Yay! New chapter! But I found out some horrible news! Gliscor is leaving Ash's team! *sniffle* Gliscor was my favorite of Ash's team… Well, hopefully Ash will use Gliscor for the Sinnoh tournament, since Gliscor is being trained by the Air Battle Master! But I'm still sad.
Anyway, back to the new chapter. I've gotten a pretty good chapter for humor here, plus some slight mystery and, of course, MorpheusShipping fluff! I'll be getting back to the main storyline soon, I promise! I'll also be doing some more battle scenes with Ash and the gang like I suggested I would earlier in the story.
Anyway, read on!
"Reggie, I don't think that Paul would do that sort of thing," Brock started to say before the other Pokémon breeder rounded on him.
"Whose little brother is he, mine or yours?" Reggie took a deep breath and massaged his temples. "This is exactly the sort of thing that Paul would do. About three years ago." Ash had to snort back laughter at the complete ridiculousness of the idea.
"I'm sorry, Reggie, but I just can't see that happening," he managed to say without laughing. Reggie sighed.
"Fine, don't believe me," he said. "But you'll find your missing stuff in your bags, which he's turned inside out."
"What?" Ash turned to where everyone had left their bags: by the side of the house. Indeed, every single bag that had been sitting there was now inside out. And, as it turned out when they all went to investigate, all zipped up. From the inside.
"How did he do that without any of us noticing?" Angie asked as Ash tried to open his bag. Reggie shrugged.
"I honestly have no idea. He always makes sure you have your back turned. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for my miscreant of a brother." Max appeared at his side.
"I'll help, he really upset Ammie over there." Angie glanced over to where Max was pointing, finding the yellow-haired girl vainly attempting to bend her hat back to its original shape. Her head snapped back to Ash as he let out an angry growl. It seemed that Paul had given his bag some special consideration.
All of his shirts were inside out. All of his pants were inside out. His vests were inside out. His underwear was inside out. His sleeping bag was inside out. His hat, at the bottom of his bag, was inside out. Even his socks were inside out. Angie hid a smile behind her hand as Ash sorted through his clothing and grumbled about how he was going to exact some sort of revenge.
"Hey Ash, what's in that little bag over there?" Angie asked as she pointed to a small bag that had fallen out of Ash's backpack. Ash grinned as he opened it.
"It's my special bag that I carry souvenirs from my travels in." He looked inside it anxiously, then sighed in relief. "Nothing's broken. Now," he said as he pulled Paul's Soothe Bell from his pocket, "to add the newest trinket." The bell jingled a bit as it was dropped into the bag. Ash drew the drawstrings shut and placed the bag in his backpack.
"Could you show me what's in there?" Angie asked curiously. Ash stood up and gave Angie a quick peck on the cheek before shaking his head.
"Maybe later," he answered. "Right now we've got to get the party back together, right Pikachu?"
"Pi pikachu!" Ash's faithful partner leaped onto his shoulder and raised a tiny fist into the air. Angie, meanwhile, had smacked a palm to her forehead.
"I totally forgot about the party, I was so wrapped up in everything else that was going on!" Pikachu laughed and jumped to Angie's shoulder.
"Pika pika pi-kaaa!"
"Oh, and here are your wrist bands," Ash said cheerfully. "Paul put them in my bag. I've got no idea why." Ash winked playfully, causing Angie to laugh, then he turned to where everyone else was. "Okay everyone! Let's get this party back… on… track?" No one was there. Even Charizard was gone. Angie shaded her eyes and looked around.
"I think everyone went after Paul," she said. Ash pulled his Pokéballs from his belt.
"Well then, if we find Paul, then eventually we'll find everyone else too!" Ash shouted. "Everybody return!" Ash's Pokémon (with the exception of Pikachu, of course) were withdrawn back into the red-and-white orbs in Ash's hands.
"Snover, Heracross, return!" Angie yelled. "Shinx, keep Meowth in line!"
"Ffinkf!" Angie's Spark Pokémon answered through Meowth's tail. Angie suddenly found Ash thrusting himself in front of her, arms outstretched.
"Angie, stay behind me," Ash whispered urgently. "And whatever you do, don't make any sudden movements! There's a very dangerous Pokémon over there!" Angie peered over Ash's shoulder carefully.
"That's not a dangerous Pokémon," Angie said as she ducked under Ash's outstretched arm. Pikachu jumped back onto Ash's shoulder. "Rotom wouldn't hurt anyone, would you?" she cooed. The orange lawnmower trundled up to the girl and purred as she began petting it. "See, Ash?"
As soon as Angie turned her head to address Ash, Rotom gave the raven-haired trainer an evil looking grin, jaws gaping slightly in a most unnerving fashion. Ash's response was to flinch and repeatedly point at the Plasma Pokémon. Angie turned back to her Electric/Ghost-Type.
"What? Rotom's not doing anything." The mischievous little Pokémon then rose from the lawnmower it had possessed and regained its normal form. Angie cupped her hands under the tiny Pokémon and stood up. "Isn't Rotom just the most precious little thing you ever saw?" she said sweetly, thrusting the orange Pokémon up to Ash's face. Ash stumbled backwards in a panic and plastered himself against the wall, much to Angie's confusion.
It's the same one, it's the same one! Ash kept thinking to himself.
"Ash… are you afraid of Rotom?" Ash bit his lower lip nodded furiously. Angie sighed as she pulled a Pokéball from off her belt. "Rotom, return! Okay, Ash, I'll mostly keep Rotom in its Pokéball. But," she added ominously. "If you misbehave, I might accidentally open Rotom's Pokéball…"
"Aww, come on!" Ash whined. "You know I don't do that kind of stuff!"
"Then you'll have nothing to worry about," Angie grinned. "Now weren't we going to go look for Paul?"
"Yeah, I've got some stuff to say to him about what he did to my bag! And for taking your wristbands!" Angie gave Ash a hug.
"That's sweet of you, but don't be too hard on him," she said. "We don't want him to be going back to his grumpy old self now, do we?" Ash sighed reluctantly.
"I guess so," he grumbled. They were about to walk towards the wooded area when both their stomachs gurgled simultaneously. "Maybe we could go back to the house and grab some more cookies first?"
"Good idea! Race ya!" The two trainers were about to start running when Meowth cried out to them.
"Hey, twerps! Hold on a sec!" Ash and Angie halted in their tracks and turned to the Scratch Cat Pokémon. "First offs, I wish you twos a long life an' lotsa laughs together." Both trainers were taken aback by the compliment.
"Umm, thanks," Ash said. "I guess."
"Now I need ta get back ta Team Rocket, so I was wunnerin if Pikachu could give me a return flight?"
"How did you end up back here, anyway?" Angie asked.
"Yeah, what blasted you off again?" Ash added. Meowth stood up proudly.
"Well, 'dis 's supposed ta be a secret an' all, but Team Rocket's gonna be trainin' so hard dat we're gonna catch Pikachu! We're gonna be so strong, you twerps won't stand a chance!" Ash exchanged a glance with Angie.
"Uh huh? So where do you want to go?"
"Dat way," Meowth pointed north. Ash nodded to Pikachu who jumped to the ground and got behind Meowth as the Scratch Cat Pokémon continued its tirade. "So tell your twerpish pals that Team Rocket's coming! Tremble in fear, 'cause the next time we meet, we won't be da losers! And-"
"Pika-CHUUUUU!"
"MEEEEOOOWWWCHH! LOOKS LIKE I'm blasting off again!"
Ash, Angie, and their respective Electric-Type Pokémon watched as Meowth disappeared into the sky with a twinkle.
"That was fun," Angie said after a while. "How often do you get to do that?"
"Oh, a couple of times a week," Ash answered. "Why?" Angie scuffed her shoe on the ground, unable to look at him directly.
"Well, you see, my parents said that I could start t-traveling, and, w-well," she stammered as a blush spread across her face. "I was hoping that I could travel with you?"
"Sure!" Ash exclaimed. "I-I mean, that's great, Angie! So your parents are going to be okay with you traveling away from home with me?"
"Yeah, they pretty much said that they trust you to take care of me," she snickered. "But you know that I don't need anyone to take care of me, right?" Ash shrugged as they began walking towards the door to Angie's house.
"I dunno," he replied. "After all, I've saved your life twice, right?"
"Hey, no fair," Angie whined playfully. "I've changed a lot since then!"
"Sure you have."
"No, really!"
"Uh huh."
"I have!"
"Right." Ash's face finally broke into a grin, while Angie's face soured.
"You were toying with me, weren't you," she stated accusingly.
"Yup," Ash said grinning. His grin faltered when he saw Angie's face, eyes wide and mouth drooping. "Oh, Angie! I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings! I was just playing around!" Now it was Angie's turn to grin.
"Gee, Misty was right! Puppy dog eyes really do work!" Ash fell to the ground.
"Angie, don't ever do that again!" he scolded as he got up. "You made me feel horribly guilty!"
"Silly! That's the whole point! It keeps you kind and caring! See, like this! Look! Look!" She made the pathetic face again. Ash covered his eyes desperately.
"No! I won't look! I won't look! I'm already feeling guilty enough!" Angie attempted to peel Ash's hands away from his face.
"But don't I look adorable? Look! Please? Please? Pleeeezee?" Angie begged, making her voice as cute and pathetic as possible.
"Argh! I can't cover my eyes and my ears at the same time!" Ash whimpered.
"Now come in the house and eat some cookies with me," she ordered. "Or I'll start acting all cute and hurt again." Pikachu and Shinx snickered as their trainers held hands and walked into the house together.
"Ricochet, use Thunder!" Melody shouted. Her Zangoose leaped into the air and unleashed a powerful volley of electricity at its opponent.
"Yanmega, attack pattern Alpha-three-one!" Cameron yelled. His Ogre Darner Pokémon executed a barrel roll to avoid the bolt of electrical energy and then launched a monochromatic sphere at the Scar Ferret Pokémon.
"Use Crush Claw on that Ancient Power to get higher, then use Slash!" Ricochet's claws glowed as the red-and-white Pokémon smashed both of its front limbs down upon the oncoming attack to launch itself at Cameron's Yanmega.
"Get behind it and use Air Slash!" The powerful Bug/Flying-Type quickly circled around its adversary as one of its wings gathered a swirling orb of energy. Ricochet tried to turn so that it could face its opponent, but the Ogre Darner was too agile. Melody's Zangoose crashed into the ground when Cameron's Yanmega released the shot of sky blue energy.
"Ricochet, you can do this! Rock Smash!" Ricochet pounded a fist into the ground, creating a fissure that zigzagged across the uneven terrain until it was under Cameron's Yanmega, when the fissure released a spray of sharp-edged rock fragments.
"Deflect it back with Bug Buzz!" Yanmega's wings beat the air rapidly, creating shockwaves that redirected the attack back to its owner. Melody pulled out Ricochet's Pokéball before the counterattack struck.
"Ricochet, return! You did well!" She threw another Pokéball into the air. "Ichigo, use Blast Burn!" Melody's Charizard appeared in a flash of light and immediately launched an enormous, pulsing stream of fire at Yanmega.
"Protect!" An instant before the blast struck, Yanmega was enveloped in a protective green bubble. The powerful Fire-Type attack exploded when it encountered the shielding move. Ichigo began to give off red sparks of energy as the Flame-Pokémon recharged. The smoke around Yanmega dispersed rapidly as the Protect move was lowered. "That's why you don't start with your most powerful move! Ancient Power!" A second monochrome sphere of energy smashed into the Fire/Flying-Type, ending the battle.
"You did your best Ichigo, now you take a nice long rest." Melody glared at her opponent. "I'll beat you some time! Cuddy, go!" Her black-furred Electric-Type appeared, sparking aggressively. Cameron nodded at her choice.
"Exemplary as usual, Yanmega! Return!" he shouted as he switched Pokémon. "Heatran, go!" A reddish-brown Pokémon appeared, with a steel head and dappled with yellow and grey spots.
"Battle begin!" both trainers yelled as their Pokémon charged each other.
I think I'm getting pretty good at the interactions between Ash and Angie! And soon I'll have Angie's parents playing a bigger part in the story. Melody is now mad at me because she lost, so I'm going to let her tell all of you a message.
Every time you bring logic into anime, God destroys a bowl of pasta. PLEASE THINK ABOUT THE PASTA!!
Umm, yeah. It didn't really make sense to me either. Anyway, I'll get one more chapter posted before Christmas. Send in more reviews! Let's see if we can make the 200 mark before the First of January! Here's some stuff to think about: Where is Paul? Is he really behind all of the mischief? What is Team Rocket doing to make themselves more powerful? And will the Valentine's party be able to continue, or will it just peter out? Yes, it is still Valentine's Day in this fanfic. Scary, huh?
See ya, and a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, or Kwanza to you if I don't manage to make the next chapter in time!