Chapter 8 - Part 1
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TOO BAD! Only kidding!
Chapter 8, Part 1- The Truth All Comes Out(well, maybe not ALL of it)
It wasn't possible. She was supposed to be...well, she just wasn't who anyone would've expected. "TA DA!" she said, cackling darkly.
"No..." May said softly. "I trusted you!"
"Shocking isn't it May? Trust, most of you here know, must be gained through deeds. What did I do for you May?" Kimberley Wimple's face had been revealed. "Aww, it's too bad I'll have to wipe you all out." Kimberley's distorted face finally decided it wanted to look mad, and her icy stare was too much for Max as she scanned the room, who shrank back.
Misty scowled at her. How heartless could humans be?
"You and what army?" Ash spat defiantly.
"Like you don't know! Why don't we get some volunteers? How about Drew, hmm?" her expression was of fake sympathy and her coldness now showed through her disguised facial expressions. "May? Maybe even little Maxie-"
"Leave my brother out of this you fraud," May shouted defensively. "What are you talking about?"
Max was trembling in a corner. Pikachu was losing air, as he hugged him to his chest. "Pi-chaaa..." It sighed, when he let go, still avoiding Kimberley as she seemed to purposely inch toward him by the second.
"Yeah," Drew said, "Why would we know?" He looked very mad. Kimberley didn't seem to mind however, and continued on.
"You two should know most of all." She brushed her hair away from one eye with her hand.
"Pikachu," Ash called, gritting his teeth. The obedient mouse zipped toward Ash, avoiding Kimberley's path as she grabbed for it. "Ready to do this?" he asked his Pokemon.
"Pika," the mouse seethed, nodding, as it stood in front of Ash, staring the double-crossing contestant down. "Pikachu!" This next comment was said quite forcefully to Kimberley. The mouse was dead-set on stopping her.
"That's it!" Max said triumphantly, figuring it out. "You're gonna-"
"You won't reveal my plan, Flaafy Thunder Wave!" Kimberley was quick with the toss, and Flaafy Pokeball sailed through the air quite fast.
"Pikachu help out," Ash quickly ordered, just as Flaafy was created from a flash of light. She was already charging the attack to paralyze Max. Pikachu was running as fast as possible. Two feet from Max, Pikachu dove.
The rings of light energy flew through the air toward Max. He freaked out.
"Whaaaa!" he panicked, flailing his arms uselessly. The glowing circles of energy shut tighter as they neared Max. The figure of the yellow mouse came into view, and Pikachu's tail sprang up in front of the attack.
Without orders, Pikachu preformed its Iron Tail attack. The thin zig-zagging tail stiffened, and began to glow. In midair, Pikachu's tail caught the rings like hoola-hoops on a pole. They spun for a while as they met Pikachu's tail, which cancelled out their paralyzing effects. Pikachu squealed, as it flipped once in a smooth motion, sending the rings off its tail into the wall. The streamers along the wall fell as it crumbled.
Suddenly, the Man named Hank called out an order, once the wall began to give way, falling toward Pikachu. "PROTECT!"
The buzzing bee zipped past Kimberley, causing her to fall when the trail of wind left in its path hit her. She pressed her hand against the floor, and righted herself quickly. "That does it! May, your brother is NOT gonna get in my way or any of you!" Her fists clenched, as Beedrill's striped yellow and coal black coat came into Pikachu's view. A green sheet of light spread out in front of it, and the chunks of the wall and the streamers all disentegrated when they touched this barrier.
"I can get rid of your Beedrill," Kimberley said, her face now beet red. "Dustox go, tackle," she commanded, rotating to one side to stare at Ash, Misty, and Brock.
Dustox's shape formed from a bright red beam, and it charged, ramming Beedrill and they both were sent careening through the air backstage. Luckily, every contest competitor had either fled backstage or gone into the contest's main room to see what was up.
"Quit it Kimberley!" Misty shouted, gripping her Great Ball tightly. Her elegance had Ash distracted for a moment. Noticing he wasn't paying attention to his Pokemon, she spoke.
"Destroy Pikachu," she seethed. Her hands were at her sides now, holding the two Pokeballs. She was now definitely an enemy.
Flaafy rushed at Pikachu, catching it in the side with thunderpunch. This attack was well practiced, that much was obvious, as Flaafy swiftly slashed the distance between it and Pikachu, slamming a static-filled arm into the foe. In response, Pikachu stepped away and fired a bolt of electricity at Flaafy. The thunderbolt was not expected, and Flaafy tiptoed a few feet back. Following up, Pikachu swept it's long tail underneath Flaafy, tripping it.
It may have been unprepared for at least a few seconds, but now it was back in the game. Pikachu did not need or depend on Ash to tell him what to do in battle, though it fought by his side. Ash had trained it well enough to fight independently.
Beedrill erupted through the double-doors that led onstage from backstage, Dustox after it. Dustox fired a thick sheet of web at Beedrill, that thinned out as it reached the opponent. There was now only a long rope of web coming at Beedrill. Suddenly, the bee whipped around, smacking away the web with its antennas.
Next, Beedrill retaliated with a twineedle attack. Five small needles soared forward at Dustox. The moth was pinned to the wall by its transparent wings, but instantly tore away, powerful enough to survive a move like Twineedle. It struck the bee across the face with a silky wing, managing to back away when Beedrill countered the Wing Attack with Mega Horn.
"Great job pal," Ash congratulated, observing how Pikachu handled the sneak attack. Misty was staring down Kimberley in the meantime.
"Hey, why don't you try to stop me, huh?" Misty said this with an air of mockery. The temples on Kimberley's forehead pulsed.
"Maybe I will," she replied, stashing the two Pokeballs and sending out a Surskit. "Try me now."
Misty nodded with a confident glare, tossing a Pokeball and catching it expertly as it returned to her hand. "Starmie, psybeam!" Her well trained Pokemon hopped over in front of her, shaking its body to get rid of the water specks that dotted it in several places. It let loose a twirling blue and violet DNA-shaped stream of energy that...missed?
"Surskit water pulse," Kimberley said, smiling as her Pokemon dodged, and the beam hit Beedrill instead. Misty gritted her teeth, muttering, "SHOOT!" Next she pointed to Surskit. "We can do this Starmie! Water Gun!"
Her star-like partner jumped into the air, cartwheeling in place in rapid succession, firing jets of water from microscopic holes at the tips of it's pointed protrusions from the core. Surskit was not quick enough, and was blasted in the face several times with strings of water.
Beedrill finally regained its balance, in time to slip out of the path of Dustox's toxic attack. The posionous spit charred the floor as it evaporated. The match was heating up quick, as Beedrill charged with a quick attack. The line of glowing energy was almost invisible, but there, as the bee flew at lightspeed toward Dustox.
Max tried to run, but Kimberley was fast, and grabbed him by the arm. "Heeeelp!" he cried, struggling, but unable to break away. May grunted, reaching for a Pokeball.
"Let Max go," May and Brock yelled, stepping forward. Brock released his Mudkip, ready to help.
"Make me," Kimberley said, just as Surskit knocked Starmie down with headbutt. Brock grinned.
"Sure. Mudkip mud shot! Max shut your eyes."
Kimberley shrieked, as Mudkip sprayed her with mud from it's mouth. "EWW GROSS," she complained, holding up a hand to block the brown sludge. Max closed his eyes just in time, as a few drops of mud landed on his nose. Disgusted, he wiped his face clean of the mud with one hand, and thought up something that might help.
Hank ordered, "Beedrill finish this with gust!" His bug Pokemon nodded its understanding, shoving Dustox to the stage floor with a burst of wind. The foe was beaten, and with much difficulty flew back to Kimberley, where it was returned.
Back at the corner of the stage, Pikachu was evading Flaafy. Right now, it had no idea how to overcome this foe. Flaafy ducked under the mouse as it hopped away, and managed to whip around in time to knock it down with thunder.
Electric energy crackling throughout its body, Pikachu stood, and ran at Flaafy. Ignoring its pain, Pikachu flipped into the air.
Kimberley grinned as she spoke to both Pokemon. "Surskit, Bubblebeam, and Flaafy agility!" Misty's Starmie had been doing quite well, lowering Surskit's stamina bit by bit. The sudden volley of bubbles clouded its vision, and from behind it felt a sharp pang. Surskit had manuevered around it while it was distracted, and slammed Starmie to the floor with an ice beam.
The stream of clear blue solid ice crashed into Starmie, causing it to stagger around and eventually fall on its face. Misty was shocked, and her face showed it.
"Don't worry Misty," Ash said, releasing a Pokemon from its metal containment orb. "Sceptile, Leaf Blade!" His recently evolved Sceptile lurched forward at Surskit, who just barely dodged Sceptile's outstreched arm, which had a sharp leaf protruding from it. The leaf was inches from Surskit's face, who cringed, and slid away.
"It missed?" Max asked, for the moment forgetting his escape plan. "How can that be? A Surskit isn't evasive enough to dodge a Sceptile like Ash's!"
"I trained my Surskit beyond the limits of its form, preventing evolution with this special stone." Kimberley flashed a shiny rock in the air, stowing it away once Ash, Misty, and Max had looked at it. "That's why you can't hit Surskit."
Ash glared at Kimberley, then at Surskit, who was zipping out of the way after letting Sceptile close in on it, confusing the Pokemon. The green forest Pokemon was, after a dozen failed swings of its arms, panting heavily.
Misty urged, "Starmie get up!" Luckily, her Pokemon was still able to engage in combat, and it got up. "Great! Now get Surskit!"
The blue water type bug was aware of the fact that two Pokemon were now after it, and bombarded Sceptile with orbs of water, before gaining some distance from the pursuers. Starmie however, surprised it with another Psychic attack. Confusion scrambled up its thoughts, and Sceptile struck. It cut Surskit swiftly with a Leaf Blade attack, and struck a pose when Surskit was called back into its Pokeball.
Pikachu had avoided Flaafy long enough, and was following with its own agility now. The two were like speeding bullets, tackling each other every so often while speeding around the entire contest hall. Finally they both tired out, and were back onstage.
"There you guys are!" Ash exclaimed, grinning. "Pikachu, ready to use your Iron Tail?" The yellow rodent nodded eagerly, flashing him a weak smile.
"Use your mid-air tail whip," Kimberley ordered, shoving Max away as he bit her arm. Blood trickled down her sleeve. "OUCH! You brat!"
"Hey," Max said, approaching Ash. "Where did Brock and May go? Also, where's Drew?" Ash and Misty searched with their eyes, and instantly felt bad for not noticing the two were missing.
Flaafy jumped at Pikachu, who did the same to her. The two tails collided with a loud ringing noise, and they parted, both falling hard on the stage floor. After a long suspenseful silence, Pikachu stood, and hurried over to Ash, hopping onto his shoulder.
"NO WAY!" Kimberley screamed suddenly. "You beat all but my last Pokemon?" She pointed at each of the kids. "You all ruined the plan!"
"What plan?" Max asked with a smirk. "Your plan to use May and Drew's Pokemon against THEM?" Ash, Misty, and Hank gasped. As if on cue, May, Brock, and Drew came running.
"There was a Tropius chasing us back there," Drew said, hands on his knees as he panted. Brock and May nodded.
"Nice try Kimberley! We lost it backstage," May said. She undid her bandana, and put it back on tighter than before.
"Then how is it right behind us?" Brock said nervously, as he turned around at the sound of stomping. May followed suit, yelping when she noticed the pursuer had found them.
"Don't be afraid," said a voice. It was Mellisa Tang, standing onstage with Fernando, and both were participants of the Lilycove Contest.
"Mellisa told me what was up so I came to help," Fernando said, smiling sheepishly. "Eveen though I didn't make it I figured I could come help out," he added. "Delibird do your thing!" His arctic bird Pokemon flapped its wings to show it understood, and flew toward Tropius. A nicely done drill peck attack left Tropius nearly defeated.
"Where are all you brats coming from?" Kimberley called out angrily. "Tropius, solarbeam!" Tropius had already gained enough solar power for the attack because the ceiling had a glass covering above the stage, which light shone through.
Misty called back Starmie, just as Brock's Graveler was sucked inside its Pokeball, which had wandered off to, for some odd reason, chew the curtains to the stage. She turned her attention away from Ash for the moment to watch Delibird and Tropius.
Delibird was hit directly in the chest with a thick concentrated beam of solar energy. The bird staggered back, just as Tropius came at it with a headbutt.
"Counter," Fernando shouted, panicking as he thought of his Pokemon being defeated. Delibird shook its head, and turned towards Tropius once more.
Delibird patiently stood while Tropius came nearer, then, a foot from the foe, it made its move. The bird stepped forward, ducking under Tropius' neck, and jutted its wing upward, sending the unprepared grass type crashing down, into the very hatch Kimberley had known of all along.
Speaking of Kimberley, she was now inching away from the scene. "You can come out now!" she whispered. Her hair was tangled up in a mess of strands, which made her use one hand to brush some of it aside. When her hand came away from her face, she saw Max running at her.
"This is for grabbing me," he declared, sweeping a foot underneath her as she made a break for it. Face first, she tripped and fell onto the carpeted floor. The carpet was dark blue mixed in with sky blue, and it mixed together in a color-blending swirl in the middle of the room, which is exactly where Team Rocket was. They had run inside from a second backstage exit, with Flygon, Masquerain, Bulbasaur, and Combusken surrounding them, protectively?.
"Hahahaha!" James laughed deviously, Meowth hopping over beside him. "It all went as planned!" Kimberley took advantage of the fact that Max was observing the trio as they entered, and scooted away to stand inside the circle of stolen Pokemon guards.
"Finally we beat you snotnosed twerps and got what WE want!" Jesse was rubbing her hands together in deep thought. "Now, with these two losers' Pokemon, we shall have the promotion we've been craving!"
"Yeah, an' that means getting rid of you guys first!" Meowth jabbed a finger at the group that had beaten Kimberley. They all struck poses with their Pokemon, clearly about to strike.
"Team Rocket," Brock announced. May nodded as she glared at the evildoers. "Back again?"
"Naturally," James said, cockily running a hand through his hair.
The judges were now alongside their Pokemon. Harpee spoke right after Ash did, her Hariyama stepping toward Team Rocket.
"Then I guess we'll just naturally have to send you blasting off," Ash retorted, gesturing for Pikachu to attack. "So let's go buddy-"
"Wait," Harpee cut in, raising a hand. "I've got this one! Hariyama Arm Thrust!"
Her sumo wrestler resembling Pokemon bumbled over towards the group of villains. "Hari-yama!" It cried out, reaching out with an extended arm to punch Flygon.
"STOP," Drew called out, and Hariyama halted halfway into connecting the blow. May continued for him.
"That's right! Those are our Pokemon Harpee!"
Harpee shrugged. Then she said flippantly, "It has to be done. Hariyama!" She nodded at her Pokemon to finish the job up.
The fighting type didn't budge. It would not harm other Pokemon if they were actually innocent.
"Flygon," Jesse said, "Dragonbreath!" It, surprisingly, obeyed, opening its mouth to attack.
The wave of flaming breath was too much for Hariyama, who tumbled backwards on impact, into Harpee's leg. She gave it a dissapointed glance, which hurt it inside, but it stood firm by its beleifs of the innocent.
"NOOO!" Max yelled, and foolishly charged forward at Flygon. "This is wrong. We're your friends Flygon. Listen to us!" He was now ten or more feet from Flygon, who hovered with a defiant glare aimed at Drew, two feet in the air.
"Max stop," May pleaded, but he was gone.
"Now Dragon Rage!" James ordered, and was hit over the head by Jesse.
"That was my line!" She crossed her arms.
The flames enveloped Max, and everyone on Ash's side of the room gasped. What had become of the poor boy? Team Rocket had sunken too low this time.
"Quick attack," Officer Jenny comanded of her Growlithe, which darted forward into the swirling vortex of fire. Only hope could save Max now.
