Episode 17: To the Rescue! (part 2)
Part 2 of episode 17 in my Fan Fiction series about the Pokémon journey of Ash and Angie. Involves some MorpheusShipping (Ash and Angie liking each other) so if you don't like that idea, stop reading here. The rest, I hope you enjoy this fan-fiction.
Ash, Angie and Tracey were following the trail of footprints, that they had discovered as they were exploring the deserted campsite. After a while, the trail faded, and then... no more footsteps...
"The soil is too rocky here," Tracey remarked.
"Maybe your Venonat can help with tracking?" Ash suggested.
"Good idea Ash," Tracey answered, as he sent out Venonat.
"Venonat! Venonat...? Venonat, venonat, venonat!" the Pokémon uttered as it seemed to have picked up something.
Our three friends followed it, until they could hear some people talking.
"One Poké Ball, two Poké Balls, three Poké Balls, a lot of Poké Balls!" they heard a catlike voice say.
They walked a little further, and through the bushes, saw Team Rocket, with a backpack full of Poké Balls, and Meowth counting them over and over again.
"Hihihihihi, that was easy!" Jessie laughed, "this is almost better than stealing the Pokémon of those twerps."
"Yeah, we didn't even have to dig a hole for it first," James said, as he wiped his forehead in relief.
"Hold it right there, Team Rocket!" Ash shouted as he jumped out off the bushes.
"Give back those stolen Poké Balls, or else..." Angie threatened, while sending out her Bulbasaur.
"Stolen?" Jessie said trying to pull a face of being falsely accused.
"Yeah, don't go accusing us just like that," Meowth added at an undignified tone, "these are our Poké Balls."
"Yes, we have honestly found this backp..." James didn't get to finish his sentence because Jessie covered his mouth with her hand.
"What James meant to say is that we've caught these Pokémon here, and put them in our backpack," Jessie explained.
"Oh? What kind of Pokémon are in there then?" Ash asked, still not trusting Team Rocket's explanation.
"Yeah, we'd like to see what you've caught," Angie added, "right Tracey?"
"Right!" Tracey replied.
The three Team Rocket members gathered around in a circle, like when a rugby team gets together to discuss the tactics for the next game, and started whispering. Then they broke the circle, and faced Ash, Angie and Tracey again.
"To convince you these are really our Pokémon, we've agreed to give you a little demonstration," Jessie said. "Come out...whatever you are!" she yelled as she threw one of the Poké Balls.
A Lileep appeared, that turned around, and started looking viciously at Jessie.
"Uuuuuhh! Lileep, come back!" Jessie yelled in panic, as she made the large prehistoric Pokémon return to it's Poké Ball. "Wrong one, hihihihi," Jessie laughed nervously.
"Try this one, Jessie," James said, as he threw her another Poké Ball.
"Go... Pokémon!" Jessie shouted, and a Kabutops came out, also not very happy to see it's supposed trainer as well.
Jessie dropped the Poké Ball in fear, as the Kabutops came charging towards her, and hid behind poor James.
"Hey, don't look at me!" James yelled in panic to the Kabutops, as he tried to free himself from Jessie's grip.
"Kabutops, come back!" Ash said as he had picked up the Poké Ball Jessie had dropped.
"It's obvious these are not your Pokémon," Angie stated.
"So now you are going to tell us where you got them," Tracey continued.
"I told you, we've caught them, honestly, we just need to train them a little more," Meowth defended his teammates.
"Bulbasaur, do Vine Whip!" Angie commanded, and her sturdy Pokémon began whipping Jessie, James and Meowth.
"Okay, okay, we admit, we've stolen the Poké Balls!" the three villains confessed, "just make it stop, have mercy!"
"That's enough Bulbasaur, thanks," Angie said as she called her Pokémon friend back.
"Now, you better start moving and show us where you got those Poké Balls," Ash said firmly.
"And if you can't remember, Bulbasaur will help freshen your memory," Angie added.
"Bulba!" it sounded, to stress that Angie's Pokémon was more than willing to oblige.
So this strange combination of trainers walked on through the woods, to a more open spot, with very rocky soil. There were some small holes in the ground, that looked like someone had been excavating to look for something underground.
"There you are!" Jessie said with a loud voice, "this is the spot were we sto... eh... got those Poké Balls."
Ash walked a few steps forward, and then noticed a larger hole, just a little further away. He went on, closer, and tried to carefully look down, when...
"Aaaah!" Ash yelled as the ground gave way underneath him.
"Ash, grab my hand!" Angie shouted, as she had followed him closely, looking like she had instinctively felt something like this might happen to him.
Angie barely managed to grab Ash's hand before he was about to tumble down into that larger hole, but she had trouble keeping him up, let alone getting him back upon solid ground again. Then she felt Bulbasaur's vines grabbing her, trying to help. But Bulbasaur started sliding away, till suddenly...Ash's Charizard grabbed it, and pulled Ash, Angie and Bulbasaur back to safety.
"Thanks, Angie, Bulbasaur, and Charizard," Ash said, as he padded the dust of his clothes.
"That was close, Ash, better watch your step from now on," Angie advised him, "and let Charizard get back into his Poké Ball. His weight may make the ground collapse even more."
"Yeah, I will," Ash answered, as he made his Charizard return to his Poké Ball. "Now let's check how deep this hole is," and he threw a little rock into it."
"Aaawwww!" they suddenly heard coming from the pit.
"There's someone down there!" Tracey said, "let's get him, or her, out of there."
"Angie, let Bulbasaur lower it's vines into the pit, then whoever fell down it can grab them, and be pulled up!" Ash suggested.
"Okay, Ash," Angie replied, "but I think Bulbasaur needs someone to hold it or it will get dragged in the pit as well."
So Ash, Tracey and Angie all held on to her Bulbasaur, as it let it's vines down into the pit. Suddenly they saw the vines being pulled down, indicating the unlucky person that fell down the pit, must have grabbed them. With the help of the three trainers, Bulbasaur managed to slowly pull this person upwards. First a patch of hair appeared above the rim, then a white researcher's coat. It seemed to be a man, but since he had his back turned towards Ash and company, they still couldn't make out who he was. Bulbasaur put him on solid ground again, and the man turned around.
"Professor Pinetree!?" Ash, Angie and Tracey yelled, very surprised.
"Professor who?" Jessie, James and Meowth now shouted, even more surprised.
"Hey, hello Ash, Angie, Tracey... and of course Pikachu," the professor answered.
"What are you doing here, professor?" Tracey asked.
"Well, I heard there were some special fossils found on Mount Moon lately," the professor explained, "so I decided to go on a little expedition here, and did some excavating, as you can see."
"But how did you end up down in that big hole?" Angie inquired.
"Well, it seemed I was digging on top of a small cavern," the professor continued his explanation, "and while I was digging, I went through the ceiling of that cave and fell down. I couldn't get out off it again, and made a distress call before the battery of my communication device went dead."
"And Officer Jenny received your call, and sent us here because she had some other duties to attend first," Ash completed the story.
"those two trainers with their Meowth, are they friends of yours?" Professor Pinetree asked.
"No, absolutely not!" Ash responded, "they are..."
"Why don't you let us introduce ourselves, twerp?" Jessie said, "ready James, Meowth?"
"Ready!" both answered.
"To protect the world from devastation," Jessie said.
"To unite all peoples within our nation", James continued.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love," Jessie spoke again.
"To extend our reach to the stars above," James added
"Jessie," Jessie stated her name.
"...and James..." James did the same.
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light," Jessie continued
"Surrender now or prepare to fight," James.
"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth finished the introduction.
"Now we really hate to break up your little reunion," Jessie said, "but we have work to do. Meowth!"
"Alrighty," the feline Pokémon acknowledged, and pushed the button on a small remote control it was holding.
"Now we didn't dig a hole this time," James explained, "but we did get a Grabber 3000 gathering robot."
"Tell them what it can do, Meowth!" Jessie ordered.
"Well, it can do this," Meowth said, as one of the arms of the robot grabbed Pikachu and put it in the basket on it's back.
"Hey! Pikachu!" Ash shouted.
"And it can do that," Meowth continued, as the robot also grabbed Bulbasaur.
"Give me my Pokémon back!" Angie yelled.
"And, it can also do this!" Meowth finished his little demonstration by letting the robot throw a large net over our friends, after it had grabbed their backpacks with their Poké Balls in it.
Pikachu was trying to open the basket with his attacks, as was Bulbasaur.
"You might as well give up on that," Meowth said, "the Grabber 3000 can withstand grass-type and electric attacks."
"So you were right, we did steal those Poké Balls," Jessie said with a devious smile on her face, "just like we are stealing your Pokémon now..."
"Oh no you won't!" Ash shouted, "does any of you still have a Pokémon on hand?"
"Nope," Tracey said, and Angie and Professor Pinetree also shook their heads.
"Hahahaha, we've got them all this time, twerps!" Meowth laughed. "I'll count them for you, one twerp Poké Ball, two twerp Poké Balls, three twerp... hey! Meowwwth! What is that?" Meowth screamed as the Poké Balls he was counting were suddenly lifted up into the air by an unknown force.
"What is that?" Ash said very surprised.
"Is it Latios or Latias again?" Angie asked
"Ash, don't be afraid... I'll help you..." Ash heard a voice say inside his head.
"No...it's something.....or rather someone else..." Ash answered, "but I don't know who yet..."
The net that held Ash and his friends trapped, was untangled, and lifted up after that, to remain floating above them. The same still unknown force opened the lid of the basket on the back of the robot, allowing Pikachu and Bulbasaur to jump out and run to their trainers.
"Great to have you back, buddy!" Ash said as Pikachu jumped into his arms.
"You too, Bulbasaur," Angie said as she padded her Pokémon on the back.
"Do you know what is happening, Meowth?" Jessie asked, looking around in fear.
"I...eh....I don't know," Meowth said, as now the stolen backpacks were lifted up and floated towards their owners.
"Ash, now it's your turn..." the same unknown voice sounded inside Ash's mind.
"Alright, Charizard, do Overheat, and Pikachu, do Thunder!" Ash responded.
"Bulbasaur, do Solar Beam!" Angie joined in.
The robot was unable to withstand this combination of attacks, and exploded, sending it's drivers flying upwards, at great speed.
"Well, we certainly knew what that was, that just hit us now," James said.
"And so we're blasting off again!" Jessie added
"Meowth!" was the last word that was heard as Team Rocket disappeared in the distance.
"Well, that was that," Ash said, "but I would still like to know who helped us."
"Don't you remember me Ash?" a voice suddenly spoke right behind them.
Everyone turned around, and there stood a woman dressed in a red suit, with white gloves. It was clear she was a Psychic, and there almost seemed to flow power from her.
"Sabrina!" Ash shouted, "so it was you who...?"
"Indeed," Sabrina answered, "I used my telepathic powers to let you know I was here to help, and my telekinetic abilities to free you and your Pokémon and get you you things back."
"And you used teleport to get yourself directly behind us, right?" Tracey asked.
"Correct," Sabrina answered, "now Ash, what brings you here, and who is that girl that I can clearly sense you feel something special for? Or was that supposed to be a secret still?"
"No, no secrets," Ash admitted, blushing a little, "we are together," and he took Angie's hand to hold it.
"I see, well congratulations to you both then," Sabrina said, "and how about my first question?"
Ash explained to Sabrina why he had decided to travel along Kanto again, and about his attempts to challenge the Saffron City Gym.
"Ah, it's very unfortunate what happened to the gym," Sabrina said, "but if you still want that battle, I can get you that."
"Great!" Ash yelled, "finally!"
"Pikachu!" his little yellow friend agreed.
"Eh, guys..." professor Pinetree interrupted them, "I think I hurt my ankle pretty bad when I fell down."
"I guess we should take the professor back to the main road," Tracey remarked, "maybe Officer Jenny is already near and then she can bring the professor back to town to see a doctor."
"Tracey is right, Ash," Angie said, while squeezing his hand a little tighter as she noticed the disappointed expression on Ash's face, because he realized this meant postponing his battle with Sabrina... again.
Since the professor wasn't able to walk anymore, Sabrina used her telekinetic powers to make him float slightly above the ground. They went back to the main road, as Tracey had proposed, and waited for Officer Jenny to appear. Soon a cloud of dust formed in the distance, closing real fast. It was Officer Jenny on her trusty motorcycle. Ash explained what had happened, and after a quick goodbye, she left with Professor Pinetree, heading for town.
"Now about that battle..." Ash started.
"I can feel that you want it so badly, Ash," Sabrina answered, "but I'm afraid we can't battle today."
"Oh... why not?" Ash said, even more disappointed then when Tracey suggested the professor needed medical attention.
"Helping you and the professor put some strain on my psychic powers," Sabrina explained, "I need some time to meditate and regain my full strength again. Unless you want to fight me when I'm in a weakened state."
"No, of course not!" Ash replied firmly, "I want a good battle, and I want you to be as strong as you can be!"
"Fine, I knew you would understand, I didn't even have to try to read your mind to know that," Sabrina said.
"So perhaps tomorrow then?" Ash asked carefully.
"I think that will be fine Ash," Sabrina said, "but for now you are welcome to follow me to my little camp, unless you have already chosen some other place to put up your tents, that is."
"Well, we haven't actually," Tracey said, "so what do you think Ash?"
"Yeah, fine with me," Ash agreed, "that way we won't have to travel far tomorrow, for us to have that battle. You're okay with it too, Angie?"
"Sounds good to me, Ash," Angie replied as she also accepted Sabrina's offer.
The three friends walked along with Sabrina to her campsite, which turned out to be rather close to the deserted camp of Professor Pinetree. Sabrina's camp was also close to a little stream, and Ash sent out Buizel to enjoy a little swim, along with Tracey's Marill. After dinner, that Angie and Sabrina had prepared together, everyone went to their tents early, to get some well deserved rest. Ash spent some time thinking about the tactics he would have to use against Sabrina, but after a while his eyes became heavy, and he decided to do the rest of the thinking while lying down in his sleeping bag. Not long after that, he wasn't thinking at all anymore, but fell asleep, although he may still have been dreaming about his battle of tomorrow...
My 22nd fan-fiction story already. I apologize for any typing errors, or grammatically not 100% correct sentences. Remember, I am not a native English speaker or writer. I tried to make this story as close to the Pokémon series as possible, so that the characters will react roughly the same in this fictional story as they do in the series. Comments are always welcome, you can use the review function on this FanFiction site for that.
Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any trademarks of Pokémon. Any similarities to the works of others is purely accidental, and not meant as an infringement on anyone's achievements.