Chapter 18: One Way or Another
"Scraggy, use Headbutt on Axew!" Ash commanded and Scraggy dashed at Axew with its head tilted forward.
"Petilil, use Magical Leaf on Scraggy!" May instructed with a loud voice.
"Axew, dodge Headbutt and use Scratch on Petilil!" Iris demanded and Axew avoided Scraggy's attack and rushed at Petilil.
Meanwhile, Petilil released Magical Leaf on Scraggy, but Ash and Scraggy quickly countered by using its molted skin as protection, causing the Magical Leaf to weaken during the impact. Axew then popped out of nowhere and scratched Petilil, making the Grass-type fall back.
"Give it another Scratch!" Iris kept instructing.
"Scraggy, give Headbutt another shot on Axew!" Ash made a fist as he yelled out.
Before Axew could bash Petilil again, Scraggy came from nowhere and sent Axew flying with Headbutt. The Dragon-type groaned and prepare to battle. During the little feud, May took quick advantage and Petilil used Synthesis, ready to battle and win.
"Ash, May, and Iris may be using the most inexperienced members of their teams, but it still looks like a real battle, they're certainly marvelous trainers with great taste," Cilan smiled as he stirred the stew he was preparing and watched the battle of rookies while cooking.
"Pi pika," Pikachu was helping Cilan and watched the novice battle with interest as well.
"You're next May," Ash grinned confidently as Scraggy switched his gaze from Axew to Petilil.
"That's what you think," May smiled slyly.
"Axew, let's show them who the real winners are," Iris smirked at her opponents.
"Petilil, let's use Magical Leaf on Scraggy!" May jumped in the air with excitement and punched her fist upward.
Petilil smirked and released a barrage of colorful leaves at Scraggy. "Axew, take down Petilil with Scratch while she's at it!" Iris took advantage of time she had to attack.
As the colorful leaves charged at Scraggy, the baby Pokémon lifted its molten skin for protection again, but the barrage didn't charge at Scraggy and divided into two different barrages. The two sets of Magical Leaf past by Scraggy, leaving Ash and Iris confused, but May was the only smirking. When one of the sets charged at Axew, that's when the pair realized what May was up to, "Axew, watch out, use Scratch to fight against the Magical Leaf!" Iris ordered quickly, but it was futile, Axew was unprepared and the attack sent the small dragon flying in pain.
The other set quickly charged at Scraggy from behind and before Ash could make a command, the barrage sent the newborn flying into the air with pain. Scraggy and Axew landed next to each other, both groaning in pain as they tried to stand up.
"Got you right where I want you," May muttered and smirked when she saw the pair of Pokémon in front of Petilil.
"Axew, use Scratch on Scraggy and then charge at Petilil with Dragon Rage quick!" Iris extended her arm forward with a loud tone.
"Scraggy, stop Axew with Leer and then take both of them down with Headbutt!" Ash commanded and Scraggy nodded.
Before Axew could hit Scraggy, the lizard-like Pokémon stopped it with an intimidating glare and used Headbutt, bashing the Dragon-type against the ground. May grinned and spoke, "Stop them once and for all with Stun Spore, then wrap this up with Magical Leaf!" the brunette ordered with a confident voice.
Before Ash and Iris's Pokémon could move away, Petilil quickly released an orange gas that paralyzed the pair. "No…" Ash grinded his with frustration, wondering what he could do now.
"Axew!" Iris shouted in fear as the Dragon-type showed signs of immobilization.
May's Petilil then wasted no time in using Magical Leaf on the duo, but Iris had another plan for the sapphire-eyed girl and her Grass-type. "Axew, use Dragon Rage!" Iris commanded, alerting Ash and May with the rash order.
Axew was unsure if it should use the move that moment, but looked into Iris's eyes and nodded. The dragon nodded and quickly charged up energy for the attack, "Aaaaaaaaaaaaxeeeeew!" Axew cried out moments before Magical Leaf could hit.
"Uh oh," Ash, May, Cilan, and Iris all stated in unison while the Pokémon, including Pikachu, had their eyes widened.
The result was what Ash and May had expected, Dragon Rage had failed to come out like it did a few times before and instead blew up in the dragon's face. Magical Leaf was vaporized in the explosion, but Axew, Scraggy, and Petilil all flew back due to the blast.
After a few seconds, the smoke cleared and a fainted Axew, Scraggy, and Petilil lay on the grass. "I guess it's a tie," Iris grinned sheepishly and giggled.
Ash and May smiled, the couple returned their Pokémon and thanked them for their efforts. The pair then walked over to Iris, who had picked up the unconscious Axew. "I actually enjoyed our training session," Ash told Iris, smiling with content.
"I had fun too, even though it ended in a tie," May also gave Iris the same content smile.
"I really enjoyed it too, Axew still may not have perfected Dragon Rage, but it made good practice," Iris grinned while cradling the Dragon-type in her arms.
Ash and May nodded in agreement. The trio then walked over to Cilan and Pikachu, who were preparing lunch. "Looks like lunch is ready," Iris took note of Pikachu and Cilan setting up the plates.
"Great!" Ash and May cheered simultaneously and then laughed at their antics.
Iris grinned at them and rushed over to Cilan to help. Ash and May followed close behind and Pikachu quickly ran over to the boy and got on his shoulder. "Pika pikachu!" Pikachu cheered as he gazed at his partner and May.
"It was a good practice wasn't it pal," Ash smiled and scratched the mouse behind its ears.
"I really thought I was going to win," May grinned shamefacedly, recalling how her close victory resulted in imminent defeat.
"Even if it wasn't an official battle, it felt like one, nonetheless, and all I can say is that you did fantastic," Cilan praised the teens as the couple approached the table.
"Thank you," Ash, May, and Iris replied.
Cilan bobbed his head and spoke, "The food is ready, so why don't we eat."
They all agreed and as usual, May and Ash sat next each other while Cilan and Iris sat at the opposite end. The trainers released their Pokémon and they all got next to their plates and began eating. They all ate calmly and without a problem, it was a relief for the teens that Scraggy had stopped attacking the others with Headbutt.
"Castelia City is less than a few hours' walk from here; we should be approaching the Skyarrow Bridge soon."
"Just a few hours?!" Ash asked with excitement, clearly surprised over how much they had advanced since Nacrene City.
Pikachu sighed and took a bite of his food as he saw Ash yell with food in his mouth.
Cilan nodded and chuckled nervously, seeing the food in Ash's mouth repulsed the green-haired teen, but didn't say anything. "What's the Skyarrow Bridge, I mean besides being a bridge." May asked the natives of Unova.
"It's one of Unova's bridges and pretty cool," Iris answered the sapphire-eyed girl.
"It's one of the longest suspension bridges in the world and its design is said to be inspired by another bridge on the other side of the world, I can't recall its name, but it began with a 'B'," Cilan gave May a little trivia regarding the Skyarrow Bridge.
"If we get across the Skyarrow Bridge, then we arrive in Castelia City," Iris mentioned one more thing about the bridge.
"And how far are we from the Skyarrow Bridge?" Ash questioned, feeling a sense of adrenaline building up inside him.
"It's just an hour from here," Cilan responded, hoping Ash couldn't exclaim with his mouth filled with food again.
Ash's eyes shimmered with anticipation and the boy started to eat his food faster than usual. Even May was a little repulsed by her boyfriend's table manners, "Ash, what's the sudden rush for?" the coordinator inquired.
"Skyarrow Bridge…just an hour away…gotta get to Castelia City…win gym badge," Ash stated as he ate as much as possible to keep up his strength.
May and Cilan laughed nervously while Iris sighed and spoke, "Ash, you eat like such a kid."
Ash frowned at her and took a bite of his bread, "Oh yeah, well you're a-," but before the boy finished, he began choking on the chunk of bread he swallowed.
"Ash, drink the water quick!" May ordered, handing him a glass of water.
The raven-haired teen accepted the cup without another word and began drinking it, his face was clearly red as the bread clogged his throat, but not even that worked. May wrapped her arms around the boy's stomach to try to force out the bread in his throat, but failed.
May let out a deep breath and frowned, "It's no use, it just won't come out," the brunette kept pressing on the boy's stomach.
Suddenly, Scraggy charged at the boy's stomach and used Headbutt, forcing the chunk of bread to fly out and get lost among the bushes. Ash let out a gasp as his face reverted to its normal color, the boy gave Scraggy a weak smile and spoke weakly due to the lack of air, "Thank…you…Scraggy…" the auburn-eyed teen breathed in and out.
"Scraggy," Scraggy grinned, proud of his accomplishment while the other Pokémon thanked him for saving the reckless teen.
After a few more seconds, he heard May's voice, "Ash, are you okay?"
Ash looked up at May, who stood with the same posture his mother did after he had done something mischievous. He smiled and spoke, "Yeah, thanks May."
"Honestly Ash, sometimes I give Iris support for calling you a kid, couldn't you try to eat a bit slower, the gym isn't going anywhere," May mothered him.
"I can't believe you almost died because of a piece of bread, you would think something worse would put us in this situation," Iris crossed her arms and sighed.
Ash chuckled happily and soon, May, Iris, and Cilan as well as the Pokémon began laughing at the boy's childish actions. The boy grinned and repositioned his hat, which had gotten out of place during the choking incident.
"Why don't we start heading to the Skyarrow Bridge anyway, let's get to Castelia City before it turns to dusk," Cilan stated and they all agreed as May helped Ash up from his seat.
They all packed up their stuff and returned the Pokémon into their Pokéballs, except for Pikachu and Axew. With all that done, the group mobilized and continued to Castelia City without another word regarding Ash's stupid behavior.
Like Cilan said, they had taken just an hour to arrive to the Skyarrow Bridge and Ash could see it from the hills. "Look, it's the Skyarrow Bridge!" Ash pointed at the structure.
It certainly was a long bridge and had a very unique, but slightly gothic design to it. The arches amplified its beauty even more as the teens admired it.
Then May spotted something even farther away that caught her attention. "Look, is that Castelia City?!" May inquired with excitement as she detected some incredibly tall buildings on the horizon.
"That's right," Cilan crossed his arms, smiling at the fascination in the brunette's face.
"I've never seen a city with so many tall buildings before," Ash also spotted the buildings in the distance. They were all skyscrapers, but there were several structures that left the others in the dust. One of them was a building with an antenna and very block-like in design, another resembled the previous building mentioned, but a bit shorter with a similar design except slimmer and the tallest seemed to be under construction, but it surpassed all the other buildings in terms of height and had a very unique design.
"Castelia City is famous for all its tall buildings, it's considered the capital of the world because it's home for many big companies, celebrities, and basically to people from all over the world. There are many stores to shop in, places to eat, areas to visit, Castelia has it all," Iris stated.
"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" Ash and May held their hands together and raised them upwards. Ash did it out of his eagerness to defeat Burgh, but May did it because she was eager to see everything Castelia had to offer. Castelia City's reputation has even reached as far as Kanto; Ash recalled some of the people in Kanto who mentioned the enormous, modernized city.
Before Ash and May could start dashing toward the Skyarrow Bridge with Pikachu clinging on to Ash's hoodie so he wouldn't fall, they heard a yell, "Help!"
The couple stopped in their tracks and turned around with Cilan and Iris to see where the scream was coming from. "It sounds like it came from the trees," Iris said.
"And it sounded like more than one person yelling for help," Cilan added to what Iris said.
"What could be going on though?" May wondered as she stared in the direction the shout came from.
"Let's go find out," Ash said and ran into the trees with Pikachu.
Iris, Cilan, and May all ran behind the boy to investigate, knowing they had to help. When they arrived at the scene, the teens found a middle-aged couple in front of a Galvantula.
"That couple is being attacked by a giant spider!" May exclaimed when she saw frightened expression on the red-haired woman and purple-haired man. The woman wore blue jeans and black glasses with a red tank top, she also happened to have extremely long, red hair. The man wore khaki pants and some black shoes; he wore a blue vest and had a moustache.
"It's a Galvantula!" Cilan pointed out the name of the yellow spider-like creature.
May took out her Pokédex to see what the machine had to say about the Pokémon attacking the couple. "Galvantula, the EleSpider Pokémon. Galvantula attacks its prey by shooting electrically-charged threads and its front mandibles can hold down opponents," the device stated.
"Please help us get rid of this monster!" the woman screamed with fear at the teens.
"We don't have Pokémon to defend ourselves!" the man cried out with a scared tone.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack on Galvantula!" Ash turned to his friend that was on his shoulders. Pikachu nodded obediently and jumped down onto the floor. The mouse wasted no time at charging towards the EleSpider and sent the Electric-type flying against a tree and dropped to the ground unconsciously.
"That Galvantula just took a pretty hard hit," Iris smiled at the result.
"But it's an evolved Pokémon and Quick Attack isn't strong enough for a One-Hit KO, something fishy is going on around here," May began to suspect something and so did Cilan.
"Galvantula tend to be stronger than this," Cilan muttered.
"Thank you ever so much, young man!" the middle-aged woman thanked Ash happily.
"Indeed, how can we ever repay you?" the middle-aged man asked with gratitude in his eyes.
"Uh, you're welcome," Ash responded, suddenly getting a strange feeling inside him. Something isn't right, I feel like I've seen these two before and that Galvantula lost without even trying, something isn't right here, Ash thought to himself, growing suspicious.
"Pika!" Pikachu cried out and the teens turned to the mouse and saw him floating in the air with a green outline.
"Huh, what's going on?" Ash frowned when he saw Pikachu and then saw something come out of the bushes.
"Gothitelle," a black and purple bipedal Pokémon appeared. Its head was black with a point on top and a ribbon-like piece on both sides of the point. Its face was colored purple and had pink lips with blue eyes.
All of a sudden, Meowth popped out of the bushes with Gothitelle as well and smiled deviously, "Hey twerps, lwong time no see."
"Meowth!" Ash and the others teens exclaimed in surprise, but quickly glared at the cat, expecting trouble the very moment the feline appeared.
"What are you doing here?" May made a fist and frowned at the Normal-type.
"Challenging questions indeed," the woman with red hair began to speak.
"The answer's to come as we feel the need," the man with blue hair followed.
"Bringing the blinding white light of evil into the future!" the woman revealed herself to be Jessie, still donning the black Team Rocket uniform.
"Thrusting the hammer of justice down onto the black darkness of the universe!" the man turned out to be James.
"Carving our names in the Rock of Eternity!" Meowth jumped in front of his comrades and slashed the air violently.
"The fie-," Jessie was about to continue but got interrupted by someone who dropped from the sky on his jetpack.
"Enough, there is no time for mottos today," the man said while standing in front of the Team Rocket trio. He had dark blue hair that reached his neck and olive green eyes. He wore a gray turtle neck coat with the Team Rocket logo on and the man had a cold look in his eye.
Ash, May, and the others quickly got a bad vibe from the guy as he glared at them. "Yes, of course," Jessie bowed down in fear.
"Our sincerest apologies," James bowed down with even more fear.
"Some ol habits a just meant ta die hard," Meowth bowed down as well, showing the exact same fear as Jessie and James.
The teens, Pikachu, and Axew looked at the Team Rocket trio who had frightened looks on their faces when the stranger arrived. This guy must be pretty bad if Team Rocket is afraid of him, Ash said in his head and looked at the newcomer.
"Whoever you are, let Pikachu go!" May also showed signs of fear by clenching her fists and carrying an uncertain face, but was able to spat at the tall male.
"Don't you Team Rocket jerks have some other hobby besides following us," Iris frowned at Team Rocket, clearly not very happy about meeting them again.
"Your crimes stop here!" Cilan spoke with authority due to the fact that he was a gym leader.
"My name is Pierce, I am a high-ranking Team Rocket operative so have some respect, I'm not like these clowns who you encounter on a regular basis," Pierce spoke coldly and turned to Team Rocket, who stood like statues behind him.
"And are you here to steal Pikachu?" Ash took a defensive position, readying a Pokéball to battle Pierce; knowing any high-ranking Rocket operative proved a challenge. Ash learned that by now after so many encounters with the criminal organization.
"No," Pierce simply answered.
"We're not?!" the Team Rocket trio shouted with surprise.
"Silence, it's your greed that's caused Team Rocket to fail so many operations in the past, we're here for one purpose only," Pierce stated, silencing Team Rocket again.
"Well, what do you want?" Ash clenched his fist and glared at Pierce.
Pierce smirked and suddenly, the teens found themselves floating in midair and with a green outline, but not because of Gothitelle, who was still making Pikachu levitate, but because of another Pokémon that appeared behind them.
"Perfect Telekinesis, Golett," Pierce put his arms behind his back as a round, blue golem with a yellow swirl on its chest appeared, motioning its hands at the teens.
"That Golett is using Telekinesis on us," Cilan grinded his teeth.
"I don't really feel comfortable floating in the air like this," Iris felt uneasy in midair.
Ash and May tried to reach for their Pokéballs, but Golett easily motioned them back in place with Telekinesis. "It won't let me reach for a Pokéball," Ash grinded his teeth with an anxious look.
"Me neither, it's using Telekinesis to control us," May glared at Golett with her fists clenched.
"Now let's get to business. Here's the deal, we're going to enter an interrogation session regarding the Black Stone. If you refuse to answer my questions or lie, my Galvantula will beat your Pikachu to the ground while Gothitelle holds the rat down with Telekinesis," Pierce smirked; speaking with a diabolical voice, pointing out that Galvantula had gotten up and prepared to hurt Pikachu, indicating that the spider was also another one of Pierce's Pokémon.
"What's so special about the Black Stone?" Ash groaned, glaring at Pierce as he asked, remembering the incident at Nacrene, which revolved around the artifact.
"The Black Stone is said to have a connection to a certain Legendary Pokémon of Unova, Zekrom. Centuries ago, two heroes of Unova were battling against each other with two members of the Tao Trio, Zekrom and Reshiram. The two heroes had a dispute over what was more important, truth or ideals. Zekrom sided with the hero who believed ideals were to be valued more. The battle between heroes plunged Unova into chaos and in the end, the conflict entered into an armistice and Zekrom disappeared, leaving only the Black Stone as a trace of its existence. Reshiram is rumored to have done the same, but only the Black Stone is confirmed to exist. Team Rocket wishes to harness the power of the Black Stone in order to summon Zekrom and use the dragon's power for world domination, do you understand now?" Pierce spoke sternly as the teens listened in horror.
"I doubt a Legendary Pokémon like Zekrom would ever agree to do your bidding," May responded, glaring at Pierce just like Ash.
Galvantula suddenly lifted one of its legs and made it glow purple; the EleSpider Pokémon then bashed Pikachu into the ground with Sucker Punch. "Pikaaaa," the mouse squealed in pain when it crashed into the dirt.
Pikachu groaned and shook off the pain as Gothitelle lifted the mouse back up with Telekinesis.
"What did you do that for?!" Ash yelled at the man with anger.
"Any signs of disrespect shall be taken as aggression and Pikachu will get bashed into the ground every time you show disrespect," Pierce crossed his arms, chuckling.
"Ash, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to let Pikachu get hurt," May called the boy and looked at him with sympathetic sapphire eyes. Her eyes were turning red either from frustration or sadness, but Ash just gave her a kind smile.
He wished he could hug her right now, but all he could say was, "Don't worry May, you didn't know, the only one here who's going to pay is Pierce." Ash then turned his gaze to the ruthless Rocket operative.
"Your love is sickening, guess they weren't lying when they said you're nothing but kids in love. I honestly thought you were going to put up a real fight, after all you did manage to hold your own against several members of the Majestic 12…for a while," Pierce taunted the them.
Ash, May, Iris, and Cilan all grinded their teeth as Pierce gazed at them. "So tell me, do you have the Black Stone?" the green-eyed man inquired.
"No, we don't," Ash answered coldly.
All of a sudden, Galvantula used Signal Beam and blasted Pikachu against a tree with the multicolored beam. "Piiiiiii!" Pikachu cried out as it dropped to the ground and got lifted up again by Gothitelle.
Ash felt a part of him snap and screamed, "Why did Pikachu get attacked by Galvantula?!"
"Because I don't believe you, the Majestic 12 and Team Neo Plasma never returned to HQ with Black Stone because someone else had taken it from them, I'm assuming it was you," Pierce gave Ash a deadly stare.
"We weren't the ones who took it from them," Cilan interrupted; ready to help his friend with the interrogation.
"Then who did?" Pierce frowned in annoyance.
"It was a man in a black coat," Iris replied with Axew in her arms, the girl was also ready to stand up to Pierce.
"He just came into the museum and attacked all of those guys with his Pokémon, and then he retrieved the Black Stone from Charon," May answered.
Pierce crossed his arms and spoke, "What did he look, this man in black."
"We don't know, he was hiding under the hood of his coat," Ash spoke plainly.
Galvantula approached Pikachu again and sent the mouse crashing into the ground with Sucker Punch. "You don't believe us, what's it going to take for you to stop hurting Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he looked at his beaten pal, who gave Ash a weak look, as if telling the boy not to worry about him.
"How else am I going to get the truth out of you, you have to know something," Pierce continued to speak aggressively. Even Jessie, James, and Meowth became heavily intimidated by the cruelty Pierce was demonstrating.
"His name was Roxas!" Ash shouted in anger.
"Roxas…" Pierce raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"After we defeated Team Neo Plasma, Roxas retrieved the Black Stone from Charon and handed it to us. We handed it to Lenora and she said she would take care of it, we don't know anything else, and we don't have the Black Stone!" Ash yelled at Pierce with full anger, even frightening the Team Rocket trio, who hadn't seen him this furious in ages.
Pierce gazed at the teens with disbelief and mumbled, "So he lied?" All of a sudden, Pierce's olivine green Xtransceiver began to beep and the operative answered, "Pierce speaking."
"Sir, we have retrieved the other artifact, the boss wants you to head to Castelia City this instant," the Team Rocket Grunt informed Pierce.
Pierce nodded, "I'll be there as soon as I can. I have some loose ends to tie." The grunt shook his head and Pierce hung up.
"We told you everything we know, will you let us go now?" May clenched her fists and glared at Pierce with anger.
Pierce chuckled and Galvantula shifted its gaze from Pikachu to May. "You'll be the first to go just because you've been a thorn on my side since the start of this mission, you're boyfriend will miss you dearly."
"What?" May gave Pierce a frightened look as Ash, Iris, Cilan, Pikachu, Jessie, James, and Meowth's eyes widened.
"I'm going to do what the Majestic 12 failed to do in Kanto, Galvantula, use Signal Beam!" Pierce commanded the EleSpider Pokémon.
Galvantula released Signal Beam, targeting May and as the energy beam released, everyone watched in horror as it blasted toward May, but all of a sudden a Stone Edge got between the brunette and Signal Beam, canceling out the attack.
"What?!" Pierce looked around in anger.
Then a Sandile with sunglasses burst out of the ground. "Sand Sandile sand," Sandile smirked at Pierce.
"It's a Sandile," Jessie stated with surprise.
"Hey wait a minute, those sunglasses, the Sandile, I've seen it somewhere before," Iris tried to remember where she could've seen the Pokémon before.
"Yeah, I remember it too, It even arrived at the Day Care when Team Plasma attacked, but it got lost during the battle," Ash recalled the past encounter with the Sunglasses Sandile.
"It's the same Sandile from the spa!" May declared and that's when Iris remembered it as well. "I'm glad it showed up in time to save us, but what is it doing here, has it been following us?" May questioned as they continued to float in the air.
"It's a powerful Sandile if it was able to use such a high-powered move to stop Signal Beam," Cilan commented, taking notice of the Sandile's power.
Pierce glared at the croc and spoke, "I don't know how you luck seems to favor you children all the time, but that lucky streak ends here, when I'm done with the Sandile, I'll vaporize all of you in one blast."
"This guy is almost as bad as Hunter J," Ash crossed his arms, mocking Pierce for his tough guy attitude.
"Sandile sand sandile sand," Sandile chuckled at Pierce.
"What's it saying Meowth?" James asked with a puzzled look.
"It says, 'you ain't gonna hurt anyone taday, and if ya tink you can beat me, you're a joke," Meowth quoted the Sandile.
"Harsh words," Jessie said and turned to the Sandile with James.
Pierce turned to Jessie and James and spoke, "What are you fools doing? Help me fight against the Sandile and finish this mission."
"Right," Jessie and James nodded, leaving Meowth behind.
Meowth looked at the injured Pikachu was still being held by Gothitelle's Telekinesis and then turned to the twerps, who were eager to see Sandile pummel the Rocket operatives. "Something tells me tis ain't gonna end in our favor," Meowth muttered to himself and prepared to watch his friends battle.
"Woobat, take down that Sandile!" Jessie called out her Flying-type.
"Yamask, it's time to battle!" James released the Ghost-type.
Woobat and Yamask appeared beside Galvantula and prepared to battle the Sandile. "Go get em Sandile!" Ash cheered for the croc.
"We know you can win!" May added to what Ash said, recalling the skill Sandile demonstrated in their encounter.
"Impudent children, Galvantula, use Signal Beam on Sandile!" Pierce extended his arm forward.
Sandile smirked and went underground, making Pierce groan in frustration as Galvantula's Signal Beam missed, exploding when it hit a tree.
"Fools, do something!" Pierce commanded Jessie and James.
James and Jessie nodded in fear. "Yamask, release a Shadow Ball into the hole, Sandile dug up!"
"Yamask!" the Ghost-type Pokémon cried out and released a Shadow Ball that went underground.
At that very moment, Sandile burst out as the ground beneath it exploded. It narrowly managed to escape, but without wasting another second, it used Bite on Yamask. The ghost Pokémon cried in pain as Sandile bit it and threw it against the ground, leaving the Ghost-type unconscious.
"Wow, that's strong," Iris became amazed by the speed and strength Sandile demonstrated, managing to knock out Yamask rather easily.
"Useless, Jessie, go!" Pierce ordered.
"Woobat, use Air Slash!" Jessie ordered, but Sandile just smirked again and unleashed Stone Edge.
The Stone Edge easily canceled out Air Slash and shot at Woobat, bringing the bat-like Pokémon crashing down to the ground unconscious, leaving Pierce even more frustrated. "Weaklings, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," Pierce clenched his fist.
"That's the way!" Ash cheered in joy while everyone else, including Axew and Pikachu smiled at how easily Sandile disposed of Jessie and James.
Sandile smiled at the teens and Pokémon surrounding him and prepared to take down Galvantula. The croc went underground while Pierce remained calm. "Galvantula, prepare for your Bug Buzz the moment that pest emerges."
Galvantula nodded as it waited for Sandile. Suddenly, Sandile emerged and used Stone Edge. "Break the stone with your most powerful Bug Buzz," Pierce crossed his arms as Galvantula unleashed a powerful sound wave, which destroyed the stones the moment the attack was unleashed.
Sandile flew back and cried out in horror from the irritable pain. Ash and the others also cried in pain as the buzz pierced their ears. "Galvantula, use Signal Beam and then give the Sandile a taste of real power!"
Galvantula released the multicolored beam for Sandile could even hit the ground and sent Sandile flying even further. With amazing speed, Galvantula rushed up to the croc and used Sucker Punch, bashing the Dark-type into the ground, making Sandile shout in pain.
"Sandile!" Ash shouted in fear for Sandile's safety.
"Pierce is really getting serious, isn't he, I almost want to chicken away," James watched in horror.
"I never expected Team Rocket to be this cruel towards others, he's killing that Sandile," Jessie mumbled to herself as Galvantula bashed Sandile.
"Dat Sandile iz gonna shoe material at tis rate," Meowth watched with a frightened expression.
Sandile continued to get repeatedly wailed in pain while the others watched with hopelessness since they were unable to do something. The Ground-type Pokémon felt something snap inside of it and grabbed one of the spider's legs with its hind legs and all of a sudden, the croc began to glow, alarming everyone.
"Impossible," Pierce grinded his teeth in frustration when he realized what was going on.
"It's evolving!" May exclaimed as Sandile began to change physically.
"This is great, now Galvantula's going to get it," Ash grinned and laughed at the irritated Pierce.
Sandile became a bipedal crocodilian and it was noticeably taller. It retained every physical aspect of a Sandile, except it was now about Ash's size; Galvantula moved back as Krokorok stood up and huffed at Galvantula. It picked up its sunglasses, which had fallen off during the beating it was receiving, and placed right where they belonged.
"It evolved into Krokorok," Iris's eyes glistened with hope.
"Such a powerful Sandile was bound to evolve soon," Cilan smiled, knowing Pierce would lose now.
"Krokorok!" the croc growled with anger and glared at Galvantula through its glasses.
"Tis is not good fur us," Meowth stated as Jessie and James watched with amazement.
"Signal Beam, I want a headshot!" Pierce commanded sternly. Galvantula released a powerful Signal Beam that aimed for Krokorok's head, but the Desert Croc Pokémon crossed its arms and moved its neck slightly, narrowly dodging the beam as it exploded behind the croc.
"Whoa," Ash admired the evolved Sandile, fascinated by the confidence and power it seemed to display.
Krokorok then formed a half-grin as if saying, my turn. The croc dashed at Galvantula with great speed and bit it, Galvantula cried in pain as Krokorok shook Galvantula angrily in its jaw and then slammed the EleSpider Pokémon against a tree. The Desert Croc then finished the job by bashing the spider with Stone Edge, which left the Bug-type crying in pain until it dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"No!" Pierce frowned as Krokorok turned from the unconscious Galvantula to Gothitelle. Krokorok dashed past Pierce and Team Rocket, it then bit Gothitelle and slammed the Psychic-type into the ground, finally freeing Pikachu.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu cheered when it was finally able to move.
Pierce glared at the pair of Pokémon and turned to Golett, "Golett, use Earthquake to stop those two, forget the children!"
Golett stopped its Telekinesis and stomped on the ground, making it vibrate, but before it could hit Pikachu, the mouse leaped onto Krokorok's head as Krokorok endured the attack. Ash, May, Iris, Cilan, and Axew all dropped safely to the ground and became relieved when they finally able to move.
"Ok Pikachu, use-," Ash tried to take control of the battle, but the mouse and Krokorok ignored him. The Desert Croc Pokémon dashed past them and prepared to use Bite on Golett, but Pierce was quick to act, "Golett, use Defense Curl now!" Golett curled into ball, but Krokorok also took evasive action by going underground, leaving Pikachu on the surface.
"What's going on?" Pierce clenched his fists, but before he could act, Krokorok burst from the ground and sent the rolled up Golett flying with Dig.
"Pikachu, help out by finish with Iron Tail!" Ash extended his arm to the left. Pikachu nodded happily and leapt into the air, turning its tail into iron and sending the balled up Golett crashing into the ground like a bat hitting a baseball.
When the dust cleared, Golett was also down for the count, but Gothitelle remained. The Psychic-type furiously got up and used Psyshock on Pikachu. Before Krokorok could come to the rescue, Pikachu stopped the croc and smirked, "Pika pi."
"Kro," Krokorok nodded and smiled.
"Pikachu, counter Psyshock with Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled out, but Pikachu didn't listen.
"Why isn't Pikachu listening?" May inquired, confused by the mouse's disobedience.
"Look!" Iris pointed at Pikachu's tail and Cilan nodded affirmatively.
Pikachu's tail began to get enveloped in electricity and at the tip, a large electrical ball formed. "What move is that?" Ash raised an eyebrow, surprised by the move Pikachu had never used before.
"It's called Electro Ball," Cilan informed the raven-haired teen.
"Piiiikaaachu!" Pikachu smirked and released Electro Ball from its tail.
Electro Ball charged against the thick masses of light blue, blue, and purple energy, ultimately colliding and causing an explosion between Pierce and the teens. "This isn't possible, I never lose," Pierce covered his eyes from the dust and saw Pikachu and Krokorok smirking with the gang behind them.
"Gothitelle, use Psybeam on that miserable mouse!" Pierce instructed.
"Gothitelle!" the Psychic-type attacked, but Krokorok got between the two Pokémon and the Psychic-type attack had no effect.
"Brilliant, Krokorok is Pikachu's shield for any of Gothitelle's psychic attacks because psychic attacks don't affect Dark-types, fascinating," Cilan placed his hand on his chin and watched with intrigue.
"Ok Pikachu, let's let Team Rocket have it with one more Electro Ball!" Ash made a fist and grinned confidently.
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded and jumped over Krokorok and unleashed an even larger Electro Ball. Creating a massive explosion where Pierce and the Rockets were located. A large cloud of smoke and dust was produced by the attack, but out of it, flew out the Rocket trio with Pierce.
Pierce looked at the teens with Team Rocket and smirked, "This isn't the last you've seen of us." With that said, the man and his comrades flew out of the zone, the Team Rocket trio, however, took one last look at Krokorok and the teens before escaping, wondering how they humiliated Team Rocket's best operative.
Ash ran past Pikachu and Krokorok and frowned at the fleeing Rockets, expecting their return, willing to settle the score with Pierce next time. The auburn-eyed teen turned around and smiled at his friends, "Glad we're still A-Ok."
The auburn-eyed teen then walked over to May and surprised her by holding her in his arms, "You don't know how frightened I was when Pierce used Signal Beam on you, I thought I was going to lose you," Ash said with a relieved tone and a few tears dropped down on May's head.
May returned his embrace and grinned at him, "I'm never going to leave you Ash, we're still here and we're together, besides no one can get rid of Ash Ketchum's girlfriend that easily!" May grinned and giggled playfully.
Iris, Cilan, Pikachu, and Krokorok smiled at the loving couple. Ash then separated from May and wiped a few remaining tears from his eyes and grinned at Krokorok. "Sand-, I mean Krokorok, thank you for everything. You saved us all just in time and you saved May," Ash thanked the Ground-type and smiled at his girlfriend when he mentioned her name. "I don't know why you did it, but I am glad you did, who knows what would've happened if you hadn't shown up. We're all thankful for what you did."
"Krokorok kro," Krokorok smiled as the teens thanked him for his actions. May leaned in and pecked Krokorok on its snout, making the Dark-type blush behind his sunglasses.
"But what were you really here for Krokorok; you've been following us right, but why?" May asked the Desert Croc.
Krokorok looked at May, then at Ash, and stopped his gaze at Pikachu. He noticed the mouse was covered in injuries and showed signs of exhaustion, Krokorok then smiled and let out a deep huff, in its head, the croc was thinking one thing, his battle with Pikachu could wait till the mouse would be at 100%.
Krokorok moved away from the teens and took off his sunglasses for a moment; the Ground-type winked at all of them and went underground without saying anything else. "It left…" Iris stated, their question having been left open.
"But it never answered our question," Ash spoke as he wondered where Krokorok would go off to now.
"Actually it did, I saw the expression on its face when it looked at Pikachu and I could tell it was here to battle Pikachu, why though, I'm not sure. When Krokorok noticed that Pikachu was injured and not in the condition for a full battle, it realized it would have to a bit more," Cilan stated, once again showing his understanding of Pokémon behavior.
"So it wanted a battle…" Ash spoke with a soft tone and then formed a confident smile, "Pikachu, we'll be ready for when Krokorok shows up again and battles us right?"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu answered happily, eager to meet Krokorok again and put their abilities to the test.
"Pikachu even learned Electro Ball, that move could come into use for Krokorok and your next gym battles!" May pointed out the new move Pikachu had learned.
"Yeah, way to go buddy, I'm so proud of you," Ash kneeled down and scratched Pikachu behind one of its ears while May scratched in the other, the couple showing their affection for the little mouse.
"Chaaaa," Pikachu grinned happily as they scratched him.
"Are you going to use Electro Ball against Burgh?" Iris questioned the boy as he kept scratching Pikachu with May.
Ash smiled at Iris and then looked through the trees, he was able to spot Castelia City in the distance and the auburn-eyed teen spoke, "There's no doubt about it, and I'm going to win my third badge."
That was Chapter 18, I tried to put as much Advanceshipping in this chapter as I could, but I hope you liked it! Not much happened here, except that I wanted a chapter focusing on the threat Team Rocket is posing as well since both Team Plasma and the M12 have already made many appearances. Pierce's little chat with the grunt has foreshadowed some future events that are about go down so stick around for that. Pierce is also clearly an evil person and has a greater role than that in the anime and he's going to be a big problem for everyone, trust me. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, remember to REVIEW PLEASE, next time Ash has his gym battle and after that we are going to have some exciting chapters regarding the impending threat that has been read about since the first story. I'm sick right now though and I was barely able to get this chapter done, but I did because of you. I'll try to do the same with tomorrow's chapter, but no promises guys, sorry, I will try my best though. Well, till next time!