Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!
Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga
Chapter Twenty Seven
One, Two, Three
&
Vs. Serpent!
"'The Many Faces of Eevee'?"
"Doesn't ring a bell..."
"'Pokemon Storage and You'?"
"There's books on pokemon storage?"
"Well how about 'Secret of the Evolution Stones'?"
"I heard of the movie."
"Thats completely unrelated..." Bill sighed. "I can't believe you haven't heard of me, and you've even been using my storage system!"
"I never really gave much thought to who might have designed it, sorry." Ashley replied with a shrug.
"Thats the problem with trainers these days if you ask me. No sense of curiosity or discovery, they leave all the actual research to..."
"The professors, who in turn hand it off to the neighbourhood kids, right?" Ashley said, cutting him off.
Ashley and Rina met up with Bill in Vermilion City as intended, where he was waiting with a ship known as the Sea Gallop. It was one of the fastest ships available, capable of reaching highway speeds out on the ocean. The three of them, along with Pippi and Bulbasaur, waited in the lounge for the ship to arrive at its destination. Bulbasaur sat in the corner of the lounge by himself, fuming over his recent loss. Rina and Pippi were near the front, where a series of windows gave them a view of the ocean ahead.
"Hey now, Professor Oak is too old to be going out on his own." Bill said to Ashley. "He gave you three your first pokemon to help you along with it too."
"Thats true I guess..." Ashley replied with a shrug and then glanced out the lounge window. "Hey, is that One Island up ahead?" She asked when she saw an island with a volcano near the northern end in the distance. The ship was already slowing down to make its approach.
"Isn't it dangerous for people to live on that island?" Rina asked, looking back at Bill for an answer. "It looks kinda secluded, and if that volcano were to erupt..."
"Naw! They would have plenty of time to get off the island!" Bill replied, waving his hand dismissively. "My buddy Celio has his computer hooked up to monitoring devices anyway and Mount Ember has been pretty quiet. I tell you though, that computer of his can do just about anything!"
"Anything except connect to mainland Kanto apparently." Ashley said. Bill had already explained the situation to her before the boarded the Sea Gallop. Celio's computer needed modifications in order to access Bill's storage system.
"Well anyway, I'm sure you two will love it in the Sevii Islands. They make a great vacation spot." Bill said to them. "In fact, One Island is known for its natural hot springs."
"In that case you better not take long getting that computer online, I left my bathing suit in storage!"
"You just leave that to me and Celio!" Bill boasted proudly.
"What are the hot springs like anyway?" Rina asked Ashley.
"Well... umm... that is..." Ashley rubbed the back of her head as she tried to come up with a response.
"So...you've never been to one?" Rina asked her. Ashley shook her head. "Huh? How can you get so excited if you don't know what its like?"
"Well you see girls in hot springs on tv all the time, so there must be something to it, right?" Ashley replied.
"-What is a hot spring anyway?-" Pippi asked.
"Its a pool of really hot water basically, its supposed to be relaxing." Rina said to her.
"Boy...I sure wish I could talk to pokemon like that..." Bill said with a sigh.
"-Only humans would find boiling themselves alive to be relaxing.-" Bulbasaur muttered, having overheard the conversation.
The Sea Gallop soon arrived at One Island and docked inside the harbour. From there, the group headed a short distance north to the island's pokecenter. The pokecenter had a relatively small waiting area compared to most, instead there was a very large supercomputer in the eastern half of the pokecenter.
A man about Bill's age wearing a lab coat was working on the computer. He had a panel open on the front of the computer and his head and arms were burried inside it while he worked away with the wires and circuitry. The computer was, naturally, powered off while he was working with the components.
"Celio!" Bill called out to him. Celio raised his head and hit against the inside of the computer before he pulled out.
"Hey Bill...ow..." Celio replied, rubbing where he hit his head.
"Celio, this is Ashley and Rina." Bill said, introducing the girls. "They're friends of Red."
"Really?" Celio squinted at the two and adjusted his glasses. "I've never heard of either of them..."
"Red probably doesn't talk about people much." Rina said to him.
"So anyway...you needed help with something?" Ashley asked, getting straight to the point.
"Oh, right!" Celio reached into a bag nearby on the floor and retrieved a small rock from it. "I need one of you to deliver this to a friend of mine on Two Island."
"Wait...so you brought us all of the way from the main land...to deliver a rock?" Ashley inquired in an annoyed tone.
"Well there's that, but I figured you might appreciate a tour of the Sevii Islands too." Bill said to her.
"Fine, I'll deliver this rock..." Ashley muttered, taking the rock from Celio. "Rina, you coming?"
"I'll wait here I think." Rina replied. "It'll be a good chance for that Hitmonlee I got to stretch his legs too."
"I'm off then, and that computer better be connected when I get back!" Ashley started toward the door, but then stopped and turned back to Celio.
"Umm...where is it I'm bringing it again?"
With the full information for her errand in hand, as well as a handy tri pass, Ashley set off toward Two Island. Upon arriving on the island, Ashley sought out a newly opened game corner and stopped in front of it to confirm.
"Guess this is the place..." Ashley look up at the sign on the building and then looked at the piece of paper Celio gave her. She opened the door and went inside, with Bulbasaur following along behind her as usual, to see a slightly overweight man pacing about the lobby.
"Where is she? This isn't like her to be late..." The man mumbled to himself. He didn't even notice Ashley come in.
"Excuse me?" Ashley called out to get his attention.
"Huh?" The man looked up at her in confusion and shook his head. "I'm sorry, miss, but we're closed right now..."
"Actually I..." Ashley began, only to be cut off by him.
"Oh I do hope nothing has happened to my precious Lostelle..." The man mumbled, already forgetting Ashley and pacing around in circles again.
"What an ominous name." Ashley thought to herself and then let out a sigh. "Somehow, I can already see where this is going..."
"Sir, if you would like then maybe I could go and find her?" Ashley said to him.
"Oh, would you really?!" The man dashed up to her and quickly shook her hand. "Thank you, thank you miss!"
"-Wait, why are we helping this guy?-" Bulbasaur asked. "-Lets just drop off that stupid space rock and get out of here already.-"
"Err...your welcome..." Ashley quickly retracted her hand. "So where might she be anyway?"
"She comes here from Three Island everyday to bring me my lunch." The man explained. "She is usually here by now, oh I do hope she hasn't gotten lost."
"With a name like that it seems inevitable somehow." Ashley thought. "I'll go find her then."
Ashley turned to leave when suddenly the sound of a motorcycle filled the air. Everyone looked out the open door, including Bulbasaur who turned around in time to see the bike's tire just before it hit him and sent him sprawling to the floor.
"-HEY! Watch it pal, else I'll smash that bike in two!-" Bulbasaur growled.
"Hey, you can't bring that in here!" The game corner's owner yelled at the purple haired biker.
"Eh, like I give a Raticate's ass gramps." The biker replied. He glanced around the game corner and snorted. "Where the 'ell is everyone? They told me to meet them on Three Island..."
"This is Two Island, can't you even read the signs?" The man shot back.
"Eh, whatever then." The biker shrugged. "This place is a dump anyway..." The biker began to reverse out of the game corner, but not before taking a curious glance at Ashley. He then drove off, wondering why she seemed familiar to him.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Ashley said.
Meanwhile, on One Island near the base of Mount Ember...
"Ok, this spot looks good!" Rina announced, taking a pokeball from her belt. "Hitmonlee, come on out!" Rina held out the pokeball and released Hitmonlee. The pokemon appeared in an unamused-looking pose, with his arms folded over his chest. He slowly turned around to see Rina, curious about his new trainer.
"-A child? A female child? Surely this must be a joke?-" Hitmonlee said in disbelief. "-I refuse to believe someone like her could have beaten the dojo.-"
"Whether you believe it or not, thats exactly what happened." Rina informed him. "I can understand everything you say too!"
"-Even so, being able to understand me says nothing about your skill.-" Hitmonlee replied, unphased by the revelation. "-I will accept you as my trainer for now, however, seeing as my pokeball is apparently registered to you.-"
"I don't like this guy's attitude..." Pippi thought, narrowing her eyes at Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee had yet to even notice Pippi standing next to Rina.
"Well, first things first! We need a new name for you!" Rina said to him. "Calling you Hitmonlee just won't do."
"-As you wish.-" Hitmonlee replied with a shrug.
"So from now on you will be called...umm...hmm..." Rina folded her arms over her chest and thought over what to name Hitmonlee. "Ah! I know! How about Hiro?"
"-If thats what you want to call me.-" Hitmonlee shrugged. "-Then from now on I will respond to the name Hiro.-"
"-He's awfully umm...-" Pippi paused for a moment to think of a word to use. "-Obedient?-" Hiro, noticing Pippi for the first time, glanced down at her and gave a 'hmph'.
"Ok then, Hiro, why don't you show us what you can do?" Rina suggested.
"-Gladly.-" Hiro replied. He turned around and then stomped a foot down hard, shaking the ground and causing a slight rumbling sound to be heard. Looking up, Rina and Pippi could see several large rocks tumbling down the side of Mount Ember, heading straight toward them.
"HIRO!" Rina and Pippi cried out in shock. Without missing a beat, Hiro jumped up into the air as the first rock came down and delivered a hard punch that shattered into small pebbles. The rocks rained down around Rina and Pippi, missing both of them completely. With a flurry of kicks, the remaining rocks were likewise shattered and their remains landed around Pippi and Rina.
"Hiro! That was..." Rina stopped when she saw a helicopter hovering near the top of the mountain. Though it was hard for her to tell, she thought she could see a purple Dragonair hanging out the side door.
"-Impressive, I know.-" Hiro replied with a shrug. "-I think it could use some work myself...-" Rina frowned at him then looked up at the top of Mount Ember.
"I think we better check this out..."
"I was afraid of this..." Ashley sighed. She had taken the Sea Gallop to Three Island. Standing just in front of the dock, she found herself facing a familiar biker group that was terrorizing the island's citizens. They were mostly riding around in circles and revving their bikes, though a few were circling around frigtened citizens. Women mostly, which Ashley hardly found surprising.
"-Wasn't this supposed to be just a quick delivery?-" Bulbasaur muttered.
"Well, guess I'll just have to be the one to teach them a lesson this time." Ashley took a pokeball from her belt.
"HEY! BIKERS!" Ashley called out to them. She was scarce heard over the sound of their engines.
"-I think gratuitous violence is in order.-" Bulbasaur walked toward the group of buildings where the bikers were while extending his vines. One of the bikers passed within 10 feet of Bulbasaur, at which point he extended his vines and punched the driver off his bike. The driver rolled across the ground, getting bounced around and scraped up pretty badly, while the bike itself continued on and crashed into a fence.
"Ow...what the hell...hit me?" The injured biker muttered. Noticing one of them had fallen, the rest of the bikers, three male and two female, gathered around him.
"Heh heh, looks like this little cutie is trying to ruin our fun!" One of the male bikers said.
"Hey, don't she look familiar?"
"She's that ditz we picked up back on the cycling road! She's the one trying to stop us?" The group began to laugh at her. Ashley held out the pokeball she grabbed previously and released Charizard. Charizard gave a roar to announce his prescence. The bikers fell silent and stared in disbelief at Charizard.
"HOLY SHIT! This broad's got a Charizard!" One of them shouted in disbelief.
"-Yeah, thats about the reaction I think I deserve.-" Charizard said to himself with a grin. "-Being afraid of me is always beneficial to one's health.-"
"H-hey boss! We've got trouble over here!" One of the bikers called out. A large, bald-headed man rode up to the group on his bike. The same biker pointed to Ashley when Cueball arrived on the scene.
"This is the one giving you trouble?" Cueball shook his head sadly. "Good help is so hard to find these days. Just send out all pokemon and overwhelm her with numbers."
Each of the bikers quickly sent out there pokemon, including the biker that Bulbasaur had injured. Each biker sent out one pokemon, which included two Koffing, two Grimer, a Machop, and a Cubone. Cueball himself sent out a Marowak and a Machoke.
"Charizard, fly above them now!" Ashley called out. "And Bulbasaur, get over here!" Bulbasaur scoffed but decided it was best he got out of the way, having a good idea as to what Ashley was planning. Charizard took off into the air, hovering over the group of pokemon.
"Everyone, get ready to attack once Charizard moves within range!" Cueball barked.
"Ok, Charizard, lets get them all at once with 'that' attack!"
"-'That' attack, huh?-" Charizard grinned to himself. He opened his mouth and began forming a ball of fire. The ball expanded until it was half the size of Charizard himself, at which point it rained down like a pillar of fire and spread out in all directions when it hit the ground. The entire group of pokemon gathered fainted in the flames, with the exception of Marowak and Machoke. Cueballs pokemon were still just barely standing when the flames died down.
"What the?!" Cueball cried out in disbelief. Charizard, exhausted from his attack, landed hard on his feet.
"Ok, now lets finish these last two! Bulbasaur, use..." Before Ashley could even get the attack out, Bulbasaur fired several sharp leaves from the base of his bulb. The sharp leaves raked across Marowak and Machoke's bodies, knocking both pokemon out instantly.
"-Could at least make this challenging.-" Bulbasaur muttered.
"Grr...I will not allow the Kanto Federation to be shown up by a single teenager!" Cueball growled.
"I'm afraid YOU don't get a say in the matter!" Ashley said to him. "You're all getting a one way ticket back to Kanto, where you'll spend the next twenty years stamping license plates. Bulbasaur, stun them!"
"-Tch, fine.-" Bulbasaur fired off a cloud of spores toward the group of bikers. The spores paralyzed each and every one of them as they landed, causing them all to drop to the ground.
"Damn it..." Cueball muttered.
"Oh, thank you miss!" A male citizen, who was being chased by the bikers previously, said to Ashley. "How can we ever repay you for stopping these fiends?"
"Well, for one, you could drag them all onto the Sea Gallop..." Ashley replied, gesturing toward the harbour behind her. "And if you happen to know where I might find a girl named Lostelle, that would help too."
"Lostelle? I think she went into Berry Forest..."
"Berry Forest, huh?"
With the information in hand, Ashley headed across the Bond Bridge and into Berry Forest. She left the Kanto Federation to be handled by the locals. After they were put on the Sea Gallop it would whisk them away to Vermilion City, where they would be picked up by the police. Ashley now found herself looking into a typical forest, aside from the berries growing everywhere.
"Well I guess it wouldn't be Berry Forest if there weren't." Ashley said to herself with a shrug. "Well anyway, I guess now we need to find Lostelle."
"-Lets get this over with already, I'm getting tired of following you around.-" Bulbasaur grumbled.
Before they could move any further, a rustling in the berry bushes alerted them to something's prescence. Ashley could see three bushes rustling, with the movement approaching her. Soon, three brown and yellow pokemon with long snouts walked into view. Each of them had a look of pure malice in their eyes.
"Those are Drowzee..." Ashley thought, reaching for a pokeball. "A psychic pokemon, they don't look particularly happy either. I bet Beedrill can handle them though."
"Beedrill, I choose you!" Ashley held out Beedrill's pokeball and released him in front of the three wild Drowzee. Immediately upon Beedrill's appearance, each of them raised a fist back. One became enveloped in flames, another electricity, and the third ice. Each Drowzee was using a different elemental punch.
"Beedrill, avoid their attacks and strike back with Twineedle!"
The Fire Punch Drowzee took the first swipe at Beedrill, which he deftly avoided and then jabbed Drozee with one of his stingers to knock it back. The Thunderpunch Drowzee attacked next. Beedrill moved to the side and followed through with another jab with his stinger. The final Drowzee struck Beedrill square in the chest with its Ice Punch attack, but Beedrill responded by stabbing it with both stingers and knocking it out instantly.
"Ok, Bulbasaur! Finish them off now!" Ashley called out. Bulbasaur extended his vines, striking the Thunderpunch Drowzee and then the Fire Punch Drowzee. Both fell to the ground in a single hit before they were able to launch another attack.
"If Lostelle came in this forest, the wild pokemon could have attacked her as well." Ashley noted, looking at the fallen Drozee. "Beedrill, I want you to scout ahead and try to find Lostelle. She will probably be the only little girl that'd be in this forest alone. If she's in trouble, help her in any way you can." Beedrill nodded and flew off into the forest to find Lostelle.
"-Sending Beedrill off alone seems like a bad idea somehow.-" Bulbasaur said. Ashley and Bulbasaur took off in the same direction as Beedrill, hoping to catch up to him when he eventually finds Lostelle.
"Objective: Find young female human Lostelle." Beedrill thought as he zoomed through the forest, hovering low to the ground. In the distance, he could hear a girl scream.
"Sound identified as young female human scream. High potential to be target specified by the queen. Moving to investigate." Beedrill continued along through the forest, eventually arriving in the midsty of an Iappapa berry patch. A young girl in a white dress was lying back on the ground and slowly backing away from yellow pokemon standing roughly five feet. It had a long snout, like the Drowzee, and was carrying a pendulum.
"Objective found, eliminating threat." Beedrill moved quickly, putting himself between Hypno and Lostelle.
"-Wha? What gives?-" The wild pokemon wondered aloud when Beedrill moved in front of him. "-Where did you come from?-"
"Threat appears to be of the same species as previously fought. Will use tactics accordingly." Beedrill pointed his twin stingers at the wild pokemon and then took a stab at the wild pokemon with each of them, landing a harsh blow on the psychic pokemon and knocking him to the ground. Lostelle watched in awe as Beedrill fought off her attacker.
"-Oh yeah?! Lets see you try that again!-" The psychic pokemon said to Beedrill. It raised its pendulum toward him, using the device to focus its psychic power. A yellow glow surrounded Beedrill, sealing his Twineedle technique. Beedrill raised his stingers to attack again, but then paused.
"Cannot recall how to perform primary means of attack. Will use similar option in its place." Beedrill pointed all three of his stingers at the pokemon and began firing a barrage of sharp pins from his body. The wild pokemon winced and held up its hands defensively, trying to protect itself.
"-It was just harmless fun, I didn't hurt her! I was just trying to scare her!-" The wild pokemon quickly jumped back onto his feet, almost falling over again from the damage inflicted on him. He then turned and tried to flee.
"Threat attempting to flee. Appears weakened. Deliver finishing blow." A dark aura surrounded Beedrill and he suddenly shot forward, instantly catching up with the fleeing pokemon and tackling him with a surprise attack. The wild pokemon collapsed, knocked out by Beedrill's final attack.
"Threat eliminated, objective secured. Will wait here and guard objective until queen arrives." Beedrill moved off to the side, turning so both Lostelle and the fainted pokemon were in its line of sight.
"You...you save Lostelle?" Lostelle said to Beedrill.
"Observation: The human child Lostelle appears to refer to herself with her name in place of the appropriate pronoun." Beedrill noted to himself, looking at Lostelle curiously.
"Umm...th-thank you..." Lostelle mumbled quietly. "Lostelle wanted to pick berries for papa, but that pokemon was scaring me!"
"Beedrill?" Beedrill looked out into the forest when he heard Ashley calling out to him. He began flapping his wings more rapidly, creating a loud buzzing noise to get her attention. It seemed to work, as Ashley soon entered the berry patch.
"There you are!" Beedrill nodded to her. Ashley then looked over at Lostelle and smiled. "You must be Lostelle then. Your father is worried about you."
"Beedrill is your's?" Lostelle asked Ashley. Ashley nodded to her, and Lostelle smiled back. "Beedrill saved Lostelle! That pokemon was scaring Lostelle!" Ashley looked over at the fallen pokemon.
"An evolved Hypno? Don't see those around often...hmm..." Ashley reached into her travel bag and took out an empty Great Ball. "Well he won't bother you anymore!" Ashley through the Great Ball at Hypno. The Great Ball pulled him inside and began to shake. Hypno was starting to recover from his injuries when Ashley through it, but in the end it made no difference. The ball locked tight, sealing Hypno inside.
"Beedrill, good work! You can take a break now as well." Beedrill nodded in response. Ashley took Beedrill's pokeball from her belt and recalled him. Lostelle was a bit sad to see her hero go away.
"Ok, Lostelle..." Ashley turned her attention back to the girl. "Lets get you to your father now."
"-And then we can deliver that rock and be done with this stupid errand.-" Bulbasaur grumbled.
It took Rina quite some time to climb to the top of Mount Ember. She recalled both Hitmonlee and Pippi before starting her climb up the side of the volcano. When she reached the top, she sat down behind a jagged rock for a moment to catch her breath.
"I need a pokemon that can fly..." Rina mumbled to herself. Though she had Berry, Berry wouldn't have been able to carry her. She slowly stood up and took Pippi's pokeball from her belt to release her.
"-It took you this long to climb up? I could have been here and back down again...-" Pippi said to Rina.
"I can't just let you face hunters alone." Rina replied to her. She leaned against the rock and then peeked around it to see what was going on. She could see two women, one with long red hair wearing a trench coat and black sunglasses, and the other wore a red dress that seemed very out of place on the mountain.
"I knew it! Its Serpent!" Rina whispered harshly. "And another one of those trenchcoat people." Observing further, Rina could see her father's purple Dragonair fighting against a fiery bird pokemon. The pokemon looked weak and moved slowly, as though it had been paralyzed. It flapped its wings to try to fly away, but Dragonair slammed the bird pokemon with its tail to bring it down.
"That pokemon...they're using Knight to capture the third Winged Mirage!"
"-What?! We have to stop them!-" Pippi ran out from behind the rock to confront the two and Rina, without thinking, rushed in behind her.
"You two stop right there!" Rina called out to them.
"That voice..." Serpent turned around to face Rina, a smirk crossing her lips. The other woman looked over her shoulder, unamused. "Well, well, well. Seems the scared little girl has grown a spine."
"Serpent, this is hardly time for games." The other woman said to her. "We didn't come prepared to deal with any resistance. Moltres won't be able to fight in its condition."
"Then collar Moltres and get out of here. I will deal with the girl. Dragonair, front and center!" Dragonair moved away from the weakened Moltres to put itself in front of Serpent. Serpent then took out a syringe and removed the cover from it while the other woman took out a collar.
"She...she wouldn't!" Rina said in disbelief. "Pippi, stop her! Use Thunder Wave!"
"Dragonair, block it." Serpent ordered. Pippi fired a pulse of electricity toward Serpent to try to paralyze her, but Dragonair raised its head to block it and became paralyzed instead. Serpent then calmly injected the serum into Dragonair, forcing him to evolve.
A white glow surrounded Dragonair, much unlike when Ying and Yang forced their pokemon to evolve. Dragonair's body began to change completely, shrinking down while becoming much bulkier. It grew short arms and legs, a pair of wings, and a long, thick tail. When the glowing ceased, a dark green/black skinned Dragonite stood in the Dragonair's place.
"As you can no doubt tell, the evolution formula has been perfected." Serpent said to Rina with a smug grin. "Think you can take on a fully evolved Dragonite?"
Meanwhile, while Dragonair had been evolving, Fire had thrown the collar at Moltres. Due to the extensive damage to it, as well as paralysis inflicted by Dragonair's Thunder Wave, Moltres was unable to avoid it. The collar closed tightly around Moltres' neck. The bird pokemon immediately ceased struggling and awaited orders from its new master.
"I'm just glad it didn't backfire..." Rina replied quietly. "No pokemon should have to suffer like that..."
"You're glad it didn't backfire? Ohohohoho! You should be more worried about your own safety than this pokemon's!" Serpent said to Rina.
"Thats not going to matter, because I intend to free that pokemon one way or another!" Rina shot back.
"-Dragonite or not, all I need is one Volt Tackle!-" Pippi added, sparks dancing across her cheeks as she psyched herself up for battle.
"Hmph. Cocky little brat." Serpent muttered. "Fire, take the helicopter and get Moltres out of here. I will catch up with you later."
"Very well, try not to get in over your head." Fire entered the helicopter and sat down in the pilot seat. The helicopter began to lift off, seemingly leaving Moltres behind.
"Pippi, use Thunderbolt and aim for the propeller!"
"Dragonite, defend the helicopter!"
Pippi fired a bolt of electricity toward the helicopter, but Dragonite intercepted the attack with surprising speed for its size. Evolving had removed the paralysis from it as well. Dragonite took the Thunderbolt attack himself and winced as the electricity passed through him, but he quickly shook it off and flapped his tiny wings to hover defensively in front of the helicopter.
"Dad's Dragonair was tough, as a Dragonite it'll be even harder to take down." Rina thought to herself.
A steel ball connected to a chain fired from a canister on the bottom of the helicopter. The ball opened up, releasing a net made from steel cables. The net flew past Moltres, seemingly missing its target, then fell back to slide under it. The helicopter then began to lift up, trapping the weakened Moltres in the net and carrying it away as Fire fled the scene with her catch.
"Now, since that distraction is out of the way, lets get down to business, shall we?" Serpent smirked. "Dragonite, attack her Pikachu with Slam!"
"Pippi, dodge it with Quick Attack and then use Thunder Wave!" Pippi shot off to the side in a blur of movement just seconds before Dragonite's tail struck the ground where she was. She then turned around to try to blast Dragonite with Thunder Wave, only to get sideswiped by Dragonite's tail. Dragonite had managed to catch up with Pippi before she even had a chance to attack.
"Now, use Slam and send the girl on a trip down the volcano." Serpent commanded. Dragonite turned to face Rina and Rina tried to back away but found herself pressed against the rock she had been hiding behind earlier. Dragonite moved to attack but then suddenly stopped in its tracks. Sparks shot out of its collar and it staggered back, resisting Serpent's order.
"It won't attack?" Rina thought. "It must be because Knight recognizes me! Knight won't attack me because he's my father's pokemon, so maybe..." Rina took another pokeball from her belt.
"Miss Esp, go!" Rina called out, releasing her mother's Espeon from her pokeball. Miss Esp appeared in front of Rina and looked up at the collared Dragonite before her. It didn't take her long to put two and two together. Pippi watched curiously from a distance, having noticed Knight's refusal to attack Rina.
"Dragonite, what are you doing?! Attack both of them now!" Serpent angrily ordered Dragonite. It shrugged off the shocks and began to swing its tail around, but stopped himself again and struggled to fight back against the collar's mind control.
"-Interesting...in his evolved form, he is strong enough to resist the collar when confronted by us.-" Miss Esp noted then glanced back at Rina. "-Rina, there is no need for us to inflict any harm on him. The hunter has engineered her own defeat by forcing him to evolve.-"
"Right." Rina nodded and then smiled as she looked toward Pippi. "Pippi, go ahead and do your thing!"
"-Got it!-" Pippi threw out her arms and electricity billowed from her body. "-Take this! Volt...-" Pippi dropped down and charged toward Dragonite. "-TAAAAACKLE!-" Pippi jumped up at the last second and slammed head first into Dragonite's collar, sending a powerful charge through it combined with a strong physical blow. The collar bent at the point of impact. When Pippi dropped to the ground, Knight was already ripping the collar off as if it were made of paper.
"-Luke is no longer here...but in his place...-" Knight turned around suddenly and fired a pulse of electricity at Serpent. She dropped to the ground in a stunned silence as paralysis spread through her body. "-You are under arrest for the wrongful treatment of pokemon.-"
"Knight! You're back!" Rina said.
"-I am.-" Knight replied quietly, still facing away. "-I could not protect your father, Rina, but I will not fail to protect you.-"
"How...how could this happen?" Serpent whimpered. "I had her right where I wanted her..."
"-She will need to be sent back to Kanto.-" Miss Esp said to Rina. "-Though I am not particularly familiar with the Sevii Islands, it doesn't seem likely there is a prison facility nearby.-"
"Right." Rina nodded in agreement. "I guess I should get a pokeball for you, Knight, but first...think you could take us to the pokecenter?"
"-Of course, I would be happy to.-" Knight replied with a nod, then looked over at Pippi. "-Pippi is it?-"
"-Thats me!-" Pippi replied cheerfully, giving a wave.
"-You have my thanks for looking after Rina. Her parents would be happy to know she found the Pikachu she had been wanting so much.-" Knight said to her.
"-Aw shucks...-" Pippi rubbed the back of her head in embarassment.
"I wonder though, Knight held back because he recognized me..." Rina thought back to her encounter with Zapdos, where it refused to attack even while under the influence of a slave collar. "So why did Zapdos...refuse to attack me and Ashley?"
"Oh, Lostelle! I was so worried about you!"
"Daddy! Daddy, stop! You're hugging Lostelle too tight!"
"I'd say he's a worry wart, but considering where she ended up..." Ashley thought as she looked on.
"Oh how can I ever thank you?" The man asked Ashley.
"You can take this meteorite off my hands, Celio asked me to bring it to you..." Ashley said to him as she took the rock out of her bag. "And hurry up so I can get out of here already!" She added mentally.
"Oh! A rare meteorite too!" The man took the rock from Ashley. "I must give you something in return! Wait here!" The man retreated into the game corner's back room and then emerged a minute later with a different rock in hand.
"This is a Moon Stone." He said as he handed it over to her. "You can evolve certain pokemon with it, I am sure you will find it useful!"
"Thanks." Ashley replied. She didn't have any pokemon she could use it on, but she was sure it would work on Rina's Clyde. "Anyway, I really have to get back to One Island now if you don't mind..."
"Oh, of course! Say hi to Celio for me!"
"-Finally! This stupid errand is over with!-" Bulbasaur grumbled.
"Ashley! Ashley! You have to show me your Beedrill acting cool again!" Lostelle said to her as she turned to leave.
"Sure, I'll keep that in mind! See you later then!" Ashley replied. "I am so looking forward to a dip in the hot springs..."
Ashley and Rina arrived back at the One Island pokecenter at roughly the same time. To their dismay, though, Celio and Bill were still working on the computer when they got inside.
"After all that you two still aren't done?!" Ashley growled. The two men ignored her and continued typing away at the computer's large keyboard. They then paused to look at the screen and suddenly high fived each other.
"We're connected to Kanto!" The two of them shouted in unison. Suddenly a blue pokeball on Rina's belt glowed white and vanished.
"Huh? What was that?" Ashley asked Rina.
"I'll explain later..." Rina replied. "So you two are really connected to Kanto now?"
"We sure are!" Celio replied. "All thanks to Bill's help!"
"Now, now! You already had most of the work done when I got here!" Bill corrected him. "I barely did a thing!"
"So we can get items from our pc storage now!?" Ashley asked excitedly.
"Yep, everything should be working fine!" Celio replied. That was all the girls needed to hear. They rushed over to the pokecenter computer and each withdrew their bathing suits and dashed out of the building. Pippi was barely able to keep up with them. Bulbasaur didn't even bother, choosing to remain in the pokecenter instead.
"Where are they off to in such a hurry?" Celio wondered, blinking in disbelief.
"They're just excited to get to the hot springs." Bill said, chuckling to himself.
"-Crazy humans.-" Bulbasaur muttered.
Author's Notes: After seeing the list of wild pokemon for the Sevii Islands I really wanted to show more, but there just wasn't anywhere to squeeze them in with everything else I had going on. Though, in retrospect, maybe I could have had something before Rina's brief training session with Hitmonlee.
Beedrill is really a quiet pokemon, but the Berry Forest scene seemed like a good opportunity to see what goes through his head. As you can probably guess, he thinks of Ashley as his 'queen' after she managed to catch him and as such he follows her orders unquestioningly.
Another note, I don't know what the translation of Lostelle's Japanese name was supposed to be, but isn't 'Lostelle' kinda pushing it in the meaningful names department? Speaking of names, I named this chapter as if it were two. The first refers to Ashley's part of the chapter, the second refers, obviously, to Rina's.
