Chapter 5: The Weather Institute
Okay so I got the story I was focusing on for the past month done and can now go back to my usual schedule of rotating stories every week. This one should update every two Saturdays or Sundays if I require a little more time to get a chapter done. Enjoy, and please review!
Next update should be the 18th or 19th of this month, unless I get too wrapped up in the vacation I'm going on that weekend. I'll write in my sparetime when I'm in my room.
Ash and May made their way north for four days. It was wet and poured rain constantly in this part of Hoenn.
"This part of the region is crazy!" May shouted. "We need to find some shelter or I'm afraid I'm gonna catch a- achoo!"
May sneezed. Ash looked at his girlfriend in concern as they continued forward with all their current electric Pokemon out. May had Minun on her shoulder while Ash had both Pikachu and Plusle. Ash knew May was right and they needed to find shelter. If only they an umbrella. But there was nowhere to take shelter nearby. Under trees wouldn't be enough.
Finally, they saw a building in the distance near a bridge! It was a large building that looked like a facility of some kind. Ash sighed in relief.
"May, look there's a building there!" Ash pointed.
"Ah good!" May said with a smile before her eyes widened. "Wait, is that-
Ash looked again and saw something that caused his eyes to widen in surprise as well. They hid behind a nearby tree at the sight of men with blue hats and striped shirts.
"Team Aqua!" Ash exclaimed. "What are they doing here?"
May shivered as she recalled their last encounter with Team Aqua and Shelley had taken her hostage in order to force Ash to cooperate.
"What do we do?" May asked.
Ash hesitated as he looked at her. The memory of their last encounter also running through his mind as well.
Sensing their trainer's anxiety, Plusle turned to Pikachu and the three Pokemon began chatting.
"What's going on? What's Team Aqua?"
"Bad people," Pikachu said. "Me and Ash had a few run ins with them. May got taken hostage the last time. It was just before we caught you guys."
"Oh!" Minun tightened her grip on May's shoulder at the news.
May looked at her partner. "Oh, it's okay Minun."
Ash looked at the building. "They must be up to something there. It can't be good."
"Then we have to stop them, right?" May asked.
"Yeah, but… maybe you should hide somewhere where its safe," Ash suggested.
May hesitated a second before shaking her head. "No, I'm not a helpless princess anymore. Not completely anyway. I have Minun, Eevee, and Torchic now. I'm going with you, if there are people in there they could be in danger. It's a princess's duty to look after her subjects. I may not be a real princess in this time, but I still have to help!"
Ash smiled and grabbed her hand. "Together then your highness!"
"Together!" she affirmed.
"Okay, Team Aqua tends to like water types. We got three electric types already out, and I have Grovyle too!" Ash said.
"Hey!" a shout sounded from ahead as the two Team Aqua grunts suddenly noticed them. "What are you two doing here!"
"It's that brat who always gets in our way! And he's got that girl from before with him too!" the other one said. "Let's get rid of them! Shelly will be happy and probably give us a raise!'
So, Shelly was here. May's fear returned a bit, but she frowned at the mention of the woman who'd threatened to shoot a Hyper Beam into her face. It was time for some payback!
"Minun, use Thunderwave!" May ordered.
"Mi!" Minun nodded and leapt. "Alright!"
A weak bolt of electricity flew at the two members coming toward the trainers. It was enough to get the job done though. The bolt hit the two criminals and they groaned before falling over, hardly able to move thanks to the paralysis.
Ash stepped forward and turned one of the members over so he was looking up at him. He seized the member by the shirt and glared into his eyes.
"Alright what's going on here?" he asked. "What are you after?"
The member just glared at him.
"Pikachu?" Ash asked looking at his partner.
Pikachu who had leapt down from Ash's shoulder to be battle ready, nodded and sparked his cheeks to prepare a Thunderbolt.
"Pika!"
Getting the message, the grunt let off a look of fear. "We're here to steal a Pokemon that can change the weather, and some data on ancient Pokemon!"
Ash grit his teeth at the thought of a Pokemon being stolen for selfish purposes. "You'll never get away with it!"
He, May and all their current Pokemon ran toward the facility, catching a glimpse at a sign that read Weather Instition as they did so. They opened the front doors. Once they were inside, they saw more members of Team Aqua with Pokemon already out. A mixture Crawdaunt, Golbat, Mightyena, and Walrein. Their eyes were drawn to the opening door.
"Not you again!" another grunt said. "Why do you keep getting in our way!"
Ash didn't answer that. "Pikachu Thunder!"
"On it!" Pikachu leapt into the air. "Take this!"
A powerful thunder was sent at the enemy Pokemon, taking down all of the Water and Flying Types in a single blast and even some of the Mightyena. Those that didn't go down wouldn't last long either.
May was quick to leapt into action. "Minun use Helping Hand!"
"Alright!" Minun raised her paws which started glowing.
The helping hand caused Pikachu and Plusle to glow as their power increased.
"Now Quick Attack!" May added.
"Pikachu, Plusle, you use Quick Attack too!" Ash ordered.
All three electric types moved at high speed, ramming into the three Mightyena still standing. That brought them down since they were already weakened by Pikachu's Thunder. The Aqua grunts gritted their teeth in fear as they saw the two trainers overwhelm them in a matter of seconds.
"I got to warn Shelly!" one of the grunts said as he ran toward a nearby staircase, his fellows following.
Ash meanwhile turned to the scientists. "Everyone alright?"
A brunette woman with a ponytail and a Ditto, a purple goo like Pokemon, on her shoulder came forward. "Yes, we're all fine. Thank you. I'm Millie. They came out of nowhere and threatened to use their Pokemon against us unless we cooperated. We only had two Pokemon, and neither had an advantage against all of theirs."
"Well, we can help with that," May said.
Millie nodded. "I think you can."
She turned to the Ditto on her shoulder. "Ditto, transform into Pikachu!"
"Huh?" May exclaimed in surprise.
"Ditto!" it cried in agreement.
The little purple Pokemon then transformed into an exact copy of Pikachu.
"Whoa!" May said.
"See Ditto are a type of Pokemon that can transform into other Pokemon," Ash explained. "They can copy the attacks of the Pokemon they transform into as well."
"Yes, and its lucky you have an electric type. Most of those Pokemon were Water Types so I couldn't transform into them with an advantage. But now I think the tables have turned!"
"Let's go," Ash said.
Millie nodded then turned to her fellow scientists. "You guys don't have Pokemon so you should probably stay here. I know I've only been here for a couple days but I'm happy to help out."
"You're right Millie," One of the scientists said.
With that Ash, May, and Millie all made their way up with the three (or was it four now that Ditto had transformed into another Pikachu?) electric types. They made their way to the first floor of the building. More Team Aqua members were there, though Shelly was not among them.
"Well, it's the brat and that girl again! Just like we heard from the guys downstairs who ran up here to warn us!"
"Let's get him! He may have caught the others by surprise but we can hold him off!" Another grunt said.
Another grunt nodded. "It will take some time before all the data is downloaded. But it shouldn't be much longer. We just need to last a few minutes. Crawdant Bubblebeam!"
The large crustacean Pokemon shut multiple Bubblebeams at the trio and their Pokemon who all dove out of the way. Those Bubblebeams were much more powerful then the ones Ash's Corphish could let off. They took cover behind some nearby desks.
Millie gritted her teeth. "We can't afford to be delayed here! If they get away with the data who knows what they'll do!"
Ash grunted. "You two go ahead, Pikachu, Plusle and I will deal with the Aqua members here!"
May nodded, though at the same she was a little nervous about having to face Shelly alone. Well, not completely alone, she had Minun and Evee as well as Millie and her Ditto. Shelly might have other men up there with her. But May had to try and help anyone that needed it.
Ash drew the rest of his pokeballs. He'd need all the help he could get to distract them and make sure May and Shelly got past these guys.
"Taillow! Grovyle! Corphish! Come on out!"
The three Pokemon appeared.
"Attack all of you!" Ash said.
With so many Pokemon to face and command, he would have to play it by ear. His five Pokemon attacked at will. Pikachu and Plusle sent electricity out, Grovyle cut with its Leaf Blades, Corphish shot Bubblebeams and Tailow flew as the Golbat swarmed. In the ensuing chaos, May and Millie ran to the next floor with Minun and Ditto-Pikachu. The grunts tried to block their way but Ditto shot a thunderbolt at them and they moved aside. That left Ash to deal with the ones downstairs. As May and Millie came to the second (and top floor) they found her. Shelly was there in the seat of a computer with the grunts that Ash and May had easily taken out when they first arrived. Though there were two others there as well that could still battle. A scientist sat tied up in a chair as a gray Pokémon floated near him.
"Be reasonable Bart," Shelly said. "Our cause is a great one that shall benefit mankind and Pokémon," Shelly said. "We depend on the sea. It has been polluted but your Castform could help restore it back to what it was!"
"Attempting to do something of that scale could only throw the world into even more chaos! I will not help you."
Shelly sighed. "Then I guess we'll just have to take your Castform. I'd hoped to be able to convince you by the time the data was done downloading but it seems you will not be swayed. No matter. We will soon have the ancient Pokémon with that data and your Castform will help our cause in the meantime."
"Stop!" May yelled.
Shelly had been so busy talking to the man tied up that she hadn't noticed May enter.
"Well well look who it is. The girl that I held hostage a while back," she said with a smirk. "You're still looking very pretty. But perhaps you'll receive a hyper beam treatment after all!"
May took a step back but narrowed her eyes in determination.
"I'm not the same old damsel in distress you held hostage on Mt. Chimney Shelly!"
"Is that so?" The Aqua lieutenant said with amusement. "Got yourself some Pokémon, did you. A Minun, eh? Cute. But just because you have a type advantage doesn't mean you've already won."
She looked at the computer. "Ah done! And just in time,"
Shelly bent down and drew a small device from the side of the computer. She pocketed it then got up and walked around to face May then turned to the two members that still had Pokémon out.
"You two take the woman with the Ditto, I'll deal with the girl," Shelly said.
The two members nodded and looked at Millie who merely smiled as if confident. May cast a glance at her and Ditto. She was slightly worried with the fight not being fair to Millie but her Ditto had transformed into Ash's Pikachu which May knew was strong. Hopefully they would be able to take these people.
"Crawdaunt use Hyper Beam!" Shelly ordered.
May gritted her teeth as she saw the enemy Pokémon charging a pair of beams from its pincers. That was a very powerful attack. She had to dodge it!
"Minun dodge it with Quick Attack!" May ordered.
Craudaunt fired the Hyper Beam at Minun who did as May commanded. The attack blew a hole in the floor, there was a male scream below and May hoped it was one of the Aqua members and not Ash. Nearby she heard Millie giving commands to her Ditto but blocked it out, she had to focus on her own battle.
Looking at Crawdaunt May saw it looked tired.
"Thunderwave!" she ordered.
Minun let out another weak jolt of electricity that hit Crawdant and paralyzed it just like they had with the first members of Team Aqua they'd seen. That slowed the powerful Pokemon down, May smirked and Shelly grunted angrily. She may not have been a match for Shelly in terms of raw power, but she could fight smart by disabling her opponent from moving or at least slowing her Pokemon down.
"Now Spark!" May continued.
Minun charged forward, lighting up with electricity. But Shelly smirked now, and it caused May to feel alarmed.
"Crabhammer!"
Crawdaunt looked at Minun as she charged in, one of its pincers lit up and hit Minun as she hit it with Spark. Both of them were knocked back, but Minun was the one knocked back further by Crawdaunt's raw power. Her Spark had done some good damage, but not enough. Minun had clearly taken the greater amount of damage. She struggled to get back up, one more blow would probably be it.
May grit her teeth in anger and fear.
"Thunder!" Millie's voice said from a few feet away.
Pikachu-Ditto unleashed the same attack that Pikachu had released earlier. It hit the two Pokémon that Millie and her Ditto were battling, and both went down.
"Now Thunderbolt on Shelly!" Millie said.
Those words caught both May and Shelly by surprise as Pikachu-Ditto unleashed a thunderbolt at the redhead. Shelly screamed as both she and her Crawdaunt were hit with the yellow bolt. She went down, her body still sparking with electricity. Millie suddenly ran at her with Ditto jumping onto her shoulder.
"Sorry to do that… or not!" Millie said with a suddenly wicked looking smirk.
May watched in surprise and confusion. What was going on here? She had a bad feeling about this. Millie suddenly reached into Shelly's pocket and pulled out the device the Aqua member had taken from the computer.
"Millie what are you doing?" the tied-up scientist, Bart, asked.
Millie grinned and suddenly pulled off both her own face and the scientist lab coat she wore, revealing the face of a man with dark blue hair that had a strand of orange and a scar over his right eye. He wore a red uniform that May recognized from the last battle.
"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not Millie. I'm Brodie of Team Magma, master of disguise. I impersonated Millie and said I arrived early when I got here. The real her should arrive soon, don't worry. I just needed enough time to steal this data."
He then looked at the Castform who hovered there fearfully.
"You could help accomplish Team Magma's goal, but it would be a small contribution, possibly only one percent or less. Hardly worth it," Brodie said.
Bart struggled against his bonds and caused the chair to fall over and splinter. Brodie chuckled.
"Well, I should probably make my getaway!"
He ran to a nearby window as Bart got up.
"Come back here you imposter!"
Brodie didn't answer or look back, merely opening a window and jumping out to everyone's shock. There was a loud sound as May and Bart approached and suddenly they saw Brodie with some device on his back that had wings. Flames shot from the back of the device which reminded May of a backpack. They propelled Brodie away as everyone could only.
"He got away Shelly! What do we do?" one of the Aqua men asked.
Shelly grunted as she got up. "Team Magma better be grateful I helped them get that. But don't worry I forwarded it to headquarters before I logged off. We have what we need. And Brodie is right, that Castform is probably not worth it. It covers such a small area at once. We're done here!"
At that moment Ash and all his Pokemon came up the stairs, seemingly victorious down below.
"May!" he called.
"Ash!" she replied and ran over to him.
They hugged and then looked around, only to see Team Aqua had recalled their Pokemon and were already fleeing down the stairs.
"Are you okay May?" Ash asked.
"Yeah," May said before looking around and gasping. "Minun!"
Her first Pokemon lay on the floor, having lost her strength after Brodie revealed himself. May scooped Minun up in her arms sadly as Pikachu and the others looked at her in concern. Plusle ran up May's shoulder to look at his crush.
"Plusle!" he said in concern.
"Mi-mi." Minun spoke weakly but smiled to say, "I'll be alright."
She'll probably be okay," Ash said to May as he reached into his pack and pulled out a Super Potion which he sprayed on Minun.
"That's a relief," May said. "I'm sorry Minun."
Minun shook her head and smiled, showing she didn't blame May.
"You did wonderfully though," May said. "We almost beat them!"
Ash smiled upon hearing that.
"Next time we will," Ash said.
"Yes," May agreed.
…
"So, a Team Magma agent took the data?" Ash asked after May informed him of what happened while he'd battled the grunts below.
"Yeah, I was so surprised!" May said.
"I guess he fooled everyone here," Ash said.
Suddenly Bart approached them.
"Thank you so much you two!" Bart said.
"I'm sorry that Team Magma Agent got away with your data, Bart," Ash said.
"It's alright, everyone here is safe and we still have that data on our main computers. But I fear what nefarious scheme those two sets of criminals will use it for," Bart said. "I can only hope they will be stopped in time."
Ash and May nodded in agreement.
Bart then looked from them to his Castform. "Ash, May, I believe I owe you something for helping us today."
"Oh, uh… thanks but no reward is necessary," Ash said.
"Please, it's the least we can do," Bart said. "I'd like you to have my Castform. I fear that it will be targeted again. We haven't had the chance to train it for battle as its used primarily for research. But we've learned a great deal from it and I can't stand the idea of it being in danger from those criminals. It will probably be safer with you. Its also gotten a bit bored here, I don't want to keep it cooped up here forever."
Ash looked at Castform.
"It has the potential to be a great battler," Bart went on. "It can change its type based on what moves it uses to affect the weather."
"Really?" Ash asked.
"Yes, it can turn from a Normal type to a Fire, Water, or Ice Type!" Bart said.
That would make for a versatile Pokemon that could adapt to almost any situation or opponent.
"Wow," Ash said.
"Amazing, and cute too!" May added.
"Castform!" Castform spoke bashfully.
Ash smiled. "Well, if you insist Bart."
"It's the least I can do. Castforms abilities are useful around here to ward off the rain and study sunlight or snow but I think we can expand to other spots of Hoenn that have sun and snow. I'm sure that will be just as effective as having Castform," Bart reached into his pocket and drew a Pokeball. "Which one of you will have it?"
"Si- Ash," May said, catching herself before she said 'Sir'. "I got myself a new Torchic right after I got Eevee so I think you should have a new Pokémon, Ash."
Ash smiled. "Thanks May."
"Here you go then, Ash," Bart said handing Ash the Pokeball that obviously belonged to Castform.
Ash turned to the Weather Pokemon. "Welcome to the group, Castform."
He recalled it back into the Pokeball. It vanished into red energy as it was sucked in. Ash then held the Pokeball high.
"Alright I got a Castform! That makes my sixth Pokémon for the Hoenn region!"
May smiled at him. They tended to their Pokémon's wounds and rested in some guest rooms for the night. By morning they gathered outside the Weather Institute and bid goodbye to Bart and his workers.
"Fortree city is just a few hours past this bridge," Bart said. "Good luck in the Hoenn League. I'm sure you'll train Castform to become a Pokémon worthy of entering in it."
"I will, and thank you!" Ash said.
"Bye," May said giving a small curtsy with her little skirt.
The knight and his princess took hands again as Pikachu, Plusle and Minun were perched on each of their trainers' shoulders. They then began the next part of their journey, having not an entirely clear picture of what was to come next. But both of them knew where it would end in their hearts. Them together forever. Whatever came, Team Magma, Team Aqua, or Harley, it wouldn't tear them apart.
Alright, so now Ash has a sixth Pokémon. I used Castform a couple times when I played Pokémon Ruby. Its fun. Having a Pokémon that can change form and type lets you take on almost any opponent. Let's how Ash uses it in the chapters to come. Please review and hope you enjoy.