Funny reference!
The conversation with Leaf had to wait. For a little bit at least. Ash had to bring his team back to the Pokemon Center so they could recover first. Pidgeotto and Sunny were still conscious but could use medical assistance too.
It was late afternoon by the time everyone was back in top shape and a quick search of the Pokemon Center failed to turn up the other trainer.
This meant they had to brainstorm for a bit.
Which they were able to do over a late but tasty lunch.
"No sauce?" Karen noted as Misty sat down with her plate of pasta. "Just butter? That seems pretty bland to me."
"And cheese." Misty jabbed her fork at the older girl. "It's a comfort food, don't judge me."
Ash had no interest in judging his friend's eating habits. "Any idea where Leaf might have gone today? She's not here, any chance she might have gone to fight the gym too?"
"I don't know how we could have missed her." Misty considered. "We would have run into her at some point."
"Maybe she was in the Perfume Shop while Ash was battling?" Karen suggested. "We could go back and check…"
"No!" Ash yelped, perhaps a bit too loudly. He shuddered at the memory of all the different and conflicting smells that had assaulted him. It had been enough for him to consider trying to remove the nose from his illusion and see if that would have helped.
Karen smirked and Mist snickered a bit; Ash grumbled. "Turn up your sense of smell and see how much you like the smell of that stuff!"
"Are we sure Leaf actually knows you're a Zorua?" Pidgeotto asked.
"Pretty sure." Ash nodded, "I'm having a bit of trouble remembering exactly what happened. I remember saying goodbye to her though."
"You did," Misty confirmed. "She said bye to all of us, even Psyduck. Then she said 'Bye Ash!' and patted you on the head, and to really sink it, you waved at her and said bye like a human."
Ash went cross-eyed. "I think I remember that…"
"That does seem pretty cut and dry," Pidgeotto admitted. I just wanted to make sure, since Leaf seems a little bit ditsy."
"She's always like that then?" Selene checked.
"The only other time I met her was in Pewter, Pikachu?" Pidgeotto looked at Ash's longest companion.
"I don't have much more experience. But yeah, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if she just always knew somehow." Pikachu explained. "She seems to treat Pokemon the same way she treats humans."
Ash hummed as he thought about it. "What are the odds she's a Pokemon in disguise too?"
"What?" Karen almost dropped her fork at Ash's unexpected question.
"Oh, sorry, I was thinking about what Pikachu said." He apologized. "Just trying to work out how Leaf figured it out."
"You weren't the most stealthy yesterday." Misty reminded him. "It's not your fault, you were exhausted. It was funny though." She chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you talked in front of her at some point, and you were whispering to Misty a lot. Maybe she just had enough clues?" Karen poked at her plate.
"We won't know for sure until we ask her." Ash sighed. "And we still have no idea where she is!"
Misty frowned. "You know, I swear she said something about what she was doing today. It was a quick thing, I can't remember what it was."
"We could check the bulletin board?" Sunny had a suggestion. "Maybe that could jog your memory?"
With Ash's translation, they went to check out the board after they finished eating. It was full of events, advertisements, and local attractions for visiting trainers. A part of Ash regretted not checking out the one in Saffron City, but spending time with his trainer had been good enough for him.
The board here had plenty of things on it. From small shows and events to shops, including Erika's Perfume Shop. Turns out there was another big shopping center here in Celadon. Ash wondered how it compared to the one in Saffron.
Before he could read any further, Misty snapped her fingers. "The Game Corner! That was it!"
"Let's see, arcade games, pinball, gambling, private game rooms…" Karen read through the bullet points. "Sounds like a pretty fun place."
It did, which explained why Leaf would have been gone all day. She probably went over after her Pokemon started feeling up to it and spent the rest of the day there.
After a few moments of discussion, the group decided to head to the Game Corner. Partly to find Leaf, and partly to check it out for themselves.
Celadon City was smaller than Saffron City, but it was still a fairly large and busy place. The group of trainers and Pokemon wandered past apartments, storefronts, and dark creepy alleyways—all notable and necessary parts of big cities.
The afternoon was passing into dusk when they finally found the Game Corner, it was a bit obscured though, mostly because of the crowd of people surrounding it.
There was a bit of a confused scramble as the group pushed their way through the throng, trying to reach the doors. This was not a crowd of people waiting to enter a building however, this was a gathering of confused onlookers, and disgruntled former patrons.
"What the heck is going on?" Pikachu demanded as he narrowly ducked under someone's elbow.
"I don't want to jinx us, but what are the odds this has something to do with Leaf?" Pidgeotto theorized.
Eevee shook her head. "Don't be silly! There was probably a fire or something and they had to evacuate! Let's just get to the front and find out what happened. Then we can plan our next move."
That made sense to Ash, but he had to be careful not to bump into anyone too hard. This meant that he had to rely on Karen and Misty to help clear the way, otherwise he might burst his illusion right in the middle of all this!
He looked side to side, at confused faces and angry ones, and tried to pick out what people were saying, maybe for some hints.
"I was winning big! I was gonna leave a rich man when they kicked us out!"
"Liar! You were broke and about to sink yourself another 10000P in debt!"
"That's just a matter of opinion."
This conversation and others reached Ash's ears as they finally carved their way to the front of the crowd. He made sure he hadn't lost anyone in the mess, particularly Sunny and Eevee since they were the most likely to get dislodged while pushing through people like that.
The Game Corner was fittingly on a street corner, it was mostly blue but the edges were highlighted and augmented by bright neon lights that drew attention from passersby, most likely to lure them in. It was fairly large, maybe the size of the Cerulean City Gym, and bigger than Pewter's and Vermillion's.
Around the door were a series of barriers, they seemed to have been put out fairly recently, and a large man wearing black stood behind them, arms crossed and scowling. Occasionally he shouted at the onlookers who got a bit too curious and tried to get over the barriers.
"Now what?" Karen asked, looking slightly disheveled after their push.
He frowned. Good question. Sliding along the edge of the barriers so he could get a bit closer to the guard, bouncer, or whatever he was, Ash called to him. "Excuse me!"
The man either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him. The disguised trainer frowned and shouted louder. "Excuse me!"
Ash caught a hint of rolled eyes as the man turned to him. "What do you want?" His voice was rough and angry.
Misty and Karen had managed to rejoin him in his new position as he spoke. "One of our friends said she was coming here today, we were going to meet her when we found all this, what happened?"
"None of your concern." His question was shot down. "This is a private affair and it will be dealt with. The Game Corner will reopen at normal hours tomorrow." There was a clinical detachment in his words, as though he'd had to repeat it multiple times already.
"Could you just tell us if you've seen her?" Ash pushed.
"Sure!" His voice was patronizing. "Gee, why don't you describe your little friend? I'm sure I'll remember her from the hundreds of people I've seen today."
"What a jerk," Misty muttered.
"We just need to find her!" Ash insisted and gave the description anyway. "She's about my height, with long brown hair, she's wearing a white hat, tank top and sneakers, and a red skirt!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the guard stiffened, and his expression went from mocking, to actively hostile. "I knew it!" He sneered and a Pokeball was in his hand before anyone could react. "I knew that twerp called for reinforcements! Hyper Fang, Raticate! Put him DOWN!"
The confused murmur and talk of the crowd rose into screams at the unexpected attack. Ash was caught just as unprepared as anyone else and stumbled back. He had just enough sense to shout "Iron Tail!" as he fell backward.
Raticate's attack snapped shut where Ash had been standing seconds before, Pikachu jumped off his friend's shoulder and somersaulted in midair, smashing a silvery tail into Raticate's skull and sending him to the ground.
"What's the big idea?" Pikachu demanded as he landed.
The other Pokemon offered no verbal response, instead, he just hissed, and lunged once again.
Karen and Misty recovered from their shock and began sending out their own Pokemon while Ash pulled himself up and made sure his team was alright. The man who had sent out Raticate had pulled out a walkie-talkie device and was now shouting into it.
"That twerp called for help! There are three more of them! I need backup!"
"*Backup?*"A slightly distorted voice responded. "*You want backup? We have enough problems down here! Deal with them yourself grunt!*"
Pikachu blasted Raticate with a Thunderbolt and the normal-type scurried back toward his trainer. It was no longer just Pikachu he was facing, Pidgeotto, Selene, Staryu, Starmie, and Umbreon were now all staring him down, practically daring him to make a move.
The guard cursed like a sailor. "Deal with them myself? I might as well turn myself in!"
"Maybe you should!" Misty snapped. "What's the big idea, attacking Ash out of the blue like that?"
"Don't play stupid! That girl called you for help!" He insisted and pulled out a second Pokeball, sending out a Golbat.
"She didn't." Karen narrowed her eyes. "We were looking for her, I have no idea what is even going on here."
"Yeah." Sunny had been slightly bruised by the fall but he seemed alright. Ash glared at his attacker. "But I think we should help her now."
The man looked at the trainers and Pokemon surrounding him and came to some sort of conclusion. "Golbat, Raticate! Attack!" He ordered, and then without waiting to see what happened, turned around and ran inside the Game Corner.
Unfortunately, both Pokemon followed through with the command, Selene briefly tried to talk them down but neither of the other Pokemon seemed keen on talking it out. A fight was unavoidable.
A quick but brutal beatdown followed and ended with both opposing Pokemon down for the count while the defenders were hardly worse for wear. To be expected given how the guard's Pokemon were both outnumbered and outmatched.
After making sure Golbat and Raticate were knocked out, the group briefly discussed what they should do next.
"We should go to the police." Karen immediately asserted. "Let them deal with this."
Misty frowned. "I don't know, we don't even know what's happening here. What the heck did Leaf do to get that sort of reaction?"
"The better question is; what is she doing?" Karen corrected. "It sounds like she's still in there."
"I feel like we should check it out ourselves first, what do you think Ash?" Misty looked at where the Zorua had been standing and found herself talking to empty air.
"He and his team ran inside." Staryu pointed at the door.
"Gah!" Misty cried, "that doofus! Come on you two!" Her Pokemon were right by her side as she followed.
Karen and Umbreon were left standing alone. The teenager briefly agonized over what to do before deciding. "Those two are going to make my hair turn gray." She prophesied and then followed in their footsteps.
"Vine Whip!" Leaf called to Fanghorn and hit the ground as the vines lashed against the Zubat swarming her. "Pidget, Whirlwind!"
A burst of wind smashed into the bat Pokemon and sent the into the wall. She didn't have time to celebrate though, she was back on her feet and ran out of reach of a Team Rocket Grunt trying to grab her.
"Double Kick!" Both Eomer and Eowyn crashed into the criminal and made him crumble to the ground.
Team Rocket. Criminals. Theives. Jerks!
She'd heard about them when she was younger but it had gone in one ear and out the other. Then Ash brought them up while they were in Pewter City and reminded her what kind of people they were.
Leaf had kept his warning in mind but hadn't seen any sign of them until she got to Cerulean City. There was a bridge heading out of the city and it was filled with trainers! Nugget Bridge they called it, beat all the trainers and get a Gold Nugget!
It sounded cool! Leaf had done the challenge and won! Then the guy who gave her the Nugget tried getting her to join Team Rocket. She told him no so he decided to battle her and make her join.
Even after five other battles, they kicked his butt! She loved her friends, they were awesome!
The trainer kept her eyes peeled after that and run into a few grunts and plots from them during her journey. Mostly whenever she stopped in towns and cities. She had a habit of avoiding roads so she didn't see many other humans in between stops.
On her way to the Game Corner earlier today, she'd run into a man who claimed to have been robbed. He worked for Silph Co. and had some device stolen from him. Something about goggles that let him see ghosts.
He said the thief had gone down the street with the Game Corner when he lost sight of him and Leaf promised to let him know if she spotted anyone suspicious.
…come to think of it she hadn't done that yet. She should probably go and tell him she found a bunch of suspicious people when she got out of here. Well, after she toppled their entire operation to the ground of course!
While in the Game Corner, she'd spotted a familiar outfit near the back. Black with a big red R. She immediately zeroed in and followed the Team Rocket member and found out there was an entire underground base here!
So she did what any trainer would do. She started making a mess!
None of the grunts that had fought her were much trouble. Yet at least. But there were a lot of them. She knew her friends were starting to get worn down a bit, but they had no choice! If they turned around and left then Team Rocket would recover! Thankfully she had potions and berries.
"Hold still!" Someone shouted and Leaf yelped, crawling to her feet and darting out of reach.
"Confusion and Ember!" She called to Bugsworth and Bork. The flaming mess of psychic energy and fire swarmed around the grunt who'd just grabbed at her and his Koffing.
Her glance back and moment of self-congratulations nearly proved to be her undoing though. She barely had time to look back around before she was in the grip of another grunt. He put his arms under her armpits and picked her off the ground.
"Finally got you, twerp!" His voice was filled with nefarious celebration, and just a hint of relief. "You're gonna have a long talk with Archer now, ya hear?"
"Let me go!" She shouted and kicked her legs, looking quickly at her Pokemon. After Bork and Bugsworth had taken down the last grunt, another had crawled out of the woodwork (or metalwork) and set an Arbok and Spearow on her friends.
The others were becoming similarly occupied by the horde of Zubat that Pidget had sent into a wall. Not all of them had recovered from that, but enough of them to keep her friends busy.
It was time to carry her own weight then!
Leaf shrieked as loudly and shrilly as she could. Not because she was afraid, but as a fear tactic! Her cry mimicked banshees of folklore and would cause the grunt to sink to an early grave!
But fear alone was not her only weapon! It was time to use her head!
"OW!" The Team Rocket member hollered as she smashed her head back into his. It didn't feel great but the back of her head was a small price to pay to smash this jerk's face!
Again and again, she cracked her head into his, ignoring the small headache that began forming. She also kept kicking her legs, doing her best to aim for this guy's knees. Afterward, she would equate what she was doing to essentially using Screech and Thrash, even if she didn't know those moves.
Her head smashing paid off, and she was rewarded with a satisfying *crack*!
The grunt gave a shriek of his own and let her go, she immediately dashed out of his reach, not wanting to fight her way out again. This time she didn't look back until she was behind Eomer and Eowyn as they brought down their Zubat opponents.
Leaf looked around, feeling exposed and very unwilling to try her luck fighting an adult again. The fighting had made quite a mess of the facility and pieces of debris were scattered about the floor and walls.
Lying in a growing puddle was a piece of pipe, it looked as though it had been cut cleanly at the edges and she wondered what attack had accomplished that. Regardless, it was within reach and she snatched it off the ground and held it before her.
"Try it again tomato-face!" She pointed the pipe at the unlucky grunt as though she were holding a sword.
"My nose!" He sounded as though he had a cold. "I tink you broke my nose!"
Another grunt came up next to the first. "See? This is why you should have taken those child-grabbing classes with me! Trainers are a menace!"
"Shut ub Tristan!" The other team member demanded.
The fighting continued, no other grunts tried to go for Leaf directly. Yet at least. Her best guess was they were waiting until her Pokemon were down and then planned to go for her. Needless to say, she didn't plan to let that happen.
"Strike!" She shouted as she hit a Voltorb with her pipe like a baseball. The Voltorb had been glowing dangerously and seemed to be gearing up for Self-Destruct. The following explosion proved this theory correct.
Despite getting a few good hits in with her pipe, Leaf could start seeing the writing on the wall. She was running out of potions and her friends were starting to be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. There were just too many Team Rocket grunts.
A Spearow dived at Eomer and started hitting him with Peck. Fanghorn dragged the flying-type off with Vine Whip and tossed it at a Wheezing but Eomer was struggling to stand back up.
Bugsworth got hit with an Ember attack that managed to cause a burn. Leaf tried to get to the bug-type to use her last Full Heal but her way was blocked by a pair of Ekans. One of them curled around her pipe and tried to pry it out of her hands. Pidget helped get the snake off but it was too late for Bugsworth who fell to the ground.
Leaf fumbled her Pokeballs and returned her injured friend. Fear began to reinforce itself. She didn't want to run but this was starting to look bad. She wished she had more of her Pokemon with her!
Unpleasant thoughts came to mind of what Team Rocket would do if they managed to beat her and her team. Her friends being taken from her, forced to serve Team Rocket through means she didn't even want to consider. A rage fuel her limbs as she swung her pipe into the head of one of the Ekans.
"No!" She shouted out loud. "I won't let you win!" If she ran what would happen? Had Team Rocket been exposed by her actions? Would anyone realize what happened here? She had made a bit of a mess upstairs once she realized what was going on…
Would they pretend they were legitimate and that she was some maniac who had attacked them unprovoked?
No! That wouldn't happen!
"Seed Bomb!" Leaf pointed at a trio of grunts standing off to the side, giving orders to their Pokemon. Fanghorn shot out an explosive seed and knocked them to the ground.
"Gust and Whirlwind!" Pidget's wings beat hard and sent opposing Pokemon flying.
"Fire Fang!" Bork latched onto the arm of a grunt with a mouthful of fire. Not quite how that attack was supposed to work, but she wasn't complaining.
She wished she knew where all the grunts were coming from. It seemed for every Rocket whose Pokemon she knocked out of the fight, another took their place.
Eomer went down and she returned him. Eowyn wasn't looking much better. Fanghorn was on his feet but breathing hard. Pidget was standing on the ground, raising his wings in a threatening stance. Bork stood by her side and used Growl on any Pokemon that got too close.
Leaf struggled to think of a way out of this.
She hated running now. But her fears for her friends would come to pass if they stayed any longer!
They had to retreat and come back, maybe with more of her friends to help. But they needed to recover a bit. She should probably buy more potions too.
Her mouth opened, about to call for a charge toward the exit staircase, pushing their way through the Rockets and back to freedom.
That was when the cavalry arrived.
"Discharge Pikachu!" A yellow mouse jumped into the densest group of Team Rocket members and with a cry, the expansive attack surged forth and did a pretty good job of shocking them all.
Ash and his team joined the fight, completely fresh and the battle suddenly became a lot more even. Leaf wasn't sure what Ash was doing here or how he'd found her, but she wasn't going to question it. The arrival of help had the bonus of reinvigorating her and her Pokemon.
It was not an instant victory, there were still a lot of bad guys to fight through. But it was a foregone conclusion. The two girls Ash had been traveling with, Misty and Karen, showed up not long after he did and the clean-up began.
Together, the trainers and Pokemon managed to completely clear the area of enemies. Conscious enemies at least. There were plenty of Pokemon and grunts who were knocked out on the floor.
"That was really good timing!" Leaf announced once they had a minute to breathe.
"Happy to help," Ash agreed while taking a close look at one of his Pokemon, Selene the Clefairy. "This will sting a bit." He warned her and sprayed a potion on a scrape across her side.
"Fair, fairy." She winced and rubbed the injured area.
"I don't know why." He responded to her. "I think it has something to do with cleaning the injury? I could ask Nurse Joy the next time we go to the Pokemon Center."
The blue-haired girl, Karen, stood in front of Leaf with crossed arms. "I think I speak for everyone here when I ask this. What the heck is going on?"
Leaf explained how she'd ended up here. Spotting the Team Rocket goon in the Game Corner and following him. Realizing the whole place was a Team Rocket base and deciding to go to town on it.
"You did all this by yourself?" Misty asked, she sounded impressed. "You came a long way, and did a lot of damage."
"Thanks!" High praise from a gym leader. "But I have a question too, can I have some potions? I ran out."
Once her friends were in better shape she had a follow-up question, now that the immediate crisis was over she wanted to know what they were doing here. "How did you find me? Why did you find me?"
"I remembered you mentioned that you were going to check out the Game Corner yesterday." Misty started.
"Then when we got here, there was a guy keeping people out so I asked if he'd seen you and he sent his Raticate to attack me!" Ash continued. "After we beat him I figured you were in trouble and ran in to find out what was going on!"
"I hate being the voice of reason. Why did you think that was a good idea?" Karen asked him.
"She might have needed help!" Ash stood his ground. "And she did!"
"Oh yeah." Leaf ignored the brewing argument. "I guess I did mention I was coming here. Did you guys just want to hang out with me?"
Ash shared a look with his team. "Er, more I wanted to talk to you about something. You know… something secret?"
"A secret?" Leaf stared at him, wracking her mind. "Uhhh, do you have a secret you wanted to tell me about?"
"Pika, pika pi-chu." Pikachu scratched his head and looked at Ash.
"Come on." Ash continued to beat around the bush. "Something that's not obvious and you figured out on your own? Yesterday? When you said bye to me?"
"Is this about you being a Pokemon?" She guessed.
There was a slapping noise from Misty as she slapped herself in the face. That was a weird thing for her to do.
Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes, yes this is about me being a Pokemon."
"Oh cool." Leaf stared at him. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"Geoootto." Pidgeotto squawked and pointed a wing at the staircase to the lower floor. "Pidg." She finished.
"Pi," Pidget responded and the two of them nodded at each other and went over to keep an eye on it. A few of the other Pokemon joined them. Smart idea! Making sure they weren't caught unaware by more grunts.
"Good idea Pidgeotto." Ash smiled briefly before looking back to Leaf. "Okay, how did you figure it out?"
"Was I not supposed to?" Leaf wondered. "I thought you just hadn't told me yet and were dropping hints. It makes a lot of sense in hindsight. Oh does Gary know?" She gasped. "Does your mom know?"
Pikachu and Eevee started snickering and Sunny gave Ash a comforting pat on the leg. "I wasn't dropping hints!" He claimed, "can you just tell me how you put it together?"
"Well, I thought you were pretty good at getting along with Pokemon since, forever." She tapped her chin. "Remember the summer camp? After we started the journey I was wondering if maybe you could understand your Pokemon. Completely. I get some stuff from my friends but I can't understand everything. That's a cool trick."
"It's really useful." Misty agreed, cutting in, and rubbing one of Staryu's limbs.
"You can do it too?" That was interesting, "are you a Pokemon too?"
Leaf's question earned her a deadpan stare. "This is the second time I've been asked that. No."
"Anyway," she got on with her explanation. "I didn't figure it out at first yesterday. But I thought it was really strange you'd go anywhere without Pikachu. Then when you were talking like a Zorua I realized I'd heard it before!"
"You've heard a Zorua before?" That caught Karen's attention. "When? Where?"
"I heard that Zorua before!" She pointed at Ash. "In Pewter City!"
"In…" Ash furrowed his brow. "I remember now." His eyes went wide. "During lunch after I was training with Pikachu! I was tired and had a headache, so I wasn't paying much attention!"
"I didn't think much of it at the time, but it was bugging me where I'd heard you before yesterday. Then you spoke up at the Fan Club and all the pieces kind of came together. I mean, Misty said your name was Cinder! Cinder? Ash? It seemed obvious."
Ash looked very disappointed for some reason. "I haven't figured out all of it though! I'm not sure how you go from a cute fluffy fox to a noodley human boy!" She tried comforting him.
He poked his arm. "I don't have noodle arms do I?"
"Eh, a little bit." Misty gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder.
"How do you do it?" Leaf asked him, "my best bet was you have a human mech suit that you pilot around. Where does it open?"
More snickering from the peanut gallery. "It's not a robot suit!" Ash asserted and flashed with light for a second. Leaf turned her gaze down to a small black shape, wearing Ash's hat and bag. Pokeballs clattered to the ground.
"Shoot, I normally put those in the bag when I know I'm going to switch in and out of illusion." Selene helped him gather them up. "It's an illusion, a solid one. I can make myself look like other Pokemon, humans, objects."
Leaf heart exploded. "That's amazing!" She squealed and would have scooped Ash up if it didn't mean dropping her pipe. She was rather attached to it now. "It's like every Pokemon in one! Like Ditto!"
"Kind of." Ash nodded. "Ditto's Transform is a bit more solid than mine though. Mine will break if it gets hit too hard. But…" He jumped and flashed again and Leaf found herself face to face with a familiar face.
She smiled at herself. "It's still pretty cool." Ash's voice coming out of her mouth was a little weird, but other than that it was a near-perfect replica. He was still wearing his hat instead of Leaf's though.
"Yeah, it's cool!" Leaf agreed, doing a quick look around her double. "I wish I could do that! I could be anyone and everyone!"
"I hate to break it up," Karen cut in. "But explanations are out of the way, and we're still in the middle of a facility owned and operated by a criminal organization."
"Right!" Ash pounded his(?) fist. "We need to find the guy in charge and take him down!"
"Yeah!" Leaf pumped her fist too.
Karen looked between the two identical trainers with an incredulous look. "No!"
Much to the eldest trainer's protests, the other three trainers (and their Pokemon) had elected to keep raiding the base.
"We should be going to the police!" Karen trailed behind as they ran through the maze of halls and rooms.
"We'll tell them after!" Ash answered, now looking like himself again. "But it'll make their job easier if we take out all the guys here!"
"It makes sense to me!" Sunny agreed. "That way they just need to put them in jail!"
"Well, there's still due process." Eevee tried to temper their high expectations. "They need to be charged, and go to court, and be sentenced…"
"That's for later!" Selene cut her off. "For now it's hero time!"
"I'm a bit mixed on this myself," Misty admitted. "But I'm a gym leader, so it's not like I don't have any jurisdiction to be doing this."
"I have no idea what that means, but if it lets us beat up more bad guys then it doesn't matter!" Leaf decided.
They didn't run into many more grunts for a while. It seemed like the massive group that had been throwing themselves at Leaf, trying to stop her, had been the majority of the base's occupants.
After the initial adrenaline rush wore off, the invaders moved a bit more slowly, checking rooms and corners with caution. The lack of opposition was far worse than being actively attacked in every hallway.
Ash felt his hackles rise with every turn and empty room. His nerves were beginning to go through the roof, expecting to be attacked or yelled at by some gruff and cruel voice.
Just the waiting, the insufferable waiting for something to happen.
It was almost a relief when they ran into someone on the bottom floor of the facility. Rather, they ran into three someones. Two grunts, and some skinny guy with purple hair in a lab coat.
"Gah, you fools! Look what your incompetence has permitted! We are now cornered deep within our own facility! Where is good help when you need it?" The man in the lab coat, maybe a scientist or pharmacist, complained in a voice that sounded painful.
"I told you this was happening!" One of the grunts told him, her voice filled with rage. "I told you that the base was under attack and we needed to evacuate or get to the main office! And you said, that your work was too important!"
"And then!" The other picked up. "When we wanted to go and help stop the intruders, you refused to let us leave! Saying that you needed someone to protect you at all times."
"Bah! You're misconstruing my directives! I'll destroy you all myself!" He pulled out a black and white Poke Ball. "Omega! Destroy them!"
"Acknowledged." A Magnezone emerged from the Pokeball.
He looked at the two grunts. "Don't just stand there! Attack!"
"Why do we put up with this maniac again?" One grunt asked her fellow.
"They have good dental." She shrugged, and both sent out their Pokemon.
A Magnezone and two Spearow Leered down at the trainers.
"Pikachu! Target the Spearow, Sunny use Flamethrower on Magnezone!"
"Omega, Light Screen! Spearow, use Gust! Other Spearow, use Gust as well!" The scientist ordered.
"Hey!" The grunts complained as he ordered their Pokemon around.
"Quiet you naive fools!" He snapped.
"Did you forget you're fighting more than just one person?" Karen mocked. "Absol, Sucker Punch!"
Absol practically teleported on top of the Spearow and lashed out with a paw at vicious speeds.
"I did not, but thank you for reminding me." The scientist replied. "Andrew! It's time to fulfill your destiny!" An Electrode joined the fight.
"Selene!" Ash didn't like the implications of 'fulfill your destiny,' it sounded very final.
The fairy-type psyched herself up with Defense Curl, fired off a Disarming Voice that almost made the Electrode cry with emotional damage, and then spun into him at the speed of a very fast bike.
Andrew impacted the wall and then exploded.
This was when everything went crazy.
The entire facility shook and anyone standing on the ground lost their footing. Magnezone, floating in the air, was unaffected by the troubles of those bound by gravity. They began firing off attacks at the trainers and Pokemon, apparently without concern for who was hit.
The lights were flashing on and off, likely due to some sort of electrical damage. The resulting strobe effect made keeping track of what was going on a lot harder.
"Bork!" Leaf cried for her Growlithe. "Fire FaaaaaaAAA-" Her order turned into a shriek as the was struck by one of Magnezone's attacks and sunk to the ground on her knees.
Pidgeotto took a Thunder Bolt and lost altitude. "Never thought I'd say this!" She gasped. "But I'm really glad for Pikachu shocking me right now!"
Umbreon tanked a Tri Attack as Bork managed to chomp down on Magnezone with Fire Fang. The Spearow were still in play as well though. Pidget shot forward and collided with one of them in the air, sending them both to the ground.
Pikachu skidded away from a Peck and Eevee Tackled his attacker to the ground. He took advantage of the grounded enemy and slammed an Iron Tail into the flying-type.
"Sunny keep up the Flamethrower!" Ash ordered and he kept blasting the Magnezone.
"Discharge!" The scientist shouted and a familiar wave of golden electricity emerged from the electric-type.
Bork took a direct hit and went to the ground. Squirtle, who'd been trying to sneak in under the other Pokemon didn't fair any better. Sunny was far enough back and Selene managed to use Protect just before the attack reached her.
"Starmie, Staryu!" Misty cried. "Throw everything at Magnezone!"
This did not mean for them to use every attack on Omega, instead, they used Psychic. The debris from Electrode's Self-Destruct, chairs, computers, and coffee mugs. Everything that wasn't nailed down floated into the air and rushed at the main opponent
Omega didn't go down.
"What is that Pokemon made of?" Karen demanded. "Umbreon Confuse Ray!"
"What? No!" The scientist responsible for this mess gasped.
The Magnezone's attacks suddenly became a lot more random. On the bright side, they were no longer targeting anyone specifically. On the downside, Ash was now too afraid to move, because it might be right into the path of a Thunder Bolt or Tri Attack.
"Hey, doc!" One of the grunts shouted over the noise. "I quiiiii-!" Her final word ended in a scream as she was hit with a Thunder Bolt.
Her companion grunt just stared at her. "See, this is why you gotta put in two weeks' notice."
Mayhem continued to reign as the fight quickly turned into, a dogpile on the Magnezone until it went down. The Spearow were out of the fight, thanks to Pidget and Eevee. Sunny was beginning to wear himself out using Flamethrower, and Omega had enough sense left in their confused state to keep using Light Screen.
Houndour managed to get the final hit on Magnezone, Karen hadn't let all her Pokemon out at the start of the invasion and had been reluctant to involve the happy puppy in this kind of battle. But Houndour came out fresh to the fight and eagerly joined in.
"Yeah!" She let loose a barrage of Flamethrower and Fire Fang, jumping on top of Omega. "I'll tear you apart you metal bucket of bolts! You're nothing but a smelly overgrown frisbee!"
The steel-type sparked and made a painful grinding sound, before collapsing out of the sky and crashing into the floor, carving into it.
The victorious dark-type jumped off and raced over to Karen. "I did good and destroyed the baddie! Is it head pat time?"
"I think I see the dark-type in her now," Pidgeotto noted as she landed carefully, listing to the side.
"All my plans brought to ruin!" The Rocket Scientist bemoaned. "You have not heard the last of me! Doc O'Ma-" It was his turn to get shocked, by Pikachu specifically.
Misty and Ash went to help Leaf, she had barely moved since getting hit by Omega's Thunder Bolt. Karen stalked over to the Rockets and glared down at them.
The remaining grunt looked at her two companions, the knocked-out Pokemon, and put her hands up. "I swear I just work here."
"Still a criminal," Karen responded. "Was he the guy in charge?" She jabbed a thumb at the twitching man on the floor.
"What?" The grunt snorted. "Him?" She started laughing.
"Absol?" Karen prompted and the disaster Pokemon approached menacingly. The laughter suddenly ceased.
"What I meant to say is, no." The grunt gulped. "He's not the one running things here. That would be Archer. He's in the main office."
"Where is the office?"
"Second floor, or second basement?" She seemed unsure how to word it. "You can get there through the elevator. But you need a key card."
"And that would be?" Karen pressed and the grunt gestured at the scientist. "Thank you for your cooperation. Gloom put her to sleep." She released the grass-type.
"Wait what?" Sleep Powder danced over her and the grunt collapsed. The trainer dug through the pockets of the passed-out scientist for a moment before drawing a card labeled, 'Office Access' from him.
"That- hurt." Leaf managed to get out as Ash and Misty helped her to her feet. Ash had given his backpack to Selene and Pikachu who had gone through it and retrieved the medications he kept inside. "Way more than Pikachu did when he shocked me."
"Pikachu uses Thunder Shock when he's not in a fight," Ash explained. "Not Thunder Bolt."
"Good to know," Leaf grunted and tucked her chin in. "Owwwww."
"And now we go to the police," Karen announced and got unimpressed looks from the three younger trainers. "Don't give me that look!" She shouted at them.
"We've come this far…" Misty trailed off.
"I'm going ahead!" Leaf spoke resolutely and took a step forward. Then nearly fell over.
"No!" Karen put her foot down. "This is enough! We've cleared most of the place out. We have the card to access the main office! We go get Officer Jenny or Erika, or someone. We give them the card, we tell them what happened and we let them finish up here."
None of them met her eyes and she groaned. "Idiots! I'm surrounded by idiots! It's not our job to solve this!"
"But we should!" Ash stepped forward now. "We're here! We can stop them!"
"And so can the police! Or Erika! Or a hundred other people I could think of off the top of my head!"
"They haven't yet though." Misty pointed out. "This didn't happen overnight, Team Rocket has been here for a long time."
Karen put her hands together and took a deep breath. "Maybe they didn't know. Regardless, I cannot let you continue! Look at Leaf!" She gestured at the girl, now sitting on the ground with Fanghorn in her lap. "I won't let you risk your lives any more than you already have!"
"You're not the boss of us." Misty crossed her arms and Karen grit her teeth.
"No!" She agreed. "I am not the boss of you! But I am the oldest! I can't just stand here and let you risk life and limb! I don't know how to explain this to you. You're kids! You should be running around the woods and challenging gyms and making friends! Not fighting criminals in some sort of underground secret base!"
"She has a point…" Pidgeotto admitted after a moment. "But I don't like leaving a job unfinished."
"Me neither." Selene agreed.
Ash was quiet as he thought. They could get the police. It was their job to handle criminals like this. But at the same time, he felt involved. Team Rocket targeted and used Pokemon, he was a Pokemon. Heck, those two weirdos from Team Rocket were after him specifically. Even if they didn't quite realize it yet.
He was a Pokemon, but he was also a Pokemon trainer. Being a trainer meant he was able to do things and accomplish things other Pokemon couldn't. In this case, that meant stopping Team Rocket here and now. Maybe there were other bases and other members. But this was the threat right in front of them, and Ash wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if they turned around and ran.
"Karen…" Ash started. "I get it. But we're not going to back out now!" He insisted.
She muttered something about dense, hard-headed brats. "So what? You're all still on the same page?"
After getting similar agreements from Leaf and Misty and rubbed her face. "Alright, fine. I could probably make you leave by force but it wouldn't end well. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to take a few minutes to recover. We're going to find this elevator. And we stay together, me at the front. Okay?"
Almost as soon as they reached the office they got separated with Leaf and Ash trapped in the same room as the guy in charge while Misty and Karen were trapped in the room behind them with every grunt left in the base.
It was a bit hard to hear through the closed door, but Ash was pretty sure he heard Karen's scream of fury. He almost felt sorry for the Team Rocket guys stuck in there with her.
Almost.
Archer (or at least the man they assumed was Archer) had lured Ash and Leaf ahead by calling them out specifically and mocking their friends. His door had been wide opened and he lounged in a chair behind a big desk, blue hair greased back. The smirk stretching his features made his face very hatable.
No sooner had the two ten-year-olds rushed ahead with their teams when the door slammed behind them.
"Gullible too!" Archer clapped for them. "I suppose this speaks of the quality of my grunts. I'll need to completely gut this place after I deal with you two."
"Pretty bold talk coming from a guy who hid in this room while we kicked butt!" Leaf fired right back.
Archer rolled his eyes and kicked himself back from the desk. "Oh yes, why would I have ever thought that my men could deal with a couple of actual children and their pets? Clearly, I'm the idiot."
"Can I shock this guy now?" Pikachu asked and began sparking.
"Aren't we supposed to let him monologue?" Selene wondered. "I don't know, it seems rude to interrupt."
"Pikachu is good at being rude." Eevee pointed out. "Go for it."
The Team Rocket leader didn't so much as flinch when the Thunder Bolt lanced at him. He had good reason not to it seemed. The bolt hit some sort of barrier in the middle of the room, it cracked against it before fizzling out.
"Tempered glass." the blue-haired man knocked on it with his knuckles. "It'll take a lot more than a little shock from a Pikachu to get through that."
"We'll figure it out!" Ash glared at him. "You're all alone in here and we've got our friends outside too!"
"Good point." He nodded. "I would like to think the grunts I have left would be enough to deal with those two but given the poor showing the rest of them have had I suppose I shouldn't keep my hopes up. Who knows, maybe I got lucky and have the cream of the crop here."
"Regardless," he pressed a button on the desk. "It's time to put you two down. This has been enough trouble. We'll probably have to shut down the Game Corner after this. The very least you can do to compensate us is to give up your Pokemon."
"Not in a million years!" Leaf kicked the glass barrier and jumped back holding her foot. "Ow, ow ow."
"Okay if the Thunder Bolt didn't work, why would your foot?" He seemed genuinely baffled at Leaf's action.
Two Pokeballs dropped from the ceiling and burst open in the center of the room. Ash and Leaf quickly stepped back and their Pokemon moved forward. Emerging from the balls were two hulking figures, a Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Large for their species and practically dripping with venom.
"A gift from the boss. Also fitting considering those little bunnies girly there has." Archer smiled. "Oh, it's going to be satisfying watching them pick your little pipsqueaks apart."
"Dream on." Ash scowled. "We know what we're doing! We're on the gym challenge!"
"The gym challenge." He clutched his chest. "Why didn't you say so?" He started laughing. "I knew you were dense but your stupidity astounds me!"
"'The gym challenge! We're trainers and we fight relics of a bygone age for fun! That makes us so tough!'" He mocked and sneered at them. "You're children. Playing around and what, making friends? Are your Pokemon your friends?"
"Yes, they are," Ash answered seriously with a glare.
"Ash, stop engaging him," Pidgeotto warned him. "He's just trying to get under your skin." He nodded slightly and resolved to keep his mouth shut.
But he had latched on to Ash's words. "Oh, they are your friends! Silly me! It makes me sick," his face turned to one of disgust. "It's ridiculous, running around, heads full of silly dreams in a world full of living weapons. Pokemon are tools to achieve greatness! What do you think they're gonna stay cute forever? They get bigger and they get meaner. What are you going to do when your cute little buddy evolves and decides they don't need you anymore?"
Leaf had been quiet. But when Archer finished she looked him in the eye. "Well, what did you do?"
There was a subtle change. Archer's expression didn't shift but there was a slight twitch around his right eye. The air in the room seemed to drop several degrees. "What are you waiting for? Get them."
The two poison-types moved. They launched themselves at the smaller Pokemon with blistering speed and the two teams scattered.
Bugsworth fired a Psybeam at the Nidoqueen but she shrugged it off easily and whirled on the bug-type. Her fist shot forward, wrapped in a disgusting looking purple, and easily knocked him out of the air.
Pikachu had narrowly avoided an opening attack from Nidoking and spun around firing a Thunder Bolt that bounced off the bigger Pokemon. "Don't tell me…" He groaned.
"Ground-type," Eevee confirmed but that proved a mistake, in the moment she took to respond to Pikachu, Nidoking was on top of her and bringing down a spiked arm. She was crushed into the metal floor instantly.
Ash was filled with horror. This was beyond them. These two monsters were far tougher than anything they'd fought before. They reminded him of Shelldon but unlike the friendly water-type, these two were fighting with the intent to cause serious harm.
Rallying, he started shouting orders to his team. "Pidgeotto use Twister on Nidoking! Sunny, Flamethrower barrage! Selene set up defenses!" He looked to Leaf. "Can your team focus on Nidoqueen?"
"We can try!" She agreed. "Bork! Fire Fang! Eomer, Eowyn! Tag team Double Kick! Fanghorn Solar Beam as soon as you can! Pidget, get in her eyes!"
Ash quickly darted in to scoop up Eevee as the Twiser forced Nidoking back, his arms in front of his face to protect his eyes. Sunny set to work setting the larger Pokemon's tail on fire.
"What about me?" Pikachu asked and frowned when he saw the look on Ash's face.
The Zorua was debating what Pikachu could do in this situation. "Quick Attack, do whatever you can to hold his attention."
"I'll try." Pikachu zoomed off and Ash ran out of the fight as Selene rolled forward with Defense Curl.
Nidoking roared and a Sludge Wave flowed out around him. Light Screen helped contain the flow and directed it away from anyone it could hurt. Pidgeotto zipped in and out, using Aerial Ace and Quick Attack on Nidoking's head. Pikachu kept using Quick Attack and Iron Tail wherever he saw an opening.
The poison-type started swinging wildly, trying to hit one of his attackers. His arm glowed red for a moment and with Strength, it slammed into Pikachu. It collided with Selene's Reflect for a moment. After a brief struggle, it shattered through the barrier and into Pikachu, sending the electric-type hurdling into the wall.
Pikachu bounced off painfully but he wasn't quite out yet. Reflect had done its job in this case.
The time it took for him to attack was enough for Sunny to take advantage of. He had tucked his head in for Skull Bash and jumped at the larger Pokemon. With a painful crack, he headbutted Nidoking's chin and the drill Pokemon's head snapped back.
Sunny barely had time to celebrate, rocks erupted from the ground below him and battered him, maybe Stone Edge. The fire-type cried out in pain and Ash desperately wanted to run in and get him out of there.
Pikachu came to the rescue and used Iron Tail to cut through the chunks of rock, freeing Sunny but the Charmander was clearly hurt.
Selene took a step forward but stumbled back as a sharp purple cantrip bounced to a stop in front of her. Ash took a risky moment to glance at Nidoqueen and saw that she had just coughed up Toxic Spikes which now covered the floor.
He closed his eyes and breathed for a moment, forcing himself to calm down. A strange serenity seemed to fill him. After a few moments, he felt something spike as a plan came to mind. It was a weird feeling, but he kind of liked it.
"Selene use Light Screen! Push all the Toxic Spikes under Nidoking!" As she acted Ash already began listing his next order. "Pikachu, Pidgeoto, Iron Tail, and Steel Wing on his arms!"
"Done!" Selene announced and the two steel-type moves crashed into Nidoking, creating a roar of pain.
"Pidgeotto blind him! Pikachu and Selene get behind! Pound and Tackle!" Pidgeotto scattered dust and dirt from the rocks into Nidoking's face while the other two used Quick Attack and Defense Curl respectively to get behind their opponent.
"Straight up and down with Steel Wing!" Ash ordered Pidgeotto as Pikachu and Selene hit Nidoking from behind making him stumble. Pidgeotto came down on his head with steely wings and sent him down for sure.
He cried out as he landed on the Toxic Spikes, they may not be able to poison him, but they were still sharp.
"Hit him as hard as you can with everything!" He didn't like how desperate he sounded with that order. But he wasn't sure what to do if Nidoking got back up again.
Selene pounded as hard as she could. Pikachu jumped up and swung Iron Tail after Iron Tail in Nidoking's hide. Pidgeotto was back in the air and coming down with Aerial Ace, now and then adding in a Peck for good measure.
After a pregnant eternity, Nidoking finally stopped struggling to get back up, and Ash nearly dropped to his knees with relief.
Sounds of battle continued though, he looked to Leaf's side of the fight. Bugsworth, Bork, and Pidget were all gone, probably returned to their Pokeballs. He squinted as the bright light of Faghorn's Solar Beam crashed into Nidoqueen's torso and she screeched.
"Let's finish this!" He hardened his resolve. His remaining teammates joined the fray.
Selene crashed into Nidoqueen's skull with Defense Curl. Pikachu carved into her leg with Iron Tail. Pidgeotto fired off a Twister at her back. Eomer and Eowyn, reinvigorated by the reinforcement renewed their assault. Eomer stabbed her with Horn Attack and Eowyn started using Bite on her tail.
Nidoqueen struggled under the assault but Fanghorn got the final strike, using Vine Whip to lash the larger Pokemon to the ground.
They all stood breathing deeply for a moment, the fact it was over slowly sinking in. Slowly Ash let a smile etch its way onto his face. "We did it." He said softly.
"We did it." Leaf agreed with a nod. "That was scarier than a gym battle."
Ash said nothing and looked at the glass. Archer had been quiet for a while, and there seemed to be a good reason for it. The Team Rocket Executive was gone. A section of the wall had opened up at some point, revealing a black gaping maw behind. He must have decided to make a run for it during the battle.
Leaf scowled. "What a tremendous piece of filth. I almost wanted to wash my hands after talking to him."
"I know the feeling." Ash agreed. There was a pounding on the door and they whirled. They didn't hear any fighting in the next room.
The two sides of the sliding doors glowed with the light of Psychic and were forced open. Ash sagged when he saw Staryu and Starmie glowing, likely the ones who had opened the door.
"Is it over?" Misty asked carefully, looking in the room and at the two collapsed poison-types. "Where's that Archer guy?"
"He got away," Ash admitted sullenly. "But we won! We beat Team Rocket!" He perked up a bit.
"Sure did." Karen nodded. "Now we get the police, tell them what happened and likely get yelled at by a bunch of officials for being in way over our heads and raiding what seemed to be an upstanding establishment."
Silence. Leaf poked her fingertips together. "I mean… we could not tell them that?"
"We need to tell them." Misty forced herself to agree with Karen. "We took out Team Rocket but who knows what they have here? Kidnapped Pokemon, stolen equipment, laundered money. The police and league need to come through here with a fine-toothed comb."
"Yeah." Ash agreed. He wasn't looking forward to those conversations. "Let's get out of here and back to the Pokemon Center, then we get the police. Or we call them from the Center."
As they began filing out of the office, Leaf took one last look around and sighed. "This isn't quite the adventure I wanted. But we did a good thing."
"We did." Karen agreed. "Team Rocket are criminals, and awful ones at that. Those clowns we ran into before seem to be the biggest jokes of the organization. But it's full of bad eggs."
"If I never see Archer again it'll be too soon." Ash agreed.
Pidgeotto landed on his shoulder, and Pikachu climbed the other. Selene had to walk alongside since Sunny and Eevee were in his arms.
"Sometimes being a hero is scary." The fairy-type voiced her thoughts.
"Rethinking your dream of being a hero?" Pidgeotto asked her.
"No," Selene answered easily. "Someone would have had to fight those two monsters. Maybe the police could have handled it. But we did handle it. If something can be done, I want to make sure we do it."
"We always will Selene," Ash promised her. "Whenever we can help, we will help. Let's get you guys some rest though, I feel tired and I didn't even do any fighting myself. I can't imagine how you guys feel."
"It's like Hypno putting me to sleep again." Pikachu declared and did his best to snuggle into Ash's shoulder. "Wake me when we get back to the Pokemon Center."
Told you this would have more stakes.
Team Rocket proper doesn't show up too much in the anime. There's Butch and Cassidy, and the Mewtwo movie and special had some scenes. Mostly the special during Johto where we see Domino and all those Team Rocket goons.
So yeah, in the background Leaf has been dealing with the Team Rocket we see in the games, now the stars have aligned to let Ash and crew help her out!
Also, we get the reveal of how Leaf figured it out! By not realizing it was a secret and just thinking that no one told her yet.
The next chapter is going to be clean up and repercussions both for this chapter and some other things I've set up.
I've kinda been thinking a lot about pacing recently and I want to speed things up a little. So we'll see fewer "filler" chapters from here on out, but I will sometime drop one in to let the characters have a break and flesh them out in new and interesting ways.
I hope you all found Archer suitably hatable.
Anyway, time for reviews!
Ozymandias42: It can be a bit weird when she suddenly shows up out of nowhere in some fics. Fortunately, I made sure she's always existed on some level here. Human equivalent to Mew is a weird way to phrase it but it checks out, given how playful and carefree Mew is.
Shaonics6: Hmm, I don't know if I agree with you there. I suppose illusions would be stronger as a Zoroark, but I don't like limiting a character's growth like that, even if there is a logic to it. We'll see how his ability develops as time goes on. Team Rocket is weird, they can provide some good comedy and moments but I feel like they're used way too much. Like, so much conflict only happens because they showed up and made a mess. I honestly did not want to deal with that whole Erika side plot, it was Ash being a brat and Erika acting childishly petty. Neither of them come out looking good. Although I will admit it's a missed opportunity for Ash to do disguises.
Deepthoughts42: I hadn't drawn attention to it before since his team stays out of their balls mostly, but I brought it up in this chapter. He keeps the balls in his bag mostly.
Strike Wyvern: So it is said, so it is!
PenguinBandit523: Leaf probably wouldn't give an ultimatum but she definitely wants those hugs. Erika is kind of just there in the games. Like most of the gym leaders, unfortunately. More recent gens have fleshed them out a bit more but the first few just go and fight them and all their personality is in a few text boxes.
Talesfanjmf: Yeah, something I want to do more of going forward is integrating actual technique and strategy into the fights, beyond just, hit it harder! And then we get hit and hit it again!
Kitsuneforlife0: I'm still here! And this fic is still going!
LEGOBRICK13: Yikes, not being able to move your jaw side to side, can't imagine that. But yeah, I feel like I've talked enough about Erika at this point but she is an adult and Ash is a child. Neither of them looks good in that scenario but she does look worse. So I skipped it :P. The Bianca bits with Zorua from Unova give me life. They are very funny. Especially Iris and Zorua messing with her rival.
Dracoog101: Mew in disguise? Unlikely. She does have some Mewlike qualities though as I mentioned earlier, so the similarities are there. Yeah, I had some fun last chapter.
Anthony David Torres Jr: Why would Paul want to catch him? That's so far away I've barely even thought about it.
Lolistarkiller: Wait no longer, here's the next chapter!
Greatazuredragon: It would be worse if they knew they were doing it, but yeah. Pretty messed up of them. They didn't even notice anything was wrong either…
That's all for now! Expect another update, on this or Legends of Ash next week!
Bye!
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