Pokémon Tails: A Journey to the East
DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ or Pokémon.
CHAPTER 9: Full Moon Madness
"GRRRAAAAAAOOOOOORRRRRGGGHHHH!" Gohan announced with a bloodcurdling roar that could be heard for miles.
Meanwhile, the others cowered from dozens of meters away.
"Holy Toledo!" Brock cried. "I... I can't believe what is happening!"
"I know what you mean, Brock!" Misty agreed. "It's just unreal!"
"I... I've never seen anything like this before in my entire life!" their friend, Seymour exclaimed. "Never before, not once!"
"Gohan changed into an giant Ape Pokémon!" Ash gasped.
Misty, Brock, and Pikachu fell over at Ash's stupidity.
"How many times do we have to tell you?!" Misty yelled. "He's not a Pokémon! Get it through your thick skull, Ash!"
"Eh-heh, oops, I guess you're right," Ash admitted sheepishly.
"Chu," the yellow rodent remarked reprovingly.
However, their attention was diverted when Gohan began stomping around all over the place, roaring loudly as the normally kind-hearted boy they knew him to be started smashing things around. As they all watched, he ripped a huge chunk of ground right out of the Earth and tossed it several hundred meters, where it landed with a resounding crash!
"Grrraaaooooggghhhh! Grrraaaooogghhhh! Grraaoooggghhhhh!" Gohan growled over and over.
And it was then he began firing mouth blasts at everything around him! A mouth laser hit a mountain and it exploded.
BOOM!
A mouth laser slammed into a patch of forests, blasting it into pieces.
BOOM!
A mouth laser collided with a nearby lake, blasting it into steam!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
On and on it went as the region crumbled under the force of Oozaru Gohan's barrage.
"What unbelievable power!" Misty commented. "It feels like the whole planet is shaking apart!"
Seymour whimpered and cowered away from all the explosions.
"Look what he's doing," Ash whispered, staring at all the devastation with outrage. "We gotta stop this! We can't let him do it!"
And he took off running after the Oozaru Gohan.
"No, Ash, don't do it!" Misty screamed.
"That's a bad idea!" Brock called in vain after him. "He might not even be himself anymore!"
"Pika Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed worriedly.
With a shared look, Misty and Brock ran after the hapless idiot, with Pikachu following in their wake.
"W-Wait, I'm not sure that's a good idea!" Seymour said as he gulped, clearly afraid. "Shouldn't we stay here where it's safe?"
But the two Trainers ignored him, however, and with a resigned sigh, the timid scientist reluctantly gave chase.
As he was leaving, a fish line and hook descended from the sky and latched onto Gohan's discarded items he had lost with his clothes, the Dome Fossil and his Poké Ball that contained Clefairy while it jerked back upward into the night...
Meanwhile... Oozaru Gohan was still stomping forward, mercilessly pounding at everything within a thousand-meter radius near him with waves of unrelenting force and power, setting off what seemed like hundreds of nuclear explosions every couple seconds!
"Grrraaaoooggghhhh! Grrraaaaaooogghhh! Grraaaoooogghhh!" Gohan bellowed.
Ash struggled in vain to keep up with the lumbering behemoth.
"Gohan, you gotta stop this!" he called after him. "You can't destroy everything!"
Growling questioningly, Oozaru Gohan turned to face Ash as he raised his arms threateningly and opened his mouth.
"Gohan, what are you doing?" Ash asked, blinking confusedly.
"Grrraaooowwwrrggghhh!" Gohan said with a vicious snarl of pure, unadulterated rage.
And without warning, a ki blast shot from his mouth, heading straight for Ash!
Terrified, Ash covered his head, prepared to die...
"MEW!" the Legendary Cat cried as it Teleported him away to safety.
BOOM! The spot he had been standing in erupted in a fiery detonation of dome-shaped energy, leaving no trace of the Pallet Trainer.
"Grrooaaarrgghhh!" Gohan roared as he turned around and marched off, no longer concerned about Ash.
Ash reappeared next to his friends and Gohan disappeared into the distance, with the Earth still trembling from the force of his relentless barrage of attacks. Ash, Misty, Seymour, and Brock rushed over to him.
"Ash, are you okay?" Brock said, concerned.
"Yes, speak up there, young man!" Seymour prompted, worried too.
"Of course I'm fine!" Ash said, smirking as he laughed confidently. "Did you think something like that could take me out? No sir!"
And he kept laughing as suddenly, Misty whacked him hard over the head.
"Hey, cut it out!" he said, irritated, while he rubbed the offending spot.
"Maybe that will get you to think next time!" Misty told him harshly. "You can't just confront a problem head-on without taking the time to think about it! You could have been killed if it hadn't been for Mew!"
"Mew!" Mew declared, as it looked from one human to the other.
"Well, you didn't have to hit me, you know," Ash objected hotly. "You could've just told me."
But just then, the group was distracted as still more explosions lit up the night sky as bright as day, and the ground itself jerked and heaved under their feet as though they were surfing in a very choppy ocean.
"We've gotta do something!" Brock commented. "We can't let this go on!"
"He's right!" Seymour agreed. "If we don't stop this somehow then the whole planet could be affected!"
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu added, wobbling and vibrating where it now stood.
However, they didn't have time to focus on that, as, all of a sudden, mechanical hands reached down towards them and grabbed both Mew and Pikachu as well as the fossils the team had been given merely a few hours ago.
"Pika Pi!" Pikachu called frantically as it was hauled up and away.
"Mew, Mew, Mew!" Mew squealed, terrified, as it found itself now being dragged up into the sky along with Pikachu.
"Ahhh! What's that?" Ash wondered as they turned to face whatever had stolen their Pokémon.
"To protect the world from devastation," a sinister voice said.
"To unite all peoples within our nation," a similar menacing voice added.
"Not this again," Misty groaned. "When will they just give up?"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!" Jessie declared.
"To extend our reach to the stars above!" James agreed.
"Jessie!" the red-haired woman announced.
"James!" the blue-haired man followed.
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!" they both said.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" James promised.
"Meowth, dat's right!" the Pokémon finished, sliding into frame.
"Team Rocket!" Ash growled. "What are you doing here?!"
"Go find someone else to bother!" Misty hollered up at the trio.
"That's right!" Brock agreed. "We're kinda busy right now!"
"Pika Pi! Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu cried, shocking the cage it had been crammed into, to no avail.
Jessie laughed. "You're our business, and you always will be!"
"The second we stopped following you, the fanfic would end!" James said, laughing in a superior tone.
"Hey, no more fourth-wall jokes!" Meowth snapped, rapping their heads. "The audience can't stand it anymore!"
"True, but you didn't have to say it so loudly!" James whined.
"But he's got a point!" Jessie said. "So let's just take the goods and scram!"
"The Boss will be more than happy with these two rare Pokémon and a bunch of rare fossils!" James added.
"We can nab dat monkey twerp another dime!" Meowth agreed, and with that, the three took off in their hot-air balloon.
Just then, a purple energy beam shot past above, cutting right through the Meowth-shaped balloon!
BOOM!
The balloon exploded in a titanic display of fireworks as Team Rocket was sent flying through the air.
"Again? So early in the fanfic?" Jessie complained.
"I thought I told you twos no more fourth-wall jokes!" Meowth griped.
"Oh well, it's what they pay for, isn't it?" James quipped with a very large grin.
"They don't pay any money at all!" Jessie barked.
"No fair!" James retorted. "We have to pay money every time that we appear on screen!"
"Well, that's our job, isn't it?" Jessie sighed.
"And don't you two ugly mugs forget it!" Meowth shot back.
"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" they yelled as they soared into the night sky.
Meanwhile, Pikachu and Mew along with all their fossils, fell down back into the waiting hands of their Trainers.
"Pikachu, are you all right?" Ash replied, patting its head consolingly.
"Pika Pika, Pikachu!" the Electric Rodent piped in, raising an arm.
"Mew, Mew!" Mew said, shaking itself a few times. "Mew!"
And right then the entire area appeared to crumble from the sheer force of the ongoing assault it was sustaining, with landslides falling down mountains and cracks forming underneath the heels of their shoes and rocks flying up into the nighttime air.
"There's no more time left," Misty said. "We've got to plan something now, you guys."
A large boulder a couple yards away shattered and split in two.
"But what?" Ash replied, blinking rapidly. "What on Earth can we do against a monster like that?"
Yet more explosions sounded a few kilometers away from them.
"Well, we should review what we do know," Brock pointed out. "Gohan isn't totally invincible. He does have some weaknesses."
"I got it!" Misty exclaimed, sounding like she'd won the answer to a million-dollar question. "His tail!"
"His tail?" Seymour repeated, sounding stunned.
"That's right!" Ash said, now catching on too. "His tail's his weakness! If you grab that, you can immobilize him!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ground trembled ever more ferociously underneath them as the group struggled to remain upright, and then went on planning like they hadn't even been interrupted just then.
"And, hey... how about Zubat's Screech?" Brock went on. "They were more effective on him because of his Saiyan hearing!"
"Saiyan?" Seymour repeated, pressing a finger into the side of his head.
And the gang continued as though he weren't present.
"But even those are only temporary measures," Misty said as reality now came crashing down over their plans. "Even if we manage to stop him how in the world are we going to turn Gohan back to normal? I mean, what's causing this?"
"Mew, Mew!" Mew said suddenly, trying to get their attention as it zoomed anxiously in the air. "Mew! MEW! Mew, Mew! MEW!"
Everyone turned to look at the Legendary Pokémon.
"Hey, what's up, Mew?" Ash inquired. "Is something bothering you?"
"Mew!" Mew said, ever more quickly. "Mew, Mew, Mew! MEW!"
"What is it?" Brock wondered. "Are you trying to tell us something?"
"MEW!" Mew squealed, as it cut trailing arcs over the moon.
"Wait a second..." Misty said. "Moon... Gohan... Mew... the moon... Gohan... Mew... of course!" She smacked her fist into her palm as the lightbulb had finally dawned on her. "The moon; that's what's doing this! Gohan changed when he looked at the full moon!"
"Grrooawwrgghh!" Oozaru Gohan bellowed, far off in the distance. "Grrooawrrghh! Groooaawrrrgghh!"
"So hold on a minute," Ash began, tilting his head to the side. "You're saying Gohan's some kind of werewolf?"
"It's the only explanation that fits the facts," Misty said reasonably.
"Great, then what are we gonna do?" Seymour moped pessimistically. "The moon's gonna be out all night!"
Suddenly, a burst of energy shot out of the Poké Ball Ash had been holding as a pink Fairy Pokémon appeared before them.
"Clefairy, Clefairy!" Clefairy announced, looking weary but otherwise recovered from its earlier ordeal.
"Hey, you guys, what's the matter with Clefairy?" Misty wondered.
"We don't have time to take you to a Pokémon Center, Clefairy!" Ash told it.
"Clefairy!" the Normal Pokémon objected, shaking its head. Then it started dancing in place. "Fairy, Clefairy, Fairy, Clefairy..."
The others learned in closer, eyes searching it.
"Hey, do you think it's trying to speak to us?" Seymour ventured.
"Just like Mew," Brock pointed out as he, too, watched it.
"Clefairy, Fairy, Clefairy, Fairy, Clefairy, Fairy," the tiny Moon Pokémon chirped.
"Oh, of course!" Seymour burst out wildly as he stuck his finger up. "Clefairy's a Moon Pokémon! The moon made Gohan change! There's evidently a connection between the two — I betcha it knows how to handle this!"
"Really?" Brock said, sounding impressed.
"Sure, that makes sense to me," Ash said, nodding.
"Well, tell us, Clefairy!" Misty said encouragingly.
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said, nodding like Ash.
"Mew, Mew!" Mew agreed.
"Clefairy, Clefairy, Clefairy, Clefairy..." the innocent cherub sang, and slowly, it began twirling away.
"Hey, where are you going?" Ash demanded, holding out his hand. "Come back! I thought you were going to help us!"
Misty glanced to the others. "Okay, you two, go deal with the Gohan problem. Me and Seymour will follow Clefairy!"
Ash drooped dejectedly. "Hey, why are you the one calling all the shots?"
"JUST DO IT IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU!" Misty shouted.
Ash and Brock both tensed up as now they sped away at a limited speed due to the weights.
"Sure thing!" Brock said obediently as he tore out of there.
"Yes, ma'am!" Ash added, setting records for weighted running.
"Mew!" Mew cried as it took off after them. "Mew, Mew!"
Misty turned to Seymour. "Okay, let's go!"
And with a nod, the two followed Clefairy back into the darkly lit tunnels of Mt. Moon...
Like being on a constant rollercoaster, the Earth around the young Trainers shook and bounced beneath their heels under the ceaseless force of the giant monkey's continuous destruction as the genuine, nice boy now lost himself to Saiyan instincts.
"This is incredible!" Brock commented. "I don't think there's any place that's not being affected by this!"
Fissures ran along through the ground and formed underneath them.
"I can't believe Gohan's so powerful!" Ash said. "Next time we train, I gotta do some serious bulking up!"
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu said, running along the ground next to them.
"Mew, Mew!" Mew cried as it flew alongside them.
Just then, despite their limited speed, they came to the spot Oozaru Gohan was now rampaging in.
Brock whipped out a Poké Ball. "You ready, Ash?"
"Let's do it," Ash agreed as he brought out his own Poké Balls.
"Go, Onix!" Brock shouted. "Go, Geodude, Zubat!"
"Come on out, Pidgeotto!" Ash said. "You too, Butterfree and Zubat!"
And like that, a veritable army of Pokémon appeared before them.
"Pijojojojojo!" Pidgeotto announced, spreading its wings.
"Fweeweeweeweewee!" Butterfree squealed, dancing around in the skies.
"Chachichi!" both Zubat declared, now free from their Poké Balls.
"Dude, Geodude!" the Mineral Pokémon said, nonchalant as always.
"Grraaowwrgghh!" Onix agreed as it completed the group.
With a snarl, Oozaru Gohan turned to face them as Ash and Brock knew they were in for the fight of their lives...
More dust dislodged itself from the ceiling as, with another faraway roar, the tunnel Misty and Seymour were running through shook and heaved, nearly sending the two determined Trainers flying off their feet!
"Boy, I don't know how much longer this area can hold out under all these earthquakes," Misty whimpered.
"So, you said before Gohan was something called a 'Saiyan,'" Seymour pointed out. "What's a Saiyan?"
Misty almost tripped over her own shoes. "Oh, a Saiyan? Well, just ignore that we said that! It's nothing, really!"
And she laughed awkwardly as Clefairy led them down another tunnel.
"Clefairy, Clefairy, Clefairy..." Clefairy chanted, oblivious to all the damage being caused around them.
"Come on, young lady, I may be many things, but I'm not gullible!" Seymour pressed. "Does this have something to do with what's going on right now, and why Gohan has transformed into a giant ape-like creature?"
Ducking down another side passage, Misty sighed.
I guess some things are inevitable, she thought ruefully.
"Well, try not to freak out, but... Gohan's father was from outer space," the redhead explained.
"From outer space?!" Seymour exclaimed as his eyes widened. "So I was right!"
"Well, only partially..." Misty insisted. "Gohan's dad came from another planet, but we don't know if the Pokémon did!"
"Oh, but don't you see, Misty?" Seymour said joyfully. "If aliens do exist, then it's practically proof positive that the Pokémon came from outer space, too! Oh, how wondrous and delightful, I must say, this revelation is simply insightful! How to see the kid from another world, my shouts of joy just need to be heard, from the farther corners of the globe, I believe my feelings must be put to an ode! I shall call it, Ode to the Boy With a Tail!"
And a piece of rock fell from the ceiling and slammed into Seymour's head, sending him colliding brutally with the ground.
"Ugh, like all artists throughout time, my dream was crushed, before it even began..." he groaned.
"COMPLAIN ON YOUR OWN TIME!" Misty screamed inside his ear, causing the Pokémon scientist to jerk up in surprise and pain. "Right now, we've gotta de-ape Gohan, and get things back to normal!"
"You're right!" Seymour declared, leaping back up. "My concerns are nothing next to the burden of humanity right now! Let's go!"
And with a nod, Misty and him dove down another tunnel after the happily singing Clefairy...
"Zubat, go!" Brock commanded. "Screech!"
"Zubat, you use Screech too!" Ash also ordered his Pokémon.
Opening their mouths, the two Bat Pokémon unleashed a furious display of high-pitched shrieks; luckily, Brock and Ash were prepared this time for it and had closed both of their hands over their ears.
"GRRRAAAAOOOWWWRRGGHHHH!" Gohan roared as the sound drove his sensitive Saiyan hearing wild with pain.
"Watch out, he's stomping everywhere!" Brock cried out as Gohan danced around like a titan at a tap dancing convention.
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu shouted as it dove to avoid the huge feet coming down everywhere.
"Fweeweeweewee!" Butterfree squealed, diving to the side.
"Pijojojojo!" Pidgeotto agreed as it took flight away from the always fatal crushing blow.
"Grrooaargghh!" Onix complained as Oozaru Gohan lightly nicked the Rock Snake Pokémon, sending it shooting across the clearing.
"ONIX!" Brock screamed, hoping Onix was okay.
Onix skidded over the ground and came to a complete stop several meters away.
"Okay, let's see you handle this!" Ash cried, both hands still clamped over his hears. "Pidgeotto, Gust! Butterfree, Stun Spore!"
"Pijo!" Pidgeotto announced as it soared in and, in a blaze, began furiously flapping its wings.
A vicious gale storm blew out around them all, threatening to lift the two Trainers off the ground, but it didn't even faze Gohan!
"I think we just made him angrier!" Brock noted.
"GRRRRAAOOOWWRGGHHHHH!" Gohan growled angrily, swiping his hands everywhere in all the confusion.
Pidgeotto and Butterfree dodged to the side around his incoming hands, but eventually, one of them smacked right into the Butterfly Pokémon head-on, sending it flying off as it slammed into a tree!
"Butterfree, no!" Ash cried.
Gohan kept stomping around as he pounded his chest with his fists.
"Grrooaagghh! Grrroowwaaghhh! Grrooaawwggh! Grroaawghh!"
"Gohan, you have to stop this!" Brock yelled up at him. "We're your friends! Don't you remember?"
Gohan continued howling as Brock's protests went unheeded...
Suddenly, Misty and Seymour entered a brightly lit chamber around which a bunch of Clefairy were clustered around a large, black boulder huddled close to it, as though they were seeking protection from it.
"Ahh, what is that?" Misty gasped.
"The Moon Stone!" Seymour burst out, sounding very excited.
"Clefairy..." the Moon Pokémon grouped near the rock whimpered. "Clefairy... Fairy... Clefairy, Clefairy..."
"The Clefairy must form their own society here!" Seymour theorized. "What an incredible sight!"
And then a purple beam shot by them overhead as it cut a path right through the topmost portion of Mt. Moon, blowing it to bits as rock and shards of mountain flew in all directions, causing Misty and Seymour to cradle their heads protectively!
"Clefairy, Clefairy... Clefairy..." the Fairy Pokémon all moaned in fear. "Clefairy... Fairy... Clefairy, Clefairy... Fairy... Clefairy..."
"Be impressed some other time!" Misty yelled. "Right now, we have something else to worry about!"
"Yes, you're right!" Seymour proclaimed grandly. "But what do we do here?"
"Good point," the green-eyed girl acknowledged. "Why did Gohan's Clefairy bring us here?"
They turned to find said Pokémon conversing frantically with others of its kind and type.
"Clefairy, Fairy Fairy, Clefairy, Fairy, Clefairy Fairy, Clefairy!" it said urgently.
"Clefairy? Clefairy? Fairy? Clefairy?" the Clefairy murmured.
"Fairy, Fairy, FAIRY! Clefairy, Fairy! Clefairy, Clef, Clefairy!" Gohan's Clefairy said hurriedly.
And suddenly, the Clefairy all adopted a determined look as they moved up to the Moon Stone above them.
"Hey, what do you think they're doing?" Misty wondered.
"I don't have the foggiest idea," Seymour said, shrugging cluelessly.
Then Gohan's Clefairy returned to them and started anxiously gesticulating with its arms.
"Clefairy, Fairy, Fairy, Clefairy Fairy, CLEFAIRY!" it said passionately.
"Do you have any idea what it's saying?" Seymour inquired.
"Not a clue," the red-haired girl sighed.
Suddenly, Gohan's Clefairy began making wild pantomimes with its arms and body, mimicking stomping around.
"Wait, I think it's trying to say something!" Seymour pointed out.
"I think it's saying..." Misty began. "Walk?"
"Path?" Seymour ventured.
Clefairy shook its head as it now mimed an uneven gait.
"Slow?" Misty asked, to which Clefairy shook no.
"Lumbering?" Seymour said, which had Clefairy nod and then wave its arms dramatically outward.
"Large, big?" Seymour said, to which Clefairy nodded again.
"Oh I get it now!" Misty suddenly exclaimed. "Clefairy is talking about Gohan!"
"Clefairy Fairy!" Clefairy squealed, sounding very pleased with the humans.
And then Clefairy pointed to the Moon Stone, which the other Clefairy now seemed to be sectioning off, as it waved its arms.
"Clefairy, Fairy, Clef, Clef, CLEFAIRY!" it squeaked. "Clefairy Fairy!"
"Oh, I think I understand now!" Seymour remarked. "The full moon caused Gohan to transform, and the Clefairy believe that by using the power of the Moon Stone they can turn Gohan back to normal in no time flat!"
"But can the Clefairy get to him in time before he hurts Ash and Brock?" Misty said worriedly.
"We're just going to have to trust in their judgment, Misty," Seymour told her. "They're not reckless Pokémon. The Clefairy are very cautious by nature and... as much as I hate to admit it... this is our last hope."
And the two turned back to work the Fairy Pokémon work...
As Ash and Brock watched, helpless, Gohan kept on shooting mouth beams at everything around him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The entire region now looked like something directly from a war movie, like someone had dropped a thousand tons of firepower onto everything around them as the whole countryside now resembled a smoking crater.
"Gohan, Gohan, you just gotta remember us!" Ash pleaded. "If you keep this up, you're going to destroy the entire planet!"
"Grrooaawwgghh, Grrooaawwghh, Grrrooawwwgghh!" Gohan said in response.
"Ash, it's just no good!" Brock insisted. "We got to get to that tail somehow!"
"But how?" Ash wondered.
Just then, Mew moved forward, looking determined.
"Mew?" Ash said, blinking his eyes rather swiftly.
"What do you plan to do?" Brock asked the little kitty.
"Mew..." Mew growled in a low tone as the same hellish blue energy now entered its pupils. "Mew... Mew..."
The humans and Pokémon surrounding it could practically feel the raw power emanating off Mew's body.
"Wow... it must be using Psychic!" Brock observed knowledgeably.
"Mew..." it snarled as its building power could now literally be heard in the very far reaches of the meadow. "MEW..."
And suddenly, a faint purple-blue aura of purest energy surrounded Gohan now, though the connection appeared to be quite flimsy as the aura fluctuated wildly around Oozaru Gohan as though his Mew was having a hard time maintaining it.
"MEW..." it growled, and its voice trembled from sheer exertion of keeping Psychic locked onto Gohan. "MEW... MEW... MEW!"
And then with that, Oozaru Gohan jerked back as though thrown out of a cannon as their Saiyan friend soared through the air, colliding with a very large chunk of land a few hundred meters away from them all.
"Wow, unreal..." Brock breathed.
"Mew... Mew actually managed to stop Gohan!" Ash remarked.
"Mew..." Mew gasped, panting tiredly as it dropped to the dirt floor. "Mew... Mew..."
The gang just stood there for a few minutes, waiting, hoping...
"Please, please, please be sleeping," Ash begged.
"I don't know if we can fight you anymore!" Brock agreed.
Silence reigned for a few more minutes, giving them the faint, brief hope that perhaps Gohan had finally been defeated...
And then instantly, the rubble surrounding Gohan exploded outward in a blast of shrapnel and debris.
"GRRROOOOAAWWWWRRRRGGGHHHHHH!" Gohan shared, sounding none too happy.
"Oh great," Brock commented with a big sweatdrop.
"Now what do we do?" Ash wondered.
"Pika Pika?" Pikachu added.
"Grroooaawwrrghhhh, Grroooawwwghhh, Groooaaaawwghhh!" Gohan growled as he took off running towards them again.
"Oh no, here he comes again!" Brock groaned.
"Isn't there any way to stop him?" Ash complained wearily.
"Mew..." Mew put forth, now gasping for air. "Mew..."
But just then, the two of them heard someone shouting behind them. "Hey, Ash, Brock!"
The two turned to find Misty standing there, surrounded by a literal army of Clefairy.
"Hey, it's Misty," Ash noted.
"Did you find out what Clefairy wanted?" Brock demanded.
Misty nodded despite the rumbling quakes as Gohan proceeded ever close towards them all.
"They think if we use the Moon Stone, then we should be able to turn Gohan back to his normal form!" she advised them.
"But how are we gonna do that?" Brock whined. "He's not gonna let you get close enough to use them!"
"Oh, where there's a will there's always a way, Brock," Ash said with a cool, confident smirk shining through his features.
"What are you planning to do?" Brock asked the stubborn boy.
Ignoring him, Ash turned to the side. "Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, Zubat, LET'S GO!"
"Pijojojojo!" Pidgeotto said.
"Fweeweeweewee!" Butterfree agreed.
"Pika Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu said.
"Chachichicha!" Zubat added.
"Pikachu, strongest Thunderbolt attack you have — right now!" Ash ordered, now pumped with energy and a fiery, burning determination. "Pidgeotto, use Sand-Attack! Blind him from above! And Zubat, use Screech!"
His Pokémon did as they had been commanded and flew out to confront the battle of their lifetimes.
"PIKA... PIKACHU!" Pikachu growled as it threw waves of coruscating electrical tendrils shooting out at Oozaru Gohan.
"Grrroooawwwgghhh... Grrroooawwgghhh!" Gohan groaned as he stopped in his tracks.
"Pijo!" Pidgeotto declared, grabbing some sand off of the dirt floor below them and rising high above as it deposited the grains of sand directly over Gohan's crimson pupils, causing the Oozaru to growl savagely in protest as it rubbed at the now itching spots.
And Zubat flew right up in front of Gohan and let loose its most furious Screech yet.
"GRRROOOOAWWGGHHHH!" Gohan screamed as he covered his ears and shut his eyes.
"Onix, now's the time!" Brock announced passionately. "Wrap yourself around his tail, GO!"
"Grrawwwrrgghhh!" Onix roared as it slid over to the now-crippled Oozaru and slowly, like enfolding a rope around a snake, wrapped its strong, rocky body around Gohan's tail, and instantly, all struggles ceased as Gohan went totally, completely still.
"Grrroooowwghhh..." Gohan groaned. "Grrrooawwwghhhh..."
"All right! You did it!" Misty replied cheerfully; she looked back at the Clefairy now holding a bunch of black-colored Moon Stone rocks within their arms. "You guys know what to do now; let's bring Gohan back!"
"Clefairy... Clefairy... Clefairy... Clefairy... Clefairy..." all the Moon Pokémon chanted as, in unison, they brought the Moon Stones around the transformed Gohan, laying them around his paralyzed body for those otherworldly effects to take place on him.
And lo and behold, all the Moon Stones appeared to be working, for grunting and groaning with effort, Gohan seemed to be changing now, growing, distorting, shrinking, smaller and smaller, as he lost all his fur, replaced instead with smooth, peach creamy skin.
Onix removed itself gently from Gohan's tail as he grew smaller and smaller, adopting the normal features the humans knew their friend to have, as finally, with a last, normal, Gohan-sounding snarl, the now exposed boy collapsed, snoring loudly.
Misty sighed deeply, and fell to her knees as she glanced at the completely naked teen, and then blushed furiously and looked away, now enraged at herself at herself for such an emotional display.
Don't get distracted by how cute he is! Misty seethed internally. Try not to focus on him at all... no, no, stop thinking that way! Just... look at anything but him, look at anything but him... anything but him...
As Seymour the scientist took off his white lab coat and headed over to cover up Gohan with it, Misty spared a glance in Ash's direction and slowly, gradually, almost reluctantly, she felt a genuine smile spread across her face.
"He really has come a long way," she mused to herself. "And he was so brave taking on Gohan like that."
"Yay, we did it, we did it, we really did it, guys!" Ash celebrated as he and his Pokémon danced around.
"Pika Pi, Pika Pika, Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu said, grinning infectiously.
"Pijojojojo!" Pidgeotto whooped as it soared above them all.
"Fweeweeweeweewee!" Butterfree chirped happily as it flew from side to side.
"Chachachichichi!" Zubat clicked as it fluttered along with the other Pokémon.
"All right!" Brock cried joyfully. "You guys did great too!"
"Dude, Geodude," Geodude said, looking unaffected, the same way it always did.
"Grroawrghh!" Onix growled in a soft baritone as it nuzzled its head closer to Brock.
Just then, Seymour moved into frame, holding Gohan, now bundled up in a white lab coat, in his arms.
"Um, excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but do you think we could take this someplace more private?" Seymour pressed.
"Oh yes, that's right," Brock said, looking like he had now realized the same thing. "This area is demolished."
"Well, where do we go now?" Misty wondered as she walked over to them.
"Oh wait, I know!" Ash said eagerly. "Brock, do you think you can find Gohan's capsule house?"
"Sure," Brock said confidently. "It shouldn't be a problem now that Gohan's sleeping like a baby."
"Um, excuse me, but what do you mean by 'capsule house?'" Seymour inquired.
Misty laughed in a light manner. "We'll wait and let you see it. You wouldn't believe us if we told you."
Locating the capsule within Gohan's belongings, Brock pulled the Dyno Cap out, clicked the top, and tossed it away.
BOOM!
In a massive explosion of smoke, the trusty capsule house appeared right there in front of them.
Seymour instantly began freaking out. "What? B-But how? I mean, there wasn't a house there a couple of seconds ago, but now there is and I don't know if... I mean, this shouldn't really... what... what in the world just happened?" he moaned plaintively.
Brock laughed too. "We'll explain it all inside. In fact, I'll whip us up some dinner. My treat."
"All right!" Ash exclaimed. "Did you hear that, guys? Dinner for everyone!"
And Ash's Pokémon burst out excitedly.
"Come on, let's go," Brock said, indicating the direction which they all should take, in the direction of the capsule house, as he moved toward it. "In fifteen minutes I'll have the most spectacular feast you've ever eaten!"
And the group walked into the capsule house, chatting easily and comfortably among themselves, as Misty still stared a hole at Gohan, now sleeping indeed, as Brock had said, like a baby in their friend Seymour's arms.
"He's really a mystery, isn't he?" she said softly to herself. "We know so little about him, and yet..."
And then she smiled.
"And yet, he's just so special anyway."
And Misty stifled a giggle as she followed the others into the house.
"We're really sorry, Boss," Meowth said pitifully as he groveled low in front of the image of Giovanni before them.
"We failed to capture that ultra one-in-a-lifetime super-rare Pikachu and the even rarer Mew again," James added.
Giovanni sighed, exhausted, as he rubbed at his temples.
"Well, that's unfortunate," he said slowly, "but, luckily, it still fits our plans."
Team Rocket leaned forward, sounding much more interested.
"Really?" Meowth said. "You got some sort of evil plan in da works, Boss?"
"Yeah, come on, spill it," James whined petulantly.
Giovanni chuckled in a dark tone. "Now, now... that would be telling. All in good time, my friends. Pretty soon we'll have the rest of the DNA test back from the lab, and then, we'll really get a clue of what we're up against — for now, your information... as much as it pains me to admit it... is still useful. Keep tailing Son Gohan, and send me regular status reports and perhaps we can figure out some way to deal with this little brat."
"Giovanni, we're your top men!" James said with a crisp salute.
"And women!" Jessie said, poking her head into the frame.
"And Meowth too!" Meowth added.
"If we can't do this, then we'll resign from Team Rocket!" Jessie vowed.
"I hope so, because it spares me the alternative of what I'd have to do to you if you fools didn't take that path," Giovanni growled.
Team Rocket now began cowering before their leader.
"You know how loathe I am to failure, so you'd better not screw this up," he continued menacingly, the dark shadows that he was shrouded in making him appear to look even more sinister than he really was.
"No, no, of course," James said weakly.
"Your concern is noted, but honest, Team Rocket has the situation well in hand," Jessie agreed.
"Like we always do, Meowth!" Meowth said as he nodded furiously.
"Good," Giovanni said as he reached for something out of sight. "And until then, headquarters out."
Team Rocket sighed as Giovanni signed out, leaving them to ponder their options under the baleful light of the full moon above...
Part 3 of the Mt. Moon arc. So it turned out to be a bit longer than I expected. Part 4 will be coming out soon, I promise!
I would have posted this last night, but as we all know, Fanfiction went down on us all. Way to fail, admins...
Also, the original idea of the Moon Stone counteracting the effects of blutz waves goes to Raven Star's fanfic, Flying Away.
Now, onto the reviews!
kitsunelover300: That's the plan! To keep this fic grounded. XD
ChosenOne358: Huh, you know, on second thought... the Fairy-type indeed doesn't sound as stupid as I'd initially pegged it as. Of course, I like the Mega-Evolutions in theory, but, many of their final forms just looked way too different to really be Pokémon as I considered them. So while I'm softening up, I still won't be using it in this fic. Possibly in the other Pokémon crossover that I have planned, though, never say never, of course. You never know. I might include them.
JCCT: Welcome back, but... I'm sorry... I don't really recall Ho-oh having the power to grant wishes. Isn't that the domain of Jirachi? And I have seen most of the anime and the movies back-to-back, too.
Pizzadude5665: Yup, that's the plan, though a bit of acknowledgement is nice too, you know?
Also, in regards to power levels... I'm using the own custom power levels guide I made up, and in it, Goku had a power level of 300,000 against Frieza. Let's not say anything more about it here, but if any of you out there are curious to see what it's like just send me a private message and I'll find a way to get it to you.
Also, I envision Mew as using a power level of 10,000,000 when it threw Oozaru Gohan, not in terms of ki, but psychic energy, which is completely different from ki — more on this as the story develops.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It made me feel very happy, so please leave one now and make me feel even better!
KoS