And Seren'a Rhyhorn is a girl. Next chapter I'll put down the list of Pokemon they have on hand.
(Opening Song: Pokémon World)
So you wanna be the Master of
Pokémon!
Do you have the skills to be
Number one!?
I wanna take the ultimate step
Find the courage to be bold (Pokémon)
To risk it all and not forget
The lessons that I hold
I wanna go where no one's been
Far beyond the crowd (Pokémon) Yeah!
Learn the way to take command
Use the power that's in my hand
Oh hey!
We all live in a Pokémon world
(Po-ké-mon)
I wanna be the greatest Master of them all!
(Greatest Master)
We all live in a Pokémon world
(Po-ké-mon)
Put myself to the test
To be better than all the rest
Ungh!
So you wanna be the Master of
Pokémon!
Do you have the skills to be
Number one!?
We all live in a Pokémon world
(Po-ké-mon)
I wanna be the greatest Master of them all!
Got the power right in your hands
Po-ké-mon!
After the bizarre experience on Pinkan Island, Ash and the gang set off once more and become involved in another fossil expedition.
Serena was staring at her pokeball.
In fact that's all she's been doing since they left Pinkan Island. And who could blame her? She unintentionally caught a Rhyhorn. Emphasis on unintentionally. Honestly, she really didn't know how to handle it, especially since it seems the Rhyhorn she caught wanted to be with her.
Don't get her wrong, she has nothing against Rhyhorn, but to actually catch one…
Meanwhile, while she was preoccupied with her thoughts about Rhyhorn, she didn't notice Ash's worried gaze focused on her. Ever since they left Pinkan Island he could sense there was something different about her. He knows what's wrong, but he doesn't want to push her to tell him until she's ready to talk about it.
"This weather feels really nice, doesn't it, Togepi?" Misty asked Togepi.
"Togephrii (Really warm)!" Togepi agreed.
Ritchie yawned, "It feels so nice out here that it makes me wanna take a nap." He demonstrated this by stretching his arms above his head.
"Pikachu (I'll join you in that)." Sparky agreed with his trainer.
Tracey was looking around with his binoculars, prompting Molly to ask him about it, "What are you looking for, Tracey?"
"Trying to see if we can spot any Pokémon. With good weather like this, we should be able to see a few." He replied.
"You really think so?" Tomo asked, excited at the prospect of seeing some Pokémon.
"Sure." Tracey said, smiling.
His attention is suddenly diverted elsewhere as he hears the sound of a speeding boat engine. Looking through his binoculars, "What in the world?" He had to cover his face as it does right past then—nearly splashing water in their faces.
Lapras didn't like the sound very much and cowered a little, but Ash rubbed the side of neck to calm her down.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" Misty yelled, waving her fist at them.
"Why are they in such a hurry?" Tracey wondered.
"Who knows? But wherever they're going must be really important." Ritchie points to where they're headed, "Look, see? I think they're headed towards that Island."
"You're right, that's exactly where that boat is headed." Tracey agreed.
"Maybe we should go see what's going on." Ash suggests.
"Pika (Could be interesting)." Pikachu commented.
Fukuhara Island No. 4
They all safely arrive on the Island by following the boat that nearly crashed into them.
Just as Ash returned Lapras to its pokeball, he heard a woman's voice coming from behind him.
"And our exclusive report continues!" She said, "I've just arrived on the Island that's recently become the object of so much speculation. Does this lush location—uninhabited by humans hold the key that will unlock the secrets to the extinct Pokémon?"
'Extinct Pokémon? Does that mean there are fossil Pokémon here, like at Grampa Canyon?' Ash wondered.
"An archeological team is about to begin their historic explorations, and we'll be with them if and when they can solve the Kabuto mystery. And CUT!" She said, running in a certain direction along with her camera crew.
"Kabuto mystery?" Tracey questioned.
"Historical explorations?" Misty added.
"I wonder…" Ash said, thinking.
Tracey looked at him, "Wonder about what, Ash?" He asked, curious.
"Something tells me they might be looking for the prehistoric Pokémon Kabuto. Or at the very least their preserved fossils." Ash theorized.
Ritchie's eyes widened in realization, "Just like when we went to Gram—" he quickly covered his mouth. He forgot that they all promised Officer Jenny they wouldn't mention Grampa Canyon to anyone. The reason they promised was so that trainers would stay away and let the awakened prehistoric Pokémon that were awakened rest.
Tracey gave him a questioning look, "Gram" what? Were you about to say something, Ritchie?" He questioned.
"No, it's nothing!" Ritchie quickly denied, making Sparky roll his eyes at him.
"Pikachu pika (Way to be subtle)." Sparky dryly said.
Serena was a little curious about what that news lady said, "Should we go see what's going on? I'm a little curious." She admitted.
Ash thought about it for a moment, "Well, it does sound interesting," he shrugged his shoulders, "Oh, why not? Let's go see."
The rest of the group agreed and followed in the direction of the woman and her crew.
While the news anchor lady was reporting, Ash and the others stood nearby and watched them. Tracey was sketching the Kabuto fossil that was sitting near the news crew.
"This is incredible! I can't believe they found an actual Kabuto fossil." Tracey said, his hands continuing to sketch the fossil.
"They've probably never really seen one before, so it makes sense they're all curious." Ash comments. There weren't any found back at Grampa Canyon, either. This should be interesting.
Ritchie looked up Kabuto on his pokedex:
[Kabuto, the Ancient Pokémon. Though this Pokémon is now believed to be extinct, it had a hard shell that protected its body and is believed to have been a powerful swimmer.]
"Fast swimmer, huh? That's right up your alley, Misty." Ritchie smiled.
Misty had stars in her eyes, "Ah, a water pokemon after my heart~" She gushed.
"So you're in love with it now?" Ritchie sweat-dropped at her reaction.
Molly saw a familiar face and pointed, "Hey, look! It's Nurse Joy!" She said.
Looking over again, they did indeed see it was Nurse Joy and she was in charge of everything! Talk about a twist. Straining their ears to hear what she was saying, they managed to hear her say that she wanted to confirm if the oil from a Kabuto could not only bring good health, but make people live forever.
"Live forever?!" The gang repeated, shocked by what they just heard.
"So there's a legend about Kabuto oil being able to bring you good health and immortality." Ash knows from Professor Oak himself that pokemon are mysterious, so hearing a legend about one doesn't surprise him.
What would surprise him is if the legend turns out to be true.
Suddenly, Tracy was right in front of them, "Excuse me, Nurse Joy, we'd like to be a part of this expedition of yours! I'm an experienced pokemon watcher and I can help you record what you find!" He got closer to her, "Please just give us all a chance!" He pleaded.
"Geez, talk about being pushy." Ritchie sarcastically said.
"Pikachu (For real)." Sparky said.
Ash gives Nurse Joy an apologetic expression, "Sorry about this, Nurse Joy. Would it be alright if we join you? I'm kinda curious to know more about Kabuto." He admits.
"Pika Pika (Me, too)!" Pikachu bounced on Ash's shoulder.
Nurse Joy, in all her infinite kindness smiles at them, "Of course, the more, the merrier." She said.
Nurse Joy soon gathers everyone, Ash's group included and they head off to search. Growlithe were used to sniff out the area, while Machoke carried the heavy equipment, and finally—Rhydon for drilling holes.
As they were walking, Pikachu's ears twitched a little as he heard something. Ash notices this, and tells his friend to wait and see for now. Knowing their bad luck it was probably Team Rocket, or someone else was on this Island looking for the Kabuto fossils. They'll just have to wait and see.
Misty hung on for dear life as they walked across a bridge on the mountain path. Not too far below them was Team Rocket.
"James, could you be any slower?" Jessie complained.
"Yeah, hurry up already! We're burning daylight here!" Meowth takes a shot at him, too.
James fell to his knees, "Easy…for you to say…" He breathed out, carrying around a backpack.
"Well, no one told you to carry that heavy backpack around," Jessie retorted, "Serves you right."
"And nobody told you to bring that nasty attitude of yours either, but I'm stuck with both now aren't I?" James shot back.
Meowth snickered, "Burn."
Above them, Growlithe growled—signaling to them that there was something up ahead.
"What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked.
One of the crew members replied, "This Growlitue hears something."
Growlithe was growling up ahead of them, making them all look to see it was a large boulder.
"Oh, that's just a rock, Growlithe. No need to worry." Nurse Joy waved off.
Famous last words.
For no sooner did she say that, the boulder rolled towards them.
"Head for cover!" Ritchie yelled, running away from the boulder, as did everyone else.
Ash tossed a pokeball, "Gyarados, use Iron Tail on that boulder!"
Gyarados roared as her tail flower before swinging it right at the boulder—cutting it in half. One of the half's went over the mountain side.
"That was incredible! Gyarados saves the day!" The news woman cheered.
Serena smiled, "Ash's Gyarados is really strong." She couldn't help but say.
"Fennekin (Sure is)." Fennekin agreed.
Ash returned Gyarados, "Good work, take a breather in case we need you again."
The other half of the boulder was heading towards Team Rocket this time. Jessie and Meowth got out of the way this time…but unfortunately the same could not be said of James.
Jessie and Meowth blinked as they looked down where James was knocked over by the boulder, "There he goes…" Jessie said.
"Yup." Meowth said.
Back with the group, Pikachu heard someone else's footsteps, and this time Ash could actually feel someone's eyes on them.
'Someone's been following us for a while now. They haven't done anything yet, which means they're keeping an eye on us for now.' Ash thinks, pretending to be ignorant.
"This is it." One of the workers said.
The others stared out into the clear blue sea in awe. The water looked so beautiful.
"We've finally reached our destination. A hidden bay hidden in the Island's desolate shore. Where experts believed that the recently discovered Kabuto fossil may have come from." The news anchor reported.
Rhydon and Machoke were already busy going to work. Ash and the others helped out, too. Since Molly and Tomo were still too young for manual labor, Ash just had them direct the Pokémon on what to do.
Misty sat down, "I had no idea excavating for fossils could be so exhausting." She groaned.
"It's not so bad Misty, also make sure you examine everything." Tracey tells them.
Ash wiped some seat from his forehead, "And think about this way. All the hard work you put into this will pay off in the end."
"Yeah, we'll get to actually see a Kabuto fossil." Serena smiled.
"That's the motivation I need." Ritchie chimed in, putting his pickaxe down.
Pikachu noticed a tiny rock roll down before looking up to see larger rocks come falling down on them.
Ash also noticed and grabbed Pikachu, "Everyone, move!" He yelled, getting out of the way.
More rocks came crumbling down—one of them heading towards the news crews
Serena didn't even think, "Rhyhorn, use Horn Drill!"
Rhyhorn came out of its pokeball, the pink color it used to be faded as it was its natural color. The ground/rock type drilled through the rock and saved the news crew's life.
"Serena, that was awesome! How did you know your Rhyhorn could use Drill Horn?" Ritchie asked.
Serena became a little embarrassed as she explained, "Well, actually I just looked up some of its moves a little after I caught it." She returned the Pokémon with a sigh, "I'm surprised it listened to me though."
The news anchor lady was grateful for the save and the group continued on.
Misty was frowning, "You know, I'm starting to think these aren't just random accidents, and someone's trying to get rid of us."
"Come on, you really believe there'd be another living creature on this Island besides us?" Tracey sounded skeptical of her words.
Ash saw movement out of the corner of his eye, "Pikachu, there!" He said, following after the shadow of their stalker.
"Ash, wait!" Serena called out to him.
Ash was more focused on their shadow, "Keep following behind him, Pikachu, I'll head him off the other way!"
"Pika (Okay)!" Pikachu said.
Cutting through some bushes, Ash came from the other way and stopped the unknown person in their tracks, "Stop!"
The person did indeed stop and made no move to harm them.
"Who are you?" Ash demanded.
Instead of answering his question the person said something else, "You must leave this Island before it is too late." He warned.
Ash wasn't expecting that, "Leave this Island?"
Who's That Pokémon?
It's…Ponyta
"Ponyta!"
"What do you mean? Is something going to happen?" Ash asked.
"Ash, are you okay?!" Misty called out to him as the others came running over.
"Is everything okay?!" Tracey asked him.
Ash nods his head, "Yeah, and by the looks of things I'm guessing this person is our shadow and rock pusher, right?"
The old man didn't bother to deny it, "Yes, I am. The purpose of me doing that was that you would leave this and not lose your lives."
"You almost cost us our lives, you crazy old timer!" Misty yelled at him.
"I'm not that old, and I'm not crazy!" He yelled back, making her lean back a little.
"Can we get back to the part where you said we would lose our lives?" Ash got them all back on track.
"Oh, yes! My name is Umberto, and I must tell you of the prophecy." He said.
"What prophecy?" Ritchie questioned.
"I'll tell you. It is an ancient prophecy, when the scavengers arrive the moon will flow an angry red. The land itself will vanish…and be swallowed by the sea." He explained, ominously.
"Swallowed by the sea?" Tracey questioned.
"That doesn't sound good." Serena shivered a little.
Umberto wasn't finished, "Heed my warning, if you disturb this Island you'll bring great harm."
Nurse Joy tried to assure him, "Mr. Umberto, we didn't come here to cause any harm to the Island. We came here to study the Kabuto fossils and that's all."
Umberto refused to budge, "You cannot disturb what lies here, you must leave!"
"And who are you to tell us?!" Misty yelled.
"Someone who lives here on this Island and has acted as its protector!" He yelled back.
Misty blinked, "Oh…"
Ash crossed his arms, "A prophecy that foretells disaster." While he was thinking about that, his Keystone got Umberto's attention.
"Young man, what is that stone on your glove?" Umberto questioned him.
Ash looked confused for a moment, "Oh, this? It's my Keystone." He replied.
Umberto stared at him for a moment, "And earlier, when you were digging…I saw you talking to your Pokémon…"
"Yes…" Ash was starting to get a little uncomfortable now.
Suddenly, Umberto's eyes widened before kneeling in front of Ash, "You are here!"
…
…
"…uh…what?" Ritchie stared at the old man like he'd lost his mind.
"Sir…?" Ash was beginning to wonder if the old man was okay.
Umberto ignored them, "The prophecy foretold of this. A descendant of the "First Guardian" would arrive to claim what belongs to them, and protect the balance."
"And you're saying Ash is that descendant?" Serena wondered if there was more to Ash's family tree.
He lifted his head, "Yes! Seeing you here now means that the prophecy will be fulfilled." He stands up, "Young man, do you still wish to see where Kabuto's resting place lay?"
Ash was more curious about this First Guardian, but decided to file that down for later, "I do."
"Then I will take you, please follow me." Umberto ushered them back the way they came.
Misty gives the old man a dry look, "First he says to get off the Island, and now he wants us to stay?" Just what is wrong with this crazy old man!
"Look on the bright side, at least he's letting us stay now." Tracey said, nervously.
Which was only thanks to Ash, but none of them said it out loud. Could an ancestor of Ash's have something to do with this Island?
Umberto takes them to a cave where the fossils have been stored for hundreds of years. As he was leading them, the old man was telling Ash his role in being here.
"I have been protecting this Island ever since my father passed down the duty to me. Our sworn duty is to protect not only this Island, but the Kabuto fossils that rest here." He explained.
"I see." Ash was listening with such intensity.
"In the past, many unwanted visitors would come here to either take the fossils, or simply disturb the balance. That is why I tried to send you away. While you may have good intentions, the natural order of this Island must not be disturbed." He finished.
"Which is why you're here. To protect it." Ash concluded.
"Yes."
Umberto led them deeper into the cave before stopping, "If you walk straight ahead, you will find what rightfully belongs to you. The rest of us must wait here."
"Now wait just a—" Misty started, but Ash stopped her.
"It's okay, Misty. He's been telling the truth this whole time." Ash said.
Misty didn't look convinced, "Really…?"
He nods.
"Be careful, big brother." Tomo said.
"I will."
Ash walls ahead, going only straight. There was a didn't glowing light up ahead, that he followed. Getting closer, he saw that it was another Megastone!
"Pikachu, is that…" Ash trailed off.
"Pika (A Megastone)!" Pikachu exclaimed.
The stone was orange, but on the inside there was a blue and red line. His Keystone started to light up as he got closer. Grabbing it, he held it in his pocket and was about to leave when something else got his attention.
It looked to be a journal of some kind. He grabs that, too.
"Time to go." He said.
"Pika (Yeah)." Pikachu nods.
He headed back in the direction he came and saw the others' faces light up at his return.
"Thank goodness, what did you find?" Serena asked him.
Ash showed them the journal first, "This is a journal," he dug in his pocket, "And this." He showed them another Mega Stone.
"You found another Mega Stone!" Tracey was surprised by the find.
"That's the second time you've found another Mega Stone." Misty comments.
"Yeah…" Ash was wondering if he had more connections to the Orange Islands than he originally believed.
CRASH!
"What's going on?!"
Team Rocket appeared before them and declared they were taking all of the fossils.
Ash was about to have Pikachu send them blasting off when suddenly Gyarados came out of her pokeball.
"Gyarados?" Ash was taken by surprise because he wasn't expecting Gyarados to suddenly come out her pokeball.
A glow got his attention. He looked down to see it was the Mega Stone, it was responding to Gyarados.
Which means…
Tossing the Mega Stone at Gyarados, he sees it landed in her forehead.
"Gyarados, Mega Evolve!" Ash touched his Key Stone. As it gave off light, so did Gyarados.
When the light finally died down, Gyarados had transformed. Gyarados became bulkier, the find on its cheek became longer and gained a yellow tint. The crest is larger and black, and its barbels also gain considerable length. A large spike extends downward underneath its chin, and it now has a black underside with a red stripe around the edges. The yellow spots along its body are replaced by raised red scales, which propel Mega Gyarados through the water. Two large yellow fins with blue spines appear on its back. Most of the other fins along its back disappear, replaced by two rows of blue spikes. There are now four yellowish, spiky fins near its tail: two on its back and two on its underside.
Mega Gyarados looked powerful!
"Wow!" Molly and Tomo said in unison.
"Incredible! Gyarados looks so intimidating!" Tracey made a mental note to sketch this later.
"Another awesome Mega Evolution." Ritchie grinned.
Serena has come to like Gyarados even more.
Ash smiled up at his Gyarados, "You ready to teach Team Rocket a lesson?"
Gyarados responded by staring right at the trio, and making them cling to each other in fear.
"Uh-oh…" They said.
"Gyarados, use Hyper Beam!" Ash said.
A ball of purple energy was gathered in Gyarados's mouth before a beam was sent right at a petrified Team Rocket.
"We're blasting off again!"
"That's that." Ash said as Gyarados went back to normal.
"What incredible power!" Tracey was going to ask Ash if he could sketch Gyarados.
The good atmosphere was soon gone though as the cave began to shake. And even more surprising, the Kabuto fossils actually came to life!
Nurse Joy tells everyone to get out of the cave immediately. Once outside, Nurse comes to the conclusion that the whole Island was made up of Kabuto fossils.
"This Island is breaking apart!" She concluded.
Umberto told them that the prophecy said to build a raft. The others made a raft for Nurse Joy and the others, while they used the water Pokemon. The water Pokemon managed to safely get them away from the sinking Island just in time.
"When the scavengers arrive, the moon will glow an angry red. The land itself will vanish, and be swallowed by the sea." Ash recited the prophecy's words.
"Kabuto must have been in their dormant forms for centuries until the light of the red moon awakened them." Tracey comments.
"Maybe that Kabuto oil let's them live forever after all." Nurse Joy said before apologizing to Umberto, "I'm so very sorry for not believing in the prophecy."
"I think it's best if the world doesn't know about this." The news woman said and her crew agreed with her.
"We'll keep quiet about this, too. No one needs to know." Ash vowed.
Umberto smiled, "Thank you, descendant of the First Guardian."
Ash watched Kabuto swim away, "Where are they going, big brother?" Molly asked, holding his hand.
"Some place safe. A new home to call their own until the next time they awaken." Ash replied.
Another new mystery of Pokémon is revealed. And even more surprises lay ahead for our heroes. Who can say? But they are out there, waiting.
They are waiting.
Stay tuned, as the journey continues
As our heroes continue to explore the Orange Islands, they're about to discover something very unusual.
The gang were currently riding on the "Floating Theater." It's where actors, singers, and dancers are all Pokémon!
After the events on Fukuhara Island No. 4, Ash and the others sailed off to another Island so Ash could send another Mega Stone to Professor Oak.
Ash decided to keep the journal though as he wanted to know more about the First Guardian and his supposed connection. With that done and out of the way, the gang heard people talking about a Floating Theater and wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
Naturally they were surprised by all the dancers, singers and actors, and decided to stay and have some fun.
Something this exciting they couldn't pass up.
Currently they were on their way to see a Show Boat. It was kind of like a play, and naturally the gang decided to go.
Ritchie sat down in his seat, "This is gonna be exciting. I wonder what kind of play it'll be?" He wondered.
"We'll find out soon enough." Ash said.
Molly was bouncing in her seat, "I'm so excited!"
"Me, too!" Tomo shared her sentiment.
Serena saw the light go dark, "It's starting!" She sounded excited.
"Here we go." Misty said.
The stage play started, and the gang was surprised that the Pokémon were actually talking! Like human speech!
"Ash?" Tracey turned to the only person in their group who can actually understand Pokemon.
"No, the Pokémon aren't speaking human. That's just someone else speaking to make it look like the Pokémon are actually talking." Ash explained.
"Oh, so it's just a voice actor." Serena got it.
"Yep."
The play was very good. Serena and Misty found themselves happy for Clefable and Hitmonchan. Ritchie liked the fighting, Tracey was sketching the characters, and the three siblings just enjoyed the show.
When the play was over, everyone cheered. Misty didn't cheer for long as she noticed Togepi was gone!
"Guys, where's Togepi?" Misty questioned.
Ash looked around and spotted the small Pokémon near the stage. They followed the little Pokémon as he went backstage.
Togepi wandered around backstage before running towards Clefable and Hitomchan, but thankfully Misty caught the curious little tyke.
"Togepi, you can't just run out on stage like that!" Misty chided, holding the little egg Pokemon.
Ash spotted the three actors and pointed, "There's the actors." He whispered.
"Hey, please keep your voices down backstage." A girl said from behind them.
Tracey rubbed the back of his head, "Oh, sorry. We weren't being loud or anything, but we'll whisper."
The girl turned her attention to Ash, "Excuse me, but is that your Pikachu?" Sue asked.
"Yes, this is my Pikachu." Ash responded, "And this Pikachu on Ritchie's shoulder is called Sparky."
She gave them both a forlorn expression, "It must be nice to be so close." She said, sounding a little sad.
Ash noticed the sad tone, but didn't comment.
"Kay, let's have Raichu join the finale." He said.
"Okay, come on out, Raichu!" Kay called out to the electric type.
Coming out from behind the corner was a nervous looking Raichu, "Rai (I'm here…)." It said.
"It's time to go out on stage with the others." Kay said.
Raichu didn't seem keen on the idea and looked down.
Kay saw this and approached, "What's the matter, is something wrong?" When she got close enough, Raichu let out a spark, stopping her in place.
Raichu saw this and looked down again.
"Please go out, you'll have fun on stage, I promise." Kay tried to gently coax the electric type, but it didn't work.
Sitting on the floor, Raichu refused to go.
"I guess it's no good after all."
"Poor thing, it looks so sad."
Serena scanned Raichu:
[Raichu, a Mouse Pokémon of the Electric element. Raichu is the evolved form of Pikachu. It can shock with more than 100,000 volts, enough to render a Dragonite unconscious]
"This Raichu doesn't seem all that confident as the Pokédex makes it out to be." Serena comments.
"Yeah, it looks more afraid than confident." Ritchie added.
Kay was just worried about Raichu.
Roger didn't like seeing Kay so sad, but didn't know what to do. Seeing the two Pikachu's with Ash and Ritchie though gave him an idea.
Ash blinked, "You want us to help Kay with her Raichu?" He wanted to make sure he heard right.
"Yes! I can see that the two of you get along well with your Pikachu's, and wondered if you'd be willing to give Kay some pointers." Roger said, sounding hopeful.
Ritchie grinned, "We'll do our best, right Sparky?"
"Pika (Yeah)!" Sparky said.
Misty gives him a dry look, "Don't make promises you can't keep." She said.
"We'll see what we can do, sir." Ash would actually have to talk to Raichu to figure out the problem.
Ritchie tried his hand at showing Kay what to do in order to get along better…
…needless to say the results were disastrous.
So it was agreed by the group that Ash would take it from here.
"The most important thing to remember about Pokémon is their personality." Ash recites what Brock used to always say, "Each Pokémon has a different personality, just like humans."
Ash bent down, rubbing the top of Pikachu's head, "Humans and Pokémon are different, but they can also be similar. You could also say that some Pokémon take after their trainer when it comes to similar personalities." He had plenty of examples, mostly the gym leaders from Kanto.
"I can tell that the two of you used to be very close, so all we have to do is get to the root of the problem." Ash said.
Kay was thinking about the first time she met Raichu. She explained that when she first met Raichu she was excited and gave it a hug. Raichu, out of excitement, shocked her by accident—scaring her and pushing the electric type away from her.
Ever since then, Raichu won't even come near her.
Ash understood the situation now. There's a mental block on both of them. Kay is afraid of being shocked by Raichu, and Raichu is afraid of hurting Kay.
"Kay, step away from Raichu for a moment." Ash requested.
She was confused by the request, but stepped away from Raichu anyway, while Ash approached the nervous electric type. He stood a few feet away before bending down, "Raichu, the reason you're so nervous is because you're afraid of hurting Kay."
"Rai (Uh-huh)." Raichu nodded.
Ash smiled, "You really care about Kay, and she feels the same way about you. She really cares about you, and it shows."
"Rai (Really)?" Raichu sounded hopeful.
Nodding, Ash stood back and stepped away from Raichu, "Okay, Kay. I want you to give Raichu a hug."
"What? A hug?" She questioned.
"Yeah, but this time instead of pushing Raichu away, try reassuring it. Let it know how you really feel." Ash tells her.
Kay took a deep breath and steeled her nerves before slowly approaching Raichu. When she was close enough, she kneeled down and slowly wrapped her arms around it.
Sparks were coming off from the electric type, but this time she didn't pull away. Instead, she spoke to her Pokémon, "It's okay, I know you're scared. I'm scared, too, but no matter what happens from now on—I promise to never push you away again." She promised.
Raichu's body relaxed, the sparks gathered around its body faded as he hugged his trainer back, "Rai (Thank you)!"
Kay was surprised Raichu hugged her back, then smiled and rubbed the side of her face against the electric type.
Misty smiled at the scene, "Yep, I had a feeling Ash would know exactly what to do."
"It makes sense he would. He used to take care of Pokémon, so he knows them inside and out." Tracey was sketching the heartfelt scene.
Molly smiled at Tomo, "We have the coolest brother in the world."
"Sure do." Tomo nodded.
"I'm glad Kay and Raichu found some common ground." Serena was thinking about the Rhyhorn she caught and decided to face her past.
The play was a success!
Thanks to Kay and Raichu finally understanding each other, the show turned out great. And as an added bonus the gang got to participate.
Ash, Ritchie, Molly, and Tomo got to act as the voice actors for their Pokémon. It was a lot of fun! Misty and Tracey were in charge of the confetti.
As the play ended, the finale consisted of a dance. Where all the Pokémon on stage dances together.
All in all—they'd say this was the best stage performance ever!
Once again, Ash and friends help save a friendship. And the show was a success, but the journey isn't over.
Stay tuned, as the journey continues.
Next Time: Where's Psyduck & Sailing Joy!