Back at the lab, Joshua was waiting anxiously by the main entrance, when at that moment, May appeared on her bike and pulled beside him.

"Hi!" said May with a friendly smile. "I'm looking for Professor Birch. Is he in?"

"You must be May," realised Joshua. "The Professor had an emergency in the mountains, but asked that you wait for him here."

"Oh, then I'll go and find him," said May as she immediately began pedalling towards the woods. "I've never been much good at waiting. Bye!"

Leaving a protesting Joshua behind, May pedalled deeper into the forest, when she became aware of voices crying out nearby. Turning her bike around, she soon reached the top of the slippery hill, from where she could clearly see Professor Birch and Misty hastily scrabbling up a tree and each climbing onto a different branch, so that they could escape the barking Poochyena at the bottom.

"Professor Birch?" asked a surprised May, as she got off her bike and wandered safely down the hill.

"Terrific! You must be May!" said the Professor in relief. "Great timing! Please, open that bag over there!"

He gestured at the satchel that he had dropped and was now lying on its side on the hill. Despite feeling confused as to what was going on, May crossed over to the discarded bag and opened it up.

"Now grab any of the Poké Balls inside and hurry!" instructed Birch urgently.

"Uh, which one of them do you want?" asked May nervously as she gazed at the three Poké Balls inside the bag.

"Any will do!" cried Misty impatiently. "Just please get on with it and rescue us!"

"Okay," said May hesitantly as she picked one of the balls at random and opened it up, releasing a small, amphibious, quadrupedal Pokémon. It had a blue body with a light-blue underside; a large head with black, beady eyes and a blue fin on top; orange, star-shaped gills on its cheeks; and a light-blue tail fin.

"All right! A Mudkip!" said Birch approvingly.

"Oh, it's so cute!" said Misty with an adoring look. "Is it a water type? That's my favourite!"

"That's good," said May unenthusiastically. "Now what should I do?"

"Tell it to use its water gun," suggested Misty. "That should do the trick!"

"Okay," said May, turning to the Mudkip. "Mudkip, use water gun."

Mudkip followed the command and fired a jet of water from its mouth. But because May had not instructed it where to aim, instead of hitting the Poochyena, Mudkip's water attack hit Misty right in the face, soaking her and Togepi completely!

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" roared Misty angrily. "You're supposed to be attacking the Poochyena, not us!"

"Oops! Sorry!" gulped May apologetically. "I take it that's not supposed to happen?"

Professor Birch was about to advise May on the correct phrase of command she should use, when the branch he was holding to suddenly broke under his weight, and he fell to the ground. The next second, he was being chased around the tree by the Poochyena again!

"Oh no, not again!" cried the unfortunate Professor.

Misty turned her head to Mudkip, deciding that she would have to take charge of the situation now, since May did not seem to know what she was doing.

"Mudkip! Get down here now!" Misty commanded the water Pokémon.

Mudkip obeyed at once, bouncing over the edge of the cliff and landing gracefully by the tree.

"Great! Now use your water gun on the Poochyena!" instructed Misty.

Mudkip fired its water gun again, and this time, it found its correct target. The water blast knocked right into the Poochyena and sent them flying away from the Professor!

"Not bad," remarked May, as the dazed Poochyena turned and fled, getting as far away as possible from the Pokémon that had just drenched them.

"Well done, Misty!" said Professor Birch. "You handled Mudkip excellently!"

"Well, it's not for nothing that water Pokémon are my specialty," smiled Misty as she climbed down the tree with Togepi, before turning to Mudkip. "You were great back there, Mudkip. You sure are an adorable-looking Pokémon, aren't you?"

"Mudkip, mudkip!" said the Mudkip cheerfully, already deciding that it quite liked Misty.

Birch turned to May, who was looking down on them from the edge of the hill. "Thanks for your help, May. You've really grown up a lot since I last saw you."

"Professor, what's going on?" asked May. "What were you and your friend doing up in that tree?"

"There's really no time to explain, May," said Birch seriously. "We'll catch up later!"

"Yeah, we've been wasting time here, while Pikachu's still missing!" said Misty. "I sure hope Ash is having better luck than we are!"


"Pikachu? Come on out, Pikachu!" Ash pleaded as he ran breathlessly through the forest.

But no matter how loud he called out and how hard he searched, he could find no sign of Pikachu. Ash's heart sunk and his shoulders slumped in near-defeat. Pikachu had been the young trainer's first Pokémon, and after a rough start, they had quickly became best friends. And if the worst happened to Pikachu, Ash did not think he would be able to live with himself.

Angry with himself for even thinking of giving up, Ash pushed aside his downbeat thoughts and renewed his determination to find Pikachu. As he lifted his head, his heart skipped a beat as he spotted a familiar lightening bolt-shaped tail sticking out from behind some long thick grass.

"Pikachu!" said Ash in relief. "Just stay right there!"

Taking care not to startle Pikachu, Ash began to approach the sick Pokémon. Unfortunately, Pikachu's fever had gotten even worse, blurring its vision and making it hard for it to think clearly. So when Ash got nearer, all the frightened Pikachu could see was a large, shadowy and menacing-looking figure getting nearer and nearer.

Its eyes beginning to glow red from all the energy trapped in it, Pikachu furiously let out a powerful thunderbolt attack at its 'enemy', not realising that it was in fact attacking Ash!

"Waah!" cried out Ash as he was shocked by the electric blast, which was so large and powerful, that it could be seen in the distance by Misty, May and Professor Birch.

"What was that?" asked May as they saw the powerful electric bolt shot into the air.

"It must be Pikachu!" realised Misty, breaking into a run towards the source of the lightning. "Oh no, please tell me we're not too late!"

"Too late? What does she mean?" questioned May worriedly as she and Professor Birch followed close behind.

"Pikachu's electrical buildup is reaching critical mass! It might explode!" explained the Professor gravely, causing an alarmed look from May.

Running ahead of the others, Misty was the first to reach Ash, who was sprawled on the ground in a stunned state, while Pikachu was lying a short distance away in a confused state.

"Ash! Are you okay?" asked Misty fearfully as she rushed over and helped Ash to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Ash dazedly. "But, Pikachu..."

The two of them tried to approach Pikachu, but the sickly Pokémon gave off another electric blast, preventing Ash and Misty from getting any nearer.

"Ash, we've got to get Pikachu back to the laboratory now," said Misty seriously. "Professor Birch said that he could explode at any moment!"

"She's right, Ash!" called the Professor as he and May arrived as well. "And I fear that there may be nothing we can do to stop it now!"

"But, we've got to try," Ash began to protest, just as Pikachu began darting off again.

"Pikachu, wait! Come back!" pleaded Misty, as she and Ash gave chase again.

But Pikachu still was not listening. Confused by the fever and the pain coursing through its body, it kept sprinting wildly through the wavy grass, until it suddenly found itself running right over the edge of a cliff, with a sheer drop below!

"Oh no!" yelled Ash, before he impulsively leapt after Pikachu over the edge.

"Ash, nooo!" shrieked Misty in horror, as she watched both Pikachu and Ash disappear from sight!