Me: This chapter is a little short, as it features one of the remaining DR Pokemon who willingly joined these evil creatures.
Servo: Also keep your eyes open for a subtle 4th wall break.
Zane: Plus Crow endures more bodily harm.
Crow: NUTCASE!!!
Me: Come on, you can't disagree you take hits better than even Larry Fine from the Three Stooges!
Crow: Even so, I'm tired of being the fall guy!
Mallow: We'll make it up to ya, don't worry.
Chapter 45: Fire Fight
Thanks to some aerial assistance from HO-OH and the flock of flying pokemon who helped the heroes get to the Rocket fall back hideout, the heroes landed on the warship that suddenly appeared at the Rocket base that was apparently the last escape for the Dentes Rhohos leader, Kale, and his servent, Branz. The moment they landed, the flying pokemon flew back to a safe distance as the engines on the ship flared to life, and propelled the ship higher into the sky.
The heroes found a door that lead into the ship, which Donkey Kong had no trouble opening with a few well-placed punches. As they walked into the dark halls, they saw a lot of futuristic and unfamiliar technology everywhere. As they continued down the halls, Goombario said, "Careful guys, there's no telling what could be in here."
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In a room deep inside the ship, Kale and Branz watched on a viewscreen as the heroes walked down each hallway trying to find the two villians. Kale smirked at Goombario's words, and said, "Oh, you have no idea how right you are. Branz, send them some 'company' to keep them entertained." Branz nodded as he commanded the four remaining loyal DR pokemon in their ranks to attack the heroes.
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The heroes eventually found a computer that displayed a map of the ship. After figuring out how to change the language setting from whatever the language it was currently set on to English, they printed out the map so they could carry it with them. As they went down the hallway on the left side of the computer, they found an unwlcome sight. They saw another DR Pokemon waiting for them, and it had flames erupting from it's hands.
Ash quickly checked his Pokedex, and it said, "Magmorter, the Blast pokemon. Magmorter is the evolved form of Magmar. Magmorter is a newly discovered species of pokemon, and as such not much is known about it. It get's it's name from it's hands which seem to act like cannons."
Suddenly, Magmorter shot a series of fireballs from it's hands. Everyone was able to avoid getting hit, but just barely. Ash quickly tossed in his Blastoise to battle the dangerous DR Magmorter. Magmorter rushed in with a Thunder Punch, but Blastoise gaurded himself with Protect, then followed up with a Bubble attack. The attack didn't do much due to the fact Bubble is the weakest of water attacks, but the move did achieve slowing Magmorter down enough for Blastoise to strike with a Rapid Spin attack.
Magmorter grabbed Blastoise after the attack ended and unleashed a Seismic Toss, which knocked the wind out of Blastoise when the giant turtle hit the ground, leaving it open to a Thunder Punch. Blastoise gathered enough strength for another Rapid Spin attack, and deflected the oncoming electric attack, then Blastoise fired a Hydro Pump at Magmorter and was able to weaken it enough for Ash to capture it.
After the battle, Lucy said, "I got a feeling there's gonna be more trouble where that came from." Clay then said, "We'd better hurry and get them before they get us then. I'm sure we're on the right path. We wouldn't have run into that thing otherwise."
They continued on until they saw another room that was identical to the room where they printed out the map. Everyone was confused by this, wondering how they looped around back to where they started. That's when Goombario said, "Wait, I remember that in a lot of cases, this is actually a puzzle of sorts."
Misty then asked, "What do you mean?" After catching onto Goombario's assumption, Clay said, "We've been in situations like these before. You see, this room clearly has two paths. One is the right path which will lead further into the ship. The other will somehow loop back to the first room in this insane puzzle. There's usually some kind of hint to clue us into which path we should take."
"This is beginning to sound like a video game..." Ash muttered under his breath. After searching the room carefully, they couldn't see a hint which could lead them further into the ship, until Luigi noticed the doorways leading to each hall. They were both dfferent colors. One was black, and the other red. He then asked, "Guys, I think I may have found something."
Everyone looked at Luigi, and he pointed out the color of the doorways. He said, "I'm sure that the secret lies in the color! Only problem is this; how do we figure the right path?"
Zane then said, "Easy, the Dentes Rhohos are creatures of darkness, so I'm sure the right path is beyond the black door." Ash then said, "That seems too easy to me..." Ash and Zane began to argue, but Crow then said, "I'll go and check it out! Big babies..." Crow went through the black doorway, and a moment later, there was a loud piercing scream and the sound of something being sliced.
Everyone looked alarmed, wondering if Crow was ok. When Crow came back out, all that was seen was his head, which was somehow sliced off. Crow, despite being decapitated, then said, "Ok, do not go down that hall!" Luigi then said, "I can see why, but what happened!?"
Crow then said, "When I went in, a sawblade shot out from the wall, and sliced right through my neck! Thank god I wasn't in human form, otherwise I would've been shut down for good!" A moment later, Crow's body staggered out, waving Crow's arms clumsily trying to find the head it belonged too. Crow then said, "Hold it buddy, I'm over here." Crow's body paused, and walked over to where it heard Crow's voice (don't ask how lol).
The body then reached out towards Clay's face, but Crow said, "Not that head you idiot, down here! That's Clay you're trying to pick up, and he needs his head otherwise he dies!" Crow's body bent down, and finally picked up Crow's head, where Crow then said, "Ok good. Now give me to Clay. He's right in front of you. Just let Clay pick me out of our hands, please." Clay picked up Crow's head, and then pulled out a small welding torch. Clay then said to Crow and his body, "Ok, I'm gonna try to weld you two back together, so there may be some slight discomfort." After getting done talking, Clay proceded to fuse Crow back together. When he completed the task, Crow said, "Thanks. I guess now we can see that Zane's choice would've been disasterous. Good call Ash."
Ash smiled smugly at Zane, who simply swallowed his pride and apologized for arguing, as well as nearly costing everyone their lives. That's when Servo said to Crow, "You should get hazardous duty pay for this line of work, Crow."
Normally, Crow would answer Servo with either a witty remark, or by telling Servo to shut up, but he couldn't help but acknowledge Servo may be right about this. He then said, "I'll have to check my insurance policy after this is over."
To be continued...
Crow: Ok, that wasn't too bad I guess...
Me: We'll still try to find someway to make this up to you.
Crow: Thanks.
Zane: Nice touch applying the never-ending-hallway puzzle here.
Me: Thanks. I figured making one of those maze puzzle halls would be a good addtion to the ship's internal defenses. Only difference being that if you choose the wrong path, a terrible fate awaits. The right path leads to a DR pokemon battle.
Mallow: The use of the doorway's color to detrmine the right path was clever. Very subtle. If it were in a game, I doubt anyone would figure the puzzle out at first.
Me: R&R!
