I do not own Pokémon, or any of its affiliated companies.
Sorry it took so long, but here it is, Chapter 11. I know it isn't that long, but it has a few major points here that will be important later on. Enjoy!
Ash watched as the rain began to pour outside. Although the skies had been cloudy for the past three days, darker clouds had filled the sky only an hour earlier and now the rain had started. Before the storm, they had watched the Lilycove News station to see how bad the storm really was. It didn't sound good. This hurricane could possibly produce flooding in and around Lilycove city. The worst part was that it was an extremely slow-moving storm, so slow in fact that it would be the better part of four days before the storm had moved out of the area.
Ash, Josh, Jeremy, and Alexa had been forced to move into Alexa's family's house since the Lilycove Motel had been attacked by Team Rocket. Alexa had managed to call her parents and get their permission for all four to stay. They had used the Pelipper Delivery Service in Mauville to fly a key over to the four teens, who were now comfortable in the living room of the small home.
They all sat around a small table playing Monopoly, one of the few games Alexa's parents had kept. Ash was already out. They all jumped as they heard the giant crash of thunder.
"Guess the storm is finally here," said Josh.
They all moved to the window and looked outside. The rain bounced off the roofs of the neighboring homes. Lightning flashed as the four teens stared nervously out the window.
"I'm beginning to wonder if this mission is really worth braving the storm. There has to be somewhere else we could hide," said Jeremy.
"There are a lot of places," replied Alexa. "But this is the one place that no one will come. I don't see Team Rocket braving this hurricane."
"I've always known Team Rocket to be really persistent," said Ash. "The Team Rocket I know wouldn't let even a hurricane stop them."
Suddenly, another crash, only this one much larger, shook the house.
"That wasn't thunder," said Josh as he ran for the door. He ran outside, seeing a Salamence flying in the distance, using Hyper Beam on many of the buildings around. Josh was so preoccupied with the Salamence, he hadn't even noticed a mean-looking Drapion that was heading right for him. The Drapion grabbed Josh and threw him aside. Josh flew through the air, only to have his head meet a gigantic tree.
"Josh!" cried Alexa.
Jeremy came outside just in time to see Josh hit the tree. He looked across the yard to see Shark standing behind Drapion.
"Go, Empoleon! Use Hydro Pump on Drapion!" cried Jeremy.
"Drapion, Sludge Bomb!"
The two attacks collided, neither willing to give an inch. Jeremy noticed that Drapion was struggling to match Empoleon's massive power.
"Just a little more, Empoleon!"
Empoleon dug in and concentrated, tapping into its inner power, and unleashing a beam of water twice as large as the first. Drapion was no match for this high-powered burst of water and was sent crashing into its owner.
"Get off of me!" yelled Shark at his Pokémon, but Drapion was unconscious from the attack and did not move. Jeremy walked over and began to cuff Shark.
Meanwhile, Alexa had released Tropius and was flying up to meet the rampaging Salamence. When it saw her, Salamence roared and charged, preparing a Dragon Claw attack.
"Tropius, evasive maneuvers!" commanded Alexa.
Tropius dodged to the left, but Salamence was too fast, and struck Tropius' wing. Tropius plummeted in a downward spiral. Alexa tried to maneuver Tropius safely to the ground, but Tropius couldn't hear her.
"She needs help," said Jeremy. "Go, Ash!"
Ash nodded and threw a poke ball. "Go, Charizard!" he yelled.
In a flash of light, Charizard appeared. It roared as Ash ran to climb on. When he had successfully climbed on, he ordered Charizard to intercept the falling Tropius. Charizard roared its assent and flew into the air. Charizard zoomed toward Tropius and began flying in a careful path next to it. Ash knew that Tropius was too large for Charizard to carry down with both himself and Alexa riding on him.
"Alexa," Ash called, "jump on now!"
Alexa jumped away from Tropius and was caught by Charizard. She pulled out a poke ball and recalled Tropius. Ash breathed a sigh of relief, relief that was short-lived as he heard yet another roar. He turned to see Salamence was now charging toward Charizard.
"We need to dodge it, Charizard, but be careful."
Salamence flew in with a powerful Dragon Claw, which Charizard easily dodged. Charizard countered with a Flamethrower, mostly just to keep Salamence at a distance, but found it was no use as the Salamence charged through the Flamethrower, striking Charizard with a powerful Dragon Tail.
Charizard managed to regain its balance, only to be struck again by a Dragon Claw. Charizard now plummeted to the ground, just like Tropius before it.
"Drifblim, rescue them now," came a calm and familiar voice.
After a quick flash of light, the ghost-flying type rushed forward. It flew up next to the falling Charizard and wrapped its limbs around Ash and Alexa. Then it slowly began lowering itself to the ground.
"Drifblim, use Psychic to slow Charizard."
Once again, Drifblim obeyed the voice, focusing its mind and slowing Charizard and gently placing it on the ground. Salamence was enraged at yet another newcomer and once again charged.
"Drifblim, avoid it."
Drifblim quickly rose higher into the sky, taking Ash and Alexa with it. Salamence flew by underneath.
"Now use Shadow Ball."
Drifblim used its two remaining limbs and shot a ball of black and purple energy straight at Salamence. The attack struck Salamence, knocking it unconscious. Salamence plummeted to the ground, but was recalled by an unseen trainer.
Drifblim lowered Ash and Alexa to the ground, and then was recalled by its trainer, who was wearing a large gray cloak.
"It's a good thing you showed up when you did," said Jeremy.
"Yeah," said Alexa, "but what about Josh?"
"Melissa's taking him to the hospital in Fortree. He should be fine."
"We have to go see him!"
"No, we don't," said the trainer. "Alastair said that we were to head back to base. Lilycove isn't the best place to hide. He said we will probably have to split the team up. With Josh injured, I'm not sure what he'll do. Get your stuff together. Melissa will be back soon."
Ash and the others went inside and started packing. As he was packing, he thought about Josh's injury. What had he gotten himself into?
Meanwhile…
"So you were able to defeat the Chosen One and his Charizard?"
"Yes, sir, but Shark was captured."
"No matter. He was useless, anyway. Now the Dragon Lady will have a chance to fight without having to worry about anyone else. You do much better without a partner."
"Thank you, sir. So where do I go next?"
"I believe you should go to Fortree City. That is where you said they took Josh, correct?"
"That's the direction the Pokémon was flying in, sir."
"Good, then go after him. He would be a nice prize that would greatly help in my eventual takeover of Team Rocket."
"How long, sir?"
"Not long. Just wait. I will call you when the time is right."
"Yes, sir."
Hope you liked it. I'll have Chapter 12, where Ash, Misty, and Brock reunite, up soon. So until then, see ya!