Kanto Chapter 20 - Battling Moltres
Ash, Pikachu and Charizard touched down at the Cerulean Gym, Misty who had been eagerly waiting their arrival, ran out to greet them.
"Ash!"
"Pikachu-Pi" Pikachu beamed and cried out happily at seeing Misty join them.
Misty ran straight into her husband's chest, Ash immediately wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek onto her head, not saying a word. They pulled apart, Misty reached up and fussed Pikachu before turning to focus on Ash, her bright cerulean eyes filled with concern.
"Ash, what is going on out there?"
"Where are the kids? Do you know where Amber is?" Ash questioned straight away, dispensing with all pleasantries.
"She's actually at home, I spoke with her and told her stay there. Cole is there too." Misty replied. "Oh I feel awful the kids came back and we weren't there to see them." She cast her eyes to the ground.
Ash relaxed slightly, but his face was still serious. "Misty, the legendary bird Zapdos is missing, it's the reason why Articuno has appeared and why the world has gone hay wire. Without Zapdos around the balance has been tipped. It won't be long before Moltres and Articuno meet and begin to battle for dominance and territory. Then we'll all be in some real trouble."
"Zapdos …"
"There's more … I think Team Rocket is behind all this."
"Team Rocket! Are you sure?" Misty's concern doubled at the mention of the organisation.
Ash nodded and pulled out the device he had found at the power plant. He rolled it over in his fingers and showed his wife. The big red "R" prominent and glaring them in the face.
"I found this where Zapdos energy was last traced, in the old power plant off Route 10. It's not good Mist, I can feel it."
"Ash, this seems all too familiar. Do you think it all relates to what happened 12 years ago?"
"I don't know, but I also don't think this is all a coincidence."
***Flashback 12 years ago***
Ash, Pikachu and Charizard raced across the inky black midnight sky on the trail of Zapdos. Lightning streaked the skies as the legendary pokémon's wild wing flaps caused deafening thunder in it's wake.
This isn't right! Zapdos would never come out into civilization like this … unless … maybe ... it's trying to tell me something?
Ash thought how Zapdos was outside his house. He didn't think the legendary pokémon was attacking his family, not at all, but he couldn't shake the image of his toddler daughter hanging out the bedroom window with lightning bolts crashing down around her. The picture in his head and feeling in his gut did not sit well with him at all.
He had to get to the bottom of why Zapdos has appeared.
"Pi pi! Pi pikachu pi!"
The faint sound of Pikachu squeaking over the wind currents and rumbles of thunder, brought Ash out of his thoughts and he looked down at his friend.
"What is it Pikachu?"
"Pi pikachu pi pi ka chu."
"Get closer?"
"Chu" The little mouse nodded.
Charizard stretched his neck to make himself move streamline and pushed towards the wild bird lighting up the sky.
"Pika" Pikachu released a stream of electricity, hitting Zapdos. Not juiced enough to really be called an attack but enough to get the birds attention.
"You're trying to communicate with it!" Ash deduced.
Zapdos turned it's eye to look back, it squawked and pushed forwards leading them towards Viridian City. The bird stopped and flapped above a building with a multi layered white roof and ornamental pillars leading up to it.
Zapdos flapped it's wings and lightning crashed around the building illuminating it.
"The Viridian City Gym?"
Zapdos cried out.
"Pikachu, has Zapdos lead us here for a reason?"
"Pika" Pikachu nodded.
Ash looked at the building. Something really did not feel right. But he obliged and took Charizard down towards the looming building.
***End Flashback***
Ash and Misty stood staring into each other's eyes. Neither of them needing to speak. A chilling wind swept across, making them both shudder in unison.
Ash's pokégear went off interrupting the small silence. He immediately answered it to be greeted by a windswept looking Lance.
"Champion Ketchum. Reports are flooding in that Moltres has uprooted and is causing chaos over Viridian City. The four of us are near Fuchsia with Articuno in our sights on Route 15. No reports of Zapdos. Ready to act on your command."
"Viridian?! Lance, I'm in Cerulean, it won't take me long to get there on Charizard. You guys look after Articuno, keep it at bay. Leave Moltres to me!"
"Ash, this sounds crazy! Are you sure you can handle that all by yourself?" Lance asked, concerned for his friend.
"If Moltres has started attacking, then there must be a reason. Let me try to reach it first."
Lance didn't like the idea but he trusted his superior. "As you wish Champion Ketchum. We'll handle things here. Remember we're right here if you need us."
"Keep me updated."
Lance nodded and the line went dead.
No more needed to be said. Ash, Misty Pikachu climbed onto Charizard and took off towards Viridian City at top speed.
"Gary look out!" Elaine called out.
Gary and his aerodactyl swiftly side swept, narrowly avoiding a barrage of flames.
"Woah that was close."
Gary's plan was working. The two seasoned trainers ducked and dived in the skies above Viridian City, keeping Moltres busy in the vicinity. Pidgeot and Aerodactyl manoeuvred like pros, following their trainer's commands and their own instincts like finely tuned instruments. Now the legendary pokémon was fully focused on them, the city and its inhabitants below were safe from its random rampage of flames for the time being.
Gary wiped his brow; he was sweating profusely from the immense heat emitting from the bird. He knew this tactic was merely a temporary solution and neither his nor Elaine's pokémon, strong as they were, could last this onslaught forever.
The heatwave, the wild pokémon, the numbers, the data, it is all connected to the legendary birds just like Grandpa's research showed. But it still doesn't tell me why this is happening. Until I know that, I can't stop this …
A smile graced the researchers face when he a spotted an awfully familiar and welcomed sight. A Charizard carrying two people and a pikachu.
Gary pulled back and flew over to meet them.
"Well, well it's about time you showed up! Where the hell have you been?!" Gary scolded as Champion Ash Ketchum and his former Water Gym Leader wife approached the scene.
Ash winced at the "greeting."
"Gary? What's going on?"
"What's going on?! I'll tell you what's going on! I decided to have a tea party in the sky! What does it look like is going on?!" Gary snapped.
"Ok, ok I get it … jeez." Ash sweat dropped.
"ERM A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!" Elaine shouted over to them.
Ash looked over seeing Moltres firing blasts at Elaine and her pidgeot, his face became serious. "Gary, you and Aerodactyl rest now. Can you take Misty?"
"What? But my water pokémon can help!" Misty countered.
Ash shook his head. "No, Moltres is scared and confused. I don't think battling it right now will help it. Besides if things do look tough, I'll have Pikachu and Charizard to back me up. Right?"
"Pika!" Ash's faithful partner was ever ready at his side.
Charizard grunted in reply.
Misty nodded. She knew there was no time for debate on this, it was time once again to put her faith into the Chosen One.
Gary held out his hand and helped Misty climb onto his aerodactyl.
"Ash be careful!" Misty called out as the Pokémon Champion flew towards Moltres.
"Don't worry Misty, Ashy Boy knows what he's doing … I think." Gary reassured her with light teasing trying to lighten the mood.
Misty face dropped at the comment.
"Hey come on, I'm kidding. Besides he's got us for back up, right?"
Misty nodded, feeling reassured she gave a small smile.
Gary with Misty backed off, allowing the Champion to take over the situation and give Aerodactyl a break. They hovered nearby ready to jump in if needed. Misty held a pokéball in her hand ready.
Ash, Pikachu and Charizard flew up to the raging fire bird.
"Champion Ketchum!" Elaine beamed. Even though she had encountered Ash at numerous tournaments from years before she always felt a little star struck in his presence.
"Hey. Thanks for your help, let me take it from here." Ash smiled at the trainer.
Elaine nodded, glad of the break and swooped away on Pidgeot over to Gary and Misty.
Ash stood up on Charizard, tall and firm. He held his arms out wide to the side making himself as big as possible, his cape billowed out in the air adding to the effect. He made direct eye contact with the legendary pokémon, showing no fear.
"Moltres stop this!" Ash called out. Charizard and Pikachu were on standby to defend their Master at a moment's notice.
The fire bird stared at the man before it. Flapping it's wings. It let off a fire ball at the group, Charizard countered the attack with ease using his own fire ball and stayed stead fast in the air.
"Moltres! It's me, it's Ash. You know me! We've met many, many times. Please Moltres. You have to calm down."
"Pikaa! Pi Ka Chu!" Pikachu joined in, calling over to the legendary pokémon.
It launched a couple more fire attacks, but Charizard blocked each one. Ash remained unfazed.
Moltres stopped and looked hard into the man's eyes. The two stared each other down, unwavering in their composure.
"You know me Moltres. You know who I am. And you know I would never do wrong by you." Ash spoke calmly. "So please Moltres. Stop this."
With little warning Moltres unleashed a wave of flames at them.
"ASH!" Misty squealed and buried her face in her hands unable to look. Gary and Elaine gasped with horror.
Charizard held up his wing for protection. "Pika-Pi!" Pikachu closed his eyes tight and hugged behind Ash's legs. Ash braced himself, covering his face with his forearm.
"Huh?" Ash lowered his arm and looked amongst the flames. "It's not hot." He exclaimed.
Pikachu and Charizard relaxed their stances as they also came to the same realisation, looking in awe around the feint fire that surrounded them.
"Moltres." Ash smiled looking back at the bird. It chirped in response. The bird began to calm and the once hot temperature around them began to drop.
"He did it!" Elaine exclaimed; she clapped her hands together in excitement. Misty took her hands from her face and cried out with joy.
Humph "Yeah but only after I, tired it out." Gary mumbled.
"You? Don't you mean we?" Elaine retorted eyebrow raised.
Gary merely shrugged in response, smirking, and flew Aerodactyl over to meet with Ash. Elaine followed.
Moltres flapped its wings in place, no longer emitting flames. "Thank You Moltres." Ash smiled at it and then turned to face to arrival of the others. Gary flew in close allowing Misty to jump back over to Ash.
"You did it!" The beautiful red head practically dived on her husband, hugging him in a mixture of happiness, relief and pride. Ash grinned. "Ow!" The grin soon turned to a grimace.
Misty hit her husband on the shoulder and playfully scolded him. "Don't scare me like that!"
"Hahaha I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ash held his hands up in defence, whilst sweat dropping and laughing along nervously.
"Ash." Gary called out. Ash turned his attention to his former rival. When we saw the serious look on the researchers face, Ash's face also hardened.
"I'd been looking into the data and numbers of the strange occurrences recently, they match Grandpa's files on the Shamouti Island incident, and now with the appearance of Moltres here, it can't be a mere coincidence. I'm not just speculating, I'm sure, something has disrupted the balance of Fire, Ice and Thunder."
Ash nodded. "Zapdos is missing."
"Zapdos!" Gary and Elaine both exclaimed together. "So that's it." Gary concluded.
"Yeah, I also had the same feeling as you Gary, so I went to Shamouti Island. I saw Lugia."
"Lugia?"
Ash nodded again. "Lugia told me it couldn't feel Zapdos anymore. Its energy was just … gone. So, I traced its last known presence at the old power plant. I found this." Ash reached into his pocket and tossed the broken device he found over to to his friend.
Gary caught it and began examining the beat up device in his hands. "No way. This is a Mean Look Seal." Gary informed the others. "It's a man-made device that artificially synthesises the dark move, not letting wild pokémon either enter or escape an area. It was deemed unethical so Silph Co never approved the prototype into production. How did it end up there?"
"Turn it over." Ash replied flatly.
Gary turned the object and saw the big bold red "R". He looked Ash in the eye, his face stoic. "Team Rocket."
"It was at Zapdos last known location …"
"If Zapdos has gone missing and Team Rocket are involved…"
Gary's sentence was interrupted by the calling of Ash's pokégear. A dishevelled Lance appeared; he spoke with urgency.
"Champion Ketchum! We've lost sight of Articuno. It was with us past Fuchsia City, then all of a sudden it just cried out and blasted away from us, we couldn't keep up. It's headed North West."
"North West?" North West from Fuchsia City … Ash looked over at Moltres flapping calmly, hovering at the same spot. "It'll be coming for Moltres. Lance, all four of you need to get over to Viridian City now."
"We are on our way, Champion." The device went dark as Lance hung up.
"We have to get Moltres to a safe place before Articuno comes looking for a fight." Gary spoke up from the open conversation. "Ash, would Lugia be able to calm them down?"
Ash shook his head. "Lugia may be able to quell their fighting for a time but without Zapdos, Lugia wont have the strength to keep them at bay forever."
"Ok, so what do we do?" Elaine asked.
"We need to get Zapdos back." Gary concluded.
"There's still one other thing that doesn't add up." Ash mused.
"What is it Ash?" Misty enquired.
"Just because Zapdos is missing, it doesn't explain why Moltres went berserk earlier and attacked the city. I'd understand if it was fighting for dominance or territory but that wasn't the case back there. Gary, Elaine you were here right? Any ideas?"
Gary shook his head "I don't really know what happened Ash. I'd just finished my battle with Amber when there was this big shock wave, almost like an explosion and"
"Hold on did you say Amber?" Ash spoke up puzzled. Misty's eyes widened at the mention of her daughter. Pikachu's ears pricked up.
"Yeah, didn't she call you?" Gary questioned.
"No. She didn't. But why would you be battling with Amber?" Ash questioned further, really confused.
"What is this? 20 questions? Because she challenged me for the Earth Badge."
"Wait, what? How? Amber is at home in Pallet Town." Misty chimed in.
Gary looked to Misty. "In Pallet Town? No, I don't think she could have gotten that far. I left her down at the Gym when Moltres attacked to contact you for help. Didn't she get through to you?"
Panic flashed on Misty's face, she tugged on Ash's arm and learned towards Charizard's head. "Take us down to the Gym."
Charizard dived down to the gym below, Gary and Elaine followed. Moltres stayed put hovering above them.
"AMMMBBBEEERRRR!" Misty called out. She jumped off Charizard before he'd even touched down on the ground and ran towards the gym. Pikachu was in hot pursuit of her, also eager to find his friend. "Pi-Kaa" the little electric pokémon called out for the girl.
Ash and Gary looked at each other and followed. It didn't take the group long to realise the teenager was nowhere in sight.
"She's probably taken shelter someplace." Elaine spoke up.
Misty immediately pulled out her pokégear. She tapped on it a few times and her face visibly paled. "Ash!" She turned the device around so he could see the map of Kanto with a red bleep heading towards Celadon City.
Ash's mouth went dry. His eye browns creased in fury, angrily he turned to confront Gary. "You left her?!"
"Oh I'm sorry, was I supposed to let her tag along TO FIGHT A BIG FIRE BLASTING BIRD?" Gary retorted.
Ash softly growled. He knew it wasn't Gary's fault, but he did not like this situation one bit.
"Ash." Misty softly spoke and placed a hand on his forearm. Her eyes glistened with worry. "Ash, how could she be all the way out there ... if she was just here?"
Ash looked at his wife. His face filled with concern too. The bad feeling in the pit of his stomach grew and he could not ignore it's gnawing at his insides.
"Maybe she flew off?" Elaine shrugged, not really understanding what the big panic was.
Gary shook his head. "I don't think so, she didn't have a flying pokémon in her party."
SOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR
Ash, Misty, Gary, Elaine and their pokémon looked up as Moltres began to screech and flap wildly again. Flames spat out from it's wings, cascading in the sky like fiery rain, dispersing before hitting the ground.
"Oh no, here we go again …" Elaine's posture sagged.
"It get's worse." Gary pointed to an approaching blue blur in the sky.
"Articuno!" Misty exclaimed.
"Pi Pi Pikachu" Pikachu cried out.
"Ash, you go get Amber, we'll take care of Moltres and Articuno." Gary stepped forwards.
"Gary? ... But!"
Gary stopped Ash from continuing. "You're no good to us if your head is elsewhere. And the Elite Four will be with us any minute. Don't worry about it. We got this." Gary turned to Elaine. "Right?"
"Uhhhh. What?" Elaine really was lost now. What was Gary thinking?!
Gary turned back to Ash. "Na it'll be fine. We'll keep Moltres and Articuno under control here, you go get your kid and once she's home safe, it's up to you to find Zapdos and restore the balance. It's the only way to end all of this."
Ash resigned and nodded in agreement.
"Pi Ka Chu." Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder ready to go.
"I'm coming with you." Misty latched onto her husband's arm, her face tilted downwards, looking at the ground.
"Misty?" Ash spoke softly as he looked down at his wife.
"One way or another." She looked up, her eyes blazing like fire. "Or baby is in trouble."