It is time to discover exactly what you can do….

THE LIGHT WITHIN

Ch.5: Practice

It was large, metal and strong with great powers of destruction. Its iron fists could crush a building in seconds and destroy an entire city in less than a minute. It was over eight feet tall and when it walked it shook the ground, but most importantly it could run on it's own and had a tracking system like no other.

The Team Rocket executive wondered why such a strong beast was needed for such a simple task. What was so great about some old cauldron anyway. After all the legend was just old folklore that had been highly exaggerated over the centuries, right? But then again, the boss wasn't a stupid man, no quite the opposite. So, why had he sent some of his best inventions and some of his best men to bring it back to him? Unless, there was something else Giovanni was looking for that he knew was with the cauldron, something worth some money.

Money would be nice… the organization of Team Rocket had seen better days, much better days. It didn't help any that most of the members were hopelessly worthless and horrible at their jobs or that all of those twerps out there were fighting back now. And so the enemy group continued to trudge through the swampland, boots on, as one Team Rocket executive thought of money and was comforted.

Meanwhile, Ash and James made their way through the endless lack of scenery underneath the swamp creature for what seemed like hours.

Ash sighed and looked around, " Do you think we're missing something here?"

" I don't know…" Came the reply and just as he said it they heard a large thumping noise, that sounded as though it was coming from above them.

" Not another lizard dude…"

James looked up and the noise grew louder, whatever it was, it was coming towards them, from up there.

James looked at Ash, " Why isn't… whatever that is, falling through like we did?"

Ash shrugged, " Well, we walked for awhile before we were sucked through….what were you doing the moment before it pulled you through."

" I was…well, I was thinking about my parents and I was getting really angry at them…when I saw that my hands were getting that electricity we saw before……"

" Wo, and you didn't tell me?" Ash exclaimed.

James shook his head, " No, I wasn't sure what it was…thought maybe I'd imagined it…anyway, that was when I was sucked through."

" Right and I walked over to where you were and fell through too…"

" You don't suppose that the thing up there is weak against that electric stuff that comes out of my fingers?"

Ash thought a moment; " Maybe…and right now it's our only possibility, so let's try to get out of here with it."

" But how?" James asked, as Ash kneeled down and reached into the pack.

Ash pulled out a rope and continued to look for something. Come on, he thought, I know it's in her somewhere…

"Aha!" He cried pulling out a hatchet and closing the pack again.

James looked at Ash closely, " What is that for?"

" I've got an idea, just trust me."

James sighed, " I've heard that before…"

Ash took the rope and tied it tightly around the wooden handle of the hatchet. He double tied it and tested the strength of the knot in the handle. James took a step back, as Ash twirled his creation around by the rope and then flung the hatchet into the green creature above. The hatchet went in deep and the temporary hole inside the creature was quickly covered again, burying the hatchet with it.

" Hopefully it'll hold." Ash said pulling on it slightly. " And now the rest of it is up to you. You climb up first and use your electricity to make a hole. Just don't make the hole where the hatchet is. Then you climb through and make a hole for me."

James was impressed, " Wow. How'd you come up with an idea like that?"

Ash shrugged and James grabbed onto the rope and began climbing up. It was a short climb, but creating the electricity would be the hard part. The shaking from above was still going on, getting louder every few minutes and it made it harder for James to concentrate. All right, he thought, think of something that'll make you angry again. And so he thought about how he didn't have the courage to tell Jessie how he felt and got angry with himself. He got so angry with himself that his entire body surged with electricity and when he touched the slimy creature above a large hole was created.

James grabbed onto the top and began to climb out of the hole. Grabbing onto the sticky sides of the hole; then pulling himself to the swampy land…well creature above. The hole stuck a minute or two more and then it closed up again. It was only when he was completely covered in the muck from head to foot did James notice how loud the noise from before had got. He looked behind him and to his surprise in the distance he could see a large machine, made of iron that followed three men in black Team Rocket uniforms.

" Damn." He cursed turning back around and using the electricity that was slowly leaving him to make another hole.

Ash's hand came up and James quickly grabbed on to it, carrying him up through the swamp. Now they were both covered in the muck, but that certainly wasn't their main concern. The group of Team Rocket members had obviously spotted them and were running in Ash and James direction.

" Holy crap they've got guns!" James exclaimed seeing them pull guns from their waists. " What can we do against guns? What in the heck can we do against a hundred some mile per hour bullets?"

" James calm down."

" But…but…but…"

Ash looked sharply at him, " Calm down already."

" I don't want to die anymore!" He screamed running around.
" James, get a hold of yourself!" Ash reached over and slapped him.

James looked down embarrassed, " Sorry…had a little of my old Team Rocket days catch up with me…"

" They aren't that old…" Ash said, trying to think of what they could do.

The Team Rocket members began to shoot when they were within range, but still were too far away to hit anything. The iron machine behind them moved slowly and was now far behind them. Ash looked around, there had to be something they could use. He took out his sword and examined it.

" Maybe these…" He muttered thinking.

" Ash duck!" James shouted pushing Ash out of the way as the bullets were gaining more accuracy.

Now they lay crouched on the ground and Ash looked at James. " Maybe we can use our swords…"

" Uh…good idea…except I don't think swords will do us much good against guns." James stated covering his head; he had also been trying to come up with ideas, but could think of nothing.

Ash stood up suddenly and looked the team rocket members in the eye, though he didn't know it then, his eyes flashed a brilliant crimson as he brought up his sword to his face and then without realizing it, flung it towards the team rocket members.

" Get down, already! Are you crazy?" James was calling frantically from below him.

The sword went from person to person slicing through each and every one of their guns, before swinging back and landing perfectly, handle down, in Ash's hand. The Team Rocket members became frightened and screamed yelling in the other direction. The machine however, didn't falter, and as the team rocket members came running, it randomly grabbed one with it's strong fist, the same one that had just been thinking of money, and crushed him, throwing his lifeless body on the ground.

" All right," James said, standing up with a look of determination on his face that was trying to hide his horror. " It's time to get serious."

Ash nodded and together they stood awaiting the battle. The machine moved slowly, too slowly, the intensity of the battle ahead grew with every passing moment and the suspense was horrible.

" James…I think I know how we can beat this…"

James looked over at him, " I think I know what you mean."

And amazingly they did understand each other, without even explaining anything they carried out their plan. Ash moved forward quickly trying to gain the machine's attention, while James moved behind a bush to hide. The iron monster turned as its censors caught the movement.

" Hey over here you big lug!" Ash shouted, tempting the machine to follow him, and it took nearly fiveteen minutes for the machine to get in just the right position. "Okay, James. Anytime your ready!"

Jumping out from behind the bush, James launched a wave of electricity straight for the ground below the machine. The swamp surface retreated leaving a huge hole for the machine to fall down into. Unfortunately, Ash hadn't backed away enough and was falling in as well.

" Ash!" James managed to jump and grab hold of Ash's hand, pulling him to safety.

The swamp surface quickly pulled back together again, covering the machine completely. For a moment, they stood perfectly still, covered in muck, before they realized what they had done.

" We…did it." James breathed wiping his face off with his muddy palms.

Ash nodded, smiling, " Yep, we sure did."

" Woo hoo! We did it!" The former team rocket member, smiled happily, and thought, I finally did something right!

Author's note: Ack I am so sorry, what has it been like several months…a year, since I last added a chapter to this story? Well I have a sorta good excuse this time…I moved, across a couple a states, but that still isn't a very good excuse. sigh I'll never get into that same flow of writing as I did those first few stories. Oh well. Next chapter is James and Ash coming back to tell their friends about who they are truly destined to be. (and this time I WILL write it a month or I'll….I'll…jump of a cliff or something!)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, though I would particularly like to get my hands on that hottie named James.