Inner Strength part 10
Awesome! I made it to ten chapters! Oh, yeah! Can't touch this! break dance
I would like to give thanks to TO/BB for always giving me ideas and support. I would also like to give thanks to Coshi-Drangonite for the fan pics. They look great man! Another thanks to KMWS and Lightsaga for reading this story and telling everyone on Devaint Art about it. And a big thanks to everyone else that took their time to read my stories and review them. THANKS!!!
I haven't said this before, so I'll say it now before I get sued. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo, not me. The characters that aren't originally in Pokemon but are in this story (Artemis, Ray, Bob, etc.) are mine. Don't take them away from me!!
On with the story!
Ash stared at the wide, blue waters of the vast river that laid before him. The light from the sun was reflecting itself on the waters, making it glitter.
Ash relaxed. It's been so long since he had been home that he had forgotten how beautiful this place is. If Team Aqua was hiding here, they chose a very good spot.
"Ash!"
Ash turned towards the voice. It was May, and standing beside her was her Squirtle.
"I think we're ready," said May.
Ash nodded and walked up to Squirtle.
"Okay, Squirtle. We need you to go into that river and look for anything suspicious. Got it?" said Ash.
"Squirtle squirt, squirtle squirtle squirt?" asked Squirtle, slightly confused.
"We're not real sure of what exactly we are looking for. Just tell us if you see something out of the ordinary," said Ash.
Squirtle was still a little confused, but shrugged his shoulders and walked to the edge of the river. From there, he jumped up into the air, spun 360 degrees, and dived into the water with very little slashing involed.
"Show off," muttered Ash. May just giggled.
Brock, Max, and Pikachu where sitting on some large rocks a distance away from the river, watching Ash and May.
"So what do we do while Squirtle's in there?" asked Max.
Ash shrugged. "Just wait, I guess."
Brock sat up on his. . .slightly comfortable rock and gave Ash an idea.
"Ash, maybe you should use this time to train yourself. So far, you only know a few moves and have only a couple abilities, and you need to practice on those too," said Brock.
"Pika!" shouted Pikachu and got up. "Pika pikachu pi pikachu kachu."
Wow, that's a turn of events.
"Pikachu? You want to train me?" asked Ash.
Pikachu nodded, excited.
"Well, I guess you might be the best person to do it. Lets do this!"
Pikachu nodded again and jumped off of the rock that he and Brock where sitting on. From there, he walked up to Ash and started pondering on what they need to work on.
"Let me see," said Pikachu. Thanks to Ash being a Pokemon himself, he was still able to understand whatever Pikachu says. "I got it! Ash, battle me so that I can find out what you need help on."
"Battle you? Right now?" asked Ash to his best friend.
Pikachu nodded once again and got into his pouncing position. Ash tried to mimic Pikachu and got into his own pouncing position.
Pikachu stopped to point out the mistake Ash already made. He walked over to Ash (while Ash was still in his pouncing position) and told him what he already did wrong.
"Ash, your bottom is too high. Bring it closer to the ground, and keep your head low too," said Pikachu while slightly pushing Ash's Pikachu head down. "The closer your body is to the ground, the more hight you'll get."
Pikachu continued fixing Ash's stance until he was satisfied. Then, with Ash in his new and improved stance, walked to a clear grassy area (away from Brock, Max, and May, but not too far to were they couldn't see them) and got into his stance.
"Come on, Ash! I don't want you to go easy on me. Show me what you've got!" intimidated Pikachu.
Ash wasn't planning to go easy on him. . .and he didn't.
Pikachu ran up to him and swung down an iron tail towards Ash. Ash used quick attack and ran behind Pikachu and attempted to slam into his back.
Pikachu dogged the attack and followed it up with a ferry of scratch attacks. Ash moved to the left, right, left, right, doge, small jump, left, right again, then swung his own iron tail around. Pikachu was able to jump away from the attack, but came running back with a quick attack.
Ash was able to block the attack by folding his arms in front of him and use them as a small shield while Pikachu bashed him with his attack.
"Wow, Ash sure is one heck of a fighter," said May while watching Pikachu and Ash spar each other.
"Indeed. In fact, it seems that Ash is fighting a little too well," said Brock.
Ash pushed back on Pikachu with his folded arms and broke his friend's attack. He then, jumped into the air and swung down another iron tail towards Pikachu.
"What do you mean?" asked Max, who was also watching the two Pikachues battle.
Pikachu did a back flip, which dogged Ash's attack and sunk the iron tail into the ground.
"Ash has never had any fighting experiences in his life, at least, for all I know. And yet, as you can see, he fights as if he's a black belt. Plus, he's in a body that he's not used to, so how does that make him even better?" explained Brock.
Ash's tail was so deep into the ground that it was difficult for him to pull it back out. Pikachu used this to his advantage and did another quick attack at Ash.
"That is a good point. Maybe since he has had Pikachu through his whole journey, he has memorized all of his moves and how to do them," said May.
"Not likely. Watching someone do a trick is completely different than doing the trick yourself. You need to have plenty of practice and training, which neither has Ash done," said Brock.
Pikachu ran up to Ash while getting another iron tail ready. Ash tried to pull out his tail, but it had sunk too deep into the ground. Instead, Ash got his tail ready and glowing and pushed it in front of himself, using it as a shield to Pikachu's attack.
Pikachu slammed his glowing tail onto Ash's. The impact of the hit pushed Ash's tail out and allowed him to walk freely again.
"So how is that possible?" asked Max.
"It's not," said Brock. "But, I think it came from that potion Ash took."
"You mean the potion that turned Ash into a Pikachu? The one Artemis made?" asked May.
Brock nodded.
Another quick attack. Another doge. A counter-block. Both Pikachues where jumping, swinging, and attacking each other like a Jackie Chan vs. Chuck Norris movie.
"I believe that the potion not only turned Ash into a Pikachu, but also enhanced his abilities," explained Brock.
"Enhanced his abilities? Are you saying that the potion made Ash's moves stronger?" asked Max, confused.
Pikachu swiped at Ash with one of his claws, but Ash moved to the side to doge the attack. Pikachu kept swiping at Ash with both of his claws. Left, right, left, right, left, right, down, up, left, and right again, but now matter where or how Pikachu scratched, Ash kept dogging them.
"Not exactly. What I'm saying is that maybe the potion made his senses better. Made him hear twice as good, made his eyesight better, made his reactions come quicker and more naturally, and all the other stuff that makes a great fighter. I wouldn't be surprised if his muscles were stronger and his bones were thicker," said Brock.
Pikachu did another scratch attack, but this time it was a little too low. Ash dogged the attack and spun to the other side of Pikachu, who ran to Ash's back and did another quick attack.
"Well, I suppose that could explain some things, but I'm not so sure about the thick bones," said May.
"Why?" asked Max, still confused at all this magic-logic mix up.
Ash saw this attack coming and was able to doge it by a millisecond. Because of his velocity, Pikachu couldn't stop himself and ran into a tree. However, before he hit the tree, he was able to plant his feet down onto the bark, which gave him a slight speed advantage.
"Remember back at the Pokecenter? Back when that boy found Ash laying around somewhere?" said May.
"Yeah," said both Max and Brock.
"Well, Nurse Joy pointed out some scabs and bruises over Ash's body. She said that they looked like they have been healing for days, but he wasn't gone for more than a day!" explained May.
Pikachu jumped off the tree and flew mid-air above Ash. Ash jumped up into the air with him and started swinging his own scratch attack s at Pikachu.
"You might have a point there," said Brock.
"So you two are saying that the potion, which turned Ash into a Pokemon, also gave him better battle qualities and allowed his body to heal quicker?" asked Max, starting to understand everything.
"It might sound odd, and usually I would have said it was impossible, but in this case. . .yes," said Brock.
Pikachu swung his body around and slammed a iron tail at Ash while he was doing scratch. The impact sent both of them in opposite directions; Ash to the ground and Pikachu back to the tree.
They both slammed into their tree/ground with a THUD.
There was silence as both trainer and trainee tried to get back up. They huffed and puffed in exhaustion of their short battle.
"You have gotten better since the last time you've battled," said Pikachu in his Pokemon tong.
Ash smiled.
"You went easy on me," he said.
"What makes you say that?" asked Pikachu
Ash shook his head while taking and couple more gasps of air.
"You never used thunder or any electric attacks on me. You only used physical and fighting attacks," said Ash.
Now, Pikachu smiled.
"I did go easy on you, yes. But I did that because I know that you can't do any electric attacks yet. I'll teach you how to do some after we fix some other mistakes you've made," said Pikachu.
Ash nodded and slowly got up. They both breathed hard and tried to clam their own breaths. Neither of them where hurt or injured, they where just tired from the battle.
So, they slowly made their way back to the rock and sat on it to rest.
The others where about to say something to them, but Squirtle popped out of the river, panting.
"Squirtle? You're done? Did you find it?" asked May in shock.
Squirtle ran over to May and started pulling on her arm and shouting, "Squirtle squirt! Squirtle squirtle!!" His face was filled with fear and worry. If someone was to walk up and see Squirtle's face, they would've thought someone was trying to kill him.
"Squirtle, what's wrong?" asked May while holding her place as Squirtle tried to pull her away from. . .something.
"Squirtle squirt squirt!" shouted Squirtle, his face even more fearful.
May had no idea what was wrong with her Squirtle. Did he see something? Did something attack him?
May looked at Ash for support.
"Ash, you can understand Pokemon. What is he saying?" she asked Ash.
"He's saying, 'Run, run! It's coming! It's coming for us!'" translated Ash.
"What's 'it'?" asked Max.
Suddenly, "it" popped out of the river and towered high above them. "It" was a long, skinny, mechanical arm with a strong looking robotic claw at the end.
The claw seemed to look down at the group, scanning each person. Everyone was still from shock and fear while the metal claw was slowly moving and watching their every move.
Time seemed to stop still as the claw stood there. It seemed to be looking for something. . .or someone.
When it came over to the fear filled Squirtle, it dashed at him. The machine moved with surprising speed and accuracy as it slid through the air.
Squirtle saw it coming for him and ran for his life, but the arm was too fast for him and grabbed him on his shell. It pulled him. . .no, dragged him back into the waters with an eerie grinding noise as metal and earth scrapped on each other.
The arm pulled Squirtle slowly back into the water, as if it was intimidating everyone around to just try to stop it. The blue turtle screamed with fear as the arm dragged him back into the cursed river that he tried to escape from.
"Squirtle!" shouted Ash.
Ash jumped off the rock and ran after Squirtle with the gang behind him. Ash reached out his hand to the frightened turtle to try to pull him out, but it was too late. The metal claw had pulled Squirtle back into the river and was probably pulling him even deeper into the water.
Ash yanked off his hat and dived into the water, trying desperately to retain his now sunken friend. May took off her pouch and shoes and dived into the water as well. Max, Brock and Pikachu stayed on the dry land and waited.
Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke.
Come on! Move faster! Thought Ash.
He was swimming as fast as he could, but his yellow fur was slowing him down and his small feet could only grab small bits of water to push.
Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke.
May wasn't having as much difficulty with swimming, but her clothes where holding her back. Other then that, she was moving quite quickly.
Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke.
Ash could see Squirtle's small body drown deeper into the water with the claw pulling on him. He must be about seven feet away from Ash by now.
Wait, seven feet? By now, Ash must have swam about four or five feet into the river. Wow, I don't remember this place being so deep before, thought Ash.
Then, his ears started to hurt.
He swallowed. I must be ten feet deep in the river if I have to swallow.
After another two feet, Ash could tell that it was no use. The metal claw was pulling Squirtle too quickly for Ash's small body to catch up. Plus, he was already running out of air.
I need something that will make me move faster in this water, thought Ash.
Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke.
He looked around him while swimming. The river seemed to have a endless dept in it and Suqirtle seemed to be moving forever. Every now and then, a mountain of earth could be seen along with other underwater formations. To Ash's left, he could see a formation that looked like an upside-down L. That just could work.
However, he still needed air, and he doesn't have enough time to swim to the surface. Ash started to slow his stroking and swam closer to the formation.
Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. Stroke.
May noticed Ash's change of movement and swam up to him. Ash saw her. He wanted to tell her his problem, but it is difficult to talk underwater.
Should she go instead of him? She is a faster swimmer. However, not even her speed could catch up to Squirtle by now, even if she did use this rock.
Ash has stronger legs, no doubt about it. He has noticed that his strength has increased significantly, and that could come in handy with what he's about to do. But he still needs air.
Ash motioned to May the rock and tried to use body language to tell her that he needs air to continue.
Apparently, May completely understood, for she swam up to Ash and planted her lips onto his. Ash was shocked and was confused with what May was doing, but he later found out as she blew oxygen into his mouth from her's.
Small bubbles of air escaped their mouths, but Ash was able to get just enought air for the bubbles to become insignificant.
Soon, the bubbles stopped and May pulled her lips away and started swimming back to the surface.
Ash swam over to the rock formation and placed his feet at the edge of the L. From there, he focused all his strength and energy into his feet and legs and pushed off.
SWOOSH! The water seemed to have ripped as Ash speed through the water towards Squirtle. A trail of small suds quickly followed him as he flew through the river.
Wow, I didn't know I could go this fast! Thought Ash as the water rushed past him as he darted through it.
Squirtle and the claw where coming closer to him now. They where only three feet away now.
Two feet.
One foot.
Gotch ya'! Ash laid both of his paws on the scared turtle's shell. The robotic claw had a good grip on him, but not good enough to withstand Ash's new strength. Ash took one paw off of Squirtle's shell and placed it on one part of the claw that held on to Squirtle's right.
He pulled with all of his might.
EEEEEEEEEH! The metal seemed to be screaming for mercy as Ash pulled it away. It even hurt Ash's ears while he pulled, it was so loud in the water.
Ash kept pushing it away from his turtle friend until he heard a faint CLICK. The piece floated away into the river's debts.
The arm stopped. Ash looked around. In front of him and Squirtle was a large underwater rock formation. It looked like a big bolder that was somehow fused with another, but that wasn't why Ash was looking at it.
The robotic arm that still held Squirtle, was coming out of that rock. That meant only one thing.
They have found Team Aqua.
Ash remembered that the arm stopped moving and that one part of the claw was broken, so he slipped Squirtle out of the now open space and set him free.
Squirtle gave his thanks to Ash and offered a ride on his shell. He is a much faster swimmer, thought Ash. It'll take less time and I'll get more air quicker.
Ash grabbed the end of the turtle's shell and hung on.
BAM! Ash and Squirtle were caught by surprise as another mechanical arm shot out of Team Aqua's hideout and tried to grab them.
Ash tried to tell Squirtle to go, but all that came out was a bubble. It didn't matter, anyways, for Squirtle was already shooting off.
The two zoomed through the water with the mechanical arm right behind them. Squirtle tried to shake it off by turning this way and that way and doing loops and using the other underwater formations, but nothing worked. It seemed that this is simply a matter of speed.
A race for survival.
Ash was getting lightheaded from the lack of oxygen he was having. He tried opening his mouth to suck in air, but instead lost some of his own stored air. Squirtle looked over his shoulder and saw that Ash needed air, so he tried swimming as fast as he could.
The metal arm was close behind. It seems that this one is much faster than the other. Squirtle was almost to the surface, straining his arms and legs to move faster.
They where ten feet away from air, from freedom. The arm was three feet away from grabbing them and pulling them to slavery. . .or worst.
Eight feet. Ash was starting to see a black fog cover his vision.
Six feet. The arm was catching up and was now only two feet away.
Four feet. Ash's eyes were getting heavy.
Two feet. The arm was almost close enough to touch them.
May laid on the ground in the sunlight, trying to dry off. Everyone was waiting for Ash to come back, but so far nothing has happened.
"Now can I check?" asked May for the hundredth time.
"Not yet, May. Even if we did go in, we wouldn't be of any help. That machine moves too quickly in the water, so getting Ash out might just make things worst for us," said Brock.
May groaned. She didn't want to wait for someone to either die or pop out of the water. But, she knew that Brock was right. They will have to wait whether they like it or not.
May sat up and watched the water. Odd how such pretty water could hold such a devastating secret. It was for sure that Team Aqua was in there, and they probably knew that they are here as well.
May sighed. . .Then caught her breath.
Out of the river popped Squirtle with Ash clinging onto his shell. For a couple of seconds, they seemed to fly up in the air with the speed they had made and touched the sky. Then, they both fell on the ground right in front of May.
Ash almost gulped down the air as he started breathing heavily. Ah, the fresh oxygen never tasted so good after such a swim. Even Squirtle was breathing hard. He, after all, did most of the swimming and having Ash on his back did weigh him down which used up a lot of his energy.
Both the blue turtle and the half human, half Pikachu laid on the ground, trying to rest. Ash might have had the worst part, actually. After sparring a Pikachu with only so many moves, then swimming endlessly could tire anyone out.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
After several more gasps, Ash had enough air the thank Squirtle.
"Thank you. . . Squirtle. . .I," Ash took another deep breath. "Owe you one."
"Squirtle. . . squirt," said Squirtle.
Ash made a small laugh that sounded more like wheezing.
"I guess we. . .are even. . .after all," said Ash with another deep breath of air. "I did save you. . . from Team Aqua. . . then you saved me."
Squirtle nodded and rested his chin on the grass.
May crawled over to the two to see if they were okay.
"Are you okay? What happened?" asked May.
They didn't answer. Instead, they kept trying to suck in as much air as possible.
But, it wasn't over just yet.
The mechanical arm burst out of the water and towered above them, just like the other did. When it came over to Ash and Squirtle, it dived down with an open claw.
Ash and Squirtle tried to get away quickly, but they were so tired that they couldn't move very fast.
The claw grabbed Ash's tail and pulled him towards the water. Ash dug his own claws into the Earth to try to stop the mechanical claw from taking him, but it was too strong.
"Hurry! Pull!" shouted Brock to the others.
Soon, Max, Brock, May, Pikachu, and even Squirtle were pulling on the end of the claw to try to stop it before taking Ash. They pulled back and so did the metal claw.
It was like a Tug-o-War game. . .just that if you lose. . .you lose your best friend. Ironic, I know.
Even with all of Ash's friends pulling back on the machine, it was not enough. The claw kept pulling Ash closer to the edge of the river and closer to the water.
This isn't working, thought Ash. There has to be some kind of way to cut this thing in half!
Ash charged up his tail that was being pulled back and tried swinging it onto the claw, but the claw had grabbed his tail at a spot to where he couldn't hit anything with it.
"Pikachu, try cutting it off with iron tail!" commanded Ash.
Pikachu immediately released the metal claw and charged up his own tail. He then swung it down onto the skinny metal.
CLASH! The glowing tail bounced off the metal. Pikachu tried again, this time with more force.
CLASH! Not even a dent. Whatever this machine was made out of, Pikachu couldn't penetrate it.
Pikachu would've tried to thunder shock it, but Ash was in there and he might hurt him instead of saving him.
This still isn't working! Thought Ash. I need something that has enough power to break through this! But what?
Then, Ash remembered the microchip on his head.
Should he? Does he really have a choice?
The claw had already pulled him almost to the edge of the river and everyone was getting tired from all the pulling. He had to do this quick.
"Everyone let go and move out of the way!" shouted Ash.
"Are you nuts? If we let go, Team Aqua will take you for sure!" shouted Max.
"Just do it and do it quickly!" shouted back Ash.
Everyone hesitated for a while. Should they? It seemed too risky, but then, Ash has done some risky stuff in the past and most of the time it worked out. . .most of the time. . .
Brock made his decision and let go. Soon, Max did the same and so did Pikachu, so obedient to his trainer was he. However, May still held onto the machine and continued to pull back.
"May, you have to let go! Trust me!" said Ash.
May couldn't let go. She didn't want to lose him again to Team Aqua. Last time, she got lucky that they let him go. This time, they might not be so nice.
"May! Let go of it! I can only get out if you let go!" shouted Ash.
May wasn't sure. Should she? If it didn't work, Ash could be gone forever.
If it did work, her and Ash could still be safe and together. What where the odds of that?
"MAY!" Ash almost screamed out his words.
May finally let go of the metal and quickly got out of Ash's way.
Ash turned over to his back and pointed his head at the claw.
He raised his finger over to the button on his microchip. May already knew what he was going to do.
He pressed the button. It glowed with an orange light, which soon turned into a small ball of Inner Strength in front of him. Soon, the ball grew in size and power until it was the same size as Ash head.
Then, the orange ball turned into a beam of energy and shot at the mechanical arm. The pull back of the shot made Ash's aim go slightly off, so it hit the very end of the claw that connected to the part that was still underwater.
The metal obliterated and disappeared in front of Ash's eyes. It seemed that the very atoms in the metal where being destroyed, particle by particle. Atom by atom.
In a matter of seconds, that part of the arm didn't exist anymore, just now a empty area between the two parts. Even the ground that was beneath the arm was gone and left a large hole.
The claw let go of Ash's tail. Ash tried to crawl out, but after using his Inner Strength again, he fainted.
"Ah? Man, my head," said the now conscious Ash. He looked around himself to see where he was.
He was laying on a very soft bed with white sheets and a white pillow. He was in a small, gray, room and in the room with him was Prof. Oak. Ash was back at the lab!
The scientist saw that Ash was awake and motioned his friends over from the next room. Soon, Max, May, Brock, and Pikachu where pouring into Ash's room just to see him.
"Ash! Ash! Are you alright?" asked the worried May.
"What happened?" asked Ash. He still couldn't think very strait.
"Well, you pressed your button and destroyed most of the bottom half of that robotic arm with that beam of yours," explained Max.
Ash felt his head with his paw. Still had fur on it, but where the Microchip was supposed to be, felt different. Not exactly like skin, nor fur, but almost like some kind of rubber.
"What happened to the microchip?" asked Ash.
Oak walked over to him and held up a spray can.
"It's a new invention I've made! This is the prototype, however, but it covers it up pretty well, doesn't it?" said the professor.
"What does it do and what did it do to the microchip?" asked Ash.
"Well, it was made to help cover wounds on hurt Pokemon in case there wasn't a Pokecenter near by. But, in this case, it helps cover your chip. That way, your head looks like a normal Pikachu head. This stuff even makes it look like real skin or fur!" boasted Prof. Oak.
"Hey, that reminds me. . ." said Brock. He grabbed Ash's hat off the floor and gave it to him.
"Thanks, Brock," said Ash and took the hat.
He immediately placed the hat back on his head.
Ash tried to stand up, but he felt weak and powerless.
Why do I feel so weak? Did me using my Inner Strength also use some of my energy? Thought Ash.
"You gave us quite a scare, Ash," said Oak. "You where out for nearly five hours."
"Five hours?" Ash tried to sit himself up. At least he was able to sit up.
Note to self: Only use Inner Strength in dire situations!
Then, Ash remembered Team Aqua and what May had to do.
"May, did you call Team Magma?" asked Ash.
When Ash mentioned them, May stopped smiling. She looked away from Ash and towards the floor.
"What? What happened?" asked Ash, confused at May's face.
Max answered for his sister.
"You see, Ash, May did call them and told them everything. . .but the thing is. . ."
He just stopped his sentence right there.
Ash couldn't take the suspense of that.
"What?! Just tell me what happened!" said Ash, almost shouting.
Now, May turned back around and faced Ash.
"They said that we have to go into Team Aqua's base and destroy it."
Destroy it? How will they do that? Just five hours ago, they had problems with just a robotic arm!
Just the string of the puppet, not even the puppet itself! And now they have to face the puppeteer?!
This wasn't a check and go mission. . .
This was suicide.
Yay! I love cliffys!
Here's just an FYI, I completely Suck at spelling! Suck with a capital S. So, if you see any more spelling errors, please tell me. I would like to thank everyone that already did. Thank you.