Poké-Doolittle
The hot afternoon sun peeked out from behind some clouds and shone brightly over the vast stretch of forest below. Through the forest was a pathway that had been cleared out of the forest large enough for about five people side-by-side to walk through. Through that pathway was a trail of trampled dirt that could no longer sustain the grass that had grown there. This was part of the main trail that connected the entire Sinnoh region together.
"I'm hungry," complained a female traveler along this road named Jesse, as she held her growling stomach.
"So am I," said her male companion, James. "But whining about it won't get us any food."
"If it did, Jesse 'd be up to her eyeballs in grub," said a meowth walking beside them.
"Hey, I don't see the two of you coming up with anything better," Jesse snapped. "Huh?"
The three of them stopped suddenly and listened. In the distance they could hear a voice, but not what it said. They followed the sound of the voice through the forest and found a clearing containing a fruit-bearing tree. At the base of the tree were a pile of fruit and the source of the voice, a hypno using psychic to remove the fruits and stack them into a neat little pile.
"Well, perhaps whining really can solve the problem," James said.
"But we'll have to take care of that Hypno," said Jesse.
"There's no way he could eat all a dat," said Meowth. "He's gotta be collectin' it for all the hungry pokémon in the forest, and dat's me!" He charged for the tree and the Hypno, intent on getting a meal.
Hypno's ears twitched as he heard the intruder. He immediately turned around and caught Meowth in a psychic attack, freezing him in place.
"Hey lemme go!" Meowth cried. "I'm not gonna huit ya! I'm just a hungry pokémon who needs some food."
"Hyp," Hypno folded his arms and let Meowth go.
"Tanks, pal!" Meowth continued his sprint for the food.
"Hey!" Jesse snapped. "That's not fair! We're hungry too!"
"Please may we have some of this food you've gathered?" James asked politely.
"Hypno," Hypno sighed and motioned to the food as if to say "help yourselves."
Without even a thank-you, Jesse ran up to the fruit and began to devour it. James followed suit, but was a little slower with his consumption.
"Say, why're you letting us eat this anyway?" Jesse asked, once she had eaten enough to at least satisfy herself.
"Hyp hypno hyp no hyp," Hypno replied, using the general language of most pokémon.
"He says he was only practicin' wid dese fruits," Meowth translated. "So dey 'd only go ta waste if we didn't eat 'em."
"Practicing?" James asked. "For what?"
"No hyp hypno no," Hypno said.
"He's bored and 'e's got nutin' else ta do," Meowth said.
"Well I've got a good training idea for you that may even be entertaining," Jesse said with a sinister look in her eyes.
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"Man, the sun is so bright," a preteen girl named Dawn squinted and shaded her eyes against the sun.
"Pikachu," the little electric mouse agreed as he walked along under the shadow of his trainer.
"What're you talkin' about?" said the trainer. "It's pretty nice, maybe a little hot."
"You don't notice because of your hat, Ash" said a darker skinned kid named Brock.
"Yea, it's not fair!" Dawn agreed.
"You guys can't blame me for bein' smart!" Ashe said, happily.
"Pika," the yellow mouse scampered up to his trainer's shoulder and turned Ash's hat so that the brim was over his head instead. "Chu," he sighed happily.
"Hey, Pikachu," Ash fixed his hat. "Go find your own shade."
"Pika pika!" Pikachu reached up towards Ash's hat pleadingly. "Pi?" His ears twitched and he looked ahead of them.
"Huh?" Ash looked at his pokémon and then in the direction Pikachu was looking. "Hey guys, what's that?"
Brock and Dawn looked up ahead to see a crude wooden stage built beside the path. In front of it stood what appeared to be a woman, but they were too far away to identify her.
"It looks like some sort of performance is gonna start," said Dawn.
"Way out here?" Ash asked.
"You never know," said Brock.
"Let's go see!" Dawn said, excitedly. "It couldn't hurt, right?"
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.
"Well looky here!" the woman, who was actually Jesse disguised as a performer, ran up to meet them as the approached the stage. "You're just in time!"
"What exactly's goin' on here?" Ash asked.
"Well…uh…um," Jesse stammered for a moment. "Oh, what a darling little Pikachu!"
"Pi?" Pikachu cocked its head.
"You know, I was going to need a volunteer from the audience when we got started," Jesse said. "But it looks like there isn't much of an audience, so why don't you give me a hand?"
"Who, Pikachu?" Ash looked surprised.
"No, you," Jesse grabbed his wrist and dragged him up the stairs onto the stage. Pikachu leapt to Dawn's arms as Ash was taken. "Now come with me. We won't be a minute, you two just wait." She brought him behind a curtain into a room built into the back of the stage where he was quickly tied up and gagged by James and Meowth.
"Tem Woket!" Ash snapped in a muffled voice.
"Well whadoya know," said Meowth. "It woiked."
"Who would have thought that one of Jesse's plans would work?" asked James.
"Of course they work!" Jesse snapped. "The only reason they ever fail is because you two mess them up!"
"Hypno," the yellow psychic-type said impatiently.
"He's all yours," said Jesse.
Hypno nodded and walked up to Ash. Ash jumped as it took out its "O"-shaped stone pendant on a string. "Hy-ypno, hy-ypno, hy-ypno," it spoke in a slow melodic tone as it swung the pendant back and forth.
Ash's eyes widened as he realized what was going on. He turned his head away from Hypno.
"Oh no ya don't!" Meowth turned Ash's head so he faced Hypno once again.
Ash struggled to pull away and let out muffled shouts. He squeezed his eyes shut tight to avoid looking at the swinging pendant.
"Hey, no fair," Meowth pulled Ash's eyes open while still holding his head. "Why won't he get hypnotized already! It's too hard ta hold 'im!"
Ash continued to struggle, but had no more means of averting his gaze. His pupils shank and his struggling movements lessened until they finally ceased all together.
"Huh?" Meowth noticed this and let him go.
Ash stared at Hypno's swinging pendant with an emotionless expression. His eyelids slowly lowered and his head began to droop until his eyes completely closed and his head hung limply.
"Ha! It worked!" Jesse practically leapt for joy. "That twerp is under our control!"
"Not quite," said Meowth. "He's under hypno's control."
"Oh details," Jesse groaned. "Let me do the talking! Meowth, you make sure he's translating properly!"
"You got it," said Meowth.
"Remember, this should be secret," said James. "If the other twerps find out before we have Pikachu, they'll try to stop us a-"
"I know, I know," Jesse interrupted him. "Alright, listen up!" She stared at Ash's unconscious face. "You are going to go back to your friends as if nothing has happened."
"Hyp hypno, no hypno," Hypno said.
Jesse looked to Meowth who nodded. "But tonight, after everyone's asleep," she continued, "you'll come back here and hand-deliver Pikachu to us!"
"Hypno no hyp hypno hyp," Hypno said and Meowth nodded.
"They've sure been back there a while," said Dawn.
"I wonder what's goin' on," Brock said.
"Pika," agreed Ash's pokémon.
At that moment, Ash walked out onto the stage then to the edge and hopped off.
"What happened?" Dawn asked.
"They left," Ash said. "They told me to wait for a minute and didn't come back."
"That's weird," Brock commented.
Pikachu hopped out of Dawn's arms to Ash's head.
"Oh well," said Dawn. "On to Veilstone city!"
"Yea," Ash agreed. "And we've got some trainin' ta do! I don't even know what kind a pokémon are at the gym."
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.
"Waah!" Ash snatched Pikachu from atop his head and held him out at arm's length. "HOW'D YOU DO THAT?"
"Pika?" Pikachu scratched his head.
"THAT!" Ash exclaimed.
"Um, Ash, are you feeling O.K.?" Dawn asked.
"Didn't you hear him?!" Ash asked in a frantic panic.
"Who?" Brock asked.
"Pikachu, he talked!" Ash cried.
"Pokémon can't talk," said Dawn. "And Pikachu didn't really say anything."
"Well, he did," Brock corrected her, "but we just don't know what."
"No, no, no!" Ash cried. "I mean really talked! Like, plain English! Didn't you hear him?"
"Ash, you sure you're feeling alright?" Brock asked.
"I'll prove it!" Ash said. "Pikachu, say something!"
"Pika…pika pikachu?" Pikachu asked.
"Yes I'm feeling fine!" Ash snapped. "Why is everyone asking that?!"
"Pi, pika…" Pikachu began. "PIKA!?" He gasped. "Pi…pi pika, pikachu!"
"I told you I could hear what you're saying!" said Ash.
"Wait, Pikachu," Dawn turned to the electric mouse, "are you saying Ash really knew what you said?"
Pikachu nodded. "Pika, pikachu?"
"Well, I could never understand you before," said Ash. "It's just since that whole thing with that show."
"Is it true?" James asked, peeking out at them from behind the curtain.
"Well he's answerin' the questions like he hears 'em," Meowth said.
"Do you think that hypno did it?" Jesse asked.
"Maybe," Meowth shrugged.
"Of course," said James. "It was Hypno's commands that were controlling the twerp, so he obviously has to be able to understand them."
"Ya mean he was hypnotized into talkin' ta pokémon?" Meowth asked.
"No!" Jesse cried. "What if it's a one-shot deal?! What if he was hypnotized to talk to pokémon and not take Pikachu?!"
"We have to get him back here and make sure Hypno hypnotizes him," said James.
"Hey," Jesse looked around, "where is that yellow psycho?"
"He's long gone," said Meowth. "He said that wasn't fun at all and he was better off pickin' fruits."
"The nerve!" Jesse grumbled. "Why didn't I capture it when I had the chance?"
"He probably hypnotized us not to catch him," James pointed out.
"Slippery little devil," said Jesse.
"Well we'll just have to wait 'n' see," said Meowth.
"Hey Ash, can you talk to other pokémon?" asked Dawn.
"Let's see," Ash took out a pokéball. "Go Aipom!"
"Pom!" Aipom appeared standing on her tail.
"Hey, aipom, say somethin'!" Ash said.
"Ai?" Aipom turned around and scratched herhead.
"Anything," Ash said.
"Pika, pikachu," said Pikachu.
"Aipom?" Aipom asked with a surprised look.
"Yep!" Ash said proudly.
"Pom, aipom!" Aipom protested.
"Can so," said Ash.
"Pika," Pikachu nodded.
"Ai?" Aipom looked up at Ash in disbelief.
"It's true," Ash said. "Hey, Turtwig, Staravia, Chimchar, c'mon out!" He threw three more pokéballs, letting out his three remaining pokémon.
"Char chim!" Chimchar hopped up onto Ash's shoulder.
"Hey, Chimchar," Ash petted the little chimp. "How's it goin'?"
"Chimchar!" Chimchar replied happily.
"Never better, huh?" Ash quoted the fire-type. "That's good to hear."
"Char," chimchar nodded, but then his eyes widened. "Ch...chim chimchar chim?"
"Yea, I did just understand you," Ash said. "Looks like I can understand all pokémon."
"Starr?" Staravia perched on a nearby branch.
"Yep," Ash said.
"Hey, Ash," Dawn took out four pokéballs. "Let's see if you can talk to my pokémon." She threw the pokéballs and let out Piplup, Buneary, Pachirisu and Buizel.
"O.K." Ash said.
"Hey, everyone," Dawn said, "ash can understand you now, so go on, say something."
Piplup walked over to Ash and looked up at him. "Lup piplup pip."
"'If you can hear me...'" Ash translated.
"Pip piplup pip!" Piplup held out his flipper.
"Wah!" Ash fell. "Why would I give you a cookie?!"
"Lup piplup," said Piplup.
"I don't care if you want one!" Ash snapped. "I don't even have a cookie!"
"Piplup pip piplup lup," Piplup folded his flippers.
"What do you mean 'what kind of human doesn't have a cookie?!" Ash asked. "What kind of pokémon can tell a trainer anything and asks for a coolie?"
"Lup!" Piplup proudly put one flipper on his chest.
"I guess you would," Ash said.
"Alright, well, what about you, Buneary?" Dawn suggested.
"Bun...buneary," Buneary slowly approached Ash, looking down. "Buneary, bun..."
"What do you need?" Ash crouched to the pokémon's level.
"Bun..." Buneary hesitated. "Bun buneary!"
"Huh?" Ash asked. "Wait, why can't you ask him yourself?"
"B...buneary," Buneary pulled some of the yellow fur from around her waist over her face.
Ash sighed.
"What does she want?" asked Brock.
"She wants me to ask Pikachu if he'd go out with her," said Ash.
"Cha," Pikachu sighed.
"That's so cute!" Dawn said.
"Pachirisu, how about you?" Ash asked.
"P...pachu," Pachirisu nervously touched his paws together. "Pachu, pachu...pachu..."
"What were you wondering?" Ash eased the little elesquirrel into talking.
"Pachu dabuja pachu!" Pachirisu made a cute face at Ash.
"No, you can't have Piplup's cookie!" Ash said a little annoyed. "I don't have a cookie!"
"Su," Pachirisu sighed.
"Bui!" Buizel spoke up.
"Yea, what's up, Buizel?" Ash turned to him.
"Bui bui, bui bui," Buizel said. (Anyone else notice he only says half his name?)
"Huh?" Ash asked. "Well, I guess I could. But doesn't she always use you in the battle round anyway?"
"Bui bui," Buizel said.
"What?" Dawn asked.
"Well, he doesn't want to do appeal rounds," Ash said. "Just battles, and he always wants to be in the battle."
"I shoulda figured," Dawn said. "Well, I can't make any promises, Buizel. But I'll keep that in mind."
"Pom aipom!" Aipom snapped.
"Bui bui," Buizel basically shrugged her off and turned his back to her.
"Aipom!" Aipom grabbed Buizel's shoulder with her tail and turned him around. "Ai aipom!"
"Bui!" Buizel pulled away from Aipom.
"What was that all about?" Brock asked.
"Aipom says Buizel should be thankful," Ash said. "He doesn't realize what he has."
"Wow, Aipom really does like contests," said Dawn.
"I'm startin' ta think this whole thing might not be so great," Ash said.
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The sky was aglow with hues of pink and orange as the sun's last rays slowly vanished from the horizon. Dawn was busy setting up her tent and Brock arranged some wood for a fire.
"Alright, Chimchar, let 'er rip!" said Brock.
"Chim...char!" Chimchar shot an ember attack onto the wood, igniting it.
"Thanks," Brock said. "It's great to have a fire type in the group."
"Chimchar!" Chimchar happily saluted. He then scampered off towards his new trainer who sat under a tree with Pikachu.
"Well, Aipom really likes contests," Pikachu explained to his trainer as Chimchar arrived. "She thinks you should've taken Zoey's advice and let Dawn train her."
"I guess that's what she meant when she was arguing with Buizel," Ash said. "I sorta knew that anyway."
"And Turtwig sorta thinks your battle plans are a little...well, he doesn't think you have battle plans," Pikachu said.
"What?" Ash asked.
"I…it's sorta like you make it up as you go," said Pikachu.
"Well yea," Ash admitted. "Sometimes."
"Well you can't," Pikachu scolded. "Trainers and pokémon have to be on the same page."
"But every opponent's different," said Ash. "I don't know what to do until after I start."
"Well, Paul sorta figured it out," Chimchar chimed in, almost a little afraid to speak.
"Huh?" Ash turned to him.
"See, Paul kinda knew what types of pokémon to use against other types and knew what attacks to use," Chimchar explained. "Like at the Oreburgh gym, he knew they were rock types, so he wanted me to use dig and Elekid to use brick break."
"Yea, I know," Ash grumbled, not enjoying being told that Paul could be considered a better trainer then him, especially if his own pokémon said that.
"Oh, sorry!" Chimchar covered his mouth. "I didn't mean to say anything like that! You're great, and I would never-"
"Hey, it's O.K.," Ash said. "I'm not mad or anything."
"Y...you're not?" Chimchar asked, surprised.
"No, of course not," Ash replied. "Paul has a different way of doing things, that's all. And, hey, we both beat the Oreburgh gym, didn't we?"
"Y...yea," Chimchar said, not yet fully confident with his own answers.
"So there's no problem," said Ash, "we're just different. and you can tell that to Turtwig, Pikachu, sometimes thinkin' on the fly works better."
"If you say so," Pikachu said, sounding unsure. "Anyway, then there's Staravia."
"What's wrong with him?" Ash asked.
"He's a bird," Pikachu said, "a caged bird."
"He's a pokémon," Ash said, getting a little annoyed that his own pokémon was telling him what to do. "He goes in a pokéball. I let him out a lot anyway."
"Not enough," Pikachu said. "You think I'm the only one who prefers to be free? Personally, I don't believe in pokéballs at all."
"Well who asked you?" Ash snapped.
"Hey, it's better to hear it from me then them," Pikachu folded his arms. "They complain every once in a while and I figured-"
"Everyone has complaints once in a while!" Ash snapped. "That's not such a big deal."
"But they're all your fault!" Pikachu snapped. "I'm telling you so that we can all be happier! As a pokémon trainer it's your job to-"
"DON'T YOU TELL ME HOW TO DO MY JOB!" Ash shouted completely infuriated.
Brock and Dawn looked up from what they were doing and looked on as Ash stood up and stomped away from the two pokémon.
"Ash?" Chimchar reached out towards Ash, a little confused and wondering what to do. "Hey, Pikachu, think we should go-"
"If he wants to be like that, fine!" Pikachu snapped. "He's always so darn stubborn!"
Chimchar sighed and looked back at Ash, then to Pikachu. "I hate being caught in the middle."
"Don't worry," Dawn patted him on the head. "I'll go talk to him."
"Chim," Chimchar nodded, and went over to Pikachu to try and talk.
"Ash, you O.K.?" Dawn walked up behind the angry trainer who was sitting off by himself.
"Yea, fine," Ash snapped, simply trying to shoo her away.
"What happened?" Dawn sat beside him.
"Pikachu," Ash grumbled. "He thinks he can order me around just because he could always understand what the others were saying."
"Pikachu's just a good friend," Dawn said. "I'm sure he was just giving you some friendly advice."
"He doesn't know how hard it is to be a pokémon trainer," Ash said.
"Soooooo...Pikachu,"Chimchar tried to start a friendly conversation.
"Go away,"Pikachu groaned.
"C'mon, what's wrong?"Chimchar sat down beside his new friend. "Ash didn't mean it."
"He's just so stubborn!"Pikachu snapped. "He won't take any advice. He just always has to be right!"
"Aw, c'mon,"Chimchar said. "You guys are best friends, partners until the end! You can't just give up over one little fight. He just wants to be sure he's in charge. He's worked hard to get where he is."
"Yea, but who did all the work!?"Pikachu snapped. "Humans have no idea what it's like to be a pokémon."
"Dinner's ready!" Brock called from across the field.
"You gonna eat, Ash?" Dawn asked as she got up and noticed Ash did not do the same.
"I'm not feeling too hungry," Ash said in a moping tone.
"But you need to eat," Chimchar said to Pikachu.
"I'll eat later," Pikachu said. "I'm just...not in the mood."
"You know,"Chimchar said, loud enough for both pokémon and trainer to hear, "You two have a great bond together. I would have given anything to have that with my old trainer, and you two are just going to throw it away on a stupid fight. You should realize how lucky you are."
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The soft melodies of the kriketot and krikitune were carried by the wind to the otherwise silent campsite from the nearby forest. The occasional call of a hoothoot or noctowel was the only other sound apart from the bug pokémon's lullabies.
In their campsite, the three trainers slept peacefully, although Ash and Pikachu slept apart from each other willingly for the first time. Ash's eyes suddenly flew open, his pupils tiny and his expression still dazed and absent as if he had not yet awakened. He threw off the covers of his sleeping bag and stood up. In the light of the moon he could easily identify the figures on the ground and headed for the smaller of the two. He gently lifted Pikachu off the ground so not to wake him and began to walk back up the road they had come down later that afternoon.
A chill wind picked up and Pikachu shivered. He slowly opened his eyes to see the ground moving under him. His initial reaction was fear, not yet fully aware of his surroundings, until he realized he was being held by his trainer.
"Ash?"he looked up curiously at Ash. "What's going on? Where are we going?"
Ash gave no reply and made no indication that he had heard his pokémon's voice at all.
"Ash?"the electric mouse asked again.
Ash still took no notice of him and continued on.
"It's a good thing I'm mad at you, or I wouldn't wanna do this," Pikachu said. "PikaaaaCHUUUUU!" He let loose a powerful thunderbolt, but got absolutely no reaction from his trainer. "Pika?!"
They soon arrive at a pile of wood which was all that remained of Team Rocket's stage. Jesse, James and Meowth were there disassembling it and readying the balloon for departure.
"Well whadoya know," Meowth was the first to notice them, "hypno did a good job after all."
"Team Rocket!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Ash, wake up!" He let loose another thunderbolt, but got the same result as before.
"You can't wake him up like that!" Jesse teased. "We got a hypno to hypnotize him to hand you over to us!"
Pikachu gasped. "You evil creeps!"
"Aww, you're too kind, kid," Meowth said.
"And not only can you not wake him up by shocking him," said James, "but you're shocks are also hurting him just like normal, and he'll feel it when he does wake up."
"So be a good little pikachu and no more funny stuff," said Jesse, "unless you want to hurt your poor trainer."
"Pika," Pikachu sighed with defeat as Ash put him into the small cage James had.
"Thanks so much," James said as he closed the lid and put the cage onto the balloon.
"Ash wake up!" Pikachu cried. "Help!"
"He can't help you," said Meowth. "He can't even hear you, I bet!"
"No, Ash, please wake up!" Pikachu cried. "You can't let them do this! Please help!"
"Oh give up your crying!" Jesse snapped, getting into the balloon. "We've won and that's that."
"No! Ash!" Pikachu shouted as Team Rocket fired up the balloon. "I'm sorry for all the things I said. Maybe I was getting too bossy! You are the trainer, and I don't want to loose you over a fight! Chimchar was right, our friendship is stronger then this! Please, Ash! You can't let them win!"
"Too bad your little apology didn't get true," Meowth said. "He's even dumber den usual now!'
"No," Pikachu sat down in the cage and tears streamed down his cheeks, soaking his fur. "Ash..."
"P...pikachu?" Ash barely muttered, his expression still dazed and unchanged. "Pikachu?" He got louder as he began to repeat his beloved pokémon's name until he finally shouted it at the top of his lungs. "PIKACHU!!!" His pupils grew back to normal size and his expression went from dazed to pissed.
"Pika?!" Pikachu looked up upon hearing his trainer's voice.
"It wore off!" Jesse and James exclaimed.
"Let's get outtaoutta here!" Meowth cried, as the balloon carried them steadily higher.
"No, Pikachu!" Ash leapt up and grabbed the bottom of the balloon basket. He struggled to pull himself up the side of the basket and grabbed Pikachu's cage.
"No way, it's ours now!" Jesse grabbed the other end of the cage.
"So bug off!" James also grabbed on.
"No!" Ash held fast. "I won't let you take Pikachu!"
"You ain't got no choice!" Meowth jumped onto Ash and tried to pry his grip from the cage bars.
"I won't let go!" Ash said.
"And neither will we!" said James.
"It's two against one!" said Jesse. "You'll never win! Not this time!"
Pikachu walked over to the side of the cage where Jesse and James were clutching the bars. He put one paw on each of their hands and his cheeks sparked.
"Alright, Pikachu!" Ash caught on, "thunderbolt 'em!"
"Pikachuuuuu!" Pikachu shocked them long and hard until they let go. The shock transferred through them and to the balloon and the engine. Meowth leapt back onto the balloon as Ash fell with Pikachu's cage in hand. The shock caused the gas engine on the balloon to explode sending Jesse, James and Meowth flying.
"After all that!" Jesse cried. "How could we lose?"
"It's the same every time!" said James. "We never get any closer to our goal!"
"But we will!" said Meowth. "We won't give up! But for now..."
"We're blasting off agaaaaaaiiiin!" they all cried in unison as they flew out of sight.
Ash's landing was a rough one, but he made sure to hit the ground first to protect his furry friend. "Pikachu!" He opened the cage lid and the electric mouse jumped into his arms. "I'm sorry about overreacting like that. You were just trying to help. Let's promise never to fight again!"
"Pika!" his pokémon agreed.
Ash held Pikachu at a distance and looked at him for a minute as if something had happened that he couldn't understand. "I...it's gone," he said. "I can't understand you anymore."
"Pika," Pikachu patted his arm. "Pika, pikachu."
"I'm not sure what you said," Ash said, "but I'd much rather loose being able to hear you then loose you!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed enthusiastically.
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"Alright, Buizel, now use water gun!" Ash commanded.
"Buuuiiii!" Buizel shot a stream of water at Turtwig.
"Alright, Turtwig, you know what to do," Ash said.
"Turtwig!" Turtwig leapt forward and to the side so he was closer to Buizel and yet still out of range of the attack. He opened his mouth and bit down on Buizel's head.
"Alright!" Ash cheered. "Now that's how we handle a straight attack like that."
"Starrrr!" Staravia called down as he flew high overhead.
"Alright, Aipom, spotlight!" Dawn threw a capsuled pokéball and released Aipom with a jumble of letters.
"Ai ai!" Aipom chattered as she flipped around, using her tail to arrange the letters to spell her name.
"Now use swift!" said Dawn.
"Aipom!" Aipom swung her tail, firing the golden yellow stars and blowing up her name with golden fireworks before landing on her tail.
"Well," Brock said, sitting on a chair off a little ways, "looks like everything's going well. I just love happy endings."
"Pika!" Pikachu reclined under the tree beside him with an apple.
The End