Hello everyone! This is my first Pokémon story! I'm so excited!
So, this takes place after the Johto Silver Conference, so Ash's team is Pikachu (duh), Bayleaf, Totodile, Cyndaquill, Phanpy, and Noctowl, and he is still traveling with Brock and Misty. This can take place anytime after the Conference, as long as it is before they trio parts. You can decide, it doesn't really matter.
So, I worked really hard on this chapter, and I had a lot of fun writing it! I hope you like it as much as I do!
"I'm gonna win next time, I promise! From now on, I'm gonna train twice as hard, and devote everything to practicing! Well, except when I have to eat, because, you know, I have to eat. But when I am not eating, I will definitely be training!"
Misty had to struggle hard against the urge to take out her mallet.
Ash had been going on like this for about an hour. At first, Misty had taken this as a good sign, as it had been a much more positive approach to his loss in the Johto League Silver Conference than his loss in the Indigo Plateau. It was a sign that Ash really was going to be okay, and that even without her, he will continue to get better and strive for the title of Pokémon Master.
Though after the first ten minutes, it started to come out more as an annoying buzz to Misty (as Ash, being the forgetful person he was, often mentioned the same things more than once). After thirty minutes, Misty could feel her eye begin to twitch, almost comically. As the hour drew to a close, she found her hand clenching and unclenching without her noticing, probably missing the familiar weight of her main weapon (and wanting desperately to put her poor ears out of their misery). Even her Togepi seemed to be bored out of her mind.
Misty could sense similar feelings towards Ash from their other brown-haired companion. Brock had done his best to shower Ash with praise during the first five minutes of Ash's self-improvement speech, though he certainly regretted it, as his words had been like fuel to Ash's fire of a speech. A frying pan in his right hand had managed to catch Misty's attention (and, though Misty felt a bit guilty for thinking this, she hoped that maybe one hit could be enough to knock the yapping boy unconscious).
Pikachu was the only one who wasn't at all bothered with Ash's everlasting conversation with himself. In fact, every time Ash got to an important part or made a point, Pikachu's cheeks would spark with excitement, letting out a cheerful, "Pikapi!" every once in a while. It seemed to be drinking every last of Ash's words, and was hoping to pick up on Ash's new fighting spirit, so to not let down his best friend next time.
"Hey! This looks like a great place to stop!" Brock said, and Misty thought she heard a bit of desperation in his voice.
"Um, yeah!" Misty said, checking the surrounding area in hope that there was, in fact, such place in close proximity.
"Really?" Ash was suddenly brought back to reality, though Brock's announcement seemed to only further excite him, "Oh, great! Hey everyone! It's lunch time!"
With one smooth motion of someone doing it a million times over, Ash grabbed five pokeballs from inside his jacket and threw them into the air. Right as they reached the peak in their flight, they all opened, letting out a bright, red light, which gathered on the ground and took on the five forms which Ash came to know as his friends.
"Bay!" A large green Pokémon with a large leaf atop her head immediately expressed her affection for her trainer as she ran up to him and nuzzled her head against his chest. Ash returned the gesture by wrapping his Bayleaf in a warm hug.
"Hey, Bayleaf! Great to see you, too!"
Ash turned his attention to his other Pokémon. Totodile was dancing, whether he was celebrating the fact that it was lunch time, or that he had been released from his pokeball, or that he just simply wanted to dance was unknown (though Ash had a hunch that it was the latter). Phanpy seemed to pick up on Totodile's happy mood, as Phanpy was flapping its ears playfully and calling out its name happily. Once the shimmering had settled down, Noctowl perched itself on Ash's head, who laughed and gave it a friendly pat on the head. Pikachu, not wanting to weigh down the Pokémon trainer, jumped from Ash's shoulder and went to talk to Cyndaquill, who was squealing its name and taking in its new surroundings.
Misty and Brock took out their own pokeballs, probably in order to release their own Pokémon, but they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"QUIET YOYSELVES OR WE'LL BE CAWT!"
This was followed by two loud smacks, then two yelps from two even more familiar voices.
"Team Rocket?" Ash said, not believing (and not wanting to believe) his ears. Pikachu automatically too up a fighting stance in front of him, his Pokémon companions close behind, ready in case he needed backup.
Another smack was heard, this time pain being expressed by the familiar voice of Meowth.
"Hey, whatcha do that for, huh?"
"For giving us away!" Jessie's angry voice came out as more of a growl, and the three eavesdroppers sweatdropped.
"Well, at least we can do the motto early," James, being the positive one he was, pointed out.
"Oh yeah!" Jessie said, her anger before having completely diminished with the mention of their motto. With that, she stood up.
"Prepare for trouble, we're here to steal Pikachu."
James took this as his cue to join her.
"And make it double, because after that, we will steal your food!"
"But I didn't even make it yet," Brock said, frowning.
"Oh," James said, a bit disappointed. This was rewarded with a loud slap to the back of the neck from his pink-haired companion.
"Continue the motto, you fool!"
"Oh, right!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people's within our nation!"
"To denounce the evil's of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
Jessie struck a pose.
"Jessie!"
James, in turn, posed beside her, remembering to keep a bit of distance ("As a woman of quality, I need my personal space!" James cringed as he remembered the incident that had caused her lecture).
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"
A third figure, in the form of a little Meowth, jumped in front of the first two and crossed his arms.
"Meowth, that's right!"
A small pop was heard as a second Pokémon emerged from its pokeball.
"Wooo-bafet!" it cried out, its hand in front of his forehead in a salute.
The four of them turned to see their audience's reaction, but were shocked to see that there was no one there. Frantically looking around for them, they spotted the small group a good fifty feet away, bored expressions dawning their faces.
"Hey! You get back here!" Jessie yelled, her furious mood back once again.
"Wobafet!" the Patience Pokémon exclaimed.
"Who asked you to join the party?" Jessie asked to no one in particular as she returned the blue Pokémon, letting out a tired sigh.
"Then again, maybe that wasn't such a good place to stop," Misty said, rubbing her temples to try to rid of her headache, which had come back in full swing.
"I agree," Brock replied, "Let's go somewhere else."
"How about there?" Meowth called out, pointing to a spot right under the group's feet.
"What?" Ash wondered out loud, stopping in his tracks.
Wrong move.
Suddenly, the ground below the group collapsed, sending dirt, rocks, people, and Pokémon alike into its depths. They all landed with a dull thud, wincing and rubbing their sore spots. Jessie's malicious laughter could be heard above them.
"You're brilliant, Meowth!" she praised the cat-like Pokémon.
"Thank you. I knew how much the twerps hated the motto-"
"Which I still don't understand," James added.
"-so they would want to get away from us as soon as possible. Luckily, after much careful planning, we managed to calculate the exact direction where you would go, and exactly where you would stop! So we dug the pitfall, and waited for you to arrive!"
Brock let out another groan, though this wasn't from the pain. He had to admit, it was a good plan.
"I will never doubt you again, Meowth!" Jessie exclaimed, while James nodded eagerly to express his agreement.
"Aw, shawks," Meowth said, rubbing the back of his neck, though he seemed pleased with himself.
"Jimmy might have been wrong about the food, but a good Pikachu to go will buy us enough food to last us a lifetime!"
With that statement, Meowth whipped out a grappling hook and extended the arm, catching a startled Pikachu in its grasp. With one last cry to its trainer, it was hoisted out of the hole.
"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, getting to his feet with a new sense of urgency, "Bayleaf, use Vine Whip to get us out of the hole!"
Bayleaf obeyed at once, extending two long vines and wrapping them gently but securely around her trainer and carrying him out of the hole. As Ash was set down, he let out a gasp as he saw a large hot air balloon with a Meowth design floating majestically into the sky. He could just make out Jessie, James, and Meowth, and had to squint to make out the faint, though unmistakable yellow speck that was Pikachu.
"Pikachu, use Thunder!"
Ash heard the faint sizzling of electricity, though the Team Rocket members seemed to be unaffected, which could only mean one thing.
"I'm hurt by how lowly you think of us!" James shouted from the balloon, "Our very bodies have to be electricity proof by now with all the protection we have, and this cage is no exception!"
Ash gritted his teeth. He hated how he forgot that small detail every time. He decided to switch tactics.
"Ok, Noctowl! Use Sky Attack!"
The confident smirk on the uniformed evil-doers was replaced with one of horror as they saw the owl Pokémon fly out of the hole they had dug and fly straight at them, its body beginning to glow.
"Um, James, is this balloon protected against Sky Attacks?" Jessie asked, trying to find some kind of hope for their situation.
"Afraid not," James replied, having already painfully accepted that they were beaten.
Noctowl's attack sliced a large hole into the Meowth balloon, and the passengers screamed as they started falling towards the ground.
"Pikachu! I'm coming!" Ash shouted, running towards the balloon's early pitstop.
"Ash! Wait for us!" Brock yelled, having just been hoisted out of the balloon by Bayleaf, who was now attending Misty.
"PIKACHU!" Ash, ignoring Brock's shouting, quickened his sprint. His Pokémon (including Bayleaf, who had hoisted herself out with one last Vine Whip) were trailing close behind him, Misty and Brock bringing up the rear. Togepi seemed to be enjoying the new excitement, squealing its name with delight as it bounced in Misty's arms.
A loud crash was heard as the balloon crash-landed hard into the ground. As it was a larger descent than the one Ash and company had to endure with the pitfall, it took them much longer to gather the strength to get up. However, Ash's voice was all the encouragement they needed.
"GIVE ME MY PIKACHU!" he screamed, a glint in his eye more terrifying than any Intimidate. The Team Rocket members let out a small yelp, struggling to stitch up the balloon before their attacker arrived. Unfortunately, they hadn't gotten two stitches in before they were knocked down by a Body Slam from a large (and certainly heavy) Bayleaf, quickly followed by a Water Gun from Totodile who, despite the situation, was as cheerful as ever.
"Great, now you ruined my hair!" Jessie complained, wringing out her damp locks.
"Bayleaf, use Razor Leaf on the cage to release Pikachu!" Ash commanded. Bayleaf nodded and started shooting sharp, green leaves towards the cage holding the yellow Pokémon, which broke as soon as the leaves came in contact with it.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu called out, running into its trainer's arms.
"Great to see you too, buddy," Ash said, hugging his friend, "Now, hit them with a Thunderbolt!"
With a start, Team Rocket realized that Totodile's Water Gun had soaked them to the core, and they knew all too well that water conducts electricity. They let out one last scream as sparks of electricity arose from Pikachu's cheeks. Pikachu leaped into the air, let out one last cry of its name, and send a powerful and well-aimed Thunderbolt towards Team Rocket. Then anticipated explosion sent Team Rocket flying.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" they screamed as they disappeared into the sky, becoming nothing more than a star in the distance.
However, Ash could never have anticipated the explosion hitting their side. With their screaming mixing in with the faint cries of the Team Rocket members, Ash, his friends, and his Pokémon were all sent in the opposite direction. However, it was deemed fated that the Pokémon would be separated from his trainer, as Ash's Pokémon all went flying in a separate direction from the rest.
"NO!" Ash screamed, trying to grab ahold of them, "BAYLEAF! TOTODILE! PIKACHU!"
But it was no use. They were already out of his line of sight before Ash made contact with the ground and blacked out.
Being used to hard landings, since he had been battling almost his entire life, Pikachu managed to recover quickly.
The first thing he did was check up on the other Pokémon. Bayleaf and Phanpy were already on their feet and helping out the others like Pikachu, though this didn't surprise Pikachu. Cyndaquill and Totodile had a bit more trouble, but with Bayleaf and Pikachu's assistance, they were fine. However, Noctowl seemed to have taken the most damage, as it took all of Phanpy's strength to get him to his feet. Pikachu took this as his cue to take charge.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked everyone, speaking in the language only Pokémon could understand.
"Never better!" Totodile replied immediately, giving Pikachu a warm smile and doing a little dance, most likely to brighten the mood. Bayleaf rolled her eyes.
"Why are you always so happy?" Bayleaf questioned.
In reply, Totodile simply shrugged and continued with his jig.
"Phanpy, how's Noctowl?"
"He's pretty beaten up," Phanpy said, looking at Noctowl with sad eyes, "I guess he isn't used to hard landing like that, since he is almost always in the air."
"I'm fine, really," Noctowl said, giving himself a little shake and flapping his wings, managing to hover but still in obvious pain.
"I've got you." Bayleaf extended a vine and gently grabbed Noctowl, placing him on her back. Noctowl sent her a grateful smile before settling himself in a more comfortable position.
"What do we do now?" Cyndaquill asked, her voice quiet. It was obvious that she was a bit nervous.
"Well, we obviously have to find Ash and the others!" Pikachu said, "Come on, let's get looking!"
The others seemed happy with his answer, as they cheered and started walking towards Pikachu. Satisfied with his companions' attitude, he started to walk.
"WAIT!"
Everyone walked into each other, surprised at the sudden screech from Phanpy. She smiled sheepishly at all the confused looks that were sent her way.
"What was that for?" Bayleaf said, a bit annoyed.
"I thought I heard something," Phanpy replied.
"What do you mean, noises?" Pikachu asked, trying to keep his patience in check. All he wanted was to find Ash, and he couldn't care less about some stupid little noise from some random wild Pokémon.
"Maybe it's a dangerous and powerful wild Pokémon!" Cyndaquill said, looking fearful.
"Maybe it's a ghost!" Totodile said with a mischievous look in its eye. Cyndaquill shuddered.
"I'm sure it's not a ghost," Pikachu said, sending a glare Totodile's way (he felt a sense of pride when Totodile cowered slightly under his strong gaze), "and no wild Pokémon in this forest could stand up to all of us. Do you doubt Ash's training?"
"No, sir!" Bayleaf responded, the others shaking their heads.
"Well then, pull yourself together! We have to get moving or we will never find Ash!"
The Pokémon now seemed scared of Pikachu's behavior, as they didn't even respond. Pikachu now felt guilty. After all, these were his friends.
"I'm sorry for sounding bossy," Pikachu apologized, "I just really want to find Ash! Don't you?"
The others didn't respond. Pikachu was starting to get a bit fed up.
"Come on guys, pull yourselves together! I'm not that scary, am I?"
And then, with one shaky movement, Totodile raised and arm and pointed behind Pikachu, who understood all too late. He whipped around to see a pair of silvery, sinister eyes staring right back at him, right before something large and black came out of the bushes and attacked.
Wow, starting my first chapter with a cliffie. I am really bad at first impressions, aren't I?
I hope you don't hate me and stay tuned for future chapters! I am definitely gonna work on chapter 2 right after I post this! Thank you for reading, and YOU ARE AWESOME!
Catsrawesome
