Title: Arachnasphobia!

Author: Diamond Eevie

Part: 2 of 2

Email: garyoak@bellsouth.net

Category: General



Author's Note: Well, what do you think so far? Poor Gary, he's gonna have to go through a lot before he can finally conquer his fear. And you can be sure that Team Rocket is gonna make it even harder for him. Well, enough of my yakkin'. Time for....




Arachnasphobia!

(part 2)




Gary shuddered with cold and fear as he and Eevie walked deeper into the cave. The wind blew harshly through the holes of the cave, creating the eerie sound that gave Howling Cave it's name. Gary remembered his grandfather once told him that the holes were created by the spinaraks that occupied the cave as emergency exits, in case some predator happened to venture into their domicile. Gary felt a lot more like prey than predator as he looked up at the crevices of the cave, noting with considerable concern that he was starting to see more and more webs on the walls. "D-don't be afraid, Eevie", Gary said in a shaky voice. "Th-there's nothing to be s-scared of. Nothing at all." "Fwe?", Eevie looked up and queried as he walked casually alongside his trainer. Suddenly Gary abruptly stopped when he thought he heard scuttling noises in the darkness ahead. His whole body began to tremble. "What was that?", he asked anxiously. Eevie froze and perked his ears forward, looking for any sign of danger that might hurt his trainer. After about a minute of intense silence Gary forced himself to calm down. "Probably just a leaf blowing in the wind", he said nervously to himself. He wanted nothing more than to get the heck out of there, but he knew that if he quit now and let his fear get the best of him his rep as a trainer would be finished. Done. Over. Kaput. Gary sighed. "Come on, Eevie. Let's set up camp. Maybe we'll see a spinarak or two if we're really lucky." "Fwee", Eevie said as he wagged his tail.

Team Rocket watched from behind a big boulder as Gary set out a sleeping bag and made a small fire out of dry leaves and twigs. James watched with particular interest as Gary took out a chocolate bar and started munching on it. "Mmmm", James said, licking his lips. "Do you think he's gonna eat all of that?" "Quiet!", Jessie snarled. "I'm trying to see where he's stashing the rare pokemon we heard him talking about." "I don't see any rare pokemon", said Meowth, "All I see is an eevie." They all stared at Gary's eevie, noting the beautiful, shiny coat and the impressive muscle tone it possessed. It's eyes were bright and intelligent, and it's ears stood straight and alert. "Now that's a well-bred pokemon", Meowth observed. Jessie knodded. "Maybe we should steal it for the boss", she said. "I don't know, Jess", James said warily. "That eevie looks pretty strong. What if it attacks?" "Then we'll just battle it with our pokemon", Jessie snarled. "That never works", James whined. "Shut up!", Jessie said as she elbowed James in his ribs.

Gary sighed with frustration. He knew that the best way to get over his phobia was to face what he feared, but he hadn't seen any spinaraks all night. Had he scared himself silly by traveling into the heart of this cavern for nothing? Maybe he should get up and start looking for some spinaraks? Gary shuddered at that thought. Suddenly he heard a sinister laugh. He and Eevie jumped up. "Huh!?'. Gary exclaimed. "Who's there!?" "Hahaha!", said an evil female voice. "Prepare for trouble!" "Make it double!", said a sinister male's voice. "Oh, give me a break", Gary rolled his eyes and said, exasperated. "Don't tell me it's them." Jessie, James, and Meowth leaped out from behind the boulder where they were hiding and introduced themselves in their normal fashion:

Jessie: "To protect the world from devastation!"
James: "To unite all peoples within our nation!"
Jessie: "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
James: "To extend our reach to the stars above!"
Jessie: (poses) "Jessie!"
James: (poses) "James!"
Jessie: "Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
James: "Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
Meowth: (poses) Meeeow, that's right!"

Gary just stood there with his hands on his hips as the trio spouted their meaningless motto. When they were finished Gary just shook his head. "How can you not get tired of hearing yourselves say that over and over?", he asked. "It's our motto!", Jessie yelled angrily. "We never get tired of it! We're very proud of our motto!" "You guys seriously need a life", Gary said. "Now why don't you go bother Ash or somethin'? I'm busy." "Nobody tells Team Rocket what to do!", Meowth snarled. "Get ready to battle!", James said as he held up a pokeball. Gary smirked. Eevie was the only pokemon he brought with him but he was more than sure that Eevie could take out all of Team Rocket's weak pokemon by himself. "You ready, Eevie?", Gary asked. "Fiiiee!!", Eevie answered as he took on a battle stance. Gary's smirk turned into a dark smile as he prepared to tell Eevie to attack. Suddenly his face grew pale and became twisted with horror. He raised his arm and pointed a finger in Team Rocket's direction. "Be-be-behind you!", Gary said in a terrified voice. "Yeah, right", said Jessie knowingly. "If you think we're gonna fall for that old trick....", said James in the same tone. "Uh, guys?", Meowth said nervously as he looked behind them, "I don't think he's trying to trick us. Check it out." Jessie and James turned around and saw an exceptionally large spinarak standing behind them. It eyed everyone there with curiosity. "Spinarak", it chimed. Jessie and James freaked out. "Eeeeep! It's a big spinarak!", James cried. "I'll take care of this!" Jessie said as she withdrew a pokeball, prepared to battle. Meowth just looked at the way Gary merely stood there with a scared expression on his face. "Hmmm", Meowth said thoughtfully. "Go, Arbok!", Jessie yelled as she threw her pokeball, releasing her favorite pokemon. "Aaar-bokka!", snarled the cobra-like pokemon when it was freed. Jessie pointed a finger at the spinarak. "Arbok, use your poison sting attack!", she barked. "Ar-bok!", Arbok conceded as he opened his mouth, sending!
a shower of poison needles in spinarak's direction. Spinarak used a reflect attack, and the poison needles bounced off of his invisible shield, hitting the ceiling above spinarak. The cave started to rumble violently. "Uh-oh", said James. "Cave-in!", Jessie yelled as she recalled her snake pokemon into it's pokeball. "Let's get out of here!" Gary just stood there, looking at spinarak fearfully. Meowth continued to watch him thoughtfully until Jessie scooped him up and she and James disappeared into a nearby tunnel. Gary just stood there and stared at spinarak, too afraid to even move. He nearly peed on himself when spinarak suddenly started walking towards him. Eevie stood in front of Gary and faced spinarak, ready to take the spider down if he had to. Suddenly the ceiling of the cave collapsed and fell down right on top of spinarak! Spinarak squealed as it was suddenly buried under a ton of rock. That seemed to animate Gary. "Oh, no!", he cried. He ran over to the rocky rubble that he was sure had probably killed the spinarak and started throwing the heavy rocks off, trying his best to save the spinarak. Eevie helped by using his skull-bash to break away some of the boulders. Between the two of them they finally managed to unearth the spider pokemon. It laid there, not moving at all. Some of it's legs looked twisted. For a minute Gary was afraid he was too late to save the spinarak. Suddenly it's legs began to move as it slowly tried to stand. "S-spin-a-rak", it chimed weakly as it collapsed back to the floor. Gary looked at the spinarak, not with fear, but with pity. "Team Rocket's the cause of this", he growled angrily. "Those losers! They uoghtta be locked up and the key thrown away!" He then braced himself. He knew he had to get the spinarak to his grandfather's house so it could receive medical treatment. And since he didn't bring any pokeballs with him he would probably have to carry the spinarak. Gary gulped. This was the part where he was supposed to let his compassion for pokemon over-take his f!
ear. He closed his eyes, reached over, and embraced the spinarak. He then quickly got off the floor, holding the spinarak in his arms. "Come on, Eevie", he said in a shaky voice as he ran, with his eyes still closed, for the entrance of the cave. "Fweei!", Eevie said as he ran after him. Gary didn't have time for his fear. Not right now. And neither did spinarak.

"Well, where is he?", said Professor Willow as she paced in front of Professor Oak's house. "I told you", said Professor Oak, "He's just out running a small...errand. He'll be back soon." Tracy observed that Professor Oak had broken out in a sweat. Professor Willow had arrived at Oak's house early this morning, and Ash and his friends had arrived there shortly after. It was as if Ash had a sixth sense that told him when Professor Willow would be there to inspect him and his new pokemon. Creepy. "Professor Oak", Willow said as she suddenly stopped pacing and looked up. "I was told by you that your grandson and arachnas would be here and ready for my observation when I arrived. Is there something you're not telling me?" "Um, not t-telling you?", Oak said nervously. "Whatever makes you think that?"

Brock, Misty, Ash, and Pikachu watched Professor Oak squirm from a few feet away. "Poor Professor Oak", said Brock. "Do you think Gary ditched him?", Ash asked. "Ash! How could you ask such a thing?", Misty said. "Gary wouldn't do that to his own grandfather." "I don't know, Misty", Brock said. "Gary's really afraid of spiders. What if he's too embarrassed to show his face to Professor Willow?" Ash had mixed feelings about that thought. If Gary was too embarrassed to show up, then that would make him, Ash Ketchum, the better trainer after all. But it would also mean that they wouldn't have their battle, which means he and Pikachu wouldn't have a chance to even the score after the defeat they suffered from Gary and Eevie the first time they battled. "Pika pika!", Pikachu suddenly said, pointing a finger east-ward. Everyone looked and saw Gary and Eevie running towards them at top speed. "It's Gary!", Tracy exclaimed. "Thank God", Professor Oak said as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah!", Ash cried loudly. "We're gonna have our battle after all!" 'I'm sure to win this time', Ash thought triumphantly. 'Gary's way too afraid of Arachnas to train it.' Suddenly he noticed Gary was carrying something in his arms. He squinted his eyes to see what it was. It almost looked like.... "Isn't that a spinarak he's carrying!?", Misty said. "No way!!", Ash said in disbelief. But as Gary ran past them towards his grandfather, Ash saw that it was indeed a spinarak Gary had in his arms. 'How can that be?', Ash thought to himself. "Come on! Let's see what's up!", Brock said. They all ran over to Professor Oak.

"Grampa!", Gary said distressingly. "This spinarak was hurt badly in the cave!" "Eh?", Professor Oak said. "Look, see for yourself!", Gary said as he handed the spinarak over to his grandfather. Professor Oak examined it. "Oh, my!", he said as he looked at the bruised pokemon. "How did that happen?", asked Professor Willow. "It's all thanks to Team Rocket", Gary said angrily. "Those three morons caused a cave-in." "I'll do what I can", said Professor Oak. "Come on, Tracy." "Right behind you, sir", Tracy said as he followed the professor into the house. When they were out of sight, Tracy and Professor Oak looked at each other. "You do know what this means, don't you?", Tracy asked with a smile. Professor Oak grinned and knodded, knowing Tracy was referring to Gary rescuing the spinarak. His grandson had conquered his fear!

Professor Willow walked up to Gary. "You must be Professor Oak's grandson", she said pleasantly. "I am Professor Willow from Greenkey University. I've heard a lot about your accomplishments. You must be quite a celebrated trainer." Gary blushed. "Yeah, well, I still have a lot of improving to do", he said modestly. Ash stood there and gritted his teeth as he watched Professor Willow and Gary. He hated it when Gary was praised by anyone. "I'll bet you get along with Arachnas very well", Willow said. Gary looked nervous. "Well I, uh,... ", he stammered. Professor Willow held out a pokeball towards Gary. It was the blue and white pokeball that contained his Arachnas! "Show me", she said with a smile. Gary gulped as he took the pokeball. Now was the moment of truth. Ash and his friends watched Gary intently. Ash even held his breath, wondering if the advantage he had against Gary was truly gone. Gary pointed the pokeball forward and released Arachnas for the third time. Arachnas and Gary just stood still and faced each other for a minute. Then Gary gingerly raised his hand and waved hello to Arachnas. With a cheerful chirp Arachnas ran forward and hugged it's trainer using it's two front legs. "Well, you two seem to be close", Professor Willow observed with a smile. Gary just smiled nervously and patted Arachnas on it's head. Ash's heart sank. Gary was over his fear after all. Suddenly Professor Oak and Tracy walked outside. The professor smiled when he saw Gary and Arachnas. "Well, it looks like spinarak's gonna be alright after all", Tracy said to everyone. "It's a good thing Gary got him here so quickly." "Indeed", the professor said as he continued to beam at his grandson. "Good work, Gary." Suddenly Ash couldn't stand it any longer. If he had to listen to another person praise Gary he would puke. He ran forward and stood in front of his rival. "Well, now that we're all here, why don't we have our battle?", he said with a determined glare. Gary looked down at his rival. His glare was as intense as Ash's. "!
Oh, yeah", he said. "Whispus versus Arachnas. Let's do this now." Ash released Whispus and Brock immediately rushed forward to referee the match. Everyone else just watched anxiously. "This uoghtta be interesting", Professor Willow said. Professor Oak was really excited as he watched the two enemies face off. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was rooting for Gary. When the trainers had taken their places Brock began to referee. "This is a one on one battle between two new pokemon!", he announced loudly. "In this corner we have Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet and his new ghost pokemon, Whispus! And in this corner, also from the town of Pallet, We have Gary Oak and his new psychic/bug pokemon, Arachnas! There will be no time limit on this battle! Begin now!" as Arachnas and Whispus took battle stances, Misty couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu. She hoped Ash was more successful in this battle than he was in the last battle he had with Gary. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she was rooting for Ash. "Whispus and I have learned a whole bunch of attacks!", Ash yelled out triumphantly. "Whispus even learned a few techniques! This should be easy!" Gary said nothing. He just stood there with his arms folded and a dark grin on his face. But inside he was truly nervous. He'd been so busy trying to get over his arachnaphobia that he'd learned none of Arachnas' attacks! He hoped he could bluff his way through this battle. Suddenly Ash made his move. "Whispus! Use hypnosis now!", he yelled. Whispus' eyes started to glow.... "Arachnas! Get out of there!", Gary yelled. Arachnas used agility to disappear in a flash, and reappear right behind Whispus! Gary saw an opportunity to go on the offensive. He mentally crossed his fingers. "Use psychic attack, now!", he yelled. Arachnas merely looked at Gary, confused. "Ha! Just as I thought!", Ash crowed. "You haven't learned any of Arachnas' attacks! This'll be quicker than I thought! Whispus, turn around and use flash attack!" Whispus turned and emitted a bright ligh!
t that blinded Arachnas, who stumbled backward. "Now, use disable!", Ash commanded. Sure enough, a ring of red light surrounded Arachnas, almost paralysing the great spider. "Alright, finish it!", Ash crowed. "Use hypnosis, now!" "Arachnas!", Gary yelled, "Try to use agility now!" Arachnas narrowly escaped using it's agility, but it was still in trouble. When it reappeared Whispus merely turned around and tried to use hypnosis on it again. Once again Arachnas had to use agility to escape, only to reappear and have to repeat the process again. Gary looked at his Arachnas, his heart full of shame. If he hadn't been such a coward he could have learned some of Arachnas' attacks. But as things stood now, he didn't stand a chance. If only Arachnas could somehow tell him it's attacks....
Suddenly Gary smiled as a thought came to him. There is a way Arachnas can tell him what attacks it has! He remembered he once learned from some psychic pokemon trainer named Sabrina (who had a crush on him that was quite unsettling) that a pokemon trainer can psychically communicate with their psychic pokemon if they really concentrate. Gary remembered how Sabrina taught him how to do it. He quieted his mind, focused his thoughts, calmed his soul, reached out with his mind, and...
/Arachnas!/
Arachnas stopped moving and turned around and looked at Gary. Gary's heart skipped a beat. It was working! He tried it again.
/Arachnas, I need your help. If we're gonna defeat Ash, you must tell me what attacks you have. Now!/
Gary was immediately answered as Arachnas quickly sent a list of it's attacks to Gary via psychic communication. Gary closed his eyes as he received the information. Ash just stood there, wondering what Gary was doing. 'Why is he just standing there with his eyes closed?', Ash thought. 'Maybe he wants to forfeit.' Suddenly Gary opened his eyes and smiled at Ash. "You were right about one thing Ashy-boy", Gary said. "This will be over quickly." He turned toward Arachnas. "Arachnas, use agility now." Arachnas conceded and wound up right beside Whispus. "Ha! You're just using the same old attack", Ash taunted. "Whispus, use hyper beam!" Whispus took aim.... "Arachnas, confusion now!", Gary commanded. Arachnas' eyes started to glow a bright blue as he stared at Whispus. Suddenly Whispus found himself hitting his own head against rocks and shrubbery and flipping himself onto the ground. "Whispus, snap out of it!", Ash yelled desperately. "Arachnas, use your psybeam!", Gary said. Arachnas' psybeam nearly cut Whispus in two. Whispus landed hard on his back. "Whiss-puss", it groaned as it tried to rise. Ash growled angrily. 'How did Gary make a comeback like that? How?', he thought to himself. 'I was sure I had the advantage.' "I'd give up if I were you", Gary sneered at his foe. "You haven't won anything yet, Gary!", Ash snarled. "Whispus, use ghost claw, now!" Whispus got up and, using a move that had only recently been discovered, paralyzed it's foe. Arachnas screamed in pain as the purple haze surrounded it's body, rapidly sapping it's strength. Now Gary was mad. 'Two can play at this game, Ash', he thought angrily. "Arachnas, use swords dance, now!" Arachnas immediately spun around as fast as it could, dissipating the purple haze that surrounded it into nothing. "Now, let's finish this!", Gary yelled. "Use psychic death, now!" Arachnas braced itself and multiple green glowing orbs exited the crown of it's head and attacked Whispus. Whispus roared with pain as the orbs hit him, and when it was over Whispus fel!
l and didn't rise. "Whisss", Whispus groaned. "This battle is over!", Brock announced. "The winner is Arachnas! Victory goes to Gary Oak!" "Naturally", Gary said with an arrogant smirk. Ash and Pikachu ran over to Whispus and gently inspected the fallen pokemon. Whispus slowly raised it's head and looked at Ash. "It's alright, Whispus", Ash said. "You fought hard. You should be proud." "Pika", Pikachu agreed. They all turned and saw Gary looking proudly at his Eevie and Arachnas playing together, celebrating the victory Arachnas had in it's very first battle. Ash gritted his teeth as Professor Oak, Profesor Willow and Tracy walked over and congratulated his rival. Gary had now won two battles against him. Two battles! Ash closed his eyes and swore that Gary would never win another battle against him.

"That's it!", Meowth said. "What's it? What are you talking about?", snapped Jessie. She and Team Rocket had finally made their way back outside of the cave and were sitting ouside on the grass. Thay may be out of the cave, but they were still stuck in the woods, and Jessie's mood was worse than ever. "I know why that twerp was acting so funny", Meowth said triumphantly. "He must have arachnaphobia." "You mean he's afraid of spiders?", Jessie said, suddenly interested. "Well who can blame him?", James stated. "Did you see the size of that thing?" "Well I know how we can exploit Gary's fear for our benefit", Meowth said. "How?", Jessie and James asked simultaneously. "It just so happens", Meowth said matter-of-factly, "that the boss just got a new pokemon about a month ago. We can borrow that pokemon and use it to have that high and mighty Gary Oak at our mercy." "How do you figure?", Jessie asked. Meowth described the details of his sinister plan. When he was through, Jessie and James were smiling. "It's brilliant, Meowth", Jessie said, delighted. "We'll get on it right away." "As soon as we find a way out of these woods", James said. Team Rocket looked around at the greenery that surrounded them. They sighed, wearily.

Ash and Pikachu were sitting out on the bench in back of Professor Oak's house, watching the sun go down. Professor Willow had left about ten minutes ago, Gary had gone for a little walk with Eevie and Arachnas, and everyone else was inside Professor Oak's house. Ash was still reeling from the loss he had suffered earlier. He was so sure he finally had Gary beat, but once again Gary managed to come out on top. Would he beat Ash to the goal of being the world's greatest pokemon master? Ash shook his head. He refused to think that way. He would beat Gary, someday. He had to. Suddenly he heard sinister laughter. Ash and Pikachu stood up quickly. "What's that?", Ash asked. "Pika?", Pikachu echoed. Suddenly something struck in a blur....

Misty nearly dropped her tea when she heard Ash scream. "Huh!? Ash!!", she cried in a worried voice. "Let's go!", Brock said, ready to take on whoever was threatening his friend. He, Misty, Professor Oak, and Tracy rushed outside. They saw Ash and Pikachu caught up in some kind of web. "Look out!", Ash cried. "Stay away! It'll get you too!" Suddenly Team Rocket jumped out. "Hello, everybody", Meowth said with a nasty grin. "It's Team Rocket!", Misty said angrily. "What on earth....", Professor Oak said. "Hey there, pops", Jessie said disrespectfully. "Where's your grandson?" "Why do you want to know?", Brock demanded. "Because we have a special surprise just for him", said James with an evil smile as he waved his hand to the right. Everyone looked and saw a terrifying sight. Misty started to whimper the way she always does before she screams....

Gary sat down and looked out at the lake, where Eevie and Arachnas were playfully splashing each other. He felt good. He had gotten over his phobia and taught his rival a lesson in the same day. He couldn't be happier. If this kept up he would be the world's greatest pokemon master in no time. He felt so good he was even contemplating joining his pokemon for a swim. Suddenly he heard a girl scream. He quickly stood up. 'Wasn't that Ash's friend?', he thought. 'Something must be going on. I'd better get back there.' He pointed two pokeballs at his pokemon. "Eevie, Arachnas, return!", he commanded. He then put up his pokeballs and raced for his grandfather's house.

Gary raced into the clearing and looked around his grandfather's back yard. He saw nothing. 'Maybe I was just imagining things', Gary wondered. Suddenly he heard familiar sinister laughter. He rolled his eyes heavenward. 'Or maybe not', he thought. Team Rocket jumped out and faced Gary. "Nice to see you again", said Jessie with a nasty grin. "What do you want", Gary growled. "And where is everyone else? What have you done to them?" "That should be the least of your worries", said James. "We have a surprise for you", said Meowth. "We know your weakness. Look behind ya." Gary looked and saw the single biggest spider he had ever seen. It was about five times the size of Arachnas and was all white. It stared at Gary meanly. Much to TR's surprise, Gary just stared back. "So that's your game, eh?", Gary said with a smirk. "Well, hate to break it to ya, but I'm not scared of spiders anymore." Gary had the pleasure of seeing TR's jaws drop. He snickered and turned back to the spider. There was something familiar about it. Suddenly something caught his eye. It was the spider's abdomen. It was entirely blue. 'No way', Gary thought fearfully to himself as he started backing up. 'It can't be. Is this the evolved form of the same spider....' TR saw Gary backing up. "Well", said Jessie, "Look's like he's not as over his fear as he thought he was. White Widow, grab him with your web!" Gary turned to run, but didn't get far before White Widow's webbing grabbed his legs and started dragging him towards it. Terrified, Gary brought out the pokeball with his Eevie in it and held it up, ready to defend himself with his pokemon. But he was so scared that he merely froze with his arm in the air, until the pokeball fell from his hand and rolled away. Unknown by anyone the pokeball hit the side of the wooden fence that surrounded the compound and accidentally released Eevie, who quickly took in the situation. Eevie growled angrily. "Tell ya what kid", Meowth said in a cocky tone to Gary. "We'll let ya off easy if you join Team Roc!
ket." "N-never", Gary said defiantly. "Oh well", James said. "Guess we'll have to annihilate you." "Go ahead, White Widow", said Jessie. "Do your worst." White Widow walked towards Gary. "No! Please!", Gary cried. Suddenly a brown blur blew past him and skull-bashed White Widow. It was Eevie! White Widow flew backwards and landed on his back. TR glared at Eevie. "Why you little....", Jessie hissed. "White Widow, use your poison sting attack!" White Widow got up and obeyed, but Eevie easily avoided the attack. Gary watched his Eevie fighting for him. He knew he should probably be giving Eevie battle commands, but he was just too scared. Eevie rushed forward to do a take down attack, but White Widow caught him in the air with a claw before he had a chance to connect. Blood went flying as Eevie sailed through the air, screaming. "EEVIE!!", Gary cried befor his pokemon hit the ground. He reached down and tore the web that binded his legs. He then ran over to where White Widow was standing over Eevie. "Back off!", he roared as he cracked the spider a good one on it's jaw. White Widow stumbled back and shook it's head in shock. Gary stood and faced his foe. His fear was replaced with white hot hatred. "You may have hurt me in the past and got away with it", he said dangerously, "But no one hurts my pokemon without paying a serious price. You want a fight, you got one." TR looked at Gary, surprised at his boldness. Eevie was watching too, but he wasn't surprised. He knew Gary was pissed and ready to fight the giant spider. But he also knew that Gary would lose if he took on that behemoth himself. He had to do something. He struggled to stand, raised both his paws, and fired a fissure attack straight at White Widow and Team Rocket. White Widow and Gary stared at each other a moment. They then charged each other, ready for a serious fight. They never connected. Meowth was the only one who saw the fissure attack a few seconds before it hit. "Hey! Look out!", he cried, but it was too late. The attack was powerful, b!
lasting White Widow and TR into the air. "Well, we lost again", said Jessie as they flew. "It's just not fair", Meowth complained. "I'm still hungry", James whined. "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!", they all yelled simultaneously as they flew over the horizon and out of sight. Gary turned around and ran towards Eevie, who had collapsed again. He picked Eevie up and cradled him. "Eevie?", Gary said in a worried voice. Eevie opened his eyes and looked at Gary. "Thanks old friend", Gary said tearfully. Eevie licked Gary on his cheek. Gary rushed into the house where he saw his grandfather, Ash, Tracy, Brock, Misty, and Pikachu on the floor allwrapped up in webbing. "Gary! Thank goodness....", Professor Oak began, and was extremely surprised when Gary ran past them all. "Um, Gary?", Oak called. Gary threw a pokeball over his shoulder and released his Arachnas. "Arachnas help them out, will you?", he called over his shoulder. Arachnas immediately started helping them out of their bonds. "Where's he off to in such a hurry?", Tracy asked. "I think I know", said the professor solemnly. "He was carrying Eevie in his arms, and Eevie looked hurt." He got up to follow his grandson.

"Hold still, Eevie. I'm almost done", Gary said as he finished bandaging Eevie's wound. "There. Feel better?" Eevie licked Gary's hand. "You're welcome", Gary said. "I'm just glad you're ok." "Gary?", said a kind voice. Gary turned to see his grandfather standing in the doorway of the infermory. "How is he?", his grandfather asked as he walked inside. "He'll be fine", Gary said. "He's tough. A lot tougher than I am." Professor Oak smiled down at his grandson. "You did well, Gary", he said proudly. "Yeah, I hate to admit it, but you sure did", said Ash with a new respect for his foe as he stood right behind Gary. "You took it to Team Rocket and got over your spider problem in one day. Keep it up and you might even be almost as good as me one day." "Ha!", Gary said good naturedly. "Any time you wanna lose to me in a rematch just let me know." The rest of the gang stood in the doorway, watching the friendly rivals and smiling. Gary recalled Eevie into his pokeball and turned around to leave. "Hey Gary, where ya going?", Ash asked. Gary turned back around. "To Howling Cave", he said with a smirk. "I'm gonna catch me a spinarak."



FIN