Well everyone, it's time. The next chapter has finally arrived and needless to say...I had a lot of trouble with it lol. Big thanks to Skylight Sparkle for essentially being my BETA for this chapter and helping me work out some of the kinks this chapter had. If you haven't read her stuff yet, you're missing out. So anyway, let's get the anonymous reviews out of the way and then we can finally get on with the show!
Guest (1): It could be Lucy, it could be someone else altogether, there are options. Hehe.
Guest (2): Thanks!
Lewa282: I try not to dwell on Paul too much, he's not a main focus unless he actually shows up.
Diamonds Shine: I'm glad you decided to give my story a shot, but I'm not taking any OCs because I wouldn't be able to do the characters justice and still make them fit well into my story. Sorry. ^_^U
And that's it! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I hope this next one meets your expectations...it's time to go to SPAAAAAAAAAACE!
I own nothing except the story.
_
Chapter 70
Misty's POV
The Twinleaf Festival...man, what an incredible experience it was. Between meeting up with my sister again, seeing a vision of my possible future with Ash, running into Anabel and almost having a severe jealousy attack...it was unbelievable. It had its up and downs to be sure, but I really enjoyed seeing everyone again. These are the kinds of experiences you remember for the rest of your life, and I for one will never forget it. But now we have a new mission, we gotta get back to the path to Lilypad Town for Dawn's next contest...and apparently Kenny's since he's decided to tag along with us! Now...I'm gonna do my best to keep from meddling, after all I promised...but it's gonna be hard to fight off that temptation.
It's been a few days since we got back on the road, and so far I've been able to hold off on playing matchmaker. But watching Kenny tiptoe around his feelings for Dawn was getting aggravating, and Dawn wasn't helping matters by playing dumb and acting like she didn't notice. I'm glad she's finally made up her mind on a course of action regarding her love life, but man was this painful to watch.
I have had something to keep me distracted though. Over the past few days, I've noticed something about Riolu. He's getting bigger, and bigger! I know Ash told me that Riolu's aura was causing him to go through growth spurts, but I don't think even Ash was expecting how intense they would be! We really began to notice about three days ago when we stopped for lunch, and all the Pokémon were waiting to get their food from Brock. Riolu was standing next to Ash's Monferno...and Monferno was looking at Riolu in shock, mainly because he was looking up. Riolu was about an inch taller than Monferno, standing about three feet tall. That was when Brock decided to start making daily measurements.
The next day we were stunned to find out that Riolu had shot up another four inches, making him even taller than Vaporeon, and then yesterday's measurement added yet another four. At this point even Ash was getting concerned, so before we stopped to camp for the night, Ash borrowed Kenny's Pokétch to use the call application to call D. Shad, who then called Champion Cynthia, and that eventually led to Ash getting Riley's number, which he couldn't dial fast enough for his liking.
After about ten minutes of discussion with the Aura Guardian, Ash handed Kenny back his Pokétch and pulled me aside to tell me what he found out. Apparently, Riley had told him that the most likely reason Riolu's growth was accelerating so rapidly was because he was close to evolving, likely thanks to all the aura training they'd been doing before bed each night. As his aura matured, Riolu matured. It made sense, as Riolu had been acting much more mature seemingly by the day, and his power had been steadily increasing along with his size, so I decided to go with it. But I was still concerned somewhat because we had no idea how big Riolu would be the next day.
So we found out in today's measurement that Riolu reached a milestone of sorts. He'd actually managed to grow past four feet tall...which is more than the height of a normal Lucario. Stunned was not even close to a good word to describe how everyone felt. A few days ago Riolu was this cute little Pokémon, and now...well he's still cute, but he's not little anymore, and the only one not completely shocked is Riolu himself, he was celebrating.
This really does take the term "they grow up so fast" to insane levels. Riolu literally grew up right before our eyes. Before we got on the road for the day, Ash told me he sensed somewhat of a lull in Riolu's aura, which he chose to interpret as his growth spurts slowing down. I guess being bigger than his evolved counterparts was enough to satisfy him, for the moment if nothing else. Between that and the whole silent drama between Dawn and Kenny, the past few days have been full of excitement despite the lack of any sort of actual adventure.
How big will Riolu eventually get? I don't know. Ash told me he'd be at least a foot taller than normal Lucario, but if he keeps growing at this pace, he might end up being taller than us before he evolves. That's actually kinda scary to think about. How long will Kenny pussyfoot around the issue of his feelings for Dawn? I don't know that either. That's not scary to think about, it's annoying. Now we're walking through a canyon, and we've been walking quietly for the past half hour. I think it's time I shook things up a little, to heck with promises not to meddle.
Normal POV
"So Kenny...how did you and Dawn first meet?" Misty asked with a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face. "I mean, I know you two grew up together and all, but I never learned how you and Dawn met for the first time?"
"Oh...well," Kenny cleared his throat and scratched his nose as he refused to look the redheaded Gym Leader in the eye. "Well ya see, Dawn and I...we, well ya know we..."
Dawn rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation. "Our moms arranged a play-date for us back when we were babies," the female coordinator replied for her stammering friend. "Ever since then, we've been best friends." She narrowed her eyes at Kenny playfully. "Of course, it wasn't always smooth sailing, there were some things I wish I could forget."
"Really? Like what?" Kenny asked curiously.
Dawn smirked. "Well for starters, there was that one time when we were five when you jumped into the lake right by Twinleaf Town with your swim trunks untied, you refused to let me jump into the water because your suit had fallen off and you were completely naked in the water!"
Misty snorted as she fought to hold in her laughter, however, Ash didn't even make that attempt, as he and Pikachu both burst into laughter, much to the male coordinator's chagrin. Azurill, who was nestled in Misty's arms, was also laughing. "And I suppose you've never done something dumb when you were a little kid!" he exclaimed with his cheeks red with embarrassment.
"Oh trust me," Misty held back another laugh. "He has, several times."
"You don't see me denying it." Ash shrugged as his laughter calmed. "Believe me, I've had my share of embarrassing moments, but when they happen with people I can trust, I can look back on it and laugh..." Ash's expression darkened slightly. "Now if we're talking about stuff that happened when Gary was around, that's a different story."
"Say guys...speaking of stories," Brock spoke up as he stopped in his tracks. "What do you think the story is on that?" Brock pointed in the direction of a tall, multi-colored building that was standing by the side of the canyon, and the best description possible would be if a construction worker had decided to stack several different types of smaller buildings on top of each other to make a skyscraper.
"What is it?" Dawn asked.
"You mean besides an architect's worst nightmare?" Misty replied.
Suddenly the doors burst open, and out came three individuals who chanted their own fanfare as confetti flew out of the door. The shortest member of the trio was holding a video camera. "Many well-deserved kudos!" they exclaimed.
"And here's why!" The male turned to face the building. "A fabulous facility formulated and built by Pokémon trainers for Pokémon trainers! The Pokémon Trainer's Tower!"
The trio led the confused teens into the building by giving them some gentle shoves. "And you are our ten zillionth trainer!" the woman said. "So step lively, and prepare to be floored like never before!"
The teens took two more steps, when suddenly Riolu shouted at the trio in anger. "It's you guys!" Unfortunately, the Emanation Pokémon had picked up on their auras too late. The floor collapsed underneath them and sent the now screaming teens and Pokémon plummeting downwards until they hit a chute, which promptly deposited them through a hole in a wall. They landed in a makeshift jail cell. "It's those Team Rocket people again!"
"Hey Riolu, think you could get off? You're not a little guy anymore, buddy." Ash strained.
The Emanation Pokémon blinked and looked down, and his eyes widened when he realized he was seated right on his trainer's chest. "Sorry Daddy." He got up and used his aura-fuelled strength to help Ash up, and then he went to tend to Misty who was holding her head in her palm. "Are you ok Mommy?"
"I'm ok sweetie." She shook her head to regain her bearings, and then she got up and shouted as loud as she could. "Alright Team Rocket, where are you?! Show yourself so I can sic Gyarados on you clowns!"
Suddenly a monitor at the top of the jail cell turned on, and there was Jessie waving tauntingly at the trainers. "Hi twerps, peekaboo!"
"Alright, what's this one about?!" Dawn clenched her fists in anger.
Then James' head came into the picture. "Welcome to a secret base fabulously formulated by Team Rocket for Team Rocket!"
"Da Team Rocket Tower!" Meowth's face suddenly took up the whole screen, as the trio of thugs laughed in their moment of triumph.
"Enjoy imprisonment until we can deliver Pikachu to the boss," James chortled with confidence.
"Which means don't try ta break outta here of course!" Meowth pointed at the screen with an evil grin.
"We'll get outta here Team Rocket! We always beat you!" Riolu clenched his teeth in anger as his fists and feet began to emanate aura.
It was then that the Team Rocket trio noticed something that caused them to cry out in shock. "You two seein' what I'm seein'?!" Meowth exclaimed.
"Depends on if what you're seeing is a king-sized Riolu! And one that can use telepathy to boot!" James replied.
"What is the tall twerp feeding it?!" Jessie turned to her two cohorts and grinned evilly. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Depends on if you're thinking about making off with dat mondo-sized talkin' Riolu and making it a gift for da boss!" Meowth smirked.
"Christmas bonus coming up!" the trio all pumped fists before the screen went dead.
"Hey! Let us outta here!" Ash growled before looking down at Pikachu who nodded at him in response. "Alright Pikachu, Iron Tail, let's go!" the electric-type leaped up with his tail glowing with energy, and with one powerful swipe...the bars held fast, much to Pikachu's shock. "That did absolutely nothing!"
"Where'd they get the money to make bars this strong? I don't remember even those three stooping so low as to rob banks!" Dawn exclaimed.
Suddenly they covered their ears as the sound of microphone feedback echoed throughout the tower, and Meowth's grating voice came over the apparently tower-wide intercom. "Fellow masters of thievery, ta celebrate da completion of our nifty new secret base, I'd like ta propose a toast to the handsome Sayer and all da dough we oined woiking our wigs off at da Twinleaf Festival and da groovy gratuity he gave us dat made dis all possible!"
"They were there?!" Dawn shrieked.
"And what's worse, Sayer actually paid those creeps enough money to let them build this place!" Kenny clenched a fist. "Dawn, next year, tell your mom that she needs to start doing background checks on the volunteers!" Kenny pulled out a Pokéball and tossed it, and Prinplup emerged seconds later. "Ok Prinplup, use Metal Claw and get us outta here!" Prinplup rushed forward and attacked the bars, but just like with Pikachu, it didn't do a thing. "Man these bars are tough!"
"New plan! Let's attack together!" Misty pointed towards the bars. "Azurill, Water Gun!"
"Alright Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Piplup, Bubblebeam!"
The three Pokémon fired simultaneously, but the bars still refused to budge even after the onslaught of attacks. "Let us try!" Brock threw out his own Pokéball, "Alright Croagunk, come on out and use Brick Break!" With a flash of light, the poison/fighting-type appeared, and his hand glowed white with power as he spun around once to build momentum and slammed his hand into the bars. When he turned around to see the results, the bars seemed to shine as they hadn't even been smudged. "It's no use, the bars didn't even budge!"
"That does it!" Riolu rushed forward with his paw reeled back, and the Emanation Pokémon unleashed a mighty aura-infused Force Palm that forced the others to look away from the bright light. When it finally dissipated however, Riolu was sitting on his rear end, panting with fatigue. "I can't believe it, I hit them as hard as I could!"
"Let's try Misty's idea again, only this time let's all attack them at once!" Ash was about to order another attack, when suddenly the elevator outside the cell pinged and the doors opened, revealing the last thing anyone expected to see. "A Togepi?"
Dawn pulled out her Pokédex to scan the adorable creature. "Togepi, the Spike Ball Pokémon. Happiness is stored in Togepi's shell, and it shares its happiness with kind-hearted people," the Pokédex chirped.
"How cute is a Pokémon filled with happiness? Wow!" Dawn turned to look at Misty, and the coordinator's mouth took on an 'o' shape as she watched her silently kneel down on the ground and hold out her hand. "Misty?"
The redhead didn't respond, and instead watched with a melancholy smile as the Togepi waddled over to her and nuzzled up to her hand. "Hey there little guy," she said softly. "What's a Pokémon like you doing in a place like this?"
"What's up with her?" Kenny scratched his head in confusion.
"Misty used to own a Togepi a few years ago, it was her first baby Pokémon, before Azurill came along. When her Togepi evolved into Togetic, it left to go and be a guardian to a lot more Togepi in a place called the Mirage Kingdom." Brock turned to look at Misty, who had yet to even acknowledge they were talking about her. "Seeing a Togepi usually brings back a lot of memories for her."
"You're so sweet," the redhead said as the little Pokémon continued to nuzzle her hand. "You really shouldn't be here you know, there are bad people here called Team Rocket who might trap you like they trapped us."
"She's a trap!" Riolu suddenly rushed the bars much to the shock of the others, but despite being knocked back by the still firm cell, the Emanation Pokémon still made Togepi start crying from the scare. "Oh cut it out!"
"Riolu!" Misty scolded none-too-gently as she tried to console the weeping Pokémon. "What has gotten into you?!"
"That Togepi's aura is bad Mommy! It's only pretending to cry!" Riolu reached a glowing paw out for the Spike Ball Pokémon, who retreated further into Misty's protective hands in order to hide.
"Riolu, you know your aura isn't always right, there have been times where you've been wrong. And besides that, it isn't right for you to be mean to other Pokémon. Now apologize to Togepi."
The Emanation Pokémon's jaw dropped as he stared at his mother figure with a dumbfounded expression. "But, her aura-"
"Apologize. Now." Misty's stern gaze and tone of voice brooked no argument.
Riolu scowled and crossed his arms as he whipped his head away from the small Pokémon. "Sorry," he practically spat.
With that done, Misty turned back to the sniffling Togepi and gently stroked her head. "It's ok sweetie, no one's gonna hurt you, I dunno what's gotten into Riolu, he's usually very nice." The Spike Ball Pokémon trilled at the attention, earning another endearing coo from Misty. But then Togepi backed up out of Misty's reach, much to her confusion. "What's the matter?"
She got her answer when the Togepi suddenly leaped up and grabbed onto a lever on the wall next to the cell, and her weight caused the lever to go down, which in turn caused the bars to go up. "Wow, we're free! Thanks Togepi!" Dawn exclaimed.
The Togepi trilled sweetly in response and hopped back into the elevator, motioning for the teens to follow her. "This Togepi sure seems to know a lot about this place," Kenny commented.
"She's probably been exploring a lot, she's lucky Team Rocket hasn't found her yet." Misty scooped the little Pokémon into her arms gave her a gentle squeeze. "You sure came to our rescue."
"But she's not trying to help us!" Riolu suddenly shouted.
"Riolu, hush, you're being immature."
"I am not!" the Emanation Pokémon stomped his foot.
"Do I have to have Ash put you back in your Pokéball for a timeout? You're not too big for those you know." Misty narrowed her eyes at the angry Pokémon.
"Fine! If that'll make you happy!" Much to the shock of the others, Riolu tapped his Pokéball and disappeared into the confines of the red and white sphere.
"That's fine, throw your little tantrum, you can come back out when you feel like behaving like a responsible Pokémon." Misty huffed before the Togepi hopped out of her arms and pressed a button on the elevator panel, causing the elevator to go up. "I think you need to have a little talk with him Ash."
"Actually Mist, I think you were a little too harsh on Riolu," the black-haired trainer said cautiously. "I know you have a soft spot for Togepi, but I agree with Riolu. After checking myself, there's something really off about that Togepi's aura."
"Oh really?" Misty scoffed and turned her head away with her arms crossed. "Maybe your auras are just on the fritz again, it wouldn't be the first time you both have had issues with it."
Now Ash was visibly upset, but before he could offer a rebuttal, the elevator pinged again and the doors opened on the fifth floor, which would have led them to the exit. "Well...it looks like Togepi got us out of here." Dawn shrugged awkwardly.
"Yeah, thanks Togepi," Kenny chuckled nervously.
"Azu zu rill!" (Thanks Togepi!) The Polka Dot Pokémon's smile vanished though when she saw this strange look on Togepi's face, one that didn't exactly scream kind-hearted.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Misty knelt down and petted the small Pokémon before getting back up and walking out of the elevator with the other humans. "Thanks so much Togepi, we'll miss yoouuuuuuuuu!" The teens suddenly fell down another hole that appeared out of nowhere, and once again they reached a chute, which deposited them into the same cell they had been in before, and somehow the bars had lowered again. "Oh no, we're trapped again!"
"Azu rill zu zu rill!" (It was Togepi!)
"What? Azurill, you can't be serious." Misty shook her head. "Listen, there's no reason for you to be jealous of Togepi."
"Azu?!" (Jealous?!) the Polka Dot Pokémon looked at her trainer in disbelief.
Suddenly the redhead came to a revelation. "That's what it was, wasn't it?" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Riolu got jealous of Togepi because of all the attention I was giving her. Yeah, that makes sense."
"I think you're wrong," Ash spoke up, and he wasn't surprised when he saw the angry glare he was currently getting. "Look, all I'm saying is you shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the idea that maybe Riolu and I are right, just because it's a Togepi doesn't mean it's as sweet as your Togetic is!"
"Aren't you the one who always quotes Prof. Oak, saying how there are no evil Pokémon, only evil trainers who mislead them?" Misty put her hands on her hips and leaned forward towards Ash in frustration.
"Well yeah, but-"
"Then I don't see why we shouldn't give Togepi the benefit of the doubt. If she were really evil, why would she have helped us in the first place?" She was interrupted by the ping of the elevator, and as if on cue, Togepi appeared again, waddling over to them with a smile on her face. "Togepi!" Misty knelt back down and held out her hands. "Hey, do you think you could get us back out again?" The Togepi nodded and eagerly jumped up to pull the lever again, and just like before, the bars rose into the ceiling and freed the trainers and their Pokémon. "Thanks again Togepi!"
"Alright, let's get outta here for good!" Kenny rushed into the elevator along with the others, and this time he pressed a button and got the elevator moving. "Wow, this thing moves fast!" The light-up display rapidly scrolled through numbers as they went up the tower, and eventually it stopped at the letter 'R' before the doors opened. "Whoa, where are we now?"
The teens and their Pokémon stepped out of the elevator and looked around, based on their surroundings, they'd managed to find their way back outside, kind of. "Looks like we're at the top of the tower," Dawn commented.
They then turned around and looked up, and they sweat-dropped at what they saw. "How self-centered can you get?" Brock shook his head in disapproval.
"I've got a better question, just how much money did Sayer give these three?" Kenny slapped his forehead with his palm in disbelief as he looked up at the display. "He must have a rich uncle he never told anyone about if he has enough loose change laying around to just give to three strangers he just met!" The Team Rocket trio had somehow managed to carve their faces into the canyon wall, with their leader Giovanni situated on the far left.
"As much as I'd love to keep staring at this work of art," Misty rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "we gotta get outta this dump." The group took a few steps towards the elevator and promptly fell through the floor again, and once again, they found themselves in that same jail cell. "Are you kidding me?! How many traps did they set in this place?!"
"This is getting ridiculous," Ash turned to his girlfriend and scowled at her. "Misty, something weird is going on, I have a hard time believing this is all just coincidence."
The redhead scowled right back. "Oh, right, I suppose it was Togepi who built this whole godforsaken tower and filled it with trick floors. Great Ash, that makes perfect sense!" She turned her back on him and crossed her arms. "Until you can give me some kind of proof beyond your aura telling you something's weird, you'll forgive me if I don't believe that Togepi's doing all this on purpose."
Ash smirked. "On purpose?" he asked knowingly. "So you admit that Togepi has something to do with it."
"I didn't say that!" she suddenly turned around and shouted at her fellow trainers.
"Then what are you saying Misty?" Ash stepped up and gave a glare right back at the hotheaded Gym Leader. "Right now what it sounds like is that you trust some random Togepi we just met more than you trust me, Riolu and even your own Azurill, is that it?"
The redhead spluttered and took a discreet step back. "When did you ever hear me say I didn't trust you? All I said was that maybe you're just wrong this time!"
"Misty, just think about it for a second." Brock tried to reason with the irate Gym Leader. "We've followed Togepi twice now, and twice we've wound up back in here. Add to that the fact that somehow Togepi never actually falls with us and just comes back on the elevator to get us out over and over again."
"So what? That means it's Togepi's fault? She didn't build the tower Brock!"
"No, she didn't." Brock sighed and ran a hand through his spiky hair. "I don't have any proof for you Misty, but my gut tells me that something here isn't right, and even Azurill agrees with us."
The redhead looked down at her small Pokémon who was still grumping over the fact that she'd been accused of being jealous of Togepi. She then crouched down in front of Azurill and frowned at her. "Azurill, do you really believe that it's Togepi doing all this?" Azurill didn't turn to face her, but Misty could tell she'd just nodded at her. "Do you have any idea how?" This time she shook her head. "Then how can you be so sure? Do you think Riolu was right?" A nod.
"For what it's worth Mist," Ash sighed and took off his hat for a moment so he could run his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I've got Riolu practically shouting at me in my head, he's really upset that you don't believe him."
"But...it's not that I don't believe him, I just-" Misty stopped when the elevator suddenly pinged again, and this time, the doors opened and revealed a very sad looking Spike Ball Pokémon. "Togepi." The little Pokémon waddled over to them with tears in her eyes, a few of them dropping to the ground as she trilled sadly. "What's she saying?"
A flash of light momentarily blinded them, and when it dissipated, Riolu was standing there, looming over the Spike Ball Pokémon with his impressive size. "She's saying she's sorry that she keeps accidently leading us into traps," the Emanation Pokémon spat before turning to Misty and scowling. "Unless you still think I'm lying to you and she actually said something else."
Misty flinched at the look of betrayal on Riolu's face, and she reached over and wrapped the large child into an embrace, which at first he struggled to break free from. "I don't think you're lying Riolu," she said softly, which prompted Riolu to stop fighting for a moment. "I'm sorry I got upset at you, I didn't treat you right." She released the Emanation Pokémon and looked him in the eye. "But you need to understand, sometimes feelings aren't always right, and isn't that what aura's all about?"
"Yes..." Riolu responded hesitantly as he looked away. "But...something is wrong Mommy, you've just gotta believe me." Before Misty could answer, Togepi started trilling again, and the scowl returned to Riolu's face as he glared at the much smaller Pokémon. "You want a chance to prove yourself? Fine. Go open the cell door."
Togepi beamed and leaped up to pull the lever once more, and again the bars rose. "There, you see?" Misty smiled at the Emanation Pokémon, but it quickly faded when Riolu didn't smile back.
"Ok...so which way are we supposed to go?" Riolu crossed his arms and looked at the small Pokémon expectantly. When Togepi trilled and pointed to their left, the group almost ran off. "Wait!" They stopped in their tracks as Riolu stood in place and smirked at the Spike Ball Pokémon. "This time let's try going the other way, something about her aura is still off, like she's trying to trick us." This time Togepi actually responded with a scowl of her own, which looked incredibly out of place on such a cute face.
"Should we go for it?" Kenny asked.
"I don't see why not, it's not like we have anything to lose at this point." Dawn shrugged.
The teens and their Pokémon followed Riolu in the opposite direction that Togepi had pointed and they fell down a hole and onto a long slide, which after about two minutes of twists and turns, deposited them back into the same jail cell, which once again somehow had the bars lowered. "How?! HOW?!" Riolu shouted and started slamming his fists into the bars, his aura raging and emanating from his paws and feet.
While Riolu relentlessly attacked the bars, the group dusted themselves off again and growled in frustration. "That does it! Something is definitely not right, and I think Togepi's the one behind it!" Dawn exclaimed.
"Azu zu rill, azu azu rill zu rill!" (She gave me an evil look, like the one Team Rocket uses!)
"And her aura's been giving me a bad feeling all day!" Riolu stopped attacking to turn and look at his mother figure with an intense gaze.
"If I had to guess, I'd say Togepi used some reverse psychology on Riolu and tricked him into going the way we weren't supposed to go." Brock scratched his chin, his brow furrowed in thought. "It would make the most sense, especially if she's trying to get us to believe Riolu's wrong."
Seeing the nearly broken look on Misty's face, Ash's expression softened and he walked over to his girlfriend and put his hands on her shoulders. "I know you don't wanna believe it Mist, and I know why you don't wanna believe it. But look at it this way, even though your Togetic gave us some trouble every once in a while when she was a Togepi, we never questioned her intentions. Do you really think that if this was your Togepi, we'd be having this problem?"
"No...my Togetic would never try to hurt us." Her voice cracked a bit.
"Azu." (Mommy.) the Polka Dot Pokémon nudged the redhead's leg with her face, and she reached down and scooped up her baby and held her close. "Rill zu rill azu." (It's ok Mommy.)
The group watched as Misty shared a moment with Azurill, but the tender moment was interrupted by screams coming from the hole that had spit them out, and moments later, Team Rocket emerged from the hole and fell into the cell with them with a thud, covered in what appeared to be soot. "Team Rocket!" Dawn put her hands on her hips and glared at the trio. "Alright, what are you three doing down here?! Got tricked by your own trap again?!"
"It's that Pokémon pain in the neck," Jessie groaned as she pushed herself to her hands and knees.
"Dat evil Togepi took over our base and toined it into a tower of terror." Meowth added as he rubbed his head.
"Evil Togepi?" Misty whimpered. Just then the elevator pinged, and the doors opened to reveal Togepi once more...except this time, there was no innocent smile on her face, but rather a very sinister grin that caused Team Rocket to shriek in fear. "No, it can't be true!"
"Believe it original twerpette! Your Togepi and my Togepi are sweethearts but this one is the worst Togepi in history!" Jessie reached for a Pokéball and threw it. "And now it's time to for it to pay for ruining my wardrobe! Yanmega, use Sonic Boom!" With a loud pop, the bug/flying-type appeared and beat its wings, sending a powerful sound wave hurtling towards the small normal-type.
When the attack struck however, Togepi was gone. "What the?! Where'd it go?!" Kenny exclaimed.
"It must've used the old Teleport dodge!" James replied. "But then if that was the evil Togepi, then where's Jessie's not evil Togepi?"
"Back up a second, since when do you have a Togepi?" Misty glared at the older woman. Before Jessie could answer however, a much sweeter looking Togepi waddled over and smiled at them. "Huh? There are two Togepi running around this tower?"
"Aww," Jessie gushed and clasped her hands together. "My sweet, caring little Togepi's come to save Jessie." Togepi once more pulled the lever and freed them, and this time it was Team Rocket who ran out first to thank the tiny Pokémon. "Oh, thank you so much dearie, you're just the sweetest."
"Well then, now that that's settled," James said. "Let's continue the hunt for that evil Togepi shall-"
"HOLD IT!" Everyone froze as Riolu glared furiously at the Togepi who was standing alone in the elevator, Azurill flanking his right, also shooting imaginary daggers into the Spike Ball Pokémon's back. "That Togepi's aura is exactly the same as the one that was here just a second ago! I don't think there is another Togepi!"
"Oh please," Jessie scoffed dismissively. "I've grown quite close to my darling Togepi since it joined our team half an hour ago, and I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that this Togepi is nothing short of a sweet little doll."
"There is one other thing that needs to be said," Brock spoke up. "Let's pretend for a second that Riolu didn't say anything. This still makes no sense because Togepi can't even learn Teleport! The only way it would be able to use a move like that was if it was used through Metronome, and that's a literal one in 442 chance of it being Teleport!"
"Then how do you reconcile the evil Togepi vanishing?" Jessie asked.
Brock crossed his arms. "If it disappeared without using Teleport..." he said thoughtfully. "It must've used Substitute instead!"
"Substitute?!" the trio exclaimed.
"Then that means only one thing!" Kenny clenched his fists.
Slowly the Togepi turned back around, and there on her face was that sinister look as she snickered evilly at them. "That Togepi really is evil!" Dawn exclaimed.
"No!" Misty cried. "Why would she do this? What kind of a messed up Togepi is this?!" Suddenly Azurill broke out of Misty's arms and charged to strike the antagonistic Pokémon with a Slam attack. "Azurill no!" But Togepi was ready, as her eyes glowed blue and Azurill was suddenly stopped in midair, and then slammed into the back of the cell by the power of Togepi's Psychic. "Azurill!" That was the trigger point for Misty, as any emotional attachment to the species was immediately severed. "Togepi or not, no one hurts my baby and gets away with it! Get 'er Riolu!"
"FINALLY!" Riolu snarled and charged with his paw reeled back for an aura-charged punch. "No one hurts my big sister and gets away with it! Take this!"
But before Riolu could get to her, the evil Togepi sprayed a shower of yellow hearts out of her mouth, and at least one heart hit each of the released Pokémon, putting the males of the group in a hypnotic daze. "Oh no, Togepi just used Attract!" Brock exclaimed in horror.
Then the Spike Ball Pokémon gestured for her new army to follow her into the elevator, and under the influence of Attract, all of the male Pokémon wordlessly followed and disappeared into the elevator. "I can't believe my sweet Togepi is a sour Togepi." Jessie moped. She quickly got out of her funk though when she turned to her giant dragonfly who was still hovering above the humans. "Yanmega, why didn't you turn into mush?"
"Attract only works on females if you're male, and it only works on males if you're female," Brock explained. "So since Togepi is a female, and Attract didn't work on Yanmega..."
"You're a girl?!" Jessie exclaimed in shock. The dragonfly's face turned red as she nodded at her trainer. "Well, the more you know." Jessie shook her head and got her train of thought back on track. "Now then, let's stop that spoiled brat of a Togepi!" Jessie pressed the elevator call button, and then again when it didn't do anything, and then a few more times...it finally ended in her punching out the panel in frustration. "Why isn't this working?!"
"Meowth must have sabotaged the elevator on Togepi's orders in order to ensure we wouldn't follow them." James reasoned. "Luckily we constructed an emergency stairwell for times like this! Follow me!" James sprinted down the corridor with the others following close behind.
Once they reached the stairs, they started climbing as fast as they could, but their progress was soon hindered by a most unusual phenomenon. "How come the building's shaking?!" Kenny shouted over the sudden abundance of noise.
Jessie and James stopped in their tracks and struck poses. "Listen, is that a twerpish question that I hear?"
"Will you save it for later?!" Misty cut off the older woman with a growl.
For once they didn't put up a fight regarding their motto. James looked up in the direction of the top of the tower. "I fear they may be attempting to activate our patented vital super-dimension system now!"
"A what?!" Misty snarled and bared her teeth at the two Rocket members. "You've got about two seconds to start speaking English! Our Pokémon are up there with an evil monster and we've gotta save them!"
"We're Team Rocket twerpette! With our fancy shmancy name, we'd missing the point if we didn't have one." Jessie grinned. "With our bulging budget and remarkable resources, a rocket launch system was a must-buy!"
"You morons!" Misty pulled out her mallet and slammed it onto both of the Rockets' heads, leaving them with sizable lumps. "Oh you've done some stupid stuff in the past, but this...this takes the cake! Do you realize what this means? That monster is gonna try and blast us off into space!"
And that's precisely what was happening, as Meowth coordinated the launch with Pikachu, Piplup and Croagunk all manning their own stations, and Prinplup and Riolu guarding the door. "Final verification checklist. Croagunk, energy system check."
"Go."
"And you Pikachu, flight plan."
"Plan set."
"Condition of cockpit, Piplup?"
"Conditions normal."
"Excellent." Meowth began pressing buttons at his own console. "Gravity system flow, clear. Default parameters checked. Both oxygen and nitrogen levels normal. Artificial gravity and cabin maintained at one point three Gs. Prepare for liftoff! Removing exterior panels now!"
The building began to rumble more than ever, and though no one could see it, the walls surrounding the tower fell away and revealed that the tower was in reality nothing more than an enormous rocket. "We're not gonna make it, there's gotta be a way to stop the launch!" Dawn exclaimed desperately.
"Negative, all controls for the rocket are in the cockpit!" James replied.
"Wait!" Ash exclaimed. "We still have one hope!" He closed his eyes and summoned his aura, as he focused on trying to reach the thoughts of his hypnotized Pokémon. "Come on Riolu, I know you're there, you gotta snap out of it, we're all in danger!"
Near the door, Riolu's spaced out eyes blinked as a voice reached his mind. It sounded familiar to him, almost comforting. But there was another feeling...worry? "Daddy?"
"Yes! Yes Riolu, it's me! Come on buddy, you gotta snap out of that trance Togepi put you in and stop the launch!"
"Launch...Togepi..." Suddenly the Emanation Pokémon's eyes regained their awareness as they widened in horror. "T-Togepi?!" He looked around and saw that all of his friends and his main enemy, Meowth, were all standing around listening to orders from the evil Togepi who'd put them all in a trance. Riolu's brow furrowed as he glared at the Togepi in anger and his paws began emanating power as he summoned his aura. "I'll stop them Daddy, don't worry!"
"I know you will buddy, we'll be there as soon as we can, hang in there!" Ash opened his eyes and looked at the others who were watching him with interest. "Riolu's back in the game, but he may not be for long, we gotta get going!"
While the humans continued sprinting up the stairs, Meowth was finishing up his final preparations. "Activating gravity control unit, increasing power output. Propellant burning variation rate, two percent!"
With a malicious grin, Togepi made the order. "Liftoff."
"Liftoff it is."
"Not yet it isn't!" Meowth was stopped from pressing the launch button by a sudden powerful Force Palm that knocked him out of his chair and against the wall of the cockpit. Then Riolu turned to glare at the clearly furious Togepi. "I don't know what your problem is, but I'm not gonna let you hurt us anymore!"
Togepi gave an evil smirk. "And you think you can stop me, giant freak?" the Spike Ball Pokémon turned her attention to the other Pokémon. "Get him!"
Riolu looked over his shoulder in horror as his friends slowly got up out of their chairs and suddenly started walking towards him. "Guys, it's me! You gotta snap out of it!" he began to back up as they continuously grew closer. "This isn't going to work...guess I'll have to fight!" steeling himself for what he had to do with a deep breath, Riolu charged and slammed into Croagunk first with a powerful Quick Attack, then moved in to give a swift sweep kick that knocked Pikachu off his feet.
"Stop hurting my dear Togepi!"
Riolu flinched as a stream of bubbles from behind him, courtesy of Prinplup, blasted him. That was followed up by a powerful Thunderbolt that got him to scream out in pain. "Can't...fight them all..."
"Hold him in place!" At Togepi's order, Prinplup and Croagunk both grabbed an arm and held the weakened Emanation Pokémon still. "You've been doing your best to ruin my fun, but that's all over now."
"You think hurting my friends is fun?" Riolu struggled to get free but to no avail. "That's horrible!"
Togepi shrugged dismissively. "Hey, everyone needs their own hobby." the Spike Ball Pokémon turned towards Meowth who had since returned to his station. "Do it."
"NO!" Riolu closed his eyes and focused intensely on his aura. "Daddy, we're out of time! I couldn't stop them by myself!"
That message didn't get through to Ash, but it didn't really matter as the trainers had already deduced that Riolu had failed to stop the launch thanks to the sudden increase in G-forces. "Looks like we're going where no Togepi has gone before!" Brock exclaimed.
"Hold on, I'm gonna try something!" Ash closed his eyes and focused his aura once more, his teeth grit as he put more and more energy into accomplishing his goal. After a few moments, a huge sphere of aura flickered around them, eventually stabilizing into a shield that kept the G-forces from stopping them in their tracks. "I...got a barrier up..." the black-haired trainer grunted. "But I dunno how long I can keep this up!"
"Since when does the twerp have super powers?!" Jessie exclaimed in shock.
"We have enough trouble trying to make a dishonest living without these strange occurrences!" James added.
Misty glared at the Team Rocket duo. "Shut up and run!" She then turned back and looped her arm with Ash's to give him support as he fought to maintain the barrier while they ran. "Are you ok, Ash?"
"Can't talk," he grunted. "Just hold on to me, this is a lot harder without Riolu's help."
Finally they reached the door to the cockpit, and Ash dropped the barrier and hunched over with his hands on his knees, panting with fatigue. James then started punching in a code on the panel next to the wall. Unfortunately, the doors didn't open as the panel refused to accept James' code. "It would appear that Togepi has thought of everything," James groaned.
"There's gotta be a way through this door, maybe we can force it open somehow?" Kenny shrugged helplessly when the group looked at him expectantly. "Hey I don't actually have an idea! I was just making the suggestion!"
"I've got one!" Dawn turned her attention to Jessie. "You can use your Yanmega! Have her attack with Sonic Boom and we'll break the door down!"
"I don't take orders from you small twerpette!" Jessie snapped before scratching her chin in thought. She then snapped her fingers and grinned proudly. "How's this for an idea? I'll have my darling Yanmega, whom I'm quite pleased to learn is a lovely female such as myself, use Sonic Boom and knock down the door!"
"Great idea, wish I'd thought of that." Dawn rolled her eyes and stepped back as Yanmega prepared to attack.
"Ok Yanmega, Sonic Boom!" The giant dragonfly beat her wings with a hard flap, and a powerful sound wave hit the door and it immediately gave way. "Now! CHAAAAARGE!" Jessie led the group into the room, but she accidently tripped over the fallen door and did a hard face-plant, and the others who were following so closely tripped over her. "Get off of me!"
"Toge prrrrii!" (Stop them!)
Pikachu and Piplup immediately sprang into action and unleashed a Thunderbolt and Bubblebeam respectively, which forced Ash to put up the aura barrier again. "I can't hold them back for long!" his voice was strained from the exertion.
"You all have gotten in da way of my dear Togepi's wishes long enough! Now da time has come for you all ta learn what happens when you interfere with her grand desires!" Meowth's paw hovered over a large red button, but he was knocked away from there by a Sonic Boom attack courtesy of Yanmega. "Ohhhh..." Shaking his head to get the cobwebs out, Meowth blinked and looked around in confusion. "Where've I been?" He then looked outside and he screamed in horror. "Cute's one ting but dis is ridiculous! I can't believe dat rotten little Togepi got me ta shoot us into space!"
"That's it! I know how to snap 'em out of it!" Misty pointed towards the other Pokémon. "Now Azurill, use Water Gun and wake everybody up!" Leaping out from behind the safety of the barrier, Azurill unleashed a high-pressure stream of water from her mouth that wound up soaking all the hypnotized Pokémon in the cockpit and one non-hypnotized one. "Oops, sorry Riolu," the redhead apologized just as Ash dropped the barrier.
"It's ok Mommy." Riolu shook his head vigorously to get the water off of him. "I'm just glad everyone's ok!" His eyes widened. "Yanmega, look out!"
"Yan?" (Huh?) The dragonfly was suddenly engulfed by flames, and she shouted out in agony before she fell to the ground fainted as the super-effective move took its toll on her.
"Yanmega no!" Jessie snarled and spun on her heel to glare intensely at the evilly scowling Togepi. "Maybe you had a rough childhood or something, but that doesn't I'm gonna let you get away with hurting my Pokémon and eating our food and ruining my wardrobe!"
"Not ta mention ruining my boss bot!" Meowth got up with his claws extended for a Fury Swipes attack, furious over the loss of his own personal luxury purchase: a custom-made Giovanni robot meant to rub him down whenever he so desired. "I put a lotta blood, sweat and tears into making dat bot! So now it's time ta pay da piper!" Meowth leaped up to attack, but just as he made the swipe, Togepi vanished. "Wha?!"
James urgently pointed a finger. "Meowth, about face!"
Unfortunately, the moment that Meowth and the other Pokémon turned around, Togepi was already spraying yellow hearts everywhere again, and just like that, the male Pokémon again had their eyes glazed over as the Attract-induced hypnosis kicked in. Riolu included. "No, not again!" Dawn cried.
"It's no use, Togepi will just keep using Attract!" Brock exclaimed.
"Azu azu rill!" (I'll stop her!) Azurill leaped up and this time managed to get off her Slam attack, and the Togepi got up from getting hit and snarled at the small blue Pokémon. "Azu azu, zu rill azu azu rill!" (Enough's enough, I won't let you hurt my friends anymore!)
"Toge pri." (Bring it.)
The two small Pokémon leaped at each other and began trading angry punches and kicks, which actually would have looked rather comical thanks to their tiny appendages. Of course with the situation as dire as it was, the humans were taking it very seriously. "Come on Azurill, you can do it!" Ash cheered.
The two Pokémon then traded special attacks, with Togepi's Flamethrower meeting up with Azurill's Water Gun in midair, causing an explosion that made smoke fill the cockpit and begin spreading down into the depths of the rocket. "If they're not careful, they could cause a hull breach and we'd be instantly killed by the cold vacuum of space!" James gulped.
Azurill then smacked Togepi in the face with her tail, and the Spike Ball Pokémon staggered back a bit from the hit. But then Togepi's eyes glowed blue, and Azurill gasped as Togepi's Psychic suddenly lifted her up in the air. "Azurill no!" Misty turned her attention to the evil Togepi. "Why are you doing this Togepi?! What did we ever do to make you want to be so mean?!" The Togepi slowly turned to look at Misty, and then she grinned evilly and laughed a bit without even answering. The Pokémon then turned her attention back to Azurill, and used her Psychic power to repeatedly slam Azurill into the back of the rocket, reveling in the sound of the Polka Dot Pokémon's pained groans. "Azurill!" Misty ran to help, but then Togepi's Psychic enveloped her as well. "You're a disgrace to your kind! If my Togetic were here, she'd teach you a lesson about what it means to be a part of your evolution line!"
"Can't you do something?!" Dawn glanced desperately at Ash, who was holding out his hands to try and help both Misty and Azurill break free.
After several moments of trying, Ash exhaled in exhaustion and grit his teeth in frustration. "It's no good, I'm too tired...let's see if we can snap the other Pokémon out of it again so we can get some help!"
But while they did that, Togepi was still holding Azurill and Misty hostage. "Toge prrri, toge toge to toge toge prrri." (And now, back to my having fun.) Togepi started slamming Misty into the back of the rocket over and over, each time with more strength than the last hit, and Misty grunted in pain with each time she made contact with the metal wall. "Toge tog toge pri, tog toge pri toge prrrri." (This'll teach you a lesson, not all Togepi are created equal.)
At this point, Misty was barely conscious as her head had been slammed into the wall numerous times, and she was only barely aware of what was happening. Her body was sore all over from the repeated bashing and the continuous effects of Togepi's Psychic enveloping her. "Azurill..." she said as strong as she could, but it came out only as a pained whisper.
"Toge toge..." (And now...) the Togepi said maliciously. "Toge prrrrrri." (I finish playing with you forever.) Togepi raised Misty up higher into the air, and the redhead's eyes opened just enough to see her Azurill staring up at her in horror. "Toge!" (Goodbye!)
"RIIIIIILL!" (NOOOOO!) All of a sudden a bright light enveloped the cockpit, and everyone was forced to cover their eyes and look away. When the light finally dissipated, everyone consciously aware of what was happening gasped at what was right before their eyes. "MARILL MARILL!" (IT'S ON!) Immediately the Pokémon attacked, but instead of using Slam like she normally would have, the newly evolved Pokémon rolled up into a ball and rolled right into her opponent, and Togepi was indeed slammed right into the side wall of the cockpit, forcing her to lose complete control of her Psychic as the evolution had forced her to let go of Marill first.
As Misty had been suspended in midair, she would have dropped to the ground and been submitted to further abuse. Luckily, Brock had managed to get there quickly and catch her before she could hit the floor. The breeder gently put her down and rested her head in his lap. "Misty, are you ok? Can you hear me?"
The redhead gave a slight groan in response, but her eyes eventually fluttered open and she groaned again as the soreness hit her. "Brock? I hurt all over."
"I don't doubt it, Togepi put you through the wringer and back."
"Togepi..." her eyes widened slightly and she tried to sit up, but she yelped in pain and was forced to go back down. "Where's Azurill?!" she asked as urgently as she could muster.
"Um, Misty..." Brock gave a small smile. "There's something you should know..."
Before Brock could answer though, Marill suddenly leaped up and sprayed another blast of water at the entranced Pokémon, and they immediately snapped out of it again and looked around in shock. "You know what? I hate being in love!" Riolu crossed his arms and huffed. But then he looked up and gasped at who he was looking at. "Whoa...you evolved!"
"Marill!" (Yep!)
Hearing that caused Misty's eyes to truly widen, and she slowly sat up to see her Pokémon standing triumphantly over Togepi. "She evolved..." She smiled solemnly and closed her eyes. "My baby grew up."
"She saved us Misty, she saved you." Brock gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "You did a good job in raising her Misty, you should be proud."
As Misty looked on at her newly evolved Pokémon, she felt a mixed feeling of both sorrow and pride well up in her heart. She'd been so happy taking care of Azurill for all these years, raising her and caring for her with the same love and affection she gave her dear Togepi. But now, seeing how proud her Marill looked, how pleased she seemed to have evolved and gained so much strength, she couldn't help but feel happy for her Pokémon. "I am proud Brock, I am so proud."
The moment could have lasted forever, but then an alarm started blaring throughout the rocket, and Meowth rushed over to a large holographic grid-globe that had a red flashing light in the middle of it. "We've got a bogey incoming! Putting it on da big screen!" Meowth pressed a button, and the grid switched over to the outside cameras. "Holy moly! Please tell me my Pokémon eyes are lying ta me and dat ain't Rayquaza coming right at us!"
Coming towards the port side of the rocket, the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza glided through space at an incredible speed, closing in on the vessel that was invading its territory.
"Oh no..." Ash looked at his friends in fear. "Judging by Rayquaza's aura, it isn't happy to see us!" They got the confirmation to that suspicion when Rayquaza's mouth opened and a large sphere of orange energy started building. "No!" Ash broke out into a cold sweat. "Rayquaza's about to use Hyper Beam!" Seconds later, the legendary dragon did just that. The beam flew towards the rocket and missed by mere feet, but though the blast itself didn't do anything to the craft, the force from it threw the free-floating rocket off course and sent it careening towards the planet below.
Then chaos erupted in the cockpit. Explosions began going off all over as the rocket's systems began to overload from the stress of re-entry into the planet's atmosphere, and another rumble and explosions knocked out the lights. "This is trouble!" Misty whipped her head around when she heard her new Marill grunting, as apparently the evil Togepi had gotten back up and wanted another shot at the water-type. "You two need to stop fighting, we have a serious situation here!" Marill stopped for a moment to consider her trainer's words, but Togepi decided to simply take advantage of the situation and unleashed a Flamethrower that sent Marill crashing into the back wall. "Marill no!"
Seeing Marill hit the wall caused Riolu to grit his teeth in anger as his aura surged within him once more. "I've had it with this Togepi!" The giant Emanation Pokémon ran forward with his aura radiating from his paws and feet, and before Togepi could react, he activated Force Palm and blasted the Spike Ball Pokémon into the other wall. She then fainted after hitting the ground with a small thud. "I've been wanting to do that since we got here!" Then another explosion, and the rumble caused all the humans and Pokémon to unwillingly slide into the back wall as the rocket destabilized further. "We've gotta do something!"
Meowth got on his paws and knees and began slowly crawling back towards the helm; he finally got there and grabbed onto an offline lever to give himself some help getting back to his seat. "Da energy source from da main flow is crashing and boining, so da control system's whack!"
Looking outside the main window, they saw a stunning display of orange and yellow outside the cockpit. It would've been beautiful, had it not been a sign that death was imminent. "But we've already entered the planet's atmosphere...we're doomed!" Brock exclaimed.
"Not yet we're not!" James crawled up to the main control unit and pulled himself up into the seat. Once there, he pressed a few buttons that happened to be still active. "Switching over to manual controls, you all just leave the driving to me! I'll have you know Mom and Dad gifted me a real rocket ship for my tenth birthday!"
"Three cheers for overindulgence!" Misty snarked.
"Mock me if you will tall twerpette but at this moment, I am our only hope for survival!" James looked up from the controls and looked each of the teens in the eye. "If you want to live, you'll follow my instructions to the letter!"
"He's got a point Misty," Dawn said to the redhead before turning to James with a determined expression. "Tell us what you need us to do!"
"Right, first we need to recharge the power source!" James turned to Meowth. "Go take the panel off of the emergency power charge device!" While Meowth crawled over to do just that, James turned to Ash. "We'll use Pikachu's Thunderbolt to give the power supply a jumpstart!"
"Alright Pikachu, right here!" Meowth shouted.
Pikachu carefully made his way to the device, and unleashed a Thunderbolt just before another explosion caught him off guard and threw him back against the wall. Fortunately, the electric attack had done its job as the lights came back on inside the cockpit. "Excellent! Power back online, stabilizing the rocket now!" James managed to level the rocket off, but then a warning alarm began to sound that grabbed his immediate attention. "Oh dear."
"Hey, why's it getting so hot in here?!" Dawn wiped her brow of sweat, both of the hot and cold variety.
"I was afraid of this, this rocket wasn't designed to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere in this form, and it's too late to begin that process, the hull temperature is passing the tolerance levels!" James pushed a few more buttons as he tried to find a solution to the problem.
"We've gotta find a way to cool things down or we're not gonna make it!" Kenny used his sleeve to wipe his own brow, and turned to Dawn who was currently doing the same thing as the internal temperature continued to increase past 100 degrees. "Wait a second," the male coordinator's eyes widened in realization, "I've got an idea!" Kenny snagged a Pokéball off of Dawn's belt, much to her vocal dismay, and he immediately released the Pokémon inside. "Dawn, have Buneary use Ice Beam, quick!"
"What's that..." Dawn cut herself off as she made the mental connection. "I get the idea!" She got up and looked down at the small rabbit who was looking back up at her with a determined expression. "Alright Buneary, use Ice Beam and cool off the rocket!" Buneary got on her toe and twirled in a circle as the beam went off, and almost immediately the temperature began to drop.
"Hull temperature back down to acceptable levels!" James pressed a few more buttons, but then another explosion outside the ship sounded another alarm and knocked everyone to the ground, including James who slammed his head against the console and fell to the ground unconscious.
"What happened?!" Dawn shouted over the alarms.
"James!" Jessie crawled over to her fallen comrade and placed his head in her lap. "James, wake up! This is no time to take a nap!"
"He's out cold!" Meowth looked up at the main control panel and leaped up into the seat. "We blew out da stabilizers on re-entry, without dem dere's no way ta use da retro rockets ta stabilize da rocket for landing!" Meowth slumped in defeat. "And I can't control dis ting like Jimmy boy can even if we could find a way ta stabilize it...we're done for."
"No!" Jessie looked down at James and gently slapped his cheek. "Come on James, up and at 'em! We need you to control this thing or we're all dead! Do you hear me?! I need you!"
"Save the power of love for another time!" Ignoring the sudden and indignant sputtering now coming from the female Team Rocket member, Misty looked over at Marill and pointed in James' direction. "Ok Marill, use Water Gun and wake him up!" Nodding at her trainer, the newly evolved Pokémon took careful aim and fired so that the angle of the rocket would complement the shot. The water hit its target and soaked both Jessie and James, the latter with his eyes now wide open from the shock. "Good job sweetie!"
"My head feels like somebody bashed me with a hammer!" he said as he rubbed his forehead. He then looked up and saw that he was lying in Jessie's lap, and for a moment the two simply stared at each other. "I...well that is to say..."
Jessie was just as numb as James, but another rumble as the rocket shifted snapped her out of it. "Quit staring and start steering! We have a situation!" Jessie grabbed James by the arm and threw him back into the chair, and he immediately got back to work trying to analyze what had happened. "Meowth says the stabilizers are offline so we can't use the retro rockets, how do we stabilize the rocket so we can land?!"
James crossed his fingers and closed his eyes. "Beats me," he groaned. He groaned again when Jessie smashed her palm into the top of his head in a panic.
"Figure it out genius!"
"I've got an idea!" Brock suddenly spoke up. "Let's use Piplup and Prinplup's Bubblebeam to create an explosion outside! That should give us some real thrust!"
"Bad idea!" The teens turned to James who had quickly vetoed the idea. "If you depressurize the cockpit we'll be sucked out and we'll assuredly die!"
"So what'll we do then?" Misty turned to look at her boyfriend, and her heart stopped when she saw the thoughtful expression on his face. "Ash no, don't even think about it!"
"But Misty, it might be the only way!"
She shook her head vigorously in disagreement. "I don't care! I know your aura can help you do amazing things, things that most humans can't even comprehend doing, but you are not Superman!" she took a breath before continuing. "Besides, you've never even tried doing something like this before, you got exhausted just trying to put a shield around us, and now you're gonna try and put one around a whole rocket?! It could kill you!"
"Misty," he put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "If I don't try, we'll all die." Ash watched as she tried desperately to come up with some other way to argue, but another rumble from the rocket put defeat on her face. Sensing her despair, he pulled her in for a kiss, which she reluctantly reciprocated, and he broke it just as quickly as he looked into her eyes. "Wish me luck."
"Wish us luck!" Riolu stepped up and tapped his chest as he looked up at his father with determination. "We'll do this together!"
"Thanks buddy." Ash nodded. As much as he didn't want to put his Pokémon in harm's way, he couldn't deny just how valuable Riolu's help would be for this. "Alright Riolu, just like in training." He sat down Indian-style and the Emanation Pokémon immediately joined him, and they closed their eyes and held out their hands to each other. "Focus on your aura, let it build up power!"
Everyone watched as Ash and Riolu suddenly began emanating aura, and the display continued to grow brighter for about a minute until they both opened their eyes and reached out with their hands, which were now glowing intensely with aura as they reached out to attempt and put up a barrier around the spacecraft. "Is it working?!" Brock turned to James.
James continued pressing buttons and shook his head. "Negative, we're still too unstable to fire the retros!"
"Ash, you and Riolu can't keep this up!" Misty exclaimed as she watched both of the aura wielders struggle to maintain the amount of energy they were putting into the effort. Ash's teeth were gritted so tightly they could crack, and he'd since closed his eyes as he tried to block out the strain. Riolu was in no better shape. "Ash please!"
The black-haired trainer turned his head to glare intensely at his girlfriend, who flinched upon seeing that his normal chocolate-brown eyes were now glowing a bright and intense shade of blue. "I am not going to let you die!" With that declaration, Ash redoubled his efforts to form the shield, but it seemed that no matter how much aura he put into it, he could sense that the shield would merely flicker a bit at best before disappearing again. "No...I won't...I won't!"
"If we don't stabilize the spacecraft soon it will be too late!" James exclaimed. "T-minus sixty seconds before safety margin is reached!"
"We're not gonna make it, are we?" Dawn turned her head to look at Kenny, who seemed to have given up hope and was looking at her sorrowfully.
"Ash, it's over man, just stop." Brock hung his head.
"No!" The group looked up at the determined voice, as it hadn't come from Ash at all. In fact, Ash seemed that he hadn't even heard Riolu's telepathic outburst. "I'll never give up!" Riolu closed his eyes and made a sound of effort as he pushed himself beyond his limits. "We're gonna do this! You hear me?! I'll never give up! NEVER!" Riolu then unleashed a loud battle cry that echoed throughout the cockpit, and then the unthinkable happened.
"Riolu!"
The group shielded their eyes as a powerful white light mixed with faint shades of blue enveloped the cockpit, and after a few moments, Riolu had vanished and had been replaced by his evolved form. "The aura is with us!" The much deeper telepathic voice of Lucario said with a confident grin. He then closed his eyes and refocused his power, and almost instantly, the strain on both of the aura wielders was lessened as their combined powers finally managed to create the shield on the outside of the rocket.
"Riolu..." Misty breathed.
"It's a miracle!" James shouted with elation. "They've stabilized the spacecraft! Firing retro rockets now!" With a press of a button, small rockets meant for steering fired outside the main rocket, and the craft turned itself around so the top was facing skywards. "Drop the shield so I can deploy the landing parachute!"
The moment they heard that, both Ash and Lucario fell backwards with very audible gasps of exhaustion, and both their auras slowly powered down to normal levels. In Ash's case, that meant his eyes faded back to their original warm chocolate-brown. "Shield's down!" he shouted.
"Landing parachute deploying now!" James pressed a button on the control panel, and a giant parachute shot out of the top of the rocket, slowing their descent so they would survive the landing. "Speed of descent has dropped to within safe levels. I am now switching over to autopilot, we're officially out of the space woods." James leaned back in his chair and wiped his brow, exhaling with relief.
"Nice work fly boy." Jessie playfully leaned her arm on the blue-haired man's head with a wink.
"Yeah, ya sure saved our keisters dis time Jimmy boy." Meowth grinned.
Meanwhile, Ash was still on his back trying to catch his breath. "We did it Riolu."
"Sure did."
Ash's eyes shot open when he heard that, and he quickly sat up and stared in awe at the Pokémon that was sitting there. "Wha? When did...but how did..."
Misty smiled solemnly and knelt down next to her shocked boyfriend, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Looks like we both lost our babies today Ash."
"Aww don't be so dramatic Mom." Lucario scoffed dismissively as Marill walked up next to him. He glanced down at the water-type who had spoken to him for a moment before looking back up at his parents. "Right, like Marill said. Just because we're evolved now doesn't mean we aren't still...ya know, your kids." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Ash and Misty smiled and looked at each other, their eyes watery from the touching moment. They then looked at their Pokémon and laughed. "C'mere you!" Ash leaped forward and wrapped Lucario into a playful headlock, giving the Pokémon a noogie while Misty wrapped her evolved child into a tight hug.
Then the rocket landed in the canyon they took off in. "I am pleased to announce that we have safely landed. Thank you all for flying Team Rocket airlines," James said.
Kenny sighed. "Two evolutions, a round trip to space and back and an evil Togepi to thank for my almost dying of a heart attack if the landing didn't kill me first." He slumped to the ground and sighed with relief. "Dawn, I don't know how you've managed to survive."
Dawn giggled and gently punched her best friend's arm. "You just haven't gotten used to it yet." But then she frowned a bit as she looked around the cockpit. "Hey, where is Togepi?"
At the mentioning of its name, the group also looked around, and eventually their eyes landed on Togepi, who had wound up in the corner of the rocket during the landing and was just beginning to get up. "There it is!" Misty hissed.
Togepi got up and glared at the group of humans and Pokémon before trilling out a clearly angry statement aimed at both Lucario and Marill. "Oh you think so huh?" Lucario barked out a laugh.
"What'd she say?" Dawn asked.
"Dat brat said dat if Marill hadn't evolved when she did, she would've wiped da floor with all of us! We'll continue dis battle another time." Meowth translated. Togepi then spoke again before turning around and walking out, and Meowth reeled back in disbelief. "You're tired and so you're gonna go home?!"
"You brat!" Jessie shook a fist. "We're the brats who're tired!"
Once Togepi left, the rocket exploded, and all that was left was a field of metal and wires that spanned at least 100 yards. That and an aura barrier courtesy of Ash and Lucario. "Boy that was close." Ash exhaled as he and his Pokémon dropped the shield once more. "Looks like Togepi almost had the last laugh after all."
"How'd you get that shield up so fast?" Misty got up and dusted herself off, and she reeled back in shock when Lucario did the same. "Whoa...you got big."
Lucario grinned. "Pretty awesome huh? Told you I'd be the biggest, strongest Lucario ever." The Aura Pokémon was now nearly eye level with his mother. "And to answer your question, I guess now that I evolved, it's easier for me and Dad to use our auras together. We were able to just put up the shield without even trying that hard."
"Well we're all grateful for that." Brock said with a nod. "You and Marill both stepped up right when we needed you, so thanks."
"Yeah, thanks you two." Kenny added.
Dawn however just walked up to Lucario with a frown, and Lucario looked down at her with a curious expression. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing...it's just...I used to be able to hold you in my arms, and now you're even bigger than I am!"
The Aura Pokémon grinned mischievously. "Well you could still do that if you really wanted to, wanna try?"
Dawn stepped back. "Uh no thanks, I'm not in the mood for a hernia right now."
The group shared a laugh at the female coordinator's expense, but then Team Rocket walked up to them and frowned. "Oh fine, you're all happy but what about us?" Jessie exclaimed.
James hunched over in sadness. "All of our hard-earned cash is down the drain thanks to all this Togepi torture."
"Back ta scrounging for sandwiches for us." Meowth put a paw over his stomach.
The teens looked at each for a moment and nodded, and then Brock walked up to them with his hand held out to them. "If you agree to behave yourselves, we're willing to call a truce for the rest of the day. I'll make you guys a fresh, hot meal and then you can be on your way."
"You would do that for us?" James asked in shock.
"What's in it for you?" Jessie crossed her arms and frowned skeptically.
"Nothing." Brock shook his head. "It's just the right thing to do."
The Team Rocket members huddled up for a moment and discussed things among themselves, and they quickly broke the huddle to nod at the breeder in training. "We accept your offer!" James said.
"But keep in mind, this won't change anything. After this it's business as usual." Jessie smirked even as she shook Brock's hand.
"That's fine." Lucario shrugged. "Now that I've evolved, my aura senses feel sharper than ever before. I'll be able to sense you guys coming a mile away, so good luck trying to pull anything."
The three all simultaneously sweat-dropped. "Greeeeat."
"But you know..." Misty spoke up, which got everyone's attention. "I can't help but wonder why that Togepi is the way she is." Misty looked up into the sky. "I guess even a species of Pokémon as sweet as Togepi can have a darker side."
"I'm pretty sure that Togepi is an exception," Brock said sympathetically.
"Yeah Mom, don't worry." Lucario sidled up to the redhead. "Besides, you still got us, right?"
Misty looked at Lucario, and then down at Marill who had also walked up to her, and a small yet sincere smile spread across her face as she leaned down to scoop Marill up into one arm and wrap her other arm around Lucario's shoulders. "Right. Thanks you two." She kissed Marill's head, and then did the same to Lucario's cheek.
"Aww Mom! Why'd you go and do that?"
Everyone - even Team Rocket - couldn't help but laugh at that reaction. So with two newly-evolved Pokémon in our heroes' arsenal, the group headed off to find a place to camp for the night, and then the next day it would indeed be back to business as usual as they continued on their way to Lilypad Town for Dawn and Kenny's next contest battle.
_
A/N: Well everyone, it's over. Riolu's part of this story has come to an end, and so begins his time as Lucario, and Azurill is no longer an Azurill. The baby Pokemon in the group are now evolved...oh wait there's still Happiny lol. But back to Lucario...just as a reminder, the reason I made Lucario so big is because of the whole Smash Bros. angle. That's not just because I felt like it, there is a specific plan I have in mind.
And so the next chapter will take some time, I've got some stuff going on and a lot of other stories to take care of now. I hope this is enough to tide you over for a while. Please leave a review and lemme know what you think! See you all next time!