Disclaimer: Before we start I don't claim to own any of these characters because that would be stupid; they are most likely owned by Nintendo and 4Kids etc. I am just writing this for fun, no money is involved.
Part 4 of A Path of no Return by PerrinsAxe at PerrinsAxe@nandomail.com
If you haven't already, then I would strongly suggest you read the Prologue, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Visit my Web Site dedicated to AAMRN's! Submit your fanfiction! http://uk.geocities.com/aamvault
Anything between [] is an authors' note.
Anything in Bold Italic is a thought of a character
If speech marks are filled with bold writing then the character is not saying the words aloud, but as a thought into the mind of another. [I wish I could do that!]
As in most of my fics the ages are as follows:
Ash: 13 [almost 14]
Misty: 14
Recap: I really couldn't be bothered to write a long one this time so I'll just say that this. Ash found out Misty was all right; then the ghost pokemon told them about what was causing the strange events in Lavender. They now prepare to journey into another world in an attempt to stop this new super powered pokemon. Sabrina – the Saffron gym leader – saved Officer Jenny. Sabrina claims that this new force is heading towards Saffron. We also got to know two new characters Annie – a psychic – and Jake her 'friend'. *PA looks over what he has written so far; sighs to himself and walks away muttering some gibberish about long recaps*
To Another World
Something quickly twitched across Ashs' nose, making his skin itch. Still half asleep, Ash imagined it was some giant tarantula crawling across his face; just waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Waa! I really don't like poisonous spiders! Especially ones who decide to eat me!
Although he didn't want to; Ash knew he had to open his eyes so he could swat the thing away. Taking a deep breath, both of Ashs' eyes snapped open; fully prepared to be looking at the monster eye to eye. Instead however what he saw was far from a monster.
A few strands of Mistys' hair had freed themselves from their normal tied back position and were now tickling Ashs' nose. Ash smiled as he saw the girl who lay in his arms; he could remember how frightened he was last night when he put his arm around her sleeping form; how shocked he was when she woke up; and of course the joy he felt when she smiled back at him. A smile that contained warmth, affection and part of Ash even dared hope – love.
As if thinking of last night had roused her; Misty shifted in position slightly, bringing her even closer to Ash. Ash deciding that this was the last chance he would have in a while buried his nose in her hair and inhaled her sweet scent; as always he soon started to feel warm, a lump came to his throat and his heart beat faster.
After a few moments Ash pulled regretfully pulled himself away with a small sigh; expecting to find Misty still asleep. However what he actually saw conflicted wildly with that thought; her eyes were wide open and looking straight at Ash.
"Waa! Misty! Uh, good morning?"
"Morning." She looked down on her arms, which were wrapped around Ash. "I guess we must have fallen asleep like this." She blushed.
"Don't you remember?" Ash sounded slightly hurt.
I thought; I thought that, oh I don't know what I thought. But I know that this will seem a lot less real if she wasn't awake enough to remember when she put her arms around me.
"Do you?" She asked nervously.
"I asked first."
Misty blushed a bit harder. Lowering her eyes from Ashs' face.
"I remember uh; you. You put your arm around me." She looked up at Ash again and saw a smile on his lips. "And I, I came closer to you."
Ash was grinning at her now. Then suddenly she remembered something and a vicious smile came to her lips as well.
"So Ash. What were you doing to my hair?"
Ashs' grin dropped of his face.
"Waa! Your hair!? What about it?" He asked trying to sound innocent.
"Yes Ash. Come on, spit it out."
Just as Ash was starting to squirm and babble, Shadow interrupted and ruined all of Mistys' fun.
"This is all very amusing but we really must be going."
"But – but!" Misty protested.
"No buts."
With that Misty stomped out of the tent.
"Heh. Thanks I owe you one Shadow." Ash joked.
Shadow turned to look at Ash. A small grin appeared; and then Shadow did something that Ash never imagined it doing – it winked at him.
They both starting laughing at came out of the tent – Ash through the door and Shadow through the tent wall.
"Hey! You two better not be laughing at me!" Misty fumed.
Giovanni unbuckled his seat belt; and got out of his car. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a mobile phone and pressed the speed-dial button that would let him speak to Jessie, and Meowth. The phone rang three times before anyone picked up.
"Hello, this is Team Rocket; James speaking how may I help you."
Giovanni sighed; those three really were hopeless.
"You idiot it's me!"
"Oh! Boss. It's uh – good to hear from you again. To what do I uh…owe this pleasure?"
"I require you, Jessie and Meowth to come to Saffron immediately. It seems the locals of Saffron have decided to join the police and fight Team Rocket. We need all the Team Rocket members we have to get over to Saffron."
"SAFFRON!"
"Yes." Giovanni sighed again. "I myself will be there shortly. I will be expecting you."
"Oh; right sir. We'll get over to Saffron straight away." James said in a voice that was too eager to please.
With that Giovanni pressed the green button on his phone to hang up.
According to Cassidy's' latest report the North and East gates to Saffron are still under police control. Giovanni looked over the rise on the hill in front of him. He could see the North Gate. Guess I'm just going to have to break in. Giovanni smiled; it had been a while since his last good battle.
The walk to the North gate had only taken a few minutes; but when Giovanni got there; he was stopped by a police officer.
"Excuse me sir; but this is a dangerous area at the moment. It would be wise if you turned back and found another way to get to wherever it is you are going." The officer said
"You must be mistaken."
"Oh?" The officer asked.
"You see, the only danger here; is for you!"
Giovanni reached to his waist and pulled out a pokeball. The familiar weight in his hand felt good.
"Rhydon, Go!" He shouted.
"WHAT!" The officer screamed in panic; while fumbling at his waist for a pokeball. Finally he found what he was looking for and threw it into the air.
"Pidgeotto go!" The officer shouted.
Pidgeotto came out of its pokeball looking confident but it blanched when it saw Rhydon.
"Pidgeooo." It said worriedly.
Giovanni's heart dropped when he saw the scrawny Pidgeotto that was sent out against him. I want a real challenge!
The officer had seen that he didn't stand a chance if he faced of against Giovanni all by himself.
"Help we've got an intruder alert! Help!" The officer screamed.
"Who's that calling?" A voice called from far of.
A few moments later two kids ran around to the North gate and found Giovanni who was trying to break into the city.
"Haha! A Rhydon!" the first kid cried.
"We've got just the thing for you! Starmie/Poliwhirl go!" The two children said in unison.
Giovanni smiled; the battle seemed to be heating up.
"Rhydon, Dig underground!"
Rhydon followed Giovannis' command and was soon removed from everybody's sight as it burrowed underground. A few moments passed.
"Now!"
Rhydon emerged from under Starmie as a blur; Starmie was dazed and knocked into the air.
"Quickly; use your Horn Drill attack while its still out!"
Rhydons' horn started spinning; creating an awful grinding noise; and even though it was normally inaccurate in Pokemon battles it struck home on the dazed Starmie. Starmie fell back as its jewel shattered.
"Starmie! No!" The child cried as he saw his Starmie hurt.
"Poliwhirl use your water gun attack!" The other child shouted.
However Rhydon was unaffected by the water attack.
Giovanni knew that with the fall of Starmie the battle might as well be over; as both Poliwhirl and Pidgeotto seemed under trained.
"Pidgeotto use Gust!" The officer commanded; his voice sounding desperate
Pidgeotto flapped its wings creating a powerful wind that was levelled at Rhydon; but Rhydon was unmoved by this attack.
"Pathetic!" Giovanni roared. "I'm not going to waste my time on you two! Get out of my sight!"
"Hey kids, come on!" The officer called; directing them over toward the gatehouse
Both the officer and the children ran into the gatehouse just past the North Gate.
"You may have beaten us; but you won't get in!" The officer laughed as the reinforced metal gate quickly closed shut; denying all access from the North.
I enjoy a good challenge as much as any man; but now these pests are starting to irritate me.
"That's it! Rhydon, destroy that gate with your Earthquake attack."
Professor Oak really wasn't enjoying himself. As soon as Mrs Ketchum had got of the phone she had dragged him into the car and took of at a worrying speed.
"Do we really need to be driving this fast Mrs Ketchum?"
"Yes we do. We have to meet someone in Cerulean City airport in a few minutes."
"Cerulean City? But that's half an hour away."
"Oh?" She asked and pressed her foot harder on the pedal; making the car go even faster.
"On second thoughts it isn't that far away."
But Mrs Ketchum did not relent on speed as she cruised at an alarming rate toward Cerulean. The added speed was however a bonus as they managed to get to Cerulean in under a third of the time it would normally have taken. Professor Oak was glad when she finally pulled up into a parking space and stopped the car.
"Well?" She asked.
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to go get him?"
"Who?"
"Brock you idiot; remember I called him to help us find Ash and Misty? He should be getting off his flight about now."
Ash, Misty, Pikachu, Togepi, Shadow and Gastly were making last minute preparations for the journey into another world.
"Is it going to hurt?" Ash asked.
"Ash don't be such a wuss; or I will give you something to hurt about." She said more of a reflex than of any particular want to fight with Ash; as she held his hand the whole time.
"Ahh….I was thinking about you Misty."
"You were!? That's so sweet."
But before Ash got the chance to answer back Shadow interrupted them.
"No it will not hurt; one second you will be here and the next; there."
At that moment High Elder Gengar and Haunter appeared in front of Ash and Misty. High Elder Gengar turned to Shadow.
"Is everything prepared?"
"It is not that difficult; I am eager to get back."
"Myself and Haunter will stay here; to maintain balance on this side. I wish you the best of luck Ash." High Elder Gengar said as it turned toward Ash. "I wish you luck also Shadow; fear not. She would have been able to take care of herself without you for a few days."
"I will soon find out."
With that High Elder Gengar and Haunter disappeared as abruptly as they had appeared.
"OK. Ash, Misty; I want you two to think of absolutely nothing. Just keep your minds blank."
"Shouldn't be too hard for Ash." Misty teased lightly; softly increasing her grip on his hand.
"Haha!" Ash replied sarcastically.
They were about to continue when Shadow gave them a stern look; clearly saying stop it now. Turning away from the pair Shadow and Gastly started to become hazy and indistinct.
"What's happening?" Ash asked as he looked towards Misty. "Waa! You too!?" Ash exclaimed in surprise as he saw Misty's pale; almost half complexion.
"Ash; you're their; but your not. Like a photograph that has been taken while someone was moving too fast."
"I'm not sure about this." Ash said.
"Me either." Misty agreed; pressing closer to Ash.
Suddenly the world before them flashed and turned deep black; as if someone had turned out all the lights.
"Annie, Jake will you come hear please?" A slightly ragged looking Nurse Joy called over to them.
"Yes Nurse Joy?" Jake replied.
"Both of your pokemon have been healed; they were pretty tired after yesterdays battle but they should be fine now." Nurse Joy said as she handed over a basket of Pokeballs.
"Thanks Nurse Joy." Annie said.
"Oh no Annie; thank you. If it weren't for the efforts of you and Jake this Pokemon Centre would have been overrun a few weeks ago. We're only too glad to help."
Annie cringed inside. So many people here were relying on them; yet she knew that no matter how hard she or Jake might try nothing would be enough in the end. It was all a matter of time; and the longer Shadow stayed away the less time they had. Once again giving her thanks to Nurse Joy; Annie and Jack walked away to take a rest on the cushioned seats of the Pokemon Centre.
"Where is Shadow?" She asked almost hopelessly.
"Hey; don't worry about it Nightshade; Shadow can take care of itself. You trained it after all."
"I have no doubt that it can take care of itself. It's just that; Shadow was called away by High Elder Gengar to get help to deal with that monster. That was 2 weeks ago and still nothing. Not a trace of Shadow or any kind of help."
"Hey; has Shadow ever let us down before?"
"No." She conceded. "But I just wish he would hurry; I can still remember the power of that thing. We cannot stop it. We can't hope to stop it.
"Jake! Annie! Come quickly! There is a stampede of wild Rhyhorn and other rock pokemon. Some people say that they saw some kids inside!"
"What!" Jake exclaimed. "Come on Annie lets go!"
Grabbing her hand Jake pulled her of the seat and almost dragged her behind him outside the Pokemon Centre.
"Where is it?" Annie asked Nurse Joy.
Nurse Joy pointed in the direction of the coast. "Over there. They are coming this way so you two watch yourselves."
The journey to the new world had gone rather smoothly; just as Gastly and Shadow had said; but unfortunately for Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Togepi; they had landed in what sounded like an earthquake zone.
The ground rumbled beneath Ash's feet sending goose bumps up his legs; while the air was filled with dust and a deep rumbling sound, which seemed to be getting closer. Misty and Ash were shading their eyes from the dust cloud.
"Ash I can't see through all this dust."
"Pika!" (Yeah) Pikachu agreed.
"I know! Pidgeot go!" Ash called as Pidgeot materialised. "Blow away this dust with your gust attack!"
Pidgeot flew above the cloud; until it was no longer visible to Ash and Misty.
"Pidgeot!" It called as it swept back its wings in a wide arch and hurriedly blew away the wind; while being careful not to blow Ash or Misty away.
Ash and Misty watched as the dust cloud cleared from around them; Misty holding on tight to Togepi so it wouldn't be blown away.
The thought that came from Shadow came fast and hard.
"Run! Run now!"
"What!?" Ash asked in confusion. But he then looked behind him and saw what had frightened Shadow so much. It looked to be another dust cloud; but this one was coming towards them with great speed. It looked as if it would reach them in another minute.
"WAA!" The sight of the apparent stampede had frozen both Ash and Misty with fear.
"Run! You've got to get away from here."
Misty seeing that Ash was still indisposed; grabbed his hand and forcibly dragged him behind her. But he soon got the idea and started running without aid from Misty.
Misty looked over her shoulder. They were definitely getting closer; at the start she could only see the cloud; but now she could make out some of the Pokemon that were inside. Hmm; Rhyhorn, Graveller, Onix, Geodude, Tauros, Golem, Kangaskhan. There must be at least 100 of them out there; and they are getting closer. We can't get away!
"Ash look they're catching on us!" Misty yelled. "We can't get away."
"Is there anything we could do to slow them down?" Ash asked desperately.
Shadow and Gastly exchanged a look.
"We can form a shield. It won't last long but it might give you enough time to get away."
"What about you?" Misty asked.
Gastly shrugged. "Me and Shadow will be fine. Remember we are insubstantial. It is you we have to worry about."
Misty and Ash looked dubious.
"We will meet again in the Pokemon Centre at Lavender later today."
"Lavender? But we just left Lavender."
"There is a Lavender in this place also. But there is no time to explain now; you have to go!"
Gastly and Shadow turned to face the upcoming stampede and rushed towards it. Ash stood watching them.
"Ash! Come on! You heard them; we have to go! NOW!" Misty shouted while shaking him.
"Uh yeah." He agreed. "But wait. I haven't gotten to a Pokemon Centre for a while and Charizard is probably still tired from that battle with the Dugtrio. I don't think he could support all of us right now."
"What about Pidgeot?" Misty asked.
"I don't think Pidgeot could carry you me Pikachu and Togepi." Ash considered the situation for a moment. "Yeah! We could use Tauros!"
"Tauros?" She repeated dubiously. "I suppose it might work."
"It's the only chance we have." Ash reached to his belt and pulled out the green safari ball. "Tauros go!"
After Tauros had materialised Ash helped Misty up onto its back; because she was holding onto Togepi. When Misty was safely onboard Ash climbed up so that he was sitting infront of her.
"I wish we had a saddle about now." Misty grumbled as she wrapped her arms about Ashs' waist.
"Hang on Misty." He warned. "OK Tauros; we need to get away from here as soon as possible! There should be a town of in that direction." Ash pointed so that it could understand.
Misty looked back at the slightly faltering shield held by Shadow and Gastly. "Ash tell it to hurry."
Annie and Jake had only just left the gates of Lavender when they heard the dreadful noise of the stampede.
"Wow. That must be some stampede." Jake mused.
"I wonder why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"Surely something this big has to have a reason behind it." She paused for a moment. "Also; I think…maybe…that I feel something. As if; Shadow has…come back."
"Don't get your hopes up. It might just be nothing."
"Yeah; it might." She added glumly. "But we still have to get those kids out of there."
"You know the drill."
Annie searched outward; pushing her mind outward to enclose everything around it. Searching for the stampede. After a moment she found it. There it is; but wait what's that? Two ghost pokemon seem to be holding them back! All except that Tauros out at the front. Wow it's got quite far away from the rest. I wonder how it got by the Ghost Pokemon. Deciding to investigate the Tauros further she tried to focus in. Wait; that isn't a wild Tauros. There is someone on its' back. Two people and some Pokemon on its' back. That must be those kids we heard about. Seems they can take care of themselves pretty well. Feeling a faint flicker from the new ghostly arrivals she quickly looked back to where the Ghost Pokemon where holding back the stampede. The Shield! It's falling! That stampede will destroy Lavender if it gets by those ghost Pokemon!
Pulling herself away she reached to her belt and pulled out the pokeballs for Gastly and Haunter. Calling them out she told them what they had to do.
"Gastly, Haunter. I want you two to help the ghost pokemon out there hold back that stampede!"
"Gastly/Haunter." They agreed.
"Well; what's the situation?"
"Worse than we thought. There must be at least 100 Pokemon in that stampede. Most of them Rock types; and they're heading for Lavender. We have to cut them of."
"What about the kids?" Jake asked.
"They are safe for the moment; but that shield might fall at any minute. We have to go get them; we may need their help to put a stop to this charge."
Jake nodded.
"Abra go." Annie said as she threw Abras' pokeball into the air. "Abra teleport us to the Tauros with the kids on its back."
Behind her Misty could see the shield flickering more rapidly now; Shadow and Gastly must be almost exhausted. In front of her Ash was fully concentrating on staying on course for Lavender. And even though it may not have been the best time; Misty started to think about him more than ever. The past two days had been the closest her and Ash had ever been. They rarely lost contact with each other; either holding hands; or in the morning when Misty woke up snuggled close to him.
She started to think some more about that morning. For that moment; she had felt complete. As she was able to pretend (at least to herself) that her and Ash really were a couple; that he felt the same way about her as she did about him; that she could wake him up with a 'good-morning' kiss if she wanted.
I'd always thought that he never wanted that…but these past few days. It's as close as we've ever been; and I don't want to ever give that up. I want to be close to him. Forever. I'll have to tell him; tonight. Yes tonight. I swear to anyone who is listening, anyone who cares; and most importantly to myself. If we survive.
Meanwhile Ash also had his own dilemma. Misty's grip around his waist was sending wave upon wave of a mixture of nervousness, excitement, joy and love coursing through his whole body. Ash tried to focus all of his attention to where Tauros was going; it was all he could do not to shout with joy.
Suddenly, Ash felt the hairs on the back of Tauros' neck stand on end. It stopped running and looked about nervously.
"Ash why have we stopped?" Misty asked
"I don't know. I didn't tell Tauros to stop."
"Oh Great! Just what we need; a Tauros version of Charizard." Misty muttered."
"Wait, what's that!?" Ash exclaimed as the air in front of him shimmered.
"Do you think it's that Pokemon Shadow told us about?"
"I hope not."
The shimmering air took a moment to clarify; but when it did three figures were revealed. One was an Abra and the other two were human. The girl looked about 15 and had a pale complexion with very dark hair. She was in a black pair of jeans and a ripped navy overcoat. The guy standing next to her seemed about Brocks age – 16 – and had electric yellow hair similar to that of Surge. He was wearing torn blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt.
"Waa!" Ash exclaimed.
The girl looked over Ash and Misty's shoulders to look at the faltering shield.
"Hurry! I will explain later but you must come with us." She said with a sense of urgency in her voice.
Misty whispered to Ash. "Ash look; that's an Abra. It can teleport us out of here."
"Yeah; and anywhere is better than here." With that Ash swung his leg around over Tauros; being careful not to hit its head with his heel. He then offered his hands to Misty to help her down. She took them; but once she was down she still didn't let go.
Ash called Tauros back into its pokeball. "So what now?" He asked.
"We have to stop that stampede." The girl answered.
"Just how are we going to stop that?" Ash asked referring to the stampede as he stood at the vantage point picked out by Abra.
"We are going to have to use our heads." The other boy said. "Most of those pokemon out there are rock types; it we give them a quick spray and then attack with electric pokemon it should all be over quite soon."
"But electric attacks aren't good against rock pokemon." Ash protested.
"The water we will use on them beforehand will conduct the electricity making it powerful enough to hurt them."
"Hmm it might work; but there are so many of them." Misty said dubiously.
"You're right; we need something else." The girl agreed. "We need Shadow and that Gastly over there." She turned to Abra. "Abra, I want you to teleport the ghost pokemon here."
Abra nodded its head and disappeared momentarily.
"Where did it go?" Misty asked.
"Abra needs to be next to something before it can teleport it." The dark-haired girl explained.
Abra then returned; and Ash noted that it had brought Shadow and Gastly back as well as Haunter and another Gastly with it.
"Shadow." The girl smiled.
"Gengar." Shadow seemed almost wordless.
The sun stung Ashs' eyes as he turned around to lend a hand to Misty while she was getting back on Tauros. When she was up she reached a hand around his waist for support; holding a pokeball in the other hand.
"You be careful Togepi!" She called back to the egg that lay half in and half out of her bag; which sat beside Ashs' on the ground.
"You three had better be going soon; otherwise we'll run out of time." The girl said. "I will stay here and co-ordinate the ghost pokemon; when I am finished all of you should try all you can to stop that stampede. You got it?"
"You worry too much Nightshade; we know what we're doing." The boy spoke from atop his Rapidash." He turned away from the girl and looked toward the base of the hill where they were to intercept and stop the rock pokemon stampede.
The girl's eyes went blank momentarily as if staring at space.
"Hurry! They are coming! Go now!" She exclaimed.
Ash, Misty, Pikachu and Tauros took of first, but Rapidash – the faster pokemon with the lightest load – had soon caught up and built up a lead of a few metres. Dust and dry mud was kicked up into Ash's face by Tauros' powerful legs; meaning that he could barely see at all; and had to rely on Tauros to know where it was going. Soon however he did not need to see to know that he was getting closer to the stampede; the foreboding rumbling sound of many heavy, strong pokemon running toward them at full speed was not one that could be passed of lightly.
"Ghost pokemon! Use a combined Confuse Ray!" The girl shouted from atop the hill.
Ash looked up and could see that all four-ghost pokemon had gathered in what looked to be a circle; while a beam of light surrounded them. A beam of light so bright that it hurt his eyes to look at it. Suddenly it started to move; heading for an intercept course with the oncoming stampede.
When the light hit its' target it had an immediate effect; a few pokemon stopped moving; some started running and the wrong direction and others picked fights with each other. In total; about 20 pokemon had broken of from the main charge because of the confuse ray.
"Now use a combined Night Shade!" The girl shouted again.
Night Shade; unlike the Confuse ray attack; did not start with the group of ghosts; instead it started within the middle of the stampede – that followed the pokemon. It was a darkness that grew in size until it encompassed all of the pokemon in the stampede. When it had sufficiently covered all of the pokemon it started to shift colour; from black to a dark purplish sheen; and finally back to black again. The pokemon inside had been crying out the entire time; when the black cloud cleared away it was evident that some had fainted under the strength of the attack.
"Be careful; there must be at least 70 of them left!" The boy warned as he took three pokeballs into hand.
"Misty calls Staryu and Starmie!" Misty said as she threw two pokeballs into the air.
Ash then pulled out his pokemon to help. "Squirtle, Bulbasaur, come on out!" The three water and one grass pokemon materialised in a line directly in the path of the stampede.
"Hurry! We have about 20 seconds until they get here! We have to knock them out and quickly!"
"Staryu, Starmie; use your water gun attack on that stampede!"
"Squirtle; use your Hydro Pump attack! Bulbasaur Razor Leaf!"
The three water pokemon obeyed and immediately started gushing water on top of their opponents; some of the weaker rock pokemon fainted; knocking the number of pokemon down to just about 60. But even those pokemon that were not knocked out were completely soaked thanks to the efforts of Squirtle, Staryu and Starmie. While the leaves from Bulbasaur severely weakened other rock pokemon.
However the stampede did not stop; instead it was getting closer all the time.
"Now it's time! Magneton, Riachu, Voltorb, go!" The boy cried as he tossed his three pokeballs into the air.
"Pikachu go!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder onto the ground beside the boys' Voltorb, Magneton and Riachu.
"Thunderbolt! Now!" Ash and the other boy shouted together.
All four electric pokemon charged up. Ash could see that the other electric pokemon were very well trained; as each of them was at least as strong as Pikachu.
Although it was really only a few moments; the time that the pokemon needed to prepare for the attack seemed an eternity, as the stampede got ever closer. Then finally they were ready and all simultaneously unleashed their attacks. The water had an obvious effect as the electric spread a lot quicker over the body of the stampede. Pokemon within the stampede roared in pain. At this point many of the Kangaskhan and Tauros dropped away; having no immunity at all to electric attacks. As well as the Kangaskhan and Tauros; many of the weaker rock pokemon had fainted due to the repeated attacks.
As the electric attack faded; Ash was able to get a better look at the scene. Most of the pokemon lay totally out of energy on the ground. But Ash noticed with shock that some of the Rock pokemon were still standing; dazed but still standing.
"Be careful." The boy said. "Those pokemon are at such a high level that electricity doesn't affect them at all."
There must be about 10 left; and that Rhyhorn seems to be their leader.
"Hey!" Ash shouted to the other kid. "That Rhyhorn seems to be their leader; maybe if we take it out the rest will leave."
"Yeah good idea! The rest don't look like they want to go on; but it seems like the Rhyhorn is forcing them."
Ash nudged his heels into Tauros' abdomen; telling it to move forward.
"Ash we're going to need to hit it with everything we've got. I'm right here behind you; so don't start thinking that you've got to do this alone."
"Thanks Misty."
Ash leaned down to put his mouth to Tauros' ear.
"Be careful Tauros; if that Rhydon tries anything I want you to get us out of its way as quickly as possible."
"Taurrr." It replied.
"OK Rhyhorn; lets do this!" Ash shouted. "Bulbasaur Leech Seed!"
A seed quickly appeared; sprouting from Bulbasaurs' bulb. When it was fully grown it shot into the air and landed on the Rhyhorn. As it landed the seed quickly sprouted and started to twist its' vines around the rock pokemon; sapping its energy. But even after the Leech Seed attack; Rhyhorn still looked strong. What an awesome pokemon! I use an attack it is weak against and it still doesn't fall!
Ash reached behind his back; looking for Kinglers' pokeball as he realised that Squirtle and Bulbasaur might need some back-up. He then threw the pokeball into the air and called Kingler out.
"Squirtle! Use your Hydro Pump on that Rhyhorn! Kingler, help it out with your Bubblebeam attack!"
"Staryu, Starmie; help them out with your Water Gun attack!" Misty called.
All four water pokemon began their attacks on Rhyhorn; and together they managed to at least partially weaken the powerful beast; but in desperation it started a charge of its own towards Ash and Misty.
"Ahh! That's Rhyhorns' Take Down attack!" Misty screamed.
Tauros however was paying close attention to Rhyhorn and managed to slip away from the charging rock pokemon at the last instant.
"Good work Tauros!" Ash commended. "Bulbasaur, it's up to you to take this thing out; use your Solarbeam!" Ash turned from Bulbasaur back to the 4 water pokemon. "Keep Rhyhorn busy while Bulbasaur gathers all the sunlight it needs; try to weaken it as much as you can."
The four water pokemon nodded in accordance. Squirtle re-started with its' Hydro Pump attack; while Kingler used Crabhammer and Mistys water pokemon used their water gun attacks. Bulbasaur had started to gather in the sunlight it needed for the Solarbeam attack.
Rhyhorn became agitated with the water pokemon and started to lash out at them. Starmie had felt the harder end of Rhyhorns hoof when it tried a sneak attack from the ground. The kick from Rhyhorn had cracked Starmies' jewel and Misty recalled it. The next to feel Rhyhorns' wrath was the unlucky Kingler who had got too close in an attempt to use its Crabhammer attack. Kingler got the sharp end of Rhyhorns' horn and soon got the point; forcing Ash to recall it.
"Now Bulbasaur!" Ash commanded.
"Saauuur!" It shouted as a beam of pure sunlight shot from Bulbasaurs' bulb toward Rhyhorn; striking the Rhyhorn directly on the body.
Rhyhorn seemed like a rag doll as it was exposed to the full power of the Solarbeam attack; it was thrown to the ground several feet away from were it had originally been. However, the Rhyhorn still tried to get up; forcing itself to stand on spent legs. Finally however, the reality of the situation sunk in to Rhyhorn and it fell to the ground with a large thud.
The other pokemon seeing that their leader had been defeated started to back of; clearly not as eager on the destruction of Lavender as they had been earlier. The first retreat came from the last standing Kangaskhan; which seeing what had been done to Rhyhorn started to run of in the opposite direction from Lavender Town. The others followed until the only remaining wild pokemon in the area where those who had fallen to the floor due to exhaustion.
Ohh! I can't pass up a chance like this Ash thought as he reached into his pocket for an empty pokeball. Finally finding one he pulled it out and tossed it at the unconscious Rhyhorn, which he had beaten only moments ago.
Rhydon was sucked into the pokeball without resistance; and the red light on the pokeball disappeared in a remarkably short time.
Wow; such a strong pokemon! And now it's mine!!
Ash looked up from his newly full pokeball to Misty and the other guy. They were both looking at him.
"What?" Ash asked. "It was wild and I beat it in a battle. Plus; this is the only way we can be sure that it doesn't try to attack Lavender again."
The other guy nodded. So did Misty.
Ash walked over to Misty and helped her get of Tauros. When she was down they walked over to the other guy.
"So ahh…what's your name?" Misty asked.
"Oh yeah! I'm Jake; and I specialise in electric pokemon; my friend up there is Annie; but her friends call her Nightshade. She specialises in pokemon with psychic abilities."
"Hi, I'm Ash and this is Misty; uh we just got here."
"Heh; so what do you think of Lavender Town?" Jake asked.
"Certainly isn't dull." Misty laughed.
AN/ Part 4 complete!!! I can't believe I've made it to the end of part 4; this one was taking me forever! As well as a whole load of other stuff I've got goin' on. (Yes Erina-Chan I've got coursework too. It really does suck!) Anyway; I feel this is a more 'actiony' part of the story; whereas the next should be more focused on the Ash/Misty side of things. Anyway; I was thinking two things while writing this story:
i) Maybe the AAM writers on fanfiction.net could post pictures of themselves for a while on the profile's page (those that can)
And or:
ii) The AAM writers could arrange a date and time to meet on the chat room of fanfiction.net
Just ideas at the moment. Tell me what you think in a review. Thanks Bye!!