Ch 27: Sparks fly for Magnamite
It was late in the afternoon in the lower sewers of Gringey city. On a walkway near the water , a man wearing a white jumpsuit like uniform , stood with two Magnaton and 2 Magnamite beside him.
"Alright it's that time of day again." He said to himself as he saw movement in the water.
Moments later several Grimer rose out of the water with nasty looks on their faces.
"Grime!" The first one shouted as they rushed at the edge of the platform.
"Thunderbolt!" The man shouted. His Magnaton and Magnamite unleashed their electric attacks hitting the Grimer and doing great damage, considering they were in the water. The 5 Grimer quickly backed off as another 6 came forward and unleashed sludge.
"Look out!" The man shouted as he ducked for cover with his Magnaton and Magnamite. Just as he hit the ground he noticed a third Magnamite happily floating around as sludge flew overhead.
"Magnamite what are you doing ! You're going to get hit!" He shouted.
"Mag!" The other Magnamite and Magnaton shouted angrily at him.
"Mag!" The Magnamite said with a careless expression.
"Hurry use Thunderbolt again!" The man shouted.
The electric pokemon unleashed another barrage of electric attacks that hit the Grimer and were magnified in the water.
The 6 Grimer backed off and went back into the water out of sight.
"Dam it Magnamite you're going to get yourself hurt!" The man shouted as the other pokemon also scolded him.
"Magnamite!" The Magnamite said still sounding happy.
The man sighed as he and the other pokemon sweat dropped.
"Well at least we kept the Grimer away for today. Good job to the rest of you. I should get you some food." He said.
The pokemon happily nodded as they walked over to a door and went inside.
Several minutes later 4 men stood outside the same door with a woman standing in the center.
"Open the door." She said.
"Yes ma'am." One said.
Inside the structure the man with the Magnamite and Magnaton was in a room with another man wearing the same uniform as they watched the pokemon eat.
"So you fend off the daily Grimer attack?" The other man asked.
"Yeah, but Magnamite 42a is still acting up. Not taking things seriously." The first man said.
"Well, hopefully he'll learn eventually. But for now." The other one started.
Moments later the door to the room was opened and several bursts of fire flew in.
"What the?" One man asked before they saw a pair of Growlithe walk in and continued using Ember.
Two of the Magnamite were hit by many of the blasts and took a great deal of damage.
"Magna," They said in pain.
"Hurry Magnaton use Thunderbolt!" The first man shouted.
Despite being hit, the two Magnaton floated up and unleashed a bolt of electricity. The two Growlithe jumped to the side as the electricity hit the ground where they were.
That was when a pair of Golbats flew in and unleashed a Supersonic.
"Mag!" The Magnatons shouted as they got confused.
As this happened the happy Magnamite quickly floated up and into an open ventilation shaft to escape.
As the two Magnatons got confused , the Growlithes unleashed another barrage of embers that hit them hard.
"Oh no." The second man said.
"Hey look." The first one said as they saw a pair of men in black uniforms walk in wielding electric batons.
"Oh no it's!" One started before the two men ran over and slammed their batons into the other mens' faces, knocking them out.
In another room filled with computer terminals , a man and a woman wearing the same uniforms as the other two men were working with several Magnamite flying above them. Behind them was another man wearing a slightly different uniform and 2 Magnaton floating over him.
"Boss we've got a problem." The woman said.
"What's wrong?" The standing man said.
"The security camera in the pokemon food storage just went out. Plus security door 5 isn't working." The other man said.
"Something's going on, we need to get down there and." The man started before the door behind them burst open. The men and woman turned to see a large man with two Dragonites beside him.
"Flamethrower." The large man said.
The two Dragonites opened their mouths and unleashed an ocean of fire that easily knocked out the Magnamite and Magnaton.
The large man walked through the fire with his uniform absorbing the heat before he grabbed the worker by his throat and then hurled him into the wall. Another two men appeared behind the other two workers and placed them in chokeholds.
The next morning Ash and the others had set up camp near the start of route 15.
"Alright Eevee show me your best Tackle!" Serena shouted.
"Eevee!" Eevee shouted as he ran at Charla as fast as he could and launched himself into her stomach.
Charla was moved back a few inches, but looked unfazed. Eevee was also pushed back and landed a foot away from Charla then looked up at the large Charizard as she smiled.
"Eevee?" Eevee said asking how he did.
"Gar." Charla growled saying he was getting better.
"Alright let's work on some speed and evasion." Serena said as Misdreavus floated up beside her.
"I'm going to have Misdreavus use Shadow ball and I want you to dodge them. Now don't worry about being hit ,because Ghost type attacks won't have any effect on you." Serena said.
"Eevee." Eevee said nodding.
"Alright Misdreavus use Shadow ball." Serena said.
Misdreavus formed a shadow ball in her mouth and launched it at Eevee. Eevee did his best to focus and then leapt out of the Shadow balls path.
"Good, keep it up." Serena said.
Eevee dodged another two Shadow balls before he tripped over his feet and fell face first into the dirt.
Serena, Charla, and Misdreavus sweat dropped.
"That was a good try, we just need some more practice." Serena said. They continued practicing for another hour and Eevee made similar progress.
"Alright Eevee, that's not bad for day one. How about we get some breakfast." Serena said.
"Eevee." said nodding.
A few minutes later Serena was sitting beside Ash and the others as they had breakfast.
"I still can't believe Charla is already a Charizard. It's so exciting, she also seems a lot more excited about evolving than she was last time she evolved." Serena said.
"It's always exciting when a pokemon reaches their final stage of evolution. But I have to warn you Serena. Raising a Charizard is a lot different than raising a Charmander or Charmeleon." Ash said.
"Well Charla hasn't gone crazy like Charizard did yet." Serena said.
"That's not what I meant. I mean her personality is going to change, a lot. Even after Charizard started listening to me again, he was far more aggressive and a bit more headstrong. She may start acting differently and may need to be trained differently, but don't worry she'll still be the same pokemon deep inside." Ash said.
"Ash is right, pokemon like Charizard can change a lot when they reach their final stage. Milotic got a lot more aggressive than she was before. But knowing how to work with that aggression and use it to your advantage is key." Lucy said.
"I'll have to keep that in mind." Serena said.
"So how far are we from Fuchsia city?" Ash asked.
"Still a few days away, we have all of route 15 and Gringey city to go through." Brock said.
"Gringey city? I've never heard of that place." Ash said.
"Me either." Lucy said.
"It's on the map, but I haven't heard much about it either. Only that about 25 years ago there were a lot of job openings there." Brock said.
"I wonder what happened?" Serena asked.
"We can find out when we get there." Lucy said.
Ash looked over at Pikachu who was looking a bit under the weather. Ash had noticed this since the morning.
"Hey Brock would you mind taking a look at Pikachu later, he's been a little under the weather this morning." Ash said.
"No problem, it's possible he might have gotten a few germs from those sick pokemon last night." Brock said.
Meanwhile over with the pokemon, Pikachu sniffled a little as he struggled to eat his foot.
Many of the other pokemon noticed this.
"Saur?" Ivysaur said asking if Pikachu was ok.
"Pika." Pikachu said sounding a little woozy.
"Haunt?" Haunter said asking if he got close to the sick pokemon.
"Pika." Pikachu said shaking his head.
Charizard was still very upset with Pikachu after what he told Charla. Now she was under the illusion that they were a couple. He looked over and saw her resting her head against his shoulders.
He sighed. He didn't want to have to do this in front of everyone , but knew taking her somewhere alone would only draw attention to them. But he had no choice.
When Charla opened her eyes she saw Charizard motioning her to a secluded area a few yards from the camp.
She walked over there with him.
"Grauu?" She growled as she blushed.
"Grauu." Charizard growled as he sighed. He then looked her in the eyes with a serious expression.
"Grauu." He growled explaining that the two of them were not in a romantic relationship.
"Grauu!" Charla shouted.
"Grauu." Charizard growled trying to calm her down. He tried to give more explanation on what he told Pikachu. What he meant when he said if she had been a Charizard when they first met then had time to get to know each other, he was talking about knowing her as a Charizard.
He explained that now she was fully evolved she would be a much different pokemon than she was before.
Charla lowered her head with a very sad crestfallen expression. Charizard sighed. He put his claws under her chin and raised her head.
"Grauu." Charizard growled. He explained that changing could be a good thing. He meant that he wouldn't just get with her simply because she was a Charizard. He would have to wait some time before he saw her in a different way. Before she was just a little char, now she had grown so much. It would take him time before he saw her differently, but that she was an amazing Charizard.
"Grauu." Charla growled sounding sincere. Asking if some day there was any possibility that they could be together.
"Gar." She growled saying that he was the only significant person in her life that she saw that way. Saying even if she met another Charizard, she only wanted to be with him. After all the time she spent with him she said she was in love with him.
Charizard sighed before he gave his honest answer.
"Grauu." Charizard growled saying that maybe someday now that she was a Charizard it could work between them.
"Grauu!" Charizard roared in excitement before giving Charizard a long lick across the side of his face.
"Grauu." He growled sweat dropping.
After the group finished their breakfast they packed up their things and continued on the path. Ash could feel through his aura connection to him, Pikachu was only getting sicker. Soon he wasn't able to stay upright on Ash's shoulder and he had to carry him in his arms.
Ash saw sparks coming from Pikachu's cheeks uncontrollibly.
"I'm really getting worried now." Ash said.
"Here let me take a look." Brock said as he walked over and took Pikachu from Ash.
"Huh that's weird." Brock said.
"What is?" Serena asked.
"Pikachu looks like he has the symptoms of a cold or fever, but it hasn't spread." Brock said.
"Brock has a point, if Pikachu was sick with a fever wouldn't one of the other pokemon have it too?" Lucy asked.
"We may need some further help on this." Brock said.
"There has to be a pokemon center in Gringey city, we should get there and see if Nurse Joy can help." Ash said.
The others nodded as they increased their pace. It took them another 2 hours but they finally reached Gringey city.
The city was large and filled with many buildings, mostly factories. The group noticed the city was not in good shape. The buildings and streets were in disrepair, there was smog all over the skies, and the bay and other water seemed extremely polluted. The group also noticed that there were hardly any people walking about and almost no pokemon.
"This place is horrible." Serena said.
"So much pollution. It's disgraceful." Brock said.
"It smells horrible too." Lucy said.
"I wonder why the local guardian guild allowed this city to get into a state like this?" Ash asked.
Eventually they found their way to the pokemon center.
Inside they saw almost no one except a few people silently in a few corners.
"Geeze Lavender town was more lively than this." Brock said sweat dropping.
The group made their way to the counter where they saw Nurse Joy writing something down.
"Nurse Joy, we need your help." Ash said. She looked up at them and saw Pikachu.
"Oh my, your Pikachu." She said as she extended her arms out.
Ash handed Pikachu to her as she felt his forehead.
"Your poor thing , your burning up with a fever." Nurse Joy said.
"Actually nurse Joy, I wasn't sure he had a fever. He's around our other pokemon plenty and none of them seem to have it." Brock said.
"Well let me take a look at him for a minute." Nurse Joy said as she and Chansey walked into the back area.
The group anxiously waited in the lobby area of the pokemon center.
"I hope she can find out what's wrong with Pikachu." Ash said.
"I'm sure she will." Lucy said.
"Hopefully she can help him soon, I don't like this city." Serena said.
"Me either." Brock said.
"So much pollution,How can pokemon thrive anywhere near here?" Lucy asked.
Moments later Brock noticed someone walk in. He looked about 23 with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He wore black glasses, a gray jacket with black jeans and had black fingerless gloves on with green wrist bands. Beside him was a girl wearing a familiar hooded blue and brown jacket robe.
"Uhh, dam pollution. This place is gonna need a lot of work." He said as he walked over and sat down at a table with her.
"True but the mentor wants this city turned around." The woman said.
"Hey wait isn't that." Brock started before Lucy turned and saw the two.
"It's Diana and Dakota."Lucy said.
The two heard Lucy's voice and turned to her.
"Diana it's Lucy." The man said.
The woman lowered her hood and revealed it was Diana.
"Diana, Dakota." Ash said.
"What are you guys doing here?" Lucy asked.
"We could ask you the same thing." Dakota said.
"So you're Dakota." Brock said.
"Yes, and you must be Brock." Dakota said.
"Dakota it's been a while hasn't it." Ash said.
"It has." Dakota said as he shook Ash's hand.
"So Diana tells me you're going for the elite four, impressive looks like you're going places after 5 years. " Dakota said.
"Yeah , Diana said you're competing in the battle frontier. How's that going?" Ash asked.
"Well I just challenged Brandon near Fuchsia city and got a Brave symbol."
"Wait Brandon's near Fuchsia city?" Lucy said sounding uncomfortable as her face turned slightly red. This caught Brock's attention.
"So why are you guys here?" Ash asked.
"Work for the brotherhood. The mentor has been getting sick of how rundown this city has become. She feels it's because there's no guardian guild here. So since we were passing through I volunteered to come here to try and find a good place to set up shop and find the things that need the most work. Once I do she'll sent a master to get things started." Lucy said.
"Eevee!" Eevee said sounding excited to see Diana again.
"Oh Eevee. I was wondering how you were doing." Diana said as she walked over to Serena.
"My he looks healthy, looks like I did the right thing leaving him with you." Diana said.
"Thanks, we actually began battle training today." Serena said.
That was when Dakota noticed Pikachu wasn't on Ash's shoulder.
"Hey Ash, where's Pikachu?" Dakota asked.
"He's the reason we came here. He's sick with something and this was the closest pokemon center." Ash said.
"Really, that's not good. But I'm sure Nurse Joy will be able to help him." Diana said.
Elsewhere in the pokemon center Nurse Joy was taking another look over Pikachu.
"Just what I thought you're not sick at all. Chansey can you get the magnet ready, it should make you feel all better." Nurse Joy said.
Chansey went over to turn the magnet on, but as soon as she did the power in the room went off.
"Huh?" Nurse Joy said.
"Chansey?" Chaney said as she flipped the switch back and forth.
Back in the lobby the others noticed the lights go out as well.
"Huh?" Serena said.
"The power's out." Diana said.
"Oh no!" They heard Nurse Joy shout.
Upon hearing this, the group except Dakota rushed to the back area of the pokemon center where they saw Nurse Joy standing before several pokemon in glass containers.
"Nurse Joy what happened?" Brock asked.
"The emergency power is out too, and the life support systems to these pokemon in critical condition is no longer functioning." She said.
"Oh no!" Ash and the others said.
"Guys, it's not just the pokemon center. It's the whole city." Dakota said as he walked in.
"What do you mean?" Diana asked.
"I went outside and all the lights are off. It's a total blackout." Dakota said.
"If the entire city is out, then there's no where these pokemon can go and they'll die." Nurse Joy said.
"No! We're not going to let that happen." Ash said.
"Ash is right, we're not going to let that happen." Diana said.
"If the power is out, then there must be something going on at the power station." Joy said.
"Where is the power station?" Lucy asked.
"The fastest way to get there from here is to head down to the sewer walkways and head to the doorway there." Joy said.
Serena , Lucy, and Brock sweat dropped.
"Of corse it is." Serena said.
"Alright let's get down there and see what's going on." Ash said.
That was when he saw Pikachu slowly walk in still looking sick.
"Pikachu, what are you doing here?" Ash asked.
"Pika." He said.
"You want to come with us, Pikachu your too sick to come with us." Ash said.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted claiming that he didn't want something to happen down there and him not able to do anything.
"Oh Pikachu. Alright, just try to be careful." Ash said as he picked him up.
"Good luck, and please hurry, these pokemon can't hold on for very long without life support." Nurse Joy said.
The group hurried out of the pokemon center and to a waterway that went underground.
"This waterway leads to the sewer, let's get down there." Diana said.
"How?" Serena asked.
"We'll just have to jump into the water." She said.
"What?" Everyone but Ash said.
"Well how else are we going to get down there?" She asked.
"It won't be pretty, but saving those pokemon is more important." Ash said sweat dropping.
"Uh guys, how about the stairs." Brock said pointing out a staircase leading to the walkway.
"Eh that works too" Diana said as she walked down the stairs.
"Was she seriously going to jump into that polluted sewage water?" Serena asked Dakota.
"My courageous wife." Dakota said sweat dropping.
As the group made their way through the walkway they noticed the smell got worse and worse.
"Ohh, it smells horrible in here." Serena said covering her nose and mouth. She returned Eevee to his pokeball so he wouldn't have to smell it.
"It sewage and pollution are not a good mix." Lucy said as she did the same.
"Come on, it's just a little bad smell." Ash said before they were underground. Then the smell got much worse.
"Pika." Pikachu said as he got woozy from the smell.
"Ok even I have to admit, that reeks." Diana said as she raised her mouth cloth over her mouth and nose.
Brock quietly made his way over to Diana and checked to see if Lucy was watching, then asked.
"Hey Diana, you and Lucy go way back right?".
"Yeah, why?" Diana asked.
"Well, it's just, when Dakota mentioned Brandon her face turned red and well, we're sort of in a relationship. Kind of well…..she said we're friends just a little closer." Brock said sweat dropping.
"Oh I see, you're afraid she's attracted to him. I wouldn't worry Brock, Brandon is in his 40's."
"Oh, well that's a relief." Brock said.
"The thing is, when we were around 10 years old still in are aura guardian training, she also started her frontier Brain training and Brandon was one of her trainers. They became very close and she had a little crush on him. But like I said, he's in his 40's now, I wouldn't worry about it."
"Thanks, that's a huge relief." Brock said.
"By the way, if you're friends just a little closer. When are you going to make a real move? I mean if you both like each other and know you like each other, why wait?" Diana asked.
Brock sighed.
"I don't know, I want to, it's just. It's just complicated." Brock said.
"Of course it is." Diana said sweat dropping.
The group continued down the walkway , not knowing they were being watched.
Two sets of eyes rose from the polluted water and watched the group. They then slowly went back into the water.
"So what do you think caused this power outage?" Serena asked.
"I don't know? It's ashamed Clemont isn't here though , he'd be really helpful." Ash said.
"Yes he would." Diana said.
"Clemont, wasn't he the blonde haired glasses kid that had the sister who always kept proposing for him." Dakota asked.
"She what?" Lucy asked.
"She proposed for Red a too, just with one girl though. Korrina." Serena said remembering every time Bonnie had done that.
"Could you imagine if someone just came up to a random person and." Brock started before Ash, Serena , and Lucy turned to him.
"Don't say it." Brock said sweat dropping.
"Alright we must be getting close to the plant now." Diana said as she saw the walkway getting larger and some of them making bridges across the water.
"Hold on, something's not right here." Ash said as he felt hostile aura around them.
"I can feel it too." Lucy said. They and Diana used their aura vision to see over a dozen red aura's around them.
"Uh guys, we're surrounded." Ash said.
Moments later two Grimer burst out of the water and unleashed Sludge. Serena, Brock, and Diana were hit in their head, face, and chest.
"Ahh! It's so gross" Serena said as she tried to get the sludge out of her hair.
"Did it go in your face." Brock said as he tried to keep it out of his mouth.
The Grimers grabbed Serena's legs and tried to pull her into the water.
"Hey let go!" Serena shouted as she tried to kick the two Grimers, unfortunately their body types absorbed her kicks and they continued to drag her closer to the water. Ash and Lucy both grabbed Serena by her arms and waist before pulling her back.
"Pikachu use electricity but be careful." Ash said.
Pikachu's vision wasn't at its best, nor was his composure, but he let out a burst of electricity that fried the two Grimers and made them let go of Serena before sinking into the water.
"Thanks guys, I can't imagine going into that horrible water." Serena said.
Moments later over a dozen other Grimers rose out of the water and began unleashing sludge at the group.
"Look out!" Brock shouted.
Ash, Lucy , and Diana each created an aura barrier that together covered the group from the sludge.
"Hey look its a water turbine!" Dakota said as he saw the end of the waterway. The group noticed several Grimer were lodged at the front of it, keeping water from entering it.
"These Grimer must be the cause of the power outage, they're blocking the water turbine." Lucy said.
"So we have to get them out." Serena said.
"Let's burn them out then." Lucy said as she let out her Seviper. At the same time Serena let out Charla.
"Flamethrower!" They shouted. The guardians lowered the barrier as Charla and Seviper unleashed wave of fire.
The Grimers quickly retreated under the water. Despite being polluted , the water extinguished the fire.
"Fire attacks won't work." Serena said sweat dropping.
"Other attacks might get absorbed by the water too." Dakota said.
"What about sending a water type, into that extremely polluted and dirty water." Diana said sweat dropping.
"Electricity is the only thing that can help us. Pikachu I know you're feeling sick but." Ash started before Pikachu put a determined look on.
"Pika." He said. He was willing to do what he had to. Besides when he used electricity, for some reason it made him feel a little better.
As the Grimer came back up Pikachu unleashed a massive Thunderbolt that hit them and was magnified by the water.
"Grime!" They shouted in pain before fainting.
"Great job Pikachu!" Ash shouted.
Another 4 Grimer slowly came out of the water when Pikachu turned to them and unleashed another bolt of electricity that had the same effect.
"Grime!".
Another 3 then rose up as Pikachu unleashed another Thunder. Every time he did, Pikachu felt a little better than before. Eventually 12 came up at the same time.
"Pikachu Thunder!" Ash shouted.
"Pika, chu!" Pikachu shouted as he unleashed the largest bolt of electricity yet.
"Grime!" The Grimer shouted before fainting.
"Pika!" Pikachu said as he stood up tall. After that last Thunder he felt as good as new. Like he had never been sick at all. Ash could feel this from their aura connection as well.
"Pikachu, you're feeling better." Ash said.
"Pika." Pikachu said smiling and nodding.
"Well that's a relief, but how did he recover from his fever just like that?" Dakota said.
"I'm really certain now it wasn't a fever." Brock said.
Moments later they heard something in the water, something larger. That was when another pokemon burst out of the water and landed in front of them on the walkway.
"Muk!" It shouted. This pokemon greatly resembled the Grimers , only far bigger.
"What is it?" Serena asked as she opened her pokedex.
"Muk, the Sludge Pokémon. A horribly toxic liquid seeps out of its body."
"The evolved form of Grimer, he must be the ringleader." Ash said.
"That means we'll need to force him away for the rest to leave." Dakota said.
"Muk!" The Muk shouted before he unleashed a massive Sludge Bomb at Pikachu.
"Pikachu Iron tail!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu leapt up and turned his tail metal before slicing the Sludge bomb in half and causing the two pieces to explode on the ground.
Pikachu landed behind Muk as the massive monster turned and unleashed a Sludge wave.
"Pikachu dodge!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu quickly leapt from place to place avoiding the sludge.
"Pikachu Electroball!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu unleashed a ball of electricity from his tail that hit the center of the sludge wave and exploded. Causing the sludge to go everywhere.
"Thunder!" Ash shouted.
"Pika, Chu!" Pikachu shouted as he blasted Muk with a massive bolt of electricity.
"Muk!" The Muk cried out as electricity surged inside him.
"Alright now to make sure you never come back." Ash said as he took out a pokeball.
"Pokeball go!" Ash shouted as he hurled the pokeball forward. The pokeball hit Muk and sent him inside.
The pokeball shook and rattled for a minute before stopping and flashing.
"Alright I caught him!" Ash shouted.
"Yeah , you did." Serena said sounding less than enthusiastic about the Muk being in the group.
Moments Muk's pokeball turned white and was transported away to Oak's lab.
Upon seeing their leader get captured, the remaining Grimer quickly scurried away.
"Alright , we did it. We saved the pokemon!" Lucy shouted.
That was when the group noticed that the water turbine didn't go back on.
"Hey wait a minute, the power's still off." Serena said.
"Serena's right, the turbine isn't going." Diana said.
"But if the Grimer weren't the cause of the power outage, what is?" Lucy asked.
That is when Dakota saw something floating over them.
"Guys look." He said as they all looked up to see a Magnamite floating above them with a rather frightened look on his face.
"A Magnamite?" Brock asked.
"Mag!" It said franticly as it floated down in front of Pikachu.
"Pika, Pika?" Pikachu asked.
"Mag, Magnamite!" He shouted.
"Pika!" Pikachu shouted. He explained to Ash what Magnamite told him.
"Alright according to Pikachu, this Magnamite works at the power plant with a bunch of other Magnamite and a few Magnaton. But yesterday they were attacked by a group of strange men. They took over the plant and all his friend prisoner." Ash said.
"This sounds like the work of team rocket." Lucy said.
"Isn't it always." Dakota said sweat dropping.
" If team rocket is behind this then we better do something." Ash said.
"Right , Magnamite lead us to the power plant." Diana said.
"Mag!" Magnamite said nodding. The metal electric pokemon lead them to a door that was ripped open.
"This must be it." Ash said.
"Mag." Magnamite said nodding.
They slowly went inside and saw oddly enough the lights in the plant were still on.
The walls of the plant were white metal and went in a single hallway.
"Where are the workers being held?" Lucy asked.
"Mag." Magnamite said as he lead them down the hallway to a doorway with two rocket grunts guarding it. The grunts had electric batons in hand and a pair of Growlithe and Golbat in front of them.
"Grunts, please." Diana said as she let out her Blastoise.
"Blastoise use Hydro pump!" Diana shouted before she sprinted forward . Blastoise aimed his cannons and blasted the 4 rocket pokemon into the wall.
Diana sprinted until she was able to run on the wall then leapt forward doing a front flip. Before she landed she slammed her foot into he right one's face, knocking him out.
The other grunt hurled his electric baton at her only to have his arm knocked aside by her elbow. She then sliced his baton in half with her right hidden blade. After doing so , Diana rammed her knee into his leg, then her elbow across his face.
After the second man fell to the ground Diana moved some hair out of her glasses.
"Alright let's free the workers." She said as the others came forward.
When the door opened they saw 5 people tied up.
"Boss look!" The woman shouted.
"Finally help's arrived." The man with the different uniform on said.
Ash and the others quickly freed the workers who quickly got up.
"Thanks , but who are you guys?" One asked.
"No time, we need to get the city's power back on. Pokemon's lives are at stake." Brock said.
"Right, the thing is we need 2 parts of the plant for the power to come back. The main control room and the turbine control center." The head engineer said.
"We'll have to split up then." Ash said.
"Right, I'm sure team rocket has men posted in both locations." Diana said.
"Alright, Diana, Dakota and I will head to the main control room. The rest of you head to the turbine control center." Lucy said.
"Sounds good." Ash said.
"Jim, Dan, Suzy go with them to the main control room. Todd, we're going to the Turbine center." The head engineer said.
The other engineers nodded.
The two groups split up as Diana's went to the left and Ash's to the right.
Diana, Dakota, and Lucy rushed with Blastoise , Seviper, and the engineers hurried to the door where they saw a single grunt guarding it.
Before the man could even react, Lucy unleashed an aura sphere forward that burst in front of him, smashing his head into the wall.
As he fell over the door opened and the group ran inside.
As soon as they did they saw 5 team rocket grunts waiting for them with two sentinels.
The Sentinels let out a pair of Machamp as they drew their Katannas.
"We'll let you handle this." One of the engineers said sweat dropping as he and the other two backed out of the room.
The first Sentinel rushed at Lucy and hurled his Katana at her, only to have her stop it with her hidden blades. She tried to strike back, but the Sentinel blocked her strikes then tried to push her back.
Two of the grunts tried to come at her from behind, only to have Lucy leap up and backwards, backflipping before kicking the two grunts onto the sentinel.
The Sentinel hurled his men off him and onto the ground before continuing his attack. The man was very good with a sword as Lucy expected, she would have to use more fighting skills.
She tried to kick the man's calf , only to have him lurch back and try to bring his sword right down onto her head. Lucy quickly thrusted her left hidden blade up and into the man's wrist. The sentinel grunted in pain before Lucy plunged her right hidden blade into the man's throat.
At the same time, two other grunts and the other sentinel all came at Diana at once. Diana slammed her palm into the ground , causing a burst of aura to knock the 3 men back.
She then slammed her aura covered firsts into the grunts, easily knocking them out.
The sentinel thrusted his Katana in a stabbing motion at Diana, only to have her knock the blade aside with her left hidden blade. As she came in with her right, the Sentinel grabbed her arm and forced her to the side with a pull.
Lucy summersaulted before kicking the man in his calf and making him cringe.
As she tried to come in for the kill, the Sentinel quickly brought his sword up and blocked her strike, then tried to force her back.
Diana smiled before she moved back and under the man's sword before slicing across his stomach with her blades. The Sentinel dropped to the ground.
At the same time Dakota ducked when the last grunt hurled his baton at him. As the weapon went over his head, Dakota came back and grabbed the grunt's arm. Locking him in an arm bar before hurling him into the wall.
As this all happened Blastoise caught all 4 of one of the Machamp's fists and hurled him into the wall before launching him self into him with Body slam.
Seviper knocked the other Machamp's arms aside with Poison tail before wrapping around his body and bitting his neck with Poison fang.
As the Machamp fell to the ground Dakota turned and shouted.
"The room is clear!" The 3 engineers rushed inside and got onto the terminals.
"Alright we've got the main control room, now we just need the turbine control center." The woman said.
"It's up to the rest of them." Lucy said.
Meanwhile the rest of the group rushed across the other end of the hallway to the turbine center.
"Alright here we are. I just hope their crazy boss isn't here." There head engineer said.
"Crazy boss?" Serena asked. The doors opened up and the group walked inside a massive room. The room was large enough to have a large metal walkway above the ground that went to the tops of 4 massive turbines.
In the center of the room there was a large metal tube with over a dozen Magnamite and 4 Magnaton floating inside.
"Mag!" Magnamite shouted.
"So , you twerps have decided to meddle in my plans once again." An all to familiar voice said. Ash and the others slowly looked up to the walkway to see none other than Duncan the Dragon standing there with his mega evolved Dragonites beside him and 4 grunts.
"Duncan the dragon." Ash said.
"You know that lunatic?" the other engineer said.
"So you're responsible for the power outage!" Serena shouted.
"Yes, I am. Once the city knows I can control all of their power at will, they'll surrender to team rocket. Another city will fall to us. Soon all of Kanto will bow before team rocket." Duncan said licking his fangs.
"That will never happen!" Brock shouted.
"Oh but it will, Dragonites use Flamethrower!" Duncan said.
"Go Charizard!" Ash shouted. Charizard came out and roared.
Ash quickly touched his mega evolution stone as Charizard began to mega evolve. Charla's eyes widened as her face turned red.
"Inferno!" Ash shouted. Mega Charizard Y increased his tail flame and unleashed an ocean of fire that collided with the incoming flamethrowers. Sucking away all the oxygen.
"Go Onix!" Brock shouted.
Onix came out and stood beside him.
"Looks like I'll have my supper early. Kill them all." Duncan said as he leapt to the ground and roared , flashing his fangs and claws. His grunts quickly got off the walkway and beside him as his Mega Dragonite flew at the group. Ash saw one was trying to use thunder punch.
"Charizard Dragon pulse into Air slash!" Ash shouted. Charizard Y flew forward and unleashed a massive pulse of Dragon energy that flew through the air and slammed into the Mega Dragonite's chest, hurling him back. As he was hurled back, Charizard Y flew like a demon past him and slashed across his chest.
Meanwhile Duncan came at Ash with two grunts. Ash swept across the ground, unleashing a burst of aura as he did it. The three men were pushed back, allowing Ash to focus his attention on one grunt. He grabbed the man by his shoulder then slammed his right fist across his face. As quick as a flash, he slammed his other fist across his face before smashing his knee across the grunt's face.
As the second one came at him Ash went low and smashed into the grunt's legs, causing him to fall over him and crash into the ground. That was when Ash felt Duncan grab him by the back of his shirt and hurl him across the room.
Ash landed on his feet, but saw Duncan sprinting at him. The man hurled his claws at Ash, only to have him dodge them, or block them with his forearm. Ash tried to grab Duncan's arm only to have Duncan grab his arm back and hurl him over his body.
Ash managed to land on his feet and tried to kick Duncan in the calf. Duncan knocked Ash's leg aside before trying to claw him across the face. Ash let his hidden blades out and sliced off Duncan's claws before coming forward and ramming his shoulders into he man's stomach.
Duncan stumbled backwards and looked at his now declawed hands.
"Dam you, those claws are expensive." He then saw Ash's Charizard Y use Seismic toss to hurl one off his Mega Dragonite into his second one. As the two hit the ground, Onix unleashed a rock tomb onto them at the same time Charla flew at them , plowing her flaming fists into their faces.
The two Mega Dragonites reverted back to normal form.
Duncan returned them before taking out a metal device.
"The dragon won't be slain today." He said before hurling it into the ground. Ash's vision went white and his ears rang. When he recovered, Duncan was gone. Meanwhile as one of the remaining grunts hurled he baton at Serena, she slammed her foot into the grunt's arm, making her drop the baton.
Serena then delivered another powerful kick to the grunt's face, dropping her to the ground. As this happened, Brock grabbed the last grunt by his baton arm and hurled him into a wall before slamming his fist into his face.
"We're clear!" Brock shouted.
"Go! Go!" The head engineer shouted as he and the other engineers got on the turbine controls. As this happened Pikachu ran over to the metal tube and smashed it to pieces with Iron tail.
The Magnamite and Magnaton quickly flew out and to the turbines, using thunderbolt to help power them up. The 4 turbines then started to make loud noises and turn.
"Turbines on!" The head engineer shouted.
Meanwhile in the control room, the engineers saw the turbines were powered up.
"Turbines are on, let's light up the city." The woman said.
A minute later in the pokemon center , Nurse Joy and her Chansey were staring at the critical condition pokemon with very concerned looks.
"Please, please." She said with her hands clasped.
That is when they saw the lights come back on.
"Huh!" She said before she saw the vitals on the machines return to normal.
"They did it!" Joy shouted.
"The city's power has been restored!" The head engineer shouted.
"We saved the pokemon!" Ash shouted.
"Mag!" Magnamite shouted happily seeing his friends free.
Later the group met up back at the pokemon center with the head engineer.
"Thank you all so much, so saved over a dozen pokemon today." Joy said.
"Officer Jenny and her officers took care of the remaining grunts. The power plant is safe, especially since you said you also caught that Muk." .
"So your Pikachu looks like he's doing better." Nurse Joy said.
"Yeah it was weird, after he unleashed a lot of electricity he felt like new." Ash said.
"That's because he didn't have a cold. He just had electric buildup, sometimes electric types can build up electricity over years and it can cause fever like symptoms. When your Pikachu released that excess electricity it helped him." Nurse Joy said.
"I'm glad you guys were here. I couldn't imagine just the two of us having to do that all alone." Diana said.
"Well It's getting late , we should probably spend the night here." Brock said.
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind a shower to get the rest of the sludge out of my hair." Serena said.
"You know Diana , if you and Dakota need help setting up the new guild here?" Lucy asked.
"Thanks, but we can handle it." Diana said.
"Alright." Lucy said.
"It was good seeing you guys again. Good luck Ash." Dakota said.
"Thanks, good luck to you too." Ash said.
Later that night Ash was staring at his scale of Reduka. For nearly 5 years he had this powerful artifact but still didn't completely understand what it was. He felt a lot of power coming from it also much wisdom.
He could feel Reduka's presence around it, but just wished he could figure out what he could do with it.
Moments later Serena came out of the bathroom in her black bra and panties.
"Oh that feels better, having that sludge out of my hair." Serena said as she felt her hair.
She came over to the bed and cuddled up beside Ash.
"What a day, I never want to go in another sewer again." She said recalling the horrible smell.
"Certainly it wasn't as bad as being turned into stone." Ash said.
"That's true. " Serena said sweat dropping.
" It was nice seeing Diana and Dakota again." Ash said.
"It was, they seem to be doing good. I certainly hope they can help fix up this city." Serena said.
"I'm sure the guardians can turn this city around. It certainly needs it." Ash said.
"Well it's getting a bit late, goodnight." Serena said before kissing him then resting her head against his chest.
Author's note
So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, for those of you who wanted Charizard and Charla to get together now, Sorry but it has to wait.
I'm glad I was able to get it done when I did, I had a lot of fun writing it.
So until next time, please review, comment, suggest, or ask(via PM)