Me: All righty, then-I don't own Pokemon. I'm sure I've kept you all in suspense long enough.
Chikorita: Chiko chiko? (Where have you been?!)
Me: (sighs) For those who don't go to school-like certain Grass-type Pokemon I know-I've been trying to get in step with my classes at college and trying to adjust to my move to a different house-and neighborhood.
(in enters Ash)
Ash: Chikorita, are you bothering our old friend at a time like this?
Chikorita: Chiko, chiko chikori. (Just waiting for you, Ash.)
(Ash and I both sigh)
Me: Excuse me while I go and throw up in the nearest trash bin. (leaves)
Ash: Wait for me! (races off)
Chikorita: Chiko… (Men…)
Pokemon: The Power of Two
Chapter I-Trip back to Goldenrod
Last time, Ash and Misty were summoned by Mewtwo, an old acquaintance of theirs just moments after a victory against Team Rocket, to be informed that Giovanni, the head of Team Rocket, was attempting to find four extremely rare Pokemon-Entei, the Pokemon of Fire, Suicune, the Pokemon of Water, Raikou, the Pokemon of Lightning and Ho-oh, another Pokemon of Fire. Now, Ash and his friends have to hunt down these hard to find Pokemon and protect them from Giovanni's wrath, but it won't be easy as you may think…
(Theme song; Fanfare starts as Ash says the name of the show)
Ash: Trip Back to Goldenrod!
Ash sighed as he observed both Cyndaquil and Totodile's Pokeballs-two well trained Pokemon-being sent back to Professor Oak's laboratory that night at the Pokemon Center.
"Have you decided what Pokemon you're going to send back to your sisters yet, Mist?" Ash spoke up a moment later.
"So far, only Goldeen. You should know I'm not giving up Togepi. I'm confused on whether I should give up Poliwhirl, Golduck or Staryu."
"Who says you have to give up any of 'em? You can only carry six Pokemon, and by my count, Togepi, Poliwhirl, Golduck and Staryu make four exactly, like Pikachu, Chikorita, Charizard and Espeon make four members for Ash's team." Brock explained calmly.
"Pika!"
"Toge-toge-prrrrri!"
"That means we'll both have enough room for two extra Pokemon to carry around-hey, I've got quite a lot of e-mail!" Ash suddenly turned back toward the computer, interested in whoever was sending him e-mail.
"Whose it from, Ash?"
"From Whitney, Bugsy, Falkner and Liza! They all saw my match against Gary and want to challenge me to a rematch-actually, Liza just wants to challenge me and Charizard…oh, no!" Ash had a worried look on his face, so Pikachu gave him a quick Thundershock attack to get him out of his slump.
"What's wrong, Ash?" Misty asked.
"What if she decides she wants Charizard to train with her again?" Brock placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'm sure Charizard's gotten all the training he required there. She probably wants to see how I'm doing!" Brock struck a pose with his muscles; Ash, Misty and Pikachu sighed irritably.
"Ignore him. Ash, if you're so worried about this, why don't you ask Charizard what he wants to do?" Misty offered. Smiling brightly, Ash kissed Misty on the cheek before grabbing Charizard's Pokeball.
"Mist, you're a lifesaver! Charizard, GO!"
"CHARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" The Fire Pokemon burst out of his Pokeball and roared proudly, instantly recognizing the insides of the Pokemon Center and preventing himself from shooting a Flamethrower attack.
"Charizard, Liza's challenged us to a Pokemon battle, and if the offer to retrain with her came up, I was wondering what you would want to do. If you want to be even stronger than you are now, then I won't stand in your way." Ash held in his breath, awaiting his friend's response, as was Pikachu. Brock had gone to his room and Misty had gone to the shower, effectively taking it over for the moment.
Charizard considered Ash's request and gazed into his eyes, seeing the brimming of tears already beginning to take shape. The Fire-type immediately shook his head, having gotten the training he needed while there.
"You sure about this?" Charizard nodded in agreement and held his arms open, expecting a hug from his trainer, and his friend.
"Thanks, Charizard! Get in here, Pikachu!"
"Pika!"
"Chiko!" Ash facefaulted in surprise as Chikorita popped out of her Pokeball and squeezed her way in between Ash and Pikachu, snuggling close to Ash's chest.
"Guess it's a group hug, huh? Just doesn't have Espeon out, ah-ha-ha…"
Back in Viridian, Giovanni was contemplating a map of the surrounding regions of Johto when his partner entered in.
"You have something for me?"
"Yes. Word is that one of the Legendary types you seek is in the lower regions of Goldenrod City. If we hurry, we might be able to find it and catch it." Giovanni smiled evilly and petted his Persian for a few seconds.
"Excellent. To my helicopter as quickly as possible!"
"I really don't see why Whitney sent us this express train just to get us from Blackthorn to Goldenrod." Misty groaned and looked at Ash with a withering glare.
"How else would we get there, Ash-use Charizard to fly us all there at once? It took a number of months for Charizard to be able to carry you and Pikachu! How long would it take for Charizard to be able to fly us all-a number of years?"
"I was just saying-" Ash began impatiently.
"That's it! Calm down, both of you. For the past few weeks, you guys haven't argued over that much but normal things, and that's good. But if you're gonna ruin it over travel plans…"
"Who asked you, Brock?!" Ash and Misty chorused heatedly.
"Pika…CHUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!" Getting frustrated with all of them, Pikachu let them all have it with one focused Thunderbolt attack, making sure not to short circuit the entire train.
"Am I forgiven?" Ash sputtered out weakly.
"Just don't bring up the subject again." Misty added.
"Nice going, Pikachu." The Electric-type laughed as all three of them dropped to the ground in a heap. Unbeknownst to them, Team Rocket-Jessie, James and Meowth-were hiding in the baggage car, plotting their next scheme.
Ash hungrily wolfed down his food at dinner, taking notice that Pikachu, Chikorita and Charizard imitated his gestures. Only Espeon ate her food with polite manners.
"Careful, Ash. One wrong move, and you and almost all of your Pokemon could end up with big ol' potbellies." Misty giggled, feeding Togepi some of Brock's cooked Pokemon food.
Ash and Charizard both grumbled a response back, still eating; Pikachu and Chikorita both eyed her with slightly irritated looks before returning to their own unfinished meals.
At that moment, the lights dimmed and went out. The train stopped in its tracks a second after!
"What's going on?" Ash asked, gulping down the last of his food and standing up.
"Something must be wrong up in the engine room!" Brock exclaimed.
"That's right, twerps! You'll never guess who it is…"
"Oh, no. It can't be." Ash said in a monotone-like voice.
"Prepare for trouble!"
"Make it double!"
"To protect the world from devastation…"
"…To unite all peoples within our nation…"
"…To denounce the evils of truth and love…"
"…To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!" A side door opened and Jessie popped out of it.
"James!" James appeared out of the other side door.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!"
"Wobbu-"
WHACK! Meowth whacked Wobbuffet out of the way with practiced ease. "Meowth, that's right!"
"What are you three doing on this train?" Ash demanded as he protectively got in front of Misty.
"Simple-while your Pokemon are all full from the delicious eats, we'll just take them all off your hands-except for Charizard, 'cause he's too heavy to pick up!"
"CHARRRRRRRR!!!" Angered by James' comment, the already hotheaded Fire-type fired a controlled Flamethrower at his head!
"That saves me the trouble of hitting you in the first place." Jessie muttered.
"Wobbuffet!"
"Pikachu, use your-"
"Chiko! Chiko, chiko." Ash turned toward Chikorita, expecting her to have pushed Pikachu out of the way in a jealous rage. To his amazement, it looked like she was preparing to help Pikachu in battle.
"You want to help Pikachu in this battle, Chikorita?" Ash asked, basically translating for everyone else.
"Dat's what she said." Meowth said, a concerned tone in his voice.
"All right, let's give it a try! Chikorita, use your Vine Whip! Pikachu, try a Thunderbolt!"
"Chiko!"
"Pika…CHUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!" The three villains were sent flying out of one of the windows by the combined force of Chikorita's Vine Whip and Pikachu's Thunderbolt attacks.
"We didn't even get a chance to attack!" Jessie wailed.
"But when those twerps find out what the boss has planned for them, they'll be the ones blasting off." James reported with an evil grin.
"True, too true." Meowth said.
"But until then…WE'RE BLASTING OFF AT NIGHT…"
"Wobbu…" (ping!)
"Way to go, guys!" Ash cried excitedly as he pulled Pikachu and Chikorita into a tight hug. The lights flickered back on and the train started moving again.
"Pikachu!"
"Chikori!"
"Ash, we're supposed to be a team! Why couldn't I help out?" Misty asked.
"You didn't call for any of your Pokemon, for one. For another, my Pokemon were taking up some space in this car, anyway. I promise, Misty, no matter what Pokemon we find in Goldenrod, you'll get a chance to battle it." Ash said.
"That's great, guys. Good night." Ash, Misty and all of Ash's Pokemon sweatdropped as they all turned to see Brock going to sleep!
"Guess he's got a point for once." Ash said.
"Yeah, for once." The two laughed to themselves as the train continued to move.
With Team Rocket defeated once again, our heroes continue onward to Goldenrod. Will Ash win once again against Whitney? Will Ash and Misty come across one of the Legendary Pokemon while in Goldenrod? Find out in the next adventure!