The Army of Ash! Destroy Team Rocket!

Chapter 4: Calm Before the Storm

In the badlands of Kanto, amid the rocky, normally lifeless terrain, there was life. A whole lot of it. It was a few miles away from Team Rocket HQ, and thanks to a herd of 30 Tauros and an even bigger flock of Flying-types, a huge army of Pokemon were situated beneath the setting Sun. The Pokemon were all chowing down on the many bags of Pokemon food, which was unknowingly courtesy of Professor Oak. Ash had quite a lot of money saved up in his bank account from his Pokemon League victories, so he made sure to leave the Professor a check to cover all the food he'd loaded onto his Tauros herd. It honestly felt weird going behind Professor Oak's back like this, but Ash simply refocused on Team Rocket, what he'd seen them do, and of course, his mother.

Ash stood with Pikachu on his shoulder, watching the huge gathering of both his and Goh's Pokemon eat and mingle beneath the setting sun. Ash could feel tension in the air. Even as the various Pokemon conversed and laughed good naturedly amongst each other, there was the sense that this communal mealtime was the calm before the storm. Their last meal before the upcoming battle after sunset.

"Well. . .Guess there's no going back now," Ash said as he looked over the massive army.

"Pika, Pikapi," Pikachu agreed.

Goh was standing by his friend, and he smiled determinedly at Ash and said, "We can do this. Team Rocket won't know what hit 'em!"

Ash turned to Goh, and he nodded slowly, "Yeah. . . yeah. . ." Ash's look of uncertainty changed into a confident smile and said, "Yeah, we can do this. With all of our Pokemon working together, there's nothing we can't do!" Ash raised his right arm and said, "We won't give up until it's over! Right?"

Goh grinned and raised his hand in turn, "Right!"

The boys gave each other a high five as Pikachu cheered.

Goh nodded and said, "Okay, so I'm gonna go give my Pokemon one more pep talk before the sun sets. This is gonna be awesome!"

Ash watched as Goh excitedly ran off into the crowd, thoroughly grateful he had made such a loyal friend. Ash reached up to scratch Pikachu between his ears. "It's almost time, Pikachu," Ash said gently, then his gaze hardened as he said, "We won't let them get away with what they did to Mom."

"Pikachu Pika," Pikachu said rather darkly, but then his right ear perked up. "Pikachu?" he said as he turned around, then his eyes widened and he jumped right off of Ash's shoulder. "Chu!" he cried out in amazement.

Ash turned, surprised by Pikachu's actions, and said, "Pikachu? What is it?"

"Pikapi! Pi Chu!" Pikachu shouted as he pointed upwards.

Ash followed Pikachu's paws, and he had to take a step back when he saw what Pikachu had seen.

A glowing pink bubble was floating down from the sky.

". . . No way. . . Is that. . .?" Ash gasped out in amazement.

The pink bubble floated down towards the human and Pikachu, and it hovered a few inches away from them before it popped, revealing the small Pokemon inside. The little pink Pokemon giggled and waved cheerfully at the pair.

". . . Mew. . ." Ash whispered.

Mew cocked its head at the pair, then put a forepaw to its lips and soundlessly shushed.

Ash blinked, his mind wandering to Goh, who was a mere few yards away, talking with the Pokemon he's caught, blissfully unaware that the very Pokemon he had his heart set on catching was right here. As a result, a swift debate began in Ash's mind.

"I gotta tell Goh about this! Goh would go wild about this! But . . . Mew doesn't want Goh to know. . . I guess Mew isn't ready to let Goh see it yet. . . Maybe someday. . . Whenever Mew's ready is just fine. . ."

A smile slowly spread across Mew's face as it stared at Ash, peering into his very thoughts and clearly liking what it was seeing. Mew then floated forward and gently placed a paw on Ash's forehead. Ash's eyes widened as he felt an odd yet pleasant sensation run through his brain. It was nice and cool, yet warm and comforting at the same time. It was so confusing, but it made perfect sense.

Mew then removed its paw and floated back from Ash, still smiling at him.

"This should be a big help to you. Good luck!"

Ash was taken aback in surprise, and then Mew suddenly shot up into the sky, disappearing in a flash.

". . .Mew spoke to me with telepathy," Ash said in awe. He'd met plenty of telepathic Pokemon in his travels, and it still amazed him every time he met one.

"I wonder what Mew did?"

Ash quickly turned to look at Pikachu in amazement, his jaw dropped and hanging open as he struggled to compose himself. "Pikachu. . . You can use telepathy too!"

Pikachu turned to look up at Ash in confusion. "Pika?" he asked in confusion. Immediately after, Ash heard the voice from earlier say, "Telepathy? I can't do that. . . "

"But you can!" Ash said excitedly as he pointed at Pikachu, "I just heard you! Right there!" Ash was smiling as he thought to himself, "This is awesome! I can't believe Mew did this for us!"

"I just heard Ash's thoughts! I heard your thoughts, Ash!" Pikachu communicated with a smile to match his Trainer's.

Ash was nodding energetically and said, "Wow! Mew must have let me connect my thoughts with yours!"

Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms and the two shared a tight hug.

"Ash. . . I like being out here with you! Thank you for caring so much about me! And I care about you too!"

At that moment, Ash felt as happy as he had been back before his mother had been attacked.

"I'm so glad I met you, buddy," Ash said as he hugged Pikachu close, "No matter what happens, what challenges we face, we'll face 'em together! I want you right here, right by my side."

"Forever?" Pikachu said hopefully.

"Forever," Ash said with certainty.

The pair just sat hugging each other, looking out over the grand army before them. As Ash's gaze fell upon each of his Pokemon, he could hear each of their inner voices. Some were nervous, some were excited, some were eagerly thinking of beating down Team Rocket grunts. Each and every voice was unique, and Ash recognized every single one.

"So that's what Mew meant," Ash remarked, "I can share thoughts with all my Pokemon."

Pikachu looked up at Ash with eyes shining from the possibilities. "That'll make it real easy to send everyone to attack the Team Rocket headquarters."

"Right!" Ash said, "And if anyone needs help, I can just give the thought and tell them to fall back or wait for back up! It'll be like a giant Pokemon battle!"

Pikachu gained a nervous look and asked, "Do you have a strategy for something that big?"

Ash shrugged and said, "Well, I already divided everyone up into groups for each part of the attack. I'll just improvise from there!"

Pikachu rolled his eyes and smiled wryly, "Never change, Ash. . ."

There was much more conversing between the Pokemon Master to be and his Starter, as as between said human and his other Pokemon.

But when all was said and done, and the sun had set, it was time to move out, and assault the cold heart of Team Rocket.