Author's Note: Hey guys! So, pretty intense stuff in the last chapter. Figure that Ash getting kidnapped two *coughs*three*cough* times is enough affect them all in different ways. And I think I know who we all are looking at when we say Ash's kidnapping has made someone do dramatic reactions *cough*Serena*cough*. Which is why this wonderful and hilarious chapter was written by Joltie! I swear, when I first read this chapter, I couldn't stop laughing! Enjoy the chapter!
Also, I got news, I've joined a club at School. Don't know if it's going to affect my writing or anything.
SHOTOUTS!-
Joshua Ketchum: Thanks! We hope this chapter is just as good!
Steel (Guest): Um... *whistles innocently* Hey, don't look at me! It was Warner Brothers' idea to make Freddy have a net obsession! Hmm... A trap door, now that's an interesting idea! Kidding, me and Joltie already have everything planned out for the rescue scene. Little Cinnamon Roll? Why would you- Oh wait, never mind. Seriously, where are you getting that chainsaw?! Oh, sorry for those mistakes. Well, you know Serena, she'll never admit her feelings to anyone, even if there's already half the people in that room already know about it. If it makes you feel any better, it was Joltie's idea to bring the bazooka back. Enjoy!
Guest: Yep, the bazooka net is back.
R98: Yeah, Markiplier is a really a funny guy. I don't know why, but it's always so funny to see a grown-man screaming like a kid. I got jumpscared a few times when I wasn't prepared for it. Don't worry, this chapter everyone is gonna make sure Freddy is going to get that thing to work.
Blaze: What can I say? Love makes us do crazy things.
Lightwing: Were you expecting them too?
Darkwing: You'll never know. But just in case... *Puts helmet on* I'm good!
Chapter 11
A new air of determination hung over the gang; practically all of them were focused and had one objective in mind. Trapping that horrible animatronic and saving Ash. Of course it was going to be harder to do than say but, they had a plan in place, with a horrific backup plan just in case that one failed. However, for the backup plan to be anything other than horrific, a certain trap/van lover needed to be taught how to hold a certain object the correct way before firing, which would stop him from catching his friends instead of catching the bad guys.
It had been hours since they began to teach but each attempt ended up in failure, even when they were holding it alongside him, they had no idea on how the weapon even ended up facing the wrong way themselves it was that baffling. Maybe the bazooka had been made to fail and, that way, it needed refurbishment and some minor tweaking before it would actually work properly. With that revelation out of the way, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie decided to head back to Prism Tower, in hopes of finding some of Clemont's equipment that would help them sort out that horrible thing which they have already had bad experiences with.
That left the adults alone, with Freddy wanting to get a net for his trap as soon as he could, jumping up and down like an excited toddler when he could and then pouting and stomping his foot when he was told he would have to wait a second. To keep the tantruming-adult happy, Daphne and Velma agreed to go with him to find a net, leaving Shaggy, Scooby and Taku behind to do whatever they wanted to, not that it mattered much.
The millionaire was still upset, still angry at himself for his nephew's abduction. His pride and joy was standing right next to him and he just let the Puppet Master have her way and take the boy away from him. Even after the morning's events, he still couldn't help but feel down about everything. This had never happened before, even back when Ash was younger. However, Taku thought a part of that was due to the fact he never really revealed anything about his family to the media or anyone, apart from those he trusted and as of recently, that number had become few and far between.
However, a hippie and his dog wasn't going to let Taku sulk around all day, wallowing in self-pity, they were going to drag his sorry butt outside and take him to a restaurant they believed he would like, if his food tastes were the same as his nephew's. They were angry about what had happened too, especially since they weren't there to do anything to help or prevent the situation. But, when they were down, angry or generally upset about things, they had only one thing they could turn to. Now, Shaggy and Scooby were simple guys, if they were upset, they ate, if they were happy, they ate, if they were angry… I think you get the picture now but, in other words, the perfect spot for them was a restaurant, one they managed to drag the millionaire to through the empty Lumiose streets.
The banging of Bonnie's heels on the table base as she swung her legs to and fro really began to get annoying for Clemont as he dug his way through a box of screws, searching for the giant ones which may or may not have fallen to the bottom due to their larger mass and weight compared to the other screws. A part of him wished he was more organised but his work space was smaller than he wanted it to be but the sunlight that came though the giant window heated up the metallic parts, causing them to burn his hands if he wasn't careful. All of his equipment had to be placed either side of the window, and in a place where it wouldn't block access to the work bench, which was a total pain.
"Bonnie, please can you stop that?" He asked with a sigh, slightly annoyed now more than anything as he brought his head out of the box.
"Well I'm sorry I'm so bored!" She pouted, continuing the action with even more force than before, creating louder more painful sounds. Serena looked up from where she was searching and shook her head at him with a saddened expression. Just saying anything seemed to make the situation even worse than before. He closed his eyes and sighed once again. Why did this have to happen to them, again?
It was bad enough with the Spectre because, after a while, they knew what was happening and could easily find ways to overcome the situation. Now, only Arceus knew what was happening to Ash. Did the Puppet Master plan on hypnotising him? Was he being hurt? Where was she keeping him until the meeting time? Questions like that flew through the inventor's head as he searched for the tools needed to sort out Fred's Net Bazooka.
Of course Clemont couldn't help but worry. He saw Serena and Ash as the brother and sister he never had, well with them being around his age and Bonnie being younger than him. And, because of that, he worried about them, like a brother would. Ash joked one day that he was like a friend of his from Kanto, called Brock, who treated his friends like additions to his large family, especially if they were sick or were injured, as Ash had found out many a time.
"Found it!" Serena's voice brought him out of his thoughts as she plunked a box full of large screws and pulleys onto the workbench's table top. The box had writing on the side which said was the content was.
"Looks like big brother didn't check the label." Bonnie grinned snidely at him, as he made a move to check the writing on his box. 'Small to Medium screws', well that explained why he couldn't find anything. However, he didn't react in the way that the girls thought he would.
"Is something wrong?" Serena asked; only to want to slap herself in the face. Of course something was wrong right now, everything.
"I'm just worried." Clemont admitted, sitting on the floor, curling up his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He sighed as he rested his chin on the top of his knees. "Worried about Ash."
"We all are." The performer knelt down in front of him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "But remember, the Puppet Master isn't like the Spectre, he's okay… I know it." A small smile formed on her face. "Knowing Ash, he'll be talking the ears off of her metallic head right now." Bonnie and Dedenne burst into laughter on the workbench whilst Clemont simply chuckled.
"That's our Ash." Bonnie grinned, swinging her legs still but not hitting anything at the moment, each leg doing the opposite to the other. "Yelling at villains and annoying them until the Miltank come home!" The three humans and one Pokémon began laughing again, their spirits lifted more than ever.
"We will rescue him." Clemont said finally, moments later with a determined expression. "Whether the trap will work or not, we will rescue him."
"Yeah, and imagine his face when we do." As soon as she had said that, for some reason, Bonnie nudged Serena in the arm who began blushing a crimson red. Ten points for whoever could answer what she was thinking about. She quickly pulled out a blue duffle bag, and opened the top.
"Just put what we need in there!" Serena turned her head away from the others, speaking quickly so they couldn't hear her change in pitch. "Then we can go!"
The siblings gave each other unamused looks with a roll of the eye. Serena was really hard at hiding her feelings, especially when it came to teasing her about it, just as Miette had shown them the many times they had met up. Following the other girl's orders just to make her feel better, both Clemont and Bonnie couldn't help but wonder, when on earth was she going to tell him how she felt?
Daphne Blake wondered why she even had a crush on Fred sometimes, considering how he was acting now. And how was he acting, one may ask. Well, the answer was simple, like a kid in the largest candy store in the world whilst having an infinite amount money amongst his persons. Yes, that bad. He was running about the net section of the Traps Galore store, which accommodated scientists who wanted to find humane ways of capturing a Pokémon for tests without using a Poke Ball, needless to say, this was where Team Rocket must have brought their nets from before they used the electro technology made ones that came happily in little black cubes.
"This one has a titanium alloy! Oh and this one is made of carbon fibre material! Golly gosh! And this one…" Freddie was in his own little world of nets and, possibly, vans. There was next to no way of getting him out of it. The two girls stood at the end of the nearest isle to where the man was; both of them with folded arms.
"We should have never brought him here." Daphne sighed, shaking her head before looking down at her right hand's nails.
"Agreed." Velma pulled out her phone and began pressing at the apps on it, trying to find one that would limit her boredom here. "Actually, it was Fred who had brought us here. I wonder how he knew about this place."
"I dunno and I'm not going to ask." The fashionista groaned, which was met with agreement from her female friend, both of whom didn't want a lecture on the ins and outs of Fred learning of this store's existence. It was bad enough they were there and Daphne normally liked shopping, shopping for clothes that is. Being in an empty trap store with Fred running around like a kid that was high on sugar wasn't the way she wanted to spend her day.
When they suddenly heard a worrying lack of noise, the girls looked up, seeing an extremely excited Fred in front of them, both arms covered by a large amount of nets. Velma pushed up her glasses and sighed.
"Even though there is no one here, you do know that we have to pay for those?" She asked him, only to realise that a normal answer wouldn't be acceptable in the blonde's eyes.
"Who cares?! We can get Mr. Ketchum to pay for it!" He grinned, practically jumping on the spot due to his wild emotions over his wide hall of nets. "It is his nephew's rescue mission that these are going to be used for!"
"And who's fault is the kidnapping again?" Daphne inquired, with Velma shrugging her shoulders for a response.
"No idea, but just leave him be. We won't get any sense out of him until he's building those things into a trap." She replied with a moan, turning back to her phone before cursing under her breath over a death on a game, wait… was that Flappy Bird? How behind on the times was Velma when it came to gaming/app trends?
"But…" Fred began rambling on about each of the nets and how they were both special and useful at the same time. With Velma swept up in her mobile game, Daphne was the only one left who could be forced into partially listening to the net lecture, with hopes that an essay wasn't due once it was over. At that moment in time, in the history of Daphne Blake, as far back as she could remember that is, she could never remember a time in which she had been as bored to tears as she was now.
Taku watched as Shaggy and Scooby strolled happily ahead of him, humming a tune that must have been stuck in their heads as the two led him to their favourite restaurant in Kalos, even though they had only been to Lumiose City and had only been here a few days. Apparently this trip was supposed to make him feel better as, according to them, food made everything better. Maybe that's why people chose to eat when they were upset or angry. That's probably how the phrase comfort food came into place.
Pikachu clung to his shoulder, in the same position that he would have been if he was on his trainer's shoulder. His ears drooped, tail hanging low, eyes lost that usual sparkle of energy that they usually had. If anyone was more affected by the millionaire by Ash's abduction then Pikachu would be that being. The two were as thick as thieves, brothers forever although the start of their journey hadn't been that way. The electric mouse showed some signs of life as Taku began stroking him under the chin, the third most loved place to be stroked after the head and the tail, a spot that was much adored.
"So, may I ask where we are headed?" Taku inquired to the cowardly members of Mystery Incorporated, who turned their heads back at him with a smile.
"Like, only to the greatest place in Lumiose, Restaurant Le Wow!" Shaggy began scratching his chin slightly. "Well, as far as, like, we can afford."
"Reah! We'll cook you up something rood!" Scooby nodded, his tail wagging at thought of amazing ingredients to make an amazing five course meal out of, those five courses he would eat himself, of course. Pikachu gave Taku a look and began whirling one of his paw's fingers around his head in a circle, causing the millionaire to begin laughing. Whilst, yes, Shaggy and Scooby were crazy, he could see why his nephew had taken a shine to them, and not just because they had slightly larger stomachs than he did.
It only took about ten minutes to get to the restaurant, especially since the empty roads and lack of cars weren't a problem for them, not like it would normally be on a normal day in Lumiose City. The clean windows and prestigious looks greeted them at the front of the restaurant; three stars covered the sign behind the restaurant's name.
"Like, right this way monsieur's." Shaggy bowed and lead Taku and Pikachu into the restaurant, sitting them down at a table and somehow, donning a waiter outfit, Scooby gone out back into the kitchen. "Vat Vould you, like, Vant from ze menu…" Pikachu pretended to be making a sensible choice before pointing to the ketchup bottle and showing three fingers.
"Ahh, trois ketchup bottles." The horrible French accent made Taku roll his eyes but play along with the act. "Et you, Monsieur Ketchum?"
"A Croque Madame, if you please." The millionaire chuckled; those two really did know how to cheer people up.
"Of course…" He bowed once again and rushed into the kitchen. Whilst they waited, Pikachu decided he wanted some comfort from his trainer's uncle and snuggled into the man's jumper, his scent was familiar, it smelt similar to Pika-Pi's own scent. It reassured him and told him everything was going to be okay, the stroke of fingers that went down his back also added to that feeling, that was until a duo of loud screams from the kitchen caught their attentions
Taku got up, ready to go and kick some behind if he needed too whilst Pikachu jumped over to another table to grab his ketchup bottle, just in case they needed to make a quick exit. Shaggy and Scooby suddenly stormed out of the kitchen, back in their normal appearances except for the chef's hat atop of the dog's head, eyes not visible.
"What's the matter… what's going on?" Taku asked before Shaggy grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the restaurant, not saying a word. Scooby grabbed Pikachu by the scruff of his neck with his teeth, allowing the yellow rodent to enjoy the condiment in his arms with a large grin.
"First they take my friend…" Shaggy finally spoke as they were on the streets, having let go of the older man's jumper. "… And now they take MY FOOD?!" The two burst into rage mode as they ran back to the hotel, screaming murder at the hypnotised people who raided the restaurant and took the food they were going to enjoy. Taku looked down at Pikachu, who just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his sweet, sweet ketchup. The millionaire just realised that moment that his nephew's starter really didn't care about anything, except maybe his trainer, when he had his hands on a bottle of ketchup.
Each of the three groups had extremely different emotional states as they reconvened at the hotel room later on that day. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie seemed relatively happy, and yet held a greater air of confidence about them. Fred was practically still on his trap enduced sugar rush with Daphne and Velma looking extremely tired, hair messy as well as clothes. Shaggy and Scooby were seething in anger; an aura of hatred surrounded them easily for all to see whilst Taku was confused and Pikachu was busy with his ketchup bottle.
"Come on gang! We need to set this all up!" Fred instructed giddily before skipping off towards the Music Hall, "We only have a few hours until Mr. Ketchum needs to meet the Puppet Master!" Daphne and Velma both rolled their eyes and followed after him, watching the blond like a hawk would their prey.
"THAT ROBOT WILL PAY… FOR KIDNAPPING ASH AND STEALING ALL THE FOOD!" Shaggy yelled as he followed the other Mystery Inc. members, Scooby growling alongside him, acting the most dog-like the Pokémon World humans had ever seen him. As the group of teens began to disappear, the children turned to the millionaire with shock and bewilderment on their faces.
"Umm, what's going on?" Clemont asked nobody in particular.
"They've gone insane, that's what." Bonnie answered him, looking down at Dedenne with a smile. "Right, Dedenne?" An affirmative nod along with squeaks of happiness told her that the dual electric and fairy type agreed.
"Well, Shaggy and Scooby are being fuelled by empty stomachs and rage." Taku replied, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head slightly. "The others? I can only guess… but it looks like it has something to do with Fred."
"When doesn't it?" Bonnie asked, causing the others to think about that statement. She had a point there.
"Alright, who's ready to take the Puppet Master down and save Ash?!" Serena grinned, pumping her fist into the air like she was punching the sky.
"YEAH!" Everyone agreed, getting into a circle and doing their usual hands in the middle and then flinging them upwards to the sky routine, a signature thing that their group did. However, this time Pikachu decided that his ketchup was more important and delicious for that. They stood back up and ran after the Mystery Incorporated members with renewed valour. The Puppet Master better watch out as they were coming to get her!
