Helping the couple reunite with their son they accidentally dropped from a helicopter was no less odd the second time. It was a miracle he was alive, let alone lived and grew amongst the wild Pokemon. The credit went to Kangaskhan for that Ash supposed. Regardless, Ash helped the family reunite before reaching the Fuschia Pokemon Center. Ash swapped his Pokemon there, keeping his original team, only Haunter for Butterfree since he wanted Butterfree and his lady friend to spend more time with one another.
The boy headed straight for the Safari Zone, intending to reunite with his Tauros. He did not expect to be reunited with another old friend.
Samurai was just as pleasantly surprised to see Ash.
"I've gotten really strong," the bug trainer said with a grin. He pulled out a Pokeball, just about ready to lay the challenge when the Pokemon Safari Zone Warden pulled a gun on them both.
"No battling inside the Safari Zone" the man warned.
Neither of the boys dared to tell him that they had not entered the Safari Zone yet.
-x-
"I'm here to capture the Scyther that can be found here," Samurai said as the two boys wandered through the Safari Zone forest. "They are one of two of the strongest bug types in Kanto. I already have Pinsir, Scyther is all I need now."
"How did you get Pinsir? I don't think I saw another one in Viridian Forest" Ash asked.
"Because you can't find those in Viridian Forest. I don't know what mine was doing there or how it got here. Probably got released by someone" the bug catcher paused, "do you hear that?"
Ash did hear it, like a thousand clouds rumbling in unison. But it wasn't that, and Ash knew perfectly what that sound was.
Samurai shouted in alarm, pointing to an approaching sandstorm. No, it wasn't a sandstorm. Something was coming towards them, kicking up a lot of dust. Samurai ran but Ash stood his ground with a large grin.
A whole herd of Tauros tackled Ash, before surrounding him happily. They all remembered the Pallet trainer, to Ash's relief. He'd feared not all might remember him.
-x-
"Did you have to capture all thirty of the Tauros? You could have captured just one and then found other Pokemon to catch."
"I'm happy with the choice I've made."
Samurai did not understand it, but he did not question it. Or perhaps he would have questioned it had it not been for the explosion that shook the ground they stood on. Both boys braced themselves quickly but still fell over from how powerful the shaking was.
"What was that?!" Samurai asked in alarm.
"I don't know" Ash answered. He didn't know what that was. Something like this had not happened the first time around. It was as if a bomb had gone off.
The rumble of an engine could be heard and the Warden appeared on a jeep.
"What did you two do?!" the man asked, pointing a revolver at them.
"Nothing!" Ash snapped back.
"Maybe whoever is at the place where the smoke is coming from did it?" Samurai suggested.
A huge amount of black smoke could be seen coming from somewhere far away. The Warden's eyes widened and he quickly drove away.
Ash and Samurai got to their feet and ran towards the smoke. When the two arrived, the Warden's jeep was turned upside down and on fire. The Warden was not too far from it, lying on his front.
And before them stood four familiar faces.
"Team Rocket!" Ash snapped angrily.
Jessie, James, and Meowth looked uncomfortable, shooting looks from Ash to the fallen Warden.
Damian looked absolutely giddy.
"It really is my lucky day," the Rocket member said with a grin. "First I catch a rare and powerful Pokemon, and now I get to use it against you and take all your Pokemon!"
Without wasting another breath the villain sent out his Pokemon.
A Dragonair.
Ash stared at the Dragonair in shock. Had… Damian caught the Pokemon living in this place?!
"No need to be so shocked. It was a wild Pokemon" Damian cooed. "Dragonair, Dragon Rage!"
The dragon type's crystal glowed a bright blue. The skies darkened and the winds swirled violently.
"Samurai, get to the Warden and help him" Ash whispered, bringing out two Pokeballs.
"You can't take him on alone!" Samurai argued.
Ash called on Pidgeot and Charmeleon.
"I got this" Ash said confidently.
Samurai nodded solemnly before rushing over to help the Warden.
"Oh? That weak thing evolved did it?" Damian laughed cruelly. "Doesn't matter, trash will always be trash! Dragonair attack!"
Dragonair roared and the winds swung violently towards Charmeleon. Pideot got in between, using Whirling to neutralize the winds. Charmeleon stepped forward, blasting Dragonair with Flamethrower.
But the move did not do much damage.
Damian laughed almost maniacally.
Samurai rushed towards the Warden, stopping when he saw the other Rockets coming for him. He pulled out his Pokeball but the talking Meowth raised his hands.
"We don't want to fight," the Meowth said. "We just wanted the rare Pokemon here. We didn't want none of this!"
"Then maybe you shouldn't join an evil organization!" Samurai snapped.
Pidgeot struggled to keep in the air, his body sparking from paralysis. Dragonair rushed to hit the Pokemon with Slam, but Charmeleon's Skull Bash intercepted and countered the move. Charmeleon snapped his jaws around Dragonair's tail and using Seismic Toss threw Dragonair at Damian.
"Dragonair! I know you're not such a violent PokemoN! You don't need to listen to Damian!" Ash shouted over the howling wind.
Dragonair showed no signs of responding.
"That won't work this time" Damian held up a Pokemon. It was different from the normal red and white one. This one was completely black with a red 'R' carved on the top half.
"The scientist at the Rocket Labs cooked up this neat little gadget. Makes any Pokemon caught with these unquestioningly loyal, fiercely aggressive, and more powerful than what they were before they were caught. There will not be any repeats of what happened last time" the male sneered. "It won't take long before we can capture trainer's Pokemon in these."
Dragonair's ears elongated, the crystal on its body glowing bright blue. The Pokemon fired a Hyper Beam at Charmeleon.
Charmeleon used Flamethrower.
Pidgeot's Whirlwind fanned the flames to empower them.
Pikachu jumped in and added his Thunderbolt into the flames.
The Hyper Beam and the combined moves clashed, exploding on impact.
Dragonair's crystal glowed bright blue.
Charmeleon's tail flame grew in size and intensity.
A sharp ringing pierced the air. Damian pulled out a device from his pocket and put it to his ear.
"Yes, the device works… yes…yes… of course boss."
Damian pulled the device out of his ear. He did not look too pleased.
"It's your lucky day Ketchum" the rocket sneered.
Dragonair's crystal glowed brightly. The skies turned dark and the wind picked up violently. The other trio rushed back to Damian before a bright flash illuminated the area. Ash covered his face with his arms and felt a burst of wind hit him.
The winds died down. Ash lowered his arms. The sky had cleared up and the winds had calmed.
And Team Rocket was nowhere to be found.
"Ash! Help!"
Samurai was struggling with the Warden on his back.
Ash gave one last look at where Damian and Dragonair were before rushing over to help Samurai and the Warden.