Chapter 11: A.I.M for the top, heroes!
Ash and Mankey both looked on at the army of AIM agents that had collected in front of them. There were so many of them that the Pokemon-Trainer duo couldn't even count them all!
"W-Wow..." Ash muttered in disbelief as the grunts pointed their futuristic guns at him while he had his arms in the air. "You guys really brought an army to deal with me even though I'm just a new trainer? Man, you must recognize how strong I am as a Pokemon Trainer, then! That's so-"
"Shut up. If you move, we'll shoot!" the person who was leading the group of evil A.I.M agent angrily replied as he pointed his gun at Ash's face, causing a red dot to shine onto the young boy's face, while also cutting him off in the process. Immediately, all of the other A.I.M agents did the same thing as the man leading them, and Ash soon found that over a hundred different evildoers were going to shoot him if he made even the slightest of movements.
"O-Oh, uh, alright!..." Ash quickly replied. He glanced down at Mankey, who was scratching the back of its head using its leg, standing like a monkey. Whispering, the raven-haired boy asked "How do we get out of this, Mankey?..."
The Fighting-type Pokemon looked up at Ash and simply smirked. "Mank, Mank, Key."
Ash blinked twice.
"What?"
Ignoring the fact that its trainer didn't understand its plan, Mankey jumped into action, hopping onto the face of the first A.I.M agent who had arrived and immediately began his comedic scratching and punching combo that was mostly reserved for Ash.
"Agh! Get it off, get it off!" the A.I.M grunt shouted as he began to randomly shoot red lasers from his gun into the sky while Mankey continued to destroy his face. "It hurts... It HURTS!"
"W-Wow, you don't attack me THAT hard, Mankey..." Ash muttered before grinning. "I guess that means you must really like me and hold back when you want to hit me, right?"
This comment earned a glare from Mankey, causing the wannabe Pokemon Master to immediately shut his big mouth.
At this point, the other A.I.M agents were also blasting at Mankey, trying to get the Fighting-type Pokemon off of the face of the person who was supposed to be leading them.
However, this simply prompted the Fighting-type Pokemon to start attacking multiple A.I.M agents!
"W-Wow!...This is crazy!..." Ash exclaimed as he watched Mankey jump skillfully from A.I.M agent to A.I.M agent, scratching and damaging their heads so much that they ended up falling to the ground. It was quite a sight, and it honestly made Ash feel pretty proud. Mankey WAS his Pokemon, after all. "Way to go, buddy! Show 'em what you're made of!"
"Um, Ash, a little help here?"
The wannabe Pokemon Master turned around and nervously chuckled while scratching his cheek. "O-Oh, Brock...I forgot about you..."
Brock was still hanging upside down from the tree, and Ash decided to get him down. While Mankey was dealing with the villains, Ash rushed directly at the tree and smashed his head into it, causing Brock to simply sigh.
"Ash, I know you're not the brightest..." the former Gym Leader started. "...But everyone knows that would never work! In fact, I-"
However, much to Brock's surprise, Ash's action caused him to come crashing onto the floor, comedically causing him to land on the ground head-first.
"Huh, it really did work!" Ash happily exclaimed as he rubbed his head and grinned. "I didn't really think that would work! I just did it to look cool, to be honest..."
Brock immediately got to his feet and pointed at Mankey, who was making quick work of the A.I.M agents. "It's only a matter of time before those guys manage to defeat Mankey, Ash."
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Ash responded, looking on at his Pokemon, his expression turning serious. "I would love to help Mankey, but he won't listen to me...I think it's because I'm so used to battling with Scorbunny that I'm not very good at commanding other Pokemon..."
Brock nodded silently for a moment before smirking.
"Heh, well, you've gotta make the most out of your situation, right?" the former Gym Leader asked as he slowly grabbed a Pokeball from his waist and lifted up in front of his face. "Ash, earlier today you wanted me to show you how strong I was when I got serious, right?"
Ash raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah. Why?"
Brock chuckled. "Well, I'm not the best battler...But I think our current situation is a good enough time for me to go all out!"
"So, uh, mind telling me how you shot a saw-blade at me?" Spider-Man asked the yellow and black robots that towered over him, inspecting them during their intense stand-off. "Because the way I see it, you guys just seem like the type to do nothing but hit, hit, and hit some more..."
The superhero dressed up in red and blue was staring down three A.I.M robots, who were all angrily glaring at him. Because of how their bodies were designed, the robots looked as though they had a single giant eye, and it kind of freaked the superhero out.
Of course, he had dealt with The Green Goblin, who was pretty much the definition of creepy, so it didn't weird him out TOO much.
"So, uh, do you guys not talk or something?" the wallcrawler asked the robots after a few seconds after noticing that they were doing nothing but stare at him in a menacing manner. "Are you guys controlled by an A.I, or is there a guy controlling you from the inside? Because frankly, I'd love to-"
Suddenly, the superhero's Spider-Sense immediately activated and he did a backflip, dodging an attack that surely would have killed him, which basically consisted of all three of the robots smashing their fists at him at the same time. Because of his well-timed backflip, the robots ended up just hitting the ground instead.
"Woah! Mind giving me a warning next time?" Peter asked as he got up, creating a bit of distance between him and his opponents. "Seriously, ask your creators to program some manners into you or something!"
Out of nowhere, a single slit appeared on all of the robots' 'eyes', confusing the spider-themed superhero.
"What's up with the slits? Hurting yourself is never okay, alright? If you ever feel-"
Once again surprising the hero, buzz-saws began shooting out of the holes, which was equally as weird-looking as it sounded!
"Woah! Easy there, fellas!" the superhero angrily exclaimed as he dodged the buzz-saws by running to the left, letting them sink into the bark of some nearby trees. "Can't we settle this like adults? I mean, I'm not an adult, but robots don't really age, so it's cool, right? I think-"
While two of the robots continued their endless barrage of buzz-saws, one of the robots stopped shooting, the slit that had appeared on its eye promptly closing, and used the rockets on the back of its feet to propel itself towards the superhero at rapid speeds, raising its arm to pummel the teenage superhero.
"Woah! Dude, let's just-" Spidey started, but was cut off when the robot smashed its fist onto the ground in front of him, causing him to be sent flying back!
Luckily, our hero was able to stick onto a tree on time.
"Arceus damn it..." Spider-Man angrily thought to himself as he tilted his head to the right, just barely dodging one of the many saw-blades that were trying to kill him. "These guys are relentless!...And there are three of them!..."
Taking advantage of the fact that he was idle and had nowhere to run to, the A.I.M robot once again used its rocket-powered legs to zoom at the hero, catching him by surprise and punching him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.
"AGH!" Spider-Man screamed out in pain.
However, the suffering didn't stop there for our hero. Taking advantage of the fact that its legs were rocket-powered, the flames located behind the robot's feet grew more intense and he proceeded to push Spider-Man even further, with its fist still connected with Peter's stomach.
Our favorite spider-themed superhero was completely helpless as he was sent flying a few meters back, smashing through many trees in the process, before landing onto the ground, laying on his back,
The A.I.M robots looked at each other, and the two robots that still had the single slit in their eyes proceeded to shut them. The three of them communicated via the flashing their eyes, which all flashed a bright yellow, before proceeding to walk towards the superhero, ready to capture him.
"Damn it...I'm completely helpless...Lying here on the floor like this..." Peter thought to himself as he felt the ground shake with every step that the mechanical menaces took. "Man, just give me a minute, or two, or three...I just wanna lie on the ground...The nice, soft, grassy, ground..."
The teenage superhero felt his eyes beginning to close, and he decided that a few minutes of rest wouldn't hurt...
…
The A.I.M robots had now made it to Spider-Man's body.
One of the robots picked up the 'unconscious' superhero by the back of his costume and lifted him up into the air for his fellow robots to see. He flashed the light in his eye, and one of the other robots immediately punched our hero in the gut, not only waking him up, but also causing intense pain for him.
"AGH!"
The robot that punched our hero took a few steps back, and Peter angrily cursed him under his breath.
"Damn it...Can't catch a break with you guys..." the hero muttered as he looked around, before smirking at the situation that he had found himself in. "Well, thanks for the wake-up call, though! Really needed it! After all..."
Spider-Man proceeded to shoot two random webs at some random branches, diverting all of the robots' attention to them. Taking advantage of the situation, our hero kicked the robot that was currently holding him by the back of his costume directly into its giant, yellow 'eye', completely shattering it!
"...A hero can't give up!"
The wallcrawler landed onto the ground as the robot that was holding him fell backwards, crashing onto the ground as it went offline.
"So their little eyes act as their brains, eh?" Peter thought to himself as he stood up and looked at the two remaining robots, who got ready to do battle with him. "It would be pretty tedious to try and destroy them, though. I just got lucky with 'Mr. Get-Up-Close-And-Personal' over there. These two are definitely going to be on their guard! That's why..."
An idea quickly formed in his head and he grinned as he grabbed the two Pokeballs on his waist and tossed them up into the air, causing his two partners, Joltik and Bulbasaur, to materialize in front of him.
"...I'm going to go at 'em using a much more technical approach! Nobody's here, so I should be able to use Bulbasaur!" Spidey excitedly thought to himself before shouting at the robots who were fighting with him. "Listen, you robotic bozos! I've got no idea what your beef is with me, but if you're gonna mess with me, you're gonna have to get ready to mess with my Pokemon, too! They'll do anything for me, and I'll do anything for them!"
"Jol-Jol!"
"Bulba-Saur!"
Peter and his Pokemon were ready.
Lillie, Misty, and Scorbunny all looked on angrily at the Scientist Supreme and the two random grunts who standing next to him, all three of them looking incredibly dignified. The grunt to Scientist Supreme's left was holding a briefcase.
"Now, what do you say, child?" Scientist Supreme asked with a smirk as he raised his arms into the sky so as to challenge Lillie and Misty. "What will it be?! Will you hand that fine specimen you have there to me, or will we have to use force to get what we want?!"
The blonde-haired caretaker of Nebby simply clutched Nebby tighter, with the gaseous little creature continuing its slumber, unaware of the violence that was about to go down. "I...I...I'm not sure...I-I mean, no. I...I won't let you take Nebby...I mean...I don't think I will..."
Scorbunny and Misty both looked at their friend with raised eyebrows.
Lillie needed to work on her self-confidence!
"You don't think you will? What are you talking about?!" Misty asked Lillie harshly before turning back to The Scientist Supreme, though she was still talking to her new friend. "Nebby's your partner, right? Your friend? You're not really going to let these weirdos take him, will you?"
Lillie blinked twice before nodding slowly. "Y-You're right...I won't let them...I won't let them take Nebby! He's my friend!"
Happy with the fact that its trainer's friend was ready to battle it out with these freaks, Scorbunny turned to face the villains that had appeared and chuckled menacingly. "Scor-Bun!"
"Hmph, is that truly your opinion on the matter? The stance you will take?" Scientist Supreme asked before chuckling darkly. "Fine then. When you're laying in the mud and beaten half to death while wild Pokemon feast on your corpse...Remember that it was your choice to oppose us!"
The leader of A.I.M raised his right arm and continued. "Grunt, if you would be so kind, please teach these foolish morons what it means to oppose us."
"Right away, sir," the grunt replied with a nod before turning to the group of good guys and taking out a Pokeball. "Don't take this too personally, girls. It's just business! Now...Go, Zubat!"
The A.I.M grunt tossed a Pokeball in front of himself and the Poison-Flying type Pokemon immediately materialized, ready to fight.
"Zu-Bat! Zu-Bat!"
"Hehe, a Pokemon battle, eh? Bad call, pal!" Lillie's new friend exclaimed before glancing at the blonde. "So, do you mind if I take this one? You can have the next one."
"Pl-Please, feel free to fight all three..." Lillie nervously replied. "I told you I wasn't much of a fighter..."
"Oh. Huh. Really? I thought you were just saying that to look good..." Misty muttered before looking back at the villains. "Well, whatever! I'll deal with them all! Go, STARYU!"
The orange-haired girl tossed a Pokeball in front of herself, and her Pokemon materialized immediately.
This Pokemon was Staryu. Staryu was a golden-brown, starfish-like Pokémon with five appendages. These appendages surrounded an exterior organ called the core. The core resembled a golden metal casing with a red gem in the center, which was held in place by a golden ring looped around Staryu's lower left point.
"Star-Star-YAAAA!" the Pokemon shouted, despite the fact that it lacked a mouth.
"A-A Staryu..." Lillie whispered before grinning. "Wow! That's a pretty rare Pokemon, Misty!"
"Heh, when you're a Water-type Pokemon Master in training, you're going to want only the strongest, rarest, and most powerful Water-types!" Misty exclaimed with a smirk before directing her attention to the A.I.M agent. "Get ready to get your face messed up! Staryu doesn't mess around!"
"We'll see!" the man in yellow shouted back.
"Heh, yeah. 'We'll see', he says..." Misty muttered in response, eager to just begin the battle.
Realizing that Misty was the one who was going to be doing the battling, and not it, Scorbunny slouched its shoulders in disappointment.
"Scor-Bun..."
"O-Oh, Scorbunny! Don't be discouraged!" Lillie exclaimed, attempting to cheer the Fire-type up. "You battle so much with Ash, don't you think it would be a little fun to watch?"
The Fire-type crossed its arms and plopped onto the ground, still a bit discouraged. "Scor-Bun Bun..."
"Hmph, this should be a fairly quick battle!" the A.I.M agent exclaimed with a smirk. "Zubat, use Gust!"
The bat Pokemon immediately began flapping its wings at rapid speeds upon hearing its master's command, creating two small mini-tornadoes. These tornadoes were sent zooming towards Staryu, who made no effort to dodge them whatsoever.
"Hehe, Staryu, just use Harden!" Misty instructed excitedly.
Staryu's body was briefly covered in a bright yellow light and, when the gust attacks hit...
…They did no damage at all!
Everyone, including Scorbunny and excluding Scientist Supreme, and ESPECIALLY including Misty's opponent, all watched on with dropped jaws. That was a pretty impressive call on Misty's part!
"Hehe, if you though that was cool, then watch this!" Misty exclaimed as she put her hands on her hips. Then using one finger to point at the battlefield, the orange-haired girl shouted to her partner "Staryu! Use Quick Attack!"
Moving at incredibly fast speeds, Staryu appeared to have vanished into thin air, when in reality it was just moving super fast, and appeared on the ground behind Zubat, who was in the air. The star-shaped Pokemon then jumped into the air and hit Zubat, causing it to crash and fall into the ground.
"Agh! My Zubat!" the A.I.M agent exclaimed in disbelief.
"Haha, we're not done yet!" Misty continued. "Prepare to be flushed! Staryu, use Bubble Beam!"
Staryu's core glowed a bright red, and the star-shaped Pokemon immediately fired a barrage of blue bubbles at Zubat, who was still located on the ground.
"Staaar...YUUU!"
This action caused a mini-explosion to take place when the attack collided with Zubat's body and, when the dust settled...
…Zubat was laying unconscious on the floor.
"Zu...Bat..." the Pokemon muttered weakly.
"Aha! See? THAT'S how you deal with a jerk!" Misty exclaimed proudly, smirking at her opponent who returned Zubat to its Pokeball. "Who's next? Come on, I'm ready for Round 2!"
"Wow Misty! That was pretty good!" Lillie informed Misty, who simply nodded in response. "You're really talented at Pokemon battling!"
"I know that," Misty replied nonchalantly and with a grin, staring at Scientist Supreme and his lackeys confidently. "So, who's next?"
Brock tossed his Pokeball into the sky and, immediately, a giant Pokemon materialized behind himself.
The Pokemon that appeared was a Rock-type and, because of this, it was composed of a giant chain of gray boulders that become smaller towards its tail. Its length made it the tallest Rock-type Pokémon in the world! It had black eyes and a rounded snout, and on top of its head was a rocky spine. The Pokemon looked extremely menacing.
The Pokemon roared ferociously, causing Ash to grin at how cool it looked.
"Woah, who's THAT Pokemon?!" the wannabe Pokemon Master asked as he took out his Rotom-Phone and scanned the creature.
"Bzzt, Bzzt! Onix, the Rock Snake Pokemon, a Rock and Ground type. This Pokemon has a magnet in its brain which acts like a compass so that this Pokémon does not lose direction while it is tunneling. As it grows older, its body becomes increasingly rounder and smoother, as well as stronger and harder!"
"Onix here was my first partner," Brock explained as he tapped the giant Pokemon's body. "My dad caught him for me when I was a lot younger, and because of that, Onix is pretty old! He may not have any special moves like Rhyhorn or Geodude, but he's my number one partner!"
"Niiiix!" the Pokemon screamed, this time happily because of what Brock had said about it.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Ash exclaimed as he put his Rotom-Phone away and looked back at the A.I.M agents. "But I think it's time we start battling these guys, Brock! Mankey, use-"
However, the angry little Pokemon ignored the fact that Ash was about to call out a move and decided to just start jumping onto the faces of the A.I.M agents and begin its destructive scratching, punching, and kicking attacks, even though it was quite dangerous due to the fact that the little Pokemon was being blasted at by the A.I.M agents with their laser guns. However, in Mankey's defense, there wasn't really anything to worry about since they had terrible aim, no pun intended.
This simply caused Ash to slump his shoulders and sigh. "Aw man!... Mankey never listens to me..."
"Well, I guess you'll have to sit this one out, Ash!" Brock exclaimed with a chuckle before commanding his partner. "But it's okay, because you can watch us! Onix, use Dig!"
The rock snake immediately burrowed into the ground and quickly slithered towards the large group of A.I.M soldiers, covering lots of ground by using the fact that its body was incredibly long. It was also pretty obvious where it was due to the fact that its body was so large that it was kind of peeking out of the ground.
However, even with all of these handicaps provided to them, the A.I.M agents couldn't escape the wrath of the powerful Pokemon known as Onix!
Immediately, the rock and ground type burst out of the ground with an incredibly large roar, causing many of the evil grunts to be sent flying away!
"Woah!"
"What the hell?! Where'd this thing come from?!"
"I want my mommy!"
Ash watched on with a stupid grin on his face, impressed by the power that Brock's Pokemon was showing off. "W-Wow, Brock! You...You really ARE strong!..."
"Yeah, but that's kind of where my strength ends," Brock replied looking on as his Pokemon made quick work of the villains who attempted to blast at it using their laser guns. "We're not the strongest trainers out there, definitely not..."
"Wow, there sure are a lot of powerful Pokemon trainers out there..." Ash muttered to himself, continuing to look at Onix. However, he then noticed that Mankey was also staring at the rock-type's incredible battling and grinned. "Oh! Mankey! Are you impressed by Onix too?! We should totally fight against the grunts together, then!"
Mankey looked at its trainer, blinked twice, and jumped off of the A.I.M grunt that it was currently attacking so that it could cross its arms and look away angrily.
"Oh come on! You'd rather not fight at all then listen to me?!" Ash asked exasperatedly, to which Mankey simply nodded in response to.
The two remaining robots glared angrily at Spider-Man and his two partners, nobody making any sudden movements or anything like that.
"Well, I'm ready when you are, ya big lugs," the superhero told the evil robots with a smirk. "Or can you just not understand me, since the two of you are just a pair of walking garbage cans?"
The robots immediately used their rocket powered legs to zoom at the superhero and his Pokemon in unison, getting ready to hit him with a nasty attack. However, using his Spider-Sense, Spider-Man was able to sense the incoming danger and pick up Joltik and Bulbasaur in time before jumping out of the way, letting the robots ram into some trees.
"Sorry, you two," Peter apologized to his two partners as he placed them onto the floor and looked at the robots, who were mechanically turning their bodies to look at the trio. "But I've got a really specific plan in my mind..."
This piqued the interest of the superhero's partners.
"Bulba?"
"Trust me, Bulbasaur, this is going to be great!" the wallcrawler exclaimed, giving the Grass-type a reassuring nod. "Sure, I could try destroying those eye-thingies on their chests, but I only managed to break the last one due to sheer luck. I doubt I'll be able to pull that off again! That's why, I've developed a new plan, and it's one that I'm certain will work!..."
As the robots once again zoomed towards the superhero and his Pokemon, Peter whispered to his Joltik.
"Buddy, I want you to surprise attack them when I give you the signal, alright? Hide in the trees for now," the wallcrawler explained, to which the bug and electric type Pokemon nodded and jumped away to hide in some nearby trees.
Spider-Man then turned to Bulbasaur. "Alright, now for step two! Bulbasaur, just do what I do, but aim for the other robot, got it? And when I jump to the left, you've gotta jump to the right. Understand?"
Although a bit confused by its trainer's requests, the Poison and Grass type Pokemon nodded and braced itself for the evil robots that they were about to do battle with.
"Alright...Now!"
The superhero jumped to the left, and his partner Pokemon jumped to the right, both of them easily dodging the robots who, once again, rammed into the trees.
"Bulbasaur! Copy me, but use your vines!" the teenage superhero called out to his Grass-type partner, who shouted in response.
"Saur Saur!"
Spidey proceeded to shoot some webs at one of the robots' legs, completely tying them together and causing the robot to crash onto the ground. Bulbasaur imitated its trainer's actions and shot out some vines, wrapping them around the legs of the only robot that was currently standing. The Grass-type Pokemon then pulled on its vines, which caused that second robot to come crashing onto the ground as well.
Seeing how the plan was doing well so far, and how he had both of the robots where he wanted them, Spider-Man proceeded to initiate the second part of his plan. He quickly whipped around and shouted to Joltik "Quick! Joltik! While they're down, use Thundershock on both of them!"
Joltik, now realizing what Peter's plan was, nodded and jumped out of the tree. While in mid-air, the little Pokemon began to use its powerful attack.
"Jol..."
Yellow energy surrounded the little Pokemon's body, before it unleashed it at the two robots!
"...TIIIIK!"
The electricity zoomed towards the two robots, zapping them both at the same time. Smoke began to fly up from the bodies of both of the mechanical menaces, before, immediately afterwards, they both exploded into flames!
Joltik landed onto Peter's shoulder, immediately snuggling up to his neck, while Bulbasaur walked over to the superhero's legs and plopped down next to him. The three of them looked on at the flames, which were, frankly, kind of beautiful to look at.
It was hard to believe that those very flames used to be two extremely large killer-robots that wanted to, well, kill them!
"Well, that's finally over," Peter sighed after a bit, looking at Joltik and Bulbasaur. "What should we do now? Look for Ash, Brock, and Lillie?"
"Now why would a superhero be looking for some random children?"
Spider-Man immediately whipped around in shock after hearing the familiar voice, with Bulbasaur quickly running to hide behind his legs. After all, that was the very same Bulbasaur that assisted Peter Parker with his science experiments! Spider-Man couldn't be seen with him!
"U-Uh, who are-" Spider-Man started, before stopping abruptly and raising an eyebrow. "C-Captain Stacy? What are YOU doing here?..."
It was, indeed, the captain of the Kanto police force himself, Captain Stacy. He was holding a pistol, and was aiming at the superhero's chest.
Ignoring the superhero's questions, Captain Stacy continued. "And what about that Peter Parker kid? He travels with them too, you know..."
"Hehe, uh, well, I didn't see him, so, uh..." Peter started, scrambling to try and find a valid explanation. "Um...I didn't see him! Yeah, that's right! So I just assumed that he, you know, was in hiding or something!"
The Police Captain simply narrowed his eyes at the secretive superhero. "Right...And why exactly are you looking for them, if you don't mind me asking?..."
"Um, well...T-To save them! Yeah, to save them, duh!" Peter responded, trying to keep his cool. "I was like, really concerned for their safety, and stuff, so I decided that I would meet up with them after defeating these robots over here to see if they needed any help, you know?"
"Right..." Captain Stacy muttered, slowly putting his pistol away. "This kid's pretty suspicious...Something's totally up here..."
Seeing that the Police Captain was growing a bit wary of him, Spider-Man quickly tried to change the subject as he returned his partners to their respective Pokeballs. "W-Well, um, what are YOU doing here, Captain Stacy? How do I know that you're not responsible for these robots, huh?"
This little accusation caused the Police Captain to chuckle in response. "Hmph. You're dumber then you look, kid. I've got a daughter to feed. Why would I do something that could cause me to lose my job?"
"A-Answer the question!" Peter exclaimed in response, doing his best not to lose his cool. He had met scarier men then this guy, yet there was something about Captain Stacy, like he was TOYING around with him, like he knew his secret identity, or something like that! That made Peter a little uncomfortable. "A-And stop calling me a kid, because I'm...Uh...26!"
"Yeah, sure you are," Captain Stacy responded as he put his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and looked away. "Truth is, Spider-Man, me and the rest of the Police Force have been investigating Route 3 for a long time."
"Really?" Peter asked, genuinely curious as to where the Police Captain was going with his words. "Why?"
The Police Captain turned his gaze back to the wallcrawler and narrowed his eyes at him. "Have you heard of Advanced Idea Mechanics?"
Lillie and Scorbunny both looked on as the next A.I.M grunt got ready to battle Misty. He dropped the briefcase that he was holding in his hands and walked over to the confident Water-type Pokemon trainer with a smirk. "You ready to get beaten up, little girl? After this is done, I'm gonna make you wish that you never challenged A.I.M!"
"Haha, bring it on!" Misty exclaimed as she returned Staryu to its Pokeball and pulled out another Pokeball. "In fact, since you think you can beat me so easily, I'll use my strongest Pokemon on you! Starmie, come on out!"
"N-No?" Peter truthfully responded to the Police Captain. "Why? Who are they? Should I know them?"
"No, no, not all," Captain Stacy responded, turning his back to the superhero and clutching his fist. "They're a group of evil geniuses who, instead of trying to better society with their gifts, use them in an attempt to take over the Kanto Region!"
"Well, that's the last of them!" Brock exclaimed with a smirk, putting his hands on his hips as he looked at the surrounding area, examining the state of the area, along with its condition. "But...I wonder why so many of these guys came after us? Did we have something they wanted?"
"I'm not sure..." Ash replied as he looked at Mankey, who was smashing its fists into an unconscious A.I.M agent's face. "What I DO know is that Mankey is having way too much fun beating people up..."
"What do you mean?" Spider-Man asked Captain Stacy. "Are they like Team Rocket?"
"That's their goal," the Police Captain chuckled. "Though, frankly, I find it impossible to be on the same. Team Rocket's in a league of their own...Anyways, Route 3 seems to be the place where they test out their latest inventions or whatever. It's because of them that the lake right here on Route 3, which was once a tourist destination where fishermen all over the world came to hone their skills and improve their craft, is practically abandoned now. It's too dangerous to come through here."
"O-Oh man..." the wallcrawler muttered in response. "Those guys sound like complete jerks, and big trouble, too..."
"Go, Grimer!" the A.I.M grunt exclaimed as he tossed his Pokeball in front of himself, allowing the Poison-type Pokemon to materialize in front of him. Grimer was essentially just a pile of purple sludge, but alive.
"Grimer Grime!" the Pokemon screeched excitedly flailing its disgusting arms that seemed to ooze of the same thing that its body was made up of. "Grime Grime!"
The A.I.M agent smirked under his mask and struck a pose, attempting to look cool. "This is Grimer, my eternal partner, and-"
"Starmie, use Psyblast!" Misty shouted to her partner Pokemon with a grin, cutting off the A.I.M agent. "Don't let him get a single move out!"
"W-Wait, WHAT?!"
Starmie was essentially just a larger version of Staryu with more legs and with a purple body instead of a brown one. And, because of the fact that it was Staryu's evolution, it had a large red core on its body, just like its pre-evolution.
Anyways, this core began to glow a bright red and, immediately, a pink energy blast formed in front of it.
"Alright...GO!"
The pink energy blast immediately zoomed towards the A.I.M grunt's Poison-type Pokemon at speeds that the Pokemon belonging to the evil trainer didn't expect, however, after quickly recollecting his thoughts, the grunt sent out a command.
"Quick, Grimer! Use your slimy body to your advantage!" the evil agent of A.I.M commanded to his Pokemon. "Morph it so that your body falls flat onto the ground!"
The slimy Pokemon did as it was commanded and its splatted itself onto the floor, dodging the pink attack, which definitely would have done a lot of damage to Grimer.
Furthermore, since Psychic was strong against Poison, it was a pretty good thing that the sludge Pokemon was able to dodge the attack.
"Haha! Sorry, little girl!" the A.I.M agent cackled with laughter. "But Grimer's body is extra special! He can squish and squash, allowing him to dodge your petty little attacks, especially THAT one! HAHAHA-"
"Fool," Scientist Supreme bluntly stated with his arms crossed, causing the A.I.M grunt to turn his head to look at him.
"W-What do you mean, sir? All I did was-"
Immediately, however, the pink energy blast that Starmie had created stopped in its tracks, hovering in the air for a few seconds, before immediately zooming towards Grimer and hitting the sludge Pokemon from behind, causing it to tell out in pain.
"GRIME GRIME!" the Pokemon shouted in pain before falling face forwards, knocked out.
The A.I.M agent blinked twice before his jaw dropped under his mask. "W-WHAT?! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!"
"Psyblast creates a ball of energy that tracks down foes!" Misty excitedly explained, balling up her fist and keeping it in front of her face. "Anyways, another one defeated! Now I've just gotta beat up that leader bozo and we should be done with this! Isn't that great, Lillie? Scorbunny? Nebby?"
"Y-Yeah!..." Lillie responded, albeit with a slight nervousness in her voice. "You're so confident when battling, Misty...That's really cool, but..."
The blonde-haired girl turned her head to look at the man known as Scientist Supreme, and oddly enough, he was incredibly calm regarding the fact that two of his grunts' Pokemon were knocked out. "...Be careful, alright? That last man...I think he might be their leader, or something of the sort...There's just something so menacing about him..."
"Yeah, yeah," Misty smirked, cracking her knuckles as the leader of A.I.M took a few steps ahead and grabbed a Pokeball from his waist. "Hey! You're the big boss, right? Let's get this battle started! You'll pay for picking on people who're weaker then you!"
Scorbunny simply crossed its arms and looked away with a huff. It really wanted to battle against A.I.M!
"Yup, and their leader, Andrew Forson, is the worst of the worst," Captain Stacy sighed. "A.I.M has a weird tradition of making it so that the smartest person gets to rule their organization, earning the title of 'Scientist Supreme'. Forson...He's a complete maniac. He may be a genius, but he views all life as meaningless. Humans, Mutants, Pokemon...None of them matter to him. To him, they're all possible test subjects. Absolute maniac of a man..."
"Andrew Forson, huh?..." Peter thought to himself aloud. Suddenly, he glared at Captain Stacy and bluntly said "But...None of this makes sense. Why did they send those giant robots? How did they...WHY did they send them? And after who?!"
The Police Captain remained silent before looking at Peter with a serious expression. "Well, I suppose we'll have to find out ourselves. However, I feel like I've gotta give you a fair warning: Andrew may view all life apart from his own as meaningless, but in his possession is a powerful Pokemon known as Liepard. He paid quite a bit of money so that other people could train it, and now its unstoppable!"
"So you think you can just fail me like that?" Scientist Supreme angrily asked his two grunts, his right hand hovering directly over a little panel located on his left arm. "You think I pay you for THIS?! To be beaten by some CHILD?!"
While Misty was impatiently awaiting for the battle to begin, both of the grunts that she had beaten were trying their very best to not look bad in front of their boss.
"W-Well, you see, sir..." the first grunt started, attempting to create a solid excuse from the top of his head. "We, um...She just had such powerful Pokemon..."
"Y-Yeah!" the second exclaimed, waving his arms frantically while also continuing his friend's little explanation. "A-And because of that, the Pokemon we had just weren't up to the task, so we-"
"Are you trying to say that the Pokemon that A.I.M supplies you with are not powerful enough for you?" Scientist Supreme asked his grunts, a smirk hidden under his large mask. He was enjoying their fear.
"N-No, sir! We weren't trying to say that! I, just, well-" the first tried to exclaim, however...
Scientist Supreme pressed a few buttons on the control panel located on his arm, and this action alone pretty much caused the grunt's jaw to drop almost instantly. In fact, the A.I.M boss's action seemed to surprise the grunt so much so that his dropped jaw was so apparent that it was visible even with the hilariously large hazmat-mask on his face.
Anyways, immediately as Scientist Supreme did this, the grunt fell to the floor, dead.
Scientist Supreme then looked at the other grunt, who had a horrified expression on his face underneath his face. "Pl-Please sir! Please don't do this! I-"
However, the heartless leader of the A.I.M organization simply killed that grunt too, leaving his lifeless body to fall down onto the ground as well. After this, the man known as Scientist Supreme took a few steps forwards, grabbing a Pokeball from his waist. "Now, shall we get this underway, child?"
Misty blinked twice, tilting her head to the side so that she could look at the duo of dead A.I.M grunts. "Um...Are those guys sleeping? Seems a little weird that they would just-"
"SHALL WE GET THIS UNDERWAY, CHILD?" Scientist Supreme angrily repeated, ignoring Misty's attempt at a question. "I really would like to just have that strange Pokemon known as Nebby so that I can test its energy-producing capabilities..."
The girl who wanted to be the world's greatest Water-type Pokemon trainer frowned for a moment, before grinning at her opponent. "Ah, I see! You must be afraid of me and my partners' power, right? After you saw us battle against your lackeys?"
"Hm, what an overconfident, moronic child..." The Scientist Supreme angrily muttered to himself before smirking and addressing Misty as he tossed his Pokeball in front of himself. "Alright, fine then. If that thought helps you sleep at night, then fine."
Immediately after he did this, a Pokemon materialized in front of himself.
The Pokemon sent out was long, slender, and purple in color. Its body was speckled with yellow rosettes. It had a pink "mask" marking over its eyes, a pink nose, and small yellow markings over its green eyes. It had two pairs of long yellow whiskers and a tufted yellow underside. Its lower legs were yellow, and each small paw had a pale pink underneath them. It had a long, curving tail with a sickle-like shape toward the tip.
"LIEEE!" the Pokemon screamed at the top of its lungs.
Misty raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I've never seen that Pokemon befo-"
"Don't waste your breath on asking stupid questions," Scientist Supreme bluntly commanded as he raised a hand, signaling for Misty to stop speaking. "My partner's name is Liepard. She is quite possibly the only Pokemon in this world that I respect. No one can even come close to her power!"
Misty smirked and put her hands on her hips. "Well, I guess it's time to show you just how great the great Misty is! Staryu, use-"
"The best move that your Starmie knows is Psyblast, and as a Psychic-type attack, it will have no effect on my Liepard," Scientist Supreme explained as he put his hands behind his back. "As I am so confident in Liepard's ability to win, I will allow you one more try before we begin attacking."
The Water-type Pokemon trainer blinked twice before frowning. "W-Well, I wasn't even going to use that attack anyways...Starmie, use Swift!"
"Star..."
Yellow stars made of pure energy collected in front of Starmie's core, and the Pokemon immediately fired them at Liepard, who looked on with an unimpressed expression.
"...MIE!"
The stars immediately collided with Liepard...Causing a huge explosion!
The orange-haired girl simply snapped her fingers excitedly, and smirked. "Alright! Great job, Starmie! We've-"
However, completely shocking Misty and her partner Pokemon, Liepard jumped out of the dust explosion and charged at Starmie ferociously!
"Liepard, use Night Slash, and make it snappy," Scientist Supreme calmly stated to his Dark-type Pokemon, completely uninterested with the battle. He was very confident that he would win!
"Agh! Starmie! Look out!" Misty exclaimed worriedly, caught completely off guard by this action. Liepard was hit! Did Starmie's attack do nothing at all?! How was that even possible?!
Liepard raised its paw and brought it down, black energy radiating from its limb as it unleashed the powerful attack known as Night Slash. Starmie screamed out in pain as the pain of the attack settled in.
"ST-STARMIEEEE!"
The star-shaped Pokemon was sent flying backwards and crashed into a nearby tree, shocking Misty with the fact that her Pokemon was beaten so easily.
"W-What?! Starmie! Are you alright?!" Misty asked as she turned around and ran over to her fallen Pokemon, crouching down to get to its level and make sure it was alright. "You're not hurt, are you?"
Starmie looked over to Misty, its red core slightly cracked and flashing randomly. "Star...Mie..."
Misty sighed and returned her partner to its Pokeball. She stood up and looked at Scientist Supreme and his powerful Pokemon Liepard. "You're strong...I'll give you that. However, I won't lose! Not to you!"
Scientist Supreme scoffed. "Even after that showing you still believe you can win? Children these days...Very well, then. Come now! Show me your best attack, and prove to me that you aren't just a waste of oxygen!"
The Water-type professional tossed out her next Pokeball, and her partner Staryu materialized.
"Staryu may be the first form of Starmie, but that doesn't make it weaker or anything!" Misty exclaimed, grinning once more. "Just see. We'll totally kick your butts together! Staryu, use-"
"Let's get this over with. Liepard, use Shadow Ball, NOW!" Scientist Supreme interjected, annoyed with Misty's behavior. Couldn't she see just how outclassed she was?
Liepard opened its mouth and a purple ball of pure energy formed in front of it.
"Lie..."
The feline Pokemon then let the ball of energy loose, letting the attack zoom towards Staryu at insane speeds, not even giving the star-shaped Pokemon enough time to think.
"...PARD!"
Immediately, the attack hit Misty's partner, and, after a few moments...
…Staryu fell backwards, knocked out!
"Star..." the Pokemon muttered, completely out of energy.
"W-What?! How did you?...Return, Staryu..." Misty muttered in disbelief as she returned the Pokemon to its Pokeball, before looking up at the evil leader of A.I.M. "How did I?...How did you?... I...No way! You cheated! You're a total-"
"Don't throw such accusations at me," Scientist Supreme replied coldly, smirking under his mask. "I won. You've lost. Now..."
The evil genius then turned his head to look at Lillie, who was watching on in disbelief. Nebby was in her arms, still weak from its attempt at using Teleport. "I would truly appreciate it if you handed me that Pokemon, NOW. I won fair and square, though frankly, even if I lost, I would've found another way to take it from you. This Pokemon that you call Nebby...I must have it! Give it to me NOW!"
Scorbunny, who was sitting crisscrossed next to Lillie, jumped up to its feet and shouted at Scientist Supreme, partly due to the fact that it could finally have a battle with the evil villain, but also because the little bunny Pokemon wanted to protect its trainer's friend. "Scor-Bun Bun!"
"As previously stated, I only care for my prized Pokemon Liepard over here," the man in yellow stated grimly. "If I have to kill you, some random Pokemon, so be it. I must have Nebby so that I can use it as a power-source for my experiments!"
Misty growled and glanced at Scorbunny, before moving her vision back to the dangerous man known as Scientist Supreme. "Dammit! We're in a pickle here...Should I try commanding this Scorbunny Pokemon? We don't even know each other, so it'd never listen to me...And I only know how to command Water-types properly, too...Sure, Scorbunny could try fighting this guy on its own, but Pokemon do much better if they're commanded by a Pokemon trainer..."
Scorbunny jumped at Liepard, attempting to hit it with a Tackle attack.
"SCOR-BUNNY!"
However, the feline Pokemon simply walked out of the way of its attack effortlessly and gracefully, simply causing great anger to the little bunny Pokemon.
Noticing its anger, Liepard snickered to itself. "Lie, Lie, Lie, Lie..."
"Scor-Bun Bun!" the bunny Pokemon shouted, clutching its fist and waving it at Liepard.
Misty looked on anxiously. "Sure, wild Pokemon can battle without trainers commanding them, but Pokemon who've already been raised by trainers...Well, they find it hard to battle on their own. Without that 'Ash' guy Lillie mentioned, Scorbunny won't be able to battle properly..."
Suddenly, noticing Lillie crouched down and holding Nebby closely, an idea struck the orange-haired girl.
"Lillie! You should command Scorbunny! I can't do it because me and Scorbunny hardly know each other, and also because I'm only good at training Water-type Pokemon, but I think you'd do well battling alongside it! Scorbunny clearly likes you, Lillie!" Misty exclaimed with a grin, simply causing her new friend's eyes to widen in surprise.
"W-What?! Why would you think THAT?!" Lillie asked in complete and utter disbelief. "I-I'm not even a Pokemon Trainer, for starters! And not only that, but I hate Pokemon battling! It's just Pokemon mindlessly fighting against each other for the entertainment of humans, and... and... and-"
"Oh come on, Lillie!" Misty interjected angrily. "I don't care if you're some sort of Pokemon pacifist or whatever! We're gonna die, or even worse, your friend Nebby will be captured and used by this weirdo for...Whatever he wants to use it for! Do you really want that to happen?!"
The blonde-haired girl felt a single bead of sweat run down her forehead as Misty glared angrily at her. The Water-type trainer wanted her to participate in a Pokemon battle, even though she knew that Lillie hated them!
Lillie shifted her gaze to Scorbunny, who was looking back at her with a raised eyebrow that was plastered onto a determined expression. Was she going to do it or not? That was the Fire-type's question.
Next, Lillie shifted her focus to Liepard and Scientist Supreme, who looked back with intense glares. Liepard was smirking, and so was Scientist Supreme. He was wearing that stupid mask of his, so Lillie couldn't really see his expression, but deep down she knew that he was grinning at her evilly as well.
Finally, the blonde-haired girl in white looked down at Nebby, who was sleeping peacefully in her lap, snoring.
Spider-Man, Officer Jenny, Captain Stacy...They weren't there. They couldn't help her.
There was only her, and she had to defend her friend by herself.
Was she really going to let these villains take her friend away?
Lillie shut her eyes and thought to herself for a few moments.
…
"I...I..." Lillie started, before suddenly opening her eyes and glaring at Scientist Supreme. "I'll command Scorbunny!"
However, her meek nature quickly returned. "I-If that's okay with Scorbunny, hehe..."
Misty grinned and Scorbunny smirked with a nod, giving the girl a thumbs up.
"Scor Scor!"
Lillie smiled and nodded at the bunny Pokemon before gently placing Nebby onto the ground. She got up and then then looked at Scientist Supreme.
She proceeded to take a deep breath.
"I'm not a Pokemon trainer, and I despise Pokemon battles...But if Scorbunny and I have to team up to ensure Nebby's safety...Then I'll do whatever it takes to win this battle!"
"So, uh, what do you think these A.I.M guys are after?" Spider-Man asked Captain Stacy, following him as the two ventured through the forest. "The way you explained it, it seems like they're after something..."
"Not sure, Spider-Man," the Police Captain responded seriously. "Apparently, according to our sources, they're after some strange item that was emitting a lot of energy here. Wanted to use it to power their machines. Said it could power all the devices they ever created or some crap. Something like that..."
His inner-geek coming out, Peter immediately asked "Oh wow, really?! Do you know what it's called? That sounds so cool! They create inventions, and they found a power source capable of powering them all...Just WHAT is it?! You gotta tell me!"
"Ah, well, I think we managed to get it down..." Captain Stacy responded offhandedly. "What was it called?...Buddy?...Noddy?..."
He thought for a few moments before snapping his fingers and grinning.
"Aha! Now I remember! It was called Nebby!"
"O-Oh, Nebby, eh? Th-That's...That's quite a weird name..." the superhero replied, trying to hide his shock. "They're looking for NEBBY?! Lillie did say that it had special properties, and it doesn't have a Pokedex entry, so it makes sense that some bad people would want it but- Wait, are these the bad guys that Lillie was worried about? Oh man, did they send giant killer robots after her, Ash, and Brock as well? So many thoughts are racing through my head right now! I can't-"
"Hey look! It's Spider-Man!"
The superhero and the Police Captain both turned their heads and smiled.
It was Ash, Brock, and Mankey!
"I didn't think we'd be running into you two here!" Brock exclaimed with a grin. "You must be here to investigate those villains in the yellow suits, right? The ones who attacked us?"
"Yellow suits?" Captain Stacy asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean you were attacked by A.I.M grunts?"
"W-Well, I don't know what 'A.I.M' is, and if they were grunts or not, but we were definitely attacked by some weirdos!" Ash exclaimed with Mankey sitting on his back, its arms firmly placed on the wannabe Pokemon Master's shoulders. "They attacked us with some laser guns or something, but then me and Brock-"
Mankey hit the raven-haired boy in the side of his head, causing him to sigh as he rubbed it.
"...MANKEY and Brock beat 'em all up, so now they're kind of just laying there."
"I see..." the Police Captain replied, rubbing his chin for a few minutes before taking out a walkie-talkie and speaking into it. "We've got a code 616, requesting cleanup, thank you."
Captain Stacy then put away his walkie-talkie and looked at the group that had formed. "Alright, let's find your friends Peter and Lillie and get this damn thing done with."
"Hah! YOU will fight ME?!" Scientist Supreme asked, fighting the urge to cry with laughter. "You've said it yourself! You're no trainer, and you hate fighting! How will you EVER defeat me, little girl?"
"I-I have to try!" Lillie responded, glaring at her opponent to the best of her ability. She was the type of person to avoid conflict, so this was a slightly new experience for her. "Nebby's counting on me, and I won't just let you use him for...I won't let you use him! I won't let you take him away!"
The blonde-haired girl gulped and looked at Scorbunny, who grinned at her back.
"I have to try..." Lillie thought to herself, clutching her fists as she looked in front of herself and directly at Scientist Supreme, thinking of a strategy. "Tackle, Quick Attack, Ember, and Double Kick...Scorbunny's moves...Just because I hate Pokemon battling doesn't mean I haven't read about them...Think, Lillie, think! What would the best strategy be? Taking into account the fact that Scorbunny has the ability Libero, and the fact that Scorbunny is naturally a Fire-type..."
While Lillie pondered to herself, Scientist Supreme obviously took advantage of the girl's inability to send out commands quickly.
"So you won't attack? So be it!" the man in yellow angrily exclaimed. "Liepard, use Shadow Ball!"
"Lie..."
Lillie got out of her trance and worriedly looked at the incoming attack.
"Eek! Um, Scorbunny, use, um..." Lillie muttered to herself trying to think of an attack to call out. "Um...AGH! This is so complex...So much harder then reading about them..."
"...PARD!"
The feline Pokemon sent out the purple energy ball at Scorbunny at full force. Unlike Starmie, however, the bunny Pokemon was able to jump out of the way, thankfully avoiding any and all damage that the Ghost-type attack might have caused to it.
However, both Scorbunny and Misty weren't very happy with Lillie.
"Oh come on, Lillie! Get it together, girl!" Misty hollered to her new friend. "All of our lives, including Nebby's, are at stake here! Are you really going to struggle with calling out an attack?!"
"Scor-Bun Scor!" the Fire-type that Lillie was commanding added, glaring at her. Scorbunny was so used to receiving clear commands from Ash that not receiving any at all from Lillie was a bit jarring.
"I-I know, I know..." the blonde-haired girl muttered, trying to recollect her thoughts.
"HAHAHA! Is that truly your best showing?! PATHETIC!" Scientist Supreme cackled. "This battle is mine!"
"Think, Lillie, think! Nebby's at stake, here...Do it for Nebby, not for yourself!..." the girl in white angrily thought to herself. "You've gotta win...For Nebby's sake! Now, asses the situation. What do we have to work with here? Scorbunny has four moves, and can turn into three different types..."
"I grow tired of your games! Will you fight or not?!" Scientist Supreme angrily screamed. "Use Foul Play, Liepard!"
The feline Pokemon pounced at Scorbunny, attempting to jump onto it using its larger body. Thankfully, Scorbunny was able to jump out of the way just in time.
Sure, Scorbunny could jump out of the way and dodge the incoming attacks easily, but the Fire-type Pokemon couldn't keep this up forever. It was only a matter of time before Liepard started hitting Scorbunny with some powerful attacks.
Lillie needed to form a plan, and fast.
"Scor-Bunny Scor! Scor!"
"I know, I know! I'm working on it, Scorbunny..." Lillie muttered in response. "I think I've got a good plan sorted out..."
"Fine, then! I'll just make your loss a quick and painless one, if that's what you desire so much!" the man in yellow cackled, thinking he had full control over the situation. "Liepard! Be sneaky and try attacking with Thief!"
Liepard smirked and took a few steps before it began to slowly circle Scorbunny, with our favorite Fire-type Pokemon unsure of what to do. From what angle was Liepard going to attack from, anyways?!
"Shadow Ball, Night Slash, Foul Play, and Thief...Those are Liepard's moves..." Lillie thought to herself for a moment, thinking.
Then, she grinned.
"I have a plan!"
"Scor..." the bunny Pokemon muttered, looking from left to right as the dangerous feline Pokemon continued to walk around it in circles.
Then...
"Scorbunny! Use Double Kick, but on the ground!" Lillie exclaimed.
"W-Wait, what?!" Misty exclaimed, shocked by her new friend's command. "I-I could understand using Double Kick on Liepard, since it's a super-effective attack, but on the GROUND? Are you alright, Lillie?! Are you thinking straight?!"
"Trust me, Misty," Lillie grinned, feeling herself getting more and more pumped up for the battle. "I've got this all figured out!"
Scorbunny blinked twice at Lillie before shrugging. The Fire-type stomped its feet onto the ground twice, transforming into the Fighting-type in the process. It was an odd command, but hey, if Lillie had a plan, she had a plan.
However, Liepard took advantage of the situation and jumped at Scorbunny, slapping it across the face and causing the little bunny Pokemon to stagger back a bit.
However, although the Fire-type was damaged, Liepard's attack didn't seem to do that much damage to him.
"What is this?" Scientist Supreme asked, raising an eyebrow under his mask. "Liepard's attacks are supposed to be one-hit wonders. They're supposed to beat the opponent with one hit! How did-"
"It's simple," Lillie responded, getting more and more excited for the fight despite her disdain for Pokemon battles. "Scorbunny's ability, Libero, changes its typing to the move it used last, and, considering your Liepard's move pool consists of three Dark-type moves and one Ghost-Type move..."
Everyone apart from Lillie collectively gasped as they realized what her plan was.
"Y-You can just turn your Pokemon into a typing that Liepard's moves would be not very effective against!..." the villain in yellow exclaimed, his jaw dropping in realization. "I-I knew I shouldn't have let those damn grunts pick out my Pokemon's move set!..."
"Woah, that's actually pretty crafty..." Misty muttered.
"The best way to raise a Pokemon is to raise it by yourself!" Lillie exclaimed to her opponent, pushing past her fears of yelling at a complete stranger. "You can't let others raise your Pokemon for you! I'm not even a trainer, and even I know that!"
Scientist Supreme and his Liepard growled, taken aback by Lillie's sudden boost in confidence.
"S-Silence, girl!" the villain exclaimed. "I'm still a genius, and I have an evolved Pokemon! What will you do with your pathetic little rabbit!"
The blonde-haired girl looked down at Ash's partner, who grinned back at her. She then looked back up at her opponents.
"W-We're going to win!"
"We'll see about that!" Scientist Supreme screamed, his calm demeanor completely gone and replaced with one of pure rage. It seemed that once he figured out that he had done something wrong, he was the kind of person to get extremely angry about it. A proud person indeed. "Liepard, use Shadow Ball!"
The feline Pokemon prepared to use the attack, but Lillie was one step ahead.
"Scorbunny, use Quick Attack!" the girl in white exclaimed.
The bunny Pokemon smirked as a silver aura surrounded its body. Scorbunny then zoomed from left to right before smashing into Liepard's side, causing the Dark-type Pokemon to scream out in pain.
However, the ball of energy was still in front of Liepard's mouth, and Scorbunny was in range! A close-ranged Shadow Ball would definitely deal quite a bit of damage!
"Unleash your power, Liepard!" the villain commanded. "Do it NOW!"
Liepard did as its trainer instructed, however...
…The attack went straight through Scorbunny!
"W-What?!" Scientist Supreme angrily asked. "D-Don't tell me..."
"That's right!" Lillie responded quickly. "We avoided your Ghost-type attack by turning into the Normal-type! Now, you can either deal some not very effective damage, or no damage at all! That was my plan!"
Scientist Supreme's eye twitched. "MY genius-level intellect was...I was outsmarted by a CHILD?! This is...This is preposterous! Absolute madness! How DARE she?!"
"Alright, Lillie! Think of something cool that Ash would say when he's about to win!" Lillie thought to herself for a moment, before grinning. "L-Let's finish this battle, Scorbunny! Use Double Kick!"
A brown aura surrounded Scorbunny's body briefly, turning it into the Fighting-type. A smirk crossed the bunny Pokemon's face as it dashed towards Liepard.
"Scor!..."
Scorbunny stopped in front of the feline Pokemon and attacked it with a powerful kick, causing to stagger back a bit.
However, Scorbunny's next attack was definitely the winning blow.
"...BUNNY!"
This next kick caused Liepard to crash into a nearby tree located behind Scientist Supreme, completely knocking it out. Scientist Supreme was so shocked and annoyed with his loss that he didn't even turn to look at his Pokemon. He just stood there, like a statue and just GLARED at his opponents with a dropped jaw.
How did he, a genius and the leader of A.I.M, not only lose, but lose to someone who wasn't even a Pokemon Trainer?! It made no damn sense! It was so illogical to him!
"W-WHAT?!…" he finally asked, coming out of his silence and seething with rage. "H-HOW DID I...HOW DID I LOSE?!…THIS IS ABSOLUTELY...THIS IS ABSOLUTELY PROPOSTEROUS!..."
Misty blinked twice, before immediately grinning at Lillie. "Wow! I'm impressed! You won! Was that your first Pokemon battle? You did great! Your strategy was amazing as well! I'm honestly surprised..."
Scorbunny shared a similar opinion, and gave his trainer's friend a thumbs-up. "Scor Scor!"
Lillie, however, couldn't quite believe what she had done.
"I...I had a Pokemon battle..." the blonde-haired girl muttered to herself, shocked. "And I won, but...But Pokemon got hurt...But it's okay because Nebby's safe now, right?...I'm not sure..."
However, Lillie quickly shook her head and smiled.
Nebby was safe, and that villain wouldn't get his grimy hands on him!
"Alright! Now that you've taken care of that..." Misty started before turning her head to glare at Scientist Supreme. "Leave us alone! Get your little yellow butt out of here and scram!"
"Scor Scor!" Ash's Fire-type partner chimed in. Scorbunny had a hot-headed personality, just like Misty.
However, Scientist Supreme couldn't hear them. He was way too angry.
"H-How...How DARE you make a mockery out of of ME?! Out of...How dare you make a mockery out of Scientist Supreme?!… THE GREATEST MIND THIS WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN?!" the villain screamed at the top of his lungs before dropping to the ground and picking up the briefcase that one of his now dead grunts had dropped. "I WILL NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT, AND IF I CAN'T BEAT YOU IN A POKEMON BATTLE..."
The villain took out a futuristic weapon. It was the one that the OTHER now dead A.I.M grunt had used to attack Ash, Brock, Lillie, and Peter! The one that had gotten them into this mess in the first place!
"...I'LL JUST HAVE TO KILL YOU IN COLD BLOOD USING SOME OTHER METHODS!"
Lillie, Misty, and Scorbunny were all taken aback by this. This guy was absolutely nuts!
"HAHAHAHA, HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW, MORONS? AFRAID, ALONE, WEAK?!" the villain asked with a vicious grin under his mask. "A POKEMON CAN'T SAVE YOU FROM THIS ATTACK! NOW, PREPARE TO FEEL THE WRATH OF A GENIUS WHO HAS BEEN TICKED OFF, AND-"
"A genius who's been ticked off? More like a genius who should keep his voice down!"
Everyone present turned their heads to the right and then, out of nowhere, Spider-Man swung in, kicking the villain in the jaw and causing him to fall backwards, dropping his gun!
"Seriously, stop yelling, dude," the hero stated as he landed onto the ground elegantly before dusting his hands. "I mean, at the end of the day, we're all standing right here! We can hear you fine, and you shouldn't yell so loudly!"
"I want my mommy..." the villain muttered before falling unconscious.
"Spider-Man!" Lillie exclaimed in disbelief. "It's quite a coincidence that we keep running into you...But I sure am happy that you came! You saved us!"
"All in a day's work, Lillie!" the superhero exclaimed, giving his friend a thumbs-up.
Lillie raised an eyebrow at Spider-Man. "Uh, how do you know my name?"
The wallcrawler blinked twice before letting out a nervous chuckle and scratching the back of his head. "Oh, um, lucky guess? Hehehe..."
Misty was confused. "Um, who's this guy?..."
"He's a superhero!" Lillie told her new friend with a grin, turning around to look at her. "He stops supervillains and, you know, does superhero stuff!"
"Accurate description," the hero shrugged before looking behind himself. "Oh, uh, guys, it's safe to come out now. The villain's down!"
Hidden behind some trees were none other then Ash, Mankey, Brock, and Captain Stacy!
Ash looked around before locking eyes with Scorbunny, immediately grinning. "Scorbunny! I'm so glad you're alright, buddy!"
Scorbunny blinked twice when he saw Ash. "Scor?..."
Then, the Fire-type grinned and hopped towards it trainer at rapid speeds, before smashing its head into his stomach affectionately. "Scor-Bun-Ny!"
"I-It's good to see you too, pal..." Ash muttered as he fell down onto the ground comedically due to the the pain. Mankey and Scorbunny stood above his body with huge grins.
Captain Stacy smiled at the reunion between the trainer and his Pokemon before noticing the villain that Spider-Man had knocked down.
"O-Oh my god...Is that really Scientist Supreme?!" the Police Captain asked in disbelief as he walked over to the supervillain's unconscious body quickly before crouching down to examine it. "Wow, it is! This is amazing! We've been looking for him for months now, but we never could track him down! What a lucky break for us!..."
He then stood up and narrowed his eyes at the surrounding area. "But what exactly did he come here for? Bringing the entirety of A.I.M's attack force would be a pretty foolish move unless there was something he really wanted..."
"U-Um, sir, he wanted to take away my friend, Nebby..." Lillie stated, pointing to the gaseous Pokemon who was snoring cutely while laying against a nearby tree. "So, um, that's why he came..."
"I've never seen a Pokemon like THAT before...It must be a rare one..." the Police Captain murmured. "Why would he want it though? Because it's rare? Or is there something more?... I wonder why..."
"Hey, where's Peter?" Brock asked, looking around and cutting off the Police Captain's train of thought. "I thought for sure he would've been with you, Lillie!"
The blonde-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I thought he was with you!"
Everyone suddenly starting looking around in confusion, except Misty, who didn't even know who Peter was, and Spider-Man, who was slowly inching backwards.
"First some weird organization shows up, and now one of your friend is missing?" the orange-haired girl asked, raising an eyebrow. "This sure is one weird day..."
"Y-Yeah, it is! However, I'm sure you'll get lucky and find this Peter kid...!" Spider-Man muttered as he slowly turned around. "Anyways, I'm just gonna, uh, you know, leave..."
The superhero quickly extended his arm out and shot a web, preparing to leave the group.
"Could you wait just a minute, Spider-Man?" Captain Stacy asked the wallcrawler. "I'd like to ask you a few-"
However, before the Police Captain could ask any questions, Peter quickly swung away, leaving the group.
"Maybe another time, sir! I'm busy and have to do something!" the superhero exclaimed. "See you lateeeer!..."
Everyone watched as the superhero swung away, each and every one of them wondering just who he was under that mask of his.
Ash, Scorbunny, Lillie, Brock, Misty, and Captain Stacy were all standing next to the river of Route 3. Mankey was back in its Pokeball and Nebby was back in Lillie's bag. Meanwhile, many fishermen and fisherwomen were enjoying their time at the lake. Now that A.I.M's leader was defeated, it would be a long time until A.I.M started doing their terrible experiments again and, because of this, these fishers decided that now was as good of a time as ever to return to the Route 3 river to do some fishing.
Also, many police cars had gathered, and the police officers that had brought them there were loading up the A.I.M grunts into their cars so that they could take the evil villains away and to jail.
Scientist Supreme was the last one to be taken away. He spotted Lillie and started screaming at her at the top of his lungs.
"I WILL ANNIHALATE YOU ONE DAY, YOU HEAR ME?!" the villain in yellow angrily told her angrily, screaming. "YOU'LL REGRET EVER CROSSING PATHS WITH ME, GIRL! AND WHEN I BREAK OUT OF JAIL, I WILL KILL YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE! YOU HEAR ME?! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"
"Alright, that's enough out of you," a police officer angrily stated as he pushed the villain into his police car. "I hope I never have to hear your stupid voice again..."
Scientist Supreme was then taken away, and the group was left alone at the river, where many fishers were doing their own thing, having fun while fishing for some aquatic Pokemon.
"Wow, so you and Scorbunny really battled together, Lillie? That's pretty cool!" Ash excitedly told Lillie, breaking the silence. "But...I thought you said that you didn't like Pokemon battles?..."
Lillie smiled nervously in response, and glanced at Scorbunny, who was kicking a small pebble like a soccer ball. "W-Well, truthfully, I don't...But Nebby was in trouble, so I had to do it, you know?..."
"Well, whatever the reasons, you did good, kid," Captain Stacy stated with a nod. "Going past your beliefs when the time is dire...You're as much of a hero as Spider-Man, or The Fantastic Four... Or the Avengers..."
Lillie's cheeks turned red in embarrassment. "H-Huh?! I-I wouldn't say that, hehe..."
Nebby poked its head out of Lillie's bag and smiled at her. "Pew Pew!"
"G-Get in the bag, Nebby..." Lillie muttered, pushing the gaseous Pokemon back in and zipping up the bag, a faint smile present on her face. She was still a bit embarrassed. After all, it wasn't everyday that she was the centre of attention!
"Well, anyways, thank you. ALL of you. You all fought bravely today!" Captain Stacy exclaimed as he looked at Ash, Brock, Lillie, and Misty. "You did amazing today, and were able to hold out long enough until the police arrived! You all deserve a pat on the back. However, I wonder where that Peter kid could have gone of to...Pretty strange..."
"Um, officer, I'm right here!"
Everyone turned around to see Peter walking towards them with a nervous grin on his face.
"Peter! There you are!" Ash exclaimed with a grin. "Where were you the whole time?! Captain Stacy wanted to create a search party or something!"
"W-Well, I never exactly said that, but whatever..." the Police Captain muttered, looking at Ash.
"Yeah, Peter," Brock added. "Did you run into those A.I.M guys?"
"Um...Y-Yeah, uh, I did!" Peter lied, attempting to create an excuse at the top of his head that would explain his sudden disappearance. "However, I...Uh, I ran into some of their grunts, so I ran away, but then I, uh, hehe, get this, I got lost!"
Everyone blinked twice before smiling.
"Well, it's good to have you back!" Lillie exclaimed, to which Peter nodded in response.
"Yeah, uh, thanks."
Misty looked on with a smile, while Captain Stacy narrowed his eyes at the brown-haired teenager.
"Say, kid, do you know anything about Spider-Man's appearance here?" the Police Captain asked, raising an eyebrow at Peter. "Maybe you, I don't know, saw him or something?"
"Huh?! Spider-Man?! I, uh, I didn't see him!" Peter quickly exclaimed, flustered by the Captain's question. "I mean, uh, Spider-Man was here? When? I had no idea!"
"Right..." Captain Stacy replied quietly before shrugging and turning around, putting his hands into the pockets of his trench-coat. "Well, whatever. Stay out of trouble, you guys. This is the second time I've seen you, and I honestly hope it's the last..."
"Right! See you later, Captain Stacy!" the group responded.
And so, Captain Stacy got into his police car and left, officially meaning that the police had left the scene.
"So...Uh, crazy day, right?" Peter asked his friends with a nervous chuckle. "I, uh, I think we should just forget about all of this and get outta here so we can just get to Mt. Moon already. Stay out of trouble, you know?"
Lillie and Brock nodded in agreement.
Ash agreed with them too, but turned to Misty first. "Hey Misty! Lillie told us all about you, and I think it would be pretty cool if you came along with us for the journey! It would be a lot of fun to have more people around, too!"
The orange-haired girl blinked twice before shaking her head.
"I appreciate the offer, Ash, really. However, I'm DEFINITELY going to have to say no," Misty stated apologetically. "During the battle with that Scientist Supreme guy, Starmie's core was cracked. I'm going to have to go back home and try and get it fixed up..."
"Oh, I see...Well, if you ever change your mind, you can totally join us!" Ash exclaimed.
Misty nodded in response, and the gang said their goodbyes to her.
The group then continued their trip to Mt. Moon happily so that they could resume their journey around Kanto.
However, three members of the group had some serious thoughts on their mind...
"Oh man, that was totally fun, Getting to bust those A.I.M guys up like that!" Ash figured. "But...Man, Mankey sure doesn't like to listen to me, huh? I should try bonding with him more, maybe that way we can have a nice relationship...Eh, whatever! I can't wait to get to Mt. Moon either way!..."
"I'm such an idiot! What was I thinking, using Bulbasaur while dressed up as Spider-Man?!" Peter angrily ruminated. "Sure, only Captain Stacy saw, but if I ever see him again, and I'm in my civilian outfit, and if I use Bulbasaur...He'll definitely figure out my identity! Of course, I wouldn't be so surprised if he already knows! After all, I have terrible excuses for being gone while Spider-Man is there...I need to try harder to keep my identity a secret!..."
"I had a Pokemon battle...And I had fun! That's not right!..." Lillie thought to herself. "Pokemon got hurt...But why did I enjoy it? Scorbunny and I...It felt like we were a single unit, fighting together...I suppose Pokemon battles aren't THAT bad...But I'm not sure...Do I really want to be an official Pokemon Trainer?...No, I couldn't make Pokemon battle against each other like that ever again...It was a one-time thing, a one-time thing..."
Q: Is Peter going to catch any Pokemon? I mean he has Bulbasaur and Joltik. It would be fair if he caught other Pokemon
A: Yeah, he'll definitely catch other Pokemon somewhere done the road.
Oh man, I wanted to get this chapter out like three or four days ago, but I just couldn't do it because real-life stuff kept on pushing it back. Anyways, it's finally here, and the little A.I.M two-parter is done! I wanted this to be more focused on Lillie, since she's hardly done anything so far, but I gave the other characters a bit of time to shine as well. Ash had to try using Mankey since Scorbunny wasn't available, Brock got to show off his real skills as a trainer, and Peter now has to worry about Captain Stacy!
That's all for now.
Until next time!