Heckin' bamboozled.
Ash wasn't sure how to start the conversation about the other Zorua with Karen. How did he phrase this in a way that she would understand and would not cause her to immediately bolt out of the Pokemon Center intent on catching a Zorua?
He decided his best chance was to just start talking and hope something good happened.
"Karen, hypothetically, if there was an uncaught Zorua in front of you, what would you do?" Ash asked.
There was a slapping sound next to him and he glanced at Misty to see her removing her hand from her face.
They were in the cafeteria of the Pokemon Center once again. Karen and Brock had been eating breakfast with their teams. Well, most of their teams. Onix was a little big to fit indoors. Centers could accommodate a lot of Pokemon, but a thirty-foot-tall rock snake was a bit much.
Karen looked up at him, a calculating look in her eye. "Hypothetically, is there an uncaught Zorua in front of me?"
"An imaginary one." Ash waved his hands.
"I don't think this was the way to start the conversation." Eevee deadpanned to him. He chose to ignore her unjust criticism.
"Er, you have a trainer don't you?" Brock checked, he had gotten bits and pieces about Delia but not the entire explanation.
"I do! But there is an imaginary Zorua here who doesn't have a trainer." Ash tried. "What would you do to this imaginary Zorua?"
Karen opened her mouth to speak but paused and thought for a moment. "Alright, so I take it this is some kind of moral check from you or something?"
"She's onto us." Pikachu teased his best friend.
"Something like that…" Ash shuffled and rubbed the back of his head, trying to find the right words.
"Just tell her, beating around the bush isn't going anywhere," Storm told him.
Ash's face twisted in momentary reluctance. He didn't want to lie to Karen certainly, but telling her about the Bamboozle of Zorua running around seemed like it was asking for trouble. But she was still his friend and he should just trust that she wouldn't do something bad.
So he just let it all flow out of him.
"Alright, there may be some Zorua nearby that have not been caught yet, but I don't think they want to be caught, or at least if they do they didn't say anything and also most of them are just on a fun trip and they have guardians and it would probably be a bad idea to try catching any of them without asking first." He all but blurted out as his friends and companions stared at him.
Karen opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times. "Uh…" She glanced at Misty, possibly hoping for some clarification.
"Ash got almost kidnapped again yesterday. And this time he decided to follow his would-be kidnappers for a bit."
"Is this where you went yesterday?" Brock checked with the Zorua himself and Ash nodded.
"We've already made digs at him for not telling any of us," Pidgeotto announced proudly.
"He still can't understand you." Eevee rolled her eyes and the flying-type just ruffled her feathers.
"That sounds like it's his problem."
"It turns out that sometimes groups of Zorua get together and go on "field trips."" Ash started elaborating a bit now that the hard part was over. "They go to some city or town or something and just have some fun and mess with people a bit. And they saw us coming in yesterday and figured out I was a Zorua, mostly because of my smell."
"There is a Bamboozle of Zorua in Vermillion City right now." Karen's voice was a bit strained.
"Why am I not surprised she already knew what a group of them are called?" Pikachu wondered.
"We already talked about how ironic it is," Misty told her.
"A Bamboozle of Zorua." Karen repeated. "And you are asking me not to go and catch any of them."
"Please." Ash's smile was a bit awkward.
The older trainer took a deep breath. "Alright. This is a wonderful time to practice my self-control. I recently decided I would try your method of catching Pokemon where I talk to them about joining before I catch them. So I wouldn't just run at a Zorua with Absol-"
"Again." Misty quickly inserted.
"-and corner them to try catching. I'd try asking first." Karen sighed. "Not to mention I have this weirdo to keep an eye on." She patted the incubator with the egg inside.
"Thanks, Karen." Ash felt a bit relieved. It was probably better to give her fair warning about this anyway, that way she wouldn't be caught off guard if she ran into one throughout the next couple of days.
"But, could you maybe put some feelers out?" Karen tried asking. "See if any of them are interested?"
"I was already planning on doing that." Ash agreed easily. "I was gonna go looking for them again now. And you guys should probably stay inside, I think it'll be okay if I take my team with me but some of them seemed a bit nervous about being exposed to humans if it's not on their terms."
Brock spoke up again. "Just to clarify, a group of Pokemon, who are not native to Kanto, have come here for the sole purpose of pranking people?"
"Yep!" Ash nodded enthusiastically. "It's a great idea isn't it?!"
"I'll be honest I find it a bit hard to understand." He rubbed his chin. "But you're the only Zorua I have to go off of and if the way you like jokes and messing with people is typical for Zorua then I guess it makes sense. Just try not to actually hurt anyone?"
"Of course not!" Ash agreed. "Unless they deserve it."
"What qualifies deserve it?" Brock sounded vaguely concerned.
Misty suddenly coughed and said something that sounded vaguely like "Damian" and Ash nodded. "Yeah, people like Damian."
"...that was Sunny's first trainer right?" Karen remembered.
"Oh." Brock frowned, they'd told him the story. "That guy. In that case, it's probably fine, although it would be better if you pointed the authorities at them instead."
"This city needs a new type of justice." Misty giggled. "A mysterious furry protector… a dark fox."
"All of these Pokemon are Zorua?" Sunny was wide-eyed as he surveyed the Bamboozle around him.
Not all the Zorua were interested in the visitors, the ones Ash had met yesterday were of course and a few of the others came over to inspect them. But not all the Zorua looked like Zorua at the moment, Rattata of course still looked like a Rattata, and another was currently disguised as a mysteriously landlocked Gastly.
"There's the chaperones too!" The Zorua Ash had mentally labeled as Brother Zorua told Sunny. "They're all Zoroark!"
"Are you sure everyone is a Zorua?" Pidgeotto checked. "Maybe there's a Mina in here somewhere?"
"Who's Mina?" Sister Zorua asked.
"A Ditto we know," Storm explained. "She's a trainer too, not sure where she is now though."
"That reminds me!" Art stepped forward and swung his stick in an arc, nearly whacking a few Pokemon in the nose. "Which of you is a trainer?! Ash said he wasn't the first! How come you thought of it before my super cool trainer?! We need to fight for the honor of the best Zorua Trainer!"
"None of us are trainers," Rattata told him. "I don't know any trainers actually. Who was it who said they had a cousin that was a trainer?"
"I did!" A Zorua with green eyes waved a stubby paw in the air. "My cousin on my dad's side!"
"Wait, Dust, I thought your dad was a Lycanroc?" One of the Zorua he was talking to asked.
The Zorua called Dust shrugged, "He prefers to be one, but he's a Zoroark under the illusion."
"Wait so both your parents are Zoroark?" The same Zorua checked. "I thought it was just your Mom, cause of the Arcanine illusion and everything."
"Nah, Mom is a Ditto." None of this actually explained the apparent cousin who was a trainer sadly. It seemed they were not present at the Bamboozle.
"Right, so you all enjoy confusing people right?" Pikachu double-checked. "That's not just an Ash thing?"
"I don't like confusing them." The Zorua disguised as Gastly claimed, the same Zorua who had disguised themself as a Voltorb the day before. "I like making people laugh though! I'm good at jokes!"
"He is actually." Sister Zorua nodded enthusiastically. "Tell them one!"
"Did you hear about the Phantump's Feast of Winterveil Party?" Zoruball asked. "They sure got in the spirit of the season!"
Sunny devolved into a fit of giggles and some of the others chuckled. Art blinked in confusion, "What's a Phantump?"
"Phantump is a ghost-type that looks like haunted tree stumps," Ash explained to the Ralts. "And Winterveil normally involved a lot of evergreen trees."
Art shrugged, "I've never been through a whole winter before, I dunno what happens!"
Eevee leaned over and whispered to Ash. "I think that's the confirmation he's only six months old."
"Was there ever any doubt about that?" Pikachu inserted himself into the discussion.
"Not really," Ash admitted, Pokemon ages worked differently, as they had talked about in the past. Art being six months old was pretty young but Ash had been way younger than that when he was caught.
"I just want to check something," Storm spoke up. "All you Zorua are going to be running around pulling pranks on the locals right?"
A Zorua wearing a cardboard crown from a fast-food place stepped forward. "I am Ace and I speak for the Bamboozle! Yes."
"Right." Storm didn't pay much heed to the silliness of the introduction. "We're just visiting so we don't count as locals, which means you shouldn't prank any of us."
"...I must consult with my consul." Ace turned around and whispered to a few of the other Zorua.
"Why is she wearing a crown?" Ash asked Brother Zorua.
"Dunno, she came wearing it. I'm more curious about what she looks like." He answered.
"Doesn't she look like that?" Sunny scratched his head.
"Sometimes." Brother nodded. "Other times they're a shiny Zorua! And then sometimes they look like the spooky ghost Zorua from the old stories!"
"Spooky ghost Zorua?" Ash was interested.
Sister Zorua shook her head. "Oh yeah! I forgot you've never met another Zorua or Zoroark before! There are old spooky stories about Zorua who were treated badly and became spiteful and mean when they died and became ghosts!"
"When Ash dies he's gonna become a meanie ghost?" Sunny looked upset at the concept.
"Easy fix!" Art declared and walked up to his trainer, tilting his head so he could properly look Ash in the eyes. "You're not allowed to die."
"...okay." Ash agreed, as controversial as it was, he'd rather stay alive than be dead.
"Problem solved!" Art looked very proud of himself.
"We have come to a conclusion," Ace announced and looked back to Storm. "You will not be pranked. This is both because you are not locals, and because we are not above nepotism."
"Good to hear." Storm crossed her arms and nodded looking pleased with herself. "We'll sit back, watch, and stay out of your way then."
"You could sit with us." A Zorua walked up next to her.
"You're not gonna participate?" Eevee shot the supposed prankster a look.
'Zorua' flashed and turned into one of the Zoroark chaperones Ash had met yesterday. "Nah, we're just here to keep an eye on things." She grinned at Ash's gaping teammates.
"Seriously, I'm bringing back what Pidgeotto was asking." Pikachu decided. "Are any of you Zorua not who you appear to be? Ignoring the ones who already don't look like Zorua."
Ace flashed and instead of a black and red Zorua with blue-gray eyes, she was now a white and red Zorua with gold eyes and a puff of scarflike fur around her neck.
One of the two Zoroark on the other side of the clearing turned into a Zorua and a Pidgey in a nearby tree turned into the missing third chaperone.
Sister Zorua turned into a Ditto. "Surprise! I was a Ditto the whole time!" She even mimicked the correct Pokemon language.
Her brother bopped her on the head and the illusion burst proving she was indeed a Zorua. "We're not actually. But Mom said we have some Ditto on Grandpa's side."
"Is this what growing up with Ash was like?" Pidgeotto whispered to Pikachu out of the corner of her beak.
"Actually this is pretty tame…"
"Enough of that!" Ace shouted out, interrupting side conversations and getting the attention on her. "We've been goofing off enough! It's time to get serious and go mess with people's heads!"
"So basically enough goofing off, time to go goof off?" Pidgeotto chuckled to herself but ZoruBall heard her comment.
"Hey! Pranking is very serious business!" They claimed.
"We did some when we were younger actually." Pikachu nodded fondly and then froze. "Oh jeez, I just remembered one of the times we did it is the time Ash got the whole trainer idea in the first place."
Pidgeotto's brow rose. "Really? I don't think you told me about that."
"Not in depth I think," Pikachu admitted as the Zorua attempted to organize themselves on their own. "Maybe an offhand comment from me or Ash though. We met a guy called Sydney, he was on vacation from Hoenn and we pranked him and his family while they were having a picnic."
"How does that lead to becoming a trainer?" Pidgeotto looked dubious as the Zoroark decided to step in and help with the organizational problems.
"After we finished up for the day we started heading home but he came and found us. He saw us running off after the prank. He told Ash we had good teamwork and that he would make a good trainer." Pikachu rubbed his face. "And once the idea was planted…"
"He decided to run with it." Pidgeotto nodded in realization. "That sounds like him. Gets an idea in his head and holds onto it forever."
"Never tell him I said this. But I'm glad he stuck to his guns on this." Pikachu admitted. "I can't imagine where we'd be if he had never been so dedicated to this stupid idea."
"If it's a stupid idea, and you went along with it, what does that make you?" The flying-type prodded him.
"Also stupid," Pikachu admitted. "But less stupid than he is."
Delia was not afraid to admit she was a creature of routine.
She woke up at six-thirty every morning, brushed her teeth, showered, had a quick breakfast, and ducked out the door with a coffee in hand by about seven o'clock.
There were differences of course, sometimes depending on whether it was a Holiday or not, or if she had some other appointment she had to be at. Not to mention when her Pokemon were involved.
When she was younger and a bit less refined in her schedule Ash would come with her each morning to the diner, normally disguised in one way or another. But as they both got older she let him look after himself a bit more and would let him wake himself up and decide what to do with his day.
Some days he would wander down to the diner and help her out, other days she wouldn't see him until she closed shop and came home.
When Shelldon returned he followed her to the diner every morning for the first few months after he came home. She knew the big lug well enough to know that he just missed her and wanted to spend time with her, and helping at the diner was the best way for him to do that.
Nowadays he was focused on his weird landscaping side gig he'd figured out, and sometimes training that group of Squirtle Ash and Misty had sent from Cerulean City.
Once in a while, they came to the diner to "help" with the cleaning, and while she appreciated their enthusiasm, she was less than impressed with the amount of casualties her porcelain suffered.
Now that Ash was sending some of his teammates home she sometimes found herself with additional hands on deck.
That Diglett of his was all but locked up at Professor Oak's lab as they tried to keep him from making mischief and causing chaos. But Pidgeotto and Selene had both come home recently too.
Pidgeotto spent most of her time with Shelldon or at the lab but had come by the diner a few times, although she wasn't much help with the workload.
Selene on the other hand seemed to see it as her duty to help out around Delia's Diner. She wasn't very good with the cooking, but she could clean dishes and wait tables, and Delia appreciated the assistance.
All this to say, she had expectations for how her day would go most of the time, so being called to see Professor Oak a bit out of the blue was somewhat surprising.
She'd visited him plenty of times over the years on her days off but those were normally planned in advance, not calling her in the middle of a workday with what could only be called alarm.
When Delia arrived at the lab she wanted to get some answers to the sudden summons and found the old professor pacing his lab looking worried.
"I keep records of every trainer I've ever sponsored," he announced seemingly out of the blue before Delia could say anything. "You, my son, my grandson, every trainer I have ever handed a Pokeball and Pokedex to throughout my life."
"Okay…" She was a little bewildered by the sudden information. "I suppose that makes sense, but what does this have to do with calling me here?"
"Because a few years ago I finally went digital," Oak admitted. "It's easier to just type a name in a search bar and find all their documentation and logs of their escapades than it is to dig through an old filing cabinet."
"Professor, could you please get to the point?" Delia requested.
"Sorry, sorry, it's just a bit of context to explain… someone tried to hack into my records today. An unregistered user managed to force the password and started searching for a specific file." Oak looked angry, it was not an expression she saw him wear very often.
"Did you catch them?" She focused on the problem. "Are they still here? I didn't bring Shelldon but-" the Pokemon Professor shook his head and held a hand up.
"No, they did this remotely, and once I was notified about the login attempt I managed to shut them out. But while they were inside they searched four names, only two of which have records with me." Professor Oak stopped pacing and looked her in the eye.
"Ash Ketchum, Misty Waterflower, Leaf Midori, and Karen Yamikage. Only Ash and Leaf are trainers I sponsored and for obvious reasons, I have a secondary password on Ash's file. Since I have some information about his actual nature in there." Oak explained and it took Delia a moment to process what that meant.
"Someone wants to know more about them." Delia realized. "Their homes, families, what Pokemon they have."
"Yes, specifically those four. I don't know where they might have gotten the full names, but I'm fairly certain I can guess what the interested party might be and we need to warn them." Oak told her. "I wanted you to call Ash since he might take it more seriously coming from you. I just spoke to him this morning, he's in Vermillion City right now."
"Did I really need to come here for you to tell me this?" Delia was pulling out her phone to start dialing.
"Yes, because I need you to take this seriously as well." Oak looked her dead in the eye. "They found Ash's file but they also found yours. Since they couldn't get into Ash's file easily they just downloaded a copy of yours before focusing on it."
That gave Delia pause. "...I have Team Rocket's attention on me." She stated the simple fact.
"And if they decide Ash himself is too much trouble they might go for you." Oak nodded solemnly. "I will do everything in my power to make sure you will be safe here in town, you shouldn't have to fear for your life and wellbeing at home. But I want to heavily encourage you to start training seriously again. It might save your life."
Delia closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Training seriously again? With who? Shelldon? The Squirtle Squad? What was she supposed to go into the ranch behind the lab and yell for Arnold until he decided to pay attention to her for the first time in over ten years?
"I might need some more Pokemon." She admitted after a moment with a weak chuckle.
Oak's serious look got a bit nostalgic, "I happen to have a few Pokeballs available, and maybe a Pokemon or two who might be looking for a trainer."
"Thank you, Professor." She started dialing Ash's number and frowned when it went straight to voicemail. She tried again and same response. Last she tried sending a text.
'Ash we need to talk right now! It's important!'
A few beats as she waited for a response. Was he okay? Had Team Rocket found him already? Was he in danger?
'This is eevee. Never text b4. Ash is busy. Try to find. Ttyl."
She stared at the phone and felt her brow twitch slightly. "What does she mean he's busy?"
"What does "ttyl" mean?" Professor Oak asked after glancing at the screen.
"Whatever he is "busy" doing better be pretty darn important," Delia grumbled and shot off another text saying as much.
'Debatably.'
Vermillion City was not exactly a peaceful city. That was not to say it was overly violent or riddled with criminal activity. It was actually below the average on that front.
But it was a harbor and one of Kanto's major cities so it saw a lot of traffic from both land and sea, thus its streets were almost always bustling, and many locations were open from dusk to dawn to accommodate the many inhabitants.
Not only the humans, but the Pokemon also had their own societies inside the city as well. From local parks that had thriving wild Pokemon populations, to cafes and shops designed to primarily cater to Pokemon (sometimes run by other Pokemon themselves).
There was the Pokemon Fan Club as well, which always had a healthy population of both, Pokemon and humans inside its doors at all times.
And it was this unsuspecting bustling den of civilization that the Bamboozle of Zorua descended upon.
Some citizens would barely notice anything was wrong at all, while others were in for the strangest day of their lives.
At first, it was just some minor pranks. After all, no performer should start the show with their greatest trick, they needed to build up their "audience's" expectations first!
These minor pranks were still a bit of fun though, like messing with salt shakers sitting on tables at open-air cafes or restaurants. It was shockingly easy to sneak into one of these locations when you could make yourself look like a waiter on a whim.
However, Ash did discover not everyone had their illusions as perfected as he had. He spotted a few tails and ears in a few places, as well as some disguises that fell into "uncanny valley" territory. Something just off enough about them that it made them look not quite real.
As some people found their meals a bit saltier than they expected others were finding some rather confusing signs.
Literally.
Not every sign had letters that could be easily rearranged but that was what paint was for!
A sign in the park warning about scavenging Rattata was changed to: "Warning! Death from the ankles down!"
The sign for announcing meetings outside the local community center had its letters rearranged to say: "Disguise Lessons at 6 PM. Make it or Nickit."
Some of the street signs had their names rewritten. Lothar Boulevard became Lame Street. King's Road became Fancy Person Lane. And Park Plaza was turned into I Waz Here.
But the introduction of paint during the sign incident became a whole thing in of itself. Many Zorua began unexpected art lessons on walls all over Vermillion. Not everyone was good at it. Ash himself was able to make shapes but didn't have a lot of luck turning those shapes into anything interesting.
It also left some Zorua out since only the ones who had mastered disguises with opposable thumbs were able to properly use spray paint and paint brushes that they had "borrowed" from a hardware store that used to be called House Depot and was now called Mouse Depot.
At least that's what the sign over the door said.
A movie theater on the other side of town quickly found itself sold out on tickets to every movie, and a very confused clerk at the ticket stand. He had first sold tickets to a pair of identical twins. Then a set of identical triplets. Then quadruplets…
By the time he had given away his last ticket, he had been confronted with a group of forty-eight identical children.
And one Voltorb.
Needless to say, as soon as they went into their theaters he asked to go on break and then reconsidered his life choices.
This poor ticket salesman was not the only person reconsidering their life. A certain boy had made his daily pilgrimage to a truck near the waterfront of his city.
His name was Goh, and he had done this nearly every day for the last year. Ever since he had heard about a pink, catlike Pokemon being spotted ducking under this truck from a passing trainer on his way to school.
These days the trip was a bit harder since he was helping at Cerise Labs, but he still tried to check whenever he could.
Maybe it was pointless, but the truck hadn't moved in the whole year! That had to mean something right?
But today when he checked he saw a Meowth under there! He had been so surprised he immediately stood up and rubbed his eyes.
During that brief moment, he managed to convince himself that maybe he had misseen and it wasn't a Meowth at all… so he checked again.
There was still a Meowth… but now it looked different. An Alolan Meowth if he remembers right! It was blue-gray instead of tan.
So he had seen a Meowth! Except he thought it had been a Kantonian Meowth, but he had managed to convince himself he might have seen a Mew, so maybe his head was just messing with him.
Just for kicks he checked one more time and saw a Meowth, but with a lot more fur on it.
At this point, Goh decided he needed to lie down for a few minutes and left.
Ash poked his head out of the truck bed as the human boy walked away and hummed to himself. "I think I know that kid."
"Really?" Rattata crawled out from under the truck.
"Yeah we went to camp together, he kept talking about finding Mew." He briefly debated running after him.
"Darn, I wish I had known! I should have done Mew!" Rattata paused. "Except I don't know what Mew looks like."
"I do." Ash admitted, "But it might be a bit mean-spirited, he was really determined to find Mew, it feels mean to trick him."
"...how do you know what Mew looks like?"
All of these opening acts were minor schemes though. Not too impressive and mostly just oddities or annoyances for the average person. It was time to start getting serious.
Zorua started splitting off into groups, each with their own ideas for big funny pranks to mess with people and make a bunch of noise before they vanished into the night, ignoring the fact it was just past noon now.
"Hold on to this." Ash stopped by his team before he joined the group that had all but adopted him the previous day. "We're going to be getting wet I think, I'd rather this not get wrecked."
"Your Pokegear?" Pikachu held it up to his eyes and scrutinized it. "What happens if someone tries to call you or something?"
"Just don't answer it." Ash shrugged. "Or send them a text message."
"I don't know how to spell." Pikachu reminded him.
"Good thing I do." Eevee nabbed the Pokegear from him.
"You guys entertained here?" He checked with the others, he felt bad about leaving them out even if a few of the other Zorua had said it was a Zorua-only event or something like that. If any of them wanted to come he would invite them in an instant to come help.
"Wait." The "others" only consisted of Storm. "Where are Pidgeotto, Sunny, and Art?"
"Give them a second," Storm told him.
Sunny and Arts' heads popped out of one of the Zoroark manes. "You were right! This is comfy!"
"We're good!" Sunny stuck his arm out and gave a thumbs up. "Zoroark is super nice! And interesting!"
"There are secrets buried here!" Art agreed and dove back into the mane.
Ash glanced at Zoroark and she nodded that it was fine. "Is Pidgeotto in there too?"
"Nah, she went flying around, might be going back to the Pokemon Fan Club," Pikachu remembered. "She said something about a rematch."
"I hope she doesn't exhaust herself again…" Eevee fretted for a moment.
As Ash returned to the frontlines he heard one of the Zoroark, the one playing host to Sunny and Art, ask "What's this about a Pokemon Fan Club?"
With the knowledge his team was fine and the possibility of breaking his very expensive communication device was no longer a problem, Ash was free to help with his group's prank scheme.
"So who here has been to a waterpark before?" Brother Zorua asked as he helped roll a large metal barrel down the alley between warehouses.
"I know what they are." Dust and a few other Zorua had joined them for this prank as soon as they got the general gist of it. "That's what your thinking with the flood the street idea?"
"Exactly!" Sister Zorua agreed with her sibling. "We create a giant waterslide for everyone to slide down and into the ocean!"
"The hard part is getting all the water for it." Rattata mused. "Fire hydrants could work right?"
"I guess." Ash was reluctant to dispute the idea and thus label himself the buzzkill. But fire hydrants were needed to fight fires. He had had no idea if any of the other Zorua running around might be putting together a plan involving fire…
One of the others brought it up thankfully. "Humans need those in case of fires happening! We don't want to seriously hurt people with this! We'll need to get water another way." Zoruball was on top of a barrel and using their shape to roll it along.
"Hm." Brother shot a look at Ash. "Hey Ash, do any of your team have moves that can make a lot of water?"
"Pikachu knows Rain Dance and Storm knows Water Pulse." Ash got a little giddy at the thought of getting his team involved. "I bet they'd love to ride this giant waterslide too! Well, not Sunny."
"Why is Sunny boring?" Sister whined.
Ash's head whipped to her. "Don't call Sunny boring!"
Rattata shot her a glare. "He's a fire-type. With a flame on his tail that needs to stay lit. He would have a very bad time riding a giant water slide."
"...that kind of sucks. Is there a way to stop his tail from going out while riding the slide?" She wondered.
"I'd rather not risk it," Ash muttered remembering the situation Sunny had been in when they met. They'd got him in before the rain started, but if they had waited any longer it could have been really bad.
He cocked his head as he rolled his barrel into place and started standing it upright. "That reminds me actually, how come Zoroark's mane was fine when Sunny was in there?"
"Pretty sure those are fireproof." Dust mentioned. "Or at least hers is! I've seen her turn to take a Flamethrower attack with it once!"
"Awesome." Ash decided simply.
"Can't wait until I'm able to evolve." Brother agreed. "Alright, we have one side street blocked! Just the rest to go!"
"This is going to take all day isn't it?" Zoruball realized as the group went hunting for their next set of barrels.
"Maybe we don't need to block off every street." Dust suggested. "Just a bunch of the ones near the start so the flow can get going in the right direction?"
"That could work. We might not reach the ocean if we do that but it'll still be plenty of fun to ride the water slide." Rattata nodded, head held high. "What's the world record for the biggest water slide? Cause I bet we can beat that!"
"Eevee might know." Ash guessed as they searched. "She knows a lot of random facts."
Then he reconsidered. "Maybe not, she knows a lot of facts but they're mostly science facts. So she might not know about waterslides."
"Clearly the education system needs to be overhauled if waterslides are not considered an important branch of science." One of the other Zorua announced.
There was a smattering of agreements as they continued their work. Blocking off street after street with barrels. Fortunately, there did not seem to be many people driving around today, this might have something to do with the sudden onset of tire thefts that had started a few hours earlier.
Ash secretly hoped whatever group was taking the tires was making some sort of jungle gym tower with them. That would be fun to climb on.
After six streets had been blocked off barrels started becoming a bit harder to come by. They had to start going into the warehouses themselves. Crates would have worked too but they were more difficult for them to move.
Not impossible, mind, illusions could do wonders, but certainly a lot harder than they wanted to work for this.
Infiltrating the warehouses required lots of stealth and secrecy. Or the Zorua wanted to pretend that was the case, truth be told there were not a lot of people in most of the warehouses today. Which left a few of the dark-types disappointed, they wanted it to be more interesting.
That said, they would get their chance very quickly.
After finishing up their first warehouse they moved to the next one to start clearing barrels from there. But the door was locked, Ash was about to shrug and move on to the next one but Dust took offense at the locked door.
"This is ridiculous!" He stomped his foot and began jumping up crates nearby to get a look through one of the windows. "How dare they lock us out! Don't they know we're doing very important Bamboozle work here?"
"I don't think they'd know that," Ash admitted but jumped up anyway to peek inside. "But I wonder why it's locked?"
"Maybe because they have stuff in there that they don't want to get stolen?" Rattata suggested rolling her eyes.
Ash barely heard her because now that he was able to see inside it had his full attention.
Humans in black uniforms, most of them wearing caps, were milling about, moving boxes, and seemed to be preparing for something. A group was gathered around a table where a man wearing a white version of a uniform was pointing at some papers.
A man that Ash recognized.
"Team Rocket…" He hissed out, anger barbing his tone.
"Who?" Brother and Sister cocked their heads and stared at him but Rattata did a sharp intake of breath.
"Human criminals." She announced. "We need to go right now."
"No wait!" Ash stopped her. "I know that one! There in the white outfit! His name is Archer he's one of the ones in charge! My friends and I fought him in Celadon City!"
"Why were you fighting them?" Zoruball asked.
"They're bad guys," Ash growled. "Really bad guys. We need to find out what they're up to!" He quickly started looking for a way into the warehouse.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Someone asked from below but Ash ignored them. No way was he about to let Team Rocket continue their dirty work! He wouldn't attack them yet, he'd learned his lesson, but he needed to find out what they were up to so he could warn people about them!
"Be careful!" Rattata scurried up the wall and carefully used her teeth to get one of the windows open a crack. "This is stupid but if you're committed don't get their attention!"
Ash crawled in and onto the catwalk with Dust and Rattata coming in behind him. Rattata pressed herself to the platform, Ash used a quick illusion to look like a Joltik and Dust shimmered and seemed to turn invisible!
He took a closer look though and realized the other Zorua was still there, it just looked like he was made of glass. That was a clever trick! Ash decided to try it another time, Joltik had proven useful for sneaking around in the past.
They strained their ears to listen in to the conversation taking place around the table.
"...due respect sir. Why are we wasting time on these worthless trainers instead of focusing on our primary objective?" One of the grunts seemed to be talking to Archer.
The Team Rocket Executive shot her a withering glare. "This is our primary objective. These twerps infiltrated one of our bases and made a mockery of the Team. We are stationed here specifically because most trainers will pass through multiple times while traveling. Everything else we've been doing is busy work to make up for losses."
"Why weren't we told about this." One of the others grumbled and Archer's ire turned to him.
"Need to know basis, grunt." He snapped at them. "The lookouts around the city knew what to look for. Now if you're done wasting time…" He turned to the operative opposite him. "Are they still there?"
"Yes sir." The blonde woman saluted, she was short but sounded mature, maybe around Misty's height. "I infiltrated the Center and listened in on their conversations. It seems they're taking the day off for…" She frowned. "Frankly confusing reasons. I'm not sure I understood the specifics, but they are staying there for the day."
"What about the fourth target? Any sign of her?" Archer tapped his finger on the wooden surface.
"No sir, they did not mention her at all. Perhaps they had a falling out on the road?" The woman shrugged.
"Hmm, very well. Thank you, Agent Domino. As always you remain the only reliable subordinate I have." Archer straightened and brushed off his shirt, looking around at his gathered minions. "Well? What are you waiting for? A birthday card? GET MOVING!" He shrieked and pointed at the door.
As the grunts began moving the watching Zorua quickly fled the scene. Ash barely had his feet back on the ground before he took off running back into the city with one thought in his mind.
He needed to warn his friends.
"What's going on?" Brother Zorua asked as they pounded down the sidewalks.
"Friends in trouble!" Ash announced. "Need to warn them! Both my team and my humans!"
"You have your own humans?" A Zorua a bit slow on the uptake commented. "I wish I had my own humans."
"Worry about that later!" Rattata snapped. "Where are we going? They sounded like they were heading for the Pokemon Center, that's where your human friends are right?"
"Yeah!" Ash was really kicking himself for handing off his Pokegear to Pikachu and Eevee when he did. He should have waited until after the waterslide was actually working. "We need to warn my team too though! I need their help!"
"I'm on it!" Zoruball flashed into an Electrode so they had a better surface area to work with. "They're with the chaperones, right? I'll go find them!"
"Thank you!" Ash shouted after them as they rolled away, confusing some of the humans on the sidewalk now that they were getting into busier parts of the city.
"What about the waterslide?" One of the Zorua sounded upset and Ash had to stop himself from growling in frustration.
"My friends are more important! If you want to go keep working on it go ahead!" He wasn't too surprised but it still stung when a chunk of the Bamboozle with him broke off to head back to work.
But that didn't leave him alone.
"No, we're with you." Sister Zorua matched his pace with her brother opposite him. "We'd do anything to keep our friends back home safe!"
"No question!" Brother agreed.
"Protecting people and beating up bad guys?" Dust nodded. "Of course I'll help!"
"Not gonna ditch me that easily." Rattata agreed. "Although we are moving a bit slow, time to get some more leg length involved?"
"This alley is leading the right way." Brother nodded to their side. "Duck in and swap!"
The Zorua who had returned to the waterslide project were eager to get back to work but some of them did feel a little bit guilty.
"It feels wrong to just leave them like that…" One admitted.
"They'll be fine." Another claimed. "Now help me with this barrel! It's a bit one!"
A third looked thoughtful. "It still feels like we should do something to help. I want to build the waterslide but it feels wrong letting jerks attack people."
"What do you suggest then?" The second Zorua asked.
"Well, that warehouse we saw them working in is on the pier right?" They reasoned. "It's not too far from the path of the slide, maybe we could angle things a bit so it washes right through all their stuff?"
"Oh! That's a good idea!" The first one agreed with them. "We get the slide and we show the bad guys that you shouldn't mess with the Bamboozle!"
The second Zorua thought about it and some of the others paused to hear the verdict. "Alright, sure, let's go for it. Shouldn't be too hard."
With a bit more cheer and mischief they got back to work building the great Vermillion Water Slide.
Elsewhere, near the Pokemon Fan Club, an Electrode barreled down the streets, knocking pedestrians out of their way.
"Sorry! Watch out! Out of the way! Emergency! Pokemon coming through!" They shouted while rolling, trying to at least give some warning to the people caught in their path.
Midnight the Zoroark had elected to wait outside the Fan Club, and keep an eye out in case any columns of smoke rose over the horizon, that was always a bad sign for the state of the Bamboozle.
But he saw an Electrode, screaming in Zorua-speech, rushing down the road and put two and two together. He leaped forward, stopped the ball, and caught the Zorua that poofed into existence when their illusion broke.
"So, what have we learned?" He jokingly asked the sphere-obsessed little one.
"Bad guys!" Zorua shook themself out of their stupor and started spewing the story. "We were getting barrels so we could block off roads and make a giant waterslide! And we had to go into some of the warehouses and one of them had these guys inside and Ash said they were Team Rocket and he said he had to warn his friends about it so they could stop them!"
The Zoroark blinked as he processed that information. Then let out a warning cry for the other chaperones to get over here this instant.
"What's going on?"They were on him in a few moments and Zorua repeated their story. Ash's team, at least the ones that were not breaking the bank at Voltorb Flip or exhausting themselves racing looked more than a little alarmed.
"Sunny, Art, go get Eevee, I'll find Pidgeotto." Pikachu quickly took charge. "Storm see what details you can get!"
"Where are the others who were with you?" The female chaperone asked. "What are they doing?"
"Ash took them to go warn his human friends at the Pokemon Center! I offered to go and find you guys and let you know what was happening!"
"How many were there?" Storm quizzed him. "Did they say what they were planning?"
"I wasn't looking inside I don't know!"
Eevee looked furious with herself when she got the details. "I should have dropped everything so we could go find him as soon as Delia texted me!"
"Why was she- oh she was texting Ash." Pikachu smacked his forehead. "Right, what did she say?"
"Just that it was important and that Ash needed to call her as soon as he stopped being busy. She also said to keep an eye out for anyone suspicious."
"How would she have known about that?" The last chaperone narrowed his eyes.
"I don't know I didn't ask! But I trust her and Ash trusts her more than that! We need to stop them! And tell the police! And the gym leader!"
"...maybe not the gym leader." Sunny flinched. "He's kind of a huge jerk."
"Actually." Pikachu had a devious idea worthy of his best friend's typing. "What's the best way to fight a big bully?"
"Kindness?" Storm guessed but didn't sound hopeful.
"You find an even bigger bully." Pikachu's grin was positively devious.
Misty had not been entirely sure what to expect from the Bamboozle. Sirens going off for the whole day? Fires in the streets? Riots? Parades? A heavy metal band?
But she should have known that trying to predict them was an exercise in folly.
So while she was surprised when Ash and four other kids kicked in her window and tumbled into her room at the Pokemon Center, she was not left completely lost.
"Hi Ash," She sipped some of her water, glad she hadn't knocked it over onto her campaign notes at the sudden noise. "Having fun?"
The panicked look he shot her gave her some pause. "Are you okay?! We beat them here, right? Where's Karen and Brock? And shoot! I just realized we need to warn Leaf! Is your Pokegear working?!"
"What happened?" She jumped from 'Dealing with Ash Mode' to 'Dealing with a Crisis Mode' in an instant. "Where's your Pokemon?"
"They went with the chaperones! I gave them my Pokegear so it wouldn't get- it doesn't matter Zoruball went to warn them! But they're not in immediate trouble you guys are!" He started rambling.
"Why are we in danger? Calm down a second!" Misty snapped at him and grabbed his shoulders to steady him. The other kids who had come in the window and landed on her bed pulled themselves up.
"Team Rocket!" He finally got to the point. "Not the weirdos after me and Pikachu! It was Archer and a bunch of grunts! We saw them in a warehouse at the waterfront! They're looking for us! They know you guys are here at the Center and he sent a bunch of goons to come looking!"
Misty felt her blood run cold. She then uttered a few short words that left Ash blushing and wide-eyed, one of the kids covering the ears of another, one confused, and the last smirking. "Don't tell your trainer I said that." She realized after the fact. "You're sure it was the same guy from Celadon? And he's after us."
"Positive!" Ash nodded. "It was him and he didn't say our names but he said he was after the "twerps" who attacked their base in Celadon! That's us!"
"Shoot. Shoot. Shoot." Misty muttered and started dialing on her Pokegear. "Karen! Where are you? Meet us in the lobby right now! Get Brock! Bring your teams! Let them out! Warn other trainers I don't care! Team Rocket!" She flipped it shut. "Glad I fixed that yesterday! Come on! We'll meet them down there!" She quickly returned Starmie and Goldeen and led the others racing down the hall.
About halfway down the hall to the stairs, she paused and glanced at the kids Ash had crawled through the window with.
The first was a boy with green eyes and dusty brown hair. Next to him was a girl with a pinched expression and a nose that wouldn't stop twitching. Beside them were two kids that looked like they could be brother and sister with snarled deep red hair and unkempt clothes.
Not slowing her pace she glanced at Ash. "Am I currently running down the hall with five Zorua?" She just wanted to confirm.
"Technically?" Ash blinked. "Uh, Rattata, do you count yourself as a Zorua or a Rattata?"
"I'm a Zorua, but my family are Rattata and Raticate. I just like to use the name with the Bamboozle." The girl said, using human language as well as Ash did.
"I… did not… know… you-" The boy with brown hair stumbled over words before giving up and just saying, "Zor! Zorua?"
"Always be prepared to take any identity!" She told him. "You should practice more."
"Zor…" He nodded.
"It's tough but it's worth it!" Ash nodded as they started down the stairs, leaping flights at a time. "That goes for you two as well! Trust me!" He glanced at the siblings and they nodded.
Karen and Brock were waiting in the lobby, as well as a few other confused trainers and Nurse Joy who looked a mix of lost and annoyed.
"Would someone please explain what is going on!"
"I was at the waterfront with some friends!" Ash quickly said leaving out a few details. "There were a bunch of Team Rocket guys there and they were talking about heading to the Pokemon Center! I came running back as fast as I could!"
"It's true!" Rattata jumped in. "I was there with him!"
"As-" Misty cut herself off. "Right, not a leader anymore. Look I'll vouch for them anyway!"
"How many?" Karen skipped over the Nurse Joy discussion and looked at Ash, her eyes darting to the kids with him and probably putting two and two together on who, or rather what they were.
Misty tried her best to plead with her eyes, 'Please don't do something stupid.'
"I didn't count but Archer was running things! I'm gonna call home real quick and see if I can get Selene!" Ash darted over to the video calls as trainers started discussing what they should do.
"Call the police!" Someone called and another person started dialing.
"Line is busy!" they said.
"Here too!" A few other people tried and all got the same result.
"Oops." Dust managed to say quietly.
Ash jogged back over with a Moon Ball and Selene arrived with a graceful bow. "Cle~fairy~" She announced.
"I feel so stupid." Ash was kicking himself for his mistakes.
"You couldn't have predicted this happening." Misty comforted him. "Beat yourself up for your mistakes after we make it through. Got it?"
"I know, I know." He grumbled and adjusted his hat, glancing nervously at the door. "Should we lock that or-"
He didn't get a chance to finish when it burst open and a blonde girl in a hat and pink clothes rushed in and slammed it behind her. "Help! These thugs were chasing me down the road!"
Misty barely had a chance to open her mouth to ask if she alrght before the girl called 'Rattata' cried in alarm. "That's her! She was there with the others! She's one of them!"
"Are you sure?" Brock looked a bit doubtful.
"What are you talking about?" The girl quickly asked but Misty noticed her eyes start darting around, not in a nervous way. It looked more like she was counting the people in the room and escape routes.
"Positive!" Ash quickly backed up the other. "She said she snuck into the Pokemon Center earlier!"
"I hate it when a good disguise goes to waste." Her tone completely changed and she removed her pink outfit in one swipe revealing the black Team Rocket uniform beneath. She held her wrist up to her mouth. "Covers blown, get in here."
"Look out!" Karen yelled as Absol hollered her own warning, the windows burst, the door smashed open again, and a few dozen Team Rocket goons began their assault.
It was hard to call the next several minutes a battle as absolute chaos reigned in the Pokemon Center lobby. Team Rocket Grunts and Pokemon Trainers alike were sending out their teams and even getting involved themselves, although the trainers seemed a bit more willing to fight back than the grunts.
Most likely because the grunts were used to having Pokemon do their dirty work for them. Regardless, Misty was immensely glad she'd brought her sword with her as she used it to slice through a Vine Whip that was attempting to lash Squirtle.
The rest of her team emerged from their balls, even Psyduck and she quickly found herself doing her best to defend the Duck Pokemon as he tried to get his bearings. Even Goldeen was able to help now that she could use Aqua Ring to battle on solid land.
Misty was also immensely glad she did the smart thing and locked the prison shield in her room under her bed and far away from the fighting. She could only imagine how bad it would be if that monster emerged right in the middle of the city.
As Staryu threw back a trio of Spearow with Psychic she took a moment to check her surroundings. Some of the "kids" Ash had come in with had vanished, replaced by Zorua who were ducking in and out of the fighting, making mischief for the attacking grunts.
Karen had her full team out and they were utterly decimating any of Team Rocket's Pokemon that got too close for comfort.
Brock only had Geodude and Zubat to work with indoors since Onix would cause a bigger problem (literally) but they were doing their part.
Ash had disappeared as well. At least Ash the human had vanished and a hat was sitting out of the way on the Pokemon Center's countertop. But Misty grinned as she saw a familiar Zorua and Clefairy working together in unison to fend off a Golbat and Arbok.
That was when a tulip sliced a new gash on her cheek and she gasped in pain, clutching at it as something warm dripped down her face.
"Darn, I normally have better aim than that." The girl, or rather the woman, who had come in first glared at her with hateful eyes. "Hold still, this next one's going between your eyes."
"Protect!" Misty called and Staryu put up a barrier that stopped the next projectile from getting close.
"Relying on your Pokemon?" The woman shrugged. "That's fine. So can I." Misty felt her feet ripped out from under her by vines and looked behind her at a Roserade.
"Call yourself a trainer?" Misty sliced the vines and stood up to face her. Her eyebrows rose as she drew another tulip out and extended it into a staff of some sort.
"I call myself Agent Domino. 009. The Black Tulip." Domino introduced herself. "Take your pick twerp." She rushed forward and Misty was hard-pressed to defend herself from the sharp-ended flower staff.
As they traded blows her Pokemon saw what was happening and got involved. Squirtle and Starmie started attacking Roserade. Goldeen was fighting off a small flock of Zubat that was trying to get involved.
Domino made a move that twisted Misty's sword out of her grip, then proceeded to swipe her legs out from under her. "Who taught you to use that thing?" She mocked and held the pointed end toward Misty's heart.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Staryu blasted Domino with a Hydro Pump and sent the woman screaming backward as a torrent of water hit her dead on.
Roserade shrieked something and vines wrapped around Staryu as she ignored the assault of Misty's other Pokemon.
Misty could not describe the sheer bafflement she felt when Domino got back up and stumbled forward holding another Tulip straight at Staryu. That turned into horror when lighting flashed from the flower and started shocking her starter.
That was just ridiculous.
The former gym leader grabbed around for her sword and with a swift rising motion she remembered from her lesson swung it at Domino. "STOP HURTING MY BEST FRIEND!" She shrieked.
Her shriek was utterly dwarfed by the scream of agony Domino let out as Misty's sword slashed across her face. It stopped her from attacking Staryu though and she stumbled backward, clutching the right side of her face over her eye.
"You…" The sheer venom in the woman's voice sent shivers down Misty's spine. This did not help the feeling that welled up inside as she saw the red on her blade and realized what she had nearly just done.
She didn't regret it, that woman was trying to kill Staryu. But it still disturbed her a little.
"FAIRY!" The voice of a familiar Pokemon called as something barreled across the room and knocked Domino's feet out from under her, sending her facefirst to the ground. Psyduck, seeing an opportunity to help, jumped onto Domino's back knocking the air from her lungs.
"Misty, are you okay?" She glanced down into Ash's worried eyes and managed a nod.
"I'll live." Her cheek hurt a lot. "Is Staryu okay?!" She immediately switched gears and checked on her starter.
Starmie and Squirtle had put down Roserade and Staryu was free of the vines now. His gem was cracked and flashing though. "My lady, I believe I am in need of medical… ow."
"I was worried, you big nerd." She hugged the water-type tightly. "Is everyone else okay?" She looked at the rest of her Pokemon.
Ash answered as well. "We got them running or tied up!" He sounded pleased. "What was that with the flowers and the lightning?!"
"No idea." Misty glared at the weakly moving Domino.
"Team Rocket is crazy." Ash acknowledged. "Nice shot Selene!" He told his teammate as she returned.
"Clefairy!" She nodded.
Misty was about to ask about their other friends when her Pokegear started ringing, she checked the caller ID and quirked an eyebrow when she saw Ash's name. "Hello?" She answered.
"Yo." A familiar gruff voice answered. "Is this the one ex-Cerulean Gym Leader who knew what she was doing?"
"I know that voice…" Misty muttered. "Surge? What are you doing with Ash's Pokegear?"
"Using it to call you obviously." The man remained unabashed. "And tell your boyfriend to keep a better eye on his things. It and the rest of his baby Pokemon are here at the docks with me."
"He's not my-" She made a noise of sheer frustration. "Why do people keep saying that?!" She asked both Ash and Surge.
Ash shrugged helplessly but Surge laughed mockingly. "Whatever short stuff. Just tell him to get down here and pick them up. I got enough other stuff to worry about today."
"Why are you even at the docks?" Misty asked skeptically.
"I'm going fishing. Hang on, here comes a live one."
Archer should have known things would go wrong. They had a habit of doing that recently. Ever since Celadon nothing had gone his way.
So when he had received a panicked call from one of his subordinates claiming they were fleeing from their mission objective. He was furious but not surprised.
What did surprise him was the sudden sound of roaring water and the doors of his hideout buckling in as thousands upon thousands of gallons of water poured in and swept away his entire operation, and most of his warehouse, into the ocean.
This left him floundering in the sea, desperately reaching for the sky above his head. He broke the surface and started stroking his way back toward the dock. His brain going through a million different ways on how to violently ruin his failures of subordinates, whoever had washed away his warehouse, and of course, the twerps who started this whole mess.
He started climbing the ladder out, not bothering to look for the others who stayed behind with him. If they could swim then that made them slightly more useful than those who couldn't.
Not that it meant much all things considered.
But just as Archer reached the top a large hand wrapped itself around his arm and pulled him up, holding him in midair.
"Well, looky here." A rough voice spoke with ridicule. "This is a funny-looking fish. Go for a swim in a weird place eh fellow?"
"Put me down at once!" He ordered as he took in the face staring at him, it looked familiar, he just had to put his finger on it…
"Ya know, I think I've seen your face before. On some of them wanted posters for good-for-nothing thieves. What was your name again? Archer right?" Lieutenant Surge, the Vermillion City Gym Leader, grinned at him. It was not a pleasant smile. "Let's go and have a nice long friendly chat."
Well, this was an interesting trip wasn't it?
Let me tell you, trying to figure out how to write pranks in a way that would still be entertaining was way trickier than it should have been. I'm still not entirely thrilled with what I came up with but it works I think.
Next chapter will be wrapping this up and getting the gang moving along to Fuchsia City!
Now I want to talk about something before we wrap up.
This story is complicated for me. I am very attached to it and I like writing it and coming up with ideas for it. But as you are all well aware, the pacing is terrible. We're well over 300k words now and still in the Kanto region.
And recently worrying about that has left me struggling to write here. I want to write this story. I enjoy it, but I feel like I'm taking too long.
So I've been writing other things and I had something hit me.
Who cares?!
So what if it's long? So what if I spend thousands of words on characters talking? Or world build random details that seem either inane or pointless? This is my story! Ash is a Zorua and this is how I'm telling it! It's not for everyone but there's still plenty of people who do like it just the way it is! So why worry about speeding up or going too slow?
That said I'm not going to purposefully slow things down any further. We only got two gym badges left for Kanto! Let's see those finished!
I have promised myself multiple times though that I want the orange islands to only be a maximum of eight chapters. One set up, one for each gym, one or two for the movie, and then one for the Drake battle.
We'll see how well that goes though.
Anyway, let's get to the reviews!
Strike Wyvern: How much Bamboozle can a Bamboozle Bamboozle if a Bamboozle can Bamboozle Bamboozles? The answer, tonight at 11.
Selet: It's a bad day to be Team Rocket.
LEGOBRICK13: It was not Muk. I kind of skipped Muk. Maybe I'll have someone else deal with that in the background. Not quite at Cerise Lab, but hey we got the Bamboozle shenanigans! And Ash immediately dropping things to go save the day as he should! Also Misty sword fighting Agent Domino! So that was all exciting!
PenguinBandit523: Honestly I would love for a Bamboozle of Zorua to just become official fandom doctrine.
The one who reads and writes: Giants in Pokemon are weird. They've been around since gen1, we only get a canon thing with them in gen8, and then we got these titan Pokemon in gen10… confusing is what they are. I spent way too much time planting hints about Pidgeotto's father being Delia's Pidgeot. It was not needed but I want to be able to point to it and say, see! I plan things! And yes lots of other Zorua, no trainers though! At least not in Kanto… As for Team Rocket, welp, that was a thing that happened! Misty gets a cool new scar out of it at least and gets a big dang hero moment or two.
Lolistarkiller: I've touched on Ash evolving a few times and you bring up a few good points in favor of him doing it. I suppose in the next several chapters I should have him talk about it seriously with his friends.
Oblvionknight7: What makes Ash unique is he didn't know about any of the others. He came up with it all by himself. He wasn't told Zorua could be trainers, he was told he could be a trainer and decided to go for it.
Phosphophillite49: I'm not entirely sure what plan you're referring to here.
Guest: Assuming you are all the same guest, welcome aboard and glad you like Ash having a bit of an edge to him.
Anyway! All for now! So long!
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~FriTik
R&R