Episode 81: Keeping Your Friends Close

Team Rocket has just interrupted the battle between Ash and Cosmo, and are demanding the Grand Meteoric Shard that Ash took from Team Planetary. Ash isn't in the mood for this. He shouts, "Pikachu, get rid of them! Thunderbolt!"

Cosmo seems to want to get rid of them as soon as possible too. He orders, "Leaf Storm!" Both attacks are sent flying right at Team Rocket.

Jessie grabs Wobbuffet, who's standing behind her, forcibly by the shoulders, and pushes it in front of her. "Make yourself useful, you useless blob!"

"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet cloaks itself in rainbow energy. Both the Thunderbolt and Leaf Storm impact Wobbuffet's Mirror Coat and are sent right back at Pikachu and Ferntress.

James declares, "You can label that one return to sender!"

Ash and Cosmo both shout, "Dodge!" They do so, and the reflected attacks both hit the ground where they stood. This causes the ground to crumble. The crumbling quickly increases, and within moments the ground beneath Ash, Cosmo, Pikachu, and Ferntress completely collapses. They all fall into the newly opened hole.

Brock, Brenda, and Braydon all shout, "Ash!"

From behind the statue, something that was hiding dashes out, and jumps down the hole after Ash and Cosmo. It moves too fast to see anything more than an orange-yellow blur. Once it's through, rocks falling from the edges of the hole lodge themselves in its center, sealing it completely.

Ash, Cosmo, Pikachu, and Ferntress all tumble down through a long, yet narrow shaft. It makes several abrupt twists and turns, causing them bump and bang against the walls. Pikachu, being the smallest of them, is affected the worst by these impacts. It cries out in pain, "Pika!"

Ash reaches for Pikachu in an attempt to shield it with his body, but can't, as the narrowness of the shaft makes it impossible. Moments later, Ash's head knocks against the wall, causing him to pass out. Everything goes black.

Back with the others, everyone, including Team Rocket, is left surprised by what just happened. Brenda breaks the stunned silence by running over the now-filled in hole. She shouts down into it, "Ash!" She tries to pull rocks out, but the entire structure of rocks begins to shake and shifts slightly.

Brock warns, "Don't! The last thing we want is for all those rocks to fall down on top of Ash!"

Brenda asks, "But how else are we going to get him out?"

Brock doesn't know and can't give an answer. Finally, he says, "We'll just have find another way down to whatever tunnel Ash fell into to."

Meanwhile, Jessie shouts angrily at Wobbuffet, "Can you do nothing right, you blundering, blubbery, blue blob!? We wanted to capture the Twerp! Not get rid of him!"

Sounding ashamed of itself, Wobbuffet responds, "Wobba…"

Before anyone can say anything else, Braydon shouts, "Get rid of them, Kappaquarius! Hydro Cannon!"

Before Team Rocket can respond, the Hydro Cannon attack hits the floor at their feet and explodes. This sends Team Rocket flying down through the tunnel behind them. They all shout, "Does this count as a blast off!?" They disappear from sight.

With them gone, Brenda says, "Come on. We've got to find Ash. Let's find a tunnel that takes us down." They head off.

Ash slowly opens his eyes. He's lying on the ground. He blinks slowly a couple of times while he's coming to. It takes him several moments to realize that Cosmo is standing over him. He suddenly bolts up and takes a defensive stance. "Cosmo!" He reaches for his belt to grab a Pokéball, but finds nothing there.

Cosmo replies, "It's worthless. All of your Pokéballs fell from your belt and went down a separate tunnel. The same happened to me."

Ash suddenly realizes that Pikachu isn't with him. "Where's Pikachu!?"

Cosmo points to the side. Ash looks over to see Pikachu lying up against a rock. It's passed out and looks extremely beaten up by the fall. "Pikachu!" He runs over it for a closer look. "Can you hear me, buddy?" There's no response. Ash is suddenly struck by the fact that Cosmo is simply standing there. He turns back to face him. "What's going on here!?" Ash suddenly remembers something. He notices his bag lying on the ground. He leaps for it, grabs it, digs through it, and finds the Grand Meteoric Shard. He looks up to Cosmo with surprise.

"No, I did not touch your bag. Everything is as you left it, or at least as the fall left it."

Ash's look changes to one of suspicion. "Alright, now I know something is wrong. What's going on here?"

Cosmo beckons to the room around them. "You see this chamber we're in?" Ash looks around, seeing that they're in a small chamber with only one exit. "There's only one way out, which leads to another tunnel. I took one step into that tunnel and was immeadiatly attacked by a Houndoom and a Medicham. Ferntress and I tried to fight our way through, but it was still too damaged from the fall to take them on." He beckons to Ferntress, which lies resting, looking damaged, though not nearly as beat up as Pikachu. "They ceased their attack as soon as I returned to this chamber. Like it or not, we're both stuck in here and neither can get out alone, so our only chance to get out is to work together."

Ash sneers. "Why should I work with you, you crook?"

Cosmo states, rather indifferently, "Surely you've already built up all your pre-conceived notions and misconceptions about me, and there's nothing I can do to change your mind about them, but surely you must be intelligent enough to reason you have no other choice. You and I are trapped down here, with nothing but two badly damaged Pokémon, who are in no condition to fight, in a chamber guarded by two powerful Pokémon. We have no means of escape except to fight our way out. One of us alone has no chance. Think what you'd like about me, but staying there, up on your moral high ground, will not help you get out of here. Only I can."

Ash sighs. Reluctantly he admits, "I guess I have no other choice. We'll call a temporary truce."

Cosmo nods. "Good. I was beginning to think that you allowed your emotions to dictate all of your actions."

Ignoring the comment, Ash asks, "Obviously, you have some sort of plan to get out of here, or you wouldn't be saying you need my help. What is it?"

"I want you to go out there first and draw the attention of the wild Pokémon. Once they're focused on attacking you, Ferntress and I will come in and fight them. Hopefully one good sneak attack should stop them enough for us to move past them."

Ash groans. "So in other words, I'm bait. Wonderful."

Cosmo is in no mood for this. "If you have a better plan, feel free to share it. Do try to keep in mind that I'm the only one with a Pokémon that can battle."

Ash concedes, "No, we'll do it your way."

Cosmo nods. "Good. Then there's no sense in delaying. Let's do it now."

Ash walks over to Pikachu and gingerly picks it up. Pikachu stirs slightly. "I hope you feel better soon. Too bad Brock isn't here." He places Pikachu into his backpack, with its head peeking out, and puts the backpack back on. "Alright, I'm ready."

Cosmo motions towards the exit. "Those Pokémon noticed me the moment I stepped out of this chamber, so something tells me they're keeping an eye on us. You shouldn't have to do much to get their attention. Just do what you can to draw it away from Ferntress and me."

"Alright, here I go." He steps out of the chamber. The area he steps into looks almost more like a hallway than a cave, with its smooth floor, a roof that looks like a vaulted ceiling, and the fact that it goes forward in a straight path with no end in sight. It is extremely large and spacious. Surrounding the exit Ash took are the Pokémon Cosmo described, a Houndoom and a Medicham. And just as Cosmo suspected, they take note of Ash the moment he steps out. Ash shouts, "Houndoom! Medicham! Bet you can't catch me!" He dashes forward, right past them.

Houndoom and Medicham instantly run after Ash. Houndoom attacks with a powerful Flamethrower, but Ash weaves to the side to dodge it. Medicham leaps forward and attempts to attack Ash with an Ice Punch, but Ash once again manages to dodge, but only just barely.

Ash asks himself, "Cosmo, where are you?" Obviously having little faith in him.

But then Cosmo commands, "Ferntress, use Leaf Storm!" Both Pokémon are hit by the attack, but it doesn't seem to do as much damage as Cosmo has hoped, as both Pokémon seem mostly unscathed.

Houndoom and Medicham both look to each other for a moment, and then nod in unspoken agreement. Houndoom turns to approach Cosmo and Ferntress, while Medicham continues to move towards Ash.

Ash backs up nervously, uncertain of what to do. He is quickly backed up against a wall. Medicham prepares to use another Ice Punch. Ash shouts, "Hey, I could use a little help over here!"

Cosmo shouts back, "I'm a bit busy myself!" He then quickly commands, "Foliage Fortress!" Ferntress only just barely manages to protect itself Houndoom's fire attack.

Ash gulps. "Great, this is what I get for trusting a bad guy."

Medicham leaps at Ash to attack, but suddenly a voice shouts, "Chuuuuuuuu!" and a bolt of lightning strikes Medicham before it can hit Ash.

Ash's eyes widen. "Pikachu?" He looks behind him, to see that Pikachu is still unconscious in his bag. "But, what was that then?"

Medicham gets back up and looks around, also confused about the source of the attack. Ash's question is answered when, from some ledge up above him, a Pokémon leaps down, landing in-between Ash and Medicham. The Pokémon is a Raichu. Around its waist, it wears some sort of ornate belt, and set in that belt is a Mega Stone. It declares in challenge to the Medicham, "Rai rai!"

Medicham looks at it angrily, and then attacks it with High Jump Kick. "Medicham!"

Raichu also leaps up into the air and attacks back with a Thunder Punch. It manages to contort its body around Medicham's kick, and then lands its punch. Medicham is slammed into the floor. While still in the air, Raichu attacks with Thunder again. "Raaaaaai chuuuuuuuuu!"

After this attack, Medicham is sent running. Raichu lands elegantly on the ground.

Ash smiles at it. "Thanks for that, Raichu. Where'd you come from, anyways?" Ash suddenly has a flashback to all the times he saw a suspicious bit of movement in the Crater Gate. "Wait a second, you're the Pokémon I kept on seeing before! Have you been following me?"

Raichu nods. "Raichu."

Before Ash can question any further, he suddenly remembers Cosmo. He looks over to see that he and Ferntress have just successfully repelled the Houndoom. He looks over to Ash and asks, "What's up with the Raichu?"

Ash shrugs. "I really don't know, but I think it's been following me around the caves."

Raichu approaches Ash, and then points down the cave. "Rai."

Ash asks, "What is it? Do you want us to follow you? Do you know the way out from here?"

Raichu nods. "Raichu."

"Alright, then lead the way."

Cosmo questions, "You're going to trust this random Pokémon that's been following you for reasons you don't know?"

"Hey, I'm trusting you, aren't I? Don't see how this is any worse." He walks off after Raichu. Without turning back to face Cosmo, he adds, "But hey, you're free to do whatever you want. I certainly don't want you coming with me."

Cosmo sighs, defeated, and follows after them.

Who's that Pokémon!?

Theoretically, this Pokémon formed from icicles bathed in energy from the morning sun. Their breath is -58° F.

Brock, Brenda, and Braydon are running through the cave. The stop at a fork in the path. Brenda asks, "Well, which way should we go?"

Brock points to the path on the right. "That tunnel leads downwards, and we need to go down as far as possible."

Brenda and Braydon both nod in agreement. The three run down the path. After running for some way, Braydon suddenly stops and points toward a corner. "Guys, look! Pokéballs!"

Lying on the floor in the indicated direction are four Pokéballs. Brenda inquires with surprise, "Could those be…?"

Brock, knowing what she's about to ask, responds, "There's only one way to find out." He walks over to one of the Pokéballs and picks it up. He then tosses it into the air. "Go!"

From the Pokéball, Turtsol appears. It looks around in confusion, having expected to see Ash. "Turt? Sol?"
Brenda explains, "Ash got separated from us. We don't know where he is now."

Braydon suggests, "If his Pokéballs are here, shouldn't Ash be near?"

Brock shakes his head. "Not necessarily, look up there." He points to a hole in the ceiling above where the Pokéballs landed. "It looks like the Pokéballs fell from there, and we're approximately beneath the chamber Ash fell from. He must have dropped them through a small off-shoot. There's no telling where he went after that."

Brenda states, "So essentially, you're telling me that Ash could be anywhere, and these Pokéballs don't help one bit?"

Brock nods. "Essentially."

Braydon picks up the remaining three Pokéballs. "In that case, we'd better get moving. Not only is Ash lost somewhere in this cave, but he's lost without his Pokémon to help him out. We've got to find him, and fast."

Brock and Brenda agree. Brock recalls Turtsol to its Pokéball, and they run off again.

It's Vanillite!

Ash, Cosmo, Ferntress, and Raichu continue their trek through the cave. There is a palpable sense of awkwardness between them. Ash is doing his best to simply ignore Cosmo and keep on moving, but every so often he can't help but to check behind his back and glance at Cosmo.

Cosmo isn't so apprehensive, but does take note of Ash's distrustful glances. He just keeps on walking silently.

This keeps up for a while longer, until something unexplainable happens. Without any warning, a strange vortex of swirling purple and black shadows opens above their path, parallel to the ground. A strange humming noise can be heard from it. Both Ash and Cosmo look up to it with surprise. Raichu seems to know what's coming next, and doesn't seem to be looking forward to it.

Then, from the vortex, two globules of some sort of purple, shadowy material drips down to the floor, forming two puddles. The vortex then closes abruptly.

Forgetting about his apprehension for his company, Ash asks, "What is that stuff?"

Cosmo observes it closely. "I…don't know…"

Then the shadow goo begins to move on its own accord. A shape begins to rise out of each puddle. The shapes grow larger and larger, and take on more definite forms. Within moments they have taken on the appearance of a Mega Gengar and a Mega Aggron, only made from the shadow goo. Despite their more definite forms, the shadow goo occasionally drips off of their bodies, lands beneath them, and is then re-absorbed.

Ash and Cosmo both take a cautious step back, while Raichu prepares for a fight. Ash stammers, "Wh-wh-what are th-those things!?"

Before Cosmo can answer, the shadow Mega Pokémon leap at them an attack. The phantom Gengar launches at Ash and attacks with an attack resembling a Shadow Claw, while the phantom Aggron charges at Cosmo for a ramming attack.

Raichu leaps into action and attacks both of them with a Thunder attack. For a moment, both phantom Pokémon lose their form, reverting back into shapeless blobs, but they quickly re-form.

With the initial shock past, Ash and Cosmo both ready themselves for battle. Both phantom Pokémon resume their previous attacks. Ash suggests, "Hey Raichu, how about a Thunder Punch!"

Cosmo commands, "Ferntress, use Bulldoze!"

Raichu leaps at the Gengar and meets Gengar's claws with its fist. Meanwhile, Ferntress and Aggron both ram into each other. Both pairs of combatants bounce back after their attacks collide. The phantoms momentarily destabilize and re-form once more.

Both Ash and Cosmo think alike and decide to take advantage of this moment of instability. Ash shouts, "Thunder!"

While Cosmo orders, "Leaf Storm!"

Both powerful attacks are sent at the still re-stabilizing phantom Pokémon. Aside from a small increase in time it takes them to re-form, the attacks seem to do little in the way of further damage.

Cosmo comments, "It's no use, whatever these things are, they can take anything we can throw at them."

Ash shakes his head. "No, I refuse to believe we can't do anything. I won't stop! Not until Pikachu is safe!" He looks back to his target, the phantom Gengar, and shouts, "Raichu, Hyper Beam, let's do it!" Raichu leaps into the air and unleashes a massively powerful beam of orange energy. The Gengar begins to move to dodge, but is unable to get out of the way. The beam blasts a hole right through the Gengar's center. Ash clenches his fists in annoyance. "Shoot!"

In his anger, he doesn't notice that the phantom Mega Aggron is charging to attack Ash himself. Raichu is too focused on Gengar to notice either.

Only when it's too late does Ash realize the coming threat. He turns to it in terror, unable to do anything to defend himself. Instinctively, he pulls Pikachu from his bag and hugs it tightly.

Just before the attack lands, Cosmo orders, "Frenzy Plant!" Then giant vines rip out from the ground and wrap around the phantom Aggron, crushing it and causing its shadow goo to fly in all directions.

Ash looks to Cosmo in surprise. "You saved me!?"

"I already told you, despite your preconceived notions, I'm not a bad guy."

Suddenly, Ferntress cries out, "Feeeern!" Cosmo looks over it to see that the Gengar snuck up at it and attacked.

In honest worry, Cosmo shouts, "Ferntress!" Ferntress quickly manages to fend off the Gengar with a Leaf Storm.

Between seeing Cosmo rescue him, and now this concern for his Pokémon, Ash is left looking at Cosmo with some uncertainty.

Cosmo looks over to see that Gengar has recovered, and that the Aggron is nearly completely reconstituted. He says, "Now, if we're going to have a shot at defeating these things, we need to coordinate our attacks."

With everything he just witnessed, Ash seems much more receptive to this idea than he would have only moments before. He nods. "Alright, let's do it. You ready to end this, Raichu?"

Raichu nods. "Rai."

Just then, both Aggron and Gengar attack again. Cosmo orders, "Frenzy Plant, once more!" Ferntress momentarily stands on its hind legs, and then slams its front legs down into the ground. Once it does so, the massive vines appear from the ground once more. "Be ready to attack as soon as those vines take hold!" The vines do so, grabbing and squeezing both phantom Pokémon. Just as before, this causes the shadow goo that forms them to explode out in all directions.

Then Ash shouts, "Now Raichu, Hyper Beam!" Raichu leaps into the air and attacks in a sweeping motion with the Hyper Beam. The scattered goo is already too disassociated to separate any further, and is completely vaporized as a result.

After taking a moment to survey the area and ensure that the shadows are not reforming, Ash declares, "That did it! They're gone!"

Cosmo nods, and even allows for a small smile to cross his face. Having indulged himself enough, he gets serious again and declares, "We need to get moving again. We've just wasted a lot of time, and have no idea if those things are gone for good or not."

Ash nods. "Alright. Let's go."

They begin to move. Ferntress tries to take a step forward, but suddenly groans in pain. "Treeess!" It collapses.

Cosmo suddenly turns around with worry. "Ferntress, what's wrong?" He runs over to it and bends over. He runs a hand over its side. "The shadow creature must have somehow penetrated your fern armor. I don't have any medical supplies to treat you with. Can you move?"

Ferntress tries to stand back up, but fails. "Fern…"

Cosmo then states, "We'll have to find shelter and rest for the night, and hope your injury heals itself." He looks over to Ash, who is staring with some shock and amazement at him. He says sternly, "If you would be as kind as to get over your self-indulging surprise, and come over to help me move Ferntress?"

Unsure what to think, Ash walks over to Cosmo and Ferntress, and prepares to help him move the Pokémon.

Brock, Brenda, and Braydon have continued their search, but to no avail. Brock suddenly declares, "Guys, we have to stop for the night."

Brenda and Braydon both look to him like he's crazy. Brenda demands, "What do you mean?"

Braydon adds, "Are you saying we should give up on Ash?"

Brock shakes his head. "No. That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying that it's late in night, and the we'll never be able to find Ash if we get too tired to search properly. Besides, Ash is smart. He'll be resting for the night too, which means our chances of finding him will go down."

Brenda reluctantly admits, "Yeah, I guess so."

Braydon nods. "I don't like it, but you're not wrong." He then asks, "So we're spending the night in a cave then?"

Brock nods. "I have all the necessary equipment. We'll get rested up, and we'll find Ash tomorrow. That's for sure."

Brenda looks out, deep into the tunnel ahead of them. With a sense of dread, she says, "Ash…please be alright… We'll find you… I promise…"

Things have only gotten crazier since we last talked. Now Ash and Cosmo are stuck working together, and Brock, Brenda, and Braydon have a hard search ahead of them. And how about these strange shadow monsters that look Mega Pokémon? What could they possibly be, and how do they factor into what's going on here? They seem to indicate that something greater than any of us could imagine is going on here. Stay tuned…

To Be Continued…