Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Nintendo's Pokemon franchise.

Legend:

"A human or a Pokemon is talking."

'A human or a Pokemon is thinking.'

"A machine is being used."

Chapter Fourteen:

(Ash Ketchum vs. Jessie)

"Get up, Ekans!" Jessie demanded as the twerp's Pidgeotto cried out before it dive-bombed toward her Pokemon. "Get up, now!"

Ekans slowly lifted its head off of the ground before it looked at Jessie, wondering why its trainer was looking at it with that particular expression on her face. It was only moments later that Ekans heard its trainer yell at it again.

"Dodge!" The magenta-haired woman barked out authoritatively, that tone instantly making Ekans obey. It dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the beak of Ash's Pidgeotto. "Good! Ekans, Bite!"

Ekans nodded once before it launched itself at the raptor-like bird, which had wheeled around and was now flying swiftly towards it. The purple, snake-like Pokemon felt a sense of familiarity wash over it as it "flew" towards the bird.

Had it fought this Pokemon before? At the Pokemon Center in Viridian City? No, that Pokemon was bigger than the bird it was fighting now.

XXXXXX

(Meanwhile—With James)

James stared at the downed unmoving forms of the twerp and her Pokemon for a couple of moments, an unreadable emotion on his face, before he glanced at Koffing.

Selfdestruct was a move that forced the Pokemon to expend over 70-90% of its energy in a single, explosive burst. The glow that Pokemon gained before they used this technique came from the gathering of energy over the skin, which could take as long as five-to-twenty seconds, depending on the Pokemon. It was actually the massive drain in energy, followed by the explosion's recoil, which usually forced Pokemon into unconsciousness.

However, if a Pokemon were trained on how to control the amount of energy within their attacks, then they could minimalize the energy loss and recoil that followed the explosion. However, even with this method, Pokemon could still be knocked unconscious if they repeated the move again.

It was by using this method that Koffing had not been forced into unconsciousness by its own attack. Koffing, however, had burns over its body that James supposed were from the secondary, unexpected explosion, and it looked very tired.

James nodded to himself after a moment before he took a glance towards the twerp and her Pokemon again. It would only take one or two moves for Koffing to finish them.

"Koffing, finish them." The purple-haired man ordered.

Koffing bobbed in the air before it took off towards the twerp and her Pokemon, with a thick and poisonous dark-green gas emerging from every hole on its body. "Koff Koffing."

However, when Koffing was only mere feet away from Abra, and a couple yards away from Anabel, it was hit in the head by a small barrage of rocks. This sudden attack caused Koffing to veer off course and crash into a nearby tree, where it emitted a pitiful groan.

"Wha—?" James murmured in shock, wondering where the sudden attack had come from, before he saw a small troupe of Geodude emerge from the woodwork on the twerp's side of the clearing.

"Geodude, Geo-dude Geo!" The troupe of Geodude cried out before they slammed their fists against the ground.

This in turn caused a section of rock before the Geodude troupe, and past the twerp and her Abra, to shatter before a deluge of rocks were launched towards James and Koffing. Upon seeing this attack, James bit back a curse before he dived out of the way.

From her position on the ground, Anabel smiled weakly as she thought '… I knew someone would come… to help…' before her vision began to darken as her eyes slowly closed, soon falling into sweet unconsciousness.

XXXXXX

(Ash vs. Jessie)

Ash watched as Pidgeotto winged its way around Ekans, before it quickly flew from behind the airborne snake and delivered a harsh "Peck". The force behind this attack caused Ekans to cry out in pain before it was sent spiraling downwards, where it crashed against the surface of the ground.

"Whoo-hoo!" Ash cheered with a wide grin. "Keep it up!"

Jessie frowned again before she murmured to herself, "I should've realized that having Ekans attack from the air would be pointless…" she then raised her head before shouting, "Ekans, use Acid!"

'Acid?' Ash wondered with a semi-confused expression on his face.

Ekans hissed in acknowledgement of its trainer's order before it opened its mouth and sent forth a spray of blackish-greenish liquid towards Pidgeotto. The bird Pokemon—wary of this attack—dodged to the side, avoiding the liquid. Pidgeotto was fortunate to have avoided this attack as when it hit the ground, it began to dissolve everything beneath it.

Ash's eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed again, having realized what would've happened had his Pidgeotto not dodged.

"Pidgeotto, use Sand-Attack and follow it up with a Peck!" Ash ordered seriously before, almost as an afterthought, said. "And avoid that liquid at any cost!"

"Geotto!" Pidgeotto nodded before it began to flap its powerful wings, causing the loose dirt and dust around it to begin to rise into the air.

Jessie frowned, "Who says I'm going to let you finish that attack, twerp? Ekans, Acid that pesky bird out of the sky!"

Ekans hissed again before it released another stream of acid at Pidgeotto, who quickly swerved out of the way and into the partially-formed smokescreen. The snake-like Pokemon released another Acid towards the shadow visible in the smokescreen, only for Pidgeotto to wing its way out of the top of it.

It was then that Pidgeotto dive-bombed towards Ekans again, with its beak beginning to glow a bright white color. Pidgeotto flew between the ever-increasing bursts of acid directed at it—though a few feathers were hit by one burst—only to release a cry when it was a dozen feet away from Ekans.

"C'mon, Pidgeotto! You can do it!" Ash shouted.

Jessie clenched her hands, "I thought I told you to blast that bird out of the sky, Ekans! Do it, now! You know what's at stake here!"

"Pi—" Pidgeotto cried as its glowing beak impacted Ekans' body, sending the snake-like Pokemon flying where upon it landed harshly on the ground. "—geotto!"

"Ek… ans." Ekans hissed out weakly as it tried to upright itself, though the immense pain its body was currently causing it to hiss in pain and stop trying to move.

Jessie looked at her Pokemon for a moment, her face displaying a severe amount of concern and shock, before she whirled around to glare at Ash. The black-haired boy's Pidgeotto landed in front of him, glaring right back at Jessie, and scraped its talons against the ground warningly. If she attempted to harm Ash, she knew his Pidgeotto would attack.

It was at that moment that Jessie realized that she had been defeated once again and it was all because she had underestimated the twerp. She hadn't really believed that he could beat her without having the advantage of numbers on his side, which was somewhat true, and had thought that it would've been all-too easy to defeat him.

If she had gone all-out and had actually treated the twerp like he was her equal, then she would've been the victor of this battle. She would have been able to force the twerp to tell her where James was, rescue James, and complete the mission.

Jessie bowed her head slightly, her heart aching at the thought of her failure. Even if she and her team managed to get away, she knew that they had blown their chance to get the Moon Stone.

'James…' Jessie thought miserably, fists clenching at her sides as she tried to fight off a sudden wave of tears. 'I'm sorry.'

The twerp stared at her for a moment with a confused expression on his face before he took a single step forward, "Jessie—"

The twerp suddenly stopped mid-sentence, with his eyes widening in shock as he looked at something behind her. The twerp's Pidgeotto shrieked in warning before it flapped its wings, taking to the air as it seemed to become angry. Jessie took a chance then and turned around slightly to see what was going on behind her.

Her Jigglypuff had just flown out of the Moon Stone's cave while in its inflated, balloon-like state, while a semi-conscious Meowth held onto one of its feet. On the ground, a horde of pink Pokemon were following the airborne Pokemon, angry expressions on their faces as they yelled at Jigglypuff and Meowth.

"Clefable!"

"Fa Clefable!"

"Cle Fable Fa!"

'What's going on here?' Jessie thought in confusion, before her eyes narrowed slightly. 'Those Pokemon would never have turned on Meowth and Jigglypuff while their children were being held hostage… So why have they…?' An image of the twerp's purple-headed companion passed through her mind. 'That girl had an Abra! That means—!'

"C'mon Jess!" Meowth hollered down at Jessie. "Stop standing around! The twerpette's Abra popped in and took our hostages; the Clefable aren't happy about it! Get on!"

Jessie nodded once before she crouched down on the ground before she jumped into the air—hearing the twerp loudly protest her action—and grabbed hold of Jigglypuff's unoccupied leg. Jigglypuff exclaimed at the sudden, unexpected weight and dropped a fair distance before righting itself.

Jessie then looked down at the twerp again, who was looking up her with an unreadable expression on his face. He was forced to turn away when his Pidgeotto nudged him in the side with its beak, causing him to frown before he nodded. The twerp then started running away from the nearing horde of pink Pokemon, with his Pidgeotto following behind him diligently.

'I will pay you back for interfering with two of my team's missions, twerp.' Jessie thought before a twisted smirk appeared on her face. 'You can bet your life on that fact.'

XXXXXX

(Sometime later—Mt. Moon—Cave of the Moonstone)

After Jessie had escaped with Meowth on that inflated pink Pokemon—which Ash had learned to be a Jigglypuff—it wasn't very long until Ash and his Pidgeotto were captured. Angry as they were, the Clefable must've thought Ash was friends with the ones that had captured their children, or thought that he had somehow been involved in the kidnapping of their children.

However, before Ash had been caught, he had called his Pidgeotto back into its Pokeball, which proved to be a wise decision in the end. If he had left Pidgeotto out, his Pokemon would've probably attacked, or tried to, attack the Clefable. That would have made the situation he was in worse than it already was.

At the moment, Ash was currently sitting on his knees while a young-looking Clefable kept a tight grip on his shoulders. The Clefable's grip wasn't as strong as it could've been, but it didn't have to be; it was meant as a warning.

An old-looking Clefable stepped forward and stared at Ash with an unreadable expression on its face, "Clefable Cle Fable Cle Fable-Ce!"

"... If you are asking about those guys that came to your cave, I do know them—!" Ash began, causing the grip on his arm to tighten significantly as several Clefable exclaimed angrily. "But I don't work with them!"

"Clefable?" The aged Clefable asked.

The Clefable quieted at this question, though the grip on Ash's arm remained tight. "I first met them while in Viridian City, while they were trying to rob a Pokemon Center. Another Trainer came and distracted them while I helped Nurse Joy get away." Ash sighed. "But they found us, and I battled Jessie for a while… some Pikachu drove her away…"

"Clefable Cle-Cle Fable Fa-Cle?" Another Clefable asked.

"I came here tonight because my friend—Anabel—had a vision that Jessie and James would steal the Moon Stone—" Ash's words caused a few exclamations in alarm and surprise. He paused to allow the Clefable to talk amongst themselves before he spoke again. "We ambushed James and got some information off of him, and then we made a plan to help you guys out."

The eldest Clefable stepped forward and looked Ash in the eyes before it asked, "Cle?" which Ash answered with a "Yes."

The next few moments were spent in a tense silence as the oldest Clefable stared Ash in the eyes, as if trying to see if he was really telling the truth. One minute later, the Clefable nodded and backed off before waving towards the Clefable behind Ash, causing it to release its grip on Ash's arm.

"Thanks." Ash said as he rubbed where the Clefable had held him. "My part of the plan was to create a distraction—which I think I made by battling Jessie. Anabel would use my distraction and use Abra to Teleport the Pokemon Jessie and James captured to safety."

With that last bit of information, realization started appearing on the Clefable's faces as they seemed to put things together. This Pokemon Trainer and his friend had made a plan with another Pokemon Trainer that had an Abra, which had been the Pokemon they had seen before their children had been "kidnapped" again. But, if that was the case, then where were this Pokemon Trainer and their children?

It was only two minutes later when their question was answered. Multiple ears perked up as they heard the sound of footsteps approaching their cave. This was soon followed by the happy exclamations of the Clefable's children, who then ran as fast as they could towards their parents.

"Dude."

"Dude Geodude."

"Geodude."

At the sound of these voices Ash—along with the Clefable around the cave—turned towards the entrance. It was there that they saw two groups of Geodudes coming into the cave, muscular arms raised as each group carried a being larger than themselves.

Ash's eyes widened at the sight of the sight, 'That's… That's Anabel. But… how?' His eyes were glued to the sight of the blood around Anabel's elbows and knees, the multicolored bruises that were forming on her skin. '… How did… how did she get so… hurt?'

In his shock, Ash wasn't aware of how the Clefable moved their young out of the way of the Geodude groups, or how the oldest Clefable walked forward to meet them. Then, when the Geodudes were only a couple feet away, they stopped before they slowly lowered Anabel and Abra to the floor.

A young Geodude then walked forward, "Geodude Geo-Dude Du—" it turned slightly before it pointed at Anabel and Abra, "Geo-Du. Geodude Geo De!"

Suddenly, a great exclamation broke out, which drew Ash's attention to the source. The enormous round stone that Ash supposed was the Clefable's Moon Stone was glowing a vibrant, slightly off-white color. However, that wasn't what the Clefable were exclaiming about, or what Ash stared at; it was the hazy figure beginning to form in the moonlight.

The figure was mainly a reddish-orange color, with a bluish-green face and three dots similar in color to its face situated in an upwards pointing equilateral triangle on its back. It had a purple stripe on its face and what looked to be a spherical, purple crystal in its chest. It's eyes were white and circular inside black sockets, which were shaped like rounded parallelograms.

This figure had skinny legs that came to a point, with the upper-legs having a single, segmented blue stripe that fell down to its knees. Each of its arms was a pair of cord-like tentacles, reddish-orange and blue, coiled in a double-helix shape. It also had two trapezoid-shaped "ears" and a short tail.

And it was staring straight at Ash.

"Wha—?" Ash muttered.

The Pokemon made a strange sound, like a groan that had been mixed with a yawn, which echoed throughout the cave. It was a haunting sound that sent shivers down backs, as it sounded strange, unnatural.

Ash felt himself drawn to the sound and slowly got up and started walking towards the strange, hazy Pokemon. He never noticed how all of the Pokemon in his path moved out of his way silently, watching to see how this would play out.

Ash stopped only a foot away from the Moon Stone and looked up as the strange Pokemon lowered itself towards him. For some reason, he noticed that this Pokemon didn't stray out of the moonlight that it had appeared in, and wasn't that easy to see.

"What do you want?" Ash heard himself asking of the Pokemon after it had come to a rest, staring at him with a somewhat-pleading expression on its face. His brows furrowed slightly as he bit his lip, "Why are you here?"

"Need…"

Ash startled in surprise at voice he could hear before he looked around himself to see who had spoken out. He, however, found there was no one else—besides him—that could've made said something. But he hadn't spoken, so who had?

"Need… come… Friend…"

Ash turned towards the Pokemon before him and almost slapped himself for the question he was about to ask of it, "Are you talking?"

"Yes. Boy… Need… come..."

Ash's eyes widened at the Pokemon's answer as he had honestly believed that he had been imagining the voice. He had known that Pokemon could speak, but for all his life he had believed that Pokemon could only speak using different combinations of their names. But, to actually hear a Pokemon speak English and be able to understand it, it was simply amazing!

"… Why are you here?"

The Pokemon released another groan and yawn-like sound before it moved a little bit closer to Ash, "Boy… Need… I… came… Need… boy to… come…"

"I… I called you here?" Ash exclaimed in shock.

"Yes…..." The Pokemon answered him before it looked around, with Ash following its gaze. It then gently hovered over to Anabel and Abra, who were barely within the reach of the moonlight that poured into the cave. "I came…" The tentacles that made up its arms reached down and touched Anabel and Abra's bodies before a white glow began to cover them all. "… Help…"

Ash stood shock-still as he watched as bruises, scrapes, and cuts on Anabel and Abra began to vanish in that white light. He didn't quite understand how he had "called" that strange Pokemon to "help", but right now it didn't matter. All that mattered right now was that someone had come and was now helping his friends where he couldn't.

"Done…" The Pokemon muttered as it withdrew its tentacles from Anabel and Abra, its form flickering as it turned to Ash. "… No… Not done…" It muttered to itself as its eyes locked on one of the Pokeballs hanging on Ash's belt before it moved forward, and enveloped the Pokeball with its tentacles.

Ash looked up at the Pokemon with a confused expression on his face, "What—what are you doing?"

"Helping hurt…" The Pokemon murmured.

As every Pokemon and conscious Human were currently staring at the strange Pokemon as it worked, they never noticed what was happening to the Moon Stone. Thin, spider-web-like cracks had begun to spread across its surface since the Pokemon had appeared and were only spreading, and getting thicker as time passed.

Things suddenly clicked for Ash as he realized what the Pokemon had meant; it had somehow sensed Clefairy even while it was in its Pokeball and was healing it, like it had Anabel and Abra. His eyes grew big as this realization began to sink in.

However, it was only after this happened that Ash noticed the tentacles on Clefairy's Pokeball were now fading in and out. He looked up to see that the rest of the Pokemon was also fading in and out, which caused a concerned expression to form on his face.

"Hey! What's wrong?" Ash asked of the Pokemon, who turned to look at him with an intense look of concentration. "What's happening to you? Why are you disappearing?"

All of the Clefable, Clefairy, and Cleffa exclaimed in alarm as they finally noticed the deep cracks that had were forming upon their "Sacred Rock". They didn't understand why it appeared to be breaking apart, though they quickly came up with some ideas. Could the humans have disturbed the Sacred Rock, or was it that strange Pokemon?

"Energy… used… much." The Pokemon muttered weakly before it floated closer to Ash—having retracted its tentacles from Clefairy's Pokeball. "Please… boy, help… Friend!"

Ash shook his head in confusion, "I don't understand! What's going on?"

"Friend... boy, please! Help…" The Pokemon muttered as its form flickered until there was only an indistinguishable cloud of colors floating before Ash. It then slowly reached towards Ash and, before it vanished completely, it said one last thing. "… Please."

Behind Ash, the cracked Moon Stone finally gave out and revealed something that no one would ever suspect; the Moon Stone was hollow! And—laying in the middle of it—was a strange-looking egg that slowly faded from a brilliant red to a pale pink color.

Ash's Current Pokemon Team:

Eevee

Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Scratch (Normal), Tail-Whip (Normal), Helping Hand (Normal), and Growl (Normal).

Pidgeotto

Attacks: Sand Attack (Ground), Tackle (Normal), and Peck (Flying).

Rattata

Attacks: Bite (Dark), Tackle (Normal), and Scratch (Normal).

Kakuna:

Attacks: String-Shot (Bug), Poison-Sting (Poison), and Bug-Bite (Bug).

Clefairy:

Attacks: Sing (Normal) and Pound (Normal).

Paras

Attacks: Poison Powder (Poison), Stun Spore (Grass), and Spore (Grass).

Anabel's Current Pokemon Team:

Abra

Attacks: Teleport (Psychic), Psyshock (Psychic), and Confusion (Psychic).

Jessie's Current Pokemon Team:

Ekans

Attacks: Bind (Normal), Acid (Poison), and Bite (Dark).

Jigglypuff

Attacks: Sing (Normal) and Pound (Normal).

James' Current Pokemon Team:

Koffing:

Attacks: Tackle (Normal), Selfdestruct (Normal), Poison Gas (Poison), and Smokescreen (Normal).

Mankey

Attacks: Scratch (Normal), Covet (Normal), Low Kick (Fighting), and Leer (Normal).