Chapter 73: A Steely Resolve
Ash and Nikki's journey had been going smoothly for a while now. With the Valley of the Iron Fist and Ash's next Area Boss battle getting closer with each step the two of them were discussing potential strategies for whatever the battle would entail.
"What do you think the battle will be like?" Ash asked. Nikki brought a hand to her chin in thought.
"Well, with it being in a place called Valley of the Iron Fist something tells me it'll be something like Fighting types," Nikki assumed. "Do you have enough Pokémon for that type of battle?"
"Let's see… I have Heracross, Infernape, Lucario, Meditite, Primeape… if it is Fighting types I'll need at least one more," Ash said.
"Maybe you'll run across one before we get there," Nikki said. As they walked and talked they were unknowingly being watched. From high in their balloon Team Rocket was plotting to once again attempt to steal their Pokémon.
"So, what's the plan this time?" Jessie asked.
"According to my map there's a cave the twerps have to go through up ahead. We can ambush them there and snatch their Pokémon," James suggested.
"That sounds like a good enough plan in my book," Meowth commented.
"Then let's do it," Jessie said. They piloted their balloon ahead of Ash and Nikki, ready to put their nefarious plan into action.
It only took them a few minutes by balloon to reach the cave. Looking it over Jessie was curious to know the details of James' plan.
"So, tell me more about this plan of yours," she requested.
"It's quite simple," James began. "We fly to the other end of this cave and wait for the twerps at he exit. Then, when they least expect it, we swoop in and take their Pokémon."
"But what's going to stop them from following us out of the cave?" Meowth wondered.
"Easy. We have Jessie's Magcargo use Rock Slide to trap them inside. By the time they find a way out we'll be long gone with their Pokémon," James explained. Jessie and Meowth looked visibly impressed.
"I gotta say, James, this plan of yours doesn't sound half bad," Meowth commented.
"Indeed. This is one of your better plans," Jessie agreed. At that moment Meowth spotted Ash and Nikki approaching the cave entrance.
"Twerps spotted," he announced.
"Alright, let's get in position," James said. The trio let out a fiendish laugh as they flew off to the other end of the cave. Moments later Ash and Nikki approached the cave entrance, completely unaware of what awaited them on the other side.
"Guess we have to go through," Nikki assumed.
"Guess so," Ash agreed. "Maybe I'll find another Fighting type Pokémon to add to my team."
"We can only hope," Nikki said. With that they entered the cave. The first thing they noticed was how dark it was inside.
"I can barely see my hand in front of my face," Nikki said.
"Good thing we have flashlights," Ash said, taking off his backpack.
"Why use flashlights when you have Pokémon power," Nikki said. She grabbed a Poké Ball and tossed it out.
"Shinx, come out and use Flash," she called. The Flash Pokémon appeared moments later and illuminated the area with her Flash, making things bright enough for Ash and Nikki to see.
"Nice thinking, Nikki," Ash praised. "Now we don't need to search for our flashlights." With Shinx leading the way they continued on through the cave. The entire time they looked around at the numerous Pokémon that called the cave home. Zubat, Diglett and numerous other Pokémon filled the cave.
"Wow… that's a lot of Pokémon," Nikki commented.
"It sure is," Ash agreed. The continued to walk and look around, marveling at the various Pokémon that called the cave home. However, as they continued on, the number of Pokémon they saw began to go down in mumber.
"We must be nearing the end of the cave," Nikki assumed.
"I think it's more than that," Ash stated. "I think something's got them startled."
"What makes you say that?" Nikki inquired.
"Look at the Pokémon. They look nervous about something." Looking at the Pokémon some of them were a bit jittery while others were nervously looking around, almost as if they were expecting something to happen.
"You're right," Nikki said. "I wonder what's up." As they continued on the exit to the cave soon came into view. As they approached it a Weezing soon flew in front of them.
"Never thought we'd see a Weezing here," Ash commented. Then, the Weezing used Smokescreen, obscuring their vision.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Nikki shouted. While their vision was still obscured they heard a trio of surprised shouts.
"What was that?!" Nikki asked.
"We'll figure that out once we get this smoke cleared out!" Ash replied. "Swellow, blow this smoke away!" He threw out a Poké Ball, calling out his Swallow Pokémon. Upon appearing he flapped his wings and blew the smoke away, revealing the perpetrators to the surprise attack.
"You!" Ash shouted.
"Out of the sky, falling with grace.
A spark in the eye, arriving with haste.
Ready and willing to put twerps in their place.
Jessie!
James!
Meowth's the name!
Team Rocket, burning a trail!
Blazing a path!
Kickin' some tail!
Wobbu Wobbuffet!
Mime Mime Mime Mime!"
"Team Rocket?! What are you doing here?!" Nikki demanded to know.
"We're doing what we do best… steal Pokémon!" Jessie declared. Right then they noticed the cage on the ground next to them, and the trio of Pokémon that were inside the cage.
"Pikachu!" Ash called.
"Buneary! Shinx!" Nikki shouted.
"Let them go!" Ash demanded.
"Not a chance, twerp! We stole them and we're not letting them go!" Meowth refused.
"Fine! We'll just have to take them back by force!" Nikki declared.
"Not this time you won't!" Jessie said. "Magcargo, use Rock Slide!" She threw out a Poké Ball and called on her Lava Pokémon. As soon as he appeared he used his Rock Slide.
"Look out!" Ash shouted. They ducked for cover as Magcargo's Rock Slide buried the exit to the cave. Once the dust had settled Ash and Nikki came out of cover to see that their way out had been completely blocked.
"They trapped us in here! How are we going to get out?!" Nikki wondered.
"We bust through, and I know just the Pokémon to do that," Ash said. He grabbed a Poké Ball and threw it.
"Onix, I choose you!" he shouted, calling on his Rock Snake Pokémon.
"Can you bust through those rocks for us?" Ash asked.
"(Leave it to me,)" Onix responded. The Rock Snake Pokémon sized up the rock wall blocking the exit. Then, he slammed into it with his head, dislodging the rocks a bit.
"(Sit tight. This may take some time,)" he reported before getting back to work on the rocks.
Outside the cave Team Rocket were busy gloating about how James' plan worked to perfection. Meanwhile Pikachu, Buneary and Shinx were trying to break out of the cage they were currently trapped in.
"Give it up, you three. There's no way you're getting out of there," Meowth tole them. The trio glared at him as he went back to gloating with his teammates.
"I told you this would work," James bragged.
"I have to admit this worked to perfection," Jessie agreed. "And now that the twerps are trapped in that cave we can…"
"Hey, is it just me or are those rocks moving?" Meowth questioned. Jessie and James looked over at the rocks and saw some of them starting to shift.
"What's happening?" James wondered.
"It must be those twerps on the other side trying to break out," Jessie guessed. "I guess one Rock Slide isn't enough for them. Magcargo, give them another!" The Lava Pokémon did as he ws told and piled on another Rock Slide on top of the first, making that much more difficult for Ash and complany to get out. Back on the inside of the cave Onix was still hard at work bashing the rocks, but he was starting to wear out.
"I don't know how much longer Onix can keep going," Nikki pointed out.
"(Don't… Don't worry about me. I'll be… just fine,)" Onix panted.
"No, Onix. She's right. You're wearing out," Ash said.
"(No! I have to… get you out of here!)" Onix stated. He resumed bashing the rocks, but he was making no progress in dislodging them.
"Onix, stop!" Ash shouted.
"Please! You're only hurting yourself!" Nikki pleaded. Despite their please Onix kept at it. However, his strength soon gave out and he fell to the ground, completely worn out.
"(S-Sorry,)" he apologized.
"Now what are we going to do? Onix was our best chance at getting out of here," Nikki said.
"If only there was some way to give him a strength boost," Ash commented. Hearing this suddenly gave Nikki an idea.
"What if we evolved him," she suggested. "Would he be strong enough then?"
"Yeah, he would," Ash said. "Good idea, Nikki." He was all ready to help Onix evolve, but a sudden thought made him frown.
"What is it?" Nikki wondered.
"The only way he can evolve is through the ise of a Metal Coat," he explained. "And I just used mine on Scyther to help him evolve." Now Nikki understood Ash's sudden change in demeanor. Just when it seemed all hope was lost she remembered something.
"We can use my Metal Coat!" she said.
"Are you sure about that?" Ash asked.
"Right now we don't have much of a choice," Nikki replied while rummaging through her backpack for the item in question. Eventually she found it and handed it to Ash.
"Thanks, Nikki," Ash said. He walked over to Onix and held the Metal Coat in front of him.
"Use this. It'll make you evolve and you'll be stronger," he told the Rock Snake Pokémon. Onix looked at the Metal Coat for a moment before reaching out and touching it. He felt a power inside of it and focused on it. Moments later both he and the Metal Coat began to glow. After a few seconds he felt a surge of power as his evolution came to an end.
"Alright, he's a Steelix now!" Ash cheered. "Now you can bust through those rocks no problem!"
"(Just watch me work!)" Steelix said as he went back to work on the rock wall, finding it much easier to bust through now.
"Hang on, guys! We're coming!" Ash said.
Back outside Team Rocket was loading up their balloon and preparing to leave when they saw the rocks start to shift again.
"Those twerps just don't know when to give up," Jessie sighed. "Magcargo, you know what to do." The Lava Pokémon was getting ready to use Rock Slide once again when the entire rock wall exploded outward, unblocking the cave exit and freeing Ash and Nikki.
"How did they get out of there?!" Jessie yelled.
"Alright, Team Rocket! Let our Pokémon go!" Ash demanded.
"No!" Jessie refused. "Magcargo, use Flamethrower!" The Lava Pokémon spewed forth a stream of flames at Ash and company, forcing them to jump out of the way. This gave Team Rocket just enough time to jump in their balloon and take off with the cage holding Ash and Nikki's Pokémon.
"They're getting away!" Nikki shouted.
"Not likely!" Ash said. "Pop their balloon with Wing Attack, Swellow!" The Swallow Pokémon darted up and tore a hole in the side of their balloon with his wing, causing the balloon to come plummeting back down to the ground. As soon as it hit the ground it kicked up a thick cloud of dust, obscuring everyine's vision.
"Swellow, can you see the cage Pikachu and the others are in?!" Ash wondered.
"(I got eyes on it!)" Swellow replied.
"See if you can break it open!" Ash requested. Looking at the cage Swellow saw it had taken some damage from the fall. Aiming at the weakened points he used his Wing Attack to break the cage open, freeing the three captive Pokémon. The four of them hurried back to their trainers just as the dust cleared.
"Oh man… I don't want to go through that again," Meowth groaned.
"I think we have something worse to worry about," James stated. The trio looked up to see Ash, Nikki and their Pokémon glaring at them.
"I don't think we're going to like this," James stated.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Steelix, Dragonbreath!" Ash shouted.
"Buneary, Hidden Power! Shinx, Charge Beam!" Nikki added. The four Pokémon launched their attacks, striking Team Rocket and causing an explosion that sent them flying through the sky.
"I thought I thought of everything!" James shouted.
"Apparently you didn't!" Jessie yelled.
"And now we're blasting off again!" the trio screamed as they vanished over the horizon. With Team Rocket now out of the way Ash and Nikki checked on their Pokémon.
"You guys okay?" Ash asked.
"(Yeah, we're find,)" Pikachu answered. "(Just how did you get out anyway?)"
"You can thank Steelix here," Ash replied.
"Yeah. We'd still be trapped in that cave if it weren't for him," Nikki added. Now that the danger was over she took out her Pokécomm and scanned Steelix.
Name: Steelix
Species: The Iron Snake Pokémon
Pokécomm Entry: It's said that if an Onixlives for 100 years, its composition becomes diamond-like as it evolves into a Steelix.
"Man, Ash, your Steelix is awesome," Nikki commented.
"That he is," Ash agreed. "Well, after that I say we get moving. The Valley of the Iron Fist isn't going to come to us." They recalled all their Pokémon, save for Pikachu and Buneary, and then continued on their way towards Ash's next Area Boss battle.
Ash's Pokémon continue to grow stronger as his Onix has now evolved into Steelix. How will this factor into the rest of his journey? Find out in the next chapter of Search for Power!
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