", said Mo. "And if I'm to do this, I need to ask: what Pokemon do you have? Why haven't you let them out to eat with you?"


Faye decided to answer for both: "Well you see, these days feeding a Pokemon is very easy. The new Pokeballs automatically nourish the Pokemon with all they need". Mo was taken aback – he'd never realized the new technology would mean people don't eat with their Pokemon anymore.


"So you never eat with your Pokemon? Never feed them directly?" he asked.


"Well no, why would we? Besides, we both only brought one Pokemon each – our strongest", answered Phil.


Mo was even more shocked when he heard this. The kids clearly had the wrong idea. "Well will you introduce me to them when you've finished eating?"




When they were done, Phil and Faye stood up. "Okay then, both of you will show me your Pokemon. Faye, ladies first!" suggested Mo.


She seemed a bit embarrassed by the situation, but unclipped her Pokeball with a shaking hand from her belt. It didn't look like the old ones Mo used to use. It was smaller and had no button on it. "Luxray, come out!"


The lion-like Pokemon came out and gave a suitable roar. It viewed its surroundings suspiciously, glaring and hissing at Mo, Houndoom and even Phil with considerable venom. "Why is that Pokemon so aggressive Faye?"


"Well it only comes out for battles, so it's only natural for it to see a stranger's Pokemon as an opponent. Don't worry he won't do anything unless I tell him to", she said with a shaky voice.


"In that case, tell it to calm down", ordered Mo.


Faye tried to get Luxray to relax, but it was constantly on edge. She tried petting it but this was clearly the first time she had tried, as he gave her a little zap when her hand touched his fur.


"Alright I've seen enough. Put him back in his Pokeball before someone gets hurt". Faye looked pleadingly at Mo for some sort of compliment, but there was only anger in his voice and demeanor. "Phil, your turn".


Obviously terrified at what Mo would say, Phil seemed rather reluctant to let it out, but after a bit of hesitation decided it would be for the best. "Torterra, you're up!".


Mo had never seen such a gentle giant be more ill at ease. He also clearly only came out for battles and was therefore confused at the idea of just being let out for fresh air. It wasn't as aggressive as Luxray had been, but clearly just as confused and a little more paranoid at every movement, turning quickly whenever a sound could be heard from the woods.


"You have no idea how disappointing this is. Why don't you bond with these Pokemon?" asked Mo.


Phil started to dig their own grave: "well they're battling Pokemon, not pets. We have pet Pokemon to stroke and cuddle with, and these guys to battle with".


"How long have you had them?"


It was Faye's turn: "I've had Luxray since it was Luxio about a year ago, and Phil's had Torterra since it was a Grotle".


"I see. These were not your started Pokemon? Where are they?" Mo was getting angrier and angrier at his grandchildren's attitude.


"Oh we sold them. They're worth a lot of money these days if they're trained you know..."


Mo was appalled. "Money? You sold a life for money? These Pokemon almost certainly loved you. You were there from a couple of days after their birth, nurtured them until God only knows what level and you sold them? Disgusting."
Even Houndoom showed his disapproval, which almost seemed to hurt more than Mo's. Pokemon rarely had disdain for specific people, only people as a whole. Phil and Faye both looked at their feet, too ashamed to think of something to say.


"I'll tell you what. What I have just seen is so pathetic it makes me want to train you more than anything else in the world. However, not just in battles. In forming a bond with your Pokemon. If you are the average standard of trainer then I can honestly say you'll probably beat almost anyone out there once I'm done with you", he fumed. "What happened to the whole Ash Ketchum genius of looking after your Pokemon and using their abilities rather than replacing them?"


The two looked sadly, and Phil answered. "That went out of fashion as soon as he was beaten as champion. He may have ruled supreme for several years but he's just Pallet Town's gym leader now. Paul Reid is the one who has led the way in training Pokemon since then."


Mo was nearly sick. In Osutaria he had been isolated from the other regions and hadn't heard much. All he had heard when he returned was that Ash was no longer champion – but this could have been for any number of reasons. "Maybe I should have a chat with him. That defeat will have hurt like hell".


"Well I do things my way, but with the same basic principle of forming a positive bond with your Pokemon. Listen kids, I have a story for you from when I wasn't even a ranger yet. It might put things into perspective...


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Ash was with Dawn and Brock, walking to challenge the Sinnoh league. He had all eight badges under his belt but wasn't feeling as confident as he had in previous leagues. He hadn't managed to beat Paul once, despite his best efforts. Monferno was still dying to prove how much more powerful he had become to Paul. Turtwig was now Torterra. Pikachu was stronger than it had ever been before.


I had been on the warpath with Dada, Ryan and Raf against Team Galactic in our self-righteous crusade to batter them to smithereens. We figured if no one else would do it we might as well. Unlike Ash I never got into the habit of swapping all of my Pokemon from region to region, so my team consisted of Houndoom, Nidoking, Gyarados, Sceptile, Fearow and Luxray, who I had caught as a Shinx when I arrived in Sinnoh and chatted to Rowan. Our gang of four was essentially unbeatable against Team Galactic's huge amount of weak Pokemon. We did well in scuppering their plans in many areas, especially when it came to their theft attempts. Any time someone reported a Pokemon stolen we'd be on the case, doing things Officer Jenny was not allowed to do. She kept her mouth shut because she knew we would bring back the stolen Pokemon to her so that she could claim credit. That meant that Team Galactic took much longer than they should have to realize we were the real enemy.


Anyway, we happened to meet Ash and his friends and so we all walked to the League together. We couldn't take part as we hadn't bothered with the badges. Me and him talked for a long time about Pallet, Professor Oak – what a legend – and our training techniques. We'd battled before and I'd usually lost, but this kind of thing happens and I hadn't worried about it.


When he was in there he was like a man possessed. He knew exactly what to do when and how to improvise. His battles were never boring. He faced off against Paul in the final. You could see how nervous he was but the final face-off was between Monferno and Ursaring. Now, Monferno had been Paul's Chimchar, whom he abandoned and Ash took in. The last two Pokemon had met countless times before: when Paul used Ursaring's Hyperbeam and other very powerful attacks point-blank to strengthen Chimchar. And my-oh-my did Monferno batter that Bear. It didn't have a chance. It activated Blaze as soon as it was out of its Pokeball and nearly killed Paul's Pokemon. Ash nearly got eliminated because of it, but was given the benefit of the doubt. He went on to beat the Elite 4 and Cynthia to be crowned the Champion of Sinnoh – with Monferno racking up more K.0.s than any other Pokemon in the history of the League.


What I mean to say is this: if you build up a bond with your Pokemon, it will go to and beyond the call of duty to help you. Houndoom has done it too, but not in competitive battling."


The two listened to the story, amazed that everyone had seemingly forgotten about the importance of this bond in battling Pokemon too – not just pets. Surely some people saw the value of this?



"Kids, I'm going to send you on an errand with your Pokemon, and they will be out of their ball for the entire time. You will have to use teamwork to accomplish this mission, as well as no electronic tools."


The two nodded, clearly eager to prove themselves. "What would you have us do grandpa?"


Mo got annoyed at being a granddad. "I'm NOT old". He paused. "Call me Sir when you are in lessons. It'll help keep the balance right. I want you to do a couple of things for me: firstly, go to the new Pokemart in Pallet and get me one of each kind of Pokeball. This shouldn't be hard. The second thing that I want is 2 barrels of Hydro fuel for the generator. Lastly, you'll take a letter that I'm going to write now to Ash Ketchum. You will do as he tells you. You are only allowed one return trip. Bring me only half of what I ask for and you will have failed."


"Yes Sir" said the two surprised teens. They hadn't expected an actual mission yet, assuming they would get one lecture after the other.


"Now, tell me about your lives so far. I don't know anything about you!"


The kids sat down with him at his table and recounted tales of their search for him. Disappointments, hope, a few bad guys but nothing too bad, meeting all these legends just to find their grandfather. Their mother's life. Mo wanted to know a lot about her, since she was his daughter. She had apparently made it clear that she didn't want to meet Mo – but he figured that would change.


Before they knew it, it was time for bed, and he sent them off, knowing their trip was going to be more arduous than they realized.





There, hope you liked it :D I know no gore, but I want to incorporate Ash and the gang so far before the wars and stuff start. Chapter 3 coming right up once I've proofread it

I've read the first chapter, and it's really good, but there were a few things I didn't quite understand:

He had startling white hair that he kept short and square

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Like how a man's hair could be startling, white or otherwise, and:

The Pokemon he had been speaking to moved slowly but deliberately to the bowl

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.
How could he not move deliberately? Is he possessed or something? O_o
But, apart from a few confusing parts, it was good! ^^

As a quick reminder: the kids have been sent to bed, not knowing the toughness of the challenge that has been assigned to them by Mo. This chapter is a bit longer and a lot more action is contained within!





As the kids got to the top of the stairs to their room, Phil noticed a framed article that had been cut out of a newspaper. It was covered in a thin layer of dust, as if Mo had specifically avoided it when he cleaned. The article was a short piece with a photo next to it, but through the dust it was hard to read or make out a face.


"Go ahead, wipe it. It's about time someone did", said Mo, who was standing at the bottom, watching him with a glass of whiskey in his hand.


Phil cleaned the glass with a quick swipe of his sleeve. The headline read "Tragedy strikes as brave rangers save city from rampaging Charizard", and the picture was of Mo and Houndoom. He looked young and tired. His clothes were torn and he had cuts in places. He held his head in his hands, Houndoom sitting in front of him hanging its head.


"Come on, get to bed and I'll tell you what that's all about", as Mo indicated he was going to piss.


Shortly thereafter the kids were in their bunks, patiently waiting as their grandfather got himself some alcohol, again.

"Rampaging Charizard? Man, that sounds like a crazy experience. From the small amount that I had time to read it was somewhere in Johto, I didn't get the chance to catch the name of the actual place though", said a curious Phil to his sister.


"Yeah but I mean it's not all that impressive to beat one Charizard. Many trainers could do that", replied Faye. She didn't see what the big deal was about.


Mo walked in, clearly having listened. The kids groaned, they hated that!

"Actually, it is impressive to beat one Charizard, no matter who you are. They can be very dangerous. In this case though, Charizard was meant in the plural form. You can't say 'Charizards', it's ugly and wrong. Now, let me tell you about that day"...


The old man began his tale, but was lost deep in thought as he did so.


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Mo caught the Hoothoot egg just inches from the ground, having had to dive to get it. He climbed up the tree and put it back in the nest.


"That was lucky wasn't it Noctowl?" he joked at the huge, odd bird. It hooted happily in thanks, and he jumped down again, Houndoom waiting at the bottom. "Yes yes I know Liza's waiting and we're in a rush, but Violet City isn't too far anymore. From there we'll be able to get to Charicific Valley in no time and finally find out what this is all about". Houndoom just sighed.


A few hours later they arrived at the Pokemon Center. It acted as the HQ for the rangers in the region, and he made sure to call the boss. Elita was pleased to hear he had arrived. However, there was bad news. "We sent Kellyn in to either meet you or go ahead. It seems he got impatient and went on to the valley without you. Have a short rest but please carry on as soon as you can. He has not been responding to calls on his Styler – we're worried!"


Mo didn't even bother to reply, instead calling Houndoom and leaving immediately. He was 23 years old, and he would never be the same again.


He got to the Pokemon Gym and called Folkner, who was busy fighting off a challenger's Chikorita. "Falkner! I need to speak to you right now!"


"Can't you see that I'm busy?", asked the gym leader. "Come back later!"


"Aren't you listening? This is important! Forget the badge, give it to the lad! You suck anyway!"


"But he doesn't deserve it!" cried Falkner, sick of being seen as one of the weakest gym leaders in the history of mankind.



"Do it! Don't make me force you my friend!"


Falkner gave up. He recalled his Pokemon and forfeited the match. "Here kid, you were lucky I needed to forfeit. Have the badge, but remember that until you've beaten me properly I will not respect you".


"Yes sir, thanks anyway though," replied the kid delighted. He was lucky and he knew it.


"This had better be good Mo, I swear".


"I need to borrow Pidgeot," stated Mo.


"What? What for?"


"I have to get to Charicific as quickly as possible. Your Pidgeot is fast and reliable. Please say yes. I'll bring him back I promise."


Falkner sighed. "Alright. But don't let anything happen to him! Here's his Pokeball".


"You know I don't need that", said Mo. Falkner released the Pidgeot and Mo climbed on, Houndoom curling up in front of him. "Okay Pidgeot go, as fast as you can!".


The Pidgeot beat its wings strongly and Mo clung on for dear life as the acceleration nearly knocked him off. They soared into the sky, flying approximately 300 meters from the ground, Houndoom peaking over the edge and enjoying the view. That way it was safe from attack but they could still see what was going on on the ground. Very quickly Mo realized something was wrong in Charicific National Park: although it was late and starting to get dark, a strong glow was coming from the distance. Fire, thought Mo. The fire coming from practicing Charizard was usually never this bright. "Faster Pidgeot!"


Pidgeot landed near Liza's hut and Mo and Houndoom jumped off. Pidgeot shivered a little. "It's alright Pidgeot. Fly around and see if you can find any humans; be ready for me though!". Glad to be leaving the area, it complied swiftly and flew up high.


The two heroes ran to the hut and ripped open the door, but there was no one there. Neither Ash's or her Charizard were there, nor was there any sign of Kellyn or Liza. Just then, they heard Pidgeot shriek. They ran out and saw a Charizard slashing violently at it. The bird was hopelessly outmatched and Mo wished he had brought the Pokeball to protect his friend's Pokemon. Instead, he took out his styler and launched it up, hoping to calm the aggressor this way. He got ready to do the right moves. Instead, another Charizard appeared and used its wings to smash the styler to pieces.


"This is not good," he thought, realizing that this was probably exactly what had happened to Kellyn – hence the lack of communication. He wished he had his Gyarados or Luxray with him. Houndour wouldn't get hurt by fire attacks, but Charizard were more than mere fire-breathers. "Houndoom use Dark Pulse to distract them from Pidgeot for a bit!"


A black and purple ball of energy formed in front of Houndoom's mouth for a split second before he fired it off. The Dark Pulse caused quite a lot of damage and made the Charizard flinch as it got hit by surprise and crashed into the ground below. "Pidgeot come here and pick us up!"


It swooped down and they jumped onto the moving bird, before flying away at high speed. "Fly low through the narrow cliffs so that they can't see us!" ordered Mo, the bird once again complying to what was obviously the best course of action. Pidgeot zigzagged through narrow passages in the labyrinth of mini-canyons. Mo balanced himself by putting an arm through Pidgeot's collar and tapped on a button on his special wrist-watch. It was fitted with his cellphone from his traveling days but it still did the job and the speed dial was on Elita's number. Her phone was ringing and after several close calls with boulders jutting out of the cliff-face she finally picked up.


"Mo? Why are you using your phone?"


"Not time", he gasped as a flame missed his head by inches from behind. "but Kellyn's styler is most certainly broken too! We need lots water-based back-up here, and we need it fast! Something's up with the Charizard! I think-".



Just then, Pidgeot screamed as another flamethrower hit its side full on. It tucked in its wings, barely conscious and in extreme pain, bracing for the crash. Mo realized his mistake as he untangled his arm from the collar – he didn't have time to get off before they all hit the ground. With a sickening crack the bird smashed the hard stone floor and Mo and Houndoom went flying over its head, thrown thirty feet before they started to roll. Both struggled to get up and looked up into the sky. Hovering above them was the Charizard who had attacked them before. It seemed to be enjoying the moment as it got ready for the kill. Suddenly, another Charizard, moving at a very high speed, grabbed it from the side and flew up high into the sky, holding onto it as it struggled to escape, before turning around and crashing into the ground.


Mo almost smiled. "I've seen that Seismic Toss before," he said aloud. The rescuing Charizard stood over the now crippled attacker and stomped on its head to make sure it was out for the count, before walking over to Mo and greeting him with a cheeky-looking grin. "Thanks so much for your help. We would have been dead!". Just then, he remembered. "Oh no! Pidgeot!".


He and Houndoom ran over to the downed bird. It had lost nearly all the feathers in its side and the beak was cracked, but it was breathing. "I can't believe I failed Falkner!".


As he thought about what to do next, Charizard gave a small grunt and indicated that they should climb on. Mo decided to trust Ash's old Charizard, hoping that it had not gone berserk like the others. He was about to ask what to do about Pidgeot when Charla arrived – easily recognizable with her little pink bow on her head – and gently picked him up, flying ahead with the bird in her claws. They flew for only a minute or two before arriving in a cave located in a dark trench, where Liza welcomed them. Mo hopped off with Houndoom, eager to take care of Pidgeot. He took out a Burn Heal and some potions and applied them with Liza's help on the now raw skin where feathers had been, and bandaged the beak in such a way that it would not get worse. Fixing would have to wait.


No one had spoken a word yet in fear of being heard by the other Charizard. They had heard the commotion and found their friend defeated. They were on the warpath and looking in all the hideouts they had been shown by Liza when there had been peace. It was lucky she had always kept one for herself. Ash's Charizard and Charla stood quietly, listening for the slightest hint of trouble.


After a short time Kellyn arrived on a badly burned Fearow, and the two nodded at each other before tending to Fearow's wounds. Both were relieved to see the other alive.


The group sat in the cave, waiting for the Charizard to calm their search and stop swooping around their area, which they did eventually. Finally, Charla grunted at Liza and she started speaking. "We have to find a way to get outta here". Mo and Kellyn nodded, neglecting to mention that she had just stated the blindingly obvious. "I'm so glad I kept this place secret from the wild Charizard. Ashy – that's Ash's Pokemon – and Charla were the only ones I trusted with my hideout".


"Okay Liza, would you care to explain what the hell is going on around here?" asked Mo with a tinge of anger. It wasn't directed at her, but he was frustrated.


"Sorry Mo, of course. You have to understand that the valley has been free of trainers capturing Pokemon for centuries through an old agreement made between the Charizard and the elders of what used to be Violet Town. Recently, an army of Team Rocket Pokemon hunters raided Charicific, capturing at least twenty Charizard and escaping with them. The Charizard have taken it as a declaration of war from the humans. They don't trust me, Ashy or Charla anymore. The two have tried talking to them but also barely escaped with their lives. It's been three days and I'm scared the Charizard are going to start some sort of assault on Violet. They're preparing for something, I can tell. Only a few of the weaker ones are still flying around, the others have all gathered somewhere in their caves. Those still out are the guards, expendable for the greater good". She dropped her eyes in sadness, tears forming.


"Oh God", replied Mo. "This isn't going to end nicely is it?"


Kellyn also looked worried. "I know. This is bigger than anything I've ever faced before. The Styler was useless, they just smash it".


"I know – I tried too", remarked Mo. He suddenly remembered his call to Elita and looked at the phone record. "There's no signal in here but I managed to talk to Elita and get her to send water back-up, though I don't know how long that will take. None of the real powerful rangers are based in Violet because something so rarely happens that one trainee is enough when it does – seeing as it's usually a Pidgey getting lost or something". Mo remembered the episode with the Noctowl. Hardly dangerous stuff. "This is going to be hard for whoever it is who's in charge there". Not knowing what was going on in Violet, they decided to sleep and think of what to do the next morning.


During their rather dry breakfast – Liza's supplies could not rely on water to function because of the dryness of the air – they decided that a run to Violet City would be the best option. Liza would stay back and report from the cave using Mo's phone, even if it did mean going into dangerous territory to get a signal, while the rangers rode on the backs of the two Charizard to get to the city as quickly as possible. They would rely on the element of surprise, but unfortunately this meant going at dusk when the wild Pokemon's eyes weren't so good at picking out detail.


After a whole day of lying around and doing nothing, the sun finally began to set. Kellyn got on Charla and Mo on Ashy with Houndoom curled up in front. The two Charizard knew when their weakest moment was and left at exactly the right time to escape any enemy patrols. All went well for about a few minutes, but they were spotted by a roaming sentry who decided to report his sight instead of challenging them. The Charizard elders, seeing this as a challenge towards their hunting force, decided to attack Violet City there and then. It didn't take long for the rangers to notice. Kellyn, turning back to see if they were being followed, noticed the swarm of winged shapes following them in the distance.


"Mo! Look behind you! Are they after us or after something else? I can't tell!"


"Who or whatever they're after isn't important right now, they're flying in an aggressive 'V'-formation and in the same direction as us.. That's all we need to know!"


The two Charizard landed in front of the Pokemon Center and the rangers jumped off, immediately running in. Kellyn started shouting:
"Everybody listen to me!". The people in the Pokemon Center fell silent. "There is a swarm of Charizard coming here, and they are not happy with us humans. I suggest that you hide in the center's cellar. If you have a flying Pokemon large enough, by all means leave, but quickly. We are going to try to stop them. If anyone wants to help us, it would be much appreciated if you protected this place and a few others that we'll organize in a minute. Any volunteers? We do not have much time!"


Immediately, everybody started babbling and a few simply ran out and flew off, leaving mostly scared children behind. This was one of the first stations for new Johto trainers, they didn't have Pokemon powerful enough to battle Charizard yet or fly away. To Mo's surprise there was one taller and older girl who remained quiet as the others panicked. The two saw each other, smiled and nodded. At least he could count on her.


"Dawn! What are you doing here?", he asked.


"Fancy seeing you again! I'm here because I've never traveled around Johto before and I wanted a break from contests. And, it seems, I'm here to help you so no need to worry! Brock's here too somewhere," she answered in her always happy voice. The sirens in the background were the only giveaway that something was wrong.


Outside, Ashy and Charla gave a roar of warning. Nurse Joy had initiated the state of emergency, warned by the other rangers that something was up; all citizens had been ordered to stay inside and shut their windows or leave.


The Charizard were getting closer and Mo, Kellyn and Dawn had no idea what they were going to do. They ran outside and stood in a line, all watching the scene unfold before them in awe. The moonlight revealed the dark winged figures getting closer. Mo thought of the pictures he saw in the Osutarian history books taken during one of their big wars: the Charizard looked like groups of fighter planes.


"We don't have a chance if we take them all on", came Liza's voice. She had arrived on a now clearly exhausted injured Pidgeot, who was quickly found by Falkner who had been watching. He looked angrily at Mo before taking his precious bird inside, knowing he was not going to be of much help. He was, after all, the weakest gym leader of all four neighbouring regions. "We need to take out the leader of their pack. He's the one who's right at the front and predictably the strongest one."


"Well that shouldn't be too difficult then", remarked Mo. "Dawn, we'll need your Empoleon and any others that are good and powerful enough against fire". She nodded. "Where is Brock? His rock-types could bring some much-needed help".



Liza replied angrily. "Do you think this is going to be easy? His challengers to leadership are also his bodyguards. There is nearly no difference in their strength!". Mo knew she was right: he had read that Charizard only took leadership through honor, and that meant a battle with the leader. It sometimes took up to an entire day before a winner could be declared.


Finally, Brock arrived, lipstick smeared all over his face. "Sorry guys, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. The whole "we might not be alive anymore tomorrow" thing works really well on Nurse Joys and... Mo? Is that you?"


"It is. How you going? Listen, we'll catch up later. What Pokemon have you got with you?"


"I have Rhyperior and Sudowoodo. The others I left at home, seeing as I just wanted to show Dawn the area..." he shrugged embarrassed. "Of course they're at your service".


Mo smiled. Rhyperior had only been a result of Brock being so impressed by one in a battle that he decided he needed one. Sudowoodo was an old friend by now, and Mo knew it was reliable. Houndoom, Empoleon, Pachirisu, Rhyperior, Sudowoodo, and we're taking on an army? Great. At least I have two powerful Charizard on my side too. His phone rang. It was the boss.


"Elita? Where's our back-up?" he asked angrily.


"We convinced some migrating Pelippers to come and give you a hand, they should be there soon," she answered.


"Migrating Pelippers? Are you serious? We need more trainers, we need more rangers, not untrained effing wild animals you dumb b***h!". Mo regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Elita was quiet, clearly disturbed by his outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just that these Charizard are on the warpath, and they'll be here in about five minutes. I hope the Pelippers really are as close as you say".


Elita was audibly relieved. It took a lot to shake as cold a woman as that, but she had never thought that Mo had it in him to be angry, ever. "Apology accepted. Hang in there guys. The one bringing the Pelippers is the junior ranger in charge of Violet City. All our elite units are in action elsewhere, Team Rocket are really making life hell these days. As I speak some of the others are freeing some Charizard Giovanni had captured. They're near New Bark Town. Do you think these cases are related?"


"They most definitely are. Get them to send the freed Charizard here as quickly as possible. This could help a lot. Okay gotta go". Mo and the others felt a twinge of hope. The freed Charizard could tell the story of their release and hopefully convince the others to end their raid. The group huddled together and formed their plan.


As predicted, the leader of the pack arrived at the head of the spearhead. It flew to the right and started circling the City in a counter-clockwise direction. The others followed or circled slightly higher in the opposite direction. The defenders of the city were few in number, but they all stood at the top of the gym, which was situated on a tall tower in the middle, allowing them to see everything. The outlines of the threatening Pokemon could be seen very clearly. None of the team were willing to fire first, in case the Charizard decided to leave. It was not to be.


The first Fire Blast lit up the dark sky and melted the windows of a nondescript see-through office tower. The molten glass dripped down into the road and the room was alight. With that, all of them started attacking random buildings in the hope of finding someone to kill. It was Dawn who started to put the plan into action, having followed the movements of the leader and acting when it was close..


"Empoleon, Hydro Pump on the leader, Pachirisu use Thunder on it!". The two attacks combined to make a devastating combo, and the unsuspecting leader would have been hit had its bodyguard not seen the attack first and taken the attack. The first bodyguard crashed down with a trail of black smoke, but now the team had their attention. "Okay, so that means it's plan B now right?" said Brock.



The leader seemed to indicate to its minions that it wanted to have a little fun with the defenders. It fired the most powerful Ember at them Mo had ever seen. Thousands of flame darts flew out of its mouth, all of them landing on and around Mo, Kellyn, Liza, Dawn and Brock and causing stinging pain. The humans ran for cover.



The Dark Pulse hit the next bodyguard by surprise – it had expected the defenders to be bracing for impact. It didn't know that Houndoom could ignore fire attacks, and went down with a crash. By now the city looked like one gigantic blaze. The Charizard were not destroying everything, just showing their might at the moment, but this could change. They specifically only attacked the tops of buildings even though they knew that hitting the bottom would be far more effective.
It was Kellyn who saw the boy running through the streets first. He was being followed by two of the winged beasts who were enjoying the chase, missing him by inches with little Flamethrowers for fun. He hopped onto Charla and showed her the child. She immediately flew down and chased after them.
Meanwhile Mo and Houndoom concentrated their attacks on the bodyguards while Dawn tried to take out the leader, firing the double-attack again and again. Empoleon and Pachirisu were getting tired but this was not a trainer battle – they could put more effort into it. Brock's Pokemon were still hidden, waiting for the right moment to be used. Liza and Ashy also watched, unsure what to do for now.


Kellyn and Charla caught up with the chasing Charizard, catching the first one by surprise with a Focus Punch in the spine, making it crash into the ground in a cloud of debris and dust. The other turned in surprise and was hit square in the jaw by the Dragon Claw that immediately followed, also getting knocked out instantly.



"Get on here kid! Now!" shouted Kellyn at the frightened boy. He complied, hanging on for dear life as they made their way back to the Pokemon Center. It wasn't going to be that easy: other Charizard had seen the commotion and were quick to fire a few Flamethrowers in their direction, only missing thanks to Charla's dodging skills. They flew through the streets between the skyscrapers as cars hit by attacks exploded next to them. There were other people in the streets intent on defending their property from the attackers. Usually the worried parents of families out with their old Pokemon. Battles were taking place everywhere all of a sudden. Kellyn realized that the people had seen that someone was fighting back and had decided to join in. It meant there were far more distractions for the Charizard. Unfortunately not everyone was winning. He saw a woman's spine clearly snapped as she was hit from behind by a Steel Wing, he saw dead or injured Pokemon lying in the streets, in some cases charred beyond recognition. Only very few were Charizard.



The city's battle could be heard from far away: the roars of of Pokemon, the screams of people, the explosions caused by attacks and even, once in a while, the sound of hissing steam as water hit fire. The Pelippers didn't need instructions on where to go figured the rookie ranger, finally seeing the city. They weren't far now.


Kellyn and Charla arrived at the Pokemon Center where he threw the child off. "Get in now! We'll cover you!". Charla swooped around and now faced three Charizard who had been following them. Two opened their mouths and blew fire at her, the other decided to go down and grab the child. Kellyn, not willing to let this happen, jumped off Charla as she took the damage-dealing hits and landed on top of the escaping Charizard. "Not so fast!". It clearly disapproved and started thrashing about. The kid was thrown off and ran inside.


Kellyn took the smoke grenade he had clipped to his belt, armed it and threw it into the roaring Charizard's mouth before leaping off again. This time he fell ten feet before hitting the ground hard, and he watched as his opponent struggled to breathe and finally collapsed with dark smoke coming out of its mouth. "Sorry", he said simply. He watched as Charla battered the other two into submission and then hopped on her back, wanting to help out his friends at the gym.


Brock finally decided he had seen enough and sent out Rhyperior with Sudowoodo. The two started hurling large chunks of concrete they ripped off the building at some Charizard, whose attacks didn't do much damage at all when they retaliated. As they continued to fight, Brock realized that more and more were coming towards the gym and just watching, which could only mean one thing: that people had stopped fighting in the city.



Kellyn arrived back to find Ashy was protecting the perimeter from other Charizard getting too close. It was using Dragon Claws, Slashes and fire attacks to beat them back, and there were many trying to take a Crunch out of a human. Just as he was about to give Charla back to Liza, the Pokemon was struck in the belly from underneath. The leader had plunged its claws into her and ripped out whatever innards he could. She was dead almost instantly. Liza screamed in horror. Ashy saw what happened and became enraged, the flame on his tail becoming larger than Mo had seen on any Charizard before - it was bigger than the delirious Pokemon. The eyes turned bright red and it began to brutally beat, Crunch, Slash and burn his way through to the leader. Until then he had held back from killing those who until so recently he had considered brothers and sisters. All of the Charizard getting in his way were no match, going down in one or two quick hits.
"Everyone be careful! Ashy is going to keep kicking ass until that leader is dead!" warned Mo to those around him. Everyone stopped fighting and watched as yet another one of the bodyguards had its throat slashed open. Flames billowed out of the gash as it spiraled to the ground and crashed. Dawn ran to the side and looked down, appalled at the scene below.



A Charizard, seeing her exposed for the first time, swooped down and opened its mouth, ready for human flesh. Kellyn noticed this and time seemed to slow down as he shouted a warning at her and ran as fast as he could to throw himself off the edge right into its gaping jaws. Dawn looked to the side in surprise and froze as she saw the ranger sacrificing himself for her. It used Crunch on him instead, tearing through his flesh and breaking his bones. It took away his lifeless body and landed on a nearby rooftop in preparation for its feast. As it was about to start a Hydro Pump hit it from above, knocking it out. The others cheered as they saw the hundreds of Pelipper arrive at the scene, all of them beating back the Charizard. Dawn was screaming in anguish at the sight of Kellyn on the opposite roof. In the resulting confusion Pachirisu was hit by a Fire Blast and knocked out. Empoleon fired the Hydro Pumps at the now losing Charizard. A Pelipper landed next to Dawn and she hopped on, taking her starter Pokemon with her.



The rookie ranger joined Mo. "Sorry we're late sir!"


"There'll be time for all this excuses Rapidash-crap later! We need to sort this out!" replied Mo.


Sudowoodo hit the ground, exhausted and burned. Rhyperior was still firing rocks around, but the Charizard numbers were finally dwindling.
The Charizard leader was fleeing from Ashy, clearly intimidated by his fit of rage. Liza was huddled in a corner crying, unable to do anything but sob. Dawn was on the other side of the roof, checking on Kellyn. The Pelipper were doing their job excellently, putting out fires, fighting Charizard and even protecting the wounded people and Pokemon in the streets. The rookie ranger went off again, trying to find people to help, and Mo surveyed the firestorm in the city. Suddenly, he heard Houndoom bark a warning and turned around: there stood the Charizard Ashy had saved him from before. It had scars on its body from the Seismic Toss and a missing tooth from the stomp, but was more than willing to fight. It walked closer to him and Houndoom barked at it to go away.



"Houndoom, use Faint Attack", ordered Mo. His Pokemon tried to distract the Charizard and hit it, but failed and was batted to the side by the opponent's back of the claws. Already exhausted from the earlier fight, Houndoom collapsed. The Charizard slowly moved towards Mo, who realized no one could see him where he was. He was alone, against an angry Charizard. Suddenly, it leaped forwards and grabbed a hold of his shoulders, sinking its claws in. It was looking him in the eyes, enjoying its revenge. Mo was pinned, there was nothing he could do. He tried to kick but he knew it barely affected his assailant. It breathed hot air onto his face, singing his eyebrows. It opened its mouth as wide as it could and was about to bite down when Houndoom attacked again from the side, Crunching into the beast's neck. The Charizard was in fact still weak and it succumbed to the dark Pokemon's assault.



"Phew, that was way too close Houndoom. Thanks so much!" said Mo, struggling to get up and bleeding from deep wounds in his shoulders. His Pokemon promptly collapsed again.



As he got up, Mo saw more Charizard coming from the distance. "Oh no", he said aloud to no one in particular. Luckily, these were the recently freed ones, and they quickly arrived and convinced the other Charizard to stop the assault. All of them stopped fighting and started to leave in the direction of the valley again, apart from two. They were flying in circles through the sky. Ashy was still chasing the leader and occasionally beams of fire could be seen. They were very high up. After a short time, Ashy finally outmaneuvered the leader and grabbed a hold of him from behind. The leader, knowing what was coming, was thrashing about trying to get loose, but that was never going to happen. Ashy flew in a loop twice before charging at full speed towards the ground. The leader roared in fear as they dropped faster and faster to earth. Ashy began to spin with his doomed enemy, as if preparing to drill his opponent into the ground. Just before they hit the concrete Ashy let go and swooped back up. The crash caused a huge cloud of dust and flying debris, and the winner hovered above, ready for the leader to come out of the crater. It didn't. He had avenged his love.



The Pelipper swarm put out the rest of the flames and aided in carrying the wounded to the hospital or Pokemon Center. Mo went down to the street below and watched the scene before him. Never had he seen so much suffering. Never had his lack of more Pokemon, since as a ranger he was allowed only one, impaired him so much. Never had he failed in protecting Pokemon as badly as he had today. He called Elita. "It's over".


"I know, I've been told already by the rookie. You might want to congratulate him".


"I didn't mean the attack, and I won't congratulate him. Today was an epic failure. I mean my career with the Rangers, it's over".


"What? But Mo-". He hung up, sat down and began to weep. A photographer took the picture.




------------------------------------------------------------------

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"And it was true, I did leave the Rangers", finished Mo, sitting on a stool next to the bunks.



"But what about Kellyn?" asked Faye. "Was he alright?"


"I'm afraid he died of his wounds two weeks later", sighed Mo. "He never regained consciousness for very long, and as you can imagine Dawn was devastated that he had sacrificed himself for her. She was depressed for a long time".


"And Ashy?" inquired Phil.


"Ashy went back to Ash's. No one apart from Liza ever really called him that silly name and he went back to just being Charizard. He helped Ash win an immense amount of battles and gave Ash's children their starters whenever they came of age. Unlike their father, Ash's children all started with a Charmander because of this. Ashy never loved another Charizard as much as Charla, but he found strong partners to have strong babies with. It was his way of thanking Ash for the way he had been trained".


"Wow. And Liza?" continued Phil.


"The poor woman was close to killing herself. She stayed away from Charicific Valley for years, but eventually she went back. They welcomed her as if nothing had ever happened, and she lived the rest of her days out there. Team Rocket didn't try that trick again anyway after seeing what the Charizard had done to Violet City. Broken cities were bad for business". Mo stopped for a second, before he continued. "Thirty three people died that day, and at least double that were injured. Fifty two Pokemon died and many, many more were severely injured".


"Well I mean we saw the monument in Violet City but we never realized how tough that day was. No wonder the statue is in the shape of a ranger. It's in honor of Kellyn isn't it? And who was that rookie ranger?". The kids really were curious.


"That rookie ranger was none other than Max, who you may know as the brother of famous coordinator May". This stunned the two kids. These days Max was known as a politician, not a ranger.


"What did you do after that?" asked the two in unison.


"That, my dear grandchildren, is a story for another day. Get some sleep, you're leaving tomorrow". With that the old man got up slowly (wabbling from the alcohol) and walked out of the room, neglecting to turn off the light. The two kids were quiet, tired and moved by the story. Their grandad was a hero!








There you go! A lot more action in this one huh? Review if you like please :)

Ditto-Jelly said:

Like how a man's hair could be startling

Click to expand...

Umm I don't know, I guess I was thinking very noticeably white or something? Basically he's supposed to look like Clint Eastwood :p

Ditto-Jelly said:

.
How could he not move deliberately? ! ^^

Click to expand...

Slowly and deliberately doesn't mean he's doing it on purpose (which he is), but in that rythmic way where you can tell he's an old dog sort of rocking or swaying from side to side as he plods along on his aching legs.

Hope that sort of explains it anyway

I understand now ^^
good third chapter, long is good ^^

Hehe thanks :) I hope other people are enjoying it too! I'm proofreading the rest right now, so tomorrow there might be another update again, maybe later tonight

Hope you like it guys!









Phil and Faye were eating their breakfast at the table outside, their gear packed and ready. They had decided to get up even earlier than their grandfather to show how eager they were.


"Good morning kids! It's a surprise to see you out here so early. Enjoying your food?" asked Mo from the doorway.


"Yeah, it's really good! How do you keep these things so fresh?" asked Phil. Faye also nodded, enjoying the chocolate pancake she had made herself.


"Then wouldn't it be fair to let your Pokemon have a taste too?" asked Mo. The two realized their mistake and let out Torterra and Luxray. They were both apprehensive of the reasons for being let out and looked at each other angrily. Whenever the two met in any other situation was for a training battle, and they got ready. Luxray charged up, bolts appearing around it and lighting up. Torterra just braced for impact.


"No Torterra! This is not a fight! Relax!" shouted Phil.


"Luxray! Come here, have a bite to eat". Faye's attempt at soothing Luxray wasn't really working.


The two Pokemon didn't move and continued staring at each other. It was Phil who got up first. He picked up a handful of berries and walked towards Torterra, who span around quickly when it noticed his approach. Slowly, ever so slowly, Phil reached out his hand and offered the berries. Torterra did not come closer and eyed Phil suspiciously. He was shaking with fear, never having gotten this close to his Pokemon before. As he got to about two feet away, Torterra took a step back and growled.


"You may want to just roll the first berry to it", suggested Mo from his doorway. Luxray and Faye were watching the scene as it played out. Phil liked that idea and rolled a berry to the massive beast before him. It sniffed at it, and looked at its trainer.


"Eat it! It's good, you'll like it, believe me", he whispered. It hadn't eaten any physical food for years, ever since it was a Turtwig at the breeding farm. "Look, like this!"


Phil put a berry in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. He gave a beaming smile as he finished. Torterra, reassured by its master's demonstration, decided to give it a try. It took the berry in its mouth, and started chewing, slowly at first but then quickly realizing how wonderful it is to eat. The explosion of taste was somewhat mindblowing, and it wanted more of the sweet nectar. Unfortunately, Phil had the fruit in his hand, and Torterra knew from experience that humans couldn't be trusted. In all the years it had served this master, never had there been the suggestion of friendship, other than when it won a battle. Even then the reward was just words.


Phil held out his hand, offering more berries. The Pokemon was clearly thinking about what to do, but eventually it started moving slowly and carefully towards him. At last, it reached his hand and licked all the berries clean off, eating them happily. It seemed to let its guard down a little bit, and Phil started moving his hands towards its head. He reached it, and began scratching the top of it in a friendly manner. It wasn't long before Torterra was enjoying more berries and a good petting.


Mo looked at Faye and Luxray. There had been no progress there. He whistled and Houndoom was at his side in an instant, previously having been enjoying his sleep a little bit. "Just make sure nothing bad happens," stated Mo. Houndoom gave a quick low growl in approval.


Figuring she could do the same as her brother, Faye picked up a berry and rolled it to Luxray, who sniffed at it and ignored it. Remembering that Luxray are actually carnivores, she then chose a piece of bacon and lobbed it at the Pokemon, who quickly ate it. It seemed to enjoy the snack, but was still very much alert. Faye took another strip of bacon and moved towards Luxray, but it started walking backwards in fear of her. She reached out to it with the bacon in her hand, and it stopped moving back.

What happened next played out extremely quickly. Luxray dug its claws into the ground and prepared to pounce. Faye saw the Pokemon moving downwards and thought it was an invitation to come closer, ignoring the low growl that was coming from her Pokemon. She thought it was just hungry. Then, Luxray leaped at her, and she fell back in surprise. Claws out and jaw wide open, her Pokemon was getting ready for its second taste of meat that day – fresh meat. Bolts formed around its fangs as it roared.


Houndoom, having sensed what was going to happen before Faye, was already in a full sprint by the time Luxray was about attack. He put himself between the Thunder Fang and her a split second before the attack was going to land and used Protect around himself, shielding them from the bite. A small cloud of dust formed around the two and Houndoom braced for another hit. The Luxray had had no time to react to the sudden arrival of its new opponent, but was charging up for an electric attack – it had beaten Houndooms plenty of times before.


Mo watched impassively, knowing his Pokemon was still far more powerful than this Luxray would probably ever be. Houndoom just barked threateningly in quick succession and bared its teeth at the confused Luxray, warning it to get back. Faye was screaming in terror and Phil got ready to protect his sister. "Don't do anything Phil! I promise Faye will be fine. It's between them to figure out, they have to get it out of their system". Trusting his grandfather, Phil stepped back and watched with Torterra, who was enjoying some more berries and ignoring the commotion.


Luxray was circling around Faye and Houndoom, looking for an opening. She was curled up on the floor, terrified of becoming her own Pokemon's breakfast. "Faye, this is your Pokemon! Show you're the boss! Houndoom will protect you!". She wept for a few more seconds, and Luxray fired a Thunderbolt at Houndoom. To show his strength, Houndoom just took the attack as if it were nothing. This confused the Luxray, it had always easily dispatched all the Houndooms it had faced before. This one was obviously too strong to beat easily.


"Luxray! Please calm down! Houndoom won't hurt you and neither will I!" pleaded Faye.


Houndoom stopped being aggressive and sat, close enough to Faye to intervene if anything happened, but showing he was not an enemy. Luxray was still suspicious, but gulped up the next strip of bacon Faye threw to it. It stopped charging, although it still didn't let its Mistress get near.


"It looks like Luxray needs a little time. Give her that, she's not used to you being caring. Torterra is a far more trusting animal, so it's obvious that Phil managed to convince his earlier. It really doesn't matter, you guys have still got to leave today. No Pokeballs unless it's a matter of life and death, is that understood?" ordered Mo.


"Yes sir!" said the two teenagers.


"Good. Here's the letter – don't try to read it, I've waxed the envelope – and my cashcard. There really should be more than enough for the Pokeballs and H-fuel. Now bugger off!". Houndoom ran to his master and watched as the kids picked up their rucksacks and walked off, Torterra and Luxray walking uneasily behind them. "They'll be fine," he said to reassure his worried Houndoom. The dog-like Pokemon whined a bit. "Oh alright I'll send one of the gang to look after them," he continued, and took out a Pokeball from his pocket. Houndoom looked at him, suspicious at the quick appearance of the ball. Mo laughed: "Haha, you don't think I'm stupid enough to send them off without someone to watch over them do you? Go Fearow!"

It took the two kids and their Pokemon about three hours to get to Pallet Town. The main reason for the delay was Torterra, who had difficulty walking at anything faster than snail pace. Whilst training had made it powerful in terms of brute force, Phil had never bothered with stamina. The two siblings had barely spoken for the entire journey – Faye was still angry at him for listening to Mo and not rescuing her, and she didn't like Torterra slowing them down. He had tried reasoning that Houndoom had done a better job than he ever could saving her.


"You don't understand Phil! It's a matter of principle! Your sister's in danger, you help her – no matter what!" she explained. She felt betrayed by her brother, even if it had been due to their grandfather. She didn't like Mo very much, she'd decided. Making sure Luxray didn't go ballistic in the forest was one thing, but they were about to enter Pallet and her lion would be jumpy as hell. Also, walking around with their huge Pokemon out wasn't illegal, but it was certainly unorthodox and they would be attracting a lot of attention from the idiots with their "normal" pet Pokemon. "I wonder what that letter to Ash Ketchum says?" she wondered.


"Phil?" she asked.


"Yes?" he answered.


"Let's not bother with this whole 'no Pokeballs' thing" she said, and took the Pokeball out of her backpack.


Fearow's Keen Eye saw the Pokeball as soon as it was taken out of the bag and it knew what to do. It folded its wings around its body and nose-dived, quickly reaching a dizzying speed. Faye was about to recall Luxray when the huge bird's claws stole the Pokeball. The two watched in awe as the Beak Pokemon hovered ten feet from the ground. It gave a loud shriek and threw the Pokeball back at Faye, who managed to catch it. The four were impressed by the massive bird before them. Even Luxray just stared.


"That is the biggest Fearow I have ever seen", said Faye. "What about you Phil?"


"Definitely. They usually grow to about four feet tall, and this one is at least six!" he answered. "I wonder how Mo made it so big?" Faye didn't know what to say, so they just stared a little longer.


Fearow's beak looked like it could kill, and it had a large, obvious scar across its right wing. The unusual multitude of colors on its feathers was also surprising – the species was usually simply brown. The crown on its head made it look even more majestic, when suddenly it flew up high in the sky, almost invisible to the kids.


"No wonder we didn't notice it before", remarked Phil. Only then did he realize that a crowd had formed in the street. There were intense whispers and people were pointing at them and obviously talking about them too. He decided that this would be the perfect time to ask: "Excuse me? Can anyone tell us how to get to Ash Ketchum?"


A disinterested groan was his reply. Obviously, they had been expecting something other than another gym challenger. All of them but one turned around and immediately left.


"I'll take you there", said a young girl, no older than twelve. "I'll show you were grandfather Ketchum lives. Or did you want to battle him?"


Faye answered: "We don't want to battle him, we have to deliver a message. It would be so nice of you to take us! I'm Faye and this is my Luxray – she's a little angry at me still". Luxray looked up at the mention of its name and looked confused when the girl waved. Phil continued.


"I'm Phil, Faye's brother. This is Torterra, a gentle giant. What's your name?"


She giggled. "I'm Dada". The name caused a stunned silence. Regardless, the girl continued. "Ash Ketchum is my grandfather. I have a Charmeleon, but it's with grandpa Ketchum. Come on, follow me!"


They arrived – after some delay caused by Torterra's slowness and Luxray's paranoia – at a rather large mansion near the center of town. The girl rang the bell from outside the fence. "Hi grandma! I'm here to visit, and I've brought some guests from out of town!"


The gate opened automatically, and they all walked into the grounds. The door to the house opened and immediately a Pikachu ran out to greet Dada. The sudden appearance of the Pokemon startled Luxray, who got ready to battle, and despite Faye's pleading started charging up power.

"Well that's not a very well trained Luxray is it? Get that thing in a Pokeball before it hurts someone" shouted an old man from the doorway.


"I can't" cried Faye. "Our grandpa set us this stupid challenge where I'm not allowed to!"


The old man grunted. "Alright, but he'd better not do anything! We'll talk outside. Misty! Get some tea for our guests, apparently they want to talk to Ash Ketchum."


Only then did the two realize that this was the man in question. He still had the instantly recognizable hair (just in gray), still wore fingerless gloves but now walked with a stick. He pointed at a table in the garden and told them to go sit down. Luxray was still primed for battle, but Ash just walked up to it and petted its head. Before Faye could do anything, a strong electric shock passed through to the old man, who didn't seem to be affected at all.


"Owning a Pikachu all your life will do that to you", he sniggered, pointing at the embarrassed mouse. This one was still active, but had also clearly seen more action than most. It was covered in scars and was much larger than regular Pikachus you saw everywhere – almost as big as a Raichu. Luxray was confused but accepted the petting – it was obvious this human commanded a lot of respect.


Dada proceeded to tell Ash of the Fearow incident, and his face lit up brightly, although he didn't interrupt his granddaughter. When she was done, Phil handed over the letter.


"This is from Mo. He's our grandfather."


"Is that so? I thought this had his name written all over it! That Fearow is one of the most magnificent examples you'll ever see – there aren't many like that one around. And walking around outside of Pokeballs? Only an old codger like one of us would suggest something so unfashionable. Now, let's read this letter then."


As he tore open the envelope, an old Misty came out with the tea. "Oh, it's you again? Did you manage to find him? It'd be nice to know..."


As looked at her, and back at the kids. "You know these guys? Why didn't you ever tell me? Damn it I don't understand you sometimes. Anyway, let me read."


"Yes we found him, thanks so much for your help. He gave us a letter to give to Mr Ketchum. That's what he's reading" answered Faye. Torterra and Luxray were busy getting acquainted with Pikachu and each other. Never having met other Pokemon as friends before, they were both very shy and constantly on the lookout for a trick. Pikachu was helping them along masterfully, talking to them and encouraging them along.


After he finished reading, Ash put down the letter and looked at them both silently. Phil couldn't take the waiting any longer, and asked the question that was burning in his sister's mind too.


"Mister Ketchum? Is Dada named after our grandmother?"


The question hit Ash like a crowbar to the face. Memories came flooding back – and Misty was also obviously reminiscing. "Yes, we owe it to her that we're alive today, although it was our daughter and her husband who decided to name Dada so. They heard the story when they asked us for name suggestions and just couldn't come up with a better one."


"And what would that story be?" asked Faye.


"Well," began Ash.


~


We had known Mo, Dada and the rest of the gang for years. This is when we were in our late twenties, and everyone had gone their separate ways during the war on Team Rocket to help in any way they could. Dada was a master at coordinating and managing refugee movements and amenities, so that's what she did as a neutral party. What we didn't know – and no one did apart from Mo – was that she was also a secret agent. Her status as a rescuer made her popular on both sides of the war, and some people even had doubts about where her true loyalties really laid because of this. Mo made sure that it was known that she just hated loss of life, and it didn't matter who you were. Her work eventually led to her assassination by Agent Jill, but she helped millions of people before that.


My position in the war was quite obvious, so I was never going to be a secret agent. I had acquired quite a reputation before the war began, both as a trainer and enemy of Team Rocket, so I took it upon myself to fight them openly wherever I could. Misty was with me on pretty much all of these assignments, we completed some pretty dangerous missions and always at least got away unscathed. The same cannot be said for some of our other old friends and we mourned them whenever we could.


By this time Team Rocket had been beaten back to Viridian, Giovanni's last stronghold. There were thousands of deserters joining our ranks when they realized that it would soon be finished, but two thousand of Giovanni's best and most loyal troops stayed behind for one last stand. Our ranks were infested with their spies, but we had our contacts within their forces too – and then there were the so-called neutrals, like your grandmother. She was at least six months pregnant and yet she just wouldn't stop helping and working; she had truly worked her way into the hearts of the people.


Everyone thought she was a hero for the way she was handling things, making sure every last civilian cleared the area before large-scale battles occurred, and even once they had started she could be seen zipping through on her Charizard, dressed in white so that she wouldn't get attacked, and tending to the wounded and dying. Whenever anyone inadvertently fired at her or her crack team of nurses the culprit was attacked. It was in everybody's interest to be looked after if they got wounded, and an honor to be helped by her. No one ever found out how she knew where battles were going to be, but I have a hunch Mo was keeping her informed. Good on him.


Anyway, me, Misty, Gary and Ritchie were tasked with taking out one of the Team Rocket command headquarters. We all decided to only take two Pokemon each as it would be cramped in the corridors there anyway.


We flew in low on some army Dragonites who were specially trained to be very fast. It felt like a routine mission: there it was, a typical boring building. It had two entrances, so me and Misty took one while Gary and Ritchie took the other. We agreed to sneak our way through as far as possible before setting off the alarm, but that was going to be difficult.

"It's alright Ashyboy – we'll get there before you guys. Stay in contact using the headset at all times, they're well encrypted. If any of us need to force our way through, we should. The Dragonite are on stand-by to pick us up as soon as we want. Go! Go! Go!"


Me, Pikachu and Misty sprinted to the building in front of the command center. It looked harmless from outside, and there were a couple of grunts walking around. We snook through the bushes until we got to the far left of the building, where our door was. I heard two clicks in my ear, indicating that Gary and Ritchie were ready too. A final click and we were ready to go. We jumped out of the bushes and the guard had no time to react – Misty gave him a beautiful chop to the neck and he fell like a sack of potatoes. We went in, and there was a steel door – the crafty bastards had built it inside what looked like a normal block of flats! It also meant the silent option was out of the question.

"Gary, we're not going to be able to do this quietly", I told him through the mic.


"Why?" there was a bit of rustling on the other line, and the sound of a door opening. "Oh. I guess that's Plan B then. Let's blast our way through!"


Misty called out Togekiss – an awesome Pokemon by the way – and I called out Glalie. Glalie froze the steel door with an Ice Beam and Togekiss fired a Hyper Beam, which blew straight through the next couple of walls too. I'm not going to say what those bodies looked like – they'd obviously prepared some sort of ambush in the next room after that and been caught by surprise. We recalled our Pokemon and ran on, looking for any indication of where we should go. A shout and slamming door from downstairs confirmed our assumption that any sensible person would place their command center in the cellar. This made it less vulnerable from areal attack. I've seen skyscrapers demolished by teams of Dragonites, they are experts at destruction.


The door was easily smashed open. It all seemed too easy but I wasn't going to pass up a mission with no complications. Gary and Ritchie were making smooth progress too.


No one was resisting as we passed through, all throwing their arms in the air and showing they were unarmed. Pikachu was knocking them all out with Shockwave anyway to be sure. This was standard procedure at the time and made sense seeing as we didn't have the time to disarm them all. I was under no illusions that the HQ had been alerted of the break-in. We broke into the command center and things started heating up. Some Razor Leaves flew inches from my head and also nearly hit Pikachu. I went back out the same door and heard Ritchie break into the door too. I heard as Ritchie charged in with Sparky (his Pikachu) and Zippo (his Charizard) and sent in Glalie to take out whatever had fired that Razor Leaf.


"Venusaur, Energy Ball!" ordered a voice. The green sphere crashed into Glalie, smashing it into a wall.


"Come on! Ice Beam that sucker!" I shouted, and Glalie fired off a powerful beam at the Venusaur.


It obviously hurt a lot, but it was still standing and Glalie needed a second, one that the enemy could easily use. I hadn't even seen my opposing trainer yet.

"Sky Attack!" ordered Misty immediately, which relieved me no end. Togekiss' attack took care of that thing once and for all. We both ran in, just in time to see a Cloyster firing a Spike Cannon and hitting Ritchie repeatedly in the chest. These were extraordinarily powerful spikes, and I knew his body wouldn't be able to take such an assault. He went down. Sparky and Zippo went berserk. They destroyed the Cloyster, a Thunder and a Fire Blast made sure of that.


Gary was busy fighting an agent who had appeared behind them, using Umbreon skillfully against his opponent's Machamp.


"Close Combat" ordered the agent.


"You wish, Team Rocket is still full of losers! As if I would leave my Dark Pokemon defenseless against a Fighting-type. Umbreon, use Psychic!" he shouted.


Umbreon concentrated and a blue aura surrounded its opponent. Something was happening that we couldn't see, because it looked like that Pokemon's brain was being crushed inside its skull. Umbreon relented, but I don't know exactly what happened next because it was my turn to be busy again. Agents had followed us too, there were four of the bastards.


"Pikachu, use Thunder on them!" I called, and the first two went down, fried to a crisp and stupidly without having even released their Pokemon. The other two used some rock-types to protect them, evidently knowing of Pikachu's abilities. That was why Glalie was here though.


"And some Water Pulses on them!". Glalie gladly obliged, firing the two off in quick succession.


They were direct hits and knocked those two Pokemon out, but not before one had hit Pikachu with Rock Wrecker. I jumped to him I was so worried, but he was breathing. I put him in his Pokeball. Mo had taught me this lesson when he quit being a ranger. Force your Pokemon into a ball if you have to.


"Doesn't matter" smirked one agent. "Let's see how Glalie likes facing Mawhile instead".


The pure Steel-type was one of the few Pokemon I had never met until then, so I did the sensible thing.


I said, "It doesn't", and I recalled Glalie, running back to Misty who had been taking out some pesky Grass-types that were there to slow us down, but she was done. "I could use some help here. It's steel-type".


"Togekiss, use Flamethrower on this thing!" she called, and it flew around and fired one off. It hit.


"Ash, be useful and get Ritchie to safety! Call the Dragonites!" she shouted.


The Mawhile wasn't deterred by the attack, but it was certainly hurt, and it gave me time to get to Ritchie. Sparky and Zippo were helping Gary fight off the agents on that side, and doing a damned good job of it. They weren't giving anyone a chance of getting close, beating the agents back with their relentless attacks. Vengeful blood-lust does this to you, and we're lucky Team Rocket never properly managed to harness its power. In fact, I only know of one person who ever did. He could get some of his Pokemon to use it at will near the end of the war.


Ritchie was in a bad way – on of the spikes had pierced his lung and he was coughing up blood.




"Ritchie!" I shouted. "Stay with me! D'ya hear me? You're not dying now! You've been through so much! Come on man!"


I could feel his strength leaving him, and he just said: "Sparky... Zippo... May..." before closing his eyes.


"No damn it!" I shouted, and checked his pulse. He was unconscious but obviously still alive. I got Glalie to drag him to safety and called the Dragonite Team, telling them to come immediately. The Extraction would be hot. I heard Zippo's roar get cut off short in the background, and suddenly the zapping sound of Sparky in action stopped. Unfortunately, Umbreon was still fighting, now alongside Nidoking, and Togekiss was in action with Kingdra. The four Pokemon were performing admirably and I could only sneak in the odd crafty Ice Beam or Dark Pulse with Glalie to finish off the odd opponent – human or Pokemon.


In my headset I could hear Misty and Gary barking their orders at their Pokemon, all of us knowing this was pretty hopeless. More and more agents were turning up with ever more Pokemon. They knew there was a big catch to be had here. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, the room seemed to explode as a wall was blown to smithereens, creating a third entrance from the Viridian sewer system. I tried my best with Glalie, but it just wasn't going to happen, they were too powerful.


Things went very quickly from there. Glalie got hit by a flamethrower from a Magmar, Kingdra got frozen by an Ice Beam, Umbreon and Nidoking were surrounded and beaten up by Machamps. We had no chance.


"Give up!" boomed a voice. It was deep, and we all recognized it instantly despite never having seen the man behind it. "You've been a thorn in my side for close to twenty years now you four – or should I say three now? Aw, he's alive. How wonderful. It's about time you were made an example of. Take them outside. Oh, if you think those idiotic Dragonite will help, you're wrong. They're dead. Now, let's move. Oh, take the wounded one too then – you never know!"


"F*** you Giovanni!" I shouted. Misty and Gary shot me an angry glare and I felt ashamed at the outburst.


We moved back through the way we came. The scale of the battle I had just failed in just got clear to me; Misty had done an awesome job at keeping them out of the control center, and Gary probably had too. It was probably a good thing I didn't see what he had done, he knew Pokemon physiology better than anyone and understood their weaknesses so it often got messy when he was around.


We arrived outside, and the four dead Dragonite were lying in the street, obviously having been beheaded viciously by another Pokemon of some sort. I heard a roar and looked up into the sky.


Oh no. On a screen that had been set up specially with a camera on top for him to see us, Giovanni's face appeared. "Behold Team Rocket's latest creation: Rayquazatwo!"

Hehe, that was a little cliffhanger for those who may be reading this :) Let's continue shall we?









"Wait wait wait, hang on," interrupted Phil. "There isn't, and never was, such a thing as a Rayquazatwo! Even the earlier Mew clone was just a rumor."


"Exactly, seeing as you learned your history from books. Cloning is banned these days, unless it's for medicinal purposes. Mewtwo and Rayquazatwo certainly did exist, I saw them both with my very own eyes. More power than you can imagine!"


Faye looked on quietly. A scowl betrayed how annoyed she was at Phil for interrupting, but she said nothing. Ash and her brother were arguing about the possibility of the Pokemons' existence, but she was reasonably confident the Pokemon master was telling the truth. Instead, she looked at Luxray, who seemed to be playing some sort of zapping game with Pikachu. The blue lioness was a magnificent, usually ferocious-looking animal and always had been. Faye had been proud of the Pokemon, proud of its power and agility. They had won many battles together and yet she didn't even know her Pokemon. It didn't trust her! She felt sick inside at the thought of the slavery the Pokemon had endured, the battles and pains. Ash's Pikachu was the perfect example of a happy being. It knew how to break the ice, it knew how to build trust. It would die for Ash. Faye felt a pang of jealousy. Why hadn't she been born before the war? Why was it considered so wrong to build up attachments these days?


It struck her that it wasn't considered wrong to build up attachments, but that they had fallen into uselessness with the advances in Pokeballs. They fed it and kept it healthy. People got lazy. All you needed was the story of one or two accidents happening and people didn't even dare to let their Gyarados out anymore, unless it was to battle.


"Anyway, let's get back to the story. So, there we were, tied up outside what we thought had been a useless command center but actually turned out to be a trap. Richie was in a bad way, but Misty and Gary were alright. We watched as the new beast flew in circles above us. Apart from the building they had taken us out of, there were only smoking rubble and Team Rocket grunts immediately around us. In the distance we could hear the sound of battle, but we were too far away for our comrades to mount a rescue operation. Giovanni laughed on the screen..."


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"Hahaha, you fools really thought I didn't have a trump card? I've been working on genetically improving a powerful Pokemon for years. Never had we succeeded before, until now. Mew was the candidate for a while, but it proved too illusive even for us. Rayquaza was captured years ago and I eventually decided the beast could be... bettered. Behold its power, because it's the last thing you'll ever see". The mention of this being their first cloning success made me and Misty laugh, although Gary didn't find it quite so funny. Mewtwo had been their first cloning success, but Giovanni had no memory of this – Mewtwo made him, and Team Rocket as a whole, forget. I hadn't heard from Mewtwo since, although later I would find out that others had.


"One Pokemon cannot possibly make a difference Giovanni, you know that!" I shouted. Gary and Misty voiced their agreement.


"You know you've lost the war, stop trying to delay the inevitable. You and your men in tights aren't going to survive beyond this year". Gary rarely lost his cool, and his taunt obviously struck a nerve.


"How dare you insult these brave men and women?! You're right, one Pokemon won't be enough. We have many more of these bad boys on the way!"


That shut us up. The thought of swarms of Rayquazatwo was disconcerting to say the least. We all thought of our loved ones, our friends who were going to come up against these monsters without us to fight at their side.

"Now Rayquazatwo, show yourself to them. Let them have a good look at what death is going to entail," ordered the man on the screen.


There's no denying it was a majestic beast. It flew down elegantly and hovered in front of us. It was at least fifteen meters long and looked like the Rayquaza you will have seen in the legends, but it was black and red. It gave a pant-wetting roar and eyed us all, sniffing at us inches from our bodies. I can honestly say I've never been so terrified, and I would say the same applies to Gary and Misty. It came back to me and roared in my face. I thought of the Rayquaza I had seen years before as a child,when it battled Deoxys. I wished Deoxys was there.


Suddenly, clouds began to gather around our position and the dragon crashed into the ground, causing a large crater to form. The storm started in a matter of seconds, a bolt of lightning causing the TV to explode. The last thing it showed was Giovanni's confused face. Blue light began to glow around the rope that had been tied around our wrists and it uncoiled itself. Dada was there, flying at high speed on her Charizard, dressed (as usual) in her trademark white battle nurse's outfit. She flew over to us and ran to Richie, who was still in a very bad way. The grunts were running around in a panic, not realizing what was going on, but I had a hunch. Dada was expertly tending to our comrade's wounds, but there was only so much she could do there. Unfortunately, Rayquazatwo did not find Aura Spheres in the least bit funny and it roared as it got up, having momentarily been reeling from the shock. Now it was ready for battle. It flew up and roared again, challenging the enemy to come out and show himself. It gave us valuable time to help Dada put Richie on her Charizard. She flew off as soon as he was secured.


This left us out in the open, but the grunts were too busy screaming to realize we were free. We ran to the nearest small group and punched and kicked our way to their cover. The rain was very strong and lightnings seemed to be striking the top of every building in our immediate vicinity. About a mile out in every direction there was sunshine. I only knew of one Pokemon who could do this.


Another Aura Spear seemed to appear out of nowhere and strike the cloned dragon in the face. Finally, it shrieked as it saw its target before unleashing a devastating Hyper Beam. A blue ball seemed to appear in the air just before the attack hit the challenger we couldn't see, diffusing the attack into many smaller beams that dissipated. A beam of ice was sent in return that the dragon managed to avoid. Snow appeared where the Ice Beam had hit rain.


Dada dropped three Pokeballs at our feet as she zoomed over us without even looking. She didn't want to be seen as helping one side more than the other, so she picked up some grunts who had been hit by stray attacks. The battle continued to rage above us in the storm, attacks hitting and missing intermittently. Suddenly, the storm ended as quickly as it had appeared. It was Gary who answered the question in everyone's mind.


"Rayquaza is immune to any sort of weather. I'm guessing this one has that too". The end of the storm seemed to startle Rayquatwo's opponent, and that moment of hesitation was enough for a Draco Meteor to score a direct hit.


We let out the Pokemon we had been given. There was no way the three Pidgeots would be able to fight that thing, but we had been given them to escape. We were about to hop on when a bolt of lightning ruined our plans for escape. A blond Team Rocket special agent, who until now had been hiding behind a broken wall, had ordered her Raichu to kill our Pidgeots. This was embarrassing and sad. We heard as the battle in the air began again, Rayquazatwo obviously not managing to destroy the enemy. A relief. The special agent seemed to be taking a moment to be savoring the situation. In war, this is a mistake, as she and her Pokemon were hit by two very powerful Dark Pulses in quick succession. The two lay motionless on the ground. The bark told me all I needed to know: Mo had decided to join the party.


"Come on guys! These three Pidgeots were fresh out of training, you couldn't have at least tried to keep them alive?" he shouted angrily as he arrived. "Looks like we're going to have to proceed on foot for a little while. Come on let's go".


"No!" shouted Gary. "Richie's Pikachu and Charizard are still in there! We have got to get them outta here!"


"Are you kidding me? That black Rayquaza up there is causing havoc. It attacked a base earlier and they could do nothing. I had to call in a favor with a friend of mine to even keep it at bay, and you're talking about Sparky and Zippo? Here's some stuff to get your Pokemon going again. If you really want to go Gary, you can, but don't expect help until this monster is dealt with".


Mo handed him the potions and turned away in anger as he set off, Houndoom scouting ahead. Gary nodded in understanding and ran to the devastated building, but we decided to help Mo take out that thing. As much as we respected Richie, putting the entire war at risk to rescue his Pokemon was not an option.


The few grunts we met on the way were easily dispatched, after all they were worthless as trainers individually. They always relied on mass attacks to achieve victory, not caring what casualties they took. "So who's that friend of yours?" I asked, wanting to confirm my theory.


"He's got a problem with Team Rocket but stayed out of the war until now because humans don't concern him. Well, apart from a few," said Mo.


"Mewtwo?" I asked. Mo turned around and looked at me with a surprised expression. "Yeah, I know him too. Only met him twice and that was years ago. Well, once that I can remember."


Mo smirked. "Yeah, he does that sometimes. I was lucky that he didn't – as far as I know. I sure hope he kicks that thing's ass!"


As if one queue, Rayquazatwo was overcome by a Psychic attack and crashed into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust and rubble everywhere. We were still too far away for us to have any meaningful effect on the battle, but we pressed on. The part of Viridian we were in was deserted as people had fled the fight going on high up in the air. Once in a while we'd see Dada zip by with another body on the back of her Charizard. She was ordering her team to help civilians get out of the area, and ahead of us we could see groups of flying Pokemon struggling to stay in the air due to overloading.


Finally we started getting close to the two. I could see Mewtwo clearly now, concentrating fully on the battle he was fighting, using his high speed so confuse his opponent, protecting himself from one Hyper Beam after the other and firing off Aura Spheres. It was an epic battle and the most destructive I have ever witnessed. Explosions, beams and balls of energy everywhere and each of them causing destruction wherever they hit.

"Stay away!" Mewtwo's voice barked in my head. The others obviously felt it too. "I know you want to help, but your Pokemon will never be able to defeat this thing. I probably will not be able to either."


I could tell what he meant now: he was obviously getting tired. We desperately needed to find a way to fight that thing. For a while I tried to use my aura to strengthen him, but he cut off the link, obviously not wanting me to lose power. "You will need it later," was all he said.


We watched for a little longer and thought about how to destroy the clone.


"Let's just all release our Pokemon and help out Mewtwo now," said Mo. "I don't care what he says, if enough of use attack it at the same time it might tip the balance in our favor!"


"Or it might not, in which case all we'll be doing is killing our Pokemon for no good reason", replied Misty. "Who did you bring anyway?"


"Well I came on Fearow, Houndoom's here as are Sceptile, Nidoking, Luxray and Exploud".


Now kids, I don't know if you've ever heard of Exploud, it's a pretty rare Pokemon – mostly because no-one can stand living with one. Make one angry or train it well and it will roar so loud it can be heard from miles away. This trait is something Mo found hilarious to use against Team Rocket. He had won a couple of battles through the intimidation and earthquakes the noise makes. What makes it especially amazing is Hyper Voice. It's basically a ball of sound energy that will temporarily at least deafen the target, as well as causing massive amounts of damage.


Rayquazatwo fired another Hyper Beam at Mewtwo, who was caught off guard and went crashing to the ground. He didn't get back up. Mo gave me a few Full Restores and told me to give it to Mewtwo whilst he and Misty distract the beast. I started running and at the same time released Pikachu, who by now had recovered pretty well with the potions Mo had supplied, and he ran alongside me. Rayquazatwo flew down to our friend and was about to finish him with a Crunch when the Hyper Voice struck it in the jaw, making it flinch back in surprise but not causing much damage. Exploud was on top of a ruined building and already preparing the next attack. Misty's Kingdra fired off an Ice Beam and hit our opponent as well. Rayquazatwo was roaring in rage and the distraction worked – it started going for them now. Pikachu got to Mewtwo first and stood guard, making sure the dragon wouldn't come close, but it was busy avoiding the attacks Mo and Misty were firing at it. None of them were hitting anymore, the thing was agile as hell.


I knelt down beside Mewtwo and took out the large needle. "Thank you" was all he said as the wounds began to heal up. It was a process that never ceased to amaze me, the way the skin simply seemed to fix itself. A shame it only worked on relatively superficial wounds. He got up and flew into the sky again, beginning the battle with the enemy once again. Suddenly, I had an image in my mind of a squadron of Team Rocket drop ships getting close.


"They're coming," said Mewtwo. "Hold them off, I can take care of this thing but not with Giovanni meddling".


I ran back to Mo and Misty who were still trying to hit Rayquazatwo. "Stop it! We need to hold off Team Rocket for him to be able to destroy that thing!" Just then, the drop ships arrived and two teams of grunts each led by an agent got out in formation. Exploud immediately shifted its attention at them and began bombarding them with screams, causing them all to clutch their heads in pain. However, an agent released a Machamp who sprinted forward and punched the Pokemon in the face and the noise stopped. Machamp was battering Exploud and Mo released Luxray to help out. The Thunder attack certainly discouraged it, but Exploud would be too weak to continue battling so Mo called him back. At least ten Golbats were sent out by grunts and Pikachu had a wonderful time taking them out. Misty took on an agent with Kingdra and was battling a Golem.


The chaos was only just beginning. I sent out Glalie again, who took a delight in freezing unsuspecting grunts and disappearing again. A few Arbok were slithering around trying to get near us, but Houndoom was making sure they didn't get close with vicious Crunches and Flamethrowers. Mo had sent out all his Pokemon now and was ordering them around expertly. He didn't need to tell them what attacks to use, they already knew what had been tried and tested in countless missions. They just needed to know who to take out.


Mewtwo and Rayquazatwo were both obviously getting tired, but this didn't lower the intensity of the battle going on in the sky. At one stage they just stopped moving and faced each other. Mewtwo was obviously trying to reason with it, knowing the feeling of being a clone. It didn't seem interested and charged up another attack Mewtwo easily avoided again. Immediately, he fired off another Aura Sphere and it hit his opponent's tail, enraging it.


We had pretty much taken care of these two squads, only Exploud was down. The others ran away, but there were more drop ships coming already. We got ready to battle again, when suddenly a powerful lightning emerged from the leading craft and hit Mewtwo full on. He couldn't move anymore and was screaming. "Stop that thing! It is sapping my strength!" he told us telepathically.


Mo hopped onto Fearow, taking Houndoom with him as they flew to the drop ship in question. "Take care of the grunts on the ground!" he yelled before he was out of earshot.


Several Pokemon tried to attack Fearow but that bird, as you know, was just too fast. It gave us a valuable distraction to start taking out the grunts though. Another ship fired such a lightning, but this time at Fearow, who swerved just in time for the attack only to hit its wing. It caused a very bad burn but it had always had a peculiar resistance to electric attacks, so it didn't lose the wing like another bird would have. You guys saw the scar it had earlier? That's what caused it.


They got to the drop ship and Mo and Houndoom jumped off, Fearow being sucked back into its Pokeball. That's all I saw, because I was then busier than ever coordinating Pikachu's movements for him. I could tell him to hop left and right to avoid attacks and the direction he had to fire a bolt off into even if he couldn't see the enemy. It was hard work but the little guy was a killing machine at the time, and his backwards attacks always caught enemies by surprise. We're a very good team, he and I.


Glalie was still sneakily freezing grunts when they weren't looking, causing massive pain as they got instant frost bite in fingers, arms and feet or on their chests. Nidoking just stomped on anything that moved and Sceptile was cutting through enemies like no tomorrow. Luxray had taken a bad hit and hidden, but once again Misty's Togekiss was there smacking down anything that moved, showing its power again, despite only just having recovered from the previous battle.


"Sorry I'm late guys, but mission accomplished!" shouted Gary suddenly, joining the chaos as we faced at least thirty grunts with their masses of weak Pokemon. Umbreon was back and he sent out his Nidoking too. It trotted over to Mo's and they fought back to back, protecting each other's butts, their horns constantly drilling through flesh and bone. They were a devastating duo.


The lightning that had been making Mewtwo's life difficult had stopped, and I just saw a flash as the drop ship that had attacked Fearow got hit by several missiles and exploded in a cloud of flames and smoke. The smoldering wreckage dropped onto some grunts and jutted out of the ground tail up and nose in the ground.


I looked up and time seemed to slow down as Mewtwo was hit by the lightning again, but it seemed far more powerful than the one before. I tried not to think about why the ship Mo was in had fired at Mewtwo again. Rayquazatwo had not been able to attack Mewtwo, the lightning seemingly both slowly killing and protecting the clone, but took its chance as soon as the protection was gone. The Hyperbeam was another direct hit, and Mewtwo crashed towards the ground again.


Rayquazatwo gave a victorious roar. I was about to give up hope, but the roar was cut short as the black flying snake was suddenly surrounded by blue light. It struggled but couldn't escape as it was slowly moved toward the ground.


Mewtwo's eyes were glowing. He did not look in the least bit hurt, and he started turning his hand and fingers. The blue force field around Rayquazatwo was contracting! Right before my eyes, Mewtwo was crushing such a powerful enemy using only his mind. It took maybe ten seconds for the previously gigantic Rayquazatwo, to become the size of a worm. A worm that simply dropped to the floor and died. Mewtwo then collapsed.

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"What had actually happened with the second lightning coming out of the ship was the deciding factor. Mo told me later that inside a Team Rocket grunt, begging for his life with Houndoom's teeth baring at him, had shown him how they made their second clone so powerful: they sucked the energy out of other Pokemon and gave it to Rayquazatwo. Mo had simply taken all the stored up energy and given it to Mewtwo in a dangerous gamble that it would work. And it had. That was the good news. Mo set the drop ship to crash and jumped out with Fearow to join us. That's where for me, it all goes black and I can't remember anything anymore..." said Ash, getting quieter as he finished. He stopped talking and stared off into the distance.






I'm still experimenting with the style and have slight writer's block at the minute - any suggestions? Bearing in mind Dada has to save at least Misty and Ash in some spectacular fashion. Otherwise the story has no point.

We snook through the bushes

Click to expand...

We snuck through the bushes, I think.
Interesting concept.

Yeah it's back! It always bothered me that I hadn't kept going with this one – tell me what you think!




Misty continued the story for Ash, the kids riveted by the story.


The crashing dropship's explosion had knocked us all on our backs. I saw Mo's Luxray get decapitated by a piece of flying debris, something I'm sure he had not intended to do. Fearow was too weak to fly him very far and they both fell, the wings only acting as a makeshift, if rather useless, para glider. Luckily Houndoom was back in his Pokeball. I saw them land hard, Togekiss not coming to catch them in time, but Ash was gone in a cloud of smoke. I ran straight to him and started digging desperately at the pile of rubble, screaming his name. I didn't care what danger I was in. I didn't care if Mo or Gary had a few superficial cuts and bruises. All I wanted to do was get Ash outta there, and I screamed at them to help me. They were both a little dazed but they understood my ramblings and ran to join me after collecting their Pokemon. It looked like an entire building was on top of Ash the pile was so immense.


Five more Team Rocket drop ships landed around us, troops running out. They knew they had us and didn't bother attacking, surrounding us instead. There were too many of them for us to do anything with our exhausted Pokemon. Gary and Mo just stood and looked at the soldiers impassively. They weren't going to give them the satisfaction of putting their hands up and getting down on their knees.


"Guys, I think by now you should know that in the end, Team Rocket will always win," started Jill. She was a tall woman, in the typical Team Rocket uniform. I remember her Hair; she had dyed it the same pink as her glorified gang's logo. She gave a long hearty laugh and was joined by the other troops in it, most noticeably by her partner Jack. The two had been petty criminals before the war, easily dispatched by Mo and his friends at the time whenever one of their schemes was uncovered. Now they were pretty high up in the organization because they had a knack for being ruthless and brutal, traits Giovanni found useful.


"The boss would like a closer look at the thing that defeated our little monster. Where is it?" demanded Jack. The two guys didn't say a thing, and I was too busy digging for Ash with Pikachu. Jack sighed. "Alright, the hard way it is then, again. Get the hostages. We'll see how many they let die before they talk."


"We'll never talk and you know it," said Mo. Gary nodded. Jack and Jill smiled.


By now, Gary and Mo had walked towards the Team Rocket officers and were mere feet away from them, glaring. You could almost feel the simmering hatred between the four people. Then, four hooded figures were taken out of the dropship in single file, their hands bound. Jack picked up a heavy steel pipe and walked to them so that he could take the black hoods off. May was the first one to be uncovered, and each followed in turn. Nolan, Erika and Barry all looked very tired and had obviously taken a beating or two in Rocket custody.

"Don't tell them anything!" shouted May. "Our lives aren't worth the thousands who'd die if you reveal something important. I don't know what they want, but-"


She was interrupted as Jack swung the steel pipe into the side of her head. It gave a sickening crack, causing an obvious rather large dent in her head and she fell like a sac of potatoes, instantly dead. I screamed, May's cruel death coming as a shock. I had expected things to go more slowly, so redoubled my efforts at digging for Ash, tears streaming down my face at the thought of losing one close friend and the man who had promised to marry me when the war ends!


"There, now you see how quickly this can go? The next ones will be begging for me to do the same to them when I'm done with them," said Jack. "Now, I'll try again: where is that killer Pokemon?"


"You're a ruthless bastard, I'll give you that," said Mo. "But no, sorry."


Jack swung the pipe from behind Nolan, but hit him in the arm, shattering it instantly. He gave a short shout of pain but regained his composure quickly, remaining silent and nodding at the boys. He was clutching the remains of his arm.


I had finally reached Ash's feet, so I dug in the direction of his upper body. He wasn't moving and I was fearing the worst. It seemed like I would never stop crying my eyes were so full of water.


"Still nothing?" said Jack in mock shock. "Oh, so sad I have to do this." The pipe whizzed through the air again and hit Nolan on the back of the head, killing him instantly. "You've lost one more friend. How many more are you willing to give me?"


"This isn't about our friends, Jackyboy," answered Gary insolently, although his voice was obviously shaking with anger and grief. "You won't be getting what you want this way."


"Quite right," replied Jack. "That's why I'm going to mess with your heads some more." With that, he swung the bat into Barry's thigh. Again, the pipe broke bone, and he fell.


"Ow! That hurts you useless pig! I'm fining you a million dollars when I can walk again!" he shouted. Amused by the reply, Jack swung the pipe back into the same leg, shattering more bone and causing immense pain. Barry screamed. "Come on! Give me more you t**t! Is that all you can do?"


"A little masochist I see? Very well," started Jack. "Let me tell you Barry," there was a dull -crack- as the pipe shattered a shoulder. "You have been a very" -crack- "naughty" -crack- "boy" -crack-. Barry was whimpering on the floor whilst Gary, Mo and Erika shouted obscenities at Jack, who was clearly enjoying himself. Every limb had been broken.


"Come on! Is that all you got?" shouted Barry through bloody teeth. "Pathetic! Can't even hurt a tied up hostage!"


The taunt worked, although maybe not in a way Barry was hoping for or was going to enjoy. "I need two of you guys to hold his little jelly legs apart," he pointed at two grunts. "Let's show our impatient little friend that he shouldn't be so cheeky huh?" The two grunts came and forced Barry onto his back, who was giggling and gargling the blood in his mouth, and forced his destroyed legs apart. Jack walked up and got into a mock Golf stance, swinging the improvised club closer and closer to Barry's crotch area. "Now watch this drive."


The scream made me shiver and every man who was present cringed apart from Jack. Barry was just crying, attempting to move himself into a fetal position but failing. Ash was now freed of the rubble but unconscious. He was covered in dust from head to toe and he had cuts everywhere.


"Now listen here!" shouted Jill. "If you don't tell us where that monster of yours is we'll torture you all in a similar way and leave you lying in a pool of your own blood and tears to die."


Jack continued, absent-mindedly giving Erika a vicious blow in the ribs. "So, let's begin. Recruits! Choose a weapon of your choosing and start battering the crap out of them. One will talk. Mo is mine after you... soften him up a little!"


"I can't wait," answered the man in question, getting ready for a good old fistfight. He hadn't had one in years. "Bring it on! Gary, you ready for a little fisty-cuffs?"


"Any time Mo-boy, any time!" He ruffled up his sleeves as he too thought about punching Team Rocket grunts in the face, hard.


Now kids, I feel it would be best to describe what it looked like from where I was sitting. I was with an unconscious Ash on top of a pile of rubble, Pikachu at my side – exhausted. There were at least six men advancing on my position and the others got ready to beat Mo and Gary to death. The circle was broken, all of them swinging some sort of weapon, as if Pokemon were completely out of the question for this fight. The dropships had their loading bays open behind Jack and Jill, whilst Barry had stopped moving or talking. Erika was sobbing, clutching her stomach. Only later would I find out that she had been pregnant, something Jack knew after the tests had been made in their POW camp. Mo and Gary slowly got back to back, ready to fight for their lives.


Suddenly, there were Dark Pulses and Flamethrowers everywhere. A Honchcrow, Charizard and Misdreavus were zipping through Team Rocket lines taking one grunt out after the other. The surprise was total, so Mo and Gary decided to check on Barry. Jack noticed and ran at them wielding his bludgeoning weapon. They didn't notice. As he was about to strike, the Honchcrow hit him with a Dark Pulse and he fell to the ground, dead in an instant. Jill screamed in anguish and wanted to get to him, but her grunts dragged her into the dropship. There were Kanto Defense Force dropships landing nearby and they were happy to retreat as long as they could get away.








Misty decided to finish off, emotions slowly getting the better of her. "It turns out those Pokemon were Dada's, she'd sent them to go look for us. When they had found us they picked her up and she waited for the perfect moment to strike. You have to understand, she gave away years of being recognized as a neutral party, risked her life for us in a way that compromised her position for ever. Barry died on the way to the hospital – his was one of the cruelest deaths in the war. May is still remembered now for her courage and skill at contests – she was definitely the best I have ever seen, and most original. Erika survived but lost the baby from the blow she had been given, but eventually she managed to find happiness by having another one. With Nolan's death we lost a great hero and commander as well, he was sorely missed, with flags flying at half-mast in his honor for an entire month!"


Misty paused, tears forming as she remembered her dead friends. "All in all it was a terrible day for us, but at least we protected Mewtwo for long enough, and in the end that is what counts. He saved us all, but Dada saved him and at least Kanto and Johto with her timely arrival. You would probably not exist if it weren't for her, and I don't just mean because she's your grandmother. She eventually payed the ultimate price, Jill assassinating her shortly after she bore her only child."


"Yes, Grandfather told us how that happened," started Phil. "It wasn't a nice story at all!"


"That's putting it mildly," added Faye.


"Regardless, this is why my children decided to call Dada after your grandmother. You must be tired of listening to the ramblings of two old farts, let's change the subject!"


There was an awkward silence as no one could think of something that would top Dada heroism, until Ash decided to break the silence. "No, no talking. Let's have a battle!"


The kids looked at each other, worried. They had just been challenged by the greatest Pokemon master of all time, and they only had one Pokemon each.


Faye decided she couldn't do it. "Can we delay until our grandfather has trained us a little more? We're not-"

"No!" Interrupted Ash. "Mo wrote you'd try to wriggle out of it. This is part of his training regime. Don't worry, I'll always have a type-disadvantage to you, and sorry Pikachu," he looked down at the old mouse, "but you can't take part."


Pikachu didn't seem all that bothered. It had fought thousands of battles, it really couldn't care less if it didn't need to do anything. When it battled, however, it still did it with the same relish as it always had.






Next to the large garden outside the rather large house was a space dedicated to battling. At the moment it was simply a grassy field, but it could in fact very quickly be turned into whatever scenario Ash wanted. The old man was standing at one end, leaning on his walking stick, and the two teenagers faced him from the other side.


"I'll battle you individually. Faye, I think your Luxray wants to prove itself, so bring it here, please."


This was easier said than done, Luxray enjoying the outside and not really wanting to do anything at all. "Come on Luxray, please! Help me battle Ash!"


Tears were already starting to form, she had never had such trouble before. She pulled at her Pokemon's mane, offered it treats and yes, even begged it to move, but it just wouldn't budge.

Finally, she collapsed in front of Luxray and sobbed. "Forgive me! Please! I never realized you were suffering so much. I want to change! I want us to be friends..." She looked up at her lioness, who was looking away, disinterestedly. "I want to have your respect, to battle with you as my partner and not my slave..."


Luxray got up and trotted to the battle field. "Well done Faye, you've finally realized that, to bond with your Pokemon, you have to figure out what they want from you. Despite what you may think, she doesn't hate you. She cares for you. However, you are not friends."


Faye let out a sigh, Phil now having moved to sit on a rock where he could see, Torterra and Pikachu next to him. "So how will this battle work?"


"Simple. You try to beat me." Said Ash smirking.


Luxray got ready, eager to show its worth again. "Whatever is coming out of that Pokeball, it's weak to electricity. Get it with a Thunderbolt as soon as you can!"


Ash held an old-fashioned Pokeball in front of him. "Okay my old friend, time to show them what you're made of!"


"Bweebwee!" shouted Floatzel as it appeared in front of Ash. Immediately, Luxray released its charged up static, firing a bolt of lightning at Floatzel, who seemingly effortlessly avoided the bolt.


Ash sighed. "Floatzel, Quick Attack!"


The Pokemon reacted immediately, moving at speeds neither Faye or Phil had seen before, smashing into Luxray's sighed and causing a painful yelp to come from the lioness.


"Give me a Thunder Fang!" Shouted Faye, and Luxray jumped at Floatzel and was about to bite down when a Water Gun hit it in the face and threw it back.


"Alright, I've seen enough," started Ash. "There is no sense in needlessly hurting Luxray any more.

"But I-" she caught herself before it was too late, seeing her Pokemon in pain. "Okay, Luxray you did all you could. This is a mighty trainer, there was no way you could do anything. But one day, we'll come back and we'll beat him!"


The Pokemon whimpered but seemed elated by the prospect.


"Well done you two," said Ash. "Right then. Phil, show me what you got!"




Not very long, but I felt it was a good way to wake up the story again. If you don't like the idea of this being around again, or want to egg me on to do MORE, then tell me :)