Copyright © 2003 Keith E. Kimball

E-Mail: Bdrodman@aol.com

In the Pokèmon Center, Misty and Brock still slumbered peacefully in the lobby.  At least, they did until a loud, low boom shook the ground, rattling windows and the automatic glass doors alike.

"Wha-?!" Misty said, clutching at her blanket in confusion.

"Where-?!" Brock echoed, combing his hair with his fingers.

The circumstances of their arrival flooded back to them both at the same instant.  "Ash!" they cried.  Misty was on her feet, sending her blanket flying.  She nearly ran into Joy as the nurse dashed out of the ward doors.

Joy asked, "Are you two all right?  What was that noise?"

"Is Ash okay?" Misty returned.

The older woman suddenly got a maternal look in her eye at the sight of Misty's open concern.  Joy smiled softly and sweetly.  Gently, she put a hand on Misty's shoulder to say, "He's just fine.  A few little stitches.  I'm sure you won't even notice a scar."

At first, Misty seemed consoled.  But then she pulled back, taking umbrage at Joy's tone.  "Hey, you say that," she charged, "as if Ash was my boyfriend or something.  Which he's not."  She crossed her arms firmly.

"Of course."  But Joy was still smiling in a sappy way.

"I think," Brock broke in, "We've got something more important to deal with right now, ladies.  I swear I saw something moving out there."

Instinctively, both women crouched behind their side of the main door's jamb.  Brock was trying to peek into the outdoors across from them.

The storm had almost arrived in full; the winds outside howled around the Pokèmon Center from the darkening skies.  Little eddies of leaves kept getting stirred up even as the wind pulled hard on the trees, sending the foliage swaying.  The building groaned a few times.  A thick cloud cover was visibly draping Mt. Silver in a shroud as black as the darkest night.  There was no rain, nor lightning.  Yet the air was eerily charged with so much electricity that Misty could feel her hair starting to stand up.  "Pretty spooky," Misty observed quietly.

"Yeah," said a voice in her ear.  And said voice was way too deep to be Joy's.

Everybody jumped.  So did Ash, Pikachu, and Blissey standing behind the women.  "Hey!" Ash yelled, "What are you guys scaring us like that for?!"

"Us?!" Misty returned, "What are you doing, sneaking around?  You should be in bed!"

Joy threw a inquisitive glance around the arguing kids at her assistant.  Blissey shrugged in a "I couldn't stop him" fashion and nodded toward Ash's leg.  The Pokèmon hadn't had time to sew up Ash's jeans as well as his leg, so Joy could see the pink puffy shine of the wound through the cloth's gaping hole.

"It's all right," she literally pointed out to Ash's friends, "Blissey used Softboiled.  You and Pikachu will be fine…if you get some rest, young man.  Back to bed, both of you, immediately!"

Stubborn as Ash was, even he would normally obey Nurse Joy or any other authoritative adult in such a situation.  But he had a valid reason to protest this time and said so.  "But Nurse Joy, what about that noise that woke me up?  I think it might have something to do with the new Pokèmon we saw today!"  "Pika-pika!"

Joy frowned and put her hands on her hips.  "And would that be how you ended up in my care?  I think we'd better get on the vidphone to Officer Jenny, and you can tell us both all about this strange - and obviously hostile - Pokèmon."

Ash grudgingly turned back to do just that, but whirled around again at Brock's cry of, "Wait!  I just saw it again!"

Misty and Joy quickly returned to hogging their side of the doorjamb.  Not daring to cross the glass gap to Brock's half of the entrance and be visible to anyone - or anything - outside, Ash settled for peeking out the bottom of a window alongside Blissey.  Pikachu and Togepi alike sat on their respective trainers' shoulders for their own look.

For an instant, the winds died down.  Ash had a split second to feel the electrical charge in the air before it rushed away, like a swift tide pulling from shore.  And just like that phenomenon, the precursor to a tidal wave, the electricity returned with a sparkling vengeance that spread across the sky.

Outlined in the glow was a large Pokèmon looming ominously over the treetops some distance away.  He was still in the mountain's rugged, shifting terrain proper and was probably standing on a hill to allow a good view in his hunt for his prey.  As the aurora crackled overhead, he turned his profile to the group and threw back his head to howl a challenge at the skies.  Then the sound and the aurora died together, save their echoes, and the outside world finally went jet black as the storm had its way.

Everyone within the Pokèmon Center was trying to pick their jaws up off the floor.  Her face nearly as white as her medical apron, Joy stammered, "Is…is that…was it…"

"Yeah," Ash returned shakily, "I think…"

Regaining most of his composure, Brock realized, "It must have evolved."

Misty rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe away the fading impression of that huge Pokèmon burned into her vision.  Besides the plain size increase, its proportions had changed as well.  The stranger had lost the chubby, baby-fat look of so many small and young Pokèmon.  It looked lean, large, and was definitely in charge as far as she was concerned.  The weird thing was, she could've sworn it had sprouted a single row of triangular spikes down its back.  Like a Rhydon or a Feraligatr.

Suddenly Misty realized the Center's outdoors lights had come on automatically; triggered by the darkened sky.  And the realization that this isolated building, on the edge of the unspoiled Pokèmon preserve, was by far the closest light for miles gave her a very bad feeling.  "Nurse Joy," she said in an unusually high-pitched voice, "maybe we should shut the lights off.  Just in case."

Joy prompted Blissey, "Quick, kill the lights.  I'm calling Officer Jenny."  Her assistant stepped around the reception desk to reach one of the main control panels.  By the time Blissey was flipping the switches, Joy had crossed to the vidphone and dialed for the cops.  Behind the nurse, Brock thoughtfully picked up a blanket.  "Here," he offered as the entire Center went dark, "This will shield the viewscreen."

The nurse gave him a smile and a thanks as Brock draped the blanket gently over her head and the vidphone alike.  Ash didn't need the lights on to know Brock was blushing as his friend cooed, "You're welcome, Nurse Joy."

Joy peeked at Brock from beneath her cover to ask, "Say, what was your name again?"  Brock fell flat to the floor with surprise and a thud.

Misty politely pointed out herself and her friends, introducing each in turn.  Joy thanked her before diving back under her blanket.  Misty and Togepi then joined Ash and Pikachu in warily staring out into a forest cloaked in utter darkness.  "Do you think that first noise was a sonic boom or something?  The one that woke us up?" she wondered.

Despite Brock's blanket, there was just enough light for Ash's eyes to catch and sparkle when he glanced at her.  "Maybe.  But it kinda sounded to me like when we pop Team Rocket's hot air balloon or something.  Just a lot louder.  It sure wasn't that Pokèmon roaring."

"That's the truth," Misty shivered, recalling that eerie sound.

Ash continued, "This is one weird storm.  You think that caused the noise?  I hear a lot of thunder, but no more lightning."

Misty listened carefully for a moment.  Ash was right.  There were repeated peals of thunder, low and pounding, coming from the storm.  In fact, the thunder was repeating itself quite often - and on a very regular basis.  Like the thunder was really the sound of footsteps…and was it her imagination, or could she could feel a slight tremor shaking the building to go along with it?  No, it seemed to have stopped…

Her concentration was broken at a sound neither she nor Ash had ever heard before: Nurse Joy groaning in frustration.  "The vidphone's full of static," she complained, "I'm not getting through."

Ash and Misty stepped to her side as Joy shut the machine off, pulling her blanket aside.  Ash wondered, "Could the lines be cut or something?"

"No," Joy responded, "It's wireless.  This electrical storm must be jamming it somehow."

Another suggestion came to Misty's lips.  And it died there, as the sound of several pairs of running feet (human-sized, mercifully) came pelting into the Center's front yard.  For a moment, all within the building listened silently to those without as the newcomers paused to gasp for breath.

Then a very familiar feminine voice snapped, "There's nothing here, James!  You lead us the wrong way!"

An equally familiar whine came back, "I saw house lights, I swear it!"  Then he bellowed, "Hello?!  Anybody out there!  Please help us!"

Ash whispered, "Blissey, turn on the outside lights, OK?"

Once the Pokèmon did so, Team Rocket stood revealed in all their surprised glory.  Which wasn't very glorious, considering all the leaves, scratches, and broken-off bits of shrubbery covering them from their blind, dead run through Mt. Silver's forest.  "Eeeepp!" the trio gasped simultaneously, "Who's there!?!"

With a grin and a definite swagger, Ash stepped out of the front door to gloat, "Never thought I'd see the day Team Rocket begged me for help."

Ash was definitely the last person Jesse wanted to see right then.  "Bite me, twerp," she drew herself up haughtily, "If a couple grown-ups like us need help, it's not coming from a little kid like you.  Now get out of my way; I need to make a phone call."  She strode forward confidently.

Naturally, Ash and Pikachu didn't budge, although he did point curiously at the wounds on her face and arm.  "It's no go, the phone's out.  What happened to you, anyway?  You're all ripped up."

The youth's concern only made Jesse's face tighter, "None of your business!"

Her growl slapped away any sympathy Ash had.  Despite her considerable height advantage, Ash locked his gaze to Jesse's in a war of the wills.  With a smirk, Jesse folded her arms and kept her back straight so she wouldn't lower herself to Ash's level.  Yet she didn't go around him either, waiting arrogantly for Ash to move as she'd commanded.

As he and Jesse continued trying to stare each other down, the others piled out the door to give Ash some support.  Misty quizzed James, "It does seem weird to hear you guys want to call Officer Jenny."

"Why, Little Miss Red," James said in an insufferably self-righteous tone, "Who said anything about the cops?"

"Yeah," Meowth chimed in, "We's wants ta call da Boss and get us some real help.  You know, da big guns."

"Why?" she returned.

The crashing footsteps had resumed in the distance.  Now they were growing closer and louder with each boom; smashing purposefully through the forest in a direct line toward the Pokèmon Center's brightly shining front porch lights.

"Dat's why!!" Meowth shrieked.

Ash stepped in front of everyone (even Jesse), his jaw set firmly.  In a tone that brooked no argument, he said, "Head for Silver Town.  Get Officer Jenny.  We'll hold him off."  At his side as always, Pikachu's bristling fur and sparking cheeks underscored his growl of, "Pikaaaa!"

"Now's our chance!" Meowth cried happily to his teammates, "Let da twerp play wit Godzilla while we's makes a break fer it!"

Even Meowth's fellow fiends turned to him in surprise over that one.  It was Jesse who said wonderingly, "Godzilla?"

Taking a haughty air, Meowth turned his back to the entire group and folded his arms.  "Some people 'round here gots an edication.  I'm bilingual, ya know."  Then he turned back, taking up a claws-out position that was definitely mocking Godzilla's usual menacing pose.  "Youse dare challenge Godzilla, King o' da Monsters?  He's kinda full of hisself, ain't he?"

Jesse waved her fist, "You're not a people!  I keep telling you that!"

Ignoring the ensuing argument, Misty stepped up to Ash's side while Togepi sunk into her backpack.  "You can't do this, Ash!  Godzilla looked a lot bigger and tougher.  And he already beat Pikachu before he evolved, too!"

He opened his mouth to argue with her, but was interrupted by Joy's firm command, "Get going, all of you.  Don't come back without Officer Jenny."

The friends were reluctant to leave the kindly nurse, despite the no-nonsense look she was giving them.  Pikachu leapt forward, clutching at Joy's fluffy knee-length skirt hem.  He tried to pull her along to safety gently, prodding, "Pika?  Pikachu!"

She smiled thankfully down at the little Electric-Type's concern, but her eyes remained hard.  "I've got some Pokèmon in the intensive care ward in there," she explained, "It's too dangerous to transport them, even by Pokèball teleporter.  I can't abandon them.  Go.  Don't worry; I'm not taking Godzilla head-on.  If worst comes to worst, I'll lead him away from the Pokèmon Center as a distraction."

"More like a sacrifice," Ash shook his head, "We can't just…"  But he was stopped by Blissey reaching into her egg pouch, gently scooping up the still-sleeping Larvitar.  She presented him to a deflated Ash, who took Larvitar into his arms.  Now Ash felt trapped.  Who needed his help more:  Joy and her infirm Pokèmon, or the baby Larvitar entrusted to his care?

Joy began arguing some more, but her words were lost as Godzilla's approach was starting to drown out theirs' and Team Rocket's conversation alike.  Suddenly all too aware of the encroaching monster, the evil trio clutched at each other and shivered.  All three teammates found themselves just as rooted to the spot by a mixture of fear and morbid fascination as their erstwhile enemies nearby.

The sounds crashing through the forest were very close and very loud; right at the treeline bordering the steeply-inclined path up the mountain Ash and the others had taken previously, in fact.  Then, still outside the range of light and quite invisible, Godzilla stopped.

Everyone strained their eyes and ears into the moaning, swaying trees.  Nothing.

Daring to whisper, Misty wondered, "Maybe he went away after all?"

The thought filled Team Rocket with relief.  Not to mention false bravado.  Meowth again struck up a mocking pose, grinning, "Not so tough afta all, is ya?  'I'm Godzilla, I'm bad'…HAH!  Too chicken ta face me, ya mean!"

From overhead, Team Rocket's badly tattered balloon basket dropped to land squarely at their feet.  It looked like a well-used chew toy.  They yelped; both James and Meowth jumped into Jesse's arms.  Her knees were knocking with supporting their combined weight and her own terror alike as she stared up over the treetops.  Like a Meowth himself, Godzilla's unblinking stare reflected the light back at her from far too great a height for her liking.

Everyone had been looking much too low in the treeline for Godzilla.  He hadn't been standing on a hill before; he was now thirty feet tall all by himself.  Another flash of lightning gave his snarling grin and glowing eyes a hellish highlight as he glowered down at the assembled trainers.  As the lightning died out, Godzilla threw his head back and roared to the heavens.  His captive audience remained immobile at the sight of those gleaming teeth and gaping, dark red maw.

With a sneer of disgust, Godzilla lashed out with a Tail Whip.  He uprooted trees and Team Rocket alike, sending it all flying with an oh-so-familiar cry in triplicate, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaiiinnn!!!"  "Wobbuffetttt!"

Yet Godzilla deliberately missed the other humans, leaving them to face his cold stare again while a few trees crashed back to earth around them.  Ash sensed a lot more confidence, perhaps even a great deal of comfort, in his opponent now that Godzilla was a lot bigger than his surroundings.  He was still very angry, however.  Godzilla waited, patiently, for Ash to make the first move.

He did.  Ash ran to Godzilla's right, away from the Pokèmon Center and the distant Silver Town alike.  Waving his arms madly, Ash called, "Hey!  Over here!  I beat you before, remember?  Want a piece of me?"  Keeping pace, Pikachu sent sparks rippling across his own body just for a good attention-grabbing measure.

Godzilla snarled and took a step after him, only to catch Misty's cry of, "No, over here!"  She headed in the opposite direction.  Godzilla's gaze followed her for a few steps, only to be distracted by Brock yelling, "Hah!  You can't catch me!" at the top of his lungs in yet another direction.  Joy was off and running, Blissey at her heels, both calling for his attention too.

The monster growled in frustration.  Then yet another signal caught his senses despite the shifting winds.  He sniffed curiously.  Within seconds, Godzilla homed in on the unattended Pokèmon Center.  His eyes lit up as Godzilla saw through their distraction attempt.  With a gleeful roar, Godzilla pounded across the yard toward the building.  Each trainer froze in their tracks; Brock covered his eyes with his hand because he couldn't bear to watch.

Godzilla stopped just shy of crashing into the Center's walls.  His glare moving one at a time to each of the humans spread around him, Godzilla slowly lifted a single clawed hand over the defenseless institution's roof and held it there with a definite note of challenge in his golden eyes.

Joy's face was a mask of horror.  "Please!" she begged, "Don't!"

Godzilla roared and brought his hand up in the beginning of a furious swipe at her helpless patients.

"Onix, I choose you!" Brock roared, "Bind, now!"

Godzilla's blow was stopped cold by Onix's granite body materializing between the monster and the rooftop.  Startled by the light of Onix's appearance from his Pokèball, Godzilla backed up a couple steps.  He found Onix wrapping his long, strong coils around him in a determined Bind Attack.  Onix roared with righteous fury, plainly daring Godzilla to pick on somebody his own size.

Despite this, Ash could almost see a smile play across Godzilla's lips.  This seemed to be exactly what the monster had been waiting for.  Howling a defiant answer back, Godzilla sent spirals of rippling flame sprouting from his very skin to envelop Onix and himself alike:  a blistering Flame Wheel Attack.

Onix growled low in his throat.  Being a Rock- and Ground-Type made the stone snake doubly resistant to Fire attacks.  He wasn't even sweating yet.  Brock encouraged, "Hold on, Onix!  Keep holding him with Bind…I know!  Pull him down, over there!"  Onix heaved his tremendous weight to the side, deliberately toppling Godzilla over and away from the Pokèmon Center, rather than risking their falling directly on it during their wrestling match.

Which, unfortunately, wasn't such a good idea after all, considering Godzilla's continuing Flame Wheel barrage.  Mt. Silver's forest was set alight.  Everyone suddenly had plenty of light to see by now as the blaze leapt from branch to branch.  The forest fire was near-instantly whipped to a frenzy by the howling storm still barren of rain.  Brock moaned and pulled at his hair in self-deprecating horror as the Pokèmon, still locked in combat, rolled and clawed and snarled.

Misty cried out, unleashing her Corsola and Politoed for fire control.  Psyduck appeared as well even though he wasn't called for.  Grimacing, Misty tried to make the best of it with, "Okay!  Triple Water Gun, now!"  Gamely, Psyduck cried, "Psyyducckk!" and puckered his bill; but nothing came forth.  Misty groaned and Recalled Psyduck, not in the least surprised.  Ignoring their comrade and their trainer alike, Politoed and Corsola continued trying to restrain the blaze.

Ash reached for Totodile at his belt to join in, but caught sight of Joy and Blissey making a mad dash back to the Center.  He compromised.  "Totodile," he called out his friend, "Do whatever Misty tells you and help her out!"  For once, even Totodile knew this was no time for dancing.  He added his own Water Gun to Misty's Pokèmon without a boogie or a complaint as Ash raced after Joy.

The boy and Pikachu found both medical workers at their center's Pokèball transport unit.  Joy already had the machine on, but the nearby vidphone was still refusing to contact anybody.  She was telling Blissey, "We'll just have to trust somebody will answer the transport signal and move the Pokèball aside so we can send the next one.  We've got no choice but to try now."  The nurse sighed, but brightened a little.  "At least the teleporter's underground link cable is still functioning."

She turned at Ash's query of, "Can I help, Nurse Joy?"

"Yes," she pointed into a nearby ward, "Each Pokèball has a tray with the trainer ID number and Pokèmon's species on it.  Help Blissey match them up and bring them here, quickly."

Leaving Larvitar with Joy, Ash got some relief when the baby didn't complain.  Of course, few Pokèmon would mind spending lots of time with Nurse Joy.  Quickly he and Pikachu aided Blissey in her work.  It looked like only a dozen incapacitated Pokèmon at most.  Of course, that was more than enough to make him hurry and worry.

At least the injured were in no condition to resist the command to Return to their Pokèballs from somebody besides their own masters.

Outside, Brock had added Geodude to Misty's flame-retardant team so he would still be free to help Onix.  The youth glowered as the battle played out.  Although his Flame Wheel continued flaring on and off again as his limbs struggled, Godzilla couldn't break free of Onix's secure Bind.  On the other hand, Godzilla didn't seem in any danger of passing out anytime soon as Onix kept squeezing desperately.

It was a stalemate.  Brock's desperation to redeem himself was inflaming his frustration just like the roaring forest fire he'd accidentally triggered.  "He's a Fire-Type," Brock groaned aloud, "We should've had him on the ropes by now!  What's with this guy?!"

The future Pokèmon breeder realized it was time to change tactics.  "Stop using Bind, Onix!" he shouted and hoped his Pokèmon could hear him over the clamor, "Pull away so we can do some real damage!"

Apparently Onix could hear him quite well.  The snake rolled Godzilla over again, burying the monster's face in the soft, overturned earth for a distraction as Onix pulled free.  Godzilla finally cut out his Flame Wheel Attack too as he regained his feet.  Not that there was much foliage left around the two giants anyway.  Godzilla roared angrily, spitting some dirt from his maw and wiping his eyes clean.

Brock grinned maliciously, "Let's see you take this!  Onix, Earthquake!"

Onix bellowed and rose on his coils.  The mighty Pokèmon then slammed his full weight against the earth.  The sound alone shattered every window in the Pokèmon Center.  Yet the highly focused tremor itself rippled only from Onix to his target.

When the unstoppable force of Onix's Earthquake met the immovable object that was Godzilla, the earth crashed and bucked like a ferocious ocean-going storm.

Godzilla was trapped in the roiling waves of ground.  He was pummeled by multiple blows even as the raging Earthquake ripped the ground open beneath his feet.  Sinking one leg up to his knee in a fissure, Godzilla roared and got some more dirt in his mouth as the subsiding waves kept crashing against him.

"Go, Onix!  Follow up with Rock Slide!"  Brock tried to remain focused; his eyes (what was visible of them, anyway) and his mouth still stern.  The battle wasn't over yet.

Narrow vents alongside Godzilla's single row of back spikes spit quick jets of small flame as Godzilla took a deep breath.  As Onix reared up at his command, Brock realized that Godzilla did have a lot in common with Cyndaquil as he's guessed earlier.

Onix crashed his upper half sideways into the mountainside, sending a Rock Slide tumbling as the still-trapped Godzilla spewed a generous Flamethrower from his gaping maw.  The fiery heat beam sprayed across the incoming rocks, knocking most of the furious barrage aside, as he pulled his captured limb free.

Onix snarled with frustration himself.  Warily, the two giant Pokèmon studied each other for a moment.  Godzilla's eyes took in Onix's stone skin, baked black by his Flame Wheel assaults but otherwise unharmed.  The King of the Monsters' gaze flicked off to the side at the sound of Misty's firefighters using Water Gun against the blaze once more.  He growled thoughtfully to himself.

With a rush of confidence, Onix reared up and snarled a challenge.  Godzilla answered in kind, dashing forward even as his back expelled excess flame again.  "Flamethrower's not gonna cut it," Brock observed, "but this will!  Onix, Slam Attack!"

Having learned something from Pikachu's earlier Thunderbolt Attack on himself, Godzilla stopped cold at a distance from Onix and spit his Flamethrower with a snarl.  Onix ignored the blast playing across his chest and face completely.  Instead, as he was bid by his master, Onix swung his tail around in a blow far too mighty to be called a mere Tail Whip.

Godzilla has miscalculated the safe distance he'd needed to keep.  Onix's tail caught him broadside, sweeping the monster off his feet to crash sideways into the forest.  Godzilla howled and tried to push to his feet, but Brock yelled, "Slam, again!"

Just as Godzilla stood, Onix slithered forward and brought the front half of his serpentine body down across the monster's back this time.  Godzilla slammed (literally) back down against the foliage.

Onix backed up a little, giving Brock a good view of his opponent.  To the amazement of trainer and Pokèmon alike, Godzilla shakily propped himself up on his palms.  For a second, it looked like the monster was trying to get his feet back under him.

But instead of straightening up fully, Godzilla rushed forward and drove his shoulder into Onix's chest in a Body Slam.  Onix was taken by surprise; he rocked backward and snarled but yet he stood firm.

Brock snarled too.  It took a lot to get the cool-headed youth's ire up, but Godzilla's unrepentant bloodlust and willingness to use Joy's patients as hostages just to get in a decent fight had his blood boiling.  "Onix, finish it!  Rock Slide, again!"

Once more Onix's tail swung around.  This time he aimed for the mountain's trail and the quickly-increasing slope found there.  At Onix's blow, the rock shattered and rained down in huge chunks on Godzilla and Onix alike.  But with an easy Dig Attack, Onix dove face-first into the earth to escape his own assault.

Godzilla had no such maneuver to rely on.  He snarled and clutched as his foe, but Onix's corkscrewing body merely spun itself out of his grip even as the Rock Slide buried him.  Within seconds, both battling Pokèmon were lost to view in a confusing shower of dust and fire-bred smoke.  Onix only added more fuel to the mix when he popped back up, near Brock, in a plume of displaced earth.

Coughing, Brock fished out a handkerchief to screen his mouth and nose with as he ran forward.  By the time he'd drawn next to Onix, the forest had cleared enough for him to see the relocated slope where Godzilla was buried.  At one end was the monster's tail, twitching feebly.  On the other was a bit of his snout, breathing rhythmically but quite unconscious.  Brock finally relaxed.

"Fantastic job, Onix!" Brock cried.  He turned to give his friend a well-deserved hug, but thought better of it in an instant.  Onix's skin has absorbed so much heat between all those fire attacks and the continuing forest's blaze that the Pokèmon glowed softly like molten rock.  Sweat was popping up on Brock's face and hands even at this distance.

Seeing Brock's reluctance to touch him, Onix moaned out an apology.  Brock smiled it away, adding, "It's not your fault.  I'm so proud of you, I could just use Explosion with joy!"  Onix threw his head back and roared a victory cry.

Both got sheepish quickly, however, when Misty bellowed, "OK!  Enough patting yourselves on the back!  You've still gotta put out the fire you guys started!"

"She's right!  Onix, Dig round the perimeter of the fire and make a firewall!"  Brock pointed out the path he wanted his Pokèmon to take.  Onix rumbled, both in his throat and down into the ground headfirst.

Misty turned to her helpers.  Each and every one had been fighting the blaze nonstop during the battle.  They all looked as exhausted and filthy as she was.  Misty pulled herself up straight, feeling Togepi wiggle in her backpack.

Her smile was a heavy mixture of relief and stern reminder.  "You've all done a fantastic job, but we're not finished yet.  Let's help Brock and Onix finish this forest fire off!  Are you with me?!"  The assembled Pokèmon raised their limbs in a little cheer to match her own pose.

As her troops fell back to work, Misty turned at the sound of two sets of footsteps behind her.  Clutching Larvitar and with Pikachu at his feet, Ash joined Brock in catching up with her.  "Wow," Ash said, "I can't believe you guys.  You beat Godzilla and stopped the fire!"  "Piiikaaaa!!"

Misty struck up a proud little feminine pose, one hand on her hip and the other curled behind her head.  She asked snidely, "Is it that you can't believe we did it without you, Ash, or that we did it at all?"

To her surprise, Ash only gave a lopsided grin.  "All right, all right, Misty.  You did it without me.  Satisfied?"  For one of the first times in her life, Misty had no idea how to respond to something Ash said.  She deflated as a new look came into her eyes in response to Ash's warm gaze.  Maybe, just maybe, Ash was finally catching on and responding to her subtle approach…

Ash quickly grew very uncomfortable from the way Misty was looking at him.  Suddenly, he added, "OK, not all by yourself.  Me and Pikachu did get the Center's Pokèmon to safety, after all."  Misty threw herself to the ground in shock.

Then she bounded back up, her temper flaring.  "Ash," she growled, "You're gonna need Nurse Joy to put you back together in a second!!"  Brock and Pikachu, each rubbing an imaginary itch on their backs to cover their embarrassment, were now feeling stuck.  Quickly they weighed the hazards of stepping in to save Ash's life versus having Misty's anger come down on themselves.

Brock settled for quickly deflecting Misty with a none-too-subtle, "Misty, umm, I, hey!  I've still got this fire I made I could use help with!  Heh heh."  When she snarled at him, Brock looked at his feet and admitted quietly, "I'm an idiot.  Please don't kill me."

"Men!!" she roared, and stomped off to lead the clean-up.  As Brock wiped the sweat off his brow, Ash turned to him to say, "Thanks, Brock.  I owe you one."

"You bet you do," Brock replied, "I'd rather armwrestle a Machamp than do that again.  C'mon, Ash, I know what she means to you.  What you mean to each other, really.  Why can't you just ask Misty out on a date like normal people do, for crying out loud?"

Now Ash's own anger, fueled by his embarrassment, was coming up.  "Sure, I'll take love life advice from you, Brock!  How many girls did you make run screaming from you this week, anyway?"  The boys were now staring hard at each other; Brock's arms were crossed but Ash still held Larvitar.

The pupa Pokèmon wasn't sure what they were arguing about, but he didn't want to be between them right then.  Both humans ignored Pikachu hopping around their feet, smiling and trying to break it up.

But neither could ignore Joy's soft, "Ahem.  Boys?"

Ash and Brock looked behind themselves as they flushed with surprise.  Ash wondered how much she'd heard of the whole thing (or worse, how much she might tell Misty?) as Joy quietly prompted, "The Pokèmon Center in Silver Town reports safe receipt of all the injured Pokèmon.  They're using the teleporter line to blink out a signal in Morse code, so I asked them to send Officer Jenny."

"Really?" Ash gasped, "You know Morse code, Nurse Joy?"

"Oh, yes," she replied, "I learned it as a Pidgey Scout when I was a little girl.  Got all my merit badges.  First time I ever needed it, though.  Anyway, Jenny is enroute even as we speak."

Brock turned to study the still-silent mound of earth where Godzilla lay.  "Did she say what she'd bring to get a handle on Godzilla?"  The thought of the lady cop trying to stuff the enormous Pokèmon into the sidecar of her vehicle made him grin, "She's gonna need a bigger motorcycle."

A short distance away, Onix roared.  The Pokèmon had completed cutting off the untouched portion of the forest from the blaze and was awaiting further instruction.  Brock excused himself and trotted off, planning to apologize to Joy profusely for the fire at the next chance he got.  With a quiet nod, Blissey offered to literally take Larvitar off Ash's hands and back to her egg pouch.  He let her gratefully.

Ash glanced around.  Everybody else was well out of overhearing range.  So he turned to Joy and for once, his confidence was merely a facade.  "So, Nurse Joy," he began a little too heartily, "Speaking of way back when you were a little girl…"

She cocked an eyebrow at that, but let it pass.

"I'm sure you must've, umm, had guys, uhh…well, uh…" Realizing he'd just insulted the person he was trying to ask nicely for advice only added to the pressure of keeping a nonchalant pose over such delicate matters.  Ash tried to hold himself together and was failing miserably.  Still, Joy waited patiently for him to continue.

Swallowing hard, he forced out, "If they wanted to ask you out…you know, if, they might've asked you by, uhh…"

"I recommend a nice card and some flowers, since she looks so mad right now," Joy smiled that same sappy grin of before, "Do you know what kind of flowers Misty likes, Ash?"

Ash jumped out of his skin at Misty's name.  "Oh, no, not her.  And not you either!" he quickly corrected; lest the adult mistake him for Brock, "But somebody!  You know, if…somebody…yeah."

Joy couldn't resist teasing.  Putting a hand to her chest as she reared back in mock horror, she cried, "Not me either?!  Am I really that repulsive, Ash?!"

While his master tried in vain to get his foot someplace other than his mouth, Totodile was being directed over toward where Godzilla lay.  A few trees caught up in the Rock Slide Attack were still smoldering and Misty wasn't taking any chances.

Besides, since Godzilla was plainly a Fire-Type, a little water could only help keep him under control if worst came to worst.

So it was that Totodile bounced on his heels over to where he was sent.  "Toto!  Totodile!" he cheered himself on.  Suddenly fearful, the reptile stopped to reassure himself of Godzilla's continued slumber by studying the beast's breathing for a moment.  Godzilla's nostrils flared and fell with enough regularity to make Totodile wipe the sweat from his own brow with a swish.  His happy patter restored, Totodile began picking his way up the side of the Rock Slide toward his leafy targets.

He almost stepped in Godzilla's open eye, which turned in its socket to study him intently.

"Totodiiiille!!"

The mound was lit from within by a bright purple flash.  Brock moaned, "No!  He used Recover again!" as Godzilla burst forth from his prison angrily.

Onix roared several times, trying to draw Godzilla's attention even as he moved quickly to get between the opposing Pokèmon and the helpless humans.  Godzilla took advantage of that distraction to rove his gaze over the stone snake's still-glowing skin.  Then he ignored Onix and the trainers alike to scoop up the escaping Totodile in a single massive hand.

Godzilla pointed his captive at Onix even as the Rock-Type received the command to use Slam once more.  As Onix bore down on him, Godzilla squeezed his fist shut fiercely.  Poor Totodile couldn't hold his water under that kind of pressure.  "Toto-urkkkk!!!" and he spit a fierce Water Gun stream.

Normally, a high-level creature like Brock's Onix still might shrug off a weak move from such a lower-level Pokèmon.  But when the cool water hit Onix's superheated skin, there was a resounding crack.  Onix stopped cold; not daring to even breathe.

Godzilla, confident the damage had already been done, tossed his unwilling assistant over his shoulder unceremoniously.  Putting his frog legs to good use, Politoed effortlessly leapt twenty feet into the air to catch Totodile and return both safely to earth.

Brock, Ash, and Misty were gagging on their own horror.  A large gap had appeared in Onix's chest.  And it was spreading rapidly in a spiderweb fashion across the Pokèmon's body.  Onix's skin cracked like thunder as each new fissure split open.

Within seconds, great sheaths of Onix's outer Rock-Type shell were sloughing off his body like stone leaves dropping from a chilled autumn tree.  Beneath, the Pokèmon's soft inner body glowed pale in the remaining firelight.

Despite it all, Onix reared back and bellowed a challenge.  "No!" Brock cried, "Onix, Return!  Please!"  But the Recall beam merely bounced off Onix as the self-sacrificing Pokèmon ignored it.

Bereft of his protection and a skinny shadow of his former self, Onix crashed against Godzilla in a Slam Attack.  The King of the Monsters reeled with the blow; Onix still had plenty of weight (not to mention muscle) to throw around.  But Godzilla's clawed feet dug into the ground and held him upright.  Godzilla came back, clamping his jaws at the base of Onix's throat and gripping the Pokèmon in a deadly embrace.

Onix's tail swished around in another Slam that bought him freedom.  Godzilla howled as he tumbled onto his side, but already his own tail was slicing through the air into a Slam Attack of his own.  Onix took it across the face, shaking his head groggily.  Godzilla did a Body Slam into Onix and trapped the other creature beneath him.

Frantically, Brock continued trying to get Onix to Return.  But as the two beasts locked in combat thrashed and wrestled, it was hard to tell if Onix was still disobeying or if Brock just didn't have a clean bead on his friend.

Ash and Misty had managed to Return their own friends now that Godzilla had no need for them anymore.  Along with Pikachu, Joy, Geodude, and Blissey, they raced to Brock's side, each trying to think of some way to help.  Geodude bellowed and made to try to intercede; Brock hastily Recalled his friend from only hurting himself.

Godzilla gave Onix a Headbutt to the chin.  As the snake's eyes rolled in their sockets, Godzilla reached around for a firm grip on Onix's tail.  Then the King of the Monsters lifted his opponent completely into the air, only to slam Onix back down into the ground time and again.  Onix moaned weaker each time.

The tremors of his impacts shook the humans down to their teeth.  As he tried to maintain his footing, Brock's spinning arms dropped the all-important Pokèball.  As Brock scuttled after the bouncing, rolling device on all fours, the much more sure-footed Pikachu leapt to the front of the pack.

This strange storm was still making the mouse's fur stand on end with excess energy.  The little glint in Pikachu's eye said he had a pretty good idea what to do with it.

"PIKKA-CHUUUU!!"  But the Thunder Attack went not at Godzilla; it went straight up into the clouds.  It was the last spark the storm needed.  The raging clouds finally burst forth a torrent of rain so strong it felt like hailstones pelting the trainers instead.  Pikachu grinned to himself; surely such a downpour would be the end of the Fire-Type's resistance.

Godzilla started when the rain gushed across him.  For a moment, he held his beaten opponent loosely as the rain splattered across his scales.  His eyes half-closed and his head leaned back with obvious pleasure.  Pikachu gasped.

So did Misty.  "Could it be?" she wondered aloud, "A half Fire-Type…and half Water?"

Ash was quick to point out Misty's oddball leanings for once.  "There's no such thing, Misty.  There can't be; that's impossible.  There isn't one Pokèmon in all the world like that!"

"But," she raised a hand, then dropped it futilely, "Look at him.  Just look at him."

But the rainy distraction did have one good effect; Brock's hand firmly clasped his wayward Pokèball.  "Return, Onix!" and with that the unconscious Pokèmon was whisked to comparative safety.

The disappearance of his victim from his very grip was not lost on Godzilla.  The monster roared; first with surprise, then anger.  His back spewed flame and Godzilla leaned forward with a vicious snap…and the Flamethrower that roared from his throat was washed from the wind by the raging storm.  Snarling, Godzilla advanced to trample this annoying bunch of humans beneath his feet instead.

Ash cried, "Run!!"  Not that anybody needed his prompting.  At first, their luck seemed to hold; the group was close enough to the Pokèmon Center that they fled around it for a makeshift shield.  "Keep going!" Ash again reminded; again unnecessarily.  He didn't trust the building to stop their determined foe.

He was right.  Godzilla tore directly through the Pokèmon Center like it was tissue paper.  The gas lines caught a spark from the electrical components as both were rent asunder.  For a moment, the darkness was expunged by a fireball as the building disintegrated.  Godzilla howled in pain; but Ash didn't hear him slow down behind.  At least, he thought, this rain will put out any fires that start up this time.

As the fireball quickly died, the fleeing humans and Pokèmon were plunged into darkness.  A complete, pitch, total darkness.  Its energy finally released in rain, the storm seemed to have no more electricity to spare for even a little lightning-borne illumination.  Instead the raging winds pelted the weary runners with leaves and water alike, obscuring their vision and whipping branches and bushes into their path.

But behind it all, Godzilla's thunderous footfalls continued.  The monster seemed to have little trouble sensing his way in the blackout conditions.  Like a Water-Type in deep ocean, Ash shivered in his mind, Misty was right.  And Godzilla was gaining rapidly.

Ash stopped, desperately trying to get a bead on his surroundings.  Or better yet, find Misty and make sure she was all right.  He gulped; realizing that he couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face in the swirling night.  He called for Misty and Pikachu but the wind snatched even the words away.  Only Godzilla's approach could be heard.  Ash started running again.

His blood turned cold as Godzilla roared triumphantly.

*****

Text, original characters, and events Copyright © 2003 Keith E. Kimball.  This is a fan work and not for profit.

All other characters, events, and trademarks Copyright © their respective holders including but not limited to Nintendo Company Ltd., Toho Eiga Inc., GameFreak, The Pokèmon Company, Shogakukan Production Inc., 4Kids Entertainment, Sega Enterprises Ltd., etc.