Disclaimers:
I do not own Formula One. The FIA owns it. I don't own the 11 teams. Their respectful owners do. I should say 10 teams, because Arrows is gone, but Not in this fic. I don't own Pokémon. Nintendo and Game Freak own it. I do own Keith Terrell, Riley Jenius, Ronin Vertigo, Francois Deletraz and Celia Jenius. They are my own characters.
Mario's Notes:
It's time for the Italian Grand Prix. The Italians will definitely be supporting the Ferrari team. And they will also be cheering on Keith Terrell as he goes for his 2nd Italian GP win in a row. He won this race in 2004 and bringing the Tifosi to their feet. Can Juan Montoya and the Williams team get some vital points away from Rubens? Can Ash get win #3? Well... the drivers have to practice first.
Before I start... congratulations to Kimi Raikkonen, who got his first ever F1 Grand Prix win this past weekend at Malaysia with McLaren. And I also want to give a shout out to the Renault boys for getting Fernando Alonso the pole of the event and having Jarno Trulli start in 2nd. And Michael had problems again!!! He missed the podium!!! The 2003 season is getting interesting!!
Ash Ketchum: Formula One Driver
Chapter 24: Monza, The Home of Ferrari
My, how the times change. It was back in 2001 that I decided to quit being the voice of Formula One, to settle down and enjoy the rest of my life. But, I never quit watching Formula One, the sport I still love to this day. During my retirement, I have seen F1 dig itself out of a giant hole after the loss of Salo, Frentzen and Bernoldi. 2004 saw the series get out that hole and fill it with the addition of some fresh new blood mixed in with the old guys and some great racing. The crash of Michael hurt F1 a lot, but the arrival of Keith Terrell, the American driver, has injected F1 with tons of American viewers. And let's not forget Ash Ketchum, the boy Michael Schumacher brought to Italy to train under his wing. I actually want to meet Francois Deletraz, Ronin Vertigo, Riley Jenius, Keith Terrell and Ash Ketchum and ask them a lot of questions about their pasts. I bet it would be an experience nobody will ever forget. The past of F1 meets the future of F1.
An excerpt from the voice of Formula One, the legendary Murray Walker.
The Formula One gang has arrived at Monza for the legendary Italian Grand Prix. Monza is the spiritual home of Ferrari and the Tifosi. These fans take their team very seriously. They want Ferrari to win. It was Thursday and no fans were at the track to see the team transporters arrive and take out their cars and equipment. Instead, the fans were gathered at the Hotel Enzo Ferrari, named after the founder of the sports car company and F1 team. The first team to arrive was Toyota. The Italian fans mobbed Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Meowth and Allan McNish, asking them for their autographs and pictures. They weren't allowed to pass until they signed a ton of autographs for the fans. Although Ash only drove 5 races for the Prancing Horse, the Tifosi still consider the young man from Pallet to be a Ferrari legend. Ash's 3rd place finish in the Italy GP with Ferrari in 2003, helped him up to that status.
"Jesus!! I still can't get over that!!!" Ash said as he gasped for air after being mobbed by the Italian fans. The two drivers finally got inside the hotel where more of the Tifosi were inside, but they were too busy cheering for Ash to mob him for his John Hancock. (John Hancock is another word for signature. Mario)
"Well, it was much worse when you were driving a Ferrari in 2003, remember?" Allan asked, bringing back memories of Ash and Pikachu being mobbed by the Tifosi.
"Oh, god!! The Tifosi were literally throwing themselves at us when we walked by. Michael, Rubens and I had to have the National Guard escort us everywhere we go." Ash said as he remembered those early days he drove for Ferrari. He enjoyed those short time, but hated the fact that the Italian people worship them more than God.
"Those people even asked me for my autograph as well!! We must be very popular today." McNish added. Seconds later, the Tifosi cheered loudly as their two heroes arrived. Rubens Barrichello and Keith Terrell were the biggest thing in Italy. A lot of fans were behind Rubens, but most of the Tifosi were behind The Patriot, Keith Terrell.
"Sounds like Rubens and Keith are here." Allan said as he and Ash looked outside to see the Tifosi waving their Ferrari flags and singing the Italian national anthem. They were also waving Brazilian and American flags as well, but most of them were cheering for Keith. He won the Italian Grand Prix last year with Ferrari, holding off Juan Montoya and Olivier Panis in a very exciting Grand Prix. Keith was reveling in the fans' undying support of Ferrari. It's going to be like this, or maybe worse, when Keith arrives with Ferrari at the United States Grand Prix in 2 weeks time. Then, the whole country will be 100% behind Keith in his mission to win the U.S. GP and to bring the Formula One Driver's Championship back the United States of America.
"My people!! As Rubens as my witness, I will once again win the Italian Grand Prix for the Tifosi!!!" Keith said enthusiastically and the Tifosi cheered louder,
"Your witness? Hey, buddy. I would have won the race, if that damn Arrows didn't get in my way and made me crash out!!!" Rubens said, trying to defend his honor.
"Aw, leave poor Ronin alone." He didn't mean it." Keith said. As the crowd swarmed Keith and Rubens, Allan and Ash headed for the reception desk.
"Hi. Ash Ketchum, Pikachu and Allan McNish of team Toyota." Ash said to the man at the reception desk,
"We've been waiting for all of you. Here are your keys. Enjoy your stay at Monza, sirs." The guy said as he handed the two drivers separate room keys. Some of the drivers decided to get small single rooms while others decided to share a room.
"If we can lose the mob here." Ash said as he started to make his way to his room. He unlocked the door and went inside. He placed his backpack on the bed and opened it to reveal Eevee inside it. Since Ash had more than 6 Pokémon on him, he put Eevee inside his backpack and didn't want to put it inside a Poké Ball just yet. Ash currently has Charizard, Bayleef, Pikachu, Noctowl, Feraligatr and Heracross as his Pokémon party. Meowth and Eevee made 8 Pokémon. Meowth is used to being outside a Poké Ball and is too valuable to be put in one and Ash wants to wait until Eevee can evolve through friendship to be put in a Poké Ball.
"Sorry you had to ride in there. I don't want to put you in a ball yet." Ash said as Eevee got out of the pack and sat down next to Ash along with Pikachu and Meowth.
[That's all right. This is better than being cooped up in a Poké Ball. I'll tell you that.] Eevee replied as McNish entered Ash's room. He already got settled in for the race weekend.
"Ash, I got to find some more Poke Balls, so I have to snag Meowth for a while. I'll see you later." Allan said as he took Meowth from the group,
"Don't worry, twerp. I'll deflate his ego. And I'll be back later." Meowth said as the duo exited Ash's room and into the mob of Italian fans, who were now swarming the arriving European Minardi drivers, Mark Webber and Alex Yoong.
[Man, looks like Allan is hooked on Pokémon. Thanks a lot, Ash.] Pikachu said, blaming Ash for getting his teammate now hooked on Pokémon,
"Don't blame me, Pikachu. I just took him on a little trip, that's all." Ash said, trying to defend himself.
[And he caught a Dratini!! Lucky bastard.] Pikachu added,
"Don't remind me, Pikachu. Don't remind me." Ash said mutely as he took out his brand new racing suit and tried it on for the first time. He wanted to get used to the new tight fit before the first practice session tomorrow.
~~~~~~
Even though it's Thursday, rest of the drivers arrived at Monza after checking into the hotel and being delayed by tons of F1 fans. The 11 teams arrived with their equipment and cars and were moving the high priced equipment into their assigned garages. The drivers, minus Olivier Panis, were inside the newly built driver's lounge, which was converted from the old TV announcer's booth after the 2004 Italian GP. Allan McNish was busy telling all the drivers about how he caught 6 Pokémon with ease. But, a lot of the drivers weren't buying it or weren't even listening.
"Then, I punched it in the head and I nailed him with the Poké Ball I got from Ash!! Then, this walking weed comes by and I caught that one as well." Allan McNish said as he was telling his version of the events on Sunday when Ash took him on a little Pokémon journey. David Coulthard wished he would shut up, Eddie Irvine didn't want to hear it, Jenson Button was too busy on his cell phone, talking with one of Sauber's sponsors, Juan Pablo Montoya was too involved in his pinball game and Keith was busy talking to Riley, Ronin and Francois. Michael Schumacher was with the drivers as well. He was sitting next to Rubens and Growlithe was busy playing with Celia at the moment. Ash just put his head in his hands as he listened to Allan shoot his mouth off about how the Sandshrew nearly bit his arm off. Ralf Schumacher just rolled his eyes and returned to drinking his beer. All this talk about Pokémon was giving him a headache.
"That can't be true. I bet he screamed like a little girl and pissed his pants while he was at it." Eddie Irvine said as he listened to McNish's story,
"He did. I should know. He saw that Ursaring and took off running like Forrest Gump." Ash said as he looked up to see McNish a bit teed off that nobody was listening,
"Run Forrest, run!!!" Giancarlo Fisichella said in a high-pitched voice, which made some of the drivers laugh. Then, Takuma Sato got a funny idea with the hopes of getting McNish to scream like a little girl again.
"Hey, guys! There's an Ursaring headed this way." Sato said loudly. Moments later, McNish yelled out as he dove behind the bar and picked up a crowbar from the bar. The drivers started to laugh like crazy.
"Shut up!! That's not funny!! I'll kill you!!! Don't make me end out my little friends after you!!" McNish yelled out, but his threats were being drowned out by the laughter of the other drivers.
"Some Pokémon trainer you are!!!" Mark Webber said as he started to laugh real hard as he leaned back in his chair. Once again, the chair fell over and he hit the back of his head on the carpeted floor. The Australian has a very nasty habit of leaning back in chairs so far that he usually hits the floor. It happens at least once in a race weekend. "Aw, SHIT!!!! Not again!!" Webber yelled out as he rubbed the back of his head and was helped up by Riley and Francois. If Webber kept that up for the rest of his F1 career, he'll end up with some brain damage. Just as they did that, Formula One Supremo Bernie Ecclestone entered the room. He asked the drivers to show up at the track as soon as they were settled into their rooms at the hotel.
"Oh, don't tell me Mark fell over again." Bernie said and both Riley and Francois nodded yes. After Mark sat down on a couch instead of a chair, Bernie began this little impromptu meeting. "Back in 2003, we adopted this new qualifying format where the results from Friday Practice will be the order in which you drivers qualified, meaning if Ash was the fastest on Friday, he would have to go first on Saturday." Bernie said, trying to jog the memories of the drivers that competed in 2003,
"I've heard of that when I was watching F1 on Speed Channel. Then on Saturday, we would have a 30-minute qualifying session with one flying lap for each driver. If Rubens was the fastest, he would be the first out. If I was last on the speed charts, I would be the last to go out. After the cars made their runs, there was a 20-minute break where the teams can work on the cars. After that, another 30-minute session starts up and we would get another lap to clock in a fast time. The fastest lap from both sessions will be their qualifying lap time." Ronin said,
"Most nerve racking experience I've had during qualifying. But, it was exciting I'll give you that, Bernie." Michael said, remembering the times that he was the fastest on Friday and ended up going first on Saturday Qualifying. He ended up around row 2 or row 3 most of the time.
"So, I was thinking that we could try this qualifying arrangement again. It could boost our regular viewers of qualifying again. Just like the way it was in 2003." Bernie said, pitching his idea to Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard. The two were the heads of the Grand Prix Driver's Association. Every crazy idea Bernie has in his mind, has to go through Michael and David.
"Well, what do you say, David?" Michael asked,
"I liked this new qualifying package before you started to shoot your mouth off, saying how bad it is. You had to start behind me most of the time. I say go for it." David answered,
"What about you guys?" Michael asked the other drivers. Each of them nodded yes silently. It was time for a change to the 1-lap qualifying format instead of the 1-hour, 12 lap rule F1 went back to in mid 2004.
"Well... now that is out of the way, I want to say something about the post race fight between Nick Heidfeld and Olivier Panis." Bernie said, reminding the drivers of the giant fight that happened after the Belgium Grand Prix.
"Yeah!! I hoped you kicked him out of F1, Bernie!!" Nick Heidfeld yelled out, earning a death stare from Celia.
"Thank you for that comment, Nick. But, this is serious. I was going to remove Olivier because of what he did, but somebody close to him, gave me one hell of a speech this past week. And by that one person's speech, I have decided that Olivier Panis is not to blame for this... mishap that could have been avoided if one Nick Heidfeld and some FIA stewards, who are now suspended for this race, let Panis by. Therefore, Olivier will not be fined or suspended." Bernie said as the door to the lounge flew open and Nick Heidfeld nearly pissed his pants because Olivier Panis ran into the room and made a beeline right for Heidfeld, tackled him out of the chair, onto the ground and started to beat the shit out of the young German driver.
"This is for the first time you blocked me! This is the second time you blocked me!! This one's for me!!! This one for the FIA stewards that pulled me out of the event!! This is another one for those stewards!!" Panis yelled out as he hit Heidfeld for each time he blocked him or for every official that made him park the car. The drivers didn't even want to get into the fight, so they just let Panis have his way with Heidfeld.
"Well, gentlemen. That is all. Now, go enjoy yourselves today and I'll see all of you at the track for Friday practice tomorrow." Bernie said and the drivers decided not to get involved in Heidfeld's problem, so they all just up and left with Bernie, leaving Nick to get beaten down by Olivier.
"Eddie!! Help me!!" Heidfeld yelled out to his older teammate as he tried to get away from Olivier, but the Frenchman just dragged him back into the room for another beating.
~~~~~~~
Ferrari test driver Luciano Burti was waiting by the exit of the main airport terminal, waiting for a special guest of the Ferrari team. The plane set down around 6:30 P.M. and all of the drivers were already planning their attack for Friday practice. All he knew was a woman would be looking for him if we wore a red Ferrari team jacket. A few members of the Tifosi asked for his autograph and he was happy to oblige. Even though Burti is a test driver for Ferrari, the fans love him just as much as Keith, Rubens, Luca Badoer and Michael. He looked at the terminal exit and spotted a very attractive young woman around her late 20's to early 30's with long, gorgeous blond hair done up in a bun, blue eyes covered by a pair of very stylish eyeglasses and dressed in a very nice blouse and skirt combo that did justice to her supermodel like body. She stopped at the exit and was looking for somebody in particular.
"Now, the exit is right there. Where is this guy wearing a red Ferrari jacket? Oh, there he is." She said to herself as she looked around. Then, she spotted Luciano looking at his watch by one of the light poles. "Pardon me. Are you Luciano Burti, one of Ferrari's test drivers?" The woman asked. Luciano looked at her for a second and realized who it was.
"Ah, you must be Miss Lorelei. You met Keith Terrell in Kanto a month ago, if I'm not mistaken." Luciano said while he tried to hide his blushing face. He too has been taken by Lorelei's goddess like beauty. Now he knew why Keith was always red in the face when he talked about her.
Terrell, you sure know how to pick your women. Lucky Bastard. She's fine. Luciano thought as he tried to get any nasty thoughts out of his head,
"That's right. And you can start blushing. Don't even try to hide it. I'm used to it." Lorelei said. Luciano slapped himself a few times and got rid of the blushing from his face.
"Well, my orders from Michael are to escort you to the hotel as a special V.I.P. guest of the Ferrari team. Tomorrow, I will escort you to the track where you will be given a special V.I.P. all access pass that will allow you unrestricted access to everywhere in the paddock for the weekend." Luciano said,
"All of this isn't really necessary. I mean I'm flattered that Mr. Schumacher set all this up. But, I would be perfectly fine just being in your team's hospitality lounge. He didn't have to pull all the stops just for me." Lorelei said, a bit shocked about having unrestricted access to all the garages in the paddock and then some.
"That's Michael for you. He wants to make sure that you're well taken care of, because he needs you for his plan." Luciano said as he took Lorelei's bags and walked to a waiting car near the terminal,
"That reminds me. Is he going to tell me what he plans to do to Keith? I'm not going to watch as Michael uses me to inflict harm on Keith." Lorelei said, concerned about what Michael has planned for Keith.
"I don't know what Michael has up his sleeve. All He told me to do is to pick you up from the airport and bring you to the track. There, you can bust his chops all you want." Luciano said, not even sure of Michael's plan himself. Friday Morning arrived and Ash was the first one up at 8 A.M. The drivers had to be at Monza by 10 A.M., so they can get ready for the Morning practice run at 11 A.M. After getting some breakfast and getting his racing suit on, he decided to give his Pokémon League cap designed helmet a polish. He walked by the room where Sauber drivers Jenson Button and Felipe Massa were sharing and he heard Massa laugh his ass off. The door opened and the Brazilian fell to the ground, holding his sides and laughing. Jenson Button appeared from the bathroom, constantly sniffing his underarms for some odd ass reason.
"I just love the smell of armpits in the morning. It's like victory." Jenson said as he lifted his arms up and sniffed his armpits. Ash just shook his head and decided not to ask Jenson if he saw that episode of "The Osbournes" with Keith. At that time, the Minardi drivers wondered what the hell was going on with Massa, who finally calmed down somewhat from his laughing fit.
"Massa, what the hell are you laughing at now?" Mark Webber asked as he poked his head from the room. He was busy shaving when he heard Massa's laughter in the hall.
"Jenson was sniffing his pits, saying it smells like victory." Massa said and the thought of him saying that got him laughing again,
"He saw that Osbournes episode. At least he wasn't sniffin' a dog's ass." Alex Yoong said as he poked his head out of the room too. He was already dressed in his racing suit and ready to leave. He was just waiting for Mark to finish getting rid of his 5 o'clock shadow. Webber just shook his head, wondering what the hell is going to happen today and he went back to finish shaving.
"I would pay good money to see Jenson sniff a dog's ass after it took a shit." Kimi Raikkonen said as he appeared from his room,
"You're a sick bastard, Raikkonen!!" Yoong yelled out and slammed the door. Ash decided that the polish can wait and he grabbed his backpack, his helmet and his other equipment, ready to leave for the track. Pikachu, Mewoth and Eevee were already waiting for Ash at the hotel entrance. They woke up late when Ash went to have breakfast and decided to just wait for him.
"Oh, there you guys are." Ash said as he walked up to the desk, where Pikachu leaped onto Ash's head, raring to go to the track.
"We woke up late and saw you out of bed. So, we decided to wait here for you. We're ready when you are." Meowth said as Eevee leaped into Ash's arms,
"Let's go. I don't want to stay here, listening to Jenson say how his armpits smell like spring flowers." Ash said as he and his Pokémon posse got into a waiting car, which took them to the Monza track, located a mile from the hotel. At 10 A.M., the rest of the drivers arrived to their team's garages and got to work, discussing race setups and how to tackle the 1-lap qualifying situation. The morning practice session was underway and Ronin Vertigo was the first to go out for a few laps in his Arrows Ford. Shortly, Kimi Raikkonen drove his Jordan Honda out onto the course, just hoping he can get some speed out of that tub with wheels as he called it. Minutes later, the crowd came to their feet as Rubens and Keith went out of the pits together and did some fast laps to get some info for the mechanics. Ash went out 15 minutes in the session to do a 19-lap fuel run. His head mechanic/Aunt Sylvie is planning a two-stop race for Ash with the softer Michelin tire compound. The drivers and teams just took it easy by focusing the first Practice session on race setups. The teams will use session #2 to focus on their qualifying/race setups. Then, the race to see which driver will go first on the 2 Saturday Qualifying rounds tomorrow.
~~~~~~~
During the one-hour break between practice sessions, Ash Ketchum was walking around and signing some autographs and taking pictures with some of his diehard fans. Pikachu wasn't on Ash's head as usual. She was busy getting a good rub down from Miyamoto, the #2 head wrench on Ash's team. Meowth on the other hand was getting in a small catnap in the Toyota Lounge, so Ash was alone. He was reading a printed e-mail from Richie, telling him about this fan club made up entirely of girls who find him very cute. They were planning on showing the F1 race on some big screens in Celadon City. Ash just shook his head as he finished reading the e-mail.
"These girls think I'm the Leonardo DiCaprio of Formula One drivers. This is crazy." Ash said as he placed the letter in his racing suit and zipped it up,
"Actually, Ash Ketchum... your guess is not that far off." A female voice called out from behind Ash. He turned around and looked into the eyes of girl that Ash hasn't seen in a very long time. It took him a minute to figure out who it was, but he knew.
"Huh? Is that you, Giselle? Is it?" Ash asked. In the back of his mind, he remembered the girl from Pokémon Tech and how he beat her using his Pikachu against her Cubone. Now, here she was at Monza. Giselle giggled at the look of surprise etched on Ash's face.
"I'm surprised you remember me, Ash Ketchum. It's now impossible to forget a person like you, now that you're the most popular driver in the history of Formula One." Giselle said, eyeing Ash a bit because in her mind, he has become very handsome in the past few years. All that driving in F1 has made Ash a bit buff.
Wow. Ash is a hunk. That dense kid who beat me with a Pikachu has grown into this stud? My, how time changes everything. Giselle thought, but shook that out of her mind. Giselle isn't that bad looking herself. With her well-sculpted body, many guys have been gawking at her ever since she arrived at Monza.
"So, what brings you down here to Italy?" Ash asked, trying not to blush because of her beauty.
"I wanted to see what all this F1 stuff is about. So far, I've seen this one guy from Scotland challenging people to Pokémon battles." Giselle said, referring to Allan McNish, the so-called Pokémon Master of F1.
"That's my teammate, Allan McNish. He accidentally caught 6 Pokémon last week and thinks he's the greatest trainer in the world." Ash said, now totally embarrassed by his teammate's newfound ego.
"That man is more egotistical than Gary Oak, the new Pokémon Master. Also, he and the Elite Four are pissed off because a lot of Pokémon trainers are watching F1 instead of training." Giselle said and Ash's jaw went right to the ground.
"Gary Oak is the Pokémon Master?!!! And is he pissed off because I'm more popular than he is?" Ash asked. This was the first time he heard this news item, but he can't believe that Gary IS Pokémon Master!! "I'll be damned. Gary is the Pokémon Master!! And I'm in Formula One and he's pissed off at me for being more popular then him." Ash said, letting this shock sink in.
"Pretty much. In fact, that giant fan club that is all girls who love you and worship the ground you walk on, are planning on watching the race on some big screens at the Celadon City Park this weekend. I was tempted to join up, but I'm holding off for now." Giselle said,
"So, Giselle. I guess you graduated from Pokémon Tech a while back. Are you here to see what is up with this Formula One stuff?" Ash asked,
"I graduated from Poké Tech after you guys nearly took over the Pokémon League. For the past year and a half, I've been winning a lot of competitions and all that. Then, I decided to see why everybody in the Pokémon League loves F1. I'm actually enjoying myself, but there is one thing I haven't done yet." Giselle said,
"Oh, really? Planning on hitting on Francois Deletraz or Ronin?" Ash asked,
"No. I want to challenge you to a Pokémon Battle. I've been waiting years for a rematch. My skills have improved and I bet you're a bit rusty from all that racing you've been doing." Giselle said, officially challenging Ash to a Pokémon battle. Knowing Ash, he won't refuse a fight. Especially to a person he hasn't fought in years.
"You're on, Giselle!! I'll show you that I'm not that rusty." Ash said, accepting her challenge. This did not go unnoticed in the paddock area. One member of the Arrows team heard this.
"POKÉMON FIGHT!!!!" One guy from the Arrows team yelled out. Already, there was a giant group of team members and fans around Ash and Giselle. They may be F1 fans, but they love to see a Pokémon battle anytime.
To Be Continued...
Ash Vs. Giselle!! A long awaited rematch 7 years in the making!!! Can Ash come out on top once again or will Giselle's improved Pokémon training skills be too much for our favorite driver? Whenever there is a Pokémon Battle, everybody drops what he or she were doing to watch. Pokémon battles are very popular in F1 and F1 is popular with Pokémon trainers. A strange combo.
As usual, please read and review. Chapter 25 will have the battle between Ash and Giselle. This will also be the first time I have ever done a big Pokémon battle scene as well. Questions? Send them to Hornet19us@Yahoo.com.
Mario Alvarado
3/23/2003
Go, Kimi Raikkonen!!!