Hey everyone...hope nobody's mad at me for taking so long to update this story...I've just been busy writing for my really big flash animation project for Sonic the Hedgehog...and there was also one teeny tiny issue...my laptop's hard disc crashed COMPLETELY. No hope of retrieval, it didn't even turn on anymore. So I had to wait a whole week before writing a really huge chapter that the AAML chapters require, but I did have time to write short ones for the Dash Adventure, so that's what I did. My laptop just got back a couple of days ago so I managed to finish this, but I just didn't have any time to send the messages, so I apologize for that. However now that my laptop is back (for good I hope this time), I'll be able to send them this time around. Enough excuses! Time for the story! I don't own anything except the said story.
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Chapter 46
Misty's POV
After Dawn won her latest contest in Chocovine Town, she had not only earned herself a new ribbon, but also a new and VERY unfriendly rival. Ursula was actually a rather pretty girl; it's a shame that such a nasty and arrogant attitude had to be tacked onto her attractive appearance. She came up to Dawn and had the nerve to say that Dawn winning the Wallace Cup was a fluke! Meanwhile she had failed to get past round one in that same competition. One thing was for sure, Dawn wasn't going to take that lying down. As for me, I wanted to drill Ursula into the ground after she called me the runt of the litter. When she remembered that Daisy had been in the competition with me, her short-lived admiration of me was just that. Short-lived.
But Dawn made sure that Ursula ate her words and took her down with a little help from Pachirisu learning 'Super Fang'. And ironically enough, at the same time Pachirisu learned that move, Ash's Riolu learned 'Force Palm'! It was comforting to see that Riolu was indeed beginning to grow up since it was still learning moves, but I almost wish that it would stay little for a while, he really is a sweetheart and he looks at me and Ash as his parents. That probably won't be the case once he evolves into Lucario…then again…on the other hand…when it evolves, it won't be pulling foolish stunts such as running onto the contest battlefield to show off his speed. Ash went out and got him before he caused too much trouble, but as his "mother", I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassment that Riolu had gone out and done that. Of course, since he was in actuality Ash's Pokémon, I wasn't really all that surprised.
And then the next day, Dawn got offered to do an interview with two reporters that almost literally came out of nowhere, saying they wanted to interview her on her win in Chocovine Town. Well somehow we managed to get tricked AGAIN and Meowth snatched Pikachu right off of Ash's shoulder. Then they purposely blew their cover when Jessie used a smoke bomb to try and cover their tracks.
But we would get our chance to save Pikachu, we always do after all. Team Rocket started floating off in their stupid Meowth hot-air balloon, reciting their motto for the Sinnoh Region. I never understood exactly why they insisted on having a different motto for every region. But that's not the point, while they were doing their motto, Dawn had Piplup use 'Bubblebeam', and just like that Pikachu was back on Ash's shoulder where he belonged.
And of course being the creeps they were, they tried to get Pikachu back, but a well-placed 'Thunderbolt' put Team Rocket back in their place, and sent them blasting off to who knows where. But then, we heard a loud roar that freaked us all out and caused Pikachu to jump what seemed like thirty feet in the air, Piplup would've done the same had Dawn not been holding him in his arms. What we saw next was the really weird part.
That roar was from a motorcycle, and the rider was an Officer Jenny who leaped off of the STILL MOVING motorcycle, caught Pikachu in midair, and landed back on the bike just before doing a hard skid to brake. Jenny gave Pikachu back to Ash and asked if he was from the same Ash from Pallet Town. Ash confirmed that assumption…and then placed Ash and the rest of us under arrest! Now I was starting to think that déjà vu was completely against us lately, but then she explained that it was only so we could help her out.
Then it hit me, she had a Chatot on her shoulder and she was a lot more aggressive than a normal Officer Jenny, she used to work in Kanto! I remembered visiting the Celadon City Department Store a while after I took over the gym from my sisters to see if they had anything in terms of new water-type Pokémon training equipment. After finding nothing I started heading out, but then the alarms went off in the store and a masked man holding a bag of apparently stolen items ran past the cash registers and burst out of the doors.
Since I didn't see an Officer Jenny going after him, and the Celadon Gym Leader Erika wasn't around, I took it upon myself to try and stop him. I grabbed Gyarados' Pokéball and got ready to stop him, but when I looked outside, an Officer Jenny with a Chatot on her shoulder was already putting handcuffs on him. I was satisfied with that, so I didn't bother to get any details.
And now here she was in front of us, but I couldn't figure out what she was doing in Sinnoh. When I told her that I remembered her and recalled the event that I knew her from, she got uncomfortably close and both her and her Chatot stared me down. I told her that I was the Gym Leader from Cerulean City and that I was doing some shopping that day. But she didn't believe me and she ALMOST arrested me for real.
But Ash bailed me out when he pulled out his Pokédex and showed Jenny my old Gym Leader ID from back when I was travelling with him, of course it had my sisters on it too since technically all four of us were leaders at the time, but right now that didn't matter. Jenny was satisfied with that and backed off. After that I was beginning to wonder if I should ask Prof. Oak for my own personal Pokédex.
And then if that wasn't enough, Brock decided that he was going to flirt with Officer Jenny, I didn't even wanna watch because I knew something really bad was gonna happen to him. Not because of Croagunk mind you, but because of the manner in which this Officer Jenny did things. I just pictured Brock being choked by a half-nelson and being thrown onto the ground for touching her.
I was actually relieved when all that happened was that Officer Jenny's Chatot merely tried to peck his eyes out for getting too close. Dawn scanned Chatot while Officer Jenny explained that when she heard about Team Rocket setting up in Sinnoh, she put in for a transfer and apparently her sergeant was more than happy to oblige.
She then asked for our help since we encountered Jessie, James, and Meowth on a regular basis. Then Ash explained that every time they showed up it was to capture Pikachu. When she heard that, she examined Pikachu rather roughly, she even pulled on his ear! Well naturally Pikachu didn't like that, and apparently sensing hostility, Chatot flew off Officer Jenny's shoulder right before Pikachu launched a 'Thunderbolt' that fried the police officer.
But even after that, Officer Jenny was determined to get our help, so Ash finally gave in and said yes. She sent us to stand out in the open right in the middle of the park while she hid in the bushes. After about five minutes of having people stare at us, I was beginning to feel really stupid. Dawn suggested that Officer Jenny was using us as live bait.
When I thought about it, it made a lot of sense that that was what she was up to. Then two other officers walked by wondering what we were doing, and upon seeing them walk up, Officer Jenny quickly jumped out of the bushes and tried to come up with an excuse. Apparently they didn't buy it since Officer Jenny quickly tried to change the subject and offered to buy lunch. Ash being the glutton he is immediately accepted the offer, which let Officer Jenny off the hook despite our suspicions.
But while we were eating, we saw a group thieves running out of a building, and that got Officer Jenny up from the table to capture them. We rushed out with her, and we saw her pull a bowling glove onto her hand, and she threw two bowling balls at them!
Officer Jenny managed to get two of them, one of them tried to escape, but Chatot used 'Featherdance' to pin them down. Finally the last once managed to turn a corner and we thought that was it, but apparently Officer Jenny had other plans. She threw another bowling ball that actually managed to turn the corner too! Then before he could get up, Officer Jenny threatened to use a super strong bowling ball if he didn't surrender. The crook immediately gave himself up and let Officer Jenny slap on a pair of handcuffs.
It was then we realized she was bluffing, and that there was no super strong bowling ball. And by the time we got to her, the media had shown up and were taking pictures of her capture. But just then, Team Rocket ran up with nets, trying to snag Pikachu again. Officer Jenny stepped in front of us and blocked the swipes, but Team Rocket managed to grab something and immediately ran off. At first we thought that they managed to swipe Pikachu, but when Pikachu announced his presence behind us, we realized that Chatot was no longer on Officer Jenny's shoulder.
Once she realized Chatot was gone, she tried to chase them down, but she tripped over a rock and let Team Rocket escape. After that she told us about how she and Chatot first met. She was in pursuit of a suspect and he had managed to get up after being run over by her bowling ball, when a wild Chatot pinned him down using 'Featherdance'. Ever since then they had been working together to clean up the streets with every transfer they had gone through.
After hearing her story, we offered to help her get her Pokémon back; Ash let out Charizard and Staravia and let them search out Team Rocket. After a few minutes, Staravia came back and pointed over to where Team Rocket was hiding out. Upon hearing that, Officer Jenny took off like a shot and almost left us behind, but once Ash called out for Charizard and the mighty dragon was returned, we chased after the Officer before she got too far out of range. We followed her and Ash's flying-type all the way out into the woods where a log cabin was. Once we got there, Officer Jenny offered to go in alone, but we decided that we would help her out. After all, Team Rocket were our "enemies" if you could call them that.
Officer Jenny thanked us and got out her bowling ball, and rolled it towards the door, breaking it down, then the furious police officer rushed through the hole that used to have a door, demanding that Team Rocket surrender and relinquish her Pokémon. We broke in through the window that Staravia's 'Brave Bird' shattered to pieces.
When they saw Officer Jenny, Team Rocket grabbed Chatot and bolted into the next room. But somehow when we followed, we wound up falling into what seemed like another one of Team Rocket's pit traps. Officer Jenny hurried down the dug out tunnel and helped us out, and once we got out, we were faced by yet another one of Team Rocket's stupid robots. This one ironically enough was shaped just like a bowling pin.
Team Rocket laughed at us and continued piling on the cruel irony as they fired bowling pin shaped missiles that knocked us onto our backs. Officer Jenny simply got up, strapped on her bowling glove and rolled a bowling ball towards the mecha, but unfortunately the most the throw could muster was a slight tilt before it leveled again. Since that didn't work, Ash had Staravia use 'Brave Bird' and Pikachu to spin and use 'Iron Tail'.
And again, despite the power of the two attacks combined, the mecha only wobbled a bit before stabilizing again. Now we decided to try a little water pressure, as Dawn had Piplup use 'Whirlpool' and I had Vaporeon launch a 'Water Pulse'. This time it looked like the power of water would triumph over the metallic monster, but just before they fell over the robot deployed legs to keep it balanced.
But before the power of our water attacks wore off, Jenny launched one more bowling ball at one of the legs, which FINALLY took the robot down. Then apparently something happened inside the robot, because Team Rocket started screaming frantically inside, just seconds before Chatot burst out of the hatch and landed back on the bowling ball chucking police officer's shoulder.
After a happy reunion, the robot got back up and decided to go after their usual target, which naturally was Pikachu. But Officer Jenny decided to try the same bluff she had used to get the previous criminals to surrender…unfortunately stupidity worked in Team Rocket's favor as they called her bluff and charged…but what really caught them off guard was that Officer Jenny didn't even flinch, and simply ordered Chatot to use 'Steel Wing'.
Ash ordered Staravia to follow along and use the same move, and together the two flying-types broke the robot to bits and sent Team Rocket blasting off again. After the celebration, Officer Jenny scolded herself for letting the trio get away, albeit in a rather unusual manner, but they escaped nevertheless. We just laughed and told her that they ALWAYS blasted off after we beat them, it was rather weird.
Later on, we went to say goodbye to Officer Jenny, who had earlier gotten a call and was informed that she was once again being transferred, this time to the Whirl Islands. I decided to give her a few local landmarks to keep an eye on, and after that, we continued on towards Snowpoint City, getting ready to take on a pine forest.
When we got started the next day, we noticed that the sky got dark no less than freakishly fast, it seemed like it was only noon! Then the unthinkable happened, it was actually snowing! We laughed for a while and had some fun, I managed to pelt Ash with about five snowballs while the Pokéball throwing trainer couldn't even nail me once, I made sure to tease him a little on that fact, but Brock eventually got us back on track and travelling.
But as we continued on, we noticed it was getting darker and darker, and it was really starting to get cold. We pulled out some blankets that Brock had smartly packed for us upon our arrival to Snowpoint City, but not even Brock was expecting us to need them before our arrival. The snow was really starting to come down, and it eventually got to the point where we practically freezing!
And now, we were caught in the middle of a freak snowstorm in the mountains. I've seen a lot of crazy things while travelling with Ash, but this was by far the weirdest. As I wrapped my blanket tighter around my body, we pressed on to try and find someplace to rest, but it was quite obvious that we were in a lot more trouble than we were acting. The storm came on so suddenly we couldn't even believe it was happening.
Normal POV
"Man…I can't even tell you which direction we're going!" Ash shivered. "That's never changed Ash, but this time I don't blame you for it." Misty replied, her knees involuntarily knocking. "I'd always heard that mountain weather could be unpredictable, but this is insane!" Dawn whimpered.
"Brock, can't that guidebook of yours find us a way out of here?" Misty asked. Brock carefully pulled out his guidebook from his backpack, trying to keep as much skin covered as possible. He opened it up and looked inside, but he somehow knew what the result would be. "No use. Without a landmark this guidebook is worthless." the breeder groaned. "There are no landmarks out here…there's nothing but snow and trees." Dawn shivered.
"One thing's for sure, we've gotta find some shelter and fast!" Ash added. The group pressed on, their faces stinging fro, the ice and snow pelting them. "Look over there!" Misty pointed out a small cave that was just big enough to hold them, "Maybe we can stay there until the storm passes!"
The group agreed and trudged through the snow leading to the cave. "I…I can't anymore." Dawn felt her knees begin to buckle underneath her, and she stopped walking out of fear that she would fall over. "Come on Dawn, you're almost there!" Misty exclaimed. "I can't walk anymore…too cold…too tired." Dawn gasped in a breath of cold air and attempted to take a step. But she felt her knee buckle and so she put her foot down.
"Let's go Ash." Brock walked out to Dawn and placed his shoulder under her arm, while Ash took the other side. The two males helped Dawn over to the cave, where a sort of bench had coincidentally been carved out of rock and sat her down. "Thanks guys." Dawn managed a small smile before she went back to shivering and shaking violently. Even though the cave shielded them from the snow and wind, the cold didn't let up any.
"So cold…Buneary, come on out." Dawn called out her vest wearing rabbit and hugged her close to her body. "Alright! My very own cute little hot water bottles!" she sighed as she felt her body absorb the body heat from Buneary.
Suddenly Pikachu decided to hop out of Ash's blanket and crawled over to Dawn's, where he shared the sheet with Piplup and Buneary. "Aww Pikachu, what about poor Ash?" Dawn asked with sincere concern. "Pikachupi." (Misty.) the electric mouse replied simply.
"Oh right!" Misty scooted over to her boyfriend and hugged him tight, sharing her heat with Ash, and likewise his heat moved into her. "So what about poor Brock?" the breeder asked. "Come over here Brock, our heat is your heat. You too Dawn." Misty said.
The group huddled together to conserve body heat, but there wasn't much to go around due to the extreme cold. "This is really cozy and all but this won't keep us warm forever." Misty said. "I've got an idea! Chimchar, I choose you." Ash called out his small fire monkey who chattered softly upon release. Ash got up and gathered some stray sticks around the cave, his fingers responding sluggishly due to the cold. "I wonder who made this cave; it seems unlikely that it would naturally form a bench for us to sit on." Brock said.
Ash placed the kindling on the ground and sat back down next to Misty who immediately wrapped her arms around him to try and grant him some heat back. "Thanks Mist." he said gratefully, "Alright Chimchar, use 'Flamethrower'." Chimchar acknowledged and fired, which ignited the kindling and gave them a warm and welcoming fire. "Alright Chimchar!" they cheered. But before they could start enjoying the heat, a pile of snow fell from the roof, extinguishing the fire just as fast as it started.
"Aww man." they groaned. "I could call out Charizard and we could use his tail for heat." Ash suggested. "That would work except that Charizard is too big for this tiny shelter." Misty replied. "So what'll we do?" Dawn asked. Just then, the group heard a faint echo in the distance. "Did you hear that?" Brock asked. The voice was a little louder this time, and a Pokémon suddenly appeared. "Hey, what's that?" Ash asked.
"Looks like a Froslass." Brock replied. "A Froslass?" Dawn pulled out her pink Pokédex to scan the creature. "Froslass, the Snowland Pokémon, and an evolved form of Snorunt. It freezes its opponents to temperatures minus nearly sixty degrees." the Pokédex chirped. "Freezes its opponents?" Dawn whimpered nervously. "Listen, we're already frozen, so you don't have to do anything ok?" Misty told the Pokémon.
But Froslass didn't seem to be acting hostile, as it merely waved its hand at them enticingly, and at the same time, causing something strange to happen. "Whoa, the blizzard…" Ash said in awe. "It's dying down." Brock added. Then they looked back at Froslass, and a small cabin appeared right before their eyes. "Look guys! A cabin!" Ash exclaimed. "Where did that come from?" Brock wondered somewhat suspiciously.
"Awesome! It's gotta be Froslass trying to help us out!" Dawn said. Ash and Dawn ran for the cabin, but Misty and Brock stayed back. "What's wrong?" Ash asked. "I know I'm cold but I'm not going crazy. That wasn't there before." Misty said. "Come on Misty, it's a place to get out of the cold! Who cares where it came from?" Dawn replied.
The younger teens rushed inside, and after some reluctance, the two older ones decided it had to be better than freezing to death outside. When they walked in, they were greeted by the welcoming warmth of a crackling fire, which they immediately huddled in front of in order to thaw out. "Mmm, that feels so good." Dawn sighed. "Yeah, nice and warm." Ash added.
"Thanks a lot for helping us out Froslass." Misty said. "You really saved us." Brock added. Froslass nodded without turning around, and got back to stirring some hot soup in a pot. "That smells really good Froslass!" Ash exclaimed. "If you want, I could help you a little, it's the least I can do for you helping us." Brock got up to assist the Pokémon, but Froslass quickly shooed Brock away. "Well, if you need help just ask." Brock said.
"Boy Froslass sure knows how to be hospitable." Misty said. "I just hope her food tastes as good as it smells!" Ash exclaimed excitedly. Froslass turned around and held out a tray with four bowls of the hot soup. "Thank you Froslass!" they exclaimed happily. The teens eagerly dug in, and moaned ecstatically at how good the soup felt inside their half frozen bodies. "Mmm, that's good!" Ash exclaimed. "Warms you up from the inside out." Brock added.
"I think I'll let Azurill have some, the poor thing must be starved." Misty said. "Hey good idea! I think I'll let Riolu have some of this too." The two trainers called out their baby Pokémon, who quickly accepted the spoonful's of soup that their masters offered. "Taste good huh Riolu?" Ash asked. Riolu wholeheartedly agreed by taking another spoonful. Then Froslass set up a small tub and poured in a few pots of hot water. "I think Froslass made a bath for the Pokémon." Ash said. Seeing the water, Riolu and Azurill quickly jumped into the tub and started splashing with joy.
"Pi piplup?" (Can I go too?) Piplup asked. "Alright Piplup, just be careful with them." Dawn replied. Piplup happily jumped into the tub and started splashing as well. "Now I wish I were a Pokémon, that looks like fun." Ash said. But suddenly, the water became three chunks of ice that encased Riolu, Azurill, and Piplup, and the cabin changed into a cave. "What's going on?" Ash asked in shock. "This isn't a cabin, it's an ice cave!" Brock exclaimed. "And look! This isn't soup, it's shaved ice!" Dawn exclaimed. The group gasped and tossed their meals away, shivering from the sudden return to cold. "Back to freezing." they groaned.
"But how could we have thought this place was a cabin?" Ash shivered as he embraced Misty to look for warmth. "I have a feeling Froslass is behind this! It's causing us to hallucinate!" Brock said angrily. "You're kidding!" Ash exclaimed. "But why? What did we ever do to Froslass?" Misty asked. "Whatever the reason, it must've needed us to come here in the first place." Brock said.
"Well I don't care what the reason is; I'm not letting MY Pokémon become an ice cube! Corsola, come out!" Misty freed herself from Ash's arms and angrily tossed out her water/rock-type. "I'm with you Misty! Chimchar, use 'Flamethrower'!" Chimchar acknowledged and prepared to blast a powerful flame at the ice/ghost-type, but then Froslass scratched at Riolu's ice cube, leaving a large dent where it scratched.
Then it held an attack up in its hand threateningly, causing Riolu to panic and inadvertently send Ash an aura message for help. Ash cringed and sent a message back. "Hang tight Riolu, we won't let you get hurt."
"An 'Ice Beam', I think Froslass is warning us not to get near Piplup." Brock said. "So what are we supposed to do? Just let our Pokémon stay frozen like that?" Dawn asked. "Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to you?" Misty shouted. Froslass ignored the water trainer's outburst and used 'Psychic' to make another unconscious Pokémon come into their view. "It's Meowth!" they exclaimed. "So Froslass must've captured Meowth as well." Brock added.
Once Froslass allowed the scratch cat Pokémon to get down, Meowth regained consciousness. "Check please." he said woozily. Then when Meowth regained his senses, he realized exactly who was standing in front of him. "Twoips! So you suckas musta fallen for Froslass' trap like us!"
"Us? Oh yeah, where are Jessie and James?" Misty asked. Well ya see, we was traipsing around in da mountains when we got lost in dat blizzard." Meowth explained. "That's what happened to us!" Dawn replied.
"Den dis Froslass led us to a cabin where we could defrost and recharge." Meowth explained. "Just like us!" Ash replied. "And while we was getting up ta room temperature, we discovered dis joint was just a Froslass made mirage!" Meowth exclaimed. "You were right Brock, it was fake!" Misty exclaimed.
"Den Froslass told me it's been trying ta find its good buddy Snorunt for da longest time, but no matter how much it looks for its buddy it comes up empty handed so I'm being held hostage while Jessie and James go have a look for da little guy!" Meowth explained.
"Snorunt huh? Let's see." Dawn pulled out her Pokédex and searched up the Pokémon Meowth was referring to. "Snorunt, the snow hat Pokémon. Snorunt is said to bring great wealth to whatever home it lives in." the Pokédex chirped.
Froslass then spoke up, and Meowth took it upon himself to translate it. "Now Froslass is saying dat if you want dis Riolu, Azurill, and Piplup back you're gonna hafta look for Snorunt too!" Froslass nodded to confirm the translation. "Is that all? No problem!" Ash exclaimed. Froslass was taken by surprise by Ash's statement, "You could've just told us you were having a little bit of trouble. Right?" Ash asked his friends. They replied with an enthusiastic "Right!"
"You really didn't need to go through all of this; we would've gone to go look for Snorunt anyway." Brock said. "Yeah, I mean we're Pokémon Trainers, we would've been glad to help." Misty added.
"So if we go look for Snorunt, can we please have our Pokémon back?" Dawn asked. Froslass just gawked at the trainers for a moment, but then shook its head as if to get their words out of its head. "Ok, now Froslass is saying dat once a human promised ta help it out and den turned right around and tried ta take its buddy pal away by force." Meowth translated, "Needless ta say Froslass isn't in da people trusting business dese days."
"Now I get it." Ash sighed. "I understand why you did what you did Froslass, but you can't lump every human in the world together in the same category just because one jerk decided to betray you." Misty added.
"The truth is, not every person is bad like that." Dawn said. Froslass remained stone-faced, and the group just stayed silent for a few moments before Ash spoke up. "I've got it! We'll just bring Snorunt back here no matter what!"
"You just wait here and we'll be right back." Brock said. "No need to worry guys, we'll bring Snorunt here and set you free." Dawn added.
"We'll show you you can trust us 100%, people or not!" Ash exclaimed. "So, shall we go?" Brock said. The group nodded and turned to walk out, but a panicked squeal stopped them in their tracks. They turned around and they saw Riolu begging them not to leave with his eyes. "What's the matter Riolu?" Ash asked.
"I don't think Riolu wants you to leave." Brock replied. "Poor Riolu." Misty said quietly. Ash cautiously drew closer to the Emanation Pokémon, but then Froslass cut him off and stopped him from getting any closer.
"Froslass, please, just let me tell Riolu that everything's gonna be ok." Ash begged the ice/ghost-type. Froslass stood its ground at first, but after a few moments it permitted Ash to kneel down in front of the frightened fighting-type. Ash gave Riolu a tight embrace to calm it, and then looked it in the eyes with a kind and caring expression, "We'll be right back Riolu, I promise, just relax." Riolu nodded and gave the raven haired trainer a small smile. Then Ash moved over to Azurill and whispered something in its ear. "Azu Azu." (Ok Daddy.) the Polka Dot Pokémon responded.
Ash smiled and walked back to his friends, "Come on, let's go find Snorunt!" he took off running with his friends following closely. "Hey! If you twoips see Jessie and James out dere you tell them I'm hanging in and chilling out!" But then the clumsy cat fell over, and being frozen solid, he was helpless to get back up. "Hey come on someone help me I ain't an ice cube by nature ya know!"
The three other imprisoned Pokémon got a good laugh at Meowth's expense, but then Azurill turned towards Riolu and spoke up. "They'll be back, don't be scared." Azurill said. "Thank you Azurill." Riolu replied.
"Snorunt! Where are you?" the group had gone right out and started calling for the Snow Hat Pokémon, hoping that maybe it would come out of hiding and make itself know to them. "Maybe we should send out a search party. Why not send out Staravia and Charizard and see if they have any luck?" Misty suggested.
"Good idea Mist." Ash pulled out two Pokéballs and sent out his two flying Pokémon. "We're looking for a Snorunt guys, split up and see if you catch a glimpse of it." Ash instructed. The two Pokémon nodded and took off for the skies. "Well that's two directions taken care of." Ash said.
"Well if they're taking care of those areas, we should probably head this way since Snorunt would've been found by Froslass by now if it had gone that way." Brock said. The three younger teens nodded and followed the eldest through the pine trees.
"Ash, what did you tell Azurill before we went?" Misty asked. "Well…I told it…since it was kinda like an older sibling…it was its job to keep Riolu calm." Ash replied. "I see." Misty said.
"You don't mind, do you?" Ash asked, slightly nervous. "No, I suppose being a big sibling will help Azurill…grow up a little." Misty replied.
"Sorry Mist, guess I should've asked first." Ash sighed. "You're right. But I guess this time, no harm no foul." Misty replied.
"Hey Ash, Staravia's coming back." Dawn pointed out. The group looked up and saw Staravia flying over to report. "Any luck Staravia?" he asked. Staravia shook its head in response. "No sign of Charizard, guess he's still looking." Brock said. "Alright Staravia, try looking over there." Ash pointed off in a different direction, and the bird nodded and flew off. "Thank you! Let us know what you find!" Ash shouted out.
"Let's get going." Brock said. The group nodded and began walking through the snow, calling out the name of their target. Just then, the group saw a flame shoot up into the sky, "Hey check that out!" Dawn exclaimed.
The group looked up and saw a flame dying down. "You think that's Charizard?" Brock asked. "Only one way to find out!" Ash replied. The group ran through the trees and found Charizard standing on the ground, "Did you find it?" Ash asked. Charizard nodded and pointed down the path. "Great! Staravia, we found Snorunt!" Ash pointed Staravia's Pokéball and blasted the red return light into the sky for the bird Pokémon to see.
"Staravia probably saw that, lead the way Charizard!" Ash exclaimed. Charizard nodded and started flying a few feet off the ground, following the path it had seen Snorunt take with the humans running close behind. "Man this forest sure is thick." Ash said. "No kidding, you can't see anything through these trees." Misty added.
The group reached a corner and was suddenly knocked onto the ground by Charizard who had bumped into something. "Anyone get the license number on that truck?" a voice asked. "I know that voice," Dawn said.
The group looked up and saw who it was they had run into. "It's Team Rocket!" they exclaimed, at the same time that Team Rocket had exclaimed that it was the twerps they ran into. "Did you find it?" Dawn asked. "What are you talking about little twerpette?" Jessie replied.
"Be cryptic on someone else's watch! We've not time for your games!" James added, as Carnivine took its master's side and stared down the teens. "This isn't a game; you know exactly what it is we're talking about!" Misty exclaimed.
"For your information red twerpette, we're on a mission to find an estranged Snorunt so we can thaw and reinstall Meowth on the double!" Jessie exclaimed.
"We already know that! Piplup, Riolu, and Azurill have all been captured by that Froslass too!" Dawn replied. "So that means you must've fallen for Froslass' warm and cozy fireside cabin illusion as we did." James said.
"That's right, which means this is no time to argue. I suggest we all declare a temporary ceasefire and work together so we can save all of our Pokémon." Brock said.
"Novel, a ceasefire." Jessie said. "We can always be at each other's throats afterwards. Jess, the important thing right now is to defrost Meowth. Tall twerp, I concur with your plan!" James exclaimed. "Well if James is in, I guess I'm in too." Jessie added.
"It's a deal." Brock said. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Meowth said he had a message for you." Ash said. "A message? What was it?" Jessie asked.
"If you twoips see Jessie and James tell them I'm hanging in and chilling out!" Dawn exclaimed, doing her best impression of the scratch cat Pokémon. "Doesn't that hurt your throat?" Misty asked. "As a matter of fact yes." Dawn replied, as she cleared her throat.
Just then, Ash was forced to duck a small 'Ember'. "Oh yeah! Sorry Charizard, you said Snorunt was over there right? "Ash asked. Charizard nodded in response. "Alright then." Ash said. "Ash look, there's Staravia!" Brock exclaimed.
The group looked up and saw the bird flying over to them. "Charizard found it Staravia, follow us!" Ash exclaimed. "Let's split up and surround Snorunt so it can't run off again!" Misty suggested. "Good idea Mist, alright, we'll head up and around to the right!" Ash exclaimed.
"Which leaves our gang to pursue the left!" James replied. "And that should cover everywhere!" Dawn added. With that, the two groups split ways. "There's the corner!" Brock exclaimed. The group turned it, and sure enough they ran into Snorunt who became frightened upon finding itself face to face with humans. "Snorunt, hold on!" Ash exclaimed.
But Snorunt ignored Ash's plea and turned around to run the other way, but Team Rocket then emerged and blocked the only other way it could run. "Relax; your jogging days are done." Jessie said. "Covering the bases sure has its perks." James added,
Snorunt nervously looked around for another escape route, but it had wandered into one of the denser parts of the forest and had unintentionally trapped itself. "Look Snorunt, everything's fine." Ash said gently, "We're not trying to catch you or anything bad."
"We want you to come home with us and see Froslass." Brock said. "Froslass is really worried about you." Dawn added.
"Worried sick." Jessie said. "All we want from you is for you to participate in a Pokémon reunion." James added.
Still rather skeptical, Snorunt looked back and forth at its two human blockades and thought about their words, but suddenly a blast of energy came out of nowhere and knocked the humans and their Pokémon down. "What was that?" Ash exclaimed.
When the smoke cleared, a Glalie appeared, growling at the small Snorunt. "What's up with that Glalie?" Ash wondered. "Lemme look it up." Dawn pulled out her pink Pokédex and scanned the antagonizing Pokémon. "Glalie, the Face Pokémon, and an evolved form of Snorunt. Glalie protects itself by creating ice armor from airborne moisture." the Pokédex chirped.
"I wonder if Glalie and Snorunt are friends." Ash said. "Froslass never mentioned a Glalie to us though." Misty replied. Glalie then fired a powerful 'Hyper Beam' at the teens, that just narrowly missed nailing Team Rocket, and forced the group of trainers to dive out of the way. "Why would Glalie attack us out of nowhere like that?" Dawn asked.
"My guess is that Glalie isn't too happy with us." Misty figured. The group peeked out from behind their hiding place and saw Glalie use an attack on Snorunt that caused it to fall limply on its side. "Glalie just used 'Leer' and look at what it did to poor Snorunt!" Ash growled. "I guess it's safe to assume that Glalie and Snorunt aren't the best of friends." Brock added.
Then Glalie scooped up Snorunt and placed the quivering Pokémon on its head, and then turned around and headed for an unknown location. "Oh no, where's Glalie taking Snorunt?" Dawn asked. "Wherever it is, it can't be good!" Misty replied.
"Come on, let's go after it!" Ash exclaimed. The group took off running after the Face Pokémon to try and rescue the frightened Pokémon it was carrying away. "Don't just stand there, move it!" Jessie exclaimed. "Yes ma'am!" the two adults and their Pokémon started chasing after Glalie as well in order to rescue their friend from the hands of Froslass.
"Glalie, stop!" Ash yelled. Glalie glanced back and saw the group of humans chasing it down determinedly. "Stop this right now!" Dawn shouted. "And give Snorunt back!" Misty added.
"James, do something!" Jessie exclaimed. James acknowledged and ordered an attack, "Carnivine, 'Bullet Seed'!" Carnivine acknowledged and fought the urge to bite James' head first, and instead fired a spray of huge, energized seeds at the Face Pokémon, who took the attack and grunted, but refused to give up its cargo.
"Alright Charizard, Chimchar, you gotta go and help Snorunt!" Ash ordered. The two fire-types acknowledged and charged at the ice-type. Chimchar struck first with multiple 'Scratch' attacks, and then the big strike came when Charizard slammed Glalie with a strong 'Steel Wing' and knocked Snorunt off of Glalie's head.
"It's your turn Corsola, 'Power Gem' now!" Misty ordered. "You too Buneary! 'Ice Beam'!" Dawn ordered. The two Pokémon launched their attacks, but they both missed as Glalie dodged and fired a powerful 'Hyper Beam' that made a direct hit on both of the assaulting Pokémon. "Corsola!" "Buneary!"
The two trainers went to check on their Pokémon when a man riding a snowmobile drove up, "What's going on? What are you doing to my Glalie?" the man demanded. "That's your Glalie?" Dawn asked. "WE didn't do anything! Your Glalie attacked us out of nowhere!" Misty screamed.
"Yeah, and it was trying to take that Snorunt too!" Ash added. "Well I know that, it was acting on my orders." the man replied. "YOUR orders?" Brock asked. "You mean you meant for Glalie to steal Snorunt?" Misty added.
"But why?" James asked. "It's a no-brainer, look." the man held up a piece of paper that listed all sorts of Pokémon, "Snorunt always fetch top dollar on the Pokémon Black Market."
"Pokémon Black Market?" Ash asked. "You're a poacher aren't you?" Brock said. "Guilty as charged. You see legend has it that having a Snorunt will make you rich, so plenty of people want them." the man chuckled and glanced over to Snorunt, "I did manage to catch one around here just the other day, but it ran off on my way home." the man picked up Snorunt and walked over to his snowmobile.
"What are you doing?" Misty shouted. "What's it look like I'm doing? You don't think I'd let a goldmine like this get away AGAIN do you?" the man dropped Snorunt into a tiny cage and closed it, trapping Snorunt.
"Stop it!" Ash yelled. "Give Snorunt back now!" Dawn added. "Sorry, but finders keepers. Now stay out of my way." the man said. "I'll bet when Froslass was telling us about when somebody took away Snorunt by force it was YOU Froslass was talking about!" Dawn hissed.
"No wonder Froslass doesn't trust humans, you must've just barged in and taken Snorunt away from Froslass and just taken off to sell it!" Misty added. "Well your Pokémon poaching days are over!" Ash exclaimed determinedly.
"Give Snorunt back right now!" Dawn demanded. "Meowth will thank you for it you jerk!" Jessie exclaimed. "That'll be a first!" James added.
We're taking Snorunt back to Froslass!" Ash exclaimed. "Oh yeah? And how do you intend to stop me?" the man asked.
"Charizard!"
"Gyarados!"
Misty tossed out a Pokéball, and her giant water dragon emerged next to Charizard and roared its challenge, scaring James into a fetal position at the same time. "A Gyarados huh? No big deal for my Glalie." the man said nonchalantly. "Don't be too sure." Misty said. The water-trainer nodded at Gyarados, and the water dragon launched a blazing flame at the Face Pokémon, who barely managed to dodge.
"That Gyarados knows 'Flamethrower'? And that Charizard looks pretty strong too actually." the man said. "So are you gonna give Snorunt back peacefully, or do we have to do this the hard way?" Misty asked. The two giants growled fiercely at the poacher and his Pokémon, clearly wanting to take the evil man down. "Glalie, it's time for our secret weapon!" the man exclaimed. Glalie nodded and began to glow in a bright blue aura.
"What's Glalie doing?" Ash asked. "Use 'Sheer Cold'!" The group gasped as Glalie began freezing the entire surrounding area solid. "Jump!" Brock yelled. The group jumped up and avoided becoming ice statues, and watched as the maximum range of the attack was reached and it went a few more feet. "Ha! Your secret weapon failed!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Oh yeah? Look again." the man chuckled. They looked and saw that Charizard and Gyarados had apparently not reacted fast enough, and had been frozen solid by the one-hit KO move. "Oh no, not again!" Ash exclaimed.
"So now what do you intend to do?" the man snickered. "You may have stopped Charizard but there's no way you'll be able to beat all of our Pokémon! One way or another we're getting Snorunt back!" Ash exclaimed.
"In your dreams punks! Glalie use 'Hyper Beam' quick!" the man ordered. Glalie complied and opened its mouth, allowing a powerful orange beam to go flying out of it. "Chimchar, use 'Flamethrower'!" Ash countered.
Chimchar also opened its mouth, and a burning flame blasted out of it, countering the 'Hyper Beam' and causing an explosion that melted some of the surrounding ice. "Ash, get Chimchar to thaw out Charizard and Gyarados! Dawn and I will hold him back!" Misty exclaimed.
"No you don't, use 'Leer'!" the man ordered. Glalie's eyes glowed in an angry red, which frightened Chimchar and brought it to its knees. "Come on Dawn, let's go!" Misty exclaimed. "Right! Buneary, use 'Dizzy Punch'!" Dawn ordered. "Corsola, 'Spike Cannon'!" Misty ordered.
Buneary charged ahead to attack while Corsola launched a furious barrage of sharp spikes at the ice-type. "Use 'Protect' now!" the man countered. Glalie became encased in a glowing green sphere of energy that negated Buneary's barrage of punches and blocked Corsola's spikes.
The two girls growled quietly at their attacks being blocked. "Power Gem' Corsola!" Misty ordered. Corsola charged up a huge orange ball of crystal that was sent flying towards Glalie. "Protect' again!" the man countered.
Once again the attack was blocked. "Next use 'Hyper Beam'!" the man ordered. Glalie fired at nearly point blank range and managed to make direct hits on both Corsola and Buneary, who were sent flying by the sheer power of the 'Hyper Beam'.
"Corsola!"
"No Buneary!"
"It's time we joined the battle! Carnivine, use 'Vine Whip'!" James ordered. "Yanmega, you use 'Sonic Boom'!" Jessie threw out a Pokéball, and her dragonfly Pokémon beat its wings forcefully to exert a powerful sound wave that hurtled straight for the Face Pokémon while Carnivine charged forward to slap it with long, whip-like vines.
But the Face Pokémon was too fast for the attacks and easily dodged them. "Now use 'Hyper Beam'!" the man ordered. Glalie fired another orange beam and hit Yanmega, but Carnivine managed to duck down low enough to escape being hit by the ultra-powerful blast. "They can't lick you! Carnivine, 'Bullet Seed'!" James ordered.
Carnivine cocked its head back and opened its mouth, sending a shower of energized seeds to pelt the ice-type. "Get back in there Corsola! 'Power Gem'!" Misty ordered. Corsola added on to the assault and launched a huge sphere at the Face Pokémon.
"Glalie, 'Protect' and then 'Gyro Ball'!" the man countered. Glalie's 'Protect' rendered the attacks useless against it, and then it immediately switched to offense and spun around at high speed, knocking out Team Rocket's Pokémon and knocking them into their masters, and sending Corsola flying into Misty who also fell over from the impact.
"That was super-effective against a rock-type like Corsola!" Brock exclaimed. And no sooner had he said that, Corsola passed out on top of Misty. "You were great Corsola, take a good rest." Misty returned her exhausted water/rock-type to her Pokéball for a much needed rest. "Don't just stand there Brock, get in there!" Misty exclaimed.
"Right! Croagunk, let's go!" Brock threw out a Pokéball of his own, and his poison/fighting-type emerged from it, croaking with determination at the Face Pokémon. "Brick Break', let's go!" Brock ordered. Croagunk leaped up to slam the ice-type with a hard, barrier shattering punch, but the Face Pokémon dodged that as well. "Quick Chimchar, use 'Scratch' now!" Ash ordered.
Chimchar took advantage of Croagunk distracting Glalie and nailed the ice-type with a sharp 'Scratch' across the face. "Quick Buneary, use 'Bounce'!" "Croagunk, 'Brick Break'!"
Buneary moved in first and used 'Bounce' on top of Glalie's head to bring it lower, and then as soon as Croagunk leaped into the air, Buneary bounced backwards and allowed Croagunk to hit Glalie with the fighting-type move. "I can't lose! Glalie use 'Hyper Beam'!" the man ordered. Glalie opened its mouth again and spewed out a powerful beam that Chimchar and Buneary managed to dodge, but Croagunk didn't move fast enough and got nailed by the blast. "No Croagunk!"
"Next use 'Gyro Ball'!" the man ordered. Glalie followed up its 'Hyper Beam' with a powerful 'Gyro Ball', knocking back the two Pokémon that had dodged the previous attack. "No Buneary!" the small rabbit Pokémon landed in front of Dawn with swirls in its eyes, and the coordinator picked it up and embraced it softly, "You did a great job." Pikachu scampered over to check on the normal-type, who quickly regained consciousness and smiled at the electric mouse.
"Chimchar, you ok?" Ash asked. Chimchar was obviously in pain from the hits it had taken, but the determined fire-type forced itself back to its feet and growled at the Face Pokémon. "How long are you gonna keep this up? My Glalie can't lose!" the man snickered. "We'll keep it up until we get Snorunt back!" Ash replied.
"Well if you wanna keep the beating going be my guest, we can do this all day." the man snickered. "We'll show you what we're made of! Chimchar, use 'Dig'!" The small monkey dove underneath the snow and vanished from sight. "What? Where'd it go?" the man exclaimed. Chimchar then burst out of the snow behind the confused Face Pokémon and screeched with determination. "Now, 'Flame Wheel'!" Ash ordered.
Chimchar enveloped itself in flame and nailed the Face Pokémon who groaned in pain. "Nice shot!" Team Rocket exclaimed. "That 'Flame Wheel' was super effective!" Brock added. "You ready to give Snorunt back yet?" Misty asked.
"Not on your life! Glalie quick, 'Gyro Ball'!" the man ordered. Glalie recovered its balance and began spinning at high speed to hit the fire-type with the steel-type move. "Chimchar, use 'Dig' to dodge it!" Ash countered. Chimchar quickly dove back underneath the snow and dodged the powerful 'Gyro Ball', that Glalie used to hit nothing but a snow covered boulder. "Keep your eyes open Glalie!" the man yelled. "Now Chimchar, 'Flame Wheel' again!" Chimchar burst out from behind Glalie again, and nailed the ice-type Pokémon with another super effective flame attack. "Oh no, Glalie!" the man shouted in disbelief. "Yeah, afraid so!" Ash cheered. Chimchar burst out of its own flames and slid across the snow to slow itself down and to get back into battle-ready stance.
"Nice work Chimchar!" Dawn cheered. "Chimmy's really on fire now!" James exclaimed. "No pun intended I'm sure." Jessie added.
"There's no way I'm giving up my gold mine to a bunch of bratty kids! Glalie, use 'Hyper Beam'!" the man ordered. Glalie fired, and the fire monkey jumped out of the way of the attack, but unfortunately it forced the humans to do the same. "That was too close!" Misty exclaimed.
"It'll get a lot close in a minute!" the man growled. "Not if we can help it! Chimchar, 'Dig' again!" Chimchar ran forward to dive down once more, but this time the man was ready. "No you don't! Glalie, get underneath that little pest!" he ordered. Glalie acknowledged and got down underneath the fire monkey before it could go underground. "Oh no!" Ash cried.
"Use 'Hyper Beam'!" the man ordered. Glalie opened its mouth, and at nearly point blank range the beam hit the fire monkey, lifted it up into the sky and let it fall back onto the ground with a dull puff of snow rising where it landed. "Come on Chimchar you gotta get up!" Ash encouraged. Chimchar pushed itself to its feet under the influence of its friends, but it was obvious the fire monkey was running out of energy fast.
"Heh heh, you put up a good fight there but you're still gonna lose!" the man snickered. "Not if we can help it! Chimchar quick! Use 'Scratch' let's go!" Ash ordered. Chimchar jumped up and reeled back to scratch the ice-type. "Protect', then 'Gyro Ball'!" the man countered.
'Protect' came into play just as Chimchar scratched, which caused the fire monkey to groan in pain from the impact of hitting the shield, and then Glalie's steel-type move knocked the weakened fire-type back onto its side.
Ash rushed to Chimchar's side and helped it back up, "Chimchar you gotta get up! You're our only other fire-type Chimchar; you're the only one who can beat that Glalie!" Ash exclaimed. Chimchar stood up again. "Use 'Dig', let's go!" Ash ordered. Chimchar acknowledged and began digging a hole to hide in.
"Don't let it Glalie!" the man yelled. Glalie shoved Chimchar out of the hole and knocked it backwards once again with a powerful 'Gyro Ball'. But instead of staying down, the determined fire-type got back up and charged forward again. "Do it for Riolu!" Ash yelled. Glalie slammed Chimchar backwards again.
"Do it for Azurill!" A 'Hyper Beam' was blasted and knocked Chimchar back.
"Do it for Piplup!" This time a 'Gyro Ball' knocked Chimchar down, and at this point the small fire-type had no energy left. "Ha ha ha ha! You punks can't win, my Glalie is unbeatable!" the man snickered. "Oh yeah? We'll never give up! We're getting Snorunt back and that's that you hear? Go Chimchar! Do it for Froslass!" Ash yelled.
Chimchar hobbled back out towards Glalie with an angry grimace on its face, if it wasn't so weak its flame would be burning extremely hot out of fury towards the Face Pokémon. But then out of nowhere, a figure leaped out from behind a tree and charged past the slowly moving Chimchar. "Now what?" the man growled. "It's Froslass." Ash said in shock.
Froslass charged towards Glalie and gave a hard 'Scratch' attack to stun it and get its mind off of hurting the fire monkey that had been sacrificing its body on Snorunt's behalf. "Looks like Froslass is on our side now!" Misty exclaimed. Froslass then turned around and faced the frozen figures of Charizard and Gyarados, and its eyes glowed blue, and slowly but surely the two giants defrosted and roared in fury towards the Glalie.
"Thanks Froslass! Does this mean you wanna help us?" Ash asked. Froslass nodded to acknowledge, and thanked Chimchar for doing so much and told it to go and take a rest. Chimchar thanked Froslass and limped over to Ash. "You did awesome Chimchar, now just let Charizard finish this off!" Ash exclaimed.
"Hey don't forget Gyarados! I think it could use a little warm up after being frozen so long!" Misty added. Gyarados roared in agreement and glared at the Face Pokémon. "Uh oh…" the man groaned. "Alright Gyarados, 'Flamethrower'!" Misty ordered. The enraged water-dragon spewed a powerful flame from its mouth, and got assistance from Froslass' 'Shadow Ball'.
"Quick Glalie! 'Protect'!" the man yelled desperately. Glalie managed to block the attacks with some difficulty, but once the shield wore off, Charizard came charging in, and grabbed the Face Pokémon by its horns. "Now Charizard, 'Seismic Toss'!" Ash ordered. Charizard flew up and did three somersaults in the air, but instead of throwing Glalie straight down, Charizard swooped down and did an underhand throw and sent Glalie rolling like a bowling ball, knocking the ice-type into its master and together they slammed into the cage and fell unconscious, inadvertently opened the cage and allowed Snorunt to escape.
Snorunt climbed out of the cage and wobbled over to Froslass who had its arms open for Snorunt to jump into. Snorunt eagerly did and happily cried out its name in the safe arms of its friend. "I'm so glad Snorunt is safe now." Dawn said. "Maybe after all this, Froslass will realize that there still people in this world you can trust after all." Brock added.
"And it looks like that poacher won't be poaching Pokémon anytime soon." Misty said. Froslass floated over to the teens with Snorunt still resting comfortably in its arms. "Sorry it took so long, but we kept our promise to you about Snorunt. So can we have our Pokémon back? That was the deal." Ash said.
Froslass nodded happily at the teens, but then Team Rocket ran up in a panic. "Hey! We worked hard! Remember we had a deal too!" Jessie exclaimed. "Yes observe!" James stuck his head into Carnivine's mouth, "I trust my dear Pokémon with my head! So please, can we have our friend Meowth back?"
Froslass and Snorunt sweat-dropped when Carnivine bit down on James' head, "Could we save this for another time?" James asked almost desperately. "Hey don't forget about that guy, we gotta do something about him or he'll just go out and try to snatch Snorunt again." Misty said.
"Here's an idea, hey Charizard, how about you dump them in their own cage?" Ash said. Charizard gave a toothy smirk and picked up the human and ice-type, dropping them into the small cage and locking it. "I'm sure Officer Jenny will show up soon." Ash said. "So for now, you two behave yourselves." Dawn added. "Or else Gyarados will have to get mean." Misty also added.
"Oh yeah? Well we'll just see about that! Glalie, freeze them all with 'Sheer Cold'!" the man ordered. "Whoa, watch out!" Ash exclaimed. Glalie strained itself to try and activate the attack, but the best it could muster was to accidently freeze itself and its master. "Well, it looks like learning crime doesn't pay is tough for some." Jessie said. "Do tell." James added.
Froslass then led the group back to the cave, where the four frozen Pokémon cheered upon seeing the humans return. "Jessie! James! You guys managed ta find da little guy!" Meowth cheered. "That's right, now just stay still and let Froslass work her hocus pocus." Jessie replied.
Froslass waved its hands around mysteriously. And just like with Charizard and Gyarados, the ice slowly melted and freed its captives. "(Sigh) Dat's a load off." Meowth said. The moment they were free, the three other Pokémon leaped into their respective master's arms for a happy reunion hug.
"Ha ha, Riolu!"
"Aww Azurill!"
"Piplup, you're free!"
"Tanks for da thaw." Meowth said. "All in a day's work for the giving." Jessie replied. "But worth every selfless second of it to keep our team intact." James added. "Did you do a good job with Riolu?" Misty asked. "Azu azu!" (I sure did!) Azurill replied. "See Mist, I told you it'd be good for Azurill. And I bet it was pretty good for Riolu too." Ash said.
Just then, Froslass spoke up, and Meowth once again took it upon himself to translate. "Oigent news flash from Froslass! 'Even if my intentions ta find my pally Snorunt were good, I neva shoulda put your buddies in da deep freeze because of it, and I'm sorry!'"
"It's fine, we understand." Dawn said. "The important thing is that it all worked out for the best for everyone in the end." Misty added. Froslass again spoke up, "As a token of Froslass' appreciation, here's directions ta town!" Meowth translated.
"Thank you! That's so sweet!" Dawn exclaimed. "Now this is how people and Pokémon should get along right guys?" Ash said. "You bet." Brock added. "Amen to that." Misty also commented. The group then followed the ice/ghost-type through the forest, and finally they reached a clearing in the snow and found the path they had previously been walking. "Thanks for everything Froslass; we can take it from here." Ash said.
"Only as long as Ash doesn't lead the way again." Misty joked. "My map skills weren't the reason we got lost." Ash replied. "You mean your LACK of map skills and how do you know that?" Misty countered.
"You gotta admit I'm getting better!" Ash exclaimed. "Yes but better than horrible is still bad!" Misty replied. The argument would've gone on longer, but the group suddenly heard a loud exclamation, but when they looked behind them, they saw nothing there. "What was that?" Ash wondered. "Hey where's Team Rocket?" Misty pointed out. "Maybe that was them blasting off again." Brock suggested with a laugh. The group decided to agree for the sake of laughs, and said goodbye to Froslass and Snorunt. And now that they were back on the right track, the group of teens continued on towards Snowpoint City and Ash's next gym battle.
_
Sorry if this one sucked. Quite honestly I didn't think of this one as one of my best chapters myself. But that's what happens when I'm using the wrong computer to write on. I had to sneak around using any and every computer I could get my hands on, carrying my jumpdrive everywhere I went just to try and write a few paragraphs if I'm lucky. I even used the extremely ancient Word 2003 so that no matter which comp I got on I could write a little bit without worrying about having the file too new to handle. But the next one I guarentee will be better! So please review, and let me know that you all didn't abandon me!