Poke-Factor 1: Legend of the Steel Serpent
Ash looked out the back of his window, watching Misty playing with Togepi in the sprinkler that was spraying water in every which direction. He had no clue why she'd stuck around after he'd failed to win any pokemon league tournaments. He was a loser, why would anyone wanna hang around with him for no reason?
He smiled a bit as her short yellow shirt clung to her wetly, almost see through being so thin and wet. He didn't know why he liked to watch her so much, but he just couldn't help it. Especially when she didn't know he was watching, she just seemed so carefree when she didn't know he was around. She always seemed to be hiding something when he was around.
He couldn't help but sigh a bit as he leaned his head against the window, the tip of his cap clinking gently against it. He could sit here watching her all day, but he knew his mom would make him go do something productive in a few minutes.
Off-handedly he took note of Pikachu running out to join Misty and Togepi playing in the sprinkler, his ears twitching happily as he playfully leapt on Togepi, who giggled and fought back cutely.
Again Ash let out an almost wistful sigh. "If only I were as brave as you Pikachu, I'd be out there too." With his pokemon journey at an end... Or rather an impass, as he was planning on leaving again the minute something came up... He'd really begun to notice things in a whole new light. Most notably Misty, who seemed to become more... Attractive to him by the day.
"Are you okay Ash?" Misty's voice beside him scared him stiff, his eyes going wide in surprise. He quickly forced himself to calm down before turning away from the window to face her, her still sopping wet.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" He said quickly, hearing his own voice quivering a bit as he spoke. So close to her sopping wet, he had almost a perfectly clear view of the evidence of her growing up.
"You're shivering, and I thought I was the wet one here." Playfully she rings the water out of her ponytail, flinging it at Ash, who puts a defensive hand up. "That's better." She giggled loudly.
"Hey, cut that out." He said a bit upset as he tried to brush the water off of him.
"Seriously Ash you need to lighten up. Life's not ALL about being gloomy and determined you know. Just look at Pikachu." He looked in the direction she indicated. Pikachu was still outside, playing around with Togepi, who was running around almost in circles trying to catch ahold of Pikachu's tail.
"What about Pikachu?" Ash asked confused. He really didn't see why she'd had to point him out.
"He's having fun! Yeesh, what do I have to spell everything out for you?" Angrily she reached out to grab his ear, dragging him with her as she headed back outside.
"Ow! Stop it Misty!" Ash cried, stumbling along after her so she wouldn't yank his ear right off his head in her anger.
"Here see?" She shoved him into the water from the sprinkler, soaking him almost instantly. "Now have fun before I get mad!" She shoved him again, pushing him to the ground where he landed in a small mud puddle on his back.
"OW!" Ash cried, arching his back hugely, reaching one hand behind him.
"Ah you wimp." Misty said, walking toward him, ignoring the water from the sprinkler. Ash simply grunted with pain as he pulled something out of his back, bringing it around to look at it. It was a small needle, about the size of his finger with a bit of his blood on it.
"What is... This..." Ash said, feeling his eyelids grow heavier even as he sat there, staring at the stinger from his back.
"Ash? Are you okay? ASH!" He collapsed backward, but the last thing he felt Misty's was arms catch him before he hit the ground again.
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Ash stared at the doctor for a while, who was examining the needle from his back. His eyes were still heavy and his arms felt totally numb, but he didn't feel particularly faint otherwise.
"Where did it come from doctor?" He heard his mom ask worriedly, watching him intently.
The doctor merely smiled. "It's just a Weedle horn. You must have landed on it when you fell and its horn became embedded in your back."
"Will he be okay?" His mom asked worriedly.
"He'll be fine, Weedle poison isn't particularly powerful. He'll be as good as new by tomorrow morning." The doctor said as he packed up his things to head out.
"Thanks so much for coming, I'll show you out." Ash's mom said, leading the doctor toward the front of the house, away from Ash's room.
He smiled slightly to himself, then caught sight of Misty glaring at him evilly. "What did I do now?" He asked irritably.
"You scared the heck out of me Ash! All because you had to land on a stupid Weedle!"
"You pushed me into the mud." He said defensively.
"Well all I wanted was to get you out of this stupor you've been in since you lost the pokemon league! Only you would have had to land in the exact spot that Weedle was in!"
Ash sat up as quickly as he could, looking seriously miffed. "Look Misty, I'm not in the mood for this. Can't you chew me out tomorrow?"
Misty growled deep in her throat, glaring at him with all the fires of a womanly fury burning in her eyes. "Ash you need to grow up and start paying attention to things around you before you get hurt worse than you did!" With that she turned and stomped out in a huff, slamming the door behind her.
Ash sighed, lying back in the bed, his energy expended. Idly he watched, Pikachu run into the room and hop up on the bed, looking up at him and chattering to him worriedly. "I'm fine Pikachu. Just give me a few hours." Ash said, trying to calm him down.
Pikachu didn't believe him however, so proceeded to give him an examination, putting one tiny hand against Ash's forehead and sending a few volts running through Ash's body. "Grghk! Was that really necessary?" Pikachu chattered apologetically and settled himself against Ash's side, curling up into a little ball to go to sleep, his face watching Ash carefully.
Ash smiled as his eyes slowly closed, finally letting him drift off to sleep away the effects of the poison.
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Professor Oak walked into the main room of his lab just as the video phone began beeping. "Who could that be at this time of night?" He walked over and turned it on, watching as Bill's face appeared on the monitor. "Why hello Bill."
"It's been awhile professor. I wish we could chat, but this is kind of urgent."
"What's the problem?" Oak said curiously.
"I have reason to suspect there may be a new type of pokemon around Viridian City and Pallet Town."
"That's bad news?"
"This ones very deadly, and appears to be attacking people seemingly at random. I'm on my way down there, but I thought I should send warning ahead."
"Thanks for the warning, I'll wait for your arrival." Bill nodded as the video phone went dark.
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He woke up the next morning groggily, raising his head wearily and looking around, struggling to remember everything until it finally came back to him. "Man I must have slept like a rock." He said, stretching. He heard Pikachu yawn beside him as he got out of his bed, already feeling a lot better than he had the night before.
Before Ash could reach the door it opened on its own and Brock stepped in, carrying something in his hands. "Oh Ash, you're looking better already."
"Uh yeah... How'd you get all the way to Pallet so fast? And what's that?" He looked down at the bag in Brock's hands.
"Oh I just hurried." He stopped a moment to smile at Ash before pulling something out of the bag. "Just some of my special medicine, but it looks like you don't need it."
"Yeah well thanks anyway."
"Say, do you still have the needle you found in your back?"
"Yeah, right here." Ash reached back to the nightstand and grabbed it, handing it to Brock.
"Hmmm..." Brock examined it carefully for a few minutes. "I'm not sure this is a Weedle stinger."
"Why?"
"It's too long, and besides, Misty said neither of you saw it and I think you should have if it's missing a stinger."
"Ah who cares anyway? It's gone and I'm fine." Brock just shrugged and handed the stinger back to Ash, who put it on the nightstand before heading out to the living room.
Misty saw them enter and immediately got to her feet, glaring at Ash. "So you ARE still alive."
Ash smirked at her and snapped back irritably. "I was only out for one night."
"One night? Ash it's been two days." She said, causing the breath to catch in Ash's throat.
"Two days!?" He exclaimed, looking back at Brock who just nodded his head. "Geeze, why didn't anyone wake me up?"
"We tried you little bum!" Misty screeched, stalking up to him. "If you think for one minute I wasn't worried about you you're sadly mistaken!"
"You were... worried about me?" Ash asked, staring at her curiously. She seemed to suddenly realize what she'd been saying and backed away a bit, becoming a little more demure.
"Well yeah, you are my friend." She said softly, a bit too softly to Ash's ears.
Before he could say anything his mom walked in, Mr. Mime following behind her. "Ah Ash, you're awake. Would you like something to eat?" His stomach started grumbling loudly at the mention of food, much to Ash's chagrin. "Ah I guess so. There's eggs in the dining room."
"Thanks mom." Ash said, embarrassed as he followed her and the pokemon into the dining room to sit down and eat his breakfast. To his surprise Misty followed him and sat down at the table across from him. "Something wrong Misty?"
"Oh, no. Just sitting down." She looked away from him quickly. Ash simply shrugged to himself and started eating, he'd never understand girls.
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Bill walked up the small path to Professor Oaks laboratory, keeping a sharp eye on the forest around him. If the reports and rumors were true they'd need the best pokemon trainers they could find.
He reached the small front door and knocked a few times, waiting only a minute before Professor Oak finally opened the door. "Hello there Bill."
"Good morning Professor Oak. Mind if I come in?"
"Not at all." Oak moved aside a bit to let Bill get inside the lab, turning towards him almost immediately.
"Has anyone in Pallet Town been attacked?" Bill asked.
"No not to my knowledge, everyone is accounted for and nobody has complained of a pokemon attack. Now tell me, what is this about a new species of pokemon?"
"It's been sighted in Viridian City several times, but nobody can really describe it. All anyone knows about it is that it has sharp spines on its body that seem to mark its next pray."
Professor Oak pondered this for a few minutes, putting one hand to his chin. "Peculiar, pokemon rarely attack humans."
"I know, but this one does." Was all Bill could think to say, it WAS really strange that one would be attacking like this.
"If someone is attacked, you'll definitely be the first to know." Professor Oak assured him, picking up a plate off the table. "Crouton?"
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Ash walked along the little path, trying to look anywhere but at Misty beside him. He'd decided to take a little walk, get some exercise after sleeping for two days straight. Misty had insisted on joining him, being afraid he'd fall down and not be able to get up.
He'd been thinking all day about various things that had been happening lately. Misty, that weird stinger, Misty... He just couldn't quite make sense of any of it.
He looked down at Pikachu walking along to Ash's other side from Misty, looking around at the shrubbery on either side curiously. His ears were twitching furiously, which usually meant something wasn't quite right, but Ash was too preoccupied to take real notice, glancing at Misty before looking quickly away again.
"Misty..." Ash began, looking down at his feet nervously. "You know you're... Really... Growing... And you're pretty."
Misty looked over at him curiously. "What?"
"I just mean you're kind of pretty, that's all." Ash said.
"Well..." She was interrupted as a sudden shriek of warning erupted from Pikachu. They both look and see Pikachu diving to the side as something slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, burrowing into it and out of site within moments.
"What was that!?" Ash yelled, running over to look into the hole. "Are you okay Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded affirmatively and looked around him cautiously.
"It looked like a pokemon." Misty said, running up beside Ash to look in the hole in the ground.
"Let's go tell Professor Oak about this, maybe he can tell us something." Pikachu and Misty nodded as Ash turned and headed for Professor Oaks lab. He could have sworn he could feel the ground underneath his feet shifting slightly as he walked, but it was probably just his nerves after being attacked.
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Ash knocked on the door a bit more urgently than he'd intended, prompting a response in about five seconds. "Hey professor."
"Oh Ash. Is something wrong?" Oak asked as he let Ash, Misty and Pikachu into the lab.
"Something attacked us on the street."
"What was it!?" The question startled Ash as it came from behind him. He turned to see Bill already on his feet, studying Ash intently.
"Why are you here?"
"What attacked you?" Bill repeated urgently.
"It was too fast, we couldn't see it." Misty said, coming up beside Ash. Bill sighed and slumped down onto the couch again.
"What's going on Professor Oak?" Ash asked curiously.
"Bill's here searching out some new species of pokemon that's been attacking victims seemingly at random." Oak said, walking over to sit on the couch beside Bill.
"A pokemon that's attacking people?" Ash said incredulously.
"It's quite true." Bill said as he got to his feet and walked toward Ash. "This thing has been for... Huh?" He stopped in his tracks as something on his belt buckle started beeping wildly.
"What's that?" Misty asked.
"A tracker, it's clued into the structure of this mystery pokemon thanks to the spines that have been found dislodged during attacks."
"Spines?" Ash said worriedly, putting one hand to his back.
"You don't think..." Misty began, also looking closely at Ash's back.
"What's the matter Ash?" Professor Oak asked.
"About two days ago something stuck a needle into my back and I passed out. We thought it was a Weedle, but now I'm not so sure."
"It must have marked you, that's why you set off my tracker." Bill said as he reached down and de-activated it.
"Well... Judging from the methods and such of these attacks, I think I might be able to tell you what it is." Professor Oak said, surprising the other three. He walked over and dug a book out of his desk, opening it. "It's a legendary, mythical pokemon. Nobody knows anything about it."
"A legend? But legends aren't real." Ash said.
"All legends are based on facts somewhat, after all, something had to have made people think of this stuff, even if they're not exact or often exaggerated." Bill said, walking over to read the book over Professor Oaks shoulder.
Oak began reading the book out loud. "The Steel Serpent, a snake pokemon with a hard coat of steel covering its skin. It's highly venomous and lethal, also one of the most vicious pokemon known. It will mark its victim by injecting it with a paralyzing poison, often feeding on it as it sleeps. If it can't however, it will stalk its prey until it finally captures it."
Ash gulps, becoming more worried by the second as he hears Professor Oak reading. "And h... He's coming after ME?"
"Looks like it Ash." Misty said, smirking. "Show you to be more careful where you land."
"Gee thanks." Ash replied sarcastically before turning back to the experts. "How do I get rid of it?"
"Beat it in battle I'd assume." Professor Oak said, smiling slightly.
"This isn't funny! This things trying to kill me!" Ash yelled frantically as a huge booming thud resounds through the room. They all look to see a sinuous form writhing inside the new entrance, staring directly at Ash. There were sword-like blades protruding from its back, curved towards its tail, which was itself covered in miniature blades aiming backwards. The things lifted its head and let out a piercing screech that sounded like a thousand nails on a chalkboard.
Ash immediately turned and ran toward the front door. "Get it away!" He yelled as he bolted outside. Misty, Professor Oak, and Bill all dodged frantically to the side to avoid the thing as it passed by them, moving after Ash at an incredible speed.
Ash pumped his legs as hard as he could away from the building, looking back just in time to see the serpent lunge out the door, leaping over much of the distance between them. He forced himself to run faster, almost in a pure panic. Suddenly he heard a familiar yell and turned back to see Pikachu lunging at the serpent.
"Pikachu! Watch out!" He watched as the lightning began to build around the tiny mouse, sparking from his cheeks almost constantly. Before the lightning could strike however, the serpents tail straightened itself, the tip as sharp as a needle.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as the lightning flared toward the serpent, and at the same time its tail thrust forward. Ash was blinded by the flash of the lightning so had to cover his eyes, but when he looked again the serpent was smoking and standing over Pikachu, who lied on the ground unconscious. "No!" The serpent turned to face him again, starting to advance again.
"Watch out Ash!" Misty yelled, running to try to help him.
"Agh!" Ash tried to run again, but the serpent struck in one lightning fast movement, wrapping itself tightly around him, squeezing him tightly. Ash yelled out in shock as he tumbled to his knees under its weight.
Ash could only stare in horror as the pokemon opened its jaws, revealing the almost swordlike fangs hidden within them. Frantically Ash's fingers scraped against one of his pokeballs. He didn't know which one, but he was desperate. "Go!" He dropped it to the ground, where it opened in a ray of light.
The Steel Serpents jaws moved towards Ash's head, but suddenly stopped as an orange claw clutched at its throat, yanking it away from Ash. Charizard let out a furious roar, the flames engulfing the serpents head as it screeched loudly, pulling away from both Ash and Charizard.
Ash collapsed to the ground, suddenly freed from the serpents grip. He gasped for air and watched as Charizard and the serpent paced each other, each circling the other.
Misty ran up to Ash, kneeling down beside him and putting a worried hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Fine..." He gasped out, watching the combatants study each other wearily.
The serpent struck first, lunging at Charizard, but he took off from the ground, his wings carrying him up into the air and out of the serpents reach. He let out a stream of fire toward the ground, burning huge patches into the lush grass, but the serpent dodged the blasts sinuously, making its way over to Ash again.
"Let's get out of here!" Misty exclaimed, pulling Ash to his feet before they took off running away from the serpent. They ran as fast as they could, the serpent steadily gaining on them as Charizards fire rained down upon it.
Finally one blast slammed into the serpent full force, scorching the grass around it and heating the steel skin up almost instantly. The serpent stopped to look up at him, screeching warningly.
Suddenly the serpent launched itself off the ground like a spring, slamming into Charizard, knocking him off kilter, and sending both of them slamming to the ground. Charizards roar of anger sounded through the air as the serpent wrapped its coils around him, the blades on its back slicing into him occasionally.
"Charizard!" Ash exclaimed, taking a few harried steps towards the battle. Charizards roars were filled with anger and pain as the serpent squeezed tighter, opening its jaws again.
"Ash look!" He looked quickly where Misty pointed to. Pikachu was back on its feet, holding its chest painfully as it staggered towards the battle.
"Pikachu! Get away!" Ash yelled, but Pikachu ignored him and got closer before stopping, the electrical sparks flying from its cheeks sporadically. He let out a high pitched shriek as the energy discharged, flying into the serpent.
Both the serpent and Charizard howled in pain as the lightning surged through both of their bodies. The serpents coils loosened until finally he came loose enough for Charizard to escape from them, moving quickly away from the battle, the wounds he'd suffered making his entire body droop slightly.
Pikachu let out a small squeak of exhaustion as the energy dissipated and he fell to the ground, his eyes closed.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as the serpent turned towards Ash, moving toward him again. Suddenly a huge stone head slammed into the serpents side with the force of a bullet train, slamming it into the ground, tossing up the dirt and grass all around and making a huge crater in the ground.
Onix lifted its head again, looking down at the serpent, which was now lying still in the crater, its eyes closed.
Brock ran up to Ash and Misty as fast as he could. "Are you guys alright!?" He asked quickly.
"Yeah, thanks." Ash said as he walked over to pick up Pikachu, who looked absolutely exhausted. "I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't showed up and blindsided it Brock." He said as he turned to look down at the serpent.
"Don't worry about it." Brock replied as they all heard footsteps approaching. Bill ran up to them, practically hopping with excitement.
"Yes, wonderful! This proves you're the perfect candidates!"
"Candidates for what?" Ash asked curiously.
"To join my new investigative team. You see, there are hundreds of legends revolving around pokemon, I want you three to investigate them and either verify, or disprove them."
"You mean like detectives?" Misty asked.
"Kind of like that." Bill agreed, nodding. "What do you say, will you do it?"
"Oh definitely!" Ash exclaimed. He'd been searching for a reason to get away fro Pallet again. He loved his mother and all, but he loved adventuring even more.
"Here we go again." Misty said, rolling her eyes a bit. Ash took no notice however, he was already anticipating grand adventures in far off places with never before discovered pokemon. It would be great to get out again, and he planned to enjoy absolutely every minute of it.
Ash looked out the back of his window, watching Misty playing with Togepi in the sprinkler that was spraying water in every which direction. He had no clue why she'd stuck around after he'd failed to win any pokemon league tournaments. He was a loser, why would anyone wanna hang around with him for no reason?
He smiled a bit as her short yellow shirt clung to her wetly, almost see through being so thin and wet. He didn't know why he liked to watch her so much, but he just couldn't help it. Especially when she didn't know he was watching, she just seemed so carefree when she didn't know he was around. She always seemed to be hiding something when he was around.
He couldn't help but sigh a bit as he leaned his head against the window, the tip of his cap clinking gently against it. He could sit here watching her all day, but he knew his mom would make him go do something productive in a few minutes.
Off-handedly he took note of Pikachu running out to join Misty and Togepi playing in the sprinkler, his ears twitching happily as he playfully leapt on Togepi, who giggled and fought back cutely.
Again Ash let out an almost wistful sigh. "If only I were as brave as you Pikachu, I'd be out there too." With his pokemon journey at an end... Or rather an impass, as he was planning on leaving again the minute something came up... He'd really begun to notice things in a whole new light. Most notably Misty, who seemed to become more... Attractive to him by the day.
"Are you okay Ash?" Misty's voice beside him scared him stiff, his eyes going wide in surprise. He quickly forced himself to calm down before turning away from the window to face her, her still sopping wet.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" He said quickly, hearing his own voice quivering a bit as he spoke. So close to her sopping wet, he had almost a perfectly clear view of the evidence of her growing up.
"You're shivering, and I thought I was the wet one here." Playfully she rings the water out of her ponytail, flinging it at Ash, who puts a defensive hand up. "That's better." She giggled loudly.
"Hey, cut that out." He said a bit upset as he tried to brush the water off of him.
"Seriously Ash you need to lighten up. Life's not ALL about being gloomy and determined you know. Just look at Pikachu." He looked in the direction she indicated. Pikachu was still outside, playing around with Togepi, who was running around almost in circles trying to catch ahold of Pikachu's tail.
"What about Pikachu?" Ash asked confused. He really didn't see why she'd had to point him out.
"He's having fun! Yeesh, what do I have to spell everything out for you?" Angrily she reached out to grab his ear, dragging him with her as she headed back outside.
"Ow! Stop it Misty!" Ash cried, stumbling along after her so she wouldn't yank his ear right off his head in her anger.
"Here see?" She shoved him into the water from the sprinkler, soaking him almost instantly. "Now have fun before I get mad!" She shoved him again, pushing him to the ground where he landed in a small mud puddle on his back.
"OW!" Ash cried, arching his back hugely, reaching one hand behind him.
"Ah you wimp." Misty said, walking toward him, ignoring the water from the sprinkler. Ash simply grunted with pain as he pulled something out of his back, bringing it around to look at it. It was a small needle, about the size of his finger with a bit of his blood on it.
"What is... This..." Ash said, feeling his eyelids grow heavier even as he sat there, staring at the stinger from his back.
"Ash? Are you okay? ASH!" He collapsed backward, but the last thing he felt Misty's was arms catch him before he hit the ground again.
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Ash stared at the doctor for a while, who was examining the needle from his back. His eyes were still heavy and his arms felt totally numb, but he didn't feel particularly faint otherwise.
"Where did it come from doctor?" He heard his mom ask worriedly, watching him intently.
The doctor merely smiled. "It's just a Weedle horn. You must have landed on it when you fell and its horn became embedded in your back."
"Will he be okay?" His mom asked worriedly.
"He'll be fine, Weedle poison isn't particularly powerful. He'll be as good as new by tomorrow morning." The doctor said as he packed up his things to head out.
"Thanks so much for coming, I'll show you out." Ash's mom said, leading the doctor toward the front of the house, away from Ash's room.
He smiled slightly to himself, then caught sight of Misty glaring at him evilly. "What did I do now?" He asked irritably.
"You scared the heck out of me Ash! All because you had to land on a stupid Weedle!"
"You pushed me into the mud." He said defensively.
"Well all I wanted was to get you out of this stupor you've been in since you lost the pokemon league! Only you would have had to land in the exact spot that Weedle was in!"
Ash sat up as quickly as he could, looking seriously miffed. "Look Misty, I'm not in the mood for this. Can't you chew me out tomorrow?"
Misty growled deep in her throat, glaring at him with all the fires of a womanly fury burning in her eyes. "Ash you need to grow up and start paying attention to things around you before you get hurt worse than you did!" With that she turned and stomped out in a huff, slamming the door behind her.
Ash sighed, lying back in the bed, his energy expended. Idly he watched, Pikachu run into the room and hop up on the bed, looking up at him and chattering to him worriedly. "I'm fine Pikachu. Just give me a few hours." Ash said, trying to calm him down.
Pikachu didn't believe him however, so proceeded to give him an examination, putting one tiny hand against Ash's forehead and sending a few volts running through Ash's body. "Grghk! Was that really necessary?" Pikachu chattered apologetically and settled himself against Ash's side, curling up into a little ball to go to sleep, his face watching Ash carefully.
Ash smiled as his eyes slowly closed, finally letting him drift off to sleep away the effects of the poison.
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Professor Oak walked into the main room of his lab just as the video phone began beeping. "Who could that be at this time of night?" He walked over and turned it on, watching as Bill's face appeared on the monitor. "Why hello Bill."
"It's been awhile professor. I wish we could chat, but this is kind of urgent."
"What's the problem?" Oak said curiously.
"I have reason to suspect there may be a new type of pokemon around Viridian City and Pallet Town."
"That's bad news?"
"This ones very deadly, and appears to be attacking people seemingly at random. I'm on my way down there, but I thought I should send warning ahead."
"Thanks for the warning, I'll wait for your arrival." Bill nodded as the video phone went dark.
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He woke up the next morning groggily, raising his head wearily and looking around, struggling to remember everything until it finally came back to him. "Man I must have slept like a rock." He said, stretching. He heard Pikachu yawn beside him as he got out of his bed, already feeling a lot better than he had the night before.
Before Ash could reach the door it opened on its own and Brock stepped in, carrying something in his hands. "Oh Ash, you're looking better already."
"Uh yeah... How'd you get all the way to Pallet so fast? And what's that?" He looked down at the bag in Brock's hands.
"Oh I just hurried." He stopped a moment to smile at Ash before pulling something out of the bag. "Just some of my special medicine, but it looks like you don't need it."
"Yeah well thanks anyway."
"Say, do you still have the needle you found in your back?"
"Yeah, right here." Ash reached back to the nightstand and grabbed it, handing it to Brock.
"Hmmm..." Brock examined it carefully for a few minutes. "I'm not sure this is a Weedle stinger."
"Why?"
"It's too long, and besides, Misty said neither of you saw it and I think you should have if it's missing a stinger."
"Ah who cares anyway? It's gone and I'm fine." Brock just shrugged and handed the stinger back to Ash, who put it on the nightstand before heading out to the living room.
Misty saw them enter and immediately got to her feet, glaring at Ash. "So you ARE still alive."
Ash smirked at her and snapped back irritably. "I was only out for one night."
"One night? Ash it's been two days." She said, causing the breath to catch in Ash's throat.
"Two days!?" He exclaimed, looking back at Brock who just nodded his head. "Geeze, why didn't anyone wake me up?"
"We tried you little bum!" Misty screeched, stalking up to him. "If you think for one minute I wasn't worried about you you're sadly mistaken!"
"You were... worried about me?" Ash asked, staring at her curiously. She seemed to suddenly realize what she'd been saying and backed away a bit, becoming a little more demure.
"Well yeah, you are my friend." She said softly, a bit too softly to Ash's ears.
Before he could say anything his mom walked in, Mr. Mime following behind her. "Ah Ash, you're awake. Would you like something to eat?" His stomach started grumbling loudly at the mention of food, much to Ash's chagrin. "Ah I guess so. There's eggs in the dining room."
"Thanks mom." Ash said, embarrassed as he followed her and the pokemon into the dining room to sit down and eat his breakfast. To his surprise Misty followed him and sat down at the table across from him. "Something wrong Misty?"
"Oh, no. Just sitting down." She looked away from him quickly. Ash simply shrugged to himself and started eating, he'd never understand girls.
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Bill walked up the small path to Professor Oaks laboratory, keeping a sharp eye on the forest around him. If the reports and rumors were true they'd need the best pokemon trainers they could find.
He reached the small front door and knocked a few times, waiting only a minute before Professor Oak finally opened the door. "Hello there Bill."
"Good morning Professor Oak. Mind if I come in?"
"Not at all." Oak moved aside a bit to let Bill get inside the lab, turning towards him almost immediately.
"Has anyone in Pallet Town been attacked?" Bill asked.
"No not to my knowledge, everyone is accounted for and nobody has complained of a pokemon attack. Now tell me, what is this about a new species of pokemon?"
"It's been sighted in Viridian City several times, but nobody can really describe it. All anyone knows about it is that it has sharp spines on its body that seem to mark its next pray."
Professor Oak pondered this for a few minutes, putting one hand to his chin. "Peculiar, pokemon rarely attack humans."
"I know, but this one does." Was all Bill could think to say, it WAS really strange that one would be attacking like this.
"If someone is attacked, you'll definitely be the first to know." Professor Oak assured him, picking up a plate off the table. "Crouton?"
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Ash walked along the little path, trying to look anywhere but at Misty beside him. He'd decided to take a little walk, get some exercise after sleeping for two days straight. Misty had insisted on joining him, being afraid he'd fall down and not be able to get up.
He'd been thinking all day about various things that had been happening lately. Misty, that weird stinger, Misty... He just couldn't quite make sense of any of it.
He looked down at Pikachu walking along to Ash's other side from Misty, looking around at the shrubbery on either side curiously. His ears were twitching furiously, which usually meant something wasn't quite right, but Ash was too preoccupied to take real notice, glancing at Misty before looking quickly away again.
"Misty..." Ash began, looking down at his feet nervously. "You know you're... Really... Growing... And you're pretty."
Misty looked over at him curiously. "What?"
"I just mean you're kind of pretty, that's all." Ash said.
"Well..." She was interrupted as a sudden shriek of warning erupted from Pikachu. They both look and see Pikachu diving to the side as something slammed into the ground where he'd been standing, burrowing into it and out of site within moments.
"What was that!?" Ash yelled, running over to look into the hole. "Are you okay Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded affirmatively and looked around him cautiously.
"It looked like a pokemon." Misty said, running up beside Ash to look in the hole in the ground.
"Let's go tell Professor Oak about this, maybe he can tell us something." Pikachu and Misty nodded as Ash turned and headed for Professor Oaks lab. He could have sworn he could feel the ground underneath his feet shifting slightly as he walked, but it was probably just his nerves after being attacked.
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Ash knocked on the door a bit more urgently than he'd intended, prompting a response in about five seconds. "Hey professor."
"Oh Ash. Is something wrong?" Oak asked as he let Ash, Misty and Pikachu into the lab.
"Something attacked us on the street."
"What was it!?" The question startled Ash as it came from behind him. He turned to see Bill already on his feet, studying Ash intently.
"Why are you here?"
"What attacked you?" Bill repeated urgently.
"It was too fast, we couldn't see it." Misty said, coming up beside Ash. Bill sighed and slumped down onto the couch again.
"What's going on Professor Oak?" Ash asked curiously.
"Bill's here searching out some new species of pokemon that's been attacking victims seemingly at random." Oak said, walking over to sit on the couch beside Bill.
"A pokemon that's attacking people?" Ash said incredulously.
"It's quite true." Bill said as he got to his feet and walked toward Ash. "This thing has been for... Huh?" He stopped in his tracks as something on his belt buckle started beeping wildly.
"What's that?" Misty asked.
"A tracker, it's clued into the structure of this mystery pokemon thanks to the spines that have been found dislodged during attacks."
"Spines?" Ash said worriedly, putting one hand to his back.
"You don't think..." Misty began, also looking closely at Ash's back.
"What's the matter Ash?" Professor Oak asked.
"About two days ago something stuck a needle into my back and I passed out. We thought it was a Weedle, but now I'm not so sure."
"It must have marked you, that's why you set off my tracker." Bill said as he reached down and de-activated it.
"Well... Judging from the methods and such of these attacks, I think I might be able to tell you what it is." Professor Oak said, surprising the other three. He walked over and dug a book out of his desk, opening it. "It's a legendary, mythical pokemon. Nobody knows anything about it."
"A legend? But legends aren't real." Ash said.
"All legends are based on facts somewhat, after all, something had to have made people think of this stuff, even if they're not exact or often exaggerated." Bill said, walking over to read the book over Professor Oaks shoulder.
Oak began reading the book out loud. "The Steel Serpent, a snake pokemon with a hard coat of steel covering its skin. It's highly venomous and lethal, also one of the most vicious pokemon known. It will mark its victim by injecting it with a paralyzing poison, often feeding on it as it sleeps. If it can't however, it will stalk its prey until it finally captures it."
Ash gulps, becoming more worried by the second as he hears Professor Oak reading. "And h... He's coming after ME?"
"Looks like it Ash." Misty said, smirking. "Show you to be more careful where you land."
"Gee thanks." Ash replied sarcastically before turning back to the experts. "How do I get rid of it?"
"Beat it in battle I'd assume." Professor Oak said, smiling slightly.
"This isn't funny! This things trying to kill me!" Ash yelled frantically as a huge booming thud resounds through the room. They all look to see a sinuous form writhing inside the new entrance, staring directly at Ash. There were sword-like blades protruding from its back, curved towards its tail, which was itself covered in miniature blades aiming backwards. The things lifted its head and let out a piercing screech that sounded like a thousand nails on a chalkboard.
Ash immediately turned and ran toward the front door. "Get it away!" He yelled as he bolted outside. Misty, Professor Oak, and Bill all dodged frantically to the side to avoid the thing as it passed by them, moving after Ash at an incredible speed.
Ash pumped his legs as hard as he could away from the building, looking back just in time to see the serpent lunge out the door, leaping over much of the distance between them. He forced himself to run faster, almost in a pure panic. Suddenly he heard a familiar yell and turned back to see Pikachu lunging at the serpent.
"Pikachu! Watch out!" He watched as the lightning began to build around the tiny mouse, sparking from his cheeks almost constantly. Before the lightning could strike however, the serpents tail straightened itself, the tip as sharp as a needle.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as the lightning flared toward the serpent, and at the same time its tail thrust forward. Ash was blinded by the flash of the lightning so had to cover his eyes, but when he looked again the serpent was smoking and standing over Pikachu, who lied on the ground unconscious. "No!" The serpent turned to face him again, starting to advance again.
"Watch out Ash!" Misty yelled, running to try to help him.
"Agh!" Ash tried to run again, but the serpent struck in one lightning fast movement, wrapping itself tightly around him, squeezing him tightly. Ash yelled out in shock as he tumbled to his knees under its weight.
Ash could only stare in horror as the pokemon opened its jaws, revealing the almost swordlike fangs hidden within them. Frantically Ash's fingers scraped against one of his pokeballs. He didn't know which one, but he was desperate. "Go!" He dropped it to the ground, where it opened in a ray of light.
The Steel Serpents jaws moved towards Ash's head, but suddenly stopped as an orange claw clutched at its throat, yanking it away from Ash. Charizard let out a furious roar, the flames engulfing the serpents head as it screeched loudly, pulling away from both Ash and Charizard.
Ash collapsed to the ground, suddenly freed from the serpents grip. He gasped for air and watched as Charizard and the serpent paced each other, each circling the other.
Misty ran up to Ash, kneeling down beside him and putting a worried hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Fine..." He gasped out, watching the combatants study each other wearily.
The serpent struck first, lunging at Charizard, but he took off from the ground, his wings carrying him up into the air and out of the serpents reach. He let out a stream of fire toward the ground, burning huge patches into the lush grass, but the serpent dodged the blasts sinuously, making its way over to Ash again.
"Let's get out of here!" Misty exclaimed, pulling Ash to his feet before they took off running away from the serpent. They ran as fast as they could, the serpent steadily gaining on them as Charizards fire rained down upon it.
Finally one blast slammed into the serpent full force, scorching the grass around it and heating the steel skin up almost instantly. The serpent stopped to look up at him, screeching warningly.
Suddenly the serpent launched itself off the ground like a spring, slamming into Charizard, knocking him off kilter, and sending both of them slamming to the ground. Charizards roar of anger sounded through the air as the serpent wrapped its coils around him, the blades on its back slicing into him occasionally.
"Charizard!" Ash exclaimed, taking a few harried steps towards the battle. Charizards roars were filled with anger and pain as the serpent squeezed tighter, opening its jaws again.
"Ash look!" He looked quickly where Misty pointed to. Pikachu was back on its feet, holding its chest painfully as it staggered towards the battle.
"Pikachu! Get away!" Ash yelled, but Pikachu ignored him and got closer before stopping, the electrical sparks flying from its cheeks sporadically. He let out a high pitched shriek as the energy discharged, flying into the serpent.
Both the serpent and Charizard howled in pain as the lightning surged through both of their bodies. The serpents coils loosened until finally he came loose enough for Charizard to escape from them, moving quickly away from the battle, the wounds he'd suffered making his entire body droop slightly.
Pikachu let out a small squeak of exhaustion as the energy dissipated and he fell to the ground, his eyes closed.
"Pikachu!" Ash yelled as the serpent turned towards Ash, moving toward him again. Suddenly a huge stone head slammed into the serpents side with the force of a bullet train, slamming it into the ground, tossing up the dirt and grass all around and making a huge crater in the ground.
Onix lifted its head again, looking down at the serpent, which was now lying still in the crater, its eyes closed.
Brock ran up to Ash and Misty as fast as he could. "Are you guys alright!?" He asked quickly.
"Yeah, thanks." Ash said as he walked over to pick up Pikachu, who looked absolutely exhausted. "I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't showed up and blindsided it Brock." He said as he turned to look down at the serpent.
"Don't worry about it." Brock replied as they all heard footsteps approaching. Bill ran up to them, practically hopping with excitement.
"Yes, wonderful! This proves you're the perfect candidates!"
"Candidates for what?" Ash asked curiously.
"To join my new investigative team. You see, there are hundreds of legends revolving around pokemon, I want you three to investigate them and either verify, or disprove them."
"You mean like detectives?" Misty asked.
"Kind of like that." Bill agreed, nodding. "What do you say, will you do it?"
"Oh definitely!" Ash exclaimed. He'd been searching for a reason to get away fro Pallet again. He loved his mother and all, but he loved adventuring even more.
"Here we go again." Misty said, rolling her eyes a bit. Ash took no notice however, he was already anticipating grand adventures in far off places with never before discovered pokemon. It would be great to get out again, and he planned to enjoy absolutely every minute of it.
