Meanwhile, Togepi, who had grown tired of hide-and-seek, had wandered away from its hiding place in search of its friend Phanpy. The little Pokémon toddled up a rocky path leading to the edge of a cliff that formed part of the border of the fire Pokémon section of the preserve. The curious Pokémon leaned over the edge of the cliff to get a better look at what was below, lost its footing on a loose rock, and tumbled down the rocky face of the cliff. It landed with a thump at the bottom of the cliff, miraculously unhurt except for a bruise on its bottom where it had landed.
The Pokémon looked around curiously, wondering where it was. "Togi?"
Not getting a response, the tiny Pokémon grew frightened and began crying for its mommy. "Togiiiiii!"
Unfortunately, the Pokémon's cries also attracted the attention of a pack of Houndoom that had claimed this part of the preserve as their territory. Ready to do battle with the interloper, the four, savage, doglike Pokémon emerged from the shadows and started to advance menacingly on the helpless Togepi.
-
"Feel better now, Ash?" Misty asked as soon as Ash's tears had stopped.
"Think so," Ash said, wiping his nose on the back of his shirtsleeve. "Thanks for listening, Mist. You're a good friend."
"I'll always be here for you, Ash. Don't ever forget that," Misty said, embracing him once more.
"I love…hey, where's Pikachu?" Ash looked around wildly. "And Bulbasaur? Where'd they go?"
"Where's Togepi?" Misty scrambled to her feet. "Togepi! Togepi, where are you?"
While Misty and Ash had been sharing their grief, Pikachu and Bulbasaur had gone off in search of Togepi.
"Pikachu?" ("Where could Togepi be, Bulbasaur?") the Pokémon asked, peering behind a clump of bushes.
"Bulbasaur," ("Let's try over there.") the other Pokémon replied, nodding in the direction of a rocky uphill path.
As Pikachu and Bulbasaur started up the hill, it was then that they heard the sound of growling.
"Pika?" ("What's that, Bulbasaur?")
"Bulbasaur! Bulba-bulba!" ("Sounds like trouble! Let's go!")
The two Pokémon raced up the path until they reached the edge of the cliff where they, to their horror, saw Togepi surrounded by four Houndoom closing in for the kill.
"Pika! Pikachu!" ("Bulbasaur, go get Ash and Misty! I'll try to stop the Houndoom!") Pikachu started scrambling down the side of the cliff as fast as it could.
"Bulbasaur!" ("Right!") The Pokémon began running in the opposite direction.
-
"Togepi!"
"Pikachu!"
"Oh, Ash…where could they be?" Misty said worriedly as the pair wandered around the grounds of the preserve in search of their Pokémon.
"I just hope that Pikachu's not…" Ash whirled around as Bulbasaur came flying down the path towards them at top speed. "Bulbasaur! Where are Pikachu and Togepi?"
"Bulbasaur! Bulba!" ("Togepi's in trouble! Follow me!")
The two teens raced off after Bulbasaur, who led them to the edge of a steep cliff.
"Bulba!" ("Down there!")
Misty and Ash both gasped in horror at the sight of Pikachu, fur bristling and growling, standing between a terrified Togepi and the four huge Houndoom.
"Pikachu, no!" Ash screamed, leaping over the edge of the cliff.
"Ash, what are you doing?" Misty shouted as Ash tumbled down the face of the cliff and landed next to Pikachu.
"Pikachu, stop! Don't use your Thundershock attack!" Ash shouted as he scrambled to his feet, terrified at what the outcome would be.
"Pika?"
"Don't attack! Don't even move!" Ash ordered, fearful that the physical stress of facing off with the Houndoom would prove fatal to Pikachu. "Stay there!" Ash scooped up Togepi in his arms and quickly scrambled up the rocky face of the cliff.
Seeing that their prey was escaping, the largest Houndoom charged, knocking Pikachu to the ground.
"Ash, look out!" Misty screamed.
The Houndoom leapt for Ash's leg and seized the cuff of his jeans, trying to pull the boy and Togepi back down to the ground.
"Stop it, Houndoom!" Ash yelled, trying to shake off the attacking dog. "Let go!"
A hard shake sent the dog crashing back down to the ground, and Ash continued his perilous ascent up the face of the cliff. A second Houndoom joined in the attack and leapt at Ash's retreating form.
"Let go!" Ash cried out as the dog seized his other leg. "Misty! Grab Togepi!" Ash stretched out his right arm as high as he could, holding Togepi up to her.
"I can't, Ash! My arm's not long enough!" Misty cried as she bent down and tried to reach her frightened Pokémon.
"Bulbasaur!" A long pair of vines shot out from the grass Pokémon's back and seized the frightened Togepi.
"All right, Bulbasaur! Good…hey, stop it! Leggo!" The first Houndoom had recovered and had joined the second one in its attack on Ash, who now had a Houndoom dangling from each leg. The extra weight of the pair of dogs caused Ash to lose his grip on the crumbling rock.
"Ash!" Misty shrieked in horror as Ash fell backwards and landed with a thud on the floor of the canyon. The force of the landing momentarily stunned the boy, knocking the wind out of him. The two attacking Houndoom, furious that Ash had denied them their prey, got to their feet and began advancing on the boy, who lay gasping for air helplessly. The two Houndoom that had been guarding Pikachu turned and joined their companions.
As the sky overhead swayed dizzily, Ash, who was still seeing stars from the blow to his head, tried to call out to Pikachu for help, but nothing came out – Ash couldn't cry out at all. As he felt the hot breath of the Houndoom just inches away from his face, Ash tried desperately to catch his breath so he could leap up and run away, but he was so dazed and nauseated that he couldn't even move.
This is it, the terrified boy thought as he shut his eyes, knowing that in a moment the Houndoom would rip him to shreds.
But then suddenly there was a huge flash, followed by a deafening crackle of electricity.
"PI-KA-CHUUUUUU!"
The flash was so bright that it could be seen for over a mile away. The flash and loud boom that followed it attracted the attention of Tracey, who was at the stables grooming one of the new Ponyta.
"Stay here, Ponyta," the boy ordered, dropping his grooming brush. He leapt over the fence surrounding the paddock and raced off in the direction of the fire Pokémon preserve. Halfway up the path leading to the cliff, he collided with Bulbasaur, who was racing back to the lab to get help.
"Bulbasaur, what's happened?" Tracey gasped as he scrambled to his feet. "What's going on?"
"Bulba! Saur!" ("Hurry, Tracey! Follow me!")
Tracey followed the Pokémon to the edge of the cliff overlooking the fire Pokémon preserve where he found Misty, who was clutching Togepi and crying.
"Misty? What's wrong? What's going on?" Tracey panted as he raced to her side and knelt down next to her.
"T-t-there…" she sobbed, pointing down.
Tracey peered over the edge of the cliff and was confronted by the sight of four Houndoom lying stunned at the bottom of the canyon. In the middle of the pack of the near-electrocuted Houndoom lay Ash, who was gasping and sobbing incoherently.
And lying next to Ash's arm was the motionless form of a small yellow Pokémon, who, in a last act of love for its trainer, had given its life to save Ash's.
To be continued…