To the Reviewers:
Cdfe88-I introduced Richie when I felt the time was right. He didn't really have a place at first and since Entei needed a trainer he just fit the bill of available characters. I think this story is only about a third of the way finished. (Think being the operative word) so I can still put new characters in at any time. Glad you enjoyed the last chapters.
Ri2-Meowth is still on Sootopolis, Rayquaza picked up everyone who wasn't cowering in fear during the battle against Groudon and Kyogre. They ate the indigenous fruit trees that were on the island. At the end of chapter 15 I said that the island had a massive tower in the middle and had many fruit trees, caves and cliffs. Yes that is exactly what Crawdaunt was doing and the curse affected the elevator button. It was supposed to go to the top. However when Ash stepped in the curse took effect and caused the button to change functions. The curse is not like a normal Curse Attack it is more like a bad luck curse. And trust me the longer Ash is affected by it the worse the results.
Antithesis-You're right I don't own that, but since I only used just one aspect of the idea only one time I didn't think it was necessary to put a disclaimer for that. Especially since "Monty Python and the Holly Grail" was just a big parody of the real story.
Thebenjamin-If you have any questions you are welcome to e-mail them to me and I will do my best to answer them. That goes for anyone. As for your current questions. A few of them will be answered in this chapter and the next one, I think.
To the rest of you, Thanks for the reviews and I hope you leave many, many, many…(and so fourth)…more.
On with the story…
…
The Dragon God
Ash swallowed as he looked at the towering dragon before him. He had an idea of what his next 'trial' was going to be, and it didn't look like he or his pokemon were going to enjoy it much.
"HUMAN." Roared Rayquaza "YOU MUST DEFEAT ME IN-" He was cut off when he suddenly started coughing.
"Are you alright?" Asked Ash
("Why are you worried about him?") Asked Pikachu ("He dragged us all here and made us climb a ridiculously tall tower. You almost died, got a curse put on you and we all almost got sent to hell. And it was all his fault!")
"I'm sure he had a good reason for bringing me here." Said Ash
"I did." Said Rayquaza. He decided to abandon the "Omnipotent Voice." It put a strain on his vocal chords to use it so much in one day.
"What happened to your voice?" Asked Ash. He was glad the loud intimidating voice was gone, but he had to wonder why Rayquaza suddenly sounded a lot younger.
"Forget that." Said Rayquaza "I just use that for first impressions and to intimidate people.'
"Okay…" Said Ash "So why am I here?"
"Well, the balance of nature was disrupted about six months ago." Said Rayquaza "Someone decided that they wanted to disturb the harmony of ice, fire and lighting , again! There was a big storm in the Orange Islands and Lugia came to see what the problem was. I think you heard this part of the story from Silver, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Lugia's family was visiting him at the time and his wife was helping him fight against all of Team Rocket's pokemon. Eventually the three birds were released, and together they managed to take down Lugia, kill his mate and almost capture his son. Thankfully the little guy got away and made it to you."
("If you knew all this why didn't you try and stop it?") Asked Dawn
"She has a point." Said Ash
"My job is to maintain the purity of the atmosphere." Said Rayquaza "It is also to play peacemaker between Groudon and Kyogre. This is how it's always been from my father's time to his father's and all the way back to the beginning of time."
"So what you're saying is; you didn't help because it wasn't your job?" Asked Ash shocked. "That's not an excuse."
"Sure it is." Said Rayquaza "There are rules that all legendary pokemon have to fallow. They were stipulated by the first Ho-Oh and Mew millions and millions of years ago."
"You still haven't really answered my first question." Said Ash
"Well if you all would stop interrupting me, maybe I could finish." Said Rayquaza annoyed. "Now, you're here because you have been chosen by many different legendary pokemon in the past. You seem to have some innate ability to bond with pokemon in a way only a few other humans can. You are the exact opposite of the man manipulating Lugia and the three birds. I brought you here to make sure that the other legendaries new what they were talking about."
"And how are you going to determine that?" Asked Ash as he slowly backed away from the dragon.
Rayquaza only grinned as he reared up to his full height. "LET THE BATTLE BEGIN" He said in his "Omnipotent Voice" for effect.
("We have to fight him!") Squeaked Pikachu.
"Looks that way." Said Ash "I know if I saw this coming you had to have seen it to."
("I was actually hoping I was wrong for once.") Admitted Pikachu.
("You guys have fun.") Said Dawn ("I've never fought something that big and I don't intend to start now.")
("Torchic") Said Mune ("You always run when you're scared.")
("If you're not scared then why are you hiding behind Ash with me?") Asked Dawn.
("Umm..") Said Mune
"I won't force you guys to battle if you really don't wan to." Said Ash "You should know that by now. Pikachu you take point."
("If you insist.") Said Pikachu hopping in front of Ash and taking his battle stance on all fours.
"Hit him with a Thunder-" Started Ash. He didn't get to finish his order because Rayquaza had already snatched Pikachu up in his tail and was now swinging the little mouse around. "Pikachu shock him!"
Every time Pikachu tried to gather energy Rayquaza's grip tightened and caused him to gasp in pain. Finally Rayquaza was done plying games with Pikachu and slammed him mercilessly into the floor of the tower.
"Pikachu!" Yelled Ash
He ran to his pokemon and picked him up in his arms. Pikachu was still breathing but Ash could feel several broken bones and the mouse's breaths were slow and labored.
"FOOLISH HUMAN." Boomed the dragon "SENDING IN THAT MOUSE WAS FOOLISH." Maybe I over did it. He added mentally
"Alright if that's the way you want to play it." Said Ash. He unclipped two pokeballs and released Silver and Meganium.
"You had better not ask me to carry her again." Said Silver
("I am not that heavy!") Shouted Meganium.
"Guys this isn't the time." Said Ash "Silver I need you to try and fight Rayquaza, Meganium do that Leach Seed trick you did on Silver to heal Pikachu."
Silver took to the air not sure what he could do against Rayquaza. Meganium put a Leach Seed into herself and started using Synthesis to get more energy while giving her own to Pikachu. Rayquaza lunged and swatted at the young Lugia but he was unable to make any contact with him.
"Silver use Dragonbreath!" Ordered Ash
Rayquaza countered with a Dragonbreath of his own which overpowered Silver's attack and sent both attacks slamming into him. Before he could hit the ground Rayquaza wrapped him up in his long coils and again began to slowly squeeze the life out of him.
"Silver get him off with a Confusion." Said Ash
Silver used his psychic energies to cause Rayquaza to relinquish his grip. As soon as he was free Silver flew up into the air and aimed himself right at the dragons head in an Aerial Ace attack. Rayquaza quickly shook off the Confusion's effects. He looked up just in time to see Silver coming at him very quickly. The resulting impact caused the dragon's massive form to flip in mid air. Rayquaza didn't waste any more time with Silver, seeing him as a worthy opponent he decided to pull out all the stops. He reared his head back and prepared for his next attack.
Before silver could even blink he felt a tremendous force collide with his midsection. Rayquaza had used Extreme Speed one of the fastest and most devastating physical moves in the pokemon world. Silver started to fall and since he was no longer flying over the tower's roof he would surely crash into the rocks below. Seeing this Rayquaza quickly flew over to the plummeting bird and caught him before he could fall any further. He deposited Silver in front of Ash and then flew back into the air waiting for Ash's next choice.
Ash didn't know what pokemon to choose now. Swellow would be defeated in no time, Meganium was at a distinct disadvantage, Crawdaunt didn't know any ice attacks and… Ash suddenly realized he had forgotten about one of his pokemon. He'd used him to get to the Sootopolis Gym and then completely forgot he was even on his belt. No doubt Croconaw was hungry by now and Ash couldn't force a hungry pokemon to battle.
Unfortunately for Ash, The Banette's curse had other plans. Before Ash could move his hand from the lure ball on his belt a gust of wind caused him to sneeze thereby making his hand 'accidentally' hit the release button on the ball. Croconaw materialized from the pokeball and looked around confused.
("Ash why'd you leave me in there for so long?") He asked. He looked around and noticed the thin end of Rayquaza's tail just a few yards away. Since Rayquaza was in the air and wasn't paying much attention he had dropped his tail down and it was lying on the ground. With a cry of ("Liquorish!") the Big Jaw Pokemon scooped up the tail and bit down hard.
"Croconaw NO!" Yelled Ash. He was too late of course because Croconaw was already chewing the piece of tail that he had managed to bite clean off!
"Holly Shit!" Said Rayquaza once he felt the pain of six inches of flesh being removed from the end of his body. He looked down at the little blue pokemon busily munching away on his tail.
Croconaw spit the chewed up tail out and spat several times ("That tastes horrible!") He exclaimed.
Rayquaza was now outraged at the pokemon. First he eats my tail, THEN HE SPITS ON IT! He thought angrily. "YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR INSULANCE FOOLISH CREATURE!" He bellowed.
("Huh?") Said Croconaw noticing Rayquaza for the first time.
"Croconaw move!" Shouted Ash
("He's doomed.") Said Mune
("Don't say that!") Said Dawn as she cuffed him upside his head.
Croconaw looked up at the dragon and saw that its tail looked like someone had bitten it off. He then looked down at the nasty "Liquorish" He had spat out and it all seemed to click into place ("Uh-oh") He Jumped to the side as Rayquaza flew by him. The dragon was using Outrage. While this attack was extremely powerful it also caused the user to be confused if it didn't connect for an attack. The confusion combined with the pain caused Rayquaza to fly around almost blindly striking at anything that looked remotely like Croconaw.
"Croconaw use an Ice Beam when he gets close to you!" Shouted Ash. He knew he had to try something. Every time Rayquaza smashed into something the whole tower shook. If this kept up everyone would most likely be crushed.
When the dragon finally got close enough to Croconaw, the little pokemon opened his moth as wide as he could and unleashed a very powerful Ice Beam. Rayquaza was shocked back to reality when he felt intense cold permeate all along his abdomen. He looked down at himself and found that he was now sporting a sheet of ice from halfway down below his arms all the way to his clipped tail.
"Croconaw, use Ice Beam one more time!" Yelled Ash.
Croconaw reared back and gathered ice energy into his mouth. Before he could release it however, a brilliant flash of lightning and he was hit with a powerful Thunder Attack. Croconaw immediately collapsed. The lack of food and harsh electric attack were too much for him to handle.
Rayquaza concentrated and then suddenly his tail grew back to its original length. He looked down to see Ash slowly backing up toward the stairs carrying the motionless Pikachu. His pokemon were following his example. The dragon laughed at Ash's attempt to sneak away. "The battle's over man." Said Rayquaza "You loose, Not that I expected you to win of course."
"Huh?" Asked Ash confused "If you didn't expect me to win; then what did you make me come all the way up here for?"
"To gauge you." He answered "I was pretty sure that you couldn't win but I needed to see exactly how strong you were. I hate to tell you, but if you couldn't beat me I don't see you winning against the birds too easily let alone Lugia and any other pokemon Giovoni manages to collect."
"You mean he's looking for more?" Asked Ash
"Only one." Said Rayquaza "But if he gets his hands on it, well…does the name Mewtwo ring any bells?"
"Yeah, this is very bad." Said Ash "I thought Mewtwo said he was erasing Giovoni's memory of him. How can he even remember him?"
"He created Mewtwo." Said Rayquaza "Even though his memories of trying to capture him are gone. He still had records in several different places that document Mewtwo's creation and all his records between then and the time he escaped."
"I still don't quite get it, but I suppose that explains it." Said Ash "So what now?"
"Now we go for a ride." Said Rayquaza. Once again he wrapped his coils around Ash's group, but this time he set them on his back. "You may want to recall all pokemon that will go into a ball." Advised Rayquaza. Ash did as he was told and even recalled Pikachu to his ball. He knew that Pikachu would most likely shock him to kingdom come once he woke up, but Ash needed both hands to hold on and Pikachu needed to be safe. He looked at Dawn and Mune, who were trying to find a means to grasp on to the serpent.
"I don't think they can hold on very well." Said Ash pointing out the two pokemon behind him. "Can't you just carry them like you did before?"
"As long as they don't try to eat my tail." Said Rayquaza only half joking "You know that really hurt, right?"
"I can imagine." Said Ash
Rayquaza wrapped his tail tightly around the eevee and espeon. He then rose into the air and started heading north west.
"Let me explain something to you Ash." He said while flying "You need to train, and I mean really train." He said putting extra emphasis on the word train. "You almost died against Groudon and Kyogre and I could have killed you. Giovoni won't be so merciful. You need to train ALL your pokemon and not just the ones you usually use. Understand?"
"You make a good point." Said Ash over the rushing wind. "Where are we going anyway?"
"To where you need to be." Said Rayquaza. Done talking for the time being Rayquaza sped up to astonishing speeds and in a flash of light they disappeared over the horizon.
…
A little over ten minutes later they landed in a large valley surrounded by several mountains. Rayquaza released his passengers from his tail and got close to the ground so Ash could hop off.
"Where are we?" Asked Ash "It had better be near a pokemon center." He added remembering his exhausted allies.
"I think there's one, somewhere." Said Rayquaza "Your poke'dex should let you transfer now. I'm not blocking the signal anymore."
"So it was you?" Asked Ash "What was the point of doing that?"
"That's not important." Said Rayquaza "However, this is." He took a deep breath and shot a green colored flame right at Ash. The fire didn't really burn at first. The only place Ash felt pain was in the middle of his forehead. As quickly as they had started the flames ended. "You now have the symbol of the Dragon God. This will make it easier for you to understand what any pokemon says. I think you earned it since you gave it a good fight back at the pillar. The mark also lets you find other people like you."
"What do you mean 'like me'?" Asked Ash
"Anyone else who has a connection to the legendary pokemon." Said Rayquaza "I have to warn you though, the mark doesn't distinguish friend from foe so be careful." With that he began to rise into the air once again.
"Wait you're just gonna leave without even telling me where I am?" Asked Ash incredulously "You can't do that!"
"I can, and I am." Said Rayquaza "As for where you are, that's not important right now."
"You always say that!" Called Ash as the dragon rose higher into the air. "Hey wait!"
"GOOD LUCK HUMAN." Said Rayquaza turning back to his "Omnipotent Voice". "WE SHALL MEET AGAIN." He then used his impressive speed to head back up into the O-Zone layer.
("Now what?") Asked Mune
"I have no idea." Said Ash "All my gear is back at the Pokemon Center in Sootopolis. All I have is Dexter and my pokeballs. My clothes are ripped and dirty and I could really use a nice hot shower."
("Hey I just thought of something.") Said Dawn ("Where's Meowth?")
"He's…" Started Ash "He must be back in Sootopolis."
("Aren't you worried about him?") Asked Dawn
"He's survived worse." Said Ash
Having no idea where he was, Ash picked a direction at random and began walking. This tactic had always gotten him somewhere in the past so he figured it was the best way to go. Thus the group set off to hopefully find a nearby Pokemon Center.
…
Well that's that. Sorry about the literal Pikachu bashing, lol. I will have the next chapter up…when I get it up. Please leave a review and thank you for reading.
Until Next Time…
