Hello! Here is Episode 16! Are you guys satisfied yet, or should I write more? Hmm…

Date: 9/2/02

Disclaimer: The authoress is sorry to inform you that she does not own pokemon and will not sell it to any hopefuls in the crowd. And Nintendo intends to keep it, so… why won’t they share?

Second Disclaimer: Oh yeah, I don’t own CCS either. Just in you didn’t know, it belongs to Clamp!

Note: Time lapse after last episode. Ash hasn’t got Cascade badge yet, so he’s still in Cerulean.

Note 2: ** Will indicate thoughts, () are authoress’s notes, while Italics indicate translated poke speech.

Tmp – technically, nobody is supposed to know about the pokemon cards. However, this priest is a family member and the knowledge has been passed down through the generations. Ash has about 90 more pokemon cards than Gary, so why are you complaining? Pika-chan usually zaps her wings out of existence when she isn’t using them, that’s why nobody notices, plus normal people can’t really see them. Destiny won’t appear until the final judgment, and that’s like 15 episodes away…

Kleptomaniac can opener – Todd will stay until the Johto card arc. It all depends.

Ranma – the ‘Ashura cards’ arc can’t be up yet, until Ash captures all of the pokemon cards first!

Usul-lover888 – Because I like Clow Reed, and he belongs to Clamp, which made CCS originally, which this parody is based on.

Noni – good idea, but normal people can’t see the pokemon cards in their un-activated form, a.k.a. card form. So, unless the pickpocket had magic, it wouldn’t happen, and I really don’t want to add any more people with magic.

Angel_faire – I drew Ash too! He looks really kawaii! Don’t worry, I’ll keep writing more!

Hallow shadows – more outfits are coming up! Thank you for encouraging more people to review, I appreciate it!

Episode 16: Patience is a virtue that I don’t have!

A week had passed since Cerulean gym had burned out. The ‘Sensational sisters’ weren’t giving out any badges yet, though. Ash was starting to get impatient. He knew that to get into the pokémon league he would need the Cascade badge, but did it matter which order he got his badges in? Maybe he should head to Vermillion and get the Thunder badge first…

“I can feel your irritation.” Pika-chan remarked. “You’re really angry, aren’t you?”

“Of course!” Ash snapped. “I’m wasting my time, sitting here, waiting for a trio of prissy girls to quit their hysterics so I can get a badge! Why wouldn’t I be irritated?”

Todd looked up from his pile of satin and wisely did not say a word.

“Besides, don’t I have a time limit?” Ash asked, worried. “I had three months when I started my journey…”

Pika-chan looked sheepish. “I forgot to mention something. Usually, with no problems, card catching takes a year. But it can be extended indefinitely if it conflicts with… well, your life. So I’ve been informed that you can subtract the time you spend in Cerulean.”

“That’s a relief.” Ash said.

“Well, at least I have time to prepare your costumes.” Todd said. Ash sighed. Some things never change!

“Well, you could go and train against some of the junior trainers on the streets. Maybe you can catch some more pokemon, too.” Pika-chan suggested. “After all, don’t you have a pokédex to complete?”

Ash grinned. “You’re right! I’ll do it right away!”

He grabbed Pika-chan and swung her around in the air. “And you get a treat, too.”

“Yay!” Pika-chan said. Ash handed her a small pouch of chocolate-covered raisins. Pika-chan crunched softly as they walked through the relatively empty streets.

“I wonder where everyone is?”

“Over there.” Pika-chan pointed to a store, which had a huge crowd of people in front of it.

Officer Jenny was addressing the crowd. “As you all know, last night, thieves broke into this store and stole about five thousand dollars in cash, plus a very important poke ball, containing a Seadra which belonged to the Sensational sisters. If anyone has information on the robbers, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Ash shrugged and walked away, scouting for trainers.

Soon, he was next to the city limits. He stepped outside and started hunting around in the tall grass that grew in small patches outside. Supposedly, there were Sandshrews and Mankeys in this area, but he didn’t see any.

Pika-chan sniffed the air, trying to smell out a pokemon. It didn’t work.

“Do you see anything?” She asked.

“No. Wait, I might have an idea. Pidgey, go! Use your Whirlwind attack to chase out some pokemon!”

“Pidgey!” The tiny bird cried, flapping her little wings hard. Soon, out flew an Oddish and a Rattata.

“That was great Pidgey!” Ash said. He petted her on the head and turned to the pokemon. They looked unconscious, so he threw a poke ball at the Oddish. It was sucked in quite easily. However, the Rattata woke up as soon as the Oddish was captured and bolted for dear life.

“Darn.” Ash said. “Oh well, at least I got an Oddish!” He took it to the pokemon center to get healed, before returning outside to scout for more pokemon.

Much to his surprise, he discovered that it started to rain as soon as he exited the city. Within minutes, both he and Pika-chan were soaked. They decided to seek shelter underneath a tree. Afterwards, Ash headed for the pokemon center.

He got there fast because he had Ponyta. When the other trainers who had been caught in the rain arrived, Ash was already dry and dressed in clean blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Pika-chan was eating some cooked carrots. Todd had put away his materials and was now perusing a magazine with interest.

Just then, the door to the center opened… as Ash was ranting about how he couldn’t get a badge to Pika-chan. Pika-chan was nodding her head in understanding and occasionally making hushing motions.

The girl who stepped in had short, frizzy, carrot-colored hair in a tiny ponytail. She was dressed in jean short-shorts, a yellow t-shirt, and red suspenders. She was soaking wet. And she looked ready to kill Ash as she stomped over to the counter and deposited her pokemon there for Joy to heal.

“What did you say about the Sensational sisters?” She practically hissed in his face.

Ash blinked. “Was that a trick question?” What was this girl talking about? Okay, maybe he had been talking a bit loudly, but that was nothing to get upset over, unless she was one of their devotees.

In return, a mallet sailed over his head and impacted on his skull. Todd winced and got up. He went over to Ash and started talking in a whisper.

“That’s Misty, she’s one of the Cerulean gym leaders... actually, she’s the youngest Waterflower. She’s been away from the gym for months, so I didn’t know she was here in Cerulean. She’s renowned for her fiery temper, and I think you just pissed her off.”

Ash shrugged. “Well, I don’t care. I just want to get a badge and leave this city!”

Todd threw him a look, as if to say ‘Your funeral, but I’ll still tape it’.

Misty had heard that, so she turned to him. “Fine. If you want a badge, I’ll fight you as soon as my pokemon are healed. But if you lose, you’re apologizing for badmouthing my family!”

Ash shrugged. “Fine.” He hadn’t expected a reaction like that, since girls were so…odd, but he decided that a battle would help him feel better. It might work off some of the stress, and if he won, the Cascade badge would be his!

As soon as Misty’s pokemon were healed, the two trainers headed outside to battle. It had stopped raining, although the sky still remained gray and cloudy. Todd went along to videotape and referee.

“This will be a 3x3 battle. This battle will now begin!” Todd called through a megaphone. Who knows how he got it? Anime characters seem to be equipped with these things quite often.

“Go, Ash!” Pika-chan shouted from the sidelines. She was decked out in a white sweater and a dark blue pleated skirt, with a big letter ‘A’ on the sweater. In each paw was a poofy white and blue pom-pom. There were also blue-and-white ribbons trailing down from her ears.

Ash thought. * Cerulean uses water, so… * “Pidgey, I choose you!” The tiny bird pokemon flew out and began circling around the two trainers, waiting for its opponent to show up. Misty didn’t even hesitate as she threw out her own pokémon.

“Misty chooses Staryu. Tackle that bird!” Staryu flew at Pidgey, trying to knock it out of the air, but Pidgey kept dodging its attacks. After a few moments of misses, Misty decided to try a different tactic.

“Staryu, use Harden to protect yourself from its attacks!” Never mind that Pidgey hadn’t attacked yet.

“Pidgey. Quick attack.” Ash said calmly. Almost as an afterthought, he added that she should follow-up in poke speech.

Pidgey dived towards Staryu, and managed to throw him a few feet, even though he was very heavy, compared to her. Then, she began pecking at his jewel with all her strength. Staryu managed to blast her off with a well-aimed water gun attack though. Pidgey sailed through the air, but managed not to crash into the wall.

“Rage Tackle.” Pidgey nodded and rammed herself into the Staryu, sending it flying. Then, she landed on the ground, looking very tired.

“First match goes to Ash!” Todd called.

Misty turned beet red. “Misty chooses Starmie!” Starmie barreled into Pidgey before it had time to move. Ash winced sympathetically, before he recalled her to the poke ball.

“Butterfree, I choose you! Douse that Starmie with poisonpowder!” Butterfree’s wings fluttered as he drenched the Starmie with sparkling green powder. It began to turn yellow and faltered in its tackle attack.

“Come on Starmie, snap out of it! Use Bubblebeam!” The concentrated beam of bubbles slammed into Butterfree, but it did not knock out the bug. Todd looked surprised, but he just kept recording. Butterfree shook itself, before flying into the air again.

“Butterfree, try using Psybeam!” Butterfree actually smirked at the Starmie as the rings of colored energy went flying at the starfish pokemon. Seconds later, Richie knew why, as Psybeam slammed the unfortunate pokemon into a concrete wall. It sailed through a trashcan, before coming to rest near Misty’s feet. Misty gasped.

“How did you do that?!”

“Not telling.” Ash said, with a small smirk on his face. He idly patted Butterfree on the head and fed it a pokétreat while he waited for Misty to choose her next pokemon. While doing so, he also used a speed spell and reflection spell on Butterfree. Misty was too busy trying to figure out what to use next to notice. After some time, both Todd and Ash got bored. Todd closed his video camera and began sketching costume designs in a little blue book he happened to have. Ash took out his Game Boy and began to play pokemon pinball.

After two hours…

“Are you ready yet?!” Ash asked, very annoyed.

“Misty chooses Horsea!” Misty called, finally deciding to try her luck with her ‘baby’.

Ash didn’t bat an eyelid. He calmly ordered Butterfree to use Stun Spore on the un-evolved pokemon. Horsea had no chance at all, before Butterfree sapped it with Mega Drain and finished it off with Confusion.

“Well?” Ash asked nonchalantly.

“I can’t believe you actually won!” Misty said, amazed. She sighed as she handed him the Cascade badge.

“What can I say?” Ash asked modestly. Pika-chan cheered.

“Yay! I knew you could do it, Ash!”

“Oh, how cute!” Misty said, noticing the little pokemon. “It’s so adorable! Let me hug it!” And with that, she glomped poor, unsuspecting Pika-chan.

Pika-chan turned blue and tried not to faint.

Ash winced. He gently pried Misty away from the irate guardian before Misty was subjected to the full power of Pika-chan’s Thunder attack.

Misty sighed. “Well, a loss is a loss.” She said, finally getting back on track. “I hope we can have a rematch someday.”

“Me too.” Ash told her. Then, he returned to the center to heal his pokemon, Todd in tow.

“Wow! I can’t believe you trained your Butterfree that well!” Todd said.

Ash looked a bit sheepish. “Well, that’s not the whole story…”

“I guess you can say he cheated.” Pika-chan put in. “He temporarily merged the Butterfree card with his Butterfree to give it an advantage.”

“I still won, didn’t I?” Ash asked.

“Yeah. Well, I guess I’m just surprised that no more cards have shown up.” Ash rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Maybe it’s time to use the key again, to try and locate one of them.”

“You’re right.” Ash said. Slipping the leather loop that held the key over his head, Ash swung it in front of him slowly, like a pendulum.

“Here goes. Magic to cards, cards to key!” Both Ash and Pika-chan focused their chi on the key, to help it scan for cards in a larger area.

After a few agonizing seconds, a shaky blue beam shot out of the key and headed in the direction of the Underground Path to Vermillion.

“Well, there’s definitely a card out there… but I think something is shielding it. Otherwise, the beam wouldn’t be like this.” Pika-chan told Ash.

“Now that that’s figured out, let’s go!” Ash said. He was about to bolt off when Todd interrupted.

“Can you change into this costume first?”

Ash sweatdropped. “Okay…” He took the clothes and disappeared into the alley for a few seconds, before reappearing. Pika-chan whistled. He really did look good!

Ash was dressed in a black-and-gold-striped two-piece bodysuit. On his hands were dark yellow gloves with black thunderbolt symbols on them. His feet were encased in black leather boots, while in his hair was a headband with a pair of antennae attached. On the top of each antenna was a gold ball. To finish off the outfit, Todd had made a short, barely-past waist length golden cape.

“You look dangerous.” Pika-chan told him.

Ash grinned recklessly. “Shall we go, now that I am properly attired?”

“As soon as Pika-chan is done.” Todd said. Pika-chan was pleased when she received her own antennae with gold balls and a little golden cape, tied at her neck with a little black bow.

“Wow, Todd, you can even make pokemon clothes?” Ash asked in interest.

Todd shrugged modestly. “Well, it wouldn’t be right if you were the only one dressed up…”

“I think we’ll get there quicker if we ride Ponyta.” Ash said, releasing his starter pokemon. “So hop on!”

The three rode as Ponyta galloped towards the Underground path. Pretty soon, they were near the entrance.

“I sense a pokemon card.” Ash said. “But it seems dangerous. Todd, I’m not sure if you should come with us…”

“I won’t get hurt!” Todd promised.

“Well, if you put it that way… Pika-chan, can you please light up this tunnel?” The three of them started looking around the tunnel, but it seemed empty.

They were about to give up when Todd’s camera suddenly exploded.

“What?!” Todd shouted, as Ash dived on top of him to protect him from the falling pieces.

“I think this is an electric pokémon. It’s causing all electronic devices within a certain area to malfunction.” Pika-chan said, matter-of-fact.

“Then I should use something strong to electricity. Sandslash, go!” Sandslash materialized, before sitting up and scouting for its opponent. Suddenly, stars shot in all directions.

Todd thankfully remembered that he had a spare video camera, so within moments, he had it out and was recording again.

“That was Sandslash’s Swift attack. I think it hit something!” Pika-chan said excitedly.

“There are only two electric pokemon left, though… Electrode and Electabuzz.” Ash pointed out.

“Electrode would be going off already. It has got to be Electabuzz.” Pika-chan said confidently.

“In that case, Sandslash, use Fissure!” Sandslash pounded the ground, causing it to crack open and blister. There was an anguished cry from somewhere in the cave. Ash turned towards the source of the sound and swung his wand around.

“Return to your true form, pokémon card!”

Blue light surrounded a barely-visible figure, turning it into bands of blue light, which finally assumed card form. Ash caught it neatly and turned to Pika-chan.

“You’re right. It was Electabuzz.” Then, Ash quickly scribbled his name on the card and turned to Todd.

“You have an extra video camera?!”

Todd laughed. “Always be prepared!”

Ash sighed. “And I thought I could get off scot-free…”

End Episode 16!

Comments and Constructive Criticism are ambrosia and nectar to an authoress. Flames will be used to burn down Nelvana’s headquarters in Canada. DIE CARDCAPTORS! *Evil cackling laughter*