chapter 3 - PIKACHU It was late at night when Butterfree and Pikachu reached a clearing on Serentine Mountain. Butterfree landed in the clearing and let Pikachu off, "Pikachu, we'll have to stay here the night, I'm getting tired, and it is starting to rain. If we sleep here tonight, early tomorrow morning we could get to the most upper region of Serentine Mountain and you can meet my family." Rain was coming down, "Ok, well let's find a spot to sleep," replied Pikachu. They looked around; soon they found a hollow tree, Butterfree slept on the branches at the top of the tree, while Pikachu slept in the hollow part of the tree. Rain sprinkled down, landing on the ground making puddles in the dirt. Pikachu wept, missing Ash. Pikachu closed his eyes and soon fell sleep. ASH Ash, Misty and Brock found a cave to stay in for the night, it was near the foot of Serentine Mountain. "Hey Ash, get out the 3 ponytas, they can light up this cave," suggested Brock. Ash agreed to the suggestion and let out the 3 pokémon. Their flames were bright and hot. "Do you think they trust us?" asked Misty. "Well lets see," said Brock. Brock went up to one of the ponytas, "Nice Ponyta, Nice Ponyta .... Aaaarrgggg!!!" "Ok, thanks Brock, now I can see that they don't trust us!" Misty said with a bit of a laugh. "Hey, it isn't funny," replied Brock. Ash got out Shellder and told it to use Watergun soon Brock was ok. They got out all the other pokémon and fed them some food. They also let them run around and play. By the time they actually fell asleep it was late at night. PIKACHU The morning sun glinted through the cracks in the tree. Butterfree awaked Pikachu. "Pikachu, we need to get to the top of Serentine Mountain today, and quick, I have already spotted some of the TR members awake!" Pikachu got up and looked around, "Ok, I'm coming." Pikachu once again hopped onto Butterfree's back and they started to fly towards the top of Serentine Mountain. The morning air was fresh and cold, making Pikachu shiver. Pikachu looked down and saw little figures of TR members walking around. THE TEAM ROCKET MEMBERS By 9:00am all the Team Rocket members were ready to start their search up Serentine Mountain. They had Ponytas to ride on up the rocky track of the mountain and a dozen Growlithe to track on behind or race ahead. Some of TR were going to stay behind and wait for Jessie and James to come. Men were shouting orders. Once they were organised, the chosen Team Rocket members set off, up the mountain. The side of the mountain (the track) was steep, rocky and very easy to slip. Ponytas were snorting and stumbling up the rocky mountain. The Growlithe struggled behind and some were in the lead. The ponytas kept on going, struggling along, slowly. Back at where the rest of TR were camping, Jessie and James arrived in their helicopter. Giovanni had given them a special potion for pokémon to forget who their real trainers are. All of Ash's, Misty's and Brock's pokémon were taken out. TR sprayed it all over the pokémon, instantly they forgot who their trainers were. All the TR members laughed. Jessie looked at Pidgeotto, "Now, Pidgeotto, we want you to cut our time shorter, fly near the top of the mountain. If you see Pikachu attack, get Pikachu and bring him down to us at once!" ordered Jessie. Pidgeotto nodded and flew out of sight. ASH Ash and Brock awoke to see Misty patting one of the Ponytas, she looked at them, "I'm going to use this ponyta, it already trusts me," Misty said happily. Ash looks surprised, "How did you do that?, we got them from Team Rocket, their Team Rocket pokémon." "Ash just because they were with TR before doesn't mean they are mean," said Brock. "I suppose you just have to trust them first, to get them to trust you," Misty quoted. Misty hugged the ponyta, "I like this one, and I hope I can keep it." Ash came up to one of the other ponytas, he patted it, "And hey, this one trusts me too." The other Ponyta trusted Brock. "Well I guess we can go," said Misty. "Yeah," the other two replied. The Ponytas galloped as fast as they could while the Pidgeot flew overhead looking for a sign of TR or Pikachu. Later Pidgeot came down and signalled to them that he had seen TR going up the mountain. "I know. Pidgeot, go near the top of Serentine Mountain, see if you can see a Pikachu," asked Ash. Pidgeot nodded and set off. PIDGEOTTO AND PIDGEOT Pidgeot flew up near the top of mountain and at the same time Pidgeotto was on his way too. The two birds both spotted Pikachu on Butterfree flying, and they both soared over to Pikachu. Pikachu, shocked, just looked at the two birds heading towards him; he had no time to panic. Pikachu soon noticed that the Pidgeotto was Ash's Pidgeotto, but he didn't realize that TR had used the potion on it. Pidgeotto reached Pikachu first and was trying to tell Pikachu to come with him. Pidgeot, seeing that the Pidgeotto was up to no good, and also taking the words that Ash told him, flew towards Pidgeotto. Pidgeot Headbutted right into Pidgeotto, Pidgeotto attacked back with wing attack. Though because Pidgeot was the evolution of Pidgeotto, it knew more powerful attacks. Pidgeot hit back with Razor wind and knocked Pidgeotto out; Pidgeotto started falling. Pikachu still not realizing that Pidgeotto was under the orders of TR, was angry that the Pidgeot had hurt his friend, Pikachu Thundershocked Pidgeot. Pidgeot fell unconscious and soared down towards the ground. TR Jessie saw Pidgeotto falling through the sky, "Pidgeotto return," she shouted, just before the bird had hit the ground, "James come here!" shouted Jessie, James came running, Jessie looked at James, "Get Prof. Oak now," she ordered. "Ok, ok, on my way." ASH Ash looked up towards Serentine Mountain, Ash wondered, what is taking Pidgeot so long? Misty pointed to the sky, "Hey Ash, Pidgeot is coming back." Ash looked where Misty was pointing and saw Pidgeot soaring towards them. "Umm Ash.... It isn't flying, I think it is knocked out!" said Brock. Ash looked again at the bird and realized Brock was right, Pidgeot was unconscious! Ash caught Pidgeot in his arms, "Pidgeot are you ok?" Pidgeot looked up at Ash, "You're too weak, Pidgeot have some rest, return!!" Ash said. Ash sat there, "But why was it unconscious?" he asked. "Lets look at it then, then we might get an idea what attacked it," suggested Brock. Ash let the Pidgeot out, "It looks like it has been electrocuted," said Misty. "Yeah it does," Ash and Brock answered at the same time. "Do you think Pikachu did it?" asked Ash. "Looks like it," replied Brock. "Lets go up Serentine Mountain!, Pikachu most probably is there, c'mon," said Ash excitedly. "Yet Pidgeot is too weak to fly us up," reminded Misty. Brock looked at their map again, "Looks like there is a track which goes up the mountain, the ponytas should manage to get us up there. First we just have to go through a forest." "Sounds good to me," Ash replied eagerly. Ash looks at Misty waiting for her to say something "Sounds good to me too," Misty said. The three again let out the ponytas and rode them across the forest. The forest was lush and green, the ponytas galloped fast. "I want Psyduck back! I miss all my pokémon!" wailed Misty. "We all miss our pokémon Misty," said Brock. BANG! SLAM!! Frightened Spearows flew out of a nearby tree. Ash looked around, "Ponyta WHOA!" Ash shouted. Ponyta slightly reared up and slammed its front hooves on the ground. There was silence, all listening to see if there was another noise. The ponytas neighed, and swished their tails around. "Brock, Misty, lets see what that was all about," said Ash, "Ponyta go towards that sound!" Ponyta galloped towards the noise. Brock and Misty followed on their ponytas. The three friends came up to the end of a large cliff and looked down, a big camp was down there, and it was TR! Some of the TR members were there, in a circle around an Onix. "Hey that is my Onix," Brock said disgusted. The big BANG and SLAM was from Onix using some of its techniques. TR got Onix to return and sent out some more pokémon, they were Ash's and Misty's pokémon! A man from TR started talking, "Thankyou Team Rocket for your attention! Everyone knows why we are here, and that is to get that rare, powerful Pikachu. We understand that Pikachu is somewhere on this mountain. Our leaders, Jessie and James have already sent some of our members up the mountain to start the search. Meanwhile we are using Pikachu's owner's other pokémon to help us get Pikachu. This will make life much easier. By the help of Prof. Oak we have found out the best strategy to get Pikachu - Squirtle will take the streams, Bulbasaur will follow us, Charizard and Pidgeotto will be on air patrol, and not to forget we have Pikachu owner's friend's pokémon too. Onix and Geodude will be searching in caves and underground, Vulpix will be searching with us, Zubat will also be on air patrol and all of his friend's water pokémon will be used to search in streams, water and caves. Our part of the search will start later today. This Pikachu is going take TR to a new level. This is one thing TR is not going to fail and that Pikachu is not going to electrocute us! Don't worry TR will be the last people getting the laugh. Thankyou for listening." Tears rolled down Ash's face and dropped to the ground. "Cheer up Ash, Pikachu will be ok and our other Pokémon," assured Brock. "I hope so, well, let's just get to Pikachu before they do," said Ash. Ash, Misty and Brock hopped back onto their Ponytas and found a way off the cliff. They started heading up Serentine Mountain.