Double Take
By: Chris Devlin
E-Mail: chris_devlin@hotmail.com
Ash's looked up into the clear blue sky, the sun beating down on the young Pokémon trainer. "Ah this is the life, isn't it guys.". He looked round at Misty and Tracey who were also lying on the beach. They had found the Island a few hours earlier and were taking a break. "It sure is." Misty replied, not moving. She was wearing her bikini, and not for the first time Ash felt strangely attracted to her. Shaking the thought out of his mind he looked around for Pikachu and the others. He'd let them out of their Pokéballs about an hour ago and had gotten so caught up in getting a suntan that he'd lost track of them. His eyes settled on Charizard, Snorlax and Scyther. Neither of them seemed to enjoy playing around like the other Pokémon, and instead spent most of their time sleeping. "Hey, Misty, did you see where Pikachu and the others went?". Misty sat up and looked at Ash. "No. Why?". Ash started to look worried. "Because I can't see them anywhere." he replied. "Maybe they went for a walk." she suggested. "Well Togepi is still here, aren't you Toge..." she looked by her side where Togepi should have been, only to be confronted with empty space. "Aieee!" she squealed. "Togepi! Where are you!" she shouted as she quickly grabbed and pulled on her clothes. "Will you two stop gawking and help me find Togepi!" she yelled at the two boys who by now were staring at her. "Ok, Misty, give us a chance." Tracey calmly said as they stood up and begun their search.
"Togepi! Togepi where are you?" Misty cried out listening for Togepi's voice. Ash and herself had ventured deeper into the forest, having already searched the Islands numerous beaches and the sky was beginning to take on an orange tint as the sun slowly set. Misty spun around on her foot to face Ash. "This is all your Pikachu's fault! It's always leading Togepi astray, and setting a bad example!" she yelled at Ash. Ash's face turned from one of concern for the Pokémon to one of anger with Misty. "Don't blame Pikachu for your stupid Pokémon's absence!" He yelled back. Misty gasped at this. "You think Togepi is stupid?" she asked, taken aback at Ash's response. Ash sighed and looked at Misty. "You know I don't think Togepi is stupid. I'm just worried about Pikachu and the others. You blaming Pikachu just got to me. I'm sorry." he apologized. Misty looked back at Ash. She had rarely seen him like this, so concerned about his Pokémon that he would resort to an outburst like that. He truly cared for them. That's what had eventually won Charizard over and caused it to obey him. It was also what had won her over. How could she both love and dislike the same person at the same time? He didn't know but she figured he had his suspicions. "It's alright she said. I shouldn't have blamed Pikachu.". In the nearby bushes a rustling noise turned their attention to the sight of Tracey and Marill emerging from the undergrowth. Tracey appeared out of breath and was panting. "We found them!" he gasped out. Ash and Misty looked at each other and then took off in the direction Tracey had come from. "Hey, Guys! Wait for me!" he cried as he took off after them.
"I spotted them in a clearing not too far from here." Tracey explained as they walked quickly towards where Tracey had spotted them. Ash stopped and looked at Tracey. "Why didn't you get them when you saw them Tracey?" Ash asked perplexed. "You'll see in a minute." he replied. Again Misty and Ash looked at each other and shrugged as Tracey continued on. Before long they reached an opening and walked out into the clearing where Tracey had spotted the missing Pokémon. Sure enough they were all there. Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Togepi. There was however a problem. The trainers were confronted not with one of each Pokémon but two.
"Which ones are ours?" Ash asked. "I don't know. All these Pokémon look identical." Misty added. The voices of the trainers drifted over to the Pokémon all of whom turned to face them. "Pika!" cried out both Pikachu simultaneously as they started to run towards Ash. In unison both leaped at Ash in joy. They landed in his arms and caused ash to fall to the ground. "Pika?" one of the two asked before looking to the other. It stumbled off of Ash, supposedly in shock, apparently just noticing the new Pikachu for the first time. "Pika?" it asked again. "Pikachu!" the other replied. "Pika Pika!" the first Pikachu said angrily. Ash looked up to see the two Pikachu having an argument in front of him. "Hey, hey guys cut it out." he said. The two quarrelling Pokémon turned to face him and fell silent. "Which one of you is my Pikachu?" he asked. "Pika!" they cried together before they turned on each other again. Standing up he faced Misty and Tracey. "This is useless. How are we supposed to tell them apart?"
"Oooh two Pikachu! Ooh and two Togepi and Squirtle and Bulbasaurs! We've really hit the jackpot this time Jess. Jess?" James turned away from his hiding place in the bushes and turned to face Jesse and Meowth who were busy setting up several Rocket Launchers. "Jesse! What are those for?!". Jesse grunted as she heaved one of the Shell's into the launcher and propped the weapon on her shoulder. "We've been beaten by those twerps too many times before. I'm not taking any chances this time. These Rocket Launchers are loaded with special Sleep Powder shells. If I explode one of these above them, they'll be out cold for hours.". Meowth looked up from where he was shining one of the shells. "Thats right. So you'd better not miss it. The boss is gonna do terrible things if we don't bring him some Pokémon soon.". James picked up one of the weapons. "Well lets do it."
"It's no use. They all look identical." Tracey said as he put down a Togepi. They had finished examining all the Pokémon and they were no closer to discovering who was who. They turned back to the two Pikachu. Unlike the other replica's the Pikachu didn't get on and were right now preparing for their own battle. "Hey Pikachu..'s, what are you doing?" Ash asked in despair. "Pika, Pikachu. Pika Pika!!" they both shouted in reply. "Oh. So your going to battle to decide who's the real Pikachu? Well I guess it's worth a try." Ash replied. The two groups of Pokémon formed on either side of the Pikachu. One of each type on each side. Suddenly both Pikachu launched into Thundershock attacks, blinding the onlookers with the bright white light. As the two Lightning strikes met each other they sent out an amazing force that threw the Pokémon and trainers to opposite ends of the clearing. Suddenly from overhead a Rocket screeched through the air before exploding and showering glittering dust everywhere. The dust settled over the Trainers and one of the groups of Pokémon, sending them into a deep sleep. The other group of Pokémon had been thrown clear by the Thundershock blast and were lying at the side of the clearing. Out of the bushes came a laugh and then the un-imitable voices of Team Rocket. "Prepare for troubl...." Jesse stopped before she went any further. "Hey. Why are we saying this when they're asleep." she asked James. "I dunno. Tradition?" he replied. "Maybe. But where's the fun if they can't hear it?" she said. "Hmm. You're right Jess. I've got an idea..."
"Oh what was that?" Misty said as she awoke from her slumber. The others started to stir as well and before long all three were awake. "Hey where are all the Pokémon?" Ash said. "Maybe this'll tell us." Tracey said examining what looked like a tape player sitting on the ground before them. He pressed the play button and they listened as the machine crackled into life and started uttering all-too familiar voices. "Is this thing on James?" came Jesse's voice. "I think so. Let's get started.". "Prepare for sleepy trouble!", "And make it Bedtime double!", "To protect the world from devastation!", "To unite all peoples within our nation!", "To denounce the evil's of truth and love!", "To extend our reach to the stars above!", "Jesse!", "James!", "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!", "Surrender now or prepare to fight!", "Meowth, that's right!". Tracey pressed the stop button and the three trainers looked up and in unison cried "Them!". "I should've know this was the kind of trick they'd pull!" Ash shouted. "Pika!" came a voice from the distance. The group turned round to see one of the groups of Pokémon running towards him. "Hey guys. Did you see where Team Rocket took the other versions of you?" Ash asked. "Bulbasaur!" the Bulbasaur cried and extended one of it's vines in the direction of a rough path way leading out of the clearing. "Well let's go!" he cried and together they ran towards the dirt path.
"I wonder what happened to those other Versions of all those Pokémon?" James asked as they pulled a large cart with the Pokémon that they had captured along the dirt path. "Neither do I." Jesse added. "Still at least we caught something. And one of them is a Pikachu!"" she said cheerily. "I suppose." James replied. They continued along the path and soon stopped for a break. "Something is bothering me James." Jesse said as she looked at the captured Pokémon. "What's that Jess?" he said. "These Pokémon haven't put up any kind of fight. They woke up earlier and they haven't even struggled." she replied. " James stood up and walked over to Jesse and the Pokémon. "I suppose that is kind of strange." he said. "Not as strange as what's gonna happen to you guys!" Ash's voice sounded. "Huh!" Jesse and James cried as the turned around to see Ash, Tracey and Misty standing behind them. "Pikachu, Thundershock!" he cried as Jesse, James and Meowth got ready for the impending battle. From Ash's side came one of the Pikachu. "Pikachu!!!" it yelled as it threw lighting at the villians. The force sent them up in the air and flying into the distance, dissappearing with the glint of a star. Pikachu, not noticing continued its Thundershock which by now had enveloped the captured Pokémon. "Pikachu! Stop it!". "Pika?" it said as it ceased its attack and noticed the fried Pokémon left slumped on Team Rocket's cart. Suddenly the Pokémon started to melt and change colour, all moving back to their proper form. "Woah!" Ash cried. "It was a bunch of Ditto all along!" as he recognised the gelatinous form of Ditto sitting in front of them. "Ditto!" it cried in joy as they released them from Team Rockets cage and set them free. One of the Ditto moved over to Misty and gently touched her leg. It then started morphing and growing until finally it resembled Misty herself. "Wow!" the real Misty cried "Neat!". The copy of Misty opened her eyes and looked at the assembled trainers. "Hi. I'm Ditto." it said. "Er hi." Ash said. "I'm sorry we fooled you with your Pokémon." the Ditto Misty said. "We were only having a bit of fun and never meant it to go this far. And thank you for saving us." she added. "Well gee, it was nothing really." Ash said blushing. "As a token of our thanks, I have decided to accompany you on you Pokémon quest.". Ash broke out in a smile "Oh yeah. My very own Ditto!!" he said. Suddenly the Ditto Misty started to morph back to its normal form. Ash stepped forward with a Pokéball in his hand. "Here we go. Pokéball Go!!!" he cried and threw the Pokéball at the Ditto and watched as it was drawn into the red and white sphere. "Yeah! I caught a Ditto!".
Soon the friends were back on Lapras headed towards the fourth and final Gym, before Ash gets to compete in the Orange League. With his new Pokémon he stands more of a chance than he ever did. But will it be enough. Only time will tell.