1 A Pokemon Story

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Happy now?



"Is it ready yet?" Calatain calls. I glare at him over the pot.

"If you are so hungry come help." I respond. After traveling all day, we decided to call it quits for the night, and are resting in a clearing. Lance is sitting a little ways away checking out my Dex. Bet he's jealous he doesn't have one. I return to the pot and continue cooking. Everyone's favorite camping food: Junkyard stew. Take a little of everything and let it boil. Nice, easy, and a great way to annoy Mr. I'm- The-Grand-Champ-And-So-Much-Better-Than-You. I smile at the thought. Lance hasn't done anything like this for well over 4 years. Once he was on the Elite Four, the challengers came to him. He must be getting soft.

"How'd you get a Dex like this?" Lance calls over. Chan was napping behind me, but is now awake. He looks over at Lance and gets up. He marches over and grabs the Dex away and puts it into my backpack. Lance just shakes his head. "Touchy, isn't he?" He comments.

"He probably thinks you wanted to steal it." I say. I look down, then test the temp. Nice and hot. I pull it off the fire and onto the tray that we set up. "Come and get it!" I call. We pull out all of our pokemon, and get them some of it too. Michiko sniffs it a bit, then looks up at me questioning. I walk over to her.

"Don't worry. It's all right. Try it." Michiko tries a little, then practically dives headfirst into it. I smile. "Told ya." I remark as I go to get my own.

After we are finished, we decide to leave our pokemon out for a while. Zuberi comes over to me with the deflated beach ball. I smile and inflate it. He takes it and goes over and plays with some of the other pokemon. Chan is leaning against a tree trying to go back to sleep. Lance comes over with a deck of cards.

"Payback time Ariana." He says. I smile.

"Lance, we have played everything from Old Maid to Gin Rummy, and you still haven't been able to beat me. What makes you think you can now?"

"Very simple." He responds. "I've been practicing with Will and Karen. I can beat them now, I can sure beat you."

"How do you know Will doesn't cheat?" I ask. "He is psychic."

"We took care of that." He says. I wonder what he is talking about, then decide I probably don't want to know. I take the deck, then look over at Calatain.

"Hey Calatain, wanna play?" I ask. He looks over, then shrugs.

"Why not?" He comes over and we find a clear space. Caelestis comes over to us.

"What's up?" I ask him.

"Someone's coming." He says. I look at the little Natu.

"The problem is…"

"They have evil in their minds. And they wear the symbol you said to watch out for."

"ROCKET!" I think quickly. Lance and Calatain also know what this could mean. We call out quick apologies to the pokemon, then recall them. Chan comes up behind me.

"They are near… I heard them saying something about stealing from the Dragon Master while he is helpless…" Lance doesn't let him finish.

"I'M NOT HELPLESS!" I fail trying to control my grin at his outburst. I look up, and there are 2 Team Rocket members standing there, one male and one female. Chan steps in front of me and takes a protective stance. The Rocket male smiles.

"Protect 'till the end, eh Hitmonchan? Too bad it won't do any good." The girl smiles.

"Well, well, the Grand Champion himself. What an… unexpected honor." She sneers as she speaks. "What are you doing away from your crystal palace?" Lance is grinding his teeth. He hates it when people treat him like this.

They both laugh. "Well, since you are here," the male begins, "Why don't you hand over your pokemon?"

"Over my dead body" Both Rockets step back as they hear the Dex translate Chan's speech. With it in my backpack, they don't know it is being translated. I motion for Lance and Calatain to keep their mouths shut about it. They nod.

However, the Rockets look like they are going to have a heart attack. "But…but…" the female stammers, "Only Rocket's Meowth was able to speak…" Chan takes it personally.

"I speak all the time. Everyone does. What's your point and when are you leaving?" The male Rocket regains his composure.

"You are very annoying, but Team Rocket could always use new fighters." Chan sneers. "And as for when we are leaving, that will be when you give us all of your pokemon." I look over at Chan. He hasn't moved since this started. I wonder for a moment, then it hits me. I made him promise a while back not to punch anyone for any reason without my permission. He is keeping his promise, and boy is it straining on him. I smile. So do the Rockets. They think they have everything ready for them.

"OK," I say. Calatain and Lance look at me like I have lost it. "You want Chan, I'll give you Chan. How about we start with HIS FIST!" Chan takes it and nails both Rockets with a solid punch. They go flying off into the air.

"Wow." Lance says. I smile. Chan is pretty happy too.

"I thought that organization was dead…" Calatain says. I sigh.

"Yeah, right. Like that will ever happen."

With them out of the way, we turn back to hopefully a peaceful night.



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This is 4 pages on Word, but I have no idea how long it is out on FFNet. I haven't figured out if I am going to make the Rockets Jessie and James, or Butch and Cassidy. That's why no battle there. Will update more ASAP.