Chapter 38: Thriller
"Weakling, you thought you could escape our clutches?" Giovanni glared at Pierce, who was still hovering above the ground due to the psychic effects of Genesis.
Genesis stood behind the paralyzed Pierce and just listened silently as Giovanni talked. The Team Rocket Trio was also there in the background and held each other with fear in their eyes. The three just stood like statues as they heard their boss speak, "Tell me, what was the purpose behind stealing the disc?" Giovanni leaned his head on his fist.
"Sir, the lust for power is inevitable," Pierce could only mutter, his body feeling extremely weak after experiencing a severe level of torture from Silver and Cloud's part.
"Is that your excuse, you give into primitive desires?" Giovanni gritted his teeth.
"My sincere apologies," Pierce let out a weak chuckle.
"Traitors are not welcomed in this organization," Giovanni gave him a cold look and snapped his fingers.
All of a sudden, a blue blade pierced through Pierce's chest. The last thing heard from the rogue operative was a gasp and his eyes widen as the blade took away his life. After a few seconds the blade retreated and became simple energy formed from Genesis's palm.
The very moment Pierce's body dropped and a pool of red spread out, the Rocket trio could feel their hairs standing up. "You gotta be kittin me!" Meowth clung onto Jessie and James.
"Your occult knowledge on aura is a very deadly weapon," Giovanni chuckled as he stared at Pierce's corpse.
Genesis ignored him and lowered Pierce's eyelids, "requiescant in pace."
"What are they going to do to us?" James whispered to Jessie as he trembled with fear.
"I don't want to know," Jessie mumbled back, shaking just as much as James.
Unfortunately for them, the Team Rocket boss quickly turned his attention to them. "As for you three clowns, you're the last people I'd expect to have the guts to betray Team Rocket the way you did."
"But sir, he took us hostage, we had no choice!" James cried out.
"He said he'd hurt us if we didn't help him do it, please forgive us!" Jessie began to cry.
"He said he'd twurn me inta Hydreigon chow, I still have nine lives ta live," Meowth also began to weep.
Genesis looked at Pierce for a second and then shifted his gaze to Team Rocket. The man in the red helmet just gazed at them with pity as they begged their boss for mercy.
"You could've at least tried to resist," Giovanni said with a cold tone, not caring if they were going to get hurt. His response only intimidated the trio even more; they knew they weren't going to get anymore with the ruthless Rocket head. Giovanni chuckled and said, "I'll give you the pleasure of choosing your punishment though, you clowns are told what to do and you obey like dogs, so you have this opportunity to choose something yourselves for once."
"We get to pick our punishment?" James became confused.
"Ya mean we don't have ta die?" Meowth wiped away his tears.
"Sir, you are most grateful to you!" Jessie clasped her hands together and shed tears of joy.
"Hold it," a voice interrupted and the trio realized it was Genesis that had spoken.
"Giovanni got surprised by this and spoke, "Genesis, what's the matter?"
"Team Rocket intervened in the Majestic 12's operation and they stole the basis of our plan, we have the right to decide their fates," Genesis said sternly.
Team Rocket once again felt chills run down their spine and Giovanni grinded his teeth when he heard Genesis. "They are my underlings and I will decide how to deal with them understood?" Giovanni clenched his fist.
Jessie, James, and Meowth got alarmed by the tension developing in the room, but they weren't sure what to expect. Genesis glared at Giovanni and spoke, "Not anymore, for now on, Jessie, James, and Meowth work for the Majestic 12 as well and we also get to partake on how they are to be treated."
Giovanni, Jessie, James, and Meowth's eyes widened at the declaration. The trio was left stunned by Genesis's words while Giovanni felt a bit of his power slip away as the announcement echoed through his mind. What shocked the Rocket trio most though was how alerted Giovanni had become and the way he seemed to submit to Genesis's words.
Genesis silently turned to the Team Rocket trio and chuckled, not saying another word.
The gang walked quietly through the forest; none of them said a word. Ash silently walked in front of the others with the only company being Pikachu and Victini, the two of them sat on his left and right shoulder respectively. May and the others were a few feet behind him, they all looked sadly at the raven-haired teen moving ahead, thinking about the kind of day they had.
"It's too bad we couldn't stay with Tokuzo and Elle for a bit longer and meet their granddaughter that would've been nice," Iris sighed in sadness.
"It might've cheered up our day a little more, but at least we were able to retrieve their Herdier," Cilan said with the same disappointed tone.
"I guess that was the best happy ending we could get for today," May let out a deep breath and just stared at Ash with a cheerless expression.
"When the Majestic 12 appeared and took Team Rocket like that it frightened me to new levels," Iris recalled the torturing Pierce suffered at the hands of Cloud. The snapping of his bones hurt her to the very core; she had never witnessed such brutality.
"It shook us all up," Cilan said with sad face.
"Especially Ash," May sighed as she stared at her boyfriend, she could tell Pikachu and Victini were trying to cheer him up through the gestures he was making.
Iris shared May's sadness and responded, "I never expected Ash to react this way when it came to Team Rocket. I always figured that when they were finally brought to justice he'd be more cheerful about it."
May nodded her head sideways, "Ash has always been the kind of person who believes everyone has the right to live and deep down every single living being is good. Ash cares about everyone and everything, even people who give him a hard time, because he's just a gentle and loving human being. His heart is just that pure."
"If only the rest of the world could be like Ash," Cilan smiled as he thought of a world filled with the same kind of love and happiness Ash contained.
"It's almost like he's a saint or something, his purity and innocence is new to me because I've never met anyone who has those kinds of ideas. You know May, you also seem to share the same thoughts from what I've noticed," Iris pointed out.
May raised an eyebrow and just blushed, let out a deep breath, "Well, I guess I also think the same way. I believe there aren't naturally bad people in the world and people like Team Rocket are just lost humans seeking for a purpose. Jessie, James, and Meowth aren't as evil as they make themselves out to be, at times they've proven to be funny and sweet individuals, I just think certain things in life forced them to resort to a life of crime."
"It's sad to hear that because I wish we could've done something," Cilan closed his eyes and sighed.
"We had no choice, they threatened to take Victini if we interfered with their agenda," Iris mumbled and looked down at Axew with a gloomy gaze, which the Dragon-type returned.
"Still, may be there could've been another way," Cilan placed his hand on his chin.
May and Iris nodded in agreement, what happened to Team Rocket really did give them something to think about. The brunette returned to gazing at Ash and spoke, "Be right back." The Unova pair bobbed their heads and May dashed to catch up with Ash.
The sapphire-eyed girl could still Pikachu and Victini trying to cheer Ash up, but her boyfriend just walked like a robot, he made no gesture in response. When she caught up with him she began to speak, "Hey…how you doing?" the girl asked him sweetly, making Victini and Pikachu look back at her with disappointed expressions.
"Pika pi pikachu," Pikachu sighed.
"Tini vi v," Victini did the same as Pikachu.
"Pikachu and Victini said you won't bother moving at least one muscle to smile, why don't you let us help you Ash?" May grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.
Ash looked at her and she could see the pain through his eyes, they were watery and it looked like he was about to cry. "It's hard to deal with the guilt May, Team Rocket may be bad but no one deserves the fate they were going to receive," Ash wiped away any tears attempting to form.
May's face melted into further sadness as she saw how much this was affecting Ash. "Oh Ash," the girl got herself closer to him.
"Ever since I was little boy, I've always enjoyed helping and loving people and Pokémon, and Team Rocket is no exception, it's part of who I am and I'm happy to be who I am," Ash said with a very soft tone.
May's heart was touched by every little word she said and she pecked his cheek, "It'll pass Ash, there's this saying I taught myself and I always think about it whenever I'm sad."
"What is it May?" Ash gave her a confused expression.
"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with. So in case you've forgotten Ash, I want you to know that I'll always love you till the last day we breathe," May placed her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist like a little girl holding onto her dad so he won't leave it.
Ash looked at the brunette and saw nothing but the physical embodiment of all his joys, no one ever made him feel happier than May could. Who would've thought his Hoenn friend would eventually get so close to his heart, the auburn-eyed boy just wrapped his arms around his waist and they just walked holding onto each other. Pikachu and Victini smiled at each other contently, for now they could feel the sorrow settling.
"Isn't that cute Cilan?" Iris smiled as they looked at Ash and May.
"Yeah, those two are something else. You know Iris, let me be struck by lightning if Ash and May don't end up being a beacon of light the rest of world comes to admire," Cilan grinned.
Suddenly, a dense fog quickly covered up the area, instantly alarming everyone. "What the…" Ash said as he and May moved their arms away and looked around for the source of the fog.
"What's going on?' Iris looked around frantically.
"Fog doesn't come out of nowhere, who started this?" Cilan moved his head side to side.
Pikachu and Axew also tried to sense any form of disturbance in the area, but had no luck. Victini however, frowned and could feel a mysterious and powerful energy lurking in the area.
"Ash, you think it's another group of Ghost Pokémon?" May scouted the area.
"I hope not, the last time it happened we got overwhelmed by a lot," Ash frowned.
"Let's stick together, we can't afford to get lost here," Cilan instructed and the gang stuck together with each of them staring north, south, west, and east.
All of a sudden a very familiar feminine laugh echoed through the forest. The laugh alerted all of them because they couldn't believe whose laugh it was, "Is that?" Iris asked with eyes wide.
"Could it be?" Cilan had a baffled expression.
"I thought…" May was just as confused.
"But how?" Ash braced himself.
Above them the shadow of a large Meowth balloon revealed itself, "Prepare for trouble," a female voice stated.
"And make it double," a very familiar male voice said.
"To protect the world from devastation," the woman told them.
"To unite all peoples within our nation," the man mentioned.
"To denounce the evils of truth and love," the woman included.
"To extend our reach to the stars above," the man rhymed.
"Jessie," the balloon lowered and revealed the familiar figure, Jessie in her white uniform.
"James," the fog also revealed the male Rocket operative, James in his white uniform.
"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!" Jessie extended her left arm.
"Surrender now or prepare to fight," James extended his right arm.
"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth jumped onto the border of the basket hanging from the balloon, revealing himself as well.
"Team Rocket!" the group exclaimed.
"Pi pikachu!" Pikachu gasped.
"How did you guys escape?!" Iris couldn't believe her eyes.
"When did you guys escape?" Cilan had his jaw hanging.
"And what are you going to do to us?" May was unsure if she should be relieved about their presence or threatened.
The Rockets ignored the teens and just looked at Ash, who just stared with eyes of uncertainty. "What's ta matta twerp, Meowth got ya tongue?" Meowth crossed his arms, smirking at him.
"Team Rocket," Ash's shocked expression turned into a frown, yet he formed a sly grin to go with it.
"How did you escape?!" Iris yelled once again.
"You tell us, maybe it'll help little Pikachu make it out of this one," Jessie held up a cage with Pikachu in it, laughing with joy.
The gang became shocked once again and everyone turned to Ash's shoulder, but much to their surprise, Pikachu wasn't there. Even Victini had been caught off guard and couldn't believe how stealthy the theft had been.
May glared at them and shouted, "At what moment did you steal Pikachu?!"
"Sorry we don't reveal our magical secrets," James crossed his arms and chuckled.
"Pikachuuuuu!" Pikachu tried to shock them, but the cage absorbed the electricity.
"Sorry, we made sure tis plan was based on our pastime. Dressing in white uniforms, rehearsing the original motto and making cages electrical proof," Meowth placed his paws on his hips and laughed.
"Bub-bye twerps," Jessie began to wave goodbye with a content grin as the balloon began to move away from the gang.
"Have fun failing to retrieve Pikachu," James laughed as they faded into the fog.
"Come back!" Cilan screamed, but it was no use, Team Rocket was already lost from sight.
"They never change, even when their lives were just at risk," May gritted her teeth.
Ash frowned into the fog, but for a strange reason there was a smirk on his face, "They can run away with Pikachu all they want, but we'll always stop them," the boy said confidently.
May, Iris, Cilan, Victini, and even Axew became amazed by the way his spirit seemed to surge back with Team Rocket's return, but this spirit made even May smile. The brunette agreed with him, if they have stopped Team Rocket before, they could stop them now.
"Let's go rescue Pikachu then," May grinned and they all ran in the direction the balloon might've went.
As they ran Ash spoke, "If it weren't for this fog it'd be easier locate them. I could've just had Tranquil scout the area."
"I'm positive it was Team Rocket who started this fog in an attempt to throw us off, but that won't work," May told them and received a nod of agreement.
"I still wonder how they managed to get away," Cilan mentioned.
"That's what makes me wonder most, how were they able to escape from trainers like Cloud and Silver," Iris stated as they ran.
"We might have our answers when we catch up to them so let's hurry," Ash told them as he picked up the pace.
"Slow down Ash, we don't want to get lost either!" May shouted at him and just as the boy prepared to halt, something rushed past his face.
"Wha?!" Ash's eyes widened and pulled his face back when he saw the strange figure. Victini and Pikachu were also just as alarmed when they had seen it fly past their eyes; it seemed to be the projection or silhouette of some unknown creature.
While Ash got stunned by the sudden sight, Victini gazed to the left side of the forest with curiosity, the direction the silhouette had gone in. In that one millisecond the thing was in front of them, the Psychic-type had sensed a tremendous amount of power emitting from it.
"What's wrong Ash?" May and the others had stopped running and the brunette asked him with concern.
"Pikachu, Victini, and I thought we saw something fly past our faces, but we couldn't exactly tell what it was," Ash said as he looked around the area, trying to see if the thing was still nearby.
"It might've just been a wild Pidove or Rufflet, there tend to be a lot of birds around here," Iris tried to come up with an explanation.
Ash and Pikachu stopped searching and just nodded at the purple-haired girl, "Yeah I guess you're right," the boy responded.
"Vi?" Victini's attention turned to the bush in front of them and everyone focused their eyes straight ahead.
From the density of the leaves and fogs a Ninetales leaped out, landing in front of the gang. "A Ninetales!" Cilan exclaimed.
"A Ninetales here?!" May's eyes were wide with astonishment.
"Nine!" Ninetales growled at them.
"And it doesn't seem too happy to see us," Ash frowned and braced himself.
"What should we do?" Iris was unsure of how to deal with the wild Pokémon.
"It doesn't seem like it'll let us move an inch from here so we'll do the only thing we can do," Ash reached for a Pokéball.
Before Ash could call out his Pokémon though, May had already beaten him to it, "Go Liepard!" The sapphire-eyed girl threw her Pokéball.
Liepard quickly emerged in a battle stance and flashed a sly smile at the fierce Ninetales. "Liepard, go for a Night Slash!" May commanded.
Ninetales smirked and easily dodged using Quick Attack once the rapid Night Slash closed in. "Liepard, now sweep up a Sand Attack and hit with Slash!" May made a fist of confidence.
Liepard used one of its claws to pick up dirt and threw it at the Ninetales. The Fire-type quickly countered with Extrasensory though and the rainbow-colored beam eradicated the simple tactic. May and Liepard were both caught off guard by the Ninetales's rapid reaction time, but Liepard moved in for a Slash anyway.
"Lie!" Liepard hissed at Ninetales with its extended claws.
"Niiiiine!" Ninetales fired an Inferno at the Dark-type before it could get an inch closer. The fox-like Pokémon sent Liepard crashing into a tree with fiery blue attack and left the cat covered in scorch marks as well as unconscious.
"Liepard!" May exclaimed with disbelief and ran over to it.
"That Ninetales is fast!" Iris gasped.
"And powerful!" Cilan added.
"It took out Liepard with just one hit, but may be Oshawott can handle it!" Ash frowned and threw the Pokéball of his trusted Water-type.
"Oshawott, use Water Gun!" Ash commanded as Oshawott emerged from ball.
"Oooooossssssshhhhh!" Oshawott came out with a determined expression and fired the pressurized water.
Ninetales saw the incoming water attack and fired an Energy Ball, canceling out the Water-type move with ease. "It knows Energy Ball, great," Ash grinded his teeth.
"Be careful Ash, this Ninetales seems to know what it's doing," May said with a stern tone as she held Liepard's Pokéball in her hand.
"Tales!" Ninetales dived into the ground.
"It's using Dig," Cilan said with a worried expression.
"Oshawott, drive it out with Hydro Pump!" Ash extended his arm to the left.
Oshawott was clearly in awe by the amount of skill Ninetales displayed, but it wasn't going to admit defeat, "Oooossssshhhhhhaaaaaawooooott!" the otter fire the powerful water move.
The water from Hydro Pump went underground and the gang could feel the ground shake beneath them as the water moved in all directions. Suddenly, several parts of the ground burst and dense steam came out of all the holes, making the area even more difficult to see through.
"Osh oshawott?" Oshawott looked around frantically.
"Oshawott, stay alert!" Ash commanded as he tried to see through the hot steam that made him and the gang sweat a bit.
"Nine!" Ninetales growled and an Energy Ball shot from above that blasted Oshawott, sending the otter flying to Ash's feet.
"Ossssssssshhhhh!" Oshawott cried out as it hit the ground and became unconscious.
"Oshawott…return," Ash recalled his Pokémon, wishing he could've been of better use to Oshawott in order to win the fight.
The steam cleared up and Ninetales revealed itself. "It's too strong, I'm not sure we have any Pokémon that is on par with its speed and strength," Cilan commented.
"Victini tini," Victini stepped up to the plate with a glare.
"Victini, you're going to battle?" Ash asked the Fire-type.
"V," Victini nodded.
May was uncertain about this, Ninetales had already easily defeated two skilled Pokémon, she was doubtful if the little one was ready for a real fight yet, "But Victini," the brunette tried to speak.
"Vi," Victini frowned at May and nodded sideways.
"Let's give it a shot May, it'll be the first battle it's had in some time," Ash placed his hand on May and the brunette just looked at Ash, receiving comfort from those loving eyes. The sapphire-eyed girl agreed and stepped aside.
"Nine!" Ninetales glared at Victini and fired a devastating Flamethrower.
"Victiniiiii!" Victini shouted and tried to breathe out a Flamethrower, but the only thing that came out was a little puff of black smoke.
"Tini?" Victini became confused and extended its arm out instead, but nothing occurred.
"What's wrong with Victini?" Iris raised her eyebrows.
Before anyone could answer though, the Flamethrower hit Victini and the Legendary Pokémon squealed in pain. "Victini!" May shouted.
The fires dispersed once they had dealt enough damage and Victini hovered there, panting heavily. "Why can't Victini use its attacks?" Ash glared at Ninetales, wondering what was wrong with the little one.
"Something isn't right, this shouldn't be happening," Cilan gritted his teeth.
"Victini!" May pulled the Psychic-type away from the battlefield and the Pokémon gave the girl a confused look.
"You're not fit to battle in this one, you can't even use your attacks," May mothered the Fire-type.
"But why is the question," Iris tried to figure out the mystery.
Ash glared at Ninetales and grinded its teeth, "Darn it, I need to catch up to Pikachu, but there's no way we can get to Team Rocket if this Ninetales is in the way!"
"Blaziken go!" May once again took the stage.
"May," Ash turned to the coordinator.
"Don't worry Ash, we're going to get through this, you aren't alone," the brunette winked, making the raven-haired boy smile sweetly. Victini sighed at the fact that it was unable to battle and watched mama's Blaziken take the stage.
"Blaziken!" Blaziken took the stage with its wrists in flames,
"We can't waste any time Blaziken, defeat that Ninetales!" May commanded with her arm extended to the left.
"Blaze!" Blaziken nodded and jumped into the air.
"Nine!" Ninetales growled and fired an Inferno.
"Blaziken, counter that Inferno with Blaze Kick!" May instructed.
While in midair, Blaziken extended its leg out and aimed its fiery heel downward, shooting down like a star on fire. As Inferno and Blaziken closed in on each other, Blaze Kick helped Blaziken absorb the intensity of Inferno's flames, only making the Fighting-type wince slightly.
"Blaze Kick is helping Blaziken resist Inferno more efficiently than just a simple kick, a brilliant and spicy strategy," Cilan stated.
The blue fires dispersed in all directions as Blaziken kept shooting downwards. In the end Ninetales could not keep up with Inferno and needed to breathe some air as Blaziken continued to shoot down. "Quick now is your chance, Mega Kick!" May formed a fist.
"Ken!" Blaziken responded and the flames around its talon dispersed and a blue energy enveloped it instead.
Ninetales was easily caught off guard by the swift attack and had no time to react. The force of Mega Kick sent Ninetales flying and the Fire-type Pokémon squealed as it crashed into a tree.
"Don't let it recover Blaziken, Sky Uppercut!" May shouted.
"Blaziken!" Blaziken landed on the ground majestically, but then quickly mobilized again and dashed at Ninetales with great velocity.
Before Ninetales could even hit the ground after crashing against the tree, Blaziken reached up to the fox and motioned its fist upward, punching Ninetales straight into the sky like a bullet. "Niiiiiiiine!" Ninetales cried out in pain.
"Now, Quick Attack!" May punched her fist forward at the air.
"Ken!" Blaziken jumped into the air like another bullet, building up some wind as it leapt up.
Ninetales managed to recover conscious as it flew in the air and looked down at its incoming opponent. To take advantage of this, the fox fired its last attack, Extrasensory. Ninetales released the bright rainbow-colored beam with full force Blaziken, catching everyone off guard.
"Blaziken, stop it with Overheat!" May screamed just in time.
Blaziken retreated from its offense and fired the bright red-orange beam at Extrasensory. When the two attacks came into contact a large cloud of smoke covered up the sky and the impact of the blast sent both Fire-types crashing down to the ground.
When they made impact on the ground, both Blaziken and Ninetales cried out in pain and forced a cloud of dust to rise up. "Blaziken, are you alright?!" May shouted with a worrisome tone.
"Ken!" Blaziken dispersed the cloud of dust and revealed itself standing weakly with injuries all over its body, but the Fire-type was still standing.
Ninetales on the other hand was out cold as it lay on the ground, not moving an inch. "Blaziken, thank goodness," May smiled at her most powerful Pokémon.
"Thank you for getting us out of such a rough spot, Blaziken," Ash smiled at the Blaze Pokémon.
"Blaze," Blaziken nodded coolly.
"I think you deserve a rest," Iris grinned at it.
May reached for its Pokéball and recalled it, "Return Blaziken, you were perfect."
As the red beam enveloped Blaziken and returned it, Cilan spoke, "Now that we got that Ninetales off our backs, we have to keep moving."
"Right, we can't afford to waste more time," Ash shook his head and quickly ran off.
"Tini victini!" Victini went right behind him, the two partners were eager to retrieve Pikachu from Team Rocket.
"Let's go!" May told Cilan and Iris as well and they hastened behind Ash.
"Don't worry Pikachu, we're on our way," Ash muttered as he ran past every tree and bush.
As they kept running, Ash and Victini once again spotted something shooting off in the distance. The figure was similar to the one they saw before and Ash spoke, "Victini, did you see that?"
"Tini v," Victini nodded as it flew beside Ash.
"C'mon may be its going in the same direction as Team Rocket," Ash believed and the two kept scurrying forward.
Victini once again sensed the abnormal power when it had seen it, but it failed to identify it once again. Unfortunately, Ash's focus on Pikachu, Team Rocket, and the mysterious sight caught him off guard once again and the boy fell into a body of water.
"Victini!" Ash yelled before falling into the water and making a loud splash sound.
"Ash!" May exclaimed since she and the others had seen it from a distance.
"Tini vi v?" Victini looked carefully into the water to see if it could find Ash.
In the next second, Ash surfaced back and gasped for air, "That was close, I almost frowned."
"Are you ok?!" Iris questioned with concern.
"How did you fall into the water?" Cilan inquired.
"Victini and I got distracted so we didn't notice the water in front of us," Ash chuckled sheepishly with Victini.
"Here let me help you," May reached her hand out to him.
Ash extended his hand out and grabbed hers, "Thanks, this water is pretty deep," the boy said as May pulled him onto land.
When he got on land he stood up and let the water from his clothes drip out. The boy moved his head sideways to dry his hair a bit like a dog and picked his hat up from the water. He looked at his friends and chuckled, realizing he had wet them a bit.
Cilan, May, Iris, Axew, and Victini looked at him with slightly annoyed expressions, but the Ash laughed, "Sorry guys, I forgot you were here."
"Could you please dry yourself like normal person next time," Iris wiped off the water on her face.
"Sure thing," Ash smiled.
"So how'd you get distracted?" May asked with a curious look.
"Well I thought me and Victini saw the same figure from earlier again, but we got so into thinking about I didn't realize where I was running," Ash grinned sheepishly.
"It's odd that you fell into a body of water though, there are no reported lakes, pond, or rivers reported in the route between Flocessy Town and Aspertia City," Cilan informed.
"You think we might've discovered one?" Iris inquired.
"May be, we can ask Victini for illumination," Cilan turned to the Victory Pokémon.
"Victini can you try to use your powers again so we may have some more light to see and check if you can use your moves again too," May told the Fire-type.
"Tini victini," Victini nodded and enveloped itself in a spiral bright flame that eventually encircled his entire body, making the Pokémon look like a ball of fire.
"Looks like you can use your moves again," Ash smiled happily.
"I wonder why it failed to do it earlier though," Cilan still seemed puzzled.
"Me too," Iris stated.
"Even Victini doesn't know, but I'm starting to smell something fishy, literally and figuratively," May spoke and began to cover her nose.
"Look guys," Ash turned to the body of water, thanks to Victini's illumination they were able to see how large the body of water was. With Victini's illumination it seemed to be the size of a small lake, but if you looked carefully it appeared that the body of water went beyond that.
"What is causing that smell?" Iris covered her nose.
"Ax ew ew," Axew was also forced to cover its nose.
"Tini!" Victini's eyes widened and suddenly its fire went out while something surfaced out of the water.
"Victini what happened to your fire?" Ash became confused.
"What just popped out of the water?" May became alarmed by the loud splashing noise and she felt something hit her feet.
She looked down and saw the remains of a fish's skeleton, which was about a foot long. "Gross," May looked in disgust.
"Was that causing the smell?" Iris inquired.
Suddenly, something landed behind them that caused the ground to shake rather violently. They all turned around quietly as they felt a sense of fear grow in their stomachs. What they saw behind them did prove intimidating though.
"Saaaaaaaaaaa!" the Pokémon cried out.
"Who's that Pokémon?!" May exclaimed.
Ash quickly got out his Pokédex and checked, "Samurott, the Formidable Pokémon and the final evolved form of Oshawott. Protected by armor, Samurott can defeat opponents with one sword swipe. Its glare can silence them as well."
"A Samurott," Cilan gritted his teeth.
"Talk about fierce," Iris commented with a frightened look.
"We just got out of one Pokémon attack, looks like we're gonna have to get out of this one too," Ash glared at the Pokémon that glared back with more aggression.
"Samuroooott!" Samurott lunged at the gang with Razor Shell before they could react.
"Victini help!" May shouted.
At this instant Victini got between the gang and the Water-type and extended its arms out again, but much to this disappointment nothing occurred once again. "Victini's attacks aren't working again!" Ash's jaw dropped in disbelief.
Samurott glared at Victini and fiercely bashed its blue blade against the small Pokémon, slamming into the ground. "Viiiiiiii!" the Victory Pokémon cried.
"That's not good, Fire-types are weak against Water-types," Cilan grinded his teeth.
"What are we going to do now, this Samurott seems to be just as strong if not stronger than the Ninetales we ran into," Iris said with a scared tone.
"Saaaaaaa!" Samurott fired a Water Pulse at the gang.
Without any time to react, the gang got blasted into the water while screaming in pain. For a few seconds, Victini slowly got up while Samurott glared, the Victory Pokémon could only watch in horror as Samurott towered over it.
When Samurott prepared to use Razor Shell on it once again, Victini closed its eyes in fear, but all of a sudden a large figure covered in blue energy shot straight at it and sent the Water-type flying against the ground. Victini opened its eyes slowly and saw Blaziken standing in front of it with the blue energy from Brave Bird fading away.
"Vi?" Victini turned around and saw mama, papa, Cilan, Iris, and Axew soaking wet, but standing on land.
"Don't you dare hurt my baby like that again!" May's scream created fear in the atmosphere while her eyes showed a menacing fire. Her stance was also just as threatening with one fist in front of her while the other got pressed against her leg as she clenched both. May's stance reminded Ash of the other time he had seen her like this. It was when she found out their food had gotten stolen while staying in Sinnoh.
Ash could understand her fury though because he found himself clenching his fists and glaring at Samurott and he shared his rage with her, "Blaziken, spin out a Mega Kick!" Ash commanded the Blaze Pokémon and the Fire-type obediently nodded, surprising Cilan and Iris.
Samurott groaned as it got up, but quickly recovered when it saw Blaziken charging towards it. The Formidable Pokémon braced itself and began to charge as a yellow-orange energy covered its body and as it continued to run forward a purple sphere also started to envelope it.
"Samurott's using Giga Impact!" Iris shouted.
"Tell Blaziken to watch out!" Cilan ordered.
"Full force!" Ash and May yelled in anger.
In an abrupt moment, Blaziken's body became enveloped in a red aura and its entire body glowed blue. Cilan and Iris quickly acknowledged the blue aura as Brave Bird and the red aura as Blaze, Blaziken was combing the power Blaze, Mega Kick, and Brave Bird together. "Blaaaaaaziiiiiiiiikeeeeeeen!" Blaziken spun around and just a second before impact, shot its talon out against Samurott's horn, provoking a large boom sound that was followed by a powerful explosion and a mighty wind.
Ash and May were quick to protect Victini and each other from anything while Cilan, Axew, and Iris did the same. The fierce impact sent Samurott and Blaziken flying in opposite directions like bullets and the two landed harshly against the ground.
After a few seconds the dust, wind, and smoke finally subsided and the gang saw that both Samurott and Blaziken were unconscious. "That was one heck of an impact," Iris viewed the area and could see some trees lying down and dirt near the area.
"At least Samurott is down," Cilan mentioned.
"Blaziken you fought incredibly, I can't thank you enough for saving us time to rescue Pikachu," Ash walked over to Blaziken and petted it with Victini.
"You did an awesome job today Blaziken, you never let me down, but now get some rest," May grinned at sweetly while Blaziken just gave her an innocent smile, the same innocent smile it could only manage to pull off when it was just a Torchic.
When Blaziken returned to its Pokéball, Ash began to speak while wiping away any dirt on his face, "If it hadn't been for Blaziken, all of us including Victini would've gotten hurt and by the time we were done I think Pikachu would've officially been out of our reach."
"Yeah, I'm so relieved, I hope you're alright to Victini," May petted it and pecked its forehead, making the Victory Pokémon grin happily.
"Let's keep moving though, there isn't much time," Iris told them.
They all agreed and decided on where to go, "You think we have to swim across the water to reach Team Rocket?" May inquired.
"Victini can you try to use one of your moves one more time?" Ash asked the Victory Pokémon.
Victini looked at Ash with uncertainty, but it nodded and its body magically began to emit a powerful light. "This is getting odd," Cilan said with surprise.
"Victini is able to use its moves outside of battle, but why can't it use them while battling?" Iris raised an eyebrow.
"Something isn't right here," May looked down at the ground with a thinking expression.
Victini successfully illuminated the area, but much to their surprise, this time there was a thin stretch of land sticking out from the water, which connected the mainland to something. "Now this is getting really odd, this stretch of land wasn't here before," Ash commented.
"Could Team Rocket really be behind all this?" Cilan rubbed his chin.
"We're just gonna have to find out by going forward," May stated and ran past them, dashing across the stretch of land.
"Let's hurry guys," Ash told his other friends and they followed together as Victini illuminated the way.
For several minutes the soaking teenagers darted across the stretch of land, all of them trying to understand the mysterious situation. What is going on here? Ash thought in his mind.
Something tells me this isn't Team Rocket's doing and if it is, they aren't working alone, May also wondered in her mind as she ran.
"Look everyone!" Iris pointed ahead.
They snapped out of their train of thoughts and thanks to Victini's illumination, they saw what looked like mainland just some meters away. "Another chunk of land ahead, what could this mean?" Cilan wondered.
"It looks like this stretch of land connects two big pieces of land, but I'm sure we'll find out soon enough what's on the land ahead," Ash stated, his eyes expressing the large amount of determination he felt.
May and the others picked up the pace and after some minutes, they ultimately touched the large land they had seen from some distance. With Victini's illumination they were able to analyze the area, but it looked no different from the forest they left behind.
All of a sudden, they heard of sound of water moving and they turned around to see the large body of water swallowing up the stretch of land they had run on. Aside from that, the fog was now finally dispersing and they were now finally gaining a better vision of their environment.
"What's going on, why is the fog disappearing suddenly and what's happening to the stretch of land?" Iris had become more baffled than ever.
"Victini, I don't think we need you to illuminate anymore, thanks for guiding us here," Ash smiled at the small Pokémon.
"Papa!" Victini nodded happily as their environment was becoming visible and the sun had begun shining again.
When every inch of the fog had finally disappeared, they got a clearer view and they got shocked by the discovery they made. They looked back to the water and saw the mainland a fair distance away, but what was more surprising was the fact that they were on a piece of land surrounded entirely by water. They looked up and saw Wingull and Ducklett roaming the air peacefully.
"Aren't Wingull supposed to be found near the ocean?" Iris continued to gaze above.
"I'm starting to get the feeling that this isn't just some piece of land, this is an island and the water surrounding us isn't some simple body of water," Ash looked around the area back and forth.
"This is an island we're surrounded by the entrance to the ocean," May explained.
"I couldn't have explained it better myself," Cilan nodded in agreement.
"Wow," Iris simply stated.
"I guess this is where Team Rocket must be hiding, it's the perfect spot since it's so far out and remote," Ash said. The auburn-eyed took a careful look around the area and saw what appeared to be a cave just some meters away hiding among the trees.
"What is it Ash?" May questioned her boyfriend.
"There's a cave up ahead and there's no doubt in my mind that Pikachu is in there.
"Then let's go, we can't let Team Rocket have more time to escape," May grinned confidently and Ash nodded with the same confident smile and the gang made one more dash to rescue their yellow pal.
Ash and May quickly picked up the pace and were away from the cave by just a few meters. The gang was eager to get this dealt with so they could get going on their mission because they felt like they have been traveling for months now to reach Aspertia City.
Suddenly, they the couple heard something rustling among the trees and they looked to the right with Victini to find the projection of something flying at an incredible speed through the cave.
"Ash did you see that?!" May halted with widened eyes while pointing to the location of the sight.
Ash also stopped with Victini, "Yeah I saw it, I told you guys I wasn't seeing things."
"Tini…" Victini said as it shifted its eyes from the trees to the cave, once again it was sensing that same power.
"What did you guys see?" Cilan asked when he caught up with Iris.
"I saw the thing Ash has been seeing and it went into the cave!" May said with a jumpy voice.
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Ash placed his fingers on his chin.
"Not to mention suspicious. If May has seen it too then I believe this thing might have something to do with everything that's been happening. Alongside that, there have been other strange things occurring, Victini can't use its attacks in battle, we've been attacked by abnormally strong and random Pokémon, and Team Rocket just appears out of nowhere like nothing has happened to them," Cilan took out his magnifying glass and deerstalker hat.
"Cilan since when are you a detective?" Iris raised an eyebrow.
"Ever since I played as one during my childhood," Cilan flashed the girl a smirk.
"It does all seem strange though, I get what you mean," Ash had a thinking expression on.
"I think we won't have anything answered for sure until we get inside that cave," May focused her sapphire eyes on the cave just ahead.
"Right," the teens agreed and Victini nodded.
Just as they were about take a step a bolt of lightning shot in front of them, alarming all of them once again. "What now?!" Ash became frustrated.
"Electivire," an Electivire slowly walked out of the dense trees with a threatening gaze.
"Another one," May frowned.
"Just our luck," Iris grinded her teeth.
"Blaziken isn't even with us for this last one," Cilan said in frustration.
"Then we fight with our other Pokémon instead and give it our all, together!" Ash reached for a Pokéball.
"I'm with you Ash," May smiled at him and reached for a Pokéball.
Cilan and Iris also took out their Pokéballs to prepare for the battle while Victini was forced to get behind them since it was powerless. "Electivire can't beat four of us at a time, go Snivy!" Ash called out his Grass-type.
"Deerling, we need your help!" May released her Grass-type.
"Excadrill, let's give this our best!" Iris threw her Pokéball.
"Pansage, show time!" Cilan summoned his Grass-type.
"Elect!" Electivire got in a battle stance and charged up electricity.
"Pansage, use Bullet Seed!" Cilan commanded.
"Pansaaaaage!" Pansage fired Bullet Seed.
"Excadrill, use Drill Run!" Iris extended her arm upward.
"Excaaadriiiill!" Excadrill obeyed.
"Deerling, use Energy Ball!" May extended her arm to the right.
"Deeeeerliiiiiing!" Deerling charged up an Energy Ball.
"Snivy, use Leaf Storm!" Ash extended his arm to the left.
"Sniiiiiivvvvvvyyyyy!" Snivy unleashed its storm.
"Electiviiiiiire!" Electivire roared and its fists became enveloped in fire. The Electric-type then began punching through Bullet Seed like nothing.
"It knows FirePunch," Cilan grinded his teeth.
"Ele," Electivire then multiplied into dozens when Excadrill came charging. When the Subterrene Pokémon hit its mark it turned out to be a fake.
"And Double Team," Iris said in annoyance.
"Deerling, fire the same amount of Energy Ball there is Electivire!" May added to her original move and Deerling spun around 360 degrees, shooting Energy Ball in all directions.
"Viiiiiire!" the multiple Electivire fired Thunderbolt to counter Energy Ball, producing many small explosions and clouds of smoke. However, because of the large smoke cloud that had gotten formed through the small ones, it made it difficult for Snivy to aim Leaf Storm.
"Snivy use Leaf Storm in all directions!" Ash shouted.
"Snivvvvvyyyyy!" Snivy spread its arms out and sent the energy leaves blasting in all directions.
After some seconds, Snivy still hadn't hit its mark and everyone became alarmed as to where Electivire had gone.
They had discovered the answer when it was too late though, when they looked up they found Electivire falling down with a Fire Punch aiming for Snivy. The fall intensified the flame on Electivire's hand and seconds before impact, it looked like a large fire ball in its hand.
"Tiviiiiire!" Electivire punched Snivy into the ground with Fire Punch.
"Sniiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Snivy cried in pain.
Another cloud of smoke had formed at the center and everyone prepared to make their commands to prepare for another assault, but once again it was too late, three Electivire had popped out of the smoke clouds and sent Deerling, Excadrill and Pansage flying against trees with Fire Punch, instantly knocking them all out along with Snivy.
When the smoke had cleared, all of the Electivire copies became a single being again and the gang and Victini looked in horror at their unconscious Pokémon. "We didn't stand a chance even with four Pokémon," Iris said with fright.
"This isn't good," May gulped with fear and sweated a bit.
'We were pummeled in less than five minutes," Cilan gritted his teeth.
Ash grinded his teeth and spoke, "I need to rescue my pal, so you know what Electivire? Get out of my way because I have a friend to save!"
The black-haired teen began to run and prepared to pass Electivire like nothing until the Thunderbolt Pokémon jabbed Ash in the stomach with ThunderPunch and sent him flying back.
"Ash!" May yelled and ran over to him when he hit the ground.
"Victini tini!" Victini flew over to Ash as fast as May while Iris and Cilan watched horrified.
"Ouch," Ash chuckled as some electricity coursed through his body.
"You're so stupid sometimes," May smiled sadly at him as she put her arm behind his back to lift him up a bit. A single tear from her eyes dropped on his clothes as he tried to move, but the electricity still had him paralyzed.
"Tini v," Victini also had tears forming its eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine, let's just focus on rescuing Pikachu," Ash gave them a reassuring smile as he felt his body finally returning under his control.
"You fool, you're going to die out there with the kind of tactics you've demonstrated since the beginning, this goes for all of you," a voice said, a very familiar voice.
They tried to identify the location of the voice, but no one seemed to be around. "Who's there?" May asked with a frightened tone, expecting the worst. Cilan, Iris, Axew, and Victini were also clearly alarmed.
Out of the blue, three very familiar figures appeared in front of Electivire and the gang couldn't have been happier to see them. There in front of them was Auro, Nate, and Rosa with Pikachu on Rosa's shoulder, smiling at his friends, but the most surprising thing was the three Pokémon hovering above their heads. Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit hovered over Auro, Nate, and Rosa's heads respectively.
There were so many questions the gang had, but they didn't know where to begin. The one who broke the silence was Nate though, welcoming them with a, "Your official training starts today," and flashed a smile at them. At least one of their questions had gotten answered.
That was Chapter 38, I hope you guys liked it; most of it was battling though. I do feel like this chapter came out better though because I felt more in sync with the Pokémon World, yes that is my method for writing this story lol. I really do hope you guys liked it, any questions regarding the ending will be answered in Chapter 39 so stay tune and remember to REVIEW, PM, or WHATEVER BUT I'D REALLY LIKE FEEDBACK. Hope you liked the Advanceshipping scenes and keep in mind Chapter 39 will be posted up next weekend like usual, till then guys! One more thing, I've been going through a rough time in life, but I just want to thank all of you for supporting me and continuing to read this story even if there has been a time lag, I really appreciate it and I love you guys, thanks!