Pokémon ABC - Episode 18

It's been way too long... I should post here more often again ^_^'. Though I first have to find out what exactly I already posted XD.

BTW: this is where Blade got the black-eared and black-tailed Pikachu. A few years later, the Pichu appeared, so you can say his Pikachu is a not-fully-evolved-Pichu.



Episode 18: Pikachu's Forest


By 'Whisper Shadowhunter'/ Kitty Ocean
© Nintendo (their characters) and Kitty Ocean (my characters)

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"Blade, wait!"

Annoyed, Blade turned around. "What?" He asked. "You demanded we'd hurry up a bit, because you wanted to go home finally. So why do I have to wait for?"

Exhausted, Chris and Aemilia sat down. "Look above you Blade." Aemilia sighed. "It's too dark. We are already lost and we'll get lost more this way."

"If Blade hadn't let the map fall in the fire…." Chris started. "We wouldn't have to rely on my memory. Now I have to guide us home while it has been 4 years ago since I left Pallet Town."

Blade gazed to Chris. "But you said you know the way!"

"Yeah, from Cerulean City." She stood up. "But this doesn't look like Cerulean City, does it?" Blade shook his head. "And I want to go to bed!"

"Fine!" Blade yelled. "Then go to bed!" He turned around. He wanted to say some more of his 'wisdom words', but he surprisingly gazed at Chris and Aemilia who had already made a bed at the side of the road and were fast asleep.

Insulted, Blade walked to them and sat down. He took his backpack and unfolded his sleeping bag. He put it around them and took a Poké Ball. He released his Pokémon.

"Jiggly…"

"Jigglypuff, would you please sing for me?"

Surprised by this request, Jigglypuff took his little microphone and slowly filled the air with his sweet voice. Sing, my little sweet voice, Blade thought.

Jigglypuff crawled against Blade and closed his eyes. Suddenly it heard some bushes moving. Jigglypuff stood up.

"Jigglypuff?"

"Pika?"



"Good morning…." Chris stretched herself and stood up. She tried to wipe the sleep out of her eyes and looked around. "He Starmie, already up?"

The Starmie leaped to Chris and greeted her, but Chris was too tired to greet it properly. "Starmie…." Chris yawned. "Water Gun please…."

The Starmie obeyed at sprayed Chris totally wet. Suddenly completely awake, Chris turned to Aemilia, Jigglypuff and Blade. The best way for waking up in the morning was with a cold shower. Should she…?

Chris hesitated, but decided to let Aemilia, Blade and Jigglypuff sleep. If they wanted to wake up, they would wake up themselves. Chris sat down and let herself dry in the morning sun. She looked around herself, trying to find out where they were.

But though Chris tried to remember it, she couldn't. Maybe she hadn't been here before. While she thought about it, it seemed like no human had come here before. It was so quietly, peaceful and over all, clean.

Chris laid down on her sleeping bag and looked at the cloudless sky. It seemed it would be a beautiful day today. The days after they met the Pidgey were full with dark clouds that looked if they would erupt any minute. But fortunately, they didn't. But than they weren't lost already.

The third day after the confrontation with the Pidgeot they made a little fire to prepare food. Blade insisted he made dinner. Though they were surprised, they let Blade prepare it. He convinced them by telling them that as a single kid and a mother always on the road he had to take care of himself and his father and that he learned how to cook. So proud he was at his pancakes, so stupid he was to shove the map from the table, directly into the fire!

Though Wartortle tried to safe the map, it was already lost. Of course, Aemilia and Chris were very angry. Where would they find another map, in the middle of nowhere? Blade asked if Chris didn't knew the way, but Chris said she knew they way from Cerulean City. But where was Cerulean City? And while they tried to find the huge city, they got lost, again….


Aemilia yawned and greeted Chris. Blade woke up too and carefully woke up Jigglypuff too.

"Good morning." Chris said smiling and gave them some bread. Thankfully, they all took it and ate it. Chris packed her sleeping bag again.

Still tired, Aemilia and Blade did the same and stood up. Blade scratched himself behind the ear and returned Jigglypuff. A bit more awake, Aemilia returned Starmie. Chris cleaned the spot and started to walk.

"Come one." She smiled. "A good walk will wake you up."

"Where are we going?" Aemilia yawned. "Any particularly direction?"

Chris pointed at a direction. "I've got good vibes of that direction. And besides, it doesn't matter where we go to, as long as we find a city." Chris walked on.

Still sleepy, but slowly getting awake, Blade and Aemilia followed. Not knowing where they were going; they trusted on Chris' felling of direction. They had no other choice than following this cheerful girl. She whistled a song she knew and the more she whistled it, the more Aemilia and Blade got awake.

"I'm on the road, to Viridian City…"



Suddenly, Blade stopped at pointed his ears. He had heard something and asked Chris to be quiet. Insulted by this request, Chris wanted to argue, but suddenly heard the same sound. Curious, they followed the sound.

After a while, they reached an open spot. Astounded, they looked at a large podium. What was that doing here, in the middle of nowhere? But it seemed as the organisers were expecting a great audience, because of the rows of chairs.

"Maybe they know the way to Cerulean City." Blade suggested and stepped forward.

Within a flash, 2 people appeared before them. Shocked by these characters, they leaped back.

"Hi." The woman said. "Welcome at the Team Rocket Promotion stand."

"Cut the crap Shana!" Chris yelled. "What are you doing here?"

Shane stepped back and showed the podium. "We aren't interested in you today." He said. "Today we are promoting Team Rocket!"

"And you are expecting audience today?" Blade asked.

"Of course!" Shana replied. "We are Team Rocket! Want to join?"

Aemilia, Blade and Chris looked at Team Rocket. Smiling, they seemed nice. But experience had learned them Team Rocket wasn't to be trusted.

"If you sign in today…." Shane mysterious whispered. "You'll get the Team Rocket CD free!"

"Team Rocket CD?" Aemilia asked.

Both leaped on the podium. "The Team Rocket CD!" Shana presented. "With all the Team Rocket members and their yells!"

"Listen to the wicked yell of Casedy and Butch…." Shane added. "And the evil yell of Jessie and James. Of course, the best yell is from us: Shana and Shane!"

"Included a link to our web site!" Shana smiled. "It's a CD and a CD-ROM at the same time!"

"How… nice…." Chris tried to stay nice, but suddenly, Shana and Shane pushed them to the chairs.

"Just sit down and enjoy the promotion." Shana nicely said.

Not knowing what to expect, they sat down. Maybe it was an innocent presentation, or maybe it was a trap. But all knew they would found it out within any minutes.

The podium became dark and 2 spots appeared. Some music began to play. Chris and Blade took some popcorn and Aemilia ate a little Poké Snack. Suddenly, 2 shades appeared at the podium, dressed if they had to go to a gala. Shana hid herself behind a large fan and Shane's face was covered by the dark shade.


"To protect Team Rocket from devastation."

"To unite everybody within our organisation."

"To denounce the evil of the team we love."

"To be as popular as the moon above..."

"Shana!"

"And Shane!"

"Team Rocket! Shines with the brightness of light!"

"Team Rocket is the best, that's right!"


Surprised by this new yell, Chris clapped. "Wow!" She said and stood up. "How long have you thought about it?"

"Well…." Shana felt flattered. "Not that long."

"You 2 should go in the entertainment business." Aemilia said. "You 2 would make great promoters. Maybe you can promote a new movie."

Shane looked to his companion. "That would be a honest job." He said. "We can't do that."

"Of course not." Shana comforted him. "We were born to be evil."

Suddenly, dark clouds packed themselves above the promotion stand. Please, Blade thought, it hasn't rained the past days, please stay that way!

But Blade's mental begs didn't help and soon the rain fall down with all his powers. Aemilia, Blade and Chris leaped up and wanted to run for cover, but Shana and Shane didn't agree. "Wait, we haven't finished yet!"

"If you want you can stay here, but we don't like to drown!" Aemilia yelled and together they ran away.

"Wait!" Shane yelled, but suddenly, lighting pushed himself through the wet air and hit the promotion stand. "Oi…" Shane sighed fried. "There goes our promotion."



Together they fled into a cave. Sighing they sat down and looked outside they cave, seeing the air was sometimes enlighten by the lightning. Chris looked at a little CD.

"You took that stupid CD along?" Blade asked curious. "Why?"

"I don't know." Chris said. "But it can't harm us. I wished I had a CD-player so I could hear what's on it."

"I wished we were alone…." Aemilia frightened whispered.

Shocked, they turned around.

"Pikachu?"

"Wow!" Blade enthusiastically exclaimed. "It's a pack of Pikachu!"

He ran to them, but the Pikachu became scared and used some Thunder attacks. Fried, Blade fell.

"Now let's make a stupid joke." Chris smiled. "That was shocking!"

"I know." Aemilia giggled. "I was really shocked."

Blade stood up. "I don't care. I'll have my Pikachu today!"

"What's with boys and Pikachu?" Chris asked. "Why do all the boys I know want to have Pikachu. Those creatures are more stubborn than I can imagine about."

"Pikachu…." Blade started. "Meet Chris, the most stubborn creature of the world. But why do you complain? You've got an Articuno so I can have a Pikachu!"

He lifted one of a rock. But it didn't like it to be hold and used his electric power.

"You'd better wait until they like you Blade." Aemilia said. "Or else you'll be fried the whole time."



"Something's burning…?" Aemilia asked.

Chris pointed at the black Blade. "Blade again. The 34th Pikachu didn't like him either. Give it up Blade."

"I won't give up!" He looked to a corner of the cave. "He, what's that?"

Curious, Chris and Aemilia turned. They looked at a Pikachu who didn't seem to have a tail and ears. Chris took a little flashlight and shone it at him. "It has black ears and a black tail. That's an unusual Pikachu. Why is it sitting there all alone?"

Blade didn't care and walked to it. "You are a special Pikachu. Do you want to come along with me?"

"Pi! Pikachu!" It replied smiling.

"I already thought so…." Blade lifted him, but the minute he did, he got electrocuted.

"I already told you to give it up Blade." Chris said. "Why don't you listen to me?"

"That Pikachu is pure electricity!" Blade yelled.

Aemilia kneeled to the Pikachu. "That's why it's an electric type Blade." She said sarcastically. "It's still a young Pikachu. Just come to me little Pikachu."

"Pi!"

The little Pikachu jumped to Aemilia, but the minute it touched her, Aemilia got fried. Frightened and sad, the Pikachu leaped away. "That creature is pure electricity!" Aemilia yelled.

"I told you so!"

Chris looked to the black-eared Pikachu and the other Pikachu who avoided him. "I guess that's why he was sitting there all alone. All the other Pikachu avoid him because he's too different." She kneeled to the Pikachu and patted some, WITHOUT getting electrocuted. "I guess that the little Pikachu has too much electricity and can't handle it."

Blade felt sorry for this unique Pokémon. We are the same, he thought, both misunderstood and unique…

"Pikachu!" A Pikachu yelled. Aemilia looked outside.

"The storm is over. We can go now." Aemilia and Chris took their backpacks while the Pikachu ran outside, hiding in the bushes.

The little black-eared Pikachu slowly walked out of the cave and his ears pointed to the ground. Depressed and extremely sad, it walked into the bushes. "Poor Pikachu." Chris said. "It must be hard to be so different."

Suddenly, Blade ran away. "Blade, come back!" Chris yelled. "If you don't come back this instant, we'll go further without you!" But Blade didn't turn around. He's really determent to get a Pikachu, she angry thought, and he's letting us to get even more lost! "Blade wait for us!"




"Shana?" Shane asked depressed. "Our promotion has gone up in smoke…."

"I know." She sighed. "If we only had electricity, we could rebuild it."

"Yeah, if that generator hadn't blow up…."

"Pikachu?"




"Blade?" Chris yelled. Aemilia did the same, but no reply came. Stupid idiot, they both thought. And he always leaves clear tracks, except for today. Chris took a Poké Ball. "Articuno, go for it!"

Screaming loudly, it appeared. It sat down on Chris' head and flapped his wings. "Articuno, we've lost Blade." Aemilia explained.

"Yeah." Chris added. "Would you please go look for him?"

It lifted off with a great scream, and the majestic blue bird flew away.



Blade looked through the bushes to the playing Pikachu. Like every other Pokémon observer he knew he had to stand down-wind. He took his notebook and looked up some notes. Perfect Pikachu: the title said. And all that stood beneath it was: I'll know it when I see him.

He smiled. He already knew which Pikachu he wanted. He looked into the playing group. He, there was that black-eared Pikachu again. Again it lonely sat on a rock and looked over his group.

Suddenly, it pointed his black ears: "Pi! Pikachu! Pi! Pi!" But the other Pikachu didn't react. "Pi! Pi! Pi! Chu! Pikachu!"

Within a flash, a Graveler rolled between the Pikachu and divided them to all the ways. But a large burst of fire from a Growlithe chased them back the other way, where a large cage waited for them.

All Pikachu tried to use their Thunder Shock, but the cage didn't brake. Frightened, they released some sounds.

"Pi! Pikachu! Pikachu!" The black-eared Pikachu yelled and ran to the cage.

But the other Pikachu angry yelled at him: "Pikachu! Pika! Chu!"

Surprised, the black-eared Pikachu stopped running. Why, Blade thought, what have they said?

"They said the Pikachu had to get lost." Aemilia said. "Poor thing."

Astounded, Blade looked to Aemilia and Chris and gazed at them. "Unlike some people…." Chris started. "We hear things. And we heard frightened Pikachu."

"Look Shane, we have electricity again." Proudly, Shana pulled the large cage on the van with rubber cloves.

"Wait a minute!" Blade yelled. "Where did you think you were going with those Pikachu?"

"Mind your own business." Shane irritated said. "Those Pikachu are ours now. And they won't get out of the cage, because it is made from an electricity-resisted metal."

"Growlithe, go get them!" Shana yelled and the Growlithe leaped forward.

Before Blade could demand a Pokémon to appear, the little black-eared Pikachu jumped before him.

"That's an ugly Pikachu." Shana said. "Growlithe, Ember!"

"This Pikachu is unique!" Blade said protective. "Show them how unique you are Pikachu. Use your Thunder Wave!"

Trying to save the Pikachu that didn't like him, the Pikachu leaped forward and used a small Thunder Wave. But because this Pikachu was pure electricity, a small Thunder Wave was enough to knock Growlithe and Graveler unconscious in one little move.

Shocked, Shana and Shane looked at the little creature. "He sure is unique. Let's catch him for the boss!" Shane jumped forward. Surprisingly, Blade didn't stop him taking the Pikachu.

"Shane!" Shana yelled and looked at the fried Shane. "We are not trough yet!"

"I think we are Shana." Chris smiled. "You'd better train very hard, because you aren't a real threat for us."

"Pikachu, Use a big Thunder Wave!" Blade yelled.

Focussing, it started to create a huge Thunder Wave, using all its power. The bright light blinded all and the power of the wave made the cage break and all Pikachu broke free.

"Looks like Team Rocket…." Shana sighed.

"Got fried again…."


"Pi! Pikachu! Chu!" All Pikachu gathered around the breath catching black-eared Pikachu.

"Pika…." It started and suddenly fell.

Blade leaped at the Pikachu and took it in his arms. Slowly, the Pikachu opened his eyes. "You'll be fine…." Blade whispered.

"Why isn't he…?" Aemilia whispered.

Chris smiled. "I guess he used all its power. But I think Blade has found his Pikachu and we have a new young companion…."

"That will be a real shock…." Aemilia giggled and looked at Blade, who gentile hugged the unique black-eared Pikachu.


To be continued…

Pokémon ABC - Episode 17

A few little notes:

- I made up The Purple Sandslash before I knew about Shiney Pokémon or even Pink Coloured Pokémon. So that's why Chris and the others react so odd.

- I didn't know Articuno was huge when I first decided to use him. The official image was tiny XD So, it once used Minimize and got stuck in that form (I never got around to explaining that in the series).

- Blade has or will get (yes, I don't even read what I post here XD) a Pikachu with Black ears and a Black Tail. About 2 years later the Pichu suddenly appeared: Black ears, Black Tail. Purely coincidental, of course ^_^. But you can explain Blade's Pikachu as a Pichu that didn't fully evolve in a Pikachu XP

And now, the story.... dun-dun-duuunnnnnn

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Episode 17: Sounds of the Pidgey


By 'Whisper Shadowhunter'/ Kitty Ocean
© Nintendo (their characters) and Kitty Ocean (my characters)

*************************************************************************


"I've got Articuno, I've got Articuno!"

Cheering like a little girl, Chris holds her new Pokémon in her hands. After she traded it for Zubat, she, Blade and Aemilia continued their way to Pallet Town. Leaving Celadon City behind, they rode on the backs of Ponyta and Rapidash. Chris sat backwards on Rapidash with her back against Blade.

"Stop being such a little kid." Blade complained.

"Oh, stop wining!" Chris replied annoyed. "Just be glad Rapidash doesn't burn you anymore."

Aemilia felt the tension and felt she needed to make up a group-activity. "Why don't we sing a song together?"

"Great idea!" Blade said. "I'll start: You've been such a good friend, I know you since I don't know when…."

"Stop it!" Chris yelled. "You sing like hell! And it's a horrible number too. Just let me start: Good friends, are those who stick together…."

"No, your taste is great." Blade said sarcastically.

Angry, Chris looked back to Blade. Aemilia sighed. "Okay, let's forget the group-activity!"

Nobody said a word when they entered a forest. Chris continued adoring Articuno. "So…." Blade started. "When did you plan to let Articuno out?"

Chris didn't lay her eyes off the Poké Ball when she answered. "Oh…. Soon."

"Do you think it will obey you?" Aemilia answered.

Chris shook her head. "I don't know. We'll find out. But I wonder how strong it already is. It hasn't used any other attack than Peck and the Ice-beam."

Suddenly, a deadly silence came over the green forest. Frightened by the sudden silence, Rapidash and Ponyta stopped. "Something's wrong…." Aemilia whispered. "I can feel it…."

"Team Rocket?" Blade asked, but Aemilia shook her head. "If it isn't Team Rocket, nothing's wrong…."

"Don't be so sure about that Blade." Chris whispered. "When Aemilia says something is wrong, than something is wrong. She can feel such stuff."

"But you can't hear a thing, we are alone here!"

"And that's the problem." Chris whispered again. "The trouble lies within the silence…."

Suddenly, without any warning, Rapidash and Ponyta began to price. Shocked, the 3 children started to ease the Pokémon, but it didn't work and they ran away from each other, splitting the group.

"Blade!" Chris yelled. "Stop Rapidash! I can't hold on like this!"

She tried to hold herself to the creature, but it ran too fast. While Blade tried to calm down Rapidash, Chris suddenly heard some voices and saw the creatures that scared her Rapidash. "Pidgey…?" She asked astounded.

Diving at the 2 kids, the Pidgey began to attack Chris and Blade, scaring Rapidash more this way. Picking and crabbing, they tried to scare Chris and Blade off. Chris tried to hold on to her Pokémon, but had also to protect herself from the hard beaks of these angry Pokémon.

Suddenly, Chris fell and landed very hard at the ground. Lying in the bushes, she tried to get her Poké Ball from Articuno she had let go. But, within a minute, she opened her eyes and gazed at the little purple creature that stood before her.

"Slash! Slash!"

"You are real…." Was the only thing Chris could whisper.



"Stop Ponyta!" Aemilia shouted. "Relax! Nothing's there anymore!"

Finally, the Ponyta stopped running and looked around him. His trainer was right. Nothing was there anymore. It was just like when they entered the forest: it looked normal. Ponyta wondered where they were.

"I don't know it either." Aemilia sighed. "But what was that? Since when do Pidgey attack humans?" But the Ponyta didn't know it either. "I wonder where Rapidash is with Blade and Chris… if Chris succeeded to stay on his back. Come on, let's find them." She ordered the Pokémon to move on, but it refused. "You are afraid?" Aemilia asked astounded and the Ponyta nodded. "All right, than go in your Poké Ball."

Aemilia returned Ponyta and looked around her. She noticed she didn't remember the way back; she'd been to busy concentrating to calm down Ponyta. Damn, she thought, lost again. I hope we are not going to make a habit of it. Irritated she had to look for her friends, but also concerned; she started to walk in the way she thought would be the best one.



Blade stepped of Rapidash. He finally succeeded in stopping him. Sighing 2 times, he looked at the fire-horse again. "That was quite a ride ya know?" He said smiling to Rapidash. "But I guess we lost some luggage we have to find back."

Rapidash didn't like the joke about his trainer and put on his hot flames. Crying from the sudden pain, he released Staryu so his water gun could ease the burning pain. "Okay, I take it back. But I still think we have to find Chris."

Rapidash agreed with the plan and let Staryu hop on his back. Blade was angry because he wasn't allowed back on it and had to walk. They started to walk in a direction, not knowing where to look for Chris, or Aemilia. Blade yelled the names of his companions a few times, but they didn't reply.

Blade became concerned. He knew Aemilia would be fine, but he saw Chris falling from Rapidash. Though the Pidgey followed him and not Chris, he wanted to turn back… if Rapidash would have listened. These were just little Pidgey and Rapidash was a great fire-Pokémon. Only there were hundreds of Pidgey and just one Blade and Rapidash….



Astounded and curious at once, Chris crawled back on her feet. This isn't real, she thought, this is a dream or I'm dead. The purple Sandslash is a story Gary believed in when he was little! Carefully, she stretched her arm to touch it, but it used his claws so Chris had to pull her arm back.

"Slash! Slash!"

Chris took her Poké Dex, to gather the information. This was a great opportunity, her grandfather and Professor Midol would be so proud at her! She let it buzz; hoping it wouldn't scare the Sandslash away. Suddenly, the Poké Dex began to talk. Damn, she thought, I touched a wrong button.

"Sandslash…" It started. "A Pokémon from the ground-type and the evolved form from Sandshrew…"

"Shut up!" Chris hissed. She looked back at the Pokémon. It started to run away. "No, wait, stop!" Chris yelled and leaped up, trying to follow it.

"Pidgey! Pidgey!"

Terrified, Chris turned around. She saw the Pidgey returning. No, not again, she thought and started to run. Running her lungs out of her body, she crossed a little stream. She leaped over some thorny bushes and didn't care she got some scratches. But suddenly, out of nowhere, a little Slowpoke wanted to cross the road. Not able to stop, Chris tripped over the Slowpoke and fell with great impact on the floor.

Doubting not another minute, she threw a Poké Ball away. "Articuno, go for it!"

The blue bird proudly appeared from the Poké Ball and landed on a rock. It started to clean its magnificent feathers. "No way Articuno!" Chris yelled. "Use your Ice-Beam to scare the Pidgey away!"

Not interested in listing, it continued cleaning itself. Chris dove away from some attacking Pidgey. "What's wrong with you?" Chris shouted. "I'm your trainer, you have to obey! Use your Ice-Beam!"

Annoyed, the Articuno turned to Chris and attacked her with its Ice-Beam. Shocked, she leaped away and wasn't hit. Astounded, she looked at her new Pokémon that didn't obey. She never faced such problems, but wasn't allowed to think long about it, because some Pidgey wanted to pick at her again.

"Articuno! Come back!" Chris yelled and held the Poké Ball before, while she was protecting herself from the beaks from the Pidgey.

But Articuno flew away, avoiding the red ray. Chris tried again, but they Articuno didn't plan to return either. "I'm not going to leave you!" Chris yelled above the screaming Pidgey. "If you hope I'll run away and let you go, you're wrong! Charizard, go for it!"

Chris tossed the Poké Ball from Charizard away. Roaring loudly, it appeared. "Charizard, help me!" Chris yelled.

The Charizard burst a ray of fire to Chris and the Pidgey flew away. Frightened, Chris gazed at the ongoing ray of fire! "Not me!" She yelled.



"Well." Aemilia sighed. "We're back where we started."

Finally, she had found the path they walked before they were split up. She looked at the ground, hoping she could see something like a track. But there were so many tracks she couldn't find the right one.

Aemilia decided to change into a Pokémon. In the shape of a Ratatta, she was able to find the right track and started to follow the track of the scared Rapidash.

Suddenly, Aemilia stopped and gazed at the bushes. She had seen much Pokémon, but she had never seen a purple Sandslash!



Blade stepped in the river and crossed it. Rapidash and Staryu followed. Suddenly, they heard a scream and Rapidash began to run. "Wait for me!" Blade yelled.

The Rapidash returned and let Blade climb it. But before Blade could climb decently at him, it already started to run again, following the scream.

Not knowing what they would find, they entered an open spot. They saw a large Charizard comforting a crying fried girl.

"You're all right?" Blade asked concerned.

Chris nodded. "Yeah, Charizard saved my bud."

"Than why are you crying?" He wanted to know.

Chris pointed at a blue creature. "He won't obey. My favourite Pokémon won't obey me!"

Blade felt the pain she had and laid his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Articuno will listen to you someday. It just has to get used to you, that's all."

Chris whipped the tears out of her eyes. "You're sure?" Blade nodded. She tried to return Articuno again, and it finally worked. She stood up. Suddenly, the Staryu blasted his water gun at Chris and cleaned her. Chris warmed herself by the flaming tail of her Charizard. She took her Poké Dex.

"What do you want with it?" Blade asked, but Chris gave him her Poké Dex. He looked at the information she recently had gathered. "You must be kidding…." He said. "A purple Sandslash?"

"I know, it sounds unbelievable, but I saw it!"

"If he's real, we have to find it for more information." He returned Staryu and Chris returned Rapidash and Charizard. "Come one."

Suddenly, they heard a strange sound coming out of the forest. "Oh my God…." Chris whispered crying. "The Pidgey are coming back!"



Aemilia changed into her human form, as always. The Sandslash leaped backwards. "Don't worry!" Aemilia comforted him. "I'm a Pokémon too. I've never seen a Pokémon like you before."

"That's why we want it."

Shocked, Aemilia turned around and looked at the 2 shadows.


"To protect the Pokémon from devastation."

"To gather all rare ones within our nation."

"To bring them up with lots of love."

"To extend their reach to the moon above..."

"Shana!"

"And Shane!"

"Team Rocket! More welcome than the brightness of light!"

"We are the best, that's right!"


"Oi, where is Chris when they finally have a new yell…." Aemilia sighed. She began to stand protective before the Sandslash.

"Hand it over Aemilia." Shane said. "You won't be able to protect it."

"Maybe…" Aemilia answered. "But why don't we try it?" She took a Poké Ball.

Suddenly, 2 shadows ran across. But when they saw Team Rocket, Blade and Chris stopped. "He Aemilia, you're here?"

Blade looked back and saw the oncoming flock of Pidgey. He pulled Aemilia and Chris along into the bushes, so the only people who seemed to threat the Sandslash were Shana and Shane. Angry, the Pidgey flew at them, scaring them off.

"Now I know what happened to Jessie and James when they told about the Spearow!" Shana yelled. "Looks like Team Rocket has left the building again!"


Momentarily safe, Aemilia, Blade and Chris stood up. Suddenly, Aemilia looked wildly around here. "Something you lost?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, the purple Sandslash!"

"You saw it too?" Chris wanted to know, and Aemilia nodded. Enthusiastically, she started to talk about the information she had gathered.

Blade felt left out: "He! I want some attention here! The Pidgey will return. I just wonder why they are attacking us…."

"That's easy." Aemilia said. "They are protecting the Sandslash. They know people want such a rare creature."

"But we don't want to catch rare Pokémon, do we?" He looked devastating at Chris.

"He, it was a wild Pokémon and you are allowed to catch any wild Pokémon!" Chris replied annoyed. "I just didn't know it would be such a turn-off!"

Aemilia looked curiously at Blade and Chris, hoping she would get an explanation. "Articuno doesn't obey Chris." Blade said with a hidden smile. "But let's try to find that Sandslash again. We have to have some information about him."

"Why?" Aemilia asked.

Chris agreed with Blade. "We are lost anyway, so we'd better make ourselves useful while we are lost. Let's go."



After they had walked a few hours, they suddenly heard a crying creature. They ran too it, wanting to help it and curious what it was. They shove some leaves aside and looked to an injured Pokémon, lying underneath a net.

"Slash! Slash!"

Chris hurried to the Sandslash. "Someone caught him!" She yelled. She took a little knife and cut the net into pieces, letting it out.

"But where are the hunters?" Blade asked and looked around, seeing nothing but a clear area.

Aemilia kneeled to the group and took some little feathers and a big one. She smelled on it. "The Pidgey scared them away. But there is a Pidgeot here too! We'd better leave fast, they'll come back, I'm sure of that."

"We can't leave!" Chris answered. "The Sandslash is injured." She lifted the small creature and laid it on a grass area, away from the hard rock bottom. Gentile, she took some Pokémon medicine and sprayed it on the Sandslash.

Blade kneeled next to Chris and handed her some water over. Chris gratefully took it and let the Sandslash drink some. After he had enough, she lifted it back on its feet again. "Your wounds will be away within a few days. Just be careful." Chris turned around. "Come one, we'd better go be…."

Astounded, she looked at the herd of Pidgey and the large Pidgeot who had land while she treated the Sandslash. Suddenly, together they began to scream so loudly, Chris, Aemilia and Blade had to cover their ears.

After the loud scream, a deadly silence followed.

"Pidge-aw-ot! Pidge-aw-ot!"

Curious, Chris looked to Aemilia. "He's challenging you." She answered. "If you defeat him, we'll be free to leave, WITHOUT the Sandslash."

"I accept it!" Carefully she looked at the Pidgeot. What Pokémon would be a stronger type, she wondered. Fire, water, poison or grass? She took a Poké Ball… she had chosen!

"Charizard! Go for it!"

But before she could toss her Poké Ball away, another Poké Ball moved and released his Pokémon.

"Articuno, go back!" She tried to return it, but it kept avoiding the ray. "Articuno, I have no time for games. Go back!"

Aemilia stepped to Chris. "Euh Chris, maybe he wants to fight for you." Chris lowered the Poké Ball and looked at Articuno. He wants to fight, she thought astounded.

Surprised by this sudden change, she put back the Poké Ball from Charizard and stepped forward. "All right Articuno, go for it!"

The Articuno flew up; knowing it had a little advantage with another normal flying type. The Pidgeot lifted off too and immediately started to attack with a whirlwind. Chris saw shocked how Articuno got hit.

"Don't let it get you Articuno, use your Peck attack!"

Surprisingly obeying, it dove to the large Pidgeot, but the fast bird flew away and made a circle so it came behind Articuno. The poor little blue bird flew for his life, just staying the much larger bird only inches before. It suddenly dove to the trees and vanished between the leaves.

"Guess Articuno isn't so brave after all." Blade said.

But Chris smiled. "The Pidgeot can't follow him trough the trees; he's to big for that!" She started to yell. "Okay Articuno, peck him and use an Ice-Beam!"

The blue bird stormed out of the trees and surprised the big bird. The Pidgeot got pecked and when he was recovered, he looked at Articuno who used her Ice-Beam. He dove away, but Articuno followed him with its Ice-Beam. But suddenly, it got distracted and the Pidgeot didn't wait another minute. It knocked Articuno out of the sky.

Chris hurried to Articuno. "You're all right?" She asked concerned. She looked into the creature's eyes. Suddenly, it seemed if she could look further than the eyes and she felt melted with the Articuno. Not able to see the glow of the Moonstone, she became melted with the Articuno, suddenly knowing all its attacks!

Chris leaped up. "Articuno, Blizzard!"

With a loud scream Articuno lifted off again at the altitude of the waiting Pidgeot. We won't lose, Chris thought. She looked at her new Pokémon who created a Blizzard. It became so powerful; she, Aemilia and Blade had to hold on to the ground. Blade and Aemilia grabbed a tree to stay at the ground, the Pidgey flew into the trees hoping they would be safe there.

But the Moonstone began to glow brighter and Chris opened her eyes. Her hairs wildly waved with the air and the snow blinded every other creature, but Chris saw everything. "Articuno!" She yelled above the howling wind. "Use your Peck one more time!"

Slowly, the Blizzard became less powerful and all looked at the snow that had covered the area. While the Moonstone began to fade, Articuno landed softly near Chris' feet. Chris took an empty Poké Ball. "Poké Ball, go get him!"

"No!"

She didn't throw it and looked to Blade. "Why?" She asked. "I defeated it so…."

"But who has to protect the Sandslash than?" Blade asked. Chris didn't know what to say. "Let it stay here, so the Sandslash will be safe."

Aemilia and Chris agreed. Aemilia walked to the Pidgeot and began to nurture it. Chris kneeled to Articuno. "You've done a great job." She proudly said and patted it. Blade kneeled next to Chris.

"I wonder what made him change his mind." He wondered. Chris said nothing, just smiled. "But it seems he has learned a new attack. How did you know he could do a Blizzard?"

Chris tapped on her Moonstone. "I guess the Moonstone has some mysterious powers we have yet to discover. What I know about it, is just a tiny bit of the mountain of information…."


To be continued…

Pokémon ABC - Episode 16

Episode 16: Finally, civilisation!

By 'Whisper Shadowhunter'/ Kitty Ocean
© Nintendo (their characters) and Kitty Ocean (my characters)

*************************************************************************

Gazing at the large buildings, they entered Celadon City. They looked in every store, through every window and smelled the sweet aroma that filled the air.

"And I thought Hydron Town was busy…" Blade sighed. "But what is that smell?"

Chris giggled. "Didn't you know Celadon City is famous for its perfume? They make it in the gym." She stepped to a map of the city. "Now, where is that Pokémon Centre again?"

"You've been here before?" Blade asked curious.

Chris nodded. "I got my Rainbow Badge here. Erika was a great opponent. She used a Gloom."

Blade swallowed 2-3 times. "Gloom… brr… bad memories."

Aemilia and Chris smiled. They remembered the smell and thought the aroma of Celadon City was much better! Suddenly, Chris tapped at the map. "Now I remember, it's not too far from the Celadon Gym. Come on. I want Articuno!"



"He dad!" Blade yelled smiling to the phone. "I'm in Celadon City!"

Professor Midol angry looked at the screen. "You promised you'd call every 2 days!"

Suddenly, the professor leaped away from the screen, frightened for something. And within a flash, the screen of the videophone was frozen. Aemilia, Chris and Blade all looked curious at the screen. Where was the professor?

"What was that?" Chris asked after Professor Midol had cleared the screen.

Professor Midol looked around him, continuously looking if it wouldn't come back. "That, my dear Chris." Professor Midol started. "Was your Articuno! It doesn't like to be observed."

Again, the professor leaped away again and Chris saw a blue bird landing before the phone. She grabbed the horn from Blade. "Articuno! Behave yourself!" But the Articuno didn't agree and used his Ice-Beam attack to freeze the screen again. After a while, the professor cleaned the screen for the second time. "I came to free you from Articuno." Chris continued.

They suspected Professor Midol would agree, but he didn't: "No!" He yelled. "It's a great opportunity! Okay, I know it doesn't like Joey's Electrode, or Mayla's Exeggutor, but I still want to keep it for observing."

"But I want Articuno!" Chris said if she was a small child again.

"Please." The professor begged. "Just one more day."

Chris looked at Blade and Aemilia. "We are on the road for so long, one day more or less won't matter." Aemilia thought. Blade agreed. Chris turned to the screen again.

"All right." She said. "We'll spend the night at the Celadon Pokémon Centre, but tomorrow morning, I want it!"

Gratefully, Professor Midol hung up, and the 3 kids turned away from the phone. Aemilia asked to Chris: "For what Pokémon did you planned to trade it?" Chris looked shocked to Aemilia. "You're telling me you haven't thought about that?"

Chris walked to a table and sat down. She took her 6 Poké Balls. One by one, she looked at them. "For what Pokémon shall I trade it?" She asked. "I won't trade it for Wartortle. And Charizard won't be the one either."

"What about Nidoran?" Blade asked. "She is the weakest." Chris shook her head.

"Nidoran came along to gather experience. So I have to choose between Rapidash, Zubat and Bulbasaur."

Aemilia and Blade sat down too. "I would suggest Rapidash." Aemilia suggested. "You brought him along as transportation, and not really as a fighting one."

"But Zubat is also a flying type." Blade suddenly said. "It has some great powers, but it's still a weak Pokémon. I won't trade Bulbasaur, because he's your only grass type. And Zubat is a poison type, just like Nidoran."

Chris looked at Zubat's Poké Ball. "I guess you're right. Zubat is the best choice." She laid the Poké Ball down. "But I have the whole day to think about it. So, what shall we do now?"

"Let's find an Arcade hall!" Blade said. "I haven't played a good video game in days!"

"I prefer shopping." Chris suggested. "And sightseeing and stuff like that."

"That's for girls." Blade said.

"And what are we?" Aemilia asked. "Some guys in disguise?"

Blade didn't answer and felt embarrassed. "Well." Chris said. "It seems we want to do different things. Why don't we split up and have dinner together?" She looked at her watch. "Let's meet here again at 6 o'clock." She suggested. Blade agreed and stood up.

"I'm going to have fun." He said sarcastically. "If you are looking for me, look under 'Fun' in the yellow pages and you'll find the address of the Arcade Hall I'll be." He walked away from the girls out of the Pokémon Centre.

Blade decided to look at a distant city map to look for the Arcade hall. Such a big city must have a video game hall, he thought. He saw the doors opening of the Pokémon Centre and saw his friends leaving. He waved at them and they waved back. Strange, he thought, Chris hasn't insulted me since Crystal Mountain.

He remembered the walk to Celadon City. It had been much further than they expected. They thought it would be a few kilometres before they'd reach it, but the mountain was a lot larger and the climb down took a few hours. In the middle of the day they reached Celadon City, tired, no exhausted, of the long walk.

He turned left. The Arcade Hall should be around the next corner. He whistled one of his favourite songs.

Suddenly, someone bumped into him with great speed. Not able to see who bumped into him, he fell at the ground. When he opened his eyes, a young woman stood before him.

"I'm arresting you for stealing." She said to the astounded Blade.



Sitting in her new clothes Chris waited with Aemilia for Blade in the Pokémon Centre. They had visited the Celadon Gym again, but Erika was gone, concerning a theft. Shame, Chris had thought, I'd wanted to challenge her again, and maybe she'd become better and stronger. Impatiently, she looked at her watch again.

"Don't worry." Aemilia said. "Blade will show up. He's only 10 minutes late."

Chris shook her head. "He never came late, even at party's he even wasn't invited to. And I'm hungry, so he'd better show up soon or we'll start without him."

Aemilia agreed. She felt hungry too. She wondered where Blade might be. She thought he would show up within 10 minutes. But he didn't. "All right." Aemilia started. "I'm getting concerned too. Let's go to the Arcade hall and look for him."

Though Chris was very hungry, she also was concerned about Blade. Together with Aemilia she walked to the Arcade hall. But when they finally reached it: "I'm sorry girls, but you aren't allowed in. After 6 o'clock it's for 18 years and older."

"But we are looking for our friend." Chris said to the surprise of Aemilia. "It just will take a minute. When I find him, I'll drag him outside and we're gone."

But the man shook his head. "Sorry miss, but rules are rules. But if you give me the name of your friend I'll look for him." Chris gave him the name and the man walked inside. While Aemilia waited for the man, Chris got a hot dog at a little snack bar to ease the hunger. She bought a little snack for Aemilia too. But when she returned, the man also returned… without Blade.

"Thanks for looking." Aemilia politely answered. "We'd better go to the Pokémon Centre again, maybe he's there."



"Nurse Joy?" Chris asked. "Did a boy come here and left again?"

Nurse Joy shook her head. "I'm sorry. Nobody came since you'd left. Maybe you'd better go to the police. But it's very busy there. They caught the thieve who stole the secret perfume formula from the Gym."

"I heard about that theft, but it's better than doing nothing. Thanks Nurse Joy." Chris said and greeted the little Chansey too.



Walking through the streets, Chris didn't say a word. Aemilia felt she had to cheer up her friend. "Cheer up." She said. "We'll find Blade. Maybe he saw a pretty girl and followed her home or something like that." But Chris still didn't react. She worried too much.

If I get him in my hands, she thought, I'd break his neck! That will teach him not to worry me!

Slowly, they entered the Police-office. It was very busy there and through the running policemen they tried to get near the reception, but no one was there. They looked around them.

Suddenly, Chris saw it within a flash, but it was enough for her. She stormed at the door and opened it with a great slam. After that she ran and grabbed him. "Does this look like the Pokémon Centre?" She yelled.

"Miss, this is a private investigation. Leave immediately or I have to arrest you." Officer Jenny said.

"Wait…." They all looked at the young black-haired woman that sat at the other side of the table. "Do you know this guy?"

Chris furious looked at the woman. "Yeah, I know this pain in the bud. What have you done this time Blade? Even at home you weren't arrested and questioned."

"This young man is accused of stealing the secret formula from the Celadon Gym."

Aemilia entered too. "Blade?" She giggled. "He never steals anything. He just accidentally breaks something, but he's no thieve."

Suddenly, the black-haired woman stood up. "I remember you!" She said. "You're Aemilia!" She turned to Chris. "Than you must be Chris. How nice meeting you again."

"You know these children Erika?" Officer Jenny asked.

Erika nodded. "Aemilia is a very 'special' girl. I'll never forget her."

"Just have a party while I'm falsely accused." Blade angry mumbled. Chris felt sorry for him.

"Don't worry Blade, we'll clear you." Chris turned to Erika. "What do you know about the thieve?"

Erika didn't hesitate with answering. "He had black hair."

"Don't you know anything more?" Chris asked. Erika shook her head. It went within a flash, she said. "Than Blade is cleared. Blade's hair is dark-blue, not black. Come on, let's go."

But Officer Jenny didn't agree. "We had found him with the formula, that's reason enough to accuse him."

"But Blade is no thieve." Aemilia tried. "I swear it, he's to dumb for that!" Chris giggled. This was an unexpected thing to hear out of the mouth of the soft Aemilia.

Chris sat down on the table. "Look." She started. "If Blade was the real thieve, which he isn't, you can leave the formula at this table the whole night without getting stolen. The real thieve will try to steal it again."

Officer Jenny agreed. "So you are suggesting a trap that will clear Blade?"

"Just put it back in the Gym and Aemilia and I will protect it."

"What about me?" Blade asked. "I don't want to stay here."

Officer Jenny stepped before him. "You'll stay here to be sure you aren't the thieve. If the formula won't vanish during the night we're sure you are the thieve."

Erika walked to Aemilia and Chris. "Just come along to the Gym. You can spend the night there."

"Have a nice sleep Blade." Chris said. "Tomorrow you'll be a free boy again." She turned around.

"Chris wait…." Blade waited a second. "Love your outfit…."

Chris smiled to Blade and turned around again. Erika led the way and Aemilia and she followed the Celadon City Gym Leader.



"So, what has become of you too?" Erika asked while she gave Aemilia and Chris something too eat. "Still trying to get badges?"

Aemilia shook her head. For a moment she looked at Chris and she knew Chris allowed her to talk about it. "We opened our own Gym."

"Oh?" Erika said curiously. "Where? And did someone defeat you already? I doubt it, when you let Aemilia fight."

Chris shook her head. "Nope, no defeats yet." She took a bite. "But it sometimes was a close call."

"I know what you mean." Erika said smiling. "But defeats keep you alert. They tell you you've got to train harder. But you haven't told me where."

Chris took another bite of the delicious food. "It's the Ocean Gym." She said careless.

The sudden answer shocked her and she let a cup fall into shards. "You…?" She started trembling over her own words. "You are that mysterious dude… euh… Moonshadow?" Chris nodded. A moment of silence followed. "I knew you were a great trainer, but that good?"

"Aemilia is the one who helped me out you know? I couldn't be such a great trainer without her." She looked at Aemilia. "Actually, I'm nothing without her!"

Aemilia felt flattered by Chris' compliment and became a bit red. "I'm nothing without you too you know?"

Chris smiled. "You know, we can sit here competing who is right, but we have to save Blade's bud… again…."

"I'll prepare some beds near the formula." Erika said friendly. "I hope you wake up and catch the thieve when needed. I hope you are right and that it isn't your friend Blade."

"I hope that too…." Chris sighed. "For HIS sake!"



Tired from the long journey they had already walked, they both fell very easily asleep. Though both tried to keep their eyes open, they had to admit to the sleep. They were so tired; they didn't hear much what happened outside the dream world.

"Watch out!" Someone whispered.

Annoyed, someone replied: "Don't wine like a cry-baby, just get it!"

"I got it, now let's get out of here!"

Suddenly, Chris woke up. She heard a loud crash, indicating someone else was there. Doubting not another minute, she turned the light on. "You!" She looked upon Shana and Shane, who had fallen over Aemilia and Chris' backpack. "I should have known the black-haired man was you Shane!"

"I'm flattered you thought of me when you heard about the theft."

Aemilia had woken up too and stood next too Chris. "What do you want with some stupid perfume formula anyway?"

"Don't you know the value of this perfume formula?" Shana asked. "It's the most wanted perfume: Celadon Gloom number 1. And if we have the formula, we hold the world-market!"

The door opened. "Oh my God, its Team Rocket!" Erika yelled. "Blade IS innocent!"

"I already told you Blade was too stupid for that." Aemilia giggled.

"I'll call the police!" She wanted to turn back to the door again, but Shane threw his Poké Ball to Erika.

"Raticate, Go!"

Chris reacted instantly: "Nidoran, go for it!"

Shane laughed. "My Raticate is much stronger than that puny Nidoran." He said.

"Don't be sure about that." Chris smiled. "Shana also taught Wartortle couldn't defeat Geodude, or Graveler, but he still did. Nidoran, Scratch!"

The little poison Pokémon obeyed her trainer and leaped at the Raticate, but when Shane ordered, it dodged away and it used his Super Fang. Injured, the little creature landed before Chris' feet. Trembling at her legs, she stood up.

"Stop Chris." Aemilia shouted. "Nidoran is too weak, it hasn't got enough experience yet!"

"And now it's time she'd gathered some more. Nidoran, Poison Sting!"

Again, the Nidoran obeyed and dove to the Raticate, determent not to give up already. Surprised by the sudden strength of his opponent, it got hit and a little flow of poison entered his body.

"Ha!" Shana cheered. "Raticate is too strong for her poison. But if you let us go, we won't hurt her anymore."

But Nidoran had tasted victory with her fight with an Exeggutor, and didn't plan to lose now. She leaped again at the Raticate, scratching it again. Because he didn't expect this sudden assault, it couldn't react.

"Raticate, Focus Energy!"

"Nidoran, strike it while you can!"

Encouraged by her trainer's words, the Nidoran stormed at the focusing Raticate and before it was finished, Nidoran pushed some of her poison in the Raticate's body. Finally affected by the poison, his attacks became less precise and even useless.

Shane couldn't believe he was losing from an inexperienced Pokémon and returned his Raticate. "We'll get you!" He said and wanted to turn around, but Aemilia blocked their passage.

"The formula?"

Angry, Shana tossed the formula away. Distracted by this move, Shane took this opportunity to throw a can to the light and broke it. Suddenly, they all stood in the dark

Erika turned on the emergency light. "They had vanished…." She said unbelievable.

Aemilia took the formula from the ground. "But they left the formula behind and that's a good thing."

Erika turned to Chris. "I was very impressed how you fought with Nidoran." She patted it. "Though it hasn't got much experience yet, you've won with it." She took the formula from Aemilia and put it in the safe again. She pushed a button. Chris wondered what she was doing, when she saw Erika was pushing some other numbers. "I changed the code to the safe, so it will be safe again. Come, we have to get your friend."



"Finally, I got out of this dumb!"

"Blade…?" Chris said ironic. "Thank this nice lady for her hospitality."

Angry, Blade turned around. "What do I have to thank Officer Jenny for? Putting me into jail innocent? Now there is a story I've got to tell dad."

"I'm sorry, Blade." Officer Jenny apologised. "I guess you were at the wrong time at the wrong place."

Aemilia put her arm around Blade. "And Blade." She started sarcastically. "What have you learn from all this?"

"I'm never going to buy perfume anymore!" Blade said irritated. "No way!" Though he was irritated about the incident, the ongoing laughter of his companions irritated him more! "Just shut up!" He angry yelled. "You know how small such an irritating room is?"

"I hope it was bigger than your brains…." Chris giggled and Erika and Officer Jenny appreciated the joke too.

"You all can stay in the Celadon Gym." Erika suggested.

Chris accepted the offer. "And tomorrow, I'll hold Articuno!"


To be continued…

Pokémon ABC - Episode 15

Episode 15: Crystal Mountain

By 'Whisper Shadowhunter'/ Kitty Ocean
© Nintendo (their characters) and Kitty Ocean (my characters)

*************************************************************************


Running their lungs out off their bodies, Aemilia and Blade crossed the bridge, following Chris to the rocky hills.

"Chris, wait!" Blade yelled, but Chris didn't stop.

"I have to catch it!" She shouted. "I already wanted such a Pokémon since I was 6!"

Blade stepped in the white snow. "Don't you think you should let it go?" He asked. "It's one of the legendary birds, no one has ever seen one!"

"And that's why I want it!" She turned around. "Don't you get it? If I catch it, it can fly free and stuff like that. If I don't, somebody else will catch him one day and he might not be so nice to him."

Aemilia looked at Blade. "She has a point…." Chris turned around again.

"Now, come on!" She yelled.



They hid behind a rock. Chris gazed at the blue bird. "Articuno…." She whispered. Blade and Aemilia sat down to Chris.

"You really want to catch such a beautiful creature?" Blade asked. Chris nodded. "But how did you planned to catch it?"

Chris took a Poké Ball. "It's an Ice type. And a stronger type is fire." She leaped up. "Charizard, go for it!"

Frightened, the Articuno lifted off and started to fly away. "Don't let it get away Charizard!" Chris yelled and Charizard lifted off too. The Articuno knew what was going on and turned around. He knew he wouldn't get rid this Pokémon, unless he defeated it.

It tried his Ice Beam, but Charizard dove away and used his Flame-thrower. It wasn't fast enough to dodge away and the burst of flames hit the blue bird. "Watch out Charizard! Try not to hurt his feathers. That's why I love him!"

"Euh Chris." Blade said. "If you want to catch it, you have to weaken it. And you can't weaken him if Charizard doesn't fight."

"I know. Okay Charizard, use your Slash… but not too much please." But Charizard didn't plan to go softly at his opponent and hit it with his full strength. After that, he used a fire spin.

The Articuno tried to peck Charizard a few times, but Charizard was stronger. He used another fire spin. Astounded, Chris looked at Charizard who didn't obey for the first time. Weakened, the Articuno fell…

Not waiting another moment, Chris took an empty Poké Ball. "Poké Ball!" She yelled and tossed it away. "Go get it!" She hit the blue creature and it im-materialised. With the burning desire to catch her most wanted Pokémon, she looked to the Poké Ball. Had she captured it?

The red light fated. "Yes!" Chris yelled enthusiastically. "I finally caught an Articuno!" She ran to the Poké Ball and hugged it while Charizard came down.

Suddenly, the Poké Ball began to vanish! "No!" Chris yelled. "Stay Articuno!" She tried to grab the Poké Ball with 2 hands, but it was gone…. "No!" She cried. "Not Articuno!"

"Relax." Blade started. But Chris didn't agree. She grabbed him with all her force.

"Relax?" She burst out. "Relax? I just caught my favourite Pokémon and now it's gone!"

Blade pulled himself lose. "You could have expected that. You know Pokémon trainers are allowed to have only 6 Pokémon. So Articuno is transported to the same place as where the Poké Dex comes from."

Chris looked at Blade if she was a Scyther who had seen something red. It scared Aemilia a bit. "If I want to touch Articuno…." She started. "I have to go all that way back to Raindrop Island?!"

Aemilia bumped in. "Chris, relax. You know you can trade Articuno for another Pokémon, don't you? So all you have to do is finding a Pokémon Centre." She took the map. "The nearest one is in Celadon City."

"Than lets go! What is the nearest way?" Chris impatiently asked. Aemilia looked around.

Suddenly, she pointed at a mountain. "Celadon City lies behind Crystal Mountain. The shortest way is crossing it."

Chris grabbed Aemilia and Blade. "Come on!" She said. "We've got to keep moving!"



"Snow! Snow!" Like a little kid, Blade hugged the white snow. He kissed it, ate it and rolled through it. Chris and Aemilia felt embarrassed. Thank God there was no living creature in the neighbourhood.

"Blade?" Aemilia asked. "Grow up. Haven't you seen snow before?"

Covered with snow, Blade stood up. "I lived my whole life on Raindrop Island. The only snow I've ever seen was on pictures. Let me enjoy this!"

Suddenly, a snowball hit Blade. Angry, he looked at Chris. "You wanted to enjoy it, didn't you?" She asked smiling. "Than you have to enjoy it fully!"

Blade looked at her with a devastating glaze and made his first snowball and hit it to Chris. They had fun if they were little kids, playing in the first snow. They lost track of time and after a while, all three were covered with snow and laughed.

But suddenly, a ray of fire burst through the playing children.

"To protect mankind from devastation."
"To unite everybody within our nation."
"To denounce the evil of friendship and love."

"To extend our reach to the moon above..."

"Shana!"
"And Shane!"
"Team Rocket! Blast off with the brightness of light!"

"We are the best, that's right!"

Shana turned to Shane who tapped some things at a little computer. "Well Shane, what do they suggest?"

Shane looked at the little screen. "Well, we draw their attention, said our yell and now James suggests to use our strongest Pokémon. Jessie suggests threatening first."

"Ah, and what does Meowth suggest?" She asked.

"Nothing special, but whatever we do, not looking at the computer or else they won't take us seriously anymore."

Shana smiled. "That exchanging of experiences was a great idea of you Shane. Well, let's try Jessie's idea first." She turned back to Aemilia, Blade and Chris. "Okay brats, surrender or we'll be though on you!"

Surprised, Chris, Aemilia and Blade didn't know what to do. But quickly they adapt to the situation. "We won't surrender ourselves!" Blade yelled. He turned to Chris. "Was that what you wanted to say?"

Chris beat herself for the head. "Oi." She sighed. "And he thinks he's smart…."

"That didn't work Shana." Shane said. "Now use our strongest Pokémon."

Shana tossed a Poké Ball away. "Growlithe, go!"

"Growlithe!"

Surprised, Aemilia asked: "Where did you get that one from?"

Shana laughed. "Team Rocket has more Pokémon than you can think about! And the best Pokémon for a snowy area is a fire Pokémon! Growlithe, Ember!"

The Pokémon reacted and used his Ember attack. They dove all away. Aemilia reacted immediately and threw a Poké Ball in the middle. "Ninetails, go get him!"

Chris hurried to Aemilia. "Aemilia, you know it won't have much advantage. You'd better choose Starmie."

"Ninetails deserves a shot." Aemilia said. "Alright Ninetails, Quick attack!"

The Ninetails leaped to the Growlithe and used his Quick attack. Before the opponent knew what had hit him, the Ninetails used his powerful attack. The Growlithe was injured.

"Growlithe." Shana started. "Use your Take down Attack!"

The Growlithe obeyed his trainer and leaped to the Ninetails who avoided him and used his flame-thrower. The Growlithe fell unconscious in the snow. Than the Ninetails aimed at Team Rocket ad wanted to use his flame-thrower again. But a loud rumble disturbed the fight. Chris pointed at the origin of the sound. "Look out, an avalanche!"

Running for their lives, Aemilia, Blade Chris and the Ninetails ran away from the falling snow. They didn't care anymore about Team Rocket. Without looking where they were running, they finally got out of the reach of the avalanche. Catching their breath, they looked at the falling snow that wiped away the previous path they had taken. They looked around and the only path they saw was a large and dark cave.

"I'm not going to enter that!" Chris said.

"What are you?" Blade asked. "Afraid? Of what?" Laughing he walked into the cave, but a few seconds later he came out running again! "There is a horrible creature in there! I saw it! It was big and…."

A little brown creature came walking out of the cave. "Diglett…." Was the only thing it said. Chris and Aemilia laughed at Blade who turned red. Chris turned around and looked at the white rock.

"We could climb this wall." She suggested. "But than we still might not know where we are. We've gone away from the path." She grabbed the wall and started to climb.

Aemilia returned Ninetails and changed into a Venomoth and flew to the top. After that she changed back and looked around her. She took the map and started comparing the area.

In the mean while, Chris and Blade climbed the wall. Blade was pissed off because he had to climb the wall while Aemilia was already at the top. Chris didn't listen to Blade's complains and reached the top without any problems. "You recognise the area?" She asked. Aemilia shook her head.

"Nope." She said. "I guess we are lost."

Blade finally reached the top and looked around him. White walls surrounded them. "Don't tell me we have to climb again…." He sighed.

Aemilia and Chris didn't react and started to climb again. Knowing the top of Crystal Mountain was a lot colder, they had to go, because they didn't had another choice. Aemilia's way was always a lot easier and she helped Chris and Blade a lot of times. Exhausted, they finally reached a plateau. In a far way distance, they could see a little forest… and Celadon City!

Cheering, they ran over the fresh snow towards the far away city.



White snowflakes crushed themselves against the youngster's faces. Irritated and cold, Aemilia, Chris and Blade walked through the storm.

"It really figures!" Blade complained. "Finally, we found the road again and some stupid snowstorm blinds us again."

Chris tried to keep herself warm and took her sleeping bag out of her backpack. "Stop complaining Blade." She said annoyed. She suddenly looked around her. "He, wait a minute. Where is everybody?" Looking trough the snow, she couldn't see her companions any more. "Aemilia? Blade?"

"I'm here." Aemilia yelled and walked to Chris. Suddenly, Blade appeared too.

"We can't walk further this way." Chris sighed. "We'll lose each other too fast now. Aemilia, go in your Poké Ball!"

"What? But I don't want to…"

"Aemilia, go!" Blade yelled above the howling wind. "It's warm and safe in there and if we're in a smaller group we can't lose each other."

Doubting another minute, Chris suddenly said. "Blade is right Aemilia. Just go, we'll live. Don't worry about us."

"Us? We?" Blade said with tears in his eyes. "Chris, you are…?"

"Don't push your luck." Chris said. Aemilia returned in the Poké Ball necklace from Chris. Chris grabbed Blade's arm and started to walk. "Okay." She started. "Now we have to find a place for shelter."

Blade walked and suddenly vanished. He hadn't seen the edge of the cliff he was standing on. "Blade?" Chris yelled. "You are all right?" But no answer came and Chris decided the only thing she could do was leaping after him.

She landed softly and saw the snowstorm wasn't very hard at this hot spring. "Blade?" She asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm no carpet, am I?" She heard an annoyed voice say.

Shocked, she jumped off Blade. "Sorry Blade." She mumbled. "Thank God you couldn't harm something important. Thank God you haven't got a brain you could hurt. But it's nice and warm here. We'd better stay here until the storm clears."

Blade agreed and stood up. He also looked around him. "Guess you're right. What shall we do in the mean while? Swimming?"

"No, if the storm ends we can go further." She said. "And if we're used to the warm water the air around us will be too cold. Want some soup? I could use the warm water to make some soup." Blade nodded. He gave her his coup.

Chris filled both coups with warm water and dissolved some soup in it. She handed over the coup and sat down next to Blade. A moment of silence followed.

"You said to Aemilia we'd be fine." He broke the silence. "You always said YOU'D be fine. Why?"

Chris sighed. "I guess I can't get rid of you, so I'd better get used to you. But don't push your luck." She closed her eyes. Blade slapped her. "He!" She yelled. "What was that for!"

"Don't fall asleep, or it might be your last nap!"

Chris leaped up. "I'll decide or I'll go to sleep or not!" Blade leaped up too.

"You'll get yourself killed this way!"

"Than that's my decision!" She looked at Blade.

Blade knew Chris wanted to fight. That's fine with me, he thought, that way she'll stay awake. But he suddenly remembered her strength. Her kicks were as hard as a Hitmonlee and her fists could hurt as much as a Hitmonchan. She'll better thank me for this one day, he thought again. "You can't even think for yourself!"

Chris wanted to slap Blade, but he dodged away. He turned around her, but Chris turned too and leaped at him, making them fall in the water. "Look what you've done!" She yelled at Blade.

"This is the only way to stay awake for you." Blade said. "You'll thank me for it one day."

"Than that's will be the day I'm very sick!" She touched her necklace to be sure Aemilia was still there. "My Moonstone!" She suddenly yelled. "It's gone!"

Chris dove underwater but came after a few minutes at the surface again. "You've got it?" Blade asked, but Chris was already under. Guess not, he thought and dove under too.

"It's gone!" Chris cried. "I can't see a thing trough this water."

Blade reached the surface too. "Why don't you ask Wartortle too look for it?" He suggested.

Chris climbed out of the water and protected herself for the cold snowy breeze. She took her backpack and looked for Wartortle. Blade came out too and took Chris' sleeping bag and put it around her. "Thank you…." She said and took a Poké Ball. "Wartortle, go for it!"

"Wartortle!"

"Wartortle, my moonstone must be at the bottom of this spring." She said. "Please, get it back for me."

"Wartortle." It replied and dove under.

Waiting for minutes, Chris closed her sleeping bag closer around her, trying not to get it cold. Blade had done the same and looked at Chris who hopefully looked at the surface. No wrinkle came. "Don't worry." He encouraged. "Wartortle will find it."

Suddenly, the wind began to blow harder. They couldn't see anything anymore. Blade took a Poké Ball. "Lapras! Come on out!" The Lapras came out. "Lapras, protect us with your ice-beam. Make an ice-dome!"

The Lapras obeyed and created an ice-dome around Chris and Blade. They had no problems with the cold wind anymore. "Where is Wartortle?" Chris asked concerned. "I'd better check it out!"

Blade grabbed her arm. "No, you'd better stay here. I'll ask Lapras and Staryu to help looking." He released Staryu and sent his Pokémon into the water. Chris sat down and sighed deep. "What's the problem anyway?"

Chris looked at him. "It just means a big deal to me." She said. "I already had it before I had found Aemilia. Wartortle and I were very close back then. He discovered everything. And how did I thank him? After I found Aemilia I only let him out to fight. After all he had done for me, I never thanked him properly. I let him down."

"But he never let you down." Blade said. "So that means he still thinks you are a great trainer."

Chris wanted to react, but she didn't know what to say. She looked at Blade, softly smiling. She looked in his eyes. And Blade looked back again. He removed a few hairs out of her face. He wanted to say something, but he also didn't know what to say.

Suddenly, the surface began to move and Chris leaped up. She crossed her fingers.

"Wartortle!" It proudly yelled and holt the necklace high.

"Wartortle, you found it!" She leaped on the back of Lapras and hugged it with all her strength. "You are the best!" She turned around and hugged Staryu and Lapras too. "Thanks for looking too."

Lapras dropped Chris at the side of the spring and Blade returned Lapras and Staryu, after he complimented them. Chris gave Wartortle a Pokémon treat and after he had eaten it she returned it with the words: "Thank you so much Wartortle. But it's better to stay inside your Poké Ball. Don't think I only let you out for looking." The Wartortle understood the situation and returned without any problems.



"What are you doing?" Blade asked.

Chris had pushed herself against the icy-wall, freezing her ear. "I'm trying to hear if the storm is over." She answered annoyed. "But I can't hear a thing!"

Suddenly, rays of light blind them. Protecting their eyes, they carefully looked at the melting dome. "Is that satisfaction enough?" Blade asked. Chris smiled. She packed her sleeping bag again and looked again at Blade who had done the same.

Blade kicked against the ice-wall, until it broke. Enjoying the air, they walked out of the dome. Suddenly, Chris' Poké Ball necklace began to shake and Aemilia came out.

"Is the storm over yet?" She asked. Chris said nothing and pointed at the upcoming sun. "How beautiful…" She sighed.

Blade interrupted the silence. "We'd better get going. I don't know where Celadon City lies. We have to look for it again."

Chris walked to the edge of a cliff. "I don't think so Blade." She said smiling.

"Why?" Blade asked.

Aemilia walked to Chris and looked in the direction Chris was looking. "Celadon City…." She whispered.

Blade walked to them too. He looked at the busy city. "We found it…." He whispered. "Just a few more kilometres…"



To be continued…

Pokémon ABC - Special 01 (Episode 14.5)

Special 01: Who's the best?

By 'Whisper Shadowhunter'/ Kitty Ocean
© Nintendo (their characters) and Kitty Ocean (my characters)

*************************************************************************

After they had waved Misty, Ash and Tracy goodbye, Aemilia, Blade and Chris walked through the streets of Hydron Town. Chris felt a bit depressed because she had to say goodbye to Togepi, and Blade felt sad because he never got the chance to hold Pikachu.

Chris thought deeply. "I wonder if Ash could have beaten me if we would have fought." She said.

"Of course." Blade said. "He got to the Pokémon League and ended with the 16 best trainers.

Chris smiled. "Dream on." She replied. "If Aemilia would have fought for me he could never win."

They walked into the Pokémon Centre where they would spend the night. Blade laughed. "Even I can beat you."

"Yeah right!" Chris giggled. "I had my own gym and was undefeated."

"But you never fought against me!"

"You're telling me that you think you can defeat me?" Chris exclaimed. "I've got 8 League badges and you've got none!"

Blade smiled vainglorious. "They probably gave you those."

Chris turned as red as her hair. "I fought really hard for those badges!"

Suddenly, Nurse Joy bumped in. "Why don't you take the Exam? Then you know who is better."

"An exam?" Aemilia asked. "What kind of an exam?"

"It's the Pokémon League Exam." Nurse Joy explained. "Their building is not far away from here. If you pass that exam, you can go to the Pokémon League without travelling."

Chris thought. "Like the Pokémon Tec?"

"Yes, but it takes less time." Nurse Joy continued. "My sister-in-law took it and passed."

Blade smiled. "As the best Pokémon Observer I'll beat you with my eyes closed."

"As the Ocean Gym leader and holder of 8 badges I'll kick your butt!"

Aemilia stepped forward. "Let me be the smart one and ask where it is, okay, so we can go tomorrow."

The next day they stood up early in the morning. Waving Nurse Joy and Chansey goodbye, they walked in the direction Nurse Joy had told them to go. Chris thought the Exam must be really easy, if a Nurse Joy had passed it.

Blade thought the same. I'll prove her I'm good, he also thought. Aemilia was the only one who thought: what a waste of our time. She already has 8 League badges and 4 Orange League badges and she had never done anything with those. If she passes, she'll gets another badge to enter the League. Woepie.

In the dew of the morning, a large building showed himself. Impressed by the size of this building, they walked to the doors. When they slowly opened, they saw a huge crowd at the reception.

When they were finally helped, the man asked their names. Both giving them, they man handed Blade number 27 over. "Don't you have number 13 for me? I love number 13." Chris asked.

"Of course." The man answered. "You're the first one who asks for it. Nobody likes that number; they think it will only cause bad luck." He took 2 little cases. "Please give me your Poké Balls."

"Why?" Aemilia asked.

The man smiled. "We hear that very often. You aren't allowed to use your own Pokémon in any way."

"May I look after them, then?" Aemilia asked. "It's not that we don't trust you, but we don't trust some other people who are always following us. They may be here."

The man friendly nodded. "Ha, I'll beat you Chris!" Blade said confident and proudly.

" You just wait!" Chris smiled. "I'll be the best of the class!"

"I think we have 2 people here who'll really do their best." The man said. "We need those people here. Your first exam will be in the D-wing. It's a theory round, just like the second exam."

Chris swallowed 2 times. "Theory? I stink in theory!"

"Don't you worry." The man answered. "I think you will do just fine. Anyway, the third exam is fighting and counts as hard as the first 2 exams together. I'm taking that exam, so why don't you walk along?"

Chris and Blade nodded and Aemilia decided to sit in the visitor's lodge and watch. She crossed her fingers for Chris as well as Blade. She hoped both would pass it.

Blade and Chris followed the teacher to the class. When they arrived, the teacher told them to take place behind a computer. Chris sat down and looked at the screen. 'Please fill in your number', the screen said.

Blade typed his number and a new screen popped up. Next to his picture, he saw his name. The screen asked if it was correctly and Blade typed 'yes'. The next screen was the welcome screen of the Exam.

"Welcome at the Pokémon League Examinations." The teacher started. "The first exam is telling if the statement your computer tells you is true."

Blade smiled. He knew a lot about Pokémon, and he knew Chris didn't. She may be a great fighter, but she doesn't know a thing about Pokémon.

'Gyarados is a flying type' was the first question.

That's easy, Chris thought, of course not! He's a water type Pokémon. If the rest of the test is like this, it will be so easy.

Tricky, Blade thought, Gyarados is a flying type also. Everybody thinks he's a water Pokémon, but he's also a flying Pokémon.

'A Ninetales can be turned into a Vulpix with a fire-stone.'

Of course not, Chris thought, a Vulpix turns into a Ninetales. Blade thought the same.

'Voltorb evolves into Electrode.'

Chris doubted. She always was confused about them. That's false, she guessed. She looked at Blade. He quickly pushed 'True'. He didn't doubt; damn, I've got it wrong.

'A Pinsir is a bug Pokémon.'

Chris closed her eyes and pushed a button. When she looked again, she saw she had hid the 'Wrong' button. Never mind, how terrible can it be if I've got 2 questions wrong?

Blade looked at Chris and saw she quickly looked back at her screen. She's having a hard time, he thought. Never mind, she'll pass it, only I'll pass it very easily.

'A Fearow is the evolved form from Spearow.'

Chris pushed the 'True' button. Finally, she thought, something I did know. Please, let the rest of the test be like this. She crossed her fingers and waited for the next screen

'Poliwrath is a fighting type.'

Chris sighed. Thank God, she thought, I know this one. She pushed the 'True' button again.

Blade sat back on his chair and pushed 'True' and 'Wrong' without hesitating. This is so easy. Of course a Vaporeon is a water type and a Jolteon isn't a fire type. Jeez, who made up these questions?

'A Slowbro is not a water type.'

Blade pushed 'Wrong' again. A Slowbro is as well as a psychic as a water type. He looked at Chris again and saw she was pushing 'Wrong' also. Ha, that was an easy one, he thought, if you had that one wrong you can forget it.

Sighing because she finally had answered the final question, she looked at Blade. This exam wasn't easy. Would Blade think the same? She looked then at Aemilia and saw she was waving. Waving a bit back, she listened to the teacher.

The next exam was identifying Pokémon. Chris hoped with all her hart that it would be a lot easier. The first screen that appeared was a black ball.

Why does it remind me of a Jigglypuff, Chris thought, it can't be one. She looked to her screen and filled in Voltorb. She turned to Blade. What would he fill in?

Blade sighed. There were 2 Pokémon as round as a ball; Voltorb and Electrode. He closed his eyes and thought deeply. I'll choose an Electrode.

"I've got all your answers." The teacher said and pushed a button. A new screen appeared and showed a Jigglypuff from above!

Chris cursed herself. Next time, she thought, I'll follow my feelings. She looked at the next screen. She gazed at it. It was a huge curl. It reminded her of the looks of her defeated opponents in the Ocean Gym, and she smiled. But what Pokémon could it be? Poliwag, Poliwhirl or Poliwrath? She thought deeply.

Blade typed his answer: Poliwhirl. He waited a few minutes, but then asked himself why the teacher didn't give the answer.

"Number 13." The teacher started. "Are you planning to answer today?"

"I'm thinking!" Chris yelled. She tried to remember her Pokémon. Okay, she started, Poliwag's curl spins the other way. And Poliwrath's curl is a bit different. But it might be a Poliwrath that is taken from another angle. She thought deeply, and then answered Poliwhirl.

"Thank you number 13." The teacher replied. "It's a Poliwhirl!"

"All right!" Chris cheered. All students looked at her. "Sorry." She mumbled embarrassed.

A flame filled the next screen. Blade hesitated. He had 3 options: Ponyta, Charmender and Charmeleon. With a huge sigh, he chose for a Charmender.

But this time Chris didn't hesitated. She immediately chose for Ponyta. Since Ponyta was constantly around them, she would be really stupid if she wouldn't recognise its tale.

The picture of Ponyta confirmed Chris' thoughts. She smiled. Would Blade have known this one? From the 3 questions she had 2 of them right!

Blade saw Chris was getting confident. We've only had 3 questions yet, he thought, and the easy ones always come first. He looked at the next screen. He saw something purple. What could that be? It could be a baby Kangaskhan.

Chris for Tentacruel, because she liked it. She really didn't know what it could be. She wasn't shocked at all when she saw the answer: an Aerodactyl.

But Blade disagreed. "Hey, that's not fair!" He yelled. "Aerodactyl is extinct, how could we ever know that and what's the use of identifying a dead Pokémon?"

"Number 27, some people claim they have seen an Aerodactyl and someone even managed to take his picture. It seems to me he's not extinct."

Blade sat down. "Oh, in that case, never mind." Chris giggled. "Shut up." Blade whispered through his teeth.



After the second exam, they had a little break. All could see what their results were. Blade smiled vainglorious when he saw he was with the best 10 students.

Chris looked disappointed. She hoped she would have done better when she saw she belonged to the last 20. Thank God I'm not the worst, she sighed. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around, she saw Aemilia.

"Don't worry, you'll do the 3rd exam better." She comforted.

Blade smiled and put his arm around Chris. "I told you I would do better." He said beaming with geniality. "I'm no longer a Pokémon Observer, I'm a Pokémon Expert!"

"We'll see." They heard. They saw the teacher standing behind them. "The third exam is outside. You have to battle with me."

Chris smiled. "Ha!" She said. "This will be a lot easier for me!" She followed the teacher to a stand. He showed them some belts with 3 Poké Balls. "Eh, what's this?"

"You have to choose a belt." The teacher explained. "Even I don't know what's inside. But this way, you can prove you can fight with every Pokémon."

Chris and Blade nodded and took a belt. Blade was the first who would begin. Chris sat on the side and waited for her turn. She wondered if Blade was so good as he claimed to be.

"Poké Ball, go!" Blade yelled and released a Pokémon.

"Grimer!"

Aemilia giggled. "Look Chris, Blade released a Pokémon that looks just like him!"

Blade didn't laugh along and gazed at the Pokémon his opponent released. This Pikachu looked very tough. He sighed, why hadn't he chose for that belt? He knew everything about Pikachu and nothing about Grimer!

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock!"

"Grimer… euh… do something!"

But the Grimer didn't move. I've got to order him something. He closed his eyes while the Pikachu released a Thunder Shock. The Grimer was very affected, but not finished already.

"Grimer, Poison Gas!"

Proud because he knew an attack of Grimer, he looked at the Grimer who tried to fill the air with his poisonous gas. But the Pikachu was ordered to use his Thunder Wave and when the gas was gone, Blade had to return Grimer. He took another Poké Ball and threw it to the field.

"Geodude…."

Blade almost cried. "Why don't I have Pokémon I can handle?" He cried.

Poor Blade, Chris thought, I just hope the teacher doesn't have a water type.

"Kingler!"

Chris slapped herself upside her head. "Blade can forget it." She sighed and Aemilia agreed.

"Kingler, Bubble!"

"Geodude, counter attack!" Blade yelled and saw how Geodude tried to avoid the bubbles.

The teacher smiled. "Okay Kingler, Crab Hammer!"

"Geodude, earthquake!"

Chris and Aemilia were surprised, as well as the teacher, when he saw that Geodude knocked Kingler unconscious with an Earthquake attack.

"How did you knew Geodude was at such a high level and didn't evolve?" The teacher wondered.

Blade smiled. "That's easy for a Pokémon Observer."

"Mm, I'll give you 2 bonus-points for that." The teacher said. He returned his Pokémon and took his third Poké Ball.

While the teacher released a Venusaur, Blade released a Charizard. Blade smiled inside. Fire Pokémon are stronger than grass Pokémon.

Chris sighed. I guess he'll win this, she thought. Maybe he IS better than I am. She looked at Aemilia. A bit afraid she thought about her coming match. She only trained the Pokémon she could use in a match and she fought so often with Aemilia….

"Charizard, flame thrower!" Blade yelled.

But the teacher wasn't impressed. "Okay Venusaur, Solar beam!"

"Charizard, counter attack!"

He's yelling things, Chris thought, he doesn't have a real strategy. He's just repeating me.

All gazed at the Charizard who lay on the ground, unconscious. Blade couldn't believe it, how could a fire Pokémon lose from a grass Pokémon?

"You lost number 27." The teacher said. "Better luck next time." He took another belt of Poké Balls. "Okay, number 13 is next."

With led in her shoes, Chris walked to the field. Aemilia had wished her luck and Chris felt she really needed that. She looked at the Rhydon her teacher had released. A rock type, she thought, great. I want my Wartortle. She took her Poké Ball.

Suddenly, she took it back. Not knowing why, she felt she needed the middle one. "Poké Ball, go for it!"

"Golduck!"

Chris' eyes began to glow! A water type and it was a Golduck too! She never had a Golduck, but she knew its attacks! She wished she could take him along after the match.

"Rhydon, Take Down!"

Chris thought shortly, but then yelled at her Golduck: "Golduck, Fury Swipes!"

The Golduck leaped the Rhydon, but the Rhydon could avoid the attack. Not to worry, Chris thought, that wasn't its strongest attack yet.

"Rhydon, Tackle him!" The teacher yelled.

What attack shall I use, Chris thought. "Okay Golduck, Confusion!"

The Golduck reacted instantly and its eyes began to glow. The attack affected the Rhydon really, but wasn't defeated yet. Chris felt enthusiasm burning inside her when she yelled: "Golduck, Hydro Beam!"

"Golduck!"

The Hydro Beam of the Golduck defeated the Rhydon. Chris cheered, danced and hugged the Golduck. "Way to go Golduck!"

"Nice technique." The teacher complimented. "You may be not so good in theory, but your certainly better in fighting."

"I'd better be, or all my life was a big dream." Chris replied and took another Poké Ball.

The teacher released a Flareon and Chris released a Raticate. "Raticate?" Chris sighed, but then she smiled. She had experiences with a Raticate, she only hoped she knew enough to defeat a fire Pokémon.

"Ha." Blade said. "Chris will lose this."

"Flareon, flame-thrower!"

Chris took a deep breath when she shouted: "Raticate, quick attack!"

The Flareon released a ray of fire, but the Raticate could dodge away. Chris sighed. This time, the Raticate was fast enough. The Quick Attack of Raticate hit Flareon and the Flareon got knocked away, but landed on its feet.

"Nice Flareon, now use your fire spin!"

Obeying again, the Flareon hit the Raticate. Chris swallowed, she was losing this! "Raticate." She tried as her last effort, knowing she would lose. "Try your Super fang."

"Raticate!"

Surprised, the Flareon got knocked away. Not only he was surprised, but also Chris was surprised as well as her teacher. "I won?" She gazed. "How could I have won?"

A silence fell over the field. Everybody became silent as they saw the teacher returning Flareon. "You're good." The teacher complimented. "You won from a fire-type with a weakened normal type. That hasn't happened before. You get 5 bonus points."

I've got bonus points, Chris cheered inside, I've got also bonus points and more than Blade has. Confident, she took her last Poké Ball. She had already won her match, but she wanted more points. "Poké Ball, go for it!"

"Poké Ball, now!" The teacher yelled and released a Charmeleon.

Chris released an Ivysaur. She hoped that this fight would go like the others, but her teacher was in advantage this time again.

"Charmeleon, Ember!"

"Ivysaur, counter attack!"

The Charmeleon used his Ember attack, but the Ivysaur managed to avoid it. He's slow, Chris thought, he's not only the wrong type; Ivysaur is also very slow! "Ivysaur, Poison Powder!"

"Come on Chris!" Blade and Aemilia cheered. "We know you can do it!"

Okay, Chris thought, I'm going for the victory: 3 of 3. She looked at the Poison Powder the Ivysaur released, but the Charmeleon just burned it. Chris balled her fists.

"Charmeleon." The teacher started. "Slash him!"

The Charmeleon reacted to fast for Chris to react. She saw how her Pokémon got knocked away. Don't give up, she thought. "Ivysaur, use your Razor Leaf!"

Obeying his temporary trainer, it used his Razor Leaf, but the Charmeleon blew them away with one breath of fire. Confident, it looked at Chris, but he hadn't noticed Chris had already ordered that the Ivysaur should use his Vine Whip again.

The vines hit him hard and weakened him a lot. It tried to defeat the Ivysaur with his Ember attack again, but Chris saw it coming.

"Ivysaur, Razor Leaf again!"

She smiled. She was winning! She saw the Razor Leaves hitting the Charmeleon and it got really injured. Suddenly, she felt if she got hit by the lightning. What in hell had happened to her? "Ivysaur, stop it!"

"Why are you stopping?" The teacher asked. "You were about to win."

Chris returned Ivysaur. "I don't want to do this." She said. "I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this because I wanted to prove I'm better than Blade. That's unfair against the Pokémon in my opinion. I had already won this match, so why should I hurt Charmeleon more than necessary? All can see it can't fight anymore."

Blade and Aemilia felt proud and embarrassed at once. Blade found that Chris was right. Why were they doing this anyway; what was the use? Why should they care who was the best?



Before they decided to leave, they looked at the Scoreboard, wondering what they both had. Blade looked somewhere at the end, along with Chris. Chris knew she couldn't be at the top 20 because of the failure in the 1st and the 2nd exam. Blade knew he screwed his 3rd exam and that counted as hard as the 1st and 2nd together.

But they didn't found themselves anywhere on the board, until Aemilia tapped on their shoulders. "Look there." She said and pointed at the top of the board. 'Special Students' it said and next to it were the pictures of Blade and Chris.

"But how…?" Chris asked.

"You both learned a lot today." They heard and looked at the teacher. "Both ended on the 13th place, so you passed. Together you would be a perfect team. Blade knew a lot about Pokémon, but noting about Pokémon fighting. And Chris, though you knew little about Pokémon, I was impressed how you managed to win twice with a Pokémon with a disadvantaged element. Well done."

Aemilia smiled. "They are a perfect team eh?" She giggled. "The first step is liking each other and that is already hard enough for them…."


To be continued…

Pokémon ABC - Episode 14

Episode 14: Day of the Pokémon


By 'Whisper Shadowhunter'/ Kitty Ocean
© Nintendo (their characters) and Kitty Ocean (my characters)

*************************************************************************



"He Chris, wait up!" Blade hurried to Chris and Aemilia. "Why couldn't you wait for one minute?"

"Now listen to me you… you…." Aemilia looked to Chris and held back. "Look, if you can't tie your shoes properly, than I don't care. Aemilia and I have better things to do."

Annoyed, Chris walked further and Aemilia followed her. Though Aemilia disliked the way Chris treated Blade, she felt she was right too. The only thing Blade had done for the past few days was slowing them down. First, you had the Gloom he just had to touch. Though Chris warned him, he thought a Gloom would feel comfortable with him and he wouldn't smell bad. Result: Blade had to wash himself for 5 hours and the smell still stayed.

Than you had that incident with an Exeggutor. He wanted his Ekans to fight with it so it could gather experience. But it was too strong and Chris used Nidoran to save him. Nidoran had a great exercise this way anyway. Blade asked Chris why she took her along, because this Nidoran hadn't any experience yet. And that was just the point: to gather experience.

Suddenly, Aemilia pointed to the end of the road. "Look, a city. Which one should it be?" Chris took her map.

"According to this map, it's Hydron Town." She answered. "Why does that name ring a bell?"

Blade stepped beside Chris. "You are so stupid, ya know? Hydron Town is chosen to be one of the Pokémon Cities this year for Pokémon Day. A lot of trainers will go to these chosen cities so they can treat their Pokémon. Jeez, and you call yourself a Pokémon trainer?"

Chris didn't answer, but just pushed her fist in his face. "Well…." She continued nicely. "I guess we have to stop there than. After all, it's Pokémon Day and all Pokémon deserve a day off. You want to go too Aemilia?"

"Yes, I would love to!" Aemilia exclaimed.

"Than it's settled. We'll pause in Hydron City."

"Hydron Town…." Blade only mumbled.


It was very busy in Hydron Town. All three gazed out of their eyes, hoping they wouldn't miss a thing of this event. You could buy everything there. Dolls of a Dratini, or treats for your Pokémon. Chris found it marvellous, Aemilia was very exited and Blade didn't know how fast he had to find a Pikachu stand.

"Look! Look!" He yelled like a little kid. "They got all Pikachu Dolls here!"

"So?" Chris asked uninterested. "He, look, over there!"

Aemilia looked, and saw nothing special. But Blade had seen what Chris had pointed and ran to the kid. "Wow, you've got a Pikachu!" He wanted to touch it, but the boy pulled his Pikachu away.

"You'd better watch out, Pikachu, doesn't like strangers." The boy said.

"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" Chris asked. "It's little Ash Ketchum. What are you doing here?"

Ash looked to Chris and didn't recognise her at first. "Who are you and do I know you?"

Chris smiled. "Let me give you a hint. I'm related to the guy who has the greatest arrogance in the world."

"Do you mean Blade or…?" Aemilia wanted to ask, but Chris wanted not to say her that. But suddenly, Ash began to smile.

"He, now I remember you!" He said. "You're Christina!"

"You know each other?" The girl who was with him asked.

Ash smiled. "Know her? She is the cousin of Gary. She comes from Pallet Town too!"

"Togeprii!" The little Pokémon in the girl's arms said. Chris walked to it.

"What's that for a Pokémon?" She asked. "He's so cute!"

The girl's Pokémon seemed to laugh while Chris touched it. "This is Togepy. And you're right, he is adorable. I'm Misty." She shook hands with Chris.

Suddenly, Blade bumped in. "Wow, you seem as mysterious as the mist itself…. Who gave you such a beautiful name; it fits this beautiful woman."

Ash didn't know what to say, but finally, after Togepy had filled the air with his happy laughter again, he finally could say a word. "Euh, where did you dug up this guy? He finds Misty beautiful…"

"Is that impossible than?" Misty suddenly yelled. "It seems man with good taste are rare at this world."

"He Ash, look what I bought!" A young boy came running to Ash and Misty. "A new drawing book!"

Chris, Aemilia and Blade curiously looked at them. "Chris, this is Tracy. He travels along with us too."

"Hi." Chris said and shook his hand. "I'm Chris. This is Aemilia and that slimy Grimer is Blade. He doesn't belong with us; he just followed us. So, what are you doing here? I heard from Gary you were at the Orange Islands, so what are you doing on the main land?"

Ash started to beam with geniality. "Ha, we've won a contest and directly got flown to Hydron Town to spend a day here at Pokémon Day. Where are you from, we haven't seen each other for years."

"I spend a few years at Raindrop Island until Gary came. Now I'm on my way to go home."

"Raindrop Island?" Tracy suddenly asked. "I heard about that island. Some people claim the Ocean Gym lays hidden there."

Blade suddenly leaped up from adoring Misty. "Are you kidding? Chris here is the…."

"That's nice Blade, what part of 'hidden' was unclear to you?" Chris asked after she gave him a great kick in his face.

"I never heard of the Ocean Gym." Ash said. "What kind of gym is it?"

Misty became as red as her hair and together with Tracy she grabbed Ash. "You're telling us you never heard of the Ocean Gym?" They yelled.

"Pi! Pikachu!" Pikachu yelled in the hope they became less furious. Ash felt shameful and Misty continued.

"Every water Pokémon trainer has heard of the secret Ocean Gym." She started. "It's a legend. Only the best trainers are invited to battle there."

"Well." Ash started. "If that's so… than after we flown back to the Orange Islands after tonight we'll look for it."

Chris shook her head. "If you ever manage to find it, you will not be invited." She said. "It's hidden and temporarily closed. But Misty, do you really mean it that's famous?" Misty nodded. "But it's only open for 2 years now. It can't be that famous."

Misty and Tracy shook their heads. "People say the Gym Leader is undefeated! I would really love to meet that guy Moonshadow." Tracy said.

"But Chris here…." Blade tried to say, but this time Aemilia punched his face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Blade, did I do that?" She asked innocently. Chris giggled.

She looked back to Ash, Misty and Tracy again. "Sorry, but don't pay attention to Blade. He's kind of an idiot who doesn't know the difference between a secret and a tabloid!" Angry she looked at the murmuring Blade. "Well, Ash, I heard you made it to the Pokémon League and that you came until the 5th round. Good job." Ash looked proudly. "But I also heard from Gary HOW you lost it. Why did you ever choose a Pokémon that didn't obey you?"

"That's what I wondered too." Misty said giggling and Togepy laughed along, not knowing why.

Pikachu jumped on Ash shoulder. "Pika! Chu! Pi! Pi!" Aemilia stepped to Pikachu.

"You've got quite a friend here Ash." She started. "It's taking your side. It said you didn't have any choice." She smiled and patted the Pikachu.

All surprised by Aemilia's translation and the patting without getting shocked, Ash looked to Aemilia and than to Chris. He just gazed at the girl. Chris smiled. "I see you are confused." Chris said. "But I'll tell you when you are ready for the shock."

Suddenly, they heard an unknown sound. Ash smiled. "I guess I'm a bit hungry. He, why don't we have a little picnic together? All Pokémon invited."

"Ash, how did you planned to pay that?" Misty asked. Ash didn't know what to answer. Chris bumped in.

"Let's all pay together. Pokémon food is free today."

Blade suddenly turned around. "Just wait here, be right back!" He yelled and ran away.

"Quick!" Chris whispered. "Now we can dump that guy!" Aemilia used her angry face again. "Just kidding."



After a while they had found a spot with a great view at the lake. They sat down and all released their Pokémon. Ash released a Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Lapras, Charizard and a Kingler. Tracy released a Venonat and a strange blue mouse.

"He." Chris said to Misty. "You got a Psyduck?"

Misty looked at the little yellow duck. "Yeah, but it sometimes gives ME a headache. Ash, do you think it was wise to let Charizard come out too?"

"I know he doesn't deserves it, but it is Pokémon Day. Don't you agree Pikachu?" It responded happily. Chris and Aemilia took their Poké Balls and released their Pokémon. "He, you got also a Bulbasaur and a Charizard." He said surprisingly.

"And a Psyduck and a Starmie." Misty added. "Wow, does Charizard obey you?"

Chris nodded. "Don't ask me why it listens, it just does." She answered. "I see we have a lot of the same Pokémon. I hope they can get along."

While they sat down, the Pokémon got to know each other. They seemed to get along quite fine. But than Blade released his Pokémon. Not warned, Ash, Misty and Tracy leaped back, followed by their Pokémon. Only Psyduck stayed at his place.

"Jiggly?"

"Don't worry, Jigglypuff is okay ya know?" Blade said quickly. Chris looked at the other Pokémon. Lapras seemed fine and Staryu looked all right too. They sat down again. Blade ordered Jigglypuff not to sing and Tracy took his drawing book.

"Wow, I never got the chance to draw a real Jigglypuff!" He yelled enthusiastically and started drawing right away.

Quickly, they began to eat. They all enjoyed the food, Pokémon and human. Though Ash found it weird Aemilia ate Pokémon food, he didn't say it. He felt a burning suspicion coming up.

"That was delicious." Misty said and stretched herself.

"Psy?"

Misty looked at the 2 Psyduck. "Oi, they are giving me a headache with their stupid looks." Than she turned to Chris. "He Chris, did you know my Psyduck played in the movie 'Pokémon in love'?"

"Was that your Psyduck?" Chris asked surprised. "Than he's a great actor. I watched that movie 4 times. Wait a minute, now I know what I saw! I saw Togepy! I already wondered what it was."

Ash leaped up. "Pikachu played in that movie too you know?"

"Sit down Ash, you are only embarrassing yourself!" Misty said and pulled him down.

All seemed to be finished with their lunch, but suddenly, Blade took a little bag. "I bought desert for us all. I know it's not much, but the apples taste good this time of year!"

"You paid with your dad's credit card eh?" Chris asked sarcastically. Blade didn't react but only looked annoyed to Chris.

He took some apples and threw them to the Pokémon who happily started to eat from it. Misty took a little knife and cut little pieces for Togepy. Than Blade threw some apples to the others. All caught them, but Ash lost his balance and fell in the lake. Chris and Aemilia laughed and Misty and Tracy felt embarrassed. Ash himself could laugh about it.

Suddenly, the bushes started to move. Curious, they all looked. At the same time, a big balloon in the shape of a Meowth landed. While a purple haired woman with a black haired man jumped out of the bushes, a red haired woman and a blue haired man jumped with a Meowth out of the balloon. They seemed shocked to see each other.

"Jessie? James?" Shana asked. "What are you doing here?"

"He Jessie." James answered. "It Shana and Shane."

"I thought you were assigned to the Orange Islands?" Jessie asked

Surprised by Team Rocket, the children looked at the 4 adults. Within a flash, all turned to them.

"It doesn't matter what you are doing here." Jessie said. "We have a Pikachu to catch. To protect the world from devastation…."

"No, no!" Shana interrupted. "It's to protect mankind for devastation."

"It's not!" Jessie yelled.

"It is!" Shane added.

Fighting about which yell was the good one, the others sighed. "Are they also following you every day?" Aemilia asked. Misty nodded.

"But you get used to it." Ash said.

"I know what you mean." Chris said. "They don't surprise us anymore. We are only surprised when the DON'T show up." She turned around. "Come on, let's see what's happening in Hydron Town."

They walked away, leaving the fighting Team Rocket behind. When they were out of reach James suddenly noticed: "He Jessie, they left."

"What?" The other 3 yelled.

Jessie became very angry. "How dare they! We haven't even said our yell!"

"I know." Shana said. "It's so distressing when people don't let you finish it." She looked at Jessie and James. "You know, it doesn't help us if we fight each other."

"I know what you mean. We also had a fight with Casedy and Butch." James sighed. Shane started to laugh.

"Something funny we missed?" Jessie asked.

Shana started to laugh too. "You know what happened to them?" Shane asked. Jessie and James shook their heads. "The boss let them clean all the toilets of Team Rocket!"

"How nice." The Meowth suddenly said. Shana and Shane looked astounded to the Meowth. "Yeah, I know you are surprised, but while we are standing here, those kids have fun. What did you want from those kids?"

Tripping over their words, Shane finally gave answer. "We had to catch Gary Oak, but we lost him so we are following his niece now. And what do you wanted from them?"

"We want to catch that rare Pikachu from that boy." The Meowth said. "Now listen to me: instead of fighting each other, we'd better work together. We'll trade experiences and than make up the perfect plan!"

"Great plan Meowth." James said and the rest agreed. "But we have to use our yell."

Shana shook her head. "No way, our yell is the real one!" Jessie and James disagreed. "You must admit our yell is better and more impressing!"

"We use our yell or we won't work together anymore!" Jessie said.



Blade looked in the program book of Hydron Town's Pokémon Day. "Look." He said. "There is a race for flying types at 2 o'clock. That's in a few minutes. Let's go!"

"Ha!" Chris said. "Pidgeot and Zubat can win that with a mile!"

Blade pointed at the program again. "You have to ride on your Pokémon. So Zubat is already out of the race."

"He, I can fly on Charizard!" Ash said smiling.

"Don't even think about it Ash." Misty said. "Charizard won't let you ride on his back."

"To bad Ash." Chris replied. "You could be a great competition. The only opponent I have now is Aemilia."

Tracy looked at Chris. "Are you so sure you will win?" He asked.

"Charizard is fast enough." Chris answered. "To bad Ash, if your Charizard obeyed you I could have seen how strong it was. Well Aemilia, you want to come along?" Aemilia enthusiastically nodded. "See you at the start." She said and walked away with Charizard. Aemilia followed with Pidgeot.

Ash turned to his Charizard. "Thanks a lot Charizard, now Chris thinks I'm a sore trainer too. That was just what I needed, another kid from Pallet Town who thinks I'm a loser." He angry turned away. "Come on Pikachu. I guess the only thing I can do is cheering for them." He walked away and his Pokémon followed him.

Tracy and Blade ran to Ash, trying to cheer him up. Misty stayed behind with Charizard. She and Togepy felt sorry for the depressed Ash and suddenly turned angry to Charizard. "Thanks a lot Charizard." She yelled. "Ash trained you from a Charmender and the only way you thank him is making his life miserable! Ash, wait up!"

The Charizard lifted off and flew away. In his flight, he took Ash and Pikachu along.


At the start, Aemilia and Chris waited for the start signal. Chris smiled to Aemilia, letting her know she wouldn't go easy on her. Aemilia didn't expect something else of her friend and smiled determent back. Within a flash, suddenly a big orange creature landed before them.

"Ash?" Chris asked astounded to the boy who had grabbed himself with all his force to Charizard. "You are competing too? What a surprise."

Ash and Pikachu opened their eyes. "Wow, Charizard!" He said with a tear. "You did listen to me!" As an answer Charizard growled.

"He is just competing because he wants to compete." Aemilia said smiling. "Not because you wanted it."

"How do you know…?" He started, but the referee began.

"The race is to the lake, around it and back. Ready, set… go!"

All Pokémon lifted off and flew away. Chris and Aemilia took already a head start, but some trainers and their Pokémon came very near. Chris looked at a Fearow and whispered to Charizard. "We won't let them win, will we?" The Charizard nodded.

A Koffing came very near to Aemilia, but she stayed before him. Suddenly, she saw a great shadow appearing.

"To protect the world, or mankind, from devastation." Jessie started

"To unite all peoples, that means everybody, within our nation." James added.

"To denounce the evils of truth, friendship and love." Shana hurried behind.

"To extend our reach to the stars, and moon, above…." Shane said.

"Jessie!"

"Shana!"

"James!"

"And Shane."

"Team Rocket! Blast off at the speed, and with the brightness, of light!" Jessie and Shana said proudly.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" Shane and James proudly added.

"Meowth! We are the best, that's right!"

Chris let some opponents pass her while she embarrassed gazed at the combined yell of Team Rocket. "Oi." She sighed. "That was the worst yell ever."

Ash stopped next to Aemilia and Chris. "Jeez, always when I'm in a great battle."

"We combined our powers and Team Rocket is now the strongest of all!" Jessie yelled from the balloon.

"Than we have to combine our powers too." Aemilia said.

She saw Shana pushing a button, releasing a big net beneath the balloon, it fell to the ground, catching all the other competition. "You missed them." James said. "Now it's my turn. Weezing, smog attack!" He released his Weezing and it began filling the air with poisonous smog.

"Pikachu, thunder shock!" Ash yelled and Pikachu leaped to Weezing and electrocuted it.

"Pidgeot." Aemilia commanded. "Whirlwind!"

Pidgeot listened to Aemilia and freed the air from the smog. But Team Rocket wasn't finished yet. Jessie pushed another button, freeing a butterfly-net.

"Charizard!" Chris yelled. "Burn it!" Roaring of enthusiasm, it obeyed Chris and destroyed the net.

Ash closed by. "Charizard." He asked. "Please, just listen for once. Fry those idiots for ruining your chance for victory!"

Ash looked to the Charizard and the huge Pokémon looked back. Pikachu jumped on Ash shoulder and released some words. After that, Charizard flew to the balloon and spit a ray of fire. "Way to go Charizard!"

Team Rocket tried to hold on to grits of the basket. "Meowth, this is your fault!" Shane yelled. "If we would have done it our way we would have succeeded!"

"Oh shut up!" Meowth said. "You are the ones who ruined a great idea."

Aemilia ordered Pidgeot to fly higher and together they flew directly through the balloon. Spinning, it vanished after the horizon, and Team Rocket still argued whose fault it was.


Disappointed they landed on the ground. Tracy, Misty and Blade ran to them. "Are you all right?" Blade asked and than turned to Chris. "Thank god there was no need to pull the stunt again." Chris threw a devastation look at him.

"Yeah, we are all right." Ash said sad. "But the race is ruined."

Suddenly, the referee walked to them. "Your performance were great. You saved all Pokémon. As a thanks for that, you 3 get the first price." He handed them a golden medial over.

Surprised and happy Ash turned to Charizard. "You see that Charizard? We won!" Suddenly he stopped leaping and looked to his Pokémon. "You listened to me when I ordered you to fry them. Does this mean you are finally obeying me?" As an answer, Charizard burst a ball of fire to Ash. Misty smiled.

"I guess he did it for himself Ash." She giggled and Togepy giggled along.

Ash smiled. "Yeah, I guess so. But we're finally making progress."



After the night had showed his face, Ash, Tracy, Misty, Pikachu and Togepy walked to the aeroplane. Aemilia, Blade and Chris came along to wave them goodbye. "It was nice seeing you again Ash." Chris said.

"It was great seeing you Chris. I hope to see you again someday." Ash answered.

Chris kneeled to Pikachu and Togepy and patted them. "See you, Togepy and Pikachu." Than she bow to Pikachu and whispered. "Look after Ash Pikachu. If I know Misty, you have to protect him from her." She stood up and gave Tracy and Misty a hand. "It was great meeting you."

Blade bumped in again and kissed Misty's hand. "Goodbye, mysterious Misty. I hope you always stay that beautiful…." Aemilia grabbed his ear and pulled him away.

"Stop it Blade, you are drawling all over her."

They walked into the plane. Before the door closed, Ash suddenly asked: "Wait, you haven't told us what you promised to tell us!" But before Chris could answer, the door closed.

"Come on Ash." Misty said. "We have to sit down. The plane can't wait any longer."

Disappointed, Ash sat on his chair and looked out of the window when it started to lift off. Suddenly, he pushed his face against the window. "He guys!" He yelled. "Look at that!"

Misty and Tracy looked out of the window too. They saw Chris and Aemilia, flying on the back of Charizard. Suddenly, Aemilia began to glow and changed into a Ditto. Ash smiled.

"That's why she understood Pikachu, she's a Pokémon herself!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu smiled.

Aemilia changed back and waved to Ash, Tracy and Misty. But before Charizard turned around, Chris touched her moonstone necklace and it began to glow. For a moment, they heard Chris voice in their heads: 'Greetings from Moonshadow…'


To be continued…