Disclaimer: Don’t own pokemon! If I did, I’d be rich and not have to worry about physics midterms… ehehe…

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Red = Ash, same person

Chapter 12

Cold…

Ash woke up, shivering. Why was it so cold? He was in Saffron, but it wasn’t winter! Still, the chill radiated around him…

Almost as if it were coming from inside of him… huh – what was going on here?

Ash looked down at his chest, gasping in horror. He was growing feathers! They were blue… almost like…

Articuno.

Red gulped. What was wrong? Hadn’t he fulfilled the prophecy? Why was this happening? He didn’t want to be a pokemon!

He reached underneath his pillow for the poke balls containing the three legendary birds. No, they were all safe, sound, and healed…

So what was wrong?

The excruciating pain was gone. Lance/Lugia stood at his desk, watching the storms rage outside.

He was calmed, but he could not say the same for the others.

< There will be no peace until the three legendaries are returned to their homes… >

< Do you doubt that he will give them away freely? >

< Yes. Humans cannot be trusted. >

< Then… he has only the earth badge left to gain. He will defeat Giovanni easily. When he comes to challenge the Elite, I shall be waiting… >

< Yes, Dragon Master. That is the plan. >

Red took a couple of Motrin the next morning and bade Sabrina and his mother farewell. It was time to get the Earth badge!

Giovanni was waiting for the young trainer. It was rumored that he had the legendary birds – would it be proven?

“Dugtrio, I choose you!”

“Squirtle, go!”

Giovanni raised an eyebrow. So the boy hadn’t bothered to evolve his pokemon? How interesting…

“Fissure!”

One-hit KO could not be avoided, could it?

“Protect!” Ash yelped defensively, as Squirtle protected himself. Fissure did nothing – this time. He thanked his lucky stars he’d picked up a few new TMs in Johto.

“Fissure again, Dugtrio!”

Please let it miss… Ash prayed as he ordered Squirtle to use Surf. The water soaked into the ground, hurting the buried mole pokemon.

Fissure did miss, luckily, so Ash ordered another Surf and that was one pokemon down.

Giovanni decided against using another ground type and flipped out a new pokemon. “Omastar, go!”

Water to water… well, close enough.

“I choose you, Pikachu!” Ash said, recalling his Squirtle. “Thunderbolt!”

Unfortunately, Omastar’s rock-type did it no good against Pikachu’s Thunderbolt and it immediately crumpled. Giovanni’s expression showed nothing, but inside, he was calculating…

What else should he use… maybe…

“Alakazam, Psychic!”

“Pikachu, Double Team!” The area filled with little clones of Pikachu. Most of them took the blast and vanished, but four or five remained.

“Alakazam, Kinesis! Lower it’s accuracy!”

“Not so fast!” Ash countered. “Pikachu, Swift!” Stars shot out from all the clones, but only one direction actually hurt.

Alakazam locked eyes with the real Pikachu and shot Disable at it. Pikachu struggled, but now her Swift move was gone, and she was exposed.

“Um… Thunderwave!”

Alakazam’s speed did drop, but that was no good as Pikachu took the full brunt of a Psychic attack. She barely managed to cling onto consciousness and give Alakazam a Thundershock before she blacked out.

Giovanni looked satisfied. This was more like it!

Psychic… ghost beat psychic, but the ghosts were poison and poison was weak to psychic. Still, if Alakazam was paralyzed, maybe?

Wait! He didn’t even have any ghost pokemon! What was he thinking? Maybe normal attacks, since psychics didn’t have very good defense?

“Pidgeotto, I choose you! Wing Attack!”

Pidgeotto had not suffered from Kinesis, so her Wing Attack tore a chunk out of Alakazam’s HP bar. Giovanni ordered a Recover move, but Pidgeotto just attacked again, this time with Drill Peck. Apparently her father had been a Fearow and the move had been passed on…

A look of supreme annoyance showed on Alakazam’s face as he shot off a Psybeam, but Pidgeotto’s Quick Attack took her out of the path of the beam as she rammed into Alakazam.

“Recover again!”

“Drill peck!”

Pidgeotto went for Alakazam’s eyes, knowing that a blinded pokemon was less able to fight. Unfortunately, Alakazam brought up its spoons in a blocking gesture and then hit her with Psychic at close range.

Pidgeotto dropped to the ground, winded but not yet dead.

“Finish it, Alakazam! Psychic again!”

Pidgeotto struggled to her feet. She would not lose! She began to glow with white light… and soon, a Pidgeot had taken her place.

With a might squawk, Pidgeot blasted Alakazam with Wing Attack at 50 mph, enough to put the psychic pokemon down once and for all.

< All right! You did great! > Ash cheered. < And you evolved, too! >

Pidgeot squawked brightly, as Giovanni released his last pokemon.

Ash frowned. This did not look familiar… he took out his pokedex, only for it to beep a ‘No data’ comment.

Before Ash could order an attack, Manetric had fried Pidgeot with Thunderbolt, and the bird was down for the count.

Electric-type eh?

A quick flick of Ash’s wrist brought his Bulbasaur out to play. “All right, Bulbasaur, let’s give them a Poisonpowder!”

Bulbasaur nodded, taking damage from Manetric’s Shock Wave move, but Manetric was now poisoned.

“Thunder.”

“Razor Leaf!” The leaves temporarily acted as a shield. “Now Growl!”

Giovanni began to laugh. Growl? What good would that do? He was so busy laughing that he wasted a turn, and Ash next called for Leech seed.

Manetric struggled to leave the coiled vines, but Bulbasaur’s Sunny Day was making it very difficult. With a groan, it slipped to the floor, energy drained.

“Hmph. So you won. Leave now.” Ash caught the Earth badge and swiftly departed.

Now on to the Pokémon League!

End Chapter

Completed 2/23/05

Lance: Now for confrontations

Phantomness: Hai!