Disclaimer – I don't own pokémon
--
He was going to do it… he was finally going to do it…
Misty sighed as Ash wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her even closer.
"What about you, Ash?" she asked, but the question was futile, for at that moment, Ash pressed his lips against hers.
--
The kiss barely lasted for a few seconds – before Ash or Misty could deepen it there came a huge crash from above, followed by frightened screams.
Ash and Misty sprung apart, both blushing bright red, unable to meet each other's eyes, and immediately looked towards the source of commotion.
It was pokémon – two enormous, legendary dragon-like pokémon, Dialga and Palkia had broken through the arena and were now standing in the middle of the dance floor, roaring loudly. They towered menacingly over the arena; their sizes were stupendous; almost ten times larger than the actual Dialga and Palkia which Ash had seen.
Palkia swung it's tail, destroying another section of the stadium, and splintered debris flew everywhere. Dialga unleashed a ball of energy at the floor, and there was another huge blast.
People and pokémon fled everywhere, screaming, calling names.
There was another sudden blast, this time near Ash and Misty, as Palkia aimed a hyper beam towards their section of the arena.
"Misty!" Ash shouted, as they were thrown apart by the force of the attack.
The area was now full of smoke, and debris; Ash pulled himself up, brushing splinters off him, and straining to see through the smoke which had obfuscated the rest of the arena.
"Misty! Where are you!"
Ash strained his ears for a reply, but got none.
"MISTY?! PIKACHU?!"
CRASH!!!
Ash struggled to calm himself down – he'd find her. He'd find both of them, of course he would.
But what in the name of Arceus was going on? Why were oversize legendary pokémon attacking them?
--
"Drew! Dawn! Where are you guys!" May shrieked through the commotion, running around blindly. Her dress was torn, her hair was dishevelled, and she looked a mess. Of course, the whole party, and the whole arena was in a worse state.
"AAAAAHH!" May screamed, narrowly leaping past a bright beam of light aimed by the giant Dialga.
Suddenly, the attacks stopped, and the noise died down. Dialga and Palkia stood still, and a deadly silence filled the arena.
An evil laugh, which curdled May's blood, and sent shivers down her spine filled the room.
"Prepare for trouble, deadlier than you've ever faced before!"
"Because we've joined forces, and we're going to win this war…"
May held her breath. Team Rocket, that motto was obviously Team Rocket. But what did they mean by 'joining forces' and 'war'? And how did they gain control over Dialga and Palkia?!
"To unleash upon our foes, devastation-"
"To create a new, more powerful nation-"
"To obliterate any who stand in our way-"
"We even have new pokémon who do as we say-"
"Team Rocket!"
"Team Galactic!"
"Our team will blast you off into the sky!"
"Surrender right now, or get ready to die!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGHHHH!!!!" came the combined roar of Dialga and Palkia, a threatening sound which instilled fear in the hearts of even Lance, Cynthia and Ash Ketchum.
--
"What is going on?" Cynthia demanded, straightening herself up, and removing a pokéball from her clutch bag.
Team Rocket Elite Officer Domino, and Team Galactic Commander Saturn smirked from their positions on Palkia's large shoulders.
"Our bosses, Giovanni and Cyrus, have merged our organisations." the blue haired man, Saturn informed Cynthia calmly.
"It's futile to fight us now." said the blonde girl, Domino.
Cynthia clenched her fist, still mantaining her elegant demeanour. "Do you want to challenge me? If so, I, Cynthia, champion of the Sinnoh League, accept your challenge!"
"That wouldn't be fair to you…" said Saturn mockingly. "Two against one is against the league rules!"
"Then I shall fight with her!" came a harsh voice, as a man with spiky red hair, in a black tuxedo with a cape stood up beside Cynthia.
"Ah, so it's Lance…champion of the Kanto League…. nice to meet you!" drawled Domino smoothly.
"What are your intentions here? Why have you crashed this party?" Lance demanded.
Domino smirked at him. "Our intentions, I believe, have been made clear in our motto."
Lance snorted. "What, you mean, creating a new nation and all that crap?"
Saturn nodded, though his eyes narrowed. "Do not insult the motto. What we said, is what we intend to do. Now will you battle us, or not?"
"Of course we will!" came Cynthia's clear voice. "But first, be more specific. Why are you here and what do you want with us? I should know what it is I am fighting for, before I crush you entirely!"
"Why should we reveal our intentions to you?" Domino asked condescendingly. "Will you not fight us?"
Lance clenched his fists. "Dragonite! I choose you!" he roared.
"Go, Garchomp!" cried Cynthia.
Domino grinned slyly at this. "Dragonite and Garchomp? A good choice, I suppose. But your dragons stand no chance against ours!"
"Garchomp! Dragon Pulse!"
"Dragonite! Hyper Beam!"
"Dialga! Palkia! Draco Meteor!"
--
Ash watched the battle progress in awe. Though the Elite Four Champions' dragons were exemplary pokémon, they were no match for the oversized legendaries.
However, one thing struck Ash as strange. Dialga and Palkia were not being ordered to use their most powerful, signature moves, Roar of Time and Spacial Rend. Team Rocket and Galactic, if they wanted to end the battle, would have surely ordered them to use these.
Furthermore, apart from being oversized, both pokémon seemed rather clumsy, surprisingly so for legendaries. Though their hyper beams, and blasts, and pulses were super powerful, they barely moved, not even to dodge an attack, instead releasing a protective shield. This was odd, and though such shields were effective, they took up much more energy than a simple dodge – and though legendaries had almost unlimited energy, no pokémon wasted it so.
And finally – the pokémon were attacking almost at the same time when Domino and Saturn commanded them to, instead of after; it was as if they had some sort of psychic connection… but Ash doubted this… Domino and Saturn could not possibly be psychics, and that too strong enough to control legendaries… but then how was it, that Dialga and Palkia released their attacks so early?
"Something's wrong…" Ash said out loud to himself. "Pokémon don't battle like that, especially not legendaries. And the real Dialga and Palkia would never be able to be controlled by evil organisations…"
--
"He knows! Da twoip figured it out! If he tells dem, we're busted!" whispered a voice, coming from a small figure crouched a few feet away from Ash.
"Gr! We have to distract him, before he does something incredibly stupid and ruins things up!" snarled another voice.
"But Jessie! We're supposed to be in charge of handling the batteries, making sure their power doesn't run out! If we go after the twerp, and the batteries die, the whole plan is ruined!" came another voice. This one seemed worried.
"Oh – alright! You and Meowth stay here, and handle the batteries! I'll distract the twerp!"
"But Jessie, ya don't know how to operate da mecha?! You'll blow it up!"
"Shut up, you insolent cat!"
"He's right, you know."
"Fine! James, stay here and make sure nothing happens to the batteries! Meowth and I will distract the twerp!"
"B-but – but – don't leave me alone! This is scary!" James cried after Jessie's and Meowth's retreating figures.
--
May gasped at what she had heard. That had been Jessie, James and Meowth – she was sure of it. But what were they talking about? Batteries?
And 'the twerp' May realised, must have been Ash. They were going to distract him – from what?
"I have to find Ash!" May whispered to herself.
--
"Dragonite, fire blast!"
"Garchomp, dragon rage!"
"Dialga, Palkia, protect!"
The attacks bounced off harmlessly.
"This is useless!" Lance growled. "Cynthia! Can we not send out more pokémon?"
"That would break the Pokémon League rules! As pokémon champions, it would dishonor the entire league! We cannot possibly do that! They've trapped us! We can't take any help, or call out more pokémon! We have to finish this battle!"
"Dialga! Palkia! Ice beam!"
--
Pikachu scrambled up, rubbing it's eyes.
Danger. They were in grave danger. It had to find Pikapi – and Pikachupi. Fast.
Pikachu strained it's eyes – even with it's sharp vision it could not make out much through the smoke.
There was noise, too much noise. A pokémon battle raged on.
But why would Dialga, and Palkia, their legendaries, their gods, attack them? Pikachu was confused.
It sniffed the air, searching for a familiar scent. It found one.
"Pikachupi!" Pikachu shouted, and darted in the direction of the scent.
--
In the meantime, Jessie and Meowth were creeping after Ash, debating in whispers on how to distract him.
"Jessie, what are we gonna do to distract da twoip? We could steal his Pikachu, dat'd help…"
"No, Meowth – that Pikachu only causes us trouble. I have an ever better idea…"
"What's dat?"
"We kidnap his girlfriend."
"Da twoipette?"
"The twerpette."
--
Pikachu saw her – she was lying on the floor, her long hair obscuring her face, her dress torn, and her face scratched.
"Pikachupi! Pika pikachu!" Pikachu cried desperately, nudging Misty's shoulder.
Misty stirred slowly, opening her eyes.
"Pi-pikachu… what – happened?" she asked, slowly getting up. "Where's Ash?"
"Pikachu pika pika-" Pikachu began to explain frantically.
Suddenly, a large shadow loomed behind them, extending itself towards Pikachu.
"Pikachu, behind you!" cried Misty, attempting to gather the pokémon into her arms.
It was too late.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu gave a pained cry, and fainted on the floor.
Misty tensed up, her eyes widening. She could barely make out the large figure through all the smoke and dust.
It seemed like some kind of a huge snake – an Arbok or a Seviper…
Misty searched frantically for her purse, which contained her pokéballs.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp, stinging pain on her ankle.
Everything went black, and Misty fainted alongside Pikachu.
"Seviper, return." Jessie said, and the large figure disappeared with a flash of light.
"Told ya its better to knock 'em out when dey're unaware den warn 'em with da motto!" came Meowth's boastful voice. "If we'd have snuck up on 'em all dese times, we'd have gotten dat Pikachu ages ago!"
"Well we have the twerp's girlfriend now. And Pikachu as an added bonus. So what do we do?"
Meowth grinned at Jessie. "I have a plan dat can distract da twoip for a long time. Follow Me – owth."
--
"Ash! Ash!" May cried frantically. There was no way she would find him, the arena was huge, and there were people everywhere – some injured, some fainted, and some battling Team Rocket and Team Galactic grunts who had now come to join the fight.
The battle between Cynthia, Lance, Saturn and Domino raged on.
"Misty! Pikachu!" she heard a familiar voice cry.
That was him! That was Ash!
"ASH!" May shouted, running in the direction of the voice, until she bumped into someone.
It was too dusty and smoky to see who it actually was, but May had a good guess.
"Misty?" came a voice, so tender and so full of love, that May could hardly believe that it was Ash who had said it – but still, it could be nobody else.
Dawn's right – he does like her a lot… I just wish Drew would be like that with me…
May immediately snapped back into reality.
"No – Ash, it's May." she said.
"Oh – May…" Ash sounded disappointed.
May, though hurt at his tone, couldn't blame him.
"Have you seen Misty? Or Pikachu?" Ash asked.
"I haven't! I've lost Drew and Dawn too – but Ash, I've been looking for you!"
"Why? What happened?" Ash sounded concerned, for May seemed on the verge of tears.
"Ash, I have no clue what was going on, but I heard Jessie, James and Meowth talking about you – they were saying something about how they couldn't let you figure out, and ruin the plan. They also mentioned something about guarding the batteries. I don't know what they're talking about, Ash! But I think they're after you!"
"Me figuring out? Batteries?" Ash asked, confused.
"Yes, and they were talking about distracting you somehow!" May continued shrilly.
Dialga and Palkia. Strange battling style. Psychic abilities. Not able to move properly. Batteries – suddenly it all fell in place to Ash.
"MAY!" he yelled suddenly, and May nearly jumpde out of her skin.
"May, I just realised what it is! Those pokémon aren't real! They're just machines! The Dialga and Palkia, they're robots!"
May looked stupefied. "H-how do you know?"
Ash shook his head. "There's no time to explain, but I'm quite sure of it May – they're acting too unusual for actual pokémon – and when you mentioned batteries, I've realised that's it. There must be some sort of external batteries running the robots – May we have to find them and destroy them!"
"But Ash!" May cried. "Team Rocket knows you're trying to foil their plan, they're going to do something! Jessie and Meowth were talking about distracting you – you don't think they'll steal Pikachu again-"
Ash's face suddenly turned white.
"Misty."
"Ash, I know you're worried about her, but right now is not the time to-" May began.
"Misty. They've done something to Misty." Ash said slowly.
"What?! Misty?! Why?! How do you know!" May demanded.
"I – I just do. May, they've got Misty! I have to save her!" Ash cried, and started running in the opposite direction.
"But ASH!" May yelled. "What about the pokémon! And the batteries! If we don't destroy those robots soon, something bad could happen!"
Ash turned around and looked at May, hard. She shivered at the smouldering look in his eyes.
"May, if it was Drew, and you were in my place, you know what you would have done. Don't try and stop me now. Misty needs me, and I can't let anything happen to her. I have to save her. Please understand May! It's Misty and I lo- I have to go!" with that, Ash sped off.
"Good luck, Ash…" May whispered under her breath. "And now – I gotta find those batteries and put an end to this madness! Oh, Drew – I wish you were here!"
--
In the meanwhile, Jessie and Meowth had carried Pikachu and Misty's limp figures out of the stadium.
Due to all the commotion, this action had gone unnoticed by most people, who were now busy battling grunts.
Bursts of fire, leaves, jets of water, sparks and beams of light were flying everywhere. Inside the arena, it was a mess.
Misty and Pikachu were stirring now – the poison was wearing off. Jessie and Meowth had to act fast. They hoisted the two onto the balloon.
"Now we gotta get the twoip here!" said Meowth.
"Let's get into the air first – then we can alert him from the loudspeakers attached to the balloon." commanded Jessie.
"Ya tink he'll hear us through all dis noise?"
"Oh, he will. Now let's get up into the sky!"
Meowth nodded, and fiddled with the controls on the balloon, which slowly drifted upwards, and away from the stadium.
Due to the chaos, nobody really noticed any of this. Except one person.
--
He had been outside the stadium, for he had arrived extremely late to the party; one of his pokémon had been sick, and he had to heal it before he could leave.
As he walked towards the stadium, he immediately realised something was wrong. The top half of the stadium had been literally blown off, and he could see the heads of two huge pokémon emerging out.
He could also see pokémon attacks flying everywhere – there was serious battling going on.
He then noticed Jessie and Meowth, dragging a Pikachu, and a beautiful girl with orange hair into a large balloon.
The girl seemed familiar. So did the Pikachu.
Then it hit him, as he watched the balloon drift into the sky.
The man pulled out a pokéball, and tossed it into the air.
A large Pidgeot emerged, and the boy immediately mounted the bird.
"Pidgeot, fly after that balloon!" he commanded, and the Pidgeot took off.
--
A few moments after the balloon, and the Pidgeot had taken off, another figure came running out of the stadium.
"Misty! MISTY!" Ash shouted.
Team Rocket laughed at him from above.
"The twerp fell right into our trap! Now we don't have to worry about the batteries! And we don't have to use a loudspeaker either!" snickered Jessie.
"OI! TWOIP!" Meowth yelled into a megaphone from above. "WE GOT SUMMIN' YOU MIGHT WANT!!!"
Ash immediately looked up, and saw the balloon, which was now hundreds of meters above in the air.
He struggled to remove a pokéball from his belt, but when he finally did, Starapor emerged.
"Staraptor, after them!" Ash cried, jumping onto the large bird, which flew off behind the balloon.
--
The Pidgeot circled the balloon from below. The trainer on it was unsure of what to do. He had to save the girl – and the pokémon… but how?
Suddenly, a large black blur zoomed past them – it was a boy – on a pokémon.
--
Back at the stadium, May was frantically searching for James, who probably had the batteries. However, it was becoming difficult to find him. She wondered if Drew – and Dawn were safe. She sincerely hoped they were…
The battle between the dragons also raged on. Dragonite and Garchomp were becoming exhausted, though Dialga and Palkia didn't seem affected.
"I just have to find the batteries!" May muttered to herself, again and again.
--
"TEAM ROCKET!" Ash shouted. He and Staraptor were now hovering hundreds of meter high in the air, across from the large, Meowth shaped balloon.
"Hello, twerp!" Jessie said calmly. "I'd do the motto, but James isn't here."
"I can fill in for James!" Meowth piped up, but Jessie silenced him with a glare.
"What have you done with Misty?!" Ash yelled, clenching his fists.
"Aww…" Jessie drawled. "The twerp is worried about his darling girlfriend."
Ash gritted his teetch. "Where is she?"
Jessie looked surprised. "What? No denial? None of that 'never in a million years, you must be crazy' rubbish you have been shouting around for the past few years!"
Ash said nothing.
"Well, Meowth – seems like the scrawny runt really is his girlfriend now!" Jessie cackled.
"She's not scrawny, she's not a runt, and tell me what you've done to her!" Ash shouted.
Meowth just grinned, and pressed a large blue button.
Suddenly, from below the basket of the balloon, two large mechanical hands emerged. One was holding Misty – and the other – Pikachu.
"Misty! Pikachu!" Ash gasped.
Misty and Pikachu were still weak from the poison, but conscious. They attempted to struggled against the metal, but it was no use.
"A-ash!" Misty called weakly.
"Pikapi…" came Pikachu's feeble cry.
"Staraptor come on-" Ash began but then Jessie interrupted him.
"Don't even think about it. One move, twerp, and we press the buttons…" Jessie pointed to two red buttons, above which her fingers were poised readily.
"And if we press the buttons – the hands release Misty and Pikachu – and if that happens, they fall – for hundreds of feet… you don't want that to happen, do you?"
Ash's face turned white, and his expression was horrified.
"You wouldn't – you're not that evil – you wouldn't – kill anyone!" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"If you move even an inch, or call out any pokémon, we will." said Jessie, though she seemed a bit uncertain.
"But Jessie, we ain't actually gonna-" Meowth began, but Jessie glared at him.
"Keep your big mouth shut!" she hissed. "Let him think that we are!"
Ash stared, helpless, at Misty and Pikachu, who were dangling precariously a few feet below. They had given up struggling against the hands, and were now staring at him, with wide, beseeching eyes.
"Misty – Pikachu – I promise I'll save you-" Ash said, his voice breaking. This could not be happening.
"I'm afraid that isn't possible, twerp." came Jessie's harsh voice. "You can only save one of them. So decide fast – who will it be – your darling girlfriend? Or your precious Pikachu?"
"N-n-no…" Ash whispered. "Don't do this to me…"
Below him, both Misty and Pikachu looked stunned.
"Come on twerp. Decide. Misty or Pikachu." Jessie commanded, resting her fingers on the buttons. "Hurry up, or I'll press both!"
Ash looked frantically between Misty and Pikachu, his heart breaking the whole time. He could not do this. Not to either of them.
Ash stared at his yellow pokémon. Pikachu was looking back at him, almost desperately, extending a yellow paw outwards, as if it wanted to come to him. Ash extended his hand outwards, unable to do anything else – for if he moved further, Team Rocket would press the buttons…
Pikachu had been his first pokémon, his most loyal, his best friend – he and Pikachu had been through so much together. Pikachu was everything to him…
And Misty… Ash had always cared about Misty so much… she had been his best friend too, his loyal companion – and now he realised… he loved her. He loved Misty, and he could not let anything happen to her. She was everything to him too…
Ash turned to Misty. She was a mess, her face was scratched, her dress torn… but Ash had never thought she looked more beautiful. As Ash stared into her wide, green-blue eyes, he noticed they were wet – she was crying. Ash badly wanted to hug her, wipe tears away, kiss her – but he could do nothing, but stare.
Misty and Pikachu – the two Ash cared about more than anything in the world. The two without which Ash was sure he wouldn't be able to go on. The two for which Ash would readily sacrifice himself… and yet, now – he had to choose between one of them… he had to choose, which one of them would – die.
"Take me!" Ash cried, his voice broken, his shoulders shaking with sobs. "Take me instead, please!"
Jessie and Meowth looked extremely uncomfortable.
"Um – what do we do now?" Meowth asked.
"Ash, NO!" Misty cried, a cry full of passion.
"Pika pikapi!"
Ash turned back to look at them.
"Ash – s-save Pikachu…" Misty choked, tears sliding down her face, and Ash's heart broke.
"Pikachu! Pika pika chu pi pikachupi!" Pikachu countered, telling him to save Misty, the girl he loved, instead.
"No! I can't lose either of you!" Ash yelled, now crying openly.
--
Even Jessie and Meowth had teared up by now.
"That – that's so touching! He cares for them so much!" Jessie sobbed.
"We can't do dis to dem, Jessie, we can't!" Meowth cried.
"Alright, twerps!" Jessie shouted, wiping away her tears. "We've distracted you enough! We were never going to drop either of them, we're not that cruel! You can have them both back!"
"Y-yeah!" Meowth hiccuped, sniffing. "We wouldn't kill ya – who'd we follow if we did?"
Ash, Misty and Pikachu all looked at them in shock.
"Wh-what? Y-you mean you never – actually – meant to kill us?" Misty asked in disbelief, her eyes still watery.
"Of course not, twerpette! What kind of an evil bitch do you think I am!" snarled Jessie, all traces of tears gone. "Come on Meowth, this is getting too sappy for my interest. Get them both into the balloon, and we can battle them or something instead. Don't move twerp."
Ash stared, wide-eyed, at Team Rocket, Misty and Pikachu. He felt a sudden wave of relief wash over him, but he was still cautious… he would be, until Misty and Pikachu were safely with him.
Meowth carefully pressed the buttons, until he managed to maneuver the hand with Pikachu into the balloon, where Pikachu was dropped lightly into the basket.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried.
"Pikapi!" Pikachu replied, reassuring Ash that he was safe now, even inside the balloon.
Ash then turned to Misty, who was still dangling below, staring up at him.
She smiled slightly, and he smiled back warmly.
I love you, Ash thought. I love you so much…
Meowth maneuvered the hand holding Misty upwards, towards the balloon. Ash instinctively moved forwards on Staraptor.
"Don't move twerp." Jessie snarled, as the mechanical arm continue to pull Misty upwards.
Suddenly, there was a loud buzzing sound, and the mechanical arm pulling Misty suddenly stopped moving, and froze mid-air.
"What's going on?" Ash demanded to Meowth, who was looking at the control panel in horror.
"It's malfunctioning!" Meowth cried in distress, and Jessie looked worried too.
"Do something, quick Meowth! The twerpette could get hurt!"
Suddenly there was a loud bang, and a puff of smoke from the controller panel.
"Oh no…" moaned Meowth. "It's busted!"
Ash immediately looked towards Misty, who was still dangling dangerously in mid-air.
"Come on Staraptor!" he urged, but at the same time, there was another loud bang.
The mechanical hand holding Misty suddenly released her.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!" came Misty's cry, as she plummetted downwards helplessly.
"MISTYYYY!!!!" Ash shouted, diving down after her on Staraptor.
--
Cliffy, hee hee… hope you liked… there is some more action in this, and the next few scenes, but I kinda got bored of just fluff – don't worry, more fluff WILL come…
And the Team Rocket/Galactic merge – well… I couldn't think of anything else… and if you're wondering how two freaking robots could withstand Garchomp and Dragonite… well, it is anime… crazy things happen!
Of course Jessie and Meowth aren't actually that evil – they can't be! It was a pure accident of course…
Hopefully the changes in POV aren't too confusing… we will come back to May, Drew and Dawn soon…
And Brock – um – he isn't that important right now, so – he won't really be mentioned much
And if anyone's wondering about Azurill – well the damn thing is safe, it's probably just crying in a corner for it's mommy… these baby pokémon are damn difficult to fit into plots!
Till then, please review and AAML 4 evr!
xx
High Queen
