"You see!?" yelled James, after watching the entire scene. "Did you see what happened to them!? I'm not letting any mutant Venomoth carry me off!"
"James, did it ever occur to you to wonder why they attacked the twerps in the first place?" asked Jessie.
"I couldn't hear them very well," said Meowth. "But I gathered something about them wanting that Vulpix of theirs."
"Let them have it!" said James. "And we can get out of here--"
"Hold on," said Jessie, with a smirk. "What would the boss say if he heard about mutant Venomoths?"
"No…" said James, knowing where she was going with this. "Jessie, I refuse!"
"Oh, no you don't!" she replied. "We're gonna catch those Venomoths!"
"Didn't you see what just happened!?" asked James. "They were the ones doing the catching!"
"All we have to do is wait for that Heracross to come back," Jessie went on, ignoring him. "And we follow the twerps to those Venomoths!"
James sighed, trying to ignore the feeling of impending doom.
When Brock came to his senses, he found himself locked in some sort of dungeon cell. Vulpix was gone; undoubtedly taken by Ivy.
Brock wasted no time. Summoning Geodude, he was able to break out of the cell.
"Vulpix!?" he called, praying that she was alright.
"Vulpix is not here," a voice replied.
"Ivy!" he snarled. "What have you done!?"
"What have I done?" she repeated. "I finally perfected my experiment. Do you remember how I couldn't get trained Pokémon to obey my transmitters? I've finally found a way around that."
"Where's Vulpix!?"
"You see, I realized that a trained Pokémon's mind is too loyal to its master. No matter what, it will never disobey its master, despite however much pain the transmitter gives it," said Ivy. "So I realized that I had to suppress the Pokémon's mind for it to blindly obey the orders given to it. And I was able to develop a serum that reduces a Pokémon to its primeval form; the Pokémon which receives the serum has a fifteen-fold increase in strength and its size and build grow and change as well. And as a side effect, the return to primeval form reduces the Pokémon's intelligence so that it will blindly follow orders to the one who can control it. And I can control them, thanks to my transmitters. Unfortunately, the serum wears off after 24 hours, so they need a daily dosage of it--"
"So you transformed those Venomoths," accused Brock.
"Not just the Venomoths," she replied, with a smirk. "Look around. No Pokémon can resist the serum."
Brock glanced at the other dungeon cells. Mutated versions of several other Pokémon were present: Gyarados, Butterfree, Paras, and so many others that Brock recognized as the Pokémon that lived on Valencia Island.
"Of course," said Ivy. "These are all wild Pokémon. What I needed to truly test my experiment was a trained Pokémon."
A chill ran down Brock's spine.
"What have you done to my Vulpix!?" he yelled, dreading the answer.
"Vulpix is no longer here," she repeated. "Well, the Vulpix you knew at least…"
Ivy unlocked one of the cells and stood back as a large red-furred creature ran into the center of the room, snarling.
"Vulpix…?" asked Brock, his heart in his throat.
The creature looked his way, and Brock knew that she was his Vulpix. But she didn't look like the sweet little fox he knew so well anymore; she looked more like Anubis.
She didn't even show any signs of recognizing him. All that came Brock's way was an angry roar.
"Vulpix!" Brock cried. "Vulpix, it's me!"
"She has no memories of her former form," said Ivy. "That went with the regression to this stage."
"You'd better change her back!" Brock ordered.
"Sorry. I need to study Vulpix some more," she said. "She belongs to me now."
"Vulpix isn't yours!" Brock yelled.
"Well, she certainly isn't yours anymore," Ivy answered, with a sigh. "Vulpix, take care of him."
Brock's mind raced. Would Vulpix attack him? Could he even bring himself to fight back?
"Vulpix?" Brock asked. "Vulpix, can you hear me?"
Vulpix paused, as though trying to hold on to her true self.
"Now, Vulpix!" ordered Ivy.
With a roar, Vulpix lunged.
"Here she is!" said Ash, after looking through a local phone book for what seemed like eternity.
"You sure?" asked Misty.
"Yeah… Amanda Sharons, and her number is the same one that Brock has written down here."
"I hope she can help us," said Pikachu, as they set off to the address written in the phone book.
"I hope Brock and Vulpix are alright," said Misty.
"And I hope we're not too late," said Ash. "This should be the place…"
They paused outside a lavish front garden where a Bellossum was soaking up sunlight. A Raichu and Quilava were playing tag around the garden, and a beige-haired girl was reading a book on a porch swing.
"Excuse me," said Ash, and the girl looked up. "Are you Amanda Sharons?"
"That would be me," she said. "Do I know you?"
"No," said Misty. "But you know a friend of ours. He's a Pokémon breeder named Brock--"
"Oh, yes, that's right!" Amanda exclaimed. "I do know him! Oh, you must be those two friends he was taking about… Ash and Misty, right?"
"Yeah, but, we came for you help," said Ash. "He and Vulpix were captured by these monster Venomoths, and we think that Ivy is at the bottom of it."
"What!?" she asked.
Ash and Misty explained the whole story.
"Wehave been hearing reports of mutant Pokémon seen outside of town," said Amanda. "This has been going on for a few weeks now. My Pokémon and I were taking a hike last week and we thought we saw a very weird Gyarados."
"I thought it was group hypnosis," said Bellossum. "You know? Something that we all saw because we had heard about it on the news…?"
"One thing's for sure: Brock and Vulpix are in very great danger," said Amanda. "We have to find out where they were taken…"
"Ash, look!" exclaimed Misty. "It's Heracross!"
"I know where they are!" exclaimed Heracross. "They're at a secret lab hidden deep within Union Cave!"
"That's where we saw the Gyarados!" said Raichu.
"Ivy has a Gyarados," recalled Ash. "They've got to be there!"
"Then let's get them out!" said Amanda.
"Ah, there they go!" said Jessie, as the rescue party headed out. "Heracross is leading the way for them, and all we need to do is follow."
She and Meowth started to follow, but James stayed put.
"What are you doing!?" yelled Jessie.
"Oh… well, I thought I could wait here, you know? So if you don't show up after an hour or two, I could send for help…" James replied.
With a frustrated sigh, Jessie seized his arm and dragged him along, ignoring his protests.
The descent into Union Cave proved to be successful for both teams.
"OK, here's what I think we should do," said Ash. "We need to find Brock and Vulpix, so maybe if we send out our Pokémon to scout the area…"
"No, it's too risky," said Misty. "What if those Venomoths are lying in wait? We need to stay together; otherwise they'll take us out one by one."
"Well, we won't be covering as much ground," said Amanda. "But at least we'll be greater in strength. Raichu, can you hear anything? "
The mouse extended her vast ears.
"Movement of wings… rattling of metal… a few growls and roars…" said Raichu.
"That's not a good sign," said Pikachu, wishing that he could hear like his evolved form.
Raichu paused, staring to charge her electric powers.
"What's wrong?"
"Something's coming…" she warned.
With a roar, the large red-furred creature approached them, roaring.
"It's a werewolf!" Ash yelled.
"No… it's Vulpix!" gasped Pikachu, eyes widened in horror.
"Intruders, be gone!" roared Vulpix, her jaws flaring.
"Run!" shrieked Misty.
The group fled, barely missing Vulpix's attack. Pausing only to catch their breath, they hid behind several stacks of crates.
"Vulpix…" whispered Pikachu. "What are we supposed to do…?"
"I don't know…" said Ash. "I can't believe it… she's only been missing for a few hours, and she's already like this…"
"Ivy must've done this to her," said Amanda. "But whatever it is, I pray that it's reversible…"
"I… I just had a thought…" said Misty, her face pale. "If Vulpix attacked us like that… what… what's happened to Brock?"
Before anyone could reply, there was a series of panicked screams, and they all looked out to see Jessie, James, and Meowth hotly pursued by Vulpix.
"I told you so!" howled James.
"Shut up and run!" yelled Jessie.
"Who are they?" asked Amanda.
"Don't ask…" said Pikachu.
Vulpix had cornered Team Rocket by this time, jaws flaring again.
"Vulpix!" ordered another voice. "Vulpix, please stop!"
"It's Brock!" exclaimed Misty. "He's alright!"
Brock was alright, but a little worse for wear; Vulpix had dealt him several gashes on his arms, but mercifully hadn't used her fire abilities against him.
Vulpix glared at Brock now, and Team Rocket took the opportunity flee. Vulpix roared at Brock now, moving to attack him again. Brock didn't move.
"Why isn't he calling Onix to fight!?" asked Ash. "Onix could beat Vulpix…"
"Ash, how could he?" asked Amanda. "He could never attack his own Vulpix."
"Then we'll have to attack for him," said Misty.
"Misty, are you--!?" Ash began.
"Staryu, try Water Pulse at Vulpix's feet!" she ordered.
"Oh, I get it…" Ash realized. "You, too, Squirtle!"
Vulpix flinched at the water, and retreated.
"Vulpix!" Brock yelled. "Vulpix, come back!"
"Brock!" the others exclaimed.
Brock glanced at the others.
"Ash? Misty? How did…? Amanda!?"
"Are you alright?" asked Misty.
"What happened to Vulpix!?" asked Ash.
"Is there anything we can do!?" asked Amanda.
"Listen… I appreciate you guys trying to help me out here," said Brock. "But Vulpix is my responsibility. You need to leave here while you still have the chance."
"Admirable and brave, but not a chance," said Misty.
"Vulpix is our friend, too!" said Pikachu.
"And I have a few things to say to Ivy myself," said Ash, furious with what she had done.
"Let us help you," said Amanda, softly. "You can't do this alone."
Brock eventually agreed. As a team, they were formidable enough to hopefully bring Ivy to her senses and get her to release Vulpix and the others.
"Hold on, Vulpix," he pleaded, softly.
