A/N: Yes, I know this one's a bit short, but there's a reason for that. I wanted to do more with this one, but if I did, it would be WAY too long. The next one is already half-way through, though, and it should be out mid-week or late in the week.
Pokémon (C) 1995-2014 Pokémon, Nintendo, GAME FREAK, Creatures
Code Lyoko (C) 2002-2014 MoonScoop, France 3
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Chapter 11: Friends Now and Forevermore
(-o-) Chapter 1: A Singing Shape-Up Event (-o-)
James' POV
We continued on our journey after Ash and I both got our third Gym Badges from the Veilstone City Gym Leader, Maylene. Red's evolution from Charmander into Charmeleon following a surprise attack form Team Rocket in the wake of an invasion by Team Galactic was both a blessing and a curse. Ash told me about when his Charmeleon stopped obeying him after it evolved, and I was afraid that the same thing would happen to me. While his personality did change into a more confident one after evolving, he seemed less unruly and more overconfident. He still obeyed all of my instructions, but he seemed to take a bit too much pride in his power, always showing off by flexing his muscles after a victory.
After hiking for about a few kilometers on our way to Pastoria City and Ash's fourth Sinnoh Gym Badge, we took a lunch break in a small clearing by the road. Dawn started reading a magazine with her Buneary, Brock was making preparations for lunch while attending to his Happiny, all of Jeremy and Aelita's Pokémon were relaxing off to the side with both of the humans trying to get to know them better, and Ash and Pikachu had taken Gligar to a small stone hill to train its flying skills. As for me, I was just observing all of this with my own Pokémon aside from all of this activity. It was quite refreshing for me, as I did not have the time to take it easy during most of my days in Team Rocket.
"Ready, Gligar?" Ash cried. "Let's go!"
Gligar took off from the stone it was perched on, and then flew into the air, sticking its tongue out as it grinned. It then attempted to make a right turn, but then it started rapidly decreasing in altitude as it went the wrong way. It noticeably panicked, and I saw that it was heading right at Dawn and Buneary.
"Dawn! Buneary!" I cried. "Look out! Gligar's gonna crash!"
As soon as they noticed, they ducked out of the way. Gligar took a nosedive and smashed its head on a nearby rock, and somersaulted to the ground. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and we raced over to tend to Ash's injured Gligar.
"Are you okay?" Ash asked, and Gligar nodded, rubbing its head and chuckling sheepishly.
"Ash Ketchum, you've got to learn how to control that Gligar!" Dawn grumbled, dusting herself off. "At least James was considerate enough to give me the heads-up!"
"Gligar just needs to get a better hang of her flying," Aelita said, trying to calm Dawn down.
Just then, I caught glimpse of the magazine. "Hey, is that the newest issue of Poké Chic?"
"Poké Chic?" Jeremy asked, confused. "What's that?"
"It's a Pokémon fashion magazine," Dawn explained. "Dressing up Pokémon is all the rage in Sinnoh." She showed off a few pictures of Pokémon in various styles of human clothing. There was a Croagunk in a kimono with an umbrella, a Delcatty in a orange Santa outfit, and others.
"These outfits are rather cute," Aelita nodded.
"How'd you know about it?" Jeremy asked me.
"Well, I happen to be more than a bit knowledgeable in the world of fashion!" I grinned.
"This one is Buneary's favorite!" Dawn said, and pointed to a picture of a Pikachu in an apron with a Poké Ball symbol on it. Needless to say, Ash and Pikachu were stunned, as were Pikachutwo and myself.
"You're not into this, are you?" Ash asked his partner, and he shook his head.
"How about you?" I asked Pikachutwo, and he vehemently shook his head.
"He says he'd never do something that stupid," Judah said.
"It's actually really fun to do!" Dawn said, and then reached into her knapsack for something. "I even designed a vest for Buneary!" She then brought out an orange vest with a pink heart pattern on the front and back of it. "Ta-da! My mom made it and sent it to us, but I designed the vest all by myself!"
"Wow, that looks great!" Ash said.
"And don't sell yourself short!" Jeremy said. "Designing is more than half the job! Trust me, I'm form the world center of fashion!"
"But enough about that!" I said, "let's see how it looks on Buneary!"
"Sure thing," Dawn said, and helped her Long Ear Pokémon put on the vest.
"A perfect fit!" Judah cheered.
"And it looks great on you!" Brock added.
Buneary jumped for joy, and asked Pikachu what he thought. He smiled and nodded, and Buneary blushed and smiled at this. She looked back at Pikachu, and Buneary caught a glimpse of Pikachutwo, gasped in surprise, and approached him nervously.
"What's up with her?" Jeremy asked.
"I don't think Buneary has ever formally meet Pikachutwo before," I assumed.
"Hey, no need to worry!" Dawn said, patting her Long Ear Pokémon on the head. "He's okay! Say hello to Pikachutwo!"
Buneary smiled and bounced up to it, but Pikachutwo looked awkward, as if he didn't know what he should do.
"You know," Aelita said, "I wonder if Buneary even knows about what Pikachutwo is."
Pikachutwo said a few things in its own tongue, and Buneary gasped in shock, looking between both Ash's Pikachu and his clone. Both clone and original now looked like they were feeling very awkward, but Ash's Pikachu said something which cause Buneary to loosed up and smile at Pikachutwo, who also smiled in return.
"Pikachu just explained the situation to Buneary," Judah explained. "Now Buneary knows about Pikachutwo, and she's okay with it."
Just then, Buneary cocked her head as if she had heard something. She then closed her eyes and uncurled both ears, trying to hear something.
"What's wrong, Buneary?" Dawn asked, seeing that it was sensing something.
"She must be hearing something approach," Brock said.
"I can feel a presence form a few meters away as well," Judah said, closing his eyes.
For a while, no one said anything, but then something small jumped out from behind the bushes in front of us. It looked like a small gold bell, complete with red and white tassels, but we all saw that it had a face and feet. By those observations, I realized that it was a very certain Pokémon.
"Hey, that's a Chingling!" I said.
"A Chingling, huh?" Jeremy asked, and consulted his Pokédex.
"Chingling, the Bell Pokémon," the machine said. "It makes a sound by vibrating an orb in the back of its throat, and it moves by hopping."
It then jumped forward, and threw it arms around Buneary, twirling around. It then did the same thing to Pikachu, Pikachutwo, Terra, and Judah, and all the Pokémon were befuddled by its behavior. I also noticed that it had a green ribbon tied to one of its tassels.
"That's one happy Pokémon!" Jeremy said, and then found himself being hugged by the over-enthusiastic Pokémon. It then changed to Ash, then to Aelita, and Dawn, and then simply rested in my arms as it tuckered out a bit.
"Well, aren't you the most adorable little doll?" I said, and it nuzzled my cheek before jumping back down to the ground.
"It sure likes everyone!" Dawn commented.
"That's for sure," Ash nodded, and then found himself being dragged down by his previously ignored Gligar. "Oh, come on! I know you like me!" Ash yelled as he was dragged down to the ground. Eventually, he freed himself from his Pokémon's pincers, and called him back into its Poké Ball. Just then, a voice rang out.
"There you are! What in the world are you doing?"
We all turned to see who had spoken, and we saw a young woman coming our way. She was dressed in a very sharp scarlet uniform with a matching top hat covering her long jaded green hair. She was also wheeling around a large blue suitcase on wheels, and looked at the Chingling quite exasperatedly.
"Now, Chingling," she said, "I told you not to go off on your own like that!"
"So this Chingling belongs to you?" Jeremy asked.
"That's right," the girl nodded. "Nice to meet you, my name's Francesca."
"My name's Ash," Ash said, and pointed to Pikachu, "and this is my partner, Pikachu."
"Hello, my name's Dawn," Dawn said, cheerily.
"I'm Jeremy," Jeremy said, motioning to Judah, who bowed in response, "and this is my friend, Judah."
"Hello, I'm Aelita," Aelita said, bowing.
"It's nice to meet you," I said, smiling. "My name is James, and this is Pikachutwo." Pikachutwo also nodded in salute.
As if on cue, Brock pushed all of us out of the way and clamped his hands on Francesca's hand, like a Shellder on a Slowpoke's tail before it evolves. "Hello! Please call me Brock! Francesca, what a beautiful name only to be surpassed by your lovely being both inside and out! My heart's ringing like a bell! Ding, dong-AGH!" His rant was cut short once Croagunk used Poison Jab on his side, causing him to crumble to the ground, moaning. "Sorry, I'm rung out…" he groaned as the Poison Mouth Pokémon carted him off, chuckling to itself while the majority of us looked on in shame and Francesca looked confused.
"Your Chingling is so cute!" Dawn said, bringing us out of our stupor.
"I agree," Aelita nodded, smiling at the small Pokémon.
"Thank you," Francesca grinned nervously, "though, to be honest, it's a little bit spoiled." Just then, the Chingling in question jumped into Francesca's arms. "Will you cut it out?"
"I think your Pokémon showing affection is a good sign!" I said.
"Well, I agree up to a point," she said, with a hint of regret in her voice. "But the thing is it's kind of a distraction and a drag on my career. See, I'm a Pokémon Magician."
"A Pokémon Magician!?" Ash gasped.
"What's with the reaction?" Jeremy asked Brock.
"Ash and I have met a Pokémon Magician in the Johto region," Brock explained. "She tried to use a spell that allowed Ash to see into Pikachu's mind, but it temporarily turned him into a Pikachu instead."
"That actually sounds pretty neat," Aelita said.
"So do you make spells like that?" I asked.
"No, I'm not a real magician," she shook her head. "I'm a stage magician. Watch, I'll show you!"
(-o-)
Aelita's POV
After a while, a small table was set up before us, and we all sat down in the grass.
"All right, everyone," she said, "the Pokémon Magic Show is about to begin!"
We all applauded, and she placed a large tablecloth on the table. After a few seconds, a large lump appeared, and when Francesca removed the cloth, the Chingling from before appeared on the table.
"Wow!" we all cheered.
Francesca replaced the cloth over the Chingling, and then another lump "grew" from the first lump. When the cloth was removed, a second Chingling appeared to the right of the original, this one having a blue ribbon on its right tassel.
"Now there are two of them!" Jeremy said, clapping.
"Are you sure?" Francesca grinned, and then repeated the same trick. A third Chingling, this one sporting an orange ribbon, appeared in the same way the others did.
"Now there's three of them!" I clapped.
"Now is everybody ready?" she asked. "Here we go!"
The blue-ribbon Chingling sang low, the green-ribbon Chingling sang middle, the orange Chingling sang high, and then they all sang in a perfectly harmonic rhythm.
"They're in harmony!" Dawn cheered.
"And I'm in harmony with you!" Brock said wistfully, and Jeremy and I sighed, bemused.
Just then, as the Chingling trio sang again, Francesca swept her high top hat off her head, showed it was empty, and placed it back on. She removed it again after the song was finished, and a Pidgey "magically" flew out from it.
"Wow, a Pidgey!" Ash gasped.
The Tiny Bird Pokémon gave a rhythmic coo, and the Chingling sang in tune to the tempo created by the Pidgey. At this, all of our Pokémon burst into applause, and so did we.
"That's amazing!" Jeremy said. "As much as I love science, I've always loved magic as well!"
"The same holds true for me as well!" I added.
"We perform our act for kids of all ages all over Sinnoh!" Francesca said.
"I'm sure they'll enjoy it as I do you," Brock said dreamily.
"You can say that again, right Buneary?" Dawn said, and her Pokémon nodded.
"Well, get ready for my next trick!" Francesca said.
She then brought her fists together into a rod, and a magic wand grew from her hands when she separated them. The Chingling sang again to warm up the act, and Francesca twirled her wand, ready to dazzle us. However, the green-ribbon Chingling jumped at the wand, and bit one of the tips off, revealing a flower and startling Francesca.
"Oh no, you ruined it!" she groaned. The Chingling nuzzled her cheek, but she looked more annoyed than happy. "See, the problem with this Chingling is that it means well, but it's always jumps into my arms right in the middle of our show."
"That does seem like a big problem," I noted.
"Perhaps it requires having some self-control," Jeremy said. "But where to get it?"
Just then, the Chingling jumped at Buneary again and started hugging it. Buneary was having difficulty trying to pry it off, and it looked just as annoyed as Francesca.
"I'm just about at my wit's end with this Chingling's constant clinging," Francesca huffed.
Just then, Ash spoke up. "Maybe if you put your Chingling in a Pokémon Battle, that'll do the trick!"
"Good idea, Ash!" Brock said. "Pokémon do mature by battling, so that just might work!"
"A Pokémon Battle?" Francesca looked confused. "I've never been in one before."
"Just leave it to Ash," I said. "He'll show you how it's done!"
(-o-)
To demonstrate the mechanics of a Pokémon Battle, Ash and Dawn engaged in a mock battle with Buneary and Gligar. At my suggestion, Buneary removed her vest before it engaged in the battle. Ash and Dawn both thought it was a good idea, since the vest was the last thing Buneary should worry about in a battle. Buneary lunged with Dizzy Punch, but Gligar dodged and struck back with X-Scissor. Buneary quickly recovered and used Bounce to score a huge hit on Gligar, which then used Sand Attack to try to blind Buneary. It did not work as intended, since Buneary scored a hit on Gligar with Ice Beam. Gligar shattered the ice when it hit the ground, and landed a powerful Steel Wing on Buneary before the battle was called.
"See how that was done?" Francesca asked Chingling. "You think you can do it too?" It nodded and jumped to the ground. Francesca also let her other tow Chingling watch the battle so they could get some experience as well.
"I think Ash might be too tough for a beginner like you," I said, "so let me battle it, okay?"
"Why not me?" James asked. "I'm not all that strong, plus I've got some Pokémon that are around her Chingling's skill level."
"Okay, I guess," I shrugged. "Is that okay with you, Francesca?"
"Well, that sounds reasonable," Francesca said. "Now, if I remember correctly, Chingling can use Confusion, Astonish, and Hidden Power."
"Okay, let's go, Pikachutwo!" James said, and the cloned Mouse Pokémon hopped down from James' shoulder and took his place on the battlefield. "All right, we're teaching this Chingling how to battle so remember to take it easy!" Pikachutwo nodded in response.
Suddenly, a rope net shot out and caught all three Chingling, along with Pikachutwo, hauling them high into the air. Before we could react, a giant cage dropped from above and trapped all of us, apart from myself, James, and Francesca in it. James ran to the cage, but soon found himself being hoisted up into the air by a mechanical claw. Francesca and I gasped and made after them, but then we all found ourselves face-to-face with a pack of very angry Raticate and a group of equally angry Scyther.
"What's going on here?" Francesca asked, now quite frightened. "Give my Chingling back!"
"Let me go! Let me go!" James yelled out as he was being jostled around by his unknown captor.
"Don't tell me…" Ash began, and someone answered him.
"That would be my doing, you see," a voice rang out, and a huge robot appeared from the trees on our left, whose arm was holding James captive. The tank was rather small, but still looked powerful, and it had a bright red R on the sides and front of it. Suddenly, a screen was revealed on the front of the robot, and a face was seen from inside of it. It was a tall red-haired woman with green eyes and, according to what James described earlier, an A-class Team Rocket admin uniform.
"My name is Ophelia," she said, rather dramatically, "and I am an agent for the glorious Team Rocket."
"What's a Team Rocket?" Francesca asked, confused.
"They're a bunch of bad guys who are always out to steal other people's Pokémon!" Ash replied angrily, trying to free himself and the others.
"They're also after James because he worked for them and want to steal his Pokémon as well!" I added.
"While I may be in Team Rocket and share their ideals," Ophelia said, "I have no interest with this man you call James. I do abhor is recent streak of failure at our organization, but I do not feel the need to 'rein him in' as they say. It's as needless as Oedipus defying fate and fulfilling his prophecy."
"What's with the Shakespeare?" I thought to myself.
"Then why are you capturing him?" Jeremy asked.
"It's quite simple," she said. "I'm not capturing him for Team Rocket. Someone else has hired me to take him captive. Besides, he'd be a miserable failure if he roamed free. If he could not even perform the simplest of tasks for us in Team Rocket, what are the chances of him succeeding elsewhere?"
"I'll answer to that!" Ash cried. "James is our friend now and he's gonna make plenty more to come! Now let him go right now and get us out of here!"
"And give me back my Chingling too!" Francesca added.
"Sorry, sweetie," she said, "but these things are too cute and too valuable to be wasted on a street mouse like you. I think I'll make them part of my new singing act, soon to come to Broadway! And James will soon be back where he belongs in this world: obeying orders from his master like a good little dog! As for you sub-humans, I think I'll just let you rot in that cage like the rats that you are!"
"Like that's gonna happen!" I huffed, and called out my Turtwig, Terra. "Terra, use Razor Leaf and cut the net!"
Terra obliged, but the leaves bounced right off the net as if it was iron-plated.
"This net is thicker than your head, girlie!" Ophelia taunted.
Jeremy growled at this, and threw out a Poké Ball. "Draco, use Flamethrower!"
His Shelgon appeared and shot a stream of fire at the net, burning it to ashes and freeing the Chingling trio, who ran to Francesca. Pikachutwo dashed out and used Iron Tail on the cage, freeing the rest of our friends.
"Are you all okay?" she asked, and the three Bell Pokémon nodded.
"Stop them from getting away!" Ophelia shrieked. "Raticate Army, chew them to bits with your Super Fang! Scyther Platoon, assist them with Fury Cutter!"
"How does this lady have more than six Pokémon with her?" Brock asked, confused.
"Uh, because I'm a criminal?" she said, with her right thumb and index finger in the shape of an L on her forehead. "Now attack them!"
The army of a dozen Raticate and a half-dozen Scyther ran after us, and Francesca held her three scared Pokémon tightly against herself for protection, but I was ready as I called out Matilda and Mabel.
"Mabel, use Whirlwind!" I cried. "Matilda, use Confusion!"
Matilda lifted the Pokémon into the air with her psychic powers, and Mabel threw them backwards with her winds. However, while the Raticate would need a while to recuperate, the Scyther simply flew back at us with surprising speed.
"It'll take more than a silly gust to blow these bugs away!" Ophelia laughed heartily.
"Ash, should we do something?" Dawn asked.
"Hold on," Ash said. "I think this may be an opportunity for Francesca and her Chingling."
Just then, the Chingling we were trying to help looked back at James, who looked at the robot with a mix of fear and anger. Chingling stared at it for a few minutes, then looked at our friends trapped in the cage, and then at the angry Pokémon coming right at us. Finally, it looked at its Trainer, who was staring at the robot and the angry Pokémon with even more fear then James was showing. It then narrowed its eyes and jumped out of its Trainer's arms and emitted a piercing screech that stopped the Scyther in their tracks and forced them to fall to the ground.
"Francesca, Chingling used Astonish!" I cried, excited. "It wants to battle with you!"
"I knew it!" Ash cheered. "I love it when I'm right!"
"Then so be it!" she said. "Chingling, use Hidden Power!" Several white orbs formed around Chingling, and then it hurled them at the army of Pokémon, which then crashed into one of the robot's legs.
"Now use it again with those Raticate!" she cried, feeling and looking pumped up.
Chingling obeyed her again, sending the second army crashing into the other leg of the robot, which caused the whole thing to come crashing down. The arm of the robot came off and released James, and he ran back to our side where Pikachutwo jumped into his arms. Suddenly, the top of the robot opened up, and Ophelia came out, a whip in her hand and a Vileplume at her side.
"You little witch!" Ophelia said, and the two dashed towards the Chingling and its Trainer.
"I'm not a witch!" Francesca said. "Chingling, use Confusion!"
Chingling obeyed, and Ophelia and her Vileplume were both sent flying back and smacking into the robot, which was then bombarded with Chingling's Hidden Power, causing it to explode and send the Rocket admin and her Pokémon flying off into the horizon.
"I'm a Pokémon Magician," Francesca said smugly as she watched the evil woman and her Pokémon vanish from sight.
James' POV
"That was amazing!" Jeremy said. "Your Chingling was really great!"
"And not to mention it was very brave!" I added.
"You're ok, right?" Francesca asked, and Chingling nodded. It then raised its arms at Francesca.
"I think it's asking for a hug," I said.
"But it's never asked before!" she gasped.
"Perhaps this encounter has helped it to mature!" Brock said.
"Then sure, you can have a hug!" Francesca said, and swept the Bell Pokémon into a hug, smiling delightedly. Seeing this made all of us feel really special inside, but it was more so for me, who had a connection to Chingling in a way.
"Thank you for your help, James," she said. "Can I ask why you wanted to help out in the first place?"
"Well," I said, "do you what Chingling evolves into?"
"Can't say that I do," she shook her head.
"It evolves into a Pokémon named Chimecho," I replied, showing her my Pokédex.
"Chimecho, the Wind Chime Pokémon," the machine read. "Chimecho is the evolved form of Chingling. Its cries, which reverberate in its hollow body, emerges notes of beauty, which drive up its opponents."
"I own a Chimecho, you see," I continued, putting my Pokédex away, "and it's on the mend with my nanny and pop-pop, so I sort of felt obliged to help you with your Chingling. It's kind of like my duty."
"Well, thank you thanks a lot regardless," she smiled. She then glanced at her watch and smirked. "Well, where does the time go? Sorry, but I've got to get going to the next town. The kids are waiting for us!"
"Well, best of luck in the performance!" Jeremy said.
"And please take care of yourself and your Chingling!" I added.
"We will," she nodded, and then turned to her Chingling trio. "Now how do we say goodbye?" The Chingling gave their three-part harmonic song in response, and we all clapped.
"See you around!" Francesca said, and she took off down the road.
"Well, that was a nice treat!" Judah said. "And those Chingling can really sing!"
"So how far until Lake Valor?" Ash asked, and Jeremy took out his map.
"It looks like a few more kilometers," he said, "but there's a Pokémon Center just a few meters ahead, so we can rest there."
"And I can finish lunch," Brock said.
"Lunch," Ash smiled as we started trekking again. "What a wonderful word."
Little did any of us know that the adventure that awaited us there would provide all of us with new insight on an old friend of mine, as well as give a new friend some new insight on what life is all about.
(-o-) Episode 2: Crossing Paths (-o-)
Jeremy's POV
While Brock and I cooked up lunch, Ash and James were busy training in the backyard of the Pokémon Center. Aelita and I decided to join them, wanting to get in some practice ourselves. We got in a good hours' worth of work before Brock called us in for lunch. It was delicious, but no sooner had we finished than it began to thunder outside. We all looked outside and saw that the sky had suddenly grown dark with heavy rainclouds and, from the looks of those swaying trees, the wind was blowing very fiercely.
"Man, it was so nice just a minute ago," Aelita said. "Mountain weather changes really quick, doesn't it?" I nodded, holding her hand.
"I've seen mountain weather change at the flick of a wrist all too often in my travels," Judah nodded, sighing.
"I hope this doesn't affect the Dustox Crossing," Nurse Joy said as she approached the window.
"What's that?" I asked, curious.
"Every year, around this time," Nurse Joy answered, "the Dustox that live around this lake and all around Sinnoh gather here and pair up to create a golden arch over Mt. Coronet, where they go to have a family. They become entranced by the reflection of the moon in the lake, but with the weather the way it is, who knows if that will happen?"
"Wow, that kind of sound like when I let my Butterfree go," Ash said wistfully.
"A golden arch sounds so romantic," Dawn said.
"Well, I don't know if the Dustox will make their Crossing, but I know we should totally pair up-AGH!" Brock began to move on Nurse Joy, but then was quickly Poison Jabbed down by his Croagunk, who dragged him away, chuckling to itself. Just then, a boy about my age, and with large-framed glasses, ran in with a worried look on his face.
"It's terrible!" he said. "A huge bolt of lightning struck the cliff, and the lake is draining!"
"What?!" I gasped. "The lake is draining?"
Aelita heard this and sprang to her feet. "We've got to get down there and stop it, or the Dustox won't be able to have their Crossing!"
We all nodded, and headed out.
"By the way," I asked the boy, "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
"Oh, I'm the one who should be sorry," he said. "I'm Austin, and I own a Dustox I'm releasing for the Crossing."
"I'm Ash," Ash said, "and these are my friends Pikachu, Brock, Dawn, Jeremy, Aelita, and James."
"Good to get to know you all," Austin nodded, and we dashed to the lake.
(-o-)
James' POV
As we got to the lake to observe the situation that Austin mentioned, we were greeted by the strangest sight I ever saw. Jessie, her Seviper, Meowth, and a large green dragonfly Pokémon that I didn't even pretend to recognize were carrying many heavy-looking boulders from the cliff to a narrow pass beside the lake, as to form a dam to stop the lake from draining. Intrigued as to what this new Pokémon was, I took out my Pokédex for more info.
"Yanmega, the Ogre Darner Pokémon," the machine read, "and the evolved form of Yanma. When it flutters its wings, it creates a shockwave that can cause internal damage to its opponents."
"What are Team Rocket doing here?" Dawn asked.
"What do you think?" Jessie barked. "Instead of letting moss grow on those backsides of yours, how about helping us stop this horrendous lake leak?"
At first, the kids were greatly confused by this, but the Austin and I came to a realization. "We have to!" he cried. "If the lake isn't returned to normal, the Dustox can't have their crossing!"
"Jessie's willing to do anything to let her Dustox find true love!" I added. "We have to help her, at least for the sake of her Dustox!"
"We'll do it, James," Jeremy nodded.
"But we're doing it for all of the Dustox!" Judah added.
I climbed down the cliff to where Jessie and Meowth were, and I nodded to them. "Alright, Carnivine, Mime Jr., Cacturne, Golbat, come on out!" I cried, and threw my Poké Balls into the air. Luckily, none of my Grass-Type Pokémon decided to cling onto my head, but instead went straight at the rocks, dragging them to the dam one by one.
Taking a break for a moment, I went up to Jessie. "I got to ask, where'd you catch that Yanmega?"
Jessie stopped for a few seconds, and sighed. "I caught it about a week after we left you at Solaceon Town," she replied. "It was just a Yanma then, and we initially sent it to the Boss as a gift, but he sent it back, saying they already had a huge shipment of Yanma come in."
"Ouch," I winced. "A real capture, and he turned you down. That's gotta hurt."
"It did," she said, frowning, "but I decided to make something of it. So I trained it hard, and since it already knew Ancient Power, it quickly evolved into Yanmega." She then took out her ribbon case and showed that she now had two ribbons. "Yanmega even won me a Ribbon at the Pokémon Contest in this little place called Machina Town just yesterday."
"Well, congratulations," I said, trying to sound happy, but also noticing that Jessie looked upset. "Is there something wrong?"
"What do you mean!?" she asked angrily.
"You seem tense about this Dustox Crossing," I said, and then it dawned on me. "Are you letting your Dustox be part of the Crossing?"
She hung her head, but then brought it up with a smile like she was sad and happy at the same time. "Well, to everything there is a season," she said. "You only get one shot at love, so you grab it. I want Dustox to grab it… so I won't have to be reminded that I didn't."
I was confused at this sudden revelation, but grinned and nodded. "Well, I'll help you in any way I can! We're still teammates and we're still friends until the end, no matter what!"
With that, I resumed helping to build the dam. Red carried a few big rocks, Carnivine bound a few really big ones with its Vine Whip, and Cacturne carried one big one and kept coming back for more rather quickly. Despite his small size, Pikachutwo helped out by heaving boulders into the pile with its tail. Ash, Jeremy, and the rest helped out too. Marvin and Matilda levitated the rocks with their psychic powers, Judah hefted two rocks at once, and Mabel could carry quite a lot with her talons. Ambipom could carry three times as many rocks as any other Pokémon, and Happiny hefted a huge boulder that dwarfed anything we had brought before. It then threw said boulder into the pile, which partially sealed the dam.
"I've got an idea," Jeremy said. "Saturate the rocks with water attacks and then freeze them with Ice Beam!"
"Buizel, Water Gun!" Ash called out.
"Matilda, assist with Water Pulse!" Aelita cried.
"Piplup, use Whirlpool!" Dawn added. "And then Ice Beam, Buneary!"
The Pokémon unleashed their respective moves, and the dam was first soaked and then frozen solid, stopping the previously mentioned lake leak.
"We did it!" we all cried.
"But it's still not enough!" Nurse Joy pointed out. "The water level is way too low and it can't refuel quickly enough!"
We all glanced up at the cliff, and noticed a thick blanket of snow covering the top. Mime Jr. then poked my shoulder and pointed behind me. I turned around, and noticed the water that leaked out from the lake had all gone down to a smaller lake below the main lake.
"That's it!" I cried, and turned to the others. "We need to melt the snow on top of the cliffs and get the water from down below the cliff back into the lake!"
The gang all looked confused for a minute, but when I pointed out the newly formed lake below, they began to understand.
"The first part seems easy enough," Aelita said, "but what about the last part?"
"Well, you have two Psychic-Type Pokémon, don't you?" I asked. "They can levitate the water using their Psychic-Type moves!"
"Yeah, Marvin can use Psychic!" Jeremy realized.
"And my Dustox knows how to use Confusion!" Austin pointed out.
"So does Matilda!" Aelita said, and the aforementioned Kirlia nodded.
"And my Dustox can guide it into the lake with Whirlwind!" Jessie added.
"And Mabel can add her Whirlwind to the mix as well!" Aelita added.
"Then let's get to it!" I said, and the four of us put our plan into motion.
"Dustox, use Confusion!" Austin called.
"You too, Matilda!" Aelita added.
"Marvin, use Psychic!" Jeremy said.
The combined psychic powers of the three Pokémon were enough to lift all of the water out of the new lake, and rise it into the air.
"Now, Dustox!" Jessie said, "use Whirlwind!"
"You use Whirlwind as well, Mabel!" Aelita cried.
The fierce winds whipped up by Jessie's Dustox and Mabel, combined with the power of the psychic moves, was enough for the water to flood back into the lake from whence it came. It took several minutes, but we all cheered the Pokémon on. After a good quarter hour of cheering and watching the Pokémon work their hardest, the lake was completely filled up again. As if on cue, the clouds dispersed, and the light from the setting sun flooded the area, turning the lake into a sparkling mirror of beauty.
"Wow, they did it!" I cheered.
"It looks like we'll be seeing another Dustox crossing after all," Nurse Joy said, smiling.
I noticed that Jessie was smiling, but I could tell it was the smile that is used to hide a feeling of pain and loss.
(-o-)
Later that night, after the sun had set and the moon hung high in the sky, we all gathered around the lake to see the Dustox Crossing. True to Nurse Joy's word, the lake shone a bright reflection of the moon and it sparkled all around us. Jessie and Meowth came back as well, and without Frank James or any of his Pokémon.
"The moon in the lake is just beautiful!" Dawn gasped in awe.
"The conditions look good," Aelita noted.
Just then, I saw Jessie's Dustox and Austin's Dustox fly off from behind us to greet each other over the lake.
"Go on, Dustox!" Jessie said. "You man's a-waiting!"
"You too, Dustox," Austin added. "It's time to say goodbye."
Both Dustox flew off towards the lake, but Jessie's Dustox suddenly turned back and looked at Jessie worriedly.
"What's the matter?" she asked the Poison Moth Pokémon. "You like that Dustox, don't you? So go on!"
But Dustox clung to Jessie, not wanting to leave. To me, Aelita, and Jeremy, the message was clear: Dustox wanted to be with the other Dustox, but she also wanted to remain with Jessie. It made it even more painful since it simply could not be possible for Dustox to have both Jessie and her true love.
"You have to go!" Jessie said, this time with tears in her eyes. "You have to grasp your once chance at love, or it's gone forever!" She then added, silently, "After all… I should know."
Just then, I gasped in realization. Jessie had once mentioned something about having a boyfriend before. She even referred to him as her "first true love". Obviously, she was given a choice early on in her life to be with him or to go on without him. She must have chosen to go on without him, and she clearly regretted it to this very day. This made me see Jessie in a whole new light, and made me wish even harder that she would leave her conflicting life join up with Jeremy, Aelita, and me. Maybe I could help her get a new life and she'd find a new love who would share his life with her.
I snapped back to my senses when I noticed Jessie take Dustox's Poké Ball out. Before anyone could protest, she dropped it to the ground and crushed it under her boot, smashing it to pieces.
"Now there's no more Poké Ball for you to return to!" she cried, tears streaming down her face. "So go on, get out of here!"
Reluctantly, Dustox turned to leave. But just then, Jessie's expression turned from anger to joy as she wiped the tears from her eyes. I could see her journey with Dustox, starting from Wurmple to Cascoon in her eyes, and she beamed as she watched her dearest friend go to be with its love.
"Fall in love, Dustox dearest!" Jessie called out. "Do it with all of your heart, for both of us!"
Both Dustox gave a cry of joy and love and began spraying a cloud of gold dust from their wings, and joined up with the other Dustox who were already in the final stage of the Crossing. All together, the Dustox flew up and over in a golden arch all the way to Mt. Coronet.
"Bye, Dustox!" I called out to it.
"You be happy!" Meowth added.
On the other side of the lake, I could see Ash and the others smile as well.
"Have a nice family, you two!" Aelita called.
"Off they go to the Dustox Flower Fields!" Nurse Joy said.
"And that's where they'll have a happy life together forever!" Ash said, and Pikachu nodded.
Austin had a sad smile on his face just like Jessie as he watched his Poison Moth Pokémon fly away. "Goodbye, my friend."
"I love you," Jessie added silently, as she watched the Dustox cross over. "Goodbye."
As we all gazed at the golden arch that illuminated the night sky, I remembered something that my grandfather once told me: True friendship lasts forever, even though life twists and turns in unexpected directions. And it's that kind of connection that makes love possible. In that instant, I realized the truth: Jessie and I never stopped being friends even though I quit Team Rocket. One day, I knew that Jessie and I would cross paths again and then we'd never be separated.
After all, I knew deep down in my heart that Jessie loved Dustox… as much as I loved Jessie.
A/N: Just as a heads-up, the next chapter not only does a filler episode for James' sake, but also gets a bit religious. Just a fair warning for those who don't like Pokémon that way.
-JeremyX signing off!