So, here it is, hot on the heels of part 6! Part 7! Woohoo! This is where Id 
like to point out that the character Max from the TV show, who accompanies 
Ash, Brock and May, his sister, has been left out due to his complete and 
utter lameness and generally annoying nature. And that’s all I have to say 
about that moron! On with the story…
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Once they had dug out the two Rockets and their pokemon, Ash and Gary for 
once agreed that they should go after the mysterious man who now presumably 
had the artefact.

“We’ll stay here and look after Butch and Cassidy!” offered Jesse very 
quickly.
“Yeah, good plan Jesse! I don’t ever want to face that guy again!” added 
Meowth, sotto voce.
“OK then, I guess that’s that taken care of, let’s go!” said Ash, eager to 
be moving. “Erm…how do we get across this river?”
“Gee, I dunno, maybe we should just use that bridge over there!” said Gary 
sarcastically, pointing to the huge bridge that lay mere yards away from 
where they stood. “Is it just me, or do you actually get more stupid with 
time?”
Ash went bright red, but soon all of that was forgotten as they plunged into 
the darkness ahead, followed closely by Misty, Brock and May.

As they came into the next room, they saw that it was indeed a large chamber 
of some sort. “This is getting a bit predictable!” said Misty. “Didn’t these 
ancient guys have any interior decorating or anything? Or any size other 
than absolutely huge?”

Then just ahead of them, they saw Giovanni, facing away from them. He was 
facing the mysterious man in black. “Give me the artefact now, and I’ll let 
you live!” he growled.
“Hah! YOU will let ME live?! Enough talking, lets battle! Go, Gengar!”
From within the pokeball came a ghost pokemon of immense power. Ash couldn’t 
believe the strength of this trainer and his team! Just then, the man saw 
Ash and his friends. “Called for back-up, did you Giovanni? How typically 
cowardly, so like team rocket!” He actually managed to pronounce the name 
with lower case letters, practically spitting the words out in disgust. 
“Well, I’ve run out of patience now, you and  your friends will have to be 
silenced! Permanently!” And with that, he unleashed five more pokemon, all 
of large size and strength. As well as the Gengar, and the Nidoking that 
they’d seen earlier, there was a Houndoom, a Tyranitar, an Umbreon and an 
Ariados.

Giovanni regarded Ash and his friends in surprise. “Looks like we’re on the 
same side…for the moment!” he said darkly. “Six of us, six pokemon, take one 
each! I’ll take the Gengar” With that, he released a powerful Rhydon.

Ash was already racing over to face Nidoking. “Go, Totodile!”
Brock decided to take on the Houndoom. “My rock types ought to do well 
against it’s fire type…Go! Graveler!”
May ran over the Umbreon, releasing her Nidorina, and Gary took on the 
Tyranitar with his trusty Blastoise.
“Oh no! That leaves…the bug!” Misty recoiled in horror from the eight-legged 
Ariados. With a sigh of resignation, she released her Starmie. “Starmie! 
Watergun!” Starmie released a powerful jet of water which hit the Ariados 
head on. However, the attack seemed to have little effect. Then, without its 
trainer even having to issue a command, it used a powerful pin missile 
attack, knocking Starmie out with one hit! Misty was horrified! “Return, 
Starmie! Ok, you asked for it, you little punk! Gyarados, I choose you!” The 
giant water pokemon appeared magically from its pokeball. “Gyarados! Ice 
beam!” Before the Ariados could dodge out of the way, the icy attack slammed 
into it, taking it down.

Meanwhile, Gary was having an easy battle against the Tyranitar; powerful as 
it was, it was no match for his strong Blastoise, especially with the type 
disadvantage, and he soon finished it off. At the same time, Giovanni’s 
formidable Rhydon used a violent earthquake attack to take out Gengar, and 
Ash and his Charizard were finally victorious over Nidoking, although 
Totodile and Chikorita had both fainted in attempts to bring down the mighty 
pokemon. Brock’s Graveler had made short work of Houndoom, which had not 
been able to overcome the extreme type disadvantage.

However, May’s Nidorina was dispatched with next to no effort by Umbreon. 
Fortunately, the mysterious trainer realised then that the battle was lost. 
“Umbreon, return! You haven’t seen the last of me! Or of Team Shadow” 
Suddenly, he was gone, vanished into the shadows.

Ash breathed out in relief, and picked up the artefact from where it lay on 
the floor. It seemed to be a bracelet of some sort, with a golden surface. 
He was just admiring its beauty, when he realised a shadow had fallen over 
him. It was Giovanni! “Give me the Golden Band, boy!” Ash started to back 
off, but tripped, and fell. Giovanni walked forward ready to grab it, as the 
others looked on in helpless horror. To have come so far, and done so much, 
just to have Team Rocket escape with the prize! Suddenly, the sound of 
police sirens and yells from Jesse and James announced the arrival of 
Officer Jenny.

Giovanni snarled, and turned, stalking out of the room by a previously 
unseen door. As he was about to leave, he turned and spoke to Ash, “You and 
I will have our reckoning, boy!”

A team of policemen ran into the room, headed by Officer Jenny. Even before 
Brock had a chance to utter a single word, Misty pulled him out of the way 
dragging him by the ear. Gary looked as if though he was ready to run, and 
was frantically signalling to the rest of them. Officer Jenny saw his 
pathetic attempts at subtle gestures, and said, “It’s ok! We now know that 
it was Team Rocket behind this whole thing. Thank you for retrieving the 
Golden Band for us! You guys are practically heroes!”
Gary smirked. “Hear that Ashy boy? You get to be less of a loser, and more 
like me, a hero!”
“Oh yes” said Officer Jenny, grinning “You’d better come back to the station 
with us, and we can discuss the cost of that wrecked cell! I’m sure you’ll 
manage fine, being a regular hero must pay quite well!”
Gary collapsed to the floor, as Ash, Misty, Brock and May laughed.
“Officer, what exactly does this ‘Golden Band’ do?” asked Ash. Suddenly his 
stomach rumbled incredibly loudly. Ash turned bright red in embarrassment.
“You must all be so hungry! Come on, I’ll tell you all about it on the way 
back to the Pokecentre, and we’ll all grab a meal on the way!”
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Well, that’s the end of this part, more on it’s way soon, im sure… Please, 
R&R if you so wish!

-Gyarados