As this Pokémon Pageant continues, Eva is relying on Chrysaluxe's performance to help her get through round 2!
"Are you ready, Chrysaluxe?" said Eva, kneeling down to look at the Pupa Pokémon. Chysaluxe had its eyes closed, mentally bracing itself, until it opened them and nodded.
"Then let's do it!" said Eva. She stood up and Charmor jumped before her. Serena and Vernon continued to watch intently from backstage.
"Don't be scared, Chrysaluxe. Now is your time to shine."
Eva commanded Charmor to use Ember and make it rain down on top of them. Chrusaluxe looked upon it, thinking of shooting stars. Then, Eva asked for Chrysaluxe to use String Shot, and it wrapped its silk around the body of Charmor. Charmor then used Flame Charge and ran around Chrysaluxe in a circle, until Chrysaluxe managed to lift it into the air. Charmor then shot through the air like a comet. When it landed, it and Chrysaluxe were prepared to use their final move. Charmor would use Tackle and launch the bug Pokémon upwards, where it would use Flash to dazzle the entire area. Eva looked at them expectantly, while Serena felt her palms shaking from backstage.
Then Charmor charged forward, and Chrysaluxe braced itself, but as Charmor neared closer, and closer, it suddenly grew a new image in its mind. This time, instead of seeing shooting stars soaring overhead, all it could see was a shooting star heading straight for it.
Just as Charmor was upon Chrysaluxe, the bug Pokémon suddenly let itself fall to the side. As a result, Charmor missed Chrysaluxe and then stumbled and fell over. When the audience saw this, they all gasped in shock, and then fell silent.
Serena stood in the backstage area shocked. "No, Chysaluxe!" she silently whispered to herself. "I... didn't think... it would end like this."
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Eva, Jessie, and the other two contestants stood on the stage before the audience. Fenwick stood before them, and said, "Well, now that the performance round is over, it is up to you there in the audience to use the pads in front of you to vote for the contestant that you liked best. The two with the highest scores will move on to the battle round!"
The people in the audience began tapping the small screens attached to the chairs in front of them to choose their favorite contestant. As the votes got in and were tallied, Eva held her breath, and looked anxiously at the screen showing the results.
Unfortunately, the results showed that she did not qualify for the final round. Only Jessie and another contestant did.
"Yes!" Jessie cheered. "Of course, it's not like it was going to end any other way!"
"Great," Meowth moaned in the audience. "I was hoping she'd lose, then we could get on with the mission."
As Serena and Vernon looked on the events on the monitors backstage, and felt their hearts sink. However, Chrysaluxe was observing things behind them, having been brought back to Serena earlier. It nearly cried, because it knew exactly why Eva had lost. It had let its cowardice get the better of it.
Afterwards, Eva entered the room. "Sorry, Eva," said Vernon. "We know how much you wanted to win."
"No, it's alright," Eva reassured. "I still had a lot of fun out there. Seeing all those smiling people, it was totally worth it. I just didn't expect Chrysaluxe to-"
"I'm sorry, Eva," said Serena. "Chrysaluxe wasn't ready. And I should've known that."
Chrysaluxe hung its head in shame. As it heard this conversation, it felt terrible about what happened. It secretly jumped off its chair and snuck out the door. Once out, it looked back at its Trainer apologetically, and bounced away.
"I-I..." Serena said to herself. "No, there's no excuse. I put Chrysaluxe out there before it was ready. And I made it panic. It's my fault, not Chrysaluxe's."
Serena turned to face the chair where Chrysaluxe was once sitting. "Chysaluxe, I'm sorry, I-" But then, she saw that her Pokémon was now missing.
"Chysaluxe? Chrysaluxe!" she said, looking around frantically.
"Professor?" said Ash. "What're you doing here?"
"G'day!" said Professor Acacia. "I'm doing my job. Right now, people have asked for my help in relocating some of the Wombites around here. See, they've gotten into some food stocks lately, but I offered to help them move to another food source."
"Interesting," said Brett, "but Dad, I hope you're being careful. I don't wanna repeat the incident with the Mantine."
"It didn't mean to hurt me," said Acacia. "I mean, sure it almost Signal Beam-ed me through the heart, but I made peace with it. Besides, I've got Crocky with me." At the mention of its name, the Professor's pet Sandile walked up next to his ankle.
"Looks like neat research you've got here," Ash said. "Hey, do you need any help?"
"Sure," said Acacia. "Just pick up a stick and follow my lead!"
"NO!" said Brett. "No, no, no! There must be a better way."
"It's fine," said Acacia. "I know that Wombites only resort to physical combat as a last resort. If I wake them up, I can lead them into a cage I set up over here." He led the two boys, Pikachu, and RotomDex towards a large cage hidden in a bush. "Then I relocate them to a better place."
Suddenly, Crocky fell onto the ground, holding its head in pain. Everyone looked at it in confusion, but suddenly, Pikachu fell down, and did the same thing.
"Guys?" Ash knelt down to his partner. "What's going on? What's wrong?"
"I think there's some kind of sound that only they can hear," Acacia hypothesized. Suddenly, they heard wings flapping, and turned their heads upward to see a Murkrow descending on them. The Murkrow landed on the cage, which contained a lot of Wombites and it pulled the hook out, opening the cage. At this, the Wombites began holding their ears, and they suddenly went crazy. They began biting and scratching at each other, until they all poured out of the cage, knocking Ash, Brett, and Acacia in the process.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" said Ash. Suddenly, he looked over at Pikachu and Crocky, sparks emitting from Pikachu's cheeks. "Pikachu? What's the matter?" Ash reached his hand forward to touch his partner, but suddenly, Pikachu unleashed a furious Thunderbolt, shocking everyone in the area (except for Crocky, who is a Ground Type, and therefore was left unaffected). The two Pokémon suddenly ran off after the Wombites.
"Whoa, what was that about? Pikachu!" Ash called out after his Pokémon.
"I think that sound that's tormenting them must be causing them so much pain, it's sent them into a blind rage!" Acacia theorized.
"Are you sure it's a sound?" said Brett.
"I'm positive," said Acacia. "It's the only explanation I can think of. It's affecting all the Pokémon in the vicinity, and we can't see or hear anything. It must be so high-pitched, only Pokémon can hear."
"Look, we've gotta find Pikachu and Crocky!" said Ash. "Who knows what kind of trouble they could get into? Maybe Humbeat can help find them?"
He pulled out a PokéBall, but Acacia quickly covered it up with his hand. "NO! Don't send out any Pokémon! The sound could rile them up too! It's safer to leave them in their PokéBalls for now."
"I'm glad I already put Koaleaf put into its PokéBall," Brett said.
"It's okay, guys!" said RotomDex. "I believe if I can get high enough, I can use my Poké Finder feature to scan for them." He suddenly flew upwards above the surrounding trees, and the PokéDex in Brett's pocket suddenly rang. Curious, Brett pulled it out and received a call from RotomDex.
"Can you guys hear me?" RotomDex's voice was heard on the other end.
"How did you get this number?" Brett said.
"Relax, I just saw you type in the number when you opened it for the first time. Now come on, I think I can see a trail."
The battle round was heating up, and Jessie and Napiat were up against another girl and her Brionne.
"Brionne, use Baby Doll Eyes!" the girl said. Brionne's eyes grew larger, and hearts poured from its eyes. Napiat's Attack was lowered.
"Grr," said Jessie. "Use Venoshock!" Napiat spewed a torrent of purple liquid and hit Brionne in the chest.
"Use Bubble Beam!" Brionne spewed bubbles from its nose, but with Jessie's orders, Napiat was able to dodge them all with its long body. The graceful dodging caused Brionne's score to be lowered.
"Use Iron Tail!" Jessie commanded. Napiat's tail turned metallic silver, and swatted Brionne away.
"Use Disarming Voice!" Brionne screeched and let out many pink hearts from its mouth, pushing Napiat back. Jessie was about to retaliate when the bell was suddenly sounded.
"That's it! The Battle round is over!" Fenwick declared. "And according to the point meters, Madame Jocelyn wins by 15 points!"
"Yes!" Jessie declared. "Victory is mine!"
"Well, we send a special thank you to all our contestants today, but for now, the medal will go to Madame Jocelyn," said Fenwick.
He presented Jessie a bronze medal with the number 1 inscribed upon it. Jessie gladly took it and posed.
"Perfect, my first medal is mine! Was there ever a doubt!"
"Well, that's our show, ladies and gentlemen!" said Fenwick. "Let's give another great round of applause!" And the audience gave a large amount of applause.
"Read it and weep, boys!" Jessie gloated, presenting her new medal before James and Meowth, now standing behind the Pageant Hall in their normal Team Rocket uniforms. "The first of many!"
"Yeah, that's great," said James. "Now can we please get on with-"
He was suddenly cut off by his communicator buzzing again. He pulled it out and answered it, revealing a royally angry Giovanni on the other end.
"What is taking you three lousy mooks so long!?" Giovanni angrily demanded. "I sent you to nab those Team Shade blueprints a long time ago!"
"Our most sincere apologies, boss!" James and Meowth hung their heads before him. "It's just, Jessie here insisted that we run off for-"
"No excuses!" Giovanni said. "I've learned quite a bit about those Team Shade punks when we were researching the Ralia region. Those runts are going to cause a lot of problems for us in the future! Now I need the three of you get those blueprints so we can simultaneously halt their own plans and feed our own! NOW GET MOVING!"
"Um, yes, sir!" Jessie, James, and Meowth quickly saluted their boss before turning off the communicator. "You heard the man, let's do it!" said James.
Who's that Pokémon?
It sprays a foul fluid from its rear end. The smell can linger for 24 hours and can drive away Pokémon from a mile-wide radius.
"Chrysaluxe?" said Serena, now running around outside the Pageant Hall, she, Eva, and Vernon frantically looking for the Pupa Pokémon. "I'm sorry, Chysaluxe, I shouldn't have put you out there! You weren't ready!"
Serena peaked underneath a bush. "Forget the pageant, okay? I just want you to come back."
"Serena?" came a distant voice. The three turned their heads to see Ash, Brett, and Professor Acacia walking up to them. "Are you guys okay?" Ash asked.
"Professor Acacia?" Vernon couldn't help but ask.
"I came here on a relocation mission for all the Wombites in the area," said the Professor. "But the three of you need to get indoors right now."
"No, I lost Chrysaluxe!" Serena cried. "I-I tried to put it on stage, but I couldn't take the pressure, and now it's run off!" Serena could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, kneeling down on the ground. "It's my fault, okay? I drove it off."
"No, no, no, Serena, it's not your fault," Vernon put a hand on her shoulder. "I know that Chrysaluxe doesn't blame you for what happened."
"It's true," said Eva reassuredly. "I can tell that Chrysaluxe actually enjoyed itself out there."
Ash didn't like the sight of his friend crying and beating herself up. Slowly, he kneeled before her and said, "Hey, Serena?" Serena's eyes slowly rose upward and met Ash's. "I'm really sorry you lost Chrysaluxe, but I know that Chrysaluxe wouldn't leave you. And do you know why? It's because you were the first person to trust it, to believe in it. You wanted to help it, and that's why it needs you now!"
"But-"
"So what if you've had a little misunderstanding? I always thought that all friends fight, but it's through those very fights that friendships get even stronger."
Serena looked up to Ash through the tears in her eyes as he continued. "It may seem bad now, but I know that if we find Chrysaluxe, it'll only want to come back to you. To its friend, to the one who believed in it."
Serena remained silent for a moment, but then nodded, smiled, and accepted Ash's hand to help her up. "You always know just what say!" She turned to face everyone else. "Ash is right! I'm not gonna leave Chrysaluxe behind!"
"Good," said Acacia, nodding. "But now's probably the time to say we need to do it quickly. You see, we have a situation."
Chrysaluxe sat down on its tree stump, looking up at the sky, now that it was dusk. It continued to think back to its failure of a performance. It believed that it could take it on, even Serena believed it. But for Chrysaluxe, it always lived in a world where it felt small. As a Starva, it was chased and forced to hide frequently. The only thing that made it feel free was looking upon the night sky, and seeing shooting stars and the glow of the moon, and it had always wished it could fly all the way up there. And at the Pageant, it felt like it finally could.
But seeing Charmor charge at it made it feel like even flying free was risky. That it could fall at any moment. And that's why it bailed. It felt so fragile at that very moment. It felt like if it fell once, it wouldn't be able to get back up.
It never wanted to disappoint Serena like it did, but that's exactly what happened. All because it was such a coward, it failed both Eva and Serena. And now, it was too ashamed to show itself.
Suddenly, it heard a rustle in the bushes nearby. It peeked over, but was suddenly blasted away by a stray Thunderbolt. As it managed to sit up after landing, it suddenly noticed Pikachu running past. Before it could even react to it, Pikachu wildly charged past and knocked it to the side. As Chrysaluxe opened its eyes again, it suddenly saw a Starly descend from above. It looked like it was in a lot of pain, and then dove downward at Chrysaluxe with a Take Down attack. Chrysaluxe braced for the worst, but suddenly, the bird Pokémon was blasted with black ash. Chrysaluxe looked behind it to see the shiny Charmor taking a firm stance next to it, having just emitted a Smokescreen attack. The Starly looked angry and prepared to attack again, but Charmor once again spat a Smokescreen towards it, blinding it, though its flapping wings blew some back towards it. The ash fell all over Charmor's head, but it still quickly picked Chrysaluxe up onto its back and the two ran away while the Starly was still attempting to recover its vision.
After running for a while, Charmor had to stop to catch its breath, and as a result, Chrysaluxe fell off its back. Chrysaluxe sat back up to look at the panting armadillo creature, but moved up towards it. Charmor looked at the Pupa Pokémon, who chirped in appreciation. Charmor nodded, but then Chrysaluxe heard a mysterious sound. It was so small, it was easy not to notice, but then it began to screech violently, and Chrysaluxe fell over in pain. Charmor looked over it concerned, as it was unable to hear the sound itself due to the ashes from its Smokescreen stuck in its ears. However, Chrysaluxe suddenly reacted violently, and it charged forward and bashed Charmor back, before running away.
"The plan's working like a charm," said a Team Shade grunt. He and a male and female grunt were observing various Pokémon like Starlys, Wombites, and Beedrills angrily running around the woods. "Once they get into the town, people will get afraid, and we can take advantage of that to fight back like we're supposed too. No more simple battles, but our other grunts will finally be taking action."
"And this beauty made it all possible," said the female grunt. She turned around to face their machine, shaped like a small metal box with long speakers coming out of the top. "Emitting sonic impulses and waves so painful, no Pokémon will be able to resist lashing out in all their terrible pain. Blinded by their pain, they won't even realize what their doing."
"Go ahead, Pokémon," said the third grunt. "Go on and dig your own graves."
Jessie, James, and Meowth silently sneaked inside the hidden Team Shade hideout, and were surprised to find it mostly empty. The building itself was meant to looked like a bait and tackle shop, but the three went around trying to find a secret entrance to Team Shade's base. Giovanni had explained to them that Team Rocket scientists had looked into Team Shade's previous exploits, and managed to discover that the plan that they were enacting right now had actually taken place before a year earlier. After looking at all the possibilities, the scientists estimated that Team Shade most likely hid their plans within this small, unassuming building. Now, Jessie, James, and Meowth's mission was to find the blueprints for their sonic impulse machine, believing it could be useful.
"I can't see anything around here," complained Jessie.
Meowth leaned on a nearby wall and said, "Well, they say that the best way to find a secret entrance is by accideeeeaaaaaahhhh..." he suddenly found himself falling into a small doorway that was hidden in the wall.
Ash, Serena, Vernon, Eva, Brett, and Professor Acacia ran around town, struggling to find all their Pokémon. However, they came upon the center of town and witnesses the various Wombites going crazy around some townsfolk.
"Uh-oh," said Acacia, "it's getting worse. We gotta get them to settle down."
"Fear not, everyone," came a nearby voice. "We can handle these vile beasts for you." The group looked over to see some Team Shade grunts walking over, holding certain devices meant to capture the Pokémon.
"No, it's Team Shade!" Brett said.
"I should've known!" said Ash, looking at the grunt with contempt.
"They don't think they're fooling anyone, do they?" said Acacia. "If I knew them, they started this little disaster just so they can be allowed to solve it." He turned towards the others. "You all let me handle this. I want you all to looked into what's causing this. It's definitely Team Shade behind this, so it's up to you all to the sound that's driving all the Pokémon crazy."
"But, Dad-" said Brett.
"Don't worry, Brett," said Acacia, turning towards his son with a grin. "Your old man knows just what to do. You've got this."
Brett looked uncertain, but Ash put a hand on his shoulder. "Your dad's right. We can't let Team Shade win this. Now we need to do our part."
Brett paused, but nodded and they took off with the others. Acacia, meanwhile walked forward and said, "Just what do you fine young gents think you're doing?"
"Stay out of this, blondie," said one of the grunts. "We know what we're doing."
"Please sir," said a town person. "Just let them help." A Wombite was right next to her, snapping a Hyper Fang attack at her. "These Pokémon are not gonna back off."
"Just trust me, everyone," said Acacia. "I know just what to do."
It's Stunky!
Jessie, James, and Meowth were looking under the building, where they found themselves inside a small lab, with blue, neon lights surrounding the ceiling. They looked around a corner to see some grunts at work with many different inventions.
"Alright, now let's see if we can find those blueprints," said Jessie.
Meowth was examining some inventions on the shelf. "Hey, look at this thing," he said, pulling out a small box. "I wonder what it does."
Suddenly, the device burst, and Meowth fell backwards, covered in ash. "I think it was an explosive..."
"Hey! What're you three doing here!?" said a grunt. The grunts all dropped what they were doing to confront the intruders.
"Way to go, Meowth!" said Jessie, pulling out her PokéBall. "Napiat, use Venoshock!"
"And Choaking," said James, throwing his own PokéBall, "use Sludge Bomb!"
Napiat and Choaking appeared and used their respective moves, moving the Team Shade to move back. However, at that instance, more grunts appeared and were followed by some Houndours, Murkrows, and Sneasels.
"Who are you clowns supposed to be?" said one of the grunts. "And what's with the hairstyles? You look like you have an Ekans and a Mareanie sleeping on your heads!"
"How dare you!" James said, angered. "We are Team Rocket! We are the true top dogs in the Pokémon world, and you will learn to fear and respect us!"
"We'll see about that," said a female grunt. "Use Assurance! Flamethrower! Ice Shard!"
All Murkrows, Houndours, and Sneasels used said moves, forcing Team Rocket to retreat out of the room and run into the bowels of the lab.
"I guess those guys aren't just all talk," James mused.
"Quick, in here!" said Jessie, as they ducked into another room, the grunts right behind them. Team Rocket hid underneath a table, as the Team Shade grunts looked around the new room for them.
"Guys, look!" said Jessie. She pointed to a nearby shelf, where there happened to be a stack of blueprints. "I bet that's where the blueprints are hiding. Quick, Meowth, James and I will distract them, you get the plans."
"Roger that!" Meowth sneaked away from the table as Jessie, James, Napiat, and Choaking pulled themselves out from underneath it, and yelled, "Venoshock!" "Sludge Bomb!"
Napiat and Choaking succeeded in blasting the Sneasels, Houndours, and Murkrows back with their attacks, and these Pokémon used their own moves to fight back. However, Napiat managed to grab them all in a Constrict attack. Choaking responded by hitting them with a Fire Blast attack, leaving them all badly hurt.
"C'mon, c'mon, where is it!?" Meowth said, scrambling through the various blueprints. Eventually, he finally found one that he believed resembled the machine that they were looking for. "Alright, I think I got it!" he said, turning around and waving the blueprint around like a flag.
"Good!" said James. "Choaking, use Flamethrower!" Choaking burned the Pokémon in Napiat's grip, and Napiat launched them against the wall, leaving them dazed and disoriented. Choaking then used Smog and clouded the Team Shade grunt's vision. Once the Smog cleared, the grunts saw that their intruders were long gone.
"Great! What did they steal?" said one of the grunts. Another walked over to the shelf of blueprints and searched through them.
"Oh, I know what it was."
Acacia slowly walked over towards the many Wombites, with the townsfolk looking on apprehensively. "C'mon, pal, trust us," said a Team Shade Grunt. "We know what we're doing."
"And so do I," said Acacia. He walked over to a nearby trash can, and pulled out a can of shaving cream. Squirting some cream into the palm of his hand, then stared at the Wombites. Finally, he squatted in a challenging position and yelled, "Come and get me!"
The Wombites charged forward, and leaped onto him using Hyper Fang. However, Steven Acacia anticipated this, and managed to catch two of them mid-attack. Ducking one under his arm, he rubbed some of the shaving cream into the ears of the creature, before carefully setting it down, and doing the same to the other and setting it down. As the final two Wombites charged him, he jumped on top of them before rubbing some more cream in their ears.
After this, he stood up and looked back at the creatures, and saw them laying on the ground, growling to themselves, until they looked upward and Acacia could see that the pain in their eyes was slowly vanishing thanks to now being unable to hear the impulses.
"Hey, they're calming down!" said a bystander.
"How'd you do that?" said another.
"I'll explain later," said Acacia. "Right now, someone needs to answer some questions." He turned to face where the Team Shade grunts had been standing, but was surprised to see that they had run away.
In fact, they had hidden behind a building, and one of them whispered into a comm device, "Our plan's about to fall apart. All because of that Professor guy. Crank it up, don't hold back anything!"
As Acacia looked around for the grunts, he suddenly heard a familiar cry. He turned to see Crocky running over to him. He grinned and braced himself. "C'mon, Crockey, you know you don't want to do this."
Crockey charged forward regardless, and prepared to Bite down on his arm. Acacia was able, however, to grab Crockey and hold him under his arm, keeping himself safe from the snapping jaws.
"It's okay, Crockey, I'm here for you." Acacia slowly brought some more shaving cream down on Crockey's head, rubbing it into its ears. At the same time, he soothingly petted his Pokémon's head.
Crockey continued to struggle, but as Acacia continued, and as the impulses were slowly drowned out, it felt itself settling down.
"That's it," said Acacia. "Hey, I know!" He pulled out a Soothe Bell from his pocket. "You like this?"
The bell rang, and the chime managed to soothe Crockey's mind, until finally, it stopped biting, and Acacia set it down. Crockey looked up at its trainer, and smiled and jumped onto his body, running along it in excitement.
"That's my Crockey!" Acacia said as Crockey situated itself on his shoulder. "Now c'mon! Out friends need our help."
Ash, Serena, Vernon, Brett, and Eva were attempting to follow RotomDex to find their Pokémon, and were scanning the surrounding forest. Suddenly, the bushes nearby rustled. Everyone turned their heads to see an angry Pikachu emerging and charging forward, electricity lighting up its body.
"Pikachu?" Ash said, but was suddenly hit with a rogue Thunderbolt. As he fell down, Pikachu leaped up on his stomach, its eyes closed, squealing in pain, unaware of who it was even attacking.
"ASH!" Serena squealed.
"It's okay!" said Ash, slowly sitting up in pain. "Pikachu, it's me! Ash!"
Pikachu wasn't listening, as it suddenly used Thunderbolt again. Ash cried in pain briefly, but despite the concerns of his friends, he quickly sat up and looked at his lifelong partner intently. "C'mon, Pikachu, you know me! I know what you're going through right now! Your in pain and your not thinking clearly! But it is me! And I won't leave you in such a bad way!"
"Pi-Pika?" Pikachu said, having begun to hear Ash's voice.
"Yeah, that's it!" said Ash. "I know it hurts, but you have to let me help you! I trust you, so you need to trust me!"
Slowly, Pikachu opened it eyes and saw its trainer with full eyes. "Pika, pika?" it squeaked, still reeling from the pain of the impulses, but it was done emitting electricity.
"I got you, buddy!" Ash reassured. Ash took off his hat and placed it on Pikachu's ears. Thus, the sound impulses were finally drowned out, and Pikachu was able to snap itself back to reality.
"Pika, pi!" Pikachu said excitedly.
"Yes!" said Ash, picking up Pikachu in his arms. "It's great to have you back, buddy!"
As Serena witnessed the events unfold, she almost felt envious of the relationship between the two. She wanted to share a relationship like this with Chrysaluxe, but remembering what Ash had told her earlier, she grinned to herself and knew she could still save her Pokémon.
Suddenly, Brett's PokéDex buzzed with RotomDex's voice. "Guys! Come quick! I found something!"
The group followed RotomDex, and spotted the machine emitting the impulses, guarded by the Team Shade grunts.
"That's the machine we're looking for," said Vernon. "It must be emitting the sound that's making all the Pokémon crazy."
"Guys, Pikachu and I will distract them!" said Ash. "You guys go for the machine." He turned to RotomDex. "And I want you to go find Professor Acacia, okay? Tell him that we found Team Shade's trouble."
"Roger that!" said RotomDex, giving a small salute and flying off. Ash quickly ran out from their hiding place and in front of the grunts.
"Hey, you guys!" he said, causing the grunts to look at him. "Just what do you think you're doing now!?"
"Why isn't that Pikachu attacking you?" said one of the grunts. "Crank it up!" Another grunt did so, and Pikachu could feel the extra pain in its ears, despite Ash's hat.
"C'mon, Pikachu, you can fight it this time!" Ash encouraged. Pikachu nodded and looked up with determination.
"That's one gutsy Pikachu of yours," said a grunt. "Guess we gotta do it the old fashioned way." The three grunts released an Octillery, a Shuppet, and a Gothita from their PokéBalls, all wearing earmuffs to protect them from the sound waves.
"Water Gun!"
"Shadow Ball!"
"Psybeam!"
Team Shade's Pokémon used their respective attacks, but Pikachu evaded and used Thunderbolt to blast them back.
Serena, Vernon, Brett, and Eva sneaked back around the grunts as the battle raged on. As they approached the machine, Vernon quickly located the panel that covered up all the important circuitry.
"How do we get this thing open?" he asked out loud.
Brett suddenly had an idea and picked a rock up off the ground. He jammed the thin end into the crack, and tried to pry to open. Unfortunately, nothing worked, though Eva attempted to stick her own fingernails into the panel to try and pry it off. However, Brett's rock slipped and it clanged against the metal body.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing!" One of the grunt turned to face the new intruders, and had his Octillery fire an Octozooka attack at them. The group had to run away and duck under some nearby bushes. The grunt and his Octillery tried to follow, but Pikachu shot a Thunderbolt in their way, redirecting their attention to Pikachu and Ash.
As Serena and the others hid behind the bushes, she peeked out and looked at the machine again, thinking about how they could stop it. Suddenly, she was knocked over onto the ground by an unseen force, and when she looked up, she saw an angry Chrysaluxe sitting on top of her.
"Chrysaluxe?" she said. "Is that you?" Chrysaluxe just screeched shrilly and began leaping up and down. "Chrysaluxe, please! It's me! I want to help you!"
"Serena, c'mon!" said Vernon, noticing that another grunt could see them now. "We've gotta move!"
"No way!" Serena shook her head. "I already lost Chrysaluxe once, I won't do it again!"
The grunt asked her Shuppet to launch another Shadow Ball at them, causing them to scatter. Serena, however, stayed put, grabbed Chrysaluxe, and rolled over to the side to dodge. Holding her Pokémon in her arms as it struggled, she looked it in the eyes and began to speak. "Chrysaluxe, I know you may be mad at me right now, and I don't blame you. I put you out on stage before you were ready, and you had to take the consequences. But I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you."
Chrysaluxe struggling too much from the sound waves to pay attention. Suddenly, the Gothita launched a Psybeam their way, and Serena noticed that it was heading straight for Chrysaluxe. Everyone gasped as Serena suddenly blocked the shot with her back, taking the brunt for Chrysaluxe.
As it suddenly fell on the ground, Chrysaluxe finally noticed who was standing before it right now. "C-Chrysaluxe," Serena attempted to speak. "You have to know, I only let you out on stage, because I believed in you so much. And I knew it would be great for you. I knew the look on your face when you watched that performance. I know that you felt wonder, an excitement like never before. I felt that myself once. It's incredible, isn't it?"
Chrysaluxe remained motionless, continuing to listen. Eva suddenly made it beside them and added, "It's true, Chrysaluxe! I believed in you, too. I was my fault, too. But I can't thank you enough. Even if I lost, I'm glad I had the chance. I'm glad to have performed with you."
"Chrysaluxe, I know it hurts right now, but I wanna help you," said Serena. "I wanna protect you, at all costs. You're my Pokémon, so it's my responsibility. Please, wake up! Wake up!"
Chrysaluxe winced in pain but then came another Water gun from the Octillery, this time aimed at Serena. Serena turned in surprise, but then Chrysaluxe jumped in front of her. Serena gasped, but fortunately, Chrysaluxe was using Protect to nullify the damage. It then dropped to the ground, but quickly leaped back into Serena's arms.
"Chrusaluxe!" Serena said joyfully as she embraced her Pokémon. "You're back! Oh, I'm so sorry."
Chrysaluxe chirped in joy, but quickly winced in pain from the impulses. Serena quickly plucked off her hat and placed it on her Pokémon. Miraculously, it was a good fit, and drowned out the noise.
Chrysaluxe looked up at its trainer, then gained a look of determination and jumped down onto the ground to face Team Shade.
"Awesome, Chrysaluxe!" said Serena. "Use String Shot!" Chrysaluxe shot some silk from its mouth and covered up the eyes of Octillery and Gothita. "Great shot!"
"Awesome!" said Ash in background. "Now use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu shocked the two, String-Shotted Pokémon intensely.
Charmor looked down from a tree at the battle happening before it, and it wished it could do something to help. It stared at the impulse machine, and it began trying to use its inner fire in order to shoot something at it. Its attempts were in failure at first, but evevntually, it noticed some sparks leaving its mouth. Excitedly, it kept trying, until finally, it spat out an Ember attack and it landed on one of the speakers. The heat caused the wires inside to fizzle, so Charmor managed to spit out another attack to disable the other speaker.
As the noise slowly stopped, Pikachu and Chrysaluxe couldn't help but notice that something was different. Carefully, they pulled off their hats, and noticed that the noise was finally gone.
"Pikachu!"
"Chys, Chrysaluxe!"
Both Ash and Serena were able to understand what their Pokémon were saying, and Ash announced, "The sound stopped!"
"What? How?" said Brett.
"Who cares?" said Vernon. "Now I can do this!" He sent out Floattery and said, "Acid on that machine!"
"Right!" said Ash. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt one more time on the machine!"
The two Pokémon nodded and used their respective attacks. The machine was basted, until suddenly, it was so hot, it burst wide open.
"No!" said a grunt. "Our precious machine! You will pay for that!" Shuppet, Octillery, and Gothita were geared for another attack, but suddenly, the three were swept up in a swirling vortex of sand known as Sand Tomb. Everyone turned to see Professor Acacia and Crockey standing a few feet away.
"G'day, everyone!" said Acacia. "Thanks for warming them up for me!"
RotomDex descended from above. "Good thing I found him, huh, guys?"
"Use Sand Tomb one more time!" Professor Acacia said. Crockey whipped up a cyclone of sand so strong, it launched Team Shade's Pokémon back into their trainers so hard, they fell back onto the ruins of their machine.
"Grr," said a grunt as he and his teammates recalled their Pokémon. "This isn't over! We of Team Shade will protect all from the vile natures of Pokémon!' They quickly rose up and ran of into the trees, and the grunt said into a wire on his ear, "All Team Shade operatives! We are retreating now! The plan has hit a snag!"
"I can't help but wonder," Brett mused, "if they hate Pokémon so much, then why do they battle with them?"
"Who knows?" said Ash. "I remember a group called Team Plasma who wanted to save Pokémon from being forced to fight, yet they themselves forced Pokémon to fight. Hypocrites much?"
Acacia, Ash, Serena, Vernon, Pikachu, RotomDex, Chrysaluxe, Crockey, Brett, and Eva were standing in the town square with a truck that the Professor's assistant, Stacey, brought in. The the back of the truck, the Wombites that the Porfessor had captured were being loaded up, and they were excited to run around the back, as it had been designed for a Wombite's needs.
"There we go!" said Acacia. He turned to face the townspeople. "I told you these Pokémon meant you all no harm, regardless of what Team Shade wanted you to believe. They were just trying to survive, and it was because of of Team Shade that they were acting up. But it's okay. Stacey and I are going to relocate them to a place where they can flourish without having to steal all your food."
The people all clapped their hands as the Professor prepared to board the truck. Ash and the others all walked up to see him off.
"Thanks for your help, Professor," said Ash. "I'm glad we had an expert like you to help us out."
"No worries, kids," said Acacia. "I never give up on Pokémon."
"Hey, Ash?" said Serena. "I want to thank you for what you said to me back at the Hall. I think it's thanks to you that I understand Chrysaluxe a bit better now." Chrysaluxe chirped happily in Serena's arms.
"It's okay, Serena," said Ash. "You don't have to thank me for anything. It's 'cause you and Chrysaluxe trust each other that you were able to help it. Just like with me and Pikachu."
"Pika!" said Pikachu from Ash's shoulder.
"Or me with Crockey!" said Acacia, as Crockey emerged from his shoulder. "Well, we should be going now. See you all later."
"Goodbye, Dad!" Brett waved as the truck pulled out.
"So long, Professor!" waved everyone else.
"Well, what's next for you two?" Ash said as he turned to face Brett and Eva.
"I think I know how to beat Kai now," said Brett. "Thanks for helping me train Ash. It really helped. I'm gonna beat him now for sure!"
"I'm sure you will," said Ash.
"I think I better go cheer him on!" Eva said. "Everyone needs a little motivation, right, Brett?"
"Um, right," Brett stuttered. "Well, in that case, we better get going. See you later, guys."
As Brett turned to leave, Eva walked up to Chrysaluxe in Serena's arms. "Thanks again fro trying to help me, Chrysaluxe. You were a great friend to do that. Both you and Serena."
Both Chrysaluxe and Serena nodded. "Y'know, we're gonna start Pageanting too pretty soon," said Serena. "Don't think we'll hold anything back."
"You better not," Eva winked. She turned to follow Brett. "See ya!"
Serena looked at Chrysaluxe in her arms and said to it, "So the real reason you ran off is because you were ashamed?" Chrysaluxe sadly nodded. "You don't have to be! Getting up on that stage alone took guts! I know I get Butterfrees in my stomach every time I'm on stage. I wasn't upset, Chrysaluxe. You did your best, for both Eva and me. And I'm very proud of you for that."
Chrysaluxe felt stunned, but happily chirped towards its smiling trainer.
"See, you guys do understand each other," said Ash. "Even if it takes a lot of work, you guys are gonna shine together!" Serena giggled as Charmor looked at Ash from behind a bush, curiously.
"Say, guys," said Vernon, "I hope you don't mind, but could I travel with you a bit longer?" He pulled out the slip Cameron gave him. "I think I've found a new goal! I'm gonna get recommended for that Robert Kennedy movie, and I'm going to save my reputation."
"Of course, you can come!" Ash said.
"Pika, pi!" said Pikachu excitedly.
"I was actually hoping you'd stay," said Serena, beaming along with Chrysaluxe.
"The more the merrier!" said RotomDex.
"Perfect!" said Vernon, before striking a pose and pointing. "Onward, my friends! Our destinies await!"
Team Rocket managed to slink away from Team Shade, and were now contacting Giovanni through their communicator.
"We did it, boss!" they all chimed. "We actually did it!"
"Very good," said Giovanni. "Now if you'll show me the designs right now, I can give the image to one of our scientists so he can copy it."
"Sure," said Meowth, holding out the blueprint he stole. He showed to Giovanni, but their boss's face suddenly turned red with rage as he yelled, "Is this some kind of joke!? Did you even look at the design!?"
"Huh?" said Meowth, as he turned to look at the blueprint. His face suddenly lost all color as he noticed it was actually a blueprint for a surround sound stereo system.
"You grabbed the wrong blueprint!" said Jessie.
"Even when we win, we lose," sulked James.
"Great, what a waste," Meowth sulked. "Nothing but surround sound and a lousy little cube." He pulled out a silver, metal cube, but then it suddenly emitted noise that made him cover his ears in pain.
"What is that thing?" asked James
"I don't know," said Meowth. "I just took it from that shelf of inventions. Figured it might be worth something to sell."
Giovanni examined the device, and suddenly, all his rage vanished. "Meowth, you little genius!" he declared, earning strange looks from the trio. "I think that's actually the prototype from of the invention whose blueprints you were supposed to steal! Quick, send that back to HQ, and we can start decoding it!"
Giovanni signed off, and the Team Rocket trio looked at each other shocked, but quickly became overjoyed and leaped into the air.
"We did it!" said Jessie.
"Hey, you mean I did it!" Meowth insisted.
"Finally, Team Rocket escapes with a legitimate win for once!" said James.
Suddenly, Jigglypuff emerged from a nearby bush and was delighted to see Team Rocket again. "Jiggly-puff, jig, jiggly, jig, jigglypuff," it sang.
"You couldn't have given us a second to enjoy that, could you, world?" Meowth groggily complained, as Jigglypuff's song slowly put them to sleep, causing Jigglypuff to get enraged and begin doodling on their faces again.
So Serena's come to a new understanding with Chrysaluxe, even after Team Shade strikes again! But what is Team Rocket up to? Have we seen the last of Team Shade? Shall the bonds between our heroes and their Pokémon continue to grow? We'll find out, as the journey continues!
TO BE CONTINUED...