Me: Okay, I don't own Pokemon. This chapter's going out to all those readers-I'd say viewers, but then you'd be watching this instead of reading it-who've reviewed since the prologue and beyond!
Ash: That's cool! So, are you bringing anyone else in who I've met?
Me: I gave it some thought and yes-thanks to Peter Kim!-I'm bringing in, for a short amount of time, Efram, the young Pokemon trainer who has a Skiploom as a Pokemon! I'm also gonna see if I can work in Morty, the Gym Leader from Ecruteak. Enjoy this chapter, because the balance of power may or may not shift. (laughs evilly)
Ash: (gulps) What do you mean by that?
Me: If I told you now, they'd know.
Ash: Who's they?
Me: (represses a scream) How could Misty have put up with you for this many years?
Ash: Simple-'cause I'm her one true love! Wa! (does pose)
Me: Can't argue with that.
Pokemon: The Power of Two
Chapter XIII-The Broken Link!
Last time, our heroes were caught unaware by Team Rocket! They'd managed to capture Misty and Brock while Ash was rejuvenating his Pokemon at the Pokemon Center in Azalea. Pikachu almost succeeded in defeating them, but that's when Giovanni and Lawrence III made their move by saving Jessie and James and capturing Pikachu! They'd also recaptured Brock and Misty before Ash could get to them. James was able to capture the Pokeball he thought had Charizard in it, but when he opened it, he got a handful of Chikorita's Vine Whip attack! Now, while Gary has just brought in Professor Oak and Ash's mother, Ash devises a plan with the help of Charizard and Espeon to save their friends from Team Rocket's clutches. The question is…will it work?
(Theme song; Fanfare starts as Ash and Misty say the name of the episode)
Ash/Misty: The Broken Link!
Morning arrived all too soon for Ash Ketchum. He groaned as he rose to his feet, expecting to hear Brock cooking breakfast or to hear Misty whisper sweet nothings in his ear-even a taste of Pikachu's Thunderbolt would've been preferable to the sound of the forest where he'd chosen to stay at the previous night.
"That's right-Team Rocket and their 'boss' Giovanni captured them yesterday, including Chikorita. I've gotta figure out someway to get them to come after me, but how? It's not like a flying airship can go by unnoticed around Johto." Ash told himself while eating a leftover sandwich from the previous night. Not having his friends near actually made Ash lose his appetite.
"Ash? Is that you?" Ash instantly jumped up, pulling out Charizard's Pokeball and twirling it on his finger.
"Whoever you are, come on out! I must warn you-I've got a Charizard on my right side-technically, my left, but that really doesn't matter."
"It's just me, Ash." Ash couldn't help but smile at seeing the face of an old friend.
"Efram! How you doing, and is that Skiploom?" Smiling himself, Efram nodded in agreement while Ash had to pull out Dexter in order to get new information.
"Jumpluff: The evolved form of Skiploom, this fully evolved Pokemon is a mixture of Grass and Flying abilities, despite the fact that it can't even learn the Fly attack."
"That's Skiploom, or should I say Jumpluff!" Efram said calmly. "It evolved shortly after our match during the contest."
"Amazing! I wish I could battle with you, but I've got something really important I need to take care of." Ash warned, rolling up his sleeping bag and being extra careful to put out the fire Charizard had made for him.
"That's alright. I'm on my way to the Azalea Town Gym so I can battle for the Hive Badge."
"If I were you, I'd be careful about using a Jumpluff. Despite the experience, Bug-types are real strong against Grass Pokemon." Ash advised, remembering his experience with Chikorita and her battle against Metapod.
"I know-that's why I managed to catch myself a Geodude along the way." Efram explained. "Where are Misty, Pikachu and Brock? I haven't seen them since I ran into you."
"They got lost in the woods and I'm gonna see if I can use Charizard to find them." Ash said, choosing not to tell Efram the entire truth. "If I told him what was really going on, he'd probably wanna come with me and even though he's seen Team Rocket in action, I don't want him in the battlefield when I get there-wherever it is!"
"Well, I'm going to see if I can find someone who knows the way to the Gym, so I'll catch you later, Ash! Tell your friends I said hi when you see them!" Efram yelled, running off with Jumpluff trailing behind.
"Sure, of course." Ash said under his breath, wondering where he was going to get the items he needed to carry out his plan.
If Ash had a bad night, Misty and Brock both had an eventful one. They'd both been shackled up alongside Pikachu and Chikorita, who were both trapped inside glass domes. Professor Oak explained that Gary had used his Alazakam to teleport himself to Pallet, procure him and Ash's mother and teleport back out during the afternoon so no one could be the wiser. He also mentioned that before Gary had "captured" them, he'd sent Tracey to examine the abilities of Scyther and Scizor and to figure out why Scyther's evolved form lost speed power when it evolved.
"But why would Gary do something like team up with Giovanni? He leads Team Rocket!" Misty said.
"Possibly because he offered Gary something he couldn't refuse, like a rare Pokemon."
"Are you guys alright? We heard on the news that Ash was attacked by someone with a Persian and he almost died!" Mrs. Ketchum said, hiding her worry from Misty and Brock.
"Uh…" Misty was good at a lot of things, but lying to someone who she deeply trusted and respected wasn't one of them. "Yeah, but the poison was drained out of him and he's doing fine now."
"At least, he will be." Misty, Brock, Pikachu, Chikorita, Professor Oak and Mrs. Ketchum all looked up to see Gary, with Umbreon at his side like usual. Hanging out on the sidelines was Team Rocket, mainly Jessie, James and Meowth.
"Pika! Pika pi, pikachu!"
Meowth snickered and translated for everyone else. "Pikachu said that if we don't release them now, the twerp's gonna be flying here any second now and tear this place up!"
"I'd like to see him try." Giovanni said in a menacing tone, walking in at that second with Persian by him.
"Why are you doing this?" Misty yelled angrily.
"Simple-I want the Legendary Pokemon, which includes the two you and your boyfriend have acquired, and I'll get them by any means necessary!"
Not even hiding a smirk from his face, the leader of Team Rocket stepped over to Misty, found the Heavy Ball and plucked it from her side.
"Hey-that's mine! Give it back!"
"You didn't say 'please.' GO!" A second later, Raikou revealed himself. Professor Oak, Mrs. Ketchum, Gary, Jessie, James and Meowth stood in awe in the presence of the Legendary Pokemon.
"If my partner is correct, these Legendary Pokemon are linked by some form of nature-Raikou and Zapdos, Lightning; Moltres and Entei, Fire; Suicune and Articuno, Water; Lugia and Ho-oh are linked by the air around us, commonly known as the sky. You and our young Mr. Ketchum have captured two Legendary types each-Lightning and Fire, which leaves only Water and the sky. Now, if that link were to be broken, what do you think would happen to the famous Pokemon trainer who is currently on his way to rescue his 'damsel in distress?' Why don't we find out!" Giovanni pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket that looked like a regular one but had the color of blue at the top with the letter 'M' engraved in it. Professor Oak gasped in astonishment.
"But how? That Pokeball isn't supposed to be known about for at least another few months!"
"Your grandson-don't you recall giving him a prototype during his adventures in the Johto League?" came the response. "He never used it, and now it shall serve me."
"What are you gonna do-capture Raikou? That Pokemon belongs to Misty, and there's no way for you to claim it!" Brock retorted.
"I think there is." Giovanni snapped his fingers and Persian hissed before jumping into the air and ramming his head into the Heavy Ball, cracking it on impact!
"That was Persian's Skull Bash!" Brock said.
"And this…is Persian's Hyper Beam." Giovanni noted as Persian opened his mouth wide and a white ball appeared inside.
"Guys…" Meowth warned, instantly curling up into a ball. "…Duck."
"NO!" Misty cried out, worried about the outcome. "Raikou, use your Thunder-"
WHAM! The Hyper Beam connected and the Heavy Ball was split in two! Misty winced with worry, expecting something terrible to happen, but to her surprise, she was fine.
"Now, with this Pokeball, no trainer will ever have to worry about battling the Pokemon they want. Just one throw and the Pokemon can't escape. Watch."
"Warning: unidentified human and a Charizard are approaching the base. Repeat: unidentified human and a Charizard approaching the base."
"That's Ash!" Misty yelled excitedly.
"Pika pi!"/"Chikori!"
"Like he can stop me-Pokeball-"
WHAM! A powerful Flamethrower collided with the window above their heads, cracking it, but not breaking. That caused Giovanni to drop the mysterious Pokeball, but his anger had been intensified.
(A/N: I know I've done this before, but humor me, okay? Try to imagine the music you heard when Ash and Charizard battled Dragonite during the Orange League Championship!)
Smiling broadly, Ash was pleased with himself while being safely perched on Charizard's back.
"GIVE BACK MISTY, PIKACHU AND THE OTHERS NOW!" Ash growled angrily into the microphone he'd bought earlier that day, his voice amplified because of the speakers that were secured on Charizard's sides.
"And Misty says I don't know how to hook up some speakers-once she sees this, she'll eat her words! But first, I have to save her!"
"Let's bring it to 'em, Charizard! Flamethrower!" Ash demanded.
"CHARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!" The Fire/Flying type responded by firing a second burst of fire that struck the window, but still didn't break it.
"Hmm-still isn't working. There's gotta be a way to break inside there and find the others." Ash muttered, not seeing a pair of guns on the side of the ship take careful aim toward them, at least not until he heard a voice say, "I myself usually detest weapons like this, but I need them for safekeeping. I don't know how your Charizard was able to fly up here with those…things on his side, but I'm sure you don't have much maneuverability."
"THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG! WHENEVER I WANT, I CAN HAVE CHARIZARD GET RID OF THESE THINGS AT ANYTIME!" With a motioning nod from Ash, Charizard quickly used his tail to discard the unwanted pieces of machinery. At the same time, the guns started firing at them!
"Waa! Quick, Charizard-time to fly!" Barely in time, Charizard dodged the deadly weaponry and spun around to confuse his opponent.
"There's no escape, my young friend. You may as well surrender and join your friends."
"You can't call me a friend, 'cause you captured my friends and my girlfriend! Let them go now!" Ash yelled as loud as he could. In response, the guns started firing again, this time at point-blank range!
Thanks to the cracks Charizard had made, Misty and the others were able to hear most of Ash's words, but mainly the gunfire sounding outside.
"ASH, LOOK OUT!" Misty screamed worriedly. Mrs. Ketchum was too concerned about Ash's safety to call out.
"PIKA PI!"/"CHIKORI!"
Ash was lucky he could hear Misty's warning, as well as Chikorita and Pikachu's cries of worry. He turned and saw the guns fire directly at point-blank range!
"Charizard, look out!" Ash said. Grunting, the Fire Pokemon swerved and avoided the deadly barrage of bullets!
"Okay, now-try your Take Down attack on that window!" Nodding, Charizard flew as fast as he could toward the window. Everyone who was inside watched as the two of them came closer and closer to the window, then…WHAM! Charizard collided fiercely with the window, cracking it even more, but it still didn't break.
(A/N: Here's where said music from earlier would end!)
"He's determined, no matter the cost, to save you-commendable, but futile. Behold-the Master Ball!" Giovanni hissed, holding up the prototype Pokeball in his hand.
"Don't do it!" Brock warned.
"ASH, GET IN HERE!" Misty cried.
"Now I shall claim Raikou as my own. GO!" Giovanni tossed the Master Ball toward Raikou just as Charizard and Ash finally broke inside the base!
"Warning: Too much damage done to the infrastructure of the base. Must make a splash landing near Azalea Town's outer borders."
"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Ash cried out, motioning for Charizard to dive at the Master Ball, but before he could, it struck Raikou and sucked him in! Everyone watched as the ball shook and rattled, Ash, Misty, Brock, nearly everyone inside except for Giovanni hoping that Raikou would prove them wrong, that he would break free…
Then, after a few seconds of shaking, the Master Ball stopped and pinged.
"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Ash wailed in extreme pain as he fell from Charizard's back and hit the ground hard, the wounds on his arm reopening fully and the blood flowing out.
"ASH!!" Misty struggled to free herself from the bonds, but to no avail-they remained in place.
"PIKA PI!!!!" /"CHIKORI!!!!!!" Pikachu and Chikorita cried out sadly, being helplessly forced to watch Ash suffer, and knowing they could do nothing to stop it.
"Now I have a Legendary Pokemon-one of four! Who can stop me now? GO!" Giovanni yelled defiantly, tossing the Master Ball in the air and watching as Raikou reappeared in front of his captives, no longer Misty's Pokemon.
Ash groaned in agony, feeling even more pain radiating through his body as he writhed on the ground, trying to grab a Pokeball.
"You…won't get…away with…this! YAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Ash suddenly screamed once again, feeling his heart burning from the inside out.
"But I have. And you can't stop me! No one can!"
"CHARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!" Charizard roared in anger as he fired his Dragon Rage attack straight at Giovanni. The leader of Team Rocket grunted as the Master Ball was sent flying from his grasp, slightly burned on one side.
"Grab that ball!" Brock and Giovanni chorused. Jessie, James and Gary all reached for it, Gary reaching it first. Giovanni grinned, thinking the ball was back in his court. To his surprise, Gary tossed it in Charizard's direction.
"Use that attack again!" Gary advised. Charizard looked toward Ash for confirmation. Feeling blood trickle down the side of his face, Ash gasped out weakly, "Sunny…Day. Burn that ball to…cinders!!!!"
Charizard summoned up all the anger from inside his body, remembering all the times he'd been mistreated-whether it was by Damien or being told by multiple trainers that he needed "more training." The only one who had ever believed in him, the only one who had confidence in him ever since the day he claimed him as his Pokemon, was now in pain and agony due to this one man…
"CHARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!" Charizard shot an extremely powerful Dragon Rage attack at the flying Master Ball. The instant the attack hit the ball, it exploded on contact, sending tiny cinders in the air.
Ash groaned in relief, feeling all the pain vanish. He got to his feet and was steadied by Charizard, who had been standing by him the entire time.
"Traitor! The next time we meet, the both of you shall die!" Giovanni growled, racing toward the side doors with Persian hissing in his wake. Jessie, James and Meowth eyed Gary and offered him a smile before running toward the hanger door.
"Thanks, Gary." Ash replied before falling to his knees. Charizard caught Ash and helped steady him back up.
"Let's just say you owe me a battle, huh? If I'm right, the keys are over here!" Gary reached inside a compartment and pulled out a set of keys. "Here you go, Granddad!"
"Nice job, Gary." Professor Oak freed himself, then freed Mrs. Ketchum and Misty, both who immediately ran over to Ash's aid. Once Pikachu and Chikorita were freed from their glass domes, they also ran to see if Ash needed any help.
"Are you okay, Ash?" Misty asked worriedly.
"Why didn't you tell me about Goldenrod, Ash? Did you think I couldn't handle it? Wouldn't I want to know that somebody attacked my only son with a Persian and almost killed him? Remember-you're my whole world, even if you're a Pokemon trainer!" Ash weakly nodded at his mother's words of encouragement, even if most of them were chiding him.
"I think I'm okay, and the reason I didn't want to tell you is because I already worry you enough being out on the road, and if you'd heard I'd almost gotten killed, then I was afraid something would happen to you, Mom. I'm sorry." A moment later, Mrs. Ketchum pulled Ash into a tender hug, being careful to avoid the dried up blood.
"Don't you ever be sorry for trying to look out for others' well being, Ash."
"Pika pi!"
"Chikori!" Ash laughed happily as Pikachu and Chikorita jumped into his arms, both of them nuzzling into his chest.
"It's great to have you both back, and in one piece!"
"Did you really have a set of speakers hooked up to Charizard, Ash?" Brock asked, clasping his hand with his friend's.
"Yeah-and Misty said I didn't know how to set speakers up!" Ash joked, stifling a laugh.
"Hey-where's Togepi?" Misty suddenly spoke up.
Pikachu used Quick Attack, running off into the side doors Giovanni used, then reappearing with Togepi in tow.
"Thanks, Pikachu, but where was he?"
"Pika, pikachu!"
"In that one room we were in before, Misty. Togepi was sleeping almost the entire time." Ash explained.
That's when they all felt the ground shake under their feet, which meant they'd landed.
"Let's get to Azalea Town as fast as we can-" Gary began, but Ash interrupted him.
"Not so fast, Gary. Misty has to recapture a certain Pokemon." Ash said, holding out his Heavy Ball.
"But, Ash, that's your last Heavy Ball. I'll just use my own to capture Raikou."
"No-you need that to catch Suicune. I'll just have Kurt make one before we leave here. It'll be okay, Mist-I promise." Unshed tears grazed Misty's eyes as she accepted the Pokeball from her boyfriend's hand.
"Thanks, Ash. Heavy Ball-GO!" The Heavy Ball collided with Raikou, and as he was pulled in, both Ash and Misty swore they saw him smile.
Even though the link between Ash and Misty nature-wise was momentarily broken, nothing can break the link between their hearts! But was that the last Master Ball in Giovanni's possession, or is this just the beginning? Find out as Ash and Misty's quest to seek the Legendary Pokemon continues!