Me: Ok, Gantz and I have done some work on how the next few chapters would pan out, and here's our decision! PokeMario will soon be completed, meaning the final confrontation is not long off! In honor of this, I decided to kick things off by doing what some readers may have been dying for in this story as of late, and that is suspense.

Crow: Well, suspense is good.

Servo: Yeah, but this story was intended to be humorous, so one could never expect too much drama out of this kind of story. After all, we robots from MST3K are ment to be in a comical enviornment. A little drama is good, as long as the drama helps the laughter along.

Zane: Well, what happens here anyway?

Gantz: You'll have to wait and see. Nutcase came up with a good plan here considering how the next few chapters will play out.

Mallow: Well, let's get started, shall we?

Chapter 41: Ambush

In HO-OH's tower in Ecruteak City, the monks who watched over the Tin Tower were busy with what they were assigned to do when they started working there. That ment protecting HO-OH with their lives from unwanted visitors, and to help HO-OH with his daily needs. He may have been immortal, but HO-OH was still a pokemon, and had needs like any pokemon. Amongst those needs was food. Right now, HO-OH was busy eating his lunch, which consisted of various fruits found all over the world.

While he was eating, a terrifying vision came into his mind. He saw a dark shadow approaching the heroes he asked to save this world from Team Rocket and the Dentes Rhohos attack the group, and when it vanished HO-OH noticed a few people were missing. Clay, Zane, Jessie, James, Meowth, and most importantly, Ash. HO-OH was both scared and angered by this vision, and thought, 'I'm sure that shadow is reffering to those dark ones who invaded this world. I must warn the kids of this danger, especially young Ash.'

HO-OH told the monks to leave, and he flew from the tower in the direction the heroes currently were. As he flew, HO-OH said to himself, "I only hope that I wont be too late... God in heaven, my master, please aid me in my arrival so I may stop this evil from getting the upper hand!" HO-OH kept flying southward to where he felt the heroes were at this moment. Sadly, he would find he would be too late.

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A few days following the day of the fake Joel, the heroes arrived in the Ruins of Alph where Prof. Oak said Unown are said to appear. Of course, the chance they'd run into one was slim to none, but they had to try anyway.

After a complete search of the ruins, they couldn't find anything. Max said, "Man, I can't believe we couldn't find anything..." Cambot hovered over to the group, and said, "The closest thing I could find were these stone statues of each individual Unown, plus these hyroglyphs modeled to look like them."

Jessie then said, "Well, we still need to fight those demons, so we probobly shouldn't worry about this right now." Lucy then said, "I'd have to agree with you on that." Zane was looking off into the distance, and said, "I'm gonna take another look around." Clay volunteered to go with, along with Ash. They hoped to find some clue as to where to find the Unown around here. As they left, no one noticed a few Team Rocket grunts plus one of the higher ranked goons, known as Tyson, lurking about in the woods nearby.

Tyson said to himself, "Soon those kids will have no choice but to surrender!"

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As Ash, Clay, and Zane searched, they once again couldn't find anything. Clay then said, "What's it take to get them out of their dimension, huh!?" Ash then said, "I have no idea unfortunately. Some say some puzzle needs to be solved before they appear. I hand't seen anything like that around here."

At that moment, they heard a voice say, "And you're not gonna find that puzzle, because you brats are coming with us!" Zane got on the defensive, while Clay brought out his hammer. Ash, having figured by now that hoping some other idiot wanted to cause him trouble was nothing more than a pipe dream, yelled out with, "Ok Team Rocket, were are you!?"

The three suddenly felt something stick into their arms, like a needle. When they looked at their arms, they saw tranquilizer needles stuck in their arms. Before they could react, they fell asleep due to the sedatives. Tyson walked out of the bushes, flanked by two grunts, each of them armed with tranquilizer rifles. Tyson then said, "We got you now! All that's left is to deal with those traitors!"

The three friends were dragged off, relieved of all their pokemon, and were thrown into a truck as the Rockets drove to their hideout. However, Zane's Riolu was able to slip away before the ambush, and ran back to the group to warn them.

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A while later, Crow said, "They've been gone too long." Diddy then said, "Ok, DK and I'll go find them." DK then said, "Got it, little buddy. Let's go." Before the two kongs could move, a fine blue powder settled over the group. Kooper then said, "What the? What is this?" Brock then said, "It's Sleep Powder! Don't brea-" Brock didn't get the chance to finish his sentance as he fell asleep. Soon, everyone else did too.

When Tyson and his men arrived, he said, "Ok men, take these three with us back to the base, and relieve all their pokemon too." One of the grunts then said, "What about the others? What if they try to interfier when they wake up?"

Tyson then said, "Please, with their friends Clay, Zane, and Ash in our custody, plus these losers and all of their pokemon, they'll have no choice but to give up the chase! My promotion is assured, as well as the rest of you. Move out!" The Rockets took Jessie, James, and Meowth along with all of the rest of the pokemon the group had captured.

When Riolu got back, he saw he was too late, and began to cry. Finally, HO-OH arrived, and saw he was too late as well, and was pained to see Riolu's suffering. He quickly screeched loudly to awaken the team, and to get Riolu to stop crying.

When they saw HO-OH, the rainbow bird said, "There's no time to explain! Your friends are in grave danger, and now's the time to end this battle once and for all! Team Rocket and the Dentes Rhohos will not be allowed to get away with their wicked plans any longer!"

HO-OH rarely get's angry, but when he does, he wont stop until he sees whatever wrong commited has been resolved. HO-OH then summoned his servents, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune as they planned what they were going to do next.

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When he woke up, Ash was strapped down to a large metal table. He looked around and saw his friends Clay and Zane were already awake, and seriously pissed off. Zane then said, "When I get my hands on those Rockets, I swear I'll kill them for this!" Clay then said, "Oh no you don't, not unless I get to them first! First I'll break every bone in their bodies, THEN I'll ki-" Clay was cut off when a man walked through the door. He appeared to be in his early thirties, had black messy hair, and wore black-rimmed glasses. His face seemed somewhat psychotic judging by the smirk and the look in his eyes. His black jumpsuit had a badge that had the phrase 'Deep 13' written on it. There was also a nametag on his suit saying, "Hello! I'm Larry!"

The man then said in a cheerful tone, "Hi, I'm Dr. Laurence Erhardt, but everyone calls me Larry. I'll be the one inflicting cruel experiments on you today!" When Clay heard Larry's introduction, he felt more creeped out than he ever was before. This man's voice, aside from the cheerful tone, was too high-pitched for a man his age, and the tone was full of lunacy. To make matters worse, he had a feeling he had heard that name somewhere before, but couldn't place it right now.

Ash then yelled, "You'd better let us out of here!!!!!!" Larry then said, "And why would I do that!? You brats have been causing my friends trouble for too long! Not only that, you three have qualities no other human has, and the boss graciously let me spearhead the experimentation that will be done to you to determine what makes you kids so unique so we can take measures to prevent little rugrats like you from messing with us ever again! Now, time for the brain probe!"

At that moment several helmets which resembled plungers slowly moved down. Clay then said, "You have got to be kidding me..." Zane quickly said, "I don't think my insurance doesn't cover brain probing." Ash and Clay quickly copied Zane's strategy, hoping to throw the kooky scientist off. Larry then said, "Oh my, that would be a problem... I'd better check the stuff the others confiscated off of you to search for some form of insurance documents then."

When Larry walked away, Ash said, "Wow, I can't believe he fell for it!" Zane then said, "Sadly, I was only half joking about that. Ever since I started travelling, I caried all my insurance documents with me in the case of emergency." Clay then said, "Crap, so do I. And while although obvious that no insurance I know of covers the likelyhood of injury or death done by mad scientists, Larry there is gonna see that our insurance doesn't cover brain probing, and will likely do it anyway!"

A few minuts later, Larry returned and said, "Shoot, your insurance polocies don't cover brain probing... That means I can't do it to you guys. Perhaps we should ask one of the more corrupt insurance companies if they could do a special insurance form for Team Rocket?" The three friends were suprised Larry admitted defeat so easily. Zane then said wishfully, "So, can we go?" Larry then said, "Yes, you can go- I mean no way! You are my prisoners, and you will be tested! Any final questions?"

The three friends looked at each other fearfully, but Ash's gaze fell upon a large glass dome with a microchip inside it. There was a sticky note on the dome saying, "DO NOT TOUCH!!!!!!". Ash then asked, "What's that over there under that dome?" Larry looked over to where Ash indicated, and Larry said, "Seeing as how you kids can't go anywhere, I'll be glad to tell you! That microchip contains plans for an exremely powerful bomb I call the Galactic Bomb. So called because it's a bomb that is the man made equivalent of a supernova! Although, it's on a much smaller scale."

This scared Clay even worse than the thought of being jabbed with needles and IVs by this madman. He then said, "Are you crazy!? What in lord's name were you thinking when you made that!?! You could destroy half of New York with that kind of power!!!!!!!" Larry then said, "I was bored the day I came up with the plans, so lay off. Besides, even I knew how dangerous this was so I have it locked under that glass dome. I mentioned this to my superiors, and they even realized how bad this could be, so they designed a special lock only I can open. You don't have to worry about this thing falling into the wrong hands. At least, ones worse than us that is!"

Clay didn't know weither to be relieved or terrified, so he just kept quiet. Zane then said, "Look, just let us go and give us our stuff back! We wont press charges against you, but the rest of Team Rocket will still have to fall." Larry then said, "I'm very sorry, but I can't." Ash then said, "And why is that?" Larry then seemed pained to talk anymore, and all he said was, "I-I-I just can't!!!! I truly am sorry kids, I wish I could do something but I'd be in more trouble than those three traitors if I did."

Zane then said, "Traitors!? What do you mean?" Larry then said, "After we captured you, we also captured the ones known as Jessie, James, and Meowth to be tortured for betraying Team Rocket." The three friends looked at each other, and that's when Ash asked, "What about the others in our group!? If you did anything to Misty, Pikachu, or the others, I'll-" Larry then interupted by saying, "Well I have good news and bad news on that. The good news is that your other friends were left behind where they were found. Bad news, all of your pokemon were confiscated. Again, I'm sorry..."

After so many years of thwarting Team Rocket, Ash's worst fear finally became reality. Clay and Zane were equally saddened by this, and were begining to wonder how'd they get out of this one.

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Back with the rest of the heroes, Luigi was going crazy over Clay's disapperance. "Mario, Peach, and mama are gonna kill me! We gotta get Clay and the others back, but how!?!!!?" Brock then said, "Yeah, we hadn't found any leads as to were the Team Rocket Fall Back hideout is. Clay, Ash, and Zane are most likely there right now."

Max then said, "And without the help of the pokemon, we wont exactly be able to fight effectively. Even with Kooper, Goombario, Luigi, Meriee, Vivian, Yoshi, and Riolu, we wont have a very easy time..." Entei chuckled, and then said, "In case you have forgotten, we're on your side. It wont matter that your friends are not with us, although saving them is a must."

Meriee, who was holding Riolu, then said, "We have to do something fast... I'm very worried about our friends, and Riolu's going to pieces over Zane's abduction..." After Meriee finished her sentance, Riolu jumped from her arms and rushed into the forest on his own. Crow then yelled, "Hey Riolu, get back here! I know your worried about Zane, but we gotta stick together here!" Crow's words fell on deaf ears as Riolu rushed to where Zane, Ash, and Clay were captured.

When Riolu got there, he saw the tranquilizer darts on the ground. The sight of these darts, which brought down his adoptive father and his two friends filled him with rage, and sadness. With this, he felt the need to get stronger. At that moment, he noticed he was glowing brightly. He knew he had to be evolving.

When the other heroes arrived, they saw Riolu evolve into a much more impressive and imposing figure. Riolu was now four feet tall, and had well developed arms and legs.His eyes, while they retained the innocence they had before Riolu had evolved, were now more determined and ferice. Brock then yelled, "Riolu evolved into a Lucario!!!!" When Riolu spoke, his voice was now much deeper to show his maturity. He then said, "I have awakened at last. I'm glad to be back."

That's when Meriee asked fearfully, "W-W-What do you mean?" Lucario then said, "I may be to you just a Lucario, but I was offered a choice some time ago. That choice was to remain with the spirit of my old friend and partner, Sir Aaron in the afterlife, or to come back to life to save the world from another disaster. With encouragement from Sir Aaron, I decided to be reborn as my pre-evolved form to assist you. However, my soul was not fully awake until now."

May then said, "Wait, Sir Aaron!? You mean your the same Lucario we saw before!?!!" Lucario chuckled, and said, "Correct. And as I said before, it's great to be back! Now, by studying the bits of aura left behind by our friends, I can tell were our enemies have taken them. Let's go. We don't have time to waste!"

Lucario rushed to the northeast and the heroes quickly followed. HO-OH flew up close to Lucario, and Lucario said, "Thank you for the second chance." HO-OH then said, "You're welcome." HO-OH flew up high, and let out another screeching roar, and suddenly a large flock of bird pokemon of various species appeared. HO-OH told the bird pokemon to give the heroes a lift to their next destination as Lucario led the group on foot with HO-OH's servents, the legendary beasts on foot. HO-OH then said to himself, 'It is time.'

With the knowledge that the Riolu that hatched from Zane's egg is the reincarnation of the Lucario whom assisted Sir Aaron so long ago, combined with that same Lucario's aura reading ability, the heroes may have all they need to save Ash, Clay, Zane, Jessie, James, Meowth, as well as all of ther pokemon and the world. But this battle is far from over.

To be continued...

Crow and Servo: DR. ERHARDT!!!?!!!?

Zane: You know this guy?

Servo: He was the guy who originally worked with Dr. F before TV's Frank came onto MST3K!

Crow: And as a result was one of our original tormentors on the SOL!!!! Nutcase, what gave you the idea to do this!!?!

Me: I was watching one of the season 1 MST3K episodes on YouTube when I remembered that when season 2 started that Larry Erhardt vanished. I decided to make it to where Larry found himself in the Pokemon world, and joined Team Rocket. Many of their crazy inventions spawned from Larry's deranged mind since he joined the Team Rocket science division. However, part of him does resent Team Rocket as he prefered to work independantly than to take orders. He may have worked under Dr. Forrester, but even he was a little lenient compared to the likes of his superiors.

Zane: So THATS why the Dentes Rhohos were so bent on getting rid of Riolu's egg! It housed the soul of the same Lucario from the Lucario and the Mystery of Mew movie!

Mallow: And with his aura reading ability, it seems we'll learn the location of the Team Rocket fallback hideout!

Ace: The Galactic Bomb from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl was made by this idiot!!?! And he did it because he was bored!!?!!!!???

Wally: Calm down, Ace!!!

Otto: An interesting twist. Kinda dark, but there's still hope. Interesting choice putting Larry in there. I should have seen something like that coming since you already used Dr. Forrester. Who's gonna be appearing next? Pearl Forrester? Or even TV's Frank perhaps?

Servo: As long as Torgo doesn't appear, I'll be fine.

Crow: Ditto.

Gantz: Who?

Me: Don't ask, please. R&R!