Okay, I still don't own anything. This story takes place in the Pokemon world entirely. I hope you enjoy the story. Oh, and if I get some of the Pokemon's attacks wrong, I apologize because I don't entirely know what attacks Teddiursa, Totodile, Chikarita, and Igglybuff are capable of. ~Grimwood. grimwood83@yahoo.com
BTW, * = telepathy
"The Vacation: Part 3; Practice is a Good Idea"
The trio, Angela, and the Animorphs left Professor Oak's place feeling pretty good.
"Wow! I never thought I'd have my morph as a pet!" Marco said for the umpteenth time that night.
"We know, Marco. Chill," Brooklyn told him. "You keep that up, and I'll challenge you."
"Okay. Marco, you can battle Brooklyn. I'd like to see who'd win. Besides, we could all use the practice. Angela, you battle Cassie. Rachel, take on Broadway. Tobias, you're with Lexington. I'll battle Ax," Jake instructed. "We'll do this two at a time. Marco and Brooklyn are first. Then, Lexington and Tobias will have their turn. They'll be followed by Angela and Cassie. Next will be Rachel and Broadway. Ax and I will go last, incase the sun rises before the gargoyles have each had their practice run." Jake received a chorus of "okay"s in response.
"Go, Ponyta!" Marco called while throwing his Poke-ball.
"Igglybuff! I chose you!" Brooklyn yelled as he released his own Pokemon. "Um, now what?"
"Now, Ponyta! Give that Iggly a taste of your Fire Spin!" Marco told his Ponyta smugly.
"Igglybuff! Dodge it!" Brooklyn called out. Igglybuff dodged the Fire Spin, but only barely.
"Ponyta, use Take Down!"
"Igglybuff, uh, use Sing!"
Suddenly, they all heard a peculiar song. They all started to get drowsy. Before anyone fell asleep, Brooklyn said, "use Body Slam!" Igglybuff ran straight at Ponyta, jumped five feet in the air, and gave Ponyta a massive Body Slam.
Ponyta reared and seared Igglybuff with an Ember. "Hang in there, Igglybuff!" Brooklyn shouted to his Pokemon.
"Ponyta! Finish Igglybuff with another Ember!" Marco instructed.
Ponyta whinnied as it let the Ember attack fly from it's mouth. Igglybuff was engulfed in the fire from the attack. It collapsed.
"Igglybuff is unable to battle," Brock stated abruptly.
"Huh? I didn't know you were following us," said a startled Cassie.
"Well, you did say you weren't familiar with the area or the rules of Pokemon. We decided to catch up and see if we could help," Ash offered.
"Um, can you finish judging our matches? We need the practice but don't really know what we're doing," Rachel admitted.
"We can judge your battles. We won't tell you which attacks to use, though. It wouldn't be fair to your opponent," Misty quipped.
"Okay. Look, it's Lexington versus Tobias next," Jake helpfully told them.
Tobias and Lexington stepped up and flew over to where Brooklyn and Marco were standing. After the other two had congratulated and recalled their Pokemon, Tobias morphed human. Then Tobias asked for his Pokeball. Ax pranced up and gave Tobias the ball (Ax had been storing the Poke- balls in a belt-like thing around his waist). Lexington and Tobias released their Pokemon.
"Meowth, use Fury Swipes!" Lexington called out.
"Pidgey, fly out of range. Then use Wing Attack," Tobias told his Pidgey with the calm trained into him from having fought Hork-Bajir controllers, human controllers, Taxxon controllers, and Visser Three whose rank had changed to Visser One towards the end.
Pidgey followed through with the commands. On the down sweep for the Wing Attack, however, Lexington's Meowth used another Fury Swipes that knocked the Pidgey senseless.
"Pidgey is unable to battle," Brock declared. Lexington and Tobias recalled their Pokemon with reassurances that they had fought well. Tobias handed his Poke-ball to Ax, demorphed, and flew to a nearby branch to watch the remaining battles.
"Next up is Angela and Cassie," Jake informed Brock as the girls stepped forward.
"Come out, Totodile!" Angela said, deftly throwing her Poke-ball forward to release her Pokemon.
"You, too, Chikarita!" Cassie called. "Use Razor Leaf!"
"Totodile, counter it with a Hydro Pump!" Angela instructed. Totodile's Hydro Pump cleared away all of the leaves from Chikarita's Razor Leaf.
"Chik ka!" the Chikarita cried in surprise.
"Okay, Chikarita, use Vine Whip!" stated Cassie. Two vines came out of Chikarita's neck and floated over to Totodile. The vines smacked into the Totodile.
"Quick, Totodile. Use a Tackle Attack," Angela told it when it made a noise of complaint. The Totodile then charged the Chikarita and knocked it flat.
"CHIII KAA!" Cassie's Pokemon cried defensively, firing another Razor Leaf. This time, Totodile didn't think quick enough to evade the sharp leaves. The Razor Leaf struck home and Totodile staggered backward.
"Use Vine Whip again, Chik," Cassie advised. The Vine Whip also hit Totodile, this time with the effect of making it fall over.
"Totodile is unable to battle," Brock announced. Cassie and Angela each went and hugged their Pokemon before having them go back inside the Poke-balls.
Rachel muttered something under her breath about sentiments being hazardous for a fight.
"Okay, Rach. You and Broadway up to plate," Jake informed them. Rachel and Broadway stepped into place.
*You can do it, Rach,* Tobias encouraged through private thought-speak. She would have thought back a thank you, except that she wasn't in a morph right then.
"Go!" Rachel practically screamed, releasing her Teddiursa.
"Bulbasaur, go!" Broadway commanded.
"Use Mega Punch!" Rachel shouted. The teddy bear-like Pokemon brought it's fist behind it. Then it let loose a powerful punch that glowed while charging towards the Bulbasaur.
"Uuurrs!" it called while throwing the punch.
"Jump outta the way!" Broadway called with concern. He also had jumped into the air for a slight emphasis.
"Bulb-aaa-saur!" the Pokemon cried as it jumped up. Unfortunately, the Mega Punch still struck the Bulbasaur's hind legs. Broadway's Pokemon fell with a THUD back to the ground.
"Bulbasuar! Can you stand?" Broadway asked, worried.
"Buuulba," it said weekly. Then it mustered enough strength to stand and shoot Razor Leaf at the little bear.
"Urs ursa urs," the Teddiursa called back. It got ready to throw another Mega Punch as the Razor Leaf's leaves struck. Teddiursa then gave the Pokemon equivalent for "ouch! That smarts!"
They kept battling for another fifteen minutes. Finally, Bulbasaur and Teddiursa slammed into each other with their own Body Slams. They both went unconscious. Broadway and Rachel were too stunned to do anything at first.
Rachel recalled Teddiusra saying, "Good job. Return!"
"Are you okay?" Broadway asked the Bulbasaur. Then he turned to Ash and asked, "Will it be okay? Is it safe to put Bulbasaur back in the Poke-ball?"
"Of course it is, Broadway. That's what the Poke-balls are for. They let the Pokemon rest for a bit and make it easier to keep track of 'em," Ash informed Broadway. Broadway's fears melted away, and he recalled Bulbasaur.
*Prince Jake? Doesn't that make it our turn?* Ax asked in open thought-speak.
"Yeah, it does. Go, Charmander!" Jake called out.
*I chose you, Squirtle,* Ax telepathically told his Pokemon and released it. *Water Gun!*
"Counter it with a Flame Thrower!" Jake commanded Charmander as though it were an Animorph going in to fight some yeerks.
"Charmander char!" it called before using Flame Thrower.
*Squirtle, dodge left. Try again,* Ax suggested.
Squirtle successfully dodged the Flamethrower and nailed Charmander with his Water Gun. Before the battle could resume, they all heard a chuckle.
"Not them again," Misty, Ash, and Brock all groaned.
Suddenly, Team Rocket launched into their poem. As Jessie started to say her line defending against truth and love, Rachel had her Teddiursa pop back out. Then, Rachel morphed to Grizzly.
*Okay, Teddiursa. You use your Mega Punch while I scratch these dorks,* Rachel instructed through thought-speak that let all but Team rocket hear her plan.
Rachel roared while Teddiursa said, "uuuuurrs!" They charged the stunned Team Rocket. Teddiursa's Mega Punch sent James and Meowth flying back into the team's balloon-basket. Rachel slammed into Jessie with her furry, left shoulder.
"Hey!" Jessie complained.
"What's goin' on?" Meowth asked as Jessie landed with a KER-flop onto James.
"How should I know?" Jessie shot back as she scrambled off of James.
Jake morphed to Charizard and thought-spoke, *Let's send them flying, Charmander! When I say 'three,' shoot a Fire Spin at their balloon. I'll do the same. Got it?*
"Char char!" it agreed.
*One, two, three!* Jake thought-spoke to Charmander. They let lose their Fire Spin. It was made extremely powerful by having them team up and use it!
"Looks like we're gonna be toast!" Meowth grumbled as the Fire Spins headed straight at Team Rocket.
"That's if we're lucky. We might just..." James began. His comment was cut short as the Fire Spins struck the balloon and sent Team Rocket flying!
Jake demorphed. "Thanks, buddy. That was kinda fun," he told Charmander. Ash, his Pikachu, Misty, Brock, the Gargoyles, and the other Animorphs stared as Charmander merely agreed with Jake when the leader of the Animorphs said, "Let's do that again sometime."
*I think that we should stop our practice. Dawn is approaching and I would like some rest. I'm sure that the Gargoyles will not object to us finishing the practice when night falls again,* Ax suggested. He then told Squirtle, *Good job, my friend. Now, please return to your Pokeball.* His Squirtle complied.
"You have a point, Ax-man. All right, troops. Let's find a nice place to spend the day," Jake said.
"There's a Pokemon center nearby. It won't take more than five minutes to get there," Ash said helpfully.
*Hmm. Since there is roughly twenty of your minutes left until sunrise, going to the center won't present any problems,* Ax commented.
"Ax?" Jake began.
*Yes?* replied Ax.
"While we're here, they are 'our' minutes, too. You should know that by now," Jake finished.
*Yes, Prince Jake.*
Jake sighed resignedly, knowing full well that Ax would more than likely never stop calling him that.
"Uh, Jake?" Ash asked.
"Huh?" responded Jake as the entire group headed for the Pokemon center.
"Are you really a prince?" Ash wanted to know.
"No. At least, not in the sense you're thinking. You're thinking of the term in the way most humans do. To humans, the term 'prince' makes you think of the ruler of a castle with treasure, knights, and so on. To an Andalite, 'prince' means something along the lines of admiral or general or captain," Jake explained.
"Oh. I see," Brock piped up.
"I guess I see," Ash admitted.
"See what?" asked Angela, who hadn't been paying attention. She'd been discussing water-type Pokemon with Ax and Misty for the short few minutes they'd been walking.
"Don't worry about it, Angela," Jake all but pleaded.
They reached the Pokemon center and went in. They were greeted by a Chansey and the center's Nurse Joy.
"Hello, everyone. You all look tired. Would you like me to check your Pokemon for you while you rest?" she addressed them, not even noticing the strangeness of Ax and Tobias at first.
"That'd be great!" said Ash. He handed Nurse Joy all of his Poke-balls.
"Um, okay," Jake said and handed over his Charmander.
Nurse Joy jumped as the Gargoyles and Ax approached her with their Poke-balls. Then Ax though- spoke, *Do not worry. We are registered trainers. Professor Oak registered us.* He even pulled out his Pokedex as proof. The Gargoyles followed suite.
"Well, that prooves it," she said after carefully viewing each Pokedex. Nurse Joy accepted their Poke-balls, told Chansey to fetch food for everyone, and took all of the Poke-balls into the back of the center for checking.
When the Chansey returned with the food, the Gargoyles had turned to stone with their Pokedexes carefully laid infront of them with the trainer ID function showing who each of them was. The Animorphs, Misty, Brock, and Ash happily accepted the food and began to eat.
"Chansey?" it asked, pointing to the sleeping Gargoyles.
"I'll handle this," said Cassie. She morphed to Pidgeot and talked with Chansey. Her morph allowed her to understand everything Chansey told Cassie. After she had thoroughly explained things to Chansey, Cassie demorphed.
The Animorphs, Ash, Brock, and Misty all settled themselves for some sleep. They reawoke with ten minutes until sundown. Nurse Joy and Chansey gave the travellers more food.
A little while later, Jake warned, "I'd step back from the Gargoyles if I were you. They're about to wake up."
Nurse Joy, who had actually been leaning against Lexington wearily, jumped back several feet. It wasn't a moment too soon, either, for just as she had gotten clear of them, the Gargoyles awoke! Stone shards went practically everywhere. The Gargoyles did their growl/yawn and stretched.
"I think I like watching them wake up," commented Brock.
"What's for breakfast?" Broadway, of course. The Gargoyles joined the others, enjoying the services provided by Nurse Joy and Chansey.
When they finished eating, the Animorphs and Gargoyles said good-bye to their friends. They left the center in very high spirits.
While they were calmly walking and talking about the events of the previous evening, Jake decided that he needed to see better and morphed to Gargoyle. "That's better," he commented once the morph was complete.
"You know what, Jake?" Cassie inquired.
"No," he replied.
"You make a cool Gargoyle," she told him. Then everyone started to laugh. It was cut short though as Tobias swooped onto Rachel's shoulder with the air of knowing something.
"What is it, Tobias?" Rachel asked.
*We're being followed by some Pokemon. I can't tell what they are, though. Come to think of it, I don't even know if it's just one or more than one,* Tobias openly thought-spoke.
*That can't be good,* commented Ax. He swiveled both eye stalks to watch behind them. Then he turned his whole alien centaur body around to match the view of what he saw. *Prince Jake?* Ax privately thought spoke.
*Yeah, Ax?* Jake privately thought-spoke back.
*I definately see a Pokemon. It seems different somehow.*
Jake turned around. He was about to reply that he thought he could see something as well when BAM!! Something had slammed into Jake!
"What's going on?" he growled. He got no answer. Jake demanded, "Show your self, or else!"
*Or else what?* a new voice spoke telepathically.
*Or else I come at you,* Ax responded.
*I do not believe you are the one who orginally addressed me,* spoke the voice.
*Your point?* Tobias countered.
*My point,* the voice stated, *is that I prefer the one who spoke to be the one to speak.*
They all gasped as a strange Pokemon came into clear view. It looked like someone had tried to crossbreed a Meowth with a kangaroo and got a purple-ish colored Pokemon. It floated several feet above the ground. Its tail moved slowly from left to right. It spoke again saying, *I am called Mewtwo. I was cloned from Mew.*
*Sorry, bub, but that doesn't ring any bells,* Tobias told Mewtwo.
"Chill out, Tobias," Jake instructed. "Mewtwo, may I ask you a really weird question?"
*Go ahead,* said Mewtwo.
"If you're a Pokemon, how come you're capable of speaking telepathically?" asked Jake.
*Because I'm a very powerful psychic Pokemon. Very few Pokemon can speak, and through reading your minds, I can sense that you've encountered the speaking Meowth,* Mewtwo explained.
"Okay. That's a pretty good explanation. Um, wanna travel with us for a few days? Just until we know a little more about this place? You look like you know quite a bit," Cassie commented.
*I can do better than to merely be your guide,* Mewtwo said. He then used his psychic abilities to teach them all about Pokemon and the world of Pokemon. He also used his psychic abilities to learn about Andalites, Animorphs, and Gargoyles, which he considered a fair trade. The group agreed to it when Mewtwo mentioned the swap of information.
"Thanks, Mewtwo. That was really nice of you," said Angela. The others agreed whole-heartedly.
Mewtwo surprised them by saying, *I will give you one other warning. Although the members of Team Rocket you have already encountered are not intelligent in the slightest, the leader of Team Rocket and several of its other members are extremely smart. The leader is called 'Giovanni.' Steer clear of him if you can. I doubt that he'd look at the Pokedexes of Ax, Tobias, and the Gargoyles. He most likely will asume that all of them are new species of Pokemon.*
The Gargoyles, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco all either gave a long whistle or a gasp of surprise. Tobias and Ax merely exchanged startled glances.
*The warning is noted and appreciated,* Ax replied, speaking for everybody.
*You are welcome. I must go now, for I prefer solitude,* Mewtwo informed them.
"Thanks for what you have given us, Mewtwo. We'll keep your warnings in mind. Good-bye," said Jake. The other Animorphs and the Gargoyles agreed, expressed their appreciation as well, and also said a quick good-bye.
*Good-bye. And please do not ever mention to anyone that you spoke to me in this fashion. For that matter, please only speak of me amongst yourselves when no other people are around,* Mewtwo said and left.
*We promise!* Tobias thought-spoke to him. Tobias and the others felt more than heard Mewtwo's gratitude.
"That was interesting. Not to mention helpful," Marco commented.
"Yeah, and we have a good idea of who to watch out for. It was handy of him to accompany his words with mental images of Team Rocket and its leader," Brooklyn added.
Jake demorphed and remorphed to be on the safe side for a while. Then everyone had a long conversation while walking along the road. Jake suddenly spotted another Pokemon. "Go, Charmander! Use Fire Spin!" he commanded.
His Charmander followed the order and nailed the Houndour squarely in the face. The Houndour growled as Jake had Charmander use another Fire Spin. Jake demorphed to human, recalled Charmander, and morphed to Charizard. He flew low and fast at the startled Houndour and scooped it up. He used a Seismic Toss to throw the Houndour to the ground. With a speed developed from necessity, he demorphed. He used one of his spare Poke-balls Professor Oak had given him. Jake tossed it at the unconscious Pokemon. It successfully captured the Houndour.
"Jake? What are you doing?" Cassie asked when she realized Jake had demorphed, remorphed, and demorphed again.
"I just captured a Houndour. Why?" Jake replied casually.
"A Houndour? Can I see?" asked Brooklyn.
"Sure. Houndour, I choose you!" Jake called and released his newest Pokemon. It growled a little, but subsided when it saw the company it was with. "Hmm. I think I'd better keep a close watch on this guy, though. After all, it was wild a few moments ago."
The others all chuchkled at Jake's chagrin and unintentional rhyme. They continued their journey. The others also began to catch Pokemon and even had a few battles with other trainers and at a few gyms. However, those are all separate stories which are recorded elsewhere.
Temporarily The End.
BTW, * = telepathy
"The Vacation: Part 3; Practice is a Good Idea"
The trio, Angela, and the Animorphs left Professor Oak's place feeling pretty good.
"Wow! I never thought I'd have my morph as a pet!" Marco said for the umpteenth time that night.
"We know, Marco. Chill," Brooklyn told him. "You keep that up, and I'll challenge you."
"Okay. Marco, you can battle Brooklyn. I'd like to see who'd win. Besides, we could all use the practice. Angela, you battle Cassie. Rachel, take on Broadway. Tobias, you're with Lexington. I'll battle Ax," Jake instructed. "We'll do this two at a time. Marco and Brooklyn are first. Then, Lexington and Tobias will have their turn. They'll be followed by Angela and Cassie. Next will be Rachel and Broadway. Ax and I will go last, incase the sun rises before the gargoyles have each had their practice run." Jake received a chorus of "okay"s in response.
"Go, Ponyta!" Marco called while throwing his Poke-ball.
"Igglybuff! I chose you!" Brooklyn yelled as he released his own Pokemon. "Um, now what?"
"Now, Ponyta! Give that Iggly a taste of your Fire Spin!" Marco told his Ponyta smugly.
"Igglybuff! Dodge it!" Brooklyn called out. Igglybuff dodged the Fire Spin, but only barely.
"Ponyta, use Take Down!"
"Igglybuff, uh, use Sing!"
Suddenly, they all heard a peculiar song. They all started to get drowsy. Before anyone fell asleep, Brooklyn said, "use Body Slam!" Igglybuff ran straight at Ponyta, jumped five feet in the air, and gave Ponyta a massive Body Slam.
Ponyta reared and seared Igglybuff with an Ember. "Hang in there, Igglybuff!" Brooklyn shouted to his Pokemon.
"Ponyta! Finish Igglybuff with another Ember!" Marco instructed.
Ponyta whinnied as it let the Ember attack fly from it's mouth. Igglybuff was engulfed in the fire from the attack. It collapsed.
"Igglybuff is unable to battle," Brock stated abruptly.
"Huh? I didn't know you were following us," said a startled Cassie.
"Well, you did say you weren't familiar with the area or the rules of Pokemon. We decided to catch up and see if we could help," Ash offered.
"Um, can you finish judging our matches? We need the practice but don't really know what we're doing," Rachel admitted.
"We can judge your battles. We won't tell you which attacks to use, though. It wouldn't be fair to your opponent," Misty quipped.
"Okay. Look, it's Lexington versus Tobias next," Jake helpfully told them.
Tobias and Lexington stepped up and flew over to where Brooklyn and Marco were standing. After the other two had congratulated and recalled their Pokemon, Tobias morphed human. Then Tobias asked for his Pokeball. Ax pranced up and gave Tobias the ball (Ax had been storing the Poke- balls in a belt-like thing around his waist). Lexington and Tobias released their Pokemon.
"Meowth, use Fury Swipes!" Lexington called out.
"Pidgey, fly out of range. Then use Wing Attack," Tobias told his Pidgey with the calm trained into him from having fought Hork-Bajir controllers, human controllers, Taxxon controllers, and Visser Three whose rank had changed to Visser One towards the end.
Pidgey followed through with the commands. On the down sweep for the Wing Attack, however, Lexington's Meowth used another Fury Swipes that knocked the Pidgey senseless.
"Pidgey is unable to battle," Brock declared. Lexington and Tobias recalled their Pokemon with reassurances that they had fought well. Tobias handed his Poke-ball to Ax, demorphed, and flew to a nearby branch to watch the remaining battles.
"Next up is Angela and Cassie," Jake informed Brock as the girls stepped forward.
"Come out, Totodile!" Angela said, deftly throwing her Poke-ball forward to release her Pokemon.
"You, too, Chikarita!" Cassie called. "Use Razor Leaf!"
"Totodile, counter it with a Hydro Pump!" Angela instructed. Totodile's Hydro Pump cleared away all of the leaves from Chikarita's Razor Leaf.
"Chik ka!" the Chikarita cried in surprise.
"Okay, Chikarita, use Vine Whip!" stated Cassie. Two vines came out of Chikarita's neck and floated over to Totodile. The vines smacked into the Totodile.
"Quick, Totodile. Use a Tackle Attack," Angela told it when it made a noise of complaint. The Totodile then charged the Chikarita and knocked it flat.
"CHIII KAA!" Cassie's Pokemon cried defensively, firing another Razor Leaf. This time, Totodile didn't think quick enough to evade the sharp leaves. The Razor Leaf struck home and Totodile staggered backward.
"Use Vine Whip again, Chik," Cassie advised. The Vine Whip also hit Totodile, this time with the effect of making it fall over.
"Totodile is unable to battle," Brock announced. Cassie and Angela each went and hugged their Pokemon before having them go back inside the Poke-balls.
Rachel muttered something under her breath about sentiments being hazardous for a fight.
"Okay, Rach. You and Broadway up to plate," Jake informed them. Rachel and Broadway stepped into place.
*You can do it, Rach,* Tobias encouraged through private thought-speak. She would have thought back a thank you, except that she wasn't in a morph right then.
"Go!" Rachel practically screamed, releasing her Teddiursa.
"Bulbasaur, go!" Broadway commanded.
"Use Mega Punch!" Rachel shouted. The teddy bear-like Pokemon brought it's fist behind it. Then it let loose a powerful punch that glowed while charging towards the Bulbasaur.
"Uuurrs!" it called while throwing the punch.
"Jump outta the way!" Broadway called with concern. He also had jumped into the air for a slight emphasis.
"Bulb-aaa-saur!" the Pokemon cried as it jumped up. Unfortunately, the Mega Punch still struck the Bulbasaur's hind legs. Broadway's Pokemon fell with a THUD back to the ground.
"Bulbasuar! Can you stand?" Broadway asked, worried.
"Buuulba," it said weekly. Then it mustered enough strength to stand and shoot Razor Leaf at the little bear.
"Urs ursa urs," the Teddiursa called back. It got ready to throw another Mega Punch as the Razor Leaf's leaves struck. Teddiursa then gave the Pokemon equivalent for "ouch! That smarts!"
They kept battling for another fifteen minutes. Finally, Bulbasaur and Teddiursa slammed into each other with their own Body Slams. They both went unconscious. Broadway and Rachel were too stunned to do anything at first.
Rachel recalled Teddiusra saying, "Good job. Return!"
"Are you okay?" Broadway asked the Bulbasaur. Then he turned to Ash and asked, "Will it be okay? Is it safe to put Bulbasaur back in the Poke-ball?"
"Of course it is, Broadway. That's what the Poke-balls are for. They let the Pokemon rest for a bit and make it easier to keep track of 'em," Ash informed Broadway. Broadway's fears melted away, and he recalled Bulbasaur.
*Prince Jake? Doesn't that make it our turn?* Ax asked in open thought-speak.
"Yeah, it does. Go, Charmander!" Jake called out.
*I chose you, Squirtle,* Ax telepathically told his Pokemon and released it. *Water Gun!*
"Counter it with a Flame Thrower!" Jake commanded Charmander as though it were an Animorph going in to fight some yeerks.
"Charmander char!" it called before using Flame Thrower.
*Squirtle, dodge left. Try again,* Ax suggested.
Squirtle successfully dodged the Flamethrower and nailed Charmander with his Water Gun. Before the battle could resume, they all heard a chuckle.
"Not them again," Misty, Ash, and Brock all groaned.
Suddenly, Team Rocket launched into their poem. As Jessie started to say her line defending against truth and love, Rachel had her Teddiursa pop back out. Then, Rachel morphed to Grizzly.
*Okay, Teddiursa. You use your Mega Punch while I scratch these dorks,* Rachel instructed through thought-speak that let all but Team rocket hear her plan.
Rachel roared while Teddiursa said, "uuuuurrs!" They charged the stunned Team Rocket. Teddiursa's Mega Punch sent James and Meowth flying back into the team's balloon-basket. Rachel slammed into Jessie with her furry, left shoulder.
"Hey!" Jessie complained.
"What's goin' on?" Meowth asked as Jessie landed with a KER-flop onto James.
"How should I know?" Jessie shot back as she scrambled off of James.
Jake morphed to Charizard and thought-spoke, *Let's send them flying, Charmander! When I say 'three,' shoot a Fire Spin at their balloon. I'll do the same. Got it?*
"Char char!" it agreed.
*One, two, three!* Jake thought-spoke to Charmander. They let lose their Fire Spin. It was made extremely powerful by having them team up and use it!
"Looks like we're gonna be toast!" Meowth grumbled as the Fire Spins headed straight at Team Rocket.
"That's if we're lucky. We might just..." James began. His comment was cut short as the Fire Spins struck the balloon and sent Team Rocket flying!
Jake demorphed. "Thanks, buddy. That was kinda fun," he told Charmander. Ash, his Pikachu, Misty, Brock, the Gargoyles, and the other Animorphs stared as Charmander merely agreed with Jake when the leader of the Animorphs said, "Let's do that again sometime."
*I think that we should stop our practice. Dawn is approaching and I would like some rest. I'm sure that the Gargoyles will not object to us finishing the practice when night falls again,* Ax suggested. He then told Squirtle, *Good job, my friend. Now, please return to your Pokeball.* His Squirtle complied.
"You have a point, Ax-man. All right, troops. Let's find a nice place to spend the day," Jake said.
"There's a Pokemon center nearby. It won't take more than five minutes to get there," Ash said helpfully.
*Hmm. Since there is roughly twenty of your minutes left until sunrise, going to the center won't present any problems,* Ax commented.
"Ax?" Jake began.
*Yes?* replied Ax.
"While we're here, they are 'our' minutes, too. You should know that by now," Jake finished.
*Yes, Prince Jake.*
Jake sighed resignedly, knowing full well that Ax would more than likely never stop calling him that.
"Uh, Jake?" Ash asked.
"Huh?" responded Jake as the entire group headed for the Pokemon center.
"Are you really a prince?" Ash wanted to know.
"No. At least, not in the sense you're thinking. You're thinking of the term in the way most humans do. To humans, the term 'prince' makes you think of the ruler of a castle with treasure, knights, and so on. To an Andalite, 'prince' means something along the lines of admiral or general or captain," Jake explained.
"Oh. I see," Brock piped up.
"I guess I see," Ash admitted.
"See what?" asked Angela, who hadn't been paying attention. She'd been discussing water-type Pokemon with Ax and Misty for the short few minutes they'd been walking.
"Don't worry about it, Angela," Jake all but pleaded.
They reached the Pokemon center and went in. They were greeted by a Chansey and the center's Nurse Joy.
"Hello, everyone. You all look tired. Would you like me to check your Pokemon for you while you rest?" she addressed them, not even noticing the strangeness of Ax and Tobias at first.
"That'd be great!" said Ash. He handed Nurse Joy all of his Poke-balls.
"Um, okay," Jake said and handed over his Charmander.
Nurse Joy jumped as the Gargoyles and Ax approached her with their Poke-balls. Then Ax though- spoke, *Do not worry. We are registered trainers. Professor Oak registered us.* He even pulled out his Pokedex as proof. The Gargoyles followed suite.
"Well, that prooves it," she said after carefully viewing each Pokedex. Nurse Joy accepted their Poke-balls, told Chansey to fetch food for everyone, and took all of the Poke-balls into the back of the center for checking.
When the Chansey returned with the food, the Gargoyles had turned to stone with their Pokedexes carefully laid infront of them with the trainer ID function showing who each of them was. The Animorphs, Misty, Brock, and Ash happily accepted the food and began to eat.
"Chansey?" it asked, pointing to the sleeping Gargoyles.
"I'll handle this," said Cassie. She morphed to Pidgeot and talked with Chansey. Her morph allowed her to understand everything Chansey told Cassie. After she had thoroughly explained things to Chansey, Cassie demorphed.
The Animorphs, Ash, Brock, and Misty all settled themselves for some sleep. They reawoke with ten minutes until sundown. Nurse Joy and Chansey gave the travellers more food.
A little while later, Jake warned, "I'd step back from the Gargoyles if I were you. They're about to wake up."
Nurse Joy, who had actually been leaning against Lexington wearily, jumped back several feet. It wasn't a moment too soon, either, for just as she had gotten clear of them, the Gargoyles awoke! Stone shards went practically everywhere. The Gargoyles did their growl/yawn and stretched.
"I think I like watching them wake up," commented Brock.
"What's for breakfast?" Broadway, of course. The Gargoyles joined the others, enjoying the services provided by Nurse Joy and Chansey.
When they finished eating, the Animorphs and Gargoyles said good-bye to their friends. They left the center in very high spirits.
While they were calmly walking and talking about the events of the previous evening, Jake decided that he needed to see better and morphed to Gargoyle. "That's better," he commented once the morph was complete.
"You know what, Jake?" Cassie inquired.
"No," he replied.
"You make a cool Gargoyle," she told him. Then everyone started to laugh. It was cut short though as Tobias swooped onto Rachel's shoulder with the air of knowing something.
"What is it, Tobias?" Rachel asked.
*We're being followed by some Pokemon. I can't tell what they are, though. Come to think of it, I don't even know if it's just one or more than one,* Tobias openly thought-spoke.
*That can't be good,* commented Ax. He swiveled both eye stalks to watch behind them. Then he turned his whole alien centaur body around to match the view of what he saw. *Prince Jake?* Ax privately thought spoke.
*Yeah, Ax?* Jake privately thought-spoke back.
*I definately see a Pokemon. It seems different somehow.*
Jake turned around. He was about to reply that he thought he could see something as well when BAM!! Something had slammed into Jake!
"What's going on?" he growled. He got no answer. Jake demanded, "Show your self, or else!"
*Or else what?* a new voice spoke telepathically.
*Or else I come at you,* Ax responded.
*I do not believe you are the one who orginally addressed me,* spoke the voice.
*Your point?* Tobias countered.
*My point,* the voice stated, *is that I prefer the one who spoke to be the one to speak.*
They all gasped as a strange Pokemon came into clear view. It looked like someone had tried to crossbreed a Meowth with a kangaroo and got a purple-ish colored Pokemon. It floated several feet above the ground. Its tail moved slowly from left to right. It spoke again saying, *I am called Mewtwo. I was cloned from Mew.*
*Sorry, bub, but that doesn't ring any bells,* Tobias told Mewtwo.
"Chill out, Tobias," Jake instructed. "Mewtwo, may I ask you a really weird question?"
*Go ahead,* said Mewtwo.
"If you're a Pokemon, how come you're capable of speaking telepathically?" asked Jake.
*Because I'm a very powerful psychic Pokemon. Very few Pokemon can speak, and through reading your minds, I can sense that you've encountered the speaking Meowth,* Mewtwo explained.
"Okay. That's a pretty good explanation. Um, wanna travel with us for a few days? Just until we know a little more about this place? You look like you know quite a bit," Cassie commented.
*I can do better than to merely be your guide,* Mewtwo said. He then used his psychic abilities to teach them all about Pokemon and the world of Pokemon. He also used his psychic abilities to learn about Andalites, Animorphs, and Gargoyles, which he considered a fair trade. The group agreed to it when Mewtwo mentioned the swap of information.
"Thanks, Mewtwo. That was really nice of you," said Angela. The others agreed whole-heartedly.
Mewtwo surprised them by saying, *I will give you one other warning. Although the members of Team Rocket you have already encountered are not intelligent in the slightest, the leader of Team Rocket and several of its other members are extremely smart. The leader is called 'Giovanni.' Steer clear of him if you can. I doubt that he'd look at the Pokedexes of Ax, Tobias, and the Gargoyles. He most likely will asume that all of them are new species of Pokemon.*
The Gargoyles, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, and Marco all either gave a long whistle or a gasp of surprise. Tobias and Ax merely exchanged startled glances.
*The warning is noted and appreciated,* Ax replied, speaking for everybody.
*You are welcome. I must go now, for I prefer solitude,* Mewtwo informed them.
"Thanks for what you have given us, Mewtwo. We'll keep your warnings in mind. Good-bye," said Jake. The other Animorphs and the Gargoyles agreed, expressed their appreciation as well, and also said a quick good-bye.
*Good-bye. And please do not ever mention to anyone that you spoke to me in this fashion. For that matter, please only speak of me amongst yourselves when no other people are around,* Mewtwo said and left.
*We promise!* Tobias thought-spoke to him. Tobias and the others felt more than heard Mewtwo's gratitude.
"That was interesting. Not to mention helpful," Marco commented.
"Yeah, and we have a good idea of who to watch out for. It was handy of him to accompany his words with mental images of Team Rocket and its leader," Brooklyn added.
Jake demorphed and remorphed to be on the safe side for a while. Then everyone had a long conversation while walking along the road. Jake suddenly spotted another Pokemon. "Go, Charmander! Use Fire Spin!" he commanded.
His Charmander followed the order and nailed the Houndour squarely in the face. The Houndour growled as Jake had Charmander use another Fire Spin. Jake demorphed to human, recalled Charmander, and morphed to Charizard. He flew low and fast at the startled Houndour and scooped it up. He used a Seismic Toss to throw the Houndour to the ground. With a speed developed from necessity, he demorphed. He used one of his spare Poke-balls Professor Oak had given him. Jake tossed it at the unconscious Pokemon. It successfully captured the Houndour.
"Jake? What are you doing?" Cassie asked when she realized Jake had demorphed, remorphed, and demorphed again.
"I just captured a Houndour. Why?" Jake replied casually.
"A Houndour? Can I see?" asked Brooklyn.
"Sure. Houndour, I choose you!" Jake called and released his newest Pokemon. It growled a little, but subsided when it saw the company it was with. "Hmm. I think I'd better keep a close watch on this guy, though. After all, it was wild a few moments ago."
The others all chuchkled at Jake's chagrin and unintentional rhyme. They continued their journey. The others also began to catch Pokemon and even had a few battles with other trainers and at a few gyms. However, those are all separate stories which are recorded elsewhere.
Temporarily The End.