Copyright © 2003 Keith E. Kimball
E-Mail: Bdrodman@aol.com
Ash never saw the Tail Whip coming. But it lifted him up effortlessly just the same. Ash's scream joined his friends' as it was they who blasted off (with Joy and Blissey as special guests) into the atmosphere for once. As they flew into the air, Ash was momentarily blinded as Godzilla lit up head to toe with a fierce white light. Ash barely had time to wonder what had happened mid-flight before his landing came.
The group splashed down into a large lake. At that speed, it was almost as good as landing on solid ground. The wind and his hat knocked from him, Ash gurgled and groaned beneath the waves. He turned and kicked powerfully; hoping he was actually heading up and not down in the continuing darkness.
When Ash's head broke the water, he tried to call out for his friends even as he gagged up the water he'd inhaled on impact. By the choking sounds nearby, Ash was reassured that Joy and Blissey had made it as well. They were close enough that he could even hear Larvitar's frightened cries over the winds.
Ash's eyes were adjusting quickly. The group had come down in the large lake nestled within Silver Town's center. They'd landed near the shore and the streetlights provided more than enough illumination for him to pick out Blissey bobbing like a big pink buoy. Larvitar was bailing water out of her egg pouch with both hands as Joy clung to Blissey's smooth side. At least the lake's center was deep enough that the storm could only stir up large but comparatively gentle swells across its rain-pelted surface.
Blissey caught his gaze and the Pokèmon alerted her mistress to Ash's safety. Joy nodded as she and Ash looked around for the others. Ash called out, but nobody answered.
"Totodile," Ash released his Pokèmon, "Find Misty! Hurry!" Then he got a surprise. Over the moaning winds, Ash could just pick up Joy saying, "Blissey, use Flash!" before her Pokèmon lit with a steady, warm, gentle light.
As one, Ash, Totodile, and Joy took deep breaths and dove beneath the rolling waves. Ash thought he caught a glimpse of red disappearing into the depths just at the edge of Blissey's Flash. He redoubled his pace, but Totodile was a lot faster. The little reptile raced forward and caught Misty's back by her suspenders.
Determinedly, Totodile began hauling her up as Ash met them halfway. Between the two, their unconscious burden was hauled topside quickly.
Ash was relieved that not only had Joy found Brock in the meanwhile, but Pikachu was also clinging to the living life preserver that was Blissey. Heck, Pikachu even had Ash's hat.
Putting an arm firmly around Misty's waist and keeping her head braced against his shoulder (and thus above water), Ash found sure purchase in the edge of Blissey's egg pouch. Larvitar held onto Ash's hand, securing his grip, as Totodile began steering the group toward shore.
As Blissey turned out her light and clung to Ash and her mistress, Joy put her back against Blissey and started kicking into the waves even as she kept supporting Brock. Tired as he was, Ash joined in too. Together the motley group rode the swells toward safety.
They lucked out. The wind shifted direction and joined the waves in pushing them to the beach with a fair amount of speed. Ash tried to gently scoop Misty into both arms but found her superior height hard to handle out of the water. He had to settle for dragging her feet more or less up the beach and away from the surf. As he laid her down softly, Pikachu and Totodile pulled the equally-unconscious Togepi from Misty's backpack.
Ash turned to Joy for help. With her hat gone and her undone hairdo spilling over her face and shoulders to cover both their heads, Ash had trouble seeing what Joy was doing for a second as she leaned over Brock. He realized she was giving Brock mouth-to-mouth resuscitation…something Brock would be very pleased about if he was conscious.
As she paused to pump Brock's chest, Joy glanced up to bark, "Go ahead, Ash. Do it! Save her!" Near his feet, Totodile happily began doing the same to Togepi. Of course, he supposed most any Water-Type would know how to do such a thing.
Too bad he didn't.
Ash stared at Misty's cold and lifeless face for a few horrible seconds. She almost looked like she was sleeping. Almost. His gaze traveled down, focusing on her lips; gently parted but refusing to breathe. He…he had to, but if he messed it up, she could be hurt even worse…
Instead Ash found himself knocked aside by Blissey, who quickly began resuscitating the girl. Larvitar squeezed out of Blissey's pouch to join Pikachu at Ash's side, staring helplessly. Pikachu handed Ash his hat.
The boy took it absently and held it in a crushing grip; his eyes never left Misty. Behind them, he could hear Brock and Togepi gurgling up a response to their ministrations. But Misty still laid quiet and still.
Unaware he was speaking aloud, Ash moaned, "No, it can't be…not her…not Misty…please, no…" Unable to bear any more, he closed his eyes and threw his head back to the rainy skies with a desperate mental plea for someone, anyone, who might be somehow listening to save the most important girl in the universe.
Joy appeared at Ash's elbow. "Try Softboiled," she commanded Blissey, "Her lungs must be clear now." A gentle wave of pink energy flowed from the Normal-Type creature, caressing Misty head to foot.
To Ash's eternal relief, that did the trick; whatever wound had kept Misty unconscious was healed. She sat up and choked on a last bit of the lake in a fashion that Ash found pretty endearing right that moment.
Ash sank to one knee beside her. "Misty," his eyes shone and it had nothing to do with the continuing rain, "Relax, you're OK. We're here, we're all here, it's all right."
Her own eyes were large and relieved, but confused. "Ash," she said weakly, "It heard you…and its coming to help…"
Ash drew back a little. "Who? What do you mean, Misty?"
The look on her face said she wasn't quite sure herself, but her insecurity only lasted another second.
A small rip opened in the storm-tossed skies. For a second, the shifting waves of colors thus released boiled and roiled; but then they closed just after spitting out a small black shape. A single Unown; this one loosely shaped like the lowercase letter "g".
Brock observed, hand on chin, "Could it be? The same one from the other day?"
The first thing the Psychic-Type did was float down to Misty, running a one-eyed gaze over her studiously as Ash helped her to her feet. The creature's eye turned up in a smiley fashion at her safety. The Unown reached out with its telepathic senses, reminding the group of how they had safely nursed it through a bad sickness before. It had come, they realized, to return the favor at hearing Ash's heart-rending distress. Even though it wasn't necessary after all.
Suddenly Ash and Misty alike realized he was still supporting her, one hand on the small of her back. They pulled away from each other abruptly. Ash stuffed his hat back on and a little low over his eyes. Misty seemed to regret her actions immediately. "Ash," she whispered, "You called the Unown for me…I…"
"It was Blissey," he returned just as quietly, "who saved you. I couldn't do it. I failed."
"Oh, Ash…"
Their thoughts were chased away by Godzilla's keening roar.
As one, every pair of eyes turned out over Silver Town's rain-soaked skyline. On the far edge of town, Godzilla loomed over the buildings. Really over the buildings.
The Pokèmon had evolved once more. His build was still lean, but his height had doubled to sixty feet. The single row of spikes had given way to triple rows of mismatched, multiedged blades with the center line far larger than those on its flanks. And by the furious light blazing in his eyes as he gazed over man's structures, his rage had only grown as well.
With a snarl curling his lips, Godzilla plowed into the first set of buildings he could reach. Police and firefighting sirens added to the growing din of a panicked and confused citizenry around the trainers as Godzilla began destroying Silver Town. Ash had thought the monster angry during their initial confrontation in the forest; now he was seeing the true depths of Godzilla's fury. The King of the Monsters would not rest until everything before him was laid to utter waste.
But this sight only fueled Ash's own fire. Raising a fist, he yelled, "Stop it! What are you doing!?" Of course, Godzilla was much too far away to hear even if he could possibly care what Ash thought.
Misty said firmly, "Ash, who cares? Godzilla's got to be stopped, whatever his feelings are, before he wrecks the whole town!"
"His feelings," Ash said with a sudden flash of thoughtful insight, "What's wrong with this guy?! Why does he hate everybody and everything so much!?"
It was a strange thought, but a valid one. Misty turned to Ash as everyone else did. She reflected it had been one of the things that had attracted her to follow Ash on his Pokèmon journey to start with. The depth of his caring for others (when he dared show it, at least). And he always seemed to find the heart of a matter, somehow.
Softly, she reached out to his shoulder, murmuring, "Ash, don't beat yourself up over this. We'll find a way to stop him, together."
The assembled trainers and Pokèmon found their gaze on the Unown as it floated softly in front of them all. It looked askance at Ash, a bit of curiosity in its eye. Then it closed the orb, softly chanting, "Unown…Unown…"
For a split second Ash felt a strong rush like he'd been sent blasting off head-first again. Then he looked around; Misty, Joy, and Brock looked back at him, quite whole and hearty. Totodile was there too, alongside Pikachu and Blissey; but Ash couldn't help noticing Togepi and Larvitar hadn't appeared. He forgot to wonder why as he began staring at Pikachu curiously.
Ash gazed down at Pikachu; the Electric-Type was softly glowing and semi-transparent. Like a Ghost-Type shielding itself from view partially. When Pikachu cried, "Pika! Pika!" and pointed, Ash realized he was looking very much the same. "Whoa," he said and his voice echoed unnaturally, "It's like we're here and we're not at the same time."
"Yeah," Misty agreed in her own altered voice, "But where is here, anyway?"
Everyone gazed about themselves in wonder at a world somehow familiar and somehow alien. The buildings, the plants, the streets; all were of a comfortingly similar look and feel to their own world. But this place looked, somehow, more…real than their own reality. Things were much more detailed and complex; colors were far more myriad and shaded.
Strangely enough, if Ash had to guess, he'd even dare say they were in an airport parking lot in the middle of the night.
But even considering the time, the buildings and their nearby streets were empty of life.
"Look there," Brock cried out, "It's him!!"
They whirled and gasped. Far off in the distance, Godzilla was laying on his side in the shattered rubble of an airport terminal even larger than he was. He looked different; not just because he was a full-fledged part of this world, but radically different.
His skin was dark grey instead of green. His back sported only a single row of stubby plates even smaller than the spikes he'd had during his second evolution in Ash's world. Yet he was twice the size his third evolution had granted him in Ash's world.
But none of this could disguise the fact that Godzilla was dying. His lifeblood was seeping steadily out of great wounds in the beast's neck and chest; his eyes were closed as his breath rattled through him slowly and painfully.
Joy and Blissey, in spite of everything he had done, began to run forward. Just as ghostly as they, the Unown appeared before them, shaking itself slowly. "But…but!" Joy stammered, her own impulses warring in her expression.
Brock passed a hand through a nearby car harmlessly before saying pragmatically, "We're being shown Godzilla's memories, I think. We can't interfere with what happened back then even if we want to." Joy nodded but was unable to take her eyes off the creature, her hands clutched futilely before her chest.
Then a thunderous roar - Godzilla's - came from behind them.
They whirled anew; only to see another creature at an even greater distance that the slowly perishing monster.
This one was much, much, much larger than the other. His dark grey body rippled with thick, stocky muscle culminating in a bull-like neck supporting a tiny head. His triple back plates were more uniform in size and shaped like maple leaves. And his double rows of teeth, set in a permanently visible grimace, shone in the night like daggers as he roared again. Nevertheless, between his voice and his looks…
Misty moaned, "It…it must be…Godzilla's father!"
But for all his awesome size and strength, it was also plain there was something very wrong with the parent creature too. His heart, glowing red as fiercely as the sun, was visible through his barrel chest. Veins of superheated blood glowed across his body; his back plates and eyes alike shimmered with hellish internal fire too. Several wounds, especially a prominent one crossing his shoulder, were actually gushing steam. The parent howled again and fought his own pain-racked body as he tried to cross the land to his son.
And then a huge military vehicle, little more than a set of wheels supporting a cannon, blazed through the parking lot the trainers were standing in. A human soldier riding high out of a topside hatch caught Ash's attention as the mobile weapon passed through their ghostly group.
Ash couldn't help but stare. The people of this world had such tiny eyes and mouths compared to Ash and his friends. The twist to familiar human features frightened Ash more than Godzilla's visage any day.
But that cannon had been only one small part of a vast horde of military vehicles that appeared from nowhere. Mostly by land they came; but the leader of the assault was a oddly box-shaped aircraft with stubby wings.
Dozens of these strange and fanciful machines' weapons reached out with cold blue beams of light to blast the parent Godzilla to a standstill. Mercilessly, the barrage continued; and the monster could only rage helplessly.
The parent's roar of offense was reflected in Misty's cry of, "No! Let him go! He only wants to help his son!"
The military stopped their bombardment as if they had heard her. Or, more likely, they had already done all they could. For an instant, time seemed frozen.
Pointing, Brock fought a rising tide of bile as he said, "Look! He's…he's…melting!"
It started with the back plates. They dribbled away like candle wax under their own heat and pressure. Quickly the infection spread and the very flesh started melting off the trapped parent's bones. He threw his head back, trying to howl out one last cry of angry defiance. It died in his throat; a mere gurgle as the creature was reduced to a skeleton. His bones didn't have time to fall over as they disintegrated too. Within seconds, the parent was reduced to a brightly glowing blob of matter burning into the ground as it continued to consume itself.
Waves of bright light flowed from the spot, washing over everything for miles. Despite his ghostly presence there, Ash felt an unusual prickling sensation when the light passed by. More than mere light, he suspected.
It was a suspicion confirmed by the noise behind him. The group turned to see Godzilla's wounds healing as the radiation washed over him. Not just healing; he was growing and changing. Evolving. To a form similar to the one he was wearing even as he laid waste to Silver Town in reality, albeit here the monster was nearly as large as his father.
But as he changed, Godzilla's eyes stared only at the fading light of his parent's disappearance.
Godzilla turned his gaze to the human army spread around him. Still unaware of his presence, they watched where the elder had been for any sign of life. For a split second, Ash could see a reflection of the beams that had felled his father in Godzilla's eyes. And then the newly christened King of the Monsters roared a roar of the purest hatred as he rushed into battle.
The military turned their weapons on Godzilla. But this time, it was worthless; although if the weakness stemmed from Godzilla's sheer rage or his increased power, Ash wasn't sure.
He found himself gripping Misty's shoulders and turning both their backs firmly to the carnage, silent tears flowing down his cheeks. Her sobs were drowned out by the explosions behind them accompanying Godzilla's furious cries.
With another rush, Ash found himself dumped back into his body. His friends started around him, readjusting to their surroundings as well. For a moment, the only thing Ash could think to do was Recall Totodile as he wiped his cheeks clean with his sleeve. Misty scooped up Togepi and hugged him close. The baby didn't need to know what caused his mistress' distress; he only had to cuddle up at her touch and coo softly for her.
"Larvitar?" came a soft call from Ash's ankle. He tried to smile confidently down at the little Pokèmon and found he couldn't fake it at the moment. "I'm okay, Larvitar, everything's gonna be all right," Ash reassured; even though he had no idea how he was actually going to pull it off.
Brock had managed to maintain his usual stiff upper lip, but just barely. His eye slits sparkled as he looked over Silver Town. "Look," he observed, "It's happening all over again." His jaw worked furiously as Brock kept tight hold of himself.
Unlike that other place, Silver Town didn't even have a military to offer a token defense. Godzilla was smashing through, leaving flaming rubble in his wake. The continuing storm was softening up the blazes somewhat, but rain-slick roads were also fouling hurrying fire trucks and police cruisers alike. Not to mention the populace attempting to escape.
It wasn't just the people, of course. Wild Pokèmon of all shapes and sizes fled their adoptive urban home and the surrounding forest alike as Godzilla raged. Sometimes Ash could pick out an attack from some unseen trained Pokèmon at its master's bidding; but each time Godzilla lashed out and there was no more resistance from that quarter.
"We've gotta stop him without hurting him," Ash vowed. Yet there wasn't much of his usual confidence in his gaze as Misty turned to him, nodding her agreement. His furrowed brow and tight jaw meant Ash was still puzzling it out even as he faced the Unown in turn. "We've got to do what we were meant to do…if you'll help us," he realized.
Ash's gaze was steady as he spelled out his thoughts aloud. "You brought Godzilla to this dimension because if he'd stayed where he was, either him or humanity would have to go, isn't it?" The Unown looked sadly at its single foot.
Ash continued, "The people of that world don't get along with their Pokèmon like we do. They attacked Godzilla and his father. You were hoping that somebody - us - could teach him to live in harmony with everyone. Then maybe you'd send him back. Maybe not. But he'd be all the better for it and both worlds would be safe, either way."
The Unown perked up, looking happy that Ash's instincts had puzzled it out.
Finally Ash's resolve broke down as the terrible realization of his next words hit home to him. "But I screwed it up. I didn't catch him in a Pokèball right when he got here like I should've. Now that he's evolved, now that we've fought him every step of the way, it's just like it was before for Godzilla. And there's no way I'll catch him now. He's just too big and strong."
Misty smiled softly with half-hard, half-soft memories. "You always stuck up for Charizard," she recalled, "Even when he lost the Kanto League Championship for you on purpose." Gently, she laid a hand on Ash's shoulder. He didn't dare meet her eyes; he knew he'd find a warm gaze he didn't feel he deserved looking back.
"And look," she finished, "how much he loves you now. You can do anything, Ash. I really believe you can."
His smile was wane, but inside he felt a little rush of joy at her words. "Not this time, I can't." Ash grasped his empty Pokèball, raising it to the Unown's gaze. "You've got to help me fix things," he said, "I'm sorry I messed up, but I can't make it right without you. Please, please say you'll help me."
But despite Ash's soulful plea, the Unown turned away. The sky rip opened once more and the small Pokèmon floated up towards it. "Wait!" Ash cried, "Give me another chance!"
Misty joined in, "If you just take Godzilla back, it won't help anybody! He'll still be angry and nothing will change!"
"We can change him, together! I know we can!" Brock added.
The Unown paused. Then, with a flick of its single limb, it disappeared into the rift. With a sparkle, the window to the Unown's dimension closed behind it.
The teens felt like the whole world had dropped out from under them when that last desperate hope vanished unceremoniously. Behind them, Joy coughed politely.
"Hurry and escape while you can," she said when the trio turned to her, "Someone's got to warn the outside world. Don't argue this time; just do it. I've got work to do." With Blissey, as always, at her side, Joy trotted off to bring some order - not to mention a healing touch - to the chaos.
The three friends had no choice but to let her go. For a moment, Ash wondered if he should go back up Mt. Silver and try to find Larvitar's mother as he scooped the baby Pokèmon into his backpack once more. At least then Larvitar would be safe and he'd have done something right recently.
But considering the blows the mountain had taken in the earlier battles, he realized Larvitar's mother had probably scattered with other wild Pokèmon refugees. For now, staying with Ash was best for the baby creature.
With heads bowed and hopeless dread weighing down their hearts and feet alike, the three friends turned their backs to the carnage. Slowly they began shuffling around the lake's beach toward the untouched side of Silver Town.
The dark, raging storm still wasn't half as bleak as their empty hearts. With every crash, every roar, every scream from behind him, Ash winced. He wished the rain would just wash him away; right out of existence, so he wouldn't have to live with simply walking away.
As Misty suspected, he couldn't. Ash turned back around, raising his fist. Brock was quick to intercede, catching Ash's mitt in his own. "Sometimes," he said glumly, "You have to know when to quit, Ash. No matter how hard it hurts."
Ash pulled free, responding, "Maybe. But not when it's other people and Pokèmon paying the price for my mistakes, Brock. We can't fight Godzilla, but we can be like Nurse Joy and try to help anybody he leaves behind."
Actually, Misty and Brock alike brightened at that idea. Pikachu gave the notion a V-for-Victory sign and a cheer. With a lot more spring in their steps, the group turned back and ran up the boardwalk and onto the streets.
Pikachu's sharper ears made him the first to turn and gaze at the lake, yelping, "Chu?" By the time Ash turned to ask what was wrong, he could hear it too. And once Misty and Brock looked as well, the lake's surface was churning and bubbling as something very large began surfacing from the depths.
With a burst of spray, an enormous mechanical Rhydon lurched from the waves and onto the beach. In place of eyes, the robot Pokèmon had a trio of tinted windows spread across its forehead. Even without the rain sweeping across his vision, Ash would've had a hard time seeing who was at the controls…but he didn't have to wonder for very long.
As water drained down the metallic flanks, a megaphone popped out of a panel on one cheek to broadcast a burst of nasty, ringing laughter.
"To protect the world from Godzilla's devastation!"
"So we can keep stealing Pokèmon across the nation!"
"To capture this beast for our Boss that we love!"
"So Team Rocket's power can reach the stars above!"
The robot had true feet, but pairs of tank-style treads popped out from steel soles in a roller skate fashion. With a blast of mud and displaced water, the treads bit into the lake's bottom and propelled the mechanical marvel forward. Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu hurried out of its way as the faux Rhydon rolled through the boardwalk and onto where they'd been standing. Even as they dodged, Team Rocket's sing-song motto kept ringing across Silver Town.
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Our future with Team Rocket's looking bright!"
"If we capture Godzilla, the Boss will love us, alright!"
"Meowth! Dat's right!…Hah! Wobbuffet ain't here! I gets da last woid!"
Jesse continued, "Forward, MechaRhydon! Let Godzilla feel my wrath! Ah-ha-ha-ha!!!"
With a flick of her finger, Jesse hit the switch to retract the megaphone now that its all-important duty was done. She winced at the movement; her arm was bandaged but still very sore. That reminder of what she owed Godzilla turned up her ruby red lips in a evil grin. It was payback time.
Her crew turned to look up from their twin consoles at her higher position behind and between them with an odd glance. "MechaRhydon?!" Meowth smirked.
"Now, now, Jesse," James said condescendingly, "We've used this particular contraption before. Out in the Orange Islands, remember? You know perfectly well it's called a Robo-Rhydon."
"I don't care!" she set a vein in her temple throbbing, "I'm in charge and I can name it whatever I want! Besides…" For a instant, Jesse looked strangely wistful as she caressed the controls before her. She finished, "I don't know…for some reason, 'Mecha' just sounds so right today instead."
Realizing her teammates were now wondering if she'd lost a few marbles in that last blast off, Jesse moved to restore the chain of command. "I said let's go! Weapons at the ready!" She glowered down at her teammates each in turn before a movement outside brought her gaze to the viewports. Throwing her arms across her face, Jesse cried, "Wait! We're not ready yet!"
James and Meowth didn't have time to emulate her as Godzilla crashed against MechaRhydon. For an instant, the robot's feet lifted up as MechaRhydon rocked backwards onto its short, thick tail. It turned sideways a little before both feet slammed back down, sending chunks of pavement flying in a near miss for Ash and company.
Godzilla bit down on the machine's neck and gave it a small tug. His face twisted with surprise at what he was tasting. Quickly giving up on that approach, Godzilla roared and used Slash with his foreclaws.
Team Rocket's hands were flying across their controls as they tried to mount a counterattack. MechaRhydon's own arms curled up into defensive positions, protecting his chest and neck like a boxer might. Godzilla's claws were deflected harmlessly off the metal, drawing only a few loud clanging noises.
Inside the cockpit, Jesse barked, "Keep this thing on its feet! I'll handle all the attacks myself!" So saying, she threw another switch and jabbed fiercely at a button. Even though she wasn't commanding a real Pokèmon in battle, Jesse found herself reflexively announcing, "Mega Punch, now!"
MechaRhydon's right fist came around into Godzilla's ribcage in a fierce jab. The wind knocked out of him for a second, Godzilla flinched. "Perfect!" Jesse roared, "Since you liked that one so much, here's another!" This time, the blow was an uppercut straight to Godzilla's chin. The monster backpedaled, holding his head and trying to gather his wits.
Unnoticed, the cockpit's double elevator door snapped open behind the trio. Ash, Misty, and Brock peeked out. Pikachu was stuck behind his friends' legs and couldn't see at all, eliciting a quiet but irritated, "Pika!" from him. Misty whispered, "Good thing they left that elevator door in the tail unlocked."
"Yeah," Ash agreed just as quietly, "We can't trust Team Rocket to get something done right."
Meowth was satisfied with MechaRhydon's current stability enough to quip, "C'mon, Jesse, quit foolin' around! Just use dat Master Ball da Boss gave us an' catch dis ting awready!"
His teammate sneered, "That's why you're a Pokèmon and not a Pokèmon trainer, Meowth. Don't you know yet that a trainer has to weaken a Pokèmon in battle before a Pokèball will work? Ha, try a Horn Drill on for size!" The last was directed more at her opponent than Meowth, and a touch to Jesse's controls sent MechaRhydon into motion to accompany it.
The faux Pokèmon leaned forward on its haunches, its single horn and its twin sets of treads alike spinning furiously. MechaRhydon roared forward with surprising speed. Godzilla got his equilibrium back just in time to see the attack coming but not dodge it. The Horn Drill bit into his neck and shoulder, sending the monster tumbling and rolling through a city block. Jesse kept MechaRhydon hot on his heels, plowing through and completing the decimation of the few edifices Godzilla had missed.
As Misty and her friends struggled to stay upright against the smooth elevator's walls, she whispered, "Master Ball? Do you think that will work?" to Brock.
In turn, Brock put a thoughtful hand to his chin. "We should swipe Godzilla when they catch him. That would solve all our problems."
Misty groaned, "If they catch it."
Shaking his head slowly, Ash admitted, "I don't like doing what Team Rocket always tries to do. Steal Pokèmon, I mean."
Misty was frowning hard over that thought too.
Brock shrugged, "We can't let their Boss have Godzilla, now can we?" His friends grumbled reluctant agreement.
The quartet turned their attention back to the cockpit proper. Over Jesse and James' shoulders, they could see Godzilla take another Mega Punch. The monster's earlier Horn Drill wound was still bleeding and it looked like Team Rocket had things well in hand for once.
"But Jesse," James half-turned to remind her, "The Boss said that newfangled Master Ball would catch any Pokèmon, at any level, without battling at all! Weren't you paying attention when he debriefed us?!"
In the elevator, the stowaways ducked back around the doorjamb. The elevator had stayed in one place too long; the doors automatically shut on them once more.
Jesse whipped a large mallet out of a drawer in her console and held it menacingly near James' face, charging, "Godzilla tasks me. And I shall have him! You, too, if you don't get with the program!" James turned back to his controls with a placating whimper.
"Guys!" Meowth shrieked, "Watch out!!"
Regaining his feet and his wits simultaneously, Godzilla crashed into MechaRhydon once more. This time the monster caught the machine in a bear hug as a precursor to a Flame Wheel. Within seconds, MechaRhydon's internal temperature gauges were shooting up into the red zones.
Strapped into their seats, Team Rocket found no relief from the heat as they jumped and squirmed and yelled. But at least her leather gloves gave Jesse some protection as she tabbed a couple buttons.
The first opened MechaRhydon's mouth, AKA the weapons bay, to the outside world. The second turned on the intercom from the cockpit to the bay so her Pokèmon could hear Jesse bellow, "Wobbuffet, use Mirror Coat, hurry!"
"Wobbuffet!" saluted the Pokèmon even though her mistress couldn't see her at present. To the strange Psychic-Type's surprise, Wobbuffet found Godzilla's unwounded shoulder pressed right up against MechaRhydon's lower jaw. The King of the Monsters had paused in his blistering barrage and was trying to push MechaRhydon off its treads.
Gingerly, Wobbuffet leaned forward against the jaw's guardrail to sniff Godzilla and satisfy her curiosity. Quickly she held her paw-hand across where her nose should've been visible on her face. "Wobba-wobba!" and her eyes swirled a little.
"Weezing-wheez!" reminded her purple Pokèmon comrade as he floated nearby, awaiting a time he might be needed too. Weezing's warning came just in time; Godzilla sprouted another Flame Wheel from his skin as MechaRhydon kept rocking back and forth. As the flame's path traced swiftly upwards, Wobbuffet stood tall and proud. A red halo surrounded her; at its touch, the Flame Wheel was absorbed harmlessly.
But only for an instant. "WOBBU-UFFETTTTT!!" and a bright red beam - Flame Wheel with twice its normal punch - blasted out of her blue blobby body and into Godzilla point-blank.
The monster's clench was broken as Godzilla flew backwards off his feet. Godzilla skidded, flat on his back, into another set of buildings that promptly crumbled down on top of him. Flailing and roaring, Godzilla fought to free himself of the debris for another attack.
Wobbuffet was leaning on Weezing for support and sweating hard. Yet her little black tail was still standing straight up with pride. "Weeze…" said her friend, impressed. "Wobba," she thanked, and wished for all the world that Jesse would make a similar compliment. Just once. Cold and silent, the intercom sat on the wall mockingly.
Apparently, Jesse was far too busy gloating as Godzilla tried to regain his feet. She threw her head back in a haughty laugh, "Mess with me, will you? Huh? Huh?" Jabbing her pointing finger out the viewport to punctuate her gloating, Jesse realized her friends were watching her with wide eyes.
Out of the corner of his mouth, James half-whispered to Meowth, "The look on her face reminds you of that time a Scyther cut her hair off, doesn't it?"
"I said it before, n' I'll say it again: Tings get messy when yas fool with Jesse," Meowth admitted.
She sobered up, waving a hand reassuringly. "Okay, okay," she added, "I feel better now. Let's do it!" Jesse pumped a fist in the air, joined by James and Meowth as the latter turned back to their controls. The trio chorused, "For Team Rocket! For the Boss! For all the moolah we'll make!"
In the weapons bay, the intercom crackled to life. Wobbuffet looked up at the sound hopefully. Jesse barked, "Move it or lose it! Master Ball Launcher, deploy!"
Weezing and Wobbuffet alike scuttled away from a floor panel that snapped open where a living Rhydon's throat would be, lest they fall in. Swiftly, the large compressed air cannon rose through the tunnel thus revealed and into position.
To the astonishment of both Pokèmon, the complete set of twerps were hanging off the launcher and grinning sheepishly as they rode it into the bay. Realizing Wobbuffet was looking right at the butter knife he was using to try and pry the Master Ball itself free, Ash quickly pulled the offensive camping aid behind his back. "Uhh, hey," Ash added, "Fancy meeting you two here."
"Great robot you've got here," Misty gave her very best friendly smile from her perch near the device's air hoses, "Would you two nice, sweet, cute Pokèmon mind if we borrow this little Master Ball for a minute?"
"Wobbufett!" Wobbuffet thanked her happily for the compliment. Then, with an equally pleasant singsong to herself, Wobbuffet calmly toddled over and hit the release for the Master Ball. She presented it proudly to Misty with a salute.
Her mouth was hanging open, but Misty managed to say, "Thanks. Thank you very much, Wobbuffet," as she quietly reached for the ball.
Weezing smacked down on her from above in a Tackle Attack. "Yeowch!" she hollered and dropped the Master Ball as Weezing bounced repeatedly against the back of her head, chanting, "Weeze!" with each bounce. Although whether the Poison-Type was yelling at Misty or Wobbuffet was unclear since he had two sets of eyes and was staring hard at each. Maybe both.
Up top, Jesse was watching the blinking indicator on her board with growing frustration. "What do you mean," she growled at her console, "It's jammed? Can't you do anything right, James?"
"I didn't load the launcher!" James was quick to point out, "Meowth did! The Boss didn't trust either of us with the Master Ball, now did he?"
"Yeah, well, maybe yer hittin' da wrong buttons, Jesse!" Meowth challenged fiercely.
Looking like she might start spitting a Flamethrower herself, Jesse hit the intercom. "Wobbuffet! Clean out that launcher and get it going!" James broke in, "You too, Weezing!" Then they clicked off, unheedful of the strange cries coming back over their end of the connection.
As MechaRhydon rumbled into motion again around them, Wobbuffet retrieved the Master Ball. Ash knew it would be too dangerous to sic Pikachu on Wobbuffet; he didn't want anything Countered damaging the Master Ball.
So he leapt at Wobbuffet himself. That was a mistake; one white halo and a firm "Wobba!" later and Ash flew right back where he'd came.
Brock and Pikachu quickly backed Ash up in his impromptu wrestling match. Weezing, who had been firmly pinning Misty down on her belly, released her to join the fray even though he didn't have any limbs to wrestle with. "Weez-ing!" he bellowed out of his small mouth; the big one he used to plant a bite right on Brock's butt.
"Yeow! Quit it! That's fighting dirty!" he claimed, although it wasn't strong enough to really be called a Bite Attack.
Behind Weezing, Misty popped up with blood in her eye. "C'mere!" she snapped as she launched herself bodily into battle.
Thus it was the entire group, badly intertwined, that rolled perilously around the open-air weapons bay in a rather nasty little free-for-all. Especially since Misty, in her anger, wasn't watching where she was aiming. Ash tried to complain when Misty accidentally kicked him for the fourth time, but Wobbuffet happened to stick her fist in his mouth just then. For a blobby thing, Wobbuffet was surprisingly sturdy when push came to shove…or to punch.
Yet the attention of everyone in the bay was attracted by a bright purple flash shining through the downpour outside. Still gripping each other in various pretzel shapes, the group watched Godzilla finish pulling himself free of the city block's remains with morbid fascination.
Unnoticed by all, Ash took advantage of the opportunity to stuff the unattended Master Ball in his jacket pocket.
With Recover having healed his wounds once more, Godzilla was back in action. The rain consumed his back jets' blaze, turning it into a huge cloud of hissing white-hot steam, as Godzilla gathered his power for another beam strike.
Remembering Godzilla's previous Flamethrower attack just before the monster knocked them into the lake, Ash mused, "Won't the rain just wash it away again? It's not a close-range attack like Flame Wheel."
Before his friends could reply, Ash got his answer. It wasn't a Flamethrower that spewed forth. It was a full-fledged Fire Blast that unfolded from Godzilla's maw. The fiery symbol, as tall as Godzilla himself, sizzled and hissed in the rain like a snarling demon as it blasted through Silver Town's structures. Shockwaves of heated air proceeded, accompanied, and even rippled out behind the Fire Blast as it blazed a trail to MechaRhydon.
"Wobbuffet! Mirror Coat!!" rang out from the intercom.
But Wobbuffet was no fool. The enormous attack was just plain out of her league. As she and her fellow wrestlers pulled themselves apart, Wobbuffet leapt to a nearby control panel. She hit the manual door lever instead; MechaRhydon shut its trap with a clang to offer what protection it could.
Unaware of this, Jesse didn't bother trying to make the machine dodge. Godzilla's attack burrowed into MechaRhydon's face and chest. Part of the chest section caved in as the snout buckled and twisted. The Horn Drill nearly popped from its moorings. Ironically, MechaRhydon's mouth now looked like the robot was biting its lower lip enthusiastically. Only some time in the repair shop would allow MechaRhydon to open its weapons bay again.
But most of all, the supposedly shatterproof viewports did indeed shatter into hot but round-edged fragments that showered onto the command crew.
Jesse shrieked; a few bits of window had lodged in her hair. Fueled by both her hairspray and her purple dye, Jesse's head was set ablaze instantly. James whipped a fire extinguisher from his console and set about putting his lady love out.
She sputtered and spit out some foam before clutching a few wayward strands of hair before her eyes. "Nooo!" she moaned, "No, it can't be, not my hair and my face in one day! This can't be happening to me!"
Meowth ignored Jesse's Magmar impression from the start to struggle with the robot's now-sluggish leg controls. "Jeeze," the scratch cat muttered to himself, "Too bad we's can't use Recover too…but dis is just a robot."
Outside, Godzilla was well pleased with the way MechaRhydon's arms were hanging uselessly as the robot swayed side-to-side on its treads. The Fire Blast assault had left MechaRhydon sparking and sizzling as rain poured into its systems through buckled plating. The Horn Drill was spinning as James tried using it anyway; but the weapon was going slowly and smoke roared from its base as the motors burned themselves up.
Back inside the weapons bay, everybody was pulling themselves free of the twisted chamber's wreckage painfully. Only MechaRhydon's thick insulation had saved the group from being boiled alive within the metallic confines. Ash groaned, "So that's what my microwave meals go through." As it was, the air was still so hot that it hurt to breathe any of it.
Almost everybody was pulling themselves free, that is. There are some advantages to always floating around to start with. Weezing had easily dodged the chamber's destruction. The very air he used to float in, however, was not so easy to avoid.
Misty turned to Weezing at the unusual noise he was making. "Look out!" she pointed forcefully at Weezing in horror, "He's gonna blow!"
*****
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.