Pokémon Pokemon Do-Over

[MarkL1987]

Episode 58: The Ultimate Test

"Let's eat!" the gang cried. It all began with an innocent question from Misty.

"You know, you and Lucy haven't gotten a badge in a long time, Ash." She said. "Think either of you will ever get another one?" Ash started choking on his sandwich.

"Uh, Misty, you do realize that Cinnabar Island is off the coast of the mainland, right?" said Lucy. While she continued to chastise Misty, Brock and Todd tended to Ash.

"Take it easy, Ash. Drink this!" cried Brock. Ash drank the water Brock had given him and saved himself.

"It's all skill!" cried Ash. "I win matches with skill!"

"How much skill does it take to win a match against Team Rocket?" asked Misty.

"Not very much at all, really." answered Lucy. "But either way, we've both beaten six gyms out of eight, which means we only need two more to qualify for the Pokemon League. Still doubt us now?"

"All right, Misty, if you want real skill, I'll show that to you!" cried Ash. "I challenge you to a match right now!"

"That goes for me too!" cried Lucy.

"Pika pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Change your mind, please!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Same for you, Lucy!'

"No, we will NOT change our minds!" cried Ash. Todd's shutter was soon heard.

"Hold it." He said.

"Why should we hold it?!" cried Lucy.

"Not you." Said Todd. "Pikachu and Eevee. Those are perfect expressions!"

"Pika?" asked Pikachu, which meant 'It is?'

"Hey, cut it out!" cried Ash.

"Yeah, this is no time to try and add to your photo album." Said Lucy.

"Okay, fine." Said Todd. "You both want to prove that you have skills somehow, right?"

"That's EXACTLY what we want to prove!" cried Ash.

"What are you suggesting, Todd?" asked Lucy.

"Well, why don't you both get yourselves admitted?" suggested Todd.

"Admitted to where?" Ash wondered.

"Take the Pokemon League Admissions Exam." Said Todd.

"The Pokemon League…" said Ash.

"Admissions Exam?" said Misty.

"Pika?" asked Pikachu, which meant 'Do either of you know what that is?'

"Pi." Answered Little Pikachu, which meant 'I've never heard of it.'

"Eevee." Replied Eevee, which meant 'No clue.'

"Togepi." Added Togepi, which meant 'I don't know anything about it either.' The group soon made their way to the location of the Pokemon League Admissions Exam. To get into the Pokemon League, trainers have to travel from one Pokemon gym to another and collect badges to prove that he or she has defeated each gym master. However…

"Here at the Pokemon League Admissions Center, we evaluate applicants based on the combined written and practical skills exam." The head instructor explained. "Those who are able to pass receive a special badge that qualifies them for the Pokemon League." He showed the badge, which amazed the group.

"Both of you take these." Said the instructor. He handed Ash a tag with the number seven on it, and Lucy a tag with the number eight on it.

"Those are your testing numbers." The instructor added.

"Lucky seven!" cried Ash.

"And a crazy eight for me!" cried Lucy.

"See, Misty? We have skills, and luck!" cried Ash.

"A little modesty wouldn't hurt." Misty muttered.

"Oh no! I wanted number seven!" cried a familiar female voice. Ash and Lucy noticed the female that was watching them and thought she looked familiar, but they couldn't quite put their fingers on it.

"Let's see." Said the female voice. "Age, seventeen. Profession, diva."

"That girl definitely looks familiar." Said Lucy.

"Wow! Look at all the different kinds of people showing up for the exam!" cried Misty.

"Yeah. Nobody that I'm not better than." Said Ash. Nurse Joy soon walked by and caught Brock's eye.

"Nurse Joy!" he cried.

"Yeah, but which one?" said Lucy.

"Just a minute!" cried the instructor. "You'll both have to leave your Poke Balls here with me."

"Why?" asked Ash.

"You're not allowed to use your own Pokemon during the exam." The instructor answered.

"What?" cried Ash.

"It's essentially to prevent cheating." Said Lucy.

"That's exactly right, miss." Said the instructor. Ash and Lucy handed their Poke Balls over.

"Can I take care of their Pikachu and Eevee during the exam?" asked Misty.

"Of course!" cried the instructor.

"You'll also need to keep an eye on Togepi." Said Lucy.

"No problem." Said Misty. Lucy handed the infant over to Misty.

"Good luck, Mr. Ketchum!" cried the instructor. "You too, Ms. Peters!"

"I'd wish you luck too, but you're both so skilled." Said Misty.

"You got that right!" cried Ash.

"Pika." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Good luck, Ash.'

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'Good luck to you, Lucy.' The gang approached and talked to Nurse Joy prior to the start of the exam.

"So you want to become a Pokemon master too, Nurse Joy?" asked Ash.

"Well, it always has been a dream of mine." Answered Joy.

"So, uh, where are you from, Nurse Joy?" asked Brock.

"I'm Nurse Joy from Fuchsia City, sister to the Vermillion City Joy." Answered Nurse Joy.

"You're the most beautiful one yet." Said Brock.

"That's what you always say, Brock." Said Misty.

"Togepi!" Added Togepi, which meant 'Every time!'

"I came here for the exam because my work keeps me too busy to travel very much." Said Joy.

"This exam is a really good idea then." Said Lucy.

"Yes. It's perfect for people whose age or health keeps them from traveling around." Said Joy. "And it's also nice for people like me who can never seem to be able to get away from work."

"I can feel it! I'm sure you're going to pass the test!" cried Brock.

"I hope you're right." Said Joy.

"That'd make a nice human interest shot." Said Todd.

"Hey! Save your film for Pokemon!" cried Ash.

"Last I checked, you specialized in taking Pokemon photos, not people photos." Added Lucy. The group then noticed another familiar looking person walk in the building. He spotted them, got nervous, and walked away nervously.

"That's weird. That guy looked familiar too." Said Ash. The male stranger turned in his exam form.

"Here's the exam form." He said.

"Fine." Said the instructor. "Let's see. It says here that your name is James." James panicked a bit.

"Will you please keep it down?" he cried. His reaction got the attention of the girl that was standing next to him.

"Is that?!" she cried.

"Hey! Get lost, old bat!" cried James. The female was offended by that comment.

"Old?!" she yelled. The mad woman dragged James outside.

"What are you?!" cried James. "Unhand me, you! Please, let me go! Come on!" The female removed her glasses.

"So I'm an old bat, am I?!" she cried.

"You're Jessie!" cried James. "That outfit is atrocious!"

"And what are you doing here?" asked Jessie as she put her glasses back on.

"What am I doing here?" said James. "Truth to tell, I, not unlike many other people, dream of becoming a Pokemon master. Make fun if you must!" He laughed.

"No, you're doing just fine on your own." Said Jessie.

"I want to live my dream instead of my reality." Said James.

"I can see why." Said Jessie.

"What's your reason for being here?" asked James.

"I simply wanted to add another talent to my very impressive and very extensive resume." Answered Jessie. "As you know, I'm already an accomplished hostess, florist, costume designer, wine expert, beautician, style consultant. In fact, one of the only things that I'm not…."

"Is a Pokemon master!" Meowth butted in.

"Meowth!" cried Jessie and James.

"What are you doing here, furball?!" cried Jessie.

"Looking for you." Meowth answered. "The one who suddenly remembered an important engagement." He turned to Jessie. "This seems suspiciously unlike a visit to your sick uncle's beside." He then focused on James. "And I thought you had a dental appointment."

"Well, uh, it was just such a beautiful day….." started James.

"That we decided to have a picnic." Finished Jessie.

"Don't try to fool me!" cried Meowth. He used his Scratch attack on both of his teammates.

"Come clean, what are you both doing here?" he asked.

"Mind your own business!" cried Jessie. James took out a ball of string.

"Take this and leave us alone!" he cried. Meowth chased after the ball while Jessie and James ran back toward the building.

"Hurry up!" cried Jessie.

"The exam's about to start!" cried James. Soon, the first part of the exam was ready to begin.

"This first test will measure your overall knowledge of Pokemon." Said the instructor. "Ready? Begin!"

"I can't wait! This'll be easy!" cried Ash. A picture of a Pokemon appeared on each computer monitor, and the testers had to listen and figure out the answer to the questions that they were given.

"Lickitung's tongue is twice the length of its body." Said the computer. "True or false?"

"I'm pretty sure it was longer than that." Said Ash. He pressed the false button.

"To me, that tongue looks like it's the right size." Said Lucy. She hit the true button below her monitor. A picture of Vulpix appeared next.

"Ninetales evolves from Vulpix only by use of the Fire Stone. True or false?"

"Oh, this is too easy." Said Ash. "True, true!"

"I know Brock has a Vulpix, and he still has that Fire Stone should he ever decide to use it someday." Said Lucy. "But nonetheless, that's definitely true." They both hit the true button. A picture of Hitmonlee came up next.

"Hitmonlee is also known as the Punching Demon."

"Let's see, it's either Hitmonlee or Hitmonchan that's the puncher." Said Ash. "I think it's true!" He hit the true button for his answer. Lucy shook her head.

"Ash should know that Hitmonchan is the one who punches." Said Lucy. "Hitmonlee is the kicker. I know because I have one." She pressed the button marked false. Magikarp was the next picture that came up.

"The only attack Magikarp originally knows is Splash. True or false?"

"That is most definitely true." Said Lucy.

"Gah! Magikarp! Just hearing that name makes my blood boil!" cried James.

"True." Said Jessie. She was answering her questions without even thinking.

"That's true too." She said, and hit the true button.

"Caterpie is the world's smallest Pokemon. True or false?"

"True, but only because it weighs slightly less than Weedle." Said Lucy. She hit the true button.

"Yeah, that's true." Said Jessie.

"Look at her! She's so good!" cried James. A picture of a Koffing appeared next.

"Koffing was first discovered in a public bathhouse. True or false?"

"I actually don't know." Said Lucy. She guessed false.

"True." Said Jessie. She pressed the same button multiple times for every question that was left.

"All I have to do is guess, and I'll get half of them right." Said Jessie. Soon, the second test was about to begin.

"We will now measure your ability to recognize Pokemon!" cried the instructor. "Please name the Pokemon by identifying its silhouette or any part of its body as it's displayed here!"

"All right! This is going to be a piece of cake!" cried Ash.

"You say this now." Said Lucy.

"Here's the first question." Said the instructor. A large, black circle appeared on the front screen.

"Identify this Pokemon." He answered.

"This is going to be a breeze for me!" cried Ash. "It's a Voltorb!"

"Ah, how simple." Said James. "It's a Poke Ball without a doubt."

"Obviously, it's an Electrode." Said Jessie.

"I'm pretty sure that's a Jigglypuff." Said Lucy.

"The correct answer is…. Jigglypuff seen from above!" cried the instructor. Everyone but Lucy fell over in disbelief.

"How did you figure that out, Lucy?" Ash wondered.

"If you view Jigglypuff on top, it looks exactly like the shape of a Voltorb, and that one is known to trick us into thinking it's Voltorb." Lucy explained. "I also have a Jigglypuff myself in case you forgot!"

"Next question. What Pokemon displays this pattern?" asked the instructor.

"I swear I've seen that Pokemon, but I don't quite remember." Said Ash.

"It must be an Omanyte shell." Said James.

"It's an Arbok when it's all coiled up." Answered Jessie.

"Hey! It's a Poliwhirl!" cried Ash.

"That has to be another trick." Said Lucy. "I think that's a Poliwag."

"The correct answer: Poliwag." Said the instructor. Lucy smiled, but Ash, Jessie and James fell over in disbelief again.

"As any master would know, when Poliwag evolves into Poliwhirl, the swirl on its stomach reverses direction." Said the instructor. Brock and Misty watched what was happening through the glass window.

"Hey, this is hard." Said Misty.

"And it's getting harder by the minute!" cried Brock.

'Pika." Said Pikachu, which meant 'No joke.'

"Question fifteen: What Pokemon does this tail belong to?" asked the instructor. The tail of a fire Pokemon was on the screen.

"It's either Charmander, Charmeleon or Charizard." Said Ash. "It's got to be Charmander!"

"I don't think so." Said Lucy. "Charmander's tail is much smaller than that. I think that's Ponyta."

"The answer is…..Ponyta." said the instructor.

"No, it can't be." Groaned Ash. Jessie finally lost her temper.

"Can't you ask me a question that I know the answer to?!" she cried.

"Please take your seat!" yelled the instructor.

"This is a joke!" cried Jessie. "These stupid questions won't make you a Pokemon master!"

"For your information, young lady, a Pokemon master must understand all aspects of their Pokemon's life in order to achieve oneness with their Pokemon!" cried the instructor.

"You're not making any sense at all! I'm done with this!" cried Jessie.

"Get out!" yelled the instructor. Jessie angrily threw her test number down.

"I can't wait to go!" she cried, and left the room.

"But, Jessie, I…" said James.

"Dear, what a shame." Said Joy. "That's too bad."

"That girl's attitude seems familiar too." Said Ash.

"Not to mention her temper." Added Lucy.

Meanwhile, Meowth was sleeping next to his ball of yarn outside when Jessie angrily approached him.

"Hey!" she cried, and kicked Meowth. "Let's go!"

"Where am I going?" wondered Meowth.

"You're going with me to help me get my revenge!" yelled Jessie.

Meanwhile, inside the building, the scores had been counted and were now being displayed for everybody to see.

"Here comes the scoreboard." Said Misty. "The one on the right got the lowest scores, and the ones on the left got the highest."

"Look, Nurse Joy's near the top!" cried Brock. Lucy almost jumped for Joy when she saw her picture in the top spot.

"There's me!" she cried. "And I got a perfect score, too!"

"Well done, Lucy!" cried Misty.

"Thank you." replied Lucy.

"Where's your picture, Ash?" asked Todd.

"It must be where they put the highest scorer." Said Ash.

"That's not possible because I was the one who got the highest." Said Lucy. She pointed to the opposite screen. "Your picture is down there." It turned out that Ash, Jessie and James had all gotten the lowest scores.

"But that's impossible!" cried Ash. Todd started taking pictures of Ash's embarrassing score.

"Quit it!" cried Ash.

"Well, Ash, I guess you didn't have enough skill or luck to pass the test." Said Misty.

"Pokemon isn't about tests, it's about battles!" cried Ash.

"Not entirely." Said Lucy. "They're also our partners, just like how Pikachu and Eevee are our partners."

Meanwhile, James was standing in a corner by himself.

"Jessie's been expelled." He said. "Now I'll have to do my best for her!"

Later, outside, the third and final test was about to start, which was a battling test. The first battle was Nurse Joy's Squirtle against a Charmander that belonged to a different instructor.

"All right, Squirtle, Water Gun attack!" commanded Joy. The attack landed right on target.

"Squirtle, give it the Skull Bash, now!" cried Joy.

Meanwhile, Brock, Misty and Todd were watching from the bleachers, and they got embarrassed when Brock started cheering for Joy.

"Nurse Joy, you're doing great! Yeah!" he cried before directing his attention to Todd. "All right, shoot away! I want eight by ten glossies, and wallet sizes too!"

"Yeah, sure." Said Todd.

Meanwhile, Ash, Lucy and James were selecting which type of Poke Balls to use during the test.

"Feel free to select whichever one you like." Said the instructor.

"I don't really know which set I should pick." Said Ash.

"I guess you can't tell us which kind of Pokemon are inside them, huh?" said Lucy.

"That's what makes it a test." Replied the instructor. "All of these Pokemon are trained for battle so that they'll obey your commands. This test determines whether a trainer can adapt, regardless of which Pokemon comes out."

"With whom do we have to battle?" asked James.

"With me." Answered the instructor.

"Right! Then I'll take these." Said Ash.

"I'll take these." Said James.

"I call dibs on these ones over here." Said Lucy. "Learn from my battle, Ash, because I already know I'm going to ace this test!"

"Your friend here is a very confident young lady, isn't she?" chuckled the instructor.

"Sometimes a little too confident." Muttered Ash. The bell soon rang and Lucy took the field as the head instructor brought out a Kadabra for his first Pokemon.

"Kadabra, psychic type." Said Lucy.

"Are you ready, miss?" asked the instructor.

"Ready and willing, sir!" Lucy replied. "Poke Ball number one, go!" A Gastly materialized, which made Lucy sweat drop.

"Just her luck." Said Misty. "She's afraid of Ghost Pokemon, and she ends up getting a Gastly to start."

"Okay, Lucy, just stay calm." Lucy said to herself. "Sorry, sir, but I'm kind of afraid of Ghost types."

"Gastly Gast." Said Gastly, which meant 'You don't have to be. Just order me to use any of my attacks.'

"What attacks does Gastly know?" Lucy thought to herself.

"Kadabra, Psybeam." Ordered the instructor. The attack zoomed towards Gastly.

"Quick, Gastly. Double Team!" ordered Lucy. Gastly obliged and dodged the attack by making multiple copies of itself. The Psybeam hit one of the fakes, and the copies circled around, which left Kadabra with nowhere to run.

"Night Shade attack!" Lucy ordered. Gastly struck Kadabra with Night Shade, knocking it out.

"Amazing! You beat my first Pokemon!" cried the instructor.

"Way to go, Gastly!" cried Lucy. "Maybe using a Ghost type Pokemon isn't so scary after all."

"Is it possible that Lucy may have gotten over her fear of Ghost types?" asked Misty.

"It seems that way, but she can't let her guard down yet." Said Brock. "Remember, she still has two Pokemon left to deal with." The instructor brought out his next Pokemon, which was a Weepinbell.

"Bell!" cried Weepinbell.

"A grass type." Said Lucy. "I hope this next one can counter it. Poke Ball number two, go!" A Ponyta materialized.

"A fire type! That's perfect!" cried Lucy. "I should win this one easily!" The bell rang to start the next battle.

"Weepinbell, use Razor Leaf!" ordered the instructor. Weepinbell sharpened its leaves like blades and charged towards Ponyta.

"Use Agility to dodge!" cried Lucy. Ponyta dodged effortlessly.

"Now use Ember!" cried Lucy. Ponyta spit out pieces of fire at Weepinbell.

"Stun Spore." Said the instructor.

"Jump and dodge it." Said Lucy. Ponyta jumped over the oncoming attack.

"Now for Fire Spin!" cried Lucy. Weepinbell became engulfed in the flames and was unable to move due to the circle of Fire Spin. Weepinbell coughed up some soot and fainted.

"That's two down." Said Misty. "Lucy's really good."

"She might be able to ace this." Said Brock. The final Poke Ball that the instructor used materialized a Hitmonlee.

"My final battle." Said Lucy. "I just have to win this to pass the test. Poke Ball number three, go!" A Hitmonchan materialized.

"That's a Pokemon that Ash has!" cried Lucy.

"Hitmonlee, Rolling Kick!" cried the instructor. Hitmonlee charged.

"Counter with Mega Punch!" cried Lucy. The attacks collided.

"Now use your Mega Kick!" cried Lucy. The attack landed, sending Hitmonlee slightly upwards.

"You certainly know what you're doing, Lucy." Said the instructor.

"Thanks." Said Lucy.

"Use High Jump Kick!" cried the instructor. Hitmonlee jumped into the air.

"Wait for it." Said Lucy. Hitmonlee started coming down.

"What's Lucy trying to do?" asked Misty. Hitmonlee got closer to its target.

"Dodge it!" cried Lucy. Hitmonchan dodged the move, causing Hitmonlee to hurt itself.

"That's why she did that." Said Brock.

"What do you mean, Brock?" asked Misty.

"High Jump Kick may be a powerful fighting type move, but it's also very risky." Brock answered. "If it misses, the user takes damage instead of the target!"

"Now, finish it with a Comet Punch!" cried Lucy. With one final powerful punch, Hitmonlee skidded back to the instructor's side. It tried to get up, but collapsed.

"Yes! I did it!" cried Lucy.

"Very impressive. She called the right shots at the right time!" cried Brock. "She can definitely go far in the Pokemon League." James soon took the field for his battle test.

"Come on, James. Beat that ignoramus!" cried Jessie.

"Right. Really beat the guy." Said Meowth.

"This one's for you, Jessie!" cried James. He threw the Poke Ball, and to the shock of Brock, Misty and Team Rocket, a Pikachu materialized.

"With this, I can't lose!" cried James. "Thunder Shock, Thunderbolt. I've been destroyed by Pikachu's attacks so many times that I know them all by heart!"

"That's kind of pathetic when you think about it." Said Jessie.

"Yeah." Said Meowth.

"Now we begin." Said the instructor. "Go!" A Graveler materialized out of the Poke Ball that was thrown.

"It's a Graveler!" cried James. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" cried Pikachu.

"Ooh, that feels good to say!" cried James. Pikachu attacked, but Graveler was unfazed. It charged forward and knocked Pikachu backwards right into James' face.

"I don't get it! How come the Thunderbolt attack didn't work?!" he cried.

"You should've known that electricity doesn't work on rock type Pokemon." Said the instructor. "Minus one point!"

"Well then, how about this!?" cried James. He threw his other two Poke Balls, which revealed an Ivysaur and a Charizard.

"With these I can win." Said James. "Now what do you say?!" He laughed triumphantly.

"Goodbye!" cried the instructor. "It's against the rules to use two Pokemon at once!"

"I never play by the….." James started, but he realized at that moment that he had screwed up.

"You're expelled, now get out!" the instructor ordered.

"He failed again." Groaned Jessie.

"Don't think of it as failing, think of it as not succeeding." Said Meowth. Finally, it was Ash's turn to battle.

"Now we'll see if Ash can win one." Said Misty.

"Go get 'em, Ash!" cried Brock.

"Pika Pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Ash!'

"Thanks, just leave it to me!" cried Ash. "Hey Todd, make sure you get some great shots!"

"Don't worry! Just make sure you win!" cried Todd.

James, on the other hand, was sulking.

"I'm such a loser!" he cried. Jessie and Meowth soon showed up.

"James, I have a plan that will make us all winners." Said Jessie.

"Yeah!" cried Meowth.

Meanwhile, Ash's battle was starting.

"Are you ready, Ash?" asked the instructor.

"Ready!" cried Ash.

"Poke Ball, go!" cried the head instructor. A Flareon materialized.

"Okay, I need something that can beat a Flareon." Said Ash. "First Poke Ball, go!" To the surprise of the heroes, a Weezing materialized.

"I got a Weezing?!" cried Ash.

"That's bad." Said Team Rocket.

"I gotta get this! His face looks just like Weezing's!" cried Todd. He started snapping the photos, a sound that Ash heard.

"Not now!" he cried.

"It's time to start the battle." Said the instructor. "Flareon, go! Flamethrower, now!" Flareon fired, but Weezing dodged, giving Ash an idea.

"I know!" he cried. "Weezing, give 'em your Smog attack, now!" Weezing released the attack as Flareon fired another shot, but the flame hitting the smog caused an explosion and sent Flareon flying back, but it landed on its feet as the heroes watched on.

"Now, Flareon, the Leer!" cried the instructor. Flareon's eyes glowed due to the Leer attack.

"Come on, Weezing, fight back with Smokescreen!" cried Ash. Weezing spread the smoke, making Flareon temporarily lose sight of it.

"Hey, not too shabby." Remarked the instructor.

"Go, Weezing! Tackle attack!" cried Ash. Through the smoke, Weezing struck and knocked Flareon out.

"All right! My first victory!" cried Ash.

"I guess Ash is a pretty good battler after all." Said Misty.

"Even Team Rocket could win if they fought like that." Said Brock. Jessie and James were scribbling down how to battle like Ash, much to Meowth's embarrassment.

"Hurry! Take notes, take notes!" cried James.

"Now for round two!" cried the instructor. He tossed his second Poke Ball, which revealed a Jolteon.

"Okay, a Jolteon." Said Ash. "Next Poke Ball, go!" An Arbok materialized.

"Ash got the Pokemon that Jessie has!" cried Misty.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'Odd.'

"Let's see, what are Arbok's attacks?" said Ash.

"Jolteon, Agility attack!" cried the head instructor. Jolteon started running so fast that it disappeared and then reappeared.

"I remember!" cried Ash. "Arbok, Glare!" Arbok's eyes glowed, which stopped Jolteon dead in its tracks.

"Squeeze it with your Wrap attack, now!" cried Ash. Arbok coiled around Jolteon, but the spikes made it jump up in pain.

"That was no good. I forgot all about Jolteon's spikes!" cried Ash.

"Quick, Jolteon! Use the Thunder attack!" cried the instructor. The attack landed.

"Arbok, no!" cried Ash.

"Too bad you overloaded Jolteon's spikes." Said the instructor. "Sizing up your opponent before an attack is a fundamental rule!"

"Arbok, return!" cried Ash. Arbok was recalled to its Poke Ball.

"Okay, third Poke Ball, go!" cried Ash. To the surprise of Team Rocket, Brock and Misty, Ash's final Pokemon ended up being a Meowth.

"Meowth?" Ash chuckled.

"This ought to be interesting." Said Brock.

"Hey, Meowth! Good luck!" cried Team Rocket's Meowth.

"Let's see, Meowth's attacks are…." Said Ash

"Use the Fury Swipes!" cried Team Rocket's Meowth. The test Meowth reacted to the voice of Team Rocket's Meowth, as did Ash.

"Poke Ball, go!" cried the instructor. A Vaporeon materialized.

"A Vaporeon." Said Ash. "Okay Meowth, use the Fury Swipes!" Meowth charged into battle.

"Vaporeon, use your Ice Beam, now!" cried the instructor. The attack hit and the test Meowth was frozen solid.

"Meowth!" cried Ash.

"Looks like another victory for me." Said the instructor. He recalled Vaporeon.

"That was fast." Said Ash.

"Look what you did!" cried Team Rocket's Meowth. He started scratching Ash's face.

"How could you treat a fellow Meowth that way?!" he cried. He then kicked his frozen counterpart free.

"Sorry you had to go through that." Said the Team Rocket Meowth. His ability to talk intrigued the instructor.

"Say, I'd love to catch that talking Meowth there." He said. "Poke Ball, go!" But a Flamethrower, Vine Whip and Thunderbolt knocked the Poke Ball back to the instructor, much to his shock. Jessie and James were standing on the battlefield with their test Pokemon.

"Return those Pokemon immediately!" he cried.

"We're not taking orders from you anymore, mister exam man!" cried jessie.

"Now we're the ones who are going to test YOU!" cried James.

"What?!" cried the instructor.

"Prepare yourself for trouble!" cried Jessie.

"I suggest you make it double!" cried James.

"It's Team Rocket!" cried Ash.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!" They removed their disguises.

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Don't interfere with my test!" cried Ash.

"I'm lucky I already finished mine." Said Lucy.

"Just go home and study harder and you can try again next time!" cried the instructor.

"Unfortunately for you, there won't be a next time." Said Jessie. "But now that we've rounded up these Pokemon, it's payback time!"

"Pikachu, Ivysaur, Charizard, go!" cried James. "Are you ready?!" The Pokemon responded.

"And I'm going to teach you a lesson for picking on a Meowth!" cried Meowth. The head instructor just looked confused.

"We won't let you do it!" cried Misty.

"Go, Pikachu!" cried Ash.

"Eevee, front and center!" cried Lucy.

"Ivysaur, the Vine Whip, now!" cried Jessie.

"Charizard, Flamethrower, now!" cried James.

"Pikachu, Thunder, now!" cried Meowth.

"Listen up, Charizard, Ivysaur, Pikachu! About face, now!" ordered the instructor. The Pokemon obeyed immediately and went on the attack.

"How did you?" said Misty.

"Oh, I get it." Said Ash. "They obeyed you because you're the one who raised all of them."

"Very good, Ash." Said the instructor.

"You handle this one, Ash." Said Lucy.

"With pleasure, Lucy." Said Ash. "Meowth, Weezing, Arbok, stop Team Rocket!" The three Pokemon attacked, with Jessie getting caught up in Arbok's coils.

"Stop it, Arbok! That hurts!" cried Jessie.

"Cut it out!" cried Meowth.

"Weezing, I can't breathe!" cried James.

"Okay, Weezing, Explosion, now!" cried Ash. Weezing self-destructed, making a huge hole in the battlefield and sending Team Rocket away.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" cried Jessie and James.

Later, the instructor had bad news for the test takers.

"I'm terribly sorry, everyone." He said. "But Team Rocket's intrusion has interfered with the entire examination. We have to start over from the very beginning." To say that Lucy didn't take too kindly to this news would be an understatement.

"WHAT?!" she cried.

"You mean after all that hard work we did?" said Joy.

"Of course Team Rocket would have to ruin everything." Said Lucy. "Well, there goes my perfect score."

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'I'm sorry, Lucy.'

"It's not your fault, Eevee." Said Lucy. "It's Team Rocket who's to blame for this."

"Well, Ash, you did a fine job of getting rid of Team Rocket." Said the instructor. "What do you say? Do you want to give the test another try?"

"No thanks, sir. I don't think so." Said Ash.

"I'm sure you'll pass this time." Said the instructor.

"Oh, it's not that." Said Ash. "I just think I'm better off getting badges my own way for now."

"Oh, speaking of badges…." Said the instructor. He pulled out the special badge he had talked about upon the group's arrival.

"This badge is for you, Lucy." He said. "Despite Team Rocket interfering, you did finish your test before that happened, so we can record your score as official. Congratulations, this badge is yours."

"Thanks, sir." Said Lucy. "Ash has a good point, though. We both want to win badges our own way. Can I still keep this one, though?"

"Of course." Said the instructor. "Feel free to take it as a souvenir. And Ash, I want to reward you with something too." He held out the Poke Balls Ash had used for the battle test.

"I want you to have the Arbok, Weezing and Meowth that are in here." He said. "I think you deserve them after getting rid of the enemies for us."

"Thank you, sir." Said Ash.

"You proved that you're a great battler after all, Ash." Said Misty.

"I guess so." Said Ash.

"If you learned that lesson, then I guess the test really was worth taking." Added Misty.

"That test also helped me get over my fear of Ghost type Pokemon." Said Lucy.

"I suppose that's true." Said Ash. "It was sure awesome to battle with all those different Pokemon, though."

"Especially with a Gastly." Said Lucy.

Later, the group was departing the testing facility. Many roads lead to the Pokemon League. Ash and Lucy's chosen path is to win all eight gym badges. Only then can they fulfill their dream of reaching the ultimate goal. Becoming Pokemon masters.

Todd soon ran towards the entrance of the facility holding an injured Meowth in his hands.

"Where's Ash and the others?" he asked.

"They already left." Joy answered. "They're on their way to the next gym." Joy and the instructor noticed the Meowth that Todd was holding, which made Joy gasp.

"What's wrong with that Meowth?" she cried.

"It got hurt in the explosion!" cried Todd. The Meowth that was in his arms turned out to be Team Rocket's Meowth.

"Where am I?" Meowth wondered.

"This must be…." Said the instructor. He took Meowth into his own arms.

"Huh? Meowth! What's going on?!" he cried. "Where's Jessie? Where's James?" He then saw who was holding him.

"I finally got my talking Meowth!" cried the instructor.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Meowth screamed. He jumped out of the instructor's arms. Uh, I think there seems to be a little mix up here.

Meanwhile….

"We'll show those twerps the next time!" cried Jessie.

"The next time Team Rocket triumphs!" cried James.

"Meowth, don't you have anything to say?" asked Jessie. She then noticed that Meowth wasn't there, as did James.

"Where did he go?" James asked.

"Meowth!" they cried. "Meowth?! Where are you, Meowth?"

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Arcanine, Kabuto, Aerodactyl

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Arcanine, Staryu, Dragonair

 

[MarkL1987]

Episode 59: The Breeding Center Secret

As our heroes take a break in their journey, Todd, their photographer friend, decides to take a few Pokemon pictures.

"Come on, turn around, Togepi!" cried Misty.

"Don't be shy." Said Lucy. "Turn around and look at the camera and say Togepi!"

"Togepi!" cried Togepit, which meant 'Hi! I'm Togepi!' Todd snapped the photo.

"Great! That was a cool shot." Said Todd.

"More like a cute shot to me." Said Lucy. "Remember, Togepi's still a newborn." Suddenly, the voice of a weather anchor was heard on a television screen.

"Now, a Pokemon weather update." She said. The group looked at the screen so they could watch.

"Our area will remain clear and sunny today with highs in the upper seventies." The weather anchor." Said proudly.

"Sounds like good weather." Said Ash.

"Pika pi." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Pretty.'

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'Gorgeous.'

"It should be great for taking pictures." Said Todd. A commercial appeared after the weather.

"Pokemon love power!" cried a female voice. "Find it at our Five star Breeding Center, where every Pokemon is treated like a loved one." She showed a Charmander on screen.

"This guest evolved into a Charmeleon, and then a Charizard, in just a few short days." She continued. "At the Five Star Breeding Center, a little pampering goes a long way. So why go through all the fuss, when you can just bring your Pokemon here to us?"

"What's that?" wondered Ash.

"Looks like someone opened a new breeding center." Answered Brock.

"Breeding Center?" said Ash.

"It's the newest thing." Replied Todd. "Breeding Centers raise Pokemon for kids who can't do it themselves. It's like a Pokemon spa."

"A really good breeding center can even help your Pokemon evolve." Said Lucy.

"Wow! Let's go check it out!" cried Ash. When the five of them arrived at the center, they found a line of people already ahead of them.

"There's no need to push!" cried the lady. "We have plenty of rooms left in our luxury suites! We guarantee your Pokemon will soon be like new, and some may even evolve!"

"She seems really nice." Misty commented. Brock took a closer look.

"And do you know why we're so popular?" the female asked. "It's because we believe in love." She picked up someone's Sandshrew. "We feel every Pokemon is loveable. We believe in Pokemon love power!"

"Love power!" cried the female and male together.

"Love. Power." Brock repeated. Misty shook her head.

"Lucy, do something about mister lovesick puppy over there." She said.

"Pleasure's all mine, Misty." Said Lucy. She shoved Brock out of the way.

"You need to stop this, Brock." Said Lucy. "This behavior's unhealthy for you."

"Wow! She certainly knows how to attract customers." Said Todd.

"Yeah." Misty replied, although she was a bit suspicious. The line of trainers went inside.

"Our next guest." Said the female.

"Right this way!" cried her male partner.

"I have a Pokemon too!" cried Misty.

"Well you're certainly in the right place." Said the female.

"What do I have to do in order to check my Pokemon in here?" asked Misty.

"You're actually going to leave one here, Misty?" said Ash.

"Yep. I'll give it a try." Answered Misty.

"But which one? Not your Staryu." Said Todd.

"Togepi and my Pikachu are too little." Said Lucy. "And Eevee's way too cute to leave here." Misty brought out her Psyduck and put it on the desk.

"My Psyduck!" she cried. "I want to leave my Psyduck here with you!"

"It's so cute." Remarked the female worker. "Don't you just love those eyes? They're bright and bouncy as ping pong balls!"

"Yeah, and I wish I had a paddle." Muttered Misty.

"So then, is there anything special you'd like us to do?" asked the female worker.

"For starters, you might try knocking some common sense into its big ugly head." Said Misty. "There's a lot of unused space in here!"

"Strange, it looks intelligent to me." Said the female worker. Almost everyone fell over.

"And you have to change this clueless looking face." Misty added.

"That'd take a miracle." Said Ash. Lucy gave him a bonk on the head.

"YOU stay out of this!" she yelled.

"Funny you should say that." Said the female worker. "Our motto here at the breeding center is: A little Pokemon love power works miracles." Psyduck was given a tag with a number twelve on it and put on a conveyor belt leading to the back of the center.

"Have fun, Psyduck." Said Ash.

"Bye, Psyduck. Good luck." Said Misty. Psyduck soon disappeared from view.

Later, the group was walking down the street.

"Psyduck will prove if that place is any good." Said Misty.

"Is it just me, or did those to people in the white coats look familiar?" asked Lucy.

"I bet you're just going to leave Psyduck there and never go back for it." Said Ash.

"No way!" cried Misty. "I'd never abandon Psyduck like that!"

"I sure hope not." Said Lucy.

"Well I think that Psyduck has some good points." Said Ash. "Want me to take it off your hands?"

"I was the one who caught Psyduck, and I plan to keep it." Said Misty. "Even if it's still annoying when I get it back."

"Whatever you say, Misty." Said Lucy. The group soon stopped at a restaurant door and noticed the poster that was on it.

"Hey, look, a restaurant!" cried Brock.

"Come to think of it, Ash and I are pretty hungry." Said Lucy. "I wouldn't mind stopping here for a bite to eat."

"Hey, look at this." Said Ash. They looked at the writing that was on the poster.

"All you can eat, for free?!" cried Misty. "All right! I'm heading right for the dessert bar!"

"I'm right behind you!" cried Lucy.

"It can't really be free, though, can it?" wondered Ash.

"There has to be some sort of catch, like you have to eat ten dinners to get one free." Said Todd.

"Well I'd eat ten dinners if they came with ten desserts." Said Misty.

"As would I." said Lucy. "Let's see, there's five of us, so two dinners each…..Oh dear. Only one of us would be able to claim the free meal." The door to the restaurant soon opened and the head chef came out.

"No need to eat that much!" he chuckled. "Unless you all really want to. The buffet's free on one condition."

"What's the condition?" everyone asked.

"All you have to do is show me my favorite Pokemon and I'll treat you to all the food you can eat!" cried the chef. "Plus all the desserts you can eat too!"

"I'm sure one of us will have your favorite." Said Lucy.

"Okay, come on out everyone!" cried Ash. With the exception of Charizard, all of the other Pokemon Ash was carrying materialized. The chef looked closely at all of Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Hitmonchan before shaking his head.

"None of these." He said. Ash fell in disbelief, while everyone else stumbled.

"Well then, how about Pikachu?" said Ash.

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'It has to be me!'

"I'm afraid not." Said the chef. Ash and Pikachu lowered their heads in disappointment.

"I'll try next." Said Lucy. Out of her group that she sent out, Squirtle remained in its ball due to Ash's being already out and due to the chef having already rejected it. Her Ivysaur, Jigglypuff and Butterfree all came out. Jigglypuff was about to sing, but Lucy covered up her mouth.

"This isn't the time to do your song, Jigglypuff!" she cried.

"That pink Butterfree of yours is unique, young lady, but it's not my favorite, nor are any of these other ones." Said the chef.

"Maybe Eevee's your favorite." Said Lucy. She held up her Eevee, who squealed happily.

"Sorry, kid, but it's not Eevee." Said the chef. Lucy and Eevee frowned.

"Maybe your favorite is Onix, or Geodude, or Zubat. Or maybe, just maybe, it's Vulpix!" cried Brock.

"Nope." Said the chef.

"Well, how about Goldeen, Starmie, Staryu, Horsea, Oddish, Vaporeon, or Omanyte?" said Misty. "Or maybe…." She and Lucy held up Togepi.

"Our Togepi!" the girls cried. The chef shook his head.

"None of them are my favorite." He said.

"Maybe it's a Pokemon that we haven't caught yet." Said Ash. The chef held up another picture.

"My favorite Pokemon is this one right here." He said. The group was shocked at what they saw, as Psyduck was in the picture.

"Psyduck?!" they cried.

"You're a Psyduck fan?" asked Brock.

"That looks like a picture that I took!" cried Todd.

"I think Psyduck is the greatest thing since the invention of the microwave oven!" cried the chef. "I'm such a big fan that every time someone comes in with a Psyduck, I let them eat for free.

"Sir, if we come back in a couple of minutes, will you still be here?" asked Misty.

"Sure. I have to wait on a delivery of fifty gallons of ice cream." Said the chef.

"Yay! Yay! Yay!" cried Misty. "Back in a flash!" The group followed Misty as she ran off.

"It figures that Psyduck isn't around the one time I actually need it!" she cried.

"You're the one who left it at that center in the first place!" cried Lucy. They reached the breeding center as fast as they could, however…

"Oh no, it's already closed!" cried Misty.

"Guess we'll just have to come back tomorrow." Said Lucy.

"We won't get that free buffet today." Said Todd.

"No way! I'm getting into that dessert bar now!" cried Misty. "There might not be any ice cream left tomorrow! Let's see if there's a back way!" She stomped off angrily.

"When Misty's mad, she's really mad." Lucy remarked. The group soon found a back door.

"Hello?! Anybody there?! I need to get the Pokemon I left here!" cried Misty. "Please open up the door so I can get back to that dessert buffet!" The door was left unlocked, much to the surprise of everyone.

"It's open." Whispered Misty.

"How very odd." Added Lucy. The group entered the building but found nobody there.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home." Said Lucy.

"Is there anyone here who can help us?" said Misty. "It's so dark in here that I can't see."

"Hey, I've got a light." Said Brock.

"So do I." said Lucy. She and Brock flipped on their flashlights and spotted something.

"Are those…cages?!" cried Todd.

"No breeding center I know of would have cages in them." Said Lucy. "Something's definitely not right."

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'I'm scared now, Lucy!'

"You're not the only one, Eevee." Said Lucy. "I'm getting creeped out myself." They all looked inside the cages and were shocked to see Pokemon in them. All of them were looking miserable.

"What's this?!" cried Misty.

"It's the Pokemon!" cried Brock.

"This doesn't look like any luxury hotel to me!" cried Ash.

"They're all crammed into cages!" cried Todd.

"How cruel!" cried Lucy.

"These Pokemon definitely don't look like they want to smile for the camera." Said Todd. Brock soon spotted Psyduck's cage.

"Hey! Here's your Psyduck, Misty!" cried Brock. Everyone looked at Psyduck and saw that his eyes were different.

"I have to say, it definitely looks a little smarter compared to when I dropped it off." Said Misty.

"Take a closer look." Instructed Brock. "They just pulled its eyes back with tape."

"That's terrible!" cried Misty. She removed the tape from Psyduck's eyes.

"Psy-y-y." said Psyduck, which meant 'I don't like it in here.' Everyone soon heard and saw a crane arm carrying another cage and putting it on a conveyor belt.

"What's that?" said Ash. On the other side of the wall, the two employees were examining the Pokemon in the next cage that was brought in.

"The next Pokemon's a Sandshrew." Said the male.

"Looks like this one is in pretty good shape. It can be very useful, as long as we can teach it to use Fury Swipes." Said the female.

"We've got an awful lot of Pokemon piled up in this dump." Said the male.

"Just goes to prove that a lot of Pokemon trainers are suckers." Said the female. "Now all we have to do is pick out the choice Pokemon and send them out to the boss."

"We'll be his absolute favorites!" cried the male.

"And we'll be in for a big bonus!" cried the female.

"This breeding center was a great idea!" cried the male.

"We believe in love power! That's because we love power." They said, and both laughed evilly. What they didn't know was that Ash and friends had heard every word of the conversation.

"So, it's all a big fake." Whispered Ash.

"We have to do something to stop them!" whispered Lucy.

"We can't let them treat Pokemon like this!" cried Brock.

"Hey! I think I have an idea!" cried Todd.

"Eevee?" asked Eevee, which meant 'What's your idea?'

"Pika!" cried the two Pikachu, which meant 'Tell us!'

"I'll take pictures of this place so that everyone can know what's happening." Said Todd.

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Said Misty.

Meanwhile, the two employees were talking with their boss, Giovanni, indicating that they were members of Team Rocket.

"So, tell me. How is the breeding center scam going?" asked Giovanni.

"Very well." Said the female. "As planned, we've collected lots of promising Pokemon."

"Excellent. Send them to me immediately." Said Giovanni. "I want to pick the choices ones for myself."

"Yes sir!" cried the pair.

"I want to congratulate the two of you on your splendid work on this project." Said Giovanni. "Unlike those other blundering idiots."

"Just doing our job, but I fail to see how you put up with Jessie or her stupid partner James." Said the female. "They're an embarrassment."

"They are completely unreliable." Said Giovanni. "It's a good thing I didn't tell them about this plan. They would've ruined it. Butch, Cassidy, you know I'm counting on you."

"Yes sir!" cried Butch and Cassidy.

"We won't disappoint you." Said Cassidy. Giovanni ended the video call.

Meanwhile, Todd was taking pictures.

"Todd! Take a picture of that! There!" cried Misty.

"Okay." Said Todd. However, Butch noticed what was going on.

"Huh?" he said.

"What, Butch? Something wrong?" asked Cassidy.

"I thought I saw something back there!" cried Butch. "It looked like a flash. I better go check it out." The group overheard and started to worry as Butch's silhouette approached the door and prepared to open it. But when he did, he found the room completely empty. He saw a flash coming from the two Pikachu, who were trying to shock their way out.

"The light was only from these Pikachu." Said Butch. He left the room, while Ash and the others hid behind some cages.

"You both pulled it off." Whispered Ash.

"That was too close." Lucy whispered.

"I think I have all the shots I'm going to need." Whispered Todd.

"Good. We better get out of here, quick." Whispered brock.

"Wait! We can't!" Misty cried quietly. "Psyduck!"

"What's wrong?" whispered Ash.

"The cage is locked." Whispered Misty, who was trying to rattle it open. "I can't just leave Psyduck trapped in this awful place."

"Psy." Whispered Psyduck, which meant 'Thank you.' The nearby window soon began to shake.

"What's that?" said Ash.

"Probably more company." Said Lucy. "We'll have to hide again." Everyone hid as a familiar trio entered the building.

"Be quiet as a mouse!" cried Jessie.

"Did you say Meowth?" said Meowth.

"Ugh." Groaned Jessie. "Come on, this way!"

"This is so…. exciting!" cried James. He got whacked on the head by a mallet that Meowth was holding.

"Keep it quiet, James Bond." Meowth whispered. Ash's group watched them quietly.

"Breaking into this breeding center was genius." Said Jessie. "It's a burglar's dream.

"I told you this place was going to be packed with Pokemon." Said Meowth.

"And we're going to steal every last one." Said Jessie.

"That'll put us back on the boss' good side." Said Meowth.

"But we've never been on his good side before!" cried James. He started picking the lock of one of the cages.

"Almost got it." He said.

"All the Pokemon we could ever want!" cried Meowth.

"Hey!" cried Ash. His sudden appearance startled Team Rocket.

"What are the three of you doing here?!" cried Todd.

"I'd put that very same question to you!" cried Meowth.

"Keep it down! You'll get us all in trouble!" whispered Lucy.

"How did you even get in here, anyway?" Jessie asked quietly.

"That's not your concern!" cried Lucy quietly.

"Don't tell me you goody-goody twerps finally decided to become baddy baddies like us." Said Meowth.

"You better not try and take over our territory!" cried jessie.

"I knew all along that we couldn't trust you!" cried James.

"Will you shut up?!" cried Ash.

"This time, you guys are in way over your heads." Whispered Misty.

"She's right. We have to get these Pokemon out of here fast or we're all going to be in danger." Lucy whispered.

"I know what you're doing." Snickered Jessie. "You're trying to trick us into helping you steal all of these Pokemon for yourselves."

"Fine! Believe what you want!" cried Misty.

"This isn't the time for arguing, Misty." Said Lucy. The lights came on, and Butch and Cassidy spotted them.

"I knew there was something rotten back here!" cried Cassidy. "I was right! Looks like some rats have snuck in."

"What should we do with them?" asked Butch.

"We'll exterminate them!" cried Cassidy.

"We're not afraid of creeps like you!" cried Lucy.

"Let's mix it up!" cried Meowth.

"You don't know who you're dealing with." Said Cassidy.

"But we'll be glad to show you." Said Butch.

"Prepare for trouble and make it double!" they both cried. Both of them took off their lab coats to reveal their Team Rocket uniforms.

"To infect the world with devastation!"

"To blight all peoples in every nation!"

"To denounce the goodness of truth and love!"

"To extend our wrath to the stars above!"

"Cassidy!"

"Butch!"

"Team Rocket, circling Earth all day and night!"

"Surrender to us now, or you'll surely lose the fight!"

"That's right!" A Raticate dropped down in front of them and gave its cry to end their version of the motto.

"Did they say that their names were Cassidy…." Said Ash.

"And Botch?" finished Lucy. Butch got furious with that.

"I literally just said that it's Butch!" he cried. "Pay attention next time!"

"Copycat!" cried Meowth.

"Does this mean that you belong to Team Rocket too?" asked James.

"Jessie! It's been a while!" cried Cassidy. Jessie growled in frustration.

"Do you know her or something?" asked James.

"She used to hang around with me all the time." Answered Jessie. "She's just jealous because I'm so beautiful."

"Definitely more beautiful than Cassidy." Remarked Lucy.

"You haven't changed a bit, unfortunately for you." Said Cassidy.

"And you're still a selfish little brat!" roared Jessie. "How dare you use that motto!"

"It's an outrage! It took us months to find a motto that we could swipe!" cried Meowth.

"Steal your own slogan!" cried James.

"Save your arguments for the boss when he finds out that you're stealing his Pokemon." Said Cassidy. Meowth gulped, and Jessie and James went into a panic.

"We're in trouble!" Meowth cried.

"The boss is really ticked off that he hasn't heard from you!" cried Butch. "He thinks it's insulting!"

"But we can't call him until we do something wrong right!" cried James.

"He might throw us off the team!" cried Meowth.

"We got this mission because the boss couldn't trust you." Said Cassidy. "When he finds out that you managed to bungle it anyway, well I can't think of what might happen to you, but I suppose getting thrown off the team is the best you could hope for after this. Isn't that right, Jess?" Jessie simply growled as Meowth forced his two teammates to the ground.

"We'd be infernally grateful if you could forget this ever happened." Meowth begged.

"What's it worth to you?" said Cassidy. Ash, Lucy, Brock, Misty and Todd all attempted to slip out of the room, but Cassidy heard the door open.

"No so fast, children!" she cried, making Ash and Lucy gulp nervously. "Now that you know about out little secret, I'm afraid we can't let you leave!" Ash and friends started making a break for it.

"We don't know anything about any secrets!" cried Ash.

"We were just trying to get an all you can eat buffet!" cried Lucy. Cassidy wasn't having any of it.

"You kids can't get away from me!" she cried. "I'm no pushover like Jessie."

Speaking of…

"Let's make a run for it!" cried Meowth. However, James stopped at one of the cages.

"What's the matter?" asked Meowth.

"This is the breeding center where I left my Weepinbell the other day." James answered. He opened the cage, and was surprised at what he saw.

"It evolved into a Victrebell!" he cried "Isn't that just….." Victrebell chomped down on his head as Meowth and Jessie started to drag him away.

"I just wish his brain would evolve a little." Said Meowth. He then screamed as a cage came down and trapped him, Jessie and James.

Meanwhile, Ash's group quickly spotted the door.

"There's the exit!" cried Ash.

"I think we're going to make it!" cried Lucy. But she was wrong, as another cage came down. Misty, Eevee, Togepi and both Pikachu were fortunate to escape the cage. But Ash, Lucy, Todd and Brock were all caught.

"We're trapped!" cried Ash.

"What do we do now?" cried Misty.

"Misty, you'd better hide." Said Lucy. "And take Eevee, Pikachu and Togepi with you."

"Okay. Come on, guys." Said Misty. She, Pikachu, Eevee and Togepi hid in a nearby corner, while Cassidy and Butch surrounded the heroes.

"Our little rat trap worked!" smirked Cassidy.

"You crooks had better let us out of here right now!" cried Lucy. Butch noticed the camera hanging around Todd's neck and snatched it away.

"What's this?!" Butch demanded.

"That's mine!" cried Todd.

"Heh. You won't be needing this!" cried Butch. Ash, Lucy, Brock and Todd growled angrily at him.

Later…

"Burglars! Oh, I'm still shaking like a leaf!" Cried Cassidy. "Officer! Thank goodness our security system stopped them before they could hurt the poor Pokemon!"

"Don't worry, we'll make sure that these thieves are punished." Said Officer Jenny. "Thanks to you, our city's a little safer." A large cage containing Ash, Lucy, Brock, Todd, Jessie, James, Meowth and Victrebell was being wheeled out.

"I'm telling you, you're arresting the wrong guys!" cried Ash. "We're innocent!"

"Those guys are the crooks, not us!" exclaimed Lucy.

"Hey, speak for yourself." Said Meowth. An officer tossed the large cage into the back of the police truck.

"Just look in the warehouse, then you'll see." Said Ash.

"Save your story for the station house!" yelled Jenny. She closed the back door of the truck firmly, with Butch and Cassidy gleefully waving at them.

"This is the low point." Groaned Meowth. "Being turned in not by these brats, but by our own teammates!"

"Great. Now we're all going to jail." Groaned Lucy. The police truck drove off, and once it was far enough out of the way, Misty came out from her hiding spot in a nearby back alley.

"Oh no! Now we've got to convince Jenny that they're innocent!" she cried.

"Pika." Said Pikachu sadly, which meant 'I know.'

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'Poor Lucy. I know she's not a crook.'

"Pika pi." Said Pikachu, which meant 'And neither is Ash.'

"I know that myself too, guys." Said Misty. She nervously paced back and forth.

"Think, Misty. There has to be some way to prove their innocence." She said. A lightbulb then went off in her head.

"I have an idea!" she cried. "All we have to do is get a hold of the pictures that Todd took!"

"Pika pi." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Great idea, Misty!'

"Togepi!" cried Togepi, which meant 'Wonderful idea!'

"Eevee Vee?" asked Eevee, which meant 'But how are we going to do that without Butch and Cassidy noticing?'

"Just leave that part up to me." Misty answered.

The next day, she arrived back at the center wearing a disguise.

"Excuse me?" she said. "I left a Psyduck here yesterday?"

"We have a two day holding policy." Answered Cassidy.

"Uh, but you see, I have to take an emergency trip, and I really need my Psyduck to come with me." Misty lied.

"I understand." Said Cassidy. "Just a minute." She disappeared into the back room.

"Okay, Pikachu, Eevee, go for it." Said Misty. The two of them popped out of her jacket and ran off. Togepi and Little Pikachu also popped out.

"You two stay back here." Said Misty. Pikachu and Eevee started scanning every room looking for Todd's camera.

"Those two sure are taking a long time." Said Misty. "I wish they would hurry." Cassidy returned with Psyduck.

"Miss?" she said.

"Yes?" cried Misty.

Meanwhile, Pikachu and Eevee spotted the camera sitting on top of a pile of boxes.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Ah ha!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'There it is!'

"Pika Pi Chu!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Quick, let's get this over to Misty!' The two of them climbed up the box pile, grabbed the camera and ran back down and out of the room.

Meanwhile…...

"I'm afraid there wasn't enough time to give your Psyduck a proper facial, so there hasn't been much improvement." Said Cassidy. "Don't you have to leave?"

"Well, I'm not in that much of a hurry." Misty laughed sheepishly. Pikachu and Eevee nudged her leg.

"Pika." Whispered Pikachu, which meant 'We got it.' Misty bent down and saw Eevee and Pikachu holding the camera.

"Is something wrong?" asked Cassidy.

"On second thought, I got to run. Bye!" cried Misty. She quickly ran out of the center with Psyduck, Eevee, Pikachu and Togepi in tow, leaving Cassidy very confused.

"Great work, guys." Misty whispered. She ripped her disguise off.

"Time to bust our friends out of jail!" she cried.

Meanwhile, down at the police station….

"Let us out! We're not the crooks!" cried Ash.

"Those two at that breeding center are the criminals!" yelled Brock.

"That's right, not us!" cried Todd.

"Just go down there and see for yourself!" exclaimed Lucy. In another corner of the cell, James was admiring his new Victrebell.

"What a fabulous Victrebell!" he cried. "It's so strong, friendly looking, and healthy too!" The grass type chomped down on James' head again, causing Jessie and Meowth to shake their heads.

"Have you ever been to jail, Lucy?" asked Ash. Lucy shook her head.

"No, but I did get suspended from school once." She answered. "It wasn't even my fault, either. I better explain."

Flashback

"We were about to take a test on the different habitats that Pokemon live in." Lucy explained in voiceover mode.

"Okay, class, you will have one hour to complete this exam." Said the teacher. "Answer the questions the best you can, and good luck." Everyone started writing down answers.

"Of course, I had studied like I was supposed to, and so I knew a lot of the answers." Said Lucy in voice over form. "But someone right beside me who clearly hadn't studied thought it would be a good idea to try and look over my shoulder and copy my work. I didn't think anything of it at first, but as the test wore on, he kept doing it. 'Will you knock that off?!' I cried at him. Unfortunately, that got the attention of the teacher, and she wasn't too happy."

"I can only imagine." Said Ash in voice-over.

"Both of you up to my desk with those papers right now!" the teacher yelled. Lucy and the other kid gulped nervously, but obeyed. One quick glance at the paper later spelled bad news.

"These tests are exactly alike!" cried the teacher. "One of you was cheating, and I want to know who!" The boy glared at Lucy.

"Don't look at me like that!" she cried. "I never cheat!"

"Then how do you explain this test, young lady?!" the teacher demanded.

"Uh…" Lucy stammered. She was at a loss for words.

"No answer, huh?" Said the teacher. "Then I'm afraid I have no choice. Miss Peters, you are suspended for the rest of the week!"

"What?! That's not fair!" cried Lucy. "He cheated, not me!"

"Don't make this worse for yourself, young lady." Said the teacher.

"I was forced to grab my things and go home." Said voice-over Lucy. "And when my dad found out, he was livid! I ended up being confined to my room for the rest of that week. But the next day, the boy's conscience got the better of him. My teacher called us at lunchtime with good news."

"The kid that was copying your work yesterday admitted to cheating on the test." She Said. "He's being suspended, and you can come back to school right away."

"That news thrilled both myself and my dad." Said voiceover Lucy. "He canceled my punishment and hurried me to school as quickly as possible."

"I'm glad this all worked out." Said Lucy.

"So am I, pumpkin." Said Zack.

End Flashback

"Since then, nothing like that has ever happened to me." Lucy finished. She then turned and faced Jenny.

"Officer Jenny, please let us out!" cried Lucy. She gripped the bars of the cell tightly and tried to pull on them. "We already said that we're innocent! I don't even know how much longer I can stand being in the same cell as those three wastes of space in the corner over there!" But Jenny wasn't interested at all.

"If you're trying to win sympathy, it won't work." She said. "The judge is going to throw the book at you Pokemon snatchers!" Everyone groaned, but then Misty stormed into the room.

"You're making a mistake!" she cried. A smile lit up on Ash and Lucy's faces.

"Misty! Pikachu!" cried Ash.

"Eevee! Togepi! Little Pikachu!" cried Lucy. "I'm so happy to see all of you!"

"Eevee?" asked Eevee, which meant 'Are you okay, Lucy?'

"Now that you're here, I'm more than okay." Lucy answered.

"These guys have been telling the truth, Officer Jenny!" cried Misty. She took a set of pictures out of her bag. "And these photographs prove it!"

"Oh, what a cute little Pikachu!" cried Jenny. The pictures she was looking at consisted of Pikachu, Eevee, Squirtle and Staryu having fun on a beach.

"Oops, wrong pictures." Said Misty. She quickly switched photo sets and took out the correct ones.

"Look at these!" she cried. Jenny was horrified when she saw the evidence photos, which consisted of some miserable looking Pokemon stuffed into cages.

"Oh no! That's terrible!" she cried.

"That place isn't a real breeding center at all!" cried Misty. "They just steal the best ones that are brought in!"

"Those two told me that place was like a Pokemon spa." Said Jenny.

"That was a lie!" cried Lucy.

"They crammed the Pokemon into cages!" cried Todd.

"Pika, Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'That's right!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Pikachu and I saw everything with our own eyes!'

"That's why they told you that we were the crooks, because we found out about their plans!" cried Ash.

"They tricked me?" cried Jenny.

"When we heard what those crooks were up to, we went to stop then too." Added Meowth.

"It's true, honest." Said Jessie.

"Yeah, we're good guys for once." Said James. Lucy rolled her eyes at Team Rocket.

"Oh, please." She said. "You three only broke in there so you could steal all those Pokemon for yourselves!" Jessie, James and Meowth fell over in disbelief.

"By the way, which of you took these evidence photos?" asked Jenny.

"That would be me." Todd answered.

"Thanks a lot for doing that." Said Jenny. "This is more than enough to bust Cassidy and Butch." The police truck quickly made its way back to the center, and Jenny, Misty, Ash, Todd and Brock quickly surrounded Butch and Cassidy.

"So, you thought you could frame these kids when it was you who were stealing Pokemon!" cried Jenny. "You're under arrest!"

"But we're not…." Stammered Cassidy.

"We already know everything, so there's no use resisting!" cried Jenny.

"Raticate, go!" cried Cassidy. Raticate materialized out of the Poke Ball.

"Eevee, go!" cried Lucy. "Use your Take Down attack!" Eevee charged at Raticate and gave it a hard shove.

"Go, Pikachu!" cried Ash. "Thunderbolt attack!" Pikachu zapped Raticate with its powerful electric attack.

"Raticate got fried!" cried Cassidy.

"Tough break." Said Butch.

"Let's go!" cried Cassidy. They started to run.

"You crooks aren't going anywhere!" cried Lucy. "Ivysaur, I choose you!" Ivysaur materialized.

"Ivysaur, it's Vine Whip time!" cried Lucy. Ivysaur wrapped its vines tightly around Butch and Cassidy to prevent them from escaping. They were soon thrown into the back of the police truck.

"Love. Power?" they cried.

"The only thing that I love about this is you two getting your comeuppance after what you did to us!" cried Lucy. "Have fun in the slammer with your teammates!" The doors of the truck slammed shut and it drove away.

"Pikachu and Eevee were the ones who snuck into the breeding center and got Todd's camera back." Said Misty.

"Pikachu, you're the greatest!" cried Ash.

"So are you, Eevee." Added Lucy. "I'm very proud of you."

"All of you did a terrific job." Said Jenny. "Now we'll return all of the Pokemon back to their rightful owners."

"That's great, Jenny." Said Ash.

"Anyone hungry?" Jenny asked. She brought them to the restaurant the group had stopped at the previous day. Misty was happily chowing down.

"More ice cream, please!" she cried.

"Hey, take it easy there." Said Ash.

"Yeah, Misty, leave some for the other customers." Said Lucy.

"Don't worry, there's plenty of ice cream left, Misty." Chuckled Jenny. Psyduck and the chef were watching everything.

"And all of it is free since you brought this cute Psyduck to visit my restaurant!" cried the chef.

"You have good taste!" cried Misty. She kept devouring more food.

Meanwhile, Jessie and James were escaping from the jail by digging a tunnel underground.

"I can't stand it here!" cried Jessie. "There's not a single mirror in our cell!"

"I refuse to wear those horrible prison uniforms!" cried James.

"And I wouldn't give this food to a Muk!" cried Meowth.

"We never should've tried to steal from that friend of yours, Jessie!" cried James.

"I'll show her who's the queen of mean!" cried Jessie.

Meanwhile, Ash's group was getting ready to move on.

"I guess the four of you are all heading to Cinnabar Island, right?" Said Todd.

"That's right." Said Ash.

"I'm going to head into the mountains to get some new shots of wild Pokemon." Said Todd.

"That's great." Said Brock.

"We'll all miss you." Said Lucy.

"Bye! I hope we meet again real soon!" cried Misty.

"Same here." Said Todd. So, thanks to a few helpful photographs, getting out of jail was a snap for our heroes. As their journey continues on, who knows what adventures lie ahead? Or, below?

"James, watch where you're throwing that dirt!" cried Jessie.

"Watch?! I can't see a foot in front of my face!" cried James.

"If you don't quit squawking, you'll see a foot in front of your face all right!" cried Meowth. "Mine!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Arcanine, Kabuto, Aerodactyl

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Arcanine, Staryu, Dragonair

 

[MarkL1987]

Episode 60: Princess Vs. Princess

"All right, my favorite holiday!" cried Misty. "Let the Princess Festival begin!"

"Today, the women rule!" cried Lucy.

"Listen up!" cried Jessie. "This is the one day of the year…"

"Where you have to do everything I tell you to do!" cried Misty, Lucy and Jessie.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'This is the best day of the whole year!' Ash, Brock and James looked at the girls with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Everything?" said Ash.

"Pika?" said Pikachu, which meant 'Seriously?'

"How is that different from any other day of the year?" wondered James.

Every year….

"March 3rd, to be precise." Lucy interjected.

Thank you, Lucy. Now, where was I? Oh yes. Every year on March 3rd, the Princess Festival salutes women and girls everywhere. And our friends have found themselves in the center of the celebration.

"Oh, these stuffies are so cute!" cried Misty. She picked up a Poliwag stuffy.

"Look, Eevee, they have a stuffy of you here!" cried Lucy.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Please buy it!' Lucy chuckled.

"All right, if that's what you want, then I'll get it." She replied.

"Eevee!" replied Eevee, which meant 'Yay!' Togepi then spotted a stuffy of himself and got excited.

"Togepi!" he cried, which meant 'Get this one, please!' Lucy smiled at the infant.

"All right, Togepi. Then that way you and Eevee can play with those together." Said Lucy.

"Togepi!" cried Togepi, which meant 'Thanks!'

"We'll take these." Said Misty. "And, since it's Princess Day, we get a special discount."

"Even better!" exclaimed Lucy. During the Princess Festival, every store becomes a bargain hunter's paradise, with all kinds of beautiful new clothes and toys for sale at drastic discounts, if you're a woman. But if you're a male, well, you get to carry packages.

"I wish every day could be Princess Festival Day." Sighed Misty.

"That would be a dream come true for us, but it would be a nightmare for the boys." Said Lucy.

Later, the group was seated at a table at a restaurant.

"Look at all this food!" cried Misty. "Everything looks so delicious!"

"You're right, Misty!" cried Lucy. "It looks so good!"

"All it's all for us!" cried Misty.

"Little cakes with pink icing!" cried Lucy. "I can't resist!" She took a cake for herself and gave another one to Eevee. The guys were amazed at how much food the girls were consuming.

"Gosh. How much can you two possibly eat during this festival?" said Ash.

"Plenty." Misty answered. "Girls get to eat for free during the festival."

"My body's built so that I never gain any weight no matter how much I eat." Said Lucy.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'It's the truth.' The girls then saw that Brock and Ash were barely eating, as evidenced by the very small portion of lettuce on their plates.

"Is that all you're having?" asked Lucy.

"Unfortunately, guys have to pay." Said Ash.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Said Misty. Brock soon got the attention of a waitress.

"Excuse me, miss, would you allow me to be your prince on this Princess Day?" he asked. The waitress laughed.

"That is so cute." She said. "When you grow up big and strong, you'll meet a nice girl."

"Ah!" cried Brock. He started chowing down.

"Shot down again, huh, Brock?" said Lucy. Misty then spotted something.

"Look at that sign over there." She said. Everyone looked at the sign that they assumed Misty had spotted.

"What about it?" said Ash. "It's just an ad for an actor in some dumb movie."

"Not that one." Said Lucy. "The sign right next to it." They looked at the right sign.

"Looks like a great sale." Said Misty.

"We better hurry!" cried Lucy. The two Pikachu shook their heads.

"Pika pi." Said Little Pikachu, which meant 'Here we go again.'

Over in a clothing store….

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Jessie laughed.

"Meowth, that's right!" Jessie placed all her clothing purchases on a cashier counter.

"Charge all of this to the Team Rocket account!" she cried.

Later, Team Rocket was relaxing in the park.

"Jessie, this is boring!" cried James. "I hate this silly Princess Festival!"

"Stop complaining!" snapped Jessie. "You don't think I'm doing all this shopping just for myself, do you?!"

Huh?" cried James and Meowth.

"You mean you bought stuff for us?" said Meowth.

"In your dreams!" cried Jessie. "No. I'm buying lots of great gifts for the boss so that he won't be mad at us for not catching Pikachu and Eevee."

"You think that'll work?" said James.

"Only if she can find a Pikachu and Eevee at half price." Answered Meowth. Team Rocket then heard some rustling nearby and saw a giant pink Pokemon.

"What in the world is that?" cried Jessie. The Pokemon sent out its tongue and ate all the food Jessie had bought, which shocked her.

"It's got good taste." Said James.

"That's one hungry Lickitung!" cried Meowth. The Lickitung then spat out the cans holding the food and ate the remainder of Jessie's purchases.

"Stop that!" cried Jessie. The Lickitung headed for the box containing the clothes that she had bought earlier.

"Hey, that was our present for the boss!" she cried. "Go get your own dinner!" The Lickitung spat out the clothes.

"No! Those are original copies of genuine designer fakes!" cried Jessie. Lickitung started to walk away as Jessie grabbed a Poke Ball.

"Don't think you're going to just eat and run, Lickitung!" she growled. "Go, Arbok!" The poison type materialized, but Lickitung used its Lick attack to paralyze Arbok, much to Team Rocket's shock.

"Arbok, is licked!" cried James.

"How DARE you?!" cried Jessie. She reached for another Poke Ball.

"I'll show you!" she cried. "Poke Ball, go!" The Poke Ball hit Lickitung and sucked it inside. The ball then wobbled and pinged. Meowth and James were surprised.

"She captured the Lickitung!" cried Meowth.

"What are you going to do with it?" asked James.

"I'll deal with this thing later." Answered Jessie. "Right now, I'm going to give my credit cards a good workout." She started walking out of the park.

"Uh oh." Said Meowth.

"The Princess Festival Shop-A-Thon continues." Said James. He and Meowth followed Jessie.

Later on, at a clothing store, the girls were at a clothing store where everyone was fighting.

"Let go of that!" cried Misty.

"Back away from the dress, sister!" cried Lucy. She somehow managed to pry the dress she wanted out of the other person's hand. The guys just sat back and watched the proceedings.

"Gee Brock, I never knew that shopping was such a dangerous sport." Said Ash. On another bench across the hall, James and Meowth were watching everybody go at it.

"I don't think I'm tough enough to be a woman." Said James.

"Yeah." Said Meowth. Lucy then saw a beautiful pink dress she wanted, but as she was about to get it, someone else charged toward it.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Lucy. She managed to grab hold of the dress just as the other person was about to reach for it. Misty then spotted some clothing that she liked.

"Ah, this is perfect!" she cried. "I'll take it!" Jessie spotted the same thing and noticed Misty.

"Not you again!" cried Misty.

"Let go of it, kid!" cried Jessie.

"You let go! I saw it first!" cried Misty.

"It wouldn't look good on you." Said Jessie. "It's for someone who has a sense of style."

"Well it can't be for you, then!" cried Misty.

"I know how we can settle this." Said Jessie. "How about we have a little battle to decide?"

"Okay with me!" cried Misty. They both took out a Poke Ball. Before they could start battling, another woman passed by and took the clothing that Misty and Jessie had both wanted.

"I'll take that." Said the woman.

"Hey, that's mine!" cried Misty and Jessie. The woman glared at them, which made them back off.

"Um, sorry, I must've been mistaken." Said Misty.

"Oh, that'll look divine on you." Said Jessie. The intercom then came on.

"Attention, Princess festival shoppers!" it cried. "Attention, Princess festival shoppers!" Everyone turned their attention to the intercom.

"In just a few minutes, we will be holding the main event of this year's Princess festival, the Queen of the Princess Festival Contest!"

"The contest!" cried Misty and jessie.

"A contest? Cool!" cried Lucy.

"That means tons of beautiful girls!" cried Brock.

"Pika Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'And plenty of Pokemon for us to see!'

"The prize for the contest winner will be a beautiful collection of one of a kind princess dolls." Said the intercom.

"Princess dolls?!" cried Jessie, Misty, and Lucy.

"I don't know what those dolls look like, but I know I want them!" cried Lucy.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'If you want them that badly, then enter the contest!'

"That's just what I plan to do, Eevee!" cried Lucy.

"And in addition to the dolls, the winner will also get their picture taken with screen sensation Fiorello Cappuccino!" cried the intercom.

"I want that too!" cried Lucy. With the exception of her, Misty and Jessie, all the other women started screaming and dashed right in front of the men and the rest of Team Rocket, trampling them.

"Say, kid. Why not use the contest to solve our little dispute." Suggested Jessie.

"And the winner gets to keep the doll collection?" said Misty.

"Fine by me." Said Jessie.

"You know, Eevee, since this contest is kind of an event, I should wear special clothes to make myself look like a princess." Said Lucy.

"Eevee." Agreed Eevee, which meant 'Good idea.'

Later, the other women in the grandstands of the contest were going crazy over Cappuccino, who happened to be in the announcer's booth.

"Wow! What a crowd!" cried the announcer. "It certainly looks like quite a princess Festival competition this year, doesn't it Fiorello?"

"Yes, it's very exciting." Said Fiorello.

"And the winner of our contest must be as poised as a Jynx, sit as serenely as a Jigglypuff, and possess the grace and charm of an Oddish. Now let's meet our Princess Festival contestants!" The curtain rose, and Jessie, Misty and Lucy, along with the other contestants, were revealed, and the guys were surprised at how beautiful they looked.

"Pika pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Misty looks so beautiful!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'So does Lucy!'

"Lucy looks so nice that I could practically kiss her." Said Ash.

"Well, we certainly seem to have a lovely group of young ladies assembled this year." Said the announcer. "Don't you agree, Fiorello?"

"Yes, they're all beautiful." Answered Fiorello.

"Being so smart and beautiful and talented, I shouldn't have a problem winning." Said Misty.

"I'm sure you'll win the contest, little girl." Said Jessie. "Or maybe your friend could. If they have a peewee division."

"Peewee division?!" cried Lucy. "I'll show her who the peewee is!"

"And now, let's take a look at the special prize they'll be competing for! Right here!" cried the announcer. The doll collection rose from the stage.

"There's no other like it in the world!" cried the announcer. "It's unique! It's antique! It's a beautiful, handmade, custom crafted, one of a kind, Pokemon Princess doll set! Batteries sold separately."

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Wow!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Those dolls are all so pretty!'

"I'd like one of those myself." Said Ash. Misty, Jessie and Lucy kept their eyes on the prize.

"Pokemon Princess dolls." Said Jessie.

"The only set in the world." Said Misty.

"They all look so cute!" cried Lucy.

"What a shame. Putting so much effort into a contest that you and your little friend are going to lose." Said Jessie.

"We'll see who loses." Said Misty.

"You tell her, Misty." Added Lucy.

"Now, would all contestants please prepare their Poke Balls?" said the announcer.

"You mean, you want us to battle?" said Misty.

"This isn't just an ordinary beauty contest, then?" asked Lucy.

"Oh no! The festival winner must also be a skilled Pokemon trainer." answered the announcer.

"Si." Added Fiorello. He held up a bracket sheet. "This is how the contestants match up."

"The rules are simple." Said the announcer. "The contestants are broken up into divisions, and they may use up to four Pokemon to battle!"

"Now we're talking!" cried Lucy.

"Okay!" cried Misty.

"May the best woman win." Said Jessie.

Later, Lucy was preparing her Pokemon for battle, while Misty and Jessie were asking their respective teammates to let them borrow some of their Pokemon.

"Please, guys." Said Misty. "I really need to borrow your Pokemon. Just for the contest?"

"Yeah, but Misty, the Pokemon won't just listen to any trainer." Said Ash.

"He's actually right for once." Said Lucy. "Only the trainer who catches the Pokemon will be the one that the Pokemon takes orders from."

"If you tell them to follow all my instructions, they will." Said Misty. "Please say yes."

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'I'll help you, Misty!' He jumped into Misty's arms.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Pikachu!" cried Misty.

"You must really want that picture with Fiorello." Said Ash.

"I'm doing it for the doll set, just like Lucy is." Said Misty.

"The doll set?" said Ash.

"It's because it's one of a kind, isn't it?" asked Lucy.

"You and Ash are only children, so you wouldn't understand." Said Misty. "But when you're the youngest of four sisters, having something that belongs to only you is important. All my sisters had their own princess dolls, but all I ever got was their broken old hand-me-downs. Then they'd say "Isn't that great, Misty? You get three whole sets of dolls for yourself". But now, I'll win my very own princess dolls!"

"It must be a girl thing." Brock whispered.

"Maybe it isn't a girl thing, maybe it's just a Misty and Lucy thing." Said Ash. Lucy smacked Ash on the head for that remark.

"My reasoning for wanting the dolls is simple." Said Lucy. "When I was only four, I saw this set of dolls being advertised in a television commercial. I wanted them so badly, but when I told my dad about it, he said no. 'They're too expensive.' He would say. I tried to reason with him, but as you would expect with parents, he didn't budge. So I never had a chance to own those dolls. But now that I have an opportunity to win them here, I'm not letting this chance pass me by!"

"That's why I need to use your Pokemon!" Misty begged.

"Calm down there, Misty." Said Brock. "We'll help you. You can borrow our Pokemon."

"Yeah, we'll help." Ash said weakly.

"Oh, and I almost forgot." Said Lucy. She handed Togepit over to brock.

"You'll need to watch the baby while Misty and I are battling." Said Lucy.

"No problem." Said Brock. Misty was soon picking her Pokemon.

"Pikachu's an electric type, Bulbasaur's a grass type." She said. "Vulpix is a fire type, and with my Starmie as a water type, how can I lose? Thanks for your help, guys." Lucy had decided on who she was going to use.

"Let's see now. Eevee, you're definitely going to be one of my four." She said.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'I can't wait to battle!'

"For my other three, I think I'll go with Squirtle, Butterfree and Ivysaur." Said Lucy.

"Those are good choices." Said Ash.

"Thanks, Ash." Said Lucy.

"Now, Pikachu and Bulbasaur, you both do whatever Misty tells you to do." Said Ash. "But more importantly, make sure you give it your all. Go out there and win."

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'You got it, Ash!'

"Bulba!" cried Bulbasaur, which meant 'I'll do my very best!'

"You too, Vulpix." Said Brock.

"Vulpix!" cried the little fox, which meant 'Got it!'

"Thank you, both of you." Said Misty. "Now, Lucy and I are ready to battle!"

Later, the tournament was officially underway.

"Go, Kingler!" cried a trainer. Kingler materialized.

"Hang in there, Misty!" cried Ash.

"Don't worry about me, guys!" cried Misty. "Go, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur charged onto the battlefield.

"In the Eastern Division, we have a match between Bulbasaur and Kingler!" cried the announcer.

"Bulbasaur, Vine Whip, go!" cried Misty. The attack wrapped up Kingler.

"The attack against Kingler has worked!" cried the announcer. "Kingler's been Vine Whipped and the poor Pokemon is powerless!" The trainer recalled Kingler, eliminating it from the match.

"Looks like it's back to the Poke Ball for Kingler!" cried the announcer. "What Pokemon will take its place? This is getting exciting, folks!" A Pinsir came out next, but Bulbasaur quickly disposed of it with a Tackle attack. A Cubone came out next, only for it to fall victim to Bulbasaur's Vine Whip attack. Finally, Raticate got taken out by Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf, securing a win for Misty.

"This Bulbasaur won't give its opponents even the slightest chance!" cried the announcer. "It's a real fighter, and Misty is off to a very strong start!"

"That's right! And I'm going to have a very strong finish too!" cried Misty. In another Eastern Division battle, Lucy's Squirtle was facing off against someone's Charmander.

"Squirtle, Water Gun attack!" cried Lucy. Squirtle's Water Gun doused Charmander and sent it to defeat.

"There goes the fire of that Charmander." Said the announcer. "Who will Lucy's opponent send out next?"

"I chose you, Dugtrio!" cried the trainer. Dugtrio materialized.

"Squirtle, Bubble!" cried Lucy. A stream of bubbles hit the ground type and before it could move, it was knocked out.

"And young Lucy is now two for two!" cried the announcer. "Can she make it three for three?" A Flareon came out next.

"Flareon, Flamethrower!" cried the trainer. Flareon shot out a stream of fire.

"Squirtle, use Withdraw!" cried Lucy. Squirtle ducked inside his shell just in time.

"Skull Bash attack!" cried Lucy. A powerful charge resulted in Flareon being knocked out.

"Now only one Pokemon remains for Carly, and she'll have to hope for four straight wins." Said the announcer. "But this tough turtle has shown excellent offense and defense so far.

"Go, Jigglypuff!" cried Carly. Her Jigglypuff materialized.

"Use your Bite attack, Squirtle!" cried Lucy. Squirtle ran up to Jigglypuff to bite it.

"Double Slap attack!" cried Carly. Jigglypuff slapped Squirtle very hard and it left some painful marks. Lucy had to recall it.

"There goes Squirtle, but it battled bravely in this match!" cried the announcer.

"Eevee, get out there!" cried Lucy. Eevee charged into action.

"Take Down attack!" Lucy ordered. Eevee really laid into Jigglypuff, sending it to defeat.

"And Lucy has her first win of the tournament, all thanks to some great work by Squirtle and Eevee!" cried the announcer.

Later, the next battle got underway.

"And in the Western Division, the challenger is using a Primeape!" cried the announcer. "What will her opponent, Jessie, use for her first attack?"

"What choice do you have?" said James. "All you've got is Arbok."

"That's not exactly accurate." Said Jessie. James looked up and was shocked to see Weezing beside her.

"Jessie, please! Don't take Weezing!" cried James.

"You'll never win with just two Pokemon!" cried Meowth.

"You seem to be forgetting something important, Meowth." Said Jessie. They both stared at each other until Meowth realized what she meant.

"Ah! I'm a Pokemon too!" he cried.

"Glad you remembered, now get in there!" yelled Jessie. She threw Meowth onto the battlefield.

"Jessie has chosen to start the battle with a Meowth!" cried the announcer.

"Listen here, banana boy, don't make me mad or I'll have to hurt you!" cried Meowth. One uppercut later, Meowth was sent flying.

"Oh well, it was worth a shot." Sighed Jessie. "Go, Arbok!" Primeape and Arbok charged at each other, but Arbok bit on Primeape's fists, which filled the fighting type's veins with poison.

"Could Arbok's poison be taking effect? It seems to be working!" cried the announcer. Primeape stumbled and fell over.

"Oh no! My Primeape!" cried Jessie's opponent.

"Woo! I'm going straight to the top!" cried Jessie.

"She might just win this thing." James remarked. In other battles, Lucy's Squirtle easily dispatched of a Bellsprout with an Ice Beam to clinch her another victory. Pikachu's powerful Thunderbolt brought down a Fearow, then a Graveler fell to Bulbasaur's Vine Whip. Vulpix then scorched a Tangela with Flamethrower.

"What a competition!" cried the announcer. "With a variety of impressive Pokemon, Misty and Lucy have been earning one victory after another!" The East division final ended up being Lucy against Misty.

Meanwhile, Arbok took down a Machoke with Wrap and Weezing beat a Parasect with its Poison Gas attack.

"And in the Western Division, Arbok and Weezing are bringing Jessie one victory after another!" cried the announcer. The tournament continued, with Jessie making it to the final round. As for who her opponent would be, that would be determined by whoever won between Misty and Lucy.

"The last time you and I battled each other was in Cerulean City, where I won that Cascade badge from you." Said Lucy.

"But this time, there's a more valuable prize at stake." Said Misty. "Let's give it our all!" The girls got ready to send out their first Pokemon.

"Pikachu, go!" cried Misty. Pikachu charged into action.

"Eevee, I choose you!" cried Lucy. Eevee charged ahead.

"Pikachu, go for the Thunderbolt!" cried Misty. Pikachu unleashed its electrical power and zapped Eevee. The small fox Pokemon wasn't too happy at all.

"Fight back with your Take Down attack!" cried Lucy. Eevee ran full speed at Pikachu and sent it flying.

"Skull Bash, Eevee!" cried Lucy. Eevee ducked its head and hit Pikachu with a powerful blow, forcing the electric type to retreat.

"Pikachu!" cried Misty. "You tried, but you'll need to rest up if we make the finals."

"That won't happen because I'm going to make the finals." Lucy insisted.

"We'll just see about that." Said Misty. "Bulbasaur, go!" Bulbasaur materialized and sprang into action.

"Eevee, use Quick Attack!" cried Lucy. But before Eevee had a chance to attack the grass type…

"Vine Whip, Bulbasaur!" cried Misty. Bulbasaur wrapped its vines around Eevee, trapping it.

"Eevee, no!" cried Lucy. Bulbasaur kept slamming Eevee around over and over again with the vines until the small fox Pokemon had been knocked out.

"Eevee, return." Said Lucy. Eevee went back over to her trainer.

"You did great, Eevee, thank you." Said Lucy. "Butterfree, I choose you!" Butterfree materialized next.

"Gust attack!" cried Lucy. Butterfree blew a gust of wind, which started to blow Bulbasaur away.

"Bulba!" cried Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, hang in there!" cried Misty. Once the grass type landed back on the ground, it was still standing.

"Bulbasaur shows once again why it's been a tough battler in this competition!" cried the announcer.

"Razor Leaf!" cried Misty. Butterfree easily flew out of the way of the leaves.

"Sleep Powder attack!" cried Lucy. Butterfree sprayed blue dust on Bulbasaur, which forced it back to the Poke Ball.

"Vulpix, go!" cried Misty. The small fire fox materialized.

"Use your Flamethrower!" cried Misty. The flames Vulpix unleashed badly damaged Butterfree and left scorch marks.

"Butterfree, you better rest." Said Lucy. "Great work, though." Butterfree was recalled, leaving Lucy with two Pokemon left.

"Okay, Squirtle, you're up!" cried Lucy. Squirtle materialized.

"Water Gun!" cried Lucy. Squirtle fired a stream of water at Vulpix, making it cry.

"Vulpix!" cried Misty.

"That blast of water might be too much for Vulpix, but we'll see if young Misty can come up with something crafty here." Said the announcer.

"Confuse Ray!" cried Misty. Vulpix shot a dark blue ray at Squirtle. The water type took it, and it started rolling on the ground.

"Uh, Squirtle?" said Lucy.

"Squirtle's completely confused, and now it doesn't know what's going on!" cried the announcer.

"Fire Spin!" cried Misty. Vulpix used a wheel of fire to trap Squirtle once it stopped rolling, and when the fire stopped, Squirtle was down and out.

"What?! How did…." Lucy wondered.

"You may be good at recognizing the element of type, but you have to also remember that trainers can sometimes throw an element of surprise at you, just like what I did with Vulpix." Said Misty. Lucy recalled Squirtle.

"You tried your best, Squirtle." She said. "It's all on you, Ivysaur!" Ivysaur materialized.

"Tackle attack, Ivysaur!" cried Lucy. Ivysaur went in for the tackle.

"Flamethrower!" cried Misty. Vulpix delivered a powerful blast of fire right before Ivysaur's attack could land.

"Ivysaur, no!" cried Lucy. "Try a Stun Spore!" Bulbasaur attempted to spray gold dust on Vulpix, but the fire type was ready.

"Fire Spin!" cried Misty. Another circle of fire trapped Ivysaur and knocked it out. Lucy was stunned.

"And young Lucy is out of the competition!" cried the announcer. Lucy gave a sigh.

"Ivysaur, return." She said. Ivysaur was recalled.

"You did great, friend." Said Lucy. "That was a great battle, Misty. Good luck in the finals."

"Thank you very much, Lucy." Said Misty. Lucy went to join brock and Ash on the sidelines.

"I tried my best, Ash." She said.

"You really wanted those dolls, didn't you?" asked Ash.

"Yes, but it's okay. I still had a great time participating here." Said Lucy.

"Well, now it's down to just Misty and Jessie." Said Ash.

"And neither one of them is going to give in." said Brock. He handed Togepi back over to Lucy.

"Honestly, Misty should be the one to shut Jessie up after that little argument they had in the store earlier today." Said Lucy.

"Just one more win, Pikachu!" cried Misty. She then saw Jessie staring at her, prompting Misty to stare back.

"Those princess dolls are mine!" cried Jessie.

"Is she getting in your hair?" asked James.

"You want us to take care of her?" asked Meowth.

"I can handle her." Said Jessie.

"Jessie, you don't mean you're actually going to play by the rules?!" cried James.

"This brings back bad memories." Said Jessie. She started to get teary eyed. "I hated those Princess Festivals so much!"

"Is there going to be a flashback?" asked James.

"Could be." Answered Meowth.

"I was the only girl who never had a princess doll." Said Jessie. "Every year, I used to get so sad when I knew the festival was coming."

"I always thought every girl loved the Princess Festival." Said Meowth.

"The Princess Festival just reminded me of what I never had." Said Jessie.

"Well, Jessie, I hope this year will be different." Said James. "I hope you win those dolls!"

"Meowth, too." Said Meowth.

"I'll do my very best." Said Jessie. The three of them started crying before the bell went off to start the last match.

"Well, we're down to the finals!" cried the announcer.

"Si. Finals are fantastic." Added Fiorello.

"Undefeated Eastern Division Champion Misty battles undefeated Western Division champion Jessie for the Queen of the Princess Festival title!" cried the announcer. "Who will be the victor?"

"I'm going to be the victor!" cried Jessie. "What kind of stupid question is that?!" The announcer was left at a loss for words as James and Meowth cheered on Jessie from the sidelines.

"Jessie! Jessie! She's the best!" cried James.

"Let's go, Jess!" cried Meowth.

"Arbok, go!" cried Jessie.

"Pikachu, go!" cried Misty.

"Misty is opening the battle with Pikachu, but Jessie's Arbok may have the advantage." Said the announcer.

"MAY have?!" roared Jessie.

"Uh, Jessie DOES have the advantage." The announcer corrected.

"What a temper." Said Lucy.

"No kidding." Said Ash. Arbok coiled around Pikachu.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock, now!" cried Misty. The attack knocked Arbok out cold.

"Weezing, get that Pikachu!" cried Jessie. Weezing floated onto the battlefield, but was met with the same fate as Arbok.

"That was a lucky shot! Go, Meowth!" cried jessie.

"Meowth can handle anything!" cried Meowth. One electric attack later…

"Except a Thundershock from that Pikachu." groaned Meowth, who fell over in defeat.

"No! Jessie can't lose!" cried James.

"I can't believe it's over." Said Jessie.

"It's not over." Said Meowth. "Not yet. You still have that Lickitung you caught, Jess."

"I forgot! Lickitung!" cried Jessie.

"That's right! You can still win!" cried James. "It's not over as long as you have at least one Pokemon left!"

"I can almost taste victory!" cried jessie. "Go, Lickitung!" The large, pink Pokemon materialized, surprising Lucy, Ash and Misty.

"Team Rocket has another Pokemon?!" cried Misty.

"When did Jessie catch that?!" cried Lucy.

"She must've just got it recently." Answered Brock.

"Just look at the size of that thing's tongue!" cried Lucy.

"Looks like it's last licks for Jessie and her Lickitung!" cried the announcer.

"I have to know about this Pokemon." Said Lucy. She got out her Pokedex.

"Lickitung, the Licking Pokemon. It uses a tongue that is more than twice the length of its body to battle, as well as to gather food."

"That tongue is at least six foot six." Lucy pointed out. "That's two whole meters!"

"Pikachu, be careful and make sure that Pokemon doesn't give you a tongue lashing." Said Misty.

"You can lick Pikachu!" cried Jessie. "Lickitung, go!" Lickitung charged.

"Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt!" cried Misty. Pikachu charged but Lickitung's tongue prevented it from attacking and proceeded to lick and paralyze Pikachu.

"What's happening?!" cried Ash.

"Oh my!" cried Lucy. With Pikachu now stunned, Lickitung hit it with its tongue and sent it flying towards Misty.

"What's wrong, Pikachu?" she asked.

"Pikachu is too dizzy to stay in the action!" cried the announcer. "Lickitung is leading Jessie to a major upset!"

"This is exciting." Said Fiorello.

"Misty's in trouble." Said Ash.

"Yeah. Jessie might pull it off." Said Brock.

"I can't believe I just saw that." Said Lucy.

"Hooray! I did it!" cried Jessie.

"You're almost there, Jessie!" cried James.

"They won't be able to stop you unless Lickitung gets tongue tied!" cried Meowth.

"Misty! Use Bulbasaur!" cried Ash. "Its Vine Whip can block the Lickitung's tongue attack!"

"Right, Ash!" cried Misty. "Bulbasaur, go!" Bulbasaur charged in with a Vine Whip, but Lickitung caught the attack and lifted Bulbasaur above the ground, licked it, paralyzed it and sent it back to Misty.

"Again?!" cried Lucy.

"Two down, and two to go!" cried Jessie.

"Bulbasaur can't beat it either?" said Ash.

"Togepi?" asked Togepi, which meant 'Is Misty going to lose?'

"She very well might." Said Lucy.

"If Misty doesn't think of something fast, she's going to lose this battle AND the contest!" cried Brock.

"That Lickitung is really strong!" cried Lucy.

"All right, Vulpix, go! Use your Flamethrower attack!" cried Misty. Vulpix charged, but Lickitung got to it first and paralyzed it.

"Vulpix, no!" cried Brock.

"I don't believe this!" cried Lucy.

"This could be one of the greatest comebacks in Pokemon history!" cried the announcer. "Now Misty has only one Pokemon left to try and stop this Lickitung, or else Jessie will walk away as Queen of the Princess Festival!"

"Okay, Lickitung, win one more and it's all you can eat on me!" cried Jessie.

"It's not over yet, Misty!" cried Lucy. "You still have one Pokemon left, and that Lickitung has to have a weakness somewhere!"

"Right, Lucy!" cried Misty. "I refuse to lose, so Staryu, it's all up to you! Go, Staryu!" Before Staryu could materialize, Psyduck popped out, much to Misty's shock.

"It's Psyduck!?" cried Ash.

"It's kind of disappointing to beat such a pathetic Pokemon, but a win's a win." Said Jessie. "Slurp that Psyduck and let's get going." Lickitung licked Psyduck, but it had no effect, which left everyone confused.

"It didn't work at all!" Lucy cried. "Misty might have a chance after all!"

"This is incredible!" cried the announcer. "Lickitung's Lick attack isn't working against Psyduck!"

"Wow! Just like in the movies." Said Fiorello.

"Lickitung, finish it off!" cried Jessie. Lickitung wrapped its tongue around Psyduck and squeezed it, but without much of an effect.

"Nice work, Psyduck. Now it's time to fight back!" cried Misty. "Use your Water Gun attack!" But Psyduck didn't do anything, much to Misty's shock.

"Oh no! I knew this was too good to be true!" she cried.

"I'm not going to let that little quack cost me this contest!" cried Jessie. "Lickitung, prepare for Tackle attack!" Lickitung didn't do anything either, however.

"I've never seen anything like it!" cried the announcer. "The Pokemon are totally ignoring their trainers!"

"This guy's obviously never seen Psyduck." Said Lucy. Lickitung tried to lick Psyduck again, but it got on the water type's nerves.

"Something's happening. Psyduck doesn't look so hot." Said the announcer.

"Looks like it's got a headache to me." Said Fiorello.

"We all know by now what happens when Psyduck gets a headache." Said Lucy.

"That's it! Psychic power!" cried Misty. "Psyduck, use your Confusion attack!" Lickitung tried another attack with its tongue, but Psyduck's power sent it back and made Lickitung roll backwards in a ball.

"Huh?" cried Team Rocket. They all got caught in the rolling Lickitung ball and were sent flying off the roof, out of the arena and into the air.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" they cried.

"I won!" cried Misty.

"She did it! Misty has become our new Princess Festival Queen!" cried the announcer.

"Misty is so magnifico." Said Fiorello. The festival committee presented her with the collection of dolls.

"Finally! I have my very own doll set!" cried Misty.

"Pi Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Congratulations, Misty.'

"Good going, Misty." Said Ash.

"Congratulations." Said Brock.

"Yeah, Misty, congratulations indeed." Said Lucy.

"I couldn't have done it without Psyduck!" cried Misty.

"Uh, Misty, I get that you're happy, and we're all happy for you, but you're not going to carry all of those in your arms the rest of the day, are you?" asked Lucy.

"Don't worry. I have a plan for how to handle this." Said Misty.

Later, Misty was shipping a package destined for Cerulean City. By this point, Lucy had gotten out of the dress she had worn during the festival and was back in her regular shirt, shorts and boots.

"You're sending those dolls back home?" Ash wondered. Misty nodded.

"Right back to the Cerulean gym." She answered. "I'd love to see the look on my sisters' faces!"

"They'll be pretty jealous." Said Lucy.

"I bet that's the best prize of all." Said Brock. The Pidgeot Transport shipping truck soon picked up the package and drove off.

"Be careful with them!" cried Misty. So, Misty finally won her very own doll set. But she also won a valuable lesson. She never could've done it without the help of her friends.

Meanwhile, over in the park…..

"I lost, the dolls." Sighed Jessie. Lickitung used its Lick attack on Jessie, paralyzing her.

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up." She said. James and Meowth approached her wearing costumes.

"Jessie?" said Meowth.

"Since you didn't win the real doll set…" said James.

"What are you?" said Jessie. "Oh no." Everyone in Team Rocket, including their Pokemon, were dressed up in princess dolls in an attempt to make Jessie feel better.

"You're all just a bunch of living dolls!" cried Jessie.

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Jigglypuff, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Arcanine, Kabuto, Aerodactyl

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Arcanine, Staryu, Dragonair

 

[MarkL1987]

Episode 61: The Purr-Fect Hero

Our heroes are continuing on their journey to Cinnabar Island, where Ash Ketchum and Lucy Peters hope to win their seventh badges on their way to competing in the Pokemon League. Let's see what adventures await them today, shall we?

"Look over there!" cried Lucy.

"Look at all those Pokemon banners!" cried Ash. The banners flew high with several cool looking Pokemon featured on them.

"You know what that means, don't you?" said Brock.

"All right! My favorite day of the year!" cried Ash.

"You don't mean…." Said Misty.

"Yep, it's finally here." Added Lucy.

"It's Kids Day!" the four of them cried. They looked up at the banners.

"Oh, look! There's a Magikarp! And a Goldeen! And a Gyrados!" cried Misty.

"They look really cool." Said Ash.

"This kind of day reminds me of when I was really little." Said Lucy.

"What would be great is if we could just play all day like we used to on Kids Day." Said Misty.

"Misty, we can't just take the whole day off to play around when Ash and I still have Volcano Badges to win." Said Lucy.

"And anyway, you and Lucy just had your Princess Festival." Brock added. "Kids Day should be a boys holiday only! For men!"

"Real men!" added Ash.

"Real strong men!" cried Brock. Misty and Lucy smacked the boys.

"Lucy and I can be just as tough as you two!" cried Misty.

"Not to mention that Kids Day should celebrate both male AND female children." Said Lucy. "Now are we going to play, or are we going to play?!"

"Play." Brock and Ash answered.

"Pika." The two Pikachu replied, which meant 'Play.'

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'Play.'

"Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" cried a female voice. "I was expecting three Pokemon trainers, but four will do." Everyone looked and saw a preschool teacher standing next to them.

"Please, come in." said the teacher. "All the children are waiting for you in the playground."

"I didn't mean to keep you waiting." Said Brock. "Please forgive me. My name's Brock."

"Brock, uh, hello." Said the teacher.

"It's a pleasure to meet an educator as great and enchanting as you are." Said Brock. Lucy rolled her eyes at him.

"Here he goes again." She sighed. The teacher's phone soon rang.

"Hello? Little Kiddo Preschool." She answered. "What? What do you mean you can't make it? But there are four…I see. Yes. Thank you." She hung up with a frown on her face.

"What's the matter, miss?" asked Ash.

"Why so glum?" asked Lucy.

"Some Pokemon trainers were supposed to come visit today and let the children play with their Pokemon." The teacher answered. "They're so excited about playing with the Pokemon, and now they're going to be so disappointed."

"The four of us our Pokemon trainers." Said Ash.

"You are?" cried the teacher. "Oh, but you don't have time to let the children play with your Pokemon."

"Yes, we do! We have tons of time!" cried Brock. "We have tons of time! The kids can play with all of our Pokemon. Those other trainers must be heartless! You can count on us, miss. Right, guys?"

"Right! No problem." Said Ash.

"Those youngsters are more than welcome to have fun with our Poke-pals." Added Lucy.

"Oh, thank you! The children will have so much fun!" cried the teacher.

"So will we." Said Ash.

"Please, come in." said the teacher.

"Thanks." Said Ash.

"Looks like we get to have fun on Kids Day after all, Eevee." Said Lucy. As the group entered the school grounds, Team Rocket came out from their hiding spots in the nearby forest.

"Meowth's got a feeling that Kids Day is going to be our lucky day." Meowth proclaimed.

"Kids Day. That used to be the day I waited for all year long." Said James. "They used to give us the day off from school and I'd go for a swim in our Olympic sized swimming pool and eat nothing but ice cream sandwiches."

"You had a day off from school?" cried Jessie. "And you had a pool and ice cream sandwiches?

"Of course I did." Answered James. "Didn't everybody?"

"Not me!" cried Jessie. "I never had the day off from school, or a swimming pool in the backyard, and the only sandwiches I ever had were bologna with one slice!"

"That's so sad." Said James.

"A pathetic childhood can create a pathetic person." Said Meowth. Jessie stepped on his head and drove his face to the ground.

"You shut your Meowth!" cried Jessie.

Meanwhile, Ash and friends got ready to meet the children of the preschool.

"Children, you can all come out now and meet four Pokemon trainers!" cried the teacher. The children came rushing in and crowded in front of the group. Some of them started messing with Eevee and both Pikachu.

"Hey there, kids! Take it easy!" cried Lucy. Ash and Lucy managed to scoop up their Pikachu right before they gave off a Thunder Shock, resulting in both of them taking the full brunt of the attack.

"Children, you have to be gentle!" cried the teacher. "You can't treat Pokemon like toys!"

"Your teacher's right." Said Lucy. "We don't have a problem with you guys playing with the Pokemon that we bring out, but you have to be gentle with them. Okay?"

"Okay!" cried the kids.

"There. That's much nicer." Said the teacher.

"Hey! We want to see more Pokemon!" cried a child.

"Show us more!" yelled a second.

"All right. We have a real treat for you today." Said Ash. "Wait until you see these Pokemon!" He tossed his Poke Balls into the air, and they materialized one at a time. Pidgeotto came out first, followed by Bulbasaur, then Squirtle, and finally, Hitmonchan.

"Hey kids! Check these out!" cried Misty, tossing her own Poke Balls. Out came Staryu, Starmie, Horsea, Goldeen, Psyduck, Omanyte, Oddish and Vaporeon.

"That's not all, folks!" cried Brock. He tossed his Poke Balls, and out came Geodude, Onix, Zubat and Vulpix.

"Don't leave me out of the fun here!" cried Lucy. Out of her Poke Balls came Ivysaur, Butterfree and Arcanine. Soon, the kids and the Pokemon were all having fun. One was racing with Eevee, while Horsea and Squirtle blew bubbles at some more. Pidgeotto took a couple for a flying ride, and Arcanine allowed a couple more to ride on his back.

"All the kids are having a blast!" cried Ash.

"I did too when I celebrated Kids Day at their age." Said Lucy.

"Even the Pokemon seem to be having a great time." Said Misty.

"It seems playing with children helps the Pokemon relax." Added brock. "That's important for a Pokemon breeder like me to know." The kids looked curiously at Omanyte.

"I've heard stories about extinct Pokemon, but I didn't think they were actually real." Said another kid.

"I don't know. They look real to me." Said a fourth kid.

"Oh, they're real all right." Said Lucy. "Ash and I have seen what ancient Pokemon look like."

"Oman Omanyte." Added Omanyte, which meant 'We used to be extinct, but we were revived.' Misty then noticed that a little boy was all by himself.

"Uh, excuse me miss…" said Misty.

"Reiko." Said the teacher.

"Ms. Reiko, what's that little boy's name?" asked Misty.

"That's Timmy." Said Ms. Reiko. Everyone else looked at Timmy.

"He doesn't look like he's so happy." Said Lucy. "Let's see if we can turn his frown upside down." The group approached Timmy.

"Hey Timmy, what's the matter?" asked Ash.

"Don't you want to play with the Pokemon?" asked Lucy.

"I want to." Said Timmy. "But….."

"You know, Timmy, if you're afraid of the Pokemon, you don't have to." Said Brock.

"I'm not scared!" cried Timmy. "The only Pokemon I want to meet is Meowth."

"A Meowth?" Ash wondered.

"Why a Meowth?" asked Brock.

"Timmy, why is the only Pokemon you want to meet a Meowth?" asked Misty.

"Well, one day I was playing in the woods." Said Timmy.

Flashback

"All of a sudden, I got attacked by a Beedrill." Said Timmy. The Beedrill dove at Timmy, but before it could sting him, a Meowth jumped down from a tree and used Scratch on the Beedrill.

"A Meowth!" cried Timmy. The Beedrill attacked Meowth, but the Meowth jumped, did a forward roll and kicked the Beedrill, which forced it to retreat.

"All right!" cried Timmy. The Meowth ran into the woods before Timmy could thank it.

"Wait, Meowth! Come back!" cried Timmy. But the Meowth was far out of sight.

"Oh, thank you, Meowth." Said Timmy.

End Flashback

"That's an amazing story." Said Ash.

"Uh Timmy, I have a question." Said Misty. "Did that Meowth say "Now you owe me big time, kid!" or anything like that?"

"Of course not!" Timmy answered. "I know Pokemon can't talk."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Timmy." Said Lucy.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'Me either.'

"Maybe it was a wild Meowth that fought off the Beedrill and saved Timmy." Said Brock. "Still, it's unusual for Meowth to take on a Beedrill like that."

"I guess there's all kinds of Meowth, not just the one that Team Rocket has." Said Lucy.

"That Pokemon must be special, just like the Meowth that saved me." Said Timmy. "That's why Meowth is the only Pokemon that I want to meet. Meowth is my hero!" Three other kids had overheard Timmy, and they came in around him.

"Are you telling that old story again?" asked one of them.

"No Meowth can do what you say it did." Said another.

"It can, too!" cried Timmy.

"Well, prove it then!" cried the first kid.

"But I…" stammered Timmy. He was at a loss for words.

"You can't prove it, can you?" asked the first kid.

'You're just a liar, Timmy!" cried the second one.

"I am NOT a liar!" cried Timmy.

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" yelled another kid.

"Okay, okay, settle down." Said Ash. A van soon came into the school yard, which grabbed everyone's attention.

"What's that?" asked Ash.

"Pika pi?" asked Pikachu, which meant 'What's that, Ash?'

"Come one, come all, and be amazed!" cried a female voice. "You'll be absolutely astounded by the world's greatest Pokemon magic show!"

"It's mystifying! It's twistifying!" cried a male voice. "And we have a special treat in honor of Kids Day!"

"Today, for one day only…." Said the female voice.

"Our magic show is free!" they both cried. The kids rushed over to the van.

"A Pokemon magic show?" said Misty.

"We gotta see this!" cried Ash.

"You up for watching a magic show, Eevee?" asked Lucy.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Yes, please!'

"Now, who wants to see a little Pokemon magic?" asked the female voice. The kids all confirmed that they did.

"First, we'll make two certain Pokemon disappear." Said the male voice.

"Pikachu and Eevee." Said the female voice. Meowth then popped his head out of a box.

"You really think we can pull this off?" he said.

"Don't make me saw you in half." Replied James. He pushed the lid down, and soon, everyone went inside to watch the show.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" cried Jessie. "And children of all ages!"

"The Pokemon magic show is about to begin!" cried James.

"Look inside the magic box." Said Jessie. The children did so, but found the box empty.

"As you can see, there's nothing inside." Said Jessie.

"But once two Pokemon are placed inside, something mysterious will happen." Said James.

"Let's see. Do we have a Pikachu and an Eevee in the house?" asked Jessie. She looked directly at the two Pokemon.

"Pika?" said Pikachu, which meant 'Who? Us?'

"A Pikachu and Eevee?" said Ash.

"Why, yes!" cried jessie. "Those two are absolutely necessary for this illusion."

"What do you say, guys?" asked Lucy.

"Eevee." Answered Eevee, which meant 'Well, I…' Before Eevee could say anything else, the two "magicians" snapped up Eevee and Pikachu and took them to the stage.

"Thank you very much." Said James.

"First, we'll put these two into the magic box." Said Jessie.

"Like so." Added James. He put Pikachu and Eevee in the box.

"And close the lid." Said Jessie. She closed the lid of the box. "Now, watch."

"One…" said James.

"Two….." said Jessie.

"Three!" they both cried. Some smoke appeared out of the box and Meowth popped out.

"Meowth?" aid Ash.

"It's Meowth!" cried Timmy. All the other kids chanted and cheered Meowth's name.

"Thank you! And that's our show for today." Said Jessie.

"Wait a minute!" cried Ash.

"What did you do with Pikachu and Eevee?!" cried Brock.

"I don't think you guys are real magicians at all!" cried Lucy. "I've seen lots of other magic shows, so I know for a fact that the volunteer for a disappearing trick is always supposed to reappear afterwards!"

"Plus, you look very familiar to me!" cried Ash.

"Same here!" cried Lucy. "The hair is a dead giveaway!"

"Just who are you?" asked Misty. Jessie and James removed their disguises and revealed their true selves.

"Time to prepare for trouble!" cried Jessie.

"Presto-changeo and make it double!" cried James. The kids started crowding around them.

"All right, quiet time now." Said Jessie.

"We're just getting to the good part." Said James.

"Like we need to hear it." Said Lucy.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!" But before Jessie could say her name, the kids began grabbing onto both her and James.

"Even they've had enough." Said Misty.

"This sure is a tough crowd.

"We have to get Pikachu and Eevee out of that box!" cried Lucy. The kids soon started playing around with Weezing like it was a ball.

"That's mine! No fair!" cried James.

"Weezing makes a nice volleyball." Remarked Jessie.

"Stop that!" cried James.

"Children, please stop before someone gets hurt!" cried Ms. Reiko.

"Weezing, Smokescreen now!" cried James. Weezing spread a thick smokescreen, which blinded everyone. As the smoke spread out, Timmy made a mad dash for Meowth under the assumption that it was the one who had saved him.

"Meowth!" cried Timmy. But in his excitement, he knocked the box over, sending Pikachu and Eevee out and putting him inside.

"Quit playing around, Meowth!" cried James.

"Let's get out of here!" cried Jessie. She and James picked up the box under the assumption that Pikachu and Eevee were in it and left.

"Hope you enjoyed the show!" cried Jessie and James.

"Hey, wait for me!" cried Meowth. Team Rocket drove away, with Ash and friends in hot pursuit.

"Hey, come back!" cried Ash. "Pikachu!"

"Eevee!" cried Lucy.

"Pika pi." Said Pikachu, which meant 'We're right here.' Ash and Lucy turned and saw Pikachu and Eevee come out of the smoke filled room.

"You guys came back, just like magic!" cried Lucy.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'We sure did.'

"Where's Timmy?" said Ms. Reiko. "We looked all over the school, but we can't find him anywhere!"

"Wait a second, Team Rocket wanted Pikachu and Eevee for that little trick." Said Lucy. "But if Pikachu and Eevee are both here…." She suddenly realized what had happened.

"Then that means Team Rocket must've taken Timmy by mistake!" cried Lucy. Everyone gasped at the sudden realization.

Meanwhile, out in the woods….

"Ready, James?" said Jessie.

"Ready, Jess." Answered James.

"After all this time of chasing down the twerp and his friend, we finally got what we wanted!" cried Jessie.

"Let's take out our two new Pokemon!" cried James. Jessie quickly opened the box.

"Gotcha!" she cried. But all they saw was a teary-eyed Timmy.

"That's definitely not Pikachu or Eevee!" cried Jessie. Timmy cried out in fear.

"Don't cry. Don't cry, sweetie." Said Jessie. "Don't cry." James looked inside the box.

"There's no Pikachu or Eevee anywhere in here." He said.

"How could that be?" wondered Jessie.

"Maybe it's magic." Answered James. Timmy then spotted Meowth.

"It's Meowth! I can't believe it's really you!" he cried. "Put me down! Put me down!" Jessie let him go so he could approach Meowth.

"It's me, don't you remember?" cried Timmy. "I was in the forest and a Beedrill came after me! And then you came and chased it away!" Meowth looked at Timmy in confusion.

"Ever since you saved me that day, I've wanted a Meowth of my very own!" cried Timmy. "That's because you're my hero!"

"I think you've got the wrong…" started Meowth, but jessie and James covered his mouth before he could continue.

"Give us a moment." Said Jessie.

"Quiet, Meowth." Said James. He and Jessie ran behind the van.

"This kid never saw you." Said Jessie. "Some wild Meowth must've saved him from the Beedrill. But he thinks you're that Meowth."

"Me?" said Meowth.

"You have to make him think that you're the wild Meowth he saw." Said James.

"Do I have to?" asked Meowth.

"Team Rocket may be rotten cheaters, but we're not in the business of destroying children's dreams!" cried James. "At least, not yet."

"And Team Rocket may be liars, but one lie can make one of us a hero in the eyes of one little boy on Kids Day!" cried Jessie.

"I could be a hero?" said Meowth. He imagined himself in a superhero costume and signing autographs for lots of kids.

"I'll do it!" cried Meowth.

"And don't forget to keep your mouth shut." Said Jessie.

"One word and he'll know that you're a fake." Said James.

"No problem." Said Meowth.

"Remember, not a single word." Instructed Jessie.

"Don't forget." Added James.

Meanwhile, Timmy looked around for Meowth.

"Meowth? Meowth? Where did you go?" asked Timmy. Jessie and James came out from behind the van.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, crybaby." Said Jessie.

"Even tough guys are scared of Team Rocket." Said James.

"Now we'll show you why." Said Jessie. Timmy backed away and Meowth got between him and Team Rocket.

"You don't think a measly Meowth can stop us, do you?" laughed Jessie.

"You don't stand a chance." Said James.

"Come on, Meowth!" cried Timmy. "You can protect me from these two just like you saved me from that Beedrill!"

"Meowth!" cried Meowth.

"We're going to get you!" cried Jessie. James chuckled wickedly.

"Meowth, use your Fury Swipes just like you did on that Beedrill!" cried Timmy. Meowth looked at Timy in a confused way as Jessie and James closed in on them and laughed. Meowth then jumped and attacked them with Fury Swipes, knocking them down.

"Good acting." Said Jessie.

"Meowth was a little too good." Said James.

"Hooray!" cried Timmy. Meowth laughed, took Timmy's hand and went back to the school with him.

Meanwhile, the gang was getting ready to look for Timmy.

"All right, let's split up!" cried Ash. "We have to find Timmy!"

"Good!" cried Brock.

"Right!" cried Misty.

"The rest of you kids go back inside where it's safe." Said Ms. Reiko. The kids just stood there.

"I SAID GO BACK INSIDE!" yelled Ms. Reiko. Before they could move, Timmy's voice was heard.

"Hey!" cried Timmy.

"It's Timmy!" cried Ash.

"He must've escaped from Team Rocket." Said Lucy.

"Look! Here's the Meowth that I told you about!" cried Timmy.

"How'd you find it, Timmy?" asked Brock.

"Meowth came back to help me again!" cried Timmy.

"Wow!" cried Lucy.

"This wild Meowth looks like the one from Team Rocket." Said Brock. Misty wasn't so sure, though.

"It sure does." She said.

"Hey, Timmy. I guess you were telling the truth after all." Said a kid.

"I shouldn't have called you a liar, Timmy." Said another kid. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"That's okay." Said Timmy. "I'm just happy I finally found my friend Meowth."

"Is it okay if we play with Meowth too?" asked a kid.

"Is that okay with you, Meowth?" asked Timmy. Meowth nodded.

"Okay!" cried Timmy.

"Really?" cried the other kid. All the kids gathered around Meowth.

"Everybody loves Meowth!" cried Timmy.

"That's right!" cried Meowth.

"Hey, that Meowth just said something." Said Misty.

"What?" asked Ash.

"Meowth. I definitely heard it say something." Said Misty.

"She's right! That Meowth most definitely talked!" cried Lucy. Everyone was surprised that Meowth had spoken, and Meowth realized that he had just blown his cover.

"Meowth?" asked Timmy. Meowth turned and prepared to run.

"Don't go!" cried Timmy. The kids all pleaded for Meowth to stay, but the cat Pokemon was torn between his desire to make the kids happy and his loyalty to Team Rocket.

"Meowth, come back!" cried Timmy. He ran after Meowth, with Ash and his friends following behind.

"Wait!" cried Ash. The other kids and Ms. Reiko also followed.

Elsewhere, Meowth regrouped with Team Rocket.

"What happened?" asked Jessie.

"I think I might've slipped." Answered Meowth.

"What a relief!" cried Jessie.

"The hero show is over!" cried James. Ash's group soon arrived to where Meowth's trail had led.

"It's a dead end." Said Brock.

"That's weird. We followed Meowth straight in here." Said Ash.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Said Lucy.

"And that bad feeling is right, because you fell right into our trap!" cried Jessie. Everyone looked and saw Jessie and James on top of a giant rock.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Before Meowth could say his name, James and Jessie smacked him upward.

"Not you guys again!" cried Ash.

"Pika." Groaned Pikachu, which meant 'Oh, great.'

"We're retired from the world of magic." Said Jessie.

"But we still have some tricks up our sleeves." Said James. The kids all gathered around Team Rocket's rock platform.

"Go back to where you came from, little brats!" cried Jessie.

"Disappear, now!" cried James. The kids refused to disappear.

"Time for a Pokemon battle!" cried Jessie and James.

"If that's what you want!" cried Lucy.

"All right, you asked for it!" cried Ash.

"Arbok, go!" cried jessie.

"Weezing, go!" cried James. The two poison types materialized.

"Pidgeotto, I choose you!" cried Ash. Pidgeotto materialized.

"Butterfree, go!" cried Lucy. Butterfree materialized.

"I'll help you guys." Said Brock. "Onix, go!" Onix materialized.

"Weezing, Smog attack!" cried James. Weezing started to spread its smog.

"That old trick won't work this time!" cried Ash. "Pidgeotto, Gust attack!"

"Butterfree, use your Gust attack too!" cried Lucy. The attacks succeeded and blew Weezing and the smog back, but everyone saw a hole in the ground, and Arbok nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd Arbok go?" said Brock.

"I don't know!" cried Ash.

"It went underground!" cried Lucy.

"Peekaboo!" cried Jessie. Arbok burst from the rock wall and dove at Pidgeotto and Butterfree.

"Pidgeotto, look out!" cried Ash.

"Be careful, Butterfree!" cried Lucy. Before Arbok could land an attack, Onix rammed into it and sent it at Jessie and James, who ducked in time. But the impact from Arbok hitting the rock wall dislodged a rock that came down to the battlefield, endangering everyone.

"Look! That rock!" cried Brock.

"We have to evacuate, now!" cried Lucy.

"Run for it, guys! And hurry!" cried Ash. As everyone was running, Timmy tripped.

"Oh no! Timmy!" cried Ash. He rushed over, picked Timmy up in his arms and carried the boy as the rock started rolling downhill. Meowth saw the rock.

"It's too late!" he cried. Ash saw the rock coming toward him and Timmy.

"Ash! Timmy! No!" cried Lucy.

"They're going to get…" said Meowth. But before he could finish, another Meowth jumped over him and kicked the rock in half with one shot. Timmy instantly recognized which Meowth it was.

"Meowth!" cried Timmy.

"What was that?" asked Meowth. He then noticed Jessie and James on top of another rock and rolling towards him, which forced hm to run away.

"Get us off this thing!" cried Jessie and James. "Team Rocket just keeps rolling along!" Everyone looked at the wild Meowth and laughed.

Later, the group was about to leave the preschool.

"Thank you so much for all of your help." Said Ms. Reiko.

"If you need more help, just call me!" cried Brock.

"You know something, Ash?" said Timmy. "When I get big, I'm going to be a Pokemon trainer just like you, Brock, Misty and Lucy. Then me and my Meowth can get into the Pokemon League!"

"The Pokemon League, huh?" said Ash.

"That means someday, you'll be competing against Ash and Lucy." Said Misty.

"It'll be fun to compete against an old friend, won't it, Timmy?" said Ash. Timmy nodded.

"Ash and I look forward to it." Said Lucy.

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'As do Pikachu and I.' The group then left.

"Take care!" cried Ash.

"See ya!" cried Misty.

"Bye, everybody!" cried Brock.

"Pika!" cried Little Pikachu, which meant 'Happy Kids Day!' Timmy's Meowth watched the group go on their way. As they head toward their next Pokemon adventure, our friends know that this is one Kids Day they'll never forget. I don't think Timmy is going to forget it either.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket was walking on a trail in front of an evening sky.

"Too bad, Meowth." Said Jessie. "If you had kept your mouth shut, you could've made everyone think that you were the hero."

"Nah. Those helpless bunch of sticky little brats would've driven me nuts." Said Meowth. "Besides, you two need me more than they do."

"Dream on, Meowth." Said James. "By the way, what do we do now?"

"Meowth, we've got to get Pikachu and Eevee!" cried Jessie.

"Don't worry, Jessie. Meowth always has a plan." Said James. "Don't you, Meowth?" Meowth simply chuckled.

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Arcanine, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Jigglypuff, Kabuto, Aerodactyl

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Jigglypuff, Staryu, Dragonair

 

[MarkL1987]

Episode 62: Riddle Me This

Ash and Lucy are getting closer to entering the Pokemon League. Now they're ready to compete for their seventh badges, the Volcano Badge. As Ash and his friends sail towards Cinnabar Island, who knows what surprises await them.

"I can't wait until we get to Cinnabar." Said Misty. "It's supposed to beautiful."

"It is." Said Lucy. "Compared to other islands that I've been to, the ocean views on Cinnabar are incredible."

"It's got an awesome volcano." Said Brock. "Best of all, its' Pokemon Research Laboratory is one of the best in the world. Trainers from all over come to learn about the latest Pokemon techniques."

"I'm heading right for the Cinnabar gym, and my next badge!" cried Ash.

"So am I." said Lucy. "It's going to be seventh gym, and then we only have one more after that before we can head to the Pokemon League." A familiar voice was soon heard, one which belonged to Gary Oak.

"Don't worry, girls! You'll all get a chance to take a picture with me!" cried Gary. He noticed Ash and Lucy. "Hey! Who let the loser and his girlfriend on the boat?!"

"I am NOT his girlfriend!" cried Lucy.

"Gary? You're going to Cinnabar Island too?!" cried Ash.

"I'm assuming you're heading to the gym too, right?" said Lucy. The group soon saw all the passengers on the boat relaxing, diving into the pool, having a drink and enjoying ourselves, to the surprise of everyone.

"There sure are a lot of people on this boat." Said Ash. "I bet all of them are Pokemon trainers."

"If that's the case, we're looking at a long line of people looking to fight for the Volcano Badge." Said Lucy.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'I'll say.

"Pika pi." Said Little Pikachu, which meant 'Lots of 'em.'

"Trainers?! I'm surprised you two don't have a clue." Replied Gary. "Pokemon trainers haven't been to Cinnabar Island since my grandfather's days as a trainer. These people are all tourists. Cinnabar Island's merely a resort." Ash and lucy stumbled, and Eevee and both Pikachu just about fell off their trainer's backpacks.

"It's a resort?!" cried Ash.

"Then why are you on this boat?" asked Lucy.

"I've earned so many badges already that I'm taking a break to work on my tan." Gary answered.

"He's so cool." Said the girls.

"Real trainers never take any breaks." Said Ash. "Just ask Lucy over here. So while you're busy tanning, we'll be at the gym winning our badges!"

"From what I've heard, Cinnabar Island doesn't even have a gym anymore." Said Gary.

"What do you mean? It's got to have a gym!" cried Ash.

"If there's no gym, then there's no way we can win a badge here." Said Lucy. "I'm siding with Ash. There has to be a gym somewhere there."

"You two can believe what you want to, but you'll find out for yourselves the hard way." Replied Gary. "You're both just wasting your time."

"We'll just see who's the one wasting time!" cried Lucy.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Got that right!' The boat soon reached Cinnabar Island, but the group was disappointed to not see a gym anywhere near them upon disembarking.

"Maybe Gary was right." Said Ash.

"This place is a tourist trap." Said Misty.

"Could the gym really be gone?" wondered Lucy.

"Might as well look around." Said Brock. As the group walked around the island, they saw lines of people everywhere.

"No sign of a Pokemon gym, but there sure are a lot of tourists here." Said Brock. "There's so many nice islands. I wonder why this one became so popular." The group soon stopped in front of somebody.

"The answer is a riddle." Said the person. "What do tourists think is hot in cool?" The group thought about the riddle that they were given.

"I know the answer to that one!" cried Ash. "If you lie down in front of an open refrigerator, and you wrap yourself in an electric blanket, you'll be hot and cool at the same time. Right?"

"That is totally, wrong." Said the person.

"Well, hot springs are really hot." Said Misty.

"And tourists think they're cool!" cried Lucy.

"That's right!" cried the stranger.

"Wow, Misty and Lucy are pretty good with riddles." Said Brock.

"You see, friends, because of the volcano, there are lots of hot springs here on Cinnabar Island." Said the stranger. "And every year, more and more tourists come to visit 'em. Now, they've even taken over Cinnabar Island. Trainers don't even come anymore. Tourists! They've ruined the island!"

"We have one question." Said Lucy.

"Is the Pokemon gym still here?" asked Ash.

"We have to earn a Volcano Badge." Said Lucy.

"I heard that the gym leader was a guy named Blaine." Said Misty.

"His gym is right where you put your glasses." Said the stranger.

"Glasses." Said Ash.

"That's a tricky one." Said Brock.

"Actually, it's fairly simple." Said Lucy. "Glasses go on your eyes, which means the gym has to be in front of our eyes.

"Right again!" cried the stranger. "Blaine's gym is right in front of your eyes!" He pointed to a building right in front of them that was all dilapidated.

"Pika?!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'What in the world happened there?!'

"That's it?" asked Brock.

"It's a wreck." Added Misty.

"Wreck would be an understatement." Said Lucy. "THAT PLACE IS A TOTAL DISASTER!"

"Blaine got tired of battling tourists who cared more about postcards and t-shirts than about Pokemon." Said the stranger. "That's when he abandoned the gym.

"Then there's no way Gary would've gotten a badge from here." Said Lucy.

"But Lucy and I aren't just some stupid tourists!" cried Ash. "We're real trainers! We came all the way out here so we could both battle for a Volcano Badge!"

"I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place, my friends." Said the stranger. He handed Ash and Lucy a business card, which showed that he owned an inn.

"Here's my card if you need anything." He said.

"The Big Riddle Inn." Said Ash.

"You own an inn?" said Lucy.

"How can you run a hotel and then blame tourists for ruining the island?" asked Misty. "That doesn't make any sense to me." She then noticed that the man was gone.

"I wonder how he disappeared like that." Said Brock.

"He sure was weird." Said Ash.

"It's just a shame that the gym is no more." Said Lucy.

"Well, even if this place is full of tourists, we should still check out that lab." Said Ash.

"It can't be that bad." Said Brock.

"Oh yeah?" said Misty. The gang looked and saw lots of tourists outside the lab.

"It's just a bunch of souvenir stands!" groaned Ash.

"Looks like the lab's another tourist attraction." Said Brock.

"Great! What next?" groaned Lucy. Ash's stomach started growling.

"I guess all this disappointment's making me hungry." He said.

"We should call it a day." Said Misty. Another stomach growl was heard.

"Ash isn't the only one who's hungry." Said Lucy.

"Pika pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Eevee and I are also hungry!'

"Why don't we check out the Pokemon Center?" suggested Misty.

"Good idea." Said Brock.

"Let's go." Said Ash. As they walked by, two familiar characters worked a stand that was nearby.

"Not one cookie sold." Said Jessie. "Our snack stand's a flop. Isn't that just our luck, James?"

"I'll say it is, Jessie." Replied James. "And we're right near that lab and it's packed with powerful Pokemon!"

"Guess that's how the cookie crumbles." Said Meowth.

Meanwhile, Ash's group had arrived at the Pokemon Center, but it was packed with people looking for a place to sleep.

"I'm very sorry." Said Nurse Joy. "We've got so many visitors that they're even sleeping in the lobby. It's the busy season. We simply don't have any room." The group soon left.

"I think we were the only ones in that whole center who actually have Pokemon on us." Said Brock.

"Well, I guess we can always camp out again in our sleeping bags." Said Misty.

"Hey, look!" cried Ash. They spotted a hotel up ahead.

"I bet we can get a room there." Said Lucy. However…

"You must be joking." Said the owner. "We haven't had a room in weeks." The group went to find another hotel.

"Let's try this one." Said Lucy. But they got the same result.

"No rooms in this hotel either!" cried the second owner. "We're booked up for a year! Try coming back late next summer, or maybe in the fall!" At a third hotel….

"Sorry, nothing here!" And a fourth….

"Have you tried the hotel across the street?" And a fifth….

"Sorry, no vacancies." The group walked away from the hotel both tired and hungry.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a Horsea." Said Ash.

"I'm too tired to eat." Said Misty. "I just want a nice, soft bed.

"Some sleep would be nice, if we can just find a hotel that actually has space!" cried Lucy. Ash turned around and heard music coming from the hotel they had just tried. He also smelled food coming from the same place.

"I've just about had it!" cried Brock. "Let's find a spot to camp out!"

"Hey. That smells good." Said Ash. He started walking toward the source of the music and the smell.

"Wait, Ash! Where are you going?" asked Brock.

"Pika Pi!" cried Pikachu.

"We already tried that hotel! It's full!" cried Misty.

"What part of no vacancies did you NOT understand?!" cried Lucy.

"She's right, so just forget it!" cried Brock. Ash soon saw silhouettes behind the door where the music and smell were coming from.

"It's not fair!" cried Ash. "They're having a banquet in there!" His stomach started growling again as one of the silhouettes got up, opened the door and showed himself.

"Gary?!" cried Ash.

"I thought I heard something out here." Said Gary. "Hey, look. It's the sucker squad!"

"WHAT DID HE JUST CALL US!?" screamed Lucy.

"So, what hotel are you all staying in?" asked Gary.

"Well, we couldn't find any hotels with rooms available, so….." Lucy answered.

"We're camping out." Ash finished.

"Too bad you don't have a place like this." Said Gary. "Take a look." The group looked inside and saw Gary's cheerleader squad and an Electabuzz and Hitmonlee wearing traditional Japanese costumes. They were holding two shamisen and Ash's group were left in shock over how much food they had.

"See all the food they give you?" said Gary. "And that's just the appetizers." Everybody gulped nervously.

"Say, I have an idea." Said Gary. "I'll give you my leftovers in a doggy bag if you spin around three times and say Pikachu."

"Not on your life!" cried Ash. "I'd die of hunger first!" His stomach growled again.

"Maybe you should let your stomach do the talking next time." Said Gary. Pikachu tried doing what Gary said, but Ash stopped him.

"No, Pikachu!" cried Ash. "We'll never get so desperate that we have to sink to Gary's level." His stomach growled again, along with Lucy's.

"Even your Pokemon feel sorry for the two of you." Said Gary. "I've never seen anyone so pathetic!"

"Have you tried a mirror?" said Misty.

"He probably couldn't because it would break from all his constant boasting!" cried Lucy.

"Let's go, guys." Said Brock. Before they could leave, a Jigglypuff showed up.

"Great, that must be the entertainment." Said Gary. Upon seeing the Jigglypuff, Ash and his friends ran for the hills. Togepi jumped out of Lucy's backpack, only for Eevee to catch it and catch up with the others.

"Eevee Ve!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Togepi!'

Meanwhile, the Jigglypuff got on a stool and got ready to start singing.

"They don't know what they're missing." Said Gary. The Jigglypuff started singing, which put everyone to sleep, frustrating it.

Meanwhile, Ash's group stopped to catch their breath after running off so quickly.

"That was a close one." Said Lucy.

"Jigglypuff almost got us." Said Ash.

"At least those guys are sleeping now." Said Misty.

"Ash, what about that card that old guy gave you and Lucy?" said Brock.

"Good idea, Brock." Said Lucy. "Maybe he has rooms available for us." Ash got out the card.

"Must be directions to his hotel." He said. Brock and Lucy examined the card more closely.

"I see something written on it." Said Lucy.

"That's strange." Said Brock. "If you look near the swing, you'll see my hands. Or at least my face."

"Not another riddle!" cried Ash.

"This guy and his riddles are making my brain hurt." Groaned Lucy. Brock looked behind him to his left.

"There's a swing over there, but I don't see anyone's hands or face." He said.

"Me either."

"You'll see my hands, or at least my face." Said Misty.

"I know! He means a clock!" cried Lucy.

"A clock?" repeated Ash.

"Pika?" said Pikachu, which meant 'A clock?'

"Look up there!" cried Lucy. "You can see the hands and face of a clock." Everyone looked up over the trees behind the swings and saw a building with a clock.

"That must be the Big Riddle Inn!" cried Misty. The group soon reached the inn and were greeted by the same man as before.

"Once again, the girls came up with the correct solution." He said.

"Tat was an easy one." Said Misty.

"As a prize, I'll give you all free rooms in the hotel." He said.

"Your riddles may be dumb and stupid, but your riddles are fantastic!" cried Ash.

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment, Ash." Said the man. Ash's stomach growled once again.

"I guess you'll be wanting dinner too." The man added.

"Right." Said Ash.

"Will dinner be free for solving the riddle too?" asked Lucy.

"Of course, my friend." Said the man.

Meanwhile, at the Pokemon Research Lab, several fighting type Pokemon were seen working out while a Poliwhirl cleaned itself in the pool. Outside and above the lab, team Rocket got ready to attack.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!" Meowth interrupted them.

"Blast off at light speed, prepare to fight, and all that other junk!" he cried. "Let's rob that Pokemon lab!"

"Bombs away!" cried Jessie.

"Roger!" cried James. Team Rocket soon dropped a bomb on the lab building right at the same time a call was sent to the Big Riddle Inn.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" answered the old man. He picked up the phone right away.

"Thank you for calling the Big Riddle Inn." He said. "Be our guest, and we'll keep you guessing." In the dining room, everyone except Misty was chowing down.

"Aren't you hungry, Misty?" asked Ash.

"I just want to go to bed." Answered Misty.

"But you can't sleep on an empty stomach." Said Lucy. "I know that feeling all too well." The group soon got wind of the call the old man had answered.

"That's terrible!" he cried.

"Is something wrong?" asked Ash.

"The Pokemon lab is being attacked by a balloon!" cried the old man. The group was shocked by the news.

"Attacked?!" cried Ash.

"By a balloon!" cried Misty.

"But that means only one thing." Said Brock.

"Team Rocket!" they cried simultaneously.

"I thought we left them locked up in jail after that whole breeding center incident." Said Misty.

"They must've escaped." Said Brock.

"Not even a jail cell can stop them?!" cried Lucy.

Meanwhile, the Pokemon in the lab were being lifted up and out in a net from Team Rocket's balloon.

"Just a heave and a ho!" cried Jessie.

"And up all the Pokemon go!" cried James. He and Meowth both laughed.

"This sure beats selling cookies!" cried Jessie. Team Rocket laughed as Ash's group arrived on the scene.

"They're floating away!" cried the old man.

"We're about to burst their bubble!" cried Ash. "Pidgeotto, go!" Pidgeotto materialized.

"Butterfree, I choose you!" cried Lucy. Butterfree materialized.

"Pikachu, you and Pidgeotto go help bring back all those Pokemon!" cried Ash.

"Eevee, you and Butterfree help out too!" cried Lucy.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Gotcha!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'On it!' The two of them jumped onto the backs of Pidgeotto and Butterfree and they flew to the balloon.

"Heave and ho and away we go!" cried Team Rocket. They suddenly stopped pulling when they noticed Pidgeotto, Butterfree, Pikachu and Eevee flying towards them.

"Oh no!" cried Jessie.

"It can't be!" cried James.

"Yes it can!" cried Meowth. Pikachu used Thundershock to shock Team Rocket and force them to drop the net and the Pokemon inside it. The electrical power running through and around the balloon caused it to spring a leak and go flying away.

"Looks like we're blasting off again!" cried Team Rocket. On the roof of the lab, the rescued Pokemon celebrated.

"Thanks for saving those Pokemon, guys." Said the old man. "You all deserve a big reward, so I'll let you in on a little secret. Blaine built a gym that tourists never see." The group perked up with excitement upon hearing that news.

"He did?" said Ash.

"And the tourists don't know where it is?" asked Lucy. The old man nodded.

"It's in a place where firefighters can never win." He answered. Ash and Lucy fell over in disbelief.

"We have to solve another riddle?!" cried Ash. "What kind of reward is that?!"

Later, the group was back at the inn and in the hot spring meditating over a possible answer for the riddle they had been given.

"I can't figure it out." Said Ash.

"It's where a firefighter can never win." Said Brock.

"Where could a firefighter never win?" said Misty. "Maybe someplace that doesn't have enough water."

"If firefighters are supposed to put out fires, they'd have to do it somewhere with no water and lots of fire." Said Lucy. She and Misty then noticed that someone was missing.

"Togepi?" Misty called.

"She's over there, Misty." Said Lucy.

"What are you doing, Togepi?" asked Misty. Togepi was looking at the Gyrados shaped fountain where all the water was coming from. Lucy and Misty both saw this and gasped.

"Togepi, get away from there!" cried Lucy. "That water's boiling hot! You'll get hurt!" Togepi excitedly jumped into the fountain, but soon, the fountain head moved downward and a secret door in the base of the volcano opened up, which destroyed the barrier wall of the hot spring in the process.

"There was a secret passage at the base of this volcano the whole time?!" cried Lucy. The group soon headed into the secret passageway.

"Is it just me, or is it getting hot down here?" asked Misty.

"Oh, it's getting hot all right." Said Brock.

"All this heat is making me sweat." Said Lucy. They soon reached the bottom of the stairs.

"It's a door!" cried Ash.

"Someone had to have made something down here." Said Lucy. "But whatever it is, it has to be a thousand degrees in here! No wonder I'm sweating!" Ash tried to open the door, but he burned his hand on the handle and reeled in pain. Lucy just shook her head at him.

"It's burning hot!" cried Ash.

"How can we possibly open the door if we can't even touch it?" said Lucy. Right at that moment, the door opened to reveal a battlefield suspended over lava.

"A battlefield inside a volcano!" cried Lucy. "Amazing!"

"Then this must be Blaine's gym." Said Ash.

"So THIS was the answer to the riddle." Said Lucy.

"No firefighter could win in this place." Said Brock.

"There sure isn't enough water to put out a volcano." Said Misty. The lights soon came on, and the old man was shown to be on the opposite side.

"I guess you solved my riddle." He said.

"Eevee?" asked Eevee, which meant 'That guy?'

"What are you doing here?!" cried Ash.

"It's not a hat, but it keeps your head dry." Said the old man. "If you wear it, it's because you already lost it."

"Not another one!" cried Lucy.

"Uh, an umbrella?" asked Ash.

"An umbrella keeps your head dry, but you don't wear it because you lost it." Said Brock.

"Yeah, I guess not." Said Ash.

"It's a wig!" cried Lucy.

"What do you mean?" asked Ash.

"A wig isn't a hat, but it keeps your head dry in the rain." Said Misty.

"And the only reason you would wear a wig is if you lost all your hair." Added Lucy.

"And the girls have done it again." Said the man. He removed his wig and mustache to reveal an older man. "Wig is correct!" he cried.

"It's a wig!" they all cried.

"Don't you get it?!" the man cried. "I wear a wig because I'm really Blaine, the gym master!" Everyone sweat dropped over the revelation.

"Great disguise, Blaine." Said Lucy. "Tell me this. Do you still remember your old gym?"

"I sure do." Said Blaine. "One battle I fondly remember there was the one against the one and only Red. It was an intense battle too, just like the heat in this volcano. I'm sure this battle we're about to have will be the same." He looked at both Lucy and Ash.

"Now then, which of you two wants to go first in battling me three on three?" Blaine asked.

"You go ahead, Ash." Said Lucy. "I've gone first each of the last few gyms we've been to."

"Fine by me." Said Ash.

"Be careful. He must raise some awesome fire Pokemon in this Volcano." Said Brock.

"Use your water Pokemon, Ash." Said Misty.

"I know that!" exclaimed Ash.

"The only water Pokemon that Ash has on him right now is Squirtle." Said Lucy. "If he goes down, then it might be tough. But I know Ash can do it."

"Ready to begin, Ash?" said Blaine.

"Ready when you are!" cried Ash.

"Fine! I've already selected my first Pokemon!" cried Blaine. "Ninetales, go!" Ninetales materialized, and Ash got out his Pokedex.

"Ninetales, the Fox Pokemon. The evolved form of Vulpix."

"I knew he'd choose a fire type!" cried Ash. "Big mistake! Squirtle, I choose you!" Squirtle materialized.

"A water type, how predictable." Said Blaine. "Go, Ninetales, Fire Spin now!"

"Fire Spin is Ninetales' most powerful attack!" cried Brock.

"He might be trying to end this early!" cried Lucy. Ninetales launched its attack.

"Squirtle, Water Gun attack, now!" cried Ash. The attacks collided, but Fire Spin overcame the Water Gun. Squirtle panicked and hid in his shell to protect himself as the attack hit.

"Pika, Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Oh no! Squirtle!'

"Squirtle!" cried Ash. "Squirtle, you can't give up yet!" Squirtle came out of his shell, but he fainted from the power and heat of the Fire Spin.

"Choosing a Pokemon is more than just selecting the right type." Said Blaine. "I takes wisdom to win a gym battle. Someone with six gym badges should know that by now."

"Then I'll fight fire with fire." Said Ash. He got out a Poke Ball.

"I'm counting on you, so give it your best shot." He said.

"Wait, whose Poke Ball does he have?" said Lucy. She suddenly realized which Pokemon he was about to send out.

"Ash, don't!" she cried.

"Charizard, I choose you!" cried Ash. Charizard materialized.

"So you've chosen a Charizard." Said Blaine. "Return, Ninetales." Blaine's Ninetales returned to its Poke Ball.

"Now I'll teach that kid a lesson." Said Blaine. "Go, Rhydon!" Rhydon materialized, prompting Ash to get out his Pokedex again.

"Rhydon, the evolved form of Rhyhorn. It is known as the Drill Pokemon. Its large horn gives it formidable attack power." Charizard simply turned its head away and refused to fight.

"Please, Charizard, I'm begging you!" cried Ash. "Please battle!"

"That's embarrassing." Said Brock.

"Pika." Agreed Pikachu, which meant 'Very.'

"This poor kid is way in over his head." Said Blaine. "Rhydon, Horn Drill!" Rhydon started spinning his horn for the attack, but Charizard flew off the battlefield and over to a nearby rock for a nap.

"Oh, give me a break, Charizard!" cried Ash.

"Charizard has left the ring. Rhydon is the winner!" cried Blaine.

"Oh no, Ash." Said Misty.

"I told you not to use Charizard, Ash!" cried Lucy.

"It's all up to you now, Pikachu." Said Ash.

"Your little Pikachu doesn't stand a chance against my Rhydon." Said Blaine.

"Forget its size!" cried Ash as he returned Charizard to his Poke Ball. "Pikachu, max power!" Pikachu charged.

"Rhydon, Fury Attack!" cried Blaine. Rhydon charged and tried to hit Pikachu with its horn, but Pikachu dodged.

"Hey, pretty impressive!" cried Blaine.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt attack, now!" cried Ash. The attack hit, but Rhydon brushed it off.

"Ha! Electric attacks won't work, boy." Said Blaine.

"Ash, don't you know by now that electricity is ineffective on rock and ground type Pokemon?" said Lucy. Ash then thought of something.

"Pikachu, the horn!" cried Ash. Pikachu looked up at Rhyon's horn and saw what he had to do.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'That's it!' Pikachu jumped and aimed a Thunderbolt at Rhydon's horn. The attack landed and took its toll.

"Oh no!" cried Blaine.

"It worked!" cried Ash.

"Smart move!" cried Brock. "Rhydon's horn acts like a lightning rod!"

"I'm sure Rhydon got a charge out of that!" cried Misty.

"That has to be a real shock for Blaine!" cried Lucy. Rhydon fell on its back, dazed and beaten.

"Rhydon, return!" cried Blaine. Pikachu started breathing heavily while Rhydon got recalled to its Poke Ball.

"I'll have to choose another Pokemon." Said Blaine.

"Pikachu can handle anything!" cried Ash.

"This Pokemon is too hot to handle." Said Blaine. "And it has a power that should be of interest to you, because it turns all of its opponents into ash!"

"No fair!" cried Ash. "It's too hot to solve riddles!"

"That's no riddle, Ash!" cried Lucy. "That's a warning!"

"She's right!" cried Blaine. "I choose, Magmar!" The lava suddenly rose.

"Magmar?" said Ash. The lava fell back down as Magmar was revealed.

"What is that?!" cried Ash.

"Let's find out." Said Lucy. She got her Pokedex out.

"Magmar, the Spitfire Pokemon. Its body is like a furnace, making Magmar a living inferno. It has been discovered only near active volcanoes." Magmar and Pikachu stared each other down.

"Magmar, Fire Punch, now!" cried Blaine. Magmar's fists set themselves on fire to attack, but Pikachu was able to dodge most of the oncoming attacks.

"You're too fast for it, Pikachu!" cried Ash. One Fire Punch did manage to graze Pikachu, which sent him reeling back.

"You can do it, Pikachu!" cried Ash. Pikachu tried a Thunderbolt next, but Magmar's heat blocked it.

"Magmar's using an air lens!" cried Brock.

"What's an air lens?" said Ash.

"Magmar heats the air around it to a super high temperature, which refracts electric attacks." Brock answered.

"Oh no!" cried Ash. Magmar threw Fire Punch after Fire Punch at Pikachu, backing it up to the edge of the arena, just inches from falling into the fiery void below. Pikachu worriedly looked behind him and saw that he was only one wrong move away from falling into the molten lava.

"Pikachu!" cried Brock.

"This looks bad!" cried Misty.

"You better believe it is!" cried Lucy. "One wrong move from Pikachu, and he'll be going for a swim. But in molting hot lava instead of refreshing cold water!"

"Magmar, Fire Blast!" cried Blaine.

"Ash, Fire Blast is the most powerful attack a Fire type has!" cried Misty.

"My Arcanine has that attack!" cried Lucy.

"You better give up, Ash, or Pikachu's toast!" cried Brock.

"We can't give up now!" cried Ash. "We've got to think of something!"

"Magmar, go!" cried Blaine. Magmar fired its attack.

"I can't look!" cried Lucy. She quickly turned away.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash. And so, it's Pikachu versus the volcano! Will little Pikachu be turned into the world's cutest lava lamp? Find out in our next fiery episode!

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Arcanine, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Jigglypuff, Kabuto, Aerodactyl

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Jigglypuff, Staryu, Dragonair

 

[MarkL1987]

Episode 63: Volcanic Panic

In the last episode, Ash and his friends went searching for the Cinnabar Island gym so that Ash and Lucy could battle for their seventh badges. But our heroes were in for a scorching surprise when they found the hidden gym suspended over a pool of molten lava. Blaine, the riddle loving gym leader, accepted Ash and Lucy's challenge, battling Ash first and choosing Ninetales to go up against Ash's Squirtle. But water was no match for fire as Ninetales won the first round with a powerful Fire Spin attack. Next, Rhydon faced Ash's Charizard. But as usual, Charizard refused to obey Ash's commands and ended up snoozing and losing! How could Ash possibly turn things around and battle back for his Volcano Badge? It was Pikachu to the rescue with another electrifying effort to defeat Rhydon, but then, Magmar rose out of the lava as Blaine's final Pokemon. The powerful spitfire Pokemon proved to be invulnerable to voltage, and relentlessly pushed Pikachu to the brink of incineration! Pikachu is in real Pika-peril!

Magmar launched its Fire Blast attack at Pikachu. The poor electric type panicked nervously.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Oh my!'

"Eevee!" Eevee cried, which meant 'Pikachu!'

"Pikachu, duck for cover!" cried Ash. Pikachu did so, but when the attack got to where Pikachu was standing, the electric mouse had disappeared.

"Pikachu!" cried Ash.

"Pikachu!" cried Misty and Brock.

"Oh, I hope he didn't fall in!" cried Lucy. She soon spotted Pikachu hanging for dear life on the edge of the battlefield.

"Talk about your close call!" cried Lucy. "Pikachu managed to grab onto the edge before falling in from that Fire Blast. Oh no, it looks like he has a burn mark on his back!" Pikachu got back onto the battlefield, but he was exhausted.

"Your Pikachu doesn't know when to give up." Said Blaine.

"Forget it, Pikachu!" cried Ash. "It's not worth it!"

"Pika?" said Pikachu, which meant 'Say what?'

"I quit!" Ash declared. "No badge is worth losing Pikachu!" Lucy breathed a sigh of relief.

"You did the right thing, Ash." She said.

"You made a wise decision, Ash." Said Blaine. He put his wig back on. "And it was just in time too. If you had been foolish enough to continue with the match, you definitely would've been disqualified as a Pokemon trainer. Your Pikachu needs rest. The hot springs will help it recover from its injuries." He started walking away.

"Hey, where are you going, Blaine?" said Ash. "You have to give me another chance."

"We may battle again, someday." Said Blaine. He was about to walk out of the room before being stopped by Lucy.

"Hold it, Blaine!" she cried. "I still have to battle you for a badge!"

"Thanks for reminding me, Lucy." Said Blaine. He took his wig off and came back. "I hope you'll be a better fighter than Ash."

"I'm sure I will!" Lucy declared with confidence.

"I'm sorry, Pikachu. It's my fault that we lost." Said Ash. "But I'm not leaving Cinnabar Island until I beat Blaine and get that badge!"

"That's the spirit, Ash!" cried Misty.

"Ash, you, Misty and Brock take Pikachu to the hot springs like Blaine said." Instructed Lucy. "Oh, and Misty, bring Togepi with you too. I'll let you know how my match turns out once I'm finished." The field was soon cleared, and the battle was about to begin.

"Ninetales, you're up first!" cried Blaine. Ninetales materialized.

"Butterfree, I choose you!" cried Lucy. Her pink Butterfree materialized.

"All right, Butterfree, let's start with a Tackle attack!" ordered Lucy. Butterfree charged towards Ninetales.

"Quick Attack!" ordered Blaine. The attacks collided with each other.

"Ninetales, try another Quick Attack!" cried Blaine. Ninetales made another charge.

"Wait until Ninetales gets close." Said Lucy. Ninetales got ready to pounce, then….

"Sleep Powder, now!" cried Lucy. Butterfree sprayed blue dust on Ninetales, stopping its attack and sending it to sleep. Blaine was forced to recall Ninetales.

"Very clever strategy, young lady." Said Blaine. "But let's see how your Butterfree handles my Rhydon!" He tossed another Poke Ball and Rhydon materialized.

"Can you keep going, Butterfree?" asked Lucy. Butterfree nodded.

"Okay! Now, use your Gust attack!" cried Lucy. Butterfree's attack didn't have much effect due to Rhydon's dual ground and rock typing.

"Go, Rhydon! Use your Thunderbolt attack, now!" cried Blaine.

"What?!" cried Lucy. Rhydon's horn glowed yellow, and then delivered a powerful electric attack that sent Butterfree to the ground in defeat.

"Butterfree, return!" cried Lucy. She got out Butterfree's Poke Ball and recalled it.

"Thanks, Butterfree, you battled well." Said Lucy. She then tossed another Poke Ball.

"Squirtle, it's your turn!" she cried. Squirtle materialized.

"Ah, so you have a Squirtle too, just like your friend." Said Blaine.

"Go, Squirtle. Bubble Beam attack!" ordered Lucy. The attack landed.

"Rhydon should feel that." Said Lucy. "Another Bubble Beam, Squirtle!" Squirtle launched another attack.

"Rhydon, pop those bubbles with your Horn Drill!" ordered Blaine. Rhydon charged right through the Bubble Beam and stuck its horn out.

"Squirtle, try and get out of the way!" cried Lucy. Squirtle attempted to hide in his shell for protection, but the horn landed before the small water type could do so.

"Squirtle, no!" cried Lucy. Squirtle fell to the floor in a defeated state.

"Good try, Squirtle." Said Lucy as she recalled the water type. "Now I'm down to just one Pokemon left, so I better choose carefully.

"Eevee?" asked Eevee, which meant 'Can I battle next, please?'

"I would rather you didn't." said Lucy. "You don't have a chance against that big Rhydon, for one thing. Two, I don't want what happened to Ash's Pikachu earlier happening to you, especially if we have to face Magmar." She grabbed another Poke Ball and tossed it.

"Arcanine, go!" she cried. Arcanine materialized.

"So you also brought a fire type with you." Said Blaine. "I hope it'll be more obedient than your friend's Charizard."

"Charizard may not exactly trust Ash right now, but I know that Arcanine definitely trusts me." Said Lucy.

"Well, let's see what happens." Said Blaine. "Go, Rhydon. Take Down, now!" Rhydon charged towards Arcanine.

"Arcanine, stop Rhydon with your Leer attack!" cried Lucy. The attack forced Rhydon to stop dead in its tracks.

"Fire Spin!" cried Lucy. Arcanine shot a circle of fire at Rhydon, engulfing it and sending it to the floor defeated.

"Rhydon, return!" cried Blaine. The ground type was recalled to its Poke Ball.

"Not too shabby, miss." Said Blaine. "You're clearly a much better battler than Ash. But now, it's time for both of us to fight fire with fire. I think you know what I mean based on my earlier match with your friend."

"Oh no. You don't mean…." Said Lucy.

"I do mean." Said Blaine. "Prepare to meet your ultimate match. Magmar, I choose you!" Magmar took to the field. Arcanine almost freaked out when he saw the powerful Magmar.

"Just stay calm, boy." Said Lucy. "Let's try not to lose our cool, okay?"

"Magmar, use your Flamethrower!" cried Blaine.

"Arcanine, use your own Flamethrower!" cried Lucy. The two attacks collided with each other.

"Fire Blast attack!" cried Lucy.

"Magmar, you do the same!" cried Blaine. The attacks collided again, although the one from Magmar was a bit more powerful and broke through the stalemate, hitting Arcanine.

"Hang in there, boy!" cried Lucy.

"Now, Magmar, Confuse Ray!" cried Blaine.

"Oh no!" cried Lucy. Magmar shot a ghost type ray at Arcanine, hitting it and sending the dog running rampant all over the field.

"Uh oh, Arcanine's confused!" cried Lucy. "What to do, what to do….."

"Magmar, Fire Punch!" cried Blaine.

"Arcanine, try to use your Take Down!" cried Lucy. Arcanine charged, but at the wrong person.

"Wait, no! Not at me!" cried Lucy. The next thing she knew, she was knocked down by the Take Down attack. She quickly got back up, though.

"Arcanine, what are you doing?!" cried Lucy. "I'm not a Pokemon, you're supposed to go after Magmar!" Arcanine roared loudly.

"Hyper Beam to end this!" cried Blaine. Magmar shot out a powerful beam at Arcanine.

"Watch out!" cried Lucy. The attack hit Arcanine, sending it to the floor. Arcanine tried to get up, but it collapsed and fainted.

"No! Arcanine!" cried Lucy. "Speak to me!" Arcanine let out a small whimper, but enough to show that it was okay."

"You did your very best, Arcanine." Said Lucy. She quickly recalled her fire type.

"Don't worry, we'll bounce back from this." She said to Arcanine's Poke Ball.

"You certainly gave me a better fight than Ash did." Said Blaine. "Once your Pokemon recover, we'll have a rematch." He put his wig on and walked out of the room.

Later, Ash and Lucy were at the hot springs, where Pikachu's injuries were being tended to.

"You'll feel a hundred percent soon, Pikachu." Said Ash. "And even better, when we win!"

"I can't believe you still want to battle Magmar." Said Misty. "It's Fire Blast attack is way too powerful! Even with all my water Pokemon put together, I probably still wouldn't be able to beat it."

"It turns out that I also lost to his Magmar." Said Lucy. "To make matters worse, this was the first time on this whole trip that I failed to beat a gym on my first try. But I'm determined to win that Volcano Badge, just like Ash is."

"I know we can win, Lucy." Said Ash. "It's just a matter of how to beat that Magmar."

"There are plenty of other Pokemon gyms out there, guys." Said Brock. "And neither of those hang over volcano pits."

"But Lucy and I need a Volcano Badge!" cried Ash. "Without it, we can't get into the Pokemon League.

"That's right!" Lucy added.

"If Charizard would battle, I know I'd win!" cried Ash. "But it still won't listen to me."

"That's why I told you not to use it in your battle." Said Lucy. "But of course, you had to be stubborn and not listen."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the barrier wall, bamboo shoots popped out of the water, with two familiar figures popping out alongside them.

"It's getting warm down here." Said James.

"I know, but we have to get used to the heat." Said Jessie.

"It's getting hotter!" cried James.

"Stop complaining!" snapped Jessie. The two of them started struggling for air when Meowth came in.

"If you two can't stand the heat in this hot spring, how are you going to stand it inside of that volcano?" he said.

"How else can we kidnap Magmar?" said James.

"We've got to have Magmar and beat Pikachu and Eevee too." Added Jessie.

"I've got a plan to snag Magmar." Said Meowth. "We'll go down to the volcano and tell Magmar that it won some phony prize, and then when its guard is down, we'll use our freeze blaster! Now, where am I going to get gloves that have only three fingers?"

"We'll have our own Pok-sicle!" cried Jessie.

"A Magmar-ita!" added James. Team Rocket headed down into the volcano, armed with freeze blasters, ready to put their plan into action. They soon reached the door to the battlefield.

"Here we go." Said Meowth. He put his paws on the door to try and open it, only to get burned. He gave a loud scream.

"My paws got burned!" he yelled. "Freeze blast 'em, quick!" Team Rocket burst into the battlefield.

"Hello? Is Magmar home?!" cried Jessie.

"Time to present our winner with the Pokemon Sweepstakes grand prize!" cried Meowth. "A trip for two to Mount Vesuvius! We've come here to the home of our lucky winner, Magmar." Jessie and James stomped on him before he could continue.

"Why do you always have to hog the spotlight, Meowth?!" cried Jessie.

"Give us a chance for once!" cried James. Magmar suddenly came out of the lava to see what the commotion was about. In the process, he frightened Jessie and James.

"Here's our…" said James.

"Winner." Finished Jessie.

"Don't just stand there gawking at it!" cried Meowth. "Freeze blast it before it's too late!" jessie and James pointed their freeze blasters at Magmar.

"Chill out!" cried Jessie.

"Once we get through with you, Magmar, we'll slide you back to the boss like a giant hockey puck-emon." Added James. He and Jessie activated the target reticles on their freeze blasters.

"Magmar, you're permafrost!" cried Jessie.

"Ready, aim, freeze blast!" cried Meowth. Jessie and James fired two freeze blast rockets at Magmar, successfully freezing it and prompting Team Rocket to celebrate.

"We've got a Pokemon on ice! Now the boss will treat us nice!" cried Jessie.

"When we show him what we've done, our team will be number one!" cried Meowth. During their celebration, Magmar's body heat melted the ice and freeze Magmar, which Team Rocket noticed.

"We interrupt this message to bring you a Magmar meltdown!" cried Meowth. "Hurry up! Freeze blast the whole place! Freeze blast the whole place!" Jessie and James fired more freeze blast rockets throughout the volcano, which froze the walls. However, Ash and his group returned from the Pokemon Center and felt the rumbles from the freeze blast rockets.

"Whoa! What's going on?!" cried Ash.

"It feels like a missile or rocket!" cried Lucy. Blaine soon rushed out.

"I was on my way to the lavatory when I heard all the noise!" cried Blaine. "Of course, in a volcano, every room is a lavatory! Get it?"

"Now Lucy and I see how you come up with those riddles." Said Misty.

"I think we better check out what's happening inside the gym." Said Brock. Everyone rushed down to the gym and saw Team Rocket freezing the whole place. Blaine nearly got frozen when he entered.

"Ice in a volcano? That's freezer burn!" he cried.

"Maybe you should cool it with the jokes!" cried Ash.

"Look who it is!" cried Brock.

"It's Team Rocket!" cried Misty.

"I should've guessed it was them." Said Lucy.

"We've got to get that Magmar!" cried Meowth! "We've got to get that Magmar!" Team Rocket kept firing more freeze blast rockets.

"What's going to happen to this gym if it's filled with ice?!" cried Blaine.

"It'll be a snow cone!" cried Ash.

"He wasn't making a riddle!" cried Lucy.

"Freezing all this hot rock can set up a chain reaction deep inside the volcano!" cried Blaine. The volcano soon started rumbling.

"What's going on?" said James.

"I think we're cracking up!" cried Jessie. The ice on the walls began to crack.

"I was afraid of this!" cried Blaine. "The ice is cooling off the rock, it's cracking apart!"

"Isn't the ice just going to melt?" asked Lucy.

"It's happening too fast!" cried Blaine. "The rock is already shattering! Lava will flow through cracks in the rock, and the surge will cause a huge volcanic eruption!" Everyone was shocked at what Blaine had said.

"If this volcano erupts, the whole island will end up like that ancient Italian city!" cried Lucy. The inside of the volcano soon started cracking, steam began to escape through the cracks, and rocks began to fall into the lava pool as everyone stood in terror. The battlefield started falling into the lava with Magmar still on it, but he jumped off just before the battlefield touched the lava.

"My gym is destroyed!" cried Blaine.

"So will we if we don't get out of here!" cried Lucy. Team Rocket began to panic.

"Hey! You know where we are?" cried Meowth.

"Between a rock…." Said James.

"And a very hot place!" cried Jessie. Team Rocket was soon sent blasting off due to a large amount of steam pushing up the rock they were standing on.

"Team Rocket's freeze blasting off again!" they cried. Everyone soon started sliding as the inside of the volcano continued to break apart. Lava came gushing out of a large crack in the wall.

"Oh no! Lava's starting to burst through the cracks!" cried Blaine. "I'm afraid it's only a matter of minutes until the volcano blows!"

"When that happens, it'll be like Pompeii all over again!" cried Lucy.

"What can we do?!" cried brock.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'We have to stop it fast!'

"Magmar, if you pile up rocks in the crater, it might be enough to block the lava flow!" cried Blaine. Pikachu and Eevee helped get the job started.

"Wait!" cried Blaine. "Only a fire type Pokemon can withstand the heat from the lava!"

"A fire type?" said Ash.

"Yeah, like my Arcanine!" cried Lucy. "Fire types can really take the heat." Magmar began to throw rocks to try and stop the flow.

"Charizard, I choose you!" cried Ash. Charizard materialized.

"Charizard, help Magmar to block the crater and stop the lava flow, NOW!" ordered Ash. However, Charizard refused to obey.

"Charizard never listens to me…." Sighed Ash. The volcano started shaking again, and Magmar kept throwing more rocks into the crater to stop the flow as the group watched. But just when it seemed the flow had stopped, more lava burst through. Charizard noticed Magmar's strength as it threw rocks into the crater. Despite Magmar's best efforts, more steam and lava were able to escape.

"It's not working!" cried Misty. "We have to run for it!"

"That won't do any good." Said Lucy.

"She's right." Said Blaine. "When the volcano blows, there won't be any place left to run. If Magmar can't stop it, this island will be destroyed.

"And it'll be a repeat of Pompeii!" cried Lucy.

"We've got to do something!" cried Brock.

"Magmar, please, you've got to…." Said Ash. He suddenly noticed something, which was Charizard helping out. Charizard and Magmar smiled and glanced at each other before getting to work.

"I can't believe my eyes!" cried Lucy. "Ash, look!"

"Charizard's helping Magmar!" cried Ash.

"Great! Two Pokemon are much more powerful than one!" cried Blaine.

"They'll still need some more help, though." Said Lucy.

"Okay Onix, Geodude." Said Brock. "Rock Pokemon can take the heat! Go!"

"Arcanine, you can help out too!" cried Lucy.

"And Staryu, you can keep them all cool while they work." Said Misty. "Go!"

"You too, Squirtle!" cried Ash. All Pokemon materialized, including Psyduck, who ran right past everyone with a rock in his hands while an annoyed Misty chased it.

"Not you, Psyduck!" she cried. Pikachu and Eevee stepped up with the working team.

"Eevee, you and Pikachu lead the charge." Said Lucy. The two Pokemon both counted to three.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which both meant 'Go!' The working and hydration teams got started with their respective jobs. The working team blocked the crater while the hydration team kept everyone cool.

"That's what I call teamwork!" cried Ash.

"That's the best kind of work." Added Lucy.

"They're all working together!" cried Misty.

"Keep up the good work!" cried Brock. Togepi tried to help but it almost fell into the lava pit. Lucy noticed this and quickly saved it.

"Togepi!" she cried. She pulled the infant up.

"You're a little too little." She said. The rest of the team kept working until the lava flow was finally blocked. Magmar and Charizard soon got a fiery look in their eyes. Both of them wanted one thing, and one thing only.

"You were awesome, Charizard!" cried Ash.

"All of our Pokemon did a great job out there!" cried Lucy.

"I don't know how to thank you and your friends, Ash." Said Blaine. "Maybe if I give you and Lucy….."

"Are you going to give us our Volcano Badges now?" asked Ash. Blaine stumbled in disbelief.

"No!" cried Blaine. "What I was going to say before you interrupted me was that I'll give you two another chance to battle me for your Volcano Badges."

"All right!" cried Lucy. "I just know we'll both win this time, Ash!"

"And pretty soon, we'll be able to join the Pokemon League!" cried Ash. Magmar and Charizard stared each other down.

Later, the group headed to the summit of the volcano.

"Since my gym has been wrecked, would you two object with we held our matches on the volcano?" said Blaine. "It's over the lava flow where I first discovered Magmar!"

"It's okay with me." Answered Lucy. "Ash, what do you think?"

"That's just fine with me too, Blaine." Said Ash.

"Very well." Said Blaine. "Lucy, are you ready?"

"I am, Blaine!" cried Lucy. "I won't lose this time!"

"I'm sure you and Ash both saw the fire in the eyes of Magmar and Charizard, so they'll have a one on one after we're done." Said Blaine. "That means for my rematch with you, I'll have to select a different Pokemon in Magmar's place. Now if you're ready, let's begin the battle. Go, Ninetales!" He tossed the Poke Ball and Ninetales materialized.

"Squirtle, you're up first!" cried Lucy. Her Squirtle materialized.

"Switching things up by sending your Squirtle out first this time." Said Blaine.

"That does make a lot of sense since water types have an advantage over fire Pokemon." Said Misty.

"Ninetales, Quick Attack!" cried Blaine. Ninetales jumped from pillar to pillar in order to reach Squirtle.

"Dodge it, quick!" cried Lucy. Squirtle used his tail to jump out of the way.

"Water Gun!" cried Lucy. Squirtle launched a stream of water at Ninetales.

"Flamethrower!" cried Blaine.

"Bubble Beam!" cried Lucy. The attacks collided, making a thick layer of steam. Ninetales had no idea where Squirtle was.

"I can't see a thing!" cried Blaine.

"Bubble Beam again, Squirtle!" cried Lucy.

"What?!" cried Blaine. Ninetales was struck by the Bubble Beam attack.

"Quick Attack!" cried Blaine. Ninetales used the move, but it wasn't moving as quickly as it normally would.

"The added effect of Bubble Beam." Said Lucy.

"What added effect?" asked Ash.

"When a Pokemon gets hit by Bubble Beam, like what happened to Ninetales, there's a chance it'll get slowed down." Brock explained.

"That means Lucy has the advantage." Said Misty.

"Squirtle, jump onto Ninetales and use Water Gun!" cried Lucy. Squirtle hopped onto Ninetales' back and sprayed it right in the face with water, knocking it out.

"Nice going, Squirtle!" cried Lucy. Squirtle replied by giving her a thumbs up.

"Ninetales, return!" cried Blaine. Ninetales got absorbed back into its Poke Ball.

"Rhydon, go!" cried Blaine. Rhydon materialized.

"Let's go, Squirtle!" cried Lucy. "Water Gun, now!" Squirtle sprayed a blast of water at Rhydon.

"Use Take Down!" cried Blaine. Rhydon charged at Squirtle.

"Squirtle, Withdraw!" cried Lucy. Squirtle hid into his shell to protect itself from the attack.

"Nice job!" cried Lucy. Squirtle popped back out again.

"Horn Drill, now!" Blaine ordered.

"Yeah, that's not going to work this time, Blaine!" cried Lucy. "Squirtle, use Dig and bury yourself underground!" Squirtle nodded and plopped himself underneath the ground just before the horn could reach him.

"Look out, Rhydon." Said Blaine. Squirtle can pop out from anywhere." Rhydon ran around, looking for possible places Squirtle could be hiding.

"Okay, Squirtle, now!" cried Lucy. Squirtle reappeared and struck Rhydon with the powerful Dig attack.

"Rhydon, no!" cried Blaine.

"Skull Bash attack, now!" cried Lucy. One powerful blow from Squirtle sent Rhydon to defeat.

"You did it, Squirtle!" cried Lucy. Rhydon was recalled to his Poke Ball.

"You're fighting much better than last time." Said Blaine. "Your technique and timing have improved. But now, time for a real game changer. Go, Arcanine!" Arcanine materialized.

"He has his own Arcanine too." Said Lucy. "Okay, Squirtle, one more win is all we need! Use your Water Gun!" Squirtle attacked, but Arcanine dodged quickly.

"That's a fast Arcanine." Said Lucy.

"Bite attack!" cried Blaine. Arcanine bit Squirtle's arm, making it cry out.

"Squirtle!" cried Lucy. "Are you all right?" Squirtle rubbed the spot where he had been bitten.

"We'll get that looked at later." Said Lucy. "Water Gun!"

"Flamethrower!" cried Blaine. The two attacks collided with each other, but Water Gun was more powerful, and Arcanine was doused.

"Arcanine, no!" cried Blaine.

"Bubble Beam, one more time!" cried Lucy. Squirtle shot a stream of bubbles at Arcanine. It had taken heavy damage from the two water attacks.

"And it looks like that's the end of that." Said Lucy. However, Arcanine got back up.

"How?!" cried Lucy.

"Blaine's Arcanine must be resilient to still be able to battle after taking heavy water damage!" cried Brock.

"Fire Blast!" cried Blaine. Arcanine launched a powerful fire attack at Squirtle.

"Use Withdraw!" cried Lucy. Squirtle got back into his shell to protect himself.

"Now to finish things off. Water Gun!" cried Lucy. Squirtle attacked, and Arcanine took more damage.

"That has to be the end of it now." Said Lucy. However, Arcanine got back up, albeit slowly.

"Again?!" cried Lucy.

"Take Down attack!" cried Blaine. Arcanine charged, but he was running slowly because of all the damage he had taken.

"Ice Beam, now!" cried Lucy. Squirtle shot a cold beam of ice at Arcanine, and the fire type was trapped inside, completely unable to move.

"There we go! We did it!" cried Lucy. Arcanine's warm body heat melted the block of ice, but it was obvious that it had fainted. Blaine recalled it.

"An impressive rematch, Lucy." He said. "You certainly had fire in your veins, just like the fire that burns inside Magmar. A well-deserved victory for you."

"Thank you, Blaine." Said Lucy. "Okay, Ash, go get 'em!" Ash took his place on the battlefield.

"As I mentioned already, this will be a one on one." Said Blaine. "You probably know this already, but my Pokemon will be Magmar."

"And the Pokemon that I choose will be…." Said Ash.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Me!' Charizard stomped forward and wagged his finger before Ash could formally announce his selection.

"Charizard?" said Ash.

"Rrrrrrrrrr!" yelled Charizard, which meant 'Let me at Magmar!'

"Look at its eyes." Said Ash. "I think Charizard wants to battle."

"I saw that too." Said Lucy.

"No way!" cried Misty. "Charizard never wants to do anything but sleep."

"Maybe because Charizard saw how strong Magmar is, it wants to test its strength." Said Brock.

"This is going to be a great Pokemon match!" cried Ash. "It's okay if I go with Charizard, right, Pikachu?"

"Pikachu." Answered Pikachu, which meant 'Of course it is.'

"Charizard, I choose you!" cried Ash. "Uh, where did Charizard go?"

"Pika Pi Pikachu." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Over there, Ash.' Charizard had already taken his place on the battlefield.

"I guess Charizard could still use a little training." Said Ash.

"More like a lot of training." Added Lucy. The two Pokemon stared each other down.

"Watch out for Magmar's Flamethrower." Said Misty.

"I'll fight fire with fire." Said Ash. "Charizard, Flamethrower attack!" Magmar launched a Flamethrower attack of its own, and an explosion occurred upon both attacks colliding.

"It's a tie!" cried Ash.

"It looks like Charizard only wants to battle against Pokemon it feels are worthy opponents or other fire types." Said Lucy.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'Seems like it.'

"Okay, Magmar, that Charizard is good, but it can't compete with your skills!" cried Blaine. "Fire Blast it, now!" Magmar launched the attack, but Charizard managed to block it by catching it with its hands.

"I've never seen a Pokemon block a Fire Blast like THAT before!" cried Lucy.

"You can do it, Charizard!" cried Ash. "Don't give up!" The attack nudged Charizard to the edge of the pillar, but Charizard tossed the Fire Blast upwards and towards the sky behind it.

"That was amazing!" cried Lucy.

"Magmar, Skull Bash attack!" cried Blaine. Magmar charged and the attack hit, sending Charizard into another pillar and falling toward the lava below.

"No, Charizard!" cried Ash. But Charizard saved itself and flew back up at the last minute, to the surprise of Magmar.

"Talk about close!" cried Lucy. Charizard flew into the light of the sun and zoomed back down to Magmar's pillar with an incredible thud.

"Charizard's not playing around!" cried Lucy.

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'He sure isn't.'

"Magmar!" cried Blaine. The dust cleared to show the two Pokemon locked up until Magmar let go of Charizard, which allowed Charizard's momentum to send him to the edge of the pillar, allowing Magmar to get behind it.

"Charizard, behind you!" cried Ash. Magmar grabbed onto Charizard from behind.

"Fly away, now!" cried Ash. "You haven't got a chance if Magmar drags you into that lava pit!" Magmar sent itself and Charizard plummeting down toward the lava.

"Charizard!" cried Ash. "It's against the rules for Magmar to pull Charizard into the volcano!"

"Magmar didn't cheat." Said Blaine. "You and Lucy agreed to using the volcano for our battles, didn't you?"

"He has a point, Ash." Said Lucy. "We did both agree to that term."

"Right." Said Blaine. "Under the volcano is part of the volcano too." Ash backed down and looked toward the lava.

"Charizard." He said.

"You don't suppose…." Said Lucy.

"Ash, look!" cried Misty.

"Down there!" cried Brock. Ash and the others looked, and they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Charizard was flying into the sky at incredible speed with Magmar clinging on.

"No way!" cried Lucy. "I thought Charizard was incinerated down there!"

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'We all did!' Blaine couldn't believe his eyes.

"Charizard, show Magmar your aerial Submission attack!" cried Ash. Charizard began to spin around in the air, making Charizard dizzy.

"Hey Blaine, fair is far, right?!" cried Ash. "If they can battle under the volcano, then they can battle over it too!"

"Great point, Ash!" cried Lucy.

"Charizard, Seismic Toss!" cried Ash. Charizard flew higher and higher and then looped around and around in a circle like a spherical shape of the Earth until Charizard grabbed Magmar's arm and threw him down. The impact into the lava created an amazing explosion.

"WHOA!" cried Lucy. "That's GOT to be it!" But Magmar jumped out of the lava and onto a pillar, much to everyone's shock.

"How did Magmar survive?!" cried Lucy. "I thought that attack would've finished it for sure!" The two Pokemon stared each other down, but then Magmar collapsed face down. Charizard let out a roaring Flamethrower to celebrate his win.

"Way to go!" cried Ash.

"Pikachu!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Nice going!' Magmar was returned to its Poke Ball.

"Congratulations, Ash." Said Blaine. He removed his wig. "I take my wig off to you."

"Nicely done, Ash!" cried Lucy. She and Ash high fived each other in celebration.

"Yes! Charizard, ret…" started Ash, but he was burned by Charizard's Flamethrower.

"Ouch." Said Lucy.

"Ugh." Said Brock. Charizard continued to let out victory Flamethrowers.

Later, the group was back at the Big Riddle Inn.

"And now, Ash, I have one last riddle for you and Lucy." Said Blaine.

"Not again." Sighed Lucy.

"What is it that's always red, but has no words?" asked Blaine.

"That's easy. A Volcano Badge!" answered Lucy.

"Correct!" cried Blaine. He gave one badge to Ash and the other to Lucy.

"The two of you have definitely earned these ones." Said Blaine.

"Thanks a lot, Blaine!" cried Lucy.

"But I also have something else for both of you before you leave." Said Blaine. He got out two Poke Balls.

"In one of them is an extra Magmar that I had at the lab, while the other is a Machoke that's also from the lab." Said Blaine. "You two both deserve these, not just for saving my gym, but also stopping Team Rocket from stealing all the Pokemon that were residing in the lab. Which of you wants what?" asked Blaine.

"Ash, can I have the Machoke from Blaine?" asked Lucy. "Pretty please?"

"Machoke is a pretty strong Pokemon." Said Blaine.

"By all means, Lucy, go right ahead." Said Ash. "I'll take the Magmar."

"Okay, they're both yours." Said Blaine. "Take good care of them."

"We will!" Lucy promised.

Later, Ash and company were walking away from the Big Riddle Inn.

"I couldn't have done it without Charizard." Said Ash.

"For a second, I thought Charizard had learned to be obedient." Said Misty.

"I think we all thought the same thing." Said Lucy.

"Guess we can't expect Charizard will ever change." Said Brock.

"Pikachu." Added Pikachu, which meant 'I suppose.'

"I know that Charizard will learn to obey someday." Said Ash. "Right now, Lucy and I have to worry about where we're going to get our next badges."

"Well, we could always go to the gym back in Viridian City." Said Brock.

"I never knew about that." Said Ash. "Did you know about that, Lucy?"

"I don't think I got a chance to see what the Viridian gym looks like because that was the night we first came across Team Rocket." Lucy answered.

"I knew there was a gym there." Said Misty. "Viridian gym is where trainers go to get their Earth Badges. Once both of you get those, you'll both be able to enter the Pokemon League."

"Well, Eevee, looks like Viridian City is our last stop." Said Lucy.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'I can't wait to go back there!'

"How come you didn't tell us about any gyms when we were in Viridian City for the first time?" Ash wondered.

"Because the three of us were fighting back then, remember?" said Misty. "What was I so mad at both of you about anyway?"

"Don't you remember?" said Brock. "You were mad at them because they destroyed your old bike."

"That's right, I was pretty angry about that." Said Misty.

"But you got a new one in Fuchsia City." Said Lucy.

"And if either of you destroy that one, I'll clobber you!" cried Misty.

"But all of that's ancient history." Said Ash. "Come on, let's hit the road to Viridian City!" He started taking off down the path, with the others in hot pursuit.

"Come back here, Ash!" cried Lucy.

"Don't even think of leaving this island without us!" cried Misty. And so, Ash and Lucy hurry on to Viridian City, eager to compete for a green Earth Badge. Misty is seeing red, and that's sure to make Brock blue. Orange you dying to find out what happens next?

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Squirtle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Squirtle, Arcanine, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth, Magmar

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Jigglypuff, Kabuto, Aerodactyl, Machoke

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Jigglypuff, Staryu, Dragonair

 

[MarkL1987]

Episode 64: Beach Blank-Out Blastoise

Last time around, Ash and Lucy struggled to earn their seventh badges. They both lost their first battles to the Cinnabar Island gym leader Blaine and his Magmar. But in two red hot rematches, Lucy swept through Blaine's team with only her Squirtle, and after that, Charizard and Magmar took on each other in a fearsome fire fight! And during the epic clash of the titans, Charizard unleashed a powerful Seismic Toss attack to defeat Magmar. Thanks to both Ash's Charizard and Lucy's Squirtle, both trainers finally won the Volcano Badge that they wanted so badly.

The group was quickly running toward a boat.

"That's the whistle!" cried Lucy. "Come on, guys, we've got to make it!" With seven gym badges now in Ash and Lucy's possessions, our group heads for the next gym. But they'll have to hurry if they want to catch the ferry off Cinnabar Island!

"Wait! Don't leave without us!" cried Misty.

"Stop the boat!" cried Ash. "Hold on! We're coming! Hey! Hold that boat!"

"Wait for us!" cried Lucy. A Pokemon suddenly ran out in front of Ash and Lucy, and they both ran right into it and fell into the sand.

"Ugh." Lucy groaned. The collision caused the Pokemon to spin on its back. Brock set it up straight, Back first.

"Ash, Lucy, are you both okay?" asked Misty.

"You both took quite a tumble." Said Brock.

"Yeah, we're both fine." Said Ash.

"Wait a minute, is that?…." Said Lucy. "Yes, it is! It's a Wartortle!"

"Wow! Talk about your rare Pokemon!" cried Brock.

"A War-what-le?" asked Ash.

"Wartortle, Ash." Lucy corrected. "I wonder why it was running, though." Nevertheless, she got her Pokedex out.

"Wartortle, the Turtle Pokemon, and the evolved form of Squirtle. It's long, furry tail is a symbol of both age and wisdom."

"It doesn't look smart." Said Ash. Wartortle tried to communicate something to Eevee and both Pikachu, but neither of them seemed to understand what Wartortle was saying.

"What could it be saying?" wondered Lucy. Pikachu reached for one of Ash's Poke Balls, and Eevee did the same with one of Lucy's.

"Pika pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Come out, Squirtle!'

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Squirtle, we need you!' Both of the Squirtle materialized.

"Great thinking, guys." Said Lucy. "Our Squirtle can translate what the Wartortle here is saying." Wartortle explained the situation to the two Squirtle, both of whom were shocked after hearing about it.

"I wish I knew what they were talking about." Said Ash.

"I only speak English, not Pokemon." Added Lucy. Ash's Squirtle then got out a familiar pair of glasses.

"Hey! It's a pair of Squirtle Squad sunglasses!" cried Ash.

"That shouldn't be a surprise, Ash." Said Lucy. "Your Squirtle WAS the leader of that gang when we first met it.

"We haven't seen those sunglasses in a while!" cried Brock.

"I'd still like to know what happened, though." Said Lucy. Wartortle and both Squirtle nodded in agreement about what they had to do. They both jumped into the water and started swimming away.

"Squirtles, where are you going?" asked Ash.

"It looks like there's a problem on Wartortle's homeland, and they're heading there to fix whatever the issue is." Answered Lucy.

"If that's the case, then there must be trouble." Said Brock.

"Let's grab a boat and follow 'em!" cried Ash. Everyone agreed, and they attached Staryu, Starmie and Goldeen to a boat. The three water types pulled the boat along so that the group could catch up to Wartortle and the two Squirtle.

"We're keeping up with them at a great pace!" cried Lucy.

"They're sure in a hurry, though." Said Ash.

"Eevee." Said Eevee, which meant 'They sure are.'

"Hey guys, look! There's an island ahead!" cried Brock.

"Land ho!" cried Lucy. The island was much smaller compared to Cinnabar Island.

"It's so small." Said Ash.

"What island is it?" asked Misty.

"It's not even on my map." Said Brock.

"Hey! That island looks like a Squirtle shell." Said Ash. "Full speed ahead!"

"Aye, captain!" cried Lucy. However, the group was being followed behind closely by team Rocket in their Gyrados submarine.

"It looks like the little twerps have stumbled onto something." Said Jessie.

"Can't you look and peddle at the same time?" asked James.

"My paws need a pause!" cried Meowth. Squirtle and Wartortle soon reached the shore, with Ash's group not too far behind.

"All ashore!" cried Lucy.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Squirtle!'

"Squirtle, wait up!" cried Ash. The group stopped and saw a whole bunch of shells on the ground.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" asked Ash.

"They're all Squirtle and Wartortle!" cried Brock.

"Oh, I hope they're all right." Said Misty.

"Brock, have a listen and see if anyone's inside at least one of those shells." Said Lucy. Brock put his ears to one of the shells and heard snoring inside.

"It's okay, it's just sleeping." Said Brock.

"All of them are probably like that." Said Lucy.

"I don't get it." Said Ash. Wartortle went over to the group more panicked than ever as they all had a look at the giant shell.

"Look at that!" cried Lucy. "Only one Pokemon I know of has a shell that big. That's got to be a Blastoise!" She got her Pokedex back out.

"Blastoise, the Shellfish Pokemon, and the evolved form of Wartortle. Blastoise's strength lies in its power rather than its speed. Its shell is like armor, and attacks from the hydro cannons are virtually unstoppable."

"This is our lucky day!" cried Ash. "I've got to get up close to it!" He started heading up to Blastoise.

"Either it's asleep, or it's practicing its Withdraw move." Said Brock.

"They can't be using Withdraw if they're all asleep." Said Lucy. "Be careful, Ash. Something doesn't seem right here." As Ash hugged Blastoise's shell, he fell asleep.

"Uh, Ash?" said Brock.

"Ash, are you all right?" said Misty.

"Ash, say something!" cried Lucy.

"Pika pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Ash!'

"Squirtle!" cried Squirtle, which meant 'Ash!'

"Something fishy is definitely going on." Said Lucy. Squirtle got next to the shell and fell asleep immediately.

"The same thing's happened to Squirtle!" cried Misty.

"Something inside Blastoise's shell must be causing this." Said Lucy. A sleeping Ash was soon pulled away from the Blastoise.

"Ash! Ash, can you hear me?" cried Brock.

"Wake up, Ash!" cried Lucy.

"Keep trying." Said Misty.

"Open your eyes, Ash!" cried Lucy. But Ash wouldn't wake up.

"It's no good. He's out cold." Said Brock.

"So is Squirtle." Said Lucy.

"How could this have happened?" asked Misty.

"Like I said, it has to be something inside Blastoise's shell." Said Lucy. "I'll go take a look." Lucy approached Blastoise to have a thorough look, but unfortunately, she too fell asleep.

"Lucy!" cried Misty. She tried to shake Lucy awake, but to no avail. Brock tried the same with Ash, but was also unsuccessful.

"They're both out like lights." Said Brock.

"Now what do we do?" asked Misty.

"Beats me." Said Brock. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I think I might have one." Said Misty. "Pikachu, you and Little Pikachu give them a Thunderbolt as an electric shock alarm clock."

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Right!' The two attacks did more than wake Ash and Lucy up, though. The attacks also woke up the sleeping Squirtle and Wartortle.

"Pikachu, cut it out!" cried Ash.

"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA DISTURBING MY BEAUTY SLEEP LIKE THAT, LITTLE PIKACHU?!" Lucy screamed.

"Squirtle! Squirtle!" cried Squirtle, which meant 'That was totally uncool!'

"What's the matter, Ash?" said Misty. "Dreaming about becoming a Pokemon master again?"

"Don't be picking on him, Misty." Said Lucy. She then gave Little Pikachu a harsh look.

"And as for you, you're getting a time out later for interrupting my beauty sleep!" Lucy scolded.

"I guess I did doze off." Said Ash.

"Squirtle." Replied Squirtle, which meant 'Same here.'

"And Squirtle fell asleep right after you did, Ash." Said Brock.

"The same thing that happened to Ash and Squirtle also happened to me." Said Lucy. "We both heard a sound coming from Blastoise and fell asleep. Right?"

"Squirtle." Answered Squirtle, which meant 'Right.'

"What kind of a sound was it?" asked Misty.

"Some kind of weird music that sounded familiar." Said Ash. "You all heard that weird sound too, didn't you?" The Squirtles and Wartortles agreed.

"Well, I guess we better get going." Said Misty.

"Pika." Said Pikachu, which meant 'Maybe.'

"We're not going anywhere until we wake that Blastoise up!" cried Ash.

"I was afraid he'd say something like that." Said Lucy.

"But we won't be able to do it alone." Said Ash. "Can I count on you to help, Wartortle?" Wartortle and Squirtle both agreed.

"Then let Operation Wake Up begin!" cried Ash. Everyone else confidently agreed.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket watched from a distance.

"Looks like those brats have brought us right to a Blastoise bonanza!" cried Jessie.

"Not to mention all those other shell-icious Pokemon!" cried James.

"For a team of Pokemon thieves, this is like Fun-tasy Island!" cried Meowth.

"Now all we have to do is grab Blastoise before it wakes up!" cried James.

"The boss will give us all promotions!" cried Jessie.

Meanwhile, Lucy was telling the rest of the group what the Squirtle and Wartortle had told her when they explained their problem. Brock illustrated the whole thing with pictures.

"Let's see if I understand this correctly." Said Lucy. "This island that we're on is the kingdom for turtle Pokemon, who live under the rule of Blastoise, the turtle Pokemon King."

Wartortle!" cried Wartortle, which meant 'That's right!'

"A few days ago, Blastoise went to go for a swim in the ocean, but he didn't swim back home." Lucy continued.

"Squirtle." Said Squirtle, which meant 'Right again.'

"You all found Blastoise floating in the ocean, but when you dragged it ashore, you all wound up inside your shells too." Lucy went on. "When this Wartortle here saw what was happening, it headed to the mainland for help, and ended up bumping into us."

"Is that the way it happened?" asked Brock. The Squirtle and Wartortle confirmed it.

"Gee, people have searched for the Turtle Pokemon's breeding grounds for years." Said Misty. "Could this really be it?"

"No question about it, this is definitely Turtle Island." Said Lucy.

"Imagine all the stuff I could learn about breeding!" cried Brock.

"Regardless, we still need to examine that Blastoise." Said Lucy. Brock sported a doctor's coat.

"Well, here's your first annual physical." He said.

"Be careful, Brock." Said Ash. Brock carefully examined Blastoise.

"How is it?" asked Lucy.

"I don't hear a thing." Brock answered. A sound was soon heard.

"What was that?!" asked Ash. Everyone backed up in surprise as Blastoise woke up with Ash on its head.

"Blastoise is waking up!" cried Misty. Blastoise soon got up and yawned as the Squirtle and Wartortle cheered.

"Looks like Blastoise was asleep too." Said Lucy.

"Squirtle?" asked Squirtle to Blastoise, which meant 'What happened?'

"What's it saying?" asked Ash. Blastoise's hydro cannons came out, but one stalled instead of firing, which left everyone confused.

"What's wrong with your cannon, Blastoise?" asked Ash.

"Something has to be blocking it on the inside." Said Lucy. Something soon came out of the cannon.

"Eevee?" asked Eevee, which meant 'What in…?'

"What is that thing?" said brock.

"Maybe that's the problem." Said Misty. Squirtle jumped onto Blastoise's back so it could investigate. A familiar looking ear finally popped out, which shocked our heroes.

"It can't be!" cried Lucy.

"I hope it's not what I think it is." Said Brock.

"Don't go near it!" cried Misty. "Just, keep it away from us, please!"

"Misty, how bad could it be?" said Ash.

"Pretty bad if it's a Jigglypuff!" cried Lucy.

"Jigglypuff?!" everyone else cried. Jigglypuff's muffled singing was soon heard.

"That's it!" cried Ash. "That's the sound that Lucy and I heard!"

"I knew it!" cried Misty.

"Jigglypuff!" cried Brock.

"Don't listen to its' singing!" cried Lucy. She suddenly started getting drowsy. "Or else, you'll…fall…asleep." Lucy soon fell asleep before Ash caught her. Soon, everyone fell asleep, including the Squirtle and Wartortle.

Meanwhile…

"We'll grab your Pokemon in a snap!" cried Jessie.

"Before you wake up from your nap!" cried James.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples from within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, good night!"

"Blastoise is sleeping like a baby again." Said Jessie.

"Grabbing Blastoise should be a breeze." Said James.

"Who wants to be the hero?" asked Jessie.

"I do! I do!" cried Meowth. Jessie and James backed up and hid behind the fin of their sub.

"Be our guest, Meowth." Said James.

"Best of luck." Said Jessie. Meowth sighed and tiptoed toward Blastoise with a rope tied around his waist.

"Why do I always get roped into these things?" he said to himself. "I had to go and open my big Meowth!" He looked back at his teammates.

"Don't be afraid, Meowth!" cried jessie. "We're right behind you!"

"Go get 'em, tiger!" cried James.

"You mean chicken." Sighed Meowth. He soon reached the heroes' location and heard Jigglypuff signing.

"What's that sound?" he said. He soon fell asleep.

"Something's wrong!" cried Jessie. "Quick, reel Meowth in!"

"Right on, Jessie!" cried James. He reeled Meowth in like a fishing line across the sand and along the water, surprising Jessie and James.

"Meowth's out like a lox!" cried James. They both tried to slap him awake.

"Wake up, Meowth, wake up!" cried Jessie.

"This is no time for a cat nap!" cried James.

"He probably fainted." Said Jessie. "Fraidy cat." Meowth was thrown to the back of the sub's surface.

"We've got to get that Blastoise!" cried James.

"We don't need Meowth for that." Said Jessie.

"I don't want to get too close to that thing." Said James.

"You're obviously forgetting about our Gyrados grabber!" cried Jessie. She pressed a button and the submarine fired a suction dart at Blastoise, and they proceeded to reel it into the mouth of the sub.

"A bullseye!" cried Jessie.

"We got it!" cried James. Meowth soon woke up.

Meanwhile, on the island, Ash's group woke up one by one. Lucy was the first to wake up.

"What just happened?" she asked in a groggy voice. She then realized that she was on top of Ash.

"Oh dear!" she cried. She got off Ash and tried to shake him awake.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" she cried. Ash soon woke up.

"That was a nice nap." He said. He then noticed that Blastoise had disappeared.

"Blastoise! What happened to Blastoise?!" he cried. Misty, Brock, Eevee and both Pikachu woke up.

"Ash, Lucy, could you keep it down please?" asked Misty.

"Misty, Blastoise is gone!" cried Ash. The Squirtles and Wartortles began to panic.

"Now everybody, just calm down." Said Lucy.

"Pika Pi!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Take it easy!'

"Be quiet!" cried Misty. No matter what anyone did, though, their attempts to calm down the Squirtle and Wartortle failed.

"Squirtle squirt." Said Lucy's Squirtle, which meant 'Let me take care of it.' It blasted all the other Squirtle and Wartortle with Water Gun.

"Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!" cried Squirtle, which meant 'Now listen up, everyone!' Squirtle got everyone's attention.

"What's going on?" wondered Ash.

"Pika." Answered Pikachu, which meant 'I don't know.'

"Eevee." Added Eevee, which meant 'Neither do I.'

"Squirtle squirt!" cried Ash's Squirtle, which meant 'We have to find where the king went, and when we do, get him out of the jam he's in and then get that Jigglypuff out of his hydro cannon!'

"You tell 'em, Squirtle!" cried Ash.

"Squirt!" cried Squirtle, which meant 'For the king! For the king! For the king! For the king! For the king!' The Wartortle all joined in the chant themselves.

"Ash, your Squirtle's a real leader!" cried Misty.

"Well that's what happens when you've got a great trainer." Said Ash.

"Or maybe they're just impressed by the sunglasses." Remarked Brock.

"I think it's because of his time leading the Squirtle Squad." Said Lucy.

"Pika pi! Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Ash! Lucy! Look at this!'

"Squirtle!" cried Squirtle, which meant 'Golly!' Everyone noticed the trail that had been left in the sand.

"It's a trail!" they cried.

"It has to be Blastoise." Said Lucy. "Only that kind of shell could possibly leave a trail this big."

"Somebody must've kidnapped Blastoise." Said Brock.

"But who?" said Ash.

"Who else could it be?" asked Misty.

"There's only one way to find out." Said Lucy.

"Squirtle!" cried Squirtle, which meant 'Let's follow it!'

"Wartortle!" cried the Wartortle, which meant 'Right!' The Squirtle and Wartortle followed Ash's Squirtle and Lucy's Squirtle into the water and followed the trail.

"Go get 'em, Squirtle!" cried Ash.

"You can do it!" cried Lucy.

Meanwhile, below the waves…

"Success!" cried Jessie and James.

"You said it!" cried Meowth.

"That was as easy as picking shells off the sound!" cried James.

"And all I did was push a button!" cried Jessie.

"Now we can swipe all the Pokemon we want!" cried Meowth.

"I'll snatch more Pokemon than anyone in the world!" cried James.

"So will I!" cried Jessie.

"Me too!" cried Meowth. Something soon dawned on them.

"I think there may be some confusion." Said Jessie.

"Who's going to get credit for swiping him?" asked Meowth.

"I think we better clear this up." Said James.

"If you remember, I was the one who pushed the button, so I should get credit for capturing it!" cried Jessie.

"But before that, I put my nine lives on the line to grab Blastoise!" cried Meowth.

"I was the one who caught it." Said Jessie.

"What about me?!" cried James.

"Ha! You couldn't catch a cold!" cried Meowth. Jessie and James smacked Meowth.

"You stay out of this, Meowth!" cried Jessie.

"Pokemon aren't for Pokemon!" cried James. He kicked Meowth into the wall of the sub. The impact of Meowth hitting the wall caused Jigglypuff's second ear to come loose and caused it to start singing. It also caused the sub to start leaking.

"What's that unusual sound?" said Jessie.

"Whatever it is, it's very…" said James.

"Relaxing." Said Meowth. The song started making the three of them drowsy. They soon fell completely asleep as their sub sunk to the ocean floor, only for Squirtle and the residents of the island to save it and Blastoise by pushing them to the surface where Ash's group was waiting. They soon revived Team Rocket, who had taken in a lot of water. Next thing they knew, Team Rocket regained consciousness.

"Well, well. Look who's back in the land of the living." Said Lucy.

"Are you okay?" asked Ash.

"What kind of trick are you pulling?!" cried Jessie.

"This isn't a trick!" cried Lucy. "For your information, we just saved your slimy lives!"

"I don't remember asking you to save our lives!" cried Jessie.

"Well I'm grateful." Said James. Jessie slapped him in the face.

"They're our mortal enemies!" she cried. "How dare you be grateful to them that they saved your life!"

"I kind of feel sorry for that guy." Said Ash.

"Especially the way she treats him." Said Lucy.

"Who asked you?!" cried Jessie. She soon looked behind her and saw all the Squirtle and Wartortle protecting their king.

"Squirtle!" cried Lucy's Squirtle, which meant 'Get them!'

"They're about to attack!" cried Jessie.

"Let's head for the ship!" cried James.

"Meowth!" cried Meowth. Team Rocket dashed for the sub.

"They're retreating!" cried Lucy.

"Good!" cried Brock. "And don't come back!"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we're not finished!" cried James.

"In fact, we're just getting started." Added Jessie.

"Hold on to your shells!" cried Meowth. He pressed a button, which activated the treads on the sub and the mechanical arms while Team Rocket laughed in triumph.

"This doesn't look good." Said Ash.

"It certainly doesn't." said Lucy.

"Let's put the pedal to the metal!" cried James.

"Right!" cried Meowth.

"Well, now we'll take that Blastoise!" cried Jessie. The sub charged forward and Ash's group ran and dove out of the way while Team Rocket headed toward the residents of Turtle Island. They retaliated with a combined Water Gun, but it had no effect, which shocked the Pokemon and humans.

"They won't stop!" cried Lucy.

"Of course we won't." said Meowth. "Why would we stop when we're having such a Blastoise?" Jessie mocked Ash and his friends as one of the mechanical arms started swinging, which caused the Pokemon guarding Blastoise to get out of the way while Ash and Lucy's Squirtles got knocked back to them.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Squirtle!'

"Squirtle, are you okay?" asked Ash. The two Squirtle struggled to get up, and then they noticed that the residents of the island were being chased by Team Rocket. The two Squirtle then started to glow white.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'What's happening to them now?'

"They're both evolving!" cried Lucy. The two Squirtle started getting a little bigger, and their tails expanded in size. Feather like ears appeared on each side of their head, and a dark blue streak appeared on each of their cheeks. After the glow stopped, both of their Squirtle had become a Wartortle.

"They're both Wartortle now!" cried Lucy. "This is so awesome!"

"But those other Squirtle and Wartortle are still in trouble!" cried Brock.

"We have to do something to save them, or else they'll be turned into turtle soup!" cried Lucy. As team Rocket chased the other Squirtle and Wartortle around, Ash tried to wake up the Blastoise.

"Blastoise!" cried Ash. "Blastoise! The Pokemon need you, Blastoise! Please wake up!" Nothing happened.

"It's no use." Said Misty.

"He's out like a light!" cried Lucy.

"Pikachu, Wartortle, get in there and use your attacks to wake Blastoise up!" cried Ash. Pikachu and Wartortle agreed.

"Give it your best shot!" cried Ash. Wartortle fired a Water Gun, and Pikachu fired off a Thundershock that traveled around the attack. The combined attack amazed the heroes.

"Wartortle's Water Gun is carrying the electricity of Pikachu's Thundershock!" cried Brock.

"Please, wake up, Blastoise." Said Misty. The combo attack dislodged Jigglypuff more.

"It's Jigglypuff!" cried Ash.

"The attack must've dislodged it!" cried Lucy. The attack sent Jigglypuff inside Team Rocket's submarine.

"Jigglypuff!" cried Misty. Blastoise managed to wake up and saw that its subjects were in trouble and tended to them by stopping the submarine in its tracks and even started pushing it back.

"It's awake!" cried Lucy.

"Just in time!" cried Ash. "Team Rocket's stopped dead in their tracks!"

"Blastoise is the bomb!" cried Brock.

"So you want to get tough, do you?!" cried Jessie. "Well, watch while we turn tough guy into turtle soup!" She positioned the mechanical arms to grab Blastoise, but Blastoise grabbed one of them, which allowed the sub to move up a few inches.

"It's moving!" cried Lucy. Blastoise pushed the submarine back, crunching and punching the mecha's arms, which shocked Team Rocket.

"Nice shot." Said Ash. All the other Squirtle and Wartortle joined Blastoise.

"Squirtle!" cried a Squirtle, which meant 'Ready!'

"Wartortle!" cried Ash's Wartortle, which meant 'Set!'

"Tort!" cried Lucy's Wartortle, which meant 'Fire!' The Squirtle and Wartortle launched their attacks at the sub. The combined attacks sent the sub into the air, but then Ash realized something.

"Wartortle!" he cried. "I think Jigglypuff is still inside there!"

Inside the sub….

"This is like some horrible dream!" cried Jessie. Jigglypuff soon landed near Team Rocket and regained consciousness.

"Speaking of dreams!" cried James.

"No! Not again!" cried Meowth. Jigglypuff started singing and team Rocket fell asleep as the submarine landed bottom first down into the sea. The Squirtle and Wartortle spotted the sub going down and dove after it.

"Wartortle, hurry!" cried Ash.

"Pika!" cried Pikachu, which meant 'Wartortle!' An explosion soon occurred under the waves, which caused the group to worry.

"Are Wartortle and Jigglypuff okay?" asked Lucy. The two Pokemon surfaced, with Jigglypuff on Wartortle's back.

"All right, fellas! You did it!" cried Ash.

"Eevee!" cried Eevee, which meant 'Well done, guys!'

"Wartortle!" cried both of Ash and Lucy's Wartortles, which meant 'It was nothing!' Jigglypuff soon regained consciousness and prepared to sing, much to the shock of the group.

"No! Please don't sing!" cried Ash. But it was too late. Jigglypuff's soothing melody put everyone on the island to sleep. At some point during the time everyone was knocked out, two Poke Balls were thrown at the Blastoise and one of the Squirtle, capturing both of them.

Some time later, everyone woke up with doodles on their faces or shells.

"Pika?" wondered Pikachu, which meant 'Again?'

"Eevee." Groaned Eevee, which meant 'This always happens every time Jigglypuff sings.'

"Hey, Jigglypuff's a real Pok-Asso." Remarked Brock. Misty and Lucy had cat markings on their faces.

"I don't think this is funny at all!" cried Misty. "Lucy and I look like cartoon characters!"

"Actually, I think those markings do look cute on us." Said Lucy.

"A cartoon character?! Like that could ever happen!" cried Ash. He then noticed some Poke Balls on the ground. One was beside him and the other was beside Misty.

"I don't remember these being here." Said Ash.

"Some of us must've captured some of these Pokemon in our sleep." Said Brock. "But who?" The Poke Ball that was beside Misty opened up to reveal a Squirtle.

"I finally got my own Squirtle!" she cried. "This more than makes up for me not getting one before!"

"Now it's a matter of what the other capture was." Said Lucy. The Poke Ball that was beside Ash opened up to reveal Blastoise.

"I can't wait until Professor Oak sees this!" he cried.

"I'm sure he'll be quite impressed." Said Lucy. The group soon hopped into their boat, waved goodbye to the remaining Squirtle and Wartortle and headed back to Cinnabar to catch a ferry. So, after waking up Blastoise, followed by Ash capturing it, our heroes leave the island of turtle Pokemon. Now Ash and Lucy are looking ahead to their final badges and their next adventure.

Meanwhile, out in the ocean, Team Rocket was floating on the wreckage of their destroyed sub, and they woke up to find Jigglypuff's handiwork on their faces. Two Aerodactyl were also flying high in the sky.

"This was all your fault!" Team Rocket cried.

"I'm getting sick of all this humiliation." Said James.

"I'm getting sick of always losing." Said jessie.

"And I'm getting seasick." Said Meowth.

"Looks like Team Rocket's drifting off again." They sighed.

TO BE CONTINUED

Ash's Current Party: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Charizard, Wartortle, Hitmonchan

Lucy's Current Party: Eevee, Ivysaur, Pikachu, Wartortle, Arcanine, Butterfree (Pink)

Egg: Togepi (Joint ownership with Misty)

Ash's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Spearow, Clefairy, Krabby, Butterfree, Primeape, Muk, Scyther, Diglett, Voltorb, Rapidash, Kangaskhan, Tauros, Rhyhorn, Nidorino, Dratini (three), Gyrados, Exeggutor, Kabuto, Kabutops, Ivysaur, Venusaur, Growlithe, Arbok, Weezing, Meowth, Magmar, Blastoise

In Rotation: Scyther, Rapidash

Lucy's Spare Pokemon at Oak's Lab: Beedrill, Cubone, Hitmonlee, Staryu, Dugtrio, Voltorb, Ponyta (shiny), Kangaskhan, Chansey, Tauros, Dragonair, Clefairy, Exeggcute, Jigglypuff, Kabuto, Aerodactyl, Machoke

In Rotation: Aerodactyl, Jigglypuff, Staryu, Dragonair