Just a result of me musing on what Ash must have thought when Team Rocket did what they did during Pokémon 2000: The Power of One.
The Power of Three
by ShinyAeon
How can I be the Chosen One if I'm this afraid? Ash Ketchum thought.
He clutched Lugia's neck as they soared above the frozen ocean below. Blasts from Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno exploded all around them, an obstacle course of fire and ice. Pikachu clung tight to Ash's collar, squealing as Lugia dove and banked in crazy evasive patterns.
Team Rocket, clinging to Lugia's right foot, must be having an even wilder ride; Ash could hear Jessie, James and Meowth yelling with each high-speed turn.
Ash had never been so scared in his life. He was the "Chosen One," and he'd read enough manga and adventure books to know that being "Chosen" was sometimes a fatal position to be in. For the first time in his young life, Ash realized he could die.
But even worse than that...he realized he could fail.
Lugia had said he was the only one who could do this, the only one who could save the world, and it scared him silly. Ash knew he messed up a lot, but if he tried hard enough he could usually make things right again. If he messed THIS up, nothing would ever be right, and everybody else - the entire world - would pay for his mistakes.
Ash gulped as Lugia dove, then banked straight up. Pikachu clung painfully to his neck as Ash clung to Lugia's.
They weren't doing so good; Lugia was evading the other great birds but he wasn't getting any closer to Shamouti island. Team Rocket's weight was throwing Lugia off balance, Ash realized. Maybe, he thought, he could move to Lugia's other leg, try to even out the load...but as Lugia swerved into another dive, Ash had to strain just to hold on, and he knew that wasn't going to work.
The obvious solution never even occurred to Ash.
But it occurred to someone else.
Ash felt a strange lurch, and Lugia surged forward. Ash looked back.
Team Rocket had let go.
"What are ya doin'?" Ash yelled. He felt Pikachu's claws digging into his shoulder.
In unison, they shouted, "Team Rocket's blasting off for goooood!"
"Team Rocket!" he cried as they spiralled away.
Ash turned again, his heart in his throat. "Lugia, turn back! We gotta save them!"
I...cannot, Lugia said, his mental voice full of regret.
Ash looked again. Without Team Rocket's weight, Lugia had pulled ahead, but Zapdos, Moltres and Articuno were only seconds behind them, eyes full of savage fury.
Turning back was impossible.
"But - !"
They have made a noble choice, Lugia's voice continued relentlessly. If we respect that, we must choose as they did, and do what we can to protect the world from destruction.
Devastation, Ash thought at once, remembering Team Rocket's motto. Protect the world from devastation...they had really meant it all along.
It went against every one of Ash's instincts to leave anyone behind - even Team Rocket at their most evil. To abandon them now, NOW, when they had just risen to such an astounding act of heroism, made him physically sick. Ash let out a sound of pure anguish, knowing Lugia was right, but feeling as if he were betraying a friend.
"Pikaaaa!" Pikachu wailed along with him.
And then Lugia's voice sounded in his mind like a low, deep bell. But I think they will not die.
A flash of a picture came to Ash from Lugia's mind, of holes in the ice below. Ash turned his head to see the falling speck that was Team Rocket swallowed up in one.
They MADE it! Elation surged through him. Ash was sure of it - this was Team Rocket, they would make it if given half a chance.
Ash made out the pair of Gyarados that rose from the water, and realized the holes in the ice were shadowed by crowds, hoards, of Pokémon.
"Lugia! Why are all those Pokémon down there?"
Because they feel they must be here in case they are needed.
"But what could they do to help?"
They are not sure. And that is why they are here. That just one of them could make the difference would be worth the journey for all of them any day. But this day the One that could make all the difference is you.
But someone had already made a difference, Ash thought. Not One, but Three.
Without Team Rocket, he never could have gotten this far. They'd helped him through self-interest at first, but letting go like that was something different. Jessie, James and Meowth, despite the fact that they had been selfish, cowardly, and even cruel before, had chosen to save to world...even if they had to die to do it.
Could he do any less...?
Suddenly Ash knew that he could do this, he WOULD do this, or die trying; and he was no longer afraid.
Ash felt a surge of something like affection for the Team Rocket trio. He wasn't fooling himself; he knew that the next time he met them they'd be after Pikachu, just like always, and he'd have to move fast and fight hard to beat them. But today they were heroes, and...
"This one's for Team Rocket!"
"Pi-KA!"