Pokemon Heart Soul Adventures
Welcome back to the usual appointment with my fanfiction! I could see that my readers were very satisfied with last chapter's battle, and I'm glad I was able to deliver! Though I'm now worried that the rest of the Sevii Islands saga might not be up to par... but I'll still try to do my best nonetheless!
This will be a more relaxed chapter... at least, if we look at Ash and his friends' side of things, because Zoey and her friends are about to find themselves in trouble soon enough, and Team Vicious will soon be rearing its ugly head again. The fact that Ash foiled their plans at Knot Island isn't going to slow them down too much, and they will soon move to other targets.
But for now, I guess Ash and his friends deserve to kick back and enjoy their free time. Of course, it won't be long before he and his Pokemon get to fight a new battle, so you action fans will just have to be a little patient!
And for the shipping fans... hope you liked the Pokeshipping hints I dropped in the last chapter! I will take things rather slowly in that regard... but I think you'll like the brief moments I will put in from time to time!
Anyway... enjoy the new chapter, and hope you can leave a few reviews! And hope you like what I had in mind for Damien! ^^
oooooooooo
Chapter 18 - Snowed In
After a fair bit of what Maylene would have called 'diplomatic persausion', Zoey, Maylene and Candice had followed a long winding path taking straight to the criminal group's headquarters, deep in the heart of Mt. Coronet. Team Vicious, that was the group's name... to hear it like that, it sounded like the name of your run-of-the-mill organization of Pokemon criminals who seemed to be sprouting like mushrooms around the world lately, and that were usually eradicated in a few weeks' time, before they could become really dangerous. Unfortunately, judging from their methods and their aims, this didn't sound like the kind of two-bit organization that normal police and Officers Jenny were capable of handling. The three cronies the girls had just defeated were obviously low-level thugs, but Zoey and her friends knew they were going to meet much worse, very soon...
In fact, both Zoey and Candice suspected Team Vicious was already following their movements, thanks to that out-of-place Noctowl they had noticed mere minutes before... so, the walk to the hideout had been slow and methodic, with frequent stops in order to make sure the Team Vicious grunts had not set up an ambush. Up until then, the red-haired coordinator and her friends had not met with any problem, but they knew all too well that it could all change in a moment...
Still, up until that particular moment, there had been no problem... and after one hour of carefully following the path they had been directed to, Zoey and her friends finally reached a large opening in the side of an enormous rocky cliff, a snow-covered path going right inside of the cavern. Footprints of both humans and Pokemon could be seen going inside the opening, along with signs of other objects being dragged in from the outside... which, for the girls, was definite proof that they had found what they were searching for. Still, Zoey and Candice were too prudent to believe that entering would be that easy...
"So... this is the place those goons told us about, huh?" Maylene asked, suspiciously examining the footprints leading to the inside of the cave. Her first instinct would probably have been to barge in and just let loose with her Machoke, Lucario and fighting skills, but she wasn't as reckless as to actually follow up on that.
Candice slowly nodded. "That's right, Maylene... though Candice has a bad feeling about this. It has been all too easy to get here, and Candice thinks we'll get a nasty surprise very soon." Snowpoint City's Gym Leader said. She was itching for a chance to pay back those who had thrown her city into chaos and fear, but she knew that charging head-on would have been a bad idea.
"There are no guards... and aside from those three goons, and that Noctowl sentry, we have met nobody out to stop us." Zoey thought out loud. "I think it's obvious they're trying to lull us into a false sense of security. We need to get around them and catch them off guard. If only we could find a passageway, somewhere around here..."
Just then, the redhead saw Maylene motioning for her friends to look in the direction she was pointing at. "Hey, girls! Come here, I think I found a way around this problem!" the young martial artist whispered: right in front of her, there was a narrow road that, starting from the ground level, climbed its way up the rocky cliff and to a smaller cave, well-hidden behind a group of snow-covered pine trees. Zoey and Candice guessed it might have been a secondary passage, used by the criminal group in dangerous situations... and maybe, their enemies had already calculated the possibility that an intruder could use that passage to sneak up on them. And yet, it still presented itself as a good idea. Had they played their cards well enough, they might have slipped through that passage and caught Team Vicious by surprise. The risks were obvious, but it sounded like a more reasonable idea than just taking the more obvious entrance and fall into a trap...
"What do you say, Zoey, Candice? You think we can climb our way up there and get inside?" Maylene asked as the three girls took a good look at the secondary entrance. It was about fifteen-twenty feet above them, and it was unguarded as well...
"Hmm..." Zoey thought carefully about the idea. "Yeah, it might give us a chance to sneak in, but we still need to be careful about it. Let's keep one of out Pokemon out, just in case..."
"Alright..." Candice answered as she let her strongest Pokemon - her elegant and beautiful Glaceon - out. The Ice-type Eevee evolution appeared in front of her, azure fur shining in the sun. Maylene's Breloom, a bizzarre Grass / Fighting Pokemon similar to a cross between a kangaroo and a lizard, with a mushroom-like hat on her head, appeared alongside Glaceon, while Zoey sent out her Ninetales. All the Pokemon emitted their call, and stood ready to receive orders from their respective trainers.
"Right, guys, we have almost reached those criminals' hideout." Zoey said, pointing at the secondary entrance. Ninetales, Breloom and Glaceon immediately followed the red-haired coordinator' glance, and the nine-tailed fox narrowed her eyes a little at the sight of the opening in the bare rock. "However, we suspect we might fall into a trap, so we'd rather have you come with us and watch out for a surprise attack. Are you okay with this arrangement?"
"Tales!" the white fox nodded. Her thick, elegant tails were raised over her head, and a bluish flame was burning on each tip. Even Breloom and Glaceon nodded, and the three girls smiled at them in gratitude, before the small party began climbing their way up the impervious road to the top.
It was not easy to get there - the rocky path was encrusted with ice and solidified snow, and more than once the girls,Ninetales and Breloom had to slow down and proceed carefully in order to avoid a painful fall. Luckily, or maybe suspiciously, nobody tried to attack them during their climb, and thegirls were able to reach the opening and sneak in without problems.
Zoey placed her index finger in front of her mouth, in order to tell her friends and their Pokemon to be as quiet as possible, and the Gym Leaders nodded before following their friend through a dark corridor digging through stone and ice, heading to the innermost part of the mountain. It was getting warmer, and even in the partial darkness of the corridor, it was possible to see some pipes hanging on the walls, which confirmed that someone was in fact living in that place. Candice thought that this, at the very least, meant that they hadn't gone all hat way for nothing...
The corridor ended soon, taking the girls into a wide, completely empty room with a floor made of levigated marble, which shone dimly in the darkness. No doubt about it... they had gone straight into the lion's den, and Zoey felt a shiver run down her spine, but she managed to keep her cool.
The girls and their Pokemon looked around themselves in order to decide where they should go from there... and Zoey's Ninetales sniffed the air suspiciously, before widening her eyes and straightening her ears in alarm as she felt something sweet and pungent in the air. The nine-tailed fox quickly turned to her trainer and pulled at her sleeve to draw her attention.
Zoey turned to her Fire-type Pokemon, wondering what the matter was, and even Maylene, Candice, Breloom and Glaceon felt like there was something amiss. It all became clear one split second later, as the black-haired Gym Leader looked up to see a strange, ethereal golden dust slowly falling upon her and her friends, as light as feathers in the wind!
With a bad feeling about this, Candice looked more carefully... and much to her dismay, she saw a group of Vileplume standing above them, balancing on a group of boards hanging to the ceiling! The flower-like Grass / Poison Pokemon, well known for their wide variety of available status-changing moves, were showering the team with their Sleep Powder attack!
Zoey and Maylene quickly understood they had fallen into a trap as well and, in a moment of fear, they tried to cover their noses and mouths and get away from that insidious dusty rain... but the pollen had already been absorbed by their skin, and their movements were getting more sluggish already. Even their Pokemon had no time to attempt anything... and soon enough, one after the other, they lay down on the ground and succumbed to sleep. Zoey, Candice and Maylene were able to remain standing a little longer, desperately looking for a way out... but it was all in vain, and they soon had to give up their struggle as well. First Maylene, then Candice... and finally Zoey, who up to the last tried to get away from the shower of soporiferous pollen.
"Ugh... Darn..." the redhead muttered, clawing at the ground as if that could help her stay awake. "I'm such a fool... I never even... considered... they could pull... such a... trick..."
Then, it all became black, and Zoey slipped into slumberland as well.
oooooooooo
"So, what's the situation? Have you caught those meddling girls as well?"
A Team Vicious grunt stood at attention as soon aas he heard his boss' imperious voice... the voice of a rotund, corpulent man sitting at his desk, half-hidden behind plates of inviting dishes, and seemingly more interested in satisfying his own hunger than in taking care of the intruders. His words were paused from time to time by the noises he made while gulping down his food.
"Er... yes, sir, we have caught them right now! Putting those Vileplume guards near our side entrance was a great idea!" the grunt answered. "All three of them have been neutralized, their Pokemon included. Now, commander Jakov, what do you propose we do with them? Shall we eliminate them?"
The large man sitting at the desk laughed rudely as he stood up from his seat, revealing himself as a fat man with very short black hair, two greedy coffee-colored eyes and a large, red-tinted nose. "Hahahahaaa! That's why you are but mere grunts while I, Jakov, am a Team Vicious commander!" he laughed. "Eliminate those three? Do you have any idea who they are? Two of them are Sinnoh Gym Leaders, though I think one of them should have her licence revoked after the beating she took from that purple-haired guy! And the third one, that tall redhead, scored second place in the Sinnoh Grand Festival. You know what that means, right? If we forced them to work for us, can you imagine how much more powerful Team Vicious would become? We'd be unstoppable, and more Legendary Pokemon would soon fall in our hands!"
It was all logical enough, of course... but the grunt seemed to have more common sense than the norm for such individuals, and he wasn't sure things would have gone that smoothly. As Jakov reached towards one of his plates and grabbed a cheeseburger, before taking a huge bite out of it, the grunt raised one hand to ask a question. "Er... commander Jakov, I see your point, but... isn't that a bit of a risk?" he asked. "I mean, if they really are that good, and also that well-known in the world of competitons... I don't think they'll be pleased by our offer..."
Jakov gulped down his bite and laughed again. "Hahahahaaa! Nonsense, we just have to tell them that the alternative will be death, and they will become all nice and obedient! That's just how people are... their own lives are more important to them than anything else, and they're ready to betray their friends, their family and their ideals in order to save their own skin!" he exclaimed, as a Noctowl flew in from an opening in the ceiling and quietly roosted on Jakov's large shoulder. "Oh, welcome back, my friend! You did an excellent job warning us of those meddling kids! Now we've caught all three of them!"
Noctowl thanked him with a low, quiet hoot, and Jakov slowly nodded and turned to the grunt once again. "Very well... now, get those kids and take them to... our room for special guests!" he ordered. "I'd like to chat a little with them, as soon as they wake up!"
The grunt saluted, despite not being that convinced. "Yes, sir!" he hastily exclaimed, before walking out of the office. As soon as he was out, Jakov sighed and sat back on his chair, scratching his Noctowl under the chin with one of his coarse fingers.
"That's the way it is... people are selfish, and they don't care about anything that doesn't concern them... their lives are the most important thing, for all of them." the Team Vicious commander murmured, a hint of bitterness and sadness in his voice, as he regarded the delicious dishes in front of him. His Noctowl tilted his head sideways, with what could be read as confusion or compassion... then, Jakov shrugged and went back to his eating exercises!
"You want some, Noctowl?" he asked his Pokemon, handing him a large sausage. "It's delicious! Our chef has really outdone himself, this time!"
The owl Pokemon thanked him with a low, spooky hoot and began happily munching on the sausage...
oooooooooo
Knot Island had been quite shaken by the terrifying events that had just happened... and while Ash and his team, now including Charizard and Charla - and excluding Team Rocket who, as soon as things were back to normal, had gone away saying that, now that their alliance was over, they would be back for Pikachu soon - were heading back to the town, they could very well feel the confusion and fear still lingering around. People were fearfully returning to the homes they had left behind, and wild Pokemon slowly resurfacing from their lairs, almost not daring to believe that the catastrophe had ended just as quickly as it had begun. And in fact, just by looking at Knot Island's clear blue sky, it was almost impossible to believe that, only a scant few minutes before, a legendary Pokemon was rampaging through the island, burning down everything it encountered. Only the burnt, twisted remains of several trees and the blots of cinder covering the surrounding hills suggested how the mighty Fire Titan had unleashed his fury upon it... but luckily, Ash and his friends' quick intervention had kept things from ending in complete disaster, and now they were heading back to the city, tired yet proud of their victory.
"I have to say, you were really something out there!" Phoebe commented as the team made their way down a twisted path on Mt. Ember's western side. "I never imagined Ash's Charizard and his companion would be capable of fighting a being such as Moltres... that means Ash is a fisrt-rate Pokemon trainer! If your Charizard has become so powerful under your guidance..."
"Well, miss Phoebe, the truth is... I haven't been training Charizard, as of late, at least, not personally." the black-haired boy answered, rubbing the back of his head embarassedly. "The truth is, up until now, Charizard has been living in Charicific Valley, in Johto, to train himself and become stronger... because I had seen he had fallen behind, compared to others of his kind. Anyway... well, I can see all that training wasn't wasted, huh?"
"CHARRRRR!" the mighty dragon roared, a gout of flame spouting out of his maws before he looked at Charla, who smiled cunningly and nodded. No prizes for guess under whose vigilance he had trained...
Phoebe used her hand to comb her black hair and put the flower in her hair back in place. "I understand... well, anyway, it was still an impressive show of strength and skill, from all of you! I don't think it would have been that easy for me to defeat J and her men, if I didn't have you guys backing me up! And your idea of sending Rotom to screw up the machine's engines, Dawn, was just what we needed!" she commented.
"Don't underrate yourself, miss Phoebe..." Gary commented with a small smile. "Those guys were a bunch of jesters, it was nothing we couldn't handle."
Dawn sighed. "Anyway, it was a pleasure for us to help you out... it's just that I was thinking..." she said, rubbing her chin with a finger. "I mean, now that J and most of her men have escaped, we still have to deal with those remaining here... especially that Damien guy."
Ash frowned and nodded thoughtfully. With all that had happened, he had almost forgotten about that guy, but now that there were no more Legendary Birds wandering around, he had all the time to think about such details. Pikachu, Misty and Brock looked at him, wondering about what he had in mind to do... and Misty wrinkled her nose as she saw Ash grinning, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Hmm, now that I think about it..." he mused to himself, before motioning for Charizard to come closer... which the red dragon did, an interrogative expression on his face.
"Ouch... I know that grin from when we travelled together..." Misty said. "He's got something shady in mind, I know that..."
A rather surprised Phoebe watched as Ash began whispering something in Charizard's ear, and at first the fire dragon appeared not to understand what his trainer was thinking himself... but one second later, Charizard's eyes widened in surprise, incredulity and rage, all at the same time! He stepped away from Ash, then spread his wings and took flight towards the other side of the mountain, roaring in determination! Pikachu shook his head and squeaked, not daring to believe what he had just seen...
"Heheheee... c'mon, Pikachu, don't act all surprised!" the young boy commented. "I just wanted to teach that guy a lesson... and Charizard deserved a shot at getting his revenge, didn't he?"
"Pikachu..." the unconvinced electric mouse said, shrugging and turning to the rest of Ash's team. "Pika pi, pika chu pika pika pikachu... Pikachu pichu pika pika pichu!"
"What?" Misty exclaimed in wide-eyed wonder... then, slowly at first, and with ever-growing enthusiasm, Cerulean City's Gym Leader began giggling, bursting into full-out laughter a few moments later! Charla and Brock were chuckling themselves... while Gary, Dawn and Phoebe were just as surprised as Misty had been, and they were wondering what Ash had whispered to Charizard.
"Well, I can explain that." Brock answered. "You see, that Damien guy was the trainer Charizard belonged to when he was just a Charmander. Damien abandoned him because he thought Charmander was too weak... and now, Ash suggested that Charizard take his revenge!"
"What?" a very amused Phoebe exclaimed. "Oh, dear... what's Charizard going to do now? I don't think that, even if so much time went by, he has forgotten what Damien did to him! I hope he doesn't do anything... too reckless, that's all!"
"Heh, don't worry about that, miss Phoebe! Charizard won't hurt him... too much! At worst, he'll give him a good scare!" Ash answered with a good-natured wave of his hand. "In a few minutes, Charizard will be back, and Damien will have to buy a new pair of trousers! Heheheee..."
"Heh, what a guy... you really haven't changed much since the last time I saw you, Ashy-boy!" Gary chuckled. "Well, guess that scoundrel asked for it anyway! Meanwhile, I think we should look around and see if there aren't more problems. This eruption has done quite a number on this island..."
"We can see that..." Brock commented as he looked around, mounds of molten rock littering the earth around them. The magma was cooling down, and it would have ceased to be a danger in a few minutes... but the island had stillbeen damaged quite a bit, and the area around the mountain would need some time before it could be repopulated. Brock was about to comment on that, when something strange drew his attention... a slight movement in the proximities of a large rock, obviously a Pokemon who was trying to get away from the scorched clearing. Judging from its pacing, it was clear that the Pokemon had been injured and was not able to get away quickly.
"Over there, everybody!" Misty said as she pointed to the rocks. "I think there's an injured Pokemon down there..."
"Yeah, we see that..." Brock answered, already climbing his way down to the Pokemon and carefully moving around the blocks of cooling-down lava, who were already beginning to blacken and solidify. The other trainers climbed down as well, hoping to be able to do something for the injured Pokemon... who, as Brock found out just then, turned out to be a battle-scarred, fierce-looking Rhyhorn dragging one of his hind legs, a visible burn mark engraved upon his rock-hard skin. The telltale scar on his horn was a dead giveaway - it was the very same Rhyhorn who had tried to attack them as they were climbing their way up Mt. Ember, and that Phoebe and her Ghost Pokemon had chased away!
As Brock stood watching, surprised by that chance encounter, Rhyhorn recognized the small team of trainers and growled in rage, trying to stand on all fours to charge at them and attempt to avenge his earlier humiliation. But he stumbled and grunted in pain as soon as he tried to put weight on his injured rear paw, and ended up sprawled on the ground again. He stood up again and tried another time, but he only managed two steps before giving in to the pain and laying down.
Brock quickly moved and reached the rocky beast, who was still trying to drag himself towards those he considered enemies and invaders. "Wait, Rhyhorn... don't do this, you'd only make things worse by putting weight on that leg!" Brock warned. The stone rhino grunted in athreatening gesture, but the young Rock-type trainer wasn't intimidated, and simply slowed down a little, holding his hands in front of himself in order to convince the enraged Pokemon to calm down.
"Please, stay calm, Rhyhorn... there!" Brock said as he motioned to Ash and the others to stay back, as not to upset the injured Pokemon. "Don't be afraid... my friends and I don't want to hurt you... we just want to help you. But we can only do that if you let us, you know that, right? Come now, stay calm... and trust us. I know you're afraid, and you have a rigt to be... but we don't want to hurt you, really!"
Rhyhorn stepped back and grunted again... but Brock could see that he had mellowed down a little, and it seemed that the mighty beast wanted to believe those humans surrounding him could help him... however, his natural instinct and personal pride kept him from fully dropping his guard. For several seconds, the Ground / Rock Pokemon and Pewter City's former Gym Leader stood there, looking at each other... Rhyhorn armed with his threatening glare, and Brock extending a hand towards him in an offer of aid and friendship. Rhyhorn was still undecided, and in order to further prove his good intentions, Brock produced the Pokeball belonging to his latest Pokemon and opened it with a light touch of his index finger. Immediately, a cute happy-looking pink Pokemon popped out - the kind yet strong Happiny Brock had gotten at a Pokemon cosplay competition. The cute pink creature raised her stubby arms and approached the injured Rhyhorn, who had now lost much of his aggressive demeanor, and was now looking at Happiny with curiosity. His eyes, who up until then had been serrated in a threatening glare, softened, and the stone rhinoceros sighed and allowed the pink creature to come closer and treat his wound...
oooooooooo
Elsewhere on Knot Island, a familiar young man wearing the Team Vicious uniform was angrily making his way through the mostly undamaged tropical forest surrounding Mt. Ember, taking care to avoid the places scorched by the lava. Damien was still bitter about his defeat - once again, that bunch of busybodies had come to ruin his day, and as if that wasn't enough, J had abandoned him after using him as a distraction to stop her enemies' advancement. Such an occasion, wasted like that... he swore to himself that he wouldn't be humiliated like that, not anymore! As soon as he was back to home base, he would ask his boss for stronger and better Pokemon, and then he would track down and defeat Ash Ketchum and his friends, wherever they went. Nobody made a fool of the great Damien and got away with it! Soon, they would all get what was coming to them... he would have crushed them with his strongest Pokemon!
"Curse you, Ash Ketchum... and curse that annoying carrot-top!" the young Team Vicious grunt muttered, throwing his helmet to the ground and kicking it away. "It's all your fault if I couldn't become a great Pokemon trainer! You took my Charmander away, and you made a fool out of me... but don't think you've won just yet! I swore I would defeat you... and I WILL defeat you! As soon as the boss gives me some stronger Pokemon, I will bury you and become famous! Heh, the great trainer who defeated Ash Ketchum, winner of the Sinnoh conference! I can already imagine my face on all newspapers!"
Damien was so busy blaming everything but himself for his defeat and thinking up a plan for revenge, that he didn't notice the ominous winged shadow looming down upon him until it was too late. As Damien breathed in again after his tirade, he looked down... and remained perplexed when he saw the reptilian form, complete with an elongated, almost feline, head and a flaming tail flying overhead...
Several feet above him, Charizard had zeroed in on his target. Four long years had gone by ever since he had almost died because of his misplaced trust in that scoundrel, back when he was a young, inexperienced Charmander... but while his clothes were completely different, he could never forget those blue-purplish hair and that smug, self-important expression...
Charizard shivered in rage, as he tried to keep at bay his first instinct of swooping down and maul Damien. He held himself back, reasoning that there was no need to dirty his hands too much on that pathetic bully... just leaving him a reminder that his nastiness had not been forgotten was going to be enough!
The dragon breathed in... then, he grinned and used a weak Ember attack, breathing out a small scarlet flame that darted through the air and struck the end of Damien's trousers, setting his rear end on fire!
"AAAAAAARGH!" Damien's eyes bugged out comically as he started running down the small hill, screaming like a little girl as flames and black smoke enveloped his buttocks! Charizard chuckled in grim satisfaction as he watched his former trainer desperately running away, and felt a fulfilling sense of revenge in seeing him humiliated like that. Then, the dragon turned back and began returning to his real trainer, leaving Damien to his fate...
...which at the moment consisted of darting down the hill slope with his butt on fire, searching for some relief!
"HELP! WATER! HELP!" Damien screamed, exaggerated waterfalls of tears streaming down his eyes, and flames darting behind him like a Rapidash's tail! Luckily for him, he found a small stream running between a paiir of rocks, untouched by the eruption. He quickly reached it and sat down, causing the flames to be quenched in a satisfying puff of white vapor and a shrieking sound of cooling down! A peaceful expression painted itself on Damien's face, as the boy remained seated to enjoy the fresh water...
And quickly stood up again, screaming in pain as a particularly foul-tempered Krabby grabbed his buttocks with his claws!
"Aieeeeee! No waaaay! Why does this happen to meeeee?" Damien whined as he began to run away again, the crab Pokemon still latching upon him...
oooooooooo
Somedistance away from the place where Brock and his friends were treating the injured Rhyhorn, Team Rocket was setting up their hot air balloon once again, ready to take flight again. After getting some rest and staying away from the action for a short while, they would be back for Pikachu, and perhaps for some other interesting Pokemon...
"Phew... that was really too close for confort, guys! I swear, if I never met that overgrown roast chicken again, it would still be too soon!" James sighed. "And luckily he didn't have his little friends with him, this time..."
"At least we got away in one piece once again, and we helped the twerps save this island... and let's face it, would have been kinda hard to catch Pikachu with those masked guys raining on our parade!" Meowth affirmed. "And with that Charizard around, no less!"
"We'll just have to wait for another chance!" Jessie shrugged. "For the moment, the last thing I want is to remain on this island any longer! So, James, have you set up our ballloon?"
"I'm almost there, Jessie! I just need to inflate it, and we're good to go!" the azure-haired young man said, tiredly wiping his forehead. He couldn't wait to get away from Knot Island and reach some quieter place... but before James could begin inflating the balloon, he caught a glimpse of something red and shining slowly advancing towards him. Alarmed, the young man quickly turned around with a brief shout, fearing that some residual lava had surfaced...
"Ah! What... what's that?" James shouted, alerting Jessie and Meowth as well...
The three of them wee quite flabbergasted to see that, rather than a rivulet of lava, it was a small, kind-eyed Slugma who was slithering towards James and looking at him in an almost begging way, leaving a small trail of cooling-down magma behind her. Still, recognizing the kind of Pokemon was not enough to calm down Team Rocket, who still remembered a nasty encounter with a Magcargo in the caves of Mt. Ember...
"Argh! It's another one of those..." James exclaimed in fear, not wanting to be on the receiving end of another Flamethrower! He chuckled nervously and tried to soothe the fiery Pokemon, waving his hand in an apologetic way. "Er... Hello, little Slugma... um... y'see, about what happened in the cavern, down there... well, I'd like to say that it was all just a misunderstanding!"
"Heheheheee... that's... that's it, exactly!" Jessie backed him up. "I... er... I mistook your boss... or your Mom... or whatever she was... for a stone, and I kicked her... if I knew, I wouldn't have done that, really! Let's... not talk about it anymore, okay? Let bygones be..."
"Hey, hold on a sec! That Slugma doesn't look like she's angry at all, ya know?" Meowth stated as he pointed at the slug-like Pokemon... who had just begun rubbing herself on the azure haired boy's leg, like an affectionate cat! "Kinda looks like she's fond of Jamey-boy... hey, now I get it! That's the Slugma you and Mime Jr. saved back there, James! I think she wants to thank you..."
"Huh? What do you mean..." James murmured, as he looked at the strange Fire-type Pokemon. Somehow, her body, seemingly made of molten rock, wasn't scalding the young Team Rocket member...
And one second later, one of James' Pokeballs snapped open... and out came the vivacious Mime Jr., who somersaulted through the air and landed near Slugma, calling her with a gesture of his hand!
"Mime, mime!"
"Slug?"
"Mime mime mime, mime mi!"
"Ma! Slug slugma slug, slugma!"
Meowth intently listened to the strange conversation between Pokemon... and when he looked up at Jessie and James, who apparently were waiting for a translation, his expression was just as confused as theirs were! "Er... Mime Jr. is having a nice chat with this... cute little slug... and she's saying that, to thank you for saving her life, she'd like you, Jamey-boy, to add her to your Pokemon team! She just decided you're her hero..."
"M-me?" James exclaimed, his eyes bugging out in amazement! He would never have imagined he'd become anyone's hero... and Jessie rubbed her forehead to calm down the headache she was getting from all of this!
"Oh, dear..." the girl muttered. "Now James, of all people, gets to become a hero! Five bucks says he gets a big head about this..."
In fact, the young man was getting somewhat self-important about all that, and his stupefied expression had left way to a more self-assured one. "Er... well, yeah, modestly speaking, I tried to do my best, and my Mime Jr. here did help me out a lot! Heheheee... but to call me a hero is kinda stretching it, don't ya think so, little Slugma? What about your friends, aren't they looking for you now?"
Slugma seemed to smile, her large eyes turning to a large rocky clearing in the proximities... upon which Team Rocket saw a group of Slugma, led by the very same Magcargo that had attacked Team Rocket in Mt. Ember's maze, standing there and looking at them with gratitude rather than resentment!
"Magcaaaaar! Go, Magcargo!" the lava snail exclaimed, bobbing her head from side to side. "Magcar magcargo, mag!"
"Er..." Meowth began to translate. "She's saying... that they're all thankful for how we saving their 'little sister'... and that they allowed her, at her request, to join James' team! They also said that they wish us good luck..."
"Well, for once we get to be the heroes, instead of blasting off again!" Jessie said. "Guess we need to thank you this time, James! Saving that Slugma was a brilliant move!"
James smiled proudly before producing a Pokeball and pointing it at the small Slugma. "If that's the case, little Slugma, and your friends are okay with it... welcome in my team! I'll be happy to take you along!"
"Slugma!" the small lava slug chirped enthusiastically before a small beam of light came from James' Pokeball and touched her, absorbing her inside the sphere. The ball moved around a little, but since Slugma had voluntarily let James catch her, it soon ceased moving, and one more Pokemon joined the young Team Rocket member's collection!
"Yay! Awesome!" James exclaimed, holding his Pokeball high in the air. "Now I have a Slugma in my team! Am I great or what?"
He was answered with a small round of applause by Jessie, Meowth and Mime Jr., before everyone went back to setting up their hot air balloon. "What should I say, James... this time, you really did a great job! But let's not waste too much time here, okay? We still have a mission to accomplish, remember?"
"Of course I do, Jessie!" James answered as he gave a thumbs-up. "Right then... thank you very much, Slugmas, Magcargo! We'll take good care of your little sister, we give you our word for it!"
"SLUGMA!" the Fire-type Pokemon answered, happily jumping up and down.
"Magcargo!" the giant lava snail echoed as Team Rocket waved at her and her companions.
"Hehehee... it sure feels good to be heroes, just this once!" Meowth thought out loud. "But... let's not forget what our objective is! We're still Team Rocket, and we're part of Kanto's most feared criminal team! We won't give up until Pikachu is in our hands, and I'll have brought down that stupid Persian!"
oooooooooo
When Charizard flew back to Ash and his team, warmly greeted by everyone but mostly Ash, Pikachu and Charla... Brock and Happiny had finally managed to gain enugh of Rhyhorn's trust to allow Brock to come closer and treat his paw. Chansey's pre-evolved form had used her Hardboiled move to create a cooked egg right in her hands, and had given it to Rhyhorn to eat, so that he could regain his strength, while Brock used a spray medicine on Rhyhorn's burn.
"Hey, Charizard!" Ash greeted as soon as his champion landed with a clap of his wings. "So, have you given Damien what he deserved?"
The fire-breathing lizard smiled fiercely and nodded, while Misty sighed in resignation. "Anyone ever told you, Ash, that you're a scoundrel? Still, I'd be lying if I said I feel sorry for the guy..." Misty commented cheekily.
"Yeah, I agree with that! The guy makes Paul look nice, I swear!" Dawn answered. "As for the rest... Brock and Happiny have almost finished treating Rhyhorn! It was nothing serious, really... though Rhyhorn should thank his hard-rock skin, or he would be crippled right now. It was a gout of hot lava, after all..."
Charizard and Charla joined the group as they looked at the medics taking care of the rhinoceros Pokemon, who had by then completely renounced all aggressiveness, and was almost completely relaxed. After spraying the burn medicine on Rhyhorn's paw, Brock wiped his forehead and looked up. "It's alright, everyone! Rhyhorn will be okay soon, and he will be able to go back to his everyday life!"
"That's good news, Brock." Phoebe answered with a nod. "Still... it seems to me that Rhyhorn has a different idea!"
"RHY!" the rhinoceros Pokemon grunted, two small clouds of steam exiting his nostrils in order to draw attention. "Rhyhorn, rhy... Rhy! Horn!"
"Happy?" a perplexed Happiny asked. "Happiny, happi happi ni?"
"Pika pichu pika chu pika pika chuuu..." Pikachu said to the trainers. They weren't able to completely understand Pokemon language, but the gist of it was clear enough.
"From what I understand, Rhyhorn wants to repay Brock in some way." Gary stated. "It's a bit of a personal honor thing, considering Brock helped him..."
"So now he wants to be the one helping out Brock and his friends." Phoebe concluded... before placing a hand on her head and laughing goofily! "Hehehee... well, before you ask, no, I didn't read his mind or anything! It's just that... I have some experience with this kind of Pokemon: they're warriors deep down, and I understand their way of thinking!"
"We have some experience with that ourselves, right, Dawn?" Misty asked her new friend, keeping an eye on Ash, Gary and Charizard.
Dawn giggled amusedly. "You're right, Misty... I saw how Ash really give it his all to win in the Sinnoh league!" she stated. Now that she thought of it, she wondered where Paul might have gone. As much of an unpleasant person he might be, he certainly wasn't one who gave up that easily.
"Charrr..." Even Charla seemed to agree with that, crossing her front paws on her chest and expressively looking at her beloved, who reacted by becoming red - well, even redder than he already was - and turning away, as if saying he was not having that conversation!
Brock chuckled and placed his hand on Rhyhorn's head, near his largest scar. "Very well then, Rhyhorn... if you're okay with it, you can join my Pokemon team! I just happen to have a free space... and I'm sure you'll get along very well with the others!" he told his newest Pokemon.
"Horn!" Rhyhorn finally grunted, feeling that his life was about to get a lot more interesting...
oooooooooo
The first thing that met Zoey's eyes as soon as she woke up was a blinding light being flashed directly in her eyes, and the redhead moaned in annoyance before trying to get up... only to be greeted with a sharp pain in her wrists as she felt something binding her to something she couldn't see, and something abrasive scratching her skin. Finally, she was able to open her eyes and look around herself.
"Ugh... darn..." she murmured, trying to understand where she was. One second later, she remembered what happened when she and her friends had attempted to sneak inside Team Vicious' hideout, and shook her head in order to clear it. "Candice... Maylene... girls, where are you?"
"Oh, very well! Even the third princess finally woke up! I was getting a little restless!" a baritone, adipose voice commented. Zoey's vision finally cleared, and that was when she discovered that she had been tied by her wrists to a metal pole jutting out of a wall, right above her head. She was kneeling on a cold linoleum floor, and standing in front of her was a group of intimidating individuals wearing helmets that looked like gas masks and black uniforms with a mirrored R enblazoned on their chests... the same outfit as the three opponents she and her friends had faced on their way to the hideout! Leading the small group was the man who had just spoken, who wore a similar but more decorated uniform, and whose unhealthy physique was well evident! And one didn't even have to look very far to understand the reason for his large size: judging from the double hamburger he was snacking on, he didn't look like the kind of person who worried about his weight.
And what about Candice and Maylene? Where had they gone to?
"Zoey!" the small Fighting-type Gym Leader's voice came from Zoey's right, and the redhead quickly turned, relieved to see both her and Candice with their hands tied to iron bars fixed to the walls. It seemed that the Team Vicious grunt hadn't even bothered to take away their Pokemon - and in fact, without the use of their hands, the girls couldn't call upon them.
"Zoey, are you okay?" Candice asked in worry. Still feeling a little dizzy, Zoey slowly nodded... and that was when the obese man, petting a Noctowl that was perched on his shoulder, started speaking.
"You can greet each other later, girls... before you do that, you should listen to my proposal! My name is Jakov, and I'm one of Team Vicious' top executives. I have a modest proposal for you, and believe me, you'd do well to accept it!" he said, his greedy eyes going from one girl to the other.
Candice grit her teeth in rage, and tried to turn away when the repellent-looking man approached her. "A... proposal, you say? And why should we accept? If you're Team Vicious, then you're the ones who caused that avalanche, the one who hit my hometown!" she shouted in fury. "I don't see we should agree to help you!"
Jakov shrugged off the implicit threat. "Oh, I'm sure you'll soon change your mind, little Candice... because, you see, I forgot to mention that refusing is not an option here! My idea is for you to join us and help us capture the famed Legendary Pokemon, Registeel, Regirock and Regice... another step for Team Vicious towards our goal of world domination! The alternative to joining us, I regret to say, would be your death. I'd say it's an easy choice, isn't it?"
"Wh... what?" Zoey murmured, her eyes widening. The stakes had suddently gotten much higher than she had thought...
oooooooooo
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Note: And there you have it! What will Ash and his friends do, before their journey through the Sevii archipelago? Will Team Rocket have more success, now that Slugma has joined James' team? And can Zoey and her friends get out of this bind?
The answers, at least a few of them, will come soon enough! In the meantime, I hope you liked this chapter... and see you soon!