Chapter 15 Back at the beach… Ash had no sooner than set down his blanket than the high society girls assaulted him. “Why don’t you some over here Ash? We have a place just for you.” Misty heard the offer and watched Ash blush furiously. Misty was about to charge into the crowd of giggling girls when Ash suddenly set the blanket down and dumped his backpack there. “This spot is just as good as any,” Ash mumbled as an excuse. Misty realized that Ash had just turned down some very good-looking females and silently cheered. Brock however was absolutely flabbergasted. “Are you out of you mind?” Brock yelped. Ash sweat dropped and sighed as he saw hearts. “Are you out of yours? They have boyfriends Brock,” Ash growled. The hearts left Brock’s eyes and he turned a nice blue. “Oh!” Brock sat down with a thump beside Ash and began to mope. Misty set the basket beside Ash and Togepi popped out. “Togepi!” All eyes turned towards Ash as Togepi began to fuss. “Ash would you calm down Togepi while I set out the blanket?” Ash sighed and picked up the squalling baby pokemon. “Pikachu, I could use some help here.” Ash looked around for his poke-pal and saw him with Delilah. Ash sighed again and began to coo and rock Togepi. In a few minutes, Togepi was gurgling and laughing at Ash. “Careful! Your face might stay like that. On second thought, go ahead and make all the faces you want. It might be an improvement!” Ken joked, interrupting Ash and Togepi’s fun. Ash scowled. “Jealous,” Ash teased. Ken laughed and smacked Ash’s back. Ash yelled. “What’s the matter?” Ken put a hand on his hip and shook his head. “Ash, when are you going to learn to wear sunscreen? I bet you even forgot to bring a bottle! HEY! Who had sun tanning lotion Ash can have?” Ash tried to shush his friend, but it was to late. “I’ve got some!” “Me too!” “Right here!” Ash was horrified to see a lot of girls headed his way, some not even carrying sun block. ‘I’ll get you for this Ken!’ Ash thought as he was almost trampled. Brock’s eyes got huge as he watched the stampede. Then, Pikachu laughed, as Ash was soaked in oily, smelly, COLD suntan lotion. “What on-What is Ash doing?” Delilah remarked as she watched Ash’s squealing groupies. Mark looked up from his book and chuckled. “Being hounded by his fan club, that’s what.” Delilah gave Mark a confused look. Mark just smiled and went back to his book. “Don’t ask me,” Mark snickered. Misty, who had just turned her back for a second, erupted at the sight of Ash and about thirty girls. “Alright, what’s going on here!?!” Misty growled in her ultra annoyed voice. Ash jumped three feet in the air when he heard Misty’s voice. Misty crow bared her way through the crowd to see Ash slathered in sun gook. Ash wished that he could be anywhere but there tight then. Ken came to Ash’s somewhat rescue. “Simmer down. I recall Ash telling me that you’re a water pokemon trainer. Care to show us your pokemon?” Misty forgot all about her troubles with Ash once someone mentioned pokemon. “Huh? Oh, meet Psyduck, Poliwhirl, Staru and Goldeen.” Misty threw up her pokeballs and all her pokemon came out. All attention was adverted from Ash to the new pokemon. “Wow! You have quite the healthy pokemon.” Misty smirked, letting all the attention go to her head. “Yeah, I know. I’m a water pokemon gym leader.” There was a silence from the ones listening. Ash, grateful for the distraction, smoothed out the suntan lotion and grabbed his bag looking for something to wipe himself with. What he found was not a rag. “What are you two doing here!?!” Ash asked in a hoarse whisper. Ash had opened his bag to find two pokemon staring back at him. Ash collected his bad and sneaked off to the bushes. Just then, Ash heard a squeal from the crowd that sounded like Misty. “Look!” Ash peered out at the water and saw his pokemon friend Magic. ‘No! No! No! I did NOT need this today,’ Ash thought as he peered from the bushes. Ash could see what was about to happen. Ash didn’t hesitate and ran further into the forest and let out a high pitch whistle. “Wooow! Whose pokemon is that?” Misty asked starry eyed. Ken walked up beside Misty and put a hand on her shoulder. “That, my friend, is Red. He’s the only wild red Gyarados in Cherry Canyon. No one has ever dared to catch him because he supposedly belongs to the phantom,” Ken ended in a spooky voice. “So, he’s wild is he? Well, not for long!” Misty took off he shirt and shorts to reveal her two-piece suit. Misty perched atop a rock and dove in with a pokeball in hand. “Come on! Let’s go catch that Gyarados!” she said to her pokemon. “She’s nuts!” Ken exclaimed. Brock walked up behind Ken and sighed. “No, that’s just our Misty. Tell me, who is this phantom you were talking about?” Brock asked, curious. Ken let a small smile creep over his face. Ash was coming in by air. Magic was excited to see Ash and splashed around. “Magic! You have to get out of here and quick,” Ash said quickly. “My friend Misty is heading out this way to capture you!” Magic nodded and dove deep underwater. Ash gave a sigh of relief. “Roargh?” Arrow asked from under Ash. Ash gave the Areodactyl a pat on the back. “Yes, we can head back to shore. Just drop me off and I’ll try and meet back at the tree house later. Misty watched in the distance as the red Gyarados suddenly dove underwater. “Aw nuts!” Misty cursed. Misty had been almost in a pokeball’s throw away from capturing Red. Misty sighed and began the short swim back to shore with her pokemon, minus the non-swimming Psyduck and too-young Togepi. Back at the beach, Pikachu was getting a snippet of information about Ash that he never knew. “The phantom also has a wicked sense of humor. A lot of people say he’s responsible for a few unexplainable pranks we’ve had in town,” Ken finished. Brock took this information seriously like he always did. “Why hasn’t anyone tried to stop this phantom?” Brock asked in a serious tone. “Someone could get hurt one of these days.” Ken sweat dropped. “Uhhh! No one’s ever gotten hurt Brock. Besides, the phantom’s not real and he supposedly resides in the Forbidden Grove.” “Sounds like something Ash would check out,” Misty said walking to the blanket. Water dripped down her hair as she searched for a towel. “HA! Ash would never enter that forest unless he had to. Ash is too much of a chicken to do anything that brave,” sneered a voice. Misty and Brock got a dangerous look in their eyes. “Who said that?” Brock demanded. The crowd parted a bit to let Justin, Trevor and Mike through. Brock wasn’t by any means a tall boy, but he towered over the three. “What’s your problem squinty?” Trevor jeered. Misty was quick to answer. “Who are you to call Ash a coward!?!” Misty demanded. The trio backed off at the sight of Misty. “He is!” Justin sneered. “He turns tail and runs whenever he sees me coming down the street.” “He’s such a wimp!” Mike added. “The only guts he has are inside his body.” “Ash has shown more courage in the past two years than a skydiver in his entire life,” barked Brock. “Ash stands up to Team Rocket, argues with Misty and still takes on the toughest jobs he can handle. If that ‘s not courageous, then I don’t’ know what is!” THUMP! Brock was face first in the sand after his little speech. “Are you insinuating I’m scary!?!” Misty growled. Brock rolled over onto his back with a moan. A huge bump was forming on his head. “See?” Brock moaned. Mike crossed his arms and sneered. “Where is he now then?” Mike asked. The group looked around to see Ash walking towards them on the beach. There was a sudden squeal in the crowd as Sasha leapt forward. Ash dropped his bag and ran for the water. “See. He’s scared of Sasha. If that isn’t a chicken, I don’t know what is!” stated Justin. “That kind of cowardice I don’t mind,” Misty muttered. “Ash wait up! I’ll go swimming with you.” The next few hours were spent playing games, swimming and eating. Ash did as little as possible until Ken dragged him into a volleyball game. It the bushes nearby… “Target sighted!” Jessie said solemnly. James and Meowth nodded. They loaded the net in the canon and waited. A crackle came over a two-way radio and a harsh voice growled. “Fire!” Ash had just finished playing a nice game of volleyball and plopped down on his towel. “Pikapi?” Ash looked sown to see Pikachu really nervous. Pikachu tugged at Ash’s backpack and Ash sighed. “I know! Leave them there until we go home. They can come out then.” Ash grabbed his bag when he heard it. It was a whump in the distance and a whistle. Mark heard it and his reaction was immediate. “Ash! Look out!” Ash was already moving. Ash had rolled out from under the net’s reach. Ash watched as the net harmlessly wrapped itself around his towel. There was a splash to Ash’s left and he instinctively leapt away from it. Ash turned to face the largest Octillary he had ever seen. “Prepare for chaos like you’ve never seen!” came a female voice from around the pokemon. “Make it double and prepare to scream!” a male voice chimed in. Ash grabbed his bag and took out his pokeballs. “To cause so much more than devastation!” a looming female figure could now be seen atop the pokemon. Beside her a taller, manly silhouette could be seen. “To ensure out rule in future nations!” growled the man. “To crush such petty things as truth and love!” “For we extend our power to the heavens above!” “Kess!” A woman in green with a large white R on her chest could now be plainly seen. She had dark brown eyes and stark white hair. ‘Dead eyes,’ Ash thought bitterly. Ash couldn’t place it, but he had seen eyes like that before. The other shadow stepped forward. “Bubba!” The man indeed looked like a Bubba. He had spiky black hair and a very athletic build. Ash noticed that Bubba had the same eyes as Kess and that his uniform was the same, cut to fit his frame. “Team Rocket extinguishing the light!” “To surround your world in eternal night!” The pair jumped down from the pokemon to the sandy beach. “We are the retrievers!” they said in unison. Ash had a pokeball in hand, ready to battle. Then, suddenly Mark was in Ash’s way. “It’s been a long time Neo,” sneered Bubba. Ash felt his stomach turn to ice. “What do you want Carl?” Mark asked, his voice cruel. Bubba winced at his real name. Kess stepped into the conversation. “We’re here on special assignment from the boss himself,” Kess gloated. Mark tensed. “Who?” Mark growled. Kess and Bubba sneered at Ash’s sudden fear in realization of who they were. They were two of the Rockets that collected his dad when he was seven. “You get two guesses and the first one doesn’t count,” Bubba snickered. The two Rockets released one pokemon each, a Gloom and an Ekans. “If it’s a fight you want…” Ash recognized the stance Mark had suddenly crouched down into, “…then it’s a fight you’ll get!” Kess let out a cruel laugh. “Fool! It’s not you we want!” Ash realized what she meant by that and paled. Ash backed off a few feet in terror. “What?” Mark asked dumbly. Ash turned around to see Jessie, James and Meowth on their newest mechanical contraption. “Fire!” ordered Bubba. Jessie, James and Meowth fired the tranquilizer darts at Ash. Mark turned to the sound of the fired shots and saw Ash gone. “Ash!” Mark yelled in fear. Mark didn’t notice the astonished look on all the Rocket’s faces and feared the worst. Then, there was a thump behind Mark and the turned to see Ash in front of him. “Dad, I think it would be wise to find a more suitable place to fight,” Ash growled. The beach was mostly deserted now except for the Little Society and Ash’s journey friends. Mark nodded as he understood; sand inhibited a person’s ability to fight. “I see you’ve taught him a few tricks, neo,” Bubba growled. “No matter, it won’t help him. Gloom! Wrap this present for the boss.” Ash released a pokemon before the gloom could move. “I chose you! Cyndaquil! Block that wrap with a flamethrower!” Ash yelled in his typical battle manner. “Ekans! Stop that Cyndaquil!” ordered Kess. Ash had already anticipated the move and motioned to Pikachu to join in. “Pikachu! Thunderbolt, now!” Cyndaquil fired off the flamethrower just before it’s vines made it to Ash. Pikachu’s thunderbolt hit home and Ekans was knocked out. Gloom had to be recalled as well because of the flamethrower. “Wow. The twerp’s doing very well,” Jessie said in amazement. Kess noticed the staring Rockets behind Ash and went berserk. “What are you doing!? ATTACK!” The trio jumped and reluctantly obeyed their superiors. Ash realized that he was about to have a real frenzy on his hands when Misty and Brock joined in. “Don’t worry Ash! We’ll take care of these clowns,” Misty stated. Brock, Misty, Jessie and James began a battle right behind Ash and Mark. Ash had his hands full with battling the two trainers at the same time. Then, there was a familiar Rocket blasting off again and Ash smiled. “I can use some help here if you’re through with the pests,” Ash yelled. Mark, who wasn’t helping, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Ash was holding off two of the toughest trainers in Team Rocket! Alone! “Alright! Plan B!” Kess suddenly shouted. Mark paled as Kess recalled her pokemon and brought out a sub-sonic ray gun. “Ash! Run!” Mark yelled. Ash saw the gun too late and simply stood there while he recalled his pokemon. Ash watched the gun’s barrel being pointed at him when it fired. Disclaimer:If ya don't know....hehehe, Naaaaaa.