Chapter 5: Danger from All Sides
Gary sprinted through thick Viridian trees, trying to keep up with Arcanine as they raced to Pallet Town. Articuno passed overhead, but Gary was too worried about his grandfather to notice. Ignoring the scrapes and scratches of impeding branches and leaves, Gary sped up, every second a world of worry.
When Gary finally reached the wreck of his grandfather's lab, the old man was nowhere to be found. Panicking, Gary began to tear through the wreckage in search of the Professor. After many long minutes of searching, Gary's eye was caught by a shine on the nearby ground. Crawling over to it, Gary found a small old box, untouched by the devastating storm. Intruiged, Gary opened the box, whose lock had rusted off long ago. Noticing the tattered condition of the box, Gary realized that the shine had not been the metal plating on the box, but the chain of a locket inside the box. Opening the locket, Gary was dumbfounded to see himself in the picture with his family! Looking closer, Gary realized that is wasn't him in the picture, but rather a man he took to be his father. Almost a mirror image, Mr. Oak had a small beard and held a toddler with big, brown, spiky hair. His wife, a young looking woman with braided black hair stood next to him, in front of an old man and woman who closely resembled his father. Looking at the inscription, Gary nearly leaped out of his body to read "The Gotham Family," followed by the names of all of the people in the picture: "Sam, Alexandra, David, Kristen, and Gary."
Gary couldn't believe his eyes. The old man in the picture, presumably his father's father, was definitely not Prof. Oak, and his mother looked nothing like him either. Also stood the fact that this was the Gotham family, not the Oak family. Pocketing the locket, Gary was about to move on to a small piece of paper entitled "Instructions for the Show," when he heard a clicking noise behind him. Turning around, Gary stared right down the barrel of Prof. Oak's handgun.
***
"Thanks so much for helping out, Brock," Ash's mother repeated again, piling the broken wood of the house as Mimey swept up sawdust and splinters with a duct-taped broom.
"No problem," Brock replied. He almost felt relieved that he wouldn't have to face the demon pokémon, but he still missed his friends, and something felt different about Ms. Ketchum's house. He continued to pile the remaining wood from the house, then went on to salvaging any undamaged objects in the house, While Delia Ketchum picked up various broken bits of the house and put them in piles.
"Mimey," Ms. Ketchum bent down to pick up the broken videophone, "Can you use you psychic powers to put those pieces of wood back together?" When Mimey didn't respond, Ash's mom stood up and turned to him. Screaming, she ran over do see him laying on the ground, his arm bent in several wrong places and blood smeared all over the back of his head. Rushing over to him, she kneeled down, only to be rushed by a large, feathery creature and knocked out cold.
"Huh?" at the sound of Ms. Ketchum's scream, Brock set down a large piece of wood he had missed, then turned to hear a second scream and a fluttering of wings. "Ms. Ketchum!" he ran over, seeing her bleeding head laying next to Mimey's broken arm. "What happened?" he asked himself, kneeling down to check Ms. Ketchum's injuries. He was about to make a bandage out of a piece of his vest when a sharp pain entered his back and he fainted, in pain.
***
"Slash! Help!" Misty held on with all her might to Articuno's tail feathers, Togepi, screaming in her arm as the bird battled with a large, deformed, grey-feathered pokémon. The vulture-like creature lashed out, hot blood dripping out of Articuno's chest. Articuno responded with a blast of frost, stalling the evil pokémon as it flapped its wings to keep aflight. Soaring away, Articuno lifted its tail so that Slash could lift up Misty, Ash far below on his Pigeot, having fallen off Articuno seconds before.
"Thanks!" Misty sighed and held tighter to both Togepi and Slash to make sure they both stayed on the icy bird. Below, Pigeot battled with the grey-feathered vulture, Ash holding on with grim determination. Slash leaned over to Articuno, who fired of a carefully aimed Ice Beam at the foul bird-creature, knocking it from the sky and leaving loose gray feathers to flutter in the air and float to the ground.
"I'm glad that's over!" Slash sighed, "but still, I worry about what could be causing this."
***
"G-g-gramps!" Gary laughed nervously, "I d-didn't see you! What's going on?"
"You've found the locket," Oak replied in a low voice, "you know too much. This ends now."
"B-but G-gramps!" Gary was beginning to have trouble calling this imposter of a grandfather "Gramps" now, "I don't know anything! Honest!"
"But you'll find out," Oak retorted, "and I can't let anyone know the truth of the matter. Slash has already caused too much trouble! I can't have two of you screwing up the show!" Oak cocked his hand gun, ready to fire.
"Show?" Gary questioned, "what show?"
"It doesn't matter to you anymore," Oak replied, "because you won't be here to find out."
BANG! A shot fired, but the bullet flew harmlessly past Gary. Gary looked up to see Arcanine struggling with a pinned Prof. Oak, whose gun had flown out of his hand, out of reach.
"Arcanine! You saved my life!" GFary jumped up, pocketing the message in his hand, and retrieved the gun, flicking the safety trigger and adding it to the stash in his pocket. "Ok, Arcanine, let's get out of here!" Arcanine was recalled into the pokéball, Oak left groaning on the rubble that was once his laboratory, and a Kadabra emerged, only to disappear again, along with Gary.
Gary reappeared back in the Viridian Forest, thanking himself for thinking to bring Kadabra to the lab. "Ok," he said to himself, "Now I need to find Slash, so I can learn what is really going on." Taking out another pokéball, Gary let out his newest pokémon, Skarmory, and jumped on its back. "Skarmory! Let's go find Slash!" Gary called, and soon the pair were shooting into the sky to find the truth.
Gary sprinted through thick Viridian trees, trying to keep up with Arcanine as they raced to Pallet Town. Articuno passed overhead, but Gary was too worried about his grandfather to notice. Ignoring the scrapes and scratches of impeding branches and leaves, Gary sped up, every second a world of worry.
When Gary finally reached the wreck of his grandfather's lab, the old man was nowhere to be found. Panicking, Gary began to tear through the wreckage in search of the Professor. After many long minutes of searching, Gary's eye was caught by a shine on the nearby ground. Crawling over to it, Gary found a small old box, untouched by the devastating storm. Intruiged, Gary opened the box, whose lock had rusted off long ago. Noticing the tattered condition of the box, Gary realized that the shine had not been the metal plating on the box, but the chain of a locket inside the box. Opening the locket, Gary was dumbfounded to see himself in the picture with his family! Looking closer, Gary realized that is wasn't him in the picture, but rather a man he took to be his father. Almost a mirror image, Mr. Oak had a small beard and held a toddler with big, brown, spiky hair. His wife, a young looking woman with braided black hair stood next to him, in front of an old man and woman who closely resembled his father. Looking at the inscription, Gary nearly leaped out of his body to read "The Gotham Family," followed by the names of all of the people in the picture: "Sam, Alexandra, David, Kristen, and Gary."
Gary couldn't believe his eyes. The old man in the picture, presumably his father's father, was definitely not Prof. Oak, and his mother looked nothing like him either. Also stood the fact that this was the Gotham family, not the Oak family. Pocketing the locket, Gary was about to move on to a small piece of paper entitled "Instructions for the Show," when he heard a clicking noise behind him. Turning around, Gary stared right down the barrel of Prof. Oak's handgun.
***
"Thanks so much for helping out, Brock," Ash's mother repeated again, piling the broken wood of the house as Mimey swept up sawdust and splinters with a duct-taped broom.
"No problem," Brock replied. He almost felt relieved that he wouldn't have to face the demon pokémon, but he still missed his friends, and something felt different about Ms. Ketchum's house. He continued to pile the remaining wood from the house, then went on to salvaging any undamaged objects in the house, While Delia Ketchum picked up various broken bits of the house and put them in piles.
"Mimey," Ms. Ketchum bent down to pick up the broken videophone, "Can you use you psychic powers to put those pieces of wood back together?" When Mimey didn't respond, Ash's mom stood up and turned to him. Screaming, she ran over do see him laying on the ground, his arm bent in several wrong places and blood smeared all over the back of his head. Rushing over to him, she kneeled down, only to be rushed by a large, feathery creature and knocked out cold.
"Huh?" at the sound of Ms. Ketchum's scream, Brock set down a large piece of wood he had missed, then turned to hear a second scream and a fluttering of wings. "Ms. Ketchum!" he ran over, seeing her bleeding head laying next to Mimey's broken arm. "What happened?" he asked himself, kneeling down to check Ms. Ketchum's injuries. He was about to make a bandage out of a piece of his vest when a sharp pain entered his back and he fainted, in pain.
***
"Slash! Help!" Misty held on with all her might to Articuno's tail feathers, Togepi, screaming in her arm as the bird battled with a large, deformed, grey-feathered pokémon. The vulture-like creature lashed out, hot blood dripping out of Articuno's chest. Articuno responded with a blast of frost, stalling the evil pokémon as it flapped its wings to keep aflight. Soaring away, Articuno lifted its tail so that Slash could lift up Misty, Ash far below on his Pigeot, having fallen off Articuno seconds before.
"Thanks!" Misty sighed and held tighter to both Togepi and Slash to make sure they both stayed on the icy bird. Below, Pigeot battled with the grey-feathered vulture, Ash holding on with grim determination. Slash leaned over to Articuno, who fired of a carefully aimed Ice Beam at the foul bird-creature, knocking it from the sky and leaving loose gray feathers to flutter in the air and float to the ground.
"I'm glad that's over!" Slash sighed, "but still, I worry about what could be causing this."
***
"G-g-gramps!" Gary laughed nervously, "I d-didn't see you! What's going on?"
"You've found the locket," Oak replied in a low voice, "you know too much. This ends now."
"B-but G-gramps!" Gary was beginning to have trouble calling this imposter of a grandfather "Gramps" now, "I don't know anything! Honest!"
"But you'll find out," Oak retorted, "and I can't let anyone know the truth of the matter. Slash has already caused too much trouble! I can't have two of you screwing up the show!" Oak cocked his hand gun, ready to fire.
"Show?" Gary questioned, "what show?"
"It doesn't matter to you anymore," Oak replied, "because you won't be here to find out."
BANG! A shot fired, but the bullet flew harmlessly past Gary. Gary looked up to see Arcanine struggling with a pinned Prof. Oak, whose gun had flown out of his hand, out of reach.
"Arcanine! You saved my life!" GFary jumped up, pocketing the message in his hand, and retrieved the gun, flicking the safety trigger and adding it to the stash in his pocket. "Ok, Arcanine, let's get out of here!" Arcanine was recalled into the pokéball, Oak left groaning on the rubble that was once his laboratory, and a Kadabra emerged, only to disappear again, along with Gary.
Gary reappeared back in the Viridian Forest, thanking himself for thinking to bring Kadabra to the lab. "Ok," he said to himself, "Now I need to find Slash, so I can learn what is really going on." Taking out another pokéball, Gary let out his newest pokémon, Skarmory, and jumped on its back. "Skarmory! Let's go find Slash!" Gary called, and soon the pair were shooting into the sky to find the truth.