Ash was nervous to say the least. They had gotten strange reports of thunder striking the south eastern airport in Unova. Despite his protests, they were still going. Last time this happened, Pikachu had been hurt badly. Ash didn't want that to happen again.
"Ash, relax a bit." Chloe said gently patting him. Whatever this is, I'm sure it's nothing the three of us can't handle.
That was the other thing Ash was nervous about, they'd been a good streak for a while, and Goh and Chloe were getting a bit overconfident. Ash tended to rush into things, and often it ended poorly as a result. He didn't want them to lose their drive for adventure, or worse get hurt.
"Wow Ash, Chloe wasn't joking. You are tense." Goh said, trying to relax him.
"Goh I'm fine. See?" Ash said, relaxing way too much for what was coming.
"No, I mean your body still looks tense. As if it was pushing itself together." Goh said, looking at Ash. "Have you always been like this?"
"Goh, I don't know what you're talking about, I promise you I'm fine." Ash said a bit annoyed at the smothering.
"Okay, we'll drop it." Chloe said exasperated.
At the airport.
"So, the reports say most of the lightning struck out this way." Chloe said heading off in a direction.
"Am I the only one who finds it odd that we are choosing to go where the lightning has been hitting!" Goh said frightened.
"Nope, but I'm supposed to be relaxed." Ash said sarcastically.
"You know something don't you?" Chloe said, shocked.
"I've been against this since the start. Of course I know something." Ash said angrily.
"Why didn't you stop us!" Goh shouted.
"I tried! No one would listen!" Ash shouted back.
"Okay, enough. Ash you take the lead. If things get bad you make the call." Chloe said, pacifying the two.
"Okay, now be careful, if it's what I think it is, this won't be easy." Ash said making his way around a building.
Storm clouds surrounded the area. With no clear view, or signs it could be either Zekrom or even Thundorus. The first one was worrisome, the second was terrifying. If he had to stop the Forces of Nature, Ash wasn't sure what they'd do. Looking for any hint, Ash watched as a bolt of blue lightning struck the ground.
"Okay, good news is, we're dealing with Zekrom." Ash said turning back to the others.
"If that's the good news, what's the bad news?" Chloe asked.
"Last time I faced Zekrom, they used Pikachu as a battery. We barely got his electric powers back." Ash said concerned.
"So what do we do?" Goh asked.
"You two get people away from here, I'm going to try and lead it away from civilization." Ash said, sending out Charizard.
"Ash that's insane!" Chloe shouted.
"Last time I saw Zekrom, he went right for us. He wasn't even terrorizing here, hopefully he'll act the way I want." Ash said prepping for takeoff. "Watch each other's backs, and stay safe." Ash said, Charizard zooming towards the storm.
"Alright Zekrom where are you!" Ash shouted.
A bolt of lightning shot out of the storm as a warning shot.
"Yeah, remember us? Come and get us!" Ash taunted before firing a thunderbolt back.
His plan worked, the storm clouds had subsided, and Zekrom was coming towards them.
"Now it's time to go!" Ash shouted, as Charizard took off.
Ash and Charizard played a game of cat and mouse with Zekrom over most of Unova, until Ash saw a familiar cabin down below.
"Charizard, come in for a landing!" Ash commanded. "Please be home. I need you for this." Ash said to himself.
As Charizard landed, Ash went into a full on sprint to the cabin's front door.
"Come on N! Open up!" Ash shouted, pounding on the door. Zekrom was coming in fast.
As a bolt of lightning hit a nearby tree, Ash knew there was no time.
"Charizard hit it with a Flamethrower!"
The flames soared high into the sky, Zekrom took the flames, and went flying straight for them. Electricity crackling around him.
"Charizard knock him back with a Dragon Tail!"
As Charizard flew, locking into combat with Zekrom, Ash racked his brain trying to come up with a new strategy.
"Come on out everyone!" Ash said throwing five more pokeballs out.
"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"
"Charizard use Flamethrower!"
"Oshawott use Hydro Pump!"
"Gengar use Shadow Ball!"
"Donphan use Hyper Beam!"
"Glalie use Ice Beam!"
The six attacks spiraled, hitting Zekrom, creating a huge cloud of smoke. Before it even cleared, a bolt of energy hit Pikachu directly.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted unsure of what to do.
His oldest friend was in danger again, and he had no plan, no allies, not even his strongest attacks worked. As he was about to try and return Pikachu, he felt a connection, almost as if he was looking through Pikachu's eyes.
"You might think we're a battery for your disposal, but we're not. Pikachu turn it around!" Ash shouted, his eyes glowing.
The blue electricity was soon overpowered by yellow, as it began flowing the opposite way.
"Everybody let him have it!"
"Charizard use Blast Burn!"
"Oshawott use Hydro Pump!"
"Gengar use Psychic!"
"Donphan use Hidden Power!"
"Glalie use Ice Beam!"
Between the onslaught of attacks, and Pikachu draining his energy, Zekrom retreated to parts unknown, for now.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted running to his partner, their eyes having stopped glowing.
"Pika…". Pikachu said exhausted.
"That was a lot of energy, are you going to be okay?" Ash asked, worriedly.
"Pika." Pikachu said with a hint of exhaustion.
"Good idea buddy." Ash said returning all but Charizard, and began to head back towards where Goh and Chloe were.
At the docks.
"How do you think Ash is doing?" Chloe said.
"At this point who knows, I just hope he knows what he's doing." Goh replied.
"Huh, a message?" Chloe said opening her phone. "It's from Ash! He's okay! And wants us to meet him in Striaton City?" Chloe said a bit puzzled.
"Why do you think he wants to meet there?" Goh asked.
"No clue, do you think you can give me a lift though?" Chloe asked.
"Of course, Golurk still has plenty of room." Goh said confidently.
