DarkFoxKit: Okay, okay, we're sorry we made you wait so long for this one. To be honest, we kinda ran out of ideas for the race and just wanted to move on to the next arc, that and a certain someone wanted to go on MONTHS of hiatus.
Key2DestNE: H-hey, it wasn't MONTHS… You're acting like it's worse than it is. *pouts* Besides, I'm here, aren't I? Anyways…
DarkFoxKit: He doesn't really wanna write anymore, so I guess I'll have to pick up the slack for now. He'll be here for ANs at least. And if you guys are wondering where Mew has been all this time, well she's been busy lately.
Key2DestNE: Yeah… busy beating the crud out of me… *mumbles* A-anyways, uh, I guess it's more or less time for the chapter to begin! As usual, we don't own Pokemon or any of the characters, just their personalities and the OCs that we added into the plo-
DarkFoxKit: WAIT A MINUTE! She was beating the crud out of you?
Key2DestNE: Yeah… ya didn't know that? *blink, blink*
DarkFoxKit: … I'm going to have a little talk with her the next time I see her. *smiles sweetly* Okay fans, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 21: Race to the Finish
Even while keeping an eye on the 6 nearby shadows, Ash couldn't help but look over at Matt and Archie- both of them seemed pretty angry, almost as if this sudden appearance was a personal insult to them. The boy tried looking up through the smoke, but he could hardly see anything more than their outlines.
"Nyahahaha!" one of the figures cried out in excitement. "Well well well, look who we have here- seems like our employer needed some help after all!"
"Who's out there?" Ash demanded, clenching his fist angrily. "Let us through!"
"I have a feeling they're here to get in our way." Ponyta hissed.
"Okay, I can't see a thing- this smoke is too thick! Don't you have Flutter or Gale? They can blow this smoke away!" the Pikachu on Ash's shoulder suggested, coughing a bit from the smoke.
Before Ash could answer, he heard Archie's voice that was suddenly close to him, almost right next to him even. "These guys are Team Rocket members… low-leveled grunts, if that first one is who I think he is."
"Wait… Archie? You know these guys?" Ash asked, frowning in both confusion and suspicion. If he knows them, that would imply he's run into them before.
Matt spoke up on the opposite side of Ash, practically growling. "We both do… these grunts are the lowest of the low in Team Rocket- taking any job, no matter how low it may be. I wouldn't be surprised if they got hired to sabotage the race! You may be derpy, but these guys are even worse than derpy."
"I'm not derpy!" Ash snapped before he got serious, giving a small frown. "So you two know them…" He stopped when he heard one of the Team Rocket's voices.
"Go Dario, the finish line is waiting for you- we'll handle these brats!"
"I knew I could count on Team Rocket, this ranch is as good as mine!" Dario smirked as he said, "Go Dodrio!" Ash saw a silhouette of Dodrio jumping above the smoke, and he could hear its footsteps getting further and further away.
"No, we have to catch up to him!" Ash gritted his teeth, glancing in the direction the Dodrio had run off in.
"Agreed… but first we'll deal with these pests." Archie scowled, pulling out a Poke Ball with a blue and yellow design on it. "Guess this is going to be a Double Battle for each of us!"
"I can't wait to beat them into submission!" Matt growled, making Ash flinch a bit as he never saw this side of Matt before. "I've got dibs on the two on the far right- you wanna take the ones on the far left, Arch?"
"Sure, why not?" Archie smirked, twirling the Poke Ball on his finger. "I guess that leaves you with the two in the middle, Ash… have you ever done a Double Battle against two Trainers before?"
Ash nodded,pulling out one of his Poke Balls as he replied, "Yes, a couple of times before during my journey."
"Then you can handle yourself. Alright Pichu, let's do this!" Archie smiled at the small electric mouse on his shoulder, clenching his fist in determination.
"I'll do my best!" Pichu jumped from his shoulder, the little mouse's cheeks sparking excitedly.
"Let me at them!" the reddish pink Minccino shouted from Matt's shoulder, beginning to shadowbox the air. "I'll kick them all into the dirt!"
Ash frowned at how both the Trainers and their Pokemon were reacting to Team Rocket showed up, but he couldn't focus on it for long. "Storm, you'll be working alongside Kohona- you ready for a fight?"
"I always am!" Storm nodded as he jumped off of Ash's shoulder.
"Ponyta, you stay put until we're in the clear, okay?" Ash said as he hopped off of the fire horse.
"Of course." Ponyta nodded, quickly galloping to the side.
Ash took out a Heal Ball and tossed it, "Go, Konoha!" The Heal Ball opened up and released a Bulbasaur, who landed beside the Pikachu.
"Hmm?" Konoha frowned, looking around curiously. "What's going on, why can I barely see? Are we about to have a battle?"
"Stay calm Konoha. We're facing Team Rocket." Ash said, gently petting the Grass Type. "It's gonna be a Double Battle, but we can do this!"
Two silhouettes walked up to him while he was talking to his Bulbasaur- one of them was a young woman and the other was a young man, and they both smirked when they saw Ash and his two small Pokemon growling at them.
"Haha, look at this Adam, a little boy riding on his little horsey and his two little Pokemon, how cute." the woman said with a mocking tone.
The male grunt, apparently named Adam, chuckled, crossing his arms with a smirk. "Yeah- makes me wanna vomit rainbows and Skitty! Give us your Pokemon, brat, if you know what's good for you."
Ash glared at them, clenching his fist angrily as he shouted defiantly, "Like I would ever do that!"
"Fine then kid, guess you're about to learn how harsh and cruel the world is the hard way." the female grunt said as she released a Pokemon from a blue Great Ball.
Adam smirked as he did the same with another Great Ball, both releasing a Golbat and a Raticate respectively. "You don't stand a chance- your Bulbasaur has a type disadvantage, and it's two against one! We're giving you one last shot, or it'll be an all-out battle, no holding back. Give us your Pokemon and you can walk freely!"
"These Pokemon are scary kid, they have been trained by us- don't think these are just from some newbie Trainers that just left home." the woman said with a smirk.
"Don't underestimate my Pokemon either." Ash said, before he started the battle with a quick command. "Storm, use Thunderbolt on that Golbat! Konoha, use Vine Whip to tie up that Raticate!"
Both Pokemon didn't hesitate- Storm ran up to the Golbat as his cheeks sparked, charging up his Thunderbolt while Konoha unleashed his vines at the big rat Pokemon.
"Hyper Fang, bite down on those vines!" the woman commanded the Raticate.
"Golbat, use Supersonic!" Adam commanded, smirking as the Golbat fired off sound waves so high-pitched they messed with Storm's sense of direction!
Storm's eyes began to spin before they turned red, indicating he is now confused, and his Thunderbolt ended up hitting the cliff side, causing some rocks to hit him! "GAH!"
Konoha couldn't get his vines close to the Raticate or he'll be bitten, but he glared, managing to slap the rat into the ground before he looked over at Storm. "Are you okay?"
"Storm! Storm, calm down!" Ash called to the confused Pikachu. "Focus on what's around you!"
"Ugh…" Storm managed to shake off the confusion long enough to fire off a Thunderbolt, but that was pretty much it as he stumbled around.
The Thunderbolt hit the Golbat, thankfully, it screeched in pain before it fell to the ground, it wasn't out yet but it was paralyzed.
"Becca! This kid is tougher than he looks- my Golbat's already paralyzed!" the grunt Adam growled.
Ash knew he was on a time limit, as he heard the announcer already picking back up. "And we have some of our footage back and… looks like Dario and Dodrio are in the lead! But what happened to the other racers?"
"This is bad, we'll never make it to the finish line at this point!" Ash growled, looking anxiously at both Team Rocket members.
Meanwhile… Blue was getting uneasy when he saw Dodrio and Dario but not Ash and Ponyta, where were they? What happened to them? He turned to Dustin, crossing his arms. "Two of your friends are down there, aren't they? Shouldn't you be a little more concerned for them?"
To the boy's surprise, though, Dustin just… shrugged. "Eh, they'll be fine. After all, they're Rocket Elites- plus there's something different about that Dodrio, do you see it?"
"Something different?" Blue frowned as he looked at the Dodrio again on the big screen… it was… "It looks weaker… a lot weaker, actually- was it hit by an attack?"
"Heh…" Dustin smirked, giving a small nod of agreement. "Seems like it, yes- my guess is either Archie's Pichu or Matt's Mincinno hit it with a strong attack, so at the rate Dario is pushing that bird… it won't even make it to the finish line without taking a small break."
"You seem confident about that." Blue said, giving a small frown. "One thing I learn about life is that things are always unexpected."
Back with Ash, he frowned, quickly shouting out, "Konoha, use Razor Leaf on that Raticate!"
"TAKE THIS!" Konoha shot out sharp leaves from the bulb on his back and they began spinning, traveling straight for the giant rat Pokemon and hitting it head-on!
The Raticate yelped as it flew back into the Golbat, knocking them both out. Storm, just in time, shook off the confusion, and he blinked at the two Pokemon lying in a heap. "...What'd I miss?"
"Rrrgh!" Adam growled, suddenly pulling out a whip. "Why you little brat! You'll pay for that!"
"Hey! Don't pull a whip on us!" Ash snapped, both him and his Pokemon backing up a bit.
"Too bad!" he snapped as he was about to swing it, when a certain Minccino suddenly jumped at him and began tickling his arms with it's tail. "W-wha- wahahaha! AHAHAHAHA, S-STOP IHIHIHIHIIIIIT!" He dropped the whip, trying to grab the little Pokemon , but it spun around his body like it was a top.
"Ash!" Ash suddenly heard Archie's voice, clear as day. "Listen, Matt and I can handle them, but you go on and finish the race."
"A-are you sure?" Ash asked, looking up at Archie, seeing him as the smoke began clearing up a bit.
The guy gave a small smirk and a thumbs up to Ash, nodding. "Heck yeah- you earned it, catching up with the two of us! Besides, we have some… business to take care of with these guys!"
Ash became a bit more suspicious, but he wasn't going to let Laura down, he can figure these two out later. "Alright, thanks. Konoha, return!" A beam of red light hastily returned the Bulbasaur back into the Heal Ball. "Come on Storm, Ponyta, we have a race to win!" Storm nodded as he hurried back on Ash's shoulder.
"Right!" The Ponyta trotted up to the boy, and he quickly hopped on. "We'd better be quick!" With that, she began galloping out of the smoke, going down the path to the finish line as fast as she could.
"Whoa!" Storm groaned, beginning to turn green. "T-this is gonna be one ride that's even bumpier than before!"
"Dario is still in the lead! But what happened to the other racers? What a terrible accident, it looks like Dario's going to wi- wait… what's this? It's a GIANT BALL OF FLAME!" The announcer practically shouted at the top of his lungs.
Ponyta was literally on fire, she was running as fast as she could, pumping all her energy to run, and it left a glowing flame aura around her body. She had enough self control not to burn her rider thankfully, but she was far behind and knew she had to catch up quickly.
"W-what is he…?" Dario blinked in confusion, glancing back, before his eyes widened in pure terror. "OH MY ARCE- KEEP GOING, DODRIO, YOU STUPID BIRD!"
Ash frowned when he heard that, making sure to stay close to Ponyta's body to help speed up. "Come on, we've got this Ponyta!"
"Ponyta and Ash has caught up to Dodrio and Dario! The two racers are now neck and neck! This could be either one of their races!" The announcer was on the edge of his seat.
Storm was gripping onto Ash's shoulder tightly, not wanting to fall off. Then a certain Meowth poked her head out of Ash's backpack- she looked rather… content for suddenly popping her head out in a full speed Ponyta run. "Hmm… not bad, not bad, but you could be faster."
"W-what?" Ash blinked, glancing back at his backpack in shock. "M-Me- Nya! What're you doing here!?"
"Why Ashy, I've been here all this time, and you just now noticed me?" Nya giggled.
"L-look, we're in the middle of an important race, we can do your Mew Games later!" The nervous Pikachu quickly said.
Nya shook her head, shrugging. "I wouldn't be able to do my Mew Games right now anyway- not with so many Elite Rockets here, watching. All I'm saying is Ponyta here can be faster if she really wanted to be."
"...What?" Storm blinked at that, surprised. "What do you mean by that? She's going as fast as she can!"
"She has the power, she has the skills, she has the training, but does she have the will to do it?" Nya said.
Ash frowned at that, not sure what the Mew-disguised-Meowth meant. "Ponyta, are you holding back?"
Ponyta didn't answer, she just kept running, trying to get past Dario and Dodrio.
Nya shrugged. "I can sense it, at least- she's worried about hurting you, Ashy! You gotta convince her otherwise, then her speed will be much faster~"
The Pikachu looked at Nya as if she was crazy. "Are you kidding!? If she does that, she'll burn him! AND me!"
Dario was glaring over at Ash, who frowned at him, as he snapped, "I'm going to win no matter what! You ain't gonna stop me punk!"
"And why do you want to win so much? This ranch shouldn't go to someone like you who only cares about winning." Ash snapped back.
Dario chuckled, shaking his head. "A kid like you wouldn't understand how business works! Just go back to whatever town you came from and let me win this race!"
Ash growled at that, clenching his fist. "I know exactly what you're planning! And I won't let it happen- neither will Ponyta!"
"I'll do what I have to, to win!" Dario snapped, suddenly patting one of his bird's heads. "Do it, Dodrio!"
Dodrio suddenly jabbed one of its beaks at Ponyta's eye, causing her to whine loudly and began falling behind. "Ow! Ow! That hurts!"
"P-Ponyta!" Ash frowned. "Hang in there! We can't fall behind!"
Meanwhile, in the stands, Blue suddenly sat beside Laura, who was surprised to see the boy. "I thought you'd never show up!"
Blue shrugged, "I was busy with something." He was holding something, although the girl couldn't tell what it was. "But I think Ash is going to win this round."
"What makes you so sure?" Laura asked, frowning in confusion. "It seems pretty tied right now…"
"...Heh." Blue chuckled, giving a small smirk. "Well, I took a look at the rules… it's not allowed to attack another racer, now is it?"
"Uh… no, it's not." Laura said with a confused blink.
Blue gave a small smile at that, leaning back in amusement. "Just trust me and enjoy the race."
Ponyta had fallen behind due to Dodrio's Peck, and Ash saw Dario was closing in on the finish line. "Ponyta, if you really are still holding back, then I'm going to need you to let it go- don't worry about us, we'll be fine, but if you don't win, what will happen to this ranch? To the Pokemon living here? And to Laura?"
"..." Ponyta gritted her teeth, suddenly responding. "Y...you're right…! I… I can't give up now! I can't!" Suddenly, her whole body began to glow, catching everyone off-guard!
Laura's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly sat up. "N-no way! Is… is Ponyta…?"
Dario glanced back, startled. "What the heck!? H-how is that…?"
Ash's eyes widened, Storm's mouth was dropped open in shock and awe, and Nya was just grinning like a giggling school girl. Ponyta's body began growing, her flames got bigger, a horn grew on her forehead, and already Ash could feel her picking up even more speed!
When the glowing faded, the Ponyta was now gone and instead was replaced by… "I-I don't believe it! You just evolved into a RAPIDASH!" Ash said in shock, his jaw practically on the ground by now.
Nya giggled some more, winking mischievously. "I tooooold you guuuuys~!"
"N-no way… this is incredible!" Storm said, his eyes wide in shock.
Rapidash snorted, easily catching up to the Dodrio… and then passing it, right at the finish line! She barely won by a nose! The announcer guy was really excited, crying out as loudly as possible, "AND INCREDIBLE! Ponyta had evolved into Rapidash, one of the fastest Pokemon in the Kanto region! And it won by a nose! Incredible folks, simply INCREDIBLE!"
"W-wha… but… that…" Dario stared in shock as his Dodrio slowed to a halt, clearly unsure as to what just happened. "That… that's cheating! It has to be- he used a different Pokemon to finish the race! So I still won!"
Blue smirked at that, suddenly standing up. "If you'll excuse me, Laura, I have to go give some evidence…"
"What!? The rules didn't say anything wrong about evolution during a race!" Ash snapped at Dario.
"It said no different Pokemon can be used during the race! And you entered with a Ponyta, not a Rapidash!" Dario argued.
Blue came over and said, crossing his arms, "Really? Like Ash said, there were no rules against evolution during the race- besides, I think Ash here would've won even if Ponyta hadn't evolved and passed you."
"W-what!?" Dario's eyes widened, and he hopped off of Dodrio's back, glaring at the boy. "What the heck do you mean by that!? I would have won fair and square!"
"Oh really?" Blue smirked, suddenly holding up… a video camera. "Because we've all got evidence that says otherwise."
"What!?" Dario glared, holding his fist under Blue's nose. "Where did you get that!?"
"Let's just say I had the bird's eye view." Blue said lowly.
One of the referees came over and frowned, raising an eyebrow. "What seems to be the problem?"
Blue opened his video and said, "Just look at what's on here sir, and you'll see."
Dario quickly tried to grab the camera, looking suddenly pale. "N-no! Don't you dare! That video is nothing important!"
The referee frowned, snatching up the camera before Dario could and watching the video on it. "..." After a few moments, he closed it again, glaring at Dario. "...Nothing important, eh? Not even using Peck on that Ponyta?"
"I-it was an accident, I swear!" Dario quickly said, his eyes wide in shock.
"Sorry, but rules are rules, Dario is disqualified." The referee said before blowing his whistle.
The announcer spoke up, "Well it looks like Ash and Pon- I mean Rapidash are the winners in more ways than one! Congratulations, you are our WINNER!"
One of the staff put a large medal on Rapidash, and a smaller medal around Ash's neck, and the boy smiled in happiness, hugging Rapidash. "We did it, Pony- er, Rapidash! You did so well!"
"BUT THIS ISN'T FAIR!" Dario cried out, practically crying at this 'injustice'. "I demand justice! I should have won! I SHOULD HAVE WON!"
Nya looked at the boy before giving a slight smirk. 'I agree, we should have some justice, and I'm willing to give it to you.' She used telepathy to speak to Dario's mind.
"H-huh? Who said that?" Dario demanded.
Nya then moved her finger at him, glowing a soft pink, before he suddenly disappeared, most likely teleported somewhere. 'Maybe you'll learn to treat Pokemon better after a few punishments.'
'Er… don't you think that was a bit harsh, Memma?' Ash mentally asked, sweatdropping, while the referees began to freak out at someone teleporting randomly.
'Oh don't worry about him Ashy, he'll be just fine.' Nya mentally answered, before she dived into his backpack again.
Laura came running over, looking so happy she could burst, giving a wide grin. "I can't believe it! You not only won, but you even got Ponyta to evolve!"
Blue smirked, crossing his arms. "Hey, I said it'd happen, didn't I?" He chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "Still, that finale was a nice touch, Ash…"
Ash chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Eheheh… w-well, it wasn't really my choice on what happened there…"
"Are you kidding!? If you hadn't talked Ponyta into stop holding back, we would've lost! … Okay we still would've won thanks to Blue, but still! It's the principle that counts!" Storm said.
Rapidash smiled at Ash, bowing slightly. "Thank you, for everything, Ash."
Ash chuckled, blushing a bit as he shrugged. "Well you know… just doing the right thing." Then he looked back at the track. "But… what about Team Rocket? They ambushed us back there…"
Blue blinked at that, giving a small frown as he looked back down the track, before a familiar voice suddenly spoke up. "Yo, these the guys you were looking for?" Everyone quickly looked back to see a bunch of Team Rocket grunts being carried by Matt and Archie!
"Dang, these guys are heavy!" Matt groaned, dragging one by his heels. "They gotta stop eating the cake…"
"H-how-!?" Ash looked at them, surprised.
"They like to gather in numbers, but they're pretty weak." Archie said, sounding a bit cold. "Cost us the race, how bothersome."
"Guess Officer Jenny can take care of them." Matt grumbled before kicking one of them with his toe.
Then an angry voice shouted, "MATT! THERE YOU ARE!" It was a very angry Dustin, storming up to Matt- surprising Ash and Storm to see him here of all places!
Matt froze, the boy giving a nervous grin. "E-er… Dustin! Glad to see you here…" he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
The Team Rocket Elite ignored how nervous Matt was acting, grabbing the boy by his ear and beginning to drag him off. "Never use my Arcanine in your stupid games again, you hear me!? I was worried sick about him when I realized he was missing from my PC, only to find out that YOU were using him in a RACE! Ugh- how the heck did we ever become friends!?"
"..." Ash sweatdropped… Dustin was almost acting like a mother when it came to his Arcanine…
"Well sor-ry! But you weren't even using the Arcanine, he was just sitting in the PC, all alone, to rot away. I just thought he could stretch his legs." Matt said with a roll of his eyes.
'Ashy, now might be a good time to leave while they're distracted. They may act friendly, but they're all members of the Elite Rocket.' Mew mentally warned the human she raised.
Ash hesitated, nervously beginning to back away. 'R-right, I probably should...'
Dustin growled, yanking on Matt's ear. "I don't want to hear it, mister! You're in enough trouble as it is! Come on- we're leaving!"
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop pulling me! Dustiiiiin!" Matt whined, being forced to follow the furious older boy.
Archie just rolled his eyes as Pichu jumped on his shoulder. He then took notice of Ash talking to Blue and Laura and he waved to them, giving a small grin. "Well, it's been fun, but we really should get going now, we have a long journey ahead of us."
"Yeah, the race was fun, but we do have stuff to do as well." Blue said, nonchalantly shrugging.
Archie nodded, smiling. "Alright then- hopefully we'll see each other again! Until next time!" With that, he walked off after Dustin and Matt, leaving the others alone.
Laura smiled, petting Rapidash happily. "I'm so proud of you both- Rapidash, it's still amazing that you evolved during the race!"
"Rapidash, you be good with Laura- take care of all the Pokemon here." Ash said with a smile to the horse that raced with him. "It's been a good run."
"Thank you and goodbye Ash, I hope you have a successful journey." Rapidash said as she gave him a happy lick.
Ash laughed at that, squirming under her tongue. "H-hey, hey, stop that! It tickles!"
Blue rolled his eyes in amusement, holding a hand out to Laura. "It was nice to meet you, Laura- good luck with the ranch."
Storm jumped on Ash's shoulder, taking out the magnet from his backpack and playing with it again. "I really like this toy Archie gave me- are you sure he's with the bad guys?"
"Yes… but he's more neutral than you might think." Nya said quietly, frowning to herself.
Ash and Blue picked up their things, Blue walking to a nearby stand that was open during the race, and he looked back at Ash. "I'm going to buy us some supplies before we hit the road. Why don't you check your Town Map and see where you want to go? If I remember right, there's a Safari Zone if we head south, and after that, it'll lead us into a city."
"Alright then, sounds good to me!" Ash nodded, pulling out a map and looking it over. "So lemme see… we're around here, at the ranch… huh- you were right, Blue!"
Storm was still playing with the magnet, as he glanced over at Nya. "...Sooo… what games are you making Dario play right now?"
"Let's just say he won't want to run in anymore races after he runs Rainbow Path a few times with very angry Pokemon~" Nya said from Ash's backpack.
Blue looked at Nya for a second, but then he said, "Ash, so where do you want to go? I have what we need, but we don't have a lot of money, so I only have food to sustain us and our Pokemon for a few days."
Ash blinked, crossing his arms. "Hmm… well, I guess we can head to the Safari Zone, and then to the next city- that way we can get some more money along the way!"
Ash looked back at the ranch one more time- he didn't want to have to leave so suddenly like this, but with Dustin being there, and with Matt and Archie being a part of the Elite Rockets, staying was far too risky. After all, they were all dangerous and powerful, Ash could sense it in their aura. "...Well… let's go."
"So, what did Blue say, Dustin?" Archie asked.
"Meh, he's too much of a goodie-goodie, he won't join us." Dustin said as he rolled his eyes.
"Oh well, you can't with them all, right?" Matt chuckled.
"You shut up." Dustin snapped at the younger boy. "Forget him, we have other plans to attend to now."
"Fine, we'll complete the mission and move out. By the way, how's Jayden doing?" Archie asked.
"She's still taking her sweet little time at Cinnabar Island, if she doesn't hurry up then I'll go over there and drag her out myself." Dustin growled.
"Aww, look who's impatient." Matt giggled.
"I said SHUT UP!" Dustin growled.
"Regardless, as long as Jayden accomplishes her mission, she can take as long as she want. Now let's go, we're done here." Archie said. "If Blue won't join us, we'll just have to find new members."
"Agreed." Dustin smirked.
DarkFoxKit: Shadow Claws? Check. Dark Pulse? Check. Illusions? Check. Master Ball? Double check. Hey Key, it looks like the chapter's ended, wanna say something about it?
Key2DestNE: ...First off, you're scaring me. Again. *sweatdrops, gulping* U-uh… anyways, yeah. We managed to finish off the face, got the Dodrio rider to face punishments, and overall it's a happy ending! Besides, we even learned some new information about the others~
DarkFoxKit: Alright then, let's get the reviews out of the way then. It seems some are still complaining about the Elite Rockets of being too OP and either are Gary Stu/Mary Sue or hanging on the border of it. Honestly guys, we can't have OP villains without being criticized for it? Seriously? I always thought it makes it more interesting for when the protagonist finally beats them.
Key2DestNE: Well, as you said, they are super powerful… but Fox is right- look at villains from other shows. More often than not, they are much more powerful than the protagonists, and said protagonists have to gain strength over time in order to face them. This is the same thing- besides, Ash is keeping up with two of the Rocket Elites in this race, so he's definitely improving.
DarkFoxKit: Anyways, onto the reviews! Kauris Azurai, thank you for your constructive criticism, I'm happy to know you care enough to want us to improve more. Details are a bit hard to describe and it tends to bore the readers, so I try to leave enough details while hoping they can use their imagination for the rest of it. As for emotion… I thought we did well with those, but eh, guess we'll have to work on it.
Key2DestNE: Briarfrost, glad to hear you liked Archie being the child of Zekrom! As for Mewtwo, well he's no longer a 'child', so he most likely forgot about Ash. Can't say anything more than that for now~ It would be cool to add a child of Xerneas, we'll consider doing that- and thanks for explaining the part about wattpad.
DarkFoxKit: Awsomeness, yeah, I usually prefer doing dialogues rather than action scenes, it's hard to keep up with the action using words alone- those are meant for pictures or motion pictures really. Yeah, she calls it a stroll even though it's technically flying. And I plan to get Mew in MY Master Ball, thank you. :P Thor94, Blue is not a Child of Legendary. And everyone is a hypocrite actually, even them- their minds are a bit more twisted due to childhood trauma. I never said how old they are, people just assumed they were about the same age as Ash, which is not true. They are all in fact, much older than Ash himself. The boy is only 10, they're in their mid and late teen years, and they have been training about all their lives and hybrids age slower than normal humans, so I'd imagine with all that training they'd be pretty dang powerful, don't you?
Key2DestNE: … *sweatdrops* Riiight… Guest 1, we know you don't have an account but I'm 90% sure there's a way to adjust the name you review as… Guest 2, we're doing the slowly, don't worry. :P But yeah, the rest of your questions we can't really say just yet- it'd spoil things. *cough* And we may not have figured some of those out yet *cough*
DarkFoxKit: Booklover20011010, it seems many fanfics would make the bully always act angry or cruel, but they fail to remember they are humans with feelings too. Blue is cold hearted, yes, but that doesn't mean he's a robot. I'm glad you like how we portrayed Blue here. And yeah, Mew is getting more serious lately.
Key2DestNE: TimmyC, I'm glad to see you liked the OCs in this story and not the ones in the reviews as much- we worked hard to show them as having both good parts and bad parts! Mark the Haxorus, Arceus may arrive soon or he may not, as Mew doesn't get along with him well.
DarkFoxKit: Guest, Green herself may not appear here, but plans may change in the future so who knows? …Oh, wait- your name is BlessHarryPotter? My bad! ^^' PsychicEevee0103, It's okay, it happens- plus means you get to read more. And ah, we should post a list of all the Children of Legendaries in our next AN…
Key2DestNE: Icypika, that would be pretty cool if Ash was in a Pokemon Contest, we'll see if we can fit that in at any point. Dobbyeatschicken, we can try to find a shiny Snorlax, but that won't be too easy to fit in I believe… Oh well.
DarkFoxKit: InsanityPie… *sigh* You don't read the previous ANs, do you? Right, let's get this out of the way- once again we find someone who sees the villains OP or borderline of Mary Sue/Gary Stu, and maybe yeah, you could say they're like that, but remember, they are not only antagonists, they earned these strong powers. They have been training all their lives, and considering that they age much slower, they might have been in training for hundreds of years- you don't think they wouldn't be OP by then? And remember, they were practically babies when they were traumatized by Mew, and their parents put it in their heads that she's bad, so yeah, they're pretty twisted even if their intentions are good. And as for Ash having to be a Gary Stu to defeat them, you really shouldn't worry about that. I know people don't want to see the main character become Mary Sue/Gary Stu, so I understand your fear of this, but really, try to think about the characters and why they're like this rather than writing them off because they're considered too powerful.
Key2DestNE: ...Well, that was a rant. *sweatdrops* Final review of the day… Whiterosekid, the other legendaries think Mew is no longer able to keep control- she doesn't see others as anything but toys in their minds, and they're also frustrated about not being able to have children of their own.
DarkFoxKit: In other words, they fear the all mighty Mew that sees them as toys. Okay, that seems to be all so far. Anymore comments about OP OCs, either read our ANs or stop complaining, we're not going to answer those anymore. Alright Key, got anything to add? … Get off the mafia forum and say something! *kicks Key's butt*
Key2DestNE: Yipe! H-hey! Well, uh… not really. *shrugs* I don't really have much else to say, other than this: I'm Key2DestNE, the crazy fox over there planning to catch Mew is DarkFoxKit, and we look forward t-
DarkFoxKit: *pounces Key and gags him* You are NOT taking my outro line again! AHEM! I am DarkFoxKit, this is Key2DestNE, the one going on hiatus, and we look forward to hearing from you! *rolls Key down the hill*
Key2DestNE: MMMMMMPH! *CRASH!* ...Ow.