Well everyone, this is it! Now we find out who came out on top in the thrilling battle between Ash and Paul! To all my reviewers, I thank you for your input, but what it came down to was which would I be able to make a better story out of both right now and going forward. So if I disappoint anyone with the decision, my apologies ahead of time. So now with the anon reviews.
Guest1: You'll see now
Guest2: Glad you were excited, guess that means I did a good job with the battle. ^^
Guest3: Cliffhangers are evil, yes...but somehow fitting in this particular situation lol
Guest4: If you find that time machine, be sure to keep Misty's VA from ever trying to go on a singing tour. I mean seriously? Geez...
XwildtorchicX: Yes, Paul's a jerk, but there's a reason for that, and it will be revealed in the distant future. And yes, cliffhangers are evil, but as I said before...it was fitting.
That's it! Now hold on tight folks, it's time for the results! I own nothing except the story.
_
Chapter 57
Misty's POV
I…uh…forget it, who won?!
Normal POV
The smoke finally cleared from the collision of two powerful attacks, and it appeared that both Pokémon were still fighting to just stand up…if someone were to drop a pin at this moment, everyone around would've been able to hear it hit the ground. No one murmured, no one even breathed as if any little obscure factor could make the decision.
Suddenly though…Monferno gulped and began to fall over, "No Monferno no!" Just when Ash thought he had lost the battle, Monferno caught himself with one hand and managed to keep from falling, at the same time Electabuzz ran out of steam and fell over without question. "Monferno…you…won…"
Electabuzz is unable to battle! Monferno is the winner and the match goes to Ash of Kanto!" Olivier announced.
Everyone on the stands leaped up in joy and began cheering, all except for Reggie who simply had a small smile and went over to Paul, who seemed to have no emotions at the moment, "It was a good battle Paul." He tried to comfort his brother. Paul didn't respond and just returned the fainted electric-type to its Pokéball.
Ash friends might've been happy, but Ash felt no desire to cheer, despite his close victory. With the sun setting behind the nearby mountains, Ash walked onto the field and knelt down in front of Monferno, who had since succumbed to his fatigue once he had been declared the winner. Monferno opened his eyes to look up at Ash, and the black-haired trainer relinquished a small smile, "Monferno…thank you."
The entire group gathered together, "That was a spectacular battle you two." Reggie said, "Many thanks."
Paul dipped his head a bit, "Yeah…I suppose it was." The trainer admitted reluctantly, "I'll send you my Pokémon Reggie."
"Got it Paul." Reggie replied.
Paul nodded and turned to walk away, the weight of his defeat weighing heavily in his heart. But as down as Paul was feeling, Ash was feeling worse. The trainer got up from his knees with Monferno resting in his arms, and as he watched Paul walk away, he was reminded of exactly what had taken place during the battle. He may have won, but his victory was extremely hollow. It had come at such a high price, he wondered if it was even worth the trouble. "I gotta go." Ash picked up Pikachu and carried both him and Monferno to the Pokémon Center, without his friends.
"What's wrong? He won!" Dawn exclaimed with concern.
"Yeah…" Misty sighed sadly, "He won the battle Dawn, but at what price?"
"I'm gonna catch up with Paul," Reggie said sympathetically, "You guys take care of Ash, I think he could use some reassurance."
"Ok…seeya Reggie…" Brock and the other teens turned to part with Reggie, but then Brock turned his head back to talk once more to Reggie, "Reggie, I'm sure what Ash said got to Paul somehow, try to talk to him huh?"
Reggie smiled, "I intend to Brock, you take care of your guy, and I'll take care of mine." With a nod, the two breeders parted ways.
Back inside the Pokémon Center, Ash had gone to Nurse Joy and given his Pokémon over to the nurse to try and heal. Needless to say, when Ash saw how badly his Pokémon had been hurt by Paul, Ash felt heartbroken. He watched from outside the recovery room window as Nurse Joy went to each Pokémon and bandaged their wounds. Not one Pokémon wasn't groaning in pain, even the normally tough as nails Charizard was wincing as Nurse Joy applied Super Potion cream and then bandaged the damaged horn on his head.
Sceptile's tail had been badly charred along with the rest of his body, and Nurse Joy had to apply a special grass-type fertilizer spray to help it grow back faster and to hopefully provide some pain relief. Snorlax, his 'Self-Destruct' had left him extremely depleted and weakened, it looked as if he wouldn't wake up for weeks because of how powerless he had been rendered.
His partner Pikachu. The burns on his fur stung like nothing he had ever felt before, and he could barely move without feeling sharp pain. And of course his newly evolved Monferno…Monferno had battled like never before, with more heart and determination than he had ever exhibited before, and now even as the victor, the fire monkey couldn't even enjoy it. He was hurting far too much, as Nurse Joy bandaged his arms and legs which had been badly bruised by his battle with Paul, Ash could only imagine how his Pokémon felt, how much pain they were in right now, and all for what? A hollow victory against his cruel rival. No…not rival…enemy.
"Ash!" Misty found Ash staring intently inside the recovery room, where all of his Pokémon were being bandaged by the pink haired nurse. "Ash, it wasn't your fault."
Ash didn't stick around to listen to her reassurance; he didn't even want Misty's company. All he wanted right now was to be alone. Ash dipped his head and used his cap to hide his face, and briskly walked away to try and escape.
By this time, Dawn and Brock had found their way as well, "I think it might be best if we give Ash a little time to himself." Brock suggested.
Misty looked back at her older brother figure and frowned, how could he expect her to leave Ash alone in his time of despair? Misty shook her head and chased after Ash, who had been keeping a steady pace to their room. "Ash, please!" Ash stopped at her voice, but he refused to look at her, "Ash," Misty hugged him from behind, and moments later she felt him start to shake, she knew what was coming. "It's ok Ash, don't be embarrassed, this is me, remember? You can cry if you want."
Ash did start to cry, but he didn't want her there right now, "M-Misty…please…I just wanna be alone for a while…o-ok?" Ash broke free and went into the room without waiting for a reply; he just couldn't stand to face anyone right now.
After having him run from her twice, Misty decided that maybe Brock was right, maybe Ash did need some time to himself…but seeing her boyfriend so broken and so emotionally hurt by what happened in the battle, it made her heart ache. "Maybe tomorrow he'll let me talk to him." With a sad sigh, Misty walked in and just headed to the shower, sneaking one last longing glance at the trainer who was outside on the balcony, looking up into the now starlit sky.
The next morning, Ash was downstairs again before anyone else was even awake; Brock had slept on the couch so that Misty could sleep on his bed, so she could give him his space. He was grateful that they honoring his wishes, but somehow in the deep recesses of his mind, he was sort of hoping Misty would be stubborn enough to stay with him. He didn't even know why he was shunning the comfort of his friends, all he knew was that right now, his Pokémon friends were in the recovery room, trying to sleep off their pains and aches from the day before. Eventually Ash couldn't stand to look anymore, and he went outside to a large grassy area, and just lied down to think about things…like his future as a Pokémon Trainer, "How can I ever do this to them again?"
There was one Pokémon that was awake in the recovery room however. Riolu. Riolu had sensed Ash's distress with his aura and it made him sad just like him. Riolu scampered over to the door and tried to open it, but the baby Pokémon was still too small to reach the knob. "Why can't I be big like them?" Riolu whined, as he slid against the door of the recovery room and just flopped onto the floor.
Riolu's displeasure however hadn't gone unheard. Buneary, who Dawn had allowed to stay with Pikachu that night, had heard Riolu whining with her sensitive hearing and woke up to see what was wrong. "What's wrong Riolu?"
"Daddy's sad." Riolu whimpered, sniffling a little.
Buneary frowned sympathetically and hopped off the recovery bed, accidently waking up Pikachu in the process. "Don't cry Riolu," the rabbit said comfortingly, "I'm sure Ash will feel better soon."
"I dunno about that." Pikachu's voice got the attention of Riolu and Buneary, and the rabbit gasped when Pikachu carefully made his way off the recovery bed and onto the floor.
"You should be resting," the rabbit scolded gently, "Why are you walking around?"
By now all the Pokémon had been awoken by the ruckus, also curious as to what was going on. Pikachu groaned softly and winced a little before responding to the rabbit. "Can't sleep anymore." He said through a grunt, "Besides, we've got bigger problems at the moment."
"What could be bigger than the fact that we can barely move?" Buizel asked bitterly, not because of Ash of course, he just hated being vulnerable.
"I think Riolu's right, Ash is sad." Pikachu replied, "I think he's starting to doubt himself as a trainer."
"What for? We won!" Buizel exclaimed.
"Did we?" Pikachu asked rhetorically. That comment raised the eyebrows of almost everyone in the room, "I've known Ash for a long long time, and I can tell you that there's only one thing more important to him than winning."
"That's Mommy!" Riolu exclaimed.
Pikachu smiled a little at that, "True," but then he got back to his main point. "Lemme rephrase, when it comes to battling, only one thing is more important to him than winning. It's building relationships." Pikachu looked around the room and saw that Monferno and Charizard were nodding at him, but the others were still a little confused, so he went on. "Ash isn't just our trainer, he's our friend, wouldn't you all agree with that?"
This time everyone in the room nodded at that. "I think I get what you mean Pikachu." Monferno said.
Pikachu nodded at the fire/fighting-type. "Ash won the battle, but look how it left us." The Pokémon took a moment to examine themselves. "We're bruised, battered, burned, broken, whatever adjective you wanna use…and the fact that Paul seemed to go out of his way to hurt us, means more to Ash than winning the battle."
"Oh yeah," Sceptile spoke up, "I meant to ask you guys about him, what's with that guy anyway?"
"Paul's just a jerk, that's all there is to it!" Buneary spat angrily, "He hurt you guys on purpose for absolutely no reason!"
"I disagree." The Pokémon all turned to Monferno, who was now watching different trainers and Pokémon walk around the Pokémon Center through the window, "Paul didn't hurt us because that was his intention. Paul did what he felt he had to do to make sure he won."
"Never expected to hear that coming from you Monferno." Charizard commented.
"Yeah, Paul hurt you more than anyone else! How can you defend him?!" Buneary exclaimed.
"I'm not defending him." Monferno replied, "I just know him, that's all. He doesn't train the way Ash does, he doesn't treat his Pokémon with love the way Ash does, but I know that what he does is just his way of getting stronger, he never tries to hurt his Pokémon, it just happens that way because of the way he does things."
"Do you think he cares about what happened?" Buizel asked, his arms crossed in suspicion.
"I doubt it." Monferno shrugged, "But I'm just telling you what I know. Trust me, if I ever go up against Paul again, I'm gonna give it more than my all just like I did this time, especially if he tries to use Electabuzz…but when it comes right down to it, Paul's not as bad as he seems, but that doesn't mean I like him, I don't."
"He sure looked that bad during the battle." Sceptile replied, looking back at his half burned off tail.
"I dunno." Charizard said thoughtfully, earning the attention of the other Pokémon, "Monferno may have a point…if you think about it, this isn't the first time we've taken a beating during a battle, I know it's not my first time."
"I've seen you go head to head versus an Articuno with 'Water Pulse' and win!" Pikachu exclaimed.
Charizard smirked as old times were brought back to him, "Exactly my point. Paul didn't break any rules; he just battled rougher than most trainers we've run into. Don't forget how Candice's Abomasnow nailed me with that 'Wood Hammer', I swear I've still got lumps, that thing hits hard."
"So what you're saying is, this is nothing new." Buizel figured.
"Not battle-wise, no." Charizard replied.
"But something is new here." Pikachu said, "Ash is feeling guilty because he thinks it's his fault we got hurt!"
"But why?" Snorlax finally decided to say something, "I mean, like Charizard said, this is nothing new."
"It's because it was Paul." Monferno said, "If it had been anyone else, Ash wouldn't be feeling this way."
"You know what Monferno? I think you hit right on the head." Pikachu agreed, "If this battle had been with someone like Barry or even Gary, Ash wouldn't be doubting himself."
Charizard scoffed at this, "I think he's being too sensitive over this. We won, and the next time we rumble with Paul, we'll make sure we take him down hard."
"Getting kinda tense, ain't ya?" Sceptile snickered.
Charizard growled, "That guy reminds me way too much of my old trainer, I wanna get even!" Charizard punched his fist into his claw, but he winced a little when his head started to pound.
"I think you should focus on getting better before you start taking names." Sceptile replied coolly.
"I think you should watch yourself grass-type, my head might hurt but I can still breathe fire." Charizard said warningly.
Sceptile shrugged and dismissed Charizard's temper as nothing, "I'm just sayin'."
"Let's try to keep a cool head ok?" Pikachu said, "Charizard, you just acknowledged that Ash cares about us more than he does about winning, even you can respect that. As I recall, you were once the helpless Charmander that needed help from a loving trainer."
Charizard looked away and breathed a small ember with a huff, "I guess." he mumbled in defeat.
"Excuse me?" all the Pokémon glanced down at the Emanation Pokémon that was now raising his hand in the air, wanting a turn to talk.
"Yes Riolu?" Pikachu asked.
"What are we gonna do about Daddy?" The little fighting-type's question got everyone to start thinking, as much as they had talked that morning, the one thing they hadn't discussed was what were they gonna do about Ash.
"Well…he may not be 'daddy' to me," Sceptile smirked, but then got serious again, "But I think we should at least do something. Preferably before me and Snorlax head back to Prof. Oak's lab to babysit that loopy Haunter and that screwball Rotom." That comment brought chuckles to everyone except Riolu, who had no idea what they were talking about.
"We'll think of something." Pikachu nodded, but then winced again and groaned in pain.
"What's wrong Pikachu?" Buneary gasped in worry.
"I think the painkillers Nurse Joy gave me are starting to wear off…I gotta get some rest." Pikachu struggled to get back up to his bed, and finally made it with a little help from Snorlax. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." With that, Snorlax quickly fell back to sleep, something the Sleeping Pokémon never had problems doing, and that also brought chuckles from everyone.
Then Monferno groaned a little as well, "Yeah…the painkillers are definitely wearing off, my whole body is killing me."
"Considering the beating you took, I'm not surprised." Buizel replied.
"Hey look!" Riolu exclaimed suddenly, "It's Mommy!" Riolu saw Misty walking over with Brock, Dawn, Nurse Joy, and the three still healthy Pokémon, Grotle, Gliscor, and Staraptor, and when the nurse opened the door, Riolu hurried to greet Misty with a hug.
"Hey Riolu, you doing ok?" Misty picked up the baby Pokémon and smiled at him, albeit half-heartedly. Riolu picked up on Misty's sad aura and whined at her. "I know…I'm not feeling too good today."
I don't think any of us are." Dawn added with a sad sigh, as she watched Brock and Nurse Joy work with Brock's Happiny and two Pokémon Center Chansey and Blissey, "Just look at them Misty, can you even imagine how hurt they must be?"
"Actually Dawn, yes I can." That comment caught the coordinator off guard, "They've dealt with worse, it's just that Paul did it that makes it sting that much more." Misty then added in her head, "Same goes for Ash too."
Dawn then turned around and groaned sadly when she got tired of watching and slumped onto the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. "I just wish there was something I could do to help."
"Well you heard what Brock said, he said we should Ash alone for a while…and since he didn't want my company or anyone else's for that matter, that looks like all we can do for now." Misty replied.
"I know, and that's what's bothering me!" Dawn sighed again and buried her face into her knees. But then, Piplup decided to try and cheer up his master, as he poked her leg to try and get her attention, "What is it Piplup?" When Dawn looked at Piplup, she saw him making several funny faces, trying anything to try and make the coordinator laugh. While it only got a small giggle out of Dawn, it did wonders for Riolu, who was laughing really hard at the funny faces the penguin made, "Wow, thanks Piplup, I needed a good laugh."
"And so did Riolu apparently." Misty giggled, as Riolu laughed in her arms, eventually quieting down to a little snigger.
"Yeah." Dawn then snapped her fingers, "That's it!"
"What's it?" Misty asked in confusion.
"I just had the greatest thought! And I need all of you to help me out on this!" Piplup was all for whatever Dawn had in mind, and that was all the confirmation the coordinator needed, "Come on Misty, let's go!" Dawn got up and grabbed the taller girl by the wrist, dragging her through the Pokémon Center with her protesting all the way, "Wow, this is gonna be great!"
"How do I get wrapped up into these things?" Misty sighed, and then gasped as Dawn gave her a sudden tug, getting her to go faster.
Brock had noticed Dawn dragging Misty off, and shook his head with amusement before going back to his work on Pikachu, "I wonder what crazy concoction Dawn's thought of this time." He said with a chuckle.
"Pika pika chu." (Probably something weird.)
Brock then went over to a counter with several medicinal supplies hanging over it cabinets, "Hey, where'd my first aid kit go?" A few excited cries from Happiny answered that for him, "Thanks a lot Happiny!" Brock took the kit and pet Happiny's head, and then went back to work.
"Brock," Nurse Joy spoke up, "I really can't thank you enough, you're such a big help." She said.
"Pika." (Uh oh.) Pikachu rolled his eyes and looked away.
Brock actually squealed when Nurse Joy said that, even his hair stood up on end with excitement, and in less than a millisecond, Brock seemed to warp from one side of the room to the other, just to hold Nurse Joy's hands tenderly, "Nurse Joy, I would gladly give myself up completely in order to serve to even your tiniest desire." He said gallantly. But Brock was broken out of his euphoria when he suddenly felt a presence that wasn't there before.
"Mon ferno." (Not again.) Monferno sighed.
Both Brock and Nurse Joy looked down at the floor, and there was Brock's Croagunk 'Poison Jab' at the ready. Brock squeaked nervously and lifted one leg and both arms in the air as it to try and keep as many jab-able body parts away from the frog as possible, "Wait, Croagunk, please!"
"Scep tile scep scep tile." (I see some things never change.) Sceptile snickered.
"You've got it all wrong Croagunk! I was just helping Nurse Joy out you see, it's all perfectly innocent, t-t-that's it!" Brock stood tall with his hands on his hips after dancing around trying to keep Croagunk from jabbing him. Eventually Croagunk powered down his attack, and walked away after deciding to let Brock off with a warning. After Croagunk disappeared, Brock hunched over and sighed in relief, sweat-dropping as well.
"Pika pi ka chu." (He'll never learn.) Pikachu sighed and tried to go back to sleep.
Nurse Joy giggled with some amusement; she had found Croagunk to be rather funny the way it made Brock react. But then as she got back to work, she noticed the progress report on Monferno and gasped softly with concern, "Brock," she said, getting the breeder's mind back on the situation at hand, "I'm concerned about Monferno, his recovery seems so slow, his body is healing at a much slower rate than the others."
"Makes sense." Brock crossed his arms over his chest, "Monferno took a serious beating yesterday." He said glumly.
After rubbing her chin in thought, the nurse looked over to Brock, "Do you think you could go into the woods near here and look for some Cheri Berries for me? I think I can use them to help Monferno's recovery along."
"I'd love to! I'll be back soon!" Brock hurried out of the Pokémon Center and into the woods only a few yards away, with a plastic bag in hand and Cheri Berries on his mind. But after about ten minutes of walking through the woods, Brock had yet to find what he was looking for. "Geez," Brock rubbed his neck that had started to ache a couple of minutes before, "Finding Cheri Berries around here is harder than I thought it'd be." Brock eventually walked all to Lake Acuity, and he still hadn't found a single berry.
"Lake Acuity? Wow…I must've walked farther than I thought." But just then, Brock saw ripples in the water that had been undisturbed until now, "What the?" Brock gasped when he saw a see-through silhouette of a Pokémon he never expected to reveal itself, "Could that be?!" Brock rushed forward to get a better look, but once he got too close to the edge of the lake, the figure disappeared, as if it was never there. "Was that…Uxie?" Brock looked around, and spotted a tree that he swore wasn't there before, "I don't believe it...Cheri Berries." Brock went over and gathered all the berries off the tree, and hurried back to the Pokémon Center to tell his friends of his sighting.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Dawn was working with Pachirisu and Mamoswine on a special project, that Misty really wanted no part of. "What on earth is she doing?"
"Ok you two, you're doing great!" Dawn then turned to Misty, "Ok Misty, I need Buneary's help now, can you go and get her for me? That is, if you can pry her away from Pikachu." The coordinator giggled.
"Sure thing!" Misty hurried off with Riolu in her arms, and once she was out of earshot, she slowed her pace. "Anything to get out of there." Misty eventually got back to the recovery room, and noticed that all of Ash's Pokémon with the exception of Monferno were now watching from outside the recovery room, "Hey! You guys are looking better!" The Pokémon smiled feebly at Misty, who had noticed how forced their smiles were, "What's the matter?" then she figured it out, "Wait a sec…Monferno's not with you guys." Misty looked into the recovery room and saw that Monferno was the lone Pokémon inside the recovery room, lying down on a bed with Nurse Joy placing monitor wires on his chest, "Monferno's not doing too good huh?"
Suddenly, Brock came running out of seemingly nowhere, startling the redhead in the process, "Misty, in Lake Acuity! It was there, and all of a sudden, it just wasn't!"
"Whoa, hold on a sec." Misty put Riolu down and let the little Pokémon rejoin his friends, "You sound more mixed up than Ash did when we saw Azelf in Lake Valor."
Brock snapped his fingers, "That's what happened!"
"Brock, emphasize please." Misty stressed.
"I think I saw Uxie!" the breeder exclaimed.
Misty's eyes widened at that, "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm not sure! Were you?!" Brock replied.
Misty started to reply, but then she stopped herself and rethought her words, "No, I guess not." Misty decided to change the subject after hearing all of Ash's Pokémon, plus Dawn's Buneary, groan with worry, "What's wrong with Monferno?"
"Huh?" Brock shook his head to try and get back to the problem at hand, "Oh…Monferno's recovery hasn't been as fast as the others, Nurse Joy sent me to find some Cheri Berries to see if we could speed the process up a little."
"Well then what are we waiting for? If you have 'em, let's use 'em!" Misty exclaimed.
Brock nodded, and the two trainers walked into the recovery room, where Brock handed the berries to Nurse Joy, who began washing and picking them off their stems. "Sure hope this works." He said.
Outside, the Pokémon were still watching in worry. "Great, first us, then Ash, now it turns out that Monferno was more hurt than we thought." Buizel huffed.
"But he was fine when we talked this morning!" Buneary exclaimed.
"He might've been playing it tough." Sceptile suggested.
"Or he wore himself out and he's just out of energy." Snorlax added, "What do you think Charizard?"
But Charizard didn't answer; he was too busy watching intently at what was happening inside the recovery room. The fact that Nurse Joy had discharged everyone from the recovery room except for Monferno had left him with an uneasy feeling in the dragon's stomach. He saw himself lying on that table, a weak, helpless Charmander who was abandoned by his trainer and adopted by Ash Ketchum, the only human willing to save his life. And now Monferno, just one day evolved from Chimchar, was being worked on by Nurse Joy. "How hard must it be," he imagined, "To face your past over and over again, and every time you do, something else happens to you."
Charizard was awed by this monkey, who in certain ways was just like him, but in other ways, Monferno wasn't at all like him. Once Ash took him in, Charizard had been lucky enough to simply put the past behind him…but Monferno had to keep going up against his past and face it head on. He knew what Monferno said earlier about Paul not being so bad…he also wondered if when…not if…when he woke up, Monferno would reconsider, seeing as how he almost didn't survive the victory. "If anyone ever does this to you again, someone's gonna get hurt, and it won't be you."
"Charizard, anybody home in there?" Sceptile waved his claw in front of the dragon who seemed to be completely lost in thought, "He's gone, he's only with us physically right now." Sceptile concluded.
"He sure cares about Monferno." Gliscor commented.
"He and Monferno share a similar past, they were both abandoned by their trainers." Pikachu explained.
"So Charizard does have a soft spot somewhere!" Grotle exclaimed.
"I sort of knew that before now," Staraptor said, "No one is so hardcore that they're emotionally invincible."
"Well he did feel sad about…what was it again? Charla I think?" Grotle said.
"Yeah, Charla, his ex-girlfriend." Pikachu sighed, "Poor guy, I would hate to think how I would feel if I ever lost Buneeeaar - uhhh – a near perfect life!" Pikachu tried to hide his blush and his words by changing them midsentence, but the electric mouse wasn't fooling anyone.
"Sounded like you were gonna say something else." Buizel snickered.
"Yeah, like…I dunno, Buneary?" Gliscor added with a chuckle.
"Lay off you guys!" Pikachu exclaimed embarrassedly.
If Pikachu thought he was embarrassed now, he hadn't felt anything yet, "Aww Pikachu, you do care!" Buneary hugged the electric-type tightly, causing him to blush even deeper than a moment before.
"E-E-Easy! I'm still not fully recovered remember?" Pikachu stammered.
Buneary released Pikachu and giggled, "Sorry…just happy." She giggled again, which got Pikachu to relinquish a timid smile.
Back inside the recovery room, Nurse Joy had just finished mashing up the Cheri Berries Brock had gathered, and was about to feed a spoonful of them to Monferno, "Here you are Monferno," Nurse Joy gently lifted his head, "Mashed Cheri Berries." With a soft moan, Monferno allowed Nurse Joy to feed him the berries, and he weakly chewed and swallowed them. Nurse Joy then placed his head back on the table, "All that's left is to wait." As if on cue, Monferno opened his eyes weakly, and then suddenly became alert to his surroundings. With a smile, Monferno sat up and waved to his friends in the window, "I think we can relax now."
"Wow, those Cheri Berries really did the trick!" Misty exclaimed, "Actually…" the redhead rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "Nurse Joy, is Monferno ready to be discharged yet?"
"Well he's pulled through the critical stage; I think it'd be ok, why?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Because there's another patient that needs help, a human one." Misty's statement got Monferno's attention, and the fire monkey raised a determined fist at her, "You know what I mean don't you Monferno? Ok, let's go!" Misty hurried out of the recovery room with Monferno trailing behind her, "Oh yeah! Buneary, Dawn wants you. The rest of you come with me!" Misty ran outside to find Ash, with all of his Pokémon chasing after her.
Ash of course was still lying on the grass, with the brim of his cap covering his eyes. The black-haired trainer had been replaying the events of yesterday's battle over and over and over again in his head, mentally seeing all his Pokémon take the brutally painful hits time after time. "How can I say I won when all my Pokémon are in pain? That's not winning…we just both lost."
"Stop being moody, you're freaking me out!" Misty was on her hands and knees, hanging her face above Ash's, he looked upside-down in her gaze, "Come on Ash, stop being so hard on yourself!"
Ash frowned and turned onto his side to try and avoid Misty's eyes, but then he was face to face with someone he definitely didn't expect. "P-Pikachu?"
"Pikapi." (Ash.)
"What are you doing out of the recovery room?" Ash asked.
"It's not just Pikachu Ash." Misty said with a tender smile.
"I-It's not?" Ash was answered by a slow shake of Misty's head, and he sat up and looked around and saw all of his Pokémon smiling sympathetically at him, except for Charizard who just had a smirk on his face. "Everybody…" he breathed. All the Pokémon tried to show they were alright by jumping up and down, but that proved to be a mistake as they all immediately started holding their still recovering wounds, provoking a sweat-drop from both humans, "Oh man, please don't overdo it!"
"They're just trying to cheer you up Ash; they know you've been feeling crummy ever since the battle yesterday." Misty got down next to him and hugged his arm, "Ash, you're feeling guilty for something that really isn't all that rare, you've seen your Pokémon take hits before, they've been knocked out brutally hard at times…but you've always made it through and so have they, why are you beating yourself up about it this time?"
"Aww Mist…" Ash sighed and looked down at the grass in front of him, "I may have won the battle, but seeing the way Paul hurt them…I didn't feel like a winner." Ash looked up at his Pokémon, "Yeah, my Pokémon have taken hits alright, Charizard, Sceptile, Snorlax, Pikachu, they've been with me a long time and they've had their share of bruises..." Ash looked back down, "But none of those bruises have ever come on purpose like that."
"Pikapi, pika pika chu." (Ash, we're all ok.)
"Mon ferno, mon mon ferno!" (Yeah, and we're ready for round two!)
Ash smiled at Monferno's enthusiasm, "Thanks guys." Ash actually let a laugh escape his lips, as he looked at his faithful teammates who were there supporting him, "So…you're not mad at me for not quitting to keep you from getting hurt?"
"Scep? Scep tile scep scep tile scep tile scep." (Mad? We would've been mad if you had quit.)
"Wow, really?" Ash asked in astonishment, "You would've been mad if I'd quit even if it meant protecting you guys?" All his Pokémon nodded in response. "Wow…I can't believe this."
"You can't?" Misty asked in disbelief.
"Well yeah! I mean," Ash directed his attention back to his Pokémon, "Are you guys trying to tell me that you'd be willing to go through this all over again?" His Pokémon nodded vigorously in response, "Unbelievable." Ash looked down at the ground and frowned, "But…"
Misty couldn't take it anymore, "No buts! Smile already!" Misty jumped on top of Ash and knocked him down, and started tickling him just to get him to start laughing.
"H-Hey! Ha ha ha n-n-no fair!" Ash of course began to laugh as his girlfriend's slender fingers ran up and down his body, making a tingling sensation that he just couldn't resist. "C-Come on Misty! Enough already!"
"Stop. Being. A. Mope!" Misty continued the tickle torture, and she began to laugh along with Ash, even the Pokémon found the whole scenario hilarious and they began to laugh as well, "Besides, your Pokémon like seeing you get tortured, why should I stop?!"
"Ha ha ha! C-Can't…breathe!" Ash grabbed Misty's hands and stopped her from tickling him, "There, now you'll stop!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
Misty tried to fight Ash's grip, but as she had been repeatedly reminded already, Ash was no longer the small boy she used to travel with in Kanto, Ash had grown taller and stronger than her over the years and she could no longer simply overpower him…so, she decided to call in backup. "Hey guys! Poképile on Ash!"
"What?!" Ash suddenly saw all his Pokémon running towards him and Misty, even Charizard had joined in on the fun. "Oh boy, I'm outta here!" Ash carefully threw Misty off him and he got up and started running, with all his Pokémon chasing after him and laughing. "You guys can't catch me!" Ash was quickly proven wrong when he ran into a big round belly and was stopped in his tracks. "Uh oh." Ash was quickly tackled by all of his smaller Pokémon, who took their turns tickling their trainer. "Hey! Come on guys! Ha ha ha!"
Misty walked up to the group and smiled down at them, "Now this is what I expect from my boyfriend and his Pokémon."
The Pokémon stopped tickling Ash long enough to let him breathe and smile up at Misty. "You're right Mist." Ash rubbed the heads of Pikachu and Monferno, "You guys are the best."
"So you feel better then?" Misty asked, extending a hand out to Ash.
Ash took her hand and used her help to stand up, and he quickly turned that into a tight hug, "You bet I do. Thanks to you and them, I feel like a million bucks!" Ash released Misty from the hug and turned to his Pokémon, "Paul's a tough one, that's for sure. He's got his own way of getting strong, and I gotta admit, he gave it his all. We may have won this round, but I'm sure we'll battle Paul again sometime in the future, so we're gonna have to get stronger too, and this time, we'll really show him what we can do!" Ash's Pokémon cheered, and with the exception of Charizard, Sceptile, and Snorlax, they all jumped onto both Ash and Misty who happened to be standing next to him. "Hey, come on guys! Get off already!" Ash couldn't help but laugh as his Pokémon cuddled up to them, and after a few minutes of play, they let the humans up.
"Now that we've taken care of this, whaddya say we head back?" Misty suggested, pointing to the Center with her thumb.
"Sounds good to me!" Ash stomach suddenly growled, and the trainer rubbed his midsection embarrassedly, "Heh, guess I forgot I haven't eaten since yesterday."
Misty shook her head and smiled, "You always do this." She sighed, "Come on; let's get something in your stomach before you pass out or something." Misty took Ash's arm, and together the group walked to the Pokémon Center, and upon opening the door, they found Brock, Dawn, and Nurse Joy all talking about something, "Look who I found!"
The trio turned to see Ash, Misty, and all of Ash's Pokémon standing in the doorway, "Ash! Misty!" Dawn exclaimed, "Brock just told us he saw it!"
Ash blinked in confusion, "Saw what?"
"I think it was Uxie!" Brock replied.
"What?!" Ash shouted.
"I was just about to lead them to the library to do some research, come with me!" Nurse Joy started walking towards the library with Dawn and Brock following closely.
"Ok, too many Pokémon right now, so you need to return." Ash returned all of his Pokémon except for Staraptor and Gliscor, whose Pokéballs had yet to be retrieved from Prof. Oak's lab, "Alright, let's go!" Ash hurried to find his other friends with Misty and the Pokémon not far behind.
By the time they found them, Dawn was already on the library computer, and Nurse Joy had removed several books from the shelves to try and find what she was looking for. After opening a certain book, she turned Brock's attention to the page she found, "The Pokémon you saw at Lake Acuity, was it this one?" she asked.
Brock turned and scanned the page, and he gasped when his eyes recognized the image, "That's it! But now that I think about it…the thing that I saw was more like a shadow than the actual Pokémon itself."
"It sounds to me like the spirit of Uxie that you saw, just like the time when I saw Mesprit on Lake Verity!" Dawn exclaimed, recalling the event where she had witnessed a shadow floating above the lake.
"And just like when Misty and me saw Azelf on Lake Valor!" Ash added.
"Now according to this book, it says that all three Pokémon might actually have come from the same egg! It also says that from Uxie, who is referred to as the being of knowledge, comes the wisdom to solve problems. From Mesprit, called the being of emotion, comes the joy and pain of life, and from Azelf, the being of willpower, comes the resolve to accomplish whatever task may be at hand." The nurse continued, "And it's the power of these three that keeps the world in balance…at least…that's what the book is saying…"
"To think they're legendary Pokémon…and the four of us saw them!" Dawn exclaimed.
"We saw them alright." Ash added.
"Could it have been an accident?" Brock wondered, "Or do all of these happenings mean something?"
"I personally hope it was an accident. I'd rather not get into another life-threatening adventure." Misty replied.
"It's mysterious, that much is for sure." Nurse Joy said.
"Yeah…" Ash suddenly burst into laughter, "I dunno why, but this is starting to get kinda fun!" That was answered by a slam on the head from Misty's mallet, causing the black-haired trainer to groan in pain.
"What'd you do that for?" Brock asked.
"Just in case this is Ash's lame way of trying to get over what happened yesterday. If he's gonna laugh, laugh at something that's funny, not in the face of danger." Misty explained angrily.
"Maybe Ash is trying to do too much…" Dawn added.
Ash groaned and rubbed his head as he got back up. He shot a glare Misty's way and then turned his attention to Dawn, "Whaddya mean too much?" he asked.
"Oh nothing." Dawn waved her hand as if it was nothing, "But there is something I wanna show you though!"
"Not this again." Misty mumbled to herself, face-palming in the process.
"You just stay here and I'll send Misty to come and get you guys when we're ready!" Dawn grabbed the redhead by the wrist again, and just like before, Misty was dragged along despite her constant protesting.
"Brock, what's going on?" Ash asked.
"Beats me, this morning Dawn grabbed Misty and disappeared for a while, but she never told me why exactly." Brock replied.
"I will say this," the nurse spoke up, "Dawn's been working really hard on her project, and from what little she's told me, it's all to cheer you and your team up!"
"Really? Wow." Ash then thought of something else, "Whaddya think she meant when she said I was trying to do too much?"
Brock frowned, "She's worried you're trying to laugh it off when you're really still not ok Ash…and I kinda have to agree." Brock sighed sympathetically.
Ash was taken aback…but when he thought about it…he realized Brock was right. His Pokémon, and Misty of course had all done their best to get his attitude back to its normally cheerful level, and it did work…to a certain extent…but now that Brock had pointed out, he found that he did still feel remorse for what happened yesterday. "I dunno Brock…" Ash rested his head in his hands and leaned on the windowsill, staring out at the grassy field he and Misty had just finished frolicking in, "Maybe…I just need a break, my team too…"
"Maybe…" Brock replied thoughtfully. Brock then walked up to Ash and placed a comforting hand on the trainer's shoulder, "Look…maybe this is a chance for you to learn something…like, you can't always be so concerned for your Pokémon that you lose your edge in battles." That comment got Ash to look at him with a puzzled expression. The breeder gave a small, sympathetic smile and continued, "I saw you battle with everything you had Ash…but at the same time, you seemed worried about what could happen, and you wound up getting burned by stuff you normally would've seen coming."
"Really?" Ash bit his bottom lip, as he thought about what he was currently hearing.
"Yeah…maybe this was a chance for you to learn not to be worried about what could happen, and just keep your cool. You've been battling with your head a little too much recently, now it's time to reset and get back to doing what you do, and that's battle with your heart, with instincts that you've been blessed with like no one else I've ever seen before." Brock squeezed the trainer's shoulder in an attempt to give some comfort to the younger boy.
Just then, Misty walked in, an annoyed scowl on her face. "Dawn's ready for her little show or whatever, so get your butts out here before I kick them out, that's an order!" When her two male friends exited the library, rather briskly that is, Misty turned her attention to Nurse Joy, "That's an urgent request to you Nurse Joy." Nurse Joy smiled and walked out with Misty, who had made it very clear via her facial expression that she wasn't going to enjoy Dawn's plan. "Dawn makes me nervous with her big ideas."
The group soon found themselves in the Pokémon Center lobby; where there was a couch facing what appeared to be a stage, hidden by a pink curtain. "Whoa, pretty impressive." Ash said.
"Dawn said she wants all your Pokémon to see it too, so…" Misty said.
Ash nodded, and sent out all his Pokémon, "Ok guys, Dawn wants us all to see something." The Pokémon all looked at him curiously, tilting their heads to the side, "Yeah I know, I have no idea what she's up to."
All of a sudden, Dawn came out from behind the curtain dressed in her usual Pokémon Contest attire, and her hair up in a long ponytail. She gave a bow and was about to address the group, when all of a sudden she stopped for a moment, and then scowled at the redhead, "Misty, I said everyone! Where are your Pokémon?! And Brock's too!"
"Oh for the love of…" Misty shook her head in annoyance and pulled out all her Pokéballs, and she apathetically dropped them all to the ground, releasing her Pokémon. "Happy?" Misty asked with her eyes narrowed at the coordinator.
"Not just yet! Brock, you too please!" Dawn exclaimed, giving a much more friendly expression to the breeder in training.
As Brock released his Pokémon, Ash gave Misty a puzzled look, "Why are you so upset about this?" he asked quietly so as not to alert Dawn.
"I'm not upset about her plan; I'm upset that she keeps dragging me into her plans without even asking." Misty knew Ash wasn't buying it from the look he was giving her. Unfortunately, being her boyfriend, Ash had learned a lot about her, "Ok fine," she conceded with a huff, her arms crossed in frustration, "I don't even know why I'm upset. Satisfied?"
"Yeah I kinda am," Ash gave her a toothy grin, but she had looked away so she didn't see it, although the redhead did gasp when she suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist and drag her to the spot on the couch next to Ash, where she landed with an "oof", "Now I know that I can do this." He snickered impishly. Misty whipped her head around to face Ash, and she softly smacked him in the shoulder in mock protest to his action. Mock of course because they both knew that she enjoyed being close to him, and of course the reverse was true too, so it worked out.
"If you two are done with your flirting over there…" Dawn said with her hands on her hips, her face twisted into an annoyed scowl. Ash and Misty blushed and looked away from each other at that comment. Once Dawn saw that there would be no more cause for interruption, her face changed back into its normally upbeat self and she smiled with excitement, "Warm greetings ladies and gentlemen! I'd like to start off our proceedings by thanking you all very much for coming to see Dawn's Pokémon Circus!"
"A circus?" Ash wasn't sure what Dawn was up to, of course neither did anyone else for that matter.
"Now, keep your eyes open, we will begin Dawn's circus with a feat of pure acrobatic skill!" Dawn stepped back and with a wave of her hand, the curtain opened and revealed Mamoswine with a pompom on its head, and down below was Buneary in her vest, and Pachirisu in a cheerleading outfit.
"Seems ok to me." Ash commented quietly.
"We'll see." Misty was still skeptical, she had witnessed what Dawn was practicing.
Buneary and Pachirisu began dancing around the Twin Tusk Pokémon's legs, and then they flipped up and onto Mamoswine's head with fancy acrobatics, landing with their backs turned to the audience. But when they turned around, they made funny faces at the group, squishing and stretching their faces, much to the sudden shock of everyone watching. "Oh wow." Ash said, wide-eyed.
That was pretty much the whole show, Buneary and Pachirisu just danced all over Mamoswine's head and flipped in the air, making funny faces as they did so. The first act ended with Buneary and Pachirisu stretching out Mamoswine's face, and Mamoswine flaring its nostrils and sticking its tongue out. At first, no one even made a sound, but eventually a soft chuckling was heard that quickly evolved into real laughter. "Wow, Riolu liked it?" Misty asked herself quietly.
But as Riolu kept laughing, it quickly became contagious and most of the other Pokémon began to laugh as well. Eventually leading up to the humans laughing, Misty of course, was trying very hard to resist. "They love you guys!" Dawn exclaimed, "Time to up the ante, come on out Piplup!"
Piplup walked on stage in a patchy clown outfit that was two sizes too big for the penguin, and that was enough to get Misty to laugh, "Poor Piplup!" she guffawed.
But Piplup didn't seem to be suffering at all, in fact he was enjoying being the center of attention, and he walked over to Dawn like a hula dancer, and chirped out his lines to the coordinator. "Wow, so you say you can really do it Piplup?" she said in response. Piplup chirped out a yes, and leaped into the air to start his routine. But he jumped too high and slammed his head on the ceiling, bringing out a worried gasp from Dawn, "Now that wasn't part of the plan." Luckily though, Buneary and Pachirisu were there and managed to save the act by twirling Piplup around on their ears and tail respectively, and they started tossing the penguin up into the air, where he did various flips and faces at the still laughing crowd. "Kay, and again, pose!" all the Pokémon did just that, and got ready for their grand finale.
"Wow, I'll give Dawn credit for this much," Misty said, "She put her heart and soul into this."
"Now…for our next act…" Dawn was rudely cut off by three workers who did a fanfare for themselves, the same three workers that had been outside the day before fixing the battlefield. "What the?!"
"Hey, aren't they the cleaning crew?" Nurse Joy asked.
"Wow, this oughta be good!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.
"Ahem," the woman with long magenta hair cleared her throat, "Testing testing, one two three…now how many people do you see WHO COMPLETELY RUINED EVERYTHING?!" the lady shouted suddenly and obnoxiously.
"Say what?!" Ash jumped up and raised his fists at the workers.
"Aww," the shortest one mocked, "Looks like we got a sourpuss in da audience!"
"Rumor has it that someone let his Pokémon get crushed in his last battle…" the woman pointed directly at Ash, who looked at her finger as if it were a rotten egg, "That someone would be you!"
"Rotten jerks!" Ash snarled.
"Without foitha ado!" the short worker pulled out a bazooka, much to the shock of everyone else, "It's our super special patented Pikachu get net! Get set!" the worker fired the bazooka, and a net came flying out of it, snatching Pikachu and pulling him towards them.
"Hey! Give Pikachu back!" Ash shouted.
"Who are you people anyway?" Nurse Joy asked.
With an evil laugh, the trio of workers tossed off their disguises, revealing themselves to be none other than the Team Rocket trio.
Jessie: "If you don't know who we are, you'll know soon enough."
James: "Since the twerp gets depressed when the going gets rough."
Jessie: "Shovel may care!"
James: "Pick a pair!"
Meowth: "Want Pikachu? Well tough!"
Jessie: "We bring chaos at a breakneck pace!"
James: "We dash all hope and bring fear in its place!"
Jessie: "A rose by any other name's just as sweet!"
James: "When everything's worse, our work is complete!"
Jessie: "Jessie!"
James: "And James!"
Meowth: "Meowth's da name!"
Jessie: "Putting the do-gooders in their place!"
James: "We're Team Rocket!"
Team Rocket: "And we're in your face!"
Nurse Joy had taken the whole thing as a joke, and she smiled as she thought this was a big show, "Wow, what fun!"
Ash gasped and turned to Nurse Joy, "No, you're wrong Nurse Joy!"
"Those guys are the bad guys!" Brock added.
"Oh!" the nurse gasped in horror, "That's just terrible!"
"You guys really know how to spoil a mood!" Misty hissed.
"Give Pikachu back now!" Ash demanded.
But Team Rocket merely started creeping away from them, "If you think we're going to bicker with you when we could be shuffling off to success, you really are a mess!" Jessie cackled.
"We got happy feet!" Meowth exclaimed.
"Ain't it neat?!" With that, the trio burst out the back door with Pikachu still in their grasp.
"Hey, come back!" Ash chased after the snickering team of crooks as fast as he could, followed closely by all his friends and the Pokémon that came with them. "Gimme back Pikachu or you're gonna regret it!"
"Stubborn twerps are the worst twerps!" Jessie pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it behind her, "Seviper, attention!" the poison snake appeared and glared at the teens and nurse, "Please dear, 'Haze'!" Seviper acknowledged, and a thick cloud of smoke enveloped the pursuers, causing them to stop and cough for oxygen, "Hope smoke gets in your eyes!" Jessie snickered as they continued their getaway.
"I don't think so!" Ash growled, "Staraptor, Charizard, Gliscor, blow this smoke away!" The three Pokémon obeyed the command of their trainer, and with their combined wing flaps, they blew the smoke away and back towards Team Rocket who were suddenly trapped in their own trick.
"What a bore!" Jessie coughed as they ran out of the smoke cloud.
"Pikachu, 'Thunderbolt', let's go!" Ash's order reached the ears of the struggling Pikachu, and the electric-mouse charged up and fired, only to find that the net was electricity proof, "Geez, that never works anymore!"
"Keepin' your attitude in da bag is what we're all about!" Meowth cackled.
"Fine then, Gliscor, 'Sand Attack'!" Ash ordered. Gliscor flew low to the ground and threw sand at the trio of thugs, who were quickly surrounded by the move.
But Jessie wasn't ready to quit, so she called in backup, "Yanmega, you're on!" the dragonfly emerged and flew towards the teens, "Use 'Sonic Boom'!" Yanmega pushed its wings back and sent a sound wave flying towards the antagonizing Gliscor, and the Fang-Scor Pokémon took the hit in the jaw and fell to the ground with a dull thud.
"Ok Carnivine, time to take the reins!" James called for his own help, and Carnivine emerged and rushed over to bite James's head affectionately, much to the annoyance of his two partners in crime, "I didn't say brains you poffin pinhead I said reins!" James threw Carnivine towards its target and barked out an order, "Carnivine, 'Bullet Seed'!" Carnivine fired a barrage of energized seeds at the teens.
"Alright, Grotle, use 'Energy Ball', Staraptor, you use 'Aerial Ace'!" Grotle countered the blast with his own attack, while Staraptor swooped in and took down both Yanmega and Carnivine with a high speed attack. "You guys are gonna pay for trying to steal Pikachu and hurt my Pokémon!" Ash growled, "Let's wrap this up gang! Monferno, 'Mach Punch'!" Monferno surged ahead, and in the blink of an eye Monferno appeared in front of Team Rocket and hit them with a barrage of punches that sent the Rockets flying backwards.
"That was amazing!" Dawn exclaimed in awe.
"Monferno's become a real powerhouse since he evolved." Brock added.
"Well then just imagine what'll happen when it evolves into Infernape!" Misty also commented.
Finally Meowth let go of the net and Pikachu was released from it, and with zero hesitation Pikachu scampered back over to Ash and leaped into his arms, "Ha ha, Pikachu!"
"Even my gloves hurt." James moaned.
"Whoever said that the twerp was bummed about his Pokémon and would be an easy target is an absolute buffoon…lemme at that idiot." Jessie groaned.
"You're dat idiot." Meowth grumbled, much to the horror of the female Rocket.
"Something about going after the weakest of the twerp herd." James quoted.
"Yeah and also somethin' profound about pluckin' Pikachu while de iron is hot." Meowth added.
Then James and Meowth ganged up on their teammate, "That would be our own Jessie…" they moaned eerily.
Jessie gulped for a moment, but then she remembered who she was and regained her nerve as she shouted back, "Don't you make this my fault! You bunch of babies are in denial! And since you didn't stop me, that makes it your fault!" As the other Rockets and their Pokémon protested that statement, Jessie growled in her own denial, "I can't hear you!"
"Uh…Jess, James…" Meowth gulped. The other two Rockets looked to where Meowth was staring, and they saw Ash and all his Pokémon smirking maliciously at them, "I tink we're in trouble here!"
"Well, such good health!" James sweat-dropped nervously, his hand behind his head.
"And you're all truly in the twerpish pink!" Jessie added.
"You guys chose the wrong day to tick me off! Ok guys, together! Buizel, 'Aqua Jet'! Staraptor, 'Brave Bird'! Grotle, 'Energy Ball'! Gliscor, 'X-Scissor'! Monferno, use 'Flamethrower'! Sceptile, 'Leaf Blade'! Snorlax, fire 'Hyper Beam'! Charizard, use 'Overheat'! And Pikachu…use 'Volt Tackle'!" All of the Pokémon began their assault, but then Ash noticed Riolu still standing next to him, "You too Riolu! Go give Team Rocket a 'Force Palm' they'll never forget!" Riolu squealed excitedly and rushed towards the trio with his palm glowing with energy. Team Rocket screeched in horror as all the attacks came in one after the other and resulted in a huge explosion that sent them flying.
"We're blasting off really far this time!" *Ping*
"Yeah! Boy, that felt good!" Ash exclaimed sincerely, "Ok gang, good to see you're all feeling better, now we can pick up right where we left off, and I say the next time we go after Paul, we make it a battle he won't have a chance to win!" The Pokémon cheered their approval at that.
"Now that was some serious teamwork." Brock observed.
"Sure was, nice to see everyone feeling great!" Dawn replied.
"You know what I liked? I liked how Ash had everyone attack all at once; I bet Team Rocket made it halfway across the world with that blastoff!" Misty laughed, which got the others to laugh as well.
"You know, I just remembered something!" Dawn exclaimed, "I have to get ready for my next contest!"
"So you're competing in contests Dawn?" Nurse Joy asked.
"You bet!" Dawn replied.
"Then you should head over to Lilypad Town right away! Their contest is going to take place very soon!" Nurse Joy said.
"Really?! That's so exciting! Guess we're going to Lilypad Town!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Come on inside, I'll show you where it is!" Nurse Joy led the teens back inside and directed their attention to an electric map. After setting it up for the desired location, she pointed to a red beeping dot on the map, "See, this is Lilypad Town right here."
"Oh, I see!" Brock pulled out his guidebook that had a map of Sinnoh in it as well, and the breeder examined it, "So all we have to do is head south right from here."
"Yeah, that looks right." Ash said.
Misty raised an eyebrow at Ash and smirked, "Now I'm worried that we're gonna get lost; you just said you think that looks right."
"You're never gonna let that go, are you?" Ash sighed.
"Nope. Never." Misty stuck the tip of her tongue out at Ash and winked playfully, which got Ash to respond with his own exasperated smirk.
"Well I just know that we're gonna do good in our next contest!" Dawn exclaimed, Piplup cheerfully agreeing with her as he sat on her head.
"Maybe Kenny will be there!" Misty replied with a teasing grin.
"Let it go Misty." Dawn said with a warning smile.
Misty raised her hands in self-defense, but her face still held a smug smirk, "Well whatever, not my problem." Misty then wrapped her arms around Ash's neck from behind, "You on the other hand, are my problem."
"Wha? Problem?" Ash asked.
"I'm kidding!" Misty shook her head with amusement, "Geez, stop taking things so seriously!"
"Sorry." Ash chuckled sheepishly, "It's just I wanna stay focused for my next Gym Battle! It's gonna be my last one after all, and then I can enter the Sinnoh League!"
"Why don't we have a bite before you go? After all, you need to keep up your strength." Nurse Joy suggested.
"Food? Oh yeah! I never got to eat!" Ash was about to run off to the cafeteria when Misty pulled him back by his jacket collar, "Eh?!" Ash looked back at Misty who was looking at him blankly, "Misty, I'm hungry! What's the problem?!"
"You still have something to do Ash!" Misty replied.
"And what would that be?" Ash asked in annoyance. Misty pointed back at Staraptor and Grotle, who were still standing there looking at Ash. Then Ash realized what Misty meant, "Oh man! I forgot to send back Sceptile and Snorlax!" Misty nodded at him with a wide smile, "Ok, you guys go on ahead, I'll be right there!" Ash hurried off to the videophones with Staraptor and Grotle following closely behind.
"So, what's for lunch?" Misty asked.
"Misty!" Dawn exclaimed incredulously, "You're so mean to him!" she said jokingly.
"Someone has to keep him straight." Misty replied with a dismissive shrug, "Now come on, I'm hungry!"
"Well alright then, follow me!" Nurse Joy led the remaining teens to the cafeteria, while Ash sat at the videophone to send back Sceptile and Snorlax.
"Guys," he said to his two powerhouses, "I really appreciate you guys coming and battling your hearts out for me, and even though you guys got kinda beat up, we still won! Thanks for helping me realize that it wasn't my fault this happened, thanks for helping me show Paul that my training style has proven to be successful. Now I'm gonna send you guys back to Prof. Oak's lab, but don't worry, once I get to the Sinnoh League, you'll both be back, and we're gonna take it all!" With a determined nod, the two Pokémon allowed Ash to return them to their Pokéballs, and Ash dialed the lab. "Hello, anyone there?"
"Bulba saur!" (Hi Ash!)
"Wha? Bulbasaur? Where's Prof. Oak? Where's Tracey?"
"Bulba bulb bulba saur." (They're out to lunch.)
"Oh, so you're holding down the fort huh?"
"Bulba." (That's right.)
"Ok…um, do you know where Grotle and Staraptor's Pokéballs are?"
"Bulba, bulba saur saur." (Yeah, they're right over there.) Bulbasaur used a vine to point towards them.
"Can you get them? I gotta send back Sceptile and Snorlax."
"Bulba saur." (Sure thing.) Bulbasaur used two vines to grab the two empty Pokéballs registered as Grotle and Staraptor's and showed them to Ash. "Bulba bulba saur!" (Ok go ahead!)
"Wow Bulbasaur, you should be getting paid for this!" Ash laughed. Ash sent the two Pokéballs to the lab, just as Bulbasaur sent Ash the empties, "Thanks Bulbasaur! And hey, once I get to the Sinnoh League, I'm gonna wanna use you, so you make sure you spar with everyone! I need everyone getting stronger, I'm almost there!"
Bulbasaur saluted his trainer with a vine, "Bulba saur!" (You got it!)
"Say hi to everyone for me!" Ash hung up and finally returned the worn down Grotle and Staraptor to their Pokéballs, "Wow, who knew Bulbasaur could do all the stuff Prof. Oak and Tracey could?"
Back at the lab, Bulbasaur hopped down from the videophone chair and released Sceptile and Snorlax, "Welcome home…whoa…what happened to you two?"
"Jerk trainer, but we won, so it was worth it." Sceptile shrugged dismissively.
"Sure is good to be home though, huh Sceptile?" Snorlax nudged Sceptile with his elbow.
"I dunno." Sceptile looked around, somewhat disappointed.
Suddenly Haunter and Rotom floated over, happy grins on their faces, "Welcome home! We brought you presents!" they exclaimed together.
"Really? Presents?" Snorlax asked.
"Why'd you say that?" Sceptile face-palmed.
Haunter and Rotom glanced at each other and splat whipped cream pies onto the two Pokémon's faces, "Gotcha!" the two jokesters cackled and flew off, laughing hysterically at their successful prank.
"Yeah Snorlax…" Sceptile wiped the cream off his face, "It's great to be home."
"I dunno, this is my kind of prank." Snorlax licked the whipped cream off of his face and happily swallowed, much to the annoyance of the powerful grass-type.
"Ash better not take too long getting that eighth badge, or I may have to kill a couple of ghost-types."
_
A/N: Interesting huh? Ash won...or did he? He didn't feel victorious, that's for sure. Let's face it gang, Ash's heart is too big for his own good. Luckily his Pokemon, and Misty of course, are there to knock some sense into him. And what's this? Monferno understands Paul? What does he mean by that? You'll all see sometime in the future. And Charizard seems to have some sympathy for Monferno, they share a similar background. Anything can happen at this point gang, so sit tight, and PLEASE review!