P.S. Jack, just to tell you first, is not gonna catch Pokemon. Sorry to disappoint you. Well, he might not for now...
And now for the boring disclaimer: I do not, repeat not, own either Pokemon or Samurai Jack.
Episode Two: The Pokemon-able Snowmen
Jack's sudden arrival in the mysterious world of Pokemon has proved to be getting better by the moment. On their way to Opal City, the quad talked about their various backgrounds. Their journey was quite uneventful (except for the occasional Robokemon attack), and on the way Jack learnt much about the modernised state of the planet he used to know well -- he still found it a little hard to find hamburger joints and plastics instead of Japanese restaurants and ceramics. However, this was all going to change...
Meanwhile, in the grand meeting room of Team Rocket Headquarters...
"What do you think he's going to ask us to do now?"
"Some kind of newfangled weapon, chemical, biological, nuclear..."
"Work, work, work, that's all we ever do around here, and no pay rise..."
"Sh, shut your trap! He's here!" The group of scientists were immediately silenced as the main chair was suddenly occupied by a swirl of darkness that soon materialised into the Kaiser himself.
"Well, gentlemen, I am sure you know the reason why I have called you here today."
"Yes, Grand Master."
"Apparently, the menacing trio has recruited a new warrior in their team, and we have to devise a new weapon to destroy them."
"Yes, Grand Master."
"Now, I want you to pay close attention to this research meeting."
"Yes, Grand --"
"SILENCE!!!!" Aku screamed. "Or I'll annihilate you all!" The scientists shook in their swivelling seats; the word "Master" a faint whisper.
"Now, as I was saying just now --"
Meanwhile, the four travellers were walking on a dirt path to the next Pokemon Center. They had disintegrated yet another bunch of Robokemon, and were tired. They stepped in the building, and Ash passed the gang's Pokeballs to Nurse Joy. Misty, meanwhile, had to drag Brock away by the ear before he embarrassed himself in front of Nurse Joy. Again.
Brock sat down, along with Jack, Misty and Togepi. Absentmindedly, he picked up a newspaper on a nearby table. He stared at the article on the front page, frowned, then exclaimed.
"Oh no, this is bad!"
"What's wrong, Brock?" asked Misty in a concerned voice. "Yeah, what's up, Brocko?" chipped in Ash, who had just came to rejoin the group.
"Look!" Brock pointed to the newspaper he was holding. The other three people peered over his shoulder and read the article.
"New Pokemon were discovered to have ravaged through one of the famous cities in the Pokemon World, Opal City. The result was carnage, debris, and destruction everywhere. Luckily no one died in the attack, but the city has nonetheless suffered huge losses.
"These vicious monsters are nothing like the ones the multitude of our population is used to, not even the fiercest ones like Gyarados. They bear a little resemeblance to the ones already documented. Famous Pokemon experts, such as Professor Samuel Oak, are feverishly working day and night to work on the new mutant monsters.
"Their origin remains unknown, but most people have suggested that this is the work of the Grand Kaiser, You-Know-Who..."
The article ended there. Suddenly the PA system announced, "Calling Mr. Ash Ketchum, calling Mr. Ash Ketchum, please report to the counter..." Ash got up, and ran to the counter.
"Your Pokemon are fine, Ash, and so are your friends'." smiled Nurse Joy. "By the way -- Professor Oak just called and asked you to call him as soon as possible." "Thanks Nurse Joy." Ash gave a quick word of thanks, beckoned the gang to come over, then dialled the Professor's number.
"RING RING RING! RING RING RING! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!"
"Hello Ash. Nice to see you again." The image of Professor Oak appeared on the screen. "Have you heard about --"
"We have, Professor. How's the research going on?"
"Pretty well. Our research team has managed to salvage some of the DNA of the newly created monsters, and we've been running tests on them. These new Pokemon have similar DNA to the ones already documented, but are composed of evil powers of darkness. Simply put, these monsters are dark evolved versions of the monsters we already know, but have immense powers, including whole new attacks and enhanced abilities."
"However," continued the professor, "we have also discovered that these monsters are still prone to their weaknesses. After various tests, we have realised that although these monsters have extremely enhanced powers, their weaknesses do not change very much. In other words, they are still scared of certain elements, for example a Fire-type monster would still be weak against Water and Ground attacks."
"Once you defeat these monsters, the DNA of darkness will be released from their systems, and will revert back to their original forms. This is vital for your future battles against armies of such monsters, as they will try and help your fight against their dark versions -- but might not help very much."
"Thanks, Prof. We'll be off now." As Ash was about to put down the receiver, the Professor shouted. "Wait, Ash!"
"What's up?"
"Professor Elm and Westwood have been working on the Pokedex to update it about these monsters. They have also reprogrammed it so that it will allow you to carry more than six Pokemon with you." "Great!" said Ash.
"Now, just put your Pokedex through the slot below the screen." Ash slid his Pokedex through the slot. After a while, the amazing machine was ejected from the drive. "Gee, thanks."
"Okay, no time to lose. I'm going to pass through your other Pokemon through the system. You may find some of them useful," said Professor Oak, with a mysterious smile. Pretty soon, the Pokeballs containing Ash's remaining Pokemon came through the Machine.
"All right. Now go and stop Team Rocket and above all, Ak-- er, I mean, You-Know-Who," said Professor Oak sheepishly, as the other scientists gave him angry glances. "Sure thing, Professor. Bye." Ash put down the receiver.
"I wonder why he was smiling so mysteriously," Ash said as they walked through the automatic sliding door of the center. He threw the Pokeballs on the floor to find out. Big mistake.
BIFF! "PRIME-APE!"
"Ugh..." groaned Ash. His pain soon turned to excitement when he realised what had hit him. "Primeape!"
Along with the ones at Pallet Town, the Prof had sent through Ash's old friends -- Butterfree, Primeape, Pidgeot, Charizard and Squirtle.
"This is really going to help!"
The next day, the gang reached the site where Opal City once stood. Where proud building had challenged the skies stood nothing but mere foundations, and the roads were terribly cracked. What was strange was that every object in sight was covered in a thin sheet of ice, and the temperature was astonishingly low. The quad shivered.
"Charizard! Heat things up!" The white light materialised into the huge winged dragon. Now that it had received training from the others at the Charicific Valley, it was much more powerful. "ROOOOOAR!" All the ice within a range of ten metres soon vapourised into steam.
"Look!" Brock shouted. In the distance stood three members of Team Rocket. The gang rushed in front.
"Well, look. If it isn't the twerps, Wayne." said the girl with yellow, flowing hair.
"We'll crush them in a couple of seconds, Sammi," The male with straight, blue hair answered her.
"Cool it, you two. Look, it's the Samurai sucker," cackled the last one, who had black, spiky hair. His name was John.
"So you're the three that destroyed this city!" shouted Brock.
"What, angry already?" taunted Sammi. "You haven't seen what these babies can do," she added, brandishing a Pokeball. This one, however, was black on the top and aquamarine on the bottom. On the top was the infamous 'R' symbol. The other two guys sniggered, and produced similar Pokeballs.
"We're ready for a battle!" shouted Ash.
"Try us," snickered Wayne.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The trio sent out their whole team.
"Abominabull!"
"Glaciering!"
"Antartix!"
"GO!" The Team Rocket trio threw their Rockeballs onto the floor. Out of Sammi's Rockeball emerged a one-and-a-half-metre tall monster that resembled a Granbull, only that it was clothed all over in fur, fangs and all. Wayne sent out a two-metre high bear monster that looked like Ursaring, but it was very musculuar, and the circle symbol on its body was replaced by a skull. John's Rockeball contained a 10-metre snake-like monster with icicle spikes all over its body, with a head like a Steelix. Ash flashed out his newly updated Pokedex.
"Abominabull. The Snowman Pokemon. The body of this dark version of Granbull is covered in thick fur, but is has very clear vision, along with powerful muscles.
"Glaciering. The Polar Bear Pokemon. This dark version of Ursaring packs a powerful punch and can lower the temperature of its surroundings to minus thirty degrees.
"Antartix. The Ice Snake Pokemon. This icy monster, compared to its non-dark version, Steelix, is much more atrocious and can cause widespread destruction within a matter of seconds."
"That doesn't scare us. Everybody, go!" The Pokemon immediately leapt onto the mutant monsters.
"Ha ha ha." The Rocket trio laughed. The mutant Pokemon lashed at the Pokemon, shaking them off.
"Geodude! Mega Punch!" "Abominabull! Giga Knuckle!" Sammi responded upon Brock's command. The unknown attack that Ash and company had never witnessed before proved to be much more powerful than the Mega Punch they were all used to. Geodude was thrown back by the force of Abominabull's punch.
"They're all Ice-types, so they must be weak against Fire!" Ash shouted. "Cyndaquil! Charizard! Flamethrower!" Upon their master's command, Cyndaquil and Charizard blasted huge bursts of fire onto Abominabull. But...
"Wha?"
"HAHAHAHA!" Sammi laughed. "You expect your little fire to singe that hunk of fur? Abominabull! Seismic Toss!" The mutant Granbull leapt forward, grabbed Charizard by the tail, and leapt up into the sky. "Charizard! Force it off!" Charizard pushed with all its might, and managed to push Abominabull off its body. Without anything to hold on, Abominabull fell down, down, down...
"Antartix! Save Abominabull!" The 10-metre tall ice machine swiftly grabbed Abominabull with its tail before it fell foul of gravity. "Glaciering!" shouted Wayne. "Freeze Ray!" "Poliwhirl! Ice Beam!" countered Misty. The two freeze rays exploded upon contact, but Poliwhirl was thrown back by the blast, and Glaciering wasn't even stunned.
"Everybody attack!" Ash screamed. The Pokemon once again lunged themselves at the angry mutants.
"Water Gun, everybody!" Misty hollered. "Totodile, Squirtle! You too!" Staryu, Poliwhirl, Totodile and Squirtle fired jets of water at the mutants.
"Onix, Geodude, Tackle!" Brock commanded. The rocky warriors fired themselves at the three icy foes.
"Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Vine Whip!" Ash called. The Grass-type Pokemon fired their vines at the trio.
"Child's play!" laughed Wayne. "Glaciering! Tundra Wind!" Glaciering took a deep breath, then blew a powerful blast of icy wind at Onix and Geodude. The two collapsed, their bodies encased in ice.
"Abominabull! Rebound!" Abominabull roared. The jets of water flew back at the respective Pokemon, knocking them to the ground.
"Use your Avalanche, Antartix!" Antartix's attack caused humoungous snowballs to fly at Bulbasaur and Chikorita, literally bowling them over. The three mutant Pokemon looked up. The fliers were hovering above them...
"Golbat, quick! Supersonic!" GOlbat emitted powerful sonic waves at the three dark Pokemon. Suffering from the effects of confusion, they bumped into each other in terror and anger, doing themselves some damage.
"An opening!" Ash exclaimed. "Charizard! Fire Spin!" Charizard blasted a tornado of fire at the three blundering monsters. Trapped within the inferno, they could not escape. "All right!" shouted Ash. "That'll teach them to mess with us!" His victory was only temporary, for as soon as he finished, Antartix blasted through the ground, with Glaciering and Abominabull on its head. It had used Dig to escape the Fire Spin! "Quick! Butterfree, Noctowl, Confusion attack!" "FREE!" "TOWL!" The butterfly and owl Pokemon fired blue rays of energy at the three mad monsters, doing them some serious damage.
"No more mercy!" shouted Wayne. "Glaciering! Use your --"
"You forgot me!" hollered Jack, as he leapt up in the air to confront Glaciering. His light-speed slashes were countered by Glaciering's Speed Claw attack, and the two continued to battle.
"Quick, Chikorita! Vine Whip that furball!" "CHIKO!" Vines wrapped around Abominabull's legs. Before it had time to react, Abominabull was thrown backwards onto the ground. "Onix!" Brock quickly responded. "Bind attack!" Onix leapt forward and began to crush Abominabull with fatal impact.
"Kingler! Use Crabhammer on that ice snake!" Kingler quickly used its humongous pincer to smash the tough, icy body of Antartix. Several icicles began to snap off, and the monster roared in pain.
"Staryu!" Misty called. "Double-Edge!" Staryu spun like a shuriken and hit Glaciering in the shin, and the polar bear monster leapt in agony.
"Enough talk!" Sammi shouted angrily. "Mega Throw!" Abominabull suddenly broke free of Onix's grip, and threw it into a nearby office.
"Berserk!" Glacering appeared to go mad, and knocked away at the advancing Pokemon.
"Icicle Storm!" Antartix spun like crazy, firing icicles everywhere. Luckily Jack was there to hit back at the raining spikes, or Ash and the gang would have been seriously hurt. "Ready, Ash?" shouted Jack. Ash smiled. He knew what Jack was going to do...
"FLAMETHROWER!" Cyndaquil and Charizard unleashed their searing jets of fire at the sacred sword. With Charizard's firepower, the sword glowed a blindingly white hot. With his swift movements, Jack hollered, slashing at Antartix.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!" Antartix screamed in pain, as the spikes began to fall off its body.
"Abominabull!" "Glaciering!" "FREEZE RAY!" The mutant Granbull and Ursaring fired aurora after aurora, but kept missing the Samurai, only to hit Antartix, deepening its pain. Suddenly, Antartix's body started to glow a blinding white.
"Wha-?"
John stood, shocked, as his icy fighting machine began to revert to its original form. The Steelix that loomed before him was anything but happy.
"N-n-n-nice Steelix," he stammered.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jack yelled as his blade hit Abominabull. KABOOM! The mutant canine was replaced by a Granbull.
KABOOM! Glaciering was next, and reverted back to Ursaring. The three Pokemon, now returned to their original forms, glared angrily at their "trainers". The trio nervously gulped at once which sounded quite funny but wasn't really if you had been in their position. Suddenly, the three Pokemon reared their heads, a ball of energy slowly forming in each of their mouths...
"GRAN-"
"URSA-
"STEE-"
KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOMM! The triple Hyper Beam attack was too much. A huge explosion was heard, throwing our heroes (and Pokemon) backwards, and the three cronies into the stratosphere.
"This leaves me cold!" complained Sammi.
"The Grand Master's going to give us some frosty looks," groaned Wayne.
"As jokers you deserve absolute zero," muttered John.
"Looks like were blasting off again!"
As the trio disappeared into the distance, Ash shook hands with Jack. "Well, Jack," he said, "that's twice you've saved our lives since you entered the Pokemon World."
Jack smiled. "It is only my duty to stop Aku's reign. Don't forget, he has a curse on my head." The quad smiled at each other as they departed the frozen city, continuing their voyage to the next destination...
Meanwhile...
"Good thing we landed in this tree, huh?" said Wayne. "ARGH! We're over 100 feet up!"
"That's because this tree is hanging over a cliff, you blithering buffoon!" snarled Sammi. "That's not the last we'll see of those four brats!"
"Whatever we do, we mustn't let g--!" John's sentence was quickly interrupted as an ominous *snap* was heard.
"Oh no."
TO BE CONTINUED...
With Aku's new threat, will Ash and Co. be able to survive the next wave of attacks? And what of Sammi, Wayne, and John? Only time will tell...
--Arcanine
Email: achioang@hotmail.com