Um… anyways, here we go!

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics own pokemon. I don’t, so don’t sue. Sheesh, I’m just a very broke student.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics for pokemon chatter.

Timeline: 2 weeks later

Chapter 5: Teeter Dance

“Pika! Thunder!”

Pikachu leaped down and performed his attack, executing it flawlessly. The trainer quickly recalled his Vaporeon and groaned.

“You’re really good, Champion Red, but this pokemon you can’t beat!”

Ash rolled his eyes. * Not again… *

A day had passed, and challenge letters were quite common. And yes, the majority did suck mangos. They were horrible.

Plus, they all claimed to have a secret weapon. Usually, it was just a slightly stronger pokémon of the same species. Or, it was an evolved form.

Tapping his foot, Red waited.

“Go! Articuno!”

“WHAT?!” Red gasped. He hadn’t seen the bird in years. Still, he could remember how Articuno had been his friend.

This Articuno looked different, however. It had dark purple feathers instead of icy blue.

< Ash! Be careful! That’s a genetically engineered pokemon like Blaine’s Mewtwo! > Lance warned him.

< Okay! >

“Pika! Hit it with Thunderwave to reduce speed.”

Pika nodded, but Articuno seemed to just shake it off, before blasting him with a horrid blizzard. Evening the odds, Ash released Eevee and hyper evolved her into Flareon temporarily.

Then, the two pokemon combined their attacks and hit Articuno dead on. Giving off a faint odor of charred rock, it fell.

< Wait! > Lance said. < That was Substitute! >

Red barely managed to avoid the furious Bubblebeam attack that crashed into the poor Eevee, and even managed to knock Pikachu out. The furious Articuno clone next unleashed another blizzard.

< I…I don’t have any other fire pokemon at the minute… >

< Use electric then! >

< Hai! > Ash replied, glad for the short reprieve as he sent out Magneton and Electrode with more attacks.

Unfortunately, they didn’t fare well either.

< Got any more ideas? > Ash asked as he fled on Aerodactyl with Articuno chasing after them, breathing fury.

< I’m trying to think. > Lance said, gritting his mental teeth. < Can’t you just hit it with Hyper Beam? >
Red quickly released all his dragon types and they each smashed a Hyper Beam into Articuno. Unfortunately, it still wouldn’t faint.

“HAHAHAHAH!” The junior trainer laughed.

< I’m getting annoyed…> Red said, frustrated. < I need a lot of fire… >

< Let me take over. > Lance said. * I have a plan… *

Ash frowned a little, but nodded.

Lance’s eyes glowed as he took his position and pulled out what looked like a flute. “So… looks like scientists have too much free time on their hands. Too bad this fails now.”

Raising the flute to his lips, he blew a series of liquid notes. A second later, it began raining fire.

The false Articuno was very strong, but even in that case, it could not withstand the crashing torrent of flames. After only about a minute or so, it fainted, crashing into the land with a crazy thump.

Satisfied, Lance closed his eyes and the rain stopped. Then, he faded back into the necklace.

Ash stared at the burnt area in shock.

“…that’s powerful…” He finally managed to get out.

< A dragon master can often control the weather, so why not the elements themselves? > Lance teased, even though he sounded worn out.

< You okay? >

< Mostly. I just need some rest. Please try and stay out of trouble. >

< I can’t help if it adventure finds me. >

< … Point taken. > Lance said, before drifting off to sleep.

True to his word, Ash did not go running off after any crazy challengers. He also eased up the steam on his training routine. However, he did manage to catch a wild Ninetails so he would not be without a fire type in case Eevee got into trouble. He also added an Arcanine.

They were both female, but without cubs. Very mature, Ash decided.

It was a peaceful week later.

Ash and Lance sat by the beach, looking at the fishing lines cast over the area.

< That is one crazy fisherman. >

< I know. How can he get to any of them in time to fish something up? >
Lance peered underwater for a few seconds, than frowned. < The fish traps… they are hidden behind the line. Mercury pellets that will explode. >

< Horrible! > Ash said. < That poisons the fish too! >
< Yes… no wonder there are so many Tentacool here. >

It was yet another incident of sacrificing the environment for profit.

Red was starting to get heartily sick of seeing these things wherever he traveled. Even in what seemed like a pristine area, traps still lurked.

“Gyarados, Poli, let’s do something about this.”

Poliwrath nodded and dived underwater, removing the bombs, while Gyarados snapped up the lines and dragged them to shore.

The cleanup took a good five hours, and the rest of Ash’s pokemon chipped in. Alakazam used his power to regress the mercury into other harmless elements, while the ground pokemon burrowed and dug the area safely.

Diglett and Dugtrio and Sandshrew all buried whatever harmful traces remained.

The bellsprouts, having been summoned, disintegrated many of the rest of the traps, and freed most of the fish. They ate the dead ones.

All in all, everyone was happy when they finally left.

End Chapter!
Started 2/25/04, completed 2/27/04