Chapter
16
"An
unfortunate battle"
"Sceptile!"
Sceptile leaped into an offensive position as it pulled back its arms ready to strike the mighty seven foot beast with its Leaf Blade attack. Ash furiously watched the battle, grinding his teeth while holding the Professor's ray gun in his left hand. May clutched Ash's right arm in fear as the Dark type Pokemon was aiming a Hyper Beam attack right toward them. The two trainers could feel the wind escaping them as the Tyranitar continued to draw energy for its attack.
"Tiiile!" the grass lizard screamed.
The neon colored blades under its arms slashed Tyranitar right in the abdomen. The beast staggered backwards, gasping out in pain as the attack hit its mark. Its eyes glowered as it menacingly looked at Sceptile, ready to return the pain tenfold.
"Tzzzaaaaaaaaar!" Tyranitar roared as the orange beam of light was continuing to form in its mouth.
"Sceptile, don't give it time to power up its attack! Strike it again!" Ash commanded.
Sceptile readied its arms as it leaped over Tyranitar's head and stood in an offensive position behind its back. The Dark type wasn't able to follow the grass lizards' quick movements, and was a bit disoriented when it didn't realize that Sceptile was standing behind it. The heavy wind continued to blow throughout the field which nearly blew Ash's hat off his head. Ash and May's hair was blowing harshly in the wind as the boy even found it a bit difficult to stand. May's legs twitched as she clung to his arm trying not to lose her balance.
"Now!" Ash cried while holding down on his hat.
Tyranitar barely had a chance to turn around before Sceptile struck the scales on its back with its blades. Sceptile's attack had pierced its hide as Tyranitar's eyes bulged in pain. The roar that followed wasn't a roar, but a whelp of pain.
"Sceptile's attacks seem to be doing a great deal of damage to it! Isn't Tyranitar a Rock type?" May struggled to say while pressing herself against his arm.
Ash continued to hold down his hat while holding the ray gun in the same hand. He looked down at May making sure he held her around the waist so the wind wouldn't knock her down on her back. "Yeah, Tyranitar is part Rock type. Sceptile's attacks are doing double the damage with every blow."
Tyranitar was completely enraged after being pierced by Sceptile twice. It quickly pounded the ground with its fist to send a powerful shockwave along the area. The ground trembled as Sceptile struggled to keep its balance.
"Ugh…the whole place is shaking!" May yelled.
Ash quickly gripped May around the waist and pressed her against his side. His hand gripped her lower back right above her fanny pack, while May clung with one hand around his arm and the other gripped onto his shirt over his chest. Standing during the shockwave was quite a feat in itself, as their knees began to weaken thus losing footing on the ground.
"Damnit! What does that Tyranitar think its doing? This whole fight is pointless!" Ash cried as he held May's body tightly against his own, "May, hold on!"
May closed one eye as the ground continued to shake around them. Various gusts of wind continued to weaken their stances even more as they nearly toppled over.
"Ugh…this is terrible…I don't think I can stand much longer!" May cried as she continued to hold onto his chest.
The ground clamored around them while Tyranitar wasn't phased by the tremors. It turned to Sceptile with a menacing gaze. In the split of a second, Tyranitar had given the grass type a fist right to its chest. Sceptile spit out some saliva as the pain pulsated throughout its body. Tyranitar then gripped its shoulders and violently tossed him over his head back toward its trainer.
Ash and May looked with horror as Sceptile plummeted to the ground before them. The badly beaten Pokemon coughed along the ground as if it were gasping for air. It tried picking itself up only to continue to gag from the blow to its chest.
"Sceptile!" an enraged Ash yelled, "Damn it!"
Tyranitar turned toward the three that cowered in front of it. They were standing roughly 15 feet apart, but Ash and May could make out the aggressive nature on its face. They looked aghast as Tyranitar had finally finished forming the orange ball of light in its mouth.
"It's going to fire a Hyper Beam right at us!" Ash screamed.
"TYRANITAR!" the Pokemon roared as it shot the beam out of its mouth toward the trio.
May's heart skipped a beat as she saw the attack quickly coming toward them. She noticed that Ash was completely engulfed in rage and wasn't comprehending the danger they were in.
"We have to get down!" May cried as she pulled Ash toward the ground with her.
May tugged on Ash's shirt until the two fell flat toward the ground. She fell with her back flat against the grass and pulled Ash's body on top of her. The two lay next to one another as the Hyper Beam passed over their bodies.
The powerful energy attack exploded in the background behind the trainers. May pressed Ash's body against hers as they struggled against the aftershock of the explosion. Sceptile lay on the ground near them with its hands over its head. Various debris and dead branches flung over their faces and nicked their skin as they flung by. Ash struggled to look up at their aggressor before realizing that his grip on the ray gun was loosening. His strength was quickly weakening, as the boy was still recovering from the blow to his head from a few hours before. Before he knew it, the ray gun was blown out of his hands and into the forest beside them.
"Ugh…the gun!" Ash cried, trying to reach for it as the air blew it into the bushes.
"Stay down, Ash!" May instructed as she pressed Ash's body down on top of her own, "You're going to get yourself hurt by all this debris being blown by!"
"May, let go of me quickly!" Ash gazed up as the Tyranitar started walking toward them, "It looks like it's going to ram us!"
May gasped as she let go of Ash's body. The boy quickly stood up as he pulled May's hands and brought her back up beside him. The tremors along the ground had stopped, and most of the heavy wind was halting due to Tyranitar no longer powering up its attack. Ash held May's hand as the two stood next to each other fearing the worst.
"Sceptile?" Sceptile grunted as it finally managed to stand back up again.
"Sceptile, please hang in there!" Ash gasped.
Sceptile staggered a bit as its pride was hurt. The Pokemon was more determined than ever to get back at Tyranitar for the injuries it had received. It growled ferociously as the two Pokemon stared each other down.
"Dammnit, Sceptile needs help," May said as she let go of his hand. She reached into her fanny pack and pulled out a Pokeball, "Combusken I need you!"
A flash of light formed beside Sceptile which took shape into her fighting type Pokemon, Combusken.
"May, what are you doing?" Ash asked angrily.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" May snapped, "This isn't a Pokemon battle! We could be killed!"
"Sceptile can handle this!" Ash said angrily.
"No he can't!" May scolded, "You need my help! Combusken is going to fight alongside it."
Ash felt a pounding pain on the back of his head. He reached with his hand and felt his bandages as an uneasy expression appeared on his face. Sweat dripped off his cheek as he looked at the Tyranitar ahead of him.
"I'll never forgive that Pokemon for what it did to my Swellow," Ash gnarled, "I'm going to make sure I beat it alone and avenge what happened to it!"
"Combusken?"
"Sceptile?"
The two Pokemon turned back to its trainers waiting for a command. Tyranitar slowly started marching toward the Pokemon as saliva dripped out of its mouth. Apparently Tyranitar was biding its time, it was waiting for Sceptile and Combusken to make a move before it decided what to do. Ash and May looked ahead at their Pokemon.
"Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!" Ash yelled.
"Combusken, use Flamethrower!" May commanded.
"May!" Ash yelled irritably, turning to her.
Sceptile darted for Tyranitar as Combusken shot its attack toward it from a distance. The fire pressed against Tyranitar's body and ended up doing little damage. Sceptile tried attacking at close range, readying its Leaf Blade, but as soon as it got within arms reach Tyranitar smacked the Pokemon aside with its hand.
"Scep…!" Sceptile grunted as he was knocked brutally aside to the ground.
"May, I said I'll handle this!" Ash shouted, "Your Combusken is just going to end up distracting my Sceptile! I'm not going to let Tyranitar get away with shooting a Hyper Beam at us and what it did to my Swellow!"
May was infuriated. "Ash, shut up!" she blurted out, crossing her arms.
"What? What are you saying that for?" Ash asked, still enraged about Tyranitar.
In the distance, Sceptile and Combusken continued attacking Tyranitar without orders from their trainers. Their attacks and coordination were weak and unskilled as the two Pokemon could barely put a dent in its armor. Tyranitar continued to let Combusken and Sceptile get into close range before it would use its arm to smack the two to the side. While their trainers argued back and forth, their Pokemon became irritable and unfocused and ended up missing their mark with most of their attacks, only to get badly beaten by blows to the head or stomach.
"May, we don't have time for this!" Ash snapped, "Call back your Combusken! Let me take down this Tyranitar…I have to!"
"Ash, you're losing it!" May argued furiously, "This isn't about avenging your Swellow, you're taking this to an unhealthy extreme! You're lost in rage and you're not even thinking clearly!"
"I don't care!" Ash cried, "Tyranitar will pay for what he did to me and my Pokemon."
"Ash, we're going to lose if you don't calm down, listen to me!" an agitated May continued.
"No! Just be quiet and stand aside, I'm taking down Tyranitar myself. Now stop distracting me!" Ash said in a hostile tone.
May blew her cool and clenched a fist. She stepped over to Ash and swiftly pulled back her hand and slapped him across his face. Her slap echoed the field as the boy was completely shocked that she had slapped him.
Ash brought his hand to his cheek where she had struck him, "What…what was that for?" he asked uncertainly.
"To bring you back to your senses!" May said irritably. She then lowered her eye brows trying to assess the situation. Her demeanor then suddenly changed as her voice started cracking and tears started forming in her eyes.
"May…" Ash said, still rubbing his cheek in shock.
May became emotional as a few tears ran down her cheeks. She put her hands on Ash's shoulders as she tried to reason with him. "Ash, you have to realize what you were saying!" she said as she burst into tears. "You were losing your head and acting on rage...all you could think about was beating that Tyranitar at all costs that you ended up lost in your emotions! Didn't you tell me once that a good trainer never loses their cool in battle? That no matter how hard or hopeless the situation seems, that you shouldn't give in to frustration?"
May shook his body trying to explain her thoughts to him. Ash felt regrettable as he understood what she meant.
"Look at our Pokemon out there!" May exclaimed, wiping her tears. She put one hand on Ash's face to turn him to the fighting.
Combusken and Sceptile were desperately trying to damage Tyranitar to no avail, without the support and instruction from their trainers, the two Pokemon lost their focus and continually got slammed into the ground by the mighty Dark type Pokemon.
Ash watched regrettably as Tyranitar grabbed Combusken by the arm and threw it into Sceptile. The two collided and slammed violently against a tree. Tyranitar roared as Sceptile and Combusken desperately tried to stand up and continue to fight. Even without their trainers support, the two Pokemon were determined to protect them at all costs.
"See them, Ash? They're losing!" May sobbed, rattling his body, "They're losing because we're not fighting alongside them…they don't have their hearts in the battle. You were commanding your Sceptile in frustration with vengeance in mind…that's…."
A conscience-stricken Ash turned to her with a gaping mouth. He knew exactly what she meant.
"…that's not the Ash I know," she said letting go of his shoulders. She wiped her arm across her eyes.
"May," Ash said apologetically, holding her shoulder, "You're…you're right."
May sniffed as she looked into his eyes. The two glanced over at the battlefield as Tyranitar delivered a swift kick into Combusken's stomach. The fire type kneeled in pain as Tyranitar then smacked its tail into Sceptile's side and sent it to the ground. The two Pokemon continued to cry out in pain, receiving blow after blow.
"Ugh…I'm an idiot," Ash said regrettably, "I was acting without thinking and sending my Sceptile on a suicide mission. It's getting torn to pieces out there and I'm responsible for it. All…all I was thinking about was the pain I saw my Swellow in and I wanted to deliver that same pain back to Tyrantar…I…."
May smiled and reached for his cheek as she rubbed her hand where she had slapped him. She gently stroked his cheek passionately as if to say that she was sorry for slapping him as well. "Thank you, Ash, now let's battle together," she said lovingly.
"Right, thank you. I know the odds may be against us but if there's a way to win, we're going to find it." Ash smiled as he pressed her hand against his face, "Sceptile, fall back!"
Sceptile heard its trainers' voice as it struggled to get up and quickly leaped back toward its trainer.
"Combusken, regroup!" May commanded, bringing her hand back to her side, "Follow Sceptile!"
Combusken heartily obeyed its trainer as it quickly dodged a fist from Tyranitar which made contact with the ground instead.
"Guys…I'm so sorry," Ash said as Sceptile and Combusken gathered in front of him, "We need to work together and battle like we always do…and not with anger or contempt clouding my judgment."
"Scep, Sceptile," Sceptile said happily. It was a little beaten up and had several bruise marks along its body, but the grass type wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"And we're going to work with Ash and Grovyle," May said to Combusken as she patted its head, "If we work as a team we'll be able to bring that Tyranitar down and find out why it's attacking us in the first place."
Combusken smiled in agreement at her. It rubbed off some dirt on its side and was ready to continue fighting with it's trainer beside it.
Tyranitar stood in the far distance, bewildered as to why the two Pokemon retreated back to their trainers.
"Alright, let's do this, you two," Ash said confidently, "May, I'll be happy to battle alongside you. You're exactly the type of friend I always want at my side."
"So I see," May winked as she turned toward Tyranitar.
Sceptile and Combusken stood in front of their two trainers respectively, ready to continue the fight. This time with their trainers behind them, the two Pokemon stood confidently knowing that they have the support they need to win.
"May, I have an idea," Ash turned to her, "Neither long distance nor physical attacks seem to be working against it….but if we…"
"…strike it at different intervals," May continued for him, "We may just confuse Tyranitar enough to not know who is going to hit it next!"
"Looks like you caught onto my idea already," Ash smiled, turning back to the battlefield.
"Sure," May nodded, "I think I can tell what you're planning just by looking at you."
"Ok then, Sceptile, use Bullet Seed!" Ash commanded.
"Combusken, use Body Slam!" May shouted.
The two Pokemon somersaulted into the air and landed at opposite ends of Tyranitar. Sceptile grinned menacingly as it quickly shot bullets of seeds toward the Dark type. The attack made contact with Tyranitar as Combusken swiftly slammed into its back with its arms.
"Tzar!" Tyranitar shouted, looking back at Combusken.
"Quickly, get of there and jump to the side!" she shouted.
Combusken leaped away from Tyranitar before the Pokemon could strike it. Sceptile continued taking small leaps to the side while firing Bullet Seed in succession at the Dark type. Tyranitar staggered as it could no longer ignore the pounding feeling on its chest from Sceptile's attack.
"Tyraaaaan!" Tyranitar roared as it charged for Sceptile in a ramming position.
"Now, May!" Ash said to her.
"Right!" May nodded, "Combusken, use Fire Spin!"
"Commmmmmbusken!" the Pokemon shouted as it shot a wheel of flames from its mouth.
"Sceptile, dodge Tyranitar!" Ash commanded.
Sceptile leaped up into the air and bounced off Tyranitar's head before somersaulting behind it. Tyranitar was more agitated than ever as it could no longer deliver a single blow to the two Pokemon without them avoiding it.
"This better work!" May hoped.
Tyranitar looked up as Combusken's Fire Spin had fallen from the sky and surrounded it completely. Several rings of fire closed in on Tyranitar in succession and beat down on its body. The Pokemon shouted as the intense heat from the flames radiated off its hide and had it immobilized.
"Now, Sceptile, fire Bullet Seed but aim for the rings of fire!" Ash commanded.
Sceptile opened its mouth and released its strongest seeds from its body at the Pokemon devastated by the rings of fire.
The attack then combined with the fiery rings as the seeds went around the flames in a circular pattern, those which kept the Pokemon immobilized. Tyranitar struggled to move its arms and legs but the pain and intense heat from the fire was too much.
"It's working, Sceptile's attack combined with the Fire Spin," Ash chortled.
The seeds started striking Tyranitar once they picked up enough speed from the fire spin. The Pokemon was now being assaulted with two attacks at once, the rings of fire that kept it immobilized, as well as the speeding bullets that gained enough speed from the rings and burst into flames upon impact against Tyranitar's body.
"It still can't move, should we keep on attacking?" May asked him, curiously.
"No. I don't think Tyranitar will be able to break himself free. These attacks are wearing it down, no matter how strong it thinks it is, all Pokemon can be taken down eventually," Ash stated.
"But fire attacks aren't that effective against Rock Pokemon, are you sure it won't be able break itself free from the attack?"
"Even though it's not very effective going by types, the damage of the attacks is still accumulating and wearing it down. Especially if those rings of fire hold consistent around its body."
May smiled, "I see now, looks like this is going to work. Great plan, Ash."
"Heh, thanks," Ash snickered, putting his hand behind his head.
Tyranitar couldn't take the heat any longer as it started twirling itself in a circular pattern inside the rings. The ground beneath it started to crumble and break as the Pokemon was digging a hole for itself to escape the attack from underground.
"Combusken!" Combusken shouted as it pointed toward Tyranitar.
"Huh?" May gasped.
"It's using Dig! Damn, it's going to tunnel its way underground!" Ash gasped.
"Oh no!" she covered her mouth.
"TYRAN!" Tyranitar roared as it dug a hole in the ground in the interior of the flaming rings.
Ash and May shook nervously as they could hear the burly Pokemon digging its way underground, but they had no idea where it would pop up from. Sceptile and Combusken stood side by side as they turned their heads nervously looking for Tyranitar.
"Ugh, it's tunneling its way underground. Don't you hear it?" Ash grunted.
"Yes…" May gasped in fear, "The sounds are getting closer, Ash!"
Ash looked along the ground as he could see it shaking from the Pokemon underneath. What he didn't realize was that Tyranitar was closer to him than he thought. Suddenly. the ground tore open right in front of Ash as Tyranitar jumped out toward the trainer.
May frightfully watched as Tyranitar slammed on the ground in front of Ash. Before the boy had anytime to react, the Dark Pokemon swung its arm into Ash's shoulder and sent him flying a few feet to the right.
"ASH!" May shouted fearfully as she saw him plummet to the ground head first.
"Sceptile!!!" Sceptile yelled angrily as it darted for Tyranitar.
Ash grunted as he tried to sit up from the ground. His head pounded as it had hit the same exact spot when falling to the ground as it did when the tree branch struck it. "Ugh…." he moaned as he frantically rubbed the back of his head over the bandage in pain.
"Tyranitar!" The Pokemon bellowed in triumph.
Sceptile however did not enjoy seeing its trainer being hurt twice, as its blades glowed a neon green color again. It angrily somersaulted over Tyranitar's body as it twirled itself into a spinning pose in the air. Before Tyranitar could even look up, Sceptile came crashing down upon its skull and delivered a double blow to its head with its Leaf Blade attack.
The impact directly struck the most sensitive part of its body as Tyranitar staggered backward in pain. Before giving it a chance to recuperate, Sceptile aggressively slashed Tyranitar along the chest with its Leaf Blade attack.
It gasped heavily, trying to catch its breath from attacking its opponent. Tyranitar grabbed its chest in pain as it fell down on one knee. The Pokemon closed one eye in pain as it took one last gaze at Sceptile. Ash's Pokemon spit to the side and watched triumphantly as Tyranitar collapsed along the ground. The Pokemon fell face first to the ground and lay motionless after taking the burden of Sceptile's assault.
"Busken, combusken!" Combusken compliment Sceptile for a job well done.
"Sceptile, Scep," Sceptile said proudly as it defeated their adversary.
"Ash!" May ran over to him frantically to see if he was ok. Sceptile and Combusken quickly followed her.
Ash was sitting upright on the ground, rubbing his head painfully. He glanced with one eye over at Tyranitar and somehow throughout all that groaning and pulsating pain, he snickered.
"Ash, you fell on your head!" May exclaimed as she kneeled down beside him, pressing against the bandage on the back of his head, "You got hit in nearly the same place again!"
"As long as my head doesn't explode, I'm sure I'll manage," Ash said, trying to force out a smile, "Hurts like hell though."
May grinned in relief as she applied pressure to his bandage to keep it against his skull. She sat on her knees beside him as she placed one hand on his shoulder and the other against his head. Sceptile and Combusken gazed down at Ash happily.
"Scep, Sceptile," Ash grinned, "You did good, buddy."
"Sceptile," Sceptile cheered.
"You too, Combusken," May added, looking up at her Pokemon. Combusken nodded knowing that Sceptile should receive most of the credit for delivering the final blow to Tyranitar.
"Ugh, let me stand, May," Ash said as he tried to get up.
"Are…are you sure you can stand?" May asked nervously as she helped lift him up from the ground, "I think we need to get you right back to that Pokemon Center."
Ash chuckled as May loosened her grip on him. He now stood upright, still holding the back of his head.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea," he said, stroking his head, "But the Professor's ray gun, it got blown into the bushes over there during the battle. We can't forget about it."
"You're right," May said, "Combusken, could you go search those bushes on the other end of the field for the ray gun? Since you never saw it before, I'll say that it looks like some sort of mechanical gun, you should be able to spot it easily along the bushes when you see it."
"Busken!" Combusken beat its chest as it quickly ran toward the bushes to search for the gun.
Ash steadily walked over to the fallen Tyranitar. He gazed upon it sternly as the fainted Pokemon lie on the ground with its eyes closed. He then kneeled down before it and placed one hand on its head, trying to soothe its pain.
"Ash?" May asked.
"This Tyranitar…it belongs to the Professor," Ash said, rubbing its head gently, "Why did it attack us, May? Why didn't it calm down when we told it that we were here to bring it back to its trainer? Why…why did it attack us the same way it did Team Rocket? And…why did it do that to my…Swellow?"
May sighed as she noticed his voice begin to stagger with his last line. She gazed down upon the beaten Tyranitar as she could see its skin was scored by Combusken's Fire Spin. Its body also had several bruises and cuts from the battle.
"I…don't know," May scratched her cheek, "It made no sense why Tyranitar would just attack us like that. This whole battle should have never taken place."
"Hmmm…now I'm wondering what we should do with it. We can't exactly leave the Professor's Tyranitar fainted and badly injured along the ground here," Ash said as he stood back up.
"Didn't Jessie drop its Pokeball right before she blasted off?" May asked, "Tyranitar's Pokeball should still be along the ground here somewhere.
"Heh, you're right. I nearly forgot about that," Ash turned to his Pokemon, "Sceptile, you hear that? Could you do a quick search and see if you could find its Pokeball?"
"Sceptile," it said agreeably as it then began to march along the grass and look for Tyranitars' Pokeball.
Ash stopped rubbing his head and gasped painfully, the boy's head still hurt from the impact upon hitting the ground. May noticed that he was in pain and knew they had to get back to the Pokemon Center.
"I'm sorry, Ash, why do I keep letting these bad things happen to you? You keep getting hurt," May said in remorse.
"Don't blame yourself, heck, I'm asking myself the same question," he chuckled, "Why do I keep getting myself into these situations? The pain is a good enough reminder not to get myself into danger again."
"Wow, Ash, you're really something," May chortled.
"Combusken!"
"Sceptile!"
The two trainers suddenly heard their Pokemon call out from the distance. They looked up and then saw Combusken and Sceptile running back toward them.
"Hey, looks like they found them!" Ash said happily.
"Combusken!" Combusken said as it held up the ray gun to May.
May took the ray gun out of its hands and looked it over, "This is it, Combusken, great job. Yeeees, we're going to finally be able to turn my brother back to normal! No nasty needle for him! Tee hee!"
"Scep!" Sceptile handed the Pokeball over to Ash.
"Heh, thanks buddy," Ash said.
"Are you going to put it back in its ball now, Ash?" she asked him.
"Sure, what other way can we carry it around? Return, Tyranitar!" he called out as he pointed the Pokeball toward the fainted Pokemon.
The red laser emitted from the Pokeball and retracted Tyranitar back inside of it. Ash looked at the Pokeball in his hand before lowering it to the side.
"Well, May, we got the Professor's ray gun and Tyranitar back. Looks like we've accomplished what we set out to do," Ash said proudly.
"Yeah, but both you and Swellow got injured in the process. I wonder if this was all worth it," she clasped her hands at him, "I mean, we haven't even seen what your Swellow looks like in the emergency room. I…hope Joy lets us see it."
"I do too," Ash sighed.
"Alright, I'm taking you back to the Pokemon Center, Ash. Nurse Joy is probably going to kill us, but it's better that you have your head looked at again," she said, holding his arm.
"Heh yeah, let's go guys!" Ash called out to the Pokemon.
Sceptile and Combusken walked beside their trainers as May helped Ash walk back down the hill toward the Pokemon Center. May held his arm to keep him steady just in case he wobbled down the hill. The two slowly made their way back to the Pokemon Center's front doors.
Meanwhile at the Professor's lab, Brock was in the middle of changing infant Max's diaper. Max lay on May's bed in the guest room as Brock took off his diaper.
"Gah, that smell is enough to kill anyone!" Brock gasped, holding his nose. He took the dirty diaper and dropped it in the garbage. "Max, you did this on purpose didn't you?"
Brock took some wipes and wiped Max's backside, he then took a fresh diaper from the package and wrapped it around his torso.
"Good thing you fit into the same size diapers as the ones we bought for Ash," he said. Brock tickled Max's belly as the boy giggled. "Heh, and you were the one who I sent to buy diapers for Ash too, weren't you? Little did you know that you would be wearing those diapers yourself."
Brock pulled the infants shorts back on and sat him up on the bed. Pikachu jumped alongside the bed and sat next to infant Max.
"Chu, pika?" Pikachu smiled, patting the boys' head.
The Professor then opened the guest room door and immediately held his nose. "GOOD GOD!" he exclaimed, "What the hell is that smell?"
Brock realized that the Professor smelled Max's dirty diaper which was in the wastebasket against the wall.
"Well…" Brock tried to say.
"Ugh. That stench is appalling," The Professor said as he turned to Brock, "Didn't I tell you to take your shower since you were stinking up the place?"
"Hey!" Brock waved his hands, "That smell isn't from me, I took my shower when Pikachu was watching Max a few hours ago. You really think that I could smell that bad?"
The Professor continued to clench his nose, "Well considering your body odor smelled just as bad this morning, I wouldn't be surprised."
"Uh…you're exaggerating," Brock put on a half smile, "The smell is from Max's dirty diaper….uh…apparently he decided to let out a whopper and I had to be the unlucky one to clean it all up."
"What? Where is the diaper now?" The Professor asked.
"It's in the garbage there against the wall," Brock said, pointing toward it.
"Don't put it in the garbage, boy! The whole room is going to stink up now!" The Professor bellowed, "Why didn't you flush the diaper down the toilet?"
"Oh, I didn't think of that," Brock said as he got up and walked to the garbage basket.
Max played with Pikachu's ear as the two watched Brock reach in and pull out the dirty diaper. Brock then walked to the bathroom and flushed the diaper down the toilet bowl.
"There…all done," Brock said.
"All done? You didn't wash your hands did you?" The Professor continued, "Do you think I want that stench on your hands spreading around my lab? Go wash up!"
"Yeah…of course," Brock sighed as he walked to the bathroom.
"And remember to use lots of soap! Clean your hands well!" The Professor shouted over the room.
"I hear you!" Brock rolled his eyes as he turned on the faucets, "Geez, he really is pushy when he wants to be."
"Bah, I might as well get back to my work now," The Professor walked toward the doorway, "I hope those friends of yours come back soon. They're been gone nearly the whole day already, its been 8 hours!"
Brock finished washing his hands as he rubbed them with a towel. He walked out of the room and sat down on the bed next to Max.
"I hope so too. I just hope Max doesn't deliver another one of those whoppers to me before they get the ray gun back," he said as he smiled at the infant.
"That reminds me," The Professor said as he turned around, "Do you or your friends have any Psychic Pokemon?"
His question caught Brock off guard, "Hm, no we don't. Why do you ask?"
"Just that if your friends don't find my ray gun by tomorrow, then I might as well whip up another batch of my #69 formula and inject it into Max's bloodstream. I'd like to turn the boy back to normal as soon as possible so this whole fiasco can be forgotten about," The Professor said, "The only problem is I just realized that I have no more materials to make another batch of the formula. So unless they find the ray gun and we use that to turn him back, the boy will be stuck as an infant for a little while longer."
"But what are the Psychic Pokemon for?" Brock asked.
"Oh, they just help with the formula. A key ingredient of my formula #69 deals with my study of Psychic Pokemon over the years. If you must know, one of the reasons the formula works is because I take a blood sample from Psychic types that know the move "Recover". I then mix the chemistry of the attack with other ingredients and presto, it reverses the de-aging process and brings the infants back to their normal age."
"Wow, that's interesting. I always figured that the formula of yours could have been related to healing powers that certain Pokemon know, but I didn't really dwell on it," Brock said.
"Ah, no worries then. I'm sure I can get the Pokemon Center a few miles from here to transfer one over," The Professor said as he walked out of the room.
Brock glanced up at the clock, it was indeed over 8 hours since Ash and May first left.
"You guys have been gone a really long time," Brock said to himself, "I sure hope they didn't get themselves into any trouble. Sometimes I wonder if those two can even navigate a forest by themselves without getting lost. But knowing them, they're probably lost in the forest anyway. Either that or they just can't find Team Rocket."
~*~*~*~~*
Ash sat comfortably in his bed again at the Pokemon Center. He now had another set of bandages wrapped over the previous ones, which cushioned his head even more. May explained the story to Joy as to why they had to run out of the Pokemon Center in hopes that Joy would forgive them.
"You're lucky that you didn't get yourself hurt anymore than you did, young man," Joy scolded her patient, "Chasing after a bunch of crooks who stole your possessions isn't the smartest thing to do when you're hurt in the first place."
"Don't blame him, Joy," May defended him, "We just couldn't let them get a lead on us again or else we'd never be able to find them again. They were going to leave the port by ferry in a few hours anyway, that's why we rushed to catch them."
"I understand, but it was still reckless behavior," Joy said, "Now, do not get up from your bed unless its to go to the bathroom, you understand? And even then I'm not sure I want you walking there by yourself."
"I…understand," Ash sighed, "Its not like I'm that badly hurt or anything though….nothing like my Swellow's condition."
Joy relaxed her tension a bit, "I'm sure you're worried sick about your Swellow. And I promise the first thing tomorrow you'll get a chance to see it."
"Really?" Ash asked happily.
"Yes, Swellow is resting now but it's still in a great deal of pain. I believe seeing its trainer will give it the strength it needs to pull through," Joy said, "But remember, you still need to make up your mind whether you want to proceed with the surgery via the Psychic Pokemon procedure of healing it."
Ash nodded solemnly, "I know."
Joy nodded as she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her. May walked over to the Professor's ray gun which was on the table next to Ash's bed. She placed one hand on it as she thought of her brother.
"May, it looks like I'm going to be spending the night here. I know you want to turn your brother back to normal, you should go ahead and go back to the lab," Ash said.
May held the ray gun in her hand and turned to Ash, "You'll be ok?"
Ash grinned contently. "Yea, don't worry, I'll be fine by myself, go help Max."
May twitched her body and blushed slightly, "I do, Ash. I want to help my brother so badly, but I'm a bit split about leaving you here. After what happened in the forest, I wanted to make sure to be by your side as you got better again."
"Go," Ash said, "It's ok, I appreciate it. But you also have to bring back Tyranitar to the Professor, as well as tell Brock and Pikachu everything that happened. The guys don't even know what happened to us."
"That's true," May nodded, "Pikachu especially would get upset if it heard you were hurt and are in a hospital bed. I should also tell them about your Swellow."
"Yeah, go help your brother, May," Ash said, "Baby Max probably misses you."
May stepped over to Ash and leaned herself toward him, "I'll come back, ok? I'm not going to stay at the lab after I tell them the news. I don't want to sleep there knowing that you're still here."
"You're sounding really corny," Ash said as he stroked her arm.
May blushed contently as he rubbed her arm gently. She slowly stepped backward and started gathering her belongings from the table. She put Tyranitar's Pokeball in her fanny pack and picked up the ray gun in her right hand. She strapped her fanny pack around her waist as she slowly walked toward the door.
She turned back toward her friend compassionately, "Good luck, Ash. I know you'll be able to make the right choice for your Swellow."
"I...hope," Ash sighed.
May sighed as well as she opened the door and walked outside. She took one last glance at Ash sitting quietly in the room before she gently shut the door.
"Ash…" May said to herself, "Hmmmm, alright Max. I guess it's time to correct my past mistake for not being there to help you when Team Rocket broke into the lab. You'll be back to my annoying 9 year old sibling in no time."
May replayed the days' events in her mind as she headed back to the Professor's lab. So much had happened in one day, that it was easy for everything to jumble together and forget most of it. With ray gun in hand, she quickly jogged her way back to the lab eager to turn her brother back to normal and give the news about Ash and Swellow to Brock, Max and Pikachu.