Author's Note: Many apologies, Thom Verdace. My father's name is Tom, and so I just assumed....But you know what happens when one assumes.
Now, it seems the FFN supports zero interactivity, so I'm afraid even this "away from FFN" poll thing won't work. I'll have to try to do this on my own without any polls.....
Many apologies to the tardiness of this post.
Ash and A.J. and their two Pokémon trudged through the Viridian Forest. It wasn't too long before Ash froze, and then the other three did as well when they saw what he had.
Three Mews and a Meowth stood stock still, staring at something made of stone. Ash slowly moved closer, and then he noticed that it was the statue of another Mew.
The three Mews turned at his approach, and Meowth followed their lead. He looked at Ash with sad eyes. "It's Devon," he said simply.
Ash walked a few more steps, then held out his hand to touch the cold stone. It had been so long since he'd actually seen Devon. The Mew had left with Mewtwo years ago, and they had mostly kept to themselves ever since. What had happened?
Then something occurred to him, and he looked at the four catlike Pokémon. "Where's Celebi?"
"Not seen lately," Mewsie answered.
Ash frowned, not knowing why that bugged him so much. Celebi was a free spirit; she could come and go as she pleased....
Ash sighed. "You need to leave."
"What are youze talkin' about?" Meowth asked.
"Someone took Misty and Riviera, and us four–" he gestured at A.J. and the Electric-types, "are supposed to come to the Viridian Forest alone. If you're seen here, who knows what will happen."
"But–"
"No but's, Meowth," Ash said. "I'm glad to be seeing you all again," he said, looking at Lelia, Mewsie, and Cat, though he didn't look glad in the least.
Meowth looked as if he were going to protest some more, but Mewsie came up to him and looked at him with large solemn eyes, so he gave in.
Before long, they had left.
Ash continued studying the statue silently, heaviness in his heart.
Before long, a red-haired man and a black-haired woman stepped out of the trees, their expressions cold. Emblazoned on their black shirts was a large red letter 'T.'
Ash felt a chill go down his spine. "Who are you?" he asked weakly.
The woman gave a sinister smile. "Members of Neo Team Rocket, of course." Calmly, she ordered, "Search them."
The man grinned in the same manner before coming forth and doing so, looking for hidden Pokéballs. When he found none other than the two belonging to the Electric-types, he nodded, "Clean."
The woman looked at Pikachu and then Pichu. "We were expecting you to bring two strong Pokémon, not one. Is this your legendary Pikachu?"
Ash nodded, though he didn't quite know what was going on.
Pikachu, angry, had a few sparks coming off his cheeks as he growled.
"Keep your Pikachu restrained," the man advised, "as we have plenty of strong Pokémon at our belts that could knock it out in a heartbeat."
"What do you want?" Ash asked, his tone icy. "And since when was Team Rocket rebanded?"
"We've been ordered to test you," the woman said. "And if you ever want to see your wife and daughter again, you'll transform into a Mew and you and your Pokémon will give this battle your all." She threw first one Pokéball containing an enormous and powerful Pokémon that looked like a cross between a Rhydon and a Tyranitar—which it was—and then another containing a Pokémon hybrid of Espeon and Umbreon.
The man sent out a Donphan/Steelix cross and an eerie Houndoom/Dugtrio cross with three doglike heads.
"What in the world?" Ash couldn't help but exclaim.
The woman simply smiled at him. "Rocheroi," she said to the Rhydon/Tyranitar hybrid, "use Earthquake on that Pikachu."
Ash quickly transformed into a black Mew, using Psychic to raise Pikachu harmlessly into the air. A.J. transformed as well, and Pichu tilted her head.
"Oscuroeon, use Faint Attack on the hatless Mew," the woman instructed.
The man quickly gave instructions to his Pokémon, first the Donphan/Steelix cross, "Schlangalef, Crunch the Mew with the hat!" then the Houndoom/Dugtrio cross, "Ceregarm, use Dig on the Pichu!"
And that was when the chaos started.
It wasn't long before the two members of Neo Team Rocket simply let their Pokémon battle by themselves, as the confusion caused by four separate battles was too great to pierce through.
Pichu, young as she was, hardly stood a chance. She used an ineffective electric attack before using Charm and being knocked out by a Ground-type attack by Ceregram. Ceregram then turned to help Oscuroeon with Ash.
Pikachu, experienced in battles with Ground-types, knew his electric attacks would do no good, and as Ash couldn't yell out orders while he was busy, Pikachu chose his own strategy, using Iron Tail most of the time.
Ash had luckily learned a lot of TM moves throughout the years, for, since he was a Pokémon Master, he had easy access to such things. Therefore he didn't have to rely on his Psychic attacks, which would do no good against a Pokémon possessing the Dark type. Unfortunately, he didn't know any Bug moves, which would be very effective against a Dark- and Psychic-type. And when Ceregram began to attack him as well, Ash felt all of his hope began to slip, though he fired off a lot of Water-type moves towards the Ceregram.
A.J. did a lot of dodging and Teleporting, knowing he couldn't match his opponent in strength and experience, hoping he could simply wear the other out. Instead, he began to wear out, not being used to Teleporting so often. Schlangalef got him with the Dark-type move Bite, and he went down.
Chuckling sinisterly, the man held a Pokéball out, enlarging it and then throwing it at A.J., who somehow managed to bat it weakly aside with his tail.
Ash had seen the foul move, and he spat out "You monster!" before Teleporting over to the man, lifting him in the air psychically.
"My son is not a Pokémon. It is illegal to even attempt—"
"You forget," the man said calmly, "that we are Neo Team Rocket, and care not for legalities. But the idea of putting you and your son in Pokéballs was just a precaution; we desire only that you come peacefully, with no intentions of doing anything rash."
"You have my wife and child!" Ash hissed, glaring at the man. "Do you think I am going to do anything that might hurt them?"
The NTR member gazed at him calculatingly for a moment before calling out, "That's enough! Return," he held out two Pokéballs, his partner doing the same. "Very well."
Ash transformed into human form and grabbed the two Electric-types (Pichu fainted and Pikachu just tuckered out) before walking over to kneel beside his son. His son smiled up at him weakly, reaching his hands out to take Pichu from his father's grip and to cradle her unconscious body in his arms.
Patting his son comfortingly on the shoulder, Ash held Pikachu to his chest and turned to look at the two Neo Team Rocket members. "Your Pokémon—I know they are not new species. They are hybrids."
"You'll find things out when you're supposed to," the woman said. "No sooner."
"Now," the man said, "if you don't think your son can walk, we're going to have to put him in a Pokéball, for our transport is deeper into the Forest."
Ash gazed down at A.J.
"I think I can walk, Dad," the boy said after a few moments. "As long as it's not too far."
Ash looked over at the man and woman. "Not too far," the woman reassured them.
"All right," Ash sighed, feeling as if his twenty-seven years were weighing heavily upon him. The last lines of the note Officer Jenny had found throbbed in his head. 'Revenge shall be ours, Ash Ketchum. Do not doubt that.'
He shivered before stating, "Let's go."
As the Pokémon Champion helped his son up from the ground, a pair of eyes hidden amidst the trees watched. The humans and the two Electric-types began to walk away from the small clearing, and the eyes disappeared.
