Charizard's Story
Chapter 12
All that Ash could feel was the intensity of the heat. When he bothered to open his eyes, all he could see was fire. He decided to keep them shut.
"We're almost there, Pikachu," he said, hoping Pikachu wouldn't notice that he wasn't watching where he was going. "We're gonna make it. We're almost there…"
Those words were comforting. As long as he could hear himself talk, he knew there was still a chance that they would make it down.
"We're almost there. We're almost there…We're almost there…"
Pikachu, on the other hand, didn't like Ash's chant at all. Pikachu knew that if Ash kept that up, Pikachu would be the one in charge of getting them down safely. Pikachu didn't want that, because it couldn't carry Ash.
"Pikaa. Pikachuuu…" it grumbled.
"We're almost there," said Ash.
"Chupika," Pikachu muttered.
Ash, since he wasn't watching where he was going, eventually tripped and landed flat on his face. Pikachu struggled out from under him
"Pikachu!! Pikaa!!" it shouted angrily.
Ash only moaned a reply.
"Pi…ka?" Pikachu asked, suddenly worried. "Pikachu! Pika?…Pi!! Pika!!"
Ash pushed himself up.
"…Pikachu?" he asked.
"Chu?"
"I……don't think…we'll make it……" He collapsed.
"PIKA!!!" Pikachu cried, "Pika Chuuu!!! Ka, chuu!"
Charizard's Story
Chapter 13
Zubat couldn't find Ash anywhere. It had tried everywhere it could think of, but there was still no sign of them. Just to make the search harder, the airborne embers and rocks made flying very difficult. Zubat was a little resentful at Brock for sending it on this mission, but as it searched, it realized that it was a very important mission indeed, not to mention dangerous.
As Zubat thought about it, it must be a very special Pokémon to have been chosen for this mission. Brock wouldn't have sent just any Pokémon to search an erupting volcano for Ash. Heh, ash was covering the whole sky.
But enough of that, Zubat needed to stay on task. It veered around a falling rock and flew forward. It needed to find Ash so it could go back to its trainer. That was the important part. To do as the trainer instructs. Because the trainer knows best, and if you do as the trainer says, you'll become a better Pokémon. Of course, before Zubat had been caught, it hadn't believed in that at all, but having a trainer was the best thing that had ever happened to it. So it had to carry out Brock's wishes. It owed him that much at least.
As Zubat flew, using its echolocation to search for both Ash and flying obstacles, it heard something unusual through its sonar. It was a little over one and a half feet tall, and it had something zigzagging out of it…Of course! It was Pikachu! Zubat flew closer and squeaked out to Pikachu.
"Zuu! Zubatttt! Battt!"
"Piika!!!" Pikachu was relieved to see another living creature. "Pikapi! Pikachuu!" Pikachu informed Zubat about Ash, and how it had to zap anything that might hurt him.
"Zuuu…" Zubat considered this, "Zubaatt!"
"Pi, ka!" Pikachu wondered why it hadn't thought of that itself.
Pikachu grabbed one of Ash's Pokéballs and opened it up.
"Pi, ka!!"
"Squirr…? Squi, squirtle?" asked Squirtle, wondering why it was so hot out here.
"Pika! Pika pi!!"
"Squirrtle!?" Squirtle asked in surprise. "Squirtle!"
"Pi, ka chu."
"Squirtle, squirt! Squirtle!!"
Pikachu turned to Zubat.
"Pikaa. Pikachu, pi. Chu."
"Zubatt!!" Zubat squeaked, then flew back to its master.
"Pi, chu?" Pikachu asked Squirtle.
"Squirt…tllle…"
Squirtle had lifted Ash up by the shoulders. Pikachu looked on and thought about it. Something else was needed…
"Pi…Pika!" It grabbed another Pokéball and opened it up.
"Bullba?"
"Pika! Pikapikachu!"
"Ba! Bulbasaur!"
Bulbasaur extended its vines and grabbed Ash's legs.
"Ka chuu!" Pikachu ordered.
"Basaur!"
"Squirtle!"
And they marched down the mountain, with Ash in tow.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 14
Charizard was getting very frustrated. It had tried flying in at all kinds of angles to get to the heart of the eruption, but nothing worked.
"ZAAAAARRRRRRRDDDDD!!!!!!!!" it screamed in anger. "Chaaarrrr!!!"
It snorted. This volcano was going to pay.
"Charrr…Char-Zarrrrrrrddd!!!!!!!" With a screech, it dive-bombed the opening and dove straight through the lava.
Inside of the molten rock, Charizard dared to open its eyes, but was careful not to breathe in. For Charizard, it was simply inside of a swimming pool. Then it saw what was causing the volcano to erupt.
"Marrrrrrr!!!!!! Mag, marrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Zard?"
"Marrrrr-! Magmar?" asked the Magmar.
"Charizard…"
"Magmar!!" Magmar shouted angrily, "Mar! Mag!!"
"Char?"
"Magggg……MAGMARRR!!!!!"
Simply by willing it, Magmar created a huge surge from within the volcano that blasted Charizard out of its home.
Being encased in lava, Charizard couldn't use its wings to fly. It pried its eyes open just in time to see the ground hurtling towards it.
"Zaaaarrrrrdd!!!" it roared, just before it slammed into the earth and blacked out.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 15
"Pi! Pika, chu! Pi, ka! Pikachu!"
With Pikachu acting as drill sergeant, the group was making good time. Of course, every once in a while, Pikachu had to stop and blast a flying boulder or an obnoxious stream of lava. They didn't have time to slow down. They had to keep going. Ash was counting on them.
"Bulbasaur…" groaned Bulbasaur.
Ash was also riding on them.
"Saur, bulba. Bulbasaur…"
"Chu! Pi!" Pikachu said back.
"Squirtle, squirt…" Squirtle said to Bulbasaur, agreeing with Pikachu.
"Saur…Bulba," Bulbasaur apologized.
"Pi, ka! Pikachu! Pi! Pika…Chu!! Pi-Ka chuu!!!" Pikachu was very excited all of a sudden.
"Bulba!? Bulba?"
"Squirtle?"
"Piikaaa…!"
Grass. Trees. A blue sky. Things that Pikachu had been so long without.
"Pika pii!!" Pikachu shouted happily and started walking faster, then broke into a run.
"Bulba, sauurr!!" yelled Bulbasaur.
"Squirt! Squirttllle!!" Squirtle agreed.
They both ended up running to try to keep up with Pikachu, even though that was impossible.
In the distance, two very human figures were approaching. One of them spotted the group and started running and shouting.
"Heyy!! Hey! Pikachuu!!"
"Wait for me!" yelled the other one.
Pikachu stopped and looked at them.
"Pi?" it asked. Then it recognized them. "PIIKA!!" it shouted. "Ka chuu!" it called to the other two stragglers, "Pikachu!!"
"Squirt!"
"Saurr!"
They rushed to catch up with Pikachu. Finally, the two groups met.
"Pikachu!" said Brock, "You're okay!"
"Kachu!" Pikachu said happily.
Misty smiled. Then she saw the other two Pokémon.
"Hey! It's Ash!" she said in surprise.
"Huh?" said Brock. He looked at Ash. "What happened to him!?"
"Squirt!"
"Basaurr…"
Squirtle and Bulbasaur dropped Ash at the same time. He groaned a little, but didn't wake up.
"He must've fainted from the heat or the smoke," said Misty.
"Probably both," said Brock. He glanced up. Squirtle had sat down wearily, and Bulbasaur looked ready to take a snooze. "Looks like we've gotta take him from here."
"No way!" said Misty, "I'm not carrying him!"
Brock sighed. Misty was just a constant reminder that not all girls were cute, or beautiful, or even considerate.
Charizard's Story
Chapter 16
Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle were sort of lagging behind.
"Pi…" Pikachu sighed.
"Squirt, squirt," said Squirtle.
"Sauurr…Bul, baa…"
"Chu."
Pikachu took in the sights of a non-volcanic area. At least, it tried to. The volcano was still right next to them.
"Chuu…" it sighed.
"Bulbasaur?" asked Bulbasaur.
"Chu? Pi…Pikachu."
"Bulba…" Bulbasaur decided not to go further on the subject.
"Squirtle, squirtlesquirtle?" Squirtle asked.
"Chu!" Pikachu agreed.
"Bulba…Bulba, bulbasaur," Bulbasaur said dreamily.
"Ka! Chu…" Pikachu said in annoyance. Bulbasaur was always a bit dreamy when the subject of grass was brought up.
"Squiiirrt!" Squirtle yawned and stretched. "Squirt, squirtle, squirt."
"Pika…" Pikachu was starting to worry about Ash again. It hoped he was okay. It decided to ask the others. "Pikachu?"
"Ba, saur," Bulbasaur said dismissively.
"Squirtle, squirtle," said Squirtle.
"Chu…"
An orange light in the distance caught Pikachu's attention.
"Ka…Chuuu???" it asked.
"Squirtle?" Squirtle asked curiously.
"Pika. Pikachu…" Pikachu said, pointing at the light.
"Sauurrr?" asked Bulbasaur, staring at the light. It shrugged. "Bulbasaurr."
"Pika!" said Pikachu, "Pikapika!"
"Squirtle, squirrtle!" said Squirtle, standing up.
Pikachu and Squirtle marched off to investigate. Bulbasaur watched them go with one eye open. It didn't care about some stupid light. It would just take a nap right here and wait for them to come back…It shivered.
"Bulbasauuurrr!" it called, racing after them. Now that it thought about it, it really didn't want them to leave it alone with the volcano.